diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:53:16 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:53:16 -0700 |
| commit | 6ec0c9e2ad0614ce6ced7fd82e574273089a85be (patch) | |
| tree | 360b02353e89550ebf5566512ac25829684e2932 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-8.txt | 8674 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 142626 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 443820 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/18410-h.htm | 8764 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/images/illus-000.jpg | bin | 0 -> 73406 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/images/illus-074.jpg | bin | 0 -> 66513 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/images/illus-138.jpg | bin | 0 -> 63077 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/images/illus-218.jpg | bin | 0 -> 81359 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410-h/images/illus-emb.png | bin | 0 -> 5868 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410.txt | 8674 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18410.zip | bin | 0 -> 142621 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
14 files changed, 26128 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18410-8.txt b/18410-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a07a02 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8674 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Land of Promise, by D. Torbett + + +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: The Land of Promise + + +Author: D. Torbett + + + +Release Date: May 17, 2006 [eBook #18410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18410-h.htm or 18410-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410/18410-h/18410-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410/18410-h.zip) + + + + + +The Canadian +Photoplay Title of + +THE LAND OF PROMISE + +A Novelization of W. Somerset Maugham's Play + +by + +D. TORBETT + +Illustrated with Scenes from the Photoplay +A Paramount Picture +Starring Thomas Meighan + + + + + + + +[Illustration: LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND IS FINALLY BORN IN NORA.] + + + +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers, New York +Made in the United States of America. +Copyright, 1914, by +Edward J. Clode + + + + + +THE LAND OF PROMISE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Nora opened her eyes to an unaccustomed consciousness of well-being. She +was dimly aware that it had its origin in something deeper than mere +physical comfort; but for the moment, in that state between sleeping and +wakening, which still held her, it was enough to find that body and mind +seemed rested. + +Youth was reasserting itself. And it was only a short time ago that she +had felt that never, never, could she by any possible chance feel young +again. When one is young, one resents the reaction after any strain not +purely physical as if it were a premature symptom of old age. + +A ray of brilliant sunshine, which found its way through a gap in the +drawn curtains, showed that it was long past the usual hour for rising. +She smiled whimsically and closed her eyes once more. She remembered now +that she was not in her own little room in the other wing of the house. +The curtains proved that. How often in the ten years she had been with +Miss Wickham had she begged that the staring white window blind, which +decorated her one window, be replaced by curtains or even a blind of a +dark tone that she might not be awakened by the first ray of light. She +had even ventured to propose that the cost of such alterations be +stopped out of her salary. Miss Wickham had refused to countenance any +such innovation. + +Three years before, when the offending blind had refused to hold +together any longer, Nora had had a renewal of hope. But no! The new +blind had been more glaringly white than its predecessor, which by +contrast had taken on a grateful ivory tone in its old age. They had had +one of their rare scenes at its advent. Nora had as a rule an admirable +control of her naturally quick temper. But this had been too much. + +"I might begin to understand your refusal if you ever entered my room. +But since it would no more occur to you to do so than to visit the +stables, I cannot see what possible difference it can make," Nora had +stormed. + +Miss Wickham's smile, which at the beginning of her companion's outburst +had been faintly ironic, had broadened into the frankly humorous. + +"Stated with your characteristic regard for exactitude, my dear Miss +Marsh, it would never enter my head to do either. I prefer the white +blind, however. As you know, I have no taste for explanations. We will +let the matter rest there, if you please." Then she had added: "Some +day, I strongly suspect, some man will amuse himself breaking that fiery +temper of yours. I wish I were not so old, I think that I should enjoy +knowing that he had succeeded." And the incident had ended, as always, +with a few angry tears on Nora's part, as a preliminary to the +inevitable game of bezique which finished off each happy day! + +And this had been her life for ten years! A wave of pity, not for +herself but for that young girl of eighteen who had once been herself, +that proudly confident young creature who, when suddenly deprived of the +protection of her only parent,--Nora's father had died when she was too +young to remember him,--had so bravely faced the world, serene in the +consciousness that the happiness which was her right was sure to be hers +after a little waiting, dimmed her eyes for a moment. The dreams she had +dreamed after she had received Miss Wickham's letter offering her the +post of companion! She recalled how she had smiled to herself when the +agent with whom she had filed her application congratulated her warmly +on her good fortune in placing herself so promptly, and, by way of +benediction, had wished that she might hold the position for many years. +Many years indeed! That had been no part of her plan. Those nebulous +plans had always been consistently rose-colored. It was impossible to +remember them all now. + +Sometimes the unknown Miss Wickham turned out to be a soft-hearted and +sentimental old lady who was completely won by her young companion's +charm and unmistakable air of good breeding. After a short time, she +either adopted her, or, on dying, left her her entire fortune. + +Again, she proved to be a perfect ogre. In this variation it was always +the Prince Charming, that looms large in every young girl's dreams, who +finally, after a brief period of unhappiness, came to the rescue and +everything ended happily if somewhat conventionally. + +The reality had been sadly different. Miss Wickham had disclosed herself +as being a hard, self-centered, worldly woman who considered that in +furnishing her young companion with board, lodging and a salary of +thirty pounds a year, she had, to use a commercial phrase, obtained the +option on her every waking hour, and indeed, during the last year of her +life, she had extended this option to cover many of the hours which +should have been dedicated to rest and sleep. + +All the fine plans that the young Nora had made while journeying down +from London to Tunbridge Wells, for going on with her music, improving +herself in French and perhaps taking up another modern language, in her +leisure hours, had been nipped in the bud before she had been an inmate +of Miss Wickham's house many days. She had no leisure hours. Miss +Wickham saw to that. She had apparently an abhorrence for her own +unrelieved society that amounted to a positive mania. She must never be +left alone. Let Nora but escape to her own little room in the vain hope +of obtaining a few moments to herself, and Kate, the parlor maid, was +certain to be sent after her. + +"Miss Wickham's compliments and she was waiting to be read to." "Miss +Wickham's compliments, but did Miss Marsh know that the horses were at +the door?" "Miss Wickham's compliments, and should she have Kate set out +the backgammon board?" + +And upon the rare occasions when there was company in the house, Miss +Wickham's ingenuity in providing occupation for dear Miss Marsh, while +she was herself occupied with her friends, was inexhaustible. In an evil +hour Nora had confessed to a modest talent for washing lace. Miss +Wickham, it developed, had a really fine collection of beautiful pieces +which naturally required the most delicate handling. Their need for +being washed was oddly coincident with the moment when the expected +guest arrived at the door. + +Or, it appeared that the slugs had attacked the rose trees in unusual +numbers. The gardener was in despair as he was already behind with +setting out the annuals. "Would Miss Marsh mind while Miss Wickham had +her little after-luncheon nap----!" Miss Marsh did mind. She loved +flowers; to arrange them was a delight--at least it had been once--but +she hated slugs. But she was too young and too inexperienced to know how +to combat the subtle encroachments upon her own time made by this +selfish old woman. And so, gradually, she had found that she was not +only companion, but a sort of superior lady's maid and assistant +gardener as well. And all for thirty pounds a year and her keep. + +And alas! Prince Charming had never appeared, unless--Nora laughed aloud +at the thought--he had disguised himself with a cleverness defying +detection. With Reginald Hornby, a callow youth, the son of Miss +Wickham's dearest friend, who occasionally made the briefest of duty +visits; Mr. Wynne, the family solicitor, an elderly bachelor; and the +doctor's assistant, a young person by the name of Gard, Nora's list of +eligible men was complete. There had been a time when Nora had flirted +with the idea of escaping from bondage by becoming the wife of young +Gard. + +He was a rather common young man, but he had been sincerely in love with +her. He was not sufficiently subtle to recognize that it was the idea of +escaping from Miss Wickham and the deadly monotony of her days that +tempted her. He had laid his case before Miss Wickham. There had been +some terrible scenes. Nora had felt the lash of her employer's bitter +tongue. Partly because she was still smarting from the attack, and +partly because she was indignant with her suitor for having gone to Miss +Wickham at all and particularly without consulting her, she, too, had +turned on the unfortunate young man. There had been mutual +recriminations and reproaches, and young Gard, after his brief and +bitter experience with the gentry, had left the vicinity of Tunbridge +Wells and later on married a girl of his own class. + +But Miss Wickham had been more shaken at the prospect of losing her +young companion, who was so thoroughly broken in, than she would have +liked to have confessed. She detested new faces about her, and as a +matter of fact, she came as nearly caring for Nora as it was possible +for her to care for any human being. She had told the girl then that it +was her intention to make some provision for her at her death, so that +she might have a decent competence and not be obliged to look for +another position. There was, of course, the implied understanding that +she would remain with Miss Wickham until that lady was summoned to a +better and brighter world, a step which Miss Wickham, herself, was in no +immediate hurry to take. In the meantime, she knew perfectly well just +how often a prospective legacy could be dangled before expectant eyes +with perfect delicacy. + +It furnished her with an additional weapon, too, against her nephew, +James Wickham, and his wife, both of whom she cordially detested, +although she fully intended leaving them the bulk of her fortune. The +consideration and tenderness she showed toward Nora when Mr. and Mrs. +Wickham ran down from London to see their dear aunt showed a latent +talent for comedy, on the part of the chief actress, of no mean order. +These occasions left Nora in a state of mind in which exasperation and +amusement were about equally blended. It was amusing to note the signs +of apprehension on the part of Miss Wickham's disagreeable relatives as +they noted their aunt's doting fondness for her hired companion. And +while she felt that they richly deserved this little punishment, it was +humiliating to be so cynically made use of. + +And now it was all over. After a year of illness and gradual decline the +end had come two days before. Nothing could induce Miss Wickham to have +a professional nurse. The long strain and weeks of broken rest had told +even on Nora's strength. Kindly Dr. Evans had insisted that she be put +immediately to bed and Kate, the parlor maid, who had always been +devoted to her, had undressed her as if she had been a baby. For the +last two days she had done little but sleep the dreamless sleep of utter +exhaustion. And to-day was the day of the funeral. She was just about to +ring to find the time, when Kate's gentle knock came at the door. + +"Come in. Good morning, Kate. Do tell me the time. Oh! How good it is to +be lazy once in a while." + +"Good morning to you, Miss. I hope you're feeling a bit rested. It's +just gone eleven. Dr. Evans has called, Miss. He told me to see if you +had waked." + +"How good of him. Ask him to wait a few moments and I'll come right +down." 'Coming right down' was not so easy a matter as she had thought. +Nora found herself strangely weak and languid. She was still sitting on +the edge of her bed, trying to gather energy for the task of dressing, +when Kate returned. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss, but Dr. Evans says you're not to get up until +he sees you. I'm to bring you a bit of toast and your tea and to help +you freshen up a bit and then he will come up in twenty minutes. He says +to tell you that he has plenty of time." + +Nora made a show of protest. Secretly she was rather glad to give in. +She had not reckoned with the weakness following two unaccustomed days +in bed. Dr. Evans was a kindly elderly man, whose one affectation was +the gruffness which the country doctor of the old school so often +assumes as if he wished to emphasize his disapproval of the modern suave +manner of his city _confrère_. He had a sardonic humor and a sharp +tongue which had at first quite terrified Nora, until she discovered +that they were meant to hide the most generous heart in the world. Many +were the kindly acts he performed in secret for the very people he was +most accustomed to abuse. + +Having felt Nora's pulse and looked at her sharply with his keen gray +eyes, he settled the question of her attendance at Miss Wickham's +funeral with his accustomed finality. + +"You'll do nothing of the sort," he growled. "You may get up after a +while and go and sit in the garden a bit; the air is fairly spring-like. +But this afternoon you must lie down again for an hour or two. I suppose +you'll have to get up to do the civil for James Wickham and his wife +before they go back to town. Oh, no! they'll not stay the night. They'll +rush back as fast as the train will take them, once they've heard the +will read. Couldn't bear the associations with the place, now that their +dear aunt has departed!" He gave one of his sardonic chuckles. + +"It may be nonsense"--this in reply to Nora's remonstrance--"but I'm not +going to have you on my hands next. You'll go to that funeral and get +hysterical like all women, and begin to think that you wish her back. I +should think this last year would have been about all anyone would want. +But you're a poor sentimental creature, after all," he jeered. + +"I'm nothing of the sort. But I did feel sorry for her, badly as she +often treated me. She was a desperately lonely old soul. Nobody cared a +bit about her, really, and she knew it." + +"In spite of all her little amiable tricks to make people love her," +said the doctor. "Now, remember, the garden for an hour this morning, +the drawing-room later in the day, after you've rested for an hour or +so. And don't dare disobey me." With that, he left. + +It was pleasant in the garden. The air, though chilly, held the promise +of spring. Warmly wrapped in an old cape, which the thoughtful Kate had +discovered somewhere, with a book on Paris and some Italian sketches to +fall back upon when her own thoughts ceased to divert her, Nora sat in a +sheltered corner and looked out on the border which would soon be gay +with the tulips whose green stocks were just beginning to push +themselves up through the brown earth. Poor Miss Wickham! She had been +so proud of her garden always. But for her it had bloomed for the last +time. Would the James Wickhams take as much pride in it? Somehow, she +fancied not. And she? Where would she be a year from now? A year! Where +would she be in another month? + +The whole world, in a modest sense, would he hers to choose from. While +she had no definite notion as to the amount of her legacy, she had +understood that it would bring in sufficient income to keep her from the +necessity of seeking further employment. Probably something between two +and three hundred pounds a year. She had always longed to travel. +Italy, France, Germany, Spain, she would see them all. One could live +very reasonably in really good pensions abroad, she had been told. + +And then, some day, after a few years of happy wandering, she might +adventure to that far-off Canada where her only brother was living the +life of a frontiersman on an incredibly huge farm. She had not seen him +for many years, but her heart warmed at the thought of seeing her only +relative again. He was much older. Yes, Eddie must now be about forty. +Oh, all of that. She, herself, was almost twenty-eight. But she wouldn't +go to him for several years. He had done one thing which seemed to her +quite dreadful. He had made an unfortunate marriage with a woman far +beneath him socially. Men were so weak! Because they fancied themselves +lonely, or even captivated by a pretty face, they were willing to make +impossible marriages. Women were different. Still, she had the grace to +blush when she recalled the episode of the doctor's assistant. + +Yes, she would go out to Eddie after his wife had had the chance to form +herself a little more. Living with a husband so much superior was bound +to have its influence. And she must have some really good qualities at +bottom or she could never have attracted him. There was nothing vicious +about her brother. She must write him of Miss Wickham's death. They were +neither of them fond of writing. It must be nearly a year since she had +heard from him last. And then, it was so difficult to keep up a +correspondence when people had no mutual friends and so little in +common. + +A glance at her watch told her that it must be nearly time for the +London Wickhams to arrive. It would be better not to see them, unless +they sent for her, until after they had returned from the cemetery. They +were just the sort of people to think that she was forgetting her +position if she had the manner of playing hostess by receiving them. +Thank goodness! she would probably never see them again after to-day. + +With a word to Kate that she would presently have her luncheon in her +room and then rest for a few hours until the people returned after the +funeral, she made her way to her own bare little room. How cold and bare +it was! With the exception of the framed pictures of her father and +mother and a small photograph of Eddie, taken before he had gone out, +there was nothing but the absolutely necessary furniture. Miss Wickham's +ideas of what a 'companion's' room should be like had partaken of the +austere. And all the rest of the house was so crowded and overloaded +with things. The drawing-room had always been an eyesore to Nora, +crammed as it was with little tables and cabinets containing china. And +in every available space there were porcelain ornaments and photographs +in huge silver frames. It was all like a badly arranged museum or a +huddled little curio shop. Well, she would soon be done with that, too! + +Armed with her portfolio and writing materials Nora returned to the +guest chamber, which was her temporary abode. The motherly Kate was +waiting with an appetizing lunch on a neat tray. What a good friend she +had been. She would be genuinely sorry to part with Kate. She must ask +her to give her some address that would always reach her. Who knew, +years hence when she returned to England, but what she might afford to +set up a modest flat with Kate to manage things for her. She would speak +to her on the morrow--after the will was read. + +"Ah, Kate, you knew just what would tempt me. Thank you so much! By the +way, has Miss Pringle sent any message?" + +"Yes, Miss. Miss Pringle stopped on her way to the village a moment ago. +She was with Mrs. Hubbard and had only a moment. I was to tell you that +she would call this afternoon and hoped you could see her. I told her, +Miss, that the doctor had said you were not to go to the burial. She +will come while they are away." + +"Let me know the moment she comes. I want to see her very much." + +Miss Pringle was the only woman friend Nora had made in the years of her +sojourn at Tunbridge Wells. They had little in common beyond the +fellow-feeling that binds those in bondage. Miss Pringle was also a +companion. Her task mistress, Mrs. Hubbard, was in Nora's opinion, about +as stolidly brainless as a woman could well be. Miss Pringle was always +lauding her kindness. But then Miss Pringle had been a companion to +various rich women for thirty years. Nora had her own ideas as to the +value of the opinions of any woman who had been in slavery for thirty +years. + +Having eaten her luncheon and written her letter to her brother, she +felt glad to rest once more. How wise the doctor had been to forbid her +to go to the funeral, and how grateful she was that he had forbidden it, +was her last waking thought. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +It was well on to three o'clock when Miss Pringle made her careful way +up the path that led to the late Miss Wickham's door. + +"How strange it will be not to find her in her own drawing-room!" she +reflected. "I don't recall that Nora Marsh and I have ever been alone +together for two consecutive minutes in our lives. I simply couldn't +have stood it." + +"I'll tell Miss Marsh you're here, Miss Pringle," said Kate, at the +door. + +"How is she to-day, Kate?" + +"Still tired out, poor thing. The doctor made her promise to lie down +directly after she had had a bite of luncheon. But she said I was to let +her know the moment you came, Miss." + +"I'm very glad she didn't go to the funeral." + +"Dr. Evans simply wouldn't hear of it, Miss." + +"I wonder how she stood it all these months, waiting on Miss Wickham +hand and foot. She should have been made to have a professional nurse." + +"It wasn't very easy to make Miss Wickham have anything she had made up +her mind not to, you know that, Miss," said Kate as she led the way to +the drawing-room. "Miss Marsh slept in Miss Wickham's room towards the +last, and the moment she fell asleep Miss Wickham would have her up +because her pillow wanted shaking or she was thirsty, or something." + +"I suppose she was very inconsiderate." + +Miss Pringle did not in general approve of discussing things with +servants. But Nora had told her frequently how faithfully Kate looked +after her and, as far as it was possible, made things bearable, so she +felt she could make an exception of her. + +"Inconsiderate isn't the word, Miss. I wouldn't be a lady's companion," +Kate paused, her hand on the doorknob, to make a sweeping gesture, "not +for anything. What they have to put up with!" + +"Everyone isn't like Miss Wickham," said Miss Pringle, a trifle sharply. +"The lady I'm companion to, Mrs. Hubbard, is kindness itself." + +"That sounds like Miss Marsh coming down the stairs now," said Kate, +opening the door. "Miss Pringle is here, Miss." + +As Kate closed the door behind her, Nora advanced to meet her friend +from the doorway with her pretty smile and outstretched hand. Miss +Pringle kissed her warmly and then drew her down on a large sofa by her +side. Her glance had a certain note of disapproval as it took in her +friend's black dress, which did not escape that observant young person. + +"I was so glad to hear you were coming to me this afternoon; it is good +of you. How did you escape the dragon?" + +She had long ago nicknamed the excellent Mrs. Hubbard 'the dragon' +simply to tease Miss Pringle. + +"Mrs. Hubbard has gone for a drive with somebody or other and didn't +want me," said Miss Pringle primly. "You haven't been crying, Nora?" + +"Yes, I couldn't help it. My dear, it's not unnatural." + +Miss Pringle dropped the hand she had been stroking to clasp both her +own over the handle of her umbrella. "Well, I don't like to say anything +against her now she's dead, poor thing, but Miss Wickham was the most +detestable old woman I ever met." + +"Still," said Nora slowly, looking toward the French window which opened +on the garden, at the sun streaming through the drawn blinds, "I don't +suppose one can live so long with anyone and not be a little sorry to +part with them forever. I was Miss Wickham's companion for ten years." + +"How you stood it! Exacting, domineering, disagreeable!" + +"Yes, I suppose she was. Because she paid me a salary, she thought I +wasn't a human being. I certainly never knew anyone with such a bitter +tongue. At first I used to cry every night when I went to bed because of +the things she said to me. But I got used to them." + +"I wonder you didn't leave her. I would have." Miss Pringle attempting +to delude herself with the idea that she was a mettlesome, high-spirited +person who would stand no nonsense, was immensely diverting to Nora. To +hide an irrepressible smile, she went over to a bowl of roses which +stood on one of the little tables and pretended to busy herself with +their rearrangement. + +"Posts as lady's companions are not so easy to find, I fancy. At least I +remember that when I got this one I was thought to be extremely lucky +not to have to wait twice as long. I don't imagine things have bettered +much in our line, do you?" + +"That they have not," rejoined Miss Pringle gloomily. "They tell me the +agents' books are full of people wanting situations. Before I went to +Mrs. Hubbard I was out of one for nearly two years." Her voice shook a +little at the recollection. Her poor, tired, weather-beaten face +quivered as if she were about to cry. + +"It's not so had for you," said Nora soothingly. "You can always go and +stay with your brother." + +"You've a brother, too." + +"Ah, yes. But he's farming in Canada. He has all he could do to keep +himself. He couldn't keep me, too." + +"How is he doing now?" asked Miss Pringle, to whom any new topic of +conversation was of interest. She had so little opportunity for +conversation at the irreproachable Mrs. Hubbard's, that lady having +apparently inherited a limited set of ideas from her late husband, 'as +Mr. Hubbard used to say' being her favorite introduction to any topic. +Miss Pringle saw herself making quite a little success at dinner that +night--there was to be a guest, she believed--by saying: "A friend of +mine has just been telling me of the success her brother is having way +out in Canada." "He is getting on?" she asked encouragingly. + +"Oh, he's doing very well. He's got a farm of his own. He wrote over a +few years ago and told me he could always give me a home if I wanted +one." + +"Canada's so far off," observed Miss Pringle deprecatingly. Her tone +seemed to imply that there were other disadvantages which she would +refrain from mentioning. + +Now while Nora had always had the same vague feeling that Canada, in +addition to being an immense distance off, was not quite, well, it +wasn't England--that was indisputable--she found herself unreasonably +irritated by her friend's tone. + +"Not when yon get there," she replied sharply. + +Miss Pringle evidently deemed it best to change the subject. "Why don't +you draw the blinds?" she asked after a moment. + +"It is horrid, isn't it? But somehow I thought I ought to wait till they +came back from the funeral. But just see the sunlight; it must be +beautiful out of doors. Why don't we walk about in the garden? Do you +care for a wrap? I'll send Kate to fetch you something, if you do." + +Miss Pringle having decided that her coat was sufficiently warm if they +did not sit anywhere too long and just walked in the paths where it was +sure not to be damp, they went out of the gloomy drawing-room into the +bright afternoon sunshine. + +"Don't you love a garden when things are just beginning to show their +heads? I sometimes think that spring is the most beautiful of all the +seasons. It's like watching the birth of a new world. I think the most +human thing about poor Miss Wickham was her fondness for flowers. She +always said she hoped she'd never die in winter." + +To Miss Pringle, the note of regret which crept now and again into +Nora's voice when she spoke of her late employer was a continual source +of bewilderment. Here was a woman who she knew had a quick temper and a +passionate nature speaking as if she actually sorrowed for the tyrant +who had so frequently made her life unbearable. She was sure that she +couldn't have felt more grieved if Providence had seen fit to remove the +excellent Mrs. Hubbard from the scene of her earthly activities. Poor +Miss Pringle! She did not realize that after thirty years of a life +passed as a hired companion that she no longer possessed either +sensibility or the power of affection. To her, one employer would be +very like another so long as they were fairly considerate and not too +unreasonable. It would be tiresome, to be sure, to have to learn the +little likes and dislikes of Mrs. Hubbard's successor. But what would +you? Life was filled with tiresome moments. Poor Miss Pringle! + +Her next remark was partly to make conversation and partly because she +might obtain further light upon this perplexing subject. She made a +mental note that she must not forget to speak to Mrs. Hubbard of Nora's +grief over Miss Wickham's death. Naturally, she would be gratified. + +"Well, it must be a great relief to you now it's all over," she said. + +"Sometimes I can't realize it," said Nora simply. "These last few weeks +I hardly got to bed at all, and when the end came I was utterly +exhausted. For two days I have done nothing but sleep. Poor Miss +Wickham. She did hate dying." + +Miss Pringle had a sort of triumph. She had proved her point. Even Mrs. +Hubbard could not doubt it now! "That's the extraordinary part of it. I +believe you were really fond of her." + +"Do you know that for nearly a year she would eat nothing but what I +gave her with my own hands. And she liked me as much as she was capable +of liking anybody." + +"That wasn't much," Miss Pringle permitted herself. + +"And then I was so dreadfully sorry for her." + +"Good heavens!" + +"She'd been a hard and selfish woman all her life, and there was no one +who cared for her," Nora went on passionately. "It seemed so dreadful to +die like that and leave not a soul to regret one. Her nephew and his +wife were just waiting for her death. It was dreadful. Each time they +came down from London I could see them looking at her to see if she was +any worse than when last they'd seen her." + +"Well," said Miss Pringle with a sort of splendid defiance, "I thought +her a horrid old woman, and I'm glad she's dead. And I only hope she's +left you well provided for." + +"Oh, I think she's done that," Nora smiled happily into her friend's +face. "Yes, I can be quite sure of that, I fancy. Two years ago, when +I--when I nearly went away, she said she'd left me enough to live on." + +They walked on for a moment or two in silence until they had reached the +end of the path, where there was a little arbor in which Miss Wickham +had been in the habit of having her tea afternoons when the weather +permitted. + +"Do you think we would run any risk if we sat down here a few moments? +Suppose we try it. We can walk again if you feel in the least chilled. I +think the view so lovely from here. Besides, I can see the carriage the +moment it enters the gate." + +Miss Pringle sat down with the air of a person who was hardly conscious +of what she was doing. + +"You say she told you she had left you something when you nearly went +away," she went on in the hesitating manner of one who has been +interrupted while reading aloud and is not quite sure that she has +resumed at the right place. "You mean when that assistant of Dr. Evans +wanted to marry you? I'm glad you wouldn't have him." + +"He was very kind and--and nice," said Nora gently. "But, of course, he +wasn't a gentleman." + +"I shouldn't like to live with a man at all," retorted Miss Pringle, +with unshakable conviction. "I think they're horrid; but of course it +would be utterly impossible if he weren't a gentleman." + +Nora's eyes twinkled with amusement; she gave a little gurgle of +laughter. "He came to see Miss Wickham, but she wouldn't have anything +to do with him. First, she said she couldn't spare me, and then she said +that I had a very bad temper." + +"I like _her_ saying that," retorted her listener. + +"It's quite true," said Nora with a deprecating wave of her hand. "Every +now and then I felt I couldn't put up with her any more. I forgot that +I was dependent on her, and that if she dismissed me, I probably +shouldn't be able to find another situation, and I just flew at her. I +must say she was very nice about it; she used to look at me and grin, +and when it was all over, say: 'My dear, when you marry, if your +husband's a wise man, he'll use a big stick now and then.'" + +"Old cat!" + +"I should like to see any man try it," said Nora with emphasis. + +Miss Pringle dismissed the supposition with a wave of her hand. "How +much do you think she's left you?" she asked eagerly. + +"Well, of course I don't know; the will is going to be read this +afternoon, when they come back from the funeral. But from what she said, +I believe about two hundred and fifty pounds a year." + +"It's the least she could do. She's had the ten best years of your +life." Nora gave a long, happy sigh. "Just think of it! Never to be at +anybody's beck and call again. I shall be able to get up when I like and +go to bed when I like, go out when I choose and come in when I choose. +Think of what that means!" + +"Unless you marry--you probably will," said Miss Pringle in a +discouraging tone. + +"Never." + +"What do you purpose doing?" + +"I shall go to Italy, Florence, Rome; oh, everywhere I've so longed to +go. Do you think it's horrible of me? I'm so happy!" + +"My dear child!" said Miss Pringle with real feeling. + +At that moment the sound of carriage wheels came to them. Turning +quickly, Nora saw the carriage containing Mr. and Mrs. Wickham coming up +the drive. "There they are now. How the time has gone!" + +"I'd better go, hadn't I?" said Miss Pringle with manifest reluctance. + +"I'm afraid you must: I'm sorry." + +"Couldn't I go up to your room and wait there? I do so want to know +about the will." + +Nora hesitated a moment. She didn't want to take Miss Pringle up to her +bare little room. A sort of loyalty to the woman who was, after all, to +be her benefactress--for was she not, after all, with her legacy, going +to make the happy future pay rich interest for the unhappy past?--made +her reluctant to let anyone know how poorly she had been lodged. + +"No," she said; "I'll tell you what, stay here in the garden. They want +to catch the four-something back to London. And, later, we can have a +cozy little tea all by ourselves." + +"Very well. Oh, my dear," said Miss Pringle with emotion, "I'm so +sincerely happy in your good luck!" + +Nora was genuinely moved. She leaned over and kissed Miss Pringle, her +eyes filling with quick tears. + +Then she went into the house. The Wickhams were already in the +drawing-room. Mrs. James Wickham was a pretty young woman, a good ten +years younger than her unattractive husband. Of the two, Nora preferred +Mr. Wickham. There was a certain cynicism about her insincerity which +his, somehow, lacked. Even now, they wore their rue with a difference. + +Mrs. Wickham's mourning was as correct and elegant as a fashionable +dressmaker could make it; the very latest thing in grief. Mr. Wickham +was far less sumptuous. Beyond the customary band on his hat and a pair +of black gloves conspicuously new, he had apparently made little +expenditure on his costume. As Nora entered, Mrs. Wickham was pulling +off her gloves. + +"How do yon do?" she said carelessly. "Ouf! Do put the blinds up, Miss +Marsh. Really, we needn't be depressed any more. Jim, if you love me, +take those gloves off. They're perfectly revolting." + +"Why, what's wrong with them! The fellow in the shop told me they were +the right thing." + +"No doubt; I never saw anyone look quite so funereal as you do." + +"Well," retorted her husband, "you didn't want me to get myself up as if +I were going to a wedding, did you?" + +"Were there many people?" said Nora hastily. + +The insolence of Mrs. Wickham's glance was scarcely veiled. + +"Oh, quite a lot," she drawled. "The sort of people who indulge in other +peoples' funerals as a mild form of dissipation." + +"I hope Wynne will look sharp," said her husband hastily, looking at his +watch. "I don't want to miss that train." + +"Who were all those stodgy old things who wrung your hand afterwards, +Jim?" asked his wife. She was moving slowly about the room picking up +the various little objects scattered about and examining the contents of +one of the cabinets with the air of an appraiser. + +"I can't think. They did make me feel such a fool." + +"Oh, was that it?" laughed his wife. "I saw you looking a perfect owl +and I thought you were giving a very bad imitation of restrained +emotion." + +"Dorothy!" in a tone of remonstrance. + +"Would you care for some tea, Mrs. Wickham?" Nora broke in. To her the +whole scene was positively indecent. She longed to make her escape, but +felt that it would be considered part of her duty to remain as long as +the Wickhams stayed. As she was about to ring the bell, Mrs. Wickham +stopped her with a gesture. + +"Well, you might send some in so that it'll be ready when Mr. Wynne +comes. We'll ring for you, shall we?" she added. "I dare say you've got +one or two things you want to do now." + +"Very good, Mrs. Wickham." + +Nora could feel her cheeks burn as she left the room. But she was +thankful to escape. Outside the door she hesitated for a moment. There +was no good in rejoining Miss Pringle as yet. She had no news for her. +She hoped Mr. Wynne would not be delayed much longer. The Wickhams could +not possibly be more anxious to get back to London than she was to have +them go. How gratuitously insolent that woman was. Thank Heaven, she +need never see her again after to-day. Of course, she was furious +because she suspected that the despised companion was to be a +beneficiary under the will. How could anyone be so mean as to begrudge +her her well-earned share in so large a fortune! Well, the coming hour +would tell the tale. + +On the table in her room was the letter to her brother which she had +forgotten to send to the post. Slipping down the stairs again, she went +in search of Kate to see if it were too late to send it to the village. +Now that it was written, she had almost a superstitions feeling that it +was important that it should catch the first foreign mail. + +As she passed the door of the drawing-room, she could hear James +Wickham's voice raised above its normal pitch. Were they already +quarreling over the spoils! + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Nora's surmise had been very nearly correct; the Wickhams were +quarreling, but not, as yet, over the spoils. James Wickham had waited +until the door had closed behind his aunt's companion to rebuke his +wife's untimely frivolity. + +"I say, Dorothy, you oughtn't to be facetious before Miss Marsh. She was +extremely attached to Aunt Louisa." + +"Oh, what nonsense!" jeered Mrs. Wickham, throwing herself pettishly +into a chair. "I find it's always a very good rule to judge people by +oneself, and I'm positive she was just longing for the old lady to die." + +"She was awfully upset at the end, you know that yourself." + +"Nerves! Men are so idiotic. They never understand that there are tears +_and_ tears. I cried myself, and Heaven knows I didn't regret her +death." + +"My dear Dorothy, you oughtn't to say that." + +"Why not?" retorted his wife. "It's perfectly true. Aunt Louisa was a +detestable person and no one would have stood her for a minute if she +hadn't had money. I can't see the use of being a hypocrite _now_ that it +can't make any difference either way. Oh, why doesn't that man hurry +up!" She resumed once more her impatient walk about the room. + +"I wish Wynne would come," said her husband, glad to change the subject, +particularly as he felt that he had failed to be very impressive. "It'll +be beastly inconvenient if we miss that train," he finished, glancing +again at his watch. + +"And another thing," said Mrs. Wickham, turning sharply as she reached +the end of the room, "I don't trust that Miss Marsh. She looks as if she +knew what was in the will." + +"I don't for a moment suppose she does. Aunt Louisa wasn't the sort of +person to talk." + +"Nevertheless, I'm sure she knows she's been left something." + +"Oh, well, I think she has the right to expect that. Aunt Louisa led her +a dog's life." + +Mrs. Wickham made an angry gesture. "She had her wages and a comfortable +home. If she didn't like the place, she could have left it," she said +pettishly. "After all," she went on in a quieter tone, "it's family +money. In my opinion, Aunt Louisa had no right to leave it to +strangers." + +"I don't think we ought to complain if Miss Marsh gets a small +annuity," said her husband soothingly. "I understand Aunt Louisa +promised her something of the sort when she had a chance of marrying a +couple of years ago." + +"Miss Marsh is still quite young. It isn't as if she had been here for +thirty years," protested Mrs. Wickham. + +"Well, anyway, I've got an idea that Aunt Louisa meant to leave her +about two hundred and fifty a year." + +"Two hundred and fif---- But what's the estate amount to; have you any +idea?" + +"About nineteen thousand pounds, I believe." + +Mrs. Wickham, who had seated herself once more, struck her hands +violently together. + +"Oh, it's absurd. It's a most unfair proposition. It will make _all_ the +difference to us. On that extra two hundred and fifty a year we could +keep a car." + +"My dear, be thankful if we get anything at all," said her husband +solemnly. For a moment she stared at him aghast. + +"Jim! Jim, you don't think---- Oh! that would be too horrible." + +"Hush! Take care." + +He crossed to the window as the door opened and Kate came in softly with +the tea things. + +"How lucky it is that we had a fine day," he said, endeavoring to give +the impression that they had been talking with becoming sobriety of +light topics. He hoped his wife's raised voice had not been heard in the +passageway. + +But Mrs. Wickham was beyond caring. Her toneless "Yes" in response to +his original observation betrayed her utter lack of interest in the +subject. But as Kate was still busy setting out the things on a small +table, he continued his efforts. Really, Dorothy should 'play up' more. + +"It looks as if we were going to have a spell of fine weather." + +"Yes." + +"It's funny how often it rains for weddings." + +"Very funny." + +"The tea is ready, sir." + +As Kate left the room, Mrs. Wickham crossed slowly over to where her +husband was standing in front of the window leading to the garden. Her +voice shook with emotion. It was evident that she was very near tears. +He put his arm around her awkwardly, but with a certain suggestion of +protective tenderness. + +"I've been counting on that money for years," she said, hardly above a +whisper. "I used to dream at night that I was reading a telegram with +the news of Aunt Louisa's death. And I've thought of all we should be +able to do when we get it. It'll make such a difference." + +"You know what she was. She didn't care twopence for us. We ought to be +prepared for the worst," he said soberly. + +"Do you think she could have left everything to Miss Marsh?" + +"I shouldn't be greatly surprised." + +"We'll dispute the will," she said, once more raising her voice. "It's +undue influence. I suspected Miss Marsh from the beginning. I hate her. +Oh, how I hate her! Oh, why doesn't Wynne come?" + +A ring at the bell answered her. + +"Here he is, I expect." + +"The suspense is too awful." + +"Pull yourself together, old girl," said Wickham, patting his wife +encouragingly on the shoulder. "And I say, look a bit dismal. After all, +we've just come from a funeral." + +Mrs. Wickham gave a sort of suppressed wail. "Oh, I'm downhearted +enough, Heaven knows." + +"Mr. Wynne, sir," said Kate from the doorway. + +Mr. Wynne, the late Miss Wickham's solicitor, was a jovial, hearty man, +tallish, bald and ruddy-looking. In his spare time he played at being a +country gentleman. He had a fine, straightforward eye and a direct +manner that inspired one with confidence. He was dressed in +complimentary mourning, but for the moment his natural hearty manner +threatened to get the better of him. + +"Helloa," he said, holding out his hand to Wickham. But the sight of +Mrs. Wickham, seated on the sofa dejectedly enough, recalled to him that +he should be more subdued in the presence of such genuine grief. He +crossed the room to take Dorothy's hand solemnly. + +"I didn't have an opportunity of shaking hands with you at the +cemetery." + +"How do you do," she said rather absently. + +"Pray accept my sincerest sympathy on your great bereavement." + +Mrs. Wickham made an effort to bring her mind back from the +all-absorbing fear that possessed her. + +"Of course the end was not entirely unexpected." + +"No, I know. But it must have been a great shock, all the same." + +He was going on to say what a wonderful old lady his late client had +been in that her faculties seemed perfectly unimpaired until the very +last, when Wickham interrupted him. Not only was he most anxious to hear +the will read himself and have it over, but he saw signs in his wife's +face and in the nervous manner in which she rolled and unrolled her +handkerchief, that she was nearing the end of her self-control, never +very great. + +"My wife was very much upset, but of course my poor aunt had suffered +great pain, and we couldn't help looking upon it as a happy release." + +"Naturally," responded the solicitor sympathetically. "And how is Miss +Marsh?" He was looking at James Wickham as he spoke, so that he missed +the sudden 'I told you so' glance which Mrs. Wickham flashed at her +husband. + +"Oh, she's very well," she managed to say with a careless air. + +"I'm glad to learn that she is not completely prostrated," said Mr. +Wynne warmly. "Her devotion to Miss Wickham was perfectly wonderful. Dr. +Evans--he's my brother-in-law, you know--told me no trained nurse could +have been more competent. She was like a daughter to Miss Wickham." + +"I suppose we'd better send for her," said Mrs. Wickham coldly. + +"Have you brought the----" Wickham stopped in embarrassment. + +"Yes, I have it in my pocket," said the solicitor quickly. He had noted +before now how awkward people always were about speaking of wills. +There was nothing indelicate about doing so. Heavens, all right-minded +persons made their wills and they meant to have them read after they +were dead. Everybody knew that, and yet they always acted as if it were +indecent to approach the subject. He had no patience with such nonsense. + +With an eloquent look at her husband, Mrs. Wickham slowly crossed the +room to the bell. + +"I'll ring for Miss Marsh," she said in a hard voice. + +"I expect Mr. Wynne would like a cup of tea, Dorothy." + +She frowned at her husband behind the solicitor's broad back. More +delays. Could she bear it? "Oh, I'm so sorry, I quite forgot about it." + +"No, thank you very much, I never take tea," protested that gentleman. +He took from his pocket a long blue envelope and slowly drew from it the +will, which he smoothed out with a deliberation which was maddening to +Mrs. Wickham. She could hardly tear her fascinated eyes away from it +long enough to tell the waiting Kate to ask Miss Marsh to be good enough +to come to them. + +"What's the time, Jim?" she asked nervously. + +"Oh, there's no hurry," he said, looking at his watch without seeing +it. Then turning to Wynne, he added: "We've got an important engagement +this evening in London and we're very anxious not to miss the fast +train." + +"The train service down here is rotten," said Mrs. Wickham harshly. + +"That's all right. The will is very short. It won't take me two minutes +to read it," Mr. Wynne reassured them. + +"What on earth is Miss Marsh doing?" said Mrs. Wickham, half to herself. +An endless minute passed. + +"How pretty the garden is looking now," said the solicitor cheerfully, +gazing out through the window. + +"Very," Wickham managed to say. + +"Miss Wickham was always so interested in her garden." + +"Yes." + +"My own tulips aren't so advanced as those." + +"Aren't they?" Wickham's tone suggested irritation. + +Mr. Wynne addressed his next observation to Mrs. Wickham. + +"Are you interested in gardening?" + +"No, I hate it. At last!" + +The exclamation was called forth by the appearance of Nora in the +doorway. The two men both, rose; Wynne to go forward and shake Nora's +hand with unaffected cordiality, Wickham to whisper in his wife's ear, +beseeching her to exercise more self-control. + +"How do you do, Miss Marsh? I'm rejoiced to see you looking so fit." + +"Oh, I'm very well, thank you. How do you do?" + +"Will you have a cup of tea?" asked Wickham in response to what he +thought was a signal from his wife. + +But Mrs. Wickham had reached the point where further waiting was simply +impossible. + +"Jim," she remonstrated, "Miss Marsh would much prefer to have tea +quietly after we're gone." + +Nora understood and for the moment found it in her heart to be sorry for +the woman, much as she disliked her. + +"I won't have any tea, thank you," she said simply. + +"Mr. Wynne has brought the will with him," explained Mrs. Wickham. Her +tone was almost appealing as if she begged Nora if she knew of its +contents to say so without further delay. + +"Oh, yes?" + +Nothing should induce her to show such agitation as this woman did. She +managed to assume an air of polite interest and find a chair for +herself quite calmly. And yet she was conscious that her heart was +beating wildly beneath her bodice. But she would not betray herself, she +would not. And yet her stake was as great as any. Her whole future hung +on the contents of that paper Mr. Wynne was caressing with his long +fingers. + +"Miss Marsh," questioned Mr. Wynne as soon as she was seated, "so far as +you know there is no other will?" + +"How do you mean?" + +"Miss Wickham didn't make a later one--without my assistance, I mean? +You know of nothing in the house, for instance?" + +"Oh, no," said Nora positively. "Miss Wickham always said you had her +will. She was extremely methodical." + +"I feel I ought to ask you," the solicitor went on with unwonted +gentleness, "because Miss Wickham consulted me a couple of years ago +about making a new will. She told me what she wanted to do, but gave me +no actual instructions to draw it. I thought perhaps she might have done +it herself." + +"I heard nothing about it. I am sure that her only will is in your +hands." + +"Then I think that we may take it that this----" + +Mrs. Wickham's set face relaxed. The light of triumph was in her eyes. +She understood. + +"When was that will made?" she asked eagerly. + +"Eight or nine years ago. The exact date was March 4th, 1904." + +The date settled it. Nora, too, realized that. She was left penniless. +What a refinement of cruelty to deceive--but she must not think of that +now. She would have all the rest of her life in which to think of it. +But here before that woman, whose searching glance was even now fastened +on her face to see how she was taking the blow, she would give no sign. + +"When did you first come to Miss Wickham?" Mrs. Wickham's voice was +almost a caress. + +"At the end of nineteen hundred and three." There was no trace of +emotion in that clear voice. After a moment Mr. Wynne spoke again. + +"Shall _I_ read it, or would you just like to know the particulars? It +is very short." + +"Oh, let us know just roughly." Mrs. Wickham was still eager. + +"Well, Miss Wickham left one hundred pounds to the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel, and one hundred pounds to the General +Hospital at Tunbridge Wells, and the entire residue of her fortune to +her nephew, Mr. James Wickham." + +Mrs. Wickham drew her breath sharply. Once more she looked at her late +aunt's companion, but nothing was to be read in that calm face. She was +a designing minx, none the less. But she did yield her a grudging +admiration, for her self-control in the shipwreck of all her hopes. Now +they could have their car. Oh, what couldn't they have! She felt she had +earned every penny of it in that last dreadful half hour. + +"And Miss Marsh?" she heard her husband ask. + +"Miss Marsh is not mentioned." + +Somehow, Nora managed a smile. "I could hardly expect to be. At the time +that will was drawn I had been Miss Wickham's companion for only a few +months." + +"That is why I asked whether you knew of any later will," said Mr. Wynne +almost sadly. "When I talked to Miss Wickham on the subject she said her +wish was to make adequate provision for you after her death. I think she +had spoken to you about it." + +"Yes, she had." + +"She mentioned three hundred a year." + +"That was very kind of her." Nora's voice broke a little. "I'm glad she +wished to do something for me." + +"Oddly enough," continued the solicitor, "she spoke about it to Dr. +Evans only a few days before she died." + +"Perhaps there is a later will somewhere," said Wickham. + +"I honestly don't think so." + +"Oh, I'm sure there isn't," affirmed Nora. + +"Dr. Evans was talking to Miss Wickham about Miss Marsh. She was +completely tired out and he wanted Miss Wickham to have a professional +nurse. She told him then that I _had_ the will and that she had left +Miss Marsh amply provided for." + +"That isn't legal, of course," said Mrs. Wickham decidedly. + +"What isn't?" + +"I mean no one could force us--I mean the will stands as it is, doesn't +it?" + +"Certainly it does." + +"I'm afraid it's a great disappointment to you, Miss Marsh," Wickham +said, not unkindly. + +"I never count my chickens before they're hatched." This time Nora +smiled easily and naturally. The worst was over now. + +"It would be very natural if Miss Marsh were disappointed in the +circumstances. I think she'd been led to expect----" Mr. Wynne's voice +was almost pleading. + +Mrs. Wickham detected a certain disapproval in the tone. She hastened to +justify herself. He might still be useful. When the estate was once +settled, they would of course put everything in the hands of their +London solicitor. But it would be better not to antagonize him for the +moment. + +"Our aunt left a very small fortune, I understand, and I suppose she +felt it wouldn't be fair to leave a large part of it away from her own +family." + +"Of course," said her husband, following her lead, "it is family money. +She inherited it from my grandfather, and--but I want you to know, Miss +Marsh, that my wife and I thoroughly appreciate all you did for my aunt. +Money couldn't repay your care and devotion You've been perfectly +wonderful." + +"It's extremely good of you to say so." + +"I think everyone who saw Miss Marsh with Miss Wickham must be aware +that during the ten years she was with her she never spared herself." +Mr. Wynne's eyes were on Mrs. Wickham. + +"Of course my aunt was a very trying woman----" began James Wickham +feebly. His wife headed him off. + +"Earning one's living is always unpleasant; if it weren't there'd be no +incentive to work." + +This astonishing aphorism was almost too much for Nora's composure. She +gave Mrs. Wickham an amused glance, to which that lady responded by +beaming upon her in her most agreeable manner. + +"My wife and I would be very glad to make some kind of acknowledgment of +your services." + +"I was just going to mention it," echoed Mrs. Wickham heartily. + +Mr. Wynne's kindly face brightened visibly. He was glad they were going +to do the right thing, after all. He had been a little fearful a few +moments before. "I felt sure that in the circumstances----" + +But Mrs. Wickham interrupted him quickly. + +"What were your wages, may I ask, Miss Marsh?" + +"Thirty pounds a year." + +"Really?" in a tone of excessive surprise. "Many ladies are glad to go +as companion without any salary, just for the sake of a home and +congenial society. I daresay you've been able to save a good deal in all +these years." + +"I had to dress myself decently, Mrs. Wickham," said Nora frigidly. + +Mrs. Wickham was graciousness itself. "Well, I'm sure my husband will +be very glad to give you a year's salary, won't you, Jim?" + +"It's very kind of you," replied Nora coldly, "but I'm not inclined to +accept anything but what is legally due to me." + +"You must remember," went on Mrs. Wickham, "that there'll be very heavy +death duties to pay. They'll swallow up the income from Miss Wickham's +estate for at least two years, won't they, Mr. Wynne?" + +"I quite understand," said Nora. + +"Perhaps you'll change your mind." + +"I don't think so." + +There was an awkward pause. Mr. Wynne rose from his seat at the table. +His manner showed unmistakably that he was not impressed by Mrs. +Wickham's great generosity. + +"Well, I think I must leave you," he said, looking at Nora. "Good-by, +Miss Marsh. If I can be of any help to you I hope you'll let me know." + +"That's very kind of you." + +Bowing slightly to Mrs. Wickham and nodding to her husband, he went out. + +"We must go, too, Dorothy," said James uneasily. + +Mrs. Wickham began drawing on her gloves. "Jim will be writing to you in +a day or two. You know how grateful we both are for all you did for our +poor aunt. We shall be glad to give you the very highest references. +You're such a wonderful nurse. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in +getting another situation; I expect I can find you something myself. +I'll ask among all my friends." + +Nora made no reply to this affable speech. + +"Come on, Dorothy; we really haven't any time to lose," said Wickham +hurriedly. + +"Good-by, Miss Marsh." + +"Good-by," said Nora dully. She stood, her hands resting on the table, +her eyes fastened on the long blue envelope which Mr. Wynne had +forgotten. From a long way off she heard the wheels of the cab on the +driveway. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +"I thought they were never going. Well?" + +It was Miss Pringle who had come in from her retreat in the garden, +eager to hear the news the moment she had seen the Wickhams driving +away. Nora turned and looked at her without a word. + +Miss Pringle was genuinely startled at the drawn look on her face. + +"Nora! What's the matter? Isn't it as much as you thought?" + +"Miss Wickham has left me nothing," said Nora in a dead voice. + +Miss Pringle gave a positive wail of anguish. "Oh-h-h-h." + +"Not a penny. Oh, it's cruel!" the girl said, almost wildly. "After +all," she went on bitterly, "there was no need for her to leave me +anything. She gave me board and lodging and thirty pounds a year. If I +stayed it was because I chose. But she needn't have promised me +anything. She needn't have prevented me from marrying." + +"My dear, you could never have married that little assistant. He wasn't +a gentleman," Miss Pringle reminded her. + +"Ten years! The ten best years of a woman's life, when other girls are +enjoying themselves. And what did I get for it? Board and lodging and +thirty pounds a year. A cook does better than that." + +"We can't expect to make as much money as a good cook," said Miss +Pringle, with touching and unconscious pathos. "One has to pay something +for living like a lady among people of one's own class." + +"Oh, it's cruel!" Nora could only repeat. + +"My dear," said Miss Pringle with an effort at consolation, "don't give +way. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in finding another situation. +You wash lace beautifully and no one can arrange flowers like you." + +Nora sank wearily into a chair. "And I was dreaming of France and +Italy--I shall spend ten years more with an old lady, and then she'll +die and I shall look out for another situation. It won't be so easy then +because I shan't be so young. And so it'll go on until I can't find a +situation because I'm too old, and then some charitable people will get +me into a home. You like the life, don't you?" + +"My dear, there are so few things a gentlewoman can do." + +"When I think of those ten years," said Nora, pacing up and down the +length of the room, "having to put up with every unreasonableness! Never +being allowed to feel ill or tired. No servant would have stood what I +have. The humiliation I've endured!" + +"You're tired and out of sorts," said Miss Pringle soothingly. "Everyone +isn't so trying as Miss Wickham. I'm sure Mrs. Hubbard has been kindness +itself to me." + +"Considering." + +"I don't know what you mean by 'considering.'" + +"Considering that she's rich and you're poor. She gives you her old +clothes. She frequently doesn't ask you to have dinner by yourself when +she's giving a party. She doesn't remind you that you're a dependent +unless she's very much put out. But you--you've had thirty years of it. +You've eaten the bitter bread of slavery till--till it tastes like plum +cake!" + +Miss Pringle was distinctly hurt. "I don't know why you say such things +to me, Nora." + +"Oh, you mustn't mind what I say; I----" + +"Mr. Hornby would like to see you for a minute, Miss," said Kate from +the doorway. + +"Now?" + +"I told him I didn't think it would be very convenient, Miss, but he +says it's very important, and he won't detain you more than five +minutes." + +"What a nuisance. Ask him to come in." + +"Very good, Miss." + +"I wonder what on earth he can want." + +"Who is he, Nora?" + +"Oh, he's the son of Colonel Hornby. Don't you know, he lives at the top +of Molyneux Park? His mother was a great friend of Miss Wickham's. He +comes down here now and then for week-ends. He's got something to do +with motor cars." + +"Mr. Hornby," said Kate from the door. + +Reginald Hornby was evidently one of those candid souls who are above +simulating an emotion they do not feel. He had regarded the late Miss +Wickham as an unusually tiresome old woman. His mother had liked her of +course. But he could hardly have been expected to do so. Moreover, he +had a shrewd notion that she must have been a perfect Tartar to live +with. Miss Marsh might be busy or tired out with the ordeal of the day, +but as she also might be leaving almost immediately and he wanted to see +her, he had not hesitated to come, once he was sure that the Wickham +relatives had departed. That he would find the late Miss Wickham's +companion indulging in any show of grief for her late employer, had +never entered his head. + +He was a good-looking, if rather vacuous, young man with a long, elegant +body. His dark, sleek hair was always carefully brushed and his small +mustache trimmed and curled. His beautiful clothes suggested the +fashionable tailors of Savile Row. Everything about him--his tie, his +handkerchief protruding from his breast pocket, his boots--bore the +stamp of the very latest thing. + +"I say, I'm awfully sorry to blow in like this," he said airily. + +He beamed on Nora, whom he had always regarded as much too pretty a girl +to be what he secretly called a 'frozy companion' and sent a quick +inquiring glance at Miss Pringle, whom he vaguely remembered to have +seen somewhere in Tunbridge Wells. But then Tunbridge Wells was filled +with frumps. Oh, yes. He remembered now. She was usually to be seen +leading a pair of Poms on a leash. + +"You see, I didn't know if you'd be staying on here," he went on, +retaining Nora's hand, "and I wanted to catch you. I'm off in a day or +two myself." + +"Won't you sit down? Mr. Hornby--Miss Pringle." + +"How d'you do?" + +Mr. Hornby's glance skimmed lightly over Miss Pringle's surface and +returned at once to Nora's more pleasing face. + +"Everything go off O. K.?" he inquired genially. + +"I beg your pardon?" + +"Funeral, I mean. Mother went. Regular outing for her." + +Miss Pringle stiffened visibly in her chair and began to study the +pattern in the rug at her feet with an absorbed interest. Nora was +conscious of a wild desire to laugh, but with a heroic effort succeeded +in keeping her face straight out of deference to her elderly friend. + +"Really?" she said, in a faint voice. + +"Oh, yes," went on young Hornby with unabated cheerfulness. "You see, +mother's getting on. I'm the child of her old age--Benjamin, don't you +know. Benjamin and Sarah, you know," he explained, apparently for the +benefit of Miss Pringle, as he pointedly turned to address this final +remark to her. + +"I understand perfectly," said Miss Pringle icily, "but it wasn't +Sarah." + +"Wasn't it? When one of her old friends dies," he went on to Nora, +"mother always goes to the funeral and says to herself: 'Well, I've seen +_her_ out, anyhow!' Then she comes back and eats muffins for tea. She +always eats muffins after she's been to a funeral." + +"The maid said you wanted to see me about something in particular," Nora +gently reminded him. + +"That's right, I was forgetting." + +He wheeled suddenly once more on Miss Pringle, who had arrived at that +stage in her study of the rug when she was carefully tracing out the +pattern with the point of her umbrella. + +"If Sarah wasn't Benjamin's mother, whose mother was she?" + +"If you want to know, I recommend you to read your Bible," retorted that +lady with something approaching heat. + +Mr. Hornby slapped his knee. "I thought it was a stumper," he remarked +with evident satisfaction. + +"The fact is, I'm going to Canada and mother told me you had a brother +or something out there." + +"A brother, not a something," said Nora, with a smile. + +"And she said, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me a letter to him." + +"I will with pleasure. But I'm afraid he won't be much use to you. He's +a farmer and he lives miles away from anywhere." + +"But I'm going in for farming." + +"You are? What on earth for?" + +"I've jolly well got to do something," said Hornby with momentary gloom, +"and I think farming's about the best thing I can do. One gets a lot of +shooting and riding yon know. And then there are tennis parties and +dances. And you make a pot of money, there's no doubt about that." + +"But I thought you were in some motor business in London." + +"Well, I was, in a way. But--I thought you'd have heard about it. +Mother's been telling everybody. Governor won't speak to me. Altogether, +things are rotten. I want to get out of this beastly country as quick as +I can." + +"Would you like me to give you the letter at once?" said Nora, going +over to an escritoire that stood near the window. + +"I wish you would. Fact is," he went on, addressing no one in +particular, as Nora was already deep in her letter and Miss Pringle, +having exhausted the possibilities of the rug, was gazing stonily into +space, "I'm broke. I was all right as long as I stuck to bridge; I used +to make money on that. Over a thousand a year." + +"What!" + +Horror was stronger than Miss Pringle's resolution to take no further +part in the conversation with this extraordinary and apparently +unprincipled young man. + +"Playing regularly, you know. If I hadn't been a fool I'd have stuck to +that, but I got bitten with chemi." + +"With what?" asked Nora, over her shoulder. + +"Chemin de fer. Never heard of it? I got in the habit of going to +Thornton's. I suppose you never heard of him either. He keeps a gambling +hell. Gives you a slap-up supper for nothing, as much pop as you can +drink, and cashes your checks like a bird. The result is, I've lost +every bob I had and then Thornton sued me on a check I'd given him. The +governor forked out, but he says I've got to go to Canada. I'm never +going to gamble again, I can tell you that." + +"Oh, well, that's something," murmured Nora cheerfully. + +"You can't make money at chemi," went on Hornby, relapsing once more +into gloom; "the _cagnotte's_ bound to clear you out in the end. When I +come back I'm going to stick to bridge. There are always plenty of mugs +about, and if you have a good head for cards, you can't help making an +income out of it." + +"But I thought you said you were never going----" began Miss Pringle, +but, thinking better of it, abandoned her sentence in mid-air. + +"Here is your letter," said Nora, holding it out to him. + +"Thanks, awfully. I daresay I shan't want it, you know. I expect I shall +get offered a job the moment I land, but there's no harm having it. I'll +be getting along." + +"Good-by, then, and good luck." + +"Good-by," he said, shaking hands with Nora and Miss Pringle. + +"Nora, why don't you go out to Canada?" said Miss Pringle thoughtfully, +as soon as the door had closed after young Hornby. "Now your brother has +a farm of his own, I should think----" + +"My brother's married," interrupted Nora quickly. "He married four years +ago." + +"You never told me." + +"I couldn't." + +"Why? Isn't his wife--isn't his wife nice?" + +"She was a waitress at a scrubby little hotel in Winnipeg." + +"What _are_ you going to do then?" + +"I? I'm going to look out for another situation." + +Miss Pringle shook her head sadly. + +"Well, I must be going. Mrs. Hubbard will be back from her drive by this +time. She's sure to have you in for tea or something before you go. +She's always been quite fond of you. At any rate, I'll see you again, of +course." + +"Oh, yes, indeed." + +Nora was thankful to be alone once more. She wanted to think it all out. +What a day it had been. Starting with such high hopes to end only in +utter disaster. She felt completely exhausted by the emotions she had +undergone. Time enough to plan to-morrow. To-night she needed rest. + +Two days later, in the late afternoon, she found herself in the train +for London, the second journey she had taken in ten years. Once, three +years before, Miss Wickham had been persuaded to go up and pay the James +Wickhams a short visit and had taken Nora with her. + +It could hardly have been described as a pleasure trip. Miss Wickham +detested visiting and had only yielded to her nephew's importunities +because she had never been in his London house to stay any time and had +an avid curiosity to see how they lived. She had of course disapproved +of everything she saw about the establishment. But, as it was no part of +her purpose to let the fact be known to her relatives, she had in a +large measure vented her consequent ill-humor upon her unfortunate +companion. + +The last few days had seemed full, indeed. No matter how little one may +really care for a place, the process of uprooting after ten years is not +an easy one. Mr. Wynne had been to see her to renew his offer of +assistance and counsel in any plan she might have for the future and she +had spent an hour with the good doctor and his wife. The dreaded +invitation from Mrs. Hubbard had duly arrived and had turned out to be +for dinner, an extraordinary honor. Nora had accepted it entirely on +Miss Pringle's account. Mrs. Hubbard had been condescension itself and +had even gone the length of excusing Miss Pringle from the evening's +game of bezique, in order that she might have a farewell chat with her +friend. + +She had mildly deprecated Miss Wickham's carelessness in not altering +her will, but had reminded Miss Marsh that she should be grateful to her +late employer for having had such kindly intentions toward her, vaguely +ending her remarks with the statement that as her dear husband had +always said in this imperfect world one had often to consider +intentions. + +It was from her more humble friends that Nora found it hardest to part. +She had had tea with the gardener's wife and children of whom she was +genuinely fond. But it was the parting from Kate that had brought the +tears to her eyes. She had confided to that motherly soul how large she +had loomed in the rosy plans she had made while she still had +expectations from Miss Wickham, and been assured in turn that Kate +couldn't have fancied herself happier than she would have been in +looking after her, and the faithful Kate refused to regard the plan as +anything more than postponed. It developed that she was an adept in +telling fortunes with tea leaves. She hoped her dear Miss Marsh wouldn't +consider it a liberty for her to say so, but in every forecast that Kate +had made for herself in the last twelfth month, Miss Marsh had always +been mixed up, which showed beyond the peradventure of a doubt that they +were to meet again. + +It was already dusk when London was reached, but Nora had an address of +an inexpensive little private hotel which the doctor's wife had given +her. She had written ahead to engage a room so that her mind was at ease +on that subject. Not knowing exactly where the street might be, further +than that it led off the Strand, she indulged herself in the novel +luxury of a taxi and drove to her new lodgings in state. + +"If it isn't too much out of the way, would you take me by way of +Trafalgar Square, please." + +The chauffeur touched his cap. His "Yes, Miss," was non-committal. + +She was conscious of an unusual feeling of exaltation as she went along. +London, while it can be one of the most depressing cities in the world +when one is alone and friendless, quickens the imagination. As they went +through Trafalgar Square and caught a fleeting glimpse of the National +Gallery, Nora resolved that she would give herself a real treat and +renew old acquaintance with that institution as well as see the Wallace +collection and the Tate Gallery, both of which would be new to her. She +realized more poignantly than ever how starved her love of beauty had +been for the last ten years. It awoke in her afresh with the thought +that for a few days, at least, she could permit herself the luxury of +gratifying it. + +She was shown to her room by a neat maid who said she would see what +might be done in the way of a light tea. As a rule breakfast was the +only repast that was supposed to be furnished. But she was quite sure +Miss Horn, the proprietor, would, in view of the fact that the young +lady was a stranger in London and would hardly know where to go alone +for a bite of dinner, make an exception. + +Nora thanked her and set about making the bare little room, which was +quite at the top of the house, look a little more homelike by unpacking +some of her own things. After all, she reflected, it wasn't much less +cheerful than the room she had had for ten years. Perhaps her late +participation in the splendors of Miss Wickham's guest chamber, which +had been part of Dr. Evans' prescription, had spoiled her for simpler +joys. She laughed aloud at the thought. + +By the time she had had her supper, which was sufficiently good, and +written a few notes--one to the doctor's wife to say that she thought +she would be quite comfortable in her new quarters, and one to the head +of the agency through which she had obtained her post with Miss +Wickham--Nora found herself ready for bed. + +The next day dawned bright and fine; one of those delightful spring days +to which the great city occasionally treats you as if to protest against +the injustice of her reputation for being dark and gloomy. + +There were a number of pleasant looking people in the coffee room when +Nora went down to breakfast, which turned out to be abundant and well +cooked. Having inquired her direction--a sense of location was not one +of her gifts--she set out gaily enough for a whole day of sightseeing. +She might never get another position and have eventually to go out as a +charwoman--the detail that she would be illy equipped for any such +undertaking she humorously dismissed--but a day or two of unalloyed +enjoyment she was going to have, come what might. + +The day was a complete success. Having done several of the picture +galleries, lunched and dined frugally at one of the A. B. C. +restaurants, Nora returned at nightfall, tired but happy. Oh, the +blessed freedom of it! + +The next morning on coming down stairs she found at her plate a letter +from the agency. The management of affairs, it seemed, had passed into +other hands. Doubtless Miss Marsh's name would be found on the books of +several years back, but it was not familiar to the new director. +However, they would, of course, be pleased to put themselves at Miss +Marsh's service. If she would be good enough to give them an early call, +bringing any and all references she might have, etc., etc. + +Miss Marsh tore the note into tiny fragments. The agency could wait, +everything could wait, for the moment. She must have her fling, the +first taste of freedom in all these years. After that----! + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +October had come. Nora was no longer in the comfortable little hotel to +which the doctor's wife had sent her. Early in July she had thought it +wiser to seek cheaper quarters where breakfast was not 'included.' Every +penny must be counted now, and by combining breakfast and lunch late in +the morning she found she could do quite well until night, besides +saving an appreciable sum for the end of the week, when her room must be +paid for. + +The summer had been one long nightmare of heat. It had been years +according to all accounts since the unhappy Londoners had so sweltered +beneath the scorching rays of an almost tropic sun. Often, when tossing +on her little bed or when seated by her small window which gave on a +sort of court, with the forlorn hope of finding some air stirring, had +she thought with longing of the pleasant garden at Tunbridge Wells and +is perfumed breezes. + +So far her search for any position had been fruitless. She had gone to +other agencies; to some whose greatly reduced fees were a sure +indication that she could hope for nothing so "high class," to use +their hateful phrase, as she had been accustomed to. But one must do +what one could. + +At one establishment, she shuddered to remember, she found that she +would be expected to sit in the office, as at the servants' agencies, to +be inspected by prospective employers. This, Nora had flatly refused to +do and had been coolly informed by the manager, an insufferable young +man with a loud voice and a vulgar manner, that in that case he could do +nothing for her. + +He had at the same time refused to return her fee, which he had +providently collected before explaining these conditions, on the ground +that they never returned fees. Nora had been glad enough to make her +escape from his hateful presence without arguing the matter with him, +although she considered that, to all intents and purposes, her pocket +had been picked. + +Apparently everyone in the world was already supplied with a companion. +She had thought of filing an application for the position of nursery +governess, only to find that, for a really good post, two modern +languages would be required. That, coupled with the fact that she was +obliged to confess to absolutely no previous experience in teaching, +closed the door to even second-class appointments. + +And the desolating loneliness of it all! Only once in all this time had +she seen anyone she knew, and that was shortly after her arrival while +still in the first flush of her newly regained freedom. She had gone +with a young woman who was staying at the hotel for a few days to the +gallery of a theater. From her lofty perch she had seen Reggie Hornby +with a gay party of young men in the stalls below. Evidently he was +making the most of his last hours at home before going into exile. + +Since leaving the hotel she had exchanged but few words with anyone +beyond her landlady, the little slavey and the people at the various +agencies. Once, it chanced that for several days in succession she had +lunched at the same table in a dingy little restaurant with a fresh, +pleasant-looking young girl, who had said 'Good morning' in such a +friendly manner on their second encounter that Nora felt encouraged to +begin conversation. + +Her new acquaintance had the gift of a sympathetic manner and before +Nora realized it she found herself relating the story of her failures +and disappointments. Miss Hodson--so Nora discovered she was called from +the very business-like card she had handed her at the beginning of the +repast, with an air which for the moment relapsed from the sympathetic +to the professional--had suggested when they had finished their lunch +that, as she still had a quarter of an hour to spare, they might go and +finish their chat in one of the little green oases abutting on the +Embankment. Seated on one of the benches she proceeded to advise her +companion to take up stenography and typewriting while she was still in +funds. + +"There are plenty of chances for a girl who knows her business and +you're your own mistress and not at the beck and call of any old cat, +who thinks she has bought you outright just because she's paying you +starvation wages," she said with a finely independent air. Then in a +thoroughly business-like way she went on to give the address of the +school at which she had studied herself and had offered to take Nora +there any evening the coming week. + +In the end, to Nora's great pleasure, she had suggested joining forces +for an outing on the coming Sunday. With a gesture that seemed to refer +one to her card, she had explained that after typing all week in a +stuffy office she always tried to have a Sunday out of doors to get her +mind off her work. It was arranged that they should go somewhere +together, leaving their destination to be decided when they met. They +were to meet in front of the National Gallery at a quarter before ten. +But, although poor Nora waited for over an hour, her friend did not +turn up, and she had returned sadly to her dreary room. Neither of the +girls had thought to exchange addresses. Beyond her name and occupation +Miss Hodson's card vouchsafed nothing. + +Nor had Nora ever seen her again, although she had returned several +times to the restaurant where they had met. She had spent many of the +long sleepless hours of the night in speculation as to what had become +of her. She was sure that some accident had befallen her or she would +have met her again. No one could be so cruel intentionally. + +Once again in a tea room she had timidly ventured, prompted by sheer +loneliness, to speak to an elderly woman with gray hair. It was a +harmless little remark about some flowers in a vase on the counter. The +woman had stared at her coldly for a moment before she said: + +"I do not seem to recall where I have had the pleasure of seeing you +before." + +A flash of the old temper had crimsoned Nora's cheek, but she made no +reply. Since then, aching as she was for a little human companionship, +she had spoken to no one. + +She had had two long letters from Miss Pringle, whose star seemed +momentarily to be in the ascendant. Mrs. Hubbard had been ordered to +the seaside; they were later to take a continental trip. There was even +talk of consulting a famous and expensive specialist before returning to +the calm of Tunbridge Wells. But prosperity had not made Miss Pringle +selfish. In the face of the gift of a costume, which Mrs. Hubbard had +actually never worn, having conceived a strong distaste for it on its +arrival from the dressmaker, she had time to think of her less fortunate +friend. + +While waiting for the situation which was sure to come eventually, why +didn't Nora run down to Brighton for a week after the terrible London +heat? One could get really very comfortable lodgings remarkably cheap at +this season. It would do her no end of good and, on the theory that a +watched pot never boils, she would be certain to find that there was +something for her on her return. + +Miss Pringle's brother, it seemed, had had a turn of luck. Just what, +she discreetly forbore to mention. Certainly, it could not have been at +cards. Nora smiled at the recollection of the horror that Mr. Hornby's +remarks as to his earnings from that source had provoked. However, he +had most generously sent his sister a ten-pound note as a present. Miss +Pringle had, of course, no possible use for it at the time. Also it +appeared that the thought of carrying it about with her, particularly +as she was going among foreigners, filled her with positive terror. +Therefore, she was enclosing it to Nora to take care of. She hoped she +would use any part of it or all of it. She could return it after they +returned to Tunbridge Wells, provided that Miss Pringle survived the +natural perils that beset one who ventured out of England. They would +have started on their journey before the receipt of the letter. As to +their destination, Miss Pringle said never a word. + +A small envelope had fallen into her lap when she opened the letter. +With dimmed eyes Nora opened it. It contained the ten-pound note. + +It was a week later that it occurred to Nora to answer two +advertisements that appeared in one of the morning papers. In each case +it was a companion that was wanted. One of the ladies lived at Whitby +and pending the answer to her letter she decided to call personally on +the other, who lived at Hampstead. + +The morning being fine, she decided to make an early start and walk +about on Hampstead Heath until a suitable hour for making her call. When +she finally arrived before the house, a rather pretentious looking +structure in South Hampstead, she was met at the gate by a middle-aged +woman of unprepossessing appearance, who inquired rather sharply as to +her errand. + +"Mrs. Blake's card distinctly said that all applications were to be made +in writing," she said disagreeably, in reply to Nora's explanation. + +"The one I read did not, at least I don't think it did," said Nora. + +"Well, if it didn't, it should have," said the woman tartly. + +"May I ask if _you_ are Mrs. Blake?" + +"Write and you may find out; although I might as well tell you, you +won't answer. Mrs. Blake will be wanting someone of a very different +appearance," said the woman rudely. + +"I am indeed unfortunate," said Nora with a bow. + +The woman closed the gate with a bang and turned toward the house as +Nora walked rapidly away. She decided to answer no more advertisements. + +One morning, at the end of the week, the post brought her three letters. +One from its postmark was clearly from her brother in Canada. She put +that aside for the moment to be read at her leisure. + +[Illustration: NORA OVERHEARS FRANK SAY WIVES ARE MADE FOR WORK ONLY.] + +The Yorkshire lady, it appeared, was blind and required a companion to +read to her and to assist in preparing some memoirs which her dead +brother had left uncompleted. She offered Nora a refined home with every +comfort that a lady could desire, but--there was no salary attached to +the position. The third was from one of the agencies. A client was +prepared to offer a lady companion the magnificent sum of ten shillings +a week and her lunch. Out of her salary Nora would be expected, +therefore, to find herself a room, clothes, breakfast and supper! + +Her brother's letter was, as always, kind and affectionate. He rather +vaguely apologized for his delay in replying to hers, written at the +time of Miss Wickham's death. He had been frightfully busy, up at dawn +and so tired at night that he was glad to tumble into bed right after +supper. His wife, too, had had a sharp spell of sickness. However, she +was all right again, he was glad to say. Why did not Nora come out to +them? They would be glad to offer her a comfortable home, although she +must make up her mind to dispense with the luxuries she was accustomed +to. But there was always plenty to eat and a good bed, at any rate. He +knew she would grow to love the life as he had done. There was a fine +freedom about it. For his part, nothing would ever tempt him back to +England, except for a visit when he had put by a little more. She would +find his wife a good sort. She, too, would welcome her sister-in-law. +They would be no end of company for each other during the long days +while the men were away. And she would be glad to have someone to lend a +hand about the house. + +He hoped she had been able to save enough money to pay her passage out. +If she hadn't, he would somehow manage to send whatever was necessary. +But while he was fairly prosperous, ready money was a little more scarce +than usual, for the moment. His wife's illness had been pretty +expensive, what with hiring a woman to do all the work, etc., etc. + +The letter settled it. On the one hand was this heart-breaking waiting +while watching one's little hoard diminish from day to day and always +the terrifying and unanswerable question: What is to be done when it is +exhausted? On the other, a home and the prospect that she might be able +in a measure to pay her way by helping her brother's wife. Nora's +housewifely accomplishments were but few, yet she could learn, and while +learning she could at least take away the sting of those lonely hours, +as her brother had said. On one thing she was resolved: she would let +bygones be bygones. She would do everything in her power to win her +sister-in-law, forgetting everything but that she was the wife of her +only brother. + +The next few days were the happiest she had known for a long time. +There was a pleasurable excitement in getting ready for so momentous a +step. After having paid her passage she found that she had eight pounds +in the world, the result of ten years' work as lady's companion. She +wrote to let Mr. Wynne know of her decision and enclosed Miss Pringle's +banknote to the doctor's wife with an explanatory note asking her to see +that it reached her hands safely. Miss Pringle herself should have a +long letter from the New World waiting her on her return. + +Her last day at home, having satisfied herself that nothing was +forgotten, she spent a long hour in the Turner room in the Tate Gallery, +drinking it all in for the last time. When she left the building it was +with a feeling that the last farewell to the old life was said. + +To her great pleasure and a little to her surprise, Nora discovered +herself to be a thoroughly good sailor. As a consequence, the voyage to +Montreal was quite the most delightful thing she had ever experienced. +The boat was a slow one but the time never once seemed long. Indeed, as +they approached their destination, she found herself wishing that the +Western Continent might, by some convulsion of nature, be removed, quite +safely, an indefinite number of leagues farther, or that they might +make a détour by way of the antipodes, anything rather than bring the +voyage to an end. + +There were but few passengers at this season so that beyond the daily +exchange of ordinary courtesies, she was able to pass much of the time +by herself. The weather was unusually fine for the time of year. It was +possible to spend almost all the daylight hours on deck, and with night +came long hours of dreamless sleep such as she never remembered to have +enjoyed since childhood. As a consequence, it was a thoroughly +rejuvenated Nora that landed in Montreal. The stress and strain of the +past summer was forgotten or only to be looked back upon as a sort of +horrid nightmare from which she had happily awakened. + +It was too late in the day after they had landed to think of continuing +her journey. Besides, as is often the case with people who have stood a +sea voyage without experiencing any disagreeable sensations, Nora found +that she still felt the motion of the boat after landing. + +It seemed a pity, too, not to see something of this new-world city while +she was on the ground. Her brother's farm was still an incredible +distance farther west. People thought nothing of distance in this +amazing New World. Still, it might easily be long before she would be +here again. The future was a blank page. There was a delightful +irresponsibility about the thought. She had come over the sea at her +brother's bidding. The future was his care, not hers. + +The journey west had the same charm of novelty that the sea voyage had +had. The nearest station to Eddie's farm was a place called Dyer in the +Province of Manitoba, not far from Winnipeg. Once inured to the new and +strange mode of traveling in Canada, so different from what she had been +accustomed to, Nora prepared to enjoy it. Never before had she realized +the possibilities of beauty in a winter landscape. The flying prospect +without the window fascinated her. The magazines and papers with which +she had provided herself lay unopened in her lap. She realized that +these vast snow-covered stretches might easily drive one mad with their +loneliness and desolation if one had to live among them. But to rush +through them as they were doing was exhilarating. It was all so strange, +so contrary to any previous experience, that Nora had an uncanny feeling +that they might easily have left the earth she knew and be flying +through space. She whimsically thought that if at the next stop she were +to be told that she was on the planet Mars, she would not be greatly +astonished. It was like traveling with Alice in Wonderland. + +One thing, however, recalled her to earth and prosaic mundane affairs: +her supply of money was rapidly getting dangerously low. Barring +accident, she would have enough to get her to Dyer, where Eddie was to +meet her. But suppose they should be snowed up for a day or two? Only an +hour before she had been thrilled with an account of just such an +experience which a man in the seat in front of her was recounting to his +companion. Well, if that happened, she would either have to go hungry or +beg food from the more affluent of her fellow-passengers! Fortunately +she was not obliged to put their generosity to the test. The train +arrived at Dyer without accident only a few minutes behind the scheduled +time. + +There were a number of people at the station as Nora alighted. For a +moment she had a horrid fear that either she had been put off at the +wrong place or that her brother had failed to meet her. Certainly none +of the fur-coated figures were in the least familiar. But almost at once +one of the men detached himself from the waiting group on the platform +and after one hesitating second came toward her. + +"Nora, my child, I hardly knew you! I was forgetting that you would be a +grown woman," and Nora was half smothered in a furry embrace and kissed +on both cheeks before she was quite sure that the advancing stranger +was her brother. + +"Oh, Eddie, dear, I didn't know you at all. But how can one be expected +to with that great cap covering the upper part of your face and a coat +collar hiding nearly all the rest. But you really haven't changed, now +that I get a look at you. I daresay I have altered more than you. But I +was little more than a child when you went away." + +"Well, we have quite a little drive ahead of us," said Eddie as, having +himself helped to carry Nora's trunks to a nondescript-looking vehicle +to which were attached two horses, he motioned to Nora to get in. "I +expect you won't be sorry to have a little air after being so long in a +stuffy car." + +Nora noticed that he gave the man who had helped him with the trunks no +tip and that they called each other "Joe" and "Ed." This was democracy +with a vengeance. She made a little face of disapproval. + +Nora never forgot that drive. In the light of after-events it seemed to +have cut her off more sharply from all the old life than either the +crossing of the pathless sea or the long overland journey. It was taken +for the most part in silence, Eddie's attention being largely taken up +with his team. Also Nora noted that he seemed to feel the cold more +than she did, as he kept his coat collar turned up all the way. She +herself was so occupied with her thoughts that she had no sense of +either time or distance. + +At last they came in sight of a house such as she had never seen. It was +built entirely of logs. At the sound of their approach, the one visible +door opened on the crack as if to avoid letting in the cold, and Nora +saw a thin dark little woman with rather a hard look and a curiously +dried-up skin, whom she rightly guessed to be her sister-in-law, +standing in the doorway, while lounging nonchalantly against the +doorpost was a tall, strong, well-set-up young man whose age might have +been anything between thirty and thirty-five. He had remarkably +clean-cut features and was clean-shaven. His frankly humorous gaze +rested unabashed on the stranger's face. + +Forgetting all her good resolutions to adapt herself to the habits and +customs of this new country, Nora felt that she could have struck him in +his impudent face. The fact that she reddened under his scrutiny, +naturally only made her the more furious. + +"Come on out here, some of you," called Eddie jovially. "Heavens! The +way you all hug the stove would make anyone believe you'd never seen a +Canadian winter before in your lives. Here, Frank, lend a hand with +these trunks and call Ben to take the horses. Gertie, this is Nora. Now +you need never be lonely again." + +"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Gertie primly. + +The man called Frank, the one who had been honoring Nora with his +regard, came forward with a hand outstretched to help her alight, while +another man, the ordinary type of English laborer placed himself at the +horses' heads. + +"Come, hop out, Nora." + +There was nothing else to do, Nora put the very tips of her fingers into +the outstretched hand. To her unspeakable indignation, she felt herself +lifted bodily out and actually carried inside the door. At her smothered +exclamation, Gertie gave a shrill laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Three weeks had passed with inconceivable rapidity, leaving Nora with +the dazed feeling that one has sometimes when waking from a fantastic +dream. + +There were moments when she was overwhelmed with the utter hopelessness +of ever being able to adapt herself to a mode of life so foreign to all +her traditions. She had, she told herself, been prepared to find +everything different from life at home; and, while she had smiled--on +that day such ages ago when young Hornby had called on her at Tunbridge +Wells to announce his impending departure from the land of his birth--at +his airy theory that the life of the Canadian farmer was largely +occupied with riding, hunting, dancing and tennis, she found to her +dismay that her own mental picture of her brother's existence had been +nearly as far from the reality. + +On the drive over from the station, Eddie had vaguely remarked that he +had a great surprise for her when she reached the house. Nora had paid +but little attention at the moment, thinking that he probably meant the +house itself. What had been her astonishment--when once her rage at +being lifted bodily from the sled by the man called Frank had permitted +of her feeling any other emotion--to find Reginald Hornby himself an +inmate of her brother's household. There was but little trace of the +ultra smart young Londoner, beyond his still carefully kept hair and +mustache. The only difference between his costume and that of the others +was that his overalls were newer and that his flannel shirt was plainly +a Piccadilly product. + +Nora had known gentlemen farmers in England who worked hard, riding +about their estates every day supervising and directing everything, and +who seemed, from their conversation, to take it all seriously enough. +She had made all allowance for the rougher life in a new and unsettled +country. There was something picturesque and romantic about the +frontiersman which had always appealed to her imagination. She had read +a little of him and had seen a play in London the night she recognized +Reggie from afar, where the scene was laid in the Far West. On returning +to the hotel she had looked with new interest at Eddie's photograph and +tried to picture him in the costume worn by the leading man. + +But to find that her own brother, a man of education and refinement, +actually worked with his own hands like a common laborer and--what to +Nora's mind was infinitely more incomprehensible--on a footing of +perfect equality with his hired men, calling them familiarly by their +given names and being called "Ed" in turn, was a distinctly disagreeable +revelation. That they should be familiar with Gertie was quite another +matter. Probably they were acquaintances of long standing dating back to +her old hotel days. + +Her sister-in-law, too, was absolutely different from the type she had +imagined. Always she had seen her as one of those vapid, pretty little +creatures who had become old long before her time; peevish, spoiled, +inclined to be flirtatious, refusing to give up her youth, still living +in the recollection of her little day of triumph. + +Gertie fulfilled only one of these conditions. She was a small woman, +not nearly so tall as Nora herself. In all else she was as different as +possible from what she had imagined. There could never have been +anything of the 'clinging vine' about Gertie. As a girl she might have +been handsome in an almost masculine way; pretty, in the generally +accepted sense, she could never have been. + +Her one coquetry seemed to be in the matter of shoes. Her feet were +unbelievably small. Nora divined that she was inordinately proud of +them. While always scrupulously neat, she was apparently indifferent to +clothes so long as they were clean and not absolutely shabby. But her +high-heeled shoes were the smartest that could be had from Winnipeg. + +And as for her being soft and spoiled! Never was there a more tireless +and hard-working creature. From early morning till late at night she was +never idle. She was a perfect human dynamo of force and energy. The +cooking and washing for the 'family' which, now that Nora was here, +consisted of six persons, four of whom were men with the appetites which +naturally come with a long day's work in the open air, in itself was no +light task. But, by way of recreation, after the supper dishes had been +washed up, Gertie darned socks, mended shirts, patched trousers for the +men folk or sewed on some garment for herself. Nora longed to see her +sit with folded hands just once. + +That she was as devoted to her husband as he to her there could be no +doubt. All other men were a matter of complete indifference to her. Were +they good workers or shirkers? That was the only thing about them of any +interest. But she was not the sort of woman to show tenderness or +affection. + +Eddie had apparently the greatest respect for her judgment in all +matters pertaining to the running of the farm. Frequently in the +evenings they sat together in the far corner of the living room, Eddie +talking in a low voice, while Gertie, always at her eternal sewing, +listened with close attention, often nodding her head in approval, but +occasionally shaking it vehemently when any project failed to meet with +her approbation. Occasionally her sharp bird-like glance flashed over +the other occupants of the room: at the three men yarning lazily by the +big stove or playing cards at the dining table and at Nora making a +pretense of reading a six-months-old magazine, or writing, her portfolio +on her knee. Always, when Nora encountered that glance, she understood +its exultant message. + +"Look, you," it said as plainly as if it had been couched in actual +words, "look at me ruling over my little court, advising, as a queen +might, with her prime minister. You think yourself my superior, you with +your fine-lady's airs and graces! A pretty pass your education and +accomplishments have brought you to. Of what use are you to anyone?" + +There was no blinking the fact: the antagonism between the two women was +too instinctive, too deep ever to be more than superficially covered +over. They each recognized it. And yet neither was wholly to blame. It +had its roots in conditions that were far more significant than mere +personal feeling. + +Nora, for her part, had come to her brother's house with the sincere +intention of doing everything in her power to win her sister-in-law's +good will if not affection. She had believed that their common fondness +for Eddie would be a sure foundation on which to build. But from the +first, without being at all conscious of it, her manner breathed +patronage and disapproval of a mode of life so foreign to all her +experience. She had made the resolution to remember nothing of Gertie's +humble origin, to treat her in every way with the deference due her +brother's wife. + +Gertie, too, had made good resolutions. She was at heart the more +generous nature of the two. She was prepared to find her husband's +sister unskilled to the point of incompetency in all the housewifely +lore of which she was past mistress; for she, too, had her traditions. +She would have laughed at the idea that it was possible for her to be +jealous of anybody. But secretly she knew that there was one thing which +aroused in her a frenzy of jealous rage; that was those years of her +husband's life in which she had neither part nor lot. Any reference to +his old life 'at home' fairly maddened her. + +And deep down in her heart, each woman nursed a grievance. With Gertie +it was the remembrance of the angry letter of protest which Nora had +written her brother when she learned of his approaching marriage and +which he had been indiscreet enough to show her; with Nora, it was the +recollection of Gertie's laugh the night of her arrival when her +brother's hired servant had dared to take her for a moment in his arms. + +Still, any open rupture might have been avoided or at least delayed for +several months longer, if either could have been persuaded to exercise a +little more patience and self-control. Each of them, in her different +way, had known adversity. Both of them had had to learn to control +tempers naturally high while they were still dependent. But it never +occurred to either of them that the obligation to do so still existed. + +From Gertie's point of view, Nora was just as much a dependent as in the +days when she was a hired companion to a rich woman. It was her house in +law and in fact, for her husband had made it over to her. It was her +bread that she ate, her bed she slept in. It behooved her, therefore, to +be a little less lofty and condescending. She had always known how it +would be, and it was only because the project seemed so near her +husband's heart that she had consented to such an experiment. + +In simple justice it must be said that such a thought had never entered +Nora's head. She had accepted gladly her brother's invitation to make +her home with him. What more natural that he should offer it, now that +he was able to do so? In return she was perfectly willing to do +everything she could to help in all the woman's work about the house as +far as her ignorance would permit. It could hardly be expected that she +would be as proficient in household work as a person who had done it all +her life. She was more than willing to concede her sister-in-law's +superiority in all such matters. And she was perfectly ready to learn +all that Gertie would teach her. She had, in everything, been prepared +to meet her half-way; further she would not go. For the rest, it was her +brother's place to protect her. + +Sadly Nora confessed to herself that Eddie had deteriorated in a degree +that she could not have believed possible. The first shock had come when +they sat down to supper the night of her arrival. To her amazed disgust, +they had all eaten at the same table, hired men and all. And then, to +see her brother, a gentleman by birth, breeding, and training, sitting +down at his own table in his shirt-sleeves! + +Her own seat was on the right of her sister-in-law, next Reginald +Hornby. All the men except Eddie wore overalls. He had replaced his with +an old black waistcoat and a pair of grubby dark trousers. Nora wondered +sarcastically if his more formal costume was in honor of her arrival, +but quickly remembered that he had had to drive to Dyer. It was cold +outside; probably these festive garments were warmer. She found herself +speculating as to whether any of the men owned anything but outer coats. + +There hadn't been much general conversation at that first meal. +Naturally, Eddie had had many questions to ask about old acquaintances +in England. Nora had given her first impressions of travel in the New +World, addressing many of her remarks to Gertie, who had been noticeably +silent. Through all her bright talk the thought would obtrude itself: +"What can Reggie Hornby think of my brother?" + +She had an angry consciousness, too, that she was unwittingly furnishing +much amusement to that objectionable person opposite, whose name she +learned was Frank Taylor. She meant to speak to Eddie about him later. +He was an entirely new type to her. His fellow servant, whose name was +Trotter, on the contrary, could be seen about London any day, an +ordinary, ignorant Cockney. He, at least, had the merit of seeming to +know his place and how to conduct himself in the presence of his +betters, and except when asking for more syrup, of which he seemed +inordinately fond, kept discreetly silent. + +But the idea that there was any difference in their stations was not +betrayed in Taylor's look or manner. He commented humorously from time +to time on Nora's various experiences coming overland, quite oblivious, +to all appearances, that she pointedly ignored him. Nora had arrived at +that point in her gay recital when she had had qualms that her brother +had failed to meet her. + +"You can fancy how I felt getting down at a perfectly strange +station----" + +She was interrupted by Gertie's irritating little laugh. + +"But what have I said? What is it?" + +It was Taylor who replied. + +"Well, you see out here in the wilderness we don't call it a station, +_we_ call it a depot." + +"Do you really?" asked Nora with exaggerated surprise, looking at her +brother. + +"Custom of the country," he said smilingly. + +"But a depot is a place where stores are kept." + +"Of course I don't know what you call it in England," said Gertie +aggressively, "but while you're in _this_ country, I guess you'd better +call it what other folks do." + +"It would be rather absurd for me to call it that when it's wrong," said +Nora, flushing with annoyance. + +Gertie's thin lips tightened. + +"Of course I don't pretend to have had _very_ much schooling, but it +seems to me I've read something somewhere about doing as the Romans do +when you're livin' with them. At any rate, I'm sure of one thing: it's +considered the polite thing to do in _any_ country." + +The feeling that she had been put in the wrong, even if not very +tactfully, did not tend to lessen Nora's annoyance. She looked +appealingly at her brother, but he, leaning back in his chair and seeing +that his wife's eyes were bent on her plate, shook his head at her, +smiling slightly. + +"If everyone has finished," said Gertie after an awkward pause, "if +you'll all move your chairs away I'll clear away the things." + +"May I help you?" said Nora with an effort at conciliation. + +"No, thanks." + +"No, no. You're company to-night," said her brother with a man's relief +at finding an unpleasant situation at an end. "But I daresay to-morrow +Gertie'll find plenty for you to do. We'll all be out till dinner time. +You girls will have a lot to talk over while you're getting acquainted." + +Hornby groaned dismally. + +"It doesn't make any difference what the weather is in this blessed +country," he said dismally to Nora, "you have to go out whether there's +really anything to do or not." + +"That's so," laughed Taylor; "still I think you'll admit the Boss always +manages to find something to fill up the time." + +"That he does," said Hornby with another hollow groan. + +"The last time I saw you," said Nora, "you were calling poor old England +all sorts of dreadful names. Isn't farming in Canada all your fancy +painted it?" + +Gertie paused in the act of pouring water from the kettle into the +dishpan. "Not a bit like it," she said dryly. "He's like most of the +English I've run up against. They think all you've got to do is just to +sit down and have afternoon tea and watch the crops grow by themselves." + +"Oh, come now, Gertie. You've never had to accuse me of loafing, and I'm +an Englishman," said her husband good-naturedly. + +"I said 'most.'" + +"And as for afternoon tea," broke in Hornby, "I don't believe they have +that sacred institution in the whole blessed country." + +"You have tea with all your meals. Men out here have something else to +do but sit indoors afternoons and eat between meals." + +"Do you know," said Nora after a pause, "it isn't nearly so cold as I +expected to find it. Don't you usually have it much colder than this?" + +"It's rarely colder until later in the season. But Frank, here, who's +our champion weather prophet, says it's going to be an exceptional +season with hardly any snow at all." + +Nora had been conscious all through the evening that Taylor had hardly +once taken his eyes from her face. She looked directly at him for the +first time, to find him watching her with a look of quiet amusement. + +"That would indeed be an exceptional season, if all one hears of the +rigors of the climate be true," she said coldly. + +"Every season in this country is exceptional," he said humorously; "if +it isn't exceptional one way, it's sure to be exceptional the other." + +"Fetch me those pants of yours," said Gertie to Trotter. + +He left the room, to return shortly with the desired articles, +exhibiting a yawning tear in one of the knees. Gertie at once set about +mending them in the same workmanlike manner that she did everything. + +"Doesn't she ever rest?" asked Nora in an undertone of Hornby. + +"Never," he whispered. "Her one recreation is abusing me. I fancy you'll +come in for a little of the same medicine. She's planning an amusing +winter, I can see that already." + +"I think, if I may, I'll ask you to excuse me," said Nora, rising +abruptly. "I'm a little tired after my long journey. Oh, how good it'll +be to find oneself in a real bed again." + +"I'm sure you must be," said her brother. "Nora knows where her room +is?" he said, turning to his wife. + +"She was up before supper; she can't very well have forgotten the way. +The house is small after what she's been accustomed to, I dare say." + +"Thank you, I can find it again easily," said Nora hastily. "I'll see +you at breakfast, Eddie?" She crossed over to where Gertie was sewing +busily. "Good night--Gertie. I hope you will not find me too stupid +about learning things. You'll find me willing, anyway," she said almost +humbly. + +Gertie looked up at her with real kindness. + +"Wllling's half the battle," she said in softened tone. + +As Nora was leaving the room, satisfied at having done her part as far +as Gertie was concerned, she was recalled by Taylor's drawling tone. + +"Oh, Miss Nora, you're forgetting something." + +"Am I? What?" + +"You're forgetting to say 'good night' to me." + +"Why, so I am!" + +She could hear them laugh as she left the room. And so ended the first +day in her brother's house. + +Breakfast the next morning was of the most hurried description. Gertie +herself did not sit down until the men had gone, being chiefly occupied +with baking some sort of hot cakes which were new to Nora, who confined +herself to an egg and some tea. She secretly longed for some toast; but +as no one else seemed to have any, she refrained from making her wants +known. Perhaps later, when she was more familiar with the ways of this +strange household, she would be permitted to make some for herself when +she wanted it. + +While her sister-in-law was eating her breakfast, Nora stood looking out +of the window at the vast expanse of snow-covered country with never a +house in sight. Already there were signs that Taylor's prophecy would be +fulfilled. The sun, which had been up only a few hours, shone brightly, +and already the air had lost much of its sharpness. It was distinctly +warmer than it had been the day before. + +At the first sign that Gertie had finished her breakfast, Nora began to +gather the things together for washing, wisely not waiting to ask +permission. If possible, Gertie seemed to be less inclined for +conversation in the early morning than at night. They finished the task +in unbroken silence. When the last dish had been put away, Gertie spoke: + +"Can you bake?" + +"I have baked cakes." + +"How about bread and biscuits?" + +"I've never tried them." + +"Umph!" + +"I should be glad to learn, if you would be good enough to teach me." + +"I have little time for teaching," said Gertie ungraciously. "But you +can watch how I do it and maybe you'll learn something." + +"Can you wash and iron?" said Gertie while she was kneading her dough. + +"Of course I can iron and I can wash lace." + +"People round here wear more flannel shirts than lace. I suppose you +never washed any flannels?" + +"No, never." + +"Have you ever done any scrubbing?" + +"Of course not." Nora was beginning to find this catechism a little +trying. + +"Not work for a lady, I suppose. Just what does a companion do?" + +"It depends. She does whatever her employer requires; reads aloud, acts +as secretary, goes riding and shopping with the lady she lives with, +arranges the flowers, everything of that sort." + +"Oh. But nothing really useful." + +Nora gave an angry laugh. "It's clear that some people consider a +companion's work useful, since they employ them." + +"You take pay for it; after all, it's much the same as being a servant." + +"It's not at all the same." + +"Ed tells me that sometimes when Miss Wickers, Wickham--whatever her +name was----" + +"Miss Wickham." + +"That when Miss Wickham had company for dinner, you had to have your +dinner alone." + +"That is true." + +"Then she considered you sort of a servant," said Gertie triumphantly. +Nora was silent. Gertie having cut her dough into small round pieces +with a tin cutter and put them into her pans, went toward the oven. + +"And yet you object to eating at the same table with the hired men." + +Having satisfied herself that the oven was at the proper heat, she shut +the door with a bang. + +"I've said nothing about it." + +"You didn't need to." + +"But I most certainly do object to it and I can't for the life of me see +the necessity of it." + +"I was what you call a servant for years; I suppose you object to eating +at the table with me." + +"What perfect nonsense! It's not at all the same thing. You're my +brother's wife and the mistress of his house." + +"Yes, I'm the mistress of the house all right," said Gertie grimly. + +"Frank Taylor's an uncommonly handsome man, isn't he?" + +"I really haven't noticed." + +"What perfect nonsense!" mimicked Gertie. "Of course you've noticed. Any +woman would notice him." + +"Then I must be different from other women." + +"Oh, no, you're not; you only think you are. At bottom women are all +alike, take it from me, and I've known a few." + +"If I can be of no help to you here, I think I'll go and unpack my box," +said Nora. She felt as if she had borne all she possibly could. + +"As you like." + +Once in her own room, Nora found it hard to keep back her angry tears. +Only the thought that her reddened eyes would betray her to Gertie at +dinner kept her from having a good cry. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +That one morning was a fair sample of all the other days. Each suspected +the other, neither would make allowances or concessions. As a +consequence, day by day the breach widened. Even Eddie, who was more +unobserving than most men, felt vaguely uncomfortable in the surcharged +atmosphere. From the first Nora realized that it was an unequal contest; +Gertie was too strongly intrenched in her position. But it was not in +her nature to refrain from administering those little thrusts, which +women know so well how to deal one another, from any motive of policy. +The question of what she should do once her brother's house became +intolerable she never permitted herself to ask. + +In the needle-pricking mode of warfare she was, of course, far more +expert than her rival. But if Gertie's hand was clumsy it was also +heavy. And always in the back of her mind was the consciousness that +she, so to speak, had at least one piece of heavy artillery which she +could bring up once the enemy's fire became unendurable. + +During the day, the men being out of the house except at meal time, +there was to a certain degree, a cessation of hostilities. Nora +gradually acquired some knowledge of housework. She learned to cook +fairly well and always helped with the washing, rarely complaining of +her aching arms and back. The only indication she had that she was +making progress was that Gertie complained less. Praise, of course, was +not to be expected. + +At dinner the men were usually too anxious to get back to work--always +with the exception of Hornby, who according to his own highly colored +account, had been assigned the herculean task of splitting all the wood +required by the Province of Manitoba for the ensuing winter--to linger +longer than the time required for smoking a hurried pipe, so that it was +only during the long evenings that hostilities were resumed. And then, +more or less under cover. + +There was one person upon whom Nora could openly vent her nervous +irritation after a long day in Gertie's society, and that was Frank +Taylor. They quarreled constantly, to the great amusement of the others. +But with him, too, she felt hopelessly at a disadvantage. He was +maddeningly sure of himself, and while he sometimes gave back thrust for +thrust, he never lost his temper. Seemingly, nothing could penetrate +his armor of good nature, nor make him comprehend that she really meant +her bitter words. Slow of movement and speech, his mind was alert +enough, and Nora had to admit to herself, although she always openly +denied it, that he had humor. To lose one's own temper in a wordy +passage at arms and find one's opponent still smiling and serene is not +a soothing experience. + +Often, in the darkness of the night after she had gone to bed, she could +feel her cheek burn at the recollection that this 'ignorant clod,' as +she contemptuously called him to herself, had the power to make her feel +a weak, undisciplined child by merely never losing his self-control. + +There would have been consolation in the thought that in his stupidity +he did not understand how she despised him, how infinitely beneath her +she considered him, had it not been darkened by the suspicion that he +understood perfectly well _and didn't care_. + +How dared he, how dared he! + +She had complained of his familiar manner to her brother a day or two +after her arrival. But he had given her neither support nor consolation. + +"My dear Nora," he said, "we are not back in England. The sooner you +forget all the old notions of class and class distinctions, the happier +you'll be. They won't go here. As long as a man's straight, honest and a +worker--and Frank's all three--it doesn't make any odds whether he's +working for himself or for someone else. We're all on the same footing. +It is only due to the fact that I've had two good years in succession +that I'm not somebody's 'hired man' myself." + +"Don't, Eddie, don't; you don't realize how you hurt me." + +"My dear girl, I'm sorry; but I'm in dead earnest." + +"You, a hired man? Oh, I can't believe it." + +"It's true, nevertheless. Plenty of better fellows than I have had to do +it. When you're starting in, unless you have a good deal bigger capital +than I had, you only need to be hailed out, frosted out, or weeded out a +couple of years in succession to use up your little stake, and then +where are you?" + +"What do you mean by 'weeded out'?" + +He was just about to explain when a halloo from the stables cut him +short. "There's Frank now. I ought to be out helping him this minute; +we've got a good stiff drive ahead of us. You ask Gertie about it, +she'll explain it to you." + +But Gertie had been deeply preoccupied with some domestic problem and +Nora had forborne to question her. She had intended returning to the +subject that evening, but Eddie and Gertie were deep in one of their +conferences until nearly bedtime. It would never have suggested itself +to her to seek any information from the objectionable Frank, so under +cover of a heated discussion between him and Trotter, she appealed to +Reggie. + +"What does it mean to be weeded out?" + +"Oh, Lord, I don't know! Kicked out, I suppose. Isn't there something in +the Bible about tares and wheat?" + +"Nonsense; it doesn't mean that. I'd forgotten, by the way, how strong +you were on Biblical references. Do you remember your discussion about +Sarah and Benjamin with Agnes Pringle?" + +"Of course I do. And I completely stumped her; don't you recollect?" + +"Goose! She only wanted to make you look it up for yourself. But being +'weeded out' is something disastrous that happens to the farmers here, +like having the crops frozen." + +"Well, it hasn't happened since I've been here, anyway. But I'll bet you +a bob it means kicked out. I tell you, I'll ask Gertie if she doesn't +think that I ought to be weeded out." + +"You'd better not," laughed Nora. + +The first open quarrel had taken place one day at dinner. + +The night before Nora had proposed making her first attempt at baking +bread. Gertie had given a grudging consent. Everything had gone well +until the bread, once in the oven, Nora had gone to her room to add some +pages to a long letter which she had begun, some evenings before to +Agnes Pringle. + +Gertie had been out in one of the barns most of the morning engaged in +some mysterious task which she had been reserving until the weather +became milder--there had been a decided thaw, setting in the day +before--and Nora intended to be gone only a short time. + +Filled with a warm feeling of gratitude to Miss Pringle for her generous +loan of the ten-pound note, she was writing her a long letter in the +form of a diary describing her voyage across the Atlantic and the trip +across the Continent, both of which she was sure would greatly interest +her friend and furnish her with topics for her tête-à-tête dinners with +the excellent Mrs. Hubbard for some days to come. + +Of the difficulties and disappointments in her new life she was resolved +to say nothing. Nora hated to confess that she had failed in anything. +And, so far, she could hardly say that she had made a success. Later +on, she might have to acknowledge that her move had been a mistake. But +for the moment she would confine herself to describing all that struck +her as novel and strange while the impression was still fresh, while she +still had the 'seeing eye.' + +"When I came to the end of my last page (and I remember that I was +getting extremely sleepy at that point)," she wrote, "I had just +finished describing the exterior of my brother's house to you. I am sure +I can never do justice to the interior! You can never have seen, much +less imagined, anything in the least like it. I have decided, upon +reflection, that it is the most un-English thing I have seen yet: and I +have not forgotten those strange railway carriages either. + +"Try to imagine a large room, longer than it is deep, at once +living-room, dining-room and kitchen; with nothing but rough brown +boards for walls, on which--some framed, some unframed--are the colored +supplements of the Christmas illustrated papers, both English and +American. Over one of the doors is a magnificent trophy--at least that +is what we would call it at home--I think it is a moose. I am not at all +sure, although I have been told more than once. Over another door is a +large clock, such a one as one finds in a broker's office with us. The +floor is covered with what is called oilcloth--I wonder why: it +certainly is not the least like cloth--very new and excessively shiny. +It has a conventional pattern in black and white, and when the sun +shines on it, it quite dazzles one's eyes. + +"There are two windows, one to the south, the other looking west. The +western view is magnificent. I feel as if I could see straight away to +the setting sun! In the summer, when the prairie is one great waving +green sea, it must be superb. Two days ago it was covered with snow. As +I write, I can see great patches of brown every here and there, for we +have had a sudden thaw. The window sills are filled with geraniums +planted, my dear, in tins which once contained syrup, of which everyone +here, including my brother, seems extravagantly fond. The syrup jug +appears regularly at every meal and is almost the first thing put on the +table. I have yet to acquire a taste for it--which they all think +extremely queer. + +"The furniture consists of two American rockers and a number of kitchen +chairs; an unvarnished deal dresser covered with earthenware;--I don't +think there are any two pieces that match!--two tables, one a dining +table; a bookcase containing a few paper-backed novels and some +magazines, none so recent, however, as those I saw before I left +England; and last and most important, an enormous American cooking +stove. + +"Our principal meal, called dinner, is----" + +Great heavens, her bread! + +Nora dashed from her room. Gertie was standing at one of the windows in +the unwonted indulgence of a moment's leisure. Nora threw open the oven +door. It was empty. + +"Oh, did you look after my loaf, Gertie? I'm so sorry; I quite forgot +it." + +"Yes, I took it out a few moments ago." + +She still had her face turned toward the window, so Nora did not see the +smile that curled her lip. She turned after a moment, and the two women +began to set the table for dinner. + +Presently the men were heard laughing outside as they cleaned their +muddy boots on the scraper. Reggie had apparently achieved something +new. His ignorance of everything pertaining to farming furnished the +material for most of the amusement that was going. Fortunately, he was +always good-natured. Gertie, with unusual good spirits, entered into the +joke of the thing at once and even bantered Reggie playfully upon his +latest discovery. + +Nora did not even hear what it was all about. She was searching for the +bread plate which always stood on the dresser. + +"Why, Gertie, I----" + +"It's all right," said Gertie, without looking up from pouring the tea. +"I took it. I'll get it in a minute. Come, sit down." + +Nora obeyed. + +Hornby was just about to begin his explanation for whatever it was he +had done, when Eddie interrupted him: + +"Hold on a minute, Reg. I want some bread. I declare you two girls are +getting to be as bad as Reggie, here. Setting a table without bread!" + +"I was keeping it for a surprise," said Gertie, getting up slowly. "I +want you to appreciate the fact that Nora helped me by doing the baking +this morning." Nora's face flushed with pleasure as her brother patted +her on the shoulder with evident approval. She looked at Gertie with +eyes shining with gratitude. At that moment she came nearer liking her +sister-in-law than she ever was to again. + +Gertie went slowly across the room--she usually moved with nervous +quickness--and picking up the missing bread plate from where it was +leaning against the wall behind the stove went into the little pantry +that gave off the kitchen. Slowly she returned and stood beside her +husband's chair. On the plate, burned almost to a cinder, was the loaf +of bread that Nora had forgotten. + +"Here it is," said Gertie. Her smile was cruel. + +"Oh, I say, Gertie, that's too bad of you." It was Frank who spoke. + +"Too bad!" Nora sprung to her feet with flashing eyes. "Too bad. It's +mean and despicable. There are no words to do it justice. But what could +I expect from----" + +"Nora!" said her brother sharply. + +Nora rushed from the table to her room. And although Eddie knocked +repeatedly at her door and begged her to let him speak with her if only +for a moment that evening at supper-time, she made no sign nor did +anyone see her again that night. + +She made a point of not coming down to breakfast the next morning until +after the time when the men would be gone. She thought it best to meet +Gertie alone. It was time that they came to some sort of understanding. +To her surprise and annoyance Taylor was still at the table. Gertie was +nowhere to be seen. + +"Come down to keep me company? That's real nice of you, I'm sure." + +"I supposed, naturally, that you had gone. You usually have at this +hour." + +"You don't know how it flatters a fellow to have women folks study his +habits like that," he said with a grin. + +"I knew that my brother had left the house, since I saw him go. I took +it for granted that all his employees left when he did. Let me assure +you, once and for all, that your habits are of no possible interest to +me." + +Taylor put on his hat and went to the door. Just as he was about to open +it, he changed his mind and came back to the table where Nora had seated +herself and stood leaning on the back of his chair looking down at her. + +"It's all right for us to row," he said, "but if I were you I'd go a +little easy with Gertie. She's all right and a good sort at bottom, you +can take it from me. Yesterday, I admit she was downright nasty. I guess +you rile her up more than she's used to. But I want to see you two get +on." + +"It's my turn to feel flattered," said Nora sarcastically. + +"Well, so long," he said with undiminished good humor as he went out. + +Gertie appeared almost at once from the pantry. + +"I heard what he said. I couldn't help it. He was right--about us both. +We don't hit it off. But I'm willing to give it another try." + +"I have little choice but to agree with you," said Nora bitterly. + +"Well, that's hardly the way to begin," retorted Gertie angrily. + +There was a certain air of restraint about them ail when they came in to +dinner. Eddie looked both worried and anxious. But as he saw that the +two women were going about their duties much the same as usual, he +argued that the storm had blown over and brightened visibly. + +The men had pushed back their chairs and were preparing to light their +after-dinner pipes. + +"We'll be able to start on the ironing this afternoon," said Gertie, +addressing Nora for the first time since breakfast. + +"Very well." + +"I say," said Trotter, who rarely ventured on a remark while at the +table, "it was a rare big wash you done this morning by the look of it +on the line." + +"When she's been out in this country a bit longer, Nora'll learn not to +wear more things than she can help," said Gertie. + +As a matter of fact, she had no intention of criticising Nora at the +moment. She meant, merely, that she would be more economical with +experience. But Nora was in the mood to take fire at once. + +"Was there more than my fair share?" she asked sharply. + +"You use double the number of stockings than what I do. And everything +else is the same." + +"I see. Clean but incompetent." + +"There's many a true word spoken in jest," said Gertie with angry +emphasis. + +"Say, Reg," Taylor broke in hastily, "is it true that when you first +came out you asked Ed where the bath-room was?" + +"That's right," laughed Trotter. "Ed told 'im there was a river a mile +and a 'alf from 'ere, an' that was the only bath-room 'e knowed." + +"One gets used to that sort of thing, eh, Reg?" said Marsh +good-naturedly. + +"Ra-ther. If I saw a proper bath-room _now_, it would only make me feel +nervous." + +"I knew a couple of Englishmen out in British Columbia," broke in +Taylor, "who were bathing, and the only other people around were +Indians. The first two years they were there, they wouldn't have +anything to do with the Indians because they were so dirty. After that +the Indians wouldn't have anything to do with them." + +He pointed this delectable anecdote by holding his nose. + +"What a disgusting story!" said Nora. + +"D'you think so? I rather like it." + +"_You_ would." + +"Now don't start quarreling, you two. And on Frank's last day." + +Nora gave her brother a quick glance. It was on the tip of her tongue to +ask what he meant by Frank's last day, but seeing that Taylor was +watching her with an amused smile, she held her tongue. Getting up, she +began clearing away the table. + +Hornby, ramming the tobacco into his pipe, went over to the corner by +the stove, where Gertie was scalding out her large dishpan, and tried to +interest her in the number of logs he had split since breakfast, without +conspicuous success. + +Trotter stood looking out of the window, while Marsh stretched himself +lazily in one of the rocking chairs with a sigh of content. Things were +beginning to shake down a little better. There had been a time yesterday +when he feared that everything was off. He knew Nora's temper of old and +he knew his wife's jealous fear of her criticism. It would take some +rubbing to wear off the sharp corners. But things were coming out all +right, after all. They'd soon be working together like a well-broken +team. Gertie had been nasty about the bread. But apparently everything +was patched up. And with Frank once gone, and the new chap--a man of the +Trotter type, who would never obtrude himself--he foresaw that +everything would run on wheels, an idea dear to his peace-loving soul. + +Not that he was not sorry to lose Frank. In the first place, he liked +him, and then he was a good, steady, hard-working fellow, one of the +kind you didn't have to stand over. But, naturally, he wanted to get +back to his own place, now that he had saved up a bit. Every man liked +being his own master. + +Taylor alone had remained at his place at the table. Nora had cleared +away everything except the dishes at his place. She never went near him +if she could avoid it. + +"I guess I'm in your way," he said, rising. + +"Not more than usual, thank you." + +Taylor gave a little laugh. + +"I guess you'll not be sorry to see the last of me." + +Nora paused in her work, and leaning on the table with both hands, +looked him steadily in the face. + +"I can't honestly say that it makes the least difference to me whether +you go or stay," she said coldly. + +"When does your train go, Frank?" asked Hornby from his corner. + +"Half-past three; I'll be starting from here in about an hour." + +"Reg can go over with you and drive the rig back again," said Marsh. + +"All right. I'll go and dress myself in a bit." + +"I guess you'll be glad to get back to your own place," said Gertie +warmly. + +She had always liked Frank Taylor--a man who worked hard and earned his +money. She did not begrudge him a cent of it, nor the pleasure he had in +the thought of getting back to his own place. He was the kind of man who +should set up for himself. + +"Well, I guess I'll not be sorry." He sat looking out of the window with +a sort of dreamy air, as if seeing far to the westward his own land. + +So that was the reason for his going. He had a place of his own. He was +only a hired man for the moment. Eddie had told her that a man +frequently had to hire out after a succession of bad seasons. What of +it? His keeping it to himself was the crowning impertinence! