ward, the ground opening at
his feet, and a narrow ribbon of cold grey water, silently sliding under
its shrunken banks, caught Acton's eye. Senior had plumped cleanly into
this. Luckily, it was not very deep, and he scrambled out to the other
side drenched to the skin, and showing clearly enough, where he had
broken through the snow on both sides, that all the care in the world
would not prevent them repeating the experience. The snow overhung a
yard. Acton had stopped dead when he saw Senior disappear, but in a
moment he had sprung clear, and was helping his friend up the bank. The
snow slipped silently into the stream as he jumped.

"That's number one," said Senior, "and only half an hour from the train!
Any more hereabouts?"

"I fancy so, but we may have better luck next time."

"Hope so. Set the pace, old man, please. It's b-b-beastly c-c-cold."

Acton was thoroughly upset by this mishap, and he headed up the opposite
slope of the hill with a face that showed how the incident had shaken
him. Senior's teeth chattered, and he looked blue with cold. The two
plodded on, Acton insisting on Senior keeping behind. Acton again had
the unenviable pleasure of seeing some more of those icy waters, and
their slow and deadly stealing under the snow seemed to him sinister and
fatal as he pulled himself up on the brink. The care necessary, the
cold, cutting wind, and the knee-deep snow, made their progress terribly
slow, and Acton began to notice that Senior, despite his anxiety for a
sharp pace, was already terribly fagged.

The distance widened between the two, and once, when Acton turned round
and found his friend nearly thirty yards behind, his heart almost
stopped beating.

"This will never do! Heaven help us if he cracks up!" He waited for the
weary Senior, and then said gently, "Pace too hot, old fellow?"

"Rather. So sorry, but you seem to run almost."

"Run!" smiled Acton, bitterly. "Why, we're not doing a mile an hour.
Put your heart into it, Jack, and for Heaven's sake don't let me get too
much in front!"

"All serene!" said Senior, gamely.

To Acton's intense alarm, the snow had recommenced, and the wind swept
it down the fells full into their faces. Acton was afraid that he might
make a mistake if the snow became so heavy as to blot out the landscape,
and, knowing that to do so might have terrible consequences, he
nervously forced the pace.

Senior responded gamely.

"Keep well behind, old man. You'll