In the evenings sometimes I read while Jerry whittled, and sometimes Jerry read while I worked at the snowshoes or the vessels of birch bark.
In some sheltered camp nest on the edge of the timberline one may lie snug and warm, but after the long shuffle on snowshoes we may have to wait more than a month ere the heavens open and the grand show is unveiled.
Then is the time to take off your snowshoes and approach with greater care then ever; but remember, always keep to leeward of the track and always look up wind.
The other men wore Chipewyan "tripping shoes" about three feet long--the only style of Canadian snowshoes that are made in "rights and lefts.
Yet the packeteers of the Mackenzie River mail cover their two thousand miles on snowshoes at an average rate of twenty-seven and a half miles a day, including all stoppages.
Was it in the same way that her young white man had come so many miles on snowshoes through the winter woods just to call upon her?
Only the faintest whisper of scuffling snowshoes and scrunching snow could be heard; the sound of the occasional snapping of a twig came as a startling report compared with the almost noiseless tread of the hunter.
Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to break the trail.
Also there were moose and caribou horns lying about, and bundles of Indian-made snowshoes hanging by wires from the rafters, and in one corner kegs of dried beaver castors.
I have seen snowshoes that white men have strung with cord; but cord is of little use, for cord, or rope, shrinks when wet and stretches when dry, whereas deerskin stretches when wet and shrinks when drying.
According to the northern custom, when he camped that night, he stood his gun andsnowshoes in the snow far enough away to prevent their being affected by the heat of the fire.
The snow seemed harder than ever, and for long stretches we took off our snowshoes and ran over the drifts, but so wind-packed were they that they received little impression from our feet.
Presently The Owl re-loaded his gun with greater care, then we returned for our snowshoes and to recover our toboggan before we started to skin the carcass.
A little later I was telling about the winter hike we had taken on snowshoes last year.
As a finishing touch, I brought out thesnowshoes and painted paddle that were a relic of my Golden Age, and which I had never had the heart to unpack since I came home.
You ought to see the sport they have on snowshoes in Switzerland," he began with kindling eyes.
From Fort Churchill Mr. Tyrrell walked eight or nine hundred miles on snowshoes to the southern end of Lake Winnipeg.
When they are far from their lodges the men go over the snow on snowshoes and pack the hides to camp on dogs.
Like the hare, the lynx is shod with snowshoes in the winter, on which he can pad along on snow in which a fisher would sink deep at every step.
Long before daylight, the two had traveled on silent snowshoes up the river bank, laying a trap-line, carrying nothing but a back-load of steel traps.
So one day when the snow was light, and snowshoes were not needed, Injun and Whitey took Bull to the hills with them, and he was mad with delight.
Then taking his queer-looking rolls of gunpowder in his arms, and slipping his snowshoeson his feet, he hurried back to the place where the top of the tree now lay upon the ground.
Sometimes, where the snowdrifts were deep, when they attempted to pass over, they somehow or other would get the snowshoes so tangled up that over they would go on their heads.
It was very difficult at first for the dogs to get along, but, after the snowshoes had tramped out the trail a few times, the snow then easily held them up.
Snowshoes were made for them, and every day they diligently practiced this new method of locomotion.
The two hunters and a couple of Mr Ross's best men, with their guns well-loaded and with their snowshoeson their feet, as rapidly as was possible strode after them.
The more they struggled, the deeper they sank in the light, fleecy snow, until it seemed as though nothing was visible but a pair of snowshoeswildly wobbling about.
The dogs were kept busy, and the skates and snowshoes were not forgotten.
As the snow over the bears' den was so very deep the boys had to keep on their snowshoes all the time.
Others, with snowshoes as shovels, soon cleared away the snow drift from the fireplace.
As one result," added Mr Ross, "I had to walk or run on snowshoes the rest of the long journey home, and as it was over a hundred miles I often wished I had not been so eager to set my dogs on a number of great northern wolves.
Gliding up gracefully on his own snowshoes to the struggling lad, he would reach down and, seizing him under the arms, would quickly lift him up and once more place him on his feet amidst the laughter of the others.
Using their snowshoes as shovels, they vigorously attacked the snow and threw it up on two sides and in the rear, making a snow wall about five feet high on three sides.
Then they strapped on their snowshoes and made a long circuit around the place, and thus tried to find out some clue or trace of the missing man.
A plank on thin ice acts just as Bert's snowshoes did on the snow, it holds a person up, keeping him from breaking through.