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +"I'll do the washing, Nora, and you can dry," said Gertie in that +peculiar tone which Nora had learned to recognize as the preface to +something disagreeable. + +"All right." + +"I've noticed the things aren't half clean when I leave them to you to +do." + +"I'm sorry; why didn't you tell me?" + +"I suppose yon never did the washing-up in England. Too grand?" + +But Nora was not to be ruffled just now. Her resentment against Taylor, +who was sitting watching her as if he read her thoughts--she often +wondered how much of them he _did_ read--made anything Gertie said seem +momentarily unimportant. + +"I don't suppose anyone would wash up if they could help it. It's not +very amusing." + +"You always want to be amused?" + +"No, but I want to be happy." + +"Well," said Gertie sharply, "you've got a roof over your head and a +comfortable bed to sleep in, three good meals a day and plenty to do. +That's all anybody wants to make them happy, I guess." + +"Oh, Lord!" exclaimed Reggie from his corner. + +"Well," said Gertie, turning sharply on him, "if you don't like Canada, +why did you come out?" + +"You don't suppose," said Hornby, rising slowly to his feet, "I'd have +let them send me if I'd have known what I was in for, do you? Not much. +Up at five in the morning and working about the place like a navvy till +your back feels as if it 'ud break, and then back again in the +afternoon. And the same thing day after day. What was the good of +sending me to Harrow and Oxford if that's what I've got to do all my +life?" + +There was a tragic dignity in his tone which for the moment held even +Gertie silent. It was her husband who answered him, and Gertie's jealous +ear detected a certain wistfulness in his voice. + +"You'll get used to it soon enough, Reg. It _is_ a bit hard at first, +I'll admit. But when you get your foot in, you wouldn't change it for +any other life." + +"This isn't a country for a man to go to sleep in and wait for something +to turn up," said Gertie aggressively. + +"I wouldn't go back to England now, not for nothing," said Trotter, +stung to an unusual burst of eloquence. "England! Eighteen bob a week, +that's what I earned. And no prospects. Out of work five months in the +year." + +"What did you do in England!" asked Nora curiously. + +"Bricklayer, Miss." + +"You needn't call her Miss," said Gertie heatedly. "You call me Gertie, +don't you? Well, _her_ name's Nora." + +"What with strikes and bad times," went on Trotter unheeding, "you never +knew where you was. And the foreman always bullying you. I don't know +what all. I 'ad about enough of it, I can tell you. I've never been out +of work since the day I landed. I've 'ad as much to eat as I wanted and +I'm saving money. In this country everybody's as good as everybody +else." + +"If not better," said Nora dryly. + +"In two years I shall be able to set up for myself. Why, there's old man +Thompson, up at Pratt. _He_ started as a bricklayer, same as I. Come +from Yorkshire, he did. He's got seven thousand dollars in the bank +now." + +"Believe me, you fellows who come out now have a much softer thing of it +than I did when I first came. In those days they wouldn't have an +Englishman, they'd have a Galician rather. In Winnipeg, when they +advertised in the paper for labor, you'd see often as not: 'No English +need apply.'" + +"Well, it was their own fault," stormed Gertie. "They wouldn't work or +anything. They just soaked." + +"It _was_ their own fault, right enough. This was the dumping ground for +all the idlers, drunkards and scallywags in England. They had the +delusion over there that if a man was too big a rotter to do anything at +all at home, he'd only got to be sent out here and he'd make a fortune." + +"I guess things ain't as bad as that now," spoke up Taylor. "They send +us a different class. It takes an Englishman two years longer than +anybody else to get the hang of things, but when once he tumbles to it, +he's better than any of them." + +"Ah, well!" said Marsh, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, "I guess +nowadays everyone's glad to see the Englishman make good. When I nearly +smashed up three years ago, I had no end of offers of help." + +"How _did_ you nearly smash up?" asked Hornby interestedly. + +"Oh, I had a run of bad luck. One year the crop was frosted and the next +year I was hailed out. It wants a good deal of capital to stand up +against that." + +"That's what happened to me," said Taylor. "I was hailed out and I +hadn't got any capital, so I just had to hire out." He turned suddenly +to Nora. "If it hadn't been for that hail storm you wouldn't have had +the pleasure of makin' my acquaintance." + +"How hollow and empty life would have been without that!" she said +ironically. + +"I wonder you didn't just quit and start out Calgary way," put in +Gertie. + +"Well," said Taylor slowly, "it was this way: I'd put in two years on my +homestead and done a lot of clearing. It seemed kind of silly to lose my +rights after all that. Then, too, when you've been hailed out once, the +chances are it won't happen again, for some years that is, and by that +time I ought to have a bit put by." + +"What sort of house have you got?" asked Nora. + +"Well, it ain't what you might call a palace, but it's large enough for +two." + +"Thinking of marrying, Frank?" asked Marsh. + +"Well, I guess it's kind of lonesome on a farm without a woman. But it's +not so easy to find a wife when you're just starting on your own. +Canadian girls think twice before taking a farmer." + +"They know something, I guess," said Gertie grimly. + +"You took me, Gertie," laughed her husband. + +"Not because I wanted to, you can be sure of that. I don't know how you +got round me." + +"I wonder." + +"I guess it was because you was kind of helpless, and I didn't know what +you'd do without me." + +"I guess it was love, and you couldn't help yourself." Gertie stopped +her work long enough to make a little grimacing protest. + +"I'm thinking of going to one of them employment agencies when I get to +Winnipeg," said Taylor, moving his chair so that he could watch Nora's +face, "and looking the girls over." + +"Like sheep," said Nora scornfully. + +"I don't know anything about sheep. I've never had to do with sheep." + +"And may I ask, do you think that you know anything about women?" + +"I guess I can tell if they're strong and willing. And so long as they +ain't cock-eyed, I don't mind taking the rest on trust." + +"And what inducement is there for a girl to have you?" + +"That's why he wants to catch 'em young, when they're just landed and +don't know much," laughed Trotter uproariously. + +"I've got my quarter-section," went on the imperturbable Frank, quite +undisturbed by the laughter caused by Trotter's sally, "a good hundred +and sixty acres with seventy of it cleared. And I've got a shack that I +built myself. That's something, ain't it?" + +"You've got a home to offer and enough to eat and drink. A girl can get +that anywhere. Why, I'm told they're simply begging for service." + +"Y-e-e-s. But you see some girls like getting married. There's something +in the word that appeals to them." + +"You seem to think that a girl would jump at the chance of marrying +you!" said Nora with rising temper. + +"She might do worse." + +"I must say I think you flatter yourself." + +"Oh, I don't know. I know my job, and there ain't too many as can say +that. I've got brains." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"Well, I can see you're no fool." + +Gertie chuckled with amusement. "He certainly put one over on you then, +Nora." + +"Because you've got no use for me, there's no saying but what others may +have." + +"I forgot that there's no accounting for tastes." + +"I can try, can't I?" + +Wishing to escape any further conversation with the object of her +detestation, and seeing her opportunity now that the dishes were washed, +Nora started to empty the dishpan in the sink in the pantry. But Gertie, +who divined her motive and wished the sport to continue, forestalled +her. + +"I'll do it," she said. "You finish wiping the dishes." + +"It's very wise of you to go to an agency," said Nora in answer to his +last question. "A girl's more likely to marry you when she's only seen +you once than when she's seen you often." + +"It seems to make you quite mad, the thought of me marrying!" with a +wink at the others. + +"You wouldn't talk about it like that unless you looked down upon women. +Oh, how I pity the poor wretched creature who becomes your wife!" + +"Oh, I guess she won't have such a bad time--when I've broken her in to +my ways." + +"And are you under the impression that you can do that?" + +"Yep." + +"You're not expecting that there'll be much love lost between you and +the girl whom you--you honor with your choice?" + +"What's love got to do with it?" asked Taylor in affected surprise. +"It's a business undertaking." + +"What!" Nora's eyes were dark with indignation and anger. + +"None at all. I give her board and lodging and the charm of my society. +And in return, she's got to cook and bake and wash and keep the shack +clean and tidy. And if she can do that, I'll not be particular what she +looks like." + +"So long as she's not cock-eyed," Reggie reminded him. + +"No, I draw the line at that." + +"I beg your pardon," said Nora with bitter irony; "I didn't know it was +a general servant you wanted. You spend a dollar and a half on a +marriage license and then you don't have to pay any wages. It's a good +investment." + +For the first time she seemed to have pierced the enemy's armor. + +"You've got a sharp tongue in your head for a girl, Nora." + +"Please don't call me Nora." + +"Don't be so silly, Nora," said her brother with a trace of irritation. +"It's the custom of the country. Why, they all call me Ed." + +"I don't care what the custom of the country is. I'm not going to be +called Nora by the hired man!" + +"Don't you bother, Ed," said Frank, apparently once more restored to his +normal placidity; "I'll call her Miss Marsh if she likes it better." + +But Nora was not to be pacified. He wouldn't have dared take such a +liberty with her had he not been on the eve of going away for good, she +told herself. It was a last shot from a retreating enemy. Well and good. +He should hear, if for the last time, what she thought of him! + +"I should like to see you married to someone who'd give you what you +deserved. I'd like to see your pride humbled. You think yourself very +high and mighty, don't you? I'd like to see a woman take you by the +heartstrings and wring them till you screamed with pain." + +"Oh, Nora, how violent you are!" said Ed. + +"You're overbearing, supercilious and egotistic," went on Nora bitingly. + +"I'm not sure as I know what them long words means, but I guess they +ain't exactly complimentary." + +"I guess they ain't," she mimicked. + +"I'm sorry for that." Taylor straightened himself a little in his +chair. His blue eyes seemed to have caught a little of the light from +Nora's. + +"I was thinking of offering you the position before I went to the +employment agency." + +"How dare you speak to me like that!" + +"Don't fly into a temper, Nora," said Ed. While he didn't blame Frank, +he wished he had not made that last speech. Why didn't he go and get +ready for town? Here was Nora all upset again just as things had calmed +down a bit! + +"He's got no right to say impudent things to me!" + +"Don't you see he's only having a joke with you?" he said soothingly. + +"He shouldn't joke. He's got no sense of humor." + +She made a furious gesture, and the cup she was in the act of wiping +flew out of her hand, crashing in a thousand pieces on the floor, just +as Gertie returned. + +"Butter fingers!" + +"I'm so sorry," said Nora in a colorless tone. She was raging inwardly +at having allowed that beast of a man to put her in such a temper. Why +couldn't she control herself? How undignified to bandy words with a +person she so despised. It was hardly the moment for Gertie to take her +to task for carelessness. But Gertie was not the person to consider +other moods than her own. + +"You clumsy thing! You're always doing something wrong." + +"Oh, don't worry; I'll pay for it." + +"Who wants you to pay for it? Do you think I can't afford to pay for a +miserable cup! You might say you're sorry: that's all I want you to do." + +"I said I was sorry." + +"No, you didn't." + +"I heard her, Gertie," broke in Ed. + +"She said she was sorry as if she was doing me a favor," said Gertie, +turning furiously on the would-be peacemaker. + +"You don't expect me to go down on my knees to you, do you? The cup's +worth twopence." + +"It isn't the value I'm thinking about, it's the carelessness." + +"It's only the third thing I've broken since I've been here." + +If Nora had been in a calmer mood herself she would not have been so +stupid as to attempt to palliate her offense. Her offer of replacing the +miserable cup only added fuel to the flame of Gertie's resentment. + +"You can't do anything!" she stormed. "You're more helpless than a +child of six. You're all the same, all of you." + +"You're not going to abuse the whole British nation because I've broken +a cup worth twopence, are you?" + +"And the airs you put on. Condescending isn't the word. It's enough to +try the patience of a saint." + +"Oh, shut up!" said Marsh. He went over to his wife and laid a hand on +her shoulder. She shook him off impatiently. + +"You've never done a stroke of work in your life, and you come here and +think you can teach me everything." + +"I don't know about that," said Nora, in a voice which by comparison +with Gertie's seemed low but which was nevertheless perfectly audible to +every person in the room. "I don't know about that, but I think I can +teach you manners." + +If she had lashed the other woman across the face with a whip, she +couldn't have cut more deeply. She knew that, and was glad. Gertie's +face turned gray. + +"How dare you say that! How dare you! You come here, and I give you a +home. You sleep in my blankets and you eat my food and then you insult +me." She burst into a passion of angry tears. + +"Now then, Gertie, don't cry. Don't be so silly," said her husband as he +might have spoken to an angry child. + +"Oh, leave me alone," she flashed back at him. "Of course you take her +part. You would! It's nothing to you that I have made a slave of myself +for you for three whole years. As soon as _she_ comes along and plays +the lady----" + +She rushed from the room. After a moment, Ed followed after her. + +There was an awkward pause. Nora stood leaning against the table +swinging the dishcloth in her hand, a smile of malicious triumph on her +face. Gertie had tried it on once too often. But she had shown her that +one could go too far. She would think twice before she attempted to +bully her again, especially before other people. She stooped down and +began to gather up the broken pieces of earthenware scattered about her +feet. Her movement broke the spell which had held the three men +paralyzed as men always are in the presence of quarreling women. + +"I reckon I might be cleaning myself," said Taylor, rising from his +chair. "Time's getting on. You're coming, Ben?" + +"Yes, I'm coming. I suppose you'll take the mare?" + +"Yep, that's what Ed said this morning." + +They went out toward the stables without a word to Nora. + +"Well, are you enjoying the land of promise as much as you said that I +should?" Hornby asked with a smile. + +"We've both made our beds, I suppose we must lie in them," said Nora, +shaking the broken pieces out of her apron into a basket that stood in +the corner. + +"Do you remember that afternoon at Miss Wickham's when I came for the +letter to your brother?" + +"I hadn't much intention of coming to Canada then myself." + +"Well, I don't mind telling you that I mean to get back to England the +very first opportunity that comes," he said, pacing up and down the +floor. "I'm willing to give away my share of the White Man's Burden with +a package of chewing gum." + +"You prefer the Effete East?" smiled Nora, putting a couple of irons on +the stove. + +"Ra-ther. Give me the degrading influence of a decadent civilization +every time." + +"Your father _will_ be pleased to see you, won't he?" + +"I don't think! Of course I was a damned fool ever to leave Winnipeg." + +"I understand you didn't until you had to." + +"Say," said Hornby, pausing in his walk, "I want to tell you: your +brother behaved like a perfect brick. I sent him your letter and told +him I was up against it--d'you know I hadn't a bob? I was jolly glad to +earn half a dollar digging a pit in a man's garden. Bit thick, you +know!" + +"I can see you," laughed Nora. + +"Your brother sent me the fare to come on here and told me I could do +the chores. I didn't know what they were. I soon found it was doing all +the jobs it wasn't anybody else's job to do. And they call it God's own +country!" + +"I think you're falling into the _ways_ of the country very well, +however!" retorted Nora as she struggled across to the table with the +heavy ironing-board. + +"Do you? What makes you think that?" + +"You can stand there and smoke your pipe and watch me carry the +ironing-board about." + +"I beg your pardon. Did you want me to help you?" + +"Never mind. It would remind me of home." + +"I suppose I shall have to stick it out at least a year, unless I can +humbug the mater into sending me enough money to get back home with." + +"She won't send you a penny--if she's wise." + +"Oh, come now! Wouldn't you chuck it if you could?" + +"And acknowledge myself beaten," said Nora, with a flash of spirit. "You +don't know," she went on after ironing busily a moment, "what I went +through before I came here. I tried to get another position as lady's +companion. I hung about the agents' offices. I answered advertisements. +Two people offered to take me; one without any salary, the other at ten +shillings a week and my lunch. I, if you please, was to find myself in +board, lodging and clothes on that magnificent sum! That settled _me_. I +wrote Eddie and said I was coming. When I'd paid my fare, I had eight +pounds in the world--after ten years with Miss Wickham. When he met me +at the station at Dyer----" + +"Depot; you forget." + +"My whole fortune consisted of seven dollars and thirty-five cents; I +think it was thirty-five." + +"What about that wood you're splitting, Reg?" said a voice from the +doorway. + +Eddie came in fumbling nervously in his pockets. He detested scenes and +had some reason to think that he was having more than his share of them +in the last few days. + +"Has anyone seen my tobacco! Oh, here it is," he said, taking his pouch +from his pocket. "Come, Reg, you'd better be getting on with it." + +"Oh, Lord, is there no rest for the wicked?" exclaimed Hornby as he +lounged lazily to the door. + +"Don't hurry yourself, will you?" + +"Brilliant sarcasm is just flying about this house to-day," was his +parting shot as he banged the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Nora understood perfectly that her brother had been forced to take a +stand as a result of this last quarrel with Gertie. Well, she was glad +of it. Things certainly could not go on in this way forever. Of course +he would have to make a show, at least, of taking his wife's part. But, +equally of course, he would understand her position perfectly. However +much his new life and his long absence from England might have changed +him, at bottom their points of view were still the same. He and she, so +to speak, spoke a common language; she and Gertie did not. + +Gertie had probably been pouring out her accumulation of grievances to +him for the last half hour. Now it was her turn. She would show that she +was, as always, more than ready to meet Gertie half-way. It would be his +affair to see that her advances were received in better part in future +than they had been. + +She went on busily with her ironing, waiting for him to begin. But Eddie +seemed to experience a certain embarrassment in coming to the subject. +While she took article after article from the clothes-basket at her +side, he wandered about the room aimlessly, puffing at a pipe which +seemed never to stay lighted. + +[Illustration: MARRIED--THOUGH SECRETLY ENEMIES.] + +"That's the toughest nut I've ever been set to crack," he said at +length, pointing his pipestem after the vanished Hornby. "Why on earth +did you give him a letter to me?" + +"He asked me to. I couldn't very well say no." + +"I can't make out what people are up to in the old country. They think +that if a man is too big a rotter to do anything at all in England, +they've only got to send him out here and he'll make a fortune." + +"He may improve." + +"I hope so. Look here, Nora, you've thoroughly upset Gertie." + +"She's very easily upset, isn't she?" + +"It's only since you came that things haven't gone right. We never used +to have scenes." + +"So you blame me. I came prepared to like her and help her. She met all +my advances with suspicion." + +"She thinks yon look down on her. You ought to remember that she never +had your opportunities. She's earned her own living from the time she +was thirteen. You can't expect in her the refinements of a woman who's +led the protected life you have." + +"Now, Eddie, I haven't said a word that could be turned into the least +suggestion of disapproval of anything she did." + +"My dear, your whole manner has expressed disapproval. You won't do +things in the way we do them. After all, the way you lived in Tunbridge +Wells isn't the only way people can live. Our ways suit us, and when you +live amongst us you must adopt them." + +"She's never given me a chance to learn them," said Nora obstinately. +"She treated me with suspicion and enmity the very first day I came +here. When she sneered at me because I talked of a station instead of a +depot, of _course_ I went on talking of a station. What do you think I'm +made of? Because I prefer to drink water with my meals instead of your +strong tea, she says I'm putting on airs." + +Marsh made a pleading gesture. + +"Why can't you humor her? You see, you've got to take the blame for all +the English people who came here in the past and were lazy, worthless +and supercilious. They called us Colonials and turned up their noses at +us. What do you expect us to do?--say, 'Thank you very much, sir.' 'We +know we're not worthy to black your boots.' 'Don't bother to work, it'll +be a pleasure for us to give you money'? It's no good blinking the +fact. There was a great prejudice against the English. But it's giving +way now, and every sensible man and woman who comes out can do something +to destroy it." + +"All I can say," said Nora, going over to the stove to change her iron, +"is if you're tired of having me here, I can go back to Winnipeg. I +shan't have any difficulty in finding something to do." + +"Good Lord, I don't want you to go. I like having you here. It's--it's +company for Gertie. And jobs aren't so easy to find as you think, +especially now the winter's coming on; everyone wants a job in the +city." + +"What do you want me to do?" + +"I want you to make the best of things and meet her half-way. You must +make allowances for her even if you think her unreasonable. It's Gertie +you've got to spend most of your time with." + +He was so manifestly distressed and, as he hadn't been so hard on her as +she had expected and in her own heart felt that she deserved, Nora +softened at once. + +"I'll have a try." + +"That's a good girl. And I think you ought to apologize to her for what +you said just now." + +"I?" said Nora, aflame at once. "I've got nothing to apologize for. She +drove me to distraction." + +There was a moment's pause while Eddie softly damned the pipe he had +forgotten to fill, for not keeping lighted. + +"She says she won't speak to you again unless you beg her pardon." + +"Really! Does she look upon that as a great hardship?" + +"My dear! We're twelve miles from the nearest store. We're thrown upon +each other for the entire winter. Last year there was a bad blizzard, +and we didn't see a soul outside the farm for six weeks. Unless we learn +to put up with one another's whims, life becomes a perfect hell." + +Nora stopped her work and set down her iron. + +"You can go on talking all night, Eddie, I'll never apologize. Time +after time when she sneered at me till my blood boiled, I've kept my +temper. She deserved ten times more than I said. Do you think I'm going +to knuckle under to a woman like that?" + +"Remember she's my wife, Nora." + +"Why didn't you marry a lady?" + +"What the dickens do you think is the use of being a lady out here?" + +"You've degenerated since you left England." + +"Now look here, my dear, I'll just tell you what Gertie did for me. She +was a waitress in Winnipeg at the Minnedosa Hotel, and she was making +money. She knew what the life was on a farm--much harder than anything +she'd been used to in the city--but she accepted all the hardship of it +and the monotony of it, because--because she loved me." + +"She thought it a good match. You were a gentleman." + +"Fiddledidee! She had the chance of much better men than me. And +when----" + +"Such men as Frank Taylor, no doubt." + +"And when I lost my harvest two years running, do you know what she did? +She went back to the hotel in Winnipeg for the winter, so as to carry +things on till the next harvest. And at the end of the winter, she gave +me every cent she'd earned to pay the interest of my mortgage and the +installments on the machinery." + +Nora had been more moved by this recital than she would have cared to +confess. She turned away her head to hide that her eyes had filled with +tears. After all, a woman who could show such devotion as that, and to +her brother---- Yes, she would try again. + +"Very well: I'll apologize. But leave me alone with her. I--I don't +think I could do it even before you, Eddie." + +"Fine! That's a good girl. I'll go and tell her." + +Nora felt repaid in advance for any sacrifice to her pride as he beamed +on her, all the look of worriment gone. She was once more busy at her +ironing-board, bending low over her work to hide her confusion, when he +returned with Gertie. A glance at her sister-in-law told her that there +was to be no unbending in that quarter until she had made proper +atonement. There was little conciliatory about that sullen face. + +However, she made an effort to speak lightly until, once Eddie had taken +his departure, she could make her apology. + +"I've been getting on famously with the ironing." + +"Have you?" + +"This is one of the few things I _can_ do all right." + +"Any child can iron." + +"Well, I'll be going down to the shed," said her brother uneasily. + +"What for?" said Gertie quickly. + +"I want to see about mending that door. It hasn't been closing right." + +"I thought Nora had something to say to me." + +"So she has: that's what I'm going to leaves you alone for." + +"I like that. She insults me before everybody and then, when she's going +to apologize, it's got to be private. No, thank you." + +"What do you mean, Gertie?" asked Nora. + +"You sent Ed in to tell me you was goin' to apologize for what you'd +said, didn't you?" + +"And I'm ready to: for peace and quietness." + +"Well, what you said was before the men, and it's before the men you +must say you're sorry." + +"How can you ask me to do such a thing!" cried Nora indignantly. + +"Don't be rough on her, Gertie," pleaded her husband. "No one likes +apologizing." + +"People who don't like apologizing should keep a better lookout on their +tongue." + +"It can't do you any good to make her eat humble pie before the men." + +"Perhaps it won't do _me_ any good, but it'll do _her_ good!" + +"Gertie, don't be cruel. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, and +said anything that hurt you. But please don't make me humiliate myself +before the others." + +"I've made up my mind," said Gertie, folding her arms across her breast, +"so it's no good talking." + +"Don't you see that it's bad enough to have to beg your pardon before +Eddie?" + +"Good Lord!" said Gertie irritably, "why can't you call him Ed like the +rest of us. 'Eddie' sounds so sappy." + +"I've called him Eddie all my life: it's what our mother called him," +said Nora sadly. + +"Oh, it's all of a piece. You do everything you can to make yourself +different from all of us." + +She stalked over to the window and stood with folded arms looking out +toward the wood-pile on which Reggie was seated--it is to be presumed +having a moment's respite after his arduous labors. + +"No, I don't," pleaded Nora. "At least I don't mean to. Why won't you +give me any credit for trying to do my best to please you?" + +"That's neither here nor there." She suddenly wheeled about, facing them +both. "Go and fetch the men, Ed, and then I'll hear what she's got to +say." + +"No, I won't, I won't, I won't!" cried Nora furiously. "You drive me too +far." + +"You won't beg my pardon?" demanded Gertie threateningly. If she wished +to drive Nora beside herself, she accomplished her purpose. + +"I said I could teach you manners," she gave a hysterical laugh, "I made +a mistake. I _couldn't_ teach you manners, for one can't make a silk +purse out of a sow's ear." + +"Shut up, Nora," said her brother sharply. + +"Now you must make her, Ed," said Gertie grimly. + +He replied with a despairing gesture. + +"I'm sick to death of the pair of you!" + +"I'm your wife, and I'm going to be mistress of this house--my house." + +"It's horrible to make her eat humble pie before three strange men. +You've no right to ask her to do a thing like that." + +"Are you taking her part?" demanded Gertie, her voice rising in fury. +"What's come over you since she came here. You're not the same to me as +you used to be. Why did she come here and get between us?" + +"I haven't changed." + +"Haven't I been a good wife to you? Have you ever had any complaint to +make of me?" + +"You know perfectly well I haven't." + +"As soon as your precious sister comes along, you let me be insulted. +You don't say a word to defend _me_!" + +"Darling," said her husband with grim humor, "you've said a good many +to defend yourself." + +But Gertie was not to be reached by humor, grim or otherwise. + +"I'm sick and tired of being put upon. You must choose between us," she +said, with an air of finality. + +"What on earth do you mean?" + +"If you don't make her apologize right now before the hired men, I'm +quit of you." + +"I can't make her apologize if she won't." + +"Then let her quit." + +"Oh, I wish I could! I wish to God I could!" said Nora wildly. + +"You know she can't do that," said Marsh roughly. "There's nowhere she +can go. I've offered her a home. You were quite willing, when I +suggested having her here." + +"I was willing because I thought she'd make herself useful. We can't +afford to feed folks who don't earn their keep. We have to work for our +money, we do." + +"I didn't know you grudged me the little I eat," said Nora bitterly. "I +wonder if I should begrudge it to you, if I were in your place." + +"Look here, it's no good talking. I'm not going to turn her out. As long +as she wants a home, the farm's open to her. And she's welcome to +everything I've got." + +"Then you choose her?" demanded Gertie. + +"Choose her? I don't know what you're talking about!" Easy-going as he +was, he was beginning to show signs of irritation. + +"I said you'd got to choose between us. Very well, let her stay. I +earned my own living before, and I can earn it again. _I'm_ going." + +"Don't talk such nonsense," said Marsh violently. + +"You think I don't mean it? D'you think I'm going to stay here and be +put upon? Why should I?" + +"Don't you--love me any more?" + +"Haven't I shown that I love you? Have you forgotten, Ed?" + +"We've gone through so much together, darling," he said huskily. + +"Yes, we have that," she said in a softened tone. + +"Won't you forgive her, for--for my sake?" + +Gertie's face hardened once more. + +"No, I can't. You're a man, you don't understand. If she won't +apologize, either she must go or I shall." + +"I can't lose you, Gertie. What should I do without you?" + +"I guess you know me well enough by now. When I say a thing, I do it." + +"Eddie!" + +Nora had buried her face in her hands. He looked at her a moment without +speaking. + +"She's my wife. After all, if it weren't for her I should be hiring out +now at forty dollars a month." + +Nora lifted her face. For a long moment, brother and sister exchange a +sad regard. + +"Very well," she said huskily, "I'll do what you want." + +He made one last appeal: + +"You _do_ insist on it, Gertie?" + +"Of course I do." + +"I'll go and call the men." He looked vacantly about the room, searching +for his hat. + +"Frank Taylor needn't come, need he?" asked Nora timidly. + +"Why not?" + +"He's going away almost immediately. It can't matter about him, surely." + +"Then why are you so particular about it?" + +"The others are English----" She knew she had made an unfortunate speech +the moment the words had left her lips and hastened to modify it. "He'll +like to see me humiliated. He looks upon women as dirt. He's---- Oh, I +don't know, but not before him!" + +"It'll do you a world of good to be taken down a peg or two, my lady." + +"Oh, how heartless, how cruel!" + +"Go on, Ed. I want to get on with my work." + +"Why do you humiliate me like this?" asked Nora after the door had +closed on her brother. Gertie had seated herself, very erect and +judicial, in one of the rocking chairs. + +"You came here and thought you knew everything, I guess. But you didn't +know who you'd got to deal with." + +"I was a stranger and homeless. If you'd had any kindness, you wouldn't +have treated me so. I _wanted_ to be fond of you." + +"You," scoffed Gertie. "You despised me before you ever saw me." + +Nora made a despairing gesture. Even now the men might be on the way, +but she had a more unselfish motive for wishing to placate Gertie. +Anything rather than bring that look of pain she had seen for the first +time that day into her brother's eyes. She staked everything on one last +appeal. + +"Oh, Gertie, can't we be friends? Can't we let bygones be bygones and +start afresh? We both love Eddie--Ed I mean. He's your husband and he's +the only relation I have in the world. Won't you let me be a _real_ +sister to you?" + +"It's rather late to say all that now." + +"But it's not too late, is it?" Nora went on eagerly. "I don't know +what I do that irritates you so. I can see how competent you are, and I +admire you so much. I know how splendid you've been with Eddie. How +you've stuck to him through thick and thin. You've done everything for +him." + +Gertie struck her hands violently together and sprang from her chair. + +"Oh, don't go on patronizing me. I shall go crazy!" + +"Patronizing you?" + +"You talk to me as if I were a naughty child. You might be a school +teacher." Nora wrung her hands. "It seems perfectly hopeless!" + +"Even when you're begging my pardon," Gertie went on, "you put on airs. +You ask me to forgive you as if you was doing _me_ a favor!" + +"I must have a most unfortunate manner." Nora laughed hysterically. + +"Don't you dare laugh at me," said Gertie furiously. + +"Don't make yourself ridiculous, then." + +"Did you think I would ever forget what you wrote to Ed before I married +him?" + +"What I wrote? I don't know what you mean." + +"Oh, don't you? You told him it would be a disgrace if he married me. +He was a gentleman and I---- Oh, you spread yourself out!" + +"And he showed you that letter," said Nora slowly. "Now I understand," +she added to herself. "Still," she went on, looking Gertie directly in +the face, "I had a perfect right to try and prevent the marriage before +it took place. But after it happened, I only wanted to make the best of +it. If you had _this_ grudge against me, why did you let me come here!" + +"Oh," said Gertie moodily, "Ed wanted it, and it was lonely enough +sometimes with the men away all day and no one to say a word to. But I +can't bear it," she almost screamed, "when Ed talks to you about the old +country and all the people I don't know anything about!" + +"Then you _are_ jealous?" + +"It's my house and I'm mistress here. I won't be put upon. What did you +want to come here for, upsetting everybody? Till you came, I never had a +word with Ed. Oh, I hate you, I hate you!" she finished in a sort of +ecstasy. + +"Gertie!" + +"You've given me my chance," said Gertie with set teeth; "I'm going to +take it. I'm going to take you down a peg or two, young woman." + +"You're doing all you can to drive me away from here." + +"You don't think it's any very wonderful thing to have you, do you? You +talk of getting a job," she went on scornfully. "You! You couldn't get +one. I know something about that, my girl. You! What can you do? +Nothing." + +Suddenly, from outside, they heard Frank Taylor's laugh. Nora winced as +if she had been struck. Gertie's face was distorted with an evil smile. +She seated herself once more in the rocking chair and folded her arms +across her heaving breast. + +"Here they come: now take your punishment," she said harshly. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Nora could never after think of what followed with any feeling of +reality so far as her personal participation in the scene was concerned. +It was like watching a play in which one is interested, without being in +any degree emotionally stirred. + +She saw Gertie, erect and stern in her big chair; she saw herself, +standing behind the ironing-board, as if at a Bar of Justice, her hands +resting loosely upon it; and she saw the door open to admit her brother, +followed by Taylor and Trotter; noted that the former had discarded the +familiar overalls and was wearing a sort of pea-jacket with a fur +collar, and that her brother's face was once more sad and a little +stern. + +She had been obliged to press her handkerchief to her mouth to hide the +crooked smile that the thought: '_he_ is the executioner,' had brought +to her lips. + +Then the figures which were Gertie and her brother had exchanged some +words. + +"Where's Hornby?" + +"He's just coming." + +"Do they know what they're here for!" + +"No, I didn't tell them." + +Then the figure which was Reggie had come in with some laughing remark +about being torn away from his work, but, stopping so suddenly in the +midst of his laughter at the sight of Gertie's face that it was comical; +once more she had had to press her handkerchief to her lips. + +And all the time she knew that this Nora whom she seemed to be watching +had flushed a cruel red clear to her temples and that a funny little +pulse was beating,--oh, so fast, so fast!--way up by her cheek-bone. It +couldn't have been her heart. Her heart had never gone as fast as that. + +Then she had heard Gertie say: "Nora insulted me a while ago before all +of you and I guess she wants to apologize." + +And then Frank had said: "If you told me it was that, Ed, you wanted me +to come here for, I reckon I'd have told you to go to hell." + +"Why?" + +It must have been she who had asked the question, although she was not +conscious that her lips had moved and the voice did not seem like her +own. Her own voice was rather deep. This voice was curiously thin and +high. + +"I've got other things to do besides bothering my head about women's +quarrels." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," still in the same high tone. "I thought it +might be some kindly feeling in you." + +"Go on, Nora, we're waiting," came the voice from the big chair. + +Sour-dough! That's what those coats, such as Frank had on, were called. +She had been wondering all the time what the name was. It was only the +other day that Gertie had used the word in saying that she wished +Eddie--no, Ed--could afford a new one. What a ridiculous name for a +garment. + +"I'm sorry I was rude to you, Gertie. I apologize to you for what I +said." + +"If there's nothing more to be said, we'd better go back to our work." + +While her brother was speaking to his wife, Frank had taken a step +forward. Somehow, the smile on his face had lost all of its ordinary +mockery. + +"You didn't find that very easy to say, I reckon." + +"I'm quite satisfied." And then Gertie had dared to add: "Let this be a +lesson to you, my girl!" + +That was the last straw. The men had turned to go. In a flash she had +made up her mind. Her brother's house was no longer possible. Gertie +had, in a moment of passion, confessed that she hated her; had always +hated her in her secret heart ever since she had read that protesting +letter. What daily humiliations would she not have to endure now that +she had matched her strength against Gertie and lost! It meant one long +crucifixion of all pride and self-respect. No, it was not to be borne! + +There was one avenue of escape open, and only one. _He_ had said that he +was willing to offer a home to a woman who was willing to assume her +share of the burden of making one. It was even possible that he would be +both kind and considerate, no matter how many mistakes she made at +first, to a woman who tried to learn. Of one thing she was certain, he +would know how to see that his wife was treated with respect by all the +world. For the moment, her bleeding pride cried to her that that was the +only thing in life that was absolutely necessary. Nothing else mattered. + +"Frank, will you wait a minute?" + +"Sure. What can I do for you?" + +"I've understood that I'm not wanted here. I'm in the way. You said just +now you wanted a woman to cook and bake for you, wash and mend your +clothes, and keep your shack clean and tidy. Will I do?" + +"Sure." + +"Nora!" Her brother was shaking her by the shoulder. + +"I'm afraid you'll have to marry me." + +"I guess it _would_ be more respectable." + +"Nora, you can't mean it: you're in a temper! See here, Frank, you +mustn't pay any attention to her." + +"Shameless, that's what I call it." That was Gertie. + +"He wants a woman to look after him. He practically proposed to me half +an hour ago--didn't you?" + +"Practically." + +"Nora! You've been like cat and dog with Frank ever since you came. My +dear, you don't know what you're in for." + +"If he's willing to risk it, I am." + +"It ain't an easy life you're coming to. This farm is a palace compared +with my shack." + +"I'm not wanted here and you say you want me. If you'll take me, I'll +come." + +For what seemed an interminable moment, he had looked at her with more +gravity than she had ever seen in his face. + +"I'll take you, all right. When will you be ready? Will an hour do for +you?" + +"An hour! You're in a great hurry." She had had a funny sensation that +her knees were giving way. She had never fainted in her life. Was she +going to faint now before them all? Before Gertie? Never! Somehow she +must get out of the room and be alone a minute. + +"Why, yes. Then we can catch the three-thirty into Winnipeg. You can go +to the Y. W. C. A. for the night and we'll be buckled up in the morning. +You meant it, didn't you? You weren't just saying it as a bluff?" + +"I shall be ready in an hour." + +She had pushed Eddie gently aside and, without a glance at anyone had +walked steadily from the room. + +Once seated on the side of the bed in the room that had been hers, she +had been seized with a chill so violent that her teeth had chattered in +her head. To prevent anyone who might follow her from hearing them,--and +it was probable that her brother might come for a final remonstrance; it +was even conceivable that Gertie, herself, might be sorry for what she +had done; but no, it was she who had said she was shameless!--she got up +and locked her door and then threw herself full length on the little bed +and crammed the corner of the pillow into her mouth. + +Perhaps she was going to die. She had never really been ill in her life +and the violence of the chill frightened her. In her present +overwrought state, the thought of death was not disquieting. But +supposing she was only going to be very ill, with some long and tedious +illness that would make her a care and a burden for weeks? She recalled +the unremitting care which she had had to give Miss Wickham, and +pictured Gertie's grudging ministrations at her sick-bed. Anything +rather than that! She must manage to get to Winnipeg. Once away from the +house, nothing mattered. + +But after a few moments the violence of the chill, which was of course +purely nervous in its origin, subsided perceptibly. Nora rose and began +to busy herself with her packing. Fortunately her wardrobe was small. +She had no idea how long she had been lying on the bed. + +She had just folded the last garment and was about to close the lid of +her trunk, when there came a knock at the door. + +"Who is it?" + +"It's me," said Frank's voice. "The team is at the door. Are you ready?" + +For reply, Nora threw open the door and pointed to her box. + +"I have only to put on my hat. Will you be good enough to fasten that +for me? Here is the key." + +While he knelt on the floor, locking and strapping it, she gave a +careful look at herself in the mirror, while putting on her hat. She +congratulated herself that she had not been crying. Aside from the fact +that she looked pale and tired, there was nothing in her face to suggest +that she had had a crisis of the nerves: certainly no look of defeat for +Gertie to gloat over. Would they all be there to witness her retreat? +Well, let them: no one could say that she had not gone out with flying +colors. She turned, with a smile to meet Frank's gaze. + +"That's right," he said approvingly. "You look fine. Say," he added, +"I'm afraid I'll have to have Reggie up to give me a lift with this +trunk of yours. I don't know what you can have in it unless it's a +stove, and we've got one at home already. It'll be all right once I get +it on my back." + +He had taken just the right tone. His easy reference to 'home' and to +their common possession of even so humble a piece of furniture as a +stove, as if they were an old married couple returning home after paying +a visit, had a restorative effect on nerves still a little jangly. That +was the only way to look at it: In a thoroughly commonplace manner. As +he had said himself, it was a business undertaking. She gave a perfectly +natural little laugh. + +"No, I haven't a stove; only a few books. I didn't realize how heavy +they were. I'm sorry." + +"I'm not," he said heartily. "You can read to me evenings. I guess a +little more book-learning'll polish me up a bit and I'll be right glad +of the chance. You're not afraid to stand at the horses' heads, are you, +while Reg runs up here?" + +"No, of course not." + +She could hear Gertie in the pantry as she crossed the living-room. She +was grateful to her for not coming out to make any show of leave-taking. +Having sent Reggie on his errand, she stood stroking the horses' soft +noses while waiting for the men to return. Just as they reached the +door, Eddie came slowly over to her from the barn. His face was haggard. +He looked older than she had ever seen him. + +"Nora," he said in a low tone, "I beg you, before it is too late----" + +"Please, dear," she whispered, her hand on his, "you only make it +harder." + +"I'll write, Eddie, oh, in a few days, and tell you all about my new +home," she called gayly, as Frank, having disposed of her trunk in the +back of the wagon, lifted her in. Her brother turned without a word to +the others and went into the house. + +As she felt herself for the second time in those arms, the reaction +came. + +"Eddie, Eddie!" + +But, strangled by sobs, her voice hardly carried to the man on the seat +in front of her. + +As he sprang in, Frank gave the horses a flick with the whip. The +afternoon air was keen and the high-spirited team needed no further +urging. They swung out of the farm gate at a pace that made Reggie cling +to the seat. + +When he had them once more in hand, Taylor turned his head slightly. + +"All right back there?" he called, without looking at her. + +She managed a "Yes." + +She had only just recovered her self-control as they drove into +Winnipeg. As they drew up in front of the principal hotel, Taylor turned +the reins once more over to Reggie, and, vaulting lightly from his seat, +held out his hand and helped her to alight. + +"You'd better go into the ladies' parlor for a minute or two. I'm +feeling generous and am going to blow Reg to a parting drink. I'll come +after you in a minute and take you to the Y. W. C. A." + +"Very well." + +"Here," he called, as she turned toward the door marked Ladies' +Entrance, "aren't you going to say good-by to Reg?" + +For a moment she almost lost her hardly regained self-control. To say +good-by to Reg was the final wrench. She had known him in those +immeasurably far-off days at home. It was saying good-by to England. She +held out her hand without speaking. + +"Good-by, Miss Marsh," he said warmly, "and good luck." + +A quarter of an hour later Taylor came to her in the stuffy little +parlor of which she was the solitary tenant. In silence they made their +way to the building occupied by the Y. W. C. A. + +"You have money?" he asked as they reached the door. + +"Plenty, thanks." + +"Do you want me to come in with you?" + +"It isn't necessary." + +"What time shall I come for you to-morrow?" + +"At whatever time you choose." + +"Shall we say ten, then? Or eleven might be better. I've got to get the +license, you know, and look up the parson." + +"Very good; at eleven." + +"Good night, Nora." + +"Good night, Frank." + +Nora's first impulse on being shown to a room was to go at once to bed. +Mind and body both cried out for rest. But she remembered that she had +eaten nothing since noon. She would need all her strength for the +morrow. She supposed they would start at once for Taylor's farm after +they were married. + +Good God, since the world began had any woman ever trapped herself so +completely as she had done! But she must not think of that. + +She had not the most remote idea where the farm was. All she remembered +to have heard was that it was west of Winnipeg, miles farther than her +brother's. One couldn't drive to it, it was necessary to take the train. +But whether it was a day's journey or a week's journey, she had never +been interested enough to ask. After all, what could it possibly matter +where it was; the farther away from everybody and everything she had +ever known, the better. + +The sound of a gong in the hall below recalled her thoughts to the +matter of supper. She went down to a bare little dining-room, only +partly filled, and accepted silently the various dishes set before her +all at one time. She had never seen a dinner--or supper, they probably +called it--served in such a haphazard fashion. + +Even at Gertie's--she smiled wanly at the thought that since the +morning she no longer thought of it as her brother's, but as +Gertie's--while such a thing as a dinner served in courses had probably +never been heard of by anyone but Reggie, her brother and herself, the +few simple, well-cooked dishes bore some relation to each other, and the +supply was always ample. Gertie was justly proud of her reputation as a +good provider. + +But here there was a sort of mockery of abundance. Dabs of vegetables, +sauces, preserves, meats, both hot and cold, in cheap little china +dishes fairly elbowed each other for room. It would have dulled a keener +appetite than poor Nora's. + +Having managed to swallow a cup of weak tea and a piece of heavy bread, +she went once more to her room and sat down by the window which looked +out on what she took to be one of the principal streets of the town. +Tired as she still was, she felt not the slightest inclination for +sleep. The thought of lying there, wakeful, in the dark, filled her with +terror. For the first time in her life, Nora was frightened. She pressed +her face against the window to watch the infrequent passers-by. Surely +none of them could be as unhappy as she. Like a hideous refrain, over +and over in her head rang the words: + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +At length, unable to bear it any longer, the now empty street offering +no distraction, she undressed and went to bed, hoping for relief in +sleep. But sleep would not be wooed. She tossed from side to side, +always hearing those maddening words: + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +All sorts of impractical schemes tormented her feverish brain. She would +appeal to the manager of the place. She was a woman. She would +understand. She would do any work, anything, for her bare keep. Take +care of the rooms, wait on table, anything. Then the thought came to her +of how Gertie would gloat to hear--and she would be sure to do so, +things always got out--that she was now doing _her_ old work. No, she +could not bear that. + +Perhaps, if she started out very early, she could get a position in some +shop. There must be plenty of shops in a place the size of Winnipeg. But +what would she say when asked what experience she had had? No; that, +too, seemed hopeless. + +As a last resort, she thought of throwing herself on Taylor's mercy. She +would explain to him that she had been mad with anger; that she hadn't +in the least realized what she was doing; that her only thought had been +to defy Gertie in the hour of her triumph. Surely no man since the days +of the cave-men would prize an unwilling wife. She would humbly confess +that she had used him and beg his pardon, if necessary, on her knees. + +But what if he refused to release her from her promise? And what if he +did release her? What then? There still remained the unsolvable problem +of what she was to do. Her brother had told her that positions in +Winnipeg during the winter months were impossible to get. Gertie had +taunted her with the same fact. She had less than six dollars in the +world. After she had paid her bill she would have little more than four. +It was hopeless. + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +And then more plans; each one kindling fresh hope in her heart only to +have it extinguished, like a torch thrown into a pool, when they proved, +on analysis, each to be more impracticable than its predecessor. And +then, the refrain. And then, more plans. + +It was a haggard and weary-looking bride that presented herself to the +expectant bridegroom the next morning. The great circles under her eyes +told the story of a sleepless night. But nothing in Taylor's manner +betrayed that he noticed that she was looking otherwise than as usual. + +While she was dressing, Nora had come to a final decision. Quite calmly +and unemotionally she would explain the situation to him. She would +point out the impossibility, the absurdity even, of keeping an agreement +entered into, by one of the parties at least, in hot blood, and +thoroughly repented of, on later and saner reflection. In the remote +event of this unanswerable argument failing to move him, she would +appeal to his honor as a man not to hold her, a woman, to so unfair a +bargain. She had even prepared the well-balanced sentences with which +she would begin. + +But as she stood with her cold hand in his warm one, he forestalled her +by exhibiting, not without a certain boyish pride, the marriage license +and the plain gold band which was to bind her. If these familiar and +rather commonplace objects had been endowed with some evil magic, they +could not have deprived her of the power of speech more effectively. + +Without a protest, she permitted herself to be led to the waiting +carriage, provided in honor of the occasion. It seemed but a moment +later that she found herself being warmly embraced by a motherly +looking woman, who, it transpired, was the wife of the clergyman who had +just performed the ceremony. + +From the parsonage they drove directly to the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The journey had seemed endless: it was already nightfall when they +arrived at the town of Prentice, where they were to get off and drive +some twelve miles farther to her new home. And yet, endless and +unspeakably wearying as it was, her heart contracted to find that it was +at an end. + +She realized now how comfortable, even luxurious, her trip across the +Continent had been by comparison. Then, she had traveled in a Pullman. +This, she learned, was called a day-coach. Her husband did everything in +his power to mitigate the rigors of the trip. He made a pillow for her +with his coat, bought her fruits, candies and magazines from the +train-boy, until she protested. Best of all, he divined and respected +her disinclination for conversation. At intervals during the day he left +her to go into the smoking-car to enjoy his pipe. + +The view from the window was, on the whole, rather monotonous. But it +would have had to be varied indeed to match the mental pictures that +Nora's flying thoughts conjured up for her. + +The dead level of her life at Tunbridge Wells had been a curious +preparation for the violent changes of the last few months. How often +when walking in the old-world garden with Miss Wickham she had had the +sensation of stifling, oppressed by those vine-covered walls, and +inwardly had likened herself to a prisoner. There were no walls now to +confine her. Clear away to the sunset it was open. And yet she was more +of a prisoner than she had ever been. And now she wore a fetter, albeit +of gold, on her hand. + +It had been her habit to think of herself with pity as friendless in +those days; forgetful of the good doctor and his wife, Agnes Pringle and +even Mr. Wynne, not to speak of her humbler friends, the gardener's wife +and children, and the good Kate. Well, she was being punished for it +now. It would be hard, indeed, to imagine a more friendless condition +than hers. Rushing onward, farther and farther into the wilderness to +make for herself a home miles from any human habitation; no woman, in +all probability, to turn to in case of need. And, crowning loneliness, +having ever at her side a man with whom she had been on terms of open +enmity up to a few short hours before! + +From time to time she stole furtive glances at him as he sat at her +side; and once, when he had put his head back against the seat and +pulled his broad-brimmed hat over his eyes and was seemingly asleep, she +turned her head and gave him a long appraising look. + +How big and strong and self-reliant he was. He was just the type of man +who would go out into the wilderness and conquer it. And, although she +had scoffed at his statement when he made it, she knew that he had +brains. Yes, although his lack of education and refinement must often +touch her on the raw, he was a man whom any woman could respect in her +heart. + +And when they clashed, as clash they must until she had tamed him a +little, she would need every weapon in her woman's arsenal to save her +from utter route; she realized that. But then, these big, rough men were +always the first to respond to any appeal to their natural chivalry. If +she found herself being worsted, there was always that to fall back +upon. + +If from some other world Miss Wickham could see her, how she must be +smiling! Nora, herself, smiled at the thought. And at the thought of +Agnes Pringle's outraged astonishment if she were to meet her husband +now, before she had toned him down, as she meant to do. She recalled the +chill finality of her friend's tone when in animadverting on the +doctor's unfortunate assistant she had said: "But, my dear, of course it +would be impossible to marry anyone who wasn't a gentleman." + +If by some Arabian Night's trick she could suddenly transport herself +and the sleeping Frank to Miss Pringle's side, she felt that that +excellent lady's astonishment at seeing her descend from the Magic +Carpet would be as nothing in comparison to her astonishment in being +presented to Nora's husband. + +Her mind had grown accustomed already to thinking of him as her husband; +not, as yet, to thinking of herself as his wife. + +At supper time they went into a car ahead, where Frank ate with his +accustomed appetite and Nora pecked daintily at the cold chicken. + +And now they were at Prentice. For some minutes before arriving, Frank, +who had asked her a few moments before to change places with him, had +been looking anxiously out of the window, his nose flattened against the +glass. As they drew up to the station platform, he gave a shout. + +"Good! There's old man Sharp. Luckily I remembered it was the day he +generally drove over and wired him." + +"What for?" + +"So that he could drive us home. He's a near neighbor; lives only about +a mile beyond us. He's married, too. So you won't be entirely without a +woman to complain to about me." + +"I should hardly be likely to do that," said Nora stiffly. + +"Bless your heart! I know you wouldn't: you're not that sort." + +"I hope she's not much like Gertie." + +"Gosh, no! A different breed of cats altogether." + +"Well, that's something to be thankful for." + +"This is Mr. Sharp; Sid, shake hands with Mrs. Frank Taylor." + +It was the first time that she had heard herself called by her new name. +It came as a distinct and not altogether pleasant shock. + +Once again her husband lifted her in his strong arms to the back seat of +the rough-looking wagon and saw to it that she was warmly wrapped up, +for, although there was little or no snow to be seen at Prentice, the +night air was sharply chill. She moved over a little to make room for +him at her side; but without appearing to notice her action, he jumped +lightly onto the front seat beside his friend. + +"Let 'em go, Sid. Everything all comfortable?" he asked, turning to +Nora. + +"Quite, thanks." + +Throughout the long cold drive, they exchanged no further word. Frank +and Sid seemed to have much to say to each other about their respective +farms. Nora gathered from what she could hear that Sharp had played the +part of a good neighbor, during her husband's enforced absence, in +having a general oversight of his house. + +"You'll find the fence's down in quite a few places. I allowed to fix it +myself when I had the spare time, but when I heard that you was comin' +back so soon, I just naturally let her go." + +"Sure, that was right. It'll give me something to do right at home. I +don't want to leave Mrs. Taylor too much alone until she gets a little +used to it. She's always been used to a lot of company," Nora heard him +say. + +She smiled to herself in the darkness and felt a little warm feeling of +gratitude. She was right in her estimate. This man would be tractable +enough, after all. His attitude toward women, which, had formerly so +enraged her, was only on the surface. An affectation assumed to annoy +her when they were always quarreling. How foolish she had been not to +read him more accurately. For the first time, she felt a little return +of self-confidence. She would bring this hazardous experiment to a +successful conclusion, after all. It was really failure that she had +most feared. + +But her heart sank within her once more when at last they drew up in +front of a long, low cabin built of logs. Mr. Sharp had not overstated +the dilapidated state of the fence. It sagged in half a dozen places and +one hinge of the gate was broken. Altogether it was as dreary a picture +as one could well imagine. The little cabin had the utterly forlorn look +of a house that has long been unoccupied. + +"Woa there! Stand still, can't you?" said Sharp, tugging at the reins. + +"A tidy pull, that last bit," said Frank. "Trail's very bad." + +"Stand still, you brute! Wait a minute, Mrs. Taylor." + +"I guess she wants to get home." + +Taylor vaulted lightly from his seat and, without waiting to help Nora, +ran up the path to the house. As she stood up, trying to disentangle +herself from the heavy lap-robe, she could hear a key turn noisily in a +lock. With a jerk, he threw the door wide open. + +"Wait a bit and I'll light the lamp, if I can find where the hell it's +got to," he called. "This shack's about two foot by three, and I'm +blamed if I can ever find a darned thing!" + +Nora smiled to herself in the darkness. + +She got down unassisted this time. Under the bright and starry sky she +could see a long stretch of prairie, fading away, without a break into +the darkness. A long way off she thought she could distinguish a light, +but she could not be certain. + +"I'll give you a hand with the trunk," called Sharp, laboriously +climbing out of the wagon. "Woa there," as the mare pawed restlessly on +the ground. + +"I'll come and help you if you'll wait a bit. Come on in, Nora." + +Nora hunted round among the numerous parcels underneath the seat until +she found a meshed bag containing some bread, butter and other +necessaries they had bought on the way to the station. Then she walked +slowly up the path to her home. + +She had the feeling that she was still a free agent as long as she +remained outside. Once her foot had crossed the threshold----! It was +like getting into an ice-cold bath. She dreaded the plunge. However, it +must be taken. He was standing stock-still in the middle of the room as +she reached the door, his heavy brows drawn together. + +"I'm quite stiff after that long drive." + +The moment the words were out of her mouth she wished to recall them. +This was no way to begin. It was actually as if she had been trying to +excuse herself for not coming more quickly when she was called. His +whole attitude of frowning impatience showed that he had expected her to +come at the sound of his voice. His face cleared at once. + +"Are you cold?" he asked with a certain anxiety. + +"No, not a bit; I was so well wrapped up." + +"Well, it's freezing pretty hard. But, you see, it's your first winter +and you won't feel the cold like we do?" + +"How odd," said Nora. "I'll just bring some of the things in." She had +an odd feeling that she didn't want to be alone with him just now, and +said the first thing that entered her head. + +"Don't touch the trunk, it's too heavy for you." + +"Oh, I'm as strong as a horse." + +"Don't _touch_ it." + +"I won't," she laughed. + +He brushed by her and went on out to the rig, returning almost instantly +with an arm full of parcels. + +"We could all do with a cup of tea. Just have a look at the stove. It +won't take two shakes to light a fire." + +"It seems hardly worth while; it's so late." + +"Oh, light the fire, my girl, and don't talk about it," he said +good-humoredly. + +On her knees before the stove, with her face as flushed as if it were +already glowing, Nora raked away at the ashes. Through the open doorway +she could see her husband and Mr. Sharp unfasten the trunk from the back +of the wagon and start with it toward the house. + +"This trunk of yours ain't what you might call light, Mrs. Taylor," said +Sharp good-naturedly as he stepped over the threshold. + +"You see it holds everything I own in the world," said Nora lightly. + +"I guess it don't do that," laughed her husband. "Since this morning, +you own a half share in a hundred and sixty acres of as good land as +there is in the Province of Manitoba, and a mighty good shack, if I did +build it all myself." + +"To say nothing of a husband," retorted Nora. + +"Where do you want it put?" asked Sharp. + +"It 'ud better go in the next room right away. We don't want to be +falling over it." + +As they were carrying it in, Nora, with a rather helpless air, carried a +couple of logs and a handful of newspapers over from the pile in the +corner. + +"Here, you'll never be able to light a fire with logs like that. Where's +that darned ax? I'll chop 'em for you. I guess you'll have plenty to do +getting the shack tidy." + +After a little searching, he found the ax back of the wood-pile and set +himself to splitting the logs. In the meantime, Sharp, who had made +another pilgrimage to the rig, returned carrying his friend's grip and +gun. + +"Now, that's real good of you, Sid." + +"Get any shooting down at Dyer, Frank?" + +"There was a rare lot of prairie chickens round, but I didn't get out +more than a couple of days." + +"Well," said Sharp, taking off his fur cap and scratching his head, "I +guess I'll be gettin' back home now." + +"Oh, stay and have a cup of tea, won't you?" + +"Do," said Nora, seconding the invitation. + +She had taken quite a fancy to this rough, good-natured man. In spite of +his straggly beard and unkempt appearance, there was a vague suggestion +of the soldier about him. Besides, she had a vague feeling that she +would like to postpone his departure as long as she could. + +"I hope you won't be offended if I say that I would take you for +English," she said, smiling brightly on him. + +"You're right, ma'am, I am English." + +"And a soldier?" + +"I was a non-commissioned officer in a regiment back home, ma'am," he +said, greatly pleased. "But why should I be offended?" + +Nora and her husband exchanged glances. + +"It's this way," Frank laughed. "Gertie, that's Nora's brother's +wife--down where I've been working--ain't very partial to the English. I +guess my wife's been rather fed up with her talk." + +"Oh, I see. But, thank you all the same, and you, too, Mrs. Taylor, I +don't think I'll stay. It's getting late and the mare'll get cold." + +"Put her in the shed." + +"No, I think I'll be toddling. My missus says I was to give you her +compliments, Mrs. Taylor, and she'll be round to-morrow to see if +there's anything you want." + +"That's very kind of her. Thank you very much." + +"Sid lives where you can see that light just about a mile from here, +Nora," explained Frank. "Mrs. Sharp'll be able to help you a lot at +first." + +"Oh, well, we've been here for thirteen years and we know the ways of +the country by now," deprecated Mr. Sharp. + +"Nora's about as green as a new dollar bill, I guess." + +"I fear that's too true," Nora admitted smilingly. + +"There's a lot you can't be expected to know at first," protested their +neighbor. "I'll say good night, then, and good luck." + +"Well, good night then, Sid, if you _won't_ stay. And say, it was real +good of you to come and fetch us in the rig." + +"Oh, that's all right. Good night to you, Mrs. Taylor." + +"Goodnight." + +Pulling his cap well down over his ears, Mr. Sharp took his departure. +In the silence they could hear him drive away. + +Nora went over to the stove again and made a pretense of examining the +fire, conscious all the time that her husband was looking at her +intently. + +"I guess it must seem funny to you to hear him call you Mrs. Taylor, +eh?" + +"No. He isn't the first person to do so. The clergyman's wife did, you +remember." + +"That's so. How are you getting on with that fire?" + +"All right." + +"I guess I'll get some water; I'll only be a few minutes." + +He took a pail and went out. Nora could hear him pumping down in the +yard. Getting up hurriedly from her knees before the stove, she took up +the lamp and held it high above her head. + +This untidy, comfortless, bedraggled room was now hers, her home! She +would not have believed that any human habitation could be so hopelessly +dreary. + +The walls were not even sealed, as at the brother's. Tacked, here and +there, against the logs were pictures cut from illustrated papers, +unframed, just as they were. The furniture, with the exception of the +inevitable rocking-chair, worn and shabby from hard use, had apparently +been made by Frank, himself, out of old packing boxes. The table had +been fashioned by the same hand out of similar materials. On a shelf +over the rusty stove stood a few battered pots and pans; evidently the +entire kitchen equipment. There were two doors, one by which she had +entered; the other, leading supposedly into another room. The one window +was small and low. Even in this light she could see that a spider had +spun a huge web across it. In the dark corners of the room all sorts of +objects seemed to be piled without any pretense of order. + +She lowered the lamp and listened. Yes, she could still hear the pump. +With a furtive, guilty air she hurried to complete her examination +before he should surprise her. + +One of the corners contained a battered suitcase and a nondescript pile +of old clothes, the other was piled high with yellowing copies of what +she saw was the Winnipeg _Free Press_ and a few old magazines. + +"The library!" she said bitterly, and was surprised to find that she had +spoken aloud. Insane people did that, she had heard. Was she----? + +She ran over to a shelf that had escaped her notice, and the ill-fitting +lamp chimney rattled as she moved. It was stacked high with the same +empty syrup cans that at Gertie's did the duty of flower-pots. But these +held flour, now quite mouldy, and various other staple supplies all +spoiled and useless. She started to say "the larder," but, remembering +in time, put her hand over her lips that she might only think it. + +And now she had come to that other door. She must see what was there. + +"Having a look at the shack?" + +She gave a stifled scream and for a moment turned so pale that he +hastily set down his pail and went over to her. + +"I guess you're all tuckered out," he said kindly. "No wonder. You've +had quite a little excitement the last day or two." + +With a tremendous effort, Nora recovered her self-control. She walked +steadily over to one of the packing-box stools and sat down. + +"It was silly of me, but you don't know how you startled me. Don't think +I usually have nerves, but--but the place was strange last night and I +didn't sleep very well." + +"Do you mind if I open the door a moment?" she asked after a short +pause. "It isn't really cold and it looks so beautiful outside. One +can't see anything out of the window, you know, it's so cobwebby. I must +clean it--to-morrow." + +Try as she would, her voice faltered on the last word. + +She threw open the door and stood a moment looking out into the bright +Canadian night brilliant with stars. It was all so big, so open, so +free--and so lonely! You could fairly hear the stillness. But she must +not think of that. Ah, there was the light that she had been told was +the Sharp's farm. Somehow, it brought her comfort. But even as she +watched, the light went out. She came in and closed the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +He was sitting on one of the stools, pipe in mouth, reading a newspaper +he had already read in the train. + +"Well, what do you think of the shack?" + +"I don't know." + +"I built it with my own hands. Every one of them logs was a tree I cut +down myself. You wait till morning and I'll show you how they're joined +together, at the corners. There's some neat work there, my girl, I +guess." + +"Yes? Oh, I was forgetting; here's the kettle." She brought it over to +him from the shelf. He filled the kettle carefully from the pail while +she stood and watched him. She took it from his hand and set it on the +stove to boil. + +"You'll find some tea in one of them cans on the shelf; leastways, there +was some there when I come away. I reckon you're hungry." + +"I don't think I am, very. I ate a very good supper on the train, you +know." + +"I'm glad you call that a good supper. I guess I could wrap up the +amount you ate in a postage stamp." + +"Well," she said with a smile, "you may be glad to learn that I haven't +a very large appetite." + +"I have, then. Where's the loaf we got in Winnipeg this afternoon?" + +"I'll get it." + +"And the butter. You'll bake to-morrow, I reckon." + +"You're a brave man--unless you've forgotten my first attempt at +Eddie's," she said with a laugh as she took the loaf and butter from the +bag. + +For some reason her mood had completely changed. All her confidence in +being perfectly able to take care of herself had returned. She had been +frightened, badly frightened a moment ago at nothing. Nerves, nothing +more. Nerves were queer things. It was because she hadn't slept last +night. She was such a good sleeper naturally that a wakeful night +affected her more than it did most people. The cool night air had +completely restored her. + +She hunted about until she found a knife, and with the loaf in one hand +and the knife poised in the air asked: + +"Shall I cut you some?" + +"Yep." + +"Please." + +"Please what?" + +"Yep, please," she said with a gay smile. + +"Oh!" he growled. + +Still smiling, she cut several slices of bread and buttered them. Going +to the shelf, she found the teapot and shook some tea into it from one +of the cans, measuring it carefully with her eye. His momentary ill +humor, caused by her correcting him, vanished as he watched her. + +"I guess it's about time you took your hat and coat off," he said with a +chuckle. + +As a matter of fact, she was not conscious that they were still on. +Without a word, she took them off and, having given her coat a little +shake and a pat, looked about her for a place to put them. She ended +finally by putting them both on the kitchen chair. + +"You ain't terribly talkative for a woman, are you, my girl?" + +"I haven't anything to say for the moment," said Nora. + +"Well, I guess it's better to have a wife as talks too little than a +wife as talks too much." + +"I suppose absolute perfection is rare--in women, poor wretches," she +said in the old ironic tone she had always used toward him while he was +her brother's hired man. + +"What's that?" he said sharply. + +"I was only amusing myself with a reflection." + +He checked an angry retort, and striding over to a nail in the wall, +took off his coat and hung it up. Somehow, he looked larger than ever in +his gray sweater. A sense of comfort and unaccustomed well-being +restored him to good humor. Throwing himself into the rocker, he +stretched out his long legs luxuriantly. + +"I guess there's no place like home. You get a bit fed up with hiring +out. Ed was O. K., I reckon, but it ain't like being your own boss." + +"I should think it wouldn't be," said Nora quietly. + +"Where does that door go?" she asked presently. + +"That? Oh, into the bedroom. Like to have a look?" + +"No." + +"No what?" he said quickly. + +Nora turned from the shelf where she had been contriving a place to put +the things they had brought from the town, and looked at him +inquiringly. His face was grave, but a twinkle in his eye betrayed him. +She blushed charmingly to the roots of her hair, but her laugh was +perfectly frank and good-humored. "I beg your pardon. I was so occupied +with arranging my pantry that I forgot my manners. No, _thank you_." + +"One can't be too careful about these important things," he said with +rather heavy humor. "When I built this shack," he went on proudly--but +the pride was the pride of possession, not of achievement--"I fixed it +up so as it would do when I got married. Sid Sharp asked me what in hell +I wanted to divide it up in half for, but I guess women like little +luxuries like that." + +"Like what?" + +"Like having a room to sleep in and a room to live in." + +"Here's the bread and butter," said Nora abruptly. "Will you have some +syrup?" + +"S-u-r-e." He got up out of the rocking chair and pulling one of the +stools up to the table, sat down. + +"The water ought to be boiling by now; what about milk?" + +"That's one of the things you'll have to learn to do without till I can +afford to buy a cow." + +"I can't drink tea without milk." + +"You try. Say, can you milk a cow?" + +"I? No." + +"Then it's just as well I ain't got one." + +Nora laughed. "You _are_ a philosopher." + +Having filled the teapot with boiling water and set it on the table, she +returned to the shelf and began moving the things about in search of +something. + +"What you looking for?" + +"Is there a candle? I'll just get one or two things out of my box and +bring in here." + +"Ain't you going to sit down and have a cup of tea?" + +"I don't want any, thanks." + +"Sit down, my girl." + +"Why?" + +"Because I tell you to." The command was smilingly given. + +"I don't think you'd better tell me to do things." Nora could smile, +too. + +"Then I ask you. You ain't going to refuse the first favor I've asked +you?" + +"Certainly not," she said in her most charming manner. Pulling another +of the stools up to the table, she sat facing him. + +"There." + +"Now, pour out my tea for me, will you? I tell you," he said, watching +her slim hands moving among the tea things, "it's rum seeing _my_ wife +sitting down at _my_ table and pouring out tea for me." + +"Is it pleasant?" + +"Sure. Now have some tea yourself, my girl. You'll soon get used to +drinking it without milk. And I guess you'll be able to get some +to-morrow from Mrs. Sharp." + +Nora noticed that he did not taste his tea until she had poured herself +a cup. + +"Just take a bit of the bread and butter." + +He passed her the plate and she, still smiling brightly, broke off a +small half of one of the slices. + +"I had a sort of feeling I wanted you and me to have the first meal +together in your new home," he said gently. + +Then, with a sudden change of manner, he laughed aloud. + +"We ain't lost much time, I guess. Why, it's only yesterday you told me +not to call you Nora. You did _flare_ out at me!" + +"That was very silly of me, but I was in a temper." + +"And now we're man and wife." + +"Yes: married in haste with a vengeance." + +"Ain't you a bit scared?" + +"I? What of? You?" + +Her voice was steady, but the hands in her lap were clenched. + +"With Ed miles away, t'other side of Winnipeg, he might just as well be +in the old country for all the good he can be to you. You might +naturally be a bit scared to find yourself alone with a man you don't +know." + +"I'm not the nervous sort." + +"Good for you!" + +"You _did_ give me a fright, though," said Nora, with a laugh, "when I +asked you if you'd take me. I suppose it was only about fifteen seconds +before you answered, but it seemed like ten minutes. I thought you were +going to refuse. How Gertie would have gloated!" + +"I was thinking." + +"I see. Counting up my good points and balancing them against my bad +ones." + +"N-o-o-o: I was thinking you wouldn't have asked me like that if you +hadn't of despised me." + +Nora caught her breath sharply, but her manner lost none of its +lightness. + +"I don't know what made you think that." + +"Well, I don't know how you could have put it more plainly that my name +was mud." + +"Why didn't you refuse, then?" + +"I guess I'm not the nervous sort, either," he remarked dryly over his +teacup. + +"_And_," Nora reminded him, "women are scarce in Manitoba." + +"I've always fancied an English woman," he went on, ignoring her little +thrust. "They make the best wives going when they've been licked into +shape." + +Nora showed her amusement frankly. + +"Are you purposing to attempt that operation on me?" + +"Well, you're clever. I guess a hint or two is about all you'll want." + +"You embarrass me when you pay me compliments." + +"I'll take you round and show you the land to-morrow," he said, tilting +back on his stool, to the imminent peril of his equilibrium. "I ain't +done all the clearing yet, so there'll be plenty of work for the winter. +I want to have a hundred acres to sow next year. And then, if I get a +good crop, I've a mind to take another quarter. You can't make it pay +really without you've got half a section. And it's a tough proposition +when you ain't got capital." + +"I had no idea I was marrying a millionaire." + +"Never you mind, my girl, you shan't live in a shack long, I promise +you. It's the greatest country in the world. We only want three good +crops and you shall have a brick house same as you lived in back home." + +"I wonder what they're doing in England now." + +"Well, I guess they're asleep." + +"When I think of England I always think of it at tea time," began Nora, +and then stopped short. + +A wave of regret caught her throat. In spite of herself, the tears +filled her eyes. She looked miserably at the cheap, ugly tea things on +the makeshift table before her. Her husband watched her gravely. +Presently she went on, more to herself than to him: + +"Miss Wickham had a beautiful old silver teapot, a George Second. She +was awfully proud of it. And she was proud of her tea-set; it was old +Worcester. And she wouldn't let anyone wash the tea things but----" +Again, her voice failed her. "And two or three times a week an old +Indian judge came in to tea. And he used to talk to me about the East, +the wonderful, beautiful East. He made me long to see it all--I who had +never been anywhere. I've always loved history and books of travel more +than anything else. There are a lot of them there in my box--that's what +makes it so heavy--all about the beautiful places I was going to see +later on with the money Miss Wickham promised me----" her glance took in +the mean little room in all its unrelieved ugliness. "Oh, why did you +make me think of it all?" + +She bowed her head on the table for a moment. Taylor laid his hand +gently on her arm. + +"The past is dead and gone, my girl. We've got the future; it's ours." + +She gently disengaged herself from his detaining hand and went over to +the little window, looking out with eyes that saw other pictures than +the window had to show. + +"One never knows when one's well off, does one? It's madness to think of +what's gone forever." + +For several minutes there was silence, during which Nora recovered her +self-control. Having wiped away her tears, she turned hack to him, +smiling bravely. "I beg your pardon. You'll think me more foolish than I +really am. I'm not the crying sort, I assure you. But I don't know, it +all----" + +"That's all right, I know you're not," he said roughly. "I wish we'd got +a good drop of liquor here," he went on with the evident intention of +changing the current of her thoughts, "so as we could drink one +another's health. But as we _ain't_, you'd better give me a kiss +instead." + +"I'm not at all fond of kissing," said Nora coolly. + +Frank grinned at her, his pipe stuck between his white teeth. + +"It ain't, generally speaking, an acquired taste. I guess you must be +peculiar." + +"It looks like it," she said lightly. + +"Come, my girl," he said, getting slowly up from his stool, "you didn't +even kiss me after we was married." + +"Isn't a hint enough for you?"--her tone was perfectly friendly. "Why do +you insist on my saying everything in so many words? Why make me dot my +i's and cross my t's, so to speak?" + +"It seems to me it wants a few words to make it plain when a woman +refuses to give her husband a kiss." + +"Do sit down, there's a good fellow, and I'll tell you one or two +things." + +"That's terribly kind of you," he said, sinking into the rocker. "Have +you any choice of seats?" + +"Not now, since you've taken the only one that's tolerably comfortable. +I think there's nothing to choose between the others." + +"Nothing, I should say." + +"I think we'd better fix things up before we go any further," she said, +resuming her stool. + +"Sure." + +"You gave me to understand very plainly that you wanted a wife in order +to get a general servant without having to pay her wages. Wages are +high, here in Canada." + +"That was the way _you_ put it." + +"Batching isn't very comfortable, you'll confess that?" + +"I'll confess that, all right." + +"You wanted someone to cook and bake for you, wash, sweep and mend. I +offered to come and do all that for you. It never entered my head for an +instant that there was any possibility of your expecting anything else +of me." + +"Then you're a damned fool, my girl." + +He was perfectly good-natured. She would have preferred him to be a +little angry. She would know how to cope with that, she thought. But she +flared up a little herself. + +"D'you mind not saying things like that to me?" + +His smile widened. "I guess I'll have to say a good many things like +that--or worse--before we've done." + +"I asked you to marry me only because I couldn't stay in the shack +otherwise." + +"You asked me to marry you because you was in the hell of a temper," he +retorted. "You were mad clean through. You wanted to get away from Ed's +farm right then and there and you didn't care what you did so long as +you quit. But you was darned sorry for what you'd done by the time you'd +got your trunk packed." + +"I don't know that you have any reason for thinking that," she said +stiffly. + +"I've got sense. Besides, when you opened the door when I went up and +knocked, you was as white as a sheet. You'd have given anything you had +to say you'd changed your mind, but your damned pride wouldn't let you." + +"I wouldn't have stayed longer in that house for anything in the world," +said Nora with passion. + +"There you are; that's just what I have been telling you," he said, +nodding his head. "And this morning, when I came for you at the +Y. W. C. A., you wanted bad to say you wouldn't marry me. When you shook +hands with me your hand was like ice. You tried to speak the words, but +they wouldn't come." + +"After all, one isn't married every day of one's life, is one? I admit I +was nervous for the moment." + +"If I hadn't shown you the license and the ring, I guess you wouldn't +have done it. You hadn't the nerve to back out of it then." + +"I hadn't slept a wink all night. I kept on turning it over in my mind. +I _was_ frightened at what I'd done. I didn't know a soul in Winnipeg. I +hadn't anywhere to go. I had four dollars in my pocket. I _had_ to go on +with it." + +"Well, you took pretty good stock of me in the train on the way here, I +guess," he laughed, pacing up and down the room. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Nora, who had recovered her coolness. + +"Well, I felt you was looking at me a good deal while I was asleep," he +jeered. "It wasn't hard to see that you was turning me over in your +mind. What conclusion did you come to?" + +Nora evaded the question for the moment. + +"You see, I lived all these years with an old lady. I know very little +about men." + +"I guessed that." + +"I came to the conclusion that you were a decent fellow and I thought +you would be kind to me." + +"Bouquets are just flying round! Have you got anything more to say to +me?" he asked, seating himself once more in his chair. + +"No, I think not." + +"Then just get me my tobacco pouch, will you? I guess you'll find it in +the pocket of my coat." + +With narrowed eyes, he watched her first hesitate, and then bring it to +him. + +"Here you are." Her tone was crisp. + +"I thought you was going to tell me I could darned well get it myself," +he laughed. + +"I don't very much like to be ordered about," she said smoothly; "I +didn't realize it was one of your bad habits." + +"You never paid much attention to me or my habits till to-day, I +reckon." + +"I was always polite to you." + +"Oh, very! But I was the hired man, and you'd never let me forget it. +You thought yourself a darned sight better than me, because you could +play the piano and speak French. But we ain't got a piano and there +ain't anyone as speaks French nearer than Winnipeg." + +"I don't just see what you're driving at." + +"Parlor tricks ain't much good on the prairie. They're like dollar bills +up in Hudson Bay country. Tobacco's the only thing you can trade with an +Esquimaux. You can't cook very well, you don't know how to milk a cow; +why, you can't even harness a horse." + +"Are you regretting your bargain already?" + +"No," he said, going over to the shelf in search of the matches, "I +guess I can teach you. But if I was you"--he paused, the lighted match +in his fingers, to look at her--"I wouldn't put on any airs. We'll get +on O. K., I guess, when we've shaken down." + +"You'll find I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she said +with emphasis, speaking each word slowly. She returned his steady gaze +and felt a thrill of victory when he looked away. + +"When two people live in a shack," he went on as if she had not spoken, +"there's got to be a deal of give and take on both sides. As long as you +do what I tell you you'll be all right." + +A sort of an angry smile crossed Nora's face. + +"It's unfortunate that when anyone _tells_ me to do a thing, I have an +irresistible desire not to do it." + +"I guess I tumbled to that. You must get over it." + +"You've spoken to me once or twice in a way I don't like. I think we +shall get on better if you _ask_ me to do things." + +"Don't forget that I can _make_ you do them," he said brutally. + +"How?" Really, he was amusing! + +"Well, I'm stronger than you are." + +"A man can hardly use force in his dealings with a woman," she reminded +him. + +"O-o-o-oh?" + +"You seem surprised." + +"What's going to prevent him?" + +"Don't be so silly," she retorted as she turned to look once more out of +the window. But her hands were clammy and, somehow, even though her back +was turned toward him, she knew that he was smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +How much time elapsed before he spoke she had no means of knowing; +probably, at most, two or three minutes. But to the woman gazing out +blindly through the cobweb-covered window into the night, it might well +have been hours. For some illogical reason, which she could not have +explained to herself, she had the feeling that the victory in the coming +struggle would lie with the one who kept silent the longer. To break the +nerve-wrecking spell would be a betrayal of weakness. + +None the less, she had arrived at the point when, the tension on her own +nerves becoming too great, she felt she must scream, drive her clenched +hand through the glass of the window, or perform some other act of +hysterical violence; then he spoke, and in the ordinary tone of daily +life. + +"Well, I'm going to unpack my grip." + +The tone, together with the commonplace words, had the effect of a cold +douche. She drew a sharp breath of relief, her hands unclenched. She was +herself once more. She'd won. + +She turned slowly, as if reluctant to abandon the starry prospect +without, to find him bending over a clutter of things scattered about +his half-emptied case. She had been about to say that she must see to +unpacking some of her own things. + +"Wash up them things." He jerked his bowed head toward the littered +table. + +For the first time, his tone was curt. + +But she was too much mistress of herself and the situation now to be +more than faintly annoyed by it. + +"I'll wash them up in the morning," she said casually. She started +toward the door behind which her box had been carried. + +"Wash 'em up now, my girl. You'll find the only way to keep things clean +is to wash 'em the moment you've done with 'em." + +She smiled at him over her shoulder, her hand on the knob of the door. +But she did not move. + +"Did you hear what I said?" + +"I did." + +"Then why don't you do as I tell you?" + +"Because I don't choose to." + +"You ain't taking long to try it out, are you?" His face wore an ugly +sneer. + +"They say there's no time like the present." + +"Are you going to wash up them things?" + +"No." + +There was a moment's silence while he held her eyes with his. Then, very +slowly and deliberately he got up, poured some boiling water into a pan +and placed it, together with a ragged dishcloth, on the table. + +"Are you going to wash up them things?" + +"No." + +She was still cool and smiling: only, her grip on the knob of the door +had tightened until the nails of her fingers were white. + +"Do you want me to make you?" + +"How can you do that?" + +"I'll soon show you." + +She waited the fraction of a moment. + +"I'll just get out those rugs, shall I? I think the holdall was put in +here. I expect it gets very cold toward morning." + +She had opened the door now and stepped across the threshold. Her face +was still turned toward his, but her smile was a little fixed. + +"Nora." + +"Yes." + +"Come here." + +"Why?" + +"Because I tell you to." + +Still, she did not move. In two strides he was over at her side. He +stretched out his hand to seize her by the wrist. + +"You daren't touch me!" + +She pulled the door to sharply and stood with her back against it, +facing him. Her face was as white as a linen mask, and about as +expressionless. Only her eyes lived. Anger and fear had enlarged the +pupils until they seemed black in the dead white of her face. + +"You daren't!" she repeated. + +"I daren't: who told you that?" + +"Have you forgotten that I'm a woman?" + +"No, I haven't. That's why I'm going to make you do as I tell you. If +you were a man, I mightn't be able to. Come, now." + +He made a movement to take her by the arm, but she was too quick for +him. With the quickness of a cat, she slipped aside. The next moment, to +his astonishment, he felt a stinging blow on the ear. He stared at her +dumbfounded. It is safe to hazard that never in his life had he been so +utterly taken aback. + +She met his stare without lowering her glance. But she was panting now +as if she had been running, one clenched hand pressed against her +heaving breast. + +He gave a short laugh, half of amused admiration at her daring, and half +of anger. + +"That was a darned silly thing to do!" + +"What did you expect?" + +"I expected that you were cleverer than to hit me. You ought to know +that when it comes to--to muscle, I guess I've got the bulge on you." + +"I'm not frightened of you." + +It was a stupid thing to say. Nora realized it too late. If she had only +been able to hold her tongue, he might have relented, she thought. But +at her words, his face hardened once more and the same steely glitter +came into his eyes. "Now come and wash up these things." + +"I won't, I tell you!" + +"Come on." + +Quickly grasping her by the wrists, he began to drag her slowly but +steadily to the table. Earlier in the evening she had boasted that she +was as strong as a horse. As a matter of fact, she had unusual strength +for a woman. But she was quickly made to realize that her strength, even +intensified as it was by her anger was, of course, nothing compared with +his. Strain and resist as she might, she could neither release herself +from his grasp nor prevent him from forcing her nearer and nearer to the +table which was his goal. In the struggle one of the large shell hair +pins which she wore fell to the floor. In another second she heard it +ground to pieces under his heel. A long strand of hair came billowing +down below her waist. + +Another moment, and by making a long arm, he could reach the table. With +a quick movement for which she was unprepared, he brought her two hands +sharply together so that he could hold both of her wrists with one hand, +leaving the other free. + +"Let me go, let me go!" + +She kicked him, first on one shin and then on the other. But their +bodies were too close together for the blows to have any force. + +"Come on now, my girl. What's the good of making a darned fuss about +it." His laugh was boyish in its exultant good-nature. + +"You brute, how dare you touch me! You'll never force me to do anything. +Let go! Let go! Let go!" + +And now, his free hand held fast the edge of the table. With a quick +movement she bent down and fastened her teeth in the skin of the back of +his hand. With an exclamation of pain, he released her, carrying his +wounded hand instinctively to his mouth. + +"Gee, what sharp teeth you've got!" + +"You cad! you cad!" she panted. + +"I never thought you'd bite," he said, looking at his bleeding hand +ruefully. "That ain't much like a lady, according to _my_ idea." + +"You filthy cad! To hit a woman!" + +"Gee, I didn't hit you. You smacked my face and kicked my shins, and +you bit my hand. And now you say I hit _you_." + +He picked up his pipe from the table and mechanically rammed the tobacco +down with his thumb and looked about for a match. + +"You beast! I hate you!" + +In the height of her passion she unconsciously began twisting up the +loosened strand of her hair. + +"I don't care about that, so long as you wash them cups." + +With a furious gesture she swept the table clean. + +"Look!" she screamed, as cups, saucers, plates and teapot broke into a +thousand pieces at his feet. + +There came another little sound of something breaking, like a faint echo +far away. It was his pipe which had fallen among the wreckage. In his +astonishment at her sudden action, he had bitten through the mouthpiece. + +"That's a pity; we're terribly short of crockery. We shall have to drink +our tea out of cans now," was all he said. + +"I said I wouldn't wash them, and I haven't washed them," Nora exulted. + +"They don't need it now, I guess," he said humorously. + +"I think I've won!" + +"Sure," he said without the slightest trace of rancor. "Now take the +broom and sweep up all the darned mess you've made." + +"I won't!" + +"Look here, my girl," he said threateningly, "I guess I've had about +enough of your nonsense: you do as you're told and look sharp about it." + +"You can kill me, if you like!" + +"What would be the good of that? Women, as you reminded me a little +while back, are scarce in Manitoba." + +He gave a searching look around the room and spying the broom in the +corner, went over and fetched it. + +"Here's the broom." + +"If you want that mess swept up, you can sweep it up yourself." + +"Look here, you make me tired!" + +His tone suggested that he was becoming more irritated. But Nora was +beyond caring. As he put the broom in her hand, she flung it from her as +far as she could. "Look here," he said again, and this time there was no +mistaking the menace in his voice, "if you don't clean up that mess at +once, I'll give you the biggest hiding you ever had in your life, I +promise you that." + +"You?" she jeered. + +"Yours truly," he said, nodding his head. "I've done with larking now." +He began rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. For some obscure +reason--possibly because his deliberation seemed to connote +implacability--this simple action filled her with a terror that she had +not known before even in the midst of their physical struggle. + +"Help! Help! Help!" she screamed. + +She rushed across the room and threw open the door, sending her agonized +appeal out into the night. + +"Help! Help! Help!" + +She strained her ears for any sign of response. + +"What's the good of that? There's no one within a mile of us. Listen." + +It is doubtful if she heard his words. If she had, it would have +mattered but little. The answering silence which engulfed her like a +wave told her that she was lost. She bowed her head in her hands. Her +whole slender body was wrecked with hard, dry sobs. When she lifted her +head, he read in her eyes the anguish of the conquered. Nevertheless, +she made one last stand. + +"If you so much as touch me, I'll have you up for cruelty. There are +laws to protect me." + +"I don't care a curse for the laws," he laughed. "I know I'm going to +be master here. And if I tell you to do a thing, you've darned well got +to do it, because I can make you. Now stop this fooling. Pick up that +crockery and get the broom." + +"I won't!" + +He made one stride toward her. + +"No, don't. Don't hurt me!" she shrieked. + +"I guess there's only one law here," he said. "And that's the law of the +strongest. I don't know nothing about cities; perhaps men and women are +equal there. But on the prairie, a man's the master because he's bigger +and stronger than a woman." + +"Frank!" + +"Damn you, don't talk." + +She did not move. Her eyes were on the ground. Pride and Fear were +having their last struggle, and Fear conquered. Without looking at her +husband she could feel that his patience was nearing an end. Very slowly +she stooped down and picked up the teapot and the broken cups and +saucers and laid them on the table. Blindly she tottered over to the +rocking-chair and burst into a passion of tears. + +"And I thought I knew what it was to be unhappy!" + +He watched her with a slight, but not unkindly, smile on his face. + +"Come on, my girl," he said, without any trace of anger, "don't shirk +the rest of it." + +Through her laced fingers, she looked at the mess of spilled tea on the +floor. Keeping her tear-marred face turned away from him, she slowly got +up, and slowly found the broom and swept it all into a little heap on +the newspaper that lay where he had left it. + +Suddenly she threw back her head. Her eyes shone with a new resolution. +He watched her, wondering. With a quick, firm step, she carried the +rolled-up paper to the stove and shoved it far into the glowing embers. +Gathering up the crockery, after a glance around the room in search of +some receptacle which her eye did not find, she carried it over to the +wood-pile, laying it upon the logs. The broom was restored to its +corner. She took up her hat and coat and began to put them on. + +"What are you doing?" + +"I've done what you _made_ me do, now I'm going." + +"Where, if I might ask?" + +"What do I care, as long as I get away." + +"You ain't under the impression that there's a first-class hotel round +the corner, are you? There ain't." + +"I can go to the Sharps." + +"I guess they're in bed and asleep by now." + +"I'll wake them." + +"You'd never find your way. It's pitch dark. Look." + +He threw open the door. It was true. The sky had clouded over. The +feeling of the air had changed. It smelt of storm. + +"I'll sleep out of doors, then." + +"On the prairie? Why, you'd freeze to death before morning." + +"What does it matter to you whether I live or die?" + +"It matters a great deal. Once more, let me remind you that women are +scarce in Manitoba." + +"Are you going to keep me from going?" + +"Sure." + +He closed the door and placed his back against it. + +"You can't keep me here against my will. If I don't go to-night, I can +go to-morrow." + +"To-morrow's a long, long way off." + +Her hand flew to her throat. + +"Frank! What do you mean?" + +"I don't know what silly fancies you've had in your head; but when I +married you I intended that you should be a proper wife to me." + +"But--but--but you understood." + +It was all she could do to force the words from her dry throat. With a +desperate effort she pulled herself together and tried to talk calmly +and reasonably. + +"I'm sorry for the way I've behaved, Frank. It was silly and childish of +me to struggle with you. You irritated me, you see, by the way you spoke +and the tone you took." + +"Oh, I don't mind. I don't know much about women and I guess they're +queer. We had to fix things up sometime and I guess there's no harm in +getting it over right now." + +"You've beaten me all along the line and I'm in your power. Have mercy +on me!" + +"I guess you won't have much cause to complain." + +"I married you in a fit of temper. It was very stupid of me. I'm very +sorry that I--that I've been all this trouble to you. Won't you let me +go?" + +"No, I can't do that." + +"I'm no good to you. You've told me that I'm useless. I can't do any of +the things that you want a wife to do. Oh," she ended passionately, "you +can't be so hard-hearted as to make me pay with all my whole life for +one moment's madness!" + +"What good will it do you if I let you go? Will you go to Gertie and beg +her to take you back again? You've got too much pride for that." + +She made a gesture of abnegation: "I don't think I've got much pride +left." + +"Don't you think you'd better give it a try?" + +Once more hope wakened in Nora's heart. His tone was so reasonable. If +she kept her self-control, she might yet win. She sat down on one of the +stools and spoke in a tone that was almost conversational. + +"All this life is so strange to me. Back in England, they think it's so +different from what it really is. I thought I should have a horse to +ride, that there would be dances and parties. And when I came out, I was +so out of it all. I felt in the way. And yesterday Gertie drove me +frantic so that I felt I couldn't stay a moment longer in that house. I +acted on impulse. I didn't know what I was doing. I made a mistake. You +can't have the _heart_ to take advantage of it." + +"I knew you was making a mistake, but that was your lookout. When I sell +a man a horse, he can look it over for himself. I ain't obliged to tell +him its faults." + +"Do you mean to say that after I've begged you almost on my knees to let +me go, you'll force me to stay?" + +[Illustration: FRANK GLIMPSES THE APPROACHING STORM THAT MEANS HIS RUIN.] + +"That's what I mean." + +"Oh, why did I ever trap myself so!" + +"Come, my girl, let's let bygones be bygones," he said good-humoredly. +"Come, give me a kiss." + +She tried a new tack. + +"I'm not in love with you," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. + +"I guessed that." + +"And you're not in love with me." + +"You're a woman and I'm a man." + +"Do you want me to tell you in so many words that you're physically +repellent to me? That the thought of letting you kiss me horrifies and +disgusts me?" In spite of her resolution, her voice was rising. + +"Thank you." He was still good-humored. + +"Look at your hands; it gives me goose-flesh when you touch me." + +"Cuttin' down trees, diggin', lookin' after horses don't leave them very +white and smooth." + +"Let me go! Let me go!" + +He took a step away from the door. His whole manner changed. + +"See here, my girl. You was educated like a lady and spent your life +doin' nothing. Oh, I forgot: you was a lady's companion, wasn't you? And +you look on yourself as a darned sight better than me. I never had no +schooling. It's a hell of a job for me to write a letter. But since I +was so high"--his hand measured a distance of about three feet from the +floor--"I've earned my living. I guess I've been all over this country. +I've been a trapper, I've worked on the railroad and for two years I've +been a freighter. I guess I've done pretty nearly everything but clerk +in a store. Now you just get busy and forget all the nonsense you've got +in your head. You're nothing but an ignorant woman and I'm your master. +I'm goin' to do what I like with you. And if you don't submit willingly, +by God I'll take you as the trappers, in the old days, used to take the +squaws." + +For the last moment Nora could hardly have been said to have listened. +In a delirium of terror her eyes swept the little cabin, searching +desperately for some means of escape. As he made a step toward her, her +roving eye suddenly fell on her husband's gun, standing where Sharp had +left it when he brought it in. With a bound, she was across the room, +the gun at her shoulder. With an oath, Frank started forward. + +"If you move, I'll kill you!" + +"You daren't!" + +"Unless you open that door and let me go, I'll shoot you--I'll shoot +you!" + +"Shoot, then!" He held his arms wide, exposing his broad chest. + +With a sobbing cry, she pulled the trigger. The click of the falling +hammer was heard, nothing more. + +"Gee whiz!" shouted Taylor in admiration. "Why, you meant it!" + +The gun fell clattering to the floor. + +"It wasn't loaded?" + +"Of course it wasn't loaded. D'you think I'd have stood there and told +you to shoot if it had been? I guess I ain't thinking of committin' +suicide." + +"And I almost admired you!" + +"You hadn't got no reason to. There's nothing to admire about a man who +stands five feet off a loaded gun that's being aimed at him. He'd be a +darned fool, that's all." + +"You were laughing at me all the time." + +"You'd have had me dead as mutton if that gun 'ud been loaded. You're a +sport, all right, all right. I never thought you had it in you. You're +the girl for me, I guess!" + +As she stood there, dazed, perfectly unprepared, he threw his arms +around her and attempted to kiss her. + +"Let me alone! I'll kill myself if you touch me!" + +"I guess you won't." He kissed her full on the mouth, then let her go. + +Sinking into a chair, she sobbed in helpless, angry despair. + +"Oh, how shameful, how shameful!" + +He let her alone for a little; then, when the violence of her sobbing +had died away, came over and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. + +"Hadn't you better cave in, my girl? You've tried your strength against +mine and it hasn't amounted to much. You even tried to shoot me and I +only made you look like a darned fool. I guess you're beat, my girl. +There's only one law here. That's the law of the strongest. You've got +to do what I want because I can make you." + +"Haven't you any generosity?" + +"Not the kind you want, I guess." + +She gave a little moan of anguish. + +"Hark!" He held up his hand as if to call her attention to something. +For a moment, hope flamed from its embers. But stealing a glance at his +face from beneath her drooping lashes, she saw that she was mistaken. +The last spark died, to be rekindled no more. + +"Listen! Listen to the silence. Can't you hear it, the silence of the +prairie? Why, we might be the only two people in the world, you and me, +here in this little shack, right out _in_ the prairie. Are you +listening? There ain't a sound. It might be the garden of Eden. What's +that about male and female, created He them? I guess you're my wife, my +girl. And I want you." + +Nora gave him a sidelong look of terror and remained dumb. What would +have been the use of words even if she could have found voice to utter +them? + +Taking up the lamp, he went to the door of the bedroom and threw it +wide. She saw without looking that he remained standing, like a statue +of Fate, on the threshold. + +To gain time, she picked up the dishcloth and began to scrub at an +imaginary spot on the table. + +"I guess it's getting late. You'll be able to have a good clean-out +to-morrow." + +"To-morrow!" A violent shudder, similar to the convulsion of the day +before, shook her from head to foot. But she kept on with her scrubbing. + +"Come!" + +The word smote her ear with all the impact of a cannon shot. The walls +caught it, and gave it back. There _was_ no other sound in heaven or +earth than the echo of that word! + +Shame, anguish and fear, in turn, passed over her face. Then, with her +hands before her eyes, she passed beyond him, through the door which he +still held open. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The storm which the night had foreshadowed broke with violence before +dawn. At times during the night, the wind had howled about the little +building in a way which recalled to Nora one of the best-remembered +holidays of her childhood. She and her mother had gone to Eastborne for +a fortnight with some money Eddie had sent them shortly after his +arrival in Canada. The autumnal equinox had caught them during the last +days of their stay, and the strong impression which the wind had made +upon her childish mind had remained with her ever since. + +Lying, wakeful through the long hours, staring wide-eyed out of the +little curtainless window into the thick darkness, thick enough to seem +palpable; the memory of how, on that far-off day she had passed long +hours with her nose flattened against the window of the dingy little +lodging-house drawing-room watching the wonder of the wind-lashed sea, +came back to her with extraordinary vividness. + +The spectacle had filled her with a sort of terrified exultation. She +had longed to go out and stand on the wind-buffeted pier and take her +part in this saturnalia of the elements. She had something of the same +feeling now; a longing to leave her bed and go out onto the windswept +prairie. + +Strangely enough, she had no sensation of fatigue or weariness either +bodily or mentally. Her mind, indeed, seemed extraordinarily active. +Little petty details of her childhood and of her life with Miss Wickham, +long forgotten, such as the day the gardener had cut his thumb, trooped +through her mind in an endless procession. She had a strange feeling +that she would never sleep again. + +But just as the blackness without seemed turning into heavy grayness, +lulled possibly by the wind which had moderated its violence and had now +sunk to a moan not unpleasant, and by the rythmic breathing of the +sleeping man at her side, she fell asleep. + +For several hours she must have slept heavily, indeed. For when she +awoke, it was to find the place at her side empty. Hurriedly dressing +herself, she went out into the living-room. That was empty, too. But the +lamp was lighted, the kettle was singing merrily on the stove and the +fire was burning brightly. And outside was a whirling veil of snow which +made it impossible to see beyond the length of one's arm. + +Had she been marooned on an island in the ultimate ocean of the +Antartic, she could not have felt more cut off from the world she knew. +Well, it was better so. + +She wondered what had become of Frank. Surely on a day like this there +could be nothing to do outside; and even if there were, nothing so +imperative as to take him away before he had had his breakfast. She felt +a little hurt at his leaving without a word. + +Evidently, he expected to return soon, however. The table was laid for +two. She felt her face crimson as she saw that there was but one cup +left. One of them must drink from one of those horrible tin cans. She +did not ask herself which one it would be. + +Partly to occupy herself and to take her thoughts away from the +recollection of the events of the evening before, and partly prompted by +a desire to have everything in readiness against her husband's return, +she busied herself with the preparations for breakfast. + +There were some eggs and a filch of bacon which they had brought from +Winnipeg. She would make some toast, too. Very likely he didn't care for +it, they certainly never had it at Gertie's, but in _her house_---- She +smiled to think how quickly, in her mind, she had taken possession. + +She was just beginning to think that she had been foolish to start her +cooking without knowing at all when he was going to return, when she +heard a great stamping and scraping of feet outside, and in another +moment Frank's snow-covered figure darkened the doorway. + +"Getting on with the breakfast? That's fine!" he called. + +"It's quite ready: wherever have you been? I wouldn't have imagined that +anyone could find a thing to do outside on a day like this." + +"Oh, there's always something to do. But I just ran up to the Sharps' +for a minute. I knew old mother Sharp wouldn't keep her promise about +coming down to-day. She's all right, but she does hate to walk." + +"Well, I'm sure I wouldn't blame anyone for choosing to stay indoors a +day like this. But what did you want to see her in such a hurry for?" + +"Oh, nothin' particular; I sort of thought maybe you wouldn't mind +having a little milk with your tea on a gloomy morning like this," he +said shamefacedly. + +"That was awfully good of you; thank you very much," she said with real +gratitude, as she thought of him tramping those two miles in the +blinding storm. + +"Do you think we are in for a blizzard?" she asked when they were at the +table. To her unspeakable relief, she found that the one cup was +intended for her; he had waved her toward the one chair, apparently the +place of honor, contenting himself with one of the stools. + +"N-o-o," he said, "I don't think so. It's beginning to lighten up a +little already. And besides, don't you remember that I foretold a +mildish winter?" + +"I was forgetting that I had married a prophet," she smiled. + +But all through the day the snow continued to fall steadily, although +the wind had died away and, at intervals, the sun shone palely. At +nightfall, it was still snowing. + +The day passed quickly, as Nora found plenty to occupy herself with. By +supper time she felt healthfully tired, with the added comfortable +feeling that, for a novice, she had really accomplished a good deal. + +The whole room certainly looked cleaner and the pots and pans, although +not shining, were as near to it as hot water and scrubbing could make +them. Fortunately, she had a quantity of fresh white paper in her trunk +which greatly improved the appearance of the shelves. + +During the day Frank left the house for longer or shorter intervals on +various pretexts which she felt must be largely imaginary, trumped up +for the occasion. She was agreeably surprised to find that he was +sufficiently tactful to divine that she wanted to be alone. + +While he was in the house he smoked his pipe incessantly and read some +magazines which she had unpacked with some of her books. But she never +glanced suddenly in his direction without finding that he was watching +her. + +"I tell _you_, this is fine," he said heartily as he was lighting his +after-supper pipe. "Mrs. Sharp won't hardly know the place when she +comes over. She's never seen it except when I was housekeeper. She +doesn't think I'm much good at it. Leastways, she's always tellin' Sid +that if she dies, he must marry again right away as soon as he can find +anyone to have him, for fear the house gets to looking like this." + +"That doesn't look like a very strong indorsement," Nora admitted. + +The next day Nora woke to a world of such dazzling whiteness that she +was blinded every time she attempted to look out on it. + +"You want to be careful," her husband cautioned her; "getting +snow-blinded isn't as much fun as you'd think. Even I get bad +sometimes; and I'm used to it. Looks like one of them Christmas cards, +don't it? Somebody sent Gertie one once and she showed it to us." + +That afternoon, Mr. Sharp drove his wife down for the promised visit. As +in his judgment the two women would want to be alone, he proposed to +Frank to drive back home with him to give him the benefit of his opinion +on some improvements he was contemplating. + +"You're only wasting your time," Mrs. Sharp had remarked grimly. "There +ain't going to be anything done to any of them barns before I get a +lean-to on the house. You'd think even a man would know that a house +that's all right for two gets a little small for seven," she added, +scornfully, to Nora. + +"Are there seven of you?" + +"Me and Sid and five little ones. If that don't make seven, I've +forgotten all the 'rithmetic I ever learned," said Mrs. Sharp briefly. +"And let me tell you, you who're just starting in, that having children +out here on the prairie half the time with no proper care, and +particularly in winter, when maybe you're snowed up and the doctor can't +get to you, ain't my idea of a bank holiday." + +"I shouldn't think it would be," said Nora, sincerely shocked, although +she found it difficult to hide a smile at her visitor's comparison; +bank holidays being among her most horrid recollections. + +Mrs. Sharp, despite a rather emphatic manner which softened noticeably +as her visit progressed, turned out to be a stout, red-faced woman of +middle age who seemed to be troubled with a chronic form of asthma. She +was as unmistakably English as her husband. But like him, she had lost +much of her native accent, although occasionally one caught a faint +trace of the Cockney. She had two rather keen brown eyes which, as she +talked, took in the room to its smallest detail. + +"Well, I declare, I think you've done wonders considering you've only +had a day and not used to work like this," she said heartily. "When Sid +told me that Frank was bringing home a wife I said to myself: 'Well, I +don't envy her _her_ job; comin' to a shack that ain't been lived in for +nigh unto six months and when it was, with only a man runnin' it.'" + +"You don't seem to have a very high opinion of men's ability in the +domestic line," said Nora with a smile. + +"I can tell you just how high it is," said Mrs. Sharp with decision. "I +would just as soon think of consultin' little Sid--an' he's goin' on +three--about the housekeepin' as I would his father. It ain't a man's +work. Why should he know anything about it?" + +"Still," demurred Nora, "lots of men look after themselves somehow." + +"Somehow's just the word; they never get beyond that. Of course I knew +Frank would be sure to marry some day. And with his good looks it's a +wonder he didn't do so long ago. Most girls is so crazy about a +good-lookin' fellow that they never stop to think if he has anything +else to him. Not that he hasn't lots of good traits, I don't mean that. +But," she added shrewdly, "you don't look like the silly sort that would +be taken in by good looks alone." + +"No," said Nora dryly, "I don't think I am." + +After that, until the two men returned, they talked of household +matters, and Nora found that her new neighbor had a store of useful and +practical suggestions to make, and, what was even better, seemed glad to +place all her experience at her disposal in the kindliest and most +friendly manner possible, entirely free from any trace of that patronage +which had so maddened her in her sister-in-law. + +"Now mind you," called Mrs. Sharp, as she laboriously climbed up to the +seat beside her husband as they were driving away, "if Frank, here, gets +at all upish--and he's pretty certain to, all newly married men do--you +come to me. I'll settle him, never fear." + +Frank laughed a little over-loudly at this parting shot, and Nora +noticed that for some time after their guests had gone, he seemed +unusually silent. + +As for the Sharps, they also maintained an unwonted silence--which for +Mrs. Sharp, at least, was something unusual--until they had arrived at +their own door. + +"Well?" queried Sharp, as they were about to turn in. + +"It beats me," replied his wife. "Why, she's a lady. But she'll come out +all right," she finished enigmatically, "she's got the right stuff in +her, poor dear!" + +In after years, when Nora was able to look back on this portion of her +life and see things in just perspective, she always felt that she could +never be too thankful that her days had been crowded with occupation. +Without that, she must either have gone actually insane, or, in a frenzy +of helplessness, done some rash thing which would have marred her whole +life beyond repair. + +After she found herself growing more accustomed to her new life--and, +after all, the growing accustomed to it was the hardest part--she +realized that she was only following the universal law of life in +paying for her own rash act. The thought that she was paying with +interest, being overcharged as it were, was but faint consolation: it +only meant that she had been a fool. That conviction is rarely soothing. + +Then, too, she gradually began to look at the situation from Frank's +point of view. He had certainly acted within his rights, if with little +generosity. But she had to acknowledge to herself that the obligation to +be generous on his part was small. She could hardly be said to have +treated him with much liberality in the past. + +She had used him without scruple as a means to an end. She had made him +the instrument for escaping from a predicament which she found +unbearably irksome. That she had done so in the heat of passion was +small palliation. For the present, at least, she wisely resolved to make +the best of things. It could not last forever. The day must come when +she could free herself from the bonds that now held her. + +It was characteristic of her unyielding pride, of her reluctance to +confess to defeat, that the thought of appealing to her brother never +once entered her head. + +For this reason, it was long before she could bring herself to write the +promised letter to Eddie. What was there to say? The things that would +have relieved her, in a sense, to tell, must remain forever locked in +her own heart. In the end, she compromised by sending a letter confined +entirely to describing her new home. As she read it over, she thanked +the Fates that Eddie's was not a subtile or analytical mind. He would +read nothing between the lines. But Gertie? Well, it couldn't be helped! + +It was some two months after her marriage that she received a letter +from Miss Pringle in answer to the one she had written while she was +still an inmate of her brother's house. + +Miss Pringle confined herself largely to an account of her Continental +wanderings and her bloodless encounters with various foreigners and +their ridiculous un-English customs from which she had emerged +triumphant and victorious. Mrs. Hubbard's precarious state of health had +led her into being unusually captious, it seemed. Miss Pringle was more +than ever content to be back in Tunbridge Wells, where all the world +was, by comparison, sane and reasonable in behavior. + +When it came to touching upon her friend's amazing environment and +unconventional experiences, Miss Pringle was discretion itself. But if +her paragraphs had bristled with exclamation points, they could not, to +one who understood her mental processes, have more clearly betrayed her +utter disapproval and amazement that English people, and descendants of +English people, could so far forget themselves as to live in any such +manner. + +Replying to this letter was only a degree less hard than writing to +Eddie. Nora's ready pen faltered more than once, and many pages were +destroyed before an answer was sent. She confined herself entirely to +describing the new experience of a Canadian winter. Of her departure +from her brother's roof and of her marriage, she said nothing whatever. + +In accordance with her resolution to make the best of things, she set +about making the shack more comfortable and homelike. There were many of +those things which, small in themselves, count for much, that her busy +brain planned to do during the time taken up in the necessary +overhauling. This cleaning-up process had taken several days, +interrupted as it was by the ordinary daily routine. + +To her unaccustomed hand, the task of preparing three hearty meals a day +was a matter that consumed a large amount of time, but gradually, day by +day, she found herself systematizing her task and becoming less +inexpert. To be sure she made many mistakes; once, indeed, in a fit of +preoccupation, while occupied in rearranging the bedroom, burning up +the entire dinner. + +Upon his return, her husband had found her red-eyed and apologetic. + +"Oh, well!" he said. "It ain't worth crying over. What is the saying? +'Hell wasn't built in a day'?" + +Nora screamed with laughter. "I think you're mixing two old saws. Rome +wasn't built in a day and Hell is paved with good intentions." + +"Well," he laughed good-naturedly, "they both seem to hit the case." + +He certainly was unfailingly good-tempered. Not that there were not +times when Nora did not have to remind herself of her new resolution and +he, for his part, exercise all his forbearance. But in the main, things +went more smoothly than either had dared to hope from their inauspicious +beginning. + +The thing that Nora found hardest to bear was that he never lost a +certain masterful manner. It was a continual reminder that she had been +defeated. Then, too, he had a maddening way of rewarding her for good +conduct which was equally hard to bear, until she realized that it was +perfectly unconscious on his part. + +For example: after she had struggled for a week with her makeshift +kitchen outfit, small in the beginning but greatly reduced by her +destructive outburst on the night of their arrival, he had, without +saying a word to her of his intentions, driven over to Prentice and laid +in an entire new stock of crockery and several badly needed pots and +pans. + +Nora had found it hard to thank him. If they had been labeled "For a +Good Child" she could not have felt more humiliated. And what was +equally trying, he seemed to have divined her thoughts, for his smile, +upon receiving her halting thanks, had not been without a touch of +malicious amusement. + +On the other hand, all her little efforts to beautify the little house +and make it more livable met with his enthusiastic approval and support. +He was as delighted as a child with everything she did, and often, when +baffled for the moment by some lack of material for carrying out some +proposed scheme, he came to the rescue with an ingenious suggestion +which solved the vexed problem at once. + +And so, gradually, to the no small wonder of her neighbor, Mrs. Sharp, +the shack began to take on an air of homely brightness and comfort which +that lady's more pretentious place lacked, even after a residence of +thirteen years. + +Curtains tied back with gay ribands, taken from an old hat and +refurbished, appeared at the windows; the old tin syrup cans, pasted +over with dark green paper, were made to disgorge their mouldy stores +and transform themselves into flower-pots holding scarlet geraniums; +even the disreputable, rakish old rocking chair assumed a belated air of +youth and respectability, wearing as it did a cushion of discreetly +patterned chintz; and the packing-box table hid its deficiencies under a +simple cloth. All these magic transformations Nora had achieved with +various odds and ends which she found in her trunk. + +Not to be outdone, Frank had contributed a well-made shelf to hold +Nora's precious books and a sort of cupboard for her sewing basket and, +for the crowning touch, had with much labor contrived some rough chairs +to take the place of the packing-box affairs of unpleasant memory. + +As has been said, Mrs. Sharp came, saw and wondered; but she had her own +theory, all the same, which she confided to her husband. + +All these little but significant changes, the result of their +co-operative effort, had not been the work of days, but of weeks. By the +time they had all been accomplished, the winter was practically over and +spring was at hand. Looking back on it, it seemed impossibly short, +although there had been times, in spite of her manifold occupations, +when it had seemed to Nora that it was longer than any winter she had +ever known. She looked forward to the coming spring with both pleasure +and dread. + +Through many a dark winter day she had pictured to herself how beautiful +the prairie must be, clad in all the verdant livery of the most +wonderful of the seasons. And yet it would mean a new solitude and +loneliness to her, her husband, of necessity, being away through all the +long daylight hours. She began to understand Gertie's dread of having no +one to speak to. She avoided asking herself the question as to whether +it was loneliness in general or the particular loneliness of missing her +husband that she dreaded. + +But she was obliged to admit to herself that the winter had wrought more +transformations than were to be seen in the little shack. