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diff --git a/25922.txt b/25922.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b67aeaa --- /dev/null +++ b/25922.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12500 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Masters of the Wheat-Lands, by Harold +Bindloss, Illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo + + +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: Masters of the Wheat-Lands + + +Author: Harold Bindloss + + + +Release Date: June 28, 2008 [eBook #25922] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASTERS OF THE WHEAT-LANDS*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team (http://www.pgdpcanada.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25922-h.htm or 25922-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/2/25922/25922-h/25922-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/2/25922/25922-h.zip) + + + + + +MASTERS OF THE WHEAT-LANDS + +by + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + +Author of "Thurston of Orchard Valley," "By Right of +Purchase," "Lorimer of the Northwest," etc. + +With Four Illustrations by Cyrus Cuneo + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "IT'S GOING TO HURT, GREGORY, BUT I HAVE GOT TO GET YOU +IN"--Page 17] + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers :: New York + +All Rights Reserved, Including That of Translation +into Foreign Languages, Including the Scandinavian + +Copyright, 1910, by Frederick A. Stokes Company +Published in England Under the Title, "Hawtrey's Deputy" +October, 1910 + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I. Sally Creighton 1 + II. Sally Takes Charge 11 + III. Wyllard Assents 22 + IV. A Crisis 33 + V. The Old Country 44 + VI. Her Picture 55 + VII. Agatha Does Not Flinch 66 + VIII. The Traveling Companion 78 + IX. The Fog 92 + X. Disillusion 104 + XI. Agatha's Decision 117 + XII. Wanderers 130 + XIII. The Summons 143 + XIV. Agatha Proves Obdurate 154 + XV. The Beach 165 + XVI. The First Ice 177 + XVII. Defeat 187 + XVIII. A Delicate Errand 199 + XIX. The Prior Claim 209 + XX. The First Stake 223 + XXI. Gregory Makes Up His Mind 234 + XXII. A Painful Revelation 244 + XXIII. Through The Snow 254 + XXIV. The Landing 265 + XXV. News of Disaster 276 + XXVI. The Rescue 287 + XXVII. In the Wilderness 299 +XXVIII. The Unexpected 308 + XXIX. Cast Away 320 + XXX. The Last Effort 331 + XXXI. Wyllard Comes Home 342 + + + + + + +MASTERS OF THE WHEAT-LANDS + +CHAPTER I + +SALLY CREIGHTON + + +The frost outside was bitter, and the prairie which rolled back from +Lander's in long undulations to the far horizon, gleamed white beneath +the moon, but there was warmth and brightness in Stukely's wooden barn. +The barn stood at one end of the little, desolate settlement, where the +trail that came up from the railroad thirty miles away forked off into +two wavy ribands melting into a waste of snow. Lander's consisted then +of five or six frame houses and stores, a hotel of the same material, +several sod stables, and a few birch-log barns; and its inhabitants +considered it one of the most promising places in Western Canada. That, +however, is the land of promise, a promise which is in due time usually +fulfilled, and the men of Lander's were, for the most part, shrewdly +practical optimists. They made the most of a somewhat grim and frugal +present, and staked all they had to give--the few dollars they had +brought in with them, and their powers of enduring toil--upon the +roseate future. + +Stukely had given them, and their scattered neighbors, who had driven +there across several leagues of prairie, a supper in his barn. A big +rusty stove, brought in for the occasion, stood in the center of the +barn floor. Its pipe glowed in places a dull red, and now and then +Stukely wondered uneasily whether it was charring a larger hole through +the shingles of the roof. On one side of the stove the floor had been +cleared; on the other, benches, empty barrels and tables were huddled +together, and such of the guests as were not dancing at the moment, sat +upon the various substitutes for chairs. A keg of hard Ontario cider had +been provided for the refreshment of the guests, and it was open to +anybody to ladle up what he wanted with a tin dipper. A haze of tobacco +smoke drifted in thin blue wisps beneath the big nickeled lamps, and in +addition to the reek of it, the place was filled with the smell of hot +iron which an over-driven stove gives out, and the subtle odors of old +skin coats. + +The guests, however, were accustomed to an atmosphere of that kind, and +it did not trouble them. For the most part, they were lean, spare, +straight of limb and bronzed by frost and snow-blink, for though +scarcely half of them were Canadian born, the prairie, as a rule, +swiftly sets its stamp upon the newcomer. Also, there was something in +the way they held themselves and put their feet down that suggested +health and vigor, and, in the case of most of them, a certain alertness +and decision of character. Some were from English cities, a few from +those of Canada, and some from the bush of Ontario; but there was a +similarity among them for which the cut and tightness of their store +clothing did not altogether account. They lived well, though plainly, +and toiled out in the open unusually hard. Their eyes were steady, their +bronzed skin was clear, and their laughter had a wholesome ring. + +A fiery-haired Scot, a Highlander, sat upon a barrel-head sawing at a +fiddle, and the shrill scream of it filled the barn. To tone he did not +aspire, but he played with Caledonian nerve and swing, and kept the +snapping time. It was mad, harsh music of the kind that sets the blood +tingling, causes the feet to move in rhythm, though the exhilarating +effect of it was rather spoiled by the efforts of the little French +Canadian who had another fiddle and struck clanging chords from the +lower strings. + +In the cleared space they were dancing what was presumably a quadrille, +though it bore almost as great a resemblance to a Scottish country +dance, or indeed to one of the measures of rural France, which was, +however, characteristic of the present country. + +The Englishman has set no distinguishable impress upon the prairie. It +has absorbed him with his reserve and sturdy industry, and apparently +the Canadian from the cities is also lost in it, too, for his is the +leaven that works through the mass slowly and unobtrusively, while the +Scot and the habitant of French extraction have given the life of it +color and individuality. Extremes meet and fuse on the wide white levels +of the West. + +An Englishman, however, was the life of that dance, and he was +physically a larger man than most of the rest, for, as a rule, the +Colonial born run to wiry hardness rather than to solidity of frame. +Gregory Hawtrey was tall and thick of shoulder, though the rest of him +was in fine modeling, and he had a pleasant face of the English +blue-eyed type. Just then it was shining with boyish merriment, and +indeed an irresponsible gayety was a salient characteristic of the man. +One would have called him handsome, though his mouth was a trifle slack, +and though a certain assurance in his manner just fell short of swagger. +He was the kind of man one likes at first sight, but for all that not +the kind his hard-bitten neighbors would have chosen to stand by them +through the strain of drought and frost in adverse seasons. + +As it happened, the grim, hard-faced Sager, who had come there from +Michigan, was just then talking about him to Stukely. + +"Kind of tone about that man--guess he once had the gold-leaf on him +quite thick, and it hasn't all worn off yet," said Sager. "Seen more +Englishmen like him, and some folks from Noo York, too, when I took +parties bass fishing way back yonder." + +He waved his hand vaguely, as though to indicate the American Republic, +and Stukely agreed with him. They were right as far as they went, for +Hawtrey undoubtedly possessed a grace of manner which, however, somehow +failed to reach distinction. It was, perhaps, just a little too +apparent, and lacked the strengthening feature of restraint. + +"I wonder," remarked Stukely reflectively, "what those kind of fellows +done before they came out here." + +He had expressed a curiosity which is now and then to be met with on the +prairie, but Sager, the charitable, grinned. + +"Oh," he responded, "I guess quite a few done no more than make their +folks on the other side tired of them, and that's why they sent them out +to you. Some of them get paid so much on condition that they don't come +back again. Say"--and he glanced toward the dancers--"Dick Creighton's +Sally seems quite stuck on Hawtrey by the way she's looking at him." + +Stukely assented. He was a somewhat primitive person, as was Sally +Creighton, for that matter, and he did not suppose that she would have +been greatly offended had she overheard his observations. + +"Well," he said, "I've thought that, too. If she wants him she'll get +him. She's a smart girl--Sally." + +There were not many women present--perhaps one to every two of the men, +which was rather a large proportion in that country, and their garments +were not at all costly or beautiful. The fabrics were, for the most +part, the cheapest obtainable, and the wearers had fashioned their gowns +with their own fingers, in the scanty interludes between washing, and +baking, and mending their husbands' or fathers' clothes. The faces of +the women were a trifle sallow and had lost their freshness in the dry +heat of the stove. Their hands were hard and reddened, and in figure +most of them were thin and spare. One could have fancied that in a land +where everybody toiled strenuously their burden was heavier than the +men's. One or two of the women clearly had been accustomed to a smoother +life, but there was nothing to suggest that they looked back to it with +regret. As a matter of fact, they looked forward, working for the +future, and there was patient courage in their smiling eyes. + +Creighton's Sally, who was then tripping through the measure on +Hawtrey's arm, was native born. She was young and straight--straighter +in outline than the women of the cities--with a suppleness which was +less suggestive of the willow than a rather highly-tempered spring. She +moved with a large vigor which barely fell short of grace, her eyes +snapped when she smiled at Hawtrey, and her hair, which was of a ruddy +brown, had fiery gleams in it. Anyone would have called her comely, and +there were, indeed, no women in Stukely's barn to compare with her in +that respect, a fact that she recognized. + +"Oh, yes," said Sager reflectively; "she'll get him sure if she sets her +mind on it, and there's no denying that they make a handsome pair. I've +nothing against Hawtrey either: a straight man, a hustler, and smart at +handling a team. Still, it's kind of curious that while the man's never +been stuck for the stamps like the rest of us, he's made nothing very +much of his homestead yet. Now there's Bob, and Jake, and Jasper came in +after he did with half the money, and they thrash out four bushels of +hard wheat for Hawtrey's three." + +Stukely made a little gesture of concurrence, for he dimly realized the +significance of his companion's speech. It is results which count in +that country, where the one thing demanded is practical efficiency, and +the man of simple, steadfast purpose usually goes the farthest. Hawtrey +had graces which won him friends, boldness of conception, and the power +of application; but he had somehow failed to accomplish as much as his +neighbors did. After all, there must be a good deal to be said for the +man who raises four bushels of good wheat where his comrade with equal +facilities raises three. + +In the meanwhile Hawtrey was talking to Sally, and it was not +astonishing that they talked of farming, which is the standard topic on +that strip of prairie. + +"So you're not going to break that new piece this spring?" she asked. + +"No," answered Hawtrey; "I'd want another team, anyway, and I can't +raise the money; it's hard to get out here." + +"Plenty under the sod," declared Sally, who was essentially practical. +"That's where we get ours, but you have to put the breaker in and turn +it over. You"--and she flashed a quick glance at him--"got most of yours +from England. Won't they send you any more?" + +Hawtrey's eyes twinkled as he shook his head. "I'm afraid they won't," +he replied. "You see, I've put the screw on them rather hard the last +few years." + +"How did you do that?" Sally inquired. "Told them you were thinking of +coming home again?" + +There was a certain wryness in the young man's smile, for though Hawtrey +had cast no particular slur upon the family's credit he had signally +failed to enhance it, and he was quite aware that his English relatives +did not greatly desire his presence in the Old Country. + +"My dear," he said, "you really shouldn't hit a fellow in the eye that +way." + +As it happened, he did not see the girl's face just then, or he might +have noticed a momentary change in its expression. Gregory Hawtrey was a +little casual in speech, but, so far, most of the young women upon whom +he bestowed an epithet indicative of affection had attached no +significance to it. They had wisely decided that he did not mean +anything. + +The Scottish fiddler's voice broke in. + +"Can ye no' watch the music? Noo it's paddy-bash!" he cried. + +His French Canadian comrade waved his fiddle-bow protestingly. + +"Paddybashy! _V'la la belle chose!_" he exclaimed with ineffable +contempt, and broke in upon the ranting melody with a succession of +harsh, crashing chords. + +Then began a contest as to which could drown the other's instrument, and +the snapping time grew faster, until the dancers gasped, and men who +wore long boots encouraged them with cries and stamped a staccato +accompaniment upon the benches or on the floor. It was savage, rasping +music, but one player infused into it the ebullient nerve of France, and +the other was from the misty land where the fiddler learns the witchery +of the clanging reel and the swing of the Strathspey. It is doubtless +not high art, but there is probably no music in the world that fires the +blood like this and turns the sober dance to rhythmic riot. Perhaps, +too, amid the prairie snow, it gains something that gives it a closer +compelling grip. + +Hawtrey was breathless when it ceased, and Sally's eyes flashed with the +effulgence of the Northern night when her partner found her a +resting-place upon an upturned barrel. + +"No," she declared, "I won't have any cider." She turned and glanced at +him imperiously. "You're not going for any more either." + +It was, no doubt, not the speech a well-trained English maiden would +have made, but, though Hawtrey smiled rather curiously, it fell +inoffensively from Sally's lips. Though it is not always set down to +their credit, the brown-faced, hard-handed men as a rule live very +abstemiously in that country, and, as it happened, Hawtrey, who +certainly showed no sign of it, had already consumed rather more cider +than anybody else. He made a little bow of submission, and Sally resumed +their conversation where it had broken off. + +"We could let you have our ox-team to do that breaking with," she +volunteered. "You've had Sproatly living with you all winter. Why don't +you make him stay and work out his keep?" + +Hawtrey laughed. "Sally," he said, "do you think anybody could make +Sproatly work?" + +"It would be hard," the girl admitted, and then looked up at him with a +little glint in her eyes. "Still, I'd put a move on him if you sent him +along to me." + +She was a capable young woman, but Hawtrey was dubious concerning her +ability to accomplish such a task. Sproatly was an Englishman of good +education, though his appearance seldom suggested it. Most of the summer +he drove about the prairie in a wagon, vending cheap oleographs and +patent medicines, and during the winter contrived to obtain free +quarters from his bachelor acquaintances. It is a hospitable country, +but there were men round Lander's who, when they went away to work in +far-off lumber camps, as they sometimes did, nailed up their doors and +windows to prevent Sproatly from getting in. + +"Does he never do anything?" Sally added. + +"No," Hawtrey assured her, "at least, never when he can help it. He had, +however, started something shortly before I left him. You see, the house +has needed cleaning, the last month or two, and we tossed up for who +should do it. It fell to Sproatly, who didn't seem quite pleased, but he +got as far as firing the chairs and tables out into the snow. Then he +sat down for a smoke, and he was looking at them through the window when +I drove away." + +"Ah," commented Sally, "you want somebody to keep the house straight and +look after you. Didn't you know any nice girls back there in the Old +Country?" + +She spoke naturally, and there was nothing to show that the girl's heart +beat a little more rapidly than usual as she watched Hawtrey. His face, +however, grew a trifle graver, for she had touched upon a momentous +question to such men as he. Living in Spartan simplicity upon the +prairie, there are a good many of them, well-trained, well-connected +young Englishmen, and others like them from Canadian cities. They +naturally look for some grace of culture or refinement in the woman they +would marry, and there are few women of the station to which they once +belonged who could face the loneliness and unassisted drudgery that must +be borne by the small wheat-grower's wife. There were also reasons why +this question had been troubling Hawtrey in particular of late. + +"Oh, yes, of course, I knew nice girls in England, one or two," he +answered. "I'm not quite sure, however, that girls of that kind would +find things even moderately comfortable here." + +A certain reflectiveness in his tone, which seemed to indicate that he +had already given the matter some consideration, jarred upon Sally. +Moreover, she had an ample share of the Western farmer's pride, which +firmly declines to believe that there is any land to compare with the +one the plow is slowly wresting from the wide white levels of the +prairie. + +"We make out well enough," she asserted with a snap in her eyes. + +Hawtrey made an expressive gesture. "Oh, yes," he admitted, "it's in +you. All you want in order to beat the wilderness and turn it into a +garden is an ax, a span of oxen, and a breaker plow. You ought to be +proud of your energy. Still, you see, our folks back yonder aren't quite +the same as you." + +Sally partly understood him. "Ah," she replied, "they want more, and, +perhaps, they're used to having more than we have; but isn't that in one +way their misfortune? Is it what folks want, or what they can do, that +makes them of use to anybody else?" + +There was a hard truth in her suggestion, but Hawtrey, who seldom +occupied himself with matters of that kind, smiled. + +"Oh," he said, "I don't know; but, after all, it wouldn't be worth while +for us to raise wheat here unless there were folks back East to eat it, +and, if some of them only eat in the shape of dainty cakes, that doesn't +affect the question. Anyway, there will be but another dance or two, and +I was wondering whether I could drive you home; I've got Wyllard's +Ontario sleigh." + +Sally glanced at him rather sharply. She had half-expected this offer, +and it is possible would have judiciously led him up to it if he had not +made it. Now, as she saw that he really wished to drive her home, she +was glad that she had not deliberately encouraged the invitation. + +"Yes," she answered softly, "I think you could." + +"Then," said Hawtrey, "if you'll wait ten minutes I'll be back with the +team." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SALLY TAKES CHARGE + + +The night was clear and bitterly cold when Hawtrey and Sally Creighton +drove away from Stukely's barn. Winter had lingered unusually long that +year, and the prairie gleamed dimly white, with the sledge trail cutting +athwart it, a smear of blue-gray in the foreground. It was--for Lander's +lay behind them with the snow among the stubble belts that engirdled +it--an empty wilderness that the mettlesome team swung across, and +during the first few minutes the cold struck through the horses with a +sting like the thrust of steel. A half moon, coppery red with frost, +hung low above the snow-covered earth, and there was no sound but the +crunch beneath the runners, and the beat of hoofs that rang dully +through the silence like a roll of muffled drums. + +Sleighs like the one that Hawtrey drove are not common on the prairie, +where the farmer generally uses the humble bob-sled when the snow lies +unusually long. It had been made for use in Montreal, and bought back +East by a friend of Hawtrey's, who was possessed of some means, which is +a somewhat unusual thing in the case of a Western wheat-grower. This man +also had bought the team--the fastest he could obtain--and when the +warmth came back to the horses Hawtrey and the girl became conscious of +the exhilaration of the swift and easy motion. The sleigh was light and +narrow, and Hawtrey, who drew the thick driving-robe higher about Sally, +did not immediately draw the mittened hand he had used back again. The +girl did not resent the fact that it still rested behind her shoulder, +nor did Hawtrey attach any particular significance to the fact. He was a +man who usually acted on impulse. How far Sally understood him did not +appear, but she came of folk who had waged a stubborn battle with the +wilderness, and there was a vein of grim tenacity in her. + +She was, however, conscious that there was something beneath her feet +which forced her, if she was to sit comfortably, rather close against +her companion; and it seemed expedient to point it out. + +"Can't you move a little? I can't get my feet fixed right," she said. + +Hawtrey looked down at her with a smile. "I'm afraid I can't unless I +get right outside. Aren't you happy there?" + +It was the kind of speech he was in the habit of making, but there was +rather more color in the girl's face than the stinging night air brought +there, and she glanced at the bottom of the sleigh. + +"It's a sack of some kind, isn't it?" she asked. + +"Yes," Hawtrey answered, "it's a couple of three-bushel bags. Some +special seed Lorton sent to Winnipeg for. Ormond brought them out from +the railroad. I promised I'd take them along to him." + +"You should have told me. It's most a league round by Lorton's place," +Sally returned with reproach in her voice. + +"That won't take long with this team. Have you any great objections to +another fifteen minutes' drive with me?" + +Sally looked up at him, and the moonlight was on her face, which was +unusually pretty in the radiance of the brilliant night. + +"No," she admitted, "I haven't any." + +She spoke demurely, but there was a perceptible something in her voice +which might have warned the man, had he been in the habit of taking +warning from anything, which, however, was not the case. It was one of +his weaknesses that he seldom thought about what he did until he was +compelled to face the consequences; and it was, perhaps, to his credit +that he had after all done very little harm, for there was hot blood in +him. + +"Well," he responded, "I'm not going to grumble about those extra three +miles, but you were asking what land I meant to break this spring. What +put that into your mind?" + +"Our folks," Sally replied candidly. "They were talking about you." + +This again was significant, but Hawtrey did not notice it. + +"I've no doubt they said I ought to tackle the new quarter section," he +suggested. + +"Yes," assented Sally. "Why don't you do it? Last fall you thrashed out +quite a big harvest." + +"I certainly did. There, however, didn't seem to be many dollars left +over when I'd faced the bills." + +The girl made a little gesture of impatience. "Oh, Bob and Jake and +Jasper sowed on less backsetting," she said, "and they're buying new +teams and plows. Can't you do what they do, though I guess they don't go +off for weeks to Winnipeg?" + +The man was silent. He had an incentive for hard work about which she +was ignorant, and he had certainly done much, but the long, iron winter, +when there was nothing that could be done, had proved too severe a test +for him. It was very dreary sitting alone evening after evening beside +the stove, and the company of the somnolent Sproatly was not cheerful. +Now and then his pleasure-loving nature had revolted from the barrenness +of his lot when, stiff and cold, he drove home from an odd visit to a +neighbor, and arriving in the dark found the stove had burned out and +water had frozen hard inside the house. These were things his neighbors +patiently endured, but Hawtrey had fled for life and brightness to +Winnipeg. + +Sally glanced up at him with a little nod. "You take hold with a good +grip. Everybody allows that," she observed. "The trouble is you let +things go afterwards. You don't stay with it." + +"Yes," assented Hawtrey. "I believe you have hit it, Sally. That's very +much what's the matter with me." + +"Then," said the girl with quiet insistence, "won't you try?" + +A faint flush crept into Hawtrey's face. Sally was less than +half-taught, and unacquainted with anything beyond the simple, strenuous +life of the prairie. Her greatest accomplishments consisted of some +skill in bakery and the handling of half-broken teams; but she had once +or twice given him what he recognized as excellent advice. There was +something incongruous in the situation, but, as usual, he preferred to +regard it whimsically. + +"I suppose I'll have to, if you insist. If ever I'm the grasping owner +of the biggest farm in this district I'll blame you," he answered. + +Sally said nothing further on that subject, and some time later the +sleigh went skimming down among the birches in a shallow ravine. Hawtrey +pulled the horses up when they reached the bottom of the ravine, and +glanced up at a shapeless cluster of buildings that showed black amid +the trees. + +"Lorton won't be back until to-morrow, but I promised to pitch the bags +into his granary," he said. "If I hump them up the trail here it will +save us driving round through the bluff." + +He got down, and though the bags were heavy, with Sally's assistance he +managed to hoist the first of them on to his shoulders. Then he +staggered with it up the steep foot-trail that climbed the slope. He was +more or less accustomed to carrying bags of grain between store and +wagon, but his mittened hands were numbed, and his joints were stiff +with cold. Sally noticed that he floundered rather wildly. In another +moment or two, however, he vanished into the gloom among the trees, and +she sat listening to the uneven crunch of his footsteps in the snow, +until there was a sudden crash of broken branches, and a sound as of +something falling heavily down a declivity. Then there was another +crash, and stillness again. + +Sally gasped, and clenched her mittened hands hard upon the reins as she +remembered that Lorton's by-trail skirted the edge of a very steep bank, +but she lost neither her collectedness nor her nerve. Presence of mind +in the face of an emergency is probably as much a question of experience +as of temperament, and, like other women in that country, she had seen +men struck down by half-trained horses, crushed by collapsing +strawpiles, and once or twice gashed by mower blades. This was no doubt +why she remembered that the impatient team would probably move on if she +left the sleigh, and therefore drove the horses to the first of the +birches before she got down. Then she knotted the reins about a branch, +and called out sharply. + +No answer came out of the shadows, and her heart beat unpleasantly fast +as she plunged in among the trees, keeping below the narrow trail that +went slanting up the side of the declivity, until she stopped, with +another gasp, when she reached a spot where a ray of moonlight filtered +down. A limp figure in an old skin coat lay almost at her feet, and she +dropped on her knees beside it in the snow. Hawtrey's face showed an +unpleasant grayish-white in the faint silvery light. + +"Gregory," she cried hoarsely. + +The man opened his eyes, and blinked at her in a half-dazed manner. +"Fell down," he said. "Think I felt my leg go--and my side's stabbing +me. Go for somebody." + +Sally glanced round, and noticed that the grain bag lay burst open not +far away. She fancied that he had clung to it after he lost his footing, +which explained why he had fallen so heavily, but that was not a point +of any consequence now. There was nobody who could help her within two +leagues of the spot, and it was evident that she could not leave him +there to freeze. Then she noticed that the trees grew rather farther +apart just there, and rising swiftly she ran back to bring the team. The +ascent was steep, and she had to urge the horses, with sharp cries and +blows from her mittened hand, among shadowy tree trunks and through +snapping undergrowth before she reached the spot where Hawtrey lay. He +looked up at her when at last the horses stood close beside him. + +"You can't turn them here," he told her faintly. + +Sally was never sure how she managed it, for the sleigh drove against +the slender trunks, and the fiery beasts, terrified by the snapping of +the undergrowth, were almost unmanageable; but at last they were facing +the descent again, and she stooped and twined her arms about the +shoulders of Hawtrey, who now lay almost against the sleigh. + +"It's going to hurt, Gregory, but I have got to get you in," she warned +him. + +Then she gasped, for Hawtrey was a man of full stature, and it was a +heavy lift. She could not raise him wholly, and he cried out once when +his injured leg trailed in the snow. Still, with the most strenuous +effort she had ever made she moved him a yard or so, and then staggering +fell with her side against the sleigh. She felt faint with the pain of +it, but with another desperate lift she drew him into the sleigh, and +let him sink down gently upon the bag that still lay there. His eyes had +shut again, and he said nothing now. + +It required only another moment or two to wrap the thick driving-robe +about him, and after that, with one hand still beneath his neck, she +glanced down. It was clear that he was quite unconscious of her +presence, and stooping swiftly she kissed his gray face. She settled +herself in the driving-seat with only a blanket coat to shelter her from +the cold, and the horses went cautiously down the slope. She did not +urge them until they reached the level, for the trail that wound up out +of the ravine was difficult, but when the wide white expanse once more +stretched away before them she laid the biting whip across their backs. + +That was quite sufficient. They were fiery animals, and when they broke +into a furious gallop the rush of night wind struck her tingling cheeks +like a lash of wires. All power of feeling went out of her hands, her +arms grew stiff and heavy, and she was glad that the trail led smooth +and straight to the horizon. Hawtrey, who had moved a little, lay +helpless across her feet. He did not answer when she spoke to him. + +The team went far at the gallop. A fine mist of snow beat against the +sleigh, but the girl leaning forward, a tense figure, with nerveless +hands clenched upon the reins, saw nothing but the blue-gray riband of +trail that steadily unrolled itself before her. At length a blurred +mass, which she knew to be a birch bluff, grew out of the white waste, +and presently a cluster of darker smudges shot up into the shape of a +log-house, sod stables, and straw-pile granary. A minute or two later, +she pulled the team up with an effort, and a man, who flung the door of +the house open, came out into the moonlight. He stopped, and gazed at +her in astonishment. + +"Miss Creighton!" he said. + +"Don't stand there," cried Sally. "Take the near horse's head, and lead +them right up to the door." + +"What's the matter?" the man asked stupidly. + +"Lead the team up," ordered Sally. "Jump, if you can." + +It was supposed that Sproatly had never moved with much expedition in +his life, but that night he sprang towards the horses at a commanding +wave of the girl's hand. He started when he saw his comrade lying in the +bottom of the sleigh, but Sally disregarded his hurried questions. + +"Help me to get him out," she said, when he stopped the team. "Keep his +right leg as straight as you can. I don't want to lift him. We must +slide him in." + +They did it somehow, though the girl was breathless before their task +was finished, and the perspiration started from the man. Then Sally +turned to Sproatly. + +"Get into the sleigh, and don't spare the team," she said. "Drive over +to Watson's, and bring him along. You can tell him your partner's broke +his leg, and some of his ribs. Start right now!" + +Sproatly did her bidding, and when the door closed behind him she flung +off her blanket coat and thrust plenty of wood into the stove. She +looked for some coffee in the cupboard, and put on a kettle, after which +she sat down on the floor by Hawtrey's side. He lay still, with the +thick driving-robe beneath him, and though the color was creeping back +into his face, his eyes were shut, and he was apparently quite +unconscious of her presence. For the first time she was aware of a +distressful faintness, which, as she had come suddenly out of the +stinging frost into the little overheated room that reeked with tobacco +smoke and a stale smell of cooking, was not astonishing. She mastered +her dizziness, however, and presently, seeing that Hawtrey did not move, +glanced about her with some curiosity, for it was the first time she had +entered his house. + +The room was scantily furnished, and, though very few of the bachelor +farmers in that country live luxuriously, she fancied that Sproatly, who +had evidently very rudimentary ideas on the subject of house-cleaning, +had not brought back all the sundries he had thrown out into the snow. +It contained a table, a carpenter's bench, and a couple of chairs. There +were still smears of dust upon the uncovered floor. The birch-log walls +had been rudely paneled half-way up, but the half-seasoned boards had +cracked with the heat, and exuded streaks of resin to which the grime +and dust had clung. A pail, which contained potato peelings, stood amid +a litter of old long-boots and broken harness against one wall. The +floor was black and thick with grease all round the rusty stove. A pile +of unwashed dishes and cooking utensils stood upon the table, and the +lamp above her head had blackened the boarded ceiling. + +Sally noticed it all with disgust, and then, seeing that Hawtrey had +opened his eyes, she made a cup of coffee and persuaded him to drink it. +After that he smiled at her. + +"Thanks," he said feebly. "Where's Sproatly? My side stabs me." + +Sally raised one hand. "You're not to say a word," she cautioned. +"Sproatly's gone for Watson, and he'll soon fix you up. Now lie quite +still, and shut your eyes again." + +Hawtrey obeyed her injunction to lie still, but his eyes were not more +than half-closed, and she could not resist the temptation to see what he +would do if she went away. She had half risen, when he stretched out a +hand and felt for her dress, and she sank down again with a curious +softness in her face. Then he let his eyes close altogether, as if +satisfied, and by and by she gently laid her hand on his. + +He did not appear to notice it, and, though she did not know whether he +was asleep or unconscious, she sat beside him, watching him with +compassion in her eyes. There was no sound but the snapping of the birch +billets in the rusty stove. She was anxious, but not unduly so, for she +knew that men who live as the prairie farmers do usually more or less +readily recover from such injuries as had befallen him. It would not be +very long before assistance arrived, for it was understood that the man +for whom she had sent Sproatly had almost completed a medical course in +an Eastern city before he became a prairie farmer. Why he had suddenly +changed his profession was a point he did not explain, and, as he had +always shown himself willing to do what he could when any of his +neighbors met with an accident, nobody troubled him about the matter. + +By and by Sproatly brought Watson to the homestead, and he was busy with +Hawtrey for some time. Then they got him to bed, and Watson came back to +the room where Sally was anxiously waiting. + +"Hawtrey's idea about his injuries is more or less correct, but we'll +have no great trouble in pulling him round," he said. "The one point +that's worrying me is the looking after him. One couldn't expect him to +thrive upon slabs of burnt salt pork, and Sproatly's bread." + +"I'll do what I can," said Sproatly indignantly. + +"You!" replied Watson. "It would be criminal to leave you in charge of a +sick man." + +Sally quietly put on her blanket coat. "If you can stay a few hours, +I'll be back soon after it's light," she said. She turned to Sproatly. +"You can wash up those dishes on the table, and get a brush and sweep +this room out. If it's not quite neat to-morrow you'll do it again." + +Sproatly grinned as she went out. A few moments later the girl drove +away through the bitter frost. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WYLLARD ASSENTS + + +Sally, who returned with her mother, passed a fortnight at Hawtrey's +homestead before Watson decided that his patient could be entrusted to +Sproatly's care. Afterwards she went back twice a week to make sure that +Sproatly, in whom she had no confidence, was discharging his duties +satisfactorily. With baskets of dainties for the invalid she had driven +over one afternoon, when Hawtrey, whose bones were knitting well, lay +talking to another man in his little sleeping-room. + +There was no furniture in the room except the wooden bunk in which he +lay, and a deerhide lounge chair he had made. The stove-pipe from the +kitchen led across part of one corner, and then up again into the room +beneath the roof above. It had been one of Sproatly's duties since the +accident to rise and renew the fire soon after midnight, and when Sally +arrived he was outside the house, whip-sawing birch-logs and splitting +them, an occupation he profoundly disliked. + +Spring had come suddenly, as it usually does on the prairie, and the +snow was melting fast under a brilliant sun. The bright rays that +streamed in through the window struck athwart the glimmering dust motes +in the little bare room, and fell, pleasantly warm, upon the man who sat +in the deerhide chair. He was a year or two older than Hawtrey, though +he had scarcely reached thirty. He was a man of average height, and +somewhat spare of figure. His manner was tranquil and his lean, bronzed +face attractive. He held a pipe in his hand, and was looking at Hawtrey +with quiet, contemplative eyes, that were his most noticeable feature, +though it was difficult to say whether their color was gray or +hazel-brown, for they were singularly clear, and there was something +which suggested steadfastness in their unwavering gaze. The man wore +long boots, trousers of old blue duck, and a jacket of soft deerskin +such as the Blackfeet dress so expertly; and there was nothing about him +to suggest that he was a man of varied experience, and of some +importance in that country. + +Harry Wyllard was native-born. In his young days he had assisted his +father in the working of a little Manitoban farm, when the great grain +province was still, for the most part, a wilderness. A prosperous +relative on the Pacific slope had sent him to Toronto University, where +after a session or two he had become involved in a difference of opinion +with the authorities. Though the matter was never made quite clear, it +was generally believed that Wyllard had quietly borne the blame of a +comrade's action, for there was a vein of eccentric generosity in the +lad. In any case, he left Toronto, and the relative, who was largely +interested in the fur business, next sent him north to the Behring Sea. +The business was then a hazardous one, for the skin buyers and pelagic +sealers had trouble with the Alaskan representatives of American trading +companies, upon whose preserves they poached, as well as with the +commanders of the gunboats sent up north to protect the seals. + +Men's lives were staked against the value of a fur, edicts were lightly +contravened, and now and then a schooner barely escaped into the +smothering fog with skins looted on forbidden beaches. It was a perilous +life, and a strenuous one, for every white man's hand was against the +traders; there were rangers in fog and gale, and the reefs that lay in +the tideways of almost uncharted waters; but Wyllard made the most of +his chance. He kept the peace with jealous skippers who resented the +presence of a man they might command as mate, but whose views they were +forced to listen to when he spoke as supercargo. He won the good-will of +sea-bred Indians, and drove a good trade with them; he not infrequently +brought his boat loaded with reeking skins back first to the plunging +schooner. + +He fell into trouble again when they were hanging off the Eastern Isles +under double reefs, watching for the Russians' seals. A boat's crew from +another schooner had been cast ashore, and, as the men were in peril of +falling into the Russians' hands, Wyllard led a reckless expedition to +rescue them. He succeeded, in so far that the wrecked sailors were taken +off the beach through a tumult of breaking surf; but as the relief crews +pulled seaward the fog shut down on them, and one boat, manned by three +men, never reached the schooners. The vessels blew horns all night, and +crept along the smoking beach next day, though the surf made landing +impossible. Then a sudden gale drove them off the shore, and, as it was +evident that their comrades must have perished, they reluctantly sailed +for other fishing grounds. As one result of this, Wyllard broke with his +prosperous relative when he went back to Vancouver. + +After that he helped to strengthen railroad bridges among the mountains +of British Columbia. He worked in logging camps, and shoveled in the +mines, and, as it happened, met Hawtrey, who, tempted by high wages, had +spent a winter in the Mountain Province. Wyllard's father, who had taken +up virgin soil in Assiniboia, died soon after Wyllard went back to him, +and a few months later the relative in Vancouver also died. Somewhat to +Wyllard's astonishment, his kinsman bequeathed him a considerable +property, most of the proceeds of which he sank in acres of virgin +prairie. Willow Range was now one of the largest farms between Winnipeg +and the Rockies. + +"The leg's getting along satisfactorily?" Wyllard inquired at length. + +Hawtrey, who appeared unusually thoughtful, admitted that it was. + +"Anyway, it's singularly unfortunate that I'm disabled just now," he +added. "There's the plowing to begin in a week or two, and besides that +I was thinking of getting married." + +Wyllard was somewhat astonished at this announcement. For one thing, he +was more or less acquainted with the state of his friend's finances. +During the next moment or two he glanced meditatively through the open +door into the adjoining room, where Sally Creighton was busy beside the +stove. The sleeves of the girl's light bodice were rolled up well above +the elbow, and she had pretty, round arms, which were just then partly +immersed in dough. + +"I don't think there's a nicer or more capable girl in this part of +Assiniboia," he remarked. + +"Oh, yes," agreed Hawtrey. "Anybody would admit that. Still, since you +seem so sure of it, why don't you marry her yourself?" + +Wyllard looked at his comrade curiously. "Well," he said, "there are +several reasons that don't affect Miss Sally and only concern myself. +Besides, it's highly improbable that she'd have me." Before he looked up +again he paused to light his pipe, which had gone out. "Since it +evidently isn't Sally, have I met the lady?" he asked. + +"You haven't. She's in England." + +"It's four years, isn't it, since you were over there?" + +Hawtrey lay silent a minute, and then made a little confidential +gesture. + +"I'd better tell you all about the thing," he said. "Our folks were +people of some little standing in the county. In fact, as they were far +from rich, they had just standing enough to embarrass them. In most +respects, they were ultra-conventional with old-fashioned ideas, and, +though there was no open break, I'm afraid I didn't get on with them +quite as well as I should have done, which is why I came out to Canada. +They started me on the land decently, and twice when we'd harvested +frost and horse-sickness, they sent along the draft I asked them for. +That is one reason why I'm not going to worry them, though I'd very much +like another now. You see, there are two girls, as well as Reggie, who's +reading for the Bar." + +"I don't think you have mentioned the lady yet." + +"She's a connection of some friends of ours. Her mother, so far as I +understand it, married beneath her--a man her family didn't like. The +father and mother died, and Agatha, who was brought up by the father's +relations, was often at the Grange, a little, old-fashioned, +half-ruinous place, a mile or two from where we live in the North of +England. The Grange belongs to her mother's folks, but I think there was +still a feud between them and her father's people, who had her trained +to earn her living. We saw a good deal of each other, and fell in love, +as boy and girl will. Well, when I went back, one winter, after I'd been +here two years, Agatha was at the Grange again, and we decided then that +I was to bring her out as soon as I had a home to offer her." + +Hawtrey broke off for a moment, and there was a trace of embarrassment +in his manner when he went on again. "Perhaps I ought to have managed it +sooner," he added. "Still, things never seem to go quite as one would +like with me, and you can understand that a dainty, delicate girl reared +in comfort in England would find it rough out here." + +Wyllard glanced round the bare room in which he sat, and into the other, +which was also furnished in a remarkably primitive manner. + +"Yes," he assented, "I can quite realize that." + +"Well," said Hawtrey, "it's a thing that has been worrying me a good +deal of late, because, as a matter of fact, I'm not much farther forward +than I was four years ago. In the meanwhile, Agatha, who has some talent +for music, was in a first-class master's hands. Afterwards she gave +lessons, and got odd singing engagements. A week ago, I had a letter +from her in which she said that her throat was giving out." + +He stopped again for a moment, with trouble in his face, and then +fumbling under his pillow produced a letter, which he carefully folded. + +"We're rather good friends," he observed. "You can read that part of +it." + +Wyllard took the letter, and a suggestion of quickening interest crept +into his eyes as he read. Then he looked up at Hawtrey. + +"It's a brave letter--the kind a brave girl would write," he commented. +"Still, it's evident that she's anxious." + +For a moment or two there was silence, which was broken only by Sally +clattering about the stove. + +Dissimilar in character, as they were, the two men were firm friends, +and there had been a day when, as they worked upon a dizzy railroad +trestle, Hawtrey had held Wyllard fast when a plank slipped away. He had +thought nothing of the matter, but Wyllard was one who remembered things +of that kind. + +"Now," said Hawtrey, after a long pause, "you see my trouble. This place +isn't fit for her, and I couldn't even go across for some time yet. But +her father's folks have died off, and there's nothing to be expected +from her mother's relatives. Any way, she can't be left to face the blow +alone. It's unthinkable. Well, there's only one course open to me, and +that's to raise as much money on a mortgage as I can, fit the place out +with fixings brought from Winnipeg, and sow a double acreage with +borrowed capital. I'll send for her as soon as I can get the house made +a little more comfortable." + +Wyllard sat silent a moment or two, and then leaned forward in his +chair. + +"No," he objected, "there are two other and wiser courses. Tell the girl +what things are like here, and just how you stand. She'd face it +bravely. There's no doubt of that." + +Hawtrey looked at him sharply. "I believe she would, but considering +that you have never seen her, I don't quite know why you should be sure +of it." + +Wyllard smiled. "The girl who wrote that letter wouldn't flinch." + +"Well," said Hawtrey, "you can mention the second course." + +"I'll let you have $1,000 at bank interest--which is less than any +land-broker would charge you--without a mortgage." + +Again Hawtrey showed a certain embarrassment. "No," he replied, "I'm +afraid it can't be done. I had a kind of claim upon my people, though it +must be admitted that I've worked it off, but I can't quite bring myself +to borrow money from my friends." + +Wyllard who saw that he meant it, made a gesture of resignation. "Then +you must let the girl make the most of it, but keep out of the hands of +the mortgage man. By the way, I haven't told you that I've decided to +make a trip to the Old Country. We had a bonanza crop last season, and +Martial could run the range for a month or two. After all, my father was +born yonder, and I can't help feeling now and then that I should have +made an effort to trace up that young Englishman's relatives, and tell +them what became of him." + +"The one you struck in British Columbia? You have mentioned him, but, so +far as I remember, you never gave me any particulars about the thing." + +Wyllard seemed to hesitate, which was not a habit of his. + +"There is," he said, "not much to tell. I struck the lad sitting down, +played out, upon a trail that led over a big divide. It was clear that +he couldn't get any further, and there wasn't a settlement within a good +many leagues of the spot. We were up in the ranges prospecting then. +Well, we made camp and gave him supper--he couldn't eat very much--and +afterwards he told me what brought him there. It seemed to me he had +always been weedy in the chest, but he had been working waist-deep in an +icy creek, building a dam at a mine, until his lungs had given out. The +mining boss was a hard case and had no mercy on him, but the lad, who +had had a rough time in the Mountain Province, stayed with it until he +played out altogether." + +Wyllard's face hardened as he mentioned the mining boss, and a curious +little sparkle crept into his eyes, but after a pause he proceeded +quietly: + +"We did what we could for the boy. In fact, it rather broke up the +prospecting trip, but he was too far gone. He hung for a week or two, +and one of us brought a doctor out from the settlements, but the day +before we broke camp Jake and I buried him." + +Hawtrey made a sign of comprehension. He was reasonably well acquainted +with his comrade's character, and fancied he knew who had brought the +doctor out. He knew also that Wyllard had been earning his living as a +railroad navvy or chopper then, and, in view of the cost of provisions +brought by pack-horse into the remoter bush, the reason why he had +abandoned his prospecting trip after spending a week or two taking care +of the sick lad was clear enough. + +"You never learned his name?" Hawtrey asked. + +"I didn't," answered Wyllard. "I went back to the mine, but several +things suggested that the name upon the pay-roll wasn't his real one. He +began a broken message the night he died, but the hemorrhage cut him off +in the middle of it. The wish that I should tell his people somehow was +in his eyes." + +Wyllard broke off for a moment with the deprecatory gesture, which in +connection with the story was very expressive. + +"I have never done it, but how could I? All I know is that he was a +delicately brought up young Englishman, and the only clew I have is a +watch with a London maker's name on it and a girl's photograph. I've a +very curious notion that I shall meet that girl some day." + +Hawtrey, who made no comment, lay still for a minute or two, but his +face suggested that he was considering something. + +"Harry," he said presently, "I shall not be fit for a journey for quite +a while yet, and if I went over to England I couldn't get the plowing +done and the crop in; which, if I'm going to be married, is absolutely +necessary." + +There was no doubt about the truth of the statement, for the small +Western farmer has very seldom a balance in hand, and for that matter, +is not infrequently in debt to the nearest storekeeper. He must, as a +rule, secure a harvest or abandon his holding, since as soon as the crop +is thrashed the bills pour in. Wyllard made a sign of assent. + +"Well," Hawtrey went on, "if you're going to England you could go as my +deputy. You could make Agatha understand what things are like here, and +bring her out to me. I'll arrange for the wedding to be soon as she +arrives." + +Wyllard was not a conventional person, but he pointed out several +objections. Hawtrey overruled them, however, and eventually Wyllard +reluctantly assented. + +"As it happens, Mrs. Hastings is going over, too, and if she comes back +about the same time the thing might be managed," he said. "I believe +she's in Winnipeg just now, but I'll write to her. By the way, have you +a photograph of Agatha?" + +"I haven't," Hawtrey answered. "She gave me one, but somehow it got +mislaid on house-cleaning. That's rather an admission, isn't it?" + +It occurred to Wyllard that it certainly was. In fact, it struck him as +a very curious thing that Hawtrey should have lost the picture which the +girl with whom he was in love had given him. He sat silent for a moment +or two, and then stood up. + +"When I hear from Mrs. Hastings, I'll drive around again. Candidly, the +thing has somewhat astonished me. I always had a fancy it would be +Sally." + +Hawtrey laughed. "Sally?" he replied. "We're first-rate friends, but I +never had the faintest notion of marrying her." + +Wyllard went out to harness his team, and he did not notice that Sally, +who had approached the door with a tray in her hands a moment or two +earlier, drew back before him softly. When he had crossed the room she +set down the tray and, with her cheeks burning, leaned upon the table. +Then, feeling that she could not stay in the stove-heated room, she went +out, and stood in the slushy snow. One of her hands was tightly closed, +and all the color had vanished from her cheeks. However, she contrived +to give Hawtrey his supper by and by, and soon afterwards drove away. