They went in a body to the place where the cart had been left, but it required two journeys before its contents were all transported to the hut.  Another three days and this was completed.  It was roughly built of logs, the interstices being filled in with moss.  There was no attempt at a door, an opening being left four feet high and eighteen inches wide for the purpose of an entry.  The skin of a deer they had shot, since they arrived, was hung up outside; and a folded rug inside.  There was no occasion for windows.  A certain amount of light made its way in by an orifice, a foot square, that had been left in the roof for the escape of smoke.  The hut itself consisted of one room only, about eighteen feet square.

When this was finished, all hands set to work to pile up a great stack of firewood, close to the door, so as to save them from the necessity of going far, until snow had ceased falling, and winter had set in in earnest.

The cart had brought six carcasses of sheep, that had been purchased from a peasant; these were hung up outside the hut to freeze hard, and the meat was eaten only once a day, as it would be impossible to obtain a fresh supply, until the weather became settled enough to admit of their hunting.

The preparations were but just finished when the snow began to fall heavily.  For a week it came down without intermission, the wind howled among the trees, and even Charlie, half stifled as he was by the smoke, felt no inclination to stir out, except for half an hour’s work to clear away the snow from the entrance, and to carry in wood from the pile.

The time passed more cheerfully than might have been expected.  He had by this time begun to talk Polish with some facility, and was able to understand the stories that the men told, as they sat round the fire; sometimes tales of adventures they themselves had gone through, sometimes stories of the history of Poland, its frequent internal wars, and its struggles with the Turks.

Making bread and cooking occupied some portion of the time, and much was spent in sleep.  At the end of a week the snow ceased falling and the sun came out, and all were glad to leave the hut and enjoy the clear sky and the keen air.

While they had been confined to the hut, two of the men had made a large number of snares for hares, and they at once started into the forest, to set these in spots where they saw traces of the animals’ passage over the snow.  The rest went off in parties of twos and threes in search of other game.

With the exception of Charlie, all were accustomed to the woods; but, as Stanislas had much less experience than the others, the captain decided to go with them.