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +It had all come about so subtilely and gradually that she was almost +unaware of it herself, this inward change _in_ herself. Nora had by +nature a quick and active mind, but she had also many inherited +prejudices. It is a truism that it is much harder to unlearn than to +learn, and for her it was harder, in the circumstances, than for the +average person. Not that she was more set in her ways than other people, +but that she had accepted from her childhood a definite set of ideas as +to the proper conduct of life; a code, in other words, from which she +had never conceived it possible to depart. People did certain things, or +they did not; you played the game according to certain prescribed rules, +or you didn't play it with decent people, that was all there was to it. +One might as well argue that there was no difference between right and +wrong as to say that this was not so. + +Of course there were plenty of people on the face of the earth who +thought otherwise, such as Chinese, Aborigines, Turks, and all sorts of +unpleasant natives of uncivilized countries--Nora lumped them together +without discrimination or remorse--but no one planned to pass their +lives among them. And as for the sentiment that Trotter had enunciated +one day at her brother's, that Canada was a country where everybody was +as good as everybody else, that was, of course, utter nonsense. It was +because the country was raw and new that such silly notions prevailed. +No society could exist an hour founded upon any such theory. + +And yet, here she was living with a man on terms of equality whom, when +measured up with the standards she was accustomed to, failed impossibly. +And yet, did he? That is, did he, in the larger sense? That he was +woefully deficient in all the little niceties of life, that he was +illiterate and ignorant could not be denied. But he was no man's fool, +and, as far as his light shone, he certainly lived up to it. That was +just it. He had a standard of his own. + +She compared him with her brother, and with other men she had known and +respected. Was he less honest? less brave? less independent? less +scrupulous in his dealings with his fellowmen? To all these questions +she was obliged to answer "No." And he was proud, too, and ambitious; +ambitious to carve out a fortune with his own hands, beholden to neither +man nor circumstances for the achievement. Certainly there was much +that was fine about him. + +And, as far as his treatment of herself was concerned, after that first +terrible struggle for mastery, she had had nothing to complain of. He +had been patient with her ignorance and her lack of capabilities in all +the things that the women in this new life were so proficient in. Did +she not, perhaps, fall as far below _his_ standard as he did before +hers? There was certainly something to be said on both sides. + +There was one quality which he possessed to which she paid ungrudging +tribute; never had she met a man so free from all petty pretense. He +regretted his lack of opportunities for educating himself, but it +apparently never entered his head to pretend a knowledge of even the +simplest subject which he did not possess. The questions that he asked +her from time to time about matters which almost any schoolboy in +England could have answered, both touched and embarrassed her. + +At first she had found the evenings the most trying part of the day. +When not taken up with her household cares, she found herself becoming +absurdly self-conscious in his society. They were neither of them +naturally silent people, and it was difficult not to have the air of +"talking down" to him, of palpably making conversation. Beyond the +people at her brother's and the Sharps, they had not a single +acquaintance in common. Her horizon, hitherto, had been, bounded by +England, his by Canada. + +Finally, acting on the suggestion he had made, but never again referred +to, the unforgettable day when they were leaving for Winnipeg, she began +reading aloud evenings while he worked on his new chairs. The experiment +was a great success. Her little library was limited in range; a few +standard works and a number of books on travel and some of history. She +soon found that history was what he most enjoyed. Things that were a +commonplace to her were revealed to him for the first time. And his +comments were keen and intelligent, although his point of view was +strikingly novel and at the opposite pole from hers. To be sure, she had +been accustomed to accepting history merely as a more or less accurate +record of bygone events without philosophizing upon it. But to him it +was one long chronicle of wrong and oppression. He pronounced the dead +and gone sovereigns of England a bad lot and cowardly almost without +exception; not apparently objecting to them on the ground that they were +kings, as she had at first thought, but because they attained their +ends, mostly selfish, through cruelty and oppression, without any +regard for humane rights. + +It was the same way with books of travel. The chateaus and castles, with +all their atmosphere of story and romance which she had always longed to +visit, interested him not a jot. In his opinion they were, one and all, +bloody monuments of greed and selfishness; the sooner they were razed to +the ground and forgotten, the better for the world. + +It was useless to make an appeal for them on artistic grounds; art to +him was a doubly sealed book, and yet he frequently disclosed an innate +love of beauty in his appreciation of the changing panorama of the +winter landscape which stretched on every side before their eyes. + +It was a picture which had an inexhaustible fascination for Nora +herself, although there were times when the isolation, and above all the +unbroken stillness got badly on her nerves. But she could not rid +herself of an almost superstitious feeling that the prairie had a lesson +to teach her. Twice they went in to Prentice. With these exceptions, she +saw no one but her husband and Mr. and Mrs. Sharp. + +But it was, strangely enough, from Mrs. Sharp that she drew the most +illumination as to the real meaning of this strange new life. Not that +Mrs. Sharp was in the least subtle, quite the contrary. She was as +hard-headed, practical a person as one could well imagine. But her +natural powers of adaptability must have been unusually great. From a +small shop in one of the outlying suburbs of London, with its +circumscribed outlook, moral as well as physical, to the limitless +horizon of the prairie was indeed a far cry. How much inward +readjustment such a violent transplanting must require, Nora had +sufficient imagination to fully appreciate. But if Mrs. Sharp, herself, +were conscious of having not only survived her uprooting but of having +triumphantly grown and thrived in this alien soil, she gave no sign of +it. Everything, to employ her own favorite phrase with which she +breached over inexplicable chasms, "was all in a lifetime." + +As she had a deeply rooted distaste for any form of exercise beyond that +which was required in the day's work, most of the visiting between them +devolved upon Nora. To her the distance that separated the two houses +was nothing, and as she had from the first taken a genuine liking to her +neighbor she found herself going over to the Sharps' several times a +week. + +When, as was natural at first, she felt discouraged over her little +domestic failures, she found these neighborly visits a great tonic. +Mrs. Sharp was always ready to give advice when appealed to. And unlike +Gertie, she never expressed astonishment at her visitor's ignorance, or +impatience with her shortcomings. These became more and more infrequent. +Nora made up for her total lack of experience by an intelligent +willingness to be taught. There was a certain stimulation in the thought +that she was learning to manage her own house, that would have been +lacking while at her brother's even if Gertie had displayed a more +agreeable willingness to impart her own knowledge. + +Nora had always been fond of children, and she found the Sharp children +unusually interesting. It was curious to see how widely the ideas of +this, the first generation born in the new country, differed, not only +from those of their parents, but from what they must have inevitably +been if they had remained in the environment that would have been theirs +had they been born and brought up back in England. + +All of their dreams as to what they were going to do when they grew to +manhood were colored and shaped by the outdoor life they had been +accustomed to. They were to be farmers and cattle raisers on a large +scale. Mrs. Sharp used to shake her head sometimes as she heard these +grandiloquent plans, but Nora could see that she was secretly both +proud and pleased. After all, why should not these dreams be realized? +Everything was possible to the children of this new and wonderful +country, if they were only industrious and ambitious. + +"I don't know, I'm sure, what their poor dear grandfather would have +said if he had lived to hear them," she used to say sometimes to Nora. +"_He_ used to think that there was nothing so genteel as having a good +shop. He quite looked down on farming folk. Still, everything is +different out here, ideas as well as everything else, and I'm not at all +sure they won't be better off in the end." + +In which notion Nora secretly agreed with her. To picture these healthy, +sturdy, outdoor youngsters confined to a little dingy shop such as their +mother had been used to in her own childhood was impossible, as she +recalled to her mind the pale, anemic-looking little souls she had +occasionally seen during her stay in London. Was not any personal +sacrifice worth seeing one's children grow up so strong and healthy, so +manly and independent? + +This, then, was the true inwardness of it all; the thing that dignified +and ennobled this life of toil and hardship, deprived of almost all the +things which she had always regarded as necessary, that the welfare, +prosperity and happiness of generations yet to come might be reared on +this foundation laid by self-denial and deprivation. + +She felt almost humbled in the presence of this simple, unpretentious, +kindly woman who had borne so much without complaint that her children +might have wider opportunities for usefulness and happiness than she had +ever known. + +Not that Mrs. Sharp, herself, seemed to think that she was doing +anything remarkable. She took it all as a matter of course. It was only +when something brought up the subject of the difficulties of learning to +do without this or that, that she alluded to the days when she also was +inexperienced and had had to learn for herself without anyone to advise +or help her. + +Miles away from any help other than her husband could give her, she had +borne six children and buried one. And although the days of their worst +poverty seemed safely behind them, they had been able to save but +little, so that they still felt themselves at the mercies of the +changing seasons. Given one or two good years to harvest their crops, +they might indeed consider themselves almost beyond the danger point. +But with seven mouths to feed, one could not afford to lose a single +crop. + +With her head teeming with all the new ideas that Mrs. Sharp's +experiences furnished, Nora felt that the time was by no means as wasted +as she had once thought it would be. There was no reason, after all, +that she should sink to the level of a mere domestic drudge. And if this +part of her life was not to endure forever, it would not have been +entirely barren, since it furnished her with much new material to ponder +over. After all, was it really more narrow than her life at Tunbridge +Wells? In her heart, she acknowledged that it was not. + +To Frank, also, the winter brought a broader outlook. He had looked upon +Nora's little refinements of speech and delicate point of view, when he +had first known her at her brother's, as finicky, to say the least. All +women had fool notions about most things; this one seemed to have more +than the average share, that was all. He secretly shared Gertie's +opinion that women the world over were all alike in the essentials. He +had always been of the opinion that Nora had good stuff in her which +would come out once she had been licked into shape. Yet he found himself +not only learning to admire her for those same niceties but found +himself unconsciously imitating her mannerisms of speech. + +Then, too, after they began the habit of reading in the evenings, he +found that she had no intention of ridiculing his ignorance and lack of +knowledge in matters on which she seemed to him to be wonderfully +informed. That they did not by any means always agree in the conclusions +they arrived at, in place of irritating him, as he would have thought, +he found only stimulating to his imagination. To attack and try to +undermine her position, as long as their arguments were conducted with +perfect good nature on either side, as they always were, diverted him +greatly. And he was secretly pleased when she defended herself with a +skill and address that defeated his purpose. + +All the little improvements in the shack were a source of never-ending +pride and pleasure to him. Often when at work he found himself proudly +comparing his place with its newly added prettiness with the more gaudy +ornaments of Mrs. Sharp's or even with Gertie's more pretentious abode. +And it was not altogether the pride of ownership that made them suffer +in the comparison. + +Looking back on the days before Nora's advent seemed like a horrible +nightmare from which he was thankful to have awakened. Once in a while +he indulged himself in speculating as to how it would feel to go back to +the old shiftless, untidy days of his bachelorhood. But he rarely +allowed himself to entertain the idea of her leaving, seriously. He was +like a child, snuggly tucked in his warm bed who, listening to the +howling of the wind outside, pictures himself exposed to its harshness +in order to luxuriate the more in its warmth and comfort. + +But when, as sometimes happened, he could not close the door of his mind +to the thought of how he should ever learn to live without her again, it +brought an anguish that was physical as well as mental. Once, looking up +from her book, Nora had surprised him sitting with closed eye, his face +white and drawn with pain. + +Her fright, and above all her pretty solicitude even after he had +assuaged her fears by explaining that he occasionally suffered from an +old strain which he had sustained a few years before while working in +the lumber camps, tried his composure to the utmost. + +For days, the memory of the look in her eyes as she bent over him +remained in his mind. But he was careful not to betray himself again. + +It was to prevent any repetition that he first resorted to working over +something while she was reading. While doubly occupied with listening +and working with his hands, he found that his mind was less apt to go +off on a tangent and indulge in painful and profitless speculations. + +For, after all, as she had said, how could he prevent her going if her +heart was set on it? That she had given no outward sign of being unhappy +or discontented argued nothing. She was far too shrewd to spend her +strength in unavailing effort. Pride and ordinary prudence would counsel +waiting for a more favorable opportunity than had yet been afforded her. +She would not soon forget the lesson of the night he had beaten down her +opposition and dragged her pride in the dust. + +And would she ever forgive it? That was a question that he asked himself +almost daily without finding any answer. There was nothing in her manner +to show that she harbored resentment or that she was brooding over plans +for escaping from the bondage of her life. But women, in his experience, +were deep, even cunning. Once given a strong purpose, women like Nora, +pursued it to the end. Women of this type were not easily diverted by +side issues as men so often were. + +For weeks he lived in daily apprehension of Ed's arrival. There was no +one else she could turn to, and evoking his aid did not necessarily +argue that she must submit again to Gertie's grudging hospitality. Ed +might easily, unknown to his masterful better-half, furnish the funds to +return to England. She had not written him that he knew of. As a matter +of fact, she had not, but she might have given the letter to Sid Sharp +to post on one of his not infrequent trips into Prentice. It would only +have been by chance that Sid would speak of so trifling a matter. He was +much too proud to question him. + +But as time went on and no Ed appeared, he began, if not exactly to hope +that, after all she was finding the life not unbearable, at least her +leaving was a thing of the more or less remote future. He summoned all +his philosophy to his aid. Perhaps by the time she did make up her mind +to quit him he would have acquired some little degree of resignation, or +at least would not be caught as unprepared as he frankly confessed +himself to be at the moment. + +The spring, which brought many new occupations, mostly out of doors, had +passed, and summer was past its zenith. Frank had worked untiringly from +dawn to dark, so wearied that he frequently found it difficult to keep +his eyes open until supper was over. But his enthusiasm never flagged. +If everything went as well as he hoped, the additional quarter-section +was assured. For some reason or other, possibly because he was beginning +to feel a reaction after the hard work of the summer, Nora fancied that +his spirits were less high than usual. He talked less of the coveted +land than was his custom. She, herself, had never, in all her healthy +life, felt so glowing with health and strength. She, too, had worked +hard, finding almost every day some new task to perform. But aside from +the natural fatigue at night, which long hours of dreamless sleep +entirely dissipated, she felt all the better for her new experiences. +For one thing, her steady improvement in all the arts of the good +housewife made her daily routine much easier as well as giving her much +secret satisfaction. Never in her life had she looked so well. The +summer sun had given her a color which was most becoming. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +One afternoon, shortly after dinner, she had gone out to gather a +nosegay of wild flowers to brighten her little living-room. She was +busily engaged in arranging them in a pudding bowl, smiling to think +that her hand had lost none of the cunning to which Miss Wickham had +always paid grudging tribute, even if her improvised vase was of homely +ware, when she heard her husband's step at the door. It was so unusual +for him to return at this hour that for a moment she was almost +startled. + +"_I_ didn't know you were about." + +"Oh," he said easily, "I ain't got much to do to-day. I've been out with +Sid Sharp and a man come over from Prentice." + +"From Prentice?" + +Having arranged her flowers to her satisfaction, she stepped back to +view the effect. At that moment her husband's eye fell on them. + +"Say, what you got there?" + +"Aren't they pretty? I picked them just now. They're so gay and +cheerful." + +"Very." But his tone had none of the enthusiasm with which he usually +greeted her efforts to beautify the house. + +"A few flowers make the shack look more bright and cozy." + +He took in the room with a glance that approved of everything. + +"You've made it a real home, Nora. Mrs. Sharp never stops talking of how +you've done it. She was saying only the other day it was because you was +a lady. It does make a difference, I guess, although I didn't use to +think _so_." + +Nora gave him a smile full of indulgence. + +"I'm glad you haven't found me quite a hopeless failure." + +"I guess I've never been so comfortable in all my life. It's what I +always said: once English girls _do_ take to the life, they make a +better job of it than anybody." + +"What's the man come over from Prentice for?" asked Nora. They were +approaching a subject she always avoided. + +"I guess you ain't been terribly happy here, my girl," he said gravely, +unmindful of her question. + +"What on earth makes you say that?" + +"You've got too good a memory, I guess, and you ain't ever forgiven me +for that first night." + +It was the first time he had alluded to the subject for months. Would +he never understand that she wanted to forget it! He might know that it +always irritated her. + +"I made up my mind very soon that I must accept the consequences of what +I'd done. I've tried to fall in with your ways," she said coldly. + +"You was clever enough to see that I meant to be the master in my own +house and that I had the strength to make myself so." + +How unlike his latter self this boastful speech was. But then he had +been utterly unlike himself for several days. What did he mean? She knew +him well enough by now to know that he never acted without meaning. But +directness was one of his most admirable characteristics. It was unlike +him to be devious, as he was being now. But if the winter had taught her +anything, it had taught her patience. + +"I've cooked for you, mended your clothes, and I've kept the shack +clean. I've tried to be obliging and--and obedient." The last word was +not yet an easy one to pronounce. + +"I guess you hated me, though, sometimes." He gave a little chuckle. + +"No one likes being humiliated; and you humiliated me." + +"Ed's coming here presently, my girl." + +"Ed who?" + +"Your brother Ed." + +"Eddie! When?" + +"Why, right away, I guess. He was in Prentice this morning." + +"How do you know?" + +"He 'phoned over to Sharp to say he was riding out." + +"Oh, how splendid! Why didn't you tell me before?" + +"I didn't know about it." + +"Is that why you asked me if I was happy? I couldn't make out what was +the matter with you." + +"Well, I guess I thought if you still wanted to quit, Ed's coming would +be kind of useful." + +Nora sat down in one of the chairs and gave him a long level look. + +"What makes you think that I want to?" she said quietly. + +"You ain't been so very talkative these last months, but I guess it +wasn't so hard to see sometimes that you'd have given pretty near +anything in the world to quit." + +"I've no intention of going back to Eddie's farm, if that's what you +mean." + +To this he made no reply. Still with the same grave air, he went over to +the door and started out again, pausing a moment after he had crossed +the threshold. + +"If Ed comes before I get back, tell him I won't be long. I guess you +won't be sorry to do a bit of yarning with him all by yourself." + +"You are not going away with the idea that I'm going to say beastly +things to him about you, are you?" + +"No, I guess not. That ain't your sort. Perhaps we don't know the best +of one another yet, but I reckon we know the worst by this time." + +"Frank!" she said sharply. "There's something the matter. What is it?" + +"Why, no; there's nothing. Why?" + +"You've not been yourself the last few days." + +"I guess that's only your imagination. Well, I'd better be getting +along. Sid and the other fellow'll be waiting for me." + +Without another look in her direction, he was gone, closing the door +after him. + +Nora remained quite still for several minutes, biting her lips and +frowning in deep thought. It was all very well to say that there was +nothing the matter, but there was. Did he think she could live with him +day after day all these months and not notice his change of mood, even +if she could not translate it? He had still a great deal to learn about +women! + +On the way over to the shelf to get her work, she paused a moment beside +her flowers to cheer herself once more with their brightness. Sitting +down by the table, she began to darn one of her husband's thick woolen +socks. An instant later she was startled by a loud knock on the door. + +With a little cry of pleasure she flung it open, to find Eddie standing +outside. She gave a cry of delight. Somehow, the interval since she had +seen him last, significant as it was in bringing to her the greatest +change her life had known, seemed for the second longer than all the +years she had spent in England without seeing him. + +"Eddie! Oh, my dear, I'm so glad to see you!" she cried, flinging her +arms around his neck. + +"Hulloa there," he said awkwardly. + +"But how did you come? I didn't hear any wheels." + +"Look." He pointed over to the shed; she looked over his shoulder to see +Reggie Hornby grinning at her from the seat of a wagon. + +"Why, it's Reggie Hornby. Reggie!" she called. + +Reggie took off his broad hat with a flourish. + +"Tell him he can put the horse in the lean-to." + +"All right. Reg," called Marsh, "give the old lady a feed and put her in +the lean-to." + +"Right-o!" + +"Didn't you meet Frank? He's only just this moment gone out." + +"No." + +"He'll be back presently. Now, come in. Oh, my dear, _it is_ splendid to +see you!" + +"You're looking fine, Nora." + +"Have you had your dinner?" + +"Sure. We got something to eat before we left Prentice." + +"Well, you'll have a cup of tea?" + +"No, I won't have any, thanks." + +"Ah," laughed Nora happily, "you're not a real Canadian yet, if you +refuse a cup of tea when it's offered you. But do sit down and make +yourself comfortable," she said, fairly pushing him into a chair. + +"How are you getting along, Nora?" His manner was still a little +constrained. They were both thinking of their last parting. But she, +being a woman, could carry it off better. + +"Oh, never mind about me," she said gayly. "Tell me all about yourself. +How's Gertie? And what has brought you to this part of the world? And +what's Reggie Hornby doing here? And is Thingamajig still with you; you +know, the hired man?"--The word "other" almost slipped out.--"What _was_ +his name, Trotter, wasn't it? Oh, my dear, don't sit there like a +stuffed pig, but answer my questions, or I'll shake you." + +"My dear child, I can't answer fifteen questions all at once!" + +"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad to see you! You are a perfect duck to come and +see me." + +"Now let me get a word in edgeways." + +"I won't utter another syllable. But, for goodness' sake, hurry up. I +want to know all sorts of things." + +"Well, the most important thing is that I'm expecting to be a happy +father in three or four months." + +"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad! How happy Gertie must be." + +"She doesn't know what to make of it. But I guess she's pleased right +enough. She sends you her love and says she hopes you'll follow her +example very soon." + +"I?" said Nora sharply. "But," she added with a return to her gay tone, +"you've not told me what you're doing in this part of the world, +anyway." + +"Anyway?" + +Nora blushed. "I've practically spoken to no one but Frank for months; +it's natural that I should fall into his way of speaking." + +"Well, when I got Frank's letter about the clearing-machine----" + +"Frank has written to you?" + +"Why, yes; didn't you know? He said there was a clearing-machine going +cheap at Prentice. I've always thought I could make money down our way +if I had one. They say you can clear from three to four acres a day with +one. Frank thought it was worth my while to come and have a look at it +and he said he guessed you'd be glad to see me." + +"How funny of him not to say anything to me about it," said Nora, +frowning once more. + +"I suppose he wanted to surprise you. And now for yourself; how do you +like being a married woman?" + +"Oh, all right. But you haven't answered half my questions yet. Why has +Reggie Hornby come with you?" + +"Do you realize I've not seen you since before you were married?" + +"That's so; you haven't, have you?" + +"I've been a bit anxious about you. That's why, when Frank wrote about +the clearing-machine, I didn't stop to think about it, but just came." + +"It was awfully nice of you. But why has Reggie Hornby come?" + +"Oh, he's going back to England." + +"Is he?" + +"Yes, he got them to send his passage money at last. His ship doesn't +sail till next week, and he said he might just as well stop over here +and say good-by to you." + +"How has he been getting on?" + +"How do you expect? He looks upon work as something that only damned +fools do. Where's Frank?" + +"Oh, he's out with Sid Sharp. Sid's our neighbor. He has the farm you +passed on your way here." + +"Getting on all right with him, Nora?" + +"Why, of course," said Nora with just a suggestion of irritation in her +voice. + +"What's that boy doing all this time?" she asked, going over to the +window and looking out. "He _is_ slow, isn't he?" + +But Marsh was not a man whom it was easy to side-track. + +"It's a great change for you, this, after the sort of life you've been +used to." + +"I was rather hoping you'd have some letters for me," said Nora from the +window. "I haven't had a letter for a long time." + +As a matter of fact she had no reason to expect any, not having answered +Miss Pringle's last and having practically no other correspondent. But +the speech was a happy one, in that it created the desired diversion. + +"There now!" said her brother with an air of comical consternation. +"I've got a head like a sieve. Two came by the last mail. I didn't +forward them, because I was coming myself." + +"You don't mean to tell me you've forgotten them!" + +"No; here they are." + +Nora took them with a show of eagerness. "They don't look very +exciting," she said, glancing at them. "One's from Agnes Pringle, the +lady's companion that I used to know at Tunbridge Wells, you remember. +And the other's from Mr. Wynne." + +"Who's he?" + +"Oh, he was Miss Wickham's solicitor. He wrote to me once before to say +he hoped I was getting on all right. I don't think I want to hear from +people in England any more," she said in a low voice, more to herself +than to him, tossing the letters on the table. + +"My dear, why do you say that?" + +"It's no good thinking of the past, is it?" + +"Aren't you going to read your letters?" + +"Not now; I'll read them when I'm alone." + +"Don't mind me." + +"It's silly of me; but letters from England always make me cry." + +"Nora! Then you aren't happy here." + +"Why shouldn't I be?" + +"Then why haven't you written to me but once since you were married?" + +"I hadn't anything to say. And then," carrying the war into the enemy's +quarter, "I'd been practically turned out of your house." + +"I don't know what to make of you. Frank Taylor's kind to you and all +that sort of thing, isn't he?" + +"Very. But don't cross-examine me, there's a dear." + +"When I asked you to come and make your home with me, I thought it +mightn't be long before you married. But I didn't expect you to marry +one of the hired men." + +"Oh, my dear, please don't worry about me." Nora was about at the end of +her endurance. + +"It's all very fine to say that; but you've got no one in the world +belonging to you except me." + +"Don't, I tell you." + +"Nora!" + +"Now listen. We've never quarreled once since the first day I came here. +Now are you satisfied?" + +She said it bravely, but it was with a feeling of unspeakable relief +that she saw Reggie Hornby at the door. + +She certainly had never before been so genuinely glad to see him. As she +smilingly held out her hand, her eye took in his changed appearance. +Gone were the overalls and the flannel shirt, the heavy boots and broad +belt. Before her stood the Reggie of former days in a well-cut suit of +blue serge and spotless linen. She was surprised to find herself +thinking, after all, men looked better in flannels. + +"I was wondering what on earth you were doing with yourself," she said +gayly. + +"I say," he said, his eye taking in the bright little room, "this is a +swell shack you've got." + +"I've tried to make it look pretty and homelike." + +"Helloa, what's this!" said Marsh, whose eye had fallen for the first +time on the bowl of flowers. + +"Aren't they pretty? I've only just picked them. They're mustard +flowers." + +"We call them weeds. Have you much of it?" + +"Oh, yes; lots. Why?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"Eddie tells me you're going home." + +"Yes," said Reggie, seating himself and carefully pulling up his +trousers. "I'm fed up for my part with God's own country. Nature never +intended me to be an agricultural laborer." + +"No? And what are you going to do now?" + +"Loaf!" Mr. Hornby's tone expressed profound conviction. + +"Won't you get bored?" smiled Nora. + +"I'm never bored. It amuses me to watch other people do things. I should +hate my fellow-creatures to be idle." + +"I should think one could do more with life than lounge around clubs and +play cards with people who don't play as well as oneself." + +Hornby gave her a quick ironic look. "I quite agree with you," he said +with his most serious air. "I've been thinking things over very +seriously this winter. I'm going to look out for a middle-aged widow +with money who'll adopt me." + +"I recall that you have decided views about the White Man's Burden." + +"All I want is to get through life comfortably. I don't mean to do a +stroke more work than I'm obliged to, and I'm going to have the very +best time I can." + +"I'm sure you will," said Nora, smiling. + +But her smile was a little mechanical. Somehow she could no longer be +genuinely amused at such sentiments which, in spite of his airy manner, +she knew to be real. And yet, it was not so very long ago that she would +have thought them perfectly natural in a man of his position. Somehow, +her old standards were not as fixed as she had thought them. + +"The moment I get back to London," continued Hornby imperturbably, "I'm +going to stand myself a bang-up dinner at the Ritz. Then I shall go and +see some musical comedy at the Gaiety, and after that, I'll have a +slap-up supper at Romano's. England, with all thy faults, I love thee +still!" he finished piously. + +"I suppose it's being alone with the prairie all these months," said +Nora, more to herself than him; "but things that used to seem clever and +funny--well, I see them altogether differently now." + +"I'm afraid you don't altogether approve of me," he said, quite +unabashed. + +"I don't think you have much pluck," said Nora, not unkindly. + +"Oh, I don't know about that. I've as much as anyone else, I expect, +only I don't make a fuss about it." + +"Oh, pluck to stand up and let yourself be shot at."--She flushed +slightly at the remembrance of Frank standing in this very room in front +of the gun in her hand. Would she ever forget his laugh!--"But pluck to +do the same monotonous thing day after day, plain, honest, hard +work--you haven't got that sort of pluck. You're a failure and the worst +of it is, you're not ashamed of it. It seems to fill you with +self-satisfaction. Oh, you're incorrigible," she ended with a laugh. + +"I am; let's let it go at that. I suppose there's nothing you want me to +take home; I shall be going down to Tunbridge Wells to see mother. Got +any messages?" + +"I don't know that I have. Eddie has just brought me a couple of +letters. I'll have a look at them first." + +She went over to the table and picked up Miss Pringle's letter and +opened it. + +After reading a few lines, she gave a little cry. + +"Oh!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Marsh. + +"What _can_ she mean? Listen! 'I've just heard from Mr. Wynne about your +good luck and I'm glad to say I have another piece of good news for +you.'" + +Dropping the letter, she tore open the other. It contained a check. She +gave it a quick glance. + +"A check for five hundred pounds! Oh, Eddie, listen." She read from Mr. +Wynne's letter: "'Dear Miss Marsh--I have had several interviews with +Mr. Wickham in relation to the late Miss Wickham's estate, and I +ventured to represent to him that you had been very badly treated. Now +that everything is settled, he wishes me to send you the enclosed check +as some recognition of your devoted services to his late aunt--five +hundred pounds." + +"That's a very respectable sum," said Marsh, nodding his head sagely. + +"I could do with that myself," remarked Hornby. + +"I've never had so much money in all my life!" + +"But what's the other piece of good news that Miss Stick-in-the-mud has +for you?" + +"Oh, I quite forgot. Where is it?" Her brother stooped and picked the +fallen letter from the floor. + +"Thank you. Um-um-um-um-um. Oh, yes, 'Piece of good news for you. I +write at once so that you may make your plans accordingly. I told you in +my last letter, did I not, of my sister-in-law's sudden death? Now my +brother is very anxious that I should make my home with him. So I am +leaving Mrs. Hubbard. She wishes me to say that if you care to have my +place as her companion, she will be very pleased to have you. I have +been with her for thirteen years and she has always treated me like an +equal. She is very considerate and there is practically nothing to do +but to exercise the dear little dogs. The salary is thirty-five pounds a +year.'" + +"But," said Marsh, looking at the envelope in his hand, "the letter is +addressed to Miss Marsh. I'd intended to ask you about that; don't they +know you're married?" + +"No. I haven't told them." + +"What a lark!" said Reggie, slapping his knee. "You could go back to +Tunbridge Wells, and none of the old frumps would ever know you'd been +married at all." + +"Why, so I could!" said Nora in a breathless tone. She gave Hornby a +strange look and turned toward the window to hide the fact that she had +flushed to the roots of her hair. + +Her brother gave her a long look. + +"Just clear out for a minute, Reg. I want to talk with Nora." + +"Right-o!" He disappeared in the direction of the shed. + +"Nora, do you _want_ to clear out?" + +"What on earth makes you think that I do?" + +"You gave Reg such a look when he mentioned it." + +"I'm only bewildered. Tell me, did Frank know anything about this?" + +"My dear, how could he?" + +"It's most extraordinary; he was talking about my going away only a +moment before you came." + +"About your going away? But why?" + +She realized that she had betrayed herself and kept silent. + +"Nora, for goodness' sake tell me if there's anything the matter. Can't +you see it's now or never? You're keeping something back from me. I +could see it all along, ever since I came. Aren't you two getting on +well together?" + +"Not very," she said in a low, shamed tone. + +"Why in heaven's name didn't you let me know." + +"I was ashamed." + +"But you just now said he was kind to you." + +"I have nothing to reproach him with." + +"I tell you I felt there was something wrong. I knew you couldn't be +happy with him. A girl like you, with your education and refinement, and +a man like him--a hired man! Oh, the whole thing would have been +ridiculous if it weren't horrible. Not that he's not a good fellow and +as straight as they make them, but---- Well, thank God, I'm here and +you've got this chance." + +"Eddie, what do you mean?" + +"You're not fit for this life. I mean you've got your chance to go back +home to England. For God's sake, take it! In six months' time, all +you've gone through here will seem nothing but a hideous dream." + +The expression of her face was so extraordinary, such a combination of +fear, bewilderment, and something that was far deeper than dismay, that +he stared at her for a moment without speaking. + +"Nora, what's the matter!" + +"I don't know," she said hoarsely. + +But she did, she did. + +At his words, the picture of the little shack--her home now--as it had +looked the first time she saw it in all its comfortlessness, its untidy +squalor, rose before her eyes. And she saw a lonely man clumsily busying +himself about the preparation of an illy-cooked meal, and later sitting +smoking in the desolate silence. She saw him go forth to his daily toil +with all the lightness gone from his step, to return at nightfall, with +a heaviness born of more than mere physical fatigue, to the same bleak +bareness. + +And she saw herself, back at Tunbridge Wells. No longer the mistress, +but the underpaid underling. Eating once more off fine old china, at a +table sparkling with silver and glass. But the bread was bitter, the +bread of the dependent. And she came and went at another's bidding, and +the yoke was not easy. She trod once more, round and round, in that +little circle which she knew so well. She used to think that the walls +would stifle her. How much more would they not stifle her now that she +had known this larger freedom? + +"I say," said Reggie's voice from the doorway, "here's someone coming to +see you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +It was Mrs. Sharp, making her laborious way slowly up the path. + +"Why," said Nora, in a low voice, "it's Mrs. Sharp, the wife of our +neighbor. Whatever brings her here on foot! She never walks a step if +she can help it." + +"Good afternoon, Mrs. Sharp," she called. + +Mrs. Sharp had apparently come on some sudden impulse. Usually, well as +they knew each other by this time, she always made more or less of a +toilet before having her husband drive her over. But to-day she had +evidently come directly from her work. She wore a battered old skirt and +a faded shirt-waist, none too clean. On her head was an old sunbonnet, +the strings of which were tied in a hard knot under her fat chin. + +"Come right in," said Nora cordially. "You _do_ look warm." + +"Good afternoon to you, Mrs. Taylor. Yes, I'm all in a perspiration. +I've not walked so far--well, goodness alone knows when!" + +"This is my brother," said Nora, presenting Eddie. + +"Your brother? Is _that_ who it is!" + +"Why, you seem surprised." + +Mrs. Sharp forbore any explanation for the moment. Sinking heavily into +the rocking chair, she accepted with a grateful nod the fan that Nora +offered her. There was nothing to do but to give her time to recover her +breath. Nora and Eddie sat down and waited. + +"I was so anxious," Mrs. Sharp at length managed to say, still +panting--whether with exhaustion or emotion, Nora could not +tell--between her sentences, "I simply couldn't stay indoors--another +minute. I went out to see if I--could catch a sight of Sid. And I walked +on, and on. And then I saw the rig what's--outside. And it gave me such +a _turn_! I thought it was the inspector. I just had to come--I was that +nervous----!" + +"But why? Is anything the matter?" asked Nora, completely puzzled. + +"You're not going to tell me you don't _know_ about it? When Sid and +Frank haven't been talking about anything else since Frank found it?" + +"Found it? Found what?" + +"The weed," said Mrs. Sharp simply. + +"You've got it then," said Marsh, with a slight gesture of his head +toward the table where Nora's flowers made a bright spot of color. + +"It's worse here, at Taylor's. But we've got it, too." + +"What does she mean?" Nora addressed herself to Eddie, abandoning all +hope of getting anything out of her friend. + +"We can't make out who reported us. It isn't as if we had any enemies," +went on Mrs. Sharp gloomily, as if Nora wasn't present, or at least +hadn't spoken. "It isn't as if we had any enemies," she repeated. +"Goodness knows we've never done anything to anybody." + +"Oh, there's always someone to report you. After all, it's not to be +wondered at. No one's going to run the risk of letting it get on his own +land." + +"And she has them in the house as if they were flowers!" exclaimed Mrs. +Sharp, addressing the ceiling. + +"Eddie, I insist that you tell me what you two are talking about," +demanded Nora hotly. + +"My dear," said her brother, "these pretty little flowers which you've +picked to make your shack look bright and--and homelike, may mean ruin." + +"Eddie!" + +"You must have heard--why, I remember telling you about it myself--about +this mustard, this weed. We farmers in Canada have three enemies to +fight: frost, hail and weed." + +Mrs. Sharp confirmed his words with a despairing nod of her head. + +"We was hailed out last year," she said. "Lost our whole crop. Never got +a dollar for it. And now! If we lose it this year, too--why, we might +just as well quit and be done with it." + +"When it gets into your crop," Marsh explain for Nora's benefit, "you've +got to report it. If you don't, one of the neighbors is sure to. And +then they send an inspector along, and if _he_ condemns it, why you just +have to destroy the whole crop, and all your year's work goes for +nothing. You're lucky, in that case, if you've got a bit of money laid +by in the bank and can go on till next year when the next crop comes +along." + +"We've only got a quarter-section and we've got five children. It's not +much money you can save then." + +"But----" began Nora. + +"Are they out with the inspector now?" asked Marsh. + +"Yes. He came out from Prentice this morning early." + +"This will be a bad job for Frank." + +"Yes, but he hasn't got the mouths to feed that we have. I can't think +what's to become of us. He can hire out again." + +Nora's face flushed. + +"I--I wonder why he hasn't told me anything about it. I asked him, only +this morning, what was troubling him. I was sure there was something, +but he said not," she said sadly. + +"Oh, I guess he's always been in the habit of keeping his troubles to +himself, and you haven't taught him different yet." + +Nora was about to make a sharp retort, but realizing that her good +neighbor was half beside herself with anxiety and nervousness, she said +nothing. A fact which the unobservant Eddie noted with approval. + +"Well," he said as cheerfully as he could, "you must hope for the best, +Mrs. Sharp." + +"Sid says we've only got it in one place. But perhaps he's only saying +it, so as I shouldn't worry. But you know what them inspectors are; they +don't lose nothin' by it. It don't matter to _them_ if you starve all +winter!" + +Suddenly she began to cry. Great sobs wracked her heavy frame. The big +tears rolled down her cheeks. Nora had never seen her give way before, +even when she talked of the early hardships she had endured, or of the +little one she had lost. She was greatly moved, for this good, brave +woman who had already suffered so much. + +"Oh, don't--don't cry, dear Mrs. Sharp. After all, it may all turn out +right." + +"They won't condemn the whole crop unless it's very bad, you know," +Marsh reminded her. "Too many people have got their eyes on it; the +machine agent and the loan company." + +Mrs. Sharp had regained her self-control in sufficient measure to permit +of her speaking. She still kept making little dabs at her eyes with a +red bandanna handkerchief, and her voice broke occasionally. + +"What with the hail that comes and hails you out, and the frost that +kills your crop just when you're beginning to count on it, and now the +weed!" She had to stop again for a moment. "I can't bear any more. If we +lose this crop, I won't go on. I'll make Sid sell out, and we'll go back +home. We'll take a little shop somewhere. That's what I wanted to do +from the beginning. But Sid--Sid always had his heart set on farming." + +"But you couldn't go back now," said Nora, her face aglow, "you +couldn't. You never could be happy or contented in a little shop after +the life you've had out here. And think; if you'd stayed back in +England, you'd have always been at the beck and call of somebody else. +And you own your land. You couldn't do that back in England. Every time +you come out of your door and look at the growing wheat, aren't you +proud to think that it's all yours? I know you are. I've seen it in your +face." + +"You don't know all that I've had to put up with. When the children +came, only once did I have a doctor. All the rest of the times, Sid was +all the help I had. I might as well have been an animal! I wish I'd +never left home and come to this country, that I do!" + +"How can you say that? Look at your children, how strong and healthy +they are. And think what a future they will have. Why, they'll be able +to help you both in your work soon. You've given them a chance; they'd +never have had a chance back home. You know that." + +"Oh, it's all very well for them. They'll have it easy, I know that. +Easier than their poor father and mother ever had. But we've had to pay +for it all in advance, Sid and me. They'll never know what we paid." + +"Ah, but don't you see that it is because you were the first?" said +Nora, going over to her and laying a friendly hand upon her arm. Mrs. +Sharp was, of course, too preoccupied with her own troubles to realize, +even if she had known that the question of Nora's return to England had +come up, that her friend was doing some special pleading for herself, +against herself. But to her brother, who years before had in a lesser +degree gone through the same searching experience, the cause of her +warmth was clear. He nodded his approval. + +"It's bitter work, opening up a new country, I realize that," Nora went +on, her eyes dark with earnestness. + +Unknown to herself, she had a larger audience, for Hornby and Frank +stood silently in the open door. Marsh saw them, and shook his head +slightly. He wanted Nora to finish. + +"What if it is the others who reap the harvest? Don't you really believe +that those who break the ground are rewarded in a way that the later +comers never dream of? I do." + +"She's right there," broke in Marsh. "I shall never forget, Mrs. Sharp, +what I felt when I saw my first crop spring up--the thought that never +since the world began had wheat grown on that little bit of ground +before. Oh, it was wonderful! I wouldn't go back to England now, to +live, for anything in the world. I couldn't breathe." + +"You're a man. You have the best of it, and all the credit." + +"Not with everyone," said Nora. She fell on her knees beside the elder +woman's chair and stroked her work-roughened old hand. + +"The outsiders don't know. You mustn't blame them, how could they? It's +only those who've lived on the prairie who _could_ know that the chief +burden of the hardships of opening up a new country falls upon the +women. But the men who are the husbands, they know, and in their hearts +they give us all credit." + +"I guess they do, Mrs. Sharp," said Marsh earnestly. + +Mrs. Sharp smiled gratefully on Nora through her tears. + +"Thank you for speaking so kindly to me, my dear. I know that you are +right in every blessed thing you've said. You must excuse me for being a +bit downhearted for the moment. The fact is, I'm that nervous that I +hardly know _what_ I'm saying. But you've done me no end of good." + +"That's right." Nora got slowly to her feet. "Sid and Frank will be here +in a minute or two, I am sure." + +"And you're perfectly right, both of you," Mrs. Sharp repeated. "I +couldn't go back and live in England again. If we lose our crop, well, +we must hang on some way till next year. We shan't starve, exactly. A +person's got to take the rough with the smooth; and take it by and +large, it's a good country." + +"Ah, now you're talking more like yourself, the self that used to cheer +me up when----" + +Turning, she saw her husband standing in the doorway. + +"Frank!" + +He was looking at her with quite a new expression. How long had he been +there? Had he heard all she had been saying to Mrs. Sharp, carried away +by the emotion aroused by the secret conflict within her own heart? She +both hoped and feared that he had. + +"Where's Sid?" said Mrs. Sharp, starting to her feet. + +"Why, he's up at your place. Hulloa, Ed. Saw you coming along in the rig +earlier in the morning. But I was surprised to find Reg here. Didn't +recognize him so far away in his store clothes." + +"Must have been a pleasant surprise for you," said Hornby with +conviction. + +"What's happened? Tell me what's happened." + +"Mrs. Sharp came on here because she was too anxious to stay at home," +Nora explained. + +"Oh, you're all right." + +"We are?" Mrs. Sharp gave a sobbing gasp of relief. + +"Only a few acres got to go. That won't hurt you." + +"Thank God for that! And it's goin' to be the best crop we ever had. +It's the finest country in the world!" Her face was beaming. + +"You'd better be getting back," warned Taylor. "Sid's taken the +inspector up to give him some dinner." + +"He hasn't!" said Mrs. Sharp indignantly. "If that isn't just like a +man." She made a gesture condemning the sex. "It's a mercy there's +plenty in the house. But I must be getting along right away," she +bustled. + +"But you mustn't think of walking all that way back in the hot sun," +expostulated Nora. "There's Eddie's rig. Reggie, here, will drive you +over." + +"Oh, thank you, kindly. I'm not used to walking very much, you know, and +I'd be all tuckered out by the time I got back home. Good-by, all. Good +afternoon, Mrs. Taylor." + +"Good afternoon. Reggie, you won't mind driving Mrs. Sharp back. It's +only just a little over a mile." + +"Not a bit of it," said Hornby good-naturedly. + +"I'll come and help you put the mare in," said Marsh, starting to follow +Hornby and Mrs. Sharp down the path. + +"I guess it's a relief to you, now you know," he called back to his +brother-in-law. + +"Terrible. I want to have a talk with you presently, Ed. I'll go on out +with him, I guess," he said, turning to his wife. + +She nodded silently. She was grateful to him for leaving her alone for a +time. They would have much to say to each other a little later. + +"Hold on, Ed, I'm coming." + +"Right you are!" + +He ran lightly down the path where his brother-in-law stood waiting for +him. + +She stood for a long moment looking down at the innocent-looking little +blossoms on her table. And they could cause such heartbreak and +desolation, ranking, as engines of destruction, with the frost and the +hail! Could make such seasoned and tried women as Mrs. Sharp weep and +bring the gray look of apprehension into the eyes of a man like her +husband. Those innocent-looking little flowers! + +What must he have felt as he saw her arranging them so light-heartedly +in her pudding-dish that morning. And yet, rather than mar her pleasure, +he had choked back the impulse to speak. Yes, that was like him. For a +moment they blurred as she looked at them. She checked her inclination +to throw them into the stove, to burn them to ashes so that they could +work their evil spells no more. Later on, she would do so. But she +wanted them there until he returned. + +She looked about the little room. Yes, it _was_ pretty and homelike, +deserving all the nice things people said about it. And what a real +pleasure she had had in transforming it, from the dreadful little place +it was when she first saw it, into what it was now. Not that she could +ever have worked the miracle alone. + +She smiled sadly to herself. How all her thoughts, like homing pigeons, +had the one goal! + +And how proud he was of it all. With what delighted, almost childlike +interest, he had watched each little change. And how he had acquiesced +in every suggestion and helped her to plan and carry out the things she +could not have done alone. + +She lived again those long winter evenings when, snug and warm, the grim +cruelty of the storms shut out, she had read aloud to him while he +worked on making the chairs. + +How long would it keep its prettiness with no woman's eye to keep its +jealous watch on it? The process of reversion to its old desolation +would be gradual. The curtains, the bright ribands, the cushions would +slowly become soiled and faded. And there would be no one here to renew +them. For a moment, the thought of asking Mrs. Sharp to look after them +came into her mind. But, no. She certainly had enough to do. And, +besides--the thought thrilled her with delight--_he_ would not like +having anyone else to touch them! + +And she? She would be back in that old life where such simple little +things were a commonplace, a matter of course. And what interest would +they be to her? She could see herself ripping the ribands from an old +hat to tie back curtains for Mrs. Hubbard! Certainly that excellent lady +would be astonished if she suggested doing anything of the sort, and +small wonder. She hired the proper people to keep her house in order +just as she was going to hire her. + +She found it in her heart to be sorry for Mrs. Hubbard. She had always +had her money. The joy of these little miracles of contrivance had never +been hers. She had bought her home. She had never, in all her pampered +life, made one. + +Home! What a desolating word it could be to the homeless. She knew. +Since her far-off childhood, she had never called a place 'home' till +now. And just as the word began to take on a new meaning, she was going +to leave it! Had anyone told her a few short months ago, on the night +that she had first seen what she had inwardly called a hovel, that she +would ever leave it with any faintest feeling of regret, she would have +called him mad. Regret! why the thought of leaving tore her very +heartstrings. + +What if it had been only a few short months that had passed since then? +One's life is not measured by the ticking of a clock, but by emotion and +feeling. She had crowded more emotion into these few short months than +in all the rest of her dull, uneventful life put together. + +Fear, terror, hatred, murderous rage, bitter humiliation, she had felt +them all within the small compass of these four walls. And greatest of +all--why try to deceive her own heart any longer--here she had known +love. She had fought off the acknowledgment of this the crowning +experience and humiliation as long as she could. She had called on her +pride, that pride which had never before failed her. And now, to +herself, she had to acknowledge that she was beaten. + +They were all against her. Her own brother had spoken, only a few +moments ago, of her marriage as horrible. "A girl like you and a hired +man!" She could hear him now. And _he_ had spoken of her leaving as a +matter of course. He couldn't have done it if he had cared. He liked the +comforts that a woman brings to a house, the little touches that no +man's hand can give, that a woman, even as unskillful as she, brings +about instinctively, that was all. Almost any other woman could do as +well. He did not prize her for herself. + +And she would go back to England and, as Hornby had gleefully said, no +one need ever know. She would have a place, on sufferance, in other +people's homes. The only change that the year would have made in her +life would be that the check in her pocket, safely invested, might save +her eventually, when she was too old to serve as a companion, from being +dependant on actual charity. And to all outward intents and purposes, +the year would be as if it had never been. + +"In six months, all you've gone through here will seem nothing but a +hideous dream," her brother had promised her. Was there ever a man since +the world began that understood a woman! A dream! The only time in her +life that she had really lived. No, all the rest of her life might be of +the stuff that dreams are made on, but not this. And like a +sleep-walker, dead to all sensation, she must go through with it. + +And she was not yet thirty. All of her father's family--and she was +physically the daughter of her father, not of her mother--lived to such +a great age. In all human probability there would be at least fifty +years of life left to her. Fifty years with all that made life worth +living behind one! + +She supposed he would eventually get a divorce. She remembered to have +heard that such things were easy out here, not like it was in England. +And he was a man who would be sure to marry again, he would want a +family. + +And it was some other woman who would be the mother of his children! + +The wave of passion that swept her now, made up of bitter regret, of +longing and of jealousy, overwhelmed her as never before. + +She had been pacing the room up and down, up and down, stopping now and +then to touch some little familiar object with a touch that was a +caress. + +But at this last thought, she sank into a chair and buried her face in +her hands. + +The storm of weeping which shook her had nearly spent itself, when she +heard steps coming toward the house, a step that her heart had known for +many a day. Drying her eyes quickly, she went to the window and made a +pretense of looking out that he might not see her tear-stained face. She +made a last call on her pride and strength to carry her through the +coming interview. He should never know what leaving cost her; that she +promised herself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +"Ed drove over with Reg and Emma; I guess he won't be very long. There +was something he wanted to say to old man Sharp that he'd forgot about." + +"Then you didn't get your talk with him?" + +She was glad of that. It was better to have their own talk first. But as +it had been _he_ who had broached the subject of her leaving, it was he +who must reopen it. + +"No, but I guess anything I've got to say to him will keep till he gets +back. Ed's thinking of buying a clearing-machine that's for sale over +Prentice way." + +"Yes, he told me." + +Without turning her head, she could tell that he was looking around for +the matches. He never could remember that they were kept in a jar over +on the shelf back of the stove. He was going to smoke his pipe, of +course. When men were nervous about anything they always flew to +tobacco. Women were denied that poor consolation. But she, too, felt the +necessity of having something to occupy her hands. She went back to the +table, and taking some of Frank's thick woolen socks from her basket, +sat down and began mechanically to darn them. She purposely placed +herself so that he could only see her profile. Even then, he would see +that her eyes were still red; she hadn't had time to bathe them. + +"I suppose I look a sight, but poor Mrs. Sharp was so upset! She broke +down and cried and of course I've been crying, too. I'm so thankful it's +turned out all right for her. Poor thing, I never saw her in such a +state!" + +"They've got five children to feed. I guess it would make a powerful lot +of difference to them," he said quietly. + +"I wish you'd told me all about it before. I felt that something was +worrying you, and I didn't know what." There was a pause. "Why _didn't_ +you tell me?" + +"If I saved the crop, there didn't seem any use fussing, and if I +didn't, you'd know soon enough." + +"How could you bear to let me put those dreadful flowers here in the +house?" she said, pointing to the bowl on the table. + +"Oh, I guess I didn't mind, if it gave you any pleasure. You didn't know +they was only a weed and a poisonous one for us farmers. You thought +them darned pretty." + +"That was very kind of you, Frank," said Nora. Her voice shook a little +in spite of her effort to control it. + +"I guess it's queer that a darned little flower like that should be able +to do so much damage." + +That subject exhausted, there came another pause. He was very evidently +waiting her lead. Could Eddie have told him anything about the news from +England? No, he hadn't had any opportunity. Besides it would have been +very unlike Eddie, who, as a general rule, had a supreme talent for +minding his own affairs. + +"How did it happen that you didn't tell me that you had written to +Eddie?" + +"I guess I forgot." + +She waited a few moments to make sure that her voice was quite steady: + +"Frank, Eddie brought me some letters from home--from England, I +mean--to-day. I've had an offer of a job back in England." + +He got up slowly and went over to the corner where the broom hung to get +some straws to run through the mouthpiece of his pipe. His face was +turned from her, so that she could not see that he had closed his eyes +for a moment and that his mouth was drawn with pain. + +When he turned he had resumed his ordinary expression. His voice was +perfectly steady when he spoke: + +"An offer of a job? Gee! I guess you'll jump at that." + +"It's funny it should have come just when you had been talking of my +going away." + +"Very." + +Not even a comment. Oh, why didn't he say that he would be glad to have +her gone, and be done with it! Anything, almost, would be easier to bear +than this total lack of interest. She tried another tack. + +"Have you any--any objection?" + +"I guess it wouldn't make a powerful lot of difference to you if I had." +He could actually smile, his good-natured, indulgent smile, which she +knew so well. + +"What makes you think that?" + +"Oh, I guess you only stayed on here because you had to." + +Nora's work dropped in her lap. + +"Is life always like that?" she said with bitter sadness. "The things +you've wanted so dreadfully seem only to bring you pain when they come." + +He gave her a swift glance, but went on smoking quietly. She went over +to the window again and stood looking out at the stretch of prairie. +Presently she spoke in a low voice, but her words were addressed as much +to herself as to him: + +"Month after month, this winter, I used to sit here looking out at the +prairie. Sometimes I wanted to scream at the top of my voice. I felt +that I must break that awful silence or go mad. There were times when +the shack was like a prison. I thought I should never escape. I was +hemmed in by the snow and the cold and the stillness; cut off from +everything and everybody, from all that had been the world I knew." + +"Are you going to quit right now with Ed?" he asked gently. + +Nora went slowly back to her chair. "You seem in a great hurry to be rid +of me," she said, with the flicker of a smile. + +"Well, I guess we ain't made a great success of our married life, my +girl." He went over to the stove to knock the ashes from his pipe. "It's +rum, when you come to figure it out," he said, when it was once more +lighted; "I thought I could make you do everything I wanted, just +because I was bigger and stronger. It sure did look like I held a +straight flush. And you beat me." + +"I?" said Nora in astonishment. + +"Why, sure. You don't mean to say you didn't know _that_?" + +"I don't know at all what you mean." + +"I guess I was pretty ignorant about women," his began pacing up and +down the floor as he talked. "I guess I didn't know how strong a woman +could be. You was always givin' way; you done everything I told you. +And, all the time, you was keeping something back from me that I +couldn't get at. Whenever I thought I was goin' to put my hand on +you--zip! You was away again. I guess I found I'd only caught hold of a +shadow." + +"I don't know what more you expected. I didn't know you wanted anything +more!" + +"I guess I wanted love," he said in a tone so low that she barely caught +it. + +He stood over by the table, looking down on her from his great height. +His face was flushed, but his eyes were steady and unashamed. + +"You!" + +She looked at him in absolute consternation. Her breath came in hurried +gasps. But her heart sang in her breast and the little pathetic droop of +her mouth disappeared. Her telltale eyes dropped on her work. Not yet, +not yet; she was greedy to hear more. + +"I know you now less well than when you'd been only a week up to Ed's." +He resumed his pacing up and down. "I guess I've lost the trail. I'm +just beating round, floundering in the bush." + +"I never knew you wanted love," she said softly. + +"I guess I didn't know it until just lately, either." + +"I suppose parting's always rather painful," she said with just the +beginning of a little smile creeping round the corners of her lips. + +"If you go back--_when_ you go back," he corrected himself, "to the old +country, I guess--I guess you'll never want to come back." + +"Perhaps you'll come over to England yourself, one of these days. If you +only have a couple of good years, you could easily shut up the place and +run over for the winter," she said shyly. + +"I guess that would be a dangerous experiment. You'll be a lady in +England. I guess I'd still be only the hired man." + +"You'd be my husband." + +"N-o-o-o," he said, with a shake of the head. "I guess I wouldn't chance +it." + +She tried another way. She was sure of her happiness now; she could play +with it a little longer. + +"You'll write to me now and then, and tell me how you're getting on, +won't you?" + +"Will you care to know?" he asked quickly. + +"Why, yes, of course I shall." + +"Well," he said, throwing back his head proudly, "I'll write and tell +you if I'm making good. If I ain't, I guess I shan't feel much like +writing." + +"But you _will_ make good, Frank. I know you well enough for that." + +"Do you?" His tone was grateful. + +"I have learned to--to respect you during these months we've lived +together. You have taught me a great deal. All sorts of qualities which +I used to think of great value seem unimportant to me now. I have +changed my ideas about many things." + +"We have each learned something, I guess," he said generously. + +Nora gave him a grateful glance. He stood for a moment at the far end of +the room and watched her roll up the socks she had just darned. How neat +and deft she was. After all, there _was_ something in being a lady, as +Mrs. Sharp had said. Neither she nor Gertie, both capable women, could +do things in quite the same way that Nora did. + +Oh, why had she come into his life at all! She had given him the taste +for knowledge, for better things of all sorts; and now she was going +away, going away forever. He had no illusions about her ever returning. +Not she, once she had escaped from a life she hated. Had she not just +said as much when she said that the shack had seemed like a prison to +her? + +And now, in place of going on in the old way that had always seemed good +enough to him before he knew anything better, mulling about, getting his +own meals, with only one thought, one ambition in the world--the success +of his crops and the acquisition of more land that he might some day in +the dim future have a few thousands laid by--he would always be wanting +something he could never get without her: more knowledge of the things +that made life fuller and wider and broader, the things that she prized +and had known from her childhood. + +It was cruel and unfair of her to have awakened the desire in him only +to abandon him. To have held the cup of knowledge to his lips for one +brief instant and then leave him to go through life with his thirst +unslaked! Not that she was intentionally cruel. No, he thought he knew +all of her little faults of temper and of pride by this. Her heart was +too kindly to let her wound him knowingly, witness her tenderness to +poor Mrs. Sharp only this afternoon. But it hurt, none the less. She had +said that she had not known he wanted love. How should she have guessed +it? + +But the real thing that tortured him most was the fact that he wanted +her, her, her. She had been his, his woman. No other woman in this broad +earth could take her place. + +A little sound like a groan escaped him. + +"You'll think of me sometimes, my girl, won't you?" he said huskily. + +"I don't suppose I shall be able to help it." She smiled at him over her +shoulder, as she crossed the room to restore her basket to its place. + +"I was an ignorant, uneducated man. I didn't know how to treat you +properly. I wanted to make you happy, but I didn't seem to know just how +to do it." + +"You've never been unkind to me, Frank. You've been very patient with +me!" + +"I guess you'll be happier away from me, though. And I'll be able to +think that you're warm and comfortable and at home, and that you've +plenty to eat." + +"Do you think that's all I want?" she suddenly flashed at him. + +He gave her a quick glance and looked away immediately. + +"I couldn't expect you to stay on here, not when you've got a chance of +going back to the old country. This life is all new to you. You know +that one." + +"Oh, yes, I know it: I should think I did!" She gave a little mirthless +laugh, and went over to her chair again. + +"At eight o'clock every morning a maid will bring me tea and hot water. +And I shall get up, and I shall have breakfast. And, presently, I shall +interview the cook, and I shall order luncheon and dinner. And I shall +brush the coats of Mrs. Hubbard's little dogs and take them for a walk +on the common. All the paths on the common are asphalted, so that +elderly gentlemen and lady's companions shan't get their feet wet." + +"Gee, what a life!" + +She hardly gave him time for his exclamation. As she went on, mirth, +scorn, hatred and dismay came into her voice, but she was unconscious of +it. For the moment, everything else was forgotten but the vivid picture +which memory conjured up for her and which she so graphically described. + +"And then, I shall come in and lunch, and after luncheon I shall go for +a drive: one day we will turn to the right and one day we will turn to +the left. And then I shall have tea. And then I shall go out again on +the neat asphalt paths to give the dogs another walk. And then I shall +change my dress and come down to dinner. And after dinner I shall play +bezique with my employer; only I must take care not to beat her, +because she doesn't like being beaten. And at ten o'clock I shall go to +bed." + +A wave of stifling recollection choked her for a moment so that she +could not go on. Presently she had herself once more in hand. + +"At eight o'clock next morning a maid will bring in my tea and hot +water, and the day will begin again. Each day will be like every other +day. And, can you believe it, there are hundreds of women in England, +strong and capable, with red blood in their veins, who would be eager to +get this place which is offered to me. Almost a lady--and thirty-five +pounds a year!" + +She did not look toward him, or she would have seen a look of wonder, of +comprehension and of hope pass in turn over his face. + +"It seems a bit different from the life you've had here," he said, +looking out through the open doorway as if to point his meaning. + +"And you," she said, turning her eyes upon him, "you will be clearing +the scrub, cutting down trees, plowing the land, sowing and reaping. +Every day you will be fighting something, frost, hail or weed. You will +be fighting and I will know that you must conquer in the end. Where was +wilderness will be cultivated land. And who knows what starving child +may eat the bread that has been made from the wheat that you have +grown! _My_ life will be ineffectual and utterly useless, while +yours----" + +"What do you mean? Nora, Nora!" he said more to himself than to her. + +"While I was talking to Mrs. Sharp just now, I didn't know what I was +saying. I was just trying to comfort her when she was crying. And it +seemed to me as if someone else was speaking. And I listened to myself. +I thought I hated the prairie through the long winter months, and yet, +somehow, it has taken hold of me. It was dreary and monotonous, and yet, +I can't tear it out of my heart. There's beauty and a romance about it +which fills my very soul with longing." + +"I guess we all hate the prairie sometimes. But when you've once lived +on it, it ain't easy to live anywhere else." + +"I know the life now. It's not adventurous and exciting, as they think +back home. For men and women alike, it's the same hard work from morning +till night, and I know it's the women who bear the greater burden." + +"The men go into the towns, they have shooting, now and then, and the +changing seasons bring variety in their work; but for the women it's +always the same weary round: cooking, washing, sweeping, mending, in +regular and ceaseless rotation. And yet it's all got a meaning. We, +too, have our part in opening up the country. We are its mothers, and +the future is in us. We are building up the greatness of the nation. It +needs _our_ courage and strength and hope, and because it needs them, +they come to us. Oh, Frank, I can't go back to that petty, narrow life! +What have you done to me?" + +"I guess if I asked you to stay now, you'd stay," he said hoarsely. + +"You said you wanted love."--The lovely color flooded her face.--"Didn't +you see? Love has been growing in me slowly, month by month, and I +wouldn't confess it. I told myself I hated you. It's only to-day, when I +had the chance of leaving you forever, that I knew I couldn't live +without you. I'm not ashamed any more. Frank, my husband, I love you." + +He made a stride forward as if to take her in his arms, and then stopped +short, smitten by a recollection. + +"I--I guess I've loved you from the beginning, Nora," he stammered. + +She had risen to her feet and stood waiting him with shining eyes. + +"But why do you say it as if---- What _is_ it, Frank?" + +"I can't ask you to stay on now; I guess you'll have to take that job +in England, for a while, anyway." + +"Why?" + +"The inspector's condemned my whole crop; I'm busted." + +"Oh, why didn't you tell me!" + +"I just guess I couldn't. I made up my mind when I married you that I'd +make good. I couldn't expect you to see that it was just bad luck. +Anyone may get the weed in his crop. But, I guess a man oughtn't to have +bad luck. The odds are that it's his own fault if he has." + +"Ah, now I understand about your sending for Eddie." + +"I wrote to him when I knew I'd been reported." + +"But what are you going to do?" + +"It's all right about me; I can hire out again. It's _you_ I'm thinking +of. I felt pretty sure you wouldn't go back to Ed's. I don't fancy you +taking a position as lady help. I didn't know what was going to become +of you, my girl. And when you told me of the job you'd been offered in +England, I thought I'd have to let you go." + +"Without letting me know you were in trouble!" + +"Why, if I wasn't smashed up, d'you think I'd _let_ you go? By God, I +wouldn't! I'd have kept you. By God, I'd have kept you!" + +"Then you're going to give up the land," she made a sweeping gesture +which took in the prospect without. + +"No," he said, shaking his head. "I guess I can't do that. I've put too +much work in it. And I've got my back up, now. I shall hire out for the +summer, and next winter I can get work lumbering. The land's my own, +now. I'll come back in time for the plowing next year." + +He had been gazing sadly out of the door as he spoke. He turned to her +now ready to bring her what comfort he could. But in place of the +tearful face he had expected to see, he saw a face radiant with joy and +the light of love. In her hand was a little slip of colored paper which +she held out to him. + +"Look!" + +"What's that?" + +"The nephew of the lady I was with so long--Miss Wickham, you know--has +made me a present of it. Five hundred pounds. That's twenty-five hundred +dollars, isn't it? You can take the quarter-section you've wanted so +long, next to this one. You can get all the machinery you need. +And"--she gave a little, happy, mirthful laugh--"you can get some cows! +I've learned to do so many things, I guess I can learn to milk, if +you'll teach me and be very, very patient about it. Anyway, it's yours +to do what you like with. Now, will you keep me?" + +"Oh, my girl, how shall I ever be able to repay you!" + +"Good Heavens, I don't want thanks! There's nothing in all the world so +wonderful as to be able to give to one you love. Frank, won't you kiss +me?" + +He folded her in his arms. + +"I guess it's the first time you ever asked me to do that!" + +"I'm sure I'm the happiest woman in all the world!" she said happily. + +As they stood in the doorway, he with his arm about her, they saw Eddie +coming up the path toward them. + +Marsh's honest face, never a good mask for hiding his feelings, wore an +expression of bewildered astonishment at their lovelike attitude. + +"It's all right, old dear," said Nora with a happy laugh; "don't try to +understand it, you're only a man. But I'm not going back to England, to +Mrs. Hubbard and her horrid little dogs; I'm going to stay right here. +This overgrown baby has worked on my feelings by pretending that he +needs me." + +"And now, if you'll be good enough to hurry Reggie a little, we'll all +have some supper; it's long past the proper time." + +And as she bustled about her preparations, her brother heard her singing +one of the long-ago songs of their childhood. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + "The Books You Like to Read + at the Price You Like to Pay" + + +THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERYTHING-- + +--including the wrapper which covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. When +you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully selected +list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by prominent +writers of the day which is printed on the back of every Grosset & +Dunlap book wrapper. + +You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from--books for +every mood and every taste and every pocket-book. + +Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to +the publishers for a complete catalog. + + There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book + for every mood and for every taste. + + * * * * * + + + MARGARET PEDLER'S NOVELS + + May be had wherever books are sold. + Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. + + +RED ASHES + A gripping story of a doctor who failed in a crucial operation--and had + only himself to blame. Could the woman he loved forgive him? + +THE BARBARIAN LOVER + A love story based on the creed that the only important things between + birth and death are the courage to face life and the love to sweeten it. + +THE MOON OUT OF REACH + Nan Davenant's problem is one that many a girl has faced--her own + happiness or her father's bond. + +THE HOUSE OF DREAMS-COME-TRUE + How a man and a woman fulfilled a gypsy's strange prophecy. + +THE HERMIT OF FAR END + How love made its way into a walled-in house and a walled-in heart. + +THE LAMP OF FATE + The story of a woman who tried to take all and give nothing. + +THE SPLENDID FOLLY + Do you believe that husbands and wives should have no secrets from each + other? + +THE VISION OF DESIRE + An absorbing romance written with all that sense of feminine tenderness + that has given the novels of Margaret Pedler their universal appeal. + + Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's notes + + 1. Punctuation has been made regular and consistent with contemporary + standards. + + 2. All illustrations carried the credit line: "The Canadian--Photoplay + title of The Land of Promise." and "A Paramount Picture." in + addition to the caption presented with each illustration in the text. + + 3. Contemporary spelling retained, for example: dependant, indorsement, + subtile, and intrenched as used in this text. + + 4. Table of Contents was not present in the original text. + + 5. Spelling corrections: + page 25, "splendid" for "spendid" ("splendid defiance"). + page 227, "Antarctic" for "Antartic" ("ocean of the Antarctic"). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE*** + + +******* This file should be named 18410-8.txt or 18410-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/18410-8.zip b/18410-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..be0a449 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-8.zip diff --git a/18410-h.zip b/18410-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..306c1ae --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h.zip diff --git a/18410-h/18410-h.htm b/18410-h/18410-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af3b6cd --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/18410-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8764 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Land of Promise, by D. Torbett</title> + <style type="text/css"> + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + h1,h2,h3 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + table {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} + hr.full {width:100%; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + hr.major {width:75%; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + hr.minor {width:30%; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; + font-size: 90% } + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + .caption {font-size: 80%;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .ul {text-decoration: underline;} + pre {font-size: 75%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Land of Promise, by D. Torbett</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Land of Promise</p> +<p>Author: D. Torbett</p> +<p>Release Date: May 17, 2006 [eBook #18410]<br /> +Most recently updated: May 28, 2009</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + + + +<table width="450" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Title Page" border="1"> + <col style="width:80%;" /> + <tr> + <td align="center"> + <p style="margin-top: 4em"></p> + <span style="font-size: 230%">THE CANADIAN</span><br /><br /> + <span style="font-size: 120%">PHOTOPLAY TITLE OF</span><br /><br /> + <span style="font-size: 180%">THE LAND OF PROMISE</span><br /> + <br /> + <span style="font-size: 100%; font-style:italic">A Novelization of</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 100%; font-style:italic">W. Somerset Maugham's Play</span><br /> + <br /><br /> + <span style="font-size: 90%">BY</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 140%;">D. TORBETT</span> + <br /><br /> + <span style="font-size: 70%">ILLUSTRATED WITH SCENES</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 70%">FROM THE PHOTOPLAY</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 70%">A PARAMOUNT PICTURE</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 70%">STARRING THOMAS MEIGHAN</span><br /> + <br /><br /> + <div class='figcenter'> + <img src='images/illus-emb.png' alt='' title='' /> + </div> + <br /> + <span style="font-size: 120%">GROSSET & DUNLAP</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 90%">PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</span><br /> + <span style="font-size: 80%">1914</span><br /><br /><br /> + </td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p style="text-align: center; font-size:80%">Made in the United States of America</p> +<hr class="major" /> + +<p style="text-align: center; font-variant:small-caps; font-size:80%" > +Copyright, 1914, by<br/> +Edward J. Clode +</p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<div class='figcenter' style='width: 400px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> +<a name="illus-000" id="illus-000"></a> +<img src='images/illus-000.jpg' width='400' +alt='LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND IS FINALLY BORN IN NORA.' +title='LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND IS FINALLY BORN IN NORA.' /> +<br /> +<span class='caption'> +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: This illustration originally appeared before title page">LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND IS FINALLY BORN IN NORA.</ins></span> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>Contents</h2> +<div class="smcap"> +<table width="75%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<col style="width:80%;" /> +<col style="width:20%;" /> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER I</td><td align="right"><a href="#I">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER II</td><td align="right"><a href="#II">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER III</td><td align="right"><a href="#III">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER IV</td><td align="right"><a href="#IV">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER V</td><td align="right"><a href="#V">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VI</td><td align="right"><a href="#VI">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VI</td><td align="right"><a href="#VII">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VIII</td><td align="right"><a href="#VIII">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER IX</td><td align="right"><a href="#IX">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER X</td><td align="right"><a href="#X">155</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XI</td><td align="right"><a href="#XI">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XII</td><td align="right"><a href="#XII">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIII</td><td align="right"><a href="#XIII">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIV</td><td align="right"><a href="#XIV">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XV</td><td align="right"><a href="#XV">242</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XVI</td><td align="right"><a href="#XVI">257</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XVII</td><td align="right"><a href="#XVII">278</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XVIII</td><td align="right"><a href="#XVIII">295</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>Illustrations</h2> +<table width="75%" cellpadding="2" summary="Illustrations"> +<col style="width:80%;" /> +<col style="width:20%;" /> +<tr> + <td align="left">Love for her husband is finally born in Nora.</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#illus-000">Frontispiece</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left">Nora overhears Frank say wives are made for work only.</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#illus-074">74</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left">Married–though secretly enemies.</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#illus-138">138</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left">Frank glimpses the approaching storm that means his ruin.</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#illus-218">218</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<h1>THE LAND OF PROMISE</h1> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> +</div> + +<p>Nora opened her eyes to an unaccustomed consciousness of well-being. She +was dimly aware that it had its origin in something deeper than mere +physical comfort; but for the moment, in that state between sleeping and +wakening, which still held her, it was enough to find that body and mind +seemed rested.</p> + +<p>Youth was reasserting itself. And it was only a short time ago that she +had felt that never, never, could she by any possible chance feel young +again. When one is young, one resents the reaction after any strain not +purely physical as if it were a premature symptom of old age.</p> + +<p>A ray of brilliant sunshine, which found its way through a gap in the +drawn curtains, showed that it was long past the usual hour for rising. +She smiled whimsically and closed her eyes once more. She remembered now +that she was not in her own little room in the other wing of the house. +The curtains proved that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> How often in the ten years she had been with +Miss Wickham had she begged that the staring white window blind, which +decorated her one window, be replaced by curtains or even a blind of a +dark tone that she might not be awakened by the first ray of light. She +had even ventured to propose that the cost of such alterations be +stopped out of her salary. Miss Wickham had refused to countenance any +such innovation.</p> + +<p>Three years before, when the offending blind had refused to hold +together any longer, Nora had had a renewal of hope. But no! The new +blind had been more glaringly white than its predecessor, which by +contrast had taken on a grateful ivory tone in its old age. They had had +one of their rare scenes at its advent. Nora had as a rule an admirable +control of her naturally quick temper. But this had been too much.</p> + +<p>"I might begin to understand your refusal if you ever entered my room. +But since it would no more occur to you to do so than to visit the +stables, I cannot see what possible difference it can make," Nora had +stormed.</p> + +<p>Miss Wickham's smile, which at the beginning of her companion's outburst +had been faintly ironic, had broadened into the frankly humorous.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Stated with your characteristic regard for exactitude, my dear Miss +Marsh, it would never enter my head to do either. I prefer the white +blind, however. As you know, I have no taste for explanations. We will +let the matter rest there, if you please." Then she had added: "Some +day, I strongly suspect, some man will amuse himself breaking that fiery +temper of yours. I wish I were not so old, I think that I should enjoy +knowing that he had succeeded." And the incident had ended, as always, +with a few angry tears on Nora's part, as a preliminary to the +inevitable game of bezique which finished off each happy day!</p> + +<p>And this had been her life for ten years! A wave of pity, not for +herself but for that young girl of eighteen who had once been herself, +that proudly confident young creature who, when suddenly deprived of the +protection of her only parent,—Nora's father had died when she was too +young to remember him,—had so bravely faced the world, serene in the +consciousness that the happiness which was her right was sure to be hers +after a little waiting, dimmed her eyes for a moment. The dreams she had +dreamed after she had received Miss Wickham's letter offering her the +post of companion! She recalled how she had smiled to herself when the +agent with whom she had filed her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> application congratulated her warmly +on her good fortune in placing herself so promptly, and, by way of +benediction, had wished that she might hold the position for many years. +Many years indeed! That had been no part of her plan. Those nebulous +plans had always been consistently rose-colored. It was impossible to +remember them all now.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the unknown Miss Wickham turned out to be a soft-hearted and +sentimental old lady who was completely won by her young companion's +charm and unmistakable air of good breeding. After a short time, she +either adopted her, or, on dying, left her her entire fortune.</p> + +<p>Again, she proved to be a perfect ogre. In this variation it was always +the Prince Charming, that looms large in every young girl's dreams, who +finally, after a brief period of unhappiness, came to the rescue and +everything ended happily if somewhat conventionally.</p> + +<p>The reality had been sadly different. Miss Wickham had disclosed herself +as being a hard, self-centered, worldly woman who considered that in +furnishing her young companion with board, lodging and a salary of +thirty pounds a year, she had, to use a commercial phrase, obtained the +option on her every waking hour, and indeed, during the last year of her +life, she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> extended this option to cover many of the hours which +should have been dedicated to rest and sleep.</p> + +<p>All the fine plans that the young Nora had made while journeying down +from London to Tunbridge Wells, for going on with her music, improving +herself in French and perhaps taking up another modern language, in her +leisure hours, had been nipped in the bud before she had been an inmate +of Miss Wickham's house many days. She had no leisure hours. Miss +Wickham saw to that. She had apparently an abhorrence for her own +unrelieved society that amounted to a positive mania. She must never be +left alone. Let Nora but escape to her own little room in the vain hope +of obtaining a few moments to herself, and Kate, the parlor maid, was +certain to be sent after her.</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham's compliments and she was waiting to be read to." "Miss +Wickham's compliments, but did Miss Marsh know that the horses were at +the door?" "Miss Wickham's compliments, and should she have Kate set out +the backgammon board?"</p> + +<p>And upon the rare occasions when there was company in the house, Miss +Wickham's ingenuity in providing occupation for dear Miss Marsh, while +she was herself occupied with her friends, was inexhaustible. In an evil +hour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> Nora had confessed to a modest talent for washing lace. Miss +Wickham, it developed, had a really fine collection of beautiful pieces +which naturally required the most delicate handling. Their need for +being washed was oddly coincident with the moment when the expected +guest arrived at the door.</p> + +<p>Or, it appeared that the slugs had attacked the rose trees in unusual +numbers. The gardener was in despair as he was already behind with +setting out the annuals. "Would Miss Marsh mind while Miss Wickham had +her little after-luncheon nap——!" Miss Marsh did mind. She loved +flowers; to arrange them was a delight—at least it had been once—but +she hated slugs. But she was too young and too inexperienced to know how +to combat the subtle encroachments upon her own time made by this +selfish old woman. And so, gradually, she had found that she was not +only companion, but a sort of superior lady's maid and assistant +gardener as well. And all for thirty pounds a year and her keep.</p> + +<p>And alas! Prince Charming had never appeared, unless—Nora laughed aloud +at the thought—he had disguised himself with a cleverness defying +detection. With Reginald Hornby, a callow youth, the son of Miss +Wickham's dearest friend, who occasionally made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> the briefest of duty +visits; Mr. Wynne, the family solicitor, an elderly bachelor; and the +doctor's assistant, a young person by the name of Gard, Nora's list of +eligible men was complete. There had been a time when Nora had flirted +with the idea of escaping from bondage by becoming the wife of young +Gard.</p> + +<p>He was a rather common young man, but he had been sincerely in love with +her. He was not sufficiently subtle to recognize that it was the idea of +escaping from Miss Wickham and the deadly monotony of her days that +tempted her. He had laid his case before Miss Wickham. There had been +some terrible scenes. Nora had felt the lash of her employer's bitter +tongue. Partly because she was still smarting from the attack, and +partly because she was indignant with her suitor for having gone to Miss +Wickham at all and particularly without consulting her, she, too, had +turned on the unfortunate young man. There had been mutual +recriminations and reproaches, and young Gard, after his brief and +bitter experience with the gentry, had left the vicinity of Tunbridge +Wells and later on married a girl of his own class.</p> + +<p>But Miss Wickham had been more shaken at the prospect of losing her +young companion, who was so thoroughly broken in, than she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> would have +liked to have confessed. She detested new faces about her, and as a +matter of fact, she came as nearly caring for Nora as it was possible +for her to care for any human being. She had told the girl then that it +was her intention to make some provision for her at her death, so that +she might have a decent competence and not be obliged to look for +another position. There was, of course, the implied understanding that +she would remain with Miss Wickham until that lady was summoned to a +better and brighter world, a step which Miss Wickham, herself, was in no +immediate hurry to take. In the meantime, she knew perfectly well just +how often a prospective legacy could be dangled before expectant eyes +with perfect delicacy.</p> + +<p>It furnished her with an additional weapon, too, against her nephew, +James Wickham, and his wife, both of whom she cordially detested, +although she fully intended leaving them the bulk of her fortune. The +consideration and tenderness she showed toward Nora when Mr. and Mrs. +Wickham ran down from London to see their dear aunt showed a latent +talent for comedy, on the part of the chief actress, of no mean order. +These occasions left Nora in a state of mind in which exasperation and +amusement were about equally blended. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> amusing to note the signs +of apprehension on the part of Miss Wickham's disagreeable relatives as +they noted their aunt's doting fondness for her hired companion. And +while she felt that they richly deserved this little punishment, it was +humiliating to be so cynically made use of.</p> + +<p>And now it was all over. After a year of illness and gradual decline the +end had come two days before. Nothing could induce Miss Wickham to have +a professional nurse. The long strain and weeks of broken rest had told +even on Nora's strength. Kindly Dr. Evans had insisted that she be put +immediately to bed and Kate, the parlor maid, who had always been +devoted to her, had undressed her as if she had been a baby. For the +last two days she had done little but sleep the dreamless sleep of utter +exhaustion. And to-day was the day of the funeral. She was just about to +ring to find the time, when Kate's gentle knock came at the door.</p> + +<p>"Come in. Good morning, Kate. Do tell me the time. Oh! How good it is to +be lazy once in a while."</p> + +<p>"Good morning to you, Miss. I hope you're feeling a bit rested. It's +just gone eleven. Dr. Evans has called, Miss. He told me to see if you +had waked."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How good of him. Ask him to wait a few moments and I'll come right +down." 'Coming right down' was not so easy a matter as she had thought. +Nora found herself strangely weak and languid. She was still sitting on +the edge of her bed, trying to gather energy for the task of dressing, +when Kate returned.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Miss, but Dr. Evans says you're not to get up until +he sees you. I'm to bring you a bit of toast and your tea and to help +you freshen up a bit and then he will come up in twenty minutes. He says +to tell you that he has plenty of time."</p> + +<p>Nora made a show of protest. Secretly she was rather glad to give in. +She had not reckoned with the weakness following two unaccustomed days +in bed. Dr. Evans was a kindly elderly man, whose one affectation was +the gruffness which the country doctor of the old school so often +assumes as if he wished to emphasize his disapproval of the modern suave +manner of his city <i>confrère</i>. He had a sardonic humor and a sharp +tongue which had at first quite terrified Nora, until she discovered +that they were meant to hide the most generous heart in the world. Many +were the kindly acts he performed in secret for the very people he was +most accustomed to abuse.</p> + +<p>Having felt Nora's pulse and looked at her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> sharply with his keen gray +eyes, he settled the question of her attendance at Miss Wickham's +funeral with his accustomed finality.</p> + +<p>"You'll do nothing of the sort," he growled. "You may get up after a +while and go and sit in the garden a bit; the air is fairly spring-like. +But this afternoon you must lie down again for an hour or two. I suppose +you'll have to get up to do the civil for James Wickham and his wife +before they go back to town. Oh, no! they'll not stay the night. They'll +rush back as fast as the train will take them, once they've heard the +will read. Couldn't bear the associations with the place, now that their +dear aunt has departed!" He gave one of his sardonic chuckles.</p> + +<p>"It may be nonsense"—this in reply to Nora's remonstrance—"but I'm not +going to have you on my hands next. You'll go to that funeral and get +hysterical like all women, and begin to think that you wish her back. I +should think this last year would have been about all anyone would want. +But you're a poor sentimental creature, after all," he jeered.</p> + +<p>"I'm nothing of the sort. But I did feel sorry for her, badly as she +often treated me. She was a desperately lonely old soul. Nobody cared a +bit about her, really, and she knew it."</p> + +<p>"In spite of all her little amiable tricks to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> make people love her," +said the doctor. "Now, remember, the garden for an hour this morning, +the drawing-room later in the day, after you've rested for an hour or +so. And don't dare disobey me." With that, he left.</p> + +<p>It was pleasant in the garden. The air, though chilly, held the promise +of spring. Warmly wrapped in an old cape, which the thoughtful Kate had +discovered somewhere, with a book on Paris and some Italian sketches to +fall back upon when her own thoughts ceased to divert her, Nora sat in a +sheltered corner and looked out on the border which would soon be gay +with the tulips whose green stocks were just beginning to push +themselves up through the brown earth. Poor Miss Wickham! She had been +so proud of her garden always. But for her it had bloomed for the last +time. Would the James Wickhams take as much pride in it? Somehow, she +fancied not. And she? Where would she be a year from now? A year! Where +would she be in another month?</p> + +<p>The whole world, in a modest sense, would he hers to choose from. While +she had no definite notion as to the amount of her legacy, she had +understood that it would bring in sufficient income to keep her from the +necessity of seeking further employment. Probably something between two +and three hundred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> pounds a year. She had always longed to travel. +Italy, France, Germany, Spain, she would see them all. One could live +very reasonably in really good pensions abroad, she had been told.</p> + +<p>And then, some day, after a few years of happy wandering, she might +adventure to that far-off Canada where her only brother was living the +life of a frontiersman on an incredibly huge farm. She had not seen him +for many years, but her heart warmed at the thought of seeing her only +relative again. He was much older. Yes, Eddie must now be about forty. +Oh, all of that. She, herself, was almost twenty-eight. But she wouldn't +go to him for several years. He had done one thing which seemed to her +quite dreadful. He had made an unfortunate marriage with a woman far +beneath him socially. Men were so weak! Because they fancied themselves +lonely, or even captivated by a pretty face, they were willing to make +impossible marriages. Women were different. Still, she had the grace to +blush when she recalled the episode of the doctor's assistant.</p> + +<p>Yes, she would go out to Eddie after his wife had had the chance to form +herself a little more. Living with a husband so much superior was bound +to have its influence. And she must have some really good qualities at +bottom or she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> could never have attracted him. There was nothing vicious +about her brother. She must write him of Miss Wickham's death. They were +neither of them fond of writing. It must be nearly a year since she had +heard from him last. And then, it was so difficult to keep up a +correspondence when people had no mutual friends and so little in +common.</p> + +<p>A glance at her watch told her that it must be nearly time for the +London Wickhams to arrive. It would be better not to see them, unless +they sent for her, until after they had returned from the cemetery. They +were just the sort of people to think that she was forgetting her +position if she had the manner of playing hostess by receiving them. +Thank goodness! she would probably never see them again after to-day.</p> + +<p>With a word to Kate that she would presently have her luncheon in her +room and then rest for a few hours until the people returned after the +funeral, she made her way to her own bare little room. How cold and bare +it was! With the exception of the framed pictures of her father and +mother and a small photograph of Eddie, taken before he had gone out, +there was nothing but the absolutely necessary furniture. Miss Wickham's +ideas of what a 'companion's' room should be like had partaken of the +aus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>tere. And all the rest of the house was so crowded and overloaded +with things. The drawing-room had always been an eyesore to Nora, +crammed as it was with little tables and cabinets containing china. And +in every available space there were porcelain ornaments and photographs +in huge silver frames. It was all like a badly arranged museum or a +huddled little curio shop. Well, she would soon be done with that, too!</p> + +<p>Armed with her portfolio and writing materials Nora returned to the +guest chamber, which was her temporary abode. The motherly Kate was +waiting with an appetizing lunch on a neat tray. What a good friend she +had been. She would be genuinely sorry to part with Kate. She must ask +her to give her some address that would always reach her. Who knew, +years hence when she returned to England, but what she might afford to +set up a modest flat with Kate to manage things for her. She would speak +to her on the morrow—after the will was read.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Kate, you knew just what would tempt me. Thank you so much! By the +way, has Miss Pringle sent any message?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss. Miss Pringle stopped on her way to the village a moment ago. +She was with Mrs. Hubbard and had only a moment. I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> to tell you that +she would call this afternoon and hoped you could see her. I told her, +Miss, that the doctor had said you were not to go to the burial. She +will come while they are away."</p> + +<p>"Let me know the moment she comes. I want to see her very much."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle was the only woman friend Nora had made in the years of her +sojourn at Tunbridge Wells. They had little in common beyond the +fellow-feeling that binds those in bondage. Miss Pringle was also a +companion. Her task mistress, Mrs. Hubbard, was in Nora's opinion, about +as stolidly brainless as a woman could well be. Miss Pringle was always +lauding her kindness. But then Miss Pringle had been a companion to +various rich women for thirty years. Nora had her own ideas as to the +value of the opinions of any woman who had been in slavery for thirty +years.</p> + +<p>Having eaten her luncheon and written her letter to her brother, she +felt glad to rest once more. How wise the doctor had been to forbid her +to go to the funeral, and how grateful she was that he had forbidden it, +was her last waking thought.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p>It was well on to three o'clock when Miss Pringle made her careful way +up the path that led to the late Miss Wickham's door.</p> + +<p>"How strange it will be not to find her in her own drawing-room!" she +reflected. "I don't recall that Nora Marsh and I have ever been alone +together for two consecutive minutes in our lives. I simply couldn't +have stood it."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell Miss Marsh you're here, Miss Pringle," said Kate, at the +door.</p> + +<p>"How is she to-day, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Still tired out, poor thing. The doctor made her promise to lie down +directly after she had had a bite of luncheon. But she said I was to let +her know the moment you came, Miss."</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad she didn't go to the funeral."</p> + +<p>"Dr. Evans simply wouldn't hear of it, Miss."</p> + +<p>"I wonder how she stood it all these months, waiting on Miss Wickham +hand and foot. She should have been made to have a professional nurse."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't very easy to make Miss Wickham<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> have anything she had made up +her mind not to, you know that, Miss," said Kate as she led the way to +the drawing-room. "Miss Marsh slept in Miss Wickham's room towards the +last, and the moment she fell asleep Miss Wickham would have her up +because her pillow wanted shaking or she was thirsty, or something."</p> + +<p>"I suppose she was very inconsiderate."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle did not in general approve of discussing things with +servants. But Nora had told her frequently how faithfully Kate looked +after her and, as far as it was possible, made things bearable, so she +felt she could make an exception of her.</p> + +<p>"Inconsiderate isn't the word, Miss. I wouldn't be a lady's companion," +Kate paused, her hand on the doorknob, to make a sweeping gesture, "not +for anything. What they have to put up with!"</p> + +<p>"Everyone isn't like Miss Wickham," said Miss Pringle, a trifle sharply. +"The lady I'm companion to, Mrs. Hubbard, is kindness itself."</p> + +<p>"That sounds like Miss Marsh coming down the stairs now," said Kate, +opening the door. "Miss Pringle is here, Miss."</p> + +<p>As Kate closed the door behind her, Nora advanced to meet her friend +from the doorway with her pretty smile and outstretched hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> Miss +Pringle kissed her warmly and then drew her down on a large sofa by her +side. Her glance had a certain note of disapproval as it took in her +friend's black dress, which did not escape that observant young person.</p> + +<p>"I was so glad to hear you were coming to me this afternoon; it is good +of you. How did you escape the dragon?"</p> + +<p>She had long ago nicknamed the excellent Mrs. Hubbard 'the dragon' +simply to tease Miss Pringle.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hubbard has gone for a drive with somebody or other and didn't +want me," said Miss Pringle primly. "You haven't been crying, Nora?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I couldn't help it. My dear, it's not unnatural."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle dropped the hand she had been stroking to clasp both her +own over the handle of her umbrella. "Well, I don't like to say anything +against her now she's dead, poor thing, but Miss Wickham was the most +detestable old woman I ever met."</p> + +<p>"Still," said Nora slowly, looking toward the French window which opened +on the garden, at the sun streaming through the drawn blinds, "I don't +suppose one can live so long with anyone and not be a little sorry to +part with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> them forever. I was Miss Wickham's companion for ten years."</p> + +<p>"How you stood it! Exacting, domineering, disagreeable!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose she was. Because she paid me a salary, she thought I +wasn't a human being. I certainly never knew anyone with such a bitter +tongue. At first I used to cry every night when I went to bed because of +the things she said to me. But I got used to them."</p> + +<p>"I wonder you didn't leave her. I would have." Miss Pringle attempting +to delude herself with the idea that she was a mettlesome, high-spirited +person who would stand no nonsense, was immensely diverting to Nora. To +hide an irrepressible smile, she went over to a bowl of roses which +stood on one of the little tables and pretended to busy herself with +their rearrangement.</p> + +<p>"Posts as lady's companions are not so easy to find, I fancy. At least I +remember that when I got this one I was thought to be extremely lucky +not to have to wait twice as long. I don't imagine things have bettered +much in our line, do you?"</p> + +<p>"That they have not," rejoined Miss Pringle gloomily. "They tell me the +agents' books are full of people wanting situations. Before I went to +Mrs. Hubbard I was out of one for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> nearly two years." Her voice shook a +little at the recollection. Her poor, tired, weather-beaten face +quivered as if she were about to cry.</p> + +<p>"It's not so had for you," said Nora soothingly. "You can always go and +stay with your brother."</p> + +<p>"You've a brother, too."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes. But he's farming in Canada. He has all he could do to keep +himself. He couldn't keep me, too."</p> + +<p>"How is he doing now?" asked Miss Pringle, to whom any new topic of +conversation was of interest. She had so little opportunity for +conversation at the irreproachable Mrs. Hubbard's, that lady having +apparently inherited a limited set of ideas from her late husband, 'as +Mr. Hubbard used to say' being her favorite introduction to any topic. +Miss Pringle saw herself making quite a little success at dinner that +night—there was to be a guest, she believed—by saying: "A friend of +mine has just been telling me of the success her brother is having way +out in Canada." "He is getting on?" she asked encouragingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's doing very well. He's got a farm of his own. He wrote over a +few years ago and told me he could always give me a home if I wanted +one."</p> + +<p>"Canada's so far off," observed Miss Prin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>gle deprecatingly. Her tone +seemed to imply that there were other disadvantages which she would +refrain from mentioning.</p> + +<p>Now while Nora had always had the same vague feeling that Canada, in +addition to being an immense distance off, was not quite, well, it +wasn't England—that was indisputable—she found herself unreasonably +irritated by her friend's tone.</p> + +<p>"Not when yon get there," she replied sharply.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle evidently deemed it best to change the subject. "Why don't +you draw the blinds?" she asked after a moment.</p> + +<p>"It is horrid, isn't it? But somehow I thought I ought to wait till they +came back from the funeral. But just see the sunlight; it must be +beautiful out of doors. Why don't we walk about in the garden? Do you +care for a wrap? I'll send Kate to fetch you something, if you do."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle having decided that her coat was sufficiently warm if they +did not sit anywhere too long and just walked in the paths where it was +sure not to be damp, they went out of the gloomy drawing-room into the +bright afternoon sunshine.</p> + +<p>"Don't you love a garden when things are just beginning to show their +heads? I some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>times think that spring is the most beautiful of all the +seasons. It's like watching the birth of a new world. I think the most +human thing about poor Miss Wickham was her fondness for flowers. She +always said she hoped she'd never die in winter."</p> + +<p>To Miss Pringle, the note of regret which crept now and again into +Nora's voice when she spoke of her late employer was a continual source +of bewilderment. Here was a woman who she knew had a quick temper and a +passionate nature speaking as if she actually sorrowed for the tyrant +who had so frequently made her life unbearable. She was sure that she +couldn't have felt more grieved if Providence had seen fit to remove the +excellent Mrs. Hubbard from the scene of her earthly activities. Poor +Miss Pringle! She did not realize that after thirty years of a life +passed as a hired companion that she no longer possessed either +sensibility or the power of affection. To her, one employer would be +very like another so long as they were fairly considerate and not too +unreasonable. It would be tiresome, to be sure, to have to learn the +little likes and dislikes of Mrs. Hubbard's successor. But what would +you? Life was filled with tiresome moments. Poor Miss Pringle!</p> + +<p>Her next remark was partly to make con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>versation and partly because she +might obtain further light upon this perplexing subject. She made a +mental note that she must not forget to speak to Mrs. Hubbard of Nora's +grief over Miss Wickham's death. Naturally, she would be gratified.</p> + +<p>"Well, it must be a great relief to you now it's all over," she said.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I can't realize it," said Nora simply. "These last few weeks +I hardly got to bed at all, and when the end came I was utterly +exhausted. For two days I have done nothing but sleep. Poor Miss +Wickham. She did hate dying."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle had a sort of triumph. She had proved her point. Even Mrs. +Hubbard could not doubt it now! "That's the extraordinary part of it. I +believe you were really fond of her."</p> + +<p>"Do you know that for nearly a year she would eat nothing but what I +gave her with my own hands. And she liked me as much as she was capable +of liking anybody."</p> + +<p>"That wasn't much," Miss Pringle permitted herself.</p> + +<p>"And then I was so dreadfully sorry for her."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!"</p> + +<p>"She'd been a hard and selfish woman all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> her life, and there was no one +who cared for her," Nora went on passionately. "It seemed so dreadful to +die like that and leave not a soul to regret one. Her nephew and his +wife were just waiting for her death. It was dreadful. Each time they +came down from London I could see them looking at her to see if she was +any worse than when last they'd seen her."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miss Pringle with a sort of +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'spendid'">splendid</ins> +defiance, "I thought +her a horrid old woman, and I'm glad she's dead. And I only hope she's +left you well provided for."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think she's done that," Nora smiled happily into her friend's +face. "Yes, I can be quite sure of that, I fancy. Two years ago, when +I—when I nearly went away, she said she'd left me enough to live on."</p> + +<p>They walked on for a moment or two in silence until they had reached the +end of the path, where there was a little arbor in which Miss Wickham +had been in the habit of having her tea afternoons when the weather +permitted.</p> + +<p>"Do you think we would run any risk if we sat down here a few moments? +Suppose we try it. We can walk again if you feel in the least chilled. I +think the view so lovely from here. Besides, I can see the carriage the +moment it enters the gate."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle sat down with the air of a per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>son who was hardly conscious +of what she was doing.</p> + +<p>"You say she told you she had left you something when you nearly went +away," she went on in the hesitating manner of one who has been +interrupted while reading aloud and is not quite sure that she has +resumed at the right place. "You mean when that assistant of Dr. Evans +wanted to marry you? I'm glad you wouldn't have him."</p> + +<p>"He was very kind and—and nice," said Nora gently. "But, of course, he +wasn't a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't like to live with a man at all," retorted Miss Pringle, +with unshakable conviction. "I think they're horrid; but of course it +would be utterly impossible if he weren't a gentleman."</p> + +<p>Nora's eyes twinkled with amusement; she gave a little gurgle of +laughter. "He came to see Miss Wickham, but she wouldn't have anything +to do with him. First, she said she couldn't spare me, and then she said +that I had a very bad temper."</p> + +<p>"I like <i>her</i> saying that," retorted her listener.</p> + +<p>"It's quite true," said Nora with a deprecating wave of her hand. "Every +now and then I felt I couldn't put up with her any more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> I forgot that +I was dependent on her, and that if she dismissed me, I probably +shouldn't be able to find another situation, and I just flew at her. I +must say she was very nice about it; she used to look at me and grin, +and when it was all over, say: 'My dear, when you marry, if your +husband's a wise man, he'll use a big stick now and then.'"</p> + +<p>"Old cat!"</p> + +<p>"I should like to see any man try it," said Nora with emphasis.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle dismissed the supposition with a wave of her hand. "How +much do you think she's left you?" she asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Well, of course I don't know; the will is going to be read this +afternoon, when they come back from the funeral. But from what she said, +I believe about two hundred and fifty pounds a year."</p> + +<p>"It's the least she could do. She's had the ten best years of your +life." Nora gave a long, happy sigh. "Just think of it! Never to be at +anybody's beck and call again. I shall be able to get up when I like and +go to bed when I like, go out when I choose and come in when I choose. +Think of what that means!"</p> + +<p>"Unless you marry—you probably will," said Miss Pringle in a +discouraging tone.</p> + +<p>"Never."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What do you purpose doing?"</p> + +<p>"I shall go to Italy, Florence, Rome; oh, everywhere I've so longed to +go. Do you think it's horrible of me? I'm so happy!"</p> + +<p>"My dear child!" said Miss Pringle with real feeling.</p> + +<p>At that moment the sound of carriage wheels came to them. Turning +quickly, Nora saw the carriage containing Mr. and Mrs. Wickham coming up +the drive. "There they are now. How the time has gone!"</p> + +<p>"I'd better go, hadn't I?" said Miss Pringle with manifest reluctance.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you must: I'm sorry."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't I go up to your room and wait there? I do so want to know +about the will."</p> + +<p>Nora hesitated a moment. She didn't want to take Miss Pringle up to her +bare little room. A sort of loyalty to the woman who was, after all, to +be her benefactress—for was she not, after all, with her legacy, going +to make the happy future pay rich interest for the unhappy past?—made +her reluctant to let anyone know how poorly she had been lodged.</p> + +<p>"No," she said; "I'll tell you what, stay here in the garden. They want +to catch the four-something back to London. And, later, we can have a +cozy little tea all by ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Oh, my dear," said Miss Prin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>gle with emotion, "I'm so +sincerely happy in your good luck!"</p> + +<p>Nora was genuinely moved. She leaned over and kissed Miss Pringle, her +eyes filling with quick tears.</p> + +<p>Then she went into the house. The Wickhams were already in the +drawing-room. Mrs. James Wickham was a pretty young woman, a good ten +years younger than her unattractive husband. Of the two, Nora preferred +Mr. Wickham. There was a certain cynicism about her insincerity which +his, somehow, lacked. Even now, they wore their rue with a difference.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham's mourning was as correct and elegant as a fashionable +dressmaker could make it; the very latest thing in grief. Mr. Wickham +was far less sumptuous. Beyond the customary band on his hat and a pair +of black gloves conspicuously new, he had apparently made little +expenditure on his costume. As Nora entered, Mrs. Wickham was pulling +off her gloves.</p> + +<p>"How do yon do?" she said carelessly. "Ouf! Do put the blinds up, Miss +Marsh. Really, we needn't be depressed any more. Jim, if you love me, +take those gloves off. They're perfectly revolting."</p> + +<p>"Why, what's wrong with them! The fellow in the shop told me they were +the right thing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No doubt; I never saw anyone look quite so funereal as you do."</p> + +<p>"Well," retorted her husband, "you didn't want me to get myself up as if +I were going to a wedding, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Were there many people?" said Nora hastily.</p> + +<p>The insolence of Mrs. Wickham's glance was scarcely veiled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, quite a lot," she drawled. "The sort of people who indulge in other +peoples' funerals as a mild form of dissipation."</p> + +<p>"I hope Wynne will look sharp," said her husband hastily, looking at his +watch. "I don't want to miss that train."</p> + +<p>"Who were all those stodgy old things who wrung your hand afterwards, +Jim?" asked his wife. She was moving slowly about the room picking up +the various little objects scattered about and examining the contents of +one of the cabinets with the air of an appraiser.</p> + +<p>"I can't think. They did make me feel such a fool."</p> + +<p>"Oh, was that it?" laughed his wife. "I saw you looking a perfect owl +and I thought you were giving a very bad imitation of restrained +emotion."</p> + +<p>"Dorothy!" in a tone of remonstrance.</p> + +<p>"Would you care for some tea, Mrs. Wick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>ham?" Nora broke in. To her the +whole scene was positively indecent. She longed to make her escape, but +felt that it would be considered part of her duty to remain as long as +the Wickhams stayed. As she was about to ring the bell, Mrs. Wickham +stopped her with a gesture.</p> + +<p>"Well, you might send some in so that it'll be ready when Mr. Wynne +comes. We'll ring for you, shall we?" she added. "I dare say you've got +one or two things you want to do now."</p> + +<p>"Very good, Mrs. Wickham."</p> + +<p>Nora could feel her cheeks burn as she left the room. But she was +thankful to escape. Outside the door she hesitated for a moment. There +was no good in rejoining Miss Pringle as yet. She had no news for her. +She hoped Mr. Wynne would not be delayed much longer. The Wickhams could +not possibly be more anxious to get back to London than she was to have +them go. How gratuitously insolent that woman was. Thank Heaven, she +need never see her again after to-day. Of course, she was furious +because she suspected that the despised companion was to be a +beneficiary under the will. How could anyone be so mean as to begrudge +her her well-earned share in so large a fortune! Well, the coming hour +would tell the tale.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the table in her room was the letter to her brother which she had +forgotten to send to the post. Slipping down the stairs again, she went +in search of Kate to see if it were too late to send it to the village. +Now that it was written, she had almost a superstitions feeling that it +was important that it should catch the first foreign mail.</p> + +<p>As she passed the door of the drawing-room, she could hear James +Wickham's voice raised above its normal pitch. Were they already +quarreling over the spoils!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p>Nora's surmise had been very nearly correct; the Wickhams were +quarreling, but not, as yet, over the spoils. James Wickham had waited +until the door had closed behind his aunt's companion to rebuke his +wife's untimely frivolity.</p> + +<p>"I say, Dorothy, you oughtn't to be facetious before Miss Marsh. She was +extremely attached to Aunt Louisa."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what nonsense!" jeered Mrs. Wickham, throwing herself pettishly +into a chair. "I find it's always a very good rule to judge people by +oneself, and I'm positive she was just longing for the old lady to die."</p> + +<p>"She was awfully upset at the end, you know that yourself."</p> + +<p>"Nerves! Men are so idiotic. They never understand that there are tears +<i>and</i> tears. I cried myself, and Heaven knows I didn't regret her +death."</p> + +<p>"My dear Dorothy, you oughtn't to say that."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" retorted his wife. "It's perfectly true. Aunt Louisa was a +detestable person and no one would have stood her for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> minute if she +hadn't had money. I can't see the use of being a hypocrite <i>now</i> that it +can't make any difference either way. Oh, why doesn't that man hurry +up!" She resumed once more her impatient walk about the room.</p> + +<p>"I wish Wynne would come," said her husband, glad to change the subject, +particularly as he felt that he had failed to be very impressive. "It'll +be beastly inconvenient if we miss that train," he finished, glancing +again at his watch.</p> + +<p>"And another thing," said Mrs. Wickham, turning sharply as she reached +the end of the room, "I don't trust that Miss Marsh. She looks as if she +knew what was in the will."</p> + +<p>"I don't for a moment suppose she does. Aunt Louisa wasn't the sort of +person to talk."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, I'm sure she knows she's been left something."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, I think she has the right to expect that. Aunt Louisa led her +a dog's life."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham made an angry gesture. "She had her wages and a comfortable +home. If she didn't like the place, she could have left it," she said +pettishly. "After all," she went on in a quieter tone, "it's family +money. In my opinion, Aunt Louisa had no right to leave it to +strangers."</p> + +<p>"I don't think we ought to complain if Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> Marsh gets a small +annuity," said her husband soothingly. "I understand Aunt Louisa +promised her something of the sort when she had a chance of marrying a +couple of years ago."</p> + +<p>"Miss Marsh is still quite young. It isn't as if she had been here for +thirty years," protested Mrs. Wickham.</p> + +<p>"Well, anyway, I've got an idea that Aunt Louisa meant to leave her +about two hundred and fifty a year."</p> + +<p>"Two hundred and fif—— But what's the estate amount to; have you any +idea?"</p> + +<p>"About nineteen thousand pounds, I believe."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham, who had seated herself once more, struck her hands +violently together.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's absurd. It's a most unfair proposition. It will make <i>all</i> the +difference to us. On that extra two hundred and fifty a year we could +keep a car."</p> + +<p>"My dear, be thankful if we get anything at all," said her husband +solemnly. For a moment she stared at him aghast.</p> + +<p>"Jim! Jim, you don't think—— Oh! that would be too horrible."</p> + +<p>"Hush! Take care."</p> + +<p>He crossed to the window as the door opened and Kate came in softly with +the tea things.</p> + +<p>"How lucky it is that we had a fine day,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> he said, endeavoring to give +the impression that they had been talking with becoming sobriety of +light topics. He hoped his wife's raised voice had not been heard in the +passageway.</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Wickham was beyond caring. Her toneless "Yes" in response to +his original observation betrayed her utter lack of interest in the +subject. But as Kate was still busy setting out the things on a small +table, he continued his efforts. Really, Dorothy should 'play up' more.</p> + +<p>"It looks as if we were going to have a spell of fine weather."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It's funny how often it rains for weddings."</p> + +<p>"Very funny."</p> + +<p>"The tea is ready, sir."</p> + +<p>As Kate left the room, Mrs. Wickham crossed slowly over to where her +husband was standing in front of the window leading to the garden. Her +voice shook with emotion. It was evident that she was very near tears. +He put his arm around her awkwardly, but with a certain suggestion of +protective tenderness.</p> + +<p>"I've been counting on that money for years," she said, hardly above a +whisper. "I used to dream at night that I was reading a telegram with +the news of Aunt Louisa's death.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> And I've thought of all we should be +able to do when we get it. It'll make such a difference."</p> + +<p>"You know what she was. She didn't care twopence for us. We ought to be +prepared for the worst," he said soberly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think she could have left everything to Miss Marsh?"</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't be greatly surprised."</p> + +<p>"We'll dispute the will," she said, once more raising her voice. "It's +undue influence. I suspected Miss Marsh from the beginning. I hate her. +Oh, how I hate her! Oh, why doesn't Wynne come?"</p> + +<p>A ring at the bell answered her.</p> + +<p>"Here he is, I expect."</p> + +<p>"The suspense is too awful."</p> + +<p>"Pull yourself together, old girl," said Wickham, patting his wife +encouragingly on the shoulder. "And I say, look a bit dismal. After all, +we've just come from a funeral."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham gave a sort of suppressed wail. "Oh, I'm downhearted +enough, Heaven knows."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wynne, sir," said Kate from the doorway.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wynne, the late Miss Wickham's solicitor, was a jovial, hearty man, +tallish, bald and ruddy-looking. In his spare time he played at being a +country gentleman. He had a fine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> straightforward eye and a direct +manner that inspired one with confidence. He was dressed in +complimentary mourning, but for the moment his natural hearty manner +threatened to get the better of him.</p> + +<p>"Helloa," he said, holding out his hand to Wickham. But the sight of +Mrs. Wickham, seated on the sofa dejectedly enough, recalled to him that +he should be more subdued in the presence of such genuine grief. He +crossed the room to take Dorothy's hand solemnly.</p> + +<p>"I didn't have an opportunity of shaking hands with you at the +cemetery."</p> + +<p>"How do you do," she said rather absently.</p> + +<p>"Pray accept my sincerest sympathy on your great bereavement."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham made an effort to bring her mind back from the +all-absorbing fear that possessed her.</p> + +<p>"Of course the end was not entirely unexpected."</p> + +<p>"No, I know. But it must have been a great shock, all the same."</p> + +<p>He was going on to say what a wonderful old lady his late client had +been in that her faculties seemed perfectly unimpaired until the very +last, when Wickham interrupted him. Not only was he most anxious to hear +the will read himself and have it over, but he saw signs in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> his wife's +face and in the nervous manner in which she rolled and unrolled her +handkerchief, that she was nearing the end of her self-control, never +very great.</p> + +<p>"My wife was very much upset, but of course my poor aunt had suffered +great pain, and we couldn't help looking upon it as a happy release."</p> + +<p>"Naturally," responded the solicitor sympathetically. "And how is Miss +Marsh?" He was looking at James Wickham as he spoke, so that he missed +the sudden 'I told you so' glance which Mrs. Wickham flashed at her +husband.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's very well," she managed to say with a careless air.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to learn that she is not completely prostrated," said Mr. +Wynne warmly. "Her devotion to Miss Wickham was perfectly wonderful. Dr. +Evans—he's my brother-in-law, you know—told me no trained nurse could +have been more competent. She was like a daughter to Miss Wickham."</p> + +<p>"I suppose we'd better send for her," said Mrs. Wickham coldly.</p> + +<p>"Have you brought the——" Wickham stopped in embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have it in my pocket," said the solicitor quickly. He had noted +before now how awkward people always were about speaking of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> wills. +There was nothing indelicate about doing so. Heavens, all right-minded +persons made their wills and they meant to have them read after they +were dead. Everybody knew that, and yet they always acted as if it were +indecent to approach the subject. He had no patience with such nonsense.</p> + +<p>With an eloquent look at her husband, Mrs. Wickham slowly crossed the +room to the bell.</p> + +<p>"I'll ring for Miss Marsh," she said in a hard voice.</p> + +<p>"I expect Mr. Wynne would like a cup of tea, Dorothy."</p> + +<p>She frowned at her husband behind the solicitor's broad back. More +delays. Could she bear it? "Oh, I'm so sorry, I quite forgot about it."</p> + +<p>"No, thank you very much, I never take tea," protested that gentleman. +He took from his pocket a long blue envelope and slowly drew from it the +will, which he smoothed out with a deliberation which was maddening to +Mrs. Wickham. She could hardly tear her fascinated eyes away from it +long enough to tell the waiting Kate to ask Miss Marsh to be good enough +to come to them.</p> + +<p>"What's the time, Jim?" she asked nervously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's no hurry," he said, looking at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> his watch without seeing +it. Then turning to Wynne, he added: "We've got an important engagement +this evening in London and we're very anxious not to miss the fast +train."</p> + +<p>"The train service down here is rotten," said Mrs. Wickham harshly.</p> + +<p>"That's all right. The will is very short. It won't take me two minutes +to read it," Mr. Wynne reassured them.</p> + +<p>"What on earth is Miss Marsh doing?" said Mrs. Wickham, half to herself. +An endless minute passed.</p> + +<p>"How pretty the garden is looking now," said the solicitor cheerfully, +gazing out through the window.</p> + +<p>"Very," Wickham managed to say.</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham was always so interested in her garden."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"My own tulips aren't so advanced as those."</p> + +<p>"Aren't they?" Wickham's tone suggested irritation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wynne addressed his next observation to Mrs. Wickham.</p> + +<p>"Are you interested in gardening?"</p> + +<p>"No, I hate it. At last!"</p> + +<p>The exclamation was called forth by the appearance of Nora in the +doorway. The two men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> both, rose; Wynne to go forward and shake Nora's +hand with unaffected cordiality, Wickham to whisper in his wife's ear, +beseeching her to exercise more self-control.</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Miss Marsh? I'm rejoiced to see you looking so fit."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm very well, thank you. How do you do?"</p> + +<p>"Will you have a cup of tea?" asked Wickham in response to what he +thought was a signal from his wife.</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Wickham had reached the point where further waiting was simply +impossible.</p> + +<p>"Jim," she remonstrated, "Miss Marsh would much prefer to have tea +quietly after we're gone."</p> + +<p>Nora understood and for the moment found it in her heart to be sorry for +the woman, much as she disliked her.</p> + +<p>"I won't have any tea, thank you," she said simply.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wynne has brought the will with him," explained Mrs. Wickham. Her +tone was almost appealing as if she begged Nora if she knew of its +contents to say so without further delay.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes?"</p> + +<p>Nothing should induce her to show such agitation as this woman did. She +managed to as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>sume an air of polite interest and find a chair for +herself quite calmly. And yet she was conscious that her heart was +beating wildly beneath her bodice. But she would not betray herself, she +would not. And yet her stake was as great as any. Her whole future hung +on the contents of that paper Mr. Wynne was caressing with his long +fingers.</p> + +<p>"Miss Marsh," questioned Mr. Wynne as soon as she was seated, "so far as +you know there is no other will?"</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham didn't make a later one—without my assistance, I mean? +You know of nothing in the house, for instance?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Nora positively. "Miss Wickham always said you had her +will. She was extremely methodical."</p> + +<p>"I feel I ought to ask you," the solicitor went on with unwonted +gentleness, "because Miss Wickham consulted me a couple of years ago +about making a new will. She told me what she wanted to do, but gave me +no actual instructions to draw it. I thought perhaps she might have done +it herself."</p> + +<p>"I heard nothing about it. I am sure that her only will is in your +hands."</p> + +<p>"Then I think that we may take it that this——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham's set face relaxed. The light of triumph was in her eyes. +She understood.</p> + +<p>"When was that will made?" she asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Eight or nine years ago. The exact date was March 4th, 1904."</p> + +<p>The date settled it. Nora, too, realized that. She was left penniless. +What a refinement of cruelty to deceive—but she must not think of that +now. She would have all the rest of her life in which to think of it. +But here before that woman, whose searching glance was even now fastened +on her face to see how she was taking the blow, she would give no sign.</p> + +<p>"When did you first come to Miss Wickham?" Mrs. Wickham's voice was +almost a caress.</p> + +<p>"At the end of nineteen hundred and three." There was no trace of +emotion in that clear voice. After a moment Mr. Wynne spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Shall <i>I</i> read it, or would you just like to know the particulars? It +is very short."