That stung
me, for not only was the young lady looking on with a sort of superior
pity, as I thought, but her brother was murmuring to her under his
breath with a provoking smile. I saw no reason why I should be treated
like a schoolboy. As far as my knowledge went it was as good as another
man's, were he young or old, so I came in quickly with my reply. I said
that his excellency should find me more cock-a-hoop with Shakespeare
than with myself. 'Well, well,' he answered, with a severe look, 'our
Company has need of great men for hard tasks.' To this I made no answer,
for I got a warning look from the young lady,--a look which had a
sort of reproach and command too. She knew the twists and turns of her
uncle's temper, and how he was imperious and jealous in little things.
The matter dropped for the time; but as the governor was going to his
tent for the night, the young lady said to me hurriedly, 'My uncle is a
man of great reading--and power, Mr. Fawdor. I would set it right with
him, if I were you.' For the moment I was ashamed. You cannot guess how
fine an eye she had, and how her voice stirred one! She said no more,
but stepped inside her tent; and then I heard the brother say over my
shoulder, 'Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud!' Afterwards,
with a little laugh and a backward wave of the hand, as one might toss a
greeting to a beggar, he was gone also, and I was left alone."

Fawdor paused in his narrative. The dog had lain down by the fire again,
but its red eyes were blinking at the door, and now and again it growled
softly, and the long hair at its mouth seemed to shiver with feeling.
Suddenly through the night there rang a loud, barking cry. The dog's
mouth opened and closed in a noiseless snarl, showing its keen, long
teeth, and a ridge of hair bristled on its back. But the two men made no
sign or motion. The cry of wild cats was no new thing to them.

Presently the other continued: "I sat by the fire and heard beasts howl
like that, I listened to the river churning over the rapids below, and
I felt all at once a loneliness that turned me sick. There were three
people in a tent near me; I could even hear the governor's breathing;
but I appeared to have no part in the life of any human being, as if I
were a kind of outlaw of God and man. I was poor; I had no friends; I
was at the mercy of this great Company; if I died, there was not a human
being who, so far as I knew, would shed a tear. Well, you s