“Guess I might as well go along,” Jack declared as he swung himself into the lower branches, followed by Bob. It was a beautiful vision which unfolded itself to them as they paused well up toward the top of the lofty spruce and peered out between the branches. No less than a half dozen lakes, some large and others small, could be seen, all but one free of ice. Over toward the northwest the waters of a large river sparkled like silver as the rays of the morning sun struck it. “That’s the St. Lawrence,” Bob pointing with his hand. “And which is Musquacook Lake?” Jack asked. “That’s the main question just now.” Bob pulled the map from his pocket, and getting a firm seat on a big limb began to study it. Jack was on a limb just above him from which he could easily see the map. “Here we are,” Bob declared. “You see those two lakes down there only a few miles apart. Well according to this map that one to the left is Long Lake and the other must be Musquacook.” “It doesn’t look more than a couple of miles from here,” Jack declared as Bob folded the map and replaced it in his pocket. “I’ll bet it’s nearer ten though,” he said as he started downward. “You know in this clear air a thing always looks a good bit nearer than it really is,” he explained as he dropped to the ground. “But we’ll make it in a couple of hours if nothing happens. We can make good time going down hill.” Bob was pretty nearly right in his estimate both as to distance and time, for exactly two hours later they reached the foot of the lake, which they felt sure was their destination. “Just ten o’clock,” Bob announced as he glanced at his watch. “And what’s next on the program?” Jack asked. “Well, there must be some kind of a cabin here somewhere and I suppose the next thing is to find it. We may have to go clear round the lake before we come to it but I sure hope not.” “All right. Which way’ll we go?” “Since Rex came in from Presque Isle he’d strike the lake to our right and I guess that way’ll be our best bet,” Bob argued. By this time the snow had begun to soften and they had gone but a short distance when they were obliged to resort to the snow-shoes. They had trudged along for a matter of four or five miles, keeping as close to the lake as possible, when Bob, who was leading the way, suddenly came to a stop and held up his hand as a signal to keep quiet. “There’s a cabin just ahead of us,” he whispered. “And there’s smoke coming out of the chimney. I guess that’s pretty good evidence that there’s somebody there. Now the question is whether or not it’s Rex.” “How are we going to find out?” Jack whispered. “Well, the way I figure it we’ve got to be mighty careful, because the chances are that if Rex is there, he’s being kept against his will, and a man that would do that is sure to be a pretty desperate character. I guess the best thing we can do is to just wait here and watch awhile and see if anything happens that’ll put us wise.”