The sun was just about an hour high when McNab suddenly drew in his shaggy team.
“What mair cud ye want than this braw place, laddies?” he demanded, as he sat there, and swept his hand around in a semi-circle.
Phil followed his movement. He saw that indeed there could hardly be a finer spot for camping. It was on the shore of a lake, and they could look far out over the ice-covered surface to where the fir crowned hills came down to the further shore, fully a mile away.
Situated in the heart of the virgin forest, with the ax of the logger still a stranger to the splendid growth of timber, it seemed to offer them a glorious opportunity for spending their fortnight there in the wilderness.
The boys jumped to the ground, and commenced exercising their arms so as to induce a better circulation of blood.
“No need of that, fellows,” laughed Phil; “we’re going to have plenty of things to do to tire you out before we get settled here. Grab hold, and unload the sledge to begin with. Then all of us must get busy putting up some sort of temporary shelter for the night, like we did before. To-morrow we can start in to build a more permanent one that will resist a blizzard if it comes along.”
McNab looked after his team while the Mountain Boys began to get to work under the direction of their leader; for Phil happened to know a great deal more about this sort of thing than any of his three chums.
The merry whack of the two axes they had fetched along told that preparations were underway looking to the temporary shelter spoken of by Phil. Lub was quite an adept in building fires for cooking purposes, since he had had considerable practice; accordingly no one interfered when he started to roll two logs he had picked out until he had them forming what might be called a V, with a little space separating the ends that were close together.
In arranging this he had made sure to leave the broad end toward the prevailing breeze, which at the time was from the west. This insured a good draught, once the fire was lighted; and would also conduce to the comfort of the cook bending over the coals, as it would blow the pungent smoke away from his face.
Phil, not knowing what they might strike away up in this section of Canada, had made sure to purchase certain supplies at a sporting goods emporium in New York, and which had come to him through the mails. Just what these were none of the other boys knew up to the present, though Phil had promised to tell them before long.