"Sartinly," answered the trapper.
"How?" asked the man.
"In war," answered the trapper.
"In any other way?" queried the man.
"Yis,—in self-defence."
"Any other cause?" persisted the stranger.
"Not as a rule," answered the trapper.
After this there was a silence. The girl's head dropped into her two palms and for an instant her frame shook, as one contesting the passage of a strong feeling that insists on expression. The three men made no motion, but sat silently gazing into the fire.
For several minutes the silence lasted. There are two living that will never forget that silence. Then the man lifted his face and said,—
"Old trapper, have you ever known remorse?"