THE GRAY BROTHERS The four girls never knew how long they waited that afternoon in the hunter's cabin.

It might have been only minutes, but the minutes seemed to drag themselves into hours.

The uncertain fate of the boys, the tragedy that surely awaited perhaps all of them made the situation almost unbearable.
Grace piled the fireplace high with the remaining wood, but the blaze could not keep away the chill that crept over them as the sun sank behind the trees.

They shivered and drew nearer together for comfort.
Should they ever see their four brave friends again?
And David?
Anne could endure it no longer.

She rose and began to move about the hut.