kness increased, the downward rush of the current seemed
to gather strength; there were times when their progress was almost
imperceptible. Sufficient snow had already fallen to cloak the land in
whiteness, and they were very conscious that every day the
temperature, was sinking lower. In the middle of the seventh night of
their journey they felt something grate against their prow, and they
knew that the river was freezing over. They had only five more miles
to traverse; they were too exhausted and stiff with cold to attempt to
reach their destination by walking along the bank, even if they had
been willing to abandon their treasure; so there was nothing for it
but to make one last effort. So nerveless were they with fatigue that,
when they went by the bend, Spurling forgot to be afraid of the thing
which he had seen there; he had not the strength to remember. They
reached the pier when the dawn was breaking, so faint that they could
not rise and crawl out. They would have drifted back over the way
which they had travelled, had not the ice closed in and held them.

Two hours after their arrival, Eyelids looked out from the window at
Murder Point and, seeing them, came to their rescue and lifted them
into the shack.

They had arrived none too early, for that day the river froze over,
the snow fell in earnest, and the Keewatin winter settled down.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE BETRAYAL

Granger had been sick and delirious for several days as a result of
exposure and starvation. Day and night Peggy had nursed him with
unwearying attention; one would have supposed that he had been always
kind to her, and that she was greatly in his debt. Since his brain had
cleared she had said little to him; but, when she touched him, he
could feel the thrill of passion that travelled through her hands. Her
face told him nothing; it was only when suddenly she raised up her
eyes that he saw the longing which they could not hide. Because her
eyes betrayed her, she rarely looked at him. He would gladly have
spoken with her frankly, but her reserve deterred him, and, moreover,
a great anxiety weighed upon his mind--he did not know how many of his
secrets and hidden intentions he had let out in his ravings. The
altered bearing of his companions made him aware that they had each
learnt something fresh about himself, one another, and the manner in
which he regarded them. The Man with the Dead Soul was alone
unchanged.

So he sat among them