Even these hardy men of the
wild dared not venture beyond their door without the lifeline which was
always kept handy.

With their furs covering every part of them but their eyes and noses
they plunged into the fog of blinding snow. They could see nothing
around them--they could not even see their own feet. Each gripped a long
pole, and used his other hand to grasp the line.

They moved down the beaten path with certain step. Three yards from the
dugout and the house was obscured. The wind buffeted them from every
direction, and they were forced to bend their heads in order to keep
their eyes open.

The whole attack of the wind now seemed to centre round those two
struggling human creatures. It is the way of the blizzard. It blows
apparently from every direction, and each obstacle in its chaotic path
becomes the special object of its onslaught.

A forceful gust, too sudden to withstand, would drive them, blind,
groping, from their path; and a moment later they would be hurled like
shuttlecocks in the opposite direction. They staggered under the burden
of the storm, and groped for the solid foothold of the track with their
poles; and so they slowly gained their way.

Their strenuous life had rendered them uncomplaining, and they laboured
in silence. No emergency but they were ready to meet with a promptness
that was almost automatic. A slip upon the declining path and the fall
was checked by the aid of the poles which both men used as skilfully as
any guide upon the Alps. These contests with the elements were as much a
part of their lives as were their battles with the animal world.

After awhile Ralph halted; he thrust his pole deep into the snow and
held his position by its aid. Then, throwing up his head, as might any
wolf, he opened his throat and uttered a prolonged cry. It rose high
above the storm in a manner which only the cry of a mountain or forest
bred man can. It rushed forth borne unwillingly upon the shrieking wind,
and its sound almost instantly died out of the ears of the sender. But
the men knew it was travelling. Nick followed his brother's example, and
then Ralph gave out the mountain call again.

Then they waited, listening. A sound, faint and far off, came in answer
to their cries. It was the human cry they had heard before.

Ralph moved forward with Nick hard upon his heels. The line "paid out,"
and the points of the poles sought the hard earth beneath the snow. They
gained their way in sp