y hands, joined the wire, but
it must now be raised from the ground. It was impossible to get the
fallen post on end and had he been able to do so powder would have been
needed to make a hole. He could, however, support the post on a rock,
and he floundered up and down in the snow, looking for a suitable spot.
When he found a place, it was some way from the post, which was too
heavy to move, and he went cautiously down hill for the other.
Although this was lighter, he did not see how he could drag it back to
the level he had left, and he sat down behind a rock and thought.

His coat and cap were heavy with frozen snow that the wind had driven
into the fur; in spite of his efforts, he was numbed, and the gale
raged furiously. The snow blew past the rock in clouds that looked
like waves of fog; he had been exposed to the icy blast for three or
four hours and could not keep up the struggle long. The warmth was
leaving his body fast. Yet he did not think much about the risk. His
business was to mend the line and his acquiescence was to some extent
mechanical. To begin with, he must get the post up the hill and he
braced himself for the effort.

He could just lift the butt and, getting it on his shoulder, faced the
climb, staggering forward a few steps while the thin end of the post
dragged in the snow, and then stopping. It was tremendous labor, and
he knew he would need all the strength he had left to reach the shack,
but in the meantime this did not count. Getting home was a problem
that must be solved after the line was mended.

At length he reached the spot he had fixed upon, fastened the wire to
the insulator, and lifted the top of the post a few feet. The job was
done, but his body was exhausted and his brain was dull. He had made
good and was conscious of a vague satisfaction. He could not, however,
indulge feelings like this: he must now nerve himself for the effort to
get home.

He went down hill a little, in order to shorten the curve; and it was
then, when he had conquered, his luck failed. His foot slipped and
when he fell he started a small snowslide that carried him down. He
could not stop, the dry snow flowed about him like a river, and he knew
there was a precipice not far below. The snow carried him over a
ledge; he plunged down a few yards, and brought up against a projecting
rock. The blow shook him, he felt something snap, and for a minute or
two nearly lost consciousness. Then he wa