sound of tearing as he pulled the pelt
from the under-flesh. Aim-sa watched, interested, then, as Nick made no
further remark, she went on. She pointed back at the forest.

"The wolves--they very thick. Many, many--an' hungry."

"They've left the open. Guess it's goin' to storm, sure," observed the
man indifferently. He wrenched the fur loose from the fore paws.

"Yes--it storm--sure." And Aim-sa gazed critically up at the sky. The
usual storm sentries hung glittering upon either side of the sun, and
the blue vault was particularly steely.

Nick rose from his gory task. He drew the fur away and spread it out on
the roof of the dugout to freeze. Then he cut some fresh meat from the
carcass, and afterwards dragged the remainder down the hill and left it
for the dogs. The squabble began as soon as he returned to Aim-sa. A
babel of fierce snarling and yapping proceeded as the ruthless beasts
tore at the still warm flesh. And in less than a minute other voices
came up from the woods, heralding the approach of some of the famished
forest creatures. Nick gave no heed. The dogs must defend their own.
Such is the law of the wild. He had Aim-sa to himself, and he knew not
how long it would be before his brother returned.

And Aim-sa was in no way loth to linger by this great trapper's side. It
pleased her to talk in her halting fashion to him. He had more to say
than his brother; he was a grand specimen of manhood. Besides, his
temperament was wilder, more fierce, more like the world in which he
lived.

She hearkened to the sounds of the snarling wolves and her blue eyes
darkened with the latent savagery that was in her nature.

"The dogs--they fight. Hah!" she said. And a smile of delight was in her
eyes.

"Let 'em fight," said Nick, carelessly. Then he turned upon her with a
look there was no mistaking. His whole attitude was expressive of
passionate earnestness as he looked down into the blue worlds which
confronted him.

She taunted him with a glance of intense meaning. And, in an instant,
the fire in his soul blazed into an overwhelming conflagration.

"You're that beautiful, Aim-sa," he cried. Then he paused as though his
feelings choked him. "Them blue eyes o' yours goes right clear through
me, I guess. Makes me mad. By Gar! you're the finest crittur in the
world."

He looked as though he would devour the fair form which had raised such
a storm within his simple heart. She returned his look with a
fearlessnes