366 



part to have left him facing the 

 problem of desertion, "ladies or no 

 ladies." 



But a wise general knows when to 

 surrender. Bobbie returned with 

 the welcome news that the little 

 log shelter had been ' '.located" and 

 leaving the guides to rest as best 

 they could on the damp, uneven, 

 log-choked ground, we put our bed- 

 ding in two canoes and, like spirits 

 of the dark, stole across the tiny 

 lake, where a pale and watery moon 

 now shining through the thin snow 

 veil, revealed a ghostly object not 

 wrought by nature. A tiny dirty 

 place it was, hardly room for the 

 four of us on the floor, but we, in- 

 different to all but the claims of 

 tired muscles, and curtained by the 

 dark, crawled into our sleeping bags 

 and soon at least some of us were 

 vying with the wood borers in pro- 

 ducing rhythmic noise upon the 

 midnight air. 



