“At dawn,” he replied brusquely; and, finishing his meal in silence, he went into the store.

“Katherine, what is the matter with Father?  Do you think he is ill?” Mrs. Burton asked in a troubled tone.  “He has been so quiet and gloomy for the last few days; he does not eat well, and he does not seem to care to talk to any of us.”

Katherine shivered and hesitated.  She knew the moment from which the change in her father’s manner dated, but she could not speak of it even to her sister.  “Perhaps the cold weather tries him a great deal just at first; it has come so suddenly, and we are not seasoned to it yet, you know,” she answered evasively.

“I hope it is only that,” answered Mrs. Burton, brightening up at the suggestion.  “And really the cold has been terribly trying for the last week, though it won’t seem so bad when we get used to it.  I am glad you are going with Father, though, for Miles has such a dreadful cold, poor boy.”

“His own fault,” laughed Katherine.  “If he will go and sit in a tub half the day, in the hope of shooting swans, he must expect to get a cold.”

“Boys will do unwise things, I fancy.  They can’t help it, so it is of no use to blame them,” Mrs. Burton said with a sigh.

Katherine laughed again.  Mrs. Burton had a way of never blaming anyone, and slipped through life always thinking the very best of the people with whom she came in contact, crediting them with good intentions however far short they might prove of good in reality.  The sisters were alike in features and in their dainty, womanly ways, but in character they were a wide contrast.  Katherine, under her girlish softness and pretty winning manner, had hidden a firm will and purpose, a sound judgment, and a resourcefulness which would stand her in good stead in the emergencies of life.  She liked to decide things for herself, and choose what she would do; but Mrs. Burton always needed someone to lean upon and to settle momentous questions for her.

’Duke Radford was ready to start by the time dawn arrived, and Katherine was ready too.  It was so very cold that she had twisted a cloud of brilliant scarlet wool all over her head and ears, in addition to her other wrappings.  There were some stores to take to Fort Garry, and there would be others to bring back, as considerable trading was done between the fort and the settlement.  Very often when ’Duke Radford ran out of some easy-to-sell commodity he was able to replenish his stock from the fort, while he in his turn accepted furs in barter from his customers, which he disposed of to the agent when next he visited the fort.  As on the journey to the second portage, ’Duke Radford went first, drawing a laden sledge, followed by Katherine, who looked after the dogs.  There would be no riding either way to-day, and the daylight would be only just long enough for the work, the snow on the trail not being hard enough as yet to make the going very easy.