ey were Indians, it did not matter if he
met them. But he did not think they were Indians.

When he had gone a mile or two, he stopped at the edge of a muskeg and
sent the _Metis_ on to a clump of pines on the other side. The man,
keeping in the shadow, stole round the swamp, and vanished noiselessly
in the underbrush. After a time, he reappeared, beckoning, and Thirlwell
knitted his brows when he joined him.

The ashes of a fire smoldered between two hearth-logs; white chips and
broken branches were scattered about. Near his feet were six small round
holes, spaced in a regular pattern, and a cotton flour-bag and some
empty cans lay beneath a bush.

"A white man's camp; they had a tent," he said.

"Sure," agreed the _Metis_. "Teepee poles they not mak' hole lak' dat."

"Well, I reckon a sour-dough prospector wouldn't have bothered about a
tent. Looks as if one of them was a tenderfoot. _Qu'en pense-tu?_"

The _Metis'_ keen eyes had wandered round the camp and he nodded. "But,
yes! Dat man _sait vivre_; he lak' it comfortable."

"A city man!" Thirlwell remarked, with a frown. How many packers?"

"_Quat_," said the _Metis_.

"_Voyageurs?_"

The _Metis_ laughed scornfully as he indicated the trampled brush,
broken branches, greasy papers, and scraps of food. "Me, I think no!
Railroad outfit. _Voyageur_ not muss up camp lak' dat."

Thirlwell agreed. A half-breed _voyageur_ does not waste food, and with
inherited caution seldom disturbs the bush. It looked as if the city man
had engaged a gang of track-layers, who are used to pioneering and
sometimes carry surveyors' stores through the wilds.

"Well," he said, "we'll follow their trail."

The party had obviously left the water for a time, because their track
led away from the creek in the valley and the bush was too thick to
permit the portaging of canoes. Thirlwell followed the trail until he
satisfied himself that they were going east, and then went back to his
camp. Finding Agatha at the water's edge he sat down opposite.

"I'm afraid you didn't get much breakfast, but I didn't want the fire
lighted," he said, and told her what he had seen.

"Ah!" she cried. "Do you think Stormont is looking for the ore?"

"I think so; I'm not certain."

"But he failed to find it once and nearly starved."

Thirlwell smiled. "I understand the fellow's obstinate. He may have got
a fresh clue or found out something we don't know."

"Do you think he has been following us