work them on certain terms,"
Challoner said. "It seems to follow that if your knowledge of the
locality is worth anything, it must belong to you alone. How is it
that nobody else suspects the belt contains oil?"

"A shrewd objection, but easily answered. The country in question is
one of the most rugged tracts in Canada--difficult to get through in
summer; in winter the man who enters it runs a serious risk. I'll
admit that what you know about me is not likely to prejudice you in my
favor; but, on your promise to keep it secret, I'll give you
information that must convince you."

"Why don't you make your offer to some company floater or stockjobber?"

Clarke smiled in a pointed manner.

"Because I've a damaging record and no friends to vouch for me. I came
here because I felt that I had some claim on you."

"You were mistaken," said Challoner curtly.

"Hear me out; try to consider my proposition on its merits. For a
number of years, I've known the existence of the oil and have tried to
prospect the country. It was difficult; to transport enough food and
tools meant a costly expedition and the attracting of undesirable
attention. I went alone, living with primitive Russian settlers and
afterward with the Indians. To gain a hold on them, I studied the
occult sciences, and learned tricks that impose upon the credulous. To
the white men I'm a crank, to the Indians something of a magician; but
my search for the oil has gone on; and now, while I already know where
boring would be commercially profitable, I'm on the brink of tapping a
remarkable flow."

"What will you do if it comes up to your expectations?" Challoner
asked, for he had grown interested in spite of his disbelief in the man.

"Turn it over to a company strong enough to exact good terms from the
American producers or, failing that, to work the wells. Then I'd go
back to London, where, with money and the standing it would buy me, I'd
take up my old profession. I believe I've kept abreast of medical
progress and could still make my mark and reinstate myself. It has
been my steadfast object ever since I became an outcast; I've schemed
and cheated to gain it, besides risking my life often in desolate
muskegs and the arctic frost. Now, I ask you to make it possible--and
you cannot refuse."

Challoner was silent for a minute or two, while Clarke smoked
impassively. The Colonel knew that he had a determined man to deal
with, and he believed, m