a's place attractive. The men
told how agreeably she welcomed them, making every man feel at home.
She remembered their likes and dislikes; she watched to see that their
plates were kept full.

When the table was cleared they were allowed to smoke and to play
cards. Bela was good for a bit of fun, too; nothing highty-tighty
about her. She had a clever tongue in her head. But all fair and
above-board, you understand. Lord! if any fellow got fresh he'd mighty
soon be chucked out by the others. But nobody ever tried it on--there
was something about her----A fine girl!

That was how the panegyrics always ended: "A fine girl, sir!" Every
man felt a particular gratitude to Bela. It was a place to go nights.
It combined the advantages of a home and a jolly club. Up north men
were apt to grow rusty and glum for the lack of a little amusement.

All of which evidenced a new side of Bela's character. She was coming
on. In such a favourable atmosphere she might well develop. It seemed
that she moved like a queen among her courtiers. They scrambled to do
her behests.

Poor Sam, after listening to these tales, was obliged to drive past
the house of entertainment eyes front, and cook his supper in solitude
at Grier's Point. He could no longer count on even an occasional
companion, for nowadays everybody hurried to Bela's.

The plain fact of the matter was, he suffered torments of
lonesomeness. Lying in his blankets waiting for sleep, perhaps in a
cold drizzle, in his mind's ear he could hear the sounds of merriment
in the shack three miles away. As his heart weakened, he was obliged
to batter himself harder and harder to keep up his rage against the
cause of all his troubles.

One afternoon returning from around the bay earlier than usual, in a
straight stretch of the road between the two trading posts, he saw her
coming. No mistaking that slender, skirted figure with a carriage as
proud and graceful as a blooded horse.

His heart set up a tremendous thumping. There was no way of avoiding a
meeting, unless he turned tail and fled before her. That was not to be
thought of. It was the first time they had come face to face since the
unforgettable morning in Johnny Gagnon's shack.

Sam steeled himself, and commenced to whistle. He would show her!
Exactly what he meant to show her he could not have told, but it
necessitated a jaunty air and a rollicking whistle. It was his
intention to hail her in a friendly off-hand way like any