A great, premature thaw had set in.  It was the real spring thaw a month or more early.  Skert Lawton, who controlled the water power of the mill, had warned him of its coming.  Bat too had spoken out of his years of experience of the moods of Labrador’s seasons.  But somehow the sight of it all gave him none of the joy with which it had inspired the others.

The evil night of threatened disaster had become only a memory.  Nearly six weeks had passed since Nancy McDonald had craved the privilege of caring for the man who had so nearly given his life in the saving of the mill and all the great purpose it represented.  Now he was mercifully returned to health and strength under the devoted care that had been bestowed upon him.  The mill was again in full work.  And the human army it employed had returned to their peace-time labours in the full determination to undo the grievous hurt which the mischief of the Skandinavia’s agents and their own folly had inflicted.  In the relief of reaction, they, no less than their employers, had redoubled their efforts.

All outward sign of the trouble through which the mill had passed had long since been cleared away under the driving power of the forceful Bat Harker.  The scars of fire remained here and there.  But they were no more than a reminder for those who were ready to forget the folly they had once committed.

Everything was moving on now as Bull and his comrades would have had it.  Only that morning word had come through that Ray Birchall was on his way from London for the purpose of his report, and expected to reach Sachigo in three weeks’ time.  Could anything, then, be better than this early thaw?  It was a veritable act of Providence that the London man’s inspection of the mills, and all the property involved would take place under the most active conditions.

It should have been a time of rejoicing and mental ease.  It should have been a time of stirring hope.  A moment for complaisant contemplation of a great purpose achieved.  But the man at the window regarded the thing he looked upon without any display of pleasurable feeling.  The sight of it literally seemed to deepen the unease which looked out of his eyes.

In the midst of Bull’s pre-occupation the door from the outer office was thrust open, and Bat Harker’s harsh voice jarred the silence of the room.

“Gettin’ a peek at things,” he cried, stumping heavily across the thick carpet.  “Well, it looks good to me, too.  Say, if this lasts just one week we’ll be as clear of snow as hell’s sidewalks.”  Then he flung open his rough pea-jacket and pushed his cap back from his lined forehead.  “Gee, it’s hot!”

The lumberman was standing at Bull’s side, and his deep-set eyes were following the other’s gaze with twinkling satisfaction.  Bull nodded and moved away.

“Yep,” he ejaculated.  “It should be good for us.”

He passed over to the radiators and shut them off.  Then he went over to the wood-stove and closed down the dampers.  Then, with a curious absent-mindedness, he stood up and held out his hands to the warmth radiating from the stove.