CHAPTER XXII
SNOWBOUND IN THE MOUNTAINS
"If we stay here we'll be in danger of the falling trees!" cried Dave. He had to raise his voice to make himself heard above the fury of the elements.
"That's true, but where are we to go?" questioned Roger. The look in his eyes showed his keen anxiety.
"Isn't there some kind of a cliff around here, under which we can stand?" asked Granbury Lapham of the sleigh driver. Hendrik shrugged his shoulders for a moment, then suddenly tossed his head.
"Yes, I know such a spot," he said, in his native tongue. "Come, we will try to reach it before it is too late."
Amid the howling of the wind and the swirling of the snow, the horses and sleigh were turned partly around, and they struck off on a side trail, leading up the mountain. On and on they toiled, a distance of perhaps five hundred feet, although to the boys it seemed a mile or more. The wind was so strong it fairly took their breath away, and the snow all but blinded them. They had to walk, for it was all the double team could do to drag the turnout over the rough rocks and through the snow. Once Dave slipped, bumped against the Englishman, and both rolled downward a distance of several yards.
"Excuse me!" panted the young American. "My feet went up before I was aware."
"Don't mention it, my lad," was the gasped-out answer. "I fancy we're all doing the best we can."
Presently, through the driving snow, came the sight of a high, rocky wall. The sleigh driver halted and warned the others to do likewise.
"He says there is a pocket at the base of the cliff and we must be careful that we don't fall in it," said Granbury Lapham. "Let us wait until he makes certain it is perfectly safe."
In a few minutes Hendrik, having gone forward, came back and led the horses closer to the rocky wall, which towered over their heads a distance of a hundred feet or more. Toward the base the wall receded about a rod, so that the overhanging portion afforded a little shelter below. Outside of this shelter was a drift of snow as high as their heads, and the travelers had not a little trouble in getting through it.
"Well, this is certainly better than nothing," remarked Dave, as he shook the snow from his garments. "So long as the wind comes from down the mountain we'll be safe enough."
Hendrik proved a practical fellow in the emergency. He found a spot where some small rocks outside of the cliff set up something of a barrier in front. Then he unhitched the horses, took the outfit from the sleigh, and turned the sleigh upon its side. Not content with this, he found some fir saplings, cut them down with an axe he carried, and on them spread out the lap-robes. By the time he had finished they had quite a shelter from the wind and cold.
"Make a little fire now," he said, to the Englishman. "But be very careful that the forest does not catch." And then he explained that to allow the forest to burn in Norway was a prison offence.
"It's an outrage to burn down a forest, anyway," said Roger. "It takes so long for the trees to grow again."
"Yes, and they are never so nice afterwards either," added Dave.
With security from the storm, at least for the time being, everybody found himself hungry. A small fire of fir branches was started, and over this they made a pot of coffee and broiled a piece of the mutton brought along. They had some bread with them, and also some cheese-cake, and managed to make a square meal. They took their time eating, since there was nothing else to do.
"Wonder how long we'll have to stay here?" mused the senator's son.
"Until this awful wind lets up, I guess," answered Dave. "My! just listen to it roar and whistle! I shouldn't care to be out on the mountain top."
"You couldn't stand up there."
Hendrik brought in a large bundle of sticks and kept the fire going, so that they were soon well warmed. In the meantime it was growing darker and darker.
"We'll have to stay here until morning," announced Granbury Lapham. "To attempt to move in this darkness would be foolhardy."
There was absolutely nothing to do after that but sit down and rest, and soon the dancing of the fire made Dave sleepy. He rolled up in a blanket and closed his eyes, and presently Roger followed his example.
When the two boys awoke it was morning, but only a faint light reached them in their sleeping place under the cliff. They found Granbury Lapham already up. The sleigh driver, worn out, was stretched beside the fire, snoring lustily.
"Why, what has happened?" asked Dave, trying to look beyond the shelter. "I declare, it looks as if we were snowed in!"
"That's about the size of it," returned the senator's son. "And it looks to me as if it was still snowing."
"We'll have a time getting out on the road."
It was snowing thickly, so that but little could be seen beyond the improvised shelter. Fortunately, however, the wind had gone down, so that it was not nearly so cold as it had been.
They made themselves breakfast, and then Granbury Lapham aroused the sleigh driver. Hendrik went beyond the shelter before eating and shook his head dubiously.
"It will be a hard road to travel," he announced, in Norwegian, to the Englishman. "A hard road indeed!"
"Don't you think we can reach Bojowak today?" asked Granbury Lapham.
"We can try," was the non-committal reply.
