“I guess this is emergency, all right,” said Rob, as he helped to wrap the girl in a pair of dry blankets, and put the third blanket about her companion. The boys all wrapped up in their own. Rob then got out his first aid kit, and gave the girl some aromatic spirits of ammonia, which revived her so that her hysterical sobbing stopped.
“Here, take my pack,” said Lou, “and use it for a pillow.”
The young man, who was nearly as pale as the girl, and almost as exhausted, took the pack and placed it in a corner. Then they laid the girl on the floor, with her head upon it. Her fiancé bent over her. In cases like this you don’t think of other people being around. He kissed her, and all the boys turned their faces away, and Peanut rubbed the back of his hand suspiciously across his eyes.
“Guess he’s glad we’ve got her safe in here,” Peanut whispered—or rather he spoke in what was merely a loud tone, which amounted to a whisper with the gale howling so outside.
“I guess we’re all glad we’re in here,” Frank replied. “Look out there!”
They looked through the window into what at first appeared to be the thick cotton batting of the cloud, but closer inspection showed them that it was snow. The cloud was condensing into snow!
“Whew!” Peanut whistled, while the tiny cabin gave a shiver as if it were going to be lifted from its foundations.
“Lord, what a gale!” said somebody else.
There was silence in the hut. Everybody was listening to the wind. It was howling outside, seeming to sing over the loose stones of the mountain top, and wail through the chinks of the tiny cabin. It blew incessantly, but every few seconds a stronger gust would come, and as if a giant hand had suddenly hit it, the cabin would shiver to its foundations. And outside was only a great white opacity of snow and cloud!
“Well, well!” cried Mr. Rogers, suddenly, in a cheerful voice, “here we are safe and snug—almost too snug. It’s lunch time. It’s past lunch time. Why shouldn’t we eat? We’ll all feel better if we eat.”