"We'll be safe enough," answered Whopper confidantly.
It was no light load for Snap and Giant to carry, for the turkey, rabbits and squirrels were all big. They saw Shep and Whopper depart and rested fully five minutes before taking to the back trail.
"I wish they had come with us," said the leader of the Gun Club. "I doubt if they get a deer—the wind is blowing directly toward the game."
"Well, they wanted to go so let them," answered Giant.
The barked shin hurt considerably and he was anxious to get back to camp, that he might wash it and bathe it with witch hazel.
"Let us go up the lake and across on the ice," suggested Snap. "It will be shorter, and we'll avoid that nasty gully and the rough rocks."
They took to the course mentioned, and inside of half an hour reached the lake front once more. It was now snowing steadily and the wind was gradually rising.
"I said it was going to snow hard," grumbled Snap. "They should have come with us. It won't be fit to be out in another hour."
"Well, they wanted their own way, so let them have it," answered his companion.
They wished they had their skates to skate across a cove which separated them from the camp. The bare spots on the ice were as slippery as wet glass and they had to walk "as if on eggs," as Snap expressed it. Once his right foot went from under him, and he measured his length on his back, while his gun slid a dozen feet away.