failed, and take this sneak's revenge on her. 'Laughing-stock!' Yes,
they knew she could turn the tables on them."

"Of course; go on! She's better than me. I know I'm a fratricide, that's
what I am," said Rand, throwing himself on the upper of the two berths
that formed the bedstead of the cabin.

"I've seen her three times," continued Ruth.

"And you've known me twenty years," interrupted his brother.

Ruth turned on his heel, and walked towards the door.

"That's right; go on! Why don't you get the chalk?"

Ruth made no reply. Rand descended from the bed, and, taking a piece of
chalk from the shelf, drew a line on the floor, dividing the cabin in
two equal parts.

"You can have the east half," he said, as he climbed slowly back into
bed.

This mysterious rite was the usual termination of a quarrel between the
twins. Each man kept his half of the cabin until the feud was forgotten.
It was the mark of silence and separation, over which no words of
recrimination, argument, or even explanation, were delivered, until
it was effaced by one or the other. This was considered equivalent to
apology or reconciliation, which each were equally bound in honor to
accept.