~~ of | BENSON BROS. Auto jitney Service Between, Hazelton and New Hazelton and the Railway, , or to any point in the: dis- trict—and at any hour.’ Phone Hazelton. - 1 short, 1 long, 1 short 1-long ‘ Omineca Hotel; 2 long .2/ short “Build B.C,” It All Belongs — Here The men’ who own. Pacific ‘Milk . have their homes here “and the money remains to build up Brit- ish Columbin. By the- generous patronage of the people ofthe pro- vince this good. milk has been made into one of B. C.’s big industries, spemee see Pacific Milk Head Office: Vancouver , Factories at Abbotsford and Ladner J.P. N.P. om Wm. Grant’s | Agency REAL ESTATE ' District Agent for the leading. Insurance Companies—_ . — Life _ Firefl 1 Health Accident , wee HAZELTON Be c. ‘FIRE LIFE ccrpent AUTOMOBILE Only strong. reiiable companies _ represented by us. lato Boats We are local agents for the new Flato Boats~the ‘great boon for the fishermen, the duck hunter and the camper, See it at our office now, WM. S. HEN RY. SMITHERS, B. C. l net Ky Omineca . Hotel . G. W. _ Dawson, Prop. : : HEADQUARTERS For TOURISTS: M ‘ AND COMMERCIAL — arama f MM Maat + : wy MEN x Dining room dn connection a wo wad : aie 4 Hazelton:; - ; B.C Co jis of TWoreater, . Morester, Prince ‘y ms Photograph Stutlo | Filma Developed and Printed | Enlargements made. When in Smithers have your -Phototaken . Post Card to Cabinet .° Sizes: A. L. Evitt, Smithers Glass Monuments $20. 00 to $30. 00 CUr FLOWERS a ‘POTTED. PLANTS’ _ ‘BLOOMING BULBS. D .GLENNIE Prince Rupert, B. C. actually ordered — ‘you | away—for Give jewelry | For Chris! This year we have the finest selection we ever had, Wrist Watches, Tie Pins Ali kinds of Silverware Diamond Set and all other kinds Gold Rings Broaches, . Cut Glass and Ivory Goods) |. _ Just let us know you needs and we will send on approval for your selection- le Bulger Limited Jeweller At the Clock on the Street. PRINCE RUPERT TIMBER SALE ‘x0075 Thete will be offered for snle ut public nuction at the office of the Sup- ervisor, Smithers, B. C., at the hour of noun, Janunry 19th, 1028, the Licensc X6675, situated Lot 2888, Cassiar, in 22,000 feet of cedar poles and. piling. - One (1) year will be allowed for re moval of timber, Further particulars of the ‘Chier Forester, Victoria, ‘or District Forest. er, Prince. Rupert, B. CG. TIMBER SALE X97109 | Senled tenders will be received ‘by’ the District Forester,’ Prince: Rupert: not later than nobn. on the 20th day of January, 1928," for the’ purchase’ of License X9710, near Kitwanea, “ad: Joining I, R, No.. 2, to cut 18,000 lineal: feet of eedar- poles and piling, eel Wo... (2). Fears “will be: allowed for removal.of timber, ! (acs Further | particulars “Of. the. Victoria, ON Bron "-Ohief Distrlet’ the vicinlty of Skeena Crossing, to. cut |, , toria . station old yoke Men Marooned j. ‘BY omer! MARSH 7 sel ad _You—you 1 mean he a year?” atammmered - the incredulous ’ Garth's arma. shepherded the quiver- ing shoulders of the ‘girl, as he nodded to hig ‘prother. over, her. golden head. “But you Jook $0, tit, so vugged; Garth, 7 protested Clara. “You've re- covered all your weight. I don't un- derstand.” “And | the wedding?” ither’s quest- ioning eyes lifted to his. “Poor dear! I wouldn't hare ‘the heart ‘to’ ‘take you up there.. It would be unthinkable. ” _ He “gravely shook his head. — ‘ “Up where?” | fear in her eyes. doors here?”, a “I can’t loaf here. I must do some- thing. And a .friend has offered me the chance of air—and work too. Up on James Bay. I’ve been offered a job with the Hudson’s Bay Co.” a4 Had Guthrie's annonuced destina- tion been China, the shock could not have been more profound to his hear- ers. The plump face of his brother darkened with a seowl of disapproval. Clara sat open-mouthed, incredulous. Hihel -probed Garth's level eyes, as if in doubt of his meaning—then, chin, in hands, stared duily at the tablecloth. ‘You bound yourself,” she said at length, in a voiee empty of emotion. “You planned all this to go away for a yent—without consulting me—I don't seem to count then?? Rising stifly she had left the room, followed by the sym- pathic Clara, ‘ _yes, it had been bruitally abrupt— unfeeling, admitted the man lying by his sleeping dog, as the storm drove past the tent in the alders. But the alternative would shave been endless letters of protest, reproach, so he had not written. Throneh the