“Fine’s a fiddle,” Rex assured him “and breakfast will be ready just as soon as the coffee boils.” The rain had stopped but a glance outside told Bob that the weather had not entirely cleared. “It’s going to be a pretty hard tramp on that wet snow,” he thought as he stepped back into the room. He woke Jack and in a few minutes Rex announced that breakfast was ready. As soon as they were finished they lifted Parry from his bunk and placed him in a chair. “Now, Parry, I’ll feed you,” Rex said. “You untie hands, I be bon.” The breed declared with an imploring look. But Rex shook his head. “No, my friend. I’ve seen what you can do with those hands and I’m not going to take a chance.” So he had to submit to being fed, an operation which took some little time as he was a big feeder. “Well I guess I’ll be on my way,” Bob said as soon as the first gleam of the coming dawn showed in the east. “Sure you can find the way?” Rex asked anxiously. “Sure. I’ve got a map here and my compass. I’ll be all right and I ought to be back here by three or four o’clock. You be careful with that fellow and don’t let him get loose,” he cautioned as he fastened the thongs of his snow-shoes. “Well so long,” he said as he shook hands with them. As he had feared the snow was very wet and sticky and the going was hard from the start. But he was used to it and a merry whistle floated back to the two on the porch as they watched him until the mighty forest swallowed him. “He’s a boy in a thousand,” Rex declared as they turned back into the cabin, and Jack heartily agreed with him. Before washing the dishes Rex again examined their prisoner’s bonds and assured himself that all was well. “We must not let him out of our sight for a minute,” he whispered to Jack. “His strength is really marvelous and he might wiggle out of those ropes and if he should, he’d make short work of us.” “Will you go back with them when they come after Parry?” Jack asked as he was drying the dishes. “I thought I’d like to go with you,” Rex said. “You see that business, which I was supposed to attend to, has been settled long before this and there is really no hurry about my getting back now.” “That’ll be the finest ever,” Jack declared, delighted at the thought of having their friend with them on the homeward trip. “We’ll show you how they drive logs down the river. Say did you ever see a log rolling contest?” “No. I never did, but I’ve read about them. It must be fun.” “I’ll say it is.” Meanwhile Bob was plowing his way through the wet snow toward Ashland. Before he had gone far the sun broke through the clouds and it began to grow warm and he was soon forced to remove his mackinaw. How the snow did stick to his shoes. It seemed as though he was lifting a heavy weight every time he raised a foot.