And in the morning
we talked of our chance. The next cache was five days' journey; we
could not make it. We must find game.

'"We will go forth and hunt," he said.

'"Yes," said I, "we will go forth and hunt." 'And he ruled that Unga
stay by the fire and save her strength. And we went forth, he in quest
of the moose and I to the cache I had changed. But I ate little, so
they might not see in me much strength. And in the night he fell many
times as he drew into camp. And I, too, made to suffer great weakness,
stumbling over my snowshoes as though each step might be my last. And
we gathered strength from our moccasins.

'He was a great man. His soul lifted his body to the last; nor did he
cry aloud, save for the sake of Unga. On the second day I followed him,
that I might not miss the end. And he lay down to rest often. That
night he was near gone; but in the morning he swore weakly and went
forth again. He was like a drunken man, and I looked many times for him
to give up, but his was the strength of the strong, and his soul the
soul of a giant, for he lifted his body through all the weary day. And
he shot two ptarmigan, but would not eat them. He needed no fire; they
meant life; but his thought was for Unga, and he turned toward camp.

'He no longer walked, but crawled on hand and knee through the snow. I
came to him, and read death in his eyes. Even then it was not too late
to eat of the ptarmigan. He cast away his rifle and carried the birds
in his mouth like a dog. I walked by his side, upright. And he looked
at me during the moments he rested, and wondered that I was so strong.
I could see it, though he no longer spoke; and when his lips moved,
they moved without sound.

'As I say, he was a great man, and my heart spoke for softness; but I
read back in my life, and remembered the cold and hunger of the endless
forest by the Russian seas. Besides, Unga was mine, and I had paid for
her an untold price of skin and boat and bead.

'And in this manner we came through the white forest, with the silence
heavy upon us like a damp sea mist. And the ghosts of the past were in
the air and all about us; and I saw the yellow beach of Akatan, and the
kayaks racing home from the fishing, and the houses on the rim of the
forest. And the men who had made themselves chiefs were there, the
lawgivers whose blood I bore and whose blood I had wedded in Unga. Aye,
and Yash-Noosh walked with me, the wet sand in his hair, and his war