The cry came from the thicket close at hand, and on the instant Joe burst into view. Harry did not see him at once, and kept on with his snatch of a song.
“Harry, don’t you hear me? What on earth is the matter? Have you lost your senses?”
“Joe!” The song came to an abrupt conclusion. “Oh, how thankful I am you have come. Release me from this trap of yours, and get me home, before I freeze to death.”
“Are you in the trap? By George, you are! Of course I’ll release you!”
Dropping his gun, Joe leaped to the end of the chain, and in a second more the trap was opened, and Harry withdrew his foot slowly and painfully. Then he tried to walk a step, but his feelings overcame him, and he fell in the snow in a death-like faint.
Joe was now more alarmed than ever, and picking his companion up he placed Harry over his shoulder, and set out for home.
It was a hard walk that Joe never forgot. The snow came down so thickly that he was nearly blinded. He staggered up to the cabin clearing, and caught Mrs. Parsons just as the good woman was peering anxiously from the doorway.
“I’ve got him, and he is half frozen,” said Joe, and staggered into the cabin.
“Mercy on us!” cried Harmony. “See, his foot is bleeding!”
“He got into my trap by accident,” said Joe.