his strong hands. She rubbed her legs dry with her palms, and
put the stockings back on. Then she drew off her coats and outing suit,
and he wrung them as dry as he could. Then quickly she dressed again.

"Now--fast as you can walk toward the cabin."

He was not sure that he could find it in the darkness. He hoped to
encounter the moose trail where it left the ford; beyond that he had to
rely on his woodsman's instincts. He was soaked through and exhausted
and he knew from the strange numbness of his body that he was slowly
being chilled to death. It was a test of his own might and endurance
against the cruel elements and a power beyond mere physical strength
came to his aid.

They forced their way through the evergreen thickets of the river bank,
walking up the stream toward the ford. He broke through the brushy
barriers with the might of his body; he made a trail for her in the
snow. The darkness deepened around them. The snow fell ever heavier,
and the winds soughed in the tree tops.

After the first half-mile all consciousness of effort was gone from the
girl. She seemed to move from a will beyond her own, one step after
another over that terrible trail. She lost all sense of time, almost of
identity. Strange figures, only for such eyes as might see in the
darkness, they fought their way on through the drifts.

But they conquered at last. Partly by the feel of the snow under his
feet, partly by his woodsman's instincts, but mostly because the forest
gods were merciful, Bill kept to the moose trail that led from the ford
to the cabin. And the man was swaying, drunkenly, when he reached the
door.

His cold hands could scarcely draw out the rusted file that acted as a
brace for the chain. Yet his voice was quiet and steady when he spoke.

"There are blankets in there, plenty of 'em," he told her. "It's
my main supply cabin. Spread some of them out and take off your
clothes--all of 'em--and get between them. I'll build a fire as fast
as I can."

She turned to obey. She heard him take down an ax that had been left
hanging on the cabin walls and heard his step in the snow as he began to
cut into kindling some of the pieces of cordwood that were heaped
outside the door. She undressed quickly, then lay shivering between the
warm, heavy blankets.

In a moment the man faltered in, his arms heavy with wood. She heard
him fumbling back of the little stove, then a match gleamed in the
gloom. She