BANG! BANG! BANG! WENT THE GUNS IN THE HANDS OF GIF, RANDY, AND SPOUTER.
"Well, it's gone, anyhow," declared Jack, in a tone of great relief. "You can come down, Andy."
Andy was soon out of the tree, and, having picked up the two partridges, the six young hunters continued on their way, as they supposed, in the direction of Cedar Lodge.
Presently they came to another clearing, and on the far side of this noted some animals hopping about which they felt certain must be rabbits.
"Let's go over there!" cried Fred excitedly. "Maybe we can make a good haul."
"It's a pretty good tramp around to the other side of this clearing," remarked Gif. "And it looks to me as if it might begin to snow again," he added, with a glance at the sky which was now heavily overcast.
But all of the others wanted a chance to get more game, so in the end the six cadets tramped around one edge of the clearing until they reached a point close to the spot where the rabbits had been seen. Here the bunnies were out in force, trying to find something to eat, and they had but little difficulty in bagging four of the creatures.
"Well, that's not so bad but what it might be worse," announced Jack.
"We should have had more than four," grumbled Randy. "There were at least fifteen or sixteen rabbits to be seen." He had missed what he had thought to be a comparatively easy shot.
"Well, we can't have everything," declared Spouter philosophically.
They trudged on once more, Gif, as before, taking the lead. But presently the tall cadet called a halt.
"What's the matter now?" questioned Randy. "See any more game ahead?"
"No." Gif was staring around first to the right and then to the left. "Hang it if I know whether we are on the right trail or not!"
"Do you mean to say, Gif, you don't know in what direction the Lodge is located?" questioned Spouter quickly.
"I think it's off in that direction, Spouter," was the reply, and Gif pointed with his hand, "but I'm not dead sure of it. Circling that clearing threw me off the track."
"Well, were you sure of the trail before we came over here?" questioned Jack. "If you were, we can go back you know, even though it is quite a tramp."
"I thought I was sure, Jack. But now I'm not sure of anything," answered Gif helplessly. "Someway or other, I seem to be completely turned around."
"Gee! then we're in a pretty pickle," groaned Fred, who was beginning to grow tired of tramping through the snow.
"If we could only get down to the river again we'd be all right," came from Randy.
"I wonder if I could locate the Lodge from the top of one of these trees," remarked Jack. "It would be quite a climb to get such a view, but it would be better than tramping around without knowing where one was going."
"I'll do the climbing," answered Gif quickly. "I got you fellows into this mess, and it's up to me to get you out."
"Oh, don't think I'm complaining," returned Spouter quickly.
"None of us is complaining, Gif. We all know it's the easiest thing in the world to get lost in a big woods like this—especially when there is snow on the ground to cover up the landmarks."
A tall pine was selected, and the others boosted Gif upward as far as they could. Then he mounted from branch to branch, and the others waited below as patiently as possible for what he might have to report. In the meantime a few flakes of snow came drifting downward, and soon it was snowing steadily.
"Well, what can you see?" called out Jack, after those below had waited quite a while for their chum to make a report.
"I can't see very much on account of the snow coming down," announced Gif. "I can see the edge of a clearing that might be the one where Cedar Lodge is located, but I am not certain of it."
"Well, take another good look," advised Spouter. "Wish we had field glasses," he added.
It was a full fifteen minutes before Gif rejoined the others. He had located but one place that looked like the clearing surrounding the Lodge, but, as he had said before, he was by no means certain that this was the right location.
"Well, we might as well try it anyway," announced Jack. "We can't stay here all night."
"It's too bad it began to snow so heavily just as I was climbing the tree," remarked Gif. "If it hadn't been for that I might have gotten quite a view and maybe located the bungalow without difficulty. However, this may prove to be the right trail after all. Come on, before it gets dark."
"Wish I had something more to eat," remarked Andy. The few sandwiches and doughnuts they had brought along had long since been eaten.
As they walked on the way seemed to grow more difficult. They soon found themselves at a point where there were a series of rocks backed up by low-hanging bushes thickly covered with snow. There was no wind, but the snow was now coming down more thickly than ever.
"Gee! it looks to me as if we were lost," remarked Fred.
All gazed around them, but saw little to give them satisfaction. Behind them lay the thick forest, and in front of them the rocks and bushes. It was now growing dark, and this added to their uneasiness.
"Well, what shall we do next?" questioned Gif.
Nobody answered that question. They were undoubtedly lost, and what was to be done about it was a serious problem.