/ 



Sintamaskin 



upon their sides, with heads outstretched, and 

 the tumbled snow covering up their heavy 

 powerful legs and big round black hoofs, 

 which carry them abroad when all other deer 

 are fast bound by impassable barriers of 

 snow. Their sleek sides glistened in the sun- 

 shine, and we saw the color of their bodies — a 

 hue the exactest balance between brown and 

 gray; an absolute neutral, which, with their 

 white heads and long-haired gray throats, 

 makes them seem of the very essence of the 

 northern forest and the winter rime. 



Our guides began at once to busy them- 

 selves with the preparations for luncheon, 

 always to me one of the most interesting 

 episodes of a winter day's journey. The foot 

 of a bold rock on the shore was selected as a 

 suitable place against which to build the fire ; 

 the snow about it tramped down to make it 

 more firm. The men drew little axes, shaped 

 like tomahawks, from the sashes wound about 

 their waists : one of them attacked a dry dead 

 tree which stood near by, his unerring strokes 

 ringing clear and sharp on the still air ; the 

 other vanished within the woods, where he 

 selected a fir-balsam and cut it down. We 

 heard the crashing as it fell, and saw a cloud 



147 



