Page:Dave Porter in the Far North.djvu/223

Rh the driver cracking his whip with the loudness of a pistol. They passed around one edge of the mountain, only to view with consternation a still more dangerous stretch of road ahead.

"Dave, this is getting interesting," remarked Roger, as the horses stopped for a needed rest.

"I don't like the looks of that road, Roger. There is too much snow on the upper side and too deep a hollow on the lower."

"Right you are." The senator's son turned to the Englishman. "Mr. Lapham, will you ask Hendrik if he thinks it is safe to go on?"

When appealed to, the burly sleigh driver merely shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked up the mountain side speculatively.

"He says he thinks we can get through if the wind doesn't blow too strongly," said Granbury Lapham, presently.

"But the wind is blowing strong enough now," answered Roger.

"And it is gradually getting worse," added Dave.

Once again they went forward, but now with added caution. Ahead of them was a point where the firs stood in a large patch with the road cut through the center. As they entered the forest the wind whistled shrilly through the tree branches.

"I'd give a good bit to be safe in that village," remarked Roger, after listening to the wind.