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A CRISIS + + +While Wyllard made arrangements for his journey, and Sally Creighton +went very quietly about her work on the lonely prairie farm, it happened +one evening that Miss Winifred Rawlinson sat uneasily expectant far back +under the gallery of a concert-hall in an English manufacturing town. In +her back seat Miss Rawlinson could not hear very well, but it was the +cheapest place she could obtain, and economy was of some little +importance to her. Besides, by craning her neck a little to avoid the +hat of the strikingly dressed young woman in front of her, she could, at +least, see the stage. The programme which she held in one hand announced +that Miss Agatha Ismay would sing a certain aria from a great composer's +oratorio. Miss Rawlinson leaned further forward in her chair when a girl +of about her own age, which was twenty-four, slowly advanced to the +center of the stage. + +The girl on the stage was a tall, well-made, brown-haired girl, with a +quiet grace of movement and a comely face. She was attired in a long +trailing dress of a shimmering corn-straw tint. Agatha Ismay had sung at +unimportant concerts with marked success, but that evening there was +something very like shrinking in her eyes. + +A crash of chords from the piano melted into a rippling prelude, and +Winifred breathed easier when her friend began to sing. The voice was +sweet and excellently trained, and there was a deep stillness of +appreciation when the clear notes thrilled through the closely-packed +hall. No one could doubt that the first part of the aria was a success, +for half-subdued applause broke out when the voice sank into silence, +and for a few moments the piano rippled on alone; but it seemed to +Winifred that there was a look of tension in the singer's face, and she +grew uneasy, for she understood the cause for it. + +"The last bit of the second part's rather trying," remarked a young man +behind her. "There's an awkward jump at two full tones that was too much +for our soprano when we tried it at the choral union. Miss Ismay's voice +is very true in intonation, but I don't suppose most of the audience +would notice it if she shirked a little and left that high sharp out." + +Winifred had little knowledge of music, but she was sufficiently +acquainted with her friend's character to be certain that Agatha would +not attempt to leave out the sharp in question. This was one reason why +she sat rigidly still when the clear voice rang out again. It rose from +note to note, full and even, but she could see the singer's face, and +there was no doubt whatever that Agatha was making a strenuous effort. +Nobody else, however, seemed to notice it, for Winifred flung a swift +glance around, and then fixed her eyes upon the dominant figure in the +corn-straw dress. The sweet voice was still rising and the interested +listener hoped that the accompanist would force the tone to cover it a +little, and put on the loud pedal. The pianist, however, was gazing at +his music, and played on until, with startling suddenness, the climax +came. + +The voice sank a full tone, rose, and hoarsely trailed off into silence +again. Then the accompanist glanced over his shoulder, and struck a +ringing chord while he waited for a sign. There was a curious stirring +in the audience. The girl in the shimmering dress stood quite still for +a moment with a spot of crimson in her cheek and a half-dazed look in +her eyes. Then, turning swiftly, she moved off the stage. + +Winifred rose with a gasp, and turned upon the young man next her, who +looked up inquiringly. + +"Yes," she said sharply; "can't you let me pass? I'm going out." + +It was about half-past nine when she reached the wet street. A fine rain +drove into her face, and she had rather more than a mile to walk without +an escort, but that was a matter which caused her no concern. She was a +self-reliant young woman, and accustomed to going about unattended. She +was quite aware that the scene she had just witnessed would bring about +a crisis in her own and her friend's affairs. For all that, she was +unpleasantly conscious of the leak in one shabby boot when she stepped +down from the sidewalk to cross the street, and when she opened her +umbrella beneath a gas lamp she pursed up her mouth. There were holes in +the umbrella near where the ribs ran into the ferrule; she had not +noticed them before. She, however, resolutely plodded on through the +drizzle, until three young fellows who came with linked arms down the +pavement of a quieter street barred her way. One wore his hat on one +side, the one nearest the curb flourished a little cane, and the third +smiled at her fatuously. + +"Oh my!" he jeered. "Where's dear Jemima off to in such a hurry?" + +Winifred drew herself up. She was little and determined, and, it must be +admitted, not quite unaccustomed to that kind of thing. + +"Will you let me pass?" she asked angrily. "There's a policeman at the +next turning." + +"There really is," said one of the youths. "The Dook has another +engagement. Dream of me, Olivia!" + +A beat of heavy feet drew nearer, and the three roysterers disappeared +in the direction of a flaming music-hall, where the second "house" was +probably beginning. Winifred, who had stepped into the gutter to avoid +the roysterer with the cane, turned as a stalwart, blue-coated figure +moved towards her. + +"Thank you, officer," she said, "they've gone." + +The policeman merely raised a hand as if in comprehension, and plodded +back to his post. Winifred went on until she let herself into a house in +a quiet street, and ascending to the second floor entered a simply +furnished room, which, however, contained a piano, and a table on which +a typewriter stood amid a litter of papers. The girl took off her +water-proof and sat down in a low chair beside the little fire. She was +not a handsome girl, and it was evident that she did not trouble herself +greatly about her attire. Her face was too thin and her figure too +slight and spare, but there was usually, even when she was anxious, as +she certainly was that night, a shrewdly whimsical twinkle in her eyes, +and though her lips were set, her expression was compassionate. + +She was not the person to sit still very long, and in a minute or two +she rose to place a little kettle on the fire. She took a few scones, a +coffee-pot, and a tin of condensed milk from a cupboard. When she had +spread them out upon a table she discovered that there was some of the +condensed milk upon her fingers, and it must be admitted that she sucked +them. They were little, stubby fingers, which somehow looked capable. + +"It must have been four o'clock when I had that bun and a cup of tea," +she remarked, half aloud. + +She glanced at the table longingly, for she occasionally found it +necessary to place a certain check upon a healthy appetite. The practice +of such self-denial is unfortunately, not a very unusual thing in the +case of many young women who work hard in the great cities. + +"I must wait for Agatha," she said, with a resolute shake of the head. +Crossing the room toward the typewriter table she stopped to glance at a +little framed photograph that stood upon the mantel. It was a portrait +of Gregory Hawtrey taken years before, and she apostrophized it with +quiet scorn. + +"Now you're wanted you're naturally away out yonder," she declared +accusingly. "You're like the rest of them--despicable!" + +This seemed to relieve her feelings, and she sat down before the +typewriter, which clicked and rattled for several minutes under her +stubby fingers. The clicking ceased with sudden abruptness, and she +prodded the carriage of the machine viciously with a hairpin. As this +appeared unavailing, she used her forefinger, and when at length it slid +along the rod with a clash there was a smear of grimy oil upon her cheek +and her nose. The machine gave no further trouble, and she endeavored to +make up some of the time that she had spent at the concert. It was +necessary that it should be made up, but she was conscious that she was +putting off an evil moment. + +At last the door opened, and Agatha Ismay, wrapped in a long cloak, came +in. She permitted Winifred to take her wrap from her, and then sank down +into a chair. There was a strained look in her eyes, and her face was +very weary. + +"You're working late again," she observed. + +Winifred nodded. "It's the men who loaf, my dear," she replied. "When +you undertake the transcription of an author's scrawl at ninepence the +thousand words you have to work hard, especially when, as it is in this +case, the thing's practically unreadable. Besides, the woman in it makes +me lose my temper. If I'd had a man of the kind described to deal with +I'd have thrashed him." + +She was talking at random, partly to conceal her anxiety, and partly +with the charitable purpose of giving her companion time to approach the +subject that must be mentioned; but she rather overdid her effort to +appear at ease. Agatha looked at her sharply. + +"Winny," she said, "you know. You've been there." + +Winifred turned towards her quietly, for she could face a crisis. + +"Yes," she confessed, "I have, but you're not going to talk about it +until you have had supper. Don't move until I make the coffee." + +She was genuinely hungry, but while she satisfied her own appetite she +took care that her companion, who did not seem inclined to eat, made a +simple meal. Then she put the plates into a cupboard and sat down facing +Agatha. + +"Well," she said, "you have broken down exactly as that throat +specialist said you would. The first question is, how long it will be +before you can go on again?" + +Agatha laughed, a little harsh laugh. "I didn't tell you everything at +the time: I've broken down for good," she answered. + +There was a moment of tense silence, and then Agatha made a dejected +gesture. "The specialist warned me that this might happen if I went on +singing, but what could I do? I couldn't cancel my engagements without +telling people why. The physician said I must go to Norway and give my +throat and chest a rest." + +They looked at each other, and there was in their eyes the half-bitter, +half-weary smile of those to whom the cure prescribed is ludicrously +impossible. It was Winifred who spoke first. + +"Then," she commented, "we have to face the situation, and it's not an +encouraging one. Our joint earnings just keep us here in decency--we +won't say comfort--and they're evidently to be subject to a big +reduction. It strikes me as a rather curious coincidence that a letter +from that man in Canada and one from your prosperous friends in the +country arrived just before you went out." + +She saw the look in Agatha's eyes, and spread her hands out. + +"Yes," she admitted; "I hid them. It seemed to me that you had quite +enough upon your mind this evening. I don't know whether the letters are +likely to throw any fresh light upon the question what we're going to +do." + +She produced the letters from a drawer in her table, and Agatha +straightened herself suddenly in her chair when she had opened the first +of them. + +"Oh," she cried, "he wants me to go out to him!" + +Winifred's face set hard for a moment, but it relaxed again, and she +contrived to hide her dismay. + +"Then," she suggested, "I suppose you'll certainly go. After all, he's +probably not worse to live with than most of them." + +Miss Rawlinson was occasionally a little bitter, but, like others of her +kind, she had been compelled to compete in an overcrowded market with +hard-driven men. She was, however, sincerely attached to her friend, and +she smiled when she saw the flash in Agatha's eyes. + +"Oh," she added, "you needn't try to wither me with your indignation. No +doubt he's precisely what he ought to be, and I dare say it will ease +your feelings if you talk about him again; at least it will help you to +formulate your reasons for going out to him. I'll listen patiently, and +try not to be uncharitable." + +Agatha fell in with the suggestion. It was a relief to talk, and she had +a certain respect, which she would not always admit, for her friend's +shrewdness. She meant to go, but she desired to ascertain how a less +interested person would regard the course that she had decided on. + +"I have known Gregory since I was a girl," she said. + +Winifred pursed up her lips. "I understood you met him at the Grange, +and you were only there for a few weeks once a year," she replied. +"After all, that isn't a very great deal. It seems he fell in love with +you, which is, perhaps, comprehensible. What I don't quite know the +reason for is why you fell in love with him." + +"Ah," responded Agatha, "you have never seen Gregory." + +"I haven't," admitted Winifred sourly; "I have, however, seen his +picture. One must admit that he's reasonably good-looking. In fact, I've +seen quite an assortment of photographs, but it's, perhaps, significant +that the last was taken some years ago." + +Agatha smiled. "Can a photograph show the clean, sanguine temperament of +a man, his impulsive generosity, and cheerful optimism?" + +Miss Rawlinson rose, and critically surveyed the photograph on the +mantel. + +"I don't want to be discouraging, but after studying that one I'm +compelled to admit that it can't. No doubt it's the artist's fault, but +I'm willing to admit that a young girl would be rather apt to credit a +man with a face like that with qualities he didn't possess." She sat +down again with a thoughtful expression. "The fact is, you set him up on +a pedestal and burned incense to him when you were not old enough to +know any better, and when he came home for a few weeks four years ago +you promised to marry him. Now it seems he's ready at last, and wants +you to go out to the new country. Perhaps it doesn't affect the +question, but if I'd promised to marry a man in Canada he'd certainly +have to come for me. Isn't there a certain risk in the thing?" + +"A risk?" + +Winifred nodded. "Yes," she said, "rather a serious one. Four years is a +long time, and the man may have changed. In a new country where life is +so different, it must be a thing they're rather apt to do." + +A faint, half-compassionate, half-tolerant smile crept into Agatha's +eyes. The mere idea that the sunny-tempered, brilliant young man to whom +she had given her heart could have changed or degenerated in any way +seemed absurd to her. Winifred, however, went on again. + +"There's another point," she said. "If he's still the same, which isn't +likely, there has certainly been a change in you. You have learned to +see things more clearly, and have acquired a different standard from the +one you had then. One can't help growing, and as one grows one looks for +more. One is no longer pleased with the same things; it's inevitable." + +She broke off for a moment, and her voice became gentler. + +"Well," she added, "I've done my duty in trying to point this out to +you, and now there's only another thing to say: since you're clearly +bent on going, I'm going with you." + +Agatha looked astonished, but there was a suggestion of relief in her +expression, for the two had been firm friends and had faced a good deal +together. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "that gets over the one difficulty!" + +Winifred made a little whimsical gesture. + +"I'm not quite sure that it does. The difficulty will probably be when I +arrive in Canada, but I'm a rather capable person, and I believe they +don't pay ninepence a thousand words in Winnipeg. Besides, I could keep +the books at a store or a hotel, and at the very worst Gregory could, +perhaps, find a husband for me. Women, I hear, are held in some +estimation in that country. Perhaps there's a man out there who would +treat decently even a little, plain, vixenish-tempered person with a +turned-up nose." + +Crossing the room again she banged the cover down on the typewriter, and +then turned to Agatha with a suggestion of haziness in her eyes. + +"Anyway, I'm very tired of this country. It would be intolerable when +you went away." + +Agatha stretched out a hand and drew the girl down beside her. She no +longer feared adverse fortune and loneliness, and she was filled with a +gentle compassion, for she knew how hard a fight Winifred had made, and +part at least of what she had borne. + +"My dear," she said, "we will go together." + +Then she opened the second letter, which she had forgotten while they +talked. + +"They want me to stay at the Grange for a few weeks," she announced, and +smiled. "An hour ago I felt crushed and beaten--and now, though my voice +has probably gone for good, I don't seem to mind. Isn't it curious that +both these letters should have come to sweep my troubles away to-night?" + +"No," answered Winifred, "it's distinctly natural--just what one would +have expected. You wrote to the man in Canada soon after you'd seen the +specialist, and his answer was bound to arrive in the next few days." + +"But I certainly didn't write the folks at the Grange." + +Winifred's eyes twinkled. "As it happens, I did, two days ago. I +ventured to point out their duty to them, and they were rather nice +about it in another letter." + +With a little sigh of contentment Agatha stretched herself out in the +low chair. "Well," she said, "it probably wouldn't have the least effect +if I scolded you. I believe I'm horribly worn out, Winny, and it will be +a relief unspeakable to get away. If I can arrange to give up those +pupils I'll go to-morrow." + +Winifred made no answer. Kneeling with one elbow resting on the arm of +Agatha's chair, she gazed straight in front of her. Both of the girls +were very weary of the long, grim struggle, and now a change was close +at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE OLD COUNTRY + + +It was a still, clear evening of spring when Wyllard, unstrapping the +rucksack from his shoulders, sat down beside a frothing stream in a +dale of Northern England. On his arrival in London a week or two earlier +he had found awaiting him a letter from Mrs. Hastings, who was then in +Paris, in which she said that she could not at the moment say when she +would go home again, but that she expected to advise him shortly. + +After answering the letter Wyllard started North, and, obtaining +Agatha's address from Miss Rawlinson, went on again to a certain little +town, which, encircled by towering fells, stands beside a lake in the +North Country. He had already recognized that his mission was rather a +delicate one, and he decided that it would be advisable to wait until he +heard from Mrs. Hastings before calling upon Miss Ismay. There remained +the question, what to do with the next few days. A conversation with +several pedestrian tourists whom he met at his hotel, and a glance at a +map of the hill-tracks decided him. Remembering that he had on several +occasions kept the trail in Canada for close on forty miles, he bought a +Swiss pattern rucksack, and set out on foot through the fells. + +Incidentally, he saw scenery that gave him a new conception of the Old +Country. He astonished his new friends, the tourists, who volunteered to +show him the way over what they considered a difficult pass. To their +great astonishment the brown-faced stranger, who wore ordinary +tight-fitting American attire and rather pointed American shoes, went up +the mountainside apparently without an effort, and for the credit of the +clubs to which they belonged it was incumbent on them to keep pace with +him. They did not know that he had carried bags of flour and mining +tools over very much higher passes, close up to the limit of eternal +snow, but they did know that he set them a difficult pace, and after two +days' climbing they were relieved to part company with him. + +A professional guide who overtook them recognized the capabilities of +the man when he noticed the way in which he lifted his feet and how he +set them down. This, the guide decided, was a man accustomed to walking +among the heather, but he was wrong; for it was the trick the bushman +learns when he plods through leagues of undergrowth and fallen branches, +or the tall grass of the swamps; and it is a memorable experience to +make a day's journey with such a man. For the first hour the thing seems +easy, as the pace is never forced, but the speed never slackens; and as +the hours go by the novice, who flounders and stumbles, grows horribly +weary of trying to keep up with the steady, persistent swing. + +Wyllard had traveled since morning along a ridge of fells when he sat +down beside the water and contentedly filled his pipe. On the one hand, +a wall of crags high above was growing black against the evening light, +and the stream, clear as crystal, came boiling down among great +boulders. But the young man had wandered through many a grander and more +savage scene of rocky desolation, and it impressed him less than the +green valley in front of him. He had never seen anything like that +either on the Pacific slope or in Western Canada. + +Early as it was in the season, the meadows between rock and water were +green as emerald, and the hedge-rows, just flushed with verdure, were +clipped and trimmed as if their owner loved them. There was not a dead +tree in the larch copse which dipped to the stream, and all its feathery +tassels were sprinkled with tiny flecks of crimson and wondrous green. +Great oaks dotted the meadows, each one perfect in symmetry. It seemed +that the men who held this land cared for single trees. The sleek, tame +cattle that rubbed their necks on the level hedge-top and gazed at him +ruminatively were very different from the wild, long-horned creatures +whose furious stampede he had now and then headed off, riding hard while +the roar of hoofs rang through the dust-cloud that floated like a sea +fog across the sun-scorched prairie. Here, in the quiet vale, all was +peace and tranquillity. + +Wyllard noticed the pale primroses that pushed their yellow flowers up +among the withered leaves, and he took account of the faint blue sheen +beneath the beech trunks not far away. There was a vein of artistic +feeling in him, and the elusive beauty of these things curiously +appealed to him. He had seen the riotous, sensuous blaze of flowers +kissed by Pacific breezes, and the burnished gold of wheat that rolled +in mile-long waves; but it seemed to him that the wild things of the +English North were, after all, more wonderful. They harmonized with the +country's deep peacefulness; their beauty was chaste, fairy-like and +ethereal. + +By and by a wood pigeon cooed softly somewhere in the shadows, and a +brown thrush perched on a bare oak bough began to sing. The broken, +repeated melody went curiously well with the rippling murmur of sliding +water, and Wyllard, though he could not remember ever having done +anything of that sort before, leaned back with a smile to listen. His +life had been a strenuous one, passed for the most part in the +driving-seat of great plows that rent their ample furrows through virgin +prairie, guiding the clinking binders through the wheat under a blazing +sun, or driving the plunging dories through the clammy fog over short, +slopping seas. Now, however, the tranquillity of the English valley +stole in on him, and he began to understand how the love of that +well-trimmed land clung to the men out West, who spoke of it tenderly as +the "Old Country." + +Then, for he was in an unusually susceptible mood, he took from his +pocket a little deerhide case, artistically made by a Blackfoot Indian, +and removed from it the faded photograph of an English girl. He had +obtained the photograph from the lad who had died among the ranges of +the Pacific slope, and it had been his companion in many a desolate camp +and on many a weary journey. The face was delicately modeled, and there +was a freshness in it which is seldom seen outside the Old Country; but +what pleased him most was the serenity in the clear, innocent eyes. + +He was not in love with the picture--he would probably have smiled at +the notion--but he had a curious feeling that he would meet the girl +some day, and that it would then be a privilege merely to speak to her. +This was, after all, not so extravagant a fancy as it might appear, for +romance, the mother of chivalry and many graces, still finds shelter in +the hearts of men who dwell in the wide spaces of the newer lands. +Shrewd and practical as these men are, they see visions now and then, +and, what is more, with bleeding hands and toil incredible prove them to +be realities. + +By and by Wyllard put the photograph back into his pocket, and filled +his pipe again. It was almost dark before he had smoked it out. The +thrush had gone, and only the ripple of the water broke the silence, +until he heard footsteps on the stones behind him. Looking around, he +saw a young woman moving towards the river. He watched her with a quiet +interest, for his perceptions were sharper than usual, and it seemed to +him that she was very much in harmony with what he thought of as the +key-tone of the place. She was tall and shapely, and she moved with +grace. When, poised upon a shelf of rock as if considering the easiest +way to the water, she stopped for a moment, her figure fell into +reposeful lines, but that was after all only what he had expected, for +he had half-consciously studied the Englishwomen whom he had met in the +West. + +The Western women usually moved, and certainly spoke, with an almost +superfluous vivacity and alertness. There was in them a feverish +activity, which contrasted with the English deliberation, which had +sometimes exasperated him. Now he felt that this slowness of movement +was born of the tranquillity of the well-trimmed land, and he realized +that it would have troubled his sense of fitness if this girl had +clattered down across the stones hurriedly and noisily. + +At first he could not see her face, but when she went on a little +further it became evident that she desired to cross the river, and was +regarding the row of stepping stones somewhat dubiously. One or two had +fallen over, or had been washed away by a flood, for there were several +wide gaps between them, through which the stream frothed whitely. As +soon as Wyllard noticed her hesitation, he rose and moved towards her. + +"You want to get across?" he asked. + +She was still glancing at the water, and although he was sure that she +had not seen him or heard his approach, she turned towards him quietly. +Then a momentary sense of astonishment held him in an embarrassed +scrutiny, for it was her picture at which he had gazed scarcely half an +hour before, and he would have recognized the face anywhere. + +"Yes," she answered. "It is rather a long way around by the bridge, but +some of the stones seem to have disappeared since I last came this way." + +She spoke, as Wyllard had expected, softly and quietly. Because he was +first of all a man of action, Wyllard forthwith waded into the river. +Then he turned and held out his hand to her. + +"It isn't a very long step. You ought to manage it," he said. + +The girl favored him with a swift glance of uncertainty. At first she +had supposed him to be one of the walking tourists or climbers who +usually invaded the valleys at Easter; but they were, for the most part, +young men from the cities, and this stranger's face was darkened by the +sun. There was also an indefinite suggestion of strength in the poise of +his lean, symmetrical figure, which could only have come from strenuous +labor in the open air. She noticed that while the average Englishman +would have asked permission to help her, or would have deprecated the +offer, this stranger did nothing of the kind. He stood with the water +frothing about his ankles, holding out his hand. + +She had no hesitation about accepting Wyllard's aid, and, while he waded +through the river, she stepped lightly from stone to stone until she +came to a wide gap, where the stream was deep. She stopped a moment, +gazing at the foaming water, until the man's hand tightened on her +fingers, and she felt his other hand rest upon her waist. + +"Now," he assured her, "I won't let you fall." + +She was on the other side of the gap in another moment. Wondering +uneasily why she had obeyed the compelling pressure, but glad to see +that the stranger's face was perfectly unmoved, and that he was +evidently quite unconscious of having done anything unusual, she crossed +without mishap. When they stood on the shingle he dropped her hand. + +"Thank you," she said. "I'm afraid you got rather wet." + +The man laughed, and he had a pleasant laugh. "Oh," he replied, "I'm +used to it." There was a little silence and he asked: "Isn't there a +village with a hotel in it, a mile or two from here?" + +"Yes," the girl answered, "this is the way. The path goes up to the +highroad through the larch wood." + +She turned into the path, and, though she had not expected him to +accompany her, the man walked beside her. Still she did not resent it. +His manner was deferential, and she liked his face, while there was, +after all, no reason why he should stay behind when he was going the +same way. He walked beside her silently for several minutes as they went +on through the gloom of the larches, where a sweet, resinous odor crept +into the still evening air, and then he looked up as they came to a +towering pine. + +"Have you many of those trees over here?" he asked. + +A light dawned upon the girl, for, though he had spoken without a +perceptible accent, she had been slightly puzzled by something in his +speech and appearance. + +"I believe they're not uncommon. You are an American?" + +Wyllard laughed. "No," he replied. "I was born in Western Canada, but I +think I'm as English as you are, in some respects, though I never quite +realized it until to-night. It isn't exactly because my father came from +this country, either." + +The girl was astonished at this answer, and still more at the indefinite +something in his manner which seemed to indicate that he expected her to +understand, as, indeed, she did. Her only dowry had been an expensive +education and she remembered that the influence of the isle she lived in +had in turn fastened on Saxons, Norsemen, Normans, and made them +Englishmen. What was more, so far as she had read, those who had gone +out South or Westwards had carried that influence with them, and, under +all their surface changes, and sometimes their grievances against the +Motherland, were, in the great essentials, wholly English still. + +"But," she remarked at random, "how can you be sure that I'm English?" + +It was quite dark in among the trees, but she fancied there was a smile +in her companion's eyes. + +"Oh," he answered simply, "you couldn't be anything else!" + +She accepted this as a compliment, though she knew that it had not been +his intention to flatter her. His general attitude since she had met him +scarcely suggested such, a lack of good taste. She was becoming mildly +interested in the stranger, but she possessed several essentially +English characteristics, and it did not appear advisable to encourage +him too much. She said nothing further, and it was he who spoke first. + +"I wonder," he said, "if you knew a young lad who went out to Canada a +few years ago. His name was Pattinson--Henry Pattinson." + +"No," the girl answered quickly. "I certainly did not. But the name is +not an uncommon one. There are a good many Pattinsons in the North." + +Wyllard was not surprised by this answer. He had reasons for believing +that the name under which the lad he had befriended had enrolled himself +was not the correct one. It would, of course, have been easy to describe +the boy, but Wyllard was shrewd, and noticing that there was now a +restraint in the girl's manner he could not speak prematurely. He was +aware that most of the English are characterized by a certain reserve, +and apt to retire into their shells if pressed too hard. He did not, +however, mean to let this girl elude him altogether. + +"It really doesn't matter," he responded. "I shall no doubt get upon his +trail in due time." + +They reached the highroad a minute or two later, and the girl turned to +him. + +"Thank you again," she said. "If you go straight on you will come to the +village in about a quarter of an hour." + +She turned away and left him standing with his soft hat in his hand. He +stood quite still for almost a minute after she had gone. When he +reached the inn its old-world simplicity delighted him. It was built +with thick walls of slate, and roofed with ponderous flags. In Canada, +where the frost was Arctic, they used thin cedar shingles. The room in +which his meal was spread was paneled with oak that had turned black +with age. Great rough-hewn beams of four times the size that anybody +would have used for the purpose in the West supported the low ceiling. +There was a fire in the wide hearth and the ruddy gleam of burnished +copper utensils pierced the shadows. The room was large, but there was +only a single candle upon the table. He liked the gloomy interior, and +he felt that a garish light would somehow be out of harmony. + +By and by his hostess appeared to clear the things away. She was a +little, withered old woman, with shrewd, kindly eyes, and a russet tinge +in her cheeks. + +"There's a good light, and company in the sitting-room," she said. +"We've three young men staying with us. They've been up the Pike." + +"I'd sooner stay here, if I may," replied Wyllard. "I don't quite know +yet if I'll go on to-morrow. One can get through to Langley Dale by the +Hause, as I think you call it?" + +The wrinkled dame said that pedestrians often went that way. + +"There are some prosperous folks--people of station--living round here?" +Wyllard asked casually. + +"There's the vicar. I don't know that he's what you'd call prosperous. +Then there's Mr. Martindale, of Rushyholme, and Little, of the Ghyll." + +"Has any of them a daughter of about twenty-four years of age?" Wyllard +described the girl he had met to the best of his ability. + +It was evident that the landlady did not recognize the description, but +she thought a moment. + +"No," she answered, "there's nobody like that; but I did hear that +they'd a young lady staying at the vicarage." + +She changed the subject abruptly, and Wyllard once more decided that the +English did not like questions. + +"You're a stranger, sir?" she inquired. + +"I am," said Wyllard. "I've some business to attend to further on, but I +came along on foot, to see the fells, and I'm glad I did. It's a great +and wonderful country you're living in. That is," he added gravely, +"when you get outside the towns. There are things in some of the cities +that most make one ill." + +He stood up. "That tray's too heavy for you. Won't you let me carry it?" + +The landlady was plainly amazed at his words, but she made it clear that +she desired no assistance. When she went out Wyllard, who sat down +again, took out the photograph. He gazed at it steadfastly. + +"There's rather more than mere prettiness there, but I don't know that I +want to keep it now," he reflected. "It's way behind the original. She +has grown since it was taken--just as one would expect that girl to +grow." + +He lighted his pipe and smoked thoughtfully until he arrived at a +decision. + +"One can't force the running in this country. They don't like it," he +said. "I'll lie by a day or two, and keep an eye on that vicarage." + +In the meanwhile his hostess was discussing him with a niece. + +"I'm sure I don't know what that man is," she informed the younger +woman. "He has got the manners of a gentleman, but he walks like a fell +shepherd, and his hands are like a navvy's. A man's hands now and then +tell you a good deal about him. Besides, of all things, he wanted to +carry his tray away. Said it was too heavy for me." + +"Oh," replied her niece, "he's an American. There's no accounting for +them." