as it came; till it shrouded the little band of
men--'unconquering, yet unconquered'--in a sinister twilight, cold as
Death's own self.

There was nothing to be said or done. They simply stood still, and
waited for the end:--the Asiatics with the phlegm of fatalism; Lenox
with the stillness of despair.

"Checkmate," he muttered grimly. "Two hours of this will about finish
us off."

In two seconds his moustache was frozen to his face; his limbs numbed,
so that movement became imperative. Mechanically he dismounted,
stamped his feet, and beat his arms across his chest as the others were
doing; a proceeding about as effective as thimblefuls of water flung on
a fire. For every moment the iron clutch of frost tightened and
penetrated; even, it seemed, to the life-blood in his veins. But
through its deadening influence the thought of Quita struck like a
knife-thrust. "God help her!" his heart cried out in bitter rebellion
against his own helplessness to shield her from pain. "It will hit her
hard. But she has grit;--and her art. She will live it down."

For five awful minutes the darkness held; and the men waited;--free yet
helpless, like castaways on an open sea. Yet no snow fell.

Suddenly Lenox was aware of Brutus rubbing against his leg, plainly
demanding what was wrong. He stooped and caressed the ugly head of his
eight years' companion and friend. "Rough luck on you, old chap. You
never asked to come."

For answer Brutus licked his woollen glove. And as he straightened
himself, Chundra Sen came up and saluted.

"Captain Sahib, it is strange. No snow falls; and the darkness
moves--moves. May be it is not the storm itself; but a cloud that will
pass."

"I doubt it, Havildar," Lenox answered, smiling at the characteristic
suggestion. Yet his eyes, half-blinded with snow-glare, peered
anxiously southward, and detected a change; a faint hint of
transparency, as though light were struggling through.

The Gurkha detected it also.

"Hazur, behold!--The cloud _will_ pass." His teeth flashed out
exultant. "A good tale is not to be bought with cowries; and we shall
tell this one in India before many weeks be out."

Chundra Sen was right. With astonishing swiftness the twilight paled
from grey to white; a streak of spectral sunlight quivered through,
like life creeping back into the face of death; and the cloud rolled
harmlessly over into the Yarkhun valley behind them.

It was but a herald of th