o get
another scholastic post. She might have to give up her occupation and
although she disliked business earn a frugal living as a clerk. Her face
got hot as she remembered Mabel's statement that her rashness had given
her friends a jar; but in one sense Mabel was wrong. She had not been
rash; she knew she could trust Thirlwell and the men he hired. There was
nothing to fear from them. Still she had made a bold plunge that might
cost her much, and now the reaction had begun she felt slack and
dispirited. The plunge, however, was made; she must carry out what she
had undertaken, and it was foolish to indulge her doubts. She tried to
pull herself together and in a few minutes a man led a team out of the
hotel stable.

He leisurely harnessed the lean horses to a very dirty wagon and then
drove them across the clearing to the track, where he stopped in front
of Agatha's baggage. She noted that his skin was very brown and he had
coarse black hair. The overalls he wore were very ragged.

"Mees Strange?" he said. "Dat your truck?"

Agatha said it was, and jumping down he threw her bag and some rough
wooden boxes into the wagon. Then he climbed back up the wheel and held
out his hand.

"_Montez. Allons, en route!_"

Agatha got up with some trouble and when she sat down on a board that
crossed the vehicle he cracked his whip and the wagon, rocking wildly,
rolled away among the stumps and plunged into a narrow trail chopped out
of the bush.

"Eet is long way; we mak' breakfast by and by," he said. "Thirlwell wait
at portage. We arrive to-night, _si tout va bien_."

Agatha said nothing, but felt somewhat comforted as they jolted along
the uneven trail.

CHAPTER XXI

THE WILDERNESS

Dusk was falling and the tired horses plodded slowly past the rows of
shadowy trunks when the sound of running water came out of the gloom.
Agatha ached from the jolting and felt cramped and sleepy, but she
roused herself when a light began to flicker among the trees. The driver
urged his team, the light got brighter as the rig lurched down a rough
incline, and Agatha saw a man standing in the trail. His figure was
indistinct and she could not see his face, but she no longer felt jaded
and lonely, for she knew who he was.

"Tired?" he said in a sympathetic voice as he gave her his hand to get
down when the rig stopped in an opening. "It's a long ride from the
railroad, but after all it was better for you to make it in the day.