ip of level surface indicated water, for the toil of getting
through the timber was heavy. After two days of travel there was a
yellow sunset, and the snow gleamed in the lurid light with an ominous
brilliance, while as they made their fire a moaning wind got up. These
things presaged a change in the weather, and they were rather silent
over the evening meal. They missed the half-breed and the snarling
dogs, while it looked as if the good fortune that had so far attended
them was coming to an end.

Next morning there was a low, brooding sky, and at noon snow began to
fall, but they kept on until evening over very rough ground and then
held a council round the fire.

"The situation requires some thought," Blake remarked. "First of all,
our provisions won't carry us through the timber belt. Now the
shortest course to the prairie, where the going will be easier, is due
south, but after we get there we'll have a long march to the
settlements. I'd partly counted on our killing a caribou or perhaps a
moose, but so far we've seen no tracks."

"There must be some smaller beasts that the Indians eat," Benson
suggested.

"None of us knows where to look for them, and we haven't much time to
spare for hunting."

"That's so," Harding agreed. "What's your plan?"

"I'm in favour of heading south-west. It may mean an extra hundred
miles, or more, but it would bring us nearer the Stony village, and
afterwards the logging camp on the edge of the timber, where we might
get supplies."

"It's understood that the Indians are often half starved in winter,"
Benson observed. "For all that, they might have had good luck, and
anyhow we couldn't cross the prairie with an empty grub-sack. My
vote's for striking off to the west."

Harding concurred, though as his leg had threatened further trouble
during the last day or two, he would have preferred the shorter route.
Then Blake asked him: "What about the petroleum?"

"We can't stop to look for it unless we can lay in a good stock of
food, and I don't suppose we could do much prospecting with the snow
upon the ground." He paused a moment with a thoughtful air. "When we
reach the settlement I must go home, but if the dollars can be raised,
I'll be back as soon as the thaw comes to try for the oil. Clarke's an
unusually smart man, and there's no doubt he's on the trail."

"We'll raise enough money somehow," Benson told him, and Blake
signified his agreement with a nod. Then t