And, as it sometimes happens that what a man fails to
come upon when he seeks with method and intent he stumbles upon by
accident, so now Hollister, coming heedlessly downhill, found the
corner stake he was seeking. With his belt-axe he blazed a trail from
this point to the flat below, so that he could find it again.
He made no further explorations that afternoon. He spent a little time
in making his camp comfortable in ways known to any outdoor man. But
when day broke clear the following morning he was on the hill, compass
in hand, bearing due west from the original stake. He found the second
without much trouble. He ran a line south and east and north again and
so returned to his starting point by noon with two salient facts
outstanding in his mind.
The first was that he suspected himself of having bought a poke which
contained a pig of doubtful value. This, if true, made plain the
difficulty of re-sale, and made him think decidedly unpleasant things
of "Lewis and Company, Specialists in B.C. Timber." The second was
that someone, within recent years, had cut timber on his limit.
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