through the door. An' she's goin' to have
an organ. I've got the money saved, an' it's coming to Churchill on the
next ship. That's goin' to be a surprise--'bout Christmas, when the
snow is hard an' sledging good. You see--"

He stopped again to cough. A hectic flush filled his hollow cheeks, and
there was a feverish glow in his eyes. As he bent his head, the priest
looked at Weyman. The doctor's lips were tense. His cigarette was
unlighted.

"I know what it means for a woman to die a workin'," Severn went on.
"My mother did that. I can remember it, though I was only a kid. She
was bent an' stoop-shouldered, an' her hands were rough and twisted. I
know now why she used to hug me up close and croon funny things over me
when father was away. When I first told my Marie what I was goin' to
do, she laughed at me; but when I told her 'bout my mother, an' how
work an' freezin' an' starvin' killed her when I needed her most, Marie
jest put her hand up to my face an' looked queer--an' then she burst
out crying like a baby. She understands, Marie does! She knows what I'm
goin' to do--"

"You mustn't talk any more, Bucky," warned the doctor, feeling his
pulse. "It'll hurt you."

"Hurt me!" Severn laughed hysterically, as If what the doctor had said
was a joke. "Hurt me? It's what's going to put me on my feet, doc. I
know it now, I been too much alone this last winter, with nothin' but
my dogs to talk to when night come. I ain't never been much of a
talker, but she got me out o' that. She used to tease me at first, an'
I'd get red in the face an' almost bust. An' then, one day, it come,
like a bung out of a hole, an' I've had a hankerin' to talk ever since.
Hurt me!"

He gave an incredulous chuckle, which ended in a cough.

"Do you know, I wish I could read better 'n I can!" he said suddenly,
leaning almost eagerly toward Father Brochet. "She knows I ain't great
shucks at that. She's goin' to have a school just as soon as she comes,
an' I'm goin' to be the scholar. She's got a packful of books an'
magazines an' I'm goin' to tote over a fresh load every winter. I'd
like to surprise her. Can't you help me to--"

Weyman pressed him back gently.

"See here, Bucky, you've got to lie down and keep quiet," he said. "If
you don't, it will take you a week longer to get well. Try and sleep a
little, while Father Brochet and I go outside and see what you've done."

When they went out, Weyman closed the door after them. He spoke no