been a change during the last
few months. He had practised abstinence, and in new surroundings found it
easier than he had expected; severe labor had healed and hardened him.
His brown skin was clear, his pale-blue eyes were bright and steady, his
figure was spare and finely lined.

"So," she said, "you sacrificed your wages to assist a stranger?"

He made her a whimsical bow.

"I'd like to think we'll be better acquainted before we part."

"But what will you do now?"

"Oh," he responded lightly, "that's hardly worth talking about. I'll
strike something. So long as you're pretty active there's generally work
to be had, and when it grows monotonous you pull out and go on again."

Miss Foster mused.

"After all," she said, "life must have a good deal to offer a strong man
with the ability to make the most of things. He can set off, when he
likes, in search of new and interesting experiences."

"It has its drawbacks now and then," declared Kermode, smiling. "Anyway,
you needn't imagine you're shut off from everything of the kind. You took
a big risk and faced a startling change when you came out here."

"So I felt. Though I had misgivings, the thought of it drew me."

"I understand. You have courage, the greatest gift, and you felt
circumscribed at home. No doubt, the love of adventure isn't confined to
one sex. It's a longing many of us can't overcome; but it doesn't seem to
meet with general sympathy, and it's apt to get one into difficulties."

"Yes," Miss Foster assented with some bitterness; "particularly a woman."

After that, she went on with her meal while dusk crept up about the
lonely camp. The sky was pale green in the west and the hills stood out
against it, black and calm; not a breath of wind was stirring and it was
very still, except that out of the distance came the murmur of falling
water. When the air grew damper, Kermode brought her a blanket which she
wrapped about her shoulders and they talked on for an hour in a casual
manner. Then he got up.

"You will be quite safe in the tent," he said. "I've found a comfortable
berth in the wood. We'll get off as soon as it's light to-morrow."

He disappeared into the shadows and she noticed that he had left her the
two blankets he had brought from the settlement. She hesitated about
taking them both, but decided not to call him back. A little later she
entered the tent, while Kermode scraped out a hollow in a bank of fallen
leaves and went to slee