The Raymer enterprise., 1920-05-06
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

i
Rosny tract"
"The offer Is too small? ! doubt
II will discuss that after / have seer
the concession
The notary sighed. well. at leas
think the matter over for while," h,
said. "Mr. Morris, the manager. Il
away on business. He should be II
Quebec tomorrow. and perhaps he car
arrange to take you up there"
Il am thinking Of going at a yer!
early date" said Hilary. "in fact, b!
the boat tomorrow"
Mr.. Askew, ! assure you, you hat
better wait for Mr.. Morris. He Is {
man Of expert judgment. You canno
have better adviser. and he has abso
lutely no personal interest one way Of
another. There are SO many things Il
consider; and then-you don't speal
French, do your"
"A little"
ut would not help you, anyway
The dialect up at St. Boniface is seven
teenth century. They are wild lo'
up there, very bad lot of people
smugglers and poachers, Mr.. Askew."
Hilary, who had already sensed La
martine's objection to his going to st
Boniface, awakened to suspicion al
last. II shall leave on tomorrow morn
lng's boat" he said. when / have
made my decision shall let you know
| think I shall refuse your company's
offer WIN you let me have the pa.
pers. Monsieur LamartIne. including
the last half-yearly statement and the
map Of the limitsf'
"But 1t is entirely irregular, Mr.. As.
kew. Rec lly-"
let me have the papers, please
said Hilary. smiling. "And you need
have no fear that you will be held re.
sponslhle for my anticipating my In
hcritance. / imagine / have as much
right there as Mr.. Morris"
"Of course, II that Is your decision
there Is nothing more to say" an.
swered the other brusquely. He
pulled out drawer and removed an
envelope containing some documents
You will find the statement here" he
said. "Mr. Morris has the books and
the map of ST. BonIface. l wish you
a pleasant journey, sir. You wish me
to continue TO represent your
"For the present. yes. Good-day."
When he was gone Monsieur Lamar.
tine sat back in his chair and drummed
his fingers for nearly minute. Then
he called up Brousseau.
Hes just gone,' he said. "And he
starts for st. Boniface tomorrow morn.
Ing, In spite Of all my representa-.
tions."
He smiled at the sputterIng that
came over the wire.
1t was well into the afternoon when
Hilary reached st. Boniface on the
small tri-weekly mall boat. For fifty
or sixty miles below Quebec the coun.
try. sparsely inhabited though 1t Is,
and primitive. contains settlements
with shlngled houses. hotels. tourists
In season; and Il was not until the st.
Lawrence widened into the Gulf that
Hilary realized. almost with surprise,
that the ship was sailing into a terri.
tory as primitive as II had been score
Of years after Jacques Cartier landed
Something of the prlmeval nature of
the land entered Hllary's heart and
gripped 1t. He had never known what
It was he wanted. But he knew now :
II was to take hold of virgin land
and tame 1t, to grapple with life. not
among the men of cities. but some
where with the smell Of the pines and
of the brown earth in his nostrlls. Pac-
ing the deck of the little ship, he felt
that his desires had come to light at
the moment when their fulfillment had
become possible.
He looked about him with approval
when he stood upon the porch of the
tiny hotel at St. Bonlface. Nobody
else had got of the boat, and evident
ly the landlord Of the little hotel ex-
pected nobody. After an Intellectual
attempt to enter into conversation with
him, In which hardly word was mu-
tually intelligible, Hilary gave up the
effort and started up the hill road
which led. he surmised. toward the
lumber mill.
The whole settlement was gathered
about the shores of the little bay. Be
yond II were the mountains, on either
side the forest-clad hills, broken, on
the east. by an inlet. and on the west
by the deep cleft of the Rocky river,
whose mouth, closed by a boom. was
a congested mass Of logs.
Hilary crossed the bridge and ap-
preached the mill. Two or three men,
lounging outside the store. looked at
him without any sign Of interest.
Everything was very still and peace
full; there was hardly sound to be
heard except the distant hum of the
mill machinery.
Between the dam and the store,
upon terrain heaped with tin cans
and miscellaneous debris. were piles
Of wood In four-foot lengths. each com.
prising about two hundred cords.
kneeling at the narrow end Of one Of
these piles was little man. whose
clean-shaven upper lip, the whiteness
NJ vvhfrh rontro atod mlth n or,, hln nix