silver fox pelt to the appreciative
eyes of the Indians.

He gave an exclamation of horror, and standing up held in his hand the
empty bag in which he had kept the pelt. Then he wildly rummaged to the
very bottom of the chest, and finally cried out:

"'Tis gone! The silver's gone!"

Madly he looked through the chest again, throwing out every pelt and
every article it contained, but the pelt was not there.

FOOTNOTES:
[12] Hudson's Bay Company.
[13] The Beaver.
[14] Dried.

XXIV

THE VENGEANCE OF THE PACK

Marks was well satisfied with his day's work. He had gone to Double Up
Cove for the silver fox pelt, and he had it. He also had the otter pelt.
He had paid a good price for the otter--more than he would have paid
under ordinary circumstances. Still, it would yield him a fair margin of
profit.

He and Toby had been alone when the bargain was struck. Mrs. Twig and
the little maid had retired and were asleep, and in any case could not
have heard the final bargaining or conversation between himself and
Toby. He was assured, also, by the lad's heavy breathing, that Charley
was asleep. There was no witness. It would be his word against Toby's.
He was a trader with an established reputation, Toby was only a boy.

Marks cringed a little when it occurred to him that contracts made with
minors were not binding, if the minor's parents or guardians chose not
to approve them. But this was Labrador, with no court of justice to
which they might appeal. Possession was the point, and Marks grinned
with satisfaction. He had the pelt in his possession.

No doubt, when the silver fox pelt was missed, he would be accused of
having stolen it. When they came to him, he would simply claim that he
had purchased it from Toby, upon a trade basis, and that the price was
five hundred and fifty dollars. He would stand upon this claim. He was
prepared to supply them with goods to this extent of value at any time
they might choose to come to his shop at White Bear Run and select them.
The price he should put on the goods, he assured himself, would be
sufficiently high to render the deal a highly profitable one for him.

Marks had no doubt that he could establish a plausible case. He assured
himself that he had no intention of stealing the pelt. At most, he had
been guilty only of sharp practice. He would pay for it. From the moment
that Aaron Slade had told him about it, he had set his heart upon
possessing it, and, he told h