The sight which met their gaze filled them with a pity and a strong desire to be of assistance. There, in the snow, lay an elderly man, clad in the garb of a hunter or lumberman, with a shotgun and a well-worn game bag beside him. Over the man's legs and one outstretched arm, rested the upper portion of a large pine tree, which had evidently crashed down because of the weight of snow upon it but a short time before. The man lay on his chest, and it was all he could do to raise his head to cry for aid.
"Say, this is tough!" exclaimed Andy, as he reached the spot. "What can we do to help him?"
"We've got to pry up that tree somehow," answered Jack.
"Come on; let us see if we can't lift it!" exclaimed Randy, and took hold of one of the numerous branches.
The others did the same, and all pulled upon the tree with their utmost strength. Yet, it was too heavy for them and could scarcely be budged.
"We've got to get some kind of pry and pry it up," announced Jack. "I wish we had brought a hatchet along. I meant to bring one, so that we could make firewood, but I forgot it."
"Help me! Help me!" moaned the man. "Don't leave me here pinned down like this;" and then he seemed to faint.
Alarmed by the condition of the sufferer, the boys ran around the spot looking for something which might aid them in releasing the man. They found several flat stones, and then discovered a sapling which they succeeded in pulling up by the roots. Piling up the flat stones close to the fallen tree, they placed the sapling upon them, using it as a lever, and by this means Jack and the twins managed to raise the fallen pine just high enough to allow Fred to haul the hurt man from under it. Then they let the pine slip back to its original position.
"Looks to me as if he might have his two legs broken, and maybe his arm," announced Jack, after they had placed the man on his back with his head raised on some pine boughs stripped from the trees. The sufferer's eyes were closed, and he breathed heavily.
"We ought to get a doctor for him just as soon as possible," said Randy. "But where to go for one, excepting back to Haven Point, I don't know."