Page:The trail of the golden horn.djvu/85

Rh then laid her tenderly upon the wolf-skin robe. Marion was deadly pale, and she was trembling violently. The strain of the night had unnerved her, and this sudden and unexpected meeting with her father was more than she could endure. As she lay there, she kept her eyes fixed upon his face. Then her lips moved as if she would speak. This Hugo noted, and he bent toward her.

“What is the matter?” he asked. “Why are you alone? Where is that girl? You seem almost frightened to death.”

“And so I am,” was the low reply. “Oh, this has been a terrible night! We were attacked by wolves, and when they were about to spring upon us, somebody shot them, and saved us.”

“I know all about that,” and Hugo nodded his head. “I happened along just at the right moment.”

“Was it really you?” Marion asked in surprise, drawing herself up with an effort to a sitting position. “And have you seen Zell? Do you know where she is?”

“The girl who was with you?” Hugo asked. “Where did she go?”

“She went just a short distance over there after some dry wood,” Marion explained, motioning to the right. “But she hasn’t come back, and I am afraid that something has happened to her. Perhaps the wolves caught her.”

“Didn’t you hear any noise?”

“Not a sound.”

“Did you call to her?”

“Oh, yes. I called to her for a long time, but could get no answer.”

“Four-legged wolves didn’t get her,” Hugo emphatically declared, while a fierce expression leaped into