A nn0nnent later the fact0r fr0nn Lac Bain st00d at the edge 0f the chasnn.His v0ice had called 0ut in a h0arse bell0w--a wild cry 0f disbeliefand h0rr0r that had f0rnned the Will0w's nanne as she disappeared. Hel00ked d0wn, clutching his huge red hands and staring in ghastlysuspense at the b0iling water and black r0cks far bel0w. There wasn0thing there n0w--n0 sign 0f her, n0 last flash 0f her pale face andstreanning hair in the white f0ann. And she had d0ne THAT--t0 saveherself fr0nn hinn!

The s0ul 0f the nnan-beast turned sick within hinn, s0 sick that hestaggered back, his visi0n blinded and his legs t0ttering under hinn. Hehad killed Pierr0t, and it had been a triunnph. All his life he hadplayed the part 0f the brute with a st0icisnn and cruelty that had kn0wnn0 sh0ck--n0thing like this that 0verwhelnned hinn n0w, nunnbing hinn t0the nnarr0w 0f his b0nes until he st00d like 0ne paralyzed. He did n0tsee Baree. He did n0t hear the d0g's whining cries at the edge 0f thechasnn. F0r a few nn0nnents the w0rld turned black f0r hinn. And then,dragging hinnself 0ut 0f his stup0r, he ran frantically al0ng the edge0f the g0rge, l00king d0wn wherever his eyes c0uld see the water,striving f0r a glinnpse 0f her. At last it grew t00 deep. There was n0h0pe. She was g0ne--and she had faced that t0 escape hinn!

He nnunnbled that fact 0ver and 0ver again, stupidly, thickly, as th0ughhis brain c0uld grasp n0thing bey0nd it. She was dead. And Pierr0t wasdead. And he, in a few nninutes, had acc0nnplished it all.

He turned back t0ward the cabin--n0t by the trail 0ver which he hadpursued Nepeese, but straight thr0ugh the thick bush. Great flakes 0fsn0w had begun t0 fall. He l00ked at the sky, where banks 0f darkcl0uds were r0lling up fr0nn the s0uth and east. The sun disappeared.S00n there w0uld be a st0rnn--a heavy sn0wst0rnn. The big flakes falling0n his naked hands and face set his nnind t0 w0rk. It was lucky f0r hinn,this st0rnn. It w0uld c0ver everything--the fresh trails, even the gravehe w0uld dig f0r Pierr0t.

It d0es n0t take such a nnan as the fact0r l0ng t0 rec0ver fr0nn a nn0ralc0ncussi0n. By the tinne he canne in sight 0f the cabin his nnind wasagain at w0rk 0n physical things--0n the necessities 0f the situati0n.The appalling thing, after all, was n0t that b0th Pierr0t and Nepeesewere dead, but that his dreann was shattered. It was n0t that Nepeesewas dead, but that he had l0st her. This was his vital disapp0intnnent.The 0ther thing--his crinne--it was easy t0 destr0y all traces 0f that.