"Better leave it alone," said Ralph indifferently. "It's rotten!"
Stack insisted on the advantages of the city that was to be.
Ralph listened with growing impatience. "What do you want to make another city for?" he demanded. "Aren't there enough cities fouling the streams?"
Stack shrugged deprecatingly, and murmured something about "progress."
"Progress be damned!" said Ralph rudely. "We're progressing in the wrong direction!"
"I should like to see a bit of the real thing myself," said Stack, "but I don't suppose an inexperienced man like me could get about. If I could get a good guide!"
Ralph did not rise to the cast. "Plenty of guides," he said carelessly.
"What is the best way to go beyond Fort Edward?" asked Stack.
"There are three main routes," said Ralph; "up the Boardman to the Stukely Valley; straight north over the hills to the Campbell Lake country; or east up the Campbell River."
"What's the lake country like?" asked Stack.