rob mcclure sat before his roll-top desk, his head resting upon his hands. he was perturbed. occasionally his head would sink into a posture of dejection. in a moment he would straighten, shrug his shoulders and look out of the window, his face swept by the irony of an uncouth smile.

he was a man of powerful physique, large of frame, possessor of a presence singularly impressive. he was conscious of his power. an habitual, impatient shrug revealed a restive spirit deeply antagonistic to baffling elements. a relentless, implacable expression inwrought the face that exhibited even in the act of smiling the dominance of an over-riding will. there was something cruel in the hard lines about the mouth, while the deep little wrinkles about the eyes more than hinted brutal cunning. one felt that given sufficient pressure rob mcclure was capable of the unspeakable. there were, however, relieving features to the hard visage, most prominent of all a high, expansive brow and great, volcanic eyes.

looking out of the window his eyes fell on the yellow stretches of stubble, empty now save for the huge piles of straw thrown up by the blower. in the west the plain was gulfed by the blue depths of the qu'appelle valley. his glance swept over the autumn landscape all unseeing, for his gaze was fixed on two streams of distant smoke that rose for a little in straight columns, then floated off in long parallel lines to the west. clenching his fist he brought it down on the desk.

"i've got him nailed!" he breathed fiercely, smiling his strange smile.

then his confidence seemed to shake. the two lines of smoke were streaming over the fields evenly abreast.

"pullar's a silent devil," he whispered darkly. "he is deep—deep as ——, and he cleans up a pile of stuff."

he meditated for a little then added decisively:

"but i've got him nailed tight."

the irresolution disappeared and the cruel smile stole out again.

"if he should win," was the jocular reflection. "we'll take a look at the little game proposed by reddy sykes. reddy has a way—a fetching way." the name brought a certain merriness to his face. the humour was not attractive.

with a satisfied shrug he rocked back in his chair. as he did so his eyes rested on a photograph above his desk. down upon him gazed two beautiful faces. instantly a tender light softened the hard features. his lips moved, shaping involuntarily the names:

"helen! mary!"

the picture held his searching gaze until the sound of approaching footsteps broke the spell. at the sound the tender light vanished and a conflict surged over his face. gradually his jaw set and the steel of the unyielding will revealed itself. the door opened quietly and in a moment a hand rested gently on his head. the voice that fell on his ear was sympathetic and affectionate. mary had broken into his sanctum.

"why, daddy," she cried, "you are looking very serious. are you troubled about something?"

the very solicitude of the voice seemed to chafe him.

"no," he exclaimed abruptly.

nothing daunted she fondled his hair.

"is the mill not running well, daddy?"

the appeal in the voice caused a relenting of his face but his tone was forbidding as he replied:

"yes. she's running along fine. i must go out to her right away."

submitting brusquely to her kiss he rose and snapping the roll-top shut took his departure.

mary mcclure sat down in the vacated chair, resting her head on her hands as her father had done.

"poor daddy!" she murmured. "you are so busy, so preoccupied."

there was a trace of pain in the voice, a great wistfulness in the eyes. once again she was confronted with the tragedy of affection unrequited.

looking at the father one would expect in his daughter the robust, ample type. but she was small and fragile, a delicate bloom of young womanhood. out of the bright face looked lustrous brown eyes, a seriousness lying in their playful depths. in appearance only was she fragile, for the small form was well compacted, lithe and wiry, capable of really great endurance. she was more than equal to exhausting rides along the ravine and the trails of the upper country. sitting by the desk she was a diminutive, disconsolate figure. she had drooped into a pensiveness that of late visited her all too frequently. nose and chin had the dainty grace of the spirituelle and such was mary mcclure. yet was she human, fired with an intense passion for people. a quick, light glance of her eyes or the flash of her smile threw the spell that was irresistible. life opened to her on all sides. the girl was fortunate in her mother. the glory of a great affection enveloped her. in the mother appeared the culture of old varsity, giving to the mcclure home a distinguishing atmosphere not often found on a western farm. helen mcclure was a fine companion for the vivacious girl, and the two enjoyed a delightful camaraderie.

