tarpaulin.

Shane thrust both hands deep into the pockets of his overalls and
shifted his weight alternately from heel to toe. . . . Crossing over
to the stove where his wife stood he bent upon her a wistful,
little-lost-dog expression, so ridiculous in a man of his size that
Ellen burst into laughter.

"Poor--little--thing!" she sympathized, patting his cheek. "It's lost
its pacifier, it has!"

With a sickly grin Shane turned to the window and dully watched the
slanting sleet blown by the gale. . . . Kayak's puffing snore came
presently from the other room. Boreland wheeled about, glaring.

"By thunder! to think that old cuss can _sleep_ at a time like
this! . . . The man must have a heart of stone! For two cents I'd go
in there and . . ."

He paced the floor, his hands fidgeting.

"Are you _sure_, El, you didn't save out a box of tobacco on us, just
to give us a bit of a surprise now," he asked hopefully for the third
time that morning.

In the days that followed Harlan could not make up his mind who
suffered most during the "battle of Nicotine"--Shane or Kayak Bill, or
Ellen. He grew to feel a bit sorry for Ellen. He found himself
gradually assuming the duties neglected by the other two men during
their period of misery. Boreland lost much of his good-natured
cheerfulness. He was inclined to view the food situation with
increased alarm. He often spoke sharply to Lollie, and sometimes to
his wife. But invariably after an irritable outburst he sought to make
up to the boy with some home-made toy, or a new story of adventure.
With Ellen his method of apology was different. He would put his arm
across her shoulders and look down at her whimsically.

"I swan to goodness, little fellow, if I wasn't an angel I couldn't
live with you at all, at all, you're that peevish since I've stopped
smoking." Then with his most wistful Irish look he would add, "Be
patient with me El. I'm having a hell of a time."

As Harlan watched the struggles of his partners he grew to have a
better opinion of his own power of self-control. Jean was responsible
for this in a way. Sometimes on stormy days when it was impossible to
go outside, the patience of the whole family would be sorely tried by
the actions of the older men. They would research every nook and
corner of the cabin, go into the pockets of every garment and even rip
linings in their efforts to find some over-looked bit of tobacco.
After just so much of t