VI
"Fate has stacked the cards against us," Lennox told them, after the first moment's horror from the broken snowshoe.
But no one answered him. The girl, white-faced, kept her wide eyes on Dan. He seemed to be peering into the shadows beside the trail, as if he were watching for the gray forms that now and then glided from tree to tree. In reality, he was not looking for wolves. He was gazing down into his own soul, measuring his own spirit for the trial that lay before him.
The girl, unable to step with the broken snowshoe, rested her weight on one foot and hobbled like a bird with broken wings across to him. No sight of all this terrible journey had been more dreadful in her father's eyes than this. It seemed to split open the strong heart of the man. She touched her hand to his arm.
"I'm sorry, Dan," she told him. "You tried so hard—"
Just one little sound broke from his throat—a strange, deep gasp that could not be suppressed. Then he caught her hand in his and
