"We can send the gobbler home and keep the two hens," said Fred. "That will make eating enough for us, I'm sure. They must weigh at least seven or eight pounds apiece."
"All of that," came from the old lumberman.
Much elated over the success of their first effort at hunting on Snowshoe Island, the Rovers picked up the game and made their way back to where they had left the bobsled. They placed the turkeys on the sled, and then resumed their journey once more.
"We're coming up to the end of the island now," announced Barney Stevenson presently, and a minute later they made a turn around some trees lining the shore and came into view of a cleared spot, containing a small boat-landing. Beyond the cleared spot, backed up by some tall pines and hemlocks, were two fair-sized cabins, standing about a hundred feet apart.
"That's the cabin I use," explained the old lumberman, pointing to the building on the right. "The other is the one you can make yourselves at home in."
The setting for the two cabins was an ideal one, and the boys could well imagine how beautiful the place must look in the summer time with the green trees, and the cleared space sloping down to the great lake. Now, of course, the ground, as well as the trees and brushwood, was heavily covered with snow, and the snow hung down off the rough roof of each cabin.
"I'll take you directly over to the cabin you are to occupy," said Uncle Barney. "I've got it all in shape for you, with plenty of firewood and everything."
He led the way, and they followed, dragging the bobsled behind them. The door to the cabin had been locked, for the old lumberman stated that he did not wish any outside hunters or other people to take possession during his absence.
"Of course, a good many of the hunters and lumberman are my friends," he explained. "But then there are often strangers, and some of those fellows wouldn't be above carrying off anything that suited their fancy."
The boys gave cries of delight when he took them into the cabin which they were to occupy during their stay on the island. They found it a fairly large place, divided into two rooms, one a general living-room and the other a sleeping apartment. In the former was located a fairly well-made table, a couple of benches, and also a swinging shelf, containing quite an assortment of dishes, while at one side there was a big open fireplace, and in a corner a small closet furnished with numerous kitchen utensils.