"Something must be done," he went on, as soon as they were capable of understanding him. "We shall be suffocated if we don't let some air in."
"That is true," Sadut said. "The snow is evidently piled up round us. We must let air in, or we shall perish."
But in spite of their efforts they found it impossible to move forward to get to the end of the roll.
"We must cut our way out; it is our only chance," Angus said, and turning on to his back, he managed to get out his long Afghan knife, and cut a slit three feet long in the felt. As he did so, the snow came pouring in through the opening.
"Do you both put your hands under my shoulders," he said, "and help me to sit up."
It was not until he had cut a transverse slit so as to allow the hole to open wider that he was able to do so.
"The snow is not packed very hard," he said, as he pressed it aside. "It can't be very deep, for I can see light."
It was not long before he was on his feet, and had pushed the snow sufficiently back to enable his companions to get out also. The feeling of suffocation was already relieved, as a sufficient amount of air made its way through the snow, and after five minutes' hard work they clambered out. The gale was still blowing, though not so violently as at first, the snow still falling thickly. Two white mounds marked the position of the other tents, elsewhere a wide expanse of level snow was seen. It was evident that, as it drifted, it had first heaped itself against the tent. More had settled beyond it, and so gradually mounds had risen until they were seven or eight feet high.
"We must rescue the others at once," Angus said.
On the windward side the snow was so hard that their hands made no impression upon it, but on the sheltered side it was lighter, and working with their hands they were soon able to clear it away down to the end of the tent beneath which Hassan and three of his followers were lying. It was not, like the others, closed there, as its occupants had been unable to place weights on it after they had rolled themselves up. As soon as they had cleared the snow and opened the felt out a little, Sadut called—