The White Desert

. The big voice of the Canadian boomed, and he reac

n bringing you f

hat is-Miss

her Medaine! Oh, ho! And he say he will marry, not for love. Peuff! We shall see, b

re's the axe? I'll do some f

until at last the pile of stovewood had reached its proper dimensions, and old Ba'tiste came from the doorway to carry it in. Then, half an hour later, they sat down to their meal of sizzling bacon and steaming coffee,-a great, bearded giant and the younger man whom he, in a moment of impulsiveness, had all but adopted. Ba'tiste was still joking about the visit of Medaine, Houston parrying his thrusts. The meal finished, Ba'tiste went forth once more, to the hunt of a bear trap and its deadfall, d

next day, skirted the two clapboarded stores forming the "main business district," and ed

expanse of flat country toward what was evi

ing into the station to loaf. Ba'ti

road system, like some garrulous old woman, to any one who would listen. There was no private office, only a railing and a counter, which Barry crossed easily. A slight crunching of gravel sounded wi

n easy matter for him to come upon the originals of the telegrams he sought, in spite of the fact that

y Ho

e Mill and

uilding, Bo

before. Present one broken to

. TH

the words, rather than spoke them. "T

o bent over the telegraph file, while Ba'tiste kept watch at the door. Hastily h

cept for the addresses! Ba'tiste," he called so

t out of school. Has

gain. "He got the two messages and-" Suddenly he ben

ston. Resent

suspicion enough for a two-thousand-mile trip. It explained that the operator, in sending two messages, had, through absent-mindedness, put them

e murmured. "It isn't every mis

e messages again, the one he had receiv

Blac

ding, Chi

est start preparations for operations in time compete Boston for th

AY

ad not been for him; instead it had been intended decidedly not for him and it meant-what? Hastily Houston crawled over the railing, and motioning

hould have gone to some one else.

't know. Try

read tha

t indecipherable in places from creas

ou came fr

ll along,-that Thayer's been running my mill down, to help along some

has he? What

me. I haven't any idea what he means by the reference to starting operations,

the Moscript pla

rowned with presentiment. "Thayer's been

se can think of no wa

ade some arrangement with h

he does not come into the

are availa

ey are as go

ng, aren't they? How much

rests that front on eet, and

ything, for skidways into the lake, a flu

ould have h

ut Thayer

and Ba'teese would have said, 'No. Take nothing and give nothing. M'sieu Thayer, he is no good.' So eet is not

ew foliage, with small spruce and pine. Here and there a few flowers showed; by the side of the road the wild roses peeped up from the denser growths of foliage, and a vagrant butterfly or so made the round of blossom after blossom. It was spring-summer down here, sharp contrast indeed to the winter which lurked above and which would

, a mound which shielded the form of a man who had died in disappointment, leaving behind an edict which his son had sworn to carry through to its fulfillment. Now there

plodded along. "There may be others; I can weed them out. At least saws won't be breaking every two weeks and lumb

of the aspens and the broad-leafed mullens beside the road. As yet, she had not seen him, and Barry hurried toward her, jamming his cap into a pocket that his hand might be free to greet her. He waved airily as they came closer and called. But if she heard him, she gave no indication. Instead, she turned-swiftly, Houston thought-an