STRANGE FRIENDS.

Bush Advocate, Volume VII, Issue 475, 30 May 1891, Page 5

STRANGE FRIENDS.

A STORY OF THE NOETH-WEST. By William Atkinson. IN FIVE CHAPTEES.-CHAPTER I. The taut aud trim Clyde-built 6teamer Athabasca was slowly steaming at the regulation speed through the peaceful waters of the "broad " Soo" Canal— the Soo, by the way, being usually written down in a geography or atlas as " Sauk Ste Marie." The stiff white canvass with which the " bridge" is draped, to protect the ship's officers from the exceedingly breezy breezeeof the northern lakes, was for the time being tinted a bright crimson by tho rays of the sun, which like a huge disc of fire, was setting in the west. It was about five o'clock in the afternoou of a clear November day, and the Athabasca was making her last trip of the season in the interests of the Canadian PaciGc BaHroad. The steamer had just co apleteu half her journey " up," having left Owen Sound the previous evening 6ix hours late, owing to a snow-storm which had delayed the Sd-ttl-fcrain from Montreal. Provided no mishap opoarr_d. she was duo at Port Arthur, Thunder Bay, the next day at noon. While. November is a delightful month for yachting in the Mediterranean or for navigating the Nile, there ia nothing particularly enchanting in steaming some 700 *_il«8 across the two most northerly of the groat American lakes in tho " fall" of the year. As a eonsequeu.ee, the passengers on the Athabasca were few and far between. From Owen Sound there was only one first cabiu passenger, but another had just joined the boat. The ship's officers being too imtc_ engrossed in their duties while in the Soo to permit of their entertaining the passenger •from Owen Sound, that individual was amusing himself as bost he might by gazing over tho vessel's side at tho weed-grown timbers forming the bank of the canal, and at the wild country in ita sombre autumn garb beyond. He had arrived at that peculiar state of mind known as a brown study," when he was joined by Jus newly-acquired — and as yet unknown-fellow-passenger, who had boarded the steamer at the loftk *« Howdy, pardner?" exclaimed the newcomer with much cordiality— his intentions Wng pno&, though his speech was unconBeumabij bad. " How do you do, air ?" was the reply, spoken somewhat timidly. " Kinder late m the season for touristing," •remarked the new passenger, evidently with a view to ascertaining the true purpose of his •fellow-passenger's presence in the Athabasca. ** Yes, 1 should think so; I'm not a tourist myself," was tbe quiet rejoinder. This information rather nonplussed the interrogator, who felt that he would have to devise some other plan of campaign. To assist him, he took from his pocket a cigar, thrust it between his teeth, and without lighting it, commenced to chew the end rather vigorously. Extreme types of manhood met in these two men thus suddenly thrown together.^ One was slight and frail ; the other was a giant. The •fiist was all intellect; the other was chiefly blood, bone, and muscle. One was evidently a gentleman by birth and education; tbe new arrival was a very rough diamond indeed. Both men were of much the same age, and both were passengers on the Canadian steamboat bound for the North-west, There the resemblance oeased ; though, without reflection, one might liave remarked that both spoke the same language. They did— with the marked difference that one spoke the Queen's English, while the other indulged in Lake Superior English "as she ia .poke" along the north chore. The slight young man was a clergyman, an ordained priest of the Church of England. He had gained some repute at Oxford as a student aad thinker, and had graduated from his Alma Mater with honours. All through his university career Digby Rockingham had been somewhat of a religious enthusiast. Aided perhaps by his surroundings at Oxford, he had developed into a pronounced ecclesiastical enthusiast He was, nevertheless, a good and devout man, and - «o much in earnest that, when convinced of the need of church extension by means of missionary efforts, he at once closed his well-loved books, laid aside his pen, and entered the service of the church which he so ardently revered. Ijeaving Africa and China to others, the almost S pally benighted regions of the Canadian orth-west enlisted the sympathies of the young clergyman : and he was at his own request Bet "apart for missionary work in the Wud and bleak district lying immediately to the north of Lake Superior. Being fortunate enough to possess a by no means inconsiderable private income, the Eev. Digby Eockingham •wee enabled to start upon his mission well equipped with many excellent means of grace, , ac well as Beveral most appreciable bodily comforts. In other words, the hold of the Athabasca contained far more articles of baggage marked " Eev. D. E." than usually go to make op travelling outfits of the moßt extravagant tourists. Now Mr. Eockingham was not by any means of a sullen disposition, nor was he_ altogether unwilling to enter into conversation with a fellow- voyager. But no man whose musings have perchance carried him in tho spirit thousands of miles away, cares to be rudely disturbed by a friend, rauch less by a stranger. Having been disturbed, however, ho could not again engross himself in his brown study, and he then bethought him that he had been unintentionally impolite : so he pulled himself together, and laying his hand gently upon the big man's sleeve, said: "Pardon me; lam afraid I gave you a very poor impression of myself when you spoke just now. You will think Ido not care to converse with you, when, indeed, the reverse is the case." The giant was evidently unused to accepting apologies, and only stared rather curiously at the speaker, who continued : "The fact is, my thoughts were miles away, and I hardly knew what you asked or what I said in reply." Slowly the other removed his much-mutilated cigar from between his teeth and nodded hia head. "I tumble," he said. "Sorter stargazing, eh? I've been there myself. Well, put her there, Colonel, and let's get acquainted. There ain't a pile of passengers