Not a sound escaped Link as he fell.

Lawler lifted him bodily, threw him upon the pile of wood in the corner, where he lay huddled up, unconscious.
Wheeling swiftly, his eyes ablaze with the terrible passion that had seized him, Lawler faced the bunk.

The woman's head was moving slowly from side to side, as though she were making an effort to lift it; her eyelids were fluttering, and her hands were straying over the bedclothing, the fingers closing and unclosing.
Lawler made a horrible grimace at Givens.
"Get out of here, damn you!" he said.

"Go out and take care of her horse--anything! If you are in here when she wakes up, I'll kill you! And take that other skunk out of here, too--take him to the dugout, and don't come back here for an hour!" He watched impatiently while Givens seized his companion and dragged him outside.

Then Lawler fastened the door, and standing near it, watched the woman.
Her eyes were open.