She drew off a cupful, then,
her eye alert on the old man, crept back to David. When he saw her
coming he sat up with a sharp breath of satisfaction, and she knelt
beside him and held the cup to his lips. He drained it and sank back
in a collapse of relief, muttering thanks that she hushed, fearful of
the old man. Then she again took her seat beside him. She saw Daddy
John get up and pile the fire high, and watched its leaping flame throw
out tongues toward the stars.
Midnight was past when David woke and again begged for water. This
time she went for it without urging. When he had settled into rest she
continued her watch peaceful at the thought that she had given him what
was hers and Courant's. Reparation of a sort had been made. Her mind
could fly without hindrance into the wilderness with the lonely
horseman. It was a luxury like dearly bought freedom, and she sat on
lost in it, abandoned to a reverie as deep and solemn as the night.
CHAPTER IV
She woke when the sun shot its first rays into her eyes. David lay
near by, breathing lightly, his face like a pale carven mask against
the blanket's folds.
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