alph walking slowly up the hill.

And a harsh laugh which had no mirth in it broke from him. Then a frown
settled darkly upon his brow. What, he asked himself, had Ralph returned
for? He bore no burden of skins.

And when Ralph looked up and saw Nick whom he believed to be miles away,
his heart grew bitter within him. He read the look on the other's face.
He saw the anger, and a certain guiltiness of his own purpose made him
interpret it aright. And in a flash he resolved upon a scheme which, but
for what he saw, would never have presented itself to him.

And as the gleaming sun-dogs, drooping so heavily yet angrily in the
sky, heralded the coming storm of elements, so did that meeting of the
two brothers threaten the peace of the valley.

CHAPTER VII.

IN THE STORMING NIGHT

The love of these men for the fair creature of the wild had risen to
fever-heat with the abruptness of tropical sunshine. It was no passing
infatuation, but the deep-rooted, absorbing passion of strong simple
men; a passion which dominated their every act and thought; a passion
which years alone might mellow into calm affection, but which nothing
could eradicate. It had come into their lives at a time when every
faculty was at its ripest; henceforth everything would be changed. The
wild, to them, was no longer the wild they had known; it was no longer
theirs alone. Their life had gathered to itself a fresh meaning; a
meaning drawn from association with Woman, and from which it could never
return to the colourless existence of its original solitude.

With the return of Ralph to the camp the day progressed in sullen
silence. Neither of the men would give way an inch; neither would return
to the forest to complete his day's work, and even Aim-sa found their
morose antagonism something to be feared. Each watched the other until
it seemed impossible for the day to pass without the breaking of the
gathering storm. But, however, the time wore on, and the long night
closed down without anything happening to precipitate matters.

The evening was passed in the woman's company. Ralph sat silent,
brooding. While Nick, with the memory of the wild moments during which
he had held Aim-sa in his embrace fresh upon him, held a laboured
conversation with her. To him there was a sense of triumph as he sat
smoking his blackened pipe, listening to the halting phrases of the
woman, and gazing deeply into her wonderful blue eyes. And in the
ecstasy of re