"I'll have to take my chances of that, Frank; for if I stay here all
night, I'll freeze to death, anyway. So just throw the buffaloes over me,
and put for the shanty as fast as you can," replied the foreman.

Unable to suggest any better plan, Frank covered Johnston carefully with
the robes, making him as comfortable as he could; then buttoning up his
coat and pulling his cap on tightly, he was about to scramble up the
steep side of the gully to regain the road, when the foreman said, in a
low tone, almost a whisper,--

"This is about the time you generally say your prayers, Frank. Couldn't
you say them here before you start?"

With quick intuition Frank divined the big bashful man's meaning. It was
his roundabout way of asking the boy to commit him to the care of God
before leaving him alone in his helplessness.

Feeling half condemned at not having thought of it himself, Frank came
back, and kneeling close beside his friend, lifted up his voice in prayer
with a fervour and simplicity that showed how strong and sure was his
faith in the love and power of his Father in heaven. When he had finished
his petition, the foreman added to it an "Amen" that seemed to come from
the very depths of his heart; and then, yielding to an impulse that was
irresistible, Frank bent down and implanted a sudden kiss upon the pale
face looking at him with such earnest, anxious eyes. This unexpected
proof of warm affection completely overcame the foreman, whose feelings
had been already deeply stirred by the prayer. Strong, reserved man as he
was, be could not keep back the tears.

"God bless you, my boy!" he murmured huskily. "If I get safely out of