oulder near the fire. A few minutes later he was
sound asleep; but Lisle sat long awake, thinking hard, while the snow
drove by above him.

CHAPTER XXIII

A FORCED MARCH

When Crestwick awakened, very cold, and cramped, a little before daylight
the next morning, it was still snowing, but Lisle was up and busy
preparing breakfast.

"That looks like marching; I thought we were going to lie off to-day,"
observed the lad.

"How do you feel?" Lisle inquired.

"Horribly stiff; but that's the worst. Why are you going on?"

"Because the freighters should leave the Hudson Bay post to-morrow with
their dog-teams. It's the only chance of sending out a letter I may get
for a long while, and I want to write to Nasmyth."

Crestwick shivered, glancing disconsolately at the snow; he shrank from
the prospect of a two days' hurried march. Had Lisle suggested this when
he first came out, the lad would have rebelled, but by degrees the stern
discipline of the wilds had had its effect on him. He was learning that
the weariness of the flesh must be disregarded when it is necessary that
anything shall be done.

"Oh, well," he acquiesced, "I'll try to make it. If I can't, you'll have
to drop me where there's some shelter."

He ate the best possible breakfast, for as wood was scarce in parts of
the country, and making a fire difficult, it was very uncertain when he
would get another meal. Then he slipped the pack-straps over his stiff
shoulders, and got ready to start with a burden he did not think he would
have been capable of carrying for a couple of hours when he left England.

"Now we'll pull out," he said. "But wait a moment: I'd better look for a
dry place to put this paper currency."

"Where did you get it? You told me at the last settlement that you had
hardly a dollar left."

Crestwick grinned.

"Oh, some of the boys offered to teach me a little game they were playing
when we thawed out that claim. I didn't find it difficult, though I must
own that I had very good luck. It was three or four months since I'd
touched a card, and there's a risk of reaction in too drastic reform.
Anyhow, I'm glad I saw that game; one fellow had a way of handling trumps
that almost took me in. If I can remember, it should come in useful."

Lisle made no comment; restraint, he thought, was likely to prove more
effective if it were not continually exercised. They started and for
several hours plodded up the white highway of the rive