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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: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** 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 débris 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 régime."
+
+"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 régime.
+
+"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 cañon; 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 cañon 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 cañon."
+
+"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
+cañon 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 cañon;
+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 cañon 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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+"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Long Portage, by Harold Bindloss.
+</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
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+    h3                {text-align:center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em}
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+    div.ce p          {text-align: center; margin: auto 0;}
+    .figcenter        {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;}
+    hr.mini           {width: 2em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;}
+    .caption          {font-size:.8em}
+    table             {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;}
+    .pagenum          {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;}
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+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+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: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONG PORTAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 363px; height: 541px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 363px;'>
+&#8220;ALL DAY LONG THEY PADDLED UP THE GLEAMING LAKE&#8221;&mdash;<i>Page 290</i>
+<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class="centerbox bbox">
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:2em; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:1em;'>THE LONG PORTAGE</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-bottom:0.5em;'>By</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>HAROLD BINDLOSS</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>AUTHOR OF</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em;'>A PRAIRIE COURTSHIP,</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:8em;'>WINSTON OF THE PRAIRIE, ETC.</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em;'>WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN COLORS BY</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-bottom:1em;'>ARTHUR HUTCHINS</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-emb.png' alt='' title=''  /><br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-top:1em;'>New York</p>
+<p style=' letter-spacing:.2em; font-size:1.2em;'>GROSSET &amp; DUNLAP</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1em; margin-bottom:1em;'>Publishers</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class="centerbox2">
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p><i>Copyright, 1912, by</i></p>
+<p><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Frederick A. Stokes Company</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<div class='ce' style=' font-style:italic;'>
+<p>All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign</p>
+<p>languages, including the Scandinavian</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='mini' />
+
+<div class='ce' style=' margin-bottom:3em; font-style:italic;'>
+<p>Published in England under the title, &#8220;The Pioneer&#8221;</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='figleft'>
+<img src='images/illus-cpy.png' alt='' title=''  /><br />
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>CONTENTS</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='400' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-size:small;'>CHAPTER</span></td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>I.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Gladwyne Expedition</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#I_THE_GLADWYNE_EXPEDITION'>1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>II.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Divide</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#II_THE_DIVIDE'>12</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>III.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Cache</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#III_THE_CACHE'>23</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Painful Decision</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IV_A_PAINFUL_DECISION'>35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>V.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Millicent Gladwyne</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#V_MILLICENT_GLADWYNE'>47</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Nasmyth Tells his Story</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VI_NASMYTH_TELLS_HIS_STORY'>58</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>On the Moors</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VII_ON_THE_MOORS'>68</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gladwyne Receives a Shock</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VIII_GLADWYNE_RECEIVES_A_SHOCK'>81</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lisle Gathers Information</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IX_LISLE_GATHERS_INFORMATION'>92</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>X.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Bella&#8217;s Champion</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#X_BELLA_S_CHAMPION'>102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Crestwick Gives Trouble</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XI_CRESTWICK_GIVES_TROUBLE'>118</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mrs. Gladwyne&#8217;s Appeal</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XII_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_APPEAL'>129</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Futile Protest</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIII_A_FUTILE_PROTEST'>142</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lisle Comes to the Rescue</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIV_LISLE_COMES_TO_THE_RESCUE'>153</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Bella&#8217;s Defeat</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XV_BELLA_S_DEFEAT'>165</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gladwyne Surrenders</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVI_GLADWYNE_SURRENDERS'>177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Bad Fall</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVII_A_BAD_FALL'>189</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Prudent Decision</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVIII_A_PRUDENT_DECISION'>200</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Gladwyne Gains a Point</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIX_GLADWYNE_GAINS_A_POINT'>211</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mrs. Gladwyne&#8217;s Temptation</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XX_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_TEMPTATION'>223</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Last Afternoon</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXI_THE_LAST_AFTERNOON'>233</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Startling News</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXII_STARTLING_NEWS'>243</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Forced March</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIII_A_FORCED_MARCH'>254</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Millicent Summons Her Guide</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIV_MILLICENT_SUMMONS_HER_GUIDE'>265</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Reliable Man</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXV_A_RELIABLE_MAN'>276</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lisle Turns Autocrat</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVI_LISLE_TURNS_AUTOCRAT'>287</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>An Unpleasant Surprise</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVII_AN_UNPLEASANT_SURPRISE'>298</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Clarence Reaches Camp</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVIII_CLARENCE_REACHES_CAMP'>309</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Bold Scheme</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIX_A_BOLD_SCHEME'>321</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The End of the Pursuit</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXX_THE_END_OF_THE_PURSUIT'>332</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXXI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lisle Goes To England</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXXI_LISLE_GOES_TO_ENGLAND'>343</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-top:2em;'>THE LONG PORTAGE</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 0em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I_THE_GLADWYNE_EXPEDITION' id='I_THE_GLADWYNE_EXPEDITION'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>THE GLADWYNE EXPEDITION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+There were streaks of snow on some of them, for winter
+threatened to close in unusually early.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;a few Hudson Bay fur-traders
+and the half-breed trappers who deal with
+them&mdash;and it is frozen for eight months in the year.
+There are only two practicable means of traversing it&mdash;with
+dog sledges on the snow, or by canoe on the
+lakes and rivers in the brief summer.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s back any weight of provisions
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&mdash;which describes
+him fairly in person and character.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not many,&#8221; he commented, glancing at the trout
+Lisle laid down. &#8220;They&#8217;ll hardly carry us over to-morrow,
+and I only got a couple from the canoe with
+the troll. We&#8217;ve gained nothing by stopping here,
+and time&#8217;s precious.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A sure thing,&#8221; Lisle agreed, beginning to clean
+the trout. &#8220;We&#8217;ll tackle the portage as soon as it&#8217;s
+light to-morrow. Where&#8217;s Jake?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gone off to look for a deer,&#8221; was the answer.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+&#8220;Said he wouldn&#8217;t come back without one if he camped
+on the range all night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle made no comment, but went on dexterously
+with his work, while Nasmyth watched him with half-amused
+admiration.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re handy at that and at everything else you
+do,&#8221; Nasmyth remarked at length. &#8220;In fact, you
+easily beat Jake, though he&#8217;s a professional packer
+and, so to speak, to the manner born.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So am I,&#8221; said Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;indeed, it was
+a trifle thin&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t mind my being a little personal,
+I&#8217;d better own that I suspected the fact you mention,
+and it puzzled me,&#8221; Nasmyth replied. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s recent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth still looked curious, and Lisle smiled.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I can guess your thoughts&mdash;I don&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was an incomplete explanation. He had inherited
+the Englishman&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; 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. &#8220;To reciprocate,
+a few words will make clear all there is to know
+about me. English public school, Oxford afterward&mdash;didn&#8217;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&#8217;t tried to force your confidence, nor offered you
+mine, altogether casually.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So I supposed,&#8221; returned Lisle. &#8220;It strikes me
+that since we got near the Gladwyne expedition&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+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&#8217;s trail.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s needful. You seem remarkably
+well acquainted with it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a cause for it; but I&#8217;ll
+ask you to tell me what you know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He threw more branches on the fire and a crackling
+blaze sprang aloft, forcing up the ragged spruce
+boughs out of the surrounding gloom.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is the survivor&#8217;s narrative. I heard it from
+his own lips more than once,&#8221; began Nasmyth. &#8220;I
+dare say most of it&#8217;s a kind of story that&#8217;s not unusual
+in the North.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s one that has been repeated with local variations
+over and over again. But go on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There were two Gladwynes&mdash;cousins. George,
+the elder of the two, was a man of means and position;
+Clarence, the younger, had practically nothing&mdash;two
+or three hundred pounds a year. They were both
+sportsmen&mdash;George was a bit of a naturalist&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+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&mdash;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&#8217; camp famishing, and they
+went back with him. He found his cousin dead.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And the guide?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s rather an ugly story. You must have heard
+it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t heard the one Gladwyne told in England.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The guide reached the Hudson Bay post&mdash;a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>
+longer journey than the one Gladwyne made&mdash;in the
+last stage of exhaustion. He had taken very little
+food with him&mdash;Gladwyne knew exactly how much&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That he had found the cache?&#8221; Lisle&#8217;s face
+grew very stern.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a way, there was some slight excuse for him.
+Think of it&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If that man had found a scrap of food, he would
+have tried!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;s voice had a curious ring in it, and Nasmyth
+looked at him hard.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You seem convinced.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am; I knew him well.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth was startled and he showed it, but afterward
+he looked thoughtful.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe I understand,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Our mutual friend called me Lisle at the Empress
+Hotel. I don&#8217;t think he mentioned my first name,
+Vernon; and as that was the name of Gladwyne&#8217;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&#8217;t know then that you
+were a friend of Gladwyne&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made a slight gesture which suggested the
+acknowledgment of a compliment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll try to be just&mdash;it&#8217;s sometimes hard.&#8221; His
+voice had a throb of pain in it as he went on: &#8220;I
+was the friend of George Gladwyne&mdash;the one who
+perished. I had a strong regard for him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Something in his expression hinted that this regard
+had not been shared by the Gladwyne who survived.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When my father first came out to British Columbia,
+new to the bush ways,&#8221; Lisle resumed, &#8220;a
+neighbor, Vernon, was of great help to him&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;before he
+could clear himself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle broke off for a moment and seemed to have
+some difficulty in continuing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When my father died, Vernon took charge of the
+ranch, at my mother&#8217;s request&mdash;I was rather young
+and she meant to launch me in some profession. Vernon
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
+had no ambition&mdash;he loved the bush&mdash;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&#8217;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.&#8221; He
+clenched one hand tight as he concluded: &#8220;I can at
+least clear his memory.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth nodded in sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You called me an honest man; you have my word&mdash;I&#8217;ll
+see the right done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s description,
+knew that the feeling was stronger in the
+older country. To expose a man of one&#8217;s own circle
+to the contempt and condemnation of outsiders is, in
+any walk of life, a strangely repugnant thing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;to-morrow we&#8217;ll pull out and
+portage across the divide to strike the Gladwynes&#8217;
+trail. And now I&#8217;ll fry the trout and we&#8217;ll have supper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Got a deer, and there are duck on the lake ahead!
+We&#8217;ll try for some as we go up!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span></p>
+<p>Nasmyth&#8217;s smile betokened deep satisfaction.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a weight off my mind,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+smoke one pipe, and then I think I&#8217;ll go to sleep.
+We&#8217;ll make a start with the first loads as soon as it&#8217;s
+light enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II_THE_DIVIDE' id='II_THE_DIVIDE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>THE DIVIDE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></p>
+<p>The pack-straps hurt Nasmyth&#8217;s shoulders&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;Nasmyth
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+could see his chest heave and his
+face grow darkly flushed&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Then his companions began to discuss the best
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble is that the beach sweeps back off the
+straight. We&#8217;d drive her right up the middle to headwater
+with the paddle before we&#8217;d make two-thirds of
+the way poling alongshore.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be a good deal harder work, wouldn&#8217;t
+it?&#8221; Nasmyth ventured, and laughed when he saw
+Lisle&#8217;s faint amusement. &#8220;I suppose that doesn&#8217;t
+count. It&#8217;s not worth mentioning,&#8221; he added.
+&#8220;Since you&#8217;re anxious to get on, what&#8217;s the use of
+stopping for dinner? After the breakfast I had, I
+can hold out some time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to get through as quickly as I can; that&#8217;s
+why I&#8217;m not going to rush you unless it&#8217;s necessary,&#8221;
+Lisle answered. &#8220;Try to get hold of the fact that a
+man needs food regularly to keep him in efficient going
+order.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indisputable,&#8221; Nasmyth agreed. &#8220;But he can
+do without it and work for a while. We&#8217;ve proved
+it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not without paying,&#8221; Lisle pointed out. &#8220;You
+can draw upon your reserves, but it takes time and rest
+to make them good. We may need all ours badly before
+we&#8217;re through.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;cold
+doughy cakes baked in a frying-pan, extraordinarily
+tough and stringy venison, with a pint-can
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+each of strong green tea. Their sugar had long ago
+melted and the condensed milk was exhausted.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s hands began to blister. To make it worse,
+there was a raw wound on one of them, the result of a
+similar day&#8217;s toil; and his knees chafed sore against
+the branches in the craft&#8217;s bottom. There was, however,
+no respite&mdash;the moment they slackened their
+exertions they would drift to lee&mdash;and he held on,
+keeping awkward stroke with Jake, while Lisle swung
+the balancing paddle astern.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saw some ducks in the next bay,&#8221; he explained.
+</p>
+<p>He strolled out of camp, and Nasmyth smiled at
+Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Except when he advised you to pole, that&#8217;s about
+all he has said to-day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was correct. The packer was a taciturn inhabitant
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle filled his pipe with leisurely content. He shared
+Jake&#8217;s love for the wilderness, and he found it
+strangely pleasant to rest in camp after a day&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
+peal of unearthly laughter out of a darkening bay,
+there was nothing to break the deep stillness of the
+waste.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle pointed to the gap in the hills, which was filling
+with thin white mist.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the last big portage the Gladwynes made,&#8221;
+he remarked. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+He paused before he added: &#8220;What kind of men
+were they?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;George wasn&#8217;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&#8217;t believe
+it. His last action&mdash;sending the others on&mdash;was
+characteristic.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They didn&#8217;t want to go,&#8221; Lisle interposed quietly.
+</p>
+<p>His companion nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe that&#8217;s true. I like to think so.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was something curious in his tone, which Lisle
+noticed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;From the beginning,&#8221; Nasmyth went on,
+&#8220;George behaved very generously to Clarence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was Clarence that I meant to ask about more
+particularly.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth looked thoughtful, and when he answered,
+it struck Lisle that he was making an effort to give an
+unbiased opinion.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clarence,&#8221; he said, &#8220;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&#8217;s one of the people who seem able to get whatever
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+they want without having to struggle for it and who
+rarely land in any difficulty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Again a grudging note became apparent, as though
+the speaker were trying to subdue faint suspicion or
+disapproval, and Lisle changed the subject.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Had George Gladwyne any immediate relatives?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One sister, as like him as it&#8217;s possible for a woman
+to be. He wasn&#8217;t greatly given to society; I don&#8217;t
+think he&#8217;d ever have married. His death was a crushing
+blow to the girl&mdash;they were wonderfully attached
+to each other&mdash;but I&#8217;ve never seen a finer display of
+courage than hers when Clarence cabled the news.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a duck&#8217;s head shot off. Jake doesn&#8217;t
+miss,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s level, had grown too
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+wet. They had partly rotted in the slough, and willows
+had afterward grown up among them.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;sometimes they spent
+an hour making sixty yards&mdash;and Lisle&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle came back first and shook his head when Nasmyth
+asked if he had found a better route on higher
+ground.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a slope we could haul along,&#8221; he reported.
+&#8220;That way&#8217;s impracticable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was nearly dark when Jake came in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not too bad ahead,&#8221; he informed them.
+</p>
+<p>They were not greatly reassured, because Jake&#8217;s
+idea of what was really bad was alarming. Nasmyth
+glanced at his companion with a smile.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it any better than this?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A little,&#8221; answered Jake. &#8220;An old trail runs
+in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gladwyne&#8217;s trail?&#8221; exclaimed Nasmyth. &#8220;The
+one we&#8217;re looking for?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, yes,&#8221; drawled Jake, as if it were scarcely
+worth mentioning. &#8220;I guess it is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth turned to Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;re only out in striking
+the trail a day before you expected.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know the bush,&#8221; returned Lisle. &#8220;It&#8217;s been
+pretty easy so far&mdash;but, for several reasons, I wish
+the next week or two were over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth looked troubled. One could have imagined
+that misgivings which did not concern his personal
+safety were creeping into his mind.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So do I,&#8221; he confessed, and turning toward the
+fire he busied himself with Jake&#8217;s supper.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;
+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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+in the gathering dusk, glanced around the old
+camp site.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A good place to pitch the tent, but I think I&#8217;d
+rather move on a little,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made a sign of comprehension.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he agreed. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t sleep soundly here.
+Everything about us is too plain a reminder; I&#8217;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&#8217;s possible he cut those branches yonder.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;s face expressed emotion sternly held in check.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was Vernon&#8217;s work&mdash;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&#8217;s significant that he used three or
+four strokes where I would have taken one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III_THE_CACHE' id='III_THE_CACHE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>THE CACHE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was awake&mdash;thinking&mdash;a good deal last night;
+in fact, I&#8217;ve been restless ever since we struck the
+Gladwynes&#8217; trail,&#8221; Nasmyth began. &#8220;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221; Lisle waited, watching his companion in an
+intent fashion.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth hesitated.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, considering everything, mightn&#8217;t it be better
+to waste no time, and push straight on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And leave the work that brought me here&mdash;I believe
+that brought us both here&mdash;undone?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll forgive me if I don&#8217;t express myself very
+fortunately. What I feel is this&mdash;Gladwyne&#8217;s story
+is a tragic one, but it&#8217;s twelve months old. In a way,
+it&#8217;s forgotten; the wounds it made have healed.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Is such a man as the one you have described forgotten
+in a year?&#8221; Lisle asked with a hardening expression.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he contended, &#8220;there are faithful hearts
+that never quite forget&mdash;with them the scar remains;
+but it&#8217;s fortunate that the first keen pain does not last.
+Is it decent&mdash;I almost think that&#8217;s the right word&mdash;to
+reopen the wound?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He paused and spread out one hand as if in expostulation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you pleading for your English friends, anxious
+to save them pain at my expense? Can&#8217;t you
+understand my longing to clear my dead partner&#8217;s
+name?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A trace of color crept into Nasmyth&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose I deserve that, though it wasn&#8217;t quite
+the only thing I meant. I&#8217;ve an idea that you are
+somehow going to lay up trouble for yourself by persevering
+in this search.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be offensive; but can&#8217;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?
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+Are you afraid to investigate, to look for
+proofs of Clarence Gladwyne&#8217;s story?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth looked him steadily in the eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the sake of one or two others, I think I am.
+Your belief in the guide, Vernon, has had its effect
+on me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; said Lisle, &#8220;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!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose there&#8217;s no help for it,&#8221; responded Nasmyth,
+with a gesture of acquiescence. &#8220;We have said
+enough. Since you insist, I&#8217;ll stand by my promise.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+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&#8217;s fissured side. As they toiled on, badly hampered
+by their loads, the same thought was in the
+minds of two of the men&mdash;a wonder as to how Gladwyne&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would take us most of two days to portage the
+canoe, and we might damage her badly in doing so,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;The head of the rapid&#8217;s impossible, but
+with luck we might run her down the rest in about ten
+minutes. The thing seems worth trying, though I
+wouldn&#8217;t have risked it with the stores on board.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose you swamped or upset her?&#8221; Nasmyth
+suggested.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s less likely, since she&#8217;d go light, with only two
+of us paddling.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s eyes could hardly grasp
+salient details&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;she was traveling faster than he was&mdash;and,
+though he could swim well, he grew horribly
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; he gasped. &#8220;I owe you something for
+that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pshaw!&#8221; disclaimed the other. &#8220;I only pulled
+you back. You&#8217;d have got badly hammered if you&#8217;d
+tried to cross that ledge. I&#8217;d noticed the inshore swirl
+close below it when we were packing along the bank,
+and remembered that we could land in it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you had hold of the canoe. I saw you close
+beside her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only wanted her to take me past the ledge,&#8221; Lisle
+explained. &#8220;I&#8217;d no notion of going right through
+with her. Now we&#8217;ll make for camp.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth gravely took off his shapeless hat, and
+stood glancing about him with a fixed expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This,&#8221; he said quietly, &#8220;is where my friend died&mdash;as
+you have heard, they afterward took his body
+out. There are few men who could compare with
+that one; I can&#8217;t forget him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+by steep, stony slopes. There was a little brushwood
+here and there, but not a tree of any kind.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was on this beach that Gladwyne made one
+cache,&#8221; said Lisle. &#8220;If there had been a cypress or
+a cedar near, he&#8217;d have blazed a mark on it. As it
+is, we&#8217;d better look for a heap of stones.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s
+attention to this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There was deep snow when Vernon came down the
+gorge, on this side,&#8221; he pointed out. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t
+follow that he was with the others when they
+buried the stores&mdash;he might have been carrying up
+a load&mdash;and it&#8217;s possible they couldn&#8217;t give him a
+very exact description. If I&#8217;m right in this, he&#8217;d
+have a long stretch of beach to search, and a man&#8217;s
+senses aren&#8217;t as keen as usual when he&#8217;s badly played
+out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;First of all, I want you to notice that this gravel
+has slipped down from the bluff after the cache was
+made,&#8221; Lisle said to Nasmyth. &#8220;With snow on the
+ground and the slab yonder covered, it would be almost
+impossible to locate it.&#8221; He turned to Jake. &#8220;How
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+long would you say it was since the rain or frost
+brought that small stuff down?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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 débris had laid bare in its descent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Part of one summer and all the next,&#8221; he answered
+decidedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell us how you figured it out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Jake climbed the bank and returned with two or
+three young branches which he handed to Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The thing&#8217;s plain enough to you.&#8221; He turned
+toward Nasmyth. &#8220;No growth except in the summer&mdash;they&#8217;d
+had a few warm months to start them,
+but they don&#8217;t fork until the second year. See these
+shoots?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As winter was beginning when the Gladwyne party
+came down, that small landslide must have taken place
+some time before then,&#8221; declared Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;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,&#8221; said
+Lisle. &#8220;Do you know what kind of food civilized
+men who&#8217;ve been compelled to work to exhaustion on
+insufficient rations, helped out by a little fish or game,
+generally long for most?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; answered Nasmyth, with a feeble attempt at
+levity. &#8220;I&#8217;ve now and then remembered with regret
+the kind of dinner I used to get in England.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have scarcely felt the pinch,&#8221; Lisle informed
+him. &#8220;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&#8217;s
+not likely.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re right about the longing for flour and
+sweet-stuff, it&#8217;s a strong point,&#8221; Nasmyth declared.
+&#8220;Where did you learn the fact?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle looked at Jake, and the packer smiled in a
+significant manner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s right,&#8221; he vouched. &#8220;We know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; continued Lisle, indicating the sugar bag,
+which had been wrapped in a waterproof sheet, &#8220;can
+you imagine a starving man, in desperate haste, making
+up this package as it was when we found it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; admitted Nasmyth; &#8220;it&#8217;s most improbable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Somewhat to his astonishment, the usually taciturn
+Jake broke in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re wasting time! Vernon never struck this
+cache&mdash;he told the folks at the post so. Worked
+with him once trail-cutting&mdash;what that man said
+goes!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You never told me you knew Vernon!&#8221; exclaimed
+Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite likely,&#8221; Jake drawled. &#8220;It didn&#8217;t seem
+any use till now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For the first time since they landed, Nasmyth
+laughed&mdash;he felt that something was needed to relieve
+the tension.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If people never talked unless they had something
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+useful to say, there would be a marvelous change,&#8221; he
+declared.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle disregarded this, but he was a little less grave
+when he resumed:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s another point to bear in mind. Two of
+Gladwyne&#8217;s party left him; and of those two which
+would be the more likely to succumb to extreme exertion,
+exposure, and insufficient food?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Against the answer you expect, there&#8217;s the fact
+that Vernon made the longer journey,&#8221; Nasmyth objected.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; confessed Nasmyth; &#8220;he&#8217;s rather a self-indulgent
+person.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, for example, could you march through a
+rough, snow-covered country on as little food as I
+could?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, again,&#8221; answered Nasmyth. &#8220;You would
+probably hold out two or three days longer than I
+could.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Vernon was a stronger and tougher man than I
+am,&#8221; Lisle went on. &#8220;Now, without finding definite
+proof, which I hardly expected, there is, I think,
+strong presumptive evidence that Vernon&#8217;s story is
+correct.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; agreed Nasmyth, and added gravely:
+&#8220;Will you ever find the proof?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think there&#8217;s a way&mdash;it may be difficult; but
+I&#8217;m going right through with this.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s your next move?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve willingly laid my partner&#8217;s story open to the
+only tests we can impose. Now I&#8217;m going to do the
+same with Clarence Gladwyne&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nothing more was said, and turning away from the
+cache, they went back to the canoe.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV_A_PAINFUL_DECISION' id='IV_A_PAINFUL_DECISION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>A PAINFUL DECISION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span></p>
+<p>Some minutes passed before a word was spoken;
+and then Nasmyth looked up.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; he said briefly.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle moved a little, so that he could see his companion&#8217;s
+face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the first place,&#8221; he explained, &#8220;Clarence Gladwyne
+came down this bank. One could locate the
+cache by the blazed tree, even with snow upon
+the ground&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mightn&#8217;t it have been opened by some Indian?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s most unlikely, because he would have cleaned
+it out. A white prospector would certainly have taken
+the tobacco.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he admitted reluctantly, &#8220;what we have
+discovered has its significance; but it isn&#8217;t conclusive.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jake found that and gave it to me,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s enough left to show that it had finger-stalls,
+and there are none on the mittens we use in cold
+weather. The thing&#8217;s English, and with a little rubbing
+I expect you&#8217;ll find the maker&#8217;s name on that button.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+When the party went up it was warm weather,
+but we know there was sharp frost when Gladwyne
+came back. A buttoned glove doesn&#8217;t drop off one&#8217;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&#8217;t
+find it afterward because he&#8217;d trodden it into the
+snow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth could doubt no longer, and his face grew
+red.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The hound!&#8221; he broke out. &#8220;He had a hand
+frost-bitten&mdash;one finger is different from the others
+yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle said nothing; he could understand and sympathize
+with what was going on in his companion&#8217;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&#8217;s transgression still
+blacker.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This thing hits hard,&#8221; he said at length. &#8220;The
+man should have gone back, if he had known it meant
+certain death.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle filled his pipe and smoked in silence for several
+minutes during which the eery cry of a loon rang
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+about the camp. It roused Nasmyth to an outbreak
+of anger.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hate that unearthly noise!&#8221; he exclaimed vehemently.
+&#8220;The thing seems to be gloating; it&#8217;s indecent!
+When I think of that call it will bring back
+the long portage and this ghostly river! I wish I&#8217;d
+never made the journey, or that I could blot the whole
+thing out!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can&#8217;t be done,&#8221; Lisle replied. &#8220;It&#8217;s too late.
+You have learned the truth of what has been done
+here&mdash;but the results will work themselves out.
+Neither you nor I can stop them; they have to be
+faced.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The pity of it is that the innocent must suffer;
+they&#8217;ve borne enough already.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a point I don&#8217;t quite understand,&#8221; declared
+Lisle. &#8220;Whatever the Hudson Bay agent
+thought, he&#8217;d have kept it to himself if he&#8217;d been allowed&mdash;I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth looked irresolute; and then he answered
+reluctantly:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a fact I haven&#8217;t told you yet&mdash;Clarence
+came into the family property on George&#8217;s death;
+a fine old place, a fairly large estate. The sister
+doesn&#8217;t count, though she got her brother&#8217;s personal
+property&mdash;the land goes down in the male line.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle dropped his pipe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I understand! Gladwyne profits, my dead
+partner bore the shame. But do you believe the man
+meant to let his cousin die?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; Nasmyth answered sharply, &#8220;that&#8217;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&mdash;the honorable
+men and women who had kept the name clean before
+him. Knowing he would inherit on George&#8217;s death,
+there was only one way open&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You said that George Gladwyne was a naturalist,&#8221;
+he remarked. &#8220;Was he a methodical man?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eminently so,&#8221; replied Nasmyth, wondering where
+the question led. He had already been astonished at
+Lisle&#8217;s close reasoning and the correctness of his deductions.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then he would have made notes on his journey
+and no doubt have kept some kind of diary. Did the
+rescue party recover it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They did. It was given to George&#8217;s sister.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Damaged by snow or water, badly tattered?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was,&#8221; assented Nasmyth. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had the book
+in my hands. I suppose it&#8217;s natural that you should
+guess its condition, but I don&#8217;t see what it points to.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle smiled grimly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One wouldn&#8217;t be astonished to find some leaves
+missing from a tattered book.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re right again.&#8221; Nasmyth started. &#8220;Several
+had gone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I can tell which part of the journey they
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+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&#8217;t
+have found it. On the other hand, if the one on
+Gladwyne&#8217;s side of the river&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course!&#8221; Nasmyth broke in. &#8220;You needn&#8217;t
+labor the point; it&#8217;s plain enough.&#8221; He stopped for
+a few moments before he went on again. &#8220;I&#8217;m convinced;
+but without that list of Gladwyne&#8217;s you still
+haven&#8217;t proof enough to place your account of the
+affair beyond dispute. What are you going to do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to England&mdash;it&#8217;s my father&#8217;s country,
+and I meant to visit it some day. Whether I shall find
+out anything more there or not I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you must stay with me. That&#8217;s a point I
+insist upon. But I must make my situation clear&mdash;though
+I&#8217;ve been drawn into this matter against my
+will, you have my promise, and if ever the time for
+action comes, I&#8217;ll stand by you. But I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; said Lisle; &#8220;I&#8217;m agreeable. You stand
+neutral until I call on you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are two more questions, and then we&#8217;ll let
+the subject drop. Why didn&#8217;t you make this search
+earlier? Why didn&#8217;t Gladwyne rearrange the caches
+afterward? He went back, you know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re easily answered. It was some time before
+I heard of Vernon&#8217;s death and met the Hudson Bay
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+man in Victoria&mdash;I&#8217;d been away in the North. Gladwyne
+had the rescue party with him when he went back;
+he couldn&#8217;t replace the provisions in the cache on this
+side without their knowing it, and I don&#8217;t suppose he
+could have crossed the river to the other cache. Now
+we&#8217;ll talk of something else.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+held on, his course running roughly in a line with the
+river.
+</p>
+<p>It was toward three o&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You got your shot in!&#8221; cried Lisle. &#8220;I think I
+missed him on the jump. Come on; we must pick up
+the trail!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s rifle flashed. Making a last
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Steady!&#8221; gasped Lisle. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do it that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+way! Help me throw the beast on his side. Now
+heave!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dropped the thing,&#8221; Lisle explained. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t
+snap a fresh shell in; guess I bent the slide. I took
+the knife to finish it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In another moment or two you&#8217;d have been too
+late.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. It wouldn&#8217;t have been decided until
+we&#8217;d reached the other side.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You would have swum across?&#8221; Nasmyth asked
+in astonishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sure,&#8221; said Lisle simply. &#8220;Anyway, I&#8217;d have
+tried.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V_MILLICENT_GLADWYNE' id='V_MILLICENT_GLADWYNE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>MILLICENT GLADWYNE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>He mentioned the occurrence diffidently at breakfast
+the next morning, expecting incredulous laughter;
+but Lisle, without making a comment, glanced at
+Jake questioningly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; responded Jake. &#8220;Nothing to bring them
+up so far.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You couldn&#8217;t have been mistaken?&#8221; Lisle asked
+Nasmyth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought I must be; but the more I listened, the
+clearer it got.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Go and see,&#8221; Lisle said, addressing Jake, and when
+they had finished breakfast the packer strode away.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll wait a bit,&#8221; advised Lisle. &#8220;I&#8217;m a little
+worried about provisions again. It&#8217;s still a long
+march to the nearest wagon trail.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite a bunch of them,&#8221; he reported. &#8220;I struck
+the fellow&#8217;s trail.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What was it I heard?&#8221; Nasmyth asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cow-bells,&#8221; Lisle explained, laughing. &#8220;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&#8217;t expected to find
+one so far north. Anyway, it&#8217;s a relief; he&#8217;ll no
+doubt be able to let us have something to eat.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They reached the man&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+with scarlet trimmings, extremely tight-fitting clothes
+and daintily-pointed shoes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I&#8217;d have done better if I&#8217;d stuck to my
+rags, or else bought a pair of what that fellow called
+river-Jacks&#8217; boots,&#8221; he commented ruefully.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you coming to England with me?&#8221; Nasmyth
+asked at length.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I&#8217;m sorry I can&#8217;t,&#8221; answered Lisle, pausing,
+pen in hand. &#8220;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&#8217;t know when I can get away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth was conscious of some relief. His companion
+would have to defer the prosecution of plans
+that threatened to cause trouble in England, which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+was something to be thankful for, though he had a
+strong sympathy for the man.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has it ever struck you that you might have less
+difficulty if you could be content with proving half of
+what you claim?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;It&#8217;s the more important
+part&mdash;I mean that your late comrade failed to find
+the cache.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Half a truth is not much use&mdash;Gladwyne realized
+that. To declare you haven&#8217;t done the wrong is a
+good deal less effective than pointing to the guilty
+man.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose that&#8217;s correct,&#8221; Nasmyth agreed.
