silence and
carried with them into the greater silence beyond. A little cloud of
steam enveloped them as they moved, the moisture from the breath of nine
moving creatures in a waste of emptiness.

Each of the men wrapped a long scarf around his mouth and nose for
protection, and as the part in front of his face became a sheet of ice
shifted the muffler to another place.

Night fell in the middle of the afternoon, but they kept traveling. Not
till they were well up toward the summit of the divide did they decide
to camp. They drove into a little draw and unharnessed the weary dogs.
It was bitterly cold, but they were forced to set up the tent and stove
to keep from freezing. Their numbed fingers made a slow job of the camp
preparations. At last the stove was going, the dogs fed, and they
themselves thawed out. They fell asleep shortly to the sound of the
mournful howling of the dogs outside.

Long before daybreak they were afoot again. Holt went out to chop some
wood for the stove while Gordon made breakfast preparations. The little
miner brought in an armful of wood and went out to get a second supply.
A few moments later Elliot heard a cry.

He stepped out of the tent and ran to the spot where Holt was lying
under a mass of ice and snow. The young man threw aside the broken
blocks that had plunged down from a ledge above.

"Badly hurt, Gid?" he asked.

"I done bust my laig, son," the old man answered with a twisted grin.

"You mean that it is broken?"

"Tell you that in a minute."

He felt his leg carefully and with Elliot's help tried to get up.
Groaning, he slid back to the snow.

"Yep. She's busted," he announced.

Gordon carried him to the tent and laid him down carefully. The old
miner swore softly.

"Ain't this a hell of a note, boy? You'll have to get me to Smith's
Crossing and leave me there."

It was the only thing to be done. Elliot broke camp and packed the sled.
Upon the load he put his companion, well wrapped up in furs. He
harnessed the dogs and drove back to the road.

Two miles farther up the road Gordon stopped his team sharply. He had
turned a bend in the trail and had come upon an empty stage buried in
the snow.

The fear that had been uppermost in Elliot's mind for twenty-four hours
clutched at his throat. Was it tragedy upon which he had come after his
long journey?

Holt guessed the truth. "They got stalled and cut loose the horses. Must
have tried to ride the cayuses to shel