"Polly, I'm falling! I can't stick on another moment!" cried Anne, her
voice reaching Polly, as the wind blew in that direction.
"Anne Stewart--you _must!_ We're right at the timber-line now, and
I'd be ashamed to say you gave in before Barbara!" shrilled Polly, to
give her friend new endurance.
"I'm all in, too!" wailed the plaintive voice of Eleanor.
"Oh, dear God, tell me what to do?" screamed Polly, as if she must
_make_ the Almighty hear and help.
Just as all seemed at its worst, the wind suddenly died down, and the
gloomy mantle of darkness lifted perceptibly. Polly felt sure the
cessation of wind and sleet was but a lull before a second and worse
cloud-sweep, but she made the most of the interval.
"One more step, girls, and we are safe! Keep up courage!"
To Noddy she crooned anxiously: "Now or never again, little one!"
Noddy turned momentarily to look into her beloved mistress's eyes as if
to plead for breath and a moment's rest, and then she responded to the
call of necessity and led the staggering line to the timber just as the
gale began anew.
It was darker in the forest of lodge-pole pine than out on the ice-
field, but the timber offered comparative refuge from the driving sleet
and wind. Another difficulty presented itself, however, in the close
growth of trees. To avoid collision with the crowded trunks, it became
necessary to undo the rope that held the five beasts together.
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