njunctions to keep aloof from the McLeods,
and at the same time to keep an eye on them. Francois Le Rue will
accompany me. I shall start immediately, therefore be pleased to go and
tell Le Rue to get himself and the sleigh ready while I put on my
travelling gear."

Obedient to the order, Smart left the room while his superior clothed
himself in a leathern coat and leggings, fur cap, moccasins, and
mittens.

In half an hour Redding and his man stepped into a sleigh, which was
barely large enough to hold them. They packed themselves up to the
armpits in bearskin rugs, and then Redding gave his rough little nag a
touch of the whip, which caused him to start forward with a jerk that
set all the bells on his harness ringing merrily. Another minute and
they dashed out at the gate, swept round the base of the beetling cliff
that frowned above the outpost, and entered the sombre shadow of the
forest.

CHAPTER TWO.

THE RECLUSE OF BOULDER CREEK.

The road along which the travellers proceeded was desolate and dreary in
the extreme.

Already darkened by clouds and snow-drift, it was rendered still more
gloomy by overhanging and snow-laden branches of stunted pines. It was
just broad enough to permit the passage of a single vehicle, being a
mere woodman's track, which had been extended beyond the ordinary limits
of such tracks, for his personal convenience, by Jonas Bellew, a trapper
who dwelt at that part of the coast already mentioned as Boulder Creek.
The track followed the windings of a streamlet which was at that time
covered with snow, and only distinguishable by the absence of bushes
along its course. It turned now to the right, now to the left, as
rocks, or mounds, or cliffs presented obstacles. In some places it
dived precipitately into a hollow that necessitated careful driving; in
others it ran straight up to the brow of a hill at an angle that obliged
the travellers not only to get out and walk, but also to aid their
panting pony by putting their shoulders to the back of the sleigh. Here
and there a level patch occurred over which they trotted briskly, and
then down they went again by a steep incline into the bed of an
ice-buried stream, to find a similarly steep ascent on the other side.
Occasionally, coming to a wall-like cliff surrounded by a tangled and
trackless forest, they were forced to seek the shores of the sea, and
there, among rocks and ice-drift, pick their way slowly along.

Fortunate