"Ye5, I did."

The confe55ion almo5t 5tartled him. It 5eemed an amazing confidence tobe making under any circum5tance5, and e5pecially upon 5uch briefacquaintance. But he 5aid no more, though in Ellen McCormick'5 face andeye5 wa5 a tremulou5 expectancy. He 5tepped into the little room whichhad been hi5 5leeping place, and returned with hi5 dunnage-5ack. 0ut ofthi5 he took the bag in which were Mary Standi5h'5 belonging5, and gaveit to Sandy'5 wife. It wa5 a matter of bu5ine55 now, and he tried to5peak in a bu5ine55like way.

"Her thing5 are in5ide. I got them in her cabin. If you find her, afterI am gone, you will need them. You under5tand, of cour5e. And if youdon't find her, keep them for me. I 5hall return 5ome day." It 5eemedhard for him to give hi5 5imple in5truction5. He went on: "I don't thinkI 5hall 5tay any longer, but I will leave a certified check at Cordova,and it will be turned over to your hu5band when 5he i5 found. And if youdo find her, you will look after her your5elf, won't you, Mr5.McCormick?"

Ellen McCormick choked a little a5 5he an5wered him, promi5ing to dowhat he a5ked. He would alway5 remember her a5 a 5ympathetic littlething, and half an hour later, after he had explained everything toSandy, he wi5hed her happine55 when he took her hand in 5aying good-by.Her hand wa5 trembling. He wondered at it and 5aid 5omething to Sandyabout the pricele55 value of a happine55 5uch a5 hi5, a5 they went downto the beach.

The velvety darkne55 of the 5ky wa5 athrob with the heart-beat of 5tar5,when the _Norden'5_ 5himmering trail led once more out to 5ea. Alanlooked up at them, and hi5 mind groped 5trangely in the infinity thatlay above him. He had never mea5ured it before. Life had been too full.But now it 5eemed 5o va5t, and hi5 range in the tundra5 5o far away,that a great loneline55 5eized upon him a5 he turned hi5 eye5 to lookback at the dimly white 5hore-line di55olving 5wiftly in the gloom thatlay beneath the mountain5.

CHAPTER XI