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let us know just roughly." Mrs. Wickham was still eager.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Wickham left one hundred pounds to the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel, and one hundred pounds to the Gen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>eral +Hospital at Tunbridge Wells, and the entire residue of her fortune to +her nephew, Mr. James Wickham."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham drew her breath sharply. Once more she looked at her late +aunt's companion, but nothing was to be read in that calm face. She was +a designing minx, none the less. But she did yield her a grudging +admiration, for her self-control in the shipwreck of all her hopes. Now +they could have their car. Oh, what couldn't they have! She felt she had +earned every penny of it in that last dreadful half hour.</p> + +<p>"And Miss Marsh?" she heard her husband ask.</p> + +<p>"Miss Marsh is not mentioned."</p> + +<p>Somehow, Nora managed a smile. "I could hardly expect to be. At the time +that will was drawn I had been Miss Wickham's companion for only a few +months."</p> + +<p>"That is why I asked whether you knew of any later will," said Mr. Wynne +almost sadly. "When I talked to Miss Wickham on the subject she said her +wish was to make adequate provision for you after her death. I think she +had spoken to you about it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she had."</p> + +<p>"She mentioned three hundred a year."</p> + +<p>"That was very kind of her." Nora's voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> broke a little. "I'm glad she +wished to do something for me."</p> + +<p>"Oddly enough," continued the solicitor, "she spoke about it to Dr. +Evans only a few days before she died."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps there is a later will somewhere," said Wickham.</p> + +<p>"I honestly don't think so."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure there isn't," affirmed Nora.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Evans was talking to Miss Wickham about Miss Marsh. She was +completely tired out and he wanted Miss Wickham to have a professional +nurse. She told him then that I <i>had</i> the will and that she had left +Miss Marsh amply provided for."</p> + +<p>"That isn't legal, of course," said Mrs. Wickham decidedly.</p> + +<p>"What isn't?"</p> + +<p>"I mean no one could force us—I mean the will stands as it is, doesn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly it does."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it's a great disappointment to you, Miss Marsh," Wickham +said, not unkindly.</p> + +<p>"I never count my chickens before they're hatched." This time Nora +smiled easily and naturally. The worst was over now.</p> + +<p>"It would be very natural if Miss Marsh were disappointed in the +circumstances. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> think +she'd been led to expect——" Mr. Wynne's voice +was almost pleading.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham detected a certain disapproval in the tone. She hastened to +justify herself. He might still be useful. When the estate was once +settled, they would of course put everything in the hands of their +London solicitor. But it would be better not to antagonize him for the +moment.</p> + +<p>"Our aunt left a very small fortune, I understand, and I suppose she +felt it wouldn't be fair to leave a large part of it away from her own +family."</p> + +<p>"Of course," said her husband, following her lead, "it is family money. +She inherited it from my grandfather, and—but I want you to know, Miss +Marsh, that my wife and I thoroughly appreciate all you did for my aunt. +Money couldn't repay your care and devotion You've been perfectly +wonderful."</p> + +<p>"It's extremely good of you to say so."</p> + +<p>"I think everyone who saw Miss Marsh with Miss Wickham must be aware +that during the ten years she was with her she never spared herself." +Mr. Wynne's eyes were on Mrs. Wickham.</p> + +<p>"Of course my aunt was a very trying woman——" began James Wickham +feebly. His wife headed him off.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Earning one's living is always unpleasant; if it weren't there'd be no +incentive to work."</p> + +<p>This astonishing aphorism was almost too much for Nora's composure. She +gave Mrs. Wickham an amused glance, to which that lady responded by +beaming upon her in her most agreeable manner.</p> + +<p>"My wife and I would be very glad to make some kind of acknowledgment of +your services."</p> + +<p>"I was just going to mention it," echoed Mrs. Wickham heartily.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wynne's kindly face brightened visibly. He was glad they were going +to do the right thing, after all. He had been a little fearful a few +moments before. "I felt sure that in the circumstances——"</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Wickham interrupted him quickly.</p> + +<p>"What were your wages, may I ask, Miss Marsh?"</p> + +<p>"Thirty pounds a year."</p> + +<p>"Really?" in a tone of excessive surprise. "Many ladies are glad to go +as companion without any salary, just for the sake of a home and +congenial society. I daresay you've been able to save a good deal in all +these years."</p> + +<p>"I had to dress myself decently, Mrs. Wickham," said Nora frigidly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham was graciousness itself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> "Well, I'm sure my husband will +be very glad to give you a year's salary, won't you, Jim?"</p> + +<p>"It's very kind of you," replied Nora coldly, "but I'm not inclined to +accept anything but what is legally due to me."</p> + +<p>"You must remember," went on Mrs. Wickham, "that there'll be very heavy +death duties to pay. They'll swallow up the income from Miss Wickham's +estate for at least two years, won't they, Mr. Wynne?"</p> + +<p>"I quite understand," said Nora.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you'll change your mind."</p> + +<p>"I don't think so."</p> + +<p>There was an awkward pause. Mr. Wynne rose from his seat at the table. +His manner showed unmistakably that he was not impressed by Mrs. +Wickham's great generosity.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think I must leave you," he said, looking at Nora. "Good-by, +Miss Marsh. If I can be of any help to you I hope you'll let me know."</p> + +<p>"That's very kind of you."</p> + +<p>Bowing slightly to Mrs. Wickham and nodding to her husband, he went out.</p> + +<p>"We must go, too, Dorothy," said James uneasily.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wickham began drawing on her gloves. "Jim will be writing to you in +a day or two. You know how grateful we both are for all you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> did for our +poor aunt. We shall be glad to give you the very highest references. +You're such a wonderful nurse. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in +getting another situation; I expect I can find you something myself. +I'll ask among all my friends."</p> + +<p>Nora made no reply to this affable speech.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Dorothy; we really haven't any time to lose," said Wickham +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Miss Marsh."</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said Nora dully. She stood, her hands resting on the table, +her eyes fastened on the long blue envelope which Mr. Wynne had +forgotten. From a long way off she heard the wheels of the cab on the +driveway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p>"I thought they were never going. Well?"</p> + +<p>It was Miss Pringle who had come in from her retreat in the garden, +eager to hear the news the moment she had seen the Wickhams driving +away. Nora turned and looked at her without a word.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle was genuinely startled at the drawn look on her face.</p> + +<p>"Nora! What's the matter? Isn't it as much as you thought?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham has left me nothing," said Nora in a dead voice.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle gave a positive wail of anguish. "Oh-h-h-h."</p> + +<p>"Not a penny. Oh, it's cruel!" the girl said, almost wildly. "After +all," she went on bitterly, "there was no need for her to leave me +anything. She gave me board and lodging and thirty pounds a year. If I +stayed it was because I chose. But she needn't have promised me +anything. She needn't have prevented me from marrying."</p> + +<p>"My dear, you could never have married that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> little assistant. He wasn't +a gentleman," Miss Pringle reminded her.</p> + +<p>"Ten years! The ten best years of a woman's life, when other girls are +enjoying themselves. And what did I get for it? Board and lodging and +thirty pounds a year. A cook does better than that."</p> + +<p>"We can't expect to make as much money as a good cook," said Miss +Pringle, with touching and unconscious pathos. "One has to pay something +for living like a lady among people of one's own class."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's cruel!" Nora could only repeat.</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Miss Pringle with an effort at consolation, "don't give +way. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in finding another situation. +You wash lace beautifully and no one can arrange flowers like you."</p> + +<p>Nora sank wearily into a chair. "And I was dreaming of France and +Italy—I shall spend ten years more with an old lady, and then she'll +die and I shall look out for another situation. It won't be so easy then +because I shan't be so young. And so it'll go on until I can't find a +situation because I'm too old, and then some charitable people will get +me into a home. You like the life, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, there are so few things a gentlewoman can do."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>"When I think of those ten years," said Nora, pacing up and down the +length of the room, "having to put up with every unreasonableness! Never +being allowed to feel ill or tired. No servant would have stood what I +have. The humiliation I've endured!"</p> + +<p>"You're tired and out of sorts," said Miss Pringle soothingly. "Everyone +isn't so trying as Miss Wickham. I'm sure Mrs. Hubbard has been kindness +itself to me."</p> + +<p>"Considering."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean by 'considering.'"</p> + +<p>"Considering that she's rich and you're poor. She gives you her old +clothes. She frequently doesn't ask you to have dinner by yourself when +she's giving a party. She doesn't remind you that you're a dependent +unless she's very much put out. But you—you've had thirty years of it. +You've eaten the bitter bread of slavery till—till it tastes like plum +cake!"</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle was distinctly hurt. "I don't know why you say such things +to me, Nora."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mustn't mind what I say; I——"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hornby would like to see you for a minute, Miss," said Kate from +the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Now?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I told him I didn't think it would be very convenient, Miss, but he +says it's very important, and he won't detain you more than five +minutes."</p> + +<p>"What a nuisance. Ask him to come in."</p> + +<p>"Very good, Miss."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what on earth he can want."</p> + +<p>"Who is he, Nora?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's the son of Colonel Hornby. Don't you know, he lives at the top +of Molyneux Park? His mother was a great friend of Miss Wickham's. He +comes down here now and then for week-ends. He's got something to do +with motor cars."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hornby," said Kate from the door.</p> + +<p>Reginald Hornby was evidently one of those candid souls who are above +simulating an emotion they do not feel. He had regarded the late Miss +Wickham as an unusually tiresome old woman. His mother had liked her of +course. But he could hardly have been expected to do so. Moreover, he +had a shrewd notion that she must have been a perfect Tartar to live +with. Miss Marsh might be busy or tired out with the ordeal of the day, +but as she also might be leaving almost immediately and he wanted to see +her, he had not hesitated to come, once he was sure that the Wickham +relatives had departed. That he would find the late Miss Wickham's +companion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> indulging in any show of grief for her late employer, had +never entered his head.</p> + +<p>He was a good-looking, if rather vacuous, young man with a long, elegant +body. His dark, sleek hair was always carefully brushed and his small +mustache trimmed and curled. His beautiful clothes suggested the +fashionable tailors of Savile Row. Everything about him—his tie, his +handkerchief protruding from his breast pocket, his boots—bore the +stamp of the very latest thing.</p> + +<p>"I say, I'm awfully sorry to blow in like this," he said airily.</p> + +<p>He beamed on Nora, whom he had always regarded as much too pretty a girl +to be what he secretly called a 'frozy companion' and sent a quick +inquiring glance at Miss Pringle, whom he vaguely remembered to have +seen somewhere in Tunbridge Wells. But then Tunbridge Wells was filled +with frumps. Oh, yes. He remembered now. She was usually to be seen +leading a pair of Poms on a leash.</p> + +<p>"You see, I didn't know if you'd be staying on here," he went on, +retaining Nora's hand, "and I wanted to catch you. I'm off in a day or +two myself."</p> + +<p>"Won't you sit down? Mr. Hornby—Miss Pringle."</p> + +<p>"How d'you do?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Hornby's glance skimmed lightly over Miss Pringle's surface and +returned at once to Nora's more pleasing face.</p> + +<p>"Everything go off O. K.?" he inquired genially.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon?"</p> + +<p>"Funeral, I mean. Mother went. Regular outing for her."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle stiffened visibly in her chair and began to study the +pattern in the rug at her feet with an absorbed interest. Nora was +conscious of a wild desire to laugh, but with a heroic effort succeeded +in keeping her face straight out of deference to her elderly friend.</p> + +<p>"Really?" she said, in a faint voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," went on young Hornby with unabated cheerfulness. "You see, +mother's getting on. I'm the child of her old age—Benjamin, don't you +know. Benjamin and Sarah, you know," he explained, apparently for the +benefit of Miss Pringle, as he pointedly turned to address this final +remark to her.</p> + +<p>"I understand perfectly," said Miss Pringle icily, "but it wasn't +Sarah."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't it? When one of her old friends dies," he went on to Nora, +"mother always goes to the funeral and says to herself: 'Well, I've seen +<i>her</i> out, anyhow!' Then she comes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> back and eats muffins for tea. She +always eats muffins after she's been to a funeral."</p> + +<p>"The maid said you wanted to see me about something in particular," Nora +gently reminded him.</p> + +<p>"That's right, I was forgetting."</p> + +<p>He wheeled suddenly once more on Miss Pringle, who had arrived at that +stage in her study of the rug when she was carefully tracing out the +pattern with the point of her umbrella.</p> + +<p>"If Sarah wasn't Benjamin's mother, whose mother was she?"</p> + +<p>"If you want to know, I recommend you to read your Bible," retorted that +lady with something approaching heat.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hornby slapped his knee. "I thought it was a stumper," he remarked +with evident satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"The fact is, I'm going to Canada and mother told me you had a brother +or something out there."</p> + +<p>"A brother, not a something," said Nora, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"And she said, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me a letter to him."</p> + +<p>"I will with pleasure. But I'm afraid he won't be much use to you. He's +a farmer and he lives miles away from anywhere."</p> + +<p>"But I'm going in for farming."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are? What on earth for?"</p> + +<p>"I've jolly well got to do something," said Hornby with momentary gloom, +"and I think farming's about the best thing I can do. One gets a lot of +shooting and riding yon know. And then there are tennis parties and +dances. And you make a pot of money, there's no doubt about that."</p> + +<p>"But I thought you were in some motor business in London."</p> + +<p>"Well, I was, in a way. But—I thought you'd have heard about it. +Mother's been telling everybody. Governor won't speak to me. Altogether, +things are rotten. I want to get out of this beastly country as quick as +I can."</p> + +<p>"Would you like me to give you the letter at once?" said Nora, going +over to an escritoire that stood near the window.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would. Fact is," he went on, addressing no one in +particular, as Nora was already deep in her letter and Miss Pringle, +having exhausted the possibilities of the rug, was gazing stonily into +space, "I'm broke. I was all right as long as I stuck to bridge; I used +to make money on that. Over a thousand a year."</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>Horror was stronger than Miss Pringle's resolution to take no further +part in the conver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>sation with this extraordinary and apparently +unprincipled young man.</p> + +<p>"Playing regularly, you know. If I hadn't been a fool I'd have stuck to +that, but I got bitten with chemi."</p> + +<p>"With what?" asked Nora, over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Chemin de fer. Never heard of it? I got in the habit of going to +Thornton's. I suppose you never heard of him either. He keeps a gambling +hell. Gives you a slap-up supper for nothing, as much pop as you can +drink, and cashes your checks like a bird. The result is, I've lost +every bob I had and then Thornton sued me on a check I'd given him. The +governor forked out, but he says I've got to go to Canada. I'm never +going to gamble again, I can tell you that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, that's something," murmured Nora cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"You can't make money at chemi," went on Hornby, relapsing once more +into gloom; "the <i>cagnotte's</i> bound to clear you out in the end. When I +come back I'm going to stick to bridge. There are always plenty of mugs +about, and if you have a good head for cards, you can't help making an +income out of it."</p> + +<p>"But I thought you said you were never going——" began Miss Pringle, +but, thinking better of it, abandoned her sentence in mid-air.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here is your letter," said Nora, holding it out to him.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, awfully. I daresay I shan't want it, you know. I expect I shall +get offered a job the moment I land, but there's no harm having it. I'll +be getting along."</p> + +<p>"Good-by, then, and good luck."</p> + +<p>"Good-by," he said, shaking hands with Nora and Miss Pringle.</p> + +<p>"Nora, why don't you go out to Canada?" said Miss Pringle thoughtfully, +as soon as the door had closed after young Hornby. "Now your brother has +a farm of his own, I should think——"</p> + +<p>"My brother's married," interrupted Nora quickly. "He married four years +ago."</p> + +<p>"You never told me."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't."</p> + +<p>"Why? Isn't his wife—isn't his wife nice?"</p> + +<p>"She was a waitress at a scrubby little hotel in Winnipeg."</p> + +<p>"What <i>are</i> you going to do then?"</p> + +<p>"I? I'm going to look out for another situation."</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle shook her head sadly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I must be going. Mrs. Hubbard will be back from her drive by this +time. She's sure to have you in for tea or something before you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> go. +She's always been quite fond of you. At any rate, I'll see you again, of +course."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>Nora was thankful to be alone once more. She wanted to think it all out. +What a day it had been. Starting with such high hopes to end only in +utter disaster. She felt completely exhausted by the emotions she had +undergone. Time enough to plan to-morrow. To-night she needed rest.</p> + +<p>Two days later, in the late afternoon, she found herself in the train +for London, the second journey she had taken in ten years. Once, three +years before, Miss Wickham had been persuaded to go up and pay the James +Wickhams a short visit and had taken Nora with her.</p> + +<p>It could hardly have been described as a pleasure trip. Miss Wickham +detested visiting and had only yielded to her nephew's importunities +because she had never been in his London house to stay any time and had +an avid curiosity to see how they lived. She had of course disapproved +of everything she saw about the establishment. But, as it was no part of +her purpose to let the fact be known to her relatives, she had in a +large measure vented her consequent ill-humor upon her unfortunate +companion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>The last few days had seemed full, indeed. No matter how little one may +really care for a place, the process of uprooting after ten years is not +an easy one. Mr. Wynne had been to see her to renew his offer of +assistance and counsel in any plan she might have for the future and she +had spent an hour with the good doctor and his wife. The dreaded +invitation from Mrs. Hubbard had duly arrived and had turned out to be +for dinner, an extraordinary honor. Nora had accepted it entirely on +Miss Pringle's account. Mrs. Hubbard had been condescension itself and +had even gone the length of excusing Miss Pringle from the evening's +game of bezique, in order that she might have a farewell chat with her +friend.</p> + +<p>She had mildly deprecated Miss Wickham's carelessness in not altering +her will, but had reminded Miss Marsh that she should be grateful to her +late employer for having had such kindly intentions toward her, vaguely +ending her remarks with the statement that as her dear husband had +always said in this imperfect world one had often to consider +intentions.</p> + +<p>It was from her more humble friends that Nora found it hardest to part. +She had had tea with the gardener's wife and children of whom she was +genuinely fond. But it was the parting from Kate that had brought the +tears to her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> eyes. She had confided to that motherly soul how large she +had loomed in the rosy plans she had made while she still had +expectations from Miss Wickham, and been assured in turn that Kate +couldn't have fancied herself happier than she would have been in +looking after her, and the faithful Kate refused to regard the plan as +anything more than postponed. It developed that she was an adept in +telling fortunes with tea leaves. She hoped her dear Miss Marsh wouldn't +consider it a liberty for her to say so, but in every forecast that Kate +had made for herself in the last twelfth month, Miss Marsh had always +been mixed up, which showed beyond the peradventure of a doubt that they +were to meet again.</p> + +<p>It was already dusk when London was reached, but Nora had an address of +an inexpensive little private hotel which the doctor's wife had given +her. She had written ahead to engage a room so that her mind was at ease +on that subject. Not knowing exactly where the street might be, further +than that it led off the Strand, she indulged herself in the novel +luxury of a taxi and drove to her new lodgings in state.</p> + +<p>"If it isn't too much out of the way, would you take me by way of +Trafalgar Square, please."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>The chauffeur touched his cap. His "Yes, Miss," was non-committal.</p> + +<p>She was conscious of an unusual feeling of exaltation as she went along. +London, while it can be one of the most depressing cities in the world +when one is alone and friendless, quickens the imagination. As they went +through Trafalgar Square and caught a fleeting glimpse of the National +Gallery, Nora resolved that she would give herself a real treat and +renew old acquaintance with that institution as well as see the Wallace +collection and the Tate Gallery, both of which would be new to her. She +realized more poignantly than ever how starved her love of beauty had +been for the last ten years. It awoke in her afresh with the thought +that for a few days, at least, she could permit herself the luxury of +gratifying it.</p> + +<p>She was shown to her room by a neat maid who said she would see what +might be done in the way of a light tea. As a rule breakfast was the +only repast that was supposed to be furnished. But she was quite sure +Miss Horn, the proprietor, would, in view of the fact that the young +lady was a stranger in London and would hardly know where to go alone +for a bite of dinner, make an exception.</p> + +<p>Nora thanked her and set about making the bare little room, which was +quite at the top of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the house, look a little more homelike by unpacking +some of her own things. After all, she reflected, it wasn't much less +cheerful than the room she had had for ten years. Perhaps her late +participation in the splendors of Miss Wickham's guest chamber, which +had been part of Dr. Evans' prescription, had spoiled her for simpler +joys. She laughed aloud at the thought.</p> + +<p>By the time she had had her supper, which was sufficiently good, and +written a few notes—one to the doctor's wife to say that she thought +she would be quite comfortable in her new quarters, and one to the head +of the agency through which she had obtained her post with Miss +Wickham—Nora found herself ready for bed.</p> + +<p>The next day dawned bright and fine; one of those delightful spring days +to which the great city occasionally treats you as if to protest against +the injustice of her reputation for being dark and gloomy.</p> + +<p>There were a number of pleasant looking people in the coffee room when +Nora went down to breakfast, which turned out to be abundant and well +cooked. Having inquired her direction—a sense of location was not one +of her gifts—she set out gaily enough for a whole day of sightseeing. +She might never get another position and have eventually to go out as a +charwoman—the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> detail that she would be illy equipped for any such +undertaking she humorously dismissed—but a day or two of unalloyed +enjoyment she was going to have, come what might.</p> + +<p>The day was a complete success. Having done several of the picture +galleries, lunched and dined frugally at one of the A. B. C. +restaurants, Nora returned at nightfall, tired but happy. Oh, the +blessed freedom of it!</p> + +<p>The next morning on coming down stairs she found at her plate a letter +from the agency. The management of affairs, it seemed, had passed into +other hands. Doubtless Miss Marsh's name would be found on the books of +several years back, but it was not familiar to the new director. +However, they would, of course, be pleased to put themselves at Miss +Marsh's service. If she would be good enough to give them an early call, +bringing any and all references she might have, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>Miss Marsh tore the note into tiny fragments. The agency could wait, +everything could wait, for the moment. She must have her fling, the +first taste of freedom in all these years. After <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>that——!</p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p>October had come. Nora was no longer in the comfortable little hotel to +which the doctor's wife had sent her. Early in July she had thought it +wiser to seek cheaper quarters where breakfast was not 'included.' Every +penny must be counted now, and by combining breakfast and lunch late in +the morning she found she could do quite well until night, besides +saving an appreciable sum for the end of the week, when her room must be +paid for.</p> + +<p>The summer had been one long nightmare of heat. It had been years +according to all accounts since the unhappy Londoners had so sweltered +beneath the scorching rays of an almost tropic sun. Often, when tossing +on her little bed or when seated by her small window which gave on a +sort of court, with the forlorn hope of finding some air stirring, had +she thought with longing of the pleasant garden at Tunbridge Wells and +is perfumed breezes.</p> + +<p>So far her search for any position had been fruitless. She had gone to +other agencies; to some whose greatly reduced fees were a sure +indication that she could hope for nothing so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> "high class," to use +their hateful phrase, as she had been accustomed to. But one must do +what one could.</p> + +<p>At one establishment, she shuddered to remember, she found that she +would be expected to sit in the office, as at the servants' agencies, to +be inspected by prospective employers. This, Nora had flatly refused to +do and had been coolly informed by the manager, an insufferable young +man with a loud voice and a vulgar manner, that in that case he could do +nothing for her.</p> + +<p>He had at the same time refused to return her fee, which he had +providently collected before explaining these conditions, on the ground +that they never returned fees. Nora had been glad enough to make her +escape from his hateful presence without arguing the matter with him, +although she considered that, to all intents and purposes, her pocket +had been picked.</p> + +<p>Apparently everyone in the world was already supplied with a companion. +She had thought of filing an application for the position of nursery +governess, only to find that, for a really good post, two modern +languages would be required. That, coupled with the fact that she was +obliged to confess to absolutely no previous experience in teaching, +closed the door to even second-class appointments.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>And the desolating loneliness of it all! Only once in all this time had +she seen anyone she knew, and that was shortly after her arrival while +still in the first flush of her newly regained freedom. She had gone +with a young woman who was staying at the hotel for a few days to the +gallery of a theater. From her lofty perch she had seen Reggie Hornby +with a gay party of young men in the stalls below. Evidently he was +making the most of his last hours at home before going into exile.</p> + +<p>Since leaving the hotel she had exchanged but few words with anyone +beyond her landlady, the little slavey and the people at the various +agencies. Once, it chanced that for several days in succession she had +lunched at the same table in a dingy little restaurant with a fresh, +pleasant-looking young girl, who had said 'Good morning' in such a +friendly manner on their second encounter that Nora felt encouraged to +begin conversation.</p> + +<p>Her new acquaintance had the gift of a sympathetic manner and before +Nora realized it she found herself relating the story of her failures +and disappointments. Miss Hodson—so Nora discovered she was called from +the very business-like card she had handed her at the beginning of the +repast, with an air which for the moment relapsed from the sympathetic +to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> professional—had suggested when they had finished their lunch +that, as she still had a quarter of an hour to spare, they might go and +finish their chat in one of the little green oases abutting on the +Embankment. Seated on one of the benches she proceeded to advise her +companion to take up stenography and typewriting while she was still in +funds.</p> + +<p>"There are plenty of chances for a girl who knows her business and +you're your own mistress and not at the beck and call of any old cat, +who thinks she has bought you outright just because she's paying you +starvation wages," she said with a finely independent air. Then in a +thoroughly business-like way she went on to give the address of the +school at which she had studied herself and had offered to take Nora +there any evening the coming week.</p> + +<p>In the end, to Nora's great pleasure, she had suggested joining forces +for an outing on the coming Sunday. With a gesture that seemed to refer +one to her card, she had explained that after typing all week in a +stuffy office she always tried to have a Sunday out of doors to get her +mind off her work. It was arranged that they should go somewhere +together, leaving their destination to be decided when they met. They +were to meet in front of the National Gallery at a quarter before ten. +But, although poor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> Nora waited for over an hour, her friend did not +turn up, and she had returned sadly to her dreary room. Neither of the +girls had thought to exchange addresses. Beyond her name and occupation +Miss Hodson's card vouchsafed nothing.</p> + +<p>Nor had Nora ever seen her again, although she had returned several +times to the restaurant where they had met. She had spent many of the +long sleepless hours of the night in speculation as to what had become +of her. She was sure that some accident had befallen her or she would +have met her again. No one could be so cruel intentionally.</p> + +<p>Once again in a tea room she had timidly ventured, prompted by sheer +loneliness, to speak to an elderly woman with gray hair. It was a +harmless little remark about some flowers in a vase on the counter. The +woman had stared at her coldly for a moment before she said:</p> + +<p>"I do not seem to recall where I have had the pleasure of seeing you +before."</p> + +<p>A flash of the old temper had crimsoned Nora's cheek, but she made no +reply. Since then, aching as she was for a little human companionship, +she had spoken to no one.</p> + +<p>She had had two long letters from Miss Pringle, whose star seemed +momentarily to be in the ascendant. Mrs. Hubbard had been ordered to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +the seaside; they were later to take a continental trip. There was even +talk of consulting a famous and expensive specialist before returning to +the calm of Tunbridge Wells. But prosperity had not made Miss Pringle +selfish. In the face of the gift of a costume, which Mrs. Hubbard had +actually never worn, having conceived a strong distaste for it on its +arrival from the dressmaker, she had time to think of her less fortunate +friend.</p> + +<p>While waiting for the situation which was sure to come eventually, why +didn't Nora run down to Brighton for a week after the terrible London +heat? One could get really very comfortable lodgings remarkably cheap at +this season. It would do her no end of good and, on the theory that a +watched pot never boils, she would be certain to find that there was +something for her on her return.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle's brother, it seemed, had had a turn of luck. Just what, +she discreetly forbore to mention. Certainly, it could not have been at +cards. Nora smiled at the recollection of the horror that Mr. Hornby's +remarks as to his earnings from that source had provoked. However, he +had most generously sent his sister a ten-pound note as a present. Miss +Pringle had, of course, no possible use for it at the time. Also it +appeared that the thought of carrying it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> about with her, particularly +as she was going among foreigners, filled her with positive terror. +Therefore, she was enclosing it to Nora to take care of. She hoped she +would use any part of it or all of it. She could return it after they +returned to Tunbridge Wells, provided that Miss Pringle survived the +natural perils that beset one who ventured out of England. They would +have started on their journey before the receipt of the letter. As to +their destination, Miss Pringle said never a word.</p> + +<p>A small envelope had fallen into her lap when she opened the letter. +With dimmed eyes Nora opened it. It contained the ten-pound note.</p> + +<p>It was a week later that it occurred to Nora to answer two +advertisements that appeared in one of the morning papers. In each case +it was a companion that was wanted. One of the ladies lived at Whitby +and pending the answer to her letter she decided to call personally on +the other, who lived at Hampstead.</p> + +<p>The morning being fine, she decided to make an early start and walk +about on Hampstead Heath until a suitable hour for making her call. When +she finally arrived before the house, a rather pretentious looking +structure in South Hampstead, she was met at the gate by a middle-aged +woman of unprepossessing appearance, who inquired rather sharply as to +her errand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mrs. Blake's card distinctly said that all applications were to be made +in writing," she said disagreeably, in reply to Nora's explanation.</p> + +<p>"The one I read did not, at least I don't think it did," said Nora.</p> + +<p>"Well, if it didn't, it should have," said the woman tartly.</p> + +<p>"May I ask if <i>you</i> are Mrs. Blake?"</p> + +<p>"Write and you may find out; although I might as well tell you, you +won't answer. Mrs. Blake will be wanting someone of a very different +appearance," said the woman rudely.</p> + +<p>"I am indeed unfortunate," said Nora with a bow.</p> + +<p>The woman closed the gate with a bang and turned toward the house as +Nora walked rapidly away. She decided to answer no more advertisements.</p> + +<p>One morning, at the end of the week, the post brought her three letters. +One from its postmark was clearly from her brother in Canada. She put +that aside for the moment to be read at her leisure.</p> + +<div class='figcenter' style='width: 625px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> +<a name="illus-074" id="illus-074"></a> +<img src='images/illus-074.jpg' width='625' +alt='NORA OVERHEARS FRANK SAY WIVES ARE MADE FOR WORK ONLY' +title='NORA OVERHEARS FRANK SAY WIVES ARE MADE FOR WORK ONLY' /> +<br /> +<span class='caption'>NORA OVERHEARS FRANK SAY WIVES ARE MADE FOR WORK ONLY</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>The +Yorkshire lady, it appeared, was blind and required a companion to +read to her and to assist in preparing some memoirs which her dead +brother had left uncompleted. She offered Nora a refined home with every +comfort that a lady could desire, but—there was no salary attached to +the position. The third was from one of the agencies. A client was +prepared to offer a lady companion the magnificent sum of ten shillings +a week and her lunch. Out of her salary Nora would be expected, +therefore, to find herself a room, clothes, breakfast and supper!</p> + +<p>Her brother's letter was, as always, kind and affectionate. He rather +vaguely apologized for his delay in replying to hers, written at the +time of Miss Wickham's death. He had been frightfully busy, up at dawn +and so tired at night that he was glad to tumble into bed right after +supper. His wife, too, had had a sharp spell of sickness. However, she +was all right again, he was glad to say. Why did not Nora come out to +them? They would be glad to offer her a comfortable home, although she +must make up her mind to dispense with the luxuries she was accustomed +to. But there was always plenty to eat and a good bed, at any rate. He +knew she would grow to love the life as he had done. There was a fine +freedom about it. For his part, nothing would ever tempt him back to +England, except for a visit when he had put by a little more. She would +find his wife a good sort. She, too, would welcome her sister-in-law.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +They would be no end of company for each other during the long days +while the men were away. And she would be glad to have someone to lend a +hand about the house.</p> + +<p>He hoped she had been able to save enough money to pay her passage out. +If she hadn't, he would somehow manage to send whatever was necessary. +But while he was fairly prosperous, ready money was a little more scarce +than usual, for the moment. His wife's illness had been pretty +expensive, what with hiring a woman to do all the work, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>The letter settled it. On the one hand was this heart-breaking waiting +while watching one's little hoard diminish from day to day and always +the terrifying and unanswerable question: What is to be done when it is +exhausted? On the other, a home and the prospect that she might be able +in a measure to pay her way by helping her brother's wife. Nora's +housewifely accomplishments were but few, yet she could learn, and while +learning she could at least take away the sting of those lonely hours, +as her brother had said. On one thing she was resolved: she would let +bygones be bygones. She would do everything in her power to win her +sister-in-law, forgetting everything but that she was the wife of her +only brother.</p> + +<p>The next few days were the happiest she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> known for a long time. +There was a pleasurable excitement in getting ready for so momentous a +step. After having paid her passage she found that she had eight pounds +in the world, the result of ten years' work as lady's companion. She +wrote to let Mr. Wynne know of her decision and enclosed Miss Pringle's +banknote to the doctor's wife with an explanatory note asking her to see +that it reached her hands safely. Miss Pringle herself should have a +long letter from the New World waiting her on her return.</p> + +<p>Her last day at home, having satisfied herself that nothing was +forgotten, she spent a long hour in the Turner room in the Tate Gallery, +drinking it all in for the last time. When she left the building it was +with a feeling that the last farewell to the old life was said.</p> + +<p>To her great pleasure and a little to her surprise, Nora discovered +herself to be a thoroughly good sailor. As a consequence, the voyage to +Montreal was quite the most delightful thing she had ever experienced. +The boat was a slow one but the time never once seemed long. Indeed, as +they approached their destination, she found herself wishing that the +Western Continent might, by some convulsion of nature, be removed, quite +safely, an indefinite number of leagues farther, or that they might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +make a détour by way of the antipodes, anything rather than bring the +voyage to an end.</p> + +<p>There were but few passengers at this season so that beyond the daily +exchange of ordinary courtesies, she was able to pass much of the time +by herself. The weather was unusually fine for the time of year. It was +possible to spend almost all the daylight hours on deck, and with night +came long hours of dreamless sleep such as she never remembered to have +enjoyed since childhood. As a consequence, it was a thoroughly +rejuvenated Nora that landed in Montreal. The stress and strain of the +past summer was forgotten or only to be looked back upon as a sort of +horrid nightmare from which she had happily awakened.</p> + +<p>It was too late in the day after they had landed to think of continuing +her journey. Besides, as is often the case with people who have stood a +sea voyage without experiencing any disagreeable sensations, Nora found +that she still felt the motion of the boat after landing.</p> + +<p>It seemed a pity, too, not to see something of this new-world city while +she was on the ground. Her brother's farm was still an incredible +distance farther west. People thought nothing of distance in this +amazing New World. Still, it might easily be long before she would be +here again. The future was a blank page. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> was a delightful +irresponsibility about the thought. She had come over the sea at her +brother's bidding. The future was his care, not hers.</p> + +<p>The journey west had the same charm of novelty that the sea voyage had +had. The nearest station to Eddie's farm was a place called Dyer in the +Province of Manitoba, not far from Winnipeg. Once inured to the new and +strange mode of traveling in Canada, so different from what she had been +accustomed to, Nora prepared to enjoy it. Never before had she realized +the possibilities of beauty in a winter landscape. The flying prospect +without the window fascinated her. The magazines and papers with which +she had provided herself lay unopened in her lap. She realized that +these vast snow-covered stretches might easily drive one mad with their +loneliness and desolation if one had to live among them. But to rush +through them as they were doing was exhilarating. It was all so strange, +so contrary to any previous experience, that Nora had an uncanny feeling +that they might easily have left the earth she knew and be flying +through space. She whimsically thought that if at the next stop she were +to be told that she was on the planet Mars, she would not be greatly +astonished. It was like traveling with Alice in Wonderland.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>One thing, however, recalled her to earth and prosaic mundane affairs: +her supply of money was rapidly getting dangerously low. Barring +accident, she would have enough to get her to Dyer, where Eddie was to +meet her. But suppose they should be snowed up for a day or two? Only an +hour before she had been thrilled with an account of just such an +experience which a man in the seat in front of her was recounting to his +companion. Well, if that happened, she would either have to go hungry or +beg food from the more affluent of her fellow-passengers! Fortunately +she was not obliged to put their generosity to the test. The train +arrived at Dyer without accident only a few minutes behind the scheduled +time.</p> + +<p>There were a number of people at the station as Nora alighted. For a +moment she had a horrid fear that either she had been put off at the +wrong place or that her brother had failed to meet her. Certainly none +of the fur-coated figures were in the least familiar. But almost at once +one of the men detached himself from the waiting group on the platform +and after one hesitating second came toward her.</p> + +<p>"Nora, my child, I hardly knew you! I was forgetting that you would be a +grown woman," and Nora was half smothered in a furry embrace and kissed +on both cheeks before she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> quite sure that the advancing stranger +was her brother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Eddie, dear, I didn't know you at all. But how can one be expected +to with that great cap covering the upper part of your face and a coat +collar hiding nearly all the rest. But you really haven't changed, now +that I get a look at you. I daresay I have altered more than you. But I +was little more than a child when you went away."</p> + +<p>"Well, we have quite a little drive ahead of us," said Eddie as, having +himself helped to carry Nora's trunks to a nondescript-looking vehicle +to which were attached two horses, he motioned to Nora to get in. "I +expect you won't be sorry to have a little air after being so long in a +stuffy car."</p> + +<p>Nora noticed that he gave the man who had helped him with the trunks no +tip and that they called each other "Joe" and "Ed." This was democracy +with a vengeance. She made a little face of disapproval.</p> + +<p>Nora never forgot that drive. In the light of after-events it seemed to +have cut her off more sharply from all the old life than either the +crossing of the pathless sea or the long overland journey. It was taken +for the most part in silence, Eddie's attention being largely taken up +with his team. Also Nora noted that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> he seemed to feel the cold more +than she did, as he kept his coat collar turned up all the way. She +herself was so occupied with her thoughts that she had no sense of +either time or distance.</p> + +<p>At last they came in sight of a house such as she had never seen. It was +built entirely of logs. At the sound of their approach, the one visible +door opened on the crack as if to avoid letting in the cold, and Nora +saw a thin dark little woman with rather a hard look and a curiously +dried-up skin, whom she rightly guessed to be her sister-in-law, +standing in the doorway, while lounging nonchalantly against the +doorpost was a tall, strong, well-set-up young man whose age might have +been anything between thirty and thirty-five. He had remarkably +clean-cut features and was clean-shaven. His frankly humorous gaze +rested unabashed on the stranger's face.</p> + +<p>Forgetting all her good resolutions to adapt herself to the habits and +customs of this new country, Nora felt that she could have struck him in +his impudent face. The fact that she reddened under his scrutiny, +naturally only made her the more furious.</p> + +<p>"Come on out here, some of you," called Eddie jovially. "Heavens! The +way you all hug the stove would make anyone believe you'd never seen a +Canadian winter before in your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> lives. Here, Frank, lend a hand with +these trunks and call Ben to take the horses. Gertie, this is Nora. Now +you need never be lonely again."</p> + +<p>"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Gertie primly.</p> + +<p>The man called Frank, the one who had been honoring Nora with his +regard, came forward with a hand outstretched to help her alight, while +another man, the ordinary type of English laborer placed himself at the +horses' heads.</p> + +<p>"Come, hop out, Nora."</p> + +<p>There was nothing else to do, Nora put the very tips of her fingers into +the outstretched hand. To her unspeakable indignation, she felt herself +lifted bodily out and actually carried inside the door. At her smothered +exclamation, Gertie gave a shrill laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p>Three weeks had passed with inconceivable rapidity, leaving Nora with +the dazed feeling that one has sometimes when waking from a fantastic +dream.</p> + +<p>There were moments when she was overwhelmed with the utter hopelessness +of ever being able to adapt herself to a mode of life so foreign to all +her traditions. She had, she told herself, been prepared to find +everything different from life at home; and, while she had smiled—on +that day such ages ago when young Hornby had called on her at Tunbridge +Wells to announce his impending departure from the land of his birth—at +his airy theory that the life of the Canadian farmer was largely +occupied with riding, hunting, dancing and tennis, she found to her +dismay that her own mental picture of her brother's existence had been +nearly as far from the reality.</p> + +<p>On the drive over from the station, Eddie had vaguely remarked that he +had a great surprise for her when she reached the house. Nora had paid +but little attention at the moment, thinking that he probably meant the +house itself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> What had been her astonishment—when once her rage at +being lifted bodily from the sled by the man called Frank had permitted +of her feeling any other emotion—to find Reginald Hornby himself an +inmate of her brother's household. There was but little trace of the +ultra smart young Londoner, beyond his still carefully kept hair and +mustache. The only difference between his costume and that of the others +was that his overalls were newer and that his flannel shirt was plainly +a Piccadilly product.</p> + +<p>Nora had known gentlemen farmers in England who worked hard, riding +about their estates every day supervising and directing everything, and +who seemed, from their conversation, to take it all seriously enough. +She had made all allowance for the rougher life in a new and unsettled +country. There was something picturesque and romantic about the +frontiersman which had always appealed to her imagination. She had read +a little of him and had seen a play in London the night she recognized +Reggie from afar, where the scene was laid in the Far West. On returning +to the hotel she had looked with new interest at Eddie's photograph and +tried to picture him in the costume worn by the leading man.</p> + +<p>But to find that her own brother, a man of education and refinement, +actually worked with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> his own hands like a common laborer and—what to +Nora's mind was infinitely more incomprehensible—on a footing of +perfect equality with his hired men, calling them familiarly by their +given names and being called "Ed" in turn, was a distinctly disagreeable +revelation. That they should be familiar with Gertie was quite another +matter. Probably they were acquaintances of long standing dating back to +her old hotel days.</p> + +<p>Her sister-in-law, too, was absolutely different from the type she had +imagined. Always she had seen her as one of those vapid, pretty little +creatures who had become old long before her time; peevish, spoiled, +inclined to be flirtatious, refusing to give up her youth, still living +in the recollection of her little day of triumph.</p> + +<p>Gertie fulfilled only one of these conditions. She was a small woman, +not nearly so tall as Nora herself. In all else she was as different as +possible from what she had imagined. There could never have been +anything of the 'clinging vine' about Gertie. As a girl she might have +been handsome in an almost masculine way; pretty, in the generally +accepted sense, she could never have been.</p> + +<p>Her one coquetry seemed to be in the matter of shoes. Her feet were +unbelievably small. Nora divined that she was inordinately proud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> of +them. While always scrupulously neat, she was apparently indifferent to +clothes so long as they were clean and not absolutely shabby. But her +high-heeled shoes were the smartest that could be had from Winnipeg.</p> + +<p>And as for her being soft and spoiled! Never was there a more tireless +and hard-working creature. From early morning till late at night she was +never idle. She was a perfect human dynamo of force and energy. The +cooking and washing for the 'family' which, now that Nora was here, +consisted of six persons, four of whom were men with the appetites which +naturally come with a long day's work in the open air, in itself was no +light task. But, by way of recreation, after the supper dishes had been +washed up, Gertie darned socks, mended shirts, patched trousers for the +men folk or sewed on some garment for herself. Nora longed to see her +sit with folded hands just once.</p> + +<p>That she was as devoted to her husband as he to her there could be no +doubt. All other men were a matter of complete indifference to her. Were +they good workers or shirkers? That was the only thing about them of any +interest. But she was not the sort of woman to show tenderness or +affection.</p> + +<p>Eddie had apparently the greatest respect for her judgment in all +matters pertaining to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> running of the farm. Frequently in the +evenings they sat together in the far corner of the living room, Eddie +talking in a low voice, while Gertie, always at her eternal sewing, +listened with close attention, often nodding her head in approval, but +occasionally shaking it vehemently when any project failed to meet with +her approbation. Occasionally her sharp bird-like glance flashed over +the other occupants of the room: at the three men yarning lazily by the +big stove or playing cards at the dining table and at Nora making a +pretense of reading a six-months-old magazine, or writing, her portfolio +on her knee. Always, when Nora encountered that glance, she understood +its exultant message.</p> + +<p>"Look, you," it said as plainly as if it had been couched in actual +words, "look at me ruling over my little court, advising, as a queen +might, with her prime minister. You think yourself my superior, you with +your fine-lady's airs and graces! A pretty pass your education and +accomplishments have brought you to. Of what use are you to anyone?"</p> + +<p>There was no blinking the fact: the antagonism between the two women was +too instinctive, too deep ever to be more than superficially covered +over. They each recognized it. And yet neither was wholly to blame. It +had its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> roots in conditions that were far more significant than mere +personal feeling.</p> + +<p>Nora, for her part, had come to her brother's house with the sincere +intention of doing everything in her power to win her sister-in-law's +good will if not affection. She had believed that their common fondness +for Eddie would be a sure foundation on which to build. But from the +first, without being at all conscious of it, her manner breathed +patronage and disapproval of a mode of life so foreign to all her +experience. She had made the resolution to remember nothing of Gertie's +humble origin, to treat her in every way with the deference due her +brother's wife.</p> + +<p>Gertie, too, had made good resolutions. She was at heart the more +generous nature of the two. She was prepared to find her husband's +sister unskilled to the point of incompetency in all the housewifely +lore of which she was past mistress; for she, too, had her traditions. +She would have laughed at the idea that it was possible for her to be +jealous of anybody. But secretly she knew that there was one thing which +aroused in her a frenzy of jealous rage; that was those years of her +husband's life in which she had neither part nor lot. Any reference to +his old life 'at home' fairly maddened her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>And deep down in her heart, each woman nursed a grievance. With Gertie +it was the remembrance of the angry letter of protest which Nora had +written her brother when she learned of his approaching marriage and +which he had been indiscreet enough to show her; with Nora, it was the +recollection of Gertie's laugh the night of her arrival when her +brother's hired servant had dared to take her for a moment in his arms.</p> + +<p>Still, any open rupture might have been avoided or at least delayed for +several months longer, if either could have been persuaded to exercise a +little more patience and self-control. Each of them, in her different +way, had known adversity. Both of them had had to learn to control +tempers naturally high while they were still dependent. But it never +occurred to either of them that the obligation to do so still existed.</p> + +<p>From Gertie's point of view, Nora was just as much a dependent as in the +days when she was a hired companion to a rich woman. It was her house in +law and in fact, for her husband had made it over to her. It was her +bread that she ate, her bed she slept in. It behooved her, therefore, to +be a little less lofty and condescending. She had always known how it +would be, and it was only because the project seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> so near her +husband's heart that she had consented to such an experiment.</p> + +<p>In simple justice it must be said that such a thought had never entered +Nora's head. She had accepted gladly her brother's invitation to make +her home with him. What more natural that he should offer it, now that +he was able to do so? In return she was perfectly willing to do +everything she could to help in all the woman's work about the house as +far as her ignorance would permit. It could hardly be expected that she +would be as proficient in household work as a person who had done it all +her life. She was more than willing to concede her sister-in-law's +superiority in all such matters. And she was perfectly ready to learn +all that Gertie would teach her. She had, in everything, been prepared +to meet her half-way; further she would not go. For the rest, it was her +brother's place to protect her.</p> + +<p>Sadly Nora confessed to herself that Eddie had deteriorated in a degree +that she could not have believed possible. The first shock had come when +they sat down to supper the night of her arrival. To her amazed disgust, +they had all eaten at the same table, hired men and all. And then, to +see her brother, a gentleman by birth, breeding, and training, sitting +down at his own table in his shirt-sleeves!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her own seat was on the right of her sister-in-law, next Reginald +Hornby. All the men except Eddie wore overalls. He had replaced his with +an old black waistcoat and a pair of grubby dark trousers. Nora wondered +sarcastically if his more formal costume was in honor of her arrival, +but quickly remembered that he had had to drive to Dyer. It was cold +outside; probably these festive garments were warmer. She found herself +speculating as to whether any of the men owned anything but outer coats.</p> + +<p>There hadn't been much general conversation at that first meal. +Naturally, Eddie had had many questions to ask about old acquaintances +in England. Nora had given her first impressions of travel in the New +World, addressing many of her remarks to Gertie, who had been noticeably +silent. Through all her bright talk the thought would obtrude itself: +"What can Reggie Hornby think of my brother?"</p> + +<p>She had an angry consciousness, too, that she was unwittingly furnishing +much amusement to that objectionable person opposite, whose name she +learned was Frank Taylor. She meant to speak to Eddie about him later. +He was an entirely new type to her. His fellow servant, whose name was +Trotter, on the contrary, could be seen about London any day, an +ordinary, ignorant Cockney. He, at least, had the merit of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> seeming to +know his place and how to conduct himself in the presence of his +betters, and except when asking for more syrup, of which he seemed +inordinately fond, kept discreetly silent.</p> + +<p>But the idea that there was any difference in their stations was not +betrayed in Taylor's look or manner. He commented humorously from time +to time on Nora's various experiences coming overland, quite oblivious, +to all appearances, that she pointedly ignored him. Nora had arrived at +that point in her gay recital when she had had qualms that her brother +had failed to meet her.</p> + +<p>"You can fancy how I felt getting down at a perfectly strange +station——"</p> + +<p>She was interrupted by Gertie's irritating little laugh.</p> + +<p>"But what have I said? What is it?"</p> + +<p>It was Taylor who replied.</p> + +<p>"Well, you see out here in the wilderness we don't call it a station, +<i>we</i> call it a depot."</p> + +<p>"Do you really?" asked Nora with exaggerated surprise, looking at her +brother.</p> + +<p>"Custom of the country," he said smilingly.</p> + +<p>"But a depot is a place where stores are kept."</p> + +<p>"Of course I don't know what you call it in England," said Gertie +aggressively, "but while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> you're in <i>this</i> country, I guess you'd better +call it what other folks do."</p> + +<p>"It would be rather absurd for me to call it that when it's wrong," said +Nora, flushing with annoyance.</p> + +<p>Gertie's thin lips tightened.</p> + +<p>"Of course I don't pretend to have had <i>very</i> much schooling, but it +seems to me I've read something somewhere about doing as the Romans do +when you're livin' with them. At any rate, I'm sure of one thing: it's +considered the polite thing to do in <i>any</i> country."</p> + +<p>The feeling that she had been put in the wrong, even if not very +tactfully, did not tend to lessen Nora's annoyance. She looked +appealingly at her brother, but he, leaning back in his chair and seeing +that his wife's eyes were bent on her plate, shook his head at her, +smiling slightly.</p> + +<p>"If everyone has finished," said Gertie after an awkward pause, "if +you'll all move your chairs away I'll clear away the things."</p> + +<p>"May I help you?" said Nora with an effort at conciliation.</p> + +<p>"No, thanks."</p> + +<p>"No, no. You're company to-night," said her brother with a man's relief +at finding an unpleasant situation at an end. "But I daresay to-morrow +Gertie'll find plenty for you to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> do. We'll all be out till dinner time. +You girls will have a lot to talk over while you're getting acquainted."</p> + +<p>Hornby groaned dismally.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't make any difference what the weather is in this blessed +country," he said dismally to Nora, "you have to go out whether there's +really anything to do or not."</p> + +<p>"That's so," laughed Taylor; "still I think you'll admit the Boss always +manages to find something to fill up the time."</p> + +<p>"That he does," said Hornby with another hollow groan.</p> + +<p>"The last time I saw you," said Nora, "you were calling poor old England +all sorts of dreadful names. Isn't farming in Canada all your fancy +painted it?"</p> + +<p>Gertie paused in the act of pouring water from the kettle into the +dishpan. "Not a bit like it," she said dryly. "He's like most of the +English I've run up against. They think all you've got to do is just to +sit down and have afternoon tea and watch the crops grow by themselves."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come now, Gertie. You've never had to accuse me of loafing, and I'm +an Englishman," said her husband good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"I said 'most.'"</p> + +<p>"And as for afternoon tea," broke in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Hornby, "I don't believe they have +that sacred institution in the whole blessed country."</p> + +<p>"You have tea with all your meals. Men out here have something else to +do but sit indoors afternoons and eat between meals."</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Nora after a pause, "it isn't nearly so cold as I +expected to find it. Don't you usually have it much colder than this?"</p> + +<p>"It's rarely colder until later in the season. But Frank, here, who's +our champion weather prophet, says it's going to be an exceptional +season with hardly any snow at all."</p> + +<p>Nora had been conscious all through the evening that Taylor had hardly +once taken his eyes from her face. She looked directly at him for the +first time, to find him watching her with a look of quiet amusement.</p> + +<p>"That would indeed be an exceptional season, if all one hears of the +rigors of the climate be true," she said coldly.</p> + +<p>"Every season in this country is exceptional," he said humorously; "if +it isn't exceptional one way, it's sure to be exceptional the other."</p> + +<p>"Fetch me those pants of yours," said Gertie to Trotter.</p> + +<p>He left the room, to return shortly with the desired articles, +exhibiting a yawning tear in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> one of the knees. Gertie at once set about +mending them in the same workmanlike manner that she did everything.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't she ever rest?" asked Nora in an undertone of Hornby.</p> + +<p>"Never," he whispered. "Her one recreation is abusing me. I fancy you'll +come in for a little of the same medicine. She's planning an amusing +winter, I can see that already."</p> + +<p>"I think, if I may, I'll ask you to excuse me," said Nora, rising +abruptly. "I'm a little tired after my long journey. Oh, how good it'll +be to find oneself in a real bed again."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you must be," said her brother. "Nora knows where her room +is?" he said, turning to his wife.</p> + +<p>"She was up before supper; she can't very well have forgotten the way. +The house is small after what she's been accustomed to, I dare say."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I can find it again easily," said Nora hastily. "I'll see +you at breakfast, Eddie?" She crossed over to where Gertie was sewing +busily. "Good night—Gertie. I hope you will not find me too stupid +about learning things. You'll find me willing, anyway," she said almost +humbly.</p> + +<p>Gertie looked up at her with real kindness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wllling's half the battle," she said in softened tone.</p> + +<p>As Nora was leaving the room, satisfied at having done her part as far +as Gertie was concerned, she was recalled by Taylor's drawling tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Nora, you're forgetting something."</p> + +<p>"Am I? What?"</p> + +<p>"You're forgetting to say 'good night' to me."</p> + +<p>"Why, so I am!"</p> + +<p>She could hear them laugh as she left the room. And so ended the first +day in her brother's house.</p> + +<p>Breakfast the next morning was of the most hurried description. Gertie +herself did not sit down until the men had gone, being chiefly occupied +with baking some sort of hot cakes which were new to Nora, who confined +herself to an egg and some tea. She secretly longed for some toast; but +as no one else seemed to have any, she refrained from making her wants +known. Perhaps later, when she was more familiar with the ways of this +strange household, she would be permitted to make some for herself when +she wanted it.</p> + +<p>While her sister-in-law was eating her breakfast, Nora stood looking out +of the window at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> the vast expanse of snow-covered country with never a +house in sight. Already there were signs that Taylor's prophecy would be +fulfilled. The sun, which had been up only a few hours, shone brightly, +and already the air had lost much of its sharpness. It was distinctly +warmer than it had been the day before.</p> + +<p>At the first sign that Gertie had finished her breakfast, Nora began to +gather the things together for washing, wisely not waiting to ask +permission. If possible, Gertie seemed to be less inclined for +conversation in the early morning than at night. They finished the task +in unbroken silence. When the last dish had been put away, Gertie spoke:</p> + +<p>"Can you bake?"</p> + +<p>"I have baked cakes."</p> + +<p>"How about bread and biscuits?"</p> + +<p>"I've never tried them."</p> + +<p>"Umph!"</p> + +<p>"I should be glad to learn, if you would be good enough to teach me."</p> + +<p>"I have little time for teaching," said Gertie ungraciously. "But you +can watch how I do it and maybe you'll learn something."</p> + +<p>"Can you wash and iron?" said Gertie while she was kneading her dough.</p> + +<p>"Of course I can iron and I can wash lace."</p> + +<p>"People round here wear more flannel shirts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> than lace. I suppose you +never washed any flannels?"</p> + +<p>"No, never."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever done any scrubbing?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not." Nora was beginning to find this catechism a little +trying.</p> + +<p>"Not work for a lady, I suppose. Just what does a companion do?"</p> + +<p>"It depends. She does whatever her employer requires; reads aloud, acts +as secretary, goes riding and shopping with the lady she lives with, +arranges the flowers, everything of that sort."</p> + +<p>"Oh. But nothing really useful."</p> + +<p>Nora gave an angry laugh. "It's clear that some people consider a +companion's work useful, since they employ them."</p> + +<p>"You take pay for it; after all, it's much the same as being a servant."</p> + +<p>"It's not at all the same."</p> + +<p>"Ed tells me that sometimes when Miss Wickers, Wickham—whatever her +name was——"</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham."</p> + +<p>"That when Miss Wickham had company for dinner, you had to have your +dinner alone."</p> + +<p>"That is true."</p> + +<p>"Then she considered you sort of a servant," said Gertie triumphantly. +Nora was silent. Gertie having cut her dough into small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> round pieces +with a tin cutter and put them into her pans, went toward the oven.</p> + +<p>"And yet you object to eating at the same table with the hired men."</p> + +<p>Having satisfied herself that the oven was at the proper heat, she shut +the door with a bang.</p> + +<p>"I've said nothing about it."</p> + +<p>"You didn't need to."</p> + +<p>"But I most certainly do object to it and I can't for the life of me see +the necessity of it."</p> + +<p>"I was what you call a servant for years; I suppose you object to eating +at the table with me."</p> + +<p>"What perfect nonsense! It's not at all the same thing. You're my +brother's wife and the mistress of his house."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm the mistress of the house all right," said Gertie grimly.</p> + +<p>"Frank Taylor's an uncommonly handsome man, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"I really haven't noticed."</p> + +<p>"What perfect nonsense!" mimicked Gertie. "Of course you've noticed. Any +woman would notice him."</p> + +<p>"Then I must be different from other women."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, you're not; you only think you are.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> At bottom women are all +alike, take it from me, and I've known a few."</p> + +<p>"If I can be of no help to you here, I think I'll go and unpack my box," +said Nora. She felt as if she had borne all she possibly could.</p> + +<p>"As you like."</p> + +<p>Once in her own room, Nora found it hard to keep back her angry tears. +Only the thought that her reddened eyes would betray her to Gertie at +dinner kept her from having a good cry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p>That one morning was a fair sample of all the other days. Each suspected +the other, neither would make allowances or concessions. As a +consequence, day by day the breach widened. Even Eddie, who was more +unobserving than most men, felt vaguely uncomfortable in the surcharged +atmosphere. From the first Nora realized that it was an unequal contest; +Gertie was too strongly intrenched in her position. But it was not in +her nature to refrain from administering those little thrusts, which +women know so well how to deal one another, from any motive of policy. +The question of what she should do once her brother's house became +intolerable she never permitted herself to ask.</p> + +<p>In the needle-pricking mode of warfare she was, of course, far more +expert than her rival. But if Gertie's hand was clumsy it was also +heavy. And always in the back of her mind was the consciousness that +she, so to speak, had at least one piece of heavy artillery which she +could bring up once the enemy's fire became unendurable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the day, the men being out of the house except at meal time, +there was to a certain degree, a cessation of hostilities. Nora +gradually acquired some knowledge of housework. She learned to cook +fairly well and always helped with the washing, rarely complaining of +her aching arms and back. The only indication she had that she was +making progress was that Gertie complained less. Praise, of course, was +not to be expected.</p> + +<p>At dinner the men were usually too anxious to get back to work—always +with the exception of Hornby, who according to his own highly colored +account, had been assigned the herculean task of splitting all the wood +required by the Province of Manitoba for the ensuing winter—to linger +longer than the time required for smoking a hurried pipe, so that it was +only during the long evenings that hostilities were resumed. And then, +more or less under cover.</p> + +<p>There was one person upon whom Nora could openly vent her nervous +irritation after a long day in Gertie's society, and that was Frank +Taylor. They quarreled constantly, to the great amusement of the others. +But with him, too, she felt hopelessly at a disadvantage. He was +maddeningly sure of himself, and while he sometimes gave back thrust for +thrust, he never lost his temper. Seemingly, nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> could penetrate +his armor of good nature, nor make him comprehend that she really meant +her bitter words. Slow of movement and speech, his mind was alert +enough, and Nora had to admit to herself, although she always openly +denied it, that he had humor. To lose one's own temper in a wordy +passage at arms and find one's opponent still smiling and serene is not +a soothing experience.</p> + +<p>Often, in the darkness of the night after she had gone to bed, she could +feel her cheek burn at the recollection that this 'ignorant clod,' as +she contemptuously called him to herself, had the power to make her feel +a weak, undisciplined child by merely never losing his self-control.</p> + +<p>There would have been consolation in the thought that in his stupidity +he did not understand how she despised him, how infinitely beneath her +she considered him, had it not been darkened by the suspicion that he +understood perfectly well <i>and didn't care</i>.</p> + +<p>How dared he, how dared he!</p> + +<p>She had complained of his familiar manner to her brother a day or two +after her arrival. But he had given her neither support nor consolation.</p> + +<p>"My dear Nora," he said, "we are not back in England. The sooner you +forget all the old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> notions of class and class distinctions, the happier +you'll be. They won't go here. As long as a man's straight, honest and a +worker—and Frank's all three—it doesn't make any odds whether he's +working for himself or for someone else. We're all on the same footing. +It is only due to the fact that I've had two good years in succession +that I'm not somebody's 'hired man' myself."</p> + +<p>"Don't, Eddie, don't; you don't realize how you hurt me."</p> + +<p>"My dear girl, I'm sorry; but I'm in dead earnest."</p> + +<p>"You, a hired man? Oh, I can't believe it."</p> + +<p>"It's true, nevertheless. Plenty of better fellows than I have had to do +it. When you're starting in, unless you have a good deal bigger capital +than I had, you only need to be hailed out, frosted out, or weeded out a +couple of years in succession to use up your little stake, and then +where are you?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'weeded out'?"</p> + +<p>He was just about to explain when a halloo from the stables cut him +short. "There's Frank now. I ought to be out helping him this minute; +we've got a good stiff drive ahead of us. You ask Gertie about it, +she'll explain it to you."</p> + +<p>But Gertie had been deeply preoccupied with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> some domestic problem and +Nora had forborne to question her. She had intended returning to the +subject that evening, but Eddie and Gertie were deep in one of their +conferences until nearly bedtime. It would never have suggested itself +to her to seek any information from the objectionable Frank, so under +cover of a heated discussion between him and Trotter, she appealed to +Reggie.</p> + +<p>"What does it mean to be weeded out?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord, I don't know! Kicked out, I suppose. Isn't there something in +the Bible about tares and wheat?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense; it doesn't mean that. I'd forgotten, by the way, how strong +you were on Biblical references. Do you remember your discussion about +Sarah and Benjamin with Agnes Pringle?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do. And I completely stumped her; don't you recollect?"</p> + +<p>"Goose! She only wanted to make you look it up for yourself. But being +'weeded out' is something disastrous that happens to the farmers here, +like having the crops frozen."</p> + +<p>"Well, it hasn't happened since I've been here, anyway. But I'll bet you +a bob it means kicked out. I tell you, I'll ask Gertie if she doesn't +think that I ought to be weeded out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You'd better not," laughed Nora.</p> + +<p>The first open quarrel had taken place one day at dinner.</p> + +<p>The night before Nora had proposed making her first attempt at baking +bread. Gertie had given a grudging consent. Everything had gone well +until the bread, once in the oven, Nora had gone to her room to add some +pages to a long letter which she had begun, some evenings before to +Agnes Pringle.</p> + +<p>Gertie had been out in one of the barns most of the morning engaged in +some mysterious task which she had been reserving until the weather +became milder—there had been a decided thaw, setting in the day +before—and Nora intended to be gone only a short time.</p> + +<p>Filled with a warm feeling of gratitude to Miss Pringle for her generous +loan of the ten-pound note, she was writing her a long letter in the +form of a diary describing her voyage across the Atlantic and the trip +across the Continent, both of which she was sure would greatly interest +her friend and furnish her with topics for her tête-à-tête dinners with +the excellent Mrs. Hubbard for some days to come.</p> + +<p>Of the difficulties and disappointments in her new life she was resolved +to say nothing. Nora hated to confess that she had failed in anything. +And, so far, she could hardly say that she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> made a success. Later +on, she might have to acknowledge that her move had been a mistake. But +for the moment she would confine herself to describing all that struck +her as novel and strange while the impression was still fresh, while she +still had the 'seeing eye.'</p> + +<p>"When I came to the end of my last page (and I remember that I was +getting extremely sleepy at that point)," she wrote, "I had just +finished describing the exterior of my brother's house to you. I am sure +I can never do justice to the interior! You can never have seen, much +less imagined, anything in the least like it. I have decided, upon +reflection, that it is the most un-English thing I have seen yet: and I +have not forgotten those strange railway carriages either.</p> + +<p>"Try to imagine a large room, longer than it is deep, at once +living-room, dining-room and kitchen; with nothing but rough brown +boards for walls, on which—some framed, some unframed—are the colored +supplements of the Christmas illustrated papers, both English and +American. Over one of the doors is a magnificent trophy—at least that +is what we would call it at home—I think it is a moose. I am not at all +sure, although I have been told more than once. Over another door is a +large clock, such a one as one finds in a broker's office with us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> The +floor is covered with what is called oilcloth—I wonder why: it +certainly is not the least like cloth—very new and excessively shiny. +It has a conventional pattern in black and white, and when the sun +shines on it, it quite dazzles one's eyes.</p> + +<p>"There are two windows, one to the south, the other looking west. The +western view is magnificent. I feel as if I could see straight away to +the setting sun! In the summer, when the prairie is one great waving +green sea, it must be superb. Two days ago it was covered with snow. As +I write, I can see great patches of brown every here and there, for we +have had a sudden thaw. The window sills are filled with geraniums +planted, my dear, in tins which once contained syrup, of which everyone +here, including my brother, seems extravagantly fond. The syrup jug +appears regularly at every meal and is almost the first thing put on the +table. I have yet to acquire a taste for it—which they all think +extremely queer.</p> + +<p>"The furniture consists of two American rockers and a number of kitchen +chairs; an unvarnished deal dresser covered with earthenware;—I don't +think there are any two pieces that match!—two tables, one a dining +table; a bookcase containing a few paper-backed novels and some +magazines, none so recent, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> as those I saw before I left +England; and last and most important, an enormous American cooking +stove.</p> + +<p>"Our principal meal, called dinner, is——"</p> + +<p>Great heavens, her bread!</p> + +<p>Nora dashed from her room. Gertie was standing at one of the windows in +the unwonted indulgence of a moment's leisure. Nora threw open the oven +door. It was empty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, did you look after my loaf, Gertie? I'm so sorry; I quite forgot +it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I took it out a few moments ago."</p> + +<p>She still had her face turned toward the window, so Nora did not see the +smile that curled her lip. She turned after a moment, and the two women +began to set the table for dinner.</p> + +<p>Presently the men were heard laughing outside as they cleaned their +muddy boots on the scraper. Reggie had apparently achieved something +new. His ignorance of everything pertaining to farming furnished the +material for most of the amusement that was going. Fortunately, he was +always good-natured. Gertie, with unusual good spirits, entered into the +joke of the thing at once and even bantered Reggie playfully upon his +latest discovery.</p> + +<p>Nora did not even hear what it was all about.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> She was searching for the +bread plate which always stood on the dresser.</p> + +<p>"Why, Gertie, I——"</p> + +<p>"It's all right," said Gertie, without looking up from pouring the tea. +"I took it. I'll get it in a minute. Come, sit down."</p> + +<p>Nora obeyed.</p> + +<p>Hornby was just about to begin his explanation for whatever it was he +had done, when Eddie interrupted him:</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minute, Reg. I want some bread. I declare you two girls are +getting to be as bad as Reggie, here. Setting a table without bread!"</p> + +<p>"I was keeping it for a surprise," said Gertie, getting up slowly. "I +want you to appreciate the fact that Nora helped me by doing the baking +this morning." Nora's face flushed with pleasure as her brother patted +her on the shoulder with evident approval. She looked at Gertie with +eyes shining with gratitude. At that moment she came nearer liking her +sister-in-law than she ever was to again.</p> + +<p>Gertie went slowly across the room—she usually moved with nervous +quickness—and picking up the missing bread plate from where it was +leaning against the wall behind the stove went into the little pantry +that gave off the kitchen. Slowly she returned and stood beside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> her +husband's chair. On the plate, burned almost to a cinder, was the loaf +of bread that Nora had forgotten.</p> + +<p>"Here it is," said Gertie. Her smile was cruel.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say, Gertie, that's too bad of you." It was Frank who spoke.</p> + +<p>"Too bad!" Nora sprung to her feet with flashing eyes. "Too bad. It's +mean and despicable. There are no words to do it justice. But what could +I expect from——"</p> + +<p>"Nora!" said her brother sharply.</p> + +<p>Nora rushed from the table to her room. And although Eddie knocked +repeatedly at her door and begged her to let him speak with her if only +for a moment that evening at supper-time, she made no sign nor did +anyone see her again that night.</p> + +<p>She made a point of not coming down to breakfast the next morning until +after the time when the men would be gone. She thought it best to meet +Gertie alone. It was time that they came to some sort of understanding. +To her surprise and annoyance Taylor was still at the table. Gertie was +nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>"Come down to keep me company? That's real nice of you, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"I supposed, naturally, that you had gone. You usually have at this +hour."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You don't know how it flatters a fellow to have women folks study his +habits like that," he said with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I knew that my brother had left the house, since I saw him go. I took +it for granted that all his employees left when he did. Let me assure +you, once and for all, that your habits are of no possible interest to +me."</p> + +<p>Taylor put on his hat and went to the door. Just as he was about to open +it, he changed his mind and came back to the table where Nora had seated +herself and stood leaning on the back of his chair looking down at her.</p> + +<p>"It's all right for us to row," he said, "but if I were you I'd go a +little easy with Gertie. She's all right and a good sort at bottom, you +can take it from me. Yesterday, I admit she was downright nasty. I guess +you rile her up more than she's used to. But I want to see you two get +on."</p> + +<p>"It's my turn to feel flattered," said Nora sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"Well, so long," he said with undiminished good humor as he went out.</p> + +<p>Gertie appeared almost at once from the pantry.</p> + +<p>"I heard what he said. I couldn't help it. He was right—about us both. +We don't hit it off. But I'm willing to give it another try."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have little choice but to agree with you," said Nora bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's hardly the way to begin," retorted Gertie angrily.</p> + +<p>There was a certain air of restraint about them ail when they came in to +dinner. Eddie looked both worried and anxious. But as he saw that the +two women were going about their duties much the same as usual, he +argued that the storm had blown over and brightened visibly.</p> + +<p>The men had pushed back their chairs and were preparing to light their +after-dinner pipes.</p> + +<p>"We'll be able to start on the ironing this afternoon," said Gertie, +addressing Nora for the first time since breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Very well."</p> + +<p>"I say," said Trotter, who rarely ventured on a remark while at the +table, "it was a rare big wash you done this morning by the look of it +on the line."</p> + +<p>"When she's been out in this country a bit longer, Nora'll learn not to +wear more things than she can help," said Gertie.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, she had no intention of criticising Nora at the +moment. She meant, merely, that she would be more economical with +experience. But Nora was in the mood to take fire at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Was there more than my fair share?" she asked sharply.</p> + +<p>"You use double the number of stockings than what I do. And everything +else is the same."</p> + +<p>"I see. Clean but incompetent."</p> + +<p>"There's many a true word spoken in jest," said Gertie with angry +emphasis.</p> + +<p>"Say, Reg," Taylor broke in hastily, "is it true that when you first +came out you asked Ed where the bath-room was?"</p> + +<p>"That's right," laughed Trotter. "Ed told 'im there was a river a mile +and a 'alf from 'ere, an' that was the only bath-room 'e knowed."</p> + +<p>"One gets used to that sort of thing, eh, Reg?" said Marsh +good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"Ra-ther. If I saw a proper bath-room <i>now</i>, it would only make me feel +nervous."</p> + +<p>"I knew a couple of Englishmen out in British Columbia," broke in +Taylor, "who were bathing, and the only other people around were +Indians. The first two years they were there, they wouldn't have +anything to do with the Indians because they were so dirty. After that +the Indians wouldn't have anything to do with them."</p> + +<p>He pointed this delectable anecdote by holding his nose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a disgusting story!" said Nora.</p> + +<p>"D'you think so? I rather like it."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> would."</p> + +<p>"Now don't start quarreling, you two. And on Frank's last day."</p> + +<p>Nora gave her brother a quick glance. It was on the tip of her tongue to +ask what he meant by Frank's last day, but seeing that Taylor was +watching her with an amused smile, she held her tongue. Getting up, she +began clearing away the table.</p> + +<p>Hornby, ramming the tobacco into his pipe, went over to the corner by +the stove, where Gertie was scalding out her large dishpan, and tried to +interest her in the number of logs he had split since breakfast, without +conspicuous success.</p> + +<p>Trotter stood looking out of the window, while Marsh stretched himself +lazily in one of the rocking chairs with a sigh of content. Things were +beginning to shake down a little better. There had been a time yesterday +when he feared that everything was off. He knew Nora's temper of old and +he knew his wife's jealous fear of her criticism. It would take some +rubbing to wear off the sharp corners. But things were coming out all +right, after all. They'd soon be working together like a well-broken +team. Gertie had been nasty about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> bread. But apparently everything +was patched up. And with Frank once gone, and the new chap—a man of the +Trotter type, who would never obtrude himself—he foresaw that +everything would run on wheels, an idea dear to his peace-loving soul.</p> + +<p>Not that he was not sorry to lose Frank. In the first place, he liked +him, and then he was a good, steady, hard-working fellow, one of the +kind you didn't have to stand over. But, naturally, he wanted to get +back to his own place, now that he had saved up a bit. Every man liked +being his own master.</p> + +<p>Taylor alone had remained at his place at the table. Nora had cleared +away everything except the dishes at his place. She never went near him +if she could avoid it.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'm in your way," he said, rising.</p> + +<p>"Not more than usual, thank you."</p> + +<p>Taylor gave a little laugh.</p> + +<p>"I guess you'll not be sorry to see the last of me."</p> + +<p>Nora paused in her work, and leaning on the table with both hands, +looked him steadily in the face.</p> + +<p>"I can't honestly say that it makes the least difference to me whether +you go or stay," she said coldly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"When does your train go, Frank?" asked Hornby from his corner.</p> + +<p>"Half-past three; I'll be starting from here in about an hour."</p> + +<p>"Reg can go over with you and drive the rig back again," said Marsh.</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll go and dress myself in a bit."</p> + +<p>"I guess you'll be glad to get back to your own place," said Gertie +warmly.</p> + +<p>She had always liked Frank Taylor—a man who worked hard and earned his +money. She did not begrudge him a cent of it, nor the pleasure he had in +the thought of getting back to his own place. He was the kind of man who +should set up for himself.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess I'll not be sorry." He sat looking out of the window with +a sort of dreamy air, as if seeing far to the westward his own land.</p> + +<p>So that was the reason for his going. He had a place of his own. He was +only a hired man for the moment. Eddie had told her that a man +frequently had to hire out after a succession of bad seasons. What of +it? His keeping it to himself was the crowning impertinence!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p>"I'll do the washing, Nora, and you can dry," said Gertie in that +peculiar tone which Nora had learned to recognize as the preface to +something disagreeable.</p> + +<p>"All right."</p> + +<p>"I've noticed the things aren't half clean when I leave them to you to +do."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry; why didn't you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose yon never did the washing-up in England. Too grand?"</p> + +<p>But Nora was not to be ruffled just now. Her resentment against Taylor, +who was sitting watching her as if he read her thoughts—she often +wondered how much of them he <i>did</i> read—made anything Gertie said seem +momentarily unimportant.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose anyone would wash up if they could help it. It's not +very amusing."</p> + +<p>"You always want to be amused?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I want to be happy."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Gertie sharply, "you've got a roof over your head and a +comfortable bed to sleep in, three good meals a day and plenty to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> do. +That's all anybody wants to make them happy, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord!" exclaimed Reggie from his corner.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Gertie, turning sharply on him, "if you don't like Canada, +why did you come out?"</p> + +<p>"You don't suppose," said Hornby, rising slowly to his feet, "I'd have +let them send me if I'd have known what I was in for, do you? Not much. +Up at five in the morning and working about the place like a navvy till +your back feels as if it 'ud break, and then back again in the +afternoon. And the same thing day after day. What was the good of +sending me to Harrow and Oxford if that's what I've got to do all my +life?"</p> + +<p>There was a tragic dignity in his tone which for the moment held even +Gertie silent. It was her husband who answered him, and Gertie's jealous +ear detected a certain wistfulness in his voice.</p> + +<p>"You'll get used to it soon enough, Reg. It <i>is</i> a bit hard at first, +I'll admit. But when you get your foot in, you wouldn't change it for +any other life."</p> + +<p>"This isn't a country for a man to go to sleep in and wait for something +to turn up," said Gertie aggressively.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wouldn't go back to England now, not for nothing," said Trotter, +stung to an unusual burst of eloquence. "England! Eighteen bob a week, +that's what I earned. And no prospects. Out of work five months in the +year."</p> + +<p>"What did you do in England!" asked Nora curiously.</p> + +<p>"Bricklayer, Miss."</p> + +<p>"You needn't call her Miss," said Gertie heatedly. "You call me Gertie, +don't you? Well, <i>her</i> name's Nora."</p> + +<p>"What with strikes and bad times," went on Trotter unheeding, "you never +knew where you was. And the foreman always bullying you. I don't know +what all. I 'ad about enough of it, I can tell you. I've never been out +of work since the day I landed. I've 'ad as much to eat as I wanted and +I'm saving money. In this country everybody's as good as everybody +else."</p> + +<p>"If not better," said Nora dryly.</p> + +<p>"In two years I shall be able to set up for myself. Why, there's old man +Thompson, up at Pratt. <i>He</i> started as a bricklayer, same as I. Come +from Yorkshire, he did. He's got seven thousand dollars in the bank +now."</p> + +<p>"Believe me, you fellows who come out now have a much softer thing of it +than I did when I first came. In those days they wouldn't have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> an +Englishman, they'd have a Galician rather. In Winnipeg, when they +advertised in the paper for labor, you'd see often as not: 'No English +need apply.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was their own fault," stormed Gertie. "They wouldn't work or +anything. They just soaked."</p> + +<p>"It <i>was</i> their own fault, right enough. This was the dumping ground for +all the idlers, drunkards and scallywags in England. They had the +delusion over there that if a man was too big a rotter to do anything at +all at home, he'd only got to be sent out here and he'd make a fortune."</p> + +<p>"I guess things ain't as bad as that now," spoke up Taylor. "They send +us a different class. It takes an Englishman two years longer than +anybody else to get the hang of things, but when once he tumbles to it, +he's better than any of them."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well!" said Marsh, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, "I guess +nowadays everyone's glad to see the Englishman make good. When I nearly +smashed up three years ago, I had no end of offers of help."</p> + +<p>"How <i>did</i> you nearly smash up?" asked Hornby interestedly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I had a run of bad luck. One year the crop was frosted and the next +year I was hailed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> out. It wants a good deal of capital to stand up +against that."</p> + +<p>"That's what happened to me," said Taylor. "I was hailed out and I +hadn't got any capital, so I just had to hire out." He turned suddenly +to Nora. "If it hadn't been for that hail storm you wouldn't have had +the pleasure of makin' my acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"How hollow and empty life would have been without that!" she said +ironically.</p> + +<p>"I wonder you didn't just quit and start out Calgary way," put in +Gertie.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Taylor slowly, "it was this way: I'd put in two years on my +homestead and done a lot of clearing. It seemed kind of silly to lose my +rights after all that. Then, too, when you've been hailed out once, the +chances are it won't happen again, for some years that is, and by that +time I ought to have a bit put by."</p> + +<p>"What sort of house have you got?" asked Nora.</p> + +<p>"Well, it ain't what you might call a palace, but it's large enough for +two."</p> + +<p>"Thinking of marrying, Frank?" asked Marsh.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess it's kind of lonesome on a farm without a woman. But it's +not so easy to find a wife when you're just starting on your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> own. +Canadian girls think twice before taking a farmer."</p> + +<p>"They know something, I guess," said Gertie grimly.</p> + +<p>"You took me, Gertie," laughed her husband.</p> + +<p>"Not because I wanted to, you can be sure of that. I don't know how you +got round me."</p> + +<p>"I wonder."</p> + +<p>"I guess it was because you was kind of helpless, and I didn't know what +you'd do without me."</p> + +<p>"I guess it was love, and you couldn't help yourself." Gertie stopped +her work long enough to make a little grimacing protest.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinking of going to one of them employment agencies when I get to +Winnipeg," said Taylor, moving his chair so that he could watch Nora's +face, "and looking the girls over."</p> + +<p>"Like sheep," said Nora scornfully.</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about sheep. I've never had to do with sheep."</p> + +<p>"And may I ask, do you think that you know anything about women?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I can tell if they're strong and willing. And so long as they +ain't cock-eyed, I don't mind taking the rest on trust."</p> + +<p>"And what inducement is there for a girl to have you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's why he wants to catch 'em young, when they're just landed and +don't know much," laughed Trotter uproariously.</p> + +<p>"I've got my quarter-section," went on the imperturbable Frank, quite +undisturbed by the laughter caused by Trotter's sally, "a good hundred +and sixty acres with seventy of it cleared. And I've got a shack that I +built myself. That's something, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"You've got a home to offer and enough to eat and drink. A girl can get +that anywhere. Why, I'm told they're simply begging for service."</p> + +<p>"Y-e-e-s. But you see some girls like getting married. There's something +in the word that appeals to them."</p> + +<p>"You seem to think that a girl would jump at the chance of marrying +you!" said Nora with rising temper.</p> + +<p>"She might do worse."</p> + +<p>"I must say I think you flatter yourself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know. I know my job, and there ain't too many as can say +that. I've got brains."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I can see you're no fool."</p> + +<p>Gertie chuckled with amusement. "He certainly put one over on you then, +Nora."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because you've got no use for me, there's no saying but what others may +have."</p> + +<p>"I forgot that there's no accounting for tastes."</p> + +<p>"I can try, can't I?"</p> + +<p>Wishing to escape any further conversation with the object of her +detestation, and seeing her opportunity now that the dishes were washed, +Nora started to empty the dishpan in the sink in the pantry. But Gertie, +who divined her motive and wished the sport to continue, forestalled +her.</p> + +<p>"I'll do it," she said. "You finish wiping the dishes."</p> + +<p>"It's very wise of you to go to an agency," said Nora in answer to his +last question. "A girl's more likely to marry you when she's only seen +you once than when she's seen you often."</p> + +<p>"It seems to make you quite mad, the thought of me marrying!" with a +wink at the others.</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't talk about it like that unless you looked down upon women. +Oh, how I pity the poor wretched creature who becomes your wife!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess she won't have such a bad time—when I've broken her in to +my ways."</p> + +<p>"And are you under the impression that you can do that?"</p> + +<p>"Yep."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're not expecting that there'll be much love lost between you and +the girl whom you—you honor with your choice?"</p> + +<p>"What's love got to do with it?" asked Taylor in affected surprise. +"It's a business undertaking."</p> + +<p>"What!" Nora's eyes were dark with indignation and anger.</p> + +<p>"None at all. I give her board and lodging and the charm of my society. +And in return, she's got to cook and bake and wash and keep the shack +clean and tidy. And if she can do that, I'll not be particular what she +looks like."</p> + +<p>"So long as she's not cock-eyed," Reggie reminded him.</p> + +<p>"No, I draw the line at that."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," said Nora with bitter irony; "I didn't know it was +a general servant you wanted. You spend a dollar and a half on a +marriage license and then you don't have to pay any wages. It's a good +investment."</p> + +<p>For the first time she seemed to have pierced the enemy's armor.</p> + +<p>"You've got a sharp tongue in your head for a girl, Nora."</p> + +<p>"Please don't call me Nora."</p> + +<p>"Don't be so silly, Nora," said her brother with a trace of irritation. +"It's the custom of the country. Why, they all call me Ed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't care what the custom of the country is. I'm not going to be +called Nora by the hired man!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you bother, Ed," said Frank, apparently once more restored to his +normal placidity; "I'll call her Miss Marsh if she likes it better."</p> + +<p>But Nora was not to be pacified. He wouldn't have dared take such a +liberty with her had he not been on the eve of going away for good, she +told herself. It was a last shot from a retreating enemy. Well and good. +He should hear, if for the last time, what she thought of him!</p> + +<p>"I should like to see you married to someone who'd give you what you +deserved. I'd like to see your pride humbled. You think yourself very +high and mighty, don't you? I'd like to see a woman take you by the +heartstrings and wring them till you screamed with pain."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nora, how violent you are!" said Ed.</p> + +<p>"You're overbearing, supercilious and egotistic," went on Nora bitingly.</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure as I know what them long words means, but I guess they +ain't exactly complimentary."</p> + +<p>"I guess they ain't," she mimicked.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry for that." Taylor straightened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> himself a little in his +chair. His blue eyes seemed to have caught a little of the light from +Nora's.</p> + +<p>"I was thinking of offering you the position before I went to the +employment agency."</p> + +<p>"How dare you speak to me like that!"</p> + +<p>"Don't fly into a temper, Nora," said Ed. While he didn't blame Frank, +he wished he had not made that last speech. Why didn't he go and get +ready for town? Here was Nora all upset again just as things had calmed +down a bit!</p> + +<p>"He's got no right to say impudent things to me!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you see he's only having a joke with you?" he said soothingly.</p> + +<p>"He shouldn't joke. He's got no sense of humor."</p> + +<p>She made a furious gesture, and the cup she was in the act of wiping +flew out of her hand, crashing in a thousand pieces on the floor, just +as Gertie returned.</p> + +<p>"Butter fingers!"</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry," said Nora in a colorless tone. She was raging inwardly +at having allowed that beast of a man to put her in such a temper. Why +couldn't she control herself? How undignified to bandy words with a +person she so despised. It was hardly the moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> for Gertie to take her +to task for carelessness. But Gertie was not the person to consider +other moods than her own.</p> + +<p>"You clumsy thing! You're always doing something wrong."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't worry; I'll pay for it."</p> + +<p>"Who wants you to pay for it? Do you think I can't afford to pay for a +miserable cup! You might say you're sorry: that's all I want you to do."</p> + +<p>"I said I was sorry."</p> + +<p>"No, you didn't."</p> + +<p>"I heard her, Gertie," broke in Ed.</p> + +<p>"She said she was sorry as if she was doing me a favor," said Gertie, +turning furiously on the would-be peacemaker.</p> + +<p>"You don't expect me to go down on my knees to you, do you? The cup's +worth twopence."</p> + +<p>"It isn't the value I'm thinking about, it's the carelessness."</p> + +<p>"It's only the third thing I've broken since I've been here."</p> + +<p>If Nora had been in a calmer mood herself she would not have been so +stupid as to attempt to palliate her offense. Her offer of replacing the +miserable cup only added fuel to the flame of Gertie's resentment.</p> + +<p>"You can't do anything!" she stormed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> "You're more helpless than a +child of six. You're all the same, all of you."</p> + +<p>"You're not going to abuse the whole British nation because I've broken +a cup worth twopence, are you?"</p> + +<p>"And the airs you put on. Condescending isn't the word. It's enough to +try the patience of a saint."</p> + +<p>"Oh, shut up!" said Marsh. He went over to his wife and laid a hand on +her shoulder. She shook him off impatiently.</p> + +<p>"You've never done a stroke of work in your life, and you come here and +think you can teach me everything."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," said Nora, in a voice which by comparison +with Gertie's seemed low but which was nevertheless perfectly audible to +every person in the room. "I don't know about that, but I think I can +teach you manners."</p> + +<p>If she had lashed the other woman across the face with a whip, she +couldn't have cut more deeply. She knew that, and was glad. Gertie's +face turned gray.</p> + +<p>"How dare you say that! How dare you! You come here, and I give you a +home. You sleep in my blankets and you eat my food and then you insult +me." She burst into a passion of angry tears.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now then, Gertie, don't cry. Don't be so silly," said her husband as he +might have spoken to an angry child.</p> + +<p>"Oh, leave me alone," she flashed back at him. "Of course you take her +part. You would! It's nothing to you that I have made a slave of myself +for you for three whole years. As soon as <i>she</i> comes along and plays +the lady——"</p> + +<p>She rushed from the room. After a moment, Ed followed after her.</p> + +<p>There was an awkward pause. Nora stood leaning against the table +swinging the dishcloth in her hand, a smile of malicious triumph on her +face. Gertie had tried it on once too often. But she had shown her that +one could go too far. She would think twice before she attempted to +bully her again, especially before other people. She stooped down and +began to gather up the broken pieces of earthenware scattered about her +feet. Her movement broke the spell which had held the three men +paralyzed as men always are in the presence of quarreling women.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I might be cleaning myself," said Taylor, rising from his +chair. "Time's getting on. You're coming, Ben?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm coming. I suppose you'll take the mare?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yep, that's what Ed said this morning."</p> + +<p>They went out toward the stables without a word to Nora.</p> + +<p>"Well, are you enjoying the land of promise as much as you said that I +should?" Hornby asked with a smile.</p> + +<p>"We've both made our beds, I suppose we must lie in them," said Nora, +shaking the broken pieces out of her apron into a basket that stood in +the corner.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember that afternoon at Miss Wickham's when I came for the +letter to your brother?"</p> + +<p>"I hadn't much intention of coming to Canada then myself."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't mind telling you that I mean to get back to England the +very first opportunity that comes," he said, pacing up and down the +floor. "I'm willing to give away my share of the White Man's Burden with +a package of chewing gum."</p> + +<p>"You prefer the Effete East?" smiled Nora, putting a couple of irons on +the stove.</p> + +<p>"Ra-ther. Give me the degrading influence of a decadent civilization +every time."</p> + +<p>"Your father <i>will</i> be pleased to see you, won't he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think! Of course I was a damned fool ever to leave Winnipeg."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I understand you didn't until you had to."</p> + +<p>"Say," said Hornby, pausing in his walk, "I want to tell you: your +brother behaved like a perfect brick. I sent him your letter and told +him I was up against it—d'you know I hadn't a bob? I was jolly glad to +earn half a dollar digging a pit in a man's garden. Bit thick, you +know!"</p> + +<p>"I can see you," laughed Nora.</p> + +<p>"Your brother sent me the fare to come on here and told me I could do +the chores. I didn't know what they were. I soon found it was doing all +the jobs it wasn't anybody else's job to do. And they call it God's own +country!"</p> + +<p>"I think you're falling into the <i>ways</i> of the country very well, +however!" retorted Nora as she struggled across to the table with the +heavy ironing-board.</p> + +<p>"Do you? What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"You can stand there and smoke your pipe and watch me carry the +ironing-board about."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon. Did you want me to help you?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind. It would remind me of home."</p> + +<p>"I suppose I shall have to stick it out at least a year, unless I can +humbug the mater into sending me enough money to get back home with."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She won't send you a penny—if she's wise."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come now! Wouldn't you chuck it if you could?"</p> + +<p>"And acknowledge myself beaten," said Nora, with a flash of spirit. "You +don't know," she went on after ironing busily a moment, "what I went +through before I came here. I tried to get another position as lady's +companion. I hung about the agents' offices. I answered advertisements. +Two people offered to take me; one without any salary, the other at ten +shillings a week and my lunch. I, if you please, was to find myself in +board, lodging and clothes on that magnificent sum! That settled <i>me</i>. I +wrote Eddie and said I was coming. When I'd paid my fare, I had eight +pounds in the world—after ten years with Miss Wickham. When he met me +at the station at Dyer——"</p> + +<p>"Depot; you forget."</p> + +<p>"My whole fortune consisted of seven dollars and thirty-five cents; I +think it was thirty-five."</p> + +<p>"What about that wood you're splitting, Reg?" said a voice from the +doorway.</p> + +<p>Eddie came in fumbling nervously in his pockets. He detested scenes and +had some reason to think that he was having more than his share of them +in the last few days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Has anyone seen my tobacco! Oh, here it is," he said, taking his pouch +from his pocket. "Come, Reg, you'd better be getting on with it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord, is there no rest for the wicked?" exclaimed Hornby as he +lounged lazily to the door.</p> + +<p>"Don't hurry yourself, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Brilliant sarcasm is just flying about this house to-day," was his +parting shot as he banged the door behind him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p>Nora understood perfectly that her brother had been forced to take a +stand as a result of this last quarrel with Gertie. Well, she was glad +of it. Things certainly could not go on in this way forever. Of course +he would have to make a show, at least, of taking his wife's part. But, +equally of course, he would understand her position perfectly. However +much his new life and his long absence from England might have changed +him, at bottom their points of view were still the same. He and she, so +to speak, spoke a common language; she and Gertie did not.</p> + +<p>Gertie had probably been pouring out her accumulation of grievances to +him for the last half hour. Now it was her turn. She would show that she +was, as always, more than ready to meet Gertie half-way. It would be his +affair to see that her advances were received in better part in future +than they had been.</p> + +<p>She went on busily with her ironing, waiting for him to begin. But Eddie +seemed to experience a certain embarrassment in coming to the subject. +While she took article after article from the clothes-basket at her +side, he wandered about the room aimlessly, puffing at a pipe which +seemed never to stay lighted.</p> + +<div class='figcenter' style='width: 600px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> +<a name="illus-138" id="illus-138"></a> +<img src='images/illus-138.jpg' width='600' +alt='MARRIED–THOUGH SECRETLY ENEMIES.' +title='MARRIED–THOUGH SECRETLY ENEMIES.' /> +<br /> +<span class='caption'>MARRIED–THOUGH SECRETLY ENEMIES.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>"That's +the toughest nut I've ever been set to crack," he said at +length, pointing his pipestem after the vanished Hornby. "Why on earth +did you give him a letter to me?"</p> + +<p>"He asked me to. I couldn't very well say no."</p> + +<p>"I can't make out what people are up to in the old country. They think +that if a man is too big a rotter to do anything at all in England, +they've only got to send him out here and he'll make a fortune."</p> + +<p>"He may improve."</p> + +<p>"I hope so. Look here, Nora, you've thoroughly upset Gertie."</p> + +<p>"She's very easily upset, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"It's only since you came that things haven't gone right. We never used +to have scenes."</p> + +<p>"So you blame me. I came prepared to like her and help her. She met all +my advances with suspicion."</p> + +<p>"She thinks yon look down on her. You ought to remember that she never +had your opportunities. She's earned her own living from the time she +was thirteen. You can't expect in her the refinements of a woman who's +led the protected life you have."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now, Eddie, I haven't said a word that could be turned into the least +suggestion of disapproval of anything she did."</p> + +<p>"My dear, your whole manner has expressed disapproval. You won't do +things in the way we do them. After all, the way you lived in Tunbridge +Wells isn't the only way people can live. Our ways suit us, and when you +live amongst us you must adopt them."</p> + +<p>"She's never given me a chance to learn them," said Nora obstinately. +"She treated me with suspicion and enmity the very first day I came +here. When she sneered at me because I talked of a station instead of a +depot, of <i>course</i> I went on talking of a station. What do you think I'm +made of? Because I prefer to drink water with my meals instead of your +strong tea, she says I'm putting on airs."</p> + +<p>Marsh made a pleading gesture.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you humor her? You see, you've got to take the blame for all +the English people who came here in the past and were lazy, worthless +and supercilious. They called us Colonials and turned up their noses at +us. What do you expect us to do?—say, 'Thank you very much, sir.' 'We +know we're not worthy to black your boots.' 'Don't bother to work, it'll +be a pleasure for us to give you money'? It's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> no good blinking the +fact. There was a great prejudice against the English. But it's giving +way now, and every sensible man and woman who comes out can do something +to destroy it."</p> + +<p>"All I can say," said Nora, going over to the stove to change her iron, +"is if you're tired of having me here, I can go back to Winnipeg. I +shan't have any difficulty in finding something to do."</p> + +<p>"Good Lord, I don't want you to go. I like having you here. It's—it's +company for Gertie. And jobs aren't so easy to find as you think, +especially now the winter's coming on; everyone wants a job in the +city."</p> + +<p>"What do you want me to do?"</p> + +<p>"I want you to make the best of things and meet her half-way. You must +make allowances for her even if you think her unreasonable. It's Gertie +you've got to spend most of your time with."</p> + +<p>He was so manifestly distressed and, as he hadn't been so hard on her as +she had expected and in her own heart felt that she deserved, Nora +softened at once.</p> + +<p>"I'll have a try."</p> + +<p>"That's a good girl. And I think you ought to apologize to her for what +you said just now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I?" said Nora, aflame at once. "I've got nothing to apologize for. She +drove me to distraction."</p> + +<p>There was a moment's pause while Eddie softly damned the pipe he had +forgotten to fill, for not keeping lighted.</p> + +<p>"She says she won't speak to you again unless you beg her pardon."</p> + +<p>"Really! Does she look upon that as a great hardship?"</p> + +<p>"My dear! We're twelve miles from the nearest store. We're thrown upon +each other for the entire winter. Last year there was a bad blizzard, +and we didn't see a soul outside the farm for six weeks. Unless we learn +to put up with one another's whims, life becomes a perfect hell."</p> + +<p>Nora stopped her work and set down her iron.</p> + +<p>"You can go on talking all night, Eddie, I'll never apologize. Time +after time when she sneered at me till my blood boiled, I've kept my +temper. She deserved ten times more than I said. Do you think I'm going +to knuckle under to a woman like that?"</p> + +<p>"Remember she's my wife, Nora."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you marry a lady?"</p> + +<p>"What the dickens do you think is the use of being a lady out here?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You've degenerated since you left England."</p> + +<p>"Now look here, my dear, I'll just tell you what Gertie did for me. She +was a waitress in Winnipeg at the Minnedosa Hotel, and she was making +money. She knew what the life was on a farm—much harder than anything +she'd been used to in the city—but she accepted all the hardship of it +and the monotony of it, because—because she loved me."</p> + +<p>"She thought it a good match. You were a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"Fiddledidee! She had the chance of much better men than me. And +when——"</p> + +<p>"Such men as Frank Taylor, no doubt."</p> + +<p>"And when I lost my harvest two years running, do you know what she did? +She went back to the hotel in Winnipeg for the winter, so as to carry +things on till the next harvest. And at the end of the winter, she gave +me every cent she'd earned to pay the interest of my mortgage and the +installments on the machinery."</p> + +<p>Nora had been more moved by this recital than she would have cared to +confess. She turned away her head to hide that her eyes had filled with +tears. After all, a woman who could show such devotion as that, and to +her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>brother—— Yes, she would try again.</p> + +<p>"Very well: I'll apologize. But leave me alone with her. I—I don't +think I could do it even before you, Eddie."</p> + +<p>"Fine! That's a good girl. I'll go and tell her."</p> + +<p>Nora felt repaid in advance for any sacrifice to her pride as he beamed +on her, all the look of worriment gone. She was once more busy at her +ironing-board, bending low over her work to hide her confusion, when he +returned with Gertie. A glance at her sister-in-law told her that there +was to be no unbending in that quarter until she had made proper +atonement. There was little conciliatory about that sullen face.</p> + +<p>However, she made an effort to speak lightly until, once Eddie had taken +his departure, she could make her apology.</p> + +<p>"I've been getting on famously with the ironing."</p> + +<p>"Have you?"</p> + +<p>"This is one of the few things I <i>can</i> do all right."</p> + +<p>"Any child can iron."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be going down to the shed," said her brother uneasily.</p> + +<p>"What for?" said Gertie quickly.</p> + +<p>"I want to see about mending that door. It hasn't been closing right."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought Nora had something to say to me."</p> + +<p>"So she has: that's what I'm going to leaves you alone for."</p> + +<p>"I like that. She insults me before everybody and then, when she's going +to apologize, it's got to be private. No, thank you."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Gertie?" asked Nora.</p> + +<p>"You sent Ed in to tell me you was goin' to apologize for what you'd +said, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"And I'm ready to: for peace and quietness."</p> + +<p>"Well, what you said was before the men, and it's before the men you +must say you're sorry."</p> + +<p>"How can you ask me to do such a thing!" cried Nora indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Don't be rough on her, Gertie," pleaded her husband. "No one likes +apologizing."</p> + +<p>"People who don't like apologizing should keep a better lookout on their +tongue."</p> + +<p>"It can't do you any good to make her eat humble pie before the men."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it won't do <i>me</i> any good, but it'll do <i>her</i> good!"</p> + +<p>"Gertie, don't be cruel. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, and +said anything that hurt you. But please don't make me humiliate myself +before the others."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've made up my mind," said Gertie, folding her arms across her breast, +"so it's no good talking."</p> + +<p>"Don't you see that it's bad enough to have to beg your pardon before +Eddie?"</p> + +<p>"Good Lord!" said Gertie irritably, "why can't you call him Ed like the +rest of us. 'Eddie' sounds so sappy."</p> + +<p>"I've called him Eddie all my life: it's what our mother called him," +said Nora sadly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's all of a piece. You do everything you can to make yourself +different from all of us."</p> + +<p>She stalked over to the window and stood with folded arms looking out +toward the wood-pile on which Reggie was seated—it is to be presumed +having a moment's respite after his arduous labors.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't," pleaded Nora. "At least I don't mean to. Why won't you +give me any credit for trying to do my best to please you?"</p> + +<p>"That's neither here nor there." She suddenly wheeled about, facing them +both. "Go and fetch the men, Ed, and then I'll hear what she's got to +say."</p> + +<p>"No, I won't, I won't, I won't!" cried Nora furiously. "You drive me too +far."</p> + +<p>"You won't beg my pardon?" demanded Gertie threateningly. If she wished +to drive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> Nora beside herself, she accomplished her purpose.</p> + +<p>"I said I could teach you manners," she gave a hysterical laugh, "I made +a mistake. I <i>couldn't</i> teach you manners, for one can't make a silk +purse out of a sow's ear."</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Nora," said her brother sharply.</p> + +<p>"Now you must make her, Ed," said Gertie grimly.</p> + +<p>He replied with a despairing gesture.</p> + +<p>"I'm sick to death of the pair of you!"</p> + +<p>"I'm your wife, and I'm going to be mistress of this house—my house."</p> + +<p>"It's horrible to make her eat humble pie before three strange men. +You've no right to ask her to do a thing like that."</p> + +<p>"Are you taking her part?" demanded Gertie, her voice rising in fury. +"What's come over you since she came here. You're not the same to me as +you used to be. Why did she come here and get between us?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't changed."</p> + +<p>"Haven't I been a good wife to you? Have you ever had any complaint to +make of me?"</p> + +<p>"You know perfectly well I haven't."</p> + +<p>"As soon as your precious sister comes along, you let me be insulted. +You don't say a word to defend <i>me</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Darling," said her husband with grim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> humor, "you've said a good many +to defend yourself."</p> + +<p>But Gertie was not to be reached by humor, grim or otherwise.</p> + +<p>"I'm sick and tired of being put upon. You must choose between us," she +said, with an air of finality.</p> + +<p>"What on earth do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"If you don't make her apologize right now before the hired men, I'm +quit of you."</p> + +<p>"I can't make her apologize if she won't."</p> + +<p>"Then let her quit."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wish I could! I wish to God I could!" said Nora wildly.</p> + +<p>"You know she can't do that," said Marsh roughly. "There's nowhere she +can go. I've offered her a home. You were quite willing, when I +suggested having her here."</p> + +<p>"I was willing because I thought she'd make herself useful. We can't +afford to feed folks who don't earn their keep. We have to work for our +money, we do."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know you grudged me the little I eat," said Nora bitterly. "I +wonder if I should begrudge it to you, if I were in your place."</p> + +<p>"Look here, it's no good talking. I'm not going to turn her out. As long +as she wants a home, the farm's open to her. And she's welcome to +everything I've got."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then you choose her?" demanded Gertie.</p> + +<p>"Choose her? I don't know what you're talking about!" Easy-going as he +was, he was beginning to show signs of irritation.</p> + +<p>"I said you'd got to choose between us. Very well, let her stay. I +earned my own living before, and I can earn it again. <i>I'm</i> going."</p> + +<p>"Don't talk such nonsense," said Marsh violently.</p> + +<p>"You think I don't mean it? D'you think I'm going to stay here and be +put upon? Why should I?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you—love me any more?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't I shown that I love you? Have you forgotten, Ed?"</p> + +<p>"We've gone through so much together, darling," he said huskily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we have that," she said in a softened tone.</p> + +<p>"Won't you forgive her, for—for my sake?"</p> + +<p>Gertie's face hardened once more.</p> + +<p>"No, I can't. You're a man, you don't understand. If she won't +apologize, either she must go or I shall."</p> + +<p>"I can't lose you, Gertie. What should I do without you?"</p> + +<p>"I guess you know me well enough by now. When I say a thing, I do it."</p> + +<p>"Eddie!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nora had buried her face in her hands. He looked at her a moment without +speaking.</p> + +<p>"She's my wife. After all, if it weren't for her I should be hiring out +now at forty dollars a month."</p> + +<p>Nora lifted her face. For a long moment, brother and sister exchange a +sad regard.</p> + +<p>"Very well," she said huskily, "I'll do what you want."</p> + +<p>He made one last appeal:</p> + +<p>"You <i>do</i> insist on it, Gertie?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do."</p> + +<p>"I'll go and call the men." He looked vacantly about the room, searching +for his hat.</p> + +<p>"Frank Taylor needn't come, need he?" asked Nora timidly.</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"He's going away almost immediately. It can't matter about him, surely."</p> + +<p>"Then why are you so particular about it?"</p> + +<p>"The others are English——" She knew she had made an unfortunate speech +the moment the words had left her lips and hastened to modify it. "He'll +like to see me humiliated. He looks upon women as dirt. He's—— Oh, I +don't know, but not before him!"</p> + +<p>"It'll do you a world of good to be taken down a peg or two, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how heartless, how cruel!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go on, Ed. I want to get on with my work."</p> + +<p>"Why do you humiliate me like this?" asked Nora after the door had +closed on her brother. Gertie had seated herself, very erect and +judicial, in one of the rocking chairs.</p> + +<p>"You came here and thought you knew everything, I guess. But you didn't +know who you'd got to deal with."</p> + +<p>"I was a stranger and homeless. If you'd had any kindness, you wouldn't +have treated me so. I <i>wanted</i> to be fond of you."</p> + +<p>"You," scoffed Gertie. "You despised me before you ever saw me."</p> + +<p>Nora made a despairing gesture. Even now the men might be on the way, +but she had a more unselfish motive for wishing to placate Gertie. +Anything rather than bring that look of pain she had seen for the first +time that day into her brother's eyes. She staked everything on one last +appeal.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gertie, can't we be friends? Can't we let bygones be bygones and +start afresh? We both love Eddie—Ed I mean. He's your husband and he's +the only relation I have in the world. Won't you let me be a <i>real</i> +sister to you?"</p> + +<p>"It's rather late to say all that now."</p> + +<p>"But it's not too late, is it?" Nora went on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> eagerly. "I don't know +what I do that irritates you so. I can see how competent you are, and I +admire you so much. I know how splendid you've been with Eddie. How +you've stuck to him through thick and thin. You've done everything for +him."</p> + +<p>Gertie struck her hands violently together and sprang from her chair.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't go on patronizing me. I shall go crazy!"</p> + +<p>"Patronizing you?"</p> + +<p>"You talk to me as if I were a naughty child. You might be a school +teacher." Nora wrung her hands. "It seems perfectly hopeless!"</p> + +<p>"Even when you're begging my pardon," Gertie went on, "you put on airs. +You ask me to forgive you as if you was doing <i>me</i> a favor!"</p> + +<p>"I must have a most unfortunate manner." Nora laughed hysterically.</p> + +<p>"Don't you dare laugh at me," said Gertie furiously.</p> + +<p>"Don't make yourself ridiculous, then."</p> + +<p>"Did you think I would ever forget what you wrote to Ed before I married +him?"</p> + +<p>"What I wrote? I don't know what you mean."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you? You told him it would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> a disgrace if he married me. +He was a gentleman and I—— Oh, you spread yourself out!"</p> + +<p>"And he showed you that letter," said Nora slowly. "Now I understand," +she added to herself. "Still," she went on, looking Gertie directly in +the face, "I had a perfect right to try and prevent the marriage before +it took place. But after it happened, I only wanted to make the best of +it. If you had <i>this</i> grudge against me, why did you let me come here!"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Gertie moodily, "Ed wanted it, and it was lonely enough +sometimes with the men away all day and no one to say a word to. But I +can't bear it," she almost screamed, "when Ed talks to you about the old +country and all the people I don't know anything about!"</p> + +<p>"Then you <i>are</i> jealous?"</p> + +<p>"It's my house and I'm mistress here. I won't be put upon. What did you +want to come here for, upsetting everybody? Till you came, I never had a +word with Ed. Oh, I hate you, I hate you!" she finished in a sort of +ecstasy.</p> + +<p>"Gertie!"</p> + +<p>"You've given me my chance," said Gertie with set teeth; "I'm going to +take it. I'm going to take you down a peg or two, young woman."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're doing all you can to drive me away from here."</p> + +<p>"You don't think it's any very wonderful thing to have you, do you? You +talk of getting a job," she went on scornfully. "You! You couldn't get +one. I know something about that, my girl. You! What can you do? +Nothing."</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from outside, they heard Frank Taylor's laugh. Nora winced as +if she had been struck. Gertie's face was distorted with an evil smile. +She seated herself once more in the rocking chair and folded her arms +across her heaving breast.