. I am sorry for you, Carew.
I will hurry on your marriage--I sent for the priest this morning--and
then I would advise you to send your wife to Quebec. We shall win in the
end, and uphold the supremacy of the company, but not without a
struggle, I fear."

The thought of parting from Flora--of sending her hundreds of miles away
from me--made me feel very blue; and the factor's keen eyes observed
this:

"Cheer up," he said. "We are discussing events that may never occur.
Come, what do you say to a little diversion--to a hand at cards?"

"With all my heart," I assented gladly.

But just then the door slowly opened, and Mr. Christopher Burley slowly
entered the room. He was neatly attired in black, and after looking
about him he made a low bow.

"I trust I am not intruding," he said in a dry, precise voice. "I desire
to see you particularly, Mr. Macdonald. I have been conversing with some
of the older employees of the fort, and I find that through ignorance I
overlooked a most important matter during the interview you granted me
several days ago."

"Indeed!" replied Macdonald. "And to what do you refer? Go on; you may
speak freely in front of Mr. Carew."

CHAPTER XXXIX.

A MESSAGE.

I think Mr. Burley would have preferred a private audience with the
factor, but he made no verbal objection to my presence. He looked rather
glum, however, as he came near and seated himself. He first took a pinch
of snuff from an enameled box, and blew his nose vigorously; then,
stretching his long legs under the table and resting an elbow on each
arm of the chair, he interlocked his lean fingers.

"If I remember rightly, Mr. Macdonald," he began, "you informed me that
you had been a resident of this fort, in various capacities, for the
space of thirty-two years?"

"That is quite true, sir."

"And during that period--indeed for some years prior to it," continued
the law clerk, "I understand that travelers stopping at Fort Garry on
their way to the far north were in the habit of leaving their trunks and
other luggage behind them here for safe keeping."

"Certainly--certainly! You have not been misinformed, Mr. Burley."

"And some of these travelers never came back--never returned to claim
their belongings?"

"Alas! too many of them," replied Macdonald. He shook his head sadly as
he filled the bowl of his pipe. "You have stirred up a host of buried
and half-f