eadfully slow
travelling. The wind was in the east, and was rising. The drizzling
rain had become a downpour, and it was dashed into our faces in sheets.
The cold was increasing. Our hands were stiff and numb. Somewhat
after midday George threw down his pack. "We'll have a spell [rest]
and a cup of tea to warm us up," he said.

I did not protest. The previous night had been a trying one, and I was
very tired. We drew together some wood. With his sheath-knife George
whittled some shavings, and a fire was soon blazing. When the kettle
had been placed over the fire to boil, George drew out of his bag a
package--yes, it was a half-pound package of pea meal! At first I
could not believe my eyes, and I stood stupidly staring as George
prepared to stir some of it into the kettle. At length I found my
tongue.

"George," I cried indignantly, "where did you get that pea meal?"

"Hubbard gave it to me this morning while you were gettin' wood," he
answered promptly.

"But why did you take it?

"He made me take it. I didn't want to, but he said I must. He said
we'd be workin' hard, and we'd need it, and if we didn't have somethin'
to eat, we couldn't travel far and couldn't get help to him. We ought
to have it as much for his sake as for ours, he said, and I had to take
it from him to make him feel right."

Hubbard had evidently reserved that last half-pound of pea meal to be
used in a last extremity, and as the argument he had used to force it
on George had been at least specious, I could say nothing. George put
one-third of the package (one-sixth of a pound) into the kettle, and we
each drank a pint of the soup. It was very thin, but it did us good.

After a half-hour's rest, we pressed on as rapidly as possible, but
when night overtook us we could not have travelled more than six miles
from camp. To the storm, as well as our weakness, was due our slow
progress. As the afternoon wore on, the storm became furious. The
rain descended in drenching sheets, and staggering blasts of wind drove
it into our faces. Even if darkness had not stopped us, further
progress in the face of the tempest would have been impossible.

We selected for our bivouac as sheltered a spot as possible in a spruce
growth, hauled together a good supply of small dead trees and made a
fire. For supper we had one-half of what remained of the pea meal,
reserving the other half (one-sixth of a pound) for breakfast. There
was a little c