ts for them all, he had reserved the best and
costliest for Jessie. Yet no word of love passed his lips, no act of
his could have been interpreted as an expression of such by the most
jealous-minded. Nor had the girl any thought but of the delight of the
moments spent with him, and of the shadow his going must inevitably
leave behind.

The mother watched. She understood. And, understanding, she dreaded
more than she admitted even to herself. She felt that her child would
awaken presently to the reality, and then--what then? Would John Kars
pass on? Would he come again, and again pass on? And Murray. Murray
was always in the back of her mind.

The last day came. It was a day of labor and preparation at the
landing. Under the supervision of Kars and Bill the work went forward
to its completion, with a precision and care for detail which means
perhaps the difference between safety and disaster on the long trail.
Nothing was too small for the consideration of these men in their
understanding of the fierce wilderness which they had made their own.

Their spirits were high. It was the care-free spirit which belongs to
the real adventurer. That spirit which alone can woo and win the
smiles of the wanton gods of the wilderness. The landing was alive
with activity. Father Jose found excuse for his presence there. Even
Ailsa Mowbray detached herself from the daily routine of her labors to
watch the work going forward. Nor was there a moment when a small
crowd of the Indian converts of the Mission were not assembled in the
hope that the great white hunter might be disposed to distribute at
least a portion of tobacco by way of largesse. Murray, too, found his
way thither. And his mood seemed to have improved. Perhaps it was the
knowledge of the going of these people on the morrow which stirred his
spirits to match their own.

And Jessie? Jessie found every excuse she desired to add her presence
at the bank of the river. The day for her was all too short. For her
it was full of the excitement of departure, with the regret at the
going looming like a shadow and shutting out her sun. She concealed
nothing from herself, while her smile and happy laughter banished every
sign of all it really meant.

So the day wore on till the last of the evening light found everything
ready for the morning's departure. All stores were bestowed under
their lashed coverings, and the canoes lay deep in the water. Then
came