if you have trouble with the
school people when you get back, come along and stop with Florence. I'll
interview the managers, and, if needful, find you another job."

He hurried off, and when the rattle of wheels died away Agatha opened
the envelope and found a check for a hundred dollars. She felt moved,
but smiled. The gift was generous, but the way he had made it was very
like George.

Three days afterwards, Farnam and his wife drove her to the railroad and
she felt a pang at leaving them when the cars rolled in. The excitement
of starting, however, helped her over an awkward few minutes, and she
found a girl on the train who wanted to talk. Besides, it was evening,
and after an hour or two the colored porter lighted the lamps and told
her her berth was ready. She slept well, for it was too late to give way
to misgivings now, and soon after she rose next morning the train
stopped at the station where she must get down.

The conductor threw her baggage out upon the line. The locomotive bell
tolled, the cars went on, and Agatha's heart sank as she glanced about.
It was early morning and thin mist drifted among the pines. There was no
platform, but a small wooden shack with an iron roof stood beside the
rails, which ran into the forest a hundred yards off. The agent, after
gruffly asking for her checks, vanished into his office and banged the
door. There was nobody else about, and the place was very quiet except
for the murmur of running water.

A narrow clearing, strewn with ashes and dotted by blackened stumps, ran
along the track, and at its end were three or four shabby frame houses.
A rudely painted board on one stated that the building was the
Strathcona Hotel. Agatha felt very forlorn. Except for a week or two
with Thirlwell, and once with a band of merry companions at a summer
camp she had not seen the rugged bush, and now it daunted her. She was
not going on a pleasure excursion, from which she could return when she
liked, but to push far into the lonely wilds. She had done with
civilization until she came back; it could not help her when she left
the railroad. She must live and struggle with savage Nature as the
prospectors and half-breeds did. But this was not all; she had, perhaps,
cut herself off from other things than the comfort and security that
civilization offered.

Mabel Farnam's warning was, no doubt, justified. It was possible that
the school managers would dismiss her and she would be unable t