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diff --git a/old/11110.txt b/old/11110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..044e7a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11374 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Countess from Canada, by Bessie Marchant + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Countess from Canada + A Story of Life in the Backwoods + +Author: Bessie Marchant + +Release Date: February 16, 2004 [EBook #11110] +[Last Updated: September 10, 2013] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COUNTESS FROM CANADA *** + + + + +Produced by Prepared by Al Haines + + + + +A COUNTESS FROM CANADA + +A Story of Life in the Backwoods + +BY + +BESSIE MARCHANT + +Author of "Three Girls in Mexico" "Daughters of the Dominion" +"Sisters of Silver Creek" "A Courageous Girl" &c. + + + +ILLUSTRATED BY CYRUS CUNEO + + + +Contents + +CHAP. + + I. BEYOND THE SECOND PORTAGE + II. A CURIOUS ACCIDENT + III. OUTWITTING THE ENEMY + IV. A NIGHT OF ROUGH WORK + V. A SACRED CONFIDENCE + VI. BUSINESS BOTHERS + VII. ANOTHER CLUE + VIII. THE FIRST RAIN + IX. THE FLOOD + X. THE STRANGER PROVES A FRIEND IN NEED + XI. A WOMAN OF BUSINESS + XII. THE FIRST OF THE FISHING + XIII. MARY + XIV. WOULD THEY BE FRIENDS? + XV. MR. SELINCOURT IS INDISCREET + XVI. "WE MUST BE FRIENDS!" + XVII. 'DUKE RADFORD'S NEW FRIEND +XVIII. STANDING ASIDE + XIX. AN AWKWARD FIX + XX. KATHERINE MAKES A DISCOVERY + XXI. MATTER FOR HEARTACHE + XXII. A BUSINESS + XXIII. THE MAJORITY DECIDES + XXIV. MR. SELINCOURT IS CONFIDENTIAL + XXV. THE RIFT IN THE CLOUDS + XXVI. FIGHTING THE STORM + XXVII. A BEARER OF EVIL TIDINGS +XXVIII. THE GLADNESS + XXIX. WINTER AGAIN + XXX. PREPARATIONS + XXXI. THE WEDDING + + + +Illustrations + +The Rescue of Jarvis Ferrars +'Duke Radford Meets with an Accident +Katherine and Miles Spearing for Fish +"With all her strength Katherine hauled at the rope" +Bartering with the Indians +Drifting Down the River + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Beyond the Second Portage + +"Oh dear, how I should love to go out!" + +Katherine Radford stretched her arms wearily above her head as she +spoke. There had been five days of persistent snowfall; but this +morning the clouds had broken, showing strips and patches of blue +sky, and there was bright sunshine flooding the world again, with +hard and sparkling frost. + +"Why don't you go?" demanded Phil, who was the youngest. "Miles +and me don't mind having a holiday at all." + +"Speak for yourself if you like," growled Miles, who was thirteen; +"but I want to get this schooling business over and done with, so +that I can start doing something useful." + +"And speak grammatically, please, or else keep silent. You should +have said, 'Miles and I'," remarked Katherine with quite crushing +dignity, as she turned from the window to take her place at the +table once more. Phil thrust his tongue in his cheek, after the +manner beloved of small boys, and subsided into silence and an +abstracted study of his spelling book. + +The schoolroom was a small chamber, partitioned off from the store +by a wall of boards so thin that all conversation about buying and +selling, with the gossip of the countryside thrown in, was plainly +audible to the pupils, whose studies suffered in consequence. The +stovepipe from the store went through this room, keeping it +comfortably warm, and in winter 'Duke Radford and the boys slept +there, because it was so terribly cold in the loft. + +Katherine had come home from college in July, determined to teach +school all winter, and to make a success of it, too, in a most +unpromising part of the world. But even the most enthusiastic +teacher must fail to get on if there are no scholars to teach, and +at present she had only Miles and Phil, her two brothers, as +pupils. This was most trying to Katherine's patience, for, of +course, if there had only been pupils enough, she could have had a +properly constituted school, and a salary also. She might even +have had a regular schoolhouse to teach in, instead of being +compelled to use a makeshift such as this. But everything must +have a beginning, and so she had worked on bravely through the +autumn, hoping against hope for more pupils. In the intervals +between teaching the boys she kept the books for her father, and +even attended to the wants of an occasional customer when 'Duke +Radford was busy or absent. + +The store at Roaring Water Portage was awkwardly placed for +business. It stood on a high bank overlooking the rapids, and when +it was built, five years before, had been the centre of a mining +village. But the mining village had been abandoned for three years +now, because the vein of copper had ended in a thick seam of coal, +which, under present circumstances, was not worth working. Now the +nearest approach to a village was at Seal Cove, at the mouth of the +river, nearly three miles away, where there were about half a dozen +wooden huts, and the liquor saloon kept by Oily Dave when he was at +home, and shut up when he was absent on fishing expeditions. + +Although houses were so scarce, there was no lack of trade for the +lonely store in the woods. All through the summer there was a +procession of birchbark canoes, filled with red men and white, +coming down the river to the bay, laden with skins of wolf, fox, +beaver, wolverine, squirrel, and skunk, the harvest of the winter's +trapping. Then in winter the cove and the river were often crowded +with boats, driven to anchorage there by the ice, and to escape the +fearful storms sweeping over the bay. The river was more favoured +as an anchorage than the cove, because it was more sheltered, and +also because there was open water at the foot of the rapids even in +the severest winter, and had been so long as anyone could remember. + +As the morning wore on, Katherine's mood became even more restless, +and she simply yearned for the fresh air and the sunshine. She was +usually free to go out-of-doors in the afternoons, because the boys +only worked until noon, and then again in the evening, when it was +night school, and Katherine did her best with such of the fisher +folk as preferred learning to loafing and gambling in Oily Dave's +saloon. + +Even Miles seemed stupid this morning, for he was usually such a +good worker; while Phil was quite hopeless. Both boys were bitten +with the snow mania, and longing to be out-of-doors, in all the +exhilarating brilliancy of sunshine, frost, and snow. Noon came at +last, books were packed away; the boys rushed off like mad things, +while Katherine went more soberly across the store and entered the +living-room, which was sitting-room and kitchen combined. + +An older girl was there, looking too young to be called a woman, +but who nevertheless was a widow, and the mother of the twin girls +who were rolling on the floor and playing with a big, shaggy +wolfhound. She was Nellie, Mrs. Burton, whose husband had been +drowned while sealing when the twins were twelve months old. Mrs. +Burton had come home to live then, and keep house for her father, +so that Katherine might go to Montreal to finish her education. + +"Did you see Father as you came through the store?" Mrs. Burton +asked, as she rapidly spread the dinner on the table in the centre +of the room, while Katherine joined in the frolic that was going on +with the twins and the dog. + +"No, he was not there," Katherine answered. + +"He wants you to go up to the second portage with him this +afternoon. Another boat got in this morning with some mails on +board, and there are stores to be taken for Astor M'Kree," said +Mrs. Burton. + +"That will be lovely!" cried Katherine, giving Lotta a toss up in +the air, after which Beth had to be treated in a similar fashion to +prevent jealousy. "I am simply yearning to be outside in the +sunshine and the cold. I have been wishing all the morning that I +were a man; then I could go off hunting, trapping, or even +lumbering, and so breathe fresh air all day long." + +Mrs. Burton smiled. "I expect if you were a man you would just do +as other men do; that is, smoke a dirty little pipe all day long, +and so never breathe fresh air at all." + +"That is not the sort of man I would be," retorted Katherine, with +a toss of her head. + +Then she put the twins into their high chairs: her father and the +boys came in, and dinner began. It was a hasty meal, as early +dinner has to be when half of the day's work lies beyond it, and in +less than half an hour Katherine was getting into a thick pilot +coat, fur cap, mittens, and a big muffler; for, although the sun +was so bright, the cold was not to be trifled with. + +'Duke Radford, short for Marmaduke, was a sombre-looking man of +fifty. Twenty-five years of pioneer life in the Keewatin country +had worn him considerably, and he looked older than his years. But +he was a strong man still, and to-day he had loaded a sledge with +stores to draw himself, while Katherine looked after the four great +dogs which drew the other sledge. + +The track for the first three miles was as bad as a track could be. +'Duke Radford went first, to beat or pack the snow a little firmer +for Katherine and the dogs; but even then every movement of her +snowshoes sent the white powdery dust flying in clouds. The dogs +followed close behind, so close that she had often to show a whip +to keep them back, from fear that they would tread on her snowshoes +and fling her down. + +It was five good long miles to the abode of Astor M'Kree, beyond +the second portage, but the last two miles were easy travelling, +over a firm level track. "Astor M'Kree has been hauling timber or +something over here to-day. I wonder how he managed it?" called +out Katherine, as her father's pace on the well-packed snow +quickened, while she flew after him and the dogs came racing on +behind. He shouted back some answer that was inaudible, then raced +on at a great pace. Those last two miles were pure enjoyment all +round, and when they drew up before the little brown house of the +boatbuilder, Katherine was sparkling, glowing, and rosy, with a +life and animation which she never showed indoors. + +Mrs. M'Kree was a worn-looking little woman, with three babies +toddling about her feet, and she welcomed her visitors with great +effusiveness. + +"Well, now, I must say it is right down good of you to get through +all this way on the very first fine day. My word, what weather +we've been having!" she exclaimed. "I was telling Astor only last +night that if we had much more of that sort I'd have to keep him on +sawdust puddings and pine-cone soup. That fetched a long face on +to him, I can tell you; for it is downright fond of his food he is, +and a rare trencherman too." + +"It is bad to run short of stores in keen weather like this," said +'Duke Radford, who with the help of his daughter was bringing bags, +barrels, and bundles of goods into the house from the two sledges, +while the dogs rested with an air of enjoyment delightful to behold. + +When the stores were all safely housed, Mrs. M'Kree insisted on +their drinking a cup of hot coffee before they returned; and just +as she was lifting the coffee pot from the stove her husband came +in. He was tall, thin, and sombre of face, as men who live in the +woods are apt to be, but he had a genial manner, and that he was no +tyrant could be seen from the way his children clung about his legs. + +"Dear me, these youngsters!" he exclaimed, sitting down on the +nearest bench with a child on each knee. "I wish they were old +enough to go to your school, Miss Radford, then I'd get some peace +for part of the day at least." + +"I wish they were old enough, too," sighed Katherine. "It is +really quite dreadful to think what a long time I have got to wait +before all the small children in the neighbourhood are of an age to +need school." + +"By which time I expect you won't be wanting to keep school at +all," said Mrs. M'Kree with a laugh. Then to her husband she said: +"Mr. Radford brought some letters, Astor; perhaps you'll want to +read them before he goes back." + +"Ah! yes, I'd better perhaps, though there will be no hurry about +the answers, I guess, for this will be the last mail that will get +through the Strait before the spring." He stood up as he spoke, +sliding the babies on to the ground at his feet, for he could not +read his letters with the small people clutching and clawing at his +hands. The others went on talking, to be interrupted a few minutes +later by a surprised exclamation from the master of the house. + +"Now, would you believe it! The Company has been bought out!" + +"What company?" asked 'Duke Radford. + +"Why, the fishing-fleet owners, Barton and Skinner and that lot," +rejoined Astor M'Kree abstractedly, being again buried in his +letter. He was a boat-builder by trade, and this change in things +might make a considerable difference to him. + +"Who is it that has bought the company out?" demanded Mrs. M'Kree +anxiously. Life was quite hard enough for her already; she did not +want it to become more difficult still. + +"An Englishman named Oswald Selincourt," replied Astor. "He is +rich, too, and means to put money into the business. He wants me +to have four more boats ready by the time the waters are open, and +says he is coming himself next summer to see into matters a bit. +Now that looks hopeful." + +Katherine chanced at that moment to glance across at her father, +and was startled by the look on his face; it was just as if +something had made him desperately afraid. But it was only for a +moment, and then he had got his features into control, so she +hastily averted her head lest he should see her looking, and think +that she was trying to pry into what did not concern her. He +swallowed down the rest of his coffee at a gulp and rose to go. +But his manner now was so changed and uneasy that Katherine must +have wondered at it, even if she had not caught a glimpse of that +dreadful look on his face when Astor M'Kree announced the change in +the ownership of the fishing fleet. + +The journey home was taken in a different style from the journey +out: the two sledges were tied together, and both pairs of +snowshoes piled on the hindmost; then, Katherine and her father +taking their places on the first, the dogs started off at a tearing +gallop, which made short work of the two miles of level track, and +gave Katherine and her father plenty of occupation in holding on. +But when they reached the broken ground the pace grew steadier, and +conversation became possible once more. + +'Duke Radford began to talk then with almost feverish haste, but he +carefully avoided any mention of the news contained in the +boatbuilder's letter, and a sickening fear of something, she knew +not what, crept into the heart of Katherine and spoiled for her the +glory of that winter afternoon. The sun went down in flaming +splendours of crimson and gold, a young moon hung like a sickle of +silver above the dark pine forest, and everywhere below was the +white purity of the fresh-fallen snow. + +Supper was nearly ready when they got back to Roaring Water +Portage, but there were two or three customers in the store, and +Katherine went to help her father with them, while Miles +unharnessed and fed the four dogs. Oily Dave was one of the people +gathered round the stove waiting to be served with flour and bacon, +and it was his voice raised in eager talk which Katherine heard +when she came back from the sitting-room into the store. + +"If it's true what they are saying, that Barton, Skinner, & Co. are +in liquidation, then things is going to look queer for some of us +when the spring comes, and the question will be as to who can claim +the boats, though some of them ain't much good." + +"I suppose that you'll stick to your'n, seeing that it is by far +the best in the fleet," said another man, who had a deep, rumbling +laugh. + +Katherine looked at her father in dumb surprise. She had been +expecting him to announce the news of the fishing boats having been +bought by the Englishman with the remarkable name, instead of which +he was just going on with his work, and looking as if he had no +more information than the others. + +Lifting his head at that moment he caught his daughter's perplexed +glance, and, after a moment, said hastily: "I wouldn't be in too +much hurry about appropriating the boats if I were you." + +"Why not?" chorused the listeners. + +"Barton & Skinner have been bought out, and the new owner might not +approve of his property being made off with in that fashion," 'Duke +Radford replied. + +"Who's bought it? Who told you? Look here, we want to know," one +man burst out impatiently. + +"Then you had better go up to the second portage and ask Astor +M'Kree," rejoined 'Duke Radford slowly. "It was he who told me +about it, and he has got the order to build four more boats." + +"Now that looks like business, anyhow. Who is the man?" demanded +Rick Portus, who was younger than the others, and meant "to make +things hum" when he got a chance. + +'Duke Radford fumbled with the head of a flour barrel, and for a +moment did not answer. It was an agonizing moment for Katherine, +who was entering items in the ledger, and had to be blind and deaf +to what was passing round her, yet all the time was acutely +conscious that something was wrong somewhere. + +The head of the barrel came off with a jerk, and then 'Duke +answered with an air of studied indifference: "An Englishman, Astor +M'Kree said he was; Selincourt or some such name, I think." + +A burst of eager talk followed this announcement, but, her entries +made in the ledger, Katherine slipped away from it all and hurried +into the sitting-room, where supper was already beginning. But the +food had lost its flavour for her, and she might have been feeding +on the sawdust and pine cones of which Mrs. M'Kree had spoken for +all the taste her supper possessed. She had to talk, however, and +to seem cheerful, yet all the time she was shrinking and shivering +because of this mysterious mood displayed by her father at the +mention of a strange man's name. + +'Duke Radford did not come in from the store until it was nearly +time for night school, so Katherine saw very little more of him, +except at a distance, for that evening; but he was so quiet and +absorbed that Mrs. Burton asked more than once if he were feeling +unwell. She even insisted on his taking a basin of onion gruel +before he went to bed, because she thought he had caught a chill. +He swallowed the gruel obediently enough, yet knew all the time +that the chill was at his heart, where no comforting food nor drink +could relieve him. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A Curious Accident + +The nearest Hudson's Bay store to Roaring Water Portage was fifteen +miles away by land, but only five by boat, as it stood on an angle +of land jutting into the water, three miles from the mouth of the +river. 'Duke Radford's business took him over to this place, which +was called Fort Garry, always once a week, and sometimes oftener. +Usually either Miles or Phil went with him, although on rare +occasions Katherine took the place of the boys and helped to row +the boat across the inlet to the grim old blockhouse crowning the +height. + +It was a week after the trip to the house of Astor M'Kree that the +storekeeper announced his intention of going to Fort Garry, and +said that he should need Miles to help him. + +"I must go by land to-day, which is a nuisance, for it takes so +much longer," he declared, as he sat down to breakfast, which at +this time of the year had always to be taken by lamplight. + +"Shall I come instead?" asked Katherine, who was frying potatoes at +the stove. "I am quicker on snowshoes than Miles, and he has got +such a bad cold." + +"You can if you like, though it isn't work for a girl," he answered +in a dispirited tone. + +"It is work for a girl if a girl has got it to do," she rejoined, +with a merry laugh; "and I shall just love to come with you, +Father. When will you start?" + +"At dawn," he replied brusquely; and, finishing his meal in +silence, he went into the store. + +"Katherine, what is the matter with Father? Do you think he is +ill?" Mrs. Burton asked in a troubled tone. "He has been so quiet +and gloomy for the last few days; he does not eat well, and he does +not seem to care to talk to any of us." + +Katherine shivered and hesitated. She knew the moment from which +the change in her father's manner dated, but she could not speak of +it even to her sister. "Perhaps the cold weather tries him a great +deal just at first; it has come so suddenly, and we are not +seasoned to it yet, you know," she answered evasively. + +"I hope it is only that," answered Mrs. Burton, brightening up at +the suggestion. "And really the cold has been terribly trying for +the last week, though it won't seem so bad when we get used to it. +I am glad you are going with Father, though, for Miles has such a +dreadful cold, poor boy." + +"His own fault," laughed Katherine. "If he will go and sit in a +tub half the day, in the hope of shooting swans, he must expect to +get a cold." + +"Boys will do unwise things, I fancy. They can't help it, so it is +of no use to blame them," Mrs. Burton said with a sigh. + +Katherine laughed again. Mrs. Burton had a way of never blaming +anyone, and slipped through life always thinking the very best of +the people with whom she came in contact, crediting them with good +intentions however far short they might prove of good in reality. +The sisters were alike in features and in their dainty, womanly +ways, but in character they were a wide contrast. Katherine, under +her girlish softness and pretty winning manner, had hidden a firm +will and purpose, a sound judgment, and a resourcefulness which +would stand her in good stead in the emergencies of life. She +liked to decide things for herself, and choose what she would do; +but Mrs. Burton always needed someone to lean upon and to settle +momentous questions for her. + +'Duke Radford was ready to start by the time dawn arrived, and +Katherine was ready too. It was so very cold that she had twisted +a cloud of brilliant scarlet wool all over her head and ears, in +addition to her other wrappings. There were some stores to take to +Fort Garry, and there would be others to bring back, as +considerable trading was done between the fort and the settlement. +Very often when 'Duke Radford ran out of some easy-to-sell +commodity he was able to replenish his stock from the fort, while +he in his turn accepted furs in barter from his customers, which he +disposed of to the agent when next he visited the fort. As on the +journey to the second portage, 'Duke Radford went first, drawing a +laden sledge, followed by Katherine, who looked after the dogs. +There would be no riding either way to-day, and the daylight would +be only just long enough for the work, the snow on the trail not +being hard enough as yet to make the going very easy. + +Fort Garry was reached without incident, although, to Katherine's +secret dismay, her father had not spoken to her once, but had just +gone moodily forward with his head hanging down, and dragging the +sledge after him. He roused up a little when the fort was reached, +and talked to Peter M'Crawney, the agent, an eager-faced Scot with +an insatiable desire for information on all sorts of subjects. +Mrs. M'Crawney was an Irishwoman who was always sighing for the +mild, moist climate and the peat reek of her childhood's home. But +Peter knew when he was well off, and meant to stick to his post +until he had saved enough money to live without work. + +"Teaching school, are you? Well it's myself that would like to be +one of your scholars, for it's bonny you look with that scarlet +thing wrapped round your head!" exclaimed Mrs. M'Crawney in an +admiring tone, when Katherine sat down to have a talk with her +whilst 'Duke Radford did his business with the agent. + +"You can come if you like; we don't have any age limit at Roaring +Water Portage," Katherine answered with a laugh. She had to be +bright and vivacious despite the heaviness of her heart, for it +would never do to display her secret uneasiness on her father's +account, or to betray his changed condition to strangers. + +"And pretty I should look at my age, sitting among the babies +learning to do strokes and pothooks," the Irishwoman said, echoing +the laugh. Then she began to question Katherine eagerly concerning +the news which had filtered through into the solitudes from the +great world outside. "They are saying that the Mr. Selincourt who +has bought the fishing fleet will come here when the waters open; +but wherever will he stay?" + +"I don't know; perhaps he will have one of the huts down at Seal +Cove, although they are very dirty. I think if I were in his place +I should have a new hut built, or else live in a tent," Katherine +answered. + +"He will have a hut built, I expect; then perhaps if he likes the +place he will come every year. Although it's funny the whims rich +people have, to be coming to a place like this, when they might be +living in a civilized country, with everything that heart could +desire within a hand's reach," said Mrs. M'Crawney with a toss of +her head. + +"I suppose being able to have all they want spoils them so much +that they are always wanting a change. But if we don't start we +shall be late in getting home, and travelling is very bad over the +broken ground at the end of the bay," Katherine said, as she rose +and began to draw her scarlet cloud closer round her head again. + +Her father was still talking to Peter M'Crawney when she came in +search of him, but he looked so much relieved at the interruption +that she could only suppose the agent had been talking overmuch +about the rich Englishman who was expected in that remote quarter +of the world next spring, when the waters were open. + +"Are you ready to go now?" Katherine asked, a sudden pang of pity +stabbing at her heart, for in the strong light her father's face +looked worn and furrowed, more than she had ever seen it before; +indeed, a look of age had crept over his countenance during the +last few days that was very marked, while his dark hair showed +streaks of grey which had certainly not been there a week ago. He +had momentarily taken off his cap, to do something to one of the +lappets which was not comfortable; but now he put it on again, +covering his head, ears, and a good part of his face as well. + +"Yes, I am ready, and rather keen on starting, for there is a damp +smell coming in the air which may mean a slight thaw or more fall, +and either would be bad for us to-day," he answered, lifting his +head and sniffing, like a dog that scents a trail. + +"Can't the dogs pull you a piece, Miss?" asked the agent in a tone +of concern. "It is a shocking long way for a bit of a girl, even +though she is on snowshoes." + +"It is not longer for me than for Father, and I don't even have to +drag the sledge as he does," Katherine replied brightly, as she +fitted her moccasined feet into the straps of her snowshoes. + +The dogs were in a great hurry to start, and one, a great +brown-and-white beast which always followed next the leader, kept +flinging up its head and howling in the most dismal manner until +they were well on their way. The noise got on Katherine's nerves +to such an extent that she was tempted to use her whip to the dog, +and only refrained because it seemed so cruel to thrash a creature +for just being miserable. To cheer the animals for the heavy work +before them, she talked to them as if they were human beings, +encouraging them so much that they took the first ten miles at a +tremendous rate, following so close on the track of the first +sledge that presently 'Duke Radford held up his hand as a signal +for stopping, then turned round to expostulate in a peevish tone: +"What do you mean by letting the dogs wear themselves out at such a +rate? We shall have one of them dropping exhausted presently, and +then we shall be in a nice fix." + +"I haven't used the whip once, Father, but I thought it was better +to get them on as fast as I could, for I have felt and seen ever so +many snowflakes in the last half-hour," Katherine said penitently. + +'Duke Radford turned his face rather anxiously windward, and was +considerably worried to find that a few small snowflakes came +dancing slowly down, and that the slight draught of the morning was +changing to a raw, cold wind from off the water. + +"It is a fall coming, and by the look of it, it may be heavy. You +had better keep the dogs coming as fast as you can. But stop if I +throw up my hand, or you will be running me down." + +"Shall we change places for a time?" asked Katherine. "I am not a +bit tired, but you look just worn out." + +"No, no, I can't have you dragging a sledge. But be careful and +keep the dogs from rushing down the slopes and overrunning me," he +answered, then started forward again. + +The flakes were falling faster now, but they were so fine that they +would have scarcely counted had it not been for the number of them. +At the end of the next half-hour the fall was like a fog of +whirling atoms, and the travellers looked like moving snow figures. +The dogs were still running well, and Katherine found it hard work +to keep them back, especially on the slopes, where they would +persist in trying to make rushes, so getting thoroughly out of +hand. She was keeping them back down one long bad slope which +abounded in pitfalls, when to her horror she heard her father cry +out, then saw him and his sledge disappear, shooting into a +whirling smother of snow. + + [Illustration: 'Duke Radford meets with an accident] + +With a sharp order to the dogs to stop, which they promptly obeyed +by dropping in four panting heaps on the snow, she went forward +alone to see what had happened to her father. It was a simple +enough accident, and one that had to be constantly guarded against +in drawing a sledge when travelling on snowshoes. In going down +the slope the sledge had travelled proportionally faster than the +man, and, catching against the framework of one of the snowshoes, +had flung him with tremendous force between two trees. The trees, +which were really two shoots from one root, grew so close together +that when 'Duke Radford was pitched in between them he was wedged +fast by the force of the impact, while the sledge, coming on +behind, bounded on to his prostrate body. He groaned when +Katherine dragged the sledge away, and cried out with the pain when +she tried to help him out. + +"Did it hurt you so badly? Oh, I am sorry! But I will be more +careful next time," she said; and, stepping carefully backwards +after that first vain attempt, she slipped her feet clear of the +snowshoes and went closer to the tree, so that she might try to +lift him out of the fork by sheer strength of arm. But the snow +was so soft that she sank in over her ankles, going deeper and +deeper with every attempt which she made to wriggle herself free. + +"This won't do," she said sharply. "I won't be long, Father dear, +but I must pack the snow a bit before I can get firm standing +ground." + +Slipping her father's snowshoes, one of which was broken, from his +feet, she took the broken part and proceeded to beat the snow firm +all round the trees. This took perhaps ten minutes, although she +worked so hard that she perspired despite the cold. The snow was +firm now; she could stand without sinking, and going round in front +of her father she exerted all her strength and lifted him up a +little. He was bleeding from a wound on his face, and seemed to be +quite dazed. + +"Can you help yourself at all?" she asked urgently, knowing that it +was quite impossible for her unaided strength to get him clear of +the fork. But his only reply was a groan, and Katherine began to +grow frightened. It was quite impossible to leave him while she +went to summon aid, and equally impossible to get help without +going for it. Meanwhile the cold was so intense that every moment +of waiting became a risk. Even the dogs were whining and restless, +impatient to get off again for the last stage of their journey. + +"Father, you must help yourself," the girl cried despairingly. "I +can't possibly get you out of the tree alone, and you will just +freeze to death if you are not quick." + +The urgency of her tone seemed to rouse him a little, and, seeing +that he appeared to be coming to himself again, she rubbed his face +briskly with snow, which quickened his faculties, and incidentally +made the wound on his cheek smart horribly; but that was a minor +matter, the chief thing being to make him bestir himself. Then by +a great effort she lifted him up again, and this time he put out +his hand and clutched at the trunk of the tree, and so kept himself +from slipping back into the fork, while she ran round and pulled +him clear of the trees, making him lean upon her whilst she debated +on her next move. + +"I don't know how we shall get home; I can't walk," he said feebly. + +"Of course you can't; that is entirely out of the question," she +said briskly. "I must unload the two sledges, and cache the things +close to this tree, under your sledge; then the dogs can draw you +home. There is not much over three miles to be done, so we shall +not be long." + +She made him sit on the snow while she set about her preparations, +for he seemed too weak to stand alone. Most of the goods were +taken from the dog sledge and piled in a heap at the foot of the +forked trees. The other sledge was brought alongside and unloaded +also, then Katherine dragged the hand sledge on to the top of the +packages, with the runners sticking upwards, so that a curious wolf +might think it was a trap of a fresh shape, and avoid it +accordingly. All this took time, however, and when she had got her +father packed into the sledge in readiness for a start it was +almost dark, while the snow was coming down thicker than ever. The +brown-and-white dog was howling dismally again, while the black one +which had a cropped ear seemed disposed to follow suit. + +It was of no use trying to guide the dogs now, and, falling into +the rear, Katherine shouted to them to go forward, and left it to +their instinct to find the way home. She had to keep shouting and +singing to them the whole of the way. If from very weariness her +voice sank to silence, they dropped into a slow walk; but when it +rang out again in a cheery shout, they plunged forward at a great +pace, which was maintained only so long as she continued shouting. +But at last, after what seemed an interminable time, she heard the +noise of the water coming over Roaring Water Portage; the dogs +heard it too, and the need for shouting ceased, for they knew they +were almost at the end of the journey. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +Outwitting the Enemy + +Among his neighbours at Seal Cove, 'Duke Radford counted one very +pronounced enemy, and that was Oily Dave, master of one of the +sealing boats, and keeper of the only whisky saloon within twenty +or thirty miles of Roaring Water Portage. The cause of the enmity +was now nearly two years old, but like a good many other things it +had gained strength with age. Oily Dave had been supplying the red +man with liquor, and this in defiance of the law which forbade such +sales; 'Duke Radford reported him, and Oily Dave was mulcted in a +fine so heavy that it consumed all the profits from his Indian +traffic, and a good many other and more legitimate profits also. +Since then Oily Dave had hated the storekeeper with a zest and +energy which bade fair to become the ruling passion of his life; +but except for a few minor disagreeables, that could hardly be said +to count, his ill will had thus far not gone beyond sneer and +invective. + +Katherine was always afraid of him, and of what he might do to her +father if he had the chance; for his nature was small and mean, so +small and so mean that, though he might not risk a reprisal which +would bring him within the reach of the law, he would not hesitate +at any small, mean act of spite which might injure his victim, yet +would not reflect on himself. Since knowing of her father's +trouble, she had been more afraid of Oily Dave than ever, for there +was a sinister look about the man, and she feared she knew not what. + +When the dogs, with their master in the sledge, and Katherine +following close behind, dashed up to the door of the store that +evening, Oily Dave was the first person to step forward to lend a +helping hand in getting 'Duke Radford housed and his hurts +examined. There were six or seven men loafing about the store that +evening, and they all helped; so Katherine, when she had kicked off +her snowshoes, was able to dart indoors to warn Mrs. Burton about +what had happened. + +"He ought to be put to bed at once, Nellie. Night school must go +for to-night, and if he has to keep his bed to-morrow, why, I must +teach in here, or even in the store," she said hurriedly, deciding +everything on the spot as was her wont, because Mrs. Burton always +found it so difficult to make up her mind on any subject. + +"Do you think that would be best, or shall we give him our +bedroom?--though that would be frightfully inconvenient, and I +should be so worried to be obliged to put the children to bed in +that other room at night, so far away from us, after the store is +closed," sighed Mrs. Burton, who stood still in the middle of the +room, clasping and unclasping her hands in nervous distress, while +Katherine dragged off her encumbering wraps, tossing them in a heap +on the floor. + +"Come and help me to make the bed, Nellie," she said, turning away +and leaving Mrs. Burton's plaintive questions unanswered. + +The elder sister at once did as the younger requested, sighing a +little as she went, yet relieved all the same because the matter +had been settled for her. By this time some of the men had brought +'Duke Radford into the store, and, sitting him on the bench by the +stove, were peeling off his outer wraps. Some of the others had +unharnessed the dogs, while Phil carried out their supper. Miles, +meanwhile, was looking sharply after the store; for, although these +neighbours were so kind and helpful, some of them were not to be +trusted farther than they could be seen, and would have helped +themselves to sugar, beans, tobacco, or anything else which took +their fancy if the opportunity had been given them for doing so. + +Whilst two of the men took 'Duke Radford's clothes off, and got him +safely into bed, another man approached Miles and asked for a +particular kind of tobacco. The boy sought for it in the place +where it was usually kept, but, failing to find it, turned to +Katherine, who stood in impatient misery by the stove, waiting to +go to her father when the men had done with him. + +"Katherine, where is the Black Crow tobacco kept now? It always +used to be on the shelf below the tea packets." + +"We are out of it," she replied. "But we shall have plenty +to-morrow. I had to cache most of the stores we were bringing; but +they are safe enough, for I turned the little sledge upside down on +the top of them, so I guess neither wolf nor wolverine will be able +to get at them to tear the packets to pieces." + +"You won't be able to get them either, for with all this snow you +will never be able to find them," said the man in a disappointed +tone, for he was a great smoker who cared for only one sort of +tobacco. + +"Oh! make your mind quite easy on that score," replied Katherine. +"I hung Father's broken snowshoe in a branch of the tree, to mark +the place, and I shall go over quite early to-morrow to bring the +goods home." + +Directly she had spoken she repented her words; for she saw, +without appearing to see, a look full of meaning which passed +between Oily Dave and the customer who had been disappointed. It +was only a glance, and might stand for nothing, but she had seen it +and was angry with herself for the indiscretion which had made her +utter words which had better not have been spoken. The men came +out of the bedroom then, so she and Nellie were able to go in. + +'Duke Radford was considerably battered. He had a broken collar +bone; one shoulder was bruised so badly that it looked as if it had +been beaten with a hammer; and one side of his face had a deep +flesh wound. Mrs. Burton was a capital nurse: she and Katherine +between them soon had the sufferer as comfortable as it was +possible to make him; then they fed him with strong hot broth, +after which Mrs. Burton remembered that Katherine had had no +supper, and hustled her off to the other room in search of food. +Katherine noticed as she went back through the store that Oily Dave +had gone, also the man who had wanted to buy the Black Crow tobacco. + +"Miles, can you leave Phil to look after things, and come with me +for five minutes?" she said, with a thrill of anxiety in her tone. +She was faint and spent with hunger and fatigue, the prospect +before her seemed too dreadful to be faced, yet deep down in her +heart was the stern determination not to be outwitted if she could +help it. But she must first of all get rid of this stupid +trembling, which made her feel as if her limbs were not strong +enough to bear the weight of her body; so sitting down at the table +she prepared to get a good square meal as the first step towards +the successful accomplishment of what was to come after. Miles was +a minute later in coming, because he had been attending to a +customer. "What is the matter; is Father very bad?" he asked, with +a quaver of fear in his tone. Accidents, or sickness of any kind, +always seemed so much worse in winter, and then death and disaster +had already worked havoc in the family. + +"Poor Father is bad enough, but I dare say he will do very well +with care, and Nellie is a famous one for looking after sick +folks," Katherine answered, as cheerfully as she could, quick to +understand what was in the mind of Miles, and feeling genuinely +sorry for him. Then she said briskly: "But I have gone and done a +fearfully stupid thing to-night, and I want to know if you feel +brave enough to help me out of a very big muddle?" + +Miles bristled up in an offended fashion. "I suppose I've got as +much pluck as most people; anyhow I'm not quite a coward." + +"Of course you are not, or I should not have dreamed of asking you +to help me to-night," Katherine said, with a nervous laugh; then in +a jerky tone she went on: "I want you to get the store shut up as +soon as possible, then, directly the people have cleared off, we +have got to go and bring those stores home that I had to cache." + +"But we can't go at night, and in a snowstorm!" expostulated Miles; +but his eyes glowed and his nostrils dilated, as if the very +thought of such an expedition sent thrills of delight all through +him. + +"It is not snowing so badly now, and luckily the moon will help us. +Moreover, if we don't go tonight it will not be of much use to go +at all; for if we wait until the morning I fancy we shall find that +most of the stores have disappeared, especially the Black Crow +tobacco," Katherine replied, then told him of the look she had seen +pass between the man who wanted the tobacco and Oily Dave, after +she had been so foolishly frank in explaining where the stores were +to be found. + +"I'll go and shut up sharp, then we'll start as soon as possible," +Miles said, with a jump of irrepressible joyfulness, for nothing +appealed to him like adventure. + +"Don't let anyone even guess what we are going to do!" cried +Katherine, who felt that enough indiscretion had been committed +that night to last them for a long time to come. + +"Trust me for that!" replied Miles. "I shall pull a face as long as +a fiddle, and yawn my head half off while I'm clearing up. Oh, it +will be rich to out-wit that precious pair! I had been wondering +why Stee Jenkin should go off so quiet and early with Oily Dave, +but I should never have guessed at the reason. I shall be through +with the shutting-up in about twenty minutes, and I've had my +supper, so there won't be anything to wait for." + +Katherine felt better when she had eaten her supper; the thought of +what was before her was less of an ordeal, and she was more than +ever determined that Oily Dave and the other man must be outwitted, +cost what it might. There was to be no night school that night, so, +directly the door of the store was shut and barred, Miles and +Katherine were able to set out. The twins were in bed, and fast +asleep. Mrs. Burton was still busy in her father's room, so there +was only Phil to look after things. + +"Tell Nellie when she comes out of Father's room that Miles and I +have got some work to do outside which may take us an hour or +more," Katherine said to her youngest brother. "Meanwhile you must +just make yourself as useful as possible--clear away supper, wash +the cups and plates, take care of the fire, and look after things +generally. You will have a school holiday to-morrow, so no lessons +need be learned to-night. We shall have to do the store work while +Father is ill, so you and Miles will have to be satisfied with +night school with the men instead of having lessons in the day." + +"Hooray!" chirruped Phil, who had no love of learning, but always +yearned for action. Then he asked anxiously: "Couldn't you stay in +and look after things to-night, while I go and help Miles with the +outside work?" + +Katherine laughed and shook her head. "No, no, the outside work +would be too heavy for you to-night; you might even get your nose +frozen. But you must stay up until we come back, because Nellie +may need you to help her." + +"I'll stay," replied the boy, but he manifested so much curiosity +about the nature of the outside work that had to be done that +Katherine had finally to command him to stay inside the house. + +Neither she nor Miles wished anyone to know what they were going to +do: there were so many reasons for keeping their errand secret. +Mrs. Burton would have wept and wailed at the mere thought of such +a journey at night, while Phil simply could not keep a secret. + +The dogs were tired and sleepy, very unwilling to be turned out and +harnessed again, but directly they were fairly out of their shed +the cold seemed to rouse them, and they set off at a great pace. +Katherine and Miles were riding in the empty sledge now, with their +snowshoes tucked in beside them. The snow-storm had spent itself; +the moon shone out of a cloudless sky, while myriads of stars lent +their aid to the illumination of the night. Even the cold was less +noticeable than in the afternoon, when the damp wind blew off the +water and the snow was falling so fast. + +"It was worth while your being indiscreet for once, seeing that it +has brought us out on a night like this," Miles said, as he +crouched low in the sledge, holding on with both thickly mittened +hands, for Katherine was driving, and the dogs were going with +leaps and bounds, which made the sledge bounce and sway in a very +erratic fashion. + +"You won't say the indiscretion was worth while if it turns out +that we are the second arrivals and not the first," Katherine +answered. But her tone was buoyant and hopeful; for she had little +doubt about getting to the scene of her father's accident before +Oily Dave and Stee Jenkin had succeeded in locating the spot. + +"Wolves! listen to them!" exclaimed Miles, as a hideous yapping and +howling sounded across the snowy waste. + +"They are a good way off though, and I brought a pair of Father's +revolvers in case of accident," Katherine replied, her heart +beating a little quicker, although in reality she would much rather +have met two or three wolves just then than have encountered Oily +Dave and the man who had wanted to buy the Black Crow tobacco. + +"I'm glad you thought to bring them," said Miles. "Nick Jones told +me the wolves are uncommonly hungry for so early in the year, and +they are in great numbers too. He trapped twenty last week." + +"That means twenty less to bother us to-night, which is a great +comfort," she answered, laughing nervously, for the yapping and +howling seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. Then, recognizing a +landmark, she cried out joyfully: "Oh, here is the place, and there +hangs the broken snowshoe!" + +"What is that?" cried Miles sharply, as a shadowy something slid +away out of sight among the trees, a something that was so much +like its surroundings as to be hardly distinct from them. + +"A wolf. Look at the dogs. Mind what you are about, Miles, or +they'll bolt!" she called quickly. They were both on the ground +now, and the boy was trying to hold in the dogs, which were +barking, raging, howling, and whining, making a violent uproar, and +all striving to get free in order to rush at that something which +had slid out of sight among the trees a minute before. + +"We must tie them up. I can't hold the brutes. They pull as if +they were mad," said Miles breathlessly, while the dogs struggled +and fought, nearly dragging him off his feet, as he tried to keep +them from dashing away in pursuit of what they deemed a legitimate +quarry. + +Katherine swung a rope with a running noose over the head and +shoulders of the leader, a huge white dog with a black patch on its +back like a saddle. + +"There, my fine fellow; now perhaps you will understand that this +is not playtime, but a working day extending into the night," she +said, as she patted the great beast in an affectionate manner to +show that it was repression, not punishment, which was intended by +the tightening of the rope. + +The dog whined, licking her mitten, but left off struggling, as if +it realized the uselessness of such a course. The other dogs were +fastened in like manner, for they had all been trained to hunt +wolves, and might bolt at an unexpected moment, wrecking the sledge +and scattering the things which were loaded upon it. Then came ten +minutes of hard work clearing away the snow and getting at the +packages which Katherine had been obliged to cache a few hours +before. One package had been torn open, and its contents +scattered, which showed that the wolf had already started thieving +operations; so that even if Oily Dave and his companion had +contemplated no raid on the cache, there would not have been much +left later which was worth carrying away. + +"I don't like you having to draw that sledge. Suppose it overruns +you, and you get hurt, like Father did this afternoon," Miles said +in a troubled tone, as Katherine prepared to go forward with the +hand sledge, while he followed behind with the dogs. + +"I don't intend to let it overrun me, so there is no need to worry. +In fact there is much more danger for you if the dogs hear the +wolves and try to bolt. But let us get along as fast as we can, or +Nellie will be in a fine state of anxiety about us," Katherine +replied. Then, gathering the lines of the sledge round her arms, +as her father had taught her, she set out at a good pace, followed +by Miles and the dogs. + +For a time little was to be heard save the creaking of the babiche +lacing of the snowshoes, for the dogs were running silently, and +Miles, saving his breath for the work of getting along, was +controlling them merely by dumb show, flourishing the whip to hold +them back when they took on a spurt, or beckoning them along when +they showed signs of lagging. They were less than a mile from +home, and going well, when suddenly a hideous uproar broke out near +at hand--the long-drawn howling of wolves, human shouts and cries, +and the crack of a revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A Night of Rough Work + +"Phil, where is Katherine?" asked Mrs. Burton, coming out of her +father's room about half an hour after the two had started to bring +home the stores. + +"She has gone to help Miles to do some work outside, though what it +can be I'm sure I don't know," grumbled Phil, who was sleepy and +wanted to get to bed. He had washed the supper things after a +fashion, had cleared up the kitchen for the night, according to his +own ideas of tidiness, and now was sitting in the rocking-chair by +the stove, trying very hard to keep his eyes open. + +"Oh dear, how unwise of her!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton in a plaintive +tone. "I am always so afraid for her to go outside at night when +it is freezing so sharply, for her face would be quite spoiled if +she were to get it frostbitten, and she is so pretty." + +"Is she?" Phil's voice had a drowsy drawl, as if the subject of +Katherine's looks had very little interest for him, as indeed it +had. But an unexpected lurch of the chair, coming at that moment, +landed him in a squirming heap on the floor. + +"Oh, Phil, I am so sorry that I upset you, dear, but I had to catch +at the chair to save myself from falling over the broom! What made +you leave it lying on the floor?" asked Mrs. Burton, who had been +the innocent cause of his collapse. + +Phil rose to his feet and dusted the ashes from the sleeve of his +jacket with a rueful air. "Did I leave the broom there? Oh, I +suppose I forgot it! I remember I had it to sweep up the +fireplace, because I could not find a brush." + +"There is the brush hanging close to the stove," remarked Mrs. +Burton. Then she broke out again: "I wonder what Katherine can be +doing out-of-doors at this time of the night, and Miles too?" + +"Perhaps they are gone to a surprise party. Don't you remember +there was one at Astor M'Kree's last winter?" suggested Phil, whose +tumble had dispelled some of his sleepiness, although he still +talked in a drowsy tone, and rumpled his hair wildly all over his +head. + +"Katherine would not go to a surprise party with Father lying in +such a condition," replied Mrs. Burton severely. Then she went +on: "Besides, she must be pretty well worn out, poor girl, for she +has done thirty miles on snowshoes since the morning, with all the +worry and trouble of Father's accident thrown in." + +"Perhaps she has gone to help Miles to look after his wolf traps. +I wanted to go instead, only she wouldn't let me. I told her that +girls ought to stay indoors to wash cups and things, while boys did +the outside work," Phil explained, in a rather injured tone. + +Mrs. Burton laughed softly. "I'm glad Katherine did not let you +turn out to-night, laddie, though I am sorry she had to go herself. +Now make haste and get off to bed; I have put everything ready for +you. But you must be very quiet, because I think Father is +inclined to go to sleep." + +"Katherine said I was not to go to bed until she came in, and I'm +not so very tired," replied Phil, choking back a yawn with a great +effort. + +"I am, though. And if you are in Father's room I shall be able to +sit down here by the stove and rest without any worry. So run +along, laddie, and be sure that you come to rouse me if Father +wants me," Mrs. Burton said. Then, drawing a big shawl round her +shoulders, she sat down in the rocking-chair vacated by Phil to +wait for the return of her sister and brother. + +She wondered why they had gone out, but did not worry about it, +except on the score of Katherine's complexion. Even that ceased to +trouble her, as she swayed gently to and fro in the comfortable +warmth flung out by the stove, and very soon she was fast asleep. + +'Duke Radford, who lay in restless discomfort from the pain of his +hurts, was the first to hear sounds of an arrival, and he tried to +rouse Phil to see what all the commotion was about. But the boy +always slept so heavily that it was next to impossible to wake him. +The dogs were barking. Katherine called out to Miles, who answered +back. Then there were other voices and a great banging at the door +of the store. That was when Mrs. Burton first became aware that +something was going on, and started up out of the rocking-chair +under the impression that she had been there the whole night and +that morning had come already. + +A glance at the clock showed her, however, that it was not so very +late yet, and still a long way from midnight. Then, remembering +that Katherine and Miles were out, she guessed it was they who were +making such a clamour at the door of the store, and hurried to let +them in. + +"I hope we haven't frightened Father with all the noise we have had +to make, but you seemed so dead asleep that we had to make a great +riot in order to get in," Katherine said, as she and Miles towed +the sledge inside the store to be unloaded at leisure when morning +came. + +"I will go and see to Father, but Phil is with him now. Where have +you been, Katherine? And oh, I do hope you have not frosted your +face!" Mrs. Burton said, with sisterly concern. + +Katherine laughed, but even Mrs. Burton noticed that the sound was +strained and unmirthful. "My complexion has not suffered, I can +assure you. But Nellie, dear, could you get a cup of hot coffee +quickly for two men? They have been having a rather terrible time +of it, and are a good bit shaken." + +"Bring them into the kitchen and I will have the coffee ready +directly," Mrs. Burton said promptly. But first of all she just +looked into her father's room to tell him there was nothing to +worry about. Then she hurried into the kitchen to rouse up the fire +and put the coffee pot on to boil. + +Oily Dave and Stee Jenkin accepted Katherine's invitation to walk +in, following her through the dark store and into the lighted room +beyond with a sheepish expression on their faces, which certainly +no one had ever seen there before. Stee Jenkin had his outer +garments nearly torn off him, there was blood on his face, and he +sank on to the nearest bench as if his trembling limbs refused to +support him any longer. + +"Why, your face is bleeding! What have you been doing--not +fighting, I hope?" There was a touch of severity in Mrs. Burton's +tone; for she knew the man did not bear a very good character, and +she was not disposed to give herself much trouble on account of +anyone who had brought his misfortunes upon his own head. + +"Yes, ma'am, I have been fighting, and for my life too, which is a +very different thing from a round of fisticuffs with your +neighbour," growled Stee Jenkin in a shaken tone, and the hand with +which he tried to lift the steaming coffee to his lips shook so +violently that he spilled the hot liquid on his clothes. + +Katherine and Miles had gone back to the store again, so it was +Oily Dave who explained the nature of the fight in which both men +had been involved. + +"We'd a perticular bit of business on hand to-night," he said, in +response to the enquiring look which Mrs. Burton turned upon him, +for Stee was plainly too much upset to be coherent. "I'd got a +revolver certainly, but Stee had nothing but a knife, for we didn't +expect any trouble with wolves so early in the season, though it is +a fact we might have done, for everyone knows the place is just +about swarming with them this winter." + +"Did the wolves attack you? Oh, how truly horrible!" exclaimed +Mrs. Burton, with so much genuine sympathy that both men winced +under it, hardened offenders though they were; for they knew very +well that they deserved the fate which had so nearly fallen upon +them. + +"About ten of the cowards closed in on us as we were going through +a patch of cotton woods, where we couldn't move fast because of +catching our snow-shoes," Oily Dave went on, winking and blinking +in a nervous fashion. "And we were fairly cornered before we knew +where we were. One great brute came at me straight in the face. I +knocked him off with my fist and fumbled for my barker, but shot +wild and did no more damage than to singe the hair off another +brute's back; but I managed to edge a bit closer to Stee, who was +getting it rough, and hadn't even a chance to draw his knife. But +we should have been down and done for to a dead certainty, if it +hadn't been for Miss Radford and Miles. They let the dogs loose +from the sledge when they heard the rumpus, and that turned the +scale in our favour. That great white dog with the black patch on +its back came tearing into the cotton woods roaring like a bull, +and then I can tell you there was a stampede among the brutes that +were baiting us." Oily Dave drew a long breath as he finished his +narration, but the other man groaned. + +"Katherine, what were you doing so far away from home at this time +of night?" gasped Mrs. Burton, in a shocked tone, as her sister +came into the room. "Why, the wolves might have attacked you." + +"Not likely; we had the dogs with us, you see. But we had to go +about three miles along the trail to bring home the things I had to +leave behind when Father had his accident," said Katherine, as she +stood beside the stove slowly unwinding her wraps. Now that the +strain and excitement were over, she looked white and tired, but +her face was set in hard, stern lines, which for the time seemed to +add years to her age. + +"It is dreadful that you should have to go out at night like that. +Wouldn't to-morrow have done as well?" asked Mrs. Burton in a tone +of distress. + +"No," replied Katherine slowly, as she wrestled with an obstinate +fastening of her coat, keeping her gaze carefully on the ground the +while. "We were almost too late as it was. A wolf had found out +the cache and was beginning to tear the packages to pieces, in +spite of my care in turning the hand sledge upside down on the top +of them." + +Oily Dave rose to his feet with a jerky movement. "I think we had +best be moving now," he said gruffly. "Perhaps you'd lend us a +couple of the dogs to help us down to Seal Cove; we'll give 'em a +good feed when we get there. But neither Stee nor I can face three +miles' tramp without something to protect us." + +"Yes, you can have two of the dogs on leash; but remember they are +dreadfully tired, poor things, for they have had a long, hard day. +You had better leave your sledge here to-night, then there will be +no temptation for you to let the dogs draw you," Katherine said, in +a hard tone. + +Mrs. Burton looked at her in surprise, even meditated a word of +excuse, because her attitude was so unfriendly towards these +neighbours who had been in such direful peril. But the word was +not spoken, for Katherine's face was too stern for the elder sister +to even suggest any change in her manner. Miles tied two of the +dogs on a leash while the men put on their snowshoes, then he +carefully drew their sledge inside the door of the store, which was +afterwards securely barred. + +"Katherine, what is the matter? Why did you and Miles go stealing +off in that fashion to bring the stores home without telling me? +And why, oh! why, did you treat those men as if they were the dirt +beneath your feet?" demanded Mrs. Burton, as she plied her sister +and brother with hot coffee and comforting food, to make up to them +for all the toil and hardship which had gone before. + +"Because I regard them as the scum of the earth," Katherine +answered with a yawn, as she stretched out her feet to the glowing +warmth of the fire. + +"They are not very noble characters certainly, but when men have +been face to face with such a terrible death, one feels it is a +duty to be kind to them," Mrs. Burton said, in gentle reproof. + +Miles burst out laughing, but Katherine shook her head at him and +proceeded to explain. "It was because I was afraid those two were +going to steal our stores that we started off in such a hurry to +get the lot home, and we were on our way back when we heard the +wolves, then cries and shots. We let the first two dogs go then, +and had to hold on to the others with all our might to keep them +from going too. I wish you could have seen how silly those men +looked, when they discovered to whom they owed their lives. I +could have laughed at the spectacle if I had not been so angry." + +"It suits you to be angry, I think," broke in Miles. "You ordered +those two round just as if you had been a duchess, and they simply +squirmed before you, like the worms that they are." + +"Silly boy, you have never seen a duchess, so you can't know how +she would order people about. Indeed she might be mild as milk, +which I am not. But I hate to feel as angry as I have been doing +to-night, so I am going to creep in and have a look at Father. +That will make me feel better and more amiable, I hope." + +"Don't disturb him if he is at all sleepy. I am so afraid he will +be feverish to-morrow if he does not get a good night," Mrs. Burton +said, in a warning tone. + +"I shan't disturb him," answered Katherine; then, taking a lamp, +she stole across the dark store to the little room at the other +end, where her father was lying. + +One look at his face showed her how little chance of sleep there +was for him at present; and guessing that it was anxiety as well as +pain which kept him awake, she sat down beside him and related +again the story of that night's adventures. He laughed, in spite +of his pain, at her description of how the precious pair had looked +when they found to whom they owed their lives. + +"But I don't like you having such hard, rough things to do, +Katherine. I wish you and Miles could change places in age," he +said, with a sigh. + +"I don't," she answered with a shrug. "But you must go to sleep +now, Father, or you will be feverish to-morrow. Do the bruises +hurt much?" she asked tenderly. + +"The bed is full of sore places," he answered, with a whimsical +transposition of terms. "But I shall go to sleep presently, I +think." + +"And wake up in the morning feeling better, I hope," she forced +herself to say brightly, though it worried her to see how ill he +was looking. + +"I don't know about that," he said gravely. "When a man has lived +a hard life like mine, a knock-down blow, such as I have had +to-day, very often sets a lot of mischief in motion; but there is +no need to fear disaster until it actually comes. Get away to your +bed now, child. I shan't want anything more until the morning." + +Katherine bent and kissed him. With all the strength of her heart +she loved her father. In her early girlhood he had been her hero. +Since her mother's death he had been her good comrade, and never +had there been a shadow between them until that day when they had +taken the last mail of the season up to the second portage, and +heard the news about the change in the ownership of the fishing +fleet from Astor M'Kree. Perhaps he had been taken with some +feeling of illness that day, and this continuing ever since had led +to his altered ways and gloomy looks. But even with this idea to +comfort her Katherine went to her bed with a heavy heart that +night, and a dread of the morning to which before she had been a +stranger. Her father had said that it was of no use to fear +disaster until it really came, but her heart quailed that night as +she lay sleepless, thinking of the days which stretched in front of +her. Until her father grew strong again she would have to let the +day teaching go, even though it might be possible to keep the night +school together. Her days would have to be spent in buying and +selling, in bartering barrels of flour and pork for skins of wolf, +of ermine, and of beaver. She would have to stand between home and +the difficulties that menaced from the outside, and if her heart +failed her who could wonder at it? