lowed the departure of Blake he
did not allow himself an hour's rest from early dawn until late at
night. Each night he went to bed exhausted, with the hope that sleep
would bury his grief. The struggle wore upon him, and the faithful
MacDougall began to note the change in his comrade's face. The fourth
day Thorpe disappeared and did not show up again until the following
morning. Every hour of his absence was like the stab of a knife in
Philip's heart, for he knew that the gang-foreman had gone to see
Jeanne. Three days later the visit was repeated, and that night
MacDougall found Philip in a fever.

"You're overdoing," he told him. "You're not in bed five hours out of
the twenty-four. Cut it out, or you'll be in the hospital instead of in
the fighting line when the big show comes to town."

Days of mental agony and of physical pain followed. Neither Philip nor
MacDougall could understand the mysterious lack of developments. They
had expected attack before this, and yet ceaseless scout work brought
in no evidence of an approaching crisis. Neither could they understand
the growing disaffection among Thorpe's men. The numerical strength of
the gang dwindled from nineteen down to fifteen, from fifteen to
twelve. At last Thorpe voluntarily asked Philip to cut his salary in
two, because he could not hold his men. On that same day the little
sub-foreman and two others left him, leaving only nine men at work. The
delay in Brokaw's arrival was another puzzle to Philip. Two weeks
passed, and in that time Thorpe left camp three times. On the fifteenth
day the Fort Churchill messenger returned. He was astounded when he
found that Brokaw was not in camp, and brought amazing news. Brokaw and
his daughter had departed from Fort Churchill two days after Pierre had
followed Jeanne and Philip. They had gone in two canoes, up the
Churchill. He had seen no signs of them anywhere along the route.

No sooner had he received the news than Philip sent the messenger after
MacDougall. The Scotchman's red face stared at him blankly when he told
him what had happened.

"That's their first move in the real fight," said Philip, with a hard
ring in his voice. "They've got Brokaw. Keep your men close from this
hour on, Sandy. Hereafter let five of them sleep in our bunks during
the day, and keep them awake during the night."

Five days passed without a sign of an enemy.

About eight o'clock on the night of the sixth MacDougall came into the
of