ch of them the morning after
Christmas, thanking him for his gift, and later a letter from Imogene
again expressing her appreciation, with a line that a change in Mrs.
McDonnell's plans had prevented having him with them on Christmas.

Nothing from either since. He now asked the banker to convey to
Imogene his wishes for a quick recovery, then set out for camp.
Ruth--he did not even know where in town to look for Ruth, had he been
so inclined. Engaged! The thing would have been amusing if it was not
so horrible.

"No luck," he said to Pat, briefly, when in his shack warming his
chilled body at the fire. "Your system may work in summer, but all
the money is froze up at this time of year, like everything else."

At the end of the week the winter's frigid grip on the earth relaxed
and a period of mild, almost balmy days followed. Under the noon-day
sun the top ground even softened a little. The camps awoke, the rested
men and horses fell upon their task with new spirit, and excavation
went ahead steadily. If there had been a full force, as Carrigan
pointed out, he could have moved at the rate of a mile in six days
instead of in eight. Still the canal was being built, yard by yard,
rod by rod, until by the middle of January another mile of the total
was finished. The two camps were now easily within sight of each
other, the larger in the south, the smaller in the north, and but
three miles apart across the sagebrush. Moreover, the last stones of
the dam had been laid; it stood completed; and the men who had been
engaged there moved down to add their strength to the north camp.

One day toward noon Lee entered his office and to his amazement found
Ruth seated there, glancing over an old magazine and toasting her feet
at the stove. The furs he had given her reposed on his desk, where she
had laid them aside. At his entrance she sprang up, uttered a
delighted exclamation, and rushing forward clasped her arms about his
neck and kissed him.

"Lee, how good it seems to see you!" she said. "After so long! And I
can't thank you enough for those darling furs! I've thought of you so
much, working up here in the cold and alone with just men. My, your
face is like ice! Come to the fire. Poor thing, you look so thin and
tired! I hope that soon you'll be able to rest; I'll make it a point
to see that you do take a long vacation and rest, for you need it."
She concluded with a hug and another kiss.

"Go easy with my ears, Ruth," he