ppened up and
down the coast when men were drowned or lost in the ice or met with
fatal injuries. But never before in the Bay had one man been cut down
by the hand of another. It was a ghastly thought, and the awfulness of
it was perhaps accentuated by the snow dashing against the window
panes and the wind shrieking around the gables of the cabin.

It was near ten o'clock, long past their usual bedtime, and they were
still talking, for there was matter enough in their brains to banish
sleep, when the door suddenly opened and accompanied by the howl of
the wind a snow-covered figure lurched in upon them.

CHAPTER XXII

THE IMMUTABLE LAW OF GOD

"Peter! 'Tis Peter Sparks!" exclaimed Andy with vast relief to find it
was not a murderous lumberman.

"I'm comin' after Doctor Joe!" gasped Peter, as half frozen he drew
off his snow-caked netsek.

"Me rub your nose, Peter. She's froze, and your cheeks too," broke in
Andy, vigorously rubbing Peter's whitened nose and cheeks.

Peter was silent perforce while Andy manipulated the frosted parts
until circulation and colour were restored.

"Come to the fire now and warm up," directed Andy. "What you wantin'
of Doctor Joe?"

"There's been murder done, or clost to un!" Peter, at last free to
articulate, continued. "Murder at the lumber camp!"

"Murder!" repeated Jamie, awesomely.

"Aye, nigh to murder whatever!" Peter reiterated.

"Doctor Joe's gone to the Post," said Andy. "Eli Horn came for he. Two
of the lumber folk most killed another of un over there. Davy took
Doctor Joe over."

"And two of un most killed the boss at the camp," explained Peter.
"They comes there from the Post about six o'clock and were packin' a
flatsled with things. The boss asks un where they's goin'. They
answers some way that makes he mad, and he hits one of un. Then they
jumps at he and pounds and kicks he till he's like dead, and he don't
come to again. The two men has rifles and they keeps all the lumbermen
back, and off they goes with the flatsled, and they gets away."

"Will the boss die then?" asked Jamie in horror.

"With Doctor Joe gone he'll sure be dyin'," declared Peter
desperately. "His arm is broke and he's broke somewhere inside, and
his face is awful to look at, all pounded and kicked and bleedin'. Me
and Lige goes up to sit a bit and hear un tell their stories, and we
gets there just after the two men gets away. With Doctor Joe's
teachin' we fixes the boss up the be