“That’s a risk we’ve got to take, but seeing that he had his rifle with him, I imagine that he’s gone some distance. He wouldn’t have taken it if he was coming right back.”
“Still he might,” Jack insisted. “And he’s a pretty tough looking customer, I’ll say.”
For a moment Bob hesitated.
“Well,” he said finally. “You may be right. Anyhow it’s a lot better to be careful than to be sorry, so I’ll tell you how we’ll work it. No doubt there’s a back door to the shack. Now I’ll try to get in while you stay here and watch. If you see him coming just give your imitation of a wild cat. You can do it well enough to fool anyone, and if I hear it I’ll slip out the back way and come around here. He’ll have to take off his snow-shoes before he can come in and that will give me plenty of time to make a get away.”
This plan seemed good to Jack and he readily agreed to it.
Bob removed his snow-shoes and was about to start when a sudden thought struck him.
“Great guns, Jack, I forgot all about the tracks,” he said.
“Well, what do you know about that?” and for a moment Jack’s face looked the picture of despair.
“He’d spot them the minute he came back and then it’d be all up,” Bob declared.
“And he’ll probably be back long before it freezes tonight,” Jack lamented.