all the meanderings of the river, and the whole extent of the lake, and
yet it was not difficult of access, nor so high as to be too much
exposed to the wintry storms. It was a little nook, chipped out from the
solid rock, having a smooth slaty floor, about twelve feet square, with
a semi-circular recess of about half that depth into the side of the
mountain. A jutting rock, about ten feet above this floor, and
overhanging it on every side, formed a natural ceiling. It only needed
to be enclosed on two sides, to make a lodge that any of the great
caciques of the wilderness might be proud of.

Fortunately Tula was not entirely destitute of tools to work with. A
piece of an iron hoop, about six inches in length, and the shank of an
arrow head, also of iron, both of which she had picked up while among
the Athapuscows, constituted her whole stock. With these, which she
sharpened upon the rocks, she contrived to cut down a number of young
saplings, and shape them to her purpose. Planting two of them upright
upon the outer line of the floor, and laying the end of one against the
inside, and the end of the other against the outside of the cornice, or
overhanging ceiling, she bound them firmly together with green withes.
In this manner she went all round, leaving a space open for a door on
the sunny side. This done, she wove it, inside and out, with willow
boughs, stuffing the intervening spaces with moss, till it was entirely
impervious to the weather. The door was of close basket-work hung at the
top, and secured at the sides, in a storm, or during the night, by means
of withes fastened round the door-posts. This served the double purpose
of door and window, while a crevice in the rock above, performed the
part of a chimney.

The work went on slowly and heavily at first, but patience and
perseverance, which can conquer all but impossibilities, accomplished it
before the cold weather set in. Meanwhile, the ingenuity of the fair
builder had found means to make a fire upon the hearth. Her materials
for that purpose were two hard sulphureous stones, which, by long
friction, or hard knocking, produced a few sparks. These, communicated
to touchwood, were soon formed into a blaze.

When fruits, berries and nuts failed, her ready ingenuity supplied her
with other means of sustaining life. She had, among her scanty stock of
furniture, a few deer-sinews, which, with the Indians, are a common
substitute for thread. With the aid of th