ake to take the middle of the river. The
width of the stream was a comforting protection. It was seldom less
than two hundred yards from shore to shore and frequently twice that
distance. From the possible ambuscades they passed only a rifle could
be used effectively, and whenever there appeared to be the possibility
of that danger Philip traveled close to Blake, with the revolver in his
hand. The crack of a rifle even if the bullet should find its way home,
meant Blake's life. Of that fact the outlaw could no longer have a
doubt.

For an hour before the gray dusk of Arctic night began to gather about
them Philip began to feel the effect of their strenuous pace. Hours of
cramped inactivity on the sledge had brought into Celie's face lines of
exhaustion. Since middle-afternoon the dogs had dragged at times in
their traces. Now they were dead-tired. Blake, and Blake alone, seemed
tireless. It was six o'clock when they entered a country that was
mostly plain, with a thin fringe of timber along the shores. They had
raced for nine hours, and had traveled fifty miles. It was here, in a
wide reach of river, that Philip gave the command to halt.

His first caution was to secure Blake hand and foot, with his back
resting against a frozen snow-hummock a dozen paces from the sledge.
The outlaw accepted the situation with an indifference which seemed to
Philip more forced than philosophical. After that, while Celie was
walking back and forth to produce a warmer circulation in her numbed
body, he hurried to the scrub timber that grew along the shore and
returned with a small armful of dry wood. The fire he built was small,
and concealed as much as possible by the sledge. Ten minutes sufficed
to cook the meat for their supper. Then he stamped out the fire, fed
the dogs, and made a comfortable nest of bear skins for himself and
Celie, facing Blake. The night had thickened until he could make out
only dimly the form of the outlaw against the snow-hummock. His
revolver lay ready at his side.

In that darkness he drew Celie close up into his arms. Her head lay on
his breast. He buried his lips in the smothering sweetness of her hair,
and her arms crept gently about his neck. Even then he did not take his
eyes from Blake, nor for an instant did he cease to listen for other
sounds than the deep breathing of the exhausted dogs. It was only a
little while before the stars began to fill the sky. The gloom lifted
slowly, and out of darkness