the whole place."

"It is not going to leak out; I'll take good care of that,"
retorted the boy, squaring his jaws. "If we say nothing about it,
who is to be any the wiser? Was there anyone here when you bought
the fish?"

"Not a soul. How very fortunate!" cried Katherine, beginning to
smile again. "It is quite bad enough to be taken in by such a
trick, but it would be simply intolerable to have other people
knowing about it and laughing at our misfortunes."

Miles nodded. This was just his own opinion, and he would have
suffered tortures if the wits of Seal Cove had been able to taunt
him about his clever sister having bought her own fish. Then he
said slowly, as if he had been giving the matter profound
consideration; "There isn't a scrap of doubt in my mind that if
Oily Dave took the fish he took the lard as well."

"Then I wish Waywassimo would steal that too!" said Katherine with
a laugh.

CHAPTER VII

Another Clue

It was fully a fortnight after this before Katherine and Miles
found any opportunity for going fishing. Then there came a day
when they had to take a load of stores up beyond the second
portage, to the house of Astor M'Kree, and they decided to bring a
load of fish back with them if possible, as the store which
Katherine had bought from Waywassimo was beginning to run low.
Their father seemed better that day, and was able to look after the
store with the help of Phil.

Katherine too was bright and lively this morning, as if there were
no dark shadow of trouble in her life. Sometimes she was fearfully
sick at heart with the remembrance of her father's confidence, and
a dread of what the summer might bring; but at other times, on days
like this, she took comfort in the ice, the snow, and the searching
cold. Winter was not nearly over yet, a hundred things might
happen before the summer came, and so her high spirits pushed the
dark shadow to one side and for a brief space forgot all about it.
She was especially blithe of heart to-day, and so had donned a
skirt of scarlet blanket cloth, which matched in hue the woollen
cloud she wrapped about her head. On other days, when her mood was
more sombre, she wore a dark-blue skirt, like the thick, fur-lined
coat which was put on every time she left the house.

"How gay you look, Katherine!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton, as her
sister came dancing into the kitchen, where she was making bread.
"But what a pity to put on that scarlet skirt if y