"Nothing can save the old shanty now," cried Hackett. "My eye—wow!—Say! We're sold—everybody sold! If this doesn't beat all!"
In making a long détour, so as to avoid a field of snow, the other side of the cabin came in view, disclosing an enormous bonfire, built at a safe distance from the structure. The flames, leaping furiously upward, cast a bright glare around.
For a moment there was silence, then a roar of merriment broke forth.
"Oh, my!" laughed Nat Wingate, holding his sides; "this is the richest joke yet. It's Musgrove's work—ha, ha! That's the time he outdid old Yardsley."
"It's the biggest bonfire I ever saw," laughed Sam Randall. "Guess they must have seen those chaps chasing us across the lake."
A couple of dark figures were seen to emerge from a mass of trees to their left, and strike out on the lake.
"Sladder and Musgrove," asserted Bob Somers. "You can't mistake Muzzy for any one else." In a few moments the two joined them.
"Don't believe you'll find much left of your hut," said Tom Clifton.
"No odds, sonny," replied Musgrove, calmly; "we didn't git the wust of it by a long shot."