Page:Hendryx--Connie Morgan with the Mounted.djvu/285

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The "Hard Guys"
267

four little wooden crosses rose from mounds of snow.

Into each cross was burned deeply the name of a dog, and following the name were the letters, O. H. M. S., which in the far Northland is a mark of honour upon any grave. For it means that the cross was erected to the memory of one who died On His Majesty's Service.

And then Connie caught up with the patrol, but, although his brother officers questioned him unceasingly, the boy kept his own council, and it was only by patching together the whimpered complaints of the prisoners that the men of the Mounted learned the whole story of what happened at Wurtz's cabin.