Your ever loving
Lena.”
This being the last letter necessary to the construction of our romance, we will leave Roy Thursby to his letters while I digress in my story to say something about the writer of the billet doux.
The first few years of Roy Thursby’s employment in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s service were spent in the Mackenzie River District. The officer in charge of the Fort at which Roy was stationed was Factor James McLeod, a widower with one child, Lena—Roy’s fair correspondent. After a short time spent in the constant society of the Factor’s daughter the young clerk became enamored of her and she in return favored his aspirations. Perceiving the upright character of the young fellow and the zeal he displayed in the Company’s service—which augured well for his future success—Mr. McLeod consented to their being engaged, but stipulated that Roy should be in the possession of his Chief Trader’s commission before they entertained any thoughts of marriage. Then Roy had been transferred to York Factory, and from there to Fort Future, as we have seen.
CHAPTER VIII.
DELGEZIE’S DESPAIR.
Roy Thursby laid down the last of his correspondence with mixed feelings of pleasure and strange forebodings. The delight he was feeling, since learning that Lena McLeod was to accompany her father on his trip of inspection, was tempered in a large measure by the words contained in the letter announcing young College’s fatal encounter with the Indian—“For in my opinion it is murder for a man to take another man’s life no matter what the circumstances that seem to extenuate it.” This was a strange decree from one so young, and the words rang in Roy’s brain, try how he might to forget them. Yet why they should so disturb and influence him he could not for the life of him imagine.
Mechanically he caught up a newspaper and ran his eye over its pages till dinner was pronounced ready.
During the meal Broom’s manner appeared sullen and taciturn, and after a few minutes of desultory talk Roy lapsed into silence. But when they rose from the table the trader appeared to suddenly guess the cause of the other’s moodiness, for after gaily exhorting Hopkins to come forward, he brought forth the “comfort,” and at this Broom’s face immediately cleared, while Hopkins entered the room blithely and took the stiff dram offered him.
The arrival of the “packet” was now celebrated by Broom with more fervor, and entirely unsolicited he refilled his glass and drank success to “George Hopkins.”