as sufficiently onerous, for we had almost daily to grapple with some
fresh natural difficulty. Twice a snow-slide awakened majestic thunders
among the hills at night and piled the wreckage of the forests high upon
the track. Massy boulders charged down the slopes and smashed the
half-finished snow-shed framing into splinters; but, rod by rod, the line
stretched on, and the surveyor's good-will increased toward us. So the
short weeks passed, until at last the metals led into the mining town, and
its inhabitants made preparations to provide a fitting reception for the
first train, the arrival of which would mark a turning-point in the wooden
city's history. I can remember each incident of that day perfectly,
because it also marked the change from ebb to flood in the tide of our own
affairs. We sat up late the previous night calculating the amount to our
debit, which proved sufficiently discouraging, and endeavoring to value on
the credit side work we had done in excess of contract; but this, Harry
said, was reckoning without our host, as represented by the surveyor, who,
when we approached him on the subject, displayed a becoming reticence.

It was a glorious afternoon when we stood waiting beside the track,
attired for once in comparatively decent garments. Harry and I had spent
several hours in ingenious repairs, one result of which was that certain
seams would project above the surface in spite of our efforts to restrain
them. Beneath us the foaming river made wild music in its hidden gorge,
and the roar of a fall drifted up with the scent of cedars across the
climbing pines, while above the hill-slopes led the gaze upward into the
empyrean. But there is no need for description; we were in the mountains
of British Columbia, and it was summertime.

Near at hand many banners fluttered over the timber city, and discordant
strains announced the last rehearsal of the miner's band, while a throng
of stalwart men laughed and jested as they gazed expectantly up the line.
They had cause for satisfaction. All had waited long and patiently, paying
treble value for what they used or ate, and struggling with indifferent
implements to uncover the secret treasure of the ranges. Now their
enterprise would not be handicapped by the lack of either plant or
capital, for the promise given had been redeemed, and with the advent of
the locomotive they looked for the commencement of a great prosperity.

My face, however, was somber, for Har