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Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946

"Rolf in the Woods"

"
So, instead of running, Rolf sat down to think it over.
"Now," said he, "I went due southeast all day from the canoe."
Then he stopped; like a shock it came to him that he had not seen
the sun all day. Had he really gone southeast? It was a
devastating thought, enough to unhinge some men; but again Rolf
said to himself "Never mind, now; don't get scared, and it'll be
all right. In the morning the sky will be clear."
As he sat pondering, a red squirrel chippered and scolded from a
near tree; closer and closer the impudent creature came to
sputter at the intruder.
Rolf drew his bow, and when the blunt arrow dropped to the
ground, there also dropped the red squirrel, turned into
acceptable meat. Rolf put this small game into his pocket,
realizing that this was his supper.
It would soon be dark now, so he prepared to spend the night.
While yet he could see, he gathered a pile of dry wood into a
sheltered hollow. Then he made a wind-break and a bed of balsam
boughs. Flint, steel, tinder, and birch bark soon created a
cheerful fire, and there is no better comforter that the lone
lost man can command.


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