n the banks of the Elk, which they had dried and stored
away--expecting to stand in need of them for this very purpose. They
now came into use, and enabled Norman to make his pemmican of the very
choicest quality. Five bags of it were put up, each weighing over
thirty pounds. One of these was to be drawn upon the sledge, along with
the tent, the axe, and a few other articles. The rest were to be
carried by the voyageurs themselves--each shouldering one, which, along
with their guns and accoutrements, would be load enough.

These arrangements being at length complete, the party bid adieu to
their log-hut--gave a parting look to their little canoe, which still
rested by the door--and then, shouldering their guns and bags of
pemmican, set out over the frozen surface of the snow.

Of course before starting they had decided upon the route they were to
take. This decision, however, had not been arrived at until after much
discussion. Lucien advised that they should follow the shore of the
lake until they should reach the Mackenzie River--which of course was
now frozen up. Its channel, he argued, would then guide them; and, in
case their provisions should run short, they would be more likely to
find game upon its banks than elsewhere, as these were wooded almost to
the sea--in consequence of its head-waters rising in southern latitudes,
and carrying with them a warmer climate.

There was plausibility in Lucien's argument, combined with much
prudence. Norman, however, advised a contrary course. He said that
they would have to make a considerable journey westward before reaching
the place where the Mackenzie River flows out of the lake; and,
moreover, he knew that the river itself was very crooked--in some places
winding about in great curves, whose ends come near meeting each other.
Should they keep the course of the river, Norman believed it would
almost double their journey. A much shorter route, he said, would be
obtained by striking across the country in a north-westerly direction,
so as to reach the Mackenzie near where another great stream--the River
of the Mountains--empties into it from the west. This would certainly
be a more direct route, and they would avoid the windings of the river
channel.

Norman's reasoning prevailed. Basil and Francois readily agreed to his
plan, and Lucien at length also gave his assent, but with some
reluctance. Norman knew nothing whatever of the route he was advising
them t