pire till sometime in the summer. Why didn't he come
himself?"

It was a long story Hedin unfolded as he and Murchison sat late over
their pipes beside the roaring stove in the long, low trading room.
The factor puffed in silence without once interrupting until the
younger man had finished.

"So John is really goin' to build a paper mill up here? But why did
John hire this Wentworth if he figured he couldn't trust him, an' why
did he have ye under arrest an' bail ye out? Unless----"

The old factor paused and puffed at his pipe the while his eyes were
fixed upon the deep shadows at the far corner.

"Unless what?" asked Hedin eagerly. "I thought, at first, that he
believed me guilty of stealing the coat," he went on when Murchison
didn't answer. "I know now that he didn't, but when I asked him the
reason for my arrest, he only laughed and said that it was all part of
the game." Then the younger man's voice dropped, and Murchison noted
that the look of eagerness had faded from his face. "As to the hiring
of Wentworth," continued Hedin, "that is another matter."

The factor rose slowly and, crossing to the door, opened it and hastily
closed it again as a swirl of fine snow-powder enveloped him. Hedin
caught the muffled roar of the wind, and in the draught of cold air
that swept the room, the big swinging lamp flared smokily. Murchison
returned to his chair and filled his pipe. "How's John's daughter
comin' along?" he asked between puffs of blue smoke.

"Why, Miss McNabb is very well, I believe," answered Hedin, a bit
awkwardly. "You were right about that storm," Hedin hastened to change
the subject. "I'm mighty glad we made Gods Lake to-day, or we would
have been held up for the Lord knows how long."

Murchison suppressed a smile, and hunched his chair a bit nearer the
stove. "When all's said an' done then, the case stands about like
this. This engineer will be along in a few days to begin work locatin'
the power dam, an' lookin' up more pulpwood. John believes that
Wentworth will let the options expire, an' then swing the stuff over to
this man Orcutt an' his crowd--an he's sent you up to block the game."

Hedin nodded. "That's it."

"You're my clerk, an' your name's Sven Larson--that's a good
Scandinavian name--an' you don't know nothin' about pulp-wood, nor
options. I guess it would be best if we could put him up right here.
We could be watchin' him all the while without seemin' to."

"I won