d his
own unworthiness. He spread one of the big gray blankets over her, and
tucked her in, while she sighed in delightful languor, looking up at
him all the time.

"I'll sit here beside you for a while," he said. "I want to smoke a
bit."

She stole a slim, brown hand out from beneath the cover and snuggled it
in his, and he leaned forward, closing her lids down with his lips. Her
utter weariness was manifest, for she fell asleep almost instantly, her
fingers twined about his in a childlike grip.

At times a great desire to feel her in his arms, to have her on his
breast, surged over him, for he had lived long apart from women, and
the solitude of the night seemed to mock him. He was a strong man, and
in his veins ran the blood of wayward forebears ho were wont to possess
that which they conquered in the lists of love, mingled with which was
the blood of spirited Southern women who had on occasion loved not
wisely, according to Kentucky rumor, but only too well. Nevertheless,
they were honest men and women, if over-sentimental, and had
transmitted to him a heritage of chivalry and a high sense of honor and
courage. Strange to say, this little, simple half-breed girl had
revived this honor and courage, even when he tried most stubbornly to
smother it. If only her love was like her blood, he might have had no
scruples; or if her blood were as pure as her love--even then it would
be easier; but, as it was, he must give her up to-night, and for all
time. Her love had placed a barrier between them greater and more
insurmountable than her blood.

He sat for a long time with the dwindling firelight playing about him,
his manhood and his desires locked in a grim struggle, wondering at the
hold this forest elf had gained upon him, wondering how it was that she
had stolen into his heart and head and taken such utter possession of
him. It would be no easy task to shut her out of his mind and put her
away from him. And she...?

He gently withdrew his fingers from her grasp, and, seeking the other
side of the wickiup, covered himself over without disturbing her, and
fell asleep.

It was early dawn when Necia crept to him.

"I dreamed you had gone away," she said, shivering violently and
drawing close. "Oh, it was a terrible awakening--"

"I was too tired to dream," he said.

"So I had to come and see if you were really here."

He quickly rekindled the fire, and they made a hasty breakfast. Before
the warmth of the risi