s.
It would mean suffering, misery, for her. A winter in the Great Alone,
harassed by blizzards, bitten by the intense cold, tracked by wolves and
all the ferocious starved things of the foodless wilderness, was all he
had to offer--that, and a burning love of which she seemed totally
unconscious, or coldly indifferent. Why not let her go now? To see her
suffer were but to multiply his own suffering a thousandfold, and yet she
was his in the sight of God! He emitted a hard, guttural laugh as the
mockery of the phrase was made clear to him.

He collected the gear and, slinging it across his shoulders, mounted the
hill. Overhead a long stream of birds was beating toward the South. He
bade them a mute farewell, knowing that he would miss their silvern
voices, and their morning wrangling among the spruce and hemlocks.

"I guess life might be beautiful enough," he ruminated, "if one only had
the things one wants, but the gittin' of 'em is sure hell!"

He flung the pick and ax and washing-pan to the ground, and looked inside
the tent. It was empty, and the cooking utensils were lying about as they
were left at breakfast-time. Then he noticed that some of Angela's clothes
were missing. The latter fact removed any lingering doubts from his mind.
If any further evidence were required, it existed in the shape of a pile
of cigar ash on the duckboarding.

"So!" he muttered.

He walked outside and stood gazing over the autumn-tinted country. A stray
bird twitted among the trees, but the great silence was settling down
every hour as the feathered immigrants mounted from copse and dell into
the blue vault of heaven.

"So!" he repeated, as though he were powerless to find any fuller
expression of his emotions. He went back into the tent and slipped a
revolver into his holster, then with huge strides went over the hill
towards Dawson.

He covered the five miles in less than fifty minutes, and entered the
congested main street. The saloons were busy as usual, and there seemed to
be more people than ever. A trading store was selling mackinaws, parkhas,
and snow-shoes, as fast as they could be handled. "Old-timers" lounged in
the doorway and grinned at the huge prices paid for these winter
necessaries. Jim evaded the throng and made for the river bank. He guessed
that Angela and her "friend" would not risk staying long in Dawson, and
had doubtless timed their escape to catch the last boat down-river.

At that moment the _Silas P.