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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Long Portage, by Harold Bindloss
+
+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 Long Portage
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Illustrator: Arthur Hutchins
+
+Release Date: June 27, 2008 [EBook #25910]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONG PORTAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "ALL DAY LONG THEY PADDLED UP THE GLEAMING LAKE"
+--Page 290]
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+THE LONG PORTAGE
+
+By
+HAROLD BINDLOSS
+
+Author of
+A Prairie Courtship,
+Winston of the Prairie, etc.
+
+With a Frontispiece in colors by
+ARTHUR HUTCHINS
+
+New York
+GROSSET & DUNLAP
+Publishers
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1912, by
+FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+
+All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
+languages, including the Scandinavian
+
+Published in England under the title, "The Pioneer"
+
+September, 1912
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                               PAGE
+     I.  The Gladwyne Expedition         1
+    II.  The Divide                     12
+   III.  The Cache                      23
+    IV.  A Painful Decision             35
+     V.  Millicent Gladwyne             47
+    VI.  Nasmyth Tells his Story        58
+   VII.  On the Moors                   68
+  VIII.  Gladwyne Receives a Shock      81
+    IX.  Lisle Gathers Information      92
+     X.  Bella's Champion              102
+    XI.  Crestwick Gives Trouble       118
+   XII.  Mrs. Gladwyne's Appeal        129
+  XIII.  A Futile Protest              142
+   XIV.  Lisle Comes to the Rescue     153
+    XV.  Bella's Defeat                165
+   XVI.  Gladwyne Surrenders           177
+  XVII.  A Bad Fall                    189
+ XVIII.  A Prudent Decision            200
+   XIX.  Gladwyne Gains a Point        211
+    XX.  Mrs. Gladwyne's Temptation    223
+   XXI.  The Last Afternoon            233
+  XXII.  Startling News                243
+ XXIII.  A Forced March                254
+  XXIV.  Millicent Summons Her Guide   265
+   XXV.  A Reliable Man                276
+  XXVI.  Lisle Turns Autocrat          287
+ XXVII.  An Unpleasant Surprise        298
+XXVIII.  Clarence Reaches Camp         309
+  XXIX.  A Bold Scheme                 321
+   XXX.  The End of the Pursuit        332
+  XXXI.  Lisle Goes To England         343
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE LONG PORTAGE
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE GLADWYNE EXPEDITION
+
+
+Vernon Lisle was fishing with a determination that did not spring
+altogether from love of the sport. The water of the British Columbian
+river in which he stood knee-deep was icy cold; his rubber boots were
+badly ripped and leaky, and he was wet with the drizzle that drove down
+the lonely valley. It was difficult to reach the slack behind a boulder
+some distance outshore, and the arm he strained at every cast ached from
+hours of assiduous labor; but there was another ache in his left side
+which was the result of insufficient food, and though the fish were shy
+he persevered.
+
+A few hundred yards away the stream came roaring down a long declivity in
+a mad white rapid and then shot across the glassy green surface of the
+pool below in a raised-up wedge of foam. Wet boulders and outcropping
+fangs of rock hemmed in the water, and among them lay stranded logs and
+stream-packed masses of whitened branches. Farther back, ragged cypresses
+and cedars, half obscured by the drifting haze of spray, climbed the
+sides of the gorge, and beyond rose the dim, rounded summits of treeless
+hills. There were streaks of snow on some of them, for winter threatened
+to close in unusually early.
+
+With a lowering sky overhead and the daylight beginning to fade, it was a
+desolate picture; one into which the lonely figure of the man in tattered
+deerskin jacket and shapeless hat somehow fitted. His attire matched the
+gray-white coloring of rock and boulder; his spare form and agile
+movements, together with the intentness of his bronzed face and the
+steadiness of his eyes, hinted at the quickness of observation, the
+stubborn endurance, and the tireless activity, by which alone life can be
+maintained in the savage North. He had the alertness of the wild
+creatures of the waste; and it was needed.
+
+All round him stretched a forbidding wilderness, part of the great
+desolation which runs north from the warmer and more hospitable
+thick-forest belt of British Columbia. Indeed, this wilderness, broken by
+the more level spaces between the Rockies and Lake Winnipeg, runs right
+across Canada from Labrador to the Pacific on the northern edge of the
+heavy-timber line. It contains little human life--a few Hudson Bay
+fur-traders and the half-breed trappers who deal with them--and it is
+frozen for eight months in the year. There are only two practicable means
+of traversing it--with dog sledges on the snow, or by canoe on the lakes
+and rivers in the brief summer.
+
+The water routes are difficult in British Columbia, but Lisle and his two
+companions had chosen to go by canoe, partly because the question of food
+is vitally important to men cut off from all source of supply except
+game, and even that is scarce in places. To transport upon one's back any
+weight of provisions besides tents, blankets, and other necessaries,
+through a rugged country is an almost impossible task. The men,
+accordingly, after relaying part of their stores, had secured an Indian
+craft and had paddled and poled her laboriously across lakes and up
+rivers. Now when their provisions were running short, they were
+confronted with a difficult portage round a thundering rapid.
+
+At length Lisle, securing another trout, waded ashore and glanced with a
+rueful smile at the dozen this one made. They scarcely averaged half a
+pound, and he had spent most of a day that could badly be spared in
+catching them. Plodding back along the shingle with his load, he reached
+a little level strip beneath a scarp of rock, where a fire blazed among
+the boulders. A tent stood beneath two or three small, wind-stunted
+spruces, and a ragged man in long river-boots lay resting on one elbow
+near the blaze, regardless of the drizzle. He was a few years over
+thirty, Lisle's age, and he differed from Lisle in that something in his
+appearance suggested that he was not at home in the wilds. As a matter of
+fact, Nasmyth was an adventurous English sportsman--which describes him
+fairly in person and character.
+
+"Not many," he commented, glancing at the trout Lisle laid down. "They'll
+hardly carry us over to-morrow, and I only got a couple from the canoe
+with the troll. We've gained nothing by stopping here, and time's
+precious."
+
+"A sure thing," Lisle agreed, beginning to clean the trout. "We'll tackle
+the portage as soon as it's light to-morrow. Where's Jake?"
+
+"Gone off to look for a deer," was the answer. "Said he wouldn't come
+back without one if he camped on the range all night."
+
+Lisle made no comment, but went on dexterously with his work, while
+Nasmyth watched him with half-amused admiration.
+
+"You're handy at that and at everything else you do," Nasmyth remarked at
+length. "In fact, you easily beat Jake, though he's a professional packer
+and, so to speak, to the manner born."
+
+"So am I," said Lisle.
+
+It was growing dark, but the coppery glow of the fire fell upon his face,
+emphasizing the strong coloring of his weather-darkened skin. On the
+whole, it was a prepossessing face, clearly cut--indeed, it was a trifle
+thin--with a hint of quiet determination in the clear gray eyes and firm
+mouth. He looked capable of resolute action and, when it was needed, of
+Spartan self-denial. There was no suggestion of anything sensual, or even
+of much regard for bodily comfort.
+
+"If you don't mind my being a little personal, I'd better own that I
+suspected the fact you mention, and it puzzled me," Nasmyth replied. "You
+see, when I first met you at the Empress Hotel, in Victoria, you were
+dressed and talked like the usual prosperous business man. Trafford, who
+introduced us, said that you had a good deal of money in some of the
+Yukon mines."
+
+"Trafford was quite right. The point is that I took a part in locating
+two of the claims. Before that I followed a good many rough occupations,
+mostly in the bush. My prosperity's recent."
+
+Nasmyth still looked curious, and Lisle smiled.
+
+"I can guess your thoughts--I don't speak altogether like a bushman?
+Well, my father was an Englishman, and my mother a lady of education from
+Montreal; that was why, at the cost of some self-denial on their part, I
+was sent East to school."
+
+It was an incomplete explanation. He had inherited the Englishman's
+reticence, which forbade him to point out that his father sprang from an
+old family of standing and had, for some reason which his son had never
+learned, quarreled bitterly with his English relatives. Coming to Canada,
+he had married and taken up the bush life on a small and unremunerative
+ranch, where he had died and left his widow and his son badly provided
+for.
+
+"Thank you," responded Nasmyth; and Lisle supposed it was in recognition
+of the fact that he would hardly have furnished even those few
+particulars to one whom he regarded as a stranger. "To reciprocate, a few
+words will make clear all there is to know about me. English public
+school, Oxford afterward--didn't take a degree. Spend most of my time in
+the country, though I make a few sporting trips abroad when I can afford
+it and have nothing better to do. That partly explains this journey. But
+I haven't tried to force your confidence, nor offered you mine,
+altogether casually."
+
+"So I supposed," returned Lisle. "It strikes me that since we got near
+the Gladwyne expedition's line of march we have both felt that some
+explanation is needed. To go back a little, when I met you in Victoria
+and you offered to join me in the trip, I agreed partly because I wanted
+an intelligent companion, but I had another reason. At first I supposed
+you wished to go because a journey through a rough and little-known
+country seems to appeal to one kind of Englishman, but I changed my mind
+when you showed your anxiety to get upon the Gladwyne party's trail."
+
+"You were right. I knew the Gladwynes in England; the one who died was an
+old and valued friend of mine. I could give you the history of their
+march, though I hardly think that's needful. You seem remarkably well
+acquainted with it."
+
+Lisle's face hardened. With the exception of one man, he knew more than
+anybody else about the fatal journey a party of four had made a year
+earlier through the region he and Nasmyth were approaching.
+
+"I am," he said. "There's a cause for it; but I'll ask you to tell me
+what you know."
+
+He threw more branches on the fire and a crackling blaze sprang aloft,
+forcing up the ragged spruce boughs out of the surrounding gloom.
+
+"This is the survivor's narrative. I heard it from his own lips more than
+once," began Nasmyth. "I dare say most of it's a kind of story that's not
+unusual in the North."
+
+"It's one that has been repeated with local variations over and over
+again. But go on."
+
+"There were two Gladwynes--cousins. George, the elder of the two, was a man
+of means and position; Clarence, the younger, had practically nothing--two
+or three hundred pounds a year. They were both sportsmen--George was a bit
+of a naturalist--and they made the expedition with the idea of studying the
+scarcer game. Well, their provisions were insufficient; an Indian packer
+deserted them; they were delayed here and there; and when they reached the
+river that we are making for they were badly worn out and winter was
+closing in. Knowing it was dangerous to go any farther, they started
+down-stream to strike their outgoing trail, but not long afterward they
+wrecked their canoe in a rapid and lost everything except a few pounds of
+provisions. To make things worse, George had fallen from a slippery rock at
+the last portage and badly hurt his leg. After making a few leagues with
+difficulty, he found he could go no farther, and they held a council. They
+were already suffering from want of food, but their guide estimated that by
+a forced march overland they might reach a place where some skin-hunters
+were supposed to be camped. There was a Hudson Bay post farther away. On
+coming up they had cached some provisions in two places on opposite sides
+of the river--they kept crossing to pole through the easiest slack. George
+accordingly insisted that the others go on; each was to follow a different
+bank and the first to find the provisions was to try to communicate with
+the other and hurry back with food. If they were unable to locate the
+caches they were to leave the river and push on in search of help. They
+agreed; but deep snow had fallen and Clarence Gladwyne failed to find the
+cache. He reached the hunters' camp famishing, and they went back with him.
+He found his cousin dead."
+
+"And the guide?"
+
+"It's rather an ugly story. You must have heard it."
+
+"I haven't heard the one Gladwyne told in England."
+
+"The guide reached the Hudson Bay post--a longer journey than the one
+Gladwyne made--in the last stage of exhaustion. He had taken very little
+food with him--Gladwyne knew exactly how much--and the Hudson Bay agent
+decided that it was impossible he could have covered the distance on the
+minute quantity. There was only one inference."
+
+"That he had found the cache?" Lisle's face grew very stern.
+
+Nasmyth nodded.
+
+"In a way, there was some slight excuse for him. Think of it--a worn-out,
+famishing man, without blankets or means of making a fire, who had
+struggled over icy rocks and through leagues of snow, finding a few cans
+of provisions and a little moldy flour! Even when he had satisfied his
+hunger, he was, no doubt, unequal to making the return journey to rejoin
+a man who was probably already dead."
+
+"If that man had found a scrap of food, he would have tried!"
+
+Lisle's voice had a curious ring in it, and Nasmyth looked at him hard.
+
+"You seem convinced."
+
+"I am; I knew him well."
+
+Nasmyth was startled and he showed it, but afterward he looked
+thoughtful.
+
+"I believe I understand," he said.
+
+For a minute or two there was silence which was broken only by the
+snapping of the branches on the fire and the hollow roar of the rapid.
+The latter had a curious, irritating effect on Nasmyth, who hitherto had
+scarcely noticed the insistent pulsatory clamor. At length Lisle spoke
+again, laying a strong restraint upon himself.
+
+"Our mutual friend called me Lisle at the Empress Hotel. I don't think he
+mentioned my first name, Vernon; and as that was the name of Gladwyne's
+guide I kept it in the background. I was anxious to take you with me; I
+wanted an Englishman of some standing in the old country whose word would
+be believed. What was more, I wanted an honest man who would form an
+unbiased opinion. I didn't know then that you were a friend of
+Gladwyne's."
+
+Nasmyth made a slight gesture which suggested the acknowledgment of a
+compliment.
+
+"I'll try to be just--it's sometimes hard." His voice had a throb of pain
+in it as he went on: "I was the friend of George Gladwyne--the one who
+perished. I had a strong regard for him."
+
+Something in his expression hinted that this regard had not been shared
+by the Gladwyne who survived.
+
+"When my father first came out to British Columbia, new to the bush
+ways," Lisle resumed, "a neighbor, Vernon, was of great help to him--lent
+him teams, taught him how to chop, and what cattle to raise. He died
+before my father, and I was named for him; but he left a son, older than
+I, who grew up like him--I believe he was the finest chopper and trailer
+I have ever come across. He died, as you have heard, from exposure and
+exhaustion, a few days after he reached the Hudson Bay post--before he
+could clear himself."
+
+Lisle broke off for a moment and seemed to have some difficulty in
+continuing.
+
+"When my father died, Vernon took charge of the ranch, at my mother's
+request--I was rather young and she meant to launch me in some
+profession. Vernon had no ambition--he loved the bush--and he tried to
+give me enough to finish my education while he ran both ranches with a
+hired man. I think my mother never suspected that he handed her over more
+than she was entitled to, but I found it out and I've been glad ever
+since that I firmly prevented his continuing the sacrifice. For all that,
+I owe him in many ways more than I could ever have repaid." He clenched
+one hand tight as he concluded: "I can at least clear his memory."
+
+Nasmyth nodded in sympathy.
+
+"You called me an honest man; you have my word--I'll see the right done."
+
+Quietly as it was spoken, Lisle recognized that it was no light thing his
+companion promised him. In the Dominion, caste stands by caste, and
+Lisle, having seen and studied other Englishmen of his friend's
+description, knew that the feeling was stronger in the older country. To
+expose a man of one's own circle to the contempt and condemnation of
+outsiders is, in any walk of life, a strangely repugnant thing.
+
+"Well," he said, "to-morrow we'll pull out and portage across the divide
+to strike the Gladwynes' trail. And now I'll fry the trout and we'll have
+supper."
+
+They let the subject drop by tacit agreement during the meal, and soon
+after it was over a shout from the crest of the ridge above, followed by
+a smashing of underbrush, announced that their packer was making for the
+camp. Lisle answered, and a cry came down:
+
+"Got a deer, and there are duck on the lake ahead! We'll try for some as
+we go up!"
+
+Nasmyth's smile betokened deep satisfaction.
+
+"That's a weight off my mind," he declared. "I'll smoke one pipe, and
+then I think I'll go to sleep. We'll make a start with the first loads as
+soon as it's light enough."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE DIVIDE
+
+
+Dawn was late the next morning; the light crept slowly through bitter
+rain, and when Lisle and his companions had breakfasted sumptuously for
+the first time during several days it was with reluctance that they broke
+camp. Indeed, Nasmyth would have suggested remaining under shelter only
+that he had come to accept Lisle's decision as final and the latter was
+eager to push on. The blacktail deer would not last them long; the trout
+were getting shyer every day with the increasing cold; they were a long
+distance from the nearest settlement; while winter was rapidly coming on.
+
+Nasmyth shouldered his load with the others, and they set out across a
+strip of gravel strewn with boulders. Here and there networks of stranded
+branches had to be floundered through, and the ragged ends rasped their
+dilapidated boots and bruised their legs. Then, where the bluff rose
+almost precipitously from the water, they crept along slippery ledges, or
+waded through the shallower pools, with the white rapid roaring down a
+few yards outshore of them. There were places where a slip would have
+meant destruction, but that was nothing unusual and time was too precious
+to spend in an attempt to climb the ridge which hemmed them in.
+
+The pack-straps hurt Nasmyth's shoulders--one of them had been rubbed raw
+by previous loads and it smarted painfully until he grew warm with
+exertion. He was soon wet through; in places the spray drove into his
+face so that he could hardly see; but he held on with dogged
+determination, trying to keep up with the others. With the exception of a
+few hunting trips, his life had been smooth, and now, dressed mostly in
+rags and aching in every limb, he smiled grimly as he remembered how he
+had hitherto taken his pleasure. When he had shot partridges, he had, as
+a rule, been driven to such stubble or turnip fields as lay at any
+distance from his residence, and he had usually been provided with a pony
+when he ascended the high moors in search of grouse. Money smoothed out
+many small difficulties in the older land, but it was powerless in the
+wilds of the new one, where one must depend on such things as native
+courage, brute strength, and the capacity for dogged endurance, which are
+common to all ranks of men. It was fortunate for Nasmyth that he
+possessed them, but that, as he was discovering, is not quite enough.
+They are great gifts in the raw, but, like most others, they need
+exercise and assiduous cultivation for their full development.
+
+On reaching the head of the rapid, they went back for another load, and
+afterward Jake got into the canoe, while Lisle fixed the end of the
+tracking-line about his shoulders. Aided by the line, the packer swung
+the canoe across madly whirling eddies and in and out among foam-lapped
+rocks, and now and then drove her, half hidden by the leaping froth, up
+some tumultuous rush. At times Lisle, wading waist-deep and dragged
+almost off his feet, barely held her stationary--Nasmyth could see his
+chest heave and his face grow darkly flushed--but in another instant they
+were going on again. That a craft could be propelled up any part of the
+rapid would, Nasmyth thought, have appeared absolutely incredible to any
+one who had not seen it done.
+
+At last, however, the task became too hard for them and after dragging
+her out they carried her, upside down, in turn. It was difficult for them
+to see where they were going, and the craft, made from a hollowed log,
+was by no means so well fitted for the work as the bark or canvas canoe
+of the more eastern wilds. She was comparatively heavy, and their heads
+and shoulders were inside of her. Once or twice the portager fell; and
+the fall is an awkward one, as it is impossible to break it with one's
+hands, which are occupied in holding the canoe. Still, they made
+progress, and, launching again above the rapid, they reached a lake at
+noon, by hard paddling. Here they landed, and Nasmyth dropped down upon a
+boulder to look about him.
+
+It was a cheerless prospect he saw through the haze of rain. Back into
+the distance ran a stretch of slate-gray water, flecked and seamed by the
+white tops of little splashing waves, for a nipping wind blew down the
+lake. On either side rose low hills, dotted here and there with somber
+and curiously rigid trees. They were not large, and though from a
+distance they looked much the same, Nasmyth recognized some as spruce and
+supposed the other ragged spires to be cedars. In one spot there were
+some that resembled English larch, and these were almost bare.
+
+Then his companions began to discuss the best means of further progress.
+With a fresh breeze ahead, Jake advocated poling through the shallows
+near the beach; and Lisle, with a courtesy which Nasmyth had already
+noticed, turned toward him when he answered, as if his opinion might be
+valuable.
+
+"The trouble is that the beach sweeps back off the straight. We'd drive
+her right up the middle to headwater with the paddle before we'd make
+two-thirds of the way poling alongshore."
+
+"It would be a good deal harder work, wouldn't it?" Nasmyth ventured, and
+laughed when he saw Lisle's faint amusement. "I suppose that doesn't
+count. It's not worth mentioning," he added. "Since you're anxious to get
+on, what's the use of stopping for dinner? After the breakfast I had, I
+can hold out some time."
+
+"I want to get through as quickly as I can; that's why I'm not going to
+rush you unless it's necessary," Lisle answered. "Try to get hold of the
+fact that a man needs food regularly to keep him in efficient going
+order."
+
+"Indisputable," Nasmyth agreed. "But he can do without it and work for a
+while. We've proved it."
+
+"Not without paying," Lisle pointed out. "You can draw upon your
+reserves, but it takes time and rest to make them good. We may need all
+ours badly before we're through."
+
+There was a grim hint in his last words which Nasmyth found convincing,
+and when he had rested he helped to prepare the meal. It was a simple
+one--cold doughy cakes baked in a frying-pan, extraordinarily tough and
+stringy venison, with a pint-can each of strong green tea. Their sugar
+had long ago melted and the condensed milk was exhausted.
+
+Afterward, they shoved the canoe out and paddled doggedly into the
+driving rain and the strong headwind. The spray from the splashing bows
+blew into their faces, and the broken water checked them badly. Nasmyth's
+hands began to blister. To make it worse, there was a raw wound on one of
+them, the result of a similar day's toil; and his knees chafed sore
+against the branches in the craft's bottom. There was, however, no
+respite--the moment they slackened their exertions they would drift to
+lee--and he held on, keeping awkward stroke with Jake, while Lisle swung
+the balancing paddle astern.
+
+They kept it up for several hours, and then, toward evening, the rain
+ceased and the clouds rolled aside. A wonderful yellow light shone behind
+the bordering hills, and the twisted, wind-battered cedars on their
+crests stood out against it in hard, fretted tracery. The wind dropped;
+the short, white waves smoothed down; the water, heaving gently, gleamed
+with a coppery glare, and the paddle blades seemed to splash up liquid
+fire. Then the shores closed in ahead, and, landing on a shingle beach,
+they made camp in the mouth of a gap among the hills. Supper was prepared
+and eaten, and afterward Jake took up his rifle.
+
+"I saw some ducks in the next bay," he explained.
+
+He strolled out of camp, and Nasmyth smiled at Lisle.
+
+"Except when he advised you to pole, that's about all he has said
+to-day."
+
+This was correct. The packer was a taciturn inhabitant of the wilds who
+seldom indulged in an unnecessary remark. There was, however, no
+moroseness about him; the man was good-humored in his quiet way, and his
+usual ruminative calm was no deterrent from apparently tireless action.
+For the most part, he lived alone in the impressive stillness of the
+bush, where he had a few acres of partly cleared land which failed to
+provide him with a living. For that reason, he periodically left his tiny
+log house and packed for some survey expedition, or went down to work for
+a few months at a sawmill. Capable of most determined labor, wonderfully
+proficient with his hands, he asked no more from life than a little plain
+food and indifferent shelter. No luxury that civilization could offer
+would have tempted him to desert the wilds.
+
+Lisle filled his pipe with leisurely content. He shared Jake's love for
+the wilderness, and he found it strangely pleasant to rest in camp after
+a day's persistent toil. Besides, he usually enjoyed his evening chat
+with Nasmyth, for, widely different as their training and mode of life
+had been, they had much in common. Then, too, there was something in the
+prospect spread out before them that impelled tranquillity. The clump of
+wet cedars among which they had camped distilled a clean, aromatic smell;
+and there was a freshness in the cool evening air that reinvigorated
+their tired bodies. Above the low hilltops the sky glimmered with saffron
+and transcendental green, and half the lake shone in ethereal splendor;
+the other half was dim and bordered with the sharply-cut shadows of the
+trees. Except for the lap of water upon the pebbles and the wild cry of a
+loon that rang like a peal of unearthly laughter out of a darkening bay,
+there was nothing to break the deep stillness of the waste.
+
+Lisle pointed to the gap in the hills, which was filling with thin white
+mist.
+
+"That's the last big portage the Gladwynes made," he remarked. "They came
+in by a creek to the west, and they were badly played out when they
+struck this divide; the struggle to get through broke them up." He paused
+before he added: "What kind of men were they?"
+
+"George wasn't effusive; he was the kind of man you like better the
+longer you know him. If I were told that he ever did a mean thing, I
+wouldn't believe it. His last action--sending the others on--was
+characteristic."
+
+"They didn't want to go," Lisle interposed quietly.
+
+His companion nodded.
+
+"I believe that's true. I like to think so."
+
+There was something curious in his tone, which Lisle noticed.
+
+"From the beginning," Nasmyth went on, "George behaved very generously to
+Clarence."
+
+"It was Clarence that I meant to ask about more particularly."
+
+Nasmyth looked thoughtful, and when he answered, it struck Lisle that he
+was making an effort to give an unbiased opinion.
+
+"Clarence," he said, "is more likable when you first meet him than George
+used to be; a handsome man who knows how to say the right thing. Makes
+friends readily, but somehow he never keeps the best of them. He's one of
+the people who seem able to get whatever they want without having to
+struggle for it and who rarely land in any difficulty."
+
+Again a grudging note became apparent, as though the speaker were trying
+to subdue faint suspicion or disapproval, and Lisle changed the subject.
+
+"Had George Gladwyne any immediate relatives?"
+
+"One sister, as like him as it's possible for a woman to be. He wasn't
+greatly given to society; I don't think he'd ever have married. His death
+was a crushing blow to the girl--they were wonderfully attached to each
+other--but I've never seen a finer display of courage than hers when
+Clarence cabled the news."
+
+He broke off, as if he felt that he had been talking with too much
+freedom, and just then the report of a rifle came ringing across the
+water.
+
+"That's a duck's head shot off. Jake doesn't miss," he said.
+
+Lisle nodded. He could take a hint; and he had no doubt that Nasmyth was
+right regarding the shot, though it is not easy to decapitate a swimming
+duck with a rifle. He began to talk about the portage; and soon after
+Jake returned with a single duck they went to sleep.
+
+It was clear and bright the next morning and they spent the day carrying
+their loads a few miles up the hollow which pierced the height of the
+divide. Part of it was a morass, fissured with little creeks running down
+from the hills whose tops rose at no great elevation above the opening.
+This was bad to traverse, but it was worse when they came to a muskeg
+where dwarf forest had once covered what was now a swamp. Most of the
+trees had fallen as the soil, from some change in the lake's level, had
+grown too wet. They had partly rotted in the slough, and willows had
+afterward grown up among them.
+
+Now and then the men laid down their loads and hewed a few of the still
+standing trunks, letting them fall to serve as rude bridges where the
+morass was almost impassable, but the real struggle began when they went
+back for the canoe. At first they managed to carry her on their shoulders,
+wading in the bog, but afterward she must be dragged through or over
+innumerable tangles of small fallen trunks and networks of rotten branches
+that had to be laboriously smashed. It was heroic labor--sometimes they
+spent an hour making sixty yards--and Lisle's face grew anxious as well as
+determined. Game had been very scarce; the deer would not last them long;
+and disastrous results might follow a continuance of their present slow
+progress. When, utterly worn out, they made camp on slightly firmer ground
+toward four o'clock in the afternoon, Lisle strode off heavily toward the
+bordering hills, while Jake pushed on to prospect ahead. Nasmyth, who was
+quite unable to accompany either, prepared the supper and awaited their
+reports with some anxiety.
+
+Lisle came back first and shook his head when Nasmyth asked if he had
+found a better route on higher ground.
+
+"Not a slope we could haul along," he reported. "That way's impracticable."
+
+It was nearly dark when Jake came in.
+
+"It's not too bad ahead," he informed them.
+
+They were not greatly reassured, because Jake's idea of what was really
+bad was alarming. Nasmyth glanced at his companion with a smile.
+
+"Is it any better than this?" he asked.
+
+"A little," answered Jake. "An old trail runs in."
+
+"Gladwyne's trail?" exclaimed Nasmyth. "The one we're looking for?"
+
+"Why, yes," drawled Jake, as if it were scarcely worth mentioning. "I
+guess it is."
+
+Nasmyth turned to Lisle.
+
+"I was lucky when I lighted on you as a companion for this trip. You have
+been right in your predictions all along, and now you're only out in
+striking the trail a day before you expected."
+
+"I know the bush," returned Lisle. "It's been pretty easy so far--but,
+for several reasons, I wish the next week or two were over."
+
+Nasmyth looked troubled. One could have imagined that misgivings which
+did not concern his personal safety were creeping into his mind.
+
+"So do I," he confessed, and turning toward the fire he busied himself
+with Jake's supper.
+
+There was no change in the work the next morning, but in the afternoon it
+became evident that another party had made that portage ahead of them.
+The soil was a little drier and where the small trees grew more thickly
+they could see that a passage had been laboriously cleared. In the swampy
+hollows, which still occurred, trunks had here and there been flung into
+the ooze. This saved them some trouble and they made better progress, but
+both Lisle and Nasmyth became silent and grave as the signs of their
+predecessors' march grew plainer. By nightfall they had reached the
+second camping-place, which told an eloquent story of struggle with
+fatigue and exhaustion. Lisle, stopping in the gathering dusk, glanced
+around the old camp site.
+
+"A good place to pitch the tent, but I think I'd rather move on a
+little," he said.
+
+Nasmyth made a sign of comprehension.
+
+"Yes," he agreed. "I couldn't sleep soundly here. Everything about us is
+too plain a reminder; I've no doubt you feel it as I do. A firm and
+trusted friend lay, famishing, beside that fire, in what extremity of
+weakness and suffering I dare not let myself think. It's possible he cut
+those branches yonder."
+
+Lisle's face expressed emotion sternly held in check.
+
+"That was Vernon's work--no Englishman new to the country could have
+slashed them off so cleanly. But look at this small spruce stump. He was
+the better chopper, but it's significant that he used three or four
+strokes where I would have taken one."
+
+Even the laconic Jake appeared relieved when they forced their way a
+little farther through the tangled undergrowth, until finding a clear
+space they set up the tent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE CACHE
+
+
+They spent the greater part of a week on the portage, crossing here and
+there a little lake; and then came out one evening on a river that
+flowed, green and tranquil, beneath a ridge of hills. Here they camped;
+and on rising with a shiver in the raw and nipping dawn the next morning,
+Nasmyth found Lisle busy at the fire. Jake was cutting wood some distance
+off, for the thud of his ax rang sharply through the stillness.
+
+"I was awake--thinking--a good deal last night; in fact, I've been
+restless ever since we struck the Gladwynes' trail," Nasmyth began. "Now,
+I understand that an uninterrupted journey of about sixteen days would
+take us well on our way toward civilization. You say you apprehend no
+difficulty after that?"
+
+"No." Lisle waited, watching his companion in an intent fashion.
+
+Nasmyth hesitated.
+
+"Then, considering everything, mightn't it be better to waste no time,
+and push straight on?"
+
+"And leave the work that brought me here--I believe that brought us both
+here--undone?"
+
+"You'll forgive me if I don't express myself very fortunately. What I
+feel is this--Gladwyne's story is a tragic one, but it's twelve months
+old. In a way, it's forgotten; the wounds it made have healed."
+
+"Is such a man as the one you have described forgotten in a year?" Lisle
+asked with a hardening expression.
+
+Nasmyth, being a man of simple and, for the most part, wholesome ideas,
+was in a quandary. His feelings were generous, but he shrank from putting
+them into words. Moreover he was just and was not wholly convinced that
+the course he wished to recommend was right.
+
+"Well," he contended, "there are faithful hearts that never quite
+forget--with them the scar remains; but it's fortunate that the first
+keen pain does not last. Is it decent--I almost think that's the right
+word--to reopen the wound?"
+
+He paused and spread out one hand as if in expostulation.
+
+"Your late comrade has gone beyond your help; you told me he had left no
+relatives; and you have only yourself to consider. Can you do any good by
+bringing this sorrowful tale of disaster up again?"
+
+"Are you pleading for your English friends, anxious to save them pain at
+my expense? Can't you understand my longing to clear my dead partner's
+name?"
+
+A trace of color crept into Nasmyth's face.
+
+"I suppose I deserve that, though it wasn't quite the only thing I meant.
+I've an idea that you are somehow going to lay up trouble for yourself by
+persevering in this search."
+
+"I don't want to be offensive; but can't you see that by urging me to let
+the thing drop you are casting grave doubts upon the honor of a man of
+your own caste and kind, one with whom you are closely acquainted? Are
+you afraid to investigate, to look for proofs of Clarence Gladwyne's
+story?"
+
+Nasmyth looked him steadily in the eyes.
+
+"For the sake of one or two others, I think I am. Your belief in the
+guide, Vernon, has had its effect on me."
+
+"Then," said Lisle, "I have no fear of putting my belief to the test; I
+came up here for that purpose, and I mean to call upon you as my witness.
+As you said of George Gladwyne, the man I owe so much to never did a
+shabby thing. That he should have deserted a starving comrade is clean
+impossible!"
+
+"I suppose there's no help for it," responded Nasmyth, with a gesture of
+acquiescence. "We have said enough. Since you insist, I'll stand by my
+promise."
+
+The thudding of the ax ceased, and they heard Jake returning with the
+wood. Lisle set out the simple breakfast, and when they had eaten they
+launched the canoe and floated swiftly down the smooth green river all
+that day. They had accomplished the worst half of the journey;
+henceforward their way lay down-stream, and with moderate good fortune
+they need have no apprehension about safely reaching the settlements, but
+they were both silent and ill at ease. Lisle was consumed with fierce
+impatience; and Nasmyth shrank from what might shortly be revealed to
+him. Scarcely a word was spoken when they lay in camp that night.
+
+The next day they came to the head of a long and furiously-running rapid.
+Rocks encumbered its channel; the stream boiled fiercely over sunken
+ledges, dropping several feet here and there in angry falls; and in one
+place, where the banks narrowed in, a white stretch of foaming waves ran
+straight down the middle. Here they unloaded and spent the day
+laboriously relaying their stores and camp-gear over the boulders and
+ragged ledges between a wall of rock and the water. It was a remarkably
+difficult traverse. In places they had to hoist the leader up to some
+slippery shelf he could not reach unassisted and to which he dragged his
+companions up in turn; in others deep pools barred their way, and in
+skirting them they were forced to cling to any indifferent handhold on
+the rock's fissured side. As they toiled on, badly hampered by their
+loads, the same thought was in the minds of two of the men--a wonder as
+to how Gladwyne's exhausted party had crossed that portage, unless the
+water had been lower. It was not difficult to understand how the
+famishing leader had fallen and lamed himself.
+
+When at last, toward the end of the afternoon, the stores had been
+deposited on the banks of the pool below, Lisle sat down and filled his
+pipe.
+
+"It would take us most of two days to portage the canoe, and we might
+damage her badly in doing so," he said. "The head of the rapid's
+impossible, but with luck we might run her down the rest in about ten
+minutes. The thing seems worth trying, though I wouldn't have risked it
+with the stores on board."
+
+"Suppose you swamped or upset her?" Nasmyth suggested.
+
+"It's less likely, since she'd go light, with only two of us paddling."
+
+Nasmyth considered. The sight of the rapid was not encouraging, but he
+shrank from the intense effort that would be needed to transport the
+craft by the way they had come. Eventually it was decided to leave Jake
+below, ready to swim out with the tracking-line and seize the canoe if
+any mishap befell, and Lisle and Nasmyth went back to the head of the
+rapid. They dragged the canoe round the worst rush with infinite
+difficulty; and then Nasmyth set his lips and braced himself for the mad
+descent when his companion thrust her off.
+
+A few strokes of the paddle drove them out into the stream, and then
+their task consisted in holding her straight and swinging her clear of
+the rocks that showed up through the leaping foam, which was difficult
+enough. Seen from the water, the prospect was almost appalling, though it
+was blurred and momentarily changing. Nasmyth's eyes could hardly grasp
+salient details--he had only a confused impression of flying spray,
+rushing green water that piled itself here and there in frothy ridges,
+flitting rocks, and trees that came furiously speeding up toward him. He
+had an idea that Lisle once or twice shouted sharp instructions and that
+he clumsily obeyed, but he could not have told exactly what he did. He
+only knew that now and then he paddled desperately, but more often he
+knelt still, gazing fascinated at the mad turmoil in front of him.
+
+At last there was an urgent cry from Lisle and he backed his paddle. The
+canoe swerved, a foaming wave broke into her, and in another moment
+Nasmyth was in the water. He was dragged down by the swirling stream, and
+when he rose he dimly saw the canoe a few yards in front of him. He
+failed to reach her--she was traveling faster than he was--and, though he
+could swim well, he grew horribly afraid. It struck him that there was a
+strong probability of his being driven against a boulder with force
+enough to break his bones or of being drawn down and battered against the
+stony bottom. Still, he struck out for a line of leaping froth between
+him and the bank and was nearing it when Lisle grasped his shoulder and
+thrust him straight down-stream. Scarcely able to see amid the turmoil,
+confused and bewildered, he nevertheless realized that it was not
+desirable to attempt a landing where he had intended. Yielding to the
+guiding impulse, he floundered down-stream, until Lisle again seized him
+and drove him shoreward, and a few moments later he stood up, breathless,
+in a few feet of slacker water. He waded to the bank, and then turned to
+Lisle, who was close behind.
+
+"Thanks," he gasped. "I owe you something for that."
+
+"Pshaw!" disclaimed the other. "I only pulled you back. You'd have got
+badly hammered if you'd tried to cross that ledge. I'd noticed the
+inshore swirl close below it when we were packing along the bank, and
+remembered that we could land in it."
+
+"But you had hold of the canoe. I saw you close beside her."
+
+"I only wanted her to take me past the ledge," Lisle explained. "I'd no
+notion of going right through with her. Now we'll make for camp."
+
+On arriving there as darkness closed down, they found that Jake had
+recovered the craft. The paddles had gone, but he could make another pair
+in an hour or two. They had a few dry things to put on, and as they lay
+beside the fire after supper they were sensible that the slight
+constraint both had felt for the last two days had vanished. Neither
+would have alluded to the feeling which had replaced it, nor, indeed,
+could have clearly expressed his thoughts, but mutual liking, respect and
+confidence had suddenly changed to something stronger. During the few
+minutes they spent in the water a bond, indefinite, indescribable, but
+not to be broken, had been forged between the two.
+
+The next morning it was clear and cold, and they made good progress until
+they landed late in the afternoon. Then, after scrambling some distance
+over loose gravel, Lisle and Nasmyth stopped beside a slight hollow in a
+wall of rock. A few large stones had been rudely placed on one another to
+form a shelter; there were still some small spruce branches, which had
+evidently been used for a roof, scattered about; and the remains of a
+torn and moldering blanket lay near by. In another place was a holed
+frying-pan and a battered kettle.
+
+Nasmyth gravely took off his shapeless hat, and stood glancing about him
+with a fixed expression.
+
+"This," he said quietly, "is where my friend died--as you have heard,
+they afterward took his body out. There are few men who could compare
+with that one; I can't forget him."
+
+There was nothing to be done, and little that could be said; and they
+turned away from the scene of the tragedy, where a man, who to the last
+had thought first of his companions, had met his lonely end. Launching
+the canoe, they sped on down-river, making a few easier portages, and
+four days later they landed on the bank of a turbulent reach shut in by
+steep, stony slopes. There was a little brushwood here and there, but not
+a tree of any kind.
+
+"It was on this beach that Gladwyne made one cache," said Lisle. "If
+there had been a cypress or a cedar near, he'd have blazed a mark on it.
+As it is, we'd better look for a heap of stones."
+
+They searched for some time without finding anything, for straight beach
+and straight river presented no prominent feature which any one making a
+cache would fix upon as guide. Lisle directed Nasmyth's attention to
+this.
+
+"There was deep snow when Vernon came down the gorge, on this side," he
+pointed out. "It doesn't follow that he was with the others when they
+buried the stores--he might have been carrying up a load--and it's
+possible they couldn't give him a very exact description. If I'm right in
+this, he'd have a long stretch of beach to search, and a man's senses
+aren't as keen as usual when he's badly played out."
+
+Nasmyth made no comment, but his expression suggested that he would not
+be disappointed if they failed to strike the cache. Shortly afterward,
+however, Jake called out, and on joining him they saw a cross scratched
+on a slab of slightly projecting rock. Even with that to guide them, it
+was some time before they came upon a few stones roughly piled together
+and almost hidden in a bank of shingle.
+
+"First of all, I want you to notice that this gravel has slipped down
+from the bluff after the cache was made," Lisle said to Nasmyth. "With
+snow on the ground and the slab yonder covered, it would be almost
+impossible to locate it." He turned to Jake. "How long would you say it
+was since the rain or frost brought that small stuff down?"
+
+Jake glanced at the young brushwood growing higher up the slope. It was
+shorter than that surrounding it, and evidently covered the spot which
+the mass of debris had laid bare in its descent.
+
+"Part of one summer and all the next," he answered decidedly.
+
+"Tell us how you figured it out."
+
+Jake climbed the bank and returned with two or three young branches which
+he handed to Lisle.
+
+"The thing's plain enough to you." He turned toward Nasmyth. "No growth
+except in the summer--they'd had a few warm months to start them, but
+they don't fork until the second year. See these shoots?"
+
+"As winter was beginning when the Gladwyne party came down, that small
+landslide must have taken place some time before then," declared Lisle.
+
+They set to work and carefully moved aside the stones. First they
+uncovered three cans of preserved meat, and then a small flour bag which
+had rotted and now disclosed a hard and moldy mass inside. There was also
+another bag which had evidently contained sugar; and a few other things.
+All examined them in silence, and then sat down grave in face.
+
+"It's unfortunate that nobody could positively state whether this cache
+has been opened or not since it was made, but there are a few points to
+guide us," said Lisle. "Do you know what kind of food civilized men
+who've been compelled to work to exhaustion on insufficient rations,
+helped out by a little fish or game, generally long for most?"
+
+"No," answered Nasmyth, with a feeble attempt at levity. "I've now and
+then remembered with regret the kind of dinner I used to get in England."
+
+"You have scarcely felt the pinch," Lisle informed him. "The two things
+are farinaceous stuff and sugar. No doubt, it will occur to you that
+Vernon might have taken a can or two of meat; but that's not likely."
+
+"If you're right about the longing for flour and sweet-stuff, it's a
+strong point," Nasmyth declared. "Where did you learn the fact?"
+
+Lisle looked at Jake, and the packer smiled in a significant manner.
+
+"He's right," he vouched. "We know."
+
+"Then," continued Lisle, indicating the sugar bag, which had been wrapped
+in a waterproof sheet, "can you imagine a starving man, in desperate
+haste, making up this package as it was when we found it?"
+
+"No," admitted Nasmyth; "it's most improbable."
+
+Somewhat to his astonishment, the usually taciturn Jake broke in.
+
+"You're wasting time! Vernon never struck this cache--he told the folks
+at the post so. Worked with him once trail-cutting--what that man said
+goes!"
+
+"You never told me you knew Vernon!" exclaimed Lisle.
+
+"Quite likely," Jake drawled. "It didn't seem any use till now."
+
+For the first time since they landed, Nasmyth laughed--he felt that
+something was needed to relieve the tension.
+
+"If people never talked unless they had something useful to say, there
+would be a marvelous change," he declared.
+
+Lisle disregarded this, but he was a little less grave when he resumed:
+
+"There's another point to bear in mind. Two of Gladwyne's party left him;
+and of those two which would be the more likely to succumb to extreme
+exertion, exposure, and insufficient food?"
+
+"Against the answer you expect, there's the fact that Vernon made the
+longer journey," Nasmyth objected.
+
+"It doesn't count for much. Was Clarence Gladwyne accustomed to roughing
+it and going without his dinner? Would you expect him to survive where
+you would perish, even if you had a little more to bear?"
+
+"No," confessed Nasmyth; "he's rather a self-indulgent person."
+
+"Then, for example, could you march through a rough, snow-covered country
+on as little food as I could?"
+
+"No, again," answered Nasmyth. "You would probably hold out two or three
+days longer than I could."
+
+"Vernon was a stronger and tougher man than I am," Lisle went on. "Now,
+without finding definite proof, which I hardly expected, there is, I
+think, strong presumptive evidence that Vernon's story is correct."
+
+"Yes," agreed Nasmyth, and added gravely: "Will you ever find the proof?"
+
+"I think there's a way--it may be difficult; but I'm going right through
+with this."
+
+"What's your next move?"
+
+"I've willingly laid my partner's story open to the only tests we can
+impose. Now I'm going to do the same with Clarence Gladwyne's."
+
+Nothing more was said, and turning away from the cache, they went back to
+the canoe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A PAINFUL DECISION
+
+
+Two days passed uneventfully, though Nasmyth was conscious of a growing
+uneasiness during them; and then one evening they landed to search
+another beach. They had less difficulty here, for small cedars and
+birches crept down to the waterside and Jake found an ax-blaze on one.
+After that, it was easy to locate the cache, and there were signs that it
+had been either very roughly made, or afterward opened and reclosed in
+careless haste. Lisle had no hesitation in deciding upon the latter, and
+Jake was emphatic in his brief assurance on the point.
+
+On removing the covering stones, they found very little beneath them, but
+every object was taken out and Lisle, measuring quantities and guessing
+weights, carefully enumerated each in his notebook. Neither he nor
+Nasmyth said anything of import then; both felt that the subject was too
+grave to be lightly discussed; and walking back silently along the
+shingle, they pitched the tent and prepared supper. After the meal, Jake,
+prompted by an innate tact, sauntered away down the beach, and the other
+two, lounging beside the fire, took out their pipes. A full moon hung
+above the lonely gorge, which was filled with the roar of the river, and
+the shadows of the cedars lay black upon the stones.
+
+Some minutes passed before a word was spoken; and then Nasmyth looked up.
+
+"Well?" he said briefly.
+
+Lisle moved a little, so that he could see his companion's face.
+
+"In the first place," he explained, "Clarence Gladwyne came down this
+bank. One could locate the cache by the blazed tree, even with snow upon
+the ground--and it has been opened. Apart from the signs of this, no
+party of three men would have thought it worth while to make a cache of
+the few things we found."
+
+"Mightn't it have been opened by some Indian?"
+
+"It's most unlikely, because he would have cleaned it out. A white
+prospector would certainly have taken the tobacco."
+
+Nasmyth knit his brows. He was deeply troubled, because there were
+respects in which the matter would hardly bear discussion, though he
+recognized that it must now be thrashed out.
+
+"Well," he admitted reluctantly, "what we have discovered has its
+significance; but it isn't conclusive."
+
+His companion took out from a pocket the palm and wrist portion of a fur
+glove. It was badly rotted, and the rest had either fallen away or been
+gnawed by some animal, but a button with a stamp on it remained.
+
+"Jake found that and gave it to me," he said. "There's enough left to
+show that it had finger-stalls, and there are none on the mittens we use
+in cold weather. The thing's English, and with a little rubbing I expect
+you'll find the maker's name on that button. When the party went up it
+was warm weather, but we know there was sharp frost when Gladwyne came
+back. A buttoned glove doesn't drop off one's hand, and even if it had
+done so Gladwyne would have noticed and picked it up. It seems to me he
+took it off to open one of the provision bags and couldn't find it
+afterward because he'd trodden it into the snow."
+
+Nasmyth could doubt no longer, and his face grew red.
+
+"The hound!" he broke out. "He had a hand frost-bitten--one finger is
+different from the others yet."
+
+Lisle said nothing; he could understand and sympathize with what was
+going on in his companion's mind and the latter was filled with
+bitterness and humiliation. A man of his own kind and station in life,
+one with whom he fished and shot, had broken faith with his starving
+comrade and with incredible cowardice had left him to perish. Even this
+was not the worst; though Nasmyth had always taken the personal courage
+of his friends for granted. He was not a clever man and he had his
+faults, but he shaped his life in accordance with a few simple but
+inflexible rules. It was difficult for him to understand how one could
+yield to a fit of craven fear; but there was a fact which made Gladwyne's
+transgression still blacker.
+
+"This thing hits hard," he said at length. "The man should have gone
+back, if he had known it meant certain death."
+
+Lisle filled his pipe and smoked in silence for several minutes during
+which the eery cry of a loon rang about the camp. It roused Nasmyth to an
+outbreak of anger.
+
+"I hate that unearthly noise!" he exclaimed vehemently. "The thing seems
+to be gloating; it's indecent! When I think of that call it will bring
+back the long portage and this ghostly river! I wish I'd never made the
+journey, or that I could blot the whole thing out!"
+
+"It can't be done," Lisle replied. "It's too late. You have learned the
+truth of what has been done here--but the results will work themselves
+out. Neither you nor I can stop them; they have to be faced."
+
+"The pity of it is that the innocent must suffer; they've borne enough
+already."
+
+"There's a point I don't quite understand," declared Lisle. "Whatever the
+Hudson Bay agent thought, he'd have kept it to himself if he'd been
+allowed--I've met him. It was Gladwyne who laid the whole blame on
+Vernon; he forced the agent to bear him out. Why should he have taken so
+much trouble? His own tale would have cleared him."
+
+Nasmyth looked irresolute; and then he answered reluctantly:
+
+"There's a fact I haven't told you yet--Clarence came into the family
+property on George's death; a fine old place, a fairly large estate. The
+sister doesn't count, though she got her brother's personal property--the
+land goes down in the male line."
+
+Lisle dropped his pipe.
+
+"Now I understand! Gladwyne profits, my dead partner bore the shame. But
+do you believe the man meant to let his cousin die?"
+
+"No," Nasmyth answered sharply, "that's unthinkable! But I blame him
+almost as much as if he had done so. Besides his duty to George, he had a
+duty to himself and to the family--the honorable men and women who had
+kept the name clean before him. Knowing he would inherit on George's
+death, there was only one way open--he should have gone back, at any
+cost. Instead, to clear himself of the faintest trace of ugly suspicion,
+he lays the blame upon an innocent man."
+
+Lisle did not reply to this. He felt that had the grim choice been
+imposed upon his companion, the man would have taken the course he had
+indicated.
+
+"You said that George Gladwyne was a naturalist," he remarked. "Was he a
+methodical man?"
+
+"Eminently so," replied Nasmyth, wondering where the question led. He had
+already been astonished at Lisle's close reasoning and the correctness of
+his deductions.
+
+"Then he would have made notes on his journey and no doubt have kept some
+kind of diary. Did the rescue party recover it?"
+
+"They did. It was given to George's sister."
+
+"Damaged by snow or water, badly tattered?"
+
+"It was," assented Nasmyth. "I've had the book in my hands. I suppose
+it's natural that you should guess its condition, but I don't see what it
+points to."
+
+Lisle smiled grimly.
+
+"One wouldn't be astonished to find some leaves missing from a tattered
+book."
+
+"You're right again." Nasmyth started. "Several had gone."
+
+"I think I can tell which part of the journey they related to. A
+methodical man would make a note of the stores cached, and the lists
+would be conclusive evidence if anybody afterward opened the caches and
+enumerated their contents, as we have done. If everything put into the
+one on the bank Vernon followed remained there, it would prove that he
+couldn't have found it. On the other hand, if the one on Gladwyne's side
+of the river--"
+
+"Of course!" Nasmyth broke in. "You needn't labor the point; it's plain
+enough." He stopped for a few moments before he went on again. "I'm
+convinced; but without that list of Gladwyne's you still haven't proof
+enough to place your account of the affair beyond dispute. What are you
+going to do?"
+
+"I'm going to England--it's my father's country, and I meant to visit it
+some day. Whether I shall find out anything more there or not I don't
+know."
+
+"Then you must stay with me. That's a point I insist upon. But I must
+make my situation clear--though I've been drawn into this matter against
+my will, you have my promise, and if ever the time for action comes, I'll
+stand by you. But I'll take no part in trapping Clarence Gladwyne into
+any admission, nor will I countenance any charge against him unless some
+chance supplies you with indisputable evidence."
+
+"Thanks," said Lisle; "I'm agreeable. You stand neutral until I call on
+you."
+
+"There are two more questions, and then we'll let the subject drop. Why
+didn't you make this search earlier? Why didn't Gladwyne rearrange the
+caches afterward? He went back, you know."
+
+"They're easily answered. It was some time before I heard of Vernon's
+death and met the Hudson Bay man in Victoria--I'd been away in the North.
+Gladwyne had the rescue party with him when he went back; he couldn't
+replace the provisions in the cache on this side without their knowing
+it, and I don't suppose he could have crossed the river to the other
+cache. Now we'll talk of something else."
+
+They started again the next morning, and instead of leaving the river for
+the Hudson Bay post, which stood farther back into the wilderness, they
+held on down-stream, though they afterward regretted this when their
+provisions once more grew scanty. There was now sharp frost at nights;
+fangs of ice stretched out behind the boulders and crackling sheets of it
+gathered in the slacker eddies along the bank. What mattered more was
+that the portages were frequent, and carrying the canoe over rock coated
+with frozen spray became dangerous as well as difficult, and Nasmyth
+working on short rations began to feel the strain. It was only since he
+had entered that inhospitable region that he had ever been compelled to
+go without his dinner; and now breakfast and supper were sternly
+curtailed. When they were stopped for two days by a blinding snowstorm he
+grew anxious, and his uneasiness had increased when some time afterward
+they made their evening meal of a single flapjack each. He could readily
+have eaten a dozen of the thin, flat cakes. The duck they had shot every
+now and then since crossing the divide had gone; they had not seen a
+trout since the cold set in; and there did not appear to be any salmon in
+the river.
+
+After breakfast the next morning, Lisle concluded that it would be wise
+to risk a day looking for a deer, so he invited Nasmyth to take his rifle
+and the two set out. It cost them some trouble to climb the low bluff
+above the river through a horrible tangle of fallen trunks. The trees
+were getting larger and the branches of those the wind had brought down
+lay spread about them or were resting on the standing growth in networks
+which Nasmyth would have thought it impossible to traverse had he been
+alone. Lisle scrambled through, however, and he had no choice except to
+follow. Where the timber was thinner, the slope was covered with
+sharp-edged stones which further damaged his already dilapidated boots;
+and when at last they came out upon a comparatively bare, rocky
+tableland, a bitter wind met them in the teeth. It drove a little fine
+snow before it, but Lisle plodded steadily on, explaining that any deer
+which might be in the neighborhood would have gone down into the
+sheltered valleys. He had no doubt they would find one of the valleys,
+for they were generally numerous.
+
+It was an hour before they reached one, and Nasmyth was conscious of an
+unpleasant pain in his side and a headache which he supposed resulted
+from want of food. For all that, he scrambled after his companion down an
+almost impossible descent, where trees of increasing size grew up among
+outcropping rock and banks of stones. When he reached the bottom he found
+himself in a deep rift filled with densely-matted underbrush, through
+which a swift stream flowed. Its banks promised a slightly easier road,
+though now and then they had to wade through the water, which was icy
+cold. Noon came and they had seen no sign of life, except two or three
+willow-grouse which they failed to dislodge from cover; but Lisle held
+on, his course running roughly in a line with the river.
+
+It was toward three o'clock, and a little snow was sifting down between
+the somber branches overhead, when Lisle, stopping, raised a warning hand
+and pointed to an opening in the trees. The light was dim among the rows
+of trunks, and for a few seconds Nasmyth gazed down the long colonnade,
+seeing nothing. Then Lisle pointed again, impatiently, and he made out
+something between a gray trunk and a thicket. Sportsman as he was, he had
+not the bush-man's eye, and he would never have supposed that formless
+object to be a deer. It moved, however; a prong of horn appeared; and
+waiting for nothing further he pitched up his rifle.
+
+It was a long shot, standing; he guessed the range in a deceptive light;
+but he found himself strangely steady as he squeezed the trigger. He was
+desperately hungry and weak from want of food; the deer must not escape.
+Yet he was in no rash haste; for two or three seconds the tiny foresight
+trembled slightly upon the mark, while the pressure on the trigger
+increased. Then there was a flash; he heard no report but the smoke blew
+into his eyes. Almost simultaneously, a train of red sparks leaped out
+from somewhere close at his side and there was a sharp snapping in the
+bush ahead.
+
+"You got your shot in!" cried Lisle. "I think I missed him on the jump.
+Come on; we must pick up the trail!"
+
+It was easy to find; the deer had been too badly hit to bound across each
+obstacle as cleanly as usual, and broken twigs and scattering withered
+leaves showed which way it had gone. Besides, there were red splashes
+here and there. It was, however, a difficult matter to follow the trail.
+Fallen trees and dense thickets barred the way, and they had to cross the
+creek every now and then. Nasmyth rapidly got breathless and before long
+he was badly distressed, but he held on behind his companion. Once or
+twice he was held fast for a moment or two, and breaking free, found he
+had badly ripped his garments on the ragged branches. Still, it was
+unthinkable that they should let the deer escape.
+
+As he struggled forward, he remembered that the days were rapidly
+shortening, and he shrank from the prospect of retracing his way to camp
+in the dark. It occurred to him that it was a compliment and a mark of
+very fine courtesy that Lisle had left the first shot to him. In return
+for this, he must endeavor to be present to assist when he was wanted.