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HER PICTURE + + +Wyllard stayed at the inn three days without seeing anything more of the +girl whom he had met beside the stream, although he diligently watched +for her. He had long felt it was his duty to communicate with the +relatives of the lad that he had befriended, and the fact that he had +found the girl's photograph in the young Englishman's possession made it +appear highly probable that she could assist him in tracing the family. +Apart from this, he could not quite analyze his motives for desiring to +see more of the Englishwoman, though he was conscious of the desire. Her +picture had been a companion to him in his wanderings, and now and then +he had found a certain solace in gazing at it. Now that he had seen her +in the flesh he was willing to admit that he had never met any woman who +had made such an impression on him. + +It was, of course, possible for him to call at the vicarage, but though +he meant to adopt that course as a last resort, there were certain +objections to it. He did not know the girl's name, and there was nobody +to say a word for him. So far as his experience went, the English were +apt to be reticent and reserved to a stranger. It seemed to him that, +although the girl might give him the information which he required, +their acquaintance probably would terminate then and there. She would, +he decided, be less likely to stand upon her guard if he could contrive +to meet her casually without prearrangement. + +On the fourth day fortune favored him, for he came upon her endeavoring +to open a tottering gate where a stony hill track led off from the +smooth white road. As it happened, he had received a letter from Mrs. +Hastings that morning, fixing the date of her departure, and it was +necessary for him to discharge the duty with which Hawtrey had saddled +him as soon as possible. The Grange, where he understood Miss Ismay was +then staying, lay thirty miles away across the fells, and he had decided +to start early on the morrow. That being the case, it was clear that he +must make the most of this opportunity; but he realized that it would be +advisable to proceed circumspectly. Saying nothing, he set his shoulder +to the gate, and lifting it on its decrepit hinges swung it open. + +"Thank you," said the girl. Remembering that the words were the last +that she had said to him, she smiled, as she added: "It is the second +time you have appeared when I was in difficulties." + +In spite of his resolution to proceed cautiously, a twinkle crept into +Wyllard's eyes, and suggested that the fact she had mentioned was not so +much of a coincidence as it probably appeared. She saw the look that +told her what he was thinking, and was about to pass on, when he stopped +her with a gesture. + +"The fact is, I have been looking out for you the last three days," he +confessed. + +He feared the girl had taken alarm at this candid statement, and spread +his hands out deprecatingly. "Won't you hear me out?" he added. "There's +a matter I must put before you, but I won't keep you long." + +The girl was a little puzzled, and naturally curious. It struck her as +strange that his admission should have aroused in her very little +indignation; but she felt that it would be unreasonable to suspect this +man of anything that savored of impertinence. His manner was reassuring, +and she liked his face. + +"Well?" she said inquiringly. + +Wyllard waved his hand toward a big oak trunk that lay just inside the +gate. + +"If you'll sit down, I'll get through as quick as I can," he promised. +"In the first place, I am, as I told you, a Canadian, who has come over +partly to see the country, and partly to carry out one or two missions. +In regard to one of them I believe you can help me." + +The girl's face expressed a natural astonishment. + +"I could help you?" + +Wyllard nodded. "I'll explain my reasons for believing it later on," he +said. "In the meanwhile, I asked you a question the other night, which +I'll now try to make more explicit. Were you ever acquainted with a +young Englishman, who went to Canada from this country several years +ago? He was about twenty then, and had dark hair and dark eyes. That, of +course, isn't an unusual thing, but there was a rather curious white +mark on his left temple. If he was ever a friend of yours, that scar +ought to fix it." + +"Oh!" cried the girl, "that must have been Lance Radcliffe. I was with +him when the scar was made--ever so long ago. We heard that he was dead. +But you said his name was Pattinson." + +"I did," declared Wyllard gravely. "Still, I wasn't quite sure about the +name being right. He's certainly dead. I buried him." + +His companion made an abrupt movement, and he saw the sudden softening +of her eyes. There was, however, only a gentle pity in her face, and +nothing in her manner suggested the deeper feeling that he had half +expected. + +"Then," she said, "I am sure that his father would like to meet you. +There was some trouble between them--I don't know which was wrong--and +Lance went out to Canada, and never wrote. Major Radcliffe tried to +trace him through a Vancouver banker, and only found that he had died in +the hands of a stranger who had done all that was possible for him." She +turned to Wyllard with a look which set his heart beating faster than +usual. "You are that man?" + +"Yes," said Wyllard simply, "I did what I could for him. It didn't +amount to very much. He was too far gone." + +Briefly he repeated the story that he had told to Hawtrey, and, when he +had finished, her face was soft again, for what he said had stirred her +curiously. + +"But," she commented, "he had no claim on you." + +Wyllard lifted one hand with a motion that disclaimed all right to +commendation. "He was dying in the bush. Wasn't that enough?" + +The girl made no answer for a moment or two. She had earned her living +for several years, and she was to some extent acquainted with the grim +realities of life. She did not know that while there are hard men in +Canada the small farmers and ranchers of the West--and, perhaps above +all, the fearless free lances who build railroads and grapple with giant +trees in the forests of the Pacific slope--are as a rule, distinguished +by a splendid charity. With them the sick or worn-out stranger is seldom +turned away. Watching the stranger covertly, she understood that this +man whom she had seen for the first time three days before had done +exactly what she would have expected of him. + +"I saw a great deal of Lance Radcliffe--when I was younger," she said. +"His people still live at Garside Scar, close by Dufton Holme. I presume +you will call on them?" + +Wyllard said that he purposed doing so, as he had a watch and one or two +other mementos that they might like to have, and she told him how to +reach Dufton Holme by a round-about railway journey. + +"There is one point that rather puzzles me," she said, after she had +made it plain how he was to find the Radcliffe family. "How did you know +that I could tell you anything about him?" + +Wyllard thrust his hand into his pocket, and took out a little leather +case. + +"You are by no means a stranger to me," he remarked as he handed her the +photograph. "This is your picture; I found it among the dead lad's +things." + +The girl, who started visibly, flashed a keen glance at him. It was +evident that he had not intended to produce any dramatic effect. She +flushed a little. + +"I never knew he had it," she asserted. "Perhaps he got it from his +sister." She paused, and then, as if impelled to make the fact quite +clear, added, "I certainly never gave it to him." + +Wyllard smiled gravely, for he recognized that while she was clearly +grieved to hear of young Radcliffe's death, she could have had no +particular tenderness for the unfortunate lad. + +"Well," he said, "perhaps he took it in the first place for the mere +beauty of it, and it afterwards became a companion--something that +connected him with the Old Country. It appealed in one of those ways to +me." + +Again she flashed a sharp glance at him, but he went on unheeding: + +"When I found it I meant to keep it merely as a clew, and so that it +could be given up to his relatives some day," he added. "Then I fell +into the habit of looking at it in my lonely camp in the bush at night, +and when I sat beside the stove while the snow lay deep upon the +prairie. There was something in your eyes that seemed to encourage me." + +"To encourage you?" + +"Yes," Wyllard assented gravely, "I think that expresses it. When I +camped in the bush of the Pacific slope we were either out on the gold +trail--and we generally came back ragged and unsuccessful after spending +several months' wages which we could badly spare--or I was going from +one wooden town to another without a dollar in my pocket and wondering +how I was to obtain one when I got there. For a time it wasn't much more +cheerful on the prairie. Twice in succession the harvest failed. Perhaps +Lance Radcliffe felt as I did." + +The girl cut him short. "Why didn't you mention the photograph at once?" + +Wyllard smiled at her. "Oh," he explained, "I didn't want to be +precipitate--you English folk don't seem to like that. I think"--and he +seemed to consider--"I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be repelled by +what might look like Colonial _brusquerie_. You see, you have been over +snow-barred divides and through great shadowy forests with me. We've +camped among the boulders by lonely lakes, and gone down frothing +rapids. I felt--I can't tell you why--that I was bound to meet you some +day." + +His frankness was startling, but the girl showed neither astonishment +nor resentment. She felt certain that this stranger was not posing or +speaking for effect. It did not occur to Wyllard that he might have gone +too far, and for a moment or two he leaned against the gate, while she +looked at him with what he thought of as her gracious English calm. + +Pale sunshine fell upon them, though the larches beside the road were +rustling beneath a cold wind, and the song of the river came up brokenly +out of the valley. An odor of fresh grass floated about them, and the +dry, cold smell of the English spring was in the air. Across the valley +dim ghosts of hills lighted by evanescent gleams rose out of the east +wind grayness with shadowy grandeur. + +Then Wyllard aroused himself. "I wonder if I ought to write Major +Radcliffe and tell him what my object is before I call," he said. "It +would make the thing a little easier." + +The girl rose. "Yes," she assented, "that would, perhaps, be wiser." She +glanced at the photograph which was still in her hand. "It has served +its purpose. I scarcely think it would be of any great interest to Major +Radcliffe." + +She saw his face change as she made it evident that she did not mean to +give the portrait back to him. There was, at least, one excellent reason +why she would not have her picture in a strange man's hands. + +"Thank you," she said, "for the story. I am glad we have met; but I'm +afraid I have already kept my friends waiting for me." + +She turned away, and it occurred to Wyllard that he had made a very +indifferent use of the opportunity, since she had neither asked his name +nor told him hers. It was, however, evident that he could not well run +after her and demand her name, and he decided that he could in all +probability obtain it from Major Radcliffe. Still, he regretted his lack +of adroitness as he walked back to the inn, where he wrote two letters +when he had consulted a map and his landlady. Dufton Holme, he +discovered, was a small village within a mile or two of the Grange +where, as Miss Rawlinson had informed him, Agatha Ismay was then +staying. One letter was addressed to her, and he formally asked +permission to call upon her with a message from George Hawtrey. The +other was to Major Radcliffe, and in both he said that an answer would +reach him at the inn which his landlady had informed him was to be found +not far from both of the houses he intended to visit. + +He set out on foot next morning, and, after climbing a steep pass, +followed a winding track across a waste of empty moor until he struck a +smooth white road, which led past a rock-girt lake and into a deep +valley. It was six o'clock in the morning when he started, and three in +the afternoon when he reached the inn, where he found an answer to one +of the letters awaiting him. It was from Major Radcliffe, who desired an +interview with him as soon as possible. + +Within an hour he was on his way to the Major's house, where a +gray-haired man, whose yellow skin suggested long exposure to a tropical +sun, and a little withered lady were waiting for him. They received him +graciously, but there was an indefinite something in their manner and +bearing which Wyllard, who had read a great deal, recognized, though he +had never been brought into actual contact with it until then. He felt +that he could not have expected to come across such people anywhere but +in England, unless it was at the headquarters of a British battalion in +India. + +He told his story tersely, softening unpleasant details and making +little of what he had done. The gray-haired man listened gravely with an +unmoved face, though a trace of moisture crept into the little lady's +eyes. There was silence for a moment or two when he had finished, and +then Major Radcliffe, whose manner was very quiet, turned to him. + +"You have laid me under an obligation, which I could never wipe out, +even if I wished it," he said. "It was my only son you buried out there +in Canada." + +He broke off for a moment, and his quietness was more marked than ever +when he went on again. + +"As you have no doubt surmised, we quarreled," he said. "He was +extravagant and careless--at least I thought that then--but now it seems +to me that I was unduly hard on him. His mother"--and he turned to the +little lady with an inclination that pleased Wyllard curiously--"was +sure of it at the time. In any case, I took the wrong way, and he went +out to Canada. I made that, at least, easy for him--and I have been +sorry ever since." + +He paused again with a little expressive gesture. "It seems due to him, +and you, that I should tell you this. When no word reached us I had +inquiries made, through a banker, who, discovering that he had +registered at a hotel as Pattinson, at length traced him to a British +Columbian silver mine. He had, however, left the mine shortly before my +correspondent learned that he had been employed there, and all that the +banker could tell me was that an unknown prospector had nursed my boy +until he died." + +Wyllard took out a watch and the clasp of a workman's belt from his +pocket, and laid them gently on Mrs. Radcliffe's knee. He saw her eyes +fill, and turned his head away. + +"I feel that you may blame me for not writing sooner, but it was only a +very little while ago that I was able to trace you, and then it was only +by a very curious--coincidence," he explained presently. + +He did not consider it advisable to mention the photograph. It seemed to +him that the girl would not like it. Nor, though he was greatly tempted, +did he care to make inquiries concerning her just then. In another +moment or two the Major spoke again. + +"If I can make your stay here pleasanter in any way I should be +delighted," he said. "If you will take up your quarters with us I will +send down to the inn for your things." + +Wyllard excused himself, but when Mr. Radcliffe urged him to dine with +them on the following evening he hesitated. + +"The one difficulty is that I don't know yet whether I shall be engaged +then," he said. "As it happens, I've a message for Miss Ismay, and I +wrote offering to call upon her at any convenient hour. So far, I have +heard nothing from her." + +"She's away," Mrs. Radcliffe informed him. "They have probably sent your +letter on to her. I had a note from her yesterday, however, and expect +her here to-morrow. You have met some friends of hers in Canada?" + +"Gregory Hawtrey," said Wyllard. "I have promised to call upon his +people, too." + +He saw Major Radcliffe glance at his wife, and he noticed a faint gleam +in Mrs. Radcliffe's eyes. + +"Well," she observed, "if you promise to come I will send word over to +Agatha." + +Wyllard agreed to this, and went away a few minutes later. He noticed +the tact and consideration with which his new friends had refrained from +indicating any sign of the curiosity they naturally felt, for Mrs. +Radcliffe's face had suggested that she understood the situation, which +was beginning to appear a little more difficult to him. It was, it +seemed, his task to explain delicately to a girl brought up among such +people what she must be prepared to face as a farmer's wife in Western +Canada. He was not sure that this task would be easy in itself, but it +was rendered much more difficult by the fact that Hawtrey would expect +him to accomplish it without unduly daunting her. Her letter certainly +had suggested courage, but, after all, it was the courage of ignorance, +and he had now some notion of the life of ease and refinement her +English friends enjoyed. He was beginning to feel sorry for Agatha +Ismay. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +AGATHA DOES NOT FLINCH + + +The next evening Wyllard sat with Mrs. Radcliffe in a big low-ceilinged +room at Garside Scar. He looked about him with quiet interest. He had +now and then passed a day or two in huge Western hotels, but he had +never seen anything quite like that room. The sheer physical comfort of +its arrangements appealed to him, but after all he was not one who had +ever studied his bodily ease very much, and what he regarded as the +chaste refinement of its adornment had a deeper effect than a mere +appeal to the material side of his nature. Though he had lived for the +most part in the bush and on the prairie, he had somehow acquired an +artistic susceptibility. + +The furniture was old, and perhaps a trifle shabby, but it was of +beautiful design. Curtains, carpets and tinted walls formed a harmony of +soft coloring, and there were scattered here and there dainty works of +art, little statuettes from Italy, and wonderful Indian ivory and silver +work. A row of low, stone-ribbed windows pierced the front of the room. +Looking out he saw the trim garden lying in the warm evening light. +Immediately beneath the windows ran a broad graveled terrace, which was +evidently raked smooth every day, and a row of urns in which hyacinths +bloomed stood upon its pillared wall. From the middle of the terrace a +wide stairway led down to the wonderful velvet lawn, which was dotted +with clumps of cupressus with golden gleams in it, and beyond the lawn +clipped yews rose smooth and solid as a rampart of stone. + +It all impressed him curiously--the order and beauty of it, the signs of +loving care. It gave him a key, he fancied, to the lives of the cultured +English people, for there was no sign of strain and fret and stress and +hurry here. Everything, it seemed, went smoothly with rhythmic +regularity, and though it is possible that many Englishmen would have +regarded Garside Scar as a very second-rate country house, and would +have seen in Major Radcliffe and his wife nothing more than a somewhat +prosy old soldier and a withered lady old-fashioned in her dress and +views, this Westerner had what was, perhaps, a clearer vision. Wyllard +could imagine the Major standing fast at any cost upon some minute point +of honor, and it seemed to him that Mrs. Radcliffe, with all the graces +of an earlier age and the smell of the English lavender upon her +garments, might have stepped down from some old picture. Then he +remembered that, after all, Englishwomen lived somewhat coarsely in the +Georgian days, and that he had met in Western Canada hard-handed men +grimed with dust and sweat who also could stand fast by a point of +honor. Though the fact did not occur to him, he had, for that matter, +done it more than once himself. + +He recalled his wandering thoughts as his hostess smiled at him. + +"You are interested in all you see?" she asked frankly. + +"Yes," said Wyllard. "In fact, I'd like to spend some hours here and +look at everything. I'd begin at the pictures and work right around." + +Mrs. Radcliffe's smile suggested that she was not displeased. + +"But you have been in London?" + +"I have," said Wyllard. "I had one or two letters to persons there, and +they did all they could to entertain me. Still, their places were +different; they hadn't the--charm--of yours. It's something which I +think could exist only in these still valleys and in cathedral closes. +It strikes me more because it is something I've never been accustomed +to." + +Mrs. Radcliffe was interested, and fancied that she partly understood +his attitude. + +"Your life is necessarily different from ours," she suggested. + +Wyllard smiled. "It's so different that you couldn't realize it. It's +all strain and effort from early sunrise until after dusk at night. +Bodily strain of aching muscles, and mental stress in adverse seasons. +We scarcely think of comfort, and never dream of artistic luxury. The +money we make is sunk again in seed and extra teams and plows." + +"After all, a good many people are driven rather hard by the love of +money here." + +"No," Wyllard rejoined gravely, "that's not it exactly. At least, not +with the most of us. It's rather the pride of wresting another +quarter-section from the prairie, taking--our own--by labor, breaking +the wilderness. You"--and he added this as if to explain that he could +hardly expect her quite to grasp his views--"have never been out West?" + +His hostess laughed. "I have stayed down in the plains through the hot +season in stifling cantonments, and have once or twice been in Indian +cholera camps. Besides, I have seen my husband sitting, haggard and worn +with fever, in his saddle holding back a clamorous crowd that surged +about him half-mad with religious fury. There were Hindus and Moslems to +be kept from flying at each other's throats, and at a tactless word or +sign of wavering, either party would have pulled him down." + +"You'll have to forgive me"--Wyllard's gesture was deprecatory, though +his eyes twinkled. "The notion that we're the only ones who really work, +or, at least, do anything worth while, is rather a favorite one out +West. No doubt it's a delusion. I should have known that all of us are +born like that." + +Mrs. Radcliffe forgave him readily, if only for the "all of us," which +struck her as especially fortunate. A few minutes later there were +voices in the hall, and then the door opened, and the girl whom he had +met at the stepping stones came in. She was dressed in trailing garments +which became her wonderfully, and he noticed now the shapely delicacy of +her hands and the fine, ivory pallor of her skin. Mrs. Radcliffe turned +to him. + +"I had better present you formally to Miss Ismay," she said. "Agatha, +this is Mr. Wyllard, who I understand has brought you a message from +Canada." + +There was no doubt that Wyllard was blankly astonished, and for a moment +the girl was clearly startled, too. + +"You!" was all she said. + +She held out her hand before she turned to speak to Mrs. Radcliffe. It +was a relief to both when dinner was announced. + +Wyllard sat next to his hostess, and was not sorry that he was called +upon to take part only in casual general conversation. He thought once +or twice that Miss Ismay was unobtrusively studying him. It was nearly +an hour after the dinner when Mrs. Radcliffe left them alone in the +drawing-room. + +"You have, no doubt, a good deal to talk about, and you needn't join us +until you're ready," she said. "The Major always reads the London papers +after dinner." + +Agatha sat in a low chair near the hearth, and it occurred to Wyllard, +who took a place opposite her, that she was too delicate and dainty, too +over-cultivated, in fact, to marry Hawtrey. This was rather curious, +since he had hitherto regarded his comrade as a typical well-educated +Englishman; but it now seemed to him that there was a certain streak of +coarseness in Gregory. The man, it suddenly flashed upon him, was +self-indulgent, and the careless ease of manner, which he had once +liked, was too much in evidence. + +Agatha turned to him. + +"I understand that Gregory is recovering rapidly?" she said. + +Wyllard assured her that Hawtrey was convalescing, and Agatha said +quietly, "He wants me to go out to him." + +Wyllard felt that if a girl of that sort had promised to marry him he +would not have sent for her, but would have come in person, if he had +been compelled to pledge his last possessions, or crawl to the tideway +on his hands and knees. For all that he was ready to defend his friend. + +"I'm afraid it's necessary," he said. "Gregory was quite unfit for such +a journey when I left, and he must be ready to commence the season's +campaign with the first of the spring. Our summer is short, you see, and +with our one-crop farming it's indispensable to get the seed in early. +In fact, he will be badly behind as it is." + +This was not particularly tactful, since, without intending it, he made +it evident that he felt his comrade had been to some extent remiss; but +Agatha smiled. + +"Oh," she replied, "I understand! You needn't labor with excuses. But +doesn't the same thing apply to you?" + +"It certainly did. Now, however, things have become a little easier. My +holding is larger than Gregory's, and I have a foreman who can look +after it for me." + +"Gregory said that you were a great friend of his." + +Wyllard seized this opportunity. "He was a great friend of mine and I +like to think it means the same thing. In fact it's reasonably certain +that he saved my life for me." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Agatha; "that is a thing he didn't mention. How did it +come about?" + +Wyllard was glad to tell the story. He was anxious to say all he +honestly could in Hawtrey's favor. + +"We were at work on a railroad trestle--a towering wooden bridge, in +British Columbia. It stretched across a deep ravine with great boulders +and there was a stream in the bottom of it. He stood high up on a +staging close beneath the rails. A fast freight, a huge general produce +train came down the track, with one of the new big locomotives hauling +it, and when the cars went banging by above us we could hardly hold on +to the bridge. The construction foreman was a hustler, and we had to get +the spikes in. I was swinging the hammer when I felt the plank beneath +me slip. The train, it seems, had jarred loose the bolt around which we +had our lashings. For a moment I felt that I was going down into the +gorge, and then Gregory leaned out and grabbed me. He had only one free +hand to do it with, and when he felt my weight one foot swung out from +the stringer he had sprung to. It seemed certain that I would pull him +with me, too. We hung like that for a space--I don't quite know how +long." + +He paused for a moment, apparently feeling the stress of it again, and +there was a faint thrill in his voice when he went on. + +"It was then," he said, "I knew just what kind of man Gregory Hawtrey +was. Anybody else would have let me go; but he held on. I got my hand on +some of the framing, and he swung me on to the stringer." + +He saw the gleam in Agatha's eyes. "Oh!" she cried, "that is just what +he must have done. He was like that always--impulsive, splendidly +generous." + +Wyllard felt that he had succeeded, though he knew that there were men +on the prairie who called his comrade slackly careless, instead of +impulsive. Agatha spoke again. + +"But Gregory wasn't a carpenter," she said. + +"In those days when money was scarce we had to be whatever we could. +There wasn't much specialization of handicrafts out there then. The +farmer whose crop was ruined took up the railroad shovel, or borrowed a +saw from somebody and set about building houses, or anything else that +was wanted." + +"Of course!" replied Agatha. "Besides, he was always wonderfully quick. +He could learn any game by just watching it a while. He did all he +undertook brilliantly." + +It occurred to Wyllard that Gregory had, at least, made no great success +of farming; but that occupation, as practiced on the prairie, demands a +great deal more than quickness and what some call brilliancy from the +man who undertakes it. He must, as they say out there, possess the +capacity for staying with it--the grim courage to hold fast the tighter +under each crushing blow, when the grain shrivels under the harvest +frost, or when the ragged ice hurtling before a roaring blast does the +reaping. It was, however, evident that this girl had an unquestioning +faith in Gregory Hawtrey, and once more Wyllard felt compassionate +towards her. He wondered if she would have retained her confidence had +Hawtrey spent those four years in England instead of Canada, for it was +clear from the contrast between her and her picture that she had grown +in many ways since she had given her promise to her lover. He had said +what he could in Hawtrey's favor, but now he felt that something was due +to the girl. + +"Gregory told me to explain what things are like out there," he said. "I +think it is because they are so different from what you are accustomed +to that he has waited so long. He wanted to make them as easy as +possible for you, and now he would like you to realize what is before +you." + +He was surprised at the girl's quick comprehension, for she glanced +around the luxurious room with a faint smile. + +"You look on me as part of--this? I mean it seems to you that I fit in +with my surroundings, and would be in harmony only with them?" + +"Yes," answered Wyllard gravely, "I think you fit in with them +excellently." + +Agatha laughed. "Well," she said, "I was once, to a certain extent, +accustomed to something similar; though, after all, one could hardly +compare the Grange with Garside Scar. Still, that was some time ago, and +I have earned my living for several years now. That counts for +something, doesn't it?" + +She glanced down at her dress. "For instance, this is the result of a +great deal of self-denial, though the cost of it was partly worked off +in music lessons, and the stuff was almost the cheapest I could get. I +sang at concerts--and it was part of my stock in trade. After all, why +should you think me capable only of living in luxury?" + +"I didn't go quite that far." + +She laughed again. "Then is Canada such a very dreadful place? I have +heard of other Englishwomen going out there as farmers' wives. Do they +all live unhappily?" + +"No," replied Wyllard, "at least, they show no sign of it, and some of +them and the city-born Canadians are, I think, the salt of this earth. +Probably it's easy to be calm and gracious in such a place as +this--though naturally I don't know since I've never tried it--but when +a woman who toils from sunrise to sunset most of the year keeps her +sweetness and serenity, it's a very different and much finer thing. But +I'll try to answer the other question. The prairie isn't dreadful; it's +a land of sunshine and clear skies. Heat and cold--and we have them +both--don't worry one there. There's optimism in the crystal air. It's +not beautiful like these valleys, but it has its beauty. It is vast and +silent, and, though our homesteads are crude and new, once you pass the +breaking, it's primevally old. That gets hold of one somehow. It's +wonderful after sunset in the early spring, when the little cold wind is +like wine, and it runs white to the horizon with the smoky red on the +rim of it melting into transcendental green. When the wheat rolls across +the foreground in ocher and burnished copper waves, it is more wonderful +still. One sees the fulfillment of the promise, and takes courage." + +"Then," asked Agatha, who had scarcely suspected him of such +appreciation of nature, "what is there to shrink from?" + +"In the case of a small farmer's wife, the constant, never-slackening +strain. There's no hired assistance. She must clean the house, and wash, +and cook, though it's not unusual for the men to wash the plates." + +The girl evidently was not much impressed, for she laughed. + +"Does Gregory wash the plates?" she asked. + +Wyllard's eyes twinkled. "When Sproatly won't," he said. "Still, in a +general way they do it only once a week." + +"Ah," observed Agatha, "I can imagine Gregory hating it. As a matter of +fact, I like him for it." + +"Then the farmer's wife must bake, and mend her husband's clothes. +Indeed, it's not unusual for her to mend for the hired man, too. Besides +that, there are always odds and ends of tasks, but the time when you +feel the strain most is in the winter. Then you sit at night, shivering +as a rule, beside the stove in an almost empty log-walled room, reading +a book you have probably read three or four times before. Outside, the +frost is Arctic; you can hear the roofing shingles crackle now and then; +and you wake up when the fire burns low. There's no life, no company, +rarely a new face, and if you go to a dance or a supper somewhere, +perhaps once a month, you ride back on a bob-sled and are frozen almost +stiff beneath the robes." + +"Still," interposed Agatha, "that does not last." + +The man understood her. "Oh!" he said, "one makes progress--that is, if +one can stand the strain--but, as the one way of doing it is to sow for +a larger harvest and break fresh sod every year, there can be no +slackening in the meanwhile. Every dollar must be guarded and plowed +into the soil again." + +He broke off, feeling that he had done all that could reasonably be +expected of him, and Agatha asked one question. + +"A woman who didn't slacken could make the struggle easier for the man, +couldn't she?" + +"Yes," Wyllard assured her, "in every way. Still, she would have a great +deal to bear." + +Agatha's face softened. "Ah," she commented, "she would not grudge the +effort in the case of one she loved." + +She looked up again with a smile. "I wonder," she added, "if you really +thought I should flinch." + +"When I first heard of it, I thought it quite likely. Then when I read +your letter my doubts vanished." + +He saw that he had not been judicious, for there was, for the first +time, a trace of hardness in the girl's expression. + +"He showed you that?" she asked. + +"One small part of it," assured Wyllard. "I want to say that when I +first saw this house, and how you seemed fitted to it, my misgivings +about Gregory's decision troubled me once more. Now,"--and he made an +impressive gesture--"they have vanished altogether, and they'll never +come back again." + +He spoke as he felt. This girl, he knew, would feel the strain; but it +seemed to him that she had strength enough to bear it cheerfully. In +spite of her daintiness, she was one who, in time of stress, could be +depended on. He often remembered afterwards how they had sat together in +the luxuriously furnished room, she leaning back in her big, low chair, +with the soft light on her delicately tinted face. By and by he looked +at her. + +"It's curious that I had your photograph ever so long, and never thought +of showing it to Gregory," he observed. + +Agatha smiled. "I suppose it is," she admitted. "After all, except that +it might have been a relief to Major Radcliffe if he had met you sooner, +the fact that you didn't show it to Gregory doesn't seem of any +particular consequence." + +Wyllard was not quite sure of this. He had thought about this girl +often, and certainly had been conscious of a curious thrill of +satisfaction when he had met her at the stepping-stones. That feeling +had suddenly disappeared when he had learned that she was his comrade's +promised wife. He had, however, during the last hour or two made up his +mind to think no more of her. + +"Well," he declared, "the next thing is to arrange for Mrs. Hastings to +meet you in London, or, perhaps, at the Grange. Her husband is a +Canadian, a man of education, who has quite a large homestead not far +from Gregory's. Her relatives are people of station in Montreal, and I +feel sure that you'll like her." + +They decided that he was to ask Mrs. Hastings to stay a few days at the +Grange, and then he looked at the girl somewhat diffidently. + +"She suggests going in a fortnight," he said. + +Agatha smiled at him. "Then," she said, "I must not keep her waiting." + +She rose and they went back together to join their hostess. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE TRAVELING COMPANION + + +A gray haze, thickened by the smoke of the city, drove out across the +water when the _Scarrowmania_ lay in the Mersey, with her cable hove +short, and the last of the flood-tide gurgling against her bows. A +trumpeting blast of steam swept high aloft from beside her squat funnel, +and the splash of the slowly turning paddles of the two steam tugs that +lay alongside mingled with the din it made. A gangway from one of them +to the _Scarrowmania's_ forward deck, and a stream of frowsy humanity +that had just been released from overpacked emigrant boarding-houses +poured up it. There were apparently representatives of all peoples and +languages among that unkempt horde--Britons, Scandinavians, Teutons, +Italians, Russians, Poles--and they moved on in forlorn apathy, like +cattle driven to the slaughter. One wondered how they had raised their +passage money, and how many years' bitter self-denial it had cost them +to provide for their transit to the land of promise. + +At the head of the gangway stood the steamboat doctors, for the +_Scarrowmania_ was taking out an unusual number of passengers, and there +were two of them. They were immaculate in blue uniform, and looked very +clean and English by contrast with the mass of frowsy aliens. Beside +them stood another official, presumably acting on behalf of the Dominion +Government, though there were few restrictions imposed upon Canadian +immigration then, nor, for that matter, did anybody trouble much about +the comfort of the steerage passengers. Each steamer carried as many as +she could hold. + +As the stream poured out of the gangway, the doctor glanced at each +newcomer's face, and then seizing him by the wrist uncovered it. Then he +looked at the official, who made a sign, and the man moved on. Since +this took him two or three seconds, one could have fancied that he +either possessed peculiar powers, or that the test was a somewhat +inefficient one. + +A group of first-class passengers, leaning on the thwartship rails close +by, looked on, with complacent satisfaction or half-contemptuous pity. +Among them stood Mrs. Hastings, Miss Winifred Rawlinson, and Agatha. It +was noticed that Wyllard, with a pipe in his hand, sat on a hatch +forward, near the head of the gangway. Agatha drew Mrs. Hastings' +attention to it. + +"Whatever is Mr. Wyllard doing there?" she asked. + +Mrs. Hastings, who was wrapped in furs, to protect her from the sting in +the east wind, smiled at her. + +"That," she answered, "is more than I can tell you; but Harry Wyllard +seems to find an interest in what other folks would consider most +unpromising things, and, what is more to the purpose, he is rather +addicted to taking a hand in them. It is a habit that costs him +something now and then." + +Agatha asked nothing further. She was interested in Wyllard, but she was +at the moment more interested in the faces of those who swarmed on +board. She wondered what the emigrants had endured in the lands that had +cast them out; and what they might still have to bear. It seemed to her +that the murmur of their harsh voices went up in a great protest, an +inarticulate cry of sorrow. While she looked on the doctor held back a +long-haired man who, shuffling in broken boots, was following a haggard +woman. The physician drew him aside, and after he had consulted with the +other official, two seamen hustled the man towards a second gangway that +led to the tug. The woman raised a wild, despairing cry. She blocked the +passage, and a quarter-master drove her, expostulating in an agony of +terror, forward among the rest. Nobody appeared concerned about this +alien's tragedy, except one man, and Agatha was not surprised when +Wyllard rose and quietly laid his hand upon the official's shoulder. + +A parley appeared to follow, somebody gave an order, and when the alien +was led back again the woman's cries subsided. Agatha looked at Mrs. +Hastings and once more a smile crept into the older woman's eyes. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Hastings, "I guessed he would feel that he had to +interfere. That is a man who can't see any one in trouble." She added, +with a little whimsical sigh, "He had a bonanza harvest last fall, +anyway." + +They moved aft soon afterwards, and the _Scarrowmania_ was smoothly +sliding seawards with the first of the ebb when Agatha met Wyllard. He +glanced at the Lancashire sandhills, which were fading into a pale ocher +gleam amid the haze over the starboard hand, and then at the long row of +painted buoys that moved back to them. + +"You're off at last! The sad gray weather is dropping fast astern," he +said. "Out yonder, the skies are clear." + +"Thank you," replied Agatha, "I'm to apply that as I like? As a matter +of fact, however, our days weren't always gray. But what was the trouble +when those steerage people came on board?" + +Wyllard's manner, she noticed, was free alike from the complacent +self-satisfaction which occasionally characterizes the philanthropist, +and from any affectation of diffidence. + +"Well," he answered, "there was something wrong with that woman's +husband. Nothing infectious, I believe, but they didn't seem to consider +him a desirable citizen. They make a warning example of somebody with a +physical infirmity now and then. The man, they decided, must be put +ashore again. In the meanwhile, somebody else had hustled the woman +forward, and it looked as if they would take her on without him. The tug +was almost ready to cast off." + +"How dreadful!" said Agatha. "But what did you do?" + +"Merely promised to guarantee the cost of his passage back if they would +refer his case to the immigration people at the other end. It is +scarcely likely that they'll make trouble. As a rule, they only throw +out folks who are certain to become a charge on the community." + +"But if he really had any infirmity, mightn't it lead to that?" + +"No," Wyllard responded dryly. "I would engage to give him a fair start +if it was necessary. You wouldn't have had that woman landed in +Montreal, helpless and alone, while the man was sent back again to +starve in Poland?" + +He saw a curious gleam in Agatha's eyes, and added in a deprecating +manner, "You see, I've now and then limped without a dollar into a +British Columbian mining town." + +The girl was touched with compassion, but there was another matter that +must be mentioned, though she felt that the time was inopportune. + +"Miss Rawlinson, who had only a second-class ticket, insists upon being +told how it is that she has been transferred to the saloon." + +Wyllard's eyes twinkled, but she noticed that he was wholly free from +embarrassment, which was not quite the case with her. + +"Well," he said, "that's a matter I must leave you to handle. Anyway, +she can't go second-class now. One or two of the steerage exchanged when +they saw their quarters, for which I don't blame them, and they have +filled up every room." + +"You haven't answered the question." + +Wyllard waved his hand. "Miss Rawlinson is your bridesmaid, and I'm +Gregory's best man. It seems to me it's my business to do everything +just as he would like it done." + +He left her a moment later, and, though she did not know how she was to +explain the matter to Miss Rawlinson, who was of an independent nature, +it occurred to her that he, at least, had found a rather graceful way +out of the difficulty. The more she saw of this Western farmer, the more +she liked him. + +It was after dinner when she next met him and the wind had changed. The +_Scarrowmania_ was steaming head-on into a glorious northwest breeze. +The shrouds sang; chain-guy, and stanchion, and whatever caught the +wind, set up a deep-toned throbbing; and ahead ranks of little, +white-topped seas rolled out of the night. A half-moon, blurred now and +then by wisps of flying cloud, hung low above them, and odd spouts of +spray that gleamed in the silvery light leaped up about the dipping +bows. Wyllard was leaning on the rail when Agatha stopped beside him. +She glanced towards the lighted windows of the smoking-room not far +away. + +"How is it you are not in there?" she asked, noticing that he held a +cigar in his hand. + +"I was," answered Wyllard. "It's rather full, and it seemed that they +didn't want me. They're busy playing cards, and the stakes are rather +high. In a general way, a steamboat's smoking-room is less of a men's +lounge than a gambling club." + +"And you object to cards?" + +"Oh, no!" Wyllard replied with a smile. "They merely make me tired, and +when I feel I want some excitement for my money I get it another way. +That one seems tame to me." + +"What sort of excitement do you like?" + +The man laughed. "There are a good many that appeal to me. Once it was +collecting sealskins off other people's beaches, and there was zest +enough in that, in view of the probability of the dory turning over, or +a gunboat dropping on to you. Then there was a good deal of very genuine +excitement to be got out of placer-mining in British Columbia, +especially when there was frost in the ranges, and you had to thaw out +your giant-powder. Shallow alluvial workings have a way of caving in +when you least expect it of them. After all, however, I think I like the +prairie farming best." + +"Is that exciting?" + +"Yes," returned Wyllard, "if you do it in one way. The gold's +there--that you're sure of--piled up by nature during I don't know how +many thousand years, but you have to stake high, if you want to get much +of it out. One needs costly labor,--teams--no end of them--breakers, and +big gang-plows. The farmer who has nerve enough drills his last dollar +into the soil in spring, but if he means to succeed it costs him more +than that. He must give the sweat of his tensest effort, the uttermost +toil of his body--all, in fact, that has been given him. Then he must +shut his eyes tight to the hazards against him, or look at them without +wavering--the drought, the hail, the harvest frost, I mean. If his teams +fall sick, or the season goes against him, he must work double tides. +Still, it now and then happens that things go right, and the red wheat +rolls ripe right back across the prairie. I don't know that any man +could want a keener thrill than the one he feels when he drives in the +binders!" + +Agatha had imagination, and she could realize something of the toil, the +hazard, and the exultation of that victory. + +"You have felt it often?" she inquired. + +"Twice we helped to fill a big elevator," Wyllard answered. "But I've +been very near defeat." + +The girl looked at him thoughtfully. It seemed that he possessed the +power of acquisition, as well as a wide generosity that came into play +when by strenuous effort success had been attained. So far as her +experience went, these were things that did not invariably accompany +each other. + +"And when the harvest comes up to your expectations, you give your money +away?" she asked with a lifting of her brows. + +Wyllard laughed. "You shouldn't deduce too much from a single instance. +Besides, that Pole's case hasn't cost me anything yet." + +Mrs. Hastings joined them, and when Wyllard strolled away the women +passed some time leaning on the rails, and looking at the groups of +shadowy figures on the forward deck. The attitude of the steerage +passengers was dejected and melancholy, but one cluster had gathered +around a man who stood upon the hatch. + +"Oh," he declared, "you'll have no trouble. Canada's a great country for +a poor man. He can sleep beneath a bush all summer, if he can't strike +anything he likes." + +This did not appear particularly encouraging, but the orator went on: +"Been over for a trip to the Old Country, and I'm glad I'm going back +again. Went out with nothing except a good discharge, and they made me +Sergeant of Canadian Militia. After that I was armorer to a rifle club. +There's places a blame long way behind the Dominion, and I struck one of +them when we went with Roberts to Afghanistan. It was on that trip I and +a Pathan rolled all down a hill, him trying to get his knife arm loose, +and me jabbing his breastbone with my bayonet before I got it into him. +I drove it through to the socket. You want to make quite sure of a +Pathan." + +Miss Rawlinson winced at this. "Oh," she cried, "what a horrible man!" + +"It was 'most as tough as when you went after Riel, and stole the +Scotchman's furs," suggested a Canadian. + +The sergeant let the jibe go by. He said: "Louis's bucks could shoot! We +had them corraled in a pit, and every time one of the boys from Montreal +broke cover he got a bullet into him. Did any of you ever hear a dropped +man squeal?" + +Agatha had heard sufficient, and she and her companions turned away, but +as they moved across the deck the sergeant's voice followed her. + +"Oh, yes," he said, "a grand country for a poor man. In the summer he +can sleep beneath a bush." + +For some reason this eulogy haunted Agatha when she retired to her +stateroom that night, and she wondered what awaited all those aliens in +the new land. It occurred to her that in some respects she was situated +very much as they were. For the first time, vague misgivings crept into +her mind as she realized that she had cut herself adrift from all to +which she had been accustomed. She felt suddenly depressed and lonely. + +The depression had, however, almost vanished when, awakening rather +early next morning, she went up on deck. A red sun hung over the +tumbling seas that ran into the hazy east astern. The waves rolled up in +crested phalanxes that gleamed green and incandescent white ahead. The +_Scarrowmania_ plunged through them with a spray cloud flying about her +dipping bows. She was a small, old-fashioned boat, and because she +carried 3,000 tons of railway iron she rolled distressfully. Her tall +spars swayed athwart the vivid blueness of the morning sky with the +rhythmic regularity of a pendulum. The girl was not troubled by any +sense of sea-sickness. The keen north-wester that sang amid the shrouds +was wonderfully fresh; and, when she met Wyllard crossing the saloon +deck, her cheeks were glowing from the sting of the spray, and her eyes +were bright. + +"Where have you been?" she asked. + +"Down there," answered Wyllard, pointing to the black opening in the +fore-hatch that led to the steerage quarters. "An acquaintance of mine +who's traveling forward asked me to take a look round, and I'm rather +glad I did. When I've had a word with the chief steward I'm going back +again." + +"You have a friend down there?" + +"I met the man for the first time yesterday, and rather took to him. One +of your naval petty officers, forcibly retired. He can't live upon his +pension, that is why he's going out to Canada. Now you'll excuse me." + +"I wonder," ventured Agatha, "if you would let me go back with you?" + +Wyllard looked at her curiously. "Well," he said, with an air of +reflection, "you'll probably have to face a good deal that you don't +like out yonder, and in one way you won't suffer from a little +preparatory training. This, however, is not a case where sentimental +pity is likely to relieve anybody. It's the real thing." + +"I think I told you at Garside Scar that I haven't lived altogether in +luxury!" she replied. + +Wyllard, who made no comment, disappeared, and merely signed to her when +he came back. They reached the ladder that led down into the gloom +beneath the hatch, and Agatha hesitated when a sour and musty odor +floated up to her. She went down, however, and a few moments later +stood, half-nauseated, gazing at the wildest scene of confusion her eyes +had ever rested on. A little light came down the hatchway, and a smoky +lamp or two swung above her head, but half the steerage deck was wrapped +in shadow, and out of it there rose a many-voiced complaining. Flimsy, +unplaned fittings had wrenched away, and men lay inert amid the +wreckage, with the remains of their last meal scattered about them. +There were unwashed tin plates and pannikins, knives, and spoons, +sliding up and down everywhere, and the deck was foul with slops of tea, +and trodden bread, and marmalade. Now and then, in a wilder roll than +usual, a frowsy, huddled object slid groaning down the slant of slimy +planking, but in every case the helpless passenger was fully dressed. +Steerage passengers, in fact, seldom take off their clothes. For one +thing, all their worldly possessions are, as a rule, secreted among +their garments, and for another, most of those hailing from beyond the +Danube have never been accustomed to disrobing. In the midst of the +confusion, two half-sick steward lads were making ineffective efforts to +straighten up the mess. + +Agatha made out that a swarm of urchins were huddled together in a +helpless mass along one side of the horrible place. The sergeant was +haranguing them, while another man, whom she supposed to be the petty +officer, pulled them to their feet one by one. A good deal of his labor +was wasted, for the _Scarrowmania_ was rolling viciously, and as soon as +a few were placed upright half of them collapsed again. Wyllard glanced +towards the boys compassionately. + +"I believe most of them have had nothing to eat since they came on +board, though it isn't the company's fault," he said. "There's food +enough served out, but before we picked the breeze up the men laid hands +upon it first and half of it was wasted in the scramble. Then it seems +they pitched these youngsters out of their berths." + +"Don't they belong to anybody?" Agatha asked. "Is there no one to look +after them?" + +Wyllard smiled. "I believe one of your charitable institutions is +sending them out, and there seems to be a clergyman, who has a curate +and a lay assistant to help him, in charge of them. The assistant won't +be available while this rolling lasts, and the other two very naturally +prefer the saloon. In a way, that's comprehensible." + +He left her, and proceeded to help the man who was dragging the urchins +to their feet. + +"Get up!" commanded the sergeant. "Get up, and fall in. Dress from the +left, and number off, the ones who can stand." + +It appeared that the lads had been drilled, for they scrambled into a +line that bent and wavered each time the _Scarrowmania's_ bows went +down. After that, every other lad stepped forward at the word. The order +was, "Left turn. March, and fall in on deck," and when they feebly +clambered up the ladder Wyllard, who turned to Agatha, pointed to a door +in a bulkhead of rough white wood. + +"It should have been locked, but I fancy you can get in that way, and up +through another hatch," he remarked. "The single women, and women with +children, are in yonder, and if you want to be useful there's a field +for you. Get as many as possible up on deck." + +Agatha left him, and her face was rather white when at last she came up +into the open air, with about a dozen forlorn, draggled women trailing +helplessly after her. The lads were now sitting down in a double line on +deck, each with a tin plate and a steaming pannikin in front of him. +There were at least a hundred of them, and a man with a bronzed face and +the stamp of command upon him was giving them the order of the voyage. +He was the one she had already noticed. + +"You'll turn out at the whistle at half-past six," he said. "Shake +mattresses, roll up blankets, and prepare for berth inspection. Then, at +the next whistle, you'll fall in on deck stripped to the waist for +washing parade. Fourth files numbering even are orderlies in charge of +the plates and pannikins." + +"And," announced the sergeant, "any insubordination will be sharply +dealt with. Now, when I was with Roberts in Afghanistan----" + +Wyllard, who was standing close by, turned to Agatha. + +"I don't think we'll be wanted. You have probably earned your +breakfast." + +They went back to the saloon deck, and the girl smiled when he looked at +her inquiringly. + +"It was a little horrible, but I hadn't so many to deal with," she said. +"Do you, and those others, expect to bring any order out of that chaos?" + +"No," answered Wyllard, "with a little encouragement they'll do it +themselves. That is, the English, Danes, and Germans. One can trust them +to evolve a workable system. It's in their nature. You can trace most +things that tend to wholesome efficiency back to the old Teutonic +leaven. By and by, they'll proceed to put some pressure on the Latins, +Slavs, and Jews." + +"But is it your business to offer them that encouragement?" + +Wyllard laughed. "Strictly speaking, it isn't in the least, but +unnecessary chaos is hateful, and, any way, I'm not the only one who +doesn't seem to like it. There's the petty officer, and our friend, the +sergeant, who was with Roberts in Afghanistan." + +Agatha said nothing further. She was a little surprised to feel that she +was anxious to keep this man's good opinion, though that was not exactly +why she had nerved herself for the venture into the single women's +quarters. Leaving him out altogether, it seemed to her that there was +something rather fine in the way that the sergeant and the petty officer +who was going out almost penniless to Canada, had saddled themselves +with the task of looking after those helpless lads. It was wholly unpaid +labor, for which the men who preferred to remain within the safe limits +of the saloon deck would presumably get the credit. After all, she +decided, there were, no doubt, men in every station who helped to keep +the world sweet and clean, and she believed that Wyllard was to be +counted among them. He certainly differed in many ways from Gregory, but +then Gregory was unapproachable. She did not remember that it was four +years since she had seen Hawtrey, and that her ideas had been a little +unformed then. + +In the evening, Mrs. Hastings, with whom he was evidently a favorite, +happened to speak of Wyllard, and the efforts he was making in the +steerage, and Agatha asked a question. + +"Does he often undertake this kind of thing?" + +"No," Mrs. Hastings answered with a smile. "Any way, not on so large a +scale. He's very far from setting up as a professional philanthropist, +my dear. I don't remember his offering to point out duty to other folks, +and I don't think he goes about in search of an opportunity of +benefiting humanity. Still, when an individual case thrusts itself +beneath his nose, he generally does what he can." + +"I've heard people say that the individual method only perpetuates the +trouble," remarked Agatha. + +Mrs Hastings shook her head. "That," she said, "is a subject I'm not +well posted on, but it seems to me that if other folks only adopted +Harry Wyllard's simple plan, there would be considerably less need for +organized charity." