t doing something
different. And for every mile of the way he cursed the Pilgrim anew.

In that unfriendly mood he opened the door of the cabin, stood a
minute just inside, then closed it after him with a slam. The cabin,
in contrast with the bright light of sun shining on new-fallen snow,
was dark and so utterly cheerless and chill that he shrugged shoulders
impatiently at its atmosphere, which was as intangibly offensive as
had been the conduct of the Pilgrim.

The Pilgrim was sprawled upon the bunk with his face in his arms,
snoring in a peculiarly rasping way that Billy, heavy-eyed as he was,
resented most unreasonably. Also, the untidy table showed that the
Pilgrim had eaten unstintedly--and Billy was exceedingly hungry.
He went over and lifted a snowy boot to the ribs of the sleeper and
commanded him bluntly to "Come alive."

"What-yuh-want?" mumbled the Pilgrim thickly, making one word of the
three and lifting his red-rimmed eyes to the other. He raised to an
elbow with a lazy doubling of his body and stared dully for a space
before he grinned unpleasantly. "Took 'er home all right, did yuh?" he
leered, as if they two were in possession of a huge joke of the kind
which may not be told in mixed company.

If Charming Billy Boyle had needed anything more to stir him to the
fighting point, that one sentence admirably supplied the lack. "Yuh
low-down skunk!" he cried, and struck him full upon the insulting,
smiling mouth. "If I was as rotten-minded as you are, I'd go drown
myself in the stalest alkali hole I could find. I dunno why I'm
dirtying my hands on yuh--yuh ain't fit to be clubbed to death with a
tent pole!" He was, however, using his hands freely and to very good
purpose, probably feeling that, since the Pilgrim was much bigger than
he, there was need of getting a good start.

But the Pilgrim was not the sort to lie on his bunk and take a
thrashing. He came up after the second blow, pushing Billy back with
the very weight of his body, and they were fighting all over the
little cabin, surging against the walls and the table and knocking the
coffee-pot off the stove as they lurched this way and that. Not much
was said after the first outburst of Billy's, save a panting curse now
and then between blows, a threat gasped while they wrestled.

It was the dog, sneaking panther-like behind Billy and setting
treacherous teeth viciously into his leathern chaps, that brought the
crisis. Billy tore loose and snatc