, at the sound of his laugh, she turned
with a swift apology to Mrs. M'Crawney.

"Please forgive me, I have no right to meddle in your concerns; but
it just makes me feel wrathful to see you throwing away the
happiness you might have, and existing in such dirt and discomfort,
when everything about you might be clean, sweet, and wholesome."

Mrs. M'Crawney dropped into a rocking-chair and laughed in great
amusement. "Sure, it is as good as going to a theaytre to see you
a-carrying on and lecturing me with the stormlight in your eyes.
You are a very pretty girl anyhow, but when you are angry it is
downright lovely that you are. I'd forgive ye for a deal more than
telling the truth, if you'd only come a bit oftener and row me."

"I say, Katherine, are you nearly ready to start?" asked Phil,
putting his head in at the door. He had been with Simon to inspect
some tame wolf cubs; but, seeing that the weather was growing more
threatening, had decided that the sooner they got away from Fort
Garry the better.

"Yes, I will be ready in two minutes," Katherine answered; and,
receiving payment for the pelts in a written order upon the
Company, which she tied in a bag round her neck for safety, she
drew on her coat, tied her hat securely on her head, and declared
herself ready to start.

A fine rain was beginning to blur the sea like a fog, and she
realized that the journey before her might be a great deal worse
than she had expected.

"Good-bye, my dear; a safe journey to you, and the best of luck
always!" exclaimed Mrs. M'Crawney, following her to the door.
Then, seizing her in a bearlike embrace, the Irishwoman whispered:
"It is downright ashamed of myself you've made me; and if I don't
do better in future, then my name is not Juliana Kathleen
M'Crawney, and never has been!"

"Good-bye! We shall get home all right; don't worry about us,"
Katherine answered bravely.

"There is one comfort: we shan't need to wash our faces any more
to-day, though we may need a little drying," remarked Phil, as they
rounded an angle of the coast and caught the full force of the wind.

"It might be worse, for we are being blown along," Katherine
replied, as she tugged at her oars and faced the driving rain.

For three hours they toiled on, working their way from point to
point, skirting the swamps, and keeping in close under the alders.

There was never real actual danger close inshore for anyone who
understood the management of a