+
+The deer was still invisible, but it was not very far ahead, for at times
+the snapping of a stick or a rustle of disturbed underbrush came sharply
+out of the woods. The light was getting dimmer and the snow was falling
+more thickly.
+
+At last the hunted creature left the valley and after a desperate
+scramble the men reached the summit of the ridge above. Here the
+tableland between them and the river was covered with straggling bush,
+and though the undergrowth was thin they could see nothing but the long
+rows of shadowy trunks. Lisle, however, picked up the trail, and they
+followed it as rapidly as possible until, when Nasmyth was lagging some
+distance behind, there was a shout in front of him and his companion's
+rifle flashed. Making a last effort, he broke into a run and presently
+came to the brink of a steep descent covered with thick brush and
+scattered trees, with a wide reach of palely gleaming water at the foot
+of it. It was the kind of place one would have preferred to climb down
+cautiously, but there was a sharp snapping and crackling below and
+Nasmyth knew that a hard-pressed deer will frequently take to the water.
+If it crossed the river, it would escape; and that could not be
+contemplated.
+
+Holding his rifle up, he plunged madly down the descent, smashing through
+matted bushes, stumbling over slippery stones. Once or twice he collided
+with a slender tree and struck his leg against some ridge of rock; but he
+held on, gasping, and the water rapidly grew nearer. He had almost
+reached it when a dim shape broke out from a thicket at the bottom of the
+slope. There were still some cartridges in his rifle cylinder, but he was
+slipping and sliding down an almost precipitous declivity at such a rate
+that it was impossible to stop and shoot. Indeed, in another moment he
+fell violently into a brake and had some difficulty in smashing through
+it, but when he struggled free he saw shingle and boulders in front of
+him and Lisle bounding across them a few yards behind the deer. He
+reached the stones, wondering why Lisle did not fire; and then he saw man
+and deer plunge into the water together.
+
+A few seconds later he was waist-deep in the swift icy current, savagely
+endeavoring to drag the animal toward the bank, while Lisle stood near
+him, breathing hard, with a red hunting-knife in his hand.
+
+"Steady!" gasped Lisle. "You can't do it that way! Help me throw the
+beast on his side. Now heave!"
+
+They got the deer out, and Nasmyth sat down limply. All the power seemed
+to have gone out of him; he did not want to move, though he was filled
+with exultation, for they now had food. It was a minute or two before he
+noticed that Lisle had left him; and then he saw him coming back with his
+rifle.
+
+"I dropped the thing," Lisle explained. "Couldn't snap a fresh shell in;
+guess I bent the slide. I took the knife to finish it."
+
+"In another moment or two you'd have been too late."
+
+Lisle laughed.
+
+"I don't know. It wouldn't have been decided until we'd reached the other
+side."
+
+"You would have swum across?" Nasmyth asked in astonishment.
+
+"Sure," said Lisle simply. "Anyway, I'd have tried."
+
+Nasmyth glanced at the river. It was broad, icy cold, and running fast,
+and he could hardly imagine a worn-out and half-fed man safely swimming
+it. Lisle, however, called upon him to assist in an unpleasant operation
+which, when Nasmyth had killed a deer at home, had been judiciously left
+to the keepers or gillies. After that, he was directed to light a fire on
+a neighboring point, from which it could be seen some way up the river,
+and by and by Jake arrived in the canoe. Then they made camp, and after a
+feast on flesh so tough that only hungry men could have eaten more than a
+few morsels of it they went to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MILLICENT GLADWYNE
+
+
+In a few more days they left the river, abandoning the canoe and tent and
+a portion of their gear. Ascending to higher levels, they crossed a
+rugged waste, which, fortunately for them, was thinly timbered; but there
+was keen frost, and snow in places, and Nasmyth suffered a good deal
+during this portion of the journey. At last, however, they descended to a
+sheltered valley in which the firs grew tall, and Jake agreed with Lisle
+that it would form the best road to the settlements.
+
+Nasmyth was longing for civilization when he lay awake late one night,
+wrapped in a single blanket, beside the sinking fire. Dark columnar
+trunks rose about him, touched with the uncertain red radiance now and
+then cast upon them when little puffs of bitter wind stirred the blaze,
+and he could see the filmy wreaths of smoke eddy among the branches. He
+was cold and overtired; the day's march had been a long one; his
+shoulders ached cruelly after carrying a heavy load, and every joint was
+sore. Besides, his bed was unpleasantly hard, and he envied his
+companions, who had long ago sunk into heavy slumber. For the last hour
+he had been thinking over the discoveries he had made on the journey,
+which he devoutly wished he had never undertaken; the thought of them had
+troubled him on other bitter nights. Lisle was not the man to let the
+matter drop; he was much more likely to follow it up with dogged
+persistence to the end; and Nasmyth, who was to some extent pledged to
+assist him, saw trouble ahead.
+
+In spite of this, he was beginning to get drowsy when a faint and yet
+strangely melodious chiming broke through the whispering of the firs. It
+seemed to come from above him, falling through the air, and he roused
+himself to listen, wondering if he were quite awake. The musical clash he
+had first heard had ceased, but for a while he thought he could
+distinguish the tolling of a single bell; then in varying notes the peal
+broke out again.
+
+There was something ethereal in the clear tones. The last time he had
+heard anything like them he was sitting one Sunday morning on a shady
+lawn while the call of the bells came softly up to him across the English
+woods. He glanced at his comrades, but they showed no sign of hearing,
+and raising himself on one elbow he lay and listened, until the music,
+growing fainter and fainter, died away. Then, puzzled and half convinced
+that his imagination had played him some fantastic trick, he went to
+sleep.
+
+He mentioned the occurrence diffidently at breakfast the next morning,
+expecting incredulous laughter; but Lisle, without making a comment,
+glanced at Jake questioningly.
+
+"No," responded Jake. "Nothing to bring them up so far."
+
+"You couldn't have been mistaken?" Lisle asked Nasmyth.
+
+"I thought I must be; but the more I listened, the clearer it got."
+
+"Go and see," Lisle said, addressing Jake, and when they had finished
+breakfast the packer strode away.
+
+"We'll wait a bit," advised Lisle. "I'm a little worried about provisions
+again. It's still a long march to the nearest wagon trail."
+
+Nasmyth failed to understand how the delay would improve their position,
+but believing that his companion was somewhat dubious about his tale he
+restrained his curiosity. In half an hour Jake came back and nodded to
+Lisle.
+
+"Quite a bunch of them," he reported. "I struck the fellow's trail."
+
+"What was it I heard?" Nasmyth asked.
+
+"Cow-bells," Lisle explained, laughing. "In this country, they generally
+put them on any cattle that run loose in the timber. Some adventurous
+rancher has located up here, though I hadn't expected to find one so far
+north. Anyway, it's a relief; he'll no doubt be able to let us have
+something to eat."
+
+They reached the man's log house an hour later, and spent the day with
+him, enjoying a much needed rest. The next morning he supplied them with
+provisions and told them how to find a trail down to a wagon road; and,
+setting out, they safely reached a settlement in regular communication
+with the cities.
+
+It was the settlement Lisle had expected to come to, and he found a
+bundle of correspondence awaiting him there. Before he opened it,
+however, he and Nasmyth supplied themselves with such clothing as they
+could obtain at the local store, and then demanded a bath at the little
+wooden hotel. They had some trouble in obtaining it, but Nasmyth was
+firm, and eventually he sat down to supper, clad in a blue shirt with
+scarlet trimmings, extremely tight-fitting clothes and daintily-pointed
+shoes.
+
+"I think I'd have done better if I'd stuck to my rags, or else bought a
+pair of what that fellow called river-Jacks' boots," he commented
+ruefully.
+
+Lisle was similarly attired, but he was too busy with his meal to
+sympathize with him, and some time after it was over Nasmyth, strolling
+into the private room which they had obtained as a signal concession,
+found him writing at a littered table. Sitting down, he watched him for a
+while with some slight wonder. For a number of weeks, he had seen his
+companion handling heavy loads, cooking, and hauling canoes round rapids
+with the skill of a professional packer. It was hard to disassociate him
+from the ranges and the bush; but now, with the pile of letters before
+him, he had suddenly become a business man. Nasmyth saw him answer a
+couple in a swift, decided manner which showed that he was at home in his
+present occupation. It was one of the quick character-changes which,
+while common in the West, are apt to bewilder the more stereotyped
+Englishman.
+
+"Are you coming to England with me?" Nasmyth asked at length.
+
+"No; I'm sorry I can't," answered Lisle, pausing, pen in hand. "This
+Gladwyne matter will probably take time and I have none to spare now.
+There have been some unexpected developments in my affairs. I don't know
+when I can get away."
+
+Nasmyth was conscious of some relief. His companion would have to defer
+the prosecution of plans that threatened to cause trouble in England,
+which was something to be thankful for, though he had a strong sympathy
+for the man.
+
+"Has it ever struck you that you might have less difficulty if you could
+be content with proving half of what you claim?" he asked. "It's the more
+important part--I mean that your late comrade failed to find the cache."
+
+"Half a truth is not much use--Gladwyne realized that. To declare you
+haven't done the wrong is a good deal less effective than pointing to the
+guilty man."
+
+"I suppose that's correct," Nasmyth agreed. "But, after all, unless you
+can get hold of a list of the provisions cached--and it has most likely
+been destroyed--there's only one way of substantiating your views."
+
+"Exactly. Gladwyne's confession will place the matter beyond all doubt."
+
+"Do you think you will ever get it?"
+
+Lisle's expression hardened.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm going to try."
+
+Nasmyth abandoned all attempt to daunt or dissuade him.
+
+"Anyway," he resumed, "when you come over you must stay with me. I'm
+sorry we'll have to part company to-morrow. I start east by the first
+train."
+
+He strolled out into the moonlight and the keen frosty air. The little
+wooden town was soon left behind, and sauntering down the rough wagon
+road beneath towering firs, he saw the great hill summits glitter white
+against the sky. It was a wonderful country; the grandest he had ever
+traversed; but it demanded a good deal from the man who ventured into its
+wilds, and he was not sorry that he was turning his back on it.
+
+Then, as he thought of the land he was bound for and recalled the tragic
+story of Gladwyne's journey, he once more grew troubled. He realized the
+immutable sequence of cause and effect--each action had its result which
+must be faced however much one repented and regretted it. The deed, once
+done, could not be altered and, what was worse, its consequences reached
+out to others. Then he wondered whether Clarence had ever repented, and
+admitted, with a recurrence of his indignation against the man, that it
+was far from probable. Clarence was one who took life lightly, and
+although his means had been small until he came into his cousin's
+possessions, he had somehow succeeded in getting what is often considered
+the best out of it. Self-denial in any shape was unknown to him.
+
+The next morning Nasmyth took the train for Montreal, and about a
+fortnight later alighted at a little station in the north of England as
+the early dusk was closing in. It was a quiet evening and the soft
+moistness of his native air struck him as something pleasantly familiar
+after the keener, drier atmosphere of the Dominion. He was glad to be
+back again, but when he looked around, the trap waiting in the wet road
+outside the railings was not his own. Neither did it belong to Clarence,
+whom he had partly expected; but on the whole Nasmyth was glad of that.
+He had not looked forward to the first meeting with Clarence with any
+pleasure.
+
+In another moment, a girl came along the platform through the groups of
+local passengers, who respectfully made way for her. She was tall, and
+her long outer garment failed to conceal her grace of movement and fine
+poise, though in the fading light her face was almost invisible beneath a
+large hat. The sight of her sent a thrill of satisfaction through the
+man; it was seldom that Millicent Gladwyne's appearance was unwelcome to
+her friends. She approached him with outstretched hand.
+
+"I drove over for you. Clarence couldn't come; he was suddenly called up
+to town," she began. "It would have been rather lonely for you to spend
+the first evening by yourself at the Lodge. You will come to us?"
+
+"Thoughtful as ever," smiled Nasmyth, with a little bow which was
+respectful as well as friendly. "I needn't ask how you are; the way you
+walked along the platform was a testimony to our Border air."
+
+She laughed, softly and musically.
+
+"It is more needful to inquire how you have stood your adventures?"
+
+"I believe I'm thinner; but that isn't astonishing, everything
+considered. I suppose Clarence is getting on pretty satisfactorily?"
+
+"Clarence? Oh, yes!" There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice which
+Nasmyth noticed. "He has been in town a good deal of late. But come
+along; the horse--he's a new one--is rather restive. They'll send on your
+things."
+
+"The remnant of my outfit's contained in one small bag," laughed Nasmyth;
+"the rest's scattered about the hillsides of British Columbia. I was a
+picturesque scarecrow when I reached the settlements."
+
+They moved away along the platform, and on reaching the trap he got up
+beside her and handed her the reins.
+
+"I want to look about, if you don't mind," he explained.
+
+"I really think the prospect's worth it," she replied. "Besides, Riever's
+fresh and needs humoring."
+
+She shook the whip, and as they clattered away down the steep, twisting
+road, Nasmyth glanced with satisfaction to left and right. He had seen
+wilder and grander lands, but none of them appealed to him like this
+high, English waste. On one hand dim black hills rose out of fleecy mist;
+on the other a leafless birch wood, close by, stood out in curiously
+fragile and delicate tracery against a paling saffron glow, though
+overhead the sky was barred with motionless gray cloud. A sharp smell of
+peat-smoke followed them as they clattered past a low white cottage with
+a yellow glow in one window; and then the earthy scent of rotting leaves
+replaced it as they plunged into the gloom of an oak wood beneath the
+birches. A stream splashing down a hollow made faint music in the midst
+of it. When they had emerged from the shadow and climbed a steep rise,
+wide moors stretched away in front, rising and falling in long
+undulations, streaked with belts of mist. The crying of restless plovers
+came out of the gathering dimness.
+
+"All this is remarkably nice; though I don't think I should have
+appreciated it quite so much if I'd been alone," Nasmyth said at length.
+
+Millicent laughed lightly. She had known him since her childhood and was
+quite aware that he had not intended to pay her a labored compliment;
+they were too good friends for that. Once, indeed, he had desired a
+closer bond, but he had quietly acquiesced when with gentle firmness she
+had made it clear that she was not for him. Submission had not been easy,
+but he had long admitted her right to more than he could offer. In this,
+however, he was to some extent mistaken, because the gifts he could
+bring--a staunch honesty, faithfulness, and a genial nature--are not to
+be despised.
+
+"Well," she replied, "I love these moors and dales, as of course you
+know, and I've become more of a stay-at-home than ever during the past
+year." There was a slight regretfulness in her voice which had its
+meaning for him. "I'm never satisfied with the drawings," she went on,
+"though I've made so many of them."
+
+Nasmyth made a sign of comprehension. She had undertaken to finish and
+illustrate her brother's roughed-out work, a book on the fauna of the
+Border, and she had brought to it a fine artistic skill and patience, as
+well as a love of the wild creatures of the waste. It was, perhaps, a
+curious occupation for a young woman, but she had devoted herself to it
+with characteristic thoroughness.
+
+"He wanted it to be as complete and accurate as possible," she added
+simply.
+
+Her companion felt compassionate. In some respects, it was almost a pity
+that Millicent could not forget.
+
+"You got my letter--the one in which I said I meant to pick up and follow
+out his trail?" he asked.
+
+"Yes. I knew it would be difficult. Indeed, I was anxious about you; the
+wilderness has claimed so much from me. But did you--"
+
+"I succeeded," Nasmyth answered quietly.
+
+The nod she gave him was expressive. It meant that she had expected him
+to succeed; he was a man who did what he said.
+
+"I think George should never have made that journey," she resumed. "Fond
+of the open as he was, he hadn't the physical stamina. He never spared
+himself; he was apt to overestimate his powers."
+
+It was spoken with a grave regretfulness that troubled Nasmyth and yet
+stirred him to strong appreciation of her character. With all her love
+for her brother, she could face the truth.
+
+"I've learned that he bore everything with the fortitude one would expect
+from him--doing his share always with the rest," Nasmyth said. "We got
+through a little earlier, and had better weather; but I saw enough to
+convince me that the difficulties George had to contend with would have
+killed any ordinary man."
+
+"They did not kill Clarence."
+
+Nasmyth once more burned with anger against the transgressor.
+
+"No," he replied in a strained tone; "Clarence escaped."
+
+She flashed a sharp glance at him, and he felt glad that it was too dark
+for her to see his face.
+
+"You must tell me the whole story to-night," she requested.
+
+Her companion made no answer. With the reserve that must be maintained on
+several points, the story would be difficult to relate; and it could not
+fail to be painful to her. The horror she would feel if she ever learned
+that her brother might have been saved had his cousin shown more
+resolution was a thing he dare not contemplate, and he wondered if the
+shock the knowledge must bring could be spared her. This depended upon
+Lisle, whom he had promised to assist. Nasmyth could foresee nothing but
+trouble, and he was silent for a while as they drove on across the lonely
+moor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+NASMYTH TELLS HIS STORY
+
+
+Dinner was over, and Millicent's elderly companion had discreetly left
+them alone, when the girl led Nasmyth into her drawing-room. It was
+brightly lighted and was tastefully decorated in delicate colors, and a
+wood fire was burning on the hearth; but, for the first time that he
+could remember, Nasmyth felt ill at ease in it. He was fresh from the
+snow-covered rocks and shadowy woods and the refinement and artistic
+luxury of his surroundings rather jarred on him. The story he had to
+relate dealt with elemental things--hunger, toil, and death--it would
+sound harsher and more ugly amid the evidences of civilization.
+
+"You have a good deal to tell me," Millicent suggested at length.
+
+He stood still a moment, looking at her. She had already seated herself,
+and the sweeping lines of her pose suggested vigor and energy held in
+quiet control. Her face was warm in coloring, bearing signs of exposure
+to wind and sun, but it was chastely molded in a fine oval with the
+features firmly lined. Her hair was dark, though there were bronzy gleams
+in it, and her eyes, which were deeply brown, had a sparkle in them. As a
+whole, her appearance indicated a sanguine, optimistic temperament, but
+there was also an indefinite something which spoke of due balance and
+repose. Nasmyth was more convinced than ever that he had not met any
+other woman fit to compare with her. Her age, as he knew, having given
+her many birthday presents, was twenty-four.
+
+"Yes," he said, in answer to her remark, "but it's curious that I can't
+fix my mind upon the subject here. The night's mild; shall we go out on
+to the veranda?"
+
+"Wait until I get a wrap. I understand."
+
+"You always do that," Nasmyth declared.
+
+She joined him outside in another minute and seated herself in the chair
+he drew out. The house was small and irregularly built, and a glass roof
+supported on light pillars stretched along part of the front. A half-moon
+hung above a ridge of dark fir wood, a tarn gleamed below, and here and
+there down a shadowy hollow there was a sparkle of running water. On the
+other side of the dale the moors stretched away, waste and empty, toward
+the half-seen hills. The loneliness of the prospect reminded Nasmyth of
+Canada, and the resemblance grew more marked when the crying of plover
+rose from the dim heath--it brought back the call of the loon. Still, he
+did not wonder why Millicent, an orphan with ample means, lived alone
+except for her elderly companion on the desolate Border.
+
+"You don't mind, I know," he said as he lighted a cigar.
+
+"I can make that concession willingly," she answered with a smile. "I
+suppose I'm old-fashioned, because I go no farther."
+
+"Keep so," advised Nasmyth. "Of course, that's unnecessary; but I never
+could make out why women should want to smoke. From my point of view, it
+isn't becoming."
+
+He was putting off a task from which he shrank, and she indulged him.
+
+"One retains one's prejudices in a place like this," she said. "I felt
+sadly left behind when I was last in London; and the few visits I made in
+the home counties a little while ago astonished me. Nobody seemed to stay
+at home; the motors were continually whirling them up to town and back;
+the guests kept coming and going. There was so much restlessness and
+bustle that I was glad to be home again."
+
+"It has struck me," returned Nasmyth with an air of sage reflection,
+"that we who live quietly in the country are the pick of the lot. Sounds
+egotistical, doesn't it? But if we don't do much good--and I'm afraid I
+don't, anyway--neither do we do any harm."
+
+"I'm not sure that that's a great deal to be proud of."
+
+"I didn't include you," Nasmyth assured her. "There have been wholesome
+changes in the village since you grew up and made your influence felt.
+And that leads to a question: How does Clarence get on with his tenants
+and the rank and file? George understood them, but they're difficult
+folks to handle."
+
+"He's away a good deal--I'm afraid there has been some friction now and
+then." The girl's manner suddenly changed. "But that's beside the point.
+Aren't you wasting time?"
+
+"I am almost afraid to begin. You will find the story trying."
+
+She turned toward him, and the moonlight showed her face was reassuringly
+quiet.
+
+"I expect that; but your fears are groundless. You needn't hesitate on my
+account."
+
+Nasmyth knew that she was right; Millicent was not one to flinch from
+pain. With an effort, he began his story at the portage over the divide,
+and, possessed by vivid memories, he made her see the desolate region
+they had laboriously traversed. Because her imagination was powerful, she
+could picture the brother she had loved toiling with desperate purpose
+and failing strength through muskeg and morass. Then, when she quietly
+insisted, he described Gladwyne's last camp. She saw that, too: the
+hollow beneath the dark rock, with the straggling cedars on the ridge
+above. Next he outlined the journey down the first few rapids, saying
+little about the caches, and at last, with considerable relief, he came
+to a stop. Millicent sat silent for several minutes, during which he did
+not look at her.
+
+"Thank you," she said at length. "I have tried often to imagine it, and
+failed; but it is quite clear now. Clarence would never give me more than
+the barest details--I think he hated to speak of it."
+
+"In a way, he was wise," replied Nasmyth. He understood the man's
+reluctance. "Now don't you think it would be better if you tried to drive
+the thing out of your mind? It can't be altered--there's a danger in
+dwelling too much upon one's grief."
+
+She looked up at him, though her eyes were dim with tears.
+
+"It can't be driven out. There were only the two of us; we had so much in
+common--there was such trust between us."
+
+Nasmyth nodded in comprehension and sympathy.
+
+"Now that I've told you," he said quietly, as he rose, "I think I'll go.
+I am sure you'd rather be alone."
+
+"No," she answered, motioning to him to sit down. "Please stay." She
+seemed to rouse herself with an effort. "Of course, there was only one
+thing George could do when he was lamed--send them on. But Clarence, who
+was with him, never made his fortitude and cheerfulness so clear as you
+have done. You even mentioned the exact words he said now and then--how
+did you hear of them?"
+
+"From my companion, a young Canadian. He had the whole thing by heart;
+got it from the Hudson Bay agent. George's guide told the agent."
+
+"Did your companion also teach you how to tell the story?"
+
+Nasmyth smiled. He saw that she was desirous of changing the subject and
+he was glad of it.
+
+"Anyway, he made me see it at the time; pointed out the full significance
+of things--a broken branch, a scratch on a rock. A rather striking man in
+several ways. But you shall see him; he's coming over to stay with me by
+and by." He paused a moment. "I understand that Clarence has been having
+some trouble."
+
+"It hardly amounts to that. But things are not the same as they were"--in
+spite of her courage she faltered--"when George held control. The tenants
+don't take to Clarence; I think he was not well advised in increasing
+rents here and there. Indeed, that was a little puzzling, because he was
+once so liberal."
+
+"In small matters; it's his own money now." Nasmyth could not repress
+this show of bitterness.
+
+"Whose money was it in his extravagant days?"
+
+"That's a question I've thought over and failed to find an answer to.
+I've no doubt most of what he gets is now being spent in town, though in
+my opinion as much as possible ought to go back to the locality in which
+it was produced. Why don't you impress that on him?"
+
+Millicent, as he knew, could judiciously offer sound advice where it was
+needed. She was young, but, having been left an orphan early, she had
+long enjoyed her brother's close companionship and confidence, and the
+man's wide knowledge and thoughtfulness had had its effect in molding her
+character. Still, in this case, she did not respond.
+
+"It would be better for his tenants and the neighborhood generally if
+Clarence married; he can afford it now," Nasmyth went on.
+
+Again the girl was silent, and he wondered whether he had thoughtlessly
+made a serious blunder. It had been supposed among their friends that she
+would marry Clarence some day, though, so far as it was known, there was
+no definite understanding between them, and for a while the man's
+attitude had strengthened the idea. Indeed, when he had succeeded to
+George's possessions, every one had expected an announcement, which had
+not been made. What Millicent thought, or what she had looked for all
+along, did not appear.
+
+"I think you are right in one thing," she said, very calmly, at length.
+"If he would stay here, as George did and his neighbors do, it would be
+better for everybody, including himself."
+
+Nasmyth made a sign of agreement. Their intimate friends remained for the
+greater portion of the year on their estates, understanding the needs of
+their tenants and dependents and enjoying their good opinion, which was
+naturally increased by the fact that their expenses were chiefly incurred
+in the neighborhood. There were others who, as the small farmer
+recognized, returned as little as possible to the soil, squandering
+revenues raised by the stubborn labor of others in doubtful pleasures
+elsewhere and, when they brought their friends home, on luxuries
+despatched from town. These things made for bitterness.
+
+An unfortunate persistence in his hobby drove Nasmyth into a second
+blunder.
+
+"We're in accord on that point," he assured her. "It's a pity the land
+passed out of your hands. However, as there's no male succession, it
+might, after all, come back to you."
+
+She bore it very calmly.
+
+"You wouldn't have me speculate on such a thing?"
+
+Then as if to find a safer topic she went on with a thrill of anger in
+her tone:
+
+"I'll tell you of an incident I witnessed two or three days ago, which
+annoyed me seriously. I'd just met old Bell--you know how lame he
+is--driving some sheep along the road. It has been a wet, cold year; Bell
+lost his hay, the oats are dreadfully poor, and his buildings are in very
+bad repair."
+
+"They were a disgrace to any estate when I last saw them," Nasmyth broke
+in. "Besides, the sour land near the river should have been tile-drained
+long ago."
+
+"So Bell has urged; but he can't get Marple to spend a penny--I'm glad
+that man's new to this part of the country and doesn't belong to us.
+Well, just after I met Bell, Marple's big motor came along. He had Batley
+with him and the Crestwicks, who were down before. I think you met them?"
+
+"I did," assented Nasmyth. "In Canada they'd call them a mighty tough
+crowd; they're about the limit here."
+
+"I turned round after the car had passed," Millicent went on. "Marple was
+driving, as fast as usual, and he made no attempt to pull up. Bell, who
+didn't hear, tried to jump and fell into the ditch; most of the sheep
+were scattered across the moor, but two or three got right in front of
+the car and at the last moment Marple had to stop. One of the women
+laughed, she had a very shrill voice and she explained that the old man
+looked so funny in the ditch; Marple shouted to Bell--something about the
+damage to his tires--and I could see the others smiling at what he said.
+That was worse than the words he used. Then they went on, leaving the old
+man to gather up his sheep; he hadn't a dog with him. That kind of thing
+leaves its mark!"
+
+"Distinctly so," Nasmyth agreed. "Still, Marple and his lot are
+exceptions. Wasn't Clarence rather thick with them?"
+
+"Yes," she answered. "I've been rather disturbed about him."
+
+Nasmyth did not know what this meant. He thought she would hardly have
+made such an admission had she contemplated marrying the man; and, if
+not, it was somewhat difficult to see why he should cause her serious
+concern. He knew, however, that Millicent could not look on unmoved when
+her friends left the right path; he could think of two or three whom she
+had helped and gently checked from further straying. This reflection was
+a relief to him, because he was determined that she should not marry
+Clarence if he could prevent it. If necessary, he would tell her the part
+the man had played in Canada, though he shrank from doing so.
+
+"Marple and his acquaintances are not the people one would have expected
+Clarence to associate with," he continued. "Still, in my opinion, he's
+doing worse in making a friend of that fellow Batley. I could never
+understand the connection--the man strikes me as an adventurer. Has he
+spent much time here since I've been away?"
+
+"A good deal, off and on. But it's getting chilly and I half expect a
+reproving lecture from Miss Hume when I go in. First, though, tell me a
+little more about the young Canadian you had with you."
+
+"I don't know much. I met him by accident--he has an interest in some
+mines, I believe, but he struck me as a remarkably fine type. Clever at
+woodcraft, as handy with the ax and paddle as our professional guide, but
+when he talked about other things he seemed to know a good deal more than
+I do." He smiled. "After all, that's not surprising. But what I liked
+most was the earnestness of the fellow; he had a downright way of
+grappling with things, or explaining them to you. Sensible, but direct,
+not subtle."
+
+"I've met men of that description, and I'm rather prejudiced in their
+favor," declared Millicent, smiling. "But what was he like in
+person--slightly rugged?"
+
+"No; that's where you and others sometimes go wrong. There's nothing of
+the barbarian about these bushmen. Physically, they're as fine a type as
+we are--I might go farther--straight in the limb, clean-lined every way,
+square in the shoulder. They'd make an impression at any London
+gathering."
+
+"So long as they didn't speak?"
+
+"It wouldn't matter. Allowing for a few colloquialisms, they're worth
+listening to; which is more than I'd care to say for a number of the
+people one meets in this country."
+
+Millicent laughed.
+
+"Well, I'll be glad to see him when he comes." Her voice grew graver. "I
+feel grateful to him already for what he told you about George."
+
+They went in together and half an hour later Nasmyth walked home across
+the moor. He had never thought more highly of Millicent, but somehow he
+now felt sorry for her. It scarcely seemed fitting that she should live
+in that lonely spot with only the company of an elderly and staid
+companion, though he hardly thought she would be happier if she plunged
+into a round of purposeless amusements in the cities. Still, she was
+young and very attractive; he felt that she should have more than the
+thinly-peopled countryside had to offer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE MOORS
+
+
+Nearly a year had passed since Nasmyth's return when Lisle at length
+reached England. Soon after his arrival, he was, as Nasmyth's guest,
+invited to join a shooting party, and one bright afternoon he stood
+behind a bank of sods high on a grouse-moor overlooking the wastes of the
+Border. The heath was stained with the bell-heather's regal purple,
+interspersed with the vivid red of the more fragile ling, and where the
+uplands sloped away broad blotches of the same rich colors checkered the
+grass. In the foreground a river gleamed athwart the picture, and
+overhead there stretched an arch of cloudless blue. There was no wind;
+the day was still and hot.
+
+A young lad whose sunburned face already bore the stamp of self-indulgence
+was stationed behind the butt with Lisle, and the latter was not favorably
+impressed with his appearance or conversation.
+
+"Look out," he cautioned by and by. "You were a little slow last time.
+They travel pretty fast."
+
+Lisle picked up his gun; he had used one in the West, though he was more
+accustomed to the rifle. Cutting clear against the dazzling sky, a
+straggling line of dark specks was moving toward him, and a series of
+sharp cracks broke out from the farther wing of the row of butts, which
+stretched across the moor. Lisle watched the birds, with fingers
+tightening on his gun; one cluster was coming his way, each flitting body
+growing in size and distinctness with marvelous rapidity. Then there was
+a flash beside him, and another crash as he pitched up his gun. Something
+struck the heather with a thud not far away, and swinging the muzzle a
+little, he pulled again. He was not surprised to hear a second thud, and
+laying down his gun he turned to his youthful companion, while a thin
+cloud of acrid vapor hung about him.
+
+"Get anything?" he asked.
+
+"I didn't," was the sullen answer. "Couldn't expect it with the second
+barrel, after you'd filled the place with smoke. Wonder why Gladwyne's
+man gave you the old black powder?"
+
+As nearly everybody else used smokeless, this was a point that had
+aroused Lisle's curiosity, though it was not a matter of much importance.
+Nasmyth had provided him with cartridges, but they had somehow been left
+behind, and on applying to Gladwyne's keeper he had been supplied with
+ammunition which, it seemed, was out of date.
+
+"After all, you have done well enough," his companion resumed. "We'd
+better get on to our next station--it's right across the moor on the high
+ridge yonder. Don't bother about the birds."
+
+"Shall I leave them there?"
+
+"Certainly! Do you want to carry them all the afternoon? One of the
+keeper fellows will bring them along."
+
+The lad's tone was half contemptuous; he had already shown that he
+considered the Canadian what he would have called an outsider; but he was
+willing to make use of him.
+
+"You might look after Bella; she's alone in the next butt--and I've
+something else to do," he said. "There's an awkward ghyll to cross and
+she won't carry anything lighter than a 14-gun. See she doesn't leave the
+cartridges in it."
+
+He strode away across the heather, and Lisle turned toward the turf
+shelter indicated. As he approached it, a girl appeared and glanced at
+him with very obvious curiosity; but as he supposed that she was the
+sister of his late companion he did not expect any diffidence from her.
+She was short in stature and slight in figure, and dressed in grayish
+brown; hat, coat, and remarkably short skirt all of the same material.
+Her hair was of a copper color; her eyes, which were rather narrow, of a
+pale grayish-green. He would have called them hard, and there was a hint
+of arrogance in her expression. Yet she was piquantly pretty.
+
+"I suppose you're Nasmyth's Canadian friend?" she began, and went on
+without waiting for an answer: "As we occupy adjoining butts on the next
+drive, you may take my gun. Teddy has deserted me."
+
+"Teddy?" queried Lisle, who wondered if she were referring to her
+brother. "I thought his name was Jim."
+
+"It's Marple's stout friend with the dyed hair I mean. I told him what
+would happen if he ate as he persisted in doing at lunch. It's too hot to
+gormandize; I wasn't astonished when he collapsed at the steep place on
+the last walk. Reflecting that it was his own fault, I left him."
+
+Lisle was not charmed with the girl's manners, but he could not check a
+smile.
+
+"Are you tired? You oughtn't to be," she continued with another bold
+glance at him.
+
+"No," he replied; "if it's any consolation to you, I'm far from exhausted
+yet."
+
+"That's reassuring," she retorted. "You haven't taken my gun."
+
+Having forgotten it for the moment, he flushed a little, and she watched
+him with unconcealed amusement while he opened the weapon and took out
+the cartridges.
+
+"What's that for?" she asked impertinently. "It's hammerless; there's
+nothing to catch."
+
+"The pull-off's probably very light, if it's been made for a lady's use.
+It's sometimes possible to jar the strikers down when they set the
+springs to yield at a touch."
+
+"Then you know something about guns?" she said, as if she had not
+expected this.
+
+"Not a great deal about the scatter kind, though I've stripped a few."
+
+"We never do that," she informed him. "We send them to London. Still,
+you're right; the gun did go off when I knocked it jumping down from a
+wall."
+
+"If you'll let me have it to-night, I'll alter that. I understand we're
+going out again to-morrow."
+
+She considered a moment.
+
+"Well," she consented, with the air of one conferring a favor, "you may
+take it when we've finished."
+
+Lisle wondered what had prompted him to make the offer. The way she had
+addressed him was not ingratiating, but he delighted in examining any
+fine mechanism and he had never handled such a beautifully made weapon.
+
+They plodded on side by side through the heather, which was long and
+matted, and presently, seeing that she was breathless, he stopped on the
+crest of a higher rise and once more looked about with keen appreciation.
+
+In front of him the crimson and purple heath was rent and fissured, and
+in the deep gaps washed out by heavy rains the peat gleamed a warm
+chocolate-brown. Elsewhere, patches of moss shone with an emerald
+brightness, and there were outcrops of rock tinted lustrous gray and
+silver with lichens. Below, near the foot of the moor, ran a straight
+dark line of firs, the one coldly-somber streak in the scene; but beyond
+it the rolling, sunlit plain ran back, fading through ever varying and
+softening colors to the hazy blue heights of Scotland.
+
+Lisle's companion noticed his intent expression.
+
+"It is rather fine up here," she conceded. "I sometimes feel it's almost
+a pity one couldn't live among the heather. Certain things would be
+easier on these high levels."
+
+"Yes?" interrogated Lisle, slightly puzzled and astonished.
+
+"You're obviously from the woods," she smiled. "If you had spent a few
+years among my friends, you would understand. I was referring to the
+cultivation of ideas and manners which seem to be considered out of date
+now."
+
+Lisle made no reply to this, but he glanced too directly at a red stain
+on her hand.
+
+"Blood," she explained. "I had a bet with Alan that I'd get a brace more
+than Flo; that's why I went after a cripple running in the ling. It
+wasn't dead when I picked it up--rather horrid, wasn't it?"
+
+The man was conscious of some disgust. She looked very young and, slight
+as she was, her figure was prettily rounded and she had a soft, kittenish
+gracefulness; but she spoke with the assurance of a dowager. Though he
+had killed and cut up many a deer, he shrank from the small red stain on
+her delicate hand. She saw it and laughed, and then with a sudden change
+of mood she stooped and swiftly rubbed her fingers in the heather.
+
+"Now," she said sharply, "if you're sufficiently rested, we'll go on."
+
+Lisle moved away, but he asked a question:
+
+"Do many girls shoot in this country?"
+
+"No," she answered with a mocking smile; "not so many, after all. That's
+comforting, isn't it? This kind of thing is hard work, and damaging to
+the complexion."
+
+Presently they came to a wall, and Lisle stopped in some uncertainty. It
+was as high as his shoulders and built of loose, rough stones.
+
+"Get over," she ordered him. "Then pull a lot of it down."
+
+He did so, making, though he endeavored to avoid this, a rather wide
+hole.
+
+She scrambled through agilely and then regarded him with surprise as he
+proceeded to replace the stones.
+
+"Why are you doing that?" she asked.
+
+"There are sheep up here."
+
+"Too many, considering that it's a grouse-moor; but what of it? They
+don't belong to us."
+
+"They belong to somebody who would rather they didn't stray," Lisle
+rejoined. "In the country I come from, it's considered a serious
+transgression to knock over another person's fence and not put it up
+again."
+
+He calmly went on with his task, and sitting down she took out a silver
+cigarette-case. After a minute or two she looked up at him.
+
+"You're doing that very neatly," she remarked.
+
+"I've done something of the kind for a living," Lisle informed her.
+
+"Oh! It's curious that you seem proud of it. In this case, I don't mind
+your keeping me, because they can't drive up the birds until we have
+crossed the higher moor. It will annoy Gladwyne and his keeper, and I'm
+not pleased with either of them. I wanted Flo Marple's station at the
+first butts."
+
+Lisle considered this. He had wondered why she had favored him with her
+company, when, although her previous companion had deserted her, she
+could by hurrying a little have joined the others. The butts were not
+spaced very far apart. Their late occupants had, however, now vanished
+into a dip of the moor. He asked himself why a girl with her assurance
+should have troubled to offer him an explanation.
+
+When he had finished the repairs to the wall, they went on, and a little
+later he heard a sharp "Cruck--cruck-curruck," to one side of him.
+Swinging around, he saw a grouse skimming the heather.
+
+"A pair of gloves to a sovereign that you miss!" cried his companion.
+
+The bird was flying fast; Lisle had to load, and by the time he had
+snapped in a cartridge it was a long range. This, however, was somewhat
+in his favor, as he was better used to the rifle. There was a flash and
+the bird struck the heath. The girl glanced at him in unveiled
+appreciation.
+
+"A clean kill!" she exclaimed. "You have won the gloves; and you'll
+deserve them before you have heard the last of this incident. I suppose
+you don't know that you shouldn't have fired a shot except from behind
+the butts."
+
+She watched his expression with open amusement.
+
+"You don't like to ask why I tempted you," she went on. "It was to vex
+the keeper; you may have turned back the birds the beaters are driving
+up."
+
+"Thanks for the information," Lisle said coolly. "Do you mind my
+inquiring whether you would have taken the sovereign in case I'd missed?
+As you suggested, I'm lately from the wilds."
+
+"Of course!" she mocked. "I could have had it drilled and worn it on a
+chain!"
+
+The man made no comment as they went on. Presently they came to a deep
+rift in the moor through which a stream leaped sparkling. The girl
+scrambled down, waist-deep in yellow fern, but the other side was steep
+and stony and she was glad of help when he held out his hand. They made
+the ascent with some difficulty and on reaching the summit she looked
+around, breathless.
+
+"This is a romantic spot, if you're interested in the legends of the
+Border," she told him.
+
+"I am," Lisle said; and she sat down among the heather.
+
+"It's an excuse for a rest," she confessed. "The old moss-troopers used
+to ride this way to ravage Cumberland. It was advisable for them to
+follow hidden paths among the moors, and once an interesting little
+skirmish took place among those brakes down the hollow."
+
+She pointed toward a spot where the ravine widened into a level strip of
+quaggy grass and moss which glowed a brilliant emerald. On either side of
+it a gnarled and stunted growth of alders and birches fringed the foot of
+the steep slopes, and between them the stream spread out across a stretch
+of milk-white stones. The hollow was flooded with light and filled with
+the soft murmur of running water.
+
+"It would be a strong place to hold, if the defenders had time to choose
+their ground," Lisle remarked.
+
+"So it proved," replied his companion. "Well, once upon a time, a bold
+Scots reaver, riding south, saw a maid who pleased him near a Cumberland
+pele. His admiration was not reciprocated, but he came again, often,
+though being an armed thief by profession there was a price upon his
+head. It is stated that on each occasion he returned unaccompanied by any
+of the cattle belonging to his lady's relatives, which was an unusual
+piece of forbearance. In those days, men must have been able to
+disassociate business from their love-making."
+
+"Don't they do so now?" Lisle inquired lazily.
+
+She looked at him with a smile which had a hint of real bitterness in its
+light mockery.
+
+"Not often, one would imagine. Perhaps they can't be blamed--I'm afraid
+we're all given to cultivating dreadfully expensive tastes. No doubt,
+when it was needful, the Border chieftain of the story could live on
+oatmeal and water, and instead of buying pedigree hunters he probably
+stole his pony. He haunted the neighborhood of the pele until the maid
+became afraid and urged her kinsmen to rid her of him. Several of them
+tried and failed--which wasn't surprising."
+
+"Love made him invulnerable?" Lisle suggested.
+
+"No," retorted his companion. "A man with a heart constant and stout
+enough to face the risks he ran would be hard to kill. When you read
+between the lines, it's a moving tale. Think of the long, perilous rides
+he made through an enemy's land, all for a glance at his disdainful lady!
+They watched the fords in those days, but neither brawling rivers nor
+well-mounted horsemen could stop him. At last, he came one night with a
+dozen spears, broke in the barmkin gate and carried her off. All her
+relatives rode hard after them and came up with them in this ghyll. Then
+there happened what was, in one way, a rather remarkable thing--the
+abducted maid firmly declined to be rescued. There was a brisk encounter,
+I believe two or three were killed; but she rode off to Scotland with her
+lover. I suppose I needn't point the moral?"
+
+"I can see only the ancient one--that it's unwise to take a lady's 'No'
+as conclusive," Lisle ventured.
+
+She laughed at him in a daring manner.
+
+"The pity is that we haven't often a chance of saying it to any one worth
+while. But I'll express the moral in a prettier way--sometimes
+disinterested steadfastness and real devotion count with us.
+Unfortunately, they're scarce."
+
+There was a challenge in her glance, but the man, not knowing what was
+expected of him, made no answer. At first he had been almost repelled by
+the girl, but he was becoming mildly interested in her. She could, he
+thought, be daring to the verge of coarseness, and he did not admire her
+pessimism, which was probably a pose; but there was a vein of elfish
+mischief in her that appealed to him. Sitting among the heather, small,
+lithe, and felinely graceful, watching him with a provocative smile in
+her rather narrow eyes, she compelled his attention.
+
+"Well," she laughed, "you're not much of a courtier. But doesn't that
+story bring you back into touch with elemental things--treacherous
+mosses, dark nights, flooded rivers, passion, peril, dauntlessness? Now
+we're wrapped about with empty futilities."
+
+He understood part of what was in her mind and sympathized with it. He
+had lived close to nature in stern grapple with her unbridled forces.
+From women he demanded no more than beauty or gentleness; but a man, he
+thought, should for a time, at least, be forced to learn the stress and
+joy of the tense struggle with cold and hunger, heat and thirst, on long
+marches or in some dogged attack on rock and flood. He had only contempt
+for the well-fed idlers who lounged through life, not always, as he
+suspected, even gracefully. These, however, were ideas he had no
+intention of expressing.
+
+"There are still people who have to face realities in the newer lands;
+and I dare say you have some in this country, on your railroads and in
+your mines, for example," he said. "But hadn't we better be getting on?"
+
+They left the brink of the hollow and plodded through the heather toward
+where a row of butts stood beneath a lofty ridge of the moor. A man
+appeared from behind one as they approached and glanced at them with
+unconcealed disapproval.
+
+"Couldn't you have got here earlier, Bella?" he asked. "In another few
+minutes you'd have spoiled the drive--the birds can't be far off the dip
+of the ridge. Hardly fair to the keepers or the rest of us to take these
+risks, is it?"
+
+"When I do wrong, I never confess it, Clarence," the girl replied. "You
+ought to know that by now."
+
+Lisle heard the name and became suddenly intent--this was Clarence
+Gladwyne! There was no doubt that he was a handsome man. He was tall and
+held himself finely; he had a light, springy figure, with dark eyes and
+hair. Besides, there was a certain stamp of refinement or fastidiousness
+upon him which was only slightly spoiled by the veiled hint of languid
+insolence in his expression.
+
+"I heard a shot," he resumed.
+
+"I've no doubt you did," the girl agreed. "An old cock grouse got up in
+front of us--it was irresistibly tempting."
+
+Gladwyne turned to Lisle with a slight movement of his shoulders which
+was somehow expressive of half-indulgent contempt.
+
+"You're Nasmyth's friend from Canada? I guess you don't understand these
+things, but you might have made the birds break back," he said. "However,
+we must get under cover now--there's your butt. I'll see you later."
+
+He turned away and Lisle took up his station behind the wall of turf
+pointed to. He had once upon a time been forcibly rebuked for his
+clumsiness at some unaccustomed task in the Canadian bush and had not
+resented it, but the faint movement of Gladwyne's shoulders had brought a
+warmth to his face. The girl noticed this.
+
+"Clarence can be unpleasant when he likes, but there are excuses for
+him," she said. "A day's shooting is one of the things we take seriously,
+and manners are not at a higher premium here than I suppose they are in
+the wilds."
+
+Lisle made no response, and there was silence on the sun-steeped moor
+until a row of small dark objects skimming the crest of the ridge above
+became silhouetted against the sky. Then a gun cracked away to the right
+and in another moment a dropping fusillade broke out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+GLADWYNE RECEIVES A SHOCK
+
+
+It was about nine o'clock in the evening, and Gladwyne's somewhat noisy
+guests were scattered about his house and the terrace in front of it.
+Several of them had gathered in the hall, and Bella Crestwick, Lisle's
+companion on the moors, stood, cigarette in hand, with one foot on the
+old-fashioned hearth-irons, frankly discussing him. A few birch logs
+glowed behind the bars, for on those high uplands the autumn nights were
+chilly, but the wide door stood open, revealing a pale green band of
+light behind the black hills, and allowing the sweet, cool air of the
+moors to flow in.
+
+The girl had gained something by the change from her outdoor attire to
+the clinging evening dress, but it was with characteristic unconcern that
+she disregarded the fact that the thin skirt fell well away from one
+shapely ankle effectively displayed by a stocking of the finest texture.
+
+"The man," she said, "is a bit of a Puritan. They still live over there,
+don't they? His idea of English women is evidently derived from what his
+father told him, or from early-Victorian literature. I'm inclined to
+believe I shocked him."
+
+"It's highly probable," laughed a man lounging near. "Still, I believe
+the descendants of the folks you mention live three thousand miles from
+his country, in the neighborhood of the Atlantic shore. One wouldn't
+fancy that you'd like Puritans."
+
+There was nothing offensive in the words, but his glance was a little too
+bold and too familiar, and Bella looked at him with a gleam of malice in
+her eyes.
+
+"Extremes meet; it's the middle--the medium mediocrity--that's
+irreconcilable with either end," she retorted. "For instance, I led a
+life of severe asceticism all last Lent." There were incredulous smiles,
+though the statement was perfectly correct. "It's a course I could
+confidently recommend to you," she proceeded, unheeding; "of late you
+have been putting on flesh with an alarming rapidity."
+
+The man made no response and Bella resumed:
+
+"Besides, the Puritans have their good points; they're so refreshingly
+sure of themselves and their views, while the rest of us don't believe in
+anything. You can't be a fanatic without being thorough, and in
+renouncing the world and the flesh you may gain more than a passable
+figure. Among other things, the ascetic life means straight shooting,
+steady hands, and an eye you can depend upon. The overcivilized man who
+does nothing to counterbalance his luxuriousness is generally a rotter."
+
+"But what has all this to do with Nasmyth's Canadian?" somebody asked.
+
+Bella waved her cigarette.
+
+"Try to walk a steep moor with him and you'll see. If that's not
+sufficient, take the same butt with him when the grouse are coming over."
+
+Suddenly she straightened herself, dropping her foot from the iron and
+flinging the cigarette into the fire, as a gray-haired lady entered the
+hall. She had been a beauty years ago and now her fragility emphasized
+the fineness of her features and the clear pallor of her skin. She was
+dressed in a thin black fabric, and her beautifully shaped hands gleamed
+unusually white against its somber folds.
+
+"Where's Clarence?" she asked the group collectively, in a voice that was
+singularly clear and penetrative. "I haven't seen him for the last
+half-hour."
+
+One of the men immediately went in search of him, and the lady crossed
+the hall to where Millicent Gladwyne was sitting, for the time being
+alone. Millicent had noticed Bella's sudden change of demeanor upon her
+hostess's entrance, with something between amusement and faint disgust.
+Mrs. Gladwyne was what Bella would have called early-Victorian in her
+views, and she would occasionally have been disturbed by the conversation
+of some of her son's guests, had she not been a little deaf.
+
+"Sitting quiet?" she said to Millicent, who was a favorite of hers; and
+her voice carried farther than she was aware of as she continued: "I
+heard the laughter and it brought me down, though I want to tell Clarence
+something. I like to see bright faces; but the times have changed since I
+was young. We were a little more reserved and not so noisy then."
+
+"A dear old thing! It's a pity she's quite so antediluvian," Bella
+remarked to a man at her side.
+
+"Isn't that the natural penalty of being a dear old thing?" laughed her
+companion. "There's no doubt we have progressed pretty rapidly of late."
+
+Clarence appeared shortly after this and was gently chidden by his mother
+for going out without his hat, because the autumn nights were getting
+chilly. A few minutes later, footsteps became audible outside the open
+door and Nasmyth entered the hall with Lisle. It was spacious and
+indifferently lighted; the others, standing near the hostess, concealed
+her, and Lisle stopped for a word with Bella. Then Nasmyth noticed Mrs.
+Gladwyne and called to his companion.
+
+"This way, Vernon."
+
+Clarence swung round with a start and cast a swift glance at the
+stranger, and Millicent wondered why his face set hard; but the next
+moment Nasmyth led up the Canadian and presented him. Mrs. Gladwyne had
+risen and Lisle made a little respectful inclination over the delicate
+hand she held out. Age had but slightly spoiled her beauty; she had still
+a striking presence, and a manner in which a trace of stateliness was
+counterbalanced by gentle good-humor. Lisle was strongly impressed, but,
+as Millicent noticed, he betrayed no awkwardness.
+
+"I seem to have heard your name before in connection with Canada," said
+Mrs. Gladwyne, confusing it with his surname. "Ah, yes! Of course; it was
+George's guide I was thinking of." She turned to Millicent, adding in an
+audible aside: "I've a bad habit of forgetting. Forgive me, my dear."
+
+Everything considered, it was, perhaps, the most awkward thing she could
+have said; but Lisle's bronzed face was imperturbable, and Gladwyne had
+promptly recovered his composure as he realized the mistake. Still, for a
+moment, he had been badly startled. Nobody noticed Nasmyth, which was
+fortunate, because his unnatural immobility would have betrayed him.
+
+"I'd been expecting you both earlier; told you to come to dinner," said
+his host.
+
+Then he addressed Lisle.
+
+"As my mother mentioned, I had once something to do with a man called
+Vernon, in Canada."
+
+Knowing what he did, Lisle fancied that Gladwyne's indifferent tone had
+cost him an effort.
+
+"It's only my Christian name, as you have heard," he explained.
+
+"You were up in the bush with Nasmyth, were you not?"
+
+"Yes," answered Lisle. "I met him quite by chance in a Victoria hotel
+when I happened to have a few weeks at my disposal which I thought of
+spending in the wilds. When he heard that I intended making a trip
+through the northern part of the country and suggested that we should go
+together I was glad to consent."
+
+"Then you belong to Victoria?"
+
+"I was located there when I met Nasmyth. Before that I was up in the
+Yukon district for some time. Since leaving him I've lived in the city."
+
+He thought Gladwyne was relieved at his answer, for the latter smiled
+genially.
+
+"Well," he said, "we must try to make your visit to this country
+pleasant."
+
+Shortly after this, the group broke up and Gladwyne, escaping from his
+guests, slipped out on to the terrace and walked up and down. Nasmyth had
+merely mentioned that he had a Canadian friend staying with him; somehow
+a formal introduction had been omitted during the day on the moors, and
+Gladwyne had been badly disconcerted when he heard the man addressed as
+Vernon. The name vividly recalled a Canadian episode that he greatly
+desired to forget, and he had, indeed, to some extent succeeded in doing
+so. That unfortunate affair was done with, he had assured himself; for
+two years it had scarcely been mentioned in his hearing, but for a
+horrible moment which had taxed his courage to the utmost he had almost
+fancied that it was about to be brought to light again. Lisle's answer
+and manner had, however, reassured him. Nasmyth had met the man
+accidentally and it was merely as the result of this that they had made
+the journey through the bush together. It was evident that he had been
+needlessly alarmed.
+
+For all that, he was troubled. Living for his own pleasure, as he did, he
+was nevertheless a man who valued other people's good opinion and prided
+himself upon doing the correct and most graceful thing. There was no
+doubt that he had once badly failed in this, but it was in a moment of
+physical weakness, when he was exhausted and famishing. After all, it was
+most probable that his cousin had died before he could have reached him,
+and there were, he thought, few men who, if similarly situated, would
+have faced the risk of the return journey. Still, the truth would have
+had an ugly sound had it come out. This was why he had spread the story
+of the guide's defection, which he now regretted. It might not have been
+strictly necessary, but he had reached the trappers' camp on the verge of
+a collapse, too far gone to reason out the matter calmly. A man in that
+condition could hardly be held accountable for his action. Besides, it
+was incredible that the guide's statement that he had made the journey
+without replenishing his provisions could be correct.
+
+His reflections were interrupted by Mrs. Gladwyne, who came out, wrapped
+in a shawl.
+
+"Why are you here alone?" she asked. "You look disturbed. Has anything
+gone wrong?"
+
+Gladwyne was sorry that she had joined him where the light from a window
+fell on his face, but he smiled.
+
+"No," he answered quietly, for he was always gentle with her. "I only
+felt that I'd rather avoid the chatter of the others for a few minutes. I
+suppose it was the man's name, together with your reference to George,
+that upset me."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne laid her hand on his arm. She was inordinately fond and
+proud of the son whom she had spoiled.
+
+"I sometimes think you are too sensitive on that point, Clarence," she
+said. "Of course, it was very tragic and we both owe George a great deal,
+but you did all that anybody could have done."
+
+The man winced, and it was fortunate that they had now left the light
+behind and his mother could not see his face.
+
+"I could have stayed and died with him," he broke out with unaffected
+bitterness. "There were times at the beginning when I was sorry I let him
+send me away."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne shook her head reproachfully. She was gracious and quietly
+dignified and refined in thought, but for all that she was not one to
+appreciate such a sacrifice as he had indicated.
+
+"I'm afraid that was an undue exaggeration of a natural feeling," she
+remonstrated. "How could your staying have helped him, when by going in
+search of help you increased his only chance of safety? I have always
+been glad you were clear-headed enough to realize it, instead of yielding
+to mistaken emotional inclinations."
+
+Gladwyne felt hot with shame. His mother had an unshaken confidence in
+his honor, which was the less surprising because her perceptions had
+never been very keen and she had always shrunk from the contemplation of
+unpleasant things. It was an amiable weakness of hers to idealize those
+she loved, and by resolutely shutting her eyes on occasions she succeeded
+in accomplishing it more or less successfully. Clarence was, of course,
+aware of this, and it hurt to remember that in deserting his cousin he
+had been prompted chiefly by craven fear. His mother, however, quite
+unconscious of what she was doing, further humiliated him.
+
+"Of course," she continued, "if you had found the cache of provisions, it
+would have been your duty to return to George at any hazard, and I have
+no doubt whatever that you would have gone."
+
+The damp stood beaded on the man's forehead. He realized that even his
+lenient and indulgent mother would shrink from him if she knew that he
+had abandoned his dying benefactor like a treacherous coward. He said
+nothing and they had strolled to the end of the terrace before she spoke
+again.
