A moment later Mr. Baxter felt himself free from the stake at his back. He struggled to his knees, thrust out his arms to make a space in the snow about him, and tried to see who it was who had released him. There was no one in sight.
CHAPTER XXV
THE RESCUE—CONCLUSION
For a moment Mr. Baxter did not know what to think. That he had been released was certain; but how? That the same agency was also at work for the boys was evident, for a moment later they, too, were able to get up on their knees. Their hands were free, but their feet were still tied. However, it was an easy matter to slash with knives which they all carried the thongs that were wound around their ankles.
"Who did it? Who aided us?" asked Fred.
"I don't know," replied Jerry.
"Quiet!" cautioned his father. "We have a chance to escape."
At that moment there was a movement in the snow at his feet, and a black, pointed muzzle was thrust up.
"The dogs!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter. "It was the dogs that gnawed through the bonds and released us. I see how it happened. The thongs were freshly cut from some hide, and the half-starved dogs smelled them. They burrowed under the snow until they could gnaw them, and thus they released us. I thought at first it was Holfax and his men."