slow months , “sty poor “hoy! She turned on him— “Yon can live out of their introspection, he had Jearned to doubt, both himself and Ethel. “Often: in the intervals between her visits With Clara—Charles | had been too busy to appear more than once—Garth had desperately tried’ to analyze the rd- ture of her affection: often in his doubt of her, fought to free himself of the magie of her hold over him; al- ways in the end to realize how he was inissing her—how hungry he waited for her coming. No, the seiration tind not broken the spell or lessened his need of her, but it had touched his enamored eyes with vision. There in the white hills of his banishment, be- yond the glamor of her physical love- liness, he had lenrned to see how ut- terly she had failed him, Hurt in body, disillusioned, he .hed returned from the holoenust of Flanders to ‘the refuge. of ‘her’ arms—the solace of her love—ta find regret—a veiled shrink- ing from the change iu him; to learn- that she still clung to her memories of ‘the boy with unmarred face who had carried away her heart into the maelstrom of the. final years of ‘the war. He pictured the scene at the Vie- | f ‘comrndes—fellow officers, there with their Gorspeed, chatting ina group nearby, - while: he talked with: family. ; “Po, thing that I ean hear from you _ 80 seldom—that is what _ makes It so hard," ‘Ethel was suying, With a thr ust. of the old. pain he 1 re- me membered that, the ‘girl Whose face’ bore : the: unmistakable, mats | of suf. , fering even at parting, “had: “from. hab- it, stood. on. his left. side,” A year had failed to, ‘reconcile her... “The furrowed. cheek was still a thing hideous, ma Tt is ‘tough. ‘There's ‘only: Christmas mail and, a sumnier. valéket jup the const. from Albany,” hd, hod ‘Jot. a cane . or ‘dog: team. belng tere through Detiveen. times, 5 | gularily. and y ‘aya get t of the winter, with their loneliness and. replied, “but there's: -alwoys | ‘ttle chance |: France I would often get ‘tive or “gtx at a time—and read them. dn. thelr. or- der? “Oh, you mustn't expect the letters FT used to write, Garth; ad ,she had awift- ly replied. - eet not to expect that.’ | “You know why?" ce “Yes, I think I know why.” They stood, avoiding each. others eyes, in their unvoiced misery. The train wes. about to start. A wave to his friends: a grip of the hand for Charles; a. hug for the teary Clara / and he turned to the dry-eyed girl, ‘Good-by,' denr. A year is not so long He took her in Ais arms and kissed her. But-the face he touched was cold Her arms hung stiff at her side. Good by Ethel, he repeated, “I’m sorry,” "Good-by, Garth,” she faltered. “This I suppose, is the end. I've lost you.” * J ae J * * * * Down the Missinaibi to Moose, up the coast to Fort Albany, the man who had gone into the north to find health and the solution of his ‘problem in separation,‘ vas accompanied by boubt and self-acnneure, é had been unfair —brutal—this wrenching himself from tbe sure appeal of her personal charm. But in fairness to the future it was imperative. A yenr would clarify his visiou—prove her hold over: bim un- bearable, or make him a. free man, However, notwithstandiig the bitter. ness of her farewell, the first mail to reach him in the early mouths of his apprenticeship in the fur trade had brought letters patently not those of renunciation, On the contrary they dwelt in detail on plans for his future homecoming and wedding; were gay with gossip; related with frank pride the rumor of a knighthood for services "* “No,” he. said grimly “I’ re learned . coast an opate for his doubt and dis- illusions. With no atempt.at defense of his decision to remain .another year, Guth- tle Wrote ‘home, and without regret he sailed out of the delta of the great: Al- bany with Dtienne, bound for Elkwan. The man who had lain besideshis _ sleepizig | dog with his thoughts while. ; the wind roared through the alders, hammering jhe anchored tent, and: ithe Tain beat its intermittent tatto, sat up, and placing the ‘eandle lantern at: his and resd:' °° ny Dearest Garth:. : “Tf don't know what to say—I'm, sim- Jply stunned: Either you are stil ji are deceiving us, or take this method to humilinte me. before your family and the world. in the Hope that I shall voluntarily give you. up. . ‘Of course, if you no longer love me, there is nothing to be said, Do you love me still, Garth dear? So