When enough wood was chopped to clear a way on the ledge, Polly showed Eleanor how to make bundles of it. These were tied by means of the rope to Noddy's harness and carefully dragged back to the cave. Several trips had to be made before both burros had brought the firewood to the growing pile in the cave.
When Polly spoke of cutting balsam for beds, Anne offered to help, as she was so cold.
"And leave me here alone?" cried Barbara.
"Why don't you come with us?" asked Eleanor.
"I'm dead! I can't do another thing!"
"Then stay here and cheer the burros," said Eleanor.
"I won't let every one of you go and leave me to be killed by a wild animal," shuddered Barbara, looking over her shoulder.
"Nothing wild here, but you, Bob. However, you may light a fire for us, while we are gone," retorted Eleanor, unsympathetically.
Without further comment, Barbara was left, and soon the girls were stripping the spruce which had blown over the ledge. Its green branches would make the softest of wild-wood beds.
"It really was fortunate that both these trees came down when they did! We would have to remove them as obstacles to our going out in the morning, and I would have had to hunt well before I could have found such fine tinder! So I've really saved myself a double chopping!" said Polly, as they tied up the last bundle of evergreen branches and started the burros for the cave.