Many minutes passed before Howland thought of his pipe, or a fire.

Then, shiveringly, he went to seek the fuel which Jean had told him was behind the stove.

The old bay stove was soon roaring with the fire which he built, and as the soothing fumes of his pipe impregnated the damp air of the room he experienced a sensation of comfort which was in strange contrast to the exciting happenings of the past few days.
At last he was alone, with nothing to do for a week but eat, sleep and smoke.

He had plenty of tobacco and an inspection of the pack showed that Croisset had left him well stocked with food.

Tilted back in a chair, with his feet on the table, he absorbed the cheerful heat from the stove, sent up clouds of smoke, and wondered if the half-breed had already started back into the South.