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A Sacred Confidence + +'Duke Radford was very ill. For a week he hovered between life and +death, and Mrs. Burton's skill was taxed to the uttermost. There +was no doctor within at least a hundred miles. One of the fishers +at Seal Cove had set the broken collar bone, the work being very +well done too, although the man was only an amateur in the art of +bone-setting. But it was not the broken bone, nor any of his +bruises and abrasions, which made 'Duke Radford's peril during that +black week of care and anxiety. He was ill in himself, so ill in +fact that Mrs. Burton lost heart, declaring that her father's +constitution had broken up, and that half a dozen doctors could not +pull him through if his time had come. + +Katherine would not share this gloomy view, and was always hoping +against hope. If only the waters had been open, a doctor might +have been procured from somewhere; but in winter time, when the +small lakes and many of the lesser rivers were all frozen, nothing +in the way of outside help was available, and the dwellers in +remote places had to depend upon their own skill, making up in +nursing what was lacking in medicine. + +By the time the second Sunday came, the sick man showed signs of +mending. Mrs. Burton grew hopeful again, while Katherine was +nearly beside herself with joy. It had been a fearfully hard week +for them all, though the neighbours had been as kind as possible. +Stee Jenkin's wife came up from Seal Cove one day, and, after doing +as much work as she could find to do, carried the twins off with +her to her little house at the Cove, which was a great relief to +Mrs. Burton and Katherine. Mrs. M'Kree was ill herself, so could +do no more than send a kindly message; but even that was better +than nothing, for sympathy is one of the sweetest things on earth +when one is in trouble. + +Sunday was a blessed relief to them at the end of their troubled +week. Finding her father so much better, Mrs. Burton betook +herself to bed at noon for the first real untroubled rest she had +enjoyed for many days. The boys were stretched in luxurious +idleness before the glowing fire in the kitchen, and Katherine was +in charge of the sickroom. She was half-asleep herself; the place +was so warm and her father lay in such a restful quiet. It had +been so terrible all the week because no rest had seemed possible +to him. But since last night his symptoms had changed, and now he +lay quietly dozing, only rousing to take nourishment. Presently he +stirred uneasily, as if the old restlessness were coming back, then +asked in a feeble tone: + +"Are you there, Nellie?" + +"Nellie has gone to lie down, Father; but I will call her if you +want her," Katherine said, coming forward to where the sick man +could see her. + +"No, I don't want her; it is you I want to talk to, only I didn't +know whether she was here," he replied. + +"I don't think you ought to talk at all," she said, in a doubtful +tone. "Drink this broth, dear, and then try to sleep again." + +"I will drink the broth, but I don't want to go to sleep again just +yet," he said, in a stronger voice. + +Katherine fed him as if he were a baby, and indeed he was almost as +weak as an infant. But she did not encourage his talking, although +she could not prevent it, as he seemed so much better. + +"There is something that has been troubling me a great deal, and I +want to tell you about it," he said. "I could not speak of it to +anyone else, and I don't want you to do so either. But it will be +a certain comfort to me that you know it, for you are strong and +more fitted for bearing burdens than Nellie, who has had more than +her share of sorrow already." + +Katherine shivered. There was a longing in her heart to tell her +father that she wanted no more burdens, that life was already so +hard as to make her shrink from any more responsibility. But, +looking at him as he lay there in his weakness, she could not say +such words as these. + +"What is it you want to tell me, Father?" she asked. Her voice was +tender and caressing; he should never have to guess how she shrank +from the confidence he wanted to give her, because her instinct +told her that it was something which she would not want to hear. + +"Do you remember the day we went up to Astor M'Kree's with the last +mail which came through before the waters closed?" he said +abruptly, and again Katherine shivered, knowing for a certainty +that her father's trouble was proving too big for him alone. + +"Yes, I remember," she replied very softly, + +"That was a black day for me, for it brought dead things to life in +a way that I had thought impossible. I used to know that Oswald +Selincourt who has bought the fishing fleet." + +"That one? Are you sure it is the same?" she asked in surprise. +"The name is uncommon, still it is within the bounds of probability +that there might be two, and you said the one you knew was a poor +man." + +"I fancy there is no manner of doubt that it is the same," 'Duke +Radford said slowly. "The day we went to Fort Garry, M'Crawney +told me he had a letter from Mr. Selincourt too, in which the new +owner said he was a Bristol man, and that he had known what it was +to be poor, so did not mean to risk money on ventures he had no +chance of controlling, and that was why he was coming here next +summer to boss the fleet." + +"Poor Father!" Katherine murmured softly. "Ah, you may well say +poor!" he answered bitterly. "If it were not for you, the boys, +poor Nellie, and her babies, I'd just be thankful to know that I'd +never get up from this bed again, for I don't feel that I have +courage to face life now." + +"Father, you must not talk nor think like that, indeed you must +not!" she exclaimed, in an imploring tone. "Think how we need you +and how we love you. Think, too, how desolate we should be without +you." + +"That is what I tell myself every hour in the twenty-four, and I +shall make as brave a fight for it as I can for your sakes," he +said in a regretful tone, as if his family cares were holding him +to life against his will. Then he went on: "Oswald Selincourt and +I were in the same business house in Bristol years ago, and I did +him a great wrong." + +Katherine had a sensation that was almost akin to what she would +have felt if someone had dashed a bucket of ice-cold water in her +face. But she did not move nor cry out, did not even gasp, only +sat still with the dumb horror of it all filling her heart, until +she felt as if she would never feel happy again. Her father had +always seemed to her the noblest of men, and she had revered him +so, because he always stood for what was right and true. Then some +instinct told her that he must be suffering horribly too, and +because she could not speak she slid her warm fingers into his +trembling hand and held it fast. + +"Thank you, dear, I felt I could trust you," he said simply, and +the words braced Katherine for bearing what had to come, more than +anything else could have done. + +"What is it you want me to know?" she asked, for he had lain for +some minutes without speech, as if the task he had set himself was +harder than he could perform. + +"I wanted to tell you about the wrong I did Selincourt," the sick +man said in a reluctant tone. He had brought himself to the point +of confiding in his daughter, yet even now he shrank from it as if +fearing to lower himself in her eyes. "We were clerks in one +business house, only Selincourt was above me, and taking a much +higher salary; but if anything happened to move him, I knew that +his desk would be offered to me. I was poor, but he in a sense was +poorer still, because he had an invalid father and young sisters +dependent on him." + +"Father, surely there is no need to tell me of this dead-and-buried +action, unless you wish it, for the telling can do no good now," +burst out Katherine, who could not bear to see the pain in her +father's face. + +"A wrong is never dead and buried while the man lives who did it," +'Duke Radford answered with a wan smile, "for his conscience has a +trick of rounding on him when he least expects it, and then there +is trouble, at least that is how it has been with me. One day a +complaint was lodged with our business chiefs that one of the +clerks had been gambling, was an habitual gambler in fact. I was +not the one, and I was not suspected, but I knew very well which +one it was; but when suspicion fell on Selincourt, I just kept +silent. For some reason he could not clear himself, was dismissed, +and I was promoted. But the promotion did me little good; the firm +went bankrupt in the following year, and I was adrift myself." + +"What became of Selincourt?" asked Katherine, and was instantly +sorry she had spoken, because of the pain in her father's face. + +"I don't know. I never heard of him from the day he left the +counting-house until Astor M'Kree read his name from that letter, +but I thought of him a good bit. It is hard enough for a man to do +well with an unblemished character, but to be thrown out of a +situation branded as a gambler is ruin, and nothing short of it." + +"What became of the other man--the one who was a gambler?" asked +Katherine. + +"I don't know. He remained with the firm until the crash came. I +fancy Selincourt's fate made a great impression on him, for I never +heard of his gambling after Selincourt's dismissal," answered her +father. + +"How strange that he could not clear himself! Do you expect he had +been gambling really, as well as the other one?" Katherine said +quickly. + +"I am sure he had not," replied 'Duke Radford. "He was not that +sort at all. But the thing that bowled him over was that he was +known to have money in his possession, a considerable amount, for +which he could not or would not account." + +"Still, I don't see that you were so much to blame," said Katherine +soothingly. "If the man was accused and could not clear himself, +then plainly there was something wrong somewhere: and after all you +simply held your tongue; it was not as if you had stolen anything, +letting the blame fall on him, or had falsely accused him in any +way." + +"Just the arguments with which I comforted myself when I kept +silent and profited by the downfall of a man who was blameless," +'Duke Radford replied. "But though there may be a sort of truth in +them, it is not real truth, and I have been paying the price ever +since of that guilty silence of mine." + +"Father, why do you tell me all this now?" cried Katherine +protestingly. Never in her heart would she have quite so much +admiration for her father again, and the knowledge brought keen +suffering with it. + +He drew a long breath that was like a sobbing sigh; only too well +did he understand what he had done, but he had counted the cost, +and was not going to shirk the consequences. + +"Because I've got the feeling that you will be able in some way to +make the wrong right. I don't know how, and I can't see what can +be done, only somehow the conviction has grown to a certainty in my +mind, and now I can rest about it," he replied slowly. + +"Has this trouble made you so restless and ill?" she asked, +thinking that his burden of mental suffering had grown beyond his +powers of endurance since he had been keeping his bed. + +"I suppose it may have helped. I have suffered horribly, but since +I made up my mind to tell you, things have seemed easier, and I +have been able to sleep," he answered with a heavy sigh. + +"Will you tell me just what you want me to do, if--if----?" she +began, but broke off abruptly, for she could not put in words the +dread which had come into her heart that her father might be dead +before the summer, when Mr. Selincourt was expected in Keewatin. + +"If I am alive and well when the summer comes there will be no need +for you to do anything; I shall be able to face the consequences of +my own wrong-doing. But if not, I leave it to you to do the very +best you can. You can't make up for all the man may have had to +suffer, but at least you can tell him that I was sorry." + +Katherine shuddered. It was bad enough to be compelled to hear +that her father had been guilty of such meanness as to keep silent, +in order that he might profit by the downfall of an innocent man; +but when, in addition to this, she was expected to tell that man of +how her father had acted, and, as it were, ask pardon for it, the +ordeal appeared beyond her strength to face. Not a word of this +did she say, however, for it was quite plain to her that the +invalid had already over-excited himself, and she rather dreaded +what Mrs. Burton would say presently. + +"You must go to sleep, Father, and we will talk about this again +another day," she said firmly. + +"No, we will not speak of it again, for it is not a pleasant +subject for discussion," he replied. "Only tell me that you will +take my burden and bear it for me as best you can, if I am not able +to bear it myself, and then I can be at peace." + +Katherine bent over him, gathering his feeble hands in a close +clasp, and the steadfast light in her eyes was beautiful to see. +"Dear Father, I will do my very best to make the wrong as right as +it can be made. Now try to rest, and get better as fast as you can." + +He smiled, shook his head a little at her talk of getting better +speedily, then to her great relief he shut his eyes and went to +sleep. The burden had fallen from him upon her, and it had fallen +so heavily that just at first she was stunned by the blow. There +was no sound in the quiet room except the regular breathing of the +sleeper. Outside the brief winter day merged into the long +northern night; the stars came out, shining with frosty brilliancy, +but Katherine sat by the bedside, and never once did her gaze +wander to the window. Mrs. Burton came in presently, bringing a +lamp, and scolding softly because the room was in darkness. But +when she saw how quietly her father was sleeping, her gentle +complaining turned into murmurs of pleased satisfaction. + +"Really, Katherine, you are a better nurse than I thought. I was +so afraid of the restlessness coming on again, as it has done about +this time every day since his accident. But now he is sleeping most +beautifully, so I feel sure he has taken a turn, and that we shall +pull him through." + +"Yes," said Katherine, as she followed Mrs. Burton into the store +to look after the fire. "I think he will get better now," but her +tone was so dull and lacking in spirit that her sister faced round +upon her in quick consternation. + +"What is the matter? Do you feel ill? Why, you are white as chalk, +and you look as if you had seen a ghost!" + +"I don't think there are any ghosts to see in this part of the +world," Katherine replied, with a brave attempt at a laugh, +"unless, indeed, the unquiet spirit of some Hudson's Bay Company's +agent, done to death by treacherous Indians, haunts these shores." + +"Or some poor sealer caught in the ice and frozen to death," +murmured Mrs. Burton, with a sobbing catch in her breath. + +Katherine, who was putting wood in the stove, turned suddenly, +catching her sister in a warm, impulsive hug. "There are no ghosts +nor unquiet spirits among those brave men who meet death while +doing their daily work, darling!" she said earnestly. "But I fancy +some of those old H.B.C. agents were fearful rogues, and well +deserved the fate they met at the hands of the outraged red men." + +"Perhaps so; I don't know. But I don't like seeing you look so +pale, Katherine. Come and have your tea, and I will send one of +the boys to look after Father for a little while." + +Katherine followed her sister from the store into the kitchen, +wondering as she went if tea, however hot, would have the power to +drive away the creeping chill at her heart. Miles went off to take +charge of the sickroom, while Phil set tea, chattering all the time +concerning the gossip of the store which had come to his ears +during the last few days. + +"The men are saying that most likely, if Mr. Selincourt is such a +rich man, he will be sure to have a steamer run up through the +Strait two or three times during the summer with provisions, and so +it will be bad for Father and the store," he said, carefully +setting the cracked cup for Miles, although by rights it was his +own turn to have it. + +"What nonsense people talk!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton, with a +scornful laugh. "Mr. Selincourt will have his hands full with +managing the fishing fleet, and if he is so unwise as to turn +general trader, I dare say we can find some way of underselling him +or enticing his customers away." + +Katherine put down her cup of tea with an unsteady movement which +spilled some of the contents over the tablecloth. Here was a view +of the situation which she had not thought to be compelled to face. +If Mr. Selincourt did anything which took their trade away, and +left them face to face with starvation, would it be their duty to +sit down meekly and bear such an injustice, without attempting a +blow in self-defence, and all because of that evil from the past +which, although so long buried, had suddenly come to life again? + +"Katherine, how frightened you look! You surely are not worrying +about a bit of store gossip, which has probably not the slightest +foundation in fact?" Mrs. Burton said in remonstrance. + +"It is of no use to worry about anything so remote as Mr. +Selincourt and the fishing fleet," Katherine answered languidly. +"But I am so tired that bed for a few hours seems the most +desirable thing on earth." + +"Then go, dear, and get a good rest," said her sister. + +But, although Katherine lay down and covered herself with the +bedclothes, sleep was long in coming, while the burden she had +taken made her heart heavy as lead. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Business Bothers + +For a few days 'Duke Radford appeared to get better with +astonishing rapidity. He left his bed, and crept across the store, +to sit in the rocking-chair by the kitchen stove, and said he was +now quite well. But when he had pulled up thus far towards +strength again, he stopped short, unable to get any farther. In +vain Mrs. Burton plied him with every nourishing food she could +think of: an invalid he remained, weak and depressed, all his old +energy and enterprise under a cloud, and with a settled melancholy +which nothing could lift. + +It was then that the burden of life descended with such crushing +force on Katherine. The work of the store must go on, and it was +harder in winter than in summer. She spent long hours burrowing +among the piles of merchandise in the underground chamber beneath +the store, where were kept the goods bought and brought to Roaring +Water Portage when the waters were open. Or, with Miles for a +companion, she went long distances across the snowy wastes, +delivering stores by dog team and sledge. This was all very well +on the still days, when the sun shone with cloudless brilliancy in +a clear sky, and the dogs tore along like mad creatures, and the +whole of the expedition would seem like a frolic; but there were +other days when things were very different. Sometimes a raging +wind would sweep in from the bay, laden with a terrible stinging +damp, which kind of cold pierced like daggers. Or a roaring north +wind would howl through the forests, snapping off big trees from +their roots as if they were only twigs, while earth, air, and sky +were a confusion of whirling snowflakes. These were the dangerous +days, and they never ventured far from home when such blizzards +were raging, unless it was for the three miles' run down to Seal +Cove, where the trail had been dug out, and the snow banked, at the +beginning of winter. + +There were a large number of sealing and walrus boats laid up in +ice between Roaring Water Portage and Seal Cove. Most of these had +men living on board, who passed the days in loafing, in setting +traps for wolves, or in boring holes through the ice for fishing. +Many of them spent a great portion of their time in the little +house at the bend of the river, where Oily Dave dispensed bad +whisky and played poker with his customers from morning to night, +or, taking a rough average, for sixteen hours out of the +twenty-four. These were the men whom Katherine most dreaded to +encounter. They looked bold admiration, and roared out compliments +at the top of husky voices, but they ventured nothing further; her +manner was too repressive, and the big dogs which always +accompanied her were much too fierce to be trifled with. Mrs. +Burton had left off lamenting the chances of damage to her sister's +complexion from exposure, for she realized that Katherine must be +breadwinner now, and the stern necessities of life had to be first +consideration for them all. + +One day Katherine found to her surprise that some tin buckets of +lard were missing from the store. It was only the day before that, +rummaging in the far corner of the cellar, she had unearthed six of +these buckets, which had apparently been forgotten, as the date +chalked on them was eighteen months old. With much hard work she +hauled four of them to the store above, ripped the cover from one, +so that the contents might be retailed at so much per pound, and +left the other three standing in a row on a shelf which was remote +from the stove. But now two were gone, and looking at the one +which had been opened she saw that it was only half full. For a +moment she supposed that there must have been a considerable run on +lard during the previous evening, while she was teaching night +school, with Miles on duty in the store. It had been such a fine +clear evening that many people were abroad who would otherwise have +been in bed, or at any rate shut up in the stuffy little cabins of +the snow-banked sealers. + +A minute of thought, however, showed her that such a demand for +lard would have been so much out of the common as to have elicited +some comment from Miles at closing time. Each bucket would contain +something over thirty pounds in weight, so the sale of over sixty +pounds' weight of lard in one evening would have been something of +a record for Roaring Water Portage. Miles was busy at the wood +pile; she could not leave the store to go and question him then, so +had to wait with what patience she could muster until he came +indoors again. Her father had not left his bed yet; indeed he +rarely did leave it now until noon or later, when he dressed +himself, walked across the kitchen, and sat in the rocking-chair +until it was time for bed again. + +The life would have seemed dreary and monotonous enough if it had +not been for the hard and constant work, which made the days of +that winter fly faster for Katherine than any winter had ever flown +before. She did not mind the work. Young, strong, and with plenty +of energy, the daily toil seemed rather pleasant than otherwise. +It was business bothers like this about the missing lard which +tried her patience and temper. Presently Miles came in, his face +red and warm from hard work in the open air, but puckered into a +look of worry, which found a reflection on the countenance of +Katherine. + +"We are running out of fish for the dogs, Katherine. Have we been +using it too fast, do you think?" he asked. + +"Surely not. The poor creatures cannot work unless they are well +fed, and they have never had more than they could eat. How much +longer will it last?" + +"Three days perhaps, not more," Miles answered. "It has seemed to +go all at once." + +"Just so. I should fancy the fish has suffered in the same way as +the lard. You had better keep the door of the fish-house locked in +future. I wonder where we can get some more fish? People's stocks +of dried fish will be getting low now, I expect," Katherine said, +wrinkling her brows and trying to think of a likely place where the +want could be supplied. + +"I know where we could get fresh fish, pretty nearly any amount of +it, if you didn't mind the bother of catching it. We could freeze +it and keep it so. But what about the lard? You meant it to be +sold, didn't you?" + +"Yes, of course; but how much did you sell?" asked Katherine, with +a hope that he really had sold it all and merely forgotten to +mention it. + +"Sixteen pounds, all told. Oily Dave seemed uncommonly pleased +with it; though, of course, he wanted to beat me down two cents a +pound, and when he found I would not put up with that, he tried to +palm some bad money off on to me. I'm not so sure that he would +not have had me there, for I'm not half so sharp about money as I +ought to be, but Stee Jenkin called out to me to keep my eyes open, +and then I soon found out there was something on hand, so I made +the old rascal pay up in honest coin." + +There was an air of modest swagger about Miles as he spoke, for he +rather prided himself on his business acumen and general smartness, +so Katherine's next words were a terrible blow to his pride. + +"My dear boy, you had better have let him have his two cents twice +over, and then winked at the money, than have given him such a +chance as he must have made for himself last night," she said +bitterly. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded, with the offended air he always +displayed when his pride was wounded. + +"I mean that Oily Dave or some of his precious companions walked +off with two whole buckets of that lard from under your nose last +night, unless indeed you took the trouble to carry it into the +cellar again." + +"It would not have been possible for anyone to do that, for I was +here all the time," he answered stiffly. + +"Quite all the time, or did you have to leave for anything; some +silly little thing, perhaps?" she said in a coaxing tone, anxious +to win him from his show of bad temper, and at the same time get +some clue to the disappearance of the stuff. + +"I don't think I went away at all," Miles began, then caught +himself up in a sudden recollection. "Oh yes, I did! I remember I +took a ten-dollar bill, that Jean Doulais brought, indoors for +Father to give me change." + +"Then while you were indoors the thief stepped into the store and +walked off with our two pails of lard. Well, I hope the stuff will +make him very sick indeed!" exclaimed Katherine, in a tone of +disgust. + +"I wonder who it was? It couldn't possibly have been Jean," said +Miles, "for he was sitting on the counter and banging his heels. +When I went into the kitchen I heard him thumping away all the time +I was there, and he was sitting and banging when I came back." + +"Was it Jean Doulais who made all that noise?" said Katherine. "I +was demonstrating on the blackboard, and had to write my +explanations, because I could not make myself heard. One of the +boys volunteered to go and punch the noisy one's head, but this I +forbade for prudent reasons." + +"Pity you didn't let the fellow come. He might have happened on +the thief," growled Miles. "If Jean didn't take the things, he +must know pretty well who did. Will you tackle him about it?" + +"I think not," replied Katherine, after a pause for consideration. +"He might think we suspected him, which would be bad from a +business point of view. Then he would be certain to tell the +thief, and that would lessen our chances of detecting him." + +"What a desperately light-fingered lot they are here this winter!" +Miles exclaimed in a petulant tone. "Just see what a rush we had +to save the stores from your cache the night Father had his +accident." + +"But we did save them," replied Katherine with a ripple of +laughter. "And incidentally we also saved the lives of a noble +pair of men." + +Miles gave a grunt of disgust. "A regular pity they didn't get +killed, I think; and I shouldn't wonder if they are at the bottom +of this piece of thieving also." + +Katherine shook her head. "Oily Dave may be, for pilfering seems +to be second nature with him. But Stee Jenkin is made of better +stuff, and I believe he is really grateful because we saved him +that night. Then remember how kind he and his wife were to us when +Father was so ill. Oh, I've got a better opinion of Stee than to +think he would steal our things now!" + +Miles grunted again in a disbelieving fashion, but he did not +attempt to upset Katherine's convictions by argument; only they +agreed that for the future a more vigilant watch should be kept +both indoors and out. A padlock and chain were put on the door of +the fish-house, everything that could be locked up was carefully +made fast; then Katherine and Miles set themselves to the task of +keeping their eyes open to find out who had stolen the lard. + +Later in that same day a miserable-looking Indian came in with a +lot of dried fish which he wanted to trade off for provisions, and, +after a good deal of bargaining, Katherine took the lot in exchange +for a small barrel of flour and a packet of tobacco. + +"No need for us to go fishing to-morrow, Miles. I have got enough +fish to last the dogs for a fortnight, if we are careful," she said +to her brother, when he came back from a journey down to Seal Cove. + +"Where did you get it from?" he asked. + +"From an Indian who called himself Waywassimo, so I think he must +have been reading Longfellow's Hiawatha, for you know Waywassimo +was the lightning, and Annemeekee the thunder," Katherine replied. +"Only there was nothing grand nor terrible about this Waywassimo. +He was simply a miserable-looking Indian with a most dreadful +cough." + +Miles began to laugh in a hugely delighted fashion, but it was some +time before Katherine could get from him the cause of his mirth. +At length, with many chuckles, he commenced to explain. + +"There has been a wretched-looking Indian hanging about Seal Cove +for the last two or three days, stealing pretty nearly everything +he could lay his hands on, and Mrs. Jenkin told me that last night +he broke into Oily Dave's fish-house and cleared off with every bit +of dried fish there was." + +"So I have been buying stolen goods. How horrid!" exclaimed +Katherine with a frown. "Now I suppose it is my duty to hand at +least a part of that fish back to Oily Dave. Oh dear, I would +rather it had been anyone else, for I do dislike him so much!" + +"Don't fret yourself; wait until you hear the end of my story, and +then you will see that for once the biter has been bitten," +answered Miles, with so much chuckling and gurgling that he seemed +to be in a fair way to choke himself. "Mrs. Jenkin says she is +quite positive that Oily Dave stole that fish, because his +fish-house was quite empty a week ago, as she saw with her own +eyes, but yesterday, when she was cleaning his house for him, she +saw that he had a lot of fish. He told her then that he had bought +it to sell again. She knew how much of that to believe, however, +and asked me if we had missed any of our fish." + +"What did you say?" asked Katherine, who then began to wonder if +their fish had really wasted through being stolen, instead of +having merely been used too fast. + +"Oh, I didn't commit myself! Mrs. Jenkin has a good heart, but her +head is as soft as blubber, so I was pretty careful not to say +much," Miles answered, with a wag of his own head, which he thumped +with his fist to show that at least he was not topped with blubber. + +"It is maddening whichever way one looks at it!" cried Katherine. +"If Oily Dave stole our fish, and Waywassimo stole it from him +again, then I have been buying our own property, and paying for it +at a rather stiff price. I simply could not beat that poor wretch +down, he looked so sad and hungry. Oh, Miles, what shall we do? +If this business leaks out we shall just be the laughing-stock of +the whole place." + +"It is not going to leak out; I'll take good care of that," +retorted the boy, squaring his jaws. "If we say nothing about it, +who is to be any the wiser? Was there anyone here when you bought +the fish?" + +"Not a soul. How very fortunate!" cried Katherine, beginning to +smile again. "It is quite bad enough to be taken in by such a +trick, but it would be simply intolerable to have other people +knowing about it and laughing at our misfortunes." + +Miles nodded. This was just his own opinion, and he would have +suffered tortures if the wits of Seal Cove had been able to taunt +him about his clever sister having bought her own fish. Then he +said slowly, as if he had been giving the matter profound +consideration; "There isn't a scrap of doubt in my mind that if +Oily Dave took the fish he took the lard as well." + +"Then I wish Waywassimo would steal that too!" said Katherine with +a laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Another Clue + +It was fully a fortnight after this before Katherine and Miles +found any opportunity for going fishing. Then there came a day +when they had to take a load of stores up beyond the second +portage, to the house of Astor M'Kree, and they decided to bring a +load of fish back with them if possible, as the store which +Katherine had bought from Waywassimo was beginning to run low. +Their father seemed better that day, and was able to look after the +store with the help of Phil. + +Katherine too was bright and lively this morning, as if there were +no dark shadow of trouble in her life. Sometimes she was fearfully +sick at heart with the remembrance of her father's confidence, and +a dread of what the summer might bring; but at other times, on days +like this, she took comfort in the ice, the snow, and the searching +cold. Winter was not nearly over yet, a hundred things might +happen before the summer came, and so her high spirits pushed the +dark shadow to one side and for a brief space forgot all about it. +She was especially blithe of heart to-day, and so had donned a +skirt of scarlet blanket cloth, which matched in hue the woollen +cloud she wrapped about her head. On other days, when her mood was +more sombre, she wore a dark-blue skirt, like the thick, fur-lined +coat which was put on every time she left the house. + +"How gay you look, Katherine!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton, as her +sister came dancing into the kitchen, where she was making bread. +"But what a pity to put on that scarlet skirt if you are going to +bring fish home!" + +"I shan't spoil it, or if I do I will wear it spoiled until it +drops into rags," replied Katherine. "I call it my happiness +skirt, and I wear it only when I feel happy. To-day the winter has +somehow got into my bones or up in my head, and I feel as +light-hearted and reckless as if I had been having oxygen pumped +into me by a special contrivance; so plainly this is the proper +time for my scarlet skirt." + +"It is so funny that scarlet suits you so well, for you are +certainly not a brunette," Mrs. Burton said, looking at Katherine +in warm sisterly admiration. "But indeed you would look charming +in anything." + +Katherine swept her a curtsy. "Now that is a compliment most +flatteringly paid. Really, Nellie, I don't see how you can expect +me to be properly humble-minded if you say things of that sort, for +you are such a dear, sincere little person that every word you +speak carries conviction with it. But Miles is waiting and I must +be off. Don't worry if we are rather late back, for we must bring +as much fish as we can." + +Mrs. Burton left the bread to take care of itself for a while, and, +throwing a thick shawl round her shoulders, came out to see the +start. There was only one sledge to-day, but that was piled high +with stores of various descriptions, from a barrel of flour to a +roll of scarlet flannel, and from canned pineapple to a tin of +kerosene. This last was the light _de luxe_ in that part of the +world, fish oil serving for all ordinary purposes of illumination. +Miles looked after the dogs, while Katherine sped on in front, an +ice saw and two fish spears carried across her shoulder. It was +just the sort of morning when work was absolute joy, and toil +became nothing but the zest of endeavour. Fresh snow had fallen +during the night, but the sun was so bright and warm that the cold +had no chance against it. The winter was advancing, as was +evidenced by longer hours of daylight and hotter sunshine; but when +night came the frost was more severe than ever, as if loath to +loose its grip on the lakes and streams of that wide white land. + +Roaring Water Portage had lost all claim to its name for the +present. The river which rushed in summer with a roar over the +rocks in rapids was absolutely silent now, and the rocks were +merely snow-covered hummocks. The river above was frozen, there +was no water to run down, and all the resonant echoes were dumb. +The silence and the brightness suited Katherine's mood. She +hurried on in front, so that even the shouts of Miles to the dogs +became faint in the distance. Then her pace decreased as she swung +along with a gentle swaying motion, the big frame of her snowshoe +never quite lifted from the ground. When the boatbuilder's house +came in sight she hesitated, wondering if it would not be +pleasanter to remain outside in the pure fresh air until Miles +came, instead of sitting in the hot, stuffy kitchen talking to Mrs. +M'Kree. Then, remembering how solitary was the life of the poor +little woman, shut up from month's end to month's end with her +babies, Katherine decided to get on as quickly as she could and +give Mrs. M'Kree the benefit of her society. + +Mrs. M'Kree received her literally with open arms, and gave her a +hug which nearly took her breath away. "Oh, I am glad you've come +yourself! If the weather had been bad I should have been quite +sure of seeing you; but as it was so fine I was desperately afraid +you'd send the boys. But where is the sledge?" + +"Miles is coming on with the dogs, but I came forward at a +tremendous pace just because the morning was so beautiful, and I +wanted to be alone," Katherine answered, subsiding into a +rocking-chair and picking up the M'Kree baby which happened to be +nearest. + +"Wanted to be alone? My dear, that doesn't sound natural in a +young girl. Oh, I hope you are not getting melancholy from all the +trouble you've had this winter!" + +"How can you even think of melancholy and me in the same +connection!" protested Katherine with a merry laugh. "Why, I am a +most cheerful person always, and Nellie complains that I live in a +perfect whirlwind of high spirits." + +"So you may. But if you want to go mooning off alone, it is a sure +sign that something is wrong, unless indeed you are in love," and +Mrs. M'Kree nodded her head in delight at her own shrewdness. + +But Katherine only laughed as she asked: "Pray, whom do you think I +should be likely to fall in love with? There are so few eligible +men in this part of the world." + +"How was I to know but what you left your heart in Montreal last +winter? At least there are men enough there," Mrs. M'Kree said. +Then she asked anxiously: "My dear, what is the matter? You look +quite ill." + +Katherine had started to her feet with a look of profound amazement +on her face, for at that moment the door of the next room had +opened, and another small M'Kree appeared, dragging after him a tin +bucket, on which he was raining a shower of resounding blows. + +"Where did you get that thing?" she asked with a gasp, instantly +recognizing the bucket as identical with the two filled with lard +which had been stolen. + +Mrs. M'Kree appeared slightly confused, and tried to hide her +embarrassment by scolding her offspring. + +"Jamie, Jamie, why will you make such a fearful riot? Miss Radford +will run away and never come back if you are not quiet." + +"I don't care if she does," replied the juvenile. He had not yet +reached the age when pretty girls become interesting, and the noise +he was producing filled him with tremendous satisfaction, so he +banged away with renewed ardour. + +Katherine crossed the room with a quick step, and, seizing Jamie, +swung him up to the window. "See, here comes Miles," she said, +"and he has some toffee in the sledge. Run out and ask him to give +you some." + +One look of beaming satisfaction Jamie flung her, then, wriggling +from her grasp, he tore away to the door and was seen no more for +some time. Then Katherine turned to Mrs. M'Kree and said +imploringly: "Please tell me where you got that bucket from, and +how long you have had it?" + +"I'll tell you, of course, seeing that you make such a point of it, +but I'm not specially proud of the business, I can assure you," +Mrs. M'Kree said, with a touch of irritability very unusual with +her. "Oily Dave was up here about a week ago, and he said that he +had some buckets of rough fat that would do for greasing sledge +runners, or to mix with caulking pitch. He told us he bought the +stuff from one of the American whalers that were fishing in the bay +last summer, and he offered to sell us a bucket at such a +ridiculously low price that Astor bought one off-hand." + +"What happened then?" demanded Katherine, her lips twitching with +amusement; for she knew quite enough of Oily Dave and his methods +to be sure that Astor M'Kree had been rather badly duped. + +"The stuff was more than half sawdust, but it had been worked in so +carefully that you could not tell that until you came to rub the +grease on to runners and that sort of thing; then of course it +gritted up directly. But the worst of it was that Astor had mixed +some of it with a lot of caulking pitch, which of course is quite +spoiled, and he was about the maddest man in Keewatin on the day +that he found it out." + +Katherine was laughing; she really could not help it. But Mrs. +M'Kree, not understanding where the joke came in, said in a +reproachful tone: "My dear, it was not a laughing matter to me, +either then or now; for when one is married what affects one's +husband affects one's self also, and that sometimes in a very +disagreeable fashion." + +"Please forgive me for laughing!" cried Katherine. "But Oily Dave +is such a slippery old rogue, and sometimes he overreaches even +himself." Then she told Mrs. M'Kree about the disappearance of the +lard, and how she had recognized the bucket upon which Jamie had +been drumming so vigorously. + +"What will you do?" asked Mrs. M'Kree. + +"I don't see what we can do, except keep a sharper lookout in +future. There is not enough evidence to go and boldly accuse him +of having walked off with two buckets of lard for which he had not +paid. There may be a hundred buckets like that in the district, +every one of which has contained grease of some description, from +best dairy butter down to train oil mixed with sawdust," Katherine +replied with a laugh, in which the other now joined. + +"It is a good thing you can laugh about it; but I am afraid that I +shouldn't have felt like laughing if I had been in your case," said +Mrs. M'Kree. Then she cried out in protest: "Must you go so soon, +really? Why, you have been here no time at all, and there are +heaps of things I wanted to say to you." + +"Yes, we must go. We are going to Ochre Lake for fish. Miles says +there are heaps there to be had for the catching, and the dogs are +getting short of food. We have worked them very hard this winter, +so they have needed more to eat, I suppose," Katherine replied. +Then she went out to help her brother to bring the stores in, and +Mrs. M'Kree came to assist also. + +"Ochre Lake is a good long way off, so I mustn't keep you if you +are going there. A good six miles from here it must be, if you +follow the river," said Mrs. M'Kree; then made a grab at the packet +of toffee in Jamie's chubby hand, for he was evidently intent on +eating it all himself, and so leaving none for the others. + +"We shall not follow the river, but take the short cut through the +woods; and we shall go fast too, for the dogs will travel light, +you see," Katherine said. Then picking up the fish spears and the +ice saw she glided on ahead, while Miles and the dogs went racing +after her. + +At first, when they left the boatbuilder's house behind, it was +wilderness without a sign of life, but after they had gone two or +three miles, footprints of various sizes appeared on the snow. +There were marks of wolf, of wolverine, of fox, with smaller prints +which could only have been made by little creatures like the mink, +ermine, and such tiny fry, that, clad in fur white like the snow, +scurried hither and thither through the silent wastes hunting for +food, yet finding in many cases swift death through the skill of +the trapper. At length the lake was reached. In summer it was a +sheet of muddy yellow water abounding in fish, and many acres in +extent. Now it was a wide snowfield, except at one end, where for +some unexplained reason it was open water still. This was the part +at which they arrived, and Katherine halted on the bank with an +exclamation of surprise. "Why, we shan't need the saw at all; it is +open water!" + +"The ice at the edge is too thin to stand upon, and we mustn't take +risks here, for Father says there is a whirlpool at this end, and +it is the constant motion of the water that keeps it from +freezing," Miles answered; and taking the saw from Katherine he +commenced making a hole in the ice a few yards from the open water. + +The dogs were lying panting on the bank as if quite exhausted, but +their ears were perked up, and their eyes were very wide open, for +they quite understood what was going on, and the prospect of fish +freshly caught was very welcome after their months of living on the +dried article. When a hole had been cut in the ice, Katherine went +to stand by it and spear the fish which immediately crowded to the +surface as if anxious to be caught. Miles went to a little +distance, where he cut another hole for himself, and for the next +hour the two worked as hard as they could at spearing fish, then +throwing them on the snow, where they quickly froze stiff. The +water seemed entirely alive with fish, which could only be +accounted for by the fact that the main part of the lake, which was +shallow, was frozen solid, so that all the fish had been forced to +the end where the moving water did not freeze. + +[Illustration: Katherine and Miles spearing for fish.] + +"I guess we have got a load now, so we might as well stop," said +Katherine, whose arms were beginning to ache, having already had +more than enough of slaughter for that day at least. + +"You load while I jab at a few more of these big fellows, for they +seem as if they are just yearning to be caught," Miles cried +excitedly. "I never had such fishing as this; it is prime!" + +"It isn't fishing at all; it is nothing but killing. Horrid work, +I call it," Katherine cried with a shudder, as, gathering up the +frozen fish, she proceeded to stack them on the sledge in much the +same fashion as she might have stacked billets of firewood. + +The dogs had eaten a good meal, and were in fine feather for work; +so, although the load was heavy, they made very good pace, and +Katherine, gliding along now by the side of Miles, told him of how +she had found Jamie M'Kree banging away on one of their stolen lard +buckets. Miles was furiously angry, and wanted to go straight off +to Seal Cove, denouncing Oily Dave as a thief; but Katherine would +not hear of it. + +"By precipitating matters we may do a great deal more harm than +good," she said. "We have had to buy our wisdom in rather an +expensive school, but it ought to make us wiser in future. So far +we have only suspicions to go upon, not facts, and it is very +likely that if we accused Oily Dave of stealing our stuff he would +be clever enough to turn the tables on us, and have us prosecuted +for libel, or something of that sort, which would not be +pleasant--nor profitable." + +"I can't sit meekly down under things of that sort," retorted the +boy, with the sullen look dropping over his face which Katherine +hated to see there. + +"It isn't easy, I know, but very often it pays best in the long +run," she answered earnestly. "Whatever we do, or don't do, we +must take especial care that Father isn't worried just now. He +must be our chief thought for the present, and if our business +pride gets wounded, we must just take the hurt lying down for his +sake." + +"Katherine, are you afraid that Father is going to die?" Miles +asked, turning his head quickly to look at her; and there was the +same terrified expression on his face which had been there when he +asked the same question a few weeks before. + +"I think his recovery will depend very largely on whether we can +keep him from anxiety for the next two or three months," she +answered; and there was a stab of pain at her heart as she thought +of the gnawing apprehension and worry which were secretly sapping +his strength. + +"Then Oily Dave mustn't be meddled with just now, I suppose," Miles +said, with a sigh of renunciation; "but sooner or later he has got +to pay for it, or I will know the reason why." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The First Rain + +The weary weeks of winter passed slowly away. April came in with +long bright days and abundant sunshine, but still the frost-king +held sway, and all the earth was snowbound, the rivers were mute, +and the waterfalls existed only in name. The men in the store were +saying one night that some Indians had got through from Thunder Bay +by way of the Albany River with mails; but as this meant about four +hundred miles on snowshoes, Katherine regarded it only as a piece +of winter fiction, and thought no more about it. There were fifty +miles of hill and valley between Roaring Water Portage and the +Albany River at its nearest point; but this was undoubtedly the +nearest trail to civilization and the railway, and when the waters +were open it was easier than any other route. + +Two days later Katherine was in the cellar overhauling the stores, +which were getting so shrunken that she was wondering how they +could possibly be made to hold out, when she heard Phil calling, +and, going up the ladder, found a tired-looking Indian standing +there, who had a bag of mails strapped on to his back. + +"Have you really come from Thunder Bay?" she asked in a surprised +tone. + +"Yah," he responded promptly, and, dislodging the burden from his +back, showed her the name Maxokama on the official seals of the bag. + +Her father being too unwell to leave his bed that day, Katherine +received the mail as his deputy, and, giving the Indian a receipt +for it, proceeded to open the bag and sort the letters it +contained. There were only a few, and as they were mostly directed +to those in authority in the fishing fleet, and to Astor M'Kree, +Katherine was quick in coming to the conclusion that it was Mr. +Selincourt who had arranged with the post office for the forwarding +of this particular mail. A shiver of fear shook her as she thought +of him. As a rule she preferred to keep him out of her remembrance +as much as possible; but there were times when the fact of his +coming was forced upon her. The broad glare of sunlight streaming +in through the open door of the store was another reminder that +spring was coming with giant strides, and from spring to summer in +that land of fervid sunshine was a period so brief as to be almost +breathless. + +The Indian made some purchases of food and tobacco, but as his +conversational powers did not seem to go beyond a sepulchral "Yah", +which he used indifferently for yes and no, neither Katherine nor +Phil could get much information out of him. When he had gone, +Miles came back from wood-cutting on the slopes above the portage, +and was immediately started off to deliver the letters at Seal Cove. + +A mail that arrives only once in five months or so is bound to be +treated as a thing of moment, even when, as in this case, it was +limited to half a dozen letters and three or four newspapers. To +Katherine's great delight one of the papers was addressed to The +Postmaster, Roaring Water Portage, and she carried it in to her +father in the dreary little room which was walled off from the +store. + +"What have you got: a letter?" he asked, turning towards her, his +face looking even more thin and drawn than usual. + +"No, there were no letters for any of us; ours usually come by way +of Montreal and Lake Temiskaming, you know; but this is a sort of +special mail, which has been brought by Indians from Maxokama. But +there is a newspaper for you, which shows it is a good thing to be +postmaster even of a place so remote as this," she said with a +laugh. + +"A newspaper will be a treat indeed. I think I will get up, +Katherine, and sit by the stove in the store; one can't read a +newspaper comfortably in bed. Besides, you will be wanting to go +out delivering the mail." + +"Miles has taken the Seal Cove letters, but there is one for Astor +M'Kree that Phil and I will take up this afternoon; the dogs will +be glad of a run," she answered, bringing his garments and +arranging them near the bed so that he could slip into them easily. + +"Fancy a team of four dogs, a sledge, and two people to carry one +letter!" he exclaimed. + +"Not quite that," she responded with a laugh, glad to see that his +mood was so cheerful. "There is a newspaper to go too, and we +shall take up a small barrel of flour, with some bacon and sugar." + +"That sounds better at any rate, and I shall be delighted for you +to have a run in the sunshine," 'Duke Radford said, with that +thoughtful consideration for others which made his children love +him with such an ardent affection. + +Katherine had not gone many yards from the door that afternoon +before she noticed a difference in the temperature; it was a soft, +clinging warmth, which made her glad to unfasten her scarlet cloud, +while the glare of the sunshine was becoming paler, as if a mist +were rising. + +"Phil, the rain is coming; I can smell it, and the dogs can smell +it too. We are in for weather of sorts, I fancy, but Astor M'Kree +must get his letter first, even if we have to race for it!" she +cried. + +"Let's race, then; the dogs are willing, and so am I," replied +Phil, who was seated in the sledge among the packages, while +Katherine travelled ahead on snowshoes, + +And race they did; but already the snow was getting wet and soft on +the surface, so that the going was heavy, the sledge cut in deeply, +and it was a very tired team of dogs which dropped to the ground in +front of the boatbuilder's house. Phil set to work hauling out the +stores, but Katherine as usual went in to chat with Mrs. M'Kree, +who looked upon her visits with the utmost pleasure. + +"I expect it is the last time we shall come up by sledge this +season," said Katherine. "But in case the ice is troublesome, and +we can't get a canoe through for a week or two, we have brought you +double stores." + +"That is a good thing, for we are all blessed with healthy +appetites up here, and it isn't pleasant to even think of going on +short commons," replied Mrs. M'Kree. "But do wait until I've read +this letter, for there may be news in it, and there is so little of +that sort of thing here that we ought to share any tidings from +outside that may happen to get through." + +"Perhaps Mr. M'Kree would rather read his letter first himself," +suggested Katherine, who would have preferred not to hear about +anything that letter might contain. She guessed it was from Mr. +Selincourt, and for that reason shunned anything to do with it. + +"Astor has gone across to Fort Garry to-day; he started at dawn, +and a pretty stiff journey he'll have before he gets back: but I +warned him not to go, for I smelled the rain coming when I put my +head outside this morning; my nose is worth two of his, for he +can't smell weather, and never could," Mrs. M'Kree answered, +pulling a hairpin from her head and preparing to slit open the +envelope in her hand. + +"Still, he might rather that his letter waited for him unopened," +murmured Katherine; but Mrs. M'Kree was already deep in her +husband's correspondence, and paid no heed at all. + +"Oh! oh! what do you think!" she cried a moment later, giving an +excited jump, which so startled Katherine that she jumped too. + +"How should I know what to think?" she said; then was angry to find +that she was trembling violently. + +"Mr. Selincourt hopes to arrive in June, and he is going to bring +his daughter with him," announced Mrs. M'Kree with a shout, waving +the letter in a jubilant fashion. + +"Impossible!" remarked Katherine scornfully, the colour dying out +of her face. "The first steamers can't get through Hudson Strait +until the first week in July." + +"They are not coming that way, but straight from Montreal by way of +Lake Temiskaming. My word! the young lady will have a chance of +roughing it, for the portages on that route are a caution, so Astor +says," Mrs. M'Kree answered, then fairly danced round the room. +"Just fancy how gay we shall be this summer with a young lady fresh +out from England among us! And her father must be just the right +sort of moneyed gentleman, for he wants Astor to get a little hut +ready for him by the middle of June." + +"A what?" Katherine had risen to go, and was buttoning her coat, +but faced round upon the little woman with blank surprise in her +face, as if she failed to understand what the other was saying. + +"A hut. They will want some sort of a place to live in. There is +no hotel here, you see, and they are going to stay all summer. +What a pity it is you haven't got room to board them at the store!" + +"We don't want them," retorted Katherine quickly. "We have quite +enough to do without having to wait on a lot of idle boarders." + +"Oh! I don't fancy they will be very idle, for Mr. Selincourt says +that he and his daughter intend being out a great deal among the +fishers," said Mrs. M'Kree, who still kept dipping into the +letter, and besought her visitor to stay until she had read it all. + +But Katherine would not wait; she was in a hurry to start on the +return journey, for every hour now would make the snow surface more +wet and rotten to travel over. She was sick at heart, too, and +suffering from the keenest disappointment. Six months ago how she +would have rejoiced at the prospect of having Miss Selincourt at +Roaring Water Portage for the weeks of the short, busy summer. An +educated girl to talk to would make all the difference in the +isolation in which they were forced to live. Katherine felt +herself thrill and flutter with delight, even while she trembled +with dread at the thought of her father having to meet Mr. +Selincourt face to face. She wondered if the rich man who was +coming would remember her father, and if he knew of the wrong that +the latter had done in keeping silent, so that he might prosper by +the other's downfall. + +Bitter tears smarted in her eyes as she toiled through the melting +snow; then a dash of wet struck her in the face, and she realized +that the rain had begun, and the long winter was coming to an end +at last. The last mile was very hard to traverse, and when at +length they went down the hill between the high rocks of the +portage trail, Katherine heard a faint rippling sound which warned +her that the waters were beginning to flow. The store was crowded +with men, as was often the case in the late afternoon, and +Katherine's hope of being able to tell her father the news quietly +was doomed to disappointment. Her first glance at him told her +that he knew all there was to be known, and the look of suffering +on his face hurt her all the more because she knew there was no +balm for his pain. Miles was doing what was necessary in the store +under his father's direction, and, because there seemed no need for +her assistance just then, Katherine went on indoors to get a little +rest before it was time for evening school. + +"Oh, Katherine, have you heard the news?" cried Mrs. Burton, who +was knitting stockings and reciting "Old Mother Hubbard" between +whiles to the twins. + +"Yes; at least, I have heard about Mr. Selincourt coming, if that +is what you mean," Katherine answered, as she unfastened her outer +garments. + +"That is not the best part of the news by any means," returned Mrs. +Burton, giving Lotta a little shake to silence the demand for more +of "Mother Hubbard". "What delights me so much is to think that +Miss Selincourt is coming too. Just imagine what it will be to +have cultured society here at Roaring Water Portage!" + +"She will despise us, most likely, and consider us about on a level +with Peter M'Crawney's wife, or that poor little Mrs. Jenkin," said +Katherine. + +"Nonsense!" Mrs. Burton's tone was energetic; her manner one of +mild surprise. "No one would despise you. They might look down +upon me a little, but you are quite a different matter." + +"Perhaps I am," replied Katherine. "But somehow I have got the +feeling in my bones that Miss Selincourt and I shall not fall in +love with each other." + +"I expect that what you have really got in your bones is a touch of +rheumatism from wading through wet snow," Mrs. Burton said +anxiously. "Dear, you must take care of yourself, for what would +become of us all if you were to fall ill?" + +Katherine laughed, only there was not much mirth in the sound. +"There is nothing the matter with me, nor likely to be, for I am +tough as shoe leather; only sometimes my temper gets knobby, +because all the children I can find to teach are grown-up babies of +thirty and forty, who prefer flirting to arithmetic, and have to be +continually snubbed in order to keep them in their places. The +stupid creatures make me so angry!" + +"Poor Katherine! It is hard on you, for you are certainly much too +good-looking to teach a night school; but, on the other hand, what +a good thing it has been for the men to have the school to occupy +their evenings," said Mrs. Burton. "Mrs. Jenkin was saying only +yesterday that there has not been half so much drinking and +gambling at Seal Cove this winter as there was last year, because +the men would rather come here and listen to your lectures on +history and geography." + +"They are willing enough to listen, and will sit looking as stupid +as a school of white whales, caught in a stake trap," replied +Katherine. "But see what dunces some of them are when I try to +knock a little arithmetic into their thick heads." + +"Yes, I will admit they are rather dense; and you are very much +more patient with them than I should be, I'm afraid," Mrs. Burton +said with a sigh. The night school had privately been a very great +trial to her, for since 'Duke Radford's indifferent health had +caused him to lie in bed so much, it had been impossible to use the +room off the store as schoolroom, and so for two hours every +evening the family living-room had been invaded by a swarm of more +or less unwashed men, whose habits were not always of the most +refined description. + +"The need for patience will soon be over now," Katherine said, +understanding the cause of the sigh, although Mrs. Burton had +uttered no spoken complaint. "Miles says the men were beginning to +break the boats out yesterday, and it is raining now, which will +help matters on a great deal, unless, indeed, it rains too long, +and then we may have floods." + +"Oh dear, I hope not!" replied Mrs. Burton with a shiver, for +spring floods were no joke in that part of the world. "By the way, +has Miles told you that he saw the Englishman to-day?" + +"What Englishman?" demanded Katherine, with dismay in her tone, for +her thoughts immediately flew to Mr. Selincourt; only, of course, +it was not possible that he could arrive before June. + +"Didn't you hear that an Englishman came through from Maxokama with +the Indians who brought up the mail?" said Mrs. Burton in surprise. + +"Not a word. But certainly he must be a plucky sort of person to +have ventured a journey of four hundred miles on snowshoes. Do you +know who he is?" Katherine asked with quickened interest. + +"Someone to do with the fishing, I think; a sort of master of the +fleet very likely," replied Mrs. Burton, who had dropped her +knitting and gathered both the little girls on to her lap, as the +surest means of keeping them quiet while she talked to her sister. + +"How will Oily Dave like that, I wonder?" Katherine said in a +musing tone, and then her thoughts went wandering off to the pails +of stolen lard. She had kept up an unremitting watchfulness ever +since the time when the theft occurred, and had missed nothing more +of importance; but her mistrust of Oily Dave was as great as ever. + +"I don't suppose he will like it at all," Mrs. Burton answered. +"But it is quite time that a more responsible man was put in +charge." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Flood + +Twenty-four hours of a hard, continuous downpour, accompanied by a +warm south wind, worked a mighty difference in the aspect of things +at Roaring Water Portage. By night on the day following the +arrival of the mail from Maxokama, the water was coming down the +rapids with a roar, bringing great lumps of ice with it, which +crashed to fragments on the rocks, or were washed down with the +current to be a menace to the shipping anchored in the river below. +All day long, heedless of the pouring rain, the men had worked at +getting the boats free from their winter coating of ice and snow. +So when night came, everyone was too thoroughly wet and tired to +think of night school, which gave Katherine a welcome holiday from +teaching. + +She spent the time in sewing, and in making herself so generally +entertaining that even her father was more than once beguiled into +laughter. He was better and more hopeful than for a long time +past. He was even led into thinking and talking of the future, and +the work which would have to be done directly the fast-melting snow +made it possible to get about once more. Before daylight faded he +had helped Miles to get the big boat out, and carefully inspected +the seams to make sure that no caulking was required. They used +birchbark canoes a great deal at Roaring Water Portage in the +summer-time, but there was too much ice about for birchbarks to be +safe yet. + +"We will knock up a little shed for the boat above the portage this +summer, then when next winter comes we can lay her up there, +instead of having to bring her down here," he said to Miles, as the +two discussed the probability of being able to get the boat up the +portage within a week. + +"Oh, don't talk of next winter, Father; we have not got rid of this +one yet!