deed, this wilderness, broken by
the more level spaces between the Rockies and Lake Winnipeg, runs right
across Canada from Labrador to the Pacific on the northern edge of the
heavy-timber line. It contains little human life--a few Hudson Bay
fur-traders and the half-breed trappers who deal with them--and it is
frozen for eight months in the year. There are only two practicable means
of traversing it--with dog sledges on the snow, or by canoe on the lakes
and rivers in the brief summer.

The water routes are difficult in British Columbia, but Lisle and his two
companions had chosen to go by canoe, partly because the question of food
is vitally important to men cut off from all source of supply except
game, and even that is scarce in places. To transport upon one's back any
weight of provisions besides tents, blankets, and other necessaries,
through a rugged country is an almost impossible task. The men,
accordingly, after relaying part of their stores, had secured an Indian
craft and had paddled and poled her laboriously across lakes and up
rivers. Now when their provisions were running short, they were
confronted with a difficult portage round a thundering rapid.

At length Lisle, securing another trout, waded ashore and glanced with a
rueful smile at the dozen this one made. They scarcely averaged half a
pound, and he had spent most of a day that could badly be spared in
catching them. Plodding back along the shingle with his load, he reached
a little level strip beneath a scarp of rock, where a fire blazed among
the boulders. A tent stood beneath two or three small, wind-stunted
spruces, and a ragged man in long river-boots lay resting on one elbow
near the blaze, regardless of the drizzle. He was a few years over
thirty, Lisle's age, and he differed from Lisle in that something in his
appearance suggested that he was not at home in the wilds. As a matter of
fact, Nasmyth was an adventurous English sportsman--which describes him
fairly in person and character.

"Not many," he commented, glancing at the trout Lisle laid down. "They'll
hardly carry us over to-morrow, and I only got a couple from the canoe
with the troll. We've gained nothing by stopping here, and time's
precious."

"A sure thing," Lisle agreed, beginning to clean the trout. "We'll tackle
the portage as soon as it's light to-morrow. Where's Jake?"

"Gone off to look for a deer," was the answer. "Said he wouldn't come
back without one if he camped o