CHAPTER VI.
A NEW FRIEND The night race with the wolves began a new phase of life for Ranald, for in that hour he gained a friend such as it falls to few lads to have.
Mrs.Murray's high courage in the bush, her skill in the sick-room, and that fine spiritual air she carried with her made for her a place in his imagination where men set their divinities.

The hero and the saint in her stirred his poetic and fervent soul and set it aglow with a feeling near to adoration.

To Mrs.Murray also the events of that night set forth Ranald in a new light.

In the shy, awkward, almost sullen lad there had suddenly been revealed in those moments of peril the cool, daring man, full of resource and capable of self-sacrifice.

Her heart went out toward him, and she set herself to win his confidence and to establish a firm friendship with him; but this was no easy matter.
Macdonald Dubh and his son, living a half-savage life in their lonely back clearing, were regarded by their neighbors with a certain degree of distrust and fear.