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton, who was entirely happy and +contented to-night, because of the omission of night school. + +"It is going very fast anyhow, and I guess we shall see bare ground +in places to-morrow," Miles put in, talking in a sleepy tone; for +he too had been breaking out ice that day, and was desperately +tired. + +"Yes, it is going, and I'm glad of it, for it has been the hardest +winter to live through that I can remember, and I'm thankful to see +the last of it," 'Duke Radford answered; and something in his look +and tone made Katherine ask quickly: + +"Don't you feel well to-night, Father?" + +"Yes, I feel better than I have done for many a week past," he +replied promptly; adding, in a tone too low for any but her to +hear, "and happier too." + +"I believe you will feel better now, and get strong quickly," said +Mrs. Burton hopefully. "The winter had thoroughly gripped your +system, and that was why you could not get better before." + +All night long the roar of the water seemed to grow louder and +louder, while the ice crashed, and the wild wind howled through the +leafless trees. But the morning broke fine, and the sun came out +to warm up a wet world. Such a very wet world it was, with the +river swollen to twice its ordinary width! But as Miles had +predicted, there was bare ground visible, and to eyes which had +looked on snow-covered earth for six long months the sight was +welcome indeed. + +When breakfast was over, Katherine and Miles ran the boat down to +the water's edge, and floated it, getting in and paddling up and +down to see that there was no leakage, and to enjoy the novel +sensation after the long abstention from boating. But there was +work to be done, and they could not afford to spend even a part of +the day in rowing for their own amusement. Stores had to be taken +down to Seal Cove, and there was some bargaining to be done for +some tusks of narwhal ivory which 'Duke Radford had been +commissioned to obtain if possible. Narwhal ivory was getting +scarcer every year, and the storekeeper at Roaring Water Portage +was prepared to pay a very good price indeed for all that he could +obtain. + +The journey down to Seal Cove was performed with ease and +swiftness, the only trouble necessary being the steering, which +called for the utmost care in that racing current. + +"It will be stiff work coming back," commented Miles, thinking how +hard they would have to pull to make any sort of headway. + +"Yes, I think we had better come home round by the off-creek; the +water won't run so fast down there," replied Katherine: and Miles, +being of the same opinion, assented with a nod. + +At Seal Cove a curious state of things existed. The barrier of ice +at the mouth of the river had not yet given way, and the racing +current, penned in by the barrier, was mounting higher and higher, +and threatened to flood the whole neighbourhood. + +Katherine and Miles delivered as many of their stores as they +could. But it was not possible to go bargaining for narwhal ivory, +as the flood made their destination inaccessible, so they turned +back instead, and started to row up a little backwater called the +off-creek, which in summer was too tiny to admit of the passage of +even a small boat, but was swollen now to the size of a river. +This waterway led straight past the unwholesome habitation of Oily +Dave, which faced the main river, while the creek ran at the back +door, or where the back door would have been had the tumbledown +house possessed one. The water was all round the house now, and +must have been creeping in under the edge of the door, only from +the back of the house they could not see this. + +The two rested on their oars watching the scene, wondering whether +the house would be swept away, and where Oily Dave would build +himself a new residence, when they heard shouts, and from the +distant bank of the river saw a woman standing waving her arms in a +frantic manner. + +"It is Mrs. Jenkin. But what can she want, for certainly her house +won't be in any danger yet awhile?" said Miles, looking across the +wide waste of waters to where a little brown hut was pitched high +up on the bank. + +"Hush! What is she saying?" cried Katherine, and put her hand to +her ear to show that she was listening. + +Mrs. Jenkin saw the motion, and lifted her voice afresh. "There +is a man--danger--house--Oily Dave!" + +That was all they could hear, for the wind carried the words away, +and a great block of ice crashed against the front of Oily Dave's +abode, making the wooden hut shiver with the force of the blow. + +"Oily Dave is shut up in his house, and Mrs. Jenkin wants us to +save him," said Katherine, waving her arms to show the woman on the +bank that she heard and understood. + +"The old baggage isn't worth saving, but I suppose we shall have to +try what we can do," Miles answered, then shouted to Katherine to +look out. + +The warning came only just in time, for at that moment the huge +block of ice which had struck the house before came swirling round +in their direction, and they had to dodge it as best they could. + +"We must get round to the front, if we can," said Katherine, when +they had got the boat safely away from the danger of collision with +the ice. + +"Not possible; look there!" shouted Miles excitedly, as a great +sheet of ice came gaily floating on the swift current, caught +against the corner of the house, and stuck there, banging, +grinding, and jarring with the movements of the swirling water, and +threatening to beat the house down like a battering ram. At the +same moment they heard a cry for help from inside the house, and +the woman on the far bank shouted and gesticulated more wildly than +before, while the whole structure groaned and shivered like a +creature in pain. + +Katherine turned pale, but seized the oars resolutely. "There is +only one thing to do, Miles, and I am going to do it. Can you hold +the boat at the edge of the ice for five or ten minutes?" + +"You are not going to get on to the ice?" he protested, his voice +sharp with dismay, as he looked at the bowing, bobbing fragment +many square yards in extent, which was grinding against the side of +the house, but which might split into fragments at any moment. + +"Yes, I am. Then I shall creep round to the front, so that Oily +Dave can see me, and then, perhaps, his courage will be equal to +coming outside," she said, standing up and throwing off her thick +coat, for it would not do to be encumbered with much clothing when +any moment might plunge her into the water. + +"Katherine, don't go. It is an awful risk, and the old man isn't +worth it!" pleaded Miles, and, despite the fact of his being a boy, +there were actual tears in his eyes as he urged her not to go. + +But she would not listen, calling out sharply: "Bump her against +the ice and then I'll spring." + +Putting out his strength, Miles brought the boat with a bang +against the floating ice island, and at the same moment Katherine +sprang lightly from the boat. But, despite her care, she landed on +all-fours, and, as the ice was awash, got rather wet in the +process. Rising to an erect position after a few preliminary +staggers, she walked cautiously out towards the middle of the ice +island, which would bring her within sight of the prisoner in the +hut, and would, she hoped, inspire him with sufficient courage to +help him in the task of getting him into the boat. + +By this time the woman on the bank understood what she was doing, +and ceased shouting. It was Katherine's turn to make a noise now, +and she did it with all her might. "Oily Dave, come out! We've +got a boat at the back, and we will save you if you will be quick." + +She was making so much noise herself, and picking her way with such +extreme care over the rotten ice, that she failed to hear the first +response to her calling, and the next pulled her up with a jerk. + +"Oily Dave isn't here, but if you will take me I shall be very +thankful." + +The voice was a strange one, and had an unmistakable ring of +refinement and culture. Katherine faced round with such a start of +surprise as to nearly send her sprawling again, for the ice was +full of pitfalls. A young man was leaning out through the small +square opening which did duty for a window, and her first +impression of him was of someone extremely tired, and that gave her +the clue to his identity. He must be the Englishman who had come +from Maxokama with the Indians who had brought the mail. + +"Open the door and come out that way," she said in a tone of sharp +authority. "You will never be able to squeeze through that small +window unless your shoulders are very narrow indeed." + +"Which they are not," he replied, and disappeared from view. + +She heard him banging and tugging at the door, but never a jot did +it stir, and after about five minutes of this futile work he +appeared again at the window. The water was nearly on a level with +the opening now, and rising moment by moment, while there were +ominous ripping and rending sounds in Katherine's ice island, which +warned her that the rescue must take place in the next few minutes +if it was to be effected at all. + +"The door is jammed. What am I to do?" the unknown asked in a calm +tone, with no flurry or fuss. Indeed, Katherine wondered if he +realized how great was his peril and her own. + +"Break it down, smash it, anything; only be quick, please," she +said sharply, marvelling a little at his unconcern in the face of +such grave danger. + +Again he disappeared, and Katherine heard a rain of heavy blows +beginning to fall upon the door; then with a cracking, splitting +noise the panel gave way, the man inside wrenched off the broken +part, and stood revealed up to his waist in water. But there was a +space of fully three yards between himself and Katherine's island +of ice, and, as the ground dropped away sharply in front of the +house, she knew he must not venture to attempt wading. + +"Get a plank or Oily Dave's long table," she said, her manner more +dictatorial than before, for the unknown was so terribly slow in +his movements, and the water was still rising. + +Mrs. Jenkin had commenced shouting again, but Katherine paid no +heed to her, for the unknown had appeared with a long, narrow +trestle table, which, resting one set of legs on the doorstep, +reached to the ice. But it was a perilous bridge, and Katherine +knew it; only there was no other way, so the peril had to be faced. + +"Now run, only be ready to spring," she cried, trying to encourage +him. + +"Easier said than done," he answered. "I can scarcely walk, much +less run." + +"Then you must crawl; only please make haste. The ice is so rotten +that every minute I am fearing it will give way," she said. Then +dropping on her knees on the ice, regardless of the water which +washed over its surface, she tried to hold the edge of the table +steady for him to cross. + +On he came, crawling slowly and painfully. He was so near to her +now that Katherine could hear his panting breath and see the look +of grim endurance on his drawn face. Mrs. Jenkin was shrieking in +a frantic manner, and then Katherine heard a shrill cry from Miles, +who was out of sight round the corner of the house. But the noise +conveyed no meaning to her. She had just stretched out her hand to +grasp that of the unknown, when there came a tremendous crash which +shot her off the ice and into the water. The shock which sent her +into the water, however, steadied the rickety bridge over which the +stranger was crawling by jamming the ice closer under it, and the +man, catching her as she took her plunge, held her fast, then +dragged her up beside him by sheer strength of arm. + +[Illustration: The rescue of Jarvis Ferrars.] + +"I am afraid you are rather wet," the stranger said in a tone of +rueful apology, keeping his clutch on Katherine as she struggled to +a kneeling posture. + +Dashing the wet hair from her eyes, Katherine looked anxiously +round, fearing that their one way of escape had been cut off. A +huge fragment of ice had cannoned into her island and split off a +great portion. Plainly that was why Mrs. Jenkin had screamed so +shrilly, for she had seen what was coming and had tried to warn +her. There were other ice fragments about; huge blocks like +miniature bergs were bobbing and bowing to the racing current, +while they flashed back the rays of the sun with dazzling +brilliancy. But there was still time to get round the corner of +the house to the boat, if only they made haste; and, scrambling +from her knees to her feet, Katherine cried urgently: "Come, come, +we have just time; there is a boat round the corner of the house. +If we can get there before the next crash comes we are safe, if not +we may drown!" + +"Save yourself. It is no use, I can't hurry; every step is +torture," the unknown said, with a groan, as she fairly dragged him +on to his feet, which were swathed in towels. + +But she would not leave him. "Lean on me as heavily as you please. +I am tremendously strong, and I would try carrying you if you were +not so big," she said, with bustling cheerfulness, as, slipping her +arm round him, she hurried him forward. + +What a walk it was over that cracking, splitting ice! Mrs. Jenkin +had begun screaming again; and although Katherine was wet through +with ice-cold water, she could feel the perspiration start as she +faced their chances of escape. An oncoming fragment at that moment +fouled with a similar piece swirling round from another direction, +and the moment thus gained proved their salvation. With quiet +obstinacy the stranger made Katherine enter the boat first; then, +as he stumbled in himself, the two fragments dashed into the +island, which smashed into a thousand pieces. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +The Stranger Proves a Friend in Need + +"Just in time!" exclaimed Miles with a sob of relief. He would +have been most horribly ashamed of tears at any other time, but +Katherine's danger had been so imminent that even his natural +desire for manliness was forgotten for the moment. + +Katherine drew a long breath and set her teeth firmly. She was +trembling violently now the strain was over, and it was all she +could do to keep from bursting into noisy crying. But the stranger +was shivering too, and in her care for him she forgot her own +foolish desire for tears. + +"You are as wet as I am, and as cold. Can you row?" she asked, +remembering the strength of arm he had displayed in dragging her +out of the water. + +"Yes, and shall be glad to do it. You will be safer rowing too," +he answered, then motioned to Miles to give place. + +"I'll steer; then we can go ahead," said the boy jerkily. He had +not got over his fright yet, and was trembling almost as badly as +the others. + +Slipping into their places, Katherine and the stranger took the +oars. Miles edged them out of the crowding ice dangers, and, +keeping well to the bank, they began their progress up river. + +"Mrs. Jenkin is beckoning. Will you go across?" asked Miles. + +"No," Katherine answered with prompt decision. "The force of the +current is fearful, and we have faced enough risks for one day. +Besides, it is of no use; we want dry garments. Mrs. Jenkin has +barely enough clothes for herself, so I am certain she could not +supply my needs; and no garments of Stee's would be big enough for +this--this gentleman." + +"My name is Jervis Ferrars," put in the stranger, seeing her +embarrassment and hastening to relieve it. + +"Thank you!" murmured Katherine, a flush coming into her cheeks +which made her charming despite her bedraggled condition. Then she +went on: "I think it will be better for you to come with us right +up to Roaring Water Portage, because then we can lend you some of +Father's clothes: he is tall, and they will about fit you, I should +think; and it is so very difficult to get what one wants at Seal +Cove." + +"That I have already proved. But it was very kind of you to come +and rescue me. I owe my life to you," the stranger said, with a +sudden thrill of feeling in his voice. + +Katherine flushed more brightly than before. "We thought it was +Oily Dave whom we were trying to save," she said, with a faint +ripple of laughter. "And Miles said he wasn't worth it, only of +course we had to do the best we could. Are you the Englishman who +came through from Maxokama two days ago?" + +"Yes," he answered. "And it was the four hundred miles on +snowshoes that made my feet so bad, though I am rather proud of +having done it." + +"I am sure you have a right to be proud of such a feat," Katherine +answered; and then they did not say much more, for the work was +getting harder every minute, and she wondered what would have +happened if there had been only Miles and herself to manage the +boat, for certainly the arms of Jervis Ferrars had a strength which +Miles did not possess, yet in spite of this it was as much as they +could do to make headway against the streaming current. + +The danger came when they had to creep past the fishing boats, some +of which were anchored so close in to the banks that they had to +get out in the open river to pass them. Katherine had left off +shivering, but she was trembling still from excitement and +exhaustion; moreover, she was miserably self-conscious, because of +the stranger who was sitting behind. It was horrible to be wet, +dirty, and thoroughly bedraggled, but it was still more horrible to +be compelled to sit in such a condition right under the eyes of a +strange man, whose every tone and gesture proclaimed him a +gentleman. But they were very nearly at the end of the journey. +The roar of the rapids was in their ears, and Katherine was +thinking with a sigh of relief that she would soon be able to rest +her aching arms. + +Suddenly Miles leant forward and spoke. "I'm afraid there is +something wrong at home. Phil has just dashed out of the store +door, looking as white as chalk. He beckoned to us to hurry, and +now he has rushed back again." + +"Father! Perhaps he is not so well," exclaimed Katherine, with a +quick terror gripping at her heart. Then she thought with a swift +compunction of the stranger they were bringing home, and wondered +if her father would resent the intrusion. + +But Phil had run out again just as the boat grounded against the +bank, and now he began shouting: "Oh, do come quick; Father is +dreadfully ill, and Nellie does not know what to do with him." + +"You go first; the boy will help me," said Jervis Ferrars, hurrying +Katherine out of the boat. + +She landed with a bound and tried to run, but her water-logged +garments clung so closely about her that she could only walk, and +the few steps to the door seemed like a mile. + +"Nellie says it is a stroke, and she is afraid Father is dying," +sobbed Phil, who was running to and fro in a distracted fashion. + +A faint cry broke from Katherine, and she caught at the doorpost to +save herself. Yet even in that moment she realized that this was +only what she had been expecting every time that she had returned +from an absence all the winter through. But to-day found her so +shaken and unfit for strain that it was not wonderful she broke +down, feeling that this last disaster was too great to be borne. A +moment she clung there sick and faint, while the ground under her +feet seemed to rise up like the waves of the sea; then the +frightened wailing of Beth and Lotta reached her ears, and steadied +her nerves to meet the demands upon her. + +"Poor mites, how frightened they must be!" she murmured to herself, +then stumbled forward again, crossing the store and entering the +kitchen. + +'Duke Radford lay on the floor. Doubtless he had fallen so, and +Mrs. Burton had been unable to lift him; but there was a pillow +under his head and a rug laid over him. He was breathing still, +otherwise Katherine would have believed him already dead. + +"Oh, Nellie, this is dreadful! Whatever shall we do?" she cried, +her voice sharp with pain. + +"If only we could get a doctor I wouldn't mind so much," sobbed +Mrs. Burton. "But that is an impossibility." + +"I am afraid it is," Katherine answered, lightly touching her +father's face with her finger, and wondering if he were as +unconscious as he looked. + +Then she felt herself gently thrust to one side, and the voice of +Jervis Ferrars said quietly: "Go and get into dry clothes as +quickly as you can, Miss Radford. You can do your Father no +immediate good, but you may easily catch pneumonia if you stop in +this condition long. I am not really a doctor, but I have had a +medical training, and I can do all that can be done in this case." + +"Oh, how thankful we are to have you here!" said Mrs. Burton, who +felt as if the wet unknown, who was shedding pools of dirty water +on to her clean floor, was an angel sent straight from heaven to +help her in her time of need. + +But Katherine said nothing at all; she only stumbled to her feet in +blind haste and hurried away, knowing that collapse into +undignified babyish crying was inevitable, and anxious to get away +to some place where she might be hidden from the eyes of the +others. In that crowded little house there was not much chance of +privacy, however, and when Katherine entered the bedroom, to change +her wet garments and cry in peace, she was immediately set upon by +the twins, who had been shut in there by their mother to be out of +the way. The poor mites were so frightened and unhappy that +Katherine had to put aside her own miseries in order to comfort +them. Then by the time she was clad in dry garments she felt +better and braver, so she went back to the other room with the +tears unshed. + +'Duke Radford still lay on the floor in blank unconsciousness, +while Mrs. Burton was busy mopping up the dirty water which had run +from the wet garments of the others. + +"Mr. Ferrars has gone to get into dry clothes, and then he will see +about putting poor Father to bed," Mrs. Burton explained. Then she +burst into agitated thanksgiving: "Oh, Katherine, how fortunate +that you brought him home with you, and how wonderful it is that +there is always someone to help when most it is needed! Whatever +should we have done to-day if we had had no one but the fisher +people to help us?" + +Katherine was silent, and before the eyes of her mind there arose +the picture of that moment before the two big fragments of ice +collided, the moment which enabled Jervis Ferrars and herself to +get into the boat. But for that pause in the destruction of the +ice island it was more than probable that neither she nor the +stranger would have been there at all. Of this she said nothing. +Nellie had quite enough to bear without being frightened by +tragedies which had not happened. + +"I am afraid we brought you in a fearful lot of water," Katherine +said. + +"It will soon be wiped up, and the floor none the worse. That poor +Mr. Ferrars had no boots or stockings on; his feet were merely +swathed in towels. I have sent Miles with warm water to help him +put them comfortable; and now there is someone in the store. Dear, +can you go? I don't know where Phil is." + +"I will go. But what about Father?" Katherine asked, lingering. + +"You can do nothing for him, and he is as comfortable as it is +possible to make him at present," Mrs. Burton replied. Then +Katherine hurried away, for business must be attended to whatever +disasters menaced the family peace and happiness. + +The customer was a man from one of the fishing boats, which was +preparing to leave the river directly the barrier of ice at the +mouth gave way. He wanted more stores than could be immediately +supplied, and promised to come back for them later. + +"I saw you'd got the Englishman in your boat when you came up +river; I thought he looked pretty sick," remarked the fisher, who +was a Yankee from Long Island Sound. + +"His feet are bad, which is not wonderful when one remembers his +journey from Maxokama," Katherine answered, wishing that the man +would go, so that she might go back to her father. + +But this he seemed in no hurry to do, and with a cautious look +round to make sure no one was within earshot, he leaned over the +counter and asked in a confidential tone: "Can you keep a secret, +Miss?" + +"I think so, but I am not very fond of them," she answered, drawing +back with a repressive air, for the man's manner was more familiar +than she cared for. + +"Well, it's this then; the Englishman is likely to go on getting +sicker still if he keeps lodging at Oily Dave's hotel. Do you twig +my meaning?" + +"No, certainly not," Katherine answered; then a shiver crept over +her, because of the sinister interpretation which might be put to +the words. + +"I don't want to be hauled up in a libel case," said the Yankee. +"Are there any witnesses within hearing?" + +"No, not if you keep your voice down," she answered, dropping her +own, and feeling that here was something she ought to know, however +unpleasant or burdensome the knowledge might prove. + +"Well, they are saying that the new fleet-owner, Mr. Selincourt, +ain't satisfied with things going on as they used to do, and so he +has sent this young man up to spy round a bit, report the catch, +keep expenses down, and that sort of thing. Oily Dave has always +reckoned to make a good picking out of the fishing, you know, and +it ain't likely he'd approve of being spied upon." + +"Why have you told me this?" demanded Katherine. Her eyes were +dilated with fear, and there was a sickening apprehension in her +heart. In that wild place, so far from law and order, a dozen +dreadful things might happen, and the world would be none the wiser. + +The Yankee laughed and stuffed a plug of tobacco into his left +cheek. Then he replied: "They all say on the river that you are a +powerful smart girl, and can do most things you set your mind to. +Possession is nine points of the law, you know. You have got the +Englishman here; keep him somehow--unless you want him to leave +Oily Dave's hotel feet foremost, that is." + +Katherine gasped, and the words she would have uttered stuck fast +in her throat. A man's life had been thrust into her keeping, and +she must guard it as best she might. + +"I wish you would tell----" she began falteringly, then a door +creaked at the far end of the store, and the Yankee straightened +himself with great promptitude, ready for instant departure. + +"Well, good morning, Miss! Beautiful thaw, ain't it now? I should +think the mouth of the river must go bust before to-morrow;" and +with a flourish of his very seedy old hat the citizen of the United +States walked out of the store. He did not often lift his hat to +anyone; for, believing that all men were equal, such observance +struck him as servile. But Katherine had a way with her that +compelled respect; moreover, she was a downright gritty girl, as he +expressed it: so the hat-flourish was really a tribute to her +strength of character. + +As he went out of the door, Jervis Ferrars came hobbling out from +the bedroom leaning on Miles. Dressed in 'Duke Radford's working +clothes, he looked like an ordinary working man, except for that +indefinable air of culture which clung to him. + +"I am going to see to your father now, Miss Radford. Miles and I +have got the bed ready, and the sooner we get the poor man +undressed and comfortable, the better it will be for him." + +"Thank you!" said Katherine, then shivered again as she recalled +the Yankee's words about keeping the stranger from the power of +Oily Dave. + +Jervis Ferrars looked at her keenly, noting the shiver and the +trouble in her eyes; then he said abruptly: "What is the matter? +Do you feel ill, or is it something fresh?" + +For a moment Katherine hesitated, but he would have to be told, she +knew, so she said hastily: "It is something that--that you must +know. I will tell you presently when I get a chance." + +"Very well," he replied briefly, then hobbled on into the kitchen, +and for the next hour was occupied in doing his utmost for the sick +man. + +Katherine was left a moment alone with Mrs. Burton, after 'Duke +Radford had been carried to his bed, and she said hastily: "Nellie, +would you mind if Mr. Ferrars stayed here for a few days until his +feet are better? We are crowded, I know; but either he or the boys +could sleep in the loft now it is warmer, and Oily Dave's house is +impossible until the flood is down." + +"I should say it is impossible at any time," replied Mrs. Burton, +"and I shall be only too thankful if he will stay for a while +because of poor father. Oh, Katherine, I am afraid this long +terrible winter has killed him," she said, with a quiver of +breakdown in her voice. + +"It is not the winter. Why, he has scarcely been out at all, so he +cannot have suffered from that," Katherine answered sadly. She +knew only too well why her father had broken down again, only the +worst of it was she could not tell anyone, but must hide the +knowledge within her own heart, because it involved her father's +honour. + +"I have seen him failing for so long, only yesterday and to-day he +seemed better," Mrs. Burton went on; "and he was sitting quite +comfortably by the stove, not talking very much, but looking +thoroughly contented, when he suddenly pitched out of his chair and +lay like a log on the floor." + +"Will you ask Mr. Ferrars to stay with us, or shall I?" said +Katherine. + +"I will if you like. I will put it so that he shall think he is +doing us a favour, then he will be more comfortable about +accepting; and really, as things are, I don't see where else there +is for him to go." + +"Nor I," replied Katherine, and was thankful to leave the matter in +her sister's hands for the present. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A Woman of Business + +"What is the trouble, Miss Radford?" + +Katherine started. She had been so busy in packing baking powder, +tobacco, currants, and things of that description into a box for +the fisher from Long Island Sound that she had not heard the +approach of Jervis Ferrars, who wore list slippers, and so made but +little noise in walking. The long hard day which had held so many +momentous happenings was wearing to a close, and so far she had +found no chance at all to speak to the stranger about what he had +to fear. Mrs. Burton had begged him with tears in her eyes to stay +a few days to help them in looking after their father, and Jervis +Ferrars had accepted with such evident pleasure at the prospect +that Katherine had troubled no further then, and had devoted +herself to the many things which called for her attention. + +Her father still lay in the condition of absolute unconsciousness +into which he had fallen at first, and Mr. Ferrars did not think +there would be much change for a few days. He also did not +apprehend any immediate danger, and they all took courage from +this. Sickness and incapacity did not daunt them; but it was death +the separator of whom they were all so much afraid. + +"I did not hear you come," Katherine said. + +"No, my footgear is not noisy, as befits a sickroom; but then my +steps are not sprightly either, so you might have heard me +slouching across the floor if you had not been so absorbed in the +matter in hand. What is it you want to tell me?" he asked, with a +quick change of tone. + +"You had better not go back to the house of Oily Dave again," she +began in a rather breathless style. + +"Very much better not, I should say," he answered. "But why?" + +"You have come to watch the fishing in the interest of Mr. +Selincourt, have you not?" she asked. + +"Yes, the old company complained of considerable leakage in +profits, you see; indeed it was on this account that they decided +the fleet was an unworkable scheme for a company, and were willing +to sell to Mr. Selincourt." + +Katherine nodded, then said in a low tone: "But your position will +make you enemies, and I have been warned to-day that it is +positively dangerous for you to remain in the house with that man." + +"Did this warning reach you before you came to rescue me this +morning, or since?" he asked quickly. + +"Since. We did not even know that you were there." + +"Well, it is a comfort to know that, although I have enemies, I +have friends too; for such a warning could have come only from a +friend," Jervis Ferrars remarked, frowning heavily. + +"It was certainly meant in a friendly spirit, and, now you know, +you will be careful," she said, and there was more entreaty in her +tone than she guessed at, for she was remembering how indifferent +to danger he had seemed when she was trying to rescue him from the +flood that morning. + +"Yes, I shall be careful. And, since to be forewarned is to be +forearmed, thank you for telling me. I suppose this accounts for +the old rascal going off this morning with the key of the hotel in +his pocket." + +"Did he do that?" she asked in a startled tone. + +"Yes, I had been awake all night with the pain in my feet and in my +limbs, and I was disposed to lie and sleep when morning came," +Jervis Ferrars replied. "I heard him getting up very early, and +asked him what was amiss, for I could hear a great row outside with +the ice. He said there was nothing to be afraid of, for his house +stood too high ever to be caught in a flood; but he had left a boat +in an awkward place and must go and look after it. Then he went +out. I heard him lock the door when he was outside. After that I +went to sleep, and did not wake again until I heard you shouting, +and found the water was nearly on a level with my bed." + +Katherine shuddered. "It is too horrible even to think of! We +should not have known that anyone was in the house who needed +saving, if it had not been for Mrs. Jenkin screaming so loudly from +the other bank." + +"Then that is another friend; so apparently I have more friends +than enemies after all, in which case I am not to be pitied," he +said lightly; then asked: "Is that all the trouble--I mean so far +as it concerns me?" + +"It is all that I know, but I beg you to be careful, for Oily Dave +is such a cowardly foe, who only strikes in the dark," she said +earnestly. + +"In which case I shall be safest when I keep in the light," the +Englishman answered with a laugh. "By the way, how did the old +fellow earn his title? Was it given to him because he practically +lives on lard?" + +"I think it was given to him because he was known to help himself +so largely to the fish oils which should have been the property of +the fleet," she replied. "I did not even know that he was fond of +lard, although I have suspected him nearly all winter of having +stolen two pails of it from the store one night, when Miles had his +back turned for a minute." + +"That accounts for the bill of fare at his hotel then," Mr. Ferrars +said with a laugh. "I have had nothing but lard and bread, sour +heavy bread too, or lard and biscuit, or biscuit without the lard, +since I arrived at Seal Cove. But I think he need not have charged +such high prices for the stuff if he stole it!" + +"No indeed!" exclaimed Katherine, with a thrill of indignation in +her tone. "But why did you go to such a place? You would surely +have been better off on one of the boats, or Mrs. Jenkin would have +made room for you somehow, although her house is very small and +fearfully crowded." + +"It was part of the programme, don't you see? I came to be on the +spot to stop the leakage, and, having given a pretty good guess as +to where the leaky spot was, Mr. Selincourt told me to lodge, if +possible, in the abode of Oily Dave." + +"But you will not go back? Mr. Selincourt would not expect it of +you," she said, a swift terror leaping into her eyes. + +"No, I shall not reside under the roof of Oily Dave any longer," he +answered. "But I shall remind him of that locked door, and various +other things, some day when it suits me." + +"What are you doing? Are you going to put it down in a book?" +Katherine asked in surprise, as he drew out a pocket-book and began +to write. + +"Certainly! You are a woman of business, and must know that it is +best to have facts down in black and white," he answered. Then, +having finished with Oily Dave, he turned to the other side of the +same book, and began questioning her about her father's condition +before his seizure, and entering the answers in the same way. + +"You think that Father will really rally again?" she asked, with a +fear lest his former hopefulness about his patient was merely +assumed to cheer Mrs. Burton, who had been plunged in dreadful +grief all day. + +"I am inclined to believe that he may recover to a certain extent, +but I should have a much better idea of his chances if I knew more +of his condition beforehand, especially his state of mind. Your +sister says that he had no particular worries, nor anything to +induce apprehension or acute anxiety. Is that your opinion also?" + +The question found Katherine unprepared; she winced, then +hesitated, not knowing what to say. He saw the trouble in her +eyes, and paused with the pencil held between two fingers. "I am +not asking from any desire to know the nature of the worry, if +there was one; that would be quite immaterial in its effect on the +issues. The thing that counts is to know if he were suffering from +acute mental torture. If this be so, then it probably accounts for +the seizure, and leaves him with a fair hope of recovery to a +limited extent. If, on the other hand, his mind was perfectly +placid and peaceful, then I am afraid you must expect the end in a +few days, or a week at the furthest, for that would mean that +nature is completely worn out, instead of just broken down by +worry." + +Katherine was white to the lips, and her voice sank to a whisper as +she faltered: "Yes, he had acute anxiety, and a worry which wore +him all the more because he hid it so carefully; but none of the +others knew about it, only myself." + +"Thank you! that sets matters on a more satisfactory basis," he +said, "and I feel sure we shall see improvement in a few days." + +"Will you please not mind telling the others what you have told me +about the causes of his condition?" Katherine asked hurriedly. +"Miles and Phil are so young, while Mrs. Burton has had too many +troubles of her own. That was why Father talked more freely to me." + +"There is no need to speak of it any more," he answered, with +reassuring kindness. "Now I want to know what arrangements we can +make about the sickroom. Do you think the boys can sleep in the +loft? Or, if that is too cold, shall we give them a shakedown here +in the store?" + +"I don't think the loft will be cold now the frost has gone," +Katherine answered. "But Mrs. Burton meant that for you, because +it is really the only quiet place we have." + +"I am going to sit up with your father for the next few nights, but +I can get a nap in the loft during the day. When my feet are +better I shall have to be away in the boats a great deal, but until +then I can be nurse in chief, and so free Mrs. Burton's hands for +her other work," he said, gripping the needs of the situation as +plainly as if he had known them all for months instead of hours. + +"I had meant to stay with Father to-night," said Katherine, +flushing a little, and not feeling quite certain whether she +entirely approved of having matters taken out of her hands in this +fashion. + +"That would not do at all. You will have to be business head of +the establishment now for a permanency, and the sooner you get your +shoulders fitted to the burden the better," he said decidedly. + +"But I have practically been the business head all the winter, so +the burden is familiar already," she protested, with a wan smile +and a sinking at her heart, for she did not like business, and +always shrank from the bother of bargaining, which afforded such +keen zest to some people's buying and selling. + +"That was quite different from what lies before you now," he +replied. "You may have had the work to do, but you had always your +father's judgment to rely upon. In future you will have to stand +alone and judge for yourself." + +Katherine bowed her head in token that she understood, then turned +away too crushed to utter a word. Jervis Ferrars went back to the +sickroom, wincing at the pain he had been compelled to inflict as +if the blow had fallen on himself. There were no tears in +Katherine's eyes, only the terrible black misery in her heart. She +had filled in all the blanks in what, the Englishman had said, and +she understood perfectly well that henceforth her father would be +only as a child who needed guarding and shielding, instead of a man +whose judgment could be relied upon. She had no deception in her +mind concerning what would be required of her; the family living +must depend on her in the future, and it would rest upon her skill +and industry whether the living she earned were merely subsistence, +or the decent comfort in which they had all been reared. + +"God helping me, they shall want for nothing--nothing!" she +exclaimed vehemently, and the very energy with which she spoke +seemed to give her back her courage. + +It had been a momentous day in her life, a day calling for rare +courage and endurance, and the demands on her strength had left her +so tired that the other hard days looming in the near distance +seemed all the more terrible because of the present exhaustion of +body and mind. It was nearly time for shutting up the store, but +it was twilight still, for in those northern latitudes the +afterglow on clear nights lasts for hours. Katherine was busy at +her father's desk in the corner doing the necessary writing which +comes to every storekeeper at the close of the day, and she was +just wondering when Miles was coming to lock the door and fold the +shutter over the one small window, when she heard a slouching step +outside, and, glancing up, saw Oily Dave entering at the door. He +looked more shifty and slippery than usual, but his manner was +bland, even deferential, when he spoke. + +"Good evening, Miss Radford! Nice thaw, ain't it? but a bit rapid. +How's 'Dook?" + +Katherine winced. Of course every man at Roaring Water Portage and +Seal Cove called every other man by his Christian name, and she had +always been used to hearing "'Duke", but nevertheless it grated +horribly, so her manner was a trifle more haughty than usual when +she announced that her father was not so well, although she did not +choose to inform this man that he was very ill. + +"Well, well, poor chap, he don't seem to get on fast, no, that he +don't. It's downright lucky for him that he's got sech a bright +gal as you to look after things. He is a smart sight better off +than I should have been under the circumstances;" and Oily Dave +struck an attitude of respectful admiration, leering at Katherine +from his half-closed eyes. + +"What do you wish, for to-night?" she asked coldly. + +"A good many things, my supper most of all, for I've had nothing +but a mouthful of biscuit all day. But I shall have to wait for +that till I get back to Seal Cove, and then I shall have to cook it +myself, for that swell lodger of mine ain't no good about a house," +said Oily Dave, with a shake of his head. + +Katherine put her hand to her throat with a quick movement, to +check a hysterical desire for laughter. She and Mrs. Burton had +both marvelled that day at the exceeding handiness displayed by +Jervis Ferrars. He had made the bed for the stricken head of the +house as deftly as a woman might have done, and had helped in the +kitchen at supper time as if he had been getting meals regularly +for the last two or three years; but of this she was not disposed +to speak, and waited in silence for Oily Dave to state his +requirements. + +"I want some canned tomatoes. Have you got any?" + +"We have plenty of two-pound tins, but we are sold out of the +smaller ones," she answered, then made a mental note that in future +she would buy all small tins, because they sold so much more easily. + +"That's a nuisance, but I suppose I'll have to put up with it," he +said, with a sigh and another shake of his head. "Fact is, I want +to take home a relish for supper. My lodger don't take to simple +food such as we are used to in these parts. It is a downright +swell tuck-in he looks to get, same as you might expect to have in +one of the Montreal hotels." + +Again Katherine wanted to laugh, but checked the impulse +resolutely, and asked: "Is the flood at Seal Cove as bad as ever, +or has the barrier given way at the mouth of the river?" + +"I didn't know there was a flood!" announced Oily Dave, with an air +of innocence which sat awkwardly upon him, it was so palpably put +on for the occasion. "Fact is, I've been off all day on the cliffs +along the bay shore, looking for signs of walrus and seal on the +ice floes. Then when it got near sunset I just struck inland, so +as to call here on my way home. Who told you there was a flood?" + +"I saw it," she answered quietly. + +"I hope my lodger is all right," said the old hypocrite, with an +air of concern. "That house of mine ain't well situated for +floods, as most folks know. If I'd got the time and the money I'd +move it up beside Stee Jenkin's hut, which is really in a bootiful +situation." + +"I wonder you have not done it before," said Katherine, as she went +up the steps and fetched the tin of tomatoes from the top shelf. + +"Ah, there are a good many things that get left undone for want of +time and money!" remarked Oily Dave. "But I'm afraid Mr. +Selincourt has made a big mistake in sending that languid swell of +a Mr. Ferrars here to boss the fishing. A reg'lar drawing-room +party he is and no mistake. Gives himself as many airs as a +turkey-cock in springtime, and seems to think all the rest of the +world was created on purpose to black his boots." + +"We don't sell much boot blacking here. Most of the people grease +their boots with fish oil," Katherine said, laughing in spite of +herself, only now her amusement was because she knew Jervis Ferrars +to be in her father's room, where he could hear every word which +was spoken in the store. + +"Best thing, too. There is nothing like grease for making leather +wear well. Well, I must be going, though I'm that tired. However +I'll manage the walk is more than I can say;" and Oily Dave heaved +a sigh which this time was not lacking in sincerity. + +"Would you like to have one of our boats? Miles will help you to +run it down," Katherine said. It was such a usual thing to lend a +customer a boat that one or two were always handy, and the customer +always understood that the loan was to be returned at his earliest +convenience. + +"Thank you, I should be glad! The current will carry me down while +I smoke my pipe. Then I shall be rested enough to cook supper when +I get there," he answered. Then, bidding her good night, he went +out of the store, meeting Miles in the doorway, who went back to +help him to run the boat down into the water. + +"Miles, I hope you didn't tell that old fraud that Mr. Ferrars was +staying here?" said Katherine, when the boy came in and locked the +door for the night. + +"Of course I didn't. I never said a word good, bad, nor +indifferent to the old fellow. I haven't got over this morning," +Miles said, in a tone which sounded sullen, but which was only a +cloak for feelings deeply stirred. + +"Very well then, for this one night at least he will have the +satisfaction of believing that he was successful in drowning Mr. +Ferrars," Katherine replied. + +"Don't worry yourself, Mrs. Jenkin will tell him," said Miles. "Or +some of the men will chaff him, because he has been outwitted by a +girl." + +"It wasn't a girl this time; it was Mrs. Jenkin," objected +Katherine, letting a box go down with a bang, for she did not want +the listener in the other room to hear what Miles was saying. + +"Mrs. Jenkin might have called out that there was someone in Oily +Dave's house that wanted saving, but I guess the poor man would +have had time to drown twice over if it hadn't been for you getting +on the ice and going to fetch him out," Miles said, sticking to his +own opinion with the obstinacy he was rather fond of displaying. + +Katherine took refuge in silence, going out of the store as soon as +she could, and hurrying away to bed, because of the needs of the +next day. Neither she nor Mrs. Burton slept very well, however. +To both of them it was a grief beyond the power of words to +describe to leave their father to the care of a stranger, and they +were both thankful when morning came and the day's routine had to +begin again. + +There was no change in the stricken man's condition, but Katherine, +who stayed with him while the others had breakfast, thought that he +looked more comfortable than on the previous evening. When Miles +came in to take her place, she went back to the kitchen, to hear +Mrs. Burton and Jervis Ferrars talking of the Selincourts. + +"I suppose Mr. Selincourt is very rich," said Mrs. Burton with a +little wistful sigh, as if she thought that riches might detract +from his niceness. + +"Yes, I expect he is very rich, but he is so thoroughly pleasant, +and so free from side, that one is apt to forget all about his +riches," Jervis said, then rose to set a chair for Katherine, and +bring her bowl of porridge from the stove, where it was keeping +warm for her. + +"Is Miss Selincourt nice too, and is she pretty?" asked Mrs. +Burton, who to Katherine's secret disquiet was always asking +questions concerning the expected arrivals. + +Jervis laughed. "I have never stopped to consider whether she is +pretty, but she is certainly very charming in her manners," he +said, with so much earnestness that Katherine instantly made up her +mind that Miss Selincourt was the kind of person she did not care +for and did not want to know. + +Phil came in from the store at this moment, with a pucker of +amusement on his face. + +"Stee Jenkin has brought our boat back," he said. "Oily Dave paid +him half a dollar to come, because he didn't feel like showing his +face up here just yet." + +"Why not?" demanded Jervis Ferrars. + +"Stee said the ice at the river mouth didn't give way until after +midnight, when it burst with a roar like cannon. When Oily Dave +got to Seal Cove last night, the water reached to the shingles of +his house; so the old fellow rowed across to Stee's hut and asked +to be taken in for the night, because he was flooded out and the +Englishman was drowned." + +"But didn't Stee tell him that Mr. Ferrars was safe here with us?" +asked Mrs. Burton. + +"Not a bit of it," replied Phil. "That would have spoiled sport, +don't you see? because Oily Dave was what Stee called most uncommon +resigned, and talked such a lot about going to find the body in the +morning, that they just made up their minds to let him go. He was +up by daybreak and went over to look; but when he saw the door +broken down he guessed there had been a rescue, and he was just mad +because no one had told him anything about it." + +"It was rather too bad to leave him in suspense all night, poor +man," said Mrs. Burton gently. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The First of the Fishing + +For a whole week the thaw went merrily on. One by one the fishing +boats left their winter anchorage in the river, and sailed out into +the stormy waters of the bay. By the end of the week Jervis +Ferrars had so far recovered the comfortable use of his feet that +he could wear boots again and go about like other men. Directly he +was able to do this he went down to Seal Cove every day, where he +inspected every boat that was ready to put to sea, overhauled the +store shed, and quietly took command, setting Oily Dave on one side +with as little ceremony as if that worthy had never been master of +the fleet. + +Oily Dave took the change in government with very bad grace indeed, +and it is probable that the life of Jervis Ferrars would have been +in very grave danger many times during the next few weeks if it had +not been for the fact that the Englishman had made a host of +friends among the fishers, who would protect him at all risks in an +open attack, while Jervis wisely so far avoided Oily Dave as to +give no chance for the secret, cowardly thrusts in which the +deposed man delighted. + +Astor M'Kree personally conducted the new boats, one by one, over +the rapids, bringing them down when the river was in flood and +anchoring them in front of the store until their crews were ready; +and when they had cleared for the bay the fishing was in full swing. + +Eight hundred miles away, in the north of the great inland sea, the +whalers and sealers were still fast bound in ice and snow, longing +for freedom, yet forced to wait while the tardy spring crept +northward. But down in the more sheltered waters of James Bay +there was abundance of work for everyone. Hundreds of seals +gambolled on the ice floes and on the shores of the little +uncharted islands which make those waters such a serious menace to +the mariner. Sometimes the boats were away for a week. Sometimes +two days found them headed back for Seal Cove, laden with seals, +walrus, and narwhal. Many of them succeeded in getting a good +catch of white whales, for which those waters are so noted; but +these were caught at the mouths of the tidal rivers, for the whales +go up the rivers every day with the tide, and it was when the tide +was ebbing that the whales were most easily caught. It was only +the biggest and strongest boats that ventured so far as the tidal +rivers, however, and with these Jervis Ferrars never went. Indeed, +but from choice he need never have gone to sea at all, for his work +lay more particularly on land, where he had to keep toll of the +catch and take care that the various products of the sea harvest +were properly secured and stored, until the opening of Hudson +Strait enabled vessels to get through. + +Astor M'Kree had made a queer addition to the side of Stee Jenkin's +house by building against one end of it part of an old fishing boat +which had been wrecked in the floodtime, and stranded on the bluff +upon which the little house was perched. In this peculiar abode +Jervis took his residence, while Mrs. Jenkin looked after his +comfort and kept his room clean with a slavish industry which she +had certainly never bestowed on her own house. + +On most days when he was ashore Jervis contrived to get up to +Roaring Water Portage, his ostensible errand being to see 'Duke +Radford, who was slowly creeping back to physical convalescence. +That is, the bodily part of him was resuming its functions, only +the mental part was at a standstill; and although the sick man +seemed to know and love them all, he had no more understanding for +the serious things of life than an average child of six or seven +might have possessed. It was well for the family that their +father's illness in the previous winter had in a measure prepared +them for doing without him, or they must have felt even more keenly +the heavy work and heavier responsibilities which had fallen upon +them. As it was, they faced their difficulties with a quiet +courage which left no one with a chance to pity them, although +there were plenty to admire "the pluck of 'Duke Radford's young +'uns". + +It was Katherine who took the lead, the boy Miles being a good +second, and proving the more valuable aid because of his habit of +unquestioning obedience. Mrs. Burton was willing for any drudgery, +and toiled at housework and nursing with a devotion as beautiful as +it was uncomplaining. But she had no talent for leadership and no +faculty for organization, and, what is more, she was perfectly +aware of the lack. + +Night school was of course at an end. Indeed, no one had any time +for thinking about education or books. Katherine made valorous +attempts to carry on the studies of Miles and Phil, but had to give +them up as useless, lacking strength and opportunity for the +endeavour. But the long winter would make up for the neglect of +the short summer, and she left off worrying over their lapse into +ignorance, contenting herself with reading to them on Sundays, and, +what was more important still, making them read to her. + +It was delightful to be abroad in those days of early spring, and +Katherine especially enjoyed the journeys to Fort Garry, when she +rowed across the corner of the bay and felt the sweep of the breeze +coming in from the wider waters beyond. Phil was her companion +always now, because when she was absent Miles must be at home to +look after the store. There were other journeys to be taken also, +which, but for the portages, might have been regarded as pleasure +trips pure and simple. But the portage work was hard, and by the +time Katherine and Phil had tramped three times over a mile and a +half of portage, laden with sugar, bacon, and flour, returning the +fourth time for the birchbark, they were mostly too tired to regard +the journey as anything but very hard work indeed. + +Yet in spite of this it was lovely to be out in the fresh air and +the sunshine. When Katherine heard the long, laughing chuckle of +the ptarmigan, or saw the trailing flights of geese headed +northward, she could have shouted and sung from sheer lighthearted +joy at the coming of spring. But, however high her spirits rose as +the weather grew better and finer, there was always the cold dread +in her heart because of what the summer must bring. Of course, if +her father remained in his present condition he would feel and +understand nothing of the embarrassment which must fall alone upon +her in meeting Mr. Selincourt. It was the dread and shrinking at +the thought of this meeting which robbed the spring days of their +keenest joy, and although she would be happy sometimes, the +happiness was certain to be followed by fits of black depression, +especially after the doing of a long portage. + +There was a long, low shed at Seal Cove, where all the fish oil, +whalebone, blubber, ivory, skins, and other produce of the sea +harvest were stored pending ocean shipment. Jervis Ferrars had a +small office railed off from one end of this unsavoury shed, and he +was sitting in it writing, one afternoon in early May, when he saw +Katherine's boat coming across from Fort Garry. He had been +looking for it any time within the last hour, and had begun to +wonder that it was so long delayed. But it was coming at last, and +putting on his cap he locked his office and went out to hail the +boat. This was no birchbark journey broken by weary toiling to and +fro on a portage trail, but Katherine and Phil were seated in one +of the good, solid boats turned out by Astor M'Kree, and both of +them looked even brighter than usual. + +"Are you coming home with us?" Katherine asked, as she came within +speaking distance and saw that Jervis had his birchbark by a +towrope. + +"That is my desire, if you will have me," he said. + +"With pleasure. You shall be company, and sit in the place of +honour," Katherine said with a laugh, feeling that the occasion had +somehow become festive, even though two miles of rowing against the +current lay in front of her. "Phil, move that bundle from the seat +and let Mr. Ferrars sit there; he will be more comfortable." + +"Thank you, I don't want to sit there, and if I can't do as I like +I shall get into the birchbark and paddle you up river on a +towrope, which will jerk you horribly, and probably capsize me," +said Jervis, with an obstinate air. + +"What do you wish to do?" she asked demurely. + +"I wish to sit where you are sitting now," he answered. "Then I +will row you up river and give you a necessary lesson in steering; +for don't you remember how nearly you upset us into the bank the +last time but one that I rowed you up?" + +Katherine flushed, but there was a laughing light in her eyes as +she replied: "Oh yes! I remember perfectly well, but that was quite +as much your fault as mine, for you were telling us of your +experiences in that Nantucket whaler, and they were quite thrilling +enough to make anyone forget to steer." + +"There shall be no such temptation to forgetfulness to-day; that I +can safely promise you," he answered, holding the boat steady while +Katherine moved to the other seat. Then, tying his birchbark on +behind, he stepped into the vacant place and commenced to pull up +stream with long, steady strokes. + +"You were a long time at the Fort to-day," he remarked presently. + +"Yes, Mrs. M'Crawney is ill, and it was only common humanity to do +what I could for her," Katherine answered gravely, for poor Mrs. +M'Crawney had made her heart ache that day, because of the terrible +discomfort in which the poor woman was lying, and the homesickness +for old Ireland which seemed to oppress her. + +"I thought she looked ill the other day when I was over there, but +she would not admit it. I wanted to tell her that less hot pastry +and more fresh air would work a cure perhaps; but it does not do to +thrust one's opinion unasked upon people, especially when one is +only a doctor in intention and not in reality," Jervis said, with a +tug at the oars which expressed a good many things. + +"It is a good thing for us that you are not really a doctor, or +else you would not be looking after Mr. Selincourt's fishing +interests, and then you would not have been here to take care of +Father," Phil said. + +Katherine laughed as she remarked: "For pure, unadulterated +selfishness that would surely beat the record, Phil. I expect Mr. +Ferrars hates Seal Cove nearly as much as he did the Nantucket +whaler." + +"No, he does not," Jervis broke in. "Sometimes of course Seal Cove +smells rather strongly of fish oil, warm blubber, and putrid seal +meat; but, taken as a whole, there are many worse places to live +in. I found a bank gorgeous with anemones in blue and red +yesterday, and that within ten minutes' walk of the fish shed." + +"I know it," said Katherine. "That bank is always a beautiful +sight; but wait until you have seen the rhododendrons on the long +portage." + +"Where is that--at Astor M'Kree's?" asked the young man, whose time +was too much occupied to admit of much exploration of the +neighbourhood. + +"No, four miles farther up the river, and the portage is a mile and +a half long. Phil and I call it the backache portage," replied +Katherine. + +"Why, do you deliver goods so far out? With no competition to be +afraid of, I should have thought you might have made your customers +come to buy from you," he said, frowning, for he knew very well +what kind of work was involved in a portage, and it did not seem to +him a fit and proper employment for a girl. + +"But there is competition," laughed Katherine. "There is Peter +M'Crawney, with all the great Hudson's Bay Company behind him. +That is our most formidable rival, while up on Marble Island there +has been started a sort of United States General Stores and Canned +Food Depot. Of course, that is eight hundred miles away, and +should not be dangerous, but it makes more difference than anyone +might suppose." + +"Well, it isn't round the corner of the next block at any rate," +Jervis replied, laughing to think that trade could suffer from a +rival establishment so far away. + +"Yes it is, only the block is a big one, you see," she answered, +and they all laughed merrily. When one is young, and the sun is +shining, it is so easy to be gay, even though grim care stalks in +the background. + +"I thought that you and M'Crawney were rather in the position of +business partners than trade rivals," Jervis said, as, passing the +last bend of the river, he swung the boat along the stretch of +straight water to the store. + +"In a sense we are partners; that is, we agree to work together, +and to supply each other's shortages in stores so far as we can. +But the rivalry is there all the same. Peter M'Crawney knows he +would sell three times the stuff that he does now if it were not +for us; while of course our hands would be freer but for him, only +we are tied to him, because half of our customers are able to pay +us only in skins, and then Peter M'Crawney is our Bank of Exchange." + +Katherine could not forbear a grimace as she spoke, for peltry can +be a very odorous currency, and she had to examine every skin +closely before deciding what it was worth in flour, bacon, or +tobacco, because the red man is a past master in the art of +outwitting the white man, when it comes to a question of trade. + +"The plan of bartering skins for stores is not a good one, and the +man who buys the skins ought not to be the one who sells the sugar +and tea," Jervis remarked in a dictatorial tone; but Katherine only +laughed at him, and said that he knew nothing whatever about the +red man of the Keewatin wilds, or he would never suggest cash +dealings. + +"Still it will come, and the red man will be educated to a proper +appreciation of his privileges," Jervis maintained, with the quiet +obstinacy that Katherine had sometimes noticed in him before. + +"I hope I shall be out of the trade before that time comes," she +said, as she guided the boat in to the landing place. "As soon as +Miles is able to take control of the store I shall return to my +proper avocation of school teaching--that is, always providing +there are children to be taught." + +'Duke Radford sat in a cushioned chair at a sun-shiny window of the +kitchen. He looked up with a smile when his daughter entered the +room, and when she bent over him to kiss him he murmured: "Pretty +Katherine", and stroked her face caressingly; then he turned with +the pleased eagerness of a child to greet Jervis, whom he regarded +as a very good friend indeed. + +Katherine sighed as she went back to help with the unlading of the +boat. It was a great comfort to feel that her father suffered +nothing either in body or mind, but sometimes she would have been +very thankful if she could have gone to him with her business +worries, and got his advice on things which perplexed her so much. +However, it was something to be thankful for that his burden of +apprehension was lifted so completely, and the thought of this +banished her tendency to sighing, bringing the smiles back instead. +Life might be hard, but while there was hope in it, it could not be +unbearable. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Mary + +"Are you ready, Mary?" + +"In one minute, Father. Let me see: three bags, a valise, a +hold-all, a portmanteau, two hatboxes, a camping sack, a case of +books, and a handbag. Oh dear, what a collection of things to look +after! How I wish we were like the dogs, dear creatures, which +grow their own clothes and have only their tails to hold up, or to +wag in sign of amity!" + +The speaker was a girl of perhaps twenty, although she had one of +those quiet reserved faces which render difficult a correct +guessing of the age. She was standing in the porch of the Bellevue +Hotel, Temiskaming, and was garbed as if for rough travel, in coat +and skirt of heather-brown cloth, faced with brown leather, with a +brown hat on her head, and brown boots on her feet which reached +well above the ankle. Indeed her attire was so trim, and so +exceedingly suitable for rough work, that everyone at the first +glance decided she must be English. + +"I fancy you would not care to wear the same coat always, nor yet +to wag the same tail," laughed her father, a genial-looking man of +fifty, who was dressed with equal fitness for rough travel, and was +just now intent on hurrying his daughter to the lake boat, which +was getting up steam at a little distance. + +"Like it or not, I expect it is what I shall be reduced to by the +end of the summer," laughed Mary Selincourt, as she watched the +various bags and bundles being piled on to a barrow by the hotel +porter. + +"Well, look your last on civilization and come along, for that boat +won't wait much longer," said Mr. Selincourt, adding with a laugh: +"unless indeed you are beginning to repent, in which case it is not +too late to change your mind and go back to Miss Griffith." + +"Thank you! I never change my mind unless it is about the weather, +and I wouldn't turn back on this journey on any account whatever." + +"Not if I turned back myself?" he enquired, as they went on board +the boat. + +"No; unless, of course, you were ill, in which case, I suppose, my +sense of duty would oblige me to stop, even while my inclination +was dragging me, with both hands, as near to the North Pole as a +woman may hope to get," she said, with a nervous catching of her +breath which showed some agitation behind. + +"But James Bay isn't the North Pole," objected Mr. Selincourt. + +"It is nearer though than this, I suppose. And this is better than +Montreal," she answered, then turned to talk to a gentleman who had +come on board before them, and was bound for a fishing camp higher +up the lake. + +Lake Temiskaming is thirty miles long, and they reached its end in +the evening. But, as Mr. Selincourt had made arrangements to keep +the boat for use as a floating hotel until the next morning, their +first night in the wilds was a very comfortable one. + +At dawn next morning everyone was astir. Three river boats were +landed; these were made light enough for portage work, and strong +enough for weight carrying. With them were landed some men engaged +at a point farther down the lake, who had undertaken to work the +boats up the Abbitibbi River to Hannah Bay. The men, although +there were plenty of them, looked askance at the luggage which had +to be unladen from the steamer and packed into the boats. They +were thinking of the portages, and the numberless times those bags, +bales, bundles, and boxes would have to be carried over miles of +portages on their shoulders. But the pay was good, quite twice +what they could have earned in any other direction, and as they +were too wise to quarrel with their daily bread, which in this case +was only biscuit, they accepted the burdens in silence. + +Mr. Selincourt and Mary travelled always in the second boat with +the personal luggage which had surrounded Mary in the hotel porch, +while the boat which went in front and the one which came after +were laden with the heavier luggage. For many days after this +their journey went on. Sometimes they would make not more than +seven or eight miles in a day when the portages were bad, and on +one record day the total distance covered was only four miles. The +weather was well-behaved as a whole, although occasionally the rain +came down at a pour. Being so early in the summer, the rivers were +very full, so there was never any danger of running aground, +although they had to face many risks in going down the rapids, when +they had crossed the height of land on a ten-mile portage, and +began to descend the Mattagami River. The longest journey must +come to an end at last, however, and one hot afternoon late on in +June the three boats skirted the last headland of James Bay, and +caught sight of the flag flying from the staff above the fish shed. + +"Father, look, there is my flag!" cried Mary, in great excitement. +"Don't you remember I made an especial flag for the fleet, and sent +it up by Mr. Ferrars? Why, how nice it looks, and somehow I feel +just as if I were coming home." + +"That is how I feel," responded Mr. Selincourt. "It is pretty +country too, but it makes me feel downright bad to think of all +these square miles of territory going to waste, so to speak, with +no one but a few Indians for population, and then to remember the +land hunger in England and----" + +But Mary had put her hands over her ears, and cried: "Oh, if you +love me, spare me hearing any more about that land hunger just now! +I am very sorry for all the poor people who want to own three acres +and a cow, but can't afford the luxury; only just for a little +while I want to forget them, and to enjoy all this beauty without +any drawbacks if I can." + +"I am afraid you will find the drawbacks, though, in spite of your +eagerness to escape them," said Mr. Selincourt, who had been +quietly examining Seal Cove through a glass. Then he handed the +glass to Mary, and said in a tone too low for the boatmen to hear: +"If I mistake not, the first drawback is there on the shore, +mending a net." + +Mary took the glass and looked through it for a couple of minutes +without speaking; then she gave it back, saying, with a shudder: +"What a horrid-looking man!" + +"Rather a low type by the look of him. But you must not judge all +the population by your first glimpse of it. Because one man is a +rogue does not prevent all the rest being honest," Mr. Selincourt +said, putting the glass to his eye to get another look at the place +they were approaching. + +"Will our hut be down here on the shore?" asked Mary, who was +straining her eyes for a first glimpse of the house they were to +live in. + +"No; Graham, who was one of the directors of the old company, you +know, told me I should be wise to have it built farther up the +river, at Roaring Water Portage, as it is so much more sheltered +there than down here on the coast." + +"Ah! that was real wisdom, for if we make up our minds to stay the +winter, a sheltered position may make a great difference in our +comfort," she said quickly, then stretched out her hand for the +glass to have another look. + +"You still think you want to spend next winter so far north?" said +her father, in a questioning tone. + +"Why not?" she replied, with a weary note coming into her voice. +"One place is as good as another, only this would be better than +some, if only there is work of some sort to do." + +"We shall see how we like it," he answered, then was silent, gazing +at the scene before him, which was looking its fairest on this June +afternoon. + +The man mending nets on the shore, who was no other than Oily Dave, +had by this time become aware of the approaching boats, and was +rushing to and fro in a great state of bustle and excitement. They +could hear him calling to someone out of sight, and the sound of +his raucous voice only served to deepen the unpleasant impression +given by his appearance. + +"Father, don't say much to that man, I don't like him," Mary said +in a low tone; and Mr. Selincourt nodded in reply, as the boats +drew in to the landing by the fish shed, and Oily Dave came +hurrying forward to greet them. + +"Where is Mr. Ferrars?" asked Mr. Selincourt, and for all that he +was a genial, kindly man, thinking evil of none, he could not keep +a hard note out of his voice as he gazed at the mean, shifty face +of Oily Dave. + +"He's away somewhere, over to Fort Garry, or perhaps he's crossed +to Akimiski Island. The fleet have been mostly round that way this +week past. Shall I show you round a bit, sir? I'm the acting +manager, formerly sole manager." Oily Dave contrived to throw a +withering emphasis on the latter adjective, and rolled up his eyes +in a manner meant to imply injured innocence, which, however, only +expressed low-down meanness and cunning. + +"Ah, yes, I remember Mr. Graham spoke of you!" replied the new +owner, in a strictly non-committal tone. "But why did you say you +are acting manager? I only appointed Mr. Ferrars." + +Oily Dave contracted his features into an unpleasant grin. "It +takes them as knows these waters to understand the fishing of them, +sir, and your grand drawing-room, bandbox manager would have been +pretty hard put to it many a time to know what to do for the best, +if it hadn't been for Oily Dave, which is me." + +"I see," remarked Mr. Selincourt in a calm and casual tone, then +continued with quiet authority: "Please tell Mr. Ferrars when he +comes back that I have arrived, and ask him if he will come up to +Roaring Water Portage as soon as it is convenient for him to do so." + +"Wouldn't you like me to come and guide you up the river?" demanded +Oily Dave, his jaw dropping in a crestfallen manner, for he had +thought what a fine chance he would have of getting ahead of Jervis +Ferrars. + +"No, thank you, we have travelled too many strange waters these +last few days to need guidance up the last two miles of our +journey. It is two miles, is it not?" + +"Nearer three, sir, but we mostly call it two, because it sounds +better," said Oily Dave. Then he took his greasy old hat off with +a flourish to Mary, and the boats started on again up the main +channel of the river. + +There was plenty to interest the travellers now on the left bank of +the river; the fish shed showed a weather-beaten front to the broad +waters of the bay, while beyond it, perched on a high bluff, was a +funny brown house, with a strange-looking wing built out at the +side. + +"Father, look at that house, and the queer building at the side; +what is it?" cried Mary, who was flushed and eager; for to her this +entrance to Roaring Water River was like coming into her kingdom, +although it was not land her father owned in these parts, but +water, or at least the privilege to fish in the water, and the +right to cut the timber needed for the making of his boats. + +"It looks uncommonly like part of an old boat. Well, if it is +Astor M'Kree's work, it would seem as if I have got a man who will +make the best use of the materials at hand," Mr. Selincourt +replied, in a tone of satisfaction. + +"Here comes a woman; oh, please, we must stop and speak to her!" +said Mary, as a slatternly figure emerged from the house on the +bluff, and came running down the steep path to the water's edge, +gesticulating and shouting. + +"Welcome, sir, and welcome, Miss, to Seal Cove!" cried Mrs. Jenkin +in a breathless tone. "We are all most dreadfully delighted to +have you here, and you will be sure to come and have tea with me on +your first spare afternoon," she panted, in hospitable haste, the +sun shining down on her dusty, unkempt hair, and revealing the rags +in her dress. + +Mr. Selincourt looked at his daughter in quiet amusement; but Mary +rose to the occasion in a manner worthy of the country in which she +was living, and answered with sweet graciousness: + +"Oh! I will be sure to come; thank you so much for asking me: but +I have got to get my house straight, you know, and that may take me +a few days, so perhaps I will drop down the river some morning +while it is cool, and let you know how I am getting on. Then you +must promise to come and see me." + +"Oh, I'll come! I shall be just delighted! You won't mind if I +bring the babies, will you? There are only three of them, and the +oldest isn't five yet; so when I go out I'm forced to take them +with me, don't you see," Mrs. Jenkin said, smiling at the young +lady from England, and serenely oblivious of the defects in her own +toilet. + +"I shall be charmed to entertain the babies, and I will be sure to +come and see you very soon," called Mary, as the boat moved on, +leaving Mrs. Jenkin smiling and waving from the bank. + +"What a nice little woman, and how friendly and kind in her +manner!" exclaimed Mary, whereat Mr. Selincourt laughed. + +"Has Canada bewitched you already? What is to become of class +distinctions if you are just going to hobnob with anyone who may +happen along?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with fun, for he was +quoting from her own past utterances. + +Mary reddened, but she laughed too, then said apologetically: "It +sounds the most fearful snobbery to even mention class distinctions +in these wilds, where the only aristocracy that counts is nobility +of endeavour. But I could not reckon myself that woman's superior, +Father, because under the same circumstances I might have been even +more untidy and down-at-heel than she is." + +"It is hard to realize that you could be untidy under any +conditions, but perhaps you might be if you had all the work of a +house and the care of three babies on your hands," Mr. Selincourt +replied with a shake of his head. Then he applied himself to a +careful study of the river banks, which were mostly solitary, +although at intervals rough loghouses showed among the trees. + +"Listen to that noise; we are getting near to some rapids," Mary +said, putting up her hand. + +"Near to the end of our journey as well, for we stop below the +portage," Mr. Selincourt said, and then the boat swept round the +bend, and they saw before them a long, straight stretch of river, +with houses visible at the far end where the milky hue of the water +showed the river boiling over the rocks. + +"So that is Roaring Water Portage! Well, the place is as pretty as +the name is musical. I am very glad," Mary said with a deep sigh +of content, and then she sat in silence while the boats swept up +the last stretch of river, and the long, long journey was done. + +The boatmen drew to the left bank, leaving the store and its +outbuildings on the right. Oily Dave had told them that their +house stood to the left of the falls, and although they did not see +it at the first moment of landing, the well-trodden path up from +the water's edge showed that it must be near at hand. + +"There it is. But it does not look a bit new. Oh, I am glad!" +exclaimed Mary, as a long, low hut came in sight, with glass +windows and an unpainted front door, which just now stood wide +open, while two small girls occupied the doorstep, and were making +dolls' bonnets from leaves and plaited grass. + +"I'm afraid that is not our house; someone is living there," said +Mr. Selincourt: and the two small girls, becoming at this moment +aware of the approach of strangers, sprang to their feet and fled +into the house, casting the millinery away as they went. + +"I'm afraid so too; but at least we can go and enquire where our +house is to be found," Mary answered. + +Then they walked up to the door and knocked, and immediately a +slight, girlish figure came into view, with a small girl clinging +to either hand. + +"Can you tell us where Mr. Selincourt's house is to be found?" +asked Mary, wondering why the girl had such sad eyes, and what +relation she could be to the two little ones. + +"This is Mr. Selincourt's house. I came over this afternoon to see +that everything was in right order, that is all," the sad-eyed +girl--or was she a woman?--explained, drawing back for Mary to +enter. + +Miss Selincourt entered, put her bag on the table, and gazed round +with a deep sigh of satisfaction. + +"What a charming room! I think I should have been ready to weep if +this had not been our house. Are you Mrs. M'Kree?" she asked +doubtfully, for, although the girl looked so young, she had just +heard one of the children whisper, "Mummy." + +"No, I am Mrs. Burton, and I come from the store across the river. +Mrs. M'Kree lives farther up the river, above the second portage, +so it is not easy for her to come down every day, and I have kept +the house open for her." + +"It is very kind of you!" exclaimed Mary gratefully, realizing that +here was a very different specimen of womanhood, from the +good-natured slattern who had greeted her at Seal Cove. + +"We have to be kind to each other in these wilds, or we should be +badly off sometimes," Mrs. Burton rejoined. Then she said timidly: +"We are very glad to welcome you, and we all feel that you have +conferred a great favour on us by coming to stay here this summer." + +Something like an awkward lump got into Mary's throat then. She +had come the long, toilsome journey solely for her own pleasure, +and to be near her father, yet here was one thanking her for the +privilege her coming conferred on these lone dwellers in the +solitudes. She was rarely a creature of impulse, and always prided +herself on the way she kept her head; but the sweet friendliness of +the sad-eyed little woman touched her mightily, and stooping +forward she kissed Mrs. Burton warmly, then promptly apologized, +being properly ashamed of her forwardness. + +"Oh, please forgive me! I really could not help it, and you--you +looked so kind!" she said ruefully. + +Mrs. Burton laughed, although she looked rather embarrassed, then +she said gently: "I am afraid you must be very tired. If you will +sit down I will quickly get you some tea." + +"Please don't trouble. Father and I are quite used to doing things +for ourselves, and I can make a kettle boil over my spirit lamp +while the men are bringing the luggage up from the boats," Mary +said hastily, feeling that she simply could not have this gentle, +refined woman waiting upon her, + +But for all her gentleness Mrs. Burton could be firm when she +chose, and she replied quietly: "I should not think of going away +until I had seen you with a meal ready prepared. The fire is all +ready for lighting in the stove, and that will save your spirit +lamp, and you are in the wilderness now, remember, where spirit is +difficult to obtain." + +The two little girls trotted after their mother. Mary tried to +make friends with them, but they were not used to strangers, so +showed her only averted faces and pouting red lips, which made her +understand that their friendship must be left to time. + +When the luggage had been brought up from the boat, Mrs. Burton had +the kettle boiling, and then she sent one of the men across with a +boat to the store, giving him a message for Miles, which resulted +in a basket of fresh fish coming over at once. These, delicately +broiled over a fire of spruce chips, and served piping hot, made, +as Mr. Selincourt observed, a supper fit for a king. + +Mrs. Burton stayed with her small daughters to share the meal, and +if she thought ruefully of the family over the river, who would +have to cook their own supper, and also go without the fish which +had been intended for them, she said nothing about it. One must +always suffer something in the give-and-take of life, and there +were plenty of canned goods at the store which might serve at a +pinch. + +"Now I must go," she said, when the supper dishes had been washed. +"It is time that Beth and Lotta went to bed, while my father will +be wearying for me if I am too long away." + +"Your father?" broke from Mary in surprise, then she stopped +abruptly, realizing that her acquaintance with Mrs. Burton was too +short for over-much curiosity. + +"I am a widow," the little woman answered, with the simple dignity +which became her so well. "I live with my father, or did; but now, +strictly speaking, it is he, poor man, who lives with us, and +Katherine earns the living for us all." + +"Katherine is your sister?" asked Mary, and now there was tender +sympathy in her tone, and she was understanding why Mrs. Burton's +eyes were so sad. + +"Katherine is my younger sister, and she is just wonderful," the +little woman said, with love and admiration thrilling her tones. +"She has done a man's work all the winter, and she is keeping the +business together as well as poor Father could have done." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Would They Be Friends? + +When Mrs. Burton had gone, Mary set to work to inspect the little +loghouse, and make things comfortable for the night. But there was +not very much that needed doing, and their weeks of river travel +had shorn away so many habits which are the outcome of too much +civilization, that they had come down to a primitive simplicity of +living. The hut contained two small bedrooms, scarcely bigger than +cabins on board ship, one sitting-room, and a lean-to kitchen in +the rear. There was not an atom of paint about the place; it was +all bare, brown wood, restful to the eyes, and in perfect harmony +with the surrounding wilderness. + +The boatmen had pitched their tent at the down-river side of the +house, and were sitting round a fire on the ground smoking their +pipes in great comfort and content. Mary had finished her survey +of the inside of her new home, and now wandered outside the house +to see what manner of country lay in the immediate neighbourhood of +Roaring Water Portage. Her father was sitting on a bench by the +hut door, drowsily comfortable with a cigar, and busy with +numberless plans for the future. He was not in a mood for talking +just then, and Mary was glad to be alone for a while. + +It was broad daylight still, although the evening was getting on; +but the trees grew so thickly all about the hut that she could see +little beyond trunks and foliage, so, finding a little path which +led upward, she commenced to climb. Great boulders strewed the +ground here between the trees, and although by the sound she knew +herself to be near the river, she could not see it until after a +stiff climb of twenty minutes or so she emerged on an open space +above the falls. Here indeed was beauty enough to satisfy even her +desire for it. The undulating ground all about and below her was +mostly forest-clad, the larches showed in their vivid green against +the sombre hue of the pines, while giant cedars stood out black +against the evening sky. On one side, right away in the distance, +the waters of the bay reached to the horizon, but for to-night Mary +turned her back on the sea; it was the land that charmed her most. + +Presently, just where the glory of the sunset reflected itself in +the river, she saw a boat coming skimming down the current. It was +just the touch of life that was necessary to lift the weird +solemnity from those silent forest reaches. From where she stood, +leaning against the trunk of a tree on the hilltop, Mary could see +without being seen; for she still wore the travelling dress which +so nearly matched the tree stem in colour, and a brown veil was +over her face, a necessary precaution against the mosquitoes which +swarmed everywhere. + +There was a girl in the boat, with soft, wavy hair, pretty and +feminine in appearance, but with strength and decision in every +movement, which made Mary whisper to herself: "That must be +Katherine; and how graceful she is! I had quite expected her to be +a great, clumping creature, because Mrs. Burton said she did a +man's work." + +There was a boy in the boat as well, but it was the girl who +claimed Mary's attention now. The boat drew in at a point above +the falls where a little shed served as boathouse, and then the boy +and the girl rapidly unloaded various packages and bundles, which +were dumped in a heap on the bank, while the boat was drawn in and +secured under the shed. + +"Phil, we shall have to make two journeys--we can never do it in +one," the girl said, and her voice had a tired ring which made the +unseen listener on the hilltop pity her exceedingly. + +"Just you sit down for five minutes while I whistle for the dogs," +said the boy. "They will hear if Miles doesn't, and there will be +such a clamour that everyone will know we are close home." + +As he spoke he hooked two fingers between his lips, and the +resultant whistles were so piercing and shrill that Mary would have +been glad to thrust her fingers in her ears, only now she would not +move through fear of drawing attention to herself. + +The whistles had scarcely ceased to vibrate through the quiet air +when in the distance there arose a mighty clamour of barking. Mary +caught her breath and waited now to see what was coming, and in +less than five minutes two huge dogs came bounding down the portage +path to the shed where the girl and boy were waiting. + +"I must make friends with those dogs before I am many hours older, +or I shall be afraid to stir away from the house," Mary said to +herself, with a little shiver, as she watched the big brutes +careering round. + +But they were wanted for work, not play, so their gambols came to a +speedy end. The boy loaded each one with packages, and, picking up +a couple of bundles himself, started up the portage path, closely +followed by the dogs, which perfectly understood the work that was +required of them. + +Then the girl rose to her feet, and stood for a moment gazing at +the golden glories of the setting sun. She stretched her arms out +with a quick, eager movement, as if asking for something she +yearned to possess, then dropped them to her side again, and +turning, proceeded to load the remainder of the packages and +bundles on to her own shoulders. + +If only the river had not flowed between, Mary might have gone to +her assistance. As it was, she stood watching the bowed figure go +slowly up the portage path to disappear among the bushes, then she +also turned to retrace her steps to the hut. But the tired girl +was very much in Mary's thoughts that evening. Why had she +stretched out her arms to the glowing west with such a gesture of +entreaty? Of course it might have been just girlish +dissatisfaction with a toilsome, colourless life, or it might be +that there were ambitions and desires which had to be sternly +repressed. + +"I wonder if we shall be friends?" she said presently, speaking +aloud because she had entirely forgotten that she was not alone. + +"Friends with whom?" asked her father sleepily. He was still +sitting on the bench by the hut door, and Mary was leaning against +the doorpost. She had been standing so ever since she came down +the hill, and her thoughts were still busy with the girl who had +looked so tired and carried such heavy burdens. + +"I have seen a girl this evening, such a pretty girl, and so +graceful in her movements, but she was doing a portage as if she +were a man, and I felt that I should like to know her," Mary +answered, her voice and manner more dreamy than usual. Indeed, it +seemed as if the place had laid a spell upon her already. + +"Probably you will have what you want, and then you will find +yourself disappointed. You must not expect to find much refinement +and culture in a wild place like this," Mr. Selincourt said. + +"I do not look for it. But however rough or illiterate this girl +may be, I think she has a soul, a longing for something she does +not possess," went on Mary, who was weaving fancies and theories +together in quite a remarkable fashion for her. + +"Most women long for what they don't possess, and some men do the +same," replied Mr. Selincourt, laughing a little. Then he rose and +stretched himself, saying: "I believe I will go to bed, for I am so +tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open. It is so late that +Jervis Ferrars will hardly come to-night now, although I should +have been glad to see him, for I am really anxious to know how the +fishing is going." + +"Well, you won't have to wait long, for here he comes, I +fancy--although it seems funny that I should remember his step +after so many months," said Mary, as a firm tread sounded on the +path coming up through the bushes from the water's edge. + +"Is that you, Ferrars?" asked Mr. Selincourt eagerly, his +sleepiness vanishing as if by magic. + +"Yes, sir," responded a voice, and the next moment Jervis Ferrars +appeared in sight. + +"I'm sorry that I was not on hand to welcome you when you arrived," +he said. + +"No matter, no matter at all!" exclaimed Mr. Selincourt, shaking +hands with him; but Mary only vouchsafed a nod in response to the +young man's courteous salutation. + +"My welcome is only a little belated, but it could not be more +sincere. You have come just at the right time, I think," Jervis +went on; and at the suggestion of Mr. Selincourt the two sat down +on the bench side by side, while Mary remained leaning against the +doorpost as before. + +"How is the fishing?" asked Mr. Selincourt. + +"It is going very well indeed, and you will get a very good return +for your money this year, and a much better one next season. I +have been away on Akimiski all day, and I have been simply amazed +at the amount of fish which could be caught, cured, and marketed if +only we had the necessary plant." + +"What sort of fish? Everyone is saying that Hudson Bay is played +out for seal and walrus, while whales are getting scarcer every +year," said Mr. Selincourt, who had bought out the old company +cheaply because of this growing scarcity. + +"That may be," replied Jervis, "although, being a stranger to these +waters, I'm not in a position to give a reliable opinion. But of +lesser fish, such as cod, halibut, lobster, salmon, and that sort +of thing, there is enough going to waste to feed a nation." + +"I tell you what we will do!" exclaimed Mr. Selincourt. "We will +order the necessary plant, and we will start a curing factory. Of +course we are out of the world for nine months in every year, but +that won't make much difference in the end; and we got our fishing +rights cheaply enough to enable us to make a very good thing indeed +out of our venture before we have done." + +"Don't you think it is rather grasping of you to want to make more +money, Daddy, when you have got so much already?" broke in Mary, in +a playful tone, yet with some underlying seriousness of purpose. + +"Not a bit of it, my dear. Because I have got some money should be +no barrier to my getting more, if I get it honestly," her father +answered with soothing toleration; for Mary had ideas, and was apt +to air them in rather unmeasured language when she was roused. + +"It seems so ignoble to spend all one's time and energy in making +money when there are so many wrongs which need righting, and so +many people who need helping," she said, with a note of pathos in +her tone. + +"The most effectual way of helping people is to assist them in +helping themselves," broke in Jervis. "If Mr. Selincourt develops +this fishing as it is capable of being developed, he will do more +real good than if he spent hundreds of pounds in charity." + +"If you were really a Canadian you would have said dollars, not +pounds," she interrupted, with mock gravity, just as if she were +making fun of him to his face. + +"I am an Englishman," he said quietly, too much in earnest just +then to resent her levity, "so it is most natural to me to speak of +pounds. But that makes no difference to the question at issue. +When your father gets his factory going he will employ twenty men +where he now employs one. They in turn will be able to support +wives and families, which will mean employment for storekeepers, +school teachers----" + +"Oh, spare me any more, I beg!" she implored penitently, "and I +promise never, never to object to money-making schemes again. I +know you were going to add that the twenty men's wives would want +twenty new hats, and so there would be an opening for a first-class +millinery establishment at Roaring Water Portage." + +"I had not thought of that, but of course it is quite true," he +said, adding with a laugh: "and there would be an opening for a +dressmaker also, don't you see?" + +"I don't want to see. I don't want to hear anything more about it +at all. It is all too much in the future, too practical and +commonplace altogether to fit such a twilight as this," she said, +with a touch of petulance. "I want to know about the people here. +What sort of a man is Oily Dave? He looks a veritable old rascal." + +"And for once appearances are not deceptive," replied Jervis. +"Since I have been here he has tried to quietly do for me about +once a week upon an average. He so nearly succeeded the first time +that it has encouraged him to persevere." + +"How truly horrid!" she cried with a shiver. "But there are nicer +people to compensate for him, I hope. Who is that delightfully +hospitable woman who lives in the house on the bluff, with a +boatlike projection at one end?" + +"That is Mrs. Jenkin, my landlady, and the boat-like projection is +my abode. It is very comfortable, too," he answered. + +"Then who is the very pretty girl who moves with as much grace as +if she had been brought up in drawing-rooms all her life, yet has +to carry heavy burdens over a portage like a man?" asked Mary +eagerly, her other questions having been intended only to lead up +to this. + +Jervis Ferrars stood up with a quick movement, and a feeling that +the questioning had become suddenly intolerable; but his voice was +quiet and steady as he answered: "That would be Miss Radford, whose +father has the store over the river. But he has been ill for a +long time, poor man, and with little hope of recovery, so his +daughter has a very hard life. I am going over to see him now, if +you will excuse me. There is no doctor here, of course, so I have +done what I could for him." + +"It was another daughter, a dear, delightful little person named +Mrs. Burton, who was here when we came," said Mary. "I am glad to +find there are such nice people here, and I hope we shall be +friends." + +Jervis flung up his head with a haughty movement, almost as if he +resented the kindly overture, but he replied civilly enough; only +the thought in his mind as he went down to the river was that poor +Katherine, with her hard, drudging life for the good of others, was +so much more noble than this girl, who lived only to please +herself, that it would be a condescension on Katherine's part to be +friendly with her. When he reached the store it was to find no one +about but Mrs. Burton and the invalid. + +"Ah, I am late to-night!" he said apologetically, and with a +feeling of sharp disappointment. "But Mr. Selincourt has come, and +I had to go over to report progress to him." + +"What very nice people they are!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton with +enthusiasm. "I was charmed with Miss Selincourt. She will be a +great acquisition here this summer." + +"Yes," Jervis remarked in an abstracted fashion, but not paying +much heed to what was being said, for he was in perplexity as to +why Katherine was not visible; and seeing no prospect of finding +out without a direct question, he made the plunge and asked: "Where +is your sister? Isn't she well?" + +"Katherine has gone to bed, because she is so tired to-night. She +and Phil have done the backache portage, as they call it, and it +always wears her so much, poor girl," Mrs. Burton answered with a +sigh. Then she said, with an involuntary lowering of her voice as +she glanced at her father: "Katherine does not like the idea of our +telling Father that Mr. Selincourt has come. She says it may +excite him, and be very harmful. What do you think about it?" + +Jervis glanced at the invalid, who sat in a chair by the open door, +gazing out at the evening sky, where the twilight still lingered. +'Duke Radford was sitting with his head stooped a little forward, +and smiling placidly as if his thoughts pleased him. + +"I don't think it would hurt him; he takes so little notice," the +young man answered slowly. Then he added: "But Miss Radford would +know better about that than I do, and if she is afraid of the +effect upon him, it would be well to be careful." + +"I don't think Katherine knows more about Father than I do, because +you see she is not much with him, and I don't think he understands +the difference between one person and another," said Mrs. Burton. +"He seems to find as much pleasure in talking to Oily Dave as to +Astor M'Kree, and that is certainly different from what he used to +be. But it will be very hard if we have to shut nice people like +the Selincourts out of the house just because it may upset Father, +who probably won't even realize that they are strangers at all." + +"Well, we can but try him. Let us see if the name brings any worry +to him," said Jervis, and going across to the door he began to talk +to the invalid. "Mr. Selincourt and his daughter have come to +spend the summer here; they live in the hut across the river that +Astor M'Kree has done up so nicely. Would you like them to come +and see you?" + +'Duke Radford looked at him curiously, as if not understanding what +he was talking about; then he said slowly: "Oh yes, I like to see +people, nice people; where do they come from?" + +"England," replied the young man. + +The invalid shivered, then said more haltingly than before: "I +don't like to think of England, it makes me sad; but Selincourt is +a pretty name--a very pretty name indeed!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +Mr. Selincourt is Indiscreet + +When Katherine reached home that night after doing the "backache +portage" it seemed to be the last straw to her burden of endurance +to be told that Mr. Selincourt had arrived. The loss of the supper +fish did not trouble her, for she and Phil had brought home a fine +salmon, which they had taken from an Indian woman in exchange for a +couple of small packets of hairpins, which in England might have +fetched perhaps a halfpenny each, but in that remote district were +priced at a quarter of a dollar. It was the news of the arrival +which upset her so badly. She suffered tortures while she listened +to Mrs. Burton's eager talk about the Selincourts, of Mr. +Selincourt's kindly manner, and Miss Selincourt's graceful charm. + +"Hush, hush!" she kept saying. "You will excite and worry Father +with all this talk of new people." + +"I don't think so," Mrs. Burton replied. "See how peaceful he is, +and how little notice he takes of anything outside. He will not +remark any difference between Mr. Selincourt and Stee Jenkin, +except that he may find the former more interesting to talk to." + +But Katherine shook her head, stealing many a glance at her father +while she ate her supper, and worrying lest the name of the man he +had wronged should stir some dim memory in his clouded mind, and +bring up some ghost from the hidden past, to turn his peaceful days +into a nightmare of unrest once more. The salmon might have been +sawdust for all the taste it had for her that night, and when +supper was done she hurried through the work which could not be +left, then, pleading weariness, went off to bed quite an hour +before her usual time. + +Although she went to bed she could not sleep. She heard Jervis +come in and stay talking to Mrs. Burton. She also heard him say +that he was going to take Mr. and Miss Selincourt across to +Akimiski on the following day. Then Jervis left, her father went +with slow, faltering steps to his bed, and Nellie came in, but, +thinking her sister asleep, moved softly and did not speak, for +which Katherine was mutely grateful. + +It was very early on the following morning when she saw the boat +with Mr. Selincourt and Mary slipping down the river, rowed by some +of the men who had brought them up from the lakes. So it would be +a day of respite, for the Selincourts would not be back until +evening, too late to go visiting among their neighbours, and +Katherine's spirits rose immediately, because there was one more +day to be happy in. + +She had to go to Fort Garry that day, and started an hour before +noon, taking Phil with her as usual, and having her boat piled high +with skins taken in barter, bags of feathers, and other marketable +products. There was a short outlet to the bay from the river, a +weedy channel leading through flat meadows of vivid green; only, to +use an Irishism, they were not meadows at all, but stretches of +swamp, in Canadian parlance a muskeg: and the unwary creature, +human or animal, that set foot thereon was speedily engulfed. Very +beautiful these stretches of rich green looked on a bright summer's +day, and Katherine exclaimed in delight as she forced the boat +through the weedy channel, which became every week more difficult +to pass. + +"Oh, Phil, isn't it lovely!" she cried. + +"Can't say I admire it," the boy answered grumpily. "The air down +here always seems to choke me, and it is twice as much trouble to +drive the boat through this narrow, weedy channel as it is to go +the longer way round." + +"I know we shall have to cease coming this way soon, but it is +pretty, and I like it," Katherine answered, and would not admit +even to herself that her chief reason in choosing those weedy +byways, was the desire to avoid all danger of an encounter with the +Selincourts. + +The voyage to Fort Garry was without incident, and the interview +with the M'Crawneys was of the usual type. Mrs. M'Crawney was +low-spirited and homesick, yearning for Ireland, for the smell of +the peat reek and the society of her neighbours. + +"I shall die if I stay here much longer. It is stagnation, not +life at all; indeed, I'd sooner be dead," moaned the poor +discontented woman. + +"But you have books," said Katherine, pointing to a well-filled +shelf in one corner of the room. "And if you are so lonely, why +not take some girl from an orphanage for a companion? It would be +good for the child and good for you too." + +"Books are not satisfying, and I think it a great waste of time to +be always reading," Mrs. M'Crawney replied with a touch of +asperity. Her husband's love of books and willingness to spend +money upon them was always a sore point with her, only Katherine +did not know that. "And I wouldn't have a strange girl about the +house, not whatever. I never could abide having to do with other +people's children." + +"Then I am afraid you will have to go lonely," Katherine answered, +feeling that it was quite beyond her powers to make any more useful +suggestion to the poor unhappy woman, whose ailment consisted more +in a discontented mind than a diseased body. + +The M'Crawneys were such an ill-matched pair that it always gave +her a feeling of irritation to go there, while Peter M'Crawney +himself was too much addicted to fulsome compliments to make her +willing to face him oftener than need be. There was a cool +breeze creeping over the water as they turned back towards home, +and this tempered the heat, making rowing a pure pleasure. + +"Let us go the longer way," pleaded Phil, who did not care for the +solemn stretches of green swamp on either side of the backwater. + +But Katherine had been resting on her oars and looking round, +catching sight as she did so of a fishing boat, with its brown +sails set, making for the river mouth. With a fluttering of her +pulses she told herself that this was most likely the fleet boat +which had taken the new owner out to Akimiski, and was now bringing +him back. If this were the case, her little row boat and the +fisher would enter the river channel by the fish sheds side by +side. She would be hot and untidy with the vigorous exercise of +rowing, while Miss Selincourt, cool and calm, would gaze at her +with lofty disdain, regarding her merely as a rough working girl. +This was not to be endured for a moment, and, setting her hands +with a tighter grip on the oars, Katherine said decidedly: "We will +go through the swamps to-day. I want to get home as quickly as I +can, for there are so many things to see to, and a lot of booking +to do." + +Phil resigned himself to the inevitable with a rather dour face, +and there was silence between them for quite ten minutes, as +Katherine, forced by the narrowness of the way, ceased rowing, and, +shipping her oars, picked up a paddle which formed part of the +boat's equipment, and commenced to paddle her way through the short +cut. + +"What's that?" asked Phil sharply, jerking up his head to listen +again for a sound which would not have caught his ear at all if he +had not been so silent just then. + +"I heard nothing," said Katherine, pausing in her work, but holding +the boat steady by planting her paddle in a group of rushes and +holding it fast. "What kind of sound was it, Phil?" + +"Something like a fox makes when it is caught in a trap," replied +Phil. Then he cried eagerly: "There it is, and I believe it is a +man! Ahoy there! where are you, and what is wrong?" + +"Help, help!" cried a voice from somewhere, only the trouble was to +know where to locate it. + +"Yes, we will help you, only we can't think where you are; can't +you let us know?" called Katherine, sending her voice in a +reassuring shout over the reaches of treacherous green. + +"I am here, holding on to some rushes," the voice said, and +Katherine fairly gasped with amazement to find the submerged one so +close at hand; for the patch of rushes to which she was holding the +boat was the only one anywhere near, and a little ridge of solid +ground connected it with the river bank, which was perhaps forty +yards away. + +"Be careful to keep calling out now," she said, preparing to force +the boat out of its channel and into the liquid mud of the fatal +green meadow. + +"Here, here, here!" said the voice, sounding now so thick and +hoarse that Katherine at once decided it must be one of the +fishermen who had risked his life on the treacherous green of the +swamp, although she wondered that anyone could have lived at Seal +Cove for a week and not known of the danger that lay in the swamps. + +"Phil, where can he be?" she cried, her voice sharp now with the +terror of having a man in peril of his life at her side, and yet +being unable to help him. + +"There he is; I saw the rushes move," yelled Phil. "No, not that +clump--you are looking wrong; it is the one that has got a lupin +blooming in it. Ah, I saw it move again! Keep your spirits up, +old fellow, and we will have you out in no time!" + +"But how?" groaned Katherine under her breath, for no effort of +hers would move the boat a foot farther through that awful slime, +and if she got wedged she would be forced to stay there until +someone came in search. Then, remembering the horrible danger of +the man, she called out: "Please don't struggle at all, only just +keep still, and I think we can save you, for we have got rope with +us." + +"So we have! My word, how fortunate!" exclaimed Phil, tugging a +big bundle of stout hempen cord from under the other things of +their miscellaneous lading. + +"Get the other bundle too; I must have both," said Katherine, and, +taking the first, she made a slip knot and a loop which would +tighten to a certain extent. + +"What are you going to do? You can't throw it over him from here," +said the boy. + +"Phil, can you be very brave, darling, and walk across on the +oars?" Katherine asked, a sob catching in her throat. "I will slip +this other rope round you; then, if you slip in, I can drag you +out." + +"I'll go," said Phil, alert and ready. Then he kicked off his +boots, which were stout--and every ounce mattered when one took to +walking on muskegs; but as his clothing consisted of only a flannel +shirt and serge knickerbockers there were no clothes for him to +shed. + +Katherine slipped one loop of rope over his shoulders, put the +other looped rope into his hand, then laid an oar on the mud. +"Now, go; the rushes will hold you when you get there," she said +sharply. + +With light, cautious movements Phil stepped out on to the oar, +balancing himself like a tightrope dancer, and because he was so +small and light he passed in safety where a heavier person would +have been quickly submerged. + +Katherine stood up in the boat paying out both coils of rope. Her +face was ghastly white, and her heart was beating to suffocation. +She had not felt like this that day when she ventured her life on +the ice to save Jervis Ferrars in the flood. But that had been her +own danger, this was her brother's, and therein lay the difference. + +"Landed!" cried Phil, in a quavering tone of triumph, as he planted +his bare feet firmly in the rushes, which, happily, were so matted +together that they would not let him through. Then he stooped, and +Katherine heard him talking to the poor wretch caught in the mud +beyond. "Now, let me slip this over your arm. That's right; we've +got you safe enough, and they are English ropes, strong enough to +pull a carthorse out of a bear pit. You mustn't struggle, though, +however much you feel like it." + +"Phil, can you reach the oar?" Katherine cried, her voice hoarse, +for she could hardly endure the strain of the waiting. + +"Yes," said the boy, stooping now and touching the perilous bridge +which had carried him to the comparative safety of the clump of +rushes. + +"Then lay it across the clump, and well under the man's hands; keep +it as firm as you can for him, while I haul on the rope. Now +then----!" + +With all her strength Katherine hauled at the rope. She was +sitting now with her feet braced against the thwarts, and with +every muscle tense she strained and strained until the perspiration +streamed down her face, and the hot air of the swamp as it rose up +seemed to choke her. + +[Illustration: With all her strength Katherine hauled at the rope.] + +"Hooray, he's coming!" yelled Phil, and Katherine, who had been +almost fainting, gathered her courage for yet another effort. + +Phil was helping now, but, best of all, the poor victim of the +muskeg was doing his share also, and at the end of a quarter of an +hour of pulling, tugging, and straining he was on his knees in the +clump of rushes beside Phil, and Katherine was able to rest her +bleeding hands and plan the next stage of that perilous journey. +But a few moments of rest that poor mud-coated wretch must have +before taking any more risks, so she said cheerfully: "Now, stay as +you are for five or ten minutes, just to get your strength back a +little, and I will shift my cargo to accommodate you, for you will +need a reserved seat, I fancy. Phil, take your handkerchief and +wipe the poor man's face. I'm afraid it is rather a dirty one. +Your handkerchiefs are never fit to be seen, but it is better than +nothing." + +Phil took a grimy blue-and-yellow cotton rag from the pocket of his +serge nether garments, and proceeded to wipe the rescued man's face +with as much force and energy as if he had been polishing tin pans +with a view to making them shine. + +"Softly, softly! How would you like to have your own face rubbed +in that fashion?" admonished Katherine; and then, finishing her +preparations, she stood up in the boat in readiness to help the +poor man through his last stage to safety. "Please throw me that +oar," she said. + +Phil took up the oar, and pitched it with great dexterity, so that +it fell close to the boat. + +Katherine picked it up, making a little grimace of disgust at its +filthiness; then, wiping the worst of the mud off on the nearest +clump of rushes, she proceeded to lash both oars together with the +other end of the rope that was tied to Phil. + +"Are you ready?" she asked sharply, for the man still knelt gasping +and panting, and seemed to have no power to help himself. + +Aided by Phil he rose slowly to his feet, then said in a hoarse +voice: "I don't think I can walk that bridge." + +"You will have to do it, or stay where you are until we can row +round to Seal Cove to bring assistance for you. Even then it may +be hours before help can reach you, for the fishermen are all out +to-day, and Mr. Ferrars is away also, as he has had to go to +Akimiski to-day with Mr. Selincourt and his daughter." + +There was contempt in Katherine's tone now, and she meant it to be +so. If the man had a scrap of courage in him, she must fan it into +active life, but if he were a poltroon, pure and simple, then she +must do the best she could and leave the result. + +To her delight, however, he lifted his head with an angry jerk. "I +will come, of course, but I shall sink in and you will have to pull +me out again," he said. + +"Oh, you won't sink very far, and I have you well roped!" she said +cheerfully. "But if you are able to spare him, let Phil dance +across first, then he will be here to help me to pull if need be." + +"Go along, boy, I will follow," said the man, and Katherine saw him +breathing deep and hard as Phil bounded lightly across, reaching +the boat without any mishap. + +"Now is your turn; be quick!" she cried authoritatively, but her +heart seemed to fairly stop beating as the poor man took his first +step forward and reeled on the sinking oars. "Quick!" she +screamed, giving a sharp tug at the cord, which seemed to rouse +him, for then he came on sharply enough. + +Katherine, standing up in the boat, put out her hands to steady him +when he came within reaching distance, and tried not to show how +she shrank from his exceeding filthiness. + +"There," she said soothingly, as he sank in a limp heap in the seat +she had cleared for him, "you are safe now, and you will soon get +over the fright." + +"Thank you!" he murmured, but seemed incapable of further speech, +and sat silent while they dragged up the bridge of oars, which had +sunk out of sight. + +"It was lucky you tied them together," said Phil, when the oars +were dragged up and the handles cleansed on the rushes. + +"Yes, if I had not thought of doing that we might have whistled for +our oars," said Katherine, with a laugh that had a nervous ring. +The man sitting in the boat was, so far as she could see, a +stranger, although he was so liberally coated with mud that it was +exceedingly difficult to make any guesses about his identity, so +there was nothing to account for the trembling which seized upon +her as she looked at him. It was a hard struggle getting the boat +back into the channel, and her hands were so sore with hauling on +the rope that it was positive torture to use the paddle. The sun +was pouring down with scorching brilliancy, and the flies gathered +in black swarms about her face and head as she worked her way into +the main channel again. Arriving there, she leaned forward and +spoke to the man, who sat silent and apparently dazed in the stern +of the boat. + +"Are you staying at Seal Cove, and at whose house?" she asked +gently, feeling exceedingly pitiful for the poor fellow, who must +have lost his life if she had not chosen to bring her boat through +the weedy back channel that afternoon. + +"No, I have a house at Roaring Water Portage; my name is +Selincourt," he answered. + +The paddle which Katherine was stowing in the boat dropped from her +hands with a clatter, and there was positive terror in her eyes as +she gasped: "You are Mr. Selincourt, _the_ Mr. Selincourt?" + +"I suppose so; I certainly don't know any other," he said, smiling +a little, which had a grotesque effect, for the mud with which his +face was so liberally smeared had dried stiff in the sunshine, and +the smiling made it crack like a painted mask which has been +doubled up. + +"But I thought you had gone to Akimiski?" Katherine said, her +astonishment still so great that she would hardly have believed +even now that the stranger was telling the truth, had it not been +for the trembling which was upon her now that she found herself +face to face with the man whom her father had so seriously wronged +away back in the past. + +"I should have been much wiser if I had gone," said Mr. Selincourt. +"But at the last moment I decided to stay and survey the land on +both sides of the river. I am sending back some of the boatmen +with mails to-morrow, and it seemed essential that I should be able +to write definitely to my agent in Montreal about land which I +might wish to purchase. Then I got Stee Jenkin to put me across +the river, and I wandered along the shore, then back along the +river bank until I reached these beautiful green meadows, as I +thought them. But when I started to walk across I began to sink, so +slowly at first that I hardly realized what was wrong." + +"That is because the mud is firmer near the bank," said Katherine. +"Right out in the centre it will not bear a duck." + +"I should have been under long before, only when I saw what was +coming I sat down, so sank more slowly. But it was horrible, +horrible!" he exclaimed, with a violent shudder. + +"Don't think about it more than you can help, and we shall not be +long in getting you home," she said; then bent to her oars and +tried to forget how sorely her blistered hands were hurting her. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"We Must be Friends!" + +When her father decided not to go to Akimiski, Mary spent a long +morning in roaming about Seal Cove, visiting the various little +houses dotted near the fish shed, and making herself thoroughly +acquainted with the neighbourhood. But when her father got into +Stee Jenkin's boat, and was rowed across the river to survey the +land on the farther side, Mary had herself rowed up the river, with +the intention of spending the afternoon in arranging the little +brown house to suit her own fancy. The afternoon proved so warm +that she decided on leaving the arranging to the next day, and sat +down to write letters instead. Even this proved a task beyond her +powers, for she was more exhausted than she realized by the long +journey over river and trail, and the hot day was making the +fatigue felt. + +One letter, short and scrappy, got itself written, and then +weariness had its way. Mary went into her little bedroom, and, +lying down, went fast asleep. It was three hours later when she +awoke, and, feeling fearfully ashamed of her laziness, she went out +to the little kitchen to light a fire for getting a cup of tea +ready for her father. + +No matter how well-to-do in money and gear people may be, if they +leave the beaten tracks of civilization and immure themselves in +the wilderness they will have to learn to help themselves or else +suffer hardship. So Mary Selincourt, whose father's yearly income +was a good way advanced in a four-figured total, found herself +compelled to the necessity of lighting her own fire, or going +without the tea. There was plenty of kindling wood close to her +hand, so the task presented no especial difficulty, but she laughed +softly to herself as she watched the leaping flames, and thought +how astonished some of her aristocratic friends would be if they +could see her doing domestic work amid such humble surroundings. + +When the kettle began to sing she went into the little sitting-room +to set the table for tea, and was enjoying the work as if it were +play and she a child again, when a sound of voices and footsteps +brought her in haste to the open door. Two of the boatmen were +coming up the path from the river leading a mud-coated figure whom +at first Mary did not recognise. But a second glance showed her +that it was really her father. With a cry of alarm she met him at +the door, full of concern for his uncomfortable plight, yet not for +a moment realizing how terrible his danger had been. + +"Dear Father, where have you been?" she cried. + +"Within a hand-grip of death," he answered, with a quaver of +breakdown in his voice, for it had shaken him fearfully, that long, +slow torture of being sucked into the green ooze of the muskeg. + +"Don't talk about it!" she said hastily. "I will put your clean +things ready. There is happily a kettle on the boil; the men will +help you to bath, and when you are in bed I will bring you tea." + +"Yes," he answered languidly, while she flew to get things ready, +and called one of the men to assist her in putting water into the +big tin pan which was the only bath the house afforded. + +She was going to put the pan in the bedroom, when the man who was +helping stopped her with a suggestion. "You had better leave the +pan here in front of the fire, Miss; the poor gentleman is so +exhausted, you see, and the fire will be a comfort to him." + +"I had not thought of that, but I am quite sure you are right," she +said; then got the water to a comfortable temperature, and left the +men to do their best. + +They were prompt and speedy. In half an hour Mr. Selincourt was +lying in bed, spent and faint it is true, but as clean as soap and +water could make him. Mary hovered about him with a world of +tenderness in face and manner, but she would not let him talk, +would not even let him tell her how or where he had come so near to +finding his death on that sunny June afternoon. It was not until +he was asleep that she ventured to go back to the kitchen. The men +had removed all traces of their work by cleaning the splashed +floor, and were busy now in the open space behind the house washing +the mud-caked clothes which they had stripped from Mr. Selincourt, +for those men who go on portage work must have at least an +elementary knowledge of washing, or be content to go without clean +shirts most of their time. + +Mary beckoned for one of them to come to her. + +"What happened to my father?" she asked. "I would not let him tell +me, he is too thoroughly upset." + +"We don't know, Miss," replied the man who had made the timely +suggestion about the bath. "We were down on the bank, getting the +boat ready that is to start for the south to-morrow, when a boat +rowed by a girl came up the river. She was dripping with +perspiration, and looked as if she had been rowing for a wager. +Mr. Selincourt was sitting in the stern, and there was a small boy +covered with mud too. The girl bade us take Mr. Selincourt and get +him to bed, and said that she would send down river for Mr. +Ferrars." + +"How truly good of her!" cried Mary, with a mist of tears coming +into her eyes. "It must have been Miss Radford from the store over +the river. I was going to ask one of you to go to Seal Cove for +Mr. Ferrars, but if he has been already sent for he may soon be +here. So will you please go over to the store instead, give my +love to Miss Radford, and ask her to tell you what was wrong?" + +The man dried his soapy hands by the simple process of rubbing them +on his trousers, and started on his errand, while Mary entered the +house again and peeped in at the open door of her father's room, to +make sure that he was still sleeping. + +There was a good fire in the kitchen, and the kettle was boiling +again. Mary had not had her cup of tea yet, although she had made +one for her father. But she had forgotten all about that +--forgotten, indeed, that she had taken no food, except two +hard biscuits, since her early breakfast. It seemed such a long +time before the man came back. His comrade was still busy out at +the rear of the house, rubbing, pounding, and punching at the +mud-stained clothes to get them clean, and as he worked he whistled +softly over and over again two or three bars of "The Maple Leaf for +Ever". For years afterwards Mary never heard the song without +recalling that afternoon, with its keen anxiety, the glorious +sunshine, and the steamy, soapy atmosphere of the little kitchen. + +From front door to back door she paced, always treading softly +through fear of disturbing the sleeper in the room beyond; then +paced from back door to front door again, and paused to wait for +the messenger whose coming was so delayed. Presently she heard the +sound of oars, then a boat grounded, and a moment later the man +came up the path, carefully carrying something in a basket which he +presented to Mary. + +"It is a bottle of ginger posset which Mrs. Burton has sent over +for Mr. Selincourt. She says you must give him a teacupful as soon +as he wakes, and you ought to make him swallow it even if he +objects, as there is quinine in it, which may ward off swamp +fever," the man said, with the air of one repeating a lesson. + +"Mrs. Burton is very kind," said Mary, as she took basket and +bottle. "But did you see Miss Radford, and why should there be +danger of swamp fever for my father?" + +"Miss Radford had got a party of Indians in the store that were +taking all her time to manage," replied the man. "Indeed, I had to +chip in and help her a bit myself, for while she showed one lot +scarlet flannel and coloured calicoes, the other lot were trying to +help themselves to beans, tobacco, and that sort of thing. But by +the time I had punched the heads of three men, and slapped two +squaws in the face, they seemed to sort of understand that good +manners paid best, and acted according; then matters began to move +quicker." + +Mary clasped her hands in an agony of impatience. Would the man +ever tell her, or would she be compelled to shake the information +out of him? + +"Did Miss Radford tell you what had happened?" she asked, with an +emphatic stamp of her foot on the floor. + +"Yes, Miss. Mr. Selincourt, not knowing, ventured out on a muskeg, +and was being slowly sucked in, when she and her brother came along +the back creek in their boat. It was a touch-and-go business then, +for she had no planks or hurdles, though luckily she had ropes; but +by sending her little brother, who weighs next to nothing at all, +to slip a noose of rope under Mr. Selincourt's shoulders, she was +able to haul on the rope, and so drag him out by sheer force of +arm. She sent her love to you, and hopes he will soon be better," +the man said, with a little flourish of his hands. In point of +fact Katherine had done nothing of the kind, but it sounded better +so, he thought, and gave a consolatory touch to the whole. + +Mary turned abruptly away. Her father's misadventure was so much +worse than she had expected that the horror of it broke down her +self-control completely; the solid ground seemed to crumble under +her feet, and if she had not sunk into the nearest chair she must +have fallen. Sitting crouched in a corner, with her hands pressed +tightly against her face, striving for the mastery over those +unruly emotions of hers, she failed to hear sounds of another +arrival, and did not even look up when Jervis Ferrars entered, +without any ceremony of knocking. + +A moment he stood in silence before her, not liking to disturb her, +nor even to be a witness of her breakdown, for he knew how proud +she was, and the humiliation it would be to her to be watched under +such conditions. Then, seeing the door of the bedroom half-open, +he passed silently and softly into the room, closing the door +behind him, and Mary was alone again. It might have been ten +minutes later before he reappeared, and then the anxious look had +left his face; he still looked concerned, but that was chiefly on +Mary's account. + +"Miss Selincourt, I am fearfully disappointed in you," he announced +gravely, and Mary's head came up with a jerk. + +"I--I did not know that you had come," she faltered. + +"All the more reason why you should have been brave and courageous, +until there was someone on whom to shift the responsibility," he +said quietly. + +Mary reddened, and her tears disappeared as if by magic. "Is it +possible that you do not know the terrible danger my father has +been in?" she asked frigidly. + +"Yes, I know. But in a wild country like this one must always be +expected to face a certain amount of risk; and it is never worth +while to weep over the might-have-beens, or how could one be happy +at all?" he said lightly. + +"I know it was foolish, but the horror of it broke me down; and +then I was wondering whatever I should do if Father were to be ill, +so far away from doctors, nurses, and comforts of any sort," she +replied, with a shiver. + +"I don't think he will be ill. He is sleeping as peacefully as an +infant, his pulse is steady, and his heart quiet. He may be a +little languid when he wakes, in which case we will keep him in bed +for a day or two. Remember, I am three parts a doctor, and you can +be wholly a nurse." + +"I have had no experience," she faltered. + +"That is only gained by practice," he answered. Then, looking at +the partly-set meal on the table, he asked: "What have you had to +eat to-day?" + +"Not much," she answered in a dreary tone. "There were cold fish +and coffee for breakfast. I had two biscuits for luncheon, but +that was all." + +"You are within seeing distance of starving, I should say, and that +is why your courage has turned to water," he said; and, going out +to the kitchen, he roused the fire again, refilled the kettle, +which had boiled itself dry, and when it boiled again made her a +good cup of tea, at the same time insisting on her making a solid +meal. + +"Oh, I feel pounds better now!" she exclaimed, when he came back +from another visit to Mr. Selincourt, who still lay peacefully +sleeping. + +"Let it be a warning to you in future not to neglect yourself at +critical moments," he replied; then asked: "What would you like me +to do for you? Shall I stay with Mr. Selincourt to-night? I do +not think he needs watching in the least, but if this will be a +comfort to you, I will remain with pleasure." + +"It is very kind of you, and I accept thankfully," she said, with +such bounding relief at her heart that the whole of her outlook +changed at once. It was the responsibility she dreaded so much, +and when that was lifted from her shoulders she could be happy +again. "Can you remain now, or must you go back to Seal Cove +first?" she asked. + +"I will stay now if you like, only I must trouble you to let me +send one of your boatmen down to Seal Cove, with a letter of +instruction for any of the boats which may arrive in with a cargo +before I can be there to have the shed opened," he said. + +"One of the men shall go, certainly. But while you are writing +your letter may I take the boat and go over to the store to say +'Thank you' to Miss Radford and her brother for their goodness to +my father? I would not have left him if you had not been here, but +now I can go easily enough, and I do want them to know how really +grateful I am." + +"Go, by all means. I will take care of Mr. Selincourt and write my +letter at the same time," Jervis answered, taking a fountain pen +and a notebook from his pocket, and beginning to write forthwith. + +Mary walked out of the house and down to the river just as she was, +for the sun had gone down sufficiently to render a hat unnecessary. +The two men were busy with their boat still, but one of them left +his work and put Mary across the river in one of the other boats +which lay drawn up on the bank. + +The Indians, who had been crowding the store half an hour before, +were encamped on the bank now, a little lower down, and were busy +cooking fish for their supper. There were no other customers +visible either inside the store or out. Now that the fishing was +in full swing the fishermen had little time for lounging about the +store; so, although the work of delivering goods was greater, there +were compensating circumstances in not having the store always +crowded up with men and lads, who had come more for the sake of +talking than buying. + +Mary walked up the steep bank and across the open space to the +store door with a sense of the strangest unreality all about her. +It was herself who walked and moved, yet all the time she seemed to +stand aside and let another self think and feel and act. A +composite odour of groceries, bacon, tobacco, and cheap clothes met +her as she entered the rough, homely shed, which was a typical +emporium of the backwoods; but she had no time to analyse the +odours, being at once attracted by Katherine, who stood at a tall +desk by the window, entering items in a ledger. At the same time +Katherine glanced up and saw the visitor entering the door. She +flushed at the sight, and became suddenly nervous, acutely +conscious, too, of her poor, shabby clothes, old-fashioned and ill +cut, as contrasted with the picturesque house gown in which Mary +was garbed, a soft grey woollen, which, though simple enough to +have been worn upon any occasion, yet suggested London or Paris in +every line. + +"You are Miss Radford, I think," said Mary in that quiet, cultured +voice which somehow matched, or at least harmonized, with her gown, +"and I have come to say 'Thank you' for your goodness to my dear +father." + +"Oh, but really it was not I who saved him, but Phil! I should +have been too heavy to walk three steps across that muskeg without +sticking fast," Katherine answered, with a low, nervous laugh. + +But Mary was not to be put off in this fashion, and she went on, +her voice fluttering a little because of the emotion she was +keeping down with a resolute hand: "I know it was your brother who +went out on the swamp and put the rope round my father, but I also +know that it was really you who planned the rescue and pulled my +father out. I cannot speak of it all as I would wish, and words +are too faint and poor to express all I feel; but from my heart I +am grateful, and all my life I shall be in your debt." + +A sob came up in Katherine's throat, and her heart fluttered +wildly, for she was thinking of that dark secret from the past +which her father had told her about, and she was wondering if the +work of to-day would in any sense help to wipe off that old score +of wrongdoing which stood to her father's account. + +"It is only one's duty to help those who are in difficulties," she +said, when she could manage her voice, and still that curious +fluttering in her throat. "I hope Mr. Selincourt is not much the +worse for his accident. I was afraid that he was terribly shaken. +He must have suffered such fearful agony of mind during the time he +was being sucked down." + +"He is sleeping now, peacefully as an infant. Mr. Ferrars, who is +with him, says that his pulse is steady and his heart quiet, so it +really looks as if the after effects may not be very bad," Mary +answered. Then she said impulsively: "I was on the hill last night +when you were waiting for the dogs to help you to make the portage. +My heart went out to you then, and I wondered should we ever be +friends; but to-day has settled that question so far as I am +concerned, and now we must be friends." + +Katherine crimsoned right up to the roots of her hair. A year ago +how happy such words would have made her! And how glad she would +have been of the friendship of Mary Selincourt! But now all the +pleasure in such intercourse was checked and clouded, because she +was perforce obliged to sail under false colours. + +The rosy flush faded from cheeks, neck, and brow, and her face was +white and weary as she answered coldly: "It is very kind of you to +talk of friendship, but I fancy there is too much difference in our +lives to admit of much intercourse. I have to work very hard just +now, and I have little or no leisure." + +Mary winced as if Katherine had struck her a blow. She was not +used to having her offers of friendship flouted in this fashion; +but she was too much indebted to this girl in the shabby frock to +even dream of resenting the treatment of which poor Katherine was +already secretly ashamed. + +"I know that you have to work very hard," Mary said gently. "But +if you knew how much I honour you for your unselfish courage, I +think you would not refuse to let me see as much of you as your +work will allow." + +Katherine had to come down from her poor little pedestal then, but +she made her descent gracefully enough. "If you care to see me at +my work, we may even find time for friendship," she said, smiling +bravely, although her face was still very pale; "but work and I are +such close comrades that only Sunday finds us apart." + +"Then I will have you and your work all the week, and you without +your work on Sundays," laughed Mary, afterwards saying good night +and going back across the river to her father again. