But of course the storm was so loud he might not have heard her arrive. Still, wouldn’t he have been watching?

The sleet was biting her face and she tried the door, found her way into the kitchen shed, and so on into kitchen and dining room. Nobody seemed to be around. Had they all gone upstairs? Then suddenly in the dimness of the corner of the dining room she saw Lance’s mother kneeling by the old rocking chair praying quietly.

She paused a moment startled. She knew that Lance’s mother was a wonderful Christian woman, and took everything to the Lord in prayer, but she sensed an unusual atmosphere. Of course Mrs. Devereaux had not heard her come in. The wind was roaring so around the house that it drowned all but very clear sounds. And darkness was settling down around the house. There was only the soft light from the Christmas tree in the living room. After an instant Ruth went softly by the kneeling figure on into the other room, and then she saw Daryl standing by the window with her face pressed against the pane looking out into the blinding snow. Daryl must be watching for her, and the snow was so thick that she had missed her.

She stepped over softly and slipped her arm around Daryl’s waist.

“Daryl, dear!” she whispered. Daryl turned sharply toward her and she saw that there were tears glistening on her cheeks.

“Why, Daryl, darling! What is the matter?” she said, her heart filled with sudden alarm. “You’ve been crying! Christmas Eve! What can be the matter?”

“Oh, Ruth! Everything is so mixed up!” cried Daryl softly, trying to brush the tears away and hold her head up bravely. But her lips were quivering, and her eyes were full of trouble.

Ruth unfastened her snowy coat and dropped it on the floor behind her, putting out her arms to Daryl and folding her in a loving hug.

“What is it, dear? Tell me, please,” she said softly.

Daryl yielded for an instant, and then, her face coming in contact with the snowy particles on Ruth’s hair, she lifted her head.

“Oh, my dear! I’m letting you stand here in all your wet things! But you don’t know how glad I am you have come! I was worried about you, too. I telephoned the garage, and when they said you were on your way in all this awfulness I just trembled. It seemed to me there were just too many things to worry about all at once. I’m glad you are here safe and sound. Here, let me take your hat, and sit down till I pull off your galoshes. I thought if Lance should get back and find you lost that would be the last straw. Thank God you are here safely!”

“Lance?” said Ruth with sudden fright in her voice. “Where is he? He didn’t start out after he promised me he wouldn’t, did he? Where is he?”

“He didn’t start after you,” said Lance’s sister with a catch of her breath like a sob, “but he’s out, he and a strange man. They’ve gone on foot to take some medicine up the mountain the Farley house on the cliff, where there is a woman who will die if she doesn’t get it by six o’clock. They’ve been gone half an hour, and it’s the longest half hour I ever lived through!”

“But why did he go on foot, Daryl?” asked the distressed Ruth. “Oh, if Lance hadn’t left the car down in the village for me he would have had it here to use! But he knew I would be here in a short time. Why didn’t he wait and take it?”

“No, Ruth, it wouldn’t have done any good. They had to go on foot. The river road to the cliff is impassable, a twelve-foot drift. No car could get through. They had to take to the trail.”

“But if the car had been here they could at least have driven to the foot of the trail.