Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/100

96 way, gliding noiselessly among the great trees. Her only fear now was of wolves, and she shuddered whenever she thought of the brutes which had attacked them that night. She wondered who had shot them, and why he had not made himself known. It could not have been Bill, as he would have said something about it. No, it must have been someone else, and she racked her brain in an effort to solve the mystery.

Although Zell was well accustomed to the trails, she knew very little about travelling through a trackless forest. Her years of training at the mission school had not prepared her for this phase of life. It was one thing to bound behind a team of dogs along a well-beaten trail, but it was an altogether different matter to find her way without a single guiding mark. She did not realise this, however, as she sped forward, expecting every minute to come in sight of the camp. She pictured the joy upon the nurse’s face when she saw her, and what a story she would have to tell.

After she had travelled for some time and the camping-place had not been reached, she became somewhat anxious. She passed out of the heavy timber and came to the side of a hill where the trees were small and scarce. Here the snow was much deeper, making her progress difficult. The moon was shining big and bright, so she could see for some distance. Ahead, off to the left, was a thick wood, and there, so she believed, she would find the nurse. When she reached the place she was very weary, and could just drag herself out of the deep snow to the foot of a large pine. After she had rested a while, she continued on her way, moving slowly among the trees. Here there was little light, for the moon was not able to brighten those sombre depths. More anxious now than ever, she strained her