th Slim Buck beside her. Jolly Roger did not move, but watched
as Yellow Bird and her husband went down to the edge of the lake, and
stood there, waiting for the strange canoe to pass--or come in. It was
approaching. Slowly it came up, an indistinct shadow at first, but
growing clearer, until at last he could see the silhouette of it
against the star-silvered water beyond. There were two people in it.
Before the canoe reached the shore Slim Buck stood out knee-deep in the
water and hailed it.

A voice answered. And at the sound of that voice McKay dropped like a
shot beside Peter, and Peter's lips curled up, and he snarled. His
master's hand warned him, and together they slipped back into the
shadows, and from under a piece of canvas Jolly Roger dragged forth his
pack, and quietly strapped it over his shoulders while he waited and
listened.

And then, as he heard the voice again, he grinned, and chuckled softly.

"It's Cassidy, _Pied-Bot_! We can't lose that redheaded fox, can we?"

A good humored deviltry lay in his eyes, and Peter--looking up--thought
for a moment his master was laughing. Then Jolly Roger made a megaphone
of his hands, and called very clearly out into the night.

"Ho, Cassidy! Is that you, Cassidy?"

Peter's heart was choking him as he listened. He sensed a terrific
danger. There was no sound at the edge of the lake. There was no sound
anywhere. For a few moments a death-like stillness followed Jolly
Roger's words.

Then a voice came in answer, each word cutting the gloom with the
decisive clearness of a bullet coming from a gun.

"Yes, this is Cassidy--Corporal Terence Cassidy, of 'M' Division, Royal
Northwest Mounted Police. Is that you, McKay?"

"Yes, it's me," replied Jolly Roger. "Does the wager still hold,
Cassidy?"

"It holds."

There was a shadowy movement on the beach. The voice came again.

"Watch yourself, McKay. If I see you I shall fire!"

With drawn gun Cassidy rushed toward the spot where Jolly Roger and
Peter had stood. It was empty now, except for the bit of old canvas.
Cassidy's Indian came up and stood behind him, and for many minutes
they listened for the crackling of brush. Slim Buck joined them, and
last came Yellow Bird, her dark eyes glowing like pools of fire in
their excitement. Cassidy looked at her, marveling at her beauty, and
suspicious of something that was in her face. He went back to the
beach. There he caught himself short, astonishment bringing a shar