erity enough to use it
for freight, too; that is, they would bring back in it across the
lake anything that they had shot or trapped on the other side.

So completely had they lost count of time that Dick had an idea
spring was coming, but winter suddenly shut down upon them
again. It did not arrive with wind and snow this time, but in
the night a wave of cold came down from the north so intense that
the sheltered valley even did not repel it.

Dick and Albert did not appreciate how really cold it was until
they went from the cabin into the clear morning air, when they were
warned by the numbing sensation that assailed their ears and noses.
They hurried into the house and thawed out their faces, which
stung greatly as they were exposed to the fire. Remembering the
experiences of their early boyhood, they applied cold water freely,
which allayed the stinging. After that they were very careful to
wrap up fingers, ears, and noses when they went forth.

Now, the channel that Albert had made from the water of the hot
spring proved of great use. The water that came boiling from the
earth cooled off rapidly, but it was not yet frozen when it
reached the side of Castle Howard, and they could make use of it.

The very first morning they found their new boat, of which they
were so proud, hard and fast with ten inches of solid ice all
around it. Albert suggested leaving it there.

"We have no need of it so long as the lake is covered with ice,"
he said, "and when the ice melts it will be released."

But Dick looked a little farther. The ice might press in on it
and crush it, and hence Albert and he cut it out with axes, after
which they put it in the lee of the cabin. Meanwhile, when they
wished to reach the traps on the farther side of the lake, they
crossed it on the ice, and, presuming that the cold might last
long, they easily made a rude sledge which they used in place of
the canoe.

"If we can't go through the water, we can at least go over it,"
said Albert.

While the great cold lasted, a period of about two weeks, the
boys went on no errands except to their traps. The cold was so
intense that often they could hear the logs of Castle Howard
contracting with a sound like pistol shots. Then they would
build the fire high and sit comfortably before it. Fortunately,
the valley afforded plenty of fuel. Both boys wished now that
they had a few books, but books were out of the question, and
they sought alway