As they came nearer the cries became louder, and they thought they could distinguish three voices, and one seemed to be that of a woman.
Another minute they came upon a cleared space and stopped still for a moment to stare at the amazing scene which met their eyes.
A woman stood, nearly knee deep in snow, waving her arms wildly, and even in that moment of astonishment they recognized her as Mrs. Salper. She was gesticulating toward something in front of her and calling urgently to the boys to hurry.
Then the lads saw the cause of her distress. At the foot of a steep rise of ground, almost a small hill, was all that was to be seen of two girls. These latter had their heads above the snow that enveloped them and they were trying desperately to work their arms free of the icy blanket. From their expressions and from their wild cries for help it could be seen they were panic-stricken.
“A snowslide!” Joe, who was standing close to Bob, heard him mutter. “Those girls had a narrow escape to keep from being buried entirely!”
The next moment he was dashing off in the direction of the two prisoners, shouting encouragement to Mrs. Salper. The others were close at his heels.
“We’ll get you out all right,” he called to the frightened girls, who had stopped their struggling and were looking at him hopefully. “Just keep still for a moment and save your breath. We’ll have you out of there in a jiffy.
“Dig, fellows, for all you’re worth,” he added to the boys, who, as usual, looked to him for directions. “These girls must be pretty cold by this time.”
For answer the boys did dig manfully, the imprisoned girls helping them as much as they could with their numb fingers, and before many minutes they had the snow cleared away sufficiently to be able to struggle through it to a spot where it was not so deep. The girls were, of course, Edna and Ruth Salper, the pretty daughters of the Wall Street broker.
Edna and Ruth were trembling with cold and with the shock of their recent accident, and Mrs. Salper ran to them, putting an arm about each of them protectingly and pouring out thanks to the embarrassed boys.