Historical adventure, following the establishment of that outpost of empire, Astoria, as John Jacob Astor determined to buck the all-powerful British-controlled Canadian ""Company"". It is Rory O'Rourke's story, his romance with the fickle beauty, Valerie, who married the man who stayed at home while her three suitors went into the northwest- but chiefly his adventures and misadventures on the ill-fated expedition as Astor's confidential agent. Overlong, perhaps, the pace lagging from meticulousness of detail, this is nonetheless rich in historical flavor of a little known phase of our history.