Not a breath of air was stirring, and the absolute quiet that
prevailed was broken only by the moving men and the rhythmic creak,
creak of the snow-shoes as they came in contact with the hard packed
snow.
The very atmosphere seemed frozen, so intense was the cold. The moon
like a disk of burnished silver set in a steel blue sky cast a weird,
metallic light over the congealed wilderness. The hoar frost that lay
upon the bushes along the river bank sparkled like filmy draperies of
spun silver, and transformed the bushes into an unearthly multitude of
shining spirits that had gathered there from the dark, mysterious
forest which lay behind them, to watch the passing strangers.
Presently the light of dawn began to diffuse itself upon the world,
and the spirit creations were replaced by substantial banks of
frost-encrusted willows. In a little while the sun peeped timorously
over the eastern hills, but, half obscured by a haze of frost flakes
which hung suspended in the air, gave out no warmth to the frozen
earth.
No halt was made until noon. Then a fire was built and a kettle of ice
was melted and tea brewed. Bob was hungry, and the jerked venison,
with its delicate nutty flavour, and the hot tea, were delicious. The
latter, poured boiling from the kettle, left a sediment of ice in the
bottom of the tin cup before it was drained, so great was the cold.
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