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FOG + + +During the next two days before a moderate gale the _Scarrowmania_ +shouldered her way westwards through the big, white-topped combers that +rolled down upon her under a lowering sky. There were no luxurious, +steam-propelled hotels in the Canadian trade at this time, and loaded +deep with railway metal as she was, the vessel slopped in the green seas +everywhere, and rolled her streaming sides out almost to her bilge. She +shivered and rattled horribly when her single screw swung clear and the +tri-compound engines ran away. + +Wyllard went down to the steerage every now and then, and Agatha, who +contrived to keep on her feet, not infrequently accompanied him. She was +glad of his society, for Mrs. Hastings was seldom in evidence, and no +efforts could get Miss Rawlinson out of her berth. The gale blew itself +out at length, and the evening after it moderated Agatha was sitting +near the head of one fiddle-guarded table in the saloon waiting for +dinner, which the stewards had still some difficulty in bringing in. +Wyllard's place was next to hers, but he had not appeared, nor had the +skipper, who, however, did not invariably dine with the passengers. One +of the two doors which led from the foot of the branching companion +stairway into either side of the saloon stood open, and presently she +saw Wyllard standing just outside it. + +He beckoned to the doctor, who sat at the foot of her table, and the +physician merely raised his brows a trifle. He was a rather consequential +person, and it was evident to the girl that he resented being summoned by +a gesture. She did not think anybody else had noticed Wyllard, and she +waited with some curiosity to see what he would do. He made a sign with a +lifted hand, and she felt that the doctor would obey it, as, in fact, he +did, though his manner was very far from conciliatory. By dint of +listening closely, she could hear their conversation. + +"I'm sorry to trouble you just now," apologized Wyllard, "and I didn't +come in because that would have set everybody wondering what you were +wanted for; but one of those boys forward has been thrown down the +ladder, and has cut his head." + +"Ah!" said the doctor. "I'll see to him--after dinner." + +"It's a nasty cut," declared Wyllard. "He's losing a good deal of +blood." + +"Then I would suggest that you apply to my assistant." + +"As I don't know where he is, I have come to you." + +The doctor made a sign of impatience. "Well," he said "you have told me, +which I think is as far as your concern in the matter goes. I may add +that I'm not accustomed to dictation on behalf of a steerage passenger." + +Agatha saw Wyllard slip between the doctor and the entrance to the +saloon, but she saw also the skipper appear a few paces behind them, and +glance at them sharply. He was usually a silent man, at home in the ice +and the clammy fog, but not a great acquisition in the saloon. + +"Something wrong down forward, Mr. Wyllard? They were making a great row +a little while ago," the skipper said. + +"Nothing very serious," Wyllard answered. "One of the boys has cut his +head." + +The skipper turned towards the doctor and Agatha guessed that he had +overheard part of the conversation. "Don't you think you had better +go--at once?" suggested the skipper. + +The doctor evidently did, for he disappeared; and Wyllard, who entered +the saloon with the skipper, sat down at Agatha's side. + +"How do you do it?" she asked. + +"What?" returned Wyllard, beginning his dinner. + +"We'll say persuade other folks to see things as you do." + +"You evidently mean the skipper, and I suppose you heard something of +what was going on. In this case, I'm indebted to his prejudices. He's +one of the old type--a seaman first of all--and what we call bluff, and +you call bounce, has only one effect upon men of his kind. It gets their +backs up." + +Agatha thought that he did not like it, either, but she changed the +subject. + +"There really was a row forward," she said. "What was the trouble over? +You were, no doubt, somewhere near the scene of it." + +Wyllard laughed. "I sat upon the steerage ladder, and am afraid I +cheered the combatants on. It was really a glorious row. They hammered +each other with tin plates, and some of them tried to use hoop-iron +knives, which fortunately doubled up. They broke quite a few of the +benches, and wrecked the mess table, but so far as I noticed the only +one seriously hurt was a little chap who was quietly looking on." + +"And you encouraged them?" + +"I certainly did. It was a protest against dirt, disorder, and the +slothfulness that's a plague to the community. Isn't physical force +warranted when there's no other remedy?" + +A gray-haired Canadian looked up. "Yes," he agreed, "I guess it is. The +first man who pulled his gun in British Columbia was hanged right away, +and they've scarcely had to make an example of another since then, +though it was quite a while ago." + +He paused, and smiled approvingly. "A mess of any kind worries us, and +we don't take long to straighten it out. Same feeling's in the Germans +and Scandinavians. I'll say that for them, any way. Your friends swept +up the steerage?" + +"They took the Slavs and Jews, and pitched them down the second hatch on +to the orlop deck. Things will go smoothly now our crowd is on top." + +"Your crowd?" said Agatha. + +The Canadian nodded. "That's what he meant," he said. "There are two +kinds of folks you and the rest of them are dumping into Canada. One's +the kind that will get up and hustle, break land, and build new +homes--log at first, frame and stone afterwards. They go on from a +quarter-section and a team of oxen to the biggest farm they can handle, +and every fresh furrow they cut enriches all of us. The other kind want +to sit down in the dirt and take life easily, as they've always done. +The dirt worries everybody else, and we've no use for them. By and by +our Legislature will have to wake up and stop them from getting in." + +He went on with his dinner, but his observations left Agatha thoughtful. +She was beginning to understand one side of Wyllard's character. He, it +seemed, stood for practical efficiency. There was a driving force in him +that made for progress and order. It was apparently his mission to +straighten things out. Some persons of his kind, she reflected, now and +then made a good deal of avoidable trouble; but there was in this man, +at least, a half-whimsical toleration, which rendered that an unlikely +thing in his particular case. Besides, she had already recognized that +she was in some respects fortunate in having such a man for her +companion. + +Her deck chair was always set out in the most sheltered and comfortable +place. If there was anything to be seen he almost invariably appeared +with a pair of powerful glasses. She was watched over, her wishes were +anticipated, and the man was seldom obtrusively present when she felt +disposed to talk to somebody else. It struck her that she had thought a +great deal about him during the last few days, and rather less than +usual about Gregory, which was partly the reason she did not walk up and +down the deck with him, as usual, after dinner that evening. + +Three or four days later, the _Scarrowmania_ ran into the Bank fog, and +burrowed through it with whistle hooting dolefully at regular intervals. +Now and then an answering ringing of bells came out of the clammy vapor, +and the half-seen shape of an anchored schooner loomed up, rolling +wildly on gray slopes of sea. Once, too, a tiny dory, half filled with +lines and buoys, slid by plunging on the wash flung off by the +_Scarrowmania's_ bows, and Agatha understood that the men in her had +escaped death by a hairsbreadth. They were cod fishers, Wyllard told +her, and he added that there was a host of them at work somewhere in the +sliding haze. She imagined, now and then, that the fog had a depressing +effect on him, and that when the dory lay beneath the rail there had +been an unusual look in his face. + +A breeze came out of the northwest, with the sting of the ice in it, but +the fog did not lift, and the _Scarrowmania_ plunged on through it with +spray-wet decks and the gray seas smashing about her bows. It was +bitterly cold and the raw wind pierced to the bone, but the voyage was +rapidly shortening. + +One evening Agatha paced the deck with Wyllard. The girl was in a +strangely unsettled mood. Perhaps it was merely the gloom of the sea and +sky reacting upon her that caused her to look forward to the landing +with a certain half-conscious shrinking. They stopped by the rails +presently, looking out upon the tumbling seas that, tipped with livid +froth, rolled out of the sliding haze, and the dreariness of the +surroundings intensified the girl's depression. There was something +unpleasantly suggestive in the sight of the fog that hid everything, for +Agatha had been troubled with a half-apprehensive longing to see what +lay before her. She noticed the lookout, a lonely, shapeless figure, +standing amid the spray that whirled about the plunging bows. By and by +she saw him turn and wave an arm toward the bridge behind her, and she +heard a hoarse cry. What it meant she could not tell, but in another +moment the _Scarrowmania's_ whistle shrieked. + +A gray shape burst out of the vapor and grew with astonishing swiftness +into dim tiers of slanted sailcloth swaying above a strip of hull that +moved amid a broad white smear of foam. It was a brig under fore-course +and topsails, and as the girl watched the vessel it sank to the tilted +bowsprit, and a big gray and white sea foamed about the bows. + +"Aren't we dreadfully near?" she asked. + +Wyllard did not answer. He was gazing up at the bridge, and once more +the whistle gave a warning blast. It seemed that the two vessels could +hardly pass clear of each other. + +Wyllard laid a hand upon Agatha's shoulder. + +"The skipper's starboarding. We'll go around to the stern," he said. + +His grasp was reassuring, and Agatha watched the straining curves of +canvas and the line of half-submerged hull. The brig rose with streaming +bows, swung high above the sea, sank again, and vanished with +bewildering suddenness into a belt of driving fog. + +Agatha was not sure that there had been any peril, but it was certainly +past now, and she was rather puzzled by her sensations when Wyllard had +held her shoulder. For one thing, she had felt instinctively that she +was safe with him. She decided not to trouble herself about the reason +for this, and presently she looked up at him. The expression that she +had noticed now and then was once more in his face. + +"I don't think you like the fog any more than I do," she said. + +"No," responded Wyllard, with a quiet forcefulness that startled her. "I +hate it." + +"Why?" + +"It recalls something that still gives me a very bad few minutes every +once in a while. It has been worrying me again to-night." + +"I wonder," said Agatha simply, "if you would care to tell me?" + +The man looked down on her. "I haven't told it often, but you shall +hear," he replied. "It's a tale of a black failure." He stretched out a +hand and pointed to the ranks of tumbling seas. "It was very much this +kind of night, and we were lying, reefed down, off one of the Russians' +beaches, when I asked for volunteers. I got them--two boats' crews of +the finest seamen that ever handled oar or sealing rifle." + +"But what did you want them for?" + +"A boat from another schooner had been cast ashore. It was blowing hard, +as it usually does where the Polar ice comes down into the Behring Sea. +They'd been shooting seals. We meant to bring the men off if we could +manage it." + +"Wouldn't one boat have been enough?" + +"No," answered Wyllard dryly, "we had three, and I think that was one +cause of the trouble. There was one from the other schooner. You see, +those seals belonged to the Russians, and we free-lances could shoot +them only off shore. I'm not sure that the men in the wrecked boat had +been fishing outside the limit." + +Agatha did not press for further particulars, and he went on. + +"We managed to make a landing, though one boat went up bottom uppermost. +I fancy they must have broken or lost an oar then. We got the wrecked +men, but we had trouble while we were getting the boats off again. The +surf was running in savagely, and the fog shut down as solid as a wall. +Any way, we pulled off, and went out with a foot of water in one boat. +One of the rescued men took my oar when I let it go." + +"Why did you let it go?" + +Wyllard laughed in a grim fashion. + +"My head was laid open with a sealing club," he said. "Some of the other +men had their scratches, but they managed to row. For one thing, they +knew they had to. They had reasons for not wanting to fall into the +Russians' hands. Well, we cleared the beach, and once or twice, as I +tried to bale, there was a shout somewhere near us, and the loom of a +vanishing boat. It was all we could make out, for the sea was slopping +into the boat, and the spray was flying everywhere. If there had been +only two boats we probably would have found out our misfortune, and +perhaps would have set it straight. As it was, we couldn't tell that it +was the same boat that had hailed us." + +He broke off for a moment, and then added quietly: + +"Two boats reached the schooners. There was a nasty sea running then, +and it blew viciously hard next day. There were three men in the other." + +"Ah!" cried Agatha, "they were drowned?" + +Wyllard made a forceful gesture. "I'm not quite sure. That's the +trouble. At least, the boat was nowhere on the beach next day, and it's +difficult to see how the men could have faced the sea that piled up when +the gale came down. In all probability, they had an oar short, and the +boat rolled them out when a comber broke upon her in the darkness." The +girl saw him close one hand tight as he added, "If one only knew!" + +"What would have befallen them if they had reached shore?" + +"It's difficult to say. They could have been handed over to the Russian +authorities. Still, sealers poaching up there have simply disappeared." + +He stopped again, and glanced out at the gathering darkness. "Now," he +concluded, "you see why I hate the fog." + +"But you couldn't help it," said Agatha. + +"Well," answered Wyllard, "I asked for volunteers, and the money that is +now mine came out of those schooners. It's just possible those men are +living still--somewhere in Northern Asia. I only know that they +disappeared." + +He abruptly began to talk of something else, and by and by Agatha went +down to the saloon, where Miss Rawlinson, who had not been much in +evidence during the voyage, presently made her appearance. + +"Aren't you going into the music-room to play for Mr. Wyllard--as +usual?" she inquired. + +Agatha was disconcerted. She had fallen into the habit of spending half +an hour or longer in the little music-room every evening, with Wyllard +standing near the piano; but now her friend's question seemed to place a +significance upon the fact. + +"No," she replied, "I don't think I am." + +"Then the rest of them will wonder whether you have fallen out with +him." + +"Fallen out with him?" + +Winifred laughed. "They've naturally been watching both of you, and, in +a general way, there's only one decision they could have arrived at." + +Agatha flushed a little, but Winifred went on. + +"I don't mind admitting that if a man of that kind was to fall in love +with me, I'd black his boots for him," she said. She added, with a +rueful gesture, "Still, it's most unlikely." + +Agatha looked at her with a little glint in her eyes. + +"He is merely Gregory's deputy," she said, with a subconscious feeling +that the word "deputy" was not a fortunate one. "In that connection, I +should like to point out that you can estimate a man's character by that +of his friends." + +"Oh," rejoined Winifred, "then if Mr. Wyllard's strong points merely +heighten Gregory's virtues, I've nothing more to say. Any way, I'll +reserve my homage until I've seen Gregory. Perfection among men is +scarce nowadays." + +She turned away, and left Agatha thoughtful. In the meanwhile, Mrs. +Hastings came upon Wyllard alone in the music-room. + +"You look quite serious," she remarked. + +"I've been thinking about Miss Ismay and Gregory," Wyllard replied. "In +fact, I feel a little anxious about them." + +"In what way?" + +"Without making any reflections upon Gregory, I somewhat feel sorry for +the girl." + +Mrs. Hastings nodded. "As a matter of fact, that's very much what I felt +from the first," she admitted. "Still, you see, there's the important +fact that she's fond of him, and it should smooth out a good many +difficulties. Anyway, she's evidently rather a courageous person." + +Wyllard sat silent a moment or two. "I wasn't troubling about the +material difficulties--lack of wealth and all that," he said. "I was +wondering if she really could be fond of him. It is some years since she +was much in his company." + +"Hawtrey is not a man to change." + +"That," returned Wyllard, "is just the trouble. I've no doubt he's much +the same, but one could fancy that Miss Ismay has changed a good deal +since she last saw him. She'll look for considerably more than she was +probably content with then." + +"In any case, it isn't your affair." Mrs. Hastings smiled significantly. + +"In one sense it certainly isn't; but I can't help feeling a little +troubled about the thing. You see, Gregory is quite an old friend." + +"And the girl is going to marry him," said Mrs. Hastings, raising her +eyebrows. + +Wyllard rose. "That reminder," he said, "is quite uncalled for. I would +like to assure you of it." + +He went out, and Mrs. Hastings sat still in a reflective mood. + +"If she begins to compare him with Hawtrey, there can be only one +result," she said. + +The fog had almost gone next morning, and pale sunshine streamed down +upon a a froth-flecked sea. A bitter wind, however, still came out of +the hazy north, and the _Scarrowmania's_ plates were crusted with ice +where the highest crests of the tumbling seas reached them. The spray +froze, and the decks grew slippery. When darkness came, nobody but the +seamen faced the stinging cold. Agatha felt the engines stop late that +night, and when she went out next morning the decks were white, and she +could see dim ghosts of sliding pines through a haze of falling snow +that became bewilderingly thick at times, but the steamer slid on +through it with whistle hooting. At last toward sunset the snow cleared +away and Agatha stood shivering under a deck-house. She looked about her +with a curiously heavy heart. + +A gray haze stretched across the great river, which was dim and gray, +and odd wisps of pines rose raggedly beneath the white hills that cut +against a gloomy, lowering sky. Deck-house, boat, and stanchion dripped, +and every now and then the silence was broken by a doleful blast of the +whistle. Nothing moved on the still, gray water, there was no sign of +life ashore, and they seemed to be steaming into a great desolation. + +Presently, Wyllard appeared from somewhere, and, after a glance at her +face, slipped his hand beneath her arm, and led her down to the lighted +saloon. There her heart grew a little lighter. Once more she was +conscious of the feeling that she was safe with him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DISILLUSION + + +The long train was speeding smoothly across the vast white levels of +Assiniboia, when Agatha, who sat by a window, looked up as the conductor +strode through the car. Mrs. Hastings asked him a question, and he +stopped a moment. + +"Yes," he said, "we'll be in Clermont inside half an hour." + +He went on, and Mrs. Hastings smiled at Agatha. + +"We're a little late, and Gregory will be waiting for us in the station +now," she announced. "No doubt he's got the wagon fixed up right, but +I'd like to feel sure of it. There's a long drive before us, and I want +to reach the homestead before it's dark." + +Agatha said nothing, but a faint tinge of color crept into her cheeks, +and Mrs. Hastings was glad to see it, for she had noticed that the girl +was looking pale and haggard. The strain of the last few months that she +had spent in England was beginning to tell on her. She had borne it +courageously, but a reaction had set in, and the trip had been +fatiguing. The _Scarrowmania_ had plunged along, bows under, against +fresh northwesterly gales most of the way across the Atlantic, and there +is very little comfort on board a small, deeply-loaded steamer when she +rolls her rails in, and lurches with thudding screw swung clear over +big, steep-sided combers. Moreover, Agatha had scarcely slept during the +few days and nights that she had spent in the train. It takes time to +become accustomed to the atmosphere of a heated sleeper, and since she +had landed she had been in a state of not unnatural nervous tension. + +She had found it difficult to preserve an outward serenity, the previous +day. When, at last, the great train ran into the depot at Winnipeg, +where Gregory had arranged to meet them, it was with a thrill of +expectancy and relief that she stood upon the car platform. There was, +however, no sign of Gregory, and, though Wyllard handed her a telegram +from him a few minutes later, the fact that he had not arrived had a +depressing effect on her. Quiet as she usually was, the girl was highly +strung. Something had gone wrong with Hawtrey's wagon while he was +driving in to the railroad, and as the result of it he had missed the +Atlantic train. She could not blame him for the accident, but for all +that his absence was an unpleasant shock. + +Feeling that her companions' eyes were upon her, she turned, and looking +out of the window found no encouragement in what she saw. The snow had +gone, and a vast expanse of grass ran back to the horizon! But it was a +dingy, grayish-white, and not green, as it had been in England. The sky +was low and gray, too, and the only thing that broke the dreary monotony +of lifeless color was the formless, darker smear of a birch bluff that +rose out of the empty levels. Her heart throbbed unpleasantly fast as +the few remaining minutes slipped away. She started when a dingy mass of +something that looked like buildings lifted itself above the prairie. + +"The Clermont elevators," said Mrs. Hastings. "We'll be in directly." + +The mass separated itself into two or three tall component blocks. A +huddle of little wooden houses grew into shape beneath them, and a +shrill whistle came ringing back above the slowing cars. A willow bluff, +half filled with old cans and garbage, flitted by, a big bell began +tolling, and Agatha rose when Mrs. Hastings took up her furs from a seat +close by. After that, the girl found herself standing on the platform of +the car, though she did not quite know how she got there, for she was +sensible only of the fact that in another moment or two she would greet +the lover whom she had not seen for four years. + +Though she paid no great attention to them the surroundings had a +depressing effect on her. There was, however, very little to see. The +mass of the great elevators that were silhouetted against a lowering +sky, the little cluster of houses, and the sea of churned-up mire +between them and the track comprised Clermont. There appeared to be no +station except a big water tank and a rather unsightly shed, about which +stood a group of blurred and shapeless figures. It seemed very cold, and +Agatha shivered as she felt the raw wind strike through her. + +One of the figures detached itself from the rest and grew clearer. The +man wore an old skin coat spattered with flakes of mire, and his long +boots were covered with clots of mud. His fur cap looked greasy, and the +fur had been rubbed off it in patches. But while Agatha noticed these +things it was Hawtrey's face that struck her most distinctly, and she +became conscious of an astonishment which was mixed with vague +misgivings as she gazed at it, for it had subtly changed since she had +last seen it. The joyous sparkle that she remembered had gone out of the +eyes. They were harder, bolder, than they used to be. The mouth was +slack--it looked almost sensual--and the man's whole personality seemed +to have grown coarser. As she thrust the disconcerting fancies from her +the car stopped. + +[Illustration: "SHE WAS CONSCIOUS OF A CERTAIN SHRINKING FROM HIS +EMBRACE" (Page 107)] + +In another moment Hawtrey sprang up on the platform, and his arms were +about her. That brought the blood to her face, but she felt none of the +thrill that she had expected. Indeed, she was conscious of a certain +shrinking from his embrace. He must have lifted her down, for, when she +was next aware of the presence of the friends with whom she had +traveled, she stood beside the track with Mrs. Hastings, a man whom she +supposed to be Mr. Hastings, Winifred and Wyllard about her. Another man +also was standing close by, apparently waiting until they noticed him. +He was covered with mire, his skin coat was very dilapidated, and Agatha +thought that his boots never had been cleaned. His hair, which had +evidently been badly cut, straggled out from under his old fur cap. + +Gregory apparently explained something to Mrs. Hastings. "No," he said, +"I'm sorry it can't be for another week. Horribly unfortunate. It seems +they've sent the Methodist on down the line, and we'll have to wait for +the Episcopalian. He'll be at Lander's for a few days." + +Agatha's cheeks flamed, for she realized that it was her wedding of +which they were speaking; but it brought her a curious relief to hear +that it had been deferred. A moment or two later Gregory turned to her +with questions about his people in England. + +Winifred had separated herself from the group. She was standing near her +baggage, which had been flung out beside the track, when Wyllard strode +up to her. + +"Feeling rather out of it? I do, any way," he remarked. "Since we appear +superfluous, we may as well make the most of the opportunity, especially +as it will probably save you a long drive. There's a man here who wants +to see you." + +Winifred had felt forlorn a few moments earlier, but the announcement +Wyllard made was reassuring, and she brightened perceptibly as he +signaled to a man who was standing a little further along the track. The +stranger wore rather good store clothes, and his manner was brisk and +wholly business-like. It was a certain relief to the girl to see that he +evidently regarded her less as a personality than as a piece of +commercial machinery, of which apparently he had been asked to make use. +She had found it easier to get on with men who looked upon her as merely +part of the office equipment. + +"Mr. Hamilton is in charge of the elevator yonder," explained Wyllard, +pointing to one of the huge buildings. + +Then he introduced Miss Rawlinson. + +The elevator man made her the curtest of bows and proceeded to arrange +matters with a rapidity which almost took her breath away. + +"Typist and stenographer?" he asked. "Know anything about keeping +accounts?" + +Winifred admitted that she possessed these qualifications and Hamilton +appeared to reflect for a moment or two. + +"Well," he said, "in a fortnight we'll give you a show. You can start +at--" and he mentioned terms which rather astonished Winifred. "If you +can keep things straight we may raise you later." + +"Won't you want to see any testimonials?" she asked. + +"No," answered Hamilton. "I've seen a good many and I'm inclined to +believe some of the folks who showed them to me must have bought them." +He waved his hand. "Mr. Wyllard assures me that you'll do, and that's +quite enough for me." + +It struck Winifred as curious that, while Agatha had written to Hawtrey +on her behalf, it was Wyllard who had secured her the opportunity for +which she had longed. + +"There's another matter," she said hesitatingly, when she was left with +Wyllard, "I'll have to live here?" + +Wyllard smiled. "I've seen to that, though if you don't like my +arrangements you can alter them afterwards. Mrs. Sandberg will take you +in. She's a Scotch Calvinist, and even if she isn't particularly amiable +you'll be in safe hands. We'll consider it as fixed, but you're to stay +with Mrs. Hastings for a fortnight. Sproatly"--he signed to the man in +the skin coat--"will you get Miss Rawlinson's baggage into your wagon?" + +The man took off his fur cap. "If Miss Rawlinson would like to see Mrs. +Sandberg, I'll drive her round," he suggested. "We'll catch you in a +league or so. Gregory has a bit of patching to do on his off-side +trace." + +"He might have had things straight for once," grumbled Wyllard +half-aloud. + +Winifred permitted Sproatly to help her into his wagon--a high, +narrow-bodied vehicle, mounted on tall, spidery wheels--but she had to +hold fast to the seat while they jolted across the track and through a +sea of mire into the unpaved street of the little town. She liked +Sproatly's voice and manner, though she was far from prepossessed by his +appearance. Two or three minutes later he stopped before a little wooden +house, where they were received by a tall, hard-faced woman, who frowned +at the man. + +"Ye'll tak' your patent medicines somewhere else. I'm wanting none," she +said. + +Sproatly grinned. "You needn't be afraid of them. They couldn't hurt +you. I was talking to a Winnipeg doctor who'd a notion of coming out a +day or two ago. I told him if he did he'd have to bring an ax along." + +Then he explained that Wyllard had sent Miss Rawlinson there, and the +woman favored her with a glance of careful scrutiny. + +"Weel," she said, "ye look quiet, anyway." She added, as if further +satisfied, "I'll make ye a cup of tea if ye can wait." + +Sproatly assured her that they had not time to accept her hospitality. +The girl went into the house for a few moments and returned to the wagon +with relief in her face. + +"I think I owe Mr. Wyllard a good deal," she said. + +Sproatly laughed. "You're not exactly unusual in that respect," he +declared as he started the horses. "But you had better hold tight. These +beasts are less than half broken." + +He flicked the horses with the whip, and they went across the track at a +gallop, hurling great clods of mud left and right, while the group of +loungers who still stood about the station raised a shout. + +"Got any little pictures with nice motters on them?" asked one, and +another flung a piece of information after the jolting wagon. + +"There's a Swede down at Branker's wants a bottle that will limber up a +wooden leg," he said. + +Sproatly grinned, and waved his hands to them before he turned to +Winifred. + +"We have to get through before dark, if possible, or I'd stop and sell +them something sure," he said. "Parts of the trail further on are simply +horrible." + +It occurred to Winifred that the road was far from good as it was, for +spouts of mud flew up beneath the sinking hoofs and wheels, and she was +already unpleasantly spattered. + +"You think you would have succeeded making a sale?" she asked with +amusement in her eyes. + +"Oh, yes," Sproatly answered confidently. "If I couldn't plant something +on to them when they'd given me a lead like that, I'd be no use in this +business. At present, my command of Western phraseology is my fortune." + +"You sell things, then?" + +Sproatly pointed to two big boxes in the bottom of the wagon. "Anything +from cough cure to hair restorer, besides a general purpose elixir +that's specially prepared for me. It's adaptable to any complaint and +season. All you have to do"--and he lowered his voice confidently--"is +to put on a different label." + +Winifred laughed when she met his eyes. + +"What happens to the people who buy it?" she inquired. + +"Most of them are bachelors, and tough. They've stood their own cooking +so long that they ought to be impervious to anything, and if anybody's +really sick I hold off and tell him to wait until he can get a doctor. A +sensitive conscience," he added reflectively, "is quite a handicap in +this business." + +"You have always been in it?" asked Winifred. + +"No," replied Sproatly, "although you mightn't believe it, I was raised +with the idea that I should have my choice between the Church and the +Bar. The idea, however, proved--impracticable--which is rather a pity. +It has seemed to me that a man who can work off cough cures and +cosmetics on to healthy folks and talk a scoffer off the field, ought to +have made his mark in either calling." + +He looked at her as if for confirmation of this view, but Winifred, who +laughed again, glanced at the two wagons that, several miles away, moved +across the gray-white sweep of prairie. + +"Shall we overtake them?" she asked. + +"We'll probably come up with Gregory. I'm not sure about Wyllard." + +"He drives faster horses?" + +"That's not quite the reason. Gregory has patched up one trace with a +bit of string, and odd bolts are rather addicted to coming out of his +wagon. Sometimes it makes trouble. I've known the team to leave him +sitting on the prairie, thinking of endearing names for them, while they +came home with the pole." + +"Does he generally let things fall into that state?" + +Sproatly was evidently on his guard. + +"Well," he rejoined, "it's certainly that kind of wagon." + +He flicked the team again, and the jolting rendered it difficult for +Winifred to ask any more questions. The prairie sod was soft with the +thaw, and big lumps of it stuck to the wheels, which every now and then +plunged into ruts the other vehicles had made. + +In the meanwhile, Agatha and Hawtrey had found it almost impossible to +sustain a conversation. It was a relief to the girl to be able to sit +silent and observant beside the man whom she had promised to marry. The +string-patched trace still held, and the wagon pole was a new one. The +white grass was tussocky and long, and the trail here and there had been +churned into quagmire. Hawtrey had packed the thick driving-robe high +about Agatha and had slipped one arm about her waist beneath it; but she +was conscious that she rather suffered this than derived any +satisfaction from it. She strove to assure herself that she was jaded +with the journey, which was, in fact, the case, and that the lowering +sky, and the cheerless waste they were crossing, had occasioned the +dejection that she felt. There was not a tree upon the vast sweep of +bleached grass which ran all around her to the horizon. It was +inexpressibly lonely, a lifeless desolation, with only the plowed-up +trail to show that man had ever traversed it. The raw wind which came +across the prairie set her shivering. + +She was forced, however, to admit that her weariness and the dreary +surroundings did not quite explain everything. Gregory's first embrace +had brought her no happiness, and now the close pressure of his arm left +her quite unmoved. This was disconcerting; but while she would admit no +definite reason for it, there was creeping upon her a vague consciousness +that the man beside her was not the one of whom she had so often thought +in England. He seemed different--almost, in fact, a stranger--though she +could not exactly tell where the change in him began. His laughter jarred +upon her. Some of the things he said appeared almost inane, and others +were tinged with a self-confidence that did not become him. It seemed to +her that he was shallow and lacking in comprehension. Once she found +herself comparing him with another man. She broke off that train of +thought abruptly, and once more endeavored to find the explanation in +herself. Weariness had produced this captious, hypercritical fit, and by +and by she would become used to him, she said. + +Hawtrey was, at least, not effusive, for which she was thankful. When +they reached a smoother stretch of road he began to talk of England. + +"I suppose you saw a good deal of my folks when you were at the Grange," +he said. + +"No," answered Agatha, "I saw them once or twice." + +"Ah!" he replied, with a trace of sharpness, "then they were not +particularly agreeable?" + +It seemed to Agatha that he was tactless in suggesting anything of the +kind, but she replied candidly. + +"One could hardly go quite so far as that," she told him. "Still, I +couldn't help a feeling that it was rather an effort for them to be +gracious to me." + +"They did what they could to make things pleasant when they were first +told of our engagement." + +Agatha was too weary to be altogether on her guard. His relatives' +attitude had wounded her, and she answered without reflection. + +"I have fancied that was because they never quite believed it would lead +to anything." + +She knew this was the truth now, though it was the first time the +explanation had occurred to her. Gregory's relatives, who were naturally +acquainted with his character, had not expected him to carry out his +promise. She felt that she had been injudicious in what she told him +when she heard his harsh laugh. + +"I'm afraid they never had a very great opinion of me," he remarked. + +"Then," said Agatha, looking up at him, "it will be our business to +prove them wrong; but I can't help feeling that you have undertaken a +big responsibility, Gregory. There must be so much that I ought to do, +and I know so little about your work in this country." She turned, and +glanced with a shiver at the dim, white prairie. "The land looks so +forbidding and unyielding. It must be very hard to turn it into wheat +fields--to break it in." + +It was merely a hint of what she felt, and it was rather a pity that +Hawtrey, who lacked imagination, usually contented himself with the most +obvious meaning of the spoken word. Things might have gone differently +had he responded with comprehending sympathy. + +"Oh," he said, with a laugh that changed her mood, "you'll learn, and I +don't suppose it will matter a great deal if you don't do it quickly. +Somehow or other one worries through." + +She felt that this was insufficient, though she remembered that his +haphazard carelessness had once appealed to her. Now she realized that +to undertake a thing light-heartedly was a very different matter from +carrying it out successfully. Then it once more occurred to her that she +was becoming absurdly hypercritical, and she strove to talk of other +things. + +She did not find it easy, nor, though he made the effort, did Hawtrey. +There was a restraint upon him, for when he first saw her he had been +struck by the change in the girl. She was graver than he remembered her, +and, it seemed, very much more reserved. He had tried and failed, as he +thought of it, to strike any response in her. He became uneasily +conscious that he could not talk to her as he could to Sally Creighton. +There was something wanting in him or her, but he could not at the +moment tell what it was. Still, he assured himself, things would be +different next day, for the girl was evidently very tired. + +The creeping dusk settled down upon the wilderness. The horizon +narrowed, and the stretch of grass before them grew dim. The trail they +now drove into grew rapidly rougher, and it was quite dark when they +came to the brink of a declivity still at least a league from the +Hastings homestead. It was one of the steep ravines that seam the +prairie. A birch bluff rose on either side, and a little creek flowed +through the hollow. + +Hawtrey swung the whip when they reached the top, and the team plunged +furiously down the slope. He straightened himself in his seat with both +hands on the reins, and Agatha held her breath when she felt the light +vehicle tilt as the wheels on one side sank deep in a rut. Something +seemed to crack, and she saw the off horse stumble and plunge. The other +horse flung its head up, Hawtrey shouted something, and there was a +great smashing and snapping of undergrowth and fallen branches as they +drove in among the birches. The team stopped, and Hawtrey, who sprang +down, floundered noisily among the undergrowth, while another thud of +hoofs and rattle of wheels grew louder behind them up the trail. In a +minute or two Hawtrey came back and lifted Agatha down. + +"It's the trace broken. I had to make the holes with my knife, and the +string's torn through," he explained. "Voltigeur got it round his feet, +and, as usual, tried to bolt. We'll make the others pull up and take you +in." + +They went back to the trail together, and reached it just as Hastings +reined in his team. Hastings got down and walked back with Hawtrey to +the stalled wagon. It was a minute or two before they reappeared again, +and Mrs. Hastings, who had alighted, drew Hawtrey aside. + +"I almost think it would be better if you didn't come any further +to-night," she said. + +"Why?" Gregory asked sharply. + +"I can't help thinking that Agatha would prefer it. For one thing, she's +rather jaded, and wants quiet." + +"You feel sure of that?" + +There was something in the man's voice which suggested that he was not +quite satisfied, and Mrs. Hastings was silent a moment. + +"It's good advice, Gregory," she said. "She'll be better able to face +the situation after a night's rest." + +"Does it require much facing?" Hawtrey asked dryly. + +Mrs. Hastings turned from him with a sign of impatience. "Of course it +does. Anyway, if you're wise you'll do what I suggest, and ask no more +questions." + +Then she got into the wagon, and Hawtrey stood still beside the trail, +feeling unusually thoughtful as they drove away. