after luncheon the three boys went over to inspect their old boat, and came back towards evening, bringing the oars, some straps of iron that had guarded her keel, the drag-ropes, and one or two other things. they had succeeded in pulling the boat ashore, but she had been too badly damaged to be of any further use to them.
three days were now occupied busily in shooting, fishing, and putting runners on the scow. these runners were simply strips of board (which they had taken from the house) about four inches wide and fourteen feet long—the length of the boat's bottom. with the iron from the sled runners and from their own boat they shod these boat runners rudely, and strengthened the frame.
during this time the dogs had been almost always within sight, and their near approach during the night would frequently awaken the sleepers in the cabin, rex quickest, of course. katy was sure that if the animals could have been fed they would speedily have become docile; and when tug proposed to shoot them for food, everybody resisted, at least, until they should be in a worse strait than now. nevertheless it was probably fortunate for the mastiff family that it kept out of gun-range.
the next and last day of their stay on the island was very cold, and a heavy wind brought hosts of birds, so that they captured twenty snow-flakes, and shot over thirty cross-bills, red-polls, and other small fry, which were placed on the roof as fast as obtained, where they froze solid, and thus kept fresh. this made katy the most happy of all, for she alone knew that everything was gone except about two messes of coffee and one potful of corn-meal mush.
"now, if only we could catch a big fish, we should be fixed grandly," said jim, as he went out to look at and bring home the lines. when he came back, however, he wore the long face and empty hands of disappointment, but left one line in hope of taking something during the night.
at sunset the gale went down, the stars glistened like gems, and the frost showed no signs of ceasing. by the light of a great fire of drift-wood on the beach the little scow was partly loaded, and then all hands went for the last time to their mattresses of hemlock boughs. what was ahead they had little notion, but they were now used to peril, and eager to begin their journey, not only because each one felt that he could scarcely be worse off, but from the excitement of commencing new adventures.
the morning of departure dawned clear and cold, continuing the promises of good weather.
jim's early visit to his set-line next morning yielded him one small pickerel, while the traps gave a solitary snow-bird. these, with some other feathered mites, katy cooked, while aleck and tug finished the packing. it was not a bad breakfast, you may think, for shipwrecked persons, but try it once for yourself—fish fried in bacon grease, some fragments of stewed snow-bird, and weak coffee. no bread, no butter, no potatoes, no green relish, no hot cakes, no anything except pickerel and weak coffee. but they thought it the best meal they had had on the island; and after a hasty washing and stowing of dishes they buckled on their skates, took their familiar places at the drag-ropes, and with a cheer started southward, steering by the compass.
their old enemies came dashing down the hillside as the expedition took up its march, and stood upon the beach, seeming greatly astonished at the departure of the people at the cottage. rex barked an angry farewell, which caused them to race out upon the ice as though to punish him for his impertinence; but they stopped short of bullet-range, greatly to tug's disgust, and presently turned and trotted back to resume their wild career. when last seen they were prowling about the deserted house, trying to push their way into the door, or to break through the glass of the little window. i have no doubt they succeeded; and i hope that they managed to exist until the fishermen came the next summer and took them off, for, after all, these dogs knew no different way of acting, and therefore could not be blamed for their savagery, even though it was needful that our heroes should guard against it.
the ice was in good condition, and the skaters made fair progress, so that by noon the dusky line of the mainland was plainly visible ahead.
at last jim called out that he couldn't skate another stroke, and threw himself down, utterly "done for." aleck ordered a halt at once, and began to build a small fire—for fuel had not been forgotten. nobody understood how fatigued they had become by the unwonted exercise in their weak condition, until they found that an hour's halt seemed of little account, and decided to make it two. after that they went on slowly and lamely until near sundown, by which time the island had almost disappeared, and the mainland was growing distinct. then they camped, stewing snow-birds for supper, and making a big corn-meal cake, which they baked in the skillet. immediately afterwards beds were made up on the cargo, underneath the canvas, and each one slept as well as he could.
the next day several hummocks stood in the way, and just about noon they came to a channel of open water about a mile wide. it was not rough, and they slid their boat over the edge of the ice into the water without any difficulty.
"if we had only known enough to have made us a good boat of this shape before starting, we should have got along much better," aleck told them, and they all agreed with him, talking it over while they picked a few lean, and very cool bird-bones for luncheon before beginning the ferriage.
the load sank the weak scow so deeply that the water ran into cracks in her side, despite their calking; and as they were afraid to embark the whole expedition, two trips were made. this was slow and freezing work; and when finally all had got across, and had skated on about a mile, everybody was so cold and tired and sore that a camp was made under the shelter of a tall hummock. aleck comforted the pride of the younger ones, who worried over their exhaustion, by telling them it was because they were so nearly starved; but this was poor consolation, they thought, so long as there seemed no chance for any increase in their supplies, or means of regaining their strength.
"now," he remarked, "see what we have for supper to-night—two snow-birds and a small piece of corn-bread apiece. that would not make a full meal for one of us. if any accident prevents our getting ashore to-morrow i don't know what we shall do, for we have only enough food for breakfast, and a 'powerful weak' one at that!"
"that's hardest on me," said tug, "for breakfast is my strong point. if i can have only one meal a day, i want to take it in the morning."
"that'll be your fix to-morrow, i guess," was the gloomy rejoinder.
the next day's run was a slow one, for the ice was bad in many places, and several hummocks had to be explored to find passable crossing-places. they could sight islands off at their left, but the nearest was several miles away; and though they knew they belonged to the put-in-bay group, they did not think it would pay to swerve from their course so long as the ice permitted them to advance towards the mainland. so they kept on, and the shore came nearer and nearer, until they could see that they were entering a great "bight," and that one mass of land, three or four miles towards the left, which they had taken for an island, was really a headland; so they shaped their course for it.
near the beach stood a little house surrounded by small fields and hemmed in by the leafless woods. towards this cottage they made their way, and its owner evidently saw them coming, for a grizzled old man, helping himself with a cane, hobbled down to meet them as they approached the beach.
