By this time the snow had begun to soften and they had gone but a short distance when they were obliged to resort to the snow-shoes. They had trudged along for a matter of four or five miles, keeping as close to the lake as possible, when Bob, who was leading the way, suddenly came to a stop and held up his hand as a signal to keep quiet.
“There’s a cabin just ahead of us,” he whispered. “And there’s smoke coming out of the chimney. I guess that’s pretty good evidence that there’s somebody there. Now the question is whether or not it’s Rex.”
“How are we going to find out?” Jack whispered.
“Well, the way I figure it we’ve got to be mighty careful, because the chances are that if Rex is there, he’s being kept against his will, and a man that would do that is sure to be a pretty desperate character. I guess the best thing we can do is to just wait here and watch awhile and see if anything happens that’ll put us wise.”
From where they stood they had a fair view of one end of the cabin but it is doubtful if anyone could have seen them from the house so dense were the branches of a number of trees which stood close to the cabin.
For nearly half an hour they waited and then the smoke, coming from the chimney, all at once increased in volume, evidence that fresh wood had been placed on the fire. A moment later they heard a door slam and, peering between the branches, they saw a man come to the end of the porch and, for a moment stand there as he knocked the ashes from his pipe. He was a large man, well over six feet and broad shouldered in proportion. A thick black stubble nearly covered his face, but they could plainly see a pair of piercing eyes beneath shaggy brows.
“Looks interesting, doesn’t he?” Jack whispered.
The man soon went back into the cabin but came out again almost immediately and the boys soon caught sight of him disappearing in the thick woods in front of the cabin. He was on snow-shoes and they could see that he carried a rifle. After he had had time to get some distance from the cabin Bob said:
“Now’s our chance.”
“But suppose he comes back?”