+
+"I think it would be better to go back to the others and drive away these
+morbid ideas," she advised. "It's a duty to look at the brightest side of
+everything."
+
+He made no answer, but he strove with some degree of success to recover
+his usual tranquillity as they turned toward the entrance of the hall.
+
+In the meanwhile, Lisle had been talking to Millicent. She had already
+made a marked impression on him, for in the wilds the man had acquired a
+swift and true insight into character. One has time to think in the
+lonely places where, since life itself often depends upon their accuracy,
+a man's perceptions grow keen, and though some of the minor complexities
+and subtleties of modern civilization might have puzzled him he was
+seldom mistaken in essentials.
+
+He liked her direct and calmly searching gaze; he liked her voice which,
+while soft and pleasant, had a trace of gravity in it. He knew that her
+fine carriage was a sign of physical vigor and he recognized how it had
+been gained by the clear, warm tinting of her slightly sun-darkened skin.
+But, apart from this and her comeliness, which was marked, there was that
+in her personality which spoke of evenness and depth of character. She
+was steadfast, not lightly to be swayed from a resolve, he thought.
+
+"Nasmyth has often spoken about you," she told him. "I understand it was
+chiefly by your help that he succeeded in reaching the scene of my
+brother's death. I want to thank you for that."
+
+Her voice was quiet, but it did not betoken indifference; he knew that
+she was not one to forget. He could not think of any apposite answer, but
+she saw the sympathy in his eyes and it pleased her more than words would
+have done.
+
+"It was a relief to me that Nasmyth made that journey," she went on. "I
+wanted to learn everything that could be known--instead of shrinking from
+it. You see, I had a great faith in my brother."
+
+"He deserved it," Lisle declared warmly. "I have gathered enough to
+convince me of that!"
+
+"Thank you! Clarence was not in a condition to notice anything very
+clearly during his journey, and I think what he suffered blunted his
+recollection. Besides, the subject is a distressing one to him, and it is
+seldom he can be induced to speak about it. Perhaps that is a pity; I
+find it does not always save one trouble in the end to avoid a little
+immediate pain."
+
+Lisle was gratified. She had spoken so unrestrainedly, though he imagined
+that it was a somewhat unusual thing for her to take a stranger into her
+confidence.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "I think that's very true. It's better to face it and
+get it over. The wound sooner heals."
+
+She smiled rather wistfully and changed the subject.
+
+"I told Nasmyth that you taught him to see."
+
+"I suppose I did," acknowledged Lisle. "Still, it was only as far as it
+concerned the things that I'm acquainted with. I'm not sure that my
+meaning's very clear?"
+
+"I understand. You knew what to expect; that carries one a long way. Were
+you disappointed in finding it?"
+
+He was a little surprised at her keenness, and rather confused. This was
+a question that could not be directly answered.
+
+"What I was more particularly referring to was the meaning of such things
+as a broken branch, a gap in a thicket, or a few displaced stones," he
+explained. "I taught him what to infer from those."
+
+"Yes," she said; "I understand that you discovered nothing new--I mean
+nothing that could throw any further light upon what befell my brother
+after the others left him."
+
+He was glad that he could answer her candidly.
+
+"No; we can only suppose that the conclusions the rescue party came to
+were correct. But all that we found relating to the week or two before
+the separation spoke of the courageous struggle that your brother made
+and his generosity in sending the others away."
+
+She bent her head.
+
+"That," she said quietly, "is only what one would have expected. He left
+a diary; you must come over and see it."
+
+"I should like to, if it wouldn't be painful to you."
+
+"No," she replied; "I shall be glad to show it to you."
+
+She left him shortly after this and strolled out on to the terrace,
+thinking about him. The little she had seen of him had pleased her; he
+had earnest eyes and a resolute air, and she liked the men who lived in
+the open. He was direct, and perhaps a little rudimentary without being
+awkward, which was in his favor, for subtlety of any kind was distasteful
+to her. Still, in one respect, she was disappointed--he had in no way
+amplified Nasmyth's story, and she had expected to hear a little more of
+the expedition from him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+LISLE GATHERS INFORMATION
+
+
+Nasmyth's dinner was over and he lay, pipe in hand, in an easy-chair in
+his smoking-room, with Lisle lounging opposite him. They had been walking
+up partridges among the higher turnip fields all day, and now both were
+pleasantly tired and filled with languid good-humor. Nasmyth's house was
+old--it had been built out of the remains of a Border pele--and the room
+was paneled to the ceiling and very simply furnished. It had an ancient
+look and an ancient smell, and the few articles of plain oak furniture
+harmonized with it. The window stood wide open, and the fragrance of a
+grove of silver firs outside drifted in. The surroundings had their
+effect on Lisle, who had not been accustomed to dwellings of that kind.
+
+"You have been here a fortnight and must have formed a few opinions about
+us," Nasmyth remarked at length. "You needn't be shy about expressing
+them, and I've no doubt there are things you'd like to ask."
+
+"As a whole, my opinion's highly favorable," Lisle announced with a
+smile. "I'd be uncommonly hard to please if it weren't."
+
+"That's flattering. But I'm not sure that I meant as a whole; I had a few
+particular instances in my mind. Bella Crestwick, for example; I'm
+curious to hear what you think of her. She seems quite favorably
+impressed with you."
+
+"She's interesting," Lisle replied. "A type that's new to me; the latest
+development, isn't it? Anyway, I like her--whatever the admission's
+worth--though I must say that I found her rather startling at first.
+She's honest, I think, and that counts for a good deal."
+
+"I suppose you're not aware that she's desirably rich?"
+
+"I wasn't. It's not a fact of any moment to me. Besides, I've a suspicion
+that it's Gladwyne's scalp she's after."
+
+Nasmyth nodded.
+
+"You're pretty shrewd. Though I've had much greater opportunities for
+observation, that idea has only lately occurred to me. Of course, in a
+general way, I shouldn't discuss my acquaintances in this casual fashion,
+but as you are likely to see a good deal of us there are things you'd
+better know."
+
+"I'll explain my point of view," said Lisle, refilling his pipe. "You
+have seen something of the kind of life I've led. Half my time, I
+suppose, has been spent in primeval surroundings; the rest in contact
+with the latest efforts of a rather unfinished civilization. Well, what
+you have to show me here is vastly different. These old houses, your
+smoothed-down ways, are a revelation to me. The polish on some of your
+furniture has taken several hundred years to put on; that in my Victoria
+quarters smells of the factory, and the board walls of other hotels I've
+lived in rend into big cracks because they're fresh from the mill. I'm
+full of interest; everything's new to me. But so far my curiosity's
+impersonal; I'm taking no hand in anything."
+
+His companion's face grew grave.
+
+"The trouble is that you may not be able to avoid it later. You're here,
+and some part will probably be forced on you. However, as I said, I think
+you're right about Bella."
+
+"But her money would be no great inducement to Gladwyne."
+
+"That's not certain. Clarence has a way of squandering money, and you may
+as well understand that there's very little to be derived from
+agricultural property. George had his mother's money, but he left it to
+Millicent; Clarence got only the land. That's what made a match between
+them seem so desirable."
+
+"Desirable!" Lisle broke out. "It's impossible! Not to be contemplated!"
+
+"Yes," Nasmyth agreed quietly. "If necessary, it will have to be
+prevented. I was only stating popular opinion."
+
+There was something curious in his tone and Lisle looked hard at him.
+Their eyes met full for a moment and the thoughts of each were clear to
+the other.
+
+"If anything must be done, it will fall to you," Nasmyth went on. "In
+this case it would be particularly invidious for me to interfere. But, if
+there had been nobody else, I'd have broken off the match."
+
+Lisle made no comment, but there was comprehension and sympathy in his
+expression, and Nasmyth nodded.
+
+"Yes," he acknowledged; "it's an open secret that I would have looked for
+nothing better than to marry Millicent Gladwyne." He paused with a slight
+flush creeping into his bronzed face. "For all that, I knew some years
+ago that I hadn't the faintest chance and never would have. I have her
+confidence and friendship; that has to be enough."
+
+"I think it's a good deal," said Lisle.
+
+There was silence for a minute or two, and then Lisle asked a question:
+
+"How could a girl like Millicent Gladwyne ever contemplate the
+possibility of marrying Clarence?"
+
+"It's puzzling to me. These things often are to outsiders. Still,
+Clarence is a handsome man, and I think George was in favor of the match,
+which would count with her. Then, in a way, she was always fond of
+Clarence, and now that she has the money and he's far from prospering on
+the land, the idea that she could set him firmly on his feet by sharing
+her possessions with him may prove tempting. It's very much the sort of
+thing that would appeal to her."
+
+"You suggest that she isn't strongly attached to the man."
+
+"I really believe she isn't; but, for all that, I'm sometimes afraid
+she'll end by marrying him. It's very probable that she suspects some of
+his faults, but I'm not sure they'd deter her. It would make her more
+compassionate, believing it was her duty to help him--that kind of
+thing's an old delusion. Still, to do the fellow justice, he hasn't of
+late shown much eagerness to profit by his opportunities."
+
+Lisle mused for a few moments. It struck him that Nasmyth had described a
+very fine type of woman, which was quite in accordance with his own ideas
+of Miss Gladwyne.
+
+"What led Gladwyne to cultivate Marple and the Crestwicks?" he asked.
+"They're different from the rest of you."
+
+"I can't say. It's a point I've wondered about, though Marple and his
+rather rowdy friends are prosperous. I can better see why they got hold
+of Clarence."
+
+"I don't see it," responded Lisle. "Remember I'm an unsophisticated
+stranger in search of information. If they've means enough, can't they
+associate with whom they like?"
+
+Nasmyth smiled, but there was a trace of diffidence in his manner.
+
+"In a way, you're right; but there are limits, more particularly in such
+a place as this. The counties, I'm sometimes thankful, don't keep pace
+with London. It's a little difficult to explain, but we're old-fashioned
+and possibly prejudiced here. Anyhow, we exercise a certain amount of
+caution in the choice of our friends."
+
+"But Mrs. Gladwyne seems cordial to the people you object to, and one
+would imagine that she's the embodiment of your best traditions, a worthy
+representative of the old regime."
+
+"Mrs. Gladwyne is a remarkably fine lady, but it's unfortunate that she's
+a little deaf and--it must be owned--not particularly intelligent. A good
+deal of what goes on escapes her. Besides, she has always idolized
+Clarence, and that would account for her not seeing his friends'
+failings."
+
+"It's curious that Gladwyne makes so much of that young Crestwick."
+
+"I've wondered about it," Nasmyth confessed. "The lad's vicious--and I've
+an idea that the influence Clarence has over him isn't beneficial. In
+fact, I'm sorry for his sister. She has been given her head too young,
+but, in my opinion, the girl's the pick of a very indifferent bunch."
+
+"But you haven't accounted for these people's desire to be on good terms
+with Gladwyne."
+
+Nasmyth hesitated.
+
+"Oh, well, since you're so persistent, the Crestwicks have evidently been
+left with ample means, acquired by their parents, not much education, and
+big ambitions. They can get into certain circles, but that won't content
+them, and other doors, which Gladwyne can open to them, are shut. After
+all, he's a good sportsman, a man of some culture, with a manner that's
+likely to impress such people. The lad's holding on to him and taking his
+worst aspect for a copy, while Clarence seems willing to extend his
+patronage."
+
+"For some consideration?"
+
+Nasmyth looked disturbed.
+
+"It's unpleasant, but I can't help feeling that you're right. One way or
+another, young Crestwick will have to pay his entrance fees." He rose and
+stretched himself lazily. "I'll spoil my temper if I say any more about
+it, and as we've had a long day I'm off to bed."
+
+Lisle followed him from the room, but he was up early the next morning
+and strolled down to the river while the light was creeping across the
+moors and the dew lay thick upon the grass, thinking over what he had
+heard on the previous night. It was his nature to be interested in almost
+everything and he was curious to learn what he could of the people to
+whom his father had belonged. In Canada he had, for the most part, met
+only men of somewhat primitive habits and simple desires, grappling with
+rock and forest, or with single purpose toiling to acquire wealth in the
+new cities. What was more to the purpose, few of them were married. Now
+he was thrown among a people not more intelligent--indeed, he thought
+they were less endowed with practically useful knowledge--but in some
+respects more complex, actuated by different and less obvious ambitions
+and desires. He felt impelled to watch them, though he recognized that,
+as Nasmyth had predicted, this might not be all. It was possible that
+sooner or later he would be drawn into action.
+
+He reached the stream at a spot where it flowed, still and clear, beneath
+a birch wood. A few of the leaves were green, but most of them gleamed a
+delicate saffron among the gray and silver stems, and the ground beneath
+was flecked with yellow. Behind the trees rough, lichened rock and stony
+slopes ran up to a bare ridge, silhouetted against the roseate glow of
+the morning sky. The sun had not risen, the water lay in shadow; it was
+very quiet and rather cold, and Lisle was surprised to see Millicent
+Gladwyne picking her way cautiously over a bank of stones. It was only
+her movements that betrayed her, for her neutral-tinted attire harmonized
+with the background; but when she caught sight of him she left the foot
+of the slope she was skirting and came directly toward him. He thought
+she looked wonderfully fresh and wholesome, and he noticed that she
+carried a small camera.
+
+"I'm afraid you have spoiled my sport," she laughed. "I was after an
+otter--though you mustn't tell Nasmyth that there is one about here."
+
+"Certainly not," acquiesced Lisle. "But why?"
+
+"He would consider it his duty to bring up the hounds the next meet.
+Isn't it curious how slaughter appeals to a man? But Nasmyth isn't
+unreasonable; there are reserves in which even the jays he longs to shoot
+have sanctuary."
+
+"But you were looking for an otter?"
+
+"Yes; I wanted its picture, not its life. I've got several, but I'm not
+satisfied; though I've been lucky lately. I got a dabchick--they're
+growing scarce--not long ago."
+
+"We'll try the next pool, if you'll let me come," suggested Lisle. "I'm
+pretty good at trailing. But what do you want with their pictures?"
+
+"For my book," she told him. "I have to make ever so many drawings in
+color before I get them right. If you're fond of the wild creatures, I'll
+show them to you."
+
+Lisle said that he would be delighted, and they went on, keeping back
+among tall brushwood where they skirted the swift stream at the head of
+the pool, and then proceeding cautiously with the outline of their
+figures softened by the heathy slopes behind. At length, creeping up
+through a thin growth of alders, they stopped near another still reach
+and the girl pointed to a few floating objects on its surface.
+
+"You're good at trailing or they'd have taken fright," she said. "Still,
+I think I will surprise you, if you will wait here."
+
+"Mallard," Lisle commented. "Young birds--even where we seldom disturb
+them, they're shy."
+
+She slipped away through the alders and he noticed how little noise she
+made, though the lower branches here and there brushed against her
+gliding form. She was wonderfully light and graceful in her movements. As
+she came out into the open there was a startled quack or two from the
+birds. Lisle expected to see them rise from the water, but she called
+softly and, to his vast astonishment, they ceased paddling away from her.
+She called again and they turned and swam cautiously toward her, and when
+she took a handful of something from a pocket and flung it upon the
+surface of the stream, three or four heads were stretched forward to
+seize the morsels.
+
+While the birds drew nearer Lisle looked on admiring. She had roused his
+interest when he had first seen her in her rich evening dress, but now he
+thought she made a far more striking picture, and her sympathy with the
+timid wild creatures which evidently knew and trusted her awakened
+something responsive in him. Half the pool now glimmered in the rosy
+light, with here and there an alder branch reflected upon its mirror-like
+surface, and Millicent stood on a strip of gravel with her figure clearly
+outlined against it. Dressed in closely-fitting, soft-colored tweed, tall
+and finely symmetrical, she harmonized with rock and flood wonderfully
+well. Lisle had occasionally seen a bush rancher's daughter, armed with
+gun or fishing-rod, look very much at home in similar surroundings; but
+this English lady, of culture and station, reared in civilized luxury,
+appeared equally in her right place.
+
+He afterward recollected each adjunct of the scene--the stillness, the
+pale gleam of the water, and the aromatic smell of fallen leaves, but the
+alluring, central figure formed the sharpest memory. By and by she
+clapped her hands, the ducks rose and flew away up-stream with necks
+stretched out, and she came back toward him, laughing softly.
+
+"Sometimes they will come almost up to my feet; but I'm afraid it's
+hardly fair to inspire them with an undue confidence in human nature. It
+might cost them dear."
+
+"You're wonderful!" Lisle exclaimed, expressing what he felt, for she
+seemed to him endowed with every gracious quality.
+
+"Oh," she smiled, "there's nothing really remarkable in what I showed
+you. I happened to find the nest and by slow degrees disarmed the mother
+bird's suspicions; mallard have been domesticated, you know, though
+they're often hard to get very near. But we may as well turn back; it's
+now too late to see an otter. I'm inclined to think they're the shyest of
+all the British wild creatures."
+
+They moved away down-stream side by side, and some time later she left
+him where a stile-path crossed a meadow.
+
+"Come and see my drawings whenever you like," she said on parting.
+
+Lisle determined to go as soon as possible. Quite apart from the
+drawings, the idea of going had its attractions for him, and he walked
+homeward determined that this girl should never marry Clarence Gladwyne.
+It was unthinkable--that was the only word for it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BELLA'S CHAMPION
+
+
+It was early in the afternoon when Lisle arrived at Millicent's house
+and, after a glance at its quaint exterior, was ushered into her
+drawing-room. There he sat down and looked about while he waited. The
+salient tones of its decoration were white and aqueous blue, and the
+effect struck him as pleasantly chaste and cool. Among the rather mixed
+ornaments were a couple of marble statuettes, the figures airily poised
+and very finely wrought. Next, he noticed some daintily carved objects in
+ivory, and a picture in water-color of a wide, gray stretch of moor with
+distance and solitude skilfully conveyed. He had risen to examine it when
+Millicent entered.
+
+"I'm glad you came, though, as you're used to the life of the woods and
+rivers, I'm a little diffident about showing you my sketches," she said.
+"I'm afraid I've kept you waiting."
+
+Lisle smiled and she liked the candidly humorous gleam in his eyes.
+
+"Nasmyth warned me that I was early--or rather he said that if I were
+going to visit anybody else I would have been too soon. I'd better
+confess, however, that I've been making a good use of the time. Things of
+this kind"--he indicated the statuettes--"are almost new to me. They
+strike me as unusually fine."
+
+"Yes," she answered, realizing that he had an artistic eye, "they are
+beautiful--and one sees so many that are not. George brought them from
+Italy for me. This"--she moved toward a representation in ivory of a
+Mogul gateway--"is of course a different style, but it's remarkable in
+its patient elaboration of detail. The mosque's not so fine. Nasmyth sent
+me the pair from India; he once made a trip to the fringe of the
+Himalayas."
+
+Lisle examined the object carefully, and she waited with some interest
+for his comment.
+
+"It's wonderful," he declared. "I suppose it's a truthful copy?"
+
+"I'm inclined to think the man who carved that had not the gift of
+imagination. He merely reproduced faithfully what he saw."
+
+"Different peoples have strikingly different ways, haven't they?"
+commented Lisle. "While they were making that small Eastern arch, we'd
+fling up a thriving wooden town or build a hotel of steel and cement to
+hold a thousand guests. The biggest bridges that carry our great
+freight-trains across the roaring gorges in the Rockies cost less labor."
+
+"I should imagine it. What then?"
+
+He studied the carved ivory.
+
+"In a dry climate the original of this would last for centuries--it has
+lasted since the days of the Moguls--an object of beauty for generations
+to enjoy. Perhaps those old builders used their time as well as we do.
+Our works serve their purpose, but one can't call them pretty."
+
+She was pleased with his answer.
+
+"I think that gets the strongest hold on me," he went on, glancing toward
+the picture of the moor; "it's real!"
+
+There was a hint of diffidence in Millicent's expression.
+
+"But you can hardly judge, can you? You have scarcely seen the English
+moors."
+
+"I've spent a while on the high Albertan plains, and you have the same
+things yonder; the vast sweep of sky, the rolling waste running on
+forever. It's all in that picture; how expressed, I don't know--there are
+only the grades of color, scarcely a line to gage the distance by. Still,
+the sense of space is vivid."
+
+Millicent blushed.
+
+"You're an indulgent critic; that drawing is my own."
+
+He did not appear embarrassed, though she saw that he had not suspected
+the fact. She had already noticed that when he might, perhaps, have
+looked awkward he only looked serious.
+
+"After what you have said," she resumed, "I'll show you the other things
+with greater confidence. Do you know, I thought all you Western people
+were grimly utilitarian?"
+
+He sat down and considered this. The man could laugh readily, but he was
+also characterized by a certain gravity, which she found refreshing by
+contrast with the light glibness to which she was more accustomed.
+
+"Well," he reasoned, "in my opinion, the white man's greatest superiority
+over all other peoples is his capacity for making useful things--even if
+they're only ugly sawmills or grimy locomotives. Philosophy never fed any
+one or lightened anybody's toil; commerce is a convenience, but the man
+who makes a big profit out of it is only levying a heavy toll on somebody
+else. It seems to me that all our actual benefits come from the
+constructor."
+
+"Have you been building sawmills?" Millicent asked mischievously.
+
+He laughed with open good-humor. "Oh, no; that's why I'm free to talk. I
+happened to find a lode with some gold in it, and gold is only a handy
+means of exchanging things. I'll own that I was probably doing more
+useful work when I stood up to my waist in ice-water, fitting sharp
+stones into a pulp-mill dam."
+
+"Perhaps you're right," Millicent agreed, "but it sounds severe. What of
+the people who never do anything directly useful at all?"
+
+"There are a few who, by just going up and down in it, keep the world
+sweet and clean. Some of the rest could very well be spared."
+
+"Then you believe that everybody must practically justify his existence?"
+
+"If he fails to do so with us, his existence generally ceases. The
+wilderness where I found the gold is full of the bones of the unfit."
+
+Millicent spread out some drawings. Most were in color, in some cases
+several of the same object, done with patient care, and she was strangely
+pleased when she saw the quick appreciation in his eyes.
+
+"An otter; it's alive," he remarked. "You've shown it working through a
+shallow, looking much less like an animal than a fish--that's right."
+
+"I made half a dozen sketches, and I'm not satisfied yet."
+
+"Thorough," he commented. "You get there, if you have to hammer the heart
+out of whatever you're up against."
+
+"It's my brother's book," she answered. "I'm finishing it for him. He did
+other things--most of them useful, indirectly. I've only this--and I'd
+like my part to be good."
+
+He nodded sympathetically, looking troubled.
+
+"I can understand," he said. "I had a partner--I owe him more than I
+could ever have repaid, and he left a troublesome piece of work to me. It
+will have to be put through. But let me see some more; they're great."
+
+She showed him a red jay; a tiny gold-crest perched on a thorn branch; a
+kingfisher gleaming with turquoise hues, poised ready for a dive upon a
+froth-lapped stone. He was no cultured critic, but he knew the ways of
+the wild creatures and saw that she had talent, for her representations
+of them were instinct with life.
+
+They were interrupted by a scratching at the door and when she opened it
+a white setter hobbled awkwardly in and curled itself at her feet.
+
+"He's rather a big dog for the house, but I can't keep him away from me,"
+she explained. "As you see, he has lost a foot, in a trap, and he was
+marked for destruction when I asked for him. Sometimes I think he knows
+that I saved his life."
+
+The dog looked up and raising a paw scraped at her hand, until she opened
+it, when he thrust his chin into her palm. It was a trivial incident, but
+it somehow stirred the man.
+
+"Now I know where you got power to draw these lesser brethren," he said.
+"Study alone would never have given it to you."
+
+She let this pass. He was almost embarrassing in his directness, though
+she acquitted him of any crude intention of flattering her.
+
+"I promised to let you read my brother's diary," she reminded him. "If
+you will wait a few moments, I'll get it."
+
+The dog pattered after her, as though unwilling to remain out of her
+sight, and she came back presently with a small leather case and opening
+it took out a tattered notebook. Noticing how she handled it and that the
+case was beautifully made, Lisle fancied that it was precious to her, in
+which he was correct. Indeed, she was then wondering why she had
+volunteered to show it to this stranger when only two of her intimate
+friends had seen it.
+
+"Thank you," he said, when she gave it to him; and drawing his chair
+nearer the window he began to read.
+
+Though he was already acquainted with most of it, the story gripped him.
+On the surface, it was merely a plain record of a hazardous and laborious
+journey; but to one gifted with understanding it was more than this--a
+vivid narrative of a struggle waged against physical suffering, weakness,
+and hunger, by optimistic human nature. An odd word here, a line or two
+in another place, was eloquent of simple, steadfast courage and
+endurance; and even when the weakening man clearly knew that his end was
+near there was no outbreak of desperation or sign of faltering. He had
+dragged himself onward to the last, indomitable.
+
+Then Lisle proceeded to examine the book more closely. It showed the
+effects of exposure to the weather to an unusual degree, considering that
+the covers were thick and that the rescue party had recovered it shortly
+after its owner's death. Moreover, Lisle did not think that George
+Gladwyne would have left it in the snow. Several pages were missing, and
+having been over the ground, he knew that they recorded the part of the
+journey during which the two caches of provisions had been made, and he
+had already decided that there would be a list of their contents. This
+conclusion was confirmed by the fact that Gladwyne had enumerated the
+stores they started with, and had once or twice made a reduced list when
+they had afterward taken stock. The abstraction of the records was
+clearly Clarence's work. Then he realized that he had spent some time in
+perusing the diary and he handed it back to Millicent with something that
+implied a respect for it. She noticed the sparkle in his eyes and her
+heart warmed toward him.
+
+"It's the greatest story I've ever read," he declared.
+
+She made no answer, but he knew that she was pleased and it filled him
+with a wish to tell her that she was very much like her dead brother.
+More he could not have said, but remembering that he had already gone as
+far as was permissible he had sense enough to repress the inclination. He
+saw the girl's lips close firmly, as if she were conscious of some
+emotion, but there was silence for a minute or two. He broke it at
+length.
+
+"I know that you have granted me a very great privilege, and I'm
+grateful," he told her, and added, because he thought a partial change of
+the subject might be considerate: "In a way, it's hard to realize that
+tale in this restful place. It's easier out yonder, where what you could
+call the general tone is different."
+
+"Nasmyth once said something like that," Millicent replied. "I suppose
+the change is marked."
+
+Lisle nodded.
+
+"Here you have order, peace, security. In the wilds, it's all battle, the
+survival of the strong; frost and ice rending the solid hills, rivers
+scoring out deep ravines, beast destroying beast, or struggling with
+starvation. Man's not exempt either; a small blunder--a deer missed or a
+flour bag lost--may cost him his life. For the difference you have to
+thank the constructor, the maker of plows and spades and more complex
+machines."
+
+"That's one of your pet hobbies, isn't it?"
+
+He once more changed the subject.
+
+"I wish that I could show you the wilderness," he said.
+
+Millicent looked thoughtful.
+
+"I should like to see it. I've an idea that if this book is well received
+I might, perhaps, try something a little more ambitious--the larger
+beasts and wilder birds of other countries. In that case, I should choose
+British Columbia."
+
+"Then you will let me be your guide?"
+
+She made a conditional promise, and shortly afterward he left her.
+Meeting Nasmyth he walked with him toward Gladwyne's house, where they
+found the guests assembled on the lawn and Mrs. Gladwyne sitting by a
+tea-table. One or two young women were standing near and several men had
+gathered about a mat laid upon the grass fifty yards from where a small
+target had been set up. Lisle joined Bella Crestwick, who detached
+herself from the others.
+
+"What is this?" he asked. "It's a very short range."
+
+"Miniature rifle shooting," she informed him. "It's becoming popular.
+Gladwyne has been trying to form a club. My brother Jim is president of
+some league. He's rather keen and there are reasons why I'm glad of it."
+
+She added the last words confidentially and Lisle ventured to nod. It
+struck him that a healthy interest in any organized work or amusement
+would be beneficial to young Crestwick. The girl looked at him, as if
+considering something; and then she seemed to make up her mind.
+
+"There's one thing I don't like," she complained. "They will shoot for
+high stakes. Jim isn't a bad shot, but he's too eager. I'm afraid he's
+inclined to be venturesome just now."
+
+Lisle thought that she had a request to make. There was something about
+him that inspired confidence, and the girl had made a friend of him.
+
+"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
+
+She made a sign of impatience; he was too direct. "Oh," she pouted,
+"aren't you taking a good deal for granted? Still, you bushmen can shoot,
+can't you?"
+
+"As a rule," Lisle answered. "I almost think I see."
+
+"Then," she retorted, "you shouldn't have said so; you should merely have
+smiled and acted."
+
+"I'm from the wilds; you mustn't expect too much. Well, if you'll excuse
+me."
+
+She flashed a grateful glance at him, and he sauntered toward the group
+of men, among whom Gladwyne stood. There was a sharp crack as he
+approached them, a thin streak of smoke drifted across the figure lying
+on the mat, and a man beside it lowered the glasses he held.
+
+"High to the left," he announced. "You're not in good form, Jim. Hadn't
+you better give up?"
+
+Lisle studied the speaker, whom he had met once or twice already. He was
+approaching middle-age and was inclined to corpulence, but there was
+something in his pose that suggested a military training. His face was
+fleshy, but the features were bold and he was coarsely handsome. As a
+rule, he affected an easy good-humor, but Lisle had felt that there was
+something about him which he could best describe as predatory. He
+occasionally spoke of business ties, so he had an occupation, but he had
+not in Lisle's hearing mentioned what it was.
+
+Crestwick's face was hot as he answered his remark.
+
+"Not at all, Batley. The trouble is that I'm used to the Roberts target,
+and the spots on the card are puzzling after the rings. I'll get into it
+presently."
+
+"Oh, well," acquiesced the other. "As you didn't fix a time limit, we'll
+go on again, though it's getting tame and I want some tea."
+
+"I'll increase the interest again, if you like," the lad replied.
+
+Lisle joined the group.
+
+"What's it all about?" he asked.
+
+"Batley's a pretty good rifle shot, but if he won't mind my saying so
+he's a little opinionated," Gladwyne explained. "Crestwick questioned an
+idea of his, and the end of it was that Batley offered to prove his
+point--that a stiff pull-off is as good as a light one in practised
+hands--by backing himself to beat the field. Crestwick took him up, and
+since the rest of us were obviously out of it, the thing has resolved
+itself into a match between the two. Crestwick is using an easy-triggered
+rifle; Batley's has an unusually hard spring."
+
+Lisle considered. Remembering Bella's remarks, he thought it would be
+easy to lure the lad into a rash bet. He was headstrong and his manners
+might have been more conciliatory, but Lisle, learning the amount of the
+stakes, decided that his host should not have let the thing go so far.
+
+"Crestwick doubled several times; he's stubborn and doesn't like to be
+beaten," Gladwyne resumed. "I had the same ideas when I was as young as
+he is."
+
+"I've offered to let him off," Batley broke in. "I'd do so now only he's
+kept me shooting for the last half-hour. As Gladwyne says, he's
+obstinate, and it's a pity that he's wrong. If he'd trained his
+wrist-tendons by using a harder trigger, he'd have made a passably good
+shot."
+
+Lisle was aware that while there was something to be said for Batley's
+view, Crestwick was justified in contending that the lighter tension was
+more adapted to the case of the average person; but he recognized that
+the indulgent manner of the older men was calculated, he thought
+intentionally, to exasperate the hot-headed lad.
+
+"Well," he observed, addressing Batley, "you have the courage of your
+convictions if you have offered to maintain them against all comers,
+which I understand is what you have done."
+
+The man nodded carelessly and Lisle went on:
+
+"After all, since I dare say these gentlemen are more used to the
+shotgun, your superiority doesn't prove very much."
+
+Crestwick looked around at him quickly.
+
+"Most of you Colonials can use the rifle; do you feel inclined to take
+him on? You're a dark horse, but I'll double the stakes if he'll throw
+you in."
+
+This was what Lisle wanted, but he turned to the others.
+
+"I've never had a small rifle in my hands--we use the 44-70, and I must
+leave you to decide whether my shooting would be fair to Mr. Batley. In
+that case, I'll put up half the stakes."
+
+The men said there was no reason why he should not join, and Batley made
+no protest, though Lisle fancied that he was not pleased. Lying down on
+the mat, he took the light-springed rifle and the six cartridges handed
+him and fixed his eyes on the target, which was a playing-card pinned to
+a thick plank. He got the first shot off before he was quite ready--the
+light pull was new to him--and somebody called that he had touched the
+left top corner. The next shot was down at the bottom, and the four
+following marks were scattered about the card. When he got up, Batley
+looked reassured and proceeded to make a neat pattern around the center
+of another card. There was no doubt that Crestwick was anxious, and when
+he took his turn he shot badly. In the meanwhile, the rest of the party
+on the lawn had gradually gathered round; the eager attitude of the
+original spectators hinted that something out of the usual course was
+going on.
+
+Lisle was very cool when he lay down again. A swift, encouraging glance
+from Bella Crestwick made him determined, and during his previous six
+shots he had, he thought, learned the right tension on the trigger.
+
+"Wipe it out for me, somebody," he said, holding up the rifle.
+
+Bella seized it and deftly used the rod, regardless of soiled fingers.
+
+"May it bring you luck," she wished, with a defiant glance at Batley, who
+smiled at her as she returned the weapon.
+
+Then there was a hush of expectancy. Lisle took his time; a sharp crack,
+a streak of smoke, and Gladwyne raising his glasses, laughed.
+
+"High!" he called. "Top spot!"
+
+It was a three of hearts, and Gladwyne's smile lingered for a moment
+after Lisle fired again.
+
+"Bottom now; you're low!" he cried, and then his expression slightly
+changed. Both spots were drilled out--this did not look altogether like
+an accident.
+
+"Center!" he announced after another shot, and all the faces surrounding
+him became intent. The three hearts were neatly punched.
+
+"A fresh card!" exclaimed Crestwick, looking around at Batley with an
+exultant sparkle in his eyes. "You offered to let me off. Shall I return
+the compliment?"
+
+The man laughed carelessly, though Lisle thought it cost him an effort.
+
+"No," he retorted; "I can't show myself less of a sportsman than you are;
+but I think I've the option of demanding a longer range. Move the mat
+back twenty-five yards and put up an ace of spades; it's the plainest.
+Three shots each should suffice at the distance."
+
+Crestwick got down and thrice touched the outside of the card; Batley did
+better, for two shots broke the edge of the black and one was close above
+them. It was good shooting at so small a mark, and Lisle was a little
+anxious as he very deliberately stretched himself out on the mat. Having
+little of the gambler's instinct in his nature, he was reluctant to lose
+the money at stake, but he was more unwilling to let Batley fleece the
+lad whom, as he recognized now, he had been asked to aid. He meant to do
+so, if the thing were possible, and twice he paused and relaxed his grip
+when his sight grew slightly blurred.
+
+Then there was a sharp crack, and he smiled when he heard Gladwyne's
+report.
+
+"I can't see it. These are only opera-glasses."
+
+Dead silence followed the next shot, which left no visible mark on the
+target; and Lisle did not look around as he thrust his last cartridge
+into the rifle. He let it lie beside him for half a minute while he
+opened and shut his right hand, and then, taking it up quickly, fired.
+Still there was no blur on the white surface of the card and Gladwyne
+sharply shut his glasses, while two of the onlookers ran toward the
+target. They came back in silence and one significantly held up the ace.
+There were three small holes in the black center.
+
+Gladwyne had turned away when Lisle got up, but Batley concealed his
+feelings very well.
+
+"Excellent!" he exclaimed. "As I can't beat that, the only thing left me
+is to pay up."
+
+Lisle turned to Crestwick, who looked hot and excited.
+
+"You made the bet," he said. "Will you use my half in buying a
+competition cup for one of your clubs?"
+
+He saw Batley's smile and a somewhat curious look in Gladwyne's face, but
+the group broke up and he strolled back across the lawn with Bella.
+
+"I'm grateful," she said softly. "I was a little afraid at first that I
+was asking too much of you."
+
+Lisle met her glance with a good assumption of surprise.
+
+"Grateful? Because I indulged in a rather enjoyable match?"
+
+She laughed.
+
+"You learn rapidly. But I'd better say in excuse that I didn't think I'd
+involved you in a very serious risk. He hasn't your eyes and hands--one
+couldn't expect it. You don't need pick-me-ups in the morning, do you?"
+
+Lisle was slightly embarrassed. This girl's knowledge of life was too
+extensive, and he would have preferred that she should exhibit it to
+somebody else.
+
+"Well," she concluded as they approached the tea-table, "my thanks are
+yours, even if you don't value them."
+
+"What do you expect me to say?" he asked, regarding her with some
+amusement and appreciation. She was alluringly pretty in her rather
+elaborate light dress.
+
+"Yes," she smiled mockingly, disregarding his question; "these things
+become me better than the tweeds, don't they? They make one look nice and
+soft and fluffy; but that's deceptive. You see, I can scratch; in fact, I
+felt I could have scratched Batley badly if I'd got the chance. There's
+another hint for you--make what you like of it."
+
+Then with a laugh she swung round and left him, puzzled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CRESTWICK GIVES TROUBLE
+
+
+The little room in Marple's house, where the Crestwicks were staying, was
+hot and partly filled with cigar smoke which drifted in filmy streaks
+athwart the light of the green-shaded hanging-lamp. Lisle sat beneath the
+lamp, studying the cards in his hand, until he leaned back in his chair
+and flung a glance about the table. There were no counters on it, but
+Gladwyne had just noted something in a little book and was waiting with a
+languid smile upon his handsome face. Next to him sat Batley, looking
+thoughtful; and Crestwick sat opposite Lisle, eager and unhealthily
+flushed. His forehead showed damp in the lamplight and there was an
+unpleasant glitter in his eyes. It was close on to midnight and luck had
+gone hard against him during the past hour, half of which Lisle had spent
+in his company. This had cost Lisle more money than he was willing to
+part with.
+
+"It's getting late," he said with a yawn. "After this hand, I'll drop
+out; I dare say one of the other two will take my place. Crestwick, I
+believe your sister and Miss Leslie will be waiting. You're going with
+them, aren't you?"
+
+The lad, turning in his chair, reached toward a near-by table on which
+there were bottles and siphons, and took a glass from it. He had been
+invited to join a shooting party at a house in the neighborhood and was
+to spend the night there.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed with some irritation; "Bella's always in such an
+unreasonable hurry. The others can't be going yet. I think I hear Flo
+Marple singing."
+
+A voice from somewhere below reached them through the open door. It was a
+good voice, but the words were a silly jingle and the humor in them could
+not be considered delicate. Lisle, glancing at Gladwyne, noticed his
+slight frown, but one of the two young men lounging by the second table
+watching the game hummed the refrain with an appreciative smile upon his
+heavy and somewhat fatuous face.
+
+"They'll take half an hour to get ready," declared Batley. "Better play
+out this round, anyhow."
+
+They laid down their cards in turn and then Crestwick noisily thrust his
+chair back.
+
+"Another knock-out!" he exclaimed savagely. "I don't like to get up so
+far behind. Shall we double on another deal?"
+
+"As you like," returned Batley. "You're plucky, considering the cards
+you've had; but if Fortune's fickle, she's supposed to favor a determined
+suitor."
+
+It was innocent enough, but Lisle fancied that there was sufficient
+flattery in the speech to incite the headstrong lad, who had now emptied
+the glass at his hand. He remembered that on another occasion when there
+had been a good deal at stake, Batley had played on Crestwick's feelings,
+though in a slightly different manner. Whether or not the young man lost
+more than he could afford was, in one way, no concern of Lisle's, and he
+did not find him in the least attractive; but half an hour previously
+Bella had met him in the hall and had hinted, with a troubled look, that
+she would appreciate it if he could get her brother away. It was this
+that accounted for the Canadian's presence in the card-room.
+
+"I'm going, anyway," he said, taking out some notes and gold and laying
+them down. "There has been a smart shower and you had better remember
+that Miss Leslie walked over--the roads will be wet. As you know, I
+promised to take the girls back in Nasmyth's trap, and he won't thank me
+if I keep his groom up."
+
+Crestwick grumbled and hesitated, and he grew rather red in face as he
+turned to Batley.
+
+"I've only these two notes," he explained. "Expected all along I'd pull
+up even. Will you arrange things? See you about it when I come back."
+
+Batley nodded carelessly, and the lad stood up, looking irresolutely at
+the table.
+
+"Fact is," he went on, "I'd like to get straight before I go. I'm in
+pretty heavy for one night; another round might do something to set me
+straight."
+
+"Gladwyne and I are quite willing to give you your chance," was Batley's
+quick reply; but Lisle unceremoniously laid his hand on Crestwick's
+shoulder.
+
+"Come along," he urged, laughing. "Luck's against you; you've had quite
+enough."
+
+He had the lad out of the door in another moment, and looking back from
+the landing he saw a curious look in Gladwyne's face which he thought was
+one of disgust. Batley, however, was frowning openly; and the two men's
+expressions had a meaning for him. He was inclined to wonder whether he
+had used force too ostensibly in ejecting the lad; but, after all, that
+did not very much matter--his excuse was good enough. As they went down
+the stairs, Crestwick turned to him, hot and angry.
+
+"It strikes me you're pretty officious! Never saw you until two or three
+weeks ago," he muttered. "Not accustomed to being treated in that offhand
+manner. It's Colonial, I suppose!"
+
+"Sorry," Lisle apologized with a smile. "I've an idea that you'll be
+grateful when you cool off. You've been going it pretty strong to-night."
+
+"That's true," agreed the other with a show of pride. "Kept on raising
+them; made things lively!"
+
+"Found it expensive, didn't you?" Lisle suggested; and as they reached
+the foot of the stairs he led his companion toward the door. "Suppose we
+take a turn along the terrace before we look for your sister."
+
+Crestwick went with him, but presently he stopped and leaned on the low
+wall.
+
+"Do you ever feel inclined for a flutter on the stock-market?" he
+inquired. "There's a thing Batley put me on to--there'll be developments
+in a month or two; it's going to a big premium. Let you have a hundred
+shares at par. Rather in a hole, temporarily."
+
+Lisle had no intention of buying the stock, but he asked a few questions.
+It appeared that it had been issued by a new company formed to grow
+coffee and rubber in the tropics.
+
+"No," he said; "a deal of that kind is out of my line. Why not sell them
+through a broker and get your full profit?"
+
+"It would take some days," answered the other. "Besides, they won't move
+up until the directors let things out at the next meeting. Something of
+that kind, anyway; I forget--Batley explained it." He paused and added
+irritably: "Believe I told you I'm in a hole."
+
+"You must meet your losses and don't know how to manage it?"
+
+Lisle was curious and had no diffidence about putting the question,
+though the lad was obviously off his guard.
+
+"I can raise the money right enough--Batley'll see to that; but I'd
+sooner do it another way. The interest's high enough to make one think,
+and in this case I'm paying it on money he's putting into his pocket."
+
+There was a good deal to be inferred from this reply, but Lisle
+considered before he spoke again.
+
+"You're twenty-one, aren't you?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," assented the lad, "but the trustees keep hold until I'm
+twenty-four."
+
+He turned with quick suspicion to the Canadian.
+
+"I don't see what that has to do with you!"
+
+"It isn't very obvious," Lisle agreed. "Shall we go in?"
+
+They found Bella in the hall, and when her brother went to get-his coat
+she walked out on to the terrace with Lisle.
+
+"Thank you," she said gratefully when they were out of sight from the
+hall. "It was a relief to see you had succeeded in getting him away."
+
+"I'm sorry I was unable to do so sooner," Lisle replied.
+
+"Ah! Then he has been losing heavily again?"
+
+"I'm afraid so. I couldn't make my interference too marked." Obeying some
+impulse, he laid his hand on her arm. "Rather a handful for you, isn't
+he?"
+
+Bella nodded, making no attempt to shake off his grasp.
+
+"Yes," she acknowledged with some bitterness; "but I can hardly complain
+that I have no control over him. It would be astonishing if I had." She
+broke into a little harsh laugh. "Anyway, I manage to keep my head, and
+do not deceive myself, as he does. I know what our welcome's worth and
+what the few people whose opinion counts for anything think of us."
+
+"Well," offered Lisle, "if I can be of service in any respect--"
+
+"Thanks," she interrupted, and turned back toward the door.
+
+When they reached the hall she glanced at her companion as the light fell
+on his face.
+
+"Your offer's genuine," she said impulsively. "I can't see what you
+expect in return."
+
+Lisle was puzzled by her expression. She was variable in her moods,
+generally somewhat daring, and addicted to light mockery. He could not
+tell whether she spoke in bitterness or in mischief.
+
+"No," he replied gravely, "nor do I."
+
+She left him with a laugh; and a little later he drove her and her
+companions away and afterward returned to Nasmyth's house to find that
+his host had retired. Lisle followed his example and rising early the
+next morning they set off for the river, up which the sea-trout were
+running. They were busy all morning and it was not until noon, when they
+lay in the sunshine eating their lunch on a bank of gravel, that either
+of them made any allusion to the previous evening.
+
+"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" Nasmyth asked.
+
+"Fairly," Lisle responded, smiling. "I've already confessed that you
+people interest me. At the same time, I had my difficulties--first of all
+to explain to the Marples why you didn't come. The reasons you gave
+didn't sound convincing."
+
+"They were good enough. It's probable that Marple understood them. Like
+most of my neighbors, I go once or twice in a year; his subscription to
+the otter hounds entitles him to that."
+
+"We don't look at things in that way in the parts of Canada I'm
+acquainted with," laughed Lisle.
+
+"Then I've no doubt you'll come to it," Nasmyth replied with some
+dryness. "They've done so already in the older cities. Now--since you're
+fond of candor--you have been glad to earn a dollar or two a day by
+chopping and shoveling, haven't you? Have you felt left out in the cold
+at all during the little while you have spent among us?"
+
+"Not in the least," Lisle owned.
+
+"Then you can infer what you like from that. In this country, we take a
+good deal for granted and avoid explanations. But you haven't said
+anything about the proceedings at Marple's. I suppose you were invited to
+take a hand at cards?"
+
+"I invited myself; result, sixty dollars to the bad in half an hour. I
+used to hold my own in our mining camps, and I hadn't the worst cards."
+
+Nasmyth laughed with unconcealed enjoyment.
+
+"The only fault I have to find with you Westerners is that you're rather
+apt to overrate yourselves. I suppose they let young Crestwick in a good
+deal deeper?"
+
+"That," laughed Lisle, "is what you have been leading up to from the
+beginning."
+
+"I'll admit it. As I've hinted, one of the differences between an
+American and an Englishman is that the former usually expresses more or
+less forcibly what he thinks, unless, of course, he's a financier or a
+politician; while you have often to learn by experience what the latter
+means. Better use your own methods in telling me what took place."
+
+Lisle did so, omitting any reference to Bella, and Nasmyth looked
+disturbed and disgusted.
+
+"Crestwick's as devoid of sense as he is of manners; he deserves to lose.
+What I can't get over is that fellow Batley's staying in what was once
+George Gladwyne's house, with Clarence standing sponsor for him."
+
+Lisle fancied he could understand. Nasmyth had his failings, but he had
+also his simple, drastic code, and it was repugnant to him that a man of
+his own caste, one of a family he had long known and respected, should
+countenance an outsider of Batley's kind and assist him in fleecing a
+silly vicious lad.
+
+"You have no reason to think well of Gladwyne," Lisle reminded him.
+
+"I haven't," Nasmyth owned. "Still, though the man has made one very bad
+break, I hardly expected him to exceed every limit. At present it looks
+as if he might do so; he'll probably be forced to."
+
+"I don't quite understand."
+
+"Then I'll have to explain. It's unpleasant, but here the thing is, as I
+see it--Batley's not the kind of man Clarence would willingly associate
+with, and to give Clarence his dues, all his instinct must make him
+recoil from the fellow's game with Crestwick. Considering that he's
+apparently making no protest against it, this is proof to me that Batley
+has some pretty firm hold on him."
+
+"What's Batley's profession?"
+
+"I suspect he's something in the smart money-lending line; one of the
+fellows who deal with minors and others on post-obits."
+
+"Post-obits?"
+
+"Promises to pay after somebody's dead. Suppose there should be only an
+invalid or an old man between you and a valuable property; you could
+borrow on the strength of your expectations. Now, what Crestwick told you
+shows that the person who left him his money very wisely handed it to
+trustees, with instructions to pay him only an allowance until he's
+twenty-four. It's a somewhat similar case to the one I've instanced--he's
+drawing on a capital he can't get possession of for two or three years,
+and no doubt paying an extortionate interest. So far as I know, no
+respectable bank or finance broker would handle that kind of business."
+
+"But if the boy died before he succeeded to the property?"
+
+"Batley could cover the risk by making Crestwick take out an insurance
+policy in his favor."
+
+Lisle's face grew stern, and Nasmyth lay smoking in silence for a while.
+Then he broke out again:
+
+"It's intolerable! George Gladwyne's successor abetting that fellow in
+robbing the lad, luring him into wagers and reckless play with the result
+that most of the borrowed money goes straight back into the hands of the
+man who lent it!"
+
+"Have you any suspicion that Gladwyne gets a share?"
+
+"No," replied Nasmyth, with signs of strong uneasiness; "I can't believe
+he benefits in that manner--if he did, I'd feel it my duty to denounce
+him. Still, I expect he wins a little now and then, incidentally."
+
+Again there was silence for a while, broken finally by Lisle.
+
+"When I'd been here a week or two I began to see that my task wasn't
+quite so simple as it had appeared--you can't attack a man situated as
+Gladwyne is without hurting innocent people. Indeed, I've spent hours
+wondering how, when the time comes, I can clear Vernon's memory, with the
+least possible damage--that is my business, not the punishing of
+Gladwyne, though he deserves no consideration. As you say, a man may make
+a bad break and pull up again, but this one has had his chance and has
+gone in deeper. What he's doing now--helping to ruin that lad in
+cold-blood--is almost worse than the other offense."
+
+Nasmyth made an acquiescent gesture.
+
+"It's true; let it go at that. I don't see how the thing can be stopped.
+There's a fish rising in the slack yonder!"
+
+Lisle saw a silvery gleam in a strip of less-troubled water behind a
+boulder and taking up his rod he cast the gaudy fly across the ripple.
+There was a jar, a musical clinking of the reel, and when Nasmyth waded
+in with ready net all thought of Gladwyne passed out of the Canadian's
+mind.
+
+After a few minutes' keen excitement, they landed the beautiful
+glistening trout; and then they set off down-stream in search of another,
+scrambling over rock and gravel and wading amidst the froth in the pools.
+Overhead, soft gray clouds drifted by, casting long shadows across
+fern-clad hillside and far-reaching moor; and the flood flashed into
+silver gleams and grew dim again.
+
+Both of the men were well content with their surroundings, and now and
+then Nasmyth wondered why Clarence could not be satisfied with the simple
+pleasures that were freely offered him. He could have had the esteem of
+his neighbors and the good will of his tenants, and there were healthful
+tasks that would have kept him occupied--the care of his estate, the
+improving of the homes and conditions of life of those who worked for
+him, experiments in stock-raising, local public duties. He had once
+slipped badly, so badly that the offense could hardly be contemplated;
+but that was when he was weak and famishing and under the influence of an
+overwhelming fear. At least, he could make some reparation by leaving the
+countryside better than he found it, and in this he had friends who would
+loyally assist him.
+
+Clarence, however, had chosen another way, one that led down-hill to
+further dishonor; and Nasmyth considered gloomily what the end of it all
+would be. Occasionally he glanced at the lithe figure of the Canadian,
+standing knee-deep amid the froth of the stream. Serious-eyed, alert,
+resolute, he could be depended on to carry out any purpose he had
+determined on; it was his firm hands that would hold Clarence's scourge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+MRS. GLADWYNE'S APPEAL
+
+
+Millicent was sitting in a window-seat with a paint-box beside her and a
+drawing of a water-ouzel upon her knee. It was a lifelike sketch, but she
+had a great capacity for painstaking and she was not altogether pleased
+with the drawing. The bird stood on a stone an inch or two above a
+stream, its white breast harmonizing with the flecks of snowy froth, and
+the rest of its rather somber plumage of the same hue as a neighboring
+patch of shadow. This was as it should be, except that, as the central
+object of a picture, it was too inconspicuous. She was absorbed in
+contemplating it when Mrs. Gladwyne was shown in. Clarence's mother did
+not pay many visits and Millicent fancied she had some particular object
+in coming.
+
+She sat down where the sunlight fell on her gentle face and silvery hair,
+her delicate white hands spread out on her dark dress.
+
+"Busy, as usual, my dear," she said, glancing at the sketch. "That's very
+pretty."
+
+"I think it's correct," returned Millicent; "but I'm not sure it's what
+it ought to be in other respects. You see, its purpose is to show people
+what a water-ouzel is like and it's hard to make the creature out. Of
+course, I could have drawn it against a background that would have forced
+up every line, but that wouldn't have been right--these wild things were
+made to fade into their surroundings." She laughed. "Truth is rigid and
+uncompromising--it's difficult to make it subservient to expediency."
+
+Her visitor did not feel inclined to discuss the matter.
+
+"You're too fastidious," she smiled, and added with a sigh: "George was
+like that. Little things keep cropping up every day to show it--I mean in
+connection with his care of the property. I'm sometimes afraid that
+Clarence is different."
+
+Millicent could not deny this, but she did not see his mother's purpose
+in confessing it.
+
+"Of course," she answered, as she rang for tea, "he hasn't been in charge
+very long. One can learn only by experience."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne looked grateful; but although she was very tranquil there
+was something in her manner that hinted at uncertainty.
+
+"You will finish the book and these pictures some day," she said. "What
+will you do then?"
+
+"I really don't know. Perhaps I shall start another. If not, there is
+always something I can turn my hand to. So many things seem to need
+doing--village matters alone would find me some occupation."
+
+The elder lady considered this.
+
+"Yes," she agreed with diffidence. "I'm now and then afraid everything's
+not quite so satisfactory as it used to be. The cottages don't look so
+pretty or well cared for, the people are not so content--some of them are
+even inclined to be bitter and resentful. Of course, things change, our
+relations with our dependents among them; but I feel that people like the
+Marples, living as they do, have a bad effect. They form a text for the
+dissatisfied."
+
+Millicent contented herself with a nod. She could not explain that in
+spite of the changing mode of thought it is still possible for an
+old-fashioned landlord to retain almost everybody's good will. Sympathy
+and tactful advice are appreciated, though not effusively, and even a
+bluff, well-meant reproof is seldom resented. But when rents are
+rigorously exacted by a solicitor's or banker's clerk, and repairs are
+cut down, when indifference takes the place of judicious interest, it is
+hardly logical to look for the cordial relations that might exist.
+Nasmyth's tenants stopped and exchanged a cheery greeting or a jest with
+him; most of Gladwyne's looked grim when he or his friends, the Marples,
+passed.
+
+Then tea was brought in and Millicent found pleasure in watching her
+guest. Mrs. Gladwyne made a picture, she thought, sitting with the dainty
+china in her beautiful hands; she possessed the grace and something of
+the stateliness which is associated with the old regime.
+
+"How quick your people are," she commented. "You rang and the things were
+brought in. Our staff is large and expensive, but as a rule they keep us
+waiting. Though you paint and go out so much, you have the gift of making
+a home comfortable. It really is a gift; one that should not be wasted."
+
+Millicent grew serious. It looked as if her companion were coming to the
+point, and this became plainer when Mrs. Gladwyne proceeded.
+
+"Do you think the life you contemplate--writing books on birds and
+animals--is the best or most natural one for a woman?"
+
+A little color crept into the girl's face.
+
+"I don't know; perhaps it isn't. It is the one that seems open to me."
+
+"The only one, my dear? You must know what I mean."
+
+Millicent turned and faced her. She was disturbed, but she seldom avoided
+a plain issue.
+
+"I think," she said, "it would be better if you told me."
+
+"It's difficult." Mrs. Gladwyne hesitated. "You must forgive me if I go
+wrong. Still, you know it was always expected that you would marry
+Clarence some day. It would be so desirable."
+
+"For which of us?" Millicent's tone was sharp. She sympathized with Mrs.
+Gladwyne, but something was due to herself.
+
+"It was Clarence that I was thinking of," admitted her visitor. "I
+suppose that I am selfish; but I am his mother." She laid down her cup
+and looked at the girl with pleading eyes. "I must go on, though I don't
+think I could say what I wish to any one but you. Clarence has many good
+qualities, but he needs guidance. An affectionate son; but it is my
+misfortune that I am not wise or firm enough to advise or restrain him. I
+have dropped behind the new generation; the standards are different from
+what they were when I was young."
+
+This was true, but it was incomplete, and Millicent let her finish.
