The Lure of the North   By: Harold Bindloss (1866-1945)

by

HAROLD BINDLOSS

Author of THE GIRL FROM KELLER'S , CARMEN'S MESSENGER , BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS , JOHNSTONE OF THE BORDER , PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN , WINSTON OF THE PRAIRIE , ETC.

Published in England under the Title Agatha's Fortune

New York Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers

1918

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

ALTON OF SOMASCO LORIMER OF THE NORTHWEST THURSTON OF ORCHARD VALLEY WINSTON OF THE PRAIRIE THE GOLD TRAIL SYDNEY CARTERET, RANCHER A PRAIRIE COURTSHIP VANE OF THE TIMBERLANDS THE LONG PORTAGE RANCHING FOR SYLVIA PRESCOTT OF SASKATCHEWAN THE DUST OF CONFLICT THE GREATER POWER MASTERS OF THE WHEATLANDS DELILAH OF THE SNOWS BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE THE CATTLE BARON'S DAUGHTER THRICE ARMED FOR JACINTA THE INTRIGUERS THE LEAGUE OF THE LEOPARD FOR THE ALLISON HONOR THE SECRET OF THE REEF HARDING OF ALLENWOOD THE COAST OF ADVENTURE JOHNSTONE OF THE BORDER BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS CARMEN'S MESSENGER THE GIRL FROM KELLER'S THE LURE OF THE NORTH

[Illustration: "SHE SAW A LOOK OF FEAR IN HIS STARING EYES."]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I THIRLWELL MAKES HIS CHOICE

II STRANGE'S STORY

III AGATHA MAKES A PROMISE

IV STRANGE'S PARTNER

V A NIGHT'S WATCH

VI FATHER LUCIEN'S ADVENTURE

VII AGATHA'S RESOLVE

VIII THE BURGLAR

IX AGATHA ASKS ADVICE

X THIRLWELL GETS A LETTER

XI STORMONT FINDS A CLUE

XII ON THE TRAIL

XIII THE PROSPECTORS' RETURN

XIV STORMONT DISOWNS A DEBT

XV THE GRAND RAPID

XVI THE PIT PROP

XVII DRUMMOND OFFERS HELP

XVIII THE HAND IN THE WATER

XIX A LOST OPPORTUNITY

XX THE PLUNGE

XXI THE WILDERNESS

XXII BEFORE THE WIND

XXIII STRANGE'S LEGACY

XXIV AGATHA RESUMES HER JOURNEY

XXV THE BROKEN RANGE

XXVI THE LODE

XXVII THIRLWELL'S DULLNESS

XXVIII STORMONT TRIES A BRIBE

XXIX GEORGE REPROACHES HIMSELF

XXX A CHANGE OF LUCK

XXXI THIRLWELL'S REWARD

CHAPTER I

THIRLWELL MAKES HIS CHOICE

Dinner was nearly over at the big red hotel that stands high above the city of Quebec, and Thirlwell, sitting at one of the tables, abstractedly glanced about. The spacious room was filled with skilfully tempered light that glimmered on colored glasses and sparkled on silver; pillars and cornices were decorated with artistic taste. A murmur of careless talk rose from the groups of fashionably dressed women and prosperous men, and he heard a girl's soft laugh.

All this struck a note of refined luxury that was strange to Thirlwell, who had spent some years in the wilds, where the small, frost bitten pines roll across the rocks and muskegs of North Ontario. One lived hard up there, enduring arctic cold, and the heat of the short summer, when bloodthirsty mosquitoes swarm; and ran daunting risks on the lonely prospecting trail. Now it looked as if chance had offered him an easier lot; he could apparently choose between the privations of the wilderness and civilized comfort, but while he grappled with a certain longing he knew this was not so. He had adopted the pioneers' Spartan code; one must stand by one's bargain, and do the thing one had undertaken.

For a few moments he was silent, lost in rather gloomy thought, with a frown on his brown face, and Mrs. Allott, his English relative, studied him across the table. On the whole, Jim Thirlwell had improved in Canada, and she thought he would be welcomed if he returned to England. She had been his mother's friend, and during the week or two they had now spent together, had decided that if he proved amenable she would help him to make a career. Indeed, it was largely on Thirlwell's account she had accompanied her husband on his American tour.