and shelter, there
was still the cold that would steadily sap their strength, and stretch
them lifeless before half the winter should have passed. But she
should have her way; it would divert her mind from the inevitable; and
they would, at least, be doing all their best. The trip to the cave
would be hell for him, in his condition, but all that would be, at its
worst, soon ended.

A whole day being needed for the removal, they ventured to wait until
the following morning. Storms raged through all the night on Thunder
Mountain, and they woke again in utter wretchedness to find another
and heavier sheet of snow upon the meadow.

But Marion was soon up and at work in eagerness and hope. The fire and
the broiled venison renewed them; and even the snow offered something
by way of compensation, for Haig's journey on the freshly constructed
drag was smoother over the snow than it had been in the first instance
over the stone-littered earth. The ascent to the opening of the cave
was, however, another matter; and there was imminent danger of
Tuesday's sliding backward on the slippery rock, and crushing Haig
beneath him. Twice, indeed, such a fatal accident was narrowly
averted, and a less sure-footed animal than Tuesday would have
resolved all Haig's doubts in one swift catastrophe. But there was no
alternative, and Haig at length lay safe enough, though racked and
exhausted, at the mouth of the cave; and when he had rested he raised
himself on his elbows and looked around him.

The top of the slope was almost level, and made a kind of porch in
front of their new abode, about thirty feet in length and of half that
measurement in its greatest width. Haig calculated the height of the
platform above the valley--fully forty feet. Below was the strip of
grass, and then the forest towering high above them, protecting the
cave, in some degree, from the winds that would come roaring down the
gulch. At this height they should be able, in all probability, to defy
the snows. With a sufficient store of food and fuel, and any kind of
luck, there would have been--God! Was there a chance?

With his back to the wall! He had always been at his best against long
odds. None of the adventures of the ten years that he counted as his
life had ever been for any kind of gain; and the finest of them had
been those in which there were the most tight places. So this coming
struggle with the elements, though it should be a trial not of valor
but of e