"No."
"Curtis Gordon has bought the McDermott outfit in Kyak."
"That tells me nothing. Who is McDermott?"
"He's a shoe-stringer. He had a wildcat plan to build a railroad from Kyak to the coal-fields, but he never got farther than a row of alder stakes and a book of press clippings."
"Does that mean that Gordon abandons his Hope route?"
"Yep! He's swung in behind us and the Heidlemanns. Now it's a three-sided race, with us in the lead. Mellen just brought in the news half an hour ago; he was on his way down from the glaciers when he ran into a field party of Gordon's surveyors. Looks like trouble ahead if they try to crowd through the canon alongside of us."
"He must believe Kyak Bay will make a safe harbor."
"Don't say it! If he's right, we're fried to a nice brown finish on both sides and it's time to take us off the stove. I'm praying for a storm."
"'The prayers of the wicked are an abomination unto the Lord,'" quoted Eliza.
"Sure! But I keep right on praying just the same. It's a habit now. The news has set the chief to jumping sideways."