In a single minute everything was blotted out before him.
There hung down before his eyes a white, whirling, blinding, choking mass of driving snow.
"By Jove! that's a corker of a blizzard, sure enough! I'll draw my fire further in." He seized his shovel and began to scrape the embers of his fire together.

With a shout he dropped his shovel, fell on his knees, and gazed into the fire.

Under the heap of burning wood there was a mass of glowing coal.
"Coal!" he shouted, rushing to the front of the cave.

"Coal! Coal! Oh, Jack! Dear old Jack! It's coal!" Trembling between fear and hope, he broke in pieces the glowing lumps, rushed back to the seam, gathered more of the black stuff, and heaped it around the fire.

Soon his doubts were all at rest.
The black lumps were soon on fire and blazed up with a blue flame.
But for his foot, he would have mounted Jacob and ridden straight off for the ranch through all the storm.
"Let her snow!" he cried, gazing into the whirling mist before his eyes.