"Well, you'll get over that. How did it happen? Was the trap baited?"
As Mollie asked this she thought of the possibility of the bear, for which the trap evidently had been set, coming along. In that case her position would be worse than that of Amy's who was effectually protected.
"I'd be glad to be in the trap then myself," thought Mollie.
"No, I don't see any signs of bait," said Amy, looking about.
"Then what made the door fall down?"
"It seems to have been propped up with a stick," went on Amy. "When I walked in, so foolishly, I must have knocked the stick down, and the door fell. The prop is here. Oh, I'll never be so curious again!"
The two girls talked to each other to keep up their spirits, and wondered how long Betty and Grace would be.
Meanwhile the two latter were having no easy time. They got into deep drifts, and stumbled out again, tiring themselves greatly in the process. Then they got off the trail, and wandered into the back country. It was not until they got on a high bluff, and saw the river below them, that they realized their mistake.
Then came a hard scramble down a snowy hill, but at length they were on the frozen river, and headed for the place where the fishing was going on.
"We are surely living up to our reputation as outdoor girls," panted Betty as she walked along beside Grace.