+&#8220;But, after all, unless you can get hold of a list of
+the provisions cached&mdash;and it has most likely been
+destroyed&mdash;there&#8217;s only one way of substantiating
+your views.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly. Gladwyne&#8217;s confession will place the
+matter beyond all doubt.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think you will ever get it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;s expression hardened.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth abandoned all attempt to daunt or dissuade
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anyway,&#8221; he resumed, &#8220;when you come over you
+must stay with me. I&#8217;m sorry we&#8217;ll have to part company
+to-morrow. I start east by the first train.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Then, as he thought of the land he was bound for
+and recalled the tragic story of Gladwyne&#8217;s journey,
+he once more grew troubled. He realized the immutable
+sequence of cause and effect&mdash;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>In another moment, a girl came along the platform
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+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&#8217;s appearance
+was unwelcome to her friends. She approached
+him with outstretched hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I drove over for you. Clarence couldn&#8217;t come;
+he was suddenly called up to town,&#8221; she began. &#8220;It
+would have been rather lonely for you to spend the
+first evening by yourself at the Lodge. You will
+come to us?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thoughtful as ever,&#8221; smiled Nasmyth, with a little
+bow which was respectful as well as friendly. &#8220;I
+needn&#8217;t ask how you are; the way you walked along the
+platform was a testimony to our Border air.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She laughed, softly and musically.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is more needful to inquire how you have stood
+your adventures?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe I&#8217;m thinner; but that isn&#8217;t astonishing,
+everything considered. I suppose Clarence is getting
+on pretty satisfactorily?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clarence? Oh, yes!&#8221; There was a hint of uncertainty
+in her voice which Nasmyth noticed. &#8220;He
+has been in town a good deal of late. But come
+along; the horse&mdash;he&#8217;s a new one&mdash;is rather restive.
+They&#8217;ll send on your things.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The remnant of my outfit&#8217;s contained in one small
+bag,&#8221; laughed Nasmyth; &#8220;the rest&#8217;s scattered about
+the hillsides of British Columbia. I was a picturesque
+scarecrow when I reached the settlements.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></p>
+<p>They moved away along the platform, and on
+reaching the trap he got up beside her and handed her
+the reins.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to look about, if you don&#8217;t mind,&#8221; he explained.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I really think the prospect&#8217;s worth it,&#8221; she replied.
+&#8220;Besides, Riever&#8217;s fresh and needs humoring.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All this is remarkably nice; though I don&#8217;t think
+I should have appreciated it quite so much if I&#8217;d been
+alone,&#8221; Nasmyth said at length.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+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&mdash;a staunch honesty,
+faithfulness, and a genial nature&mdash;are not to be despised.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;I love these moors and dales,
+as of course you know, and I&#8217;ve become more of a stay-at-home
+than ever during the past year.&#8221; There was
+a slight regretfulness in her voice which had its meaning
+for him. &#8220;I&#8217;m never satisfied with the drawings,&#8221;
+she went on, &#8220;though I&#8217;ve made so many of
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made a sign of comprehension. She had
+undertaken to finish and illustrate her brother&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He wanted it to be as complete and accurate as
+possible,&#8221; she added simply.
+</p>
+<p>Her companion felt compassionate. In some respects,
+it was almost a pity that Millicent could not
+forget.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You got my letter&mdash;the one in which I said
+I meant to pick up and follow out his trail?&#8221; he
+asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. I knew it would be difficult. Indeed, I was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+anxious about you; the wilderness has claimed so much
+from me. But did you&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I succeeded,&#8221; Nasmyth answered quietly.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think George should never have made that journey,&#8221;
+she resumed. &#8220;Fond of the open as he was,
+he hadn&#8217;t the physical stamina. He never spared himself;
+he was apt to overestimate his powers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve learned that he bore everything with the fortitude
+one would expect from him&mdash;doing his share
+always with the rest,&#8221; Nasmyth said. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They did not kill Clarence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth once more burned with anger against the
+transgressor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he replied in a strained tone; &#8220;Clarence escaped.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She flashed a sharp glance at him, and he felt glad
+that it was too dark for her to see his face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must tell me the whole story to-night,&#8221; she
+requested.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI_NASMYTH_TELLS_HIS_STORY' id='VI_NASMYTH_TELLS_HIS_STORY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>NASMYTH TELLS HIS STORY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Dinner was over, and Millicent&#8217;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&mdash;hunger, toil, and death&mdash;it would
+sound harsher and more ugly amid the evidences of
+civilization.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have a good deal to tell me,&#8221; Millicent suggested
+at length.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, in answer to her remark, &#8220;but it&#8217;s
+curious that I can&#8217;t fix my mind upon the subject here.
+The night&#8217;s mild; shall we go out on to the veranda?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait until I get a wrap. I understand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You always do that,&#8221; Nasmyth declared.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mind, I know,&#8221; he said as he lighted a
+cigar.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can make that concession willingly,&#8221; she answered
+with a smile. &#8220;I suppose I&#8217;m old-fashioned,
+because I go no farther.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep so,&#8221; advised Nasmyth. &#8220;Of course, that&#8217;s
+unnecessary; but I never could make out why women
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+should want to smoke. From my point of view, it
+isn&#8217;t becoming.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was putting off a task from which he shrank, and
+she indulged him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One retains one&#8217;s prejudices in a place like this,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It has struck me,&#8221; returned Nasmyth with an air
+of sage reflection, &#8220;that we who live quietly in the
+country are the pick of the lot. Sounds egotistical,
+doesn&#8217;t it? But if we don&#8217;t do much good&mdash;and I&#8217;m
+afraid I don&#8217;t, anyway&mdash;neither do we do any harm.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure that that&#8217;s a great deal to be proud
+of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t include you,&#8221; Nasmyth assured her.
+&#8220;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&#8217;re difficult folks to handle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s away a good deal&mdash;I&#8217;m afraid there has
+been some friction now and then.&#8221; The girl&#8217;s manner
+suddenly changed. &#8220;But that&#8217;s beside the point.
+Aren&#8217;t you wasting time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am almost afraid to begin. You will find the
+story trying.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She turned toward him, and the moonlight showed
+her face was reassuringly quiet.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I expect that; but your fears are groundless. You
+needn&#8217;t hesitate on my account.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she said at length. &#8220;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&mdash;I think he hated to speak of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a way, he was wise,&#8221; replied Nasmyth. He
+understood the man&#8217;s reluctance. &#8220;Now don&#8217;t you
+think it would be better if you tried to drive the thing
+out of your mind? It can&#8217;t be altered&mdash;there&#8217;s a
+danger in dwelling too much upon one&#8217;s grief.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She looked up at him, though her eyes were dim with
+tears.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can&#8217;t be driven out. There were only the two
+of us; we had so much in common&mdash;there was such
+trust between us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth nodded in comprehension and sympathy.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Now that I&#8217;ve told you,&#8221; he said quietly, as he
+rose, &#8220;I think I&#8217;ll go. I am sure you&#8217;d rather be
+alone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, motioning to him to sit down.
+&#8220;Please stay.&#8221; She seemed to rouse herself with an
+effort. &#8220;Of course, there was only one thing George
+could do when he was lamed&mdash;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&mdash;how
+did you hear of them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;From my companion, a young Canadian. He had
+the whole thing by heart; got it from the Hudson Bay
+agent. George&#8217;s guide told the agent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did your companion also teach you how to tell the
+story?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth smiled. He saw that she was desirous of
+changing the subject and he was glad of it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anyway, he made me see it at the time; pointed
+out the full significance of things&mdash;a broken branch,
+a scratch on a rock. A rather striking man in several
+ways. But you shall see him; he&#8217;s coming over to
+stay with me by and by.&#8221; He paused a moment. &#8220;I
+understand that Clarence has been having some trouble.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It hardly amounts to that. But things are not the
+same as they were&#8221;&mdash;in spite of her courage she
+faltered&mdash;&#8220;when George held control. The tenants
+don&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In small matters; it&#8217;s his own money now.&#8221;
+Nasmyth could not repress this show of bitterness.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Whose money was it in his extravagant days?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a question I&#8217;ve thought over and failed to
+find an answer to. I&#8217;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&#8217;t you impress
+that on him?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s close companionship and confidence, and
+the man&#8217;s wide knowledge and thoughtfulness had had
+its effect in molding her character. Still, in this case,
+she did not respond.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be better for his tenants and the neighborhood
+generally if Clarence married; he can afford
+it now,&#8221; Nasmyth went on.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s attitude had strengthened
+the idea. Indeed, when he had succeeded to
+George&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you are right in one thing,&#8221; she said, very
+calmly, at length. &#8220;If he would stay here, as George
+did and his neighbors do, it would be better for everybody,
+including himself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made a sign of agreement. Their intimate
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>An unfortunate persistence in his hobby drove Nasmyth
+into a second blunder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in accord on that point,&#8221; he assured her.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s a pity the land passed out of your hands. However,
+as there&#8217;s no male succession, it might, after all,
+come back to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She bore it very calmly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t have me speculate on such a thing?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then as if to find a safer topic she went on with a
+thrill of anger in her tone:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you of an incident I witnessed two or three
+days ago, which annoyed me seriously. I&#8217;d just met
+old Bell&mdash;you know how lame he is&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They were a disgrace to any estate when I last
+saw them,&#8221; Nasmyth broke in. &#8220;Besides, the sour
+land near the river should have been tile-drained long
+ago.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So Bell has urged; but he can&#8217;t get Marple to
+spend a penny&mdash;I&#8217;m glad that man&#8217;s new to this part
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+of the country and doesn&#8217;t belong to us. Well, just
+after I met Bell, Marple&#8217;s big motor came along. He
+had Batley with him and the Crestwicks, who were
+down before. I think you met them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did,&#8221; assented Nasmyth. &#8220;In Canada they&#8217;d
+call them a mighty tough crowd; they&#8217;re about the
+limit here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I turned round after the car had passed,&#8221; Millicent
+went on. &#8220;Marple was driving, as fast as
+usual, and he made no attempt to pull up. Bell, who
+didn&#8217;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&mdash;something about the damage to his
+tires&mdash;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&#8217;t a dog with him. That kind of thing
+leaves its mark!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Distinctly so,&#8221; Nasmyth agreed. &#8220;Still, Marple
+and his lot are exceptions. Wasn&#8217;t Clarence rather
+thick with them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been rather disturbed
+about him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Marple and his acquaintances are not the people
+one would have expected Clarence to associate with,&#8221;
+he continued. &#8220;Still, in my opinion, he&#8217;s doing worse
+in making a friend of that fellow Batley. I could
+never understand the connection&mdash;the man strikes me
+as an adventurer. Has he spent much time here since
+I&#8217;ve been away?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A good deal, off and on. But it&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know much. I met him by accident&mdash;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.&#8221; He smiled.
+&#8220;After all, that&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve met men of that description, and I&#8217;m rather
+prejudiced in their favor,&#8221; declared Millicent, smiling.
+&#8220;But what was he like in person&mdash;slightly rugged?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; that&#8217;s where you and others sometimes go
+wrong. There&#8217;s nothing of the barbarian about these
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+bushmen. Physically, they&#8217;re as fine a type as we are&mdash;I
+might go farther&mdash;straight in the limb, clean-lined
+every way, square in the shoulder. They&#8217;d make
+an impression at any London gathering.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So long as they didn&#8217;t speak?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t matter. Allowing for a few colloquialisms,
+they&#8217;re worth listening to; which is more
+than I&#8217;d care to say for a number of the people one
+meets in this country.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll be glad to see him when he comes.&#8221; Her
+voice grew graver. &#8220;I feel grateful to him already
+for what he told you about George.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII_ON_THE_MOORS' id='VII_ON_THE_MOORS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>ON THE MOORS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Nearly a year had passed since Nasmyth&#8217;s return
+when Lisle at length reached England.
+Soon after his arrival, he was, as Nasmyth&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look out,&#8221; he cautioned by and by. &#8220;You
+were a little slow last time. They travel pretty fast.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get anything?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; was the sullen answer. &#8220;Couldn&#8217;t expect
+it with the second barrel, after you&#8217;d filled the
+place with smoke. Wonder why Gladwyne&#8217;s man gave
+you the old black powder?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>As nearly everybody else used smokeless, this was
+a point that had aroused Lisle&#8217;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&#8217;s
+keeper he had been supplied with ammunition which,
+it seemed, was out of date.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all, you have done well enough,&#8221; his companion
+resumed. &#8220;We&#8217;d better get on to our next
+station&mdash;it&#8217;s right across the moor on the high ridge
+yonder. Don&#8217;t bother about the birds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shall I leave them there?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly! Do you want to carry them all the
+afternoon? One of the keeper fellows will bring them
+along.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lad&#8217;s tone was half contemptuous; he had already
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+shown that he considered the Canadian what he
+would have called an outsider; but he was willing to
+make use of him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You might look after Bella; she&#8217;s alone in the
+next butt&mdash;and I&#8217;ve something else to do,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s an awkward ghyll to cross and she won&#8217;t
+carry anything lighter than a 14-gun. See she doesn&#8217;t
+leave the cartridges in it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you&#8217;re Nasmyth&#8217;s Canadian friend?&#8221;
+she began, and went on without waiting for an answer:
+&#8220;As we occupy adjoining butts on the next
+drive, you may take my gun. Teddy has deserted
+me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Teddy?&#8221; queried Lisle, who wondered if she were
+referring to her brother. &#8220;I thought his name was
+Jim.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Marple&#8217;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&#8217;s too hot to gormandize;
+I wasn&#8217;t astonished when he collapsed at the steep
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span>
+place on the last walk. Reflecting that it was his own
+fault, I left him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle was not charmed with the girl&#8217;s manners, but
+he could not check a smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you tired? You oughtn&#8217;t to be,&#8221; she continued
+with another bold glance at him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he replied; &#8220;if it&#8217;s any consolation to you,
+I&#8217;m far from exhausted yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s reassuring,&#8221; she retorted. &#8220;You haven&#8217;t
+taken my gun.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that for?&#8221; she asked impertinently. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+hammerless; there&#8217;s nothing to catch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The pull-off&#8217;s probably very light, if it&#8217;s been
+made for a lady&#8217;s use. It&#8217;s sometimes possible to jar
+the strikers down when they set the springs to yield at
+a touch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you know something about guns?&#8221; she said,
+as if she had not expected this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a great deal about the scatter kind, though
+I&#8217;ve stripped a few.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We never do that,&#8221; she informed him. &#8220;We send
+them to London. Still, you&#8217;re right; the gun did go
+off when I knocked it jumping down from a wall.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;ll let me have it to-night, I&#8217;ll alter that.
+I understand we&#8217;re going out again to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She considered a moment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she consented, with the air of one conferring
+a favor, &#8220;you may take it when we&#8217;ve finished.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;s companion noticed his intent expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is rather fine up here,&#8221; she conceded. &#8220;I sometimes
+feel it&#8217;s almost a pity one couldn&#8217;t live among
+the heather. Certain things would be easier on these
+high levels.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes?&#8221; interrogated Lisle, slightly puzzled and
+astonished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re obviously from the woods,&#8221; she smiled.
+&#8220;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.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></p>
+<p>Lisle made no reply to this, but he glanced too directly
+at a red stain on her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Blood,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;I had a bet with Alan
+that I&#8217;d get a brace more than Flo; that&#8217;s why I went
+after a cripple running in the ling. It wasn&#8217;t dead
+when I picked it up&mdash;rather horrid, wasn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; she said sharply, &#8220;if you&#8217;re sufficiently
+rested, we&#8217;ll go on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle moved away, but he asked a question:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do many girls shoot in this country?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered with a mocking smile; &#8220;not so
+many, after all. That&#8217;s comforting, isn&#8217;t it? This
+kind of thing is hard work, and damaging to the complexion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get over,&#8221; she ordered him. &#8220;Then pull a lot of
+it down.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He did so, making, though he endeavored to avoid
+this, a rather wide hole.
+</p>
+<p>She scrambled through agilely and then regarded
+him with surprise as he proceeded to replace the
+stones.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Why are you doing that?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are sheep up here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Too many, considering that it&#8217;s a grouse-moor;
+but what of it? They don&#8217;t belong to us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They belong to somebody who would rather they
+didn&#8217;t stray,&#8221; Lisle rejoined. &#8220;In the country I come
+from, it&#8217;s considered a serious transgression to knock
+over another person&#8217;s fence and not put it up
+again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re doing that very neatly,&#8221; she remarked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done something of the kind for a living,&#8221;
+Lisle informed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh! It&#8217;s curious that you seem proud of it. In
+this case, I don&#8217;t mind your keeping me, because they
+can&#8217;t drive up the birds until we have crossed the
+higher moor. It will annoy Gladwyne and his keeper,
+and I&#8217;m not pleased with either of them. I wanted
+Flo Marple&#8217;s station at the first butts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>When he had finished the repairs to the wall, they
+went on, and a little later he heard a sharp &#8220;Cruck&mdash;cruck-curruck,&#8221;
+to one side of him. Swinging
+around, he saw a grouse skimming the heather.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;A pair of gloves to a sovereign that you miss!&#8221;
+cried his companion.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A clean kill!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;You have won
+the gloves; and you&#8217;ll deserve them before you have
+heard the last of this incident. I suppose you don&#8217;t
+know that you shouldn&#8217;t have fired a shot except from
+behind the butts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She watched his expression with open amusement.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t like to ask why I tempted you,&#8221; she
+went on. &#8220;It was to vex the keeper; you may have
+turned back the birds the beaters are driving up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks for the information,&#8221; Lisle said coolly.
+&#8220;Do you mind my inquiring whether you would have
+taken the sovereign in case I&#8217;d missed? As you suggested,
+I&#8217;m lately from the wilds.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course!&#8221; she mocked. &#8220;I could have had it
+drilled and worn it on a chain!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is a romantic spot, if you&#8217;re interested in the
+legends of the Border,&#8221; she told him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am,&#8221; Lisle said; and she sat down among the
+heather.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an excuse for a rest,&#8221; she confessed. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be a strong place to hold, if the defenders
+had time to choose their ground,&#8221; Lisle remarked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So it proved,&#8221; replied his companion. &#8220;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&#8217;s relatives,
+which was an unusual piece of forbearance. In those
+days, men must have been able to disassociate business
+from their love-making.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t they do so now?&#8221; Lisle inquired lazily.
+</p>
+<p>She looked at him with a smile which had a hint of
+real bitterness in its light mockery.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Not often, one would imagine. Perhaps they can&#8217;t
+be blamed&mdash;I&#8217;m afraid we&#8217;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&mdash;which wasn&#8217;t surprising.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Love made him invulnerable?&#8221; Lisle suggested.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; retorted his companion. &#8220;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&#8217;s a moving tale. Think of the long, perilous
+rides he made through an enemy&#8217;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&mdash;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&#8217;t point
+the moral?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can see only the ancient one&mdash;that it&#8217;s unwise
+to take a lady&#8217;s &#8216;No&#8217; as conclusive,&#8221; Lisle ventured.
+</p>
+<p>She laughed at him in a daring manner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The pity is that we haven&#8217;t often a chance of saying
+it to any one worth while. But I&#8217;ll express the
+moral in a prettier way&mdash;sometimes disinterested
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+steadfastness and real devotion count with us. Unfortunately,
+they&#8217;re scarce.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she laughed, &#8220;you&#8217;re not much of a courtier.
+But doesn&#8217;t that story bring you back into touch
+with elemental things&mdash;treacherous mosses, dark
+nights, flooded rivers, passion, peril, dauntlessness?
+Now we&#8217;re wrapped about with empty futilities.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+he said. &#8220;But hadn&#8217;t we better be getting
+on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Couldn&#8217;t you have got here earlier, Bella?&#8221; he
+asked. &#8220;In another few minutes you&#8217;d have spoiled
+the drive&mdash;the birds can&#8217;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I do wrong, I never confess it, Clarence,&#8221;
+the girl replied. &#8220;You ought to know that by
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle heard the name and became suddenly intent&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I heard a shot,&#8221; he resumed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve no doubt you did,&#8221; the girl agreed. &#8220;An
+old cock grouse got up in front of us&mdash;it was irresistibly
+tempting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne turned to Lisle with a slight movement of
+his shoulders which was somehow expressive of half-indulgent
+contempt.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re Nasmyth&#8217;s friend from Canada? I guess
+you don&#8217;t understand these things, but you might have
+made the birds break back,&#8221; he said. &#8220;However, we
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+must get under cover now&mdash;there&#8217;s your butt. I&#8217;ll
+see you later.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s shoulders
+had brought a warmth to his face. The girl
+noticed this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clarence can be unpleasant when he likes, but
+there are excuses for him,&#8221; she said. &#8220;A day&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII_GLADWYNE_RECEIVES_A_SHOCK' id='VIII_GLADWYNE_RECEIVES_A_SHOCK'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>GLADWYNE RECEIVES A SHOCK</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was about nine o&#8217;clock in the evening, and Gladwyne&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The man,&#8221; she said, &#8220;is a bit of a Puritan. They
+still live over there, don&#8217;t they? His idea of English
+women is evidently derived from what his father told
+him, or from early-Victorian literature. I&#8217;m inclined
+to believe I shocked him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s highly probable,&#8221; laughed a man lounging
+near. &#8220;Still, I believe the descendants of the folks
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+you mention live three thousand miles from his country,
+in the neighborhood of the Atlantic shore. One
+wouldn&#8217;t fancy that you&#8217;d like Puritans.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Extremes meet; it&#8217;s the middle&mdash;the medium mediocrity&mdash;that&#8217;s
+irreconcilable with either end,&#8221; she
+retorted. &#8220;For instance, I led a life of severe asceticism
+all last Lent.&#8221; There were incredulous smiles,
+though the statement was perfectly correct. &#8220;It&#8217;s a
+course I could confidently recommend to you,&#8221; she proceeded,
+unheeding; &#8220;of late you have been putting on
+flesh with an alarming rapidity.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man made no response and Bella resumed:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Besides, the Puritans have their good points;
+they&#8217;re so refreshingly sure of themselves and their
+views, while the rest of us don&#8217;t believe in anything.
+You can&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what has all this to do with Nasmyth&#8217;s Canadian?&#8221;
+somebody asked.
+</p>
+<p>Bella waved her cigarette.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Try to walk a steep moor with him and you&#8217;ll see.
+If that&#8217;s not sufficient, take the same butt with him
+when the grouse are coming over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Suddenly she straightened herself, dropping her foot
+from the iron and flinging the cigarette into the fire,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Clarence?&#8221; she asked the group collectively,
+in a voice that was singularly clear and penetrative.
+&#8220;I haven&#8217;t seen him for the last half-hour.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s sudden change of demeanor upon
+her hostess&#8217;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&#8217;s guests, had she not
+been a little deaf.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sitting quiet?&#8221; she said to Millicent, who was a
+favorite of hers; and her voice carried farther than
+she was aware of as she continued: &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A dear old thing! It&#8217;s a pity she&#8217;s quite so antediluvian,&#8221;
+Bella remarked to a man at her side.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t that the natural penalty of being a dear old
+thing?&#8221; laughed her companion. &#8220;There&#8217;s no doubt
+we have progressed pretty rapidly of late.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Clarence appeared shortly after this and was gently
+chidden by his mother for going out without his hat,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This way, Vernon.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I seem to have heard your name before in connection
+with Canada,&#8221; said Mrs. Gladwyne, confusing
+it with his surname. &#8220;Ah, yes! Of course; it was
+George&#8217;s guide I was thinking of.&#8221; She turned to
+Millicent, adding in an audible aside: &#8220;I&#8217;ve a bad
+habit of forgetting. Forgive me, my dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Everything considered, it was, perhaps, the most
+awkward thing she could have said; but Lisle&#8217;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d been expecting you both earlier; told you to
+come to dinner,&#8221; said his host.
+</p>
+<p>Then he addressed Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As my mother mentioned, I had once something to
+do with a man called Vernon, in Canada.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Knowing what he did, Lisle fancied that Gladwyne&#8217;s
+indifferent tone had cost him an effort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s only my Christian name, as you have heard,&#8221;
+he explained.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were up in the bush with Nasmyth, were you
+not?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; answered Lisle. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you belong to Victoria?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was located there when I met Nasmyth. Before
+that I was up in the Yukon district for some time.
+Since leaving him I&#8217;ve lived in the city.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He thought Gladwyne was relieved at his answer,
+for the latter smiled genially.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;we must try to make your visit
+to this country pleasant.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>For all that, he was troubled. Living for his own
+pleasure, as he did, he was nevertheless a man who
+valued other people&#8217;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&#8217;s defection,
+which he now regretted. It might not have been
+strictly necessary, but he had reached the trappers&#8217;
+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&#8217;s statement that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+he had made the journey without replenishing his provisions
+could be correct.
+</p>
+<p>His reflections were interrupted by Mrs. Gladwyne,
+who came out, wrapped in a shawl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why are you here alone?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;You
+look disturbed. Has anything gone wrong?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne was sorry that she had joined him where
+the light from a window fell on his face, but he
+smiled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered quietly, for he was always gentle
+with her. &#8220;I only felt that I&#8217;d rather avoid the
+chatter of the others for a few minutes. I suppose
+it was the man&#8217;s name, together with your reference
+to George, that upset me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne laid her hand on his arm. She was
+inordinately fond and proud of the son whom she
+had spoiled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I sometimes think you are too sensitive on that
+point, Clarence,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Of course, it was very
+tragic and we both owe George a great deal, but you
+did all that anybody could have done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man winced, and it was fortunate that they
+had now left the light behind and his mother could
+not see his face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could have stayed and died with him,&#8221; he broke
+out with unaffected bitterness. &#8220;There were times at
+the beginning when I was sorry I let him send me
+away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid that was an undue exaggeration of a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+natural feeling,&#8221; she remonstrated. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The damp stood beaded on the man&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think it would be better to go back to the others
+and drive away these morbid ideas,&#8221; she advised.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s a duty to look at the brightest side of everything.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nasmyth has often spoken about you,&#8221; she told
+him. &#8220;I understand it was chiefly by your help that
+he succeeded in reaching the scene of my brother&#8217;s
+death. I want to thank you for that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was a relief to me that Nasmyth made that
+journey,&#8221; she went on. &#8220;I wanted to learn everything
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+that could be known&mdash;instead of shrinking
+from it. You see, I had a great faith in my brother.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He deserved it,&#8221; Lisle declared warmly. &#8220;I have
+gathered enough to convince me of that!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he replied; &#8220;I think that&#8217;s very true. It&#8217;s
+better to face it and get it over. The wound sooner
+heals.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She smiled rather wistfully and changed the subject.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I told Nasmyth that you taught him to see.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose I did,&#8221; acknowledged Lisle. &#8220;Still, it
+was only as far as it concerned the things that I&#8217;m
+acquainted with. I&#8217;m not sure that my meaning&#8217;s
+very clear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I understand. You knew what to expect; that
+carries one a long way. Were you disappointed in
+finding it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was a little surprised at her keenness, and rather
+confused. This was a question that could not be directly
+answered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I was more particularly referring to was
+the meaning of such things as a broken branch, a gap
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+in a thicket, or a few displaced stones,&#8221; he explained.
+&#8220;I taught him what to infer from those.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I understand that you discovered
+nothing new&mdash;I mean nothing that could throw
+any further light upon what befell my brother after
+the others left him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was glad that he could answer her candidly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She bent her head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; she said quietly, &#8220;is only what one would
+have expected. He left a diary; you must come over
+and see it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to, if it wouldn&#8217;t be painful to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she replied; &#8220;I shall be glad to show it to
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;he had in no way
+amplified Nasmyth&#8217;s story, and she had expected to
+hear a little more of the expedition from him.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX_LISLE_GATHERS_INFORMATION' id='IX_LISLE_GATHERS_INFORMATION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>LISLE GATHERS INFORMATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Nasmyth&#8217;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&#8217;s house was
+old&mdash;it had been built out of the remains of a Border
+pele&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have been here a fortnight and must have
+formed a few opinions about us,&#8221; Nasmyth remarked
+at length. &#8220;You needn&#8217;t be shy about expressing
+them, and I&#8217;ve no doubt there are things you&#8217;d like to
+ask.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As a whole, my opinion&#8217;s highly favorable,&#8221; Lisle
+announced with a smile. &#8220;I&#8217;d be uncommonly hard
+to please if it weren&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s flattering. But I&#8217;m not sure that I meant
+as a whole; I had a few particular instances in my
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+mind. Bella Crestwick, for example; I&#8217;m curious to
+hear what you think of her. She seems quite favorably
+impressed with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s interesting,&#8221; Lisle replied. &#8220;A type that&#8217;s
+new to me; the latest development, isn&#8217;t it? Anyway,
+I like her&mdash;whatever the admission&#8217;s worth&mdash;though
+I must say that I found her rather startling at first.
+She&#8217;s honest, I think, and that counts for a good deal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you&#8217;re not aware that she&#8217;s desirably
+rich?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t. It&#8217;s not a fact of any moment to me.
+Besides, I&#8217;ve a suspicion that it&#8217;s Gladwyne&#8217;s scalp
+she&#8217;s after.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re pretty shrewd. Though I&#8217;ve had much
+greater opportunities for observation, that idea has
+only lately occurred to me. Of course, in a general
+way, I shouldn&#8217;t discuss my acquaintances in this
+casual fashion, but as you are likely to see a good
+deal of us there are things you&#8217;d better know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll explain my point of view,&#8221; said Lisle, refilling
+his pipe. &#8220;You have seen something of the kind
+of life I&#8217;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&#8217;ve lived
+in rend into big cracks because they&#8217;re fresh from
+the mill. I&#8217;m full of interest; everything&#8217;s new to me.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+But so far my curiosity&#8217;s impersonal; I&#8217;m taking no
+hand in anything.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His companion&#8217;s face grew grave.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble is that you may not be able to avoid
+it later. You&#8217;re here, and some part will probably
+be forced on you. However, as I said, I think you&#8217;re
+right about Bella.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But her money would be no great inducement to
+Gladwyne.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s not certain. Clarence has a way of
+squandering money, and you may as well understand
+that there&#8217;s very little to be derived from agricultural
+property. George had his mother&#8217;s money, but he
+left it to Millicent; Clarence got only the land.
+That&#8217;s what made a match between them seem so desirable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Desirable!&#8221; Lisle broke out. &#8220;It&#8217;s impossible!
+Not to be contemplated!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Nasmyth agreed quietly. &#8220;If necessary,
+it will have to be prevented. I was only stating popular
+opinion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If anything must be done, it will fall to you,&#8221;
+Nasmyth went on. &#8220;In this case it would be particularly
+invidious for me to interfere. But, if there had
+been nobody else, I&#8217;d have broken off the match.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle made no comment, but there was comprehension
+and sympathy in his expression, and Nasmyth
+nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he acknowledged; &#8220;it&#8217;s an open secret that
+I would have looked for nothing better than to marry
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+Millicent Gladwyne.&#8221; He paused with a slight flush
+creeping into his bronzed face. &#8220;For all that, I knew
+some years ago that I hadn&#8217;t the faintest chance and
+never would have. I have her confidence and friendship;
+that has to be enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a good deal,&#8221; said Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>There was silence for a minute or two, and then
+Lisle asked a question:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How could a girl like Millicent Gladwyne ever
+contemplate the possibility of marrying Clarence?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s very much
+the sort of thing that would appeal to her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You suggest that she isn&#8217;t strongly attached to
+the man.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I really believe she isn&#8217;t; but, for all that, I&#8217;m
+sometimes afraid she&#8217;ll end by marrying him. It&#8217;s
+very probable that she suspects some of his faults,
+but I&#8217;m not sure they&#8217;d deter her. It would make her
+more compassionate, believing it was her duty to help
+him&mdash;that kind of thing&#8217;s an old delusion. Still, to
+do the fellow justice, he hasn&#8217;t of late shown much
+eagerness to profit by his opportunities.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What led Gladwyne to cultivate Marple and the
+Crestwicks?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;They&#8217;re different from the
+rest of you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t say. It&#8217;s a point I&#8217;ve wondered about,
+though Marple and his rather rowdy friends are prosperous.
+I can better see why they got hold of Clarence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see it,&#8221; responded Lisle. &#8220;Remember I&#8217;m
+an unsophisticated stranger in search of information.
+If they&#8217;ve means enough, can&#8217;t they associate with
+whom they like?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth smiled, but there was a trace of diffidence
+in his manner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a way, you&#8217;re right; but there are limits, more
+particularly in such a place as this. The counties,
+I&#8217;m sometimes thankful, don&#8217;t keep pace with London.
