540 RECREATION 
He should not die, she hotly cried 
aloud to the heedless storm! An hour 
fleeted away while she strove to warm 
and revive the weakened spirit. At last 
Gaspard breathed with more regularity, 
the wrinkled brow lay smoother. 
Slowly the storm passed on to the 
south, the air within the cabin grew 
comforting and’ clearer, Upon the 
black tangled fur of the huge bear-skin 
the rugged form of the trapper twitched 
feverishly. The wife knelt beside him, 
the snapping flames lighting her earnest 
face. Her hands clasped ‘a! ‘celluloid 
crucifix, tight to her heaving breast. 
Her lips moved in supreme supplica- 
tion. 
Down by the frozen river, the wolf- 
pack held saturnalia about a yearling 
moose, found dead in a ravine. 
*k * * zi * * 
The advancing scouts. of daylight 
that crept through the ventilating aper- 
tures up under the eaves, saw two 
figures. closely lying upon a frame of 
glossy. black, before the gray expiring 
ashes of the fire. One slender arm lay 
across a great breast beside it, a poem 
of suggested emotion” in” ifs) pose. 
thrown there as its impassioned owner 
had surrendered to an insistent body- 
call for sleep. 
Vivienne started up in half-dazed 
bewilderment, looked about and the 
memory of the evening rushed upon 
her. She turned” to” her’ partwer he 
slept in a stupor and his face was fever- 
ish. He would be very ill, the convic- 
tion forced itself upon her; she would 
need drugs and aid. She gently took 
his rugged hand and smoothed it as she 
pondered. 
To reach her brother’s house would 
take four hours at her best speed. 
Gaspard might die while she was gone ; 
he would surely die before her eyes if 
she remained. The terrifying reality 
of life seemed to stand before and stare 
with stony dullness into her inmost 
mind. Desperation laid bare the pri- 
mary instincts of her nature. Through 
the vapors of fear and doubt, the spirit 
of Montrouge rose to ascendency. The 
esprit that grew proud and self-reliant 
in the gaudy courts of Louis XV, that 
fought for La Belle France, that dared 
the terrors of the monde nouveau, 
brought determination to the emer- 
gency. 
She fenced in the helpless man with 
heavy green fire-logs that he might roll 
neither into nor away from the replen- 
ished fire. She rearranged the blan- 
kets, cut up a panful of the roasted 
steak and placed it at hand. ~ 
Adjusting her snowshoes, a_ kiss, 
adieu, and Vivienne drew the door 
into place and fastened the latch, then 
quickly plunged into the hard journey 
for aid. She tossed back her pretty 
head; the tingling life coursed through 
her. The stride stretched out; it was a 
joy to be active, to fight for her hus- 
band! 
The nature-folks were still cowed by 
the late war of the winds, though a 
pert whisky-jack or moose-bird in 
black and white chitted from a berry- 
bush and a ghostly hare scuttled off 
with a trail of fluffy puffs of snow 
from beneath his heels. Vivienne 
passed through the ten acres of timber 
eround Gaspard had cut down for 
farming. A little farther on she turned 
on to the broad river and made faster 
progress. 
Five miles now lay between her and 
home, seven more must -be coursed 
along before Andre’s house could be 
seen. She gritted her teeth and 
gasped in a great breath. Strength was 
at its height, it would decrease as the 
minutes flew. A few bites at the wad 
_ of moose-venison felt sweet to her dry 
throat. At length she came to where 
she must leave the river. Clambering 
up the bank, the dim, snow carpeted 
trail turned abruptly to the right. 
A short, heavy man stepped around 
the bend and, at the sight before him, 
froze in his tracks, motionless, mute. 
Vivienne also halted, and looked wild- 
ly, searchingly into his visage. “Vic- 
tor!” she almost screamed the name. 
“You—!’ He nodded his swaddled 
head, black eyes staring above a prom- 

ee ie Ben ie ee ,7 
