possible to drive piling and build traps which intercept them by the
million. One trap will do the work of an army of fishermen with nets in
deep water. It is to get this property for himself that Marsh has
persecuted George so unflaggingly."

"Would he join us in such an enterprise, with five chances to one against
success?"

"Would he!" Cherry laughed. "Wait and see."

They had reached their destination--the mouth of a deep creek, up which
Cherry turned her dogs. Emerson leaped from the sled, and, running
forward, seized the leader, guiding it into a clump of spruce, among the
boles of which he tangled the harness, for this team was like a pack of
wolves, ravenous for travel and intolerant of the leash.

Together they ascended the bank and surveyed the surroundings, Cherry
expatiating upon every feature with the fervor of a land agent bent on
weaving his spell about a prospective buyer. And in truth she had chosen
well, for the conditions seemed ideal.

"It all sounds wonderfully attractive and feasible," said Boyd, at last;
"but we must weigh the overwhelming odds against success. First, of
course, is the question of capital. I have a little property of my own
which I can convert. But two hundred thousand dollars! That's a tremendous
sum to raise, even for a fellow with a circle of wealthy friends. Second,
there's the question of time. It's now early December, and I'd have to be
back here by the first of May. Third, could I run the plant and make it
succeed? It must be a wonderfully technical business, and I am utterly
ignorant of every phase of it. Then, too, there are a thousand other