But they doubted. A few shots had done this once, but now that the miscreants had had time to recover from their panic, would it answer again?
Thud! thud! in front, and then a far heavier one behind them. They could not hold out much longer. The enemy was creeping towards them.
At this moment there was a tremendous crack, a hissing roar, and a terrific concussion, the defenders of the tiny fort being struck down behind their little breastwork.
But this onslaught was not from the enemy they awaited. The ever-gathering snow from far above, loosened by the hot current of air ascending from the fire, had come down in one awful charge, and the marauders’ camp was buried in an instant beneath thousands of tons of snow.
Chapter Five.
Hand in hand.
There was the sense of a terrible weight pressing the sufferers down, with their chests against the soft load bound upon the sledge in front; and utterly stunned, they lay for a time motionless, and almost breathless.
Then one began to struggle violently, striving to draw himself back, and after a tremendous effort succeeding, to find that beneath him the snow was loose, there being a narrow space along by the side of the sledge, and that though his breath came short he could still breathe.