4 8 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



I descended a few hundred feet into the upper 

 edge of the woods to find shelter for the night. 

 Clearing out the snow between a cliff and a rock 

 about six feet from it, I had an excellent lodging 

 place. I built a roaring fire and heated a number 

 of stones. When this space was warmed I pushed 

 the fire and the heated stones along the open space 

 between the rock and the cliff. Then I started a 

 fire against the base of the detached rock. Two 

 huge sticks were placed at the bottom of this fire 

 pile. Over these smaller ones were laid, and at 

 the top still smaller ones. I set fire to this on the 

 top so that it would burn slowly and not be at its 

 hottest for an hour or two. Within the circle of 

 warmth I placed my elkskin sleeping bag, crawled 

 into it, and slept for nearly four hours. When the 

 cold awakened me I renewed both fires, then had 

 another short sleep. When I again awoke I was 

 ready for another day's adventure. 



I set off through a forested slope that tilted 

 gently toward the sun. Black shadows, long and 

 straight, lay upon the forest floor. The crowded 

 pines were slender and limbless except at the top. 

 Across an opening these slender shadows were at 

 their best, with the snow glistening in white lines 

 between their deep black ones. After two hours 

 I came out upon a white and treeless meadow, across 

 which shadows were flying — moving cloud shadows 

 rushed across, and the shadow of a soaring eagle 

 appeared swiftly skating in circles over the snow. 



