.

It was not the pain so much as the uselessness of it that exasperated
Haig; and he was tempted to drive her away from him, and have no more
of it. But this, he realized, would only have caused more arguments,
and tears, and protestations, and perhaps the revelation of his
purpose. So he endured it to satisfy and divert her.

Luckily the fracture was a simple one; and with strips of linen for
which Marion sacrificed some of her scanty supply of clothing, and the
thin sticks of tough aspen wood, the leg was bound straight and firm.

"If we only knew!" said Marion at last, leaning back to contemplate
her work.

"Knew what?" he asked between his teeth.

"If it's right!"

Between pain and rage he could not answer her; and thinking that he
was near to a collapse, she ran for water and bathed his face, and
gave him a little of the precious whisky that remained in her flask.
After that he lay quiet, and she went to her preparations for the
night.

The vale now lay in deep blackness, impenetrable walls of it beyond
the red circle of firelight. The cliff made a dim, dark line against
the blue-black sky; the forest on the other side a ragged tracery. The
stars were few, and far. A low breeze murmured among the pines, and
swept softly, but very cold, across the meadow. Marion began to feel
the chill; and having wrapped Philip's blanket tight around him, and
spread over him the leather coat she had found in his bundle, she
heaped more wood on the fire, and sat down before it, with her
blankets around her, and her rifle at her side, to watch and wait.

She was very tired, but she dared not lie down to sleep. A long time
she sat there, glancing now and then at Haig, where he lay very still,
and oftener out into the blackness. But drowsiness gradually overcame
her, and her head sank forward on her uplifted knees.

She was awakened by a terrifying cry that rang shivering across the
valley. She started to her feet, and listened. It must have been a
dream, she thought. No! There it was again--a cry that started low,
like a child's peevish wail, and ended in a piercing scream. She
grabbed up her rifle, and stood peering into the darkness.

"Don't be afraid!" said the voice of Haig from the edge of the
firelight. "It's only a bobcat. He'll not come near the fire."

"Thank you--Philip!" she answered. Then, with a nervous laugh: "It did
frighten me, though!"

She stood a moment, still listening. But the cry came no more.