long‘as you do I shall wait. “Devotedly, until you: wish it other- wise.” "| e485) Fe This had been her answer to the burning of his bridges—utter abandon- ment of her pride, and he had once thought her proud. , Nevertheless each new retading of the letter brought to Hlkwan . by the fall packet a fortnight before, liad quickened the memory of what this girl,. vibrant with life ‘and physical charm, iad meant to him—this’ gir] whom he had Aumiliated. Often, standing before here vivid likeness in his quarters he bad gazed at the allur- ing fuce, the faultless modelling of neck and shoulders, nud marvelled at the spell which held him in the north © while such lovliness awaited his returr She still Had power to stir him, but his moods of self-censure and remorse Werte short-lived. The north had won. CHAPTER II s ‘os See At daylight the challenge of the aire- dale waked the ‘sleeping man, With hair erect on mane and back the dog squeezed through the ‘lashed tent flap to break into furious barking. ; "Shut up, Shot, Etienne’s in for breakfast,” called Garth. dropped to the bovernment during the war with Which the’ name of Charles Guthrie was being coupled; at times, to * his surprise, approached the’ warmth , of the old days. °° In the autumn Garth bad been sent north with Etienne Savanne, a veteran’ the fur post’ at ‘the mouth of the Elk- wan. When the Christmas mail from Albany was sighted ou the white river trail, the mingled feelings with which Guthrie watched the approneh of the dog-tezm bringlug word from home—- from her—were the cause of puzzled self-analysis through the, months te fol- low. In July when he sailed into Fort Albany in his York boat with his: fu packs, his year on the silent west coast Was wp. his arrival brought the news that he wus uow brother of Sir Charles: Guth-' rle; announced the decision. of Ethel und Chua for an August wedding on the retnrn of the exile; dwelt at leng- th on the rise. dn Guthrie. steel ; and disposed of his. henlth w ith the easual stirniise that it had been fully restored by the year in the open. . The last had drawn 2 bitter smile. from the man who rend.. Pages for the personal affairs of the ‘writers, and ¢& line for the lungs he had brought back from the Hun drive for the Channel ports, So they were waiting in Mon- treel, were they, for his. Teturn,, to bend him ‘to their pretty Wways—shape {him into 9 busiiess muchine, like ol¢ Charles ;" when he had breathed the stinging aly, off. the iee-flelds of, the bay; seen: the cariboo. drift: ‘Across: ‘the Damelesy, lakes. at. dawn} caniped: under a canopy of. stairs while | ‘the aurora blazoned the north; waked to. the rau- ‘eons chorus of the Canadas and watch- el ed, the, wavies _ rally their. ‘legions -In the autumn 2 How blurred After this servant of the company, to, winter ‘at on the platform above~his hea a, ana .f The mail he found. waiting |: the leaping: airedale..- : “Good morning, Btlenne, bad night of it in the. bush,” - ‘The wiry half-breed' cashed his load you had a grinned. “I: mak good camp ‘een de spruce wid beeg Tire, and roast some goose,” tea and a kettle of gouse, then, to With difficulty the men boiled their ‘avoid the flying sand, went into the tent to eat: “We ougint to be starting for Elkwar Etienne, I don't like to leave her too long, sic as he is.’ The swart face of Etienne Say anna grew ‘grave as he nodded, “She nevnire see de snow * once more.” 7 . . . “That's why I'hate to leave. her. Alone with-old Ann., I'd never for- -” give myself 1f,—". Guthrie paused te stare at the tent wall. The’ black eyes of his _eompanion softened. “You ben good man, m'siéu,’ Dat girl die: long ago een da bush,” © “Xes, the condensed milk bas kep’ her nlive—but' she should have. ‘gone to the juission at Albany,’”;, The other shook his head, struck a, mateh and: lit. his pipe, before replying, “You are new man tn. dees country You don know Injun squaw. At AlL- . : banee—widout you—she not be happy” | Guthrie reddened under his deep | tan He knew only: tdo . Wells. “But” ‘they. would have‘ taken ‘better care of: ‘her,”” : he" ‘protested. ' . Htienne slowiy. shook: his head: late, m’sieu. “She live” more To than at’ Albanee " “An day while the’ west . coast, G elbow, drew 2. letter from his pocket. Presently, weighted down with - bis a load of. geese, a ent. figure: pushed of through ‘the. alders: faccompanted , iby “y Then :