rhaps since moods are
contagious, his was caught from the girl, Ygerne. With a sort of
jeering laughter in his heart he surrendered to his inclination. The
world had gone stale in his mouth; a black depression beat at him with
its stiffling [Transcriber's note: stifling?] wings; an hour with the
girl might offer other amusement than the mere angering of Lemarc and
Sefton. He wanted only one thing in the world; to be whole of body so
that he might fare out on the trail again, a fresh trail now that gold
lay at the end of it. But since he might not have the greater wish he
contented himself with the lesser.

He shaved himself, grimly conscious of the contempt looking out at him
from the haggard eyes in the mirror. Those eyes mocked him like
another man's. Then he went to Pere Marquette's store, paying scant
attention to the three or four men he found there. He made known his
wants and tossed his gold pieces to the counter, taking no stock of
curious gazes. He saw that Kootanie George was there and that
Kootanie's big boots were gummed with the red mud of the upper trail.
He took no trouble to hide his sneer; Kootanie George, too, had been
out in search of his gold and had returned empty handed.

To each question of Pere Marquette his answer was the same:

"The best you've got; damn the price."

Marquette had but the one white silk shirt in the house and Drennen
took it, paying the ten dollars without a word. There were many pairs
of boots to fit him; one pair alone took his fancy, though he knew the
rich black leather and the shapely high heels would cause him to hurl
them away to-morrow as things unfit for the foot of man. He selected
corduroy breeches and a soft black hat and returned to his dugout,
leaving fifty dollars upon the counter. And when he had dressed and
had laughed at himself he went back up the muddy road for Ygerne. But
first he stopped at Joe's.

"I want the private room," he said, and Joe nodded eagerly as he saw
Drennen's hand emerge from his pocket. "And I want the best dinner for
two you can put on. Trimmings and all."

Joe, slipping the first of Drennen's money into his pocket and
cherishing high hopes of more, set himself and his boy to work, seeing
his way of arriving at the second gold piece with no great loss of time.

The long northern twilight was an hour old when Drennen called for
Ygerne. She came out of her room at Marquette's ready for him. She
had told him she must