“No，no。”returnedAllan，humoringhim。“WhenIcomedownfromtherigging，I’llcomebackhere。”Hesaidthewordsalittleconstrainedly，noticing，forthefirsttimewhilehenowspoke，anunderlyingdistressinMidwinter’sface，whichgrievedandperplexedhim。“You’renotangrywithme？”hesaid，inhissimple，sweet-temperedway。“Allthisismyfault，Iknow;andI
wasabruteandafooltolaughatyou，whenIoughttohaveseenyouwereill。Iamsosorry，Midwinter。Don’tbeangrywithme！“
Midwinterslowlyraisedhishead。Hiseyesrestedwithamournfulinterest，longandtender，onAllan’sanxiousface。
“Angry？”herepeated，inhislowest，gentlesttones。“Angrywith_you？_——Oh，mypoorboy，wereyoutoblameforbeingkindtomewhenIwasillintheoldwest-countryinn？AndwasItoblameforfeelingyourkindnessthankfully？Wasitourfaultthatweneverdoubtedeachother，andneverknewthatweweretravelingtogetherblindfoldonthewaythatwastoleadushere？Thecrueltimeiscoming，Allan，whenweshallruethedayweevermet。
Shakehands，brother，ontheedgeoftheprecipice——shakehandswhilewearebrothersstill！“