2l8 THE FUR COUNTRY, not hesitate, but plunged into the mist, not even pausing to wonder if they should ever get back. What anxious forebodings must, however, have pressed upon the heart of the Lieutenant. Could he now hope that the island would hold together until the winter ? had not the inevitable breaking up already commenced % If the wind should not drive them on to the coast, were they not doomed to perish very soon, to be swallowed up by the deep, leaving no trace behind them? What a fearful prospect for all the unconscious inhabitants of the fort ! But through it all the two men, upheld by the consciousness of a duty to perform, bravely struggled on against the gale, which nearly tore them to pieces, along the new beach, the foam sometimes bathing their feet, and presently gained the large wood which shut in Cape Michael. This they would have to cross to get to the coast by the shortest route, and tkey entered it in complete dark- ness, the wind thundering among the branches over their heads. Everything seemed to be breaking to pieces around them, the dis- located branches intercepted their passage, and every moment they ran a risk of being crashed beneath a falling tree, or they stumbled over a stump they had not been able to see in the gloom. The noise of the waves on the other side of the wood was a sufficient guide to their steps, and sometimes the furious breakers shook the weakened ground beneath their feet. Holding each other's hands lest they should lose each other, supporting each other, and the one helping the other up when he fell over some obstacle, they at last reached the point for which they were bound. But the instant they quitted the shelter of the wood a perfect whirlwind tore them asunder, and flung them upon the ground. " Sergeant, Sergeant ! Where are you % " cried Hobson with all the strength of his lungs. " Here, here ! " roared Long in reply. And creeping on the ground they struggled to reach each other ; but it seemed as if a powerful hand rivetted them to the spot on which they had fallen, and it was only after many futile efforts that they managed to reach each other. Having done so, they tied their belts together to prevent another separation, and crept along the sand to a little rising ground crowned by a small clump of pines. Once there they were a little more protected, and they proceeded to dig themselves a hole, in which they crouched in a state of absolute exhaustion and prostration.
