. "Ye might as weel sit down. Where do
ye hail from?"

Blake laughed as he found a seat. He imagined that their appearance
must have been somewhat startling, but he knew it takes a good deal to
disturb the equanimity of a Hudson's Bay Scot.

"From Sweetwater, but we have been up in the timber belt since winter
set in. Now we have run out of provisions and my partner's lamed by
snowshoe trouble."

"Ay," said the other, "I suspected something o' the kind. But maybe
ye'll be wanting supper?"

"I believe, if we were put to it, we could eat half a caribou," Benson
told him with a grin.

"It's no to be had," the Scot answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "I
can give ye a good thick bannock and some whitefish. Our stores are no
so plentiful the now."

They took off their furs and glanced about the place while their host
was busy at the stove. The room was large, its walls of narrow logs
chinked with clay and moss. Guns and steel traps hung upon them, the
floor was made of uneven boards which had obviously been split in the
nearest bluff, and the furniture was of the simplest and rudest
description. It had, however, an air of supreme comfort to the
famishing newcomers, and after the first few minutes they found it
delightfully warm. They ate the food given them ravenously and
afterwards the agent brought Harding some warm water and examined his
leg.

"Ye'll no walk far for a while I'm thinking," he remarked. "Rest it on
the chair here and sit ye still."

Harding was glad to comply and lighting their pipes they began to talk.
Their host, who told them his name was Robertson, was a rather
hard-featured man of middle age.

"I'm all my lone; my clerk's away with the breeds at the Swan lake," he
said. "Where are ye making for?"

"For the south," said Blake. "We came here for shelter, badly tired,
and want to hire a dog team and a half-breed guide if possible, as soon
as my partner's fit to travel. Then we want provisions."

"I'm afraid I cannot supply ye. Our stores are low--we got few fish
and caribou the year, and we have not a team to spare."

"Well," said Benson, "I don't suppose you'll turn us out, and we'd be
glad to pay for our accommodation. We have no wish to take the trail
again without food or transport."

Robertson looked thoughtful. "Ye might wait a week or two; and then
we'll maybe see better what can be done."

He asked them a few questions about their journey, and by and by
Harding