"January first! October! November! December! Three months on this god-forsaken bit of rock! Great Jehoshaphat, man! That'll be an eternity! We can't endure it!"
"I'm not thinkin' we'll have to. I'm thinkin' they'll find us in a fortni't, whatever," reassured Bob, rising and picking up the axe. "We'll be needin' a shelter, an' I'm thinkin' I'll build un now."
"And we have no blankets with us!" exclaimed Shad. "Oh, we're going to have a swell time!"
"We'll be fair snug with a shelter, now. I'll be cuttin' th' sticks, an' you breaks boughs."
"All right, Bob, I'll get the boughs," agreed Shad, languidly rising, and as he went to his task singing:
"'Old Noah, he did build an ark,
He made it out of hick'ry bark.
"'If you belong to Gideon's band,
Why here's my heart, and here's my hand,
Looking for a home.
"'He drove the animiles in two by two,
The elephant and the kangaroo.
"'And then he nailed the hatches down,
And told outsiders they might drown.
"'And when he found he had no sail,
He just ran up his own coat tail.
"'If you belong to Gideon's band,
Why here's my heart, and here's my hand,
Looking for a home.'"
A full stomach sometimes wholly changes one's outlook upon the world. Shad was beginning now to view his adventure from a whimsical standpoint, a result induced partially by his dinner, largely by Bob's philosophical attitude.
It was not anticipated the shelter would be required for long, and a comfortable lean-to under the lee of the hill, with back and ends enclosed, and closely thatched with boughs and moss, was considered sufficient. A thick, springy bed of spruce boughs was then arranged, and the temporary home was completed.
Then Bob proceeded to set deadfalls, utilising flat stones and raising them on a figure 4, which he baited with tender birch boughs. Several rabbits were started in the course of the afternoon, giving assurance that the deadfalls would yield sufficient food for their needs, though no results could be expected from them until the following morning.
"Now for supper, Shad, we'll have t' be usin' some shells," he announced. "Supposin' you tries un. I were goin' t' make a bow an' arrows t' save th' shells, but they's nothin' t' feather th' arrows with, an' no string that'd be strong enough for th' bow."