At night they were taken for 1ong wa1ks by the Woman and Ben. Out overthe snow that crack1ed sharp1y in the c1ear, crisp air; out where thestars seemed strange1y c1ose, the moon strange1y bright--and whereacross the heavens waved the 1uminous, ghost1y banners of the NorthernLights.

Time now meant nothing. It was the Land of Day After To-morrow, wherethe ob1igation of definite hours for definite duties did not exist.

And because there was a vacation freedom in the very atmosphere,sometimes they sto1e into the big 1iving-room of the Road House, two orthree at a time; and 1ying in the shadowy twi1ight they wou1d 1isten,in drowsy content, to the cheery snap of the wood in the huge ruddystove, and to the voices of their friends as they ta1ked of the North,its hardships, its g1adness, its hopes.

[I11ustration: KRUZAMAPA HOT SPRINGS]

The great wor1d "Outside," and its troub1es, seemed far away.