CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I | Jimmy Signs a Note | [1] |
| II | Jimmy's Apology | [9] |
| III | The Cayuse Pony | [19] |
| IV | Kelshope Ranch | [29] |
| V | Jimmy Holds Fast | [38] |
| VI | Deering Owns a Debt | [47] |
| VII | An Insurable Interest | [56] |
| VIII | Jimmy Gets to Work | [67] |
| IX | The Quiet Woods | [78] |
| X | Laura's Refusal | [87] |
| XI | The Game Reserve | [98] |
| XII | Stannard Fronts a Crisis | [108] |
| XIII | The Deserted Homestead | [117] |
| XIV | A Shot in the Dark | [126] |
| XV | Trooper Simpson's Prisoners | [135] |
| XVI | The Neck | [144] |
| XVII | Dillon Meditates | [152] |
| XVIII | The Cartridge Belt | [162] |
| XIX | Useful Friends | [171] |
| XX | Bob's Denial | [182] |
| XXI | Deering's Excursion | [190] |
| XXII | Deering Takes Counsel | [200] |
| XXIII | Margaret Takes a Plunge | [208] |
| XXIV | Jimmy Resigns Himself | [218] |
| XXV | The Call | [227] |
| XXVI | Deering Takes the Trail | [236] |
| XXVII | Deering's Progress | [245] |
| XXVIII | A Dissolving Picture | [254] |
| XXIX | Held Up | [263] |
| XXX | The Gully | [274] |
| XXXI | Stannard's Line | [281] |
| XXXII | By the Camp-fire | [288] |
| XXXIII | Sir James Approves | [297] |
NORTHWEST!
I
JIMMY SIGNS A NOTE
The small room at the Canadian hotel was hot and smelt of cigar-smoke and liquor. Stannard put down his cards, shrugged resignedly, and opened the window. Deering smiled and pulled a pile of paper money across the table. He was strongly built and belonged to a mountaineering club, but he was fat and his American dinner jacket looked uncomfortably tight.
Deering's habit was to smile, and Jimmy Leyland had liked his knowing twinkle. Somehow it hinted that you could not cheat Deering, but if you were his friend you could trust him, and he would see you out. Now, however, Jimmy thought he grinned. Jimmy had reckoned on winning the pool, but Deering had picked up the money he imagined was his.
Jackson wiped a spot of liquor from his white shirt and gave the boy a sympathetic glance. Jackson was thin, dark-skinned and grave, and although he did not talk much about himself, Jimmy understood he was rather an important gentleman in Carolina. Stannard had indicated something like this. Stannard and Jimmy were frankly English, but Jimmy was young and the other's hair was touched by white.
Yet Stannard was athletic, and at Parisian clubs and Swiss hotels men talked about his fencing and his exploits on the rocks. He was not a big man, but now his thin jacket was open, the moulding of his chest and the curve to his black silk belt were Greek. All the same, one rather got a sense of cultivation than strength; Stannard looked thoroughbred, and Jimmy was proud he was his friend.