The Moving Picture Girls Snowbound Part 30

"I--I am afraid we are lost, Ruth. Oh, it is all my fault!"

CHAPTER XXII

THE THREE MEN

They stood there together--the two moving picture girls--in the midst of the sudden storm. They stood with their arms about each other, and the frightened eyes of Alice gazed into the terror-stricken ones of Ruth.

"Alice," cried Ruth, "do you really think we are lost?"

"I'm afraid so. I didn't notice which way we were going; but, as you say, we didn't pa.s.s that rock before. We must be lost!"

"But what are we to do?"

"We've got to do something, that's sure!" Alice exclaimed. "We can't stay here and freeze."

"Of course not. But if we go on in the storm we may be snowed under."

"And I'm more afraid to stay here. We must keep on the move, Ruth."

"Yes, I suppose so. Oh, if we could only see our way! We can't be so very far from Elk Lodge."

"We are not," agreed Alice. "We did not walk fast, and we have not been gone very long. The Lodge can't be more than two miles away; but it might just as well be two hundred for all the good that does us in this storm."

Indeed the snow was so thick that it was impossible to see many feet ahead. The white flakes swirled, seeming to come first from one direction, and then from another. The wind blew from all points of the compa.s.s, varying so quickly that the girls found it impossible to keep it at their backs.

"Well, there is one thing we can do," said Alice, when they had advanced a few steps and then retreated, not knowing whether it was better to keep on or not.

"And what is it?" asked Ruth. "If there's any one thing to do in a case like this I want to know it."

"We can go over behind that rock and get a little protection from the wind and snow," Alice went on. "See, the snow has drifted on one side; and the other is quite bare. That shows it affords some shelter. Let's go over there."

"Come on," agreed Ruth. She caught her sister's arm in a firmer grasp, and the two girls plowed their way through the snow. They had, heretofore, been on a sort of path, that had been formed over the crust.

The girls had on their snowshoes or they would have scarcely been able to progress. As it was the going was sufficiently difficult.

"Oh, wait a moment!" panted Ruth, half way to the sheltering rock.

"What's the matter?" asked Alice, quickly. "Are you ill?"

"No, don't worry about me, dear. I'm only--out of breath!"

"I positively believe you're getting stout!" laughed Alice, and Ruth was glad that she could laugh, even in the face of impending danger. "You must take more exercise," she went on.

"I'm getting plenty of it now," observed Ruth. "Oh, but it is hard going in this snow!"

Together they struggled on, and finally reached the rock. As Alice had surmised, the big boulder did give them shelter, and they were grateful for it, as they were quite exhausted by their battle with the storm.

"What a relief!" sighed Alice, as she leaned back against the big stone.

"Oh, isn't it!" agreed Ruth. "But, Alice, if we are so played out by that little trip, how are we ever going to get back to Elk Lodge?"

"I don't know, dear," was the hesitating answer. "But we must get back.

Maybe the snow will stop after a little, and we can see our way. That is really all we need--to see the path. I'm sure I've been out in worse storms than this."

"It is bad enough," responded Ruth, apprehensively. "See how it snows!"

Indeed the white flakes were coming down with increased violence, and the wind swept and howled about the rock with a melancholy sound. The girls huddled close together.

"Can you ever forgive me for bringing you out in such weather as this?"

begged Alice, self-reproachfully.

"It wasn't your fault at all, dear," Ruth rea.s.sured her and her arms went about her sister in a loving embrace. "I wanted to come. Neither of us knew this storm would make us get lost."

Alice said nothing for a moment. She was busy arranging a scarf more tightly about her throat, for she felt the flakes blowing and sifting on her, and did not want to take cold. The girls were warmly dressed, which was in their favor.

For five or ten minutes they remained under the lee of the rock, not knowing what to do. They realized, though neither wanted to mention it to the other, that they could not remain there very long. Night would settle down, sooner or later, and they could not remain out without shelter. Yet where could they go?

"If it would only stop!" cried Ruth.

"Yes, or if someone from Elk Lodge would come after us!" added Alice.

"I'm sure they will!" cried Ruth, catching at this slender hope. "Oh, Alice, I'm sure they'll come."

"And so am I, as far as that is concerned," agreed Alice. "The only trouble is they will not know where to come. Don't you see?"

"But they know where we were going--you mentioned it to daddy."

"I know, but don't you understand, my dear, we're not where we said we would go. We're lost--we're off the path. If it was only a question of someone from the Lodge following the proper path it would be all right.

But we're far from it, and they will have no idea where to search for us."

"Couldn't they trail us with--with bloodhounds?"

"Oh, I don't believe it will get as desperate as that. Not that there are any bloodhounds at Elk Lodge. But there are some hunting dogs, and I presume they might be able to follow our trail. Won't it seem odd to be trailed by dogs? Just as if we were fugitive slaves!"

"I don't care how they trail us, as long as we get back to Elk Lodge!"

and there was a sob in Ruth's voice.

The next moment Alice, on whose shoulder Ruth had laid her head, uttered a cry.

"Oh, what is it?" asked the elder girl. "Do you see someone? Are they coming for us?"

"No, but the snow is stopping, and I can see a house--two of them, in fact."

"A house! Good! Is it far off?"