“Too bad we haven’t got a knapsack along,” Kent declared.
“It is, but we have some good pockets that will take a few things. Once this storm clears, we’ll be able to see something. Unfortunately, we don’t know when it will let up.”
They became silent, holding the portions of steak over the blaze, and soon the meat was browning and the juice dripping into the fire. As Barry had said, the quality of the blaze soon became poor, and when fresh fuel was added it was uncertain and smoky. But they managed to eat their steak, and it went a long way toward giving them a better feeling.
“I missed salt and bread with it,” Kent smiled, as they finished the steak. “But it certainly was good all by itself. Well, what shall we do?”
“I believe that we ought to go on. This fire doesn’t amount to anything, and there is no use hanging around here all night. We don’t want to use up our oil on the fire, and we would have to work all night to cut wood for it.”
“Then let’s tie the canvas down tight over the sled and cover it up with some branches so that no wandering animal can get into it,” Kent proposed, and they spent some time in doing this. When this task had been attended to, they set out once more, heading into the dashing flakes once more.
“The twins will be badly worried,” Barry said, as they stumbled along, making better time now that they were no longer held back by the burden of the sled.
“Yes, they will. I hope they won’t come out and try to find us.”
“I doubt that they will. They can see how bad the storm is and that they would be lost in no time at all. Boy, that flashlight of yours is a life-saver!”
There was no question that the flashlight was tremendously valuable. Kent used it sparingly and turned it on only at intervals, but it guided them on their journey. They kept on going and at last were ready to give up in despair, as they had passed no home and even the country did not look familiar to them. At last Barry halted and looked around.