rhaps you had better be frank."

"I generally am frank. Bluffing's dangerous, and my brother didn't
know when to stop. Anyhow, unless we get some money soon, I'm afraid
we'll go broke."

"Perhaps it's strange, but I rather suspected this," the surveyor
rejoined. "Well, I'd like you to put the contract over. You have done
good work up-to-date and I'll risk giving you an order on the pay
office. If you'll wait while I get a form, I'll do it now."

He went into the tent and Carrie smiled at the others. Jim was
conscious of keen relief and a touch of annoyance. Although Carrie had
saved the situation, he had let her undertake an awkward task that was
properly his. Then the surveyor came back and gave her a document.

"I imagine you are sometimes rash," he remarked. "Didn't you see the
line you took was risky?"

"No," said Carrie, smiling; "I wasn't rash at all. I know when I can
trust people and didn't think you would let us down. All the same, I
knew you wouldn't give us a pay order unless you saw we'd make good.
Well, we are going to make good, and now that's done with, we'll talk
about something else."

The surveyor laughed and began to talk about his journey, but Jim noted
that he gave Carrie an approving glance. Next morning he went on and
the others resumed their work with quiet confidence. The financial
strain had slackened and they were not afraid of the physical
difficulties that must yet be grappled with. Rocks and trees could be
moved so long as the men were paid and fed. Still the fight was not
over and their courage was tried when they carried the line along the
moraine by a shrunken glacier and across a broken range. At length,
one evening, Jim took Carrie up a hill and when they reached the top
indicated a river that sparkled among the trees below.

"Follow it down and look across the big pines on the flat," he said.

Carrie looked and saw a thin, blue haze floating about the trees.

"Oh!" she cried, "it's smoke."

"The high smear against the rocks is from a mine stack, and I think I
see the steam from a sawmill by the river," Jim said quietly. "The
line will soon be finished, and you have helped us out."

The color came into Carrie's face and her eyes shone. "Perhaps I have
helped some; if I have, I'm glad. Now I'm proud of my family. You
have put it over."

"We came near being beaten," Jim replied with some emotion. "I think,
if you had not been with us, we would have been