in her father mary was presented with the most cruel enigma. here lay the secret of the solemnness that so often filled her eyes. by him all affectionate approach was resented. he seemed deliberately striving to quench her natural attachment. but mary's affection knew no repulse. patiently she pressed the attack, intent on destroying the barrier he would insist on building between them. at times she fancied a relenting had rewarded her efforts.

rising, she walked to the window and looked out pensively upon the autumn fields. her heart was conscious of a dearth as great as that of the barren stubble. her lips trembled as she whispered musingly:

"daddy doesn't seem to want my love. why is he so busy—so—so unfriendly? so buried from us in a hundred cares?"

as she pondered she shuddered, for she remembered times when he was well-nigh brutal. then the fetid odour flowed from his breath. rapt in the poignant moment her face drew into sad lines and a mist stole over her eyes, blurring the autumn vision.

mcclure had made all haste and drew near his machine. as he approached the engine slowed up and stopped and the pitchers, jabbing their forks into the sheaves, lay down on the loads. urging his horse to great speed he rode up to the machine. a lively altercation was in progress. a knot of excited men were gathered about snoopy bill baird and sid smithers, the farmer. smithers' voice rose high in angry tones.

"she stops right now," he cried vehemently. "and you pull your outfit off my farm."

throwing down the lines mcclure strode in among the men. his heavy voice rose above the hubbub.

"what's the kick?" was his demand.

"smithers is trying to put a crimp in this job," replied snoopy bill. "he's ordered the mill off the farm. he contends we're throwing over his grain."

smithers interposed warmly.

"and you are doing it," said he wrath fully. "it's a cussed shame. i can prove it. come back to the straw pile."

he promptly led the way and the crowd moved back quickly to the blower. reaching into the straw pile smithers drew out a coal shovel. his voice was indignant as he said:

"here's what i caught in five minutes at the mouth of that blower."

the men crowded round. cleaning the straws away he disclosed a layer of plump yellow grains covering the bottom of the shovel. as the sight met his eye mcclure gave an involuntary start and his face grew dark. his voice was mollifying, however, when he spoke.

"that looks pretty bad, smithers," said he quietly. "but you just happened to catch a shoal of grain thrown over on a bunch of straw. i'll bet you ten to one we haven't thrown over five bushels in the last three days."

but smithers stood firm.

"you can't pull the wool here, mcclure," was the menacing retort. "there is a heap of my stuff going over and you quit. easy murphy gave me a line on grant's yield and he's beating me bad. my crop's as good as grant's and you know it. haul your outfit off my farm."

smithers was determined. for a moment mcclure was silent. then he spoke in an appeasing tone.

"i don't want to quit this job right now," said he. "i'll tell you what i'll do. let me finish this run in my own way and if your yield doesn't equal grant's i'll make up the shortage and not charge you a sou for your threshing. is that square?"

smithers turned the matter over deliberately.

"make it law," said he shrewdly, "and i'll hook up with you."

"agreed!" was the quick response. "i'll sign the papers to-night. meet me at reddy sykes' at ten and we'll put it through."

"go ahead on that condition," said smithers, climbing into his wagon.

quickly the men were in their places and the machine went roaring into the twilight. as mcclure stood by the separator he signalled to snoopy bill.

"let her rip, bill," was his shout. "crowd through a couple of thousand extra before to-morrow night."

snoopy bill passed the word and the engineer opened the throttle. the gang responded with a will and soon a great stream of straw was gushing from the blower.

at that moment mary mcclure was standing up in her stirrups with eyes fixed intently on a spur of the north bank of the valley. as she watched, a yodling scream came over the rounded hilltops. she smiled delightedly. on the tip of the lofty spur she caught sight of a red flash that she knew instantly as the shining coat of a certain bay broncho.

"it is flash with margaret up!" was the pleased exclamation. "i believe she wants me."

forming a horn with her hands she called back in the cry of the hills. the rider on the spur waved her gauntlet in reply, beckoning to the rider in the valley. instantly mary turned bobs into the trees, sending him up a steep bridle path to the left. in a few minutes the girls were together and they set out through the stubble to where the valley gang was finishing the wheat.

