I came to my senses to find Dinah at
my bedside. The other wrote later, releasing me from the engagement
and bidding me marry the girl whose name had been on my lips a
thousand times. I laughed, and showed the letter to Dinah. A friend
promised me work. Dinah and I were going to live in a cottage, and be
happy for ever and ever....
"And then she--sickened!"
In the dreary silence that followed, neither Ajax nor I were able to
speak.
"And--and she died."
* * * * *
The poor fellow left us next day, and we never saw him again. It is to
be remembered that he never encouraged Hetty Upham, whose infatuation
was doubtless fanned by his indifference. She offered him bread, nay,
cakes and ale, but he took instead a stone, because cakes and ale had
lost their savour. We heard, afterwards, that he died on the Skagway
Pass in an attempt to reach the Klondyke too early in the spring. He
was seeking the gold of the Yukon placers; perhaps he found, beyond
the Great White Silence, his Dinah.
XI
A POISONED SPRING
In our bunk-house three of the boys were about to turn into bed.
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