an awful pig-headed
idiot. Do you think you can take another chance with me?"

"Say"--he held her off at arm's length admiringly--"do you want to know
how strong I am for taking a chance with you? Well, I was on my way
out to flag the next train East, just to see--just to see if you still
cared two pins; to see if you still thought your game was better than
mine."

"Well, you don't have to take any eastbound train to find that out,"
she cried gayly. "I'm here to tell you I care a lot more than any
number of pins. Oh, I've learned a lot in the last six months, Bill.
I had to hurt myself, and you, too. I had to get a jolt to jar me out
of my self-centered little orbit. I got it, and it did me good. And
it's funny. I came back here because I thought I ought to, because it
was our home, but rather dreading it. And I've been quite contented
and happy--only hungry, oh, so dreadfully hungry, for you."

Bill kissed her.

"I didn't make any mistake in you, after all," he said. "You're a real
partner. You're the right stuff. I love you more than ever. If you
made a mistake you paid for it, like a dead-game sport. What's a few
months? We've all our life before us, and it's plain sailing now we've
got our bearings again."

"Amen!" she whispered. "I--but, say, man of mine, you've been on the
trail, and I know what the trail is. You must be hungry. I've got all
kinds of goodies cooked in the kitchen. Take off your clothes, and
I'll get you something to eat."

"I'll go you," he said. "I am hungry. Made a long mush to get here
for the night. I got six huskies running loose outside, so if you hear
'em scuffing around you'll know it's not the wolves. Say, it was some
welcome surprise to find a fire when I came in. Thought first somebody
traveling through had put up. Then I saw those slippers lying there.
That was sure making me take notice when you stepped out."

He chuckled at the recollection. Hazel lit the lamp, and stirred up
the fire, plying it with wood. Then she slipped a heavy bath-robe over
her nightgown and went into the chilly kitchen, emerging therefrom
presently with a tray of food and a kettle of water to make coffee.
This she set on the fire. Wherever she moved Bill's eyes followed her
with a gleam of joy, tinctured with smiling incredulousness. When the
kettle was safely bestowed on the coals, he drew her on his knee.
There for a minute she perched in rich content. Then she rose.

"