Half-an-hour passed, and Gulo flung his head around, glancing over his
shoulder a little uneasily, but with never a trace of fear in his
bloodshot eyes. Then he grunted, and the two fell apart silently and
instantly, gradually getting farther and farther from each other on a
diverging course, till his wife faded out among the trees. But never
for an instant did either of them check that tireless, deceptive,
clumsy, rolling slouch, that slid the trees behind, as telegraph-poles
slide behind the express carriage window.

Half-an-hour passed, and one of the Brothers, peering up and along the
trail a little anxiously, saw the forking of the line ahead. Then he
grunted, and the two promptly separated without a word, gradually
increasing the distance between them on the widening fork till they
were lost to each other among the marshaled trunks. But never for an
instant did they relax that swift, ghostly glide on the wonderful ski,
that slid the snow underfoot as a racing motor spins over the ruts.

An hour passed. Sweat was breaking out in beads upon the faces of the
Brothers, now miles apart, but both going in the same general direction
over the endless wastes of snow, and upon their faces was beginning to
creep the look of that pain that strong men unbeaten feel who see a
beating in sight; but never for a moment did they slacken their swift,
mysterious glide.

An hour passed. Foam began to fleck the evilly up-lifted lips
glistening back to the glistening fangs of the wolverines, now miles
apart, but still heading in the same general line, and upon their faces
began to set a look of fiends under torture; but never for a moment did
they check their indescribable shuffling slouch.

After that all was a nightmare, blurred and horrible, in which endless
processions of trees passed dimly, interspersed with aching blanks of
dazzling white that blinded the starting eyes, and man and beast
stumbled more than once as they sobbed along, forcing each leg forward
by sheer will alone.

At last, on the summit of a hog-backed, bristling ridge, Gulo stopped
and looked back, scowling and peering under his low brows. Beneath
him, far away, the valley lay like a white tablecloth, all dotted with
green pawns, and the pawns were trees. But he was not looking for
them. His keen eyes were searching for movement, and he saw it after a
bit, a dot that crept, and crept, and crept, and--_stopped_!

Gulo sat up, shading his eyes against