There was silence in the hut. Everybody was listening to the wind. It was howling outside, seeming to sing over the loose stones of the mountain top, and wail through the chinks of the tiny cabin. It blew incessantly, but every few seconds a stronger gust would come, and as if a giant hand had suddenly hit it, the cabin would shiver to its foundations. And outside was only a great white opacity of snow and cloud! “Well, well!” cried Mr. Rogers, suddenly, in a cheerful voice, “here we are safe and snug--almost too snug. It’s lunch time. It’s past lunch time. Why shouldn’t we eat? We’ll all feel better if we eat.” “How are we going to cook anything?” asked Art. “There’s no stove, and no chimney.” “And no wood,” said Rob. “There’s a little bit of wood outside the door. I saw it when we came in,” said Frank. “And a lot of good it would do,” Art answered. “You couldn’t even light it out there in that tornado.” “We’ve got some cold things,” said the Scout Master. “Come on, out with that can of potted ham, and the crackers we bought in Franconia to eat bacon on, and some sweet chocolate. We’ll do very nicely.” The Scouts soon had sandwiches made with the crackers and ham, and offered them first to the couple, who, wrapped in blankets, were shivering in the corner. The girl sat up, and she and the man each ate two sandwiches hungrily, and sweet chocolate beside. The girl’s color began to come back. “Do you feel better now, dear?” the man asked her. She nodded her head. “Of course she does,” said Mr. Rogers. “I’ll tell you something now that we are safe in the shelter. There was no time nor chance to tell you out there. I was too busy keeping the trail. It’s this:--about half the trouble on mountains like this comes from funk, just as half the drownings occur from the same cause. Not only do you lose your way much more easily when you get terrified, but your vitality is lowered, and the cold and exhaustion get you quicker. If you keep cool, and your heart is beating steadily, normally, your eye finds the trail better and your body resists the elements. That is why nobody ought to tackle this Bridle Path who isn’t familiar with the mountain, unless he is accompanied by some one who _is_ familiar with it. And, unless the weather is good, nobody should tackle it without a food supply. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they never should, for you can’t depend on the weather here for half a day at a time, or even an hour.” “I realize that now,” the man said, soberly, as he shivered in his blanket. “They told us down at the Crawford House that it was going to be a gale up here to-day, but I’m afraid we didn’t realize what a gale on Washington meant. I don’t know what would have become of us if we hadn’t met you!” “Oh, John, don’t!” cried the girl, as if she was going to weep again.