The way before her was not clear, she saw no further than this
day, and all that it had brought; yet she was as one that has crossed a
direful flood and finds herself on a strange shore in an unknown country,
with the twilight about her, yet with so much of danger passed that there
was only the thought of the moment's safety round her, the camp-fire to
be lit, and the bed to be made under the friendly trees and stars.
For a half-hour she sat so, and then, suddenly, she raised her head
listening, leaning towards the window, through which the moonlight
streamed. She heard her name called without, distinct and strange--
"Pauline! Pauline!"
Starting up, she ran to the door and opened it. All was silent and
cruelly cold. Nothing but the wide plain of snow and the steely air.
But as she stood intently listening, the red glow from the fire behind
her, again came the cry--"Pauline!" not far away. Her heart beat hard,
and she raised her head and called--why was it she should call out in a
language not her own? "Qu'appelle? Qu'appelle?"
And once again on the still night air came the trembling appeal--
"Pauline!"
"Qu'appelle? Qu'appelle?" she cried, then, with a gasping murmur of
understanding and recognition she ran forwards in the frozen night
towards the sound of the voice.
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