"That's quite right," said another lad. "When he takes his cap off
you'll see how one of them rewarded him, but come along, Winston.
It--is--ready."

The greetings might, of course, have been expressed differently, but
Winston also was not addicted to displaying all he felt, and the little
ring in the lads' voices was enough for him. As they moved towards the
hotel he saw that Dane was looking at him.

"Well?" said the latter, "you see they want you."

That was probably the most hilarious breakfast that had ever been held
in the wooden hotel, and before it was over, three of his companions
had said to Winston, "Of course you'll drive in with me!"

"Boys," he said, as they put their furs on, and his voice shook a
trifle, "I can't ride in with everybody who has asked me unless you
dismember me."

Finally Alfreton, who was a trifle too quick for the others, got him
into his sleigh, and they swept out behind a splendid team into the
frozen stillness of the prairie. The white leagues rolled behind them,
the cold grew intense, but while Winston was for the most part silent,
and apparently preoccupied, Alfreton talked almost incessantly, and
only once looked grave. That happened when Winston asked about Colonel
Barrington.

The lad shook his head. "I scarcely think he will ever take hold
again," he said. "You will understand me better when you see him."

They stopped a while at mid-day at an outlying farm, but Winston
glanced inquiringly at Alfreton when one of the sleighs went on. The
lad smiled at him.

"Yes," he said. "He is going on to tell them we have got you."

"They would have found it out in a few more hours," said Winston.

Alfreton's eyes twinkled. "No doubt they would," he said dryly.
"Still, you see, somebody was offering two to one that Dane couldn't
bring you, and you know we're generally keen about any kind of wager!"

The explanation, which was not quite out of keeping with the customs of
the younger men at Silverdale, did not content Winston, but he said
nothing. So far his return had resembled a triumph, and while the
sincerity of the welcome had its effect on him, he shrank a little from
what he fancied might be waiting him.

The creeping darkness found them still upon the waste, and the cold
grew keener when the stars peeped out. Even sound seemed frozen, and
the faint muffled beat of hoofs unreal and out of place in the icy
stillness of the wilderness. Still, the horses knew