of clothing, and relighting their pipes, were
ready to start for Fort McMurray.

It was the first ride either Indian had ever had in an automobile, but
the quick run back to the city seemed to make no impression upon them.
Leaving the taciturn Crees in the baggage car, well supplied with
sandwiches, fruit, and a half dozen bottles of ginger ale, the others
once more headed for the Zept home. In two hours the expedition would be
off.

CHAPTER VI

THE EXPEDITION STRIKES A SNAG IN EDMONTON

At three o'clock the fast express pulled out of the big depot at Calgary
on its way to Edmonton, then the northern limit of railroad transportation
on the American Continent. A part of the train was the sealed baggage car
carrying the airship. In the day coach, with their bags in their laps, and
still stolid of face, sat Moosetooth Martin and old La Biche. For the
moment their pipes reposed in their vest pockets. Each was eating an
orange. Far in the rear of the train, Colonel Howell's little expedition
was making itself comfortable in a stateroom. Somewhat to the surprise of
the younger members of the party, Mr. Zept had joined them.

The corners of the stateroom and the near-by vestibule of the car were
crammed with the personal belongings of those headed for Fort McMurray.

Even in the excitement of leaving and the farewells to the members of
their families and friends, neither Norman nor Roy failed to notice that
the young Count's face again bore the flush that did not come from
exertion. Mr. Zept's face also bore the look that the boys had come to
know, the expression that they could not fail to connect with the
indiscretions of his son.

If Colonel Howell saw these things, nothing about him indicated it.
Having divested himself of his coat, he put himself at once in charge of
the party, and was full of animation.

Within a few moments young Zept left the stateroom, without protest from
his father, and the two boys partly lost themselves in a close view of
the country through which they were passing.

"Things are changing very fast in this region," explained Mr. Zept,
motioning to the irregular hill-dotted country, in which patches of
vegetation alternated with semi-arid wastes. "See how irrigation is
bringing the green into this land. Ten years ago, for fifty miles north
of Calgary, we called this The Plains. It's all changing. It's all going
to be farms, before long. You'll be surprised, however," he continued,