Bert, immediately behind him, 

 slipped his huge pack oft on a log 

 and slowly straightened himself to 

 an upright position. He slid down 

 the steep bank and into a canoe 

 where he could surreptitiously bathe 

 his head. 



Each had the air of doing nothing 

 more, no matter what happened. 

 We all sat like graven images, so 

 motionless and quiet that a weasel, 

 shyest of creatures, actually played 

 about among us. It darted over 

 Sally's skirt, and getting bolder, 

 over my foot. It sniffed the straps 

 of the roll under Arthur and ate 

 some bread crumbs that had 

 tumbled out of the Cook's pocket 

 when he had put on his coat. 



Nimrod and Bobbie, arriving to- 

 gether, at last broke the spell. Puf- 

 fing and panting, purple and white 

 they dropped their packs. Cer- 

 tainly neither had ever carried such 

 loads before, but they wanted to 



show those men that it was not 



such a task. Silently they stood and 

 read the message of silence that was 

 presented there in the snowy woods. 



Then Nimrod started to chop 



