“Hello, what’s this?” he cried, reading the label in surprise. “Doctor Ernest Imbrie. Who the deuce is he?”
“Must have come here by mistake,” said Gaviller.
“Not a bit of it! Here’s the whole story: Doctor Ernest Imbrie, Fort Enterprise, Spirit River, Athabasca.”
It passed around from hand to hand. A new name was something to catch the attention at Fort Enterprise.
“Why, here’s another!” cried Gaviller in excitement. “And another! Blest if half the bag isn’t for him! And all addressed just so!”
They looked at each other a little blankly. All this evidence had the effect of creating an apparition there in their midst. There was an appreciable silence.
“Must be somebody who started in last year and never got through,” said Mathews. He spoke with an air of relief at discovering so reasonable an explanation.
“But we hear about everybody who comes north of the Landing,” objected Gaviller. “I would have been advised if he had a credit here.”
“Another doctor!” said Doc Giddings bitterly. “If he expects to share my practice he’s welcome!”
At another time they would have laughed at this, but the mystery teased them. They resented the fact that some rank outsider claimed Fort Enterprise for his post-office, without first having made himself known.