in building a snow house and clearing the
ground of snow, our skees, guns, and ammunition. I did not forget a
couple of wax candles, for I always carried some with me, and plenty of
matches, besides a steel and flints in case some accident should happen
to our matches. We took also a few slender poles, upon which we intended
to hang our meat to keep it out of reach of prowling carnivorous
animals. These carefully packed and made secure in a special sleigh, we
started. Our sleighs glided along as if they were going on smooth ice.

After a journey of four hours, having travelled about sixty miles, we
came to the shores of a lake, and at one end were two conical dwellings
belonging to fishing or river Lapps. The smoke curling above their tops
showed us the people were at home.

"Here," said Jakob, "we will build our snow houses. I think we shall
find plenty of foxes in the neighborhood, for the country is full of
ptarmigans, and the foxes prey upon them."

We tied our reindeer with long ropes, so that they should have plenty of
room to dig for moss. Then we began to build our snow house. It was so
cold that the snow did not hold well together, so we concluded to make
two instead of one, just big enough for each of us to sleep in and be
protected from the great cold. It was hard work. When finished they were
a little over five feet and a half long and some three feet wide inside.

"I like this much better than going in and sleeping in the dwellings of
the river or fishing Lapps yonder," I said to Jakob.

Clearing a space for our fire in front, we put up three long poles we
had carried with us, and hung our meat high up upon them, so that wolves
and foxes could not get at it. Then we put our sleighs containing our
outfit on the top of each other and made them fast with cords. When this
was done Jakob said: "Foxes are often very bold, and they come and
rummage around the tents; and when famished they bite everything they
get hold of. We shall be able to hear them from our snow houses if they
try to get into our sleighs."

We had carried with us a few sticks of dry wood to be used as firewood,
but Jakob knew the country well and that near us were some junipers, the
branches of which appeared above the snow, and he went and gathered
some of them. The wood of the juniper, though green, burns well, for it
is full of resinous matter.

Our camp was now ready. The day's work being done we lighted a fire,
cooked a piece of re