me they
swept clear of them on to the open plain of what she easily guessed was
a frozen lake. They turned sharply to the right, and a few minutes
afterwards a whirl of snow caused her to cover her face. Some
considerable time passed before she looked forth again. They were
travelling at a great rate. The snow was flying from the shoes of the
man who broke the trail. The half-breed who was acting as driver was
urging the dogs with both whip and voice, and occasionally he cast an
anxious look over his shoulder. Wondering why he should do so Helen
also looked back. Then her heart gave a great leap. Behind them was
another dog-team with two men. Was it possible that after all the
half-breed was mistaken, or that he had told her a lying tale?

She did not know, she could not tell, she could only hope, and her hope
was fed by her captor's evident anxiety. He whipped the dogs cruelly,
and his glances back became more frequent. Helen also looked back and
saw that the sled behind was gaining on them. Was it indeed her lover
in pursuit, or were these men who had witnessed the attack on the
cabin, and had fired the shots which had compelled the attackers to
take flight? Anything now seemed possible, and as the half-breed's
anxiety grew more pronounced, her own excited hopes mounted higher.

The snow came again, a blinding whirl that blotted out the whole
landscape, then the half-breed gave a sharp order, and the Indian in
front breaking trail turned ashore. The half-breed looked back, and then
forward, and gave a grunt of satisfaction. The girl also looked forward.
They were approaching a tree-crowned bluff, which was apparently their
goal. Then suddenly, bewildering in its unexpectedness, came the flash
and crack of a rifle from the bushes in shore.

"Sacree!" cried the half-breed, and the next moment three rifles spoke,
and he pitched over in the snow, whilst the man at the gee-pole also
fell.

The man breaking the trail in front, swerved from the bluff, and the
dogs swerved after him, almost upsetting the sledge. Again a rifle, and
the remaining man went down. The dogs, in excitement or fear, still
moved forward, and Helen strove to free herself, but a moment later the
sledge halted abruptly as two of the dogs fell, shot in their traces.
She had a momentary vision of two men running towards her from the
shore, then the snow came down in a thick veil. Dimly she caught the
outline of one of the men by her sled, and the next