to him in
this wild country, for he was not used to roughing it. Suppose the
poor boy should now be lying in some lonely cabin, sick and calling for
me, or--I shudder to think of it--cold and still, with the snow his
only covering."

During this recital a vivid scene passed before Keith's mind. He saw
again the dreary Ibex cabin, the man huddled on the floor, and the
grave in the snow. That he was Kenneth Radhurst, this woman's only
brother, there could be no doubt. How could he tell her what he knew?
Would it be right to add this intense sorrow to her present trouble?
What should he do?

He arose suddenly, went to Mr. Radhurst's side, and watched him for a
short time.

"Pardon me, Miss Radhurst," he said, turning toward her. "Your father
is resting more comfortably. Please go on."

"After we had waited for some time," continued Constance, "and no word
came from Kenneth, my father became very impatient. He wished to leave
for the Yukon, not only to find my brother, but the gold mine as well.

"The lure of gold filled his mind, making him a changed man. Formerly
he took an interest in many things, such as religion, politics, social
matters, and was a great reader. All these he gradually relinquished,
and he talked of nothing but gold, and how he would obtain it. At
length he determined to follow up the quest himself. We did what we
could to turn him from the idea, but the more his trusty friends
reasoned, the more obdurate he became. Finding that nothing would
change his mind, I decided to cast in my lot with his, go with him and
take care of him as well as I could.

"We travelled by the way of St. Michael, and came to Klassan last Fall
in a fur-trading steamer. There we built a little cabin, in which we
intended to spend the winter. But the gold fever had still a terrible
grip over my poor father. Just when we were quite comfortably settled,
he had a dream, in which he saw men carrying away the gold he hoped to
obtain. I really believe his mind was somewhat unbalanced, for nothing
would do but that we must set out at once. We came this far, when,
finding it impossible to proceed farther, we took refuge in this
abandoned cabin. Here we have remained ever since, and but for the
kindness of Old Pete, and several of his companions, I verily believe
we should have frozen or starved.

"And you should have seen the considerate manner in which the kindness
was always bestowed. Sometimes they would ha