e dogs a good feed and they would
be ready for the return. Then when the doctor turned up, Papineau
would rush him to Roaring River, and--and if the Lord was willing he
might be able to do something, providing....

But she had to interrupt herself to wipe away another big tear. She
placed a hand upon the girl's shoulder, seeking to encourage her a
little, and started off, her heavy footsteps crackling over the snow.
Then silence came again, but for the hurried breathing of the sick man
and the occasional sighs of Maigan, who refused food offered to him.

Madge forced herself to eat a little, dimly realizing that for a time
there might be need of all her strength. After this she sat down
again, feeling crushed with the sense of her helplessness and with the
thought of the terribly long hours that must elapse before the doctor
could arrive.

Once Hugo seemed to awaken, as if from a sleep. The hand that had lain
so still seemed to grope, searchingly, and she placed her own upon
it.

"Take you over--all right--to-morrow," he said. "It--it's a pity,
because--because you're so--so good and kind, now," he muttered.
"She--she thinks I--I'm the dirt under her feet. Ain't--ain't you
there, Stefan?"

His eyes searched the room for a moment. Then, with a look of
disappointment, his head sagged down on the pillow again and he lay
quiet for a long time, till he began to mutter words that were
disconnected and meaningless to her.

The noon hour came and went, with a glowing sun that shone brightly
over the snow and tinted the mist from the great falls with the colors
of the rainbow. But Madge did not see it, for within the little shack
the panes were dimmed by the frost. The stove crackled and spat, with
the sudden little explosions of wood fires. Close to it one felt very
warm but the heat did not extend far, since the cold seemed to be
seeking ever to penetrate the room, making its way beneath the door
and through some of the chinked spaces between the logs. It affected
Madge now as a sort of enemy, this cold that seemed to be on the watch
for victims. It was one of the things that were always rising up in
order to crush struggling men and women.

Another hour elapsed, that had been cruelly long, when Maigan suddenly
leaped up and stood before the door, with hair bristling all over him
and standing like a ridge along his back. He scratched furiously and
looked back, as if demanding to be let out, and kept up a long,
ominou