All marks of the bobsled's runners were long since lost under the new snow. The hill grew steeper. Sammy's yells were half stifled by the wind and snow.
It did seem as though that slide was a very long one! In climbing the hill the trio had had no idea they had walked so far. And how steep it was!
Over a level piece the sled would travel at a moderate rate, and then shoot down a sudden decline that almost took their breath. Surely they must have traveled almost to the Lodge from which they had started.
Finally the path became level. Great trees rose all about them. They could see but a short distance in any direction because of the falling snow.
The sled stopped. The girls hopped off and Sammy struggled to his feet and shook the snow out of his eyes.
"Je-ru-sa-_lem_!" he choked. "What a slide! Did you ever, Tess?"
"No, I never did," admitted Tess quite seriously.
"Oh!" cried Dot. "Let's go home. I'm co-co-o-old. Why--why--" she gasped suddenly, looking about on all sides.
"Well, don't cry about it," snorted Sammy. "Of course we'll go home. We must be almost there now--we slid so far."
"Oh, yes. We _must_ be near Red Deer Lodge," agreed Tess.
It did not look like any place they had ever seen before. The trees were much taller than any they had noticed about the Lodge. Yet there was the open path ahead of them. They set Dot upon the sled again, and Tess helped Sammy drag it and her sister straight ahead. Somewhere in that direction they were all three sure Red Deer Lodge was situated.
After all the activities of the forenoon both by the older boys and girls of the vacation party at Red Deer Lodge, and by the children as well, the soft snow was considerably marked up by footprints around the premises.
Ike M'Graw and Neale O'Neil, searching for prints of the feet of those who they thought had left the vicinity of the house early that morning, struck directly off for the edge of the clearing.
"The best we can do," M'Graw declared, "is to follow the line of the woods clean around the clearing. Somewhere, whoever 'tis got that fox and lifted the canned goods, must have struck into the woods. They ain't hidin' in the barns or anywhere here. I've been searchin' them. That's certain."