The grinning Jong, who shivered violently between his grins, soon had a kettle unstrapped from one of the ponies, and a dash outside provided him with sufficient snow with which to fill it. In half an hour the water was boiling merrily, causing the kettle to sing a tuneful air, that attracted the eyes of all. Moreover, the Chinese soldiers proved most jovial comrades. Chu-Li, he with the prominent teeth and big lips, as Jong had made free to describe him, was a bit of a wag in his own way, and his remarks kept all smiling. In fact, the quartet settled down round the fire like boon companions, due respect, however, being paid to his Excellency, the young white leader of the party. Huge enamelled mugs held the steaming tea that Jong provided, while he had hardly poured it out when there was a mess of rice for the men, for they habitually steeped their rations for the following day over night, and sometimes half-boiled them, so that no great length of time was required to make the food fit for consumption. For the carniverous David there was one of those tins of delicious ready-cooked ration, consisting of beef and potatoes, with carrots and other vegetables, a regular Irish stew, in fact, for the preparation of which all that was required was to open the tin, and plunge it into a pannikin containing boiling water. Within a quarter of an hour there arose a savoury odour that set David's mouth watering.
'And now we may as well settle down for the night,' he said, when he had been to the entrance, only to find that the snow was falling as heavily as ever. 'I will take the first watch, and you others can arrange your turns. We'd better melt some snow in a couple of kettles and wash out the mouths of our ponies. That will put them on till morning, when we ought to be able to get away and find water. Fortunately we have feeds with us, so they won't go hungry.'
Before the night had fallen things inside the hollow wore a ship-shape appearance. Packs were stored not far from the opening, while a huge pile of brushwood was banked near the fire, so that it might be easily replenished. Then the Chinamen threw themselves down on the floor, and wrapped in their blankets were soon snoring.