“Somebody down there, all right,” Tim nodded. “Well, let’s go calling.”
“And we’ll look before we knock,” Mac chuckled. “It might be the wrong house!”
They descended the other side of the knoll and tramped on toward the lone campfire. Underfoot the snow crunched and broke with a cold, snapping sound and the rocks were slippery. The stars stood out brilliantly overhead, and they had no difficulty in making their way through the Vermont forest. They rounded a ragged bluff of rock, and the fire was now very near.
“Slow up now and let’s get a good look at this outfit,” Mac whispered.
Tim nodded silently, and they began to approach the camp as noiselessly as possible. Keeping behind friendly trees, they slipped closer and closer until they could see around the clear space in the center of which a small fire burned fitfully.
“It isn’t Wolf and his bunch,” Mac whispered.
“No, only a man and a woman,” Tim returned, in an equally low tone.
The camp was occupied by a man and a woman. Close beside the fire could be seen some camping equipment, a frying pan which had apparently been placed in the snow while hot, a knapsack, and a brightly colored blanket and a pair of gloves. Against a near-by stump leaned a rifle, and the man had a hunting knife at his belt. They had just finished supper, and the smell of fish lingered on the air. The woman was placing chunks of snow in a pan, and when this was finished she put the pan on the fire. There was a sizzling sound as the snow on the outside of the pot slid into the fire.
Before advancing any further, the boys studied the man and woman closely. They were dark-skinned and looked to be French. Both of them were warmly dressed for winter travel, and their camping equipment was battered and blackened, indicating much use. The woman wore a coat with a rich fur collar, and both of them seemed perfectly at home in the woods. They exchanged no words and were engrossed in their tasks. The man was cleaning scraps from a plate while the woman waited for the snow to melt.
Tim reached over and pushed Mac. “Might as well go to it,” he said, and the brothers left the shelter of the trees and approached the camp.