ce we halted. A foot of snow must already have fallen, and to
venture a single rod outside of this place would serve to lose us as
certainly as though we went a mile. We mustn't give up all hope, though.
Mr. Coombs is very strong, and well used to exposure. Of course, if he
has gone over the precipice there is little chance that we shall ever
see him again; but if he escaped it, and has made a burrow for himself
like this one, he will pull through all right, and I feel sure we shall
find him in the morning."

"Why haven't we dug places like this before?" asked Phil. "It is
actually getting warm and comfortable in here. We might have had just
such a warm cave every night that we have been in the mountains and
spent so miserably."

"Of course we might," agreed Serge, "and we would have had, but for my
stupidity in not thinking of it sooner. While I never took refuge in one
before, I have often heard of them, and ought to have remembered. I
didn't, though, until this storm struck us, and I knew that without
shelter we must certainly perish."

"If you hadn't thought of a snow-burrow," said Phil, "it is certain I
never should. It is snug, though, and if only poor Jalap were with us,
and we had food and a light of some kind, I wouldn't ask for a better
shelter. I can understand now how an Eskimo stone lamp, with seal oil
for fuel, and a wick of moss, can give out all the heat that is needed
in one of their snow huts, and I only wish we had brought one with us."

After this the boys grew drowsy, their conversation slackened, and soon
all their troubles were forgotten in sleep. Outside through the long
hours the gale roared and shrieked with impotent rage at their escape
from its clutches. It hurled its snow legions against their place of
refuge until it was deep buried, and then in a frenzy tore away and
scattered the drifted accumulation, until it could once more beat
directly upon their slender wall of defence. But its wiles and its
furious attacks were alike in vain, and at length its fierce ravings
sank into whispers. The _poorga_ spent its force with the darkness, and
at daylight had swept on to inland fields, leaving only an added burden
of millions of tons of snow to mark its passage across the mountains.

When the boys awoke a soft white light was filtering through one side of
their spotless chamber, and they knew that day had come. They expected
to dig their way to the outer air through a great mass of snow, and w