"Maybe he twisted his ankle, or something like that!" cried Andy.
"It's too bad he didn't hurt himself so severely that he couldn't go any further," grumbled Fred.
"It won't be long now before we come out near that cabin where we stayed during that awful snowstorm," said Jack.
It was now well along in the middle of the afternoon, and the Rovers rightly concluded that this point had not been reached by Slugger and Nappy until late the day before.
"If one of them was hurt, they wouldn't want to skate away over to Rockville in the dark," said Randy. "Maybe they stayed on this island all night."
"There is that old cabin!" exclaimed Fred, as they reached a cleared space and could see some distance ahead.
The little cabin was thickly surrounded by snow, and looked very much as it had when they had left it. But to their surprise, not to say delight, they saw a thin wreath of smoke curling up out of the chimney.
"Somebody is there as sure as fate!" exclaimed Jack.
"Come on, let's see who it is!" burst out Randy.
All hurried forward, making no noise in the snow, and soon reached the side of the cabin. Then Jack, who was in advance, peered in through a corner of the broken-out window, pulling aside the nailed-up blanket for that purpose.