“I, Henry Alton, of Somasco ranch, being now in sound health, and as clear of head as usual, but about to start on a journey to which there are risks attached, hereby bequeath in the event of disaster overtaking me the estate of Carnaby, England, with all its rents and revenues of any kind whatever to which I am entitled, to Miss Alice Deringham, daughter of ——.  In case of my decease during the next six months, the above-mentioned Ralph Deringham and my partner Charles Seaforth, of Somasco, British Columbia, will, acting as trustees, either dispose of the estate for the benefit of Miss Deringham or install her in possession of it at her discretion.”

There was a little more to the purpose, and Deringham read all of it.  “This is very generous,” he said.

“No,” said Alton, “it’s only just, and it can’t be very generous, because Carnaby wouldn’t be much use to me if I don’t come back.  I could, of course, revoke this thing if I do.”

Deringham said nothing.  There was a good deal he wished to say, but for once words failed him, and when he went out with the will in his pocket his face had grown a trifle grey.  Yet though he suffered grievously in that moment, he was conscious of something in his brain that throbbed in time to the refrain, “Alice Deringham, mistress of Carnaby.”

CHAPTER XV

ON THE TRAIL

Daylight was just creeping through the rain, and thin mist rolled about the pines, when early one morning Alton, who was setting out to find the silver, stood upon the verandah of Somasco ranch.  The trickle from the eaves dripped upon two pack-horses waiting in the mire below, and Tom of Okanagan, the big axeman who had been hewing with Alton when Deringham first met him at the ranch, stood motionless with their bridles in his hand, apparently as oblivious of the rain as the pines behind him.  Seaforth was at the head of the stairway with a pack upon his back, and the barrel of a Marlin rifle sloped across his shoulders.  Beyond lay a blurred vista of driving rain and dripping trees.

Early as it was, Deringham and his daughter were also upon the verandah, and the girl shivered a little as she gazed northwards into the mist.  It was a very wild and lonely region the rolling vapours hid, and she knew the men who ventured into it at that season of the year would find their courage and endurance tested to the uttermost.  There were but three of them, but she had discovered already that they were a little more than average men, and a glance at their burdens and those of the dripping beasts was as reassuring as their bearing.  It was evident that they knew what their task would be, and had prepared for it with a thoroughness that overlooked nothing.  Tents, blankets, flour-bags, cooking utensils and hide packages were hung where man and horse could carry them with a minimum of effort.  The place for every strap had been exactly determined, and there was an absence of concern, and a quietness about the men that had its meaning.