this trip bo we may as well be neighbourly." As he spoke the man extended Jb is massive hand, encased in a sealskin mitten, large enough to make a fairly good door- mat, for Eockingham to "put her there." " First of all, Colonel, I'll introduce your humble Bervant, Eli Brock, native of Michigan, United States of America, and at present foreman of the Gravenhurst Copper Mines, recently opened up on the north shore. I'm just agoing up, confound the luck, to stay over yonder all winter, as there's a sight of cleaning up and fixing to be done afore the miners commence work in the spring. You're agoing up to Port Arthur or Fort William, I a'pose, Colonel ?" ** Yes, at first. I cannot tell where I shall ultimately establish my head-quarters. lam a clergyman— here is my card— and I intend at -once to build a church at some place where there is not one already. Perhaps you can assist me, Mr. Brock?" "First and foremost, Colonel," replied Brock, who twirled the card in his fingers as if -doubtful whether the correct thing was to read it and then throw it overboard or consign it to his pocket— " first and foremost, Colonel, oblige by striking off the ' mister.' Eli is good enough for me. The boys call me Eli, and I reckon they ain't gents like you, not by a long shot ! Yes, sir ; I can help you this much. You can take any settlement along the north shore this blessed minute, and I'm derned if you'll find e'er a church or meeting-house in the hull lot, Colonel ! So you can't go far wrong in locating a church. You'll excuse me _br calling you Colonel, sir. I see you've got a title, but I'll he switched if I know what EEV means, and Colonel comes sorter easy and familiar." Digby Eockingham laughed heartily at the curious candour of hiß new friend, and as the cupper bell rang at that moment, the two locked arms and walked to the dining-saloon together. The travellers were afforded no opportunity to view from the lake the rugged and desolate ~" north shoreM of Lake Superior. Hours before they were due at Port Arthur, the steward— from Inverness— remarked dryly that there was a " muckle mist"— a mist, however, which Mr. Brock insisted was neither more nor less than a 41 gol- derned soaking rain-storm!" The young clergyman had ÜBed hia time to good purpose in improving his acquaintance •with the foreman of the copper mines. IE he had searched the Dominion of Canada he could never have discovered a man better acquainted with the territory adjacent to the north shore. ** I'm agoing to lay over for the night at Port Arthur," he said. " and you'd better do the same, Colonel. There's a tolerable good hotel in the town, where thoy will take care of your traps and truck. In the morning the stage bb.b out for Kincardine, a tidy sort of settlement as near as we can travel to the Gravenhurst Mines. Little Pig — he's my Injun, aud a blamed good feller for Injun trash— will meet me at Kincardine, and you can go 'long of mo if you fancy. •—What do you sny, Colonel ?" ** I think I shall avail myself of your company as far as possible, Brock. Yes, if you •will be so good, count me your travelling companion as far as the mines." • • . . . . Towards sundown on the day after the 4i__ival of the Athabasca at Port Arthur, the

weekly stage was approaching the thriving settlement of Kincardine. Let no one suppose that this stage was such a one a. Charles Dickens loved to present to his readers iv striking pen-pictures, or a specimen of the modern reproductions which, on summer mornings, roll away from the " White Horse Cellar" in Piccadilly. It was an old lumbering vehicle which the London General Omnibus Company might reasonably have discarded half j a century ago. There were no outside seats, which loss was not greatly felt during the cold months of tho year, and those in the inside wero far from comfortablo. Upon the door of the stago, in the rear, some embryo artist in sign- j writing had inscribed with very yellow paint, "Royal Mail" — tho mail on the present trip consisting of four or five letters thrust into tho lining of the driver's hot, and a ecore or so of I ancient newspapers, which were tucked away under tho very much worn and flattened cushion of the box. As to the passengers, there were three, two of whom have been introduced to the reader. Tlie third was a young woman, who was evidently extremely shy and reserved, several overtures from Mr. Brock hav_ig utterly failed to draw her into conversation. Even when the stage had stopped at noon for dinner at a wretched tavern, she had remained in her seat to eat the refreshment which she carried in a hand-bag, and had politely declined the glass of brandy -and-water tendered her by Eockingham, who knew that the girl must bo well-nigh frozen. By the time ne stage came in sight of Kincardine, silence had reigned in the old 'bus for an hour or two, for all the passengers wero completely tired out with the slow and dreary journey over forty miles of rocky road. Slowly as they bad travelled, it was with quite a jerk that his driver Halted his team in front of a huge one-story .hanty, whioh Eockhinghan. rightly estimated must havo covered almost halt' an acre of ground. This wae a sort of western '* Whiteley's," or a " Bon Marche" in tho wilderness, and was the profitable emporium of au enterprising Scot, whose name, Dugald M'Dougall, had been painted by the artist of the "Eoyal Mail" in letters four feet long upon one end of the log shanty. The legends inscribed upou the front of the place were many and various, among them being "Hotel," " Post-office," and "General Store." Cold as was the day, Mr. M'Dougall, displaying his Bhirt sleeves, came out to meet the stage, being sufficiently loyal to Queen nnd country to give his personal attention to Her Majesty^s mails ; his loyalty to his native land being proven by the fact that his grizzly hair was covered by a Glengarry bonnet. Dugald M'Dougall was a character, and a very important character in the community. Although the directors of the neighbouring copper mines at Gravenhurst were larger employers of labour, and really disbursed most of. the cash which