“We can do it if we have to,” Barry reminded him.
“Of course, but who wants to? I’m wondering if the one or ones who took it did it for a joke or because they needed it.”
“Might have been some of Wolf’s crowd,” Mac suggested.
“We don’t even know if they are anywhere near us,” Kent protested.
“If they are, I wouldn’t put it past them,” Mac went on.
They hastily cleaned the dishes and then left the cabin, locking the door after them. Another attempt was made to pick up the trail, but there simply was no track to follow.
“Nothing doing, we’ll just have to hike along and see what we can see,” Barry decided.
The rest of the morning was spent in a fruitless tramp through the woods. They entered the timber back of the cabin and made a big circle around to the east, going along for several miles until they came out on the ice of the lake. During this time they passed only one home, where they talked for a moment with some poor children, who were the only ones home at the time. In all respects it was a deserted mountain country.
They got back to the cabin at noontime and dragged a dead limb up before the door, planning to chop some firewood a little later. Dinner consisted of a large rabbit that Mac had shot on the morning trip, and after the meal was over the mystery hunters went to work. The twins and Kent began to wash the dishes, and Barry went out to chop the tree that they had dragged in.
The plan for the afternoon was to make another search for the sled, this time on the other side of the hunting lodge. The country in this direction was much wilder than that on the side where the Bronson cabin stood, and just beyond Bluff Lodge they could see the ragged side of an old granite quarry. It was also part of the afternoon program to explore the lodge.