the
following morning. Eager as we were to proceed, we agreed that it would
be wiser to spend another day in preparing our meat and recruiting our
strength, for though both of us were much recovered, we were not fit for
a long tramp, with the fatigue at the end of the day's journey of
building a hut and collecting wood for our fire.

We were very busy all day smoking the venison and drying it in the sun,
the heat of which was still sufficient for our object. We could hear
the wolves during the night wrangling over the carcass of the deer, but
they did not pay us a visit. As they would have had sufficient food, we
did not fear that they would attack us; should they do so, we were
prepared to receive them with our sharp spears.

The morning of our departure arrived. Breakfasting on the remainder of
our fresh venison, we did up our provisions in two packs, including our
other articles; and with our spear-handles as staffs, we set forward on
our journey in good spirits.

We had met with many dangers, and surmounted them all; and we hoped
that, should we have more to encounter, we might be preserved by the
same merciful Providence which had hitherto watched over us. My chief
anxiety now was about what had happened to Sandy and Pierre; still,
thoroughly well acquainted with the country as they were, and accustomed
to emergencies of all sorts, I hoped that long before this they would
have made their way home. Pat could give no account of them. He had
been separated from them as I was in the snowstorm, and had ridden on,
not knowing where he was going. Had I not found him, he would
undoubtedly have perished.

We trudged on manfully all day, stopping only for a short time about
noon to eat a portion of the cold venison which we had cooked, so that
there was no necessity for lighting a fire till we reached our
camping-ground at night.

Had we possessed more clothing we should have been saved the trouble of
building a hut; but as we had only our horse-cloths to put over our
shoulders, we were afraid of suffering from the cold should we sleep in
the open air.

We marched straight forward without even looking for game, as we had
food enough, and were unwilling to lose any time. Our belief was that
we were directing our course exactly for the fort, but, after marching
on for four days, I began to have some uncomfortable misgivings on the
subject. We might have kept too much to the south and passed it, for
the snow