"But Bob--" Mrs. Vernon began.

"Bob _knows_, and I'll need a partner. If Miss Hyslop didn't leave the
settlement on the night express, she'll be hitting the trail through the
woods for the United States. You must hustle."

Mrs. Vernon left him, and a few minutes afterwards the fast motor launch
swung out from the landing and sped down river with a white wave at her
bows. Grace watched the boat vanish behind a wooded point and then went
to her tent. She was horribly angry and shocked. Barbara had cheated her
and disgraced them all.



CHAPTER IV

THE GIRL ON THE PLATFORM

The Vancouver express was running in the dark through the woods west of
Fort William. After the rain of early summer, wash-outs that undermine
the track are numerous and the express had been delayed. Now, however,
the road was good and the engineer drove his big locomotive with
throttle wide open. Black smoke blew about the rocking cars, cinders
rattled on the roofs, and showers of sparks sped past the windows. The
wheels roared on shaking trestles and now and then awoke an echoing
clang of steel, for the company was doubling the track and replacing the
wooden bridges by metal.

This was George Lister's business, and he lounged in a corner of a