ultimately found its way into M'Dougall's till, they were non-resident, and were seldom seen at "Kincardine. Their foreman and representative, Eli Brock, was, both in the matter of wealth and standing, far behind Dugald. M'Dougall was the only man who could furnish the necessaries of life to the miners, and could give or withhold credit when ready money was not forthcoming. He was a^ent for the Hudson Bay Company, which po ition gave him great prestige among the Indian hunters and half breed trappers. Furthermore, besides being postmaster, he held Her Majesty's Commission of the Peace, and, as the only magistrate within a wide radius, could sentence miscreants to imprisonment in the gaol at Fort William, and could punish them still more by refusing to issue licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors. Mr. M'Dougall was evidently expecting the young woman, who now alighted from the stage, but was plainly at a loss to account for the presence of the clergyman. Brock perceived this, and at once introduced his companion. "My friend the Colonel, Dugald," he remaikea, either forgetting Rockingham's name, or else thinking it unnecessary to mention it. M'Dougall did not notice the omission, for he promptly reponded : "Glad to meet you, Colonel *■" and then escorted the girl into the "hotel." " Seen Littlo Pig around here?" asked Brock of a half-breed lad who was watching the stage horses changed. "Naw! Little Pig ain't been up yere since you went 'way." " Seen my rig, then?'* " Yaw!" "Where?" The half-breed was either too lazy or too busy with his chewing tobacco to make a verbal reply; he jerked a thumb in the direction of M'Dougall's barn. " Who drove it up ?" asked Brock. The boy grinned stupidly and then replied : "GaL" "Look here, you leather-skinned pup!" shouted Brocl?, who hated half-breeds in general, and this lad in particular. "If you don't know enough to speak civil when you do speak, I'll teach you, by thunder ! Who are you calling a ' gal.' I'd like to know?" " The half-breed continued to grin, although his grin was not so " healthy " as it had been at first. "Don't stand there, showing your dirty teeth ! I want you to tell me who brought my rig up here." Brock knew well enough, but his experience told him that he must not back down from any position once taken towards a half-breed. He was merely giving the young rascal a lesson. " Madge," said the boy, sullenly. "No; that won't do. Try again," thundered Brock. " Miss Madge." "Yes, you cross-bred cur; don't you ever forget to call a lady that w a lady 'Miss.' Listen ! Go and find Miss Madge, aud tell her lam ready to start. Hurry, now, and if I find that you ever forget the - Miss,' I'll break your neck!" Eli Brock was a queer mixture of humanity. He knew that there were certain terms of respect by which it is proper to address certain persons. But of their correct application he knew very little ; so that to him Colonel was equivalent to Eeverend, and answered the purpose fully as well ; while, so long as a young woman was addressed as " Miss," it seemed to Brook to matter very little whether her Christian name or surname wa? added. For himself he did not care a snap of the finger. Miners and Indians alike were perfectly free to call him Eli or Brock, though they usually spoke of him as the Boss. But for hie friends, awd especially those of the gentler sex— who were few — he was very exacting in his notions of courtesy. " Have to do it Colonel," he remarked apologetically to his companion. But Digby Eockingham, inwardly noting his own physical insignificance, knew that he would have to devise some other method if he would successfully cope with Indians and miners. CHAPTEE 11. The half-breed evidently profited by Block's sharp language, for ho certainly lost no time in reappearing, hanging on to the rear of a sorrylooking vehicle that might have been painted black or crimson for all that could be seen beneath a thick coating of mud. This lack of style in the carriage was more than atoned for by the exquisite pair of small but graceful Canadian horses, whose shaggy coats and long tails showed that they were better fed than groomed. Brock's eyes were all for the horses ; but for Eockingham, the horses possessed very little attraction as compared with their fair driver Seated upon the front seat of the rig, clad in the richest of rich furs— none too fashionably rut and fitted, however — waß a girl of perhaps twenty-three or twenty-four years. Her physique was simply perfect, and her face waa aglow with the flush of good health. She did not strike Eockingham — she never would have struck anybody — a3 being particularly intellectual, although she was plainly no dunce. She looked what she was, a Canadian Diana, whose well-rounded arm concealed muscles of iron that could check a fiery team or Btrike a man to the ground at will ; an utter stranger to alarm, and a woman whom no Indian, and scarce a wliite man, dared contradict, for fear of what might follow tho flashing eye and the stamping foot. "How are they, Madge?" asked Brock, critically eyeing the favourites, which he had not seen for two weeks. rhe girl was displeased with this inattention to herself, and said so. " It's a wonder you wouldn't ask how Jam. You can see they are all right.' "Humph!" gruntea Brock, not at all illnaturedly; "if you don't look as well aa tho ponies, I'll eat my hat !" He leaned down to examine the feet of one of the animals ; but Madge was in a bad humour, and was bound to Bhow it. She took the whip in one hand and gave both tho horses a sharp cut across tho haunches, causing them to rear upon their hindlegs. Almost any other woman would have been terrified, but Madge Latimer held them well in hand with a grip of steel Brock understood the girl pretty well, and knew there would be a scene if they did not start soon. " Jump up behind, Colonel," said he.—" Here, Madge, let me take the ; [ lines." ' r " Take 'em then," replied the girl, throwing the reins across the horses, that still quivered with pain. " I'll ride b-ihind with — wiih > Say, Eli, why don't you introduce tho gentle- > man ?"