They did not start until nearly noon. First Hendrik broke the road with the horses alone and then came back for the sleigh. It took a full hour to get down to the spot where they had turned off the Bojowak highway the day previous. Even then they broke one of the traces and had to stand around while the leather was mended. The falling snow was so thick they could not see any distance ahead. It clung to their fur caps and overcoats until each looked "like a regular Santa Claus," as Dave declared.
Beyond the forest the road ran along a ridge, and here they found traveling much easier, so that all entered the sleigh once more and rode. But at the end of the ridge they found a hollow covered even with snow.
"What's the trouble now?" questioned the Englishman, as Hendrik pulled in his four horses.
"I must see how deep it is first," was the reply, and the Norwegian jumped out and walked ahead with a long and slender pole he had brought along. Of a sudden he sank up to his waist. Then he stuck his pole down ahead of him. The snow was all of seven feet deep. He shook his head vigorously.
"We can't drive through there," said Dave. "Now what's to be done?"
Roger and Granbury Lapham stared around helplessly. The driver came back and began an Inspection of the ground to the left. Here was another ridge. He said they might try skirting that, since there seemed nothing else to do.
"All right, anything so long as we get to Bojowak!" cried Dave. The sleigh was turned partly around and the horses tugged and labored bravely to get through the snow on the new route. They went up a small rise of ground and then along a ridge that did not appear to be more than two yards wide. At one point there was a sharp decline on the left.
"We'll have to be careful here!" cried the Englishman to the driver. "Otherwise we may all take a tumble."
He had hardly spoken when a sleigh ran up on a rock on one side and plunged into a hollow on the other. In a twinkling the turnout was upset. Dave felt himself pitched out and rolled over and over before he could stop himself. Then he went down and down, he knew not whither. His hand touched that of Roger, and instinctively the two chums clung to each other. The snow filled their eyes, ears, and noses, and almost smothered them. They saw a little light, and then suddenly all became pitch-dark around them.
For several seconds after they fell neither spoke, for each was busy collecting his scattered senses. They were side by side on their backs and the snow was still all around them. Dave put out an arm, felt something of an opening, and crawled into it.
"Roger, are you all right?"
"I—I guess so!" came in a spluttering voice. "But I must have rolled ov—er a hun—hundred times!"
"So did I. We came down on the lightning express, didn't we?"
"Where are we, and where is the sleigh?"
"Don't ask me. We're at the bottom of some place. Come here, there is more room to breathe."
The senator's son followed Dave into the opening the latter had found. All was so dark here they could not see a thing. They stood close together, fearing to take another step.
"Hello! hello!" yelled Dave, when he had his breath back, and Roger quickly joined in the cry. To their consternation there was no answer.
"Most likely the others went down, too," said Dave.
"Then they ought to be near here."
"Unless they slipped clear down to the bottom of the mountain. If they did that I guess it's good-bye to them."
"Oh, do you think they've been killed, Dave?"
"I don't know what to think. Let us call again."
They did so, a dozen times or more. But no answer came back. All around them it was as silent as a tomb.
While procuring their outfit Dave had invested in a pocket lantern, and this he now brought forth and lit. By the tiny rays he made out that they had tumbled into a hollow between several large rocks, over which the snow and ice hung thickly. A big bank of snow was in front of them and behind was a black-looking space of uncertain depth.
"Roger, I must confess, I don't like the look of things."
"Don't like the look of things? Well, I guess not, Dave! How are we ever to get out?"
"I don't know."
"But we've got to get out somehow," went on the senator's son, desperately. "We can't stay here forever."
"Not unless this place becomes our tomb."
"You are cheerful, to say the least," answered Roger, with a shiver.
"I don't intend the place shall be my tomb," went on Dave, sturdily. "I am going to get out somehow. Let us do a little exploring."
"What! go into that black hole behind us? Why, we may fall into a bottomless pit!"
"Not if we are careful."
"I don't want to take any more chances—I've taken enough."
Dave held the light low so that he could see where he was going and walked into the opening behind him for a couple of rods. Roger followed very gingerly, for he did not want to be left behind. The opening proved to be a cave in the mountain side and the roof and flooring were of almost solid rock. Walking was very rough, and they could not tell how far the cave extended or in what direction.
"I am going to call again," said Roger, and going back to the mouth of the cave they set up as strong a cry as before. At first they fancied somebody answered them, but then all became silent.
"Nothing doing," murmured the senator's son, and his face took on a look of deep anxiety. "Dave" He stopped short.
"What?"
"Nothing, only—do you really think the others were killed?"
"Let us hope not," was Dave's grave reply.