He began worming his head and shoulders and body into the air-drift like a gimlet.  A foot at a time he burrowed himself through, heaving his body up and down and sideways to pack the light snow, leaving a round tunnel two feet in diameter behind him.  Within an hour he had come to the outer crust on the windward side of the big snow-dune.  He did not break through this crust, which was as tough as crystal-glass, but lay quietly for a time and listened to the sweep of the wind outside.  It was warm, and very comfortable, and he had half-dozed off before he caught himself back into wakefulness and returned to his room.  The mouth of his tunnel he packed with snow.  After that he wound the blanket about him and gave himself up calmly to sleep.

Only Peter lay awake after that.  And it was Peter who roused Jolly Roger in what would have been the early dawn outside the snow-dune.  McKay felt his restless movement, and opened his eyes.  A faint light was illumining his room, and he sat up.  In the outer room the alcohol lamp was burning again.  He could hear movement, and voices that were very low and indistinct.  Carefully he dug out once more the little hole in the snow wall, and widened the slit.

Breault and Tavish were asleep, but Porter was sitting up, and close beside him sat the girl.  Her coiled hair was loosened, and fallen over her shoulders.  There was no sign of drowsiness in her wide-open eyes as they stared at the door between the two rooms.  McKay could see her hand clasping Porter’s arm.  Porter was talking, with his face so close to her bent head that his lips touched her hair, and though Jolly Roger could understand no word that was spoken he knew Porter was whispering the exciting secret of his identity to Josephine Tavish.  He could see, for a moment, a shadow of protest in her face, he could hear the quick, sibilant whisper of her voice, and Porter cautioned her with a finger at her lips, and made a gesture toward the sleeping Tavish.  Then his fingers closed about her uncoiled hair as he drew her to him.  McKay watched the long kiss between them.  The girl drew away quickly then, and Porter tucked the blanket about her when she lay down beside her father.  After that he stretched out again beside Breault.

Jolly Roger guessed what had happened.  The girl had awakened, a bit nervous, and had roused Porter and asked him to relight the alcohol lamp.  And Porter had taken advantage of the opportunity to tell her of the interesting discovery which Breault had made—­and to kiss her.  McKay stroked Peter’s scrawny neck, and listened.  He could no longer hear the storm, and he wondered if the fury of it was spent.

Every few minutes he looked through the slit in the snow wall.  The last time, half an hour after Porter had returned to his blanket, Josephine Tavish was sitting up.  She was very wide awake.  McKay watched her as she rose slowly to her knees, and then to her feet.  She bent over Porter and Breault to make sure they were asleep, and then came straight toward the door of his room.