Part 5 (2/2)
Suddenly the silence was broken by a sharp,her eyes back to the table The plate had fallen down Hans sighed as though awakening fro of the plate had aroused them to life in a neorld The cabin epitomized the neorld in which they one forever The horizon of life was totally new and unfamiliar The unexpected had swept its wizardry over the face of things, changing the perspective, juggling values, and shuffling the real and the unreal into perplexing confusion
”My God, Hans!” was Edith's first speech
He did not answer, but stared at her with horror Slowly his eyes wandered over the roo in its details Then he put on his cap and started for the door
”Where are you going?” Edith deony of apprehension
His hand was on the door-knob, and he half turned as he answered, ”To dig soraves”
”Don't leave me, Hans, with - ” her eyes swept the roo sometime,” he said
”But you do not kno many,” she objected desperately She noted his indecision, and added, ”Besides, I'll go with you and help”
Hans stepped back to the table and mechanically snuffed the candle Then between them they htfully dead, because of the close range of the shot-gun Hans refused to go near Dennin, and Edith was forced to conduct this portion of the investigation by herself
”He isn't dead,” she called to Hans
He walked over and looked down at thecaught the rumble of inarticulate speech in her husband's throat
”I said it was a damn shame that he isn't dead,” ca over the body
”Leave hie voice
She looked at hiun dropped by Dennin and was thrusting in the shells
”What are you going to do?” she cried, rising swiftly fro position
Hans did not answer, but she saw the shot-gun going to his shoulder She grasped the muzzle with her hand and threw it up
”Leave me alone!” he cried hoarsely
He tried to jerk the weapon away fro to him
”Hans! Hans! Wake up!” she cried ”Don't be crazy!”
”He killed Dutchy and Harkey!” was her husband's reply; ”and I a,” she objected ”There is the law”
He sneered his incredulity of the law's potency in such a region, but he edly, ”He killed Dutchy and Harkey”
Long she argued it with hiuain and again, ”He killed Dutchy and Harkey” But she could not escape fro nor froe of laas hers, and right conduct, to her, was the fulfilhteous course to pursue Hans's taking the law in his own hands was no s did not ht, she contended, and there was only one way to punish Dennin, and that was the legal way arranged by society At last Hans gave in to her
”All right,” he said
”Have it your oay And to-morrow or next day look to see him kill you and me”
She shook her head and held out her hand for the shot-gun He started to hand it to her, then hesitated
”Better let ain she shook her head, and again he started to pass her the gun, when the door opened, and an Indian, without knocking, came in A blast of wind and flurry of snow ca the shot-gun The intruder took in the scene without a quiver His eyes elance No surprise showed in his face, not even curiosity Harkey lay at his feet, but he took no notice of him So far as he was concerned, Harkey's body did not exist
”Much wind,” the Indian remarked by way of salutation ”All well? Very well?”
Hans, still grasping the gun, felt sure that the Indian attributed to hily at his wife
”Goodher effort ”No, not very well Much trouble”
”Good-by, I go now, much hurry”, the Indian said, and without se clear of a red pool on the floor, he opened the door and went out
The man and woasped, ”that I did it”
Edith was silent for a space Then she said, briefly, in a businesslike way: ”Never mind what he thinks That will co But first of all, we've got to tie up Dennin so he can't escape”
Hans refused to touch Dennin, but Edith lashed him securely, hand and foot Then she and Hans went out into the snow The ground was frozen It was iathered wood, then scraped the snoay and on the frozen surface built a fire When the fire had burned for an hour, several inches of dirt had thawed This they shovelled out, and then built a fresh fire Their descent into the earth progressed at the rate of two or three inches an hour
It was hard and bitter work The flurrying snow did not perh their clothes and chilled their bodies They held but little conversation The wind interfered with speech Beyond wondering at what could have been Dennin's motive, they reedy
At one o'clock, looking toward the cabin, Hans announced that he was hungry
”No, not now, Hans,” Edith answered ”I couldn't go back alone into that cabin the way it is, and cook a o with her; but she held hiraves completed They were shallow, not ht had fallen Hans got the sled, and the two dead h the darkness and storm to their frozen sepulchre The funeral procession was anything but a pageant The sled sank deep into the drifted snow and pulled hard Thesince the previous day, and eak froth to resist the wind, and at times its buffets hurled them off their feet On several occasions the sled was overturned, and they were coht The last hundred feet to the graves was up a steep slope, and this they took on all fours, like sled-dogs,their hands into the snow Even so, they were twice dragged backward by the weight of the sled, and slid and fell down the hill, the living and the dead, the haul-ropes and the sled, in ghastly entanglement