"Do you love me still?" he whispered back, tensely.

"Still? More--more!"

"Say it, then."

"Jim, I love you!"

And their lips met again and clung, and it was he who drew back
first.

"Dearest, why didn't you let me make a break to get away with you--
before we came to this camp?"

"Oh, Jim, I told you. I was afraid. We'd have been caught. And
Gulden--"

"We'll never have half the chance here. Kells means to keep you
closely guarded. I heard the order. He's different now. He's grown
crafty and hard. And the miners of this Alder Creek! Why, I'm more
afraid to trust them than men like Wood or Pearce. They've gone
clean crazy. Gold-mad! If you shouted for your life they wouldn't
hear you. And if you could make them hear they wouldn't believe.
This camp has sprung up in a night. It's not like any place I ever
heard of. It's not human. It's so strange--so--Oh, I don't know what
to say. I think I mean that men in a great gold strike become like
coyotes at a carcass. You've seen that. No relation at all!"

"I'm frightened, too, Jim. I wish I'd had the courage to run when we