his day week Dick an' Ed an' Bill will be huntin' around for us, an'
they's like t' find us, an' when they does they'll be findin' a way t'
help us. They might build up th' place down there with stones, so's t'
make a footin' t' land on, an' then 'twill be easy goin' ashore."

"But suppose they don't come around this way and don't find us?"

"Then I'm thinkin' we'll be bidin' here till ice forms."

"Till ice forms! And when will that be?"

"An' she comes on frosty, ice'll begin formin' th' middle of October
on th' banks. But th' current's wonderful strong, an' I'll not be
expectin' ice t' cross on till New Year, whatever."

"January first! October! November! December! Three months on this
god-forsaken bit of rock! Great Jehoshaphat, man! That'll be an
eternity! We can't endure it!"

"I'm not thinkin' we'll have to. I'm thinkin' they'll find us in a
fortni't, whatever," reassured Bob, rising and picking up the axe.
"We'll be needin' a shelter, an' I'm thinkin' I'll build un now."

"And we have no blankets with us!" exclaimed Shad. "Oh, we're going to
have a swell time!"

"We'll be fair snug with a shelter, now. I'll be cuttin' th' sticks,
an' you breaks boughs."

"All right, Bob, I'll get the boughs," agreed Shad, languidly rising,
and as he went to his task singing:

"'Old Noah, he did build an ark,
He made it out of hick'ry bark.

"'If you belong to Gideon's band,
Why here's my heart, and here's my hand,
Looking for a home.

"'He drove the animiles in two by two,
The elephant and the kangaroo.

"'And then he nailed the hatches down,
And told outsiders they might drown.

"'And when he found he had no sail,
He just ran up his own coat tail.

"'If you belong to Gideon's band,
Why here's my heart, and here's my hand,
Looking for a home.'"

A full stomach sometimes wholly changes one's outlook upon the world.
Shad was beginning now to view his adventure from a whimsical
standpoint, a result induced partially by his dinner, largely by Bob's
philosophical attitude.

It was not anticipated the shelter would be required for long, and a
comfortable lean-to under the lee of the hill, with back and ends
enclosed, and closely thatched with boughs and moss, was considered
sufficient. A thick, springy bed of spruce boughs was then arranged,
and the temporary home was completed.

Then Bob proceeded to set deadfalls, utilising flat stones and raising
them on a figure 4, which he ba