caped Link as he fell. Lawler lifted him bodily, threw him upon
the pile of wood in the corner, where he lay huddled up, unconscious.

Wheeling swiftly, his eyes ablaze with the terrible passion that had
seized him, Lawler faced the bunk. The woman's head was moving slowly
from side to side, as though she were making an effort to lift it; her
eyelids were fluttering, and her hands were straying over the
bedclothing, the fingers closing and unclosing.

Lawler made a horrible grimace at Givens.

"Get out of here, damn you!" he said. "Go out and take care of her
horse--anything! If you are in here when she wakes up, I'll kill you!
And take that other skunk out of here, too--take him to the dugout, and
don't come back here for an hour!"

He watched impatiently while Givens seized his companion and dragged him
outside. Then Lawler fastened the door, and standing near it, watched
the woman.

Her eyes were open. He could see them, even though he stood slightly
behind her. She moved her head, lifted it and gazed around the room,
seemingly bewildered at what she saw. Then she twisted her body around;
saw her bare feet, and quickly drew an end of the bunk blanket over
them.

And then she saw Lawler. Her eyes opened wide, filling with
satisfaction, and she sat up, holding one hand to her throat, tight
against the flesh, covering it with the other.

"Oh!" she said, thinly; "I--I got here, didn't I? But I didn't expect to
find you here!"

CHAPTER XIX

DEATH AT A DOOR

Lawler smiled. "Then I reckon we're both surprised, ma'am," he said. "I
certainly wasn't expecting the norther to bring you. You had a mighty
narrow squeeze. You were pretty near all in when I opened the door and
saw you."

The girl drew a long, quavering breath and leaned back against the wall
of the bunk, closing her eyes.

Her hair had fallen about her shoulders, showing the white throat
through the damp, glistening folds; and when she again opened her eyes,
they were big and luminous--and brown, Lawler took note of that, for the
glare from the lamp was directly upon them.

Renewed life--animation--certainly beautified her. While Lawler had been
working with her to restore her suspended vitality he had felt no
emotion beyond an eagerness to restore her to consciousness. Now he was
vibrant with sympathy, with pity, and with wonder.

Why had she come here? It was quite evident that she had come
intentionally, for her words: "I got here, didn