This was an Indian sign familiar to all the hunters and wilderness folk, indicating that the party had gone in the direction in which the pole sloped, the upright stick a little way from the butt further indicating that the distance was not far.
"Jamie'll know what that means, and if he wearies of bidin' alone in camp and comes to find us he'll not be missin' us now whatever," said Andy with satisfaction, as he and Seth turned back.
"I'm goin' to blaze the trail over, and he won't be like to miss un, then," suggested Seth, taking the axe.
When Andy and Seth rejoined the others Doctor Joe and David had nearly finished skinning the caribou, and in due time they had it ready to cut up.

The head was severed with as little of the neck meat as possible that there might be no unnecessary waste, for they could not carry the head with them.

Then the tongue was removed, for this was considered a titbit.
The question of how to carry the meat to camp was finally settled by making two litters with poles.

The carcass was now cut into two nearly equal parts, one of which was placed on each litter.

Doctor Joe took the forward end of one of the litters, and David the forward end of the other.