There was no sign of the storm’s lessening. To Little Bear it seemed the wind was blowing harder than before. As darkness deepened, the fire lighted up a space of only a few feet in each direction. Before he crawled into his buffalo robe, Great Bear rolled two large branches on the fire.
“These will hold fire until morning,” he said.
CHAPTER NINE
When Little Bear awoke the next morning, Grandfather was just getting up. Little Bear rolled over and lifted his head for a look out from the lean-to. Snow was still swirling in the air. It had drifted over the pile of wood and up near the fire. Parts of the two large branches Great Bear had put on the fire were still there, but the fire itself seemed to be out.
Great Bear went over to the fire. He tilted one of the pieces of wood up and blew against the charred end. Smoke began to curl from that end, and soon a blaze flamed up. Great Bear went to the wood pile. He brushed some of the snow away and drew some small branches from the bottom of the pile. He placed the small branches against the charred end of the wood and again blew on it. A flame leaped up, caught the small branches, and in a moment the fire was blazing cheerfully. Little Bear crawled out of his buffalo robe and stood beside the fire.
“I’ll see about our horses,” he offered.
He stepped away from the shelter and faced directly into the wind. Hard-driven snowflakes pelted his face. He could scarcely move forward. By every small shrub there was a drift of loose snow through which he had to wallow. The strong wind drew the breath from his lungs so that he often had to stop and turn his back. When he got near the hills at the north end of the valley, the snow was deeper, but the wind hit him with less force.
Little Bear found the horses standing at the foot of the hills. They were huddled together with their heads pointing away from the wind. The grass was covered with deep snow drifts, but Little Bear knew the horses wouldn’t starve. When the animals got hungry, they would paw through the loose snow to the grass.
The trip back to camp was much easier. The wind shoved Little Bear forward, and he could see far enough ahead to avoid the deepest drifts.