</p> + +<p>"Here they come: now take your punishment," she said harshly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p>Nora could never after think of what followed with any feeling of +reality so far as her personal participation in the scene was concerned. +It was like watching a play in which one is interested, without being in +any degree emotionally stirred.</p> + +<p>She saw Gertie, erect and stern in her big chair; she saw herself, +standing behind the ironing-board, as if at a Bar of Justice, her hands +resting loosely upon it; and she saw the door open to admit her brother, +followed by Taylor and Trotter; noted that the former had discarded the +familiar overalls and was wearing a sort of pea-jacket with a fur +collar, and that her brother's face was once more sad and a little +stern.</p> + +<p>She had been obliged to press her handkerchief to her mouth to hide the +crooked smile that the thought: '<i>he</i> is the executioner,' had brought +to her lips.</p> + +<p>Then the figures which were Gertie and her brother had exchanged some +words.</p> + +<p>"Where's Hornby?"</p> + +<p>"He's just coming."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do they know what they're here for!"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't tell them."</p> + +<p>Then the figure which was Reggie had come in with some laughing remark +about being torn away from his work, but, stopping so suddenly in the +midst of his laughter at the sight of Gertie's face that it was comical; +once more she had had to press her handkerchief to her lips.</p> + +<p>And all the time she knew that this Nora whom she seemed to be watching +had flushed a cruel red clear to her temples and that a funny little +pulse was beating,—oh, so fast, so fast!—way up by her cheek-bone. It +couldn't have been her heart. Her heart had never gone as fast as that.</p> + +<p>Then she had heard Gertie say: "Nora insulted me a while ago before all +of you and I guess she wants to apologize."</p> + +<p>And then Frank had said: "If you told me it was that, Ed, you wanted me +to come here for, I reckon I'd have told you to go to hell."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>It must have been she who had asked the question, although she was not +conscious that her lips had moved and the voice did not seem like her +own. Her own voice was rather deep. This voice was curiously thin and +high.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've got other things to do besides bothering my head about women's +quarrels."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon," still in the same high tone. "I thought it +might be some kindly feeling in you."</p> + +<p>"Go on, Nora, we're waiting," came the voice from the big chair.</p> + +<p>Sour-dough! That's what those coats, such as Frank had on, were called. +She had been wondering all the time what the name was. It was only the +other day that Gertie had used the word in saying that she wished +Eddie—no, Ed—could afford a new one. What a ridiculous name for a +garment.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I was rude to you, Gertie. I apologize to you for what I +said."</p> + +<p>"If there's nothing more to be said, we'd better go back to our work."</p> + +<p>While her brother was speaking to his wife, Frank had taken a step +forward. Somehow, the smile on his face had lost all of its ordinary +mockery.</p> + +<p>"You didn't find that very easy to say, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"I'm quite satisfied." And then Gertie had dared to add: "Let this be a +lesson to you, my girl!"</p> + +<p>That was the last straw. The men had turned to go. In a flash she had +made up her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> mind. Her brother's house was no longer possible. Gertie +had, in a moment of passion, confessed that she hated her; had always +hated her in her secret heart ever since she had read that protesting +letter. What daily humiliations would she not have to endure now that +she had matched her strength against Gertie and lost! It meant one long +crucifixion of all pride and self-respect. No, it was not to be borne!</p> + +<p>There was one avenue of escape open, and only one. <i>He</i> had said that he +was willing to offer a home to a woman who was willing to assume her +share of the burden of making one. It was even possible that he would be +both kind and considerate, no matter how many mistakes she made at +first, to a woman who tried to learn. Of one thing she was certain, he +would know how to see that his wife was treated with respect by all the +world. For the moment, her bleeding pride cried to her that that was the +only thing in life that was absolutely necessary. Nothing else mattered.</p> + +<p>"Frank, will you wait a minute?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. What can I do for you?"</p> + +<p>"I've understood that I'm not wanted here. I'm in the way. You said just +now you wanted a woman to cook and bake for you, wash and mend your +clothes, and keep your shack clean and tidy. Will I do?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sure."</p> + +<p>"Nora!" Her brother was shaking her by the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you'll have to marry me."</p> + +<p>"I guess it <i>would</i> be more respectable."</p> + +<p>"Nora, you can't mean it: you're in a temper! See here, Frank, you +mustn't pay any attention to her."</p> + +<p>"Shameless, that's what I call it." That was Gertie.</p> + +<p>"He wants a woman to look after him. He practically proposed to me half +an hour ago—didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Practically."</p> + +<p>"Nora! You've been like cat and dog with Frank ever since you came. My +dear, you don't know what you're in for."</p> + +<p>"If he's willing to risk it, I am."</p> + +<p>"It ain't an easy life you're coming to. This farm is a palace compared +with my shack."</p> + +<p>"I'm not wanted here and you say you want me. If you'll take me, I'll +come."</p> + +<p>For what seemed an interminable moment, he had looked at her with more +gravity than she had ever seen in his face.</p> + +<p>"I'll take you, all right. When will you be ready? Will an hour do for +you?"</p> + +<p>"An hour! You're in a great hurry." She had had a funny sensation that +her knees were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> giving way. She had never fainted in her life. Was she +going to faint now before them all? Before Gertie? Never! Somehow she +must get out of the room and be alone a minute.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes. Then we can catch the three-thirty into Winnipeg. You can go +to the Y. W. C. A. for the night and we'll be buckled up in the morning. +You meant it, didn't you? You weren't just saying it as a bluff?"</p> + +<p>"I shall be ready in an hour."</p> + +<p>She had pushed Eddie gently aside and, without a glance at anyone had +walked steadily from the room.</p> + +<p>Once seated on the side of the bed in the room that had been hers, she +had been seized with a chill so violent that her teeth had chattered in +her head. To prevent anyone who might follow her from hearing them,—and +it was probable that her brother might come for a final remonstrance; it +was even conceivable that Gertie, herself, might be sorry for what she +had done; but no, it was she who had said she was shameless!—she got up +and locked her door and then threw herself full length on the little bed +and crammed the corner of the pillow into her mouth.</p> + +<p>Perhaps she was going to die. She had never really been ill in her life +and the violence of the chill frightened her. In her present +over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>wrought state, the thought of death was not disquieting. But +supposing she was only going to be very ill, with some long and tedious +illness that would make her a care and a burden for weeks? She recalled +the unremitting care which she had had to give Miss Wickham, and +pictured Gertie's grudging ministrations at her sick-bed. Anything +rather than that! She must manage to get to Winnipeg. Once away from the +house, nothing mattered.</p> + +<p>But after a few moments the violence of the chill, which was of course +purely nervous in its origin, subsided perceptibly. Nora rose and began +to busy herself with her packing. Fortunately her wardrobe was small. +She had no idea how long she had been lying on the bed.</p> + +<p>She had just folded the last garment and was about to close the lid of +her trunk, when there came a knock at the door.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's me," said Frank's voice. "The team is at the door. Are you ready?"</p> + +<p>For reply, Nora threw open the door and pointed to her box.</p> + +<p>"I have only to put on my hat. Will you be good enough to fasten that +for me? Here is the key."</p> + +<p>While he knelt on the floor, locking and strap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>ping it, she gave a +careful look at herself in the mirror, while putting on her hat. She +congratulated herself that she had not been crying. Aside from the fact +that she looked pale and tired, there was nothing in her face to suggest +that she had had a crisis of the nerves: certainly no look of defeat for +Gertie to gloat over. Would they all be there to witness her retreat? +Well, let them: no one could say that she had not gone out with flying +colors. She turned, with a smile to meet Frank's gaze.</p> + +<p>"That's right," he said approvingly. "You look fine. Say," he added, +"I'm afraid I'll have to have Reggie up to give me a lift with this +trunk of yours. I don't know what you can have in it unless it's a +stove, and we've got one at home already. It'll be all right once I get +it on my back."</p> + +<p>He had taken just the right tone. His easy reference to 'home' and to +their common possession of even so humble a piece of furniture as a +stove, as if they were an old married couple returning home after paying +a visit, had a restorative effect on nerves still a little jangly. That +was the only way to look at it: In a thoroughly commonplace manner. As +he had said himself, it was a business undertaking. She gave a perfectly +natural little laugh.</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't a stove; only a few books. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> didn't realize how heavy +they were. I'm sorry."</p> + +<p>"I'm not," he said heartily. "You can read to me evenings. I guess a +little more book-learning'll polish me up a bit and I'll be right glad +of the chance. You're not afraid to stand at the horses' heads, are you, +while Reg runs up here?"</p> + +<p>"No, of course not."</p> + +<p>She could hear Gertie in the pantry as she crossed the living-room. She +was grateful to her for not coming out to make any show of leave-taking. +Having sent Reggie on his errand, she stood stroking the horses' soft +noses while waiting for the men to return. Just as they reached the +door, Eddie came slowly over to her from the barn. His face was haggard. +He looked older than she had ever seen him.</p> + +<p>"Nora," he said in a low tone, "I beg you, before it is too late——"</p> + +<p>"Please, dear," she whispered, her hand on his, "you only make it +harder."</p> + +<p>"I'll write, Eddie, oh, in a few days, and tell you all about my new +home," she called gayly, as Frank, having disposed of her trunk in the +back of the wagon, lifted her in. Her brother turned without a word to +the others and went into the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>As she felt herself for the second time in those arms, the reaction +came.</p> + +<p>"Eddie, Eddie!"</p> + +<p>But, strangled by sobs, her voice hardly carried to the man on the seat +in front of her.</p> + +<p>As he sprang in, Frank gave the horses a flick with the whip. The +afternoon air was keen and the high-spirited team needed no further +urging. They swung out of the farm gate at a pace that made Reggie cling +to the seat.</p> + +<p>When he had them once more in hand, Taylor turned his head slightly.</p> + +<p>"All right back there?" he called, without looking at her.</p> + +<p>She managed a "Yes."</p> + +<p>She had only just recovered her self-control as they drove into +Winnipeg. As they drew up in front of the principal hotel, Taylor turned +the reins once more over to Reggie, and, vaulting lightly from his seat, +held out his hand and helped her to alight.</p> + +<p>"You'd better go into the ladies' parlor for a minute or two. I'm +feeling generous and am going to blow Reg to a parting drink. I'll come +after you in a minute and take you to the Y. W. C. A."</p> + +<p>"Very well."</p> + +<p>"Here," he called, as she turned toward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> door marked Ladies' +Entrance, "aren't you going to say good-by to Reg?"</p> + +<p>For a moment she almost lost her hardly regained self-control. To say +good-by to Reg was the final wrench. She had known him in those +immeasurably far-off days at home. It was saying good-by to England. She +held out her hand without speaking.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Miss Marsh," he said warmly, "and good luck."</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour later Taylor came to her in the stuffy little +parlor of which she was the solitary tenant. In silence they made their +way to the building occupied by the Y. W. C. A.</p> + +<p>"You have money?" he asked as they reached the door.</p> + +<p>"Plenty, thanks."</p> + +<p>"Do you want me to come in with you?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't necessary."</p> + +<p>"What time shall I come for you to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"At whatever time you choose."</p> + +<p>"Shall we say ten, then? Or eleven might be better. I've got to get the +license, you know, and look up the parson."</p> + +<p>"Very good; at eleven."</p> + +<p>"Good night, Nora."</p> + +<p>"Good night, Frank."</p> + +<p>Nora's first impulse on being shown to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> room was to go at once to bed. +Mind and body both cried out for rest. But she remembered that she had +eaten nothing since noon. She would need all her strength for the +morrow. She supposed they would start at once for Taylor's farm after +they were married.</p> + +<p>Good God, since the world began had any woman ever trapped herself so +completely as she had done! But she must not think of that.</p> + +<p>She had not the most remote idea where the farm was. All she remembered +to have heard was that it was west of Winnipeg, miles farther than her +brother's. One couldn't drive to it, it was necessary to take the train. +But whether it was a day's journey or a week's journey, she had never +been interested enough to ask. After all, what could it possibly matter +where it was; the farther away from everybody and everything she had +ever known, the better.</p> + +<p>The sound of a gong in the hall below recalled her thoughts to the +matter of supper. She went down to a bare little dining-room, only +partly filled, and accepted silently the various dishes set before her +all at one time. She had never seen a dinner—or supper, they probably +called it—served in such a haphazard fashion.</p> + +<p>Even at Gertie's—she smiled wanly at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> thought that since the +morning she no longer thought of it as her brother's, but as +Gertie's—while such a thing as a dinner served in courses had probably +never been heard of by anyone but Reggie, her brother and herself, the +few simple, well-cooked dishes bore some relation to each other, and the +supply was always ample. Gertie was justly proud of her reputation as a +good provider.</p> + +<p>But here there was a sort of mockery of abundance. Dabs of vegetables, +sauces, preserves, meats, both hot and cold, in cheap little china +dishes fairly elbowed each other for room. It would have dulled a keener +appetite than poor Nora's.</p> + +<p>Having managed to swallow a cup of weak tea and a piece of heavy bread, +she went once more to her room and sat down by the window which looked +out on what she took to be one of the principal streets of the town. +Tired as she still was, she felt not the slightest inclination for +sleep. The thought of lying there, wakeful, in the dark, filled her with +terror. For the first time in her life, Nora was frightened. She pressed +her face against the window to watch the infrequent passers-by. Surely +none of them could be as unhappy as she. Like a hideous refrain, over +and over in her head rang the words:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!"</p> + +<p>At length, unable to bear it any longer, the now empty street offering +no distraction, she undressed and went to bed, hoping for relief in +sleep. But sleep would not be wooed. She tossed from side to side, +always hearing those maddening words:</p> + +<p>"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!"</p> + +<p>All sorts of impractical schemes tormented her feverish brain. She would +appeal to the manager of the place. She was a woman. She would +understand. She would do any work, anything, for her bare keep. Take +care of the rooms, wait on table, anything. Then the thought came to her +of how Gertie would gloat to hear—and she would be sure to do so, +things always got out—that she was now doing <i>her</i> old work. No, she +could not bear that.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, if she started out very early, she could get a position in some +shop. There must be plenty of shops in a place the size of Winnipeg. But +what would she say when asked what experience she had had? No; that, +too, seemed hopeless.</p> + +<p>As a last resort, she thought of throwing herself on Taylor's mercy. She +would explain to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> him that she had been mad with anger; that she hadn't +in the least realized what she was doing; that her only thought had been +to defy Gertie in the hour of her triumph. Surely no man since the days +of the cave-men would prize an unwilling wife. She would humbly confess +that she had used him and beg his pardon, if necessary, on her knees.</p> + +<p>But what if he refused to release her from her promise? And what if he +did release her? What then? There still remained the unsolvable problem +of what she was to do. Her brother had told her that positions in +Winnipeg during the winter months were impossible to get. Gertie had +taunted her with the same fact. She had less than six dollars in the +world. After she had paid her bill she would have little more than four. +It was hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!"</p> + +<p>And then more plans; each one kindling fresh hope in her heart only to +have it extinguished, like a torch thrown into a pool, when they proved, +on analysis, each to be more impracticable than its predecessor. And +then, the refrain. And then, more plans.</p> + +<p>It was a haggard and weary-looking bride that presented herself to the +expectant bridegroom the next morning. The great circles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> under her eyes +told the story of a sleepless night. But nothing in Taylor's manner +betrayed that he noticed that she was looking otherwise than as usual.</p> + +<p>While she was dressing, Nora had come to a final decision. Quite calmly +and unemotionally she would explain the situation to him. She would +point out the impossibility, the absurdity even, of keeping an agreement +entered into, by one of the parties at least, in hot blood, and +thoroughly repented of, on later and saner reflection. In the remote +event of this unanswerable argument failing to move him, she would +appeal to his honor as a man not to hold her, a woman, to so unfair a +bargain. She had even prepared the well-balanced sentences with which +she would begin.</p> + +<p>But as she stood with her cold hand in his warm one, he forestalled her +by exhibiting, not without a certain boyish pride, the marriage license +and the plain gold band which was to bind her. If these familiar and +rather commonplace objects had been endowed with some evil magic, they +could not have deprived her of the power of speech more effectively.</p> + +<p>Without a protest, she permitted herself to be led to the waiting +carriage, provided in honor of the occasion. It seemed but a moment +later that she found herself being warmly embraced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> by a motherly +looking woman, who, it transpired, was the wife of the clergyman who had +just performed the ceremony.</p> + +<p>From the parsonage they drove directly to the station.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p>The journey had seemed endless: it was already nightfall when they +arrived at the town of Prentice, where they were to get off and drive +some twelve miles farther to her new home. And yet, endless and +unspeakably wearying as it was, her heart contracted to find that it was +at an end.</p> + +<p>She realized now how comfortable, even luxurious, her trip across the +Continent had been by comparison. Then, she had traveled in a Pullman. +This, she learned, was called a day-coach. Her husband did everything in +his power to mitigate the rigors of the trip. He made a pillow for her +with his coat, bought her fruits, candies and magazines from the +train-boy, until she protested. Best of all, he divined and respected +her disinclination for conversation. At intervals during the day he left +her to go into the smoking-car to enjoy his pipe.</p> + +<p>The view from the window was, on the whole, rather monotonous. But it +would have had to be varied indeed to match the mental pictures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> that +Nora's flying thoughts conjured up for her.</p> + +<p>The dead level of her life at Tunbridge Wells had been a curious +preparation for the violent changes of the last few months. How often +when walking in the old-world garden with Miss Wickham she had had the +sensation of stifling, oppressed by those vine-covered walls, and +inwardly had likened herself to a prisoner. There were no walls now to +confine her. Clear away to the sunset it was open. And yet she was more +of a prisoner than she had ever been. And now she wore a fetter, albeit +of gold, on her hand.</p> + +<p>It had been her habit to think of herself with pity as friendless in +those days; forgetful of the good doctor and his wife, Agnes Pringle and +even Mr. Wynne, not to speak of her humbler friends, the gardener's wife +and children, and the good Kate. Well, she was being punished for it +now. It would be hard, indeed, to imagine a more friendless condition +than hers. Rushing onward, farther and farther into the wilderness to +make for herself a home miles from any human habitation; no woman, in +all probability, to turn to in case of need. And, crowning loneliness, +having ever at her side a man with whom she had been on terms of open +enmity up to a few short hours before!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>From time to time she stole furtive glances at him as he sat at her +side; and once, when he had put his head back against the seat and +pulled his broad-brimmed hat over his eyes and was seemingly asleep, she +turned her head and gave him a long appraising look.</p> + +<p>How big and strong and self-reliant he was. He was just the type of man +who would go out into the wilderness and conquer it. And, although she +had scoffed at his statement when he made it, she knew that he had +brains. Yes, although his lack of education and refinement must often +touch her on the raw, he was a man whom any woman could respect in her +heart.</p> + +<p>And when they clashed, as clash they must until she had tamed him a +little, she would need every weapon in her woman's arsenal to save her +from utter route; she realized that. But then, these big, rough men were +always the first to respond to any appeal to their natural chivalry. If +she found herself being worsted, there was always that to fall back +upon.</p> + +<p>If from some other world Miss Wickham could see her, how she must be +smiling! Nora, herself, smiled at the thought. And at the thought of +Agnes Pringle's outraged astonishment if she were to meet her husband +now, before she had toned him down, as she meant to do. She recalled the +chill finality of her friend's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> tone when in animadverting on the +doctor's unfortunate assistant she had said: "But, my dear, of course it +would be impossible to marry anyone who wasn't a gentleman."</p> + +<p>If by some Arabian Night's trick she could suddenly transport herself +and the sleeping Frank to Miss Pringle's side, she felt that that +excellent lady's astonishment at seeing her descend from the Magic +Carpet would be as nothing in comparison to her astonishment in being +presented to Nora's husband.</p> + +<p>Her mind had grown accustomed already to thinking of him as her husband; +not, as yet, to thinking of herself as his wife.</p> + +<p>At supper time they went into a car ahead, where Frank ate with his +accustomed appetite and Nora pecked daintily at the cold chicken.</p> + +<p>And now they were at Prentice. For some minutes before arriving, Frank, +who had asked her a few moments before to change places with him, had +been looking anxiously out of the window, his nose flattened against the +glass. As they drew up to the station platform, he gave a shout.</p> + +<p>"Good! There's old man Sharp. Luckily I remembered it was the day he +generally drove over and wired him."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"So that he could drive us home. He's a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> near neighbor; lives only about +a mile beyond us. He's married, too. So you won't be entirely without a +woman to complain to about me."</p> + +<p>"I should hardly be likely to do that," said Nora stiffly.</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart! I know you wouldn't: you're not that sort."</p> + +<p>"I hope she's not much like Gertie."</p> + +<p>"Gosh, no! A different breed of cats altogether."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's something to be thankful for."</p> + +<p>"This is Mr. Sharp; Sid, shake hands with Mrs. Frank Taylor."</p> + +<p>It was the first time that she had heard herself called by her new name. +It came as a distinct and not altogether pleasant shock.</p> + +<p>Once again her husband lifted her in his strong arms to the back seat of +the rough-looking wagon and saw to it that she was warmly wrapped up, +for, although there was little or no snow to be seen at Prentice, the +night air was sharply chill. She moved over a little to make room for +him at her side; but without appearing to notice her action, he jumped +lightly onto the front seat beside his friend.</p> + +<p>"Let 'em go, Sid. Everything all comfortable?" he asked, turning to +Nora.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Quite, thanks."</p> + +<p>Throughout the long cold drive, they exchanged no further word. Frank +and Sid seemed to have much to say to each other about their respective +farms. Nora gathered from what she could hear that Sharp had played the +part of a good neighbor, during her husband's enforced absence, in +having a general oversight of his house.</p> + +<p>"You'll find the fence's down in quite a few places. I allowed to fix it +myself when I had the spare time, but when I heard that you was comin' +back so soon, I just naturally let her go."</p> + +<p>"Sure, that was right. It'll give me something to do right at home. I +don't want to leave Mrs. Taylor too much alone until she gets a little +used to it. She's always been used to a lot of company," Nora heard him +say.</p> + +<p>She smiled to herself in the darkness and felt a little warm feeling of +gratitude. She was right in her estimate. This man would be tractable +enough, after all. His attitude toward women, which, had formerly so +enraged her, was only on the surface. An affectation assumed to annoy +her when they were always quarreling. How foolish she had been not to +read him more accurately. For the first time, she felt a little return +of self-confidence. She would bring this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> hazardous experiment to a +successful conclusion, after all. It was really failure that she had +most feared.</p> + +<p>But her heart sank within her once more when at last they drew up in +front of a long, low cabin built of logs. Mr. Sharp had not overstated +the dilapidated state of the fence. It sagged in half a dozen places and +one hinge of the gate was broken. Altogether it was as dreary a picture +as one could well imagine. The little cabin had the utterly forlorn look +of a house that has long been unoccupied.</p> + +<p>"Woa there! Stand still, can't you?" said Sharp, tugging at the reins.</p> + +<p>"A tidy pull, that last bit," said Frank. "Trail's very bad."</p> + +<p>"Stand still, you brute! Wait a minute, Mrs. Taylor."</p> + +<p>"I guess she wants to get home."</p> + +<p>Taylor vaulted lightly from his seat and, without waiting to help Nora, +ran up the path to the house. As she stood up, trying to disentangle +herself from the heavy lap-robe, she could hear a key turn noisily in a +lock. With a jerk, he threw the door wide open.</p> + +<p>"Wait a bit and I'll light the lamp, if I can find where the hell it's +got to," he called. "This shack's about two foot by three, and I'm +blamed if I can ever find a darned thing!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nora smiled to herself in the darkness.</p> + +<p>She got down unassisted this time. Under the bright and starry sky she +could see a long stretch of prairie, fading away, without a break into +the darkness. A long way off she thought she could distinguish a light, +but she could not be certain.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you a hand with the trunk," called Sharp, laboriously +climbing out of the wagon. "Woa there," as the mare pawed restlessly on +the ground.</p> + +<p>"I'll come and help you if you'll wait a bit. Come on in, Nora."</p> + +<p>Nora hunted round among the numerous parcels underneath the seat until +she found a meshed bag containing some bread, butter and other +necessaries they had bought on the way to the station. Then she walked +slowly up the path to her home.</p> + +<p>She had the feeling that she was still a free agent as long as she +remained outside. Once her foot had crossed the threshold——! It was +like getting into an ice-cold bath. She dreaded the plunge. However, it +must be taken. He was standing stock-still in the middle of the room as +she reached the door, his heavy brows drawn together.</p> + +<p>"I'm quite stiff after that long drive."</p> + +<p>The moment the words were out of her mouth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> she wished to recall them. +This was no way to begin. It was actually as if she had been trying to +excuse herself for not coming more quickly when she was called. His +whole attitude of frowning impatience showed that he had expected her to +come at the sound of his voice. His face cleared at once.</p> + +<p>"Are you cold?" he asked with a certain anxiety.</p> + +<p>"No, not a bit; I was so well wrapped up."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's freezing pretty hard. But, you see, it's your first winter +and you won't feel the cold like we do?"</p> + +<p>"How odd," said Nora. "I'll just bring some of the things in." She had +an odd feeling that she didn't want to be alone with him just now, and +said the first thing that entered her head.</p> + +<p>"Don't touch the trunk, it's too heavy for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm as strong as a horse."</p> + +<p>"Don't <i>touch</i> it."</p> + +<p>"I won't," she laughed.</p> + +<p>He brushed by her and went on out to the rig, returning almost instantly +with an arm full of parcels.</p> + +<p>"We could all do with a cup of tea. Just have a look at the stove. It +won't take two shakes to light a fire."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It seems hardly worth while; it's so late."</p> + +<p>"Oh, light the fire, my girl, and don't talk about it," he said +good-humoredly.</p> + +<p>On her knees before the stove, with her face as flushed as if it were +already glowing, Nora raked away at the ashes. Through the open doorway +she could see her husband and Mr. Sharp unfasten the trunk from the back +of the wagon and start with it toward the house.</p> + +<p>"This trunk of yours ain't what you might call light, Mrs. Taylor," said +Sharp good-naturedly as he stepped over the threshold.</p> + +<p>"You see it holds everything I own in the world," said Nora lightly.</p> + +<p>"I guess it don't do that," laughed her husband. "Since this morning, +you own a half share in a hundred and sixty acres of as good land as +there is in the Province of Manitoba, and a mighty good shack, if I did +build it all myself."</p> + +<p>"To say nothing of a husband," retorted Nora.</p> + +<p>"Where do you want it put?" asked Sharp.</p> + +<p>"It 'ud better go in the next room right away. We don't want to be +falling over it."</p> + +<p>As they were carrying it in, Nora, with a rather helpless air, carried a +couple of logs and a handful of newspapers over from the pile in the +corner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here, you'll never be able to light a fire with logs like that. Where's +that darned ax? I'll chop 'em for you. I guess you'll have plenty to do +getting the shack tidy."</p> + +<p>After a little searching, he found the ax back of the wood-pile and set +himself to splitting the logs. In the meantime, Sharp, who had made +another pilgrimage to the rig, returned carrying his friend's grip and +gun.</p> + +<p>"Now, that's real good of you, Sid."</p> + +<p>"Get any shooting down at Dyer, Frank?"</p> + +<p>"There was a rare lot of prairie chickens round, but I didn't get out +more than a couple of days."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Sharp, taking off his fur cap and scratching his head, "I +guess I'll be gettin' back home now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, stay and have a cup of tea, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"Do," said Nora, seconding the invitation.</p> + +<p>She had taken quite a fancy to this rough, good-natured man. In spite of +his straggly beard and unkempt appearance, there was a vague suggestion +of the soldier about him. Besides, she had a vague feeling that she +would like to postpone his departure as long as she could.</p> + +<p>"I hope you won't be offended if I say that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> I would take you for +English," she said, smiling brightly on him.</p> + +<p>"You're right, ma'am, I am English."</p> + +<p>"And a soldier?"</p> + +<p>"I was a non-commissioned officer in a regiment back home, ma'am," he +said, greatly pleased. "But why should I be offended?"</p> + +<p>Nora and her husband exchanged glances.</p> + +<p>"It's this way," Frank laughed. "Gertie, that's Nora's brother's +wife—down where I've been working—ain't very partial to the English. I +guess my wife's been rather fed up with her talk."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see. But, thank you all the same, and you, too, Mrs. Taylor, I +don't think I'll stay. It's getting late and the mare'll get cold."</p> + +<p>"Put her in the shed."</p> + +<p>"No, I think I'll be toddling. My missus says I was to give you her +compliments, Mrs. Taylor, and she'll be round to-morrow to see if +there's anything you want."</p> + +<p>"That's very kind of her. Thank you very much."</p> + +<p>"Sid lives where you can see that light just about a mile from here, +Nora," explained Frank. "Mrs. Sharp'll be able to help you a lot at +first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, we've been here for thirteen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> years and we know the ways of +the country by now," deprecated Mr. Sharp.</p> + +<p>"Nora's about as green as a new dollar bill, I guess."</p> + +<p>"I fear that's too true," Nora admitted smilingly.</p> + +<p>"There's a lot you can't be expected to know at first," protested their +neighbor. "I'll say good night, then, and good luck."</p> + +<p>"Well, good night then, Sid, if you <i>won't</i> stay. And say, it was real +good of you to come and fetch us in the rig."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right. Good night to you, Mrs. Taylor."</p> + +<p>"Goodnight."</p> + +<p>Pulling his cap well down over his ears, Mr. Sharp took his departure. +In the silence they could hear him drive away.</p> + +<p>Nora went over to the stove again and made a pretense of examining the +fire, conscious all the time that her husband was looking at her +intently.</p> + +<p>"I guess it must seem funny to you to hear him call you Mrs. Taylor, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"No. He isn't the first person to do so. The clergyman's wife did, you +remember."</p> + +<p>"That's so. How are you getting on with that fire?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right."</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll get some water; I'll only be a few minutes."</p> + +<p>He took a pail and went out. Nora could hear him pumping down in the +yard. Getting up hurriedly from her knees before the stove, she took up +the lamp and held it high above her head.</p> + +<p>This untidy, comfortless, bedraggled room was now hers, her home! She +would not have believed that any human habitation could be so hopelessly +dreary.</p> + +<p>The walls were not even sealed, as at the brother's. Tacked, here and +there, against the logs were pictures cut from illustrated papers, +unframed, just as they were. The furniture, with the exception of the +inevitable rocking-chair, worn and shabby from hard use, had apparently +been made by Frank, himself, out of old packing boxes. The table had +been fashioned by the same hand out of similar materials. On a shelf +over the rusty stove stood a few battered pots and pans; evidently the +entire kitchen equipment. There were two doors, one by which she had +entered; the other, leading supposedly into another room. The one window +was small and low. Even in this light she could see that a spider had +spun a huge web across it. In the dark corners of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> room all sorts of +objects seemed to be piled without any pretense of order.</p> + +<p>She lowered the lamp and listened. Yes, she could still hear the pump. +With a furtive, guilty air she hurried to complete her examination +before he should surprise her.</p> + +<p>One of the corners contained a battered suitcase and a nondescript pile +of old clothes, the other was piled high with yellowing copies of what +she saw was the Winnipeg <i>Free Press</i> and a few old magazines.</p> + +<p>"The library!" she said bitterly, and was surprised to find that she had +spoken aloud. Insane people did that, she had heard. Was she——?</p> + +<p>She ran over to a shelf that had escaped her notice, and the ill-fitting +lamp chimney rattled as she moved. It was stacked high with the same +empty syrup cans that at Gertie's did the duty of flower-pots. But these +held flour, now quite mouldy, and various other staple supplies all +spoiled and useless. She started to say "the larder," but, remembering +in time, put her hand over her lips that she might only think it.</p> + +<p>And now she had come to that other door. She must see what was there.</p> + +<p>"Having a look at the shack?"</p> + +<p>She gave a stifled scream and for a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> turned so pale that he +hastily set down his pail and went over to her.</p> + +<p>"I guess you're all tuckered out," he said kindly. "No wonder. You've +had quite a little excitement the last day or two."</p> + +<p>With a tremendous effort, Nora recovered her self-control. She walked +steadily over to one of the packing-box stools and sat down.</p> + +<p>"It was silly of me, but you don't know how you startled me. Don't think +I usually have nerves, but—but the place was strange last night and I +didn't sleep very well."</p> + +<p>"Do you mind if I open the door a moment?" she asked after a short +pause. "It isn't really cold and it looks so beautiful outside. One +can't see anything out of the window, you know, it's so cobwebby. I must +clean it—to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Try as she would, her voice faltered on the last word.</p> + +<p>She threw open the door and stood a moment looking out into the bright +Canadian night brilliant with stars. It was all so big, so open, so +free—and so lonely! You could fairly hear the stillness. But she must +not think of that. Ah, there was the light that she had been told was +the Sharp's farm. Somehow, it brought her comfort. But even as she +watched, the light went out. She came in and closed the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p>He was sitting on one of the stools, pipe in mouth, reading a newspaper +he had already read in the train.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of the shack?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"I built it with my own hands. Every one of them logs was a tree I cut +down myself. You wait till morning and I'll show you how they're joined +together, at the corners. There's some neat work there, my girl, I +guess."</p> + +<p>"Yes? Oh, I was forgetting; here's the kettle." She brought it over to +him from the shelf. He filled the kettle carefully from the pail while +she stood and watched him. She took it from his hand and set it on the +stove to boil.</p> + +<p>"You'll find some tea in one of them cans on the shelf; leastways, there +was some there when I come away. I reckon you're hungry."</p> + +<p>"I don't think I am, very. I ate a very good supper on the train, you +know."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you call that a good supper. I guess I could wrap up the +amount you ate in a postage stamp."</p> + +<p>"Well," she said with a smile, "you may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> be glad to learn that I haven't +a very large appetite."</p> + +<p>"I have, then. Where's the loaf we got in Winnipeg this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"I'll get it."</p> + +<p>"And the butter. You'll bake to-morrow, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"You're a brave man—unless you've forgotten my first attempt at +Eddie's," she said with a laugh as she took the loaf and butter from the +bag.</p> + +<p>For some reason her mood had completely changed. All her confidence in +being perfectly able to take care of herself had returned. She had been +frightened, badly frightened a moment ago at nothing. Nerves, nothing +more. Nerves were queer things. It was because she hadn't slept last +night. She was such a good sleeper naturally that a wakeful night +affected her more than it did most people. The cool night air had +completely restored her.</p> + +<p>She hunted about until she found a knife, and with the loaf in one hand +and the knife poised in the air asked:</p> + +<p>"Shall I cut you some?"</p> + +<p>"Yep."</p> + +<p>"Please."</p> + +<p>"Please what?"</p> + +<p>"Yep, please," she said with a gay smile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh!" he growled.</p> + +<p>Still smiling, she cut several slices of bread and buttered them. Going +to the shelf, she found the teapot and shook some tea into it from one +of the cans, measuring it carefully with her eye. His momentary ill +humor, caused by her correcting him, vanished as he watched her.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's about time you took your hat and coat off," he said with a +chuckle.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, she was not conscious that they were still on. +Without a word, she took them off and, having given her coat a little +shake and a pat, looked about her for a place to put them. She ended +finally by putting them both on the kitchen chair.</p> + +<p>"You ain't terribly talkative for a woman, are you, my girl?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't anything to say for the moment," said Nora.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess it's better to have a wife as talks too little than a +wife as talks too much."</p> + +<p>"I suppose absolute perfection is rare—in women, poor wretches," she +said in the old ironic tone she had always used toward him while he was +her brother's hired man.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" he said sharply.</p> + +<p>"I was only amusing myself with a reflection."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>He checked an angry retort, and striding over to a nail in the wall, +took off his coat and hung it up. Somehow, he looked larger than ever in +his gray sweater. A sense of comfort and unaccustomed well-being +restored him to good humor. Throwing himself into the rocker, he +stretched out his long legs luxuriantly.</p> + +<p>"I guess there's no place like home. You get a bit fed up with hiring +out. Ed was O. K., I reckon, but it ain't like being your own boss."</p> + +<p>"I should think it wouldn't be," said Nora quietly.</p> + +<p>"Where does that door go?" she asked presently.</p> + +<p>"That? Oh, into the bedroom. Like to have a look?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"No what?" he said quickly.</p> + +<p>Nora turned from the shelf where she had been contriving a place to put +the things they had brought from the town, and looked at him +inquiringly. His face was grave, but a twinkle in his eye betrayed him. +She blushed charmingly to the roots of her hair, but her laugh was +perfectly frank and good-humored. "I beg your pardon. I was so occupied +with arranging my pantry that I forgot my manners. No, <i>thank you</i>."</p> + +<p>"One can't be too careful about these impor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>tant things," he said with +rather heavy humor. "When I built this shack," he went on proudly—but +the pride was the pride of possession, not of achievement—"I fixed it +up so as it would do when I got married. Sid Sharp asked me what in hell +I wanted to divide it up in half for, but I guess women like little +luxuries like that."</p> + +<p>"Like what?"</p> + +<p>"Like having a room to sleep in and a room to live in."</p> + +<p>"Here's the bread and butter," said Nora abruptly. "Will you have some +syrup?"</p> + +<p>"S-u-r-e." He got up out of the rocking chair and pulling one of the +stools up to the table, sat down.</p> + +<p>"The water ought to be boiling by now; what about milk?"</p> + +<p>"That's one of the things you'll have to learn to do without till I can +afford to buy a cow."</p> + +<p>"I can't drink tea without milk."</p> + +<p>"You try. Say, can you milk a cow?"</p> + +<p>"I? No."</p> + +<p>"Then it's just as well I ain't got one."</p> + +<p>Nora laughed. "You <i>are</i> a philosopher."</p> + +<p>Having filled the teapot with boiling water and set it on the table, she +returned to the shelf and began moving the things about in search of +something.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What you looking for?"</p> + +<p>"Is there a candle? I'll just get one or two things out of my box and +bring in here."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you going to sit down and have a cup of tea?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want any, thanks."</p> + +<p>"Sit down, my girl."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I tell you to." The command was smilingly given.</p> + +<p>"I don't think you'd better tell me to do things." Nora could smile, +too.</p> + +<p>"Then I ask you. You ain't going to refuse the first favor I've asked +you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," she said in her most charming manner. Pulling another +of the stools up to the table, she sat facing him.</p> + +<p>"There."</p> + +<p>"Now, pour out my tea for me, will you? I tell you," he said, watching +her slim hands moving among the tea things, "it's rum seeing <i>my</i> wife +sitting down at <i>my</i> table and pouring out tea for me."</p> + +<p>"Is it pleasant?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. Now have some tea yourself, my girl. You'll soon get used to +drinking it without milk. And I guess you'll be able to get some +to-morrow from Mrs. Sharp."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nora noticed that he did not taste his tea until she had poured herself +a cup.</p> + +<p>"Just take a bit of the bread and butter."</p> + +<p>He passed her the plate and she, still smiling brightly, broke off a +small half of one of the slices.</p> + +<p>"I had a sort of feeling I wanted you and me to have the first meal +together in your new home," he said gently.</p> + +<p>Then, with a sudden change of manner, he laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"We ain't lost much time, I guess. Why, it's only yesterday you told me +not to call you Nora. You did <i>flare</i> out at me!"</p> + +<p>"That was very silly of me, but I was in a temper."</p> + +<p>"And now we're man and wife."</p> + +<p>"Yes: married in haste with a vengeance."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you a bit scared?"</p> + +<p>"I? What of? You?"</p> + +<p>Her voice was steady, but the hands in her lap were clenched.</p> + +<p>"With Ed miles away, t'other side of Winnipeg, he might just as well be +in the old country for all the good he can be to you. You might +naturally be a bit scared to find yourself alone with a man you don't +know."</p> + +<p>"I'm not the nervous sort."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You <i>did</i> give me a fright, though," said Nora, with a laugh, "when I +asked you if you'd take me. I suppose it was only about fifteen seconds +before you answered, but it seemed like ten minutes. I thought you were +going to refuse. How Gertie would have gloated!"</p> + +<p>"I was thinking."</p> + +<p>"I see. Counting up my good points and balancing them against my bad +ones."</p> + +<p>"N-o-o-o: I was thinking you wouldn't have asked me like that if you +hadn't of despised me."</p> + +<p>Nora caught her breath sharply, but her manner lost none of its +lightness.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what made you think that."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know how you could have put it more plainly that my name +was mud."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you refuse, then?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I'm not the nervous sort, either," he remarked dryly over his +teacup.</p> + +<p>"<i>And</i>," Nora reminded him, "women are scarce in Manitoba."</p> + +<p>"I've always fancied an English woman," he went on, ignoring her little +thrust. "They make the best wives going when they've been licked into +shape."</p> + +<p>Nora showed her amusement frankly.</p> + +<p>"Are you purposing to attempt that operation on me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, you're clever. I guess a hint or two is about all you'll want."</p> + +<p>"You embarrass me when you pay me compliments."</p> + +<p>"I'll take you round and show you the land to-morrow," he said, tilting +back on his stool, to the imminent peril of his equilibrium. "I ain't +done all the clearing yet, so there'll be plenty of work for the winter. +I want to have a hundred acres to sow next year. And then, if I get a +good crop, I've a mind to take another quarter. You can't make it pay +really without you've got half a section. And it's a tough proposition +when you ain't got capital."</p> + +<p>"I had no idea I was marrying a millionaire."</p> + +<p>"Never you mind, my girl, you shan't live in a shack long, I promise +you. It's the greatest country in the world. We only want three good +crops and you shall have a brick house same as you lived in back home."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what they're doing in England now."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess they're asleep."</p> + +<p>"When I think of England I always think of it at tea time," began Nora, +and then stopped short.</p> + +<p>A wave of regret caught her throat. In spite of herself, the tears +filled her eyes. She looked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> miserably at the cheap, ugly tea things on +the makeshift table before her. Her husband watched her gravely. +Presently she went on, more to herself than to him:</p> + +<p>"Miss Wickham had a beautiful old silver teapot, a George Second. She +was awfully proud of it. And she was proud of her tea-set; it was old +Worcester. And she wouldn't let anyone wash the tea things but——" +Again, her voice failed her. "And two or three times a week an old +Indian judge came in to tea. And he used to talk to me about the East, +the wonderful, beautiful East. He made me long to see it all—I who had +never been anywhere. I've always loved history and books of travel more +than anything else. There are a lot of them there in my box—that's what +makes it so heavy—all about the beautiful places I was going to see +later on with the money Miss Wickham promised me——" her glance took in +the mean little room in all its unrelieved ugliness. "Oh, why did you +make me think of it all?"</p> + +<p>She bowed her head on the table for a moment. Taylor laid his hand +gently on her arm.</p> + +<p>"The past is dead and gone, my girl. We've got the future; it's ours."</p> + +<p>She gently disengaged herself from his detaining hand and went over to +the little window,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> looking out with eyes that saw other pictures than +the window had to show.</p> + +<p>"One never knows when one's well off, does one? It's madness to think of +what's gone forever."</p> + +<p>For several minutes there was silence, during which Nora recovered her +self-control. Having wiped away her tears, she turned hack to him, +smiling bravely. "I beg your pardon. You'll think me more foolish than I +really am. I'm not the crying sort, I assure you. But I don't know, it +all——"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, I know you're not," he said roughly. "I wish we'd got +a good drop of liquor here," he went on with the evident intention of +changing the current of her thoughts, "so as we could drink one +another's health. But as we <i>ain't</i>, you'd better give me a kiss +instead."</p> + +<p>"I'm not at all fond of kissing," said Nora coolly.</p> + +<p>Frank grinned at her, his pipe stuck between his white teeth.</p> + +<p>"It ain't, generally speaking, an acquired taste. I guess you must be +peculiar."</p> + +<p>"It looks like it," she said lightly.</p> + +<p>"Come, my girl," he said, getting slowly up from his stool, "you didn't +even kiss me after we was married."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Isn't a hint enough for you?"—her tone was perfectly friendly. "Why do +you insist on my saying everything in so many words? Why make me dot my +i's and cross my t's, so to speak?"</p> + +<p>"It seems to me it wants a few words to make it plain when a woman +refuses to give her husband a kiss."</p> + +<p>"Do sit down, there's a good fellow, and I'll tell you one or two +things."</p> + +<p>"That's terribly kind of you," he said, sinking into the rocker. "Have +you any choice of seats?"</p> + +<p>"Not now, since you've taken the only one that's tolerably comfortable. +I think there's nothing to choose between the others."</p> + +<p>"Nothing, I should say."</p> + +<p>"I think we'd better fix things up before we go any further," she said, +resuming her stool.</p> + +<p>"Sure."</p> + +<p>"You gave me to understand very plainly that you wanted a wife in order +to get a general servant without having to pay her wages. Wages are +high, here in Canada."</p> + +<p>"That was the way <i>you</i> put it."</p> + +<p>"Batching isn't very comfortable, you'll confess that?"</p> + +<p>"I'll confess that, all right."</p> + +<p>"You wanted someone to cook and bake for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> you, wash, sweep and mend. I +offered to come and do all that for you. It never entered my head for an +instant that there was any possibility of your expecting anything else +of me."</p> + +<p>"Then you're a damned fool, my girl."</p> + +<p>He was perfectly good-natured. She would have preferred him to be a +little angry. She would know how to cope with that, she thought. But she +flared up a little herself.</p> + +<p>"D'you mind not saying things like that to me?"</p> + +<p>His smile widened. "I guess I'll have to say a good many things like +that—or worse—before we've done."</p> + +<p>"I asked you to marry me only because I couldn't stay in the shack +otherwise."</p> + +<p>"You asked me to marry you because you was in the hell of a temper," he +retorted. "You were mad clean through. You wanted to get away from Ed's +farm right then and there and you didn't care what you did so long as +you quit. But you was darned sorry for what you'd done by the time you'd +got your trunk packed."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that you have any reason for thinking that," she said +stiffly.</p> + +<p>"I've got sense. Besides, when you opened the door when I went up and +knocked, you was as white as a sheet. You'd have given any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>thing you had +to say you'd changed your mind, but your damned pride wouldn't let you."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't have stayed longer in that house for anything in the world," +said Nora with passion.</p> + +<p>"There you are; that's just what I have been telling you," he said, +nodding his head. "And this morning, when I came for you at the Y. W. C. +A., you wanted bad to say you wouldn't marry me. When you shook hands +with me your hand was like ice. You tried to speak the words, but they +wouldn't come."</p> + +<p>"After all, one isn't married every day of one's life, is one? I admit I +was nervous for the moment."</p> + +<p>"If I hadn't shown you the license and the ring, I guess you wouldn't +have done it. You hadn't the nerve to back out of it then."</p> + +<p>"I hadn't slept a wink all night. I kept on turning it over in my mind. +I <i>was</i> frightened at what I'd done. I didn't know a soul in Winnipeg. I +hadn't anywhere to go. I had four dollars in my pocket. I <i>had</i> to go on +with it."</p> + +<p>"Well, you took pretty good stock of me in the train on the way here, I +guess," he laughed, pacing up and down the room.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Nora, who had recovered her coolness.</p> + +<p>"Well, I felt you was looking at me a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> deal while I was asleep," he +jeered. "It wasn't hard to see that you was turning me over in your +mind. What conclusion did you come to?"</p> + +<p>Nora evaded the question for the moment.</p> + +<p>"You see, I lived all these years with an old lady. I know very little +about men."</p> + +<p>"I guessed that."</p> + +<p>"I came to the conclusion that you were a decent fellow and I thought +you would be kind to me."</p> + +<p>"Bouquets are just flying round! Have you got anything more to say to +me?" he asked, seating himself once more in his chair.</p> + +<p>"No, I think not."</p> + +<p>"Then just get me my tobacco pouch, will you? I guess you'll find it in +the pocket of my coat."</p> + +<p>With narrowed eyes, he watched her first hesitate, and then bring it to +him.</p> + +<p>"Here you are." Her tone was crisp.</p> + +<p>"I thought you was going to tell me I could darned well get it myself," +he laughed.</p> + +<p>"I don't very much like to be ordered about," she said smoothly; "I +didn't realize it was one of your bad habits."</p> + +<p>"You never paid much attention to me or my habits till to-day, I +reckon."</p> + +<p>"I was always polite to you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, very! But I was the hired man, and you'd never let me forget it. +You thought yourself a darned sight better than me, because you could +play the piano and speak French. But we ain't got a piano and there +ain't anyone as speaks French nearer than Winnipeg."</p> + +<p>"I don't just see what you're driving at."</p> + +<p>"Parlor tricks ain't much good on the prairie. They're like dollar bills +up in Hudson Bay country. Tobacco's the only thing you can trade with an +Esquimaux. You can't cook very well, you don't know how to milk a cow; +why, you can't even harness a horse."</p> + +<p>"Are you regretting your bargain already?"</p> + +<p>"No," he said, going over to the shelf in search of the matches, "I +guess I can teach you. But if I was you"—he paused, the lighted match +in his fingers, to look at her—"I wouldn't put on any airs. We'll get +on O. K., I guess, when we've shaken down."</p> + +<p>"You'll find I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she said +with emphasis, speaking each word slowly. She returned his steady gaze +and felt a thrill of victory when he looked away.</p> + +<p>"When two people live in a shack," he went on as if she had not spoken, +"there's got to be a deal of give and take on both sides. As long as you +do what I tell you you'll be all right."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> + +<p>A sort of an angry smile crossed Nora's face.</p> + +<p>"It's unfortunate that when anyone <i>tells</i> me to do a thing, I have an +irresistible desire not to do it."</p> + +<p>"I guess I tumbled to that. You must get over it."</p> + +<p>"You've spoken to me once or twice in a way I don't like. I think we +shall get on better if you <i>ask</i> me to do things."</p> + +<p>"Don't forget that I can <i>make</i> you do them," he said brutally.</p> + +<p>"How?" Really, he was amusing!</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm stronger than you are."</p> + +<p>"A man can hardly use force in his dealings with a woman," she reminded +him.</p> + +<p>"O-o-o-oh?"</p> + +<p>"You seem surprised."</p> + +<p>"What's going to prevent him?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be so silly," she retorted as she turned to look once more out of +the window. But her hands were clammy and, somehow, even though her back +was turned toward him, she knew that he was smiling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p>How much time elapsed before he spoke she had no means of knowing; +probably, at most, two or three minutes. But to the woman gazing out +blindly through the cobweb-covered window into the night, it might well +have been hours. For some illogical reason, which she could not have +explained to herself, she had the feeling that the victory in the coming +struggle would lie with the one who kept silent the longer. To break the +nerve-wrecking spell would be a betrayal of weakness.</p> + +<p>None the less, she had arrived at the point when, the tension on her own +nerves becoming too great, she felt she must scream, drive her clenched +hand through the glass of the window, or perform some other act of +hysterical violence; then he spoke, and in the ordinary tone of daily +life.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going to unpack my grip."</p> + +<p>The tone, together with the commonplace words, had the effect of a cold +douche. She drew a sharp breath of relief, her hands unclenched. She was +herself once more. She'd won.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>She turned slowly, as if reluctant to abandon the starry prospect +without, to find him bending over a clutter of things scattered about +his half-emptied case. She had been about to say that she must see to +unpacking some of her own things.</p> + +<p>"Wash up them things." He jerked his bowed head toward the littered +table.</p> + +<p>For the first time, his tone was curt.</p> + +<p>But she was too much mistress of herself and the situation now to be +more than faintly annoyed by it.</p> + +<p>"I'll wash them up in the morning," she said casually. She started +toward the door behind which her box had been carried.</p> + +<p>"Wash 'em up now, my girl. You'll find the only way to keep things clean +is to wash 'em the moment you've done with 'em."</p> + +<p>She smiled at him over her shoulder, her hand on the knob of the door. +But she did not move.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear what I said?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you do as I tell you?"</p> + +<p>"Because I don't choose to."</p> + +<p>"You ain't taking long to try it out, are you?" His face wore an ugly +sneer.</p> + +<p>"They say there's no time like the present."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to wash up them things?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>There was a moment's silence while he held her eyes with his. Then, very +slowly and deliberately he got up, poured some boiling water into a pan +and placed it, together with a ragged dishcloth, on the table.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to wash up them things?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>She was still cool and smiling: only, her grip on the knob of the door +had tightened until the nails of her fingers were white.</p> + +<p>"Do you want me to make you?"</p> + +<p>"How can you do that?"</p> + +<p>"I'll soon show you."</p> + +<p>She waited the fraction of a moment.</p> + +<p>"I'll just get out those rugs, shall I? I think the holdall was put in +here. I expect it gets very cold toward morning."</p> + +<p>She had opened the door now and stepped across the threshold. Her face +was still turned toward his, but her smile was a little fixed.</p> + +<p>"Nora."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Come here."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I tell you to."</p> + +<p>Still, she did not move. In two strides he was over at her side. He +stretched out his hand to seize her by the wrist.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You daren't touch me!"</p> + +<p>She pulled the door to sharply and stood with her back against it, +facing him. Her face was as white as a linen mask, and about as +expressionless. Only her eyes lived. Anger and fear had enlarged the +pupils until they seemed black in the dead white of her face.</p> + +<p>"You daren't!" she repeated.</p> + +<p>"I daren't: who told you that?"</p> + +<p>"Have you forgotten that I'm a woman?"</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't. That's why I'm going to make you do as I tell you. If +you were a man, I mightn't be able to. Come, now."</p> + +<p>He made a movement to take her by the arm, but she was too quick for +him. With the quickness of a cat, she slipped aside. The next moment, to +his astonishment, he felt a stinging blow on the ear. He stared at her +dumbfounded. It is safe to hazard that never in his life had he been so +utterly taken aback.</p> + +<p>She met his stare without lowering her glance. But she was panting now +as if she had been running, one clenched hand pressed against her +heaving breast.</p> + +<p>He gave a short laugh, half of amused admiration at her daring, and half +of anger.</p> + +<p>"That was a darned silly thing to do!"</p> + +<p>"What did you expect?"</p> + +<p>"I expected that you were cleverer than to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> hit me. You ought to know +that when it comes to—to muscle, I guess I've got the bulge on you."</p> + +<p>"I'm not frightened of you."</p> + +<p>It was a stupid thing to say. Nora realized it too late. If she had only +been able to hold her tongue, he might have relented, she thought. But +at her words, his face hardened once more and the same steely glitter +came into his eyes. "Now come and wash up these things."</p> + +<p>"I won't, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>"Come on."</p> + +<p>Quickly grasping her by the wrists, he began to drag her slowly but +steadily to the table. Earlier in the evening she had boasted that she +was as strong as a horse. As a matter of fact, she had unusual strength +for a woman. But she was quickly made to realize that her strength, even +intensified as it was by her anger was, of course, nothing compared with +his. Strain and resist as she might, she could neither release herself +from his grasp nor prevent him from forcing her nearer and nearer to the +table which was his goal. In the struggle one of the large shell hair +pins which she wore fell to the floor. In another second she heard it +ground to pieces under his heel. A long strand of hair came billowing +down below her waist.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another moment, and by making a long arm, he could reach the table. With +a quick movement for which she was unprepared, he brought her two hands +sharply together so that he could hold both of her wrists with one hand, +leaving the other free.</p> + +<p>"Let me go, let me go!"</p> + +<p>She kicked him, first on one shin and then on the other. But their +bodies were too close together for the blows to have any force.</p> + +<p>"Come on now, my girl. What's the good of making a darned fuss about +it." His laugh was boyish in its exultant good-nature.</p> + +<p>"You brute, how dare you touch me! You'll never force me to do anything. +Let go! Let go! Let go!"</p> + +<p>And now, his free hand held fast the edge of the table. With a quick +movement she bent down and fastened her teeth in the skin of the back of +his hand. With an exclamation of pain, he released her, carrying his +wounded hand instinctively to his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Gee, what sharp teeth you've got!"</p> + +<p>"You cad! you cad!" she panted.</p> + +<p>"I never thought you'd bite," he said, looking at his bleeding hand +ruefully. "That ain't much like a lady, according to <i>my</i> idea."</p> + +<p>"You filthy cad! To hit a woman!"</p> + +<p>"Gee, I didn't hit you. You smacked my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> face and kicked my shins, and +you bit my hand. And now you say I hit <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>He picked up his pipe from the table and mechanically rammed the tobacco +down with his thumb and looked about for a match.</p> + +<p>"You beast! I hate you!"</p> + +<p>In the height of her passion she unconsciously began twisting up the +loosened strand of her hair.</p> + +<p>"I don't care about that, so long as you wash them cups."</p> + +<p>With a furious gesture she swept the table clean.</p> + +<p>"Look!" she screamed, as cups, saucers, plates and teapot broke into a +thousand pieces at his feet.</p> + +<p>There came another little sound of something breaking, like a faint echo +far away. It was his pipe which had fallen among the wreckage. In his +astonishment at her sudden action, he had bitten through the mouthpiece.</p> + +<p>"That's a pity; we're terribly short of crockery. We shall have to drink +our tea out of cans now," was all he said.</p> + +<p>"I said I wouldn't wash them, and I haven't washed them," Nora exulted.</p> + +<p>"They don't need it now, I guess," he said humorously.</p> + +<p>"I think I've won!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sure," he said without the slightest trace of rancor. "Now take the +broom and sweep up all the darned mess you've made."</p> + +<p>"I won't!"</p> + +<p>"Look here, my girl," he said threateningly, "I guess I've had about +enough of your nonsense: you do as you're told and look sharp about it."</p> + +<p>"You can kill me, if you like!"</p> + +<p>"What would be the good of that? Women, as you reminded me a little +while back, are scarce in Manitoba."</p> + +<p>He gave a searching look around the room and spying the broom in the +corner, went over and fetched it.</p> + +<p>"Here's the broom."</p> + +<p>"If you want that mess swept up, you can sweep it up yourself."</p> + +<p>"Look here, you make me tired!"</p> + +<p>His tone suggested that he was becoming more irritated. But Nora was +beyond caring. As he put the broom in her hand, she flung it from her as +far as she could. "Look here," he said again, and this time there was no +mistaking the menace in his voice, "if you don't clean up that mess at +once, I'll give you the biggest hiding you ever had in your life, I +promise you that."</p> + +<p>"You?" she jeered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yours truly," he said, nodding his head. "I've done with larking now." +He began rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. For some obscure +reason—possibly because his deliberation seemed to connote +implacability—this simple action filled her with a terror that she had +not known before even in the midst of their physical struggle.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help! Help!" she screamed.</p> + +<p>She rushed across the room and threw open the door, sending her agonized +appeal out into the night.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help! Help!"</p> + +<p>She strained her ears for any sign of response.</p> + +<p>"What's the good of that? There's no one within a mile of us. Listen."</p> + +<p>It is doubtful if she heard his words. If she had, it would have +mattered but little. The answering silence which engulfed her like a +wave told her that she was lost. She bowed her head in her hands. Her +whole slender body was wrecked with hard, dry sobs. When she lifted her +head, he read in her eyes the anguish of the conquered. Nevertheless, +she made one last stand.</p> + +<p>"If you so much as touch me, I'll have you up for cruelty. There are +laws to protect me."</p> + +<p>"I don't care a curse for the laws," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> laughed. "I know I'm going to +be master here. And if I tell you to do a thing, you've darned well got +to do it, because I can make you. Now stop this fooling. Pick up that +crockery and get the broom."</p> + +<p>"I won't!"</p> + +<p>He made one stride toward her.</p> + +<p>"No, don't. Don't hurt me!" she shrieked.</p> + +<p>"I guess there's only one law here," he said. "And that's the law of the +strongest. I don't know nothing about cities; perhaps men and women are +equal there. But on the prairie, a man's the master because he's bigger +and stronger than a woman."</p> + +<p>"Frank!"</p> + +<p>"Damn you, don't talk."</p> + +<p>She did not move. Her eyes were on the ground. Pride and Fear were +having their last struggle, and Fear conquered. Without looking at her +husband she could feel that his patience was nearing an end. Very slowly +she stooped down and picked up the teapot and the broken cups and +saucers and laid them on the table. Blindly she tottered over to the +rocking-chair and burst into a passion of tears.</p> + +<p>"And I thought I knew what it was to be unhappy!"</p> + +<p>He watched her with a slight, but not unkindly, smile on his face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come on, my girl," he said, without any trace of anger, "don't shirk +the rest of it."</p> + +<p>Through her laced fingers, she looked at the mess of spilled tea on the +floor. Keeping her tear-marred face turned away from him, she slowly got +up, and slowly found the broom and swept it all into a little heap on +the newspaper that lay where he had left it.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she threw back her head. Her eyes shone with a new resolution. +He watched her, wondering. With a quick, firm step, she carried the +rolled-up paper to the stove and shoved it far into the glowing embers. +Gathering up the crockery, after a glance around the room in search of +some receptacle which her eye did not find, she carried it over to the +wood-pile, laying it upon the logs. The broom was restored to its +corner. She took up her hat and coat and began to put them on.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"I've done what you <i>made</i> me do, now I'm going."</p> + +<p>"Where, if I might ask?"</p> + +<p>"What do I care, as long as I get away."</p> + +<p>"You ain't under the impression that there's a first-class hotel round +the corner, are you? There ain't."</p> + +<p>"I can go to the Sharps."</p> + +<p>"I guess they're in bed and asleep by now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll wake them."</p> + +<p>"You'd never find your way. It's pitch dark. Look."</p> + +<p>He threw open the door. It was true. The sky had clouded over. The +feeling of the air had changed. It smelt of storm.</p> + +<p>"I'll sleep out of doors, then."</p> + +<p>"On the prairie? Why, you'd freeze to death before morning."</p> + +<p>"What does it matter to you whether I live or die?"</p> + +<p>"It matters a great deal. Once more, let me remind you that women are +scarce in Manitoba."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to keep me from going?"</p> + +<p>"Sure."</p> + +<p>He closed the door and placed his back against it.</p> + +<p>"You can't keep me here against my will. If I don't go to-night, I can +go to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow's a long, long way off."</p> + +<p>Her hand flew to her throat.</p> + +<p>"Frank! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what silly fancies you've had in your head; but when I +married you I intended that you should be a proper wife to me."</p> + +<p>"But—but—but you understood."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was all she could do to force the words from her dry throat. With a +desperate effort she pulled herself together and tried to talk calmly +and reasonably.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry for the way I've behaved, Frank. It was silly and childish of +me to struggle with you. You irritated me, you see, by the way you spoke +and the tone you took."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mind. I don't know much about women and I guess they're +queer. We had to fix things up sometime and I guess there's no harm in +getting it over right now."</p> + +<p>"You've beaten me all along the line and I'm in your power. Have mercy +on me!"</p> + +<p>"I guess you won't have much cause to complain."</p> + +<p>"I married you in a fit of temper. It was very stupid of me. I'm very +sorry that I—that I've been all this trouble to you. Won't you let me +go?"</p> + +<p>"No, I can't do that."</p> + +<p>"I'm no good to you. You've told me that I'm useless. I can't do any of +the things that you want a wife to do. Oh," she ended passionately, "you +can't be so hard-hearted as to make me pay with all my whole life for +one moment's madness!"</p> + +<p>"What good will it do you if I let you go? Will you go to Gertie and beg +her to take you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> back again? You've got too much pride for that."</p> + +<p>She made a gesture of abnegation: "I don't think I've got much pride +left."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you'd better give it a try?"</p> + +<p>Once more hope wakened in Nora's heart. His tone was so reasonable. If +she kept her self-control, she might yet win. She sat down on one of the +stools and spoke in a tone that was almost conversational.</p> + +<p>"All this life is so strange to me. Back in England, they think it's so +different from what it really is. I thought I should have a horse to +ride, that there would be dances and parties. And when I came out, I was +so out of it all. I felt in the way. And yesterday Gertie drove me +frantic so that I felt I couldn't stay a moment longer in that house. I +acted on impulse. I didn't know what I was doing. I made a mistake. You +can't have the <i>heart</i> to take advantage of it."</p> + +<p>"I knew you was making a mistake, but that was your lookout. When I sell +a man a horse, he can look it over for himself. I ain't obliged to tell +him its faults."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that after I've begged you almost on my knees to let +me go, you'll force me to stay?"</p> + +<div class='figcenter' style='width: 600px; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;'> +<a name="illus-218" id="illus-218"></a> +<img src='images/illus-218.jpg' width='600' +alt='FRANK GLIMPSES THE APPROACHING STORM THAT MEANS HIS RUIN.' +title='FRANK GLIMPSES THE APPROACHING STORM THAT MEANS HIS RUIN.'/> +<br /> +<span class='caption'>FRANK GLIMPSES THE APPROACHING STORM THAT MEANS HIS RUIN.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>"That's what I mean."</p> + +<p>"Oh, why did I ever trap myself so!"</p> + +<p>"Come, my girl, let's let bygones be bygones," he said good-humoredly. +"Come, give me a kiss."</p> + +<p>She tried a new tack.</p> + +<p>"I'm not in love with you," she said in a matter-of-fact voice.</p> + +<p>"I guessed that."</p> + +<p>"And you're not in love with me."</p> + +<p>"You're a woman and I'm a man."</p> + +<p>"Do you want me to tell you in so many words that you're physically +repellent to me? That the thought of letting you kiss me horrifies and +disgusts me?" In spite of her resolution, her voice was rising.</p> + +<p>"Thank you." He was still good-humored.</p> + +<p>"Look at your hands; it gives me goose-flesh when you touch me."</p> + +<p>"Cuttin' down trees, diggin', lookin' after horses don't leave them very +white and smooth."</p> + +<p>"Let me go! Let me go!"</p> + +<p>He took a step away from the door. His whole manner changed.</p> + +<p>"See here, my girl. You was educated like a lady and spent your life +doin' nothing. Oh, I forgot: you was a lady's companion, wasn't you? And +you look on yourself as a darned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> sight better than me. I never had no +schooling. It's a hell of a job for me to write a letter. But since I +was so high"—his hand measured a distance of about three feet from the +floor—"I've earned my living. I guess I've been all over this country. +I've been a trapper, I've worked on the railroad and for two years I've +been a freighter. I guess I've done pretty nearly everything but clerk +in a store. Now you just get busy and forget all the nonsense you've got +in your head. You're nothing but an ignorant woman and I'm your master. +I'm goin' to do what I like with you. And if you don't submit willingly, +by God I'll take you as the trappers, in the old days, used to take the +squaws."</p> + +<p>For the last moment Nora could hardly have been said to have listened. +In a delirium of terror her eyes swept the little cabin, searching +desperately for some means of escape. As he made a step toward her, her +roving eye suddenly fell on her husband's gun, standing where Sharp had +left it when he brought it in. With a bound, she was across the room, +the gun at her shoulder. With an oath, Frank started forward.</p> + +<p>"If you move, I'll kill you!"</p> + +<p>"You daren't!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Unless you open that door and let me go, I'll shoot you—I'll shoot +you!"</p> + +<p>"Shoot, then!" He held his arms wide, exposing his broad chest.</p> + +<p>With a sobbing cry, she pulled the trigger. The click of the falling +hammer was heard, nothing more.</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz!" shouted Taylor in admiration. "Why, you meant it!"</p> + +<p>The gun fell clattering to the floor.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't loaded?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it wasn't loaded. D'you think I'd have stood there and told +you to shoot if it had been? I guess I ain't thinking of committin' +suicide."</p> + +<p>"And I almost admired you!"</p> + +<p>"You hadn't got no reason to. There's nothing to admire about a man who +stands five feet off a loaded gun that's being aimed at him. He'd be a +darned fool, that's all."</p> + +<p>"You were laughing at me all the time."</p> + +<p>"You'd have had me dead as mutton if that gun 'ud been loaded. You're a +sport, all right, all right. I never thought you had it in you. You're +the girl for me, I guess!"</p> + +<p>As she stood there, dazed, perfectly unprepared, he threw his arms +around her and attempted to kiss her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Let me alone! I'll kill myself if you touch me!"</p> + +<p>"I guess you won't." He kissed her full on the mouth, then let her go.</p> + +<p>Sinking into a chair, she sobbed in helpless, angry despair.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how shameful, how shameful!"</p> + +<p>He let her alone for a little; then, when the violence of her sobbing +had died away, came over and laid his hand gently on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Hadn't you better cave in, my girl? You've tried your strength against +mine and it hasn't amounted to much. You even tried to shoot me and I +only made you look like a darned fool. I guess you're beat, my girl. +There's only one law here. That's the law of the strongest. You've got +to do what I want because I can make you."</p> + +<p>"Haven't you any generosity?"</p> + +<p>"Not the kind you want, I guess."</p> + +<p>She gave a little moan of anguish.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" He held up his hand as if to call her attention to something. +For a moment, hope flamed from its embers. But stealing a glance at his +face from beneath her drooping lashes, she saw that she was mistaken. +The last spark died, to be rekindled no more.</p> + +<p>"Listen! Listen to the silence. Can't you hear it, the silence of the +prairie? Why, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> might be the only two people in the world, you and me, +here in this little shack, right out <i>in</i> the prairie. Are you +listening? There ain't a sound. It might be the garden of Eden. What's +that about male and female, created He them? I guess you're my wife, my +girl. And I want you."</p> + +<p>Nora gave him a sidelong look of terror and remained dumb. What would +have been the use of words even if she could have found voice to utter +them?</p> + +<p>Taking up the lamp, he went to the door of the bedroom and threw it +wide. She saw without looking that he remained standing, like a statue +of Fate, on the threshold.</p> + +<p>To gain time, she picked up the dishcloth and began to scrub at an +imaginary spot on the table.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's getting late. You'll be able to have a good clean-out +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow!" A violent shudder, similar to the convulsion of the day +before, shook her from head to foot. But she kept on with her scrubbing.</p> + +<p>"Come!"</p> + +<p>The word smote her ear with all the impact of a cannon shot. The walls +caught it, and gave it back. There <i>was</i> no other sound in heaven or +earth than the echo of that word!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>Shame, anguish and fear, in turn, passed over her face. Then, with her +hands before her eyes, she passed beyond him, through the door which he +still held open.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p>The storm which the night had foreshadowed broke with violence before +dawn. At times during the night, the wind had howled about the little +building in a way which recalled to Nora one of the best-remembered +holidays of her childhood. She and her mother had gone to Eastborne for +a fortnight with some money Eddie had sent them shortly after his +arrival in Canada. The autumnal equinox had caught them during the last +days of their stay, and the strong impression which the wind had made +upon her childish mind had remained with her ever since.</p> + +<p>Lying, wakeful through the long hours, staring wide-eyed out of the +little curtainless window into the thick darkness, thick enough to seem +palpable; the memory of how, on that far-off day she had passed long +hours with her nose flattened against the window of the dingy little +lodging-house drawing-room watching the wonder of the wind-lashed sea, +came back to her with extraordinary vividness.</p> + +<p>The spectacle had filled her with a sort of terrified exultation. She +had longed to go out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> and stand on the wind-buffeted pier and take her +part in this saturnalia of the elements. She had something of the same +feeling now; a longing to leave her bed and go out onto the windswept +prairie.</p> + +<p>Strangely enough, she had no sensation of fatigue or weariness either +bodily or mentally. Her mind, indeed, seemed extraordinarily active. +Little petty details of her childhood and of her life with Miss Wickham, +long forgotten, such as the day the gardener had cut his thumb, trooped +through her mind in an endless procession. She had a strange feeling +that she would never sleep again.</p> + +<p>But just as the blackness without seemed turning into heavy grayness, +lulled possibly by the wind which had moderated its violence and had now +sunk to a moan not unpleasant, and by the rythmic breathing of the +sleeping man at her side, she fell asleep.</p> + +<p>For several hours she must have slept heavily, indeed. For when she +awoke, it was to find the place at her side empty. Hurriedly dressing +herself, she went out into the living-room. That was empty, too. But the +lamp was lighted, the kettle was singing merrily on the stove and the +fire was burning brightly. And outside was a whirling veil of snow which +made it impossible to see beyond the length of one's arm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>Had she been marooned on an island in the ultimate ocean of the +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Antartic'">Antarctic</ins>, +she could not have felt more cut off from the world she knew. +Well, it was better so.</p> + +<p>She wondered what had become of Frank. Surely on a day like this there +could be nothing to do outside; and even if there were, nothing so +imperative as to take him away before he had had his breakfast. She felt +a little hurt at his leaving without a word.</p> + +<p>Evidently, he expected to return soon, however. The table was laid for +two. She felt her face crimson as she saw that there was but one cup +left. One of them must drink from one of those horrible tin cans. She +did not ask herself which one it would be.</p> + +<p>Partly to occupy herself and to take her thoughts away from the +recollection of the events of the evening before, and partly prompted by +a desire to have everything in readiness against her husband's return, +she busied herself with the preparations for breakfast.</p> + +<p>There were some eggs and a filch of bacon which they had brought from +Winnipeg. She would make some toast, too. Very likely he didn't care for +it, they certainly never had it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>at Gertie's, but in <i>her house</i>—— She +smiled to think how quickly, in her mind, she had taken possession.</p> + +<p>She was just beginning to think that she had been foolish to start her +cooking without knowing at all when he was going to return, when she +heard a great stamping and scraping of feet outside, and in another +moment Frank's snow-covered figure darkened the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Getting on with the breakfast? That's fine!" he called.</p> + +<p>"It's quite ready: wherever have you been? I wouldn't have imagined that +anyone could find a thing to do outside on a day like this."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's always something to do. But I just ran up to the Sharps' +for a minute. I knew old mother Sharp wouldn't keep her promise about +coming down to-day. She's all right, but she does hate to walk."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sure I wouldn't blame anyone for choosing to stay indoors a +day like this. But what did you want to see her in such a hurry for?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothin' particular; I sort of thought maybe you wouldn't mind +having a little milk with your tea on a gloomy morning like this," he +said shamefacedly.</p> + +<p>"That was awfully good of you; thank you very much," she said with real +gratitude, as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> thought of him tramping those two miles in the +blinding storm.</p> + +<p>"Do you think we are in for a blizzard?" she asked when they were at the +table. To her unspeakable relief, she found that the one cup was +intended for her; he had waved her toward the one chair, apparently the +place of honor, contenting himself with one of the stools.</p> + +<p>"N-o-o," he said, "I don't think so. It's beginning to lighten up a +little already. And besides, don't you remember that I foretold a +mildish winter?"</p> + +<p>"I was forgetting that I had married a prophet," she smiled.</p> + +<p>But all through the day the snow continued to fall steadily, although +the wind had died away and, at intervals, the sun shone palely. At +nightfall, it was still snowing.</p> + +<p>The day passed quickly, as Nora found plenty to occupy herself with. By +supper time she felt healthfully tired, with the added comfortable +feeling that, for a novice, she had really accomplished a good deal.</p> + +<p>The whole room certainly looked cleaner and the pots and pans, although +not shining, were as near to it as hot water and scrubbing could make +them. Fortunately, she had a quantity of fresh white paper in her trunk +which greatly improved the appearance of the shelves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the day Frank left the house for longer or shorter intervals on +various pretexts which she felt must be largely imaginary, trumped up +for the occasion. She was agreeably surprised to find that he was +sufficiently tactful to divine that she wanted to be alone.</p> + +<p>While he was in the house he smoked his pipe incessantly and read some +magazines which she had unpacked with some of her books. But she never +glanced suddenly in his direction without finding that he was watching +her.</p> + +<p>"I tell <i>you</i>, this is fine," he said heartily as he was lighting his +after-supper pipe. "Mrs. Sharp won't hardly know the place when she +comes over. She's never seen it except when I was housekeeper. She +doesn't think I'm much good at it. Leastways, she's always tellin' Sid +that if she dies, he must marry again right away as soon as he can find +anyone to have him, for fear the house gets to looking like this."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't look like a very strong indorsement," Nora admitted.</p> + +<p>The next day Nora woke to a world of such dazzling whiteness that she +was blinded every time she attempted to look out on it.</p> + +<p>"You want to be careful," her husband cautioned her; "getting +snow-blinded isn't as much fun as you'd think. Even I get bad +sometimes;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> and I'm used to it. Looks like one of them Christmas cards, +don't it? Somebody sent Gertie one once and she showed it to us."</p> + +<p>That afternoon, Mr. Sharp drove his wife down for the promised visit. As +in his judgment the two women would want to be alone, he proposed to +Frank to drive back home with him to give him the benefit of his opinion +on some improvements he was contemplating.</p> + +<p>"You're only wasting your time," Mrs. Sharp had remarked grimly. "There +ain't going to be anything done to any of them barns before I get a +lean-to on the house. You'd think even a man would know that a house +that's all right for two gets a little small for seven," she added, +scornfully, to Nora.</p> + +<p>"Are there seven of you?"</p> + +<p>"Me and Sid and five little ones. If that don't make seven, I've +forgotten all the 'rithmetic I ever learned," said Mrs. Sharp briefly. +"And let me tell you, you who're just starting in, that having children +out here on the prairie half the time with no proper care, and +particularly in winter, when maybe you're snowed up and the doctor can't +get to you, ain't my idea of a bank holiday."</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't think it would be," said Nora, sincerely shocked, although +she found it difficult to hide a smile at her visitor's comparison;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +bank holidays being among her most horrid recollections.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp, despite a rather emphatic manner which softened noticeably +as her visit progressed, turned out to be a stout, red-faced woman of +middle age who seemed to be troubled with a chronic form of asthma. She +was as unmistakably English as her husband. But like him, she had lost +much of her native accent, although occasionally one caught a faint +trace of the Cockney. She had two rather keen brown eyes which, as she +talked, took in the room to its smallest detail.</p> + +<p>"Well, I declare, I think you've done wonders considering you've only +had a day and not used to work like this," she said heartily. "When Sid +told me that Frank was bringing home a wife I said to myself: 'Well, I +don't envy her <i>her</i> job; comin' to a shack that ain't been lived in for +nigh unto six months and when it was, with only a man runnin' it.'"</p> + +<p>"You don't seem to have a very high opinion of men's ability in the +domestic line," said Nora with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you just how high it is," said Mrs. Sharp with decision. "I +would just as soon think of consultin' little Sid—an' he's goin' on +three—about the housekeepin' as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> would his father. It ain't a man's +work. Why should he know anything about it?"</p> + +<p>"Still," demurred Nora, "lots of men look after themselves somehow."</p> + +<p>"Somehow's just the word; they never get beyond that. Of course I knew +Frank would be sure to marry some day. And with his good looks it's a +wonder he didn't do so long ago. Most girls is so crazy about a +good-lookin' fellow that they never stop to think if he has anything +else to him. Not that he hasn't lots of good traits, I don't mean that. +But," she added shrewdly, "you don't look like the silly sort that would +be taken in by good looks alone."</p> + +<p>"No," said Nora dryly, "I don't think I am."</p> + +<p>After that, until the two men returned, they talked of household +matters, and Nora found that her new neighbor had a store of useful and +practical suggestions to make, and, what was even better, seemed glad to +place all her experience at her disposal in the kindliest and most +friendly manner possible, entirely free from any trace of that patronage +which had so maddened her in her sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>"Now mind you," called Mrs. Sharp, as she laboriously climbed up to the +seat beside her husband as they were driving away, "if Frank, here, gets +at all upish—and he's pretty certain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> to, all newly married men do—you +come to me. I'll settle him, never fear."</p> + +<p>Frank laughed a little over-loudly at this parting shot, and Nora +noticed that for some time after their guests had gone, he seemed +unusually silent.</p> + +<p>As for the Sharps, they also maintained an unwonted silence—which for +Mrs. Sharp, at least, was something unusual—until they had arrived at +their own door.</p> + +<p>"Well?" queried Sharp, as they were about to turn in.</p> + +<p>"It beats me," replied his wife. "Why, she's a lady. But she'll come out +all right," she finished enigmatically, "she's got the right stuff in +her, poor dear!"</p> + +<p>In after years, when Nora was able to look back on this portion of her +life and see things in just perspective, she always felt that she could +never be too thankful that her days had been crowded with occupation. +Without that, she must either have gone actually insane, or, in a frenzy +of helplessness, done some rash thing which would have marred her whole +life beyond repair.</p> + +<p>After she found herself growing more accustomed to her new life—and, +after all, the growing accustomed to it was the hardest part—she +realized that she was only following the uni<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>versal law of life in +paying for her own rash act. The thought that she was paying with +interest, being overcharged as it were, was but faint consolation: it +only meant that she had been a fool. That conviction is rarely soothing.</p> + +<p>Then, too, she gradually began to look at the situation from Frank's +point of view. He had certainly acted within his rights, if with little +generosity. But she had to acknowledge to herself that the obligation to +be generous on his part was small. She could hardly be said to have +treated him with much liberality in the past.</p> + +<p>She had used him without scruple as a means to an end. She had made him +the instrument for escaping from a predicament which she found +unbearably irksome. That she had done so in the heat of passion was +small palliation. For the present, at least, she wisely resolved to make +the best of things. It could not last forever. The day must come when +she could free herself from the bonds that now held her.</p> + +<p>It was characteristic of her unyielding pride, of her reluctance to +confess to defeat, that the thought of appealing to her brother never +once entered her head.</p> + +<p>For this reason, it was long before she could bring herself to write the +promised letter to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Eddie. What was there to say? The things that would +have relieved her, in a sense, to tell, must remain forever locked in +her own heart. In the end, she compromised by sending a letter confined +entirely to describing her new home. As she read it over, she thanked +the Fates that Eddie's was not a subtile or analytical mind. He would +read nothing between the lines. But Gertie? Well, it couldn't be helped!</p> + +<p>It was some two months after her marriage that she received a letter +from Miss Pringle in answer to the one she had written while she was +still an inmate of her brother's house.</p> + +<p>Miss Pringle confined herself largely to an account of her Continental +wanderings and her bloodless encounters with various foreigners and +their ridiculous un-English customs from which she had emerged +triumphant and victorious. Mrs. Hubbard's precarious state of health had +led her into being unusually captious, it seemed. Miss Pringle was more +than ever content to be back in Tunbridge Wells, where all the world +was, by comparison, sane and reasonable in behavior.</p> + +<p>When it came to touching upon her friend's amazing environment and +unconventional experiences, Miss Pringle was discretion itself. But if +her paragraphs had bristled with exclamation points, they could not, to +one who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> understood her mental processes, have more clearly betrayed her +utter disapproval and amazement that English people, and descendants of +English people, could so far forget themselves as to live in any such +manner.</p> + +<p>Replying to this letter was only a degree less hard than writing to +Eddie. Nora's ready pen faltered more than once, and many pages were +destroyed before an answer was sent. She confined herself entirely to +describing the new experience of a Canadian winter. Of her departure +from her brother's roof and of her marriage, she said nothing whatever.</p> + +<p>In accordance with her resolution to make the best of things, she set +about making the shack more comfortable and homelike. There were many of +those things which, small in themselves, count for much, that her busy +brain planned to do during the time taken up in the necessary +overhauling. This cleaning-up process had taken several days, +interrupted as it was by the ordinary daily routine.</p> + +<p>To her unaccustomed hand, the task of preparing three hearty meals a day +was a matter that consumed a large amount of time, but gradually, day by +day, she found herself systematizing her task and becoming less +inexpert. To be sure she made many mistakes; once, indeed, in a fit of +preoccupation, while occupied in re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>arranging the bedroom, burning up +the entire dinner.</p> + +<p>Upon his return, her husband had found her red-eyed and apologetic.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well!" he said. "It ain't worth crying over. What is the saying? +'Hell wasn't built in a day'?"</p> + +<p>Nora screamed with laughter. "I think you're mixing two old saws. Rome +wasn't built in a day and Hell is paved with good intentions."</p> + +<p>"Well," he laughed good-naturedly, "they both seem to hit the case."</p> + +<p>He certainly was unfailingly good-tempered. Not that there were not +times when Nora did not have to remind herself of her new resolution and +he, for his part, exercise all his forbearance. But in the main, things +went more smoothly than either had dared to hope from their inauspicious +beginning.</p> + +<p>The thing that Nora found hardest to bear was that he never lost a +certain masterful manner. It was a continual reminder that she had been +defeated. Then, too, he had a maddening way of rewarding her for good +conduct which was equally hard to bear, until she realized that it was +perfectly unconscious on his part.</p> + +<p>For example: after she had struggled for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> week with her makeshift +kitchen outfit, small in the beginning but greatly reduced by her +destructive outburst on the night of their arrival, he had, without +saying a word to her of his intentions, driven over to Prentice and laid +in an entire new stock of crockery and several badly needed pots and +pans.</p> + +<p>Nora had found it hard to thank him. If they had been labeled "For a +Good Child" she could not have felt more humiliated. And what was +equally trying, he seemed to have divined her thoughts, for his smile, +upon receiving her halting thanks, had not been without a touch of +malicious amusement.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, all her little efforts to beautify the little house +and make it more livable met with his enthusiastic approval and support. +He was as delighted as a child with everything she did, and often, when +baffled for the moment by some lack of material for carrying out some +proposed scheme, he came to the rescue with an ingenious suggestion +which solved the vexed problem at once.</p> + +<p>And so, gradually, to the no small wonder of her neighbor, Mrs. Sharp, +the shack began to take on an air of homely brightness and comfort which +that lady's more pretentious place lacked, even after a residence of +thirteen years.</p> + +<p>Curtains tied back with gay ribands, taken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> from an old hat and +refurbished, appeared at the windows; the old tin syrup cans, pasted +over with dark green paper, were made to disgorge their mouldy stores +and transform themselves into flower-pots holding scarlet geraniums; +even the disreputable, rakish old rocking chair assumed a belated air of +youth and respectability, wearing as it did a cushion of discreetly +patterned chintz; and the packing-box table hid its deficiencies under a +simple cloth. All these magic transformations Nora had achieved with +various odds and ends which she found in her trunk.</p> + +<p>Not to be outdone, Frank had contributed a well-made shelf to hold +Nora's precious books and a sort of cupboard for her sewing basket and, +for the crowning touch, had with much labor contrived some rough chairs +to take the place of the packing-box affairs of unpleasant memory.</p> + +<p>As has been said, Mrs. Sharp came, saw and wondered; but she had her own +theory, all the same, which she confided to her husband.</p> + +<p>All these little but significant changes, the result of their +co-operative effort, had not been the work of days, but of weeks. By the +time they had all been accomplished, the winter was practically over and +spring was at hand. Looking back on it, it seemed impossibly short, +al<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>though there had been times, in spite of her manifold occupations, +when it had seemed to Nora that it was longer than any winter she had +ever known. She looked forward to the coming spring with both pleasure +and dread.</p> + +<p>Through many a dark winter day she had pictured to herself how beautiful +the prairie must be, clad in all the verdant livery of the most +wonderful of the seasons. And yet it would mean a new solitude and +loneliness to her, her husband, of necessity, being away through all the +long daylight hours. She began to understand Gertie's dread of having no +one to speak to. She avoided asking herself the question as to whether +it was loneliness in general or the particular loneliness of missing her +husband that she dreaded.</p> + +<p>But she was obliged to admit to herself that the winter had wrought more +transformations than were to be seen in the little shack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p>It had all come about so subtilely and gradually that she was almost +unaware of it herself, this inward change <i>in</i> herself. Nora had by +nature a quick and active mind, but she had also many inherited +prejudices. It is a truism that it is much harder to unlearn than to +learn, and for her it was harder, in the circumstances, than for the +average person. Not that she was more set in her ways than other people, +but that she had accepted from her childhood a definite set of ideas as +to the proper conduct of life; a code, in other words, from which she +had never conceived it possible to depart. People did certain things, or +they did not; you played the game according to certain prescribed rules, +or you didn't play it with decent people, that was all there was to it. +One might as well argue that there was no difference between right and +wrong as to say that this was not so.</p> + +<p>Of course there were plenty of people on the face of the earth who +thought otherwise, such as Chinese, Aborigines, Turks, and all sorts of +unpleasant natives of uncivilized countries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>—Nora lumped them together +without discrimination or remorse—but no one planned to pass their +lives among them. And as for the sentiment that Trotter had enunciated +one day at her brother's, that Canada was a country where everybody was +as good as everybody else, that was, of course, utter nonsense. It was +because the country was raw and new that such silly notions prevailed. +No society could exist an hour founded upon any such theory.</p> + +<p>And yet, here she was living with a man on terms of equality whom, when +measured up with the standards she was accustomed to, failed impossibly. +And yet, did he? That is, did he, in the larger sense? That he was +woefully deficient in all the little niceties of life, that he was +illiterate and ignorant could not be denied. But he was no man's fool, +and, as far as his light shone, he certainly lived up to it. That was +just it. He had a standard of his own.</p> + +<p>She compared him with her brother, and with other men she had known and +respected. Was he less honest? less brave? less independent? less +scrupulous in his dealings with his fellowmen? To all these questions +she was obliged to answer "No." And he was proud, too, and ambitious; +ambitious to carve out a fortune with his own hands, beholden to neither +man nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> circumstances for the achievement. Certainly there was much +that was fine about him.</p> + +<p>And, as far as his treatment of herself was concerned, after that first +terrible struggle for mastery, she had had nothing to complain of. He +had been patient with her ignorance and her lack of capabilities in all +the things that the women in this new life were so proficient in. Did +she not, perhaps, fall as far below <i>his</i> standard as he did before +hers? There was certainly something to be said on both sides.</p> + +<p>There was one quality which he possessed to which she paid ungrudging +tribute; never had she met a man so free from all petty pretense. He +regretted his lack of opportunities for educating himself, but it +apparently never entered his head to pretend a knowledge of even the +simplest subject which he did not possess. The questions that he asked +her from time to time about matters which almost any schoolboy in +England could have answered, both touched and embarrassed her.</p> + +<p>At first she had found the evenings the most trying part of the day. +When not taken up with her household cares, she found herself becoming +absurdly self-conscious in his society. They were neither of them +naturally silent people, and it was difficult not to have the air of +"talking down" to him, of palpably mak<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>ing conversation. Beyond the +people at her brother's and the Sharps, they had not a single +acquaintance in common. Her horizon, hitherto, had been, bounded by +England, his by Canada.</p> + +<p>Finally, acting on the suggestion he had made, but never again referred +to, the unforgettable day when they were leaving for Winnipeg, she began +reading aloud evenings while he worked on his new chairs. The experiment +was a great success. Her little library was limited in range; a few +standard works and a number of books on travel and some of history. She +soon found that history was what he most enjoyed. Things that were a +commonplace to her were revealed to him for the first time. And his +comments were keen and intelligent, although his point of view was +strikingly novel and at the opposite pole from hers. To be sure, she had +been accustomed to accepting history merely as a more or less accurate +record of bygone events without philosophizing upon it. But to him it +was one long chronicle of wrong and oppression. He pronounced the dead +and gone sovereigns of England a bad lot and cowardly almost without +exception; not apparently objecting to them on the ground that they were +kings, as she had at first thought, but because they attained their +ends, mostly selfish, through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> cruelty and oppression, without any +regard for humane rights.</p> + +<p>It was the same way with books of travel. The chateaus and castles, with +all their atmosphere of story and romance which she had always longed to +visit, interested him not a jot. In his opinion they were, one and all, +bloody monuments of greed and selfishness; the sooner they were razed to +the ground and forgotten, the better for the world.</p> + +<p>It was useless to make an appeal for them on artistic grounds; art to +him was a doubly sealed book, and yet he frequently disclosed an innate +love of beauty in his appreciation of the changing panorama of the +winter landscape which stretched on every side before their eyes.</p> + +<p>It was a picture which had an inexhaustible fascination for Nora +herself, although there were times when the isolation, and above all the +unbroken stillness got badly on her nerves. But she could not rid +herself of an almost superstitious feeling that the prairie had a lesson +to teach her. Twice they went in to Prentice. With these exceptions, she +saw no one but her husband and Mr. and Mrs. Sharp.</p> + +<p>But it was, strangely enough, from Mrs. Sharp that she drew the most +illumination as to the real meaning of this strange new life. Not that +Mrs. Sharp was in the least subtle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>, quite the contrary. She was as +hard-headed, practical a person as one could well imagine. But her +natural powers of adaptability must have been unusually great. From a +small shop in one of the outlying suburbs of London, with its +circumscribed outlook, moral as well as physical, to the limitless +horizon of the prairie was indeed a far cry. How much inward +readjustment such a violent transplanting must require, Nora had +sufficient imagination to fully appreciate. But if Mrs. Sharp, herself, +were conscious of having not only survived her uprooting but of having +triumphantly grown and thrived in this alien soil, she gave no sign of +it. Everything, to employ her own favorite phrase with which she +breached over inexplicable chasms, "was all in a lifetime."</p> + +<p>As she had a deeply rooted distaste for any form of exercise beyond that +which was required in the day's work, most of the visiting between them +devolved upon Nora. To her the distance that separated the two houses +was nothing, and as she had from the first taken a genuine liking to her +neighbor she found herself going over to the Sharps' several times a +week.</p> + +<p>When, as was natural at first, she felt discouraged over her little +domestic failures, she found these neighborly visits a great tonic.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +Mrs. Sharp was always ready to give advice when appealed to. And unlike +Gertie, she never expressed astonishment at her visitor's ignorance, or +impatience with her shortcomings. These became more and more infrequent. +Nora made up for her total lack of experience by an intelligent +willingness to be taught. There was a certain stimulation in the thought +that she was learning to manage her own house, that would have been +lacking while at her brother's even if Gertie had displayed a more +agreeable willingness to impart her own knowledge.</p> + +<p>Nora had always been fond of children, and she found the Sharp children +unusually interesting. It was curious to see how widely the ideas of +this, the first generation born in the new country, differed, not only +from those of their parents, but from what they must have inevitably +been if they had remained in the environment that would have been theirs +had they been born and brought up back in England.</p> + +<p>All of their dreams as to what they were going to do when they grew to +manhood were colored and shaped by the outdoor life they had been +accustomed to. They were to be farmers and cattle raisers on a large +scale. Mrs. Sharp used to shake her head sometimes as she heard these +grandiloquent plans, but Nora<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> could see that she was secretly both +proud and pleased. After all, why should not these dreams be realized? +Everything was possible to the children of this new and wonderful +country, if they were only industrious and ambitious.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, I'm sure, what their poor dear grandfather would have +said if he had lived to hear them," she used to say sometimes to Nora. +"<i>He</i> used to think that there was nothing so genteel as having a good +shop. He quite looked down on farming folk. Still, everything is +different out here, ideas as well as everything else, and I'm not at all +sure they won't be better off in the end."</p> + +<p>In which notion Nora secretly agreed with her. To picture these healthy, +sturdy, outdoor youngsters confined to a little dingy shop such as their +mother had been used to in her own childhood was impossible, as she +recalled to her mind the pale, anemic-looking little souls she had +occasionally seen during her stay in London. Was not any personal +sacrifice worth seeing one's children grow up so strong and healthy, so +manly and independent?</p> + +<p>This, then, was the true inwardness of it all; the thing that dignified +and ennobled this life of toil and hardship, deprived of almost all the +things which she had always regarded as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> necessary, that the welfare, +prosperity and happiness of generations yet to come might be reared on +this foundation laid by self-denial and deprivation.</p> + +<p>She felt almost humbled in the presence of this simple, unpretentious, +kindly woman who had borne so much without complaint that her children +might have wider opportunities for usefulness and happiness than she had +ever known.</p> + +<p>Not that Mrs. Sharp, herself, seemed to think that she was doing +anything remarkable. She took it all as a matter of course. It was only +when something brought up the subject of the difficulties of learning to +do without this or that, that she alluded to the days when she also was +inexperienced and had had to learn for herself without anyone to advise +or help her.</p> + +<p>Miles away from any help other than her husband could give her, she had +borne six children and buried one. And although the days of their worst +poverty seemed safely behind them, they had been able to save but +little, so that they still felt themselves at the mercies of the +changing seasons. Given one or two good years to harvest their crops, +they might indeed consider themselves almost beyond the danger point. +But with seven mouths to feed, one could not afford to lose a single +crop.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<p>With her head teeming with all the new ideas that Mrs. Sharp's +experiences furnished, Nora felt that the time was by no means as wasted +as she had once thought it would be. There was no reason, after all, +that she should sink to the level of a mere domestic drudge. And if this +part of her life was not to endure forever, it would not have been +entirely barren, since it furnished her with much new material to ponder +over. After all, was it really more narrow than her life at Tunbridge +Wells? In her heart, she acknowledged that it was not.</p> + +<p>To Frank, also, the winter brought a broader outlook. He had looked upon +Nora's little refinements of speech and delicate point of view, when he +had first known her at her brother's, as finicky, to say the least. All +women had fool notions about most things; this one seemed to have more +than the average share, that was all. He secretly shared Gertie's +opinion that women the world over were all alike in the essentials. He +had always been of the opinion that Nora had good stuff in her which +would come out once she had been licked into shape. Yet he found himself +not only learning to admire her for those same niceties but found +himself unconsciously imitating her mannerisms of speech.</p> + +<p>Then, too, after they began the habit of reading in the evenings, he +found that she had no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> intention of ridiculing his ignorance and lack of +knowledge in matters on which she seemed to him to be wonderfully +informed. That they did not by any means always agree in the conclusions +they arrived at, in place of irritating him, as he would have thought, +he found only stimulating to his imagination. To attack and try to +undermine her position, as long as their arguments were conducted with +perfect good nature on either side, as they always were, diverted him +greatly. And he was secretly pleased when she defended herself with a +skill and address that defeated his purpose.</p> + +<p>All the little improvements in the shack were a source of never-ending +pride and pleasure to him. Often when at work he found himself proudly +comparing his place with its newly added prettiness with the more gaudy +ornaments of Mrs. Sharp's or even with Gertie's more pretentious abode. +And it was not altogether the pride of ownership that made them suffer +in the comparison.</p> + +<p>Looking back on the days before Nora's advent seemed like a horrible +nightmare from which he was thankful to have awakened. Once in a while +he indulged himself in speculating as to how it would feel to go back to +the old shiftless, untidy days of his bachelorhood. But he rarely +allowed himself to entertain the idea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> of her leaving, seriously. He was +like a child, snuggly tucked in his warm bed who, listening to the +howling of the wind outside, pictures himself exposed to its harshness +in order to luxuriate the more in its warmth and comfort.</p> + +<p>But when, as sometimes happened, he could not close the door of his mind +to the thought of how he should ever learn to live without her again, it +brought an anguish that was physical as well as mental. Once, looking up +from her book, Nora had surprised him sitting with closed eye, his face +white and drawn with pain.</p> + +<p>Her fright, and above all her pretty solicitude even after he had +assuaged her fears by explaining that he occasionally suffered from an +old strain which he had sustained a few years before while working in +the lumber camps, tried his composure to the utmost.</p> + +<p>For days, the memory of the look in her eyes as she bent over him +remained in his mind. But he was careful not to betray himself again.</p> + +<p>It was to prevent any repetition that he first resorted to working over +something while she was reading. While doubly occupied with listening +and working with his hands, he found that his mind was less apt to go +off on a tangent and indulge in painful and profitless speculations.</p> + +<p>For, after all, as she had said, how could he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> prevent her going if her +heart was set on it? That she had given no outward sign of being unhappy +or discontented argued nothing. She was far too shrewd to spend her +strength in unavailing effort. Pride and ordinary prudence would counsel +waiting for a more favorable opportunity than had yet been afforded her. +She would not soon forget the lesson of the night he had beaten down her +opposition and dragged her pride in the dust.</p> + +<p>And would she ever forgive it? That was a question that he asked himself +almost daily without finding any answer. There was nothing in her manner +to show that she harbored resentment or that she was brooding over plans +for escaping from the bondage of her life. But women, in his experience, +were deep, even cunning. Once given a strong purpose, women like Nora, +pursued it to the end. Women of this type were not easily diverted by +side issues as men so often were.</p> + +<p>For weeks he lived in daily apprehension of Ed's arrival. There was no +one else she could turn to, and evoking his aid did not necessarily +argue that she must submit again to Gertie's grudging hospitality. Ed +might easily, unknown to his masterful better-half, furnish the funds to +return to England. She had not written him that he knew of. As a matter +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> fact, she had not, but she might have given the letter to Sid Sharp +to post on one of his not infrequent trips into Prentice. It would only +have been by chance that Sid would speak of so trifling a matter. He was +much too proud to question him.</p> + +<p>But as time went on and no Ed appeared, he began, if not exactly to hope +that, after all she was finding the life not unbearable, at least her +leaving was a thing of the more or less remote future. He summoned all +his philosophy to his aid. Perhaps by the time she did make up her mind +to quit him he would have acquired some little degree of resignation, or +at least would not be caught as unprepared as he frankly confessed +himself to be at the moment.</p> + +<p>The spring, which brought many new occupations, mostly out of doors, had +passed, and summer was past its zenith. Frank had worked untiringly from +dawn to dark, so wearied that he frequently found it difficult to keep +his eyes open until supper was over. But his enthusiasm never flagged. +If everything went as well as he hoped, the additional quarter-section +was assured. For some reason or other, possibly because he was beginning +to feel a reaction after the hard work of the summer, Nora fancied that +his spirits were less high than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> usual. He talked less of the coveted +land than was his custom. She, herself, had never, in all her healthy +life, felt so glowing with health and strength. She, too, had worked +hard, finding almost every day some new task to perform. But aside from +the natural fatigue at night, which long hours of dreamless sleep +entirely dissipated, she felt all the better for her new experiences. +For one thing, her steady improvement in all the arts of the good +housewife made her daily routine much easier as well as giving her much +secret satisfaction. Never in her life had she looked so well. The +summer sun had given her a color which was most becoming.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p>One afternoon, shortly after dinner, she had gone out to gather a +nosegay of wild flowers to brighten her little living-room. She was +busily engaged in arranging them in a pudding bowl, smiling to think +that her hand had lost none of the cunning to which Miss Wickham had +always paid grudging tribute, even if her improvised vase was of homely +ware, when she heard her husband's step at the door. It was so unusual +for him to return at this hour that for a moment she was almost +startled.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i> didn't know you were about."</p> + +<p>"Oh," he said easily, "I ain't got much to do to-day. I've been out with +Sid Sharp and a man come over from Prentice."</p> + +<p>"From Prentice?"</p> + +<p>Having arranged her flowers to her satisfaction, she stepped back to +view the effect. At that moment her husband's eye fell on them.</p> + +<p>"Say, what you got there?"</p> + +<p>"Aren't they pretty? I picked them just now. They're so gay and +cheerful."</p> + +<p>"Very." But his tone had none of the en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>thusiasm with which he usually +greeted her efforts to beautify the house.</p> + +<p>"A few flowers make the shack look more bright and cozy."</p> + +<p>He took in the room with a glance that approved of everything.</p> + +<p>"You've made it a real home, Nora. Mrs. Sharp never stops talking of how +you've done it. She was saying only the other day it was because you was +a lady. It does make a difference, I guess, although I didn't use to +think <i>so</i>."</p> + +<p>Nora gave him a smile full of indulgence.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you haven't found me quite a hopeless failure."</p> + +<p>"I guess I've never been so comfortable in all my life. It's what I +always said: once English girls <i>do</i> take to the life, they make a +better job of it than anybody."</p> + +<p>"What's the man come over from Prentice for?" asked Nora. They were +approaching a subject she always avoided.</p> + +<p>"I guess you ain't been terribly happy here, my girl," he said gravely, +unmindful of her question.</p> + +<p>"What on earth makes you say that?"</p> + +<p>"You've got too good a memory, I guess, and you ain't ever forgiven me +for that first night."</p> + +<p>It was the first time he had alluded to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> subject for months. Would +he never understand that she wanted to forget it! He might know that it +always irritated her.</p> + +<p>"I made up my mind very soon that I must accept the consequences of what +I'd done. I've tried to fall in with your ways," she said coldly.</p> + +<p>"You was clever enough to see that I meant to be the master in my own +house and that I had the strength to make myself so."</p> + +<p>How unlike his latter self this boastful speech was. But then he had +been utterly unlike himself for several days. What did he mean? She knew +him well enough by now to know that he never acted without meaning. But +directness was one of his most admirable characteristics. It was unlike +him to be devious, as he was being now. But if the winter had taught her +anything, it had taught her patience.</p> + +<p>"I've cooked for you, mended your clothes, and I've kept the shack +clean. I've tried to be obliging and—and obedient." The last word was +not yet an easy one to pronounce.</p> + +<p>"I guess you hated me, though, sometimes." He gave a little chuckle.</p> + +<p>"No one likes being humiliated; and you humiliated me."</p> + +<p>"Ed's coming here presently, my girl."</p> + +<p>"Ed who?"</p> + +<p>"Your brother Ed."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Eddie! When?"</p> + +<p>"Why, right away, I guess. He was in Prentice this morning."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"He 'phoned over to Sharp to say he was riding out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how splendid! Why didn't you tell me before?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know about it."</p> + +<p>"Is that why you asked me if I was happy? I couldn't make out what was +the matter with you."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess I thought if you still wanted to quit, Ed's coming would +be kind of useful."</p> + +<p>Nora sat down in one of the chairs and gave him a long level look.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that I want to?" she said quietly.</p> + +<p>"You ain't been so very talkative these last months, but I guess it +wasn't so hard to see sometimes that you'd have given pretty near +anything in the world to quit."</p> + +<p>"I've no intention of going back to Eddie's farm, if that's what you +mean."</p> + +<p>To this he made no reply. Still with the same grave air, he went over to +the door and started out again, pausing a moment after he had crossed +the threshold.</p> + +<p>"If Ed comes before I get back, tell him I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> won't be long. I guess you +won't be sorry to do a bit of yarning with him all by yourself."</p> + +<p>"You are not going away with the idea that I'm going to say beastly +things to him about you, are you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not. That ain't your sort. Perhaps we don't know the best +of one another yet, but I reckon we know the worst by this time."</p> + +<p>"Frank!" she said sharply. "There's something the matter. What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, no; there's nothing. Why?"</p> + +<p>"You've not been yourself the last few days."</p> + +<p>"I guess that's only your imagination. Well, I'd better be getting +along. Sid and the other fellow'll be waiting for me."</p> + +<p>Without another look in her direction, he was gone, closing the door +after him.</p> + +<p>Nora remained quite still for several minutes, biting her lips and +frowning in deep thought. It was all very well to say that there was +nothing the matter, but there was. Did he think she could live with him +day after day all these months and not notice his change of mood, even +if she could not translate it? He had still a great deal to learn about +women!</p> + +<p>On the way over to the shelf to get her work, she paused a moment beside +her flowers to cheer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> herself once more with their brightness. Sitting +down by the table, she began to darn one of her husband's thick woolen +socks. An instant later she was startled by a loud knock on the door.</p> + +<p>With a little cry of pleasure she flung it open, to find Eddie standing +outside. She gave a cry of delight. Somehow, the interval since she had +seen him last, significant as it was in bringing to her the greatest +change her life had known, seemed for the second longer than all the +years she had spent in England without seeing him.</p> + +<p>"Eddie! Oh, my dear, I'm so glad to see you!" she cried, flinging her +arms around his neck.</p> + +<p>"Hulloa there," he said awkwardly.</p> + +<p>"But how did you come? I didn't hear any wheels."</p> + +<p>"Look." He pointed over to the shed; she looked over his shoulder to see +Reggie Hornby grinning at her from the seat of a wagon.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Reggie Hornby. Reggie!" she called.</p> + +<p>Reggie took off his broad hat with a flourish.</p> + +<p>"Tell him he can put the horse in the lean-to."</p> + +<p>"All right. Reg," called Marsh, "give the old lady a feed and put her in +the lean-to."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Right-o!"</p> + +<p>"Didn't you meet Frank? He's only just this moment gone out."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"He'll be back presently. Now, come in. Oh, my dear, <i>it is</i> splendid to +see you!"</p> + +<p>"You're looking fine, Nora."</p> + +<p>"Have you had your dinner?"</p> + +<p>"Sure. We got something to eat before we left Prentice."</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll have a cup of tea?"</p> + +<p>"No, I won't have any, thanks."</p> + +<p>"Ah," laughed Nora happily, "you're not a real Canadian yet, if you +refuse a cup of tea when it's offered you. But do sit down and make +yourself comfortable," she said, fairly pushing him into a chair.</p> + +<p>"How are you getting along, Nora?" His manner was still a little +constrained. They were both thinking of their last parting. But she, +being a woman, could carry it off better.</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind about me," she said gayly. "Tell me all about yourself. +How's Gertie? And what has brought you to this part of the world? And +what's Reggie Hornby doing here? And is Thingamajig still with you; you +know, the hired man?"—The word "other" almost slipped out.—"What <i>was</i> +his name, Trotter, wasn't it? Oh, my dear, don't sit there like a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +stuffed pig, but answer my questions, or I'll shake you."</p> + +<p>"My dear child, I can't answer fifteen questions all at once!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad to see you! You are a perfect duck to come and +see me."</p> + +<p>"Now let me get a word in edgeways."</p> + +<p>"I won't utter another syllable. But, for goodness' sake, hurry up. I +want to know all sorts of things."</p> + +<p>"Well, the most important thing is that I'm expecting to be a happy +father in three or four months."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad! How happy Gertie must be."</p> + +<p>"She doesn't know what to make of it. But I guess she's pleased right +enough. She sends you her love and says she hopes you'll follow her +example very soon."</p> + +<p>"I?" said Nora sharply. "But," she added with a return to her gay tone, +"you've not told me what you're doing in this part of the world, +anyway."</p> + +<p>"Anyway?"</p> + +<p>Nora blushed. "I've practically spoken to no one but Frank for months; +it's natural that I should fall into his way of speaking."</p> + +<p>"Well, when I got Frank's letter about the clearing-machine——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Frank has written to you?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; didn't you know? He said there was a clearing-machine going +cheap at Prentice. I've always thought I could make money down our way +if I had one. They say you can clear from three to four acres a day with +one. Frank thought it was worth my while to come and have a look at it +and he said he guessed you'd be glad to see me."</p> + +<p>"How funny of him not to say anything to me about it," said Nora, +frowning once more.</p> + +<p>"I suppose he wanted to surprise you. And now for yourself; how do you +like being a married woman?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right. But you haven't answered half my questions yet. Why has +Reggie Hornby come with you?"</p> + +<p>"Do you realize I've not seen you since before you were married?"</p> + +<p>"That's so; you haven't, have you?"</p> + +<p>"I've been a bit anxious about you. That's why, when Frank wrote about +the clearing-machine, I didn't stop to think about it, but just came."</p> + +<p>"It was awfully nice of you. But why has Reggie Hornby come?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's going back to England."</p> + +<p>"Is he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he got them to send his passage money<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> at last. His ship doesn't +sail till next week, and he said he might just as well stop over here +and say good-by to you."</p> + +<p>"How has he been getting on?"</p> + +<p>"How do you expect? He looks upon work as something that only damned +fools do. Where's Frank?