+
+"I have been a little anxious, perhaps foolishly so, about him now and
+then. I cannot approve of all his friends--sometimes they jar on me--and
+I do not like the views he seems to have acquired from them. They are not
+the ones his father held. Of course, this is only the result of wrong
+associations and of having a good-humored, careless nature; it would be
+so different if he could be brought under some wholesome influence." She
+smiled at Millicent. "One could trust implicitly to yours."
+
+It was an old plea, fallacious often, but none the less effective.
+Millicent was devoid of officious self-righteousness, but she was endowed
+with a compassionate tenderness which prompted her to extend help to all
+who needed it. She thought that Clarence did so, but in spite of that she
+did not feel so responsive as she could have wished.
+
+"There is one difficulty," she answered while the blood crept into her
+face. "I'll own that I recognized what your ideas and George's were about
+Clarence and myself. I may go so far. But of late there has been nothing
+to show that Clarence desired to carry out those ideas."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne gathered her courage.
+
+"My dear, it is rather hard to say, but the truth is that a declaration
+from a man is not usually quite spontaneous. He looks for some tacit
+encouragement, a sign that one is not altogether indifferent to him. Now
+it has struck me that during the past year you have rather stood aloof
+from my son."
+
+Millicent started slightly; there was some truth in this statement. Mrs.
+Gladwyne, however, was not wise enough to stop.
+
+"I think that is why there is some risk of his falling into bad
+hands--that Crestwick girl isn't diffident," she went on. "I know the
+strong regard he has for you; but the girl sees a good deal of him, and a
+man is sometimes easily led where he does not mean to go."
+
+Millicent's cheeks burned.
+
+"Do you wish me to compete openly for Clarence's favor with Bella
+Crestwick?"
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne spread out her hands in protest.
+
+"Oh, my dear!" she exclaimed. "I have said the wrong thing. I warned you
+that you might have to forgive me."
+
+"But the thought must have been in your mind!"
+
+"I only meant that you needn't repel or avoid him, as you have done of
+late."
+
+Millicent felt compassionate. After all, Mrs. Gladwyne was pleading for
+what she believed would benefit her only son; but the girl was very human
+and a trace of her resentment remained. It was, however, obvious that
+Mrs. Gladwyne expected some response.
+
+"I can venture to promise that I won't be openly rude," Millicent agreed
+with a faint smile.
+
+"Can't you go a little beyond that, my dear?"
+
+The girl, seeing the look in her eyes, yielded to an impulse which
+prompted her to candor.
+
+"What there is to be said had better be spoken now," she replied. "I have
+confessed that I knew what was expected--Clarence showed that he knew it,
+too--and the idea was not altogether repugnant to me. But since he came
+back from Canada there has been a change in both of us. How or why I
+can't explain, but we have drifted apart. I don't know whether this will
+go on--I don't understand myself--I only know that I am as anxious for
+his welfare as I always have been. It must be left to him; there is
+nothing you must urge me to do."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne looked regretful, but she made a sign of acquiescence and
+rising came toward the girl and took her hand.
+
+"What I could do I have done--badly perhaps," she said. "I can't blame
+you. I am only sorry."
+
+She went out in a few minutes and left Millicent in a thoughtful mood.
+Looking back on the past, the girl recognized that she had been fond of
+Clarence--which was the best word for it--and that she would have married
+him had he urged it. He had, however, hardly been in a position to do so
+then, and she remembered that she had in no way regretted the fact. This
+was, she thought, significant. Then the change had gradually come about.
+She saw his faults more clearly and it grew increasingly difficult to
+believe that she could eradicate them. What was more, during the past few
+weeks she had once or twice felt scornfully angry with him. She had tried
+not to yield to the sensation, and now she wondered how it had originated
+and why she was less tolerant.
+
+As she considered the question, a shadow fell upon the sunlit lawn and
+looking up she saw Lisle approaching with a creel upon his back. She
+started at the sight of him and once more felt her cheeks grow hot; then
+she smiled, for the half-formed suspicion that had flashed into her mind
+was obviously absurd. He saw her the next moment and strode toward the
+open window.
+
+"We got a few good white trout, fresh run," he said. "It occurred to me
+that you might like one or two of them."
+
+He glanced at the long French window.
+
+"May I come in this way?"
+
+"I've no doubt you could do so, but out of deference to conventional
+prejudices it might be better if you went round by the usual entrance."
+
+"Charmed!" he smiled. "That's easy."
+
+"Would you rather have it hard?"
+
+"That wasn't the idea," he answered. "I only felt that a much greater
+difficulty wouldn't stop my getting in."
+
+Millicent laughed.
+
+"If one of my neighbors made such speeches, they'd sound cheap. From you
+they're amusing."
+
+He affected to consider this.
+
+"I suppose the difference is that I mean them. Anyway, I'll walk around."
+
+She gave him some tea when he came in, and afterward admired the fish.
+
+"They're well above the average weight," she said.
+
+"We had two or three that would beat them," Lisle declared. "Miss
+Crestwick came along and corralled the finest."
+
+"Was the explanation essential?" Millicent inquired with a smile.
+
+"That was a bad break of mine. So bad that I won't try to explain it
+away."
+
+"I think you are wise," Millicent retorted with a trace of dryness.
+
+On the face of it, she was pleased with his answer, but the fact he had
+mentioned caused her some irritation. Bella Crestwick, not content with
+monopolizing Clarence, must also seek to include the Canadian in her
+train. It was curious that for the moment that seemed the more serious
+offense. The girl was insatiable and going too far, Millicent thought.
+
+Lisle noticed her silence.
+
+"Remember that I'm from the wilds," he said.
+
+She smiled at him reassuringly.
+
+"After all, that isn't a great drawback. Anyway, I'm grateful for the
+trout." Then, somewhat to his surprise, she abruptly changed the subject.
+"I wonder what you think of a tacit promise?"
+
+His face grew thoughtful; she liked his quick change to seriousness.
+
+"Well, I don't know that my opinion's of much value, but you may have it.
+Supposing two people allow each other to assume that they're agreed upon
+the same thing, it's binding upon both of them."
+
+"But if only one actually made his wishes clear."
+
+"In that case, the other had the option of showing that they couldn't be
+acceded to. Failing that, in my view, he can't go back on it." Then his
+eyes gleamed with amusement. "I don't often set up as a philosopher."
+
+Millicent was a little vexed with herself for asking him and did not
+quite understand why she had done so, unless it was because she had not
+altogether recovered her usual collectedness after Mrs. Gladwyne's visit.
+Why she should be interested in this man's opinion was not clear, but she
+thought he was one who would act in accordance with it. She was afterward
+even more astonished at her next remark, which she made impulsively.
+
+"You have seen a good deal of Miss Crestwick, one way or another."
+
+He considered this gravely.
+
+"Yes," he replied. "I like her. For one thing, she's genuinely concerned
+about that brother of hers."
+
+"What do you think of him?"
+
+"Not much," Lisle answered candidly. "I've no use for a man who needs a
+woman to keep him straight and look after him. But one feels a strong
+respect for the woman, even though it's obvious that she's wasting her
+time."
+
+"Is it wasting time?"
+
+"It strikes me like that. A man of that sort is bound to come down badly
+some day."
+
+Millicent sat silent a while. The conversation had taken an unusually
+serious turn, but she wondered whether he were right. She had, she
+thought, allowed Clarence to assume that she would not repulse him when
+he formally claimed her and that--so this man from the wilds
+considered--constituted a binding obligation. She could not contest this
+view; but Clarence seemed more interested in Bella Crestwick than he was
+in her. Then she wondered why the girl had made so much of Lisle, unless
+it was to use him for the purpose of drawing Clarence on. If that were
+so, it seemed a pity that the confiding Canadian could not be warned,
+though that, of course, was out of the question.
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not very amusing to-day," she acknowledged.
+
+He smiled.
+
+"I'll go the moment you want to get rid of me; but, even if you don't say
+anything, I like sitting here. This place rests me."
+
+"I shouldn't have imagined you to be of a very restful nature."
+
+"Oh," he declared, "there's a kind of quietness that braces you."
+
+He was less reserved than the average Englishman, but he felt the charm
+of his surroundings more keenly than the latter would probably have done.
+Everything in the room was artistic, but its effect was deeper than mere
+prettiness. It was cool, though the autumn sunshine streamed in, and the
+girl had somehow impressed her personality upon it. Soft colorings,
+furniture, even the rather incongruous mixture of statuettes and ivory
+carvings, blended into a harmonious whole, and the girl made a most
+satisfactory central figure, as she sat opposite him in her unusually
+thoughtful mood. He felt the charm of her presence, though he could
+hardly have analyzed it. As he said, it was not even needful that she
+should talk to him.
+
+"There are lakes in British Columbia from which you can look straight up
+at the never-melting snows," he went on. "You feel that you could sit
+there for hours, without wanting to move or speak, though it must be
+owned that one very seldom gets the opportunity."
+
+"Why?" Millicent inquired.
+
+"As a rule, the people who visit such places are kept too busy chopping
+big trees, hauling canoes round rapids, or handling heavy rocks. Besides,
+you have your food to cook and your clothes to mend and wash."
+
+"Then, after the day's labor, a man must do his own domestic work?"
+
+"Of course," answered Lisle. "Now and then one comes back to camp too wet
+or played out to worry, and goes to sleep without getting supper. I'm
+speaking of when you're working for your own hand. In a big logging or
+construction camp you reach the fringe of cooperation. This man sticks to
+the saw, the other to the ax, somebody else who gets his share of the
+proceeds chops the cord-wood and does the cooking."
+
+"And if you can neither chop nor saw nor cook?"
+
+"Then," Lisle informed her dryly, "you have to pull out pretty quick."
+
+"It sounds severe; that's cooperation in its grimmest aspect, though it's
+quite logical--everybody must do his part. I'm afraid I shouldn't be
+justified if we adopted it here."
+
+"Cooperation implies a division of tasks," Lisle pointed out. "In a
+country like this, they're many and varied. So long as you draw the wild
+things as you do, you'll discharge your debt."
+
+"Do you know that that's the kind of work the community generally pays
+one very little for?"
+
+"Then it shows its wrong-headedness," Lisle answered as he glanced
+meaningly round the room. "But haven't you got part of your fee already?
+Of course, that's impertinent."
+
+"I believe we would shrink from saying it, but it's quite correct,"
+Millicent replied. "Still, since you have mentioned the drawings, I'd
+like your opinion about this ouzel."
+
+She took up the sketch and explained the difficulty, as she had done to
+Mrs. Gladwyne.
+
+"It's right; don't alter it," advised Lisle. "It's your business to show
+people the real thing as it actually is, so they can learn, not to alter
+it to suit their untrained views."
+
+He laughed and rose somewhat reluctantly.
+
+"After that, I'd better get along. I have to thank you for allowing me to
+come in."
+
+She let him go with a friendly smile, and then sat down to think about
+him. He was rather direct, but the good-humor with which he stated his
+opinions softened their positiveness. Besides, she had invited them; and
+she felt that they were correct. He was such another as Nasmyth, simple
+in some respects, but reliable; one who could never be guilty of anything
+mean. She liked the type in general, and she admitted that she liked this
+representative of it in particular.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A FUTILE PROTEST
+
+
+It was late at night, but Gladwyne sat, cigar in hand, in his library,
+while Batley lounged beside the hearth. A wood fire diffused a faint
+aromatic fragrance into the great high-ceilinged room, and the light of a
+single silver lamp flickered on the polished floor, which ran back like a
+sheet of black ice into the shadow. Heavily-corniced bookcases rose above
+it on either band, conveying an idea of space and distance by the way
+they grew dimmer as they receded from the light.
+
+The room had an air of stateliness in its severe simplicity, and its
+owner, sitting just inside the ring of brightness, clad in conventional
+black and white, looked in harmony with it. Something in his finely-lined
+figure and cleanly-molded face stamped him as one at home in such a
+place. A decanter stood near his elbow, but it was almost full. Gladwyne,
+in many ways, was more of an ascetic than a sensualist, though this was
+less the result of moral convictions than of a fastidious temperament.
+The man had an instinctive aversion for anything that was ugly or
+unpleasant. His companion, dressed with an equal precision, looked
+different, more virile, coarser; he was fuller in figure and heavier in
+face.
+
+"No," declared Gladwyne with a show of firmness; "the line must be drawn.
+I've already gone farther than I should have done."
+
+"I'm sorry for you, Gladwyne--you don't seem to realize that a man can't
+very well play two widely different parts at once," Batley rejoined,
+smiling. "Your interfering Canadian friend would describe your attitude
+as sitting upon the fence. It's an uncomfortable position, one that's not
+often tenable for any length of time. Hadn't you better make up your mind
+as to which side you'll get down on?"
+
+Gladwyne looked uneasy. The choice all his instinct prompted him to make
+was not open to him, except at a cost which he was hardly prepared to
+face. He was known as a bold rider, he had the steady nerves that usually
+result from a life spent in the open air, but, as Batley recognized, he
+lacked stamina.
+
+"You are going wide of the mark," he answered. "What I have asked you to
+do is to let the lad alone. The thing's exciting comment. You"--he
+hesitated--"have made enough out of him."
+
+"I think," replied the other coolly, "I was very much to the point. If
+you don't recognize this, I'll ask: Suppose I don't fall in with your
+request, what then?"
+
+Gladwyne examined his cigar. It was not in his nature to face an issue
+boldly, and his companion seemed determined to force one.
+
+"I've asked it as a favor," he finally said.
+
+"No," corrected Batley; "I don't think you did so. You intimated your
+wishes in a rather lordly style."
+
+This was true, but Gladwyne winced at the man's cold smile. He had, in a
+fit of indignation which was both honest and commendable, expressed
+himself with some haughtiness; but he knew that he would be beaten if it
+came to an open fight. This was unfortunate, because his intentions were
+good.
+
+"Besides," Batley continued, "I'm not in a position to grant expensive
+favors. My acquaintance with young Crestwick is, of course, profitable.
+What's more, I've very liberally offered you a share."
+
+Gladwyne's face grew hot. He had acted, most reluctantly, as a decoy to
+the vicious lad, but he had never benefited by it, except when now and
+then some stake fell into his hands. The suggestion that he should share
+in the plunder filled him with disgust, and he knew that Batley had made
+it to humiliate him.
+
+"You're taking risks," he continued. "There's legislation on the subject
+of minors' debts; Crestwick began to deal with you before he was
+twenty-one, and he's still in his trustees' hands. If he made trouble,
+I'm inclined to think some of your transactions would look very much like
+conspiracy."
+
+"I know my man. You people would suffer a good deal, sooner than
+advertise yourselves through the law courts."
+
+"Crestwick isn't one of us," Gladwyne objected.
+
+"Then, as he aspires to be considered one, he'll go even farther than you
+would. None are so keen for the honor of the flock as those who don't
+strictly belong to the fold. There's another point you overlook--a person
+can't very well conspire alone, and inquiries might be made about my
+confederates. That, however, is not a matter of much importance, because
+I imagine Miss Crestwick would not allow any one to point to you.
+Besides, her money's safe, and she's a prepossessing young lady."
+
+Gladwyne straightened himself sharply in his chair. "Don't go too far!
+There are things I won't stand!"
+
+"Then we'll try to avoid them. All I require is that you still give the
+lad the entry of this house and don't interfere with me. You see I'm
+reasonable."
+
+As Gladwyne had interfered, to acquiesce was to own defeat, which was
+galling, and while he hesitated Batley watched him with an air of
+indulgent amusement.
+
+"It's a pity you were not quite straight with me at the beginning,
+Gladwyne; it would have saved you trouble," he remarked at length. "I
+took a sporting risk at pretty long odds--I have to do so now and then
+and I pay up when I lose. But if I'd known the money was to go to Miss
+Gladwyne and you would only get the land, I'd never have kept you
+supplied; and in particular I wouldn't have made the last big loan
+shortly before you and your cousin sailed for Canada."
+
+"You knew it was a blind speculation--that I ran the same risk as George
+did, and that he might outlive me."
+
+"You're wrong on one point," Batley objected dryly. "I'm acquainted with
+your temperament--it's not one that would lead you into avoidable
+difficulties. Well, you came through and your cousin died, but you failed
+to pay me off when you came into possession."
+
+"I've explained that I couldn't foresee the trouble I have in meeting
+expenses. I've paid you an extortionate interest."
+
+"That's in arrears," retorted Batley. "You should have pinched and denied
+yourself to the utmost until you had got rid of me. You couldn't bring
+yourself to do so--well, it's rather a pity one can't have everything."
+
+Approaching the table, he quietly took up the lamp. It was heavy,
+standing on a massive silver pillar, but he raised it above his head so
+that the light streamed far about the stately room. Then he laughed as he
+set it down.
+
+"It's something to be the owner of such a place and enjoy all that it
+implies--which includes your acknowledged status and your neighbors'
+respect. There would be a risk of losing the latter if it came out that,
+driven by financial strain, you had been speculating on your cousin's
+death."
+
+Gladwyne made a little abrupt movement and Batley saw that his shot had
+told.
+
+"It would be enough to place you under a cloud," he went on. "People
+might think that you had at least not been very reluctant to leave him to
+starve. Well, I've had to wait for my money, with the interest by no
+means regularly paid, and unless you can square off the account, I must
+ask you to leave me a free hand to deal with Crestwick as I think fit. In
+return, if it's needful, I'll see you through on reasonable terms until
+you marry Miss Crestwick or somebody else with money."
+
+On the whole, Gladwyne was conscious of relief. He had been badly
+frightened for a moment or two. If Batley, who had good reasons for
+distrusting him, had accepted his account of his cousin's death, it was
+most unlikely that it had excited suspicion in the mind of anybody else.
+Crestwick, however, must be left to his fate. It was, though he failed to
+recognize this, an eventful decision that Gladwyne made.
+
+"As you will," he answered, rising. "It's late; I'm going for my candle."
+
+He strode out of the room, and Batley smiled as he followed him.
+
+A day or two later Lisle stood on Gladwyne's lawn. Gladwyne entertained
+freely, and though his neighbors did not approve of all of his friends,
+the man had the gift of pleasing, and his mother unconsciously exerted a
+charm on every one. She rarely said anything witty, but she never said
+anything unkind and she would listen with a ready sympathy that sometimes
+concealed a lack of comprehension.
+
+Lisle had a strong respect for the calm, gracious lady, though she had
+won it by no more than a smile or two and a few pleasant words, and he
+went over to call upon her every now and then. He was interested in the
+company he met at her house; it struck him as worth studying; and he had
+a curious feeling that he was looking on at the preliminary stages of a
+drama in which he might presently be called upon to play a leading part.
+Besides, he had reasons for watching Gladwyne.
+
+The stage was an attractive one to a man who had spent much of his time
+in the wilderness--a wide sweep of sunlit sward with the tennis nets
+stretched across part of it; on one side a dark fir wood; and for a
+background a stretch of brown moor receding into the distance, dimmed by
+an ethereal haze. A group of young men and women, picturesquely clad,
+were busy about the nets; others in flannels and light draperies strolled
+here and there across the grass, and a few more had gathered about the
+tea-table under a spreading cedar, where Mrs. Gladwyne sat in a low
+wicker-chair. Over all there throbbed the low, persistent murmur of a
+stream.
+
+Lisle was talking to Millicent near the table. He looked up as a burst of
+laughter rose from beside the nets and saw Bella Crestwick walk away from
+them. One or two of the others stood looking after her, and Mrs. Gladwyne
+glanced from her chair inquiringly.
+
+"They seem amused," she said.
+
+"It was probably at one of Miss Crestwick's remarks; she's undoubtedly
+original," returned Millicent. "Still, I think it was chiefly Mr.
+Marple's laugh you heard."
+
+His voice had been most in evidence--it usually carried far--but Lisle
+was half amused at the disapproval in the girl's tone.
+
+"I'm afraid I'm now and then a little boisterous, too," he ventured.
+
+"It depends a good deal upon what you laugh at," Millicent informed him.
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne looked up again, as if she had not heard, and the girl
+smiled at her.
+
+"What I said isn't worth repeating."
+
+She moved away a pace or two and Lisle watched Bella, who glanced once or
+twice in his direction as she crossed the lawn. Somehow he felt that he
+was wanted and a little later he strolled after the girl. Millicent
+noticed it with a slight frown, though she did not trouble to ask herself
+why she was vexed. When Lisle reached Bella, she regarded him with
+mischief in her eyes.
+
+"As I once mentioned, you learn rapidly," she laughed. "You'll be
+thankful for the instruction some day, and I promise not to teach you
+anything very detrimental. But I'm a little surprised that Millicent
+Gladwyne allowed you to come."
+
+"I dare say she could spare me; I'm not a very entertaining companion,"
+Lisle said humbly.
+
+"It wasn't that," Bella explained. "I don't think she'd like you
+spoiled--perhaps I should say contaminated; she has ideas on the subject
+of education, too. She always calls me Miss Crestwick, which is
+significant; I've no doubt she did so when Marple made himself
+conspicuous by his amusement just now."
+
+Lisle had noticed the correctness of her assumptions on other occasions,
+but he said nothing, for he had noticed some bitterness in her voice. He
+walked on with her and she led him into a path through a shrubbery
+bordering the lawn, where she sat down on a wooden seat.
+
+"Now," she said teasingly, "we have given the others something to think
+about; but I've really no designs on you. It wouldn't be much use,
+anyway. You're safe."
+
+She looked up at him with elfish mischief in her aggressively pretty
+face. Dressed in some clinging fabric of pale watery green that matched
+the greenish light in her eyes and the reddish gleam in her hair, she was
+very alluring; but it was borne in upon Lisle that to take up her
+challenge too boldly would lower him in the girl's regard.
+
+"I'm human," he laughed. "Perhaps I'd better mention it. But I think it's
+more to the purpose to say that I'm altogether at your disposal."
+
+"Well," she answered, "I wanted you. As you're almost a stranger, it's
+curious, isn't it? But, you see, I haven't a real friend in the world."
+
+"I wonder if that can be quite correct?"
+
+"So far as the people here go, haven't you eyes?"
+
+Lisle had seen the men gather about her, but it was those he thought
+least of who followed her most closely, and the women stood aloof.
+
+"There are Miss Marple and her mother, anyway; they're friends of yours,"
+he pointed out.
+
+"Just so. Flo and I are in the same class, making the same fight; but
+that isn't always a reason for mutual appreciation or support. Mrs.
+Marple, of course, is her daughter's partizan, though in some ways it
+suits us to stand together. But I didn't bring you here to listen to my
+grievances, but because you happen to be the one man I can trust."
+
+Lisle looked embarrassed, but merely bent his head.
+
+"It's that silly brother of mine again," she went on.
+
+"What has he been doing now?"
+
+"It's what he's thinking of doing that's the worst. He has been led to
+believe it's easy to acquire riches on the stock exchange and that he has
+the makings of a successful speculator in him. Cards and the turf I've
+had to tolerate--after all, there were ways in which he got some return
+for what he spent on them--but this last craze may be disastrous."
+
+"Where did he get the idea that he's a financial genius? It wouldn't be
+from you."
+
+"No," she said seriously; "I'm his sister and most unlikely to encourage
+him in such delusions. I don't think Batley had much trouble in putting
+the notion into his mind." Her expression suddenly changed. "How I hate
+that man!"
+
+Lisle looked down at her with grave sympathy.
+
+"It's quite easy to get into difficulties by speculating, unless one has
+ample means. But I understood--"
+
+Bella checked him with a gesture.
+
+"Jim comes into money--we have a good allowance now--but it will be
+nearly two years before he gets possession. I want him to start fair when
+he may, perhaps, have learned a little sense, and not to find himself
+burdened with debts and associates he can't get rid of. At present,
+Batley's lending him money at exorbitant interest. I've pleaded, I've
+stormed and told him plain truths; but it isn't the least use."
+
+"I see. Why don't you take him away?"
+
+"He won't come. It would be worse if I left him."
+
+"Do you know why Gladwyne tolerates Batley?"
+
+"I don't." Bella looked up sharply. "What has that to do with it?"
+
+Lisle thought it had a bearing on the matter, as the lad would have seen
+less of Batley without Gladwyne's connivance.
+
+"Well," he countered, "what would you like me to do?"
+
+"It's difficult to answer. He's obstinate and resents advice. You might,
+however, talk to him when you have a chance; he's beginning to have a
+respect for your opinions."
+
+"That's gratifying," Lisle commented dryly. "He was inclined to patronize
+me at first."
+
+She spread out her hands.
+
+"You're too big to mind it! Tell him anything you can about disastrous
+mining ventures; but don't begin as if you meant to warn him--lead up to
+the subject casually."
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not very tactful," Lisle confessed. "He'll see what I'm
+after."
+
+"It's not very likely. Talk as if you considered him a man of experience.
+It's fortunate that you can be of help in this case, because I think some
+Canadian mining shares are to be the latest deal. From what Jim said it
+looks as if Batley was to give him some information about them on
+Wednesday, when Gladwyne and he are expected at Marple's. Can't you come?
+I understand you have been asked."
+
+"Yes," promised Lisle. "If I have an opportunity, I'll see what can be
+done."
+
+Bella rose and smiled at him.
+
+"We'll go back; I'm comforted already. You're not profuse, but one feels
+that you will keep a promise."
+
+They walked across the lawn, Bella now conversing in an animated strain
+about unimportant matters, though it did not occur to Lisle that this was
+for the benefit of the lookers-on. On approaching the tea-table, she
+adroitly secured possession of a chair which another lady who stood
+higher in her hostess's esteem was making for, and sitting down chatted
+cheerfully with Mrs. Gladwyne. Lisle was conscious of some amusement as
+he watched her. She was clever and her courage appealed to him; but
+presently he saw Millicent and strolled toward where she was standing.
+She spoke to him, but he thought she was not quite so gracious as she had
+been before he went away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+LISLE COMES TO THE RESCUE
+
+
+A few days after his interview with Bella, Lisle overtook Millicent as
+she was walking up a wooded dale. She looked around with a smile when he
+joined her and they fell into friendly talk. There were points on which
+they differed, but a sense of mutual appreciation was steadily growing
+stronger between them. Presently Lisle happened to mention the Marples,
+and Millicent glanced at him thoughtfully. She knew that he met Bella at
+their house.
+
+"You have seen a good deal of these people, one way or another," she
+remarked.
+
+"These people? Aren't you a little prejudiced against them?"
+
+"I suppose I am," Millicent confessed.
+
+"Then won't you give me the reason? Your point of view isn't always clear
+to an outsider."
+
+"I'll try to be lucid. I don't so much object to Marple as I do to what
+he stands for; I mean to modern tendency."
+
+"That's as involved as ever."
+
+The girl showed a little good-humored impatience. She did not care to
+supply the explanation--it was against her instincts--and she was
+inclined to wonder why she should do so merely because the man had asked
+for it.
+
+"Well," she said, "the feudal system isn't dead, and I believe that what
+is best in it need never disappear altogether. Of course, it had its
+drawbacks, but I think it was better than the commercialism that is
+replacing it. It recognized obligations on both sides, and there is a
+danger of forgetting them; the new people often fail to realize them at
+all. Marple--I'm using him as an example--bought the land for what he
+could get out of it."
+
+"About three per cent., he told me. It isn't a great inducement."
+
+Millicent made a half-disdainful gesture.
+
+"He gets a great deal more--sport, a status, friends and standing, and a
+means of suitably entertaining them. That, I suppose, is one reason why
+the return in money from purely agricultural land is so small."
+
+"Then is it wrong for a business man to buy these things, if he can pay
+for them?"
+
+"Oh, no! But he must take up the duties attached to his purchase. When
+you buy land, human lives go with it. They're still largely in the
+landlord's hands. Of course, we have legislation which has curtailed the
+land-owner's former powers, but it's a soulless, mechanical thing that
+can never really take the place of direct personal interest."
+
+She stopped and glanced back down the winding dale. Here and there smooth
+pastures climbed the slopes that shut it in, but over part of them ranged
+mighty oaks, still almost green. Beyond these, beeches tinted with brown
+and crimson glowed against the dusky foliage of spruces and silver-firs.
+
+"One needs wisdom, love of the soil and all that lives on it, and perhaps
+patience most of all," she resumed. "These woods are an example. They are
+not natural like your forests--every tree has been carefully planted and
+as it grew the young sheltering wood about it carefully thinned out. Then
+as the trunks gained in size it was necessary to choose with care and
+cut. With the oaks it's a work of generations, planting for one's
+great-grandchildren, and the point that is suggested most clearly is the
+continuity of interest that should exist between the men who use the
+spade and ax and the men who own and plan. It is not a little thing that
+the third and fourth generations should complete the task, when a mutual
+toleration and dependence is handed down."
+
+Lisle was conscious of a curious stirring of his feelings as he listened
+to her. She was tall and finely proportioned, endowed with a calm and
+gracious dignity which was nevertheless, he thought, in keeping with a
+sanguine and virile nature. This girl was one of the fairest and most
+precious products of the soil she loved.
+
+"It's a pity in many ways that the Gladwyne property didn't come to you,"
+he observed.
+
+Her expression changed and he spread out one hand deprecatingly.
+
+"That's another blunder of mine. I haven't acquired your people's
+unfailing caution yet, but I only meant--"
+
+"Perhaps it would be better if you didn't tell me what you did mean."
+
+Lisle nodded. He felt that he had deserved the rebuke, as the truth of
+his assertion could not be admitted without disparaging Gladwyne. She
+would allow nothing to the latter's discredit to be said by a stranger,
+but it was unpleasant to think that she regarded him as one. He changed
+the subject.
+
+"You mentioned that landlord and laborer had a joint interest in the
+soil, and that's undoubtedly right," he said. "The point where trouble
+arises is, of course, over the division of the yield. The former's share
+is obvious, but nowadays plowman and forester want more than their
+fathers seem to have been satisfied with. I don't think you can blame
+them--in Canada they get more."
+
+"I'll give you an instance to show why one can't treat them very
+liberally. When my brother got possession he spent a great deal of
+money--it was left him by his mother and didn't come out of the land--in
+draining, improvements, and rebuilding homesteads and cottages, besides
+freely giving his time and care. For a number of years he got no return
+at all, and part of the expenditure will always be unproductive. It isn't
+a solitary case."
+
+They went on together through the shadowy, crimson-tinted dale until
+Millicent stopped at the gate of a field-road.
+
+"I am going to one of the cottages yonder," she explained. "I expect
+Nasmyth on Wednesday evening. Are you coming with him?"
+
+"I'm sorry, but I'm going to Marple's. You see, I promised."
+
+"Promised Marple?"
+
+He was learning to understand her, for though she showed no marked sign
+of displeasure he knew that she was not gratified.
+
+"No," he answered; "Miss Crestwick."
+
+She did not speak, but there was something in her manner that hinted at
+disdainful amusement.
+
+"I think you're hardly fair to her," he said.
+
+"It's possible," Millicent replied carelessly. "Does it matter?"
+
+"Well," he broke out with some warmth, "the girl hasn't such an easy time
+among you; and one can only respect her for the way she stands by her
+brother."
+
+"Have you anything to say in his favor?"
+
+"It would be pretty difficult," admitted Lisle. "But you can't blame his
+sister for that."
+
+"I don't think I've shown any desire to do so," she retorted.
+
+Lisle knit his brows.
+
+"You people are rather curious in your ideas. Now, here's a lonely girl
+who's pluckily trying to look after that senseless lad, and not a one of
+you can spare her a word of sympathy, because she doesn't run on the same
+stereotyped lines as you do. Can you help only the people who will
+conform?"
+
+Millicent let this pass, and after an indifferent word or two she turned
+away. Before she reached home, however, she met Nasmyth.
+
+"Why don't you keep Mr. Lisle out of those Marples' hands?" she asked
+him.
+
+"In the first place, I'm not sure that I could do so; in the second, I
+don't see why I should try," Nasmyth replied. "On the whole, considering
+that he's a Western miner, I don't think he's running a serious risk.
+Perhaps I might hint that Bella Crestwick's hardly likely to consider him
+as big enough game."
+
+"Don't be coarse!" Millicent paused. "But he spoke hotly in her defense."
+
+"After all," responded Nasmyth, "I shouldn't wonder if she deserves it;
+but it has no significance. You see, he's a rather chivalrous person."
+
+Millicent flashed a quick glance at him, but his face was expressionless.
+
+"What did he say?" he asked.
+
+"I don't remember exactly: he hinted that we were narrow-minded and
+uncharitable."
+
+Nasmyth laughed.
+
+"I almost think there's some truth in it. I've seen you a little severe
+on those outside the fold."
+
+"A man's charity is apt to be influenced by a pretty face," Millicent
+retorted.
+
+"I'll admit it," replied Nasmyth dryly. "But I can't undertake to
+determine how far that fact has any bearing on this particular instance."
+
+Millicent talked about something else, but she was annoyed with herself
+when the question Nasmyth had raised once more obtruded itself on her
+attention during the evening.
+
+On Wednesday Lisle walked over to Marple's house, because he had promised
+to go, though he would much rather have spent an hour or two with Nasmyth
+and Millicent in the latter's drawing-room. He had no opportunity for any
+private speech with Bella, but she flung him a grateful glance as he came
+in. He waited patiently and followed her brother here and there, but he
+could not secure a word with him alone.
+
+Some time had passed when, escaping from a group engaged in what struck
+him as particularly stupid badinage, he sauntered toward the
+billiard-room, struggling with a feeling of irritation. He was generally
+good-humored and tolerant rather than hypercritical, but the somewhat
+senseless hilarity of Marple's guests was beginning to jar on him. A
+burst of laughter which he thought had been provoked by one of Bella's
+sallies followed him down the corridor, but when he quietly opened the
+door the billiard-room was empty except for a group of three in one
+corner. He stopped just inside the threshold, glancing at them, and it
+was evident that they had not heard his approach.
+
+Wreaths of cigar smoke drifted about the room; the light of the shaded
+lamps fell upon the men seated on a lounge, and their expressions and
+attitudes were significant. Gladwyne leaned back languidly graceful;
+Batley, a burlier figure, was talking, his eyes fixed on Crestwick; and
+the lad sat upright, looking eager. Batley appeared to be discussing the
+principles of operating on the stock exchange.
+
+"It's obvious," he said, "that there's very little to be made by waiting
+until any particular stock becomes a popular favorite--the premium
+equalizes the profit and sometimes does away with it. The essential thing
+is to take hold at the beginning, when the shares are more or less in
+disfavor and can be picked up cheap."
+
+Lisle stood still--he was in the shadow--watching the lad, who now showed
+signs of uncertainty.
+
+"I dropped a good deal of money the last time I tried it," he protested.
+"The trouble is that if you come in when the company's starting, you
+can't form an accurate idea of how it ought to go."
+
+"Exactly," replied Batley. "You can rarely be quite sure. What you need
+is sound judgment, the sense to recognize a good thing when you see it,
+pluck, and the sporting instinct--you must be ready to back your opinion
+and take a risk. It's only the necessity for that kind of thing which
+makes it a fine game."
+
+He broke off, looking up, and as Lisle strolled forward with a glance at
+Crestwick, he saw Batley's genial expression change. It was evident that
+the idea of being credited with the qualities mentioned appealed to the
+lad, and Lisle realized that Batley was wishing him far away. He had,
+however, no intention of withdrawing, and taking out a cigar he chose a
+cue and awkwardly proceeded to practise a shot.
+
+"This," he said nonchalantly, "is an amusement I never had time to learn,
+and I really came along for a quiet smoke. Don't let me disturb you."
+
+He saw Crestwick's look and understood what was in the lad's mind. It was
+incomprehensible to the latter that a man should boldly confess his
+ignorance of a game of high repute. Batley, however, seeing that the
+intruder intended to remain, returned to the attack, and though he spoke
+in a lower voice Lisle caught part of his remarks and decided that he was
+cleverly playing upon Crestwick's raw belief in himself. This roused the
+Canadian to indignation, though it was directed against Gladwyne rather
+than his companion. Batley, he thought, was to some extent an adventurer,
+one engaged in a hazardous business at which he could not always win, and
+he had some desirable qualities--good-humor, liberality, coolness and
+daring. The well-bred gentleman who served as his decoy, however,
+possessed none of these redeeming characteristics. His part was merely
+despicable; there was only meanness beneath his polished exterior.
+
+"It certainly looks promising," Lisle heard Crestwick say; "you have
+pretty well convinced me that it can't go wrong."
+
+"I can't see any serious risk," declared Batley. "That, in the case of
+mining stock, is as far as I'd care to go. On the other hand, there's
+every prospect of a surprising change in the value of the shares as soon
+as the results of the first reduction of ore come out. I can only add
+that I'm a holder and I got you the offer of the shares as a favor from a
+friend who's behind the scenes. Don't take them unless you feel
+inclined."
+
+This was a slip, as Lisle recognized. It is not in human nature to
+dispose of a commodity that will shortly increase in value. Crestwick,
+however, obviously failed to notice this; Lisle thought the idea of
+getting on to the inside track appealed to his vanity.
+
+"It's a curious name they've given the mine," commented the lad,
+repeating it. "What does it mean?"
+
+Lisle started, for he recognized the name, and it offered him a lead.
+Strolling toward the group, he leaned against the table.
+
+"I can tell you that," he said. "It's an Indian word for a river gorge. I
+went up it not long ago."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Crestwick, "I suppose you know the mine?"
+
+Lisle glanced at the others. Their eyes were fixed upon him, Batley's
+steadily, Gladwyne's with a hint of uneasiness. It was, he felt, a
+remarkable piece of good fortune that had given him control of the
+situation.
+
+"Yes," he answered carelessly, "I know the mine."
+
+"I'm thinking of taking shares in it," Crestwick informed him.
+
+"Well," said Lisle, "that wouldn't be wise."
+
+Gladwyne leaned farther back in his seat, as if to disassociate himself
+from the discussion, which was what the Canadian had expected from him;
+but Batley, who was of more resolute fiber, showed fight. His appearance
+became aggressive, his face hardened, and there was a snap in his eyes.
+
+"You have made a serious allegation in a rather startling way, Mr. Lisle.
+As I've an interest in the company in question, I must ask you to
+explain."
+
+"Then I'd advise you to get rid of your interest as soon as possible;
+that is, so long as you don't sell out to Crestwick, who's a friend of
+mine."
+
+Batley's face began to redden, and Lisle, looking around at the sound of
+a footstep, saw Marple standing a pace or two away. He was a fussy,
+bustling man, and he raised his hand in expostulation.
+
+"Was that last called for, or quite the thing, Lisle?" he asked.
+
+Batley turned to Gladwyne, as if for support, and the latter assumed his
+finest air.
+
+"I think there can be only one opinion on that point," he declared.
+
+Lisle's eyes gleamed with an amusement that was stronger than his
+indignation. That Gladwyne should expect this gravely delivered decision
+to have any marked effect tickled him.
+
+"Well," he replied, "I'm ready to stand by what I said, and I'll add that
+if I had any shares I'd give them away to anybody who would register as
+their owner before the next call is made."
+
+"I understood there wouldn't be a call for a long while," Crestwick broke
+in.
+
+"Then whoever told you so must have been misinformed," Lisle rejoined.
+
+"Are you casting any doubt upon my honor?" Batley demanded in a bellicose
+voice.
+
+"I don't think so; anyway, so long as you don't rule out my suggestion.
+Still, I'm willing to leave Gladwyne to decide the point. He seems to
+understand these delicate matters."
+
+Marple, looking distressed and irresolute, broke in before Gladwyne had a
+chance to reply.
+
+"Do you know much about mining, Lisle?"
+
+Lisle laughed.
+
+"I've had opportunities for learning something, as prospector, locator of
+alluvial claims and holder of an interest in one or two comparatively
+prosperous companies."
+
+He leaned forward and touched Crestwick's shoulder.
+
+"Come along, Jim, and I'll give you one or two particulars that should
+decide you."
+
+Somewhat to his astonishment, the lad rose and rather sheepishly followed
+him. There was an awkward silence for a few moments after they left the
+room; then Marple turned to his guests.
+
+"I can't undertake to say whether Lisle was justified or not," he began.
+"I'm sorry, however, that anything of this nature should have happened in
+my house."
+
+"So am I," said Gladwyne with gracious condescension. "There is, of
+course, one obvious remedy."
+
+Marple raised his hands in expostulation. He liked Lisle, and Gladwyne
+was a distinguished guest. Batley seemed to find his confusion amusing.
+
+"I think the only thing we can do is to let the matter drop," he
+suggested. "These fellows from the wilds are primitive--one can't expect
+too much. The correct feeling or delicacy of expression we'd look for
+among ourselves is hardly in their line."
+
+Marple was mollified, and he fell in with Batley's suggestion that they
+should try a game.
+
+In the meanwhile, Crestwick looked around at his companion as they went
+down the corridor.
+
+"I believe I owe you some thanks," he admitted. "I like the way you
+headed off Batley--I think he meant to turn savage at first--and I
+wouldn't have been willing to draw in Gladwyne, as you did. He has a way
+of crushing you with a look."
+
+"It's merely a sign that you deserve it," Lisle laughed. "You take too
+many things for granted in this country. Test another man's assumption of
+superiority before you agree with it, and you'll sometimes be astonished
+to find out what it's really founded on. And now we'd better join those
+people who're singing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BELLA'S DEFEAT
+
+
+The afternoon was calm and hazy, and Lisle lounged with great content in
+a basket-chair on Millicent's lawn. His hostess sat near by, looking
+listless, a somewhat unusual thing for her, and Miss Hume, her elderly
+companion, genial in spite of her precise formality, was industriously
+embroidering something not far away. There was not a breath of wind
+astir; a soft gray sky streaked with long bars of stronger color hung
+motionless over the wide prospect. Wood and moorland ridge and distant
+hill had faded to dimness of contour and quiet neutral tones. Indeed, the
+whole scene seemed steeped in a profound tranquillity, intensified only
+by the murmur of the river.
+
+Lisle enjoyed it all, though he was conscious that Millicent's presence
+added to its charm. He had grown to feel restful and curiously at ease in
+her company. She was, he thought, so essentially natural; one felt at
+home with her.
+
+"I haven't often seen you with the unoccupied appearance you have just
+now," he remarked at length.
+
+"I have sent the book off, and after being at work on it so long, I feel
+disinclined to do anything else," she said. "I've just heard from the
+publishers; they don't seem enthusiastic. After all, one couldn't expect
+that--the style of the thing is rather out of the usual course."
+
+Lisle looked angry and she was pleased with his indignation on her
+behalf.
+
+"They show precious little sense!" he declared; "but you're right. It's
+one of your English customs to go on from precedent to precedent until
+you get an unmodifiable standard, when you slavishly conform to it. Now
+your book's neither a classification nor a catalogue--it's something far
+bigger. Never mind what the experts and scientists say; wait until the
+people who love the wild things and want their story made real get it
+into their hands!"
+
+His confidence was gratifying, but she changed the subject.
+
+"You Canadians haven't much respect for precedent?"
+
+"No; we try to meet the varying need by constantly changing means.
+They're often crude, but they're successful, as a rule."
+
+"It's a system that must have a wide effect," she responded, to lead him
+on. She liked to hear him talk.
+
+"It has. You can see it in the difference between your country and mine.
+This land's smooth and well trimmed; everything in it has grown up little
+by little; its mellow ripeness is its charm. Ours is grand or rugged or
+desolate, but it's never merely pretty. The same applies to our people;
+they're bubbling over with raw, optimistic vigor, their corners are not
+rubbed off. Some of them would jar on overcivilized people, but not, I
+think, on any one with understanding." He spread out his hands. "You have
+an example; I'm spouting at large again."
+
+"Go on," she begged; "I'm interested. But have you ever thought that
+instead of being younger than we are you're really older. I mean that you
+have gone back a long way; begun again at an earlier stage, instead of
+going ahead?"
+
+"Now you get at the bottom of things!" he exclaimed. "That's always been
+an idea of mine. The people of the newer countries, perhaps more
+particularly those to whom I belong, are brought back to the grapple with
+elemental conditions. We're on the bed-rock of nature."
+
+"Are you too modest to go any further?"
+
+He showed faint signs of confusion and she laughed. "No doubt, the
+situation makes for pristine vigor, and we are drifting into
+artificiality," she suggested. "Perhaps you, the toilers, the subduers of
+the wilderness, are to serve as an anchor for the supercivilized
+generations to hold on by." She paused and quoted softly: "'Pioneers; O
+pioneers!'"
+
+"What can I say to that?" he asked with half-amused embarrassment. "We're
+pretty egotistical, but one can't go back on Whitman."
+
+"No," she laughed mischievously; "I think you're loyal; and there are
+situations from which it's difficult to extricate oneself. Didn't you
+find it so, for example, when you declined to come here with Nasmyth,
+because Miss Crestwick had pressed you to go to Marple's?"
+
+He could think of no neat reply to this and the obvious fact pleased her,
+for she guessed that he would rather have spent the evening with her.
+This was true, for now, sitting in the quiet garden in her company, he
+looked back on the entertainment with something like disgust. Marple's
+male friends were, for the most part, characterized by a certain
+grossness and sensuality; in their amusements at games of chance one or
+two had displayed an open avarice. These things jarred on the man who had
+toiled among the rocks and woods, where he had practised a stringent
+self-denial.
+
+"I heard that you figured in a striking little scene," Millicent went on.
+
+"I couldn't help it." Lisle appeared annoyed. "That man Batley irritated
+me; though, after all, I don't blame him the most."
+
+This was a slip.
+
+"Whom do you blame?" she asked sharply.
+
+"Oh," he explained, "I wasn't the only person, present, and I hadn't
+arrived at the beginning. Somebody should have stopped the fellow; the
+shares he tried to work off on Crestwick were no good."
+
+"Then Batley wanted to sell that silly lad some worthless shares--and
+there were other people looking on?"
+
+He would not tell her that Gladwyne had watched the proceedings, to some
+extent acquiescing.
+
+"I thought from what you said that you knew all about it," he answered.
+
+"No," she replied, suspecting the truth, but seeing that it would be
+difficult to extract anything definite from him. "I only heard that you
+had an encounter of some kind with Batley. But why did you hint that he
+was not the worst?"
+
+"He was merely acting in accordance with his instincts; one wouldn't
+expect anything else."
+
+"The implication is that he was tacitly abetted by people of a different
+kind who ought to have known better."
+
+He was not to be drawn on this point, and she respected him for it.
+
+"Was it only an animus against Batley that prompted you?" she asked.
+
+"No," he admitted candidly; "I wanted to get young Crestwick out of his
+clutches. I'm not sure he's worth troubling about, but I'm sorry for his
+sister. As I've said before, there's something fine in the way she sticks
+to him."
+
+The chivalrous feeling did him credit, Millicent admitted, but she was
+dissatisfied with it and was curious to learn if it were the only one he
+cherished toward the girl.
+
+"That's undoubtedly in her favor," she commented indifferently.
+
+He did not respond and they talked about other matters; but Lisle was now
+sensible of a slight constraint in Millicent's manner and on the whole
+she was glad when he took his leave. Quick-witted, as she was, she
+guessed that he disapproved of the part Clarence had played in the affair
+at Marple's, and this, chiming with her own suspicions, troubled her. She
+had a tenderness for Clarence, and she wondered how far her influence
+might restrain and protect him if, as his mother had suggested, she
+eventually married him. Another point caused her some uneasiness--Bella
+Crestwick had boldly entered the field against her and was making use of
+the Canadian to rouse Clarence by showing him that he had a rival. The
+thought of it stirred her to indignation; she would not have Lisle
+treated in that fashion. After sitting still for half an hour, she rose
+with a gesture of impatience and went into the house.
+
+On the same evening Bella Crestwick felt impelled to lecture her brother
+after dinner. That was not a favorable time, for the young man's good
+opinion of himself was generally strengthened by a glass or two of wine.
+
+"I thought that matter of the shares would have taught you sense, but you
+must listen to Batley again this afternoon," she scolded. "You were with
+him for half an hour. I've no patience with you, Jim."
+
+"He's not so easy to shake off, particularly as I'm in his debt,"
+returned the lad. "Besides, he's an interesting fellow, the kind you
+learn a good deal from. It's an education to mix with such men."
+
+"The trouble is that it's expensive. Come away with me before he ruins
+you. There's Mrs. Barnard's invitation to their place in Scotland; it
+would be a good excuse."
+
+Her brother's rather lofty manner changed.
+
+"You're a dear, Bella. You know you don't want to go."
+
+Having a strong reason for wishing to stay, she colored at this. Among
+his other unprepossessing characteristics, Jim had a trick of saying
+things he should suppress.
+
+"Never mind me," she answered. "Will you come?"
+
+He had an incomplete recognition of the magnitude of the sacrifice she
+was ready to make, though it was not this that decided him not to fall in
+with it.
+
+"No," he said with raw self-confidence. "I'm not one to run away; but
+I'll promise to keep my eye on the fellow after this and be cautious. All
+his schemes aren't in the same class as those mining shares, you know."
+
+Bella lost her temper and told him some plain truths about himself, and
+this did not improve matters, for in the end she retired, defeated,
+leaving Jim rather sore but on the whole satisfied with the firmness he
+had displayed. The girl felt dejected and almost desperate. She could not
+continually apply to Lisle for assistance, and she shrank from the only
+other course that seemed open to her; but her affection for the misguided
+lad impelled her to make another attempt to rescue him, and a few days
+later she found her opportunity. It was a bold measure she had decided
+on, one that might cost her a good deal, but she was a young woman of
+courage and determination.
+
+Mrs. Marple and her daughter drove over with her to call on Mrs.
+Gladwyne. They found several other people present, and as usual there was
+no ceremony; the day was fine, and the hostess sat outside, while the
+guests strolled about the terrace and gardens very much as they liked.
+Bella, hearing that Clarence was engaged in the library and would not be
+down for a little while, slipped away in search of him. Her heart beat
+painfully fast as she went up the wide staircase, but she was outwardly
+very collected--a slender, attractive figure--when she entered the room.
+In her dress as well as in her manner Bella was usually distinguished by
+something unconventional and picturesque. She was not pleased to see
+Batley standing beside the table at which Gladwyne sat, but the man
+gathered up some papers when he noticed her.
+
+"I've explained the thing, Gladwyne, and I expect Miss Crestwick will
+excuse me," he said.
+
+His manner was good-humored as he bowed to her and though she almost
+hated the man she was conscious of a faint respect for him. He might have
+thwarted her by remaining, for she had often made him a butt for her
+bitter wit. Now, however, when she had shown that his presence was not
+required, he was gallantly withdrawing. When he went out she sat down and
+Gladwyne rose and stood with one hand on the mantel, waiting for her to
+begin. Instead, she glanced round the room, which always impressed her.
+It was lofty and spacious, the few articles of massive furniture gave it
+a severe dignity, and there was no doubt that Gladwyne, with his handsome
+person and highbred air, appeared at home in it.
+
+While she looked around, he was thinking about her. She was provocatively
+pretty; a fearless, passionate creature, addicted to occasional reckless
+outbreaks, but nevertheless endowed with a vein of cold and calculating
+sense. What was as much to the point, she was wealthy, and people were
+becoming more tolerant toward her; but in the meanwhile he wondered what
+she wanted.
+
+"I came about Jim," she said at length.
+
+"Well?"
+
+The man's expression, which suddenly changed, was not encouraging and she
+hesitated.
+
+"You know what he's doing. I've come to ask a favor."
+
+He avoided the issue.
+
+"It's nothing alarming; I don't suppose he's very different from most
+lads of his age. Perhaps it would be better to let him have his head."
+
+"No," she replied decidedly. "The pace is too hot; I can't hold him.
+He'll come to grief badly if he's not pulled up. You know that as well as
+I do!"
+
+Her anger became her, bringing a fine glow to her cheeks and a hint of
+half-imperious dignity into her pose. It had an effect on him, but he
+felt somewhat ashamed of himself.
+
+"Well," he asked in a quiet voice, "what's the favor?"
+
+"Shouldn't a sportsman and a man of your kind grant it unconditionally
+beforehand? Must you be sure you won't get hurt when you make a venture?"
+
+"You'd risk it," he answered, bowing. "You're admirable, Bella. Still,
+you see, I'm either more cautious or less courageous."
+
+She was badly disappointed. She knew that a good deal depended on his
+answer to her request, and shrank from making it, because it would prove
+the strength or weakness of her hold on him. The man attracted her, and
+she had somewhat openly attempted to capture him. She longed for the
+position he could give her; she would have married him for that and his
+house, but she was willing to risk her success for her brother's welfare.
+
+"I want you to tell Batley that he must keep his hands off of Jim," she
+said.
+
+He started at this.
+
+"He can't do the lad much harm. Aren't you attaching a little too much
+importance to the matter?"
+
+"No; not in the least," she answered vehemently. "I've told you so
+already. But can't you keep to the point? My brother's being ruined in
+several ways besides the debts he's heaping up; and I've humbled myself
+to beg your help."
+
+"Was it so very hard?" he asked, and his voice grew soft and caressing.
+
+She was shaken to the verge of yielding. The man was handsome,
+cultivated, distinguished, she thought. Whether she actually loved him,
+she did not know, but he could gratify her ambitions and she was strongly
+drawn to him. He had given her a lead, an opening for a few telling words
+that might go far toward the accomplishment of her wishes; but, tempted
+as she was, she would not utter them. She was loyal to the headstrong
+lad; Jim stood first with her.
+
+"That is beside the point," she said with a becoming air of pride. "I
+expected you would be willing to do whatever you could. To be refused
+what I plead for is new to me."
+
+He considered for a moment or two, watching her with keen appreciation.
+Bella in her present mood, with her affectations cast aside, appealed to
+him. She was not altogether the woman he would have chosen, but since he
+must secure a rich wife, there were obvious benefits to be derived from a
+match with her. He devoutly wished he could accede to her request.
+
+"Well?" she broke out impatiently.
+
+"I'm sorry," he said; "I'm unable to do as you desire. Of course, I wish
+I could, if only to please you, though I really don't think the thing's
+necessary."
+
+"You needn't tell me that again! It's a waste of time; I'm not going to
+discuss it. Face the difficulty, whatever it is. Do you mean that you
+can't warn off Batley?"
+
+Gladwyne saw that she would insist on a definite answer and in
+desperation he told the truth.
+
+"It's out of the question."
+
+It was a shock to her. In a sudden flash of illumination she saw him as
+he was, weak and irresolute, helpless in the grip of a stronger man. It
+was significant that she felt no compassion for him, but only disgust and
+contempt. She was no coward, and even Jim, who could so easily be
+deluded, was ready enough to fight on due occasion.
+
+"You are afraid of the fellow!" she exclaimed.
+
+Gladwyne colored and moved abruptly. He had imagined that she was his for
+the asking, but there was no mistaking her cutting scorn.
+
+"Bella," he pleaded, "don't be bitter. You can't understand the
+difficulties I'm confronted with."
+
+"I can understand too much!" Her voice trembled, but she rose, rather
+white in face, with an air of decision. "When I came I expected--but
+after all that doesn't matter--I never expected this!"
+
+He made no answer; the man had some little pride and there was nothing to
+be said. He had fallen very low even in this girl's estimation and the
+fact was almost intolerably galling, but he could make no effective
+defense. She went from him slowly, but with a suggestive deliberation,
+without looking back, and there was a hint of finality in the way she
+closed the door.
+
+Once outside, she strove to brace herself, for the interview had tried
+her hard. She had had to choose between Gladwyne and her brother, but for
+that she was now almost thankful. The man she had admired had changed and
+become contemptible. It was as if he had suddenly collapsed and shriveled
+before her startled eyes. But that was not all the trouble--she was as
+far from saving Jim as ever.
+
+It cost her an effort to rejoin the others, but she was equal to it and
+during the rest of her stay her conversation was a shade more audacious
+than usual.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+GLADWYNE SURRENDERS
+
+
+Evening was drawing on when Bella strolled aimlessly down the ascending
+road that led to Marple's residence. On one hand of the road there was a
+deep rift, filled with shadow, in which a beck murmured among the stones,
+and the oaks that climbed to the ridge above flung their great branches
+against the saffron glow in the western sky. Fallen leaves, glowing brown
+and red, had gathered thick beneath one hedgerow and more came slowly
+sailing down; but Bella brushed through them unheeding, oblivious to her
+surroundings. She had suffered during the few days that had followed her
+interview with Gladwyne and even the sharp encounter with Miss Marple in
+which she had recently indulged had not cheered her, though it had left
+her friend smarting.
+
+Presently she looked around with interest as a figure appeared farther up
+the road, and recognizing the fine poise and vigorous stride, she stopped
+and waited. Lisle was a bracing person to talk to, and she wanted to see
+him. He soon came up with her and she greeted him cordially. Unlike
+Gladwyne, he was a real man, resolute and resourceful, with a generous
+vein in him, and she did not resent the fact that he looked rather hard
+at her.
+
+"You don't seem as cheerful as usual," he observed.
+
+"I'm not," she confessed. "In fact, I think I was very nearly crying."
+
+"What's the trouble?" He showed both interest and sympathy.
