ky cotton-tails scampered ahead of
them on the roadbed. The air seemed to take on a freshness that it had
lacked before, laden with sweet scents of wild grasses, perfume of
spruce and the aromatic smell of the wood mould. A wave of light crept
across the hills, stole round about and it was day.

They came slowly around a long curve and when the track straightened
out again Phil gave a whoop of satisfaction.

"Hallelujah! Miss Lawson, there's a light!" He pointed to where a
yellow dot shone steadily, close to the track.

But the girl did not reply. She swayed a moment, then went limp in his
arms.

CHAPTER XVII

DISTURBING NEWS

Magnus Thorlakson was in the habit of routing out his men early. The
Roadmaster had made no mistake when he handed the stolid Icelander the
responsibility for nine miles of the Company's line in the middle of
one of the loneliest divisions. In the discharge of his duties there
was no more conscientious section foreman in the employ of the C.L.S.
He timed his slumber by the sun and his waking hours were filled with
the roll of hand-car wheels, the ring of spike-mauls and the tamping
grate of spades.

On this particular morning the big Swede, Svenson, had polished off his
second plate of fried potatoes and was grinning in anticipation of a
third helping and another couple of fried eggs, when a startled
exclamation from the good woman of the house, and the smash of the
plate which dropped from her fingers to the floor sent her husband's
chair scraping back from the table with some suddenness. Callers whose
clothes stamped them as city people would have been sufficiently
surprising at any time to the inhabitants of that humble dwelling in
the wild country and particularly so at that early hour; but the sight
of a broad-shouldered young man in his shirt-sleeves, carrying a young
woman in his arms up the embankment to their door, was ample
justification even for the breaking of precious porcelain.

Thorlakson muttered profanity as he stared out the window. The big
Swede looked up with mild enquiry, at the same time reaching for
another slice of bread, while the other two men stopped eating
altogether and gazed expectantly at the door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Thorlakson," greeted Kendrick. "May we come in?"

The girl stood beside him, huddled in the coat, her face white and
drawn in the cold light of early morning. The woman bobbed her head in
some uncertainty, then spoke in her