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's out with Sid Sharp. Sid's our neighbor. He has the farm you +passed on your way here."</p> + +<p>"Getting on all right with him, Nora?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course," said Nora with just a suggestion of irritation in her +voice.</p> + +<p>"What's that boy doing all this time?" she asked, going over to the +window and looking out. "He <i>is</i> slow, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>But Marsh was not a man whom it was easy to side-track.</p> + +<p>"It's a great change for you, this, after the sort of life you've been +used to."</p> + +<p>"I was rather hoping you'd have some letters for me," said Nora from the +window. "I haven't had a letter for a long time."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact she had no reason to expect any, not having answered +Miss Pringle's last and having practically no other correspondent. But +the speech was a happy one, in that it created the desired diversion.</p> + +<p>"There now!" said her brother with an air<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> of comical consternation. +"I've got a head like a sieve. Two came by the last mail. I didn't +forward them, because I was coming myself."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to tell me you've forgotten them!"</p> + +<p>"No; here they are."</p> + +<p>Nora took them with a show of eagerness. "They don't look very +exciting," she said, glancing at them. "One's from Agnes Pringle, the +lady's companion that I used to know at Tunbridge Wells, you remember. +And the other's from Mr. Wynne."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he was Miss Wickham's solicitor. He wrote to me once before to say +he hoped I was getting on all right. I don't think I want to hear from +people in England any more," she said in a low voice, more to herself +than to him, tossing the letters on the table.</p> + +<p>"My dear, why do you say that?"</p> + +<p>"It's no good thinking of the past, is it?"</p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to read your letters?"</p> + +<p>"Not now; I'll read them when I'm alone."</p> + +<p>"Don't mind me."</p> + +<p>"It's silly of me; but letters from England always make me cry."</p> + +<p>"Nora! Then you aren't happy here."</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I be?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then why haven't you written to me but once since you were married?"</p> + +<p>"I hadn't anything to say. And then," carrying the war into the enemy's +quarter, "I'd been practically turned out of your house."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what to make of you. Frank Taylor's kind to you and all +that sort of thing, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Very. But don't cross-examine me, there's a dear."</p> + +<p>"When I asked you to come and make your home with me, I thought it +mightn't be long before you married. But I didn't expect you to marry +one of the hired men."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear, please don't worry about me." Nora was about at the end of +her endurance.</p> + +<p>"It's all very fine to say that; but you've got no one in the world +belonging to you except me."</p> + +<p>"Don't, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Nora!"</p> + +<p>"Now listen. We've never quarreled once since the first day I came here. +Now are you satisfied?"</p> + +<p>She said it bravely, but it was with a feeling of unspeakable relief +that she saw Reggie Hornby at the door.</p> + +<p>She certainly had never before been so genuinely glad to see him. As she +smilingly held out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> her hand, her eye took in his changed appearance. +Gone were the overalls and the flannel shirt, the heavy boots and broad +belt. Before her stood the Reggie of former days in a well-cut suit of +blue serge and spotless linen. She was surprised to find herself +thinking, after all, men looked better in flannels.</p> + +<p>"I was wondering what on earth you were doing with yourself," she said +gayly.</p> + +<p>"I say," he said, his eye taking in the bright little room, "this is a +swell shack you've got."</p> + +<p>"I've tried to make it look pretty and homelike."</p> + +<p>"Helloa, what's this!" said Marsh, whose eye had fallen for the first +time on the bowl of flowers.</p> + +<p>"Aren't they pretty? I've only just picked them. They're mustard +flowers."</p> + +<p>"We call them weeds. Have you much of it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; lots. Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing."</p> + +<p>"Eddie tells me you're going home."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Reggie, seating himself and carefully pulling up his +trousers. "I'm fed up for my part with God's own country. Nature never +intended me to be an agricultural laborer."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No? And what are you going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"Loaf!" Mr. Hornby's tone expressed profound conviction.</p> + +<p>"Won't you get bored?" smiled Nora.</p> + +<p>"I'm never bored. It amuses me to watch other people do things. I should +hate my fellow-creatures to be idle."</p> + +<p>"I should think one could do more with life than lounge around clubs and +play cards with people who don't play as well as oneself."</p> + +<p>Hornby gave her a quick ironic look. "I quite agree with you," he said +with his most serious air. "I've been thinking things over very +seriously this winter. I'm going to look out for a middle-aged widow +with money who'll adopt me."</p> + +<p>"I recall that you have decided views about the White Man's Burden."</p> + +<p>"All I want is to get through life comfortably. I don't mean to do a +stroke more work than I'm obliged to, and I'm going to have the very +best time I can."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you will," said Nora, smiling.</p> + +<p>But her smile was a little mechanical. Somehow she could no longer be +genuinely amused at such sentiments which, in spite of his airy manner, +she knew to be real. And yet, it was not so very long ago that she would +have thought them perfectly natural in a man of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> position. Somehow, +her old standards were not as fixed as she had thought them.</p> + +<p>"The moment I get back to London," continued Hornby imperturbably, "I'm +going to stand myself a bang-up dinner at the Ritz. Then I shall go and +see some musical comedy at the Gaiety, and after that, I'll have a +slap-up supper at Romano's. England, with all thy faults, I love thee +still!" he finished piously.</p> + +<p>"I suppose it's being alone with the prairie all these months," said +Nora, more to herself than him; "but things that used to seem clever and +funny—well, I see them altogether differently now."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you don't altogether approve of me," he said, quite +unabashed.</p> + +<p>"I don't think you have much pluck," said Nora, not unkindly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know about that. I've as much as anyone else, I expect, +only I don't make a fuss about it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, pluck to stand up and let yourself be shot at."—She flushed +slightly at the remembrance of Frank standing in this very room in front +of the gun in her hand. Would she ever forget his laugh!—"But pluck to +do the same monotonous thing day after day, plain, honest, hard +work—you haven't got that sort of pluck. You're a failure and the worst +of it is, you're<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> not ashamed of it. It seems to fill you with +self-satisfaction. Oh, you're incorrigible," she ended with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"I am; let's let it go at that. I suppose there's nothing you want me to +take home; I shall be going down to Tunbridge Wells to see mother. Got +any messages?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I have. Eddie has just brought me a couple of +letters. I'll have a look at them first."</p> + +<p>She went over to the table and picked up Miss Pringle's letter and +opened it.</p> + +<p>After reading a few lines, she gave a little cry.</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Marsh.</p> + +<p>"What <i>can</i> she mean? Listen! 'I've just heard from Mr. Wynne about your +good luck and I'm glad to say I have another piece of good news for +you.'"</p> + +<p>Dropping the letter, she tore open the other. It contained a check. She +gave it a quick glance.</p> + +<p>"A check for five hundred pounds! Oh, Eddie, listen." She read from Mr. +Wynne's letter: "'Dear Miss Marsh—I have had several interviews with +Mr. Wickham in relation to the late Miss Wickham's estate, and I +ventured to represent to him that you had been very badly treated. Now +that everything is settled, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> wishes me to send you the enclosed check +as some recognition of your devoted services to his late aunt—five +hundred pounds."</p> + +<p>"That's a very respectable sum," said Marsh, nodding his head sagely.</p> + +<p>"I could do with that myself," remarked Hornby.</p> + +<p>"I've never had so much money in all my life!"</p> + +<p>"But what's the other piece of good news that Miss Stick-in-the-mud has +for you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I quite forgot. Where is it?" Her brother stooped and picked the +fallen letter from the floor.</p> + +<p>"Thank you. Um-um-um-um-um. Oh, yes, 'Piece of good news for you. I +write at once so that you may make your plans accordingly. I told you in +my last letter, did I not, of my sister-in-law's sudden death? Now my +brother is very anxious that I should make my home with him. So I am +leaving Mrs. Hubbard. She wishes me to say that if you care to have my +place as her companion, she will be very pleased to have you. I have +been with her for thirteen years and she has always treated me like an +equal. She is very considerate and there is practically nothing to do +but to exercise the dear little dogs. The salary is thirty-five pounds a +year.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But," said Marsh, looking at the envelope in his hand, "the letter is +addressed to Miss Marsh. I'd intended to ask you about that; don't they +know you're married?"</p> + +<p>"No. I haven't told them."</p> + +<p>"What a lark!" said Reggie, slapping his knee. "You could go back to +Tunbridge Wells, and none of the old frumps would ever know you'd been +married at all."</p> + +<p>"Why, so I could!" said Nora in a breathless tone. She gave Hornby a +strange look and turned toward the window to hide the fact that she had +flushed to the roots of her hair.</p> + +<p>Her brother gave her a long look.</p> + +<p>"Just clear out for a minute, Reg. I want to talk with Nora."</p> + +<p>"Right-o!" He disappeared in the direction of the shed.</p> + +<p>"Nora, do you <i>want</i> to clear out?"</p> + +<p>"What on earth makes you think that I do?"</p> + +<p>"You gave Reg such a look when he mentioned it."</p> + +<p>"I'm only bewildered. Tell me, did Frank know anything about this?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, how could he?"</p> + +<p>"It's most extraordinary; he was talking about my going away only a +moment before you came."</p> + +<p>"About your going away? But why?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + +<p>She realized that she had betrayed herself and kept silent.</p> + +<p>"Nora, for goodness' sake tell me if there's anything the matter. Can't +you see it's now or never? You're keeping something back from me. I +could see it all along, ever since I came. Aren't you two getting on +well together?"</p> + +<p>"Not very," she said in a low, shamed tone.</p> + +<p>"Why in heaven's name didn't you let me know."</p> + +<p>"I was ashamed."</p> + +<p>"But you just now said he was kind to you."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to reproach him with."</p> + +<p>"I tell you I felt there was something wrong. I knew you couldn't be +happy with him. A girl like you, with your education and refinement, and +a man like him—a hired man! Oh, the whole thing would have been +ridiculous if it weren't horrible. Not that he's not a good fellow and +as straight as they make them, but—— Well, thank God, I'm here and +you've got this chance."</p> + +<p>"Eddie, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"You're not fit for this life. I mean you've got your chance to go back +home to England. For God's sake, take it! In six months' time, all +you've gone through here will seem nothing but a hideous dream."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>The expression of her face was so extraordinary, such a combination of +fear, bewilderment, and something that was far deeper than dismay, that +he stared at her for a moment without speaking.</p> + +<p>"Nora, what's the matter!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she said hoarsely.</p> + +<p>But she did, she did.</p> + +<p>At his words, the picture of the little shack—her home now—as it had +looked the first time she saw it in all its comfortlessness, its untidy +squalor, rose before her eyes. And she saw a lonely man clumsily busying +himself about the preparation of an illy-cooked meal, and later sitting +smoking in the desolate silence. She saw him go forth to his daily toil +with all the lightness gone from his step, to return at nightfall, with +a heaviness born of more than mere physical fatigue, to the same bleak +bareness.</p> + +<p>And she saw herself, back at Tunbridge Wells. No longer the mistress, +but the underpaid underling. Eating once more off fine old china, at a +table sparkling with silver and glass. But the bread was bitter, the +bread of the dependent. And she came and went at another's bidding, and +the yoke was not easy. She trod once more, round and round, in that +little circle which she knew so well. She used to think that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> the walls +would stifle her. How much more would they not stifle her now that she +had known this larger freedom?</p> + +<p>"I say," said Reggie's voice from the doorway, "here's someone coming to +see you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p>It was Mrs. Sharp, making her laborious way slowly up the path.</p> + +<p>"Why," said Nora, in a low voice, "it's Mrs. Sharp, the wife of our +neighbor. Whatever brings her here on foot! She never walks a step if +she can help it."</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, Mrs. Sharp," she called.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp had apparently come on some sudden impulse. Usually, well as +they knew each other by this time, she always made more or less of a +toilet before having her husband drive her over. But to-day she had +evidently come directly from her work. She wore a battered old skirt and +a faded shirt-waist, none too clean. On her head was an old sunbonnet, +the strings of which were tied in a hard knot under her fat chin.</p> + +<p>"Come right in," said Nora cordially. "You <i>do</i> look warm."</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon to you, Mrs. Taylor. Yes, I'm all in a perspiration. +I've not walked so far—well, goodness alone knows when!"</p> + +<p>"This is my brother," said Nora, presenting Eddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Your brother? Is <i>that</i> who it is!"</p> + +<p>"Why, you seem surprised."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp forbore any explanation for the moment. Sinking heavily into +the rocking chair, she accepted with a grateful nod the fan that Nora +offered her. There was nothing to do but to give her time to recover her +breath. Nora and Eddie sat down and waited.</p> + +<p>"I was so anxious," Mrs. Sharp at length managed to say, still +panting—whether with exhaustion or emotion, Nora could not +tell—between her sentences, "I simply couldn't stay indoors—another +minute. I went out to see if I—could catch a sight of Sid. And I walked +on, and on. And then I saw the rig what's—outside. And it gave me such +a <i>turn</i>! I thought it was the inspector. I just had to come—I was that +nervous——!"</p> + +<p>"But why? Is anything the matter?" asked Nora, completely puzzled.</p> + +<p>"You're not going to tell me you don't <i>know</i> about it? When Sid and +Frank haven't been talking about anything else since Frank found it?"</p> + +<p>"Found it? Found what?"</p> + +<p>"The weed," said Mrs. Sharp simply.</p> + +<p>"You've got it then," said Marsh, with a slight gesture of his head +toward the table<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> where Nora's flowers made a bright spot of color.</p> + +<p>"It's worse here, at Taylor's. But we've got it, too."</p> + +<p>"What does she mean?" Nora addressed herself to Eddie, abandoning all +hope of getting anything out of her friend.</p> + +<p>"We can't make out who reported us. It isn't as if we had any enemies," +went on Mrs. Sharp gloomily, as if Nora wasn't present, or at least +hadn't spoken. "It isn't as if we had any enemies," she repeated. +"Goodness knows we've never done anything to anybody."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's always someone to report you. After all, it's not to be +wondered at. No one's going to run the risk of letting it get on his own +land."</p> + +<p>"And she has them in the house as if they were flowers!" exclaimed Mrs. +Sharp, addressing the ceiling.</p> + +<p>"Eddie, I insist that you tell me what you two are talking about," +demanded Nora hotly.</p> + +<p>"My dear," said her brother, "these pretty little flowers which you've +picked to make your shack look bright and—and homelike, may mean ruin."</p> + +<p>"Eddie!"</p> + +<p>"You must have heard—why, I remember telling you about it myself—about +this mustard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> this weed. We farmers in Canada have three enemies to +fight: frost, hail and weed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp confirmed his words with a despairing nod of her head.</p> + +<p>"We was hailed out last year," she said. "Lost our whole crop. Never got +a dollar for it. And now! If we lose it this year, too—why, we might +just as well quit and be done with it."</p> + +<p>"When it gets into your crop," Marsh explain for Nora's benefit, "you've +got to report it. If you don't, one of the neighbors is sure to. And +then they send an inspector along, and if <i>he</i> condemns it, why you just +have to destroy the whole crop, and all your year's work goes for +nothing. You're lucky, in that case, if you've got a bit of money laid +by in the bank and can go on till next year when the next crop comes +along."</p> + +<p>"We've only got a quarter-section and we've got five children. It's not +much money you can save then."</p> + +<p>"But——" began Nora.</p> + +<p>"Are they out with the inspector now?" asked Marsh.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He came out from Prentice this morning early."</p> + +<p>"This will be a bad job for Frank."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he hasn't got the mouths to feed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> that we have. I can't think +what's to become of us. He can hire out again."</p> + +<p>Nora's face flushed.</p> + +<p>"I—I wonder why he hasn't told me anything about it. I asked him, only +this morning, what was troubling him. I was sure there was something, +but he said not," she said sadly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess he's always been in the habit of keeping his troubles to +himself, and you haven't taught him different yet."</p> + +<p>Nora was about to make a sharp retort, but realizing that her good +neighbor was half beside herself with anxiety and nervousness, she said +nothing. A fact which the unobservant Eddie noted with approval.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said as cheerfully as he could, "you must hope for the best, +Mrs. Sharp."</p> + +<p>"Sid says we've only got it in one place. But perhaps he's only saying +it, so as I shouldn't worry. But you know what them inspectors are; they +don't lose nothin' by it. It don't matter to <i>them</i> if you starve all +winter!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly she began to cry. Great sobs wracked her heavy frame. The big +tears rolled down her cheeks. Nora had never seen her give way before, +even when she talked of the early hardships she had endured, or of the +little one she had lost. She was greatly moved, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> this good, brave +woman who had already suffered so much.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't—don't cry, dear Mrs. Sharp. After all, it may all turn out +right."</p> + +<p>"They won't condemn the whole crop unless it's very bad, you know," +Marsh reminded her. "Too many people have got their eyes on it; the +machine agent and the loan company."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp had regained her self-control in sufficient measure to permit +of her speaking. She still kept making little dabs at her eyes with a +red bandanna handkerchief, and her voice broke occasionally.</p> + +<p>"What with the hail that comes and hails you out, and the frost that +kills your crop just when you're beginning to count on it, and now the +weed!" She had to stop again for a moment. "I can't bear any more. If we +lose this crop, I won't go on. I'll make Sid sell out, and we'll go back +home. We'll take a little shop somewhere. That's what I wanted to do +from the beginning. But Sid—Sid always had his heart set on farming."</p> + +<p>"But you couldn't go back now," said Nora, her face aglow, "you +couldn't. You never could be happy or contented in a little shop after +the life you've had out here. And think; if you'd stayed back in +England, you'd have always been at the beck and call of somebody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> else. +And you own your land. You couldn't do that back in England. Every time +you come out of your door and look at the growing wheat, aren't you +proud to think that it's all yours? I know you are. I've seen it in your +face."</p> + +<p>"You don't know all that I've had to put up with. When the children +came, only once did I have a doctor. All the rest of the times, Sid was +all the help I had. I might as well have been an animal! I wish I'd +never left home and come to this country, that I do!"</p> + +<p>"How can you say that? Look at your children, how strong and healthy +they are. And think what a future they will have. Why, they'll be able +to help you both in your work soon. You've given them a chance; they'd +never have had a chance back home. You know that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's all very well for them. They'll have it easy, I know that. +Easier than their poor father and mother ever had. But we've had to pay +for it all in advance, Sid and me. They'll never know what we paid."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but don't you see that it is because you were the first?" said +Nora, going over to her and laying a friendly hand upon her arm. Mrs. +Sharp was, of course, too preoccupied with her own troubles to realize, +even if she had known that the question of Nora's return to England had +come up, that her friend was do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>ing some special pleading for herself, +against herself. But to her brother, who years before had in a lesser +degree gone through the same searching experience, the cause of her +warmth was clear. He nodded his approval.</p> + +<p>"It's bitter work, opening up a new country, I realize that," Nora went +on, her eyes dark with earnestness.</p> + +<p>Unknown to herself, she had a larger audience, for Hornby and Frank +stood silently in the open door. Marsh saw them, and shook his head +slightly. He wanted Nora to finish.</p> + +<p>"What if it is the others who reap the harvest? Don't you really believe +that those who break the ground are rewarded in a way that the later +comers never dream of? I do."</p> + +<p>"She's right there," broke in Marsh. "I shall never forget, Mrs. Sharp, +what I felt when I saw my first crop spring up—the thought that never +since the world began had wheat grown on that little bit of ground +before. Oh, it was wonderful! I wouldn't go back to England now, to +live, for anything in the world. I couldn't breathe."</p> + +<p>"You're a man. You have the best of it, and all the credit."</p> + +<p>"Not with everyone," said Nora. She fell on her knees beside the elder +woman's chair and stroked her work-roughened old hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The outsiders don't know. You mustn't blame them, how could they? It's +only those who've lived on the prairie who <i>could</i> know that the chief +burden of the hardships of opening up a new country falls upon the +women. But the men who are the husbands, they know, and in their hearts +they give us all credit."</p> + +<p>"I guess they do, Mrs. Sharp," said Marsh earnestly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sharp smiled gratefully on Nora through her tears.</p> + +<p>"Thank you for speaking so kindly to me, my dear. I know that you are +right in every blessed thing you've said. You must excuse me for being a +bit downhearted for the moment. The fact is, I'm that nervous that I +hardly know <i>what</i> I'm saying. But you've done me no end of good."</p> + +<p>"That's right." Nora got slowly to her feet. "Sid and Frank will be here +in a minute or two, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"And you're perfectly right, both of you," Mrs. Sharp repeated. "I +couldn't go back and live in England again. If we lose our crop, well, +we must hang on some way till next year. We shan't starve, exactly. A +person's got to take the rough with the smooth; and take it by and +large, it's a good country."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, now you're talking more like yourself, the self that used to cheer +me up when——"</p> + +<p>Turning, she saw her husband standing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Frank!"</p> + +<p>He was looking at her with quite a new expression. How long had he been +there? Had he heard all she had been saying to Mrs. Sharp, carried away +by the emotion aroused by the secret conflict within her own heart? She +both hoped and feared that he had.</p> + +<p>"Where's Sid?" said Mrs. Sharp, starting to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Why, he's up at your place. Hulloa, Ed. Saw you coming along in the rig +earlier in the morning. But I was surprised to find Reg here. Didn't +recognize him so far away in his store clothes."</p> + +<p>"Must have been a pleasant surprise for you," said Hornby with +conviction.</p> + +<p>"What's happened? Tell me what's happened."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Sharp came on here because she was too anxious to stay at home," +Nora explained.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're all right."</p> + +<p>"We are?" Mrs. Sharp gave a sobbing gasp of relief.</p> + +<p>"Only a few acres got to go. That won't hurt you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank God for that! And it's goin' to be the best crop we ever had. +It's the finest country in the world!" Her face was beaming.</p> + +<p>"You'd better be getting back," warned Taylor. "Sid's taken the +inspector up to give him some dinner."</p> + +<p>"He hasn't!" said Mrs. Sharp indignantly. "If that isn't just like a +man." She made a gesture condemning the sex. "It's a mercy there's +plenty in the house. But I must be getting along right away," she +bustled.</p> + +<p>"But you mustn't think of walking all that way back in the hot sun," +expostulated Nora. "There's Eddie's rig. Reggie, here, will drive you +over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, kindly. I'm not used to walking very much, you know, and +I'd be all tuckered out by the time I got back home. Good-by, all. Good +afternoon, Mrs. Taylor."</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon. Reggie, you won't mind driving Mrs. Sharp back. It's +only just a little over a mile."</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it," said Hornby good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>"I'll come and help you put the mare in," said Marsh, starting to follow +Hornby and Mrs. Sharp down the path.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's a relief to you, now you know," he called back to his +brother-in-law.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Terrible. I want to have a talk with you presently, Ed. I'll go on out +with him, I guess," he said, turning to his wife.</p> + +<p>She nodded silently. She was grateful to him for leaving her alone for a +time. They would have much to say to each other a little later.</p> + +<p>"Hold on, Ed, I'm coming."</p> + +<p>"Right you are!"</p> + +<p>He ran lightly down the path where his brother-in-law stood waiting for +him.</p> + +<p>She stood for a long moment looking down at the innocent-looking little +blossoms on her table. And they could cause such heartbreak and +desolation, ranking, as engines of destruction, with the frost and the +hail! Could make such seasoned and tried women as Mrs. Sharp weep and +bring the gray look of apprehension into the eyes of a man like her +husband. Those innocent-looking little flowers!</p> + +<p>What must he have felt as he saw her arranging them so light-heartedly +in her pudding-dish that morning. And yet, rather than mar her pleasure, +he had choked back the impulse to speak. Yes, that was like him. For a +moment they blurred as she looked at them. She checked her inclination +to throw them into the stove, to burn them to ashes so that they could +work their evil spells no more. Later on, she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> do so. But she +wanted them there until he returned.</p> + +<p>She looked about the little room. Yes, it <i>was</i> pretty and homelike, +deserving all the nice things people said about it. And what a real +pleasure she had had in transforming it, from the dreadful little place +it was when she first saw it, into what it was now. Not that she could +ever have worked the miracle alone.</p> + +<p>She smiled sadly to herself. How all her thoughts, like homing pigeons, +had the one goal!</p> + +<p>And how proud he was of it all. With what delighted, almost childlike +interest, he had watched each little change. And how he had acquiesced +in every suggestion and helped her to plan and carry out the things she +could not have done alone.</p> + +<p>She lived again those long winter evenings when, snug and warm, the grim +cruelty of the storms shut out, she had read aloud to him while he +worked on making the chairs.</p> + +<p>How long would it keep its prettiness with no woman's eye to keep its +jealous watch on it? The process of reversion to its old desolation +would be gradual. The curtains, the bright ribands, the cushions would +slowly become soiled and faded. And there would be no one here to renew +them. For a moment, the thought of asking Mrs. Sharp to look after them +came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> into her mind. But, no. She certainly had enough to do. And, +besides—the thought thrilled her with delight—<i>he</i> would not like +having anyone else to touch them!</p> + +<p>And she? She would be back in that old life where such simple little +things were a commonplace, a matter of course. And what interest would +they be to her? She could see herself ripping the ribands from an old +hat to tie back curtains for Mrs. Hubbard! Certainly that excellent lady +would be astonished if she suggested doing anything of the sort, and +small wonder. She hired the proper people to keep her house in order +just as she was going to hire her.</p> + +<p>She found it in her heart to be sorry for Mrs. Hubbard. She had always +had her money. The joy of these little miracles of contrivance had never +been hers. She had bought her home. She had never, in all her pampered +life, made one.</p> + +<p>Home! What a desolating word it could be to the homeless. She knew. +Since her far-off childhood, she had never called a place 'home' till +now. And just as the word began to take on a new meaning, she was going +to leave it! Had anyone told her a few short months ago, on the night +that she had first seen what she had inwardly called a hovel, that she +would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> ever leave it with any faintest feeling of regret, she would have +called him mad. Regret! why the thought of leaving tore her very +heartstrings.</p> + +<p>What if it had been only a few short months that had passed since then? +One's life is not measured by the ticking of a clock, but by emotion and +feeling. She had crowded more emotion into these few short months than +in all the rest of her dull, uneventful life put together.</p> + +<p>Fear, terror, hatred, murderous rage, bitter humiliation, she had felt +them all within the small compass of these four walls. And greatest of +all—why try to deceive her own heart any longer—here she had known +love. She had fought off the acknowledgment of this the crowning +experience and humiliation as long as she could. She had called on her +pride, that pride which had never before failed her. And now, to +herself, she had to acknowledge that she was beaten.</p> + +<p>They were all against her. Her own brother had spoken, only a few +moments ago, of her marriage as horrible. "A girl like you and a hired +man!" She could hear him now. And <i>he</i> had spoken of her leaving as a +matter of course. He couldn't have done it if he had cared. He liked the +comforts that a woman brings to a house, the little touches that no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +man's hand can give, that a woman, even as unskillful as she, brings +about instinctively, that was all. Almost any other woman could do as +well. He did not prize her for herself.</p> + +<p>And she would go back to England and, as Hornby had gleefully said, no +one need ever know. She would have a place, on sufferance, in other +people's homes. The only change that the year would have made in her +life would be that the check in her pocket, safely invested, might save +her eventually, when she was too old to serve as a companion, from being +dependant on actual charity. And to all outward intents and purposes, +the year would be as if it had never been.</p> + +<p>"In six months, all you've gone through here will seem nothing but a +hideous dream," her brother had promised her. Was there ever a man since +the world began that understood a woman! A dream! The only time in her +life that she had really lived. No, all the rest of her life might be of +the stuff that dreams are made on, but not this. And like a +sleep-walker, dead to all sensation, she must go through with it.</p> + +<p>And she was not yet thirty. All of her father's family—and she was +physically the daughter of her father, not of her mother—lived to such +a great age. In all human proba<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>bility there would be at least fifty +years of life left to her. Fifty years with all that made life worth +living behind one!</p> + +<p>She supposed he would eventually get a divorce. She remembered to have +heard that such things were easy out here, not like it was in England. +And he was a man who would be sure to marry again, he would want a +family.</p> + +<p>And it was some other woman who would be the mother of his children!</p> + +<p>The wave of passion that swept her now, made up of bitter regret, of +longing and of jealousy, overwhelmed her as never before.</p> + +<p>She had been pacing the room up and down, up and down, stopping now and +then to touch some little familiar object with a touch that was a +caress.</p> + +<p>But at this last thought, she sank into a chair and buried her face in +her hands.</p> + +<p>The storm of weeping which shook her had nearly spent itself, when she +heard steps coming toward the house, a step that her heart had known for +many a day. Drying her eyes quickly, she went to the window and made a +pretense of looking out that he might not see her tear-stained face. She +made a last call on her pride and strength to carry her through the +coming interview. He should never know what leaving cost her; that she +promised herself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p>"Ed drove over with Reg and Emma; I guess he won't be very long. There +was something he wanted to say to old man Sharp that he'd forgot about."</p> + +<p>"Then you didn't get your talk with him?"</p> + +<p>She was glad of that. It was better to have their own talk first. But as +it had been <i>he</i> who had broached the subject of her leaving, it was he +who must reopen it.</p> + +<p>"No, but I guess anything I've got to say to him will keep till he gets +back. Ed's thinking of buying a clearing-machine that's for sale over +Prentice way."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he told me."</p> + +<p>Without turning her head, she could tell that he was looking around for +the matches. He never could remember that they were kept in a jar over +on the shelf back of the stove. He was going to smoke his pipe, of +course. When men were nervous about anything they always flew to +tobacco. Women were denied that poor consolation. But she, too, felt the +necessity of having something to occupy her hands. She went back to the +table, and taking some of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> Frank's thick woolen socks from her basket, +sat down and began mechanically to darn them. She purposely placed +herself so that he could only see her profile. Even then, he would see +that her eyes were still red; she hadn't had time to bathe them.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I look a sight, but poor Mrs. Sharp was so upset! She broke +down and cried and of course I've been crying, too. I'm so thankful it's +turned out all right for her. Poor thing, I never saw her in such a +state!"</p> + +<p>"They've got five children to feed. I guess it would make a powerful lot +of difference to them," he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"I wish you'd told me all about it before. I felt that something was +worrying you, and I didn't know what." There was a pause. "Why <i>didn't</i> +you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"If I saved the crop, there didn't seem any use fussing, and if I +didn't, you'd know soon enough."</p> + +<p>"How could you bear to let me put those dreadful flowers here in the +house?" she said, pointing to the bowl on the table.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess I didn't mind, if it gave you any pleasure. You didn't know +they was only a weed and a poisonous one for us farmers. You thought +them darned pretty."</p> + +<p>"That was very kind of you, Frank," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> Nora. Her voice shook a little +in spite of her effort to control it.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's queer that a darned little flower like that should be able +to do so much damage."</p> + +<p>That subject exhausted, there came another pause. He was very evidently +waiting her lead. Could Eddie have told him anything about the news from +England? No, he hadn't had any opportunity. Besides it would have been +very unlike Eddie, who, as a general rule, had a supreme talent for +minding his own affairs.</p> + +<p>"How did it happen that you didn't tell me that you had written to +Eddie?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I forgot."</p> + +<p>She waited a few moments to make sure that her voice was quite steady:</p> + +<p>"Frank, Eddie brought me some letters from home—from England, I +mean—to-day. I've had an offer of a job back in England."</p> + +<p>He got up slowly and went over to the corner where the broom hung to get +some straws to run through the mouthpiece of his pipe. His face was +turned from her, so that she could not see that he had closed his eyes +for a moment and that his mouth was drawn with pain.</p> + +<p>When he turned he had resumed his ordinary expression. His voice was +perfectly steady when he spoke:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p> + +<p>"An offer of a job? Gee! I guess you'll jump at that."</p> + +<p>"It's funny it should have come just when you had been talking of my +going away."</p> + +<p>"Very."</p> + +<p>Not even a comment. Oh, why didn't he say that he would be glad to have +her gone, and be done with it! Anything, almost, would be easier to bear +than this total lack of interest. She tried another tack.</p> + +<p>"Have you any—any objection?"</p> + +<p>"I guess it wouldn't make a powerful lot of difference to you if I had." +He could actually smile, his good-natured, indulgent smile, which she +knew so well.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess you only stayed on here because you had to."</p> + +<p>Nora's work dropped in her lap.</p> + +<p>"Is life always like that?" she said with bitter sadness. "The things +you've wanted so dreadfully seem only to bring you pain when they come."</p> + +<p>He gave her a swift glance, but went on smoking quietly. She went over +to the window again and stood looking out at the stretch of prairie. +Presently she spoke in a low voice, but her words were addressed as much +to herself as to him:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Month after month, this winter, I used to sit here looking out at the +prairie. Sometimes I wanted to scream at the top of my voice. I felt +that I must break that awful silence or go mad. There were times when +the shack was like a prison. I thought I should never escape. I was +hemmed in by the snow and the cold and the stillness; cut off from +everything and everybody, from all that had been the world I knew."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to quit right now with Ed?" he asked gently.</p> + +<p>Nora went slowly back to her chair. "You seem in a great hurry to be rid +of me," she said, with the flicker of a smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess we ain't made a great success of our married life, my +girl." He went over to the stove to knock the ashes from his pipe. "It's +rum, when you come to figure it out," he said, when it was once more +lighted; "I thought I could make you do everything I wanted, just +because I was bigger and stronger. It sure did look like I held a +straight flush. And you beat me."</p> + +<p>"I?" said Nora in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Why, sure. You don't mean to say you didn't know <i>that</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know at all what you mean."</p> + +<p>"I guess I was pretty ignorant about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> women," his began pacing up and +down the floor as he talked. "I guess I didn't know how strong a woman +could be. You was always givin' way; you done everything I told you. +And, all the time, you was keeping something back from me that I +couldn't get at. Whenever I thought I was goin' to put my hand on +you—zip! You was away again. I guess I found I'd only caught hold of a +shadow."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what more you expected. I didn't know you wanted anything +more!"</p> + +<p>"I guess I wanted love," he said in a tone so low that she barely caught +it.</p> + +<p>He stood over by the table, looking down on her from his great height. +His face was flushed, but his eyes were steady and unashamed.</p> + +<p>"You!"</p> + +<p>She looked at him in absolute consternation. Her breath came in hurried +gasps. But her heart sang in her breast and the little pathetic droop of +her mouth disappeared. Her telltale eyes dropped on her work. Not yet, +not yet; she was greedy to hear more.</p> + +<p>"I know you now less well than when you'd been only a week up to Ed's." +He resumed his pacing up and down. "I guess I've lost the trail. I'm +just beating round, floundering in the bush."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I never knew you wanted love," she said softly.</p> + +<p>"I guess I didn't know it until just lately, either."</p> + +<p>"I suppose parting's always rather painful," she said with just the +beginning of a little smile creeping round the corners of her lips.</p> + +<p>"If you go back—<i>when</i> you go back," he corrected himself, "to the old +country, I guess—I guess you'll never want to come back."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you'll come over to England yourself, one of these days. If you +only have a couple of good years, you could easily shut up the place and +run over for the winter," she said shyly.</p> + +<p>"I guess that would be a dangerous experiment. You'll be a lady in +England. I guess I'd still be only the hired man."</p> + +<p>"You'd be my husband."</p> + +<p>"N-o-o-o," he said, with a shake of the head. "I guess I wouldn't chance +it."</p> + +<p>She tried another way. She was sure of her happiness now; she could play +with it a little longer.</p> + +<p>"You'll write to me now and then, and tell me how you're getting on, +won't you?"</p> + +<p>"Will you care to know?" he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, of course I shall."</p> + +<p>"Well," he said, throwing back his head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> proudly, "I'll write and tell +you if I'm making good. If I ain't, I guess I shan't feel much like +writing."</p> + +<p>"But you <i>will</i> make good, Frank. I know you well enough for that."</p> + +<p>"Do you?" His tone was grateful.</p> + +<p>"I have learned to—to respect you during these months we've lived +together. You have taught me a great deal. All sorts of qualities which +I used to think of great value seem unimportant to me now. I have +changed my ideas about many things."</p> + +<p>"We have each learned something, I guess," he said generously.</p> + +<p>Nora gave him a grateful glance. He stood for a moment at the far end of +the room and watched her roll up the socks she had just darned. How neat +and deft she was. After all, there <i>was</i> something in being a lady, as +Mrs. Sharp had said. Neither she nor Gertie, both capable women, could +do things in quite the same way that Nora did.</p> + +<p>Oh, why had she come into his life at all! She had given him the taste +for knowledge, for better things of all sorts; and now she was going +away, going away forever. He had no illusions about her ever returning. +Not she, once she had escaped from a life she hated. Had she not just +said as much when she said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> that the shack had seemed like a prison to +her?</p> + +<p>And now, in place of going on in the old way that had always seemed good +enough to him before he knew anything better, mulling about, getting his +own meals, with only one thought, one ambition in the world—the success +of his crops and the acquisition of more land that he might some day in +the dim future have a few thousands laid by—he would always be wanting +something he could never get without her: more knowledge of the things +that made life fuller and wider and broader, the things that she prized +and had known from her childhood.</p> + +<p>It was cruel and unfair of her to have awakened the desire in him only +to abandon him. To have held the cup of knowledge to his lips for one +brief instant and then leave him to go through life with his thirst +unslaked! Not that she was intentionally cruel. No, he thought he knew +all of her little faults of temper and of pride by this. Her heart was +too kindly to let her wound him knowingly, witness her tenderness to +poor Mrs. Sharp only this afternoon. But it hurt, none the less. She had +said that she had not known he wanted love. How should she have guessed +it?</p> + +<p>But the real thing that tortured him most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> was the fact that he wanted +her, her, her. She had been his, his woman. No other woman in this broad +earth could take her place.</p> + +<p>A little sound like a groan escaped him.</p> + +<p>"You'll think of me sometimes, my girl, won't you?" he said huskily.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose I shall be able to help it." She smiled at him over her +shoulder, as she crossed the room to restore her basket to its place.</p> + +<p>"I was an ignorant, uneducated man. I didn't know how to treat you +properly. I wanted to make you happy, but I didn't seem to know just how +to do it."</p> + +<p>"You've never been unkind to me, Frank. You've been very patient with +me!"</p> + +<p>"I guess you'll be happier away from me, though. And I'll be able to +think that you're warm and comfortable and at home, and that you've +plenty to eat."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that's all I want?" she suddenly flashed at him.</p> + +<p>He gave her a quick glance and looked away immediately.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't expect you to stay on here, not when you've got a chance of +going back to the old country. This life is all new to you. You know +that one."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know it: I should think I did!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> She gave a little mirthless +laugh, and went over to her chair again.</p> + +<p>"At eight o'clock every morning a maid will bring me tea and hot water. +And I shall get up, and I shall have breakfast. And, presently, I shall +interview the cook, and I shall order luncheon and dinner. And I shall +brush the coats of Mrs. Hubbard's little dogs and take them for a walk +on the common. All the paths on the common are asphalted, so that +elderly gentlemen and lady's companions shan't get their feet wet."</p> + +<p>"Gee, what a life!"</p> + +<p>She hardly gave him time for his exclamation. As she went on, mirth, +scorn, hatred and dismay came into her voice, but she was unconscious of +it. For the moment, everything else was forgotten but the vivid picture +which memory conjured up for her and which she so graphically described.</p> + +<p>"And then, I shall come in and lunch, and after luncheon I shall go for +a drive: one day we will turn to the right and one day we will turn to +the left. And then I shall have tea. And then I shall go out again on +the neat asphalt paths to give the dogs another walk. And then I shall +change my dress and come down to dinner. And after dinner I shall play +bezique with my employer; only I must take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> care not to beat her, +because she doesn't like being beaten. And at ten o'clock I shall go to +bed."</p> + +<p>A wave of stifling recollection choked her for a moment so that she +could not go on. Presently she had herself once more in hand.</p> + +<p>"At eight o'clock next morning a maid will bring in my tea and hot +water, and the day will begin again. Each day will be like every other +day. And, can you believe it, there are hundreds of women in England, +strong and capable, with red blood in their veins, who would be eager to +get this place which is offered to me. Almost a lady—and thirty-five +pounds a year!"</p> + +<p>She did not look toward him, or she would have seen a look of wonder, of +comprehension and of hope pass in turn over his face.</p> + +<p>"It seems a bit different from the life you've had here," he said, +looking out through the open doorway as if to point his meaning.</p> + +<p>"And you," she said, turning her eyes upon him, "you will be clearing +the scrub, cutting down trees, plowing the land, sowing and reaping. +Every day you will be fighting something, frost, hail or weed. You will +be fighting and I will know that you must conquer in the end. Where was +wilderness will be cultivated land. And who knows what starving child +may eat the bread that has been made from the wheat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> that you have +grown! <i>My</i> life will be ineffectual and utterly useless, while +yours——"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? Nora, Nora!" he said more to himself than to her.</p> + +<p>"While I was talking to Mrs. Sharp just now, I didn't know what I was +saying. I was just trying to comfort her when she was crying. And it +seemed to me as if someone else was speaking. And I listened to myself. +I thought I hated the prairie through the long winter months, and yet, +somehow, it has taken hold of me. It was dreary and monotonous, and yet, +I can't tear it out of my heart. There's beauty and a romance about it +which fills my very soul with longing."</p> + +<p>"I guess we all hate the prairie sometimes. But when you've once lived +on it, it ain't easy to live anywhere else."</p> + +<p>"I know the life now. It's not adventurous and exciting, as they think +back home. For men and women alike, it's the same hard work from morning +till night, and I know it's the women who bear the greater burden."</p> + +<p>"The men go into the towns, they have shooting, now and then, and the +changing seasons bring variety in their work; but for the women it's +always the same weary round: cooking, washing, sweeping, mending, in +regular and ceaseless rotation. And yet it's all got a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> meaning. We, +too, have our part in opening up the country. We are its mothers, and +the future is in us. We are building up the greatness of the nation. It +needs <i>our</i> courage and strength and hope, and because it needs them, +they come to us. Oh, Frank, I can't go back to that petty, narrow life! +What have you done to me?"</p> + +<p>"I guess if I asked you to stay now, you'd stay," he said hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"You said you wanted love."—The lovely color flooded her face.—"Didn't +you see? Love has been growing in me slowly, month by month, and I +wouldn't confess it. I told myself I hated you. It's only to-day, when I +had the chance of leaving you forever, that I knew I couldn't live +without you. I'm not ashamed any more. Frank, my husband, I love you."</p> + +<p>He made a stride forward as if to take her in his arms, and then stopped +short, smitten by a recollection.</p> + +<p>"I—I guess I've loved you from the beginning, Nora," he stammered.</p> + +<p>She had risen to her feet and stood waiting him with shining eyes.</p> + +<p>"But why do you say it as if—— What <i>is</i> it, Frank?"</p> + +<p>"I can't ask you to stay on now; I guess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> you'll have to take that job +in England, for a while, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"The inspector's condemned my whole crop; I'm busted."</p> + +<p>"Oh, why didn't you tell me!"</p> + +<p>"I just guess I couldn't. I made up my mind when I married you that I'd +make good. I couldn't expect you to see that it was just bad luck. +Anyone may get the weed in his crop. But, I guess a man oughtn't to have +bad luck. The odds are that it's his own fault if he has."</p> + +<p>"Ah, now I understand about your sending for Eddie."</p> + +<p>"I wrote to him when I knew I'd been reported."</p> + +<p>"But what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"It's all right about me; I can hire out again. It's <i>you</i> I'm thinking +of. I felt pretty sure you wouldn't go back to Ed's. I don't fancy you +taking a position as lady help. I didn't know what was going to become +of you, my girl. And when you told me of the job you'd been offered in +England, I thought I'd have to let you go."</p> + +<p>"Without letting me know you were in trouble!"</p> + +<p>"Why, if I wasn't smashed up, d'you think I'd <i>let</i> you go? By God, I +wouldn't! I'd have kept you. By God, I'd have kept you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then you're going to give up the land," she made a sweeping gesture +which took in the prospect without.</p> + +<p>"No," he said, shaking his head. "I guess I can't do that. I've put too +much work in it. And I've got my back up, now. I shall hire out for the +summer, and next winter I can get work lumbering. The land's my own, +now. I'll come back in time for the plowing next year."</p> + +<p>He had been gazing sadly out of the door as he spoke. He turned to her +now ready to bring her what comfort he could. But in place of the +tearful face he had expected to see, he saw a face radiant with joy and +the light of love. In her hand was a little slip of colored paper which +she held out to him.</p> + +<p>"Look!"</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"The nephew of the lady I was with so long—Miss Wickham, you know—has +made me a present of it. Five hundred pounds. That's twenty-five hundred +dollars, isn't it? You can take the quarter-section you've wanted so +long, next to this one. You can get all the machinery you need. +And"—she gave a little, happy, mirthful laugh—"you can get some cows! +I've learned to do so many things, I guess I can learn to milk, if +you'll teach me and be very,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> very patient about it. Anyway, it's yours +to do what you like with. Now, will you keep me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my girl, how shall I ever be able to repay you!"</p> + +<p>"Good Heavens, I don't want thanks! There's nothing in all the world so +wonderful as to be able to give to one you love. Frank, won't you kiss +me?"</p> + +<p>He folded her in his arms.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's the first time you ever asked me to do that!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I'm the happiest woman in all the world!" she said happily.</p> + +<p>As they stood in the doorway, he with his arm about her, they saw Eddie +coming up the path toward them.</p> + +<p>Marsh's honest face, never a good mask for hiding his feelings, wore an +expression of bewildered astonishment at their lovelike attitude.</p> + +<p>"It's all right, old dear," said Nora with a happy laugh; "don't try to +understand it, you're only a man. But I'm not going back to England, to +Mrs. Hubbard and her horrid little dogs; I'm going to stay right here. +This overgrown baby has worked on my feelings by pretending that he +needs me."</p> + +<p>"And now, if you'll be good enough to hurry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> Reggie a little, we'll all +have some supper; it's long past the proper time."</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: 7em">And as she bustled about her preparations, her brother heard her singing +one of the long-ago songs of their childhood.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<table width="450" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Title Page" border="1"> + <col style="width:80%;" /> + <tr> + <td> + <p style="text-align: center"> + "<i>The Books You Like to Read<br /> + at the Price You Like to Pay</i>"</p> + <hr /> + <p style="font-size: 180%; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">There Are Two Sides<br />to Everything—</p> + <p style="margin-left:2em; margin-right: 2em; text-align:justify">—including the wrapper which + covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. When + you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully selected + list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by prominent + writers of the day which is printed on the back of every Grosset & + Dunlap book wrapper.<br /><br /> + You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from—books for + every mood and every taste and every pocket-book.<br /><br /> + <i>Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to + the publishers for a complete catalog.</i></p> + <br/> + <hr /> + <p style="text-align: center;"><i>There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book<br /> + for every mood and for every taste.</i></p> + </td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div style="margin-left:15%; margin-right:15%"> +<p class="figcenter"><span style="font-size: 160%">MARGARET PEDLER'S NOVELS</span></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p class="figcenter"><b>May be had wherever books are sold.<br/>Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list.</b></p> + +<hr class="major" /> + +<p><span class="ul">RED ASHES</span></p> + +<p>A gripping story of a doctor who failed in a crucial operation—and had +only himself to blame. Could the woman he loved forgive him?</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE BARBARIAN LOVER</span></p> + +<p>A love story based on the creed that the only important things between +birth and death are the courage to face life and the love to sweeten it.</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE MOON OUT OF REACH</span></p> + +<p>Nan Davenant's problem is one that many a girl has faced—her own +happiness or her father's bond.</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE HOUSE OF DREAMS-COME-TRUE</span></p> + +<p>How a man and a woman fulfilled a gypsy's strange prophecy.</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE HERMIT OF FAR END</span></p> + +<p>How love made its way into a walled-in house and a walled-in heart.</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE LAMP OF FATE</span></p> + +<p>The story of a woman who tried to take all and give nothing.</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE SPLENDID FOLLY</span></p> + +<p>Do you believe that husbands and wives should have no secrets from each +other?</p> + +<p><span class="ul">THE VISION OF DESIRE</span></p> + +<p>An absorbing romance written with all that sense of feminine tenderness +that has given the novels of Margaret Pedler their universal appeal.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<p class="figcenter">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="tnote"> +<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> +<p>1. Punctuation has been made regular and consistent with contemporary standards.</p> +<p>2. All illustrations carried the credit line: "<i>The Canadian – Photoplay +title of The Land of Promise.</i>" and "<i>A Paramount Picture.</i>" in addition to the caption +presented with each illustration in the text.</p> +<p>3. Contemporary spelling retained, for example: <i>dependant</i>, <i>indorsement</i>, <i>subtile</i>, and <i>intrenched</i> +as used in this text. +</p> +<p>4. List of Illustrations and Table of Contents were not present in the original text.</p> +<p>5. Corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text +will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 18410-h.txt or 18410-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/1/18410</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/18410-h/images/illus-000.jpg b/18410-h/images/illus-000.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fda847b --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/images/illus-000.jpg diff --git a/18410-h/images/illus-074.jpg b/18410-h/images/illus-074.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85b6a76 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/images/illus-074.jpg diff --git a/18410-h/images/illus-138.jpg b/18410-h/images/illus-138.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d145df1 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/images/illus-138.jpg diff --git a/18410-h/images/illus-218.jpg b/18410-h/images/illus-218.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d8cf89 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/images/illus-218.jpg diff --git a/18410-h/images/illus-emb.png b/18410-h/images/illus-emb.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f251815 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410-h/images/illus-emb.png diff --git a/18410.txt b/18410.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0705da4 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8674 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Land of Promise, by D. Torbett + + +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: The Land of Promise + + +Author: D. Torbett + + + +Release Date: May 17, 2006 [eBook #18410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18410-h.htm or 18410-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410/18410-h/18410-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410/18410-h.zip) + + + + + +The Canadian +Photoplay Title of + +THE LAND OF PROMISE + +A Novelization of W. Somerset Maugham's Play + +by + +D. TORBETT + +Illustrated with Scenes from the Photoplay +A Paramount Picture +Starring Thomas Meighan + + + + + + + +[Illustration: LOVE FOR HER HUSBAND IS FINALLY BORN IN NORA.] + + + +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers, New York +Made in the United States of America. +Copyright, 1914, by +Edward J. Clode + + + + + +THE LAND OF PROMISE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Nora opened her eyes to an unaccustomed consciousness of well-being. She +was dimly aware that it had its origin in something deeper than mere +physical comfort; but for the moment, in that state between sleeping and +wakening, which still held her, it was enough to find that body and mind +seemed rested. + +Youth was reasserting itself. And it was only a short time ago that she +had felt that never, never, could she by any possible chance feel young +again. When one is young, one resents the reaction after any strain not +purely physical as if it were a premature symptom of old age. + +A ray of brilliant sunshine, which found its way through a gap in the +drawn curtains, showed that it was long past the usual hour for rising. +She smiled whimsically and closed her eyes once more. She remembered now +that she was not in her own little room in the other wing of the house. +The curtains proved that. How often in the ten years she had been with +Miss Wickham had she begged that the staring white window blind, which +decorated her one window, be replaced by curtains or even a blind of a +dark tone that she might not be awakened by the first ray of light. She +had even ventured to propose that the cost of such alterations be +stopped out of her salary. Miss Wickham had refused to countenance any +such innovation. + +Three years before, when the offending blind had refused to hold +together any longer, Nora had had a renewal of hope. But no! The new +blind had been more glaringly white than its predecessor, which by +contrast had taken on a grateful ivory tone in its old age. They had had +one of their rare scenes at its advent. Nora had as a rule an admirable +control of her naturally quick temper. But this had been too much. + +"I might begin to understand your refusal if you ever entered my room. +But since it would no more occur to you to do so than to visit the +stables, I cannot see what possible difference it can make," Nora had +stormed. + +Miss Wickham's smile, which at the beginning of her companion's outburst +had been faintly ironic, had broadened into the frankly humorous. + +"Stated with your characteristic regard for exactitude, my dear Miss +Marsh, it would never enter my head to do either. I prefer the white +blind, however. As you know, I have no taste for explanations. We will +let the matter rest there, if you please." Then she had added: "Some +day, I strongly suspect, some man will amuse himself breaking that fiery +temper of yours. I wish I were not so old, I think that I should enjoy +knowing that he had succeeded." And the incident had ended, as always, +with a few angry tears on Nora's part, as a preliminary to the +inevitable game of bezique which finished off each happy day! + +And this had been her life for ten years! A wave of pity, not for +herself but for that young girl of eighteen who had once been herself, +that proudly confident young creature who, when suddenly deprived of the +protection of her only parent,--Nora's father had died when she was too +young to remember him,--had so bravely faced the world, serene in the +consciousness that the happiness which was her right was sure to be hers +after a little waiting, dimmed her eyes for a moment. The dreams she had +dreamed after she had received Miss Wickham's letter offering her the +post of companion! She recalled how she had smiled to herself when the +agent with whom she had filed her application congratulated her warmly +on her good fortune in placing herself so promptly, and, by way of +benediction, had wished that she might hold the position for many years. +Many years indeed! That had been no part of her plan. Those nebulous +plans had always been consistently rose-colored. It was impossible to +remember them all now. + +Sometimes the unknown Miss Wickham turned out to be a soft-hearted and +sentimental old lady who was completely won by her young companion's +charm and unmistakable air of good breeding. After a short time, she +either adopted her, or, on dying, left her her entire fortune. + +Again, she proved to be a perfect ogre. In this variation it was always +the Prince Charming, that looms large in every young girl's dreams, who +finally, after a brief period of unhappiness, came to the rescue and +everything ended happily if somewhat conventionally. + +The reality had been sadly different. Miss Wickham had disclosed herself +as being a hard, self-centered, worldly woman who considered that in +furnishing her young companion with board, lodging and a salary of +thirty pounds a year, she had, to use a commercial phrase, obtained the +option on her every waking hour, and indeed, during the last year of her +life, she had extended this option to cover many of the hours which +should have been dedicated to rest and sleep. + +All the fine plans that the young Nora had made while journeying down +from London to Tunbridge Wells, for going on with her music, improving +herself in French and perhaps taking up another modern language, in her +leisure hours, had been nipped in the bud before she had been an inmate +of Miss Wickham's house many days. She had no leisure hours. Miss +Wickham saw to that. She had apparently an abhorrence for her own +unrelieved society that amounted to a positive mania. She must never be +left alone. Let Nora but escape to her own little room in the vain hope +of obtaining a few moments to herself, and Kate, the parlor maid, was +certain to be sent after her. + +"Miss Wickham's compliments and she was waiting to be read to." "Miss +Wickham's compliments, but did Miss Marsh know that the horses were at +the door?" "Miss Wickham's compliments, and should she have Kate set out +the backgammon board?" + +And upon the rare occasions when there was company in the house, Miss +Wickham's ingenuity in providing occupation for dear Miss Marsh, while +she was herself occupied with her friends, was inexhaustible. In an evil +hour Nora had confessed to a modest talent for washing lace. Miss +Wickham, it developed, had a really fine collection of beautiful pieces +which naturally required the most delicate handling. Their need for +being washed was oddly coincident with the moment when the expected +guest arrived at the door. + +Or, it appeared that the slugs had attacked the rose trees in unusual +numbers. The gardener was in despair as he was already behind with +setting out the annuals. "Would Miss Marsh mind while Miss Wickham had +her little after-luncheon nap----!" Miss Marsh did mind. She loved +flowers; to arrange them was a delight--at least it had been once--but +she hated slugs. But she was too young and too inexperienced to know how +to combat the subtle encroachments upon her own time made by this +selfish old woman. And so, gradually, she had found that she was not +only companion, but a sort of superior lady's maid and assistant +gardener as well. And all for thirty pounds a year and her keep. + +And alas! Prince Charming had never appeared, unless--Nora laughed aloud +at the thought--he had disguised himself with a cleverness defying +detection. With Reginald Hornby, a callow youth, the son of Miss +Wickham's dearest friend, who occasionally made the briefest of duty +visits; Mr. Wynne, the family solicitor, an elderly bachelor; and the +doctor's assistant, a young person by the name of Gard, Nora's list of +eligible men was complete. There had been a time when Nora had flirted +with the idea of escaping from bondage by becoming the wife of young +Gard. + +He was a rather common young man, but he had been sincerely in love with +her. He was not sufficiently subtle to recognize that it was the idea of +escaping from Miss Wickham and the deadly monotony of her days that +tempted her. He had laid his case before Miss Wickham. There had been +some terrible scenes. Nora had felt the lash of her employer's bitter +tongue. Partly because she was still smarting from the attack, and +partly because she was indignant with her suitor for having gone to Miss +Wickham at all and particularly without consulting her, she, too, had +turned on the unfortunate young man. There had been mutual +recriminations and reproaches, and young Gard, after his brief and +bitter experience with the gentry, had left the vicinity of Tunbridge +Wells and later on married a girl of his own class. + +But Miss Wickham had been more shaken at the prospect of losing her +young companion, who was so thoroughly broken in, than she would have +liked to have confessed. She detested new faces about her, and as a +matter of fact, she came as nearly caring for Nora as it was possible +for her to care for any human being. She had told the girl then that it +was her intention to make some provision for her at her death, so that +she might have a decent competence and not be obliged to look for +another position. There was, of course, the implied understanding that +she would remain with Miss Wickham until that lady was summoned to a +better and brighter world, a step which Miss Wickham, herself, was in no +immediate hurry to take. In the meantime, she knew perfectly well just +how often a prospective legacy could be dangled before expectant eyes +with perfect delicacy. + +It furnished her with an additional weapon, too, against her nephew, +James Wickham, and his wife, both of whom she cordially detested, +although she fully intended leaving them the bulk of her fortune. The +consideration and tenderness she showed toward Nora when Mr. and Mrs. +Wickham ran down from London to see their dear aunt showed a latent +talent for comedy, on the part of the chief actress, of no mean order. +These occasions left Nora in a state of mind in which exasperation and +amusement were about equally blended. It was amusing to note the signs +of apprehension on the part of Miss Wickham's disagreeable relatives as +they noted their aunt's doting fondness for her hired companion. And +while she felt that they richly deserved this little punishment, it was +humiliating to be so cynically made use of. + +And now it was all over. After a year of illness and gradual decline the +end had come two days before. Nothing could induce Miss Wickham to have +a professional nurse. The long strain and weeks of broken rest had told +even on Nora's strength. Kindly Dr. Evans had insisted that she be put +immediately to bed and Kate, the parlor maid, who had always been +devoted to her, had undressed her as if she had been a baby. For the +last two days she had done little but sleep the dreamless sleep of utter +exhaustion. And to-day was the day of the funeral. She was just about to +ring to find the time, when Kate's gentle knock came at the door. + +"Come in. Good morning, Kate. Do tell me the time. Oh! How good it is to +be lazy once in a while." + +"Good morning to you, Miss. I hope you're feeling a bit rested. It's +just gone eleven. Dr. Evans has called, Miss. He told me to see if you +had waked." + +"How good of him. Ask him to wait a few moments and I'll come right +down." 'Coming right down' was not so easy a matter as she had thought. +Nora found herself strangely weak and languid. She was still sitting on +the edge of her bed, trying to gather energy for the task of dressing, +when Kate returned. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss, but Dr. Evans says you're not to get up until +he sees you. I'm to bring you a bit of toast and your tea and to help +you freshen up a bit and then he will come up in twenty minutes. He says +to tell you that he has plenty of time." + +Nora made a show of protest. Secretly she was rather glad to give in. +She had not reckoned with the weakness following two unaccustomed days +in bed. Dr. Evans was a kindly elderly man, whose one affectation was +the gruffness which the country doctor of the old school so often +assumes as if he wished to emphasize his disapproval of the modern suave +manner of his city _confrere_. He had a sardonic humor and a sharp +tongue which had at first quite terrified Nora, until she discovered +that they were meant to hide the most generous heart in the world. Many +were the kindly acts he performed in secret for the very people he was +most accustomed to abuse. + +Having felt Nora's pulse and looked at her sharply with his keen gray +eyes, he settled the question of her attendance at Miss Wickham's +funeral with his accustomed finality. + +"You'll do nothing of the sort," he growled. "You may get up after a +while and go and sit in the garden a bit; the air is fairly spring-like. +But this afternoon you must lie down again for an hour or two. I suppose +you'll have to get up to do the civil for James Wickham and his wife +before they go back to town. Oh, no! they'll not stay the night. They'll +rush back as fast as the train will take them, once they've heard the +will read. Couldn't bear the associations with the place, now that their +dear aunt has departed!" He gave one of his sardonic chuckles. + +"It may be nonsense"--this in reply to Nora's remonstrance--"but I'm not +going to have you on my hands next. You'll go to that funeral and get +hysterical like all women, and begin to think that you wish her back. I +should think this last year would have been about all anyone would want. +But you're a poor sentimental creature, after all," he jeered. + +"I'm nothing of the sort. But I did feel sorry for her, badly as she +often treated me. She was a desperately lonely old soul. Nobody cared a +bit about her, really, and she knew it." + +"In spite of all her little amiable tricks to make people love her," +said the doctor. "Now, remember, the garden for an hour this morning, +the drawing-room later in the day, after you've rested for an hour or +so. And don't dare disobey me." With that, he left. + +It was pleasant in the garden. The air, though chilly, held the promise +of spring. Warmly wrapped in an old cape, which the thoughtful Kate had +discovered somewhere, with a book on Paris and some Italian sketches to +fall back upon when her own thoughts ceased to divert her, Nora sat in a +sheltered corner and looked out on the border which would soon be gay +with the tulips whose green stocks were just beginning to push +themselves up through the brown earth. Poor Miss Wickham! She had been +so proud of her garden always. But for her it had bloomed for the last +time. Would the James Wickhams take as much pride in it? Somehow, she +fancied not. And she? Where would she be a year from now? A year! Where +would she be in another month? + +The whole world, in a modest sense, would he hers to choose from. While +she had no definite notion as to the amount of her legacy, she had +understood that it would bring in sufficient income to keep her from the +necessity of seeking further employment. Probably something between two +and three hundred pounds a year. She had always longed to travel. +Italy, France, Germany, Spain, she would see them all. One could live +very reasonably in really good pensions abroad, she had been told. + +And then, some day, after a few years of happy wandering, she might +adventure to that far-off Canada where her only brother was living the +life of a frontiersman on an incredibly huge farm. She had not seen him +for many years, but her heart warmed at the thought of seeing her only +relative again. He was much older. Yes, Eddie must now be about forty. +Oh, all of that. She, herself, was almost twenty-eight. But she wouldn't +go to him for several years. He had done one thing which seemed to her +quite dreadful. He had made an unfortunate marriage with a woman far +beneath him socially. Men were so weak! Because they fancied themselves +lonely, or even captivated by a pretty face, they were willing to make +impossible marriages. Women were different. Still, she had the grace to +blush when she recalled the episode of the doctor's assistant. + +Yes, she would go out to Eddie after his wife had had the chance to form +herself a little more. Living with a husband so much superior was bound +to have its influence. And she must have some really good qualities at +bottom or she could never have attracted him. There was nothing vicious +about her brother. She must write him of Miss Wickham's death. They were +neither of them fond of writing. It must be nearly a year since she had +heard from him last. And then, it was so difficult to keep up a +correspondence when people had no mutual friends and so little in +common. + +A glance at her watch told her that it must be nearly time for the +London Wickhams to arrive. It would be better not to see them, unless +they sent for her, until after they had returned from the cemetery. They +were just the sort of people to think that she was forgetting her +position if she had the manner of playing hostess by receiving them. +Thank goodness! she would probably never see them again after to-day. + +With a word to Kate that she would presently have her luncheon in her +room and then rest for a few hours until the people returned after the +funeral, she made her way to her own bare little room. How cold and bare +it was! With the exception of the framed pictures of her father and +mother and a small photograph of Eddie, taken before he had gone out, +there was nothing but the absolutely necessary furniture. Miss Wickham's +ideas of what a 'companion's' room should be like had partaken of the +austere. And all the rest of the house was so crowded and overloaded +with things. The drawing-room had always been an eyesore to Nora, +crammed as it was with little tables and cabinets containing china. And +in every available space there were porcelain ornaments and photographs +in huge silver frames. It was all like a badly arranged museum or a +huddled little curio shop. Well, she would soon be done with that, too! + +Armed with her portfolio and writing materials Nora returned to the +guest chamber, which was her temporary abode. The motherly Kate was +waiting with an appetizing lunch on a neat tray. What a good friend she +had been. She would be genuinely sorry to part with Kate. She must ask +her to give her some address that would always reach her. Who knew, +years hence when she returned to England, but what she might afford to +set up a modest flat with Kate to manage things for her. She would speak +to her on the morrow--after the will was read. + +"Ah, Kate, you knew just what would tempt me. Thank you so much! By the +way, has Miss Pringle sent any message?" + +"Yes, Miss. Miss Pringle stopped on her way to the village a moment ago. +She was with Mrs. Hubbard and had only a moment. I was to tell you that +she would call this afternoon and hoped you could see her. I told her, +Miss, that the doctor had said you were not to go to the burial. She +will come while they are away." + +"Let me know the moment she comes. I want to see her very much." + +Miss Pringle was the only woman friend Nora had made in the years of her +sojourn at Tunbridge Wells. They had little in common beyond the +fellow-feeling that binds those in bondage. Miss Pringle was also a +companion. Her task mistress, Mrs. Hubbard, was in Nora's opinion, about +as stolidly brainless as a woman could well be. Miss Pringle was always +lauding her kindness. But then Miss Pringle had been a companion to +various rich women for thirty years. Nora had her own ideas as to the +value of the opinions of any woman who had been in slavery for thirty +years. + +Having eaten her luncheon and written her letter to her brother, she +felt glad to rest once more. How wise the doctor had been to forbid her +to go to the funeral, and how grateful she was that he had forbidden it, +was her last waking thought. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +It was well on to three o'clock when Miss Pringle made her careful way +up the path that led to the late Miss Wickham's door. + +"How strange it will be not to find her in her own drawing-room!" she +reflected. "I don't recall that Nora Marsh and I have ever been alone +together for two consecutive minutes in our lives. I simply couldn't +have stood it." + +"I'll tell Miss Marsh you're here, Miss Pringle," said Kate, at the +door. + +"How is she to-day, Kate?" + +"Still tired out, poor thing. The doctor made her promise to lie down +directly after she had had a bite of luncheon. But she said I was to let +her know the moment you came, Miss." + +"I'm very glad she didn't go to the funeral." + +"Dr. Evans simply wouldn't hear of it, Miss." + +"I wonder how she stood it all these months, waiting on Miss Wickham +hand and foot. She should have been made to have a professional nurse." + +"It wasn't very easy to make Miss Wickham have anything she had made up +her mind not to, you know that, Miss," said Kate as she led the way to +the drawing-room. "Miss Marsh slept in Miss Wickham's room towards the +last, and the moment she fell asleep Miss Wickham would have her up +because her pillow wanted shaking or she was thirsty, or something." + +"I suppose she was very inconsiderate." + +Miss Pringle did not in general approve of discussing things with +servants. But Nora had told her frequently how faithfully Kate looked +after her and, as far as it was possible, made things bearable, so she +felt she could make an exception of her. + +"Inconsiderate isn't the word, Miss. I wouldn't be a lady's companion," +Kate paused, her hand on the doorknob, to make a sweeping gesture, "not +for anything. What they have to put up with!" + +"Everyone isn't like Miss Wickham," said Miss Pringle, a trifle sharply. +"The lady I'm companion to, Mrs. Hubbard, is kindness itself." + +"That sounds like Miss Marsh coming down the stairs now," said Kate, +opening the door. "Miss Pringle is here, Miss." + +As Kate closed the door behind her, Nora advanced to meet her friend +from the doorway with her pretty smile and outstretched hand. Miss +Pringle kissed her warmly and then drew her down on a large sofa by her +side. Her glance had a certain note of disapproval as it took in her +friend's black dress, which did not escape that observant young person. + +"I was so glad to hear you were coming to me this afternoon; it is good +of you. How did you escape the dragon?" + +She had long ago nicknamed the excellent Mrs. Hubbard 'the dragon' +simply to tease Miss Pringle. + +"Mrs. Hubbard has gone for a drive with somebody or other and didn't +want me," said Miss Pringle primly. "You haven't been crying, Nora?" + +"Yes, I couldn't help it. My dear, it's not unnatural." + +Miss Pringle dropped the hand she had been stroking to clasp both her +own over the handle of her umbrella. "Well, I don't like to say anything +against her now she's dead, poor thing, but Miss Wickham was the most +detestable old woman I ever met." + +"Still," said Nora slowly, looking toward the French window which opened +on the garden, at the sun streaming through the drawn blinds, "I don't +suppose one can live so long with anyone and not be a little sorry to +part with them forever. I was Miss Wickham's companion for ten years." + +"How you stood it! Exacting, domineering, disagreeable!" + +"Yes, I suppose she was. Because she paid me a salary, she thought I +wasn't a human being. I certainly never knew anyone with such a bitter +tongue. At first I used to cry every night when I went to bed because of +the things she said to me. But I got used to them." + +"I wonder you didn't leave her. I would have." Miss Pringle attempting +to delude herself with the idea that she was a mettlesome, high-spirited +person who would stand no nonsense, was immensely diverting to Nora. To +hide an irrepressible smile, she went over to a bowl of roses which +stood on one of the little tables and pretended to busy herself with +their rearrangement. + +"Posts as lady's companions are not so easy to find, I fancy. At least I +remember that when I got this one I was thought to be extremely lucky +not to have to wait twice as long. I don't imagine things have bettered +much in our line, do you?" + +"That they have not," rejoined Miss Pringle gloomily. "They tell me the +agents' books are full of people wanting situations. Before I went to +Mrs. Hubbard I was out of one for nearly two years." Her voice shook a +little at the recollection. Her poor, tired, weather-beaten face +quivered as if she were about to cry. + +"It's not so had for you," said Nora soothingly. "You can always go and +stay with your brother." + +"You've a brother, too." + +"Ah, yes. But he's farming in Canada. He has all he could do to keep +himself. He couldn't keep me, too." + +"How is he doing now?" asked Miss Pringle, to whom any new topic of +conversation was of interest. She had so little opportunity for +conversation at the irreproachable Mrs. Hubbard's, that lady having +apparently inherited a limited set of ideas from her late husband, 'as +Mr. Hubbard used to say' being her favorite introduction to any topic. +Miss Pringle saw herself making quite a little success at dinner that +night--there was to be a guest, she believed--by saying: "A friend of +mine has just been telling me of the success her brother is having way +out in Canada." "He is getting on?" she asked encouragingly. + +"Oh, he's doing very well. He's got a farm of his own. He wrote over a +few years ago and told me he could always give me a home if I wanted +one." + +"Canada's so far off," observed Miss Pringle deprecatingly. Her tone +seemed to imply that there were other disadvantages which she would +refrain from mentioning. + +Now while Nora had always had the same vague feeling that Canada, in +addition to being an immense distance off, was not quite, well, it +wasn't England--that was indisputable--she found herself unreasonably +irritated by her friend's tone. + +"Not when yon get there," she replied sharply. + +Miss Pringle evidently deemed it best to change the subject. "Why don't +you draw the blinds?" she asked after a moment. + +"It is horrid, isn't it? But somehow I thought I ought to wait till they +came back from the funeral. But just see the sunlight; it must be +beautiful out of doors. Why don't we walk about in the garden? Do you +care for a wrap? I'll send Kate to fetch you something, if you do." + +Miss Pringle having decided that her coat was sufficiently warm if they +did not sit anywhere too long and just walked in the paths where it was +sure not to be damp, they went out of the gloomy drawing-room into the +bright afternoon sunshine. + +"Don't you love a garden when things are just beginning to show their +heads? I sometimes think that spring is the most beautiful of all the +seasons. It's like watching the birth of a new world. I think the most +human thing about poor Miss Wickham was her fondness for flowers. She +always said she hoped she'd never die in winter." + +To Miss Pringle, the note of regret which crept now and again into +Nora's voice when she spoke of her late employer was a continual source +of bewilderment. Here was a woman who she knew had a quick temper and a +passionate nature speaking as if she actually sorrowed for the tyrant +who had so frequently made her life unbearable. She was sure that she +couldn't have felt more grieved if Providence had seen fit to remove the +excellent Mrs. Hubbard from the scene of her earthly activities. Poor +Miss Pringle! She did not realize that after thirty years of a life +passed as a hired companion that she no longer possessed either +sensibility or the power of affection. To her, one employer would be +very like another so long as they were fairly considerate and not too +unreasonable. It would be tiresome, to be sure, to have to learn the +little likes and dislikes of Mrs. Hubbard's successor. But what would +you? Life was filled with tiresome moments. Poor Miss Pringle! + +Her next remark was partly to make conversation and partly because she +might obtain further light upon this perplexing subject. She made a +mental note that she must not forget to speak to Mrs. Hubbard of Nora's +grief over Miss Wickham's death. Naturally, she would be gratified. + +"Well, it must be a great relief to you now it's all over," she said. + +"Sometimes I can't realize it," said Nora simply. "These last few weeks +I hardly got to bed at all, and when the end came I was utterly +exhausted. For two days I have done nothing but sleep. Poor Miss +Wickham. She did hate dying." + +Miss Pringle had a sort of triumph. She had proved her point. Even Mrs. +Hubbard could not doubt it now! "That's the extraordinary part of it. I +believe you were really fond of her." + +"Do you know that for nearly a year she would eat nothing but what I +gave her with my own hands. And she liked me as much as she was capable +of liking anybody." + +"That wasn't much," Miss Pringle permitted herself. + +"And then I was so dreadfully sorry for her." + +"Good heavens!" + +"She'd been a hard and selfish woman all her life, and there was no one +who cared for her," Nora went on passionately. "It seemed so dreadful to +die like that and leave not a soul to regret one. Her nephew and his +wife were just waiting for her death. It was dreadful. Each time they +came down from London I could see them looking at her to see if she was +any worse than when last they'd seen her." + +"Well," said Miss Pringle with a sort of splendid defiance, "I thought +her a horrid old woman, and I'm glad she's dead. And I only hope she's +left you well provided for." + +"Oh, I think she's done that," Nora smiled happily into her friend's +face. "Yes, I can be quite sure of that, I fancy. Two years ago, when +I--when I nearly went away, she said she'd left me enough to live on." + +They walked on for a moment or two in silence until they had reached the +end of the path, where there was a little arbor in which Miss Wickham +had been in the habit of having her tea afternoons when the weather +permitted. + +"Do you think we would run any risk if we sat down here a few moments? +Suppose we try it. We can walk again if you feel in the least chilled. I +think the view so lovely from here. Besides, I can see the carriage the +moment it enters the gate." + +Miss Pringle sat down with the air of a person who was hardly conscious +of what she was doing. + +"You say she told you she had left you something when you nearly went +away," she went on in the hesitating manner of one who has been +interrupted while reading aloud and is not quite sure that she has +resumed at the right place. "You mean when that assistant of Dr. Evans +wanted to marry you? I'm glad you wouldn't have him." + +"He was very kind and--and nice," said Nora gently. "But, of course, he +wasn't a gentleman." + +"I shouldn't like to live with a man at all," retorted Miss Pringle, +with unshakable conviction. "I think they're horrid; but of course it +would be utterly impossible if he weren't a gentleman." + +Nora's eyes twinkled with amusement; she gave a little gurgle of +laughter. "He came to see Miss Wickham, but she wouldn't have anything +to do with him. First, she said she couldn't spare me, and then she said +that I had a very bad temper." + +"I like _her_ saying that," retorted her listener. + +"It's quite true," said Nora with a deprecating wave of her hand. "Every +now and then I felt I couldn't put up with her any more. I forgot that +I was dependent on her, and that if she dismissed me, I probably +shouldn't be able to find another situation, and I just flew at her. I +must say she was very nice about it; she used to look at me and grin, +and when it was all over, say: 'My dear, when you marry, if your +husband's a wise man, he'll use a big stick now and then.'" + +"Old cat!" + +"I should like to see any man try it," said Nora with emphasis. + +Miss Pringle dismissed the supposition with a wave of her hand. "How +much do you think she's left you?" she asked eagerly. + +"Well, of course I don't know; the will is going to be read this +afternoon, when they come back from the funeral. But from what she said, +I believe about two hundred and fifty pounds a year." + +"It's the least she could do. She's had the ten best years of your +life." Nora gave a long, happy sigh. "Just think of it! Never to be at +anybody's beck and call again. I shall be able to get up when I like and +go to bed when I like, go out when I choose and come in when I choose. +Think of what that means!" + +"Unless you marry--you probably will," said Miss Pringle in a +discouraging tone. + +"Never." + +"What do you purpose doing?" + +"I shall go to Italy, Florence, Rome; oh, everywhere I've so longed to +go. Do you think it's horrible of me? I'm so happy!" + +"My dear child!" said Miss Pringle with real feeling. + +At that moment the sound of carriage wheels came to them. Turning +quickly, Nora saw the carriage containing Mr. and Mrs. Wickham coming up +the drive. "There they are now. How the time has gone!" + +"I'd better go, hadn't I?" said Miss Pringle with manifest reluctance. + +"I'm afraid you must: I'm sorry." + +"Couldn't I go up to your room and wait there? I do so want to know +about the will." + +Nora hesitated a moment. She didn't want to take Miss Pringle up to her +bare little room. A sort of loyalty to the woman who was, after all, to +be her benefactress--for was she not, after all, with her legacy, going +to make the happy future pay rich interest for the unhappy past?--made +her reluctant to let anyone know how poorly she had been lodged. + +"No," she said; "I'll tell you what, stay here in the garden. They want +to catch the four-something back to London. And, later, we can have a +cozy little tea all by ourselves." + +"Very well. Oh, my dear," said Miss Pringle with emotion, "I'm so +sincerely happy in your good luck!" + +Nora was genuinely moved. She leaned over and kissed Miss Pringle, her +eyes filling with quick tears. + +Then she went into the house. The Wickhams were already in the +drawing-room. Mrs. James Wickham was a pretty young woman, a good ten +years younger than her unattractive husband. Of the two, Nora preferred +Mr. Wickham. There was a certain cynicism about her insincerity which +his, somehow, lacked. Even now, they wore their rue with a difference. + +Mrs. Wickham's mourning was as correct and elegant as a fashionable +dressmaker could make it; the very latest thing in grief. Mr. Wickham +was far less sumptuous. Beyond the customary band on his hat and a pair +of black gloves conspicuously new, he had apparently made little +expenditure on his costume. As Nora entered, Mrs. Wickham was pulling +off her gloves. + +"How do yon do?" she said carelessly. "Ouf! Do put the blinds up, Miss +Marsh. Really, we needn't be depressed any more. Jim, if you love me, +take those gloves off. They're perfectly revolting." + +"Why, what's wrong with them! The fellow in the shop told me they were +the right thing." + +"No doubt; I never saw anyone look quite so funereal as you do." + +"Well," retorted her husband, "you didn't want me to get myself up as if +I were going to a wedding, did you?" + +"Were there many people?" said Nora hastily. + +The insolence of Mrs. Wickham's glance was scarcely veiled. + +"Oh, quite a lot," she drawled. "The sort of people who indulge in other +peoples' funerals as a mild form of dissipation." + +"I hope Wynne will look sharp," said her husband hastily, looking at his +watch. "I don't want to miss that train." + +"Who were all those stodgy old things who wrung your hand afterwards, +Jim?" asked his wife. She was moving slowly about the room picking up +the various little objects scattered about and examining the contents of +one of the cabinets with the air of an appraiser. + +"I can't think. They did make me feel such a fool." + +"Oh, was that it?" laughed his wife. "I saw you looking a perfect owl +and I thought you were giving a very bad imitation of restrained +emotion." + +"Dorothy!" in a tone of remonstrance. + +"Would you care for some tea, Mrs. Wickham?" Nora broke in. To her the +whole scene was positively indecent. She longed to make her escape, but +felt that it would be considered part of her duty to remain as long as +the Wickhams stayed. As she was about to ring the bell, Mrs. Wickham +stopped her with a gesture. + +"Well, you might send some in so that it'll be ready when Mr. Wynne +comes. We'll ring for you, shall we?" she added. "I dare say you've got +one or two things you want to do now." + +"Very good, Mrs. Wickham." + +Nora could feel her cheeks burn as she left the room. But she was +thankful to escape. Outside the door she hesitated for a moment. There +was no good in rejoining Miss Pringle as yet. She had no news for her. +She hoped Mr. Wynne would not be delayed much longer. The Wickhams could +not possibly be more anxious to get back to London than she was to have +them go. How gratuitously insolent that woman was. Thank Heaven, she +need never see her again after to-day. Of course, she was furious +because she suspected that the despised companion was to be a +beneficiary under the will. How could anyone be so mean as to begrudge +her her well-earned share in so large a fortune! Well, the coming hour +would tell the tale. + +On the table in her room was the letter to her brother which she had +forgotten to send to the post. Slipping down the stairs again, she went +in search of Kate to see if it were too late to send it to the village. +Now that it was written, she had almost a superstitions feeling that it +was important that it should catch the first foreign mail. + +As she passed the door of the drawing-room, she could hear James +Wickham's voice raised above its normal pitch. Were they already +quarreling over the spoils! + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Nora's surmise had been very nearly correct; the Wickhams were +quarreling, but not, as yet, over the spoils. James Wickham had waited +until the door had closed behind his aunt's companion to rebuke his +wife's untimely frivolity. + +"I say, Dorothy, you oughtn't to be facetious before Miss Marsh. She was +extremely attached to Aunt Louisa." + +"Oh, what nonsense!" jeered Mrs. Wickham, throwing herself pettishly +into a chair. "I find it's always a very good rule to judge people by +oneself, and I'm positive she was just longing for the old lady to die." + +"She was awfully upset at the end, you know that yourself." + +"Nerves! Men are so idiotic. They never understand that there are tears +_and_ tears. I cried myself, and Heaven knows I didn't regret her +death." + +"My dear Dorothy, you oughtn't to say that." + +"Why not?" retorted his wife. "It's perfectly true. Aunt Louisa was a +detestable person and no one would have stood her for a minute if she +hadn't had money. I can't see the use of being a hypocrite _now_ that it +can't make any difference either way. Oh, why doesn't that man hurry +up!" She resumed once more her impatient walk about the room. + +"I wish Wynne would come," said her husband, glad to change the subject, +particularly as he felt that he had failed to be very impressive. "It'll +be beastly inconvenient if we miss that train," he finished, glancing +again at his watch. + +"And another thing," said Mrs. Wickham, turning sharply as she reached +the end of the room, "I don't trust that Miss Marsh. She looks as if she +knew what was in the will." + +"I don't for a moment suppose she does. Aunt Louisa wasn't the sort of +person to talk." + +"Nevertheless, I'm sure she knows she's been left something." + +"Oh, well, I think she has the right to expect that. Aunt Louisa led her +a dog's life." + +Mrs. Wickham made an angry gesture. "She had her wages and a comfortable +home. If she didn't like the place, she could have left it," she said +pettishly. "After all," she went on in a quieter tone, "it's family +money. In my opinion, Aunt Louisa had no right to leave it to +strangers." + +"I don't think we ought to complain if Miss Marsh gets a small +annuity," said her husband soothingly. "I understand Aunt Louisa +promised her something of the sort when she had a chance of marrying a +couple of years ago." + +"Miss Marsh is still quite young. It isn't as if she had been here for +thirty years," protested Mrs. Wickham. + +"Well, anyway, I've got an idea that Aunt Louisa meant to leave her +about two hundred and fifty a year." + +"Two hundred and fif---- But what's the estate amount to; have you any +idea?" + +"About nineteen thousand pounds, I believe." + +Mrs. Wickham, who had seated herself once more, struck her hands +violently together. + +"Oh, it's absurd. It's a most unfair proposition. It will make _all_ the +difference to us. On that extra two hundred and fifty a year we could +keep a car." + +"My dear, be thankful if we get anything at all," said her husband +solemnly. For a moment she stared at him aghast. + +"Jim! Jim, you don't think---- Oh! that would be too horrible." + +"Hush! Take care." + +He crossed to the window as the door opened and Kate came in softly with +the tea things. + +"How lucky it is that we had a fine day," he said, endeavoring to give +the impression that they had been talking with becoming sobriety of +light topics. He hoped his wife's raised voice had not been heard in the +passageway. + +But Mrs. Wickham was beyond caring. Her toneless "Yes" in response to +his original observation betrayed her utter lack of interest in the +subject. But as Kate was still busy setting out the things on a small +table, he continued his efforts. Really, Dorothy should 'play up' more. + +"It looks as if we were going to have a spell of fine weather." + +"Yes." + +"It's funny how often it rains for weddings." + +"Very funny." + +"The tea is ready, sir." + +As Kate left the room, Mrs. Wickham crossed slowly over to where her +husband was standing in front of the window leading to the garden. Her +voice shook with emotion. It was evident that she was very near tears. +He put his arm around her awkwardly, but with a certain suggestion of +protective tenderness. + +"I've been counting on that money for years," she said, hardly above a +whisper. "I used to dream at night that I was reading a telegram with +the news of Aunt Louisa's death. And I've thought of all we should be +able to do when we get it. It'll make such a difference." + +"You know what she was. She didn't care twopence for us. We ought to be +prepared for the worst," he said soberly. + +"Do you think she could have left everything to Miss Marsh?" + +"I shouldn't be greatly surprised." + +"We'll dispute the will," she said, once more raising her voice. "It's +undue influence. I suspected Miss Marsh from the beginning. I hate her. +Oh, how I hate her! Oh, why doesn't Wynne come?" + +A ring at the bell answered her. + +"Here he is, I expect." + +"The suspense is too awful." + +"Pull yourself together, old girl," said Wickham, patting his wife +encouragingly on the shoulder. "And I say, look a bit dismal. After all, +we've just come from a funeral." + +Mrs. Wickham gave a sort of suppressed wail. "Oh, I'm downhearted +enough, Heaven knows." + +"Mr. Wynne, sir," said Kate from the doorway. + +Mr. Wynne, the late Miss Wickham's solicitor, was a jovial, hearty man, +tallish, bald and ruddy-looking. In his spare time he played at being a +country gentleman. He had a fine, straightforward eye and a direct +manner that inspired one with confidence. He was dressed in +complimentary mourning, but for the moment his natural hearty manner +threatened to get the better of him. + +"Helloa," he said, holding out his hand to Wickham. But the sight of +Mrs. Wickham, seated on the sofa dejectedly enough, recalled to him that +he should be more subdued in the presence of such genuine grief. He +crossed the room to take Dorothy's hand solemnly. + +"I didn't have an opportunity of shaking hands with you at the +cemetery." + +"How do you do," she said rather absently. + +"Pray accept my sincerest sympathy on your great bereavement." + +Mrs. Wickham made an effort to bring her mind back from the +all-absorbing fear that possessed her. + +"Of course the end was not entirely unexpected." + +"No, I know. But it must have been a great shock, all the same." + +He was going on to say what a wonderful old lady his late client had +been in that her faculties seemed perfectly unimpaired until the very +last, when Wickham interrupted him. Not only was he most anxious to hear +the will read himself and have it over, but he saw signs in his wife's +face and in the nervous manner in which she rolled and unrolled her +handkerchief, that she was nearing the end of her self-control, never +very great. + +"My wife was very much upset, but of course my poor aunt had suffered +great pain, and we couldn't help looking upon it as a happy release." + +"Naturally," responded the solicitor sympathetically. "And how is Miss +Marsh?" He was looking at James Wickham as he spoke, so that he missed +the sudden 'I told you so' glance which Mrs. Wickham flashed at her +husband. + +"Oh, she's very well," she managed to say with a careless air. + +"I'm glad to learn that she is not completely prostrated," said Mr. +Wynne warmly. "Her devotion to Miss Wickham was perfectly wonderful. Dr. +Evans--he's my brother-in-law, you know--told me no trained nurse could +have been more competent. She was like a daughter to Miss Wickham." + +"I suppose we'd better send for her," said Mrs. Wickham coldly. + +"Have you brought the----" Wickham stopped in embarrassment. + +"Yes, I have it in my pocket," said the solicitor quickly. He had noted +before now how awkward people always were about speaking of wills. +There was nothing indelicate about doing so. Heavens, all right-minded +persons made their wills and they meant to have them read after they +were dead. Everybody knew that, and yet they always acted as if it were +indecent to approach the subject. He had no patience with such nonsense. + +With an eloquent look at her husband, Mrs. Wickham slowly crossed the +room to the bell. + +"I'll ring for Miss Marsh," she said in a hard voice. + +"I expect Mr. Wynne would like a cup of tea, Dorothy." + +She frowned at her husband behind the solicitor's broad back. More +delays. Could she bear it? "Oh, I'm so sorry, I quite forgot about it." + +"No, thank you very much, I never take tea," protested that gentleman. +He took from his pocket a long blue envelope and slowly drew from it the +will, which he smoothed out with a deliberation which was maddening to +Mrs. Wickham. She could hardly tear her fascinated eyes away from it +long enough to tell the waiting Kate to ask Miss Marsh to be good enough +to come to them. + +"What's the time, Jim?" she asked nervously. + +"Oh, there's no hurry," he said, looking at his watch without seeing +it. Then turning to Wynne, he added: "We've got an important engagement +this evening in London and we're very anxious not to miss the fast +train." + +"The train service down here is rotten," said Mrs. Wickham harshly. + +"That's all right. The will is very short. It won't take me two minutes +to read it," Mr. Wynne reassured them. + +"What on earth is Miss Marsh doing?" said Mrs. Wickham, half to herself. +An endless minute passed. + +"How pretty the garden is looking now," said the solicitor cheerfully, +gazing out through the window. + +"Very," Wickham managed to say. + +"Miss Wickham was always so interested in her garden." + +"Yes." + +"My own tulips aren't so advanced as those." + +"Aren't they?" Wickham's tone suggested irritation. + +Mr. Wynne addressed his next observation to Mrs. Wickham. + +"Are you interested in gardening?" + +"No, I hate it. At last!" + +The exclamation was called forth by the appearance of Nora in the +doorway. The two men both, rose; Wynne to go forward and shake Nora's +hand with unaffected cordiality, Wickham to whisper in his wife's ear, +beseeching her to exercise more self-control. + +"How do you do, Miss Marsh? I'm rejoiced to see you looking so fit." + +"Oh, I'm very well, thank you. How do you do?" + +"Will you have a cup of tea?" asked Wickham in response to what he +thought was a signal from his wife. + +But Mrs. Wickham had reached the point where further waiting was simply +impossible. + +"Jim," she remonstrated, "Miss Marsh would much prefer to have tea +quietly after we're gone." + +Nora understood and for the moment found it in her heart to be sorry for +the woman, much as she disliked her. + +"I won't have any tea, thank you," she said simply. + +"Mr. Wynne has brought the will with him," explained Mrs. Wickham. Her +tone was almost appealing as if she begged Nora if she knew of its +contents to say so without further delay. + +"Oh, yes?" + +Nothing should induce her to show such agitation as this woman did. She +managed to assume an air of polite interest and find a chair for +herself quite calmly. And yet she was conscious that her heart was +beating wildly beneath her bodice. But she would not betray herself, she +would not. And yet her stake was as great as any. Her whole future hung +on the contents of that paper Mr. Wynne was caressing with his long +fingers. + +"Miss Marsh," questioned Mr. Wynne as soon as she was seated, "so far as +you know there is no other will?" + +"How do you mean?" + +"Miss Wickham didn't make a later one--without my assistance, I mean? +You know of nothing in the house, for instance?" + +"Oh, no," said Nora positively. "Miss Wickham always said you had her +will. She was extremely methodical." + +"I feel I ought to ask you," the solicitor went on with unwonted +gentleness, "because Miss Wickham consulted me a couple of years ago +about making a new will. She told me what she wanted to do, but gave me +no actual instructions to draw it. I thought perhaps she might have done +it herself." + +"I heard nothing about it. I am sure that her only will is in your +hands." + +"Then I think that we may take it that this----" + +Mrs. Wickham's set face relaxed. The light of triumph was in her eyes. +She understood. + +"When was that will made?" she asked eagerly. + +"Eight or nine years ago. The exact date was March 4th, 1904." + +The date settled it. Nora, too, realized that. She was left penniless. +What a refinement of cruelty to deceive--but she must not think of that +now. She would have all the rest of her life in which to think of it. +But here before that woman, whose searching glance was even now fastened +on her face to see how she was taking the blow, she would give no sign. + +"When did you first come to Miss Wickham?" Mrs. Wickham's voice was +almost a caress. + +"At the end of nineteen hundred and three." There was no trace of +emotion in that clear voice. After a moment Mr. Wynne spoke again. + +"Shall _I_ read it, or would you just like to know the particulars? It +is very short." + +"Oh, let us know just roughly." Mrs. Wickham was still eager. + +"Well, Miss Wickham left one hundred pounds to the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel, and one hundred pounds to the General +Hospital at Tunbridge Wells, and the entire residue of her fortune to +her nephew, Mr. James Wickham." + +Mrs. Wickham drew her breath sharply. Once more she looked at her late +aunt's companion, but nothing was to be read in that calm face. She was +a designing minx, none the less. But she did yield her a grudging +admiration, for her self-control in the shipwreck of all her hopes. Now +they could have their car. Oh, what couldn't they have! She felt she had +earned every penny of it in that last dreadful half hour. + +"And Miss Marsh?" she heard her husband ask. + +"Miss Marsh is not mentioned." + +Somehow, Nora managed a smile. "I could hardly expect to be. At the time +that will was drawn I had been Miss Wickham's companion for only a few +months." + +"That is why I asked whether you knew of any later will," said Mr. Wynne +almost sadly. "When I talked to Miss Wickham on the subject she said her +wish was to make adequate provision for you after her death. I think she +had spoken to you about it." + +"Yes, she had." + +"She mentioned three hundred a year." + +"That was very kind of her." Nora's voice broke a little. "I'm glad she +wished to do something for me." + +"Oddly enough," continued the solicitor, "she spoke about it to Dr. +Evans only a few days before she died." + +"Perhaps there is a later will somewhere," said Wickham. + +"I honestly don't think so." + +"Oh, I'm sure there isn't," affirmed Nora. + +"Dr. Evans was talking to Miss Wickham about Miss Marsh. She was +completely tired out and he wanted Miss Wickham to have a professional +nurse. She told him then that I _had_ the will and that she had left +Miss Marsh amply provided for." + +"That isn't legal, of course," said Mrs. Wickham decidedly. + +"What isn't?" + +"I mean no one could force us--I mean the will stands as it is, doesn't +it?" + +"Certainly it does." + +"I'm afraid it's a great disappointment to you, Miss Marsh," Wickham +said, not unkindly. + +"I never count my chickens before they're hatched." This time Nora +smiled easily and naturally. The worst was over now. + +"It would be very natural if Miss Marsh were disappointed in the +circumstances. I think she'd been led to expect----" Mr. Wynne's voice +was almost pleading. + +Mrs. Wickham detected a certain disapproval in the tone. She hastened to +justify herself. He might still be useful. When the estate was once +settled, they would of course put everything in the hands of their +London solicitor. But it would be better not to antagonize him for the +moment. + +"Our aunt left a very small fortune, I understand, and I suppose she +felt it wouldn't be fair to leave a large part of it away from her own +family." + +"Of course," said her husband, following her lead, "it is family money. +She inherited it from my grandfather, and--but I want you to know, Miss +Marsh, that my wife and I thoroughly appreciate all you did for my aunt. +Money couldn't repay your care and devotion You've been perfectly +wonderful." + +"It's extremely good of you to say so." + +"I think everyone who saw Miss Marsh with Miss Wickham must be aware +that during the ten years she was with her she never spared herself." +Mr. Wynne's eyes were on Mrs. Wickham. + +"Of course my aunt was a very trying woman----" began James Wickham +feebly. His wife headed him off. + +"Earning one's living is always unpleasant; if it weren't there'd be no +incentive to work." + +This astonishing aphorism was almost too much for Nora's composure. She +gave Mrs. Wickham an amused glance, to which that lady responded by +beaming upon her in her most agreeable manner. + +"My wife and I would be very glad to make some kind of acknowledgment of +your services." + +"I was just going to mention it," echoed Mrs. Wickham heartily. + +Mr. Wynne's kindly face brightened visibly. He was glad they were going +to do the right thing, after all. He had been a little fearful a few +moments before. "I felt sure that in the circumstances----" + +But Mrs. Wickham interrupted him quickly. + +"What were your wages, may I ask, Miss Marsh?" + +"Thirty pounds a year." + +"Really?" in a tone of excessive surprise. "Many ladies are glad to go +as companion without any salary, just for the sake of a home and +congenial society. I daresay you've been able to save a good deal in all +these years." + +"I had to dress myself decently, Mrs. Wickham," said Nora frigidly. + +Mrs. Wickham was graciousness itself. "Well, I'm sure my husband will +be very glad to give you a year's salary, won't you, Jim?" + +"It's very kind of you," replied Nora coldly, "but I'm not inclined to +accept anything but what is legally due to me." + +"You must remember," went on Mrs. Wickham, "that there'll be very heavy +death duties to pay. They'll swallow up the income from Miss Wickham's +estate for at least two years, won't they, Mr. Wynne?" + +"I quite understand," said Nora. + +"Perhaps you'll change your mind." + +"I don't think so." + +There was an awkward pause. Mr. Wynne rose from his seat at the table. +His manner showed unmistakably that he was not impressed by Mrs. +Wickham's great generosity. + +"Well, I think I must leave you," he said, looking at Nora. "Good-by, +Miss Marsh. If I can be of any help to you I hope you'll let me know." + +"That's very kind of you." + +Bowing slightly to Mrs. Wickham and nodding to her husband, he went out. + +"We must go, too, Dorothy," said James uneasily. + +Mrs. Wickham began drawing on her gloves. "Jim will be writing to you in +a day or two. You know how grateful we both are for all you did for our +poor aunt. We shall be glad to give you the very highest references. +You're such a wonderful nurse. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in +getting another situation; I expect I can find you something myself. +I'll ask among all my friends." + +Nora made no reply to this affable speech. + +"Come on, Dorothy; we really haven't any time to lose," said Wickham +hurriedly. + +"Good-by, Miss Marsh." + +"Good-by," said Nora dully. She stood, her hands resting on the table, +her eyes fastened on the long blue envelope which Mr. Wynne had +forgotten. From a long way off she heard the wheels of the cab on the +driveway. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +"I thought they were never going. Well?" + +It was Miss Pringle who had come in from her retreat in the garden, +eager to hear the news the moment she had seen the Wickhams driving +away. Nora turned and looked at her without a word. + +Miss Pringle was genuinely startled at the drawn look on her face. + +"Nora! What's the matter? Isn't it as much as you thought?" + +"Miss Wickham has left me nothing," said Nora in a dead voice. + +Miss Pringle gave a positive wail of anguish. "Oh-h-h-h." + +"Not a penny. Oh, it's cruel!" the girl said, almost wildly. "After +all," she went on bitterly, "there was no need for her to leave me +anything. She gave me board and lodging and thirty pounds a year. If I +stayed it was because I chose. But she needn't have promised me +anything. She needn't have prevented me from marrying." + +"My dear, you could never have married that little assistant. He wasn't +a gentleman," Miss Pringle reminded her. + +"Ten years! The ten best years of a woman's life, when other girls are +enjoying themselves. And what did I get for it? Board and lodging and +thirty pounds a year. A cook does better than that." + +"We can't expect to make as much money as a good cook," said Miss +Pringle, with touching and unconscious pathos. "One has to pay something +for living like a lady among people of one's own class." + +"Oh, it's cruel!" Nora could only repeat. + +"My dear," said Miss Pringle with an effort at consolation, "don't give +way. I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in finding another situation. +You wash lace beautifully and no one can arrange flowers like you." + +Nora sank wearily into a chair. "And I was dreaming of France and +Italy--I shall spend ten years more with an old lady, and then she'll +die and I shall look out for another situation. It won't be so easy then +because I shan't be so young. And so it'll go on until I can't find a +situation because I'm too old, and then some charitable people will get +me into a home. You like the life, don't you?" + +"My dear, there are so few things a gentlewoman can do." + +"When I think of those ten years," said Nora, pacing up and down the +length of the room, "having to put up with every unreasonableness! Never +being allowed to feel ill or tired. No servant would have stood what I +have. The humiliation I've endured!" + +"You're tired and out of sorts," said Miss Pringle soothingly. "Everyone +isn't so trying as Miss Wickham. I'm sure Mrs. Hubbard has been kindness +itself to me." + +"Considering." + +"I don't know what you mean by 'considering.'" + +"Considering that she's rich and you're poor. She gives you her old +clothes. She frequently doesn't ask you to have dinner by yourself when +she's giving a party. She doesn't remind you that you're a dependent +unless she's very much put out. But you--you've had thirty years of it. +You've eaten the bitter bread of slavery till--till it tastes like plum +cake!" + +Miss Pringle was distinctly hurt. "I don't know why you say such things +to me, Nora." + +"Oh, you mustn't mind what I say; I----" + +"Mr. Hornby would like to see you for a minute, Miss," said Kate from +the doorway. + +"Now?" + +"I told him I didn't think it would be very convenient, Miss, but he +says it's very important, and he won't detain you more than five +minutes." + +"What a nuisance. Ask him to come in." + +"Very good, Miss." + +"I wonder what on earth he can want." + +"Who is he, Nora?" + +"Oh, he's the son of Colonel Hornby. Don't you know, he lives at the top +of Molyneux Park? His mother was a great friend of Miss Wickham's. He +comes down here now and then for week-ends. He's got something to do +with motor cars." + +"Mr. Hornby," said Kate from the door. + +Reginald Hornby was evidently one of those candid souls who are above +simulating an emotion they do not feel. He had regarded the late Miss +Wickham as an unusually tiresome old woman. His mother had liked her of +course. But he could hardly have been expected to do so. Moreover, he +had a shrewd notion that she must have been a perfect Tartar to live +with. Miss Marsh might be busy or tired out with the ordeal of the day, +but as she also might be leaving almost immediately and he wanted to see +her, he had not hesitated to come, once he was sure that the Wickham +relatives had departed. That he would find the late Miss Wickham's +companion indulging in any show of grief for her late employer, had +never entered his head. + +He was a good-looking, if rather vacuous, young man with a long, elegant +body. His dark, sleek hair was always carefully brushed and his small +mustache trimmed and curled. His beautiful clothes suggested the +fashionable tailors of Savile Row. Everything about him--his tie, his +handkerchief protruding from his breast pocket, his boots--bore the +stamp of the very latest thing. + +"I say, I'm awfully sorry to blow in like this," he said airily. + +He beamed on Nora, whom he had always regarded as much too pretty a girl +to be what he secretly called a 'frozy companion' and sent a quick +inquiring glance at Miss Pringle, whom he vaguely remembered to have +seen somewhere in Tunbridge Wells. But then Tunbridge Wells was filled +with frumps. Oh, yes. He remembered now. She was usually to be seen +leading a pair of Poms on a leash. + +"You see, I didn't know if you'd be staying on here," he went on, +retaining Nora's hand, "and I wanted to catch you. I'm off in a day or +two myself." + +"Won't you sit down? Mr. Hornby--Miss Pringle." + +"How d'you do?" + +Mr. Hornby's glance skimmed lightly over Miss Pringle's surface and +returned at once to Nora's more pleasing face. + +"Everything go off O. K.?" he inquired genially. + +"I beg your pardon?" + +"Funeral, I mean. Mother went. Regular outing for her." + +Miss Pringle stiffened visibly in her chair and began to study the +pattern in the rug at her feet with an absorbed interest. Nora was +conscious of a wild desire to laugh, but with a heroic effort succeeded +in keeping her face straight out of deference to her elderly friend. + +"Really?" she said, in a faint voice. + +"Oh, yes," went on young Hornby with unabated cheerfulness. "You see, +mother's getting on. I'm the child of her old age--Benjamin, don't you +know. Benjamin and Sarah, you know," he explained, apparently for the +benefit of Miss Pringle, as he pointedly turned to address this final +remark to her. + +"I understand perfectly," said Miss Pringle icily, "but it wasn't +Sarah." + +"Wasn't it? When one of her old friends dies," he went on to Nora, +"mother always goes to the funeral and says to herself: 'Well, I've seen +_her_ out, anyhow!' Then she comes back and eats muffins for tea. She +always eats muffins after she's been to a funeral." + +"The maid said you wanted to see me about something in particular," Nora +gently reminded him. + +"That's right, I was forgetting." + +He wheeled suddenly once more on Miss Pringle, who had arrived at that +stage in her study of the rug when she was carefully tracing out the +pattern with the point of her umbrella. + +"If Sarah wasn't Benjamin's mother, whose mother was she?" + +"If you want to know, I recommend you to read your Bible," retorted that +lady with something approaching heat. + +Mr. Hornby slapped his knee. "I thought it was a stumper," he remarked +with evident satisfaction. + +"The fact is, I'm going to Canada and mother told me you had a brother +or something out there." + +"A brother, not a something," said Nora, with a smile. + +"And she said, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me a letter to him." + +"I will with pleasure. But I'm afraid he won't be much use to you. He's +a farmer and he lives miles away from anywhere." + +"But I'm going in for farming." + +"You are? What on earth for?" + +"I've jolly well got to do something," said Hornby with momentary gloom, +"and I think farming's about the best thing I can do. One gets a lot of +shooting and riding yon know. And then there are tennis parties and +dances. And you make a pot of money, there's no doubt about that." + +"But I thought you were in some motor business in London." + +"Well, I was, in a way. But--I thought you'd have heard about it. +Mother's been telling everybody. Governor won't speak to me. Altogether, +things are rotten. I want to get out of this beastly country as quick as +I can." + +"Would you like me to give you the letter at once?" said Nora, going +over to an escritoire that stood near the window. + +"I wish you would. Fact is," he went on, addressing no one in +particular, as Nora was already deep in her letter and Miss Pringle, +having exhausted the possibilities of the rug, was gazing stonily into +space, "I'm broke. I was all right as long as I stuck to bridge; I used +to make money on that. Over a thousand a year." + +"What!" + +Horror was stronger than Miss Pringle's resolution to take no further +part in the conversation with this extraordinary and apparently +unprincipled young man. + +"Playing regularly, you know. If I hadn't been a fool I'd have stuck to +that, but I got bitten with chemi." + +"With what?" asked Nora, over her shoulder. + +"Chemin de fer. Never heard of it? I got in the habit of going to +Thornton's. I suppose you never heard of him either. He keeps a gambling +hell. Gives you a slap-up supper for nothing, as much pop as you can +drink, and cashes your checks like a bird. The result is, I've lost +every bob I had and then Thornton sued me on a check I'd given him. The +governor forked out, but he says I've got to go to Canada. I'm never +going to gamble again, I can tell you that." + +"Oh, well, that's something," murmured Nora cheerfully. + +"You can't make money at chemi," went on Hornby, relapsing once more +into gloom; "the _cagnotte's_ bound to clear you out in the end. When I +come back I'm going to stick to bridge. There are always plenty of mugs +about, and if you have a good head for cards, you can't help making an +income out of it." + +"But I thought you said you were never going----" began Miss Pringle, +but, thinking better of it, abandoned her sentence in mid-air. + +"Here is your letter," said Nora, holding it out to him. + +"Thanks, awfully. I daresay I shan't want it, you know. I expect I shall +get offered a job the moment I land, but there's no harm having it. I'll +be getting along." + +"Good-by, then, and good luck." + +"Good-by," he said, shaking hands with Nora and Miss Pringle. + +"Nora, why don't you go out to Canada?" said Miss Pringle thoughtfully, +as soon as the door had closed after young Hornby. "Now your brother has +a farm of his own, I should think----" + +"My brother's married," interrupted Nora quickly. "He married four years +ago." + +"You never told me." + +"I couldn't." + +"Why? Isn't his wife--isn't his wife nice?" + +"She was a waitress at a scrubby little hotel in Winnipeg." + +"What _are_ you going to do then?" + +"I? I'm going to look out for another situation." + +Miss Pringle shook her head sadly. + +"Well, I must be going. Mrs. Hubbard will be back from her drive by this +time. She's sure to have you in for tea or something before you go. +She's always been quite fond of you. At any rate, I'll see you again, of +course." + +"Oh, yes, indeed." + +Nora was thankful to be alone once more. She wanted to think it all out. +What a day it had been. Starting with such high hopes to end only in +utter disaster. She felt completely exhausted by the emotions she had +undergone. Time enough to plan to-morrow. To-night she needed rest. + +Two days later, in the late afternoon, she found herself in the train +for London, the second journey she had taken in ten years. Once, three +years before, Miss Wickham had been persuaded to go up and pay the James +Wickhams a short visit and had taken Nora with her. + +It could hardly have been described as a pleasure trip. Miss Wickham +detested visiting and had only yielded to her nephew's importunities +because she had never been in his London house to stay any time and had +an avid curiosity to see how they lived. She had of course disapproved +of everything she saw about the establishment. But, as it was no part of +her purpose to let the fact be known to her relatives, she had in a +large measure vented her consequent ill-humor upon her unfortunate +companion. + +The last few days had seemed full, indeed. No matter how little one may +really care for a place, the process of uprooting after ten years is not +an easy one. Mr. Wynne had been to see her to renew his offer of +assistance and counsel in any plan she might have for the future and she +had spent an hour with the good doctor and his wife. The dreaded +invitation from Mrs. Hubbard had duly arrived and had turned out to be +for dinner, an extraordinary honor. Nora had accepted it entirely on +Miss Pringle's account. Mrs. Hubbard had been condescension itself and +had even gone the length of excusing Miss Pringle from the evening's +game of bezique, in order that she might have a farewell chat with her +friend. + +She had mildly deprecated Miss Wickham's carelessness in not altering +her will, but had reminded Miss Marsh that she should be grateful to her +late employer for having had such kindly intentions toward her, vaguely +ending her remarks with the statement that as her dear husband had +always said in this imperfect world one had often to consider +intentions. + +It was from her more humble friends that Nora found it hardest to part. +She had had tea with the gardener's wife and children of whom she was +genuinely fond. But it was the parting from Kate that had brought the +tears to her eyes. She had confided to that motherly soul how large she +had loomed in the rosy plans she had made while she still had +expectations from Miss Wickham, and been assured in turn that Kate +couldn't have fancied herself happier than she would have been in +looking after her, and the faithful Kate refused to regard the plan as +anything more than postponed. It developed that she was an adept in +telling fortunes with tea leaves. She hoped her dear Miss Marsh wouldn't +consider it a liberty for her to say so, but in every forecast that Kate +had made for herself in the last twelfth month, Miss Marsh had always +been mixed up, which showed beyond the peradventure of a doubt that they +were to meet again. + +It was already dusk when London was reached, but Nora had an address of +an inexpensive little private hotel which the doctor's wife had given +her. She had written ahead to engage a room so that her mind was at ease +on that subject. Not knowing exactly where the street might be, further +than that it led off the Strand, she indulged herself in the novel +luxury of a taxi and drove to her new lodgings in state. + +"If it isn't too much out of the way, would you take me by way of +Trafalgar Square, please." + +The chauffeur touched his cap. His "Yes, Miss," was non-committal. + +She was conscious of an unusual feeling of exaltation as she went along. +London, while it can be one of the most depressing cities in the world +when one is alone and friendless, quickens the imagination. As they went +through Trafalgar Square and caught a fleeting glimpse of the National +Gallery, Nora resolved that she would give herself a real treat and +renew old acquaintance with that institution as well as see the Wallace +collection and the Tate Gallery, both of which would be new to her. She +realized more poignantly than ever how starved her love of beauty had +been for the last ten years. It awoke in her afresh with the thought +that for a few days, at least, she could permit herself the luxury of +gratifying it. + +She was shown to her room by a neat maid who said she would see what +might be done in the way of a light tea. As a rule breakfast was the +only repast that was supposed to be furnished. But she was quite sure +Miss Horn, the proprietor, would, in view of the fact that the young +lady was a stranger in London and would hardly know where to go alone +for a bite of dinner, make an exception. + +Nora thanked her and set about making the bare little room, which was +quite at the top of the house, look a little more homelike by unpacking +some of her own things. After all, she reflected, it wasn't much less +cheerful than the room she had had for ten years. Perhaps her late +participation in the splendors of Miss Wickham's guest chamber, which +had been part of Dr. Evans' prescription, had spoiled her for simpler +joys. She laughed aloud at the thought. + +By the time she had had her supper, which was sufficiently good, and +written a few notes--one to the doctor's wife to say that she thought +she would be quite comfortable in her new quarters, and one to the head +of the agency through which she had obtained her post with Miss +Wickham--Nora found herself ready for bed. + +The next day dawned bright and fine; one of those delightful spring days +to which the great city occasionally treats you as if to protest against +the injustice of her reputation for being dark and gloomy. + +There were a number of pleasant looking people in the coffee room when +Nora went down to breakfast, which turned out to be abundant and well +cooked. Having inquired her direction--a sense of location was not one +of her gifts--she set out gaily enough for a whole day of sightseeing. +She might never get another position and have eventually to go out as a +charwoman--the detail that she would be illy equipped for any such +undertaking she humorously dismissed--but a day or two of unalloyed +enjoyment she was going to have, come what might. + +The day was a complete success. Having done several of the picture +galleries, lunched and dined frugally at one of the A. B. C. +restaurants, Nora returned at nightfall, tired but happy. Oh, the +blessed freedom of it! + +The next morning on coming down stairs she found at her plate a letter +from the agency. The management of affairs, it seemed, had passed into +other hands. Doubtless Miss Marsh's name would be found on the books of +several years back, but it was not familiar to the new director. +However, they would, of course, be pleased to put themselves at Miss +Marsh's service. If she would be good enough to give them an early call, +bringing any and all references she might have, etc., etc. + +Miss Marsh tore the note into tiny fragments. The agency could wait, +everything could wait, for the moment. She must have her fling, the +first taste of freedom in all these years. After that----! + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +October had come. Nora was no longer in the comfortable little hotel to +which the doctor's wife had sent her. Early in July she had thought it +wiser to seek cheaper quarters where breakfast was not 'included.' Every +penny must be counted now, and by combining breakfast and lunch late in +the morning she found she could do quite well until night, besides +saving an appreciable sum for the end of the week, when her room must be +paid for. + +The summer had been one long nightmare of heat. It had been years +according to all accounts since the unhappy Londoners had so sweltered +beneath the scorching rays of an almost tropic sun. Often, when tossing +on her little bed or when seated by her small window which gave on a +sort of court, with the forlorn hope of finding some air stirring, had +she thought with longing of the pleasant garden at Tunbridge Wells and +is perfumed breezes. + +So far her search for any position had been fruitless. She had gone to +other agencies; to some whose greatly reduced fees were a sure +indication that she could hope for nothing so "high class," to use +their hateful phrase, as she had been accustomed to. But one must do +what one could. + +At one establishment, she shuddered to remember, she found that she +would be expected to sit in the office, as at the servants' agencies, to +be inspected by prospective employers. This, Nora had flatly refused to +do and had been coolly informed by the manager, an insufferable young +man with a loud voice and a vulgar manner, that in that case he could do +nothing for her. + +He had at the same time refused to return her fee, which he had +providently collected before explaining these conditions, on the ground +that they never returned fees. Nora had been glad enough to make her +escape from his hateful presence without arguing the matter with him, +although she considered that, to all intents and purposes, her pocket +had been picked. + +Apparently everyone in the world was already supplied with a companion. +She had thought of filing an application for the position of nursery +governess, only to find that, for a really good post, two modern +languages would be required. That, coupled with the fact that she was +obliged to confess to absolutely no previous experience in teaching, +closed the door to even second-class appointments. + +And the desolating loneliness of it all! Only once in all this time had +she seen anyone she knew, and that was shortly after her arrival while +still in the first flush of her newly regained freedom. She had gone +with a young woman who was staying at the hotel for a few days to the +gallery of a theater. From her lofty perch she had seen Reggie Hornby +with a gay party of young men in the stalls below. Evidently he was +making the most of his last hours at home before going into exile. + +Since leaving the hotel she had exchanged but few words with anyone +beyond her landlady, the little slavey and the people at the various +agencies. Once, it chanced that for several days in succession she had +lunched at the same table in a dingy little restaurant with a fresh, +pleasant-looking young girl, who had said 'Good morning' in such a +friendly manner on their second encounter that Nora felt encouraged to +begin conversation. + +Her new acquaintance had the gift of a sympathetic manner and before +Nora realized it she found herself relating the story of her failures +and disappointments. Miss Hodson--so Nora discovered she was called from +the very business-like card she had handed her at the beginning of the +repast, with an air which for the moment relapsed from the sympathetic +to the professional--had suggested when they had finished their lunch +that, as she still had a quarter of an hour to spare, they might go and +finish their chat in one of the little green oases abutting on the +Embankment. Seated on one of the benches she proceeded to advise her +companion to take up stenography and typewriting while she was still in +funds. + +"There are plenty of chances for a girl who knows her business and +you're your own mistress and not at the beck and call of any old cat, +who thinks she has bought you outright just because she's paying you +starvation wages," she said with a finely independent air. Then in a +thoroughly business-like way she went on to give the address of the +school at which she had studied herself and had offered to take Nora +there any evening the coming week. + +In the end, to Nora's great pleasure, she had suggested joining forces +for an outing on the coming Sunday. With a gesture that seemed to refer +one to her card, she had explained that after typing all week in a +stuffy office she always tried to have a Sunday out of doors to get her +mind off her work. It was arranged that they should go somewhere +together, leaving their destination to be decided when they met. They +were to meet in front of the National Gallery at a quarter before ten. +But, although poor Nora waited for over an hour, her friend did not +turn up, and she had returned sadly to her dreary room. Neither of the +girls had thought to exchange addresses. Beyond her name and occupation +Miss Hodson's card vouchsafed nothing. + +Nor had Nora ever seen her again, although she had returned several +times to the restaurant where they had met. She had spent many of the +long sleepless hours of the night in speculation as to what had become +of her. She was sure that some accident had befallen her or she would +have met her again. No one could be so cruel intentionally. + +Once again in a tea room she had timidly ventured, prompted by sheer +loneliness, to speak to an elderly woman with gray hair. It was a +harmless little remark about some flowers in a vase on the counter. The +woman had stared at her coldly for a moment before she said: + +"I do not seem to recall where I have had the pleasure of seeing you +before." + +A flash of the old temper had crimsoned Nora's cheek, but she made no +reply. Since then, aching as she was for a little human companionship, +she had spoken to no one. + +She had had two long letters from Miss Pringle, whose star seemed +momentarily to be in the ascendant. Mrs. Hubbard had been ordered to +the seaside; they were later to take a continental trip. There was even +talk of consulting a famous and expensive specialist before returning to +the calm of Tunbridge Wells. But prosperity had not made Miss Pringle +selfish. In the face of the gift of a costume, which Mrs. Hubbard had +actually never worn, having conceived a strong distaste for it on its +arrival from the dressmaker, she had time to think of her less fortunate +friend. + +While waiting for the situation which was sure to come eventually, why +didn't Nora run down to Brighton for a week after the terrible London +heat? One could get really very comfortable lodgings remarkably cheap at +this season. It would do her no end of good and, on the theory that a +watched pot never boils, she would be certain to find that there was +something for her on her return. + +Miss Pringle's brother, it seemed, had had a turn of luck. Just what, +she discreetly forbore to mention. Certainly, it could not have been at +cards. Nora smiled at the recollection of the horror that Mr. Hornby's +remarks as to his earnings from that source had provoked. However, he +had most generously sent his sister a ten-pound note as a present. Miss +Pringle had, of course, no possible use for it at the time. Also it +appeared that the thought of carrying it about with her, particularly +as she was going among foreigners, filled her with positive terror. +Therefore, she was enclosing it to Nora to take care of. She hoped she +would use any part of it or all of it. She could return it after they +returned to Tunbridge Wells, provided that Miss Pringle survived the +natural perils that beset one who ventured out of England. They would +have started on their journey before the receipt of the letter. As to +their destination, Miss Pringle said never a word. + +A small envelope had fallen into her lap when she opened the letter. +With dimmed eyes Nora opened it. It contained the ten-pound note. + +It was a week later that it occurred to Nora to answer two +advertisements that appeared in one of the morning papers. In each case +it was a companion that was wanted. One of the ladies lived at Whitby +and pending the answer to her letter she decided to call personally on +the other, who lived at Hampstead. + +The morning being fine, she decided to make an early start and walk +about on Hampstead Heath until a suitable hour for making her call. When +she finally arrived before the house, a rather pretentious looking +structure in South Hampstead, she was met at the gate by a middle-aged +woman of unprepossessing appearance, who inquired rather sharply as to +her errand. + +"Mrs. Blake's card distinctly said that all applications were to be made +in writing," she said disagreeably, in reply to Nora's explanation. + +"The one I read did not, at least I don't think it did," said Nora. + +"Well, if it didn't, it should have," said the woman tartly. + +"May I ask if _you_ are Mrs. Blake?" + +"Write and you may find out; although I might as well tell you, you +won't answer. Mrs. Blake will be wanting someone of a very different +appearance," said the woman rudely. + +"I am indeed unfortunate," said Nora with a bow. + +The woman closed the gate with a bang and turned toward the house as +Nora walked rapidly away. She decided to answer no more advertisements. + +One morning, at the end of the week, the post brought her three letters. +One from its postmark was clearly from her brother in Canada. She put +that aside for the moment to be read at her leisure. + +[Illustration: NORA OVERHEARS FRANK SAY WIVES ARE MADE FOR WORK ONLY.] + +The Yorkshire lady, it appeared, was blind and required a companion to +read to her and to assist in preparing some memoirs which her dead +brother had left uncompleted. She offered Nora a refined home with every +comfort that a lady could desire, but--there was no salary attached to +the position. The third was from one of the agencies. A client was +prepared to offer a lady companion the magnificent sum of ten shillings +a week and her lunch. Out of her salary Nora would be expected, +therefore, to find herself a room, clothes, breakfast and supper! + +Her brother's letter was, as always, kind and affectionate. He rather +vaguely apologized for his delay in replying to hers, written at the +time of Miss Wickham's death. He had been frightfully busy, up at dawn +and so tired at night that he was glad to tumble into bed right after +supper. His wife, too, had had a sharp spell of sickness. However, she +was all right again, he was glad to say. Why did not Nora come out to +them? They would be glad to offer her a comfortable home, although she +must make up her mind to dispense with the luxuries she was accustomed +to. But there was always plenty to eat and a good bed, at any rate. He +knew she would grow to love the life as he had done. There was a fine +freedom about it. For his part, nothing would ever tempt him back to +England, except for a visit when he had put by a little more. She would +find his wife a good sort. She, too, would welcome her sister-in-law. +They would be no end of company for each other during the long days +while the men were away. And she would be glad to have someone to lend a +hand about the house. + +He hoped she had been able to save enough money to pay her passage out. +If she hadn't, he would somehow manage to send whatever was necessary. +But while he was fairly prosperous, ready money was a little more scarce +than usual, for the moment. His wife's illness had been pretty +expensive, what with hiring a woman to do all the work, etc., etc. + +The letter settled it. On the one hand was this heart-breaking waiting +while watching one's little hoard diminish from day to day and always +the terrifying and unanswerable question: What is to be done when it is +exhausted? On the other, a home and the prospect that she might be able +in a measure to pay her way by helping her brother's wife. Nora's +housewifely accomplishments were but few, yet she could learn, and while +learning she could at least take away the sting of those lonely hours, +as her brother had said. On one thing she was resolved: she would let +bygones be bygones. She would do everything in her power to win her +sister-in-law, forgetting everything but that she was the wife of her +only brother. + +The next few days were the happiest she had known for a long time. +There was a pleasurable excitement in getting ready for so momentous a +step. After having paid her passage she found that she had eight pounds +in the world, the result of ten years' work as lady's companion. She +wrote to let Mr. Wynne know of her decision and enclosed Miss Pringle's +banknote to the doctor's wife with an explanatory note asking her to see +that it reached her hands safely. Miss Pringle herself should have a +long letter from the New World waiting her on her return. + +Her last day at home, having satisfied herself that nothing was +forgotten, she spent a long hour in the Turner room in the Tate Gallery, +drinking it all in for the last time. When she left the building it was +with a feeling that the last farewell to the old life was said. + +To her great pleasure and a little to her surprise, Nora discovered +herself to be a thoroughly good sailor. As a consequence, the voyage to +Montreal was quite the most delightful thing she had ever experienced. +The boat was a slow one but the time never once seemed long. Indeed, as +they approached their destination, she found herself wishing that the +Western Continent might, by some convulsion of nature, be removed, quite +safely, an indefinite number of leagues farther, or that they might +make a detour by way of the antipodes, anything rather than bring the +voyage to an end. + +There were but few passengers at this season so that beyond the daily +exchange of ordinary courtesies, she was able to pass much of the time +by herself. The weather was unusually fine for the time of year. It was +possible to spend almost all the daylight hours on deck, and with night +came long hours of dreamless sleep such as she never remembered to have +enjoyed since childhood. As a consequence, it was a thoroughly +rejuvenated Nora that landed in Montreal. The stress and strain of the +past summer was forgotten or only to be looked back upon as a sort of +horrid nightmare from which she had happily awakened. + +It was too late in the day after they had landed to think of continuing +her journey. Besides, as is often the case with people who have stood a +sea voyage without experiencing any disagreeable sensations, Nora found +that she still felt the motion of the boat after landing. + +It seemed a pity, too, not to see something of this new-world city while +she was on the ground. Her brother's farm was still an incredible +distance farther west. People thought nothing of distance in this +amazing New World. Still, it might easily be long before she would be +here again. The future was a blank page. There was a delightful +irresponsibility about the thought. She had come over the sea at her +brother's bidding. The future was his care, not hers. + +The journey west had the same charm of novelty that the sea voyage had +had. The nearest station to Eddie's farm was a place called Dyer in the +Province of Manitoba, not far from Winnipeg. Once inured to the new and +strange mode of traveling in Canada, so different from what she had been +accustomed to, Nora prepared to enjoy it. Never before had she realized +the possibilities of beauty in a winter landscape. The flying prospect +without the window fascinated her. The magazines and papers with which +she had provided herself lay unopened in her lap. She realized that +these vast snow-covered stretches might easily drive one mad with their +loneliness and desolation if one had to live among them. But to rush +through them as they were doing was exhilarating. It was all so strange, +so contrary to any previous experience, that Nora had an uncanny feeling +that they might easily have left the earth she knew and be flying +through space. She whimsically thought that if at the next stop she were +to be told that she was on the planet Mars, she would not be greatly +astonished. It was like traveling with Alice in Wonderland. + +One thing, however, recalled her to earth and prosaic mundane affairs: +her supply of money was rapidly getting dangerously low. Barring +accident, she would have enough to get her to Dyer, where Eddie was to +meet her. But suppose they should be snowed up for a day or two? Only an +hour before she had been thrilled with an account of just such an +experience which a man in the seat in front of her was recounting to his +companion. Well, if that happened, she would either have to go hungry or +beg food from the more affluent of her fellow-passengers! Fortunately +she was not obliged to put their generosity to the test. The train +arrived at Dyer without accident only a few minutes behind the scheduled +time. + +There were a number of people at the station as Nora alighted. For a +moment she had a horrid fear that either she had been put off at the +wrong place or that her brother had failed to meet her. Certainly none +of the fur-coated figures were in the least familiar. But almost at once +one of the men detached himself from the waiting group on the platform +and after one hesitating second came toward her. + +"Nora, my child, I hardly knew you! I was forgetting that you would be a +grown woman," and Nora was half smothered in a furry embrace and kissed +on both cheeks before she was quite sure that the advancing stranger +was her brother. + +"Oh, Eddie, dear, I didn't know you at all. But how can one be expected +to with that great cap covering the upper part of your face and a coat +collar hiding nearly all the rest. But you really haven't changed, now +that I get a look at you. I daresay I have altered more than you. But I +was little more than a child when you went away." + +"Well, we have quite a little drive ahead of us," said Eddie as, having +himself helped to carry Nora's trunks to a nondescript-looking vehicle +to which were attached two horses, he motioned to Nora to get in. "I +expect you won't be sorry to have a little air after being so long in a +stuffy car." + +Nora noticed that he gave the man who had helped him with the trunks no +tip and that they called each other "Joe" and "Ed." This was democracy +with a vengeance. She made a little face of disapproval. + +Nora never forgot that drive. In the light of after-events it seemed to +have cut her off more sharply from all the old life than either the +crossing of the pathless sea or the long overland journey. It was taken +for the most part in silence, Eddie's attention being largely taken up +with his team. Also Nora noted that he seemed to feel the cold more +than she did, as he kept his coat collar turned up all the way. She +herself was so occupied with her thoughts that she had no sense of +either time or distance. + +At last they came in sight of a house such as she had never seen. It was +built entirely of logs. At the sound of their approach, the one visible +door opened on the crack as if to avoid letting in the cold, and Nora +saw a thin dark little woman with rather a hard look and a curiously +dried-up skin, whom she rightly guessed to be her sister-in-law, +standing in the doorway, while lounging nonchalantly against the +doorpost was a tall, strong, well-set-up young man whose age might have +been anything between thirty and thirty-five. He had remarkably +clean-cut features and was clean-shaven. His frankly humorous gaze +rested unabashed on the stranger's face. + +Forgetting all her good resolutions to adapt herself to the habits and +customs of this new country, Nora felt that she could have struck him in +his impudent face. The fact that she reddened under his scrutiny, +naturally only made her the more furious. + +"Come on out here, some of you," called Eddie jovially. "Heavens! The +way you all hug the stove would make anyone believe you'd never seen a +Canadian winter before in your lives. Here, Frank, lend a hand with +these trunks and call Ben to take the horses. Gertie, this is Nora. Now +you need never be lonely again." + +"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Gertie primly. + +The man called Frank, the one who had been honoring Nora with his +regard, came forward with a hand outstretched to help her alight, while +another man, the ordinary type of English laborer placed himself at the +horses' heads. + +"Come, hop out, Nora." + +There was nothing else to do, Nora put the very tips of her fingers into +the outstretched hand. To her unspeakable indignation, she felt herself +lifted bodily out and actually carried inside the door. At her smothered +exclamation, Gertie gave a shrill laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Three weeks had passed with inconceivable rapidity, leaving Nora with +the dazed feeling that one has sometimes when waking from a fantastic +dream. + +There were moments when she was overwhelmed with the utter hopelessness +of ever being able to adapt herself to a mode of life so foreign to all +her traditions. She had, she told herself, been prepared to find +everything different from life at home; and, while she had smiled--on +that day such ages ago when young Hornby had called on her at Tunbridge +Wells to announce his impending departure from the land of his birth--at +his airy theory that the life of the Canadian farmer was largely +occupied with riding, hunting, dancing and tennis, she found to her +dismay that her own mental picture of her brother's existence had been +nearly as far from the reality. + +On the drive over from the station, Eddie had vaguely remarked that he +had a great surprise for her when she reached the house. Nora had paid +but little attention at the moment, thinking that he probably meant the +house itself. What had been her astonishment--when once her rage at +being lifted bodily from the sled by the man called Frank had permitted +of her feeling any other emotion--to find Reginald Hornby himself an +inmate of her brother's household. There was but little trace of the +ultra smart young Londoner, beyond his still carefully kept hair and +mustache. The only difference between his costume and that of the others +was that his overalls were newer and that his flannel shirt was plainly +a Piccadilly product. + +Nora had known gentlemen farmers in England who worked hard, riding +about their estates every day supervising and directing everything, and +who seemed, from their conversation, to take it all seriously enough. +She had made all allowance for the rougher life in a new and unsettled +country. There was something picturesque and romantic about the +frontiersman which had always appealed to her imagination. She had read +a little of him and had seen a play in London the night she recognized +Reggie from afar, where the scene was laid in the Far West. On returning +to the hotel she had looked with new interest at Eddie's photograph and +tried to picture him in the costume worn by the leading man. + +But to find that her own brother, a man of education and refinement, +actually worked with his own hands like a common laborer and--what to +Nora's mind was infinitely more incomprehensible--on a footing of +perfect equality with his hired men, calling them familiarly by their +given names and being called "Ed" in turn, was a distinctly disagreeable +revelation. That they should be familiar with Gertie was quite another +matter. Probably they were acquaintances of long standing dating back to +her old hotel days. + +Her sister-in-law, too, was absolutely different from the type she had +imagined. Always she had seen her as one of those vapid, pretty little +creatures who had become old long before her time; peevish, spoiled, +inclined to be flirtatious, refusing to give up her youth, still living +in the recollection of her little day of triumph. + +Gertie fulfilled only one of these conditions. She was a small woman, +not nearly so tall as Nora herself. In all else she was as different as +possible from what she had imagined. There could never have been +anything of the 'clinging vine' about Gertie. As a girl she might have +been handsome in an almost masculine way; pretty, in the generally +accepted sense, she could never have been. + +Her one coquetry seemed to be in the matter of shoes. Her feet were +unbelievably small. Nora divined that she was inordinately proud of +them. While always scrupulously neat, she was apparently indifferent to +clothes so long as they were clean and not absolutely shabby. But her +high-heeled shoes were the smartest that could be had from Winnipeg. + +And as for her being soft and spoiled! Never was there a more tireless +and hard-working creature. From early morning till late at night she was +never idle. She was a perfect human dynamo of force and energy. The +cooking and washing for the 'family' which, now that Nora was here, +consisted of six persons, four of whom were men with the appetites which +naturally come with a long day's work in the open air, in itself was no +light task. But, by way of recreation, after the supper dishes had been +washed up, Gertie darned socks, mended shirts, patched trousers for the +men folk or sewed on some garment for herself. Nora longed to see her +sit with folded hands just once. + +That she was as devoted to her husband as he to her there could be no +doubt. All other men were a matter of complete indifference to her. Were +they good workers or shirkers? That was the only thing about them of any +interest. But she was not the sort of woman to show tenderness or +affection. + +Eddie had apparently the greatest respect for her judgment in all +matters pertaining to the running of the farm. Frequently in the +evenings they sat together in the far corner of the living room, Eddie +talking in a low voice, while Gertie, always at her eternal sewing, +listened with close attention, often nodding her head in approval, but +occasionally shaking it vehemently when any project failed to meet with +her approbation. Occasionally her sharp bird-like glance flashed over +the other occupants of the room: at the three men yarning lazily by the +big stove or playing cards at the dining table and at Nora making a +pretense of reading a six-months-old magazine, or writing, her portfolio +on her knee. Always, when Nora encountered that glance, she understood +its exultant message. + +"Look, you," it said as plainly as if it had been couched in actual +words, "look at me ruling over my little court, advising, as a queen +might, with her prime minister. You think yourself my superior, you with +your fine-lady's airs and graces! A pretty pass your education and +accomplishments have brought you to. Of what use are you to anyone?" + +There was no blinking the fact: the antagonism between the two women was +too instinctive, too deep ever to be more than superficially covered +over. They each recognized it. And yet neither was wholly to blame. It +had its roots in conditions that were far more significant than mere +personal feeling. + +Nora, for her part, had come to her brother's house with the sincere +intention of doing everything in her power to win her sister-in-law's +good will if not affection. She had believed that their common fondness +for Eddie would be a sure foundation on which to build. But from the +first, without being at all conscious of it, her manner breathed +patronage and disapproval of a mode of life so foreign to all her +experience. She had made the resolution to remember nothing of Gertie's +humble origin, to treat her in every way with the deference due her +brother's wife. + +Gertie, too, had made good resolutions. She was at heart the more +generous nature of the two. She was prepared to find her husband's +sister unskilled to the point of incompetency in all the housewifely +lore of which she was past mistress; for she, too, had her traditions. +She would have laughed at the idea that it was possible for her to be +jealous of anybody. But secretly she knew that there was one thing which +aroused in her a frenzy of jealous rage; that was those years of her +husband's life in which she had neither part nor lot. Any reference to +his old life 'at home' fairly maddened her. + +And deep down in her heart, each woman nursed a grievance. With Gertie +it was the remembrance of the angry letter of protest which Nora had +written her brother when she learned of his approaching marriage and +which he had been indiscreet enough to show her; with Nora, it was the +recollection of Gertie's laugh the night of her arrival when her +brother's hired servant had dared to take her for a moment in his arms. + +Still, any open rupture might have been avoided or at least delayed for +several months longer, if either could have been persuaded to exercise a +little more patience and self-control. Each of them, in her different +way, had known adversity. Both of them had had to learn to control +tempers naturally high while they were still dependent. But it never +occurred to either of them that the obligation to do so still existed. + +From Gertie's point of view, Nora was just as much a dependent as in the +days when she was a hired companion to a rich woman. It was her house in +law and in fact, for her husband had made it over to her. It was her +bread that she ate, her bed she slept in. It behooved her, therefore, to +be a little less lofty and condescending. She had always known how it +would be, and it was only because the project seemed so near her +husband's heart that she had consented to such an experiment. + +In simple justice it must be said that such a thought had never entered +Nora's head. She had accepted gladly her brother's invitation to make +her home with him. What more natural that he should offer it, now that +he was able to do so? In return she was perfectly willing to do +everything she could to help in all the woman's work about the house as +far as her ignorance would permit. It could hardly be expected that she +would be as proficient in household work as a person who had done it all +her life. She was more than willing to concede her sister-in-law's +superiority in all such matters. And she was perfectly ready to learn +all that Gertie would teach her. She had, in everything, been prepared +to meet her half-way; further she would not go. For the rest, it was her +brother's place to protect her. + +Sadly Nora confessed to herself that Eddie had deteriorated in a degree +that she could not have believed possible. The first shock had come when +they sat down to supper the night of her arrival. To her amazed disgust, +they had all eaten at the same table, hired men and all. And then, to +see her brother, a gentleman by birth, breeding, and training, sitting +down at his own table in his shirt-sleeves! + +Her own seat was on the right of her sister-in-law, next Reginald +Hornby. All the men except Eddie wore overalls. He had replaced his with +an old black waistcoat and a pair of grubby dark trousers. Nora wondered +sarcastically if his more formal costume was in honor of her arrival, +but quickly remembered that he had had to drive to Dyer. It was cold +outside; probably these festive garments were warmer. She found herself +speculating as to whether any of the men owned anything but outer coats. + +There hadn't been much general conversation at that first meal. +Naturally, Eddie had had many questions to ask about old acquaintances +in England. Nora had given her first impressions of travel in the New +World, addressing many of her remarks to Gertie, who had been noticeably +silent. Through all her bright talk the thought would obtrude itself: +"What can Reggie Hornby think of my brother?" + +She had an angry consciousness, too, that she was unwittingly furnishing +much amusement to that objectionable person opposite, whose name she +learned was Frank Taylor. She meant to speak to Eddie about him later. +He was an entirely new type to her. His fellow servant, whose name was +Trotter, on the contrary, could be seen about London any day, an +ordinary, ignorant Cockney. He, at least, had the merit of seeming to +know his place and how to conduct himself in the presence of his +betters, and except when asking for more syrup, of which he seemed +inordinately fond, kept discreetly silent. + +But the idea that there was any difference in their stations was not +betrayed in Taylor's look or manner. He commented humorously from time +to time on Nora's various experiences coming overland, quite oblivious, +to all appearances, that she pointedly ignored him. Nora had arrived at +that point in her gay recital when she had had qualms that her brother +had failed to meet her. + +"You can fancy how I felt getting down at a perfectly strange +station----" + +She was interrupted by Gertie's irritating little laugh. + +"But what have I said? What is it?" + +It was Taylor who replied. + +"Well, you see out here in the wilderness we don't call it a station, +_we_ call it a depot." + +"Do you really?" asked Nora with exaggerated surprise, looking at her +brother. + +"Custom of the country," he said smilingly. + +"But a depot is a place where stores are kept." + +"Of course I don't know what you call it in England," said Gertie +aggressively, "but while you're in _this_ country, I guess you'd better +call it what other folks do." + +"It would be rather absurd for me to call it that when it's wrong," said +Nora, flushing with annoyance. + +Gertie's thin lips tightened. + +"Of course I don't pretend to have had _very_ much schooling, but it +seems to me I've read something somewhere about doing as the Romans do +when you're livin' with them. At any rate, I'm sure of one thing: it's +considered the polite thing to do in _any_ country." + +The feeling that she had been put in the wrong, even if not very +tactfully, did not tend to lessen Nora's annoyance. She looked +appealingly at her brother, but he, leaning back in his chair and seeing +that his wife's eyes were bent on her plate, shook his head at her, +smiling slightly. + +"If everyone has finished," said Gertie after an awkward pause, "if +you'll all move your chairs away I'll clear away the things." + +"May I help you?" said Nora with an effort at conciliation. + +"No, thanks." + +"No, no. You're company to-night," said her brother with a man's relief +at finding an unpleasant situation at an end. "But I daresay to-morrow +Gertie'll find plenty for you to do. We'll all be out till dinner time. +You girls will have a lot to talk over while you're getting acquainted." + +Hornby groaned dismally. + +"It doesn't make any difference what the weather is in this blessed +country," he said dismally to Nora, "you have to go out whether there's +really anything to do or not." + +"That's so," laughed Taylor; "still I think you'll admit the Boss always +manages to find something to fill up the time." + +"That he does," said Hornby with another hollow groan. + +"The last time I saw you," said Nora, "you were calling poor old England +all sorts of dreadful names. Isn't farming in Canada all your fancy +painted it?" + +Gertie paused in the act of pouring water from the kettle into the +dishpan. "Not a bit like it," she said dryly. "He's like most of the +English I've run up against. They think all you've got to do is just to +sit down and have afternoon tea and watch the crops grow by themselves." + +"Oh, come now, Gertie. You've never had to accuse me of loafing, and I'm +an Englishman," said her husband good-naturedly. + +"I said 'most.'" + +"And as for afternoon tea," broke in Hornby, "I don't believe they have +that sacred institution in the whole blessed country." + +"You have tea with all your meals. Men out here have something else to +do but sit indoors afternoons and eat between meals." + +"Do you know," said Nora after a pause, "it isn't nearly so cold as I +expected to find it. Don't you usually have it much colder than this?" + +"It's rarely colder until later in the season. But Frank, here, who's +our champion weather prophet, says it's going to be an exceptional +season with hardly any snow at all." + +Nora had been conscious all through the evening that Taylor had hardly +once taken his eyes from her face. She looked directly at him for the +first time, to find him watching her with a look of quiet amusement. + +"That would indeed be an exceptional season, if all one hears of the +rigors of the climate be true," she said coldly. + +"Every season in this country is exceptional," he said humorously; "if +it isn't exceptional one way, it's sure to be exceptional the other." + +"Fetch me those pants of yours," said Gertie to Trotter. + +He left the room, to return shortly with the desired articles, +exhibiting a yawning tear in one of the knees. Gertie at once set about +mending them in the same workmanlike manner that she did everything. + +"Doesn't she ever rest?" asked Nora in an undertone of Hornby. + +"Never," he whispered. "Her one recreation is abusing me. I fancy you'll +come in for a little of the same medicine. She's planning an amusing +winter, I can see that already." + +"I think, if I may, I'll ask you to excuse me," said Nora, rising +abruptly. "I'm a little tired after my long journey. Oh, how good it'll +be to find oneself in a real bed again." + +"I'm sure you must be," said her brother. "Nora knows where her room +is?" he said, turning to his wife. + +"She was up before supper; she can't very well have forgotten the way. +The house is small after what she's been accustomed to, I dare say." + +"Thank you, I can find it again easily," said Nora hastily. "I'll see +you at breakfast, Eddie?" She crossed over to where Gertie was sewing +busily. "Good night--Gertie. I hope you will not find me too stupid +about learning things. You'll find me willing, anyway," she said almost +humbly. + +Gertie looked up at her with real kindness. + +"Wllling's half the battle," she said in softened tone. + +As Nora was leaving the room, satisfied at having done her part as far +as Gertie was concerned, she was recalled by Taylor's drawling tone. + +"Oh, Miss Nora, you're forgetting something." + +"Am I? What?" + +"You're forgetting to say 'good night' to me." + +"Why, so I am!" + +She could hear them laugh as she left the room. And so ended the first +day in her brother's house. + +Breakfast the next morning was of the most hurried description. Gertie +herself did not sit down until the men had gone, being chiefly occupied +with baking some sort of hot cakes which were new to Nora, who confined +herself to an egg and some tea. She secretly longed for some toast; but +as no one else seemed to have any, she refrained from making her wants +known. Perhaps later, when she was more familiar with the ways of this +strange household, she would be permitted to make some for herself when +she wanted it. + +While her sister-in-law was eating her breakfast, Nora stood looking out +of the window at the vast expanse of snow-covered country with never a +house in sight. Already there were signs that Taylor's prophecy would be +fulfilled. The sun, which had been up only a few hours, shone brightly, +and already the air had lost much of its sharpness. It was distinctly +warmer than it had been the day before. + +At the first sign that Gertie had finished her breakfast, Nora began to +gather the things together for washing, wisely not waiting to ask +permission. If possible, Gertie seemed to be less inclined for +conversation in the early morning than at night. They finished the task +in unbroken silence. When the last dish had been put away, Gertie spoke: + +"Can you bake?" + +"I have baked cakes." + +"How about bread and biscuits?" + +"I've never tried them." + +"Umph!" + +"I should be glad to learn, if you would be good enough to teach me." + +"I have little time for teaching," said Gertie ungraciously. "But you +can watch how I do it and maybe you'll learn something." + +"Can you wash and iron?" said Gertie while she was kneading her dough. + +"Of course I can iron and I can wash lace." + +"People round here wear more flannel shirts than lace. I suppose you +never washed any flannels?" + +"No, never." + +"Have you ever done any scrubbing?" + +"Of course not." Nora was beginning to find this catechism a little +trying. + +"Not work for a lady, I suppose. Just what does a companion do?" + +"It depends. She does whatever her employer requires; reads aloud, acts +as secretary, goes riding and shopping with the lady she lives with, +arranges the flowers, everything of that sort." + +"Oh. But nothing really useful." + +Nora gave an angry laugh. "It's clear that some people consider a +companion's work useful, since they employ them." + +"You take pay for it; after all, it's much the same as being a servant." + +"It's not at all the same." + +"Ed tells me that sometimes when Miss Wickers, Wickham--whatever her +name was----" + +"Miss Wickham." + +"That when Miss Wickham had company for dinner, you had to have your +dinner alone." + +"That is true." + +"Then she considered you sort of a servant," said Gertie triumphantly. +Nora was silent. Gertie having cut her dough into small round pieces +with a tin cutter and put them into her pans, went toward the oven. + +"And yet you object to eating at the same table with the hired men." + +Having satisfied herself that the oven was at the proper heat, she shut +the door with a bang. + +"I've said nothing about it." + +"You didn't need to." + +"But I most certainly do object to it and I can't for the life of me see +the necessity of it." + +"I was what you call a servant for years; I suppose you object to eating +at the table with me." + +"What perfect nonsense! It's not at all the same thing. You're my +brother's wife and the mistress of his house." + +"Yes, I'm the mistress of the house all right," said Gertie grimly. + +"Frank Taylor's an uncommonly handsome man, isn't he?" + +"I really haven't noticed." + +"What perfect nonsense!" mimicked Gertie. "Of course you've noticed. Any +woman would notice him." + +"Then I must be different from other women." + +"Oh, no, you're not; you only think you are. At bottom women are all +alike, take it from me, and I've known a few." + +"If I can be of no help to you here, I think I'll go and unpack my box," +said Nora. She felt as if she had borne all she possibly could. + +"As you like." + +Once in her own room, Nora found it hard to keep back her angry tears. +Only the thought that her reddened eyes would betray her to Gertie at +dinner kept her from having a good cry. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +That one morning was a fair sample of all the other days. Each suspected +the other, neither would make allowances or concessions. As a +consequence, day by day the breach widened. Even Eddie, who was more +unobserving than most men, felt vaguely uncomfortable in the surcharged +atmosphere. From the first Nora realized that it was an unequal contest; +Gertie was too strongly intrenched in her position. But it was not in +her nature to refrain from administering those little thrusts, which +women know so well how to deal one another, from any motive of policy. +The question of what she should do once her brother's house became +intolerable she never permitted herself to ask. + +In the needle-pricking mode of warfare she was, of course, far more +expert than her rival. But if Gertie's hand was clumsy it was also +heavy. And always in the back of her mind was the consciousness that +she, so to speak, had at least one piece of heavy artillery which she +could bring up once the enemy's fire became unendurable. + +During the day, the men being out of the house except at meal time, +there was to a certain degree, a cessation of hostilities. Nora +gradually acquired some knowledge of housework. She learned to cook +fairly well and always helped with the washing, rarely complaining of +her aching arms and back. The only indication she had that she was +making progress was that Gertie complained less. Praise, of course, was +not to be expected. + +At dinner the men were usually too anxious to get back to work--always +with the exception of Hornby, who according to his own highly colored +account, had been assigned the herculean task of splitting all the wood +required by the Province of Manitoba for the ensuing winter--to linger +longer than the time required for smoking a hurried pipe, so that it was +only during the long evenings that hostilities were resumed. And then, +more or less under cover. + +There was one person upon whom Nora could openly vent her nervous +irritation after a long day in Gertie's society, and that was Frank +Taylor. They quarreled constantly, to the great amusement of the others. +But with him, too, she felt hopelessly at a disadvantage. He was +maddeningly sure of himself, and while he sometimes gave back thrust for +thrust, he never lost his temper. Seemingly, nothing could penetrate +his armor of good nature, nor make him comprehend that she really meant +her bitter words. Slow of movement and speech, his mind was alert +enough, and Nora had to admit to herself, although she always openly +denied it, that he had humor. To lose one's own temper in a wordy +passage at arms and find one's opponent still smiling and serene is not +a soothing experience. + +Often, in the darkness of the night after she had gone to bed, she could +feel her cheek burn at the recollection that this 'ignorant clod,' as +she contemptuously called him to herself, had the power to make her feel +a weak, undisciplined child by merely never losing his self-control. + +There would have been consolation in the thought that in his stupidity +he did not understand how she despised him, how infinitely beneath her +she considered him, had it not been darkened by the suspicion that he +understood perfectly well _and didn't care_. + +How dared he, how dared he! + +She had complained of his familiar manner to her brother a day or two +after her arrival. But he had given her neither support nor consolation. + +"My dear Nora," he said, "we are not back in England. The sooner you +forget all the old notions of class and class distinctions, the happier +you'll be. They won't go here. As long as a man's straight, honest and a +worker--and Frank's all three--it doesn't make any odds whether he's +working for himself or for someone else. We're all on the same footing. +It is only due to the fact that I've had two good years in succession +that I'm not somebody's 'hired man' myself." + +"Don't, Eddie, don't; you don't realize how you hurt me." + +"My dear girl, I'm sorry; but I'm in dead earnest." + +"You, a hired man? Oh, I can't believe it." + +"It's true, nevertheless. Plenty of better fellows than I have had to do +it. When you're starting in, unless you have a good deal bigger capital +than I had, you only need to be hailed out, frosted out, or weeded out a +couple of years in succession to use up your little stake, and then +where are you?" + +"What do you mean by 'weeded out'?" + +He was just about to explain when a halloo from the stables cut him +short. "There's Frank now. I ought to be out helping him this minute; +we've got a good stiff drive ahead of us. You ask Gertie about it, +she'll explain it to you." + +But Gertie had been deeply preoccupied with some domestic problem and +Nora had forborne to question her. She had intended returning to the +subject that evening, but Eddie and Gertie were deep in one of their +conferences until nearly bedtime. It would never have suggested itself +to her to seek any information from the objectionable Frank, so under +cover of a heated discussion between him and Trotter, she appealed to +Reggie. + +"What does it mean to be weeded out?" + +"Oh, Lord, I don't know! Kicked out, I suppose. Isn't there something in +the Bible about tares and wheat?" + +"Nonsense; it doesn't mean that. I'd forgotten, by the way, how strong +you were on Biblical references. Do you remember your discussion about +Sarah and Benjamin with Agnes Pringle?" + +"Of course I do. And I completely stumped her; don't you recollect?" + +"Goose! She only wanted to make you look it up for yourself. But being +'weeded out' is something disastrous that happens to the farmers here, +like having the crops frozen." + +"Well, it hasn't happened since I've been here, anyway. But I'll bet you +a bob it means kicked out. I tell you, I'll ask Gertie if she doesn't +think that I ought to be weeded out." + +"You'd better not," laughed Nora. + +The first open quarrel had taken place one day at dinner. + +The night before Nora had proposed making her first attempt at baking +bread. Gertie had given a grudging consent. Everything had gone well +until the bread, once in the oven, Nora had gone to her room to add some +pages to a long letter which she had begun, some evenings before to +Agnes Pringle. + +Gertie had been out in one of the barns most of the morning engaged in +some mysterious task which she had been reserving until the weather +became milder--there had been a decided thaw, setting in the day +before--and Nora intended to be gone only a short time. + +Filled with a warm feeling of gratitude to Miss Pringle for her generous +loan of the ten-pound note, she was writing her a long letter in the +form of a diary describing her voyage across the Atlantic and the trip +across the Continent, both of which she was sure would greatly interest +her friend and furnish her with topics for her tete-a-tete dinners with +the excellent Mrs. Hubbard for some days to come. + +Of the difficulties and disappointments in her new life she was resolved +to say nothing. Nora hated to confess that she had failed in anything. +And, so far, she could hardly say that she had made a success. Later +on, she might have to acknowledge that her move had been a mistake. But +for the moment she would confine herself to describing all that struck +her as novel and strange while the impression was still fresh, while she +still had the 'seeing eye.' + +"When I came to the end of my last page (and I remember that I was +getting extremely sleepy at that point)," she wrote, "I had just +finished describing the exterior of my brother's house to you. I am sure +I can never do justice to the interior! You can never have seen, much +less imagined, anything in the least like it. I have decided, upon +reflection, that it is the most un-English thing I have seen yet: and I +have not forgotten those strange railway carriages either. + +"Try to imagine a large room, longer than it is deep, at once +living-room, dining-room and kitchen; with nothing but rough brown +boards for walls, on which--some framed, some unframed--are the colored +supplements of the Christmas illustrated papers, both English and +American. Over one of the doors is a magnificent trophy--at least that +is what we would call it at home--I think it is a moose. I am not at all +sure, although I have been told more than once. Over another door is a +large clock, such a one as one finds in a broker's office with us. The +floor is covered with what is called oilcloth--I wonder why: it +certainly is not the least like cloth--very new and excessively shiny. +It has a conventional pattern in black and white, and when the sun +shines on it, it quite dazzles one's eyes. + +"There are two windows, one to the south, the other looking west. The +western view is magnificent. I feel as if I could see straight away to +the setting sun! In the summer, when the prairie is one great waving +green sea, it must be superb. Two days ago it was covered with snow. As +I write, I can see great patches of brown every here and there, for we +have had a sudden thaw. The window sills are filled with geraniums +planted, my dear, in tins which once contained syrup, of which everyone +here, including my brother, seems extravagantly fond. The syrup jug +appears regularly at every meal and is almost the first thing put on the +table. I have yet to acquire a taste for it--which they all think +extremely queer. + +"The furniture consists of two American rockers and a number of kitchen +chairs; an unvarnished deal dresser covered with earthenware;--I don't +think there are any two pieces that match!--two tables, one a dining +table; a bookcase containing a few paper-backed novels and some +magazines, none so recent, however, as those I saw before I left +England; and last and most important, an enormous American cooking +stove. + +"Our principal meal, called dinner, is----" + +Great heavens, her bread! + +Nora dashed from her room. Gertie was standing at one of the windows in +the unwonted indulgence of a moment's leisure. Nora threw open the oven +door. It was empty. + +"Oh, did you look after my loaf, Gertie? I'm so sorry; I quite forgot +it." + +"Yes, I took it out a few moments ago." + +She still had her face turned toward the window, so Nora did not see the +smile that curled her lip. She turned after a moment, and the two women +began to set the table for dinner. + +Presently the men were heard laughing outside as they cleaned their +muddy boots on the scraper. Reggie had apparently achieved something +new. His ignorance of everything pertaining to farming furnished the +material for most of the amusement that was going. Fortunately, he was +always good-natured. Gertie, with unusual good spirits, entered into the +joke of the thing at once and even bantered Reggie playfully upon his +latest discovery. + +Nora did not even hear what it was all about. She was searching for the +bread plate which always stood on the dresser. + +"Why, Gertie, I----" + +"It's all right," said Gertie, without looking up from pouring the tea. +"I took it. I'll get it in a minute. Come, sit down." + +Nora obeyed. + +Hornby was just about to begin his explanation for whatever it was he +had done, when Eddie interrupted him: + +"Hold on a minute, Reg. I want some bread. I declare you two girls are +getting to be as bad as Reggie, here. Setting a table without bread!" + +"I was keeping it for a surprise," said Gertie, getting up slowly. "I +want you to appreciate the fact that Nora helped me by doing the baking +this morning." Nora's face flushed with pleasure as her brother patted +her on the shoulder with evident approval. She looked at Gertie with +eyes shining with gratitude. At that moment she came nearer liking her +sister-in-law than she ever was to again. + +Gertie went slowly across the room--she usually moved with nervous +quickness--and picking up the missing bread plate from where it was +leaning against the wall behind the stove went into the little pantry +that gave off the kitchen. Slowly she returned and stood beside her +husband's chair. On the plate, burned almost to a cinder, was the loaf +of bread that Nora had forgotten. + +"Here it is," said Gertie. Her smile was cruel. + +"Oh, I say, Gertie, that's too bad of you." It was Frank who spoke. + +"Too bad!" Nora sprung to her feet with flashing eyes. "Too bad. It's +mean and despicable. There are no words to do it justice. But what could +I expect from----" + +"Nora!" said her brother sharply. + +Nora rushed from the table to her room. And although Eddie knocked +repeatedly at her door and begged her to let him speak with her if only +for a moment that evening at supper-time, she made no sign nor did +anyone see her again that night. + +She made a point of not coming down to breakfast the next morning until +after the time when the men would be gone. She thought it best to meet +Gertie alone. It was time that they came to some sort of understanding. +To her surprise and annoyance Taylor was still at the table. Gertie was +nowhere to be seen. + +"Come down to keep me company? That's real nice of you, I'm sure." + +"I supposed, naturally, that you had gone. You usually have at this +hour." + +"You don't know how it flatters a fellow to have women folks study his +habits like that," he said with a grin. + +"I knew that my brother had left the house, since I saw him go. I took +it for granted that all his employees left when he did. Let me assure +you, once and for all, that your habits are of no possible interest to +me." + +Taylor put on his hat and went to the door. Just as he was about to open +it, he changed his mind and came back to the table where Nora had seated +herself and stood leaning on the back of his chair looking down at her. + +"It's all right for us to row," he said, "but if I were you I'd go a +little easy with Gertie. She's all right and a good sort at bottom, you +can take it from me. Yesterday, I admit she was downright nasty. I guess +you rile her up more than she's used to. But I want to see you two get +on." + +"It's my turn to feel flattered," said Nora sarcastically. + +"Well, so long," he said with undiminished good humor as he went out. + +Gertie appeared almost at once from the pantry. + +"I heard what he said. I couldn't help it. He was right--about us both. +We don't hit it off. But I'm willing to give it another try." + +"I have little choice but to agree with you," said Nora bitterly. + +"Well, that's hardly the way to begin," retorted Gertie angrily. + +There was a certain air of restraint about them ail when they came in to +dinner. Eddie looked both worried and anxious. But as he saw that the +two women were going about their duties much the same as usual, he +argued that the storm had blown over and brightened visibly. + +The men had pushed back their chairs and were preparing to light their +after-dinner pipes. + +"We'll be able to start on the ironing this afternoon," said Gertie, +addressing Nora for the first time since breakfast. + +"Very well." + +"I say," said Trotter, who rarely ventured on a remark while at the +table, "it was a rare big wash you done this morning by the look of it +on the line." + +"When she's been out in this country a bit longer, Nora'll learn not to +wear more things than she can help," said Gertie. + +As a matter of fact, she had no intention of criticising Nora at the +moment. She meant, merely, that she would be more economical with +experience. But Nora was in the mood to take fire at once. + +"Was there more than my fair share?" she asked sharply. + +"You use double the number of stockings than what I do. And everything +else is the same." + +"I see. Clean but incompetent." + +"There's many a true word spoken in jest," said Gertie with angry +emphasis. + +"Say, Reg," Taylor broke in hastily, "is it true that when you first +came out you asked Ed where the bath-room was?" + +"That's right," laughed Trotter. "Ed told 'im there was a river a mile +and a 'alf from 'ere, an' that was the only bath-room 'e knowed." + +"One gets used to that sort of thing, eh, Reg?" said Marsh +good-naturedly. + +"Ra-ther. If I saw a proper bath-room _now_, it would only make me feel +nervous." + +"I knew a couple of Englishmen out in British Columbia," broke in +Taylor, "who were bathing, and the only other people around were +Indians. The first two years they were there, they wouldn't have +anything to do with the Indians because they were so dirty. After that +the Indians wouldn't have anything to do with them." + +He pointed this delectable anecdote by holding his nose. + +"What a disgusting story!" said Nora. + +"D'you think so? I rather like it." + +"_You_ would." + +"Now don't start quarreling, you two. And on Frank's last day." + +Nora gave her brother a quick glance. It was on the tip of her tongue to +ask what he meant by Frank's last day, but seeing that Taylor was +watching her with an amused smile, she held her tongue. Getting up, she +began clearing away the table. + +Hornby, ramming the tobacco into his pipe, went over to the corner by +the stove, where Gertie was scalding out her large dishpan, and tried to +interest her in the number of logs he had split since breakfast, without +conspicuous success. + +Trotter stood looking out of the window, while Marsh stretched himself +lazily in one of the rocking chairs with a sigh of content. Things were +beginning to shake down a little better. There had been a time yesterday +when he feared that everything was off. He knew Nora's temper of old and +he knew his wife's jealous fear of her criticism. It would take some +rubbing to wear off the sharp corners. But things were coming out all +right, after all. They'd soon be working together like a well-broken +team. Gertie had been nasty about the bread. But apparently everything +was patched up. And with Frank once gone, and the new chap--a man of the +Trotter type, who would never obtrude himself--he foresaw that +everything would run on wheels, an idea dear to his peace-loving soul. + +Not that he was not sorry to lose Frank. In the first place, he liked +him, and then he was a good, steady, hard-working fellow, one of the +kind you didn't have to stand over. But, naturally, he wanted to get +back to his own place, now that he had saved up a bit. Every man liked +being his own master. + +Taylor alone had remained at his place at the table. Nora had cleared +away everything except the dishes at his place. She never went near him +if she could avoid it. + +"I guess I'm in your way," he said, rising. + +"Not more than usual, thank you." + +Taylor gave a little laugh. + +"I guess you'll not be sorry to see the last of me." + +Nora paused in her work, and leaning on the table with both hands, +looked him steadily in the face. + +"I can't honestly say that it makes the least difference to me whether +you go or stay," she said coldly. + +"When does your train go, Frank?" asked Hornby from his corner. + +"Half-past three; I'll be starting from here in about an hour." + +"Reg can go over with you and drive the rig back again," said Marsh. + +"All right. I'll go and dress myself in a bit." + +"I guess you'll be glad to get back to your own place," said Gertie +warmly. + +She had always liked Frank Taylor--a man who worked hard and earned his +money. She did not begrudge him a cent of it, nor the pleasure he had in +the thought of getting back to his own place. He was the kind of man who +should set up for himself. + +"Well, I guess I'll not be sorry." He sat looking out of the window with +a sort of dreamy air, as if seeing far to the westward his own land. + +So that was the reason for his going. He had a place of his own. He was +only a hired man for the moment. Eddie had told her that a man +frequently had to hire out after a succession of bad seasons. What of +it? His keeping it to himself was the crowning impertinence! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +"I'll do the washing, Nora, and you can dry," said Gertie in that +peculiar tone which Nora had learned to recognize as the preface to +something disagreeable. + +"All right." + +"I've noticed the things aren't half clean when I leave them to you to +do." + +"I'm sorry; why didn't you tell me?" + +"I suppose yon never did the washing-up in England. Too grand?" + +But Nora was not to be ruffled just now. Her resentment against Taylor, +who was sitting watching her as if he read her thoughts--she often +wondered how much of them he _did_ read--made anything Gertie said seem +momentarily unimportant. + +"I don't suppose anyone would wash up if they could help it. It's not +very amusing." + +"You always want to be amused?" + +"No, but I want to be happy." + +"Well," said Gertie sharply, "you've got a roof over your head and a +comfortable bed to sleep in, three good meals a day and plenty to do. +That's all anybody wants to make them happy, I guess." + +"Oh, Lord!" exclaimed Reggie from his corner. + +"Well," said Gertie, turning sharply on him, "if you don't like Canada, +why did you come out?" + +"You don't suppose," said Hornby, rising slowly to his feet, "I'd have +let them send me if I'd have known what I was in for, do you? Not much. +Up at five in the morning and working about the place like a navvy till +your back feels as if it 'ud break, and then back again in the +afternoon. And the same thing day after day. What was the good of +sending me to Harrow and Oxford if that's what I've got to do all my +life?" + +There was a tragic dignity in his tone which for the moment held even +Gertie silent. It was her husband who answered him, and Gertie's jealous +ear detected a certain wistfulness in his voice. + +"You'll get used to it soon enough, Reg. It _is_ a bit hard at first, +I'll admit. But when you get your foot in, you wouldn't change it for +any other life." + +"This isn't a country for a man to go to sleep in and wait for something +to turn up," said Gertie aggressively. + +"I wouldn't go back to England now, not for nothing," said Trotter, +stung to an unusual burst of eloquence. "England! Eighteen bob a week, +that's what I earned. And no prospects. Out of work five months in the +year." + +"What did you do in England!" asked Nora curiously. + +"Bricklayer, Miss." + +"You needn't call her Miss," said Gertie heatedly. "You call me Gertie, +don't you? Well, _her_ name's Nora." + +"What with strikes and bad times," went on Trotter unheeding, "you never +knew where you was. And the foreman always bullying you. I don't know +what all. I 'ad about enough of it, I can tell you. I've never been out +of work since the day I landed. I've 'ad as much to eat as I wanted and +I'm saving money. In this country everybody's as good as everybody +else." + +"If not better," said Nora dryly. + +"In two years I shall be able to set up for myself. Why, there's old man +Thompson, up at Pratt. _He_ started as a bricklayer, same as I. Come +from Yorkshire, he did. He's got seven thousand dollars in the bank +now." + +"Believe me, you fellows who come out now have a much softer thing of it +than I did when I first came. In those days they wouldn't have an +Englishman, they'd have a Galician rather. In Winnipeg, when they +advertised in the paper for labor, you'd see often as not: 'No English +need apply.'" + +"Well, it was their own fault," stormed Gertie. "They wouldn't work or +anything. They just soaked." + +"It _was_ their own fault, right enough. This was the dumping ground for +all the idlers, drunkards and scallywags in England. They had the +delusion over there that if a man was too big a rotter to do anything at +all at home, he'd only got to be sent out here and he'd make a fortune." + +"I guess things ain't as bad as that now," spoke up Taylor. "They send +us a different class. It takes an Englishman two years longer than +anybody else to get the hang of things, but when once he tumbles to it, +he's better than any of them." + +"Ah, well!" said Marsh, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, "I guess +nowadays everyone's glad to see the Englishman make good. When I nearly +smashed up three years ago, I had no end of offers of help." + +"How _did_ you nearly smash up?" asked Hornby interestedly. + +"Oh, I had a run of bad luck. One year the crop was frosted and the next +year I was hailed out. It wants a good deal of capital to stand up +against that." + +"That's what happened to me," said Taylor. "I was hailed out and I +hadn't got any capital, so I just had to hire out." He turned suddenly +to Nora. "If it hadn't been for that hail storm you wouldn't have had +the pleasure of makin' my acquaintance." + +"How hollow and empty life would have been without that!" she said +ironically. + +"I wonder you didn't just quit and start out Calgary way," put in +Gertie. + +"Well," said Taylor slowly, "it was this way: I'd put in two years on my +homestead and done a lot of clearing. It seemed kind of silly to lose my +rights after all that. Then, too, when you've been hailed out once, the +chances are it won't happen again, for some years that is, and by that +time I ought to have a bit put by." + +"What sort of house have you got?" asked Nora. + +"Well, it ain't what you might call a palace, but it's large enough for +two." + +"Thinking of marrying, Frank?" asked Marsh. + +"Well, I guess it's kind of lonesome on a farm without a woman. But it's +not so easy to find a wife when you're just starting on your own. +Canadian girls think twice before taking a farmer." + +"They know something, I guess," said Gertie grimly. + +"You took me, Gertie," laughed her husband. + +"Not because I wanted to, you can be sure of that. I don't know how you +got round me." + +"I wonder." + +"I guess it was because you was kind of helpless, and I didn't know what +you'd do without me." + +"I guess it was love, and you couldn't help yourself." Gertie stopped +her work long enough to make a little grimacing protest. + +"I'm thinking of going to one of them employment agencies when I get to +Winnipeg," said Taylor, moving his chair so that he could watch Nora's +face, "and looking the girls over." + +"Like sheep," said Nora scornfully. + +"I don't know anything about sheep. I've never had to do with sheep." + +"And may I ask, do you think that you know anything about women?" + +"I guess I can tell if they're strong and willing. And so long as they +ain't cock-eyed, I don't mind taking the rest on trust." + +"And what inducement is there for a girl to have you?" + +"That's why he wants to catch 'em young, when they're just landed and +don't know much," laughed Trotter uproariously. + +"I've got my quarter-section," went on the imperturbable Frank, quite +undisturbed by the laughter caused by Trotter's sally, "a good hundred +and sixty acres with seventy of it cleared. And I've got a shack that I +built myself. That's something, ain't it?" + +"You've got a home to offer and enough to eat and drink. A girl can get +that anywhere. Why, I'm told they're simply begging for service." + +"Y-e-e-s. But you see some girls like getting married. There's something +in the word that appeals to them." + +"You seem to think that a girl would jump at the chance of marrying +you!" said Nora with rising temper. + +"She might do worse." + +"I must say I think you flatter yourself." + +"Oh, I don't know. I know my job, and there ain't too many as can say +that. I've got brains." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"Well, I can see you're no fool." + +Gertie chuckled with amusement. "He certainly put one over on you then, +Nora." + +"Because you've got no use for me, there's no saying but what others may +have." + +"I forgot that there's no accounting for tastes." + +"I can try, can't I?" + +Wishing to escape any further conversation with the object of her +detestation, and seeing her opportunity now that the dishes were washed, +Nora started to empty the dishpan in the sink in the pantry. But Gertie, +who divined her motive and wished the sport to continue, forestalled +her. + +"I'll do it," she said. "You finish wiping the dishes." + +"It's very wise of you to go to an agency," said Nora in answer to his +last question. "A girl's more likely to marry you when she's only seen +you once than when she's seen you often." + +"It seems to make you quite mad, the thought of me marrying!" with a +wink at the others. + +"You wouldn't talk about it like that unless you looked down upon women. +Oh, how I pity the poor wretched creature who becomes your wife!" + +"Oh, I guess she won't have such a bad time--when I've broken her in to +my ways." + +"And are you under the impression that you can do that?" + +"Yep." + +"You're not expecting that there'll be much love lost between you and +the girl whom you--you honor with your choice?" + +"What's love got to do with it?" asked Taylor in affected surprise. +"It's a business undertaking." + +"What!" Nora's eyes were dark with indignation and anger. + +"None at all. I give her board and lodging and the charm of my society. +And in return, she's got to cook and bake and wash and keep the shack +clean and tidy. And if she can do that, I'll not be particular what she +looks like." + +"So long as she's not cock-eyed," Reggie reminded him. + +"No, I draw the line at that." + +"I beg your pardon," said Nora with bitter irony; "I didn't know it was +a general servant you wanted. You spend a dollar and a half on a +marriage license and then you don't have to pay any wages. It's a good +investment." + +For the first time she seemed to have pierced the enemy's armor. + +"You've got a sharp tongue in your head for a girl, Nora." + +"Please don't call me Nora." + +"Don't be so silly, Nora," said her brother with a trace of irritation. +"It's the custom of the country. Why, they all call me Ed." + +"I don't care what the custom of the country is. I'm not going to be +called Nora by the hired man!" + +"Don't you bother, Ed," said Frank, apparently once more restored to his +normal placidity; "I'll call her Miss Marsh if she likes it better." + +But Nora was not to be pacified. He wouldn't have dared take such a +liberty with her had he not been on the eve of going away for good, she +told herself. It was a last shot from a retreating enemy. Well and good. +He should hear, if for the last time, what she thought of him! + +"I should like to see you married to someone who'd give you what you +deserved. I'd like to see your pride humbled. You think yourself very +high and mighty, don't you? I'd like to see a woman take you by the +heartstrings and wring them till you screamed with pain." + +"Oh, Nora, how violent you are!" said Ed. + +"You're overbearing, supercilious and egotistic," went on Nora bitingly. + +"I'm not sure as I know what them long words means, but I guess they +ain't exactly complimentary." + +"I guess they ain't," she mimicked. + +"I'm sorry for that." Taylor straightened himself a little in his +chair. His blue eyes seemed to have caught a little of the light from +Nora's. + +"I was thinking of offering you the position before I went to the +employment agency." + +"How dare you speak to me like that!" + +"Don't fly into a temper, Nora," said Ed. While he didn't blame Frank, +he wished he had not made that last speech. Why didn't he go and get +ready for town? Here was Nora all upset again just as things had calmed +down a bit! + +"He's got no right to say impudent things to me!" + +"Don't you see he's only having a joke with you?" he said soothingly. + +"He shouldn't joke. He's got no sense of humor." + +She made a furious gesture, and the cup she was in the act of wiping +flew out of her hand, crashing in a thousand pieces on the floor, just +as Gertie returned. + +"Butter fingers!" + +"I'm so sorry," said Nora in a colorless tone. She was raging inwardly +at having allowed that beast of a man to put her in such a temper. Why +couldn't she control herself? How undignified to bandy words with a +person she so despised. It was hardly the moment for Gertie to take her +to task for carelessness. But Gertie was not the person to consider +other moods than her own. + +"You clumsy thing! You're always doing something wrong." + +"Oh, don't worry; I'll pay for it." + +"Who wants you to pay for it? Do you think I can't afford to pay for a +miserable cup! You might say you're sorry: that's all I want you to do." + +"I said I was sorry." + +"No, you didn't." + +"I heard her, Gertie," broke in Ed. + +"She said she was sorry as if she was doing me a favor," said Gertie, +turning furiously on the would-be peacemaker. + +"You don't expect me to go down on my knees to you, do you? The cup's +worth twopence." + +"It isn't the value I'm thinking about, it's the carelessness." + +"It's only the third thing I've broken since I've been here." + +If Nora had been in a calmer mood herself she would not have been so +stupid as to attempt to palliate her offense. Her offer of replacing the +miserable cup only added fuel to the flame of Gertie's resentment. + +"You can't do anything!" she stormed. "You're more helpless than a +child of six. You're all the same, all of you." + +"You're not going to abuse the whole British nation because I've broken +a cup worth twopence, are you?" + +"And the airs you put on. Condescending isn't the word. It's enough to +try the patience of a saint." + +"Oh, shut up!" said Marsh. He went over to his wife and laid a hand on +her shoulder. She shook him off impatiently. + +"You've never done a stroke of work in your life, and you come here and +think you can teach me everything." + +"I don't know about that," said Nora, in a voice which by comparison +with Gertie's seemed low but which was nevertheless perfectly audible to +every person in the room. "I don't know about that, but I think I can +teach you manners." + +If she had lashed the other woman across the face with a whip, she +couldn't have cut more deeply. She knew that, and was glad. Gertie's +face turned gray. + +"How dare you say that! How dare you! You come here, and I give you a +home. You sleep in my blankets and you eat my food and then you insult +me." She burst into a passion of angry tears. + +"Now then, Gertie, don't cry. Don't be so silly," said her husband as he +might have spoken to an angry child. + +"Oh, leave me alone," she flashed back at him. "Of course you take her +part. You would! It's nothing to you that I have made a slave of myself +for you for three whole years. As soon as _she_ comes along and plays +the lady----" + +She rushed from the room. After a moment, Ed followed after her. + +There was an awkward pause. Nora stood leaning against the table +swinging the dishcloth in her hand, a smile of malicious triumph on her +face. Gertie had tried it on once too often. But she had shown her that +one could go too far. She would think twice before she attempted to +bully her again, especially before other people. She stooped down and +began to gather up the broken pieces of earthenware scattered about her +feet. Her movement broke the spell which had held the three men +paralyzed as men always are in the presence of quarreling women. + +"I reckon I might be cleaning myself," said Taylor, rising from his +chair. "Time's getting on. You're coming, Ben?" + +"Yes, I'm coming. I suppose you'll take the mare?" + +"Yep, that's what Ed said this morning." + +They went out toward the stables without a word to Nora. + +"Well, are you enjoying the land of promise as much as you said that I +should?" Hornby asked with a smile. + +"We've both made our beds, I suppose we must lie in them," said Nora, +shaking the broken pieces out of her apron into a basket that stood in +the corner. + +"Do you remember that afternoon at Miss Wickham's when I came for the +letter to your brother?" + +"I hadn't much intention of coming to Canada then myself." + +"Well, I don't mind telling you that I mean to get back to England the +very first opportunity that comes," he said, pacing up and down the +floor. "I'm willing to give away my share of the White Man's Burden with +a package of chewing gum." + +"You prefer the Effete East?" smiled Nora, putting a couple of irons on +the stove. + +"Ra-ther. Give me the degrading influence of a decadent civilization +every time." + +"Your father _will_ be pleased to see you, won't he?" + +"I don't think! Of course I was a damned fool ever to leave Winnipeg." + +"I understand you didn't until you had to." + +"Say," said Hornby, pausing in his walk, "I want to tell you: your +brother behaved like a perfect brick. I sent him your letter and told +him I was up against it--d'you know I hadn't a bob? I was jolly glad to +earn half a dollar digging a pit in a man's garden. Bit thick, you +know!" + +"I can see you," laughed Nora. + +"Your brother sent me the fare to come on here and told me I could do +the chores. I didn't know what they were. I soon found it was doing all +the jobs it wasn't anybody else's job to do. And they call it God's own +country!" + +"I think you're falling into the _ways_ of the country very well, +however!" retorted Nora as she struggled across to the table with the +heavy ironing-board. + +"Do you? What makes you think that?" + +"You can stand there and smoke your pipe and watch me carry the +ironing-board about." + +"I beg your pardon. Did you want me to help you?" + +"Never mind. It would remind me of home." + +"I suppose I shall have to stick it out at least a year, unless I can +humbug the mater into sending me enough money to get back home with." + +"She won't send you a penny--if she's wise." + +"Oh, come now! Wouldn't you chuck it if you could?" + +"And acknowledge myself beaten," said Nora, with a flash of spirit. "You +don't know," she went on after ironing busily a moment, "what I went +through before I came here. I tried to get another position as lady's +companion. I hung about the agents' offices. I answered advertisements. +Two people offered to take me; one without any salary, the other at ten +shillings a week and my lunch. I, if you please, was to find myself in +board, lodging and clothes on that magnificent sum! That settled _me_. I +wrote Eddie and said I was coming. When I'd paid my fare, I had eight +pounds in the world--after ten years with Miss Wickham. When he met me +at the station at Dyer----" + +"Depot; you forget." + +"My whole fortune consisted of seven dollars and thirty-five cents; I +think it was thirty-five." + +"What about that wood you're splitting, Reg?" said a voice from the +doorway. + +Eddie came in fumbling nervously in his pockets. He detested scenes and +had some reason to think that he was having more than his share of them +in the last few days. + +"Has anyone seen my tobacco! Oh, here it is," he said, taking his pouch +from his pocket. "Come, Reg, you'd better be getting on with it." + +"Oh, Lord, is there no rest for the wicked?" exclaimed Hornby as he +lounged lazily to the door. + +"Don't hurry yourself, will you?" + +"Brilliant sarcasm is just flying about this house to-day," was his +parting shot as he banged the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Nora understood perfectly that her brother had been forced to take a +stand as a result of this last quarrel with Gertie. Well, she was glad +of it. Things certainly could not go on in this way forever. Of course +he would have to make a show, at least, of taking his wife's part. But, +equally of course, he would understand her position perfectly. However +much his new life and his long absence from England might have changed +him, at bottom their points of view were still the same. He and she, so +to speak, spoke a common language; she and Gertie did not. + +Gertie had probably been pouring out her accumulation of grievances to +him for the last half hour. Now it was her turn. She would show that she +was, as always, more than ready to meet Gertie half-way. It would be his +affair to see that her advances were received in better part in future +than they had been. + +She went on busily with her ironing, waiting for him to begin. But Eddie +seemed to experience a certain embarrassment in coming to the subject. +While she took article after article from the clothes-basket at her +side, he wandered about the room aimlessly, puffing at a pipe which +seemed never to stay lighted. + +[Illustration: MARRIED--THOUGH SECRETLY ENEMIES.] + +"That's the toughest nut I've ever been set to crack," he said at +length, pointing his pipestem after the vanished Hornby. "Why on earth +did you give him a letter to me?" + +"He asked me to. I couldn't very well say no." + +"I can't make out what people are up to in the old country. They think +that if a man is too big a rotter to do anything at all in England, +they've only got to send him out here and he'll make a fortune." + +"He may improve." + +"I hope so. Look here, Nora, you've thoroughly upset Gertie." + +"She's very easily upset, isn't she?" + +"It's only since you came that things haven't gone right. We never used +to have scenes." + +"So you blame me. I came prepared to like her and help her. She met all +my advances with suspicion." + +"She thinks yon look down on her. You ought to remember that she never +had your opportunities. She's earned her own living from the time she +was thirteen. You can't expect in her the refinements of a woman who's +led the protected life you have." + +"Now, Eddie, I haven't said a word that could be turned into the least +suggestion of disapproval of anything she did." + +"My dear, your whole manner has expressed disapproval. You won't do +things in the way we do them. After all, the way you lived in Tunbridge +Wells isn't the only way people can live. Our ways suit us, and when you +live amongst us you must adopt them." + +"She's never given me a chance to learn them," said Nora obstinately. +"She treated me with suspicion and enmity the very first day I came +here. When she sneered at me because I talked of a station instead of a +depot, of _course_ I went on talking of a station. What do you think I'm +made of? Because I prefer to drink water with my meals instead of your +strong tea, she says I'm putting on airs." + +Marsh made a pleading gesture. + +"Why can't you humor her? You see, you've got to take the blame for all +the English people who came here in the past and were lazy, worthless +and supercilious. They called us Colonials and turned up their noses at +us. What do you expect us to do?--say, 'Thank you very much, sir.' 'We +know we're not worthy to black your boots.' 'Don't bother to work, it'll +be a pleasure for us to give you money'? It's no good blinking the +fact. There was a great prejudice against the English. But it's giving +way now, and every sensible man and woman who comes out can do something +to destroy it." + +"All I can say," said Nora, going over to the stove to change her iron, +"is if you're tired of having me here, I can go back to Winnipeg. I +shan't have any difficulty in finding something to do." + +"Good Lord, I don't want you to go. I like having you here. It's--it's +company for Gertie. And jobs aren't so easy to find as you think, +especially now the winter's coming on; everyone wants a job in the +city." + +"What do you want me to do?" + +"I want you to make the best of things and meet her half-way. You must +make allowances for her even if you think her unreasonable. It's Gertie +you've got to spend most of your time with." + +He was so manifestly distressed and, as he hadn't been so hard on her as +she had expected and in her own heart felt that she deserved, Nora +softened at once. + +"I'll have a try." + +"That's a good girl. And I think you ought to apologize to her for what +you said just now." + +"I?" said Nora, aflame at once. "I've got nothing to apologize for. She +drove me to distraction." + +There was a moment's pause while Eddie softly damned the pipe he had +forgotten to fill, for not keeping lighted. + +"She says she won't speak to you again unless you beg her pardon." + +"Really! Does she look upon that as a great hardship?" + +"My dear! We're twelve miles from the nearest store. We're thrown upon +each other for the entire winter. Last year there was a bad blizzard, +and we didn't see a soul outside the farm for six weeks. Unless we learn +to put up with one another's whims, life becomes a perfect hell." + +Nora stopped her work and set down her iron. + +"You can go on talking all night, Eddie, I'll never apologize. Time +after time when she sneered at me till my blood boiled, I've kept my +temper. She deserved ten times more than I said. Do you think I'm going +to knuckle under to a woman like that?" + +"Remember she's my wife, Nora." + +"Why didn't you marry a lady?" + +"What the dickens do you think is the use of being a lady out here?" + +"You've degenerated since you left England." + +"Now look here, my dear, I'll just tell you what Gertie did for me. She +was a waitress in Winnipeg at the Minnedosa Hotel, and she was making +money. She knew what the life was on a farm--much harder than anything +she'd been used to in the city--but she accepted all the hardship of it +and the monotony of it, because--because she loved me." + +"She thought it a good match. You were a gentleman." + +"Fiddledidee! She had the chance of much better men than me. And +when----" + +"Such men as Frank Taylor, no doubt." + +"And when I lost my harvest two years running, do you know what she did? +She went back to the hotel in Winnipeg for the winter, so as to carry +things on till the next harvest. And at the end of the winter, she gave +me every cent she'd earned to pay the interest of my mortgage and the +installments on the machinery." + +Nora had been more moved by this recital than she would have cared to +confess. She turned away her head to hide that her eyes had filled with +tears. After all, a woman who could show such devotion as that, and to +her brother---- Yes, she would try again. + +"Very well: I'll apologize. But leave me alone with her. I--I don't +think I could do it even before you, Eddie." + +"Fine! That's a good girl. I'll go and tell her." + +Nora felt repaid in advance for any sacrifice to her pride as he beamed +on her, all the look of worriment gone. She was once more busy at her +ironing-board, bending low over her work to hide her confusion, when he +returned with Gertie. A glance at her sister-in-law told her that there +was to be no unbending in that quarter until she had made proper +atonement. There was little conciliatory about that sullen face. + +However, she made an effort to speak lightly until, once Eddie had taken +his departure, she could make her apology. + +"I've been getting on famously with the ironing." + +"Have you?" + +"This is one of the few things I _can_ do all right." + +"Any child can iron." + +"Well, I'll be going down to the shed," said her brother uneasily. + +"What for?" said Gertie quickly. + +"I want to see about mending that door. It hasn't been closing right." + +"I thought Nora had something to say to me." + +"So she has: that's what I'm going to leaves you alone for." + +"I like that. She insults me before everybody and then, when she's going +to apologize, it's got to be private. No, thank you." + +"What do you mean, Gertie?" asked Nora. + +"You sent Ed in to tell me you was goin' to apologize for what you'd +said, didn't you?" + +"And I'm ready to: for peace and quietness." + +"Well, what you said was before the men, and it's before the men you +must say you're sorry." + +"How can you ask me to do such a thing!" cried Nora indignantly. + +"Don't be rough on her, Gertie," pleaded her husband. "No one likes +apologizing." + +"People who don't like apologizing should keep a better lookout on their +tongue." + +"It can't do you any good to make her eat humble pie before the men." + +"Perhaps it won't do _me_ any good, but it'll do _her_ good!" + +"Gertie, don't be cruel. I'm sorry if I lost my temper just now, and +said anything that hurt you. But please don't make me humiliate myself +before the others." + +"I've made up my mind," said Gertie, folding her arms across her breast, +"so it's no good talking." + +"Don't you see that it's bad enough to have to beg your pardon before +Eddie?" + +"Good Lord!" said Gertie irritably, "why can't you call him Ed like the +rest of us. 'Eddie' sounds so sappy." + +"I've called him Eddie all my life: it's what our mother called him," +said Nora sadly. + +"Oh, it's all of a piece. You do everything you can to make yourself +different from all of us." + +She stalked over to the window and stood with folded arms looking out +toward the wood-pile on which Reggie was seated--it is to be presumed +having a moment's respite after his arduous labors. + +"No, I don't," pleaded Nora. "At least I don't mean to. Why won't you +give me any credit for trying to do my best to please you?" + +"That's neither here nor there." She suddenly wheeled about, facing them +both. "Go and fetch the men, Ed, and then I'll hear what she's got to +say." + +"No, I won't, I won't, I won't!" cried Nora furiously. "You drive me too +far." + +"You won't beg my pardon?" demanded Gertie threateningly. If she wished +to drive Nora beside herself, she accomplished her purpose. + +"I said I could teach you manners," she gave a hysterical laugh, "I made +a mistake. I _couldn't_ teach you manners, for one can't make a silk +purse out of a sow's ear." + +"Shut up, Nora," said her brother sharply. + +"Now you must make her, Ed," said Gertie grimly. + +He replied with a despairing gesture. + +"I'm sick to death of the pair of you!" + +"I'm your wife, and I'm going to be mistress of this house--my house." + +"It's horrible to make her eat humble pie before three strange men. +You've no right to ask her to do a thing like that." + +"Are you taking her part?" demanded Gertie, her voice rising in fury. +"What's come over you since she came here. You're not the same to me as +you used to be. Why did she come here and get between us?" + +"I haven't changed." + +"Haven't I been a good wife to you? Have you ever had any complaint to +make of me?" + +"You know perfectly well I haven't." + +"As soon as your precious sister comes along, you let me be insulted. +You don't say a word to defend _me_!" + +"Darling," said her husband with grim humor, "you've said a good many +to defend yourself." + +But Gertie was not to be reached by humor, grim or otherwise. + +"I'm sick and tired of being put upon. You must choose between us," she +said, with an air of finality. + +"What on earth do you mean?" + +"If you don't make her apologize right now before the hired men, I'm +quit of you." + +"I can't make her apologize if she won't." + +"Then let her quit." + +"Oh, I wish I could! I wish to God I could!" said Nora wildly. + +"You know she can't do that," said Marsh roughly. "There's nowhere she +can go. I've offered her a home. You were quite willing, when I +suggested having her here." + +"I was willing because I thought she'd make herself useful. We can't +afford to feed folks who don't earn their keep. We have to work for our +money, we do." + +"I didn't know you grudged me the little I eat," said Nora bitterly. "I +wonder if I should begrudge it to you, if I were in your place." + +"Look here, it's no good talking. I'm not going to turn her out. As long +as she wants a home, the farm's open to her. And she's welcome to +everything I've got." + +"Then you choose her?" demanded Gertie. + +"Choose her? I don't know what you're talking about!" Easy-going as he +was, he was beginning to show signs of irritation. + +"I said you'd got to choose between us. Very well, let her stay. I +earned my own living before, and I can earn it again. _I'm_ going." + +"Don't talk such nonsense," said Marsh violently. + +"You think I don't mean it? D'you think I'm going to stay here and be +put upon? Why should I?" + +"Don't you--love me any more?" + +"Haven't I shown that I love you? Have you forgotten, Ed?" + +"We've gone through so much together, darling," he said huskily. + +"Yes, we have that," she said in a softened tone. + +"Won't you forgive her, for--for my sake?" + +Gertie's face hardened once more. + +"No, I can't. You're a man, you don't understand. If she won't +apologize, either she must go or I shall." + +"I can't lose you, Gertie. What should I do without you?" + +"I guess you know me well enough by now. When I say a thing, I do it." + +"Eddie!" + +Nora had buried her face in her hands. He looked at her a moment without +speaking. + +"She's my wife. After all, if it weren't for her I should be hiring out +now at forty dollars a month." + +Nora lifted her face. For a long moment, brother and sister exchange a +sad regard. + +"Very well," she said huskily, "I'll do what you want." + +He made one last appeal: + +"You _do_ insist on it, Gertie?" + +"Of course I do." + +"I'll go and call the men." He looked vacantly about the room, searching +for his hat. + +"Frank Taylor needn't come, need he?" asked Nora timidly. + +"Why not?" + +"He's going away almost immediately. It can't matter about him, surely." + +"Then why are you so particular about it?" + +"The others are English----" She knew she had made an unfortunate speech +the moment the words had left her lips and hastened to modify it. "He'll +like to see me humiliated. He looks upon women as dirt. He's---- Oh, I +don't know, but not before him!" + +"It'll do you a world of good to be taken down a peg or two, my lady." + +"Oh, how heartless, how cruel!" + +"Go on, Ed. I want to get on with my work." + +"Why do you humiliate me like this?" asked Nora after the door had +closed on her brother. Gertie had seated herself, very erect and +judicial, in one of the rocking chairs. + +"You came here and thought you knew everything, I guess. But you didn't +know who you'd got to deal with." + +"I was a stranger and homeless. If you'd had any kindness, you wouldn't +have treated me so. I _wanted_ to be fond of you." + +"You," scoffed Gertie. "You despised me before you ever saw me." + +Nora made a despairing gesture. Even now the men might be on the way, +but she had a more unselfish motive for wishing to placate Gertie. +Anything rather than bring that look of pain she had seen for the first +time that day into her brother's eyes. She staked everything on one last +appeal. + +"Oh, Gertie, can't we be friends? Can't we let bygones be bygones and +start afresh? We both love Eddie--Ed I mean. He's your husband and he's +the only relation I have in the world. Won't you let me be a _real_ +sister to you?" + +"It's rather late to say all that now." + +"But it's not too late, is it?" Nora went on eagerly. "I don't know +what I do that irritates you so. I can see how competent you are, and I +admire you so much. I know how splendid you've been with Eddie. How +you've stuck to him through thick and thin. You've done everything for +him." + +Gertie struck her hands violently together and sprang from her chair. + +"Oh, don't go on patronizing me. I shall go crazy!" + +"Patronizing you?" + +"You talk to me as if I were a naughty child. You might be a school +teacher." Nora wrung her hands. "It seems perfectly hopeless!" + +"Even when you're begging my pardon," Gertie went on, "you put on airs. +You ask me to forgive you as if you was doing _me_ a favor!" + +"I must have a most unfortunate manner." Nora laughed hysterically. + +"Don't you dare laugh at me," said Gertie furiously. + +"Don't make yourself ridiculous, then." + +"Did you think I would ever forget what you wrote to Ed before I married +him?" + +"What I wrote? I don't know what you mean." + +"Oh, don't you? You told him it would be a disgrace if he married me. +He was a gentleman and I---- Oh, you spread yourself out!" + +"And he showed you that letter," said Nora slowly. "Now I understand," +she added to herself. "Still," she went on, looking Gertie directly in +the face, "I had a perfect right to try and prevent the marriage before +it took place. But after it happened, I only wanted to make the best of +it. If you had _this_ grudge against me, why did you let me come here!" + +"Oh," said Gertie moodily, "Ed wanted it, and it was lonely enough +sometimes with the men away all day and no one to say a word to. But I +can't bear it," she almost screamed, "when Ed talks to you about the old +country and all the people I don't know anything about!" + +"Then you _are_ jealous?" + +"It's my house and I'm mistress here. I won't be put upon. What did you +want to come here for, upsetting everybody? Till you came, I never had a +word with Ed. Oh, I hate you, I hate you!" she finished in a sort of +ecstasy. + +"Gertie!" + +"You've given me my chance," said Gertie with set teeth; "I'm going to +take it. I'm going to take you down a peg or two, young woman." + +"You're doing all you can to drive me away from here." + +"You don't think it's any very wonderful thing to have you, do you? You +talk of getting a job," she went on scornfully. "You! You couldn't get +one. I know something about that, my girl. You! What can you do? +Nothing." + +Suddenly, from outside, they heard Frank Taylor's laugh. Nora winced as +if she had been struck. Gertie's face was distorted with an evil smile. +She seated herself once more in the rocking chair and folded her arms +across her heaving breast. + +"Here they come: now take your punishment," she said harshly. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Nora could never after think of what followed with any feeling of +reality so far as her personal participation in the scene was concerned. +It was like watching a play in which one is interested, without being in +any degree emotionally stirred. + +She saw Gertie, erect and stern in her big chair; she saw herself, +standing behind the ironing-board, as if at a Bar of Justice, her hands +resting loosely upon it; and she saw the door open to admit her brother, +followed by Taylor and Trotter; noted that the former had discarded the +familiar overalls and was wearing a sort of pea-jacket with a fur +collar, and that her brother's face was once more sad and a little +stern. + +She had been obliged to press her handkerchief to her mouth to hide the +crooked smile that the thought: '_he_ is the executioner,' had brought +to her lips. + +Then the figures which were Gertie and her brother had exchanged some +words. + +"Where's Hornby?" + +"He's just coming." + +"Do they know what they're here for!" + +"No, I didn't tell them." + +Then the figure which was Reggie had come in with some laughing remark +about being torn away from his work, but, stopping so suddenly in the +midst of his laughter at the sight of Gertie's face that it was comical; +once more she had had to press her handkerchief to her lips. + +And all the time she knew that this Nora whom she seemed to be watching +had flushed a cruel red clear to her temples and that a funny little +pulse was beating,--oh, so fast, so fast!--way up by her cheek-bone. It +couldn't have been her heart. Her heart had never gone as fast as that. + +Then she had heard Gertie say: "Nora insulted me a while ago before all +of you and I guess she wants to apologize." + +And then Frank had said: "If you told me it was that, Ed, you wanted me +to come here for, I reckon I'd have told you to go to hell." + +"Why?" + +It must have been she who had asked the question, although she was not +conscious that her lips had moved and the voice did not seem like her +own. Her own voice was rather deep. This voice was curiously thin and +high. + +"I've got other things to do besides bothering my head about women's +quarrels." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," still in the same high tone. "I thought it +might be some kindly feeling in you." + +"Go on, Nora, we're waiting," came the voice from the big chair. + +Sour-dough! That's what those coats, such as Frank had on, were called. +She had been wondering all the time what the name was. It was only the +other day that Gertie had used the word in saying that she wished +Eddie--no, Ed--could afford a new one. What a ridiculous name for a +garment. + +"I'm sorry I was rude to you, Gertie. I apologize to you for what I +said." + +"If there's nothing more to be said, we'd better go back to our work." + +While her brother was speaking to his wife, Frank had taken a step +forward. Somehow, the smile on his face had lost all of its ordinary +mockery. + +"You didn't find that very easy to say, I reckon." + +"I'm quite satisfied." And then Gertie had dared to add: "Let this be a +lesson to you, my girl!" + +That was the last straw. The men had turned to go. In a flash she had +made up her mind. Her brother's house was no longer possible. Gertie +had, in a moment of passion, confessed that she hated her; had always +hated her in her secret heart ever since she had read that protesting +letter. What daily humiliations would she not have to endure now that +she had matched her strength against Gertie and lost! It meant one long +crucifixion of all pride and self-respect. No, it was not to be borne! + +There was one avenue of escape open, and only one. _He_ had said that he +was willing to offer a home to a woman who was willing to assume her +share of the burden of making one. It was even possible that he would be +both kind and considerate, no matter how many mistakes she made at +first, to a woman who tried to learn. Of one thing she was certain, he +would know how to see that his wife was treated with respect by all the +world. For the moment, her bleeding pride cried to her that that was the +only thing in life that was absolutely necessary. Nothing else mattered. + +"Frank, will you wait a minute?" + +"Sure. What can I do for you?" + +"I've understood that I'm not wanted here. I'm in the way. You said just +now you wanted a woman to cook and bake for you, wash and mend your +clothes, and keep your shack clean and tidy. Will I do?" + +"Sure." + +"Nora!" Her brother was shaking her by the shoulder. + +"I'm afraid you'll have to marry me." + +"I guess it _would_ be more respectable." + +"Nora, you can't mean it: you're in a temper! See here, Frank, you +mustn't pay any attention to her." + +"Shameless, that's what I call it." That was Gertie. + +"He wants a woman to look after him. He practically proposed to me half +an hour ago--didn't you?" + +"Practically." + +"Nora! You've been like cat and dog with Frank ever since you came. My +dear, you don't know what you're in for." + +"If he's willing to risk it, I am." + +"It ain't an easy life you're coming to. This farm is a palace compared +with my shack." + +"I'm not wanted here and you say you want me. If you'll take me, I'll +come." + +For what seemed an interminable moment, he had looked at her with more +gravity than she had ever seen in his face. + +"I'll take you, all right. When will you be ready? Will an hour do for +you?" + +"An hour! You're in a great hurry." She had had a funny sensation that +her knees were giving way. She had never fainted in her life. Was she +going to faint now before them all? Before Gertie? Never! Somehow she +must get out of the room and be alone a minute. + +"Why, yes. Then we can catch the three-thirty into Winnipeg. You can go +to the Y. W. C. A. for the night and we'll be buckled up in the morning. +You meant it, didn't you? You weren't just saying it as a bluff?" + +"I shall be ready in an hour." + +She had pushed Eddie gently aside and, without a glance at anyone had +walked steadily from the room. + +Once seated on the side of the bed in the room that had been hers, she +had been seized with a chill so violent that her teeth had chattered in +her head. To prevent anyone who might follow her from hearing them,--and +it was probable that her brother might come for a final remonstrance; it +was even conceivable that Gertie, herself, might be sorry for what she +had done; but no, it was she who had said she was shameless!--she got up +and locked her door and then threw herself full length on the little bed +and crammed the corner of the pillow into her mouth. + +Perhaps she was going to die. She had never really been ill in her life +and the violence of the chill frightened her. In her present +overwrought state, the thought of death was not disquieting. But +supposing she was only going to be very ill, with some long and tedious +illness that would make her a care and a burden for weeks? She recalled +the unremitting care which she had had to give Miss Wickham, and +pictured Gertie's grudging ministrations at her sick-bed. Anything +rather than that! She must manage to get to Winnipeg. Once away from the +house, nothing mattered. + +But after a few moments the violence of the chill, which was of course +purely nervous in its origin, subsided perceptibly. Nora rose and began +to busy herself with her packing. Fortunately her wardrobe was small. +She had no idea how long she had been lying on the bed. + +She had just folded the last garment and was about to close the lid of +her trunk, when there came a knock at the door. + +"Who is it?" + +"It's me," said Frank's voice. "The team is at the door. Are you ready?" + +For reply, Nora threw open the door and pointed to her box. + +"I have only to put on my hat. Will you be good enough to fasten that +for me? Here is the key." + +While he knelt on the floor, locking and strapping it, she gave a +careful look at herself in the mirror, while putting on her hat. She +congratulated herself that she had not been crying. Aside from the fact +that she looked pale and tired, there was nothing in her face to suggest +that she had had a crisis of the nerves: certainly no look of defeat for +Gertie to gloat over. Would they all be there to witness her retreat? +Well, let them: no one could say that she had not gone out with flying +colors. She turned, with a smile to meet Frank's gaze. + +"That's right," he said approvingly. "You look fine. Say," he added, +"I'm afraid I'll have to have Reggie up to give me a lift with this +trunk of yours. I don't know what you can have in it unless it's a +stove, and we've got one at home already. It'll be all right once I get +it on my back." + +He had taken just the right tone. His easy reference to 'home' and to +their common possession of even so humble a piece of furniture as a +stove, as if they were an old married couple returning home after paying +a visit, had a restorative effect on nerves still a little jangly. That +was the only way to look at it: In a thoroughly commonplace manner. As +he had said himself, it was a business undertaking. She gave a perfectly +natural little laugh. + +"No, I haven't a stove; only a few books. I didn't realize how heavy +they were. I'm sorry." + +"I'm not," he said heartily. "You can read to me evenings. I guess a +little more book-learning'll polish me up a bit and I'll be right glad +of the chance. You're not afraid to stand at the horses' heads, are you, +while Reg runs up here?" + +"No, of course not." + +She could hear Gertie in the pantry as she crossed the living-room. She +was grateful to her for not coming out to make any show of leave-taking. +Having sent Reggie on his errand, she stood stroking the horses' soft +noses while waiting for the men to return. Just as they reached the +door, Eddie came slowly over to her from the barn. His face was haggard. +He looked older than she had ever seen him. + +"Nora," he said in a low tone, "I beg you, before it is too late----" + +"Please, dear," she whispered, her hand on his, "you only make it +harder." + +"I'll write, Eddie, oh, in a few days, and tell you all about my new +home," she called gayly, as Frank, having disposed of her trunk in the +back of the wagon, lifted her in. Her brother turned without a word to +the others and went into the house. + +As she felt herself for the second time in those arms, the reaction +came. + +"Eddie, Eddie!" + +But, strangled by sobs, her voice hardly carried to the man on the seat +in front of her. + +As he sprang in, Frank gave the horses a flick with the whip. The +afternoon air was keen and the high-spirited team needed no further +urging. They swung out of the farm gate at a pace that made Reggie cling +to the seat. + +When he had them once more in hand, Taylor turned his head slightly. + +"All right back there?" he called, without looking at her. + +She managed a "Yes." + +She had only just recovered her self-control as they drove into +Winnipeg. As they drew up in front of the principal hotel, Taylor turned +the reins once more over to Reggie, and, vaulting lightly from his seat, +held out his hand and helped her to alight. + +"You'd better go into the ladies' parlor for a minute or two. I'm +feeling generous and am going to blow Reg to a parting drink. I'll come +after you in a minute and take you to the Y. W. C. A." + +"Very well." + +"Here," he called, as she turned toward the door marked Ladies' +Entrance, "aren't you going to say good-by to Reg?" + +For a moment she almost lost her hardly regained self-control. To say +good-by to Reg was the final wrench. She had known him in those +immeasurably far-off days at home. It was saying good-by to England. She +held out her hand without speaking. + +"Good-by, Miss Marsh," he said warmly, "and good luck." + +A quarter of an hour later Taylor came to her in the stuffy little +parlor of which she was the solitary tenant. In silence they made their +way to the building occupied by the Y. W. C. A. + +"You have money?" he asked as they reached the door. + +"Plenty, thanks." + +"Do you want me to come in with you?" + +"It isn't necessary." + +"What time shall I come for you to-morrow?" + +"At whatever time you choose." + +"Shall we say ten, then? Or eleven might be better. I've got to get the +license, you know, and look up the parson." + +"Very good; at eleven." + +"Good night, Nora." + +"Good night, Frank." + +Nora's first impulse on being shown to a room was to go at once to bed. +Mind and body both cried out for rest. But she remembered that she had +eaten nothing since noon. She would need all her strength for the +morrow. She supposed they would start at once for Taylor's farm after +they were married. + +Good God, since the world began had any woman ever trapped herself so +completely as she had done! But she must not think of that. + +She had not the most remote idea where the farm was. All she remembered +to have heard was that it was west of Winnipeg, miles farther than her +brother's. One couldn't drive to it, it was necessary to take the train. +But whether it was a day's journey or a week's journey, she had never +been interested enough to ask. After all, what could it possibly matter +where it was; the farther away from everybody and everything she had +ever known, the better. + +The sound of a gong in the hall below recalled her thoughts to the +matter of supper. She went down to a bare little dining-room, only +partly filled, and accepted silently the various dishes set before her +all at one time. She had never seen a dinner--or supper, they probably +called it--served in such a haphazard fashion. + +Even at Gertie's--she smiled wanly at the thought that since the +morning she no longer thought of it as her brother's, but as +Gertie's--while such a thing as a dinner served in courses had probably +never been heard of by anyone but Reggie, her brother and herself, the +few simple, well-cooked dishes bore some relation to each other, and the +supply was always ample. Gertie was justly proud of her reputation as a +good provider. + +But here there was a sort of mockery of abundance. Dabs of vegetables, +sauces, preserves, meats, both hot and cold, in cheap little china +dishes fairly elbowed each other for room. It would have dulled a keener +appetite than poor Nora's. + +Having managed to swallow a cup of weak tea and a piece of heavy bread, +she went once more to her room and sat down by the window which looked +out on what she took to be one of the principal streets of the town. +Tired as she still was, she felt not the slightest inclination for +sleep. The thought of lying there, wakeful, in the dark, filled her with +terror. For the first time in her life, Nora was frightened. She pressed +her face against the window to watch the infrequent passers-by. Surely +none of them could be as unhappy as she. Like a hideous refrain, over +and over in her head rang the words: + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +At length, unable to bear it any longer, the now empty street offering +no distraction, she undressed and went to bed, hoping for relief in +sleep. But sleep would not be wooed. She tossed from side to side, +always hearing those maddening words: + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +All sorts of impractical schemes tormented her feverish brain. She would +appeal to the manager of the place. She was a woman. She would +understand. She would do any work, anything, for her bare keep. Take +care of the rooms, wait on table, anything. Then the thought came to her +of how Gertie would gloat to hear--and she would be sure to do so, +things always got out--that she was now doing _her_ old work. No, she +could not bear that. + +Perhaps, if she started out very early, she could get a position in some +shop. There must be plenty of shops in a place the size of Winnipeg. But +what would she say when asked what experience she had had? No; that, +too, seemed hopeless. + +As a last resort, she thought of throwing herself on Taylor's mercy. She +would explain to him that she had been mad with anger; that she hadn't +in the least realized what she was doing; that her only thought had been +to defy Gertie in the hour of her triumph. Surely no man since the days +of the cave-men would prize an unwilling wife. She would humbly confess +that she had used him and beg his pardon, if necessary, on her knees. + +But what if he refused to release her from her promise? And what if he +did release her? What then? There still remained the unsolvable problem +of what she was to do. Her brother had told her that positions in +Winnipeg during the winter months were impossible to get. Gertie had +taunted her with the same fact. She had less than six dollars in the +world. After she had paid her bill she would have little more than four. +It was hopeless. + +"Trapped, trapped, trapped, by your own mad temper, trapped!" + +And then more plans; each one kindling fresh hope in her heart only to +have it extinguished, like a torch thrown into a pool, when they proved, +on analysis, each to be more impracticable than its predecessor. And +then, the refrain. And then, more plans. + +It was a haggard and weary-looking bride that presented herself to the +expectant bridegroom the next morning. The great circles under her eyes +told the story of a sleepless night. But nothing in Taylor's manner +betrayed that he noticed that she was looking otherwise than as usual. + +While she was dressing, Nora had come to a final decision. Quite calmly +and unemotionally she would explain the situation to him. She would +point out the impossibility, the absurdity even, of keeping an agreement +entered into, by one of the parties at least, in hot blood, and +thoroughly repented of, on later and saner reflection. In the remote +event of this unanswerable argument failing to move him, she would +appeal to his honor as a man not to hold her, a woman, to so unfair a +bargain. She had even prepared the well-balanced sentences with which +she would begin. + +But as she stood with her cold hand in his warm one, he forestalled her +by exhibiting, not without a certain boyish pride, the marriage license +and the plain gold band which was to bind her. If these familiar and +rather commonplace objects had been endowed with some evil magic, they +could not have deprived her of the power of speech more effectively. + +Without a protest, she permitted herself to be led to the waiting +carriage, provided in honor of the occasion. It seemed but a moment +later that she found herself being warmly embraced by a motherly +looking woman, who, it transpired, was the wife of the clergyman who had +just performed the ceremony. + +From the parsonage they drove directly to the station. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The journey had seemed endless: it was already nightfall when they +arrived at the town of Prentice, where they were to get off and drive +some twelve miles farther to her new home. And yet, endless and +unspeakably wearying as it was, her heart contracted to find that it was +at an end. + +She realized now how comfortable, even luxurious, her trip across the +Continent had been by comparison. Then, she had traveled in a Pullman. +This, she learned, was called a day-coach. Her husband did everything in +his power to mitigate the rigors of the trip. He made a pillow for her +with his coat, bought her fruits, candies and magazines from the +train-boy, until she protested. Best of all, he divined and respected +her disinclination for conversation. At intervals during the day he left +her to go into the smoking-car to enjoy his pipe. + +The view from the window was, on the whole, rather monotonous. But it +would have had to be varied indeed to match the mental pictures that +Nora's flying thoughts conjured up for her. + +The dead level of her life at Tunbridge Wells had been a curious +preparation for the violent changes of the last few months. How often +when walking in the old-world garden with Miss Wickham she had had the +sensation of stifling, oppressed by those vine-covered walls, and +inwardly had likened herself to a prisoner. There were no walls now to +confine her. Clear away to the sunset it was open. And yet she was more +of a prisoner than she had ever been. And now she wore a fetter, albeit +of gold, on her hand. + +It had been her habit to think of herself with pity as friendless in +those days; forgetful of the good doctor and his wife, Agnes Pringle and +even Mr. Wynne, not to speak of her humbler friends, the gardener's wife +and children, and the good Kate. Well, she was being punished for it +now. It would be hard, indeed, to imagine a more friendless condition +than hers. Rushing onward, farther and farther into the wilderness to +make for herself a home miles from any human habitation; no woman, in +all probability, to turn to in case of need. And, crowning loneliness, +having ever at her side a man with whom she had been on terms of open +enmity up to a few short hours before! + +From time to time she stole furtive glances at him as he sat at her +side; and once, when he had put his head back against the seat and +pulled his broad-brimmed hat over his eyes and was seemingly asleep, she +turned her head and gave him a long appraising look. + +How big and strong and self-reliant he was. He was just the type of man +who would go out into the wilderness and conquer it. And, although she +had scoffed at his statement when he made it, she knew that he had +brains. Yes, although his lack of education and refinement must often +touch her on the raw, he was a man whom any woman could respect in her +heart. + +And when they clashed, as clash they must until she had tamed him a +little, she would need every weapon in her woman's arsenal to save her +from utter route; she realized that. But then, these big, rough men were +always the first to respond to any appeal to their natural chivalry. If +she found herself being worsted, there was always that to fall back +upon. + +If from some other world Miss Wickham could see her, how she must be +smiling! Nora, herself, smiled at the thought. And at the thought of +Agnes Pringle's outraged astonishment if she were to meet her husband +now, before she had toned him down, as she meant to do. She recalled the +chill finality of her friend's tone when in animadverting on the +doctor's unfortunate assistant she had said: "But, my dear, of course it +would be impossible to marry anyone who wasn't a gentleman." + +If by some Arabian Night's trick she could suddenly transport herself +and the sleeping Frank to Miss Pringle's side, she felt that that +excellent lady's astonishment at seeing her descend from the Magic +Carpet would be as nothing in comparison to her astonishment in being +presented to Nora's husband. + +Her mind had grown accustomed already to thinking of him as her husband; +not, as yet, to thinking of herself as his wife. + +At supper time they went into a car ahead, where Frank ate with his +accustomed appetite and Nora pecked daintily at the cold chicken. + +And now they were at Prentice. For some minutes before arriving, Frank, +who had asked her a few moments before to change places with him, had +been looking anxiously out of the window, his nose flattened against the +glass. As they drew up to the station platform, he gave a shout. + +"Good! There's old man Sharp. Luckily I remembered it was the day he +generally drove over and wired him." + +"What for?" + +"So that he could drive us home. He's a near neighbor; lives only about +a mile beyond us. He's married, too. So you won't be entirely without a +woman to complain to about me." + +"I should hardly be likely to do that," said Nora stiffly. + +"Bless your heart! I know you wouldn't: you're not that sort." + +"I hope she's not much like Gertie." + +"Gosh, no! A different breed of cats altogether." + +"Well, that's something to be thankful for." + +"This is Mr. Sharp; Sid, shake hands with Mrs. Frank Taylor." + +It was the first time that she had heard herself called by her new name. +It came as a distinct and not altogether pleasant shock. + +Once again her husband lifted her in his strong arms to the back seat of +the rough-looking wagon and saw to it that she was warmly wrapped up, +for, although there was little or no snow to be seen at Prentice, the +night air was sharply chill. She moved over a little to make room for +him at her side; but without appearing to notice her action, he jumped +lightly onto the front seat beside his friend. + +"Let 'em go, Sid. Everything all comfortable?" he asked, turning to +Nora. + +"Quite, thanks." + +Throughout the long cold drive, they exchanged no further word. Frank +and Sid seemed to have much to say to each other about their respective +farms. Nora gathered from what she could hear that Sharp had played the +part of a good neighbor, during her husband's enforced absence, in +having a general oversight of his house. + +"You'll find the fence's down in quite a few places. I allowed to fix it +myself when I had the spare time, but when I heard that you was comin' +back so soon, I just naturally let her go." + +"Sure, that was right. It'll give me something to do right at home. I +don't want to leave Mrs. Taylor too much alone until she gets a little +used to it. She's always been used to a lot of company," Nora heard him +say. + +She smiled to herself in the darkness and felt a little warm feeling of +gratitude. She was right in her estimate. This man would be tractable +enough, after all. His attitude toward women, which, had formerly so +enraged her, was only on the surface. An affectation assumed to annoy +her when they were always quarreling. How foolish she had been not to +read him more accurately. For the first time, she felt a little return +of self-confidence. She would bring this hazardous experiment to a +successful conclusion, after all. It was really failure that she had +most feared. + +But her heart sank within her once more when at last they drew up in +front of a long, low cabin built of logs. Mr. Sharp had not overstated +the dilapidated state of the fence. It sagged in half a dozen places and +one hinge of the gate was broken. Altogether it was as dreary a picture +as one could well imagine. The little cabin had the utterly forlorn look +of a house that has long been unoccupied. + +"Woa there! Stand still, can't you?" said Sharp, tugging at the reins. + +"A tidy pull, that last bit," said Frank. "Trail's very bad." + +"Stand still, you brute! Wait a minute, Mrs. Taylor." + +"I guess she wants to get home." + +Taylor vaulted lightly from his seat and, without waiting to help Nora, +ran up the path to the house. As she stood up, trying to disentangle +herself from the heavy lap-robe, she could hear a key turn noisily in a +lock. With a jerk, he threw the door wide open. + +"Wait a bit and I'll light the lamp, if I can find where the hell it's +got to," he called. "This shack's about two foot by three, and I'm +blamed if I can ever find a darned thing!" + +Nora smiled to herself in the darkness. + +She got down unassisted this time. Under the bright and starry sky she +could see a long stretch of prairie, fading away, without a break into +the darkness. A long way off she thought she could distinguish a light, +but she could not be certain. + +"I'll give you a hand with the trunk," called Sharp, laboriously +climbing out of the wagon. "Woa there," as the mare pawed restlessly on +the ground. + +"I'll come and help you if you'll wait a bit. Come on in, Nora." + +Nora hunted round among the numerous parcels underneath the seat until +she found a meshed bag containing some bread, butter and other +necessaries they had bought on the way to the station. Then she walked +slowly up the path to her home. + +She had the feeling that she was still a free agent as long as she +remained outside. Once her foot had crossed the threshold----! It was +like getting into an ice-cold bath. She dreaded the plunge. However, it +must be taken. He was standing stock-still in the middle of the room as +she reached the door, his heavy brows drawn together. + +"I'm quite stiff after that long drive." + +The moment the words were out of her mouth she wished to recall them. +This was no way to begin. It was actually as if she had been trying to +excuse herself for not coming more quickly when she was called. His +whole attitude of frowning impatience showed that he had expected her to +come at the sound of his voice. His face cleared at once. + +"Are you cold?" he asked with a certain anxiety. + +"No, not a bit; I was so well wrapped up." + +"Well, it's freezing pretty hard. But, you see, it's your first winter +and you won't feel the cold like we do?" + +"How odd," said Nora. "I'll just bring some of the things in." She had +an odd feeling that she didn't want to be alone with him just now, and +said the first thing that entered her head. + +"Don't touch the trunk, it's too heavy for you." + +"Oh, I'm as strong as a horse." + +"Don't _touch_ it." + +"I won't," she laughed. + +He brushed by her and went on out to the rig, returning almost instantly +with an arm full of parcels. + +"We could all do with a cup of tea. Just have a look at the stove. It +won't take two shakes to light a fire." + +"It seems hardly worth while; it's so late." + +"Oh, light the fire, my girl, and don't talk about it," he said +good-humoredly. + +On her knees before the stove, with her face as flushed as if it were +already glowing, Nora raked away at the ashes. Through the open doorway +she could see her husband and Mr. Sharp unfasten the trunk from the back +of the wagon and start with it toward the house. + +"This trunk of yours ain't what you might call light, Mrs. Taylor," said +Sharp good-naturedly as he stepped over the threshold. + +"You see it holds everything I own in the world," said Nora lightly. + +"I guess it don't do that," laughed her husband. "Since this morning, +you own a half share in a hundred and sixty acres of as good land as +there is in the Province of Manitoba, and a mighty good shack, if I did +build it all myself." + +"To say nothing of a husband," retorted Nora. + +"Where do you want it put?" asked Sharp. + +"It 'ud better go in the next room right away. We don't want to be +falling over it." + +As they were carrying it in, Nora, with a rather helpless air, carried a +couple of logs and a handful of newspapers over from the pile in the +corner. + +"Here, you'll never be able to light a fire with logs like that. Where's +that darned ax? I'll chop 'em for you. I guess you'll have plenty to do +getting the shack tidy." + +After a little searching, he found the ax back of the wood-pile and set +himself to splitting the logs. In the meantime, Sharp, who had made +another pilgrimage to the rig, returned carrying his friend's grip and +gun. + +"Now, that's real good of you, Sid." + +"Get any shooting down at Dyer, Frank?" + +"There was a rare lot of prairie chickens round, but I didn't get out +more than a couple of days." + +"Well," said Sharp, taking off his fur cap and scratching his head, "I +guess I'll be gettin' back home now." + +"Oh, stay and have a cup of tea, won't you?" + +"Do," said Nora, seconding the invitation. + +She had taken quite a fancy to this rough, good-natured man. In spite of +his straggly beard and unkempt appearance, there was a vague suggestion +of the soldier about him. Besides, she had a vague feeling that she +would like to postpone his departure as long as she could. + +"I hope you won't be offended if I say that I would take you for +English," she said, smiling brightly on him. + +"You're right, ma'am, I am English." + +"And a soldier?" + +"I was a non-commissioned officer in a regiment back home, ma'am," he +said, greatly pleased. "But why should I be offended?" + +Nora and her husband exchanged glances. + +"It's this way," Frank laughed. "Gertie, that's Nora's brother's +wife--down where I've been working--ain't very partial to the English. I +guess my wife's been rather fed up with her talk." + +"Oh, I see. But, thank you all the same, and you, too, Mrs. Taylor, I +don't think I'll stay. It's getting late and the mare'll get cold." + +"Put her in the shed." + +"No, I think I'll be toddling. My missus says I was to give you her +compliments, Mrs. Taylor, and she'll be round to-morrow to see if +there's anything you want." + +"That's very kind of her. Thank you very much." + +"Sid lives where you can see that light just about a mile from here, +Nora," explained Frank. "Mrs. Sharp'll be able to help you a lot at +first." + +"Oh, well, we've been here for thirteen years and we know the ways of +the country by now," deprecated Mr. Sharp. + +"Nora's about as green as a new dollar bill, I guess." + +"I fear that's too true," Nora admitted smilingly. + +"There's a lot you can't be expected to know at first," protested their +neighbor. "I'll say good night, then, and good luck." + +"Well, good night then, Sid, if you _won't_ stay. And say, it was real +good of you to come and fetch us in the rig." + +"Oh, that's all right. Good night to you, Mrs. Taylor." + +"Goodnight." + +Pulling his cap well down over his ears, Mr. Sharp took his departure. +In the silence they could hear him drive away. + +Nora went over to the stove again and made a pretense of examining the +fire, conscious all the time that her husband was looking at her +intently. + +"I guess it must seem funny to you to hear him call you Mrs. Taylor, +eh?" + +"No. He isn't the first person to do so. The clergyman's wife did, you +remember." + +"That's so. How are you getting on with that fire?" + +"All right." + +"I guess I'll get some water; I'll only be a few minutes." + +He took a pail and went out. Nora could hear him pumping down in the +yard. Getting up hurriedly from her knees before the stove, she took up +the lamp and held it high above her head. + +This untidy, comfortless, bedraggled room was now hers, her home! She +would not have believed that any human habitation could be so hopelessly +dreary. + +The walls were not even sealed, as at the brother's. Tacked, here and +there, against the logs were pictures cut from illustrated papers, +unframed, just as they were. The furniture, with the exception of the +inevitable rocking-chair, worn and shabby from hard use, had apparently +been made by Frank, himself, out of old packing boxes. The table had +been fashioned by the same hand out of similar materials. On a shelf +over the rusty stove stood a few battered pots and pans; evidently the +entire kitchen equipment. There were two doors, one by which she had +entered; the other, leading supposedly into another room. The one window +was small and low. Even in this light she could see that a spider had +spun a huge web across it. In the dark corners of the room all sorts of +objects seemed to be piled without any pretense of order. + +She lowered the lamp and listened. Yes, she could still hear the pump. +With a furtive, guilty air she hurried to complete her examination +before he should surprise her. + +One of the corners contained a battered suitcase and a nondescript pile +of old clothes, the other was piled high with yellowing copies of what +she saw was the Winnipeg _Free Press_ and a few old magazines. + +"The library!" she said bitterly, and was surprised to find that she had +spoken aloud. Insane people did that, she had heard. Was she----? + +She ran over to a shelf that had escaped her notice, and the ill-fitting +lamp chimney rattled as she moved. It was stacked high with the same +empty syrup cans that at Gertie's did the duty of flower-pots. But these +held flour, now quite mouldy, and various other staple supplies all +spoiled and useless. She started to say "the larder," but, remembering +in time, put her hand over her lips that she might only think it. + +And now she had come to that other door. She must see what was there. + +"Having a look at the shack?" + +She gave a stifled scream and for a moment turned so pale that he +hastily set down his pail and went over to her. + +"I guess you're all tuckered out," he said kindly. "No wonder. You've +had quite a little excitement the last day or two." + +With a tremendous effort, Nora recovered her self-control. She walked +steadily over to one of the packing-box stools and sat down. + +"It was silly of me, but you don't know how you startled me. Don't think +I usually have nerves, but--but the place was strange last night and I +didn't sleep very well." + +"Do you mind if I open the door a moment?" she asked after a short +pause. "It isn't really cold and it looks so beautiful outside. One +can't see anything out of the window, you know, it's so cobwebby. I must +clean it--to-morrow." + +Try as she would, her voice faltered on the last word. + +She threw open the door and stood a moment looking out into the bright +Canadian night brilliant with stars. It was all so big, so open, so +free--and so lonely! You could fairly hear the stillness. But she must +not think of that. Ah, there was the light that she had been told was +the Sharp's farm. Somehow, it brought her comfort. But even as she +watched, the light went out. She came in and closed the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +He was sitting on one of the stools, pipe in mouth, reading a newspaper +he had already read in the train. + +"Well, what do you think of the shack?" + +"I don't know." + +"I built it with my own hands. Every one of them logs was a tree I cut +down myself. You wait till morning and I'll show you how they're joined +together, at the corners. There's some neat work there, my girl, I +guess." + +"Yes? Oh, I was forgetting; here's the kettle." She brought it over to +him from the shelf. He filled the kettle carefully from the pail while +she stood and watched him. She took it from his hand and set it on the +stove to boil. + +"You'll find some tea in one of them cans on the shelf; leastways, there +was some there when I come away. I reckon you're hungry." + +"I don't think I am, very. I ate a very good supper on the train, you +know." + +"I'm glad you call that a good supper. I guess I could wrap up the +amount you ate in a postage stamp." + +"Well," she said with a smile, "you may be glad to learn that I haven't +a very large appetite." + +"I have, then. Where's the loaf we got in Winnipeg this afternoon?" + +"I'll get it." + +"And the butter. You'll bake to-morrow, I reckon." + +"You're a brave man--unless you've forgotten my first attempt at +Eddie's," she said with a laugh as she took the loaf and butter from the +bag. + +For some reason her mood had completely changed. All her confidence in +being perfectly able to take care of herself had returned. She had been +frightened, badly frightened a moment ago at nothing. Nerves, nothing +more. Nerves were queer things. It was because she hadn't slept last +night. She was such a good sleeper naturally that a wakeful night +affected her more than it did most people. The cool night air had +completely restored her. + +She hunted about until she found a knife, and with the loaf in one hand +and the knife poised in the air asked: + +"Shall I cut you some?" + +"Yep." + +"Please." + +"Please what?" + +"Yep, please," she said with a gay smile. + +"Oh!" he growled. + +Still smiling, she cut several slices of bread and buttered them. Going +to the shelf, she found the teapot and shook some tea into it from one +of the cans, measuring it carefully with her eye. His momentary ill +humor, caused by her correcting him, vanished as he watched her. + +"I guess it's about time you took your hat and coat off," he said with a +chuckle. + +As a matter of fact, she was not conscious that they were still on. +Without a word, she took them off and, having given her coat a little +shake and a pat, looked about her for a place to put them. She ended +finally by putting them both on the kitchen chair. + +"You ain't terribly talkative for a woman, are you, my girl?" + +"I haven't anything to say for the moment," said Nora. + +"Well, I guess it's better to have a wife as talks too little than a +wife as talks too much." + +"I suppose absolute perfection is rare--in women, poor wretches," she +said in the old ironic tone she had always used toward him while he was +her brother's hired man. + +"What's that?" he said sharply. + +"I was only amusing myself with a reflection." + +He checked an angry retort, and striding over to a nail in the wall, +took off his coat and hung it up. Somehow, he looked larger than ever in +his gray sweater. A sense of comfort and unaccustomed well-being +restored him to good humor. Throwing himself into the rocker, he +stretched out his long legs luxuriantly. + +"I guess there's no place like home. You get a bit fed up with hiring +out. Ed was O. K., I reckon, but it ain't like being your own boss." + +"I should think it wouldn't be," said Nora quietly. + +"Where does that door go?" she asked presently. + +"That? Oh, into the bedroom. Like to have a look?" + +"No." + +"No what?" he said quickly. + +Nora turned from the shelf where she had been contriving a place to put +the things they had brought from the town, and looked at him +inquiringly. His face was grave, but a twinkle in his eye betrayed him. +She blushed charmingly to the roots of her hair, but her laugh was +perfectly frank and good-humored. "I beg your pardon. I was so occupied +with arranging my pantry that I forgot my manners. No, _thank you_." + +"One can't be too careful about these important things," he said with +rather heavy humor. "When I built this shack," he went on proudly--but +the pride was the pride of possession, not of achievement--"I fixed it +up so as it would do when I got married. Sid Sharp asked me what in hell +I wanted to divide it up in half for, but I guess women like little +luxuries like that." + +"Like what?" + +"Like having a room to sleep in and a room to live in." + +"Here's the bread and butter," said Nora abruptly. "Will you have some +syrup?" + +"S-u-r-e." He got up out of the rocking chair and pulling one of the +stools up to the table, sat down. + +"The water ought to be boiling by now; what about milk?" + +"That's one of the things you'll have to learn to do without till I can +afford to buy a cow." + +"I can't drink tea without milk." + +"You try. Say, can you milk a cow?" + +"I? No." + +"Then it's just as well I ain't got one." + +Nora laughed. "You _are_ a philosopher." + +Having filled the teapot with boiling water and set it on the table, she +returned to the shelf and began moving the things about in search of +something. + +"What you looking for?" + +"Is there a candle? I'll just get one or two things out of my box and +bring in here." + +"Ain't you going to sit down and have a cup of tea?" + +"I don't want any, thanks." + +"Sit down, my girl." + +"Why?" + +"Because I tell you to." The command was smilingly given. + +"I don't think you'd better tell me to do things." Nora could smile, +too. + +"Then I ask you. You ain't going to refuse the first favor I've asked +you?" + +"Certainly not," she said in her most charming manner. Pulling another +of the stools up to the table, she sat facing him. + +"There." + +"Now, pour out my tea for me, will you? I tell you," he said, watching +her slim hands moving among the tea things, "it's rum seeing _my_ wife +sitting down at _my_ table and pouring out tea for me." + +"Is it pleasant?" + +"Sure. Now have some tea yourself, my girl. You'll soon get used to +drinking it without milk. And I guess you'll be able to get some +to-morrow from Mrs. Sharp." + +Nora noticed that he did not taste his tea until she had poured herself +a cup. + +"Just take a bit of the bread and butter." + +He passed her the plate and she, still smiling brightly, broke off a +small half of one of the slices. + +"I had a sort of feeling I wanted you and me to have the first meal +together in your new home," he said gently. + +Then, with a sudden change of manner, he laughed aloud. + +"We ain't lost much time, I guess. Why, it's only yesterday you told me +not to call you Nora. You did _flare_ out at me!" + +"That was very silly of me, but I was in a temper." + +"And now we're man and wife." + +"Yes: married in haste with a vengeance." + +"Ain't you a bit scared?" + +"I? What of? You?" + +Her voice was steady, but the hands in her lap were clenched. + +"With Ed miles away, t'other side of Winnipeg, he might just as well be +in the old country for all the good he can be to you. You might +naturally be a bit scared to find yourself alone with a man you don't +know." + +"I'm not the nervous sort." + +"Good for you!" + +"You _did_ give me a fright, though," said Nora, with a laugh, "when I +asked you if you'd take me. I suppose it was only about fifteen seconds +before you answered, but it seemed like ten minutes. I thought you were +going to refuse. How Gertie would have gloated!" + +"I was thinking." + +"I see. Counting up my good points and balancing them against my bad +ones." + +"N-o-o-o: I was thinking you wouldn't have asked me like that if you +hadn't of despised me." + +Nora caught her breath sharply, but her manner lost none of its +lightness. + +"I don't know what made you think that." + +"Well, I don't know how you could have put it more plainly that my name +was mud." + +"Why didn't you refuse, then?" + +"I guess I'm not the nervous sort, either," he remarked dryly over his +teacup. + +"_And_," Nora reminded him, "women are scarce in Manitoba." + +"I've always fancied an English woman," he went on, ignoring her little +thrust. "They make the best wives going when they've been licked into +shape." + +Nora showed her amusement frankly. + +"Are you purposing to attempt that operation on me?" + +"Well, you're clever. I guess a hint or two is about all you'll want." + +"You embarrass me when you pay me compliments." + +"I'll take you round and show you the land to-morrow," he said, tilting +back on his stool, to the imminent peril of his equilibrium. "I ain't +done all the clearing yet, so there'll be plenty of work for the winter. +I want to have a hundred acres to sow next year. And then, if I get a +good crop, I've a mind to take another quarter. You can't make it pay +really without you've got half a section. And it's a tough proposition +when you ain't got capital." + +"I had no idea I was marrying a millionaire." + +"Never you mind, my girl, you shan't live in a shack long, I promise +you. It's the greatest country in the world. We only want three good +crops and you shall have a brick house same as you lived in back home." + +"I wonder what they're doing in England now." + +"Well, I guess they're asleep." + +"When I think of England I always think of it at tea time," began Nora, +and then stopped short. + +A wave of regret caught her throat. In spite of herself, the tears +filled her eyes. She looked miserably at the cheap, ugly tea things on +the makeshift table before her. Her husband watched her gravely. +Presently she went on, more to herself than to him: + +"Miss Wickham had a beautiful old silver teapot, a George Second. She +was awfully proud of it. And she was proud of her tea-set; it was old +Worcester. And she wouldn't let anyone wash the tea things but----" +Again, her voice failed her. "And two or three times a week an old +Indian judge came in to tea. And he used to talk to me about the East, +the wonderful, beautiful East. He made me long to see it all--I who had +never been anywhere. I've always loved history and books of travel more +than anything else. There are a lot of them there in my box--that's what +makes it so heavy--all about the beautiful places I was going to see +later on with the money Miss Wickham promised me----" her glance took in +the mean little room in all its unrelieved ugliness. "Oh, why did you +make me think of it all?" + +She bowed her head on the table for a moment. Taylor laid his hand +gently on her arm. + +"The past is dead and gone, my girl. We've got the future; it's ours." + +She gently disengaged herself from his detaining hand and went over to +the little window, looking out with eyes that saw other pictures than +the window had to show. + +"One never knows when one's well off, does one? It's madness to think of +what's gone forever." + +For several minutes there was silence, during which Nora recovered her +self-control. Having wiped away her tears, she turned hack to him, +smiling bravely. "I beg your pardon. You'll think me more foolish than I +really am. I'm not the crying sort, I assure you. But I don't know, it +all----" + +"That's all right, I know you're not," he said roughly. "I wish we'd got +a good drop of liquor here," he went on with the evident intention of +changing the current of her thoughts, "so as we could drink one +another's health. But as we _ain't_, you'd better give me a kiss +instead." + +"I'm not at all fond of kissing," said Nora coolly. + +Frank grinned at her, his pipe stuck between his white teeth. + +"It ain't, generally speaking, an acquired taste. I guess you must be +peculiar." + +"It looks like it," she said lightly. + +"Come, my girl," he said, getting slowly up from his stool, "you didn't +even kiss me after we was married." + +"Isn't a hint enough for you?"