ere, help yourself; you must
be hungry and tired, and you have got to do it over again."

Mr Humphreys then ran into the yard, and bade the four labourers
provide themselves with shovels and prepare to accompany him at once.

He then went back into the parlour. His wife was just opening her eyes;
for a time she looked confused and bewildered, then suddenly she sat up
and gazed beseechingly at her husband--memory had come back to her.

"Yes, wife, thanks be to God, it is true--the boys are alive; I am just
going with these men to dig them out. They are snowed up in a hut.
Now, Jane, get a large basket, and put in it lots of bread, and bacon--
the men who are working will want something; fill the largest stone jar
with beer; put in a bottle of brandy and a bottle of milk, and set to
and get some soup ready; bring three small mattresses downstairs and a
lot of blankets."

Five minutes later the search-party started, Mr Humphreys and the guide
leading the way; the men followed, one carrying five shovels; another,
the basket and jar; the other two, three hurdles on which were placed
the mattresses and blankets.

It was no easy matter so laden making their way over the hills and
through the deep drifts. Mr Humphreys took his share of the labour;
but it was two hours from the time when they started before they arrived
at the spot where the flag was waving, and the night was already closing
in.

Mr Humphreys hurried forward to the flag; he knelt down beside it.

"Are you still alive, Dick?--it is I, your father!"

"Yes, father, we are all alive, and we shall be all right now you have
come. Don't get too near the stick; we are afraid of the hole closing
up, and smothering us."

"Which side is the door," Mr Humphreys asked, "so that we can dig that
way?"

"There is no door, father; but you had better dig from below, because of
the wall."

"There must be a door," Mr Humphreys said to himself, as he rejoined
the men. "There can't be a hut without a door; Dick must be a little
lightheaded, and no wonder. Now, lads, let us set to work from below."

The five men were soon at work, throwing aside the snow. In a short
time the other parties arrived.

Mr Humphreys had brought with him a stock of candles. These were lit
and stuck in the snow, where, as there was no wind, they burnt steadily,
affording sufficient light for the search. The work was all the more
difficult from the lightness of the snow, as the sides