Tisdale waited, but the woman beside him had no more to say.  “I saw I must give her time to gather her self-control,” he went on, “so I turned my attention to the setter, who was alternately springing on me and excitedly wagging his tail.  I like a good dog, and I soon had him familiarly snuffing my pockets; then he stretched himself playfully, with an inquiring, almost human yawn; but suddenly remembering 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.  And the next morning, before I was awake, he was gone.’