Then He Shook the Birch Bark and Sneezed.

He stripped the mitten from his right hand and fetched forth the birch bark. The exposed fingers were quickly going numb again. Next he brought out his bunch of sulphur matches, but the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers. In his effort to separate one match from the others, the whole bunch fell in the snow. He could not pick it up. After some manipulation, he managed to get the bunch between the heels of his mittened hands. 20 times he scratched before he succeeded in lighting it. But the burning brimstone went up his nostrils and into his lungs,. causing him to cough spasmodically.