+
+"Oh, you needn't ask. It's Jim again. I've tried every means and I can't
+do anything with him."
+
+"He is pretty uncontrollable. Seems to have gone back to Batley again. I
+wonder if it would be any good if I looked for an opportunity for making
+a row with the fellow?"
+
+"No," she answered, with appreciation, for this was very different from
+Gladwyne's attitude. "It would only separate Jim from you, and I don't
+want that to happen. Please keep hold of him, though I know that can't be
+pleasant for you."
+
+"He is trying now and then, but I'll do what I can. Gladwyne, however,
+has more influence than I have. Did you think of asking him?"
+
+She colored, and in her brief confusion he read his answer with strong
+indignation--she had pleaded with Gladwyne and he had refused to help.
+
+"Do you know," she said, looking up at him, "you're the only real friend
+I have. There's nobody else I can trust."
+
+"I think you're wrong in that," he declared; and acting on impulse he
+laid a hand protectingly on her shoulder, for she looked very dejected
+and forlorn. "Anyway, you mustn't worry. I'll do something--in fact,
+something will have to be done."
+
+"What will you do?"
+
+He knitted his brows. There was a course, which promised to be effective,
+open to him, but he was most averse to adopting it. He could give
+Gladwyne a plain hint that he had better restrain his confederate, but he
+could enforce compliance only by stating what he knew about the former's
+desertion of his cousin. He was not ready to do that yet; it would
+precipitate the climax, and once his knowledge of the matter was revealed
+his power to use it in case of a stronger need might be diminished. The
+temptation to leave Jim Crestwick to his fate was strong, but his pity
+for the anxious girl was stronger.
+
+"I'll have a talk with Gladwyne," he promised.
+
+"That wouldn't be of the least use!"
+
+"I think he'll do what I suggest," Lisle answered with a trace of
+grimness. "Make your mind easy; I'll have Batley stopped."
+
+She looked at him in surprise, filled with relief and gratitude. He was
+one who would not promise more than he could perform; but how he could
+force his will on Gladwyne she did not know.
+
+"You're wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Whatever one asks you're able to do."
+
+"And you're very staunch."
+
+"Oh!" she said, standing very close to him, with his hand still on her
+shoulder, "we won't exchange compliments--they're too empty, and you
+deserve something better." She glanced round swiftly. "Shut your eyes,
+tight!"
+
+He obeyed her, and for a moment light fingers rested on his breast; then
+there was a faint warm touch upon his cheek. When he looked up she was
+standing a yard away, smiling mockingly.
+
+"Don't trust your imagination too much--it might have deceived you," she
+warned. "But you have sense; you wouldn't attach an undue value to
+anything."
+
+"Confidence and gratitude are precious," he answered. "I'd better point
+out that I haven't earned either of them yet."
+
+Bella was satisfied with this, but she grew graver, wondering how far she
+might have delivered Gladwyne into his hands. She was angry with the man,
+but she would not have him suffer.
+
+"I don't know what power you have--but you won't make too much use of
+it--I don't wish that," she begged. "After all, though, Jim must be got
+out of that fellow's clutches."
+
+"Yes," assented Lisle, "there's no doubt of it."
+
+She left him presently and he went on down the dale, not exactly
+repenting of his promise, but regretting the necessity which had led to
+his making it. The task with which he had saddled himself was an
+exceedingly unpleasant one and might afterward make it more difficult for
+him to accomplish the purpose that had brought him to England, but he
+meant to carry it out.
+
+As it happened, he met Mrs. Gladwyne at Millicent's, where he called, and
+he spent an uncomfortable half-hour in her company. She had shown in
+various ways that she liked him, and calling him to her side soon after
+he came in, she talked to him in an unusually genial manner. He felt like
+a traitor in this gracious lady's presence and it was a relief when she
+took her departure.
+
+"You look troubled," Millicent observed.
+
+"That's how I feel," he confessed. "After all, it isn't a very uncommon
+sensation. It's sometimes difficult to see ahead."
+
+"Often," she answered, smiling. "What do you do then--stop a little and
+consider?"
+
+"Not as a rule. The longer you consider the difficulties, the worse they
+look. It's generally better to go right on."
+
+Millicent agreed with this; and soon afterward Lisle took his departure
+and walked back to Nasmyth's in an unusually serious mood. They were
+sitting smoking when his host broached the subject that was occupying
+him.
+
+"It's some time since you said anything about the project that brought
+you over," he remarked.
+
+"That's so," assented Lisle. "I'm fixed much as I was when we last spoke
+of it. When I was in Canada, I thought I'd only to find Gladwyne and
+scare a confession out of him. Now I find that what I've undertaken isn't
+by any means so simple."
+
+"I warned you that it wouldn't be."
+
+"You were right. There's his mother to consider--it's a privilege to know
+her--she's devoted to the fellow. Then there's Millicent; in a way, she's
+almost as devoted, anyhow she's a staunch friend of his. I don't know how
+either of them would stand the revelation."
+
+"It would kill Mrs. Gladwyne," Nasmyth declared.
+
+There was silence for a while, and then Lisle spoke again.
+
+"I'm badly worried; any move of mine would lead to endless trouble--and
+yet there's the black blot on the memory of the man to whom I owe so
+much; I can't bring myself to let it remain. Besides all this, there's
+another complication."
+
+"Young Crestwick's somehow connected with it," Nasmyth guessed.
+
+Lisle did not deny it.
+
+"That crack-brained lad seems to be the pivot on which the whole thing
+turns. Curious, isn't it? I wish the responsibility hadn't been laid on
+my shoulders. Just now I can't tell what I ought to do--it's harassing."
+
+"Don't force things; wait for developments," Nasmyth advised him. "I'm
+not trying to extract information; the only reason I mentioned the
+subject is that a man in the home counties has asked me to come up for a
+few weeks and bring you along. He's a good sort, there's fair sport, and
+it's a nice place; but I don't mind in the least whether I go or not."
+
+"Then I'd rather stay. I've a feeling that I may be wanted here."
+
+"I'm quite satisfied, for a reason I'll explain. You have ridden that
+young bay horse of mine. He comes of good stock and he's showing signs of
+an excellent pace over the hurdles. Now I couldn't expect to enter him
+for any first-rate event--he's hardly fast enough and it's too expensive
+in various ways--but there's a little semi-private meeting to be held
+before long at a place about thirty miles off. I might have a chance
+there if we put him into training immediately. You know something about
+horses?"
+
+"Not much," responded Lisle. "I've made one long journey in the saddle in
+Alberta; but you've seen our British Columbian trails. Our cayuses have
+generally to climb, and as a rule I've used horses only for packing.
+Still, I'm fond of them; I'd be interested in the thing."
+
+Nasmyth nodded.
+
+"One difficulty is that there's nothing in the neighborhood that I could
+try him for pace against except that horse of Gladwyne's."
+
+"He'd no doubt let you have the beast."
+
+"It's possible," Nasmyth agreed dryly. "But I've objections to being
+indebted to him; and I don't want Batley, Marple and Crestwick to take a
+hand in and put their money on me. However, we'll think it over."
+
+They retired to sleep soon afterward; and the next day Lisle walked
+across to call on Gladwyne, in a quietly determined mood. Clarence was in
+his library, and he looked up with some curiosity when Lisle was shown
+in. Lisle came to the point at once.
+
+"You've no doubt noticed that Jim Crestwick has been going pretty hard of
+late," he said. "Bets, speculation, and that sort of thing. He can't keep
+it up on a minor's allowance. It will end in a bad smash if he isn't
+checked."
+
+Gladwyne's manner became supercilious.
+
+"I fail to see how it concerns you, or, for that matter, either of us."
+
+"We won't go into the question--it's beside the point. What I want you to
+do is to pull him up."
+
+He spoke as if he meant to be obeyed, and Gladwyne looked at him in
+incredulous astonishment.
+
+"Do you suppose I'm able to restrain the lad?"
+
+"You ought to be," Lisle answered coolly. "It's your friend Batley who's
+leading him on to ruin; I'm making no comments on your conduct in
+standing by and watching, as if you approved of it."
+
+The man grew hot with anger.
+
+"Thank you for your consideration." His tone changed to a sneer. "I
+suppose you couldn't be expected to realize that the attitude you're
+adopting is inexcusable?"
+
+"If you don't like it, I'll try another," Lisle returned curtly. "You'll
+give Batley his orders to leave the lad alone right now."
+
+Gladwyne rose with his utmost dignity, a fine gentleman whose feelings
+had been outraged by the coarse attack of a barbarian; but Lisle waved
+his hand in a contemptuous manner.
+
+"Stop where you are; that kind of thing is thrown away on me. You're
+going to listen for a few minutes and afterward you're going to do what I
+tell you. To begin with--why, after you'd opened it, didn't you wipe out
+all trace of the cache on the reach below the last portage your cousin
+made?"
+
+The shot obviously reached its mark, for Gladwyne clutched the table
+hard, and then sank back limply into his seat. He further betrayed
+himself by a swift, instinctive glance toward the rows of books behind
+him, and Lisle had no doubt that the missing pages from George Gladwyne's
+diary were hidden among them. He waited calmly, sure of his position,
+while Gladwyne with difficulty pulled himself together.
+
+"Have you any proof that I found the cache?" he asked.
+
+"I think so," Lisle informed him. "But we'll let that slide. You'd better
+take the thing for granted. I'm not here to answer questions. I've told
+you plainly what I want."
+
+There was silence for nearly a minute during which Gladwyne sat very
+still in nerveless dismay. All resistance had melted out of him, his
+weakness was manifest--he could not face a crisis, there was no courage
+in him.
+
+"The miserable young idiot!" he broke out at length in impotent rage.
+"This is not the first trouble in which he has involved me!"
+
+"Just so," said Lisle. "Not long ago his sister came here, begging you to
+save him, and you wouldn't. It's not my part to point what she must think
+of you. But I'm in a different position; you won't refuse me."
+
+Gladwyne leaned forward, gripping the arms of his chair as if he needed
+support, and his face grew haggard.
+
+"The difficulty is that I'm helpless," he declared.
+
+Lisle regarded him with contempt.
+
+"Brace up," he advised him. "The fellow you're afraid of is only flesh
+and blood; he has his weak point somewhere. Face him and find it, if you
+can't talk him round. There's no other way open to you."
+
+A brief silence followed; and then Gladwyne broke it.
+
+"I'll try. But suppose I can induce him to leave Crestwick alone?"
+
+"So much the better for you," Lisle answered with a dry smile. "I'm not
+here to make a bargain. I don't want anything for myself."
+
+He went out, consoling himself with the last reflection, for the part he
+had played had been singularly disagreeable. Passing down the wide
+staircase and through the great hall, he turned along the terrace with a
+sense of wonder and disgust. It was a stately house; the wide sweep of lawn
+where two gardeners were carefully sweeping up the leaves, the borders
+beyond it, blazing with dahlias and ranks of choice chrysanthemums,
+conveyed the same suggestion of order, wealth and refinement. One might, he
+thought, have expected to find some qualities that matched with
+these--dignity, power, a fine regard for honor--in the owner of such a
+place, but he had not even common courage. An imposing figure, to outward
+seeming, the Canadian regarded him as one who owed everything to a little
+surface polish and his London clothes.
+
+Lisle paused to look back when he reached the end of the terrace, from
+which a path that would save him a short walk led through a shrubbery.
+One wing of the building was covered with Virginia creeper that glowed
+with the gorgeous hues of a fading maple leaf, the sunlight lay on the
+grass, and the feeling of tranquillity that hung about the place grew
+stronger. He thought that he could understand how the desire to possess
+it would stir an Englishman reared in such surroundings, and yet he was
+now convinced that this was not the impulse which had driven Gladwyne
+into deserting his starving cousin. The man had merely yielded to craven
+fear.
+
+He heard footsteps, and looking around was a little surprised to see
+Batley moving toward him.
+
+"You have just called on Gladwyne," Batley began.
+
+Lisle stopped. There was, so far as he knew, nothing to be said in favor
+of the man, but his cool boldness was tempered by a certain geniality and
+an occasional candor that the Canadian could not help appreciating. He
+preferred Batley to Gladwyne.
+
+"That's so," he agreed.
+
+"I'm inclined to think your visit concerned me. I've noticed your
+interest in young Crestwick--it's obvious--I don't know whether one could
+say the same of the cause of it?"
+
+"We won't discuss that. If you have anything to say to me, you had better
+adopt a less offensive style."
+
+Batley smiled good-humoredly.
+
+"You're quick at resenting things. I don't see why you should expect a
+longer patience from me."
+
+"I don't expect anything from you," Lisle informed him. "In proof of it,
+I'll mention that I called to tell Gladwyne he must keep you off of Jim
+Crestwick."
+
+He made a slip in the last few words, which the other quickly noticed.
+
+"Ordered him, in fact," he said.
+
+Lisle made no answer and Batley resumed:
+
+"You have some kind of a hold on Gladwyne; so have I. Of course, it's no
+news to you. I'm a little curious to learn what yours consists of."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"It struck me that we might work together."
+
+"I'm not going in for card-sharping or anything of that kind!"
+
+The man seemed roused by this, but he mastered his anger.
+
+"Civility isn't expensive and sometimes it's wise," he observed. "I won't
+return the compliment; in fact, I'll credit you with the most
+disinterested motives. All I mean is that I might help you and you might
+help me. I'm not quite what you seem to think I am, and if I can get my
+money back out of Gladwyne I won't harm him."
+
+"I don't care in the least whether you harm him or not. But I'll try to
+arrange that you drop Crestwick."
+
+Batley considered this for a moment or two.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm sorry we can't agree; but as regards Crestwick you
+can only head me off by forcing Gladwyne to interfere. Between ourselves,
+do you think he's a man who's likely to take a bold course?"
+
+"I think so--in the present case."
+
+"You mean if the pressure's sufficient. Now you have given me a glimpse
+at your hand and I'll be candid. Gladwyne rather let me in, and there's a
+risk in dealing with a lad who's to all intents and purposes a minor;
+I've gone about as far with him as I consider judicious. Don't do
+anything that may damage Gladwyne financially without giving me warning,
+and in return I'll let Crestwick go. To some extent, I only got hold of
+him as an offset to the trouble I've had with Gladwyne. Is it a bargain?
+You can trust me."
+
+"We'll let it go at that," replied Lisle. "But I'll keep my eye on you."
+
+Batley's gesture implied that he would not object to this, and he turned
+away, leaving the Canadian to walk back to Nasmyth's thoughtfully. Lisle
+did not think he had done Gladwyne much harm by his tacit admissions, and
+he had some degree of confidence in Batley's assurance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A BAD FALL
+
+
+Gladwyne spent the first few days that followed Lisle's visit in a state
+of dread and indecision. He had allowed the Canadian to understand that
+he would endeavor to prevent Crestwick's being further victimized, but he
+had already failed to induce Batley to abandon the exploitation of the
+lad and he had no cause for believing that a second attempt would be more
+successful. Moreover, he shrank from making it; the man had shown him
+clearly that he would brook no interference.
+
+On the other hand, he was equally afraid of Lisle. This cool, determined
+Canadian was not to be trifled with, and he knew or suspected enough
+about the tragedy in British Columbia to make him dangerous. It was
+certain that a revelation of Batley's speculation would go a very long
+way toward establishing the truth of any damaging story Lisle thought fit
+to tell. Supposing the two by any chance combined their knowledge--that
+he had raised money in anticipation of his cousin's death, and afterward
+left him to perish--nothing that he could say would count against the
+inference. George had been a healthy man, not much older than Clarence,
+when the money was borrowed, and his decease within a limited time had
+appeared improbable. Nobody would believe the actual truth that Batley
+with characteristic boldness had, in return for what he thought a
+sufficient consideration in the shape of an exorbitant interest, taken a
+serious risk. The thing would look like a conspiracy between the heir
+presumptive and the speculator who lent the money; and in this, for a
+bold man, there might have been a loophole for escape, but Gladwyne knew
+that he had not the nerve to use the fact against his ally.
+
+Nevertheless, Gladwyne was really guiltless in one respect--he had not
+desired his cousin's death; he would have gone back to the rescue had he
+not dreaded that he would share George's fate. Lack of courage had been
+his bane, and it was so now, for instead of speaking to Batley he
+temporized. The man had made no further attempt upon Crestwick, and
+Gladwyne decided that until he did so there was no need for him to
+interfere. Still, as the next few weeks passed, he was conscious of a
+growing dread of the Canadian which, as sometimes happens, became tinged
+with hatred. Lisle was the more serious menace, and it was ominous that
+he now and then exchanged a word or two with Batley. If the two formed an
+offensive alliance, he would be helpless at their hands.
+
+In the meanwhile, Nasmyth has been training his horse for the approaching
+meeting and after trying him against one belonging to a neighbor and not
+finding it fast enough he had reluctantly fallen back on a chestnut owned
+by Gladwyne. The animal possessed a fine speed and some jumping powers.
+Its chief fault was a vicious temper; but Gladwyne was seldom troubled by
+lack of nerve in the saddle. It was in time of heavy moral strain that he
+failed, and he was glad to arrange with Nasmyth for a sharp gallop.
+
+Somewhat to the latter's regret, news of his intentions had spread, and
+on the morning of the trial a number of people, including the Marples and
+Crestwicks and Millicent, had gathered about the course. It was a dark
+day, with a moist air and a low, gray sky. The grass was wet, a strip of
+plowing which could not be avoided was soft and heavy, and the ground in
+front of several of the jumps was in a far from satisfactory state.
+Nasmyth, who kept a very small establishment and had hitherto generally
+ridden the horse, walked round part of the course with Lisle.
+
+"It will be heavy going and there's a nasty greasy patch at the biggest
+fence," he said. "I'd have waited for a better day only that it's often
+wet where they have the meeting, and I want to see what he can do over
+ground like this. You'll have to watch him at the jumps."
+
+"He'd do better with you in the saddle," Lisle suggested.
+
+"I'd rather put you up. I'm not going to ride at the meeting; I'm over
+the weight they ought to give him and I want to get him used to a
+stranger's hands. As it's an outside event of no importance, I haven't
+fixed on my man yet."
+
+They walked back toward the starting-point, where Gladwyne was waiting,
+with Batley and Crestwick in attendance. As they approached it, Millicent
+joined them.
+
+"Are you going to ride to-day?" she asked Lisle.
+
+"Nasmyth insists," was the answer. "I'm afraid I won't do him much
+credit."
+
+Gladwyne looked up with a slight frown.
+
+"You won't mind?" Nasmyth asked him. "I'd penalize the horse by nearly a
+stone."
+
+"No," replied Gladwyne, shortly; "there's no reason why I should object."
+
+This was true, but he had an unreasoning aversion to facing this
+opponent. Of late, the Canadian had caused him trouble at almost every
+turn, and it looked as if he could not even indulge in a morning's
+amusement without being plagued with him. He was conscious of a most
+uncharitable wish that Lisle would come to grief at one of the fences and
+break his neck. In many ways, this would be a vast relief.
+
+"Would anybody like to make it a sporting match?" Crestwick asked. "The
+bay's my fancy; I'm ready to back it."
+
+Bella tried to catch his eye, but he disregarded this. She, however, saw
+Lisle glance at Batley and noticed the latter's smile.
+
+"It isn't worth while betting on trials," Batley declared. "Better wait
+until the meeting."
+
+The girl was less astonished than gratified. Gladwyne was surprised and
+disconcerted. He had said nothing to Batley about Crestwick, but he had
+noticed Lisle's warning glance, and the other's prompt acquiescence
+appeared significant. It looked as if the two had joined hands, and that
+was what he most dreaded. An almost overpowering rage against the
+Canadian possessed him. When he attempted to mount, the chestnut gave him
+trouble by backing and plunging; but the bay was quiet and Nasmyth stood
+for a few moments by Lisle's stirrup.
+
+"Save him a bit for the second round," he advised. "Another thing, look
+out when you come to the big-brushed hurdles, particularly the second
+time."
+
+Batley volunteered as starter, and when he got them off satisfactorily
+the spectators scattered, one or two to watch the pace across the plowed
+land, the others moving toward the stiffest jumps--the course was roughly
+circular.
+
+The trial was a new experience to Lisle, and he felt the exhilaration of
+it as, remembering his instructions, he strove to hold his mount.
+Gladwyne's horse was a length ahead of him, the wind lashed his face, and
+the thrill of the race grew keener when he swept over the first fence,
+hard upon the flying chestnut's heels. He dropped another length behind
+as they crossed the next field and labored over the sticky plowing; then
+there was a low fence and ditch, a narrow meadow, and then the hurdles
+Nasmyth had mentioned, filling a gap in a tall thorn hedge. They were
+wattled with branches which projected a foot or so above them.
+
+It did not look an easy jump and the grass was slippery and soft, but the
+chestnut accomplished it cleverly and the bay flew at the hurdles with
+every sign of confidence. Then, though Lisle felt the hoofs slide as the
+beast took off, they were over and flying faster than ever across a long,
+wet field. As they approached the end of the first round, the chestnut
+began to drop back; Lisle could let the bay go and he determined to bring
+him home the winner. It was his first fast ride in England; and he had,
+indeed, seldom urged a horse to its utmost pace--the British Columbian
+trails, for the most part, led steeply up or down rugged hillsides, where
+speed was out of the question. It was very different on these level
+English meadows, though the ground was softer than usual and the fences
+were troublesome. He rode with a zest and ardor he had hardly expected to
+feel.
+
+He led at the next fence and some of the onlookers shouted encouragement
+when, drawing a little farther ahead, he once more reached the sticky
+plowed land. Here the bay slowed a little, toiling across the clods, but
+a glance over his shoulder showed his opponent still at least two lengths
+behind. Gladwyne, however, now roused himself to ride in earnest.
+Hitherto he had taken no great interest in the proceedings, but he had
+just seen Bella wave her hand to Lisle and then Millicent's applauding
+smile. He resented the fact that both should be pleased to see him beaten
+by this intrusive stranger. It reawakened his rancor, and the strain of
+the last week or two had shaken him rather badly. He was nervous, his
+self-control was weak; but he meant to pass his rival.
+
+He was still behind at the next fence, but pressing his horse savagely he
+crept up a little as they approached the one really difficult jump; and
+as they sped across the narrow meadow Lisle fancied that the bay was
+making its last effort. Crestwick was standing near the hurdles, with
+Nasmyth moving rapidly toward them not far away and Bella running across
+a neighboring field. Crestwick watched Gladwyne intently. The man's face
+was strangely eager, considering that all he had been asked to do was to
+test the bay's speed, and there was a hardness in his expression that
+fixed Crestwick's attention; he wondered the cause of it.
+
+Bella was close to him, when Lisle, riding hard, rushed at the hurdles,
+and Jim found it hard to repress a shout as the bay's hoofs slipped and
+slid on the treacherous turf. The horse rose, however; there was a heavy
+crash; wattled branches and the top bar of the hurdle smashed. Lisle
+lurched in his saddle; and then the bay came down in a heap, with the man
+beneath him.
+
+It was impossible to doubt that Gladwyne had seen the accident, but the
+chestnut rushed straight at the shattered hurdle, teeth bare, nostrils
+dilated, head stretched forward, and Crestwick thrilled with horror. The
+fallen horse was struggling, rolling upon its rider, just beyond the
+fence; but Gladwyne did nothing, except sit ready for the leap. It was
+incomprehensible; so was the look in the man's face, which was grimly
+set, as the big chestnut rose in a graceful bound.
+
+There was a sickening thud on the other side, a flounder of slipping
+hoofs, and the staccato pounding of the gallop broke out again. The
+chestnut had come down upon the fallen horse or helpless man, and was
+going on, uncontrollable. Crestwick rushed madly at the hedge, and
+scrambling through, badly scratched and bareheaded, found Nasmyth trying
+to drag Lisle clear of the bay. The Canadian's eyes were half open, but
+there was no expression in them; one arm and shoulder looked distorted,
+and his face was gray. Half-way across the field Gladwyne was struggling
+savagely with the plunging chestnut.
+
+"Get hold!" ordered Nasmyth hoarsely. "Some bones broken, by the look of
+him; but he'll have his brains knocked out in another moment."
+
+Crestwick was cruelly kicked as the bay rolled in agony, striking with
+its hoofs; but he stuck to his task, and with some difficulty they
+dragged Lisle out of danger. When they had accomplished it, Marple came
+running up with two or three others and Nasmyth called to him.
+
+"Came in the car, didn't you? Go off for Irvine as hard as you can drive.
+Drop somebody at my place to run back with a gun."
+
+Marple swung round and set off across the field, and Crestwick understood
+why the gun was wanted when he glanced at the fallen horse. Nasmyth
+informed him that nothing could be done until the doctor came, and he
+turned away toward where his sister was waiting. His forehead and hands
+were torn and he was conscious of a bad ache in his back where a hoof had
+struck, but these things scarcely troubled him. He was overwhelmed,
+horror-stricken; and the shock of seeing Lisle crushed and senseless was
+not the only cause of it. Bella, gasping after her run, with hair shaken
+loose about her face, seemed to be suffering from the same sensation that
+unnerved him.
+
+"Is he dead?" she asked falteringly.
+
+"No. Badly hurt, I think."
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed with intense relief. "I was most horribly afraid."
+She paused before she resumed: "You were close by the hurdles."
+
+Jim knew she meant that he must have seen what happened, but, shaking as
+he was, he looked hard at her, wondering in a half-dazed fashion what
+reply he should make. He thought her suspicions were aroused.
+
+"You were some way back; you couldn't have seen anything plainly," he
+ventured.
+
+"I was very near--looking back toward them--when they crossed the field
+before the jump. You've gone all to pieces. What did you see?"
+
+"I can't talk about it now," Jim broke out. "He's coming back."
+
+Gladwyne had dismounted and was with some difficulty leading the chestnut
+toward the hedge. His face was white; he moved with a strong suggestion
+of reluctance; and when he reached the spot where Lisle lay he seemed to
+have trouble in speaking.
+
+"Is it dangerous?" he asked.
+
+"I can't tell," Nasmyth answered sternly. "Shoulder's smashed; don't know
+if that's the worst. Why didn't you pull up the brute or send him at the
+hedge to the right?"
+
+"He's hard in the mouth--you know his temper. You couldn't have turned
+him."
+
+"I'd have tried, if I'd had to bring him down and break his neck!"
+
+Nasmyth checked himself, for this was not the time for recriminations,
+and Millicent, who had been running hard, brushed past them. She did not
+stop until she bent over Lisle. Then she turned to Nasmyth with fear in
+her strained expression.
+
+"I think he'll get over it," Nasmyth told her. "I won't take the
+responsibility of having him moved until the doctor arrives."
+
+"Quite right," agreed Batley, walking up and casting a swift and
+searching glance at Gladwyne.
+
+"But you can't let him lie on the wet grass!" Millicent expostulated.
+
+"I'm afraid we must; it's safest," said Batley. "The shock's not so much
+to be dreaded with a man of his kind."
+
+He and Nasmyth took charge of the situation, sternly refusing to listen
+to all well-meant suggestions, until at last the doctor and Marple came
+hurrying across the field. The former hastily examined the injured man
+and then looked up at Nasmyth.
+
+"Upper arm gone, close to the shoulder joint," he announced. "Collar-bone
+too. I'll give him some brandy. Shout to those fellows with the
+stretcher."
+
+He was busy for some time, and in the meanwhile Batley picked up the
+flask he had laid down and handed it to Gladwyne.
+
+"Take a good drink and pull yourself together," he said quietly.
+
+At length Lisle was gently lifted on to the stretcher, and as they
+carried him away the report of a gun ran out. The onlookers dispersed and
+Gladwyne was walking home alone when Millicent overtook him. She was
+puzzled by his limp appearance and the expression of his haggard face. It
+was only natural that he should keenly feel his responsibility for the
+accident, but this did not quite seem to account for the man's condition.
+He looked absolutely unnerved, like one who had barely escaped from some
+appalling catastrophe.
+
+"You shouldn't take it quite so much to heart," she comforted him. "I
+don't think Irvine felt any great uneasiness; and nobody could blame
+you."
+
+"You're the only one who has said so," he answered moodily.
+
+"They couldn't; you stole away. Of course, it's a great pity--I'm
+distressed--but you must try to be sensible. These accidents happen."
+
+He walked on a while in silence, and then with an effort looked around at
+her.
+
+"Millicent," he said, "you're wonderfully generous--the sight of anybody
+in trouble stirs you--but I don't feel able to bear your sympathy."
+
+"Then I'll have to offer it to Lisle," she smiled. "But I'll walk with
+you to the lodge; and then you had better go in and keep quiet until you
+get back your nerve."
+
+When she left Gladwyne she went on to Nasmyth's, where she waited until
+the doctor on leaving told her that he was perfectly satisfied with the
+prospect for the Canadian's recovery. It would, he said, be merely a
+question of lying still for a considerable time. Millicent was conscious
+of a relief which puzzled her by its intensity as she heard the news, but
+she asked Nasmyth to send somebody to inform Gladwyne.
+
+"I think he's desperately anxious and feeling the thing very badly," she
+concluded.
+
+"Then he could have come over to inquire, as you have done," Nasmyth
+answered. "In my opinion, he deserves to be uncomfortable."
+
+"Why are you so hard on him?"
+
+The man's face grew grim.
+
+"I've had to help Irvine with Lisle, for one thing. We were satisfied
+that his injuries were not caused by the bay rolling on him; he seems to
+have escaped from that with a few bad bruises. The worst of the accident
+might have been avoided if Clarence had had nerve enough."
+
+"But you couldn't blame him very greatly for losing his head--he had no
+warning, scarcely a moment to think. It was so sudden."
+
+"The result's the same," retorted Nasmyth. "Lisle has to pay. But to
+please you I'll send Clarence word that Irvine's not anxious about him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A PRUDENT DECISION
+
+
+It had been dark some time and the night was raw, but Jim Crestwick
+strolled up and down the drive to Marple's house, thinking unusually
+hard. In the first place, part at least of the folly of his conduct
+during the last year or two had been plainly brought home to him, and the
+realization was bitter. It was galling to discover that while he had
+regarded himself as a man of the world he had been systematically
+victimized by the men who had encouraged him in the delusion. He felt
+very sore as he remembered how much he owed Batley, but this troubled him
+less than the downright abhorrence of Gladwyne which had suddenly
+possessed him. He had looked up to the latter as a model and had tried to
+copy his manners; and it was chiefly because Batley was a friend of
+Gladwyne's that he had paid toll to him. For he had felt that whatever
+the man he admired was willing to countenance must be the correct thing.
+Now he saw Gladwyne as he really was--a betrayer of those who trusted
+him, a counterfeit of an honorable type, one who had by the merest chance
+escaped from crime.
+
+In the second place, he was concerned about Bella. She had obviously been
+attracted by Gladwyne, and it was his duty to warn her. Whether the
+warning was altogether necessary he could not tell--he had watched her
+face that morning--and Bella sometimes resented advice. When she did so,
+she had an exasperating trick of putting him in the wrong; but he meant
+to speak to her as plainly as appeared desirable. He had another duty--to
+Lisle; but he was inclined to think that on the whole he had better not
+saddle himself with it. His self-confidence had been rudely shaken and he
+recognized the possibility of his making things worse. Moreover, he had
+cultivated the pride of caste, and having with some difficulty obtained
+an entry to the circle in which Gladwyne moved, he felt it incumbent on
+him to guard the honor of all who belonged to it.
+
+Presently Bella came out, as he had anticipated, and joined him.
+
+"You have been very quiet since this morning," she began. "I saw that you
+meant to slip away as soon as you could."
+
+"Yes," he admitted; "I've had something to think about--I've been a fool,
+Bella; the commonest, most easily gulled kind of imbecile!"
+
+He had expected her to remind him that she had more than once tried to
+convince him of this, but she failed to do so. Instead, she answered with
+a touch of the candor that sometimes characterized her.
+
+"You're not the only one."
+
+This was satisfactory, for it suggested that she had been undeceived
+about Gladwyne; but she had not finished.
+
+"What did you see this morning?" she asked, and he felt that she was
+speaking with keen anxiety.
+
+"I'll tell you, but it must never go any farther. I hate to think of it!
+But first of all, what makes you ask?"
+
+She had already mentioned that she had been near when Gladwyne made his
+attempt to come up with Lisle, but she had not explained that she had
+seen hatred stamped in hideous plainness on his face.
+
+"Never mind," she answered sharply. "Go on!"
+
+"Well," said Jim, "I was standing right against the hedge, the only
+person on that side, and I don't think Gladwyne saw me. Lisle's bay
+fouled the top bar of the hurdle, but it held long enough to bring him
+down in a heap. Gladwyne was then a length or two behind. He rode
+straight at the broken hurdle, hands still--I can't get his look out of
+my mind!"
+
+"But perhaps he couldn't pull up," Bella defended him desperately, as if
+she would not believe the truth she dreaded.
+
+"There were other ways open. He could have gone at the hedge a yard or
+two on one side; he could have spoiled the chestnut's take-off and made
+him jump short. It might have brought him down--the hurdle was firm in
+the ground--but that would have been better than riding over a fallen
+man!"
+
+"Are you sure he did nothing?"
+
+"I wish I were not! The thing's horrible! Gladwyne must have seen that
+he'd come down on Lisle or the struggling bay--he could have prevented
+it--he didn't try."
+
+Bella shivered. Her brother was right: it was almost beyond contemplation.
+But that was only half of the matter.
+
+"He must have had a reason," she argued harshly.
+
+"Yes; one doesn't ride over a man in cold-blood for nothing. I think he
+had some cause for being afraid of Lisle; several things I remember now
+point to it. His chance came suddenly--nobody could have arranged it--he
+only remembered that Lisle with his brains crushed out could do him no
+harm."
+
+The girl recognized that Jim had guessed correctly. When she had gone to
+Lisle for help, he had allowed her to understand that he could compel
+Gladwyne's compliance with his request, which was significant. Still,
+convinced as she was, she would not openly acquiesce in her brother's
+theory.
+
+"Jim," she protested, "if he'd ridden at the hedge or made the chestnut
+jump short, he might have broken his own neck. He must have realized
+it--it would make him hesitate."
+
+The lad laughed scornfully.
+
+"It's quite possible, but is that any excuse? Would Nasmyth or Lisle or
+Batley have shirked a risk that would mean the saving of the other
+fellow? Supposing your idea's right--though it isn't--it only shows the
+man as a disgusting coward."
+
+There was no gainsaying this; and Bella was crushed and humiliated. She
+had already seen Gladwyne's weakness, and after the choice she had been
+compelled to make between him and her brother, she had tried to drive all
+thought of him out of her mind. It had been difficult; he was fascinating
+in many ways and she had set her heart upon his capture. Now she had done
+with him; after the morning's revelation she shrank from him with
+positive horror. Jim seemed to guess this.
+
+"I'm sorry, Bella," he said gently. "But the fellow's impossible."
+
+She laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"Jim," she replied, "we have both been mad, and I suppose we must pay for
+it. I'll help you to get clear of Batley when the time comes, but you
+must never have a deal of any kind with him again."
+
+"That's promised; I've had my lesson. I think I'll ask Lisle to take me
+with him when he goes back to Canada. He and Nasmyth are the only men
+worth speaking of I've met for a long while. When Lisle first came here I
+tried to patronize him."
+
+Bella laughed, rather feebly, but she wanted to relieve the tension.
+
+"It was like you. But we'll go in. This is our secret, Jim. Nobody would
+believe you if you let fall a hint as to what really happened, and there
+are many reasons why you shouldn't. I think you said nobody else could
+have suspected?"
+
+"Nasmyth hadn't come up when the chestnut reached the hurdles; he was the
+nearest. Lisle was down with the horse upon him. He couldn't have seen
+anything."
+
+"Well," she decided, "perhaps that's fortunate. It isn't likely that
+Gladwyne will get such an opportunity again, and at the worst he acted on
+the spur of the moment."
+
+The lad nodded. He had felt that silence would entail some responsibility,
+but Bella accepted it without uneasiness. She seldom showed any hesitation
+when she had decided on a course.
+
+In the meanwhile, Gladwyne had spent a miserable day, alternating between
+horror of himself and doubts about the future. Jim Crestwick's
+description of the incident was correct--Gladwyne had ridden straight at
+the broken hurdle, knowing what the consequences might be and
+disregarding them. The next moment, however, the reaction had begun and
+he was thankful that he had not committed a hideous crime. Indeed, the
+knowledge that he had come so near to killing his opponent had left him
+badly shaken. He wondered at his insensate action until he recollected
+how he had once stood beside an opened cache in Canada, and then,
+ignoring his manifest duty, had hurried on through the frozen wilderness.
+On that occasion he had been accountable for his cousin's death, and now
+Lisle had very narrowly escaped.
+
+Yet he could with justice acquit himself of any premeditated intention in
+either case; fate had thrust him into a situation he was not strong
+enough to grapple with. Dreading Lisle, as he did, his chief thought had
+been for his own safety when he saw the bay blunder at the leap. To save
+the Canadian he must take a serious personal risk, which was foreign to
+his nature, and though a recognition of the fact that the death of the
+fallen man would be a great relief to him had been clearly in his mind,
+it was impossible to say how far it had actuated him.
+
+He had grown more collected when he sat in his library as dusk was
+closing in, considering other aspects of the affair. He had not seen
+Crestwick, and Lisle, he thought, would remember nothing except his fall.
+After trying to recall the positions of the others, he felt comforted;
+nobody could charge him with anything worse than reckless riding or a
+failure of nerve at a critical moment. He would confess to the latter--it
+was to some extent the truth--and show concern about Lisle's injury.
+Awkward as it was, the incident could be smothered over; it was consoling
+to remember that the people he lived among were addicted to treating
+anything of an unpleasant nature as lightly as possible. There was a good
+deal to be said for the sensible English custom of ignoring what it would
+be disconcerting to realize.
+
+After a while his mother came in and gently touched him.
+
+"My dear," she urged, "you mustn't brood over it. Lisle's condition's
+satisfactory. As it's some hours since we got Nasmyth's message, I sent a
+man over and he has just come back."
+
+"I'm glad you sent," Gladwyne responded. "It was thoughtful. I forgot;
+but I've been badly troubled."
+
+She sat down near him, with her hand laid caressingly on his arm.
+
+"It's natural; I understand and feel for you. I wouldn't have liked you
+to be indifferent; but you mustn't make too much of it. The man is
+strong, he will soon be about again, and you couldn't have saved him.
+Everybody I've seen so far has given me that impression. Of course, I
+didn't need their assurances, but I was glad to see they exonerated and
+sympathized with you."
+
+Her confidence hurt him; he had still a sense of shame, and he found no
+great comfort in what she told him. His mother was generally loved, and
+he wondered how far his neighbors had been influenced by a desire to save
+her pain.
+
+"It looks as if Lisle deserves their commiseration more than I do," he
+answered with a smile which cost him an effort.
+
+"It is being shown. I noticed nearly everybody in the neighborhood
+motoring or driving toward the house during the afternoon. Millicent's
+with Nasmyth now, helping to arrange things. It's wonderful what a
+favorite Lisle has become in so short a time; but I own that I find
+something very likable about him."
+
+Gladwyne moved impatiently. His hatred of the man was as strong as ever,
+and his mother's attempts at consolation irritated him. Lisle was too
+popular; first Bella and now Millicent had taken him in hand.
+
+"Millicent," Mrs. Gladwyne went on, "is an exceptional woman in every
+desirable respect. I think you have long been as convinced of that as I
+am."
+
+"I'm afraid she can't have an equally favorable opinion of me," he said
+with a short laugh.
+
+"One does not look for perfection in a man," his mother informed him
+seriously. "He is criticized much less severely than a woman. It seems to
+be the universal rule, though I have sometimes thought it wasn't
+absolutely just and that it had its drawbacks. It's one of the things the
+women who go out and speak are declaiming against and something one of
+them lately said sticks in my mind." She sighed as she added: "The times
+are changing; there was no need to consider such questions in your
+father's case. He was the soul of honor--you were very young when death
+parted us."
+
+She did not always express herself clearly, but Gladwyne saw that she did
+not place him in the same category as his father and he recognized her
+half-formulated thought that it would have been better had he grown up
+under the latter's firmer guidance.
+
+"Wonders never cease, mother," he responded with an attempt at lightness.
+"It's difficult to imagine your being influenced by the latest
+propaganda. I thought you shuddered at it."
+
+"Well," she said, "I was forgetting what I meant to talk about, drifting
+away from the subject; I'm afraid it's a habit of mine. What I have long
+felt is that it would be so desirable if you married suitably."
+
+"The trouble is to define the suitability. It's a point upon which
+everybody has a different opinion."
+
+"I would choose a girl of good family and education for you, one with a
+well-balanced will, who could see what was right and cling to it. Still,
+she must be wise and gentle; a tactful, considerate guide; and though
+means are not of first importance, they are not to be despised."
+
+Gladwyne leaned back in his chair with a laugh that had in it a tinge of
+irritation.
+
+"Are such girls numerous? But why do you insist on a will and the power
+of guiding? It looks as if you thought I needed it. Sometimes you're the
+reverse of flattering."
+
+His mother looked troubled; she would have wounded no living creature
+unnecessarily.
+
+"My dear, it's not always easy to express what one feels, and I dare say
+I'm injudicious in choosing my words. But your welfare is very near to my
+heart."
+
+"I know that," he answered gently. "But you were not describing an
+imaginary paragon. Hadn't you Millicent in your mind?"
+
+"I should be very happy if I could welcome her as my daughter. I should
+feel that you were safe then."
+
+There was a thrill of regret in her voice that touched him. It hinted
+that she blamed herself for omissions and lack of wisdom in his
+upbringing. Besides, her confidence in any one who had won her respect,
+as Millicent had done, was bestowed so generously.
+
+"I'm afraid I've often given you trouble, and I do you little credit
+now," he said. "But, as to the other matter, one can't be sure that
+Millicent would welcome the idea. Of late I've had a suspicion that she
+hasn't a very high opinion of me."
+
+"You could hardly expect to gain it by devoting yourself to Miss
+Crestwick."
+
+The man smiled rather grimly.
+
+"If it's any consolation to you, I'm inclined to think that Miss
+Crestwick has let me drop. The truth's not very flattering, but I can't
+hide it."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne's relief was obvious, but she had more to say and she
+ventured upon it with some courage.
+
+"If you would only get rid of Batley too!"
+
+"I can hardly do that just now; he's useful in several ways. Still, of
+course, if I married--"
+
+He broke off abruptly, for his mother had occasional flashes of
+discernment.
+
+"Millicent has means," she said.
+
+He started at this, wondering how much she had guessed, but he veiled his
+embarrassment with a smile.
+
+"Well," he acknowledged, "means, as you most wisely remarked, are not to
+be despised, and mine are unfortunately small."
+
+She saw that she had said enough and she left him sitting in the
+darkening room thinking rather hard. Bella had thrown him over when he
+had refused to help her brother, and there were many ways in which
+Millicent appealed to him. Besides, she could free him of his debt to
+Batley, which was a thing greatly to be desired. She had shown that she
+did not blame him severely for the accident at the hurdles, but he
+realized that in trying to comfort him she had been prompted by pity for
+his dejected mood, and it was clear that the part he had played was
+scarcely likely to raise him in her esteem. This was unfortunate, but he
+would not dwell on it; there were other points to consider and anything
+that served to divert his thoughts from the unfortunate affair was a vast
+relief.
+
+When at last he rose he had partly recovered his usual equanimity and had
+decided that he would watch for some sign of Millicent's feelings toward
+him. He was aware that they had somewhat changed, but this was to a large
+extent his fault, and with caution and patience he thought it might be
+possible to reinstate himself in her favor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+GLADWYNE GAINS A POINT
+
+
+Some weeks had passed since the accident and Lisle was lying one
+afternoon on a couch near a window of Nasmyth's sitting-room. Two or
+three Canadian newspapers lay on the floor and he held a few letters in
+one hand. The prospect outside was cheerless--a stretch of leaden-colored
+moor running back into a lowering sky, with a sweep of fir wood that had
+lost all distinctive coloring in the foreground. He was gazing at it
+moodily when Millicent came in. His face brightened at the sight of her,
+and he raised himself awkwardly with his uninjured arm, but she shook her
+head at him in reproof.
+
+"You had orders to keep as quiet as possible for some time yet. Lie down
+again!"
+
+"Keeping quiet is fast breaking me up," he protested. "I'm quite able to
+move about."
+
+"All the same, you're not to try."
+
+He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes.
+
+"Then I suppose I'll have to give in. You're a determined person. People
+do what you ask them without resenting it. You have an instance here,
+though in a general way it's a very undignified thing to be ordered
+about."
+
+He resumed his former position and she seated herself.
+
+"I don't see why you should drag my character in," she objected with a
+smile. "Other people who occasionally obey me don't say such things."
+
+"They're English; that accounts for a good deal. I'm inclined to think my
+power of expressing my feelings on any point is a gift, though it's one
+that's not uncommon in the West."
+
+"Doesn't it presuppose an assurance that any one you address must be
+interested in your views?"
+
+"I deserve that," he laughed; "but you're not quite right. We say, in
+effect, 'These are my sentiments, but I won't be down-hearted if you
+haven't the sense to agree with them.' The last, however, doesn't apply
+to you."
+
+"Thank you for the explanation," she rejoined. "But why do you insist on
+a national difference? You're really English, aren't you, in Canada?"
+
+"No," he answered; "you and the others who talk in that strain are
+mistaken. We're a brand new nation still fusing and fuming in the
+melting-pot. The elements are inharmonious in some respects--French from
+the Laurentian littoral, Ontario Scots, Americans, Scandinavians,
+Teutons, Magyars, Slavs. The English element's barely strong enough to
+temper the mixture; the land's too wide and the people too varied for
+British traditions to bind. When the cooling amalgam's run out it will be
+into a fresh mold."
+
+"One made in Pennsylvania, or wherever the American foundries are?"
+
+"They run the one you have in mind at Washington. You understand things a
+good deal better than many people I've talked to here; but you're not
+right yet. If Canadians deliberately chose the American mold because it
+was American, a number of us would kick; but the cause is a bigger one
+than that. From Texas to Athabasca, from Florida to Labrador, pretty much
+the same elemental forces are fanning the melting fires. We have the same
+human raw material; we've much the same problems to tackle; the
+conditions are, or soon will be, pretty similar. It's only natural that
+the result should be more or less identical. I've said nothing yet about
+our commercial and social relations with our neighbors."
+
+"But doesn't England count?"
+
+"Morally, yes. It's your part to keep our respect and show us a clean
+lead."
+
+"After all," she rejoined, "you, in particular, are essentially English
+by connection with the part of the country you're now staying in."
+
+He smiled curiously.
+
+"So you or Nasmyth have been tracing up the family!"
+
+"No," she replied with a little sharpness. "Why should I have done so? Of
+course, we knew the name; and you have relations living at no great
+distance. I understand Nasmyth got a hint that they would be glad to
+receive you."
+
+"Let it go at that," he answered. "My father was cast out because he
+dared to think for himself and my mother was Canadian born. I'm a unit in
+the new nation; one of the rank and file."
+
+She considered this for a moment or two. It was hardly an English point
+of view, but--for his family had long been one of station--there was a
+hint of pride that struck her as rather fine about this renunciation. It
+was a risky thing to insist on being taken at one's intrinsic value,
+stripped of all accidental associations that might enhance it, but she
+thought he need not shrink from the hazard. Now and then he spoke with
+slightly injudicious candor, and sometimes too vehemently, but in
+essential matters he displayed an admirable delicacy of feeling and she
+recognized in him a sterling sense of honor.
+
+"I've broken loose again and you're feeling shocked," he said humorously.
+"It's your own fault; you have a way of making one talk. There's no use
+in discoursing to people who don't understand. However--and it's much
+more important--how's the book getting on?"
+
+"More important than my wounded susceptibilities?" Millicent laughed.
+"But we won't mind them. I'm pleased to say I've heard from the
+publishers that it's in strong request. Indeed, they add, rather
+superfluously, that the demand is somewhat remarkable, considering the
+nature of the work."
+
+Lisle laughed at this.
+
+"Any more reviews?"
+
+She handed him several and he noticed the guarded, unenthusiastic tone of
+the first two.
+
+"These are the people who prefer a thing like a catalogue. This fellow
+says the first portion of the book shows most care in particulars and
+classification--it's what one would expect from him. That was your
+brother's work, I think. He was not an imaginative person."
+
+"No," replied Millicent. "He was eminently practical and methodical."
+
+"There's a great deal to be said in favor of that kind of man. You can
+trust him when it's a case of grappling with practical difficulties. But
+I feel quite angry with the next reviewer. 'The illustrations are rather
+impressionist drawings than a useful guide to identification.' The fellow
+would no doubt rather have those stiff, colored plates which are about as
+like the real, breathing creature as a stuffed specimen in a museum."
+
+Millicent was pleased with his indignation, but his disgusted expression
+changed as he read the next cutting.
+
+"Now," he exclaimed, "we're arriving at the sound sense of ordinary
+people, lovers of nature who're not naturalists. This man's enthusiastic;
+the next review's even better!" He took up the others and there was keen
+satisfaction in his eyes when he laid them down. "Great!" he ejaculated.
+"I expected it. You've made your mark!"
+
+The girl thrilled with pleasure; his delight at her success was so
+genuine.
+
+"Well," she told him, "the publishers suggest that I undertake another
+and more ambitious work. I've often thought that I should like to do so.
+The lonely country between the Rockies and the Pacific has a peculiar
+interest to me and I've long had a desire to follow my brother's trail. I
+don't think it's a morbid wish--somehow I feel impelled to go."
+
+"It's a beautiful, wild land, and the creatures that inhabit it are among
+the finest in the world. You promised to let me be your guide, and you
+should take Nasmyth, too; he's a man to be depended on. You could start
+in the early summer next year."
+
+She smiled at his eagerness; but he suddenly grew thoughtful.
+
+"It's curious how events seem to have started beside those lonely
+river-reaches among the rocks," he remarked. "It was there that I got to
+know Nasmyth, and through him I met you. It was there that I learned
+something about your brother and Clarence Gladwyne. The drama began in
+those wilds and I've a feeling that it will end among them."
+
+"The drama?" she queried, and he was conscious that he had made a slip.
+
+"Well," he answered, "before we crossed the big divide I wasn't aware of
+your existence, and I'd only a hazy idea that I might come to England
+some day. Now, if I may say it, I've joined your group of friends and
+entered into their lives. One feels it can't have sprung from nothing; it
+isn't blind chance."
+
+She mused for a few moments.
+
+"It's strange," she asserted, "but I've had something of the same
+feeling. You seem to have become a part of things, a connecting link
+between us all--Mrs. Gladwyne, Clarence, Nasmyth, and even young
+Crestwick. One could almost fancy that some mysterious agency were
+working upon us through you."
+
+He did not wish her to pursue this train of thought too far.
+
+"I've promised to take Jim Crestwick back with me," he said. "I'm going
+as soon as I'm fit to get about."
+
+"Going back, in a few weeks?"
+
+"Yes. In many ways, I'm sorry; but I've had some letters that show it's
+needful. Business calls."
+
+She made no reply for some moments. There was no doubt that she would
+miss him badly, and she recalled the strange and tense anxiety of which
+she had been conscious when he had fallen at the hurdles.
+
+"We have come to look upon you as one of us," she told him simply.
+"Somehow we never contemplated your going away, and now it seems an
+almost unnatural thing."
+
+"It would be, if I broke off the connection with my English friends, but
+I think that can't be done. We're to see more of each other; I'm to be
+your guide when you come out next year."
+
+"It's very likely that I shall come."
+
+She left him shortly after this and walked home in a thoughtful mood,
+regretting his approaching departure and pondering over what he had said.
+With reflection it became clearer that she had entertained the same idea
+as his. He and she and the others he mentioned were not acting and
+reacting upon one another casually; it was all a part of a purpose,
+leading up to something that still lay unrevealed on the knees of
+destiny. Perhaps he had been right in speaking of a drama; it suggested a
+sequence of prearranged events, springing from George's death. Reaching
+home, she endeavored to banish these thoughts, which were vaguely
+troublesome, but Miss Hume found her preoccupied and absent-minded during
+the evening.
+
+The following day she went over to see Mrs. Gladwyne and was asked to
+wait until her return. Shortly afterward, Clarence entered the room where
+she was sitting, and she alluded to her visit to Lisle.
+
+"He is going back as soon as he can stand the journey," she said.
+
+Gladwyne made an abrupt movement and she noticed with surprise and some
+indignation the relief in his expression. Though the men had not been on
+very cordial terms, it puzzled her.
+
+"You don't attempt to conceal your satisfaction," she commented. "Isn't
+it a little ungenerous?"
+
+His effort to recover his composure was obvious, but he answered her
+quietly.
+
+"I'm afraid it is. After the accident--I think I was partly blamed for
+that--he behaved very well; told everybody about the slippery ground and
+said what he could to exonerate me."
+
+"I didn't mean to refer to that matter," explained Millicent. She knew
+that it was a painful one to him.
+
+"Still," he resumed, "even if it's ungrateful, I am rather glad he's
+going."
+
+"'Rather glad' hardly seems to describe it; you looked overjoyed."
+
+"Don't be severe, Millicent. Let me explain. Since Lisle came over,
+nothing has been quite the same. He got hold of you and Nasmyth and the
+others, and in a way alienated you from me. I don't mean he did it with
+deliberate intention, but he took up your time and monopolized your
+interest. I've seen much less of both of you."
+
+"And, of late, of the Crestwicks."
+
+"Oh," he returned in his most casual manner, "I shouldn't have had much
+more of their company in any case. Jim's going to Canada and Bella to
+Sussex. I understand from Marple that it will be some time before she
+visits us again."
+
+Millicent was glad to hear it, but she made no comment.
+
+"It's unreasonable to blame Lisle," Gladwyne went on; "though he did make
+some unpleasantness with Batley; but I have had so many annoyances and
+troubles since he arrived. Everything has been going wrong and I can't
+disassociate him from the unfortunate tendency."
+
+He sat where the light fell upon his face, and Millicent, studying it,
+was stirred to compassion, which was always ready with her. He looked
+harassed and nervous, as if he had borne a heavy strain, and she knew
+that the accident had preyed upon his mind. That, she thought, was to his
+credit. In addition to this, she had suspected that he was threatened
+with financial difficulties. The man had a dangerous gift of rousing
+women's interest and sympathy.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said with sincere feeling. "You should go away for a
+time. You need a change."
+
+"I've thought of it; but I'm afraid I've been neglecting things lately
+and there's a good deal that needs straightening up--farm buildings to be
+looked to, the stream to dyke in the low ground, and that draining
+scheme."
+
+It was not all acting; he had meant to give those matters some attention
+when he found it convenient, and she was far from suspicious and was
+quick to take the most favorable view of any one. That he recognized his
+duties and intended to discharge them gratified her.
+
+"I think," she told him, "that if you undertake these things in earnest,
+you'll be better for the occupation; and they certainly need looking
+after."
+
+"I've been slack," he owned. "I seemed to lose interest and, as I said,
+I've had difficulties to distract me."
+
+He had struck the right note again. Anything of the nature of a
+confession or appeal for sympathy seldom failed to stir her.
+
+"In fact," he resumed, "I'm not clear of troubles now. If I do half that
+I'm asked to do, it will nearly ruin me, and I don't know where to begin.
+I haven't any great confidence in Grierson's advice; he doesn't seem to
+grip things readily."
+
+"The trouble is that he has his favorites," she said bluntly. "I don't
+think he suffers from any lack of understanding."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+It was unpleasant, but she had courage and the man was doing Clarence
+harm.
+
+"Well, there are people who can get very much what they ask Grierson for,
+in the shape of repairs and improvements, whether they need it or not."
+
+"At my expense, while the rest get less than they should have?"
+
+"A number of your tenants have got practically nothing for some years.
+It's false economy; you'll have to lay out twice as much as would keep
+them here satisfied, when they leave you in disgust."
+
+She supplied him with several instances of neglect, and a few clever
+suggestions, and he looked at her in admiration which was only partly
+assumed.
+
+"What an administrator you would have made!" he exclaimed. "The place
+would thrive in your hands and everybody be content. It's obvious, quite
+apart from his good qualities, why George was so popular."
+
+Millicent did not suspect him of an intent to flatter her, and she
+recognized that there was truth in what he said. She knew everybody on
+the estate and knew their most pressing needs, and she undoubtedly
+possessed the power of management. She had a keen discernment and could
+arrive at a quick and just decision.
+
+"Clarence," she said, "I shouldn't advise you to take the business
+altogether out of Grierson's hands. He's honest, so far as you are
+concerned, and one or two of the hardest things he did were by your
+orders."
+
+"You mean the Milburn and Grainger affair?" He showed a little
+embarrassment. "Well, perhaps I was hasty then, but they would have
+exasperated a much more patient man. I sometimes feel that I can't please
+these people, whatever I do."
