I want you to get this, miss. Here's a thousand dollars;
they're yours for picking up and you take no risk. If you refuse and
hold down the contract, you'll certainly go broke."

"It's possible," said Carrie. "All the same, we mean to hold it down."

Probyn shrugged. "Then I quit. If you can put the job over, you're
luckier than I think."

He went off and Carrie sat down. "Looks as if I came along when I was
needed. The fellow talked in hints. What did he mean?"

"It's pretty obvious," Jake replied. "His employers don't like our
butting in. Since they can't buy us, they'll try to freeze us out."

"Then I reckon we must fight."

Jake looked thoughtful. "They're strong antagonists; but I've a notion
there's somebody on our side. In fact, I was puzzled when we got the
contract. It's not often a job of this kind goes past the others, but
the department may be using us to see if it's possible to shake the
combine." He paused, and laughed as he resumed: "Anyhow, we have made
the plunge and if we're not going under have got to go ahead."

Jim agreed and for a time they talked about something else, but next
morning Jake got a jar when he went to load the pack-horses and found
two of his helpers gone.

"They pulled out at sun-up," one of the rest explained. "A stranger
came along, looking for choppers; offered fifty cents more than you
promised, and Steve and Pete went off with him."

"He'll probably shake them in a week," Jake replied. "Still fifty
cents a day's some inducement, and all of you can chop."

The packer laughed. "That's a sure thing! We reckoned we were fixed
well and had better stop with a boss we knew. Besides, now we've a
dame for commissary, the hash is pretty good."

Jake went back to the hotel, disturbed about Probyn, but satisfied with
his men. The two who had gone were strangers, but two of the rest had
been with him in the North and the others had worked upon the telegraph
line. One could trust them. For all that, he was quiet when they set
off on the muddy trail that plunged into the bush. A cold wind blew
the rain in their faces, the horses stumbled in the holes, and the wet
men grumbled as they plodded through the mud. They knew the wilderness
and felt themselves a small company for the work they must do.
Moreover, Jake imagined they might have to meet the antagonism of rich
and unscrupulous rivals.

"You don't say much," he remarked to Jim.

"One doesn't say much