He tried to smile, that he might greet his wilderness friend cheerfully and unafraid.

But the smile froze when the door opened and he saw the missioner standing there.
More than once he had accompanied Father Layonne over the threshold of life into the presence of death, but he had never before seen in his face what he saw there now.

He stared.

The missioner remained in the doorway, hesitating, as if at the last moment a great fear held him back.

For an interval the eyes of the two men rested upon each other in a silence that was like the grip of a living thing.