"And without friends you are going--_there?_" she cried. "You have no
husband--no brother----"

"What place is this?" interrupted the other, raising her veil so that she
could look steadily into the other's face. "Would you mind telling me?"

"It is Miette," replied the girl, the flush reddening her cheeks again.
"There's one of the big camps of the railroad builders down on the Flats.
You can see it through the window. That river is the Athabasca."

"Will the train stop here very long?"

The Little Angel shrugged her thin shoulders despairingly.

"Long enough to get me into The Cache mighty late to-night," she
complained. "We won't move for two hours."

"I'd be so glad if you could tell me where I can go for a bath and
something to eat. I'm not very hungry--but I'm terribly dusty. I want to
change some clothes, too. Is there a hotel here?"

Her companion found the question very funny. She had a giggling fit before
she answered.

"You're sure new," she explained. "We don't have hotels up here. We have
bed-houses, chuck-tents, and bunk-shacks. You ask for Bill's Shack down
there on the Flats. It's pretty good. They'll give you a room, plenty of
water, and a looking-glass--an' charge you a dollar. I'd go with you, but
I'm expecting a friend a little later, and if I move I may lose him.
Anybody will tell you where Bill's place is. It's a red an' white striped