killing those who
had come to slay him. When they came to speak of DeBar, Joanne leaned
nearer to Aldous.

"It is wonderful what love will sometimes do," she spoke softly. "In the
last few hours Marie has bared her soul to me, John. What she has been she
has not tried to hide from me, nor even from the man she loves. She was one
of Mortimer FitzHugh's tools. DeBar saw her and loved her, and she sold
herself to him in exchange for the secret of the gold. When they came into
the North the wonderful thing happened. She loved DeBar--not in the way of
her kind, but as a woman in whom had been born a new heart and a new soul
and a new joy. She defied FitzHugh; she told DeBar how she had tricked him.

"This morning FitzHugh attempted his old familiarity with her, and DeBar
struck him down. The act gave them excuse for what they had planned to do.
Before her eyes Marie thought they had killed the man she loved. She flung
herself on his breast, and she said she could not feel his heart beat, and
his blood flowed warm against her hands and face. Both she and DeBar had
determined to warn us if they could. Only a few minutes before DeBar was
stabbed he had let off his rifle--an accident, he said. But it was not an
accident. It was the shot Donald heard in the cavern. It saved us, John!
And Marie, waiting her opportunity, fled to us in the plain. DeBar was not
killed. He says my screams brought him back to life. He came out--and
killed Quade with a knife. Then he fell at our feet. A few minutes later
Donald came. DeBar is in another cabin. He is not fatally hurt, and Marie
is happy."

She was stroking his hand when she finished. The curious rumbling came
softly in MacDonald's beard and his eyes were bright with a whimsical
humour.

"I pretty near bored a hole through poor Joe when I come up," he chuckled.
"But you bet I hugged him when I found what he'd done, Johnny! Joe says
their camp was just over the range from us that night FitzHugh looked us
up, an' Joanne thought she'd been dreamin'. He didn't have any help, but
his intention was to finish us alone--murder us asleep--when Joanne cried
out. Joe says it was just a devil's freak that took 'im to the top of the
mountain alone that night. He saw our fire an' came down to investigate."

A low voice was calling outside the door. It was Marie. As Joanne went to
her a quick gleam came into old Donald's eyes. He looked behind him
cautiously to see that she had disappeared, then he