d given them the dugout the
distressed family pushed off for a new land. Father and son paddled as
if the devil were behind them.

"I wonder if I done the right thing?" mused Ambrose.

The Selkirks had not long disappeared down the river when Ambrose
received another visitor. This was a surly native youth who, without
greeting, handed him a note, and rode back to the fort. Ambrose's
heart beat high as he examined the superscription.

He did not need to be told who had written it. But he was not prepared
for the contents:

DEAR:

Come to me at once. Come directly to the house. I am in great trouble.

COLINA.

CHAPTER XII.

GATHERING SHADOWS.

Ambrose, hastening back to Gaviller's house with a heart full of
anxiety, came upon Gordon Strange as he rounded the corner of the
company store. The breed was at the door. Evidently he harbored no
resentment, for his face lighted up at the sight of an old friend.

"Well!" he said. "So you came to see us."

Ambrose felt the same unregenerate impulse to punch the smooth face.
However, with more circumspection than upon the previous occasion, he
returned a civil answer.

"Have you heard?" asked Strange, with an expression of serious concern.

Ambrose reflected that Strange probably knew a message had been sent.

"Heard what?" he asked non-committally.

"Mr. Gaviller was taken sick last night."

"What's the matter with him?" asked Ambrose quickly.

Strange shrugged. "I do not know exactly. The doctor has not come out
of the house since he was sent for. A stroke, I fancy."

"I will go to the house and inquire," said Ambrose.

He proceeded, telling himself that Strange had not got any change out
of him this time. He was relieved by the breed's news; he had feared
worse.

To be sure, it was terribly hard on Colina, but on his own account he
could not feel much pain of mind over a sickness of Gaviller's.

The half-breed girl who admitted him showed a scared yellow face.
Evidently the case was a serious one. She ushered him into the
library. The aspect, the very smell of the little room, brought back
the scene of two days before and set Ambrose's heart to beating.

Presently Colina came swiftly in, closing the door behind her. She was
very pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She showed the
unnatural self-possession that a brave woman forces on herself in the
presence of a great emergency. Her eyes were tragic.

She came