from the
speaker.

"I woke him in the stable, and told him what had happened. Bit by bit I
got out of him what he'd done. And then I said to him, 'Now
choose!--either you go, or we. After the funeral, the boys and I have
done with you. You can't force us to go on living with you. We will kill
ourselves first. Either you stay here, and we go into Winnipeg; or you
can sell the stock, take the money, and go. We'll work the farm.' He
swore at me, but I told him he'd find we'd made up our minds. And a week
later, he disappeared. He had sold the stock, and left us the burnt
walls and the land."

"And you've never seen him since?"

"Never."

"You believe him dead?"

"I know that he died--in the first Yukon rush of ten years ago. I
tracked him there, shortly afterwards. He was probably killed in a
scuffle with some miners as drunken as himself."

There was a silence, which he broke very humbly.

"Do you forgive me? I know I am not sane on this point. I believe I have
spoilt your day."

She looked up, her eyes swimming in tears, and held out her hand.

"It's nothing, you know," she said, trying to smile--"in our case.
Philip is such a baby."

"I know; but look after him!" he said earnestly, as he grasped it.

The trees thinned, and voices approached. They emerged from the forest,
and found themselves hailed by the Chief Justice.

The journey up the pass was even more wonderful than the journey down.
Sunset lights lay on the forests, on the glorious lonely mountains, and
on the valley of the Yoho, roadless and houseless now, but soon to be as
famous through the world as Grindelwald or Chamounix. They dismounted
and explored the great camps of workmen in the pass; they watched the
boiling of the stream, which had carved the path of the railway; they
gathered white dogwood, and yellow snow-lilies, and red painter's-brush.

Elizabeth and Anderson hardly spoke to each other. She talked a great
deal with Delaine, and Mariette held a somewhat acid dispute with her on
modern French books--Loti, Anatole France, Zola--authors whom his
soul loathed.

But the day had forged a lasting bond between Anderson and Elizabeth,
and they knew it.

* * * * *

The night rose clear and cold, with stars shining on the snow. Delaine,
who with Anderson had found quarters in one of Laggan's handful of
houses, went out to stroll and smoke alone, before turning into bed. He
walked along the railway line to