bing pang in his shoulder,
and he laid a hand upon the place that he had forgotten; while now he
woke to the fact that when he tried to think what it would be best to do
for his cousin, the effort was painful, and the sensation came back that
all this must be a feverish dream.

He clapped his hands to his face. It and his brow were burning hot, and
he knew that he was growing confused; so much so that he rose to his
knees, then to his feet, and took a step or two, to stand wondering, for
his senses left him for a moment or two, and then a strange thing befell
him. A black veil seemed to have fallen in front of his eyes, and he
was lost, utterly lost, and he had not the least idea where he was or
what had been taking place during the past twenty-four hours.

He stretched out his hands and touched the compressed snow, which was
dripping with moisture; but that gave him no clue, for his mind seemed
to be a perfect blank, and with a horrible feeling of despair he leaned
forward to try and escape from the black darkness, when his burning brow
came in contact with the icy wall of his prison, and it was like an
electric shock.

His position came back in a flash. Self was forgotten, and he sank upon
his knees to feel for his cousin, horror-stricken now by the great dread
that the poor fellow might die with him by his side quite unable to
help.

He forgot that but a short time back he was advocating a brave meeting
of their fate. For since he had awakened to the fact that his boyhood's
companion was with him, hope had arisen, and with it the determination
to wait patiently till morning and then fight their way back to the
light. Now all seemed over. Abel was terribly injured, fever had
supervened, and he would die for want of help; while he, who would
freely have given his life that Abel might live, was utterly helpless,
and there was that terrible sensation of being lost coming on again.

He pressed his head against the snow, but there was no invigorating
sense of revival again--nothing but a curious, worrying feeling. Then
he was conscious for a few moments that Abel was muttering loudly, but
the injury to his shoulder was graver than he had imagined, and the
feverish symptoms which follow a wound were increasing, so that before
long he too had sunk into a nightmare-like sleep, conscious of nothing
but the strange, bewildering images which haunted his distempered brain;
and these were divided between his vain effor