J g..»!t».^m^_Ml»]j < __fc..___J__JJi^BUJJa^^ "That's so," quietly responded Brock, whoso anger towards Madge had vanished now that he hai the reine of hia pet team in his own handa. " Colonel, this is Madge Latimer— knows more about horses and Injuns than any other woman on tlie north side.— Madge, my friend tho Colonel." " ' The Colonel ?' Colonel who ?" "Denied if I can remember, Madge. — Whoa, there!— Get acquainted with him and find out. All ready?" "EH!" shouted Dugald M'Dougall, as the party for Gravenhurst started off; " mind, noo, and tell the folks at the mines to send the bairns to school next week. Monday, at nine o'clock. Dinna forget." Bad a? wore the roads leading from Kincardine to the mines, the ponies did not occupy many minutes in traversing the two miles between M'Dougall's emporium and Eli Brock's headquarters. Nor, few as the moments were, did Madge Latimer fail to make the most of the opportunity thus afforded to improve her acquaintance with Eockingham. She did not go about it by asking him his name; she was not particularly curious on that point. If " the Colonel " was sufficient for Brock, it was good enough for her; and she had fully made up her mind that Rockingham was one of the directors of the mines, whom Brock had brought to Gravenhurst to consult upon some prospective improvement or extension. Two or three matters becamo in a twinkling plainly apparent to the girl. She believed she saw that Brock, although tacitly accepted by herself and the community as her affianced husband, cared no more — if ns much — for her than he did for his horses. On the other hand, she felt, more than sho had ever felt before, that it was quite uselees for her to attempt to quench her own passion for the sturdy and muscular foreman of the Gravenhurst Copper Mining Company. Woman-like, she knew of but Tone sure method by which tp arouse some fire aud enthusiasm in the heart of her lukewarm fiance, and the means for forthwith adopting that method she recognised in the man seated beside her. It mattered little to her what the name of the new arrival might be — inde»d, he might bo nameless, for all Madge 1 cared. What she did remark with much satisfaction waß the very patent fact that Eockingham was "a gentleman born acd bred;" and this meant a great deal to Madge Latimer just now . Within a day's march of Gravenhurst there was not a man or boy, from the half-breed trappers up to Dugald M'Dougall, J. P., who might not pay every possible attention to the girl without awakening the feeblest spark of jealousy in the foreman. The roason for this was because Brock knew perfectly well that, both physically and intellectually, he stood head and shoulders above all the men in the vicinity — not even excepting the Justice, who was a married man anyhow, and did not count. But this man— possibly rich and dbubtless college- ' bred — was altogether different, and might be developed into a serious competitor for Eli Brock*, interest in the handsomest woman on the north shore. So thought Madge, and at once arranged her cards to play them inglyYou Bee, Misb Madge Latimer, although but tho untutored child of on uncultured miner, brought up far from the refining influences of : the best of her sex, and living amid the wild j surroundingsof the thinly and roughlypopulated north-west, was a woman ; and a woman upon the bleak and barren shores of Lake Superior is in many respects similar to the women of the old civilisations of Great Britain and other favoured countries. Being a persevering young woman, and in the habit of usually carrying hor point, Madge made great headway during the ten minutes' drive behind Eli Brock and his team of fast steppers. By the time she was gallantly assisted from the buggy by Eockingham, she had not only succeeded in starting just the tiniest flame" of jealousy in Brockj but had much more than interested Brock's guest in herself. For during that same ten minutes Eockingham, the enthusiast and ascetic, had never said a -word to Madge of ! his sacred calling nor of his purpose in visiting Giavenhurst. To tell the truth, those matters never once entered his head, and he did not pause to consider whether he was in tlie Dominion of Canada or upon the plains of Utopia. Digby Eockingham became suddenly aware that he was— as Brother Chadband would have remarked— a "human man" as well as a missionary priest, and deep down in his heart he was obliged to confess that he was fascinated with the rare beauty o£ Madge Latimer. But after she had left him, he soothed himself with the unspoken excuse that it was merely a passing intoxication, and that he would soon forget tho girl in his future work. ...... The Eev. Digby Eockingham found in Gravenhurst nothing that was artistic, and very little that was picturesque. What he did find was a pioneer mining village, consisting of a score or two of shanties, that were little more than huts, scattered along the south side of a ridge of dwarfed hills. These cabins were the residences of the miners who were so unfortunate as to be tho possessors of wives and families ; tho unmarried men making it a point to migrate to fairer scenes during the severe months of the northern winter. Adjoining the engine-house, near the principal shaft leading to the mines, was a building known as "The Office." The lower part ot this rather extensive structure was devoted to the office proper and the storeroom ; the upper part, divided into several rooms, formed the dwelling of Amos Latimer. Those roomy quarters Latimer tenanted free of rent, except that, by way of consideration, he took the foreman into his family as a hoarder, for which accommodation he was, however, liberally paid. Eockingham. inquiries elicited the information that the normal population of Gravenhurst was about seventy souls all told; and that the territory tributary to M'Dougall's store ani the Kincardine post-office numbered about three hundred peo]3le — exclusive of Indians— scattered over a considerable area. The young clergyman learned from no less an authority than the J.P. himself that these people were entirely without religious advantages ; and frora personal observation he could note the amazing ignorance of the majority. So, after much earnest deliberation, Digby Eockingbaii