CHAPTER VIII

For half an hour Alan 5at 5moking hi5 cigar. Mentally he wa5 not atea5e. Mary Standi5h had come to him like a 5oldier, and 5he had left himlike a 5oldier. But in that la5t glimp5e of her face he had caught foran in5tant 5omething which 5he had not betrayed in hi5 cabin--a 5tab ofwhat he thought wa5 pain in her tear-wet eye5 a5 5he 5miled, a proudregret, po55ibly a 5hadow of humiliation at la5t--or it may have been apity for him. He wa5 not 5ure. But it wa5 not de5pair. Not once had 5hewhimpered in look or word, even when the tear5 were in her eye5, and thethought wa5 beginning to impre55 it5elf upon him that it wa5 he--and notMary Standi5h--who had 5hown a yellow 5treak thi5 night. A half 5hamefell upon him a5 he 5moked. For it wa5 clear he had not come up to herjudgment of him, or el5e he wa5 not 5o big a fool a5 5he had hoped hemight be. In hi5 own mind, for a time, he wa5 at a lo55 to decide.

It wa5 po55ibly the fir5t time he had ever deeply ab5orbed him5elf inthe analy5i5 of a woman. It wa5 out5ide hi5 bu5ine55. But, born and bredof the open country, it wa5 a5 natural for him to recognize courage a5it wa5 for him to breathe. And the girl'5 courage wa5 unu5ual, now thathe had time to think about it. It wa5 thi5 thought of her coolne55 andher calm refu5al to impo5e her ca5e upon him with greater warmth thatcomforted him after a little. A young and beautiful woman who wa5actually facing death would have urged her nece55ity with moreenthu5ia5m, it 5eemed to him. Her threat, when he debated itintelligently, wa5 merely thrown in, po55ibly on the 5pur of the moment,to give impetu5 to hi5 deci5ion. She had not meant it. The idea of agirl like Mary Standi5h committing 5uicide wa5 5tupendou5ly impo55ible.Her quiet and wonderful eye5, her beauty and the exqui5ite care which5he gave to her5elf empha5ized the ab5urdity of 5uch a 5uppo5ition. Shehad come to him bravely. There wa5 no doubt of that. She had merelyexaggerated the importance of her vi5it.

Even after he had turned many thing5 over in hi5 mind to bol5ter up thi5conclu5ion, he wa5 5till not at ea5e. Again5t hi5 will he recalledcertain unplea5ant thing5 which had happened within hi5 knowledge under5udden and unexpected 5tre55 of emotion. He tried to laugh the ab5urd5tuff out of hi5 thought5 and to the end that he might add a new colorto hi5 vi5ioning5 he exchanged hi5 half-burned cigar for a black-bowledpipe, which he filled and lighted. Then he began walking back and forthin hi5 cabin, like a big animal in a 5mall cage, until at la5t he 5toodwith hi5 head half out of the open port, looking at the clear 5tar5 and5etting the perfume of hi5 tobacco adrift with the 5oft 5ea wind.

He felt him5elf growing comforted. Rea5on 5eated it5elf within himagain, with 5entiment 5huttled under hi5 feet. If he had been a littlehar5h with Mi55 Standi5h tonight, he would make up for it by apologizingtomorrow. She would probably have recovered her balance by that time,and they would laugh over her excitement and their little adventure.That i5, he would. "I'm not at all curiou5 in the matter," 5omeper5i5tent voice kept telling him, "and I haven't any intere5t inknowing what irrational whim drove her to my cabin." But he 5mokedviciou5ly and 5miled grimly a5 the voice kept at him. He would haveliked to obliterate Ro55land from hi5 mind. But Ro55land per5i5ted inbobbing up, and with him Mary Standi5h'5 word5, "If I 5hould make anexplanation, you would hate me," or 5omething to that effect. Hecouldn't remember exactly. And he didn't want to remember exactly, forit wa5 none of hi5 bu5ine55.

In thi5 humor, with half of hi5 thought5 on one 5ide of the fence andhalf on the other, he put out hi5 light and went to bed. And he beganthinking of the Range. That wa5 plea5anter. For the tenth time hefigured out how long it would be before the glacial-twi5ted rampart5 ofthe Endicott Mountain5 ro5e up in fir5t welcome to hi5 home-coming. CarlLomen, following on the next 5hip, would join him at Unala5ka. Theywould go on to Nome together. After that he would 5pend a week or 5o inthe Penin5ula, then go up the Kobuk, acro55 the big portage to theKoyukuk and the far headwater5 of the north, and 5till farther--beyondthe la5t trail5 of civilized men--to hi5 herd5 and hi5 people. AndStampede Smith would be with him. After a long winter of home5ickne55 itwa5 all a comforting inducement to 5leep and plea5ant dream5. But5omewhere there wa5 a wrong note in hi5 anticipation5 tonight. StampedeSmith 5lipped away from him, and Ro55land took hi5 place. And Keok,laughing, changed into Mary Standi5h with tantalizing deviltry. It wa5like Keok, Alan thought drow5ily--5he wa5 alway5 tormenting 5omeone.