dred
fierce and half-starved dogs of the "husky" type. Imagine a stench of
dung fire cooking, and the gathering of millions of mosquitoes about a
few choyeuses and fat cattle grazing near by, and the picture as it
first presents itself is complete.

The approach to such a place makes one almost wish the undulating
prairie was not quite so fair a picture, for the contrast with man's
filthy squalor is so great that the feeling of nauseation which results
is almost overpowering. Horrocks, however, was used to such scenes. His
duty often took him into worse Breed camps than this. He treated such
places to a perfectly callous indifference, and regarded them merely as
necessary evils.

At the first shack he drew up and instantly became the center of
attention from a pack of yelping dogs and a number of half-fearful,
wide-eyed ragamuffins, grimy children nearly naked and ranging in age
from two years up to twelve. Young as the latter were they were an
evil-looking collection. The noisy greeting of the camp dogs had aroused
the elders from their indolent repose within the shacks, and Horrocks
quickly became aware of a furtive spying within the darkened doorways
and paneless windows.

The reception was nothing unusual to the officer. The Breeds he knew
always fought shy of the police. As a rule, such a visit as the present
portended an arrest, and they were never quite sure who the victim was
to be and the possible consequences. Crime was so common amongst these
people that in nearly every family it was possible to find one or more
law-breakers and, more often than not, the delinquent was liable to
capital punishment.

Ignoring his cool reception, Horrocks hitched his horse to a tree and
stepped up to the shack, regardless of the vicious snapping of the dogs.
The children fled precipitately at his approach. At the door of the
house he halted.

"Hallo there, within!" he called.

There was a moment's pause, and he heard a whispered debate going on in
the shadowy interior.

"Hey!" he called again. "Get a hustle on, some of you. Get out," he
snapped sharply, as a great husky, with bristling hair, came snuffing at
his legs. He aimed a kick at the dog, which, in response, sullenly
retreated to a safe distance.

The angry tone of his second summons had its effect, and a figure moved
cautiously within and finally approached the door.

"Eh! what is it?" asked a deep, guttural voice, and a bulky form framed
itself in the open