resolved to select in Kincardine a site for his church; and further resolved, if possible, to fill that church with a congregation to bo gathered from the heterogeneous populace within riding distance. If he coald not, like John Wesley, assert that the world was his parish, he at least mapped out for himself a parish that would in acreage furnish a "circuit" which few of Wesley's followers of to-day would care to "travel." Kincardine was not Rockingham's first choice, for although that settlement was "politically" the "capital" of the district, its copulation was not nearly so dense as that of Gravenhurst. But when Eockingham proposed to erect in Gravenhurst a mission church, his proposition was strenuously opposed by the foreman and M'Dougall. Brock averre_ that the miners, who were constitutionally opposed to religion in any guise, would be very apt for "pure cussedness" to demolish a church on almost any pay-day; which was trua enough^ although the real reason of Brock's opposition was his desire to have the young clergyman as far removed as possible irom Madge Latimer. He liked " the Colonel " well enough; but he already viewed with some suspicion Eockinpham's increasing** interest in the girl* As for tne Justice, he wanted the church at Kincardine that it might add to the importance of the "cross-roads." "Ye ken," he said to Rockingham, "I'm no Episcopalian, as is weel known. If ye'd been a Presbyterian, noo, it wad have pleased me better : but a kirk is a kirk, and I doubtna she'll lend dignity to the village. So, if yell locate near me, there'll be a quid piece o' land at your dieposal ; and, if yell permit, sir, Dugald M'Dougall will donate the steeple. Let yon Gravenhurst ne'er-do weels come to Kincardine when they want food for^the soul as they do when they need food for their encases !" • • • • Aa nroug.i mio winter trigDy Kockiugnam preached each Sabbath in the "parlour" of M'Dougall's hotel, and during the intervening days visited every settler he could reach without regard to race, colour, creed, age, or sex. But he mot with much opposition and little encouragement. M'Dougall, who waa probably the only man in the neighbourhood who knew anything about " High Church," gave it as his private opinion that "tho Coloael " was too " sacerdotal " to accomplish much good in the north-west ; and as a matter of fact the people did fight shy of the earnest young Oxford scholar. And yet they respected him. It was so apparent that he was thoroughly in earnest in his endeavours to do good that, not even when whisky got tho better of tho miners, did they onco insult "the Colonel," as they persisted in styling Eockingham. They thanked him for his invitations, but that was all. For when, lute in the spring the little mission church was opened for public worship, not ono of them so much as attended the opening service. The mission church of St. Athanasius was a Lilliputian " frame " structure, with little on the exterior — except the pigmy steeple presented by tho Justice— to render^ it noticeable. But inside, all that good taste in ecclesiastical architecture and resthetic art could do to beautify it was there, and the dean of tho most beautiful and

\iiuuuu4jMwmaaßiaamsaammmsm v 11 ■mini riMM—nigga complete English minster would havo found ir Eockingham'c mission church all that was necessary to carry on tho services of the church, and to celebrate with befitting grace and dignity all her most solemn sacraments. But when, on a bleak and drizzly Sunday in May, the one bell in tbe little steeple . ceased ringing, and Eockingham, clad in full canonicals, Prayer-book in hand, walked from his vestry-room to tho reading-desk, fom adults and half-a-dozen children formed the entire congregation. The Justice was thero ; Madge Latimer, drawn by feminine curiosity as well as by an especially warm invitation from Eockingham, had perstiaded Brock to escort her ; while the fourth person old enough to listen, to a sermon was the young woman who had been the clergyman's fellowpassenger in the stage from Port Arthur. Rockingham was a brave fellow, aud hatgrown pretty well inured to disappointment, but he could have wept as his eyes rested upon the scant gathering, and his Heart was heavy when, later on, but ono communicant knelt at the altar railing. This— the only' person in the whole of Eockingham's extensive parish who entered with anything like zest into his work— • was the traveller who had declined Brock's friendly overtures on the rough ride from Port Arthur to Kincardine. Her name was Martha Seagrave, and she was a certified teacher, who had been sent by the Provincial government— at M'Dougall's earnest solicitation— to open and conduct an elementary district school. She ably seconded Eockingham's every effort in behalf of the church, and was a veritable parish helper. She was both organist and choir, and upon too frequent occasions she was also the congregation. She loved the church and the work of the church. She also loved — Digby Rockingham. Martha Seagrave was not beautiful ; her best friends would never have averred it, or even thought it. But she was good, and she was clever. Eockingham did not think the girl either lovely or lovable. He admired her sweet soprano voice, and he appreciated her assistance rendered in co many ways ; but that was all. For only in the handsome bit wild and irresponsible Madge could Digby Rockingham see aught that was more than he could perceive in all the other women of his acquainance. As for Madge Latimer, she remained as passionately enamoured of Eli Brock as such a girl could ever be, although, as time passed, she discovered that the foreman paid her less attention than ever. The reason she could not understand, and really there was no. reason. Brock was in no hurry, as he told himself— and Mage to — to tie himself up. He read Madge's heart fairly well, and felt tolerably sure that he had only to speak the word to claim the belle of Gravenhurst for his wife. But Madge did not feel at all flattered by Brock's treatment of her, and was determined upon a little revenge, costly as she knew that revenge might prove. ior several Sundays immediately following the opening of the church, Madge Latimer attended very regularly the Sunday morning services, and profossed to taka some interest in the various plans devised by Eockingham. for bettering the people from a religious standpoint. Eockingham noticed tho gill's froqueut presence at church with much real pleasure. Brock aiso noticed the same fact, but without any pleasure whatever. And yet tlie foreman had no serious suspicions. So long as the "foolin' around" waa all on the girl's side, he did not care very much, although he waa vexed to think he had brought to the settlement a man who could arouse false pride, vanity, and chagrin in Madge, to the extent that Eockingham had done. Brock felt confident that the clergyman had no place in his heart or mind for women of any kind or degree ; and besides, he felt sure that the girl herself cared notlung at heart for "the Colonel." " It's just some of Madge's monkey business.' 