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +'Duke Radford's New Friend + +Mr. Selincourt suffered but little ill effects from his accident. +He stayed in bed two days to ward off any danger of swamp fever, +but on the third morning got up at his usual hour, and after +breakfast had himself rowed across the river, and paid a visit to +the store. Early as it was, Katherine and Phil had already started +for an Indian encampment on Ochre Lake, so Mr. Selincourt found +only Miles in the store, and he was busy sweeping dead flies from +the molasses traps, and spreading fresh molasses for the catching +of another batch. + +"Hullo, young man! is it you who pulled me out of the mud the other +day?" he asked. + +"No, sir," replied Miles promptly; "I'm as heavy as Katherine, so +not adapted for walking on soft spots. It was Phil who put the +rope round you, but Katherine pulled you out." + +"A plucky pair they were too, for it must have been difficult work. +Are they at home?" Mr. Selincourt asked, as he gazed round the +store, and thought what a bare-looking place it was. + +"No, they started for Ochre Lake a good time ago. Where there is +portage work it is easiest to get it done in the morning this hot +weather. Can I have the pleasure of showing you anything this +morning, sir?" Miles asked, with his very best business manner, +which always had its due effect on the Seal Cove people. + +Mr. Selincourt laughed. "I am afraid my wants would have to be +moderate, there is so little left to buy," he said, wondering if it +were poverty on the part of the Radfords which kept the stock so +low. + +"We are not so nearly cleared out as you would think," Miles +answered, in a confidential tone. "We always like the shelves to +look thin at this time of the year; then when the first shipment +comes to hand we bring all our surplus stock out of the cellar, and +it sells nearly as fast as we can serve it out." + +"Well, that is one way of doing business; a shrewd way too," +remarked Mr. Selincourt, nodding his head. "I shouldn't wonder if +you make a pile some day of your own; you look wideawake enough. +What are you going to be when you grow up?" + +"A storekeeper; this store keeper, if Katherine can keep the +business going until I'm old enough to take the work over," Miles +answered, with the same promptness as had arrested Mr. Selincourt's +attention at the first. + +"It is a hard life for a girl, I should think," he said, as he sat +down on a sugar barrel and watched Miles finishing with the traps. + +"Yes, it is very hard. You see, there is so much tramping over +portages, rowing up and down river, and all that sort of thing. I +could manage most of it with Phil's help, only there is pricing the +skins, the feathers, and the fish which we take in barter from the +Indians. They wouldn't accept my prices, but would declare they +were being cheated by the papoose;" and the boy threw so much scorn +into his tone that Mr. Selincourt laughed aloud. + +"How do you manage when the Indians come here to buy and your +sister is away?" he asked. + +"Oh, I just call Nellie, that is Mrs. Burton, you know! She +doesn't know a thing about business, and is ignorant as a baby +about the value of skins, but she is grown-up, so they believe what +she says, only I have to tell her first." + +"Your father can't attend to anything, then?" Mr. Selincourt +enquired pitifully. He had heard a little of 'Duke Radford's +affliction, and sympathized keenly with the children who had such a +heavy weight of responsibility to carry. + +Miles shook his head. "Since his stroke, Father has not been able +to do anything at all. His memory is entirely gone, yet he is so +pleased to see people, and he always seems happy and content. Have +you time to go and talk to him for a little while, sir? He would +like to see you, I know." + +Mr. Selincourt rose from his barrel with alacrity. "Oh, yes! I +will pay him a little visit; in fact, I have nothing else to do for +the next hour, for I promised Mary that I would not go wandering +round in soft spots to-day." + +Miles opened the door of the kitchen and ushered the visitor in. +Mrs. Burton was making a batch of bread, and had to limit her +welcome to cheery words and smiles; but the twins immediately +claimed him as an old friend, rushing upon him with a freedom from +shyness which was surprising, until one knew that they were never +troubled with that complaint at home. + +"Father, Mr. Selincourt has come to see you. He is the new owner +of the fleet, you know," Mrs. Burton said, speaking in raised tones +to a tall, worn man who sat in the sunshine by the open door, and +smiled serenely at the pleasant world outside. + +'Duke Radford was not deaf, but they always raised their voices +when speaking to him, in order to attract his attention. He seemed +to live in a world apart, and it was only by touching him or +shouting that he could be brought back to the realities of life. +At the sound of his daughter's voice he looked round, and, seeing a +stranger in the room, at once rose and came forward with +outstretched hand. "I am very glad to see you, sir," he said, in +courteous greeting. + +Mr. Selincourt was so surprised that he could not hide it. He had +expected to see a miserable-looking invalid, with imbecile writ +large all over him; instead of whom he was confronted by a +dignified, courteous gentleman, whose infirmity was only hinted at +by a certain languor of movement and wistfulness of expression. + +"I am glad to see you looking so much better than I expected to +find you," Mr. Selincourt said, taking the proffered hand and +shaking it warmly. + +"Yes, I am getting stronger. I have been ill, you know, and it has +upset me in many ways; my mind is not what it was, and I cannot +remember a great many things which it is very awkward to forget. +For instance, I cannot remember, sir, whether I have heard your +name or seen your face before;" and as he spoke, 'Duke Radford +looked up with wistful uncertainty into the face of the man whom +years ago he had wronged so heavily. + +"My name you have heard, I dare say, but I do not suppose you have +seen me before, because I am an Englishman, and I have only been in +Canada for a year," Mr. Selincourt answered gently. + +Mrs. Burton had left the room momentarily, or she might have said +that her father was an Englishman also. 'Duke Radford had probably +forgotten the fact himself, and after a moment of silence, in which +he seemed to be gathering up his scattered faculties, he asked: + +"Do you think you are going to like Canada, sir?" + +"I like it immensely. I intend settling in the country +permanently. I have nothing to hold me in England, nor anything +which interests me enough to make me want to stay there. But here +there is so much to be done; the country is crying out for +development, and I--well, I think I want to have a hand in the +doing of it," Mr. Selincourt answered. + +'Duke Radford nodded his head in complete understanding; something +of his old vigour seemed to have returned to him, and for the +moment the clouds were swept from his brain. + +"Canada is a fine country;" he said. "Even her waste places +possess untold sources of wealth. Take this place, for instance: +there are fish enough in the rivers and the bay to feed a +multitude; there is timber enough to build a dozen towns, and +construct a navy as well; yet it continues almost as solitary as +when I came here, I can't remember how many years ago." + +"It is a great pity; but that may be altered with time. We shall +see," replied Mr. Selincourt, then plunged into talk about the +resources of the immediate neighbourhood, the possibilities of vast +coalfields underlying the forest lands, of minerals lurking in +barren hillsides, and many other things. + +'Duke Radford came out of his absorption and talked as he had not +done for many months, and when the visitor rose to go, after a +couple of hours' sitting in the pleasant, homely kitchen, with the +appetizing smell of new-baked bread perfuming the air, the invalid +begged him to come again very soon. + +"Indeed I will, if Mrs. Burton will let me; but if I have tired you +with such a long talk she may refuse to allow me in," Mr. +Selincourt replied. + +"Nellie won't do that. My children are very good to me, although +it is very hard on them that I should be left a log on their hands +like this. But I hope you will come soon, for you have given me a +very happy morning," the invalid said; and rising to his feet he +walked slowly into the sunshine, supporting himself on a stout +stick, to watch his visitor get into the waiting boat and be rowed +away to the opposite bank of the river. + +When Katherine and Phil came down from Ochre Lake three hours +later, the invalid was still out-of-doors, only now he was seated +on a bank in the shade of a spreading spruce, while the twins +played round him, building houses of fir cones, and laying out +gardens in patterns of pine needles. + +"Why, Father, it is pleasant to see you out-of-doors again, and I +am sure the air will do you good!" Katherine exclaimed in pleased +surprise, as she came down the portage path, laden with a great +reed basket filled with ptarmigan eggs. + +"Katherine, I have had such a nice morning!" he said with childish +eagerness. "Mr. Selincourt has been to see me, and I like him so +very much." + +Katherine nearly dropped her basket of eggs, being so much +astonished; then, pulling herself together with an effort, she +managed to say in a natural tone, although her face was rather +white: "I am glad you liked him. Did he stay long?" + +"Yes, ever so long, and he is coming again soon. He thinks of +settling here, and building a house. I am so glad, for I think I +never met a man whom I liked better," he replied. + +"Then it is lucky that I pulled him out of the mud," put in Phil, +who was very much disposed to swagger about his share in rescuing +Mr. Selincourt. "But if he'd been a disagreeable animal, I might +have been sorry that I had not left him there." + +Katherine stood in a dumb amazement at the miracle which had been +wrought. All these months she had been dreading the coming of Mr. +Selincourt, because of its effect upon her father, and behold, it +was the one thing which had brought him happiness! + +"Did you pull him out of the mud? What mud?" asked 'Duke Radford +in an interested tone, whereupon Phil promptly dropped the bundle +he was carrying and launched into a detailed account of the rescue +of Mr. Selincourt from the muskeg. + +But Katherine went on to the store with her head in a whirl; almost +she was disposed to believe that dark story from her father's past +to be only a dream, or some conjured-up vision of a diseased +fancy--almost, but not quite. Only too well she knew that it was +the dread of Mr. Selincourt's coming which had induced her father's +stroke, and now--well, it was just the irony of fate, that what had +been so terrible in perspective should bring such pleasure in +reality. + +Jervis Ferrars came in quite early that evening, and suggested that +Katherine should go with him to Ochre Lake, as he had some business +at the Indian encampment, and wanted a companion. + +"But I have been to Ochre Lake once to-day; Phil and I went this +morning. I brought home a hundred eggs in one basket, and had to +carry them over both portages myself," she said, laughing. + +"Never mind; another journey in the same direction won't hurt you, +because I will do the work," he answered. "I want to borrow your +boat, don't you see? and of course it lessens a little my burden of +indebtedness if you are there too." + +"I shall also be useful in getting the boat over the portage," +laughed Katherine, then ran away to get ready. There was really +nothing to keep her at the store this evening, and so few pleasures +came her way that it would have been foolish to refuse. + +"Nellie, I am going to Ochre Lake with Mr. Ferrars. Do you mind?" +she asked, as she hurriedly shed her working frock and clothed +herself anew. + +"No, dear, of course I don't. Good-bye! I hope you will have a +pleasant time," said Mrs. Burton, then kissed her sister +affectionately. + +Katherine was a little surprised. Mrs. Burton was not given to +over-much demonstration of feeling, and so the kiss was out of the +ordinary. But then the evening was out of the ordinary too. As a +rule she hurried along the portage path, laden with burdens as +heavy as she could carry. To-night she sauntered at a leisurely +pace with no burdens at all; even the cares of the day were thrust +into the background for the moment, and she was genuinely +lighthearted and happy. It was pleasant, too, to sit at ease while +Jervis pulled the boat up river with long, swinging strokes that +never suggested tired arms in even the remotest connection; and if +they did not talk much, it was only because the river and the +sunset seemed suggestive of silence. They had passed the second +portage, and waved a greeting to Mrs. M'Kree, who was sitting at +ease in her garden while Astor lounged beside her. Then Jervis +began to talk about himself, which was unusual, the subject +apparently having but little interest for him in a general way. + +"I have been writing to my mother to-day. It seems strange to +think we shall have a post out from here once a month all the +summer," he remarked, rowing slower now, as if he were tired of +violent exercise, and desired to take things easy. + +"How glad your mother will be to get the letters!" exclaimed +Katherine, wondering how the poor woman had borne the weary waiting +of the past weeks. + +"It has been hard on her, poor little Mother!" he said softly, then +went on with a hardness in his tone that grated on the ears of the +listener: "Few women have had to know greater contrasts in life +than my mother. She was brought up in the purple, a maid to brush +her hair and tie her shoestrings, but for the last six years she +has lived in a four-roomed cottage, and has done the family +washing." + +"Oh, how hard for her!" exclaimed Katherine. + +"It was hard, poor Mother!" Jervis said, and his voice grew so +tender that the listener understood the previous hardness must have +been meant for someone else. He was silent for some time after +that, and, pulling slowly up the river, kept his eyes fixed on the +water which was gliding past. + +Katherine sat with her gaze fixed on the treetops, whilst her +fancies were busy with the poor lady who had fallen from the luxury +of having a lady's maid to doing the work of a washerwoman. + +"I was to have been a doctor," Jervis said abruptly, taking up the +talk just where he had dropped it. "We were very poor, so I had +worked my way on scholarships and that sort of thing. I was very +keen on study, for I meant to make a name for myself. I believe I +should have done too, but----" + +He broke off suddenly, and, after a pause, Katherine ventured +gently: "Don't you think it is the 'buts' which really make us live +to some purpose?" + +"At least they make a mighty difference in our outlook," he +admitted with a smile. "The particular 'but' which stopped my +medical studies, and drove me into the first situation where I +could earn money was the death of my father, and the consequent +cessation of the income which had been his allowance under his +grandfather's will. We had been poor before; after that we were +destitute." + +Katherine nodded sympathetically. Her life had been hard, and +there was plenty of rough work in it, but she had never been within +seeing distance of destitution, and she had plenty of pity for +those whose lives had been fuller of care than her own. + +"I tried keeping near home first," went on Jervis; "but it was of +no use. There was no room for me anywhere; the only thing I could +get to do was a miserable clerkship at twelve shillings a week. +Just think of it! Twelve shillings a week, and there were four of +us to live! I bore it for six months, and then I cleared out. My +next brother, who is four years younger, got work which brought in +enough to buy his food, and I have managed to send home something +to help to keep my mother and the youngest boy, who is still at +school." + +"Perhaps the necessity to do your utmost has been very good for +you," Katherine ventured demurely. + +"I think it has," he answered with emphasis. "At any rate, I don't +feel disposed to quarrel now with the destiny which has knocked me +about the world, and brought me eventually to an anchorage like +this." + +Katherine's face flamed scarlet, to her intense mortification. +What would this man think of her, what must he think of her, if she +changed colour at every word he said? + +But Jervis did not appear to notice her confusion, for which she +was devoutly thankful, and in a moment he went on talking: "It is +going to make a very great difference to me if Mr. Selincourt +decides to spend money in developing this place. The fisheries, +properly worked, will yield a cent-per-cent interest on the outlay, +and that is going to make a big difference to me, because I am not +manager merely, but I have a share in the profits also." + +"A working partner," suggested Katherine. + +"Something of the kind," he replied. Then turning his head he saw +that they were close to the Indian encampment, for long lines of +fish were stretched in all directions, drying in the sun. + +"The end of our journey," he said lightly. "Do you sit here in the +boat and I will have my business finished in about ten minutes." + +Katherine's gaze went to the treetops again, only now it was not +trees and sky that she saw, but a rose-hued future of happiness +stretching out before her. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +Standing Aside + +Mrs. Burton was perplexed, and a good bit troubled in her mind. +She was honestly proud of Katherine's beauty, and longed that her +sister should have an easier life than she had had herself. So +that when Jervis Ferrars had begun to show rather a decided +inclination to cultivate Katherine's society, the elder sister had +felt both glad and sorry because of it. She was glad, because any +girl might have felt honoured by the notice of a man like Jervis +Ferrars: But she was sorry because he was so poor, and marriage +with him must mean for Katherine a life of hard work and much +drudgery; for in remote places and pioneer settlements it was on +the women, the wives and the mothers, that the real hardships of +life fell. + +Her own husband had been a poor man, a bright young Canadian, as +good-looking as Jervis Ferrars, but without his culture. Ted +Burton had commanded one of the boats of the fishing fleet, and was +holder of a good many shares in the company as well; but one day +his vessel came home without him, and Mrs. Burton had to return a +widow to her father's house. No wonder she dreaded Katherine +wedding after the same fashion. History has a trick of repeating +itself, and she could not bear to think of sunny-hearted Katherine +having to live always in the shadows, as she herself had done. + +But the worry oppressing her just now was concerned also with Mary +Selincourt. Mary spent a great deal of time at the store, and when +she was there she made herself useful like other people. She had +even served an Indian squaw with coloured calico of an astonishing +pattern, had clicked off the proper number of yards in the most +business-like fashion, and then had demanded: "What next, if you +please?" in a manner as collected as if she had served an +apprenticeship behind a counter. A most delightful companion was +Mary, and Mrs. Burton fairly revelled in her society: but Mary had +one strange habit which puzzled her, she always avoided Jervis +Ferrars when it was possible to do so, and she had a trick of +blushing when his name was mentioned. These symptoms were proof +positive to Mrs. Burton that Mary cared for Jervis, and she was +sorely troubled about it. + +Katherine, on the other hand, seemed to be absolutely heart-whole; +she went about her daily work with a zest which was refreshing to +behold. She always seemed to be happy and content, while she +treated Jervis in much the same fashion as she did Miles, and +teased him whenever the occasion seemed to demand it, which was +very often. + +It was the middle of July, and the great event of the year had +taken place, that is, the first steamer had come through Hudson +Strait, and was anchored off Seal Cove. 'Duke Radford had heavy +shipments in this vessel, and for a few days Katherine left the +outside customers to their own devices, spending busy hours in +checking invoices and helping to stow away the merchandise which +Stee Jenkin and Miles brought up river in boatloads from the +steamer. These goods had been ordered in October of the year +before, but that was how things had to be done in that awkward +corner of the world, where ice blocked the ocean road for eight +months out of the twelve. + +The steamer which brought groceries and dry goods for the store was +to take away sealskins, walrus-skins, narwhal ivory, whalebone, and +blubber of various sorts, which had been accumulating in the fish +shed since the fishing began. This made Jervis as busy in his way +as Katherine was in hers. Indeed, the press of work was so great +that Mary went down day after day to do the writing in the office +at Seal Cove, while Mr. Selincourt, with his shirt sleeves rolled +above his elbows, helped Jervis to pack skins and weigh blubber. + +It was easy for Mary to get away, as most of her housework and a +good deal of the cooking was done for her by the portage men who +happened to be in residence at Roaring Water Portage. When Mr. +Selincourt hired men and boats at Temiskaming, he hired them for +the whole summer, and planned their work to suit his own +convenience. There were two men to each boat, and after the first +journey with luggage-laden boats the men found that they could +manage the journey each way in a little over a fortnight. So two +pairs of them were always en route, while the third pair rested and +did housework at the hut at Roaring Water Portage, taking their +departure with mails when another pair of their companions returned +from the lake. + +When Mrs. Burton was troubled about anything it was sure to come +out sooner or later, and one night during that week of bustle and +hard work she spoke of the matter that was on her mind. The +sisters were brushing their hair before going to bed. Somehow +hair-brushing lends itself to confidential talk, especially when, +as in this case, awkward things have to be put into speech, because +a veil of hair will hide a good many emotions. + +"Do you know, I believe that Mary cares for Mr. Ferrars," Mrs. +Burton blurted out, with considerable nervous trepidation, turning +her back on Katherine, and wielding her brush as if her life +depended on her accomplishing a given number of strokes per minute. + +"What put such an idea into your head, you delightful old +matchmaker?" demanded Katherine, with a ripple of amused laughter, +while her brush went slower as she waited for the answer. + +"A good many things," Mrs. Burton said, warming to her subject, and +feeling relieved already by the careless ease of Katherine's +manner. "Mary always avoids Mr. Ferrars when it is possible to do +so, and I have never once seen her touch his hand, though she +shakes hands with every other person she meets. I have even seen +her shake hands with Oily Dave, a thing I would not do myself." + +"Am I to understand, then, that if one person will not shake hands +with another it is a sign of being in love?" asked Katherine in a +teasing tone. "Because, if so, what about your own refusal to +touch the hand of Oily Dave?" + +Mrs. Burton laughed, and her heart felt lighter than for many days +past; for if Katherine could laugh and make jokes in this fashion, +it was plain there was no harm done. So she drew a long breath and +went on: "I wish you would try to be serious for a few minutes and +listen to me. What is only fun to you may be grim earnest to poor +Mary, and I like her so well that I do not care to think of her +missing the best thing that life can give her." + +"Which is----?" queried Katherine mischievously. + +"Which is the love she longs for," Mrs. Burton answered, with a +sentimental sigh. + +Katherine broke into irrepressible laughter. Then, when her mirth +had subsided a little, she said: "Just fancy speaking of a girl as +'Poor Mary' whose father has an income of five or six thousand +pounds a year!" + +"Still, she is poor in spite of her money if she can't get what she +wants," Mrs. Burton said, sticking to her point. "Money isn't +everything by a long way, and you can't satisfy heart-hunger with +dollars, or pounds either." + +"Did Mary take you into her confidence concerning this want which +money can't satisfy?" demanded Katherine, a touch of scorn in her +tone and a chill feeling at her heart, as if someone had laid an +icy finger upon it. + +"Dear me, no! Mary is not the sort of girl to go round howling +about what she wants but can't get," Mrs. Burton replied. "But I +have eyes in my head, and I think a married woman sees more, and +has a larger understanding of affairs of the heart, than a girl who +has had no experience at all." + +"That is very probable," Katherine said quietly, while the chill +feeling grew and intensified, despite her efforts to make light of +the matter. "But what has all this to do with me? Do you want me +to approach Mr. Ferrars on the subject, and say to him that he had +better make haste and satisfy the heart-hunger of the rich Miss +Selincourt?" + +Mrs. Burton looked absolutely shocked. "Dear Katherine, do be +serious for once if you can!" she pleaded. "If I thought that you +cared for Mr. Ferrars yourself I should never have mentioned this +to you at all; but you are so plainly fancy-free that surely it +won't hurt you to stand aside and let Mary have her chance." + +"Stand aside? How?" Katherine kept her voice steady by an effort, +while her thoughts flew back to that evening when Jervis Ferrars +had taken her up to Ochre Lake, and had talked to her of the +struggles and hardships of his life. She had been so happy that +evening, and every day since had been like a festival. There had +been no need to put things into words: she had known that night +that Jervis Ferrars cared for her; she had been equally well +assured that she cared for him, and the knowledge brought with it a +rest and contentment such as she had never known before. But if +what her sister said was correct, then it might be that she was +wrong, something worse than selfish even, to take this good thing +which was offered to her; and the standing-aside idea would have to +be very carefully considered. + +Mrs. Burton rolled up her abundant hair, and poked in half a dozen +hairpins to keep it in place. Then she said: "You are so much +better-looking than Mary, and you have so much more charm of +manner! It is easy to see that Mr. Ferrars is attracted by you, +because his eyes always follow you every time you move. Then you +saved his life at considerable risk, which, of course, is +tremendously in your favour, or would be, if you cared about him. +But if you don't really want to marry him it would be kind to stand +back and let Mary have a chance. Of course it would be an immense +advantage to Mr. Ferrars to marry Mr. Selincourt's daughter, for I +fancy he is very poor, although he is such a cultured gentleman; +and money does make a great deal of difference in the comfort of +one's daily life." + +"Indeed it does, my wise, practical sister. Really, your argument +is not half bad, and is well worth my best consideration, which it +shall have," said Katherine; then giving her sister a good-night +kiss, she dived into bed and promptly went to sleep, or at least +pretended to do so, which was the same thing in its effect on Mrs. +Burton, who soon went to sleep herself. + +In reality there was little rest for Katherine that night, for she +was faced by a problem that had never even occurred to her before. +If she followed the desire of her own heart, she stood in the way +of two people. True, she might make Jervis Ferrars happy with her +love, more especially as she was quite sure that he cared for her. +But would there ever come a time when he might be tempted to wish +for more worldly advantages, and to long for the power that money +brings? Lying there in the twilight of the northern summer night, +which was never in that month quite dark, Katherine faced the +future with a steady, single-hearted desire to do the right thing +at all costs. She felt herself doubly bound. Her own love for +Jervis made her hesitate about allowing him to bind himself to a +life of poverty, or at least a life of continuous struggle, such as +marriage with a portionless wife must bring. + +But Jervis was only one consideration. There was Mary also to be +thought of. And then it flashed upon Katherine that Mary had even +more claim upon her than Jervis. Ever since 'Duke Radford had been +stricken down, robbed of memory, of understanding, and the power to +think and act for himself, Katherine had carried her father's sin +as if it were a wrongdoing of her own. He had implored her to +expiate it if she could. But how could she? Even the saving grace +of confession was denied to her, for she could not go to Mr. +Selincourt and say: "My father did you a bitter wrong many years +ago; please forgive him, and say no more about it!" + +It was true that she and Phil had saved the rich man's life by +pulling him out of the muskeg, but there had been little personal +risk for herself in the matter, although it had been very hard +work, and there were scars on her hands still where the ropes had +cut into the skin. Hard work was not self-sacrifice, however, and +as Katherine understood things it was only by self-sacrifice that +she could expiate her father's sin, if indeed it ever could be +expiated. + +Could she do it? Lying there in the mean little room, with the +grey twilight showing outside the open window, she told herself +'No': she could not do it, she could not stand aside and give up to +another what she wanted so badly for herself. But, as the slow +hours stole by, a different mood crept over her. She thought of +the Saviour of the world, and the sacrifices he had made for man; +then prayed for grace to tread the thorny path of self-immolation, +if such action should be required of her. + +She dared not rise to kneel and pray, the little bedroom was too +crowded for privacy; and although she often yearned for a room, +however small, to have for her sole use, this was not possible. +Folding her hands on her breast, she prayed for strength to do what +was right, for guidance in the way she had to go, and wisdom to see +the true from the false. Then, because her day's work had made her +so very tired, she fell asleep, and presently began to dream that +she was at the marriage of Mary Selincourt with Jervis Ferrars, and +that it was her place to give away the bride. She was doing her +part, as she believed, faithfully and well, although the dragging +pain at her heart was almost more than she could endure, and the +part of the marriage service had been reached where the ring should +have been put on Mary's hand, when, to her amazement, she found it +was on her own finger. + +"Katherine, Katherine, how soundly you sleep, dear! Wake up, we +are quite late this morning!" said Mrs. Burton, and Katherine +opened her tired, heavy eyes to find that Beth and Lotta were +enjoying a lively pillow fight on the other bed, and that their +mother was already half-dressed. + +For one moment she lay weakly wishing that she had not to rise to +work, to struggle, and to endure; but the next minute found her out +of bed and thrusting her face into a basin of cold water, which is, +after all, the very best way of gathering up a little courage. + +When she was dressed and out in the fresh air things did not look +so bad. Mrs. Burton might have been quite mistaken in thinking +that Mary cared for Jervis Ferrars. In the broad light of the +sunshiny morning the very idea seemed absurd. The rich man's +daughter had a wide circle to choose from; it was scarcely likely +that her choice would fall on a poor man, whose position was little +removed from that of a Hudson Bay fisherman. + +Of course it was absurd! Mrs. Burton must have had a sentimental +streak on last night, and she herself was uncommonly foolish to +have been made so miserable for nothing at all. + +When Katherine reached this point in her musings her laughter rang +out again, the future brightened up, and she was ready to face +anything the day might bring. Happiness is such a great factor in +one's life; and when that is secured it is easy to make light of +the ordinary ills, troubles, cares, and vexations which are sure to +crop up even in the smoothest kind of existence. But she meant to +watch very closely for some sign which might guide her in gaining +an insight into Mary's heart. She must make absolutely certain +that Mrs. Burton was wrong. It was not easy to see just how she +would be able to do this; but it must be done, of course it must be +done! + +The day passed in a feverish round of incessant work. One hour +Katherine was happy as of old, the next hour she was horribly +heartsick and oppressed. But it never once occurred to her that +the reason for this was her exhausted condition from loss of rest +on the previous night. + +In the evening Jervis came up from Seal Cove, sat and talked with +'Duke Radford for half an hour, then asked Katherine to come and +walk with him in the woods to see if the wild strawberries were +getting ripe. But she refused, declaring that her head ached, +which, although true, was not the real reason by any means. + +"I am afraid you have been working too hard this week," he said +kindly. "I have been very much in the same plight myself, or I +would have come up to help you. Can you save things back for a few +days? As soon as the steamer has gone I shall be quite at leisure, +and will put in a day or two at helping you to get your stores +stowed away." + +"It has been hard work, and of course we are to a certain extent +novices at it," Katherine answered. "But the worst is over now +until the next boat comes, when I suppose the confusion will begin +all over again, only of course by then we shall be more used to +managing things." + +"You had better go to bed early and get a good night's rest, or I +shall be having you for a patient next, and I am very much afraid +you would not prove a tractable one," he said, more troubled by her +pale cheeks and weary looks than he cared to confess. + +"I have never been ill in my life, so I have no idea how the role +of invalid would suit me," she answered with a mirthless laugh, +thinking how very pleasant a stroll in the woods would have been +after her long, hard day of work in the stockrooms. + +"I don't think it would suit you at all," he replied. Then he +said, as he rose to go: "As you are not inclined for a walk, I will +go and have a talk with Mr. Selincourt about the plans for the +fish-curing sheds." + +Standing aside was dismal work, Katherine told herself; and there +were tears on her pillow when she went to sleep that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +An Awkward Fix + +Mr. Selincourt was not the man to let the grass grow under his feet +when he had any sort of project in hand. He was so rich, too, that +his schemes never had to suffer delay from want of means to carry +them through. Directly he had made up his mind that he meant to +have a fish-curing establishment at Seal Cove, he had the plans +drawn for the buildings, work which fell to Jervis and Mary; then, +when these were ready, Astor M'Kree was set to work, with as many +helpers as could handle a hammer or a saw with any degree of +dexterity. + +Never had there been such a summer of work at Seal Cove; everyone +who could do anything was pressed into service. Some of the +Indians, tempted by wages, were set to work, and although they were +no good at carpentry, or things of that sort, they did very well at +cod-splitting, or, as it was termed, "flaking", and spreading the +fish to dry on the flakes, as the structures were called which had +been erected on a sunny headland, after the fashion of the +fish-flakes at St. John's, Newfoundland, whence the idea was taken. + +Already Mr. Selincourt was in treaty for the purchase of land on +both sides of the river. He wanted to possess the river frontage +on each bank of the water, from the bay up to the first portage; +but the drawback to this was that 'Duke Radford owned nearly three +quarters of a mile of frontage close to the store, so it was not +likely that the owner of the fishing fleet would get all the ground +into his own hands. + +Mary had a fancy for geology, and when her father had no need of +her help in forwarding his schemes she spent long days in tramping +about the woods and the shore, armed with a hammer and a specimen +bag, and accompanied by one or two of the big dogs from the store. +True to her resolve, she had lost no time in making friends with +the great, fierce creatures, which roamed as they pleased in +summer, as a sort of holiday compensation for the hard work they +had to do in winter, when stores had to be transported by sledges. +She had done her work so thoroughly that the dogs became, not +merely her friends, but her abject slaves, and were ready at any +time to swim the river at her call. + +The coast of the bay to the northward was flat and swampy, but +southward from Seal Cove it stretched in bold headlands and +precipitous rocks for mile on mile, until the mouth of the next +river spread acres of swamp 'twixt land and sea. Beyond the +headland on which Mr. Selincourt had erected his fish-flakes there +extended miles of broken ground, with split rocks and riven cliffs +which might have been the result of volcanic upheaval, but were +probably only the product of the intense frost of centuries. This +was Mary's happy hunting ground, a place full of scientific +surprises, and full of dangers too. For the rocks were slippery, +the heights tremendous, and a fall in many places must have meant +certain death. + +Jervis Ferrars had been in his boat one morning along the coast to +a certain bay or inlet much beloved of the black-headed gulls. +These birds were valuable either for their plucked feathers, or for +their skins with the feathers left on. They frequented the inlet +in their tens of thousands, and it had occurred to him that it +might be good business to secure a couple of thousand skins, and +get them dry for packing by the time the next boat arrived, +probably in the middle of August. + +He had beached his boat, and spent an hour or more wandering round +the crags, and planning the campaign against the luckless gulls, +which dozed in sleepy content on the sunny slopes of the inlet. +Then, taking to his boat again, he pulled himself back towards Seal +Cove, maturing his plans on the way. He was passing a rocky +promontory just before reaching the fish-flakes, when he heard a +yelping noise, and, looking up, saw a big dog running to and fro on +the rocks in evident distress. But there were so many big dogs +running loose in the woods and the wilds at this time of the year, +and as they were mostly in distress over something or other, he +took very little notice of the creature, and, working steadily on, +arrived in due course at the fish shed. + +Jervis was tired, having pulled many miles through a choppy sea +with the wind against him, and he was thinking that it would be +really pleasant to sit writing for an hour or two somewhere out of +the roaring of the wind. Entering his office, he took off his +jacket and sat down on the rough stool before the equally rough +desk where his clerical work was principally done. + +But he had not entered two items in his book of takings when Mr. +Selincourt came in hastily, with a worried look on his face. + +"Have you seen Mary in your travels?" he asked. + +"No; I didn't even know that Miss Selincourt was at Seal Cove this +morning," Jervis answered, looking up from his writing. + +"She came down a good two hours before I did; said she wanted to go +over the rocks to test some ironstone formation which she +discovered the other day. She promised to be back here to meet me +when I arrived, but that is three hours ago, and she has not come +yet." + +Jervis sat looking at him in an abstracted fashion, as if trying to +settle some clue which threatened to escape him; then, with a +start, he asked: "Had she a dog with her?" + +"Most likely; she never moves very far without one or two of those +great brutes from the store to keep her company, and a good thing +too. I always feel more comfortable about her then, than if she +were alone." + +Jervis jumped up and began to pull on his jacket with nervous +haste. He was remembering the dog he had seen on the rocks an hour +or two ago, and the creature's evident distress, which probably +meant that Miss Selincourt was in trouble also. + +"What is the matter?" demanded Mr. Selincourt. + +"Nothing, I hope. But as I came home a while ago from the inlet I +noticed a dog on the rocks, a big creature that seemed in trouble. +I didn't think much of it then, but of course it must have been the +animal that was with Miss Selincourt, so I am going to see if she +is all right," Jervis answered. + +"I will come with you," said Mr. Selincourt. + +"Please, no; I can go faster alone. And if she is not really in +difficulties we might both miss her, and have a long, anxious hunt +for no purpose at all. If you will walk over beyond the +fish-flakes, and come to the rocks from that direction, you will +either meet her or meet me," Jervis said, then hurried off to his +boat, which was drawn up on the shore at a little distance from the +fish shed. + +It must have been two miles away, perhaps three, that he had seen +the dog, and now he blamed himself because he had not taken more +notice of its trouble. The worst of it was, he was not quite sure +as to where he had seen the creature. The sky was overcast, and +the weather looked so threatening that, unless he could find Miss +Selincourt soon, and hurry her home, she would scarcely escape a +very bad wetting. + +Resting on his oars, he sent out a mighty shout, then waited with +every sense on the alert. One minute passed--two--and when five +minutes had gone he shouted again, following this up with a whistle +so piercing that it fetched a distant echo from the rocks. + +But was it an echo? + +The sound had scarcely died away when it was repeated again. A +moment later Jervis heard it yet again, and knew for a certainty +that it was no echo, but someone whistling back to him. + +The breeze had freshened to a gale that roared in his ears like +thunder, as he drew his boat high up beyond reach of the tide that +was running in strongly; and when the boat was safe he set out to +climb the rocks. Up, and up, a dizzy height he went, finding +foothold with difficulty, for what looked like solid rock had a +trick of crumbling when stepped upon, just as if it were rotten +mortar. + +But he reached the top at last, and paused to look about him, +holding fast with both hands, for the force of the wind at this +height was so great that he feared lest he should be blown away. + +On one side was the bay, with great waves, foam-crested, rolling +in, to break with a thunderous roar on the beach. Spread out on +the other hand was the wild, rocky waste, full of dangers now, for +in the deep valleys between great rock boulders the incoming tide +was rising and making deep pools where a little before had been dry +ground. + +It was these pools that Jervis feared. If Mary had slipped into one +of these deep places she might easily be caught by the rising +flood, and drowned before help could reach her. + +The mere thought turned him sick, and he whistled shrilly as before. + +The answering whistle came so promptly, and sounded so close, that +he started in surprise, then shouted: "Where are you?" + +"Here," replied a voice that sounded so close, so audibly that he +looked round in mystification. Then he saw a deep gulch yawning +below him, and caught the flutter of a handkerchief on the far +side. But how could he reach there? Down he plunged with reckless +haste, having little or no regard for his own safety--and, indeed, +he who hesitated here was lost, for at every step the rock crumbled +and slid under his weight. + +"It will be queer work getting back!" he said to himself, then +pressed onward to reach the side of the gulch, where now he could +see Mary Selincourt crouched on a narrow ledge or shelf against a +perpendicular cliff, while the water was rising higher and higher, +creeping nearer and nearer to where she sat. + +How could he rescue her from there? One hope he had, that her +shelf might be above high-water mark, in which case patient +endurance would be all that was needed until the tide ran out +again. A glance at the wall of cliff behind Mary proved this hope +to be futile, for the mark of the water showed above her head, and +if she were not rescued speedily, he could only stand by and see +her drown. + +"Are you hurt?" he called out when he had scrambled low enough to +talk to her. + +"I have twisted my foot rather badly," she said in an exhausted +tone, "and I seem to have been shouting and whistling for help for +so long. I had great difficulty to make the dog leave me and go +for help, but I think it understood at last, because it went off at +such a pace." + +"Well, we must get you out of this as soon as possible, for the +tide is coming up fast. Do you mind a wetting!" he asked, creeping +down to the edge of the dividing water, and wondering whether he +could wade or if he must swim. + +"Mind or not mind, I shall get one, I expect," she answered, with a +nervous laugh. "Be careful, Mr. Ferrars, there is a very deep +place just below this shelf, and the water showed there before +anywhere else; it seemed to ooze up from the bottom." + +"I must swim for it, then, I suppose," he said, pulling off his +jacket and his boots; then, slipping into the water, he struck out +and crossed the strip of rising tide, which lay like a river along +the bottom of the gulch. + +But when he reached the shelf it was above him, and the cliff was +too steep for climbing. + +"You must roll off that shelf and drop into the water," he said in +a sharp, decided tone. + +"Oh, I dare not! I cannot swim, and I might be drowned!" cried +Mary, her face turning ashen white. + +"You won't drown--I will catch you. But make haste, this water is +so cold that I am afraid of cramp," Jervis said, feeling his teeth +chatter. Although it was July, there was so much ice in the bay in +the shape of floating bergs that the water was of course fearfully +chill. + +"I can't do it; I simply can't!" she cried, with a shudder. "Mr. +Ferrars, I would rather lie here and drown than have to roll off +into that dreadful water. All my life I have been a coward, and it +is of no use expecting me to be brave now." + +"You must do as you choose, of course, as you are too high up for +me to be able to reach you," he said, keeping his voice as steady +as he could, although his teeth were chattering still; "but all the +time you stay there you keep me here, so in compassing your own +death you compass mine also." + +"Go away, Mr. Ferrars, go away, and save yourself," she groaned. +"I cannot, I dare not, plunge into that dreadful water!" + +"You must; there is no other way to safety. Come, be a brave girl, +and take the plunge," he urged, a note of entreaty coming into his +tone, for life was sweet to him, sweeter than it had ever been +before, and it was dreadful to think that he must throw it away +because this wilful girl refused to allow herself to be saved. But +she only covered her face with her hands, moaning and crying +because of the panic that had her in its grip. + +Then Jervis felt himself lifted higher; the water was rising fast, +and now, by straining upward and reaching as far as he could, he +managed just to touch the shelf whereon Mary was crouched. + +"Here I am. Now, take my hand and come," he said urgently. + +She only covered her face with her hands and moaned, but would not +stir nor look up. + +In that narrow gulch they were sheltered from the wind, but the +rain was beginning to pour down in torrents, and Jervis thought +grimly that she would soon be as wet as if she had taken the plunge. + +He was kicking vigorously in the water, and was thankful to find +that, now he had got over the first chill, his teeth were not +chattering so miserably. + +Another ten minutes, he reckoned, would put him high enough in the +water to scramble on to the ledge, and then it would have to be a +tussle of physical strength, if necessary, for he meant to save +Mary somehow, whether she would let him or not. + +The minutes dragged slowly on, the rain beat down with tempestuous +violence, and in that dreary gulch it was dark, almost like night. +But the water was rising still, and putting out all his strength +Jervis dragged himself up on to the shelf of rock. Mary saw him +coming. Then she scrambled to her feet with a cry of fear, and, +before he could stretch out an arm to save her, reeled and toppled +over into the water. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +Katherine Makes a Discovery + +Katherine was having a thorough turn-out of the store. Everything +was off the shelves, the cobwebs had all been swept from the +ceiling, and now, armed with a scrubbing-brush, she was cleaning +all the shelves with soap and water. To use her own expression, it +was "horridly" dirty work. But it had to be done, so the sooner it +was got through and finished the better. She had done the top +shelves all round, and, changing the water in her pail, had started +on the next lot and was scrubbing vigorously, when she heard a +long-drawn, mournful howl from the other side of the river. + +"That is Hero," she said to herself in surprise; and then, +remembering that Mary Selincourt had called for the dog that +morning on her way down river, she came down the ladder, and, going +to the door, looked out. + +There was Hero plainly enough, a big black-and-white dog, which, +while looking like a Newfoundland, had such a marked aversion to +water that it would never swim if it could avoid doing so. +Katherine would have turned back to her work, and left the dog to +remain where it was until someone came along with a boat, but she +remembered that Mary had wanted the dog to accompany her in a +ramble, and so it was rather disquieting to find the creature had +wandered home again. + +Sitting on its haunches, the dog was flinging up its head for +another howl, but, chancing to catch sight of Katherine, it broke +into eager barking instead, pleading so plainly for a dry journey +across the river that, with a laugh at her own weak yielding, she +ran down to the bank, and, getting into the boat which was moored +there ready for anyone who might want it, rowed across to the other +side, where the dog awaited her in a perfect ecstasy of welcome. + +She had no hat on, the sleeves of her cotton blouse were rolled up +over her elbow, and she wore still the big rough apron she had +donned for scrubbing. It struck her, as she crossed the river, +that the wind was very cold, and that the day was grey and +cheerless, now the clouds had hidden the sun. + +Hero jumped into the boat, and, crouching at Katherine's feet, +fawned upon her with great affection and delight. + +"Oh, yes, you are very glad to see me, I have no doubt, but really +you are a fearful fraud to bring me away from my work on a busy day +like this, by pretending you cannot swim, when it is plain you have +been in the water, for you are dripping with wet!" Katherine said, +seeing the water which ran from the dog's thick coat as it sat in +the boat thumping a grateful tail in thanksgiving. Then she +noticed that the dog had something tied round its neck which looked +like a silk waist-belt, and that a handkerchief was knotted to the +belt. + +"Something is wrong!" she muttered to herself; then, reaching the +other side, she moored her boat and proceeded to investigate the +message wrapped About the dog's neck. + +A scrap of paper with writing upon it was crumpled up in the +handkerchief, and spreading this out she read: + + "Please come and help me, for I have had a tumble + down a steep rock and twisted my foot. I can't walk, + and I am on a ledge deep down a gulch near the sea, + on the rocks beyond the fish-flakes. + MARY SELINCOURT." + +"Deep down in a gulch near the sea," quoth Katherine to herself +with a puzzled frown; then she jumped up with a cry. "I know where +it is; that gulch is one of the tideholes, and she will be drowned +if I don't make haste!" + +Out of the boat she bounded, and rushed up the slope to the store. +Springing over the confusion of canisters and boxes, she hurried +into the house, where Mrs. Burton was sitting at work making new +frocks for the twins. + +"Nellie, will you look after the store for an hour? I should lock +the door if I were you, and refuse to serve anyone who comes, for +it is confusion thrice confounded in there, and I don't think you +would be able to find things if you tried." + +"What is the matter, dear?" asked Mrs. Burton, looking up and +seeing how frightened her sister seemed. + +"Hero has just come home, and I have found tied to his neck a note +from Mary, saying that she has sprained her ankle and is lying in +one of the tide-holes beyond the fish-flakes. I must hurry down to +Seal Cove as hard as I can row, for the tide is coming in now, and +she may be in danger." + +"Are there none of the portage men who could go with you to help +you?" asked Mrs. Burton. + +"I may find one at Seal Cove, but there are none here. One went +down river early with Mary, the other rowed Mr. Selincourt down an +hour or more ago. I will be back as soon as I can, dear; or it may +be that Miles and Phil will get in first: but keep the store locked +until someone comes." + +"Indeed I will; trust me for that!" said Mrs. Burton, dropping her +work and following Katherine to the door to see her start. + +As Katherine turned back to say something, two steps from the +threshold, a coil of strong cord hung on the house wall caught her +attention, and after a moment's hesitation she reached up and took +it down. It was the identical coil of rope that she and Phil had +had in the boat that day when they came home from Fort Garry and +found Mr. Selincourt in the muskeg. It had slipped aside and been +forgotten until a day or two ago, when Katherine had found it, +scrubbed it clean of muskeg mire, and hung it up to dry in the +sunshine, and again forgotten it. She had flung on a coat, because +her blouse showed signs of the hard, dirty work she had been doing, +and had crammed a woollen cap on her head to hide the roughness of +her hair. + +"Are you going to take the dog? He will only make you more work," +said Mrs. Burton, as Hero leaped into the boat and took his place +as a complacent passenger, looking on at the work being done. + +"Yes, I must. The old dog is very wise; he will guide us quickly +to where Mary is lying," Katherine said. Then she threw off the +mooring rope, rowed out to midstream, where she could get the full +advantage of the current, and then began to row down river as fast +as she could pull. + +The sky was still overcast, the wind howled through the trees, and +it was so chill that she was glad of her coat, despite the vigorous +exercise which she was getting in rowing. Never had it taken so +long to get to Seal Cove, or so it seemed in her impatient haste; +and after the first half-mile the current did not help her, for the +tide was coming in fast and making itself felt. + +Seal Cove appeared to be deserted when she got there. Neither of +the portage men was to be seen, although both the Selincourt boats +were drawn up side by side on the beach near the fish shed. The +office was locked and the key gone. Katherine looked round in +despair and shouted at the top of her voice for help. Surely +someone must be within hearing distance, although the place looked +entirely devoid of life, except for some fishing boats a mile or +two out from shore, and beating into harbour against the strong +wind, which was blowing half a gale, perhaps more. + +The shouts brought Mrs. Jenkin to the door of her house, with an +ailing babe tucked under her arm and two small children clinging to +her ragged skirt. + +"Dear, dear, Miss Radford, what is the matter? Why, you look just +awful!" exclaimed the good woman, jogging the wailing babe up and +down, to still its fretful complaining. + +"I can't find anyone, Mrs. Jenkin, and I want help so badly. Where +are all the men? Miss Selincourt has hurt her foot out on the +rocks beyond the fish-flakes, and I am afraid she may be caught by +the tide before she can be rescued," Katherine said anxiously. + +"Dear, dear, what is to be done? I don't believe there is a man +about the place, unless it is Oily Dave. Mr. Ferrars went away in +his boat at dawn, and I don't know that he is back yet. I'd go +with you myself, dear, but I can't leave the babies," Mrs. Jenkin +said, with so much concern and sympathy that Katherine gulped down +something closely related to a sob before replying. + +"Will you find Oily Dave and tell him to come on after me as fast +as he can? Tell him there is money in the job, then perhaps he +will hurry. If any more men come, send them on after me. And do +have a kettle of water boiling, so that we can give Miss Selincourt +a cup of coffee or something when we get her back here," said +Katherine, then hurried away, the coil of rope flung over her arm, +the dog following close at her heels. + +It was a long way over a rough track to the rocks. The easier and +shorter process would have been to go round by boat, if only there +had been quieter water and less wind; but she knew very well that +it would take more strength than her one pair of arms possessed to +row a boat through such a sea, so she was forced to take the +landward route. + +When she reached the fish-flakes it was as much as she could do to +stand against the wind, and in crossing the headland her pace was +of the slowest. She had expected to find someone up here, the +portage men perhaps, or some Indians attending to the hundreds and +thousands of fish which were spread out drying in the sun and wind; +but there was no one. She did not know, of course, that Mr. +Selincourt had passed that way half an hour before, and had +summoned the portage men to help him to search for Mary among the +rocks. Looking back, she could see Oily Dave coming along at a +shuffling pace behind her, and with an imperious wave of the hand +to hurry his movements she sped onward now at a quicker pace, +because the ground was descending, and the hill behind her broke +the force of the wind. At the bottom of the hill there were two +tracks, both of which led round among the gulches or tideholes, +only by different ways and to different points, and it was here +that Katherine knew she would be at fault. + +Hero still trotted contentedly just behind, as if perfectly +satisfied that she should take the lead. But a mistake now might +be disastrous and waste hours of time; so, calling the dog forward, +she began to talk to him in an eager, caressing fashion: "Good old +Hero, clever old dog, go and find Mary! Mary wants you ever so +badly; hurry up, old chappy, hurry up!" + +The dog threw up its head with an eager whine, and looked round as +if to make certain where Mary was to be found. + +"Mary, Mary, find her, go along!" cried Katherine; then with a +short bark Hero turned to the track leading seawards, and set off +at a trot, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left. + +Katherine groaned. The tideholes nearest the sea naturally filled +first, and it could not be very far from high tide already. +Looking back, she saw Oily Dave gaining upon her, and waved to him +again to make haste. It was of no use to shout, because the wind +was blowing from him to her, and so her voice would not carry. +Then a dash of cold rain struck her from behind, and thankful she +was that it was behind, for if it had struck her in the face she +could hardly have stood against it. Right in front of her Hero was +trotting forward with head carried well in the air, and an eager +alertness in every limb. It was clear the creature felt no +uncertainty about its movements, and the feeling that she was going +right was an unspeakable comfort to Katherine, who toiled along in +the rear. + +Suddenly the dog stopped dead short, flung up its head with a +weird, dismal howl, then bounded forward at a headlong pace. + +What had it heard? + +Katherine tried to run too, but the track was uphill now, and the +force of the wind caught her the higher she got. Panting, +breathless, her heart beating with fierce, irregular thumps, she +toiled up the rocky track, and, crossing the summit, began to +descend on the other side. + +The gulch was before her now. When she had seen it last it was a +rocky valley, deep in the cliffs, and floored with boulders. Now +it was a long pool, for the tide was in, and the sea, working +through the porous, frost-riven rocks, had half-filled it with +water. Katherine, approaching the gulch from the landward side, +was coming to the place from an opposite direction to that by which +Jervis Ferrars had reached it, and her path downwards was much +easier than his had been. + +She was hesitating whether it was of any use to go in, thinking the +dog must have led her wrong after all, when she caught sight of +something bobbing up and down in the water--something that looked +like a man's head, and at which Hero was barking furiously. + +She ran then with flying, reckless feet, jumping from boulder to +boulder, slipping and sliding, but, as she said afterwards, going +too fast to fall. The person in the water had put up a wet hand, +crying hoarsely for help, and the leaping, suffocating bound which +her heart gave told her that it was Jervis Ferrars who needed her. + +"Can you catch the rope if I throw it?" she cried, flinging the +coil on the ground so that it might unwind easily. + +"Yes," he said in an exhausted tone, which showed her that she had +come only just in time. + +As she threw the line she wondered with sick fear in her heart +where Mary could be, then saw, to her surprise, that Jervis was +holding something up in the water, and understood why he had been +unable to land his burden on the steep, shelving bank. + +Directly he had caught the rope with his one free hand, she rushed +a few steps back up the hill to wind the other end round a tall, +upstanding boulder; then hurrying back she began to pull gently on +the rope, which Jervis had managed to twist round his arm. + +She had forgotten all about Oily Dave, and was fairly startled when +his voice sounded close to her, saying: "I've got the rope; see if +you can ketch 'old of the gal quick, for he's got cramp, sure as +blazes!" + +Katherine made a dash forward, entered the water nearly to her +waist, and, seizing Mary with one hand, clutched at Jervis with the +other, holding both until Oily Dave came to her aid and dragged +Mary's unconscious form out of the water, while she stood clinging +to Jervis, unable to lift him, and fearing that he would slip from +her arms back into the water. + +Then Oily Dave came back, and, with much puffing and snorting, +assisted her in dragging Jervis out of the water also, while Hero +barked like a wild thing, and capered round in mad delight because +the rescue had been effected. The barking did good, too, for it +brought Mr. Selincourt and the two portage men hurrying to the +spot, where they found Katherine doing what she could for Mary, who +still lay in limp unconsciousness, while Oily Dave worked with +perspiring energy at rubbing the cramped limbs of Jervis. + +"Miss Selincourt is not drowned, she has not been under water long +enough," Jervis said faintly. "I think she has just swooned from +sheer terror." + +"That is what it looks like," said Mr. Selincourt, with a sudden +great relief coming into his tone. Then he stripped off his jacket +to wrap his daughter in: the other men stripped off their jackets +also, the drenching rain wetting them to the skin in about two +minutes; but Mary must be wrapped as warmly as possible, and some +kind of a litter had to be improvised in which to carry her. + +She stirred slightly, put up her hand, and showed signs of +returning life, and then her father determined to wait no longer, +but to carry her off to Seal Cove as quickly as possible, sending +the men back afterwards to bring Jervis. But by this time, with +the help of Oily Dave, Ferrars had managed to struggle to his feet, +and declared that he would walk back to Seal Cove, if someone would +help him. + +Katherine came round to him then, saying simply: "If you will lean +on me, the men can carry Miss Selincourt, and if you cannot get all +the way I can stay with you until the men come back for you." + +"Thank you, my dear, you are a brave, good girl," said Mr. +Selincourt, and then he hurried away to help the two portage men +and Oily Dave to carry Mary across the hills to Seal Cove. + +The only litter they had was formed by spreading their jackets +under her, then lifting her so and carrying her as best they +could--no easy task, for she was well grown and well nourished, and +in her present condition of collapse she lay a dead weight on their +arms. + +The progress of Jervis was at first but a feeble crawl, while the +bitter wind seemed to go through him and the driving rain took his +breath away. It was the middle of summer, but when the sun hid its +face, and the wind blew from the north, it was hard to remember how +hot it had been only yesterday. + +"Can you bear it?" asked Katherine anxiously, as he shivered and +shook, clinging to her because he had so little strength to stand +against the blast. + +"I must bear it," he answered; "at least it is safer than sitting +still. Does the wind often come as chilly as this at midsummer?" + +"There are occasional days like this, but the cold don't last long, +and then the sun shines again. Do you think you would be a little +warmer if I walked in front of you?" she asked wistfully, for his +evident suffering, and her own impotence to relieve it, hurt her +dreadfully. + +"I don't think the gain of having you for a wind buffer would make +up for losing you as a crutch," he said, as he hobbled slowly along +in his stockinged feet. He had kicked off his shoes when he went +to the aid of Mary, and the rising tide had floated them away. + +"I am glad that I am so useful," she said, with a nervous little +laugh. She was wet through herself, and shivering with cold and +fright, yet despite these drawbacks the occasion was like a +festival, and her heart was singing for joy. + +"How did you know?" he asked, trying to understand how she chanced +to be on hand at the critical moment with a rope. + +"Mary had written a note and tied it round the dog's neck, then +sent the creature for help. I found it howling on the other bank +of the river, and went over to fetch the poor thing home; then I +found the note, and came as quickly as I could," she answered. + +"You came just in time for me," he said in a shaken voice. "I +don't think that I could possibly have held out five minutes +longer, because of cramp, and I could not lift Miss Selincourt out +of the water." + +"I don't think I could have done it either if it had not been for +Oily Dave," Katherine answered, a quiver of mirth stirring her +tones. "Fancy Oily Dave as a rescuer of people in direful straits! +We shall have him posing as a public benefactor soon!" + +"He has long been a private benefactor, or at least I have regarded +him as such," Jervis said slowly. + +"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him in surprise, and +wondering if he had forgotten the grim incident of the flood. + +"I feel grateful to him, and always shall, because he left me in +the lurch that day when the water came in. I had to owe my life to +you that day; and but for you and your rope I must have perished +to-day, Katherine. I am really very much in your debt. Do you +think I shall ever be able to repay you?" + +"Of course; if not me, then someone else. Such things are always +passed on," she said lightly. + +"Of choice I would rather pay my debt in this case, if indeed it +can be paid, to the person to whom I owe it," he said, with a slow +emphasis which made her heart beat tumultuously. Then she +remembered that it was her duty to stand aside for Mary's sake, and +that she must not let this man love her if Mary had set her own +affections upon him, as Nellie had more than hinted. + +A cold shiver shook Katherine then, for now the chill came from +within as well as without, and the dreary day wrapped her exhausted +body in its dismal discomfort. + +"Don't talk," she said with a touch of authority in her tone. +"Save your strength for enduring. See, here comes a man running +down from the fish-flakes; he has come to help us, and now we shall +get on faster, you will find." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Matter for Heartache + +Three days had passed away, and life had dropped into its +accustomed monotony again. Mrs. Burton said there never was +anything to vary the sameness of existence at Roaring Water Portage +unless someone was in danger of his or her life, and really events +had a way of proving her to be right. When Katherine had rushed +off in such a hurry that day, to help Mary Selincourt out of her +fix, Mrs. Burton had left her sewing, and, taking her sister's work +in hand, had finished cleaning the shelves, then restored to them +the various canisters and boxes according to her own ideas of +neatness, instead of with any remembrance as to how they had been +arranged previously. + +On reaching home that afternoon, wet, cold, weary, and with chill +foreboding in her heart, Katherine's first sensation was one of +lively gratitude to Nellie for having dispersed the confusion she +had left behind when she departed so hurriedly. But when a +customer came in a little later for a quarter of a pound of +mustard, and it took half an hour of hard searching to find it, +Katherine began to wonder whether after all it would not have been +easier to have been left to deal singlehanded with the confusion on +the floor, for at least she had known where to find things. + +Then someone wanted corn-flour, which entailed a still longer +search; but the culminating point came when Mrs. M'Kree sent down +in hot haste for carbonate of soda and dried mint, to make some +remedy for an unexpected attack of dyspepsia. It took exactly one +hour and ten minutes by the clock to find the carbonate of soda, +followed by ten minutes' active search for the mint. After this +experience Katherine decided that tidiness might be too dearly +bought, and set to work to re-arrange matters after a more +practical pattern. + +But all this took time, and, with her other work added on, +effectually prevented her having time for moping, which was of +course a very good thing. She had not seen Jervis since the slow +walk from the rocks to Seal Cove; but she knew that he had spent +the next day in bed with a bad chill and some fever. Mary was at +Seal Cove for two days, but had been brought up river on the +previous evening, and was now being looked after by Mrs. Burton, +who was never quite so happy as when she had some invalid to care +for. + +Miles and Phil had gone over to Fort Garry that morning. Katherine +ought to have gone, but in view of the confusion which still +existed on the shelves it hardly seemed safe to leave Miles in +charge, because he had a habit, when he could not find the right +thing, of supplying something else which looked almost like it. So +when Katherine found him tying up an ounce of caustic soda, in +place of the tartaric acid which had been ordered, it seemed high +time to interfere, and she had sent him off with Phil to do her +work, while she remained at home sorting out the contents of the +shelves. + +Mrs. Burton had been over the river to look after Mary, and had +come back again, leaving Hero as a sort of deputy nurse and +caretaker, in addition to the portage man who was on duty that day. +Mr. Selincourt had been down to Seal Cove, and had returned; then +Katherine, at work on her knees in the far corner of the store, +heard someone enter, and, coming out of her corner, found that one +of the portage men had brought her a note from Mary. It ran:-- + + "Dear Katherine, + Can you come over and spend an hour with + me this evening when the store is closed? I feel that + I want to see you more than anyone else in the world. + Please come. + MARY." + +"Miss Selincourt said that a message would do for answer," said the +man who had brought the note. + +Katherine hesitated about what that answer should be. In her heart +of hearts she knew very well that she did not want to go away that +evening. Jervis had not been up the river for three days, so he +would be almost sure to come that evening, and she wanted to be at +home when he came, to see for herself that he was none the worse +for the long immersion in the water, and the painful barefooted +walk to Seal Cove. + +But the hesitancy did not last long, and, setting her face in +sterner lines than usual, Katherine told the man that she would +certainly pay Miss Selincourt a visit that evening when her work +was done. + +If the work dragged a little after that, and the day lost something +of the zest which had marked it before, no one guessed it but +herself. She was bright and cheerful, teasing Miles, when he came +home, about some fancied indignity which he had received at the +hands of the Indians, and rallying Mrs. Burton on the awful +confusion wrought by her reforms in the store. + +Not even to herself would Katherine admit how much she dreaded the +simple friendly visit she had promised to pay that evening. She +was afraid that she would see some look or sign of what she feared +most to know. Mary Selincourt was a reserved, self-controlled +girl, but it is her sort of nature which sometimes betrays itself +most completely in moments of emotional strain, and Katherine at +this time was very much like an ostrich, being disposed to believe +that the thing she could not see did not exist. + +'Duke Radford spent most of his days sitting in the sunshine. He +talked cheerfully, withal a trifle incoherently, to all of his +friends and neighbours who came to gossip with him; but he was +always at his best when Mr. Selincourt or Jervis Ferrars was there +to talk to him, for they spoke of things right away from the +ordinary course of daily life, and his mind was clearest about the +matters which in other days had concerned him least. But neither +Mr. Selincourt nor Jervis Ferrars had been near for three days, and +the invalid plainly moped, missing the companionship that cheered +him most. + +"I am so glad you are going over to sit with Mary to-night, because +that will probably mean that Mr. Selincourt will come here, and he +will be sure to cheer Father up," Mrs. Burton said, when Katherine +came in for a hurried cup of tea before finishing her work in the +store. + +"He does look tired and sad to-day," Katherine answered wistfully. +She could bear her father's condition better when he was cheerful +and at ease, but when, as to-day, life seemed a burden to him, then +her heart ached at the sight of his suffering. + +The last half-hour in the store that evening was harder than the +whole of the day which had gone before. The heat was intense, the +flies swarmed black in every direction, and, failing other food, +appeared anxious to make a meal from Katherine's face; while the +customers who thronged the store in unusual numbers seemed all to +require the articles most awkward and uncomfortable to serve. +There was a run on pickled pork, on brawn canned in Cincinnati, on +soap, molasses, and lard; while at least four customers demanded +rock brimstone, flour of sulphur, or some other variety of that +valuable but homely remedy common to every back-country store. + +They were all disposed of at last, however, and then, bidding Miles +shut the door quickly before anyone else came, Katherine went away +to change her dress and get ready for her visit to Mary. Her best +frock went on to-night. She had so few frocks, and these few had +to be chosen with so much regard to utility, that there was a +uniformity about them which might well pall upon a girl who loved +pretty things. The best frock was a severely plain garment of +dark-blue woollen stuff, but it was relieved by a shirt of soft +white muslin, and, because a pretty girl always looks charming in a +plain frock, Katherine in her dark blue was simply bewitching. + +Phil rowed her over the river, bragging all the way of the manner +in which he was beginning to handle the oars. And then, at +Katherine's suggestion, he waited to see if Mr. Selincourt would go +over and visit the store for an hour or so. + +Katherine found Mary lying on a couch under the open window, +looking pale and worn, with a very tired expression. Mr. +Selincourt was reading to her, but when Katherine suggested the +waiting boat, and 'Duke Radford's loneliness, she at once declared +her father ought to go over and pay the invalid a visit. + +"You have been shut up with a fractious convalescent nearly the +whole day, dear Daddy, and I am sure it will be a pleasant change +to go and chat with Mr. Radford, who is always serene," she said +urgently; and so, more to please her than himself, her father said +he would go. + +"Come down and see me into the boat, Miss Katherine; it won't hurt +Mary to be alone, and I want to say thank you for coming to the +rescue so promptly the other day," he said. + +"I don't want to be thanked, but I will show you the way to the +boat with pleasure, if you are afraid of getting lost _en route_," +Katherine said with a laugh, but falling into his mood, because she +saw he wished to say something to her alone. + +When they were beyond earshot of the open window, he said +anxiously: "Don't you think Mary looks very badly?" + +"She looks fearfully tired," Katherine answered. + +"Yes, that is it. And the tiredness comes from mental strain. +Poor Mary! It seems so hard for her to be happy, yet in all her +life she has never lacked anything she wanted save one, and even +that I am in hopes she will get yet, if only she has the patience +to wait for it." + +Katherine's heart gave a painful bound. What was this one thing +that Mary Selincourt wanted but could not have--yet? But she could +not answer the question with any satisfaction to herself, and she +stood silently watching while Mr. Selincourt took his place in the +boat. Then she turned and went back up the path again: but her +feet dragged in spite of herself; it was as if some instinct told +her she was going to meet a heartache. + +Mary welcomed her back with a smile, and, reaching out her arm, +dragged a comfortable chair nearer the couch. "Come and sit here, +you poor, tired Katherine. What a shame that you should have had +to toil all day, until your very feet ache with tiredness, while I +have lain here and sighed because the hours crept along so slowly!" + +"But that is only because you could not use your foot; you don't +find time drag when you are able to get about," Katherine remarked, +setting her head back against the cushions with a sigh of content, +for the chair was of a restful pattern, and she was tired enough to +feel the cushions a welcome luxury. + +"No, indeed, I can always make sure of interest and amusement when +I have two feet available for service, but I was not cut out for +the peaceful avocation of the couch invalid, and I just loathe +inaction. I would rather have had your day," Mary said with a sigh. + +"Are you sure? To begin with, you don't know what sort of a day I +have had, and to continue, you have never had to work for your +living, and don't know how it feels," Katherine rejoined, thinking +of the stuffy heat of the store, the flies, the pickled pork, and +the molasses, which had all tried her patience so sorely in the +latter part of the day. + +Mary's face took on an injured expression. "Do you think it is +quite kind of you to taunt me with never having tasted the sweets +of independence?" she asked. + +"But you are independent of the necessity to toil," said Katherine. + +"That is not true independence. Riches might take to themselves +wings, banks might break, investments fail, then where should I be? +I am only independent because fate has given me the use of money I +have never earned. But you are different; you can carve your own +destiny, and are master of yourself." + +"Am I? Don't indulge in any such mistaken ideas, I beg of you," +broke in Katherine, with a little grimace as in fancy she smelled +again the soap and the brimstone which had offended her so much in +the store. "I set out to be a school teacher, and came home from +Montreal with my head packed full of theories concerning how +teaching ought to be done, and how I meant to do it. The first +disappointment came when I found there were no children of school +age obtainable, except Miles and Phil; for it is very hard to +theorize upon one's own kith and kin, at least I found it so. +Night school, also, is not an easy practice-ground for new methods, +which was disappointment number two; and then came Father's +illness, which has settled once and for all the question of my +teaching, and has caged me up to the business of the store, whether +I would or no. So how can I carve my own destiny, pray?" + +Mary clapped her hands. "Why, can't you see that is what you are +doing all the time? In spite of adverse circumstances you have +done your very utmost, and consequently your very best. You have +been brave, patient, cheerful, and always you have spent yourself +for others until----" + +"Oh, spare me any more, and let us talk about something else!" +cried Katherine impatiently; her cheeks were getting hot, and her +memory was pointing to many a time when she had been neither brave, +nor patient, nor cheerful. + +"Yes, of course we will talk of something else, and now you shall +have the reverse of the picture, for I want to talk about myself," +Mary said, with a quick flush which made the heart of the other +turn chill and cold, with dread of what might be coming next. + +"Self is a sorry subject for over-much meditation, don't you think? +And introspection is very bad for invalids," Katherine said +nervously. + +"I'm not an invalid, not in that sense at least; I am only +incapacitated through having twisted my ankle. But I simply must +confide in somebody, or I don't know what will happen to me. I +can't open my heart to my daddy; he has had cares enough concerning +me already; while if I tried to tell Mrs. Burton she would be so +shocked that she would refuse to come and look after me any more; +then whatever would become of me until I can get about and look +after myself again?" + +Katherine laughed, although her heart was heavy as lead. It was +plain she would have to be taken into confidence whether she would +or no. It was equally plain that she would have to face the +consequences afterwards, for she was not the sort of girl who would +be untrue to herself. + +"So you have no scruples about shocking me? Or is it that you +think I am not easily shocked?" + +"A little of both, I think," Mary replied with a sigh of relief. +"The fact is, you are so strong and brave that you inspire +confidence." + +"Is that meant for a compliment, and do I have to feel grateful?" +asked Katherine. + +"That is as you please. But tell someone I must, or I think the +miserable business will wear me out, for I cannot sleep. +Katherine, I was nearly suicide and murderer too on that awful +morning in the tide-hole." + +"What nonsense! What will you be saying next?" cried Katherine +with forced cheerfulness; but the colour faded from her cheeks. + +"I am not talking nonsense, but unvarnished truth. I might have +been saved easily enough, and Mr. Ferrars need have suffered no +inconvenience save a wetting, but for my own fault; for he was +there long before the water reached the place where I had fallen." + +"But why----?" began Katherine, then stopped short, remembering +that she did not want to ask questions, nor to seek information. + +"But why wasn't I saved before, were you going to say?" said Mary. +"Because I would not let myself be. The fact is, down at the +bottom I am a coward, just that and nothing more. My life has been +so sheltered and easy, too, that there has been nothing to stir +into activity any latent bravery that I might have had. Mr. +Ferrars could not reach me, or it is probable he would have pulled +me from the ledge where I was lying by sheer force. As it was, he +waited in the water for a long time, until the tide rose high +enough for him to reach me. It was almost high enough; I realized +that in another moment I should be dragged into the water, whether +I would or no, and I just felt that I could not bear it: so I +sprang up with a wild impulse to rush somewhere, anywhere--but I +had forgotten my twisted ankle, the pain from which was so intense +that I reeled, lost my balance, and was into the water all in a +moment." + +"Anyone might have felt like that, and acted just the same under +the circumstances," said Katherine, pitifully. This confession was +so utterly different from anything she had expected to hear that +her heart grew lighter in spite of herself. + +Mary laughed in a dreary, mirthless fashion. "Do you know it is a +bitter humiliation to me to owe my life to Jervis Ferrars?" she +said brusquely. + +"Why?" demanded Katherine, the question dragged from her in spite +of herself. + +A wave of hot colour surged over Mary's face; it was not often she +blushed, but now she was crimson. "I don't think I can tell you +that," she replied unsteadily. "In any case it is immaterial to +the story, except that he once asked me a boon I would not grant; +and for that I have been sorry ever since, which shows the +contrary-mindedness of women, don't you think?" + +Katherine nodded; speak she could not. This was worse than +anything she had expected. Mrs. Burton had suggested that Mary was +in love with Jervis, but here was Mary herself plainly intimating +that Jervis had once asked for her love, but that she had refused +him, only to regret her refusal ever since. + +"He is such a good fellow," went on Mary, with a yearning note in +her voice which stabbed Katherine like actual pain. "When Father +asked him about the affair in the tidehole, he never once said +anything about my fearful panic, which so nearly cost him his life; +and the very fact of his reticence has made me feel the meanest +creature on the face of the earth. I can scarcely look my father +in the face, and when he pities me for having been in such sore +straits I feel like sinking through the couch from very shame." + +"Why don't you tell Mr. Selincourt then?" asked Katherine bluntly. +"He would understand how panic had unnerved you, and certainly he +would not judge you harshly." + +"I can't tell him; I am not brave enough. I told you I was a +coward, and so I am, especially in matters of that sort. It is an +awful thing to me to lose anyone's good opinion. My pride, I +suppose; but really I can't help it," Mary answered with a shrug. + +"Yet you have told me," said Katherine, forcing a smile. "Were you +not afraid of losing my good opinion, or was it that you did not +care?" + +"I was just desperate; I had to own up to someone, and so, from +love of contrast I suppose, I turned to you, who are always brave," +Mary said. + +Katherine shook her head: "You make a great mistake; I am a +horrible coward underneath. I think all girls are; it is one of +the weaknesses of our nature which neither training nor hardship +will overcome." + +"Do you expect me to believe you when you talk like that?" asked +Mary. "What about that time when you got on to the ice to get +Jervis Ferrars out of Oily Dave's flooded house? Do you think a +girl who was a coward could have done that?" + +"I could not have done it if I had stayed to think about it," +replied Katherine, a soft flush stealing into her cheeks. "But +there was no time to think about oneself, the thing had to be done +quickly, so it was easy enough. If I had set out from home that +morning, knowing what was in front of me, I could not possibly have +faced it, of that I am quite sure." + +"In other words, what it really amounts to is this: we are all +cowards by nature, but it is possible, by cultivating the grace of +self-sacrifice, so to forget ourselves in our care for others that +we can rise above our natural cowardice, and become as brave or +braver than men," said Mary. + +"It sounds like a sermon put that way," Katherine replied with a +laugh. "Why don't you take to writing books, if you can express +yourself so much to the point?" + +"Because, before writing books successfully, one must have lived, +not merely existed, as I have done," Mary answered a little sadly. +Then she said in a different tone; "You have done me a lot of good, +and I shall sleep to-night like a top--the first real rest I have +had since that miserable morning on the rocks." + +"I shall sleep too, I hope, for I have a big day's work to-morrow," +Katherine said, rising to go. + +"Give me a kiss, dear, just to show me that you don't despise me +for being a coward, or rather for remaining a coward," Mary said, +drawing Katherine's head down. + +There was a wild desire in Katherine's heart to push off those +caressing hands, and rush away in all haste: but she did not yield +to it, realizing that this also was a time for self-forgetting; so, +stooping, she kissed Mary on both cheeks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A Business Offer + +A fortnight slipped away. August had come in, with lengthening +nights, which sometimes had a touch of Arctic cold in them. But it +was glorious summer still, and although in those uncultivated +wastes there was little harvest from the land, the harvest of the +sea went merrily on. Mary Selincourt was out and about again, +limping a little at first, and leaning on a stick, but soon gaining +strength enough to go about as usual; only now, made wise by +experience, she took good care to avoid places of danger like the +tideholes. + +Since that evening of confidential talk with Katherine, Mary had +honestly striven for the grace of self-forgetfulness; but the +virtue is not learned in one lesson, nor yet in two, and she would +probably have given up striving, through disgust at her own +failures, if her pride had not been deeply stirred, and the +obstinate part of her nature brought into full play. + +Pleading hard work as an excuse, Katherine avoided her after that +evening, from a secret dread of any more confidences. This was +easier than it otherwise would have been, owing to Mrs. Burton +having taken the twins over to Fort Garry to spend a week with Mrs. +M'Crawney, which left Katherine with the burden of housekeeping on +her shoulders in addition to the business of the store. + +Jervis Ferrars came up sometimes in the evening to sit and talk +with the invalid on every subject under the sun, from lunar +rainbows to earthquakes, but he got little chance of speech with +Katherine, who was always feverishly busy over some task which +absorbed her whole attention. + +The day after Mrs. Burton came back from Fort Garry another vessel +arrived from Liverpool to anchor off Seal Cove. Only one more boat +would be likely to get in before winter came again, and when an +occasion is so rare it is likely to be made much of. The captain +held a sort of reception on board, to which everyone in Seal Cove +was invited. The M'Krees came down from the second portage with +all their babies; Mrs. Jenkin appeared in finery which no one even +dreamed she possessed; and Oily Dave was magnificent in a +frock-coat of shiny black cloth, worn over a football sweater of +outrageous pattern. + +Katherine and her father were the only stay-at-homes, but 'Duke +Radford was not fit for excursions of that sort, and if Katherine +had gone Miles must have stayed at home, which would have been +rather hard on a boy as fond of ships as he was. But although +everyone went to the reception, some of them did not stay long, and +one of the first to leave was Mr. Selincourt, who had himself rowed +up river and landed at the store to ask Katherine if she would give +him a cup of tea. + +"With great pleasure. Please go in and talk to Father; I shall be +free in a few minutes, and then I will come and make tea for you +both," Katherine answered, holding open the door between house and +store, while she smiled upon the visitor, who was more welcome than +he knew. She was serving an Indian squaw, who demanded bright +calico, 'bacco, and as much of anything else as she could get, for +fourteen beaver skins partly dressed, and as soft as velvet. + +Beaver, even in that district, was becoming very scarce. Indeed, +Katherine was sure that these skins must have come a long distance, +probably seventy or eighty miles, from some part of unknown +Keewatin, where no foot of white man ever trod, and where even the +red man only went at trapping time. She bought the skins, of +course, adding to the purchase price a box of chocolates with a +picture on the lid, a treasure which set the red woman in a state +of the most complacent satisfaction. + +When the squaw had departed, Katherine carefully locked away the +skins before going in to make tea, for the Indians were adepts at +roguery, and if by any means the woman could have stolen them, she +would probably have returned to the store to offer them in barter +again within the next hour. Katherine had been caught like that +often enough to have become exceedingly careful. She was talking +about the exceeding beauty of the skins as she watched the kettle +beginning to boil, and Mr. Selincourt immediately said that he +should like to see them. + +"Will you wait until to-morrow or the next day? Then I will show +you all that we have got. But it is rather dirty work pulling them +out and unrolling them, and I have just put on a clean frock," +Katherine said, laughing at the idea of putting a possible customer +off in such a fashion. + +"I will wait certainly, and if the day after tomorrow will suit +you, I will come then and see if you have anything which Mary might +like me to buy for her. By the way, my men are behind with the +mail this time, a week late, and I am still uncertain whether or no +we shall have to go down to Montreal for the winter," Mr. +Selincourt said, as he helped Katherine to put cups and saucers on +the table. + +"If they had come in time, would you have left by this boat?" +Katherine asked. The question of winter quarters had been +constantly talked of during the last week or two, but nothing had +as yet been decided upon, owing to the delay in the coming of the +two men with the expected mail. + +"No, this boat will go straight to Liverpool. The next will come +round from Quebec, and return there before going to England; and +that must be our way south, I think, unless we decide to return as +we came, by river and trail." + +"We shall all miss you very much," Katherine said regretfully; for +the pleasant, kindly man whom she had feared so greatly at first +had been such a good neighbour that his absence would be keenly +felt. + +"I should not like it if I were not missed; but I am not going for +long, remember. With the opening of the waters I shall be back +again, to settle for good, I hope. England is a fine country to be +born in, but Canada is the land of my choice, and I have never yet +seen a part of it that I like better than these Keewatin wilds; it +is unspoiled nature here," Mr. Selincourt said, rubbing his hands +with great enthusiasm. + +"Wait until you have tried a winter here, before speaking too +positively about it; you may find the isolation too dreadful to be +borne. We who are used to it do not mind so much, but a person +accustomed to daily papers and frequent posts would seem entirely +out of the world," she said, thinking of the long, long nights, +when the wolves howled in the woods, and the silent weeks when the +falls were frozen; and she wondered how this man, who had been +brought up in cities, could bear to think of such a life. + +He laughed in a cheery, unconvinced fashion. "I have thought of +all that: but I can live without daily papers, or letters either, +if need be; although, if Roaring Water Portage develops as I +believe it is going to do, without doubt we shall get a regular +postal service of a sort. If it can't be done any other way, I +will do it myself. Only I must have a bigger house, for in winter +we should be very much cramped in that little hut over the river." + +Katherine nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, you would want a big room for +giving parties and entertainments. Mary would make a lovely +hostess, and the fisher folk would feel as if they were living in a +new world. Oily Dave's dreadful whisky would have no chance at all +against the attractions offered by your big house." + +Mr. Selincourt frowned. "That drink-selling of his is the thorn +among my roses of content, and I don't see how to put it down just +at present. I can't, from sheer decency, send the man packing, +just after he has helped to save my daughter from a dreadful death. +Of course I know that he only helped, and that you could and would +have done it without him if he had not been there, still, he was +there, and I must remember it in his favour, although he has +charged pretty heavily for his services." + +"That is my fault, I fear," Katherine said in laughing apology. +"But I know what Oily Dave is, and that the one thing to move him +is money; so when Mrs. Jenkin told me he was the only man about, I +told her to say to him he must come at once, for there was money in +the work." + +"You were quite right, and if you had promised him a hundred +dollars I would cheerfully have paid it," Mr. Selincourt replied; +and then he turned to talk to 'Duke Radford, who had been sitting +all this time with his head resting on his hand, and taking no +notice at all of what the others were talking about. + +But when the tea-things were cleared away, and Katherine had gone +back to the store again, Mr. Selincourt followed her and commenced +talking afresh of what he meant and hoped to make of that +particular part of the world in the course of the next two or three +years. He had a special purpose in coming up river that afternoon, +for he wanted to consult Katherine on a business point, and did not +feel very sure of his ground. + +Being a straightforward man in all things, however, he stated +bluntly what he had to say. "I want to buy your land, if I can, +Miss Katherine, and I am prepared to pay you any price in reason +that you like to ask me for it. I understand that your father owns +the river frontage for about a mile on this side of the water, +which is practically from here to the swamps, and it is land that I +should very much like to possess." + +"But it is not mine to sell," she said blankly, too much taken by +surprise to know whether she felt pleased or offended by the +suggestion. + +"I know it is not. But your father cannot be approached on any +question of buying or selling, so I had to come to you to see how +you felt about it, and I want you to think the matter over," Mr. +Selincourt replied. + +"All the thinking in the world cannot alter the position so far as +I am concerned," said Katherine, with a little gesture of +weariness. "Our father is apparently a hopeless invalid, afflicted +more in mind than in body, yet no really qualified doctor has seen +him, to certify his unfitness for managing his own affairs. We, +his children, are all under age, except Nellie. By the way, why +did you not go to her?--she is the eldest. Though, even if you +had, she could only have spoken as I have done." + +"I came to you because you stand in your father's place, carrying +on business in his name," Mr. Selincourt said quietly. "And if you +felt that it would be for the good of yourself and the others to +have some easier life than this, it would be very much my pleasure +to help you in realizing your wishes." + +"But how?" asked Katherine, who failed to see how her father's +property could be disposed of without consulting him, while he was +in life, and they, his children, were all under age save one. + +Mr. Selincourt smiled. "Things can mostly be managed when one +wants them to be done. If you and the others believed it would be +for the good of the family to sell your father's property, we could +bring a doctor up here to certify to his unfitness for business. +Your sister would have to be made acting trustee for the rest of +you, and so the thing would be done." + +Katherine shook her head in a dubious fashion, saying: "I will talk +to the others about it if you wish, but I do not think it will make +any difference; we must just go on as we are doing, and make the +best of things as they are. Of course I don't know much about +business, except what I have picked up anyhow, for my profession is +teaching; but we have done very well since the work has been dumped +into our hands, and our profits this year are in excess of any +preceding one's." + +"That is very encouraging. But then you would succeed in anything +you undertook, because you put your whole heart into it, and that +is the secret of success," Mr. Selincourt said warmly. After a +momentary hesitation he went on: "Mind you, this is a business +offer that I am making you, and even though I might give you double +or treble what your land would fetch in the open market at the +present time, I should still look to get a fifty-per-cent return on +my invested capital, although I suppose it is very unbusinesslike +of me to tell you so." + +"But how would you do it?" demanded Katherine. + +"My dear young lady, I believe there is a fortune in every acre of +ground on either side of the river," said Mr. Selincourt excitedly. +"Mary is keen on geology, as you know, and I have studied minerals +pretty closely. We have found abundant traces of iron, of copper, +and of coal. Now, the last is more important than the other two, +for without it they would be practically useless, so far from +civilization; but with it they may be worked to immense advantage." + +"Would not the working be rather costly at the first?" Katherine +asked, with a sensation as if her breath were being taken away. + +"Doubtless! It has already been proved, over and over again, that +if you want to get a fortune from under the earth you must first +put a fortune in it," he replied. + +"But suppose, after you had put it in, you found yourself +disappointed in your returns--discovered, perhaps, that there was +no fortune awaiting you in the ground after all? What would you do +then?--for of course you could not get back what you had spent," +said Katherine, with an air of amusement, for to her the statement +of there being a fortune in every acre of that barren ground +sounded like fiction pure and simple. + +"In that case I should probably have to take off my coat, roll up +my sleeves, and go to work to earn a living for myself and Mary; +but I am not afraid of having to do it just yet," he answered, +laughing. Then as a customer entered the store he went off to talk +to 'Duke Radford, who was sitting outside in the sun, and Katherine +did not see him again that evening. + +As in duty bound, she decided to take counsel with the others, +although her own mind was fully made up with regard to Mr. +Selincourt's offer. Life in some other more civilized place would +probably be easier and pleasanter for herself. Such work as she +had to do now was labour for men, and by no means suitable for +women or girls. But it was not herself she had to think of first +in this case; Miles and Phil were the ones to be considered here, +and she determined that the light in which Miles regarded the +question should be the standpoint from which she would view it too. +By this time she was quite satisfied in her own mind of her ability +to keep the business working in a profitable manner; but if she +were to venture upon earning a living for the six who were +dependent upon her efforts in some other way, she would not be so +sure of herself, and to doubt might be to fail. + +It was not easy to get time to confer all together in that busy +household, but by good fortune a chance occurred that very evening, +and Katherine took it thankfully enough, knowing that it might be +long before such an opportunity came again. Her father had gone to +bed, tired out with his day of sitting and walking in the sunshine, +and was sleeping peacefully. The twins had also been put to rest, +and were droning themselves to sleep in a drowsy sing-song duet +with which they always filled the house before subsiding into their +nightly slumber. + +"Don't go to bed for a few minutes, Phil; I want to talk to you. +We have got to have a family conclave," said Katherine, as Phil, +with a mighty yawn, was turning his steps to the ladder which led +to the loft. + +"What's a conclave? And it is no use going on at me about that +bucket of water I tilted over down the ladder on to Nick Jones; it +stood so handy, and wanted such a little push, that I just could +not help doing it," the boy answered in a sullen tone. He had been +in mischief on board the steamer, escaping with a warning from the +captain and a lecture from Mrs. Burton; but he was by no means +repentant yet, although perhaps a trifle apprehensive of the form +of reprisal which Nick Jones might choose to take. + +Katherine laughed. She had been in mischief herself too often when +at Phil's age not to feel sympathy with him on the score of the +prank he had played that afternoon. It was this same sympathetic +understanding of their moods and actions which gave her so much +influence with the boys, enabling her to twist them round her +little finger, as Miles expressed it. + +"A conclave is a talk, discussion, or argument, but it has nothing +to do with your getting into mischief, Phil. It was a great +temptation, as you say, and I expect that in your place I should +have longed to do the same. Only there is another side from which +to view the business, and that is the side of Nick Jones. No doubt +he feels a bit ruffled, and if he thrashes you for your impudence, +or ducks you in the river, why, you will just have to take it lying +down." + +"He has got to catch me first," said Phil, with that disposition to +swagger in which he delighted to indulge. Then he burst out +eagerly, as he slid his arm round her waist and leaned his head +back against her arm: "It was truly lovely, Katherine, and you +would have laughed until you choked if you had been there. Nick +was just setting his foot on the bottom of the ladder, and his face +was all smuts and smudges, so that he looked as if he had not +washed for a fortnight; he had got his mouth open too, wide open, +and I guess that was the first mouthful of clean water that he has +swallowed for a good long while past." + +"You are really a shocking boy, and if you get a ducking it will be +only what you deserve," said Katherine, who was laughing at this +picture of the discomfiture of Nick Jones. "But sit down here and +let us get our business settled, because we are all tired and +longing for bed." + +"I'm not tired," said Miles, shutting the book he had been reading +with a sigh. It always seemed to be time to go to bed when he +wanted to sit up, just as it was always morning and time to get up +when he was in the full enjoyment of being in bed. + +"But you will be tired to-morrow, and no one who is weary can do +the best that is in him," said Katherine gently. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +The Majority Decides + +To the surprise of Katherine, Mrs. Burton was very anxious that Mr. +Selincourt's offer should be accepted, and she urged that point +very strongly. + +"If you were a boy, Katherine, I would not say one word to +influence you either way. Even now it is for your sake, not mine, +that I should like to take the chance of getting away from this +place. For myself, I would rather be here than at any other place +in the wide world; but I do know that you are hopelessly buried +alive, and the work you have to do is unsuitable for any girl." + +Katherine put up her hand with a pleading gesture, and there was +distress in her eyes as she said hurriedly: "That is not fair to +the boys, Nellie. I asked that you should all speak for +yourselves, not for each other; that can be done afterwards: the +main thing is to know how we each feel about the matter personally. +Now, Miles, let us know what you think?" + +Miles fidgeted, looked supremely uncomfortable, and finally burst +out: "I think it is just horrid to go settling things like this +about Father, as if he were dead, while he is still alive!" + +"Just what I feel myself," broke in Katherine, giving Miles an +affectionate squeeze. "Still, dear, the necessity has arisen to +discuss the business, and we must just face it as other +disagreeables have to be met and overcome. So, putting Father +entirely out of the question for the moment, tell us what you think +you would like best." + +"That can be done in a very few words," he said gruffly. "I dare +say it sounds beastly selfish, but I'd rather stay here than go +anywhere else on the face of the earth. The land is our own; why +should we not keep it? We have got a good paying business +together; why should we give it up? If we could pull through last +winter and make a profit, we certainly ought to do better still +this year, for we are all wiser, older, and stronger. It is +fearfully hard on Katherine to be obliged to do the journeys, I +know, but that can stop when I am a bit older, and more of a dab at +valuing pelts." + +"Now, Phil, it is your turn," said Katherine quickly; she had seen +that Mrs. Burton was about to speak, and was anxious that Phil +should have first chance. + +But the boy was half-asleep, and had to be well shaken up by Miles +before they could bring him to a full understanding of what was +required of him. Then he asked drowsily: "If we went to live +anywhere else should I have to go to school in summer as well as in +winter?" + +"Of course you would," retorted Mrs. Burton promptly; adding, with +a touch of quite unusual severity: "and it would be a very good +thing for you, because in that case you would have no time to play +such monkey tricks as that which you indulged in to-day." + +"Then I'd rather stop here. School in winter is quite tiring +enough, but school all the year round would about wear me out. +Store work is just play compared with the fag of simple equations +and that sort of thing." + +Katherine and Miles laughed merrily, while even Mrs. Burton had to +smile. Phil's attitude towards book-learning had always been one +of utter distaste, although in other things he was a good, +hard-working boy, never disposed to shirk nor to waste his time, +even if the matter in hand was not entirely to his mind. + +"Now you have all said what you think and feel about it," said +Katherine, "I can have my say on the matter, and I might begin by +putting the most conclusive argument first, which is that I am +quite certain we have no legal or moral right to lay a finger on +Father's business affairs at present; I mean, in the way of +upsetting them. If things were different, and the business was not +prospering, we might have some excuse for meddling and changing; as +it is, we have none." + +"Then what did you make all this bother about?" demanded Phil, who +had been roused from his sleepiness by having a wet dishcloth +tucked firmly round his neck by Miles. + +"Because it is a privilege we all share equally to do our very best +for our father, and no one of us ought to decide anything momentous +concerning him without taking counsel with the others," Katherine +answered, leaning forward and catching the dishcloth, which Phil +had aimed at Miles. + +"It is all very well for Mr. Selincourt to offer us a fancy price +for our land, but if there is a fortune in every acre why shouldn't +we have it? I shouldn't in the least mind being a millionaire," +said Miles. + +"Of course you would not; neither should I: but the secret of the +whole matter turns, according to Mr. Selincourt, on first of all +having a fortune to put into the ground before we can get out the +one that is there waiting for us," laughed Katherine. + +"Very well, we'll stick at the store until we have made our pile, +then we can do as we like about throwing it away in order to get +another. Meanwhile we will keep the land, while Mr. Selincourt +amuses himself by digging holes and flinging away money on the +other side of the river," said Miles, getting up from his chair and +yawning widely. + +"Hear, hear!" echoed Phil, clapping his hands. + +"Nellie, dear, it is the majority that decides, and you have lost," +Katherine said, as she hustled the boys off to bed, and prepared to +retire herself. + +"For my own part, as I said before, I'm not sorry to lose, and I do +feel as you do, that we have no right to dispose of Father's +property," Mrs. Burton said. Then she went on, her voice shaken by +real feeling: "But, Katherine, the life you have to lead just about +breaks my heart. You are the brightest and cleverest of us all, +and should have the best chance, instead of which you just have no +chance at all. Take to-day, for instance; we have all been out +enjoying ourselves, whilst you have been grubbing at home at work." + +"It had to be either Miles or me," Katherine reminded her gently; +"and think how he enjoyed it. There are so many pleasures which +come my way that would not interest him at all, and that makes me +so thankful for a chance of giving him a treat like that of to-day." + +"I don't mind going out with Miles, because his manners are decent, +and he is so quiet," said Mrs. Burton, "but I did not know where +to put my head for very shame when Phil threw that pail of water on +to Nick Jones." + +"It was very foolish and silly, of course, and I expect Phil will +have to pay pretty dearly for his mischief. If only Nick will pay +him back in a manly fashion, without being cruel, I shan't care. +Boys learn wisdom quicker through having to bear the consequences +of their own actions, and it does not do for them to be too much +shielded. Did you have a pleasant time?" + +"Yes; it was lovely. The captain and the officers were so polite +and nice, and the tea was very prettily done. Mary was there, of +course, and Mr. Ferrars. I heard a good bit of talk about them +too," Mrs. Burton said, with a happy little wag of her head. Her +own hope and joy in life having become so much a thing of the past, +made her much more interested in the concerns of others. + +"What sort of talk?" asked Katherine. Of course she knew very well +what the answer would be, and that it would make her heart ache +worse than ever; but the situation had got to be faced, so the +sooner she became hardened to the pain the better for her peace of +mind. + +"Oh, the usual things! Mrs. M'Kree said she thought they would +make a lovely pair: for though Mary isn't pretty, she is very +distinguished; and Mr. Ferrars has a way of carrying himself which +makes me think he must come from a very good family indeed. I +noticed that Mary's manner was very different to him to-day, and +from the way he treated her it looked almost as if they had come to +an understanding." Mrs. Burton's air was one of beaming +satisfaction now, for she liked Jervis Ferrars quite well enough to +be glad there was a chance of his marrying a rich wife, and so +being lifted out of the fierce struggle with narrow means. + +Katherine's heart felt sick and cold within her. She remembered +what Mary had said about the boon asked by Jervis, which had been +denied, and the denial regretted ever since. Probably that rescue +from the tidehole had given Jervis the courage and the right to ask +his boon again, and this time Mary would know her own heart too +well to refuse happiness, even though it came to her at the hands +of a poor man. + +She was glad to turn out early next morning and go with Phil to do +the "back-ache" portage, because it took her away from any +likelihood of an encounter with Mary, who would probably be +brimming over with happiness. + +"It is quite natural that she should feel like that, and I am very +glad for her," Katherine announced to herself in a defiant tone, as +she loaded packages of groceries and bundles of dry goods on to the +dogs in the morning, for them to carry over the portage to the +boathouse above the falls. + +It never once occurred to her that she could have made a mistake, +or that she had jumped to wrong conclusions in the matter. She was +so used to making up her mind on all sorts of subjects without any +waste of time, that naturally she decided she was right in this +thing also. The dogs trotted up the portage path with a hearty +goodwill, for they had the sense to know that the journey was not a +long one and that their work would soon be over. There were only +three of them this morning, for Hero was at the house over the +river. + +Katherine and Phil followed the dogs. They also carried burdens, +and, as the portage path was steep, they were glad not to waste +their breath in talking while they toiled up the hill. The last +dog, which walked just in front of Katherine, carried two wooden +boxes, filled with marmalade for Mrs. M'Kree, and it was funny to +see how careful the creature was to keep right in the middle of the +path, so that its burden did not bump against the rocks which +projected on either side of the narrow trail. + +"Good dog! You shall have a smear of marmalade on your biscuit for +supper to-night, if I don't forget it," Katherine said, when the +boathouse was reached without any danger to the consignment of +marmalade. + +"Pity to waste good stuff like that on a creature which can't +appreciate it. Now, I am very gone on marmalade," remarked Phil, +as he put the two boxes into the boat. + +"You shall have some for supper too; but you must not begrudge the +poor dog just a little taste," Katherine said, as with a brief word +of command she sent two of the dogs hurrying back to the store for +some bundles of meal and flannel that had been left behind for a +second journey. + +While the dogs were gone, she and Phil stowed into the boat all the +goods which had been brought over, then they sat down to wait for +the remainder of the load, and Phil's tongue began to be busy on +the events of yesterday. + +"I'm downright glad we've got to do the backache portage to-day, +because, as we can't be in two places at once, I shan't be found at +the store if anyone comes to see me special," he said, winking up +at a bluebird which sat on a bough above his head. The bird gave a +little chirp, whisked its tail, and then stayed motionless, as if +much interested in the talk. + +"Who would be likely to make a special visit to you to-day?" asked +Katherine, momentarily forgetting Phil's prank of yesterday. + +"Nick Jones, of course. I guess if I had been minding store +to-day, and had seen him coming in at the door, my heart would have +about gone down into my boots," admitted Phil, with great candour. + +"But he may come to-morrow, you know," suggested Katherine. + +"No, he won't, for a lot of them start the next morning in the +_Mary_ for a week's fishing off the Twins; and Mr. Ferrars is going +too, I know, because I heard him say so," replied Phil. + +"The Twins are those two islands east of Akimiski, are they not?" +asked Katherine. + +"I suppose so; they are out in the Bay somewhere, I know, and they +are very dangerous, because there are such strong currents all +round them and no end of hidden rocks," Phil said in a cheerful +tone, as if he were rather pleased than otherwise that his enemy +had to face so much danger in the near future. + +"That must be the place where a boat was wrecked two years ago and +all the people were drowned. I wonder they are taking the _Mary_," +said Katherine, for that was the biggest and best of the new boats, +built by Astor M'Kree in the previous winter. + +"They are taking her because she is such a good boat; no use having +a leaky old tub for such work. Here come the dogs!" and Phil +jumped up in such a hurry that the bluebird flew away in alarm. + +The dogs were unloaded, the things they had brought being packed +into the boat; then Katherine and Phil took their up-river way, and +the dogs went back to the store to spend the morning as they +thought fit. + +Phil's news, had puzzled Katherine a great deal. It seemed so +strange to her that Jervis Ferrars should go off to the rough, +dangerous work of fishing off the shores of the inhospitable Twins +if he were really engaged to Mary. His absence from Seal Cove +would mean that someone would have to do his work there, as the +boats coming in had to have their cargoes totalled and entered, +while the drying, sorting, and packing needed constant supervision. +Perhaps some little ghost of a hope crept into her heart that +morning; at any rate, the pull up river seemed easier, and it was +not such hard work as usual doing the second portage, even though +she had to carry the wooden boxes, with the jars of marmalade for +Mrs. M'Kree, swung across her own shoulders, a heavy, uncomfortable +burden to be carried through the hot sunshine. + +Backwards and forwards they went along the portage path, but they +did not have to carry the boat, fortunately, as a birchbark +belonging to Astor M'Kree was always available for their use on the +long portage--a great convenience this, as Katherine and Phil would +hardly have managed the burden of the boat between them. Mrs. +M'Kree as usual received Katherine literally with open arms, and +pressed her to remain on her way back for tea. This invitation +Katherine would have promptly refused, but for an appealing look +from Phil, whose courage regarding a meeting with his enemy was +fast evaporating. + +"You are very kind. We ought to be back about four o'clock, then +perhaps we can stay for an hour," Katherine said, accepting on +Phil's behalf, although her own desires were solely and entirely +for getting home as fast as she could. + +"A regular brick you are, Katherine!" exclaimed Phil, as they +settled themselves in the birchbark for the journey up to the long +portage. "I just wish to be as late home as possible this evening, +and then most likely I shall be tired enough to want to go to bed +directly I get there." + +"It strikes me that it is not your strength which is likely to give +out, but your nerve," Katherine answered with a laugh; then went on +in a graver tone: "I don't scold you when you play monkey tricks, +as you did yesterday, but it is hard work not to despise you when I +see you trying to escape the consequences of what you have done by +sneaking off to bed, pretending you are tired, when in reality you +are only afraid." + +Phil reddened, looked dreadfully ashamed of himself for about two +minutes, then said in a cheerful tone: "It is rather nice of me to +be willing to play round with those sticky M'Kree babies, as if I +were a kid myself." + +"I suppose it is; yet down underneath I dare say you rather like +the playing round, as you call it," laughed Katherine, and then she +worked on in silence up the solitary reaches of the river, with the +glaring sunshine on her unsheltered back, and swarms of flies +tormenting her unprotected face and neck. These last became such +an intolerable nuisance after a time, that she was forced to swathe +herself in a hot and cumbering veil. + +The "back-ache" portage was worthy of its name that day, and it was +considerably past noon before they arrived at the Indian village to +which they were bound. At first they could not find anyone at +home, the whole community being away in the forest peeling bark +from the birch trees for the making of canoes. But the same kind +of thing had happened before, so Katherine was not at a loss. +Picking up a tin pan, she commenced beating a military tattoo upon +it with a thick stick; while Phil, with a trumpet improvised from a +roll of birchbark, produced an ear-splitting din which must have +carried far through the quiet woods. It was not long before their +customers arrived on the scene, and then the business of barter +began. A very long business it proved to-day, for, the weather +being warm and comfortable, the red men and women seemed to +thoroughly enjoy sitting round at their ease and taking time to +consider whether they wished to be purchasers or not. + +[Illustration: Bartering with the Indians] + +But Katherine was patient and tactful too. After all, the training +of a teacher is not lost in the buying and selling of a backwoods +store. The same gifts of persuasion are needful in both cases, and +the same gentle firmness is useful in settling the bargain which +has come to completion. It was four o'clock before Katherine was +able to turn her back on the Indian village, but by then she had +sold every article which had been brought up river, and was laden +with a currency of valuable furs and some specimens of narwhal +ivory, very beautiful, but apparently of great age. The same kind +of thing had happened before, and she could never quite make out +where it had come from, for the narwhal was so rarely met with in +the Hudson Bay waters now, and was a creature so fierce, that it +was puzzling to know how people in birchbark canoes, armed only +with spears, could ever manage to secure it. A theory held by her +father in his days of health was, that in places along those +little-known shores the tusks of narwhals dead centuries before +might be found by the Indians buried in the sands, and it was finds +of this sort which they dug up and offered for sale. + +Their stay at Mrs. M'Kree's house was very short after all, though +Katherine was thankful indeed for the cup of tea awaiting her +there, and much too grateful for the kindness to be fastidious +about its overdrawn condition. As a matter of fact, the tea had +been gently on the boil for more than two hours, but this was a +minor detail in the comfort of people who had an outdoor life and +worked hard from dawn to dark. + +It was pleasant to slip down on the swift current of the river when +the cool of the evening came on. Katherine was almost sorry when +the home portage was reached, for it was like taking up the burden +of life again, and she was tired enough to feel that rest was a +luxury indeed. The dogs were soon over at the boathouse to help +with the parcels, and then Katherine and Phil, both heavily laden, +passed up the portage path, and night came down. + +There were lights twinkling in and about the store when they +reached it, and Katherine laughed to see how Phil crept past the +door of the store, making for the entrance to the house instead. + +But she did not call him back, being quite willing to shield his +retreat so far as she could possibly do so, for a ducking at that +time in the evening would not be pleasant; moreover, Mrs. Burton +would have his clothes to dry, which was another consideration of +importance just then. + +Nick Jones was not in the store when she entered, and she noticed +at once that the crowd of evening loungers was less than usual. +They were busily talking, too, and although they all bade her a +civil good evening, went on with their talk where they had dropped +it. + +"Mr. Ferrars came up to see you this evening," Miles whispered, +when she went to help him with some boxes which were beyond his +reach. + +"To see me?" Katherine asked in surprise. + +"Yes, he even went over the portage to see if you were coming, but +he could not wait, because the _Mary_ sailed with the evening tide," +answered Miles. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +Mr. Selincourt is Confidential + +The hot colour flamed in Katherine's cheeks; but no one saw it, for +her back was to the group of men talking by the store door, and +Miles had turned round to put on the counter the box which she had +reached down for him. + +"Why did Mr. Ferrars wish to see me?" she asked, striving +successfully to make her voice steady. Of course it might have +been that Jervis wanted to see her on some matter of business +connected with the store; but in any case, and whatever his errand, +it was pleasant to think that he had come up the river on purpose +to see her. + +"I don't know, he didn't say; but he carried himself with as much +swaggering importance as if it were he, and not Mr. Selincourt, who +intended buying up as much of Roaring Water Portage as he could lay +hands upon," Miles answered, in a grumpy tone. The group of men at +the door had moved outside, where it was cooler, so brother and +sister were for the moment alone. + +"I don't think Mr. Ferrars ever put on much side," protested +Katherine, taking up the cudgels in defence of the absent one, +although there was an increased heaviness in her heart as she +reflected that perhaps, after all, he was betrothed to Mary +Selincourt, and hence the inward elation resulting in the outward +swagger. + +"Oh, he could, sometimes!" went on Miles, who appeared to be in +rather a bad temper just then. "I suppose he is going to marry +Miss Selincourt, and that is why he puts on such a fearful lot of +cheek. Downright horrid money-grubbing, I call it, for before she +came he was always----" + +"Always what?" demanded Katherine sharply. Her voice sounded a +trifle muffled, because for some reason or other she had stuffed +her head and shoulders in a bean bin, and was measuring beans in a +desperate hurry, which seemed a rather unnecessary task, as she had +no orders to fill. + +But Miles, who had stumbled perilously near to an indiscretion, +plainly thought better of it, and ventured on no more speech +concerning the matter, calling instead to one of the men standing +outside the door to ask some question about goods which had been +ordered for the next day, and had to be sent down to Seal Cove. + +Katherine went to bed in a very mixed frame of mind that night. At +one moment she was sorry that she had not been at home when Mr. +Ferrars came to see her; then, with a quick revulsion of feeling, +she was heartily glad that she had been away, and shrank with very +real reluctance from the thought of the next time she would have to +see him. But that would not be for another week; a good many +things might happen before then, though she did not even guess how +many were going to happen. + +In the morning Mary came over to the store very early indeed, and +her face was in a pucker of dissatisfaction and discontent. + +"It is so truly horrid of things to fall out like this," she began +vehemently, bursting into the store, where Katherine and Miles were +busy weighing and packing goods which had to be delivered that day. + +"How have they fallen out?" asked Katherine with a smile. She was +used to Mary's excitable outbursts, which were usually about +trifles too small for notice; but this was a bigger matter. + +"The men came up with the mail yesterday; the delay was owing to a +breakdown on one of the portages, and they had to camp for a whole +week whilst they were repairing their boat. It is very vexing, +coming as it does just now, because we should have known our fate +so much earlier. We have to go back to Montreal for the winter, +and it is so tiresome!" sighed Mary. + +"I'm afraid you won't get much pity for your hard fate," laughed +Katherine, with a lightening of heart which made her secretly +ashamed of herself. "I found Montreal very pleasant for winter +quarters, and I only wish it were possible for us to spare Miles to +go for this next winter." + +"I don't want to go!" interposed Miles hastily. + +"Neither do I, Miles," said Mary; "so we are both in the same boat. +Only the worst of it is I have got to go, whether I like it or not, +because my father will not leave me here without him. Such +nonsense! As if I were not old enough to take care of myself!" + +"Which you are not. Remember the tidehole," Katherine remarked, in +a tone of mock solemnity. + +"Once bitten, twice shy! No more tideholes for me," Mary answered, +with a shake of her head. Then she went on: "I have brought over +some newspapers for Mr. Radford, but there was no public mail +matter in this lot except some English letters for Mr. Ferrars +which had come directed to our agent in Montreal; so we sent them +straight down to Seal Cove yesterday afternoon without troubling +the post office at all." + +"That was very kind of you. If they had been sent here I should +have had to deliver them last night after I got back from the long +portage," Katherine answered, as she took the bundle of papers +which Mary put into her hand. + +"Which would have been a great shame, for I am sure that you must +have been tired out. Besides, you would have been too late, for +Mr. Ferrars sailed for the Twins last night with the evening tide; +and I have got to be clerk and overseer whilst he is away, so I +must be off. Don't you wish me joy of my work?" + +"I certainly hope that you will enjoy it," Katherine replied, and +Mary went off in a bustle, calling for Hero, who was her constant +companion morning, noon, and night, a sort of hairy shadow, and +devotion itself. + +When she had gone, Katherine sighed a little, then said to Miles, +who still looked a trifle sullen: "I do wish it had been possible +for you to go to the city this autumn. I know Father wished it so +much, and here would have been a good opportunity for your journey, +because you could have gone with the Selincourts, then you would +not have felt so lonely. I know that I nearly broke my heart when +I went, because of feeling so solitary." + +"I am very glad that I can't be spared, because I simply don't want +to go, and should not value the chance if I had it," Miles +answered. "I will settle to work at books again directly winter +comes, and will put as much time in as I can spare at them, +especially at book-keeping. Education is not much good to people +who don't want it; and I would rather work with my hands any day +than work with my head. But of course there are some things I must +know to be a good man of business, and these I can learn at home, I +am thankful to say." + +Katherine dropped the sugar scoop with which she had been +shovelling out brown sugar, and, crossing over to where Miles was +standing, gave him a hearty hug and a resounding kiss. + +"What is that for?" he asked, with a wriggle of pretended disgust, +although there was a lifting of the sullen look in his face. + +"Because you are such a thoroughly good sort," she answered. "You +have been such a comfort, Miles, ever since Father was taken ill; +it was just as if you went to bed a boy and woke up a man." + +When the boys had been started off to Seal Cove with a boatload of +goods, and Katherine had tidied away the litter in the store, she +went into the stockroom at the back to spread out the furs in +readiness for the coming of Mr. Selincourt. In an ordinary way she +would have taken them over to Fort Garry to-day, but with the +prospect of a customer they could wait for a more convenient time. + +She was still busy spreading out and arranging pelts of black fox, +white fox, silver fox, beaver, skunk, and racoon (there were +wolfskins in plenty, too, but these she did not produce, as they +were commoner, and so would doubtless not appeal to the rich man's +fancy); then she heard a noise of knocking in the store, and, +running out, found that Mr. Selincourt and an Indian had arrived +together. + +Neither of them was in the slightest hurry. But Katherine attended +to the red man first, being desirous of getting rid of him, then +watched him down the bank and waited until he had embarked in his +frail canoe before attending to her other and more important +customer. + +"Please pardon me for keeping you waiting," she said, turning with +smiling apology to Mr. Selincourt; "but that is Wise Eye from Ochre +Lake, and he is the wiliest thief on the river. Ah, I thought so! +He is coming back again. Quick! stand back in that corner behind +the stove, and you will see some fun." + +Mr. Selincourt promptly flattened himself into a small space +between a bag of meal and a barrel of molasses, while Katherine +dived into a recess by the bean bin, and then they waited, holding +their breath as children do when playing hide-and-seek. + +It was a good long wait, for Wise Eye was a shrewd rogue. Then Mr. +Selincourt from his corner saw a figure on all-fours coming over +the doorstep. At first he thought it was a dog, because of the +peculiar sniffing sound it made, but a second glance showed it to +be Wise Eye in search of plunder. Gradually, gradually he edged +himself inside, creeping so silently that there was no sound at +all, and a thievish hand had just shot out to annex a bag of rice +that stood within reaching distance, when Katherine emerged into +view and said quietly: "You can't have that rice unless you pay for +it, Wise Eye; we don't give things away." + +The red man erected himself with a shocked look, as if insulted by +the bare mention of stealing, and, opening a dirty hand, showed +half a dollar tucked away in his palm. + +"Wise Eye not want the rice, nor anything, but what he pay for," he +answered loftily; "but he drop his money here and come look for it, +just to find it lying close to rice bag, and now he find it he say +good morning and go." + +Katherine laughed, for, angry as Wise Eye's depredations made her, +it was amusing to find him bowled out once in a while. + +"Had the fellow really lost his money?" asked Mr. Selincourt, +coming out from his hiding-place very sticky on one side and very +floury on the other. + +"He has none to lose except that one bad coin, which is his +greatest treasure, and which he has tendered in payment so often +that I am quite sick of the sight of the thing," Katherine replied. +"But he keeps the coin ready as an excuse, do you see? I guessed +he would try coming back, because you said that you had come to see +the furs, and he knows we do not keep those out here in the store." + +"Well, he is a wily rogue! What are you going to do now?" asked +Mr. Selincourt, as she moved across to the door. + +"Turn the key on him; it is the only thing to do. These Indians +are really a great trial; we have to keep such a sharp lookout +always. It is because of them that we never dare leave things +outside unless there is someone to watch." + +"Your father is sitting out there in the sun," said Mr. Selincourt, +who could never seem to realize the extent of 'Duke Radford's +limitations. + +"I know, but he would not understand, poor dear; he never notices +things like that," Katherine answered, with a mournful drop in her +voice, as she turned the key and led the way to the stockroom. + +Mr. Selincourt followed silently, and when Katherine first began to +show him the furs he looked at them with an abstracted gaze, which +showed his thoughts to be far away. But his interest grew in the +beautiful things after a time, and he selected with a judgment and +discretion which showed that he knew very well what he was about. +When he had bought all that he required he turned away from them, +and began to talk of the matter which was uppermost in his mind. + +"Well, have you come to any decision about disposing of your land?" +he asked. + +"Yes," answered Katherine, who was busy rearranging the pelts which +Mr. Selincourt had rejected. "We had a family consultation, and +the majority settled the question, and decided that we did not want +to sell, and that we had not sufficient reason for selling even if +we had wanted it very much indeed. Our business is paying very +well, and there is no need to upset existing arrangements." + +Mr. Selincourt nodded his head thoughtfully, then he answered: "I +must say I think you have done wisely; although, of course, it is +against my own interest to admit it, because I wanted to buy. But +it is a very hard life for a girl." + +"It will be easier in a few years, when Miles grows up; and he gets +bigger and more capable every day. Oh, I shall have a very easy +time, I can assure you, when my brother is a man!" she said, with a +laugh. + +"I trust you will, and a good time too, for I am sure that no girl +ever deserved it more than you do," he replied warmly. Then he +went on: "I had a very hard time myself when I was a young man, an +experience so cruelly hard and wearing that sometimes I wonder that +I did not lose faith and hope entirely." + +"But don't you think that faith and hope are given to us in +proportion to our need of them?" asked Katherine, a little +unsteadily. Her heart was beating with painful throbs, for she +guessed only too well to what period of his life Mr. Selincourt was +referring. + +"Perhaps so. Yes, indeed I think it must be so, otherwise I don't +see how I could have pulled through. I have recalled a good deal +about that time since I have been here at Roaring Water Portage, +and have seen how you have had to work, and to sacrifice yourself +for the good of others; and I have often thought that I should like +to tell you the story of my struggle. Would you care to hear it?" + +"Yes, very much," Katherine answered faintly, although, much as she +wished to know all about it, she dreaded hearing the story of her +father's wrong-doing told by other lips than his own. + +"When I was a very young man I was clerk in a Bristol business +house, taking a good salary, and, as I believed, with an +unblemished character. My father was dependent on me, and two +young sisters, and I was rather proud of being, as it were, the +keystone of the home. Then one day an old friend of my father's +came to see me, and paid me fifty pounds, which he said he had owed +to my father for twenty years--a gambling debt. He begged and +implored me to say no word about it to anyone, especially to my +father." + +"Why not, if it was your father's debt?" asked Katherine, who was +keenly interested. + +"Because my father would not have taken it, although twenty years +before he had paid the fifty pounds out of his own pocket, to save +this friend of his from exposure and ruin. At first I was disposed +not to take it either; but, as the man represented to me, I had +others dependent on me, and for their sakes I was in duty bound to +take it, and to do the best I could for them with it." + +"I think so too," murmured Katherine; but Mr. Selincourt continued +almost as if he had not heard her speak. + +"I took the money and banked it with my other savings, feeling +rather proud of having such a nest-egg, and making up my mind that +when the summer came I would give the girls and the old man such a +holiday as they had never even dreamed of before. Then the blow +fell. I was called into the room of the chief one morning, and +asked if I were a gambler. Of course I said no, and that with a +very clear conscience, for I had never been addicted to betting nor +card playing in my life. Then I was asked to explain the lump sum +of fifty pounds which I had added to my banking account in the +previous week." + +"But I thought that banking accounts were very private and +confidential things," said Katherine. + +"So they are supposed to be; but the private affairs of a fellow in +my position would be sure to get closely overhauled, and a shrewd +bank manager might deem it only his duty to enquire how anyone with +my salary and responsibilities could afford to pay in big sums like +that," Mr. Selincourt replied. "Of course I could not explain how I +had come by the money, and to my amazement I was curtly dismissed, +and without a character." + +"How horribly cruel!" panted Katherine, whose hands were pressed +against her breast, and whose face was deathly white. No one knew +how terribly she suffered then, as she stood there bearing, as it +were, the punishment for her father's guilty silence, while she +listened to the story of what his victim had had to endure. + +"It did seem cruel, as you say, horribly cruel!" Mr. Selincourt +said, a grey hardness spreading over his kindly face, as if the +memory of the bitter past was more than he could bear. "The two +years that followed were crammed with poverty and privation; there +was almost constant sickness in the home, and I could get no work +except occasional jobs of manual labour, at which any drayman or +navvy could have beaten me easily, by reason of superior strength. +I left Bristol and went to Cardiff, hoping that I might lose my +want of a character in the crowd. But it was of no use. 'Give a +dog a bad name and hang him', is one of the truest proverbs we've +got. What is the matter, child?" he asked, as an involuntary sob +broke from poor Katherine. + +"Nothing, nothing; only I am so sorry for you!" she cried, breaking +down a little, in spite of her efforts after self-control. + +"You need not be, as you will hear in a moment; and, at any rate, I +don't look much like an object of pity," he said, with a laugh. "I +was on the docks one winter evening, wet, dark, and late, when I +saw a man robbed of his purse. I chased the thief, collared the +purse, and took it back to its owner, who proved to be one of the +richest merchants of the town. He wanted to give me money. I told +him that I wanted work. I told him, too, about my damaged +reputation, and my inability to clear myself." + +"Did he believe you?" she asked eagerly. + +"He did; or if he didn't then, he did afterwards. Years later he +admitted that for the first twelve months of my time with him he +paid to have me watched; but that was really to my advantage, as I +came scatheless through the ordeal." + +"It was really good of him to take so much interest in you," said +Katherine. + +"So I have always felt," Mr. Selincourt answered. "Christopher Ray +stood to me for employer and friend. In course of time he became +still more, for he gave me his daughter, Mary's mother, and when he +died he left me his wealth." + +"It was not all a misfortune for you, then, that for a time you had +to live under a cloud," said Katherine eagerly. + +"Rightly speaking it was not misfortune, but good fortune that came +to me when I lost position and character at one blow. I have often +thought that perhaps I owed my downfall to someone who either said +about me what was not true, or kept silent when a word might have +put me straight; but, if so, that person was my very good friend, +and it is to him, or to her, that I owe the first step to the +success which came after." + +Poor Katherine! One desperate effort she made after self-control, +but it was of no use, and, covering her face with her hands, she +burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +The Rift in the Clouds + +"My dear child, I can never forgive myself for having made you cry +like this!" exclaimed Mr. Selincourt; for Katherine was sobbing as +vigorously as she did most other things, and he was genuinely +distressed. + +"Oh, I am glad to cry! I mean, I am so happy, because it came out +all right. And oh, please do forgive me for having been so +foolish! I wonder whatever you must think of me!" and, heaving a +deep sigh of relief, Katherine sat up and wiped her eyes. + +"I think you are a very charming and tender-hearted young lady. +But I shall have to be very careful how I tell you sad things, if +this is the way you are going to receive my confidences," he said, +with a rather rueful air; for she was by no means the sort of girl +he would have expected to indulge in the weakness of tears. + +Katherine laughed. She was desperately ashamed of having been so +foolish; but those words of gratitude, spoken by Mr. Selincourt +about the person who had wronged him were like balm to her sore +heart. It was as if her father had confessed his fault, and had +been forgiven on earth as well as in heaven. + +"You must pay the penalty of your eloquence by seeing your audience +drowned in tears," she said lightly. Then, rolling up the +remainder of the furs, she left the stockroom and returned to the +store, whither Mr. Selincourt followed her; and as there were no +customers he sat on a box and talked on, as if it were a real +pleasure to have found a sympathetic listener. + +"Those two years of struggle, of disappointment and bitter poverty, +have had their uses," he said, in a meditative fashion, as he sat +looking out through the door, which Katherine had unlocked again. +His gaze was on the river, which sparkled and gleamed in the +sunshine, but his thoughts were far away. + +Katherine answered only by a splitting, rending noise, as she tore +a piece of calico. But that did not matter, because he was too +much absorbed in his own thoughts to need other speech just then. + +"Perhaps if I had not been poor myself I should not have had +sympathy with other men who were in the slough and couldn't get +out," he said, speaking as much to himself as to Katherine. + +"It is fine to be able to help other people," she replied, cutting +the next piece of calico to avoid making so much noise. + +"Yes, but I think no one realizes the full blessing of it who has +not known in his own person what it is to be in trouble and to be +helped himself," he said, his tone still dreamy, and his gaze on +the hurrying water. + +"Have you helped a great many?" she asked softly. + +"A few," he answered. "Some have been disappointments, of course, +and once or twice I have been robbed for my pains; but I have had +my compensations, especially in Archie Raymond and Jervis Ferrars." + +"Who is Archie Raymond?" demanded Katherine, who was measuring +calico as rapidly, and with as much dexterity, as if she had served +an apprenticeship behind a drapery counter, instead of having been +trained for teaching. + +Mr. Selincourt brought his gaze from the river, jerking his head +round to get a good view of Katherine; then he asked, in a +surprised tone: "Hasn't Mary told you about him? I thought girls +always talked to each other about such things." + +"What things?" asked Katherine. + +"Why, sweethearts, and all that sort of stuff," he answered vaguely. + +Katherine flushed, caught her breath in a little gasp, and, +clenching the hand which held the calico, said rather unsteadily: +"Mary and I have certainly not discussed sweethearts and that sort +of stuff, as you call it." + +Mr. Selincourt laughed in great amusement, then said more gravely: +"Mary has been very much spoiled, and in all her life she has never +been denied anything save one, as I told you before, and I am +hoping very much that it will all come right for her yet, when she +has learned her lesson of patient waiting." + +Katherine dropped her calico, and, nerving herself for a great +effort of endurance, said: "Won't you tell me what you mean? I +never could understand hints and vague suggestions about things." + +"It is like this," began Mr. Selincourt, who was only too pleased +to get a listener as sympathetic as Katherine: "a year ago last +winter Mary fell in love with Archie Raymond, or else he fell in +love with her; anyhow they became engaged, although I demurred a +little, on account of his inability to support a wife. But I gave +way in time, for he was a thoroughly good fellow, and one of the +sort who was bound to rise when he got a chance. Mary was +exacting, however--I told you she had been spoiled--and Archie +wasn't the sort to be led about on a string like a lapdog; so +naturally they quarrelled." + +"Poor Mary!" exclaimed Katherine softly. + +"And poor Archie too, I guess," returned Mr. Selincourt. "It was +his misfortune that he cared so much for her. I believe she would +have treated him better if he had not been so much her slave; but +even slaves can't endure too much, so he revolted after a time. +Jervis Ferrars, who was Archie's friend, came to Mary and begged +that she would see Archie, if only for ten minutes, because there +was something to be said between them which could not be put into a +letter. But my girl is made of obstinate stuff that crops up in +awkward places sometimes; so she sent word by Jervis that if Archie +liked to send her a letter of apology she would read it, but she +would not see him until that had been done." + +"Did he do it?" asked Katherine eagerly. A white light of +illumination had suddenly flashed into her mind concerning the +nature of the boon which Jervis Ferrars had begged at the hands of +Mary, and been denied. + +Mr. Selincourt laughed. "I told you that he was a man and not a +lapdog. That sort don't go crawling round asking pardon for wrongs +they have not committed. The next we heard of Archie Raymond was +that he had joined Max Bohrnsen's Arctic Expedition in place of a +man who had fallen out through sickness, and that he had sailed for +the Polar Seas on a two years' absence." + +"Poor Mary!" sighed Katherine again, then immediately felt ashamed +of her own secret light-heartedness. + +"Yes, it was poor Mary then," replied Mr. Selincourt, a shade +coming over his pleasant face. "The worst of it was that she had +only herself to thank for all the trouble that had come upon her, +and as it was not a thing to be talked about, it had to be borne +without any outside sympathy to make it easier." + +"Has she never heard from him since?" asked Katherine softly, and +now there were tears in her eyes, and a whole world of pity in her +heart for this girl who had deliberately flung away the love she +wanted, from pure obstinacy and self-will. + +"Only once. Directly she knew that he had gone beyond recall she +began to repent in good earnest, and sent him a cable to the only +port where his vessel would be likely to stop, something to this +effect; 'It is I who apologize; will you forgive?' And after weeks +and weeks of waiting this answer came back: 'Yes, in two years' +time'." + +Katherine drew a long breath, and her eyes were still misty. "How +long the waiting time must seem to Mary, and the months can bring +her no tidings of what she most wants to know." + +"That is true; but I am quite sure it is good for her," Mr. +Selincourt answered. "Never before has there been anything in her +life which called for waiting or patience, and it is the lessons +which are hardest to learn which do us most good." + +"Won't Mary be displeased because you have told me all this?" asked +Katherine. + +"It will make no difference to her if she does not know, and you +are not the sort of girl to go about bragging of the things you +have been told. But it seemed to me that it might help you to an +understanding of Mary's character if you knew," Mr. Selincourt +replied rather awkwardly. + +Katherine flushed a sudden, uncomfortable red, and began measuring +calico in a great hurry; only, as she had turned her work round, +and was doing it all over again, it was rather wasted labour. A +thought had flashed into her mind that perhaps this good, kindly +man had heard some of the talk which was coupling the names of Miss +Selincourt and Jervis Ferrars, and so had told her this about Mary +of set purpose. + +"Thank you for telling me," she said; then went on hurriedly: "I am +so glad to know. It explains why sometimes Mary does not look +happy. I had thought it just boredom and discontent." + +"Most people would think so, but that is just because they don't +understand her. She is made of fine, good stuff at the bottom, +only sometimes it is rather hard to get at. This week she will be +perfectly happy and charming to live with, because she will have to +be at the fish sheds all the time, checking the incoming boats; and +next week she will be down in the dumps, because she has nothing in +the world to do." + +"That at least is a complaint that I am in no danger of suffering +from," laughed Katherine, as, realizing that she had been working +twice on the calico, she folded it up and started on another length. + +"And I have been wasting your time in a fearful fashion; but +perhaps you will forgive me, because I like talking to you so +much," he said, rising from his seat and laughing, as he looked at +his watch, to think how the morning had flown. "Now I will go and +talk to your good father for a little while, and then I will +whistle for Pierre to come over and row me down to Seal Cove for +lunch with Mary, to round off the morning." + +Katherine rushed about the store with great vigour and much +bustling energy after the visitor had betaken himself outside. Of +course he had wasted her morning to a serious extent, but what +mattered arrears of work compared with the peace of mind the talk +had brought her? Never once since the day on which her father had +confided to her the secret trouble which was weighing him down had +Katherine been so light-hearted. Now, at least so far as she was +concerned, that trouble, even the remembrance of it, might be put +away for ever. Mr. Selincourt had said that he owed a debt of +gratitude to the person who had wronged him; so plainly there was +no question of making up to him for any loss that he had suffered. +True, the wrong was there, and nothing could undo the sin which had +been committed; but it was the sinner who had suffered, not the +sinned against. Katherine looked out through the open door of the +store and saw her father walking up and down beside the man he had +wronged, and a sharp pang of pity for the invalid smote her heart. +His punishment was very heavy; but even she, his daughter, who +loved him so well, could not deny that it was just that he who did +the wrong should pay the penalty thereof. + +"Poor darling Father!" she murmured. "But no one need ever know. +Nothing could be gained by dragging the old, bad past to light, and +so it shall be buried for ever." Then, covering her face with her +hands, she prayed that the forgiveness of Heaven might rest upon +the poor sinner, whose punishment had come to him on earth. + +The hours of that day flew as if every one of them were holiday +time, instead of being crammed to the full with even harder work +than usual. The other matter of which Mr. Selincourt had spoken, +Mary's engagement to the unknown Archie Raymond, Katherine buried +deep in her heart, a thing to be gloated over in secret, a cause +for happiness which she did not care to be frank over, even to +herself. So the long, busy day went on to evening, and, in spite +of all the work there had been to get through, Katherine found +herself with half an hour of leisure before bedtime. + +She was standing outside, fighting the mosquitoes, and wondering if +she had sufficient energy left to go up the portage path to the +high ground, to see the moon rise, when she saw the Selincourt boat +shoot out from under the alder trees on the other side of the +river, and make across for the store. + +"It is Mary!" she whispered to herself; and Mary it was, with a +weary, white face, and a fleecy white shawl wrapped about her head +and shoulders. + +"Will you come up the hill, Katherine, and see the moon rise?" she +asked, in a tired tone. + +"I was just thinking of doing so, only it seemed hardly worth the +effort to go up alone; now you have come it will be pleasant," +Katherine answered, and, although she knew it not, there was more +friendliness in her tone than Mary had ever found there before. + +"Do you know, I tried going up the hill on my side, a better hill +than yours, and with a better view, but it was so lonely! Isn't it +funny what a difference companionship makes?" + +"Sometimes, and in some moods. But there are other times and other +moods in which companionship is a nuisance, and solitude the only +thing to be desired. At least, that is how I have felt," said +Katherine. Then she added hastily: "To-night I felt as if I wanted +someone to see the moon rise with me, so I am very glad you came." + +They walked up the hill in silence, despite the desire for company +which both had felt, and stood together at the top, watching the +silver glory of the moon coming up over the black pine trees, with +no speech at all until Mary asked with a ring of envy in her tone: +"What has come to you to-night?" + +Katherine flushed, answering in quick apology: "Please forgive me. +It is fearfully rude of me to be so silent and abstracted." + +"It wasn't that. Speech is only one way of expressing one's +thoughts, and very often not the most eloquent way either. But you +look so light-hearted to-night; it shines from your eyes, +and--and--well, it is awkward to express what I mean, but it is +visible in every gesture. To put it briefly, you look like a +person to be envied." + +"I believe I am to be envied," Katherine answered, flushing again +under the amused scrutiny in Mary's glance. "Everyone who has +health and vigour, with an infinite capacity for enjoyment, should +surely be envied by those not equally blessed, don't you think?" + +Mary sighed. "I have health and vigour too. I am not so sure +about the infinite capacity for enjoyment; but I like work, and +plenty of it. Do you know, I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Seal +Cove to-day. I went out on the landing wharf to help the men to +count the take, then I entered it, wrote out the tokens, and worked +as hard as if I were doing it for a weekly wage." + +"Well?" There was gentle questioning in Katherine's tone, but no +curiosity; happily there was need for none. She could understand +something of Mary's moods without explanation now, and could give +the sympathy, which was also better expressed without words. + +"It isn't well; that is the trouble of it," Mary said wistfully. +"The work is all very well while it lasts, but when it is done, one +is tired, and there is nothing left but weariness and moods +again--just these and nothing more." + +"Oh yes, there is! You are leaving out the most important thing; +there is rest. And when one is rested, really rested, the world is +all new again for a time," Katherine answered brightly. She was +speaking now from her own experience, for that was how she had felt +when her trouble was at its blackest. + +"I had forgotten rest; but then it won't always come, sometimes +sleep is impossible." Mary sighed again, for to-night her mood +verged on the morbid. + +"Sometimes, but not often, when people are as healthy as we are," +Katherine replied with a laugh; then, slipping her hand through +Mary's arm, with a persuasive touch she drew her homeward. "Come! +People who have to get up and work in the morning must go to bed at +night, or suffer next day. I am fearfully sleepy, and to-morrow I +have to go over to Fort Garry with all those furs which your father +did not buy." + +"I too must be at work in good time, for I want to be at Seal Cove +before ten o'clock, and that does not leave much space for one's +housekeeping duties," Mary said, in a brighter tone, as the two +came down the hill together. + +"Let Mr. Selincourt keep house while you are so busy, or, better +still, get Nellie to do what you want; she will be delighted," +urged Katherine, who was disposed to the belief that Mary's morbid +mood was largely the result of fatigue. + +"Oh, Mrs. Burton is more than kind in making bread for me, and all +that sort of thing; while, as everyone knows, my father spoils me +all the time! But I like work, and just now I feel as if I could +hardly have too much of it; so I don't mind how long Mr. Ferrars +stays away at the fishing at the Twins," Mary said. Then, bidding +Katherine good night at the foot of the hill, she got into her boat +and was rowed across the river. + +Katherine shook her head a little doubtfully as she went indoors; +for in her heart she did not echo the other's last words. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +Fighting the Storm + +The summer had been one of such almost unvarying fine weather that +the next morning's outlook came as a disagreeable surprise to +Katherine. The sun shone with a pale, watery gleam, grey clouds +were piled along the horizon, and a moaning wind crept through the +pine trees, made the birch leaves quiver, and thinned the foliage +of the alders at the foot of the rapids. + +"Phil, we shall have to be quick this morning, or we shall have to +come crawling home round the shore instead of rowing straight +across the bay," Katherine said, as she piled bundles of pelts into +the boat, and tied over them a canvas sheet, for security from any +chance wave. + +"Oh, we can hustle, and very likely the storm won't break before +night!" Phil said easily. + +"More likely that it will break before noon," retorted Miles, who +was helping to bring out the pelts from the stockroom. "Don't go +to-day, Katherine; it is fearful work crossing from Fort Garry when +there is a strong north-east wind. I came across with Father once, +when we thought we must have been swamped every minute." + +"Do not worry yourself, my dear boy," laughed Katherine, "I shall +not attempt to cross if the weather is very rough; I shall skirt +the shore all the way. It is miles farther, of course, but it is +safe, and that is the main thing." + +"I wish you were not going, or that I could come with you," Miles +said in a worried tone. "Look here; couldn't Phil manage the store +for one day with Nellie's help, then we would take an extra pair of +oars, and I would help to row?" + +Katherine shook her head. "It is not to be thought of, dear. I +expect some of those Indians from Nackowasset Creek will be over +the portage to-day; then Wise Eye is in the neighbourhood, I know, +and if he as much as caught a glimpse of both of us going down +river in a boat he would fairly haunt the store until we came back, +and Phil would have a tottering time of it." + +"That Nackowasset lot are a horrible set of thieves," said Miles. + +"Yes, and neither Phil nor Nellie would be up to all their tricks; +so, you see, you will be quite indispensable. I shall get on very +well; don't worry about me in any case, for if the storm should +prove terrifically bad we could even stay at Fort Garry all night," +Katherine replied. + +The last pelt was tucked away under the canvas sheet, Phil +scrambled aboard and crouched down in the most convenient place he +could find, and Katherine nodded a bright farewell to Miles, who +lingered on the bank with a very dissatisfied look on his face; +then the boat moved out into the current and began to slip quickly +down river. At present they felt little or nothing of the wind, +but when the hut of Oily Dave was in line with them they began to +feel the influence of the freshening puffs of wind on their +progress, and Katherine decided to take a middle course across the +open water to the fort; that is, she would not venture so far out +as usual, nor would she hug the shore entirely. + +But although the wind came sighing and moaning over the water, it +was nothing more at present than a fairly stiff breeze, and, +finding it so much better than she had expected, Katherine took +heart again, and was glad that she had persevered in her +undertaking; for she was anxious to get the furs off her hands. +Every place at the store was so crowded now, from the shipments +which had recently come in, that it was really a relief to get +these bundles of pelts cleared out of the way. + +"Oily Dave's hotel is closed, so I suppose the proprietor has +cleared off out to the fishing," Phil said, as the little brown hut +on the left shore slid by, and they began to rock on the open water +of the river's mouth. + +"I expect he has," replied Katherine, who was pulling with long, +steady strokes, the exercise and the wind between them bringing a +bright glow into her face. "Do you know, I am sure he has worked +harder and more honestly this summer than for many a year past; I +believe he is beginning to be a reformed character." + +"How long will it take to reform him?" asked Phil, laughing; but +Katherine could only shake her head and say she did not know. + +The gulls were riding on the crests of the waves, or skimming so +closely down on the water that it was hard to know whether they +were swimming or flying; and long strings of geese overhead all +headed southward showed plainly that summer was on the wane. All +these things Katherine took note of as she pulled across the choppy +water to Fort Garry, only now they did not sadden her as two days +ago they would have done. Hope had shone into her life again, a +heavy burden had been lifted, and it seemed to her that she could +never again feel quite so sorrowful and worn down as she had done +sometimes during the last few months. + +"Hurrah! Safely arrived!" she exclaimed, as the boat grounded on +the pebbly beach in front of the old blockhouse, which looked even +grimmer and uglier on this grey day than when the sun shone down +upon it. + +"Good morning, Miss Radford! Now, I wonder who told you how badly +I needed a woman of some sort to happen along this morning?" said +Peter M'Crawney, coming out from the stockade on which the house +was built, and advancing to meet Katherine, who was coming up from +the shore with a great bundle of pelts on each shoulder, while +Phil, laden in similar fashion, walked behind. + +"Does that mean that Mrs. M'Crawney is ill again?" Katherine asked. + +Peter shrugged his shoulders. "She is desperate uneasy in her +mind, poor lass, and as hard to live with as a houseful of +mosquitoes, which it is lucky I haven't got, or I should be forced +to drown myself to keep from going out of my mind." + +"Not so bad as that, I hope," Katherine said with a laugh, and +instantly resolved that it would be her duty to stay an hour with +the poor woman, who pined so much because of the solitude in which +her life was cast. + +"It is pretty bad anyhow," he growled, a frown coming over his +face. He was a fairly patient man, all things considered, but his +domestic tribulations were greater than anyone knew or even guessed +at. + +Katherine turned an anxious eye towards the sky before going in at +the house door. If she could start back in anything under a +quarter of an hour she might hope to go as she had come, with not +much extra labour nor fatigue; but an hour or perhaps an hour and a +half hence it would be very different. The storm was coming +slowly, but when rough weather came like that it had a trick of +lasting sometimes for several days. However, if the worst came to +the worst, she could always skirt the shore, and, consoling herself +with this thought, she entered the house, leaving M'Crawney and +Phil to unload the pelts and bring them up from the boat. + +The miserable, neglected look of the house struck Katherine first. +Peter was not great at housework, while the half-breed, Simon, who +lived with them, helped with the trapping in winter, and did a +little of all sorts of work, was rather less clean and tidy in his +ways than even Peter. The sight of the dusty, ill-kept room +irritated Katherine. Last night's supper dishes still littered the +table, and had probably served for breakfast dishes as well. What +was the use of wasting her time in trying to console a woman who so +neglected her home, and the privileges of home-making that came +with it? For a few minutes she felt disposed to turn back with +only a five minutes' civil talk. But there was one's duty to one's +neighbour--and that is a more important duty in isolated places +than in more crowded centres. + +Then an idea flashed into her mind. If by any means she could +contrive to make Mrs. M'Crawney ashamed of herself, it might be +more useful than medicine, might even work a cure, in fact; and +that would be something worth doing, even though it entailed +skirting the shore all the way home. To think was to act. +Whisking off her coat and hat, she rolled up her sleeves, and for +want of an apron pinned a big towel round her; a very dirty towel +it was too, but something she must have to protect her frock, and +it had to be the towel or nothing. + +First, with plenty of noise and clatter, she piled the dirty +crockery ready for washing, and, filling the stove with wood, set a +kettle of water on to get hot. This done, she flung door and +window wide, and proceeded to sweep the room. By the amount of dust +she raised she judged that it must have been at least a week, +perhaps a fortnight, since it was swept last. + +Of all the work in the world she hated sweeping most, declaring to +herself that doing a portage in blazing sunshine, with a load of +furs on one's back, was play to sweeping. The dust got on her +face, it walked up her nostrils and down her throat, making her +feel as if she must in self-defence throw down her broom and fly +outside, where the clean, strong wind was blowing. But it was not +like her to give up, when once she had set her hand to anything; so +she finished the sweeping, then fled outside to let the dust blow +away from her face and hair while the thick atmosphere in the room +she had left cleared enough to admit of the next set of operations. + +Peter M'Crawney was talking to Phil on the other side of the fence, +and from several inarticulate growls which reached her ears she +judged that Simon must be there too. Then she heard Phil start on +a description of what had taken place at the captain's reception on +the ocean-going steamer, and judged herself safe for another ten +minutes, for well she knew that he would not spare them full +details, especially of the monkey trick he had played on Nick Jones. + +In ten minutes one could do a great deal if one tried; so back +again she hurried, and set to work dusting the furniture with an +old cotton jacket of Peter's, because she could find no duster. +The buttons got in the way sometimes, but that was a minor detail, +and it did not do to be over-particular about trifles when one was +in a hurry. The dusting was done, and she had started work on the +dirty dishes, when the door of the inner room came open with a +jerk, and Mrs. M'Crawney, very much in undress, poked her head out. + +"Miss Radford, is it you?" she cried in profound astonishment. "I +couldn't think what the noise was out here. If it had been night I +should have settled it in my own mind that Peter and Simon had been +having too much to drink, though no two men could be more sober +than they are." + +"A good thing they are, for there must be terrible temptations for +men living in such discomfort to drown their troubles in strong +drink," Katherine answered severely. Then she asked in a more +kindly tone: "Do you feel better this morning?" + +"Oh, I am well enough, thank you! It isn't my body; bodies don't +matter unless they ache, which mine doesn't, the saints be +praised!" Mrs. M'Crawney exclaimed with pious fervour, as she +emerged from her bedroom and seated herself in all her squalid +untidiness on the nearest chair. + +"If it is not your body, what is it, then? Do you think you are +going out of your mind?" demanded Katherine sharply; and turning +from her dish-washing, she treated the woman to a calm appraising +stare, which took in every detail, from the unbrushed hair +straggling over the ragged nightdress to the unwashed, naked feet. + +"Going out of my mind?" screamed Mrs. M'Crawney in furious +indignation. "Indeed no! I've got my wits as well as you've got +your own, Miss Katherine Radford; more so, I should say, for I have +a deal too much sense to go slaving myself to death doing work that +no one is likely to say 'thank you' for." + +Katherine laughed merrily: "Don't be too sure of that. I expect +that you will be saying 'thank you' presently, when you are washed +and dressed; it makes such a difference when one's hair is tidy! +If you will go into your room again I will bring you some hot water +in a minute. But I can hear my brother Phil coming, and he is such +a dreadful mimic that he will be taking you off for the benefit of +Seal Cove to-morrow, in spite of all that I can do to stop him." + +Mrs. M'Crawney vanished with all speed, the hint about being made +fun of being more powerful to move her than anything else would +have been. + +Katherine carried in the hot water and tried not to see how badly +the bedroom needed sweeping also. She had no more time for heavy +housework that day, nor did she deem it a duty to waste her +strength on labour which the Irishwoman was equally well able to +perform. Peter had come in when she returned to the outer room, +and was looking about him as if scarcely able to believe the +evidence of his own eyes. + +"Well, if it don't beat everything!" he exclaimed, then strode over +to the shelf and examined the books, which Katherine had been +careful to dust. "You've taken the dust off the books too! I +expect you found it rather thick on 'em, didn't you? I don't think +it has been rubbed off 'em these six months past." + +"Just what I thought!" she retorted, scrubbing the table with great +energy. "But I hope you don't expect me to pity you for that. A +man who can read books ought to know how to dust them." + +"I hadn't thought of doing it myself, that's a fact; but they look +real nice now," he said admiringly. And he was wheeling round to +pay Katherine a compliment from another direction, when the bedroom +door opened again, and a surprised: "Hullo! what's up?" burst from +him. + +Even Katherine looked amazed, the transformation had been so rapid. +Ten minutes ago a tousled, unclean creature, in a ragged night +garment had disappeared, and now a clean-faced woman in a tidy +frock, and with tidy hair, came from the inner room. + +"It is like your impudence to be asking such personal questions as +that," Mrs. M'Crawney retorted lightly, with a smile which showed +her good-looking when she was not peevish. "But it is better I'm +feeling in myself, which is sure to come to the outside sooner or +later. Now, Miss Radford, dear, there's no call for you to go +blacking that stove; I'll do it myself after you are gone. I'm +just dreadful obliged to you for what you've done, especially for +sweeping the floor. I've a soul above sweeping, I have, and I +can't be always lowering myself to dirty work of that sort; it is +damaging to the morals, I find." + +Katherine laughed until the tears came into her eyes, then gasped +out in jerky tones: "It would be very bad for my morals to live +with floors unswept, and I think that is how most people feel." + +"Perhaps they do, but I was never the ordinary kind of woman; my +mother always said I was sort of one by meself, and she was right. +When Mrs. Burton was staying here, with them two blessed babies, I +used to marvel how she could laugh and carry on as she did, while +the hungry sea as drowned her husband rocked at the very door of +the house. Now, if it had been me, and my husband lay somewhere +out there under the grey, heaving water, I could not have sung and +danced and played hop-scotch, blindman's buff, and things of that +sort, the same as she did." + +Katherine's lips took on a scornful curl, and there was an +indignant light in her eyes as she retorted: "No, I expect if Mr. +M'Crawney died you would wear crape a yard deep all round your +frocks, and talk morning, noon, and night of how much you loved +him. But I am quite sure that he would love you a great deal more +if you took the trouble to give him tidy rooms and well-cooked +meals. If I were a man I should just hate a woman who treated me +as badly as you treat Mr. M'Crawney." + +"Hooray, you've got it now, and no mistake, old woman!" interjected +Peter, rubbing his hands in huge enjoyment of the scene. Katherine +had forgotten all about him, or it is possible she would not have +spoken so plainly; as it was, at the sound of his laugh, she turned +with a swift apology to Mrs. M'Crawney. + +"Please forgive me, I have no right to meddle in your concerns; but +it just makes me feel wrathful to see you throwing away the +happiness you might have, and existing in such dirt and discomfort, +when everything about you might be clean, sweet, and wholesome." + +Mrs. M'Crawney dropped into a rocking-chair and laughed in great +amusement. "Sure, it is as good as going to a theaytre to see you +a-carrying on and lecturing me with the stormlight in your eyes. +You are a very pretty girl anyhow, but when you are angry it is +downright lovely that you are. I'd forgive ye for a deal more than +telling the truth, if you'd only come a bit oftener and row me." + +"I say, Katherine, are you nearly ready to start?" asked Phil, +putting his head in at the door. He had been with Simon to inspect +some tame wolf cubs; but, seeing that the weather was growing more +threatening, had decided that the sooner they got away from Fort +Garry the better. + +"Yes, I will be ready in two minutes," Katherine answered; and, +receiving payment for the pelts in a written order upon the +Company, which she tied in a bag round her neck for safety, she +drew on her coat, tied her hat securely on her head, and declared +herself ready to start. + +A fine rain was beginning to blur the sea like a fog, and she +realized that the journey before her might be a great deal worse +than she had expected. + +"Good-bye, my dear; a safe journey to you, and the best of luck +always!" exclaimed Mrs. M'Crawney, following her to the door. +Then, seizing her in a bearlike embrace, the Irishwoman whispered: +"It is downright ashamed of myself you've made me; and if I don't +do better in future, then my name is not Juliana Kathleen +M'Crawney, and never has been!" + +"Good-bye! We shall get home all right; don't worry about us," +Katherine answered bravely. + +"There is one comfort: we shan't need to wash our faces any more +to-day, though we may need a little drying," remarked Phil, as they +rounded an angle of the coast and caught the full force of the wind. + +"It might be worse, for we are being blown along," Katherine +replied, as she tugged at her oars and faced the driving rain. + +For three hours they toiled on, working their way from point to +point, skirting the swamps, and keeping in close under the alders. + +There was never real actual danger close inshore for anyone who +understood the management of a boat, but the work was fearful, and +Katherine was so near to exhaustion when she at last pulled round +past the shut-up house of Oily Dave, that she was thankful to let +Phil take the oars and pull up the quieter waters of the river to +Roaring Water Portage. + +"I wonder how Oily Dave likes being at the fishing to-day?" said +Phil, swaying himself to and fro and jerking the boat fearfully +with his short, uneven strokes. + +But Katherine, sitting in a huddled, wet heap on the opposite seat, +did not answer. She was thinking of someone else who was at the +fishing, and praying that he might be kept in safety and brought +back unharmed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A Bearer of Evil Tidings + +In was a very tired Katherine who awoke to face the work of the +next day. It was storming still, with a driving rain, so journeys +of any kind were out of the question; and, yielding to the wisdom +of Mrs. Burton, she remained in bed until nearly noon. Her arms +ached so badly that she could scarcely move them, her body was +weary in every part, and the long night had been hideous for her by +reason of the nightmare dreams which broke her rest. Always it +seemed when she fell asleep that she was tormented with visions of +Jervis Ferrars struggling for his life in deep waters, falling from +beetling cliffs on to rugged rocks below, or being pursued by +enraged and vindictive walruses across slippery places, where no +one on two feet could hope to stand without falling. + +Even when she awoke the dreams haunted her still, and it was not +until the new day came, and the rest of the household had gone to +their usual avocations, that any real sleep came to her. The twins +were singing when she awoke at noon; indeed, they almost always +were singing: but this morning it was a lilting baby song about +"The sun is always shining, somewhere, somewhere", and Katherine +took heart as she listened, then rose and dressed in great haste, +for it was years since she had remained in bed so late in the day, +and she was wondering what the others were doing without her to +help them. + +Miles was standing at the store door looking out across the river +when she entered by the other door from the living-room, and he was +so absorbed that he did not hear her come up behind him, and only +started when she put her hand on his arm to shake him into +attention. + +"What are you staring at?" she asked lightly. + +"Someone in oilskins has just rowed up and stopped over the river +at Mr. Selincourt's. It looked like Oily Dave, but Phil said last +night that he was away at the fishing," Miles answered, as he +turned back into the store. + +"So he was," said Katherine. "There was the usual legend in his +dirty windows that all drinks must wait until he came back, which +is a fearful temptation to temperance people to wish that he would +never come back at all." + +"His sort is sure to turn up safe and sound, no matter how great +the danger; it is the best and worthiest that never come back," +Miles said, so gloomily that Katherine took instant alarm. + +"What do you mean? Has any bad news come?" she asked, gripping at +the rough deal counter for support, and wondering how she would be +able to bear it if he said yes. + +"Mr. Selincourt went down to Seal Cove this morning and looked in +here on his way back," said Miles. "He wanted to see you, but we +told him that he could not; then he said that there was a good bit +of worry about the boats. One was blown clean into the swamps last +night, and will have to stick there until the weather is fine +enough for her to be towed off, and another came ashore, badly +damaged, at the fish sheds; and he is afraid that some of the other +boats may have been driven on to the rocks." + +"The boats right out in the bay would be safe, wouldn't they?" +Katherine asked, with fear in her eyes. + +"You never can say what will be safe in weather such as we had last +night," Miles answered; then he moved restlessly towards the door +of the store again, and stood looking out, eager to catch the man +whose boat was moored under the alders on the opposite bank of the +river, and to learn from him if there was news from the sea. + +Katherine sat down suddenly. It was as if someone had already been +in to say that a boat was wrecked. Disasters which were expected +always came, so she told herself, and sat leaning her head against +a box of soap, the smell of which ever after suggested shipwreck to +her. + +Ten minutes went past, then twenty minutes, and nearly half an hour +had gone before Miles cried out excitedly: "Here he comes down the +path; Mr. Selincourt is there too, without any hat, and it is +raining hard! Yes, it is Oily Dave, and there goes his hand up to +his mouth, just as if he were drinking!" + +Katherine was at work by this time, packing stores into boxes, +bags, and bundles, which would have to be carried over the long +portage next day; but she left her task now and came round to the +door, where she stood behind Miles and looked over his shoulder. + +"If Mr. Selincourt were not there I would go down and call to the +fellow to come over," said Miles impatiently. + +"No need," rejoined Katherine quietly, "he is coming without any +calling; don't you see that he is turning his boat across the +river?" + +Neither spoke after that until the boat grounded, and Oily Dave +stepped out on to the bank. + +"Miles, you must serve him with what he wants: don't call me; I--I +am going to be busy," Katherine said hastily, then beat a rapid +retreat from the door. But she only went to the corner where a lot +of gay-coloured rugs were hanging, and stood there waiting to hear +what Oily Dave might have to tell. + +How slowly he walked up from the bank! She could hear his heavy +seaboots squelching through the mud, then the deep, grunting noise +which always accompanied any of his movements. + +"Good morning!" said Miles curtly, as the squelching boots crossed +the threshold. + +"I don't call it a good morning," snarled Oily Dave. + +Katherine drew yet closer into the shadow of the rugs, and clenched +her hands tightly to keep from screaming; something bad had got to +be told, she was sure, and she doubted her ability to bear it. + +"What is wrong?" asked Miles. + +"A good deal more than will ever be put right in this world, or the +next either, perhaps," replied Oily Dave. "We are afraid the +_Mary_ has gone down." + +"Ah!" The involuntary moan escaped the listener who was out of +sight, but Oily Dave did not hear, or at any rate he did not heed, +and, after a brief pause, he went on: + +"We was off Akimiski yesterday after walrus, but when it came on to +blow we turned home, for there is no anchorage to run to there in +dirty weather, but plenty of rocks to fall foul of, which are not +quite so pleasant. But we couldn't get home for a while, being +blown along the east coast of the island, with a lively chance of +being wrecked at any minute. We were beating along under the lee +of the island when we saw a boat drifting bottom up, and when we +hooked her we found she was the Mary's boat." + +"It sounds bad, but it does not spell disaster quite, because, +don't you see? they might have lost their boat on the way out," +retorted Miles, in a defiant tone, which meant that he did not +intend to believe bad news until it was proved beyond a doubt. + +"There was a water jar and a bag of biscuits tied to the thwarts," +replied Oily Dave. "It's true there wasn't nothing of the jar but +the handle, and the biscuits was pap, as was to be expected, but +the signs wasn't wanting of what had been taking place, don't you +see? If we'd found the boat with nothing in it we could have hoped +that it had just been washed adrift, and, though we should have +been anxious, there would have been room left for hope, which in +common sense and reason there ain't now." + +"There is always room for hope until we know," objected Miles. +"Besides, Akimiski isn't the Twins by any means; why, they must be +fifty miles away, if not more." + +"Nearer seventy. But who is to say that they ever got so far as +the Twins? If they'd run into any sign of walrus on Akimiski on +the way out, they would stop there for certain, a bird in hand +being worth two in a bush any day in the week, and though all is +fish that comes to our net, it is walrus we're keenest on, as +everyone knows. I've been to Mr. Selincourt with the news, and it +has about corked him up, poor gentleman! But the young lady was +worse still; she turned on me as spiteful as if I'd gone and +drowned the _Mary's_ crew myself." + +There was a deeply injured note in Oily Dave's tone now. He +evidently resented keenly the fact that his bad tidings had not +received a more sympathetic hearing. + +"Who was on the _Mary_?" asked Miles. + +"The usual lot: Nick Jones, master, Stee Jenkin, Bobby Poole, and +Mr. Ferrars. A perfect Jonah that man is, and disaster follows +wherever he goes," said Oily Dave, with a melancholy shake of his +head. