This he kept up until all the alcohol was exhausted except what was left in the lamp Jack had improvised from the powder flask.
Lighting the wick, he shaded the feeble light with pieces of ice and set its flame towards the lake.
“They may not be able to see it,” he soliloquized; “but I have done all I could for them.”
He was chilled and wearied long before he reached the hut again.
Tom had been forced to retreat into the hut, well-nigh frozen.
He welcomed Will’s safe return with delight.
“Jack and Hugo have made a snow house somewhere,” he said; and with this theory they were forced to be content.
With the first dawn of day the boys were awake and outside.
They looked vainly for some trace of the two sailors until they heard a loud series of yelps.
They ran through the deep snow as best they could towards the spot whence these sounds emanated.