+
+She smiled at this.
+
+"They're not effusive, but they're loyal once you win their confidence.
+But, to go back to Grierson--let him collect payments and handle the
+money, but don't ask his advice as to how you will lay it out. Look
+around, inquire into things, and trust your own judgment."
+
+He turned to her beseechingly.
+
+"I can't trust it in these matters--it hasn't been cultivated. If I'm to
+keep out of further trouble and do any good, you must help me."
+
+Millicent hesitated. It was not a little thing he asked. To guide him
+aright would need thought and patient investigation. Still, there was, as
+she had said, so much to be done--abuses to be abolished, houses to be
+made habitable, burdens to be lifted from shoulders unable to carry them.
+There was also land the yield from which could be increased by a very
+moderate expenditure. She would enjoy the power to do these things which
+the man's demand for help offered her, but she was more stirred by his
+desire to redeem past neglect and set right his failures.
+
+"Well," she promised, "you shall have my candid advice whenever you need
+it."
+
+He showed his gratitude, but he was conscious of a satisfaction that had
+no connection with the welfare of his estate. He would have a legitimate
+excuse for seeing her often; the work jointly undertaken would lead to a
+closer confidence. He had always cherished a certain tenderness for her;
+he must marry somebody with money before long; and though Millicent's
+means were not so large as Bella's, they were not contemptible. He had
+not the honesty to let these thoughts obtrude themselves, but they
+nevertheless hovered at the back of his mind. It was more graceful to
+reflect that Millicent possessed refinement, a degree of beauty, and many
+most desirable qualities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MRS. GLADWYNE'S TEMPTATION
+
+
+Clarence had gone away with Batley when Lisle called on Mrs. Gladwyne.
+She was leaving home for a visit on the following day and he wished to
+say good-by, and, if an opportunity offered, to ask her opinion upon a
+matter he had at heart. She was not a clever woman, but there were points
+on which he thought her judgment could be trusted. He was told that she
+would be occupied for a few minutes and was shown into her drawing-room.
+He sat down to wait and, though he was familiar with the house, he looked
+about him with an interest for which there was a reason. The room had
+always impressed him by its size and loftiness, and it did so more than
+ever that afternoon.
+
+The floor was of hardwood, polished to a glossy luster by the hands of
+several generations, and the rugs scattered here and there emphasized its
+extent. Most of the furniture was old, and the few articles apparently
+bought in later times harmonized with it. The faded ceiling had been
+painted with Cupid's trailing ribands, he judged by some artist of the
+period shortly preceding the French Revolution, and two or three Arcadian
+figures hinted at the same date. There were other things--a luster
+chandelier, quaintly-wrought hearth-irons, a carved wood mantel--that
+posited to bygone days.
+
+It all impressed him with a sense of the continuity of English traditions
+and mode of life, as applied to such families as the Gladwynes. Cradled
+in a degree of luxury which nevertheless differed from modern profusion
+and ostentation, steeped in a slightly austere refinement, he could
+understand their shrinking from sudden chance and clinging to the customs
+of the past. They were all, so far as he had seen, characterized by the
+possession of high qualities, with the exception of Clarence, whom he
+regarded as a reversion to a baser type; but he thought that they would
+suffer if uprooted and transplanted in a less sheltered and less
+cultivated soil. Inherited instincts were difficult to subdue; he was
+conscious of their influence. He came from a new land where he had often
+toiled for a dollar or two daily, but a love and veneration for the
+ancient English homes in which his people had lived was growing strong in
+him.
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne did not appear, but he had a good deal to think of and was
+content to wait. He had grown fond of the stately lady and it was,
+indeed, largely for her sake that he had decided not to reveal for a
+while what he knew about the tragedy in British Columbia. He could not
+absolutely prove his version of the affair, and it would bring distress
+upon the mother of the offender; he had already waited two years and,
+though he felt that his dead comrade had a strong claim on him, he could
+wait a little longer. Fate might place conclusive evidence in his hands
+or remove some of his difficulties. Besides, he must go back as soon as
+possible to the Canadian North, and in one respect he was very loath to
+do this.
+
+At last he heard a footstep and his hostess came in. Her dress was not of
+the latest fashion, but it somehow struck him as out of place; she ought
+to have been attired in the mode of a century ago, with powder in her
+hair. Nevertheless, fragile as she was, with her fine carriage and her
+gracious smile, she made an attractive picture in the ancient room.
+
+"I've come on an unpleasant errand--to say good-by--and to thank you for
+many favors shown to a stranger," he said.
+
+"I think you were never that from the beginning," she told him. "By and
+by we learned the reason--you really belong to us."
+
+He made a gesture of humorous expostulation.
+
+"I like to believe that I belong here, but not because of the explanation
+you give. It doesn't seem to be much to my credit that my forefathers
+lived in this part of the country; I'd rather be taken on my actual
+merits, if that isn't, too egotistical."
+
+"They did live here," she rejoined. "You can't get over that--it has its
+influence."
+
+It was the point of view he had expected her to take.
+
+"We are very sorry you are going," she continued; "somehow we hardly
+anticipated it. Have you ever thought of coming back for good?"
+
+She was unconsciously giving him the lead he desired, but he would not
+seize it precipitately; he was half afraid.
+
+"No," he answered, smiling; "my work's out yonder. I couldn't sit idle. I
+think Miss Gladwyne hit it when she told me that I was one of the
+pioneers."
+
+His hostess showed more comprehension than he had looked for.
+
+"Yes; I set you down as one of the men who prefer heat and cold, want of
+food, and toil, to the comforts they could have at home. I have met a
+few, sons of my old friends, and heard of others. After all, we have a
+good many of them in England."
+
+"Troublesome people, aren't they? What do you do with them?"
+
+"Let them go. How do we rule India and hold so much of Africa? How did we
+open up Canada for you?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+"That's right. It doesn't matter that in respect to Canada the sons of
+Highland peasants did their share; the Hudson Bay people and the
+Laurentian Frenchmen showed us the way. We found out what kind of men
+they were when we went in after them."
+
+There was silence for a few moments and he glanced at her with
+admiration. The honorable pride of caste she had shown strongly appealed
+to him. She stood for all that was fine in the old regime, and once more
+he wondered how such a woman could have borne such a son.
+
+"I'm returning because business calls," he explained. "My means won't
+keep me in idleness, and that fact has a bearing on the question as to
+whether I'll ever come back again. It's a very momentous one to me."
+
+She waited, noticing with some surprise the sudden tenseness of his
+expression, until he spoke again, hesitatingly.
+
+"You are the only person I can come to for advice. I'd be grateful for
+your opinion."
+
+"I'll try to give it carefully," she promised.
+
+"Well," he said, "the life you people lead here has its attractions; they
+must be strong to you. It would be hard to break with all its
+associations, to face one that was new and different; I mean for a woman
+to do so?"
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, seeing the drift of his remarks at last. "You had
+better tell me whom you are thinking of."
+
+"Millicent."
+
+She started. This was a painful surprise, though she now wondered why she
+had never suspected it. He had met the girl frequently before his
+accident, and she had since gone over to Nasmyth's to talk with him now
+and then; yet, for some not very obvious reason, nobody seemed to have
+contemplated the possibility of his falling in love with her. Mrs.
+Gladwyne had undoubtedly not done so, and she was filled with alarm. It
+was most desirable that Millicent should marry Clarence.
+
+"How long have you had this in your mind?" she asked.
+
+"That is more than I can tell you," he answered thoughtfully. "I admired
+her greatly the first time I saw her; I admired her more when we made
+friends, but I don't think I went much farther for a while. In Tact, I
+believe it was only when I knew I must go back soon that I realized how
+strong a hold she had on me, and then I fought against yielding. The
+difficulties to be got over looked so serious."
+
+"Has Millicent any suspicion of your regard for her?" It was an important
+question and Mrs. Gladwyne waited in suspense for his reply.
+
+"Not the slightest, so far as I can tell. I tried to hide my feelings
+until I could come to a decision as to what I ought to do."
+
+This was satisfactory, provided that his supposition was correct, and his
+companion could imagine his exercising a good deal of self-repression.
+
+"What is your fear?" she asked.
+
+"Well, I'm rough and unpolished compared with Nasmyth and the rest, but
+with her large mind she might overlook that. I couldn't live here as
+Nasmyth and Clarence do; I'm not rich enough. My wife, if I marry, must
+come out West with me, and I might have to be away from her for months
+now and then. I don't know that I could even establish myself in
+Victoria, where she would find something resembling your English society.
+Besides, my small share of prosperity might come to an end; I'm going
+back now, sooner than I expected, because there are business difficulties
+to be grappled with."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne nodded. She could follow his thought, but after a pause he
+continued.
+
+"What troubles me most is that Millicent seems so much in harmony with
+her surroundings. We have nothing like them in Canada--anyway, not in the
+West. Whether ours are better or worse doesn't affect the case; they're
+widely different. There is much she would have to give up; what I could
+offer her in place of it would be new and strange, less finished, less
+refined. Could a woman of your station stand it? Would she suffer from
+being torn adrift from the associations that surround her here?"
+
+His companion considered. Allowing for his generosity in thinking first
+of Millicent, he was a little too practical and dispassionate. She did
+not think he was very greatly in love with the girl as yet, and that was
+consoling. What Millicent thought she did not know, but in many respects
+the man was eminently likable. Mrs. Gladwyne had grown fond of him; but
+that must not be allowed to stand in her son's way. Clarence came before
+anybody else.
+
+"I feel my responsibility," she said slowly. "Would you act on my
+advice?"
+
+"I think so--it might be hard. Anyway, I'd try."
+
+She hesitated. The man had won her respect. Had she been wholly free from
+extraneous influences she might, perhaps, have counseled him to make the
+venture, but half-consciously she tried to see only the shadows in the
+picture he had drawn.
+
+"Well," she answered him, "until two years ago Millicent lived in this
+house--that must have had its effect on her."
+
+"Yes," he agreed; "she shows it. These old places set their stamp on
+people--it's very plain on you."
+
+Mrs. Gladwyne saw that he understood, but she felt half guilty as she
+proceeded:
+
+"You admit that you could not give her anything of this kind in Canada?"
+
+He laughed rather grimly.
+
+"No; our homes were built yesterday, and we move on rapidly--they'll be
+pulled down again to-morrow. I'll own that our ideas and manners are in
+the same unfinished, transitory stage. We haven't been able to sit down
+and learn how to be graceful."
+
+She made a sign of comprehension, though her reluctance to proceed grew
+stronger. He was very honest and there was pain in his face.
+
+"Millicent," she said, "is essentially one of us, used to what we
+consider needful, bred to our ways. The endless small amenities which
+make life smooth here have always surrounded her. Can you imagine her,
+for instance, living with the Marples?"
+
+"No," he replied harshly; "I can't."
+
+"Then do you think it would be wise to take her to Canada?"
+
+"I have thought she would not mind giving up many things she values, if
+one could win her affection."
+
+"That is very true; but it doesn't get over the difficulty. It isn't so
+very hard to nerve oneself to make a sacrifice, it's the facing of the
+inevitable results when the reaction sets in that tells. She would
+continually miss something she had been used to and she would long for
+it."
+
+He sat silent for nearly a minute, with his face set hard, and then he
+looked up.
+
+"If Millicent were your daughter, would you let her go?"
+
+Again Mrs. Gladwyne hesitated. His confidence hurt her; she shrank from
+delivering what she thought would be the final blow, but she strove to
+assure herself that she was acting in Millicent's best interest.
+
+"No," she answered, "not unless she was passionately attached to the man
+who wished to take her out, and then I should do my utmost to dissuade
+her."
+
+He made no answer for a few moments. Then slowly he rose.
+
+"Thank you," he said gravely. "I'm afraid you're right. It's generally
+hard to do what one ought. Well,"--he took the hand she held out--"I'm
+grateful to you in many ways and I'd like you to remember me now and
+then."
+
+She let him go, and crossing the room to a window, she watched him stride
+down the drive with a swift, determined gait. He might be tried severely,
+but there was little fear of this man's resolution deserting him. She
+was, however, troubled by a recurrence of the unpleasant sense of guilt
+when he disappeared; it was difficult to persuade herself that she had
+been quite honest, and the difficulty was new to her.
+
+In the meanwhile Lisle walked on rapidly, disregarding the ache that the
+motion started in his injured arm and shoulder. In his dejected mood, the
+twinge at every step was something of a welcome distraction. Since a
+sacrifice must be made, it should, he resolved, be made by him; Millicent
+should not suffer, though he admitted that he had no reason for supposing
+that she would have been willing to do so. She had never shown him more
+than confidence and friendliness, and it was only during the past few
+weeks that he had ventured to think of the possibility of winning her.
+Even then, the thought had roused no excess of ardent passion; much as he
+desired her, a strong respect and steadfast affection were more in
+keeping with his temperament. Nevertheless, had he known that she loved
+him and he could confer benefits upon her in place of demanding a
+sacrifice, he would have been strangely hard to deter.
+
+On his return, Nasmyth met him at the door.
+
+"Where have you been?" he asked with some indignation.
+
+"To Mrs. Gladwyne's," Lisle informed him.
+
+"You walked to the house, after what Irvine said when you insisted on his
+taking the bandages off?"
+
+"I took them off; he only protested. Anyway, I didn't break my leg."
+
+Nasmyth noticed his gloomy expression.
+
+"Well," he responded, "I suppose there was very little use in warning you
+to keep quiet; but you look as if you had suffered for your rashness."
+
+"That's true," answered the Canadian with a grim smile. "After all, it's
+what usually happens, isn't it?"
+
+They went in, Nasmyth a little puzzled by his companion's manner; but
+Lisle offered no explanation of its cause.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE LAST AFTERNOON
+
+
+It was a bright day when Lisle took his leave of the Marples. They gave
+him a friendly farewell and when he turned away Bella Crestwick walked
+with him down the drive.
+
+"I don't care what they think; I couldn't talk to you while they were all
+trying to say something nice," she explained. "Still, to do them justice,
+I believe they meant it. We are sorry to part with you."
+
+"It's soothing to feel that," Lisle replied. "In many ways, I'm sorry to
+go. I've no doubt you'll miss your brother after to-morrow."
+
+"Yes," she said with unusual seriousness. "More than once during the last
+two years I felt that it would be a relief to let somebody else have the
+responsibility of looking after him, but now that the time has come I'm
+sorry he's going. I can't help remembering how often I lost my temper,
+and the mistakes I made."
+
+"You stuck to your task," commended Lisle. "I dare say it was a hard one,
+almost beyond you now and then."
+
+He knew that he was not exaggerating. She was only a year older than the
+wilful lad, who must at times have driven her to despair. Yet she had
+never faltered in her efforts to restrain and control him; and had made a
+greater sacrifice for his sake than Lisle suspected, though in the light
+of a subsequent revelation of Gladwyne's character she was thankful for
+this.
+
+"Well," she replied, "I suppose that one misses a load one has grown used
+to, and I feel very downcast. It's hardly fair to pass Jim on to you--but
+I can trust you to take care of him."
+
+"You can trust the work and the country," Lisle corrected her with a
+trace of grimness. "He's not going out to be idle, as he'll discover.
+There's nothing like short commons and steady toil for taming any one.
+You'll see the effect of my prescription when I send him back again."
+
+"He has physical pluck. I'm glad to remember it; and he has shown signs
+of steadying since he found Gladwyne out."
+
+Lisle looked at her searchingly.
+
+"Since he found Gladwyne out?"
+
+"Oh," she answered, seeing that she had been incautious, "he rather
+idolized the man, and I suppose it was painful to discover by accident
+that he wasn't quite all he thought him. Now, however, he has transferred
+his homage to you--I'm afraid Jim must always have somebody to prop
+him--but I've no misgivings."
+
+Lisle laughed.
+
+"I've seldom had the time to get into mischief; I suppose that accounts
+for a good deal."
+
+They were nearing the lodge and she stopped and held out her hand.
+
+"It's hard to say good-by; you have helped me more than you'll ever
+guess, and you won't be forgotten." Then as he held her hand with signs
+of embarrassment she laughed with something of her usual mocking manner
+and suddenly drew away. "Good-by," she added. "I was rather daring once
+and I suppose you were shocked. I can't repeat the rashness--it would
+mean more now."
+
+She walked back toward the house, and he went on. Half an hour later he
+met Millicent, who stopped to greet him.
+
+"I was on my way to call on you for the last time," he told her.
+
+There was something in his voice that troubled her, and, though she had
+expected it, she shrank from the intimation of his departure.
+
+"Then, will you come back with me?" she asked.
+
+"If you're not pressed for time, I'd rather walk across the moor, the way
+you once took me soon after I came. I'd like to look round the
+countryside again before I leave, though it will be a melancholy
+pleasure."
+
+For no very obvious reason, she hesitated. It was, however, hard to
+refuse his last request and she really wished to go.
+
+"The views are unusually good," she said, as they started on. "Wouldn't
+Nasmyth have gone with you?"
+
+"It wouldn't have been the same," he explained. "I'm storing up memories
+to take away with me and somehow Nasmyth is most clearly associated with
+Canada. When I think of him, it will be as sitting in camp beside a
+portage or holding the canoe paddle."
+
+"And you can't picture my being occupied in that way?"
+
+"No," he answered gravely; "I associate you with England--with stately
+old houses, with well-cared-for woods and quiet valleys. There's no doubt
+that your place is here."
+
+He spoke as if he were making an admission that was forced from him, and
+she endeavored to answer in a lighter manner.
+
+"It's the only one I've had an opportunity for trying."
+
+"But you love this place!"
+
+"Yes," she said; "I love it very well. Perhaps I am prejudiced, and I've
+only had a glimpse at other countries, but I feel that this is the most
+beautiful land in the world."
+
+He stopped and glanced round. From where they stood he could look out
+upon leagues of lonely brown moors running back into the distance under a
+cloudless sky. Beyond them the Scottish hills were softly penciled in
+delicate gray. There was a sense of space and vastness in the picture,
+but it was not that which spoke most plainly to him. Down on the
+far-spread low ground lay such white homesteads, built to stand for
+generations, as he had never seen in Canada; parks sprinkled with noble
+trees, amid which the gray walls of some ancient home peeped out;
+plantations made with loving care, field on field, fenced in with
+well-trimmed trimmed hedges.
+
+It was all eloquent of order, security and long-established ease; a
+strong contrast to the rugged wilderness where, in the bush and on
+treeless prairie, men never relaxed their battle with nature. In many
+ways, his was a stern country; a land of unremitting toil from which one
+desisted only long enough to eat and sleep, and he was one of the
+workers. Mrs. Gladwyne had been right--it was no place for this
+delicately nurtured girl with her sensitiveness and artistic faculties.
+
+"For those who can live as you live, it would be hard to find the equal
+of this part of England," he said. "But I'm not sure you can keep it very
+much longer as it is."
+
+"Why?" she asked.
+
+It was a relief to talk of matters of minor interest, for he dare not let
+his thoughts dwell too much on the subject that was nearest them.
+
+"Well," he replied, "there's the economic pressure, for one thing; the
+growth of your cities; the demand for food. I see land lying almost idle
+that could be made productive at a very moderate outlay. Our people often
+give nearly as much as it's worth here for no better soil."
+
+"But how do they make it pay?"
+
+He laughed.
+
+"The secret is that they expect very little--enough to eat, a shack they
+build with their own hands to sleep in--and they're willing to work
+sixteen hours out of the twenty-four."
+
+"They can't do so in winter."
+
+"The hours are shorter, but where the winter's hardest--on the open
+middle prairie--the work's more severe. There the little man spends a
+good deal of his time hauling home stove-wood or building-logs for new
+stables or barns. He has often to drive several leagues with the
+thermometer well below zero before he can find a bluff with large enough
+trees. In the Pacific Slope forests, where it's warmer, work goes on much
+as usual. The bush rancher spends his days chopping big trees in the rain
+and his nights making odd things--furniture, wagon-poles, new doors for
+his outbuildings. What you would call necessary leisure is unknown."
+
+This was not exaggeration; but he spoke of it from a desire to support
+his resolution by emphasizing the sternest aspects of western life. It
+had others more alluring: there were men who dwelt more or less at their
+ease; but they were by no means numerous, and the toilers--in city
+office, lonely bush, or sawmill--were consumed by or driven into a
+feverish activity. As one of them, it was his manifest duty to leave this
+English girl in her sheltered surroundings. There was, however, one
+remote but alluring possibility that made this a little easier--he might,
+after all, win enough to surround her with some luxury and cultured
+friends in one of the cities of the Pacific coast. Though they differed
+from those in England, they were beautiful, with their vistas of
+snow-capped mountains and the sea.
+
+"But you are not a farmer," she objected.
+
+"No; mining's my vocation and it keeps me busy. In the city, I'm at work
+long before they think of opening their London offices, and it's
+generally midnight before I've finished worrying engineers and
+contractors at their homes or hotels. In the wilds, we're more or less
+continuously grappling with rock or treacherous gravel, or out on the
+prospecting trail, while the northern summer lasts; it's then light most
+of the night. In the winter, we sometimes sleep in the snow, with the
+thermometer near the bottom of its register."
+
+Millicent shivered a little, wondering uneasily why he had taken the
+trouble to impress this upon her. It was, she thought, certainly not to
+show what he was capable of.
+
+"Are you glad to go back, or do you dread it?" she asked.
+
+"I don't dread it--it's my life, and things may be easier by and by.
+Still, I'm very loath to go."
+
+Millicent could believe that. His troubled expression confirmed it; and
+she was strangely pleased. She had never had a companion in whom she
+could have so much confidence, and she had already recognized that she
+was, in one sense of the word, growing fond of him. Indeed, she had begun
+to be curious about the feeling and to wonder whether it stopped quite
+short at liking.
+
+"Well," she told him, "I'm glad that you asked me to come with you. I
+think I was one of your first friends and I'm pleased that you should
+wish to spend part of your last day in my company."
+
+"You come first of all!"
+
+"That's flattering," she smiled. "What about Nasmyth?"
+
+"An unusually fine man, but he has his limits. You have none."
+
+"I'm not sure I quite understand you."
+
+"Then," he explained seriously, "what I think I mean is this--you're one
+of the people who somehow contrive to meet any call that is made on them.
+You would never sit down, helpless, in a trying situation; you'd find
+some way of getting over the difficulties. It's a gift more useful than
+genius."
+
+"You're rating me too highly," she answered with some embarrassment. "You
+admitted that you thought my place was here--the inference was that I
+shouldn't fit into a different one."
+
+"No," he corrected her; "you'd adapt yourself to changed conditions; but
+that wouldn't prevent your suffering in the process. Indeed, I think
+people of your kind often suffer more than the others."
+
+He was to some extent correct in his estimate of her, but she shrank from
+the direct personal application of his remarks.
+
+"Aren't the virtues you have described fairly common?" she asked. "I
+think that must be so, because they're so necessary."
+
+"In a degree, I suppose they are. You see them, perhaps, most clearly in
+such lands as mine. The pioneer has a good deal against him--frost and
+floods, hard rock and sliding snow; he must face every discomfort, hunger
+and stinging cold. The prospector crawls through tangled forests, and
+packs his stores across snowy divides; shallow shafts cave in, rude dams
+are swept away. A man worked to exhaustion on the trail runs out of
+provisions and goes on, starving; he lames himself among the rocks, sets
+his teeth and limps ahead. I've thought the capacity to do so is
+humanity's greatest attribute, but after all it's not shown in its finest
+light battling with material things. When the moral stress comes, the man
+who would face the other often fails."
+
+"Yes," she asserted; "there are barriers that can't be stormed. Merely to
+acquiesce is the hardest thing of all, but in that lies the victory."
+
+"It's a bitter one," he answered moodily.
+
+There was silence for a few minutes while they strolled on through the
+heather. Afterward, Millicent understood where his thoughts had led, but
+now she was chiefly conscious of a slight but perplexing resentment
+against the fact that he should discourse rather crude philosophy.
+Indeed, the feeling almost amounted to disappointment--it was their last
+walk, and though she did not know what she had expected from him, it was
+something different from this. Walking by her side, with his fine poise,
+his keen eyes that regarded her steadily when she spoke, and his resolute
+brown face, he appealed to her physically, and in other ways she approved
+of him. It was borne in upon her more clearly that she would miss him
+badly, and she suspected that he would not find it easy to part from her.
+In the meanwhile he recognized that she had, no doubt unconsciously,
+given him a hint--when the moral difficulties were unsurmountable one
+must quietly submit.
+
+They stopped when they reached the highest strip of moor. The sun was
+low, the vast sweep of country beneath them was fading to neutral color,
+woods, low ridges, and river valleys losing their sharpness of contour as
+the light left them. A faint cold wind sighed among the heather,
+emphasizing the desolation of the moorland.
+
+Millicent shivered.
+
+"We'll go down," Lisle said quietly; "the brightness has gone. I've had a
+great time here--something to think of as long as I live--but now it's
+over."
+
+"But you'll come back some day?" she suggested.
+
+"I may; I can't tell," he answered. "I've schemes in view, to be worked
+out in the North, that may make my return possible; but even then it
+couldn't be quite the same. Things change; one mustn't expect too much."
+
+His smile was a little forced; his mood was infectious, and an unusual
+melancholy seized upon Millicent as they moved down-hill across the long,
+sad-colored slopes of heather. Then they reached a bare wood where dead
+leaves that rustled in the rising wind lay in drifts among the withered
+fern and the slender birch trunks rose about them somberly. The light had
+almost gone, the gathering gloom reacted upon both of them, and there was
+in the girl's mind a sense of something left unsaid. Once or twice she
+glanced at her companion; his face was graver than usual and he did not
+look at her.
+
+It was quite dark when they walked down the dale beneath the leafless
+oaks, talking now with an effort about indifferent matters, until at last
+Millicent stopped at the gate of the drive to her house.
+
+"Will you come in?" she asked.
+
+"No; Nasmyth's waiting. I'm glad you came with me, but I won't say
+good-by. I'll look forward to the journey we're to make together through
+British Columbia."
+
+She held out her hand; in another moment he turned away, and she walked
+on to the house with a strange sense of depression.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+STARTLING NEWS
+
+
+It was snowing in the northern wilderness and the bitter air was filled
+with small, dry flakes, which whirled in filmy clouds athwart the red
+glow of a fire. A clump of boulders stood outlined beside a frozen river,
+and behind the boulders a growth of willows rose crusted with snow, while
+beyond them, barely distinguishable, were the stunted shapes of a few
+birches. So far the uncertain radiance reached when the fire leaped up,
+but outside it all was shut in by a dense curtain of falling snow.
+
+It had been dark for some time, and Lisle was getting anxious as he lay,
+wrapped in a ragged skin coat, in a hollow beside a boulder. A straining
+tent stood near the fire, but the big stone afforded better shelter, and
+drawing hard upon his pipe, he listened eagerly. The effort to do so was
+unpleasant as well as somewhat risky, for he had to turn back the old fur
+cap from his tingling ears; and he shivered at every variation of the
+stinging blast. There was nothing to be heard except the soft swish of
+the snow as it swirled among the stones and the hollow rumble of the
+river pouring down a rapid beneath a rent bridge of ice.
+
+The man had spent the early winter, when the snow facilitates traveling,
+in the auriferous regions of the North, arranging for the further
+development of the mineral properties under his control. That done, he
+had, returning some distance south, struck out again into the wilds to
+examine some alluvial claims in which he had been asked to take an
+interest. It was difficult to reach the first of them; and then he had
+spent several weeks in determined toil, cutting and hauling in wood to
+thaw out the frozen surface sufficiently to make investigations.
+Crestwick had accompanied him, but during the last few days he had gone
+down to a Hudson Bay post with the owners of the claim, who were
+returning satisfied with the arrangements made. His object was to obtain
+any letters that might have arrived, and Lisle, going on to look at
+another group of claims, had arranged to meet him where he had camped.
+
+It would be difficult to miss the way, for it consisted of the frozen
+river, but Crestwick should have arrived early in the afternoon and Lisle
+felt uneasy. On the whole, the Canadian was satisfied with the conduct of
+his companion. Deprived during most of the time of any opportunity for
+dissipation, scantily fed, and forced to take his share in continuous
+labor, the lad's better qualities had become manifest and he had
+responded pluckily to the demands on him. Abstinence and toil were
+already producing their refining effect. Still, he had not come back, and
+with the snow thickening, it was possible that he might not be able to
+keep to the comparatively plain track of the river. There was also the
+risk that by holding on too far when he saw the fire he might blunder in
+among the fissured ice at the foot of the rapid.
+
+Rising at length, Lisle walked toward the dangerous spot, guiding himself
+by sound, for once he was out of the firelight there was nothing to be
+seen but a white driving cloud. He knew when he had reached the
+neighborhood of the rapid by the increased clamor of the stream, and he
+crept on until he decided that he was abreast of the pool below. The
+rapid was partly frozen, but the ice was fissured and piled up at the
+tail of it.
+
+Lisle could not remember how long he waited, beating his stiffened hands
+and stumbling to and fro to keep his feet from freezing, but at last,
+though he could see nothing, he heard a crunching sound, and he called
+out sharply.
+
+"I've got here!" came the answer. "Where shall I leave the ice? Seems to
+be an opening in front of me!"
+
+It was difficult to hear through the clamor of the water and the crash of
+drifting ice; but Lisle caught the words and called again:
+
+"Turn your back on the wind and walk straight ahead!"
+
+He supposed that Crestwick was obeying him, but a few moments later he
+heard a second shout:
+
+"Brought up by another big crack!"
+
+The voice was hoarse and anxious, and Lisle, deciding that the lad was
+worn out by his journey and probably confused, bade him wait, and
+hurrying down-stream a little he moved out upon the frozen pool. He
+proceeded along it for a few minutes, calling to Crestwick and guiding
+himself by the answers; and then he stopped abruptly with a strip of
+black water close beneath his feet. On the other side was a ridge of
+rugged ice; but what lay beyond it he could not see.
+
+"I'm in among a maze of cracks; can't find any way out!" Crestwick cried,
+answering his hail.
+
+Lisle reflected rapidly as he followed up the crevasse, which showed no
+sign of narrowing. The snow was thick, the bitter wind increasing, and a
+plunge into icy water might prove disastrous. It was obvious that he must
+extricate his companion as soon as possible, but the means of
+accomplishing it was not clear. Crestwick was somewhere on the wrong side
+of the crack, which seemed to lead right across the stream toward the
+confusion of broken ridges and hummocks which, as Lisle remembered,
+fringed the opposite bank. He must endeavor to find the place where the
+lad had got across; but this was difficult, for fresh breaches and ridges
+drove him back from the edge. Presently the chasm ended in a wide opening
+filled with an inky flood, and Lisle, turning back a yard or two, braced
+himself and jumped.
+
+He made out a shapeless white object ahead, and coming to another crack
+he scrambled to the top of an ice-block and leaped again. There was a
+sharp crackle when he came down, the piece he alighted on rocked, and
+Crestwick staggered.
+
+"Look out!" he cried. "It's tilting under!"
+
+Lisle saw water lapping in upon the snow, but it flowed back, and the
+cake he had detached impinged upon the rest with a crash.
+
+"Come on!" he shouted. "The stream will jamb it fast!"
+
+They reached the larger mass and moved across it, but Lisle, clutching
+his companion's arm, bewildered and almost blinded by the snow, doubted
+if he were retracing his steps. He did not remember some of the ridges
+and ragged blocks over which they stumbled, and the smaller rents seemed
+more numerous. It was evident that Crestwick was badly worn out and they
+must endeavor to reach the bank with as little delay as possible.
+
+At last they came to the broad crevasse, farther up the stream, and Lisle
+turned to Crestwick.
+
+"Better take off your skin-coat. You'll have to jump."
+
+"I can't," said the other dejectedly. "It's not nerve--the thing's clean
+beyond me."
+
+His slack pose--for he was dimly visible amid the haze of driving
+snow--bore out his words. The long march he had made had brought him to
+the verge of exhaustion; his overtaxed muscles would respond to no
+further call on them. For a moment or two Lisle stood gazing at the dark
+water in the gap.
+
+"Then we'll look for a narrower place," he decided. "Where did you get
+across?"
+
+"I don't know. Don't remember this split, but the ice was working under
+me. Perhaps the snow had covered it and now it's fallen in."
+
+They scrambled forward, following the crevasse, but could find no means
+of passing it and now and then the ice trembled ominously. At last, when
+the opposite side projected a little, Lisle suddenly sprang out from the
+edge and alighted safely.
+
+"It's easy!" he called, stripping off his long skin coat and flinging one
+end of it across the chasm to Crestwick. "Get hold and face the jump!"
+
+It was not a time for hesitation; the exhausted lad dare not contemplate
+the gap, lest his courage fail him, and nerving himself for an effort, he
+leaped. Striking the edge on the other side, he plunged forward as Lisle
+dragged at the coat, and then rolled over in the snow. He was up in a
+moment, gasping hard, almost astonished to find himself in security, and
+Lisle led him back to the snow-covered shingle.
+
+"It strikes me as fortunate that I came to look for you," he observed.
+"You'd probably have ended by walking into the river."
+
+"Thanks," said Crestwick simply. "It isn't the first hole you've pulled
+me out of."
+
+They reached the camp and the lad, shaking the snow off his furs, sat
+down wearily on a few branches laid close to the sheltering boulder,
+while Lisle took a frying-pan and kettle off the fire, and afterward
+filled his pipe again and watched his companion while he ate. Crestwick
+had changed since he left England; his face was thinner, and the hint of
+sensuality and empty self-assurance had faded out of it. His eyes were
+less bold, but they were steadier; and, sitting in the firelight, clad in
+dilapidated furs, he looked somehow more refined than he had done in
+evening dress in Marple's billiard-room. When he spoke, as he did at
+intervals, the confident tone which had once characterized him was no
+longer evident. He had learned to place a juster estimate upon his value
+in the icy North.
+
+"I was uncommonly glad to see the fire," he said at length. "Another mile
+or two would have beaten me; though I spent nearly twice as long in
+coming up from the Forks as the prospectors said it would take. I was
+going light, too."
+
+"They've been doing this kind of thing most of their lives. You couldn't
+expect to equal them. Where did you sleep last night?"
+
+"In some withered stuff among a clump of willows; I scraped the snow off
+it. That is, I lay down there, but as the fire wouldn't burn well, I
+don't think I got much rest. Part of the time I wondered what I was
+staying in this country for. I didn't seem to find any sensible answer."
+
+"You could get out of it when the freighters go down with the dogs and
+sledges," Lisle suggested. "It would be a good deal more comfortable at
+Marple's, for instance."
+
+"Do you want to get rid of me? I suppose I'm not much help."
+
+"Oh, no!" Lisle assured him. "It only struck me that you might find the
+novelty of the experience wearing off. Besides, you're improving; in a
+year or two you'll make quite a reliable prospector's packer."
+
+"That's something," replied Crestwick, grinning. "Not long ago I thought
+I'd make a sportsman; one of Gladwyne's kind. The ambition doesn't so
+much appeal to me now. But I want to be rather more than a looker-on.
+Can't you let me put something into one of these claims?"
+
+"Not a cent! In the first place, you'd have some trouble in raising the
+money; in the second, I might be accused of playing Batley's game."
+
+"The last's ridiculous. But if I'm not to do anything, it brings me back
+to the question--why am I staying here?"
+
+"I can't tell you that. I'll only suggest that if you hold out until you
+come into your property, you'll go back much more fit in several ways to
+look after it. I should imagine you'd find less occasion to emulate
+people like Batley and Gladwyne then. Of course, I don't know if that's
+worth waiting for."
+
+It was the nearest approach to seriousness he considered advisable, for
+precept was obnoxious to him and apt to be resented by his companion.
+
+"Now," he added, "what about the mail?"
+
+Crestwick produced a packet of letters which he had not opened yet and
+Lisle glanced at two business communications. The boulder kept off most
+of the snow, and the glare of the snapping branches, rising and falling
+with the gusts, supplied sufficient light.
+
+"Mine's from Bella; there's news in it," Crestwick remarked. "She says
+Carew--I don't think you've seen him--is anxious to marry her, and if
+she's convinced that I'm getting on satisfactorily, she'll probably
+agree. He's--I'm quoting--about as good as she's likely to get; that's
+Bella all over."
+
+"What's he like?" Lisle asked with interest.
+
+"To tell the truth, in one way I think she's right--the man's straight;
+not the Marple crowd's style. In fact, I found him decidedly
+stand-offish, though I'll own there might have been a reason for that.
+Anyhow, I'm glad; she might have done a good deal worse. I suppose you
+won't mind giving me a testimonial that will set her doubts at rest?"
+
+"You shall have it. Since the man's a good one, I'm nearly as glad as you
+are. I've a strong respect for your sister; she stood by you pluckily."
+
+"That's true," asserted Crestwick. "I was a bit of an imbecile, and she's
+really hard to beat. She says if the life here's too tough for me I'm to
+come back and live with them. That's considerate, because in a way she
+can't want me, though I haven't the least doubt she'd make Carew put up
+with my company. It decides the question--I'm not going."
+
+"A little while ago you'd have taken Carew's delight for granted,
+wouldn't you?"
+
+"I'm beginning to see things," Crestwick answered with a wave of his
+hand. Then he paused and looked confused. "After all, though she says I'm
+to give you the message, Bella really goes too far now and then."
+
+"She doesn't always mean it. You may as well obey her."
+
+"It's this--if it's any consolation, she has no intention of forgetting
+you, and Arthur--that's the fellow's name--is anxious to make your
+acquaintance. She says there are men who're not so unresponsive as you
+are, but Arthur has never been into the North to get frozen."
+
+Lisle laughed--it was so characteristic of Bella.
+
+"Here's something else," Crestwick proceeded; "about Miss Gladwyne. Bella
+thinks you'd be interested to hear that there's a prospect of--"
+
+"Go on!" cried Lisle, dropping his pipe.
+
+"I can't see," said Crestwick. "You might stir the fire."
+
+Lisle threw on some fresh wood and poked the fire savagely with a branch,
+and the lad continued, reading with difficulty while the pungent smoke
+obscured the light.
+
+"It seems that she saw Gladwyne and his mother and Millicent together in
+town, and she afterward spent a week with Flo Marple at somebody's house.
+Flo told her that it looks as if the long-deferred arrangement was to be
+brought about at last." He laid down the letter. "If that means she's to
+marry Gladwyne, it ought to be prevented!"
+
+They looked at each other curiously, and Lisle, struggling to command
+himself, noticed the lad's strained expression.
+
+"Why?" he asked with significant shortness.
+
+Crestwick seemed on the verge of some vehement outbreak and Lisle saw
+that it was with an effort he refrained.
+
+"Oh, well," he answered, "the man's not half good enough. He's a
+dangerous rotter."
+
+"Dangerous?"
+
+"Yes," returned Crestwick dryly; "I think that describes it."
+
+There was an impressive silence, while each wondered how far he might
+have betrayed himself. Then Lisle spoke.
+
+"Read the rest of the letter. See if Bella says anything further."
+
+"No announcement made," Crestwick informed him a little later. "All the
+same, Flo's satisfied that the engagement will be made known before
+long." He looked up at Lisle with uncertainty and anger in his face. "It
+almost makes me forget Bella's other news. What can be done?"
+
+"What do you want to do?"
+
+"Don't fence!" said Crestwick. "I'm not smart at it. Don't you know a
+reason why Miss Gladwyne shouldn't marry the fellow?"
+
+"Yes. It has nothing to do with you."
+
+"Perhaps not," replied Crestwick. "I can only say that the match ought to
+be broken off. It isn't to be contemplated!"
+
+"Well," Lisle responded with forced quietness, "if it's any relief to
+you, I'll write to Nasmyth the first chance I get, asking what he's
+heard. Now we'll drop the subject. Is there anything else of general
+interest in your letter?"
+
+"Bella says her wedding won't be until the early summer and she's
+thinking of making Carew bring her out to Banff or Glacier--he came out
+shooting or climbing once before. Then she'll endeavor to look us up."
+
+He lighted his pipe and they sat in silence for a while. Then Crestwick
+rose and bringing a blanket from the tent wrapped it about him and lay
+down in the lee of the boulder near the fire. A few minutes later he was
+sound asleep; but Lisle sat long awake, thinking hard, while the snow
+drove by above him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A FORCED MARCH
+
+
+When Crestwick awakened, very cold, and cramped, a little before daylight
+the next morning, it was still snowing, but Lisle was up and busy
+preparing breakfast.
+
+"That looks like marching; I thought we were going to lie off to-day,"
+observed the lad.
+
+"How do you feel?" Lisle inquired.
+
+"Horribly stiff; but that's the worst. Why are you going on?"
+
+"Because the freighters should leave the Hudson Bay post to-morrow with
+their dog-teams. It's the only chance of sending out a letter I may get
+for a long while, and I want to write to Nasmyth."
+
+Crestwick shivered, glancing disconsolately at the snow; he shrank from
+the prospect of a two days' hurried march. Had Lisle suggested this when
+he first came out, the lad would have rebelled, but by degrees the stern
+discipline of the wilds had had its effect on him. He was learning that
+the weariness of the flesh must be disregarded when it is necessary that
+anything shall be done.
+
+"Oh, well," he acquiesced, "I'll try to make it. If I can't, you'll have
+to drop me where there's some shelter."
+
+He ate the best possible breakfast, for as wood was scarce in parts of
+the country, and making a fire difficult, it was very uncertain when he
+would get another meal. Then he slipped the pack-straps over his stiff
+shoulders, and got ready to start with a burden he did not think he would
+have been capable of carrying for a couple of hours when he left England.
+
+"Now we'll pull out," he said. "But wait a moment: I'd better look for a
+dry place to put this paper currency."
+
+"Where did you get it? You told me at the last settlement that you had
+hardly a dollar left."
+
+Crestwick grinned.
+
+"Oh, some of the boys offered to teach me a little game they were playing
+when we thawed out that claim. I didn't find it difficult, though I must
+own that I had very good luck. It was three or four months since I'd
+touched a card, and there's a risk of reaction in too drastic reform.
+Anyhow, I'm glad I saw that game; one fellow had a way of handling trumps
+that almost took me in. If I can remember, it should come in useful."
+
+Lisle made no comment; restraint, he thought, was likely to prove more
+effective if it were not continually exercised. They started and for
+several hours plodded up the white highway of the river, leaving it only
+for a while when the ice grew fissured where the current ran more
+swiftly. White hills rose above them, relieved here and there by a somber
+clump of cedars or leafless willows and birches in a ravine. The snow
+crunched beneath their feet, and scattered in a fine white powder when
+they broke the crust; more of it fell at intervals, but blew away again;
+and they held on with a nipping wind in their faces and a low gray sky
+hanging over them.
+
+Lisle, however, noticed little; he pushed forward with a steady and
+apparently tireless stride, thinking bitterly. Since his return to
+Canada, his mind had dwelt more or less continuously on Millicent. He
+recognized that in leaving her with his regard for her undeclared he had
+been sustained by the possibility that he might by determined effort
+achieve such a success as would enable him to return and in claiming her
+to offer most of the amenities of life to which she had been accustomed.
+Though it had not been easy, he had to some extent accomplished this. On
+reaching Victoria, he had found his business associates considering one
+or two bold and risky schemes for the extension of their mining
+interests, which he had carried out in the face of many difficulties. The
+new claims he had taken over promised a favorable yield upon development;
+he had arranged for the more profitable working of others by the aid of
+costly plant; and his affairs were generally prospering.
+
+Then, when he was satisfied with the result of his exertions, Crestwick's
+news had struck him a crushing blow. He was wholly unprepared for it.
+Nasmyth had spoken of a match between Millicent and Gladwyne as probable,
+but the latter had devoted himself to Bella, who had openly encouraged
+him. The change in the girl's demeanor had escaped Lisle's notice,
+because he had been kept indoors by his injury. Now the success he had
+attained counted for almost nothing; he had nobody to share it with.
+
+The subject, however, had another aspect; he could have borne the shock
+better had Millicent yielded to a worthy suitor, but it was unthinkable
+that she should marry Gladwyne. She must be saved from that at any cost,
+though he thought her restored liberty would promise nothing to him. Even
+if her attachment to Gladwyne were free from passion, as Nasmyth had
+hinted, she must cherish some degree of affection and regard for the man.
+His desertion of her brother could not be forgiven, but the revelation of
+his baseness would not incline her favorably toward the person who made
+it, as it would seem to be merely for the purpose of separating her from
+him.
+
+Lisle set his lips as he looked back on what he now considered his
+weakness in withholding the story of Gladwyne's treachery. Had he
+declared it at the beginning, Mrs. Gladwyne would have suffered no more
+than she must do, and it would have saved Millicent and himself from the
+pain that must fall upon them. He bitterly regretted that he had, for
+once, departed from his usual habit of simply and resolutely carrying out
+an obvious task without counting the cost. Still, he could write to
+Nasmyth, and to do that he must reach the Hudson Bay post on the morrow.
+He trudged on over the snow at a pace that kept Crestwick breathless.
+
+The bitter wind chilled them through in spite of their exertion, and it
+had increased by noon, when Lisle halted for a minute or two to look
+about him.
+
+They were in the bottom of a valley walled in by barren hills; the bank
+of the frozen river was marked out by snow-covered stones, but none of
+them was large enough to rest behind, and one could not face the wind,
+motionless, in the open. While he stood, a stinging icy powder lashed his
+cheeks, and his hands grew stiff in their mittens.
+
+"There's not even a gulch we could sit down in," he said. "We'll have to
+go on; and I'm not sorry, for one reason. There's not much time to
+spare."
+
+Crestwick's eyes were smarting from the white glare; having started when
+weary from a previous journey, his legs and shoulders ached; but he had
+no choice between freezing and keeping himself slightly warm by steady
+walking. It would, he knew, be harder by and by, when his strength began
+to fail and the heat died out of his exhausted body.
+
+"We'll have to find a shelter for the tent by nightfall, or dig a snowpit
+where there's some wood," he declared. "I'll try to hold out."
+
+They proceeded and the afternoon's march tried him severely. Aching all
+over, breathing hard when they stumbled among the stones to skirt some
+half-frozen rapid, he labored on, regretting the comforts he had
+abandoned in England and yet not wholly sorry that he had done so. His
+moral fiber was toughening, for after all his faults were largely the
+result of circumstances and environment. Of no great intelligence, and
+imperfectly taught, he had been neglected by his penurious father who had
+been engaged in building up his commercial prosperity; his mother had
+died when he was young.
+
+One of his marked failings was an inability to estimate the true value of
+things. He possessed something of the spirit of adventure and a desire to
+escape from the drab monotony of his early life, but these found
+expression in betting on the exploits of others on the football field and
+the turf, a haunting of the music-halls, and the cultivation of
+acquaintances on the lowest rung of the dramatic profession. All this
+offered him some glimpses of what he did not then perceive was merely
+sham romance. Later when, on the death of his father, wealth had opened a
+wider field, deceived by surface appearances, he had made the same
+mistake, selecting wrong models and then chiefly copying their failings.
+Even his rather generous enthusiasm for those whom he admired had led him
+farther into error.
+
+Now, however, his eyes had been partly opened. Thrown among men who
+pretended nothing, in a land where pretense is generally useless, he was
+learning to depreciate much that he had admired. Called upon to make the
+true adventure he had blindly sought for, he found that little counted
+except the elemental qualities of courage and steadfastness. Dear life
+was the stake in this game, and the prizes were greater things than a
+repute for cheap gallantry, and pieces of money; they were the
+subjugation of rock and river, the conversion of the wilderness to the
+use of man. Crestwick was growing in the light he gained, and in proof of
+it he stumbled forward, scourged by driving snow, throughout the bitter
+afternoon, although before the end of it he could scarcely lift his weary
+feet.
+
+It was getting dark, when they found a few cedars clustered in the
+shelter of a crag, and Lisle set to work hewing off the lower branches
+and cutting knots of the resinous wood. Crestwick could not rouse himself
+to assist, and when the fire was kindled he lay beside it, shivering
+miserably.
+
+"There's the kettle to be filled," suggested Lisle. "You could break the
+ice where the stream's faster among those stones; we'd boil water quicker
+than we'd melt down snow."
+
+Crestwick got up with an effort that cost him a good deal and stumbled
+away from the fire. Then a gust of wind met him, enveloping him in
+snow-dust and taking the power of motion momentarily away. He shook
+beneath his furs in the biting cold. Still, the river was near, and he
+moved on another few yards, when the kettle slipped from his stiffened
+hands and rolled down a steep slope. He stopped, wondering stupidly
+whether he could get down to recover it.
+
+"Never mind; come back!" Lisle called to him. "I'll go for the thing."
+
+The lad turned at the summons and sank down again beside the fire.
+
+"I think I'm done," he said wearily. "I may feel a little more fit in the
+morning."
+
+Lisle filled the kettle and prepared supper, and after eating
+voraciously, Crestwick lay down in the tent. It was in comparative
+shelter, but the frost grew more severe and the icy wind, eddying in
+behind the rock, threatened to overturn the frail structure every now and
+then. He tried to smoke, but found no comfort in it after he had with
+difficulty lighted his pipe; he did not feel inclined to talk, and it was
+a relief to him when Lisle sank into slumber.
+
+Crestwick long remembered that night. His feet and hands tingled
+painfully with the cold, the branches he lay upon found out the sorest
+parts of his aching body, and he would have risen and walked up and down
+in the lee of the rock had he felt capable of the exertion, but he was
+doubtful whether he could even get upon his feet. At times thick smoke
+crept into the tent, and though it set him to coughing it was really a
+welcome change in his distressing sensations. He was utterly exhausted,
+but he shivered too much to sleep.
+
+At last, a little while before daybreak, Lisle got up and strode away to
+the river after stirring the fire, and then, most cruel thing of all, the
+lad became sensible of a soothing drowsiness when it was too late for him
+to indulge in it. For a few moments he struggled hard, and then
+blissfully yielded. He was awakened by his companion, who was shaking him
+as he laid a plate and pannikin at his feet.
+
+"We must be off in a few minutes," he announced.
+
+Crestwick raised himself with one hand and blinked.
+
+"I don't know whether I can manage it."
+
+"Then," responded Lisle, hiding his compassion, "you'll have to decide
+which of two things you'll do--you can stay here until I come back, or
+you can take the trail with me. I must go on."
+
+Crestwick shrank from the painful choice. He did not think that he could
+walk; but to prolong the experience of the previous night for another
+twenty-four hours or more seemed even worse. He ate his breakfast; and
+then with a tense effort he got upon his feet and slipped the straps of
+the pack over his shoulders. Moving unevenly, he set off, lest he should
+yield to his weariness and sink down again.
+
+"Come on!" he called back to Lisle.
+
+He sometimes wondered afterward how he endured throughout the day. He was
+half dazed; he blundered forward, numbed in body, with his mind too
+dulled to be conscious of more than a despairing dejection. As he
+scarcely expected to reach the post, it did not matter how soon he fell.
+Yet, by instinctive effort stronger than conscious volition, the struggle
+for life continued; and Lisle's keen anxiety concerning him diminished as
+the hours went by. Every step brought them nearer warmth and shelter, and
+made it more possible that help could be obtained if the lad collapsed.
+That was the only course that would be available because they were now
+crossing a lofty wind-swept elevation bare of timber.
+
+It was afternoon when they entered a long valley, and Lisle, grasping
+Crestwick's arm, partly supported him as they stumbled down the steep
+descent. Stunted trees straggled up toward them as they pushed on down
+the hollow, and Lisle surmised that the journey was almost over. That was
+fortunate, for he had some trouble in keeping his companion upon his
+feet. At length a faint howl rose from ahead and Lisle stopped and
+listened intently. The sound was repeated more plainly, and was followed
+by a confused snarling, the clamor of quarreling dogs.
+
+"Malamutes; the freighters can't have started yet with their sledges," he
+said to Crestwick, who was holding on to him. "I don't think they can be
+more than half a mile off."
+
+"I'll manage that somehow," replied the lad.
+
+They went on through thickening timber, until at last a log house came
+into sight. In front of it stood two sledges, and a pack of snapping,
+snarling dogs were scuffling in the snow. Lisle was devoutly thankful
+when he opened the door and helped the lad into a log-walled room where
+four men, two of whom wore furs, were talking. The air was dry and
+strongly heated, besides being heavy with tobacco smoke and Crestwick
+sank limply into a chair. Gasping hard, he leaned forward, as if unable
+to hold himself upright; but Lisle was not alarmed: he had suffered at
+times, when exhausted, from the reaction that follows the change from the
+bitter cold outside to the stuffiness of a stove-heated room.
+
+"Played out; I'd some trouble to get him along," he explained to the men.
+"We're going on to the claims at the gulch to-morrow." Then he addressed
+the two in furs: "I guess you'll take me out a letter?"
+
+"Why, of course; but you'll have to hustle," said one of them, and Lisle
+turned to a man in a deerskin jacket whom he took for the agent.
+
+"Can you give me some paper?"
+
+"Sure! Sit down right here."
+
+It was not easy to write with stiffened fingers or to collect his
+thoughts with his head swimming from the change of temperature, but he
+informed Nasmyth briefly of what he had heard and asked how much truth
+there was in it. He added that he would have started for England
+forthwith, only that he could not be sure that this was necessary, and to
+leave his work unfinished might jeopardize the interests of people who
+had staked a good deal of money on the success of his schemes.
+Nevertheless he would come at once, if Nasmyth considered the match
+likely to be brought about and would cable him at Victoria, from whence a
+message would reach him. In the meanwhile, Nasmyth could make such use of
+their knowledge of Gladwyne's treachery as he thought judicious.
+
+Shortly after he had written the letter the two men in furs set out, and
+when the sound of their departure had died away the agent addressed his
+guests.
+
+"I'll fix you some supper; you look as if you needed it. Rustle round,
+Larry, and get the frying-pan on."
+
+They ate an excellent meal and shortly afterward Crestwick crawled into a
+wooden bunk, where he reveled in the unusual warmth and the softness of a
+mattress filled with swamp-hay. He had never lain down to rest in England
+with the delicious sense of physical comfort that now crept over his
+worn-out body.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+MILLICENT SUMMONS HER GUIDE
+
+
+Lisle was living luxuriously in Victoria when Nasmyth's answer reached
+him by mail. Though it was still winter among the ranges of the North,
+the seaboard city had been bathed in clear sunshine and swept by mild
+west winds during the past few days, and after the bitter frost and
+driving snow Lisle rejoiced in the genial warmth and brightness. There
+are few more finely situated cities than Victoria, with its views across
+the strait of the white heights of Mount Baker and the Olympians on the
+American shore, even in the Pacific Province where the environment of all
+is beautiful.
+
+Lisle was sitting in the hotel lounge after dinner when three English
+letters were handed to him. The sight of them affected him curiously, and
+leaning back in his chair he glanced round the room. Like the rest of the
+great building in which he had his quarters, it was sumptuously
+furnished, but everything was aggressively new. There was, he felt,
+little that suggested fixity of tenure and continuity in the West; the
+times changed too rapidly, people came and went, alert, feverishly
+bustling, optimistic. In the old land, his friends among the favored few
+dwelt with marked English calm in homes that had apparently been built to
+stand forever. Yet he was Western, by deliberate choice as well as by
+birth; while there was much to be said for the other life which had its
+seductive charm, the strenuous, eager one that he led was better.
+
+He opened the letters--one from Bella, announcing her engagement and
+inquiring about her brother; a second from Millicent, stating that it was
+decided that she would visit British Columbia in the early summer; and a
+third from Nasmyth, which, dreading its contents, he kept to the last.
+
+He was, however, slightly reassured when he opened it. Nasmyth's remarks
+were brief but clear enough. There was no actual engagement between
+Millicent and Clarence, though Mrs. Gladwyne was doing her utmost to
+bring one about and Millicent saw the man frequently. In the meanwhile,
+he did not think there was anything to be done; Lisle could not
+conclusively prove his story, though he could make a disastrous
+sensation, which was to be avoided, and it would be wiser to defer the
+disclosure until the engagement should actually be announced. Millicent's
+attachment to Clarence was not likely to grow very much stronger in a
+month or two. In conclusion, he urged Lisle to wait.
+
+On the whole, Lisle agreed with him. Somehow he felt that Millicent would
+never marry Gladwyne. Apart from his interference, he thought that her
+instincts would, even at the last moment, cause her to recoil from the
+match. Furthermore, turning to another aspect of the matter, he could not
+clear his dead comrade's memory by telling a tale that was founded merely
+on probabilities. There was nothing for it but to await events, though he
+was still determined to start for England the moment Nasmyth's letter
+made this seem advisable.
+
+Shortly afterward, one of his business associates came in: a young man
+with a breezy, restless manner who would not have been trusted in England
+with the responsibilities he most efficiently discharged. In the West, a
+staid and imposing air carries no great weight with it and eagerness and
+even rather unguided activity are seldom accounted drawbacks. There
+dulness is dreaded more than rashness.
