cated itself to the stovepipe. Presently the trapper
leaned forward, and, closing the damper, raked away the ashes with a
chip of wood.

Nick looked up and laid his gun aside, and, rising, stepped over to the
stove.

"Makes ye feel good to hear the fire roarin' when it's stormin' bad.
Ther' ain't no tellin' when this'll let up." He jerked his head backward
to imply the storm.

"It's sharp. Mighty sharp," replied his brother. "Say--"

He broke off and bent his head in an attitude of keen attention. He held
his pipe poised in his right hand, whilst his eyes focused themselves on
a side of bacon which hung upon the wall.

Nick had turned towards the door. His attitude was intent also; he, too,
was listening acutely.

The howling elements continued to beat furiously upon the house and the
din was appalling, but these two men, keen-eared, trained to the life of
their mountains, had heard a sound which was not the storm, nor of the
forest creatures doling their woful cries beneath the shelter of the
woods.

Slowly Ralph's eyes moved from the bacon and passed over the smoke
stained wooden wall of the hut. Nor did they pause again until they
looked into the eyes of his brother. Here they fixed themselves and the
working brains of the two men seemed to communicate one with the other.
Neither of them was likely to be mistaken. To hear a sound in those
wilds was to recognize it unerringly.

"A cry," said Nick.

"Some 'un out in the storm," replied Ralph.

"A neche."

Ralph shook his head.

"A neche would 'a' know'd this was comin'. He'd 'a' made camp. 'Tain't a
neche. Hark!"

The beat of the storm seemed to drown all other sounds, and yet those
two men listened. It is certain that what they heard would have been
lost to most ears.

Ralph rose deliberately. There was no haste, nor was there any
hesitation. His intention was written on his face.

"The lifeline," he said briefly.

Out into the awful storm the two men plunged a few moments later. There
was no thought of their own comfort in their minds. They had heard a
cry--the cry of a human being, and they were prepared to lend such aid
as lay in their power. They did not pause to wonder at a voice other
than their own in those regions. Some one was caught in the storm, and
they knew that such a disaster meant certain death to the poor wretch if
they did not go to the rescue. The terror of the blizzard was expressed
in the significant words Ralph had uttered.