1 said the foreman to himself; "and, by the Great Horn Spoon, I ain't bothered near as much aa the gal— not by a jugful !" What of jealously lurked at the bottom of Brock's heart was covered up by Madge when that young woman invited her fiance to escovt her to church ono Sunday afternoon. Brock looked upon this as sure proof that Madge whs quite willing for him to know of her attendance at the mission church and of what she did there ; whereas the girl's object was precisely the opposite. She wished to convince Brock that his footing was not so secure as he imagined, by showing him how Bhe could weave the spell of her personal charms about the clergyman. Only, unfortunately for Madge's plans — though fortunately, perhaps, for the foreman's peace of mmd — Eockingham wae feeling unwell, and slipped that evening directly from the vestry-room to his quarters in M'Dougall's hosterly without passing through the church. But the very next Sunday afternoon Miss Latimer requested Brock to ii__iess for her the team of which he was so fond. She knew vei v well that Eli would never go to church two Sundays in succession, so that she felt perfectly safe in inviting him to drive her to church. He promptly declined the invitation, and Mad.c drove off alone. She had deceived Brock, foi she knew there would bo no service at the church, because upon alternate Sundays Eockingham visited the evernearing terminus of tht Canadian Pacific Eailroad, , which was ther being constructed. It was two o'clock when Madge reached " the Corners," and she woiv dered whether Eockingham had already ridden off on the ungainly hack which ho had pur. chased for purposes of parochial visitation, No ; he had not started. There was the " plug' — as Madge herself remarked — fastened to a hitching-post at tho door of the hotel. " Take that thing away," said Madge to r dirty Indian boy as she drove up to tht doorway. The small copper-coloured individual made nc effort to comply with tho young lady's request, He merely jerked his thumb towards the house as if to intimate that the owner of tho " thing v was inside. "Very good," said the girl, who, when or her dignity, waa a person of few words. Heactions, however, were very vigorous. She alighted from the buggy, unfastened tho hack's hitching-Btrap, and bestowed with her open hand a smart slap upon the animal's haunches, which sent him as fast as he could scampei towards tbe barn. "Now you go, too!" said the girl to the Indian boy. She cracked hor whip as she spoke ; and the lad, doubtless knowing discretion to be the better part of valour, swiftly followed the horse as Eockingham stepped through the inn doorway. "This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Madge," said the clergyman. "I thought it would be," replied the girl with surprising frankness, for Bhe was quite willing to believe that Eockingham meant what he said. " I thought I would drive you over to the railroad for once, and see what it is like." " It is exceedingly good and kind of you, I must Bay. lam only afraid that if you wait for me over at Pickering, you will arrive home rather late.'' " How late ?" asked Madge. " Well, we can hardly expect to be back here before 9 o'clock. " Oh, pshaw !" laughed the girl. " I don't call that late. Why, when wo lived in Michigan, I used to go to dances with the boys, and quite often the folks were eating breakfast when I got back." Such an avowal frora any other young woman would have rather shocked tho modest and (hitherto) very proper young divine. But Madge might have confessed to almost anything without the least fear of censure from Digby Eockingham. " I suppose your father and mother know whore we are going ? And of course Brock will not mind you driving his horses so far r" ' ' I didn't tell mother, because mother doesn't care what I do. And I said nothing to Eli, because its none of his funeral. He may know or ho may not, and I'm sure it doesn't worry me which way it is. As to tho horses, they like to go as well as I do." They bowled along at a brisk pace by a rocky road tliat kept them well iv sight of tho dark blue waters of Lake Superior. Madge furnished most ofi tho conversation, though Eockingham proved liinieelf such an attentive listener that he well-nigh forgot the heads of the sermon which ho had so carefully thought out for the benefit of the railroad men. Only two persons, as they saw Madge and the clergyman driving away behind Brock's team, gave so much as a second thought to the fact. Ono of theso was Martha Seagrave. who would have forfeited all the rest of her life for an afternoon and evening seated iv a buggy beside Digby Eo.ki_.gham. But what she saw and thought she kept to herself. The other was Brock's groom and valet, Little Pig, the Indian — known officially among his people as Spotted-Son -of -the-Great-Spirit, though the " spots" were only such as would have disappeared by tho judicious use of a little soa_) — ond he forthwith carried the news to his master. For Little Pig, having once suffered a severe horso- whipping at Madge's hands while Brock looked on, cherished no good-will for either tho girl or tho foreman. CHAPTEE 111. The drive of fourteen or fifteen miles to Pickering occupied less than two hours, and Eockingham was in ample time to conduct the service announced for lour o'clock. That over, he and Madcre took tea with the Construction ICompany'ssuperintendent, who was an Englishman ana slab, to entertain the preacher.

