CHAPTER TEN.
CHANGES, SLIDING, FISHING, ETCETERA.
That night King Frost spread his wings over the land with unwontedsuddenness and rigour, insomuch that a sheet of ice, full an inch thick,sealed up the waters of Silver Lake.
Roy and Nelly had feasted heartily, and had piled wood on the fire sohigh that the hut was comparatively warm, and they slept soundly tillmorning: but, about sunrise, the fire having died out, they both awokeshivering with cold. Being _very_ sleepy, they tried for some time todrop off again in spite of the cold. Failing in this, Roy at lastjumped up with vigour and said he would light the fire, but he hadscarcely issued from the hut, when a shout brought Nelly in alarm andhaste to his side.
If Silver Lake was worthy of its name before, it was infinitely moreworthy of it now. The sun had just over-topped the opposite ridge, andwas streaming over a very world of silver. The frozen lake was like asheet of the purest glass, which reflected the silvery clouds and whiterolling mists of morning as perfectly in their form as the realitiesthat floated in the blue sky. Every tree, every twig, seemed made ofsilver, being encased in hoar-frost, and as these moved very gently inthe calm air--for there was no breeze--millions of crystalline pointscaught the sun's rays and scattered them around with dazzling lustre.Nature seemed robed in cloth of diamonds; but the comparison is feeble,for what diamonds, cut by man, can equal those countless crystal gemsthat are fashioned by the hand of God to decorate, for an hour or two,the spotless robe of a winter morning?
Had Roy been a man and Nelly a woman, the two would probably have castaround a lingering glance of admiration, and then gone quietly abouttheir avocations; but, being children, they made up their minds, on thespot, to enjoy the state of things to the utmost. They ran down to thelake and tried the ice. Finding that it was strong enough to bear them,they advanced cautiously out upon its glassy surface; then they tried toslide, but did not succeed well, owing to their soft mocassins being illadapted for sliding. Then they picked up stones, and tried how far theycould make them skim out on the lake.
"How I wish we could slide!" exclaimed Nelly, pausing in the midst ofher amusement.
Roy also paused, and appeared to meditate for a minute.
"So you shall," said he quickly. "Come and let us breakfast, and I'llmake you a pair of sliders."
"Sliders! what are they?"
"You shall see; get breakfast ready, a man's fit for nothing withoutgrub."
While breakfast was preparing, Roy began to fashion wooden soles for hissister's feet and his own. These he fixed on by means of strips ofdeerskin, which were sunk into grooves in the under part of the soles toprevent them from chafing. Rough and ready they were, nevertheless theyfitted well and tightly to their feet; but it was found that the want ofa joint at the instep rendered it difficult to walk with these soles on,and impossible to run. Roy's ingenuity, however, soon overcame thisdifficulty. He cut the soles through just under the instep, and then,boring two holes in each part, lashed them firmly together withdeerskin, thus producing a joint or hinge. Eager to try this newinvention, he fastened on his own "sliders" first, and, running down tothe lake, made a rush at the ice and sent himself off with all hisforce. Never was boy more taken by surprise; he went skimming over thesurface like a stone from a sling. The other side of the lake seemed tobe the only termination of his journey. "What if it should not bebearing in the middle!" His delight was evinced by a cheer. It wasechoed, with the addition of a laugh by Nell, who stood in raptadmiration on the shore. Roy began well, with his legs far apart andhis arms in the air; then he turned round and advanced the wrong way,then he staggered--tried to recover himself; failed, shouted, cheeredagain, and fell flat on his back, and performed the remainder of thejourney in that position!
It was a magnificent slide, and was repeated and continued, with everypossible and conceivable modification, for full two hours, at the end ofwhich time Nelly said she couldn't take another slide to save her life,and Roy felt as if every bone in his body were going out of joint.
"This is all very well," said Roy, as they went up to the hut together,"but it won't do much in the way of getting us a supply of meat orfish."
"That's true," assented Nelly.
