Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/101

Rh eyes for sight of the blazing fire, as she felt sure that the nurse would not allow it to go out. How interminable seemed that forest. The cold was intense, and notwithstanding her vigorous exercise, she shivered. She longed to lie down and rest, but such a thing she did not dare to do, knowing full well what that would mean.

At length, however, she was forced to sit down upon the root of a tree. She knew now that she was lost, and the thought filled her heart with terror. She had heard her father tell of men who had been lost in the forest and had never been heard of again. Would the same thing happen to her? she asked herself. No, it must not be. She would not die there alone. She would struggle on, and fight her way out.

But she soon found what it really meant to carry out such a resolve. It was a vast, desolate wilderness in which she was wandering, and she was but a speck creeping among the crowding trees. An hour passed and still Zell dragged forward her weary body. No longer was she the keen, active girl who had left Big Chance but a short time before. Instead, she was a pathetic creature, reaching out appealing arms, calling, ever calling for aid which did not come. Once she had dropped upon her knees in the snow and prayed earnestly for deliverance. She remembered that the missionary had often told the girls at the school that God would hear their prayers. She had prayed rather indifferently of late, but she now prayed as she had never prayed in her life. It brought her some comfort as she rose from her knees and staggered onward. But she could not make much progress. She was completely bewildered. She knew that she could follow her trail back, but she had not the strength. Ere long