Places, for he was the Factor, and not to many is it given to rule a
country so rich and extended. They nodded in turn to the taciturn
smokers, then glided away into the darkness on silent, moccasined feet.

The night had fallen. Here and there through the gloom shone a lamp.
Across the north was a dim glow of phosphorescence, precursor of the
aurora, from which occasionally trembled for an instant a single shaft
of light. The group by the bronze field-cannon were humming softly the
sweet and tender cadences of _La Violette dandine_.

Instinctively the two woodsmen paused on the hither side of rejoining
their companions. Bolton's eyes were already clouded with the trouble of
his speculation. Dick Herron glanced at his comrade quizzically, the
strange cast flickering in the wind of his thought.

"Oh, Sam!" said he.

"What?" asked the older man, rousing.

"Strikes me that by the time we get through drawin' that double pay on
this job, we'll be rich men--and old!"




CHAPTER TWO


The men stood looking vaguely upward at the stars.