ig contractors. Did they hire somebody to stop you?"

"It looks like that, but I imagine Martin's playing straight and he
declared the Cartner people wouldn't use a crooked plan."

"Then who did try to stop you?"

Jim shrugged and his face got hard. "I don't know yet. We must wait."

"Very well," said Jake. "We'll trust our luck and hold on while we
can, although I expect it won't be very long."

Jim did not answer. He was tired and now the reaction from the strain
had begun, was glad to indulge his bodily and mental lassitude. The
springy branches on which he lay were comfortable and the camp, with
the red firelight flickering on the trunks and Carrie sitting by the
hearth-logs, had a curious charm. She, so to speak, dominated the
tranquil picture and gave her rude surroundings a homelike touch. On
other expeditions, when Carrie was not there, Jim had thought about his
camp as a place at which one slept. Now it was something else; a place
from which one drew strength and cheerfulness. There was something
strangely intimate about it; he was glad to get back.

CHAPTER XI

A CONFIDENTIAL TALK

Shortly after Jim's return, a prospector stopped one evening at the
camp.

"There was some mail for you at the settlement, and as I figured on
using your line to get into the bush I brought the packet along," he
said.

Carrie gave him supper and when he joined the other men Jim opened the
packet. In the evening they had leisure for rest and talk, and after
the strain and bustle of the day, Jim enjoyed the quiet hour. The air
got sharp when the sun sank, the fire they gathered round drove back
the creeping shadows, and the pungent smoke kept the mosquitoes off.
Sometimes he bantered Carrie and sometimes lounged in contented
quietness, watching her while she sewed. Carrie was generally occupied.

"How is your mother getting on?" he asked when she put down the letter
he had given her.

Carrie smiled. "She is getting on very well. My cousin keeps store
satisfactorily, and I don't know if I'm pleased or not. It's nice to
feel you're wanted and people miss you when you're gone."

"If there's much comfort in the thought, you are certainly wanted here."

"The trouble is, one's friends often say what they think one would like
to know," Carrie rejoined. "I'm not sure I'd have minded much if
mother had owned that Belle breaks things and sometimes forgets how
many cents go to the dollar when she makes up