+It&#8217;s a little difficult to explain, but we&#8217;re old-fashioned
+and possibly prejudiced here. Anyhow, we exercise a
+certain amount of caution in the choice of our friends.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Mrs. Gladwyne seems cordial to the people
+you object to, and one would imagine that she&#8217;s the
+embodiment of your best traditions, a worthy representative
+of the old régime.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Gladwyne is a remarkably fine lady, but it&#8217;s
+unfortunate that she&#8217;s a little deaf and&mdash;it must be
+owned&mdash;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&#8217; failings.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s curious that Gladwyne makes so much of that
+young Crestwick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve wondered about it,&#8221; Nasmyth confessed.
+&#8220;The lad&#8217;s vicious&mdash;and I&#8217;ve an idea that the influence
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+Clarence has over him isn&#8217;t beneficial. In fact,
+I&#8217;m sorry for his sister. She has been given her head
+too young, but, in my opinion, the girl&#8217;s the pick of a
+very indifferent bunch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you haven&#8217;t accounted for these people&#8217;s
+desire to be on good terms with Gladwyne.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth hesitated.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well, since you&#8217;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&#8217;t content them, and other doors, which Gladwyne
+can open to them, are shut. After all, he&#8217;s a good
+sportsman, a man of some culture, with a manner
+that&#8217;s likely to impress such people. The lad&#8217;s holding
+on to him and taking his worst aspect for a copy,
+while Clarence seems willing to extend his patronage.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For some consideration?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth looked disturbed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s unpleasant, but I can&#8217;t help feeling that
+you&#8217;re right. One way or another, young Crestwick
+will have to pay his entrance fees.&#8221; He rose and
+stretched himself lazily. &#8220;I&#8217;ll spoil my temper if I
+say any more about it, and as we&#8217;ve had a long day
+I&#8217;m off to bed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+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&mdash;indeed, he thought
+they were less endowed with practically useful knowledge&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid you have spoiled my sport,&#8221; she
+laughed. &#8220;I was after an otter&mdash;though you
+mustn&#8217;t tell Nasmyth that there is one about here.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; acquiesced Lisle. &#8220;But why?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He would consider it his duty to bring up the
+hounds the next meet. Isn&#8217;t it curious how slaughter
+appeals to a man? But Nasmyth isn&#8217;t unreasonable;
+there are reserves in which even the jays he longs to
+shoot have sanctuary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you were looking for an otter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; I wanted its picture, not its life. I&#8217;ve got
+several, but I&#8217;m not satisfied; though I&#8217;ve been lucky
+lately. I got a dabchick&mdash;they&#8217;re growing scarce&mdash;not
+long ago.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll try the next pool, if you&#8217;ll let me come,&#8221;
+suggested Lisle. &#8220;I&#8217;m pretty good at trailing. But
+what do you want with their pictures?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For my book,&#8221; she told him. &#8220;I have to make
+ever so many drawings in color before I get them
+right. If you&#8217;re fond of the wild creatures, I&#8217;ll show
+them to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re good at trailing or they&#8217;d have taken
+fright,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Still, I think I will surprise you,
+if you will wait here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mallard,&#8221; Lisle commented. &#8220;Young birds&mdash;even
+where we seldom disturb them, they&#8217;re shy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She slipped away through the alders and he noticed
+how little noise she made, though the lower branches
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>He afterward recollected each adjunct of the scene&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
+up-stream with necks stretched out, and she came back
+toward him, laughing softly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sometimes they will come almost up to my feet;
+but I&#8217;m afraid it&#8217;s hardly fair to inspire them with an
+undue confidence in human nature. It might cost
+them dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re wonderful!&#8221; Lisle exclaimed, expressing
+what he felt, for she seemed to him endowed with every
+gracious quality.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she smiled, &#8220;there&#8217;s nothing really remarkable
+in what I showed you. I happened to find the
+nest and by slow degrees disarmed the mother bird&#8217;s
+suspicions; mallard have been domesticated, you know,
+though they&#8217;re often hard to get very near. But
+we may as well turn back; it&#8217;s now too late to see an
+otter. I&#8217;m inclined to think they&#8217;re the shyest of all
+the British wild creatures.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They moved away down-stream side by side, and
+some time later she left him where a stile-path crossed
+a meadow.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come and see my drawings whenever you like,&#8221;
+she said on parting.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;that was the only word
+for it.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X_BELLA_S_CHAMPION' id='X_BELLA_S_CHAMPION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>BELLA&#8217;S CHAMPION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was early in the afternoon when Lisle arrived
+at Millicent&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad you came, though, as you&#8217;re used to the
+life of the woods and rivers, I&#8217;m a little diffident about
+showing you my sketches,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;ve
+kept you waiting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle smiled and she liked the candidly humorous
+gleam in his eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nasmyth warned me that I was early&mdash;or rather
+he said that if I were going to visit anybody else I
+would have been too soon. I&#8217;d better confess, however,
+that I&#8217;ve been making a good use of the time.
+Things of this kind&#8221;&mdash;he indicated the statuettes&mdash;&#8220;are
+almost new to me. They strike me as unusually
+fine.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she answered, realizing that he had an artistic
+eye, &#8220;they are beautiful&mdash;and one sees so many
+that are not. George brought them from Italy for
+me. This&#8221;&mdash;she moved toward a representation in
+ivory of a Mogul gateway&mdash;&#8220;is of course a different
+style, but it&#8217;s remarkable in its patient elaboration of
+detail. The mosque&#8217;s not so fine. Nasmyth sent me
+the pair from India; he once made a trip to the fringe
+of the Himalayas.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle examined the object carefully, and she waited
+with some interest for his comment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s wonderful,&#8221; he declared. &#8220;I suppose it&#8217;s a
+truthful copy?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m inclined to think the man who carved that had
+not the gift of imagination. He merely reproduced
+faithfully what he saw.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Different peoples have strikingly different ways,
+haven&#8217;t they?&#8221; commented Lisle. &#8220;While they were
+making that small Eastern arch, we&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should imagine it. What then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He studied the carved ivory.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a dry climate the original of this would last
+for centuries&mdash;it has lasted since the days of the
+Moguls&mdash;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&#8217;t call them pretty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was pleased with his answer.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think that gets the strongest hold on me,&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+went on, glancing toward the picture of the moor;
+&#8220;it&#8217;s real!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a hint of diffidence in Millicent&#8217;s expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you can hardly judge, can you? You have
+scarcely seen the English moors.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;s all
+in that picture; how expressed, I don&#8217;t know&mdash;there
+are only the grades of color, scarcely a line to gage
+the distance by. Still, the sense of space is vivid.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent blushed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re an indulgent critic; that drawing is my
+own.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After what you have said,&#8221; she resumed, &#8220;I&#8217;ll
+show you the other things with greater confidence.
+Do you know, I thought all you Western people were
+grimly utilitarian?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he reasoned, &#8220;in my opinion, the white
+man&#8217;s greatest superiority over all other peoples is his
+capacity for making useful things&mdash;even if they&#8217;re
+only ugly sawmills or grimy locomotives. Philosophy
+never fed any one or lightened anybody&#8217;s toil; commerce
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you been building sawmills?&#8221; Millicent
+asked mischievously.
+</p>
+<p>He laughed with open good-humor. &#8220;Oh, no;
+that&#8217;s why I&#8217;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&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps you&#8217;re right,&#8221; Millicent agreed, &#8220;but it
+sounds severe. What of the people who never do
+anything directly useful at all?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you believe that everybody must practically
+justify his existence?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;An otter; it&#8217;s alive,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;You&#8217;ve
+shown it working through a shallow, looking much
+less like an animal than a fish&mdash;that&#8217;s right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I made half a dozen sketches, and I&#8217;m not satisfied
+yet.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Thorough,&#8221; he commented. &#8220;You get there, if
+you have to hammer the heart out of whatever you&#8217;re
+up against.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my brother&#8217;s book,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;I&#8217;m finishing
+it for him. He did other things&mdash;most of
+them useful, indirectly. I&#8217;ve only this&mdash;and I&#8217;d
+like my part to be good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He nodded sympathetically, looking troubled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can understand,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I had a partner&mdash;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&#8217;re great.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s rather a big dog for the house, but I can&#8217;t
+keep him away from me,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I know where you got power to draw these
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+lesser brethren,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Study alone would never
+have given it to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She let this pass. He was almost embarrassing in
+his directness, though she acquitted him of any crude
+intention of flattering her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promised to let you read my brother&#8217;s diary,&#8221;
+she reminded him. &#8220;If you will wait a few moments,
+I&#8217;ll get it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; he said, when she gave it to him;
+and drawing his chair nearer the window he began to
+read.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the greatest story I&#8217;ve ever read,&#8221; he declared.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know that you have granted me a very great
+privilege, and I&#8217;m grateful,&#8221; he told her, and added,
+because he thought a partial change of the subject
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+might be considerate: &#8220;In a way, it&#8217;s hard to realize
+that tale in this restful place. It&#8217;s easier out yonder,
+where what you could call the general tone is different.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nasmyth once said something like that,&#8221; Millicent
+replied. &#8220;I suppose the change is marked.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here you have order, peace, security. In the
+wilds, it&#8217;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&#8217;s not exempt either; a small blunder&mdash;a
+deer missed or a flour bag lost&mdash;may cost him
+his life. For the difference you have to thank the
+constructor, the maker of plows and spades and more
+complex machines.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s one of your pet hobbies, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He once more changed the subject.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish that I could show you the wilderness,&#8221; he
+said.
+</p>
+<p>Millicent looked thoughtful.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should like to see it. I&#8217;ve an idea that if this
+book is well received I might, perhaps, try something
+a little more ambitious&mdash;the larger beasts and wilder
+birds of other countries. In that case, I should choose
+British Columbia.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you will let me be your guide?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She made a conditional promise, and shortly afterward
+he left her. Meeting Nasmyth he walked with
+him toward Gladwyne&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is this?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;It&#8217;s a very short
+range.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miniature rifle shooting,&#8221; she informed him.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s becoming popular. Gladwyne has been trying
+to form a club. My brother Jim is president of some
+league. He&#8217;s rather keen and there are reasons why
+I&#8217;m glad of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one thing I don&#8217;t like,&#8221; she complained.
+&#8220;They will shoot for high stakes. Jim isn&#8217;t a bad
+shot, but he&#8217;s too eager. I&#8217;m afraid he&#8217;s inclined to
+be venturesome just now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want me to do?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>She made a sign of impatience; he was too direct.
+&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she pouted, &#8220;aren&#8217;t you taking a good deal for
+granted? Still, you bushmen can shoot, can&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As a rule,&#8221; Lisle answered. &#8220;I almost think I
+see.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; she retorted, &#8220;you shouldn&#8217;t have said so;
+you should merely have smiled and acted.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m from the wilds; you mustn&#8217;t expect too much.
+Well, if you&#8217;ll excuse me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;High to the left,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;You&#8217;re not in
+good form, Jim. Hadn&#8217;t you better give up?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s hearing
+mentioned what it was.
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick&#8217;s face was hot as he answered his remark.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not at all, Batley. The trouble is that I&#8217;m used
+to the Roberts target, and the spots on the card are
+puzzling after the rings. I&#8217;ll get into it presently.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; acquiesced the other. &#8220;As you didn&#8217;t
+fix a time limit, we&#8217;ll go on again, though it&#8217;s getting
+tame and I want some tea.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll increase the interest again, if you like,&#8221; the
+lad replied.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle joined the group.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s it all about?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Batley&#8217;s a pretty good rifle shot, but if he won&#8217;t
+mind my saying so he&#8217;s a little opinionated,&#8221; Gladwyne
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span>
+explained. &#8220;Crestwick questioned an idea of
+his, and the end of it was that Batley offered to prove
+his point&mdash;that a stiff pull-off is as good as a light
+one in practised hands&mdash;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&#8217;s has an unusually
+hard spring.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle considered. Remembering Bella&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Crestwick doubled several times; he&#8217;s stubborn and
+doesn&#8217;t like to be beaten,&#8221; Gladwyne resumed. &#8220;I
+had the same ideas when I was as young as he is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve offered to let him off,&#8221; Batley broke in. &#8220;I&#8217;d
+do so now only he&#8217;s kept me shooting for the last half-hour.
+As Gladwyne says, he&#8217;s obstinate, and it&#8217;s a
+pity that he&#8217;s wrong. If he&#8217;d trained his wrist-tendons
+by using a harder trigger, he&#8217;d have made a passably
+good shot.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle was aware that while there was something to
+be said for Batley&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he observed, addressing Batley, &#8220;you have
+the courage of your convictions if you have offered to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+maintain them against all comers, which I understand
+is what you have done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man nodded carelessly and Lisle went on:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all, since I dare say these gentlemen are
+more used to the shotgun, your superiority doesn&#8217;t
+prove very much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick looked around at him quickly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Most of you Colonials can use the rifle; do you
+feel inclined to take him on? You&#8217;re a dark horse,
+but I&#8217;ll double the stakes if he&#8217;ll throw you in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was what Lisle wanted, but he turned to the
+others.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had a small rifle in my hands&mdash;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&#8217;ll put up half the stakes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;the
+light pull was new to him&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+spectators hinted that something out of the usual
+course was going on.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wipe it out for me, somebody,&#8221; he said, holding
+up the rifle.
+</p>
+<p>Bella seized it and deftly used the rod, regardless
+of soiled fingers.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May it bring you luck,&#8221; she wished, with a defiant
+glance at Batley, who smiled at her as she returned the
+weapon.
+</p>
+<p>Then there was a hush of expectancy. Lisle took
+his time; a sharp crack, a streak of smoke, and Gladwyne
+raising his glasses, laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;High!&#8221; he called. &#8220;Top spot!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was a three of hearts, and Gladwyne&#8217;s smile lingered
+for a moment after Lisle fired again.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bottom now; you&#8217;re low!&#8221; he cried, and then his
+expression slightly changed. Both spots were drilled
+out&mdash;this did not look altogether like an accident.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Center!&#8221; he announced after another shot, and all
+the faces surrounding him became intent. The three
+hearts were neatly punched.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A fresh card!&#8221; exclaimed Crestwick, looking
+around at Batley with an exultant sparkle in his eyes.
+&#8220;You offered to let me off. Shall I return the compliment?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man laughed carelessly, though Lisle thought
+it cost him an effort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he retorted; &#8220;I can&#8217;t show myself less of a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+sportsman than you are; but I think I&#8217;ve the option
+of demanding a longer range. Move the mat back
+twenty-five yards and put up an ace of spades; it&#8217;s
+the plainest. Three shots each should suffice at the
+distance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>Then there was a sharp crack, and he smiled when
+he heard Gladwyne&#8217;s report.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see it. These are only opera-glasses.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne had turned away when Lisle got up, but
+Batley concealed his feelings very well.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Excellent!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;As I can&#8217;t beat that,
+the only thing left me is to pay up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle turned to Crestwick, who looked hot and excited.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You made the bet,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Will you use my
+half in buying a competition cup for one of your
+clubs?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He saw Batley&#8217;s smile and a somewhat curious look
+in Gladwyne&#8217;s face, but the group broke up and he
+strolled back across the lawn with Bella.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m grateful,&#8221; she said softly. &#8220;I was a little
+afraid at first that I was asking too much of you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle met her glance with a good assumption of surprise.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Grateful? Because I indulged in a rather enjoyable
+match?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You learn rapidly. But I&#8217;d better say in excuse
+that I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d involved you in a very serious
+risk. He hasn&#8217;t your eyes and hands&mdash;one couldn&#8217;t
+expect it. You don&#8217;t need pick-me-ups in the morning,
+do you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle was slightly embarrassed. This girl&#8217;s knowledge
+of life was too extensive, and he would have
+preferred that she should exhibit it to somebody else.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she concluded as they approached the tea-table,
+&#8220;my thanks are yours, even if you don&#8217;t value
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you expect me to say?&#8221; he asked, regarding
+her with some amusement and appreciation.
+She was alluringly pretty in her rather elaborate light
+dress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she smiled mockingly, disregarding his question;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+&#8220;these things become me better than the tweeds,
+don&#8217;t they? They make one look nice and soft and
+fluffy; but that&#8217;s deceptive. You see, I can scratch;
+in fact, I felt I could have scratched Batley badly if
+I&#8217;d got the chance. There&#8217;s another hint for you&mdash;make
+what you like of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then with a laugh she swung round and left him,
+puzzled.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI_CRESTWICK_GIVES_TROUBLE' id='XI_CRESTWICK_GIVES_TROUBLE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>CRESTWICK GIVES TROUBLE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The little room in Marple&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s getting late,&#8221; he said with a yawn. &#8220;After
+this hand, I&#8217;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&#8217;re going
+with them, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
+a shooting party at a house in the neighborhood and
+was to spend the night there.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; he exclaimed with some irritation; &#8220;Bella&#8217;s
+always in such an unreasonable hurry. The others
+can&#8217;t be going yet. I think I hear Flo Marple singing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll take half an hour to get ready,&#8221; declared
+Batley. &#8220;Better play out this round, anyhow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They laid down their cards in turn and then Crestwick
+noisily thrust his chair back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Another knock-out!&#8221; he exclaimed savagely. &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t like to get up so far behind. Shall we double
+on another deal?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As you like,&#8221; returned Batley. &#8220;You&#8217;re plucky,
+considering the cards you&#8217;ve had; but if Fortune&#8217;s
+fickle, she&#8217;s supposed to favor a determined suitor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s, and he did not find him in the least attractive;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+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&#8217;s presence in the card-room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going, anyway,&#8221; he said, taking out some
+notes and gold and laying them down. &#8220;There has
+been a smart shower and you had better remember
+that Miss Leslie walked over&mdash;the roads will be wet.
+As you know, I promised to take the girls back in
+Nasmyth&#8217;s trap, and he won&#8217;t thank me if I keep his
+groom up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick grumbled and hesitated, and he grew
+rather red in face as he turned to Batley.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve only these two notes,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Expected
+all along I&#8217;d pull up even. Will you arrange
+things? See you about it when I come back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley nodded carelessly, and the lad stood up, looking
+irresolutely at the table.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fact is,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;I&#8217;d like to get straight
+before I go. I&#8217;m in pretty heavy for one night; another
+round might do something to set me straight.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gladwyne and I are quite willing to give you
+your chance,&#8221; was Batley&#8217;s quick reply; but Lisle unceremoniously
+laid his hand on Crestwick&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along,&#8221; he urged, laughing. &#8220;Luck&#8217;s
+against you; you&#8217;ve had quite enough.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He had the lad out of the door in another moment,
+and looking back from the landing he saw a curious
+look in Gladwyne&#8217;s face which he thought was one of
+disgust. Batley, however, was frowning openly; and
+the two men&#8217;s expressions had a meaning for him. He
+was inclined to wonder whether he had used force
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+too ostensibly in ejecting the lad; but, after all, that
+did not very much matter&mdash;his excuse was good
+enough. As they went down the stairs, Crestwick
+turned to him, hot and angry.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It strikes me you&#8217;re pretty officious! Never saw
+you until two or three weeks ago,&#8221; he muttered.
+&#8220;Not accustomed to being treated in that offhand manner.
+It&#8217;s Colonial, I suppose!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry,&#8221; Lisle apologized with a smile. &#8220;I&#8217;ve an
+idea that you&#8217;ll be grateful when you cool off. You&#8217;ve
+been going it pretty strong to-night.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s true,&#8221; agreed the other with a show of
+pride. &#8220;Kept on raising them; made things lively!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Found it expensive, didn&#8217;t you?&#8221; Lisle suggested;
+and as they reached the foot of the stairs he led his
+companion toward the door. &#8220;Suppose we take a turn
+along the terrace before we look for your sister.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick went with him, but presently he stopped
+and leaned on the low wall.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you ever feel inclined for a flutter on the
+stock-market?&#8221; he inquired. &#8220;There&#8217;s a thing Batley
+put me on to&mdash;there&#8217;ll be developments in a month
+or two; it&#8217;s going to a big premium. Let you have a
+hundred shares at par. Rather in a hole, temporarily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he said; &#8220;a deal of that kind is out
+of my line. Why not sell them through a broker and
+get your full profit?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would take some days,&#8221; answered the other.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+&#8220;Besides, they won&#8217;t move up until the directors let
+things out at the next meeting. Something of that
+kind, anyway; I forget&mdash;Batley explained it.&#8221; He
+paused and added irritably: &#8220;Believe I told you I&#8217;m
+in a hole.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must meet your losses and don&#8217;t know how to
+manage it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle was curious and had no diffidence about putting
+the question, though the lad was obviously off his
+guard.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can raise the money right enough&mdash;Batley&#8217;ll
+see to that; but I&#8217;d sooner do it another way. The interest&#8217;s
+high enough to make one think, and in this
+case I&#8217;m paying it on money he&#8217;s putting into his
+pocket.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a good deal to be inferred from this reply,
+but Lisle considered before he spoke again.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re twenty-one, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; assented the lad, &#8220;but the trustees keep hold
+until I&#8217;m twenty-four.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He turned with quick suspicion to the Canadian.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see what that has to do with you!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t very obvious,&#8221; Lisle agreed. &#8220;Shall we
+go in?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They found Bella in the hall, and when her brother
+went to get-his coat she walked out on to the terrace
+with Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she said gratefully when they were
+out of sight from the hall. &#8220;It was a relief to see
+you had succeeded in getting him away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry I was unable to do so sooner,&#8221; Lisle replied.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! Then he has been losing heavily again?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid so. I couldn&#8217;t make my interference
+too marked.&#8221; Obeying some impulse, he laid his hand
+on her arm. &#8220;Rather a handful for you, isn&#8217;t he?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella nodded, making no attempt to shake off his
+grasp.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she acknowledged with some bitterness;
+&#8220;but I can hardly complain that I have no control
+over him. It would be astonishing if I had.&#8221; She
+broke into a little harsh laugh. &#8220;Anyway, I manage
+to keep my head, and do not deceive myself, as he
+does. I know what our welcome&#8217;s worth and what the
+few people whose opinion counts for anything think
+of us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; offered Lisle, &#8220;if I can be of service in any
+respect&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; she interrupted, and turned back toward
+the door.
+</p>
+<p>When they reached the hall she glanced at her companion
+as the light fell on his face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your offer&#8217;s genuine,&#8221; she said impulsively. &#8220;I
+can&#8217;t see what you expect in return.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he replied gravely, &#8220;nor do I.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She left him with a laugh; and a little later he drove
+her and her companions away and afterward returned
+to Nasmyth&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span>
+eating their lunch on a bank of gravel, that either of
+them made any allusion to the previous evening.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you enjoy yourself last night?&#8221; Nasmyth
+asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fairly,&#8221; Lisle responded, smiling. &#8220;I&#8217;ve already
+confessed that you people interest me. At the same
+time, I had my difficulties&mdash;first of all to explain to
+the Marples why you didn&#8217;t come. The reasons you
+gave didn&#8217;t sound convincing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They were good enough. It&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t look at things in that way in the parts of
+Canada I&#8217;m acquainted with,&#8221; laughed Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;ve no doubt you&#8217;ll come to it,&#8221; Nasmyth
+replied with some dryness. &#8220;They&#8217;ve done so already
+in the older cities. Now&mdash;since you&#8217;re fond of candor&mdash;you
+have been glad to earn a dollar or two a day
+by chopping and shoveling, haven&#8217;t you? Have you
+felt left out in the cold at all during the little while you
+have spent among us?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least,&#8221; Lisle owned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;t said anything about
+the proceedings at Marple&#8217;s. I suppose you were invited
+to take a hand at cards?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;t the worst cards.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth laughed with unconcealed enjoyment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The only fault I have to find with you Westerners
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+is that you&#8217;re rather apt to overrate yourselves. I
+suppose they let young Crestwick in a good deal
+deeper?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; laughed Lisle, &#8220;is what you have been leading
+up to from the beginning.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll admit it. As I&#8217;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&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle did so, omitting any reference to Bella, and
+Nasmyth looked disturbed and disgusted.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Crestwick&#8217;s as devoid of sense as he is of manners;
+he deserves to lose. What I can&#8217;t get over is that
+fellow Batley&#8217;s staying in what was once George Gladwyne&#8217;s
+house, with Clarence standing sponsor for
+him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s kind and
+assist him in fleecing a silly vicious lad.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have no reason to think well of Gladwyne,&#8221;
+Lisle reminded him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t,&#8221; Nasmyth owned. &#8220;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&#8217;ll probably be forced to.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t quite understand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;ll have to explain. It&#8217;s unpleasant, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+here the thing is, as I see it&mdash;Batley&#8217;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&#8217;s game with Crestwick. Considering
+that he&#8217;s apparently making no protest against it,
+this is proof to me that Batley has some pretty firm hold
+on him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s Batley&#8217;s profession?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suspect he&#8217;s something in the smart money-lending
+line; one of the fellows who deal with minors and
+others on post-obits.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Post-obits?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Promises to pay after somebody&#8217;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&#8217;s twenty-four. It&#8217;s
+a somewhat similar case to the one I&#8217;ve instanced&mdash;he&#8217;s
+drawing on a capital he can&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But if the boy died before he succeeded to the
+property?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Batley could cover the risk by making Crestwick
+take out an insurance policy in his favor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;s face grew stern, and Nasmyth lay smoking in
+silence for a while. Then he broke out again:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s intolerable! George Gladwyne&#8217;s successor
+abetting that fellow in robbing the lad, luring him into
+wagers and reckless play with the result that most of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+the borrowed money goes straight back into the hands
+of the man who lent it!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you any suspicion that Gladwyne gets a
+share?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Nasmyth, with signs of strong uneasiness;
+&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe he benefits in that manner&mdash;if
+he did, I&#8217;d feel it my duty to denounce him. Still,
+I expect he wins a little now and then, incidentally.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Again there was silence for a while, broken finally
+by Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I&#8217;d been here a week or two I began to see
+that my task wasn&#8217;t quite so simple as it had appeared&mdash;you
+can&#8217;t attack a man situated as Gladwyne is
+without hurting innocent people. Indeed, I&#8217;ve spent
+hours wondering how, when the time comes, I can clear
+Vernon&#8217;s memory, with the least possible damage&mdash;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&#8217;s doing now&mdash;helping to ruin that lad in cold-blood&mdash;is
+almost worse than the other offense.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made an acquiescent gesture.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s true; let it go at that. I don&#8217;t see how the
+thing can be stopped. There&#8217;s a fish rising in the
+slack yonder!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s mind.
+</p>
+<p>After a few minutes&#8217; keen excitement, they landed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s scourge.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_APPEAL' id='XII_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_APPEAL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>MRS. GLADWYNE&#8217;S APPEAL</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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&#8217;s mother did not pay many
+visits and Millicent fancied she had some particular object
+in coming.
+</p>
+<p>She sat down where the sunlight fell on her gentle
+face and silvery hair, her delicate white hands spread
+out on her dark dress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Busy, as usual, my dear,&#8221; she said, glancing at
+the sketch. &#8220;That&#8217;s very pretty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s correct,&#8221; returned Millicent; &#8220;but I&#8217;m
+not sure it&#8217;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&#8217;s hard to make the creature out.
+Of course, I could have drawn it against a background
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+that would have forced up every line, but that wouldn&#8217;t
+have been right&mdash;these wild things were made to fade
+into their surroundings.&#8221; She laughed. &#8220;Truth is
+rigid and uncompromising&mdash;it&#8217;s difficult to make it
+subservient to expediency.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her visitor did not feel inclined to discuss the matter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re too fastidious,&#8221; she smiled, and added with
+a sigh: &#8220;George was like that. Little things keep
+cropping up every day to show it&mdash;I mean in connection
+with his care of the property. I&#8217;m sometimes
+afraid that Clarence is different.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent could not deny this, but she did not see
+his mother&#8217;s purpose in confessing it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; she answered, as she rang for tea,
+&#8220;he hasn&#8217;t been in charge very long. One can learn
+only by experience.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne looked grateful; but although she
+was very tranquil there was something in her manner
+that hinted at uncertainty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will finish the book and these pictures some
+day,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What will you do then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I really don&#8217;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&mdash;village
+matters alone would find me some occupation.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The elder lady considered this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she agreed with diffidence. &#8220;I&#8217;m now and
+then afraid everything&#8217;s not quite so satisfactory as it
+used to be. The cottages don&#8217;t look so pretty or well
+cared for, the people are not so content&mdash;some of
+them are even inclined to be bitter and resentful. Of
+course, things change, our relations with our dependents
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s or banker&#8217;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&#8217;s tenants stopped and exchanged
+a cheery greeting or a jest with him; most of
+Gladwyne&#8217;s looked grim when he or his friends, the
+Marples, passed.
+</p>
+<p>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 régime.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How quick your people are,&#8221; she commented.
+&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent grew serious. It looked as if her companion
+were coming to the point, and this became
+plainer when Mrs. Gladwyne proceeded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think the life you contemplate&mdash;writing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+books on birds and animals&mdash;is the best or most natural
+one for a woman?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A little color crept into the girl&#8217;s face.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; perhaps it isn&#8217;t. It is the one that
+seems open to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The only one, my dear? You must know what I
+mean.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent turned and faced her. She was disturbed,
+but she seldom avoided a plain issue.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it would be better if you told
+me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s difficult.&#8221; Mrs. Gladwyne hesitated. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For which of us?&#8221; Millicent&#8217;s tone was sharp.
+She sympathized with Mrs. Gladwyne, but something
+was due to herself.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was Clarence that I was thinking of,&#8221; admitted
+her visitor. &#8220;I suppose that I am selfish; but I am
+his mother.&#8221; She laid down her cup and looked at
+the girl with pleading eyes. &#8220;I must go on, though
+I don&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was true, but it was incomplete, and Millicent
+let her finish.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been a little anxious, perhaps foolishly so,
+about him now and then. I cannot approve of all his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span>
+friends&mdash;sometimes they jar on me&mdash;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.&#8221;
+She smiled at Millicent. &#8220;One could trust
+implicitly to yours.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is one difficulty,&#8221; she answered while the
+blood crept into her face. &#8220;I&#8217;ll own that I recognized
+what your ideas and George&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne gathered her courage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent started slightly; there was some truth in
+this statement. Mrs. Gladwyne, however, was not wise
+enough to stop.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think that is why there is some risk of his falling
+into bad hands&mdash;that Crestwick girl isn&#8217;t diffident,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+she went on. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent&#8217;s cheeks burned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you wish me to compete openly for Clarence&#8217;s
+favor with Bella Crestwick?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne spread out her hands in protest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I have said the
+wrong thing. I warned you that you might have to
+forgive me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the thought must have been in your mind!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only meant that you needn&#8217;t repel or avoid him,
+as you have done of late.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can venture to promise that I won&#8217;t be openly
+rude,&#8221; Millicent agreed with a faint smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t you go a little beyond that, my dear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl, seeing the look in her eyes, yielded to an
+impulse which prompted her to candor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What there is to be said had better be spoken
+now,&#8221; she replied. &#8220;I have confessed that I knew
+what was expected&mdash;Clarence showed that he knew it,
+too&mdash;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&#8217;t explain,
+but we have drifted apart. I don&#8217;t know
+whether this will go on&mdash;I don&#8217;t understand myself&mdash;I
+only know that I am as anxious for his welfare as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+I always have been. It must be left to him; there is
+nothing you must urge me to do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne looked regretful, but she made a
+sign of acquiescence and rising came toward the girl
+and took her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I could do I have done&mdash;badly perhaps,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t blame you. I am only sorry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;which
+was the best word for it&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We got a few good white trout, fresh run,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;It occurred to me that you might like one or
+two of them.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></p>
+<p>He glanced at the long French window.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I come in this way?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Charmed!&#8221; he smiled. &#8220;That&#8217;s easy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would you rather have it hard?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That wasn&#8217;t the idea,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I only felt
+that a much greater difficulty wouldn&#8217;t stop my getting
+in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If one of my neighbors made such speeches, they&#8217;d
+sound cheap. From you they&#8217;re amusing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He affected to consider this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose the difference is that I mean them.
+Anyway, I&#8217;ll walk around.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She gave him some tea when he came in, and afterward
+admired the fish.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re well above the average weight,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had two or three that would beat them,&#8221; Lisle
+declared. &#8220;Miss Crestwick came along and corralled
+the finest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was the explanation essential?&#8221; Millicent inquired
+with a smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was a bad break of mine. So bad that I
+won&#8217;t try to explain it away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you are wise,&#8221; Millicent retorted with a
+trace of dryness.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+seemed the more serious offense. The girl was insatiable
+and going too far, Millicent thought.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle noticed her silence.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Remember that I&#8217;m from the wilds,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>She smiled at him reassuringly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all, that isn&#8217;t a great drawback. Anyway,
+I&#8217;m grateful for the trout.&#8221; Then, somewhat to his
+surprise, she abruptly changed the subject. &#8220;I wonder
+what you think of a tacit promise?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His face grew thoughtful; she liked his quick change
+to seriousness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t know that my opinion&#8217;s of much
+value, but you may have it. Supposing two people
+allow each other to assume that they&#8217;re agreed upon
+the same thing, it&#8217;s binding upon both of them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But if only one actually made his wishes clear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In that case, the other had the option of showing
+that they couldn&#8217;t be acceded to. Failing that, in
+my view, he can&#8217;t go back on it.&#8221; Then his eyes
+gleamed with amusement. &#8220;I don&#8217;t often set up as a
+philosopher.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s visit.