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AGATHA'S DECISION + + +It was with an expectancy which was toned down by misgivings that +Hawtrey drove over to the homestead where Agatha was staying the next +afternoon. The misgivings were not unnatural, for he had been chilled by +the girl's reception of him on the previous day, and her manner +afterwards had, he felt, left something to be desired. Indeed, when she +drove away with Mrs. Hastings, he had considered himself an injured man. + +His efforts to mend the harness, and extricate the wagon in the dark, +which occupied him for an hour, had helped partly to drive the matter +from his mind, and when he reached his homestead rather late that night +he went to sleep, and slept soundly until sunrise. Hawtrey was a man who +never brooded over his troubles beforehand, and this was one reason why +he did not always cope with them successfully when they could no longer +be avoided. + +When he had eaten his breakfast, however, he became sensible of a +certain pique against both Mrs. Hastings and Agatha. In planning for the +day he was forced to remember that he had no hired man, and that there +was a good deal to be done. He decided that it might be well to wait +until the afternoon before he called on Agatha, and for several hours he +drove his team through the crackling stubble. His doubts and irritation +grew weaker as he worked, and when, later, he drove into sight of the +Hastings homestead, his buoyant temperament was beginning to reassert +itself. Clear sunshine streamed down upon the prairie out of a vault of +cloudless blue, and he felt that any faint shadow that might have arisen +between him and the girl could be readily swept away. He was a little +less sure of this when he saw Agatha, who sat near an open window, in a +scantily furnished match-boarded room. She had not slept at all. Her +eyes were heavy, but there was a look of resolution in them which seemed +out of place just then, and it struck him that she had lost the +freshness which had been her distinguishing charm in England. + +She rose when he came in, and then, to his astonishment, drew back a +pace or two when he moved impulsively towards her. + +"No," she said, with a hand raised restrainingly, "you must hear what I +have to say, and try to bear with me. It is a little difficult, Gregory, +but it must be said at once." + +Gregory stood still, gazing at her with consternation in his face, and +for a moment she looked steadily at him. It was a painful moment, for +she was gifted with a clearness of vision which she almost longed to be +delivered from. She saw that the impression which had brought her a +vague sense of dismay on the previous afternoon was wrong. The trouble +was that he had not changed at all. He was what he had always been, and +she had merely deceived herself when she had permitted her girlish fancy +to endow him with qualities and graces which he had never possessed. +There was, however, no doubt that she had still a duty toward him. + +He spoke first with a trace of hardness in his voice. + +"Then," he rejoined, "won't you sit down? This is naturally a +little--embarrassing--but I'll try to listen." + +Agatha sank into a seat by the open window, for she felt physically worn +out, and before her there was a task from which she shrank. + +"Gregory," she began, "I feel that we have come near making what might +prove to be a horrible mistake." + +"We?" repeated Hawtrey, while the blood rose into his weather-darkened +face. "That means both of us." + +"Yes," asserted Agatha, with a steadiness that cost her an effort. + +Hawtrey went a step nearer to her. "Do you want me to admit that I've +made a mistake." + +"Are you quite sure you haven't?" + +She flung the question at him sharply with tense apprehension, for, +after all, if Gregory was sure of himself, there was only one course +open to her. He leaned upon the table, gazing at her, and as he studied +her face his indignation melted, and doubts crept into his mind. + +She looked weary, and grave, almost haggard, and it was a fresh, +light-hearted girl with whom he had fallen in love in England. The mark +of the last two years of struggle was plain on her. He tried to realize +what he had looked for when he had asked her to marry him, and could not +get a clear conception of his vision. In the back of his mind was a +half-formulated idea that he had dreamed of a cheerful companion, +somebody to amuse him. She scarcely seemed likely to be entertaining +now. + +Gregory was not a man who could face a crisis collectedly, and his +thoughts became confused until one idea emerged from them. He had +pledged himself to her, and the fact laid a certain obligation upon him. +It was his part to overrule any fancies she might be disposed to indulge +in. + +"Well," he said stoutly, "I'm not going to admit anything of that kind. +The journey has been too much for you. You haven't got over it yet." He +lowered his voice, and his face softened. "Aggy, dear, I've waited four +years for you." + +His words stirred her, for they were certainly true, and his gentleness +had also its effect. The situation was becoming more and more difficult, +since it seemed impossible to make him understand that he would in all +probability speedily tire of her. To make it clear that she could never +be satisfied with him was a thing from which she shrank. + +"How have you passed those four years?" she asked, to gain time. + +For a moment his conscience smote him. He remembered the trips to +Winnipeg, and the dances to which he had escorted Sally Creighton. It +was, however, evident that Agatha could have heard nothing of Sally. + +"I spent them in hard work. I wanted to make the place comfortable for +you," he answered. "It is true"--and he added this with a twinge of +uneasiness, as he remembered that his neighbors had done much more with +less incentive--"that it's still very far from what I would like, but +things have been against me." + +The speech had a far stronger effect than he could have expected, for +Agatha remembered Wyllard's description of what the prairie farmer had +to face. Those four years of determined effort and patient endurance, as +she pictured them, counted heavily against her in the man's favor. It +flashed upon her that, after all, there might have been some warrant for +the view that she had held of Gregory's character when he had fallen in +love with her. He was younger then. There must have been latent +possibilities in him, but the years of toil had killed them and hardened +him. It was for her sake he had made the struggle, and now it seemed +unthinkable that she should renounce him because he came to her with the +dust and stain of it upon him. For all that, she was possessed with a +feeling that she would involve them both in disaster if she yielded. +Something warned her that she must stand firm. + +"Gregory," she said, "I seem to know that we should both be sorry +afterwards if I kept my promise." + +Hawtrey straightened himself with a smile that she recognized. She had +liked him for it once, for it had then suggested the joyous courage of +untainted youth. Now, however, it struck her as merely hinting at empty, +complacent assurance. She hated herself for the fancy, but it would not +be driven away. + +"Well," he replied, "I'm quite willing to face that hazard. I suppose +this diffidence is only natural, Aggy, but it's a little hard on me." + +"No," replied the girl with emphasis, "it's horribly unnatural, and +that's why I'm afraid. I should have come to you gladly, without a +misgiving, feeling that nothing could hurt me if I was with you. I +wanted to do that, Gregory--I meant to--but I can't." Then her voice +fell to a tone that had vibrant regret in it. "You should have made +sure--you should have married me when you last came home." + +"But I'd nowhere to take you. The farm was only half-broken prairie, the +homestead almost unhabitable." + +Agatha winced at this. It was, no doubt, true, but it seemed horribly +petty and commonplace. His comprehension stopped at such details as +these, and he had given her no credit for the courage which would have +made light of bodily discomfort. + +"Do you think that would have mattered? We were both very young then, +and we could have faced our troubles and grown up together. Now we're +not the same. You let me grow up alone." + +Hawtrey shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't changed," he told her as she +looked at him with deep-seeing eyes. + +He contented himself with that, and Agatha grew more resolute. There was +not a spark of imagination in him, scarcely even a spark of the passion +which, if it had been strong enough, might have swept her away in spite +of her shrinking. He was a man of comely presence, whimsical, and quick, +as she remembered, at light badinage, but when there was a crisis to be +grappled with he somehow failed. His graces were on the surface. There +was no depth in him. + +"Aggy," he added humbly, when he should have been dominant and forceful, +"it is only a question of a little time. You will get used to me." + +"Then," pleaded the girl, who clutched at the chance of respite, "give +me six months from to-day. It isn't very much to ask, Gregory." + +Gregory wrinkled his brows. "It's a great deal," he answered slowly. "I +feel that we shall drift further and further apart if once I let you +go." + +"Then you feel that we have drifted a little already?" + +"I don't know what has come over you, Aggy, but there has been a change. +I'm what I was, and I want to keep you." + +Agatha rose and turned towards him a white face. "If you are wise you +will not urge me now," she said. + +Hawtrey met her gaze for a moment, and then made a sign of acquiescence +as he turned his eyes away. He recognized that this was a new Agatha, +one whose will was stronger than his. Yet he was astonished that he had +yielded so readily. + +"Well," he agreed, "if it must be, I can only give way to you, but I +must be free to come over here whenever I wish." Suddenly a thought +struck him. "But you may hare to go away," he added, with sudden +concern. "If I am to wait six months, what are you to do in the +meanwhile?" + +Agatha smiled wearily. Now that the respite had been granted her, the +question he had raised was not one that caused her any great concern. + +"Oh," she answered, "we can think of that later. I have borne enough +to-day. This has been a little hard upon me, Gregory." + +"I don't think it has been particularly easy for either of us," returned +Hawtrey, with grimness. "Anyway, it seems that I'm only distressing +you." There was a baffled, puzzled look in his face. "Naturally, this is +so unexpected that I don't know what to say. I'll come back when I feel +I've grasped the situation." + +Taking one of her hands, he stooped and kissed her cheek. + +"My dear," he said, "I only want to make it as easy as I can. You'll try +to think of me favorably." + +He went out and left her sitting beside the open window. A warm breeze +swept into the room; outside a blaze of sunshine rested on the prairie. +The ground about the house was torn up with wheel ruts, for the wooden +building rose abruptly without fence or garden from the waste of +whitened grass. Close to the house stood a birch-log barn or stables, +its sides curiously ridged and furrowed where the trunks were laid on +one another. Further away rose a long building of sod, and a great +shapeless yellow mound with a domed top towered behind it. It was most +unlike a trim English rick, and Agatha wondered what it could be. As a +matter of fact, it was a not uncommon form of granary, the straw from +the last thrashing flung over a birch-pole framing. Behind it ran a +great breadth of knee-high stubble, blazing ocher and cadmium in the +sunlight. It had evidently extended further than it did, for a blackened +space showed where a fire had been lighted to destroy it. In the big +field Hastings was plowing. Clad in blue duck he plodded behind his +horses, which stopped now and then when the share jarred against a patch +of still frozen soil. Further on two other men, silhouetted in blue +against the whitened grass, drove spans of slowly moving oxen that +hauled big breaker plows, and the lines of clods that lengthened behind +them gleamed in the sunlight a rich chocolate-brown. Beyond them the +wilderness ran unbroken to the horizon. + +Agatha gazed at it all vacantly, but the newness and strangeness of it +reacted upon her. She felt very desolate and lonely, but she remembered +that she must still grapple with a practical difficulty. She could not +stay with Mrs. Hastings indefinitely, and she had not the least notion +where to go or what she was to do. She was leaning back in her chair +wearily with half-closed eyes when her hostess came in and looked at her +with a smile that suggested comprehension. Mrs. Hastings was thin, and +seemed a trifle worn, but she had shrewd, kindly eyes. She wore a plain +print dress which was dusted here and there with flour. + +"So you have sent him away!" she exclaimed. + +It was borne in upon Agatha that she could be candid with this woman who +had already guessed the truth. + +"Yes," she replied, "for six months. That is, we are not to decide on +anything until they have passed. I felt we must get used to each other. +It seemed best." + +"To you. Did it seem best to Gregory?" + +A flush crept into Agatha's face. Though his acquiescence had been a +relief to her, she felt that he might have made a more vigorous protest. + +"He gave in to me," she answered. + +Mrs. Hastings looked thoughtful. "Well," she observed, "I believe you +were wise, but that opens up another question. What are you going to do +in the meanwhile?" + +"I don't know," confessed Agatha apathetically. "I suppose I shall have +to go away--to Winnipeg, most probably. I could teach, I think." + +"How are you and Gregory to get used to each other if you go away?" + +Agatha made a helpless gesture. "I hadn't looked at it in that light." + +"Are you very anxious to get used to him?" + +Agatha shrank from the question; but there was a constraining kindliness +in the older woman's eyes. + +"I daren't quite think about it yet. I mean to try. I must try. I seem +to be playing an utterly contemptible, selfish part, but I could not +marry him--now!" + +Mrs. Hastings crossed the room, and sat down by her side. + +"My dear," she said, "as I told you, I think you are doing right, and I +believe I know how you feel. Everybody prophesied disaster when I came +out to join Allen from a sheltered home in Montreal, and at the +beginning my life here was not easy to me. It was all so different, and +there were times when I was afraid, and my heart was horribly heavy. If +it hadn't been for Allen I think I should have given in and broken down. +He understood, however. He never failed me." + +Agatha's eyes grew misty, and she turned her head away. + +"Yes," she replied, "that would make it wonderfully easier." + +"You must forgive me," apologized Mrs. Hastings. "I was tactless, but I +didn't mean to hurt you. Well, one difficulty shouldn't give us very +much trouble. Why shouldn't you stay here with me?" + +Agatha turned towards her abruptly with a look of relief in her face, +which faded quickly. She liked this woman, and she liked her husband, +but she remembered that she had no claim on them. + +"Oh," she declared, "it is out of the question." + +"Wait a little. I'm proposing to give you quite as much as you will +probably care to do. There are my two little girls to teach, and I think +they have rather taken to you. I can scarcely find a minute for their +lessons, and, as you have seen, there is a piano which has only a few of +the keys broken. Besides, we have only one Scandinavian maid who smashes +everything that isn't made of indurated fiber, and I'm afraid she'll +marry one of the boys in a month or two. It was only by sending the +kiddies to Brandon and getting Mrs. Creighton, a neighbor of ours, to +look after Allen, who insisted on my going, that I was able to get to +Paris with some Montreal friends. In any case, you'd have no end of +duties." + +"You are doing this out of--charity!" + +Mrs. Hastings laughed. "A week or two ago, Allen wrote to some friends +of his in Winnipeg asking them to send me anybody." + +The girl's eyes shone mistily. "Oh!" she cried, "you have lifted one +weight off my mind." + +"I think," observed Mrs. Hastings, "the others will also be removed in +due time." + +After that she talked cheerfully of other matters, and Agatha listened +to her with a vague wonder at her own good fortune in falling in with +such a friend. + +There are in that country many men and women who are unfettered by +conventions. They stretch out an open hand to the stranger and the +outcast. Toil has brought them charity in place of hardness, and still +retaining, as some of them do, the culture of the cities, they have +outgrown all the petty bonds of caste. The wheat-grower and the +hired-man eat together. Rights are good-humoredly conceded in place of +being fought for, and the sense of grievance and half-veiled suspicion +common elsewhere among employes are exchanged for an efficient +co-operation. It must, however, be admitted that there are also farmers +of another kind, from whom the hired man has occasionally some +difficulty in extracting his covenanted wages by personal violence. + +The two women had been talking a long time when a team and a jolting +wagon swept into sight, and Mrs. Hastings rose as the man who drove +pulled up his horses. + +"It's Sproatly; I wonder what has brought him here," she remarked. + +The man sprang down from the wagon and walked towards the house. She +gazed at him almost incredulously. + +"He's quite smart," she added. "I don't see a single patch on that +jacket, and he has positively got his hair cut." + +"Is that an unusual thing in Mr. Sproatly's case?" Agatha inquired. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Hastings. "It's very unusual indeed. What is stranger +still, he has taken the old grease-spotted band off his hat, after +clinging to it affectionately for the last twelve months." + +Agatha thought that the soft hat, which fell shapelessly over part of +Sproatly's face, needed something to replace the discarded band; but in +another moment he entered the room. He shook hands with them both. + +"You are looking remarkably fresh, but appearances are not invariably to +be depended on, and it's advisable to keep the system up to par," he +said with a smile. "I suppose you don't want a tonic of any kind?" + +"I don't," declared Mrs. Hastings resolutely; "Allen doesn't, either. +Besides, didn't you get into some trouble over that tonic?" + +"It was the cough cure," explained Sproatly with a grin. "I sold a man +at Lander's one of the large-sized bottles, and when he had taken some +he felt a good deal better. Then he seems to have argued the thing out +like this: if one dose had relieved the cough, a dozen should drive it +out of him altogether, and he took the lot. He slept for forty-eight +hours afterward, and when I came across him at the settlement he +attacked me with a club. The fault, I may point out, was in his logic. +Perhaps you would like some pictures. I've a rather striking oleograph +of the Kaiser. It must be like him, for two of his subjects recognized +it. One hung it up in his shanty; the other asked me to hold it out, and +then pitched a stove billet through the middle of it. He, however, +produced his dollar; he said he felt so much better after what he'd done +that he didn't grudge it." + +"I'm afraid we're not worth powder and shot," said Mrs. Hastings. "Do +you ever remember our buying any tonics or pictures from you?" + +"I don't, though I have felt that you ought to have done it." Sproatly, +who paused a moment, turned towards Agatha with a little whimsical bow. +"The professional badinage of an unlicensed dealer in patent medicines +may now and then mercifully cover a good deal of embarrassment. Miss +Ismay has brought something pleasantly characteristic of the Old Country +along with her." + +His hostess disregarded the last remark. "Then if you didn't expect to +sell us anything, what did you come for?" + +"For supper," answered Sproatly cheerfully. "Besides that, to take Miss +Rawlinson out for a drive. I told her last night it would afford me +considerable pleasure to show her the prairie. We could go round by +Lander's and back." + +"Then you will probably come across her somewhere about the straw-pile +with the kiddies." + +Sproatly took the hint, and when he went out Mrs. Hastings laughed. + +"You would hardly suppose that was a young man of excellent education!" +she exclaimed. "So it's on Winifred's account he has driven over; at +first I fancied it was on yours." + +Agatha was astonished, but she smiled. "If Winifred favors him with her +views about young men he will probably be rather sorry for himself. He +lives near you?" + +"No," said Mrs. Hastings. "In the summer he lives in his wagon, or under +it, I don't know which. Of course, if he's really taken with Winifred he +will have to alter that." + +"But he has only seen her once--you can't mean that he is serious." + +"I really can't speak for Sproatly, but it would be quite in keeping +with the customs of the country if he was." + +A minute or two later Agatha saw Winifred in the wagon when it +reappeared from behind the straw-pile, and Mrs. Hastings turned toward +the window. + +"She has gone with him," she commented significantly. "Unfortunately, he +has taken my kiddies too. If he brings them back with no bones broken it +will be a relief to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WANDERERS + + +Agatha had spent a month with Mrs. Hastings. When they were driving over +to Wyllard's homestead one afternoon, the older woman pulled up her team +while they were still some little distance away from their destination, +and looked about her with evident interest. On the one hand, a vast +breadth of torn-up loam ran back across the prairie, which was now +faintly flecked with green. On the other, plowing teams were scattered +here and there across the tussocky sod, and long lines of clods that +flashed where the sunlight struck their facets trailed out behind them. +The great sweep of grasses that rustled joyously before a glorious warm +wind, gleamed luminously, and overhead hung a vault of blue without a +cloud in it. Trailing out across it, flocks of birds moved up from the +south. + +"Harry is sowing a very big crop this year, and most of it on fall +back-set," she observed. "He has, however, horses enough to do that kind +of thing, and, of course, he does it thoroughly." She glanced toward the +place where the teams were hauling unusually heavy plows through the +grassy sod. "This is virgin prairie that he's breaking, and he'll +probably put oats on it. They ripen quicker. He ought to be a rich man +after harvest unless the frost comes, or the market goes against him. +Some of his neighbors, including my husband, would have sown a little +less and held a reserve in hand." + +Agatha remembered what Wyllard had told her one night on board the +_Scarrowmania_, and smiled, for she fancied that she understood the man. +He was not one to hedge, as she had heard it called, or cautiously hold +his hand. He staked boldly, but she felt that this was not only for the +sake of the money that he might hope to gain. It was part of his +nature--the result of an optimistic faith or courage that appealed to +her, and sheer love of effort. She also guessed that his was not a +spasmodic, impulsive activity. She could imagine him holding on as +steadfastly with everything against him, exacting all that men and teams +and machines could do. It struck her as curious that she should feel so +sure of this; but she admitted that it was the case. + +Sitting in the driving-seat of a big machine that ripped broad furrows +through the crackling sod, he was approaching them. Four horses plodded +wearily in front of the giant plow until he thrust one hand over, and +there was a rattle and clanking as he swung them and the machine around +beside the wagon. Then he got down, and stood smiling up at Agatha with +his soft hat in his hand and the sunlight falling full upon his +weather-darkened face. It was not a particularly striking face, but +there was something in it, a hint of restrained force and steadfastness, +she thought, which Gregory's did not possess, and for a moment or two +she watched him covertly. + +He wore an old blue shirt, open at the throat and belted into trousers +of blue duck, and she noticed the fine symmetry of his spare figure. The +absence of any superfluous flesh struck her as in keeping with her view +of his character. The man was well-endowed physically; but apart from +the strong vitality that was expressed in every line of his pose he +looked clean, as she vaguely described it to herself. There was an +indefinable something about him that was apparently born of a simple, +healthful life spent in determined labor in the open air. It became +plainer, as she remembered other men upon whom the mark of the beast was +unmistakably set. Mrs. Hastings broke the silence. + +"Well," she said, "we have driven over as we promised. I've no doubt you +will give us supper, but we'll go on and sit with Mrs. Nansen in the +meanwhile. I expect you're too busy to talk to us." + +Wyllard laughed, and it occurred to Agatha that his laugh was wholesome +as well as pleasant. + +"I generally am busy," he admitted. "These horses have been at it since +sun-up, and they're rather played out now. I'll talk to you as long as +you will let me after supper, which will soon be ready." + +Agatha noticed that though the near horse's coat was foul with dust and +sweat he laid his brown hand upon it, and it seemed to her that the +gentleness with which he did it was very suggestive. + +Mrs. Hastings, who had been scrutinizing the field, asked, "What's to be +the result of all this plowing if we have harvest frost or the market +goes against you?" + +"Quite a big deficit," answered Wyllard cheerfully. + +"And that doesn't cause you any anxiety?" + +"I'll have had some amusement for my money." + +Mrs. Hastings turned to Agatha. "He calls working from sunrise until +it's dark, and afterwards now and then, amusement!" She looked back at +Wyllard. "I believe it isn't quite easy for you to hold your back as +straight as you are doing, and that off-horse certainly looks as if it +wanted to lie down." + +Wyllard laughed. "It won't until after supper, anyway. There are two +more rows of furrows still to do." + +"I suppose that is a hint!" Mrs. Hastings glanced at Agatha when the +wagon jolted on. + +"That man," she said, "is a great favorite of mine. For one thing, he's +fastidious, though he's fortunately very far from perfect in some +respects. He has a red-hot temper, which now and then runs away with +him." + +"What do you mean by fastidious?" + +"It's a little difficult to define, but I certainly don't mean +pernicketty. Of course, there is a fastidiousness which makes one shrink +from unpleasant things, but Harry's is the other kind. It impels him to +do them every now and then." + +Agatha made no answer. She was uneasily conscious that it might not be +advisable to think too much about this man, and in another minute or two +they reached the homestead. The house was a plain frame building that +had grown out of an older and smaller one of logs, part of which +remained. It was much the same with the barns and stables, for, while +they were stoutly built of framed timber or logs, one end of most of +them was lower than the rest, and in some cases consisted of poles and +sods. Even to her untrained eyes all she saw suggested order, neatness, +and efficiency. The whole was flanked and sheltered by a big birch +bluff, in which trunks and branches showed through a thin green haze of +tiny opening leaves. + +A man whom Wyllard had sent after them took the horses. + +Agatha commented on what she called the added-to look of the buildings. + +"The Range," said Mrs. Hastings, "has grown rapidly since Harry took +hold. The old part represents the high-water mark of his father's +efforts. Of course," she added reflectively, "Harry has had command of +some capital since a relative of his died, but I never thought that +explained everything." + +They entered the house, and a gray-haired Swedish woman led them through +several match-boarded rooms into a big, cool hall. She left them there +for a while, and Agatha was absorbed for a minute or two with her +impressions of the house. It was singularly empty by comparison with the +few English homesteads that she had seen. There were no curtains nor +carpets nor hangings of any kind, but it was commodious and comfortable. + +"What can a bachelor want with a place like this?" she asked. + +"I don't know," answered Mrs. Hastings; "perhaps it's Harry's idea of +having everything proportionate. The Range is quite a big, and generally +a prosperous, farm. Besides, it's likely that he doesn't contemplate +remaining a bachelor forever. Indeed, Allen and I sometimes wonder how +he has escaped marriage for so long." + +"Is 'escaped' the right word?" Agatha asked. + +"It is," asserted Mrs. Hastings with a laugh. "You see, he's highly +eligible from our point of view, but at the same time he's apparently +invulnerable. I believe," she added dryly, "that's the right word, too." + +The Swedish housekeeper appeared again and they talked with her until +she went to bring in the six o'clock supper. Soon after the table was +laid Wyllard and the men came in. Wyllard was attired as when Agatha had +last seen him, except that he had put on a coat. He led his guests to +the head of the long table, but the men--there were a number of +them--sat below, and evidently had no diffidence about addressing +question or comment to their employer. + +The men ate with a voracious haste, but that appeared to be the custom +of the country, and Agatha could find no great fault with their manners +or conversation. The talk was, for the most part, quaintly witty, and +some of the men used what struck her as remarkably fitting and original +similes. Indeed, as the meal proceeded, she became curiously interested. + +The windows were open wide, and a sweet, warm air swept into the barely +furnished room. The spaciousness of the room impressed her, and she was +pleased with the evident unity of these brown-faced, strong-armed toilers +with their leader. At the head of the table he sat, self-contained, but +courteous and responsive to all alike, and though they were in an +essentially democratic country, she felt that there was something almost +feudal in the relations between him and his men. She could not imagine +them to be confined to the mere exaction of so much labor and the +expectation of payment of wages due. She was pleased that he had not +changed his clothing. + +So strong was Agatha's interest that she was surprised when the meal was +finished. Afterward, she and Mrs. Hastings talked with the housekeeper +for a while, and an hour had slipped away when Wyllard suggested that he +should show her the slough beyond the bluff. + +"It's the nearest approach to a lake we have until you get to the alkali +tract," he said. + +Agatha went with him through the shadow of the wood, and when they came +out among the trees he found her a seat upon a fallen birch. The house +and plowing were hidden now, and they were alone on the slope to a +slight hollow, in which half a mile of gleaming water lay. Its surface +was broken here and there by tussocks of grass and reeds, and beyond it +the prairie ran back unbroken, a dim gray waste, to the horizon. The sun +had dipped behind the bluff, and the sky had become a vast green +transparency. There was no wind now, but a wonderful exhilarating +freshness crept into the cooling air, and the stillness was broken only +by the clamor of startled wildfowl which Agatha could see paddling in +clusters about the gleaming slough. + +"Those are ducks--wild ones?" she asked. + +"Yes," answered Wyllard; "ducks of various kinds. Most of them the same +as your English ones." + +"Do you shoot them?" + +Agatha was not greatly interested, but he seemed disposed to silence, +and she felt, for no very clear reason, that it was advisable to talk of +something. + +"No," he said, "not often, anyway. If Mrs. Nansen wants a couple I crawl +down to the long grass with the rifle and get them for her." + +"The rifle? Doesn't the big bullet destroy them?" + +"No," returned Wyllard. "You have to shoot their head off or cut their +neck in two." + +"You can do that--when they're right out in the slough?" asked Agatha, +who had learned that it is much more difficult to shoot with a rifle +than a shotgun, which spreads its charge. + +Wyllard smiled. "Generally; that is, if I haven't been doing much just +before. It depends upon one's hands. We have our game laws, but as a +rule nobody worries about them, and, anyway, those birds won't nest +until they reach the tundra by the Polar Sea. Still, as I said, we never +shoot them unless Mrs. Nansen wants one or two for the pot." + +"Why?" + +"I don't quite know. For one thing, they're worn out; they just stop +here to rest." + +His answer appealed to the girl. It did not seem strange to her that the +love of the lower creation should be strong in this man, who had no +hesitation in admitting that the game laws were no restraint to him. +When these Lesser Brethren, worn with their journey, sailed down out of +the blue heavens, he believed in giving them right of sanctuary. + +"They have come a long way?" she asked. + +Wyllard pointed towards the south. "From Florida, Cuba, Yucatan; further +than that, perhaps. In a day or two they'll push on again toward the +Pole, and others will take their places. There's a further detachment +arriving now." + +Looking up, Agatha saw a straggling wedge of birds dotted in dusky +specks against the vault of transcendental blue. The wedge coalesced, +drew out again, and dropped swiftly, and the air was filled with the +rush of wings; then there was a harsh crying and splashing, and she +heard the troubled water lap among the reeds until deep silence closed +in upon the slough again. + +"The migrating instinct is strangely interesting," she said. + +A curious look crept into Wyllard's eyes. + +"It gives the poor birds a sad destiny, I think; they're wanderers and +strangers without a habitation; there's unrest in them. After a few +months on the tundra mosses to gather strength and teach the young to +fly, they'll unfold their wings to beat another passage before the icy +gales. Some of us, I think, are like them!" + +Agatha could not avoid the personal application. + +"You surely don't apply that to yourself," she said. "You certainly have +a habitation--the finest, isn't it, on this part of the prairie?" + +"Yes," answered Wyllard slowly; "I suppose it is. I've now had a little +rest and quietness too." + +His last remark did not appear to call for an answer, and Agatha sat +silent. + +"Still," he went on reflectively, "I have a feeling that some day the +call will come, and I shall have to take the trail again." He paused, +and looked at her before he added, "It would be easier if one hadn't to +go alone, or, since that would be necessary, if one had at least +something to come back to when the journey was done." + +"Must you heed the call?" asked Agatha, who was puzzled by his steady +gaze. + +"Yes," he said with gravity, "the call will come from the icy North if +it ever comes at all." + +There was another brief silence. Agatha wondered what he was thinking +of, but he soon told her. + +"I remember how I came back from there last time," he said. "We were +rather late that season, and out of our usual beat when the gale broke +upon us in the gateway of the Pole, between Alaska and Asia. We ran +before it with a strip of the boom-foresail on one vessel and a jib that +blew to ribands every now and then. The schooner was small, ninety tons +or so, and for a week she scudded with the gray seas tumbling after her, +white-topped, out of the snow and spume. The waves ranged high above her +taffrail, curling horribly, but one did not want to look at them. The +one man on deck had a line about him, and he looked ahead, watching the +vessel screwing round with hove-up bows as she climbed the seas. If he'd +let her fall off or claw up, the next wave would have made an end of +her. He was knee-deep half the time in icy brine, and his hands had +split and opened with the frost, but the sweat dripped from him as he +clung to the jarring wheel. The helmsmen had another trouble which +preyed on them. They were thinking of the three men they had left +behind. + +"Well," he added, "we ran out of the gale, and I had bitter words to +face when we reached Vancouver. As one result of the trouble I walked +out of the city with four or five dollars in my pocket--though there was +a share due to me. Then in an open car I rode up into the ranges to mend +railroad bridges in the frost and snow. It was not the kind of +home-coming one would care to look forward to." + +"Ah!" Agatha cried with a shudder, "it must have been horribly dreary." + +The man met her eyes. "Yes," he said, "you--know. You came here from far +away, I think a little weary, too, and something failed you. Then you +felt yourself adrift. There were--it seemed--only strangers around you, +but you were wrong in one respect; you were by no means a stranger to +me." + +He had been leaning against a birch trunk, but now he moved a little +nearer, and stood gravely looking down on her. + +"You have sent Gregory away?" he questioned. + +"Yes," answered Agatha, and, startled, as she was, it did not occur to +her that the mere admission was misleading. + +Wyllard stretched out his hands. "Then won't you come to me?" + +The blood swept into the girl's face. For the moment she forgot Gregory, +and was conscious only of an unreasoning impulse which prompted her to +take the hands held out to her. She rose and faced Wyllard with burning +cheeks. + +"You know nothing of me," she said. "Can you think that I would let you +take me out of charity?" + +"Again you're wrong--on both points. As I once told you, I have sat for +hours beside the fire beneath the pines or among the boulders with your +picture for company. When I was worn out and despondent you encouraged +me. You have been with me high up in the snow on the ranges, and through +leagues of shadowy bush. That is not all. There were times when, as we +drove the branch line up the gorge beneath the big divide, all one's +nature shrank from the monotony of brutal labor. The paydays came +around, and opportunities were made for us to forget what we had borne, +and had still to bear. Then you laid a restraining hand on me. I could +not take your picture where you could not go. Is all that to count for +nothing?" + +He held out his arms to her. "As to the other question, can you get +beyond the narrow point of view? We're in a big, new country where the +old barriers are down. We're merely flesh and blood--red blood--and we +speak as we feel. Admitting that I was sorry for you--I am--how does +that tell against me--or you? There's one thing only that counts at +all--I want you." + +Agatha was stirred with an emotion that made her heart beat wildly. He +had spoken with a force and passion that had nearly swept her away with +it. The vigor of the new land throbbed in his voice, and, flinging aside +all cramping restraints and conventions, he had claimed her as primitive +man claimed primitive woman. Her whole being responded to his love and +Gregory faded out of her mind; but there was, after all, pride in her, +and she could not quite bring herself to look at life from his point of +view. All her prejudices and her traditions were opposed to it. He had +made a mistake when he had admitted that he was sorry for her. She did +not want his compassion, and she shrank from the thought that she would +marry him--for shelter. It brought to her a sudden, shameful confusion +as she remembered the haste with which marriages were arranged on the +prairie. Then, as the first unreasoning impulse which had almost +compelled her to yield to him passed away, she reflected that it was +scarcely two months since she had met him in England. It was intolerable +that he should think that she would be willing to fall into his arms +merely because he had held them out to her. + +"It is a little difficult to get beyond one's sense of what is fit," she +said. "You--I must say again--can't know anything about me. You have +woven fancies about that photograph, but you must recognize that I'm not +the girl you have created out of your reveries. In all probability she +is wholly unreal, unnatural, visionary." Agatha contrived to smile, for +she was recovering her composure. "Perhaps it is easy when one has +imagination to endow a person with qualities and graces that could never +belong to them. It must be easy"--though she was unconscious of it, +there was a trace of bitterness in her voice--"because I know I could do +it myself." + +Again the man held out his arms. "Then," he said simply, "won't you try? +If you can only feel sure that the person has the qualities you admire +it is possible that he could acquire one or two." + +Agatha drew back. "And I've changed ever so much since that photograph +was taken!" she exclaimed with a catch in her voice. + +Wyllard admitted it. "Yes," he said, "I recognized that; you were a +little immature then. I know that now--but all the graciousness and +sweetness in you has grown and ripened. What is more, you have grown +just as I seemed to know you would. I saw that clearly the day we met +beside the stepping-stones. I would have asked you to marry me in +England, only Gregory stood in the way." + +The color ebbed suddenly out of the girl's face as she remembered. + +"Gregory," she declared in a strained voice, "stands in the way still. I +didn't send him away altogether. I'm not sure I made that clear." + +Wyllard stood very still for a moment or two. + +"I wonder," he said, "if there's anything significant in the fact that +you gave me that reason last. He failed you in some way?" + +"I'm not sure that I haven't failed him; but I can't go into that." + +Again Wyllard stood silent. Then he turned to her with a strong +restraint in his face. + +"Gregory is a friend of mine," he said, "there is, at least, one very +good reason why I should remember it, but it seems that somehow he +hadn't the wit to keep you. Well, I can only wait, but when the time +seems ripe I shall ask you again. Until then you have my promise that I +will not say another word that could distress you. Perhaps I had better +take you back to Mrs. Hastings now." + +Agatha turned away, and they walked back together silently. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SUMMONS + + +Mrs. Hastings was standing beside her wagon in the gathering dusk when +Agatha and Wyllard joined her. After Wyllard had helped the two women +into the vehicle she looked down at him severely as she gathered up the +reins. + +"By this time Allen will have had to put the kiddies to bed," she said. +"Christina, as you might have borne in mind, goes over to Branstock's +every evening. Anyway, you'll drive across and see him about that team +as soon as you can; come to supper." + +"I'll try," promised Wyllard with a certain hesitation. Mrs. Hastings +turned to Agatha as they drove away. + +"Why did he look at you before he answered me?" she asked, and laughed, +for there was just light enough left to show the color in the girl's +cheek. "Well," she added, "I told Allen he was sure to be the first." + +Agatha looked at her in evident bewilderment, but she nodded. "Yes," she +said, "of course, I knew it would come. Everybody knows by now that you +have fallen out with Gregory." + +"But, as I told you, I haven't fallen out with him." + +"You certainly haven't married him, and if you have said 'No' to Harry +Wyllard because you would sooner take Gregory after all, you're a +singularly unwise young woman. Anyway, you'll have to meet Harry when he +comes to supper. Allen's fond of a talk with him; I can't have him kept +away." + +"I was a little afraid of that," replied Agatha slowly. "What makes the +situation more difficult is that he told me he would ask me again." + +Mrs. Hastings was thoughtful for a moment. "In that case he will in all +probability do it; but I don't think you need feel diffident about +meeting him, especially as you can't help it. He'll wait and say nothing +until he considers it advisable." + +She changed the subject, and talked about other matters until they +reached the homestead. + +As the weeks went by Agatha found that what Mrs. Hastings had told her +was warranted. Wyllard drove over every now and then, but she was +reassured by his attitude. He greeted her with the quiet cordiality +which had hitherto characterized him, and it went a long way towards +allaying the embarrassment of which she was conscious at first. By and +by, however, she felt no embarrassment at all, in spite of the +disturbing possibility that he might at some future time once more adopt +the role of lover. + +In the meanwhile, she realized that despite the efforts she made to +think of him tenderly she was drifting further apart from Gregory. She +had two other offers of marriage before the wheat had shot up a hand's +breadth above the rich black loam. This was a matter of regret to her, +and, though Mrs. Hastings assured her that the "boys" would get over it, +she was rather shocked to hear that one of them had shortly afterwards +involved himself in difficulties by creating a disturbance in Winnipeg. + +The wheat, however, was growing tall when, at Mrs. Hastings' request, +Agatha drove over to Willow Range. Wyllard was out when they reached the +homestead, and leaving Mrs. Hastings and his housekeeper together, the +girl wandered out into the open air. She went through the birch bluff +and towards the slough, which had almost dried up now, and it was with a +curious stirring of confused feelings that she remembered what Wyllard +had said to her there. Through all her thoughts ran a regret that she +had not met him four years earlier. + +Regrets, however, were useless, and in order to get rid of them she +walked more briskly up a low rise of ground where the grass was already +turning white again, over the crest of the hill, and down the side to +another hollow. The prairie rolled in wide undulations as the sea does +when the swell of a distant gale underruns a glassy calm. Agatha had +grown fond of the prairie. Its clear skies and fresh breezes had brought +the color to her cheeks and given her composure, though there were times +when the knowledge that she was no nearer a decision in regard to +Gregory weighed heavily upon her. She had seen very little of him and he +had not been effusive then. She could not guess what his feelings might +be, but it had been a relief to her when he had ridden away from the +home of the Hastingses. For a while after she saw him he faded to an +unsubstantial, shadowy figure in the back of her mind. + +On this afternoon when Agatha tried to put out of her mind the +disturbing reflections that came to her as she walked, the prairie +stretched away before her, gleaming in the sunlight under a vast sweep +of cloudless blue. She was half-way down the long slope when a clash and +tinkle reached her, and she noticed that a cloud of dust hung about the +hollow where there had been another slough, which evidently had dried up +weeks before. As men and horses were moving amid the dust she supposed +that they were cutting prairie hay, which grows longer in such places +than it does upon the levels. She went on another half-mile, and then +sat down, for she had walked farther than she had intended to go. She +could now see the men more clearly, and, though it was fiercely hot, +they were evidently working at high pressure. Their blue duck clothing +and bare brown arms appeared among the white and ocher tinting of the +grass that seemed charged with brightness, and the sounds of their +activity came up to her. She could distinguish the clashing tinkle of +the mowers, the crackle of the harsh stems, and the rattle of wagon +wheels. + +A great mound of gleaming grass, overhanging two half-seen horses, moved +out of the slough, and she watched it draw nearer until she made out +Wyllard sitting in the front of it. She sat still until he pulled the +team up close beside her and looked down with a smile. + +"It's almost two miles to the homestead. If you could manage to climb up +I could make you a comfortable place," he said. + +Agatha held her hands up with one foot upon a spoke of the wheels as +Wyllard leaned down, and next moment she was lifted upwards. She felt +his supporting hand upon her waist. Then she found herself standing upon +a narrow ledge, clutching at the hay while he tore out several big +armfuls of it and flung it back upon the top of the load. + +[Illustration: "THE NEXT MOMENT SHE WAS LIFTED UPWARDS" (Page 146)] + +"Now," he announced, "I guess you'll find that a snug enough nest." + +She sank into it with a sense of physical satisfaction. The grass was +soft and warm; it was scented with the aromatic odors of wild +peppermint, and it yielded like a downy cushion beneath her limbs. +Still, she was just a little uneasy in mind, for she fancied that she +had seen a sudden sign of feeling in Wyllard's face when he had held her +for a moment on the ledge of the wagon. She glanced at him and was +reassured. He was looking straight before him with unwavering eyes, and +his face was set and quiet. Neither of them spoke until the team moved +on. Then he turned to her. + +"You won't be jolted much," he assured her. "They've been at it since +four o'clock this morning." + +"That," replied Agatha, "must mean that you rose at three." + +Wyllard smiled. "As a matter of fact, it was half-past two. There was no +dew last night, and we started early. I've several extra teams this +year, and there's a good deal of hay to cut. Of course, we have to get +it in the sloughs or any damp place where it's long. We don't sow grass, +and we have no meadows like those there are in England." + +Agatha understood that he meant to talk about matters of no particular +consequence, as he usually did. She had noticed a vein of poetic +imagination in him, and his idea that she had been with him through the +snow of the lonely ranges and the gloom of the great forests of the +Pacific slope appealed to her. Since the day when he told her that he +loved her he had spoken only of commonplace subjects. Sitting close +beside him in the hay she decided to let him talk about his farm, while +she listened half-absently. + +"But you have a foreman who could see the teams turned out, haven't +you?" she asked, going back to the subject of his early rising. + +"I had, but he left me three or four days ago. It's a pity, since I've +taken up rather more than I can handle this year." + +"Then why didn't you keep him?" + +"Martial was a little mulish, and I'm afraid I'm troubled with a +shortness of temper now and then. We had a difference of opinion as to +the best way to drive the mower into the slough, and he didn't seem to +recognize that he should have deferred to me. Unfortunately, as the boys +were standing by, I had to insist upon his getting out of the saddle." + +He had turned a little further towards her, and Agatha noticed that +there was a bruise upon one side of his face. After what he had just +told her the sight of it jarred upon her, though she would not admit +that there was any reason why it should. She could not deny that on the +prairie a resort to physical force might be warranted by the lack of any +other remedy, but it hurt her to think of him as descending to an open +brawl with one of his men. + +Then it occurred to her that the other man in all probability had +suffered more, and this brought her a certain sense of satisfaction +which she admitted was more or less barbarous. She had made it clear +that Wyllard was nothing to her, but she could not help watching him as +he lay back against the hay. His wide hat set off his bronzed face, +which, though not exactly handsome, was pleasant and reassuring. The +dusty shirt and old blue trousers accentuated the long, clean lines of +his figure, and she realized with a faint sense of anger that his mere +physical perfection, his strength and suppleness, stirred her heart. She +recognized a feeling to be judiciously checked. After all, in spite of +her denial of it, she was endowed with power to love as women close to +nature love, with an emotion all-encompassing and not subject to cold +reasoning. + +They talked of trifles of no great consequence, for both of them were +conscious of the necessity for a certain reticence; and when they +reached the homestead Agatha joined Mrs. Hastings, while Wyllard pitched +the hay off the wagon. He came in to supper presently with about half of +his men, and they all sat down together in the long, barely furnished +room. Wyllard was unusually animated. He drew Mrs. Hastings into a bout +of whimsical badinage, which was interrupted when a beat of hoofs rose +from the prairie. + +"Somebody's riding in; I wonder what he wants," remarked Wyllard. "I +certainly don't expect anybody." + +The drumming of hoofs rang more sharply through the open windows, for +the sod was hard and dry. It stopped suddenly and Agatha saw Wyllard +start as a man came into the room. He was a little, thick-set man with a +seamed and tanned face. He was dressed in rather old blue serge, and he +walked as if he were a seaman. + +The stranger stood still, looking about him, and Wyllard's lips set +tight. A thrill of apprehension ran through Agatha, for she felt that +she knew what this stranger's errand must be. + +Wyllard rose and walked towards the man with outstretched hand. + +"Sit right down and have some supper. You'll want it if you have ridden +in from the railroad," he said. "We'll talk afterwards." + +The stranger nodded. "I'm from Vancouver," he announced, "had quite a +lot of trouble tracing you." + +He sat down, and Wyllard, who sent a man out to take the newcomer's +horse, went back to his seat, but he was very quiet during the remainder +of the meal. When supper was finished he asked Mrs. Hastings to excuse +him, and leading the stranger into a smaller room, pulled out two chairs +and laid a cigar on the table. + +"Now you can get ahead," he said laconically. + +The seaman fumbled in his pocket, and taking out a slip of wood handed +it to his companion. + +"That's what I came to bring you," he remarked. + +Wyllard's eyes grew grave as he gazed at the thing. It was a slip of +willow which grows close up to the limits of eternal ice, and it bore a +rude representation of the British ensign union down, which signifies +"In distress." Besides this there were one or two indecipherable words +scratched on it, and three common names rather more clearly cut. Wyllard +recognized every one of them. + +"How did you get it?" he asked, in tense suspense. + +The seaman once more felt in his pocket and took out a piece of paper +cut from a chart. He flattened the paper out on the table, and it +showed, as Wyllard had expected, a strip of the Kamtchatkan coast. + +"I guess I needn't tell you where that is," the seaman said, as he +pointed to the parallel of latitude that ran across it. "Dunton gave it +to me. He was up there late last season well over on the western side. A +northeasterly gale fell on them, and took most of the foremast out of +their ship. I understand they tried to lash on a boom or something as a +jury mast, but it hadn't height enough to set much forward canvas, and +that being the case she wouldn't bear more than a three-reefed mainsail. +Anyway, they couldn't do anything with her on the wind, and as it kept +heading them from the east she sidled away down south through the +Kuriles into the Yellow Sea. They got ice-bound somewhere, which +explains why Dunton fetched Vancouver only a week ago." + +"But the message?" + +"When they were in the thick of their troubles they hove to not far off +the icy beach, and a Husky came down on them in some kind of boat." + +"A Husky?" repeated Wyllard, who knew the seaman meant an Esquimau. + +"That's what Dunton called him, but I guess he must have been a +Kamtchadale or a Koriak. Anyway, he brought this strip of willow, and he +had Tom Lewson's watch. Dunton traded him something for it. They +couldn't make much of what he said except that he'd got the message from +three white men somewhere along the beach. They couldn't make out how +long ago." + +"Dunton tried for them?" + +"How could he? His vessel would hardly look at the wind, and the ice was +piling up on the coast close to lee of him. He hung on a week or two +with the floes driving in all the while, and then it freshened hard and +blew him out." + +The stranger had told his story, and Wyllard, who rose with a quick +gesture of deep anxiety, stood leaning on his chairback. His face was +grave. + +"That," he said, "must have been eight or nine months ago." + +"It was. They've been up there since the night we couldn't pick up the +boat." + +"It's unthinkable," declared Wyllard. "The thing can't be true." + +The seaman gravely produced a little common metal watch made in +Connecticut, and worth five or six dollars. Opening it, he pointed to a +name scratched inside it. + +"You can't get over that," he said simply. + +Wyllard strode up and down the room. When he sat down again with a +clenched hand laid upon the table he and the seaman looked at each other +steadily for a moment or two. Then the stranger made a significant +gesture. + +"You sent them," he said, "what are you going to do?" + +"I'm going for them." + +The sailor smiled. "I knew it would be that. You'll have to start right +away if it's to be done this year. I've my eye upon a schooner." + +He lighted a cigar, and settled himself more comfortably in his chair. +"Well," he answered, "I'm going with you, but you'll have to buy my +ticket to Vancouver. It cleaned me out to get here. We'd a difficulty +with a blame gunboat last season, and the boss went back on me. +Sealing's not what is used to be. Anyway, we can fix the thing up later. +I won't keep you from your friends." + +Wyllard left the sailor and though he did not find Mrs. Hastings +immediately, he came upon Agatha sitting outside the house. She glanced +at his face when he sat down beside her. + +"Ah," she said, "you have had the summons." + +Wyllard nodded. "Yes," he replied, "that man was the skipper of a +schooner I once sailed in. He has come to tell me where those three men +are." + +He told her what he had heard, and the girl was conscious of mingled +admiration and fear, the fear of losing him from her everyday life. + +"You are going up there to search for them?" she asked. "Won't it cost +you a great deal?" + +She saw his face harden as he gazed at the tall wheat, but his +expression was resolute. + +"Yes," he admitted, "that's a sure thing. Most of my money is locked up +in this crop, and there's need of constant watchfulness and effort until +the last bushel's hauled in to the elevators. It probably sounds +egotistical, but now I've got rid of Martial I can't put my hand on any +one as fit to see the thing through as I am. Still, I have to go without +delay. What else could I do?" + +"Wouldn't the Provincial Government of British Columbia or your +authorities at Ottawa take the matter up?" + +Wyllard shook his head. "It wouldn't be wise to give them an +opportunity. For one thing, they've had enough of sealing cases, and +that isn't astonishing. We'll say they applied for the persons of three +British subjects who are supposed to be living somewhere in Russian +Asia--and for that matter I couldn't be sure that two of them aren't +Americans--the Russians naturally inquire what the men were doing there. +The answer is that they were poaching for the Russians' seals. Then the +affair on the beach comes up, and there's a big claim for compensation +and trouble all round. It seems to me the last thing those men--they're +practically outlaws--would desire would be to have a Russian expedition +sent up on their trail. They would want to lie hidden until they could +somehow get off again." + +"But how have they lived up there? The whole land is frozen, isn't it, +most of the year?" she questioned. + +"They had sealing rifles, and the Koriaks make out farther north in +their roofed-in pits. One can live on seal and walrus meat and blubber." + +Agatha shivered. "But they had no tents, nor furs, nor blankets. It's +horrible to imagine it." + +"Yes," agreed Wyllard gravely; "that's why I'm going for them." + +Agatha sat still a moment. She could realize the magnitude of the +sacrifice that he was making, and in some degree the hazards that he +must face. It appealed to her with an overwhelming force, but she was +also conscious of a strange dismay. She turned to him with a flush of +color in her cheeks and her eyes shining. + +"Oh," she said, "it's splendid." + +Wyllard smiled. "What could I do?" he said, "I sent them." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AGATHA PROVES OBDURATE + + +It was two days later when Agatha, coming back from a stroll across the +prairie with the two little girls, found Mrs. Hastings awaiting her at +the homestead door. + +"I'll take the kiddies. Harry Wyllard's here, and he seems quite anxious +to see you, though I don't know what he wants," she said. + +She flashed a searching glance at the girl, whose face, however, +remained impassive. It was not often that Agatha's composure broke down. + +"Don't wait," she added, "you had better go in this minute. Allen has +been arguing with him the last half-hour, and can't get any sense into +him. It seems to me the man's crazy; but he might, perhaps, listen to +you." + +"I think that is scarcely likely," replied Agatha. + +Mrs. Hastings made a sign of impatience. "Then," she rejoined, "it's a +pity. Anyway, if he speaks to you about his project you can tell him +that it's altogether unreasonable." + +She drew aside, and Agatha walked into the room in which she had had her +painful interview with Gregory. Wyllard, who rose as she came in, stood +quietly watching her. + +"Nellie Hastings or her husband has been telling you what they think of +my idea?" he said questioningly. + +"Yes," Agatha answered. "Their opinion evidently hasn't much weight with +you." + +"Haven't you a message for me?" he asked. "You were sent to denounce my +folly--and you can't do it. If you trusted your own impulses you would +give me your benediction instead." He smiled down at her. + +Agatha, who was troubled with a sense of regret, saw a suggestive +wistfulness in his face. + +"No," she said slowly, "I can't denounce your folly, as they call your +decision to go North. For one reason, I have no right of any kind to +force my views on you." + +"You told Mrs. Hastings that?" + +It seemed an unwarranted question, but the girl admitted the truth +frankly. + +"In one sense I did. I suggested that there was no reason why you should +listen to me." + +Wyllard smiled again. "Nellie and her husband are good friends of mine, +but sometimes our friends are a little too officious. Anyway, it doesn't +count. If you had had that right, you would have told me to go." + +Agatha felt the warm blood rise to her cheeks. It seemed to her that he +had paid her a great and sincere compliment in taking it for granted +that if she had loved him she would still have bidden him undertake his +perilous duty. + +"Ah," she said, "I don't know. Perhaps I should not have been brave +enough." + +It was not a judicious answer. She realized that, but she felt that she +must speak with unhesitating candor. + +"After all," she added, "can you be quite sure that this is your duty?" + +Wyllard kept his eye on her. "No," he said, "I can't. In fact, when I +sit down to think I can see at least a dozen reasons why it doesn't +concern me. In a case of this kind that's always easy. It's just borne +in upon me--I don't know how--that I have to go." + +Agatha crossed to the window and sat down. He leaned upon a chairback +looking at her gravely. + +"Well," he continued, "we'll go on a little further. It seems better +that I should make what's in my mind quite clear to you. You see, +Captain Dampier and I start in a week." + +Agatha was conscious of a shock of dismay. + +"We may be back before the winter, but it's also quite likely that we +may be ice-nipped before our work is through, and in that case it would +be a year at least before we reach Vancouver," he went on steadily after +a little pause. "In fact, there's a certain probability that all of us +may leave our bones up there. Now, there's a thing I must ask you. Is it +only a passing trouble that stands between you and Gregory? Are you +still fond of him?" + +Agatha's heart beat fast. It would have been a relief to assure herself +that she was as fond of Gregory as she had been, but she could not do +it. + +"That is a point on which I cannot answer you," she declared in a voice +that trembled. + +"We'll let it go at that. The fact that Gregory sent me over for you +implied a certain obligation. How far events have cleared me of it I +don't know--and you don't seem willing to tell me. But I believe there +is now less cause than there was for me to thrust my own wishes into the +background, and, as I start in another week, the situation has forced my +hand. I can't wait as I had meant to do, and it would be a vast relief +to know that I had made your future safer than it is before I go. Will +you marry me at the settlement the morning I start?" + +Half-conscious, as she was, of the unselfishness which had prompted this +suggestion, Agatha faced him in hot anger. + +"Can you suppose for a moment that I would agree to that?" she asked. + +"Wait," he pleaded. "Try to look at it calmly. First of all, I want you. +You know that--though you have never shown me any tenderness, you can't +doubt it--but I can't stay to win your liking. I must go away. As things +stand, your future is uncertain; but as my wife it would, at least, be +safe. However badly the man I leave in charge of the Range may manage +there would be something saved out of the wreck, and I would like to +make that something yours. As I said, I may be away a year, perhaps +eighteen months, and I may never come back. If I don't return the fact +that you would bear my name could cause you no great trouble. It would +lay no restraint on you in any way." + +Agatha looked him in the eyes, and spoke with quick intensity. "We can't +contemplate your not coming back. It's unthinkable." + +"Thank you," said Wyllard, still with the grave quietness she wondered +at. "Then I'm not sure that my turning up again would greatly complicate +the situation. There would, at least, be one way out of the difficulty. +You wouldn't find your position intolerable if I could make you fond of +me." + +Agatha broke into a little, high-strung laugh that was near to weeping. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "aren't you taking too much for granted? Am I +really to believe you are making this fantastic offer seriously? Do you +suppose I would marry you--for your possessions?" + +"My proposition does sound cold-blooded. Perhaps it is in one way, but +you wouldn't always find me so practical and calculating. Just now, +because my hand is forced, I am only anticipating things. If I live, you +will some day have to choose between Gregory and me. In that case he +must hold his own if he can." + +"Against what you have offered me?" she flung the question at him. + +He looked at her with his face set. + +"I expect I deserved that. I wanted to make you safe. It's the most +pressing difficulty." + +The resentment was still in the girl's eyes. + +"So far as I am concerned, you seem to believe it is the only +difficulty. Oh, do you imagine that an offer of the kind you have made +me, made as you have made it, would lead anyone to love you?" + +Wyllard spoke with a new tenderness. "When I first saw your picture, and +when I saw you afterwards, I loved your gracious quietness. Now you seem +to have lost your repose and I love you better as you are. There is one +thing, Agatha, that I must ask again, and it's your duty to tell me. Are +you fonder of Gregory than you feel you ever could be of me?" + +Agatha's eyes fell. She felt that she could not look at him nor could +she answer his question honestly as she desired to answer it. + +"At least I am bound to him until he releases me." + +"Ah!" responded Wyllard, "that is what I was most afraid of. All along +it hampered me, and in it you have the reason for my cold, business-like +talk to-day. It is another reason why I should go away." + +"For fear that you should tempt me from my duty?" + +Wyllard's expression changed, and there crept into his eyes a gleam of +the passion that he was smothering. + +"My dear," he said, "I seem to know that I could make you break faith +with that man. You belong to me. For three years you have been +everywhere with me. Now I must go away and Gregory will have a clear +field, but the probability is in favor of my coming back again, and +then, if he has failed to make the most of his chance, I'll enforce my +claim." + +He seized both her hands, holding them firmly. + +"That is my last word. At least, you will let me think that when I go up +yonder into the mists and snow I shall take your good wishes for my +success away with me." + +She lifted her flushed face, and once looked him steadily in the eyes. + +"My good wishes are yours, most fervently," she replied. "It would be +intolerable that you should fail." + +He looked sad as he let her hands fall. "After all," he said, "one can +do only what one can." + +He went away without another glance at her. + +Not long afterwards Mrs. Hastings, who was possessed of a reasonable +measure of curiosity, found occasion to enter the room. + +"You have said something to trouble Harry?" she began. + +"I'm not sure he's greatly troubled. In any case, I told him I would not +marry him," Agatha answered. + +Mrs. Hastings gave her a glance of compassionate astonishment. + +"Oh," she said, "he's mad. Did he tell you that he means to leave +Gregory in charge of Willow Range?" + +Agatha's face showed her surprise, but Mrs. Hastings nodded reassuringly. +"It's a fact," she asserted. "He asked Gregory to meet him here to save +time, and"--she turned towards the window--"there's his wagon now." + +She went to the door, and then turned again. + +"Is there any blood--red blood we will call it--or even common-sense in +you? You could have kept Harry here if you had wanted to do so?" + +"No," replied Agatha, "I don't think I could. I'm not even sure that, if +I'd had the right, I would have done it. He recognized that." + +Mrs. Hastings looked at her dubiously. "Then," she commented, "you have +either a somewhat extraordinary character, or you are in love with him +in a way that is beyond most of us. In any case, I can't help feeling +that you will be sorry some day for what you have done." + +Next moment the door closed with a bang, and Agatha was left alone to +analyze her sensations during her interview with Wyllard. She found the +task difficult, for her memory of what had happened was confused and +fragmentary. She had certainly been angry with Wyllard. It was +humiliating that he had evidently taken it for granted that the greater +security she would enjoy as his wife would have preponderance of weight +with her, yet there was a certain satisfaction in the reflection that to +leave her dependent upon Mrs. Hastings caused him concern. For another +thing, his reserve had been perplexing, and it was borne in upon her +that it would have cost her a more determined effort to withstand him +had he spoken with fire and passion. + +If the man had been fervently in love with her, why had he not insisted +on that fact? she asked herself. Could it have been because, with the +fantastic generosity of which he was evidently capable, he had been +willing to leave his friend unhandicapped with an open field? That +seemed too much to expect from any man. Then there was the other +explanation--that he preferred to leave the choice wholly to her, lest +he should tempt her too strongly to break faith with Gregory. This idea +brought the blood to her face since it suggested that he believed that +he had merely to urge her sufficiently in order to make her yield. There +was, it seemed, no satisfactory explanation at all! The one fact +remained that he had made her a dispassionate offer of marriage, and had +left her to decide. + +Wyllard could not have made the matter very much clearer. Shrewdly +practical, as he was in some respects, there were times when he acted +blindly, merely doing without reasoning what he felt sub-consciously was +right. This had more than once involved him in disaster, but in the long +run the failures of such men often prove better than the dictates of +calculating wisdom. + +Agatha found a momentary relief from her thoughts as she watched Hawtrey +get down from his wagon and approach the house. The change in him was +plainer than it had ever been. It may have been because she had now a +standard of comparison that it was so apparent. He was tall and +well-favored, and he moved with a jaunty yet not ungraceful swing; but +it seemed to her that his bearing was merely the result of an empty +self-sufficiency. There was, she felt, no force behind it. Gregory was +smiling, and there was certainly a hint of sensuality in his face which +suggested that the man might sink into a self-indulgent coarseness. +Agatha remembered that she was still pledged to him and determinedly +brushed these thoughts aside. + +Hawtrey entered a room where, with a paper in his hand, Wyllard sat +awaiting him. + +"I asked you to drive over here because it would save time," said +Wyllard. "I have to go in to the railroad at once. Here's a draft of the +scheme I suggested. You had better tell me if there's anything you're +not quite satisfied with." + +He threw the paper on the table, and Hawtrey took it up. + +"I'm to farm and generally manage the Range on your behalf," said +Hawtrey after reading its contents. "My percentage to be deducted after +harvest. I'm empowered to sell out grain or horses as appears advisable, +and to have the use of teams and implements for my own place when +occasion requires it." + +He looked up. "I've no fault to find with the thing, Harry. It's +generous." + +"Then you had better sign it, and we'll get Hastings to witness it in a +minute or two. In the meanwhile there's a thing I have to ask you. How +do you stand in regard to Miss Ismay?" + +Hawtrey pushed his chair back noisily. "That," he said, "is a subject on +which I'm naturally not disposed to give you any information. How does +it concern you?" + +"In this way. Believing that your engagement must be broken off, I asked +Miss Ismay to marry me." + +Hawtrey was clearly startled, but in a moment or two he smiled. + +"Of course," he said, "she wouldn't. As a matter of fact, our engagement +isn't broken off. It's merely extended." + +The two men looked at each other in silence for a moment or two, and +there was a curious hardness in Wyllard's eyes. Hawtrey spoke again. + +"In view of what you have just told me, why did you want to put me, of +all people, in charge of the Range?" he asked. + +"I'll be candid," answered Wyllard. "For one thing, you held on when I +was slipping off the trestle that day in British Columbia. For another, +you'll make nothing of your own holding, and if you run the Range as it +ought to be run it will put a good many dollars into your pocket, +besides relieving me of a big anxiety. If you're to marry Miss Ismay, +I'd sooner she was made reasonably comfortable." + +Hawtrey looked up with a flush in his face. + +"Harry," he said, "this is extravagantly generous." + +"Wait," returned Wyllard; "there's a little more to be said. I can't be +back before the frost, and I may be away eighteen months. While I am +away you will have a clear field--and you must make the most of it. If +you are not married when I come back I shall ask Miss Ismay again. +Now"--and he glanced at his comrade steadily--"does this stand in the +way of you're going on with the arrangement we have arrived at?" + +There was a rather tense silence for a moment or two, and then Hawtrey +said: + +"No; after all there is no reason why it should do so. It has no +practical bearing upon the other question." + +Wyllard rose. "Well," he suggested, "if you will call Allen Hastings in +we'll get this thing fixed up." + +The document was duly signed, and a few minutes later Wyllard drove +away. + +Mrs. Hastings contrived to have a few words with Hawtrey before he left +the house. + +"I've no doubt that Harry took you into his confidence on a certain +point," she remarked. + +"Yes," admitted Hawtrey, "he did. I was a little astonished, besides +feeling rather sorry for him. There is, however, reason to believe that +he'll soon get over it." + +"You feel sure of that?" Mrs. Hastings smiled. + +"Isn't it evident? If he had cared much about her he certainly wouldn't +have gone away." + +"You mean you wouldn't?" + +"No," declared Hawtrey, "there's no doubt of that." + +Mrs. Hastings smiled again. "Well," she commented, "I would like to +think you were right about Harry; it would be a relief to me." + +Hawtrey presently drove away, and soon after he left the homestead +Agatha approached Mrs. Hastings. + +"There's something I must ask you," she said. "Has Gregory consented to +take charge of Wyllard's farm?" + +"He has," answered Mrs. Hastings in her dryest tone. + +There was a flash in Agatha's eyes. + +"Oh," she said, "it's almost unendurable." + +Agatha saw Wyllard only once again, and that was when he called early +one morning. He got down from the wagon where Dampier sat, and shook +hands with her and Allen and Mrs. Hastings. Few words were spoken, and +she could not remember what she said, but when he swung himself up again +and the wagon jolted away into the white prairie she went back to the +house with a feeling of loss and depression. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BEACH + + +For a fortnight after they reached Vancouver Wyllard and Dampier were +very busy. They had various difficulties to contend with, for while they +would have preferred to slip away to sea as quietly as possible a +British vessel's movements are fenced about with many formalities, and +they did not wish to ship a white man who could be dispensed with. +Wyllard knew there were sailors and sealers in Vancouver and down Puget +Sound who would have gone with him, but there was a certain probability +of their discussing their exploits afterwards in the saloons ashore, +which was about the last thing that he desired. It was essential that he +should avoid notoriety as much as possible. + +He had further trouble about obtaining provisions and general +necessaries, for considerably more attention than the free-lance sealers +cared about was being bestowed upon the North, and he did not desire to +arouse the curiosity of the dealers as to why he was filling his lazaret +up with Arctic stores. He obviated that difficulty by dividing his +orders among all of them, and buying as little as possible. Dampier +proved an adept at the difficult business, and eventually the schooner +_Selache_, painted a pale green, crept out from the Narrows, at dusk one +evening, under all plain sail, with her big main-boom making at least a +fathom beyond her taffrail. On board were Wyllard, Dampier, and two +other white men. A week later the _Selache_ sailed into a deep, +rock-walled inlet on the western coast of Vancouver Island. At the +settlement the storekeeper made no difficulty about selling Wyllard all +his flour and canned goods at higher figures than there was any +probability of obtaining from the local ranchers. + +The _Selache_ slid down the inlet again, and lay for several days in a +forest-shrouded arm near the mouth of it. When she once more dropped her +anchor off a Siwash rancherie far up on the wild west coast, she was +painted a dingy gray, and her sawn-off boom just topped her stern. One +does not want a great main-boom in the northern seas, and a big mainsail +needs men to handle it. Wyllard, however, shipped several sea-bred +Indians who had made perilous voyages on the trail of the seal and +halibut in open canoes. All of them had also sailed in sealing +schooners. Their comrades sold him furs, and filled part of the hold +with redwood billets and bark for the stove, for he had not considered +it advisable to load too much Wellington coal. + +Wyllard pushed out into the waste Pacific, and once when a beautiful big +white mail boat reeled by him, driving with streaming bows into an +easterly gale, he sent back a message to his friends upon the prairie. +It duly reached them, for three weeks afterward Allen Hastings, opening +_The Colonist_, which he had ordered from Victoria as soon as Wyllard +sailed, read to his wife and Agatha a paragraph in the shipping news: + +"_Empress of India_, from Yokohama, reports having passed small gray +British schooner, flying----" There followed several code letters, the +latitude and longitude, and a line apparently by the water-front +reporter: "No schooner belonging to this city allotted the signal in +question." + +Hastings smiled as he laid down the paper. "No," he observed, "that +signal is Wyllard's private code. Agatha, won't you reach me down my map +of the Pacific? It's just behind you." + +As he looked around he noticed the significant expression on his wife's +face, for the girl already had turned towards the shelf where he kept +the lately purchased map. + +The easterly gale that started did not last, for the wind came out of +the west and north, and sank to foggy calms when it did not blow +wickedly hard. This meant that the _Selache's_ course was all to +windward, and though they drove her unmercifully under reefed +book-foresail, main trysail, and a streaming jib or two, with the brine +going over her, she had made little headway when each arduous day was +done. They were drenched to the skin continuously, and lashed by +stinging spray. Cooking except of the crudest kind was out of the +question, and sleep would have been impossible to any but worn-out +sailors. The little crew was often aroused in the blackness of the night +to haul down a burst jib, to get in another reef, or to crawl out on a +plunging bowsprit washed by icy seas as the schooner lay with her lee +rail under. Glad as they were of the respite it was even more trying to +lie rolling wildly on the big smooth waves that hove out of the windless +calm, while everything in the vessel banged to and fro. When the breeze +came screaming through the fog or rain they sprang to make sail again. + +Fate seemed to oppose them, as it was certain that, if their purpose was +suspected, the hand of every white man whom they might come across would +be against them. But they held on over leagues of empty ocean. + +The season wore away, and at last the wind freshened easterly, and they +ran for a week under boom-foresail and a jib, with the big gray combers +curling as they foamed by high above her rail. Then the wind fell, and +Dampier, who got an observation, armed his deep-sea lead, and, finding +shells and shoal water, went aft to talk to Wyllard with the strip of +Dunton's chart. + +Wyllard, who was clad in oilskins, stood by the wheel. His face was +tanned and roughened by cold and stinging brine. There was an open sore +upon one of his elbows, and both his wrists were raw. Forward, a white +man and two Siwash were standing about the windlass, and when the bows +went up a dreary stretch of slate-gray sea opened beyond them, beneath +the dripping jibs. The _Selache_ was carrying sail, and lurching over +the steep swell at some four knots an hour. + +Dampier stopped near the wheel, and glanced at Wyllard's oilskins. + +"You'll have to take them off. It's stuffed boots and those Indian +seal-gut things or furs from now on," he said. "That leather cuff's +chewing up your hand." + +"We'll cut that out," replied Wyllard; "it's not to the point. Can't you +get on?" + +Dampier grinned. "We're on soundings, and they and Dunton's longitude +'most agree. With this wind we should pick the beach up in the next two +days. Next question is, where were those men?" + +"Where are they?" corrected Wyllard. + +"If they've pushed on it's probably a different thing, though, if they'd +food yonder, I don't quite see why they'd want to push on anywhere. It +wouldn't be south, anyway. They'd run up against the Russians there." + +"We've decided that already." + +"I'm admitting it," said the skipper. "There's the other choice that +they've gone up north. It's narrower across to Alaska there, and it's +quite likely they might have a notion of looking out for one of the +steam whalers. The Koriaks up yonder will have boats of some kind. If +the boats are skin ones like those the Huskies have they might sledge +them on the ice." + +It was a suggestion that had been made several times before, but both +the men realized that there was in all probability very little to +warrant it. Wyllard had wasted no time endeavoring to learn what was +known about the desolation on the western shore of the Behring Sea. He +had bought a schooner and set out at once. It appeared almost impossible +to him that any three men could haul the skin boats and supplies they +would need far over hummocky ice. + +"The point is that we'll have to fix on some course in the next few +days," added Dampier. "Say we run in to make inquiries"--a gleam of grim +amusement crept into his eyes--"what are we going to find? A beach with +a roaring surf on it, and if we get a boat through, a desolate, +half-frozen swamp behind it. It's quite likely there are people in the +country, Koriaks or Kamtchadales, but, if there are, they'll probably +move up and down after what they get to eat like the Huskies do, and we +can't hang on and wait for them. 'Most any time next month we'll have +the ice closing in." + +Wyllard made no reply for another minute, and, as he stood with hands +clenched on the wheel, a puff of bitter spray splashed upon his +oilskins. They had been over it all often before, weighing conjecture +after conjecture, and had found nothing in any that might serve to guide +them. Now, when winter was close at hand, they had leagues of surf-swept +beach to search for three men who might have perished twelve months +earlier. + +"We'll stand in until we pick up the beach," he said at length. "Then if +there's no sign of them we'll push north as long as we can find open +water. Now if you'll call Charly I'll let up at the wheel." + +Another white man walked aft, and Wyllard, entering the little stern +cabin, the top of which rose several feet above the deck, took off his +wet oilskins and crawled, dressed as he was, into his bunk. Evening was +closing in, and for a while he lay blinking at the swinging lamp, and +wondering what the end of the search would be. + +The _Selache_ was a little fore and aft schooner of some ninety-odd +tons, wholly unprotected against ice-chafe or nip, and he knew that +prudence dictated their driving her south under every rag of canvas now. +There was, however, the possibility of finding some sheltered inlet +where she could lie out the winter, frozen in, and he had blind +confidence in his crew. The white men were sealers who had borne the +lash of snow-laden gales, the wash of icy seas, and tremendous labor at +the oar, and the Indians had been born to an unending struggle with the +waters. All of them had many times looked the King of Terrors squarely +in the face. As an encouraging aid to strenuous effort they had been +promised a tempting bonus if the _Selache_ returned home successful. + +While Wyllard pondered upon these things he went to sleep and slept +soundly, though Dampier expected to raise the beach some time next +morning. The skipper's expectation proved to be warranted, and, when +Wyllard turned out, the stretch of shore lay before them, a dingy smear +on a slate-green sea that was cut off from it by a wavy line of vivid +whiteness, which he knew to be a fringe of spouting surf. It had cost +Wyllard more than he cared to contemplate to reach that beach, and now +there was nothing in the dreary spectacle that could excite any feeling, +except a shrinking from the physical effort of the search. There was +little light in the heavy sky or on the sullen heave of sea; the air was +raw, the schooner's decks were sloppy, and the vessel rolled viciously +as she crept shorewards with her mainsail peak eased down. What wind +there was blew dead on-shore, which was not as the skipper would have +had it. + +Wyllard heard the splash of the lead as he and the white man, Charly, +ate their breakfast in the little stern cabin. There was a clatter of +blocks, and on going out on deck he found the men swinging a boat over. +With Charly and two of the Indians he dropped into the boat, and +Dampier, who had hove the schooner to, looked down on them over the +vessel's rail. + +"If you knock the bottom out of her put a jacket on an oar, and I'll try +to bring you off," he said, pointing toward the boat. "If you don't +signal I'll stand off and on with a thimble-headed topsail over the +mainsail. You'll start back right away if you see us haul it down. When +she won't stand that there'll be more surf than you'll have any use for +with the wind dead on the beach." + +Wyllard made a sign of comprehension, and they slid away on the back of +a long sea. Waves rolled up behind them, cutting off the schooner's hull +so that only her gray canvas showed above dim slopes of water. The beach +rose fast before them. It looked forbidding with the spray-haze drifting +over it, and the long wash of the Pacific weltering among its hammered +stones. When the men drew a little nearer Wyllard stood up with the big +sculling oar in his hand. There was no point to offer shelter, and in +only one place could he see a strip of surf-lapped sand. + +"It's a little softer than the boulders, anyway; we'll try it there," he +ordered. + +The oars dipped again, and in another minute the sea that came up behind +them hove them high and broke into a little spout of foam. The next wave +had a hissing crest, part of which splashed on board, and, like a +toboggan down an icy slide, the boat went shoreward on the shoulders of +the third. To keep her straight while the water seethed about them was +all that they could do. For a moment their hearts were in their mouths +when the wave left them to sink with a dizzy swing into the hollow of +the sea. + +They pulled desperately as another white-topped ridge came on astern, +and they went up with it amid a chaotic frothing and splashing of spray. +After that there was a shock and a crash. They sprang out into the +knee-deep water and held fast to the boat while the foam boiled into +her. Before the next sea came in they had run the boat up beyond its +reach, and they discovered that there was not much the matter with her +when they hove her over. Wyllard looked back at the tumbling surf. + +"Dampier was right about that topsail; it won't be quite so easy getting +off," he declared. "You'll stand by, Charly, and watch the schooner. If +the surf gets steeper you can make some sign. I'll leave one of the +Siwash on the rise yonder." + +Then he walked up the beach. On the crest of the low rise a mile or two +behind it, he stopped a while, gazing out at what seemed to be an empty +desolation. There were willows in the hollow beneath him, and upon the +slope a few little stunted trees, which resembled the juniper that he +had seen among the ranges of British Columbia, but he could see no sign +of any kind of life. What was more portentous, the mossy sod he stood +upon was frozen, and there were stretches of snow among the straggling +firs upon a higher ridge. Inland, the little breeze seemed to have +fallen dead away, and there was an oppressive silence which the rumble +of the surf accentuated. + +Wyllard left one of the Indians on the hill and going on with the other +scrambled through a half-frozen swamp in the hollow; but when they came +back hours afterwards as the narrow horizon was drawing further in, they +had found nothing to show that any man had ever entered that grim, +silent land. The surf seemed a little smoother, and they reeled out +through it with only a few inches of very cold water splashing about +their boots, and pulled across a long stretch of darkening sea toward +the rolling schooner. + +Wyllard was weary and depressed, but it was not until he sat in the +stern cabin with its cheerful twinkling stove and swinging lamp that he +understood how he had shrunk from that forbidding wilderness. His +consultation with Dampier, who came in by and by, was brief. + +"We'll head north for a couple of days, and try again," he said. + +He crawled into his berth early, and it was some time after midnight +when he was awakened by being rudely flung out of it. That fact, and the +slant of deck and sounds above, suggested that the schooner had been +struck down by a sudden gale. He had grown more or less accustomed to +such occurrences and to sleeping fully dressed, and in another moment or +two he was out of the deck-house. A sharp wind drove stinging flakes of +snow into his face. It was very dark, but he guessed that the schooner's +rail was in the sea, which was washing the decks, and that some of the +crew were struggling to get the mainsail off her. A man whom he supposed +to be Charly ran into him. + +"Better come for'ard. Got to haul outer jib down before it blows away!" +he shouted. + +Up to his knees in water, Wyllard staggered after him and made out by +the mad banging that some one had already cast the peak of the +boom-foresail loose. He reached the windlass, and clutched it, as a sea +that took him to the waist frothed in over the weather rail. The bows +lurched out of it viciously, hurling another icy flood back on him, and +he could see a dim white chaos of frothing water about and beneath them. +Above rose the black wedge of the jibs. + +He did not want to get out along the bowsprit to stop one of them down, +but there are many things flesh and blood shrink from which must be +faced at sea. He made out that a Siwash was fumbling at the down-haul +made fast near his side, and when the man's shadowy figure rose up +against the whiteness of the foam he made a jump forward. Then he was on +the bowsprit, lying upon it while he felt for the foot-rope slung +beneath. He found it, and was cautiously lowering himself when the man +in front of him called out harshly, and he saw a white sea range up +ahead. It broke short over with a rush and roar, and he clung with hands +and feet for his life as the schooner's dipping bows rammed the seething +mass. + +The vessel went into it to the windlass. Wyllard was smothered in an icy +flood that seemed bent on wrenching him from his hold, but that was only +for a moment or two, and then, streaming with water, he was swung high +above the sea again. It was bad enough merely to hold on, but that was a +very small share of his task, for the big black sail that cut the higher +darkness came rattling down its stay and fell upon him and his +companion. As it dropped the wind took hold of the folds of it and +buffeted them cruelly. As he clutched at the canvas it seemed to him +incredible that he had not already been flung off headlong from the +reeling spar. Still, that banging, thrashing canvas must be mastered +somehow, though it was snow-soaked and almost unyielding, and with +bleeding hands he clawed at it furiously while twice the bowsprit raked +a sea and dipped him waist-deep into the water. At last, the other man +flung him the end of the gasket, and they worked back carefully, leaving +the sail lashed down, and scrambled aft to help the others who were +making the big main-boom fast. When this was done Wyllard fell against +Dampier and clutched at him. + +"How's the wind?" he roared. + +"Northeast," answered the skipper. + +They could scarcely hear each other, though the schooner was lurching +over it more easily now with shortened canvas, and Wyllard made Dampier +understand that he wished to speak to him only by thrusting him towards +the deck-house door. They went in together, and stood clutching at the +table with the lamplight on their tense, wet faces and the brine that +ran from them making pools upon the deck. + +"The wind has hauled round," said the skipper, "the wrong way." + +Wyllard made a savage gesture. "We've had it from the last quarter we +wanted ever since we sailed, and we sailed nearly three months too late. +We're too close in to the beach for you to heave her to?" + +"A sure thing," agreed Dampier. "I was driving her to work off it with +the sea getting up when the breeze burst on us. She put her rail right +under, and we had to let go 'most everything before she'd pick it up. +She's pointing somewhere north, jammed right up on the starboard tack +just now, but I can't stand on." + +This was evident to Wyllard, and he closed one hand tight. He wanted to +stand on as long as possible before the ice closed in, but he realized +that to do so would put the schooner ashore. + +"Well?" he questioned sharply. + +Dampier made a grimace. "I'm going out to heave her round. If we'd any +sense in us we'd square off the boom then, and leg it away across the +Pacific for Vancouver." + +"In that case," observed Wyllard, "somebody would lose his bonus." + +The skipper swung around on him with a flash in his eyes. "The bonus!" +he repeated. "Who was it came for you with two dollars in his pocket +after he'd bought his ticket from Vancouver?" + +Wyllard smiled at him. "If you took that up the wrong way I'm sorry. She +ought to work off on the port track, and when we've open water to +leeward you can heave her to. When it moderates we can pick up the beach +again." + +"That's just what I mean to do." + +Dampier went out on deck, while Wyllard, flinging off his dripping +clothing, crawled into his bunk and went quietly to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FIRST ICE + + +Before they hove to the _Selache_, daylight broke on a frothing sea, +across which scudded wisps of smoke-adrift and thin