Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/247

 seemed to be little change in Jake, his pulse was a trifle weaker, perhaps, and his eyes stayed shut  for longer and longer at a time. Hugh went into the storeroom to see what food would be best for  him; he looked carefully through every box and  canister to make certain what was there. So occupied was he that he did not hear the swishing  of snowshoes over the frozen slopes outside nor  even heed a quiet knock at the door. It was not until some one came into the room and laid a hand  upon his arm that he turned quickly to see Oscar  Dansk.

That their greeting was a joyful one need hardly be said, but the first words of Hugh’s  eager welcome were broken off by his shout of  delight when he saw what Oscar was pulling from  his pocket, a great handful of letters addressed  in his father’s handwriting.

“Miss Christina, at the postoffice, has been much worried about the way your mail was piling  up,” said Oscar. “She said I was to give these to you before I said a word, for she was sure I  would forget them if we once got to talking.”