Storm-Bound; or, A Vacation Among the Snow Drifts

by Captain Alan Douglas

Again did they spend another happy evening around the cheery fire. As the flames glowed and crackled they coaxed Uncle Caleb to tell more incidents connected with his explorations in faraway Thibet, when he was the first white man to enter the Forbidden City and interview the Head Llama, whose existence had up to that time been pretty much of a sealed mystery to the civilized world.

Another peaceful night followed, and then came dawn again. This was to be their nest to last day in the snow forest, because on the second morning they must prepare to turn their faces toward home again, seek the little station, signal to a passing train, and be carried back to familiar scenes.

In many ways all of them would be sorry when the time for separation arrived; and so they had planned to do divers things during these two days, which it was sincerely hoped would turn out pleasant ones. The weather had moderated, and even a thaw set in late the preceding day, but as the wind whipped around once more into the northwest the surface of the snow became covered with a sheet of ice that was almost thick enough to bear the weight of a small boy.

Toby was wild with eagerness to be shown how to use those wonderful snow-shoes which Uncle Caleb had given him for a present; and so the old woodsman showed him just how to attach them to his toes, so as to leave the balance of the foot free to bend at his will, though really Elmer had explained this thing to Toby before.

Under the guiding care of first Uncle Caleb, and when he grew tired, of Elmer on the old scientist's snow-shoes, Toby was enabled to perform quite creditably, and in the end felt that he knew fairly well how to spin over the ice-crusted drifts in a way that would hardly have shamed those Canadian cousins of his who belonged to the famous Teuque Bleue Snow-shoe Club up in Montreal, and wrote him such glowing accounts of the long trips they took over Mount Royal, and into the bush, in the dead of winter.

The boys had not forgotten how they had been almost reduced to a diet of musquash at the time Lil Artha so fortunately shot his deer; and upon invitation from Elmer, who was genuinely desirous of learning whether the dish could be as palatable as some hunters and Indians declared, Uncle Caleb told them they could get a number of the little animals with the glossy fur, and he himself promised to prepare the stew.

Well, they ate it, and George even came in for a second helping, but on the whole it was the consensus of opinion that they did not really hanker after "musquash," which might please some palates, and serve as a means to ward off actual starvation, but did not seem to appeal to them very strongly. All of which was fortunate indeed for the furry denizens of the marsh, because there would be no further loud calls for a repetition of the dish.

The last day was pretty much taken up with seeing all they could of Uncle Caleb and trying to grasp the results of his labors in the cause of science and natural history. Each of the boys was given a sheaf of prints to carry back with him, many of them most interesting revelations concerning the hidden lives of the four-footed neighbors of Uncle Caleb, whose habits were so little known to the average person. And even George admitted that he would not have missed what he had learned while up in the great snow forest, with this observing relative of Toby for a good deal. It had broadened his knowledge of many things, and given him a much higher estimate of human nature in seeing how kindness had won the game over an evil desire for revenge.

It was all settled, and Zack Arnold was going to stay there as the side partner of Uncle Caleb. He did not appear like the same man when on that last morning he shook each one of the four scouts by the hand and hoped he would see them again. There was a look on his face that surprised George and Lil Artha, who at one time had expressed themselves so strongly to the effect that they did not believe any good could ever come out of so tough a customer.

"I'll never say that again, as long as I live!" George admitted, later on; "after this I'm going to look for the spark of good in every hard case, instead of only seeing the evil."