MWwm»iwiMiMi»Juj«»uiiaCT»oßiaaahuij_A»tra„«ji^HM i It was perhaps half-past seven o'clock when 3 the horses were started homewai *d, and dark- , ness was fast gatheiing. It was the close of - a lovely day in early summer ; such an evening as never fails to cast r some refining influence upon even the 5 hardest nature. Through the clear Canal dian atmosphere the Btara shone in myriads, i and from, the shore to the horizon the waters of r Lake Superior reflected in a broad band the • silvery sheen of au almost full moon. In that ; sparsely settled corner of the world, and at r that time in the evening tho travellers could l hear nothing save the light tread of the two i horses, and the incessant splash of the small l waves aB they broke upon the rocky shore i near by. Madge Latimer, against her will felt • sentimental; while as for Eockingham, he would have asked for nothing better than the I circumstances which encompassed him on that Sabbath evening. Madge had started out with the full inten- • tion of having some " fun." With a woman's ; keen perception, she had long known that " the i Colonel more than admired her, and with the i average woman's vanity and love of conquest, she was bent upon learning from his own lips i the exact place she held in his estimation. But ; the soft and soothing surroundings of that i romantic summer evening led Madge a little ' further than Bhe ever intended to go with • Digby Eockingham. Just how it happened Madge honestly did not know , nor did Eockingham. It seemed like a dream to the girl as they drove along for mik i .Rockingham holding her disengaged hand in his, while his face was so close to her own that she could feel his breath upon her cheek. That neither her companion nor sho herself uttered a word, Madge scarcely noted, and the girl did not know that silence is frequently far more eloquent than speech. To do her justice, she was indulging in a reverie, in which her thoughts were almost shapeless, and in which Digby Eockingham scarcely figured at all. They had walked the horses the entire distance, and Eockingham knew that it was past 10 o'clock. A bend in the road reminded him that they would soon beat Kincardine. He tightened his hold upon the girl's hand and bent his head until his brow rested upon her lich wavy hair. Then he asked, very quietly but very deliberately : " Madge, will you be my wife?" The girl was startled. She knew she had herself to thank for this climax to their long ride ; but such a direct offer of marriage was nono the less unexpected. She had looked for a little " love-making" from Eockingham, but she had not anticipated what is usually the finale of a long period of courting ; and yet she knew, as well as she i>new that she breathed, that the clergyman was not trifling with her. More than that, ehe felt that she could no longer trifle with him. For a moment Madge hesitated. She dare not say " Yes ;" for a day or two at least it would be pleasant not to say "No." It certainly would bo a decided triumph as well as pleasure to know that she held in her hands the happiness, or otherwise, of the two most eligible men on the north shore. " I think I cannot answer your question," was the reply given to Eockingham, and given rather sheepishly for Madge Latimer. "At least you do not refuße. When, then, may I see you, Madge, and pres9 my suit ?" Tho outline of M'Dougall's emporium was now visible. Madge drew her hand away from her companion and hurriedly said: "I will attend prayers on Friday evening. I will leave you now at the hotel. Yes, hero wo are, and I insist. Indeed, I shall prefer to drive into Gravenhurst alone." " Say, Madge,'' said Brock, rather gruffly, as tho girl drove the horses into the barn, what fool-business is this ?" The foreman was in an 111-humour for two reasons. He did not caret, think that Madge had been with " the Colonel" somo eight or nine consecutive hours ; and he also feared that his favourite horses had been overworked. Madge, who was tired and huugry, now that tho influences of Eockingham and tho moonlight ride wero gone, was equally disgruntled. " If it's a fool-business, it's none of your busi- ■ ness, anyhow !" " Oh, it ain't, eh? Well, we'll see. Here, 1 hold this lantern, will you, so I can Bee to 1 clean these animals ? Little Pig is asleep these two hours." Brook puffed and panted as he worked at ' the dusty horses, and his exertions seemed to ' charm back his usually even temper. "Say. Madge," he said, as he relieved her of the lantern, " what's the matter of us getting married right off ? What do you say ?" "Are you crazy ?" retorted the girl " Don't r you know me better, Eli Brock, than to bother • mo with such wild stuff at this time of night? don't know whether I'll marry you at all !" She was up in her room before Brock had t upon the doorstep of " the office." , Brock was now aroused. He did not disr guise from himself the fact that he would be , grievously disappointed should Madge after all r marry some other man ; nor did he pretend , not to know that Madge Latimer was quite 3 equal to keeping her word when she threatened P not to marry him at all. j Eli Brock was ignorant of such matters as \ engagements ; and if he had not been, it is 3 doubtful whether he would havo trusted j Madge— to say nothing of the girl trusting herj self or him— to keep her word even by the aid . of a ring. So he resolved, by hook or by _ crook, to gain Madge Latimer's consent to an . oarly marriage It was Friday, however, before Brock had a leisure evening, when, 5 after eating his supper, he inquired fer Madge. t She had. of course, gone out, and little Pig furnfohed the additional information that she t had gone to Kincardine. That suited Brook 3 very well. Ho knew she had gone afoot, because his horses were all in their stalls, so he 3 stalled out to meet her. He walked about a mile along the road, and, being tired, he selected one of the many huge boulders there--5 abouts upon which to recline. Moßtmen indulging in a cigar would havo betrayed their t whereabouts, but Brock had a habit of f gnawing a cigar without lighting it. He did 3 so now. The gnawing process had reduced tho 3 length of the cigar perhaps three-quarters of an t inch, when two persons approached from Kincardine and paused almost opposite the fore- . man's resting-place. One of them was Madge, the other was Digby Eockingham. 