. But come--rouse yourself.
Don't give up. I'll save you, or die with you. At the same time, let me
assure you that I haven't the remotest idea of dying."

She threw at me, from her eloquent eyes, a look of unutterable
gratitude, and said not a word.

I looked at my watch. It was three o'clock. There was no time to lose.
The day was passing swiftly, and at this rate evening would come on
before one might be aware. The thought of standing idle any longer,
while the precious hours were passing, was intolerable. Once more I
made a hasty survey, and now, pressed and stimulated by the dire
exigencies of the hour, I determined to make an effort toward the
Quebec side. On that side, it seemed as though the ice which drifted
from the other shore was being packed in an unbroken mass. If so, a way
over it might be found to a resolute spirit.

I hastily told my companion my plan. She listened with a faint smile.

"I will do all that I can," said she, and I saw with delight that the
mere prospect of doing something had aroused her.

My first act was to push the sleigh with its occupant toward the
ice-ridge in the centre of the river. The lady strongly objected, and
insisted on getting out and helping me. This I positively forbade. I
assured her that my strength was quite sufficient for the undertaking,
but that hers was not; and if she would save herself, and me, too, she
must husband all her resources and obey implicitly. She submitted under
protest, and, as I pushed her along, she murmured the most touching
expressions of sympathy and of gratitude. But pushing a sleigh over the
smooth ice is no very difficult work, and the load that it contained
did not increase the labor in my estimation. Thus we soon approached
that long ice-ridge which I have so frequently mentioned. Here I
stopped, and began to seek a place which might afford a chance for
crossing to the ice-field on the opposite side.

The huge ice-blocks gathered here, where the fields on either side were
forced against one another, grinding and breaking up. Each piece was
forced up, and, as the grinding process continued, the heap rose
higher. At times, the loftiest parts of the ridge toppled over with a
tremendous crash, while many other piles seemed about to do the same.
To attempt to pass that ridge would be to encounter the greatest peril.
In the first place, it would be to invite an avalanche; and then,
again, wherever the piles fell, the force of that fall brok