in three days--sleeping out just two
nights. Harold and I can build raging fires--he starting them and
helping me with the the fuel cutting. Oh, I know, Virginia, I won't be
much good on this trip--and those two nights will be pretty terrible.
We'll have to take turns in watching the fire. But with blankets around
our shoulders, acting as reflectors for the heat, we can get some rest."

"But you are sure Harold knows the way? I couldn't even get as far as
the river, and you are blind----"

"Harold knows the way as well as I do. I can mush all right, by hanging
on the gee-pole. It will be comparatively easy going; the brush is
covered with snow. The only thing that remains is to have Harold go
over and get a supply of the grizzly meat. Or, better still, since
he'll have to take the sled, we can pick it up on the way out. It's
frozen hard and won't take harm, and it's only a half mile out of our
way."

As if the invocation of his name were a magic summons, Harold opened the
door and entered. He carried Bill's loud-mouthed rifle in the hollow of
his arm.

"You've been hunting?" Virginia cried. She was pleased that this
sweetheart of hers should have risen so early in an attempt to secure
fresh meat for their depleted larder. It was wholly the manly thing to
do.

"Of course. I figured we needed meat. I carried Bill's rifle because I
don't trust the sights of mine. They were a yard off that day I shot at
the caribou."

"Did you see any game?"

Harold's eyes met hers an narrowed, ever so slightly. But his answer
was apt. "I saw a caribou--about two miles away. There didn't seem a
chance in the world to hit it, but considering our scarcity of meat, I
took that chance. Of course, I didn't hit within ten feet of him;
Bill's gun isn't built for such long ranges. I shot--four times."

Bill did not reply. He was thinking about those same four shots. It
was incomprehensible that they should have made such an impression upon
him.

"And for all that Bill hasn't got his sight back yet, we're going to
start down to-morrow," Virginia went on in a gay voice. She glanced
once at Bill, but she did not see the world of despair that came into
his face at the delight with which she spoke. "You and I will take
turns pulling the sled; Bill will hang on to the gee-pole. And Bill
says you know the way. We're going to dash right through--camp out
only two nights."

"I know the way all right," Harold answered