er sister seemed.

"Hero has just come home, and I have found tied to his neck a note
from Mary, saying that she has sprained her ankle and is lying in
one of the tide-holes beyond the fish-flakes. I must hurry down to
Seal Cove as hard as I can row, for the tide is coming in now, and
she may be in danger."

"Are there none of the portage men who could go with you to help
you?" asked Mrs. Burton.

"I may find one at Seal Cove, but there are none here. One went
down river early with Mary, the other rowed Mr. Selincourt down an
hour or more ago. I will be back as soon as I can, dear; or it may
be that Miles and Phil will get in first: but keep the store locked
until someone comes."

"Indeed I will; trust me for that!" said Mrs. Burton, dropping her
work and following Katherine to the door to see her start.

As Katherine turned back to say something, two steps from the
threshold, a coil of strong cord hung on the house wall caught her
attention, and after a moment's hesitation she reached up and took
it down. It was the identical coil of rope that she and Phil had
had in the boat that day when they came home from Fort Garry and
found Mr. Selincourt in the muskeg. It had slipped aside and been
forgotten until a day or two ago, when Katherine had found it,
scrubbed it clean of muskeg mire, and hung it up to dry in the
sunshine, and again forgotten it. She had flung on a coat, because
her blouse showed signs of the hard, dirty work she had been doing,
and had crammed a woollen cap on her head to hide the roughness of
her hair.

"Are you going to take the dog? He will only make you more work,"
said Mrs. Burton, as Hero leaped into the boat and took his place
as a complacent passenger, looking on at the work being done.

"Yes, I must. The old dog is very wise; he will guide us quickly
to where Mary is lying," Katherine said. Then she threw off the
mooring rope, rowed out to midstream, where she could get the full
advantage of the current, and then began to row down river as fast
as she could pull.

The sky was still overcast, the wind howled through the trees, and
it was so chill that she was glad of her coat, despite the vigorous
exercise which she was getting in rowing. Never had it taken so
long to get to Seal Cove, or so it seemed in her impatient haste;
and after the first half-mile the current did not help her, for the
tide was coming in fast and making itself felt.

Seal Cove appeared to be deserte