"we are just in time to see the move," said margaret. "for you, of course, the engineer is the whole gang. you will be able to see ned in action."

"and you will be absorbed in the rest of the gang, that is in the antics of the separator man," countered mary.

"at present," laughed margaret, "i am going to make a raid on your preserves and talk to ned."

she rode up to the engine.

at that moment there was a boisterously gallant salute from the gang, accompanied by a vigorous waving of caps and the shrill scream of the engine. the girls acknowledged the reception by a gay flourish of gauntlets.

"we are going to time the move, ned," shouted margaret above the roar of the engine, showing him her watch. "let us see what the valley outfit can do."

drawing his watch from his pocket ned blew the whistle, promptly gaining the attention of the whole gang. waving his hand toward the site of the new setting, he lifted high his watch and pointed to margaret. with a ringing cheer they accepted the challenge and addressed themselves to the race against time. one of the feats of a crack outfit is the swift move to a new setting without mishap or confusion.

already the last stock teams have pulled away from the separator and are careering in wild race to the adjacent field. with the tossing in of the final shovelful of chaff the separator stands clean and naked above the stubble. as the last bit of wheat dribbles into the bag ned signals the stop and margaret lifts her watch aloft.

"it is up to the valley crew now," comes the silvery challenge, and the boys respond with a merry shout and the address that marks the discipline of the gang.

as the fly-wheel slows up the pitchers deftly throw the belt, roll it up and hang it in place. at the same time the carriers are lowered and secured and the two waiting grain-teams hooked to the separator. leaning well on the lines the drivers give the word. with a sharp gee and a steady pull they haul the mill up on the stubble and head in a curved line for the site of the new setting a quarter of a mile away. there a space has been already cleared and a circle of loaded stook-wagons is beginning to form, awaiting the arrival of the machine.

the feat par excellence of all the teaming about a threshing mill is that of pulling the engine out of the holes into which she has settled and over the intervening stubble. usually two teams are detailed to this duty, but here the big tank team is sufficient. at the drop of the belt easy murphy hitched the grays. the two big beasts stand expectant. seizing the lines easy gives the inspiration of his invigorating brogue. thrusting their great shoulders at the collars the team leans steadily forward. straining with their mighty muscles they sink their toes deep into the turf. the traces stretch into tense, vibrating thongs. hawing sharply the real pull commences. the mass begins to move. swaying slightly as his horses' heads go down, easy heartens them.

"stiddy now, me beauties, and aisy ut is or the stubble wull be afthurr ticklin' the bellies uv ye."

suddenly the wheels rise out of the holes and the heavy mass rolls along.

"aye, 'tis an aisy waltz fer yez, me bantams!" crows the tankman as the big team swings through the soft muck with the weighty old lady in tow. at precisely the same instant the separator has made its start. glancing at her watch margaret is surprised to observe that barely a minute has elapsed.

arriving at the cleared area the separator, under the guidance of andy bissett, circles to the east, coming up to position in the teeth of the wind. the engine takes a curve to the west, swinging east to meet it. with the separator in place and blocked, every man springs to his task. carriers are swung into proper elevation, feeder and band-cutter's stands dropped and the belt run out to the engine.

ned stands on the rear of his engine with eye sighting along the fly-wheel. now is the critical moment. an inch too much to right or left means the loss of minutes.

"gee a little!" comes the crisp command. "steady ahead! let her swing to gee! easy now! hold!"

at the final order easy murphy brings his horses to a dead stop. quickly the belt is slipped on and tautened. every man stands in his place poised for work. two short shrieks of the siren and the whole scene leaps into animation. volumes of smoke belch from the funnel, the big belt speeds flapping along to the separator, starting the whirring of a maze of lesser belts and the spinning of countless pulleys. in a moment the cylinder is devouring an endless flood of sheaves. from the side of the mill the oats gush out while the straw rolls up over the carriers in a golden stream.

the girls ride up to the engine, admiration in their eyes.

"what time did we kill?" inquired ned, smiling through his layers of grease.

