“My friend, we are together; and so long as each is the stay of the other, we shall have strength and courage for all things. Now tell me what I may do for you.” She knew by the pressure of his hand upon hers that her words had found good ground. She gently pressed her advantage. “Tell me what I may do for you. You are weak. You know how strong and healthy and willing I am; then, imagine how much pleasure it would give me to help you! You need a stimulant. Is there one in the cabin? Tell me where it is, and I will bring it.” “You are kind,” he said, tremulously. “But do you know what has happened?” As he asked this question he rose to a sitting posture, she assisting him. “No,” she calmly answered; “but no matter what has happened, we are together, and thus we have strength and courage for it.” “Ah,” he said, hopelessly, “but this is the end! An avalanche has buried us and the cabin is destroyed!” Terrible as was this declaration, it had no weakening effect upon his companion. “Is that all?” she cheerily asked. “But avalanches melt away, and we have each other. And if it come to the very worst, we shall still have each other. Besides each other, we have life, and with life there is always hope, there is always the duty to hope. If we abandon hope, life itself is abandoned.” This worked like good wine in his veins; but she knew by the way in which he still clung to her, seemingly fearful that she would leave him for a moment, that a dreadful unknown thing sat upon him. She waited patiently for him to disclose it. She knew that the shock of the catastrophe had wholly cleared his mind, and that the old terrors which he had concealed from her were working upon him with renewed activity. Still he kept silence. “Do you know,” she presently said, “that I am glad the avalanche has come? I understand now the dread of some terrible happening that has been haunting you. Well, it has come, and we are still alive; and better than that, we have each other. Think how much more dreadful it might have been! Suppose that it had come while you were outside, and swept you away. Suppose that it had crushed us in the cabin. But here we are, safe and sound, and happy each in the presence of the other.... And I am thinking of something else. The snow stopped falling long ago. Lately we have had warm winds and some rain. This must mean, my friend, that the worst is over. And doesn’t it mean that the rain has softened the snow and loosened it to make this avalanche?” A sudden strength, a surprised gladness, were in the pressure that he now gave her hand. “It is true, it is true!” he softly exclaimed. “Then,” she continued, “the winter has dealt its last blow, and our liberation is at hand; for the rains that caused the avalanche will melt the snow that it has piled upon us, and also the snow that has closed the roads. It seems to me that the best of all possible things has happened.”