"It would give us a point to work from.

In the meanwhile we want a place to camp." They went down to the first of the timber, and, spreading their blankets in a cranny of the rocks, built a great fire soon after darkness fell.

Weston, who made the fire, filled the blackened kettle with water from the creek, and Grenfell, who crouched beside the snapping branches, also left him to prepare the supper.

They had been on their feet since sunrise, and it was evident that he was very weary.

He recovered a little when he had eaten, but he leaned back against the wet rock with a furrowed face when Weston took out his pipe.
"Abstinence has its drawbacks," he said, shivering in the bitter wind which whirled the stinging smoke about them.