“Yes,” Mary answered cheerfully. “You fix the cake—and I'll get the wood to make a fire.”
Nance laughed again.
“We'll have the dinner all ready for him when he wakes, won't we?”
“Yes. I'll be back in a few minutes.”
Nance hurried into the kitchen humming an old song in a faltering voice that sent the cold chills down the girl's spine.
Mary slipped quietly through the door and ran with swift, sure foot down the narrow road along which the machine had picked its way the afternoon before. The cabin they had passed last could not be more than a mile.
She made no effort to find the logs for pedestrians when the road crossed the brook. She plunged straight through the babbling waters with her shoes, regardless of skirts.
Panting for breath, she saw the smoke curling from the cabin chimney a quarter of a mile away.
“Thank God!” she cried. “They're awake!”
She was so glad to have reached her goal, her strength suddenly gave way and she dropped to a boulder by the wayside to rest. In two minutes she was up and running with all her might.