About four o’clock it began to grow colder and as the sun sank lower in the west, the snow began to stiffen, and they were able to make better time. Rapidly the temperature fell with the sun and soon they stopped and put on their mackinaws. “I believe the crust will hold in another half hour,” Jack declared. “But I’m ready to call it a day. How about you?” “I’m pretty tired myself and as soon as we find a good place to camp, I move that we do it. We must have made pretty near twenty miles from the Carry.” It was after five o’clock and it had been a hard day. “How about that for a place?” Jack asked a few minutes later as they came to a small clear place. “We can dig away the snow at the foot of that big pine and there’s lots of water in that little brook.” “I guess it’ll do as well as any other,” Bob decided after a hasty glance around. They quickly threw off their packs and, breaking through the light crust, they soon had a hole about six feet long by four wide, down to the bare ground, using the snow-shoes as shovels. “I’ll make the beds if you’ll get the fire going,” Bob said and to this Jack readily agreed. He had no trouble in finding plenty of dead branches and in a short time a brisk fire was burning near the “bedroom.” In the meantime Bob had been cutting spruce boughs with a small hatchet which Sim had loaned them. These he spread on the ground in the hole which they had dug, until he had a bed nearly a foot thick. Over them he spread a thick blanket and the bed was ready. “Gee, but I’d like another whack at that steak,” Jack said a little later as they sat by the fire eating their supper of sandwiches washed down with huge mouthsful of hot coffee. “These sandwiches are all right, but oh you beefsteak.” “You said a mouthful then,” Bob laughed as he drained the coffee pot into his tin dipper. Darkness was silently stealing through the vast forest as they finished the simple meal and by the time they had washed their plates and cups in the brook, it was almost dark. “We want to be off as soon as it is light in the morning,” Bob said as he threw a couple of big logs, which he had found near the camp, on to the fire. “If we get started early enough we ought to make twenty miles or more before the snow gets soft, so I move that we hit the hay right off.” “I guess you mean hit the boughs,” Jack laughed. “But anyhow if you have the idea of going to bed in your mind I’m with you. I’m tired enough to go to sleep standing up.” So they lost no time in crawling into the sleeping bags, which lined with sheep’s wool, were very warm, and pulling over themselves another blanket, they were soon lost to the world. The next day was Sunday and they never did any traveling on that day if it could be avoided. But, in the present case, they both felt that it was perfectly justifiable.