It was a good thing that the shanty was finished so soon, or the exposure to the damp air might have been productive of ague and fever.

Every hour almost they spent in making little additions to their household comforts, but some time was necessarily passed in trying to obtain provisions.

One day Hector, who had been out from dawn till moonrise, returned with the welcome news that he had shot a young deer, and required the assistance of his cousin to bring it up the steep bank--( it was just at the entrance of the great ravine)--below the precipitous cliff near the lake; he had left old Wolfe to guard it in the meantime.

They had now plenty of fresh broiled meat, and this store was very acceptable, as they were obliged to be very careful of the dried meat that they had.
This time Catharine adopted a new plan.

Instead of cutting the meat in strips, and drying it, (or jerking it, as the lumberers term it,) she roasted it before the fire, and hung it up, wrapping it in thin sheets of birch bark.