hinery and unfulfilled contracts. Thayer wanted
him to quit; his father's death had tied up the mill proper to such an
extent that it could neither be leased nor sold for a long time. But
the timber could be bought on a stumpage basis, the lake and flume
leased, and with a new mill--

"I understand the whole thing now!" There was excitement in the tone.
"They can't get this mill--on account of the way the will reads. I
can't dispose of it. But they know that with the mill out of the way,
and the whole thing a disappointment, that I should be willing to
contract my timber to them and lease the flume. Then they can go ahead
with their own plans and their own schemes. It's the lake and flume
and timber that counts, anyway; this mill's the cheapest part of it
all."

"Ah, _oui_!" The big man wagged his head in sage approval. "But it
shall not be, eh?"

Houston's lips went into a line,

"Not until the last dog dies!"

CHAPTER VIII

"Ah, _oui_!" Evidently Ba'tiste liked the expression. "Eet shall not
be until--what-you-say--the last dog, eet is dead. Come! We will go
into the forest. Ba'tiste will show you things you should know."

And to the old wagon again they went, to trail their way up the narrow
road along the bubbling, wooden flume which led from the lake, to
swerve off at the dam and turn into the hills again. Below them, the
great expanse of water ruffled and shimmered in the May sun; away off
at the far end, a log slid down a skidway, and with a booming splash
struck the water, to bury itself for a hundred feet, only to rise at
last, and bobbing, go to join others of its kind, drifting toward the
dam with the current of the stream which formed the lake. In the
smoother spaces, trout splashed; the reflections of the hills showed in
the great expanse as the light wind lessened, allowing the surface to
become glass-like, revealing also the twisted roots and dead branches
of trees long inundated in forming the big basin of water.

Evidently only a few men were working in the hills; the descent of the
logs was a thing spaced by many minutes, and the booming of the splash
struck forth into the hills to be echoed and re-echoed. Houston stared
gloomily at the skid, at the lake and the small parcel of logs drifting
there.

"All for nothing," came at last. "It takes about three logs to make
one--the way they're working."

"_Oui_! But M'sieu Houston shall learn."

Barry did not answer. He