+Why she should be interested in this man&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have seen a good deal of Miss Crestwick,
+one way or another.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He considered this gravely.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he replied. &#8220;I like her. For one thing,
+she&#8217;s genuinely concerned about that brother of hers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of him?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not much,&#8221; Lisle answered candidly. &#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;s obvious that she&#8217;s
+wasting her time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it wasting time?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It strikes me like that. A man of that sort is
+bound to come down badly some day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;so this man
+from the wilds considered&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m not very amusing to-day,&#8221; she acknowledged.
+</p>
+<p>He smiled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll go the moment you want to get rid of me; but,
+even if you don&#8217;t say anything, I like sitting here.
+This place rests me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t have imagined you to be of a very
+restful nature.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; he declared, &#8220;there&#8217;s a kind of quietness that
+braces you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are lakes in British Columbia from which
+you can look straight up at the never-melting snows,&#8221;
+he went on. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; Millicent inquired.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, after the day&#8217;s labor, a man must do his
+own domestic work?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; answered Lisle. &#8220;Now and then one
+comes back to camp too wet or played out to worry,
+and goes to sleep without getting supper. I&#8217;m speaking
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+of when you&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And if you can neither chop nor saw nor cook?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; Lisle informed her dryly, &#8220;you have to
+pull out pretty quick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It sounds severe; that&#8217;s cooperation in its grimmest
+aspect, though it&#8217;s quite logical&mdash;everybody
+must do his part. I&#8217;m afraid I shouldn&#8217;t be justified
+if we adopted it here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Cooperation implies a division of tasks,&#8221; Lisle
+pointed out. &#8220;In a country like this, they&#8217;re many
+and varied. So long as you draw the wild things as
+you do, you&#8217;ll discharge your debt.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know that that&#8217;s the kind of work the community
+generally pays one very little for?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then it shows its wrong-headedness,&#8221; Lisle answered
+as he glanced meaningly round the room. &#8220;But
+haven&#8217;t you got part of your fee already? Of course,
+that&#8217;s impertinent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe we would shrink from saying it, but it&#8217;s
+quite correct,&#8221; Millicent replied. &#8220;Still, since you
+have mentioned the drawings, I&#8217;d like your opinion
+about this ouzel.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She took up the sketch and explained the difficulty,
+as she had done to Mrs. Gladwyne.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s right; don&#8217;t alter it,&#8221; advised Lisle. &#8220;It&#8217;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.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span></p>
+<p>He laughed and rose somewhat reluctantly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After that, I&#8217;d better get along. I have to thank
+you for allowing me to come in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII_A_FUTILE_PROTEST' id='XIII_A_FUTILE_PROTEST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+<h3>A FUTILE PROTEST</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; declared Gladwyne with a show of firmness;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+&#8220;the line must be drawn. I&#8217;ve already gone farther
+than I should have done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry for you, Gladwyne&mdash;you don&#8217;t seem
+to realize that a man can&#8217;t very well play two widely
+different parts at once,&#8221; Batley rejoined, smiling.
+&#8220;Your interfering Canadian friend would describe your
+attitude as sitting upon the fence. It&#8217;s an uncomfortable
+position, one that&#8217;s not often tenable for any
+length of time. Hadn&#8217;t you better make up your mind
+as to which side you&#8217;ll get down on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are going wide of the mark,&#8221; he answered.
+&#8220;What I have asked you to do is to let the lad alone.
+The thing&#8217;s exciting comment. You&#8221;&mdash;he hesitated&mdash;&#8220;have
+made enough out of him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; replied the other coolly, &#8220;I was very
+much to the point. If you don&#8217;t recognize this, I&#8217;ll
+ask: Suppose I don&#8217;t fall in with your request, what
+then?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne examined his cigar. It was not in his nature
+to face an issue boldly, and his companion seemed
+determined to force one.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve asked it as a favor,&#8221; he finally said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; corrected Batley; &#8220;I don&#8217;t think you did so.
+You intimated your wishes in a rather lordly style.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was true, but Gladwyne winced at the man&#8217;s
+cold smile. He had, in a fit of indignation which was
+both honest and commendable, expressed himself with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Besides,&#8221; Batley continued, &#8220;I&#8217;m not in a position
+to grant expensive favors. My acquaintance with
+young Crestwick is, of course, profitable. What&#8217;s
+more, I&#8217;ve very liberally offered you a share.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re taking risks,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;There&#8217;s
+legislation on the subject of minors&#8217; debts; Crestwick
+began to deal with you before he was twenty-one, and
+he&#8217;s still in his trustees&#8217; hands. If he made trouble,
+I&#8217;m inclined to think some of your transactions would
+look very much like conspiracy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know my man. You people would suffer a good
+deal, sooner than advertise yourselves through the law
+courts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Crestwick isn&#8217;t one of us,&#8221; Gladwyne objected.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, as he aspires to be considered one, he&#8217;ll go
+even farther than you would. None are so keen for
+the honor of the flock as those who don&#8217;t strictly belong
+to the fold. There&#8217;s another point you overlook&mdash;a
+person can&#8217;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&#8217;s safe, and she&#8217;s a
+prepossessing young lady.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></p>
+<p>Gladwyne straightened himself sharply in his chair.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t go too far! There are things I won&#8217;t stand!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we&#8217;ll try to avoid them. All I require is
+that you still give the lad the entry of this house and
+don&#8217;t interfere with me. You see I&#8217;m reasonable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a pity you were not quite straight with me at
+the beginning, Gladwyne; it would have saved you
+trouble,&#8221; he remarked at length. &#8220;I took a sporting
+risk at pretty long odds&mdash;I have to do so now and
+then and I pay up when I lose. But if I&#8217;d known the
+money was to go to Miss Gladwyne and you would only
+get the land, I&#8217;d never have kept you supplied; and
+in particular I wouldn&#8217;t have made the last big loan
+shortly before you and your cousin sailed for Canada.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You knew it was a blind speculation&mdash;that I ran
+the same risk as George did, and that he might outlive
+me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re wrong on one point,&#8221; Batley objected
+dryly. &#8220;I&#8217;m acquainted with your temperament&mdash;it&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve explained that I couldn&#8217;t foresee the trouble
+I have in meeting expenses. I&#8217;ve paid you an extortionate
+interest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s in arrears,&#8221; retorted Batley. &#8220;You
+should have pinched and denied yourself to the utmost
+until you had got rid of me. You couldn&#8217;t bring yourself
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+to do so&mdash;well, it&#8217;s rather a pity one can&#8217;t have
+everything.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s something to be the owner of such a place
+and enjoy all that it implies&mdash;which includes your
+acknowledged status and your neighbors&#8217; 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&#8217;s death.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne made a little abrupt movement and Batley
+saw that his shot had told.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be enough to place you under a cloud,&#8221;
+he went on. &#8220;People might think that you had at
+least not been very reluctant to leave him to starve.
+Well, I&#8217;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&#8217;s needful, I&#8217;ll see you through on reasonable terms
+until you marry Miss Crestwick or somebody else with
+money.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;As you will,&#8221; he answered, rising. &#8220;It&#8217;s late;
+I&#8217;m going for my candle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He strode out of the room, and Batley smiled as he
+followed him.
+</p>
+<p>A day or two later Lisle stood on Gladwyne&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>The stage was an attractive one to a man who had
+spent much of his time in the wilderness&mdash;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+Over all there throbbed the low, persistent
+murmur of a stream.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They seem amused,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was probably at one of Miss Crestwick&#8217;s remarks;
+she&#8217;s undoubtedly original,&#8221; returned Millicent.
+&#8220;Still, I think it was chiefly Mr. Marple&#8217;s laugh you
+heard.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His voice had been most in evidence&mdash;it usually
+carried far&mdash;but Lisle was half amused at the disapproval
+in the girl&#8217;s tone.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m now and then a little boisterous,
+too,&#8221; he ventured.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It depends a good deal upon what you laugh at,&#8221;
+Millicent informed him.
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne looked up again, as if she had not
+heard, and the girl smiled at her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What I said isn&#8217;t worth repeating.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As I once mentioned, you learn rapidly,&#8221; she
+laughed. &#8220;You&#8217;ll be thankful for the instruction
+some day, and I promise not to teach you anything
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+very detrimental. But I&#8217;m a little surprised that Millicent
+Gladwyne allowed you to come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say she could spare me; I&#8217;m not a very entertaining
+companion,&#8221; Lisle said humbly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t that,&#8221; Bella explained. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think
+she&#8217;d like you spoiled&mdash;perhaps I should say contaminated;
+she has ideas on the subject of education,
+too. She always calls me Miss Crestwick, which is
+significant; I&#8217;ve no doubt she did so when Marple made
+himself conspicuous by his amusement just now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; she said teasingly, &#8220;we have given the
+others something to think about; but I&#8217;ve really no
+designs on you. It wouldn&#8217;t be much use, anyway.
+You&#8217;re safe.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s regard.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m human,&#8221; he laughed. &#8220;Perhaps I&#8217;d better
+mention it. But I think it&#8217;s more to the purpose to say
+that I&#8217;m altogether at your disposal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;I wanted you. As you&#8217;re
+almost a stranger, it&#8217;s curious, isn&#8217;t it? But, you see,
+I haven&#8217;t a real friend in the world.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if that can be quite correct?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So far as the people here go, haven&#8217;t you eyes?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are Miss Marple and her mother, anyway;
+they&#8217;re friends of yours,&#8221; he pointed out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so. Flo and I are in the same class, making
+the same fight; but that isn&#8217;t always a reason for mutual
+appreciation or support. Mrs. Marple, of course,
+is her daughter&#8217;s partizan, though in some ways it
+suits us to stand together. But I didn&#8217;t bring you
+here to listen to my grievances, but because you happen
+to be the one man I can trust.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle looked embarrassed, but merely bent his head.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s that silly brother of mine again,&#8221; she went on.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has he been doing now?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s what he&#8217;s thinking of doing that&#8217;s the worst.
+He has been led to believe it&#8217;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&#8217;ve had to tolerate&mdash;after all, there were ways in
+which he got some return for what he spent on them&mdash;but
+this last craze may be disastrous.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where did he get the idea that he&#8217;s a financial
+genius? It wouldn&#8217;t be from you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said seriously; &#8220;I&#8217;m his sister and most
+unlikely to encourage him in such delusions. I don&#8217;t
+think Batley had much trouble in putting the notion
+into his mind.&#8221; Her expression suddenly changed.
+&#8220;How I hate that man!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle looked down at her with grave sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite easy to get into difficulties by speculating,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+unless one has ample means. But I understood&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella checked him with a gesture.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jim comes into money&mdash;we have a good allowance
+now&mdash;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&#8217;t get rid of. At present, Batley&#8217;s lending him
+money at exorbitant interest. I&#8217;ve pleaded, I&#8217;ve
+stormed and told him plain truths; but it isn&#8217;t the
+least use.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see. Why don&#8217;t you take him away?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He won&#8217;t come. It would be worse if I left him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know why Gladwyne tolerates Batley?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t.&#8221; Bella looked up sharply. &#8220;What has
+that to do with it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle thought it had a bearing on the matter, as the
+lad would have seen less of Batley without Gladwyne&#8217;s
+connivance.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he countered, &#8220;what would you like me to
+do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s difficult to answer. He&#8217;s obstinate and resents
+advice. You might, however, talk to him when
+you have a chance; he&#8217;s beginning to have a respect
+for your opinions.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s gratifying,&#8221; Lisle commented dryly.
+&#8220;He was inclined to patronize me at first.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She spread out her hands.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re too big to mind it! Tell him anything
+you can about disastrous mining ventures; but don&#8217;t
+begin as if you meant to warn him&mdash;lead up to the
+subject casually.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m not very tactful,&#8221; Lisle confessed.
+&#8220;He&#8217;ll see what I&#8217;m after.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not very likely. Talk as if you considered
+him a man of experience. It&#8217;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&#8217;s. Can&#8217;t you come?
+I understand you have been asked.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; promised Lisle. &#8220;If I have an opportunity,
+I&#8217;ll see what can be done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella rose and smiled at him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll go back; I&#8217;m comforted already. You&#8217;re
+not profuse, but one feels that you will keep a
+promise.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV_LISLE_COMES_TO_THE_RESCUE' id='XIV_LISLE_COMES_TO_THE_RESCUE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>LISLE COMES TO THE RESCUE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have seen a good deal of these people, one
+way or another,&#8221; she remarked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;These people? Aren&#8217;t you a little prejudiced
+against them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose I am,&#8221; Millicent confessed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then won&#8217;t you give me the reason? Your point
+of view isn&#8217;t always clear to an outsider.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll try to be lucid. I don&#8217;t so much object to
+Marple as I do to what he stands for; I mean to modern
+tendency.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s as involved as ever.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl showed a little good-humored impatience.
+She did not care to supply the explanation&mdash;it was
+against her instincts&mdash;and she was inclined to wonder
+why she should do so merely because the man had
+asked for it.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;the feudal system isn&#8217;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&mdash;I&#8217;m
+using him as an example&mdash;bought the land for
+what he could get out of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;About three per cent., he told me. It isn&#8217;t a
+great inducement.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent made a half-disdainful gesture.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He gets a great deal more&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then is it wrong for a business man to buy these
+things, if he can pay for them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no! But he must take up the duties attached
+to his purchase. When you buy land, human lives
+go with it. They&#8217;re still largely in the landlord&#8217;s
+hands. Of course, we have legislation which has curtailed
+the land-owner&#8217;s former powers, but it&#8217;s a soulless,
+mechanical thing that can never really take the
+place of direct personal interest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One needs wisdom, love of the soil and all that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+lives on it, and perhaps patience most of all,&#8221; she resumed.
+&#8220;These woods are an example. They are not
+natural like your forests&mdash;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&#8217;s a work of generations,
+planting for one&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a pity in many ways that the Gladwyne property
+didn&#8217;t come to you,&#8221; he observed.
+</p>
+<p>Her expression changed and he spread out one hand
+deprecatingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s another blunder of mine. I haven&#8217;t acquired
+your people&#8217;s unfailing caution yet, but I only
+meant&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps it would be better if you didn&#8217;t tell me
+what you did mean.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+nothing to the latter&#8217;s discredit to be said by a
+stranger, but it was unpleasant to think that she regarded
+him as one. He changed the subject.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mentioned that landlord and laborer had a
+joint interest in the soil, and that&#8217;s undoubtedly
+right,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The point where trouble arises is,
+of course, over the division of the yield. The former&#8217;s
+share is obvious, but nowadays plowman and forester
+want more than their fathers seem to have been satisfied
+with. I don&#8217;t think you can blame them&mdash;in Canada
+they get more.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll give you an instance to show why one can&#8217;t
+treat them very liberally. When my brother got possession
+he spent a great deal of money&mdash;it was left
+him by his mother and didn&#8217;t come out of the land&mdash;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&#8217;t a solitary case.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They went on together through the shadowy, crimson-tinted
+dale until Millicent stopped at the gate of a
+field-road.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to one of the cottages yonder,&#8221; she
+explained. &#8220;I expect Nasmyth on Wednesday evening.
+Are you coming with him?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, but I&#8217;m going to Marple&#8217;s. You see,
+I promised.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Promised Marple?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was learning to understand her, for though she
+showed no marked sign of displeasure he knew that
+she was not gratified.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered; &#8220;Miss Crestwick.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span></p>
+<p>She did not speak, but there was something in her
+manner that hinted at disdainful amusement.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you&#8217;re hardly fair to her,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s possible,&#8221; Millicent replied carelessly. &#8220;Does
+it matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he broke out with some warmth, &#8220;the girl
+hasn&#8217;t such an easy time among you; and one can only
+respect her for the way she stands by her brother.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you anything to say in his favor?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be pretty difficult,&#8221; admitted Lisle.
+&#8220;But you can&#8217;t blame his sister for that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve shown any desire to do so,&#8221; she
+retorted.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle knit his brows.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You people are rather curious in your ideas.
+Now, here&#8217;s a lonely girl who&#8217;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&#8217;t run
+on the same stereotyped lines as you do. Can you
+help only the people who will conform?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent let this pass, and after an indifferent word
+or two she turned away. Before she reached home,
+however, she met Nasmyth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you keep Mr. Lisle out of those Marples&#8217;
+hands?&#8221; she asked him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the first place, I&#8217;m not sure that I could do so;
+in the second, I don&#8217;t see why I should try,&#8221; Nasmyth
+replied. &#8220;On the whole, considering that he&#8217;s a
+Western miner, I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s running a serious
+risk. Perhaps I might hint that Bella Crestwick&#8217;s
+hardly likely to consider him as big enough game.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be coarse!&#8221; Millicent paused. &#8220;But he
+spoke hotly in her defense.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; responded Nasmyth, &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t wonder
+if she deserves it; but it has no significance. You
+see, he&#8217;s a rather chivalrous person.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent flashed a quick glance at him, but his face
+was expressionless.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did he say?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t remember exactly: he hinted that we were
+narrow-minded and uncharitable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I almost think there&#8217;s some truth in it. I&#8217;ve seen
+you a little severe on those outside the fold.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A man&#8217;s charity is apt to be influenced by a pretty
+face,&#8221; Millicent retorted.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll admit it,&#8221; replied Nasmyth dryly. &#8220;But I
+can&#8217;t undertake to determine how far that fact has
+any bearing on this particular instance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>On Wednesday Lisle walked over to Marple&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+but the somewhat senseless hilarity of Marple&#8217;s guests
+was beginning to jar on him. A burst of laughter
+which he thought had been provoked by one of Bella&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s obvious,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that there&#8217;s very little to
+be made by waiting until any particular stock becomes
+a popular favorite&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle stood still&mdash;he was in the shadow&mdash;watching
+the lad, who now showed signs of uncertainty.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dropped a good deal of money the last time I
+tried it,&#8221; he protested. &#8220;The trouble is that if you
+come in when the company&#8217;s starting, you can&#8217;t form
+an accurate idea of how it ought to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly,&#8221; replied Batley. &#8220;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&mdash;you must be ready
+to back your opinion and take a risk. It&#8217;s only the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+necessity for that kind of thing which makes it a fine
+game.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He broke off, looking up, and as Lisle strolled forward
+with a glance at Crestwick, he saw Batley&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This,&#8221; he said nonchalantly, &#8220;is an amusement I
+never had time to learn, and I really came along for a
+quiet smoke. Don&#8217;t let me disturb you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He saw Crestwick&#8217;s look and understood what was
+in the lad&#8217;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&#8217;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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It certainly looks promising,&#8221; Lisle heard Crestwick
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+say; &#8220;you have pretty well convinced me that
+it can&#8217;t go wrong.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see any serious risk,&#8221; declared Batley.
+&#8220;That, in the case of mining stock, is as far as I&#8217;d
+care to go. On the other hand, there&#8217;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&#8217;m a holder and I got you
+the offer of the shares as a favor from a friend who&#8217;s
+behind the scenes. Don&#8217;t take them unless you feel
+inclined.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a curious name they&#8217;ve given the mine,&#8221; commented
+the lad, repeating it. &#8220;What does it mean?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle started, for he recognized the name, and it
+offered him a lead. Strolling toward the group, he
+leaned against the table.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can tell you that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s an Indian
+word for a river gorge. I went up it not long ago.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; exclaimed Crestwick, &#8220;I suppose you
+know the mine?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle glanced at the others. Their eyes were fixed
+upon him, Batley&#8217;s steadily, Gladwyne&#8217;s with a hint
+of uneasiness. It was, he felt, a remarkable piece of
+good fortune that had given him control of the situation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered carelessly, &#8220;I know the mine.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m thinking of taking shares in it,&#8221; Crestwick informed
+him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Lisle, &#8220;that wouldn&#8217;t be wise.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have made a serious allegation in a rather
+startling way, Mr. Lisle. As I&#8217;ve an interest in the
+company in question, I must ask you to explain.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;d advise you to get rid of your interest
+as soon as possible; that is, so long as you don&#8217;t sell
+out to Crestwick, who&#8217;s a friend of mine.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was that last called for, or quite the thing,
+Lisle?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>Batley turned to Gladwyne, as if for support, and
+the latter assumed his finest air.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think there can be only one opinion on that
+point,&#8221; he declared.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m ready to stand by what
+I said, and I&#8217;ll add that if I had any shares I&#8217;d give
+them away to anybody who would register as their
+owner before the next call is made.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I understood there wouldn&#8217;t be a call for a long
+while,&#8221; Crestwick broke in.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then whoever told you so must have been misinformed,&#8221;
+Lisle rejoined.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you casting any doubt upon my honor?&#8221;
+Batley demanded in a bellicose voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think so; anyway, so long as you don&#8217;t
+rule out my suggestion. Still, I&#8217;m willing to leave
+Gladwyne to decide the point. He seems to understand
+these delicate matters.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Marple, looking distressed and irresolute, broke in
+before Gladwyne had a chance to reply.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know much about mining, Lisle?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve had opportunities for learning something, as
+prospector, locator of alluvial claims and holder of an
+interest in one or two comparatively prosperous companies.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He leaned forward and touched Crestwick&#8217;s shoulder.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along, Jim, and I&#8217;ll give you one or two particulars
+that should decide you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t undertake to say whether Lisle was justified
+or not,&#8221; he began. &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, however, that
+anything of this nature should have happened in my
+house.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So am I,&#8221; said Gladwyne with gracious condescension.
+&#8220;There is, of course, one obvious remedy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Marple raised his hands in expostulation. He liked
+Lisle, and Gladwyne was a distinguished guest. Batley
+seemed to find his confusion amusing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think the only thing we can do is to let the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+matter drop,&#8221; he suggested. &#8220;These fellows from the
+wilds are primitive&mdash;one can&#8217;t expect too much. The
+correct feeling or delicacy of expression we&#8217;d look for
+among ourselves is hardly in their line.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Marple was mollified, and he fell in with Batley&#8217;s
+suggestion that they should try a game.
+</p>
+<p>In the meanwhile, Crestwick looked around at his
+companion as they went down the corridor.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe I owe you some thanks,&#8221; he admitted.
+&#8220;I like the way you headed off Batley&mdash;I think he
+meant to turn savage at first&mdash;and I wouldn&#8217;t have
+been willing to draw in Gladwyne, as you did. He has
+a way of crushing you with a look.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s merely a sign that you deserve it,&#8221; Lisle
+laughed. &#8220;You take too many things for granted in
+this country. Test another man&#8217;s assumption of
+superiority before you agree with it, and you&#8217;ll sometimes
+be astonished to find out what it&#8217;s really founded
+on. And now we&#8217;d better join those people who&#8217;re
+singing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XV_BELLA_S_DEFEAT' id='XV_BELLA_S_DEFEAT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>BELLA&#8217;S DEFEAT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The afternoon was calm and hazy, and Lisle
+lounged with great content in a basket-chair
+on Millicent&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle enjoyed it all, though he was conscious that
+Millicent&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t often seen you with the unoccupied appearance
+you have just now,&#8221; he remarked at length.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have sent the book off, and after being at work
+on it so long, I feel disinclined to do anything else,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve just heard from the publishers; they
+don&#8217;t seem enthusiastic. After all, one couldn&#8217;t expect
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
+that&mdash;the style of the thing is rather out of the
+usual course.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle looked angry and she was pleased with his indignation
+on her behalf.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They show precious little sense!&#8221; he declared;
+&#8220;but you&#8217;re right. It&#8217;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&#8217;s neither a classification nor
+a catalogue&mdash;it&#8217;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!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His confidence was gratifying, but she changed the
+subject.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You Canadians haven&#8217;t much respect for precedent?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; we try to meet the varying need by constantly
+changing means. They&#8217;re often crude, but
+they&#8217;re successful, as a rule.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a system that must have a wide effect,&#8221; she
+responded, to lead him on. She liked to hear him talk.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It has. You can see it in the difference between
+your country and mine. This land&#8217;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&#8217;s never merely pretty. The
+same applies to our people; they&#8217;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.&#8221; He
+spread out his hands. &#8220;You have an example; I&#8217;m
+spouting at large again.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on,&#8221; she begged; &#8220;I&#8217;m interested. But have
+you ever thought that instead of being younger than
+we are you&#8217;re really older. I mean that you have gone
+back a long way; begun again at an earlier stage,
+instead of going ahead?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now you get at the bottom of things!&#8221; he exclaimed.
+&#8220;That&#8217;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&#8217;re on the
+bed-rock of nature.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you too modest to go any further?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He showed faint signs of confusion and she laughed.
+&#8220;No doubt, the situation makes for pristine vigor,
+and we are drifting into artificiality,&#8221; she suggested.
+&#8220;Perhaps you, the toilers, the subduers of the wilderness,
+are to serve as an anchor for the supercivilized
+generations to hold on by.&#8221; She paused and quoted
+softly: &#8220;&#8216;Pioneers; O pioneers!&#8217;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What can I say to that?&#8221; he asked with half-amused
+embarrassment. &#8220;We&#8217;re pretty egotistical,
+but one can&#8217;t go back on Whitman.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she laughed mischievously; &#8220;I think you&#8217;re
+loyal; and there are situations from which it&#8217;s difficult
+to extricate oneself. Didn&#8217;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&#8217;s?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+something like disgust. Marple&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I heard that you figured in a striking little
+scene,&#8221; Millicent went on.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t help it.&#8221; Lisle appeared annoyed.
+&#8220;That man Batley irritated me; though, after all, I
+don&#8217;t blame him the most.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was a slip.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Whom do you blame?&#8221; she asked sharply.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; he explained, &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t the only person,
+present, and I hadn&#8217;t arrived at the beginning. Somebody
+should have stopped the fellow; the shares he
+tried to work off on Crestwick were no good.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then Batley wanted to sell that silly lad some
+worthless shares&mdash;and there were other people looking
+on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He would not tell her that Gladwyne had watched
+the proceedings, to some extent acquiescing.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought from what you said that you knew all
+about it,&#8221; he answered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she replied, suspecting the truth, but seeing
+that it would be difficult to extract anything definite
+from him. &#8220;I only heard that you had an encounter
+of some kind with Batley. But why did you hint that
+he was not the worst?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was merely acting in accordance with his instincts;
+one wouldn&#8217;t expect anything else.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The implication is that he was tacitly abetted by
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+people of a different kind who ought to have known
+better.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was not to be drawn on this point, and she respected
+him for it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was it only an animus against Batley that
+prompted you?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he admitted candidly; &#8220;I wanted to get
+young Crestwick out of his clutches. I&#8217;m not sure
+he&#8217;s worth troubling about, but I&#8217;m sorry for his sister.
+As I&#8217;ve said before, there&#8217;s something fine in the way
+she sticks to him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s undoubtedly in her favor,&#8221; she commented
+indifferently.
+</p>
+<p>He did not respond and they talked about other
+matters; but Lisle was now sensible of a slight constraint
+in Millicent&#8217;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&#8217;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&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span>
+still for half an hour, she rose with a gesture of impatience
+and went into the house.
+</p>
+<p>On the same evening Bella Crestwick felt impelled
+to lecture her brother after dinner. That was not
+a favorable time, for the young man&#8217;s good opinion
+of himself was generally strengthened by a glass or
+two of wine.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought that matter of the shares would have
+taught you sense, but you must listen to Batley again
+this afternoon,&#8221; she scolded. &#8220;You were with him
+for half an hour. I&#8217;ve no patience with you,
+Jim.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s not so easy to shake off, particularly as I&#8217;m
+in his debt,&#8221; returned the lad. &#8220;Besides, he&#8217;s an interesting
+fellow, the kind you learn a good deal from.
+It&#8217;s an education to mix with such men.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble is that it&#8217;s expensive. Come away
+with me before he ruins you. There&#8217;s Mrs. Barnard&#8217;s
+invitation to their place in Scotland; it would be a
+good excuse.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Her brother&#8217;s rather lofty manner changed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a dear, Bella. You know you don&#8217;t want
+to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind me,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;Will you
+come?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he said with raw self-confidence. &#8220;I&#8217;m not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+one to run away; but I&#8217;ll promise to keep my eye on
+the fellow after this and be cautious. All his schemes
+aren&#8217;t in the same class as those mining shares, you
+know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;a
+slender, attractive figure&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+sat, but the man gathered up some papers when he
+noticed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve explained the thing, Gladwyne, and I expect
+Miss Crestwick will excuse me,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I came about Jim,&#8221; she said at length.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man&#8217;s expression, which suddenly changed, was
+not encouraging and she hesitated.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know what he&#8217;s doing. I&#8217;ve come to ask a
+favor.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He avoided the issue.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s nothing alarming; I don&#8217;t suppose he&#8217;s very
+different from most lads of his age. Perhaps it would
+be better to let him have his head.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she replied decidedly. &#8220;The pace is too
+hot; I can&#8217;t hold him. He&#8217;ll come to grief badly if
+he&#8217;s not pulled up. You know that as well as I do!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he asked in a quiet voice, &#8220;what&#8217;s the
+favor?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shouldn&#8217;t a sportsman and a man of your kind
+grant it unconditionally beforehand? Must you be
+sure you won&#8217;t get hurt when you make a venture?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d risk it,&#8221; he answered, bowing. &#8220;You&#8217;re
+admirable, Bella. Still, you see, I&#8217;m either more
+cautious or less courageous.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s welfare.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you to tell Batley that he must keep his
+hands off of Jim,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>He started at this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He can&#8217;t do the lad much harm. Aren&#8217;t you attaching
+a little too much importance to the matter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; not in the least,&#8221; she answered vehemently.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+&#8220;I&#8217;ve told you so already. But can&#8217;t you keep to the
+point? My brother&#8217;s being ruined in several ways
+besides the debts he&#8217;s heaping up; and I&#8217;ve humbled
+myself to beg your help.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was it so very hard?&#8221; he asked, and his voice
+grew soft and caressing.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is beside the point,&#8221; she said with a becoming
+air of pride. &#8220;I expected you would be willing
+to do whatever you could. To be refused what I
+plead for is new to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221; she broke out impatiently.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry,&#8221; he said; &#8220;I&#8217;m unable to do as you
+desire. Of course, I wish I could, if only to please
+you, though I really don&#8217;t think the thing&#8217;s necessary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You needn&#8217;t tell me that again! It&#8217;s a waste of
+time; I&#8217;m not going to discuss it. Face the difficulty,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+whatever it is. Do you mean that you can&#8217;t warn
+off Batley?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne saw that she would insist on a definite
+answer and in desperation he told the truth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s out of the question.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are afraid of the fellow!&#8221; she exclaimed.
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne colored and moved abruptly. He had
+imagined that she was his for the asking, but there
+was no mistaking her cutting scorn.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bella,&#8221; he pleaded, &#8220;don&#8217;t be bitter. You can&#8217;t
+understand the difficulties I&#8217;m confronted with.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can understand too much!&#8221; Her voice
+trembled, but she rose, rather white in face, with an
+air of decision. &#8220;When I came I expected&mdash;but
+after all that doesn&#8217;t matter&mdash;I never expected
+this!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+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&mdash;she
+was as far from saving Jim as ever.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVI_GLADWYNE_SURRENDERS' id='XVI_GLADWYNE_SURRENDERS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>GLADWYNE SURRENDERS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Evening was drawing on when Bella strolled
+aimlessly down the ascending road that led to
+Marple&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t seem as cheerful as usual,&#8221; he observed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not,&#8221; she confessed. &#8220;In fact, I think I was
+very nearly crying.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the trouble?&#8221; He showed both interest
+and sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you needn&#8217;t ask. It&#8217;s Jim again. I&#8217;ve tried
+every means and I can&#8217;t do anything with him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, with appreciation, for this was
+very different from Gladwyne&#8217;s attitude. &#8220;It would
+only separate Jim from you, and I don&#8217;t want that
+to happen. Please keep hold of him, though I know
+that can&#8217;t be pleasant for you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is trying now and then, but I&#8217;ll do what I
+can. Gladwyne, however, has more influence than I
+have. Did you think of asking him?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She colored, and in her brief confusion he read
+his answer with strong indignation&mdash;she had pleaded
+with Gladwyne and he had refused to help.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; she said, looking up at him,
+&#8220;you&#8217;re the only real friend I have. There&#8217;s nobody
+else I can trust.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you&#8217;re wrong in that,&#8221; he declared; and
+acting on impulse he laid a hand protectingly on her
+shoulder, for she looked very dejected and forlorn.
