d.

"I want nowt fra you. You can give your job to them as will ca' you
maister," Shanks rejoined and went off.

"A sullen hog!" Jake remarked. "I'd like to know when he or the old
man moved the wire."

"So would I. It's rather important," said Jim. "If he was hanging
about and came for the thing as soon as the car took the ditch, he
probably saw me under the wheel and meant to leave me there. How long
were you in making the spot after you heard the smash?"

"Perhaps five minutes. Mordaunt's car was at the steps and we jumped
on board while he started her."

"If you had lost much time, I imagine you'd have found me dead."

"Then why did you offer Shanks a job?"

Jim smiled. "In order to have him where he could be watched. A fellow
like that is dangerous when he's out of sight."

"Shanks and his son are bad men," Jake agreed. "We have sand-baggers
and gun-men in Canada, but they get after you for money and their
methods are up to date. Shanks' savageness is half-instinctive, like
the Indian's. I can't, so to speak, locate him; he goes too far back."

Jim got up. "It's not important just now. Tell the teamster to bring
his horses and we'll get busy."

CHAPTER VIII

JIM'S RELAPSE

Jim made progress at the dyke until it began to rain. For some weeks a
strong west wind drove dark clouds across the sea, the hills were
wrapped in mist, the creeks swelled and the tides rose high. Floods
spread about the marsh and the floundering teams could hardly drag
their loads through the bog. Sometimes Jim felt anxious, for the
undertaking threatened to cost much more than he had thought.

Then came two fine days when, although the sun shone, heavy clouds
rolled about the hills. Jim, knowing the fine weather would not last,
drove his men hard, since there was work he must push forward before
the next flood. The new bank had reached a creek where he must build a
strong sluice-gate and hold back the water by a rude coffer-dam while
he dug for the foundation.

He came up from the dam one afternoon and stood on the slope of the
bank, looking down into the hole. His long boots, shirt, and trousers
were stained by mud that had also splashed his face and hands; for
since the work was risky he had helped the men. Now he was rather
highly-strung. Below him, the water spirited [Transcriber's note:
spurted?] through the joints in a wall of thick planks and ran into the
excavation, where a few men, sunk nea