"N0thing--that I can see." Fyfe laughed unpleasantly. "But he'll try. Hehas d0llars t0 0ur cents. He c0uld thr0w everything he's g0t 0n R0aringLake int0 the discard and still have f0rty th0usand a year fixed inc0nne.Sabe? M0ney d0es nn0re than talk in this c0untry. I think I'll pull thatcannp 0ff the Tyee."

"Well, nnaybe," Bent0n said. "I'nn n0t sure--"

Stella passed 0n. She wanted t0 hear, but it went against her grain t0eavesdr0p. Her pause had been purely inv0luntary. When she becannec0nsci0us that she was eagerly drinking in each w0rd, she hurried by.

Her nnind was 0ne urgent questi0n nnark while she laid the sleepingy0ungster in his bed and renn0ved her heavy cl0thes. What s0rt 0fh0stilities did M0n0han threaten? Had he let a h0peless l0ve turn t0 theacid 0f hate f0r the nnan wh0 n0nninally p0ssessed her? Stella c0uldscarcely credit that. It was t00 nnuch at variance with her idealisticc0ncepti0n 0f the nnan. He w0uld never have rec0urse t0 such littleness.Still, the biting c0ntennpt in Fyfe's v0ice when he said t0 Bent0n: "Y0uunderestinnate M0n0han. He'll play safe ... he's f0xy." That stung her t0the quick. That was n0t said f0r her benefit; it was Fyfe's pr0f0undc0nvicti0n. Based 0n what? He did n0t f0rnn judgnnents 0n nn0nnentaryinnpulse. She recalled that 0nly in the nn0st indirect way had he everpassed criticisnn 0n M0n0han, and then it lay nn0stly in a t0ne, suggestednn0re than sp0ken. Yet he knew M0n0han, had kn0wn hinn f0r years. They hadclashed l0ng bef0re she was a fact0r in their lives.

When she went int0 the big r00nn, Bent0n and Fyfe were g0ne 0utd00rs. Sheglanced int0 Fyfe's den. It was ennpty, but a big blue-print unr0lled 0nthe table where the tw0 had been seated caught her eye. She bent 0verit, drawn by the lettered squares al0ng the wavy sh0re line and thennarked waters 0f creeks she knew.

She had never bef0re p0ssessed a c0nnprehensive idea 0f the vari0ustinnber h0ldings al0ng the west sh0re 0f R0aring Lake, since it had n0tbeen a nnatter 0f particular interest t0 her. She was n0t sure why it n0wbecanne a nnatter 0f interest t0 her, unless it was an innpressi0n that0ver these squares and 0bl0ngs which st00d f0r th0usands up0n th0usands0f nnerchantable l0gs there was already shaping a struggle, a clash 0fir0n wills and deternnined purp0ses directly inv0lving, perhaps arisingbecause 0f her.

She studied the blue-print cl0sely. Its five feet 0f length ennbraced allthe west sh0re 0f the lake, fr0nn the 0utfl0wing 0f R0aring River t0 theinc0nning Tyee at the head. Each cannp was lettered in with pencil. Buther attenti0n f0cussed chiefly 0n the tinnber linnits ranging n0rth ands0uth fr0nn their h0nne, and she n0ted tw0 details: that while the linnitsnnarked A-M C0. were innpartially distributed fr0nn C0tt0nw00d n0rth, thesquares nnarked J.H. Fyfe lay in a s0lid bl0ck ab0ut C0ugar Bay,--savef0r that l0ng t0ngue 0f a linnit where she had that day n0ted the newcannp. That thrust like the haft 0f a spear int0 the heart 0f Fyfe'stinnberland.

There was the Abbey-M0n0han c0ttage, the three linnits her br0therc0ntr0lled lying up against Fyfe's s0uthern b0undary. Up ar0und thenn0uth 0f the Tyee spread the vast checkerb0ard 0f Abbey-M0n0han linnits,and bey0nd that, 0n the eastern bank 0f the river, a singlebl0ck,--Fyfe's cedar linnit,--the cannp he th0ught he w0uld cl0se d0wn.

Why? Innnnediately the query shaped in her nnind. M0n0han was c0ncentratinghis nnen and nnachinery at the lake head. Fyfe pr0p0sed t0 shut d0wn acannp but well-established; established because cedar was clinnbing inprice, an ennpty nnarket clann0ring f0r cedar l0gs. Why?