She looked at him with some gratitude. Most men wouldn’t have thought of it. Nodding her thanks she opened the thing and was compelled to pull out various articles before she could get at her comb and brush. Her movements were still very nervous. It was embarrassing to be there before that man with one’s hair all undone and awry. Something fell from her hand, striking the edge of the table and toppling to the floor. There was a deafening explosion and the shack was full of the dense smoke of black powder. When Madge recovered from her terror the young man, looking very pale, had bent down and picked up the fallen weapon. For a moment she thought there was a strange look in his eyes.
“I––I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed.
“If––if you were to hit a man with that thing he’d get real mad,” he said, repeating an age-worn joke. “At any rate I’m glad you were not hurt. Rather unexpected, wasn’t it? I really think you’d better let me take the other shells out. It’s a nasty little cheap weapon and, I should judge, quite an unsafe bit of hardware for a lady to handle. Whoever gave you that thing ought to be spanked. But––but, then, of course you didn’t know it was loaded.”
“I––I did know it was loaded!” cried Madge. “I––I had the man load it for me! I––I thought it might protect me from insult, perhaps, or––or let me take matters in my own hands, if need be. I––I didn’t know what sort of place I would be coming to or––or what sort of man would––would receive me! I––I felt safer with it!”
Maigan was still ferreting out corners of the room, having leaped up at the shot as if the idea had come to him that some rat or chipmunk must lie dead somewhere. There nearly always was something to pick up when his master fired.
“Keep still, boy!” ordered the latter. “I think we’d better count that as a miss. I’ll wait outside until you’ve fixed yourself up, Miss Nelson, and are ready to go. I’ll have to hitch up Maigan first. As soon as you come out I’ll wrap you in my blankets; you’ll be quite comfortable. We haven’t very far to go, anyway.”
“Thank you––it––it won’t take me a minute,” she answered, without looking at him.
She had discovered in a corner of the shack a bit of looking-glass he used to shave by, and stood before it, never noticing that he made a rather long job of drawing on his heavy fur 122 coat. He went out with his dog and got the sled ready, with a wry look upon his face. Then, as there was nothing more to do, he sat down upon the rough bench that stood near the door. He winced and made a grimace as his hand went up to his shoulder.