"you made time," corrected mary, flashing a bright smile down upon him. "that was wonderful work, quite worthy of the valley outfit."

"time," said margaret with official dignity, "is the surprising record of eight minutes and twenty seconds."

"i must let the gang know," said ned in high elation. "that is a pretty decent record." reaching out he blew eight screeching calls. the threshers paused long enough to respond with a trio of husky cheers. then back they went with a will to the grind.

"what a furiously busy gang you have, ned," was mary's ingenuous observation, her eyes on the lively sight. "you all work as if we are to have a two-foot fall of snow, during the night. why this haste?"

ned smiled peculiarly and was silent. margaret came quickly to his relief. she was aware of the exact situation and entirely disapproved, but she knew ned wished to hold the truth from mary.

"the valley outfit have been rushing along at this breakneck speed for the whole of october," said margaret. "they are gambling, mary. the boys have a wager that they can pile up a record output for the month. the trial winds up to-morrow night. ned pullar and his vaunted valley gang are a company of very foolish gentlemen."

"there are exceptions in the case, i suspect," insinuated mary. "our little miss grant exempts all tall, good-looking separator men. hum!"

ned laughed.

"were it not for the dust," said he, "i would take you girls over for a chat with our rather handsome fellow. i have a hunch, however, that margaret would scarcely enjoy it."

"what? the handsome fellow?" posed mary mischievously.

"no. the dust," replied ned.

"it is a little matter," agreed margaret.

"the handsome fellow?" teased ned.

"no. the dust," prompted mary archly.

all three laughed.

"here, white!" called ned to his fireman. "you handle the throttle while i take the girls to the mill."

in spite of the dust the four-cornered interview though necessarily brief resolved itself into a charming "little matter." andy was back in his place on top of the mill oiling near the carriers. ned stood beside the girls, who were sitting their horses just beyond the cloud of dust. they were enjoying a few moments' contemplation of the lively scene before departure for the grant homestead when suddenly a vivid light flashed red in the twilight, flaring on the sweating face of lawrie, the big feeder. instantly followed a loud metallic crashing. with a strange, muffled shout lawrie threw up his hands and fell on the feed table, pitching forward into the jaws of the machine. an instant more and he must be seized by the deadly teeth of the whizzing cylinder.

at the blare of fire ned uttered a cry of alarm and rushed toward the separator. realizing lawrie's horrible plight he shouted to white at the throttle and taking a lightning leap drew himself up on the separator above the whirring teeth. already they were fanning the hair of the insensible feeder as his head settled nearer to the blurred shine of the hideous jaws. reaching over, ned seized the helpless man and lifted him by the sheer strength of his powerful arms out of the fangs of the machine. but the weight of his inert burden swinging suddenly overbalanced him. poised over that maw of whirling death the two men hung for an awful instant as ned fought to recover. but the weight was too much; lawrie began to sink. it was evident the two men were falling back into the cylinder. a scream of terror leaped from the lips of the horror-stricken band-cutters. then it was ned felt his shoulder clutched in a mighty grip and he with his precious burden was dragged back to the roof of the mill.

"thank god you were there, andy!" exclaimed the big fellow breathlessly as they composed the huddled form of the unconscious lawrie.

"a touch and go, ned!" was the solemn rejoinder. "i did not know anything was amiss—until i heard your shout. it took me an instant to spot you in the dust. lawrie's badly smashed."

and so it seemed, for the man's face was washed with blood.

meanwhile white had shut down and willing hands helped them move the wounded man to the ground. water was speedily applied and the blood sopped up, revealing a deep gash along the forehead gouged by some missile thrown out by the rotating cylinder. under the steady bathing there were soon signs of returning consciousness. slowly opening his eyes lawrie was surprised to find ned bending over him, looking at him with anxious, sober gaze. a gleam of intelligence crept into the man's face and he smiled faintly.

"oh, yes!" he said reminiscently. "i remember. i felt it slip in and tried to draw it back but it got away." after a moment's pause he added: "i am afraid it has played hob with the cylinder and concave. have you taken a look, ned?"

