That wouldn't be worth
while, would it?"

Nasmyth said nothing for a minute or two, for he felt compassionate as
well as a trifle confused. He had, in fact, already discovered that
there are occasions when a young woman is apt to show greater
self-possession and look facts in the face more plainly than a man.
Then he set to work furiously with a branch which he tore from the
fallen tree, ripping off rough slabs of bark, and in the course of
half an hour had constructed a shelter about the base of a cedar. It,
at least, kept the rain off when Violet sat under it.

"It might be as well if I pushed on for the inlet and brought George
or Acton back with me," he suggested. "We could make something to
carry you in, if there was too much sea for the gig."

A flush crept into the girl's face, and she looked at him reproachfully.

"How could I stay here alone?" she asked. "Don't say those foolish
things. Come in out of the rain."

The bark shelter would just hold the two of them, and Nasmyth,
dripping, sat down close beside her. She looked very forlorn.

"I'm sorry for you," he said awkwardly.

The girl showed faint signs of temper. "You have told me that before.
Why don't you do something? You said you had lived in the Bush, and
now you have only been a few hours in it. It was seven o'clock when we
had breakfast. Can't you even make a fire?"

"I'm afraid I can't," answered Nasmyth deprecatingly. "You see, one
has usually an axe and some matches, as well as a few other odds and
ends, when one lives in the Bush. A man is a wretchedly helpless being
when he has only his hands."

The fact was borne in upon Violet forcibly as she glanced out at the
wet beach, tumbling sea, and dreary, dripping Bush. The Bush rolled
back, a long succession of straggling pines that rose one behind the
other in sombre ranks, to the rugged hills that cut against the hazy
sky. There was, no doubt, all that man required to provide him with
warmth and food and shelter in that forest, but it was certain that it
was only by continuous and arduous toil that he could render it
available. Indeed, since he could not make himself an axe or a saw or
a rifle, it was also evident that his efforts would be fruitless
unless backed by the toil of others who played their part in the great
scheme of human co-operation.

It is, however, probable that Violet did not concern herself with this
aspect of the matter, but she had led a sheltered life, and it was
cu