laims to
affection and esteem, could not assert the remotest kinship with the
whistling winds and blinding snow which were proving such formidable
rivals!

A narrow lane appeared at her right. Almost before she was aware that it
was there, she had swung Sunbeam about; in another moment they were
standing, with two other saddle-horses, in a little grove of trees,
further protected by a small house close at hand. It seemed almost warm
in that sheltered nook. Amy recognized the horses and knew that Harry de
Luce and one of the girls must have taken refuge within.

The lane was a short one, and she and Sunbeam stood, trembling with
excitement, until they saw the shadow of a horse and rider speeding
along the road toward the town. Then Amy drew a long breath of relief.
"It was all nothing but a shadow," she said to herself, "and I went and
thought it was real!"

She slid stiffly down from the saddle and hobbled into the house, all
the exultation gone from her bounding veins. It made her a bit dizzy to
think of the rush of tumultuous emotions which had outvied the storm of
the elements but now. By the time the friendly hostess had established
her before the kitchen stove and taken away her dripping hat and coat,
she felt too limp and spent to answer the eager questions that were
asked.

"Do something for Sunbeam," she murmured weakly to Harry de Luce, in
answer to his ready offers of help.

"They're going to send out a 'bus with four horses to pick up the
remnants," de Luce assured her. "If you girls will go in the 'bus I will
lead Sunbeam and Paddy home." And somehow it seemed so pleasant to be
taken care of, just in a group with another girl and two horses, that
Amy, with a faint, assenting smile, submitted to be classed with the
"remnants."

She felt as if she were half asleep when, an hour or more later, she sat
in the corner of the great omnibus, that went lurching along through the
snow, like a mudscow gone astray among ocean waves. She had an idea that
everybody was talking at once, but that was just as well, since not a
syllable was audible above the creaking and rattling of the big ark.

Arrived at home she found the riding-crop, but no Stephen. He had called
an hour ago, to ask if she had arrived safely, but he had said nothing
about coming again.

"If he has an atom of spirit he will never come near me again," Amy
thought to herself. And then; "Oh, that dear blizzard!" she exclaimed
under her breath.