"But isn't it awfully cold here?" she inquired "Oh, yes; but it's so dry
that one doesn't mind the cold half as much as we do at home when it's
really ten or fifteen degrees warmer, Dolly. One dresses for it, too,
you see, in thick, woolen things, and furs, and there's such glorious
sport. You can break holes through the ice and fish, and then there are
ice boats, and skating races, and all sorts of things. Oh, it's
glorious. I've been up here in winter a lot, and I really do think
that's best of all."

Then she looked at the rising smoke.

"Well, we mustn't stay here and talk any more," she said. "Come along,
girls, it's getting near to supper time."

"Have we got to cook supper?" asked Dolly, anxiously.

"No, not to-night," said Eleanor, with a laugh. "The guides have done it
for us, because I knew we'd all be tired and ready for a good rest,
without any work to do. But with breakfast tomorrow we'll start in and
do all our own work, just as we've done when we've been in camp before."

Half an hour's brisk walk took them to the site of the camp. There there
was a little sandy beach, and the tents had been pitched on ground was
slightly higher. Behind each tent a trench had been dug, so that, in
case of rain, the water flowing down from the high ground in the rear
would be diverted and carried down into the lake.

Before the tents a great fire was burning, and the girls cried out
happily at the sight of plates, with knives and forks and tin pannikins