d after opening
the upper half of the door to throw out the dish water later.

"It's coming straight down as though it meant business," she muttered.
"I'm liable to have to break trail to get them out to feed to-morrow."
Then, with a look of anxiety as the thought came to her, "If they ever
'piled up' in a draw they're so fat half of them would smother."

While the fire went out she sat thinking what such a loss would mean to
her--ruin, literally; and worse, for in addition she had an indebtedness
to consider.

"It seems colder." She shivered, and straightening the soiled soogans,
she spread her canvas coat over the grimy pillow, pulled off her riding
boots and lay down with her clothes on. Before she fell asleep Kate
remembered the eccentric travelers, and again wondered what possible
business could bring them, but mostly she was thinking that she must
not sleep soundly, although the collie was under the wagon to serve as
ears for her.

While she slept, the moist featherlike flakes hardened to jagged
crystals and rattled as they struck the canvas side of the wagon with a
sound like gravel. The top swayed and loose belts rattled, but inside
Kate lay motionless, breathing regularly in a profound and dreamless
sleep. Underneath the wagon the dog rolled himself in a tighter ball and
whimpered softly as the temperature lowered.

Exactly as though an unseen hand had shaken her violently, she sat bolt
upright and listened. Instantly she was aware that the character of the
storm had changed, but it was not that which had aroused her; it was the
faint tinkle of bells which told her that the sheep were leaving the
bed-ground. Her alert subconscious mind had conveyed the intelligence
before even the dog heard and warned her. He now barked violently as she
sprang out of bed and groped for the matches.

While she pulled on her boots, and a pair of Bowers's arctics she had
noticed when sweeping, and slipped on her coat and buttoned it, the
tinkle grew louder and she knew that the sheep were passing the wagon.
She flung on her hat, snatched up the lantern and opened the door. The
lantern flickered and she gasped when she stepped out on the wagon
tongue and a blast struck her.

"I'm in for it," she said between her teeth as she ran in the direction
of the bells, the dog leaping and barking vociferously beside her.

The wagon disappeared instantly, the blizzard swirled about her and the
flickering lantern was only a tiny gloww