angerous brute, because I've a feeling that he
delights in doing harm. There's something cruel about the man; getting
fired out of his profession must have warped his nature. Then there
was another point that struck me; why's he going so far to stay with
those Indians?"

"It's puzzling," Blake said thoughtfully. "He hinted that he was
interested in their superstitions, and I think there was some truth in
it. Meddling with these things seems to have a fascination for
neurotic people, and as the fellow's a sensualist he may find some form
of indulgence that wouldn't be tolerated near the settlements. All
this, however, doesn't quite seem to account for the thing."

"I've another idea," said Harding. "Clarke's known as a crank and
takes advantage of it to cover his doings. At first, I thought of the
whisky trade, but taking up prohibited liquor would hardly be worth his
while, though I daresay he has some with him to be used for gaining his
Indian friends' good will. He's on the trail of something and it's
probably minerals. What the prospector told us suggested it to me."

"You may be right. Anyway, it doesn't seem to concern us."

"Well," said Harding gravely, "I'm troubled about his leaving Benson
alone, when one could have understood his trying to take him away. The
fellow had some good reason--I wish I knew."

He rose to throw more wood upon the fire and they changed the subject.

CHAPTER XII

THE MUSKEG

It was a fortnight later when the party entered a hollow between two
low ranges. The hills receded as they progressed, the basin widened
and grew more difficult to traverse, for the ground was boggy and
thickly covered with small, rotting pines. Every here and there some
had fallen and lay in horrible tangles among pools of mire. A sluggish
creek wound through the hollow and the men had often to cross it, while
as they plodded through the morass they found their loads intolerably
heavy. Still Clarke's directions had plainly indicated this valley as
their road, and they stubbornly pushed on, camping where they could
find a dry spot.

They were generally wet to the waist and their temper began to give way
under the strain, while Blake was annoyed to find his sleep disturbed
when he lay down in damp clothes beside the fire at nights. Sometimes
he was too hot and sometimes he lay awake shivering, for hours. He
had, however, suffered from malarial fever in India without having it
badly, a