"Right you are!" replied Bob, with an effort at cheerfulness. "Don't get scared, and—"
"Who said I was scared?" cried Hackett, bristling up.
The thought of his courage being questioned seemed to put new life into him, and he moved ahead again with more spirit.
Before them was a level stretch, which they soon discovered was bordered by rugged hills. Here the full force of the storm was escaped, and, at length, to their great joy, beneath a sullen, beetling cliff, a spot was found partially free from snow and sheltered from the wind. Strewn about, not far from the nearest snow-drifts, were numerous limbs and branches carried there by the heavy gusts.
"My eye! But this is a find!" cried Hackett. "It's great to get away from that wind. If we can only start a fire—got any matches, Somers?"
"Of course!" replied Bob, in a tone of great relief. "Whew! I don't believe I could have stood it out there much longer."
He shook the snow from his clothing and swung his arms. Then after a moment's rest, took out his hatchet and began chopping away on a branch. Hackett, too, set to work, and within a quarter of an hour, a fire was started.
Beyond the shelter of the crag, the blizzard continued with unabated force. The wind howled and whistled, while scarcely anything could be seen through the mass of falling flakes.
"We certainly were lucky to get such a place as this, Hacky," commented Bob.
"And to crack that rabbit, too," said Hackett. "If we only had a little salt and pepper—"