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Miles, with a stare of surprise. + +"What I say," retorted Oily Dave. "Mr. Selincourt sent him to me as +a lodger; the river came down in flood and tried to drown him, and +spoiled my house something fearful. Then he gets caught in a +tidehole, when out walking with his sweetheart, which Miss +Selincourt is, I suppose, though it passes me why a young lady with +dollars same as she has got don't look higher than a fisherman. +But the thing that strikes me is that the man must have done +something pretty bad, somewhere back behind, for the waters to be +following him round like this." + +"Look here! don't you think it is a pretty low-down thing to be +taking a man's character away, directly there's a rumour going +round that he is dead?" asked Miles stormily. + +"I ain't taking away his character. I'm only saying that if he was +fated to drown it is a great pity that he wasn't left to drown in +the first place, seeing that it would have saved a lot of bother, +and other precious lives also," replied Oily Dave, with the look +and pose of a man who is bitterly misunderstood. + +"Why, you must be stark, staring mad to talk like this!" exclaimed +Miles, in doubt whether to heave the nearest article on which he +could lay hands at the head of Oily Dave, or to pity him as a +lunatic. + +"I'm no more mad than you are, young 'un; but there's a deal of +what scholars call practical economy in me, and I can't bear waste +of no sort or kind, I can't. Why, when customers come to my hotel +and leaves any liquor in their mugs, which is but seldom, I always +goes and drains 'em down my own neck, to stop waste. And so I says +that if Mr. Ferrars hadn't been saved that first time, we should +have been spared trouble since." + +"What trouble have you ever taken in the matter?" demanded Miles. + +"Didn't I risk my life, and wet myself to the skin, pulling him and +Miss Selincourt out of the tidehole?" asked Oily Dave. "If you +misdoubt my word, ask your sister, who was there and helped as well +as a gal could, which isn't much anyhow. Well, there was three +lives in danger that time, him, and me, and Miss Selincourt, and I +dare say your sister got dampish at the feet. Now, this third and +last time, matters is a deal more serious still. Nick Jones leaves +a widow, though she don't much count. Stee Jenkin leaves a widow, +nice little woman too. Then there's the children, poor things, +orphans afore they are big enough to earn a penny for themselves. +Bobby Poole hadn't a wife certainly, but he would have had by and +by, most likely. It is a bad business altogether. And now I want +some tobacco." + +Oily Dave jerked out this last statement with a swift change of +tone from mournful regret to cheerful business complacency, and +Miles served him in silence, too saddened by the heavy tidings from +the sea to break into resentful angry speech with this man, who +appeared devoid of either heart or feeling. Then the heavy boots +squelched out again, going towards the river bank, where the +waiting boat was tied to the mooring post. A moment of waiting to +make sure he did not return, and then Katherine, pale now as a +ghost, glided out from the shadow of the rugs. + +"Miles, dear, can you do without me for the rest of the day if need +be? I am going down river to poor Mrs. Jenkin," she said, her +voice steady though strained. + +"I can manage; but look at the rain!" he exclaimed, swinging his +hand towards the open door. + +"All the more reason why I should go to her, poor little woman," +Katherine answered, then passed with a quick step into the house, +in search of garments to keep out the weather. + +Mrs. Burton was preparing the early dinner, and Katherine told her +of the news Oily Dave had brought, speaking in quiet, mournful +tones which yet lacked any note of personal loss. Not even to +herself would she admit the sorrow at this time, or it would have +broken her down completely. Her instinct of going to comfort +someone else was the outcome of the strife she was having not to +collapse in a miserable, selfish breakdown. + +Mrs. Burton turned white and shivered. Just so had her heavy news +come to her, and in her sympathy for Mrs. Jenkin her own wounds +bled afresh. But Katherine could not stay to comfort her, the +other poor woman needed it so much more. + +"Nellie, I am going down to Seal Cove, and if Mrs. Jenkin needs me +I shall stay until the morning," she said hurriedly. + +"That is good of you, dear," sobbed the elder sister, and would +have said something more, only Katherine went out of the room so +hastily that there was no chance. + +Poor Katherine had fled so precipitately through fear that Nellie +should say some word about Jervis, with possibly some commiseration +for Mary, and that just now would be a thing too hard to bear. +Wrapping herself from neck to heels in a mackintosh coat, with a +cap of the same, Katherine got into her boat and pulled down river +through the driving rain. She rowed as fast as she could, not so +much from haste to be at the end of her journey as from a desire to +have no time to think. + +Tying her boat up at the foot of the path leading to Mrs. Jenkin's +house, she climbed to the house door, slipping at every step. A +moment she paused before knocking, expecting to hear sobs and +wailing from the inside; but instead there came a burst of childish +laughter and a great stamping of little feet, and then she heard +Mrs. Jenkin singing in a cheerful, if not very musical, voice: "My +love is a soldier dressed in red". + +Katherine stood appalled. Was it possible that Oily Dave had not +told this poor woman of the trouble which had come to her? In that +case she would have to break the heavy news herself, and at the +thought she turned coward, and would gladly have slipped away again +by the way she had come. + +Mrs. Jenkin reached the end of the verse, and shrill, childish +voices took up the chorus: + + "In red, in red, he's all in red, + My love is a soldier dressed in red". + +Katherine stood listening while the chorus ended. Then Mrs. Jenkin +started on afresh: "My love is a sailor clothed in blue". + +But this was too much, and Katherine, pushing the door hurriedly +open, forgetting the small ceremony of knocking, crossed the +threshold and stood, a dripping figure, just inside the door. + +"My dear Miss Radford, what is the matter?" cried the little woman, +jumping up in such a hurry that she upset the baby on to the floor, +where he lay and yelled, more from consternation than because he +was hurt. + +Katherine hesitated. Where could she begin? But then, to her +surprise, Mrs. Jenkin burst out excitedly: "You surely haven't been +putting any belief in that story that Oily Dave has been going +round with this morning?" + +"Isn't it true?" faltered Katherine; then, feeling suddenly weak, +she dropped into the nearest seat, and tried to keep her lips from +quivering. + +"Did you ever know him speak the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth?" demanded Mrs. Jenkin scornfully, as she +picked up the yelling infant and cuddled him into quiet again. + +"But the others were with him, Jean Doulais, and Mickey White, and +they found the boat of the _Mary_," faltered Katherine, + +"What of that?" cried Mrs. Jenkin. "The _Mary_ had two boats, and +one might easily have got adrift through accident. I laughed in +his face when he told about the water jar and the bag of biscuit. +Nick Jones and Stee always keep water and biscuit in the little +boats when they are hoping for a whale, for sometimes it is a long +chase, and then the men get just about worn out." + +"The fleet boats have been very safe so far," remarked Katherine, +trying to find comfort from the little woman's cheery front, yet +rather failing. + +"Yes, the safest boats that go fishing in the bay, my man says, and +he reckons it is because they are so small and well built," Mrs. +Jenkin went on, plainly delighted to have a visitor, and evidently +not much concerned about her husband's safety. "But slip that wet +coat off, dear, and come closer to the stove; this damp makes us +chilly, and reminds us that winter will soon be sneaking up at the +back of the wind. You surely are not out delivering goods on a +morning like this?" + +"No, I came because I was so sorry for you," Katherine answered +simply. + +"Now, that is the real sort of friendship, and I thank you with all +my heart," said Mrs. Jenkin, patting Katherine on the shoulder with +a hand that was not too clean. Then she issued a command to her +eldest daughter: "Take Percival, Gwendoline, and do you and Valerie +go and play on my bed; you can have a lovely time rolling round in +the blankets." + +Shrieks of delight greeted this suggestion, and the three grandly +named but very dirty babies promptly retired to the next room, +leaving their mother and the visitor in peace, if not in quiet. +The walls of the little house were very thin, and rolling round in +the blankets appeared to be a very noisy pastime. + +"If I believed that the _Mary_ had gone down, it is a very +miserable woman I should be to-day," said Mrs. Jenkin, who was +swaying gently in a rocking-chair, "for Stee is a good husband, +though perhaps he hasn't always been as straight as he ought to +have been. But that was when Oily Dave was in power here. It is +like master, like man, you know, and Stee is desperate easy led, +either wrong or right." + +"If only we knew that the _Mary_ was safe!" moaned poor Katherine. + +"I should know if it wasn't," Mrs. Jenkin answered confidently. +Then she hesitated, turned very red in the face, and burst into +impetuous speech: "I knew Stee was in danger that night last winter +when he and Oily Dave went through the snow to steal goods from +your cache, and the wolves set upon them. I perspired in sheer +horror that night, though I knew nothing about what was afoot, and +I knelt praying on the floor till Stee came home with his clothes +all torn, and told me what he had been through. Ah! that was a +dark and dreadful night; may I never see such another." + +"I do not think you will," said Katherine softly. She spoke with +conviction, too, for certainly Stee Jenkin had been a very +different individual since that time. + +Mrs. Jenkin wiped her eyes with a pinafore of Valerie's, which +happened to lie handy. "I don't believe in that saying about love +being blind," she remarked, with considerable energy. "I know that +I have been able to see Stee's faults plain enough, and yet he is +all the world to me. Yes, dear, you had better be wed to a faulty +man that you really love, than be tied up to an angel that you +don't love." + +Katherine rose and began to struggle into her long wet mackintosh. +"I would have stayed if you had really needed me," she said; "but +all the while you can hope you are not to be pitied." + +"Thank you, thank you, Miss Radford, good of you to come," said the +little woman. Stee isn't dead yet, or I must have known it. I don't +believe he has been in danger even." + +"If only I could feel like that!" murmured Katherine to herself, as +she went out into the driving rain once more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +The Gladness + +Six days went by. The weather had cleared as if by magic, a +brilliant sun shone every day in a cloudless sky, and summer had +returned again to cheer the northern land. But never a word had +come from across the waste of grey, heaving waters, to let the +anxious watchers at Seal Cove know whether the _Mary_ still lived, +or whether her crew had really gone to the bottom from the little +boat which Oily Dave and his mates had found floating keel upwards. + +Mrs. Jenkin still preserved her attitude of determined +cheerfulness, and persisted in her belief that no harm had come to +the vessel or the men. But she was the only one who still hoped. +Mrs. Jones, the wife of Nick Jones, a woman shunned by her +neighbours, and of a disposition the reverse of friendly, had +already put on black. Her mourning garments were of ancient make, +for up-to-date mourning apparel was not regarded as one of the +necessaries of life, and so it was not stocked by the store at +Roaring Water Portage. + +Mr. Selincourt said little, but it was easy to see how much he +feared, while Mary went about wearing such a look of bereavement +that the folk at Seal Cove were confirmed in their belief that some +sort of engagement really had existed between her and the young man +who managed the business of the fishing fleet. + +Katherine, shielding herself behind this mistaken belief on the +part of other people, carried her sore heart bravely through those +days of hoping against hope and sick apprehension. The only two +people who even suspected her suffering were her brother Miles and +Mr. Selincourt; but neither gave any sign of understanding that +there might be any personal sorrow hidden under her sympathy for +Mrs. Jenkin and the unpleasant Mrs. Jones. + +On the sixth day it became necessary for Katherine to do the long +portage with supplies for the Indian encampment, which had about +doubled in population during the last two or three weeks. There +was the usual bustle of getting off--the scampering of dogs back +along the portage path for fresh burdens, the shouting of Phil, and +all the cheerful accompaniments of busy toil and work willingly +done. But Katherine did her part with a mechanical precision, +forcing herself to this task and to that, yet feeling no zest or +pleasure in anything. + +Although the days were so warm and sunny, the nights and early +mornings showed already a touch of frostiness, a chilly reminder of +the winter that was coming; and Katherine was glad to wear a coat +even while she was rowing, until the second portage had been +reached. Astor M'Kree met her himself this morning, his first +question being the one she most dreaded to hear. + +"Any news of the _Mary_ yet, Miss Radford?" + +"No," she answered sadly. "Mr. Selincourt's little flag was +hanging at half-mast when we started this morning." + +"If she has gone down, it is the first boat I've built that has +cost a human life, that I know of," he said, "and it makes me feel +as if I should never have the courage to build another. I've got +one on the stocks, but I haven't touched her since this news came +up river." + +"But disasters at sea will come, do what you will, and the best +boat ever built would go to pieces on those Akimiski rocks," +Katherine said, trying to cheer him because he seemed so sad. + +"It isn't clear to me why they were on Akimiski at all, when it was +the Twins they were making for," he replied, in a gloomy tone. +"Mr. Selincourt told me the other day that he believed it would be +better if I did my boatbuilding down below the portages; but I said +no. There is no difficulty in taking the boats down when the river +is in flood, though of course it would not be possible now; and +I've got the feeling that I like to take the first risk in them +myself. It is a queer sensation, I can tell you, to feel a boat +coming to life under your feet, and when I took the _Mary_ over the +falls it was just as if she jumped forward in sheer glee, when she +felt the swing and the rush of the water swirling round her sides." + +Katherine nodded, but did not speak. There was a rugged eloquence +about the boatbuilder which always appealed to her, but this +morning it was almost more than she could bear. + +"Perhaps I will come in and see Mrs. M'Kree as I come back, but I +must hurry now, for I am anxious to get my business done and turn +my face homeward as soon as I can," she said, after a little pause. +"Father did not seem quite so well yesterday, and Nellie thinks it +is the gloom of other people which has upset him." + +"Very likely: poor man, he'd be bound to be sensitive in unexpected +places; afflicted people mostly are. I will tell my wife you may +be in later; and look here, could you spare Phil to go to Ochre +Lake swan-shooting this evening? My two lads and I are going, and +it is always fun for a boy. I've got an old duck rifle he can use, +and we'll send him down river in time to make himself useful +to-morrow morning." + +One glance at Phil's face was sufficient to make Katherine decide +she could do quite well without him when she got back over the +second portage, and so it was arranged. + +The journey that day was got through sooner than usual, owing +chiefly to Phil's tendency to "hustle" in order to be back in good +time for the swan-shooting. He helped Katherine over the second +portage, and tumbled bundles of pelts and packages of dried fish +into the boat. Then, uttering a wild whoop of delight, he turned +head over heels in the dried grass on the bank, and started back +along the portage path to the boatbuilder's house at a run. + +Being in good time, Katherine did not trouble to row herself down +river, but, pushing the boat out in midstream, let it drift on the +current. It was a great luxury to be alone--to let her face take +on the saddest expression it could assume, to let her hands drop +idly on her lap, while for a brief space she let her grief have +sway. She was thinking of the day when Jervis had come over the +portage to meet her, and she had been so late that he was obliged +to go back before she came. What had he come to say to her that +day? + +This was the question which had ceaselessly tortured Katherine +through the days and nights since Oily Dave had brought the bad +news about the _Mary_. Her heart whispered that he might have come +that day to ask her to marry him, but she was not sure. If she +could have been certain of this, then it seemed to her the worst of +her suffering would have been removed, because then she would have +had some shadow of a right to mourn for him. + +But there was the portage looming in sight, and she could hear the +water rushing round the bend in the river and over the falls. Then +she turned round in the boat, and, taking up the oars, prepared to +row in to the boathouse. + +A figure, partly hidden by the cottonwood and the alders, stepped +forward at this moment and prepared to moor the boat for her. + +Was it instinct that made her turn her head then, or was she merely +looking to see how much farther she had to row in? A frightened +cry escaped her at what she saw, and the colour ebbed from her +face, leaving it ghastly white. + +"Katherine, did you take me for a ghost?" asked the voice of Jervis +Ferrars. + +"I think so," she said faintly, then sent the boat with a jerk +against the mooring post, where he tied it up for her. + +"Did you really think we had gone down, or had you the cheerful +faith of Mrs. Jenkin?" + +"I--I am afraid that I had no faith at all," she said with an +effort, and never guessed how complete was her self-betrayal. + +He looked at her keenly, was apparently satisfied with what he saw, +then said cheerfully: "Will you row me up to Astor M'Kree's, or, +rather, permit me to row you? I want to go and assure him that the +_Mary_ is quite safe, and the soundest boat that ever sailed the +Bay. Shall we leave this luggage here, or row it up river for the +sake of having a load?" + +"Rowing is quite sufficient exercise without having an unnecessary +load," replied Katherine, with a shake of her head, as she handed +him the bundles to place on the bank. She was trembling so that +she could hardly trust herself to speak, and was horribly afraid of +breaking down like a schoolgirl, and crying from sheer joyfulness. + +When the bundles were all out, Jervis got in, took the oars, and +sent the boat's head round for up river again, then pulled steadily +for a few minutes without speaking. + +A boat is an awkward place for a person afflicted with +self-consciousness. Katherine would have been thankful for some +shelter in which to hide her face just then, but, having none, she +rushed into nervous speech instead. + +"Were you in danger? Was the _Mary_ wrecked?" she asked, miserably +conscious of the unsteadiness of her voice, yet feeling altogether +too nervous to remain silent. + +"No," he said. "We have had a very easy and prosperous time, +though, unfortunately, we lost one of our boats on the way out--the +boat picked up by Oily Dave, which has made all the trouble. We +fell in with a lot of white porpoises; so the take has been a +valuable one, and the men came home very well pleased with the +venture: though Nick Jones felt his spirits rather dashed by +meeting his wife tricked out in mourning attire, and flying a +pennon of widowhood from the back of her bonnet." + +Katherine laughed: she could imagine the tragic figure Mrs. Jones +must have looked, and the effect the sight would have on the +susceptible nerves of a Bay fisherman. Then she said hurriedly: "I +shall have great faith in Mrs. Jenkin's judgment after this, +although I have wondered how she could be so persistently hopeful +in the face of such evidence as we had." + +"And you yourself--how did you feel about it? Would it have made +any difference to you if I had gone under, dear?" he asked, with a +caressing note in his tone that she had never heard there before. + +For answer she jerked her head round, staring at the tops of the +pine trees, with the blue sky behind them, but seeing nothing and +heeding nothing save the world of happiness which had suddenly +opened before her astonished eyes. + +It seemed a long time before any sound broke the silence save the +regular splash of the oars, then Jervis said quietly: "Are you +quite sure that you are not afraid to marry a poor man, Katherine?" + +She looked at him with only a glance, then asked, a trifle +unsteadily: "What do you mean?" + +"Well, you might have looked higher, of course. I have told you +how miserably poor my people and I have been. Thanks to Mr. +Selincourt, things are easier with me now; but there is a streak of +modesty in me somewhere, and I have been afraid to ask for what I +wanted," he said, with a certain wistfulness of intonation which +brought Katherine's glance round again. + +"You need not have been afraid," she said softly. + +"Because why?" he asked, in the tone of one who meant to be +answered. + +Katherine looked at the tops of the pine trees again, but, finding +no help there, let her gaze drop to the dancing water, and finally +faltered in a very low voice: "Because love is better than money, +or that sort of thing." + +He bent forward until he could look into her downcast face, then +said earnestly: "You mean, then, it makes no difference to you what +my worldly position may chance to be?" + +"Of course not; why should it?" she asked, her glance meeting his +now in surprise at his earnestness. + +Their progress up river was rather slow after that, and it was +something over an hour later before they reached the second +portage. Astor M'Kree had started for the swan-shooting by that +time, and there was only his delighted wife to scream with joyful +relief at the news, that the _Mary_ was riding safely at anchor in +the river. + +"Poor Astor! He has been that down he could scarcely take his +food," said Mrs. M'Kree, wiping away the tears which sheer +happiness had brought into her eyes. + +"Get an extra big supper ready for him, then, for I expect you will +find his appetite has come back with a bounce," said Jervis, +laughing. "You can tell him from me to get on with that new boat +as fast as he can, and we will name it the _Katherine_." + +"Are you joking?" asked Mrs. M'Kree, who had suddenly become very +serious, as she looked from Jervis to Katherine, whose face was a +study in blushes. + +"No, I am quite in earnest," he answered. "But we must go now, for +we dumped a lot of fish out on the portage path, and I should not +be surprised if half the dogs in the neighbourhood are there, +sampling it, when we get back." + +"I hope not, or my trouble in bringing it over the long portage +will all have been thrown away," said Katherine, who could not help +smiling at the bewilderment on the face of Mrs. M'Kree. + +There was no need to row going down the river; they just sat side +by side and let the boat drift on the current, while they talked of +the present and the future. Katherine remembered her other journey +down, earlier in the afternoon, and the bitter, black misery which +had kept her company then. + +[Illustration: Drifting down the river.] + +"What a difference things make in one's outlook!" she exclaimed. + +"What things?" he demanded. + +"I was thinking of when I let the boat drift down this afternoon," +she said. "The pine trees looked so gloomy then, and those great, +black spruces yonder on the bank made me think of the decorations +on funeral hearses years and years ago, the sort of thing one sees +only in pictures; but now----" + +"What do they let you think of now?" he asked, holding her hand in +a tighter clasp, as the boat swept slowly past the funereal spruces. + +"Oh! they make me think of the ornamental grounds in Montreal, or +of the Swiss mountains which I see in visions when I dream I am +'doing Europe', as the Yankees say," and she laughed happily at her +wild flights of fancy. + +"Would you like to do Europe--after we are married?" he asked, a +gravity coming into his tone that she could not understand. + +"Why worry about the impossible?" she said gently. "Books are +cheap, if travel is not, and we will do our European travel sitting +by a winter fire." + +"It might be possible some day; one never knows quite how things +may turn out," he said gravely. Then he asked: "Did anyone tell +you that I came up river to see you that afternoon before we sailed +for the Twins?" + +"Yes," she answered, flushing as she remembered how much his visit +and its purpose had been in her mind during those days of keen +anxiety. + +"I came then to ask you the question I asked just now," he said +slowly. "It has been in my heart to ask it ever since that day you +helped me across the ice, saving my life at the risk of your own. +But I had my mother to support then, in part, and the burden on me +was too heavy for me to dare to put my personal happiness first. +There was a letter for me in Mr. Selincourt's belated mail, +however, that changed my outlook pretty considerably, and left me +free to do as I liked; so I came to you directly." + +"Do you mean----?" began Katherine, then stopped in some confusion. + +"Do I mean that I have only myself to keep now, were you going to +ask?" he said, laughing as he shifted his seat and took up the oars +to bring the boat in to the mooring post under the boathouse; +"because that is just what I do mean. I have only myself to keep +until I have the privilege of keeping you; and there will be no +more portage work for you then, I promise you." + +Katherine sprang ashore, whistled for the dogs, then turned to him +with a saucy air. "Don't be too positive about the portage work; +fishermen do not exactly come under the heading of the leisured +classes, and I may be glad to earn an honest dollar where I can." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +Winter Again + +Never had there been such excitement in Seal Cove and at Roaring +Water Portage as when, following close on the safe return of the +_Mary_, the tidings leaked out that Jervis Ferrars was going to marry +Katherine Radford. With a very few exceptions everyone was +disappointed, for common consent had given him to Mary Selincourt, +and Dame Rumour does not care to make mistakes. Some there were +who insisted that Mary Selincourt took the news badly, and looked +pale for days afterwards; but these were the very wise ones, who +always knew everything without any telling, whom nothing surprised, +and who were never taken unawares. + +Mr. Selincourt had himself rowed across the river directly the +tidings reached him; for he was anxious to offer his +congratulations, and to inform Katherine that he had expected it +ever since he had been at Roaring Water Portage. Katherine's eyes +grew suspiciously dim when he had gone: she was thinking of the day +when he had taken her into his confidence about Mary's love affair +with Archie Raymond, and she guessed that he had told her on +purpose to prevent her putting any belief in the rumours flying +about concerning Jervis and Mary. + +The person who was most surprised was Mrs. Burton. So keenly +remorseful was she, too, because of all the advice she had given +her sister about standing aside, that Katherine had to turn +comforter, and assure the poor little woman that the well-meant +counsel had done no serious harm. But she shivered at the +remembrance of how she had suffered; for the pain is always most +wearing that has to be crushed down out of sight of other people's +eyes. + +It was the last week in September when the Selincourts sailed from +Seal Cove. Mary wanted to go south by river and trail, as they had +come; but the weather was so stormy that it seemed better to get to +Montreal with dry feet, if they could manage to do so. They were +coming back next summer to settle permanently; but before then a +bigger house would have to be built, and many changes were to take +place on both sides of the river from Seal Cove to Roaring Water +Portage. + +Jervis had begged Katherine to marry him before the winter began, +so that he might take the heaviest of her burdens on his own +shoulders. He was to live in Mr. Selincourt's house during the +winter, and it seemed to him an ideal arrangement, if only +Katherine had been willing to live there too. But she could not +selfishly take her own happiness while the others needed her so +much, and she steadily refused to even think of marriage until the +spring came again. By that time Miles would be old enough to +assume the government of affairs, and her father would not miss her +presence from the house so much when the bright, long days came +round again. + +Finding that he could not alter her resolution, and secretly +admiring her all the more because of it, Jervis set himself to pass +the months of waiting as best he could. This winter it was he who +taught the night school, thus relieving Katherine of what had been +a heavy and sometimes very embarrassing burden. There were more +scholars this year; for the river was crowded with boats, so many +fishermen who had formerly wintered at Marble Island preferring to +come south in order to begin work earlier in the spring. + +The snow came early, shutting them in a full two weeks sooner than +usual. But "early come early go" was the legend at Seal Cove, and, +since the winter had to come, the sooner it was over and done with +the better. + +Idleness for the fishermen had been the rule in previous winters, +and, as idleness is usually only another word for mischief and +dissipation, the morals of the men had suffered seriously. But +next summer had to be prepared for, and as there was money in +plenty to pay for the work which had to be done, it seemed probable +that Mr. Selincourt's plans would be pushed forward as fast as he +desired. + +Astor M'Kree had set up a team of dogs and a sledge painted a +brilliant blue, and in this equipage, or on snowshoes, he was up +and down between his house and the bay several times in most days. +Some of the fishermen were fairly expert carpenters, and these +found the winter brought them as much work as the summer had done, +with less risk and better pay. + +To Katherine the weeks of winter passed like a dream. Sometimes +she contrasted them with the dark, anxious weeks of the previous +winter, when the nightmare trouble about her father had first +descended upon her. She was a keener business woman now than then, +readier at buying and selling, quicker to see what was the right +thing to do under the circumstances of the moment; but her chief +aim this winter was to stand back and push Miles forward so that +other people might understand who was to be business chief of the +establishment in the future. Whenever Jervis could spare time to +come over the river and help Phil in the store, Katherine had Miles +for companion on the long journeys which were still necessary here +and there. + +It was pure comedy now when they went to the Indian encampment. +The Indians of the bay shore could not be brought to believe that a +person could have any sound, reliable judgment on any subject +whatever until he had done growing; so, when Katherine appealed to +Miles regarding every skin offered in barter, the red men first +mocked. Then, however, they grew doubtful, and finally they veered +round to a respectful attitude towards the young tradesman which +Miles found very soothing. + +Mr. Selincourt had arranged for an intermittent postal service +between Maxohama and Seal Cove, to be carried on by Indians, during +the winter. Two mails had safely reached the post office at +Roaring Water Portage in this way; then three months passed with +never a word from the outside world reaching the little isolated +colony on the bay shore, and the people thus cut off could not +understand the reason why no tidings reached them. Then one day +when Katherine and Miles had gone up to Ochre Lake, where a company +of Indians had made themselves winter quarters, they came upon a +clue to the mystery of the missing mails. + +Ochre Lake was, as usual, frozen solid, except at one end, where an +enormous quantity of fish was to be found. It was nearly the end +of March, but as yet there was not the slightest prospect of the +frost breaking up. The nights were getting shorter, and the days +were brilliant with sunshine, but it was only a cold brilliance as +yet. + +The Indians had remained there all the winter, so they said, +because there was such an abundance of fish for food. Their winter +quarters consisted of holes, about four feet deep, dug in the +earth, roofed over with spruce branches heaped with snow. Fires +were kindled in these lairs, and the people rarely came out save +when driven to it by the necessity to catch fish for food. + +The day Katherine and Miles went to the encampment it was +gloriously fine, and for the first time that year the sun had real +warmth in it. This had induced some of the miserable creatures to +crawl out to the daylight, who perhaps had not been outside the +holes for weeks. There was quite a crowd of children visible, and +Katherine, whose heart always warmed to the pitiable little +objects, with their mournful black eyes, produced a packet of +sweets, which speedily brought a swarm of youngsters round her. + +Doling the sweets out with strict impartiality, she noticed that +one child had a fragment of paper in its skinny hand. This was +puzzling, for the Indians were not given to education or culture in +any shape or form, and the paper looked like a fragment from a +letter, for she could plainly see writing upon it. + +With a sign to Miles to keep the elders busy, Katherine proceeded +to bribe the child to give up his dirty fragment of paper in +exchange for the bag, which still had some sweets in it. + +When this was done, she told Miles to cut the business short, and +then they started for home. She had thrust the fragment of paper +in her glove, and did not venture to look at it until they were +miles away from the lake, because she did not wish the Indians to +know that her curiosity had been aroused. But when the dogs had +dropped into a walk, and were coming slowly up the hill at some +distance behind, she pulled off her glove and proceeded to examine +the dirty fragment. + +It was part of a letter, and directly she saw it she recognized the +handwriting as that of Mrs. Ferrars, the mother of Jervis. He had +shown her some of his mother's letters, and there was no mistaking +the regular, delicate handwriting. The paper was only written on +on one side, and only two lines of the writing were legible: + + "--is very ill; you may be sent for now at any time." + +Katherine pondered over the dirty fragment with a very puzzled +expression. There were three ways of explaining the presence of +that bit of paper at the encampment on Ochre Lake: it might have +been stolen from Jervis by the Indians, when they came down to the +Cove; or the Indians coming up from Maxohama might have been robbed +of the mails they were bringing by other Indians; or they might +have perished in one of the winter storms, and the bags might have +been found afterwards, and appropriated as justifiable treasure +trove. + +Katherine said nothing of all this to Miles; she wanted to speak to +Jervis about it first, for, of course, it might be only part of an +old letter that he had lost, and of no importance at all to anyone +else. If this were proved to be the case she would be greatly +relieved. A whole host of misgivings had arisen in her heart on +reading the words: "You may be sent for now at any time". If +Jervis were to go away, what a blank it would make in her life! Of +course he would come back again, but the dreary months of his +absence would be very hard to live through. + +She did not see Jervis that day until evening. He came in as usual +when night school was over. Then all the family were gathered in +the one sitting-room the house contained, which left little chance +for private conversation of any kind; the boys went away to bed +after a time, taking their father with them, and then Mrs. Burton +went to put her little girls to bed, and the lovers were alone for +the brief half-hour which was all the time they could get for +uninterrupted talk on most days. Then Katherine produced the +fragment, stated how she had discovered it, and asked a little +shyly if it were part of an old letter, or a bit of one he had +never received. + +"I have never had it, of that I am quite certain," he said, with a +very grave look on his face. + +"Then who is ill? Is it one of your brothers?" she asked, with a +painful throb at her heart; for something in his looks and his +expression made her certain that if the summons came he would have +to go. + +"No, George and Fred are hard as nails; nothing is likely to ail +them, nor would their illness necessitate my going home. I expect +it is Cousin Samuel who is ill," Jervis answered, with a curious +hesitancy of manner and a sort of constraint which made Katherine's +heart heavy as lead, although she held her head high and looked +prouder than ever. + +"What will you do?" she asked, and her tone was breathless, despite +her efforts to make her voice have merely a casual sound. + +"If Cousin Samuel dies I shall have to go to England, I suppose. +He is the well-to-do member of our family, and his death would mean +business affairs to look after," Jervis answered, as he surveyed +the scrap of paper, turning it over and over, as if to see if there +were anything on it that might have been missed. + +"Is he your cousin or your father's?" she asked. "Neither; he is +my grandfather's first cousin, a hard, cruel old man, with not an +ounce of charity, nor even ordinary kind-heartedness, in his whole +composition," Jervis answered in a hard tone. "I asked his help for +my mother when she was left a widow, but he turned a deaf ear to +the plea, and left her to struggle on, to sink or swim as best she +could." + +"I see," said Katherine, and now it was her voice which was +constrained. Then she asked timidly: "If you go to England, when +will you have to start?" + +"That will depend upon you; for of course I am not going to England +to leave you behind, that goes without saying," he answered, in a +masterful tone that set her heart throbbing wildly, only now it was +joy, and not sorrow, that caused the emotion. "I must see what I +can do about getting a minister up here to marry us," he went on; +"then we should be ready to start directly the waters are open, if +need should arise." + +"Wouldn't it be wiser to put off our wedding until you come back? +It will cost you such a fearful lot to take me too," she said, +feeling that she must take a common-sense, prudent view of the +situation, although the prospect of going with him set her nerves +tingling with delight. + +"No, no, sweetheart, I am not going to leave you behind," he said, +holding her hand in a pressure that hurt her. "If I go to England +I will take my wife along with me; if that can't be managed I will +stay where I am." + +Katherine laughed. "It is all very well to be so positive, but I +don't see how it is to be managed. It is one thing for me to marry +and just go over the river to live, because then I can always come +to help when I am wanted," she said, the mirth dying out of her +face, and leaving it with a troubled look; "but it is quite another +matter to marry and go straight away to England." + +"Nevertheless, it may have to be done," he said; adding, with a +smile: "Don't be so conceited as to think the world can't turn +round without your help in pushing it. Here comes Mrs. Burton; let +us ask her opinion." + +"Upon what?" said Nellie, who came out from the bedroom at that +moment. + +"Upon our getting married at the very earliest opportunity and +going to England afterwards on a honeymoon trip, if we feel so +inclined," replied Jervis promptly. + +Mrs. Burton looked considerably surprised, but she said quickly: +"The trip would do Katherine a lot of good, if you can afford the +time and the expense, and we could spare her somehow." + +"Just my own opinion," he answered, with a laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +Preparations + +The weeks slid past at a faster rate when the snow began to melt +and the water came over the rapids with a roar, and a rush that +threatened to sweep everything before it. Jervis went up to Ochre +Lake a day or two after Katherine brought him that dirty fragment +of paper, and offered to buy any more of the same kind of thing +which the Indians might happen to possess, and pay for it liberally +with tobacco. But no one appeared to know anything about the +scrap, and no one had any more fragments to offer in barter, so he +had to go away with the mystery unsolved. Then a week later, when +Katherine and Miles went to the encampment with a sledgeload of +provisions it was to find that the whole lot had vanished, leaving +the dug-outs, in which they had existed so long, deserted. There +was no chance of tracing them, for the very next day it began to +snow again, and after two days of uninterrupted snowfall it began +to rain, and everyone realized that spring was coming. + +There had been no trouble on the score of 'Duke Radford's health in +this second winter. His mind was placid, though clouded still. He +was gentle and affectionate, and easily pleased, and he played with +the two little girls as if he had been one of themselves. + +Katherine, watching him with anxious, loving eyes, noticed that now +he clung to Nellie more than he did to her. At first this raised +an acute jealousy in her heart, for she was very human, and in his +days of health and mental vigour her father had always clung most +to her; but a very little reflection brought her to see that this +change was really a matter for thankfulness, as he would not miss +her so much during her absence. It was good for Mrs. Burton, too; +for the more there were to love and depend upon her the easier did +she find it to rise to the occasion, and be ready to meet all the +demands upon her. + +The great difficulty in arranging for an early marriage lay in +securing a minister to perform the ceremony. Directly the waters +were open, Jervis sent men with mails to Maxohama, with +instructions to bring back a clergyman with them--the bishop if +they could get him; but if he were not available, that is, if his +spring visitation had not begun, then some other clergyman must be +secured. He also sent a letter to Mr. Selincourt, urging that +gentleman's speedy return, stating as his reason the necessity +there might be for his own absence when the fishing commenced. + +When the men had gone there were other preparations to be set +afoot, and, although five weeks might possibly elapse before the +men returned with the clergyman, arrangements for the ceremony had +to be set about without delay, because there was so much to be done. + +A wedding in that out-of-the-way place was such an extraordinary +occasion that everyone at Seal Cove and Roaring Water Portage would +expect an invitation, so preparations must be made to welcome and +entertain the entire population. Katherine would have much +preferred to be quietly married in their sitting-room, with no one +but her own people to look at her; but Mrs. Burton protested loudly +at this, and even Jervis took sides with her, saying that everyone +would surely be disappointed if shut out. + +"But you don't mean to ask everyone?" exclaimed Katherine. + +"I expect everyone will want to come," Jervis replied, with a shrug +of his broad shoulders. + +"Do you mean to ask Oily Dave, Bobby Poole, and all that lot?" she +cried in dismay. + +"If they will come I shall be delighted to see them," he answered +gravely. + +"But Oily Dave----" she began, then stopped as if she had no words +adequate to the expression of her feelings. + +"Tried to kill me once, were you going to say? I know he did. But +perhaps if he had not fastened me in, to drown like a rat in a +hole, you would not have come to rescue me; and as that fact so +much out-balances the other, why, I feel rather in Oily Dave's debt +than otherwise." + +It was the Sunday after the men had started with the mail for +Maxohama, and Jervis was walking with Katherine in the woods above +the first portage, while the laughing chuckle of the ptarmigan +sounded on all sides. + +Katherine began to smile at the figure her wedding guests might be +expected to cut, then cried out in alarm: "Oh dear, whatever shall +we do if the bishop comes, as you have asked? What will he think +of such a mixed medley of folks?" + +"I have no doubt that he will think it a fine opportunity for +preaching a sermon, and, as he is really a very eloquent man, he is +sure to be worth listening to," Jervis said quietly. + +"There is one thing Nellie and I can't agree about, and I want you +to settle it for me," she said, facing round upon him with a sudden +gravity which surprised him, because she had been laughing only a +moment before. + +"What is it?" he asked. + +"Nellie wants to take French leave and borrow Mr. Selincourt's new +house for the wedding; but I should hate it!" she exclaimed +vehemently. + +"There is no need--besides, Mr. Selincourt will probably be here. +Why not use the store? Your stocks of goods are nearly at their +lowest, and the people that could not get inside could stay +outside," he said. + +Katherine drew a long breath of relief; then she said softly: +"Thank you; I thought you would not disappoint me. You never have; +I do not think you ever will. But Nellie said--" + +"Yes, what did she say?" he asked, his voice very gentle now, as if +he understood something of the trouble and diffidence which lay +behind. + +"Nellie said that you would not care to be married in a country +store, with cheese and bacon and all that sort of thing about. She +and Ted Burton were married so, but that was different," Katherine +answered jerkily. + +"The store seems to me an ideal place for the ceremony, seeing that +we have no church. How do you feel about it yourself?" he asked +abruptly. + +"I should prefer it there. Only, I wanted to be sure you would not +mind," she said, flinging her head up with a proud gesture, +although the laughing light had come back to her eyes. + +"I think, my dear, that the man who marries you will be so +supremely fortunate that it will matter nothing whether the +ceremony is performed in a cathedral or an Indian dug-out," he +said, with a gravity that showed the words to be no empty +compliment, but the sincere expression of what he felt. + +Katherine's lips quivered, but it was a day for smiles, not tears; +so she laughed in the nervous fashion with which she was apt to +cloak all deep emotion, and said: "I suppose the store may be +regarded as the middle way between the cathedral and the dug-out; +anyhow, it will be cleaner than the latter by a good long way. I +shall tell Nellie to-night that you are quite satisfied to be +married in the store, and then perhaps her scruples will vanish." + +"We will hope so, at all events," he answered. "The easiest way to +issue invitations will be to chalk a notice on the board outside +the store, inviting anyone who wishes to be present at the wedding +of Miss Katherine Radford with Jervis Ferrars, date to be fixed +later on. That had better be attended to to-morrow, so that the +intending guests may have time to get their finery all in +readiness." + +"Oh, what finery it will be!" exclaimed Katherine, with a ripple of +amused laughter. "There will be the oddest assortment of garments +that anyone can imagine. I believe Oily Dave possesses a 'top' +hat, and that will be certain to appear." + +"Never mind; we shall survive, I dare say, and so will the bishop +if he comes," Jervis answered; and then the talk of the two +wandered on to the golden future which they were to spend together, +while the glad sunshine filtered down upon them through the pine +boughs, and the world was a joyous place because of the love which +made everything beautiful. + +Jervis chalked the general invitation to the wedding on the board +outside the store next day, and great was the satisfaction which +the announcement produced. If everyone was invited, then no one +felt left out in the cold; and immediately there ensued a great +bustle of preparation for the function, which certainly would be +the event of the year to the dwellers on the bay shore. + +Katherine and Mrs. Burton were busier than anyone, for they had the +store to spring-clean, and that was a task calling for hard work +and careful management. There was also the question of wedding +garments; but these, in consideration of the limited stock of +materials at their disposal, could not amount to much. For a +bridal dress, Katherine had decided on a white embroidered muslin +which had been her one extravagance when she was in Montreal, and +which was made with a high neck and long sleeves. Sometimes she +wondered if embroidered muslin were quite the right material for +the wedding dress of a fisherman's wife; but as she had no other +frock which would serve, it had to be that or nothing. + +The days slipped away one by one, and at last they were watching +hourly for the return of the men who had been sent to Maxohama for +the clergyman. It was a glorious day early in June when Katherine, +who had been over to Fort Garry with Phil, was rowing up the back +creek, and came suddenly upon quite a procession of small boats +which was passing up river. + +"Hurrah! It is Mr. Selincourt!" yelled Phil, pulling off his cap +and waving it like mad. + +"And Mary!" exclaimed Katherine, who suddenly went rosy red, for in +the last boat of all was an elderly man, with a kind face and a +clerical air, whom she instantly recognized as the bishop from the +description Jervis had given her of him. + +"Katherine, Katherine, how bonny you look!" cried Mary, and then +the boats came nearer together, and greetings became general. + +Katherine was introduced to the bishop, who bowed and smiled in a +kindly fashion, although introductions at fifteen or twenty yards +apart are rather awkward affairs. Then Mary insisted on being +transferred to Katherine's boat, and as unceremoniously ordered +Phil to occupy the place she was leaving. + +"Oh, my dear, I am glad to be back again!" she cried, as she +settled herself on the seat from which she had just turned Phil. + +"We are very glad to see you back," Katherine answered soberly. +The sight of the bishop had set her pulses fluttering wildly, and +she was hardly mistress of herself again, as yet. + +"The journey has been delightful," Mary rattled on, understanding +the cause of Katherine's fluctuating colour, and anxious to give +her time to recover from her confusion. "We are such a large +party, too, that it has been like a perpetual picnic, with only two +drawbacks which really mattered." + +"What were they?" asked Katherine, supposing the drawbacks to be +some item of portage discomfort, or rainstorms which came at the +wrong time. + +"The first was a horrid little man, a Mr. Clay, who has come all +the way from England to see Mr. Ferrars, and begged to be allowed +to attach himself to our party. A perfect little kill-joy he is, +so prim, so proper and precise, that one is tempted to believe he +must have been born a grown-up, and so has had no childhood at all." + +"Where is he now? I did not notice that there was another stranger +beside the bishop," said Katherine, turning her head to look at the +other boats, which were leading. + +"We left him behind at the fish sheds with Mr. Ferrars," said +Mary. "He has his own boat and his own men. He turns his +aristocratic little nose up at everything Canadian, and loudly +pities anyone who is fated to live two or three hundred miles from +a railway depot. But he apparently has the most utter admiration +for Mr. Ferrars, and the fright he was in the day we found the +bones was, I am quite sure, entirely due to a fear he had lest it +was Mr. Ferrars who had come to grief." + +"What bones, and where did you find them?" asked Katherine, with a +start. + +Mary shrugged her shoulders and answered: "Two days ago we did a +portage on the Albany, and came, at camping time, upon the gruesome +spectacle of two skeletons lying side by side under a little +shelter formed of snowshoes and spruce boughs. We supposed that +they must have been the Indians dispatched from Maxohama months ago +with mails, only there were no mail bags, and no food bags either; +so, of course, they might have been only ordinary Indians on a +journey. Our portage men insisted that the remains were those of +Indians, to the intense relief of Mr. Clay. The poor man was +plainly in a great state of worry about the remains, and kept +questioning Father as to whether there would be any likelihood of +Mr. Ferrars trying to work his way down to the railroad in +midwinter." + +"I should think those Indians must have been the men who were +bringing the mail, and probably they were caught in a snowstorm and +died in their sleep," said Katherine. + +"In that case what had become of the mail bags and the food sacks?" +asked Mary. + +"Stolen, doubtless, by other Indians," replied Katherine, who then +told Mary of the discovery she had made of the fragment of a letter +in the hands of a child at the Ochre Lake encampment. + +"So you never had that mail? Oh, you poor things, what a long time +you have been without any news of the outside world!" cried Mary. + +"But we have survived it, you see," Katherine answered with a +laugh. Then she asked Mary if she would not like to be rowed to +the store first, before going to inspect the new house. + +"Yes, please; I want to see your father and Mrs. Burton, to say +nothing of the twins and Miles," Mary answered eagerly. Then she +said, with a wistful note in her voice: "You will let me be +bridesmaid tomorrow?" + +"To-morrow?" repeated Katherine in surprise. Then, blushing +vividly, she answered: "But I am not sure that it will be +to-morrow." + +"I am," replied Mary calmly, "for the simple reason that the bishop +starts the day after for Marble Island, which he hopes to reach +before the whalers are all broken out of the ice. Father is going +to send him up the bay in the best available boat. You will let me +be bridesmaid, won't you?" + +"If you wish, certainly," said Katherine; then the boat bumped +against the mooring post and was made fast, after which the two +girls walked up to the store together. + +'Duke Radford was sitting in the sunshine, looking dreamily out +over the river, which at this time of the year was at its widest +and highest. He rose with a pleased exclamation when Mary came +into view, and took off his hat with a courtly air. + +"I remember you quite well, and your coming always used to make me +happy, but I have forgotten your name," he said, apologetically. + +"Call me Mary; it is easy to remember," she answered in a gentle +tone. Then she stayed in the sunshine talking to him, until Mrs. +Burton and the twins rushed out to carry her off by force. + +It was Miles who rowed Mary over the river, for a fit of shyness +came upon Katherine, and she was not visible to many people except +her own family for the remainder of that day. Jervis came over in +the evening, and there was a troubled look on his face which +Katherine noticed at once. + +"Is something wrong?" she asked, a chill of fear creeping into her +heart lest even at this eleventh hour something was coming to stand +between her and her happiness. + +"I have only had a few more cares and responsibilities dumped upon +me than I had bargained for," he answered. "Do you feel equal to +helping me to bear them?" + +"Of course," she answered brightly. + +"Did they tell you about Mr. Clay's arrival?" he asked, holding her +hands, and looking down into her face with an expression she could +by no means fathom. + +"Yes; Mary told me about him. She said he was a horrid little man. +Is it true?" Katherine asked, smiling at the remembrance of Mary's +energetic utterances. + +"I think he means to be very kind," Jervis answered; "but the +journey has got on his nerves rather. However, I helped him to a +hot bath, and now he has gone to bed in a happier frame of mind; +and he wants to be best man to-morrow, so I have squared matters +with Miles. Do you mind?" + +"Of course not," she answered brightly, thrusting back the feeling +of not wanting any more strangers to intrude themselves into that +holy of holies which was to take place to-morrow. + +"Mr. Clay is the----I mean, he is a friend of the family, and he +has been good to my mother," Jervis went on, a curious air of +constraint showing itself in him, which might have been due to +nervousness, although he was not wont to be troubled in that +fashion. "Cousin Samuel died in February, and affairs have been at +sixes and sevens since, wanting my presence in England." + +"You will have to go, then?" she asked quickly. + +"We must start next week, I think," he answered, with an emphasis +on the pronoun that set her heart at rest. "Mr. Clay is going on +to Marble Island with the bishop to-morrow. He wants to see if +there is any boat there which will serve to take us round to +Halifax when the Strait is open. If not, we shall have to go by +river and trail to Maxohama; but I want to spare you that fatigue +if I can, for you have done quite enough portage work already." + +"I would just as soon face the portages as the sea-sickness which +will inevitably be my portion going through the Strait," she +answered, with a laugh. "But where do the troubles come in, +Jervis? Did your cousin die poor?" + +"Time enough to hear about the troubles when to-morrow comes. I am +not going to worry you with them to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +The Wedding + +The day was as gloriously fine as the most exacting of brides could +have wished for, and by noon the company were beginning to assemble. + +Some of the fishing boats were away, which was disappointing for +the crews, although it is a little difficult to imagine how one +extra person could have been squeezed into the congregation which +later on crowded the store. + +Jervis came over the river very early in the morning, and, with the +help of Miles and Phil, got the store ready to serve as a church +for the occasion. Pails of lard with boards laid across served for +seats in the centre of the floor; barrels of pork, of beans, and of +flour made a sort of dais or high seat all round the walls, on +which the boys and the younger men might be accommodated. Rather a +precarious kind of seat this was, as barrel heads were apt to give +way, and then the luckless individual would be smothered with flour +or bespattered with brine. + +Mary also came across early, to help to dress the bride, and her +mood was so wildly hilarious that Mrs. Burton felt it necessary to +gently reprove her. + +"Of course it is right to be happy and cheerful at a wedding, but +there is always a strain of sadness somewhere to keep our spirits +even. And we can't forget that Katherine is to go to England next +week." + +"But she will be glad to go, and glad to come back; no one wants to +stay in one place all her life, in these gadabout days," Mary +answered. Then she produced a box and bade Katherine admire what +she had brought her. + +"I felt when I bought it that it was shockingly unsuitable," Mary +said, laughing, as from the folds of soft white paper she lifted +out a square of exquisite lace for a bridal veil, and flung it over +Katherine's hair. "But plainly I have the eye of a seer, and I +imagined you standing up to be married in a sailor hat, or +something equally unsuitable, and it was not to be endured." + +"How lovely!" sighed Mrs. Burton, in an ecstasy of admiration. But +Katherine said nothing at all; her heart was too full for speech, +and she was thinking of last summer, when it had seemed right that +she should stand aside to let Mary have the happiness she wanted +for herself. Things had changed so much since then that it seemed +scarcely possible that she could have had to bear so many +heartaches. + +At this moment one of the twins burst into the room with the +information that the bishop had arrived, and Katherine, walking +like one in a dream, went out from her chamber and crossed the +homely kitchen to the store. + +A murmur went round the crowded place as she entered. Heretofore +she had been to them a good, hard-working girl, with pleasant +manners and a pretty face. They had seen her staggering along the +portage paths laden with heavy burdens; they had seen her +struggling to row a boat up river against a strong current; they +had met her dripping with wet, or covered with frost, like an +Esquimaux: but this stately girl with the beautiful face, clad in +her white bridal robe, and with Mary's veil over her shining hair, +was a revelation to them, and it was Oily Dave who voiced the +opinion of the assembly when he exclaimed in a very audible tone: +"My word, but ain't she a stunner!" + +He was sitting in the very front row, as if he were the most +intimate and faithful friend the family possessed. He held his +treasured "top" hat carefully in front of him, as if it were a +collecting bag, and he were about to take the offertory. For the +rest, his costume was something of a mixture: a football sweater +with broad stripes, a Norfolk jacket, dungaree trousers, and a +fisherman's long boots made him a striking figure even in that +company of mixed costumes. He was as self-satisfied and complacent +as if he had never planned evil deeds and tried to carry them out, +while the benevolence with which he smiled upon the wedding party +might have led one to suppose they had no more tried or trusted +friend than he. + +Katherine was conscious of the critical, appraising glances of the +trim little gentleman who stood by the side of Jervis, and they +made her vaguely uncomfortable, coming between her and the mellow +utterances of the bishop in his opening address. But she forgot +Mr. Clay and his searching looks after a time, and was sensible +only of the love which wrapped her round when Miles, at a sign from +the bishop, took Katherine's hand, and, placing it in that of his +father, whispered to him to give it to Jervis. + +'Duke Radford, standing erect, his fine figure head and shoulders +taller than those around him, except the bridegroom, smiled round +on the assembly, stood holding Katherine's ungloved hand, softly +stroking and patting it, until Jervis reached forward to take it, +when he relinquished it with a smile and a nod, quite satisfied to +have it so. + +The register was signed in the kitchen, and it was there that the +revelation took place which came as a thunderclap of surprise to +everyone concerned, except Jervis and Mr. Clay, the latter of whom, +when the bishop's part of the ceremony was done, took the remainder +upon himself, and proceeded to make his explanations in a voice +which Mary declared made her think of musty parchments and red tape. + +He addressed himself to Katherine, bowing so profoundly that it was +wonderful he was able to return to a perpendicular position without +catching hold of something with which to pull himself up. "I have +to congratulate you on becoming the Countess of Compton, and I am +quite certain the title was never worn by one more worthy to adorn +it." + +Katherine shrank a step nearer to her husband, and there was a look +of positive fear in her eyes, for privately she thought Mr. Clay +must be mad. "I do not understand you," she said gently, and the +silence in the kitchen was so profound, as they waited for Mr. +Clay's reply, that the buzz of talk which had broken out in the +crowded store seemed tremendously loud by contrast. + +Mr. Clay cleared his throat with a dry little cough, intended to +emphasize the importance of the remarks which he had to make, then +he said: "Lord Compton insisted last night that no word should be +spoken concerning his accession to the title until after the +ceremony of to-day; but now it must be known, and I have to inform +you that your husband has been seventh Earl of Compton since the +18th of February last, only it seems he did not know of his +cousin's death until yesterday, when I arrived with papers for him +to sign." + +Katherine became very pale, and turned with a quick movement to +Jervis, who stood looking down upon her with a smile. "Even now I +do not understand; please tell me," she said, with a bewildered +expression. + +"My cousin Samuel was the sixth earl," said Jervis, taking his +wife's hand and talking to her in the same quietly confidential +tone that he might have used had they two been alone, instead of +the centre figures of a crowded room. "My father was the son of +the younger son, with three lives between him and the title. As I +have told you, Samuel, old Lord Compton, was very cruel to my +mother in her widowhood, and I hotly determined never to have +anything to do with him. Then his son and his grandson died within +a few weeks of each other, and Mr. Clay, who is the family lawyer, +wrote to me telling me that I was the next heir, and Cousin Samuel +wanted me to go home and take up the duties of my new position. +That letter came last summer, but I would not go, and I would not +accept an allowance for myself; but I asked for one for my mother, +and education for my brothers. I have not deceived you, my +dearest. I have only withheld from you facts which did not matter +until now." + +Katherine flushed and then grew pale; she knew that all eyes were +upon her, but there was one thing she must know, and her voice had +an anxious ring as she asked: "Did you--did you know this, I mean +that you were the next heir, when you asked me to marry you?" + +"Yes, I knew," he answered cheerfully, and now his voice had got +back its old confident ring, for the shadow of constraint which +Katherine had noticed in him last night had been owing to this +knowledge which he was holding back, and which had troubled him +more than he cared to confess. "But even then there was no great +certainty of my succeeding. Cousin Samuel might have married +again, and left another son to come after him. I was just a +working man, and I looked to support my wife by the labour of my +hands. You must forgive me that I did not tell you I was going to +make a great lady of you, because, you see, I did not know until +yesterday, though the scrap of paper you discovered at Ochre Lake +warned me that the title might not be far off; so I was not greatly +surprised when Mr. Clay introduced himself to me yesterday." + +"Mr. Clay is evidently a lawyer by nature as well as by profession, +since he was able to keep a secret of such magnitude through so +many miles of travel," interposed the bishop, anxious to break the +strain for Katherine, whose colour was still coming and going, and +whose eyes had the frightened look of a trapped wild creature. + +"I was sure there must be some story of greatness behind, when it +became necessary for a family lawyer to take such a journey as +this," Mary Selincourt said, with an easy laugh, doing her best to +second the bishop's efforts to draw off attention from Katherine +for a time. "And now, don't you think we might as well start +feeding the multitude, Nellie? or they will not be in a proper +frame of mind to appreciate the bishop's sermon presently." + +The diversion was effectual; everyone poured outside to where +tables were spread under the trees by the river. Tea, coffee, +cakes, and lemonade became the concern of the moment. And in the +kitchen the two who had been made husband and wife were left alone. + +"Am I forgiven, your ladyship?" Jervis asked; but there was a note +of anxiety in his bantering tone, for Katherine's head was averted, +and held at an angle which made him apprehensive. + +"Jervis, why did you not tell me while there was time to draw back? +For I--I am not fit to be a great lady!" she burst out passionately. + +"I did not tell you because I was so horribly afraid you would want +to draw back," he admitted candidly, "and I wanted you so badly +that I could not afford to take the risk. You are quite as fit to +be a great lady as I am to be a great gentleman; that goes without +saying." + +"But think of the work I have had to do?" she faltered, shrinking +and shivering at the prospect before her. + +"Work is no degradation," he answered hastily, "or my days in the +Nantucket whaler might easily rise up in judgment against me; for I +am certain there can be no more filthy or disgusting work on the +face of the earth than I did then. Perhaps it is better for us +that we have had to toil so hard; we shall be better able to +sympathize with other workers, and to help them." + +"I shall not know how to manage a houseful of servants," she said, +with such a comical air of distress that he had to laugh again. + +"You need not have more servants than you like, and if you can't +manage them, why, we must pay someone to manage them for us," he +said gaily. Then his voice grew graver as he asked: "When are you +going to tell me that I am forgiven, Katherine?" + +Something in the look on his face reminded her of the day when she +had risked her life to save him from the flood, and the memory +broke down the rampart of offended pride which had sprung up in her +heart when Mr. Clay made his astounding revelation. + +"I don't suppose it really matters what our position is as long as +we love each other," she said unsteadily. "And so--and so you are +forgiven; but don't do it again." + +"My dear, there are no more titles in our family that I know of," +he answered, as he lifted her veil to kiss her; "so there is not +the remotest chance that you will ever have higher rank than a +countess's." + +"I don't want to have higher rank than a countess's," she answered +soberly. "But I mean, don't keep things back in future, Jervis, or +I shall always be in fear. I want to know the bad as well as the +good!" + +"Do you call it bad to find yourself a countess?" he asked, with an +air of mock horror. + +"I find it difficult to get used to the idea," she said, with a +rather watery smile; for the greatness thrust upon her was by no +means to her mind. + +Later on, when she came out with her husband to drink a cup of +coffee with the group under the trees, although she was the same +Katherine, quick to smile, and with a pleasant word for everyone, +there was already a difference, and she carried herself with an +added stateliness which caused Mrs. Jenkin to remark with a +sentimental air that greatness had eaten into her soul. + +But it was Oily Dave who took the chief credit for the whole +business, and, having succeeded in cornering the bishop and Mr. +Clay, he proceeded to inform them of the manner in which he had +helped the match along. "If it hadn't been for me there wouldn't +have been no interesting occasion such as this here to-day," he +said, standing before them, the fishing boots planted wide apart, +the "top" hat carefully held in his left hand: for of course he +could not have his head covered in presence of a bishop; moreover, +the hat, being too big for him, had a trick of coming down over his +face like an extinguisher. + +"Pray, what was it that you did to help the business forward?" +asked the bishop, with a twinkle in his eye, whilst Mr. Clay's +stiff black hair nearly curled with horror at the thought of a +low-class person like Oily Dave having anything to do with making +the marriage of his client, the Earl of Compton. + +"I gave the girl, I mean her ladyship, the chance to save the young +man's life, and that, I take it, was the starting-point of the +whole affair." + +"Without doubt it helped the process," replied the bishop with a +laugh; and then Mr. Selincourt intervened by saying it was time for +the bishop's service to begin, so Oily Dave was promptly hustled to +his proper place in the background. + +The bishop was more than ordinarily eloquent that evening; but the +bride, in her white robe, sitting beside her husband, heard only +the words of the text: "He shall choose our inheritance for us". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Countess from Canada, by Bessie Marchant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COUNTESS FROM CANADA *** + +***** This file should be named 11110.txt or 11110.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/1/11110/ + +Produced by Prepared by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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