y.
Besides, the strangers would no doubt have something to eat--they might
even be cooking a plentiful supper. There was, however, nothing to be
seen until Blake moved a few yards to one side. Then he turned to
Benson with a cheerful laugh.

"You were right! I can see a glimmer about a mile ahead. I wonder who
the fellows are?"

They set off as fast as they could go, though traveling among the
fallen branches and the slanting trees was difficult in the dark. Now
and then they lost their beacon, but the brightening glow shone out
again, and when it was visible Blake watched it with surprise. It was
low, hardly large enough, he thought, for a fire, and it had a curious
irregular flicker. Drawing nearer, they dipped into a hollow where
they could distinguish only a faint brightness beyond the rising ground
ahead. They eagerly ascended that, and reaching the summit, they saw
the light plainly; but it was very small, and there were no figures
outlined against it. Benson shouted, and all three felt a shock of
disappointment when no answer came to them.

He ran as fast as his snowshoes would let him, smashing through brush,
floundering over snowy stories, with Blake and Harding stumbling, short
of breath, behind; and then he stopped with a hoarse cry. He stood
beside the light; there was nobody about; the blaze sprang up
mysteriously from the frozen ground.

"A blower of natural gas!" Harding exclaimed excitedly. "In a sense,
we've had our run for nothing, but this may be worth a good deal more
than your supper."

"If I had the option, I'd trade all the natural gas in Canada for a
thick, red, moose steak, and a warm place to sleep in," Benson said
savagely. "Anyway, it will help us to light our fire, and we have a
bit of whitefish and a few hard bannocks left."

Blake shared his comrade's disappointment. He was tired and hungry,
and he felt irritated by Harding's satisfaction. For all that, he
chopped wood and made camp, and their frugal supper was half eaten
before he turned to the optimistic American.

"Now," he said, "maybe you will tell us why you were so cheerful about
this gas."

"First of all," Harding answered good-humoredly, "it indicates that
there's oil somewhere about--the two generally go together. Anyway, if
there were only gas, it would be worth exploiting, so long as we found
enough of it; but judging by the pressure there's not much here."

"What would you do with gas in this wildern