Костер

           Hethrewdownseverallargepiecesontopofthesnow. Thisservedforafoundationandpreventedtheyoungflamefromdrowningitselfinthesnowitotherwisewouldmelt. Theflamehegotbytouchingamatchtoasmallshredofbirch-barkthathetookfromhispocket. Thisburnedevenmorereadilythanpaper. Placingitonthefoundation,hefedtheyoungflamewithwispsofdrygrassandwiththetiniestdrytwigs. 

           Heworkedslowlyandcarefully,keenlyawareofhisdanger. Gradually,astheflamegrewstronger,heincreasedthesizeofthetwigswithwhichhefedit. Hesquattedinthesnow,pullingthetwigsoutfromtheirentanglementinthebrushandfeedingdirectlytotheflame. Heknewtheremustbenofailure. Whenitisseventy-fivebelowzero,amanmustnotfailinhisfirstattempttobuildafire—thatis,ifhisfeetarewet. Ifhisfeetaredry,andhefails,hecanrunalongthetrailforhalfamileandrestorehiscirculation. Butthecirculationofwetandfreezingfeetcannotberestoredbyrunningwhenitisseventy-fivebelow. Nomatterhowfastheruns,thewetfeetwillfreezetheharder. 

           Allthisthemanknew. Theold-timeronSulphurCreekhadtoldhimaboutitthepreviousfall,andnowhewasappreciatingtheadvice. Alreadyallsensationhadgoneoutofhisfeet. Tobuildthefirehehadbeenforcedtoremovehismittens,andthefingershadquicklygonenumb. Hispaceoffourmilesanhourhadkepthisheartpumpingbloodtothesurfaceofhisbodyandtoalltheextremities. Buttheinstanthestopped,theactionofthepumpeaseddown.