THE "KILLING" For an instant following the attack there was no change in the scene inside the cabin.

Surprise that Lawler had escaped his blow seemed to retard Link's movements quite as much as the force of his fall.

For he floundered on the floor, unable to get his feet under him; while the bitter wind, howling in through the open door, hurled a blinding avalanche of white clear to the fireplace.

On the floor in the smother of white was Link, and near him the handle of the axe stuck rigidly upward, its blade buried deeply in the floor.
Della Wharton had been watching Lawler as he opened the door, and she had seen what quickly had followed.

Now, though a nameless terror had seized her, she still watched, unable to withdraw her gaze, powerless to move or to open her lips.
She saw Lawler standing where he had halted when he had opened the door--one hand grasping the bar that he had lifted when he had drawn the door back; the other hanging at his side.