you something you may not have noticed." He stopped, and pointed to a
small knoll of sheltered shrubbery and granite on the opposite mountain,
which still remained black against the surrounding snow. It seemed to be
thickly covered with moving objects. "They are wild animals driven out
of the snow," said the stranger. "That larger one is a grizzly; there is
a panther, wolves, wild cats, a fox, and some mountain goats."

"An ill-assorted party," said the young girl.

"Ill luck makes them companions. They are too frightened to hurt one
another now."

"But they will eat each other later on," said Kate, stealing a glance at
her companion.

He lifted his long lashes and met her eyes. "Not on a haven of refuge."




CHAPTER IV


Kate found her sister, as the stranger had intimated, fully prepared. A
hasty inventory of provisions and means of subsistence showed that they
had ample resources for a much longer isolation.

"They tell me it is by no means an uncommon case, Kate; somebody over at
somebody's place was snowed in for four weeks, and now it appears that
even the Summit House is not always accessible. John ought to have known