ay the snow from the entrance, and to carry
in wood from the pile.

The time passed more cheerfully than might have been expected. He
had by this time begun to talk Polish with some facility, and was
able to understand the stories that the men told, as they sat round
the fire; sometimes tales of adventures they themselves had gone
through, sometimes stories of the history of Poland, its frequent
internal wars, and its struggles with the Turks.

Making bread and cooking occupied some portion of the time, and
much was spent in sleep. At the end of a week the snow ceased
falling and the sun came out, and all were glad to leave the hut
and enjoy the clear sky and the keen air.

While they had been confined to the hut, two of the men had made a
large number of snares for hares, and they at once started into the
forest, to set these in spots where they saw traces of the animals'
passage over the snow. The rest went off in parties of twos and
threes in search of other game.

With the exception of Charlie, all were accustomed to the woods;
but, as Stanislas had much less experience than the others, the
captain decided to go with them.

"It is easy for anyone to lose his way here," he said. "In fact,
except to one accustomed to the woods, it would be dangerous to go
far away from the hut. As long as it is fine, you will find your
way back by following your own tracks, but if the weather changed
suddenly, and it came on to snow, your case would be hopeless. One
of the advantages of placing our hut on a stream is that it forms a
great aid to finding one's way back. If you strike it above, you
follow it down; if below, upwards, until you reach the hut. Of
course you might wander for days and never hit it, still it is much
more easy to find than a small object like the hut, though even
when found, it would be difficult to decide whether it had been
struck above or below the hut.

"Now, there is one rule if, at any time, you get lost. Don't begin
to wander wildly about, for, if you did, you would certainly walk
in a circle, and might never be found again. Sit down quietly and
think matters over, eat if you have got any food with you; then
examine the sky, and try to find out from the position of the sun,
or the direction in which the clouds are going, which way the hut
ought to lie. Always take with you one of your pistols; if you fire
it three times, at regular intervals, it will be a signal that you
want help, and any of u