HALT! 
235 
again on their weary march. About a week later they 
found themselves in the rough country indicated on the 
map by marks like this, A A A A. 
Here the poor girl utterly gave out, and from the twenty- 
fifth of August until the tenth of September the expedi- 
tion remained in permanent camp, their hopes now raised 
by a seeming improvement in her health, now depressed 
again by renewed attacks of chills and fever. 
The wind began to sweep down savagely from the 
heights beyond, and the nights became very cold. 
One morning, the ground was found to be white with a 
heavy frost. It was plain that something must be done, 
and that quickly. 
A council was called, and the men all gathered around 
the blazing fire in front of the tents. 
" It's of no use to try to return to the settlements, that's 
■certain," began Mr. Button. " We are over three hun- 
dred miles from the Yukon, and, if we found the fort 
abandoned for the winter, we should have a clear thou- 
sand miles of rafting before us, down to St. Michael's, all 
the time through low country. Flossie's only safety " — 
here the strong man's mustache twitched, but he con- 
trolled himself and went on — " is in keeping to the high 
grounds." 
" And we may just as well give up all idea of going 
on," added the lieutenant, gloomily. "^^In the first place, 
Flossie isn't fit to move, and, secondly, we are a good three 
hundred miles from the nearest point on the coast — say 