--her tone was perfectly friendly. "Why do +you insist on my saying everything in so many words? Why make me dot my +i's and cross my t's, so to speak?" + +"It seems to me it wants a few words to make it plain when a woman +refuses to give her husband a kiss." + +"Do sit down, there's a good fellow, and I'll tell you one or two +things." + +"That's terribly kind of you," he said, sinking into the rocker. "Have +you any choice of seats?" + +"Not now, since you've taken the only one that's tolerably comfortable. +I think there's nothing to choose between the others." + +"Nothing, I should say." + +"I think we'd better fix things up before we go any further," she said, +resuming her stool. + +"Sure." + +"You gave me to understand very plainly that you wanted a wife in order +to get a general servant without having to pay her wages. Wages are +high, here in Canada." + +"That was the way _you_ put it." + +"Batching isn't very comfortable, you'll confess that?" + +"I'll confess that, all right." + +"You wanted someone to cook and bake for you, wash, sweep and mend. I +offered to come and do all that for you. It never entered my head for an +instant that there was any possibility of your expecting anything else +of me." + +"Then you're a damned fool, my girl." + +He was perfectly good-natured. She would have preferred him to be a +little angry. She would know how to cope with that, she thought. But she +flared up a little herself. + +"D'you mind not saying things like that to me?" + +His smile widened. "I guess I'll have to say a good many things like +that--or worse--before we've done." + +"I asked you to marry me only because I couldn't stay in the shack +otherwise." + +"You asked me to marry you because you was in the hell of a temper," he +retorted. "You were mad clean through. You wanted to get away from Ed's +farm right then and there and you didn't care what you did so long as +you quit. But you was darned sorry for what you'd done by the time you'd +got your trunk packed." + +"I don't know that you have any reason for thinking that," she said +stiffly. + +"I've got sense. Besides, when you opened the door when I went up and +knocked, you was as white as a sheet. You'd have given anything you had +to say you'd changed your mind, but your damned pride wouldn't let you." + +"I wouldn't have stayed longer in that house for anything in the world," +said Nora with passion. + +"There you are; that's just what I have been telling you," he said, +nodding his head. "And this morning, when I came for you at the +Y. W. C. A., you wanted bad to say you wouldn't marry me. When you shook +hands with me your hand was like ice. You tried to speak the words, but +they wouldn't come." + +"After all, one isn't married every day of one's life, is one? I admit I +was nervous for the moment." + +"If I hadn't shown you the license and the ring, I guess you wouldn't +have done it. You hadn't the nerve to back out of it then." + +"I hadn't slept a wink all night. I kept on turning it over in my mind. +I _was_ frightened at what I'd done. I didn't know a soul in Winnipeg. I +hadn't anywhere to go. I had four dollars in my pocket. I _had_ to go on +with it." + +"Well, you took pretty good stock of me in the train on the way here, I +guess," he laughed, pacing up and down the room. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Nora, who had recovered her coolness. + +"Well, I felt you was looking at me a good deal while I was asleep," he +jeered. "It wasn't hard to see that you was turning me over in your +mind. What conclusion did you come to?" + +Nora evaded the question for the moment. + +"You see, I lived all these years with an old lady. I know very little +about men." + +"I guessed that." + +"I came to the conclusion that you were a decent fellow and I thought +you would be kind to me." + +"Bouquets are just flying round! Have you got anything more to say to +me?" he asked, seating himself once more in his chair. + +"No, I think not." + +"Then just get me my tobacco pouch, will you? I guess you'll find it in +the pocket of my coat." + +With narrowed eyes, he watched her first hesitate, and then bring it to +him. + +"Here you are." Her tone was crisp. + +"I thought you was going to tell me I could darned well get it myself," +he laughed. + +"I don't very much like to be ordered about," she said smoothly; "I +didn't realize it was one of your bad habits." + +"You never paid much attention to me or my habits till to-day, I +reckon." + +"I was always polite to you." + +"Oh, very! But I was the hired man, and you'd never let me forget it. +You thought yourself a darned sight better than me, because you could +play the piano and speak French. But we ain't got a piano and there +ain't anyone as speaks French nearer than Winnipeg." + +"I don't just see what you're driving at." + +"Parlor tricks ain't much good on the prairie. They're like dollar bills +up in Hudson Bay country. Tobacco's the only thing you can trade with an +Esquimaux. You can't cook very well, you don't know how to milk a cow; +why, you can't even harness a horse." + +"Are you regretting your bargain already?" + +"No," he said, going over to the shelf in search of the matches, "I +guess I can teach you. But if I was you"--he paused, the lighted match +in his fingers, to look at her--"I wouldn't put on any airs. We'll get +on O. K., I guess, when we've shaken down." + +"You'll find I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she said +with emphasis, speaking each word slowly. She returned his steady gaze +and felt a thrill of victory when he looked away. + +"When two people live in a shack," he went on as if she had not spoken, +"there's got to be a deal of give and take on both sides. As long as you +do what I tell you you'll be all right." + +A sort of an angry smile crossed Nora's face. + +"It's unfortunate that when anyone _tells_ me to do a thing, I have an +irresistible desire not to do it." + +"I guess I tumbled to that. You must get over it." + +"You've spoken to me once or twice in a way I don't like. I think we +shall get on better if you _ask_ me to do things." + +"Don't forget that I can _make_ you do them," he said brutally. + +"How?" Really, he was amusing! + +"Well, I'm stronger than you are." + +"A man can hardly use force in his dealings with a woman," she reminded +him. + +"O-o-o-oh?" + +"You seem surprised." + +"What's going to prevent him?" + +"Don't be so silly," she retorted as she turned to look once more out of +the window. But her hands were clammy and, somehow, even though her back +was turned toward him, she knew that he was smiling. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +How much time elapsed before he spoke she had no means of knowing; +probably, at most, two or three minutes. But to the woman gazing out +blindly through the cobweb-covered window into the night, it might well +have been hours. For some illogical reason, which she could not have +explained to herself, she had the feeling that the victory in the coming +struggle would lie with the one who kept silent the longer. To break the +nerve-wrecking spell would be a betrayal of weakness. + +None the less, she had arrived at the point when, the tension on her own +nerves becoming too great, she felt she must scream, drive her clenched +hand through the glass of the window, or perform some other act of +hysterical violence; then he spoke, and in the ordinary tone of daily +life. + +"Well, I'm going to unpack my grip." + +The tone, together with the commonplace words, had the effect of a cold +douche. She drew a sharp breath of relief, her hands unclenched. She was +herself once more. She'd won. + +She turned slowly, as if reluctant to abandon the starry prospect +without, to find him bending over a clutter of things scattered about +his half-emptied case. She had been about to say that she must see to +unpacking some of her own things. + +"Wash up them things." He jerked his bowed head toward the littered +table. + +For the first time, his tone was curt. + +But she was too much mistress of herself and the situation now to be +more than faintly annoyed by it. + +"I'll wash them up in the morning," she said casually. She started +toward the door behind which her box had been carried. + +"Wash 'em up now, my girl. You'll find the only way to keep things clean +is to wash 'em the moment you've done with 'em." + +She smiled at him over her shoulder, her hand on the knob of the door. +But she did not move. + +"Did you hear what I said?" + +"I did." + +"Then why don't you do as I tell you?" + +"Because I don't choose to." + +"You ain't taking long to try it out, are you?" His face wore an ugly +sneer. + +"They say there's no time like the present." + +"Are you going to wash up them things?" + +"No." + +There was a moment's silence while he held her eyes with his. Then, very +slowly and deliberately he got up, poured some boiling water into a pan +and placed it, together with a ragged dishcloth, on the table. + +"Are you going to wash up them things?" + +"No." + +She was still cool and smiling: only, her grip on the knob of the door +had tightened until the nails of her fingers were white. + +"Do you want me to make you?" + +"How can you do that?" + +"I'll soon show you." + +She waited the fraction of a moment. + +"I'll just get out those rugs, shall I? I think the holdall was put in +here. I expect it gets very cold toward morning." + +She had opened the door now and stepped across the threshold. Her face +was still turned toward his, but her smile was a little fixed. + +"Nora." + +"Yes." + +"Come here." + +"Why?" + +"Because I tell you to." + +Still, she did not move. In two strides he was over at her side. He +stretched out his hand to seize her by the wrist. + +"You daren't touch me!" + +She pulled the door to sharply and stood with her back against it, +facing him. Her face was as white as a linen mask, and about as +expressionless. Only her eyes lived. Anger and fear had enlarged the +pupils until they seemed black in the dead white of her face. + +"You daren't!" she repeated. + +"I daren't: who told you that?" + +"Have you forgotten that I'm a woman?" + +"No, I haven't. That's why I'm going to make you do as I tell you. If +you were a man, I mightn't be able to. Come, now." + +He made a movement to take her by the arm, but she was too quick for +him. With the quickness of a cat, she slipped aside. The next moment, to +his astonishment, he felt a stinging blow on the ear. He stared at her +dumbfounded. It is safe to hazard that never in his life had he been so +utterly taken aback. + +She met his stare without lowering her glance. But she was panting now +as if she had been running, one clenched hand pressed against her +heaving breast. + +He gave a short laugh, half of amused admiration at her daring, and half +of anger. + +"That was a darned silly thing to do!" + +"What did you expect?" + +"I expected that you were cleverer than to hit me. You ought to know +that when it comes to--to muscle, I guess I've got the bulge on you." + +"I'm not frightened of you." + +It was a stupid thing to say. Nora realized it too late. If she had only +been able to hold her tongue, he might have relented, she thought. But +at her words, his face hardened once more and the same steely glitter +came into his eyes. "Now come and wash up these things." + +"I won't, I tell you!" + +"Come on." + +Quickly grasping her by the wrists, he began to drag her slowly but +steadily to the table. Earlier in the evening she had boasted that she +was as strong as a horse. As a matter of fact, she had unusual strength +for a woman. But she was quickly made to realize that her strength, even +intensified as it was by her anger was, of course, nothing compared with +his. Strain and resist as she might, she could neither release herself +from his grasp nor prevent him from forcing her nearer and nearer to the +table which was his goal. In the struggle one of the large shell hair +pins which she wore fell to the floor. In another second she heard it +ground to pieces under his heel. A long strand of hair came billowing +down below her waist. + +Another moment, and by making a long arm, he could reach the table. With +a quick movement for which she was unprepared, he brought her two hands +sharply together so that he could hold both of her wrists with one hand, +leaving the other free. + +"Let me go, let me go!" + +She kicked him, first on one shin and then on the other. But their +bodies were too close together for the blows to have any force. + +"Come on now, my girl. What's the good of making a darned fuss about +it." His laugh was boyish in its exultant good-nature. + +"You brute, how dare you touch me! You'll never force me to do anything. +Let go! Let go! Let go!" + +And now, his free hand held fast the edge of the table. With a quick +movement she bent down and fastened her teeth in the skin of the back of +his hand. With an exclamation of pain, he released her, carrying his +wounded hand instinctively to his mouth. + +"Gee, what sharp teeth you've got!" + +"You cad! you cad!" she panted. + +"I never thought you'd bite," he said, looking at his bleeding hand +ruefully. "That ain't much like a lady, according to _my_ idea." + +"You filthy cad! To hit a woman!" + +"Gee, I didn't hit you. You smacked my face and kicked my shins, and +you bit my hand. And now you say I hit _you_." + +He picked up his pipe from the table and mechanically rammed the tobacco +down with his thumb and looked about for a match. + +"You beast! I hate you!" + +In the height of her passion she unconsciously began twisting up the +loosened strand of her hair. + +"I don't care about that, so long as you wash them cups." + +With a furious gesture she swept the table clean. + +"Look!" she screamed, as cups, saucers, plates and teapot broke into a +thousand pieces at his feet. + +There came another little sound of something breaking, like a faint echo +far away. It was his pipe which had fallen among the wreckage. In his +astonishment at her sudden action, he had bitten through the mouthpiece. + +"That's a pity; we're terribly short of crockery. We shall have to drink +our tea out of cans now," was all he said. + +"I said I wouldn't wash them, and I haven't washed them," Nora exulted. + +"They don't need it now, I guess," he said humorously. + +"I think I've won!" + +"Sure," he said without the slightest trace of rancor. "Now take the +broom and sweep up all the darned mess you've made." + +"I won't!" + +"Look here, my girl," he said threateningly, "I guess I've had about +enough of your nonsense: you do as you're told and look sharp about it." + +"You can kill me, if you like!" + +"What would be the good of that? Women, as you reminded me a little +while back, are scarce in Manitoba." + +He gave a searching look around the room and spying the broom in the +corner, went over and fetched it. + +"Here's the broom." + +"If you want that mess swept up, you can sweep it up yourself." + +"Look here, you make me tired!" + +His tone suggested that he was becoming more irritated. But Nora was +beyond caring. As he put the broom in her hand, she flung it from her as +far as she could. "Look here," he said again, and this time there was no +mistaking the menace in his voice, "if you don't clean up that mess at +once, I'll give you the biggest hiding you ever had in your life, I +promise you that." + +"You?" she jeered. + +"Yours truly," he said, nodding his head. "I've done with larking now." +He began rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. For some obscure +reason--possibly because his deliberation seemed to connote +implacability--this simple action filled her with a terror that she had +not known before even in the midst of their physical struggle. + +"Help! Help! Help!" she screamed. + +She rushed across the room and threw open the door, sending her agonized +appeal out into the night. + +"Help! Help! Help!" + +She strained her ears for any sign of response. + +"What's the good of that? There's no one within a mile of us. Listen." + +It is doubtful if she heard his words. If she had, it would have +mattered but little. The answering silence which engulfed her like a +wave told her that she was lost. She bowed her head in her hands. Her +whole slender body was wrecked with hard, dry sobs. When she lifted her +head, he read in her eyes the anguish of the conquered. Nevertheless, +she made one last stand. + +"If you so much as touch me, I'll have you up for cruelty. There are +laws to protect me." + +"I don't care a curse for the laws," he laughed. "I know I'm going to +be master here. And if I tell you to do a thing, you've darned well got +to do it, because I can make you. Now stop this fooling. Pick up that +crockery and get the broom." + +"I won't!" + +He made one stride toward her. + +"No, don't. Don't hurt me!" she shrieked. + +"I guess there's only one law here," he said. "And that's the law of the +strongest. I don't know nothing about cities; perhaps men and women are +equal there. But on the prairie, a man's the master because he's bigger +and stronger than a woman." + +"Frank!" + +"Damn you, don't talk." + +She did not move. Her eyes were on the ground. Pride and Fear were +having their last struggle, and Fear conquered. Without looking at her +husband she could feel that his patience was nearing an end. Very slowly +she stooped down and picked up the teapot and the broken cups and +saucers and laid them on the table. Blindly she tottered over to the +rocking-chair and burst into a passion of tears. + +"And I thought I knew what it was to be unhappy!" + +He watched her with a slight, but not unkindly, smile on his face. + +"Come on, my girl," he said, without any trace of anger, "don't shirk +the rest of it." + +Through her laced fingers, she looked at the mess of spilled tea on the +floor. Keeping her tear-marred face turned away from him, she slowly got +up, and slowly found the broom and swept it all into a little heap on +the newspaper that lay where he had left it. + +Suddenly she threw back her head. Her eyes shone with a new resolution. +He watched her, wondering. With a quick, firm step, she carried the +rolled-up paper to the stove and shoved it far into the glowing embers. +Gathering up the crockery, after a glance around the room in search of +some receptacle which her eye did not find, she carried it over to the +wood-pile, laying it upon the logs. The broom was restored to its +corner. She took up her hat and coat and began to put them on. + +"What are you doing?" + +"I've done what you _made_ me do, now I'm going." + +"Where, if I might ask?" + +"What do I care, as long as I get away." + +"You ain't under the impression that there's a first-class hotel round +the corner, are you? There ain't." + +"I can go to the Sharps." + +"I guess they're in bed and asleep by now." + +"I'll wake them." + +"You'd never find your way. It's pitch dark. Look." + +He threw open the door. It was true. The sky had clouded over. The +feeling of the air had changed. It smelt of storm. + +"I'll sleep out of doors, then." + +"On the prairie? Why, you'd freeze to death before morning." + +"What does it matter to you whether I live or die?" + +"It matters a great deal. Once more, let me remind you that women are +scarce in Manitoba." + +"Are you going to keep me from going?" + +"Sure." + +He closed the door and placed his back against it. + +"You can't keep me here against my will. If I don't go to-night, I can +go to-morrow." + +"To-morrow's a long, long way off." + +Her hand flew to her throat. + +"Frank! What do you mean?" + +"I don't know what silly fancies you've had in your head; but when I +married you I intended that you should be a proper wife to me." + +"But--but--but you understood." + +It was all she could do to force the words from her dry throat. With a +desperate effort she pulled herself together and tried to talk calmly +and reasonably. + +"I'm sorry for the way I've behaved, Frank. It was silly and childish of +me to struggle with you. You irritated me, you see, by the way you spoke +and the tone you took." + +"Oh, I don't mind. I don't know much about women and I guess they're +queer. We had to fix things up sometime and I guess there's no harm in +getting it over right now." + +"You've beaten me all along the line and I'm in your power. Have mercy +on me!" + +"I guess you won't have much cause to complain." + +"I married you in a fit of temper. It was very stupid of me. I'm very +sorry that I--that I've been all this trouble to you. Won't you let me +go?" + +"No, I can't do that." + +"I'm no good to you. You've told me that I'm useless. I can't do any of +the things that you want a wife to do. Oh," she ended passionately, "you +can't be so hard-hearted as to make me pay with all my whole life for +one moment's madness!" + +"What good will it do you if I let you go? Will you go to Gertie and beg +her to take you back again? You've got too much pride for that." + +She made a gesture of abnegation: "I don't think I've got much pride +left." + +"Don't you think you'd better give it a try?" + +Once more hope wakened in Nora's heart. His tone was so reasonable. If +she kept her self-control, she might yet win. She sat down on one of the +stools and spoke in a tone that was almost conversational. + +"All this life is so strange to me. Back in England, they think it's so +different from what it really is. I thought I should have a horse to +ride, that there would be dances and parties. And when I came out, I was +so out of it all. I felt in the way. And yesterday Gertie drove me +frantic so that I felt I couldn't stay a moment longer in that house. I +acted on impulse. I didn't know what I was doing. I made a mistake. You +can't have the _heart_ to take advantage of it." + +"I knew you was making a mistake, but that was your lookout. When I sell +a man a horse, he can look it over for himself. I ain't obliged to tell +him its faults." + +"Do you mean to say that after I've begged you almost on my knees to let +me go, you'll force me to stay?" + +[Illustration: FRANK GLIMPSES THE APPROACHING STORM THAT MEANS HIS RUIN.] + +"That's what I mean." + +"Oh, why did I ever trap myself so!" + +"Come, my girl, let's let bygones be bygones," he said good-humoredly. +"Come, give me a kiss." + +She tried a new tack. + +"I'm not in love with you," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. + +"I guessed that." + +"And you're not in love with me." + +"You're a woman and I'm a man." + +"Do you want me to tell you in so many words that you're physically +repellent to me? That the thought of letting you kiss me horrifies and +disgusts me?" In spite of her resolution, her voice was rising. + +"Thank you." He was still good-humored. + +"Look at your hands; it gives me goose-flesh when you touch me." + +"Cuttin' down trees, diggin', lookin' after horses don't leave them very +white and smooth." + +"Let me go! Let me go!" + +He took a step away from the door. His whole manner changed. + +"See here, my girl. You was educated like a lady and spent your life +doin' nothing. Oh, I forgot: you was a lady's companion, wasn't you? And +you look on yourself as a darned sight better than me. I never had no +schooling. It's a hell of a job for me to write a letter. But since I +was so high"--his hand measured a distance of about three feet from the +floor--"I've earned my living. I guess I've been all over this country. +I've been a trapper, I've worked on the railroad and for two years I've +been a freighter. I guess I've done pretty nearly everything but clerk +in a store. Now you just get busy and forget all the nonsense you've got +in your head. You're nothing but an ignorant woman and I'm your master. +I'm goin' to do what I like with you. And if you don't submit willingly, +by God I'll take you as the trappers, in the old days, used to take the +squaws." + +For the last moment Nora could hardly have been said to have listened. +In a delirium of terror her eyes swept the little cabin, searching +desperately for some means of escape. As he made a step toward her, her +roving eye suddenly fell on her husband's gun, standing where Sharp had +left it when he brought it in. With a bound, she was across the room, +the gun at her shoulder. With an oath, Frank started forward. + +"If you move, I'll kill you!" + +"You daren't!" + +"Unless you open that door and let me go, I'll shoot you--I'll shoot +you!" + +"Shoot, then!" He held his arms wide, exposing his broad chest. + +With a sobbing cry, she pulled the trigger. The click of the falling +hammer was heard, nothing more. + +"Gee whiz!" shouted Taylor in admiration. "Why, you meant it!" + +The gun fell clattering to the floor. + +"It wasn't loaded?" + +"Of course it wasn't loaded. D'you think I'd have stood there and told +you to shoot if it had been? I guess I ain't thinking of committin' +suicide." + +"And I almost admired you!" + +"You hadn't got no reason to. There's nothing to admire about a man who +stands five feet off a loaded gun that's being aimed at him. He'd be a +darned fool, that's all." + +"You were laughing at me all the time." + +"You'd have had me dead as mutton if that gun 'ud been loaded. You're a +sport, all right, all right. I never thought you had it in you. You're +the girl for me, I guess!" + +As she stood there, dazed, perfectly unprepared, he threw his arms +around her and attempted to kiss her. + +"Let me alone! I'll kill myself if you touch me!" + +"I guess you won't." He kissed her full on the mouth, then let her go. + +Sinking into a chair, she sobbed in helpless, angry despair. + +"Oh, how shameful, how shameful!" + +He let her alone for a little; then, when the violence of her sobbing +had died away, came over and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. + +"Hadn't you better cave in, my girl? You've tried your strength against +mine and it hasn't amounted to much. You even tried to shoot me and I +only made you look like a darned fool. I guess you're beat, my girl. +There's only one law here. That's the law of the strongest. You've got +to do what I want because I can make you." + +"Haven't you any generosity?" + +"Not the kind you want, I guess." + +She gave a little moan of anguish. + +"Hark!" He held up his hand as if to call her attention to something. +For a moment, hope flamed from its embers. But stealing a glance at his +face from beneath her drooping lashes, she saw that she was mistaken. +The last spark died, to be rekindled no more. + +"Listen! Listen to the silence. Can't you hear it, the silence of the +prairie? Why, we might be the only two people in the world, you and me, +here in this little shack, right out _in_ the prairie. Are you +listening? There ain't a sound. It might be the garden of Eden. What's +that about male and female, created He them? I guess you're my wife, my +girl. And I want you." + +Nora gave him a sidelong look of terror and remained dumb. What would +have been the use of words even if she could have found voice to utter +them? + +Taking up the lamp, he went to the door of the bedroom and threw it +wide. She saw without looking that he remained standing, like a statue +of Fate, on the threshold. + +To gain time, she picked up the dishcloth and began to scrub at an +imaginary spot on the table. + +"I guess it's getting late. You'll be able to have a good clean-out +to-morrow." + +"To-morrow!" A violent shudder, similar to the convulsion of the day +before, shook her from head to foot. But she kept on with her scrubbing. + +"Come!" + +The word smote her ear with all the impact of a cannon shot. The walls +caught it, and gave it back. There _was_ no other sound in heaven or +earth than the echo of that word! + +Shame, anguish and fear, in turn, passed over her face. Then, with her +hands before her eyes, she passed beyond him, through the door which he +still held open. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The storm which the night had foreshadowed broke with violence before +dawn. At times during the night, the wind had howled about the little +building in a way which recalled to Nora one of the best-remembered +holidays of her childhood. She and her mother had gone to Eastborne for +a fortnight with some money Eddie had sent them shortly after his +arrival in Canada. The autumnal equinox had caught them during the last +days of their stay, and the strong impression which the wind had made +upon her childish mind had remained with her ever since. + +Lying, wakeful through the long hours, staring wide-eyed out of the +little curtainless window into the thick darkness, thick enough to seem +palpable; the memory of how, on that far-off day she had passed long +hours with her nose flattened against the window of the dingy little +lodging-house drawing-room watching the wonder of the wind-lashed sea, +came back to her with extraordinary vividness. + +The spectacle had filled her with a sort of terrified exultation. She +had longed to go out and stand on the wind-buffeted pier and take her +part in this saturnalia of the elements. She had something of the same +feeling now; a longing to leave her bed and go out onto the windswept +prairie. + +Strangely enough, she had no sensation of fatigue or weariness either +bodily or mentally. Her mind, indeed, seemed extraordinarily active. +Little petty details of her childhood and of her life with Miss Wickham, +long forgotten, such as the day the gardener had cut his thumb, trooped +through her mind in an endless procession. She had a strange feeling +that she would never sleep again. + +But just as the blackness without seemed turning into heavy grayness, +lulled possibly by the wind which had moderated its violence and had now +sunk to a moan not unpleasant, and by the rythmic breathing of the +sleeping man at her side, she fell asleep. + +For several hours she must have slept heavily, indeed. For when she +awoke, it was to find the place at her side empty. Hurriedly dressing +herself, she went out into the living-room. That was empty, too. But the +lamp was lighted, the kettle was singing merrily on the stove and the +fire was burning brightly. And outside was a whirling veil of snow which +made it impossible to see beyond the length of one's arm. + +Had she been marooned on an island in the ultimate ocean of the +Antartic, she could not have felt more cut off from the world she knew. +Well, it was better so. + +She wondered what had become of Frank. Surely on a day like this there +could be nothing to do outside; and even if there were, nothing so +imperative as to take him away before he had had his breakfast. She felt +a little hurt at his leaving without a word. + +Evidently, he expected to return soon, however. The table was laid for +two. She felt her face crimson as she saw that there was but one cup +left. One of them must drink from one of those horrible tin cans. She +did not ask herself which one it would be. + +Partly to occupy herself and to take her thoughts away from the +recollection of the events of the evening before, and partly prompted by +a desire to have everything in readiness against her husband's return, +she busied herself with the preparations for breakfast. + +There were some eggs and a filch of bacon which they had brought from +Winnipeg. She would make some toast, too. Very likely he didn't care for +it, they certainly never had it at Gertie's, but in _her house_---- She +smiled to think how quickly, in her mind, she had taken possession. + +She was just beginning to think that she had been foolish to start her +cooking without knowing at all when he was going to return, when she +heard a great stamping and scraping of feet outside, and in another +moment Frank's snow-covered figure darkened the doorway. + +"Getting on with the breakfast? That's fine!" he called. + +"It's quite ready: wherever have you been? I wouldn't have imagined that +anyone could find a thing to do outside on a day like this." + +"Oh, there's always something to do. But I just ran up to the Sharps' +for a minute. I knew old mother Sharp wouldn't keep her promise about +coming down to-day. She's all right, but she does hate to walk." + +"Well, I'm sure I wouldn't blame anyone for choosing to stay indoors a +day like this. But what did you want to see her in such a hurry for?" + +"Oh, nothin' particular; I sort of thought maybe you wouldn't mind +having a little milk with your tea on a gloomy morning like this," he +said shamefacedly. + +"That was awfully good of you; thank you very much," she said with real +gratitude, as she thought of him tramping those two miles in the +blinding storm. + +"Do you think we are in for a blizzard?" she asked when they were at the +table. To her unspeakable relief, she found that the one cup was +intended for her; he had waved her toward the one chair, apparently the +place of honor, contenting himself with one of the stools. + +"N-o-o," he said, "I don't think so. It's beginning to lighten up a +little already. And besides, don't you remember that I foretold a +mildish winter?" + +"I was forgetting that I had married a prophet," she smiled. + +But all through the day the snow continued to fall steadily, although +the wind had died away and, at intervals, the sun shone palely. At +nightfall, it was still snowing. + +The day passed quickly, as Nora found plenty to occupy herself with. By +supper time she felt healthfully tired, with the added comfortable +feeling that, for a novice, she had really accomplished a good deal. + +The whole room certainly looked cleaner and the pots and pans, although +not shining, were as near to it as hot water and scrubbing could make +them. Fortunately, she had a quantity of fresh white paper in her trunk +which greatly improved the appearance of the shelves. + +During the day Frank left the house for longer or shorter intervals on +various pretexts which she felt must be largely imaginary, trumped up +for the occasion. She was agreeably surprised to find that he was +sufficiently tactful to divine that she wanted to be alone. + +While he was in the house he smoked his pipe incessantly and read some +magazines which she had unpacked with some of her books. But she never +glanced suddenly in his direction without finding that he was watching +her. + +"I tell _you_, this is fine," he said heartily as he was lighting his +after-supper pipe. "Mrs. Sharp won't hardly know the place when she +comes over. She's never seen it except when I was housekeeper. She +doesn't think I'm much good at it. Leastways, she's always tellin' Sid +that if she dies, he must marry again right away as soon as he can find +anyone to have him, for fear the house gets to looking like this." + +"That doesn't look like a very strong indorsement," Nora admitted. + +The next day Nora woke to a world of such dazzling whiteness that she +was blinded every time she attempted to look out on it. + +"You want to be careful," her husband cautioned her; "getting +snow-blinded isn't as much fun as you'd think. Even I get bad +sometimes; and I'm used to it. Looks like one of them Christmas cards, +don't it? Somebody sent Gertie one once and she showed it to us." + +That afternoon, Mr. Sharp drove his wife down for the promised visit. As +in his judgment the two women would want to be alone, he proposed to +Frank to drive back home with him to give him the benefit of his opinion +on some improvements he was contemplating. + +"You're only wasting your time," Mrs. Sharp had remarked grimly. "There +ain't going to be anything done to any of them barns before I get a +lean-to on the house. You'd think even a man would know that a house +that's all right for two gets a little small for seven," she added, +scornfully, to Nora. + +"Are there seven of you?" + +"Me and Sid and five little ones. If that don't make seven, I've +forgotten all the 'rithmetic I ever learned," said Mrs. Sharp briefly. +"And let me tell you, you who're just starting in, that having children +out here on the prairie half the time with no proper care, and +particularly in winter, when maybe you're snowed up and the doctor can't +get to you, ain't my idea of a bank holiday." + +"I shouldn't think it would be," said Nora, sincerely shocked, although +she found it difficult to hide a smile at her visitor's comparison; +bank holidays being among her most horrid recollections. + +Mrs. Sharp, despite a rather emphatic manner which softened noticeably +as her visit progressed, turned out to be a stout, red-faced woman of +middle age who seemed to be troubled with a chronic form of asthma. She +was as unmistakably English as her husband. But like him, she had lost +much of her native accent, although occasionally one caught a faint +trace of the Cockney. She had two rather keen brown eyes which, as she +talked, took in the room to its smallest detail. + +"Well, I declare, I think you've done wonders considering you've only +had a day and not used to work like this," she said heartily. "When Sid +told me that Frank was bringing home a wife I said to myself: 'Well, I +don't envy her _her_ job; comin' to a shack that ain't been lived in for +nigh unto six months and when it was, with only a man runnin' it.'" + +"You don't seem to have a very high opinion of men's ability in the +domestic line," said Nora with a smile. + +"I can tell you just how high it is," said Mrs. Sharp with decision. "I +would just as soon think of consultin' little Sid--an' he's goin' on +three--about the housekeepin' as I would his father. It ain't a man's +work. Why should he know anything about it?" + +"Still," demurred Nora, "lots of men look after themselves somehow." + +"Somehow's just the word; they never get beyond that. Of course I knew +Frank would be sure to marry some day. And with his good looks it's a +wonder he didn't do so long ago. Most girls is so crazy about a +good-lookin' fellow that they never stop to think if he has anything +else to him. Not that he hasn't lots of good traits, I don't mean that. +But," she added shrewdly, "you don't look like the silly sort that would +be taken in by good looks alone." + +"No," said Nora dryly, "I don't think I am." + +After that, until the two men returned, they talked of household +matters, and Nora found that her new neighbor had a store of useful and +practical suggestions to make, and, what was even better, seemed glad to +place all her experience at her disposal in the kindliest and most +friendly manner possible, entirely free from any trace of that patronage +which had so maddened her in her sister-in-law. + +"Now mind you," called Mrs. Sharp, as she laboriously climbed up to the +seat beside her husband as they were driving away, "if Frank, here, gets +at all upish--and he's pretty certain to, all newly married men do--you +come to me. I'll settle him, never fear." + +Frank laughed a little over-loudly at this parting shot, and Nora +noticed that for some time after their guests had gone, he seemed +unusually silent. + +As for the Sharps, they also maintained an unwonted silence--which for +Mrs. Sharp, at least, was something unusual--until they had arrived at +their own door. + +"Well?" queried Sharp, as they were about to turn in. + +"It beats me," replied his wife. "Why, she's a lady. But she'll come out +all right," she finished enigmatically, "she's got the right stuff in +her, poor dear!" + +In after years, when Nora was able to look back on this portion of her +life and see things in just perspective, she always felt that she could +never be too thankful that her days had been crowded with occupation. +Without that, she must either have gone actually insane, or, in a frenzy +of helplessness, done some rash thing which would have marred her whole +life beyond repair. + +After she found herself growing more accustomed to her new life--and, +after all, the growing accustomed to it was the hardest part--she +realized that she was only following the universal law of life in +paying for her own rash act. The thought that she was paying with +interest, being overcharged as it were, was but faint consolation: it +only meant that she had been a fool. That conviction is rarely soothing. + +Then, too, she gradually began to look at the situation from Frank's +point of view. He had certainly acted within his rights, if with little +generosity. But she had to acknowledge to herself that the obligation to +be generous on his part was small. She could hardly be said to have +treated him with much liberality in the past. + +She had used him without scruple as a means to an end. She had made him +the instrument for escaping from a predicament which she found +unbearably irksome. That she had done so in the heat of passion was +small palliation. For the present, at least, she wisely resolved to make +the best of things. It could not last forever. The day must come when +she could free herself from the bonds that now held her. + +It was characteristic of her unyielding pride, of her reluctance to +confess to defeat, that the thought of appealing to her brother never +once entered her head. + +For this reason, it was long before she could bring herself to write the +promised letter to Eddie. What was there to say? The things that would +have relieved her, in a sense, to tell, must remain forever locked in +her own heart. In the end, she compromised by sending a letter confined +entirely to describing her new home. As she read it over, she thanked +the Fates that Eddie's was not a subtile or analytical mind. He would +read nothing between the lines. But Gertie? Well, it couldn't be helped! + +It was some two months after her marriage that she received a letter +from Miss Pringle in answer to the one she had written while she was +still an inmate of her brother's house. + +Miss Pringle confined herself largely to an account of her Continental +wanderings and her bloodless encounters with various foreigners and +their ridiculous un-English customs from which she had emerged +triumphant and victorious. Mrs. Hubbard's precarious state of health had +led her into being unusually captious, it seemed. Miss Pringle was more +than ever content to be back in Tunbridge Wells, where all the world +was, by comparison, sane and reasonable in behavior. + +When it came to touching upon her friend's amazing environment and +unconventional experiences, Miss Pringle was discretion itself. But if +her paragraphs had bristled with exclamation points, they could not, to +one who understood her mental processes, have more clearly betrayed her +utter disapproval and amazement that English people, and descendants of +English people, could so far forget themselves as to live in any such +manner. + +Replying to this letter was only a degree less hard than writing to +Eddie. Nora's ready pen faltered more than once, and many pages were +destroyed before an answer was sent. She confined herself entirely to +describing the new experience of a Canadian winter. Of her departure +from her brother's roof and of her marriage, she said nothing whatever. + +In accordance with her resolution to make the best of things, she set +about making the shack more comfortable and homelike. There were many of +those things which, small in themselves, count for much, that her busy +brain planned to do during the time taken up in the necessary +overhauling. This cleaning-up process had taken several days, +interrupted as it was by the ordinary daily routine. + +To her unaccustomed hand, the task of preparing three hearty meals a day +was a matter that consumed a large amount of time, but gradually, day by +day, she found herself systematizing her task and becoming less +inexpert. To be sure she made many mistakes; once, indeed, in a fit of +preoccupation, while occupied in rearranging the bedroom, burning up +the entire dinner. + +Upon his return, her husband had found her red-eyed and apologetic. + +"Oh, well!" he said. "It ain't worth crying over. What is the saying? +'Hell wasn't built in a day'?" + +Nora screamed with laughter. "I think you're mixing two old saws. Rome +wasn't built in a day and Hell is paved with good intentions." + +"Well," he laughed good-naturedly, "they both seem to hit the case." + +He certainly was unfailingly good-tempered. Not that there were not +times when Nora did not have to remind herself of her new resolution and +he, for his part, exercise all his forbearance. But in the main, things +went more smoothly than either had dared to hope from their inauspicious +beginning. + +The thing that Nora found hardest to bear was that he never lost a +certain masterful manner. It was a continual reminder that she had been +defeated. Then, too, he had a maddening way of rewarding her for good +conduct which was equally hard to bear, until she realized that it was +perfectly unconscious on his part. + +For example: after she had struggled for a week with her makeshift +kitchen outfit, small in the beginning but greatly reduced by her +destructive outburst on the night of their arrival, he had, without +saying a word to her of his intentions, driven over to Prentice and laid +in an entire new stock of crockery and several badly needed pots and +pans. + +Nora had found it hard to thank him. If they had been labeled "For a +Good Child" she could not have felt more humiliated. And what was +equally trying, he seemed to have divined her thoughts, for his smile, +upon receiving her halting thanks, had not been without a touch of +malicious amusement. + +On the other hand, all her little efforts to beautify the little house +and make it more livable met with his enthusiastic approval and support. +He was as delighted as a child with everything she did, and often, when +baffled for the moment by some lack of material for carrying out some +proposed scheme, he came to the rescue with an ingenious suggestion +which solved the vexed problem at once. + +And so, gradually, to the no small wonder of her neighbor, Mrs. Sharp, +the shack began to take on an air of homely brightness and comfort which +that lady's more pretentious place lacked, even after a residence of +thirteen years. + +Curtains tied back with gay ribands, taken from an old hat and +refurbished, appeared at the windows; the old tin syrup cans, pasted +over with dark green paper, were made to disgorge their mouldy stores +and transform themselves into flower-pots holding scarlet geraniums; +even the disreputable, rakish old rocking chair assumed a belated air of +youth and respectability, wearing as it did a cushion of discreetly +patterned chintz; and the packing-box table hid its deficiencies under a +simple cloth. All these magic transformations Nora had achieved with +various odds and ends which she found in her trunk. + +Not to be outdone, Frank had contributed a well-made shelf to hold +Nora's precious books and a sort of cupboard for her sewing basket and, +for the crowning touch, had with much labor contrived some rough chairs +to take the place of the packing-box affairs of unpleasant memory. + +As has been said, Mrs. Sharp came, saw and wondered; but she had her own +theory, all the same, which she confided to her husband. + +All these little but significant changes, the result of their +co-operative effort, had not been the work of days, but of weeks. By the +time they had all been accomplished, the winter was practically over and +spring was at hand. Looking back on it, it seemed impossibly short, +although there had been times, in spite of her manifold occupations, +when it had seemed to Nora that it was longer than any winter she had +ever known. She looked forward to the coming spring with both pleasure +and dread. + +Through many a dark winter day she had pictured to herself how beautiful +the prairie must be, clad in all the verdant livery of the most +wonderful of the seasons. And yet it would mean a new solitude and +loneliness to her, her husband, of necessity, being away through all the +long daylight hours. She began to understand Gertie's dread of having no +one to speak to. She avoided asking herself the question as to whether +it was loneliness in general or the particular loneliness of missing her +husband that she dreaded. + +But she was obliged to admit to herself that the winter had wrought more +transformations than were to be seen in the little shack. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +It had all come about so subtilely and gradually that she was almost +unaware of it herself, this inward change _in_ herself. Nora had by +nature a quick and active mind, but she had also many inherited +prejudices. It is a truism that it is much harder to unlearn than to +learn, and for her it was harder, in the circumstances, than for the +average person. Not that she was more set in her ways than other people, +but that she had accepted from her childhood a definite set of ideas as +to the proper conduct of life; a code, in other words, from which she +had never conceived it possible to depart. People did certain things, or +they did not; you played the game according to certain prescribed rules, +or you didn't play it with decent people, that was all there was to it. +One might as well argue that there was no difference between right and +wrong as to say that this was not so. + +Of course there were plenty of people on the face of the earth who +thought otherwise, such as Chinese, Aborigines, Turks, and all sorts of +unpleasant natives of uncivilized countries--Nora lumped them together +without discrimination or remorse--but no one planned to pass their +lives among them. And as for the sentiment that Trotter had enunciated +one day at her brother's, that Canada was a country where everybody was +as good as everybody else, that was, of course, utter nonsense. It was +because the country was raw and new that such silly notions prevailed. +No society could exist an hour founded upon any such theory. + +And yet, here she was living with a man on terms of equality whom, when +measured up with the standards she was accustomed to, failed impossibly. +And yet, did he? That is, did he, in the larger sense? That he was +woefully deficient in all the little niceties of life, that he was +illiterate and ignorant could not be denied. But he was no man's fool, +and, as far as his light shone, he certainly lived up to it. That was +just it. He had a standard of his own. + +She compared him with her brother, and with other men she had known and +respected. Was he less honest? less brave? less independent? less +scrupulous in his dealings with his fellowmen? To all these questions +she was obliged to answer "No." And he was proud, too, and ambitious; +ambitious to carve out a fortune with his own hands, beholden to neither +man nor circumstances for the achievement. Certainly there was much +that was fine about him. + +And, as far as his treatment of herself was concerned, after that first +terrible struggle for mastery, she had had nothing to complain of. He +had been patient with her ignorance and her lack of capabilities in all +the things that the women in this new life were so proficient in. Did +she not, perhaps, fall as far below _his_ standard as he did before +hers? There was certainly something to be said on both sides. + +There was one quality which he possessed to which she paid ungrudging +tribute; never had she met a man so free from all petty pretense. He +regretted his lack of opportunities for educating himself, but it +apparently never entered his head to pretend a knowledge of even the +simplest subject which he did not possess. The questions that he asked +her from time to time about matters which almost any schoolboy in +England could have answered, both touched and embarrassed her. + +At first she had found the evenings the most trying part of the day. +When not taken up with her household cares, she found herself becoming +absurdly self-conscious in his society. They were neither of them +naturally silent people, and it was difficult not to have the air of +"talking down" to him, of palpably making conversation. Beyond the +people at her brother's and the Sharps, they had not a single +acquaintance in common. Her horizon, hitherto, had been, bounded by +England, his by Canada. + +Finally, acting on the suggestion he had made, but never again referred +to, the unforgettable day when they were leaving for Winnipeg, she began +reading aloud evenings while he worked on his new chairs. The experiment +was a great success. Her little library was limited in range; a few +standard works and a number of books on travel and some of history. She +soon found that history was what he most enjoyed. Things that were a +commonplace to her were revealed to him for the first time. And his +comments were keen and intelligent, although his point of view was +strikingly novel and at the opposite pole from hers. To be sure, she had +been accustomed to accepting history merely as a more or less accurate +record of bygone events without philosophizing upon it. But to him it +was one long chronicle of wrong and oppression. He pronounced the dead +and gone sovereigns of England a bad lot and cowardly almost without +exception; not apparently objecting to them on the ground that they were +kings, as she had at first thought, but because they attained their +ends, mostly selfish, through cruelty and oppression, without any +regard for humane rights. + +It was the same way with books of travel. The chateaus and castles, with +all their atmosphere of story and romance which she had always longed to +visit, interested him not a jot. In his opinion they were, one and all, +bloody monuments of greed and selfishness; the sooner they were razed to +the ground and forgotten, the better for the world. + +It was useless to make an appeal for them on artistic grounds; art to +him was a doubly sealed book, and yet he frequently disclosed an innate +love of beauty in his appreciation of the changing panorama of the +winter landscape which stretched on every side before their eyes. + +It was a picture which had an inexhaustible fascination for Nora +herself, although there were times when the isolation, and above all the +unbroken stillness got badly on her nerves. But she could not rid +herself of an almost superstitious feeling that the prairie had a lesson +to teach her. Twice they went in to Prentice. With these exceptions, she +saw no one but her husband and Mr. and Mrs. Sharp. + +But it was, strangely enough, from Mrs. Sharp that she drew the most +illumination as to the real meaning of this strange new life. Not that +Mrs. Sharp was in the least subtle, quite the contrary. She was as +hard-headed, practical a person as one could well imagine. But her +natural powers of adaptability must have been unusually great. From a +small shop in one of the outlying suburbs of London, with its +circumscribed outlook, moral as well as physical, to the limitless +horizon of the prairie was indeed a far cry. How much inward +readjustment such a violent transplanting must require, Nora had +sufficient imagination to fully appreciate. But if Mrs. Sharp, herself, +were conscious of having not only survived her uprooting but of having +triumphantly grown and thrived in this alien soil, she gave no sign of +it. Everything, to employ her own favorite phrase with which she +breached over inexplicable chasms, "was all in a lifetime." + +As she had a deeply rooted distaste for any form of exercise beyond that +which was required in the day's work, most of the visiting between them +devolved upon Nora. To her the distance that separated the two houses +was nothing, and as she had from the first taken a genuine liking to her +neighbor she found herself going over to the Sharps' several times a +week. + +When, as was natural at first, she felt discouraged over her little +domestic failures, she found these neighborly visits a great tonic. +Mrs. Sharp was always ready to give advice when appealed to. And unlike +Gertie, she never expressed astonishment at her visitor's ignorance, or +impatience with her shortcomings. These became more and more infrequent. +Nora made up for her total lack of experience by an intelligent +willingness to be taught. There was a certain stimulation in the thought +that she was learning to manage her own house, that would have been +lacking while at her brother's even if Gertie had displayed a more +agreeable willingness to impart her own knowledge. + +Nora had always been fond of children, and she found the Sharp children +unusually interesting. It was curious to see how widely the ideas of +this, the first generation born in the new country, differed, not only +from those of their parents, but from what they must have inevitably +been if they had remained in the environment that would have been theirs +had they been born and brought up back in England. + +All of their dreams as to what they were going to do when they grew to +manhood were colored and shaped by the outdoor life they had been +accustomed to. They were to be farmers and cattle raisers on a large +scale. Mrs. Sharp used to shake her head sometimes as she heard these +grandiloquent plans, but Nora could see that she was secretly both +proud and pleased. After all, why should not these dreams be realized? +Everything was possible to the children of this new and wonderful +country, if they were only industrious and ambitious. + +"I don't know, I'm sure, what their poor dear grandfather would have +said if he had lived to hear them," she used to say sometimes to Nora. +"_He_ used to think that there was nothing so genteel as having a good +shop. He quite looked down on farming folk. Still, everything is +different out here, ideas as well as everything else, and I'm not at all +sure they won't be better off in the end." + +In which notion Nora secretly agreed with her. To picture these healthy, +sturdy, outdoor youngsters confined to a little dingy shop such as their +mother had been used to in her own childhood was impossible, as she +recalled to her mind the pale, anemic-looking little souls she had +occasionally seen during her stay in London. Was not any personal +sacrifice worth seeing one's children grow up so strong and healthy, so +manly and independent? + +This, then, was the true inwardness of it all; the thing that dignified +and ennobled this life of toil and hardship, deprived of almost all the +things which she had always regarded as necessary, that the welfare, +prosperity and happiness of generations yet to come might be reared on +this foundation laid by self-denial and deprivation. + +She felt almost humbled in the presence of this simple, unpretentious, +kindly woman who had borne so much without complaint that her children +might have wider opportunities for usefulness and happiness than she had +ever known. + +Not that Mrs. Sharp, herself, seemed to think that she was doing +anything remarkable. She took it all as a matter of course. It was only +when something brought up the subject of the difficulties of learning to +do without this or that, that she alluded to the days when she also was +inexperienced and had had to learn for herself without anyone to advise +or help her. + +Miles away from any help other than her husband could give her, she had +borne six children and buried one. And although the days of their worst +poverty seemed safely behind them, they had been able to save but +little, so that they still felt themselves at the mercies of the +changing seasons. Given one or two good years to harvest their crops, +they might indeed consider themselves almost beyond the danger point. +But with seven mouths to feed, one could not afford to lose a single +crop. + +With her head teeming with all the new ideas that Mrs. Sharp's +experiences furnished, Nora felt that the time was by no means as wasted +as she had once thought it would be. There was no reason, after all, +that she should sink to the level of a mere domestic drudge. And if this +part of her life was not to endure forever, it would not have been +entirely barren, since it furnished her with much new material to ponder +over. After all, was it really more narrow than her life at Tunbridge +Wells? In her heart, she acknowledged that it was not. + +To Frank, also, the winter brought a broader outlook. He had looked upon +Nora's little refinements of speech and delicate point of view, when he +had first known her at her brother's, as finicky, to say the least. All +women had fool notions about most things; this one seemed to have more +than the average share, that was all. He secretly shared Gertie's +opinion that women the world over were all alike in the essentials. He +had always been of the opinion that Nora had good stuff in her which +would come out once she had been licked into shape. Yet he found himself +not only learning to admire her for those same niceties but found +himself unconsciously imitating her mannerisms of speech. + +Then, too, after they began the habit of reading in the evenings, he +found that she had no intention of ridiculing his ignorance and lack of +knowledge in matters on which she seemed to him to be wonderfully +informed. That they did not by any means always agree in the conclusions +they arrived at, in place of irritating him, as he would have thought, +he found only stimulating to his imagination. To attack and try to +undermine her position, as long as their arguments were conducted with +perfect good nature on either side, as they always were, diverted him +greatly. And he was secretly pleased when she defended herself with a +skill and address that defeated his purpose. + +All the little improvements in the shack were a source of never-ending +pride and pleasure to him. Often when at work he found himself proudly +comparing his place with its newly added prettiness with the more gaudy +ornaments of Mrs. Sharp's or even with Gertie's more pretentious abode. +And it was not altogether the pride of ownership that made them suffer +in the comparison. + +Looking back on the days before Nora's advent seemed like a horrible +nightmare from which he was thankful to have awakened. Once in a while +he indulged himself in speculating as to how it would feel to go back to +the old shiftless, untidy days of his bachelorhood. But he rarely +allowed himself to entertain the idea of her leaving, seriously. He was +like a child, snuggly tucked in his warm bed who, listening to the +howling of the wind outside, pictures himself exposed to its harshness +in order to luxuriate the more in its warmth and comfort. + +But when, as sometimes happened, he could not close the door of his mind +to the thought of how he should ever learn to live without her again, it +brought an anguish that was physical as well as mental. Once, looking up +from her book, Nora had surprised him sitting with closed eye, his face +white and drawn with pain. + +Her fright, and above all her pretty solicitude even after he had +assuaged her fears by explaining that he occasionally suffered from an +old strain which he had sustained a few years before while working in +the lumber camps, tried his composure to the utmost. + +For days, the memory of the look in her eyes as she bent over him +remained in his mind. But he was careful not to betray himself again. + +It was to prevent any repetition that he first resorted to working over +something while she was reading. While doubly occupied with listening +and working with his hands, he found that his mind was less apt to go +off on a tangent and indulge in painful and profitless speculations. + +For, after all, as she had said, how could he prevent her going if her +heart was set on it? That she had given no outward sign of being unhappy +or discontented argued nothing. She was far too shrewd to spend her +strength in unavailing effort. Pride and ordinary prudence would counsel +waiting for a more favorable opportunity than had yet been afforded her. +She would not soon forget the lesson of the night he had beaten down her +opposition and dragged her pride in the dust. + +And would she ever forgive it? That was a question that he asked himself +almost daily without finding any answer. There was nothing in her manner +to show that she harbored resentment or that she was brooding over plans +for escaping from the bondage of her life. But women, in his experience, +were deep, even cunning. Once given a strong purpose, women like Nora, +pursued it to the end. Women of this type were not easily diverted by +side issues as men so often were. + +For weeks he lived in daily apprehension of Ed's arrival. There was no +one else she could turn to, and evoking his aid did not necessarily +argue that she must submit again to Gertie's grudging hospitality. Ed +might easily, unknown to his masterful better-half, furnish the funds to +return to England. She had not written him that he knew of. As a matter +of fact, she had not, but she might have given the letter to Sid Sharp +to post on one of his not infrequent trips into Prentice. It would only +have been by chance that Sid would speak of so trifling a matter. He was +much too proud to question him. + +But as time went on and no Ed appeared, he began, if not exactly to hope +that, after all she was finding the life not unbearable, at least her +leaving was a thing of the more or less remote future. He summoned all +his philosophy to his aid. Perhaps by the time she did make up her mind +to quit him he would have acquired some little degree of resignation, or +at least would not be caught as unprepared as he frankly confessed +himself to be at the moment. + +The spring, which brought many new occupations, mostly out of doors, had +passed, and summer was past its zenith. Frank had worked untiringly from +dawn to dark, so wearied that he frequently found it difficult to keep +his eyes open until supper was over. But his enthusiasm never flagged. +If everything went as well as he hoped, the additional quarter-section +was assured. For some reason or other, possibly because he was beginning +to feel a reaction after the hard work of the summer, Nora fancied that +his spirits were less high than usual. He talked less of the coveted +land than was his custom. She, herself, had never, in all her healthy +life, felt so glowing with health and strength. She, too, had worked +hard, finding almost every day some new task to perform. But aside from +the natural fatigue at night, which long hours of dreamless sleep +entirely dissipated, she felt all the better for her new experiences. +For one thing, her steady improvement in all the arts of the good +housewife made her daily routine much easier as well as giving her much +secret satisfaction. Never in her life had she looked so well. The +summer sun had given her a color which was most becoming. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +One afternoon, shortly after dinner, she had gone out to gather a +nosegay of wild flowers to brighten her little living-room. She was +busily engaged in arranging them in a pudding bowl, smiling to think +that her hand had lost none of the cunning to which Miss Wickham had +always paid grudging tribute, even if her improvised vase was of homely +ware, when she heard her husband's step at the door. It was so unusual +for him to return at this hour that for a moment she was almost +startled. + +"_I_ didn't know you were about." + +"Oh," he said easily, "I ain't got much to do to-day. I've been out with +Sid Sharp and a man come over from Prentice." + +"From Prentice?" + +Having arranged her flowers to her satisfaction, she stepped back to +view the effect. At that moment her husband's eye fell on them. + +"Say, what you got there?" + +"Aren't they pretty? I picked them just now. They're so gay and +cheerful." + +"Very." But his tone had none of the enthusiasm with which he usually +greeted her efforts to beautify the house. + +"A few flowers make the shack look more bright and cozy." + +He took in the room with a glance that approved of everything. + +"You've made it a real home, Nora. Mrs. Sharp never stops talking of how +you've done it. She was saying only the other day it was because you was +a lady. It does make a difference, I guess, although I didn't use to +think _so_." + +Nora gave him a smile full of indulgence. + +"I'm glad you haven't found me quite a hopeless failure." + +"I guess I've never been so comfortable in all my life. It's what I +always said: once English girls _do_ take to the life, they make a +better job of it than anybody." + +"What's the man come over from Prentice for?" asked Nora. They were +approaching a subject she always avoided. + +"I guess you ain't been terribly happy here, my girl," he said gravely, +unmindful of her question. + +"What on earth makes you say that?" + +"You've got too good a memory, I guess, and you ain't ever forgiven me +for that first night." + +It was the first time he had alluded to the subject for months. Would +he never understand that she wanted to forget it! He might know that it +always irritated her. + +"I made up my mind very soon that I must accept the consequences of what +I'd done. I've tried to fall in with your ways," she said coldly. + +"You was clever enough to see that I meant to be the master in my own +house and that I had the strength to make myself so." + +How unlike his latter self this boastful speech was. But then he had +been utterly unlike himself for several days. What did he mean? She knew +him well enough by now to know that he never acted without meaning. But +directness was one of his most admirable characteristics. It was unlike +him to be devious, as he was being now. But if the winter had taught her +anything, it had taught her patience. + +"I've cooked for you, mended your clothes, and I've kept the shack +clean. I've tried to be obliging and--and obedient." The last word was +not yet an easy one to pronounce. + +"I guess you hated me, though, sometimes." He gave a little chuckle. + +"No one likes being humiliated; and you humiliated me." + +"Ed's coming here presently, my girl." + +"Ed who?" + +"Your brother Ed." + +"Eddie! When?" + +"Why, right away, I guess. He was in Prentice this morning." + +"How do you know?" + +"He 'phoned over to Sharp to say he was riding out." + +"Oh, how splendid! Why didn't you tell me before?" + +"I didn't know about it." + +"Is that why you asked me if I was happy? I couldn't make out what was +the matter with you." + +"Well, I guess I thought if you still wanted to quit, Ed's coming would +be kind of useful." + +Nora sat down in one of the chairs and gave him a long level look. + +"What makes you think that I want to?" she said quietly. + +"You ain't been so very talkative these last months, but I guess it +wasn't so hard to see sometimes that you'd have given pretty near +anything in the world to quit." + +"I've no intention of going back to Eddie's farm, if that's what you +mean." + +To this he made no reply. Still with the same grave air, he went over to +the door and started out again, pausing a moment after he had crossed +the threshold. + +"If Ed comes before I get back, tell him I won't be long. I guess you +won't be sorry to do a bit of yarning with him all by yourself." + +"You are not going away with the idea that I'm going to say beastly +things to him about you, are you?" + +"No, I guess not. That ain't your sort. Perhaps we don't know the best +of one another yet, but I reckon we know the worst by this time." + +"Frank!" she said sharply. "There's something the matter. What is it?" + +"Why, no; there's nothing. Why?" + +"You've not been yourself the last few days." + +"I guess that's only your imagination. Well, I'd better be getting +along. Sid and the other fellow'll be waiting for me." + +Without another look in her direction, he was gone, closing the door +after him. + +Nora remained quite still for several minutes, biting her lips and +frowning in deep thought. It was all very well to say that there was +nothing the matter, but there was. Did he think she could live with him +day after day all these months and not notice his change of mood, even +if she could not translate it? He had still a great deal to learn about +women! + +On the way over to the shelf to get her work, she paused a moment beside +her flowers to cheer herself once more with their brightness. Sitting +down by the table, she began to darn one of her husband's thick woolen +socks. An instant later she was startled by a loud knock on the door. + +With a little cry of pleasure she flung it open, to find Eddie standing +outside. She gave a cry of delight. Somehow, the interval since she had +seen him last, significant as it was in bringing to her the greatest +change her life had known, seemed for the second longer than all the +years she had spent in England without seeing him. + +"Eddie! Oh, my dear, I'm so glad to see you!" she cried, flinging her +arms around his neck. + +"Hulloa there," he said awkwardly. + +"But how did you come? I didn't hear any wheels." + +"Look." He pointed over to the shed; she looked over his shoulder to see +Reggie Hornby grinning at her from the seat of a wagon. + +"Why, it's Reggie Hornby. Reggie!" she called. + +Reggie took off his broad hat with a flourish. + +"Tell him he can put the horse in the lean-to." + +"All right. Reg," called Marsh, "give the old lady a feed and put her in +the lean-to." + +"Right-o!" + +"Didn't you meet Frank? He's only just this moment gone out." + +"No." + +"He'll be back presently. Now, come in. Oh, my dear, _it is_ splendid to +see you!" + +"You're looking fine, Nora." + +"Have you had your dinner?" + +"Sure. We got something to eat before we left Prentice." + +"Well, you'll have a cup of tea?" + +"No, I won't have any, thanks." + +"Ah," laughed Nora happily, "you're not a real Canadian yet, if you +refuse a cup of tea when it's offered you. But do sit down and make +yourself comfortable," she said, fairly pushing him into a chair. + +"How are you getting along, Nora?" His manner was still a little +constrained. They were both thinking of their last parting. But she, +being a woman, could carry it off better. + +"Oh, never mind about me," she said gayly. "Tell me all about yourself. +How's Gertie? And what has brought you to this part of the world? And +what's Reggie Hornby doing here? And is Thingamajig still with you; you +know, the hired man?"--The word "other" almost slipped out.--"What _was_ +his name, Trotter, wasn't it? Oh, my dear, don't sit there like a +stuffed pig, but answer my questions, or I'll shake you." + +"My dear child, I can't answer fifteen questions all at once!" + +"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad to see you! You are a perfect duck to come and +see me." + +"Now let me get a word in edgeways." + +"I won't utter another syllable. But, for goodness' sake, hurry up. I +want to know all sorts of things." + +"Well, the most important thing is that I'm expecting to be a happy +father in three or four months." + +"Oh, Eddie, I'm so glad! How happy Gertie must be." + +"She doesn't know what to make of it. But I guess she's pleased right +enough. She sends you her love and says she hopes you'll follow her +example very soon." + +"I?" said Nora sharply. "But," she added with a return to her gay tone, +"you've not told me what you're doing in this part of the world, +anyway." + +"Anyway?" + +Nora blushed. "I've practically spoken to no one but Frank for months; +it's natural that I should fall into his way of speaking." + +"Well, when I got Frank's letter about the clearing-machine----" + +"Frank has written to you?" + +"Why, yes; didn't you know? He said there was a clearing-machine going +cheap at Prentice. I've always thought I could make money down our way +if I had one. They say you can clear from three to four acres a day with +one. Frank thought it was worth my while to come and have a look at it +and he said he guessed you'd be glad to see me." + +"How funny of him not to say anything to me about it," said Nora, +frowning once more. + +"I suppose he wanted to surprise you. And now for yourself; how do you +like being a married woman?" + +"Oh, all right. But you haven't answered half my questions yet. Why has +Reggie Hornby come with you?" + +"Do you realize I've not seen you since before you were married?" + +"That's so; you haven't, have you?" + +"I've been a bit anxious about you. That's why, when Frank wrote about +the clearing-machine, I didn't stop to think about it, but just came." + +"It was awfully nice of you. But why has Reggie Hornby come?" + +"Oh, he's going back to England." + +"Is he?" + +"Yes, he got them to send his passage money at last. His ship doesn't +sail till next week, and he said he might just as well stop over here +and say good-by to you." + +"How has he been getting on?" + +"How do you expect? He looks upon work as something that only damned +fools do. Where's Frank?" + +"Oh, he's out with Sid Sharp. Sid's our neighbor. He has the farm you +passed on your way here." + +"Getting on all right with him, Nora?" + +"Why, of course," said Nora with just a suggestion of irritation in her +voice. + +"What's that boy doing all this time?" she asked, going over to the +window and looking out. "He _is_ slow, isn't he?" + +But Marsh was not a man whom it was easy to side-track. + +"It's a great change for you, this, after the sort of life you've been +used to." + +"I was rather hoping you'd have some letters for me," said Nora from the +window. "I haven't had a letter for a long time." + +As a matter of fact she had no reason to expect any, not having answered +Miss Pringle's last and having practically no other correspondent. But +the speech was a happy one, in that it created the desired diversion. + +"There now!" said her brother with an air of comical consternation. +"I've got a head like a sieve. Two came by the last mail. I didn't +forward them, because I was coming myself." + +"You don't mean to tell me you've forgotten them!" + +"No; here they are." + +Nora took them with a show of eagerness. "They don't look very +exciting," she said, glancing at them. "One's from Agnes Pringle, the +lady's companion that I used to know at Tunbridge Wells, you remember. +And the other's from Mr. Wynne." + +"Who's he?" + +"Oh, he was Miss Wickham's solicitor. He wrote to me once before to say +he hoped I was getting on all right. I don't think I want to hear from +people in England any more," she said in a low voice, more to herself +than to him, tossing the letters on the table. + +"My dear, why do you say that?" + +"It's no good thinking of the past, is it?" + +"Aren't you going to read your letters?" + +"Not now; I'll read them when I'm alone." + +"Don't mind me." + +"It's silly of me; but letters from England always make me cry." + +"Nora! Then you aren't happy here." + +"Why shouldn't I be?" + +"Then why haven't you written to me but once since you were married?" + +"I hadn't anything to say. And then," carrying the war into the enemy's +quarter, "I'd been practically turned out of your house." + +"I don't know what to make of you. Frank Taylor's kind to you and all +that sort of thing, isn't he?" + +"Very. But don't cross-examine me, there's a dear." + +"When I asked you to come and make your home with me, I thought it +mightn't be long before you married. But I didn't expect you to marry +one of the hired men." + +"Oh, my dear, please don't worry about me." Nora was about at the end of +her endurance. + +"It's all very fine to say that; but you've got no one in the world +belonging to you except me." + +"Don't, I tell you." + +"Nora!" + +"Now listen. We've never quarreled once since the first day I came here. +Now are you satisfied?" + +She said it bravely, but it was with a feeling of unspeakable relief +that she saw Reggie Hornby at the door. + +She certainly had never before been so genuinely glad to see him. As she +smilingly held out her hand, her eye took in his changed appearance. +Gone were the overalls and the flannel shirt, the heavy boots and broad +belt. Before her stood the Reggie of former days in a well-cut suit of +blue serge and spotless linen. She was surprised to find herself +thinking, after all, men looked better in flannels. + +"I was wondering what on earth you were doing with yourself," she said +gayly. + +"I say," he said, his eye taking in the bright little room, "this is a +swell shack you've got." + +"I've tried to make it look pretty and homelike." + +"Helloa, what's this!" said Marsh, whose eye had fallen for the first +time on the bowl of flowers. + +"Aren't they pretty? I've only just picked them. They're mustard +flowers." + +"We call them weeds. Have you much of it?" + +"Oh, yes; lots. Why?" + +"Oh, nothing." + +"Eddie tells me you're going home." + +"Yes," said Reggie, seating himself and carefully pulling up his +trousers. "I'm fed up for my part with God's own country. Nature never +intended me to be an agricultural laborer." + +"No? And what are you going to do now?" + +"Loaf!" Mr. Hornby's tone expressed profound conviction. + +"Won't you get bored?" smiled Nora. + +"I'm never bored. It amuses me to watch other people do things. I should +hate my fellow-creatures to be idle." + +"I should think one could do more with life than lounge around clubs and +play cards with people who don't play as well as oneself." + +Hornby gave her a quick ironic look. "I quite agree with you," he said +with his most serious air. "I've been thinking things over very +seriously this winter. I'm going to look out for a middle-aged widow +with money who'll adopt me." + +"I recall that you have decided views about the White Man's Burden." + +"All I want is to get through life comfortably. I don't mean to do a +stroke more work than I'm obliged to, and I'm going to have the very +best time I can." + +"I'm sure you will," said Nora, smiling. + +But her smile was a little mechanical. Somehow she could no longer be +genuinely amused at such sentiments which, in spite of his airy manner, +she knew to be real. And yet, it was not so very long ago that she would +have thought them perfectly natural in a man of his position. Somehow, +her old standards were not as fixed as she had thought them. + +"The moment I get back to London," continued Hornby imperturbably, "I'm +going to stand myself a bang-up dinner at the Ritz. Then I shall go and +see some musical comedy at the Gaiety, and after that, I'll have a +slap-up supper at Romano's. England, with all thy faults, I love thee +still!" he finished piously. + +"I suppose it's being alone with the prairie all these months," said +Nora, more to herself than him; "but things that used to seem clever and +funny--well, I see them altogether differently now." + +"I'm afraid you don't altogether approve of me," he said, quite +unabashed. + +"I don't think you have much pluck," said Nora, not unkindly. + +"Oh, I don't know about that. I've as much as anyone else, I expect, +only I don't make a fuss about it." + +"Oh, pluck to stand up and let yourself be shot at."--She flushed +slightly at the remembrance of Frank standing in this very room in front +of the gun in her hand. Would she ever forget his laugh!--"But pluck to +do the same monotonous thing day after day, plain, honest, hard +work--you haven't got that sort of pluck. You're a failure and the worst +of it is, you're not ashamed of it. It seems to fill you with +self-satisfaction. Oh, you're incorrigible," she ended with a laugh. + +"I am; let's let it go at that. I suppose there's nothing you want me to +take home; I shall be going down to Tunbridge Wells to see mother. Got +any messages?" + +"I don't know that I have. Eddie has just brought me a couple of +letters. I'll have a look at them first." + +She went over to the table and picked up Miss Pringle's letter and +opened it. + +After reading a few lines, she gave a little cry. + +"Oh!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Marsh. + +"What _can_ she mean? Listen! 'I've just heard from Mr. Wynne about your +good luck and I'm glad to say I have another piece of good news for +you.'" + +Dropping the letter, she tore open the other. It contained a check. She +gave it a quick glance. + +"A check for five hundred pounds! Oh, Eddie, listen." She read from Mr. +Wynne's letter: "'Dear Miss Marsh--I have had several interviews with +Mr. Wickham in relation to the late Miss Wickham's estate, and I +ventured to represent to him that you had been very badly treated. Now +that everything is settled, he wishes me to send you the enclosed check +as some recognition of your devoted services to his late aunt--five +hundred pounds." + +"That's a very respectable sum," said Marsh, nodding his head sagely. + +"I could do with that myself," remarked Hornby. + +"I've never had so much money in all my life!" + +"But what's the other piece of good news that Miss Stick-in-the-mud has +for you?" + +"Oh, I quite forgot. Where is it?" Her brother stooped and picked the +fallen letter from the floor. + +"Thank you. Um-um-um-um-um. Oh, yes, 'Piece of good news for you. I +write at once so that you may make your plans accordingly. I told you in +my last letter, did I not, of my sister-in-law's sudden death? Now my +brother is very anxious that I should make my home with him. So I am +leaving Mrs. Hubbard. She wishes me to say that if you care to have my +place as her companion, she will be very pleased to have you. I have +been with her for thirteen years and she has always treated me like an +equal. She is very considerate and there is practically nothing to do +but to exercise the dear little dogs. The salary is thirty-five pounds a +year.'" + +"But," said Marsh, looking at the envelope in his hand, "the letter is +addressed to Miss Marsh. I'd intended to ask you about that; don't they +know you're married?" + +"No. I haven't told them." + +"What a lark!" said Reggie, slapping his knee. "You could go back to +Tunbridge Wells, and none of the old frumps would ever know you'd been +married at all." + +"Why, so I could!" said Nora in a breathless tone. She gave Hornby a +strange look and turned toward the window to hide the fact that she had +flushed to the roots of her hair. + +Her brother gave her a long look. + +"Just clear out for a minute, Reg. I want to talk with Nora." + +"Right-o!" He disappeared in the direction of the shed. + +"Nora, do you _want_ to clear out?" + +"What on earth makes you think that I do?" + +"You gave Reg such a look when he mentioned it." + +"I'm only bewildered. Tell me, did Frank know anything about this?" + +"My dear, how could he?" + +"It's most extraordinary; he was talking about my going away only a +moment before you came." + +"About your going away? But why?" + +She realized that she had betrayed herself and kept silent. + +"Nora, for goodness' sake tell me if there's anything the matter. Can't +you see it's now or never? You're keeping something back from me. I +could see it all along, ever since I came. Aren't you two getting on +well together?" + +"Not very," she said in a low, shamed tone. + +"Why in heaven's name didn't you let me know." + +"I was ashamed." + +"But you just now said he was kind to you." + +"I have nothing to reproach him with." + +"I tell you I felt there was something wrong. I knew you couldn't be +happy with him. A girl like you, with your education and refinement, and +a man like him--a hired man! Oh, the whole thing would have been +ridiculous if it weren't horrible. Not that he's not a good fellow and +as straight as they make them, but---- Well, thank God, I'm here and +you've got this chance." + +"Eddie, what do you mean?" + +"You're not fit for this life. I mean you've got your chance to go back +home to England. For God's sake, take it! In six months' time, all +you've gone through here will seem nothing but a hideous dream." + +The expression of her face was so extraordinary, such a combination of +fear, bewilderment, and something that was far deeper than dismay, that +he stared at her for a moment without speaking. + +"Nora, what's the matter!" + +"I don't know," she said hoarsely. + +But she did, she did. + +At his words, the picture of the little shack--her home now--as it had +looked the first time she saw it in all its comfortlessness, its untidy +squalor, rose before her eyes. And she saw a lonely man clumsily busying +himself about the preparation of an illy-cooked meal, and later sitting +smoking in the desolate silence. She saw him go forth to his daily toil +with all the lightness gone from his step, to return at nightfall, with +a heaviness born of more than mere physical fatigue, to the same bleak +bareness. + +And she saw herself, back at Tunbridge Wells. No longer the mistress, +but the underpaid underling. Eating once more off fine old china, at a +table sparkling with silver and glass. But the bread was bitter, the +bread of the dependent. And she came and went at another's bidding, and +the yoke was not easy. She trod once more, round and round, in that +little circle which she knew so well. She used to think that the walls +would stifle her. How much more would they not stifle her now that she +had known this larger freedom? + +"I say," said Reggie's voice from the doorway, "here's someone coming to +see you." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +It was Mrs. Sharp, making her laborious way slowly up the path. + +"Why," said Nora, in a low voice, "it's Mrs. Sharp, the wife of our +neighbor. Whatever brings her here on foot! She never walks a step if +she can help it." + +"Good afternoon, Mrs. Sharp," she called. + +Mrs. Sharp had apparently come on some sudden impulse. Usually, well as +they knew each other by this time, she always made more or less of a +toilet before having her husband drive her over. But to-day she had +evidently come directly from her work. She wore a battered old skirt and +a faded shirt-waist, none too clean. On her head was an old sunbonnet, +the strings of which were tied in a hard knot under her fat chin. + +"Come right in," said Nora cordially. "You _do_ look warm." + +"Good afternoon to you, Mrs. Taylor. Yes, I'm all in a perspiration. +I've not walked so far--well, goodness alone knows when!" + +"This is my brother," said Nora, presenting Eddie. + +"Your brother? Is _that_ who it is!" + +"Why, you seem surprised." + +Mrs. Sharp forbore any explanation for the moment. Sinking heavily into +the rocking chair, she accepted with a grateful nod the fan that Nora +offered her. There was nothing to do but to give her time to recover her +breath. Nora and Eddie sat down and waited. + +"I was so anxious," Mrs. Sharp at length managed to say, still +panting--whether with exhaustion or emotion, Nora could not +tell--between her sentences, "I simply couldn't stay indoors--another +minute. I went out to see if I--could catch a sight of Sid. And I walked +on, and on. And then I saw the rig what's--outside. And it gave me such +a _turn_! I thought it was the inspector. I just had to come--I was that +nervous----!" + +"But why? Is anything the matter?" asked Nora, completely puzzled. + +"You're not going to tell me you don't _know_ about it? When Sid and +Frank haven't been talking about anything else since Frank found it?" + +"Found it? Found what?" + +"The weed," said Mrs. Sharp simply. + +"You've got it then," said Marsh, with a slight gesture of his head +toward the table where Nora's flowers made a bright spot of color. + +"It's worse here, at Taylor's. But we've got it, too." + +"What does she mean?" Nora addressed herself to Eddie, abandoning all +hope of getting anything out of her friend. + +"We can't make out who reported us. It isn't as if we had any enemies," +went on Mrs. Sharp gloomily, as if Nora wasn't present, or at least +hadn't spoken. "It isn't as if we had any enemies," she repeated. +"Goodness knows we've never done anything to anybody." + +"Oh, there's always someone to report you. After all, it's not to be +wondered at. No one's going to run the risk of letting it get on his own +land." + +"And she has them in the house as if they were flowers!" exclaimed Mrs. +Sharp, addressing the ceiling. + +"Eddie, I insist that you tell me what you two are talking about," +demanded Nora hotly. + +"My dear," said her brother, "these pretty little flowers which you've +picked to make your shack look bright and--and homelike, may mean ruin." + +"Eddie!" + +"You must have heard--why, I remember telling you about it myself--about +this mustard, this weed. We farmers in Canada have three enemies to +fight: frost, hail and weed." + +Mrs. Sharp confirmed his words with a despairing nod of her head. + +"We was hailed out last year," she said. "Lost our whole crop. Never got +a dollar for it. And now! If we lose it this year, too--why, we might +just as well quit and be done with it." + +"When it gets into your crop," Marsh explain for Nora's benefit, "you've +got to report it. If you don't, one of the neighbors is sure to. And +then they send an inspector along, and if _he_ condemns it, why you just +have to destroy the whole crop, and all your year's work goes for +nothing. You're lucky, in that case, if you've got a bit of money laid +by in the bank and can go on till next year when the next crop comes +along." + +"We've only got a quarter-section and we've got five children. It's not +much money you can save then." + +"But----" began Nora. + +"Are they out with the inspector now?" asked Marsh. + +"Yes. He came out from Prentice this morning early." + +"This will be a bad job for Frank." + +"Yes, but he hasn't got the mouths to feed that we have. I can't think +what's to become of us. He can hire out again." + +Nora's face flushed. + +"I--I wonder why he hasn't told me anything about it. I asked him, only +this morning, what was troubling him. I was sure there was something, +but he said not," she said sadly. + +"Oh, I guess he's always been in the habit of keeping his troubles to +himself, and you haven't taught him different yet." + +Nora was about to make a sharp retort, but realizing that her good +neighbor was half beside herself with anxiety and nervousness, she said +nothing. A fact which the unobservant Eddie noted with approval. + +"Well," he said as cheerfully as he could, "you must hope for the best, +Mrs. Sharp." + +"Sid says we've only got it in one place. But perhaps he's only saying +it, so as I shouldn't worry. But you know what them inspectors are; they +don't lose nothin' by it. It don't matter to _them_ if you starve all +winter!" + +Suddenly she began to cry. Great sobs wracked her heavy frame. The big +tears rolled down her cheeks. Nora had never seen her give way before, +even when she talked of the early hardships she had endured, or of the +little one she had lost. She was greatly moved, for this good, brave +woman who had already suffered so much. + +"Oh, don't--don't cry, dear Mrs. Sharp. After all, it may all turn out +right." + +"They won't condemn the whole crop unless it's very bad, you know," +Marsh reminded her. "Too many people have got their eyes on it; the +machine agent and the loan company." + +Mrs. Sharp had regained her self-control in sufficient measure to permit +of her speaking. She still kept making little dabs at her eyes with a +red bandanna handkerchief, and her voice broke occasionally. + +"What with the hail that comes and hails you out, and the frost that +kills your crop just when you're beginning to count on it, and now the +weed!" She had to stop again for a moment. "I can't bear any more. If we +lose this crop, I won't go on. I'll make Sid sell out, and we'll go back +home. We'll take a little shop somewhere. That's what I wanted to do +from the beginning. But Sid--Sid always had his heart set on farming." + +"But you couldn't go back now," said Nora, her face aglow, "you +couldn't. You never could be happy or contented in a little shop after +the life you've had out here. And think; if you'd stayed back in +England, you'd have always been at the beck and call of somebody else. +And you own your land. You couldn't do that back in England. Every time +you come out of your door and look at the growing wheat, aren't you +proud to think that it's all yours? I know you are. I've seen it in your +face." + +"You don't know all that I've had to put up with. When the children +came, only once did I have a doctor. All the rest of the times, Sid was +all the help I had. I might as well have been an animal! I wish I'd +never left home and come to this country, that I do!" + +"How can you say that? Look at your children, how strong and healthy +they are. And think what a future they will have. Why, they'll be able +to help you both in your work soon. You've given them a chance; they'd +never have had a chance back home. You know that." + +"Oh, it's all very well for them. They'll have it easy, I know that. +Easier than their poor father and mother ever had. But we've had to pay +for it all in advance, Sid and me. They'll never know what we paid." + +"Ah, but don't you see that it is because you were the first?" said +Nora, going over to her and laying a friendly hand upon her arm. Mrs. +Sharp was, of course, too preoccupied with her own troubles to realize, +even if she had known that the question of Nora's return to England had +come up, that her friend was doing some special pleading for herself, +against herself. But to her brother, who years before had in a lesser +degree gone through the same searching experience, the cause of her +warmth was clear. He nodded his approval. + +"It's bitter work, opening up a new country, I realize that," Nora went +on, her eyes dark with earnestness. + +Unknown to herself, she had a larger audience, for Hornby and Frank +stood silently in the open door. Marsh saw them, and shook his head +slightly. He wanted Nora to finish. + +"What if it is the others who reap the harvest? Don't you really believe +that those who break the ground are rewarded in a way that the later +comers never dream of? I do." + +"She's right there," broke in Marsh. "I shall never forget, Mrs. Sharp, +what I felt when I saw my first crop spring up--the thought that never +since the world began had wheat grown on that little bit of ground +before. Oh, it was wonderful! I wouldn't go back to England now, to +live, for anything in the world. I couldn't breathe." + +"You're a man. You have the best of it, and all the credit." + +"Not with everyone," said Nora. She fell on her knees beside the elder +woman's chair and stroked her work-roughened old hand. + +"The outsiders don't know. You mustn't blame them, how could they? It's +only those who've lived on the prairie who _could_ know that the chief +burden of the hardships of opening up a new country falls upon the +women. But the men who are the husbands, they know, and in their hearts +they give us all credit." + +"I guess they do, Mrs. Sharp," said Marsh earnestly. + +Mrs. Sharp smiled gratefully on Nora through her tears. + +"Thank you for speaking so kindly to me, my dear. I know that you are +right in every blessed thing you've said. You must excuse me for being a +bit downhearted for the moment. The fact is, I'm that nervous that I +hardly know _what_ I'm saying. But you've done me no end of good." + +"That's right." Nora got slowly to her feet. "Sid and Frank will be here +in a minute or two, I am sure." + +"And you're perfectly right, both of you," Mrs. Sharp repeated. "I +couldn't go back and live in England again. If we lose our crop, well, +we must hang on some way till next year. We shan't starve, exactly. A +person's got to take the rough with the smooth; and take it by and +large, it's a good country." + +"Ah, now you're talking more like yourself, the self that used to cheer +me up when----" + +Turning, she saw her husband standing in the doorway. + +"Frank!" + +He was looking at her with quite a new expression. How long had he been +there? Had he heard all she had been saying to Mrs. Sharp, carried away +by the emotion aroused by the secret conflict within her own heart? She +both hoped and feared that he had. + +"Where's Sid?" said Mrs. Sharp, starting to her feet. + +"Why, he's up at your place. Hulloa, Ed. Saw you coming along in the rig +earlier in the morning. But I was surprised to find Reg here. Didn't +recognize him so far away in his store clothes." + +"Must have been a pleasant surprise for you," said Hornby with +conviction. + +"What's happened? Tell me what's happened." + +"Mrs. Sharp came on here because she was too anxious to stay at home," +Nora explained. + +"Oh, you're all right." + +"We are?" Mrs. Sharp gave a sobbing gasp of relief. + +"Only a few acres got to go. That won't hurt you." + +"Thank God for that! And it's goin' to be the best crop we ever had. +It's the finest country in the world!" Her face was beaming. + +"You'd better be getting back," warned Taylor. "Sid's taken the +inspector up to give him some dinner." + +"He hasn't!" said Mrs. Sharp indignantly. "If that isn't just like a +man." She made a gesture condemning the sex. "It's a mercy there's +plenty in the house. But I must be getting along right away," she +bustled. + +"But you mustn't think of walking all that way back in the hot sun," +expostulated Nora. "There's Eddie's rig. Reggie, here, will drive you +over." + +"Oh, thank you, kindly. I'm not used to walking very much, you know, and +I'd be all tuckered out by the time I got back home. Good-by, all. Good +afternoon, Mrs. Taylor." + +"Good afternoon. Reggie, you won't mind driving Mrs. Sharp back. It's +only just a little over a mile." + +"Not a bit of it," said Hornby good-naturedly. + +"I'll come and help you put the mare in," said Marsh, starting to follow +Hornby and Mrs. Sharp down the path. + +"I guess it's a relief to you, now you know," he called back to his +brother-in-law. + +"Terrible. I want to have a talk with you presently, Ed. I'll go on out +with him, I guess," he said, turning to his wife. + +She nodded silently. She was grateful to him for leaving her alone for a +time. They would have much to say to each other a little later. + +"Hold on, Ed, I'm coming." + +"Right you are!" + +He ran lightly down the path where his brother-in-law stood waiting for +him. + +She stood for a long moment looking down at the innocent-looking little +blossoms on her table. And they could cause such heartbreak and +desolation, ranking, as engines of destruction, with the frost and the +hail! Could make such seasoned and tried women as Mrs. Sharp weep and +bring the gray look of apprehension into the eyes of a man like her +husband. Those innocent-looking little flowers! + +What must he have felt as he saw her arranging them so light-heartedly +in her pudding-dish that morning. And yet, rather than mar her pleasure, +he had choked back the impulse to speak. Yes, that was like him. For a +moment they blurred as she looked at them. She checked her inclination +to throw them into the stove, to burn them to ashes so that they could +work their evil spells no more. Later on, she would do so. But she +wanted them there until he returned. + +She looked about the little room. Yes, it _was_ pretty and homelike, +deserving all the nice things people said about it. And what a real +pleasure she had had in transforming it, from the dreadful little place +it was when she first saw it, into what it was now. Not that she could +ever have worked the miracle alone. + +She smiled sadly to herself. How all her thoughts, like homing pigeons, +had the one goal! + +And how proud he was of it all. With what delighted, almost childlike +interest, he had watched each little change. And how he had acquiesced +in every suggestion and helped her to plan and carry out the things she +could not have done alone. + +She lived again those long winter evenings when, snug and warm, the grim +cruelty of the storms shut out, she had read aloud to him while he +worked on making the chairs. + +How long would it keep its prettiness with no woman's eye to keep its +jealous watch on it? The process of reversion to its old desolation +would be gradual. The curtains, the bright ribands, the cushions would +slowly become soiled and faded. And there would be no one here to renew +them. For a moment, the thought of asking Mrs. Sharp to look after them +came into her mind. But, no. She certainly had enough to do. And, +besides--the thought thrilled her with delight--_he_ would not like +having anyone else to touch them! + +And she? She would be back in that old life where such simple little +things were a commonplace, a matter of course. And what interest would +they be to her? She could see herself ripping the ribands from an old +hat to tie back curtains for Mrs. Hubbard! Certainly that excellent lady +would be astonished if she suggested doing anything of the sort, and +small wonder. She hired the proper people to keep her house in order +just as she was going to hire her. + +She found it in her heart to be sorry for Mrs. Hubbard. She had always +had her money. The joy of these little miracles of contrivance had never +been hers. She had bought her home. She had never, in all her pampered +life, made one. + +Home! What a desolating word it could be to the homeless. She knew. +Since her far-off childhood, she had never called a place 'home' till +now. And just as the word began to take on a new meaning, she was going +to leave it! Had anyone told her a few short months ago, on the night +that she had first seen what she had inwardly called a hovel, that she +would ever leave it with any faintest feeling of regret, she would have +called him mad. Regret! why the thought of leaving tore her very +heartstrings. + +What if it had been only a few short months that had passed since then? +One's life is not measured by the ticking of a clock, but by emotion and +feeling. She had crowded more emotion into these few short months than +in all the rest of her dull, uneventful life put together. + +Fear, terror, hatred, murderous rage, bitter humiliation, she had felt +them all within the small compass of these four walls. And greatest of +all--why try to deceive her own heart any longer--here she had known +love. She had fought off the acknowledgment of this the crowning +experience and humiliation as long as she could. She had called on her +pride, that pride which had never before failed her. And now, to +herself, she had to acknowledge that she was beaten. + +They were all against her. Her own brother had spoken, only a few +moments ago, of her marriage as horrible. "A girl like you and a hired +man!" She could hear him now. And _he_ had spoken of her leaving as a +matter of course. He couldn't have done it if he had cared. He liked the +comforts that a woman brings to a house, the little touches that no +man's hand can give, that a woman, even as unskillful as she, brings +about instinctively, that was all. Almost any other woman could do as +well. He did not prize her for herself. + +And she would go back to England and, as Hornby had gleefully said, no +one need ever know. She would have a place, on sufferance, in other +people's homes. The only change that the year would have made in her +life would be that the check in her pocket, safely invested, might save +her eventually, when she was too old to serve as a companion, from being +dependant on actual charity. And to all outward intents and purposes, +the year would be as if it had never been. + +"In six months, all you've gone through here will seem nothing but a +hideous dream," her brother had promised her. Was there ever a man since +the world began that understood a woman! A dream! The only time in her +life that she had really lived. No, all the rest of her life might be of +the stuff that dreams are made on, but not this. And like a +sleep-walker, dead to all sensation, she must go through with it. + +And she was not yet thirty. All of her father's family--and she was +physically the daughter of her father, not of her mother--lived to such +a great age. In all human probability there would be at least fifty +years of life left to her. Fifty years with all that made life worth +living behind one! + +She supposed he would eventually get a divorce. She remembered to have +heard that such things were easy out here, not like it was in England. +And he was a man who would be sure to marry again, he would want a +family. + +And it was some other woman who would be the mother of his children! + +The wave of passion that swept her now, made up of bitter regret, of +longing and of jealousy, overwhelmed her as never before. + +She had been pacing the room up and down, up and down, stopping now and +then to touch some little familiar object with a touch that was a +caress. + +But at this last thought, she sank into a chair and buried her face in +her hands. + +The storm of weeping which shook her had nearly spent itself, when she +heard steps coming toward the house, a step that her heart had known for +many a day. Drying her eyes quickly, she went to the window and made a +pretense of looking out that he might not see her tear-stained face. She +made a last call on her pride and strength to carry her through the +coming interview. He should never know what leaving cost her; that she +promised herself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +"Ed drove over with Reg and Emma; I guess he won't be very long. There +was something he wanted to say to old man Sharp that he'd forgot about." + +"Then you didn't get your talk with him?" + +She was glad of that. It was better to have their own talk first. But as +it had been _he_ who had broached the subject of her leaving, it was he +who must reopen it. + +"No, but I guess anything I've got to say to him will keep till he gets +back. Ed's thinking of buying a clearing-machine that's for sale over +Prentice way." + +"Yes, he told me." + +Without turning her head, she could tell that he was looking around for +the matches. He never could remember that they were kept in a jar over +on the shelf back of the stove. He was going to smoke his pipe, of +course. When men were nervous about anything they always flew to +tobacco. Women were denied that poor consolation. But she, too, felt the +necessity of having something to occupy her hands. She went back to the +table, and taking some of Frank's thick woolen socks from her basket, +sat down and began mechanically to darn them. She purposely placed +herself so that he could only see her profile. Even then, he would see +that her eyes were still red; she hadn't had time to bathe them. + +"I suppose I look a sight, but poor Mrs. Sharp was so upset! She broke +down and cried and of course I've been crying, too. I'm so thankful it's +turned out all right for her. Poor thing, I never saw her in such a +state!" + +"They've got five children to feed. I guess it would make a powerful lot +of difference to them," he said quietly. + +"I wish you'd told me all about it before. I felt that something was +worrying you, and I didn't know what." There was a pause. "Why _didn't_ +you tell me?" + +"If I saved the crop, there didn't seem any use fussing, and if I +didn't, you'd know soon enough." + +"How could you bear to let me put those dreadful flowers here in the +house?" she said, pointing to the bowl on the table. + +"Oh, I guess I didn't mind, if it gave you any pleasure. You didn't know +they was only a weed and a poisonous one for us farmers. You thought +them darned pretty." + +"That was very kind of you, Frank," said Nora. Her voice shook a little +in spite of her effort to control it. + +"I guess it's queer that a darned little flower like that should be able +to do so much damage." + +That subject exhausted, there came another pause. He was very evidently +waiting her lead. Could Eddie have told him anything about the news from +England? No, he hadn't had any opportunity. Besides it would have been +very unlike Eddie, who, as a general rule, had a supreme talent for +minding his own affairs. + +"How did it happen that you didn't tell me that you had written to +Eddie?" + +"I guess I forgot." + +She waited a few moments to make sure that her voice was quite steady: + +"Frank, Eddie brought me some letters from home--from England, I +mean--to-day. I've had an offer of a job back in England." + +He got up slowly and went over to the corner where the broom hung to get +some straws to run through the mouthpiece of his pipe. His face was +turned from her, so that she could not see that he had closed his eyes +for a moment and that his mouth was drawn with pain. + +When he turned he had resumed his ordinary expression. His voice was +perfectly steady when he spoke: + +"An offer of a job? Gee! I guess you'll jump at that." + +"It's funny it should have come just when you had been talking of my +going away." + +"Very." + +Not even a comment. Oh, why didn't he say that he would be glad to have +her gone, and be done with it! Anything, almost, would be easier to bear +than this total lack of interest. She tried another tack. + +"Have you any--any objection?" + +"I guess it wouldn't make a powerful lot of difference to you if I had." +He could actually smile, his good-natured, indulgent smile, which she +knew so well. + +"What makes you think that?" + +"Oh, I guess you only stayed on here because you had to." + +Nora's work dropped in her lap. + +"Is life always like that?" she said with bitter sadness. "The things +you've wanted so dreadfully seem only to bring you pain when they come." + +He gave her a swift glance, but went on smoking quietly. She went over +to the window again and stood looking out at the stretch of prairie. +Presently she spoke in a low voice, but her words were addressed as much +to herself as to him: + +"Month after month, this winter, I used to sit here looking out at the +prairie. Sometimes I wanted to scream at the top of my voice. I felt +that I must break that awful silence or go mad. There were times when +the shack was like a prison. I thought I should never escape. I was +hemmed in by the snow and the cold and the stillness; cut off from +everything and everybody, from all that had been the world I knew." + +"Are you going to quit right now with Ed?" he asked gently. + +Nora went slowly back to her chair. "You seem in a great hurry to be rid +of me," she said, with the flicker of a smile. + +"Well, I guess we ain't made a great success of our married life, my +girl." He went over to the stove to knock the ashes from his pipe. "It's +rum, when you come to figure it out," he said, when it was once more +lighted; "I thought I could make you do everything I wanted, just +because I was bigger and stronger. It sure did look like I held a +straight flush. And you beat me." + +"I?" said Nora in astonishment. + +"Why, sure. You don't mean to say you didn't know _that_?" + +"I don't know at all what you mean." + +"I guess I was pretty ignorant about women," his began pacing up and +down the floor as he talked. "I guess I didn't know how strong a woman +could be. You was always givin' way; you done everything I told you. +And, all the time, you was keeping something back from me that I +couldn't get at. Whenever I thought I was goin' to put my hand on +you--zip! You was away again. I guess I found I'd only caught hold of a +shadow." + +"I don't know what more you expected. I didn't know you wanted anything +more!" + +"I guess I wanted love," he said in a tone so low that she barely caught +it. + +He stood over by the table, looking down on her from his great height. +His face was flushed, but his eyes were steady and unashamed. + +"You!" + +She looked at him in absolute consternation. Her breath came in hurried +gasps. But her heart sang in her breast and the little pathetic droop of +her mouth disappeared. Her telltale eyes dropped on her work. Not yet, +not yet; she was greedy to hear more. + +"I know you now less well than when you'd been only a week up to Ed's." +He resumed his pacing up and down. "I guess I've lost the trail. I'm +just beating round, floundering in the bush." + +"I never knew you wanted love," she said softly. + +"I guess I didn't know it until just lately, either." + +"I suppose parting's always rather painful," she said with just the +beginning of a little smile creeping round the corners of her lips. + +"If you go back--_when_ you go back," he corrected himself, "to the old +country, I guess--I guess you'll never want to come back." + +"Perhaps you'll come over to England yourself, one of these days. If you +only have a couple of good years, you could easily shut up the place and +run over for the winter," she said shyly. + +"I guess that would be a dangerous experiment. You'll be a lady in +England. I guess I'd still be only the hired man." + +"You'd be my husband." + +"N-o-o-o," he said, with a shake of the head. "I guess I wouldn't chance +it." + +She tried another way. She was sure of her happiness now; she could play +with it a little longer. + +"You'll write to me now and then, and tell me how you're getting on, +won't you?" + +"Will you care to know?" he asked quickly. + +"Why, yes, of course I shall." + +"Well," he said, throwing back his head proudly, "I'll write and tell +you if I'm making good. If I ain't, I guess I shan't feel much like +writing." + +"But you _will_ make good, Frank. I know you well enough for that." + +"Do you?" His tone was grateful. + +"I have learned to--to respect you during these months we've lived +together. You have taught me a great deal. All sorts of qualities which +I used to think of great value seem unimportant to me now. I have +changed my ideas about many things." + +"We have each learned something, I guess," he said generously. + +Nora gave him a grateful glance. He stood for a moment at the far end of +the room and watched her roll up the socks she had just darned. How neat +and deft she was. After all, there _was_ something in being a lady, as +Mrs. Sharp had said. Neither she nor Gertie, both capable women, could +do things in quite the same way that Nora did. + +Oh, why had she come into his life at all! She had given him the taste +for knowledge, for better things of all sorts; and now she was going +away, going away forever. He had no illusions about her ever returning. +Not she, once she had escaped from a life she hated. Had she not just +said as much when she said that the shack had seemed like a prison to +her? + +And now, in place of going on in the old way that had always seemed good +enough to him before he knew anything better, mulling about, getting his +own meals, with only one thought, one ambition in the world--the success +of his crops and the acquisition of more land that he might some day in +the dim future have a few thousands laid by--he would always be wanting +something he could never get without her: more knowledge of the things +that made life fuller and wider and broader, the things that she prized +and had known from her childhood. + +It was cruel and unfair of her to have awakened the desire in him only +to abandon him. To have held the cup of knowledge to his lips for one +brief instant and then leave him to go through life with his thirst +unslaked! Not that she was intentionally cruel. No, he thought he knew +all of her little faults of temper and of pride by this. Her heart was +too kindly to let her wound him knowingly, witness her tenderness to +poor Mrs. Sharp only this afternoon. But it hurt, none the less. She had +said that she had not known he wanted love. How should she have guessed +it? + +But the real thing that tortured him most was the fact that he wanted +her, her, her. She had been his, his woman. No other woman in this broad +earth could take her place. + +A little sound like a groan escaped him. + +"You'll think of me sometimes, my girl, won't you?" he said huskily. + +"I don't suppose I shall be able to help it." She smiled at him over her +shoulder, as she crossed the room to restore her basket to its place. + +"I was an ignorant, uneducated man. I didn't know how to treat you +properly. I wanted to make you happy, but I didn't seem to know just how +to do it." + +"You've never been unkind to me, Frank. You've been very patient with +me!" + +"I guess you'll be happier away from me, though. And I'll be able to +think that you're warm and comfortable and at home, and that you've +plenty to eat." + +"Do you think that's all I want?" she suddenly flashed at him. + +He gave her a quick glance and looked away immediately. + +"I couldn't expect you to stay on here, not when you've got a chance of +going back to the old country. This life is all new to you. You know +that one." + +"Oh, yes, I know it: I should think I did!" She gave a little mirthless +laugh, and went over to her chair again. + +"At eight o'clock every morning a maid will bring me tea and hot water. +And I shall get up, and I shall have breakfast. And, presently, I shall +interview the cook, and I shall order luncheon and dinner. And I shall +brush the coats of Mrs. Hubbard's little dogs and take them for a walk +on the common. All the paths on the common are asphalted, so that +elderly gentlemen and lady's companions shan't get their feet wet." + +"Gee, what a life!" + +She hardly gave him time for his exclamation. As she went on, mirth, +scorn, hatred and dismay came into her voice, but she was unconscious of +it. For the moment, everything else was forgotten but the vivid picture +which memory conjured up for her and which she so graphically described. + +"And then, I shall come in and lunch, and after luncheon I shall go for +a drive: one day we will turn to the right and one day we will turn to +the left. And then I shall have tea. And then I shall go out again on +the neat asphalt paths to give the dogs another walk. And then I shall +change my dress and come down to dinner. And after dinner I shall play +bezique with my employer; only I must take care not to beat her, +because she doesn't like being beaten. And at ten o'clock I shall go to +bed." + +A wave of stifling recollection choked her for a moment so that she +could not go on. Presently she had herself once more in hand. + +"At eight o'clock next morning a maid will bring in my tea and hot +water, and the day will begin again. Each day will be like every other +day. And, can you believe it, there are hundreds of women in England, +strong and capable, with red blood in their veins, who would be eager to +get this place which is offered to me. Almost a lady--and thirty-five +pounds a year!" + +She did not look toward him, or she would have seen a look of wonder, of +comprehension and of hope pass in turn over his face. + +"It seems a bit different from the life you've had here," he said, +looking out through the open doorway as if to point his meaning. + +"And you," she said, turning her eyes upon him, "you will be clearing +the scrub, cutting down trees, plowing the land, sowing and reaping. +Every day you will be fighting something, frost, hail or weed. You will +be fighting and I will know that you must conquer in the end. Where was +wilderness will be cultivated land. And who knows what starving child +may eat the bread that has been made from the wheat that you have +grown! _My_ life will be ineffectual and utterly useless, while +yours----" + +"What do you mean? Nora, Nora!" he said more to himself than to her. + +"While I was talking to Mrs. Sharp just now, I didn't know what I was +saying. I was just trying to comfort her when she was crying. And it +seemed to me as if someone else was speaking. And I listened to myself. +I thought I hated the prairie through the long winter months, and yet, +somehow, it has taken hold of me. It was dreary and monotonous, and yet, +I can't tear it out of my heart. There's beauty and a romance about it +which fills my very soul with longing." + +"I guess we all hate the prairie sometimes. But when you've once lived +on it, it ain't easy to live anywhere else." + +"I know the life now. It's not adventurous and exciting, as they think +back home. For men and women alike, it's the same hard work from morning +till night, and I know it's the women who bear the greater burden." + +"The men go into the towns, they have shooting, now and then, and the +changing seasons bring variety in their work; but for the women it's +always the same weary round: cooking, washing, sweeping, mending, in +regular and ceaseless rotation. And yet it's all got a meaning. We, +too, have our part in opening up the country. We are its mothers, and +the future is in us. We are building up the greatness of the nation. It +needs _our_ courage and strength and hope, and because it needs them, +they come to us. Oh, Frank, I can't go back to that petty, narrow life! +What have you done to me?" + +"I guess if I asked you to stay now, you'd stay," he said hoarsely. + +"You said you wanted love."--The lovely color flooded her face.--"Didn't +you see? Love has been growing in me slowly, month by month, and I +wouldn't confess it. I told myself I hated you. It's only to-day, when I +had the chance of leaving you forever, that I knew I couldn't live +without you. I'm not ashamed any more. Frank, my husband, I love you." + +He made a stride forward as if to take her in his arms, and then stopped +short, smitten by a recollection. + +"I--I guess I've loved you from the beginning, Nora," he stammered. + +She had risen to her feet and stood waiting him with shining eyes. + +"But why do you say it as if---- What _is_ it, Frank?" + +"I can't ask you to stay on now; I guess you'll have to take that job +in England, for a while, anyway." + +"Why?" + +"The inspector's condemned my whole crop; I'm busted." + +"Oh, why didn't you tell me!" + +"I just guess I couldn't. I made up my mind when I married you that I'd +make good. I couldn't expect you to see that it was just bad luck. +Anyone may get the weed in his crop. But, I guess a man oughtn't to have +bad luck. The odds are that it's his own fault if he has." + +"Ah, now I understand about your sending for Eddie." + +"I wrote to him when I knew I'd been reported." + +"But what are you going to do?" + +"It's all right about me; I can hire out again. It's _you_ I'm thinking +of. I felt pretty sure you wouldn't go back to Ed's. I don't fancy you +taking a position as lady help. I didn't know what was going to become +of you, my girl. And when you told me of the job you'd been offered in +England, I thought I'd have to let you go." + +"Without letting me know you were in trouble!" + +"Why, if I wasn't smashed up, d'you think I'd _let_ you go? By God, I +wouldn't! I'd have kept you. By God, I'd have kept you!" + +"Then you're going to give up the land," she made a sweeping gesture +which took in the prospect without. + +"No," he said, shaking his head. "I guess I can't do that. I've put too +much work in it. And I've got my back up, now. I shall hire out for the +summer, and next winter I can get work lumbering. The land's my own, +now. I'll come back in time for the plowing next year." + +He had been gazing sadly out of the door as he spoke. He turned to her +now ready to bring her what comfort he could. But in place of the +tearful face he had expected to see, he saw a face radiant with joy and +the light of love. In her hand was a little slip of colored paper which +she held out to him. + +"Look!" + +"What's that?" + +"The nephew of the lady I was with so long--Miss Wickham, you know--has +made me a present of it. Five hundred pounds. That's twenty-five hundred +dollars, isn't it? You can take the quarter-section you've wanted so +long, next to this one. You can get all the machinery you need. +And"--she gave a little, happy, mirthful laugh--"you can get some cows! +I've learned to do so many things, I guess I can learn to milk, if +you'll teach me and be very, very patient about it. Anyway, it's yours +to do what you like with. Now, will you keep me?" + +"Oh, my girl, how shall I ever be able to repay you!" + +"Good Heavens, I don't want thanks! There's nothing in all the world so +wonderful as to be able to give to one you love. Frank, won't you kiss +me?" + +He folded her in his arms. + +"I guess it's the first time you ever asked me to do that!" + +"I'm sure I'm the happiest woman in all the world!" she said happily. + +As they stood in the doorway, he with his arm about her, they saw Eddie +coming up the path toward them. + +Marsh's honest face, never a good mask for hiding his feelings, wore an +expression of bewildered astonishment at their lovelike attitude. + +"It's all right, old dear," said Nora with a happy laugh; "don't try to +understand it, you're only a man. But I'm not going back to England, to +Mrs. Hubbard and her horrid little dogs; I'm going to stay right here. +This overgrown baby has worked on my feelings by pretending that he +needs me." + +"And now, if you'll be good enough to hurry Reggie a little, we'll all +have some supper; it's long past the proper time." + +And as she bustled about her preparations, her brother heard her singing +one of the long-ago songs of their childhood. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + "The Books You Like to Read + at the Price You Like to Pay" + + +THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERYTHING-- + +--including the wrapper which covers every Grosset & Dunlap book. When +you feel in the mood for a good romance, refer to the carefully selected +list of modern fiction comprising most of the successes by prominent +writers of the day which is printed on the back of every Grosset & +Dunlap book wrapper. + +You will find more than five hundred titles to choose from--books for +every mood and every taste and every pocket-book. + +Don't forget the other side, but in case the wrapper is lost, write to +the publishers for a complete catalog. + + There is a Grosset & Dunlap Book + for every mood and for every taste. + + * * * * * + + + MARGARET PEDLER'S NOVELS + + May be had wherever books are sold. + Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's list. + + +RED ASHES + A gripping story of a doctor who failed in a crucial operation--and had + only himself to blame. Could the woman he loved forgive him? + +THE BARBARIAN LOVER + A love story based on the creed that the only important things between + birth and death are the courage to face life and the love to sweeten it. + +THE MOON OUT OF REACH + Nan Davenant's problem is one that many a girl has faced--her own + happiness or her father's bond. + +THE HOUSE OF DREAMS-COME-TRUE + How a man and a woman fulfilled a gypsy's strange prophecy. + +THE HERMIT OF FAR END + How love made its way into a walled-in house and a walled-in heart. + +THE LAMP OF FATE + The story of a woman who tried to take all and give nothing. + +THE SPLENDID FOLLY + Do you believe that husbands and wives should have no secrets from each + other? + +THE VISION OF DESIRE + An absorbing romance written with all that sense of feminine tenderness + that has given the novels of Margaret Pedler their universal appeal. + + Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York + + + + * * * * * + + + +Transcriber's notes + + 1. Punctuation has been made regular and consistent with contemporary + standards. + + 2. All illustrations carried the credit line: "The Canadian--Photoplay + title of The Land of Promise." and "A Paramount Picture." in + addition to the caption presented with each illustration in the text. + + 3. Contemporary spelling retained, for example: dependant, indorsement, + subtile, and intrenched as used in this text. + + 4. Table of Contents was not present in the original text. + + 5. Spelling corrections: + page 25, "splendid" for "spendid" ("splendid defiance"). + page 227, "Antarctic" for "Antartic" ("ocean of the Antarctic"). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF PROMISE*** + + +******* This file should be named 18410.txt or 18410.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/1/18410 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/18410.zip b/18410.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..df6e5e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/18410.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8b22b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #18410 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18410) |