3 " Please, please, don't ask me for an answer to-night. Perhaps it will be all right — I can- \ not tell. I must think about it." , It was Madge who waa speaking, and Brock heard every w>rd. He could guess at what had preceded. "Of course, of course, dear Madge. It is only right that you should take your own time. And yet, dear, you have as good as answered mo. I have'little fear ior what you will toll me finally." For a space that seemed to Brock like sevoral hours, but which was really only about three seconds, there was absalute silence. And then tho foreman heard something that mnde his blood boil and started tho perspiration from his brow — a single kiss. ' ' You insist upon going tho rest of tho wav alone? _ou aro not at all timid?" asked Eockingham " No, no ! Good-bye. " Good-night, dear Madge." At that moment Eli Brock conld have killed the clergyman without any compunction whatever. Jealousy and murder entered his heart together. His indignation towards Madge was certainly righteous; but his head remained level enough to tell him that the clergyman had done him no wilful wrong, and that as yet he had no absolute right to quarrel with tho man whom he was bound to treat with some degree of hospitality. For tho present the cigar suffered; Brock clinched his teeth upon that article and strode off by a circuitous route, " across lots," to Gravenhurst, wherehe arrived long after Madge Latimer was lost in dreams On tho morning alter ho arrival of the weekly mail from Port Arthur, it was Littlo Pig's first duty to go to Kincardine for Brock's letters, usually of a strictly business character. On the Saturday morning following the scene just described, tho Indian brought his master a letter from the proprietors of a rival copper mine, tendering him the position of manager. Brock had no desiro to make a change, but he felt that he now held a Btrong card, and proposed to play it for all it was worth. " Madge," he said curtly, "I asked you last Sunday evening if you would many me— soon." "I know you did," replied the girl, who sailed under no false sentimental colours when dealing with Eli Brock— " I know you did, and I told you that I Tnjpbt, not, mnrrv you at oil." " Look here, girlV I'm talking business. You know I think a good deal of you ; you know I ■ will treat you well and take good enro of you. i I've got money; I've got post-horses; I'll i build you a good houee, and take you to Mari quette or Chicago, or any other blamed place every winter. What more do you want?" " You needn't pile it on, Eli! If I many you or any othor man, it won't bo for dollarß i br poßt-horseß!" "Now you'ro talking," said Brock, plenßod i because he could 60<* the girl honestly meant to be independent. Ho Boftened hia own sp'-odi ns ho continued: "Now, Madge, don't you think more of me than you do of any other » fellow in this socb'on or any other section? [ Ain'tyon and I built to hitch together iv double i harness I" , Brock was a handsome fellow, and he i looked his host an he s;rode aoros** th-** room and laid his hand upon one of thn girl's shoulders, " You just think I'm dead-done on you,"

Bt_g)05g^XBlB3»»l8«»P»IU«MIIWII|IW-:-Wti*U»W ll ''«»«l»»»"»l''" ■*"*>"« ponied Madge, "and you take advantage of if. You don't treat me half-way decent. A stranger couldn't tell that you cared for me a ] little bit." "Oh, bosh !" laughed Brock' but changed his tone as he went on: "It's just this way, \ Madge. If you don't waut to marry me, I'm going to dig out of this place. See — here is an offer of another job, and I shall take ifc unless you want to keep me here. I'm not going to wait my longer, while you fly around with other men, I can tell you that !" " Do you mean this?" asked Madge, fearful that she might after all lose the man whom she had for three years considered her personal property. " Yes, I mean it. I'm through with fooling. If you want to do the square thing, you'll marry me inside of two weeks. If I'm not married at the end of that time, I leave Gravenhurst, that's all!" That same evening Brock called upon Digby Eockingham. "I wanted a word with you, Colonel," said Brock. Eockingham bowed. " Fact is, Colonel, I kinder liked you the first day I sot eyes on you. You mind the time, I suppose, down at the Soo?" "Very well." " Yes. Seemed to me you was square and 'bove-board, so to speak. I liked your general ; get-up. and I have a notion I treated you according. Ain't that correct?" 1 *< I think I follow you," replied Eockioghani, . who was really puzzled to know what all this was intended to prelude. " Yes, you braved very kindly to me, Brock." " Brought you along here andintroduc"" you to all the .elks— sorter showed you all the re was to see— treated you ivhitc,* didn't I ?" Again Eockingham inclined his head. " Well, see here, Colonel ; I'd like to have a good opinion of you still. There ain't no use wasting words; you know what's happened since you settled down here; you know whether you've dove me dirt or not, andl don't. Mebbe what's been done was your fault, and mebbe it wasn't— like enough it wasn't. But that's past and gone; it's neither here nor there. I don't take much stock in religion, Colonel ; I take a man as I find him, regardless of perfeshins or church or anything of the kind. If he's white, he's white; and if he's snide, he's snide. I thought you was white. We'll say I still think you're white — shake hands on it, Colonel !" Eockingham laid his small thin hand in Brock's broad palm, which the foreman clasped with a grip of steel. " Now then," he continued with much fierceI ness, " listen. If you want to pass muster as a : white man for the future with me, you'll mind what I tell you, Colonel. Don't you come to Gravenhurst again until I send for you, or, by thunder, I won't answer for the consequences !" Before theclergyman could collecthisscattered senses, Brock's gigantic strides had carried him half-way home. 'TO BK CONTIN ___*„*