Now it so happened, fortunately for us, that the smoke had come from the camp of white men, and of them Bruce begged, or bought, half of a fat deer, broiling enough steaks on the coals to satisfy the hunger of the younger members of the party, while he roasted a goodly portion, hunter-fashion, on a hickory skewer stuck up in the earth in front of the fire. [Illustration] The girls made coffee and corn bread, and we feasted that night. Captain Haskell and I went on board the boat to sleep, and I was not sorry we did so, for before morning another storm came up, and when we looked out from beneath the wagon covers, after sunrise, snow covered the ground to the depth of two inches. The sun was shining brightly; the wind had died away until there was not sufficient air stirring to lift a feather, and nothing prevented us from continuing the journey without delay, which we did, the girls broiling venison steaks in our fireplace at the stern of the boat while we sailed along. Master Bruce told us we might take no little credit to ourselves, for we most likely were the first white people to venture on the Indian shore and remain there all night, since Pittsburgh had become a town. FINDING THE CANOE It surprised me not a little because the old hunter failed to mourn the loss of his canoe, for on board was all his equipment for the winter's work, and, having lost it, he must go back to Pittsburgh to replenish his stores and procure another craft. However, it is folly for one to worry and fret over that which cannot be avoided. Master Bruce might have made himself miserable bewailing the loss of his goods and nothing would have been changed. [Illustration] Near noon we saw the craft on the Pennsylvania side of the river, where it had been blown by the wind, lying there comfortably ashore, as if waiting for us to take it in tow. It was a difficult matter to pull our craft around to get hold of the canoe; but we finally did so, and would have worked more than one day rather than allow the old hunter to meet with a loss. When it was made fast alongside once more, and we were drifting with the current, Master Bruce went on board to learn what portion of his goods had been lost during the storm, and to his surprise found that only one of the traps was missing, although the flour was more or less wet. Why the canoe was not overset by the wind, unstable as it was, I could not understand until Master Bruce explained that the weight of the flour and the traps, resting on the bottom of the boat, must have served as ballast to hold it steady, and again, most-like, it went ashore within a short time after having been cut adrift.