thick mane bristled,
and it looked like a gaunt, hungry wolf following upon the trail of
some unconscious traveller. So long as the man stood, so long did the
dog remain still and silent. But as the former returned to his seat,
and began to pack up, the dog began to whine and furtively draw
nearer.

Although he did not look up the man knew that the animal was coming
towards him. When he had finished packing he straightened himself; the
dog was within a few paces of him. He called gently, and the animal
responded with a whimper, but remained where it was. Its canine mind
was evidently dubious, and the man was forced to take the initiative.
Whatever may have been his intention in the first place, he now
exhibited a curious display of feeling for one who could plan and
perpetrate so dastardly a crime as that which he had committed at the
dugout. Human nature is a strange blending of good and evil passions.
Two minutes ago the man would, without the least remorse, have shot
the dog. Now as he reached him, and he listened to the beast's
plaintive cries, he stretched out his arm and stroked its trembling
sides, and then stooped to examine the wounded limb. And, stranger
still, he tore off a portion of the woollen scarf that circled his
waist and proceeded to bandage up the shattered member. The dog
submitted to the operation with languid resignation. The foot of one
hind leg had been entirely torn away by a revolver shot, and only the
stump of the leg was left. The poor beast would go on three legs for
the rest of his life.

When the man had finished he rose to his feet, and a bitter laugh
shocked the silence of the snow-bound world.

"There, you miserable cur. It's better like that than to get the cold
into it. I've had some; besides, I didn't intend to damage you. If
you're going to travel with me you'd best come along, and be d-----d
to you."

And he walked back to where his pack and blankets lay, and the dog
limped at his heels.

CHAPTER IV

'YELLOW BOOMING--SLUMP IN GREY'

The days are long since gone when the name of the midland territory of
the great Canadian world, Manitoba, suggested to the uninitiated
nothing but Red Indians, buffalo and desperadoes of every sort and
condition. Now-a-days it is well known, even in remote parts of the
world, as one of the earth's greatest granaries; a land of rolling
pastures, golden cornfields and prosperous, simple farm folk. In a
short space of time, little more