The snow-storm, already referred to, had commenced gradually. When the children set forth3 on their ramble only a few flakes4 were falling, but they had not been away half an hour when snow fell so thickly that they could not see distinctly more than a few yards ahead of them. There was no wind, however, so they continued to advance, rather pleased than otherwise with the state of things.
“Oh, I do like to see falling snow,” cried Nelly, with a burst of animation5.
“So do I,” said Roy, looking back at his sister with a bright smile, “and I like it best when it comes down thick and heavy, in big flakes, on a very calm day, don’t you?”
“Yes, oh it’s so nice,” responded Nelly sympathetically.
They paused for minutes to shake some of the snow from their garments, and beat their hands together, for their fingers were cold, and to laugh boisterously6, for their hearts were merry. Then they resumed their march, Roy beating the track manfully and Nelly following in his footsteps.
In passing beneath a tall fir-tree Roy chanced to touch a twig7. The result was literally8 overwhelming, for in a moment he was almost buried in snow, to the unutterable delight of his sister, who stood screaming with laughter as the unfortunate boy struggled to disentomb himself.
In those northern wilds, where snow falls frequently and in great abundance, masses are constantly accumulating on the branches of trees, particularly on the pines, on the broad flat branches of which these masses attain9 to considerable size. A slight touch is generally sufficient to bring these down, but, being soft, they never do any injury worth mentioning.
When Roy had fairly emerged from the snow he joined his sister in the laugh, but suddenly he stopped, and his face became very grave.
“What’s the matter?” asked Nelly, with an anxious look.
“My snow-shoe’s broken,” said Roy.
There was greater cause for anxiety on account of this accident than the reader is perhaps aware of. It may be easily understood that in a country where the snow averages four feet in depth, no one can walk half-a-mile without snow-shoes without being thoroughly10 exhausted11; on the other hand, a man can walk thirty or forty miles a day by means of snow-shoes.
“Can’t you mend it?” asked Nelly.
Roy, who had been carefully examining the damaged shoe, shook his head.
“I’ve nothing here to do it with; besides, it’s an awful smash. I must just try to scramble12 home the best way I can. Come, it’s not very far, we’ll only be a bit late for dinner.”
The snow-shoe having been bandaged, after a fashion, with a pocket-handkerchief, the little wanderers began to retrace13 their steps; but this was now a matter of extreme difficulty, owing to the quantity of snow which had fallen and almost obliterated14 the tracks. The broken shoe, also, was constantly giving way, so that ere long the children became bewildered as well as anxious, and soon lost the track of their outward march altogether. To make matters worse, the wind began to blow clouds of snow-drift into their faces, compelling them to seek the denser15 parts of the forest for shelter.
They wandered on, however, in the belief that they were drawing nearer home every step, and Roy, whose heart was stout16 and brave, cheered up his sister’s spirit so much that she began to feel quite confident their troubles would soon be over.
Presently all their hopes were dashed to the ground by their suddenly emerging upon an open space, close to the very spot where the snow-mass had fallen on Roy’s head. After the first feeling of alarm and disappointment had subsided17, Roy plucked up heart and encouraged Nelly by pointing out to her that they had at all events recovered their old track, which they would be very careful not to lose sight of again.
Poor Nelly whimpered a little, partly from cold and hunger as well as from disappointment, as she listened to her brother’s words; then she dried her eyes and said she was ready to begin again. So they set off once more. But the difficulty of discerning the track, if great at first, was greater now, because the falling and drifting snow had well-nigh covered it up completely. In a very few minutes Roy stopped, and, confessing that he had lost it again, proposed to return once more to their starting point to try to recover it. Nelly agreed, for she was by this time too much fatigued18 and alarmed to have any will of her own, and was quite ready to do whatever she was told without question.
After wandering about for nearly an hour in this state of uncertainty19, Roy at last stopped, and, putting his arm round his sister’s waist, said that he had lost himself altogether! Poor Nelly, whose heart had been gradually sinking, fairly broke down; she hid her face in her brother’s bosom20, and wept.
“Come now, don’t do that, dear Nell,” said Roy, tenderly, “I’ll tell you what we shall do—we’ll camp in the snow! We have often done it close to the house, you know, for fun, so we’ll do it now in earnest.”
“But it’s so dark and cold,” sobbed21 Nelly, looking round with a shudder22 into the dark recesses23 of the forest, which were by that time enshrouded by the gathering24 shades of night; “and I’m so hungry too! Oh me! what shall we do?”
