l, considerably," he
answered non-committally.

"A dollar an acre?"

"Two of them."

A brief silence ensued, during which Wentworth was conscious that the
eyes of the other were upon him. "Seven dollars an acre," he said.
"Pretty high, isn't it, when you consider the inaccessibility to your
markets?"

Cameron laughed. "Inaccessibility to markets don't seem to be worrying
McNabb any. Bringing his paper mills into the woods seems to have
solved that problem. I was talking to the engineer in charge of his
road construction day before yesterday----"

"Engineer in charge of road construction!" exclaimed Wentworth. "What
road construction--where?"

"Why, north of here. You knew he was building a tote-road, didn't you?
I followed the blazed trail clear down to the rapids of the Shamattawa.
And he's pushing it, too--got twenty-five or thirty miles of it ready
for traffic."

"No--I didn't know he had begun construction," admitted Wentworth. "I
knew there was to be a road--laid it out myself. But I did not know
that the work had started."

"Well, it has, and we may as well conclude out business."

"But the options do not expire until noon of July first."

"No, but what is to be gained by waiting here until the last minute?
He intends to close the deal, so why not get at it? I suppose you were
provided with the necessary funds to make the initial payment?"

Wentworth shook his head. "No," he answered. "In fact I have nothing
whatever to do with the transaction. I am an engineer sent up here to
locate the mill site, lay out the tote-road, and incidentally, to make
a survey of additional pulp-wood holdings. I am surprised to hear that
McNabb has begun construction of the road."

Cameron stared at the man in astonishment. "What do you mean?" he
asked, "that McNabb has added the expense of road construction to the
money he put into the options, without making provision for acquiring
title to the property? That does not sound like McNabb--what I've
heard of him."

"He has until noon of the first," reminded Wentworth.

"Yes, but where is he? He knows the North, and the hundred-an'-one
things that can happen to upset a schedule. If I had as much invested
in this thing as he has, you may believe I would have been here with
plenty of time to spare."

Wentworth nodded. "So would I. But in case he does not show up, what
then? The first man that offers seven dollars an acre, and is prepared
to make a s