d Agatha saw Wyllard
start as a man came into the room. He was a little, thick-set man with a
seamed and tanned face. He was dressed in rather old blue serge, and he
walked as if he were a seaman.

The stranger stood still, looking about him, and Wyllard's lips set
tight. A thrill of apprehension ran through Agatha, for she felt that
she knew what this stranger's errand must be.

Wyllard rose and walked towards the man with outstretched hand.

"Sit right down and have some supper. You'll want it if you have ridden
in from the railroad," he said. "We'll talk afterwards."

The stranger nodded. "I'm from Vancouver," he announced, "had quite a
lot of trouble tracing you."

He sat down, and Wyllard, who sent a man out to take the newcomer's
horse, went back to his seat, but he was very quiet during the remainder
of the meal. When supper was finished he asked Mrs. Hastings to excuse
him, and leading the stranger into a smaller room, pulled out two chairs
and laid a cigar on the table.

"Now you can get ahead," he said laconically.

The seaman fumbled in his pocket, and taking out a slip of wood handed
it to his companion.

"That's what I came to bring you," he remarked.

Wyllard's eyes grew grave as he gazed at the thing. It was a slip of
willow which grows close up to the limits of eternal ice, and it bore a
rude representation of the British ensign union down, which signifies
"In distress." Besides this there were one or two indecipherable words
scratched on it, and three common names rather more clearly cut. Wyllard
recognized every one of them.

"How did you get it?" he asked, in tense suspense.

The seaman once more felt in his pocket and took out a piece of paper
cut from a chart. He flattened the paper out on the table, and it
showed, as Wyllard had expected, a strip of the Kamtchatkan coast.

"I guess I needn't tell you where that is," the seaman said, as he
pointed to the parallel of latitude that ran across it. "Dunton gave it
to me. He was up there late last season well over on the western side. A
northeasterly gale fell on them, and took most of the foremast out of
their ship. I understand they tried to lash on a boom or something as a
jury mast, but it hadn't height enough to set much forward canvas, and
that being the case she wouldn't bear more than a three-reefed mainsail.
Anyway, they couldn't do anything with her on the wind, and as it kept
heading them from the east she sidled away down south