XVI WRECKED
XVII "SO THIS IS THE POLE"




CHAPTER I

WHO IS THE MAJOR?


"Let's get a breath of fresh air." Bruce Manning yawned and stretched,
then slid off his high stool at the bookkeeping desk. Barney Menter
followed his example.

They had been together only a few days, these two, but already they were
pals. This was not to be wondered at, for both had been discharged
recently from army aviation service--Bruce in Canada and Barney in the
United States. Each had served his country well. Now they were employed
in the work of developing the wilds of Northern Canada near Hudson Bay.
And there are no regions more romantic than this with all its
half-gleaned history and its million secrets of wonder, wealth and
beauty.

As they stood in the doorway, gazing at the forest-lined river and
distant bluffs, hearing the clang of steel on steel, as construction work
went forward, catching the roar of cataracts in Nelson River, and
tingling with the keen air of the northern summer, life seemed a new
creation, so different was it from the days of war.