n this piece and get his
saw-logs. It's government property; and all you have to do is, to put
you up a cabin, and go ahead, and if Smith kicks up a fuss, jist send
him to me."

This revelation of duplicity on the part of Mr. Smith took the
minister by surprise. It was evident that the location would be as
advantageous for him as his plain-spoken guide had represented. It was
defrauding the government for Smith to hold it as he did; and should
he, in a legal way, take possession, no one could accuse him of wrong.
But he had not come out on the frontier to promote his worldly
interests; and he said to the hunter,--

"What you say is all right, I have no doubt, Mr. Jones; but it is not
land that I want so much as to do good among this people; and I should
not wish to do anything that would cause ill feeling."

"Just as I expected," said the squatter, with a disappointed air; "and
I rather think you belong to the kingdom that is not of this world.
But you are stopping at Edmunds's--aren't you? Well, it's only a short
piece to his cabin, and I must take the team back; but"--after
thinking a moment--"if you'll take the dam on your way, you'll find
Palmer there. He's a Christian, if there is one in these parts; and
you can depend on him; and if you choose to talk with him a bit about
this eighty-acre lot, there won't be any harm done."

The minister thanked the squatter for his services, the latter saying,
as he drove off,--

"Call on me agin, if you want anything in my line."

As the missionary passed towards the dam, he saw the surveyors at
work, dividing the town site into lots; and he paused to notice again
the location. The underbrush had been carefully removed, and the
cleared space--bounded on one hand by the river, and on the other by
the forest, while farther away from each side stretched the smooth
prairie--looked as if nature had intended it as a business centre.

"How do you like our town plot?" said a voice at his side.

"It is charming!" exclaimed the preacher; and, turning, he saw Mr.
Palmer.

He was a medium-sized man, in shirt sleeves and blue overalls, with an
old black silk hat on, which, from its bent appearance, gave one the
idea that it had on occasions been used for a seat as well as a
covering. The keen blue eyes under it, and the general contour of the
face, ending in a smoothly-shaven chin, revealed a hard-working,
frugal, money-saving character, yet honest, sincere, and unselfish. He
was