When Stormont gently halted his horse it was dawn, and Eve, sagging
against him with one arm around his neck, sat huddled up on her saddle
fast asleep.
In a birch woods, on the eastern slope of the divide, stood the log
camp, dimly visible in the silvery light of early morning.
Darragh, cautioning Stormont with a slight gesture, went forward,
mounted the rustic veranda, and knocked at a lighted window.
A man, already dressed, came and peered out at him, then hurried to open
the door.
"I didn't know you, Captain Darragh----" he began, but fell silent under
the warning gesture that checked him.
"I've a guest outside. She's Clinch's step-daughter, Eve Strayer. She
knows me by the name of Hal Smith. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir----"
"Cut _that_ out, too. I'm Hal Smith to you, also. State Trooper Stormont
is out there with Eve Strayer. He was a comrade of mine in Russia. I'm
Hal Smith to him, by mutual agreement. _Now_ do you get me, Ralph?"
"Sure, Hal. Go on; spit it out!"
They both grinned.
"You're a hootch runner," said Darragh. "This is your shack. The
hatchery is only a blind. That's all you have to know, Ralph. So put
that girl into my room and let her sleep till she wakes of her own
accord.
"Stormont and I will take two of the guest-bunks in the _L._ And for
heaven's sake make us some coffee when you make your own. But first come
out and take the horse."
They went out together. Stormont lifted Eve out of the saddle. She did
not wake. Darragh led the way into the log house and along a corridor to
his own room.
"Turn down the sheets," whispered Stormont. And, when the bed was ready:
"Can you get a bath towel, Jim?"
Darragh fetched one from the connecting bath-room.
"Wrap it around her wet hair," whispered Stormont. "Good heavens, I wish
there were a woman here."
"I wish so too," said Darragh; "she's chilled to the bone. You'll have
to wake her. She can't sleep in what she's wearing; it's almost as damp
as her hair----"
He went to the closet and returned with a man's morning robe, as soft as
fleece.
"Somehow or other she's got to get into that," he said.
There was a silence.
"Very well," said Stormont, reddening.... "If you'll step out
I'll--manage...." He looked Darragh straight in the eyes: "I have asked
her to marry me," he said.
* * * * *
When Stormont came out a great fire of birch-logs was blazing in the
living-room, and Darragh stood there, his elbow on the rough stone
mantel-shelf.
Stormont came straight to the fire and set one spurred boot on the
fender.
"She's warm and dry and sound asleep," he said. "I'll wake her again if
you think she ought to swallow something hot."
At that moment the fish-culturist came in with a pot of steaming coffee.
"This is my friend, Ralph Wier," said Darragh. "I think you'd better
give Eve a cup of coffee." And, to Wier, "Fill a couple of hot water
bags, old chap. We don't want any pneumonia in this house."
When breakfast was ready Eve once more lay asleep with a slight dew of
perspiration on her brow.
Darragh was half starved: Stormont ate little. Neither spoke at all
until, satisfied, they rose, ready for sleep.
At the door of his room Stormont took Darragh's offered hand,
understanding what it implied:
"Thanks, Jim.... Hers is the loveliest character I have ever known....
If I weren't as poor as a homeless dog I'd marry her to-morrow.... I'll
do it anyway, I think.... I _can't_ let her go back to Clinch's Dump!"
"After all," said Darragh, smiling, "if it's only money that worries
you, why not talk about a job to _me_!"