George Fasch stopped. He shut his eyes and opened them again. It seemed to him that he was dreaming. How came Anna to be at the foot of the pass if it was not possible to climb to the top of it?
"What is it, Anna? Do you mean that I must come down again?" he said wonderingly.
"Yes, yes; the path above is destroyed."
And once more he wondered if all this could be real.
"Father, can you come down with the pack, or will you unfasten it and leave it behind?"
George Fasch thought a moment.
"You must go down first," he said, "and keep on one side; the distance is short, and I think I can do it; but I may slip by the way."
There were minutes of breathless suspense while Anna stood in the gathering darkness, and then the heavy footsteps ceased to descend, and she found herself suddenly hugged close in her father's arms.
"My good girl," he said, "my good Anna, how did you come here?"
Anna could not speak. She trembled like a leaf, and then she began to sob. The poor girl was completely exhausted by the terrible anxiety she had gone through, and by fatigue.