Stefan stopped abruptly again, apparently overcome. His face, tanned by frost and sun to a hue of dull brick, also lay in the hollow of his hands. The vastness of his grief seemed to be commensurate with his size. But when he looked up Madge saw that his eyes were dry, for he was suffering according to the way of strong men with the agony that clutches at the breast and twists a cord about the temples. In his helplessness before the peril he was pitiful to see, since all his confidence had gone, his pride in his power, his faith in his ability to surmount all things by the mere force of his will. And the present weakness of the man augmented the girl's own sorrow, even though his being there was relief of a sort. The Swede looked about him vaguely, and then his eyes became fixed on a point of the log wall, as if through it he had been able to discern things that lay beyond. "Hugo an' me," he began again, very slowly and softly, "ve vent off north from here, a year an' a half it is now, after de ice she vent off de lakes. And ve trafel long vays, most far as vhere de Albany she come down in James Bay. Ve vos lookin' for silfer an' copper an' tings like dat. An' dere come one day vhen ve gets awful rough water on a lake and ve get upset. Him Hugo he svim like a otter, he do, but me I svim like a stone. De shore he ban couple hundret yard off, mebbe leetle more. I hold on to de bow and Hugo he grab de stern. So he begin push for shore, svimmin' vid his feet, but dat turriple slow going, vid de canoe all under vater, yoost holdin' us up a bit, and it vos cold, awful turriple cold in dat vater. He calls to me ve can't make it dat vay, ve don't make three-four yards a minute. Den I calls for him to let go, for I ban tanking he safe his life anyvay, svimmin' ashore vhere ve had our camp close by. Und vhat you tank he do, ma'am? He yell to me not be tam fool, dat vhat he do! He say, 'How I look at your voman an' de kids in de face, vhen I gets back vidout you?' So he lets go and my end sink deep so I let go an' vos fighting to keep up but he grab me and say to take holt of his shoulter. He swear he trown vid me if I don't. So I done it, ma'am, and he svim, svim turriple hard, draggin' me ashore. I yoost finds my feet on de bottom vhen he keels ofer, like dead, vid de cold and de playin' out. So I takes him in my arms and runs in. I had matches in my screw-box but my fingers vos dat froze I couldn't get 'em out first. But I manages make a fire, by an' by, and I rubs de life back into him again. And--and you know vhat is first ting he say vhen he vake up?" Madge shook her head. "Him Hugo yoost say, 'Now I kin look Mis' Olsen in de face, vhen ve gets back, eh, old pard?'" The man kept still again, looking anxiously at the sufferer and watching the hurried breathing. The feeling of his uselessness was evidently a torture to him, but his heart was too full for him to remain silent very long.