Fraser and his clerk were shooting, the company’s half-breed servants had gone to the woods for logs, and Helen, returning to the fort, thought to find nobody about. When she started in the morning for a cabin down-river, she had expected to stay over-night, but the trapper, with whose wife she visited, arrived, and in the afternoon Helen set out for home.
Crossing the clearing at the fort, she saw with some surprise that lights burned in the store and kitchen. The night was quiet, and the snowcrust was firm, and since the new clerk was keen about hunting, Fraser had planned a long excursion. Helen could not account for his return, but somebody was about, and her curiosity was excited. For one thing, people knew she had expected to stay at the cabin. Advancing quietly, she pushed open the
