"I am going to leave you for a little while," he said. "But Sokwenna has
returned, and you will not be alone."
"Where are you going?"
"As far as the cottonwoods, I think."
"Then I am going with you."
"I expect to walk very fast."
"Not faster than I, Alan."
"But I want to make sure the country is clear in that direction before
twilight shuts out the distances."
"I will help you." Her hand crept into his. "I am going with you, Alan,"
she repeated.
"Yes, I--think you are," he laughed joyously, and suddenly he bent his
head and pressed her hand to his lips, and in that way, with her hand in
his, they set out over the trail which they had not traveled together
since the day he had come from Nome.
There was a warm glow in her face, and something beautifully soft and
sweet in her eyes which she did not try to keep away from him. It made
him forget the cottonwoods and the plains beyond, and his caution, and
Sokwenna's advice to guard carefully against the hiding-places of Ghost
Kloof and the country beyond.
"I have been thinking a great deal today," she was saying, "because you
have left me so much alone. I have been thinking of _you_. And--my
thoughts have given me a wonderful happiness."
"And I have been--in paradise," he replied.
"You do not think that I am wicked?"
"I could sooner believe the sun would never come up again.
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