"Is that you, Watson?" Andrew asked. "Has Mappin sent up some provisions for us?"
"Nothing has turned up lately except some tools," Watson answered. "But come right in."
They entered the shack, which for the first few minutes felt intolerably hot.
"Did those tools come in cases with a Toronto freight tag?" Carnally asked.
"That's what misled me. I found out the cases had left the Landing and thought they held our truck. What I wasn't sure about was whether they'd reach here."
"The provisions haven't come, and a day or two's rest will do us good," Andrew replied. "I suppose the fellow will send some explanation."
"That's certain. He won't want you to go down and look him up; you'll get word from him before long. Whether you'll get your provisions or not is another matter."
"Let it drop," Andrew advised; and soon afterward they sat down to supper. In an hour or two they were all asleep; but the next day passed before they heard anything about the missing supplies. They were sitting round the stove in the evening when Watson came in with a letter.
"One of Mappin's boys has brought you this," he said.
Andrew opened it and looked up with a frown.
"No answer. Let him go back when he likes."
When Watson left them he turned to the others.
"Mappin regrets to say that our stores have been lost in transit, and though he is trying to trace them, there may be some delay. He thinks I would like to know this at once--which looks like ironical wit. If needful, he will order a duplicate lot."
"Is it worth while to go down and see him?" Graham asked.
"I'd enjoy it," said Andrew grimly. "However, now that we have come so far, we can't waste time in going back, and I've no doubt it would be a week or two before I could get the goods. We'll have to do without them, which is unfortunate."
His anger was justified. Travel in the North, where food is scarce, is a question of transport. As the traveler must take all he needs with him, his supplies must be carefully regulated in accordance with the distance and his power of carrying them, while an error in his calculations may result in starvation. Knowing this, Carnally and Graham had considered how the weight could be cut down by the use of certain condensed foods, as well as clothing and camp equipment made to combine the greatest warmth with lightness. The goods were expensive, but their value could hardly be reckoned in money.