The same spirit that came out there with the thick, amber light was in her.

She lived, and something in her was stronger than mind.
Ellen went to the door of her cabin, where she flung out her arms, driven to embrace this nameless purport of the morning.

And a well-known voice broke in upon her rapture.
"Wal, lass, I like to see you happy an' I hate myself fer comin'.
Because I've been to Grass Valley fer two days an' I've got news." Old John Sprague stood there, with a smile that did not hide a troubled look.
"Oh! Uncle John! You startled me," exclaimed Ellen, shocked back to reality.

And slowly she added: "Grass Valley! News ?" She put out an appealing hand, which Sprague quickly took in his own, as if to reassure her.
"Yes, an' not bad so far as you Jorths are concerned," he replied.

"The first Jorth-Isbel fight has come off....