CHAPTER XIII
HELPING THE HERMIT
Mr. Jessup, with his dog floundering in the snow ahead of him, came toward the boys, who were still stuck in the snowbank, though slowly getting out of it.
"What's the matter?" cried the hunter. "What happened to you? You ought not to go in a place like that!"
"We couldn't help it!" exclaimed Sammy, with a laugh. "We were pushed in!"
"Pushed in?" exclaimed Mr. Jessup. "What in the world do you mean, Sammy?"
"Help us out, and we'll tell you," suggested Frank. "We're tired out trying to wade through the deep snow."
"I guess that's right," admitted Mr. Jessup. "I had better be helping you instead of talking. Come on, Maybe!"
With big strides the hunter came on. To him the drift gave little trouble, though for the small boys it was all they could do to wade through. But now they had help.
Mr. Jessup had a pair of snow-shoes strapped to his back, though the crust was not thick enough to allow him to use them. They would come in useful as snow shovels, though, and he at once took them for that purpose.
"Here you go!" he cried to Bob, who was nearest him. "Catch one of these shoes and help dig a path. I'll dig one to meet with yours, and when you get out here, where the snow isn't so deep, you'll be all right."
"Hurray!" cried Sammy, glad that everything was more pleasant now.
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