cheerful portent.

As they clung to each other in the driving snow they seemed,
intuitively, to turn to Ruth Fielding. She was the youngest of the
six girls; but she was at this moment the more assertive and held
herself better under control than her mates.

It had been against her advice that they had left their temporary
shelter under the tree. Now they could not beat their way back to it.
Indeed, none of them now knew the direction of the burrow that had
sheltered them for more than an hour.

What next should they do?

Although unspoken, this was the question that the five silently
asked of the girl of the Red Mill. She had displayed her pluck and
good sense on more than one occasion, and her friends looked to her
for help. Particularly did Helen cling to her in this emergency, and
although Ruth was secretly as terrified as any of her mates, she
could not give in to the feeling when her chum so depended upon her.

"Why, we're acting just as silly as we can act!" she cried, speaking
loud so that they could all hear her. "We mustn't give up hope. The
boys, or Mr. Cameron, will find us. It can't keep on snowing forever."

"But we're freezing to death!" said Belle, and broke out sobbing
like her chum.

"Stop, you silly thing!" cried Madge, trying to shake her. But she
was really so cold herself that she could not do this. Indeed, the