"Well, then," continued Roy, "we'll rest a bit, and then set to work.It's quite plain that we can have no more wading after ducks, but thefish won't object to feed in cold weather, so we'll try them again afterhaving had a bit to eat."
In pursuance of this plan the two went to the wharf, after havingrefreshed themselves, and set to work with the fishing-line. Nellybaited the hook, and Roy cut a hole in the ice with his axe. Having putin the hook, and let it down to the bottom, they stood at the edge ofthe hole--expectant!
"Frost seems to spoil their appetite," said Roy, in a tone ofdisappointment, after about five minutes had elapsed.
A fish seemed to have been listening, for before Nelly could reply,there came a violent tug at the line. Roy returned a still more violenttug, and, instead of hauling it up hand over hand, ran swiftly along theice, drawing the line after him, until the fish came out of the holewith a flop and a severe splutter. It was above four pounds weight, andthey afterwards found that the deeper the water into which the line wascast the larger were the fish procured. White-fish were the kind theycaught most of, but there were a species of trout, much resembling asalmon in colour and flavour, of which they caught a good many above tenand even fifteen pounds weight. All these fish, except those reservedfor immediate use, they cleaned and hung up in the manner alreadydescribed.
Thus they occupied themselves for several days, and as the work washard, they did not wander much from their hut, but ate their meals withappetite, and slept at nights soundly.
One night, just as they were about to lay down to rest, Roy went out tofetch an armful of firewood. He returned with a look of satisfaction onhis face.
"Look here, Nell, what call ye that?" pointing to a few specks of whiteon his breast and arms.
"Snow!" exclaimed Nelly.
"Ay--snow! it's come at last, and I am glad of it, for we have far morethan enough o' grub now, and it's time we were off from this. You see,lass, we can't expect to find much game on a journey in winter, so wemust carry all we can with us. Our backs won't take so much as thesled, but the sled can't go loaded till there's snow on the ground, sothe moment there is enough of it we'll set off. Before starting,hows'ever, I must go off and try for a deer, for men can't walk well onfish alone; and when I'm away you can be getting the snow-shoesrepaired, and the sled-lashings overhauled. We will set about all thatto-morrow."
"But isn't to-morrow Sabbath?" said Nelly.
"So 'tis! I forgot; well, we can put it off till Monday."
It may be well here to remark that Mrs Gore, being a sincere Christian,had a great reverence for the Sabbath-day, and had imbued her childrenwith some of her own spirit in regard to it.
During the troubles and anxieties of the period when the children werelost in the snow and captured by the Indians, they had lost count of thedays of the week. Roy was not much troubled about this, but hissister's tender conscience caused her much uneasiness; and when theyafterwards ran away from the Indians, and could do as they pleased, theyagreed together to fix a Sabbath-day for themselves, beginning with theparticular day on which it first occurred to them that they had not kepta Sabbath "for a long, long time."
"We can't find out the right day now, you know," observed Nelly, in anapologetic tone.
"Of course not," said Roy; "besides, it don't matter, because youremember how it is in the Ten Commandments: `Six days shalt thou labourand do all thy work, but the _seventh_ day is the Sabbath.' We willkeep _to-day_, then; work _six_ days, and then keep the _seventh_ day."
We have elsewhere observed that Roy was a bit of a philosopher. Havingreasoned the matter out thus philosophically, the children held to theirresolve; they travelled six days, and observed every seventh day as theSabbath.
The particular Sabbat
h-day about which we are writing turned out to be amemorable one, as we shall see.
Roy and Nelly lay down that night, side by side, as was their wont, withtheir separate blankets wrapped around them, and their feet pointingtowards the fire. Of course they never undressed at night on thisjourney, but washed their underclothing as they found time andopportunity.
Soon they were sound asleep, and their gentle breathing was the onlysound that broke the stillness of the night. But snow was fallingsilently in thick heavy flakes, and it soon lay deep on the bosom ofSilver Lake. Towards morning the wind arose, and snow-drift began towhirl round the hut, and block up its low doorway.
Still the brother and sister slumbered peacefully, undisturbed by thegathering storm.