“Now don’t get so despairing,” urged Roy, whose courage rose in proportion as his sister’s sank; “it’s not such an awful business after all, for father is sure to scour25 the woods in search of us, an’ if we only get a comfortable encampment made, an’ a roarin’ fire kindled26, why, we’ll sit beside it an’ tell stories till they find us. They’ll be sure to see the fire, you know, so come—let’s to work.”
Roy said this so cheerfully that the child felt a little comforted, dried her eyes, and said she would “help to make the camp.”
This matter of making an encampment in the snow, although laborious27 work, was by no means a novelty to these children of the backwoods. They had often been taught how to do it by Cousin Walter and Larry O’Dowd, and had made “playing at camps” their chief amusement in fine winter days. When, therefore, they found themselves compelled to “camp-out” from necessity, neither of them was at a loss how to proceed. Roy drew a circle in the snow, about three yards in diameter, at the foot of a large tree, and then both set to work to dig a hole in this space, using their snow-shoes as shovels28. It took an hour’s hard work to reach the ground, and when they did so the piled-up snow all round raised the walls of this hole to the height of about six feet.
“Now for bedding,” cried Roy, scrambling29 over the walls of their camp and going into the woods in search of a young pine-tree, while Nelly sat down on the ground to rest after her toil30.
It was a dark night, and the woods were so profoundly obscured, that Roy had to grope about for some time before he found a suitable tree. Cutting it down with the axe31 which always hung at his girdle, he returned to camp with it on his shoulder, and cut off the small soft branches, which Nelly spread over the ground to the depth of nearly half a foot. This “pine-brush,” as it is called, formed a soft elastic32 couch.
The fire was the next business. Again Roy went into the bush and gathered a large bundle of dry branches.
“Now, Nelly, do you break a lot of the small twigs33,” said Roy, “and I’ll strike a light.”
He pulled his firebag from his belt as he spoke34, and drew from it flint, steel, and tinder. No one ever travels in the wilds of which we write without such means of procuring35 fire. Roy followed the example of his elder companions in carrying a firebag, although he did not, like them, carry tobacco and pipe in it.
Soon the bright sparks that flew from the flint caught on the tinder. This was placed in a handful of dry grass, and whirled rapidly round until it was fanned into a flame. Nelly had prepared another handful of dry grass with small twigs above it. The light was applied36, the fire leaped up, more sticks were piled on, and at last the fire roared upward, sending bright showers of sparks into the branches overhead, lighting37 the white walls of the camp with a glow that caused them to sparkle as with millions of gems38, and filling the hearts of the children with a sensation of comfort and gladness, while they stood before the blaze and warmed themselves, rubbing their hands and laughing with glee.
No one, save those who have experienced it, can form any conception of the cheering effect of a fire in the heart of a dark wood at night. Roy and Nelly quite forgot their lost condition for a short time, in the enjoyment39 of the comforting heat and the bright gladsome blaze. The brother cut firewood until he was rendered almost breathless, the sister heaped on the wood until the fire roared and leaped high above their heads. Strange though it may appear to some, the snow did not melt. The weather was too cold for that; only a little of that which was nearest the fire melted—the snow walls remained hard frozen all round. Roy soon sat down to rest, as close to the fire as he could without getting scorched40; then Nelly seated herself by his side and nestled her head in his breast. There they sat, telling stories and gazing at the fire, and waiting for “father to come.”
Meanwhile Robin41 and his comrade ranged the forest far and near in desperate anxiety. But it was a wide and wild country. The children had wandered far away; a high ridge42 of land hid their fire from view. Moreover, Robin, knowing the children’s usual haunts, had chanced to go off in the wrong direction. When night set in the hunters returned to Fort Enterprise to procure43 ammunition44 and provisions, in order to commence a more thorough and prolonged search. Poor Mrs Gore45 still sat beside the cold and untasted feast, and there the hunters left her, while they once more plunged46 into the pathless wilderness47 to search for the lost ones on that luckless New Year’s Day.
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1
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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2
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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3
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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4
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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5
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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6
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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7
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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8
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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9
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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10
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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11
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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12
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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13
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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14
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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15
denser
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| adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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17
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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18
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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19
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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20
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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21
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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22
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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23
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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24
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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25
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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26
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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27
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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28
shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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29
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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30
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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31
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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32
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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33
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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34
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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35
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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36
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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37
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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38
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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39
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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40
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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41
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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42
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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43
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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44
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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45
gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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46
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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47
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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