And the factions drew consolation from the fact that if one man did not
profit by him, neither should the other.
However, since man, in the individual or in the aggregate, has been so
fashioned that he goes through life blissfully obtuse to the deeper
subtleties of his womankind, so the men of Forty Mile failed to divine
the inner deviltry of Joy Molineau. They confessed, afterward, that they
had failed to appreciate this dark-eyed daughter of the aurora, whose
father had traded furs in the country before ever they dreamed of
invading it, and who had herself first opened eyes on the scintillant
northern lights. Nay, accident of birth had not rendered her less the
woman, nor had it limited her woman's understanding of men. They knew
she played with them, but they did not know the wisdom of her play, its
deepness and its deftness. They failed to see more than the exposed
card, so that to the very last Forty Mile was in a state of pleasant
obfuscation, and it was not until she cast her final trump that it came
to reckon up the score.
Early in the week the camp turned out to start Jack Harrington and Louis
Savoy on their way.
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