Lee Haines began to
talk valiantly, to beguile the waiting time, and Buck Daniels did his share
with stories of their prospecting, but eventually more and more often
silences came on the group. They began to watch the fire and they winced
when a log crackled, or when the sap in a green place hissed. By degrees
they pushed farther and farther back so that the light would not strike so
fully upon them, for in some way it became difficult to meet each other's
eyes.
Only Joan was perfectly at ease. She played for a time with the ears of
Black Bart, or pried open his mouth and made him show the great white
fangs, or scratched odd designs on the hearth with pieces of charcoal; but
finally she lost interest in all these things and let her head lie on the
rough pelt of the wolf-dog, sound asleep. The firelight made her hair a
patch of gold.
Black Bart slept soundly, too, that is, as soundly as one of his nature
could sleep, for every now and then one of his ears twitched, or he stirred
a paw, or an eyelid quivered up. Yet they all started when he jumped from
his sleep into full wakefulness; the motion made Joan sit up, rubbing
her eyes, and Black Bart reached the center of the room noiselessly.
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