Wearily passed the time till darkness came on, and still the crowd sat round, and still the same request was dinned into our ears. But we were thoroughly determined not to give way, and at last they began to conclude we were inexorable, and dropped off one by one, immensely disgusted with our meanness. In the dead of night we stealthily arose, and La Ronde went out to reconnoitre the position of the Indians. None were near, and all was perfectly still. We now proceeded, with the greatest caution, to remove the cask from its hiding-place, and La Ronde and Bruneau went off to cache it safely at some distance. They returned before daylight, very cold and wet, having crossed the river, and deposited the cause of our troubles in the bush some miles away. In the morning Keenamontiayoo came to our lodge, but did not renew his importunities. Our firmness the day before had produced a most salutary effect. We were, however, so much disgusted with our experience of the last two days, that we resolved to give up the idea of fixing our winter residence here, and retreat to La Belle Prairie, putting a distance of nine or ten miles between our troublesome neighbours and ourselves. [Illustration: OUR WINTER HUT.--LA BELLE PRAIRIE. (_See page 76._) ] We retraced our steps accordingly the next day, and set up our lodge on the banks of the lake of the Beautiful Prairie. The site selected for our dwelling was the middle of the wooded promontory which had before attracted our admiration. As it was now the end of October, it was necessary to use all speed in putting up a house, lest the winter should set in before our work was completed. And, moreover, we were obliged, for the same reason, to be content with a building of very small size, and the simplest construction. La Ronde acted as architect, and proceeded to work in the following manner.