uaw?"

"Ha, ha. No, not this time; they're too d-- scarce."

"Well, what did you find, man? Don't be so mysterious."

"I found this," and Pritchen drew from beneath his buckskin jacket a
small book, which had been kept in place by his leathern belt. "Look,"
he said, holding it up to view, "isn't that a find! 'Robert Browning's
Selected Poems,' that's what it is."

"Oh, is that all," replied one in disgust. "Deal the cards, Tim, and
let's have another game."

"No, it's not all by a d-- sight," and Pritchen helped himself to
another plateful of beans. "But then if you fellows don't want to hear
the rest, it's all right; it'll keep."

"Come, Bill," coaxed Perdue, "never mind Missouri; all he thinks about
is cards. Let's have yer yarn."

"Well, what would you think if you found a book like that miles from
nowhere?" replied Pritchen, who was most anxious to tell his story.

"'Tis queer, when ye come to think of it," soliloquized Perdue with a
characteristic nod of the head. "It's very much out of the ordinary, I
should say."

"And suppose you were out hunting," went on Pritchen, "and, reaching
the Ibex cabin late at night, found the place looking as if hell had
been let loose, and this book lying on the floor, what would you think?
You'd wonder a d-- lot, wouldn't you?"

"Sure," assented Perdue.

"And suppose in the morning, being somewhat suspicious, you nosed
around a bit outside, and found a steep rock with two letters and a
cross cut upon it, you would wonder some more, wouldn't you?"

"Y'bet," broke in Missouri, who had forgotten his cards in the story.

"Then when you saw wolf tracks on every hand, the snow all dug up at
the foot of the rock, torn pieces of clothes lying around, and other
things too terrible to mention, you would feel very sick, wouldn't you?"

"My God, yes!" exclaimed the men. "Did you find all that, and where?"

"And what would you think," continued Pritchen, thoroughly enjoying the
sensation he was causing, "if the man responsible for it all came to
Klassan and never said a word about it to any one?"

"That it looked mighty suspicious," replied Perdue. "But is there any
one here who knows about the matter?"

"Maybe this'll tell the tale," and Pritchen opened the book he was
holding in his hand. "See, look for yourselves; there's something to
think over."

"Read it, Bill; let's have it, quick."

Holding the volume to the flickering candle light, Pritchen read the
fo