in the north, and that she is so guarded by a lion of a
father that Curly hasn't much of a chance."

"An' so that's what ye surmised, is it?" the prospector queried.

"Am I right?"

"Guess yer not fer astray."

"Have you seen the girl? Do you know her father?"

"Have I seen the girl? Do I know her father?" the old man slowly
repeated. "Yes, I believe I've seen her, all right. But as fer
knowin' her father, wall, that's a different thing. Frontier Samson
doesn't pretend to know Jim Weston; he never did."

"Weston, did you say?" Reynolds eagerly asked.

"That's what I said, young man. The name seems to interest ye."

"It does. When I registered at the hotel in Whitehorse, the name just
before mine was 'Glen Weston,' and the girl who wrote it came north on
the _Northern Light_. Do you suppose she is Jim Weston's daughter?"

"She might be," was the somewhat slow reply. "As I told ye before,
it's ginerally the unexpected that happens. Anyway, ye can't tell much
by names these days."

"But Curly knows her, for I saw them together at a dance the night I
arrived in town."

"Ye did!" The prospector took his pipe from his mouth and stared hard
at Reynolds. "Are ye sure?"

"Positive. Why, I was standing at the door watching the dance, when I
saw the two together upon the floor. Later they came over and sat down
quite close to me. Curly did most of the talking, and the girl seemed
quite uneasy. She left shortly after with a fine-looking Indian, who
had evidently come for her. I have not seen her since."

"So Curly was dancin' with her," Samson mused. "Then she must be Jim
Weston's gal. I wonder what the old man'll say when he hears about it?"

"How will he know?"

"Oh, he'll find out, all right. There's nuthin' that misses him here
in the north."

"What will he do to Curly?"

"I wouldn't like to say at present. That remains to be seen."

"Is this Jim Weston a desperate character?"

"The ones who have tried to fool with him say he is, an' I guess they
ought to know. He's a holy terror when he gits goin', 'specially when
anyone's after that lass of his."

"The men up here all know about her, I suppose?"

"Should say so. They're about crazy over her. She's been the cause of
many a row, an' several shootin' rackets."

"Does she favor anyone?"

"Not as fer as I know. She's in a class all by her lonesome, an' well
able to take care of herself. She's not anxious fer lovers, so I
unde