g able
to keep them fresh; for they froze soon after they were taken out of the
water, and would remain thus perfectly stiff till the return of spring,
or till put into water, when the frost would be drawn out of them.

That evening, for supper, we had roasted fish and boiled fish, both of
which Alick and Martin greatly relished. We made several trips after
this to the lake, and the first day Martin was able to set out on an
excursion he accompanied us. On that day we were more successful than
ever, owing to his superior skill and practical experience. We each
returned home heavily-laden.

Alick was still too weak to go out, but he had sufficiently recovered to
take an interest in all that was going forward, as also to consider our
prospects for the future.

"One thing is certain, boys: if we are to remain here, we must build a
warmer abode than our present one," he observed. "This does very well
to sleep in at present; but, as you all know, we shall presently have
weather when we may be frozen in our beds, even if we should manage to
keep up a fire all night. We must build a log hut with a chimney of
stones and clay. I wish we had thought of it before, when the ground
was soft, and we could have dug up the stones and found mud to stop the
intervals between the logs. We may still manage it, but there is very
little time to lose, I suspect, if we are to escape the fate of the
gallant Willoughby and his brave men, who were all found frozen on board
their ship to the north of Lapland."

We were all eager to do as Alick proposed, but as we had but one axe
between us, it must be a slow process, I knew; and the axe might break,
and the work be stopped altogether. The next morning we commenced
operations by marking a number of trees suited for the purpose. Taking
the axe, I began chopping away at the first tree we intended to fell.
No further progress was, however, made in the work. I had given but a
few strokes when I was interrupted in my task.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

INDIANS ABROAD--THE LOG CABIN IN THE WILDERNESS--THE SICK MAN--THE OLD
IRON POT--THE LITTER--BOUNCER IS LEFT IN A BARGE--MISTICOOK'S SLEDGE--
RABUSHWAY'S ADVICE--ROBIN'S DELIGHT ON DISCOVERING HIS FATHER--PREPARING
TO START--SNOW-SHOES AND FUR COATS--HONEST BOUNCER WORKS WELL IN
HARNESS--TEA AND SUGAR A LUXURY--PAT'S UNLUCKY MISHAP--SNOW-BLINDNESS--
COYOTES--NO FOOD--THE DESERTED FORT--BEARS AND BEAR'S FLESH--WE START
FOR TOUCHWOOD HILLS--WOLVES