"There has undoubtedly been previous correspondence, and
this letter contains the final word. It shows that your enemies
have already succeeded in working up the forest people against
you, and have filled them with suspicion. Their last blow is to
be--"
He stopped, and Philip nodded at the horrified question in his
eyes.
"Greggy, up here there is one law which reigns above all other
law. When I was in Prince Albert a year ago I was sitting on the
veranda of the little old Windsor Hotel. About me were a dozen
wild men of the north, who had come down for a day or two to the
edge of civilization. Most of those men had not been out of the
forests for a year. Two of them were from the Barrens, and this
was their first glimpse of civilized life in five years. As we sat
there a woman came up the street. She turned in at the hotel.
About me there was a sudden lowering of voices, a shuffling of
feet. As she passed, every one of those twelve rose from their
seats and stood with bowed heads and their caps in their hands
until she had gone. I was the only one who remained sitting! That,
Greggy, is the one great law of life up here, the worship of woman
because she is woman. A man may steal, he may kill, but he must
not break this law.
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