But before Bert started to make his snowshoes he made the little hill better for coasting.
I won't try to go on the soft snow again," he said as he sat down on a box and once more fastened the snowshoes to his feet.
They would wearsnowshoes with the toes turned backwards, that the enemy might think they had gone the other way!
It is said that an Indian uponsnowshoes could easily travel forty miles a day.
There are snowshoes and snowshoes, and while there are fine models regularly stocked by a few of the better sporting-goods firms, there is likewise a deal of poorly made snowshoes on the market.
A first-class pair of snowshoes may be had for about $6 to $7.
The first snowshoes were made by the Indians, and the Indians of Maine and Canada continue to fashion the finest models today.
All the modern snowshoes are constructed upon practically the same general lines, although the types of frames differ considerably in size as well as in shape, and the filling of hide is often woven in many varied and intricate patterns.
When buying snowshoes at the store, see that the frames are stoutly and well made, and for all-around use, provided with a generously large toe hole, so that ample foot covering may be used.
A well-made pair of snowshoeswill stand a couple of seasons' hard use, or last for a year or two longer for general wear.
Some factory-made snowshoes are given a coat or two of varnish, but this, while serving to make them partly waterproof, makes them rather slippery when crossing logs and ice.
Where but one pair of snowshoes is purchased, style B will probably prove the best selection, and should be ordered with the flat toe, or a turn not greater than 1 in.
At first the novice may be inclined to think snowshoes a bit cumbersome and unwieldy, and doubt his ability to penetrate the brush.
The best snowshoes that the writer is acquainted with are made by the Indians, and the filling is ordinarily made of neat's hide; cowhide for the center filling, and calfskin for the toe and heel.
When the king got there, he turned the snowshoes around, as the lord of the beasts had told him, and they ran home again.
When you have found him, turn the snowshoes around so that they point this way, and they will come back home of their own accord.
But do not forget to turn the snowshoesaround again.
When a pair of snowshoes are to be made the first thing is to plan the size, shape and general character of the shoes.
A heavy man, if of average height, or taller, can use larger shoes to advantage, while for a smaller and lighter man slightly smaller snowshoes are better adapted.
What are sold as first-class snowshoes bring prices ranging roughly from five to ten dollars per pair.
When he asked what kind of footwear was best his informant told him that he thought snowshoes were the best when the snow came.
The sporting goods catalogues show snowshoes of very different forms and proportions, and the extreme conditions, not for general use.
The former is seldom needed in more open hardwood forest, and as snowshoes are not used much the shoe pac and rubber shoe are the footwear most often seen.
Very short snowshoes made without tails are known as the "bearpaw" pattern.
The snowshoes which he should buy, and which he will find in stock with most dealers, are more or less on the lines of the pattern shown in figure 5.
Having no idea what snowshoes were he went to a store and asked to be shown some, and he was considerably surprised when he saw what they were.
It cannot be expected that after the most exhaustive book study the novice will know enough about snowshoes to discriminate between the ordinary bad and those without fault.
Snowshoes require care, not only while in use, but at other times as well.
Long, narrow snowshoes are used for fast travel in open, fairly level country.
Snowshoes of all types have an opening in the forward part of the central section through which the wearer's toes move as he walks.
They therefore acted to some extent like snowshoes and prevented the girls' feet from sinking deeply, while the prints which they left bore no resemblance to their own.
The Senecas took the opportunity of fabricating snowshoes for the whole party, as these would be absolutely necessary for walking in the woods.
Except when the snow is on the ground these animals can defy their pursuers, but the latter with their snowshoes go lightly over the frozen snow, in which the moose sink heavily.
Strangeways turned sharply away from him, and, moving as briskly on his snowshoes as the unpacked state of the snow would allow, commenced methodically to go about the store in ever widening circles.
On his feet he wore moose-hide moccasins which extended part way up his legs, and to these his five-foot snowshoes were attached.
He commenced to unfasten his snowshoes and to take off the heavier portions of his dress.
He examined the prints of the snowshoes and saw that they were very recent.
Soon he grew strangely nervous, for he thought that he heard the crunch of snowshoes coming up behind.
Then he said, pointing to the old tracks in the cabin which hissnowshoes had left, "All the same, those your tracks.
He lashed his dogs, urging them forward to the limit of their strength; but he came to nothing that was familiar; and, when he paused for breath, he could always hear the snowshoes following.
