His voice sank and his eyes narrowed to two little bright slits.

"I am afraid.

Yes, that's the explanation.

I am so afraid that when I am not alone I seek relief any way, any how.

I can't help it." And even as he spoke his eyes opened wide and he sat staring intently at a dim corner of the tent, moving his head with little jerks from one side to the other that he might see the better.
"There's no one over there, eh ?" he asked.
"No one." Ballantyne nodded as he moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue.
"They make these tents too large," he said in a whisper.