The whole picture as he imagined it was food for his black heart and
he forgot his own uncomfortable position in the delight that he felt
at the horrible death that he had so cleverly and cruelly arranged for
Bob.

Micmac John retraced his steps some eight miles to the wide stretch of
timber land. There he halted and pitched camp. The wind shrieked
through the tree tops and swept the marshes in its untamed fury, but
he was quite warm and contented in the tent. The storm was working his
revenge for him, and he was quite satisfied that it would do the work
well.

The men that Bob Gray had come in contact with and associated with all
his life were the honest, upright people of the Bay. He had never
known a man that would dishonestly take a farthing's worth of
another's property or that would knowingly harm a fellow being. The
Bay folk were constantly helping their more needy neighbours and lived
almost as intimately as brothers. When any one was in trouble the
others came to offer sympathy and frequently deprived themselves of
the actual necessaries of life that their neighbours might not suffer.
Sometimes they had their misunderstandings and quarrels, but these
were all of a momentary character and quickly forgotten.

There was little wonder then that Bob had failed to read Micmac John's
true character, and it could hardly be expected that he would suspect
the half-breed of trying to injure him. Children of these far-off,
thinly populated lands in many respects develop judgment and mature in
thought at a much younger age than in more thickly settled and more
favoured countries. One reason for this is the constant fight for