+&#8220;Anyway, you mustn&#8217;t worry. I&#8217;ll do something&mdash;in
+fact, something will have to be done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What will you do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He knitted his brows. There was a course, which
+promised to be effective, open to him, but he was most
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have a talk with Gladwyne,&#8221; he promised.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That wouldn&#8217;t be of the least use!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;ll do what I suggest,&#8221; Lisle answered
+with a trace of grimness. &#8220;Make your mind easy;
+I&#8217;ll have Batley stopped.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re wonderful!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Whatever
+one asks you&#8217;re able to do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you&#8217;re very staunch.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; she said, standing very close to him, with
+his hand still on her shoulder, &#8220;we won&#8217;t exchange
+compliments&mdash;they&#8217;re too empty, and you deserve
+something better.&#8221; She glanced round swiftly.
+&#8220;Shut your eyes, tight!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t trust your imagination too much&mdash;it
+might have deceived you,&#8221; she warned. &#8220;But you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+have sense; you wouldn&#8217;t attach an undue value to
+anything.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Confidence and gratitude are precious,&#8221; he answered.
+&#8220;I&#8217;d better point out that I haven&#8217;t earned
+either of them yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what power you have&mdash;but you
+won&#8217;t make too much use of it&mdash;I don&#8217;t wish that,&#8221;
+she begged. &#8220;After all, though, Jim must be got
+out of that fellow&#8217;s clutches.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; assented Lisle, &#8220;there&#8217;s no doubt of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>As it happened, he met Mrs. Gladwyne at Millicent&#8217;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&#8217;s presence and it was a relief when she
+took her departure.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You look troubled,&#8221; Millicent observed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s how I feel,&#8221; he confessed. &#8220;After all, it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+isn&#8217;t a very uncommon sensation. It&#8217;s sometimes difficult
+to see ahead.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Often,&#8221; she answered, smiling. &#8220;What do you
+do then&mdash;stop a little and consider?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not as a rule. The longer you consider the difficulties,
+the worse they look. It&#8217;s generally better to
+go right on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent agreed with this; and soon afterward Lisle
+took his departure and walked back to Nasmyth&#8217;s in
+an unusually serious mood. They were sitting smoking
+when his host broached the subject that was occupying
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s some time since you said anything about the
+project that brought you over,&#8221; he remarked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s so,&#8221; assented Lisle. &#8220;I&#8217;m fixed much as
+I was when we last spoke of it. When I was in
+Canada, I thought I&#8217;d only to find Gladwyne and
+scare a confession out of him. Now I find that what
+I&#8217;ve undertaken isn&#8217;t by any means so simple.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I warned you that it wouldn&#8217;t be.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were right. There&#8217;s his mother to consider&mdash;it&#8217;s
+a privilege to know her&mdash;she&#8217;s devoted to the
+fellow. Then there&#8217;s Millicent; in a way, she&#8217;s almost
+as devoted, anyhow she&#8217;s a staunch friend of his. I
+don&#8217;t know how either of them would stand the revelation.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would kill Mrs. Gladwyne,&#8221; Nasmyth declared.
+</p>
+<p>There was silence for a while, and then Lisle spoke
+again.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m badly worried; any move of mine would lead
+to endless trouble&mdash;and yet there&#8217;s the black blot on
+the memory of the man to whom I owe so much; I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+can&#8217;t bring myself to let it remain. Besides all this,
+there&#8217;s another complication.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Young Crestwick&#8217;s somehow connected with it,&#8221;
+Nasmyth guessed.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle did not deny it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That crack-brained lad seems to be the pivot on
+which the whole thing turns. Curious, isn&#8217;t it? I
+wish the responsibility hadn&#8217;t been laid on my shoulders.
+Just now I can&#8217;t tell what I ought to do&mdash;it&#8217;s
+harassing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t force things; wait for developments,&#8221; Nasmyth
+advised him. &#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;s a
+good sort, there&#8217;s fair sport, and it&#8217;s a nice place;
+but I don&#8217;t mind in the least whether I go or not.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;d rather stay. I&#8217;ve a feeling that I may
+be wanted here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m quite satisfied, for a reason I&#8217;ll explain. You
+have ridden that young bay horse of mine. He comes
+of good stock and he&#8217;s showing signs of an excellent
+pace over the hurdles. Now I couldn&#8217;t expect to
+enter him for any first-rate event&mdash;he&#8217;s hardly fast
+enough and it&#8217;s too expensive in various ways&mdash;but
+there&#8217;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not much,&#8221; responded Lisle. &#8220;I&#8217;ve made one
+long journey in the saddle in Alberta; but you&#8217;ve seen
+our British Columbian trails. Our cayuses have generally
+to climb, and as a rule I&#8217;ve used horses only
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
+for packing. Still, I&#8217;m fond of them; I&#8217;d be interested
+in the thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One difficulty is that there&#8217;s nothing in the neighborhood
+that I could try him for pace against except
+that horse of Gladwyne&#8217;s.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;d no doubt let you have the beast.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s possible,&#8221; Nasmyth agreed dryly. &#8220;But I&#8217;ve
+objections to being indebted to him; and I don&#8217;t want
+Batley, Marple and Crestwick to take a hand in and
+put their money on me. However, we&#8217;ll think it over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve no doubt noticed that Jim Crestwick has
+been going pretty hard of late,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Bets,
+speculation, and that sort of thing. He can&#8217;t keep
+it up on a minor&#8217;s allowance. It will end in a bad
+smash if he isn&#8217;t checked.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne&#8217;s manner became supercilious.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I fail to see how it concerns you, or, for that matter,
+either of us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t go into the question&mdash;it&#8217;s beside the
+point. What I want you to do is to pull him up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He spoke as if he meant to be obeyed, and Gladwyne
+looked at him in incredulous astonishment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you suppose I&#8217;m able to restrain the lad?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You ought to be,&#8221; Lisle answered coolly. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+your friend Batley who&#8217;s leading him on to ruin; I&#8217;m
+making no comments on your conduct in standing by
+and watching, as if you approved of it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></p>
+<p>The man grew hot with anger.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you for your consideration.&#8221; His tone
+changed to a sneer. &#8220;I suppose you couldn&#8217;t be expected
+to realize that the attitude you&#8217;re adopting is
+inexcusable?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t like it, I&#8217;ll try another,&#8221; Lisle returned
+curtly. &#8220;You&#8217;ll give Batley his orders to
+leave the lad alone right now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop where you are; that kind of thing is thrown
+away on me. You&#8217;re going to listen for a few
+minutes and afterward you&#8217;re going to do what I
+tell you. To begin with&mdash;why, after you&#8217;d opened
+it, didn&#8217;t you wipe out all trace of the cache on the
+reach below the last portage your cousin made?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s diary were hidden among
+them. He waited calmly, sure of his position, while
+Gladwyne with difficulty pulled himself together.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you any proof that I found the cache?&#8221; he
+asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so,&#8221; Lisle informed him. &#8220;But we&#8217;ll let
+that slide. You&#8217;d better take the thing for granted.
+I&#8217;m not here to answer questions. I&#8217;ve told you
+plainly what I want.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was silence for nearly a minute during which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
+Gladwyne sat very still in nerveless dismay. All resistance
+had melted out of him, his weakness was manifest&mdash;he
+could not face a crisis, there was no courage
+in him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The miserable young idiot!&#8221; he broke out at
+length in impotent rage. &#8220;This is not the first
+trouble in which he has involved me!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so,&#8221; said Lisle. &#8220;Not long ago his sister
+came here, begging you to save him, and you wouldn&#8217;t.
+It&#8217;s not my part to point what she must think of you.
+But I&#8217;m in a different position; you won&#8217;t refuse me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne leaned forward, gripping the arms of his
+chair as if he needed support, and his face grew
+haggard.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The difficulty is that I&#8217;m helpless,&#8221; he declared.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle regarded him with contempt.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Brace up,&#8221; he advised him. &#8220;The fellow you&#8217;re
+afraid of is only flesh and blood; he has his weak
+point somewhere. Face him and find it, if you can&#8217;t
+talk him round. There&#8217;s no other way open to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A brief silence followed; and then Gladwyne broke
+it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll try. But suppose I can induce him to leave
+Crestwick alone?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So much the better for you,&#8221; Lisle answered with
+a dry smile. &#8220;I&#8217;m not here to make a bargain. I
+don&#8217;t want anything for myself.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+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&mdash;dignity,
+power, a fine regard for honor&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>He heard footsteps, and looking around was a little
+surprised to see Batley moving toward him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have just called on Gladwyne,&#8221; Batley began.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s so,&#8221; he agreed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m inclined to think your visit concerned me.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
+I&#8217;ve noticed your interest in young Crestwick&mdash;it&#8217;s
+obvious&mdash;I don&#8217;t know whether one could say the
+same of the cause of it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t discuss that. If you have anything
+to say to me, you had better adopt a less offensive
+style.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley smiled good-humoredly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re quick at resenting things. I don&#8217;t see
+why you should expect a longer patience from me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t expect anything from you,&#8221; Lisle informed
+him. &#8220;In proof of it, I&#8217;ll mention that I called to
+tell Gladwyne he must keep you off of Jim Crestwick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He made a slip in the last few words, which the
+other quickly noticed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ordered him, in fact,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle made no answer and Batley resumed:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have some kind of a hold on Gladwyne; so
+have I. Of course, it&#8217;s no news to you. I&#8217;m a little
+curious to learn what yours consists of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It struck me that we might work together.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going in for card-sharping or anything of
+that kind!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man seemed roused by this, but he mastered his
+anger.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Civility isn&#8217;t expensive and sometimes it&#8217;s wise,&#8221;
+he observed. &#8220;I won&#8217;t return the compliment; in fact,
+I&#8217;ll credit you with the most disinterested motives. All
+I mean is that I might help you and you might help
+me. I&#8217;m not quite what you seem to think I am, and if
+I can get my money back out of Gladwyne I won&#8217;t
+harm him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care in the least whether you harm him or
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+not. But I&#8217;ll try to arrange that you drop Crestwick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley considered this for a moment or two.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry we can&#8217;t agree; but as
+regards Crestwick you can only head me off by forcing
+Gladwyne to interfere. Between ourselves, do you
+think he&#8217;s a man who&#8217;s likely to take a bold course?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so&mdash;in the present case.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean if the pressure&#8217;s sufficient. Now you
+have given me a glimpse at your hand and I&#8217;ll be candid.
+Gladwyne rather let me in, and there&#8217;s a risk in
+dealing with a lad who&#8217;s to all intents and purposes a
+minor; I&#8217;ve gone about as far with him as I consider
+judicious. Don&#8217;t do anything that may damage Gladwyne
+financially without giving me warning, and in return
+I&#8217;ll let Crestwick go. To some extent, I only
+got hold of him as an offset to the trouble I&#8217;ve had
+with Gladwyne. Is it a bargain? You can trust me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll let it go at that,&#8221; replied Lisle. &#8220;But I&#8217;ll
+keep my eye on you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley&#8217;s gesture implied that he would not object
+to this, and he turned away, leaving the Canadian to
+walk back to Nasmyth&#8217;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&#8217;s
+assurance.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVII_A_BAD_FALL' id='XVII_A_BAD_FALL'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>A BAD FALL</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Gladwyne spent the first few days that followed
+Lisle&#8217;s visit in a state of dread and indecision.
+He had allowed the Canadian to
+understand that he would endeavor to prevent Crestwick&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&mdash;that he had raised money in anticipation
+of his cousin&#8217;s death, and afterward left him to perish&mdash;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Nevertheless, Gladwyne was really guiltless in one
+respect&mdash;he had not desired his cousin&#8217;s death; he
+would have gone back to the rescue had he not dreaded
+that he would share George&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+he was glad to arrange with Nasmyth for a sharp
+gallop.
+</p>
+<p>Somewhat to the latter&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be heavy going and there&#8217;s a nasty greasy
+patch at the biggest fence,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;d have waited
+for a better day only that it&#8217;s often wet where they
+have the meeting, and I want to see what he can do
+over ground like this. You&#8217;ll have to watch him at
+the jumps.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;d do better with you in the saddle,&#8221; Lisle suggested.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d rather put you up. I&#8217;m not going to ride at
+the meeting; I&#8217;m over the weight they ought to give
+him and I want to get him used to a stranger&#8217;s hands.
+As it&#8217;s an outside event of no importance, I haven&#8217;t
+fixed on my man yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They walked back toward the starting-point, where
+Gladwyne was waiting, with Batley and Crestwick in
+attendance. As they approached it, Millicent joined
+them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you going to ride to-day?&#8221; she asked Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nasmyth insists,&#8221; was the answer. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid
+I won&#8217;t do him much credit.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span></p>
+<p>Gladwyne looked up with a slight frown.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t mind?&#8221; Nasmyth asked him. &#8220;I&#8217;d
+penalize the horse by nearly a stone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Gladwyne, shortly; &#8220;there&#8217;s no reason
+why I should object.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would anybody like to make it a sporting
+match?&#8221; Crestwick asked. &#8220;The bay&#8217;s my fancy;
+I&#8217;m ready to back it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella tried to catch his eye, but he disregarded this.
+She, however, saw Lisle glance at Batley and noticed
+the latter&#8217;s smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t worth while betting on trials,&#8221; Batley declared.
+&#8220;Better wait until the meeting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s warning glance, and the other&#8217;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&#8217;s stirrup.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Save him a bit for the second round,&#8221; he advised.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+&#8220;Another thing, look out when you come to the big-brushed
+hurdles, particularly the second time.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;the course was roughly
+circular.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+ground was softer than usual and the fences were
+troublesome. He rode with a zest and ardor he had
+hardly expected to feel.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s face was strangely eager, considering
+that all he had been asked to do was to test the
+bay&#8217;s speed, and there was a hardness in his expression
+that fixed Crestwick&#8217;s attention; he wondered the cause
+of it.
+</p>
+<p>Bella was close to him, when Lisle, riding hard,
+rushed at the hurdles, and Jim found it hard to repress
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+a shout as the bay&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s face, which was grimly
+set, as the big chestnut rose in a graceful bound.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get hold!&#8221; ordered Nasmyth hoarsely. &#8220;Some
+bones broken, by the look of him; but he&#8217;ll have his
+brains knocked out in another moment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+of danger. When they had accomplished it, Marple
+came running up with two or three others and Nasmyth
+called to him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Came in the car, didn&#8217;t you? Go off for Irvine
+as hard as you can drive. Drop somebody at my place
+to run back with a gun.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is he dead?&#8221; she asked falteringly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. Badly hurt, I think.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; she exclaimed with intense relief. &#8220;I was
+most horribly afraid.&#8221;  She paused before she resumed:
+&#8220;You were close by the hurdles.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were some way back; you couldn&#8217;t have seen
+anything plainly,&#8221; he ventured.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was very near&mdash;looking back toward them&mdash;when
+they crossed the field before the jump. You&#8217;ve
+gone all to pieces. What did you see?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t talk about it now,&#8221; Jim broke out. &#8220;He&#8217;s
+coming back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it dangerous?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t tell,&#8221; Nasmyth answered sternly. &#8220;Shoulder&#8217;s
+smashed; don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s the worst. Why
+didn&#8217;t you pull up the brute or send him at the hedge
+to the right?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s hard in the mouth&mdash;you know his temper.
+You couldn&#8217;t have turned him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d have tried, if I&#8217;d had to bring him down and
+break his neck!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;ll get over it,&#8221; Nasmyth told her. &#8220;I
+won&#8217;t take the responsibility of having him moved until
+the doctor arrives.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite right,&#8221; agreed Batley, walking up and casting
+a swift and searching glance at Gladwyne.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you can&#8217;t let him lie on the wet grass!&#8221; Millicent
+expostulated.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid we must; it&#8217;s safest,&#8221; said Batley.
+&#8220;The shock&#8217;s not so much to be dreaded with a man
+of his kind.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He and Nasmyth took charge of the situation,
+sternly refusing to listen to all well-meant suggestions,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upper arm gone, close to the shoulder joint,&#8221; he
+announced. &#8220;Collar-bone too. I&#8217;ll give him some
+brandy. Shout to those fellows with the stretcher.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was busy for some time, and in the meanwhile
+Batley picked up the flask he had laid down and handed
+it to Gladwyne.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take a good drink and pull yourself together,&#8221;
+he said quietly.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s
+condition. He looked absolutely unnerved, like one
+who had barely escaped from some appalling catastrophe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shouldn&#8217;t take it quite so much to heart,&#8221; she
+comforted him. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think Irvine felt any great
+uneasiness; and nobody could blame you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re the only one who has said so,&#8221; he answered
+moodily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They couldn&#8217;t; you stole away. Of course, it&#8217;s a
+great pity&mdash;I&#8217;m distressed&mdash;but you must try to be
+sensible. These accidents happen.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He walked on a while in silence, and then with an
+effort looked around at her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you&#8217;re wonderfully generous&mdash;the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+sight of anybody in trouble stirs you&mdash;but I
+don&#8217;t feel able to bear your sympathy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I&#8217;ll have to offer it to Lisle,&#8221; she smiled.
+&#8220;But I&#8217;ll walk with you to the lodge; and then you
+had better go in and keep quiet until you get back
+your nerve.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>When she left Gladwyne she went on to Nasmyth&#8217;s,
+where she waited until the doctor on leaving told her
+that he was perfectly satisfied with the prospect for the
+Canadian&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think he&#8217;s desperately anxious and feeling the
+thing very badly,&#8221; she concluded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then he could have come over to inquire, as you
+have done,&#8221; Nasmyth answered. &#8220;In my opinion, he
+deserves to be uncomfortable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why are you so hard on him?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man&#8217;s face grew grim.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you couldn&#8217;t blame him very greatly for losing
+his head&mdash;he had no warning, scarcely a moment to
+think. It was so sudden.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The result&#8217;s the same,&#8221; retorted Nasmyth. &#8220;Lisle
+has to pay. But to please you I&#8217;ll send Clarence word
+that Irvine&#8217;s not anxious about him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVIII_A_PRUDENT_DECISION' id='XVIII_A_PRUDENT_DECISION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>A PRUDENT DECISION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It had been dark some time and the night was raw,
+but Jim Crestwick strolled up and down the drive
+to Marple&#8217;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&#8217;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&mdash;a betrayer of those who trusted him, a
+counterfeit of an honorable type, one who had by the
+merest chance escaped from crime.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;he had watched
+her face that morning&mdash;and Bella sometimes resented
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>Presently Bella came out, as he had anticipated, and
+joined him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have been very quiet since this morning,&#8221;
+she began. &#8220;I saw that you meant to slip away as
+soon as you could.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he admitted; &#8220;I&#8217;ve had something to think
+about&mdash;I&#8217;ve been a fool, Bella; the commonest, most
+easily gulled kind of imbecile!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re not the only one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was satisfactory, for it suggested that she had
+been undeceived about Gladwyne; but she had not finished.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you see this morning?&#8221; she asked, and
+he felt that she was speaking with keen anxiety.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you, but it must never go any farther. I
+hate to think of it! But first of all, what makes you
+ask?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind,&#8221; she answered sharply. &#8220;Go on!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Jim, &#8220;I was standing right against
+the hedge, the only person on that side, and I don&#8217;t
+think Gladwyne saw me. Lisle&#8217;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&mdash;I can&#8217;t get his look out of my mind!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But perhaps he couldn&#8217;t pull up,&#8221; Bella defended
+him desperately, as if she would not believe the truth
+she dreaded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s take-off and made him jump
+short. It might have brought him down&mdash;the hurdle
+was firm in the ground&mdash;but that would have been
+better than riding over a fallen man!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you sure he did nothing?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish I were not! The thing&#8217;s horrible! Gladwyne
+must have seen that he&#8217;d come down on Lisle or
+the struggling bay&mdash;he could have prevented it&mdash;he
+didn&#8217;t try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella shivered. Her brother was right: it was almost
+beyond contemplation. But that was only half
+of the matter.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He must have had a reason,&#8221; she argued harshly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; one doesn&#8217;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+His chance came suddenly&mdash;nobody could have arranged
+it&mdash;he only remembered that Lisle with his
+brains crushed out could do him no harm.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s
+compliance with his request, which was significant.
+Still, convinced as she was, she would not openly acquiesce
+in her brother&#8217;s theory.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jim,&#8221; she protested, &#8220;if he&#8217;d ridden at the hedge
+or made the chestnut jump short, he might have broken
+his own neck. He must have realized it&mdash;it would
+make him hesitate.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lad laughed scornfully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;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&#8217;s right&mdash;though it isn&#8217;t&mdash;it only shows
+the man as a disgusting coward.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was no gainsaying this; and Bella was crushed
+and humiliated. She had already seen Gladwyne&#8217;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&#8217;s revelation she shrank
+from him with positive horror. Jim seemed to guess
+this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, Bella,&#8221; he said gently. &#8220;But the fellow&#8217;s
+impossible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She laid her hand upon his arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jim,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;we have both been mad, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+I suppose we must pay for it. I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s promised; I&#8217;ve had my lesson. I think I&#8217;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&#8217;ve met for a long while. When Lisle
+first came here I tried to patronize him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella laughed, rather feebly, but she wanted to relieve
+the tension.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was like you. But we&#8217;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&#8217;t. I think you said nobody
+else could have suspected?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nasmyth hadn&#8217;t come up when the chestnut
+reached the hurdles; he was the nearest. Lisle was
+down with the horse upon him. He couldn&#8217;t have seen
+anything.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she decided, &#8220;perhaps that&#8217;s fortunate. It
+isn&#8217;t likely that Gladwyne will get such an opportunity
+again, and at the worst he acted on the spur of the
+moment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>In the meanwhile, Gladwyne had spent a miserable
+day, alternating between horror of himself and doubts
+about the future. Jim Crestwick&#8217;s description of the
+incident was correct&mdash;Gladwyne had ridden straight
+at the broken hurdle, knowing what the consequences
+might be and disregarding them. The next moment,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+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&#8217;s death, and now Lisle had
+very narrowly escaped.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;it
+was to some extent the truth&mdash;and show concern
+about Lisle&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>After a while his mother came in and gently touched
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; she urged, &#8220;you mustn&#8217;t brood over it.
+Lisle&#8217;s condition&#8217;s satisfactory. As it&#8217;s some hours
+since we got Nasmyth&#8217;s message, I sent a man over and
+he has just come back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad you sent,&#8221; Gladwyne responded. &#8220;It
+was thoughtful. I forgot; but I&#8217;ve been badly troubled.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She sat down near him, with her hand laid caressingly
+on his arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s natural; I understand and feel for you. I
+wouldn&#8217;t have liked you to be indifferent; but you
+mustn&#8217;t make too much of it. The man is strong, he
+will soon be about again, and you couldn&#8217;t have saved
+him. Everybody I&#8217;ve seen so far has given me that
+impression. Of course, I didn&#8217;t need their assurances,
+but I was glad to see they exonerated and sympathized
+with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks as if Lisle deserves their commiseration
+more than I do,&#8221; he answered with a smile which cost
+him an effort.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is being shown. I noticed nearly everybody in
+the neighborhood motoring or driving toward the house
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+during the afternoon. Millicent&#8217;s with Nasmyth now,
+helping to arrange things. It&#8217;s wonderful what a
+favorite Lisle has become in so short a time; but I own
+that I find something very likable about him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne moved impatiently. His hatred of the
+man was as strong as ever, and his mother&#8217;s attempts
+at consolation irritated him. Lisle was too popular;
+first Bella and now Millicent had taken him in
+hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent,&#8221; Mrs. Gladwyne went on, &#8220;is an exceptional
+woman in every desirable respect. I think you
+have long been as convinced of that as I am.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid she can&#8217;t have an equally favorable
+opinion of me,&#8221; he said with a short laugh.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One does not look for perfection in a man,&#8221; his
+mother informed him seriously. &#8220;He is criticized
+much less severely than a woman. It seems to be the
+universal rule, though I have sometimes thought it
+wasn&#8217;t absolutely just and that it had its drawbacks.
+It&#8217;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.&#8221; She sighed as she
+added: &#8220;The times are changing; there was no need
+to consider such questions in your father&#8217;s case. He
+was the soul of honor&mdash;you were very young when
+death parted us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s firmer guidance.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wonders never cease, mother,&#8221; he responded with
+an attempt at lightness. &#8220;It&#8217;s difficult to imagine
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span>
+your being influenced by the latest propaganda. I
+thought you shuddered at it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I was forgetting what I meant
+to talk about, drifting away from the subject; I&#8217;m
+afraid it&#8217;s a habit of mine. What I have long felt is
+that it would be so desirable if you married suitably.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble is to define the suitability. It&#8217;s a
+point upon which everybody has a different opinion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne leaned back in his chair with a laugh that
+had in it a tinge of irritation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;re the reverse
+of flattering.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His mother looked troubled; she would have wounded
+no living creature unnecessarily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear, it&#8217;s not always easy to express what one
+feels, and I dare say I&#8217;m injudicious in choosing my
+words. But your welfare is very near to my heart.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know that,&#8221; he answered gently. &#8220;But you were
+not describing an imaginary paragon. Hadn&#8217;t you
+Millicent in your mind?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should be very happy if I could welcome her as
+my daughter. I should feel that you were safe then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+confidence in any one who had won her respect, as Millicent
+had done, was bestowed so generously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;ve often given you trouble, and I do
+you little credit now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But, as to the other
+matter, one can&#8217;t be sure that Millicent would welcome
+the idea. Of late I&#8217;ve had a suspicion that she hasn&#8217;t
+a very high opinion of me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could hardly expect to gain it by devoting
+yourself to Miss Crestwick.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The man smiled rather grimly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If it&#8217;s any consolation to you, I&#8217;m inclined to think
+that Miss Crestwick has let me drop. The truth&#8217;s not
+very flattering, but I can&#8217;t hide it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne&#8217;s relief was obvious, but she had
+more to say and she ventured upon it with some courage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you would only get rid of Batley too!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can hardly do that just now; he&#8217;s useful in several
+ways. Still, of course, if I married&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He broke off abruptly, for his mother had occasional
+flashes of discernment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent has means,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>He started at this, wondering how much she had
+guessed, but he veiled his embarrassment with a smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he acknowledged, &#8220;means, as you most
+wisely remarked, are not to be despised, and mine are
+unfortunately small.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>When at last he rose he had partly recovered his
+usual equanimity and had decided that he would watch
+for some sign of Millicent&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIX_GLADWYNE_GAINS_A_POINT' id='XIX_GLADWYNE_GAINS_A_POINT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>GLADWYNE GAINS A POINT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Some weeks had passed since the accident and
+Lisle was lying one afternoon on a couch near
+a window of Nasmyth&#8217;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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had orders to keep as quiet as possible for
+some time yet. Lie down again!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keeping quiet is fast breaking me up,&#8221; he protested.
+&#8220;I&#8217;m quite able to move about.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;All the same, you&#8217;re not to try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I suppose I&#8217;ll have to give in. You&#8217;re a
+determined person. People do what you ask them
+without resenting it. You have an instance here,
+though in a general way it&#8217;s a very undignified thing to
+be ordered about.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He resumed his former position and she seated herself.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why you should drag my character in,&#8221;
+she objected with a smile. &#8220;Other people who occasionally
+obey me don&#8217;t say such things.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re English; that accounts for a good deal.
+I&#8217;m inclined to think my power of expressing my feelings
+on any point is a gift, though it&#8217;s one that&#8217;s not
+uncommon in the West.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Doesn&#8217;t it presuppose an assurance that any one
+you address must be interested in your views?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I deserve that,&#8221; he laughed; &#8220;but you&#8217;re not quite
+right. We say, in effect, &#8216;These are my sentiments,
+but I won&#8217;t be down-hearted if you haven&#8217;t the sense to
+agree with them.&#8217; The last, however, doesn&#8217;t apply to
+you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you for the explanation,&#8221; she rejoined.
+&#8220;But why do you insist on a national difference?
+You&#8217;re really English, aren&#8217;t you, in Canada?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered; &#8220;you and the others who talk
+in that strain are mistaken. We&#8217;re a brand new nation
+still fusing and fuming in the melting-pot. The elements
+are inharmonious in some respects&mdash;French
+from the Laurentian littoral, Ontario Scots, Americans,
+Scandinavians, Teutons, Magyars, Slavs. The English
+element&#8217;s barely strong enough to temper the mixture;
+the land&#8217;s too wide and the people too varied for
+British traditions to bind. When the cooling amalgam&#8217;s
+run out it will be into a fresh mold.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One made in Pennsylvania, or wherever the American
+foundries are?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They run the one you have in mind at Washington.
+You understand things a good deal better than
+many people I&#8217;ve talked to here; but you&#8217;re not right
+yet. If Canadians deliberately chose the American
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+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&#8217;ve much the same problems to tackle; the conditions
+are, or soon will be, pretty similar. It&#8217;s only natural
+that the result should be more or less identical. I&#8217;ve
+said nothing yet about our commercial and social relations
+with our neighbors.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But doesn&#8217;t England count?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Morally, yes. It&#8217;s your part to keep our respect
+and show us a clean lead.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; she rejoined, &#8220;you, in particular, are
+essentially English by connection with the part of the
+country you&#8217;re now staying in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He smiled curiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you or Nasmyth have been tracing up the
+family!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she replied with a little sharpness. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let it go at that,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;My father was
+cast out because he dared to think for himself and my
+mother was Canadian born. I&#8217;m a unit in the new nation;
+one of the rank and file.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She considered this for a moment or two. It was
+hardly an English point of view, but&mdash;for his family
+had long been one of station&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+one&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve broken loose again and you&#8217;re feeling
+shocked,&#8221; he said humorously. &#8220;It&#8217;s your own fault;
+you have a way of making one talk. There&#8217;s no use
+in discoursing to people who don&#8217;t understand. However&mdash;and
+it&#8217;s much more important&mdash;how&#8217;s the book
+getting on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;More important than my wounded susceptibilities?&#8221;
+Millicent laughed. &#8220;But we won&#8217;t mind them.
+I&#8217;m pleased to say I&#8217;ve heard from the publishers that
+it&#8217;s in strong request. Indeed, they add, rather superfluously,
+that the demand is somewhat remarkable, considering
+the nature of the work.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle laughed at this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Any more reviews?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She handed him several and he noticed the guarded,
+unenthusiastic tone of the first two.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&mdash;it&#8217;s
+what one would expect from him. That was
+your brother&#8217;s work, I think. He was not an imaginative
+person.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied Millicent. &#8220;He was eminently practical
+and methodical.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a great deal to be said in favor of that
+kind of man. You can trust him when it&#8217;s a case of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+grappling with practical difficulties. But I feel quite
+angry with the next reviewer. &#8216;The illustrations are
+rather impressionist drawings than a useful guide to
+identification.&#8217; 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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent was pleased with his indignation, but his
+disgusted expression changed as he read the next cutting.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;we&#8217;re arriving at the sound
+sense of ordinary people, lovers of nature who&#8217;re not
+naturalists. This man&#8217;s enthusiastic; the next review&#8217;s
+even better!&#8221; He took up the others and there
+was keen satisfaction in his eyes when he laid them
+down. &#8220;Great!&#8221; he ejaculated. &#8220;I expected it.
+You&#8217;ve made your mark!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The girl thrilled with pleasure; his delight at her
+success was so genuine.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she told him, &#8220;the publishers suggest that
+I undertake another and more ambitious work. I&#8217;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&#8217;ve long had a desire to follow
+my brother&#8217;s trail. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a morbid
+wish&mdash;somehow I feel impelled to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;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&#8217;s a man to be depended on. You
+could start in the early summer next year.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She smiled at his eagerness; but he suddenly grew
+thoughtful.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s curious how events seem to have started beside
+those lonely river-reaches among the rocks,&#8221; he remarked.
+&#8220;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&#8217;ve
+a feeling that it will end among them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The drama?&#8221; she queried, and he was conscious
+that he had made a slip.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;before we crossed the big
+divide I wasn&#8217;t aware of your existence, and I&#8217;d
+only a hazy idea that I might come to England
+some day. Now, if I may say it, I&#8217;ve joined your
+group of friends and entered into their lives. One
+feels it can&#8217;t have sprung from nothing; it isn&#8217;t blind
+chance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She mused for a few moments.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s strange,&#8221; she asserted, &#8220;but I&#8217;ve had something
+of the same feeling. You seem to have become
+a part of things, a connecting link between us all&mdash;Mrs.
