uddled in the snow, anchored there by
the sled turned on its side, and by the fire a man crouched and stared
into the snow-wrack. As he visioned them, Stane slipped the rifle from
the hollow of his arm, and staggered forward like a drunken man.

The man by the fire becoming aware of him leaped suddenly to his feet.
In a twinkling his rifle was at his shoulder, and through the wild
canorous note of the wind, Stane caught his hail. "Hands up! You
murderer!"

Something in the voice struck reminiscently on his ears, and this, as
he recognized instantly, was not the hail of a man who had just
committed a terrible crime. He dropped his rifle and put up his hands.
The man changed his rifle swiftly for a pistol, and began to advance.
Two yards away he stopped.

"Stane! by--!"

Then Stane recognized him. It was Dandy Anderton, the mounted
policeman, and in the relief of the moment he laughed suddenly.

"You, Dandy?"

"Yes! What in heaven's name is the meaning of it all? Did you see
anything? Hear the firing? There are two dead men out there in the
snow." He jerked his head towards the lake. "And there was a dog-team,
but I lost it in the storm. Do you know anything about it, Stane? I
hope that you had no hand in this killing?"

The questions came tumbling over each other all in one breath, and as
they finished, Stane, still a little breathless, replied:

"No, I had no hand in that killing. I don't understand it at all, but
that sledge, we must find it, for to the best of my belief, Miss
Yardely is on it."

"Miss Yardely! What on earth----"

"It is a long story. I haven't time to explain. We were attacked and
she was carried off. Come along, Dandy, and help me to find her."

The policeman shook his head and pointed to the whirling snow. "No use,
old man, we couldn't find a mountain in that stuff, and we should be
mad to try. We don't know which way to look for her, and we should only
lose ourselves and die in the cold."

"But, man, I tell you that Helen----"

"Helen is in the hands of the good God for the present, my friend. I
did not know she was with that sledge, and though I had only a glimpse
of it, I will swear that the sledge was empty."

"There were two men ran out after the firing," cried Stane. "I saw them
just before the snow came. They were making for the sledge. Perhaps
they took Helen----"

"Sit down, Stane, and give me the facts. It's no good thinking of going
out in that smother. A man might as