And if it had fallen upon the Finnish settlement, with its strong women and its stronger men, what might it not have done in the cabin of the little old gray Missioner--and Nada?
For a long time after that he forgot Peter was with him.

He forgot everything but his desire to reach a living thing.

At times, where the road-bed was smooth, he almost ran, and at others he paused for a little to gather his breath and listen.

And it was Peter, in one of these intervals, who caught the first message of life.

From a long distance away came faintly the barking of a dog.
Half a mile farther on they came to a clearing where no stubs of trees stood up like question marks against the sky, and in this clearing was a cabin, a dark blotch that was without light or sound.