d unwashed at the next meal. She began to take a
pride in making the cabin as comfortable as circumstances would allow,
even going to the trouble of seeking berried evergreens in the woods and
transforming these into table decoration.

Occasionally she went out to meet the disappointed Jim coming back from
his fruitless expeditions, and mushed the dogs while he sat on the sled.
It seemed that she had succeeded in reconciling the situation--in making
the best of a bad job.

One morning Jim announced his intention of exploring a small creek not a
great distance from the shack. He started off with shovel and pick and the
eternal washing-pan under a leaden sky. It was then an idea came to
Angela. On her journey back from her abortive flight she had noticed a
creek which displayed all the characteristics of those rich, shallow
claims of which the Klondyke yields so many examples. Why not undertake a
prospecting trip on her own account? There was a spare shovel, pick, and
pan, and she had bored holes in frozen gravel before. She decided to
harness up the sled and put her plan into execution.

At noon she started off with her team on the eight-mile journey. A close
study of the map had convinced her that by taking the overland route she
would save at least two miles either way. But her knowledge of maps was
not great, and she entirely neglected to take into consideration the
contour markings, which would immediately have warned any experienced
traveler against such a passage.

The trail led up over a big hill and down a ravine, and for a mile or two
was good "going." Coming out of the ravine the configuration changed. A
jumbled mass of precipitous hills and canyons confronted her. She drove
the dogs to an elevated point and looked before her. The great serpentine
river came to view, clearly outlined by its wooded banks, and no more than
two miles distant. On the near side of the river ran the creek she
sought.

She gave a sigh of relief and urged the dogs on. The road narrowed and
ascended again. The mountain-side fell away, and she found herself on a
narrow ledge with a vast chasm beneath. She thought of turning back, but
there was no room to turn the dogs round. Catching her breath, she went
carefully forward. A few small flakes of snow on her shoulders, and then
the inky sky began to empty itself. It came down in a great mass,
obliterating everything. A cold terror began to possess her. In the
blinding snow she could n