He stepped softly forward and cautiously peered in.

He saw Miss Prescott apparently asleep in one corner, and his wife trimming the fire.

Hans hesitated a moment, and no pen can describe or artist depict the shivering horror with which he stepped within the lodge.

His heart beat like a trip-hammer, and when his wife lifted her dark eyes upon him, he nearly fainted from excess of terror.

Great was his amazement, therefore, when, instead of rebukes and blows, she came smilingly forward and asked: "Has my husband been sick ?" That question explained everything.