So the change had come, and for a space his soul was filled with the thrill of song and laughter.
Half an hour ago he believed that he had definitely made up his mind.
He had forced himself into forgetfulness of laws he had broken, and the scarlet-coated men who were ever on the watch for his trail.

They would never seek him here, in the wilderness country close to the edge of civilization, and time, he had told himself in that moment of optimism, would blot out both his identity and his danger.

Tomorrow he would go over to Cragg's Ridge again, and then-- His mind was crowded with a vision of blue eyes, of brown curls glowing in the pale sun, of a wistful, wide-eyed little face turned up to him, and red lips that said falteringly, "I don't think it's wrong for you to kiss me--if you want to, Mister Jolly Roger!" Boldly he had talked about it to the bright-eyed little mother-mouse who peered at him now and then over the edge of her box.
"You're a little devil of iniquity yourself," he told her.

"You're a regular Mrs.Captain Kidd, and you've eaten my cheese, and chawed my snowshoe laces, and robbed me of a sock to make your nest.

I ought to catch you in a trap, or blow your head off.