I 



Sintamaskin 



in, we were a tired and hungry pair. So it 

 was with difficulty now that I summoned up 

 resolution to perform the duty of which the 

 biting cold upon my face and the snapping of 

 the log walls of our camp apprised me, and 

 resisted the insidious argument that I really 

 was not awake. To leave the snug shelter of 

 warm blankets in order to rake together a few 

 almost extinct embers, nurse them into a 

 glow, and pile the stove full of wood is not an 

 alluring task at such a time ; but camp-fire 

 etiquette, sometimes relaxed in the milder au- 

 tumn season, must be rigidly adhered to, even 

 indoors, in these long, frigid winter nights. 

 Therefore my companion and I had made the 

 usual agreement that he who woke first should 

 forthwith replenish the fire, and as his deep 

 breathing was now proof that nothing was to 

 be expected of him, I conquered my slothful 

 disinclination, and a roaring blaze at last re- 

 warded my efforts. Then I opened the door 

 upon such a night as only the northern winter 

 can show. 



Silence, absolute and supreme ; the rich 

 purple-black of the sky revealing its immeas- 

 urable depth, in which hung, clear and round 



and at many distances, the myriad stars which 



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