elts and six skins of soft silver-gray, alone worth
well over a thousand dollars, even at the low prices of the far north,
the eyes of Gillies and Angus McCain bulged in amazement. Cross fox,
shading from the black of the back and shoulder to rich mahogany,
followed; dark sheeny marten--the Hudson's Bay sable of commerce--and
thick gray pelts of the fisher. Otter, lynx and mink made up the balance
of the fur.

"Great Scott! the Salmon headwaters must be alive with fur!" exclaimed
Gillies examining the skins, "and most of them are prime."

"Dere ees much fur een dat country," laughed Jean, "eef de Windigo don'
ketch you, eh, Michel?"

Michel, proud of his part in so successful a winter and in having
bearded the demons of the Salmon in their dens and lived to tell the
tale, blushed at the memory of the snowy owl.

"This is the largest catch of fur traded in my time at Whale River,
Jean," said Gillies. "What are you going to do with all your credit? You
can't use it on yourself; you'll have to get married and build a shack
here."

Blood darkened the bronzed face, but Marcel made no reply.

He had indeed wrung a handsome toll from the haunted hills, which,
tabooed by Cree trappers for generations, were tracked by the padded
feet of countless fur-bearers. After allowing Michel a generous interest
in the fur, Marcel found that he had increased his credit at the post
by over two thousand dollars, giving him in all a trade credit of
twenty-six hundred dollars with the Company. He could in truth afford to
marry and build a shack if he were made a Company servant, but the
girl----Then he heard Gillies' voice.

"Jean, I want you and Angus to go up to the Komaluk Islands with a York
boat. The whalers are getting the Husky trade which we ought to have.
They will ruin them with whiskey."

"Ver' well, M'sieu!"

Marcel drew a breath of relief. If she were not already married, he
would be only too glad to go north--to be spared seeing Julie Breton
made the wife of Wallace. Then, at last, Jules appeared.

After the customary hug, Jean drew the big head man outside, demanding
in French:

"Is she here still? They were not married at Christmas? When do they
marry?"

Jules shook his head. "A letter came by the Christmas mail. By the
Company he was ordered at once to Winnipeg. He is there now and will not
come this summer."

"And Julie, is she well?"

"Yes."

"When, then, will they marry?"

Jules shrugged his great shou