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But he did not shout it again, for he knew that she was dead She was gone from him forever Yet he did not cease to search The last of the sun went out Twilight came, and then darkness Even in that darkness he continued to search for aher na always for the anshich he kneould never come The moon came out after a time, and hour after hour he kept up his hopeless quest He did not kno badly the rocks had battered and hurt him, and he scarcely knehen it was that exhaustion dropped him like a deadaway from the river, and toward noon of that day, he was found by Andre Boileau, the old white-haired half-breed who trapped on Burntwood Creek Andre was shocked at the sight of his wounds and half dragged and half carried him to his shack hidden away in the forest

For six days thereafter Kent remained at old Andre's place, sith nor the reason to move Andre wondered that there were no broken bones in him But his head was terribly hurt, and it was that hurt that for three days and three nightsindecision between life and death The fourth day reason came back to him, and Boileau fed him venison broth The fifth day he stood up The sixth he thanked Andre, and said that he was ready to go

Andre outfitted hiave hi And Kent returned to the Chute, giving Andre to understand that his destination was Athabasca Landing

Kent knew that it was not wise for him to return to the river He knew that it would have been better for hione in the opposite direction But he no longer had in hiht, even for himself He followed the lines of least resistance, and these led hirief, when he returned, was no longer the heartbreaking agony of that first night It was a deep-seated, consu fire that had already burned him out, heart and soul Even caution was dead in hi Had the police boat been at the Chute, he would have revealed hiht of self-preservation A ray of hope would have been precious medicine to him But there was no hope Marette was dead Her tender body was destroyed And he was alone, unfathomably and hopelessly alone