+
+"I've seen Walthew and Slyde," he announced. "It will be all right about
+the money; we'll put the hydraulic plant proposition through at the next
+Board meeting. You'll have to go back right away."
+
+"I've only just come down; the frost's not out of me yet," Lisle
+grumbled. "Besides, you seem to be going ahead rather fast here in the
+city. Walthew's a little too much of a hustler; I'd rather he'd stop to
+think. You're almost as bad, Garnet."
+
+The young man laughed.
+
+"I guess you can't help it, it's the English streak in you; but in a way
+you're right. Fact is Walthew and I have hustled the rest of the crowd
+most off their feet, and we mean to keep them on the jump. Last meeting
+old Macalan's eyes were bulging with horror, he could hardly stammer out
+his indignation--said our extravagance was sinful. Anyway, you've got to
+go."
+
+Lisle made an acquiescent grimace. His face was strongly darkened by
+exposure to the frost and the glare of the snow; his hands were scarred,
+with several ugly recently-healed wounds on them.
+
+"Well," he complied with some reluctance, "if it's necessary."
+
+"It is," Garnet explained. "Think we're going to have washing plant worth
+a good many thousand dollars left lying in the bush or dropped into
+rivers? You'll have to arrange for transport and break new trails. You
+can do it best when the snow's still on the ground, and that plant must
+start working soon after the thaw comes. We've got to justify our
+expenditure while the season's open."
+
+"You haven't got your authority to buy the plant yet."
+
+Garnet chuckled.
+
+"It was ordered, provisionally, the day you came down; the makers are
+only waiting for a wire from the Board meeting. In fact, I shouldn't be
+astonished if some of the work isn't in progress now."
+
+Lisle was quick of thought and prompt in action, but he sometimes felt as
+if Garnet took his breath away.
+
+"If you have it all arranged, I may as well agree," he laughed. "I'll
+take Crestwick back."
+
+"That reminds me; he said something about taking an interest--asked if I
+could get him shares at a moderate premium, though he owned that his
+trustees might make trouble about letting him have the money."
+
+"He's not to have them!" Lisle replied emphatically. "What's more, the
+trustees won't part with a dollar unless I guarantee the project--I've
+been in communication with them. Rest assured that the idea won't get my
+endorsement."
+
+"I could never get at the workings of the English mind," Garnet declared.
+"Now if my relatives had any money, I'd rush them all in. This is the
+safest and best-managed mining proposition on the Pacific Slope. What
+kind of morality is it that gathers in the general investor and keeps
+your friends out?"
+
+"I don't know; it doesn't concern the point. I'm actuated by what you may
+call a prejudice. You can't remove it."
+
+"Well," Garnet responded good-humoredly, "it's a pretty tough country up
+yonder and I suppose the lad's of some service. You're saving us a pile
+of money in experts' fees and I don't see why you shouldn't put him on
+the company's payroll. I mentioned the thing to Walthew; he was
+agreeable."
+
+They talked about other matters and presently Crestwick came in, smartly
+dressed and looking remarkably vigorous and clear-skinned. There were
+many points of difference between his appearance now and when Lisle had
+first met him.
+
+"Mr. Garnet has a proposition to make," Lisle informed him; and the
+Canadian briefly stated it.
+
+Crestwick did not seem surprised, nor did he display much appreciation.
+
+"To tell the truth, I thought you might have mentioned the matter
+before," he remarked. "Still, if you want my services, you'll have to go
+up twenty dollars."
+
+"A week?" Garnet asked ironically. "You promise well; if you stay here a
+year or two you'll make a useful and enterprising citizen. We could get
+an experienced boss packer for what I offered you."
+
+"Down here, yes. When he got to where the claims are, he'd almost
+certainly drop you and turn miner, and you couldn't blame him. A man
+deserves a hundred dollars a day merely for living up yonder. But it's a
+month I was speaking of. If you want me, you'll have to come up."
+
+Garnet laughed.
+
+"I guess I can fix it; but we'll get our value out of you."
+
+"That's a compliment, if you look at it in one way," Crestwick grinned in
+reply.
+
+When Garnet had left them, he turned to Lisle.
+
+"Thanks awfully. Of course, it was your idea."
+
+"Garnet suggested the thing; that's more flattering, isn't it?"
+
+Crestwick looked at him, smiling.
+
+"I'm not to be played so easily as I was when I first met you," he said.
+"Of course, in a sense, the pay's no great inducement to me; it's the
+idea of being offered it. I'm going to advise old Barnes, my trustee; he
+was fond of saying that I was fortunate in being left well off because
+I'd never earn sixpence as long as I lived, until I stopped the thing by
+offering him ten to one I'd go out and make it in a couple of hours by
+carrying somebody's bag from the station. Anyhow, this is the first
+move."
+
+"Then you're going farther?"
+
+"Quite so," was the cheerful answer. "I'll be a director of this company
+before I've finished. You can't stop my buying shares when I come into my
+property."
+
+Lisle was conscious of some relief. It was a laudable ambition and
+Crestwick promised to be much less of a responsibility than he had once
+anticipated.
+
+"I've a letter from Bella," Lisle told him. "She still desires to be
+informed if you're getting along satisfactorily. I think I can tell her
+there's no cause for uneasiness."
+
+"Bella's a good sort," returned Crestwick. "She'll stop asking such
+questions by and by. At least, I think she'll have some grounds for doing
+so."
+
+They went out into the city and a week afterward they sailed together for
+the North. It was still winter in the wilds, and though that made Lisle's
+work a little easier, because rivers and lakes and muskegs were frozen,
+he found it sufficiently arduous. He had to survey and break new trails
+suitable for the conveyance of heavy machinery, up rugged valleys and
+over high divides, and to arrange for transport--canoes here, a
+log-bridge there, relays of packers farther on. No man's efforts could be
+wasted, for time was precious and wages are high in the wilderness. Then,
+when at last the frost relaxed its grip and rock and snow and loosened
+soil came thundering down the gullies in huge masses, the work grew more
+difficult as he began to build a dam.
+
+Some of the men sent up to him, artizans from the cities, sailor
+deserters, dismayed by the toils of the journey and the nature of their
+tasks, promptly mutinied on arrival. Others dispatched after them failed
+to turn up, and Lisle never discovered what became of them. The camp-site
+was a sea of puddled mire with big stones in it; tents and shacks were
+almost continuously dripping; and every hollow was filled with a raging
+torrent. Nobody had dry clothes, even to sleep in; the work was mostly
+carried on knee-deep in water, and at first things got little better as
+the days grew warmer. The hill-benches steamed and clammy mists wrapped
+the camp at night; the downward rush of melting snow increased, and
+several times wild floods swept away portions of the dam and half-built
+flume.
+
+In spite of it all, the work went on: foot by foot the wall of pile-bound
+rock rose and the long wooden conduit curved away down the valley; and
+when at length the hydraulic plant began to arrive, piecemeal, Lisle
+found Crestwick eminently useful. He superintended the transport,
+patrolling the trails and keeping them repaired. His skill with shovel
+and ax was negligible, but he could send a man or two to mend the gap
+where the path had slipped away down some gully or to fling a couple of
+logs across a swollen creek that could not be forded. He got thinner and
+harder from constant toil and from sleeping, often scantily fed,
+unsheltered in the rain.
+
+After a while, however, there was a pleasant change: the days grew hot,
+the nights were clear and cold, and the short, vivid summer broke
+suddenly upon the mountain land. Then it seldom rained, as the high
+seaward barrier condensed most of the Pacific moisture, but at times the
+clouds which crossed the summits unbroken descended in a copious deluge,
+and it was in the midst of such a downpour that Crestwick returned to
+camp one evening after a week's absence on the trail. His dripping
+garments were ragged, his boots gaped open, and his soft felt hat had
+fallen shapeless about his head. He found Lisle in a similar guise
+sitting at his evening meal.
+
+"Have they got the pipes and those large castings across the big ravine?"
+Lisle asked.
+
+"Yes, that has been done," Crestwick answered. "By the way, one of the
+packers told me that the man who's coming up to run the plant--Carsley,
+isn't it?--has arrived. There were some fittings or something wrong and
+he stopped behind to investigate, but the packer seemed to think he'd get
+through soon after I did. That turns us loose, doesn't it?"
+
+"I dare say I could hand things over to him in about a week," replied
+Lisle. "Then we'll clear out. I suppose you won't be sorry?"
+
+Crestwick stretched out his feet to display his broken boots and rent
+trousers.
+
+"Well," he said, "since I left here, I've spent a good deal of my time in
+an icy creek, and it's nearly a week since I had any sleep worth speaking
+of. We had to make a bridge for the freighters to bring those castings
+over and we'd no end of trouble to get the stringers fixed--the stream
+was strong and we had to build a pier in it. Not long ago, I'd have
+considered anybody who did this kind of thing without compulsion mad, but
+in some mysterious way it grows on you. I don't pretend to explain it,
+but it won't be with unmixed delight that I'll go back to the city."
+
+He paused and fumbled in his pocket.
+
+"I was forgetting your mail. I'm afraid it's rather pulpy, but I couldn't
+help that. By the way, I'd a letter from Bella, written at the Frontenac,
+Quebec. She's brought Carew out; they're going to Glacier very soon, and
+she still intends to look me up."
+
+Lisle opened the letters handed him and managed to read them, though
+their condition fully bore out Crestwick's description. Two or three were
+on business matters, but there was one from Millicent, and he started at
+the first few lines.
+
+"Miss Gladwyne and Miss Hume have sailed--they must have landed a week
+ago," he announced. "She wants to go over the ground her brother
+traversed--you have heard of that project. Nasmyth sailed a week earlier
+to arrange matters at this end; but I don't know how Miss Hume will get
+along."
+
+"It's merely a question of transport," asserted Crestwick with the air of
+an authority on the subject. "So long as you provide sufficient packers,
+with relays from supply bases, you can travel in comparative comfort,
+though it's expensive." Then an idea occurred to him. "They're pretty
+sure to run across Bella; Miss Gladwyne knows Carew."
+
+Lisle sat silent a few minutes, conscious of a strong satisfaction.
+Millicent was in Canada, and there was no mention of Gladwyne! Then it
+struck him as curious that Bella should have come over at the same time.
+As Millicent knew Carew, it was very probable that Bella would insist on
+joining the expedition, which Millicent might agree to, if, as seemed
+likely, her rather elderly companion had to be left behind. Nasmyth had,
+no doubt, already reached British Columbia; and it looked as if those
+indirectly brought together by George Gladwyne's tragic death would be
+reunited at the scene of it. This was, Lisle reflected, merely the result
+of a natural sequence of events, but there was for all that something
+strangely significant about it.
+
+"Well," he said, "it has been arranged that I'm to act as guide, and Miss
+Gladwyne says they'll wait for me. As that's the case, I don't see why I
+shouldn't start as soon as Carsley gets through. I shouldn't wonder if he
+brings a letter from Nasmyth. It will be a tough journey, and I'll have
+to break a new trail. Are you coming, or will you head for Vancouver to
+join Bella?"
+
+"We'll stick together," replied the lad. "Bella's to stay over here some
+months, and if she decides to join Miss Gladwyne she'll leave Glacier
+long before I could reach the place."
+
+Lisle rose and shook out his pipe.
+
+"Then," he responded, "I'll take a look around, and you had better start
+off the first thing to-morrow and hurry those castings on. There's a good
+deal to be done if we're to get away when Carsley turns up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A RELIABLE MAN
+
+
+The sun had just dipped behind a black ridge of hills, and the lake lay
+still, mirroring the tall cedars on its farther shore. A faint chill was
+creeping into the mountain air, which was scented with resinous smoke,
+and somewhere across the water a loon was calling. A cluster of tents
+stood upon the shingle, and in front of the largest Millicent reclined in
+a camp-chair. Near her Miss Hume sat industriously embroidering; and
+Nasmyth lay upon the stones. Bella occupied another camp-chair, a young
+man with a pleasant brown face sitting at her feet; and farther along the
+beach a group of packers in blue shirts and duck trousers lay smoking
+about a fire. By and by one rose and when he began to hack at a drift-log
+the sharp thudding of his ax startled the loon which departed with a peal
+of shrieking laughter.
+
+The party had reached the fringe of the wilderness after a long stage
+journey from the railroad through a rugged country. They had met with no
+mishaps beyond a delay in the transport of some of their baggage, and
+everything had been made comparatively easy for them; but they knew that
+henceforward there might be a difference. Man must depend largely upon
+his own natural resources in the wilds, where, after furnishing the
+traveler with the best equipment and packers to carry it, the power of
+wealth is strictly limited. A recognition of the fact hovered more or
+less darkly in all their minds, but Millicent was the first to hint at
+it.
+
+"So far we have had absolutely nothing to complain of except a little
+jolting in the stage," she said. "I'm beginning to understand why
+adventurous sight-seers are coming out here--it's a glorious country!"
+
+"It's my duty to point out that it won't be quite the same as we go on,"
+Nasmyth remarked. "What do you say, Carew?"
+
+"It doesn't matter; he's said it all before," Bella broke in. "I've had
+to listen to appalling accounts of his previous adventures in Canada,
+which were, no doubt, meant to deter me; but the reality is that the
+hotels at Banff and Glacier are remarkably comfortable, and I haven't the
+least fault to find with this camp. We ought to be grateful to Millicent
+for letting us come, and though Arthur hinted that it would be a rather
+sociable honeymoon, I said that was a safeguard. One's illusions might
+get sooner shattered in a more conventional one." She stooped and ruffled
+her husband's hair. "Still, he hasn't deteriorated very much on closer
+acquaintance, and perhaps I'm fortunate in this."
+
+Millicent sat silent for a few moments. She knew, to her sorrow, one man
+who did not improve the more one saw of him, and that was the man she had
+tacitly agreed to marry. She could not tell why she had done so--she had
+somehow drifted into it. Interest, family associations, a feeling that
+could best be described as liking, even pity, had played their part in
+influencing her, and now she realized that she could not honorably draw
+back when he formally claimed her. She laughed as one of the packers who
+had a good voice broke into a song.
+
+"That's the climax; it needs only the cockney accent to make the thing
+complete," she said. "When I was last in London, one heard that silly
+jingle everywhere. I suppose it's a triumph of the music-halls."
+
+"Or of modern civilization--a rendering of distance of no account,"
+suggested Carew. "There's a good deal to be said for the latter
+achievement, as we are discovering."
+
+"Distance," declared Bella, "still counts for something here. I've been
+thinking about Jim all day; imagining him dragging his canoe through the
+timber beyond those hills, and wondering whether he'd find us when he got
+to the other side."
+
+"She has been doing more," her husband broke in. "Though she hasn't
+confessed it, she has been looking out for him ever since this morning.
+In fact, I discovered that our cook is keeping a supper ready that would
+satisfy four or five men."
+
+Bella turned to Millicent with a smile.
+
+"Do you think the meal will be wasted?" she asked.
+
+"No; I can hardly believe it."
+
+"Mark the assurance of that answer," commented Carew. "A man couldn't
+feel it; it's irrational. Miss Gladwyne speaks with a certainty that our
+guide will come, though she has nothing to base her calculations on--she
+doesn't know the distance or the difficulties of the way."
+
+"What does that matter?" Bella retorted. "She knows the man."
+
+Carew made a grimace.
+
+"A woman's reasoning. As we've nothing better to do, I'll try to show the
+absurdity of it. A man, so far as he concerns this discussion, consists
+of a certain quantity of bones, with muscles and tendons capable of
+setting them in motion--"
+
+"Be careful," Bella warned him. "It's safer to avoid these details.
+Besides, you're leaving something out; I don't mean the nerve-cells, but
+the inner personality, whatever it is, that commands them."
+
+"I'm trying to show that, as a mechanical structure, he is capable of
+moving his own weight and so much extra a limited distance in a given
+time, so long as he can secure the necessary food and sleep. Neither the
+weight nor the distance can be increased except by an effort which, if
+continued, will soon reduce them below their former level."
+
+Bella laughed.
+
+"Yes," she said, "that's how you reason--mechanically. We're different."
+
+"I'll take quite another line," Nasmyth interposed. "Lisle's traversing a
+country new to him; he can't tell what rapids, ranges, or thick timber
+may cause delay. No amount of determination will enable one, for
+instance, to knock more than a few minutes off the time needed to carry a
+canoe round a portage, nor by any effort can one cross a range as quickly
+as one can walk up a valley. Isn't that clear, Millicent?"
+
+There was a smile in the girl's eyes.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "but, all the same, Lisle's supper's waiting."
+
+"Such confidence makes one jealous," grumbled Carew. "Lisle, whom I
+haven't met, is evidently a man who keeps his promise. That means a good
+deal."
+
+"A very great deal," Bella assured him. "Since one's bound to meet with
+difficulties one can't foresee, it proves that one man has resource,
+resolution, and many other eminently useful qualities; but all this is
+getting too serious. I'd better point out that Lisle hasn't even promised
+to meet us here at any particular time." She paused and laughed
+mischievously. "Millicent merely sent for him, mentioning to-morrow as
+the day she would like to start."
+
+A little color crept into Millicent's face, but Bella went on:
+
+"She called and I haven't the least doubt that our guide set out, over
+ranges, up rapids, across wide lakes. One can't imagine that man taking
+it easily, and there's the obvious fact that Jim will have to keep up
+with him. He will find it hard, but I dare say it will do him good."
+
+Nasmyth laughed and strolled away with Carew. The sunset green grew
+dimmer behind the hills and a pale half-moon appeared above the shadowy
+woods. It was very still, except for the lapping of the water upon the
+stones.
+
+Bella leaned back lazily in her chair.
+
+"This is delightful," she exclaimed. "Didn't Clarence want to come?"
+
+The unexpectedness of the question startled Millicent into answering:
+
+"He didn't know."
+
+"Ah! Then you didn't tell him? Why didn't you?"
+
+It was difficult to reply, but there was something in Bella's voice that
+disarmed Millicent's resentment. Bella had grown gentler since her
+marriage and less often indulged in bitterness.
+
+"I think," said Millicent, "I didn't want any one to distract me; I'm
+going to make photographs and sketches for the book, you know."
+
+"But you let us come!"
+
+"Yes," assented Millicent; "you're different."
+
+"That's true. We won't disturb you; and Nasmyth wouldn't count. He's an
+unobtrusive person, only to the front when he is wanted, which is a good
+deal to say for him; he doesn't expect anything. No doubt, the same
+applies to Lisle."
+
+Millicent made no answer and Bella wondered whether she had gone too far.
+
+"But didn't Clarence hear that you were going?" she asked.
+
+"He was in Switzerland with his mother. She had been recommended to try a
+change."
+
+Bella asked no more questions and Millicent sat wondering how far she had
+been influenced by the reason she had given for leaving Clarence behind.
+She had undoubtedly desired to be free to devote herself to the gathering
+of material for her book, but that was not quite all. She had also
+half-consciously shrunk from the close contact with Clarence which would
+have been one result of their life in camp, but this she refused to
+admit. It was clearer that she desired an extension of the liberty which
+she must sometime relinquish. Taking it all round, she was rather
+troubled in mind.
+
+"There's one thing," remarked Bella. "He can't write you any reproachful
+letters for stealing away. At least, if he does so, you won't get them."
+
+This, as Millicent recognized, was a relief, but Miss Hume broke in upon
+her reflections with some trifling request and soon afterward the men
+strolled back toward the fire. The packers had already gone to sleep; the
+dew was heavy, but Nasmyth lay down on the shingle and Carew took a place
+beside his wife's chair. Suddenly Millicent leaned forward with her face
+turned toward the lake.
+
+"Listen!" she cried sharply. "Can't you hear something?"
+
+No sound reached the others for a moment; and then Nasmyth jumped up.
+
+"Yes," he exclaimed; "canoe paddles."
+
+A measured beat stole out of the silence, increasing until it broke
+sharply through the tranquil lapping of the water. Then, far up the
+glittering lake, a dim black bar crept out into the moonlight and by
+degrees grew plainer.
+
+"Of course, they may be Indians," Bella suggested mischievously.
+
+Carew included Millicent in his answering bow.
+
+"No; I believe I'm beaten. You and Miss Gladwyne were right."
+
+The moonlight was on Millicent's face, and Bella, watching her, read
+something that roused her interest in its expression--it was stronger
+than satisfaction, a deeper feeling not unmixed with pride. She had
+called and the man she had summoned from the depths of the wilderness had
+responded.
+
+A few minutes later the canoe grounded noisily on the shingle and
+Crestwick leaped out; Bella, regardless of the others, flung her arms
+about his neck and kissed him; and then she held him off so that she
+might see him. His garments were rent and tattered, his face was very
+lean, and one of his hands was bleeding from continuous labor with the
+paddle.
+
+"Oh!" she cried; "you disreputable scarecrow! You're not fit for select
+society. And how long is it since you had anything to eat?"
+
+"We had a rather rough time getting through; there was thick scrub timber
+in some of the valleys," Crestwick explained. "We might have made things
+easier by spending another few days on the trail, but Lisle wouldn't
+listen when I suggested it."
+
+"Then you did suggest it," said Bella reproachfully. "Of course, I'm
+merely your sister."
+
+"I don't want a better one," Crestwick rejoined, grinning. "It strikes me
+you're looking prettier than you did; but that's perhaps because you have
+taken to wearing more ladylike clothes. As regards my appearance, I'll
+venture to say that yours will be very much the same before you've
+finished this journey."
+
+Lisle had walked toward Miss Hume and had shaken hands with her before he
+turned to Millicent. That pleased the girl.
+
+"We ran it rather close, but the day isn't quite finished yet," he
+laughed. "We had some little trouble once or twice which prevented our
+turning up earlier."
+
+Millicent smiled in a manner that sent a thrill through him.
+
+"I can only say that we kept your supper; but that's significant, isn't
+it?" Then she called to Nasmyth.
+
+"Will you see if the cook's awake?"
+
+She had no opportunity for saying anything further, for Carew came up
+with Bella, who was voluble, and some time later Lisle and Crestwick sat
+down to a bountiful meal, while Millicent and Bella waited on them. Lisle
+was slightly embarrassed by their ministrations, but Crestwick openly
+enjoyed them.
+
+"Put the plate where I can reach it easily," he bade his sister. "Look
+how you have placed that cup; if I move, it will spill!"
+
+"You have more courage than I have, Jim," Carew remarked with a smile.
+
+"I've needed it," the lad declared. "I've borne enough from Bella in my
+time. She'll no doubt say that I deserved it, and there may be some
+ground for the notion."
+
+When the meal was finished they all gathered round the replenished fire,
+Lisle lying back in the shadow because of the state of his clothes. With
+the exception of Jim, the others were dressed much as they had been at
+home; their conversation was light and easy, and their manner tranquil.
+If he could have blotted out the background of tall straight trunks and
+shadowy rocks, he could have imagined that they were lounging on a
+sheltered English lawn. Double-skinned tents, camp-chairs, and other
+signs of a regard for physical comfort bore out the idea in his mind.
+These English people with their quiet confidence that what they
+needed--and that was a good deal--would, as had always happened, somehow
+be supplied, were at once exasperating and admirable. They were the same
+everywhere, unmoved by change, claiming all that was choicest as by
+right, and very much at ease on the fringe of the wilderness. They did
+not belong to it; one could have imagined that it belonged to them. Their
+journey, however, had only begun, and there were alterations that must
+obviously be made on the morrow.
+
+Then Lisle yielded to a strong sense of satisfaction. For the next month
+or two he would be almost constantly in Millicent's company; her
+companions were his friends, and he thought that he would not be troubled
+by Gladwyne's presence. Desiring to assure himself on the latter point,
+he turned to Bella.
+
+"Nobody has mentioned Clarence. I was wondering if he would join us?"
+
+"No," she answered, smiling at him meaningly; "he wasn't invited." Then
+she moved away, leaving Lisle more deeply content.
+
+Presently the party broke up, and when they reached the tent they jointly
+occupied, Miss Hume remarked to Millicent:
+
+"You look unusually pleased, my dear."
+
+"I dare say I do," Millicent smiled. "It's something to feel that one's
+confidence has been justified, and perhaps rather more to rest assured
+that everything will now go as smoothly as possible."
+
+"I suppose you mean since Mr. Lisle has come? Apart from his practical
+abilities, I'm fond of that man. No doubt you noticed that he came first
+to me, as the eldest, though he is aware that I'm only a dependent. In a
+way, of course, he wasn't altogether right, Bella Carew being married and
+you the actual hostess."
+
+"I wonder if such points are of any importance in the bush," Millicent
+answered, laughing. "But I'm glad Mr. Lisle's action won your good
+opinion. I like my friends to be graceful."
+
+Miss Hume, faded, gray-haired and formal, looked reflective.
+
+"The word you used is not quite the one I should have chosen. Clarence
+Gladwyne is graceful; I think this Canadian is something better. To-night
+he was actuated by genuine chivalry. My esteem may not be worth much, but
+it is his."
+
+Moved by some impulse, Millicent kissed her.
+
+"I've no doubt he'd value it. But I can't have Clarence depreciated; and
+it's getting very late."
+
+Miss Hume noticed a slight change in the girl's voice as she mentioned
+Gladwyne. She put out the lamp but it was some time before she went to
+sleep. She loved Millicent, and she believed there was trouble awaiting
+her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+LISLE TURNS AUTOCRAT
+
+
+On the morning after his arrival, Lisle called the company together and
+first of all addressed Millicent.
+
+"It's your wish that I should act as guide to this expedition?"
+
+Millicent answered in the affirmative and he went on:
+
+"The guide must be commander-in-chief, with undisputed authority. Before
+we start, I must ask if any one objects to that?"
+
+They gave him full power, with acclamation, and he nodded.
+
+"Well," he continued, "I'd better explain that the main difficulty
+attending any expedition into an almost uninhabited region is to keep it
+supplied with food and means of shelter; it's a question of transport.
+There are two ways of getting over the difficulty--by reducing the
+weight, or by increasing the number of packers; and the latter are useful
+only when each man can transport more than will satisfy his personal
+requirements. I think that's clear?"
+
+They assented with some curiosity mixed with a slight uneasiness.
+
+"Then," he proceeded, "I'll exercise my authority by asking you to lay
+out in front of each tent everything you have brought with you."
+
+"Including our clothes?" Bella asked.
+
+"Assuredly," said Crestwick. "You can put them in a heap; it's the
+quantity and not the cut that counts."
+
+It was evident that the leader's first instructions were received with
+little favor. Millicent looked dubious and Miss Hume alarmed; but the
+orders were carried out, and Lisle accompanied by Crestwick made a tour
+of inspection. Stopping in front of Bella's and Carew's tent, he pointed
+to their rather imposing pile of baggage.
+
+"Two-thirds of this will have to be left behind, though we'll try to pick
+it up again. You can make your selection." He went on to Millicent's and
+Miss Hume's collection. "We can't take more than half of this," he
+informed them. Then he addressed the company in general. "The three
+ladies must occupy Miss Gladwyne's tent, and the men Carew's; Nasmyth's
+must be abandoned. Each man's outfit must be cut down to one change of
+clothes and his blanket."
+
+The announcement was received with open murmurs. They had all been
+accustomed to every comfort with which a high civilization could provide
+them; they had already cut down their belongings to the lowest limit at
+which, in their estimation, life could be made endurable; and many of the
+articles they were told must be left behind were costly and artistic. It
+was a severe test of obedience and even Nasmyth, who knew the wilderness,
+desiring to safeguard the women, was not inclined to yield. Lisle had
+only Crestwick to support him until Bella touched his arm.
+
+"Stand fast," she urged, somewhat to his surprise. "If you give way an
+inch now, you'll be sorry."
+
+Lisle smiled and then raised his voice.
+
+"I'm afraid I must insist. Since you object, Carew, are you willing to
+carry forty pounds upon your back while you break a trail through thick
+timber, where we find it needful to leave the water?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Carew decidedly.
+
+"Then," Lisle advised dryly, "you had better leave as much as possible of
+the weight behind; there's no likelihood of our getting more packers. You
+have to choose between a camp-chair or a suitcase, for example, and your
+daily dinner."
+
+For a moment or two they hesitated. Lisle had, straining his new
+authority to the utmost, asked them a very hard thing, for in their
+regard some degree of luxury was less an accidental favor than a
+prescriptive right. Then Bella took up a long garment and with a little
+resolute gesture flung it from her.
+
+"That," she laughed, "is the first sacrifice to the stern guardians of
+the wilds. It ought to satisfy them, considering who made it and what it
+cost." She seized a small valise and hurled it after the dress. "There's
+the next; I'm thankful my complexion will stand the weather."
+
+Millicent looked up at Lisle, indicating a small easel, a bulky
+sketch-book, and a box of water-colors.
+
+"Are these to go?" she asked with indignant eyes.
+
+"No," he answered gravely; "they're the reason for the whole expedition,
+and their transport is provided for. But you'll have to jettison
+something else."
+
+The selections were made and Lisle summoned one of the packers.
+
+"Roll these things up in Mr. Nasmyth's tent, Pete," he bade him. "You'll
+have to make a cache of them."
+
+"Like burying money, isn't it?" remarked the man, regarding the pile of
+sundries with a grin. "Guess they won't be worth much when they're dug up
+again."
+
+Half an hour later, three deeply-laden canoes left the beach; and all day
+the party paddled up the gleaming lake and crept with poles going up a
+slow, green river. Sunset was near when they landed and ate supper among
+a clump of cedars; and after the meal most of them, cramped with the
+canoe journey, climbed the steep hill-bench or strolled away along the
+shingle. Lisle was lying, smoking, beside the fire when Millicent
+sauntered toward him and sat down upon a neighboring stone.
+
+"You were right, of course," she apologized. "Am I forgiven? It was only
+a momentary revolt."
+
+He smiled, though his bronzed coloring deepened, for there was an unusual
+gentleness in her voice.
+
+"It was very natural," he replied. "I had expected more determined
+opposition; but I didn't go farther than was necessary."
+
+"No; I think the others realize that now."
+
+"They'll be more convinced of it later," he responded with a trace of
+grimness.
+
+"I don't think they'll give you any trouble; but since you got rid of
+Nasmyth's tent, where will you and Crestwick sleep?"
+
+"Jim and I can make a shelter of some kind; we're used to the bush."
+
+"What have you done to the lad?" Millicent asked. "I can hardly realize
+the change in him; he's a different being."
+
+"I've merely given him a chance he would hardly have had in England. The
+country has done the rest. You can ask him how much advice or
+admonishment he got."
+
+"Oh," she explained, "I shouldn't expect you to give him advice; it's
+cheap!"
+
+He made no reply, and her eyes rested with quiet approval on his rather
+embarrassed face. She had no doubt that close contact with this man had
+had more to do with the change in Crestwick than the influence of the
+country; and then she recollected that the lad's degeneration had been
+marked and rapid while he had taken Clarence for a model. It was a
+troublesome thought and she banished it with an effort.
+
+"You didn't get here without difficulty; and our journey will keep you
+away from your business for some time," she observed.
+
+"As to that, I've earned a little leisure; and I've been looking forward
+to this trip ever since I left England. Now it's almost like being back
+there again, only that in some ways it's even better."
+
+So far as their surroundings might explain his satisfaction, Millicent
+could frankly agree with him. The black spires of the cedars, towering
+far above them, cut in rigid tracery against the splendors of the sunset
+sky; one stretch of the river still shone with a saffron light; the rest,
+which had grown dim, flowed through deepening shadow. Filmy mist trails
+streaked the rugged hills and the hoarse clamor of a rapid quivered in
+the cool air. Behind it all, there was something that set the lonely
+scene apart from any other that the girl had looked upon--one could
+realize that this was as yet an untamed and unsullied region. But her
+companion was accustomed to the wilderness, so there must be, she
+thought, another cause for his content.
+
+"I am glad you do not grudge the time you may have to spend with us," she
+said.
+
+"Grudge it!" he exclaimed; and then, restraining himself, he broke into a
+soft laugh. "You may accuse me of that feeling when you hear me grumble."
+
+The ring in his voice had its meaning and it left her thoughtful. The
+revelation was not altogether new; she had guessed his regard for her,
+but she imagined that she could hold him at arm's length if it were
+necessary. It was with him as it was with Nasmyth, and they were alike in
+their self-restraint. Nasmyth had quietly accepted his dismissal when she
+had shown him that it was irrevocable; and the Canadian would not trouble
+her with futile complaints. She wondered if out of three suitors she had
+not chosen the least desirable in some respects; but this could not be
+admitted and she resolutely thrust the idea aside.
+
+"There's a point I'd better mention," Lisle resumed in a matter-of-fact
+tone. "I'm not going to follow the route of the first expedition from the
+beginning. I've thought of a shorter and easier one; we'll strike the
+other by the big portage and then follow it down."
+
+"Are you afraid of wearing out your untried followers?"
+
+"Well," he admitted, "I'm taking no risks that can be avoided this
+journey."
+
+She smilingly commended his caution, though she was conscious of a
+desire, which must be held in check, to see what he would do if he could
+be shaken out of his self-control. She approved of his restraint, because
+only while it was exerted could she meet him on friendly terms; but, as
+had happened on his last afternoon in England, it piqued her. She
+wondered how much it cost him.
+
+"After all," she said with a forced laugh, "it's better to keep carefully
+clear of danger."
+
+"Yes," he agreed; "but there's now and then a temptation to face the
+hazard. One feels that it's worth while."
+
+"Never mind that. I think I'd rather enjoy the wildness of this scene
+than to philosophize. Tell me about the bear and deer we are likely to
+come across."
+
+He discoursed at length, and she sat listening while the light faded and
+the cedars grew blacker. Then the others approached and they went back to
+camp.
+
+"Breakfast will be at seven prompt," he informed them. "The packers will
+strike tents while you eat, so have everything ready. There are two
+awkward portages to be tackled to-morrow."
+
+They started in a clammy mist which clung about them until they reached
+the foot of the first wild rapid, where the green and white flood came
+roaring over ledges and between huge boulders, with wisps of spray
+tossing over it. This was Millicent's first sight of the river in anger,
+and she watched, at first almost appalled and then thrilled with strong
+excitement, when Lisle and one packer took the leading canoe up the
+lowest rush. They stood upright in the unloaded, unstable craft, long
+pole in hand, guiding her with what seemed wonderful skill across
+madly-whirling eddies and through tumbling foam, while Nasmyth and
+another man, floundering deep in water, assisted them at intervals with
+the tracking-line. Once Nasmyth's companion lost his footing and
+disappeared, but he rose and Millicent saw that instead of clinging to
+the line for safety he loosed it, and swimming down a wild white tumult,
+came dripping ashore. This, she thought, was bracing work that made for
+more than physical vigor; but she could not imagine Clarence indulging in
+it. It was too elemental, too barbarous for him. He was fond of exertion
+in the form of sport, but he required somebody to saddle and lead out his
+horse and to load his second gun. There was a difference between him and
+those who delighted to grapple at first hand with nature.
+
+She was astonished to see Crestwick get a heavy flour bag upon his back
+and move away with it over very rough stones, and she joined in Bella's
+laugh when Carew attempted to shoulder another and dropped it.
+
+"It's the first time he's ever tried such a thing in his life," Bella
+remarked. "There's nothing like personal experience. You don't realize
+that it isn't easy when you give a porter sixpence to lift your biggest
+trunk at a station."
+
+"The difference is that the porter's used to it," Carew, who was
+red-faced and breathless, pointed out.
+
+"It looks as if that would apply to you before we've finished," Bella
+retorted. "If you can't do anything else, why don't you help those men in
+the river?"
+
+Carew made a gesture of resignation and resolutely plunged in.
+
+"That," laughed Bella, to Millicent and Miss Hume, "is excellent
+discipline; after a little of it, I believe he'll do me credit. I can
+think of a few overfed men that I'd like to put through a drastic course
+of it, only in their case I'd go in the canoe and take my heaviest
+luggage with me."
+
+"It wouldn't be wise," asserted Millicent. "When they reached broken
+water they'd probably let you go."
+
+She collected an armful of odds and ends and set off up-stream over the
+portage. The men spent several hours bringing the canoes and stores
+across, and there followed some laborious poling before they reached the
+second rapid, which was safely passed. The party was quieter than usual
+after supper that night. They had had their first glimpse of the
+strenuous life of the wilderness and it had impressed them. The effect
+passed off, however, as they pushed on day after day without mishap.
+Millicent, in particular, delighted in all she saw--the fresh green of
+the birches among the somber cedars, the lonely heights that ever
+surrounded them, the gleaming lakes, the broad green flood that here and
+there filled the gorges with its thunder.
+
+She suffered no discomfort she could not laugh at; there was something
+that braced her in mind and body in the mountain air; and Clarence no
+longer held a leading place in her memory. She realized now that the
+thought of him had hitherto occasioned her a vague uneasiness. Indeed,
+she was almost glad that he was far away; liberty was unexpectedly sweet,
+and though she had a few misgivings, she meant to enjoy it while it
+lasted.
+
+Then one afternoon when they were stopped by a fall, she slipped away
+from the others with her sketch-book, and wandering back through
+straggling bush, climbed a rocky ridge. The ascent was steep, but by
+clambering up a gully she reached the summit, and after strolling along
+it she sat down to sketch the gorge below. The work absorbed her
+attention and some time had passed when the lengthening shadows warned
+her that she would better retrace her steps to camp.
+
+It proved difficult. She could not find the gully she had climbed up and
+the side of the ridge was almost precipitous and was clothed with
+brushwood. At last, however, she reached a spot from which it seemed
+possible to make the descent; but after scrambling and sliding for some
+distance she was suddenly stopped by a sheer drop of several yards to a
+ledge. Being agile, she might have reached the ledge by lowering herself
+by her hands, but it was narrow and slanted outwards, so that she feared
+to slip off in alighting and fall over the crag below. She attempted to
+climb back to the summit and found it impossible, for the stones she
+seized were loose and came away when she disturbed them. She could only
+stay where she was and call for assistance, though the clamor of the
+fall, ringing up the valley, almost drowned her voice.
+
+By and by the sunlight faded off the rocks above, the trees below grew
+shadowy, and Millicent began to feel anxious and to envy the others who
+would, no doubt, be sitting down to their evening meal. They would miss
+her and set out in search; but they might not reach her until it was
+dark, when it would be difficult to extricate her, and she had no desire
+to spend the night among the rocks. She made another determined attempt
+to get up, but slid back, nearly slipping over the edge, while her
+sketch-book went clattering far below. Then she sat still, calling out at
+intervals.
+
+The light grew dimmer, white mists began to trail about the heights
+above, and Millicent was getting cold. She was also getting angry--it
+looked as if the others were too busy eating or talking to care what had
+become of her; some of them ought to have come in search. She felt a
+grievance against Lisle in particular. Why she should blame him more than
+Nasmyth or Carew was not very clear, except that he was more used to the
+country; but she felt that he ought to have come to her rescue. Then,
+fearing that she would have to spend the night on the hillside, she
+carefully crept toward a small level space near a jutting rock and sat
+down, shivering, while dusk slowly crept across the bush.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
+
+
+Millicent had no intention of going to sleep among the rocks, but after a
+while she grew drowsy, and when at length she raised her head with a
+start the moon hung over the hills across the river, flooding the heights
+above her with a silvery light. The trees below were sharper in form, but
+everything was very still; only the thunder of the fall seemed to have
+increased in depth of tone. Millicent shivered from the cold as she sent
+a sharp cry ringing across the woods.
+
+This time it was answered, and she recognized the voice. Looking down,
+she could see Lisle's black figure moving cautiously along the ledge, for
+although the lower rocks were wrapped in shadow it is never altogether
+dark in the northern summer. Coming out into the moonlight, he examined
+the slab of rock which had arrested her descent, but when he spoke she
+was not quite pleased with his very matter-of-fact tone. It left
+something to be desired--she thought he might have displayed more
+satisfaction at finding her safe.
+
+"Is there anything you could catch hold of at the top?" he asked. "If so,
+you'd better lower yourself until I can reach you."
+
+Anxious as she was to get down, Millicent hesitated; if she did as he
+suggested she would descend into his arms. She was not unduly prudish,
+and indeed, after being left alone in the impressive solitude of the
+wilds, she would have been glad of the reassuring grasp of a human being.
+But an obscure feeling, springing, perhaps, from primitive instincts,
+made her shrink from close contact with this particular man.
+
+"No," she answered coldly; "the rock is loose. Besides, the ledge is
+narrow, and if I came down heavily, we might both fall over."
+
+He again examined the slab, and then stood still, considering.
+
+"Well," he decided, "there's a crack some way up that should give me a
+hold, and a bit of a projection you could rest a foot on yonder. Then if
+you gave me one hand, I could lower you down."
+
+He came up, thrusting his fingers into a fissure near the summit and
+finding a tiny support for his toes. Lowering herself cautiously, she
+clutched the hand he extended.
+
+"Now," he cautioned, "as gently as possible!"
+
+Loosing her hold above, she hung for a moment or two, half afraid to let
+go his hand, while his arm and body grew tense with the strain and she
+could hear his labored breath. Summoning her courage she relaxed her
+grasp. In another second she was safe upon the ledge, and, scrambling
+down, he stood beside her with a set, flushed face, the veins protruding
+on his forehead.
+
+"I'm glad that's over; I was badly scared," he acknowledged.
+
+She thrilled at the confession, though she thought there had been no
+serious risk; his concern for her safety was strangely pleasant and the
+strenuous grasp of his fingers had stirred her.
+
+"Oh," she replied, "I believe I was quite safe after you got hold of me."
+
+He glanced at the steep face of broken rock that ran down into the
+shadow.
+
+"If we'd gone over, we might not have brought up for a while," he said.
+"But what's that resting on yonder jutting stone?"
+
+"I'm sorry it's my sketch-book," Millicent answered unguardedly. "It's
+nearly filled."
+
+"Then wait here a little."
+
+"You can't get it!" Millicent cried sharply. "You mustn't try!"
+
+"It's quite easy."
+
+Millicent could not resist the temptation to make a rather dangerous
+experiment.
+
+"And yet you were afraid a minute or two ago!"
+
+"Yes," he answered, looking at her steadily. "But that was different."
+
+She felt her heart-beats quicken and her face grow hot, but she laid a
+restraining hand on his arm.
+
+"I won't let you go."
+
+"You must be reasonable," he urged, moving a pace away. "That book stands
+for a good deal of high-grade work. If you lose it, you will have wasted
+all the first part of your journey. Besides, I should feel very mean if I
+left it lying there."
+
+He lowered himself over the edge, and moving from cranny to cranny and
+stone to stone, went cautiously down, while she watched him with her
+hands closed tight. What the actual peril was she could not estimate; but
+it looked appallingly dangerous, particularly when in one place he had to
+descend from a slightly overhanging stone. He reached the book, however,
+and came up, and when at length he stood beside her his expression was
+quite normal and he was only a little breathless. Again she felt a
+disconcerting thrill which was accompanied by a confused sense of pride.
+What he had done was in her service, and this time he had shown no sign
+of fear or strain.
+
+"Thank you," she said. "But I'm a little angry--you shouldn't have gone.
+I should never have forgiven myself if you had got hurt."
+
+There was light enough to show that the blood crept into his face; but he
+turned and glanced at the descending ledge.
+
+"You had better put your hand on my shoulder where it's steep," he
+suggested. "Still, we're not going to have much trouble in getting down."
+
+They had reached level ground before anything more was said, and then she
+turned to him with a smile.
+
+"Why didn't you come before? You left me an unpleasantly long while among
+the rocks."
+
+"We didn't miss you until supper," he explained. "Then I set off at once,
+but I didn't know which way to look and the bush was pretty thick."
+Stopping in the moonlight, he indicated his rent attire. "I think this
+speaks for itself," he added humorously. "There's one consolation--the
+things belong to Carew."
+
+Millicent was glad that he was not going to be serious.
+
+"I remember that you didn't bring much of an outfit," she replied. "I
+suppose you had one. What became of it?"
+
+"I left it behind, in pieces, on the thorns and rocks along a good many
+leagues of trail; but it wasn't extensive--when you travel in this
+country you have often to choose between food and clothes. It was
+obviously impossible to buy any more, but the day before we reached camp
+I made Crestwick cut my hair. After a look at myself in Nasmyth's
+pocket-glass, I'm inclined to think he was unwarrantably proud of his
+success."
+
+After that they chatted lightly, until they walked into the glow of the
+camp-fire, and while Bella and Miss Hume plied Millicent with questions
+and congratulations, Lisle took up Nasmyth's repeating rifle and fired it
+several times.
+
+"That will bring the boys in," he explained. "Now I'll get Miss
+Gladwyne's supper."
+
+During the meal the others came back and when they had all assembled,
+looking the worse for their scramble through the bush, Crestwick, who had
+occasional lapses from good behavior, addressed them collectively.
+
+"Wasn't I right?" he asked. "I offered anybody three to one that Lisle
+would be the first to find her."
+
+"Then you ought to be ashamed of it, after the expensive way in which
+your confidence in your opinions has often been shown to be mistaken,"
+declared Bella. "Besides, you promised me you wouldn't waste your money
+that way again!"
+
+"This time I was backing a moral certainty," Crestwick rejoined. "That
+isn't gambling; if you're not convinced, you can ask the others on what
+grounds they were so unwilling to take me."
+
+Receiving no encouragement, he addressed Millicent, who was extremely
+vexed with him.
+
+"I suppose you know that you have given us all a good deal of anxiety.
+You ought to feel contrite."
+
+"I'm not sorry if I've given you a good deal of trouble," Millicent
+retorted. "You were a long time in coming to my rescue."
+
+"That," he exclaimed, "is just the kind of thing Bella used to delight in
+saying, though I'll own that she's been much more civil lately. It's
+possible that Carew's patience is not so long as mine."
+
+"Aren't you getting rather personal?" Carew hinted.
+
+Crestwick subsided with an indulgent grimace, but when they retired to
+their shelter Lisle turned upon him.
+
+"It struck me that those jokes of yours were in what you would call
+uncommonly bad form," he said. "It would be better if you didn't make any
+more of them."
+
+"Bella doesn't mind; she's used to me," Crestwick grinned.
+
+"I wasn't referring to Bella--she has somebody to take care of her."
+
+"And Miss Gladwyne hasn't? Still, that's her own fault, isn't it? In my
+opinion, she has only to say the word." He paused, seeing his companion's
+face in the moonlight, for its expression was not encouraging. "Oh,
+well!" he added, "you needn't lose your temper. There are people who can
+never see when a thing's humorous; I'll wind up."
+
+In the meanwhile Millicent sat in the entrance of her tent, looking out
+between the dark trunks of the cedars on the glittering river. It sluiced
+by, lapping noisily upon the shingle, lined with streaks of froth, and
+the roar of the neighboring fall filled the lonely gorge. The wildness of
+her surroundings had its charm; she had been happier among them than she
+had been at any time during the last twelve months in England, and now
+she was uneasily conscious of the reason. Lisle's constant watchfulness
+over her comfort, his cheery conversation, even the sight of him when he
+was too busy to talk, were strangely pleasant. She realized why she had
+made him take the harder way in helping her down from the rock and the
+knowledge was disconcerting. She had been afraid to trust herself to the
+clasp of his arms, but not because of any want of confidence in him.
+
+Then she saw Carew kiss Bella among the cedars before she left him to
+walk toward the tent, and the sight stirred her blood. It was clear that
+she must be on her guard; her guide must be kept firmly at a distance,
+though this promised to be difficult. She was, to all intents and
+purposes, pledged to Clarence; and until Bella joined her she tried to
+fix her thoughts on him, wondering where he was and what he was doing,
+without being able to find much interest in the question.
+
+As it happened, Clarence was then sitting in a luxurious parlor-car as a
+big west-bound train sped through the forests of Ontario, but his face
+was troubled and he felt ill at ease. A little more than a fortnight
+earlier he had met Marple at a Swiss hotel, and the man had informed him
+that Miss Gladwyne and Miss Hume had sailed for Canada. Nasmyth, he
+added, had gone by a previous steamer, to make arrangements for some
+journey they wished to undertake. This was the first intimation Clarence
+had received. Millicent had written to him on the day before she sailed,
+but the letter, following him to one of the Italian valleys, had not yet
+reached him, and he was filled with consternation. She had stolen away,
+as if she did not wish to be burdened with his company; she was going to
+visit the scene of her brother's death, no doubt under the guidance of
+Lisle, who had strong suspicions concerning it. He might communicate them
+to Millicent; perhaps he had done so already, which would account for her
+silent departure. With an effort Gladwyne roused himself to action. He
+made up his mind to follow her and, if necessary, attempt some defense.
+Perhaps, he thought, he could manage to destroy any evidence of his
+treachery which the Canadian had discovered.
+
+Still, he was tormented by doubts as he lounged in the parlor-car, and,
+growing restless, he went out on the rear platform and lighted a cigar.
+There was faint moonlight, and dim trees fled past him; the rattle of
+wheels and the rush of the cool wind was soothing. He could not think
+while he stood holding on by the brass rail to protect himself against
+the lurching, and he found a relief in the roar as the great train swept
+across a foaming river. They had been detained at a junction during the
+afternoon, and the engineer was evidently bent on making up the wasted
+time.
+
+Presently the door of the next car opened, and Gladwyne started violently
+as a dark figure came out on to the platform.
+
+"Batley!" he cried. "What in the name of wonder has brought you here!"
+
+Batley moving forward into the moonlight, regarded him with a mocking
+smile.
+
+"Nothing very remarkable; I'd several motives. For one thing, I felt I'd
+like the trip--had a stroke of luck not long ago which justified the
+expense. British Columbia's nowadays almost as accessible as parts of
+Norway, where I've generally gone to, and I understand it's wilder."
+
+"But how is it I haven't seen you on the train?" Gladwyne asked, in no
+way reassured by the man's careless explanation.
+
+"I only got on at the last junction." Batley's tone was significant as he
+proceeded. "I was too late for your Allan boat; when I inquired about you
+in London I found that you had gone; but I caught the next New York
+Cunarder and came on by Buffalo. I suppose you stopped a day or two in
+Montreal, which explains how I've overtaken you."
+
+"We were held up by ice off Newfoundland."
+
+"Well," suggested Batley, "suppose we go into the smoking end of the car.
+I dare say you'd like a talk and it's rather noisy here. Besides, the
+cinders are a little too plentiful."
+
+They went in and Batley, lounging in a seat, lighted a cigar and waited
+with an amused expression for the other to begin. Gladwyne was intensely
+uneasy. It had been a vast relief to be free from his companion, and the
+last thing he desired was that Batley, who was a remarkably keen-witted
+man, should go over the track of George's expedition in company with
+Lisle.
+
+"Now," he said, "I'd be glad if you would tell me exactly why you
+followed me. The reason you gave didn't seem sufficient."
+
+"Then my other object ought to be clear. You're carrying a good deal of
+my money; I felt it would be wiser to keep an eye on you. As I said, I'd
+had a stroke of luck that enabled me to get away."
+
+"I suppose that means somebody has suffered!" Gladwyne, in his
+bitterness, could not help the injudicious sneer.
+
+"Oh, no," returned Batley good-humoredly. "In this case, I'd set a man on
+his feet--it's now and then as profitable as pulling one down, and my
+methods aren't always destructive. The fellow was straight and I'm
+inclined to believe he was grateful. I don't think he could have found
+anybody else to back him, but I'm not afraid of a risk." He paused and
+smiled at his companion. "Sometimes I make mistakes; I did so with you."
+
+Gladwyne flushed, but Batley proceeded:
+
+"I may remind you that when I financed you I was led to believe that you
+would succeed to a handsome property; not one that was stripped of its
+working capital. I'll give you credit for misleading me rather cleverly.
+All this is to the point, because it explains my watchful attitude.
+You're the kind of man I prefer to keep in sight."
+
+Disgust, humiliation and anger possessed Gladwyne, but he knew that he
+was in his companion's hands, and he did not think that Batley had stated
+all of his reasons yet. It was possible that he expected to discover
+something in British Columbia that would strengthen his hold on his
+victim.
+
+"Well," he replied with an attempt at calmness, "we needn't quarrel,
+since it looks as if we'd have to put up with each other for some time.
+Have you finished what you have to say?"
+
+"Not quite. There's one question yet. When do you expect to marry Miss
+Gladwyne?"
+
+"What is that to you?" Clarence broke out.
+
+"Just this--I'm anxious to form some idea as to when I'm likely to get my
+money back. Since Miss Crestwick dropped you, there's only Miss Gladwyne
+available, so far as I know, and you have got to marry money and do so
+pretty soon. I'm willing to do anything that may help on the match."
+
+Gladwyne's face burned, he looked savage, but Batley continued to watch
+him with an ironical smile.
+
+"I don't want to drive you too hard, but I'm only stating an obvious
+fact," he concluded. "Now I'll leave you to think it over while I
+interview the porter of the sleeping-car."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+CLARENCE REACHES CAMP
+
+
+The evening was dull and gloomy, a gray sky hung over the desolate hills,
+and Millicent, sitting alone on a rocky slope, felt troubled and
+depressed. Beneath her, the long hollow that crossed the big divide
+stretched back, colored in cheerless neutral tints, into drifting mist.
+It was sprinkled with little ponds, and banded here and there with belts
+of stunted trees, small birches and willows, and ragged cedars that hid
+the oozy muskegs under them.
+
+The girl was worn with travel, for Lisle had abandoned the canoes some
+time ago, and the party had followed, by what he called easy stages, the
+trail he and the packers had broken, though the women had found the way
+hard enough. This, he had informed them, would shorten the journey a good
+deal, and he expected to fall in with some Indians, from whom canoes
+could be obtained, once they had crossed the divide; failing this, they
+might be compelled to retrace their steps.
+
+It was up the forbidding hollow they had lately reached that George
+Gladwyne had doggedly plodded, faint with hunger, on his last journey.
+Millicent had followed his trail for the past two days and she had found
+them filled with painful memories. All that Lisle had shown her had
+brought back her brother and once more she mourned for him. But that was
+an old wound that had partly healed and she could face the sorrowful
+story of George's last struggles with a certain pride; he had endured
+with unwavering courage, and the manner of his death became him. The girl
+had other troubles which clouded the present and filled her with
+misgivings for the future.
+
+During her first few weeks in the wilderness, lying all day under clear
+sunshine and cloudless skies, it had seemed to her an enchanted land.
+Snow-peaks, and crystal lakes that mirrored ranks of climbing firs,
+struck her as endowed with an almost unearthly beauty and as wonderful a
+tranquillity; and when she pushed on through the savage portals of the
+mountains there was something that stirred her nature in the sight of the
+foaming rivers and the roar of the spray-veiled falls. Now, however, the
+glamour had gone, it had been rudely banished on the night when Lisle had
+helped her down the rocks. She, who had allowed Clarence to believe that
+she would marry him, had found a strange delight in the company of
+another man; one whom she might have loved had she been free, she tried
+to convince herself, in a determined attempt to hide the fact that her
+heart cried out for him.
+
+Lisle had pushed on with a single companion on the previous night to see
+if he could obtain canoes; the packers were breaking a trail, and the
+others were resting in camp. Millicent was glad of this, for she wanted
+to be alone. Suddenly, as she looked down the hollow, two indistinct
+figures appeared out of the mist. The packers had gone up the valley, but
+there was no doubt that it was two men she saw, and they were apparently
+making for the camp. As the party had met nobody since entering the
+wilderness, she felt curious about the strangers. There was something in
+the carriage of one of them that seemed familiar; and then the uneasiness
+of which she had already been conscious became intensified as she
+recognized that he walked like Clarence.
+
+A few minutes later the men were hidden by a growth of willows and she
+sped back to camp, scrambling among the rocks with a haste that was born
+of nervous tension. She did not see the men again--it was needful to pick
+a path down the steep descent very carefully--and when she came,
+breathless, upon the clump of birches among which the tents were pitched
+it was evident from the hum of voices that the strangers had already
+arrived. Pushing in among the trees, she stopped, with her heart beating
+unpleasantly fast, face to face with Clarence.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, moving forward to meet her; "now I'm rewarded for my
+journey. How fit and brown you look, Millicent!"
+
+She stood still a moment, with an expressionless face, finding no words
+to say; then with an effort she roused herself and shook hands with him.
+
+"You must have had a trying march if you followed our trail," she said.
+"But how did you get here--I mean why did you leave Switzerland?"
+
+Crestwick chuckled.
+
+"That's very much what we all asked him," he broke in. "In one way, it's
+hardly civil; if we'd known he was coming, we'd have been better prepared
+to express our delight."
+
+The lad was not, as a rule, considerate and he suffered from want of
+tact, but there was truth behind what he said. It is given to only a few
+to be sure of a warm and sincere welcome when they take their friends by
+surprise. Nasmyth frowned at Crestwick, who had rashly hinted at the
+feeling of constraint that had seized upon the party. Millicent, however,
+was looking at Gladwyne and her heart grew softer as she noticed his
+weariness and his strained expression.
