surprise that she studied the
others with amused curiosity. Looking down he met her twinkling glance
and thought it something like a challenge. His embarrassment got worse.
One could not talk because of the noise and to shout was ridiculous. He
must stand in a cramped pose and try not to fall against Ruth when the
cars rocked. He admitted that his proper background was the rude
construction camp, and it was something of a relief when they rolled
into Winnipeg.

Duveen's car was at the station, and Ruth stopped for a moment before
she got on board.

"You start on Monday and we will be out of town to-morrow. I wish you
good luck."

Lister thanked her, and when she got into the car she gave him a curious
smile. "I think I liked you better in the woods," she said, and the car
rolled off.

CHAPTER VII

LISTER'S DISSATISFACTION

Soon after his return from Winnipeg, Lister stood one evening by a
length of track planned to cut out an awkward curve. The new line ran
into a muskeg that sucked down brush and logs and the loads of numerous
gravel trains. Angry foremen declared one could not fill up the bog, and
Lister knew the heads of the construction office grumbled about the
delay. He was tired, for he had been strenuously occupied since morning,
but could not persuade himself that the work had made much progress.

Small trees lay in tangled rows about the fresh gravel; farther back,
the standing bush ran in a broken line against the fading light. In
front, thin mist drifted across the muskeg where slender trunks rose
from the quaking mud. Not far off a high, wooden trestle carried the
rails across a ravine. The bridge would presently be rebuilt with steel,
but in the meantime the frame was open and the gaps between the ties
were wide.

It was getting dark and noisy blast-lamps threw up pillars of white
fire. The line had sunk in the afternoon and it was necessary to lift
the rails and fill up the subsidence before the next gravel train
arrived. Lister was angry and puzzled, for he had pushed the road-bed
across to near the other side, but the rails had not sunk in the new
belt but in ground over which the trains had run.

By and by a man joined him and remarked: "The boys have got the ties up,
but I reckon they won't fix the track for three or four hours. Looks as
if the blamed muskeg was going to beat us."

"She can't beat us," Lister rejoined impatiently. "The trouble is,
hauling the stuff she swallows runs