Trail and Camp-Fire 



of snow-dust rise among the trees. Presently 

 he reappeared, bearing upon his shoulder a 

 length of the trunk, which he threw upon the 

 snow before the rock ; then away again, to 

 return with a great load of thick green 

 branches, which he piled upon the log. This 

 was to be our seat. Then he turned to help 

 his comrade, who was chopping up the dry 

 wood of the dead tree. They brought loads 

 of this ; it was built up against the rock ; 

 strips of fat bark were torn from a birch and 

 thrust under and among the sticks, the match 

 was applied, and in a moment the crackling 

 flames were shedding a heat more than grate- 

 ful to him who, warm and a little tired with 

 the toil of long and heavy tramping, soon had 

 begun to chill under inaction in the keen 

 cold. Meanwhile, one of our Indians had 

 taken the tin pail and gone out a way upon 

 the lake. He took off one of his snow-shoes, 

 and used it as a spade to dig a hole in the 

 snow ; at the bottom he found slush, through 

 which he broke with a few blows of the head 

 of his axe. Below again was water, a few 

 inches deep, and under that the ice. He 

 dipped his pail full and returned to the fire. 



A green pole was driven into the snow, and 



148 



