was fixed on the dead ashes of the fire. Without speaking to him, Pearl
stooped down and, with some paper and bits of wood, began to build up a
blaze again.

He peered at her a moment as if she were a vision, then got up very
stiffly as if he had not moved for hours, and began to assist her,
mechanically following the usual routine of preparing breakfast.

When it was ready they sat down opposite each other as was their custom,
and made a pretense of eating. With the exception of a perfunctory
remark or so the meal passed in silence. Pearl evidently had no
intention of apologizing for her behavior of the night before. Her
manner toward him was that of one who had relegated him to the position
of the tables and chairs, and intended to take no more notice of him.

Taking it for granted that that was the relation she wished sustained
between them, Seagreave gravely adopted her attitude, and for the next
few days if they spoke at all it was principally about the work that was
going on down at the crevasse. Never had Harry occupied himself so
constantly and so feverishly, for the most part outside the cabin,
chopping and sawing diligently at a huge pile of wood, and in his
intervals of leisure he spent a great deal of time down the hill by the
mountain of snow, watching its almost magical vanishing.

"There is a great crowd down at the ravine to-night," he said to Pearl,
one evening at supper. "They are working with torches, and I think they
will probably have some kind of a bridge swung over by midnight. I
managed to signal to them a while ago, and they know that we are safe
now. If--if you want to sit up to-night," his voice sounded strained and
perfunctory, "I think you could possibly get over before morning."