"I mean that portland cement, an' the reinforcin' steel, an' plate an' whatever else goes into the construction of a paper mill is bein' set down on the Shamattawa, one hundred miles from a railway at Orcutt's expense. And that every ton of it is stuff that won't pay its way out of the woods. The freight an' the haulin' one way doubles the cost. An' even if he tried to take it out, he'd have a hundred miles of tote-road to build. Eureka freight travels only one way on McNabb's tote-road--an' that way is in!" Hedin stared at the man in astonishment. "And you can buy it at your own figure!" he cried. "Why, you can prevent even his empty trucks from going back. God, man, it will ruin Orcutt!" "'Tis his own doin's," answered the man. "'Twill serve him right. He should have 'tended to his bankin' instead of pickin' on poor old John McNabb, that should be back of his counter sellin' thread, as he told me himself. Ten cents on the dollar he offered for my tote-road." "I'll do it!" exclaimed Hedin. "It will be hard, but it will be worth it, to see that crook get what's coming to him. And then I'm going away. Murchison will give me a letter, and I'll strike the Company for a job." McNabb nodded. "I guess ye're right, about not goin' back to the store," he said slowly. "Your heart is in the North." There was a strange lump in Hedin's throat. He glanced into the face of his employer, and was surprised at a certain softness in the shrewd gray eyes that gazed far out over the lake. After a time the old man spoke, more to himself than to him. "Ye could both run down for a month or two in the winter!" "What?" asked Hedin, regarding the speaker with a puzzled expression. "Both of who? A factor only gets away in the summer." "So they do--so they do," answered McNabb, absently. "Well, we'll be goin' back now. My engineer, maybe, will be wantin' a conference." XXIV A rather strained silence greeted the entrance of McNabb into the trading room. Jean and Murchison occupied the only two chairs the room boasted, and Wentworth leaned against the counter, a half-sneering smile on his lips. McNabb advanced to the group beneath the huge swinging lamp, and Sven Larsen lingered in the shadows near the door. The half-sneer changed to a look of open defiance, as Wentworth faced McNabb. "It seems," he said truculently, "that I am guilty of a serious _faux pas_ in mentioning a bit of Terrace City scandal that reached my ears concerning the elopement of your estimable fur clerk, Hedin, and a Russian sable coat. The idiot didn't have the brains to get away with it. If you'd have been wiser you would have waited until you could have laid hands on the coat, and then locked up your fur clerk." "H-m-m, maybe ye're right," answered McNabb.