"We shan't starve just yet," remarked Giant. "We are sure to get rabbits, and partridge and wild turkeys, and there must be plenty of fish under this ice."
All of the party were anxious to reach the former camp, to see what it looked like, so the noonday rest did not last long. Skirting one shore of Lake Cameron, they came to the narrow waterway that connected it with Firefly Lake. Here the water, which usually flowed swiftly between the rocks, was frozen up in a lumpy fashion that made skating impossible.
"We'll have to walk the rest of the distance," announced Whopper. "We couldn't skate on this in a million years."
"I wish we could try the snowshoes," said Giant. He knew very little about using the articles.
"Can't do it," answered Snap. "But just you wait, we'll have more snow before long and then the snowshoes will come in mighty handy."
They took off their skates, put them on the sleds, and started up the rocky and frozen watercourse. The walking was treacherous and soon Whopper went down, with Shep on top of him. The bag of apples came over both.
"Hi! get off of me!" roared Whopper. "Do you want to crush me into a pancake? Who threw that bag of apples?"
"You want to be careful of the loads," admonished Snap. "Don't throw off the mince pie as you did the apples."
"Look!" yelled Giant, who had been gazing to the north of the watercourse. "Am I mistaken, or is that a deer?"
"A deer! A deer!" cried Shep, and on the instant all of the boys forgot about the tumble and each caught up his shotgun. It was indeed a deer, standing among some young trees about two hundred yards distance.