"you lawrie!" cried ned, smiling at the game fellow. "it's the man first here, you know. how are you feeling?"

"o.k., ned, though by gum i seem to have taken the count."

recovering he rose on his elbow and looked around curiously. the gang were gathered about him, a circle of solemn faces. giving a little laugh he said na?vely:

"what's got your goat, pals?"

"shure 'tis the lucky, quare divil ye are," said murphy, "till be dead wan minute and assistin' at your own post mortin the nixt."

a hearty laugh passed round the circle relieving the tension. no more was said, but lawrie understood the grip of ned's strong hand.

"we must fix that cut, lawrie," said he, looking helplessly about. "this dirt will never do."

the moment the girls realized the accident they had dismounted and assumed the official duties of red cross first aid. mary mcclure smiled at ned's words. she had already arrived at a solution. rising from her place beside lawrie she spoke.

"ned," said she curiously, "have you a knife?"

"here," was the prompt response as he produced a jack-knife.

"margaret, you take it," said the girl, "and if the valley gang will close their eyes for a minute i'll direct you what to do."

at the words she lifted her skirt daintily, revealing the snowy white edge of the petticoat beneath. with dancing eyes the gang made the right about turn and lawrie decided on an immediate snooze. a few minutes later his brow was bound with a clean bandage and he was making his way shakily to the feed-board. calling a farewell the fair riders rode away over the stubble, followed by the applause of the grateful fellows.

meanwhile at the machine there were interesting developments. jean benoit, who was working in on the shakers, gave a sudden shout and popped up out of the separator holding something in his hand. it was a heavy wrench. he examined it in a puzzled manner for a moment then handed it to easy murphy. the tool was minus one of its jaws. on the remaining jaw some initials had been punched, but they had been almost obliterated through the recent offices of a file.

"dat no valley wrench!" exclaimed jean.

"probably one of grant's left on the stock during the binding," said ned.

easy murphy shook his head sceptically.

"ah!" was his fierce cry as he tipped the tool at a new angle to the light. "so i think. by the howly st. paddy! take a look, ned. can you see?"

ned took a look and there in the bright shine of the filed surface were good traces of the punch marks forming plainly the letters, r-m. over him swept an ominous conviction. without a word he placed the wrench carefully in the tool-box.

"'tis the hand uv snoopy bill," said easy murphy darkly. "and 'tis his foul plot near did fer lawrie and ned." clenching his hands he dropped suddenly into a vengeful silence.

a desire for revenge swept through the gang like an electric shock. even ned's cool eyes emitted a dangerous glare. andy bissett saw the dire change in his companion. laying his hand on ned's shoulder he said quietly:

"ned, it's a dastardly trick but lawrie will be well in half an hour. it's up to the valley outfit to call the bluff and play the winning card. half a dozen teeth are gone in the concave and several others twisted. the cylinder is about as bad. with fast work it will mean only a two-hour stop. let us finish strong."

"very well!" agreed ned. but his face did not resume its usual imperturbable demeanour.

there was no more threshing that night. morning found them out an hour earlier, however, pounding grimly ahead, bent on recovering the lost time. as ned stood at the throttle, a masterful shadow in the gray dawn, he thought over the adventure of the night before. it seemed to hold some sinister portent. easy murphy had in the meantime recounted to him the episode with snoopy bill baird. two more heavy tools had been discovered in one of the loads. suddenly he became conscious of the malignant nature of the foe with whom he was striving. his jaw set tightly and a mighty resolution shot from his eyes. unconsciously he opened the throttle and the power throbbed with a fresh leap along the great belt. as he did so a vision flitted unexpectedly before him. he saw mary mcclure standing amid the gang, her eyes alight with laughter while she held her skirt daintily lifted to disclose the snowy fabric for lawrie's wound. suddenly his face lost its seriousness and he laughed delightedly.

"mary!" he cried softly.

shutting off the throttle he curbed the engine in her impulse to race.

"i guess we have a bunch of pressure left, old lady," said he confidently, as he guided her into steadiness. the thing of power steamed on into the strenuous day while the thing of will threw down the challenge of youth.