. This was Sandhelo, with his feet carefully tied
to prevent his exercising them unduly. He was to accompany the
expedition and carry the balsam branches back to the shore. The lake was
quite rough and more than once the water splashed inside the boat.

"Poor Sandhelo," said Hinpoha sympathetically. "Do you suppose he'll get
seasick? He looks so pale."

"How does a donkey look when he's pale?" jeered Sahwah. "If you mean
that white stuff on his nose, he stuck it into a pan of flour this
morning. Anyway, I never heard of a donkey getting seasick."

"That doesn't prove that they can't," retorted Hinpoha.

But Sandhelo seemed none the worse for his journey when they set him
ashore and trotted briskly along with the expedition. The balsam firs
were deep in the woods and it took some time to find them. The wind
seemed much stronger over here than it had been on Ellen's Isle--or else
it had stiffened after they left. It roared through the treetops in a
perfectly fascinating way and every little while they would stop and
listen to it, laughing as the leafy skirt of some staid old birch matron
went flying over her head.

"It seems like a million hungry lions roaring," said Hinpoha.

"Or the bad spirits of the air practising their football yells," said
Sahwah.

"There goes my hat! Catch it, somebody!" cried Katherine.

The hat did some amazing loop-the-looping and settled on a high branch,
whence it was retrieved by the Monkey with some little difficulty.

Gathering the balsam boughs was not such an idyllic process as they had
expected. In the first place, they were blowing around at such a rate
that it was hard to catch hold of them, and then when one was grasped
firmly the others lashed out so furiously that they were driven back
again and again. Furthermore, those which they did succeed in getting
off were picked up by the gale and hurled broad-cast.

"It's too windy to do anything today," said Hinpoha crossly, retiring to
the shelter of a wide trunk and holding her hands to her smarting face.
Several stinging blows from a branch set with needles had dampened her
enthusiasm for balsam pillows.

Some of the others stuck it out until they had as much as they wanted,
and after an hour or more of strenuous labor Sandhelo was finally laden
with his fragrant burden and the expedition started back.

Then they began to have their first real experience with wind. Going
into the woods it had been been at their backs and th