t Young came out of the
house and fought his way against the blizzard's buffeting down the hill
to the Skinner shack.

Stumbling, he fell against the door.

"It's I, Tess," he shouted.

The girl lifted the bar and admitted him. Dressed in her outer wraps,
she stood in the kitchen, anxious and expectant. This minute to Tess was
the changing point of her life. Young as she was, she understood what it
would mean to the three of them to leave the shanty, to take up their
abode in a real home.

"Ye said we was to take the baby first," she greeted him, reaching for
the shawl on a peg in the door post.

"Yes, but it's so bad I'll have to take you first, child," the lawyer
replied. "Come down, Andy, and after we're gone, bar the door and stand
by the boy.... I'll come back after you in a few minutes."

Then he flung an arm about Tess and drew her into the winter night.
Wind-blown and snow-covered, Young almost carried the shivering girl up
the steps into her new home. How luxurious the comfortable furnishings
seemed compared to the poverty of the shack! Young helped her off with
her coat and rubbers.

"Get the baby and Andy, quick," she panted.

Left alone her imagination followed her champion out under the
frost-laden trees into the drifted lane. She knew his call would raise
the bar and let him into the shanty. She could see the dwarf's beautiful
face smiling his welcome. The thought that Deforrest would wrap up her
baby, protect him from the keen blasts, thrilled her.

She went to the window in the north room and pressed her face to the
pane. Ah, yes, there in the little path were two figures, one little and
one big, struggling through the drifts. Her two friends! Presently, in
the arms of the tall figure, she could discern a bundle, a small bundle.
She watched them until she heard their steps on the porch. When
Deforrest placed the baby in her arms, and she noted Andy's happy face,
Tessibel's joy was complete.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

DINNER AT WALDSTRICKER'S

Three years and a half had passed since the birth of Tessibel's baby, a
period of growth and security for the squatter girl and Andy Bishop.

Just before Boy Skinner's birth, Frederick and Madelene had gone to San
Francisco. A place had been made for him in Waldstricker's office there
and Madelene felt the continent none too wide to put between her husband
and the Skinner girl, but her efforts to win his affection had been a
complete failure.

Lysa