“Shure! just from not thinking of what I was about,” he answered, endeavouring to get on his legs.
I helping him, he was able to walk back into the hut. He soon completely recovered, and I sat by his side feeling anything but comfortable or happy.
As it had turned out, the most serious result of his thoughtlessness was the loss of our powder, for not a grain more did we possess. Though we had a gun and shot, they were useless.
“It’s of no use mourning over our loss,” I said at length. “I’ll try again to light the fire, and after breakfast we will consider what is best to be done. There is a greater necessity than ever for pushing on.”
Pat agreed with me in this, and after several efforts I got the fire to blaze up, boiled some water, and cooked the remainder of our lynx flesh. Unpalatable as was our food we made a hearty meal, washing it down with warm water. We would have given much for a pinch of salt, and an ounce of tea, not to speak of sugar and milk.
“As we cannot use the gun we must be afther making a weapon instead,” observed Pat. “The best thing we can do is to fasten our hunting-knives to the end of long poles. They will serve as spears, and enable us with some chance of success to defend ourselves against either Indians or bears or wolves. We can at any time, if we want to use our knives, take them off the poles again.”
As Pat’s idea was a good one, we immediately carried it out. While we were shaping the poles, I saw him eyeing the wolf.
“We may get some more tasty mate than that baste will give us, but it’s just possible that we may not, and shure it will be wise in us to take as much as we can carry,” he said.
I agreed with him, and before we bound our knives on to the poles we skinned and cut up the wolf, hanging the hide on to the cross-piece to which the skin of the lynx was suspended. Pat then chose what he considered the best portions of the animal, leaving the remainder of the carcass on the ground.
It was time to take another meal before we were ready to start, so we cooked a piece of the wolf’s flesh. It was tough and unsavoury, but our teeth being in good condition we managed to masticate a larger portion than I should have conceived possible. I then got the two horses, and, having saddled them, assisted Pat to get on to the back of his.