upon them in full intensity, driving across the lake, and
blotting out the opposite shore from view. It beat against the thicket
in its frantic efforts to reach the little lodge. To keep out the
stray gusts which did occasionally escape the barricade of trees, Sam
hung skins and blankets across the two ends of the abode. Thus within
all was snug and warm. The fire burned brightly, and the smoke poured
up through the wide space overhead. The roar of the storm in the
forest sounded like the raging of the sea, and the waving of the
tree-tops resembled the rolling and heaving of mighty billows. It was
an exciting day to Jean. Never before had she witnessed such a storm.
The fiercer it raged, and the more furiously it howled and beat against
the sheltering trees, the more delighted she became. From a small
opening on the south of the lodge she could see the snow swirling along
the shore of the lake and piling up in long drifts against several
fallen trees. It was good to be in such a cosy place where she could
watch unharmed the trumpeting legions of the great nor'easter.

All through the day the storm continued, and night brought no
abatement. It was still raging when Jean curled herself up in her
blankets and lay there watching the dancing flames and the two Indians
quietly and contentedly smoking on the opposite side of the fire. At
length her eyes closed, and lulled by the tempest, she was soon fast
asleep.

When she awoke the next morning the sun was shining brightly, and a
great peace lay upon forest and lake. It was a new world upon which
she opened her eyes, a world of dazzling glory, somewhat akin to the
vision vouchsafed to the ancient seer in his lonely island when he
beheld a new heaven and a new earth.

Jean was all eagerness now to assay her first venture upon her new
snow-shoes. The simple breakfast ended, and clad in her woodland suit,
Sam taught her how to arrange the magic slippers upon her moccasined
feet. How Dane's heart would have thrilled could he have seen her
standing before the lodge, her lithe, supple body drawn to its full
height, her face aglow, her eyes sparkling, and her furry cap poised
lightly upon her head surrounded by a wealth of soft, billowy hair.
The rude lodge, the great trees, and the fair girl standing there
formed a scene of surpassing charm which many an artist would have
given much to capture.

At first Jean found the walking on the snow-shoes somewhat difficult,