“I will tell you,” said Donald, again seating himself firmly in the saddle. “Have you a gun here?” “Yes, certainly.” “And you know how to use it?” “Most assuredly.” “Then you must help me to find my way. I want you to fire it every time you hear the report of my rifle. Do you understand?” “Yes, Don. Do you think the danger is so great?” “Yes, we are in for a furious storm. Now remember, answer all my signals, and—if you should not hear from me for a time, keep firing every few moments anyway.” “Yes, Don. Heaven help you to find Tibby and bring her home safely to us!” A moment later Donald was lost to view in the whirling, swirling masses of snow that filled the air, and Alice, taking down the heaviest gun from the wall, examined it carefully, and loaded it with a charge of powder. “What are you doing with that gun, Alice?” asked Mrs. Wylie, who, hearing the sound of voices, had risen from her couch and now came into the room. “I am going to answer Donald’s signals to guide him through the storm.” Mrs. Wylie’s eyes opened wide with alarm. “But why has Donald gone out in it?” she questioned, looking from the window into the impenetrable, snow-filled air. “To find Tibby, Elinor.” Mrs. Wylie sank down in a chair and pressed her hands to her side, while her lips grew white. “Why—Alice, do you suppose Tibby can be out in this terrible storm? I have been sleeping and did not realize it was upon us until the gusts struck the house and I heard you talking with some one—Donald, was it?” “I hope, Elinor, that Tibby has not started out in this, but if she has she may lose her way and freeze if some one does not find her. I have been very uneasy about her for some time.” “Oh, how dreadful, dreadful!” And as Mrs. Wylie continued to gaze out into the opaque snow-world about her she began to realize for the first time what a western blizzard might mean. “Why did I not have sense enough to keep that child at home?” she moaned. “I shall never forgive myself if she is lost.” “We should both of us have seconded Donald’s caution, I’m afraid,” replied Alice. “I am not so weather-wise as he, yet I should have known what such a morning in midwinter portended here. Tibby delights in teasing Donald, and of course would not heed his warning; but she would have listened to us had we been persistent.” “I don’t know. I’m afraid I am the one who always listens to her. I don’t see why she treats Don so,” Mrs. Wylie said. “Don’t you? I think I do. It is because she cares for him, and will not acknowledge it, even to herself. But do look at the storm, Elinor. Is it not terrifying? Where does all this snow come from? The ground is already heavily sheeted with it. And listen to the wind. How it wails and shrieks, buffets and pounds. We are fortunate in being safely housed, Elinor.” “But if Tibby is out in it! Oh, I cannot bear the thought!”