Silver Lake | Page 8

a
comfortable encampment made, an' a roarin' fire kindled, why, we'll sit
beside it an' tell stories till they find us. They'll be sure to see the fire,
you know, so come--let's to work."
Roy said this so cheerfully that the child felt a little comforted, dried
her eyes, and said she would "help to make the camp."
This matter of making an encampment in the snow, although laborious
work, was by no means a novelty to these children of the backwoods.
They had often been taught how to do it by Cousin Walter and Larry
O'Dowd, and had made "playing at camps" their chief amusement in
fine winter days. When, therefore, they found themselves compelled to
"camp-out" from necessity, neither of them was at a loss how to
proceed. Roy drew a circle in the snow, about three yards in diameter,
at the foot of a large tree, and then both set to work to dig a hole in this
space, using their snow-shoes as shovels. It took an hour's hard work to
reach the ground, and when they did so the piled-up snow all round
raised the walls of this hole to the height of about six feet.
"Now for bedding," cried Roy, scrambling over the walls of their camp

and going into the woods in search of a young pine-tree, while Nelly
sat down on the ground to rest after her toil.
It was a dark night, and the woods were so profoundly obscured, that
Roy had to grope about for some time before he found a suitable tree.
Cutting it down with the axe which always hung at his girdle, he
returned to camp with it on his shoulder, and cut off the small soft
branches, which Nelly spread over the ground to the depth of nearly
half a foot. This "pine-brush," as it is called, formed a soft elastic
couch.
The fire was the next business. Again Roy went into the bush and
gathered a large bundle of dry branches.
"Now, Nelly, do you break a lot of the small twigs," said Roy, "and I'll
strike a light."
He pulled his firebag from his belt as he spoke, and drew from it flint,
steel, and tinder. No one ever travels in the wilds of which we write
without such means of procuring fire. Roy followed the example of his
elder companions in carrying a firebag, although he did not, like them,
carry tobacco and pipe in it.
Soon the bright sparks that flew from the flint caught on the tinder.
This was placed in a handful of dry grass, and whirled rapidly round
until it was fanned into a flame. Nelly had prepared another handful of
dry grass with small twigs above it. The light was applied, the fire
leaped up, more sticks were piled on, and at last the fire roared upward,
sending bright showers of sparks into the branches overhead, lighting
the white walls of the camp with a glow that caused them to sparkle as
with millions of gems, and filling the hearts of the children with a
sensation of comfort and gladness, while they stood before the blaze
and warmed themselves, rubbing their hands and laughing with glee.
No one, save those who have experienced it, can form any conception
of the cheering effect of a fire in the heart of a dark wood at night. Roy
and Nelly quite forgot their lost condition for a short time, in the
enjoyment of the comforting heat and the bright gladsome blaze. The

brother cut firewood until he was rendered almost breathless, the sister
heaped on the wood until the fire roared and leaped high above their
heads. Strange though it may appear to some, the snow did not melt.
The weather was too cold for that; only a little of that which was
nearest the fire melted--the snow walls remained hard frozen all round.
Roy soon sat down to rest, as close to the fire as he could without
getting scorched; then Nelly seated herself by his side and nestled her
head in his breast. There they sat, telling stories and gazing at the fire,
and waiting for "father to come."
Meanwhile Robin and his comrade ranged the forest far and near in
desperate anxiety. But it was a wide and wild country. The children had
wandered far away; a high ridge of land hid their fire from view.
Moreover, Robin, knowing the children's usual haunts, had chanced to
go off in the wrong direction. When night set in the hunters returned to
Fort Enterprise to procure ammunition and provisions, in order to
commence a more thorough and prolonged search. Poor Mrs Gore still
sat beside the cold and untasted feast, and there the hunters left her,
while they once more plunged into the