joyous bark, and he sprang painfully to his feet, for a familiar gruff
voice growled:

"Now, then, what's the matter with you, my son?" And then: "Fire out?
How gashly dark!"

"Bob!" faltered Dallas.

"You, Master Dallas? Wait a bit, my son, and I'll get the fire going.
How's Mr Wray?"

There was a weary groan, and Abel said dreamily: "Don't--don't wake me.
How cold! How cold!"

Tregelly sighed, but said nothing for the moment, exerting himself the
while in trying to fan the flickering flame into a stronger glow, and
with such success that the horrible feeling of unreality began to pass
away, with its accompanying confusion, and Dallas began to realise the
truth.

"I--I thought you were lying there dead," he said at last.

"Oh, no, my son; I'm 'live enough," said Tregelly, who still bent over
the fire; "but I never thought to open my eyes again. Shall I melt some
snow over the fire? There is a scrap or two more to eat, and when it's
light we might p'r'aps shoot something. But I say, we must have slept
for an awful long time, for we made a tremendous fire, and the snow's
melted all about wonderful."

"Yes, wonderfully," said Dallas, who crouched there gazing at the figure
where the bank of snow had been.

"It's my belief that we've slept a good four-and-twenty hours, and that
it's night again."

"Think so?"

"I do, my son, and it's to-morrow night, I believe. I say, how the snow
has melted away. Why, hullo!" he shouted, as the flames leapt up
merrily now, "who's that?"

"I don't know," faltered Dallas; "I thought at first it was you."

"Not a dead 'un?" whispered Tregelly in an awestruck tone.

"Yes; and whoever it was must have been buried in that bank of snow, so
that we did not see him last night."

Tregelly drew a burning brand from the fire, gave it a wave in the air
to make it blaze fiercely, and stepped towards the recumbent figure
lying there.

"Hi! Look here, my son," he cried. "No wonder we didn't see him come
back."

Dallas grasped the fact now, and the next moment he too was gazing down
at the fierce face, icily sealed in death, the light playing upon the
huge red beard, while the eyes were fixed in a wild stare.

"Hah!" ejaculated Tregelly. "He'll do no more mischief now, my son.
But what was he doing here? Rather a chilly place for a man to choose
for his lair. Thought he was safe, I suppose. Only look."

For a few moments Dallas could not drag his eyes from the hor