to her, though there would be
a certain peril in such a proceeding. Still, there were not four
capable seamen on board the _Tillicum_!

Gathering up his matches, which had dried, Nasmyth went back to the
bark shelter. He was pleasantly conscious of the relief in Miss
Hamilton's eyes when he reached it, and fancied that she was too
overwrought and anxious to care whether he noticed it or not; but he
set about making a fire, and she helped him to collect brittle
undergrowth and fallen branches. Then they sat down and ate the
oysters that he had laid among the embers. He thought they were not in
season, and they were certainly burnt and shrivelled, as well as
somewhat gritty; but one is glad to eat anything after a long day of
exertion, and Nasmyth watched his companion with quiet appreciation as
she handled the rough shells daintily with little delicate fingers.
Her evident reliance upon him had its effect.

He carried an armful of branches to the beach, and started another
fire where it could be seen from seawards, after which he went back
and sat outside the shelter near Miss Hamilton, while darkness crept
up from the eastwards across the Bush. It grew dim and solemn, and the
doleful wailing of the pines was curiously impressive. The girl
shivered.

"The wind is very chilly," she said, with a tremor in her voice. "You
will stay here where I can see you. You won't go away?"

"Only to keep up the fire on the beach," Nasmyth answered reassuringly.

She crept into the shelter, and he could see her dimly when the
flickering light blazed up, but he could never remember how many
journeys he made to the fire upon the beach before his eyes grew heavy
as he sat amid the whirling smoke. He endeavoured to keep awake, and
resolutely straightened himself once or twice, but at last his eyes
closed altogether, and he did not hear the shriek of the _Tillicum's_
whistle ring far across the shadowy Bush. Indeed, he did not waken
when Acton and Wisbech came floundering into the light of the fire;
and the two men looked at each other when they stopped beside it and
saw him lying there, and then discovered the girl inside the shelter.
Acton raised his hand warningly, while a faint twinkle crept into his
eyes.

"I guess there's no reason why anybody else should hear of this," he
said. "It seems to me that Miss Hamilton would be just as well pleased
if we were not around when she awakens."

He stooped and shook Nasmyth's shoulder as