omfort to be gained from the fire. The rain still
descended upon us in sheets. The blast of wind drove the smoke into
our eyes and blinded us. Despite our weariness we could not sleep.
George lay down, but I sat crouching before the fire. We tried to keep
our pieces of blanket over our heads, but when we did so we nearly
suffocated. Now and again one or the other would rise to throw on more
wood. Towards midnight the wind shifted, and snow began to fall. It
fell as I never saw snow fall before. And the wind never ceased, and
the smoke was more blinding than ever, and the night grew colder.

There were fully six inches of snow on the ground when the clouds broke
just before dawn, and before the first rays of the sun greeted us the
wind died away. It was Monday, October 19th. With the return of
daylight we ate the rest of the pea meal, and resumed our march down
the valley. The daylight proved that my eyes had been greatly affected
by the smoke of our night's fire. Everything had a hazy appearance.
George complained of the same trouble. Soon after we started, George
came upon a grouse track in the fresh snow, and followed it to a clump
of bushes a short distance off. He aimed his pistol with great care,
but the bullet only knocked a few feathers out of the bird, and it flew
away, to George's keen chagrin and my bitter disappointment.

The flour bag we were to look for was on the opposite or south side of
the river, and it was necessary to cross. Before noon we reached a
place at which George said it would be as easy to ford the stream as at
any other. The icy water came almost up to our armpits, but we made
the other shore without mishap. There we halted to build a fire and
thaw ourselves out; for immediately upon emerging from the river our
clothing froze hard and stiff. While waiting we had some hot tea, and
as quickly as possible pushed on. We must reach the flour bag that
night.

I found it hard to keep the pace George was setting, and began to lag
wofully. Several times he had to wait for me to overtake him. We came
upon a caribou trail in the snow, and followed it so long as it kept
our direction. To some extent the broken path aided our progress. In
the afternoon we came upon another grouse track. George followed it to
a clump of trees, where the bird was discovered sitting on a limb.
This time his aim was accurate, and the bird fell at his feet. Quickly
he plucked the wings, cut them off and