The silence of that smile brought their comradeship sharply home to him.

It was as if she understood his weariness and knew that the fire was infinitely comforting.

Anthony frowned; he did not wish to be understood.

It was irritating--indelicate.
He sat on one of the bunks, and when she took her place on the other he studied her covertly, with side glances, for he was beginning to feel strangely self-conscious.

It was the situation rather than the girl that gained upon him, but he felt shamed that he should be so uncertain of himself and so liable to expose some weakness before the girl.
That in turn raised a blindly selfish desire to make her feel and acknowledge his mastery.