LOST IN A CEDAR SWAMP 141 



We talked of trapping, of instances of lost men in the 

 woods, of the religions of the world in fact of every- 

 thing I could think of to chain Tom's interest and my 

 own to the necessity of keeping up and keeping near 

 the fire. 



What a welcome sight it was when the first reddish 

 tinge illumined the eastern sky ! Before daylight had 

 fully arrived we found some ice which had formed 

 during the night beneath a cedar root. This I melted 

 in a tin dipper, and put into it a bouillon capsule. The 

 water was boiled, the contents of the capsule cooked, 

 and we had our first nourishment in twenty-four hours. 



A tin dipperful to each, and then we were off in 

 search of some road which might lead us out of the 

 swamp. 



The first one we found led us down to a great 

 meadow, through which a winding stream runs, at 

 one place spreading out into a small lake. Then we 

 got our bearings. We were six miles from camp. 

 We descried two men in a canoe who were taking 

 home a deer they had shot the previous night. 



A piece of silver induced one of them to paddle us 

 as far up the stream as it was necessary for us to go 

 to strike a direct route to the camp, where we landed, 

 after a walk of two more miles, at eleven o'clock in the 

 forenoon. 



Tom would not then, and, in fact, never did, admit 

 that we were lost. 



