Strangely enough, frogs had not occurred to me hitherto, but, now that I had obtained one, I bestirred myself to capture a number. I realized that with my crude spear I could not expect to kill many frogs, and that my first success was pure luck more than anything else. Many a time when a boy I had speared frogs when spending my summers on a farm, and now that frogs were in my mind I remembered the two- or three-pronged spears which the farmers’ boys used. I was still hungry, and while my frog was broiling I busied myself in making a real frog-spear. It was not a difficult task. I had only to attach two slender, barbed pieces of hard wood to the sides of my spear. I had some trouble in binding them on, but I sacrificed strips of my clothing for the purpose, and although the completed spear was very crude, I felt sure it would serve its purpose. I knew, however, that it would soon be blunted and broken among the rocks of the river and I also knew that in such spots frogs would be scarce and that in muddy or stagnant pools I would stand a much better chance of finding them. No swamps or pools were in the immediate vicinity, but I had little doubt that I could find some by a short tramp. I was very anxious to try my spear, but I also realized that I must give time and thought to constructing a shelter to protect me in case of rain, and, reluctantly abandoning my frog-hunt for the time being, I gave my whole attention to the problem of house-building. I had seen many a shack or “lean-to” built and had helped at the work myself, but without an ax I knew that to build even the smallest and simplest shelter would necessitate a tremendous amount of hard labor and would present almost insurmountable difficulties. With only a pocket-knife to cut the necessary trees, poles, and branches, I would be obliged to make the shack of small stuff, and I trembled to think what fate might have in store for me if I should break my knife in an attempt to cut tough branches from the trees.
However, if I was to have a shelter at all it behooved me to begin at once, and I started forth to select a site for my home. I found a sheltered, dry knoll with good drainage a short distance from the river and with plenty of building material in the form of balsam firs, pines, and birches near at hand. I first selected two young trees, about five feet apart, and from these I cut the lower branches, leaving the stubs projecting a few inches. Across two of these I placed a light spruce pole and from the ends of this I laid other poles extending back at an angle to the ground.