ring the bear, he stood
pointing, head up, forepaw lifted, and made a rush, baying furiously.

"'It's all right, madam,' I repeated and stepped into the room. 'You made
a fine shot, and that bearskin is going to make a great rug for your
floor.'

"She lifted her face, downing a last sob, and gave me a brave little
smile. 'It isn't altogether the bear,' she explained. 'It's partly because
I haven't seen any one for so long, and partly because, for a moment, I
thought you were my husband. I've been worried about him. He has been gone
over three weeks, and he never stayed longer than five days before. But it
was a relief to have you come.'

"It sounds differently when I repeat it. You lose the sweet shyness of her
face, the appeal in her eyes not yet dry, and that soft minor chord in her
voice that reminds me now of a wood-thrush.

"'I understand,' I hurried to say, 'the solitude has grown intolerable. I
know what that means, I have lived so long in the eternal stillness
sometimes that the first patter of a rain on the leaves came like the
tramp of an army, and the snapping of a twig rang sharp as a pistol shot.'

"'You do understand,' she said. 'You have been through it. And, of course,
you see my husband had to leave me. The trail up the canyon is the merest
thread. It would have been impossible for me, and I should have only
hindered him, now, when every day counts.'

"'You mean,' I said, 'he has left his placer to prospect for the main lode
above?' And she answered yes. That every gravel bar made a better showing;
the last trip had taken him above the tree line, and this time he expected
to prospect along the glacier at the source of the stream. Sometimes
erosions laid veins open, and any hour 'he might stumble on riches.' She
smiled again, though her lip trembled, then said it was his limited outfit
that troubled her most. He had taken only a light blanket and a small
allowance of bacon and bread.

"'But,' I reassured her, 'there is almost a certainty he has found game at
this season of the year.'

"She looked at the rifle she had set by the window against the wall. 'I
haven't been able to persuade him to take the gun,' she explained, 'for a
long time. He doesn't hunt any more.' She stopped, watching me, and locked
her slim hands. Then, 'He is greatly changed,' she went on. 'The last time
he came home, he hardly noticed me. He spent the whole evening sitting
with his eyes fixed on the floor--without a word. An