the warm rain continued all that day and the next night, while the boys rested, except that tug went to his set-lines and brought back a fine pike of about six pounds' weight, which gave them a good dinner. by the next morning the snow had nearly all melted away, and the sun shone warm, while great glistening pools of water lay spread out upon the ice. it was evident that the long-delayed january thaw had come at last.
the disappearance of the snow brought several things to light that they had not seen before. bits of iron and general rubbish appeared about the door. a heap of snow which they had thought concealed a bowlder, exposed by its melting an old flat-bottomed skiff, turned upside down, and under it lay a torn sail, with its mast. behind the house tug found several articles he thought "might come handy;" among the rest a short piece of lead pipe, which he seized upon at once. then, while aleck and jimmy walked out to look at the traps, tug built a hot fire, and went to work at making bullets of the lead. he melted his old pipe in a piece of tin, which he had hammered into a spoon, and dropped the molten metal into cold water. the bullets, or shot, were not all of the same size, and were more pear-shaped than round; but by whittling and hammering they did very well, and in two hours he had a handful.
"now," said he, with a vengeful tone in his voice, "just let me get a shot at those or'nary curs!"
later, aleck came back, reporting no birds, but bringing a small pickerel.
"but i saw another flock of cross-bills, and i'm going to take my 'pitchfork' and go after them," jimmy added, eagerly; and at once went out, while katy put on her hat and started for a short walk.
"aleck," said tug, when they were alone, "i have wanted a good chance to talk with you about the fix we're in. i feel sure that, snug as we are, it's no good to stay here."
"how are we going to get away? our boat is useless for ice travel, now that the sledge is gone, even if we save her in decent condition, which we must see about this afternoon."
"i have been looking at that little scow down on the shore. she is big enough to carry us in water, and i believe we could put a couple of low runners on her bottom, so as to move over an ice-field. come with me and have a look at her."
so the two lads went down to the old boat, and looked her carefully over, discussing all the repairs she would need, and how they could be made.
"but why don't you think we could stay here longer?" aleck asked, after a time.
"because," his companion replied, "we have almost no ammunition and almost no fishing-tackle. in a week from now we should have to live wholly on what we could catch in fishing and by traps, and we get so little now that i think it foolish to risk it if we can get a chance to escape. i reckon it'll freeze up hard again in a few days, but for the last time this winter. probably the ice'll break up so badly next time it thaws that we couldn't sledge on it; and after that, you know, come the long, stormy months of spring, when, if we tried sailing, our boat wouldn't keep afloat with four people in it during a journey across the lake. if we can't get away over the ice before the next break-up, i believe we're goners."
"it can't be very far to the mainland; but the weather has always been so thick i never could see far southward," aleck remarked.
"it's clear to-day," said tug. "let's go and take a look."
inspired with hope, the two comrades, forgetful of everything else, hastened up the hillside, and soon reached the pinnacle of rocks that formed their lookout.
the air was clear, the sky cloudless, and the first glance southward showed them, faint upon the low horizon, yet distinct enough to be unmistakable, the long, dark line of the mainland. between them and it all lay white, mixed with blue—a plain of ice covered with thin patches of rain-water. they could not see more than eight or ten miles; but in no direction except on the northern horizon (towards the centre of the lake) was there any sign of open water. they hoped, and this helped them to believe, that between them and the shore lay an unbroken plain of ice.
"if that is so," said aleck, "and it will only come on cold before it snows, we could skate right across."
"take us a couple of days, you'll find," tug replied.
"pshaw! it can't be more than twenty miles."
"yes, but we're not so strong as we were when we started. we've none of us really had a square meal for a fortnight, and some of us have been knocked on the head, you know, and that don't help a man any."
"at any rate, it will be best to get ready right away."
"that's my ticket," tug replied. "by the way, can we see the red erik? oh, yes, there she is—all right, i reckon."
"yes, she appears to be."
