Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: "ALL DAY LONG THEY PADDLED UP THE GLEAMING LAKE" --Page 290] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LONG PORTAGE By HAROLD BINDLOSS Author of A Prairie Courtship, Winston of the Prairie, etc. With a Frontispiece in colors by ARTHUR HUTCHINS New York GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, 1912, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian Published in England under the title, "The Pioneer" September, 1912 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Gladwyne Expedition 1 II. The Divide 12 III. The Cache 23 IV. A Painful Decision 35 V. Millicent Gladwyne 47 VI. Nasmyth Tells his Story 58 VII. On the Moors 68 VIII. Gladwyne Receives a Shock 81 IX. Lisle Gathers Information 92 X. Bella's Champion 102 XI. Crestwick Gives Trouble 118 XII. Mrs. Gladwyne's Appeal 129 XIII. A Futile Protest 142 XIV. Lisle Comes to the Rescue 153 XV. Bella's Defeat 165 XVI. Gladwyne Surrenders 177 XVII. A Bad Fall 189 XVIII. A Prudent Decision 200 XIX. Gladwyne Gains a Point 211 XX. Mrs. Gladwyne's Temptation 223 XXI. The Last Afternoon 233 XXII. Startling News 243 XXIII. A Forced March 254 XXIV. Millicent Summons Her Guide 265 XXV. A Reliable Man 276 XXVI. Lisle Turns Autocrat 287 XXVII. An Unpleasant Surprise 298 XXVIII. Clarence Reaches Camp 309 XXIX. A Bold Scheme 321 XXX. The End of the Pursuit 332 XXXI. Lisle Goes To England 343 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LONG PORTAGE CHAPTER I THE GLADWYNE EXPEDITION Vernon Lisle was fishing with a determination that did not spring altogether from love of the sport. The water of the British Columbian river in which he stood knee-deep was icy cold; his rubber boots were badly ripped and leaky, and he was wet with the drizzle that drove down the lonely valley. It was difficult to reach the slack behind a boulder some distance outshore, and the arm he strained at every cast ached from hours of assiduous labor; but there was another ache in his left side which was the result of insufficient food, and though the fish were shy he persevered.