by means of strategy. They could not hide from their pursuers.
Hope depended entirely upon the number of their enemies. If there
were only three or four of them left they would not attack in the
open. In that event he must watch for ambuscade, and dread the
night. He looked down at Celie, buried in her furry coat and hood
and plodding along courageously at his side with her hand in his.
This was not a time in which to question him, and she was obeying
his guidance with the faith of a child. It was tremendous, he
thought--the most wonderful moment that had ever entered into his
life. It is this dependence, this sublime faith and confidence in
him of the woman he loves that gives to a man the strength of a
giant in the face of a great crisis and makes him put up a tiger's
fight for her. For such a woman a man must win. And then Philip
noticed how tightly Celie's other hand was gripping the javelin
with which she had armed herself. She was ready to fight, too. The
thrill of it all made him laugh, and her eyes shot up to him
suddenly, filled with a moment's wonder that he should be laughing
now. She must have understood, for the big hood hid her face again
almost instantly, and her fingers tightened the smallest bit about
his.

For a matter of a quarter of an hour they traveled as swiftly as
Celie could walk. Philip was confident that the Eskimo whose cries
they had heard would strike directly for the point whence the
first cry had come, and it was his purpose to cover as much
distance as possible in the first few minutes that their enemies
might be behind them. It was easier to watch the back trail than
to guard against ambuscades ahead. Twice in that time he stopped
where they would be unseen and looked back, and in advancing he
picked out the thinnest timber and evaded whatever might have