The Gold Trail

ss; but when he flung the message across to his secretary as he sat one morning in his private room in an Ottawa hotel, the latter raised his eyebrows questioningly. He knew his employer in all hi

atter, "isn't the

retary

m not sure they'll send it ove

suggested, and the message as despatched to

himself about other matters until he g

r yet had been beaten. What was more to the purpose, he had no intention of being beaten now, or even delayed, by a swamp that had no bottom. He had grappled with hard rock and sliding snow, had overcome professional rivals, and h

" he said. "I'll go along t

p during the next few days, felt inclined to be sorry for Cassidy as he w

lish friends, for Ida had desired to show them the capital. He had no great opinion of the man and the two women in question. He said that they made him tired, and sometimes in confidence to his secretary he went rather further than that; but at the same time he was willing to bear with them, if the fact that he did so afforded Ida any pleasure. Ida Stir

'll have a private car on the Pacific express. You'd better

a; and Stirling and his part

ery much what one would have expected, for the chief attribute of the men who are building up the western Dominion is their power of concentration. Though there were greater men above Cassidy who would get the credit, it was due chiefly to his

the trees. The latter dwindled and rotted, and black depths of mire lay among their crawling roots, forming what is known in that country as a muskeg. There was a deep, blue lake on the one hand, and on the other scarped slopes of rock that the tract could not surmount; and for a time Cassidy and his men had floundered knee-deep, and often deeper, among the roots while they plied the ax and saw. Then they dumped in carload after carload of roc

e sunlight that flung lurid flecks of color upon the western side of the fir trunks beat upon his dripping face, which, though a little worn and grim just then, was otherwise a pleasant face of the fair English type. In fact, though he had been s

building a western railroad is usually heavy. Still, he had an excellent constitution, and was, while not particularly brilliant as a rule, at least whimsically contented in mind. His comrades called him the Kid, or

Cassidy, who had not recovered from the interview he had had with Stirling that m

efore the mosquitoes eat you,

nced down

all afternoon. It's steep.

doesn't know enough to keep himself from getting hurt. Yo

g, hard fist

a crowd of stiffs and deadbeats like t

y galling. Still he had sense enough to realize that the remedy open to him was a somewhat hazardous one, because, while it would be easy to walk out of the construction camp, industrial activity just then was unusually slack in the Mountain Province. Besides, he was willing to admit that there wer

rising action. They had chosen wives like themselves from among their neighbors, and it was perhaps in several respects not altogether fortunate for Clarence Weston that his mother had been ultra-conservative in her respect for traditions, since he had inherited one side of her nature. Still, in her

oard was a painful shock to the sanguine lad. That first year was a bad one to him, but he set his teeth and quietly bore all that befell him; the odd, brutal task, paid for at half the usual wages, the frequent rebuffs, the long nights spent shelterless in the bush, utter weariness, and often downright hunger. It was a hard school, but it taught him much, and he graduated as a man, strong and comely of body, and resolute of mind. What was more, he had

, refreshing as the scent of vinegar, into the long, unfloored room, which certainly needed something of the kind. It reeked with stale tobacco-smoke, the smell of cookery, and the odors of frowsy clothes. A row of bunks, filled with spruce twigs and old br

was burnt; the venison, for one of them had shot a deer, had been hung too long; while the dessert, a great pie of desiccated fruits, had been baked to a flinty hardness. That was the last st

scarce in that country, but it is obtainable, and Grenfell generally procured a good deal of it. The man was evidently in a state of appreh

n lately, and I guess we've got to teach you plain, c

y came in; whereupon the other seized him by the should

little more. If it's good enough for

ook, seeing no help for it, made a valiant attempt to eat a little of the grea

oys. You'll let m

ey were inclined to be pitiless then, and the rud

eaned up that p

ound, with the plate beside him. Then they took out their pipes and sat around to enjoy the spectacle. As a rule there is very little cruelty in men of their kind; but they were very human, and the cook had robbed them of a meal somewhat

with it, you may as well start in. If you don'

helpless, a watery-eyed, limp bundle of nerves, with, nevertheless, a pitiful suggestion of outward dignity still clinging to him, though his persecutors would have des

far enough, boys. You'll ha

ng right through. Anyway, it's not your tr

is head. It came down with a crash on the plate, and the hash was scattered over the withered redwood twigs. Then, while a growl e

ll tend to you. You'll see that th

among the towering firs that hemmed in the muskeg. One was attired elaborately in light garments and a big hat that appeared very much out of place in that aisle of tremendous forest, but there was a difference between her and her companion. The latter knew the bush, and was dressed simply in a close-fitting robe of gray. She held herself wel

ce us, and you will probably see something that is supposed to be

over the heads of the clustering men. There was no difficulty in identifying the victim, the persecutor and the champion, for Weston stood stripped to blue shirt and trousers, with the big

m open to deal with him," he said. "Still, I

nd dangerously resolute. Indeed, his attitude rather pleased some of the

r in the quickest way possible; and in another moment the two had clinched. They fell against the tree stump and reeled clear again, swaying, gasping, and striking when they could. It is probable that the Canadian was the stronger man, but,

id has

arried a peevie, a big wooden lever with an iron hook on it, such as men use in rolling fir logs. He belabored the pair with it impartially, and it was evident that he was

ourished t

d, "is it figh

. The cook, with commendable discretion, had slipped away quietly in the meanwhile, and the two young w

e said. "Still, in a sense the attitude of the one they called the K

ll it was not the intent men or the stately clustering pines that she recalled most clearly; it was the dominant cent

ve done something to vex them. They r