He nodded--his chin fell on his breast--he was dreaming.
Ah! but it is from a sleep like this that men, overtaken in a snow-storm, never, never arise. They simply
"Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Morn of toil, nor night of waking".
In a few minutes, however, Duncan starts. The sound of a dog's voice falls on his ear. Ah! there is no bark in all broad Scotland so sonorous and so sincere as that of honest Vike.
Wowff! Wowff! Wowff!!
There is joy in it, too, for he has found the boys--ah! more than that, he has brought relief, and here are the sturdy kilted keeper and two farm hands, ready to help them safely home. The keeper has a flask, and all must taste--even Florie, who is hardly yet awake.
How pleasant looked the fire in the fine old dining-hall when, after dressing, the boys came below.
And Glenvoie himself was laughing now, and as he shook Frank's hand, he could not help saying:
"Well, my lad, and how do you like a Highland snow-storm?"
"Ah!" said Frank, laughing in turn, "a little of it goes a long way. I don't want any more Highland snow-storm, thank you--not for Frank!"