“Say, Bruce,” exclaimed Ray, “the thing begins to work like a smoke-house on a New England farm. I guess we won’t starve if we can catch enough fish or find game.”
The lads now covered the top of their smoke-house with birch-bark, and partly closed the front with a piece of buckskin. After this they took turns watching the fire, taking care that there was always enough fire to make a good dense smoke. By this method, meat and fish are slowly cooked and cured in such a way that they will keep for a long time, even in warm weather, if they are protected from flies and other insects.
Bruce and Ray smoked fish till dark, and then Bruce took the fish into the tepee and let the fire go out.
“A hungry bear might steal that whole business,” Bruce remarked. “We must take no chances like that.” [[125]]
In the morning Bruce started the fire again, and about noon the fish were declared well smoked and cured. The outside felt hard and dry and the dark pink meat had been nicely browned. The fish not only looked but smelled appetizing, so that the lads were sorely tempted to eat a piece at once.
Ganawa had made a birch-bark tub and in this the lads stored their smoked fish, and after carefully closing the tub with a piece of canvas, they hung the tub up in the tepee, for in this way the fish would keep indefinitely.
They had now time to explore the country several miles up the river, searching for indications of a white man’s camp or a cache of fur.
“The cache or the camp,” said Ganawa, “will not be far from a lake or stream. It may be on a very small stream, but you need not look for it far from water. Both Indians and white men never make a camp more than two or three hundred paces from [[126]]water, and at most camps the distance to water is much less.”
For about a week the three campers devoted their time to exploring the wild country for some ten miles up-stream. Sometimes all three went as one party, at other times Ganawa went in one direction and the two white boys went in another direction, but neither of the white boys ever went alone any great distance from camp, for Ganawa was always a little afraid that the lads might get lost.
“You must remember, my sons,” he told them, “in what direction you went from the river and from the tepee. If you can find the river, you can find the tepee. If you get lost you must not be scared and begin to run, but you must camp, build a fire that will make a big smoke and then you must wait till I have time to find you.”