e gnawing pain
that those who sleep on wet ground are acquainted with. Sometimes it
goes away when one gets warmed up, but just as often it does not.
Nasmyth, who found it a difficult matter to straighten himself, ate a
little damp bread, and then, strapping his pack upon his shoulders,
stumbled on into the forest. He afterwards fancied it did not snow
very much that day, but he was not sure of anything except that he
fell over many rotten branches, and entangled himself frequently in
labyrinths of matted willows. Night came and he went to sleep without
a fire. He contrived to push on next day, walking during most of it
half asleep. Indeed, now and then he would stagger along for minutes
after consciousness of what he was doing had deserted him, for there
are men in that Bush, at least, who know what it is to stop with
suddenly opened eyes on the verge of a collapse, and find that they
have wandered from the path--only in Nasmyth's case there was no path
at all.

He was never sure whether it was that day or the next when,
floundering through an undergrowth of willows, he came upon a break in
the forest that was covered with sawn-off stumps. As he made for it,
he fell into a split-rail fence, some of which he knocked down until
he could climb over it. There was a faint smell of burning fir-wood in
the air, and it was evident to him that there was a house somewhere in
the vicinity. The snow was not deep in the clearing, and he plodded
through it, staggering now and then, until he came to a little slope,
and fell down it headlong. This time he did not seem able to get up
again, and it was fortunate that, when he flung the split fence down,
the crash made by the falling rails rang far through the silence of
the woods.

While Nasmyth lay in the slushy snow, a girl came out from among the
firs across the clearing, and walked down the little trail that led
to a well. She was tall, and there was something in her face and
the way she held herself which suggested that she was not a native of
the Bush, though everything she wore had been made by her own
fingers--that is, except the little fur cap, whose glossy brown
enhanced the lustre of her hair. This was of a slightly lighter
tint, and had gleams of ruddy gold in it. Her eyes were large and
brown, and there was a reposeful quietness in the face, which
suggested strength. It was significant that her hands were a trifle
hard, as well as shapely, and that her wrists were red.