been cast on a sandy part of the coast. They knew
nothing of the other boat or its occupants, and there was reason to
believe the worst.

"I fear they are all lost," said Captain Rudstone. "The longboat was
heavily weighted and it probably capsized soon after it left the ship.
We four have had a truly marvelous escape, Mr. Carew. I judge that Miss
Hatherton owes her life to you."

"We came ashore together," I answered.

"Mr. Carew is too modest," Flora said quietly. "But for him I should
have been drowned when the boat upset. I was helpless all the time,
while he held me on the spar."

The captain looked queerly from one to the other of us, and I was afraid
he would say some awkward thing; but he merely shrugged his
shoulders, and turned to another subject.

"We might be in a worse plight," he remarked. "We are sound of limb, and
Fort York is but six miles away. And I have saved Lord Selkirk's
dispatches, which is a matter to be thankful for." He patted his breast
as he spoke. "A drying at a good fire is all they will need," he added.

After some discussion, it was decided that two of the voyageurs should
remain behind for the present and search the coast on the chance of
finding trace of the longboat and its crew. The rest of us started for
the fort, but first a rude litter was constructed on which to carry
Flora, who was too weak and bruised to walk so great a distance.

The captain, Baptiste, and I were not in much better condition, and we
were heartily glad when, after a weary tramp of under three hours, we
arrived at Fort York. This was and still is, the main trading-post of
the Hudson Bay Company. It stood close to the bay and to the mouth of
the Nelson River. It was larger than the other forts, but in every
respect like them--a fortified palisade surrounding a huddled cluster of
buildings, in which live a little colony of men, from the factor and his
assistants down to the Indian employees.

Captain Rudstone and myself were well known at the fort--we had both
been there before--and we received a cordial greeting from old friends.
We were soon provided with dry clothes and a stiff glass of liquor, and
then, little the worse for our hardships, we sat down to a plentiful
breakfast. Baptiste had fared worse than either of us. It turned out
that one of his ribs was broken, and he went straight to the hospital.
The factor's wife took charge of Flora, and I saw her no more that day.
One thing sadly marred our s