"Toast! Don't mention such things," begged Fred. "I'm half starved. I wonder why who ever made this cave didn't leave something on the sideboard for visitors to eat?"
"I guess this is a natural cave," replied Mr. Baxter. "There doesn't appear to be any signs that any one was ever in it before. It will serve us well, though, as Fred says, it's hard to be without food."
There was nothing to do but wait until it was safe to emerge. The fugitives went close to the other opening of the cavern. In front of it stretched a big level field of ice and snow, as far as the treasure seekers could observe, which was not far, for the snow still came down in big flakes.
The warmth, which was a welcome change from the terrible cold, made them drowsy, and before they knew it the escaped captives were dozing off. How long they slept they could not tell, as there was no way of measuring time, and with no change from daylight to darkness.
With their awakening came a renewal of the pangs of hunger. In that cold climate men need to eat often and heartily to combat the frost king, and the captives, weakened by the exposure, their exertions and lack of food, suffered very much.
But they grimly bore it all, and, though the boys felt it more than did Mr. Baxter, who was seasoned to hardships, they never complained.
"Maybe if one of us went out, we could find some edible mosses beneath the snow," suggested Fred. "That would be good for us, wouldn't it, Mr. Baxter?"
"Yes, if we can find the moss. There are some kinds that will keep a man from starving. I'll go out of the cave. I think it will be safe now. It must be several hours since Callack and his crowd passed."
Mr. Baxter went to the mouth of the cave and looked out. It had stopped snowing, and the northern lights were flickering in the sky.
"I'll chance it," he said.