might endure the frost.

At length a shed or small barn met his eye. His own approach seemed to
have been heard and answered from within; the neigh of a horse greeted
him. At first he supposed that some horses belonging to the house were
stabled here, and neglected because the roads were impassable; then he
judged that so slight a shed could not be intended for a stable.

He answered the animal's cry by seeking the door. Against it the drift
was not deep, for, as it opened on the sheltered side, he had only the
snowfall to scrape away. The door, which had very recently been freed
from its crust of frost, yielded easily. He found a brown shaggy horse
tied within, and beside it a sleigh, such as he had frequently seen, a
mere platform of wood upon runners. Otherwise the shed was empty.
Courthope was quickly struck by the recognition of something which set
his memory working. The old buffalo-skin on the sleigh was such as was
common, but the way it was stretched upon a heap of sacks made him
remember the sleigh that he had yesterday passed upon the river, and the
keen sinister face of the driver, which had ill contrasted with his
apparent sleep and stupidity.

Courthope tossed aside the skin with a jerk. A rum bottle, a small hoard
of frozen bread and bacon, a heavy blanket folded beneath, all seemed to
prove that the driver had made provision for a longer journey. The horse
had no food before it; no blanket was upon its back. Probably its driver
had not intended to leave it here so long. Where was the driver? This
quickly became in Courthope's mind the all-important question. Why had
he been skulking on the most lonely part of the lake? And now, recalling
again the man's face, he believed that he had had an evil design.

Courthope pursued his way; for, whether the thief had gone farther or
remained in this vicinity, it was evidently desirable to have help from
the nearest neighbours to seek and capture him. Courthope soon reached
what seemed to be a dip or hollow in the plain; in this the wind had
been very busy levelling the surface with the higher ground. At first he
supposed that, for some reason, road and fences had come to an abrupt
ending; then he discovered that he merely walked higher above the
natural level. The thought came to him that if here he should break his
snow-shoes there would not even be the neighbouring fence-top on which
to perch and freeze.

Suddenly all his attention was concentrated upon a da