by this unexpected factor to go
much farther north than they had ever been before. They had three dog
teams along and were provisioned for a three months' trip. Their good
fortune lured them on and it was almost Christmas before they awoke to
the fact that they must soon get started home or they might get into
serious trouble because of lack of provisions.

"Let's see if we can get some deer meat so that we can stay longer,"
said Howling Wolf one day. Joe consented and they went out with this
idea in view. They were very successful. They both brought in a deer and
at the end of a week, they had quite a lot of meat on hand. Things thus
went along until shortly after Christmas, as sometimes happens, the game
suddenly became scarce. They could not get a deer or even a rabbit. In
addition, the winter came on in earnest. One heavy fall of snow was
followed by another and they were kept close to their quarters. The
heavy weather continued and they determined to make for the south just
as soon as it became possible to do so.

"About the tenth of January, they left for the south. They made good
progress, though their provisions became lower and lower. At last they
were on very short rations and it was under these conditions that
Howling Wolf had the misfortune to break his leg. Joe bound up the leg
as best he could, but the injured man made progress all the slower. As
Joe found that the extra burden slowed down the dogs so much in the
heavy snow, he determined to cache one load of pelts, make use of the
extra dogs and hurry on. Food was very low and if they should hit a
week's storm he could easily see that he would have the greatest
difficulty getting out to Escoumains.

"As bad luck would have it, a regular blizzard came on and for four
days, Joe and Howling Wolf had to lie low in a rude shelter that Joe had
hastily thrown up when overtaken by the blizzard. It was impossible to
keep a fire burning as the snow came down in icy particles that made
wandering from camp a foolhardy undertaking. Howling Wolf on several
occasions begged Joe to leave him there and go on his way. Like the
Indian that he was, he felt that the storm gods were against them and he
had given up.

"Before they left their improvised shelter, Joe had to sacrifice three
of the dogs to furnish food for the other dogs. Joe also stated that he
made his first hearty meal for several days on some dog steaks that he
had kept for himself and Howling Wolf. At las