Light the lantern till we look about us. Where are the matches?"

"In the storehouse," muttered Brick. "The sealed bottle, I mean. But we had a box here last night. I saw it lying in that corner."

Alas! the corner was heaped up with snow, and when Brick dug out the box, it was a sight to be seen. It had been left partly open, and the heads of the matches were one sticky ma.s.s.

"Look in your pockets," Jerry fairly shrieked.

Every pocket was quickly searched, but to no purpose. Not a match could be found.

"No light, and hardly any food," muttered Jerry, glaring at the two useless lanterns. "Now we must get to the storehouse. There are no two ways about it. I suppose the snowshoes are with the other traps."

"Yes," said Hamp, dismally.

"If we had them here, we would be all right."

"Can't we dig a tunnel?" suggested Brick.

"That's just what I'm thinking about," replied Jerry. "It might be done, though it will take a long time. The snow is so light that I am afraid a tunnel will cave in."

"Let me try it, anyhow," said Brick. "You'll catch cold if you get into the snow, Jerry."

"I'll attend to the tunneling," a.s.serted Hamp. "I'm used to that sort of thing. Do you remember our snow forts, Jerry?"

Jerry nodded.

"Do your best, old fellow. Everything depends on it. Let's all have a bite to eat first."

As he spoke, a sharp, snapping noise was heard above the roar of the storm. A terrific crash followed. The cabin quivered and reeled, and black darkness shut out the pale gray twilight.

CHAPTER X.

A GREAT DISASTER.

The stunning crash and the succeeding darkness suggested an earthquake to the frightened boys. They dropped down on the boughs and lay there without moving for nearly a minute.

"Any one hurt?" asked Jerry, in a husky tone.

"I'm not," whispered Brick.

"Neither am I," added Hamp. "But we may be killed any minute. I wonder what that was."

"I'll bet I know," exclaimed Jerry. "One of those big pine trees has fallen right across the ravine. Luckily it hit the rock instead of the cabin, and the thick branches are what makes it dark in here."

To prove his a.s.sertion, Jerry removed the plug from the hole over the door. Sure enough, a couple of bushy, green limbs were seen protruding from the cabin roof down into the snow.

"It's only the limbs that do that," declared Jerry. "The trunk of the tree is on the rock. If it had fallen a little to this side we would have been crushed like eggsh.e.l.ls."

"The cabin is just as firm as ever," said Hamp, as he pressed his weight against one side.

"It's firmer," a.s.serted Brick. "It don't wobble one bit now, and it did before."

"That's because the outspreading branches of the tree are holding it like a vise," said Jerry. "I'll tell you what, fellows, this accident is the best thing that could have happened to us. The cabin is as solid as though it was built on stone, and the roof can't break down now, no matter how deep the snow becomes."

This was undoubtedly true, and the boys were vastly relieved to hear it.

"If we only had the matches and provisions here," said Brick. "Then we would be fixed."

"Yes, we could stand a long siege," a.s.sented Jerry. "But we've got to be up and doing. First, we'll have a bite to eat, and then Hamp can tackle the tunnel."

The storm still raged with unabated fury, and the stinging cold air penetrated to the cabin. The boys plugged up the hole, and then sat down to the scanty repast, which was soon over.

"Now for the tunnel," said Hamp.

He removed the sled and gingerly unb.u.t.toned the flap of canvas from the doorway.

The others helped him, and as fast as they removed the snow, they poked it out through the hole above. Finally the excavation was three feet deep, and high enough to admit Hamp on his hands and knees.

"You'll have to stop removing the snow now," said Jerry. "I can't poke any more out, for the drift is up over the hole in the wall."

"All right," replied Hamp, cheerfully, as he crawled into the tunnel.

"The snow is so light that I can pack it under me and against the sides.

It's nice and warm in here, fellows, but it's dark as pitch. I wish there was a little light."

"You'll have to wish," replied Jerry. "You can strike matches on the way back from the storehouse."

Hamp laughed, and his voice had a hollow, m.u.f.fled ring.

"Better let me come in and help you," cried Brick.

"No; stay there," responded Hamp. "If two fellows were working, we would surely have a cave-in. I'm getting along all right."

By this time he was five feet from the cabin. On hands and knees he went slowly ahead through the intense darkness. He wore stout buckskin gloves, and carried a slab of bark, with which he patted down the snow in front of him and slapped it against the sides of the tunnel. He could hear, as though from a great distance, the ceaseless roar of the tempest. All was quiet in the cabin, and he dared not call out to his companions, for fear his voice would bring an avalanche of snow into the tunnel.

Yet the lad was in a hazardous situation, and to himself he did not disguise the fact. At any moment might come disaster in the shape of a cave-in or a falling tree. Then, in the darkness, he would have little chance of escape.

He worked forward slowly and bravely. He had a definite plan in mind.

Directly out from the cabin door was the fireplace, and two or three feet to the right of this lay a flat stone, on which the boys had frequently sat while cooking the meals. Straight down the ravine from the stone was the storehouse. To reach the latter seemed simple enough, but it was not so easy after all.

Now and then he would throw himself flat, and stretch out his arms and legs to their fullest extent to make sure that the tunnel had no crooks.

At last something occurred that made his heart leap for joy. The slab of bark struck a hard obstacle. Hamp tore eagerly at the snow with both hands. Yes, he had found the fireplace. One by one he lifted the charred embers of wood. Here was the half-consumed log that had ceased to burn when the storm opened. So far the tunnel was just what he had aimed to make it.

In a short time Hamp cleared the s.p.a.ce round about him, and flattened the snow down solidly. He was tempted to push straight ahead for the storehouse, but a prudent second thought caused him to abandon the rash design. He turned to the right, and went on with the excavation. Hope made the time pa.s.s quickly, and he was surprised when he struck the flat stone. He tunneled clear over it with extreme caution. Then he veered sharply to the left and followed the triangular point of the stone, which he knew pointed straight for the storehouse.

Deeper and deeper grew the tunnel, and soon his feet were quite beyond the stone. He could barely kick it with his heels when he threw himself flat. The goal was now within six or eight feet.