Page:Edison Marshall--Shepherds of the wild.djvu/67

Rh "I've found 'em," the Indian told him eagerly. "Knew sure he had 'em somewhere. Fire water."

The blood leaped once in Hugh's veins, and a great desire seemed to set fire to his brain. For a moment it seemed to cost him all power of thought. His hand started to reach forward. Then, almost as if the gesture had been inadvertent, he drew it slowly back.

He smiled; and his eyes gave no sign of the vision that was before them. The Indian's sight was keen, but he had no realization of the grim and terrible battle that was being waged in the man's own soul. There was no outward indication of the convulsive wrench that had been necessary to draw his hand back to his side. Even in that mountain silence, voiceless as the interstellar spaces, the Indian could not hear the voice of demons, shrieking within the man.

The truth was that Hugh had just been given a glimpse into his own soul: a sight that he had never really had before. He did not know from whence such power of vision came. It was something the wilderness had taught him in the hour that he had watched the sheep. He had always been ready to deny that strong drink had any hold upon him whatsoever. He believed that he had always drunk heavily because there had been no reason for doing otherwise. That such a hold could exist upon any one of the self-reliant, aristocratic circle in which he moved was simply one