+Gladwyne, Clarence, Nasmyth, and even young
+Crestwick. One could almost fancy that some mysterious
+agency were working upon us through you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He did not wish her to pursue this train of thought
+too far.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve promised to take Jim Crestwick back with
+me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going as soon as I&#8217;m fit to get
+about.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Going back, in a few weeks?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. In many ways, I&#8217;m sorry; but I&#8217;ve had some
+letters that show it&#8217;s needful. Business calls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She made no reply for some moments. There was
+no doubt that she would miss him badly, and she recalled
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span>
+the strange and tense anxiety of which she had
+been conscious when he had fallen at the hurdles.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have come to look upon you as one of us,&#8221; she
+told him simply. &#8220;Somehow we never contemplated
+your going away, and now it seems an almost unnatural
+thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be, if I broke off the connection with my
+English friends, but I think that can&#8217;t be done. We&#8217;re
+to see more of each other; I&#8217;m to be your guide when
+you come out next year.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very likely that I shall come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is going back as soon as he can stand the
+journey,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne made an abrupt movement and she noticed
+with surprise and some indignation the relief in his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+expression. Though the men had not been on very
+cordial terms, it puzzled her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t attempt to conceal your satisfaction,&#8221;
+she commented. &#8220;Isn&#8217;t it a little ungenerous?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His effort to recover his composure was obvious, but
+he answered her quietly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid it is. After the accident&mdash;I think I
+was partly blamed for that&mdash;he behaved very well;
+told everybody about the slippery ground and said
+what he could to exonerate me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t mean to refer to that matter,&#8221; explained
+Millicent. She knew that it was a painful one to
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Still,&#8221; he resumed, &#8220;even if it&#8217;s ungrateful, I am
+rather glad he&#8217;s going.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Rather glad&#8217; hardly seems to describe it; you
+looked overjoyed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;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&#8217;t mean he did it
+with deliberate intention, but he took up your time
+and monopolized your interest. I&#8217;ve seen much less
+of both of you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And, of late, of the Crestwicks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; he returned in his most casual manner, &#8220;I
+shouldn&#8217;t have had much more of their company in
+any case. Jim&#8217;s going to Canada and Bella to Sussex.
+I understand from Marple that it will be some
+time before she visits us again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent was glad to hear it, but she made no comment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s unreasonable to blame Lisle,&#8221; Gladwyne went
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span>
+on; &#8220;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&#8217;t disassociate him from the unfortunate
+tendency.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s interest and sympathy.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry,&#8221; she said with sincere feeling. &#8220;You
+should go away for a time. You need a change.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve thought of it; but I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;ve been neglecting
+things lately and there&#8217;s a good deal that needs
+straightening up&mdash;farm buildings to be looked to,
+the stream to dyke in the low ground, and that draining
+scheme.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; she told him, &#8220;that if you undertake
+these things in earnest, you&#8217;ll be better for the occupation;
+and they certainly need looking after.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been slack,&#8221; he owned. &#8220;I seemed to lose interest
+and, as I said, I&#8217;ve had difficulties to distract
+me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span></p>
+<p>He had struck the right note again. Anything of
+the nature of a confession or appeal for sympathy seldom
+failed to stir her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In fact,&#8221; he resumed, &#8220;I&#8217;m not clear of troubles
+now. If I do half that I&#8217;m asked to do, it will nearly
+ruin me, and I don&#8217;t know where to begin. I haven&#8217;t
+any great confidence in Grierson&#8217;s advice; he doesn&#8217;t
+seem to grip things readily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trouble is that he has his favorites,&#8221; she said
+bluntly. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think he suffers from any lack of
+understanding.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was unpleasant, but she had courage and the
+man was doing Clarence harm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At my expense, while the rest get less than they
+should have?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A number of your tenants have got practically
+nothing for some years. It&#8217;s false economy; you&#8217;ll
+have to lay out twice as much as would keep them
+here satisfied, when they leave you in disgust.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What an administrator you would have made!&#8221; he
+exclaimed. &#8220;The place would thrive in your hands
+and everybody be content. It&#8217;s obvious, quite apart
+from his good qualities, why George was so popular.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clarence,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t advise you to
+take the business altogether out of Grierson&#8217;s hands.
+He&#8217;s honest, so far as you are concerned, and one or
+two of the hardest things he did were by your orders.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean the Milburn and Grainger affair?&#8221;
+He showed a little embarrassment. &#8220;Well, perhaps I
+was hasty then, but they would have exasperated a
+much more patient man. I sometimes feel that I can&#8217;t
+please these people, whatever I do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She smiled at this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re not effusive, but they&#8217;re loyal once you
+win their confidence. But, to go back to Grierson&mdash;let
+him collect payments and handle the money, but
+don&#8217;t ask his advice as to how you will lay it out.
+Look around, inquire into things, and trust your own
+judgment.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He turned to her beseechingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t trust it in these matters&mdash;it hasn&#8217;t been
+cultivated. If I&#8217;m to keep out of further trouble and
+do any good, you must help me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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&#8217;s demand for help offered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+her, but she was more stirred by his desire to redeem
+past neglect and set right his failures.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she promised, &#8220;you shall have my candid
+advice whenever you need it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s means were
+not so large as Bella&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XX_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_TEMPTATION' id='XX_MRS_GLADWYNE_S_TEMPTATION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>MRS. GLADWYNE&#8217;S TEMPTATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&mdash;a luster chandelier, quaintly-wrought
+hearth-irons, a carved wood mantel&mdash;that
+posited to bygone days.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>At last he heard a footstep and his hostess came in.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve come on an unpleasant errand&mdash;to say good-by&mdash;and
+to thank you for many favors shown to a
+stranger,&#8221; he said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think you were never that from the beginning,&#8221;
+she told him. &#8220;By and by we learned the reason&mdash;you
+really belong to us.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He made a gesture of humorous expostulation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like to believe that I belong here, but not because
+of the explanation you give. It doesn&#8217;t seem
+to be much to my credit that my forefathers lived in
+this part of the country; I&#8217;d rather be taken on my actual
+merits, if that isn&#8217;t, too egotistical.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They did live here,&#8221; she rejoined. &#8220;You can&#8217;t
+get over that&mdash;it has its influence.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was the point of view he had expected her to
+take.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are very sorry you are going,&#8221; she continued;
+&#8220;somehow we hardly anticipated it. Have you ever
+thought of coming back for good?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She was unconsciously giving him the lead he desired,
+but he would not seize it precipitately; he was
+half afraid.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered, smiling; &#8220;my work&#8217;s out yonder.
+I couldn&#8217;t sit idle. I think Miss Gladwyne hit
+it when she told me that I was one of the pioneers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His hostess showed more comprehension than he had
+looked for.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Troublesome people, aren&#8217;t they? What do you
+do with them?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let them go. How do we rule India and hold so
+much of Africa? How did we open up Canada for
+you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s right. It doesn&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m returning because business calls,&#8221; he explained.
+&#8220;My means won&#8217;t keep me in idleness, and
+that fact has a bearing on the question as to whether
+I&#8217;ll ever come back again. It&#8217;s a very momentous one
+to me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She waited, noticing with some surprise the sudden
+tenseness of his expression, until he spoke again, hesitatingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are the only person I can come to for advice.
+I&#8217;d be grateful for your opinion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll try to give it carefully,&#8221; she promised.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; she exclaimed, seeing the drift of his remarks
+at last. &#8220;You had better tell me whom you are
+thinking of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How long have you had this in your mind?&#8221; she
+asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is more than I can tell you,&#8221; he answered
+thoughtfully. &#8220;I admired her greatly the first time I
+saw her; I admired her more when we made friends,
+but I don&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has Millicent any suspicion of your regard for
+her?&#8221; It was an important question and Mrs. Gladwyne
+waited in suspense for his reply.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not the slightest, so far as I can tell. I tried
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+to hide my feelings until I could come to a decision as
+to what I ought to do.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>This was satisfactory, provided that his supposition
+was correct, and his companion could imagine his exercising
+a good deal of self-repression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is your fear?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m rough and unpolished compared with
+Nasmyth and the rest, but with her large mind she
+might overlook that. I couldn&#8217;t live here as Nasmyth
+and Clarence do; I&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;m going back now, sooner
+than I expected, because there are business difficulties
+to be grappled with.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne nodded. She could follow his
+thought, but after a pause he continued.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What troubles me most is that Millicent seems so
+much in harmony with her surroundings. We have
+nothing like them in Canada&mdash;anyway, not in the
+West. Whether ours are better or worse doesn&#8217;t affect
+the case; they&#8217;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span>
+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&#8217;s way.
+Clarence came before anybody else.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I feel my responsibility,&#8221; she said slowly.
+&#8220;Would you act on my advice?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think so&mdash;it might be hard. Anyway, I&#8217;d try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she answered him, &#8220;until two years ago
+Millicent lived in this house&mdash;that must have had its
+effect on her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he agreed; &#8220;she shows it. These old
+places set their stamp on people&mdash;it&#8217;s very plain
+on you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Mrs. Gladwyne saw that he understood, but she felt
+half guilty as she proceeded:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You admit that you could not give her anything of
+this kind in Canada?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He laughed rather grimly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; our homes were built yesterday, and we move
+on rapidly&mdash;they&#8217;ll be pulled down again to-morrow.
+I&#8217;ll own that our ideas and manners are in the
+same unfinished, transitory stage. We haven&#8217;t been
+able to sit down and learn how to be graceful.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She made a sign of comprehension, though her reluctance
+to proceed grew stronger. He was very honest
+and there was pain in his face.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent,&#8221; she said, &#8220;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he replied harshly; &#8220;I can&#8217;t.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then do you think it would be wise to take her
+to Canada?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have thought she would not mind giving up
+many things she values, if one could win her affection.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is very true; but it doesn&#8217;t get over the difficulty.
+It isn&#8217;t so very hard to nerve oneself to make
+a sacrifice, it&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He sat silent for nearly a minute, with his face set
+hard, and then he looked up.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If Millicent were your daughter, would you let
+her go?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s best interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He made no answer for a few moments. Then
+slowly he rose.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; he said gravely. &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid
+you&#8217;re right. It&#8217;s generally hard to do what one
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+ought. Well,&#8221;&mdash;he took the hand she held out&mdash;&#8220;I&#8217;m
+grateful to you in many ways and I&#8217;d like you to
+remember me now and then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>On his return, Nasmyth met him at the door.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where have you been?&#8221; he asked with some indignation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;To Mrs. Gladwyne&#8217;s,&#8221; Lisle informed him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You walked to the house, after what Irvine said
+when you insisted on his taking the bandages off?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I took them off; he only protested. Anyway, I
+didn&#8217;t break my leg.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth noticed his gloomy expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he responded, &#8220;I suppose there was very
+little use in warning you to keep quiet; but you look
+as if you had suffered for your rashness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s true,&#8221; answered the Canadian with a grim
+smile. &#8220;After all, it&#8217;s what usually happens, isn&#8217;t
+it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They went in, Nasmyth a little puzzled by his companion&#8217;s
+manner; but Lisle offered no explanation of
+its cause.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXI_THE_LAST_AFTERNOON' id='XXI_THE_LAST_AFTERNOON'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>THE LAST AFTERNOON</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care what they think; I couldn&#8217;t talk to
+you while they were all trying to say something nice,&#8221;
+she explained. &#8220;Still, to do them justice, I believe
+they meant it. We are sorry to part with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s soothing to feel that,&#8221; Lisle replied. &#8220;In
+many ways, I&#8217;m sorry to go. I&#8217;ve no doubt you&#8217;ll miss
+your brother after to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said with unusual seriousness. &#8220;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&#8217;m sorry he&#8217;s going. I can&#8217;t help remembering how
+often I lost my temper, and the mistakes I made.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You stuck to your task,&#8221; commended Lisle. &#8220;I
+dare say it was a hard one, almost beyond you now
+and then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
+suspected, though in the light of a subsequent revelation
+of Gladwyne&#8217;s character she was thankful for this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;I suppose that one misses
+a load one has grown used to, and I feel very downcast.
+It&#8217;s hardly fair to pass Jim on to you&mdash;but I
+can trust you to take care of him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can trust the work and the country,&#8221; Lisle
+corrected her with a trace of grimness. &#8220;He&#8217;s not
+going out to be idle, as he&#8217;ll discover. There&#8217;s nothing
+like short commons and steady toil for taming any
+one. You&#8217;ll see the effect of my prescription when I
+send him back again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He has physical pluck. I&#8217;m glad to remember it;
+and he has shown signs of steadying since he found
+Gladwyne out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle looked at her searchingly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Since he found Gladwyne out?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she answered, seeing that she had been incautious,
+&#8220;he rather idolized the man, and I suppose
+it was painful to discover by accident that he wasn&#8217;t
+quite all he thought him. Now, however, he has transferred
+his homage to you&mdash;I&#8217;m afraid Jim must always
+have somebody to prop him&mdash;but I&#8217;ve no misgivings.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve seldom had the time to get into mischief; I
+suppose that accounts for a good deal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They were nearing the lodge and she stopped and
+held out her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to say good-by; you have helped me more
+than you&#8217;ll ever guess, and you won&#8217;t be forgotten.&#8221;
+Then as he held her hand with signs of embarrassment
+she laughed with something of her usual mocking manner
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span>
+and suddenly drew away. &#8220;Good-by,&#8221; she added.
+&#8220;I was rather daring once and I suppose you were
+shocked. I can&#8217;t repeat the rashness&mdash;it would mean
+more now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She walked back toward the house, and he went on.
+Half an hour later he met Millicent, who stopped to
+greet him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was on my way to call on you for the last time,&#8221;
+he told her.
+</p>
+<p>There was something in his voice that troubled her,
+and, though she had expected it, she shrank from the
+intimation of his departure.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, will you come back with me?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re not pressed for time, I&#8217;d rather walk
+across the moor, the way you once took me soon after
+I came. I&#8217;d like to look round the countryside again
+before I leave, though it will be a melancholy pleasure.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>For no very obvious reason, she hesitated. It was,
+however, hard to refuse his last request and she really
+wished to go.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The views are unusually good,&#8221; she said, as they
+started on. &#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t Nasmyth have gone with
+you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t have been the same,&#8221; he explained.
+&#8220;I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you can&#8217;t picture my being occupied in that
+way?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered gravely; &#8220;I associate you with
+England&mdash;with stately old houses, with well-cared-for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span>
+woods and quiet valleys. There&#8217;s no doubt that your
+place is here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He spoke as if he were making an admission that was
+forced from him, and she endeavored to answer in a
+lighter manner.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the only one I&#8217;ve had an opportunity for trying.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you love this place!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said; &#8220;I love it very well. Perhaps I
+am prejudiced, and I&#8217;ve only had a glimpse at other
+countries, but I feel that this is the most beautiful
+land in the world.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;it was no place for this delicately
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
+nurtured girl with her sensitiveness and artistic faculties.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For those who can live as you live, it would be
+hard to find the equal of this part of England,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m not sure you can keep it very much
+longer as it is.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;there&#8217;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&#8217;s worth here for no
+better soil.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how do they make it pay?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The secret is that they expect very little&mdash;enough
+to eat, a shack they build with their own hands to
+sleep in&mdash;and they&#8217;re willing to work sixteen hours
+out of the twenty-four.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They can&#8217;t do so in winter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The hours are shorter, but where the winter&#8217;s hardest&mdash;on
+the open middle prairie&mdash;the work&#8217;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&#8217;s warmer, work goes on
+much as usual. The bush rancher spends his days
+chopping big trees in the rain and his nights making
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+odd things&mdash;furniture, wagon-poles, new doors for
+his outbuildings. What you would call necessary
+leisure is unknown.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;in city office, lonely bush, or sawmill&mdash;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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you are not a farmer,&#8221; she objected.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; mining&#8217;s my vocation and it keeps me busy.
+In the city, I&#8217;m at work long before they think of
+opening their London offices, and it&#8217;s generally midnight
+before I&#8217;ve finished worrying engineers and contractors
+at their homes or hotels. In the wilds, we&#8217;re
+more or less continuously grappling with rock or
+treacherous gravel, or out on the prospecting trail,
+while the northern summer lasts; it&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent shivered a little, wondering uneasily why
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+he had taken the trouble to impress this upon her. It
+was, she thought, certainly not to show what he was
+capable of.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you glad to go back, or do you dread it?&#8221;
+she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t dread it&mdash;it&#8217;s my life, and things may be
+easier by and by. Still, I&#8217;m very loath to go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she told him, &#8220;I&#8217;m glad that you asked me
+to come with you. I think I was one of your first
+friends and I&#8217;m pleased that you should wish to spend
+part of your last day in my company.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You come first of all!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s flattering,&#8221; she smiled. &#8220;What about
+Nasmyth?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;An unusually fine man, but he has his limits. You
+have none.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure I quite understand you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; he explained seriously, &#8220;what I think I
+mean is this&mdash;you&#8217;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&#8217;d find some way of getting over the difficulties.
+It&#8217;s a gift more useful than genius.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re rating me too highly,&#8221; she answered with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
+some embarrassment. &#8220;You admitted that you
+thought my place was here&mdash;the inference was that I
+shouldn&#8217;t fit into a different one.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he corrected her; &#8220;you&#8217;d adapt yourself to
+changed conditions; but that wouldn&#8217;t prevent your
+suffering in the process. Indeed, I think people of
+your kind often suffer more than the others.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He was to some extent correct in his estimate of her,
+but she shrank from the direct personal application of
+his remarks.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t the virtues you have described fairly common?&#8221;
+she asked. &#8220;I think that must be so, because
+they&#8217;re so necessary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&mdash;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&#8217;ve thought the capacity to do so is humanity&#8217;s
+greatest attribute, but after all it&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she asserted; &#8220;there are barriers that can&#8217;t
+be stormed. Merely to acquiesce is the hardest thing
+of all, but in that lies the victory.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a bitter one,&#8221; he answered moodily.
+</p>
+<p>There was silence for a few minutes while they
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+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&mdash;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&mdash;when the
+moral difficulties were unsurmountable one must quietly
+submit.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Millicent shivered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll go down,&#8221; Lisle said quietly; &#8220;the brightness
+has gone. I&#8217;ve had a great time here&mdash;something
+to think of as long as I live&mdash;but now it&#8217;s over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;ll come back some day?&#8221; she suggested.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I may; I can&#8217;t tell,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;I&#8217;ve schemes
+in view, to be worked out in the North, that may make
+my return possible; but even then it couldn&#8217;t be quite
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
+the same. Things change; one mustn&#8217;t expect too
+much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you come in?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; Nasmyth&#8217;s waiting. I&#8217;m glad you came with
+me, but I won&#8217;t say good-by. I&#8217;ll look forward to the
+journey we&#8217;re to make together through British Columbia.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She held out her hand; in another moment he turned
+away, and she walked on to the house with a strange
+sense of depression.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXII_STARTLING_NEWS' id='XXII_STARTLING_NEWS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>STARTLING NEWS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>Rising at length, Lisle walked toward the dangerous
+spot, guiding himself by sound, for once he was out
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got here!&#8221; came the answer. &#8220;Where shall
+I leave the ice? Seems to be an opening in front of
+me!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Turn your back on the wind and walk straight
+ahead!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He supposed that Crestwick was obeying him, but
+a few moments later he heard a second shout:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Brought up by another big crack!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m in among a maze of cracks; can&#8217;t find any
+way out!&#8221; Crestwick cried, answering his hail.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look out!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;It&#8217;s tilting under!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;The stream will jamb
+it fast!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They reached the larger mass and moved across it,
+but Lisle, clutching his companion&#8217;s arm, bewildered
+and almost blinded by the snow, doubted if he were
+retracing his steps. He did not remember some of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>At last they came to the broad crevasse, farther up
+the stream, and Lisle turned to Crestwick.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better take off your skin-coat. You&#8217;ll have to
+jump.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t,&#8221; said the other dejectedly. &#8220;It&#8217;s not
+nerve&mdash;the thing&#8217;s clean beyond me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His slack pose&mdash;for he was dimly visible amid the
+haze of driving snow&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then we&#8217;ll look for a narrower place,&#8221; he decided.
+&#8220;Where did you get across?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Don&#8217;t remember this split, but the
+ice was working under me. Perhaps the snow had
+covered it and now it&#8217;s fallen in.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s easy!&#8221; he called, stripping off his long skin
+coat and flinging one end of it across the chasm to
+Crestwick. &#8220;Get hold and face the jump!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It strikes me as fortunate that I came to look for
+you,&#8221; he observed. &#8220;You&#8217;d probably have ended by
+walking into the river.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks,&#8221; said Crestwick simply. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t the
+first hole you&#8217;ve pulled me out of.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was uncommonly glad to see the fire,&#8221; he said at
+length. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve been doing this kind of thing most of
+their lives. You couldn&#8217;t expect to equal them.
+Where did you sleep last night?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;t burn well, I don&#8217;t think I got
+much rest. Part of the time I wondered what I was
+staying in this country for. I didn&#8217;t seem to find any
+sensible answer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could get out of it when the freighters go
+down with the dogs and sledges,&#8221; Lisle suggested. &#8220;It
+would be a good deal more comfortable at Marple&#8217;s, for
+instance.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you want to get rid of me? I suppose I&#8217;m not
+much help.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no!&#8221; Lisle assured him. &#8220;It only struck me
+that you might find the novelty of the experience
+wearing off. Besides, you&#8217;re improving; in a year
+or two you&#8217;ll make quite a reliable prospector&#8217;s
+packer.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s something,&#8221; replied Crestwick, grinning.
+&#8220;Not long ago I thought I&#8217;d make a sportsman; one
+of Gladwyne&#8217;s kind. The ambition doesn&#8217;t so much
+appeal to me now. But I want to be rather more than
+a looker-on. Can&#8217;t you let me put something into one
+of these claims?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not a cent! In the first place, you&#8217;d have some
+trouble in raising the money; in the second, I might be
+accused of playing Batley&#8217;s game.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The last&#8217;s ridiculous. But if I&#8217;m not to do anything,
+it brings me back to the question&mdash;why am I
+staying here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t tell you that. I&#8217;ll only suggest that if you
+hold out until you come into your property, you&#8217;ll go
+back much more fit in several ways to look after it. I
+should imagine you&#8217;d find less occasion to emulate
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span>
+people like Batley and Gladwyne then. Of course,
+I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s worth waiting for.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was the nearest approach to seriousness he considered
+advisable, for precept was obnoxious to him
+and apt to be resented by his companion.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he added, &#8220;what about the mail?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mine&#8217;s from Bella; there&#8217;s news in it,&#8221; Crestwick
+remarked. &#8220;She says Carew&mdash;I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;ve
+seen him&mdash;is anxious to marry her, and if she&#8217;s convinced
+that I&#8217;m getting on satisfactorily, she&#8217;ll probably
+agree. He&#8217;s&mdash;I&#8217;m quoting&mdash;about as good as
+she&#8217;s likely to get; that&#8217;s Bella all over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s he like?&#8221; Lisle asked with interest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;To tell the truth, in one way I think she&#8217;s right&mdash;the
+man&#8217;s straight; not the Marple crowd&#8217;s style. In
+fact, I found him decidedly stand-offish, though I&#8217;ll
+own there might have been a reason for that. Anyhow,
+I&#8217;m glad; she might have done a good deal worse.
+I suppose you won&#8217;t mind giving me a testimonial that
+will set her doubts at rest?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have it. Since the man&#8217;s a good one,
+I&#8217;m nearly as glad as you are. I&#8217;ve a strong respect
+for your sister; she stood by you pluckily.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s true,&#8221; asserted Crestwick. &#8220;I was a bit
+of an imbecile, and she&#8217;s really hard to beat. She says
+if the life here&#8217;s too tough for me I&#8217;m to come back
+and live with them. That&#8217;s considerate, because in a
+way she can&#8217;t want me, though I haven&#8217;t the least doubt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+she&#8217;d make Carew put up with my company. It decides
+the question&mdash;I&#8217;m not going.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A little while ago you&#8217;d have taken Carew&#8217;s delight
+for granted, wouldn&#8217;t you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m beginning to see things,&#8221; Crestwick answered
+with a wave of his hand. Then he paused and looked
+confused. &#8220;After all, though she says I&#8217;m to give
+you the message, Bella really goes too far now and
+then.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She doesn&#8217;t always mean it. You may as well
+obey her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s this&mdash;if it&#8217;s any consolation, she has no intention
+of forgetting you, and Arthur&mdash;that&#8217;s the
+fellow&#8217;s name&mdash;is anxious to make your acquaintance.
+She says there are men who&#8217;re not so unresponsive as
+you are, but Arthur has never been into the North to
+get frozen.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle laughed&mdash;it was so characteristic of Bella.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s something else,&#8221; Crestwick proceeded;
+&#8220;about Miss Gladwyne. Bella thinks you&#8217;d be interested
+to hear that there&#8217;s a prospect of&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on!&#8221; cried Lisle, dropping his pipe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see,&#8221; said Crestwick. &#8220;You might stir
+the fire.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;s house.
+Flo told her that it looks as if the long-deferred arrangement
+was to be brought about at last.&#8221; He laid
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
+down the letter. &#8220;If that means she&#8217;s to marry Gladwyne,
+it ought to be prevented!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They looked at each other curiously, and Lisle,
+struggling to command himself, noticed the lad&#8217;s
+strained expression.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; he asked with significant shortness.
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick seemed on the verge of some vehement outbreak
+and Lisle saw that it was with an effort he refrained.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;the man&#8217;s not half good
+enough. He&#8217;s a dangerous rotter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dangerous?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; returned Crestwick dryly; &#8220;I think that
+describes it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was an impressive silence, while each wondered
+how far he might have betrayed himself. Then Lisle
+spoke.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Read the rest of the letter. See if Bella says anything
+further.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No announcement made,&#8221; Crestwick informed him
+a little later. &#8220;All the same, Flo&#8217;s satisfied that the
+engagement will be made known before long.&#8221; He
+looked up at Lisle with uncertainty and anger in his
+face. &#8220;It almost makes me forget Bella&#8217;s other news.
+What can be done?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want to do?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t fence!&#8221; said Crestwick. &#8220;I&#8217;m not smart at
+it. Don&#8217;t you know a reason why Miss Gladwyne
+shouldn&#8217;t marry the fellow?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. It has nothing to do with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps not,&#8221; replied Crestwick. &#8220;I can only
+say that the match ought to be broken off. It isn&#8217;t
+to be contemplated!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Lisle responded with forced quietness, &#8220;if
+it&#8217;s any relief to you, I&#8217;ll write to Nasmyth the first
+chance I get, asking what he&#8217;s heard. Now we&#8217;ll drop
+the subject. Is there anything else of general interest
+in your letter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bella says her wedding won&#8217;t be until the early
+summer and she&#8217;s thinking of making Carew bring
+her out to Banff or Glacier&mdash;he came out shooting or
+climbing once before. Then she&#8217;ll endeavor to look
+us up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIII_A_FORCED_MARCH' id='XXIII_A_FORCED_MARCH'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>A FORCED MARCH</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That looks like marching; I thought we were going
+to lie off to-day,&#8221; observed the lad.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel?&#8221; Lisle inquired.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Horribly stiff; but that&#8217;s the worst. Why are you
+going on?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because the freighters should leave the Hudson
+Bay post to-morrow with their dog-teams. It&#8217;s the
+only chance of sending out a letter I may get for a
+long while, and I want to write to Nasmyth.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick shivered, glancing disconsolately at the
+snow; he shrank from the prospect of a two days&#8217; 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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; he acquiesced, &#8220;I&#8217;ll try to make it. If
+I can&#8217;t, you&#8217;ll have to drop me where there&#8217;s some
+shelter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He ate the best possible breakfast, for as wood was
+scarce in parts of the country, and making a fire difficult,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now we&#8217;ll pull out,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But wait a moment:
+I&#8217;d better look for a dry place to put this paper
+currency.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where did you get it? You told me at the last
+settlement that you had hardly a dollar left.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick grinned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, some of the boys offered to teach me a little
+game they were playing when we thawed out that claim.
+I didn&#8217;t find it difficult, though I must own that I had
+very good luck. It was three or four months since I&#8217;d
+touched a card, and there&#8217;s a risk of reaction in too
+drastic reform. Anyhow, I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Then, when he was satisfied with the result of his
+exertions, Crestwick&#8217;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&#8217;s demeanor had escaped Lisle&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle set his lips as he looked back on what he now
+considered his weakness in withholding the story of
+Gladwyne&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not even a gulch we could sit down in,&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span>
+said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll have to go on; and I&#8217;m not sorry, for
+one reason. There&#8217;s not much time to spare.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll have to find a shelter for the tent by nightfall,
+or dig a snowpit where there&#8217;s some wood,&#8221; he declared.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll try to hold out.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They proceeded and the afternoon&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s the kettle to be filled,&#8221; suggested Lisle.
+&#8220;You could break the ice where the stream&#8217;s faster
+among those stones; we&#8217;d boil water quicker than we&#8217;d
+melt down snow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick got up with an effort that cost him a good
+deal and stumbled away from the fire. Then a gust of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind; come back!&#8221; Lisle called to him.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll go for the thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lad turned at the summons and sank down again
+beside the fire.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I&#8217;m done,&#8221; he said wearily. &#8220;I may feel
+a little more fit in the morning.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>At last, a little while before daybreak, Lisle got up
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must be off in a few minutes,&#8221; he announced.
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick raised himself with one hand and blinked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know whether I can manage it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; responded Lisle, hiding his compassion,
+&#8220;you&#8217;ll have to decide which of two things you&#8217;ll do&mdash;you
+can stay here until I come back, or you can take
+the trail with me. I must go on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; he called back to Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>It was afternoon when they entered a long valley,
+and Lisle, grasping Crestwick&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Malamutes; the freighters can&#8217;t have started yet
+with their sledges,&#8221; he said to Crestwick, who was holding
+on to him. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they can be more than
+half a mile off.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll manage that somehow,&#8221; replied the lad.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span>
+change from the bitter cold outside to the stuffiness of
+a stove-heated room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Played out; I&#8217;d some trouble to get him along,&#8221; he
+explained to the men. &#8220;We&#8217;re going on to the claims
+at the gulch to-morrow.&#8221; Then he addressed the two
+in furs: &#8220;I guess you&#8217;ll take me out a letter?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, of course; but you&#8217;ll have to hustle,&#8221; said
+one of them, and Lisle turned to a man in a deerskin
+jacket whom he took for the agent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can you give me some paper?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sure! Sit down right here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s treachery
+as he thought judicious.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll fix you some supper; you look as if you needed
+it. Rustle round, Larry, and get the frying-pan on.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They ate an excellent meal and shortly afterward
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIV_MILLICENT_SUMMONS_HER_GUIDE' id='XXIV_MILLICENT_SUMMONS_HER_GUIDE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>MILLICENT SUMMONS HER GUIDE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Lisle was living luxuriously in Victoria when
+Nasmyth&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>He opened the letters&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>He was, however, slightly reassured when he opened
+it. Nasmyth&#8217;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&#8217;s attachment to Clarence
+was not likely to grow very much stronger in a month or
+two. In conclusion, he urged Lisle to wait.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s letter made
+this seem advisable.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span></p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen Walthew and Slyde,&#8221; he announced.
+&#8220;It will be all right about the money; we&#8217;ll put the
+hydraulic plant proposition through at the next Board
+meeting. You&#8217;ll have to go back right away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve only just come down; the frost&#8217;s not out of
+me yet,&#8221; Lisle grumbled. &#8220;Besides, you seem to be
+going ahead rather fast here in the city. Walthew&#8217;s
+a little too much of a hustler; I&#8217;d rather he&#8217;d stop to
+think. You&#8217;re almost as bad, Garnet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The young man laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess you can&#8217;t help it, it&#8217;s the English streak in
+you; but in a way you&#8217;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&#8217;s eyes were bulging with horror,
+he could hardly stammer out his indignation&mdash;said
+our extravagance was sinful. Anyway, you&#8217;ve got to
+go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he complied with some reluctance, &#8220;if it&#8217;s
+necessary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; Garnet explained. &#8220;Think we&#8217;re going to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span>
+have washing plant worth a good many thousand dollars
+left lying in the bush or dropped into rivers?
