he hunter through the deep snow
which lay on the slope until they came to an opening in the rock.
Entering, the boy found a very comfortable cavern, almost
completely lined with fur. There was a chimney-like crevice in the
ceiling which permitted the escape of smoke and foul air. Both
inside and outside the entrance were great stones by which the
place might be sealed up from either side.

"Quite a cozy nest!" George ventured, and Antoine nodded.

"We'll celebrate your arrival with a cup of good strong tea," he
said.

The tea was brewed and drank. Then the trapper's face began to
assume grotesque forms. The boy's head swam dizzily. He caught a
cynical smile in Antoine's eyes and dropped back into a drugged and
dreamless sleep!

CHAPTER X

BOYS IN A TIGHT PLACE

"Who's there?" asked Tommy's voice, as Will beat frantically
against the rocky bulkhead against which he stood.

"How do I get in there?" asked Will.

"Go around to the entrance and shoot up this half-breed!" advised
Sandy. "He's got us cornered!"

"He's got me cornered, too!" shouted Will.

"Then I guess he's got the high hand," Tommy answered back.

"Say," Thede's voice exclaimed, "the rock at the end of that
passage isn't more than a foot thick and it's full of cracks, at
that. If you had a couple of big whinnicks, you could smash it
down."

"I can find the whinnicks all right!" answered Will.

"Say!" cried Sandy, "you want to hurry with those whinnicks, for
Pierre is almost standing on his head, threatening to shoot if you
try to break through."

Will collected a number of heavy stones which had fallen from the
walls and threw them with all his strength against the partition.

The cracks widened, and slivers of brittle rock fell away. His
efforts were greeted with cheers from the other side, and he
redoubled them, with the result that in a short time, a passage
between the two sections of the underground chambers had been made.

When Will stepped through the opening he saw Pierre's fur cap
sticking up above a barrier which reached almost to the ceiling.
The long barrel of his rifle protruded threateningly into the room.

"I guess," Will proposed, "that we'd better get out of range of
that gun. It doesn't look good to me."

The boys crowded back into the chamber which Will had recently left
and looked at each other with inquiring eyes.

Pierre's harsh laugh came from the outer room. "You thieves!" he
cried. "You die