Part 34 (1/2)

They waited some minutes, but nobody else appeared, and Foster surround and the other did not The fellow had vanished a a belt of ht some distance in front, and Foster felt he

By and by the indistinct figure vanished again, and pushi+ng on cautiously through the shadow, they cae Steep rocks rose above the narrow open space, but although the trail went no farther there was nobody about Standing behind a fir trunk, Foster searched the edge of the bush, but saw nothing except a ruined shack and so out of the snow He could not examine the shack, because if the other man was near he would see hi a few minutes, he touched Pete and they turned back silently

XXVI

THE REAL-ESTATE AGENT

Next ot up in the dark and walked briskly down theto blink in the houses he passed and there was a pungent s wood In front, the forest rolled upwards in a blurred, dark mass, but he could not see the mountains The air was still and felt damp upon his skin, and he knew a sudden rise of te, however, was that there was nobody to watch hi the road he had taken on the previous night

He had so the trees, but day had broken when he reached the clearing, and a faint gray light shone through the haze There was no obvious reason why the stranger's disappearance at the spot should interest him, but his suspicions were quickly excited and it looked as if the fellow had tried to make his acquaintance in order to learn his business in the town He had coive him a hint, but was disappointed There were a number of marks, but they had lost their sharpness and he could not tell which had beenand he saw that the shack at the foot of the rocks had partly fallen down Thick wooden beams and props lay beside the ironwork he had noticed on his last visit It was obvious that he was looking at a mineral claim that had been abandoned after some development work had been done, while the tra thethe heap of rusty iron, fro to shrink, he found a narrow opening in the foot of the hill This was a test adit, and the tilt of the strata indicated that its slope was steep The stone that had been taken out showed that it did not penetrate far, and Foster saw no reason for entering

He next studied the rocks, and although he saw no path, iet up that way, but could not see why anybody should wish to do so, and the snow did not seem to have been disturbed After a esture of disappointment

The man he had followed had apparently coh the mine was conveniently near the town it was a cold and cheerless spot for a rendezvous, Foster surmised from this that secrecy was i to indicate that theto do with hi in the tops of the pines and a lu frorew louder until the as filled with sound, and he began to feel cla up the valley, driving back the frost

When he reached the town the snoet and the lights were out, but the post office was open, and having telegraphed his new address, he went in to ask if there was any irl was busy behind a lettered brass wicket, but did not look up, and Foster saw theso the counter The fellow caet up early”

”I'm used to that,” Foster answered with a careless smile ”Anyhoant my mail, and you enjoy breakfast better if you've been out first”

”Sure thing,” agreed the other ”But you want to put on rubber shoes when a Chinook wind strikes this town”

Then the girl clerk looked up and when Foster inquired for letters threw hi the na on the wicket

”Farther along, where you came from! Can't you read the alphabet?”

”I can, now I see it,” said the other good-hulad he had picked up the letters as the girl threw them down It is custoirl clerks are soe that the fellow had co so, he had learned Foster's name, but the latter did not think he had seen the postlish stamp Still, he had noted that Foster's boots hich indicated that the latter had gone farther than the post office

He went out before he opened the envelopes, and then glancing at the letters put the to read the up his coat and went to the dining-room He was pro his meal, saw Telford, who had apparently just returned froe, which was rather dark It looked as if he had been hanging up his coat, but he stood near Foster's, and then moved on abruptly as another man came up

Foster met them and saw that the last was theTelford on the first evening As he passed, he took the letters frohted his pipe It was possible that Telford had meant to search his pockets, but had been prevented by the appearance of the other, and Foster frowned He was feeling the strain of the constant watchfulness and getting tired of intrigue As a , and it would be a keen relief when he could attend to his proper business and finish with the need for caution In the meantime, he did not know if he had found a fresh clew or not After all, he had not ot his perplexities as he took out the letters The first was from Lucy Stephen, who said that the doctor had visited Lawrence and was satisfied with his progress She added that Foster knerence disliked writing letters, but she wanted to reassure hiood luck The note was short, but see of intiht Lucy had written with this object

The other was from Alice Featherstone and his heart beat as he studied it She did not say much; they had still no news of Lawrence and her father was very restless and anxious, while she feared her mother felt the suspense But she knew Foster would make every effort and would not fail them; there was nobody else who could help All she said struck a note of quiet confidence Her faith was unshaken; she trusted him

Foster thrilled and his weariness and dejection vanished Alice would have got Lawrence's telegram soon after she wrote and she had proof of his honesty now Still, he had only kept half his proh he had undertaken a task that needed abilities he doubted if he possessed, he meant to keep the other half He was heht ood

For a tiland and how she had looked He pictured her standing in the dark-paneled library at the Garth, with eyes that sparkled as she spoke in his defense, sitting with a s hearth in the hall, and waiting for hih all the scenes with the sary--there was a proud reserve But Alice stood above all other woot up with a resolute et to work To begin with, he would try to find out so about Telford, and went to the office, where the clerk was unoccupied As a rule, nobody knows more about everybody else's business than the clerk of a Western hotel