e with his own and his
companion's plans. "What's worrying me--whether you're goin' to join in
on the sport when we catch the weasel!"

Sport! The word was more terrible to Beatrice than the vilest oath he
had used to emphasize it. She crouched, shivering. Watching intently,
she saw Ray look up, too, waiting for the reply; and her father, sensing
his lost dominance, bowed his head.

"You could hardly expect me to let him off easy--seeing what he did to
my daughter--"

"What he done to your daughter ain't all--I don't care if he treated her
like a queen of the realm all the time," Ray interrupted harshly. "That
makes no difference to neither me nor Chan. The main thing is--he
brought us out here, away from the claim--and gave us months of the
worst hell I ever hope to spend. I guess you ain't forgotten what Chan
found out in Snowy Gulch--that the claim's recorded--in old Hiram's
name. This Darby's got a letter in his pocket from Hiram's brother that
would stand in any court. We've got to get that first. If Darby was an
angel I'd mash him under my heel just the same; we've gone too far to
start crawfishing. Just let me see him tied up in front of me--"

Beatrice did not linger to hear more. She had her answer: only in Ben's
continued concealment lay the least hope of his salvation. These wolves
about the fire meant what they said. But already her plans were shaping;
and now she saw the light.

In the kyack of venison lay her own and her lover's safety: it contained
enough nutritious food to sustain them until the fall rains could swell
the Yuga and enable them to escape down to the Indian encampment. Her
mind was swift and keen as never before: swiftly she perfected the last
detail of her plan. The canoe, due to Ben's foresight, was securely
hidden in a maze of tall reeds on the lake shore: they were certain to
overlook it. The cavern, however, was almost certain to be discovered in
the next day's search. They must make their escape to-night.

Ben, though terribly weakened, would be able to walk a short distance
with her help. They could slip into the deepest forest, concealing
themselves in the coverts until the three men had given up the search
and gone away. She would take their robes and blankets to keep them
warm; a camp fire would of course reveal their hiding place. The work
could easily be accomplished in the midnight shadows: deliverance,
salvation, life itself depended on the tide of fate in the next few