etter or--"

But the alternative was not a thing easy for the good soul to contemplate,
and she left the sentence unfinished and disappeared into the cabin again,
while the man outside dropped his head in his hands, feeling the most
helpless creature in all the world.

"Better to-morrow, or--worse;" that was what Mrs. Huzzard meant, but could
not utter. Better or worse! And if the last, she might be dying now, each
minute! And he was powerless to help her--powerless even to utter all the
regret, the remorse, the heart-aching sorrow that was with him, for her
ears were closed to the sense of words, and his lips were locked by some
key of some past.

His own judgment on himself was not light as he went over in his mind each
moment of their hours together. Poor little 'Tana! poor little stray!

"I promised not to question her; yes, I promised that, or she would never
have left the Indians with me. And I--I was savage with her, just because
she would not tell me what she had a perfect right to keep from me if she
chose. Even if it was--a lover, what right had I to object? What right to
hold her hands--to say all the things I said? If she were a woman, I could
tell her all I think--all, and let her judge. But not as it is--not to a
girl so young--so troubled--so much of a stray. Oh, God! she shall never
be a stray again, if only she gets well. I'd stay here digging forever if
I could only send her out in the world among people who will make her
happy. And she--the child, the child! said she would rather live here as
we did than to have the gold that would make her rich. God! it is hard
for a man to forget that, no matter what duty says."

So his thoughts would ramble on each day, each night, and his restlessness
grew until Harris took to watching him with a great pity in his eyes, and
mutely asked each time he entered if hope had grown any stronger.

By the request of Mrs. Huzzard they had moved Harris into the other room
of the cabin, because of a rain which fell one night, and reminded them
that his earthen floor might prove injurious to his health. Mrs. Huzzard
declared she was afraid, with that room empty; and Harris, though having a
partially dead body, had at least a living soul, and she greatly preferred
his presence to the spiritless void and the fear of Indian occupancy.

So she shared the room with 'Tana, and the doctor and Overton used one
tent, while the squaw used the other. All took turns watching at night