of the forest or any other creatures of
the wild. They were defences against attack by human marauders, and he
read into them the story of hostile Indians, and all those scenes which
had doubtless been kept carefully hidden from little Marcel's eyes.

Furthermore he realized that the post was of comparatively recent
construction. Perhaps it was five or ten years old. It could not have
been more. It entirely lacked that appearance of age which green timbers
acquire so readily under the fierce Northern storms. And it set him
wondering at the nature of the lure which had brought men of obvious
means, with wife and child, to the inhospitable plateau of Unaga.

He set the boy on the ground while he removed his snow-shoes. Then, hand
in hand, the little fellow led him round to the gateway which opened out
in full view of the valley.

It was a wide enclosure, and its ordering and construction appealed to
the man of the trail. There was thought and experience in every detail
of it. There was, too, the obvious expenditure of money and infinite
labour. The great central building stood clear of everything else. It
was long and low, with good windows of glass, and doors as powerful as
human hands could make them. To the practical eyes of the Northern man
it was clearly half store and half dwelling house, built always with an
eye to a final defence.

Beyond this there were a number of outbuildings. Some were of simple
Indian construction. But three of them, a large barn, and two buildings
that suggested store-houses, were like the house, heavily built of logs.

But he was given little time for deep investigation, for little Marcel
eagerly dragged him towards the door of the store. To the man there was
something almost pathetic in the child's excitement and joy in his new
discovery. His childish treble silenced the bristling dogs that leapt
out at them in fierce welcome. And his imperious command promptly
reduced them to snuffing suspiciously at the furs of the scout and the
white man whom they seemed to regard with considerable doubt. He
chattered the whole time, stumbling over his words in his eager
excitement. He was endeavouring to impart everything he knew to this
newly found friend, and, in the course of the brief interval of their
approach to the house Steve learned all the dogs' names, their
achievements, what little Marcel liked most to eat, and how he disliked
being washed by An-ina, and how ugly his nurse was, and how