e've had a good sleep ye'll be all right. The
rest of the b'ys have gone, so the cabin'll be quiet."

"Thank you," replied Keith; "you're kind. I _do_ feel sleepy, but
there is just one thing I want to ask you about now."

"Fire away, then."

"Who is that man living down the trail?"

"What, Jim Blasco?" and Pete's face suddenly clouded.

"Yes."

"Oh, he's bughouse."

"What, crazy?"

"Yes, an' worse than crazy; he's devilish."

"He's terrible!" and Keith shivered.

"Did ye run agin 'im, laddie?"

"Yes."

"I thought mebbe ye had, an' he's death on parsons, too."

"Why, what does he have against us?"

"Laddie," and Pete laid his hand upon Keith's arm, "his heart's bad,
an' he hates what's good. Ye see sich fellers everywhar. They talk
mighty big about social rights, the welfare of the country, an' the
improvement of mankind in gineral. But I take notice that sich chaps,
as a rule, put stumblin' blocks in the way of progress. They shun a
church as if it was a pest house, an' pass on to the saloon, or places
worse'n that. They see a parson comin' down the street, an' they cross
to t'other side, as if he had smallpox. Oh, I've seen 'em, I've lived
among 'em, an' know their actions. Didn't I see several sich curs
strike a fine mission settlement a few years ago? It was as quiet an'
decent a place as ye'd wish to see, but afore them wolves left, it was
hell, yes, laddie, it was hell. An' ye should have heard the stories
they told about the missionary; they were awful. They broke his heart,
that's what they did.

"Now, Jim Blasco's one of them curs. I knowed 'im years ago, when he
was fust married. He had as sweet a lassie fer wife as ever breathed,
an' he treated her like a dog, her an' the kids. The parson thar
interfered, an' saved her from that devil, so that's why Jim hates
parsons. When the town got after 'im, he cut an' run. He came north,
an' last Fall struck this camp, half crazy. He raves an' talks about
parsons most of the time. He says that they're a meddlin' lot. He
cusses 'em like mad, an' I've seen 'im in sich a rage that I thought
he'd have an athletic fit. I guess he'll be taken outside when the
river opens, fer he ain't safe, nohow."

Keith's face flushed with anger as he listened to these words. He
thought of the man who had visited him that morning at Klassan and told
him the base lie. He and the rest knew about Blasco, and yet they sent
him to his very door over t