had
swept her when she saw Philip looking at her over Lawrence's head. Sleep
finally stopped her tears.

The two men went to bed, and there was silence in the cabin. Lawrence
was smiling, as he felt Philip's body there beside him in the darkness.
"I could kill you now," he was thinking ironically, "and end all
question of your loving Claire."

Philip, too, was awake. He had seen the hot flush that came into
Claire's face that evening, and he knew that she had been troubled
during the supper. He wondered if she were ill. Then suddenly he asked
himself, "Is she in love with one of us?" He immediately tried to
dismiss the thought as unworthy of her. She was not the kind of woman
to forget her marriage vows. But what a home she could make for the man
she loved! If he had only known her in time!

But there was still friendship--yes, surely she could give that.
Complete understanding and perfect sympathy would be the basis of a
lasting attachment. "Who knows?" he pondered. "It may be that fate has
sent her to me to teach me what a great self-denying love can be. In
Claire I may find my dream-star again."

CHAPTER X.

HOW SIMPLE THE SOLUTION!

When Claire awoke the next morning her whole being seemed gathered into
a tense strain that made her feel as though the least thing might snap
the taut nerves in her body and leave her broken and stranded on some
far, emotional shoal. Her heart beat unevenly, while her lips and hands
felt dry and hot, as if she had spent hours in a desert wind. She did
not experience the bitter anguish of the night before; such storms are
too wild to last, but it had left her deadly heavy within, and she was
unable to recover her usual calm.

One great determination dominated her, to prevent these men, at any
cost, from knowing her real feelings. It was a determination born out of
the sheer force that was carrying her on, a struggle that came from the
very strength of the tide she sought to resist.

She had been awakened by a sudden and clear image, the result of her
unsettled mind. Her husband was beside her, leaning over the bed and
looking down at her with a great love and a greater pity shining in his
eyes. She thought that she had thrown up her arms to close about him
with the frantic joy of a rescued person, only to have them meet in
empty air and fall listless at her sides again.

Beyond the curtain she heard Philip saying cheerfully: "It is a great
day outside, one of Claire'