This in turn he brought to the shelter.

He stopped short here, frozen with amazement.

The girl was raving in her delirium, and to soothe her, McTee was singing to her horrible sailor chanteys, pieced out with improvised and foolish words.
Harrigan listened only while his astonishment kept him helpless; then he took up his work.

He first stripped away the twigs from his sapling top.

Then he tied the twine firmly at either end of the stick, leaving the string loose.