hich the others had characteristically
shirked, for Blake was often careless and Benson had taken the risks of
the journey with frank indifference, though they had the excuse that
after nearly starving once or twice they had succeeded in getting fresh
supplies. Now, however, their hearts sank as they thought of the
expanse of frozen wilderness that lay between them and the settlements.

"Well," said Blake, "there's a Hudson's Bay factory somewhere to the
east of us. I can't tell how far off it is, though it must be a long
way, but if we could reach it, the agent might take us in."

"How are you going to find the place?"

"I don't know, but a Hudson's Bay post is generally fixed where there
are furs to be got, and there will, no doubt, be Indians trapping in
the neighbourhood. We must take our chances of hitting their tracks."

"But we can't make a long march without food," Benson objected.

"The trouble is that we can't stay here without it," Blake rejoined
with a short laugh.

This was undeniable, and neither of his companions answered. They were
unkempt, worn out, and ragged, and had travelled a long way through
fresh snow on short rations in the past week. Ahead of them lay a vast
and almost untrodden desolation; behind them a rugged wilderness which
there seemed no probability of their being able to cross. Lured by the
hope of finding what they sought they had pushed on from point to
point, and now it was too late to return.

By and by Blake got up. "Our best chance is to kill a caribou, and
this is the kind of country they generally haunt. Since the sooner we
look for one the better, I may as well start at once. There'll be a
moon to-night."

He threw off his blanket and picking up a Marlin rifle, which was their
only weapon, strode out of camp, and as he was a good shot and tracker
they let him go. It was getting dark when he left the shelter of the
trees and the cold in the open struck through him like a knife. The
moon had not risen yet and the waste stretched away before him, its
whiteness changed to a soft blue-grey. In the distance scattered
bluffs rose in long dark smears, but there was nothing to indicate
which way he should turn, and he had no reason to believe there was a
caribou near the camp. As a matter of fact, they had found the larger
deer remarkably scarce. He was tired after breaking the trail since
sunrise, and the snow was loose beneath his big net shoes, but he
plodded to