CHAPTER XXV.
LOST IN A BLIZZARD.
So numbed was our poor lad by the shock of his discovery that, for a few moments, he stood motionless.

Of course it would be of no use to continue his hopeless struggle.

Even if he had come in the right direction he must ere this have passed the place where his companions were encamped.

If he could only regain the timber there might be a slight chance of surviving the night; but even its location was lost to him, and a certain death stared him in the face.

At any rate it would be a painless ending, for he had only to lie down to be quickly covered by a soft blanket of snow.