boards which had obviously been
split in the nearest bluff; and the furniture was of the simplest and
rudest description. The room had, however, an air of supreme comfort
to the famishing newcomers, and after the first few minutes they found
it delightfully warm. They ate ravenously the food given them, and
afterward the agent brought Harding some warm water and examined his
leg.

"Ye'll no walk far for a while, I'm thinking," he commented. "Rest it
on the chair here and sit ye still."

Harding was glad to comply; and, lighting their pipes, the men began to
talk. Their host, who told them his name was Robertson, was a rather
hard-featured man of middle age.

"I'm all my lone; my clerk's away with the breeds at the Swan Lake," he
said. "Where are ye making for?"

"For the south," Blake answered. "We came here for shelter, badly
tired, and we want to hire a dog team and a half-breed guide, if
possible, as soon as my partner's fit to travel. Then we want
provisions."

"I'm afraid I cannot supply ye. Our stores are low--we got few fish
and caribou the year, and we have not a team to spare."

"Well," said Benson, "I don't suppose you'll turn us out, and we'd be
glad to pay for our accommodation. We have no wish to take the trail
again without food or transport."

Robertson looked thoughtful.

"Ye might wait a week or two; and then we'll maybe see better what can
be done."

He asked them a few questions about their journey, and then Harding
took the piece of gum from its case.

"I guess you have seen nothing like this round here?"

"No," said Robertson, after examining it carefully. "I have made it my
business to study the natural products o' the district, and it's my
opinion ye'll find no gum of this kind in the northern timber belt."

"I suppose you're right. Leaving furs out, if the country's rich in
anything, it's probably minerals."

"There's copper and some silver, but I've seen no ore that would pay
for working when ye consider the transport."

"I don't suppose you're anxious to encourage prospecting," Benson
suggested.

Robertson smiled.

"If there was a rich strike, we would no object. We're here to trade,
and supplying miners is no quite so chancy as dealing in furs; but to
have a crowd from the settlements disturbing our preserves and going
away after finding nothing o' value would not suit us. Still, I'm
thinking it's no likely: the distance and the winter will keep them
out."