every oath they should have a can of cold water poured down their sleeves. He carried out his threat, or at least a part of it, and the two gallants swore no more above their breath. In a few weeks, such was their spirit, they became pretty fair woodsmen, and loved almost as much to make the tall trees come thundering down as in England they had loved to ride to the death of the fox. But there were few of their spirit among that band. Ralph was industrious and determined, but he had not the high and reckless spirit of the two gallants.
At first the shelterless men suffered much at night from the cold. Ralph and a chosen comrade, out of work hours, soon constructed a shelter of brush, and provided a good bed of leaves gathered in the woods. They had to watch closely to keep their blankets from being stolen.
Toward spring a bed of sand heavily charged with powdered iron pyrites was discovered near the village. The glittering stuff was supposed to be gold, and immediately the little colony went wild. Fortunately their cabins had been rebuilt or they would have neglected that necessary task to gather gold. There were three or four of the "first supply" who