+
+"Well," she said when he had answered her, "you must sit down and rest.
+Nasmyth and Crestwick will get you something to eat as soon as possible."
+
+It was not what she would have wished to say--it sounded dreadfully
+commonplace--but Batley came forward with an easy laugh.
+
+"I'm afraid our young friend"--he indicated Crestwick--"is not a
+diplomatist, but on the whole his fault's a good one; he's more or less
+honest. You'll forgive us for surprising you; it was quite impossible to
+send you a warning."
+
+Millicent smiled, the tension suddenly slackened, and as the packer who
+cooked was away with his comrade, they all set about preparing a meal
+which, thanks to Batley, was eaten amid a flow of lively conversation.
+The man was weary, but he could rise to an occasion and summon to his aid
+a genial wit. Clarence was glad of this; fatigue had reacted on him,
+increasing his anxiety, and he had been chilled by the coldness of his
+reception. Even the cordiality his companions now displayed was
+suspicious, because it suggested that they wished to atone for something
+that had previously been lacking. He ate, however, and talked when he
+found an opportunity, and afterward acquiesced when Millicent declined to
+be drawn away from the others.
+
+When the meal was finished, they sat close together about the fire, for
+coldness came with the dusk, but by degrees the conversation languished.
+The increasing chill, the gloom and the desolation of their surroundings
+affected them all; and nobody had been quite at ease since Gladwyne's
+arrival. He was too tired to make more than spasmodic attempts to talk,
+and though Millicent was sorry for him she could not help contrasting him
+with Lisle. She had seen the latter almost worn out with severe labor,
+but even then he had been cheerful, ready to encourage his companions
+with lively badinage. He seemed to take pleasure in forcing his body to
+the utmost strain it could bear.
+
+The light had died away into the partial obscurity which would last until
+sunrise when Lisle walked into camp. The fire had burned up, and
+Millicent saw his start and his face set hard at the sight of Gladwyne.
+
+"This is a surprise," he said. "When did you get here?"
+
+"About two hours ago. We found where you left the water and followed up
+your trail," Gladwyne answered.
+
+"How many packers and what stores did you bring?"
+
+"Two packers," replied Gladwyne. "There were no more available at the
+last settlement. Batley has a list of the provisions--we cut them down as
+much as possible. As we were anxious to overtake you, we traveled light."
+
+Lisle took the list Batley gave him and examined it by the glow of the
+fire.
+
+"It looks as if you didn't mind endangering the safety of the whole
+party," he broke out. "This expedition is already quite large enough, and
+you add four people to it with less than half the necessary stores, so
+that you could save yourself a little trouble on the journey! What's more
+important, we can't make up for the shortage by better speed. Only two of
+you can pack an average load, though all four must be fed."
+
+Millicent had listened, hot with anger and a little surprised. Lisle had
+his faults, including a shortness of temper, but he was now showing a
+strain of what she considered primitive barbarism which he had hitherto
+concealed. A cultured Englishman would have led Clarence aside or waited
+for an opportunity before remonstrating with him; and then her face
+burned as she wondered whether Lisle had been actuated by savage
+jealousy. It was, however, insufferable that he should display it in this
+fashion.
+
+"I must point out that I organized the expedition," she said. "Everybody
+here is my guest."
+
+"Did you invite Gladwyne and Batley?"
+
+"I did not," Millicent was compelled to own. "For all that, they are now
+in the same position as the rest. I must ask you to remember it."
+
+Lisle had some trouble in controlling himself, but he nodded. "Well," he
+responded, "I'll have to alter several of our arrangements and I'll go
+along and talk it over with the packers. I've got the canoes required,
+and we'll take the trail at seven to-morrow."
+
+He strode away toward the packers' fire, quite aware that he had not
+behaved in a very seemly way, but still consumed with indignation against
+Gladwyne. When he had disappeared, Clarence looked up.
+
+"I'm sorry if we have given you unnecessary trouble; but does your guide
+often adopt that rather hectoring tone?"
+
+His languid contempt roused Crestwick.
+
+"Lisle's responsible for the safety of all of us," the lad broke out,
+"and you haven't shown much regard for it in making your loads as light
+as you could!"
+
+Millicent raised her hand.
+
+"We'll talk about something else for a few minutes and then break up.
+It's an early start to-morrow."
+
+They dispersed shortly afterward, but Batley sought Lisle before retiring
+to rest.
+
+"I regret that we have added to your anxiety," he began. "Of course,
+transport is a serious difficulty--I've had some little experience of
+this kind of thing."
+
+"In the field?" Lisle asked bluntly. "I've had a suspicion of it. Then
+why didn't you remember?" He saw Batley's smile, for they were standing
+by the packers' fire. "Oh," he added, "you needn't trouble to shield
+Gladwyne. I formed my opinion of him some time ago--he's a mighty poor
+specimen."
+
+"I'm inclined to agree with you," replied Batley dryly.
+
+They set off early the next morning, and after his forced march, Gladwyne
+found the load given him sufficiently heavy. He was badly jaded, aching
+all over, and disturbed in mind, when they camped near the summit of the
+divide late in the afternoon without his having been able to secure a
+word with Millicent alone. He felt that he must gain her consent to a
+formal engagement before Lisle let fall any hint of his suspicions, which
+he did not believe had been done so far. Afterward, knowing Millicent, he
+thought she would staunchly refuse to listen to anything to his
+discredit, and he could, if it were needful, ascribe Lisle's attack to
+jealousy. He must, however, also contrive to push on ahead of the party,
+on some excuse, and obliterate any remaining trace of the former
+expedition's provision caches; then he would be safe.
+
+Millicent had strolled away from the others and was standing among the
+rocks when he overtook her. The signs of fatigue and tension in his face
+softened her toward him. Still, it was only compassion; she felt no
+thrill, but rather an involuntary shrinking and a sense of alarm. She was
+to be called upon to fulfil a duty to which she had somehow pledged
+herself.
+
+"Millicent," he began, "things can't go on as they have been
+doing--pleasant as it was. I have waited patiently, but you can't expect
+too much. Now I have come a long way to claim my reward. I want the right
+to look after you, and to tell the others so."
+
+His abruptness and hoarseness were expressive, but she felt that there
+was something lacking and she answered with a flippancy she seldom
+indulged in.
+
+"You thought it needful to bring your privy counselor with you?"
+
+"No; he came without even asking my permission."
+
+"Well," she said, sitting down with forced calmness, "it doesn't matter;
+but are you quite sure now that you really want me?"
+
+There was no doubt that he was desperately anxious for her formal word;
+there was a feverish eagerness in his eyes. It puzzled her, but it left
+her unmoved and cold.
+
+"Want you!" he cried. "Can you ask? Haven't I constantly shown my
+devotion?"
+
+"For the last few months--I mean after Lisle went back to Canada," she
+replied with gathering color. "Before then, for a time, I think one could
+reasonably have doubted it."
+
+He looked confused; that Bella had attracted him had been obvious, and
+there was no way of getting over the fact gracefully.
+
+"I'm afraid I have my weaknesses--want of balance, impulsiveness, and a
+capacity for being easily piqued," he confessed. "Well, though perhaps I
+deserved it, you were cold and aloof enough to madden a more patient man,
+and I suppose I slackly yielded to wounded vanity. All the time, you were
+the one I had chosen, the only woman who had ever really stirred or could
+influence me. Nearly as long as I can remember I have loved and respected
+you. Occasionally you unbent enough to show me that you recognized it."
+
+There was some truth in this, and seeing the change in her expression, he
+went on:
+
+"You can't cast me off and fling me back upon myself--I couldn't face
+that. During those last few months in England, you helped me forward far
+more than you suspected--showed me my duties, enabled me to carry them
+out. I can't go on alone; I'm your responsibility; having taken it up,
+you can't deny it now."
+
+Millicent smiled faintly.
+
+"No," she admitted; "I suppose that would be hardly fair."
+
+He would have thrown his arm about her, but she laid a hand on his
+shoulder and with gentle firmness held him back.
+
+"No," she said, with a deep color in her face; "not yet. We have been
+associated as cousins; I must get used to the new position."
+
+He had wit enough to yield, but he kissed her hands exultantly.
+
+"It's a pledge! I may tell the others?"
+
+"Yes," she consented quietly, "I think you may."
+
+For a while he sat at her feet, with her hand on his shoulder, talking
+about the future, and she was sensible of a certain calm satisfaction
+which had in it more than a trace of resignation. She had not shirked her
+duty, she was safe from temptation, and she had after all a sincere,
+half-pitying tenderness for the man. Her liking for him would, she
+thought, grow stronger, and the passion which Lisle had once or twice
+half awakened in her was a thing to be subdued and dreaded. Though
+Gladwyne saw that she was but lightly moved, he was content, and some
+time had passed when they went slowly back together to the camp.
+
+Miss Hume was the first to notice them and when Millicent smiled she went
+hastily forward and kissed her. Then Bella joined them and Batley offered
+his good wishes in fitting terms. When Lisle and Nasmyth came up, a word
+from Bella was sufficient for them. For a moment the girl was startled by
+what she read in the Canadian's face. It was, however, invisible to
+Millicent. Turning suddenly round without speaking he strode away,
+followed by Nasmyth. Stopping when he was hidden from the camp among the
+rocks Lisle turned savagely to his companion.
+
+"You heard what Bella said!"
+
+"I did!" replied Nasmyth. "The hound! It must be stopped!"
+
+"Yes," asserted Lisle, more coolly, "that's a sure thing. Still, there
+are difficulties--she may not believe my story now. I almost think I'll
+wait until we reach the two caches; then with something to back my
+statements, I might force the truth from him."
+
+"In that case, you had better watch him," warned Nasmyth, looking deeply
+disturbed. "He may try to reach them first."
+
+The next moment Crestwick joined them.
+
+"What's to be done, Vernon?" he exclaimed. "Miss Gladwyne's engagement's
+formally announced--it can't go on!"
+
+"Why?" Lisle's voice was stern. "What has it to do with you?"
+
+"Well," explained Crestwick, hesitating, "the man's not to be trusted,
+he's dangerous. He simply can't be allowed to make this match!" He paused
+and spread out his hands. "I'm horribly troubled about it--I'd better
+tell you that I know--"
+
+"You know nothing that need be mentioned," Lisle interrupted him. "That's
+positive; you have to remember it. As to the rest, you'll leave the
+matter entirely in my hands."
+
+"Oh, well," agreed Crestwick, "if you order it. That relieves me of my
+responsibility. I'm uncommonly glad to get rid of it."
+
+Lisle abruptly strode away, and Crestwick saw that Nasmyth was regarding
+him curiously.
+
+"Lisle was quite right," Nasmyth said. "He only forestalled me in
+instructions I meant to give you."
+
+"Then you understand what I was referring to?" exclaimed Crestwick.
+
+"I've a good idea," Nasmyth answered dryly. "In my opinion, so has
+Lisle."
+
+"But you were on the far side of the hedge on the morning we tried the
+horse, and Lisle was down. He wasn't conscious when I broke through the
+thorns."
+
+"Quite correct; but it's most unlikely he lost consciousness from the
+fall, and he was lying with his face turned toward the jump--it wasn't
+until the chestnut came down on his shoulder that he was badly hurt. The
+doctor agreed with me on that point."
+
+"That might have struck me," Crestwick rejoined. "But you owned that you
+had an idea of what happened at the jump. How did you get it? Did Lisle
+tell you?"
+
+Nasmyth smiled grimly.
+
+"I'm firmly convinced that he'll never mention what he saw or suspects to
+anybody, unless it's to Gladwyne. As to the rest, the hedge wasn't thick
+enough to prevent my seeing through it."
+
+"He's an unusual man," declared Crestwick in an admiring tone. "I haven't
+met his equal. But I'll keep my eye on Gladwyne--there's risk enough at
+some of the rapids--the hound shan't have another chance if I can help
+it."
+
+They turned and went back to camp, but on reaching it they sat down among
+the packers, avoiding Gladwyne and Millicent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+A BOLD SCHEME
+
+
+The sense of security which Millicent experienced on announcing her
+engagement was not permanent and in a few days the doubts that had
+troubled her crept back into her mind. She had never entertained any
+marked illusions about Clarence and although, now that she was
+irrevocably pledged to him, she endeavored to fix her thoughts on his
+most likable qualities, even these appeared in a less favorable light
+than they had formerly done. The growth of the warmer attachment she had
+expected to feel was strangely slow, and though it was early to indulge
+in regrets her heart sometimes grew heavy as she looked forward to the
+future. Clarence was considerate, attentive and deferential in a polished
+way, but he lacked something one looked for in a lover. Besides, she was
+anxious about him; he looked worn, his manner suggested that he was
+bearing a strain, but this was in his favor, for it roused her
+compassion. She fancied that the cause of it was financial, and this in a
+sense was encouraging, because this was a trouble from which she could
+purchase him immunity.
+
+In the meanwhile she was stirred by mournful memories as she followed the
+last stages of her brother's journey and visited the lonely spot where he
+had met his end. Somehow the thought of him encouraged her--George had
+quietly done his duty, regardless of the cost, and even if her burden
+proved heavy, which it was premature to admit, she must bear it
+cheerfully.
+
+At length they stopped one evening at a portage, and Lisle examined the
+stores.
+
+"The food's getting short," he announced. "One or two of you had better
+take out your rifles the first thing to-morrow, while the rest go
+fishing. I'll tackle the portage with two packers."
+
+He began his work at sunrise the next morning and it was toward evening
+when Crestwick came back exultant with a blacktail buck. Nasmyth was
+fishing near the camp and Lisle was busy with a canoe near by.
+
+"Where are the rest? How have they got on?" Lisle asked.
+
+"I think Batley went back to the last reach with Carew's rod," Crestwick
+answered. "I met Gladwyne and one of the packers on the low range back
+yonder; they'd only got a blue grouse."
+
+"I could have done with the man here," said Lisle. "Which way were they
+heading?"
+
+"Back up-river, the way we came."
+
+Lisle made no comment, but Crestwick thought he found the information
+reassuring, and thrusting out the canoe he was swept away down the
+easiest part of the rapid, while Crestwick assisted Nasmyth to land a
+trout. Lisle had returned to the camp when the packer who had accompanied
+Clarence came in alone, bringing a couple of grouse.
+
+"What's become of Mr. Gladwyne?" Lisle asked him.
+
+"Hasn't he got back?" replied the other, glancing about. "I lost him on
+the far slope of the bluff about noon, but as he could see the river most
+anywhere from the top I went right on. There was a deer trail I was
+trying to follow."
+
+Lisle said nothing more to the packer but walked rapidly toward where the
+cook was getting supper ready. Nasmyth followed him.
+
+"Did you give Mr. Gladwyne any lunch to carry with him when he left
+camp?" Lisle asked the man.
+
+"I was busy when he came along and I told him to look around for himself.
+I think he took some canned stuff and there was quite a big loaf
+missing."
+
+"Bring the box you keep the canned goods in!"
+
+The cook produced it.
+
+"There's two meat cans gone, anyway," he remarked. "Looks as if Mr.
+Gladwyne figured on getting mighty hungry."
+
+Lisle nodded.
+
+"Put me up enough bread and fish for two of us for two days."
+
+He moved away with Nasmyth, and they had left the fire behind when he
+spoke, his voice hoarse with anger.
+
+"Gladwyne's gone to the cache! He's got half a day's clear start of us
+and he knows the country. It's pretty open and he'll make quite a good
+pace on a straight trail, while the river bends. Get the stuff I asked
+for while I give the others a few instructions."
+
+"You mean to start after him at once?"
+
+"As soon as you're ready," Lisle said shortly.
+
+He turned back toward where the others were sitting waiting for supper.
+
+"As Gladwyne hasn't turned up, Nasmyth and I are going to look for him,"
+he announced. "There's nothing to be alarmed about, but it's quite likely
+we may not be back in the morning. If we don't turn up by noon, you had
+better start down-river and we'll pick you up farther on. I don't want to
+waste another day."
+
+"Do you think he has got lost altogether?" Millicent asked anxiously.
+
+"No," answered Lisle, in a reassuring manner. "Still, some of these
+ridges are bad to climb and quite a lot of things may happen to delay
+him."
+
+He called to a packer and gave him definite orders to take the party
+down-river and wait at a spot agreed upon; and a few minutes later he and
+Nasmyth left the camp.
+
+Shortly afterward Batley came in.
+
+"Where are the others?" he asked.
+
+They told him and he looked thoughtful.
+
+"So Lisle started at once! Which way did he and Nasmyth go?"
+
+"Up the ridge behind us, but they turned down-stream when they reached
+the top," Carew replied.
+
+Batley scented a mystery.
+
+"Well," he said, "I think I'll go after them; I might be useful. Of
+course, you'll start to-morrow as Lisle told you, and if I'm not back by
+then, I'll follow the river to the rendezvous he mentioned."
+
+He disappeared, as did Crestwick, who came in for supper later on, and as
+the packers had pitched their tent lower down, there was now only Carew
+left with the women in camp. They were all a little uneasy as dusk grew
+near; the haste with which the men had set out one after another struck
+them as ominous. Bella's mind was unusually active, for she had promptly
+decided that there was something behind all this, and when at last
+Millicent strolled away from the others she followed her to the edge of
+the water. A ridge of rock cut them off from view of the camp and though
+she fancied that Millicent was not pleased to see her, Bella sat down
+upon a stone.
+
+"In a way, the anxiety that Lisle and the rest have shown to find
+Clarence is flattering," she began, expressing part of her thoughts. "I
+wonder if they'd all have gone off in such a hurry if Jim had got lost."
+
+"Your brother knows the bush," returned Millicent, hiding her fears.
+
+Bella did not respond to this. She had decided that Millicent must not be
+allowed to marry Gladwyne, but she could not bring herself to denounce
+the man. If that must be done, somebody else would have to undertake the
+task. At the same time, she felt it incumbent on her to give the girl
+some warning, or at least to find out how far her confidence in her lover
+went, in order to determine how advice could best be offered.
+
+"I wonder if you feel quite sure you will be happy with Clarence?" she
+ventured.
+
+"You have provoked the retort--were you convinced that you would be happy
+with Arthur Carew, when you made up your mind to marry him so suddenly?"
+
+Bella's smile expressed forbearance. It was getting dark, but she could
+see the hot flush in her companion's cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes.
+Neither was encouraging, but Bella was not easily, daunted, and she felt
+that her persistence was really meritorious, considering that until
+lately Millicent had never been cordial to her.
+
+"Perhaps I'd better answer," she said sweetly. "I was sure of Arthur, and
+that means a good deal more than that I knew he was in love with me--I
+don't suppose you heard that he'd proposed to me once before?"
+
+"Why didn't you take him then?" Millicent asked coldly. "Remember you
+have justified my being personal."
+
+Bella grew rather hot--when Carew had made his first offer she had been
+in eager pursuit of Gladwyne--but she sternly suppressed a desire to
+retaliate.
+
+"I don't think we need go into that," she replied. "As I said, I was sure
+of Arthur--I knew his character, knew he was better than I am, that he
+could be depended on. He's the kind of man one is safe with; I felt that
+the more I saw of him, the more I could trust him. Perhaps the feeling's
+a safer guide than passion--it stands longer wear--and now I'm getting to
+like him better every day."
+
+Her voice dropped to a tender note and Millicent felt a little
+astonished, and ashamed of her harshness. This was a new Bella, one in
+whose existence she could hardly have believed.
+
+"I haven't quite finished, though I don't often talk like this," Bella
+went on. "I feel that without the confidence I've tried to describe
+marriage must be a terrible risk--one might find such ugly qualities in
+the man; even defects you could forgive beforehand would become so much
+worse when you had to suffer because of them. Of course, one can't expect
+perfection, but there ought to be something--honor, a good heart, a
+generous mind--that one can rely on as a sure foundation. When you have
+that, you can build, and even then the building may be difficult." She
+paused before she concluded: "My dear, I'm happier than I deserve to be;
+I have chosen wisely."
+
+Nothing more was said for a few minutes, but Bella, studying her
+companion's face, was more or less content. Millicent's faith in Clarence
+was weak, she was forcing herself to believe in him; it might be possible
+to make her see her lover in his true character, though Bella had not yet
+determined on the exact course she would adopt. Then Carew called from the
+camp and she went back, while Millicent sat still with grave doubts in her
+heart. Bella's faith in her husband was warranted, and Millicent was
+enough of an optimist to believe that such men were not uncommon--there
+was Lisle, for example, and Nasmyth. With them one would undoubtedly have
+something to build a happy and profitable life upon--but what could be
+done with one in whom there was no foundation, only the shifting sands of
+impulses, or, perhaps, unsounded depths of weakness into which the
+painfully-raised edifice might crumble? She stove to convince herself that
+she was becoming wickedly hypercritical, thinking treasonably of her
+lover, particularly in contrasting him with her guide. There must be no
+more of that, and she rose and walked back to her tent with a resolution
+that cost her an effort.
+
+In the meanwhile Lisle and Nasmyth were pushing on as fast as possible
+along the stony summit of the ridge. There was moonlight, which made it a
+little easier, but they stumbled every now and then. Here and there they
+were forced to scramble down the sides of a gully and on reaching the
+bottom to plunge into water, and once they had to scramble some distance
+shut in by the rocks before they could find a means of ascending. Still,
+they were hard and inured to fatigue, and they never slackened the pace.
+When striding along a stretch of smoother ground Nasmyth gathered breath
+to speak.
+
+"We were easily taken in," he declared; "though the thing was cunningly
+planned. Gladwyne took the packer with him and headed back at first, to
+divert suspicion. It would be easy enough to lose the man and turn
+down-stream again; and that he intended something of the kind is proved
+by his taking so much food with him. No doubt, he'd rather have avoided
+that, in case it looked suspicious, but he's had one hungry march over
+the same ground, and I dare say it was quite enough. Besides, he could
+defy us once he'd emptied and obliterated the caches."
+
+"You understand the way your people's minds work better than I do," Lisle
+returned dryly.
+
+"That's natural, isn't it? The idea that I'm most impressed with just now
+is that Millicent might believe it her duty to stick to Clarence more
+closely because of a tale that was merely damaging. She would never allow
+herself or anybody else to credit it, unless she had absolutely
+convincing proof."
+
+"Yes," agreed Lisle; "I guess you're right. That's precisely why we have
+got to get there first."
+
+A thicket of thorny vines and canes barred his way, but he went straight
+at the midst of it and struggled through, savagely smashing and rending
+down the brush. The clothes he had borrowed from Carew looked
+considerably the worse for wear when he came out; and then he recklessly
+leaped across a dark cleft the bottom of which he could not see.
+Presently they left the ridge and headed away from the river, which
+flowed round a wide curve, and toward dawn they were brought up by a
+ravine. The roar of water rose hoarsely from its depths. The moon was
+getting low and the silvery light did not reach far down the opposite
+side, but they could see a sheer, smooth wall of rock, and the width of
+the chasm rendered any attempt to jump it out of the question.
+
+"No way of getting across here," decided Lisle. "At the same time, it
+looks as if Gladwyne must be held up on the same side that we are. We'll
+follow the canon; down-stream, I think."
+
+The moonlight was getting dimmer, but, at some risk of falling into the
+rift, they pushed on along the brink, looking down as they went. They
+could see no means of descending, but at length, when rocks and trees
+were getting blacker and a little more distinct in the chilly dawn, they
+made out a fallen trunk with broken white branches lying upon a tall mass
+of rock below.
+
+"I've an idea that the top of that tree reached across to this side when
+it first came down," Lisle said. "Have you got a match?"
+
+Nasmyth had brought a few carefully-treasured wax matches with him, and
+he lighted one. It was very still, except for the roar of the hidden
+torrent, and the pale flame burned steadily in the motionless cold air.
+It showed a couple of hollows, where something had rested, close to the
+edge of the rift, and one or two fresh scratches on a strip of rock.
+Lisle stooped down beside them.
+
+"Hold the thing lower!" he exclaimed sharply. "It's as I suspected--this
+is where Gladwyne got across; though he has better nerves than I thought
+he had. The broken end of a branch or two rested right here, and he was
+smart enough to heave the butt off the other bank, after he'd crawled
+over. Looks to me as if it had broken off yonder stump. Guess there'll be
+light enough to look for a way across in half an hour."
+
+Sitting down he filled his pipe, and shortly afterward he raised one hand
+as if listening. For a while, Nasmyth could hear nothing except the roar
+of water; there was not a sound that he could catch in the thin
+straggling bush behind them where few trails of mist were stretched
+athwart the trees. Then he started as a faint crackling and snapping
+began in the distance.
+
+"Can it be a bear?" he asked.
+
+"No; it's a man!"
+
+Nasmyth was somewhat astonished. They had not seen a human being except
+those of their party for a long while, and it seemed strange that they
+should come across one now in the early dawn in those remote wilds.
+
+"He's wearing boots," he said diffidently, as the crackling drew nearer.
+
+"Yes," Lisle responded; "he's making a good deal more noise than a
+bushman would."
+
+The sound steadily approached them. Nasmyth found something mysterious
+and rather eerie in it, and he was on the whole relieved when a dark
+figure materialized among the trees near by. He could barely see it, but
+Lisle called out sharply:
+
+"What has brought you on our trail, Batley?"
+
+The man came toward them with a breathless laugh and sat down.
+
+"It isn't your trail but Gladwyne's I'm interested in, and I can't say
+that I've succeeded in following that. I merely pushed on, until I struck
+this canon and as I couldn't get across, I followed it up."
+
+"You're not easily scared," Lisle commented. "You might have got lost.
+Guess you had some motive that made you take the risk."
+
+"I felt pretty safe. You see, I knew I could strike the river, if
+necessary. At the same time you were right about the motive--in fact,
+there's no use in trying to hide it. I may as well confess that I'd
+sooner keep Gladwyne in sight."
+
+"Out of regard for his welfare?" Nasmyth asked.
+
+Batley laughed.
+
+"Not altogether. The fact is, he's carrying a good deal of my money."
+
+"One should have imagined that you'd have had him well insured."
+
+"That's quite correct. If he came to grief in England, I shouldn't
+anticipate any trouble, but it would be different out here and,
+everything considered, I'd rather avoid complications with the insurance
+companies. Now that I've been candid, do you feel inclined to
+reciprocate?"
+
+"Not in the least," Lisle replied shortly. "I'm not sure I even
+sympathize. But since you've turned up you'll have to stick to us; I
+don't want to waste time in leading another search party. As soon as
+there's a little more light, we'll try to get across the canon."
+
+"Thanks for the permission," smiled Batley, lighting a cigar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE END OF THE PURSUIT
+
+
+By degrees the light got clearer, the scattered black cedars grew into
+definite form, and a strip of foaming water showed in the depths of the
+chasm. Lisle walked some distance along the edge, searching for an easier
+place to cross, but the rocks were smooth and almost perpendicular except
+where they overhung the torrent. He went back to where the others were
+sitting and found that they had been joined by Crestwick, who briefly
+explained that having set out on their trail he had been stopped by the
+canon and had followed it up until it led him to them.
+
+"It looks worse farther along; we'll have to try it here," Lisle
+announced. "Can you get down, Nasmyth?"
+
+Nasmyth glanced into the rift. It was, he judged, nearly sixty feet in
+depth, but part of the bank on which he stood had slipped down into the
+stream, leaving an uneven surface by means of which an agile man might
+descend. A tall slab of rock, evidently part of the fallen mass, rose in
+a pinnacle from the water, and on top of it rested the branches of the
+tree that Gladwyne had used as a bridge and had afterward dislodged. The
+rock behind it on the opposite bank was absolutely smooth, but the
+thicker end of the log, which had fallen against the face, reached to
+within about nine feet of the summit.
+
+"Yes," he said, answering Lisle's question; "but I'm very doubtful
+whether I can get up the other side. The last bit looks particularly
+awkward; there's an outward bulge just beneath the top."
+
+"We might manage it by giving the leader a lift, if we got so far,"
+Batley suggested, pointing to the sharp slab. "That pike should help us;
+I think it would go."
+
+"You think it would go?" queried Nasmyth meaningly. "Aren't you mixing
+idioms? Pike's what we'd say round Wasdale, and your other expression's
+not uncommon in Switzerland."
+
+Batley laughed.
+
+"I'll own that I've done some rock work in both districts, though I was
+thinner then. But I've an idea that time's precious to our leader."
+
+He lowered himself over the edge and finding foothold, went down
+cautiously by crack and fissure, while the others followed with some
+trouble. Alighting waist-deep in a frothing rush of water, he was driven
+for a few yards down-stream, and it was only by seeking the support of
+the rock that he slowly made head against the torrent. Lisle joined him
+when he reached the foot of the pinnacle, where they stopped to gather
+breath with a thin shower of spray whirling about them. The light was
+still dim down in the bottom of the chasm, and the mass of rock ran up
+above them, shadowy, black and almost smooth.
+
+Wasting no time in examination, Lisle flung himself upon it, seeking for
+a grip with elbows and knees. He had ascended a yard or two when he lost
+hold and coming down with a run fell with a splash into the stream.
+
+"I didn't think you'd manage it that way," Batley remarked. "The edge
+appears a little more promising."
+
+He went up, with Lisle following, finding hold for knees and fingers,
+while Nasmyth and Crestwick, panting heavily, encouraged each other
+below. On reaching the top of the pinnacle, Batley lay upon it and gave
+Lisle his hand; and when he had drawn him up he pointed to the tree.
+
+"I'll go first, for reasons that will become apparent later," he
+explained. "Hold on to the log; it doesn't seem firmly fixed."
+
+The tree was small and when Lisle shook it the butt moved against the
+face of the rock, which was separated by a broad gap from the top of the
+fallen mass. Batley was heavy, but he ascended cautiously, while Lisle
+leaned upon the log to steady it. Then, calling Nasmyth to take his
+place, Lisle went up. When he was near the top, it looked as if their
+progress must abruptly cease. The butt was narrow and the summit of the
+rock above it projected somewhat. There was not the smallest knob or
+crevice one could grasp, and below them in the shadowy rift the torrent
+boiled furiously among massy stones. It was not a place to slip in.
+
+Batley, however, rose very carefully, with his feet upon the shattered
+butt and his hands pressed against the rock, until he stood almost
+upright.
+
+"You'll have to climb up over me until you can get your fingers on the
+top," he said. "Take time when you get up and feel for a good hold."
+
+Reaching his shoulders, Lisle stood on them while Nasmyth and Crestwick
+on the pinnacle beneath looked up at a somewhat impressive spectacle.
+Lisle's head and shoulders were now above the edge, but he was forced to
+bend backward and outward by the projecting bulge which pressed against
+his breast, and his cautious movements suggested that he could find no
+hold. It appeared impossible for him to descend, unless he did so
+accidentally, and in that event nothing could save him from a fall to the
+bottom of the ravine. For a while, they watched his tense figure moving
+futilely; and then Batley, standing most precariously poised, bent his
+arm and seized one of Lisle's feet. He spoke in a breathless gasp as he
+thrust it upward; Lisle's legs swung free and he disappeared beyond the
+edge. The two below were conscious of a vast relief. It was tempered,
+however, by the knowledge that they must shortly emulate their
+companion's exploit.
+
+"Take off your pack!" Batley called to Lisle. "Split the bag, if it's
+necessary, and lower the end! But be quick! This isn't a comfortable
+position."
+
+The pack in which the small bush rancher conveys his provisions from the
+nearest store as a rule consists of a cotton flour bag with a pair of
+suspenders fastened to its corners, and Nasmyth had provided the party
+with a few receptacles of similar pattern but more strongly made before
+entering the wilds. The straps, when Lisle let them down, reached several
+feet from the top, and Batley bade Nasmyth and Crestwick ascend. They
+managed it with assistance from Lisle, who seized them from above. Then
+Batley called up to them.
+
+"I'm going to test the tackle. Give me a hand up as soon as I'm over the
+bulge!"
+
+It was difficult to hear him, as he was still beneath the projecting
+edge, and they watched the straining straps with keen anxiety until a
+hand that felt for a hold upon the rock appeared. Lisle seized it, with
+Nasmyth ready to assist, and Batley came up, gasping, with the
+perspiration streaming from his face.
+
+"I'd have managed it easily at one time," he said. "This is what comes of
+civilization and soft living."
+
+"You brought us across; we owe you a good deal for it," declared Lisle.
+
+Batley smiled at him as they set off again.
+
+"In this case, I won't be an exacting creditor. In fact, it's rather
+curious how we've hit it off, considering that you wouldn't hear of a
+compromise and our interests are opposed."
+
+"I don't know what your interests are," Lisle returned dryly.
+
+"Then, in one way, I'm ahead of you. I know your wishes, and
+Nasmyth's--you don't want Clarence to marry Miss Gladwyne. It's your
+motive I'm not sure about. Do you want the girl yourself?"
+
+They were some distance in front of the others, who were too far behind
+to hear them. Lisle looked at his companion steadily. The man was engaged
+in a business that was regarded with general disfavor, but there was
+something he liked about him and he did not resent his bluntness.
+
+"Well," he answered, "it isn't for the reason you've given that I mean to
+stop the match."
+
+"Can you do so?"
+
+"I'm going to try."
+
+Batley smiled reflectively.
+
+"And the present journey is somehow connected with the attempt? Now I
+believe I might have left you held up on the wrong side of the canon;
+the idea was in my mind and you can give me credit for not yielding to
+it. I suppose there would be no use in my asking you for a hint as to the
+relation between my rather tricky companion's expedition and his cousin's
+death?"
+
+"None in the least," said Lisle decidedly.
+
+Batley made a gesture of acquiescence.
+
+"Oh, well! We must try to be friends as long as possible."
+
+Nothing more was said about the matter, and they spent the day forcing a
+passage through scrub timber, up precipitous hillsides, and across long
+stony ridges.
+
+There was no sign of Gladwyne's trail, but that did not trouble Lisle,
+for he knew where the man was heading for. On the second day Batley
+showed signs of distress, and Nasmyth and Crestwick were walking very
+wearily, but Lisle held on at a merciless pace. It was essential that he
+should reach the cache before Gladwyne could interfere with it. Toward
+evening, Nasmyth made an effort and caught up with Lisle.
+
+"How would Clarence get across to the second cache on the other side of
+the water?" he asked. "It's a point I've been considering; I suppose it's
+occurred to you."
+
+"I don't know," Lisle confessed. "The Indians near the divide said there
+was another party with canoes somewhere lower down; but, as the packer
+who was with me didn't talk to them, so far as I noticed, I don't see how
+Gladwyne could have heard of it; but that's as far as I can go. If he
+destroyed the first cache, it would help to clear him, unless you can
+vouch for the correctness of the list I made; but he may have some
+further plan in his mind." He paused and raised his hand. "Listen! Isn't
+that the river? We can't be far from the cache."
+
+The day, like the two or three preceding it, had been hot and bright, and
+now that evening was drawing on, the still air was heavy with the smell
+of the cedars in a neighboring hollow. A high ridge stood out black
+against a vivid green glow, and from beyond it there rose a faint, hoarse
+murmur. Nasmyth welcomed it gladly as announcing the end of the march.
+
+"The rest of the party can hardly be down until to-morrow; there's a
+couple of portages," he said. "It looks as if we'll have to go without
+our supper."
+
+"I don't want to see them before morning," Lisle returned grimly.
+
+They pushed on, the light growing dimmer as they went, until at length
+the moon rose from behind the ridge; and when they had skirted the ridge
+they saw the river glimmer beneath them in a flood of silvery radiance.
+It filled the gorge with its deep murmur, for the hot sunshine for three
+days had melted the snow, which had poured down to swell the flood by
+every gully. Not far below the neck the broken surface was flecked with
+white where the river swept angrily over a sharper slope of its bed, and
+a black boulder or two stood out in the midst of the rushing foam.
+Up-stream of this there was a strip of shingle which Nasmyth recognized
+as the one where the cache had been made; he supposed that Lisle had
+struck the spot by heading for the narrow rift of the neck, which was
+conspicuous for some distance from both sides.
+
+From end to end the sweep of pebbles was clearly distinct; but there was
+no dark figure moving about it, and Nasmyth wondered if they had come too
+late. They had marched fast, as his aching muscles testified, but they
+had been delayed at the canon and Gladwyne had had a long start. If he
+had arrived and had visited the cache, their efforts might prove to have
+been thrown away. There must be no shadow of doubt when Lisle told his
+startling story.
+
+They descended with caution, moving through shadow, for the ridge above
+them cut off the moonlight, though it was far from dark, and they were
+near the bottom when Crestwick dislodged a bank of stones which went
+rattling and crashing down to the beach. A moment later a black form
+sprang out from among the rocks below and ran hurriedly along the
+shingle. This surprised Nasmyth because he could not doubt that the man
+was Gladwyne and he failed to understand his object in making what would
+probably be a futile attempt to avoid them. Lisle was some distance in
+front, and his voice rang out sharply:
+
+"Head him off from the canoe!"
+
+Nasmyth broke into a stumbling run--it was now obvious that Gladwyne
+meant to cross the river, and perhaps destroy the second cache.
+
+Gladwyne had reached the canoe when Lisle gained the beach, and Nasmyth,
+descending in reckless haste, saw him hurriedly turn it over and raise
+the forward end of it. Lisle was running his hardest, almost as if he
+were fresh, up the long strip of shingle; but it was evident that he
+would be too late, and they would have no means of following Gladwyne
+after the canoe was launched. There was a sharp rattle of stones as he
+hauled it down; Lisle was still some way behind; Gladwyne sprang on board
+and thrust the light craft off, and a few strokes of the paddle drove her
+well out into the stream.
+
+Lisle stopped, standing in the moonlight, and his comrade could see his
+hands tightly clenched at his side; then he suddenly tore off his jacket
+and flung it behind him. Noticing this, Nasmyth attempted to increase his
+pace. The river was running fast, swollen with melted snow, and Lisle
+must be badly worn out. If he had to be restrained by force, he should
+not attempt to swim across.
+
+Then, to Nasmyth's astonishment, Gladwyne leaned over the stern of the
+craft and began to paddle desperately with one hand. This proceeding
+caused Lisle to stop again, close at the water's edge.
+
+"Come back!" he shouted.
+
+Nasmyth ran up and Lisle turned.
+
+"He's dropped or broken his paddle--cracked it when he shoved her out.
+There are two or three ugly rocks in the rapid."
+
+They ran along the bank together, keeping pace with the craft which was
+sliding away fast with the stream. Nasmyth could feel his heart thumping
+as he wondered what Clarence would do. Though he could not cross the
+river, it was possible that he might propel the light canoe back to the
+shingle with his hand before he reached the rapid. As he could not guide
+her in the strong rush of water, there would be danger in attempting to
+descend it. He made no response, however, to their warning shouts.
+
+Batley and Crestwick overtook the others shortly before the canoe swept
+into the faster stream at the head of the rapid and they watched her
+eagerly. There was a narrow pass between several boulders close ahead,
+which was the chief danger, and the current seemed to be carrying the
+craft down on one of them. In a few moments she struck and jambed,
+broadside on, across the mass of stone. White foam boiled about her; they
+saw Gladwyne rise and clutch the rock, but whether to thrust her off or
+to climb out did not appear. He suddenly sank down and, so far as they
+could make out, the canoe rolled over.
+
+The next moment Lisle plunged into the river. Nasmyth ran to the water's
+edge, but seeing that he was too late, he sat down limply. Lisle was a
+good swimmer, but it did not seem possible that any man could reach
+Clarence before he was washed out at the tail of the rapid. It became
+evident, however, that somebody else meant to try, for Batley, running
+hard down the beach, plunged in.
+
+"It's awful!" gasped Jim Crestwick behind Nasmyth. "It's not the risk of
+drowning; they'll be smashed to bits! Anyway, we'd better make for the
+slack at the tail."
+
+Nasmyth got up. He could see nothing of Gladwyne or either of the others;
+there were only black rocks, rushing water and outbreaks of foam, and he
+had a sickening idea that long before they reached the quieter pool the
+need for any services he could render would be past. Fortunately, the
+beach was fairly smooth, and after a desperate run they reached a tongue
+of rock beneath which the eddy swung. Farther on, in the shadow, Batley
+stood in the water, calling to them and apparently clinging hard to a
+half-seen object in the stream.
+
+Nasmyth leaped in knee-deep, with Crestwick behind him, and gripping the
+loosely-hanging arm of the body Batley was supporting, he asked hoarsely:
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Lisle!" was the breathless answer. "Help me to get him out!"
+
+They dragged him up the beach and let him sink down. He lay upon the
+shingle, silent and inert.
+
+"Make a fire, Jim!" commanded Batley. "Lift his shoulder a bit, Nasmyth!
+Turn him partly over!"
+
+He hurriedly examined Lisle and then looked up.
+
+"It's not a case of drowning; and his limbs look sound. Must have got the
+breath knocked out of him against a boulder." He pointed to a broad red
+gash on Lisle's forehead as Nasmyth eased him down again. "That explains
+his unconsciousness."
+
+"Where's Gladwyne?" Nasmyth asked.
+
+Batley made an expressive gesture.
+
+"Beyond our help, anyway; somewhere down-river." He appeared to brace
+himself with an effort. "I'm pretty nearly finished, but there's a good
+deal to be done. We'll strip Lisle, and you and Crestwick can share your
+dry things with him. Then one of you had better gather cedar twigs for
+him to lie on."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+LISLE GOES TO ENGLAND
+
+
+Lisle had with some difficulty been dressed in dry clothes, and he lay
+with his eyes shut on a couch of cedar sprays beside a fire, when Batley
+rose and turned to Nasmyth.
+
+"I don't think we need be anxious," he said. "The warmth is coming back
+to him and he's breathing regularly. The knock on the head must have been
+a bad one, and it's very likely that he got another thump or two washing
+down the rapid, and the water was icy cold; but he'll feel better after a
+few hours' sleep."
+
+Nasmyth was inclined to agree with this prediction and he stood up
+wearily.
+
+"Then you won't want me for a little while," he replied, walking away
+from the fire.
+
+Having given most of his clothes to Lisle, he was very lightly clad and
+the night was cold. He shivered as he plodded over the shingle, aching in
+every limb, but he looked about eagerly and after a while he found the
+cache. It was uncovered, but there were signs that Gladwyne had only
+begun his task when he had been surprised by the arrival of the party
+which had followed him.
+
+Nasmyth did not pause to think what Lisle's wishes might be, or whether
+he would resent his action. So far, he had kept his promise; but, with
+physical weariness reacting on his mental faculties, he was only
+conscious of a hazy idea that Gladwyne's death had released him from his
+pledge. The traitor had expiated his offense; the tragic story must never
+be raked up again.
+
+Stooping over the receptacle, he dragged out the different articles in
+it, and avoiding a direct glance at them or any attempt to enumerate
+them, he gathered them up and striding over the shingle hurled them as
+far as possible into the river. It cost him several journeys, but his
+heart grew lighter with every splash. When at last the work was finished
+and he had refilled the hole and scattered the stones that had covered
+it, he sat down with a great sense of relief. A burden which had long
+weighed upon his mind was gone; Mrs. Gladwyne and Millicent were safe at
+last from the grief and shame that a revelation would have brought them.
+Exhausted and confused as he was, he could not tell whether he felt any
+sorrow for Gladwyne's tragic end; the man had passed beyond the reach of
+human censure, one could only let his memory sink into oblivion.
+
+Growing very cold, he went back to the fire, but he offered no
+explanation of his absence. Lisle was still asleep or unconscious, but
+the natural color in his face was reassuring.
+
+"I've heard nothing about your part in the water," Nasmyth said to
+Batley.
+
+"There's not much to tell. It isn't astonishing that my memory's by no
+means clear. Anyhow, I wasn't far from Gladwyne, who was swimming well,
+when he was swept away from me and in among the lower boulders by the
+swirl of an eddy. I suppose it didn't quite reach me, but the next moment
+I was sucked into a rush of broken water and went down-stream, below the
+surface part of the time, because I was surprised when I found I could
+breathe and look about again. By good luck, I'd got into the smoothest,
+deepest flow, which swept me straight through. After a little, I saw
+somebody washing down in a slack and got hold of him. I didn't know
+whether it was Gladwyne or Lisle; but I held on and a side-swing of the
+current brought us both ashore. Gladwyne, of course, must have gone under
+after being badly damaged among the rocks."
+
+"There's only one place where he could have landed and I searched it
+while you were away," Crestwick said gravely.
+
+"Why did you go in after him?" Nasmyth asked Batley. "You must have seen
+that you couldn't save him."
+
+"That," Batley answered with a curious smile, "is more than I can clearly
+tell you; and I might suggest that Lisle's venture is even harder to
+understand. I don't honestly think I owe Gladwyne anything; but, after
+all, we passed for friends, and I used to be fond of swimming. Of course,
+there's a more obvious explanation--I'd lent him a good deal of money and
+from what I've learned since, I may have some difficulty in enforcing my
+claim on the estate. It was natural that I should make an effort to
+recover the debt."
+
+Nasmyth did not think that the man had been most strongly influenced by
+that desire, but he addressed Crestwick:
+
+"Hadn't you better gather some more branches or driftwood for the fire,
+Jim?"
+
+Crestwick disappeared, and Nasmyth filled his pipe before he turned to
+Batley.
+
+"Now," he said, "I don't want to be offensive; but there are two people
+connected with this affair who must be spared any unnecessary suffering.
+That's a fact you had better recognize."
+
+"I hardly think you do me justice," returned Batley, looking amused.
+"It's perfectly plain that there's a mystery behind these recent events;
+one that has some relation to George Gladwyne's death. Your idea is that
+an unscrupulous person of my description might find some profit in
+probing it?"
+
+"You'll never learn the truth. I've seen to that."
+
+"The fact is, I don't mean to try."
+
+Nasmyth was a little astonished at finding himself ready to believe this.
+
+"Then," he asked, "what do you mean to do about your claim on Gladwyne?"
+
+"In the first place, there's the insurance; but I discovered by accident
+that the company Gladwyne had his policy on was the one that had insured
+his cousin. Whether they'll be struck by the coincidence and the unusual
+nature of both accidents and make trouble or not, I can't tell; but if
+they pay up there'll be an end of the thing. Failing that, I'll have to
+consider. My demands might be contested by the Gladwyne trustees--the
+deal was a little irregular in some respects--but I parted with the money
+and I'm going to make an effort to get it back."
+
+"How much did Clarence owe you?"
+
+Batley told him and Nasmyth looked thoughtful.
+
+"Well," he requested, "if you meet with strong opposition, come to me
+before you decide on any course, and I'll see what can be arranged. I
+dare say there'll be some trouble, but I know the trustees--and, as I
+said, there are people who must be saved all needless pain, at any cost."
+
+"It's promised," agreed Batley. "I'll make things as easy as possible,
+but that's as far as I can go. I'm not rich enough to be recklessly
+generous."
+
+Lisle woke soon after this and asked one or two half-intelligible
+questions, but they gave him no information and he went to sleep again;
+then Crestwick arrived with more fuel and Nasmyth took the first watch
+while his companions rested. He was very cold, and now and then he saw
+Batley, who had discarded most of his wet clothes, wake up for a few
+moments and shiver. Once or twice he glanced longingly at the garments
+spread out round the fire, but when he felt them they were still too wet
+to put on. After a while Crestwick relieved him, and when he awakened
+dawn was breaking across the black ridges and the rushing river. Batley
+had left his place, and Crestwick began to stride up and down the beach,
+presumably to warm himself. To Nasmyth's satisfaction and surprise, Lisle
+spoke to him.
+
+"You slept pretty sound," he said. "Didn't hear me getting some
+information about what happened out of Batley."
+
+"Then you know?"
+
+"Yes," was the grim answer. "The thing's finished; there's nothing to be
+done."
+
+Nasmyth made a sign of agreement.
+
+"How do you feel?" he asked.
+
+"Horribly sore all over, left side particularly. Struck a big boulder,
+and then drove in among a nest of stones before my senses left me. Tried
+to get up a while ago, but couldn't manage it. What's as much to the
+purpose, I'm feeling hungry."
+
+"Unfortunately, there's nothing left for breakfast. One of us had better
+go up-stream and look out for the canoes."
+
+Lisle nodded.
+
+"That's your duty--I don't envy you. Make them camp a little higher up.
+It would be better, in several ways, and I'd rather be on my feet again
+before they come here."
+
+Nasmyth set off, jaded and hungry, and he was feeling very limp when, as
+he plodded along a high ridge, he saw the canoes sliding down the river.
+He had hard work to reach the bank and he shrank from the task before him
+when the first canoe grounded upon the stones. Millicent and Bella were
+in it, and Millicent gazed at the lonely man with fixed, anxious eyes. He
+was ragged and looked very weary; his face was worn and haggard.
+
+"Where are the rest?" she asked in a strained voice. "Something has
+happened--what is it?"
+
+"Three of them are some miles down the river."
+
+"Three!" cried Millicent, in dismay. "Haven't you found Clarence yet?"
+
+Nasmyth hesitated, regarding her compassionately, but she made a sign of
+protest.
+
+"Go on! Don't keep me in suspense!"
+
+"Clarence," said Nasmyth quietly, "is dead. Lisle is rather badly
+damaged."
+
+Millicent left the canoe and sat down, very white in face, upon a
+neighboring stone. In the meanwhile the other canoes had grounded and her
+companions gathered about her. She did not speak to them and some time
+passed before she turned to Nasmyth.
+
+"Tell me all," she begged.
+
+He briefly related what had happened, and there was an impressive silence
+when he finished. Then Millicent slowly rose.
+
+"And Lisle's badly hurt," she said. "We must go on!"
+
+They relaunched the canoes and Nasmyth had no further speech with her,
+for as they floated down-river she sat, still and silent, in another
+canoe. She was conscious chiefly of an unnerving horror and a sense of
+contrition. Clarence was dead, and she had been coldly hypercritical;
+hardly treating him as a lover, thinking of his failings. She blamed
+herself bitterly in a half-dazed fashion, but it was only afterward she
+realized that she had not been troubled by any very poignant sense of
+loss.
+
+After a while Nasmyth said they would land, but Millicent roused herself
+to countermand his instructions and eventually they reached Batley's
+camp. Lisle had got up during the day and he now walked painfully down to
+the water's edge to meet her. When she landed he gravely pressed her
+hand.
+
+"I'm sorry," he said simply. "We did what we could to save him."
+
+"Oh, I know," she responded. "Nobody could doubt that."
+
+Then Nasmyth landed with provisions and while the men ate two Indians
+strode into the camp and addressed Lisle angrily. They were curing
+salmon, they said, and had left a canoe on the shingle, in order to avoid
+a portage when returning, and they had gone in another craft to set some
+fish-traps in a lower rapid. To their surprise they had afterward seen
+their canoe drifting down-stream full of water and badly damaged, and
+they had set off at once to discover who was responsible.
+
+Lisle offered them some silver currency, and after a little chaffering
+they departed satisfied.
+
+"Now we know how the canoe came to be lying where Gladwyne found her," he
+said to Nasmyth.
+
+Then he sought Millicent.
+
+"I think," he told her gently, "we had better go on--to stay here would
+be painful." He hesitated. "I'll leave Crestwick and an experienced
+river-Jack packer to investigate. If you would rather, I'll stay with
+them, though I'm afraid I can't get about much."
+
+"Thank you," she replied in a voice which had a break in it. "You must
+come with us; you don't look fit to stand."
+
+Running the rapid, they slid away down-river, and once more Millicent sat
+very still, thinking confused thoughts, until at last they made camp for
+the night and she crept away to the shelter of her tent. A day or two
+later Crestwick and the packer overtook them, having discovered nothing;
+and then the party was animated by a strong desire to escape from the
+river and reach the trail to the settlements as soon as possible. Further
+search for Gladwyne was useless; the flood had swept him away and no one
+would ever know where his bones lay. He had set out on his longest and
+most mysterious journey, leaving only two women to mourn him, and of
+these one, who had tried to love him out of duty, would by and by forget.
+
+On the evening before they left the river, Lisle stood with Millicent
+looking back up the long reach they had descended. They had reached the
+taller timber, and on one bank black firs, climbing the hillside, stood
+out against the fading light with a gauzy mist-curtain drawn across their
+higher ranks. The flood slid by, glimmering dimly, smooth and green, and
+from out of the distance came the throbbing clamor of a rapid.
+
+"It's your last look," said Lisle. "We'll be in the bush to-morrow and I
+expect to hire a wagon, or at least a horse or two, in a few days. Now
+I'm sorry I ever brought you here. You'll be glad to get away."
+
+"You mustn't blame yourself," she told him. "We have only gratitude for
+you. You have no part in the painful memories."
+
+She glanced once more up the valley; and then moved back into the shadow
+of the firs.
+
+"It's all wildly beautiful, but it's so pitiless--I shall never think of
+it without a shiver."
+
+"You have made plenty of notes and sketches for the book," suggested
+Lisle, seeing her distress.
+
+"The book? I don't know that I shall ever finish it. I feel cut adrift,
+as if there were no use in working and I hadn't a purpose left. First
+George went, and then Clarence--so far, there was always some one to
+think of--and now I'm all alone."
+
+She broke out into open sobbing and Lisle, feeling very sympathetic and
+half dismayed, awkwardly tried to soothe her.
+
+"I'm better," she said at last. "It was very foolish, but I couldn't help
+it. I think we'll go back to the others."
+
+He gave her his arm, for the way was rough, but as they approached the
+camp she stopped a moment amid the shadow and stillness of the great fir
+trunks.
+
+"I have done with the river--I think I am afraid of it," she confessed.
+"Can't we get away early to-morrow?"
+
+Lisle said it should be arranged and she turned to him gratefully.
+
+"One can always rely on you! You're just like George was in many ways.
+It's curious that whenever I'm in trouble I think of him--"
+
+She seemed on the verge of another breakdown, and she laid her hand in
+his for a moment before she went from him hurriedly with a low, "Good
+night!"
+
+Lisle strolled back to the river and lighted his pipe. He had noticed and
+thought it significant that she spoke more of the brother whom she had
+lost several years ago than of the lover who had perished recently; but,
+from whatever cause it sprung, her distress troubled him.
+
+His thoughts were presently interrupted by Nasmyth.
+
+"There's a thing I'd better tell you, Vernon," he said, sitting down near
+by. "The night you were half drowned I emptied the cache and, without
+making any note of what was in it, pitched everything into the river."
+
+"So I discovered. At least, when I managed with some trouble to reach the
+place, I knew it was either you or Gladwyne, and I blamed you."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I've decided," Lisle said gravely, "that you did quite right. It's the
+end of that story."
+
+"Then you have abandoned the purpose you had in view?"
+
+"I've been thinking hard, and it seems to me that if Vernon were with me
+now, the last thing that would please him would be to see the two women
+suffer; he was a big man in every way. There's another thing--he left no
+relations to consider."
+
+Nasmyth laid a hand on his shoulder in a very expressive way.
+
+"I felt all along that you'd come to look at it like that!"
+
+"But there's Batley; he has some suspicions."
+
+"I can silence him," promised Nasmyth. "The man has his good points,
+after all."
+
+"That's so," Lisle agreed. "Still, I'll come straight across to England
+and tackle him if you fail. If it's a question of money, you can count me
+in--I've been prospering lately." He rose and knocked out his pipe.
+"That's the last word on the matter."
+
+They went back to camp, and starting soon after sunrise the next morning
+they reached a settlement on the railroad after a comparatively easy
+journey; and that evening Lisle stood with a heavy heart beside the track
+while the big cars moved away, his eyes fixed on a woman's figure that
+leaned out from a vestibule platform, waving a hand to him.
+
+After that he went back to his work, with Crestwick; and nearly twelve
+months had passed when he sent a cable to England and started for that
+country a day after receiving the answer. Crestwick insisted on going
+with him.
+
+"You'll no doubt want my support again," he grinned. "There's an office I
+mean to rob Nasmyth of, if I can."
+
+It was evening when they drove into sight of Millicent's house. Lisle's
+heart throbbed painfully fast as he got down, but he was not kept
+waiting. Millicent was standing in her drawing-room, and as he came in
+she held out her hand to him.
+
+"You answered my message," he said, seizing it. "You must have guessed
+what I meant when I asked if I might come across."
+
+"Yes," she confessed softly; "I knew and I told you to come."
+
+He still held her a little away from him as he gave a quick glance at the
+refined and artistic appointments of the room.
+
+"There's a good deal you will have to give up," he told her. "You're not
+afraid of our new and rugged country? But it has something to offer--and
+we need such people as you."
+
+"It's going to be a great country before very long," she answered
+gravely; "and I have no dread of it now. But--I gave my dearest--I think
+it owes me something in return."
+
+He drew her masterfully into his arms.
+
+"It discharges all its debts. You must teach me how to pay you back in
+full measure; that's my one big task. You're giving so much freely; but,
+of course, I'm glad--I don't want duty."
+
+"This isn't duty," she smiled; "it's love!"
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Long Portage, by Harold Bindloss
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