iting his letters--until 1
A.M. this morning; and, I believe, must have remained awake himself
until it was almost light, making drawings which I have had the
pleasure of poring over, all the way across. Don't you think, madam,
that it is a mistake to work so hard, that one has never leisure for
the serene contemplation which is one of the--one of the best things in
life. Besides, people who do so, are also apt to deprive others of
their opportunities."

"Perhaps so, though I hardly think Mr. Thurston would agree with you.
For instance?" asked Millicent, finding his humor infectious, for
English Jim could gather all the men in camp about him, when half in
jest and half in earnest he began one of his discourses.

"These!" was the answer, and the speaker thrust his hand into his
jacket pocket. "If Mr. Thurston had not been of such tireless nature,
I might have found leisure to admire the beauty of this most entrancing
coast scenery, instead of puzzling over weary figures in a particularly
stuffy saloon."

He held up a large handful of papers as he spoke, glanced at them
disdainfully, and, pointing vaguely across the inlet, continued, "Is
not an hour's contemplation of such a prospect better than many days'
labor?"

Millicent laughed outright, and, because, though English Jim's voice
was even, and his accent crisp and clean, his fingers were not quite so
steady as they might have been, one of the papers fluttered, unnoticed
by either of them, to her feet.

"I feel tempted to agree with you," Millicent rejoined, wishing that
she need not press on to the main point, for English Jim promised to
afford the sort of entertainment which she enjoyed. "But a man of your
frame of mind must find scanty opportunity for considering such
questions among the mountains."

"That is so," was the rueful answer. "We commence our toil at
daybreak, and too often continue until midnight. There are times when
the monotony jars upon a sensitive mind, as the camp cooking does upon
a sensitive palate. But our chief never expects more from us than he
will do himself, and is generous in rewarding meritorious service."

"So I should suppose," commented Millicent. "Knowing this, you will
all be very loyal to him?"

"Every one of us!" The loyalty of English Jim, who gracefully ignored
the inference and fell into the trap, was evident enough. "Of course,
we do not always approve of being tired to death, but where our chief
considers i