aged Officer Whipped Out A Revolver

"Did This Come From About Here?"

Others Fell On The New-Comers With Their Fists

Livid With Rage, The Frenchman Whipped Out An
Ugly-Looking Knife

A Solitary Figure Stood On The Chest Of A Bald Headland

"Yim"

"My Name Is Watson Balfour"

He Reached A Point From Which He Could Look Beyond The Barrier

"My Dear Boy, You Have Done Splendidly"

UNDER THE GREAT BEAR.

CHAPTER I.

GRADUATION: BUT WHAT NEXT?

"Heigh-ho! I wonder what comes next?" sighed Cabot Grant as he tumbled
wearily into bed.

The day just ended marked the close of a most important era in his
life; for on it he had been graduated from the Technical Institute, in
which he had studied his chosen profession, and the coveted sheepskin
that entitled him to sign M.E. in capital letters after his name had
been in his possession but a few hours.

Although Cabot came of an old New England family, and had been given
every educational advantage, he had not graduated with honours, having,
in fact, barely scraped through his final examination. He had devoted
altogether too much time to athletics, and to the congenial task of
acquiring popularity, to have much left for study. Therefore, while it
had been pleasant to be one of the best-liked fellows in the Institute,
captain of its football team, and a leading figure in the festivities
of the day just ended, now that it was all over our lad was regretting
that he had not made a still better use of his opportunities.

A number of his classmates had already been offered fine positions in
the business world now looming so ominously close before him. Little
pale-faced Dick Chandler, for instance, was to start at once for South
Africa, in the interests of a wealthy corporation. Ned Burnett was to
be assistant engineer of a famous copper mine; a world-renowned
electrical company had secured the services of Smith Redfield, and so
on through a dozen names, no one of which was as well known as his, but
all outranking it on the graduate list of that day.

Cabot had often heard that the career of Institute students was closely
watched by individuals, firms, and corporations in need of young men
for responsible positions, and had more than once resolved to graduate
with a rank that should attract the attention of such persons. But
there had been so much to do besides study that had seemed more
important at the time, that he had allowed day after day to slip