Kate dropped into a chair, shaking.
"Out!" whispered Buck to Lee Haines.

"Beat it.

I got to talk alone." And as soon as Haines obeyed, Buck sat down close to the girl.

She was twisting and untangling her fingers in a dumb agony.
"What has he done to her, Buck?
What has he done ?" It was a maxim with Buck that talk is to woman what swearing is to man; it is a safety valve, and therefore he waited in silence until the first rush of her grief had passed.
"She only looked at me when I whipped her.

My heart turned in me.