The day passed without their seeing or hearing any more of Werner and Glutts, nor did anyone come to disturb them through the night. Once Andy awoke to hear a noise at a distance, but he soon figured out that this was nothing more than a hoot owl.
Ten o'clock of the next day found them on the river bank. They had brought their fishing tackle with them, and also an axe with which to chop some holes through the ice.
"Pretty thick, I'm thinking," announced Jack, as they came out on the ice. "We'll have our own troubles making holes."
"How foolish we were not to bring our skates along!" cried Randy. "We could have a dandy skate." Their skates had been left up at the Lodge.
"Never mind, we'll skate some other time," said Spouter. "We're out for some fish to-day."
It took over half an hour to knock several fair-sized holes through the ice, and then the boys began their fishing, following directions that had been given to Gif by some of the older hunters.
"If I catch a whale I don't see how I'm going to bring him up through this hole," remarked Andy, with a grin.
"Oh, that's easy," returned his brother gayly. "All you'll have to do will be to jump in and push him up through the hole where I can get hold of him."
"Thank you, you can do the jumping in yourself. This water is about twenty degrees below Cicero."
"I was thinking that we could enlarge one of the holes and keep it open," said Jack, with a serious look on his face; "then all you fellows can come down here every morning and take a dip." At present they were obtaining water from a deep well directly outside of the kitchen.