Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/109

Rh as possible. Stooping, he lifted her from the snow, and with her in his arms he started forward. For a few minutes Zell struggled and screamed so furiously that Hugo found it difficult to make much progress. But at length she quieted down, and lay panting in his arms. At first he did not mind her weight, but after he had travelled some distance he was forced to lay her down in the snow to relieve his aching arms. Then up and on again over that desolate waste.

The dawn of a new day found Hugo about half a mile from his cabin. He was walking slowly now, for he was greatly exhausted. His coat he had taken off and wrapped it carefully around the girl. Even then he feared lest she should freeze, for the night was very cold. He even wondered at himself as he bore his burden up hills, across valleys, and through thick forests. He could not account for his sympathy for this poor demented half-breed girl. It was a feeling similar to that which had animated his soul when he had journeyed with the little child from the river to the hospital. Time and time again he had rescued sick and injured miners and prospectors, and had taken them to the nearest mining camp. He had done it because there was nothing else to do, and he could not leave them to perish. He had felt a certain degree of pity for them, but his heart had never been stirred in such a manner as when caring for the child and especially the girl. She had been deeply wronged, so perhaps that was the reason, for Hugo was ever the champion of the ill-treated.

Slowly the moon faded off in the west as the weary man plodded onward. The sun rose above the mountain peaks, and skimmed low along the eastern horizon. Ere long Hugo could see the spot where nestled his