Labrador (N.L.) -- Fiction; London (England) -- Fiction; Love stories, English
One possibility she did not dare to think of during that time; a
blizzard now would cut her off absolutely from any return to Trafford.
Short of that she believed she could get through.
Her quick mind was full of all she had to do. At first she had thought
chiefly of his immediate necessities, of food and some sort of shelter.
She had got a list of things in her head--meat extract, bandages,
corrosive sublimate by way of antiseptic, brandy, a tin of beef, some
bread and so forth; she went over that several times to be sure of it,
and then for a time she puzzled about a tent. She thought she could
manage a bale of blankets on her back, and that she could rig a sleeping
tent for herself and Trafford with one and some bent sticks. The big
tent would be too much to strike and shift. And then her mind went on to
a bolder enterprise, which was to get him home. The nearer she could
bring him to the log hut, the nearer they would be to supplies. She cast
about for some sort of sledge. The snow was too soft and broken for
runners, especially among the trees, but if she could get a flat of
smooth wood she thought she might be able to drag him. She decided to
try the side of her bunk. She could easily get that off. She would have,
of course, to run it edgewise through the thickets and across the
ravine, but after that she would have almost clear going until she
reached the steep place of broken rocks within two hundred yards of him.
The idea of a sledge grew upon her, and she planned to nail a rope along
the edge and make a kind of harness for herself.
She found the camping-place piled high with drifted snow, which had
invaded tent and hut, and that some beast, a wolverine she guessed, had
been into the hut, devoured every candle-end and the uppers of
Trafford's well-greased second boots, and had then gone to the corner of
the store shed and clambered up to the stores. She made no account of
its depredations there, but set herself to make a sledge and get her
supplies together. There was a gleam of sunshine, but she did not like
the look of the sky, and she was horribly afraid of what might be
happening to Trafford. She carried her stuff through the wood and across
the ravine, and returned for her improvised sledge. She was still
struggling with that among the trees when it began to snow again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account