cap from his tingling ears; and he shivered at every variation of the
stinging blast. There was nothing to be heard except the soft swish of
the snow as it swirled among the stones and the hollow rumble of the
river pouring down a rapid beneath a rent bridge of ice.

The man had spent the early winter, when the snow facilitates traveling,
in the auriferous regions of the North, arranging for the further
development of the mineral properties under his control. That done, he
had, returning some distance south, struck out again into the wilds to
examine some alluvial claims in which he had been asked to take an
interest. It was difficult to reach the first of them; and then he had
spent several weeks in determined toil, cutting and hauling in wood to
thaw out the frozen surface sufficiently to make investigations.
Crestwick had accompanied him, but during the last few days he had gone
down to a Hudson Bay post with the owners of the claim, who were
returning satisfied with the arrangements made. His object was to obtain
any letters that might have arrived, and Lisle, going on to look at
another group of claims, had arranged to meet him where he had camped.

It would be difficult to miss the way, for it consisted of the frozen
river, but Crestwick should have arrived early in the afternoon and Lisle
felt uneasy. On the whole, the Canadian was satisfied with the conduct of
his companion. Deprived during most of the time of any opportunity for
dissipation, scantily fed, and forced to take his share in continuous
labor, the lad's better qualities had become manifest and he had
responded pluckily to the demands on him. Abstinence and toil were
already producing their refining effect. Still, he had not come back, and
with the snow thickening, it was possible that he might not be able to
keep to the comparatively plain track of the river. There was also the
risk that by holding on too far when he saw the fire he might blunder in
among the fissured ice at the foot of the rapid.

Rising at length, Lisle walked toward the dangerous spot, guiding himself
by sound, for once he was out of the firelight there was nothing to be
seen but a white driving cloud. He knew when he had reached the
neighborhood of the rapid by the increased clamor of the stream, and he
crept on until he decided that he was abreast of the pool below. The
rapid was partly frozen, but the ice was fissured and piled up at the
tail of it.

Lisle could not remembe