In an hour or two it
would be gone. He might keep up its embers for a time--until the
Eskimos, or starvation, or still greater storm put an end to it.
The effort, in any event, would be futile in the end. Their one
chance lay in finding the other cabin, and reaching it quickly.
When it came to the point of absolute necessity he could at least
try to make fire as he had seen an Indian make it once, though at
the time he had regarded the achievement as a miracle born of
unnumbered generations of practice.
He heard the glad note of welcome in Celie's throat when he
returned to her. She spoke his name. It seemed to him that there
was no note of fear in her voice, but just gladness that he had
come back to her in that pit of darkness. He bent down and tucked
her snugly in the big bear-skin before he took her up in his arms
again. He held her so that her face was snuggled close against his
neck, and he kissed her soft mouth again, and whispered to her as
he began picking his way through the forest. His voice,
whispering, made her understand that they must make no sound.
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