I was that hungry I got in
for Chitina. There was one other climbed in after me, and I wondered
what sort of fool he was. I said something about being starved or I'd
have hung to the train. The other didn't answer. Then I began to swear.
I did, Alan. I cursed terrible. Swore at the Government for building
such a road, swore at the rain, an' I swore at myself for not bringin'
along grub. I said my belly was as empty as a shot-off cartridge, and I
said it good an' loud. I was mad. Then a big flash of lightning lit up
the coach. Alan, it was _her_ sittin' there with a box in her lap,
facing me, drippin' wet, her eyes shining--and she was smiling at me!
Yessir, _smiling_."
Stampede paused to let the shock sink in. He was not disappointed.
Alan stared at him in amazement. "The fourth night--after--" He caught
himself. "Go on, Stampede!"
"I began hunting for the latch on the door, Alan. I was goin' to sneak
out, drop in the mud, disappear before the lightnin' come again. But it
caught me. An' there she was, undoing the box, and I heard her saying
she had plenty of good stuff to eat. An' she called me Stampede, like
she'd known me all her life, and with that coach rolling an' rocking and
the thunder an' lightning an' rain piling up against each other like
sin, she came over and sat down beside me and began to feed me.
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