When they got upon the flats, and the lights of the house were hidden, it did seem as though they were in a great, white desert.
"Who told you this was a short way to town?" demanded Agnes, of Neale.
"Why, one of the girls told me," Neale said, innocently enough. "You know—that Severn girl."
"What! Trix Severn?" shrieked Agnes.
"Yes."
"I believe she started you off this way, just for the sake of getting us all into trouble," cried Agnes. "Let's go back!"
But they were now some distance out upon the flats. Far, far ahead there were faint lights, denoting the situation of Milton; but behind them all the lights on the hill had been quenched. The Pooles had extinguished the lamps at the back of the house, and of course ere this the great barn itself was shrouded in darkness.
The snow came thicker and faster. They were in the midst of a world of white and had there been any shelter at all at hand, Neale would have insisted upon taking advantage of it. But there was nothing of the kind.