d his companion while he ate. Crestwick
had changed since he left England; his face was thinner, and the hint of
sensuality and empty self-assurance had faded out of it. His eyes were
less bold, but they were steadier; and, sitting in the firelight, clad in
dilapidated furs, he looked somehow more refined than he had done in
evening dress in Marple's billiard-room. When he spoke, as he did at
intervals, the confident tone which had once characterized him was no
longer evident. He had learned to place a juster estimate upon his value
in the icy North.

"I was uncommonly glad to see the fire," he said at length. "Another mile
or two would have beaten me; though I spent nearly twice as long in
coming up from the Forks as the prospectors said it would take. I was
going light, too."

"They've been doing this kind of thing most of their lives. You couldn't
expect to equal them. Where did you sleep last night?"

"In some withered stuff among a clump of willows; I scraped the snow off
it. That is, I lay down there, but as the fire wouldn't burn well, I
don't think I got much rest. Part of the time I wondered what I was
staying in this country for. I didn't seem to find any sensible answer."

"You could get out of it when the freighters go down with the dogs and
sledges," Lisle suggested. "It would be a good deal more comfortable at
Marple's, for instance."

"Do you want to get rid of me? I suppose I'm not much help."

"Oh, no!" Lisle assured him. "It only struck me that you might find the
novelty of the experience wearing off. Besides, you're improving; in a
year or two you'll make quite a reliable prospector's packer."

"That's something," replied Crestwick, grinning. "Not long ago I thought
I'd make a sportsman; one of Gladwyne's kind. The ambition doesn't so
much appeal to me now. But I want to be rather more than a looker-on.
Can't you let me put something into one of these claims?"

"Not a cent! In the first place, you'd have some trouble in raising the
money; in the second, I might be accused of playing Batley's game."

"The last's ridiculous. But if I'm not to do anything, it brings me back
to the question--why am I staying here?"

"I can't tell you that. I'll only suggest that if you hold out until you
come into your property, you'll go back much more fit in several ways to
look after it. I should imagine you'd find less occasion to emulate
people like Batley and Gladwyne then. Of course, I don't know if that'