The land was wrapped in the intensest quiet; the very crunch of his snowshoes seemed a profanation, though he trod lightly.
The man himself tottered as he ran, stubbing the toes of his snowshoes every now and then as he took a new step.
Strangeways, who had been fastening on his snowshoes preparatory to departure, walked across the room and raised the latch.
He rose up, and putting on his capote and snowshoes hurriedly, went out following Strangeways' trail.
He heard the snowshoes lifted across the threshold and rose to greet the stranger who, so soon as he had entered, made fast the door and confronted him without a word, still hiding his face from sight.
I rose to my feet and ran, tripping and falling continually as my snowshoes plunged deep in the melting crust.
It was thought if Hall, the youngest and lightest, could push ahead on snowshoes to Stuart Lake, he could bring out a rescue party with food.
He tied the snowshoes on his back and then stopped for a last word to Maggie.
Bull took off the snowshoes and climbed along the valley wall until he could descend to the clear floor beneath him.
Ordinary snowshoes would not endure his ponderous weight, and Uncle Bill Campbell had fashioned these himself, heavy and uncomfortable articles, but capable of enduring the strain.
There would probably be no use for the snowshoes in this region of broken shrubbery before he came to the timberline.
But Sacobie, with his head down and his roundsnowshoes padding!
He had been out on his snowshoes all that day, and all the day before, springing his traps along the streams and putting his deadfalls out of commission--rather queer work for a trapper to be about.
Archer was dreaming of a Christmas-time in a great faraway city when he was startled by a rattle of snowshoes at his threshold and a soft beating on his door, like weak blows from mittened hands.
Creeping down to the foot of the bluff, we strapped our snowshoes to our feet, and fixed the four wounded men comfortably on the two empty sledges.
Buckskin thongs hold the load in place, and at either side of this vehicle of the woods a brightly-clad figure on snowshoes glides swiftly.
We donned coats and caps, strapped our snowshoes on our feet, and looked to the loading and priming of our muskets.
But when we had gone a mile or so this feeling wore off, and I enjoyed the exhilaration of striding on snowshoesover the frozen crust, through the silent solitudes of the wilderness, by rock and hill and moonlit glade.
How my heart leaped to see the sledge gliding over the snow, the man inside and the one on snowshoes shouting at the plucky, galloping dogs!
When the two lads arrived at the shelter they were tired out and glad enough to take off the snowshoes and hang them up.
Every day they found walking on snowshoes easier, and all got over the ground, or rather snow, very well.
But just you wait, we'll have more snow before long and then the snowshoes will come in mighty handy.
Once Whopper fell over and it was all the others could do to set him straight on his snowshoes again.
Then more bushes were brought, and at last, almost exhausted, Giant and Whopper crawled forth on their hands and knees, their snowshoes held in the air.
The snowdrifts were truly terrific, and even on snowshoes they made slow progress.
Whopper, and went off on his snowshoes behind the fluttering game.
They went over on their skates, and then donned their snowshoes and were soon deep in the forest.
Their snowshoes were placed on the tops of the loads, and they put on their well-sharpened skates as soon as the river front was reached.
There was more snow in the air, and the young hunters spent the remainder of that day in camp, cleaning the game they had brought in and also their firearms, and mending a couple of snowshoes that had become a little broken.
Shep decided to run without thesnowshoes and both lads took off the articles.
Just a bare chance," said Skipper Ed, as they passed out into the porch shed and took their snowshoes from the pegs.
I decided to tie on mysnowshoes and go to meet him.
Leaving sleeping-bag and snowshoes with Scotch, I grasped my axe and chopped my way to the top and then went down and carried bag and snowshoes up.
So hungry were the poor people that some of them ate the strings of the snowshoes which part of the relief company had brought along.
Endeavors to Cross the Mountains Discouraging Failures Eddy Kills a Bear Making SnowShoes Who Composed the "Forlorn Hope" Mary A.
Fearing an ambush, he waited for some time; then as the wolves did not reappear, he lowered himself cautiously from the tree and set out once more for his cabin, minus his snowshoes and greatly perplexed at the mystery.
The wild geese drifted southward in search of open waterways, and the moon of snowshoes was ushered in.
His snowshoes were quickly demolished while the man could only look on, angry but helpless.
Muttering angrily, Dave kicked off his snowshoesand drew himself into the branches of the nearest tree.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "snowshoes" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
