She clung to him, shivering back to self-control. This man's presence spelled safety. In the high-laced boots of a mining man, he showed a figure well-knit and graceful, springy with youth, but carrying the poise of power. His clean-cut bronzed face backed the promise; so too did the ease of his bearing. Moya gave a deep sigh of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed, grown suddenly faint. At last her burden was lifted to stronger shoulders. "You ain't wanted here, Jack Kilmeny," the standing miner said sourly. He was undecided what to do, perplexed and angry at this unexpected hindrance. "Seems to be a difference of opinion about that, Peale," retorted the newcomer lightly, kicking snow from the spurs and the heels of his boots. "Trefoyle and me own this cabin. You'll sing small, by Goad, or you'll get out." "You wouldn't put a dog out on a night like this, let alone a man. It would be murder," Kilmeny answered mildly. "There's horses in the tunnel. You can bed wi' them." Jack glanced around, took in the whisky bottle and their red-rimmed eyes. He nodded agreement. "Right you are, boys. We three will move over to the tunnel and leave the house to the women." "You ain't got the say here, not by a domned sight, Jack Kilmeny. This'll be the way of it. You'll git out. We'll stay. Understand?" Peale ground out between set teeth. Jack smiled, but his eyes were like steel. "Suppose we go over to the shaft-house and talk it over, boys. We'll all understand it better then." Kilmeny still stood close to the red-hot stove. He was opening and closing his fingers to take the stiffness of the frost out of them. "By Goad, no! You go--we stay. See?" The young man was now rubbing industriously the thumb and forefinger of his right hand with the palm of his left. "No, I don't see that, Peale. Doesn't sound reasonable to me. But I'll talk it over with you both--in the shaft-house." Jack's eyes were fastened steadily on Peale. The man was standing close to a shelf in a corner of the cabin. The shelf was in the shadow, but Kilmeny guessed what lay upon it. He was glad that though his legs were still stiff and cold the fingers of his right hand had been massaged to a supple warmth. "You be warm now, lad. Clear out," warned the big Cornishman. "Build 'ee a fire in the tunnel, mon," suggested Trefoyle. "We'll all go or we'll all stay. Drop that, Peale." The last words rang out in sharp command. Quicker than the eye could follow Kilmeny's hand had brushed up past his hip and brought with it a shining thirty-eight. Taken by surprise, Peale stood stupidly, his hand still on the shelf. His fingers had closed on a revolver, but they had found the barrel instead of the butt. "Step forward to the table, Peale--_with your hand empty_. That's right. Now listen. These young women have got to sleep. They're fagged to exhaustion. We three are going over to the shaft-house. Anything you've got to say to me can be said there. Understand?"