That night King Frost spread his wings over the land with unwonted
suddenness 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 so
high that the hut was comparatively warm, and they slept soundly till
morning: but, about sunrise, the fire having died out, they both awoke
shivering with cold. Being _very_ sleepy, they tried for some time to
drop off again in spite of the cold. Failing in this, Roy at last
jumped up with vigour and said he would light the fire, but he had
scarcely issued from the hut, when a shout brought Nelly in alarm and
haste to his side.
If Silver Lake was worthy of its name before, it was infinitely more
worthy of it now. The sun had just over-topped the opposite ridge, and
was streaming over a very world of silver. The frozen lake was like a
sheet of the purest glass, which reflected the silvery clouds and white
rolling mists of morning as perfectly in their form as the realities
that floated in the blue sky. Every tree, every twig, seemed made of
silver, being encased in hoar-frost, and as these moved very gently in
the calm air--for there was no breeze--millions of crystalline points
caught 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 gems
that 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 cast
around a lingering glance of admiration, and then gone quietly about
their avocations; but, being children, they made up their minds, on the
spot, to enjoy the state of things to the utmost. They ran down to the
lake and tried the ice. Finding that it was strong enough to bear them,
they advanced cautiously out upon its glassy surface; then they tried to
slide, but did not succeed well, owing to their soft mocassins being ill
adapted for sliding. Then they picked up stones, and tried how far they
could make them skim out on the lake.
"How I wish we could slide!" exclaimed Nelly, pausing in the midst of
her amusement.
Roy also paused, and appeared to meditate for a minute.
"So you shall," said he quickly. "Come and let us breakfast, and I'll
make you a pair of sliders."
"Sliders! what are they?"
"You shall see; get breakfast ready, a man's fit for nothing without
grub."
While breakfast was preparing, Roy began to fashion wooden soles for his
sister's feet and his own. These he fixed on by means of strips of
deerskin, which were sunk into grooves in the under part of the soles to
prevent them from chafing. Rough and ready they were, nevertheless they
fitted well and tightly to their feet; but it was found that the want of
a joint at the instep rendered it difficult to walk with these soles on,
and impossible to run. Roy's ingenuity, however, soon overcame this
difficulty. He cut the soles through just under the instep, and then,
boring two holes in each part, lashed them firmly together with
deerskin, thus producing a joint or hinge. Eager to try this new
invention, he fastened on his own "sliders" first, and, running down to
the lake, made a rush at the ice and sent himself off with all his
force. Never was boy more taken by surprise; he went skimming over the
surface like a stone from a sling. The other side of the lake seemed to
be the only termination of his journey. "What if it should not be
bearing in the middle!" His delight was evinced by a cheer. It was
echoed, with the addition of a laugh by Nell, who stood in rapt
admiration on the shore. Roy began well, with his legs far apart and
his arms in the air; then he turned round and advanced the wrong way,
then he staggered--tried to recover himself; failed, shouted, cheered
again, and fell flat on his back, and performed the remainder of the
journey in that position!
It was a magnificent slide, and was repeated and continued, with every
possible and conceivable modification, for full two hours, at the end of
which 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 or
fish."
"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 the
fish won't object to feed in cold weather, so we'll try them again after
having had a bit to eat."
In pursuance of this plan the two went to the wharf, after having
refreshed themselves, and set to work with the fishing-line. Nelly
baited the hook, and Roy cut a hole in the ice with his axe. Having put
in the hook, and let it down to the bottom, they stood at the edge of
the hole--expectant!
"Frost seems to spoil their appetite," said Roy, in a tone of
disappointment, 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 violent
tug, and, instead of hauling it up hand over hand, ran swiftly along the
ice, drawing the line after him, until the fish came out of the hole
with a flop and a severe splutter. It was above four pounds weight, and
they afterwards found that the deeper the water into which the line was
cast the larger were the fish procured. White-fish were the kind they
caught most of, but there were a species of trout, much resembling a
salmon in colour and flavour, of which they caught a good many above ten
and even fifteen pounds weight. All these fish, except those reserved
for immediate use, they cleaned and hung up in the manner already
described.
Thus they occupied themselves for several days, and as the work was
hard, they did not wander much from their hut, but ate their meals with
appetite, and slept at nights soundly.
One night, just as they were about to lay down to rest, Roy went out to
fetch an armful of firewood. He returned with a look of satisfaction on
his face.
"Look here, Nell, what call ye that?" pointing to a few specks of white
on his breast and arms.
"Snow!" exclaimed Nelly.
"Ay--snow! it's come at last, and I am glad of it, for we have far more
than 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 we
must carry all we can with us. Our backs won't take so much as the
sled, but the sled can't go loaded till there's snow on the ground, so
the 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 on
fish alone; and when I'm away you can be getting the snow-shoes
repaired, and the sled-lashings overhauled. We will set about all that
to-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 children
with some of her own spirit in regard to it.
During the troubles and anxieties of the period when the children were
lost in the snow and captured by the Indians, they had lost count of the
days of the week. Roy was not much troubled about this, but his
sister's tender conscience caused her much uneasiness; and when they
afterwards ran away from the Indians, and could do as they pleased, they
agreed together to fix a Sabbath-day for themselves, beginning with the
particular day on which it first occurred to them that they had not kept
a Sabbath "for a long, long time."
"We can't find out the right day now, you know," observed Nelly, in an
apologetic tone.
"Of course not," said Roy; "besides, it don't matter, because you
remember how it is in the Ten Commandments: `Six days shalt thou labour
and do all thy work, but the _seventh_ day is the Sabbath.' We will
keep _to-day_, then; work _six_ days, and then keep the _seventh_ day."
We have elsewhere observed that Roy was a bit of a philosopher. Having
reasoned the matter out thus philosophically, the children held to their
resolve; they travelled six days, and observed every seventh day as the
Sabbath.
The particular Sabbath-day about which we are writing turned out to be a
memorable one, as we shall see.
Roy and Nelly lay down that night, side by side, as was their wont, with
their separate blankets wrapped around them, and their feet pointing
towards the fire. Of course they never undressed at night on this
journey, but washed their underclothing as they found time and
opportunity.
Soon they were sound asleep, and their gentle breathing was the only
sound that broke the stillness of the night. But snow was falling
silently in thick heavy flakes, and it soon lay deep on the bosom of
Silver Lake. Towards morning the wind arose, and snow-drift began to
whirl round the hut, and block up its low doorway.
Still the brother and sister slumbered peacefully, undisturbed by the
gathering storm.