ention of him. Purposely he
passed Quade's tent and walked to the end of the street, nodding and
looking closely at those whom he knew. It was becoming more and more
evident to him that Quade and his pals were keeping the affair of the
afternoon as quiet as possible. Stevens had heard of it. He wondered how.

Aldous retraced his steps. As though nothing had happened, he entered
Quade's place. There were a dozen men inside, and among them he recognized
three who had been there that afternoon. He nodded to them. Slim Barker was
in Quade's place behind the counter. Barker was Quade's right-hand man at
Miette, and there was a glitter in his rat-like eyes as Aldous leaned over
the glass case at one end of the counter and asked for cigars. He fumbled a
bit as he picked out half a dollar's worth from the box. His eyes met
Slim's.

"Where is Quade?" he asked casually.

Barker shrugged his shoulders.

"Busy to-night," he answered shortly. "Want to see him?"

"No, not particularly. Only--I don't want him to hold a grudge."

Barker replaced the box in the case and turned away. After lighting a cigar
Aldous went out. He was sure that Quade had not returned from the river.
Was he lying in wait for him near the cabin? The thought sent a sudden
thrill through him. In the same breath it was gone. With half a dozen men
ready to do his work, Aldous knew that Quade would not redden his own hands
or place himself in any conspicuous risk. During the next hour he visited
the places where Quade was most frequently seen. He had made up his mind to
walk over to the engineers' camp, when a small figure darted after him out
of the gloom of the trees.

It was Stevens' boy.

"Dad wants to see you down at the camp," he whispered excitedly. "He says
right away--an' for no one to see you. He said not to let any one see me.
I've been waiting for you to come out in the dark."

"Skip back and tell him I'll come," replied Aldous quickly. "Be sure you
mind what he says--and don't let any one see you!"

The boy disappeared like a rabbit. Aldous looked back, and ahead, and then
dived into the darkness after him.

A quarter of an hour later he came out on the river close to Stevens' camp.
A little nearer he saw Stevens squatted close to a smouldering fire about
which he was drying some clothes. The boy was huddled in a disconsolate
heap near him. Aldous called softly, and Stevens slowly rose and stretched
himself. The packer advanced to where he h