the roads, Mr. Samuel Sprink had established himself
along the line of construction as a vendor of "gents' furnishings,"
working men's supplies, tobaccos and cigars, and other useful and
domestic articles. It was not announced, however, in the alluring
posters distributed among the people in language suited to their
comprehension, that among his stores might be found a brand of
whiskey of whose virtues none could speak with more confidence
than Mr. Sprink himself, for the sufficient reason that he was
for the most part the sole manufacturer thereof.

Chief among Mr. Sprink's activities was that of "claim jumping,"--to
wit, the securing for himself of homesteads for which patents had
not been obtained, the homesteaders for one reason or another
having not been able to complete the duties required by Government.
In the prosecution of this business Mr. Sprink made a discovery,
which he conveyed in a letter to Mr. Rosenblatt, who was still in
charge of the Winnipeg end of the Company's business.

"You must come at once," wrote Mr. Sprink. "I have a great business
on hand. I have discovered that no application has been made for
the coal mine claimed by young Kalmar, and this means that the mine
is still open. Had I the full description of the property, I should
have jumped the claim at once, you bet. So get a move on and come.
Get the description of the land on the quiet, and then do some work
among the Galician people to prepare for the change of ownership,
because there will be trouble, sure. So, come along. There is other
big business too, so you must come."

Rosenblatt needed no further urging. In a week he was on the ground.

Meanwhile, Kalman was developing his mine, and dreaming great
dreams as to what he should do when he had become a great mine
owner. It was his custom, ever since Irma's coming, to spend the
Sunday evening with her at the hospital. His way to the mine lay
through scrub and sleugh, a heavy trail, and so he welcomed the
breaking up of the ice on the Eagle River. For, taking Brown's
canoe, he could paddle down to the Saskatchewan, and thence to
the mouth of the Night Hawk Creek, from which point it was only
a short walk to camp.

It was a most fortunate thing for old Pere Garneau that Kalman
had adopted this method of transportation on the very night the
old priest had chosen for his trip down the Eagle. Pere Garneau,
a pioneer priest of the North Saskatchewan country, had ministered
for twenty