THE BLIZZARD
"Whew! but it's bitter cold this morning!" shouted Sandy Griggs, as he
opened the cabin door and thrust his head out.
"Looks like a few flakes of snow shooting past, in the bargain," added
Bobolink. "That means that the long expected storm is upon us."
Paul turned to Jack at hearing this, for both of them were hurriedly
dressing after crawling out of their comfortable bunks.
"A little snow isn't going to make us hedge on that arrangement we
made the last thing before turning in, I hope, Jack?" he asked,
smilingly.
"I should say not!" came the prompt reply. "Besides, if it's going to
put a foot or two of the feathery on the ground, it strikes me you've
just got to get that expensive camera of yours again. I'm with you,
Paul, right after breakfast."
Tolly Tip was also in somewhat of a hurry, wishing to make the round
of his line of traps before the storm fully set in.
So it came about that Paul and his closest chum, after a cup of hot
coffee and a meagre breakfast, hurried away from the cabin.
"We can get another batch when we come back, if they save any for us,
you know," the scout-master remarked, as they opened the door and
passed out.
"Kape your bearin's, lads," called the old woodsman. "If so be the
storm comes along with a boom it'll puzzle ye to be sure av yer way.
And by the same token, to be adrift in thim woods with a howler
blowin' for thray days isn't any fun."
When the scouts once got started they found that the air was
particularly keen. Both of them were glad they had taken the
precaution to cover up their ears, and wear their warmest mittens.
"Something seems to tell me we're in for a regular blizzard this
time," Jack remarked as they trudged manfully along, at times bowing
their heads to the bitter wind that seemed to cut like a knife.
"I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that turned out to be true," Paul
contented himself with saying.
They did not exchange many words while breasting the gale, for it was
the part of wisdom to keep their mouths closed as much as possible.
Paul had taken note of the way to the spot where the camera trap had
been set in the hope of catching Bruin in the act of taking the sweet
bait.
A number of times he turned around and looked back. This was because
he had accustomed himself to viewing his surroundings at various
angles, which is a wise thing for a scout to do. Then when he tries to
retrace his steps he will not find himself looking at a reverse
picture that seems unfamiliar in his eyes.
In the course of time the boys arrived at their destination.
"Don't see anything upset around here," observed Paul, with a shade of
growing disappointment in his voice; and then almost instantly adding
in excitement: "But the bait's gone, all right--and yes! the cartridge
has been fired. Good enough!"
"Here you can see faint signs of the tracks of the bear under this new
coating of snow!" declared Jack, pointing down at his feet.
Paul, knowing that he would not go for his camera until after broad
daylight, had managed to so arrange it, with a clever attachment of
his own construction, that an exposure was made just at the second the
cord firing the flashlight was drawn taut.
It was a time exposure--the shutter remaining open for a score of
seconds before automatically closing again. This was arranged so that
pictures could be taken on moonlight nights as well as dark ones. He
had tried it on several previous occasions, and with very good
results.
Brushing the accumulated snow from his camera, he quickly had the
precious article in his possession.
"Nothing else to keep us here, is there, Paul?" asked Jud.
"No, and the sooner we strike a warm gait for the cabin the better,"
said the scout-master. "You notice, if anything, that wind is getting
sharper right along, and the snow strikes you on the cheek like shot
pellets, stinging furiously. So far as I'm concerned we can't make the
camp any too soon."
Nevertheless, it might have been noticed that Paul did not hurry, in
the sense that he forgot to keep his wits about him. The warning given
by Tolly Tip was still fresh in his ears, and even without it Paul
would hardly have allowed himself to become indiscreet or careless.
Jack, too, saw that they were following the exact line they had taken
in coming out. As a scout he knew that the other did not get his
bearings from any marks on the ground, such as might easily be
obliterated by falling snow. Trees formed the basis of Paul's
calculations. He particularly noticed every peculiarly shaped tree or
growth upon the right side while going out, which would bring them on
his left in returning.
In this fashion the scout-master virtually blazed a path as he went;
for those trees gave him his points just as well as though they
represented so many gashes made with a hatchet.
"I'm fairly wild to develop this film, and see whether the bear paid
for his treat with a good picture," Paul ventured to say when they
were about half way to the camp.
"Do you know what I was thinking about just then?" asked Jack.
"Something that had to do with other fellows, I'll be bound," replied
the scout-master. "You were looking mighty serious, and I'd wager a
cookey that you just remembered there were other fellows up here to be
caught in the blizzard besides our crowd."
Jack laughed at hearing this.
"You certainly seem to be a wizard, Paul, to guess what was in my
mind," he told his chum. "But it's just as you say. Sim Jeffreys told
us the other day that they had come up with only a small amount of
food along. If they've stayed around up to now they're apt to find
themselves in a pretty bad pickle."
"That's a fact, Jack, if this storm keeps on for several days, and the
snow happens to block all the paths out of the woods. Let's hope they
gave it up, and went back home again. We haven't seen a thing of them
since then, you remember."
Jack shook his head.
"You know how pig-headed Hank Lawson always is," he told his chum.
"Once he gets started in a thing, he hates everlastingly to give up.
He came here to bother us, I feel sure, and a little thing like a
shortage of provisions wouldn't force him to call the game off."
"Then it's your opinion, is it, Jack, they're still in that hole among
the rocks Sim spoke of?"
"Chances are three to one it's that way," quickly replied Jack. "They
have guns, and could get some game that way, for they know how to
hunt. Then if it came to the worst perhaps Hank would try to sneak
around our cabin, hoping to find a chance to steal some of our
supplies."
A short time later they sighted the cabin through the now thickly
falling snow, and both boys felt very glad to be able to get under
shelter.
Tolly Tip did not return until some hours had passed. By that time the
snow carried by a furious wind that howled madly around the corners,
was sweeping past the windows of the cabin like a cloud of dust.
Everybody was glad when the old woodsman arrived. He flung several
prizes down on the floor, not having taken the time to detach the
pelts.
"'Tis a screecher av a blizzard we're after havin' drop in on us, by
the same token," he said, with quivering lips, as he stretched out his
hands toward the cheerful blaze of the fire.
Being very eager to ascertain what measure of success had fallen to
him with regard to the bear episode, Paul proceeded to develop the
film.
When he rejoined the other boys in the front room some time later he
was holding up the developed film, still dripping with water.
"The best flashlight I ever got, let me tell you!" Paul exclaimed. At
this there was a cheer and a rush to see the film.
There was the bear, looking very much astonished at the sudden
brilliant illumination which must have seemed like a flash of
lightning to him.
All day long the storm howled, the snow drifted and scurried around
the cabin. Whenever the boys went for wood they had to be very careful
lest they lose their way even in such a short distance, for it was
impossible to see five feet ahead. When they went to bed that night
the same conditions held good, and every one felt that they were in
the grip of the greatest blizzard known for ten years.