k where a thin banner of smoke, shot with an
occasional yellow spark, floated from the dilapidated stovepipe that
protruded from the roof.

The hard crust rendered snowshoes unnecessary, and his soft moccasins
made no sound upon the surface of the snow.

Gaining the side of the shack, he peered between the unchinked logs.
The play of the firelight that shone through the holes of the broken
stove sent flickering shadows dancing over the floor and walls of the
rough interior.

Near the fire, stretched long and silent beneath its blankets, lay the
form of a man. Creed shifted his position for a better view of the
sleeper. His foot caught in the loop of a piece of discarded wire whose
ends were firmly frozen into the snow, and he crashed heavily backward
into a pile of dry brushwood.

It seemed to the frightened man as if the accompanying noise must wake
the dead. He lay for a moment where he had fallen, listening for sounds
from within. He clutched his rifle nervously, but the deathlike silence
was unbroken save for his own heavy breathing and the tiny snapping of
the fire in the stove.

Cautiously he extricated himself from the brush-heap, his heart
pounding wildly at the snapping of each dry twig. It was incredible
that the man could sleep through such a racket in a country where life
and death may hang upon the rustle of a leaf.

But the silence remained unbroken, and, after what seemed to the
cowering man an eternity of expectant waiting, he crawled again to the
wall and glanced furtively into the interior. The form by the fire was
motionless as before--it had not stirred.

Then, as he looked, a ray of firelight fell upon the white label of the
black whisky bottle that lay an easy arm's reach from the head of the
sleeper. A smile of comprehension twisted the lips of his evil face as
he leered through the crevice at the helpless form by the fireside.

"Soused to the guards," he sneered, "an' me with ten years scairt offen
my life fer fear I'd wake him." He stood erect and, with no attempt at
the stealth with which he had approached the shack, proceeded rapidly
in the direction of the stable.

It was but the work of a few moment to bridle the horses, lead them
out, and hitch them to the sled.

Tossing the horse-blankets on top of the big tarpaulin which lay in the
rear of the sled-box ready for use in the covering of supplies, he
settled himself in front and pulled the robes about him.

He turned the team s