Oh, this is luck of a special brand! I
was expecting to put up at Starvation Camp. Now we may name it Point
Plenty."
"Or Fort Salvation," she suggested shyly. "Because you brought me here to
save my life."
She was such a child, in spite of her charming grown-up airs, that he
played make-believe with a zest that surprised himself when he came to
think of it. She elected him captain of Fort Salvation, with full power of
life and death over the garrison, and he appointed her second in command.
His first general order was to put the garrison on two meals a day.
She clapped her little hands, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Are we
really snow-bound? Must we go on half-rations?"
"It is the part of wisdom, lieutenant," he answered, smiling at her
enthusiasm. "We don't know how long this siege is going to last. If it
should set in to snow, we may be here several days before the relief-party
reaches us." But, though he spoke cheerfully, he was aware of sinister
possibilities in the situation. "Several weeks" would have been nearer his
real guess.
They ate breakfast at the shelf-table nailed in place underneath the
western window.
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