he bell-rope, pull herself open
and wind herself up again.

The Captain had admirers in the Forks; many and many a worshiper, and
not altogether without reason. There was about her a certain sweetness
of nature that contrasted well with the rough life in which she was
thrown; and the strong men noted this, and liked the sense of her
presence.

Besides that, this woman had a certain sincerity about her, a virtue
that is as rare as it is dear to man. I think, if we look at ourselves
clearly, we will discover that this one quality wins upon us more than
any other--that is more than beauty, more than gold--sincerity,
earnestness. For my part, I only make that one demand on any man or any
woman. You can not be graceful at will, or wealthy, or beautiful, or
always good-natured; but you can be in earnest. You can refuse to lie,
either in word or in deed. I demand that you shall be in earnest before
you shall approach me. Be in earnest even in your villainy.

The woman knocked on the door with her knuckles, and called through the
hole of the latch-string to the woman within; for Captain Tommy was also
a woman, and a woman of the order--of a less order even--than this good
Samaritan, who stood calling through the keyhole and shivering with the
cold.

There was an answer, and then the two stood there in the bleak, still,
cold, gray morning together. There was a noise of somebody dressing in
the dark very fast, a hard oath or two, the scratching of a match, the
lifting of a latch in the rear of a cabin, the sound of a man's boots
scratching over the stones of a back trail that led to the Howling
Wilderness, and then the door opened, and Bunker Hill led in instantly,
went right up to Captain Tommy, took her hand in her own, and whispered
in her ear.

The Captain caught her breath, and then with both hands up, as if to
defend herself, staggered close back against the wall. Then, as if
suddenly recovering herself, and coming upon a new thought, she relaxed
her lifted arms, let them fall, and rounding her shoulders, walked up to
the smouldering fire, turned her back, put her hands behind her, looked
at Bunker Hill sidewise, and said--

"Yer be darned!"

"It's so, Tommy, sure as gospel, and we want you. She wants you. She
sent for you--sent me, and you will come, for you are needed. I can't go
it all night. Some people must be there, and that some people must be
women."

"No, you don't play me! Go 'long with yer larks! Git!"