That night she did not undress. She sat up for hours, trying to think of some way out. She sat long with the radio head-set over her ears. She entertained some wild notion of fleeing with the herd toward the Canadian border, providing the message confirming the offer for the deer came. But the message did not come.
At last, in utter exhaustion, she threw herself among the deerskins and fell into a troubled sleep.
She was roused from this sleep by a loud: “Hello there!” followed by a cheery: “Where are you? Are you asleep?”
It was Marian. The next moment poor, tired, worried Patsy threw herself sobbing into her cousin’s strong arms.
“There now,” said Marian, soothingly, as Patsy’s sobbing ceased, “sit down and tell me all about it. You’re safe; that’s something. Your experiences can’t have been worse than ours.”
“The Eskimo! Bill Scarberry’s herd!” burst out Patsy, “They’re here. All of them!”
“Tell me all about it,” encouraged Marian.
“Wait till I get my head-set on,” said Patsy, more hopefully. “It’s been due for days; may come at any time.”
“What’s due?” asked Marian, mystified.
“Wait! I’ll tell you. One thing at a time. Let’s get it all straight.”