Chapter XI.
CAMPING AGAINST AN ICE WALL.
"Now what?" asked Tug, holding his head very high to prevent the snow going down the back of his neck. "Now what?"
"Now," Aleck answered, in a tone of command, "get the boat up there under the lee of that hummock. Everybody take hold."
The ropes were seized with a will, but the heavy boat could not be dragged in the snow until it had been lightened; then by great exertion it was taken over the fifty yards that lay between the water and the hummock. At that spot the ice had been thrust up like a smooth wall about fifteen feet high, which overhung slightly, so as to form a cosey shelter from the storm. The bow of the boat was swung close against its foot, while the stern was slanted away until there remained a space of about eight feet between it and the smooth face of the hummock at that end. Tug and Jim went back after the sled and what baggage had been left behind at the "lead," while Aleck and Katy began to contrive a shelter.
To manage this they cleared out the movable things in the boat, arranging all the cargo (except the mess chest), as fast as it was removed, in the shape of a wall extending across from the stern of the boat to the hummock. In this way, with the help of thwarts, two oars, and some blocks of ice, a rough wall was raised, about four feet high, enclosing a three-cornered space eight feet in width, having the hummock and starboard side of the boat for its sides, and the cargo wall (through which a hole had been left as a doorway) for its end or "base."
Next, a roof must be contrived. The mast and two oars were set in a leaning position from the outer gunwale of the boat, where they rested firmly upon the thwart-cleats, up against the hummock, to which they were securely wedged.
It had now become dark, and Katy lighted the lantern. Tug and Jim, covered with snow, brought their last sled-load and added it to the wall, throwing all their little stock of firewood, which amounted to about three bushels, into the hut. Then all hands set to work in the wind, which blew in sharp gusts now and then over the crest of the hummock, to stretch the sails upon the rafters formed by the mast and oars and thus form an awning-roof.