s about us, and it may be that the soul of a bear has come into
me."

"It may be," said Tayoga, gravely. "It is at least a wise thought,
since, for a while, we must live like bears."

Robert would have chafed, any other time, at a stay that amounted to
imprisonment, but peace and shelter were too welcome now to let him
complain. Moreover, there were many little but important house-hold
duties to do. They made needles of bone, and threads of sinew and
repaired their clothing. Tayoga had stored suitable wood and bone and
he turned out arrow after arrow. He also made another bow, and Robert,
by assiduous practice, acquired sufficient skill to help in these
tasks. They did not drive themselves now, but the hours being filled
with useful and interesting labor, they were content to wait.

For three or four days, while the snow still fell, they ate cold food,
but when the clouds at last floated away, and the air was free from
the flakes, they went outside and by great effort--the snow being four
or five feet deep--cleared a small space near the entrance, where they
cooked a good dinner from their stores and enjoyed it extravagantly.
Meanwhile the days passed. Robert was impatient at times, but never a
long while. If the mental weariness of waiting came to him he plunged
at once into the tasks of the day.

There was plenty to do, although they had prepared themselves so well
before the great snowfall came. They made rude shovels of wood and
enlarged the space they had cleared of snow. Here, they fitted stones
together, until they had a sort of rough furnace which, crude though
it was, helped them greatly with their cooking. They also pulled more
brushwood from under the snow, and by its use saved the store they
had heaped up for impossible days. Then, by continued use of the bone
needles and sinews, they managed to make cloaks for themselves of the
bearskins. They were rather shapeless garments, and they had little of
beauty save in the rich fur itself, but they were wonderfully warm and
that was what they wanted most.

Tayoga, after a while, began slow and painstaking work on a pair of
snowshoes, expecting to devote many days to the task.

"The snow is so deep we cannot pass through it," he said, "but I, at
least, will pass upon it. I cannot get the best materials, but what I
have will serve. I shall not go far, but I want to explore the country
about us."

Robert thought it a good plan, and helped as well as he could