ut did
not sleep much as the heavy train rumbled through the mountains. The
jolting of the cars and the roar of wheels that echoed among the rocks
disturbed him, and he was troubled by gloomy thoughts. He had promised
Alice Featherstone that he would clear her brother; but he had also to
clear himself, and in order to do so must find Lawrence as well as
Daly. Just now he had not much hope of finding either, but he
cherished a vague belief in his luck, and it was unthinkable that he
should neglect any chance of justifying the girl's confidence. He was
ready to follow Daly round the world, sooner than lose that. The
trouble was that he could not tell if he was following the fellow or
not.

He went to sleep at last, and getting up rather late, spent an hour or
two trying to knit up broken clews and looking for a light. It was a
profitless but absorbing occupation and he vacantly glanced at the
majestic panorama of snowy peaks and climbing forest that rolled past
the windows of the car. When his thoughts wandered from their groove,
he saw Alice Featherstone moving with stately calm about the Garth, or
standing in the orchard with the sunset shining on her face. He
recalled the grace of her tall figure and how her dress harmonized with
the mossy trunks, but he loved to dwell upon the look of trust in her
steady eyes. Then the memories were suddenly banished, for a whistle
rang up the track and there was a jar of brakes.

Foster hurried out to the platform when the long train stopped, and saw
the conductor talking to the engineer and passengers jumping down into
the snow. Pete joined him as he followed them, but he stopped for some
moments and looked about. There was no station near. The track, which
was marked by cinders and stains on the snow, ran along a desolate
mountainside. Dark pines that looked as if they had been dusted with
icing-sugar rolled in curiously rigid ranks up the slope, getting
smaller until they dwindled to a fine saw-edge that bit into a vast
sweep of white. This ended in a row of jagged peaks whose summits
gleamed with dazzling brightness against the blue sky. Below the
track, the ground fell away to a tremendous gorge, where dark-colored
mist hung about a green river dotted with drifting ice. The sun struck
warm upon his face, though the snow was dry.

"We'll find out why they've stopped," he said to Pete and walked
forward past the cars.

The engineer stood on the step of the hug