And when this was done he selected a sharp stick and with it made three or four air holes in the roof of the drift above his door, to furnish ventilation, for it was not long before the entrance of the passageway was again closed.
Bobby was very hungry, as every healthy boy the world over is sure to be when he rises in the morning, and when he had completed the ventilation of his cave to his satisfaction he proceeded to make a small fire over which to grill one of his birds, never doubting the smoke would pass out of the ventilating holes that he had made through the top of the drift.
But to his chagrin the smoke did not rise and was presently so thick as to blind and choke him, and he found it necessary to put the fire out.
And so it came about that in the end he had to content himself with eating his sea pigeon uncooked, which after all was no great hardship.
All that day and all the next day the storm continued and Bobby was held prisoner in his cave, and he was thankful enough that he had the cave to shelter him.
When he awoke, however, on the morning of the third day of his captivity, and forced his way out of doors, he was met by sunshine and his heart bounded with joy.

It was only behind bowlders and the clumps of bushes scattered here and there, and in sheltered corners where drifts had formed, that snow remained upon the island.

Elsewhere the wind had swept the rocks clean.
The gale that had racked the world had passed, but a brisk breeze was blowing down from the north, sharp with winter cold.

The sea, too, had subsided, though even yet big rollers were driving and pounding upon the rocky shore.
"Now," said Bobby, "with the first calm night, when the water quiets down, the bay will freeze, and then I can walk in on the ice.

But they'll have to hurry in from the seal hunt or they'll be caught out there and won't be able to bring the boat in this winter.