In the course of the first aid instruction, Doctor Joe had taught Jamie, as well as David and Andy, the art of applying bandages, but now Jamie had no bandages to apply.  For a little while he helplessly contemplated his wrists.  But for the fact that they were becoming exceedingly painful he would have decided to ignore them, for in his wearied condition it was an effort to do anything.

“I knows how I’ll fix un,” he said at length.  “I’ll cut pieces from the bottom o’ my shirt to bind un up with.  They’ll keep un from gettin’ rubbed whatever, and when I gets back to camp Doctor Joe’ll fix un up right.”

This he proceeded to do at once with the aid of his jack-knife, and presently had two serviceable bandages ready to apply.

“Doctor Joe were sayin’ how to keep the air away from burns by usin’ oil or molasses or flour or somethin’,” he hesitated.  “And he were sayin’ to keep sores from gettin’ dirt into un whatever.  He says the sores’ll be gettin’ inflicted or infested or somethin’—­I’m not rememberin’ just what ‘twere, but somethin’ bad whatever—­if they gets dirt into un.  I’ve been wearin’ the shirt three days, and I’m thinkin’ ‘tis not as clean as Doctor Joe wants the bindin’ for sores to be, and I’ll cover the sore place where the blisters were rubbin’ off with fir sap.  That’ll keep un clean.  Pop says ’tis fine for sores.”

Crawling out of his nest Jamie found a young balsam fir tree, and with his sharp jack-knife cut from the bark several of the little sacs in which sap is secreted.  He had often seen Thomas cut them and daub the contents upon cuts and bruises, and sometimes even have him and the other boys take the sap as medicine.  Returning to the lean-to he pierced the ends of the sacs with the point of his knife, and carefully smeared the contents over his burned wrist where the skin was broken, taking care that all of the exposed flesh was well covered with the sap.  Jamie had, indeed, fallen upon the best antiseptic dressing that the surrounding woods supplied.

This done to his satisfaction, he bound his wrists with the improvised bandages, applying them carefully, after the manner in which Doctor Joe had taught him in his lessons in first aid.

“’Tain’t so bad,” commented Jamie holding the wrists up and surveying them with satisfaction.  “They feels a wonderful lot easier, whatever.  But I’d never been knowin’ how if ‘tweren’t for Doctor Joe showin’ me.”

Jamie stretched himself upon the bed of boughs, and for a time lay watching the fire and thickly falling snow and listening to the wind shrieking and howling through the tree tops.  Several times he fancied he heard the report of distant rifle shots, and at these times he would start up and listen intently and look cautiously out, half expecting and fearful that he would see the two lumbermen coming to recapture him.

But no one came to disturb him, and he assured himself at length that he had heard only the cracking of dead branches in the storm, and that there had been no rifle shots.  Then, at last, his eyes drooped and he slept.