+You&#8217;ll have to arrange for transport and break new
+trails. You can do it best when the snow&#8217;s still on
+the ground, and that plant must start working soon
+after the thaw comes. We&#8217;ve got to justify our expenditure
+while the season&#8217;s open.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t got your authority to buy the plant
+yet.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Garnet chuckled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;t be astonished
+if some of the work isn&#8217;t in progress now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle was quick of thought and prompt in action,
+but he sometimes felt as if Garnet took his breath
+away.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you have it all arranged, I may as well agree,&#8221;
+he laughed. &#8220;I&#8217;ll take Crestwick back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That reminds me; he said something about taking
+an interest&mdash;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s not to have them!&#8221; Lisle replied emphatically.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s more, the trustees won&#8217;t part with a
+dollar unless I guarantee the project&mdash;I&#8217;ve been in
+communication with them. Rest assured that the idea
+won&#8217;t get my endorsement.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could never get at the workings of the English
+mind,&#8221; Garnet declared. &#8220;Now if my relatives had
+any money, I&#8217;d rush them all in. This is the safest
+and best-managed mining proposition on the Pacific
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span>
+Slope. What kind of morality is it that gathers in
+the general investor and keeps your friends out?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know; it doesn&#8217;t concern the point. I&#8217;m
+actuated by what you may call a prejudice. You
+can&#8217;t remove it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; Garnet responded good-humoredly, &#8220;it&#8217;s
+a pretty tough country up yonder and I suppose the
+lad&#8217;s of some service. You&#8217;re saving us a pile of
+money in experts&#8217; fees and I don&#8217;t see why you
+shouldn&#8217;t put him on the company&#8217;s payroll. I mentioned
+the thing to Walthew; he was agreeable.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Garnet has a proposition to make,&#8221; Lisle informed
+him; and the Canadian briefly stated it.
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick did not seem surprised, nor did he display
+much appreciation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;To tell the truth, I thought you might have mentioned
+the matter before,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;Still, if
+you want my services, you&#8217;ll have to go up twenty
+dollars.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A week?&#8221; Garnet asked ironically. &#8220;You promise
+well; if you stay here a year or two you&#8217;ll make
+a useful and enterprising citizen. We could get an
+experienced boss packer for what I offered you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Down here, yes. When he got to where the claims
+are, he&#8217;d almost certainly drop you and turn miner,
+and you couldn&#8217;t blame him. A man deserves a hundred
+dollars a day merely for living up yonder. But
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span>
+it&#8217;s a month I was speaking of. If you want me, you&#8217;ll
+have to come up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Garnet laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess I can fix it; but we&#8217;ll get our value out
+of you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a compliment, if you look at it in one
+way,&#8221; Crestwick grinned in reply.
+</p>
+<p>When Garnet had left them, he turned to Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks awfully. Of course, it was your idea.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Garnet suggested the thing; that&#8217;s more flattering,
+isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick looked at him, smiling.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not to be played so easily as I was when I
+first met you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Of course, in a sense, the
+pay&#8217;s no great inducement to me; it&#8217;s the idea of being
+offered it. I&#8217;m going to advise old Barnes, my
+trustee; he was fond of saying that I was fortunate
+in being left well off because I&#8217;d never earn sixpence
+as long as I lived, until I stopped the thing by offering
+him ten to one I&#8217;d go out and make it in a couple
+of hours by carrying somebody&#8217;s bag from the station.
+Anyhow, this is the first move.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you&#8217;re going farther?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite so,&#8221; was the cheerful answer. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be a
+director of this company before I&#8217;ve finished. You
+can&#8217;t stop my buying shares when I come into my
+property.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve a letter from Bella,&#8221; Lisle told him. &#8220;She
+still desires to be informed if you&#8217;re getting along
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span>
+satisfactorily. I think I can tell her there&#8217;s no cause
+for uneasiness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bella&#8217;s a good sort,&#8221; returned Crestwick. &#8220;She&#8217;ll
+stop asking such questions by and by. At least, I
+think she&#8217;ll have some grounds for doing so.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&mdash;canoes
+here, a log-bridge there, relays of packers farther on.
+No man&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have they got the pipes and those large castings
+across the big ravine?&#8221; Lisle asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that has been done,&#8221; Crestwick answered.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span>
+&#8220;By the way, one of the packers told me that the
+man who&#8217;s coming up to run the plant&mdash;Carsley, isn&#8217;t
+it?&mdash;has arrived. There were some fittings or something
+wrong and he stopped behind to investigate, but
+the packer seemed to think he&#8217;d get through soon
+after I did. That turns us loose, doesn&#8217;t it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say I could hand things over to him in
+about a week,&#8221; replied Lisle. &#8220;Then we&#8217;ll clear out.
+I suppose you won&#8217;t be sorry?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick stretched out his feet to display his
+broken boots and rent trousers.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;since I left here, I&#8217;ve spent a
+good deal of my time in an icy creek, and it&#8217;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&#8217;d no end of trouble to get the
+stringers fixed&mdash;the stream was strong and we had to
+build a pier in it. Not long ago, I&#8217;d have considered
+anybody who did this kind of thing without compulsion
+mad, but in some mysterious way it grows on
+you. I don&#8217;t pretend to explain it, but it won&#8217;t be
+with unmixed delight that I&#8217;ll go back to the city.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He paused and fumbled in his pocket.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was forgetting your mail. I&#8217;m afraid it&#8217;s rather
+pulpy, but I couldn&#8217;t help that. By the way, I&#8217;d a
+letter from Bella, written at the Frontenac, Quebec.
+She&#8217;s brought Carew out; they&#8217;re going to Glacier
+very soon, and she still intends to look me up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle opened the letters handed him and managed
+to read them, though their condition fully bore out
+Crestwick&#8217;s description. Two or three were on business
+matters, but there was one from Millicent, and
+he started at the first few lines.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Gladwyne and Miss Hume have sailed&mdash;they
+must have landed a week ago,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;She
+wants to go over the ground her brother traversed&mdash;you
+have heard of that project. Nasmyth sailed a
+week earlier to arrange matters at this end; but I don&#8217;t
+know how Miss Hume will get along.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s merely a question of transport,&#8221; asserted
+Crestwick with the air of an authority on the subject.
+&#8220;So long as you provide sufficient packers, with relays
+from supply bases, you can travel in comparative
+comfort, though it&#8217;s expensive.&#8221; Then an idea occurred
+to him. &#8220;They&#8217;re pretty sure to run across
+Bella; Miss Gladwyne knows Carew.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;it has been arranged that I&#8217;m to
+act as guide, and Miss Gladwyne says they&#8217;ll wait for
+me. As that&#8217;s the case, I don&#8217;t see why I shouldn&#8217;t
+start as soon as Carsley gets through. I shouldn&#8217;t
+wonder if he brings a letter from Nasmyth. It will be
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
+a tough journey, and I&#8217;ll have to break a new trail.
+Are you coming, or will you head for Vancouver to
+join Bella?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll stick together,&#8221; replied the lad. &#8220;Bella&#8217;s
+to stay over here some months, and if she decides to
+join Miss Gladwyne she&#8217;ll leave Glacier long before I
+could reach the place.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle rose and shook out his pipe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; he responded, &#8220;I&#8217;ll take a look around, and
+you had better start off the first thing to-morrow and
+hurry those castings on. There&#8217;s a good deal to be
+done if we&#8217;re to get away when Carsley turns up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXV_A_RELIABLE_MAN' id='XXV_A_RELIABLE_MAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+<h3>A RELIABLE MAN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So far we have had absolutely nothing to complain
+of except a little jolting in the stage,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+beginning to understand why adventurous sight-seers
+are coming out here&mdash;it&#8217;s a glorious country!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my duty to point out that it won&#8217;t be quite
+the same as we go on,&#8221; Nasmyth remarked. &#8220;What
+do you say, Carew?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter; he&#8217;s said it all before,&#8221; Bella
+broke in. &#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s illusions might get sooner shattered
+in a more conventional one.&#8221; She stooped and
+ruffled her husband&#8217;s hair. &#8220;Still, he hasn&#8217;t deteriorated
+very much on closer acquaintance, and perhaps
+I&#8217;m fortunate in this.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the climax; it needs only the cockney accent
+to make the thing complete,&#8221; she said. &#8220;When
+I was last in London, one heard that silly jingle everywhere.
+I suppose it&#8217;s a triumph of the music-halls.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Or of modern civilization&mdash;a rendering of distance
+of no account,&#8221; suggested Carew. &#8220;There&#8217;s a
+good deal to be said for the latter achievement, as we
+are discovering.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Distance,&#8221; declared Bella, &#8220;still counts for something
+here. I&#8217;ve been thinking about Jim all day;
+imagining him dragging his canoe through the timber
+beyond those hills, and wondering whether he&#8217;d find
+us when he got to the other side.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She has been doing more,&#8221; her husband broke
+in. &#8220;Though she hasn&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella turned to Millicent with a smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think the meal will be wasted?&#8221; she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I can hardly believe it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mark the assurance of that answer,&#8221; commented
+Carew. &#8220;A man couldn&#8217;t feel it; it&#8217;s irrational.
+Miss Gladwyne speaks with a certainty that our guide
+will come, though she has nothing to base her calculations
+on&mdash;she doesn&#8217;t know the distance or the difficulties
+of the way.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does that matter?&#8221; Bella retorted. &#8220;She
+knows the man.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span></p>
+<p>Carew made a grimace.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A woman&#8217;s reasoning. As we&#8217;ve nothing better to
+do, I&#8217;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&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be careful,&#8221; Bella warned him. &#8220;It&#8217;s safer to
+avoid these details. Besides, you&#8217;re leaving something
+out; I don&#8217;t mean the nerve-cells, but the inner personality,
+whatever it is, that commands them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that&#8217;s how you reason&mdash;mechanically.
+We&#8217;re different.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll take quite another line,&#8221; Nasmyth interposed.
+&#8220;Lisle&#8217;s traversing a country new to him; he can&#8217;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&#8217;t that clear, Millicent?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was a smile in the girl&#8217;s eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;but, all the same, Lisle&#8217;s supper&#8217;s
+waiting.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Such confidence makes one jealous,&#8221; grumbled
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span>
+Carew. &#8220;Lisle, whom I haven&#8217;t met, is evidently a
+man who keeps his promise. That means a good
+deal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A very great deal,&#8221; Bella assured him. &#8220;Since
+one&#8217;s bound to meet with difficulties one can&#8217;t foresee,
+it proves that one man has resource, resolution, and
+many other eminently useful qualities; but all this is
+getting too serious. I&#8217;d better point out that Lisle
+hasn&#8217;t even promised to meet us here at any particular
+time.&#8221; She paused and laughed mischievously.
+&#8220;Millicent merely sent for him, mentioning to-morrow
+as the day she would like to start.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>A little color crept into Millicent&#8217;s face, but Bella
+went on:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;She called and I haven&#8217;t the least doubt that our
+guide set out, over ranges, up rapids, across wide lakes.
+One can&#8217;t imagine that man taking it easily, and
+there&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Bella leaned back lazily in her chair.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is delightful,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t
+Clarence want to come?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The unexpectedness of the question startled Millicent
+into answering:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah! Then you didn&#8217;t tell him? Why didn&#8217;t
+you?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></p>
+<p>It was difficult to reply, but there was something in
+Bella&#8217;s voice that disarmed Millicent&#8217;s resentment.
+Bella had grown gentler since her marriage and less
+often indulged in bitterness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said Millicent, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t want any one
+to distract me; I&#8217;m going to make photographs and
+sketches for the book, you know.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you let us come!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; assented Millicent; &#8220;you&#8217;re different.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s true. We won&#8217;t disturb you; and Nasmyth
+wouldn&#8217;t count. He&#8217;s an unobtrusive person, only to
+the front when he is wanted, which is a good deal to
+say for him; he doesn&#8217;t expect anything. No doubt,
+the same applies to Lisle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent made no answer and Bella wondered
+whether she had gone too far.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But didn&#8217;t Clarence hear that you were going?&#8221;
+she asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was in Switzerland with his mother. She had
+been recommended to try a change.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s one thing,&#8221; remarked Bella. &#8220;He can&#8217;t
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span>
+write you any reproachful letters for stealing away.
+At least, if he does so, you won&#8217;t get them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s chair.
+Suddenly Millicent leaned forward with her face turned
+toward the lake.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Listen!&#8221; she cried sharply. &#8220;Can&#8217;t you hear
+something?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>No sound reached the others for a moment; and then
+Nasmyth jumped up.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he exclaimed; &#8220;canoe paddles.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course, they may be Indians,&#8221; Bella suggested
+mischievously.
+</p>
+<p>Carew included Millicent in his answering bow.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I believe I&#8217;m beaten. You and Miss Gladwyne
+were right.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The moonlight was on Millicent&#8217;s face, and Bella,
+watching her, read something that roused her interest
+in its expression&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>A few minutes later the canoe grounded noisily on
+the shingle and Crestwick leaped out; Bella, regardless
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; she cried; &#8220;you disreputable scarecrow!
+You&#8217;re not fit for select society. And how long is it
+since you had anything to eat?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had a rather rough time getting through; there
+was thick scrub timber in some of the valleys,&#8221; Crestwick
+explained. &#8220;We might have made things easier
+by spending another few days on the trail, but Lisle
+wouldn&#8217;t listen when I suggested it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you did suggest it,&#8221; said Bella reproachfully.
+&#8220;Of course, I&#8217;m merely your sister.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want a better one,&#8221; Crestwick rejoined,
+grinning. &#8220;It strikes me you&#8217;re looking prettier than
+you did; but that&#8217;s perhaps because you have taken to
+wearing more ladylike clothes. As regards my appearance,
+I&#8217;ll venture to say that yours will be very
+much the same before you&#8217;ve finished this journey.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle had walked toward Miss Hume and had shaken
+hands with her before he turned to Millicent. That
+pleased the girl.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We ran it rather close, but the day isn&#8217;t quite
+finished yet,&#8221; he laughed. &#8220;We had some little
+trouble once or twice which prevented our turning up
+earlier.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent smiled in a manner that sent a thrill
+through him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can only say that we kept your supper; but
+that&#8217;s significant, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; Then she called to
+Nasmyth.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you see if the cook&#8217;s awake?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put the plate where I can reach it easily,&#8221; he bade
+his sister. &#8220;Look how you have placed that cup; if
+I move, it will spill!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have more courage than I have, Jim,&#8221; Carew
+remarked with a smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve needed it,&#8221; the lad declared. &#8220;I&#8217;ve borne
+enough from Bella in my time. She&#8217;ll no doubt say
+that I deserved it, and there may be some ground for
+the notion.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;and that was a good deal&mdash;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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Then Lisle yielded to a strong sense of satisfaction.
+For the next month or two he would be almost constantly
+in Millicent&#8217;s company; her companions were
+his friends, and he thought that he would not be
+troubled by Gladwyne&#8217;s presence. Desiring to assure
+himself on the latter point, he turned to Bella.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nobody has mentioned Clarence. I was wondering
+if he would join us?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, smiling at him meaningly;
+&#8220;he wasn&#8217;t invited.&#8221; Then she moved away, leaving
+Lisle more deeply content.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the party broke up, and when they reached
+the tent they jointly occupied, Miss Hume remarked
+to Millicent:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You look unusually pleased, my dear.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say I do,&#8221; Millicent smiled. &#8220;It&#8217;s something
+to feel that one&#8217;s confidence has been justified,
+and perhaps rather more to rest assured that everything
+will now go as smoothly as possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you mean since Mr. Lisle has come?
+Apart from his practical abilities, I&#8217;m fond of that
+man. No doubt you noticed that he came first to me,
+as the eldest, though he is aware that I&#8217;m only a dependent.
+In a way, of course, he wasn&#8217;t altogether
+right, Bella Carew being married and you the actual
+hostess.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if such points are of any importance in
+the bush,&#8221; Millicent answered, laughing. &#8220;But I&#8217;m
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span>
+glad Mr. Lisle&#8217;s action won your good opinion. I
+like my friends to be graceful.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Hume, faded, gray-haired and formal, looked
+reflective.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Moved by some impulse, Millicent kissed her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve no doubt he&#8217;d value it. But I can&#8217;t have
+Clarence depreciated; and it&#8217;s getting very late.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Miss Hume noticed a slight change in the girl&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVI_LISLE_TURNS_AUTOCRAT' id='XXVI_LISLE_TURNS_AUTOCRAT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+<h3>LISLE TURNS AUTOCRAT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the morning after his arrival, Lisle called
+the company together and first of all addressed
+Millicent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your wish that I should act as guide to this
+expedition?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent answered in the affirmative and he went on:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The guide must be commander-in-chief, with undisputed
+authority. Before we start, I must ask if
+any one objects to that?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They gave him full power, with acclamation, and
+he nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;s a question of transport.
+There are two ways of getting over the difficulty&mdash;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&#8217;s clear?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They assented with some curiosity mixed with a
+slight uneasiness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; he proceeded, &#8220;I&#8217;ll exercise my authority
+by asking you to lay out in front of each tent everything
+you have brought with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Including our clothes?&#8221; Bella asked.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Assuredly,&#8221; said Crestwick. &#8220;You can put them
+in a heap; it&#8217;s the quantity and not the cut that
+counts.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was evident that the leader&#8217;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&#8217;s
+and Carew&#8217;s tent, he pointed to their rather imposing
+pile of baggage.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Two-thirds of this will have to be left behind,
+though we&#8217;ll try to pick it up again. You can make
+your selection.&#8221; He went on to Millicent&#8217;s and Miss
+Hume&#8217;s collection. &#8220;We can&#8217;t take more than half
+of this,&#8221; he informed them. Then he addressed the
+company in general. &#8220;The three ladies must occupy
+Miss Gladwyne&#8217;s tent, and the men Carew&#8217;s; Nasmyth&#8217;s
+must be abandoned. Each man&#8217;s outfit must be cut
+down to one change of clothes and his blanket.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stand fast,&#8221; she urged, somewhat to his surprise.
+&#8220;If you give way an inch now, you&#8217;ll be sorry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle smiled and then raised his voice.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly not,&#8221; said Carew decidedly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; Lisle advised dryly, &#8220;you had better leave
+as much as possible of the weight behind; there&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; she laughed, &#8220;is the first sacrifice to the
+stern guardians of the wilds. It ought to satisfy
+them, considering who made it and what it cost.&#8221;
+She seized a small valise and hurled it after the dress.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s the next; I&#8217;m thankful my complexion will
+stand the weather.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent looked up at Lisle, indicating a small easel,
+a bulky sketch-book, and a box of water-colors.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are these to go?&#8221; she asked with indignant eyes.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered gravely; &#8220;they&#8217;re the reason
+for the whole expedition, and their transport is provided
+for. But you&#8217;ll have to jettison something else.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The selections were made and Lisle summoned one of
+the packers.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Roll these things up in Mr. Nasmyth&#8217;s tent,
+Pete,&#8221; he bade him. &#8220;You&#8217;ll have to make a cache
+of them.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Like burying money, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; remarked the man,
+regarding the pile of sundries with a grin. &#8220;Guess
+they won&#8217;t be worth much when they&#8217;re dug up again.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You were right, of course,&#8221; she apologized. &#8220;Am
+I forgiven? It was only a momentary revolt.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He smiled, though his bronzed coloring deepened,
+for there was an unusual gentleness in her voice.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was very natural,&#8221; he replied. &#8220;I had expected
+more determined opposition; but I didn&#8217;t go
+farther than was necessary.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; I think the others realize that now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ll be more convinced of it later,&#8221; he responded
+with a trace of grimness.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;ll give you any trouble; but
+since you got rid of Nasmyth&#8217;s tent, where will you
+and Crestwick sleep?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jim and I can make a shelter of some kind; we&#8217;re
+used to the bush.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have you done to the lad?&#8221; Millicent asked.
+&#8220;I can hardly realize the change in him; he&#8217;s a different
+being.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve merely given him a chance he would hardly
+have had in England. The country has done the rest.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span>
+You can ask him how much advice or admonishment
+he got.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she explained, &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t expect you to
+give him advice; it&#8217;s cheap!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You didn&#8217;t get here without difficulty; and our
+journey will keep you away from your business for
+some time,&#8221; she observed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As to that, I&#8217;ve earned a little leisure; and I&#8217;ve
+been looking forward to this trip ever since I left England.
+Now it&#8217;s almost like being back there again,
+only that in some ways it&#8217;s even better.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad you do not grudge the time you may
+have to spend with us,&#8221; she said.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Grudge it!&#8221; he exclaimed; and then, restraining
+himself, he broke into a soft laugh. &#8220;You may accuse
+me of that feeling when you hear me grumble.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a point I&#8217;d better mention,&#8221; Lisle resumed
+in a matter-of-fact tone. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to follow
+the route of the first expedition from the beginning.
+I&#8217;ve thought of a shorter and easier one; we&#8217;ll strike
+the other by the big portage and then follow it down.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you afraid of wearing out your untried followers?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he admitted, &#8220;I&#8217;m taking no risks that can
+be avoided this journey.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span>
+afternoon in England, it piqued her. She wondered
+how much it cost him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;After all,&#8221; she said with a forced laugh, &#8220;it&#8217;s
+better to keep carefully clear of danger.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he agreed; &#8220;but there&#8217;s now and then a
+temptation to face the hazard. One feels that it&#8217;s
+worth while.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind that. I think I&#8217;d rather enjoy the
+wildness of this scene than to philosophize. Tell me
+about the bear and deer we are likely to come across.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Breakfast will be at seven prompt,&#8221; he informed
+them. &#8220;The packers will strike tents while you eat,
+so have everything ready. There are two awkward
+portages to be tackled to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s
+companion lost his footing and disappeared, but he
+rose and Millicent saw that instead of clinging to the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s laugh
+when Carew attempted to shoulder another and
+dropped it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the first time he&#8217;s ever tried such a thing in
+his life,&#8221; Bella remarked. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing like personal
+experience. You don&#8217;t realize that it isn&#8217;t easy
+when you give a porter sixpence to lift your biggest
+trunk at a station.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The difference is that the porter&#8217;s used to it,&#8221;
+Carew, who was red-faced and breathless, pointed out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks as if that would apply to you before we&#8217;ve
+finished,&#8221; Bella retorted. &#8220;If you can&#8217;t do anything
+else, why don&#8217;t you help those men in the river?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Carew made a gesture of resignation and resolutely
+plunged in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; laughed Bella, to Millicent and Miss
+Hume, &#8220;is excellent discipline; after a little of it, I
+believe he&#8217;ll do me credit. I can think of a few overfed
+men that I&#8217;d like to put through a drastic course
+of it, only in their case I&#8217;d go in the canoe and take
+my heaviest luggage with me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It wouldn&#8217;t be wise,&#8221; asserted Millicent. &#8220;When
+they reached broken water they&#8217;d probably let you
+go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span></p>
+<p>The light grew dimmer, white mists began to trail
+about the heights above, and Millicent was getting
+cold. She was also getting angry&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVII_AN_UNPLEASANT_SURPRISE' id='XXVII_AN_UNPLEASANT_SURPRISE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+<h3>AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>This time it was answered, and she recognized the
+voice. Looking down, she could see Lisle&#8217;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&mdash;she thought he
+might have displayed more satisfaction at finding her
+safe.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is there anything you could catch hold of at the
+top?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;If so, you&#8217;d better lower yourself
+until I can reach you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Anxious as she was to get down, Millicent hesitated;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered coldly; &#8220;the rock is loose. Besides,
+the ledge is narrow, and if I came down heavily,
+we might both fall over.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He again examined the slab, and then stood still,
+considering.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he decided, &#8220;there&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he cautioned, &#8220;as gently as possible!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad that&#8217;s over; I was badly scared,&#8221; he acknowledged.
+</p>
+<p>She thrilled at the confession, though she thought
+there had been no serious risk; his concern for her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span>
+safety was strangely pleasant and the strenuous grasp
+of his fingers had stirred her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;I believe I was quite safe after
+you got hold of me.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He glanced at the steep face of broken rock that
+ran down into the shadow.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;If we&#8217;d gone over, we might not have brought up
+for a while,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But what&#8217;s that resting on
+yonder jutting stone?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry it&#8217;s my sketch-book,&#8221; Millicent answered
+unguardedly. &#8220;It&#8217;s nearly filled.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then wait here a little.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t get it!&#8221; Millicent cried sharply.
+&#8220;You mustn&#8217;t try!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite easy.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent could not resist the temptation to make a
+rather dangerous experiment.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And yet you were afraid a minute or two
+ago!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he answered, looking at her steadily. &#8220;But
+that was different.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She felt her heart-beats quicken and her face grow
+hot, but she laid a restraining hand on his arm.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t let you go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must be reasonable,&#8221; he urged, moving a pace
+away. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But I&#8217;m a little angry&mdash;you
+shouldn&#8217;t have gone. I should never have forgiven
+myself if you had got hurt.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was light enough to show that the blood crept
+into his face; but he turned and glanced at the descending
+ledge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You had better put your hand on my shoulder
+where it&#8217;s steep,&#8221; he suggested. &#8220;Still, we&#8217;re not going
+to have much trouble in getting down.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They had reached level ground before anything
+more was said, and then she turned to him with a
+smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you come before? You left me an
+unpleasantly long while among the rocks.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t miss you until supper,&#8221; he explained.
+&#8220;Then I set off at once, but I didn&#8217;t know which way
+to look and the bush was pretty thick.&#8221; Stopping in
+the moonlight, he indicated his rent attire. &#8220;I think
+this speaks for itself,&#8221; he added humorously.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s one consolation&mdash;the things belong to
+Carew.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent was glad that he was not going to be
+serious.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I remember that you didn&#8217;t bring much of an outfit,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span>
+she replied. &#8220;I suppose you had one. What
+became of it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I left it behind, in pieces, on the thorns and rocks
+along a good many leagues of trail; but it wasn&#8217;t extensive&mdash;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&#8217;s pocket-glass, I&#8217;m inclined
+to think he was unwarrantably proud of his success.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s repeating rifle
+and fired it several times.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will bring the boys in,&#8221; he explained.
+&#8220;Now I&#8217;ll get Miss Gladwyne&#8217;s supper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t I right?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;I offered anybody
+three to one that Lisle would be the first to find her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; declared
+Bella. &#8220;Besides, you promised me you wouldn&#8217;t
+waste your money that way again!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This time I was backing a moral certainty,&#8221;
+Crestwick rejoined. &#8220;That isn&#8217;t gambling; if you&#8217;re
+not convinced, you can ask the others on what grounds
+they were so unwilling to take me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span></p>
+<p>Receiving no encouragement, he addressed Millicent,
+who was extremely vexed with him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you know that you have given us all
+a good deal of anxiety. You ought to feel contrite.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not sorry if I&#8217;ve given you a good deal of
+trouble,&#8221; Millicent retorted. &#8220;You were a long time
+in coming to my rescue.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;is just the kind of thing
+Bella used to delight in saying, though I&#8217;ll own that
+she&#8217;s been much more civil lately. It&#8217;s possible that
+Carew&#8217;s patience is not so long as mine.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you getting rather personal?&#8221; Carew
+hinted.
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick subsided with an indulgent grimace, but
+when they retired to their shelter Lisle turned upon
+him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It struck me that those jokes of yours were in
+what you would call uncommonly bad form,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;It would be better if you didn&#8217;t make any more of
+them.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bella doesn&#8217;t mind; she&#8217;s used to me,&#8221; Crestwick
+grinned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t referring to Bella&mdash;she has somebody to
+take care of her.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Miss Gladwyne hasn&#8217;t? Still, that&#8217;s her own
+fault, isn&#8217;t it? In my opinion, she has only to say
+the word.&#8221; He paused, seeing his companion&#8217;s face
+in the moonlight, for its expression was not encouraging.
+&#8220;Oh, well!&#8221; he added, &#8220;you needn&#8217;t lose your
+temper. There are people who can never see when a
+thing&#8217;s humorous; I&#8217;ll wind up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>In the meanwhile Millicent sat in the entrance of her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span>
+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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span>
+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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Presently the door of the next car opened, and
+Gladwyne started violently as a dark figure came out
+on to the platform.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Batley!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;What in the name of wonder
+has brought you here!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley moving forward into the moonlight, regarded
+him with a mocking smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing very remarkable; I&#8217;d several motives.
+For one thing, I felt I&#8217;d like the trip&mdash;had a stroke
+of luck not long ago which justified the expense.
+British Columbia&#8217;s nowadays almost as accessible as
+parts of Norway, where I&#8217;ve generally gone to, and I
+understand it&#8217;s wilder.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how is it I haven&#8217;t seen you on the train?&#8221;
+Gladwyne asked, in no way reassured by the man&#8217;s
+careless explanation.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only got on at the last junction.&#8221; Batley&#8217;s tone
+was significant as he proceeded. &#8220;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&#8217;ve overtaken you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We were held up by ice off Newfoundland.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; suggested Batley, &#8220;suppose we go into
+the smoking end of the car. I dare say you&#8217;d like a
+talk and it&#8217;s rather noisy here. Besides, the cinders
+are a little too plentiful.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s expedition in company with Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I&#8217;d be glad if you would tell me
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span>
+exactly why you followed me. The reason you gave
+didn&#8217;t seem sufficient.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then my other object ought to be clear. You&#8217;re
+carrying a good deal of my money; I felt it would be
+wiser to keep an eye on you. As I said, I&#8217;d had a
+stroke of luck that enabled me to get away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose that means somebody has suffered!&#8221;
+Gladwyne, in his bitterness, could not help the injudicious
+sneer.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no,&#8221; returned Batley good-humoredly. &#8220;In
+this case, I&#8217;d set a man on his feet&mdash;it&#8217;s now and
+then as profitable as pulling one down, and my methods
+aren&#8217;t always destructive. The fellow was straight
+and I&#8217;m inclined to believe he was grateful. I don&#8217;t
+think he could have found anybody else to back him,
+but I&#8217;m not afraid of a risk.&#8221; He paused and smiled
+at his companion. &#8220;Sometimes I make mistakes; I
+did so with you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne flushed, but Batley proceeded:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;ll give you credit for misleading me
+rather cleverly. All this is to the point, because it
+explains my watchful attitude. You&#8217;re the kind of
+man I prefer to keep in sight.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Disgust, humiliation and anger possessed Gladwyne,
+but he knew that he was in his companion&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he replied with an attempt at calmness,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span>
+&#8220;we needn&#8217;t quarrel, since it looks as if we&#8217;d have to
+put up with each other for some time. Have you
+finished what you have to say?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not quite. There&#8217;s one question yet. When do
+you expect to marry Miss Gladwyne?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that to you?&#8221; Clarence broke out.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just this&mdash;I&#8217;m anxious to form some idea as to
+when I&#8217;m likely to get my money back. Since Miss
+Crestwick dropped you, there&#8217;s only Miss Gladwyne
+available, so far as I know, and you have got to
+marry money and do so pretty soon. I&#8217;m willing to
+do anything that may help on the match.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Gladwyne&#8217;s face burned, he looked savage, but
+Batley continued to watch him with an ironical smile.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to drive you too hard, but I&#8217;m only
+stating an obvious fact,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;Now I&#8217;ll
+leave you to think it over while I interview the porter
+of the sleeping-car.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVIII_CLARENCE_REACHES_CAMP' id='XXVIII_CLARENCE_REACHES_CAMP'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+<h3>CLARENCE REACHES CAMP</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span>
+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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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&mdash;it
+was needful to pick a path down the steep descent
+very carefully&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah!&#8221; he exclaimed, moving forward to meet her;
+&#8220;now I&#8217;m rewarded for my journey. How fit and
+brown you look, Millicent!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You must have had a trying march if you followed
+our trail,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But how did you get
+here&mdash;I mean why did you leave Switzerland?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick chuckled.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s very much what we all asked him,&#8221; he
+broke in. &#8220;In one way, it&#8217;s hardly civil; if we&#8217;d
+known he was coming, we&#8217;d have been better prepared
+to express our delight.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The lad was not, as a rule, considerate and he suffered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said when he had answered her, &#8220;you
+must sit down and rest. Nasmyth and Crestwick will
+get you something to eat as soon as possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was not what she would have wished to say&mdash;it
+sounded dreadfully commonplace&mdash;but Batley came
+forward with an easy laugh.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid our young friend&#8221;&mdash;he indicated
+Crestwick&mdash;&#8220;is not a diplomatist, but on the whole
+his fault&#8217;s a good one; he&#8217;s more or less honest. You&#8217;ll
+forgive us for surprising you; it was quite impossible
+to send you a warning.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span></p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is a surprise,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When did you get
+here?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;About two hours ago. We found where you left
+the water and followed up your trail,&#8221; Gladwyne answered.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How many packers and what stores did you
+bring?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Two packers,&#8221; replied Gladwyne. &#8220;There were
+no more available at the last settlement. Batley has a
+list of the provisions&mdash;we cut them down as much as
+possible. As we were anxious to overtake you, we
+traveled light.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle took the list Batley gave him and examined it
+by the glow of the fire.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks as if you didn&#8217;t mind endangering the
+safety of the whole party,&#8221; he broke out. &#8220;This
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span>
+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&#8217;s more important, we can&#8217;t
+make up for the shortage by better speed. Only two
+of you can pack an average load, though all four must
+be fed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must point out that I organized the expedition,&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;Everybody here is my guest.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you invite Gladwyne and Batley?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not,&#8221; Millicent was compelled to own. &#8220;For
+all that, they are now in the same position as the rest.
