death, not for the first time
perhaps repented of his folly in having quitted the protection of his
kind friends in the fort. The recollection, too, of the many things
Mrs Ramsay and Jeanie had said to him came back to his mind.

"I wonder if I was to pray to the great God they told me of, He would
take care of me, and lead me back to them," he thought. "They told me
He hears prayers, and would listen to those which so careless and
foolish a boy as I have been may make to Him; but then they said I must
pray through Jesus Christ; that He is good and merciful, and loves me,
and died for me too. I am sure they spoke the truth, for they would not
deceive me; and so I'll pray through Jesus Christ, and ask God to
protect me; for I am sure I shall never get back to the camp of the
Sioux by myself without my horse, and that, of course, the Crees have
carried off."

Poor Laurence did pray with all his heart, ignorant half-heathen that he
was in many respects.

He soon fell asleep, and the snow came down and nearly covered up the
bushes among which he lay. He awoke at length, finding a thick canopy
over him, which, had he not been well clothed in furs, would probably
have formed his shroud. He easily made his way out.

The spot where the fire had been was covered with snow. He could
distinguish the bodies of his companions beneath it, but he dared not
disturb them. Some of the buffalo meat which the Crees had not
discovered still hung on the trees; he loaded himself with as much as he
could carry, and then hastened away from the fatal spot. At first he
thought of attempting to reach the camp of the Sioux, but it was a long
distance off, and all the tracks had disappeared. So had those of the
Crees. Should they be on the watch for their enemies, he would very
probably fall into their hands. Then, again, the desire to be once more
with his friends at the fort came strong upon him; but how could he hope
to reach it across miles and miles of snow? It was somewhere away to
the north-east, that was all he knew; and although the son was gaining
power when the sky was bright, the wind often blew bitterly cold at
night. Yet to stay where he was would be certain death, and so the
hardy boy, making up his mind to try and reach the fort, and trusting to
his strength and courage, began his hazardous journey.

He had lived among the Indians long enough to learn something of their
cunning; and as he went along he stripped off