+I must ask you to remember it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle had some trouble in controlling himself, but he
+nodded. &#8220;Well,&#8221; he responded, &#8220;I&#8217;ll have to alter
+several of our arrangements and I&#8217;ll go along and talk
+it over with the packers. I&#8217;ve got the canoes required,
+and we&#8217;ll take the trail at seven to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He strode away toward the packers&#8217; 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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry if we have given you unnecessary trouble;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span>
+but does your guide often adopt that rather
+hectoring tone?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His languid contempt roused Crestwick.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lisle&#8217;s responsible for the safety of all of us,&#8221;
+the lad broke out, &#8220;and you haven&#8217;t shown much regard
+for it in making your loads as light as you
+could!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent raised her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll talk about something else for a few minutes
+and then break up. It&#8217;s an early start to-morrow.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They dispersed shortly afterward, but Batley sought
+Lisle before retiring to rest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I regret that we have added to your anxiety,&#8221; he
+began. &#8220;Of course, transport is a serious difficulty&mdash;I&#8217;ve
+had some little experience of this kind of
+thing.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the field?&#8221; Lisle asked bluntly. &#8220;I&#8217;ve had a
+suspicion of it. Then why didn&#8217;t you remember?&#8221;
+He saw Batley&#8217;s smile, for they were standing by the
+packers&#8217; fire. &#8220;Oh,&#8221; he added, &#8220;you needn&#8217;t trouble
+to shield Gladwyne. I formed my opinion of him
+some time ago&mdash;he&#8217;s a mighty poor specimen.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m inclined to agree with you,&#8221; replied Batley
+dryly.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span>
+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&#8217;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&#8217;s provision caches; then he would
+be safe.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Millicent,&#8221; he began, &#8220;things can&#8217;t go on as they
+have been doing&mdash;pleasant as it was. I have waited
+patiently, but you can&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>His abruptness and hoarseness were expressive, but
+she felt that there was something lacking and she answered
+with a flippancy she seldom indulged in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You thought it needful to bring your privy
+counselor with you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; he came without even asking my permission.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she said, sitting down with forced calmness,
+&#8220;it doesn&#8217;t matter; but are you quite sure now that
+you really want me?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Want you!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Can you ask? Haven&#8217;t
+I constantly shown my devotion?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;For the last few months&mdash;I mean after Lisle
+went back to Canada,&#8221; she replied with gathering
+color. &#8220;Before then, for a time, I think one could
+reasonably have doubted it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He looked confused; that Bella had attracted him
+had been obvious, and there was no way of getting
+over the fact gracefully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I have my weaknesses&mdash;want of balance,
+impulsiveness, and a capacity for being easily
+piqued,&#8221; he confessed. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>There was some truth in this, and seeing the change
+in her expression, he went on:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t cast me off and fling me back upon
+myself&mdash;I couldn&#8217;t face that. During those last few
+months in England, you helped me forward far more
+than you suspected&mdash;showed me my duties, enabled
+me to carry them out. I can&#8217;t go on alone; I&#8217;m your
+responsibility; having taken it up, you can&#8217;t deny it
+now.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent smiled faintly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she admitted; &#8220;I suppose that would be
+hardly fair.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He would have thrown his arm about her, but she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span>
+laid a hand on his shoulder and with gentle firmness
+held him back.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she said, with a deep color in her face; &#8220;not
+yet. We have been associated as cousins; I must get
+used to the new position.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He had wit enough to yield, but he kissed her hands
+exultantly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a pledge! I may tell the others?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she consented quietly, &#8220;I think you may.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You heard what Bella said!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did!&#8221; replied Nasmyth. &#8220;The hound! It
+must be stopped!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; asserted Lisle, more coolly, &#8220;that&#8217;s a sure
+thing. Still, there are difficulties&mdash;she may not believe
+my story now. I almost think I&#8217;ll wait until we
+reach the two caches; then with something to back my
+statements, I might force the truth from him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In that case, you had better watch him,&#8221; warned
+Nasmyth, looking deeply disturbed. &#8220;He may try
+to reach them first.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The next moment Crestwick joined them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s to be done, Vernon?&#8221; he exclaimed.
+&#8220;Miss Gladwyne&#8217;s engagement&#8217;s formally announced&mdash;it
+can&#8217;t go on!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; Lisle&#8217;s voice was stern. &#8220;What has it to
+do with you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; explained Crestwick, hesitating, &#8220;the man&#8217;s
+not to be trusted, he&#8217;s dangerous. He simply can&#8217;t
+be allowed to make this match!&#8221; He paused and
+spread out his hands. &#8220;I&#8217;m horribly troubled about
+it&mdash;I&#8217;d better tell you that I know&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know nothing that need be mentioned,&#8221; Lisle
+interrupted him. &#8220;That&#8217;s positive; you have to remember
+it. As to the rest, you&#8217;ll leave the matter
+entirely in my hands.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well,&#8221; agreed Crestwick, &#8220;if you order it.
+That relieves me of my responsibility. I&#8217;m uncommonly
+glad to get rid of it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle abruptly strode away, and Crestwick saw that
+Nasmyth was regarding him curiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lisle was quite right,&#8221; Nasmyth said. &#8220;He only
+forestalled me in instructions I meant to give you.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you understand what I was referring to?&#8221;
+exclaimed Crestwick.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve a good idea,&#8221; Nasmyth answered dryly. &#8220;In
+my opinion, so has Lisle.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you were on the far side of the hedge on the
+morning we tried the horse, and Lisle was down. He
+wasn&#8217;t conscious when I broke through the thorns.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite correct; but it&#8217;s most unlikely he lost consciousness
+from the fall, and he was lying with his
+face turned toward the jump&mdash;it wasn&#8217;t until the
+chestnut came down on his shoulder that he was badly
+hurt. The doctor agreed with me on that point.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That might have struck me,&#8221; Crestwick rejoined.
+&#8220;But you owned that you had an idea of what happened
+at the jump. How did you get it? Did Lisle
+tell you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth smiled grimly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m firmly convinced that he&#8217;ll never mention what
+he saw or suspects to anybody, unless it&#8217;s to Gladwyne.
+As to the rest, the hedge wasn&#8217;t thick enough
+to prevent my seeing through it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s an unusual man,&#8221; declared Crestwick in an
+admiring tone. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t met his equal. But I&#8217;ll
+keep my eye on Gladwyne&mdash;there&#8217;s risk enough at
+some of the rapids&mdash;the hound shan&#8217;t have another
+chance if I can help it.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They turned and went back to camp, but on reaching
+it they sat down among the packers, avoiding
+Gladwyne and Millicent.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIX_A_BOLD_SCHEME' id='XXIX_A_BOLD_SCHEME'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIX</h2>
+<h3>A BOLD SCHEME</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>In the meanwhile she was stirred by mournful
+memories as she followed the last stages of her
+brother&#8217;s journey and visited the lonely spot where
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span>
+he had met his end. Somehow the thought of him
+encouraged her&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>At length they stopped one evening at a portage,
+and Lisle examined the stores.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The food&#8217;s getting short,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;One
+or two of you had better take out your rifles the first
+thing to-morrow, while the rest go fishing. I&#8217;ll tackle
+the portage with two packers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are the rest? How have they got on?&#8221;
+Lisle asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think Batley went back to the last reach with
+Carew&#8217;s rod,&#8221; Crestwick answered. &#8220;I met Gladwyne
+and one of the packers on the low range back yonder;
+they&#8217;d only got a blue grouse.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could have done with the man here,&#8221; said Lisle.
+&#8220;Which way were they heading?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Back up-river, the way we came.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s become of Mr. Gladwyne?&#8221; Lisle asked
+him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Hasn&#8217;t he got back?&#8221; replied the other, glancing
+about. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle said nothing more to the packer but walked
+rapidly toward where the cook was getting supper
+ready. Nasmyth followed him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you give Mr. Gladwyne any lunch to carry
+with him when he left camp?&#8221; Lisle asked the man.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bring the box you keep the canned goods in!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>The cook produced it.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s two meat cans gone, anyway,&#8221; he remarked.
+&#8220;Looks as if Mr. Gladwyne figured on getting
+mighty hungry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put me up enough bread and fish for two of us
+for two days.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He moved away with Nasmyth, and they had left the
+fire behind when he spoke, his voice hoarse with anger.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gladwyne&#8217;s gone to the cache! He&#8217;s got half a
+day&#8217;s clear start of us and he knows the country.
+It&#8217;s pretty open and he&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean to start after him at once?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;As soon as you&#8217;re ready,&#8221; Lisle said shortly.
+</p>
+<p>He turned back toward where the others were sitting
+waiting for supper.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;As Gladwyne hasn&#8217;t turned up, Nasmyth and I
+are going to look for him,&#8221; he announced. &#8220;There&#8217;s
+nothing to be alarmed about, but it&#8217;s quite likely we
+may not be back in the morning. If we don&#8217;t turn
+up by noon, you had better start down-river and we&#8217;ll
+pick you up farther on. I don&#8217;t want to waste another
+day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you think he has got lost altogether?&#8221; Millicent
+asked anxiously.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; answered Lisle, in a reassuring manner.
+&#8220;Still, some of these ridges are bad to climb and quite
+a lot of things may happen to delay him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Shortly afterward Batley came in.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are the others?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>They told him and he looked thoughtful.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;So Lisle started at once! Which way did he and
+Nasmyth go?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Up the ridge behind us, but they turned down-stream
+when they reached the top,&#8221; Carew replied.
+</p>
+<p>Batley scented a mystery.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I think I&#8217;ll go after them; I
+might be useful. Of course, you&#8217;ll start to-morrow
+as Lisle told you, and if I&#8217;m not back by then, I&#8217;ll
+follow the river to the rendezvous he mentioned.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span>
+out one after another struck them as ominous. Bella&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a way, the anxiety that Lisle and the rest have
+shown to find Clarence is flattering,&#8221; she began, expressing
+part of her thoughts. &#8220;I wonder if they&#8217;d
+all have gone off in such a hurry if Jim had got lost.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your brother knows the bush,&#8221; returned Millicent,
+hiding her fears.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder if you feel quite sure you will be happy
+with Clarence?&#8221; she ventured.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have provoked the retort&mdash;were you convinced
+that you would be happy with Arthur Carew,
+when you made up your mind to marry him so suddenly?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella&#8217;s smile expressed forbearance. It was getting
+dark, but she could see the hot flush in her companion&#8217;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,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span>
+considering that until lately Millicent had never been
+cordial to her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps I&#8217;d better answer,&#8221; she said sweetly. &#8220;I
+was sure of Arthur, and that means a good deal more
+than that I knew he was in love with me&mdash;I don&#8217;t
+suppose you heard that he&#8217;d proposed to me once
+before?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you take him then?&#8221; Millicent asked
+coldly. &#8220;Remember you have justified my being
+personal.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Bella grew rather hot&mdash;when Carew had made his
+first offer she had been in eager pursuit of Gladwyne&mdash;but
+she sternly suppressed a desire to retaliate.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we need go into that,&#8221; she replied.
+&#8220;As I said, I was sure of Arthur&mdash;I knew his character,
+knew he was better than I am, that he could be
+depended on. He&#8217;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&#8217;s a safer guide than
+passion&mdash;it stands longer wear&mdash;and now I&#8217;m getting
+to like him better every day.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t quite finished, though I don&#8217;t often talk
+like this,&#8221; Bella went on. &#8220;I feel that without the
+confidence I&#8217;ve tried to describe marriage must be a
+terrible risk&mdash;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&#8217;t expect perfection,
+but there ought to be something&mdash;honor, a good
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span>
+heart, a generous mind&mdash;that one can rely on as a
+sure foundation. When you have that, you can build,
+and even then the building may be difficult.&#8221; She
+paused before she concluded: &#8220;My dear, I&#8217;m happier
+than I deserve to be; I have chosen wisely.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nothing more was said for a few minutes, but Bella,
+studying her companion&#8217;s face, was more or less content.
+Millicent&#8217;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&#8217;s faith in her husband was
+warranted, and Millicent was enough of an optimist
+to believe that such men were not uncommon&mdash;there
+was Lisle, for example, and Nasmyth. With them one
+would undoubtedly have something to build a happy
+and profitable life upon&mdash;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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We were easily taken in,&#8221; he declared; &#8220;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&#8217;d rather have
+avoided that, in case it looked suspicious, but he&#8217;s had
+one hungry march over the same ground, and I dare
+say it was quite enough. Besides, he could defy us
+once he&#8217;d emptied and obliterated the caches.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You understand the way your people&#8217;s minds work
+better than I do,&#8221; Lisle returned dryly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s natural, isn&#8217;t it? The idea that I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; agreed Lisle; &#8220;I guess you&#8217;re right. That&#8217;s
+precisely why we have got to get there first.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No way of getting across here,&#8221; decided Lisle.
+&#8220;At the same time, it looks as if Gladwyne must be
+held up on the same side that we are. We&#8217;ll follow
+the cañon; down-stream, I think.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve an idea that the top of that tree reached
+across to this side when it first came down,&#8221; Lisle
+said. &#8220;Have you got a match?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Hold the thing lower!&#8221; he exclaimed sharply.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s as I suspected&mdash;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&#8217;d crawled over. Looks to
+me as if it had broken off yonder stump. Guess
+there&#8217;ll be light enough to look for a way across in
+half an hour.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can it be a bear?&#8221; he asked.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;No; it&#8217;s a man!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s wearing boots,&#8221; he said diffidently, as the
+crackling drew nearer.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Lisle responded; &#8220;he&#8217;s making a good deal
+more noise than a bushman would.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has brought you on our trail, Batley?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span></p>
+<p>The man came toward them with a breathless laugh
+and sat down.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t your trail but Gladwyne&#8217;s I&#8217;m interested
+in, and I can&#8217;t say that I&#8217;ve succeeded in following
+that. I merely pushed on, until I struck this cañon
+and as I couldn&#8217;t get across, I followed it up.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re not easily scared,&#8221; Lisle commented.
+&#8220;You might have got lost. Guess you had some
+motive that made you take the risk.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&mdash;in fact, there&#8217;s no use in
+trying to hide it. I may as well confess that I&#8217;d
+sooner keep Gladwyne in sight.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Out of regard for his welfare?&#8221; Nasmyth asked.
+</p>
+<p>Batley laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not altogether. The fact is, he&#8217;s carrying a good
+deal of my money.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One should have imagined that you&#8217;d have had
+him well insured.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s quite correct. If he came to grief in
+England, I shouldn&#8217;t anticipate any trouble, but it
+would be different out here and, everything considered,
+I&#8217;d rather avoid complications with the insurance companies.
+Now that I&#8217;ve been candid, do you feel inclined
+to reciprocate?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not in the least,&#8221; Lisle replied shortly. &#8220;I&#8217;m not
+sure I even sympathize. But since you&#8217;ve turned up
+you&#8217;ll have to stick to us; I don&#8217;t want to waste time
+in leading another search party. As soon as there&#8217;s
+a little more light, we&#8217;ll try to get across the cañon.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks for the permission,&#8221; smiled Batley, lighting
+a cigar.
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXX_THE_END_OF_THE_PURSUIT' id='XXX_THE_END_OF_THE_PURSUIT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXX</h2>
+<h3>THE END OF THE PURSUIT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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 cañon and had followed it up until it led him to
+them.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks worse farther along; we&#8217;ll have to try it
+here,&#8221; Lisle announced. &#8220;Can you get down, Nasmyth?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span>
+which had fallen against the face, reached to within
+about nine feet of the summit.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, answering Lisle&#8217;s question; &#8220;but
+I&#8217;m very doubtful whether I can get up the other side.
+The last bit looks particularly awkward; there&#8217;s an
+outward bulge just beneath the top.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;We might manage it by giving the leader a lift,
+if we got so far,&#8221; Batley suggested, pointing to the
+sharp slab. &#8220;That pike should help us; I think it
+would go.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You think it would go?&#8221; queried Nasmyth meaningly.
+&#8220;Aren&#8217;t you mixing idioms? Pike&#8217;s what
+we&#8217;d say round Wasdale, and your other expression&#8217;s
+not uncommon in Switzerland.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley laughed.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll own that I&#8217;ve done some rock work in both
+districts, though I was thinner then. But I&#8217;ve an
+idea that time&#8217;s precious to our leader.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span>
+coming down with a run fell with a splash into the
+stream.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t think you&#8217;d manage it that way,&#8221; Batley
+remarked. &#8220;The edge appears a little more promising.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll go first, for reasons that will become apparent
+later,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Hold on to the log; it doesn&#8217;t
+seem firmly fixed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Batley, however, rose very carefully, with his feet
+upon the shattered butt and his hands pressed against
+the rock, until he stood almost upright.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll have to climb up over me until you can get
+your fingers on the top,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Take time when
+you get up and feel for a good hold.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span></p>
+<p>Reaching his shoulders, Lisle stood on them while
+Nasmyth and Crestwick on the pinnacle beneath looked
+up at a somewhat impressive spectacle. Lisle&#8217;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&#8217;s feet.
+He spoke in a breathless gasp as he thrust it upward;
+Lisle&#8217;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&#8217;s
+exploit.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take off your pack!&#8221; Batley called to Lisle.
+&#8220;Split the bag, if it&#8217;s necessary, and lower the end!
+But be quick! This isn&#8217;t a comfortable position.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to test the tackle. Give me a hand up
+as soon as I&#8217;m over the bulge!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d have managed it easily at one time,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;This is what comes of civilization and soft living.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You brought us across; we owe you a good deal
+for it,&#8221; declared Lisle.
+</p>
+<p>Batley smiled at him as they set off again.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In this case, I won&#8217;t be an exacting creditor. In
+fact, it&#8217;s rather curious how we&#8217;ve hit it off, considering
+that you wouldn&#8217;t hear of a compromise and our
+interests are opposed.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what your interests are,&#8221; Lisle returned
+dryly.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then, in one way, I&#8217;m ahead of you. I know
+your wishes, and Nasmyth&#8217;s&mdash;you don&#8217;t want Clarence
+to marry Miss Gladwyne. It&#8217;s your motive I&#8217;m
+not sure about. Do you want the girl yourself?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;it isn&#8217;t for the reason you&#8217;ve
+given that I mean to stop the match.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can you do so?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to try.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_337' name='page_337'></a>337</span></p>
+<p>Batley smiled reflectively.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 cañon; 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&#8217;s expedition and his
+cousin&#8217;s death?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;None in the least,&#8221; said Lisle decidedly.
+</p>
+<p>Batley made a gesture of acquiescence.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well! We must try to be friends as long as
+possible.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>There was no sign of Gladwyne&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How would Clarence get across to the second
+cache on the other side of the water?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+a point I&#8217;ve been considering; I suppose it&#8217;s occurred
+to you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Lisle confessed. &#8220;The Indians
+near the divide said there was another party with canoes
+somewhere lower down; but, as the packer who was
+with me didn&#8217;t talk to them, so far as I noticed, I
+don&#8217;t see how Gladwyne could have heard of it; but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_338' name='page_338'></a>338</span>
+that&#8217;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.&#8221; He paused
+and raised his hand. &#8220;Listen! Isn&#8217;t that the river?
+We can&#8217;t be far from the cache.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The rest of the party can hardly be down until
+to-morrow; there&#8217;s a couple of portages,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;It looks as if we&#8217;ll have to go without our supper.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to see them before morning,&#8221; Lisle
+returned grimly.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_339' name='page_339'></a>339</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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 cañon 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.
+</p>
+<p>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:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Head him off from the canoe!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth broke into a stumbling run&mdash;it was now
+obvious that Gladwyne meant to cross the river, and
+perhaps destroy the second cache.
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_340' name='page_340'></a>340</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Then, to Nasmyth&#8217;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&#8217;s edge.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come back!&#8221; he shouted.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth ran up and Lisle turned.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s dropped or broken his paddle&mdash;cracked it
+when he shoved her out. There are two or three ugly
+rocks in the rapid.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_341' name='page_341'></a>341</span>
+in attempting to descend it. He made no response,
+however, to their warning shouts.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>The next moment Lisle plunged into the river.
+Nasmyth ran to the water&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s awful!&#8221; gasped Jim Crestwick behind Nasmyth.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s not the risk of drowning; they&#8217;ll be
+smashed to bits! Anyway, we&#8217;d better make for the
+slack at the tail.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_342' name='page_342'></a>342</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth leaped in knee-deep, with Crestwick behind
+him, and gripping the loosely-hanging arm of
+the body Batley was supporting, he asked hoarsely:
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lisle!&#8221; was the breathless answer. &#8220;Help me
+to get him out!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>They dragged him up the beach and let him sink
+down. He lay upon the shingle, silent and inert.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Make a fire, Jim!&#8221; commanded Batley. &#8220;Lift his
+shoulder a bit, Nasmyth! Turn him partly over!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He hurriedly examined Lisle and then looked up.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a case of drowning; and his limbs look
+sound. Must have got the breath knocked out of him
+against a boulder.&#8221; He pointed to a broad red gash
+on Lisle&#8217;s forehead as Nasmyth eased him down again.
+&#8220;That explains his unconsciousness.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Gladwyne?&#8221; Nasmyth asked.
+</p>
+<p>Batley made an expressive gesture.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Beyond our help, anyway; somewhere down-river.&#8221;
+He appeared to brace himself with an effort.
+&#8220;I&#8217;m pretty nearly finished, but there&#8217;s a good deal
+to be done. We&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXXI_LISLE_GOES_TO_ENGLAND' id='XXXI_LISLE_GOES_TO_ENGLAND'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_343' name='page_343'></a>343</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXXI</h2>
+<h3>LISLE GOES TO ENGLAND</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we need be anxious,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The
+warmth is coming back to him and he&#8217;s breathing
+regularly. The knock on the head must have been
+a bad one, and it&#8217;s very likely that he got another
+thump or two washing down the rapid, and the water
+was icy cold; but he&#8217;ll feel better after a few hours&#8217;
+sleep.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth was inclined to agree with this prediction
+and he stood up wearily.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you won&#8217;t want me for a little while,&#8221; he
+replied, walking away from the fire.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth did not pause to think what Lisle&#8217;s wishes
+might be, or whether he would resent his action. So
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_344' name='page_344'></a>344</span>
+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&#8217;s death had
+released him from his pledge. The traitor had expiated
+his offense; the tragic story must never be
+raked up again.
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s
+tragic end; the man had passed beyond the reach of
+human censure, one could only let his memory sink
+into oblivion.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve heard nothing about your part in the water,&#8221;
+Nasmyth said to Batley.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not much to tell. It isn&#8217;t astonishing
+that my memory&#8217;s by no means clear. Anyhow, I
+wasn&#8217;t far from Gladwyne, who was swimming well,
+when he was swept away from me and in among the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_345' name='page_345'></a>345</span>
+lower boulders by the swirl of an eddy. I suppose it
+didn&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s only one place where he could have landed
+and I searched it while you were away,&#8221; Crestwick said
+gravely.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why did you go in after him?&#8221; Nasmyth asked
+Batley. &#8220;You must have seen that you couldn&#8217;t save
+him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; Batley answered with a curious smile, &#8220;is
+more than I can clearly tell you; and I might suggest
+that Lisle&#8217;s venture is even harder to understand. I
+don&#8217;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&#8217;s a more obvious explanation&mdash;I&#8217;d
+lent him a good deal of money and
+from what I&#8217;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth did not think that the man had been most
+strongly influenced by that desire, but he addressed
+Crestwick:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_346' name='page_346'></a>346</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Hadn&#8217;t you better gather some more branches or
+driftwood for the fire, Jim?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Crestwick disappeared, and Nasmyth filled his pipe
+before he turned to Batley.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be offensive;
+but there are two people connected with this affair
+who must be spared any unnecessary suffering.
+That&#8217;s a fact you had better recognize.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hardly think you do me justice,&#8221; returned
+Batley, looking amused. &#8220;It&#8217;s perfectly plain that
+there&#8217;s a mystery behind these recent events; one that
+has some relation to George Gladwyne&#8217;s death. Your
+idea is that an unscrupulous person of my description
+might find some profit in probing it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll never learn the truth. I&#8217;ve seen to that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is, I don&#8217;t mean to try.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth was a little astonished at finding himself
+ready to believe this.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;what do you mean to do about
+your claim on Gladwyne?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the first place, there&#8217;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&#8217;ll be struck by the coincidence and the
+unusual nature of both accidents and make trouble or
+not, I can&#8217;t tell; but if they pay up there&#8217;ll be an end
+of the thing. Failing that, I&#8217;ll have to consider.
+My demands might be contested by the Gladwyne
+trustees&mdash;the deal was a little irregular in some respects&mdash;but
+I parted with the money and I&#8217;m going
+to make an effort to get it back.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How much did Clarence owe you?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Batley told him and Nasmyth looked thoughtful.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_347' name='page_347'></a>347</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; he requested, &#8220;if you meet with strong
+opposition, come to me before you decide on any
+course, and I&#8217;ll see what can be arranged. I dare say
+there&#8217;ll be some trouble, but I know the trustees&mdash;and,
+as I said, there are people who must be saved all
+needless pain, at any cost.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s promised,&#8221; agreed Batley. &#8220;I&#8217;ll make things
+as easy as possible, but that&#8217;s as far as I can go.
+I&#8217;m not rich enough to be recklessly generous.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s satisfaction
+and surprise, Lisle spoke to him.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You slept pretty sound,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t hear
+me getting some information about what happened
+out of Batley.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you know?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; was the grim answer. &#8220;The thing&#8217;s finished;
+there&#8217;s nothing to be done.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth made a sign of agreement.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel?&#8221; he asked.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_348' name='page_348'></a>348</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;t manage it. What&#8217;s as much
+to the purpose, I&#8217;m feeling hungry.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, there&#8217;s nothing left for breakfast.
+One of us had better go up-stream and look out for the
+canoes.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle nodded.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s your duty&mdash;I don&#8217;t envy you. Make
+them camp a little higher up. It would be better, in
+several ways, and I&#8217;d rather be on my feet again before
+they come here.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are the rest?&#8221; she asked in a strained voice.
+&#8220;Something has happened&mdash;what is it?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Three of them are some miles down the river.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Three!&#8221; cried Millicent, in dismay. &#8220;Haven&#8217;t
+you found Clarence yet?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth hesitated, regarding her compassionately,
+but she made a sign of protest.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go on! Don&#8217;t keep me in suspense!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Clarence,&#8221; said Nasmyth quietly, &#8220;is dead.
+Lisle is rather badly damaged.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Millicent left the canoe and sat down, very white
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_349' name='page_349'></a>349</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me all,&#8221; she begged.
+</p>
+<p>He briefly related what had happened, and there
+was an impressive silence when he finished. Then
+Millicent slowly rose.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Lisle&#8217;s badly hurt,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We must
+go on!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>After a while Nasmyth said they would land, but
+Millicent roused herself to countermand his instructions
+and eventually they reached Batley&#8217;s camp.
+Lisle had got up during the day and he now walked
+painfully down to the water&#8217;s edge to meet her. When
+she landed he gravely pressed her hand.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry,&#8221; he said simply. &#8220;We did what we
+could to save him.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I know,&#8221; she responded. &#8220;Nobody could
+doubt that.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Then Nasmyth landed with provisions and while the
+men ate two Indians strode into the camp and addressed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_350' name='page_350'></a>350</span>
+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.
+</p>
+<p>Lisle offered them some silver currency, and after
+a little chaffering they departed satisfied.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now we know how the canoe came to be lying
+where Gladwyne found her,&#8221; he said to Nasmyth.
+</p>
+<p>Then he sought Millicent.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; he told her gently, &#8220;we had better go
+on&mdash;to stay here would be painful.&#8221; He hesitated.
+&#8220;I&#8217;ll leave Crestwick and an experienced river-Jack
+packer to investigate. If you would rather, I&#8217;ll stay
+with them, though I&#8217;m afraid I can&#8217;t get about much.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she replied in a voice which had a
+break in it. &#8220;You must come with us; you don&#8217;t
+look fit to stand.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_351' name='page_351'></a>351</span>
+women to mourn him, and of these one, who had tried
+to love him out of duty, would by and by forget.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s your last look,&#8221; said Lisle. &#8220;We&#8217;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&#8217;m sorry
+I ever brought you here. You&#8217;ll be glad to get
+away.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mustn&#8217;t blame yourself,&#8221; she told him. &#8220;We
+have only gratitude for you. You have no part in the
+painful memories.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She glanced once more up the valley; and then
+moved back into the shadow of the firs.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all wildly beautiful, but it&#8217;s so pitiless&mdash;I
+shall never think of it without a shiver.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have made plenty of notes and sketches for
+the book,&#8221; suggested Lisle, seeing her distress.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The book? I don&#8217;t know that I shall ever finish
+it. I feel cut adrift, as if there were no use in working
+and I hadn&#8217;t a purpose left. First George went,
+and then Clarence&mdash;so far, there was always some
+one to think of&mdash;and now I&#8217;m all alone.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>She broke out into open sobbing and Lisle, feeling
+very sympathetic and half dismayed, awkwardly tried
+to soothe her.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m better,&#8221; she said at last. &#8220;It was very foolish,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_352' name='page_352'></a>352</span>
+but I couldn&#8217;t help it. I think we&#8217;ll go back to
+the others.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have done with the river&mdash;I think I am afraid
+of it,&#8221; she confessed. &#8220;Can&#8217;t we get away early to-morrow?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Lisle said it should be arranged and she turned to
+him gratefully.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;One can always rely on you! You&#8217;re just like
+George was in many ways. It&#8217;s curious that whenever
+I&#8217;m in trouble I think of him&mdash;&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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, &#8220;Good night!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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.
+</p>
+<p>His thoughts were presently interrupted by Nasmyth.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a thing I&#8217;d better tell you, Vernon,&#8221; he
+said, sitting down near by. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_353' name='page_353'></a>353</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve decided,&#8221; Lisle said gravely, &#8220;that you did
+quite right. It&#8217;s the end of that story.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you have abandoned the purpose you had in
+view?&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;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&#8217;s another thing&mdash;he
+left no relations to consider.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>Nasmyth laid a hand on his shoulder in a very expressive
+way.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I felt all along that you&#8217;d come to look at it
+like that!&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;But there&#8217;s Batley; he has some suspicions.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I can silence him,&#8221; promised Nasmyth. &#8220;The
+man has his good points, after all.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s so,&#8221; Lisle agreed. &#8220;Still, I&#8217;ll come
+straight across to England and tackle him if you fail.
+If it&#8217;s a question of money, you can count me in&mdash;I&#8217;ve
+been prospering lately.&#8221; He rose and knocked
+out his pipe. &#8220;That&#8217;s the last word on the matter.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s figure that leaned out from a vestibule
+platform, waving a hand to him.
+</p>
+<p>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.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_354' name='page_354'></a>354</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll no doubt want my support again,&#8221; he
+grinned. &#8220;There&#8217;s an office I mean to rob Nasmyth
+of, if I can.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>It was evening when they drove into sight of Millicent&#8217;s
+house. Lisle&#8217;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.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;You answered my message,&#8221; he said, seizing it.
+&#8220;You must have guessed what I meant when I asked
+if I might come across.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she confessed softly; &#8220;I knew and I told
+you to come.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He still held her a little away from him as he gave
+a quick glance at the refined and artistic appointments
+of the room.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a good deal you will have to give up,&#8221; he
+told her. &#8220;You&#8217;re not afraid of our new and rugged
+country? But it has something to offer&mdash;and we
+need such people as you.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be a great country before very long,&#8221;
+she answered gravely; &#8220;and I have no dread of it now.
+But&mdash;I gave my dearest&mdash;I think it owes me something
+in return.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>He drew her masterfully into his arms.
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;It discharges all its debts. You must teach me
+how to pay you back in full measure; that&#8217;s my one
+big task. You&#8217;re giving so much freely; but, of
+course, I&#8217;m glad&mdash;I don&#8217;t want duty.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t duty,&#8221; she smiled; &#8220;it&#8217;s love!&#8221;
+</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em;'>THE END</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.11 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Fri Jun 27 04:57:36 -0600 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Long Portage, by Harold Bindloss
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LONG PORTAGE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25910-h.htm or 25910-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/9/1/25910/
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@@ -0,0 +1,11374 @@
+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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