showers of snow. +With two little wet rags of canvas set the schooner lay almost head on +to the big combers. Having little way upon her, she lurched over instead +of ramming the waves, and though now and then one curled on board across +her rail it was not often that there was much heavy water upon her +slanted deck. + +All around the narrow circle a leaden sky met the sea. It was bitterly +cold, and the spray stung the skin like half-spent pellets from a gun. +There was only one man, in turn, exposed to the weather, and he had +little to do but brace himself against the savage buffeting of the wind +as he clutched the wheel. The _Selache_, for the most part, steered +herself, lifting buoyantly while the froth came sluicing aft from her +tilted bows, falling off a little with a vicious leeward roll when a +comber bigger than usual smote her to weather, and coming up again +streaming to meet the next. Sometimes she forged ahead in what is called +at sea, by courtesy, a "smooth," and all the time shroud and stay to +weather gave out tumultuous harmonies, and the slack of every rope to +leeward blew out in unyielding curves. + +Three of the white men lay sleeping or smoking in the little cabin, +which was partly raised above and partly sunk beneath the after-deck. It +was a reasonably strong structure, but it worked, and sweated, as they +sat at sea, and the heat of the stove had further opened up the seams in +it. Moisture dripped from the beams overhead, moisture trickled up and +down the slanting deck, there were great globules of water on the +bulk-heading, and everything, including the men's clothes and blankets, +was wet. The men lay in their bunks from necessity, because it was a +laborious matter to sit. They said very little since it was difficult to +hear anything amid the cataclysm of elemental sound. It became at length +almost a relief to turn out into inky darkness or misty daylight, dimmed +by flying spray, to take a turn at the jarring wheel. + +For three days the bad weather continued, and then, when the gale broke +and a little pale sunshine streamed down on the tumbling sea, changing +the gray combers to flashing white and green, the skipper gave her a +double-reefed mainsail, part of the boom-foresail, and a jib or two, and +thrashed her slowly back to the northward on the starboard tack. More +than one of the men glanced over the taffrail longingly as the schooner +gathered way. She was fast, and with a little driving and that breeze +over her quarter she would bear them south toward warmth and ease at +some two hundred miles a day, while the way they were going it would be +a fight for every fathom with bitter, charging seas, and there lay ahead +of them only cold and peril and toil incredible. + +There are times at sea when human nature revolts from the strain that +the overtaxed body must bear, the leaden weariness of worn-out limbs, +and the subconscious effort to retain warmth and vitality in spite of +the ceaseless lashing of the icy gale. Then, as aching muscles grow lax, +the nervous tension becomes more insupportable, unless, indeed, utter +weariness breeds indifference to the personal peril each time the decks +are swept by a frothing flood, or a slippery spar must be clung to with +frost-numbed and often bleeding hands. The men on the _Selache_ knew +this, and it was to their credit that they obeyed when Dampier gave the +word to put the helm up and trim the sheets over. Wyllard, however, +stood a little apart with a hard-set face, and he looked forward over +the plunging bows, for he was troubled by a sense of responsibility such +as he had not felt since he had, one night several years before, asked +for volunteers. He realized that an account of these men's lives might +be demanded from him. + +It was a fortnight later, and they had twice made a perilous landing +without finding any sign of life on or behind the hammered beach, when +they ran into the first of the ice. The gray day was near its end. The +long heave faintly twinkling here and there, ran sluggishly after them. +When creeping through a belt of haze they came into sight of several +blurrs of grayish white that swung with the dim, green swell. The +_Selache_ was slowly lurching over it with everything aloft to the +topsails then, and Dampier glanced at the ice with a feeling of deep +anxiety. + +"Earlier than I expected," he commented. "Anyway, it's a sure thing +there's plenty more where that came from." + +"Big patch away to starboard!" cried a man in the foremast shrouds. + +Dampier turned to Wyllard. "What are you going to do?" + +"What's most advisable?" + +The skipper looked grave. "Well," he said, "that's quite simple. Get out +of this, and head her south just as soon as we can, but I guess that's +not quite what you mean." + +"No," admitted Wyllard. "I meant for the next few hours or so. In a +general way, we're still pushing on." + +"I'm not worrying much about pushing her through. That ice is light and +scattered, and as she's going it won't hurt her much if she plugs some +in the dark. It's what we're going to do the next two weeks that I'm not +sure about. If there's ice we mayn't fetch the creek, where we'd figured +on laying her up. It's still most a hundred miles to the north of us. +The other inlet I'd fixed on is way further south." + +This brought them back to the difficulty with which they had grappled at +many a council. The men for whom they searched might have gone either +north or south, or they might have gone inland, if, indeed, any of them +survived. + +"If we only knew how they had headed," said Wyllard quietly. "Still, +right or not, I'm for pushing on." + +Then Charly, who held the wheel, broke in. + +"I guess it's north," he assented. "They'd have no use for fetching up +among the Russians, and there's nobody else until you get to Japan. No +white men, anyway. Besides, from the Behring Sea to the Kuriles is quite +a long way." + +"If you were dumped down ashore there, which way would you go?" Dampier +asked. + +"If I'd a wallet full of papers certifying me as a harmless traveler, it +would be south just as hard as I could hit the trail. Guess I'd strike +somebody out prospecting, or surveying, and they'd set me along to the +Kuriles. Still, if I'd been sealing, I wouldn't head that way. No, sir. +That's dead sure." + +There was a reason for this certainty, right or wrong, in the minds of +the sealers. How many of the skins they brought home were obtained in +open water where they could fish without molestation they alone knew; +but they were regarded in certain quarters as poachers and outlaws, who +deserved no mercy. They had their differences with the Americans who +owned the Pribilofs. It was admitted that the Americans had bought the +islands, and might reasonably be considered to have some claim upon the +seals which frequented them. The free-lances bore their execrations and +reprisals more or less resignedly, though that did not prevent them from +occasionally exchanging compliments with oar butts or sealing clubs. But +the Muscovite was a grim, mysterious figure they feared and hated. + +"Then you'd have tried up north?" Wyllard suggested. + +"Sure," answered the helmsman. "If I'd a boat and a rifle, and it was +summer, I'd have pushed across for Alaska. You can eat birds and walrus, +and a man might eat a fur-seal if he'd had nothing else for a week, +though I've struck nothing that has more smell than the holluschickie +blubber. If it was winter, I'd have tried the ice. The Huskies make out +on it for weeks together, and quite a few of the steam whaler men have +trailed an odd hundred or two miles over it one time or another. They +hadn't tents and dog-teams either." + +Wyllard's face grew anxious. He had naturally considered both courses, +and had decided that they were out of the question. Seas do not freeze +up solid, and that three men should transport a boat, supposing that +they had one, over leagues of ice appeared impossible. An attempt to +cross the narrow sea, which is either wrapped in mist or swept by sudden +gales, in any open craft would clearly result only in disaster, but, +admitting that, he felt that, had he been in those men's place, he would +have headed north. There was one question which had all along remained +unanswered, and that was how they had reached the coast from which they +had sent their message. + +"Anyway," he said, after a long pause, "we'll stand on, and run into the +creek we've fixed on, if it's necessary." + +Dusk had closed down on them, and it had grown perceptibly colder. The +haze crystallized on the rigging, the rail was white with rime, and the +deck grew slippery, but they left everything on the _Selache_ to the +topsails, and she crept on erratically through the darkness, avoiding +the faint spectral glimmer of the scattered ice. The breeze abeam +propelled her with gently leaning canvas at some four knots to the hour, +and now and then Wyllard, who hung about the deck that night, fancied he +could hear a thin, sharp crackle beneath the slowly lifting bows. + +Next day the haze thickened, and there seemed to be more ice about, but +the breeze was fresher, and there was, at least, no skin upon the +ruffled sea. They took off the topsails, and proceeded cautiously, with +two men with logger's pikepoles forward, and another in the eyes of the +foremast rigging. They struck nothing, fortunately, and when night came +the _Selache_ lay rolling in a heavy, portentous calm. Dampier and one +or two of the men declared their certainty that there was ice near them, +but, at least, they could not see it, though there was now no doubt +about the crackling beneath the schooner's side. It was an anxious night +for most of the crew, but a breeze that drove the haze aside got up with +the sun, and Dampier expected to reach the creek before darkness fell. +He might have succeeded but for the glistening streak on the horizon, +which presently crept in on them, and resolved itself into detached +gray-white masses, with openings of various sizes in and out between +them. The breeze was freshening, and the _Selache_ was going through it +at some six knots, when Dampier came aft to Wyllard, who was standing at +the wheel. There was a moderately wide opening in the floating barrier +close ahead of him. The rest of the crew stood silent watching the +skipper, for they were by this time more or less acquainted with +Wyllard's temperament. + +"You can't get through that," said Dampier, pointing to the ice. + +Wyllard looked at him sourly, and the white men, at least, understood +what he was feeling. So far, he had had everything against him--calm, +and fog, and sudden gale--and now, when he was almost within sight of +the end of the first stage of his journey, they had met the ice. + +"You're sure of that?" he questioned. + +Dampier smiled. "It would cost too much, or I'd let you try." He called +to the man perched high in the foremost shrouds, and the answer came +down: "Packed right solid a couple of miles ahead." + +Wyllard lifted one hand, and let it suddenly fall again. + +"Lee, oh! We'll have her round," he said, and spun the wheel. + +The men breathed more easily as they jumped for the sheets, and with a +great banging and thrashing of sailcloth the vessel shot up to windward, +and turned as on a pivot. As the schooner gathered way on the other +tack, the men glanced at Wyllard, for the _Selache's_ bows were pointing +to the southeast again, and they felt that was not the way he was going. + +Wyllard turned to Dampier with a gesture of impatience. + +"Baulked again!" he said. "It would have been a relief to have rammed +her in. With this breeze we'd have picked that creek up in the next six +hours." + +"Sure!" replied Dampier, who glanced at the swirling wake. + +"Then, if we can't get through the ice we can work the schooner round. +Stand by to flatten all sheets in, boys." + +They obeyed orders cheerfully, though they knew it meant a thrash to +windward along the perilous edge of the ice. Soon the windlass was caked +with glistening ice, and long spikes of it hung from her rail, while the +slippery crystals gathered thick on deck. Lumps and floes of ice +detached themselves from the parent mass, and sailed out to meet the +vessel, crashing on one another, while it seemed to the men who watched +him that Wyllard tried how closely he could shave them before he ran the +_Selache_ off with a vicious drag at the wheel. None of them, however, +cared to utter a remonstrance. + +They brought the schooner around when she had stretched out on the one +tack a couple of miles, and, standing in again close-hauled, found the +ice thicker than ever. Then she came around once more, and, until the +early dusk fell, Wyllard stood at the jarring helm or high up in the +forward shrouds. + +"We can't work along the edge in the dark," he said to Dampier. + +"Well," answered the skipper dryly, "it wouldn't be wise. We could stand +on as she's lying until half through the night, and then come round and +pick up the ice again a little before sun-up." + +Wyllard made a sign of acquiescence. "Then," he said, "don't call me +until you're in sight of it. A day of this kind takes it out of one." + +He moved aft heavily toward the deck-house, and Dampier watched him with +a smile of comprehension, for he was a man who had in his time made many +fruitless efforts, and bravely faced defeat. After all, it is possible +that when the final reckoning comes some failures will count. + +For several hours the _Selache_ stretched out close-hauled into what +they supposed to be open water, and they certainly saw no ice. They hove +her to, and when the wind fell light brought her round and crept back +slowly upon the opposite tack. Wyllard had gone to sleep after his day +of anxious work, and daylight was just breaking when he next went out on +deck. There was scarcely a breath of wind and the heavy calm seemed +portentous and unnatural. The schooner lay lurching on a sluggish swell, +with the frost-wool thick on her rigging, and a belt of haze ahead of +her. The ice glimmered in the growing light, but in one or two places +stretches of blue-gray water seemed to penetrate it, and Dampier, who +strode aft when he saw Wyllard, said he believed that there must be an +opening somewhere. + +"By the thickness of it, that ice has formed some time, and as we've +seen nothing but a skin it must have come from further north," he added. +"It gathered up under a point or in a bay most likely, until a shift of +wind broke it out, and the stream or breeze sent it down this way. That +seems to indicate that there can't be a great deal of it, but a few +days' calm and frost would freeze it solid." + +"Well?" Wyllard returned impatiently. + +"It lies between us and the inlet, and it's quite clear that we can't +stay where we are. Once we got nipped, there'd probably be an end of +her. We must get into that inlet at once or make for the other further +south." + +Wyllard shook his head. "It all leads back to the same point. We must +get through the ice. The one question is--how is it to be done?" + +"With a working breeze I'd stand into the biggest opening, but as +there's none we'll wait until it clears a little, and then send a boat +in. The sun may bring the wind." + +They had breakfast while they waited, but the wind did not come, and it +was several hours later when a pale coppery disc became visible and the +haze grew thinner. Then they swung a boat out hastily, for it would not +be very long before the light died away again. Two white men and an +Indian dropped into the boat and they pulled across half a mile of +sluggishly heaving water, crept up an opening, and presently vanished +among the ice. Soon afterward the low sun went out, and wisps of ragged +cloud crept up from the westward, while smears of vapor blurred the +horizon, and the swell grew steeper. There was no wind at all, but +blocks and canvas banged and thrashed furiously at every roll, until +they lowered the mainsail and lashed its heavy boom to the big iron +crutch astern. The boat remained invisible, but its crew had been given +instructions to push on as far as possible if they found clear water, +and Dampier, who did not seem uneasy about the men, paced up and down +the deck while the afternoon wore away. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +DEFEAT + + +A gray dimness was creeping in upon the schooner when a bitter breeze +sprang tip from the westward, and Dampier bade the crew get the mainsail +on to the _Selache_. + +"I don't like the look of the weather, and I'm beginning to feel that +I'd like to see that boat," he said. "Anyhow, we'll get way on her." + +It was a relief to hoist the mainsail. The work put a little warmth into +the sailors. The white men had been conscious of a growing uneasiness +about their comrades in the boat, and action of any sort was welcome. +The breeze had freshened before they set the sail, and there were +whitecaps on the water when the _Selache_ headed for the ice, which had +somewhat changed its formation, for big masses had become detached from +it and were moving out into the water, while the open space had become +perceptibly narrower. The light was now fading rapidly, and Wyllard took +the wheel when Dampier sent forward the man who had held it. + +"Get the cover off the second boat, and see everything clear for +hoisting out," commanded the skipper, and then called to Wyllard, "We're +close enough. You'd better heave her round." + +The schooner came around with a thrashing of canvas, stretched out +seawards, and came back again with her deck sharply slanted and little +puffs of spray blowing over her weather-rail, for there was no doubt +that the breeze was freshening fast. Dampier now sent a man up into the +foremast shrouds, and looked at Wyllard afterward. + +"I'd heave a couple of reefs down if I wasn't so anxious about that +blamed boat," he said. "As it is, I want to be ready to pick her up just +as soon as we see her, and it's quite likely she'd turn up when we'd got +way off the schooner, and the peak eased down." + +Wyllard realized that Dampier was right as he glanced over the rail at +the dimness that was creeping in on them. It was blowing almost fresh by +this time, and the _Selache_ was driving very fast through the swell, +which began to froth here and there. It is, as he knew from experience, +always hard work, and often impossible, to pull a boat to windward in +any weight of breeze, which rendered it advisable to keep the schooner +under way. If the boat drove by them while they were reefing it might be +difficult to pick her up afterwards in the dark. He was now distinctly +anxious about her. Just as the light was dying out, the man in the +shrouds sent down a cry. + +"I see them, sir!" he said. + +Dampier turned to Wyllard with a gesture of relief. "That's a weight off +my mind. I wish we had a reef in, but"--he glanced up at the +canvas--"she'll have to stand it. Anyway, I'll leave you there. We want +to get that second boat lashed down again." + +This, as Wyllard recognized, was necessary, though he would rather have +had somebody by him and the rest of them ready to let the mainsheet run, +inasmuch as he was a little to windward of the opening, and surmised +that he would have to run the schooner down upon the boat. It was a few +moments later when he saw the boat emerge from the ice, and the men in +her appeared to be pulling strenuously. They were, perhaps, half a mile +off, and the schooner, heading for the ice, was sailing very fast. +Wyllard lost sight of the boat again, for a thin shower of whirling snow +suddenly obscured the light. Dampier called to him. + +"You'll have to run her off," he said. "Boys, slack out your sheets." + +There was a clatter of blocks, and when Wyllard pulled his helm up it +taxed all his strength. The _Selache_ swung around, and he gasped with +the effort to control her as she drove away furiously into the +thickening snow. She was carrying far too much canvas, but they could +not heave her to and take it off her now. The boat must be picked up +first, and the veins rose swollen to Wyllard's forehead as he struggled +with the wheel. There is always a certain possibility of bringing a +fore-and-aft rigged vessel's main-boom over when she is running hard, +and this is apt to result in disaster to her spars. So fast was the +_Selache_ traveling that the sea piled up in big white waves beneath her +quarter, and, cold as the day was, the sweat of tense effort dripped +from Wyllard as he foresaw what he had to do. First of all, he must hold +the schooner straight before the wind without letting her fall off to +leeward, which would bring the booms crashing over; then he must run +past the boat, which he could no longer see, and round up the schooner +with fore-staysail aback to leeward of her, to wait until she drove down +on them. + +This would not have been difficult in a moderate breeze, but the wind +was blowing furiously and the schooner was greatly pressed with sail. He +thought of calling the others to lower the mainsail peak, but with the +weight of wind there was in the canvas he was not sure that they could +haul down the gaff. Besides, they were busy securing the boat, which +must be made fast again before they hove the other in, and it was almost +dark now. In view of what had happened in the same waters one night, +four years before, the desire to pick up the boat while there was a +little light left became an obsession. + +The swell was rapidly whitening and getting steeper. The _Selache_ hove +herself out of it forward as she swung up with streaming bows. It seemed +to Wyllard that he must overrun the boat before he noticed her, but at +last he saw Dampier swing himself on to the rail. The skipper stood +there clutching at a shroud, and presently swinging an arm, turned +toward Wyllard. + +"Eight ahead!" he shouted. "Let her come up a few points before you run +over them." + +Wyllard put his helm down a spoke or two, which was easy, and then as +the bows swung high again there was a harsh cry from the man who stood +above Dampier in the shrouds. + +"Ice!" he roared. "Big pack of it right under your weather bow." + +Dampier shouted something, but Wyllard did not hear what he said. He was +conscious only that he had to decide what he must do in the next few +seconds. If he let the _Selache_ come up to avoid the boat, there was +the ice ahead, and at the speed she was traveling it would infallibly +incrush her bows, while if he held her straight there was the boat close +in front of her. To swing her clear of both by going to leeward he must +bring the mainsail and boom-foresail over with a tremendous shock, but +that seemed preferable, and with his heart in his mouth he pulled his +helm up. + +He fancied he cried out in warning, but was never sure of it, though +three men came running to seize the mainsheet. The schooner fell off a +little, swinging until the boom-foresail came over with a thunderous +bang and crash. She rolled down, heaving a wide strip of wet planking +out of the sea, and now for a moment or two there were great breadths of +canvas swung out on either hand. Then the ponderous main-boom went up +high above his head, and he saw three shadowy figures dragged aft as +they tried in vain to steady it The big mainsail was bunched up, a vast, +portentous shape above him, and he set his lips, and pulled up the helm +another spoke as it swung. + +He never quite knew what happened after that. There was a horrible +crash, and the schooner appeared to be rolling over bodily. The spokes +he clung to desperately reft themselves from his grasp, the deck slanted +until one could not stand upon it, and something heavy struck him on the +head. He dropped, and Dampier flung himself upon the wheel above his +senseless body. + +There was mad confusion, and a frantic banging of canvas as the schooner +came up beam to the wind, with her rent mainsail flogging itself to +tatters. Its ponderous boom was broken, and the mainmast-head had gone, +but it was not the first time the sealers had grappled with similar +difficulties, and Dampier kept his head. He had the boat to think of, +and she was somewhere to windward, hidden in the sudden darkness and the +turmoil of the quickly rising sea, but the schooner counted most of all! +His crew could scarcely hear him through the uproar made by the +thundering canvas, and the screaming of the wind, but the orders were +given, and from habit and the custom of their calling the men knew what +the commands must be. + +They hauled a jib down, backed the fore-staysail, and got the +boom-foresail sheeted in, but they let the rent mainsail bang, for it +could do no more damage than it had already done. + +A man sprang up on the rail with a blue light in his hand, and as the +weird radiance flared in a long streak to leeward a cry rose from the +water. In another few moments a blurred object, half hidden in flying +spray, drove down upon the schooner furiously on the top of a sea, and +then there was sudden darkness as the man flung down the torch. + +Another harsh and half-heard cry rose out of the obscurity. An +indistinguishable object plunged past the schooner's stern, there was a +crash to leeward as the schooner rolled, and a man standing up in the +boat clutched her rail. The man was swung out of it as the vessel rolled +back again, but he crawled on to the rail with a rope in one hand, and +after jamming it fast around something, he sprang down with the hooks of +the lifting tackles which one of the crew had given him. While two more +men scrambled up, there was a clatter of blocks, but a shattered sea +struck the boat as they hove her clear, and, when she swung in, the +brine poured out through the rents in her. Dampier waved an arm as they +dropped her on the deck, and they heard him faintly. + +"Boys," he shouted, "you have got to cut that mainsail down!" + +They obeyed somehow, hanging on to the mast-hoops, and now and then +enveloped by the madly flogging canvas. After that they trimmed her +fore-staysail over, and there was by contrast a curious quietness as +Dampier jammed his helm up, and the schooner swung off before the sea. + +Then somebody lighted a lantern, and Charly stooped over Wyllard, who +lay limp and still beside the wheel. In the feeble light, Wyllard's face +showed gray except where a broad red stain had spread across it. Dampier +cast a glance at him. + +"Get him below, and into his bunk, two of you," he commanded. + +The men carried him with difficulty, for the _Selache_ lurched viciously +each time a white-topped sea came up upon her quarter. As soon as it +seemed advisable to leave the deck Dampier went down. Wyllard lay in his +bunk, with his eyes half-open. His face was colorless except for the +broad smear of blood, which was oozing fast from a laceration in his +scalp. Dampier, who noticed his chilliness, did not trouble about the +wound. He stripped off the senseless man's long boots, and, unshipping a +hot fender iron from the stove, laid it against his feet. Afterward he +contrived to get some whisky down Wyllard's throat, and then he set to +work to wash the scalp wound, dropping into the water a little of the +permanganate of potash, which is freely used at sea. When that was done +he applied a rag dipped in the same fluid, and seeing no result of his +efforts went back on deck. He was anxious about his patient, but not +unduly so, for he had discovered long ago that men of Wyllard's type are +apt to recover from more serious injuries. + +It was blowing very hard when the skipper stood near the wheel. A steep +sea was already tumbling after the schooner, but she was, at least, +heading out from where they supposed the ice to be, and he let her go, +keeping her away before it, and heading a little south of east. The next +morning the sea was very high, and the faint light was further dimmed by +snow, but it seemed safe to Dampier, and the vessel held on while the +big combers came up astern and forged by high above her rail. + +The _Selache_ was traveling fast to the eastward. She was under +boom-foresail and one little jib, with her mainmast broken short off +where the bolts of the halliard blocks had traversed it. Dampier +realized that every knot the vessel made then could not be recovered +that season. He wondered, with a little uneasiness, what Wyllard would +say when he came to himself again. + +Next day the breeze moderated somewhat, and they let the schooner come +up a little, heading further south. On the morning after that Wyllard +showed signs of returning consciousness. Dampier, however, kept away +from him, partly to allow his senses to readjust themselves, and partly +because he shrank from the necessary interview. When dusk was falling, +Charly went on deck to say that Wyllard, who seemed perfectly conscious, +insisted on seeing the skipper, and with some misgivings Dampier went +down into the little cabin. The lamp was lighted, and when he sat down +Wyllard, who raised himself feebly on his pillow, turned a pallid face +to him. + +"Charly tells me you picked the boat up," he said. + +"We did," answered Dampier. "She had three or four planks on one side +ripped out of her." + +Wyllard's faint grimace implied that this did not matter, and Dampier +braced himself for the question he dreaded. He had to face it another +moment. + +"How's she heading?" + +"A little south of east." + +Wyllard's face hardened. It was still blowing moderately and by the +heave of the vessel and the wash of water outside he could guess how +fast she was traveling. For a moment or two there was an oppressive +silence in the little cabin. Then Wyllard spoke again. + +"You have been running to the eastwards since I was struck down?" he +asked. + +Dampier nodded. "Three days," he confessed. "Just now the breeze is on +her quarter." + +He winced under Wyllard's gaze, and spread out his hands with a +deprecating gesture. + +"Now," he added, "what else was there I could do? She wrung her masthead +off when you jibed her and there's not stick enough left to set any +canvas that would shove her to windward. I might have hove her to, but +the first time the breeze hauled easterly she'd have gone up on the +beach or among the ice with us. I had to run!" + +Wyllard closed a feeble hand. "Dunton was crippled, too. It's almost +incredible." + +"In one way, it looks like that, but, after all, a jibe's quite a common +thing with a fore-and-after. If you run her off to lee when she's going +before it, her mainboom's bound to come over. Of course, nobody would +run her off in a wicked breeze unless he had to, but you'd no choice +with the ice in front of you." + +Wyllard lay very still for a minute. It was clear to him that his +project must be abandoned for that season, which meant that at least six +months must elapse before he could even approach the Kamtchatkan coast +again. + +"Well," he inquired at length, "what do you mean to do?" + +"If the breeze holds we could pick up one of the Aleutians in a few +days, but I'm keeping south of the islands. There'll probably be ugly +ice along the beaches, and I've no fancy for being cast ashore by a +strong tide when the fog lies on the land. With westerly winds I'd +sooner hold on for Alaska. We could lie snug in an inlet there, and, +it's quite likely, get a cedar that would make a spar. I can't head +right away for Vancouver with no mainsail." + +This was clear to Wyllard, who made a weak gesture. "If the wind comes +easterly?" + +Dampier pursed up his lips. "Then, unless I could fetch one of the +Kuriles, we'd sure be jammed. She won't beat to windward, and there'd be +all Kamtchatka to lee of us. The ice is packing up along the north of it +now, and the Russians have two or three settlements to the south. We +don't want to run in and tell them what we're after." + +A faint smile touched Wyllard's lips. "No," he said, "not after that +little affair on the beach. Since it's very probable that the vessel +they send up to the seal islands would deliver store along the coast, +the folks in authority would have a record of it. They would call the +thing piracy--and, in a sense, they'd be justified." + +He was silent for a few moments, and then looked up again wearily. + +"I wonder," he remarked, "how that boat's crew ever got across to +Kamtchatka. It was north of the islands where the man brought Dunton the +message." + +Dampier understood that Wyllard desired to change the subject, for this +was a question they had often discussed already. + +"Well," he replied, "I still hold to my first notion. They were blown +ashore on the beach we have just left, and made prisoners. Then a supply +schooner or perhaps a steamer came along, and they were sent off in her +to be handed over to the authorities. The vessel put in somewhere. We'll +say she was lying in an inlet with a boat astern, and somehow our +friends cut that boat loose in the dark, and got away in her." + +He broke off for a moment to look at his companion significantly. + +"You can find quite a few points where that idea seems to fail," he +added. "They were in Kamtchatka, but I'm beginning to feel that we shall +never know any more than that." + +Wyllard made a gesture of concurrence, but in his face Dampier saw no +sign that he meant to abandon his project. He seemed to sink into sleep, +and the skipper, who went up on deck, paced to and fro a while before he +stopped by the wheel and turned to the helmsman. + +"You can let her come up a couple of points. We may as well make a +little southing while we can," he said. + +Charly, who was steering, looked up with suggestive eagerness. "Then +he's not going for the Aleutians?" + +"No," answered Dampier dryly. "I was kind of afraid of that, but I +choked him off. Anyway, this year won't see us back in Vancouver." He +paused. "We're going to stay up here until we find out where those men +left their bones. The man who has this thing in hand isn't the kind that +lets up." + +Charly made no answer, but his face hardened as he put his helm down a +spoke or two. + +Next day the wind fell lighter, but for a week it still held westerly, +and after that it blew moderately fresh from the south. Crippled as she +was, the _Selache_ would lie a point or two south of east when they had +set an old cut-down fore-staysail on what was left of her mainmast. The +hearts of her crew became lighter as she crawled on across the Pacific. +The men had no wish to be blown back to the frozen North. + +The days were growing shorter rapidly, and the sun hung low in the +southern sky when at last the schooner crept into one of the many inlets +that indent the coast of Southern Alaska. There was just wind enough to +carry her in around a long, foam-lapped point, and soon afterwards they +let the anchor go in four fathoms of water. Their haven was a sheltered +arm of the sea with a river mouth not far away. There was no sign of +life anywhere and the ragged cedars that crept close down to the beach +stood out in somber spires against the gleaming snow. + +The cold was not particularly severe when the _Selache_ arrived, but +when Dampier went ashore next morning to pick a log from which they +could hew a mast the temperature suddenly fell, and that night the drift +ice from the river mouth closed in on them. When the late daylight broke +the schooner was frozen fast, and they knew it would be several months +before she moved again. It was before the gold rush, and in winter +Alaska was practically cut off from all communication with the south. No +man would have attempted to traverse the tremendous snow-wrapped +desolation of almost impassable hills and trackless forests that lay +between them and the nearest of the commercial factories on the north, +or the canneries on the other hand. Besides, the canneries were shut up +in winter time. They were prisoners, and could only wait with what +patience they could muster until the thaw set them free again. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A DELICATE ERRAND + + +There was a sharp frost outside, and the prairie was white with a thin +sprinkle of snow, when a little party sat down to supper in the Hastings +homestead, one Saturday evening. Hastings sat at the head of the table, +Mrs. Hastings at the foot with her little daughters, and Agatha, +Sproatly, and Winifred between them. Sproatly and Winifred had just +driven over from the railroad settlement, as they did now and then, and +that was why the meal, which was usually served early in the evening, +had been delayed an hour or so. The two hired men, whom Mrs. Hastings +had not kept waiting, had gone out to some task in the barn or stables. + +Sproatly took a bundle of papers out of his pocket and laid them on the +table. There had been a remarkable change in his appearance, for he now +wore store clothes, and the skin coat he had taken off when he came in +was a new one. It occurred to Mrs. Hastings that there was a certain +significance in this, though Sproatly had changed his occupation some +time before, and now drove about the prairie as an agent for certain +makers of agricultural implements. + +"I called for your mail and Gregory's before we left," he said. "I had +to go around to see Hawtrey, which is partly what made us so late, +though Winifred couldn't get away as soon as she expected. They have +floods of wheat coming in to the elevators and I understand that the +milling people can't take another bushel in." + +Mrs. Hastings glanced at Agatha, who understood what the look meant, for +Sproatly had hitherto spoken of Winifred circumspectly as Miss +Rawlinson. + +Hastings took the papers which Agatha handed to him and laid them aside. + +"We'll let them wait until supper's over. I don't expect any news that's +particularly good," he said. "The bottom's apparently dropping out of +the wheat market." + +"Mr. Hamilton can't get cars enough, and we'll have to shut down in +another day or two unless they turn up," remarked Winifred. "It's much +the same all along the line. The Winnipeg traffic people wired us that +they haven't an empty car in the yards. Why do you rush the grain in +that way? It's bound to break the market." + +Hastings smiled. "Well," he explained, "a good many of us have bills to +meet. For another thing, they've had a heavy crop in Manitoba, Dakota +and Minnesota, and I suppose some folks have an idea they'll get in +first before the other people swamp the Eastern markets. I think they're +foolish. It's a temporary scare. Prices will stiffen by and by." + +"That's what Mr. Hamilton says, but I suppose the thing is natural. Men +are very like sheep, aren't they?" + +Mr. Hastings laughed. "Well," he admitted, "we are, in some respects. +When prices break a little we generally rush to sell. One or two of my +neighbors are holding on, and it's hardly likely that very much of my +wheat will be flung on to a falling market." + +"We have been getting a good deal from the Range." + +There was displeasure in Hastings' face. "Gregory's selling largely on +Harry's account?" + +"They've been hauling wheat in to us for the last few weeks," said +Winifred. + +Agatha noticed that Hastings glanced at his wife significantly, but Mrs. +Hastings interposed and forbade any further conversation on the subject +until supper was over. After the table had been cleared Hastings opened +his papers. The others sat expectantly silent, while he turned the pages +over one after another. + +"No," he said, "there's no news of Harry, and I'm afraid it's scarcely +possible that we'll hear anything of him this winter." + +Agatha was conscious that Mrs. Hastings' eyes were upon her, and she sat +very still, though her heart was beating faster than usual. Hastings +went on again: + +"The _Colonist_ has a line or two about a barque from Alaska which put +into Victoria short of stores. She was sent up to an A. C. C. factory, +and had to clear out before she was ready. The ice, it seems, was +closing in unusually early. A steam whaler at Portland reports the same +thing, and from the news brought by a steamer from Japan all +communication with Northeastern Asia is already cut off." + +No one spoke for a moment or two, and Agatha, leaning back in her chair, +glanced around the room. There was not much furniture in it, but, though +this was unusual on the prairie, door and double casements were guarded +by heavy hangings. The big brass lamp overhead shed a cheerful light, +and birch wood in the stove snapped and cracked noisily, and the +stove-pipe, which was far too hot to touch, diffused a drowsy heat. One +could lounge beside the fire contentedly, knowing that the stinging +frost was drying the snow to dusty powder outside. The cozy room +heightened the contrast that all recognized in thinking of Wyllard. +Agatha pictured the little schooner bound fast in the Northern ice, and +then two or three travel-worn men crouching in a tiny tent that was +buffeted by an Arctic gale. She could see the poles bend, and the +tricings strain. + +After that, with a sudden transition, her thoughts went back to the +early morning when Wyllard had driven away, and every detail of the +scene rose up clearly in her mind. She saw him and the stolid Dampier +sitting in the wagon, with nothing in their manner to suggest that they +were setting out upon a perilous venture, and she felt his hand close +tight upon her fingers, as it had done just before the vehicle jolted +away from the homestead. She could once more see the wagon growing +smaller and smaller on the white prairie, until it dipped behind the +crest of a low hill, and the sinking beat of hoofs died away. Then, at +least, she had realized that he had started on the first stage of a +journey which might lead him through the ice-bound gates of the North to +the rest that awaits the souls of sailors. She could not, however, +imagine him shrinking from any ordeal. Gripping helm, or hauling in the +sled traces, he would gaze with quiet eyes steadfastly ahead, even if he +saw only the passage from this world to the next. Once more a curious +thrill ran through her, and there was pride as well as regret in it. +Presently she became conscious that Hastings was speaking. + +"What took you around by the Range, Jim?" he asked. + +"Collecting," answered Sproatly. "I sold Gregory a couple of binders +earlier in the season, but I couldn't get a dollar out of him." He +laughed. "Of course, if it had been anybody else I'd have stayed until +he handed over the money, but I couldn't press Gregory too hard after +quartering myself upon him as I did last winter, though I'm rather +afraid my employers wouldn't appreciate that kind of delicacy." + +Mrs. Hastings looked thoughtful. "Gregory should have been able to pay. +He thrashed out a moderately good crop." + +"About two-thirds of what it should have been, and I've reason for +believing that he has been putting up a mortgage. Interest's heavy. +There's another matter. I wonder if you've heard that he's getting rid +of two of Harry's hands? I mean Pat and Tom Moran." + +"You're sure of that?" Hastings asked sharply. + +"Tom told me." + +Mrs. Hastings leaned forward suddenly in her chair. "Then," she said, +"I'm going to drive across on Monday, and have a few words with Gregory. +Did Moran tell you that Harry had decided to keep the two of them on +throughout the year?" + +"He wasn't very explicit, but he seemed to feel he had a grievance +against Gregory. Of course, in a way, you can't blame Gregory. He's in +charge, and it isn't in him to carry out Harry's policy. This fall in +wheat is getting on his nerves, and in any case he'd probably have held +his hand and cut down the crop next year." + +"I do blame him." Mrs. Hastings turned to Agatha. "You will understand +that in a general way there's not much that can be done when the snow's +upon the ground, and as one result of it the hired man prefers to engage +himself for the year. To secure himself from being turned adrift when +harvest is over he frequently makes a concession in wages. Now I know +Harry intended to keep those two men on, and Tom Moran, who has a little +half-cleared ranch back somewhere in the bush of Ontario, came out here +tempted by higher wages. I understand he had to raise a few dollars or +give the place up, and he left his wife behind. Many of the smaller +ranch men can't live upon their holdings. Well, I'm going over on Monday +to tell Gregory he has got to keep these two men, and you're coming with +me." + +Agatha made no reply. In the first place, she knew that if Mrs. Hastings +had made any plan she would gain nothing by objecting, and in addition +to this she was conscious of a certain desire to go. She felt that if +Wyllard had let the men understand that he would not dismiss them, the +promise, implied or explicit, must be redeemed. Wyllard would not have +attempted to release himself from it--she was sure of that--and it +appeared intolerable to her that another man should be permitted to do +anything that would unfavorably reflect on him. Somewhat to her relief, +Hastings started another topic. + +"You have sold quite a few binders and harrows one way or another, +haven't you, Jim?" he asked. + +Sproatly laughed. "I have," he answered. "As I told the Company's +Western representative some time ago, a man who could sell patent +medicine to the folks round here could do a good trade in anything. He +admitted that my contention sounded reasonable, but I didn't wear store +clothes then, and he seemed very far from sure of me. Anyway, he gave me +a show, and now I've got two or three complimentary letters from the +Company. They've added a few dollars to my salary, and hint that it's +possible they may put me in charge of an implement store." + +"And you're satisfied?" + +"Well," said Sproatly, with an air of reflection, "in some respects, I +suppose I am. In others, the thing's galling. You have to report who +you've called upon, and, if you couldn't do business, why they bought +somebody else's machines. If you can't get a farmer to take you in you +have to put up at a hotel. There's no more camping in a birch bluff +under your wagon. Besides, you have to wear store clothes." + +Hastings glanced at Winifred, and Agatha fancied that she understood +what was in his mind. + +"Some folks would sooner sleep in a hotel," he remarked, with a twinkle +in his eyes. + +"Then," declared Sproatly, "they don't know very much. They're the kind +of men who'd spend an hour every morning putting their clothes on, and +they haven't found out that there's no comfort in any garment until +you've had to sew two or three flour bag patches on to it. Then think of +the splendid freeness of the other way of living. You get your supper +when you want it and just as you like it. No tea tastes as good as the +kind with the wood smoke in it that you drink out of a blackened can. +You can hear the little birch leaves and the grasses whispering about +you when you lie down at night, and you drive on in the glorious +freshness--just when it pleases you--every morning. Now the Company has +the whole route and programme plotted out for me. Their clerks write me +letters demanding most indelicately why I haven't done this and that." + +Winifred looked at him disapprovingly. "Civilization," she said, +"implies responsibility. You can't live just as you like without its +being detrimental to the community." + +"Oh, yes," returned Sproatly with a rueful gesture, "it implies no end +of giving up. You have to fall into line, and that's why I kept outside +it just as long as I could. I don't like standing in a rank, and," he +glanced down at his cloth, "I've an inborn objection to wearing +uniform." + +Agatha laughed as she caught Hastings' eye. She guessed that Sproatly +would be sorry for his candor afterwards, but to some extent she +understood what he was feeling. It was a revolt against cramping customs +and conventionalities, and she partly sympathized with it, though she +knew that such revolts are dangerous. Even in the West, those who cannot +lead must march in column with the rank and file or bear the +consequences of their futile mutiny. It is a hard truth that no man can +live as he pleases. + +"Restraint," asserted Winifred, "is a wholesome thing, but it's one most +of the men I have met are singularly deficient in. That's why they can't +be left alone, but must be driven, as they are, in companies. It's their +own fault if they now and then find it a little humiliating." + +There was a faint gleam in her eyes, at which Sproatly apparently took +warning, for he said no more upon that subject, and they talked about +other matters until he took his departure an hour or two later. It was +the next afternoon when he appeared again and Mrs. Hastings smiled at +Agatha as he and Winifred drove away together. + +"Thirty miles is a long way to drive in the frost. I suppose you have +noticed that she calls him Jim?" Mrs. Hastings commented. "Anyway, +there's a good deal of very genuine ability in that young man. He isn't +altogether wild." + +"His appearance rather suggested it when I first met him," replied +Agatha with a laugh. "Was it a pose?" + +"No," said Mrs. Hastings reflectively. "I think one could call it a +reaction, and it's probable that some very worthy people in the Old +Country are to blame for it. Sproatly is not the only young man who has +suffered from having too many rules and conventions crammed down his +throat. In fact, they're rather plentiful." + +Agatha said nothing further, for the little girls appeared just then, +and it was not until the next afternoon that she and Mrs. Hastings were +again alone together. Then as they drove across the prairie the older +woman spoke of the business they had in hand. + +"Gregory must keep those men," she said. "There's no doubt that Harry +meant to do it, and it would be horribly unfair to turn them loose now +when there is absolutely nothing going on. Besides, Tom Moran is a man +I'm specially sorry for. As I told you, he left a young wife and a very +little child behind him when he came out here." + +"One would wonder why he did it," responded Agatha. + +"He had to. There seems to be a notion in the Old Country that we earn +our money easily, but it's very wrong. We'll take that man's case as an +example. He has a little, desolate holding up in the bush of Ontario, a +hole chopped out of the forest and studded all over with sawn-off +fir-stumps. On it is a little two-roomed log shack. In all probability +there isn't a settlement within two or three leagues of the spot. Now, +as a rule, a place of that kind won't produce enough to keep a man for +several years after he has partially cleared it, and unless he can earn +something in the meanwhile he must give it up. Moran, it seems, got +heavily into debt with the nearest storekeeper, and had to choose +between selling the place or coming out here where wages are higher. +Well, you can probably imagine what it must be to the woman who stayed +behind in the desolate bush, seeing nobody for weeks together, though +I've no doubt that she'd bear it uncomplainingly believing that her +husband would come back with enough to clear the debt." + +Agatha could imagine the state of affairs in the little home, and a +certain indignation against Gregory crept into her heart. She had once +liked to think of him as pitiful and chivalrous, and now, it seemed, he +was quite willing that this woman should make her sacrifice in vain. + +"But why have you taken the trouble to impress this on--me?" she asked. + +Mrs. Hastings smiled. "I want you to plead that woman's cause. Gregory +may do what you ask him gracefully. That would be much the nicest way +out of it." + +"The nicest way?" + +"Yes," answered Mrs. Hastings, "there is another one. Gregory is going +to keep Tom Moran, anyway. Harry has one or two friends in this +neighborhood who feel it more or less of an obligation on them to +maintain his credit." + +Agatha felt the blood rise to her face. It was an unpleasant thing to +admit, but she fancied that Gregory might yield to judicious pressure +when he would not be influenced by either compassion or a sense of +equity. It flashed upon her that had Mrs. Hastings believed that she +still retained any tenderness for the man, the story of Moran would not +have been told to her. The whole situation was horribly embarrassing, +but Agatha had courage in her. + +"Well," she promised simply, "I will speak to him." + +They said nothing more until they approached the Range, and as they +drove by the outbuildings Agatha glanced about her curiously. It +occurred to her that the homestead did not look quite the same as it +appeared when Wyllard was there. A wagon without one wheel stood near +the straw pile. A door of the barn hung awkwardly open in a manner which +suggested that it needed mending, and the snow had blown inside the +building. In the side of one sod and pole structure there was a gap +which should have been repaired. Several other things suggested +slackness and indifference. She saw Mrs. Hastings frown. + +"There is a change in the place already," said her friend. They alighted +in another minute or two, and when they entered the house the +gray-haired Swedish woman greeted them moodily. She seemed to notice the +glance Mrs. Hastings cast around her, and her manner became deprecatory. + +"I can't keep things straight now. It is not the same," she complained. + +Mrs. Hastings asked if Hawtrey was in, and hearing that he was, turned +to Agatha. "Go along and talk to him. I've something to say to Mrs. +Nansen," she said. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE PRIOR CLAIM + + +It was with confused feelings, among which a sense of repugnance +predominated, that Agatha walked toward Hawtrey's room. She was not one +of the women who take pleasure in pointing out another person's duty, +for, while she had discovered that this task is apparently an easy one +to some people, she was aware that a duty usually looks much more +burdensome when it is laid upon one's self. Indeed, she was conscious +just then that one might be shortly thrust upon her, which she would +find it very hard to bear, and she became troubled with a certain +compunction as she remembered how she had of late persistently driven +all thought of it out of her mind. + +There was no doubt that she was still pledged to Gregory, and that she +had loved him once. Both facts had to be admitted, and it seemed to her +that if he insisted she must marry him. Deep down in her there was an +innate sense of right and honesty, and she realized that the fact that +he was not the man she had once imagined him to be did not release her. +It was clear that, if he was about to commit a cruel and unjustifiable +action, she was the one person of all others whose part it was to +restrain him. + +The color was a little plainer in her face than usual when she entered +the room where he lay, pipe in hand, in a lounge chair. His attitude of +languid ease irritated her. She had seen that there were several things +outside which should have had some claim on his attention. A litter of +letters and papers lay upon a little table at his side, but the fact +that he could not reach them as he lay was suggestive. He did not notice +her entrance immediately. He rose, when he saw her, and came forward +with outstretched hand. + +"I didn't hear you," he said. "This is a pleasure I scarcely +anticipated." + +Agatha sat down in the chair that he drew out for her near the stove. He +noticed that she glanced at the papers on the table, and he laughed. + +"Bills, and things of that kind. They've been worrying me for a week or +two," he said lightly. He seized the litter, and bundling it together +flung it into an open drawer, which he shut with a snap. "Anyway, that's +the last of them for to-day. I'm awfully glad you drove over." + +Agatha smiled. The action was so characteristic of the man. She had once +found no fault with Gregory's careless habits, and his way of thrusting +a difficulty into the background had appealed to her. It had suggested +his ability to straighten out the trouble when it appeared advisable. +Now she told herself that she would not be absurdly hypercritical, and, +as it happened, he had given her the lead that she desired. + +"I should think that you would have had to give them more attention as +wheat is going down," she remarked. + +Hawtrey looked at her with an air of reproach. "It must be nearly three +weeks since I have seen you, and now you expect me to talk of farming." +He made a rueful gesture. "If you quite realized the situation it would +be about the last thing you would ask me to do." + +Agatha was astonished to remember that three weeks had actually elapsed +since she had last met him, and they had only exchanged a word or two +then. He had certainly not obtruded himself upon her, for which she was +grateful. + +"Nobody is talking about anything except the fall in prices just now," +she persisted. "I suppose it affects you, too?" + +Gregory, who seemed to accept this as a rebuff, looked at her rather +curiously, and then laughed. + +"It must be admitted that it does. In fact, I've been acquiring +parsimonious habits and worrying myself about expenses lately. The +expenses have to be kept down somehow, and that's a kind of thing I +never took kindly to." + +"You feel it a greater responsibility when you're managing somebody +else's affairs?" suggested Agatha, who was still awaiting her +opportunity. + +"Well," replied Hawtrey, in whom there was, after all, a certain honesty, +"that's not quite the only thing that has some weight with me. You see, +I'm not altogether disinterested. I get a certain percentage--on the +margin--after everything is paid, and I want it to be a big one. Things +are rather tight just now, and the wretched mortgage on my place is +crippling me." + +It had slipped out before he quite realized what he was saying, and he +saw the girl's look of concern. She now realized what Sproatly had +meant. + +"You are in debt, Gregory? I thought you had, at least, kept clear of +that," she said. + +"So I did--for a while. In any case, if Wyllard stays away, and I can +run this place on the right lines, I shall, no doubt, get out of it +again." + +She was vexed that he should speak so selfishly, for it was clear to her +that, if Wyllard did not return until another crop was gathered in, it +would be because he was held fast among the Northern ice in peril of his +life. Then another thought struck her. She had never quite understood +why Gregory had been willing to undertake the management of the Range. +In view of the probability that Wyllard had plainly told him what to +expect concerning herself, she had been greatly puzzled by his +acquiescence. But he had made that point clear by admitting that he had +been burdened with a load of debt. But why had he incurred debts? The +answer came to her as she remembered having heard Mrs. Hastings or +somebody else say that he had spent a great deal of money upon his house +and the furnishings for it. It brought her a sudden sense of confusion, +for as one result of that expenditure he had been forced into doing what +she fancied must have been a very repugnant thing. And she had never +even crossed his threshold! + +"When did you borrow that money?" she asked sharply. + +There was no doubt that Gregory was embarrassed, and her heart softened +toward him for his hesitation. It was to further her comfort that he had +laid that load upon himself, and he was clearly unwilling that she +should know it. That counted for much in her favor. + +"Was it just before I came out?" she asked again. + +Hawtrey made a little sign of expostulation. "You really mustn't worry +me about these matters, Aggy. A good many of us are in the storekeepers' +or mortgage-jobbers' hands, and there's no doubt that if I have another +good year at the Range I shall clear off the debt." + +Agatha turned her face away from him for a moment or two. The thing that +Gregory had done laid a heavy obligation on her, and she remembered that +she had only found fault with him! Even then, stirred as she was, she +was conscious that all the tenderness that she had once felt for him had +vanished. The duty, however, remained, and with a little effort she +turned to him again. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I'm so sorry." + +Hawtrey smiled. "I really don't think I deserve a very great deal of +pity. As I have said, I'll probably come out all right next year if I +can only keep expenses down." + +Then Agatha remembered the task that she had in hand. It was a very +inauspicious moment to set about it, but that could not be helped, and +even for Gregory's own sake she felt that she must win him over. + +"There is one way, Gregory, in which I don't think it ought to be done," +she said. "You assumed Mr. Wyllard's obligations when you took the farm, +and I think you should keep the two Morans." + +Hawtrey started. "Ah!" he replied. "Mrs. Hastings has been setting you +on; I partly expected it." + +"She told me," Agatha admitted. "Unless you will look at the thing as I +do, I could almost wish she hadn't. The thought of that man's wife shut +up in the woods all winter only to find that what she has had to bear +has all been thrown away troubles me. Now Wyllard promised to keep those +men on, didn't he?" + +"There was no regular engagement so far as I can make out." + +"Still, Moran seems to have understood that he was to be kept on." + +"Yes," replied Hawtrey, "he evidently does. If the market had gone with +us I'd have fallen in with his views. As it hasn't, every man's wages +count." + +Agatha was conscious of a little thrill of repugnance. Of late Gregory's +ideas had frequently jarred on her. + +"Does that release you?" + +Hawtrey did not answer this. + +"I'll keep those men on if you want me to," he promised. + +Agatha winced at this. She had discovered that she must not look for too +much from Gregory, but to realize that he had practically no sense of +moral obligation, and could be influenced to do justice only by the +expectation of obtaining her favor positively hurt her. + +"I want them kept on, but I don't want you to do it for that reason," +she said. "Can't you grasp the distinction, Gregory?" + +A trace of darker color dyed Hawtrey's face, but while she was a little +surprised at the evidence that he felt her rebuke, he looked at her +steadily. He had not thought much about her during the last month, but +now the faint scorn in her voice aroused his resentment. + +"Now," he said, "there are just three reasons, Aggy, why you should have +troubled yourself about this thing. You are, perhaps, a little sorry for +Moran's wife, but as you haven't even seen her that can hardly count for +much. The next is, that you don't care to see me doing what you regard +as a shabby thing; perhaps it is a shabby thing in some respects, but I +feel it's justifiable. Of course, if that's your reason there's a sense +in which, while not exactly complimentary--it's consoling." + +He broke off, and looked at her with a question in his eyes, and it cost +Agatha an effort to meet his. She was not prudish or overconscious of +her own righteousness, but once or twice, after the shock of her +disillusionment in regard to him had lessened, she had dreamed of the +possibility of endowing him little by little with some of the qualities +she had once fancied he possessed, and, as she vaguely thought of it, +rehabilitating him. Now, however, the thing seemed impossible, and, what +was more, the desire to bring it about had gone. Hateful as the +situation was becoming, she was honest, and she could not let him credit +her with a motive that had not influenced her. + +In the meanwhile, her very coldness and aloofness stirred desire in the +man, and she shrank as she saw a spark of passion kindling in his eyes. +She recognized that there was a strain of grossness in him. + +"No," she responded, "that reason was not one which had any weight with +me." + +Hawtrey's face darkened. "Then," he said grimly, "we'll get on to the +third. Wyllard's credit is a precious thing to you; sooner than anything +should cast a stain on it you would beg a favor from--me. You have set +him up on a pedestal, and it would hurt you if he came down. Considering +everything, it's a remarkably curious situation." + +Agatha grew pale. Gregory was horribly right, for she had no doubt now +that he had merely thrust upon her a somewhat distressing truth. It was +to save Wyllard's credit, and for that alone, that she had undertaken +this most unpleasant task. She did not answer, and Hawtrey stood up. + +"Wyllard has his faults, but there's this in his favor--he keeps a +promise," he said. "One has a certain respect for a person who never +goes back upon his word. Well, because I really think he would like it, +I'll keep those men." + +He paused for a moment, as if to let her grasp the drift of his words, +and then turned to her with something that startled her in his voice and +manner. "The question is--are you willing to emulate his example?" + +Agatha shrank from the glow in his eyes. "Oh!" she broke out, "you +cannot urge me now--after what you said." + +Hawtrey laughed harshly. "Well," he said, "I'll come for my answer very +shortly. It seems that you and Wyllard attach a great deal of importance +to a moral obligation--and I must remind you that the time agreed upon +is almost up." + +Agatha sat very still for perhaps half a minute, while a sense of dismay +took possession of her. There was no doubt that Gregory's retort was +fully warranted. She had insisted upon his carrying out an obligation +which would cost him something, not because she took pleasure in seeing +him do what was honorable, but to preserve the credit of another man. +And now it was with intense repugnance that she recognized that there +was apparently no escaping from the obligation she had incurred. +Gregory's attitude was perfectly natural and logical. She had promised +to marry him, and he had saddled himself with a load of debt on her +account, but the slight pity and tenderness that she had felt for him a +few minutes earlier had utterly disappeared. Indeed, she felt that she +almost hated him. His face had grown hard and almost brutal, and there +was a look she shrank from in his eyes. + +She rose with trembling limbs. + +"Do you wish to speak to Mrs. Hastings?" she asked. + +Hawtrey's lip curled. "No," he said, "if she'll excuse me, I don't think +I do. If you tell her you have been successful, she'll probably be quite +content." + +Agatha went out without another word. Hawtrey lighted his pipe and +stretched himself out in his chair, when he heard the wagon drive away a +few minutes later. He did not like Mrs. Hastings, and had a suspicion +that she had no great regard for him, but he was conscious of a grim +satisfaction. There was, though it seldom came to the surface, a current +of crude brutality in his nature, and it was active now. When Agatha had +first come from England the change in her had been a shock to him, and +it would not have cost him very much to let her go. Since then, however, +her coldness and half-perceived disdain had angered him, and the +interview which was just past had left him in an unpleasant mood. Though +it was, perhaps, the last effect he would have expected, it had stirred +him to desire a fulfillment of her pledge. It was consoling to feel that +he could exact the keeping of her promise. His face grew coarser as he +assured himself of his claim, but he had never realized the shiftiness +and instability of his own character. It was his misfortune that the +impulses which swayed him one day had generally changed the next. + +This became apparent when, having occasion to drive in to the elevators +on the railroad a week later, he called at a store to make one or two +purchases. The man who kept the store laid a package on the counter. + +"I wonder if you'd take this along to Miss Creighton as a favor," he +said. "She wrote for the things, and Elliot was to take them out, but I +guess he forgot. Anyway, he didn't call." + +Hawtrey told the clerk to put the package in his wagon. He had scarcely +seen Sally since his recovery, and he suddenly remembered that, after +all, he owed her a good deal, and that she was very pretty. Besides, one +could talk to Sally without feeling the restraint that Agatha's manner +usually laid on him. + +The storekeeper laid an open box upon the counter. + +"I guess you're going to be married by and by," he said. Hawtrey was +thinking of Sally then, and the question irritated him. + +"I don't know that it concerns you, but in a general way it's probable," +he replied. + +"Well," said the storekeeper good-humoredly, "a pair of these mittens +would make quite a nice present for a lady. Smartest thing of the kind +I've ever seen here; choicest Alaska fur." + +Hawtrey bought a pair, and the storekeeper took a fur cap out of another +box. + +"Now," he said, "this is just the thing she'd like to go with the +mittens. There's style about that cap; feel the gloss of it." + +Hawtrey bought the cap, and smiled as he swung himself up into his +wagon. Gloves are not much use in the prairie frost, and mittens, which +are not divided into fingerstalls, will within limits fit almost +anybody. This, he felt, was fortunate, for he was not quite sure that he +meant to give them to Agatha. + +It was bitterly cold, and the pace the team made was slow, for the snow +was loose and too thin for a sled of any kind. Night had closed down and +Hawtrey was suffering from the cold, when at last a birch bluff rose out +of the waste in front of him. It cut black against the cold blueness of +the sky and the spectral gleam of snow, but when he had driven a little +further a stream of ruddy orange light appeared in the midst of it. A +few minutes later he pulled his team up in front of a little log-built +house, and getting down with difficulty saw the door open as he +approached it. Sally stood in the entrance silhouetted against a blaze +of cheerful light. + +"Oh!" she cried. "Gregory!" + +Hawtrey recognized the thrill in her voice, and took both her hands, as +he had once been in the habit of doing. + +"Will you let me in?" he asked. + +The girl laughed in a strained fashion. She had been a little startled, +and was not quite sure yet as to how she should receive him; but Hawtrey +drew her in. + +"The old folks are out," she said. "They've gone over to Elliot's for +supper. He's bringing us a package." + +Hawtrey, who explained that he had the parcel, let her hands go, and sat +down somewhat limply. He had come suddenly out of the bitter frost into +the little, brightly-lighted, stove-warmed room. The comfort and +cheeriness of it appealed to him. + +"This looks very cozy after my desolate room at the Range," he remarked. + +"Then if you'll stay I'll cook you supper. I suppose there's nothing to +take you home?" + +"No," declared Hawtrey with a significant glance at her, "there +certainly isn't, Sally. As a matter of fact, I often wish there was." + +He saw her sudden uncertainty, which was, however, not tinged with +embarrassment, and feeling that he had gone far enough he went out to +put up his team. When he returned there was a cloth on the table, and +Sally was busy about the stove. He sat down and watched her attentively. +In some respects, he thought she compared favorably with Agatha. She had +a nicely molded figure, and a curious lithe gracefulness of carriage +which was suggestive of a strong vitality. Agatha's bearing was usually +characterized by a certain frigid repose. Then Sally's face was at least +as comely as Agatha's, though attractive in a different way, and there +was no reserve in it. Sally was what he thought of as human, frankly +flesh and blood. Her quick smile was, as a rule, provocative, and never +chilled one as Agatha's quiet glances sometimes did. + +"Sally," he said, "you've grown prettier than ever." + +The girl turned partly towards him with a slow, sinuous movement. + +"Now," she replied quickly, "you oughtn't to say those things to me." + +Hawtrey laughed; he was usually sure of his ground with Sally. + +"Why shouldn't I, when I'm telling the truth?" + +"For one thing, Miss Ismay wouldn't like it." + +Gregory's face hardened. "I'm not sure she'd mind. Anyway, Miss Ismay +doesn't like many things I'm in the habit of doing." + +Sally, who had watched him closely, turned away again, but a thrill of +exultation ran through her. It had been with dismay she had first heard +him speak of his marriage, and she had fled home in an agony of anger +and humiliation. That state of mind, however, had not lasted long, and +when it became evident that the wedding was postponed indefinitely, she +began to wonder whether it was quite impossible that Hawtrey should come +back to her. She felt that he belonged to her, although he had never +given her any very definite claim on him. She was primitive and +passionate, but she was determined, and now that he had done what she +had almost expected him to do, she meant to keep him. + +"You have fallen out?" she inquired, and contrived to keep the anxiety +that she was conscious of out of her voice. + +The question, and more particularly the form of it, jarred upon Hawtrey, +but he answered it. + +"Oh, no," he said. "As a matter of fact, Sally, you can't fall out +nicely with everybody. Now when we fell out you got delightfully +angry--I don't know whether you were more delightful then or when you +graciously agreed to make it up again." He laughed. "I almost wish I +could make you a little angry now." + +Sally had moved nearer him to take a kettle off the stove, and she +looked down on him with her eyes shining in the lamplight. She realized +that she would have to fight Miss Ismay for the man; but there was this +in her favor--that she appealed directly to one side of his nature, as +Agatha, even if she had loved him, could not have attracted him. + +"Would you?" she asked. "Dare you try?" + +"I might if I was tempted sufficiently." + +She leaned upon the table still looking at him mockingly, and she was +probably aware that her pose and expression challenged him. Indeed, she +could not have failed to recognize the meaning of the sudden tightening +of his lips, though she did not in the least shrink from it. She had not +the faintest doubt of her ability to keep him at a due distance if it +appeared necessary. + +"Oh," she taunted, "you only say things." + +Hawtrey laughed, and stooping down packed up a package he had brought +from the store. + +"Well," he said, "after all, I think I'd rather try to please you." He +opened the package. "Are these things very much too big for you, Sally?" + +The girl's eyes glistened at the sight of the mittens he held out. They +were very different from the kind she had been in the habit of wearing, +and when he carelessly took out the fur cap she broke into a little cry +of delight. Hawtrey watched her with a curious expression. He was not +quite sure that he had meant Sally to have the things when he had +purchased them, but he was quite contented now. The one gift he had +diffidently offered Agatha since her arrival in Canada had been almost +coldly laid aside. + +In a few minutes Sally laid out supper, and as she waited upon him +daintily or filled his cup Hawtrey thrust the misgivings he had felt +further behind him. Sally, he thought with a feeling of satisfaction, +could certainly cook. When the meal was finished he sat talking about +nothing in particular for almost an hour, and then it occurred to him +that Sally's mother would be back before very long. She was a person he +had no great liking for and he was anxious to go. + +"Well," he said, "I must be getting home. Won't you let me see you with +that cap on?" + +Sally, who betrayed no diffidence, put on the cap, and stood before a +dingy mirror with both hands raised while she pressed it down upon her +gleaming hair. She flashed a smiling glance at him. It was quite +sufficient, and as she turned again Hawtrey slipped forward as softly as +he could. She swung around, however, with a flush in her face and a +forceful restraining gesture. + +"Don't spoil it all, Gregory," she said sharply. + +Hawtrey, who saw that she meant it--which was a cause of some +astonishment to him--dropped his arms that were held out to embrace her. + +"Oh," he said, "if you look at it in that way I'm sorry. Good-night, +Sally!" + +She let him go, but she smiled when he drove away; and half an hour +later she showed the cap and mittens to her mother with significant +candor. Mrs. Creighton, who was a severely practical person, nodded. + +"Well," she said, "he only wants a little managing if he bought you +these, and nobody could say you ran after him." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE FIRST STAKE + + +A fortnight had slipped by since the evening Hawtrey had spent with +Sally, when Winifred and Sproatly once more arrived at the Hastings +homestead. The girl was looking jaded, and it appeared that the manager +of the elevator, who had all along treated her with a great deal of +consideration, had insisted upon her going away for a few days when the +pressure of business which had followed the harvest had slackened. +Sproatly, as usual, had driven her in from the settlement. + +When the evening meal was finished they drew their chairs close up about +the stove, and Hastings thrust fresh birch billets into it, for there +was a bitter frost. Mrs. Hastings installed Winifred in a canvas lounge +and wrapped a shawl about her. + +"You haven't got warm yet, and you're looking quite worn out," she said. +"I suppose Hamilton has still been keeping you at work until late at +night?" + +"We have been very busy since I was last here," Winifred admitted, and +then turned to Hastings. "Until the last week or so there has been no +slackening in the rush to sell. Everybody seems to have been throwing +wheat on to the market." + +Hastings looked thoughtful. "A good many of the smaller men have been +doing so, but I think they're foolish. They're only helping to break +down prices, and I shouldn't wonder if one or two of the big, +long-headed buyers saw their opportunity in the temporary panic. In +fact, if I'd a pile of money lying in the bank I'm not sure that I +wouldn't send along a buying order and operate for a rise." + +Mrs. Hastings shook her head at him. "No," she said; "you certainly +wouldn't while I had any say in the matter. You're rather a good farmer, +but I haven't met one yet who made a successful speculator. Some of our +friends have tried it--and you know where it landed them. I expect those +broker and mortgage men must lick their lips when a nice fat woolly +farmer comes along. It must be quite delightful to shear him." + +Hastings laughed. "I should like to point out that most of the farmers +in this country are decidedly thin, and have uncommonly little wool on +them." Then he turned to the others. "I feel inclined to tell you how +Mrs. Hastings made the expenses of her Paris trip; it's an example of +feminine consistency. She went around the neighborhood and bought up all +the wheat anybody had left on hand, or, at least, she made me do it." + +Mrs. Hastings, who had means of her own, nodded. "That was different," +she declared; "anyway, I had the wheat, and I--knew--it would go up." + +"Then why shouldn't other folks sell forward, for instance, when they +know it will go down? That's not what I suggested doing, but the point's +the same." + +"They haven't got the wheat." + +"Of course; they wouldn't operate for a fall if they had. On the other +hand, if their anticipations proved correct, they could buy it for less +than they sold at before they had to deliver." + +"That," asserted Mrs. Hastings severely, "is pure gambling. It's sure to +land one in the hands of the mortgage jobber." + +Hastings smiled at the others. "As a matter of fact, it not infrequently +does, but I want you to note the subtle distinction. The thing's quite +legitimate if you've only got the wheat in a bag. In such a case you +must naturally operate for a rise." + +"There's a good deal to be said for that point of view," observed +Sproatly. "You can keep the wheat if you're not satisfied, but when you +try the other plan the margin that may vanish at any moment is the +danger. I suppose Gregory has still been selling the Range wheat, +Winifred?" + +"I believe we have sent on every bushel." + +Sproatly exchanged a significant glance with Hastings, whose face once +more grew thoughtful. + +"Then," remarked Hastings, "if he's wise he'll stop at that." + +Mrs. Hastings changed the subject, and drew her chair closer in to the +stove, which snapped and crackled cheerfully. + +"It must be a lot colder where Harry is," she said with a shiver. + +She flashed a swift glance at Agatha, and saw the girl's expression +change, but Sproatly broke in again. + +"It was bad enough driving in from the railroad this afternoon," he +said. "Winifred was almost frozen. That is why I didn't go round for the +pattern mat--I think that's what Creighton said it was--Mrs. Creighton +borrowed from you. I met him at the settlement a day or two ago." + +Mrs. Hastings said that he could bring it another time, and while the +rest talked of something else Winifred turned to Agatha. + +"It really was horribly cold, and I almost fancied one of my hands was +frost-nipped," she said. "As it happens, I can't buy mittens like your +new ones." + +"My new ones?" questioned Agatha. + +"The ones Gregory bought you." + +Agatha laughed. "My dear, he never gave me any." + +Winifred looked puzzled. "Well," she persisted, "he certainly bought +them, and a fur cap, too. I was in the store when he did it, though I +don't think he noticed me. They were lovely mittens--such a pretty brown +fur." + +Just then Mrs. Hastings, unobserved by either of them, looked up and +caught Sproatly's eye. His face became suddenly expressionless, and he +looked away. + +"When was that?" Agatha asked. + +"A fortnight ago, anyway." + +Agatha sat silent, and was glad when Mrs. Hastings asked Winifred a +question. She desired no gifts from Gregory, but since he had bought the +cap and mittens she wondered what he could have done with them. It was +disconcerting to feel that, while he evidently meant to hold her to her +promise, he must have given them to somebody else. She had never heard +of his acquaintance with Sally Creighton, but it struck her as curious +that although the six months' delay he had granted her had lately +expired, he had neither sent her any word nor called at the homestead. + +A few minutes later Mrs. Hastings took up a basket of sewing and moved +towards the door. Sproatly, who rose as she approached him, drew aside +his chair, and she handed the basket to him. + +"You can carry it if you like," she said. + +Sproatly took the basket, and followed her into another room, where he +sat it down. + +"Well?" he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. + +Mrs. Hastings regarded him thoughtfully. "I wonder if you know what +Gregory did with those mittens?" + +"I'm rather pleased that I can assure that I don't." + +"Do you imagine that he kept them?" + +"I'm afraid I haven't an opinion on that point." + +"Still, if I said that I felt certain he had given them to somebody you +would have some idea as to who it would probably be?" + +"Well," confessed Sproatly reluctantly, "if you insist upon it, I must +admit that I could make a guess." + +Mrs. Hastings smiled in a manner which suggested comprehension. "So +could I," she said. "I shouldn't wonder if we both guessed right. Now +you may as well go back to the others." + +Sproatly, who made no answer, turned away, and he was talking to Agatha +when, half an hour later, a wagon drew up outside the door. In another +minute or two he leaned forward in amused expectation as Sally walked +into the room. + +"I'm going on to Lander's, and just called to bring back the mat you +lent us," she said to Mrs. Hastings. "Sproatly was to have come for it, +but he didn't?" + +Sproatly, who said he was sorry, fixed his eyes on her. It was clear to +him that Agatha did not understand the situation, but he fancied that +Sally was filled with an almost belligerent satisfaction. She was +wearing a smart fur cap, and in one hand she carried a pair of new fur +mittens which she had just taken off. Sproatly, who glanced at them, +noticed that Winifred did the same. Then Mrs. Hastings spoke. + +"I don't think you have met Miss Ismay, Sally," she said. + +Sally merely acknowledged that she had not been introduced, and Sproatly +became more sure that the situation was an interesting one, when Mrs. +Hastings formally presented her. It was clear to him that Agatha was +somewhat puzzled by Sally's attitude. + +As a matter of fact, Agatha, who said that she must have had a cold +drive, was regarding the new arrival with a curiosity that she had not +expected to feel when the girl first came in. Miss Creighton, she +admitted, was comely, though she was clearly somewhat primitive and +crude. The long skin coat she wore hid her figure, but her pose was too +virile; and there was a look which mystified Agatha in her eyes. It was +almost openly hostile, and there was a suggestion of triumph in it. +Agatha, who could find no possible reason for this, resented it. + +Sally had remained standing, and, as she said nothing further, there was +an awkward silence. She was the dominant figure in the room, and the +others became sensible of a slight constraint and embarrassment as she +gazed at Agatha with unwavering eyes. In fact, it was rather a relief to +them when at last she turned to Mrs. Hastings. + +"I can't stop. It wouldn't do to leave the team in this frost," said +she. + +This was so evident that they let her go, and Mrs. Hastings, who went +with her to the door, afterwards sat down beside Sproatly a little apart +from the rest. + +"I've no doubt you noticed those mittens," she commented softly. + +"I did," Sproatly admitted. "I think you can rely upon my discretion. If +you hadn't wanted this assurance I don't suppose you'd have said +anything upon the subject. It, however, seems very probable that +Winifred noticed them, too." + +"Does that mean you're not sure that Winifred's discretion is equal to +your own?" + +Sproatly's eyes twinkled. "In this particular case the trouble is that +she's animated by a sincere attachment to Miss Ismay, and has, I +understand, a rather poor opinion of Gregory. Of course, I don't know +how far your views on that point coincide with hers." + +"Do you expect me to explain them to you?" + +"No," answered Sproatly, "I'm only anxious to keep out of the thing. +Gregory is a friend of mine, and, after all, he has his strong points. I +should, however, like to mention that Winifred's expression suggests +that she's thinking of something." + +Mrs. Hastings smiled. "Then I must endeavor to have a word or two with +her." + +She left him with this, and not long afterwards she and Winifred went +out together. When the others were retiring she detained Agatha for a +minute or two in the empty room. + +"Haven't the six months Gregory gave you run out yet?" she asked. + +Agatha said they had, but she spoke in a careless tone and it was +evident that she had attached no particular significance to the fact +that Sally had worn a new fur cap. + +"He hasn't been over to see you since." + +The girl, who admitted it, looked troubled. Mrs. Hastings laid a hand +upon her shoulder. + +"My dear," she said, "if he does come you must put him off." + +"Why?" Agatha asked, in a low, strained voice. + +"For one thing, because we want to keep you." Mrs. Hastings looked at +her with a very friendly smile. "Are you very anxious to make it up with +Gregory?" A shiver ran through the girl. "Oh," she exclaimed, "I can't +answer you that! I must do what is right!" + +To her astonishment, Mrs. Hastings drew her a little nearer, stooped and +kissed her. + +"Most of us, I believe, have that wish, but the thing is often horribly +complex," she said. "Anyway, you must put Gregory off again, if it's +only for another month or two. I fancy you will not find it difficult." + +She turned away, thus ending the conversation, but her manner had been +so significant that Agatha, who did not sleep well that night, decided, +if it was possible, to act on the well-meant advice. + +It happened that a little dapper man who was largely interested in the +land agency and general mortgage business spent that evening with +Hawtrey in Wyllard's room at the Range. He had driven around by +Hawtrey's homestead earlier in the afternoon, and had deduced a good +deal from the state of it, though this was a point he kept to himself. +Now he lay on a lounge chair beside the stove smoking one of Wyllard's +cigars and unobtrusively watching his companion. There was a roll of +bills in his pocket with which Gregory had very reluctantly parted. + +"In view of the fall in wheat it must have been rather a pull for you to +pay me that interest," he remarked. + +"It certainly was," Hawtrey admitted with a rueful smile. "I'm sorry it +had to be done." + +"I don't quite see how you made it," persisted the other man. "What you +got for your wheat couldn't have done much more than cover working +expenses." + +Hawtrey laughed. He was quite aware that his visitor's profession was +not one that was regarded with any great favor by the prairie farmers, +but he was never particularly cautious, and he rather liked the man. + +"As a matter of fact, it didn't, Edmonds," he confessed. "You see, I +practically paid you out of what I get for running this place. The red +wheat Wyllard raises generally commands a cent or two a bushel more from +the big milling people than anything put on the market round here." + +Edmonds made a sign of agreement. He had without directly requesting him +to do so led Hawtrey into showing him around the Range that afternoon, +and having of necessity a practical knowledge of farming he had been +impressed by all that he had noticed. The farm, which was a big one, had +evidently been ably managed until a recent date, and he felt the +strongest desire to get his hands on it. This, as he knew, would have +been out of the question had Wyllard been at home, but with Hawtrey, +upon whom he had a certain hold, in charge, the thing appeared by no +means impossible. + +"Oh, yes," he replied. "I suppose he was reasonably liberal over your +salary." + +"I don't get one. I take a share of the margin after everything is +paid." + +Edmonds carefully noted this. He was not sure that such an arrangement +would warrant one in regarding Hawtrey as Wyllard's partner, but he +meant to gather a little more information upon that point. + +"If wheat keeps on dropping there won't be any margin at all next year, +and that's what I'm inclined to figure on," he declared. "There are, +however, ways a man with nerve could turn it to account." + +"You mean by selling wheat down." + +"Yes," said Edmonds, "that's just what I mean. Of course, there is a +certain hazard in the thing. You can never be quite sure how the market +will go, but the signs everywhere point to still cheaper wheat next +year." + +"That's your view?" + +Edmonds smiled, and took out of his pocket a little bundle of market +reports. + +"Other folks seem to share it in Winnipeg, Chicago, New York, and +Liverpool. You can't get behind these stock statistics, though, of +course, dead low prices are apt to cut the output." + +Hawtrey read the reports with evident interest. All were in the same +pessimistic strain, and he could not know that the money-lender had +carefully selected them with a view to the effect he hoped to produce. +Edmonds, who saw the interest in Hawtrey's eyes, leaned towards him +confidentially when he spoke again. + +"I don't mind admitting that I'm taking a hand in a big bear operation," +he said. "It's rather outside my usual business, but the thing looks +almost certain." + +Hawtrey glanced at him with a gleam in his eyes. There was no doubt that +the prospect of acquiring money by an easier method than toiling in the +rain and wind appealed to him. + +"If it's good enough for you it should be safe," he remarked. "The +trouble is that I've nothing to put in." + +"Then you're not empowered to lay out Wyllard's money. If that was the +case it shouldn't be difficult to pile up a bigger margin than you're +likely to do by farming." + +Hawtrey started, for the idea had already crept into his mind. + +"In a way, I am, but I'm not sure that I'm warranted in operating on the +market with it." + +"Have you the arrangement you made with him in writing?" + +Hawtrey opened a drawer, and Edmonds betrayed no sign of the +satisfaction he felt when he was handed an informally worded document. +He perused it carefully, and it seemed to him that it constituted +Hawtrey a partner in the Range, which was satisfactory. He looked up +thoughtfully. + +"Now," he said, "while I naturally can't tell what Wyllard contemplated, +this paper certainly gives you power to do anything you think advisable +with his money. In any case, I understand that he can't be back until +well on in next year." + +"I shouldn't expect him until late in the summer, anyway." + +There was silence for a moment or two, and during it Hawtrey's face grew +set. It was unpleasant to look forward to the time when he would be +required to relinquish the charge of the Range, and of late he had been +wondering how he could make the most of the situation. Then Edmonds +spoke again. + +"It's almost certain that the operation I suggested can result only one +way, and it appears most unlikely that Wyllard would raise any trouble +if you handed him several thousand dollars over and above what you had +made by farming. I can't imagine a man objecting to that kind of thing." + +Hawtrey sat still with indecision in his eyes for half a minute, and +Edmonds, who was too wise to say anything, leaned back in his chair. +Then Hawtrey turned to the drawer again with an air of sudden +resolution. + +"I'll give you a check for a couple of thousand dollars, which is as far +as I care to go just now," he announced with studied carelessness. + +He took a pen, and Edmonds watched him with quiet amusement as he wrote. +As a matter of fact, Hawtrey was in one respect, at least, perfectly +safe in entrusting the money to him. Edmonds had deprived a good many +prairie farmers of their possessions in his time, but he never stooped +to any crude trickery. He left that to the smaller fry. Just then he was +playing a deep and cleverly thought-out game. + +He pocketed the check that Hawtrey gave him, and then discussed other +subjects for half an hour or so before he rose to go. + +"You might ask them to get my team out. I've some business at Lander's +and have ordered a room there," he said. "I'll send you a line when +there's any change in the market." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GREGORY MAKES UP HIS MIND + + +Wheat was still being flung on to a lifeless market when Hawtrey walked +out of the mortgage jobber's place of business in the railroad +settlement one bitter afternoon. He had a big roll of paper money in his +pocket, and was feeling particularly pleased with himself, for prices +had steadily fallen since he had joined in the bear operation Edmonds +had suggested, and the result of it had proved eminently satisfactory. +This was why he had just given Edmonds a further draft on Wyllard's +bank, with instructions to sell wheat down on a more extensive scale. He +meant to operate in earnest now, which was exactly what the broker had +anticipated, but in this case Edmonds had decided to let Hawtrey operate +alone. Indeed, being an astute and far-seeing man, the broker had gone +so far as to hint that caution might be advisable, though he had at the +same time been careful to show Hawtrey only those market reports which +had a distinctly pessimistic tone. Edmonds was rather disposed to agree +with the men who looked forward to a reaction before very long. + +Hawtrey glanced about him as he strode down the street. It was wholly +unpaved, and deeply rutted, but the drifted snow had partly filled the +hollows, and it did not look very much rougher than it would have +appeared if somebody had recently driven a plow through it. Along both +sides of it ran a rude plank sidewalk, raised a foot or two above the +ground, so that foot-passengers might escape the mire of the thaw in +spring. Immediately behind the sidewalk squat, weatherbeaten, frame +houses, all of much the same pattern, rose abruptly. On some of the +houses the fronts, carried up as high as the ridge of the shingled roof, +had an unpleasantly square appearance. Here and there a dilapidated +wagon stood with lowered pole before a store, but it was a particularly +bitter afternoon, and there was nobody out of doors. The place looked +desolate and forlorn, with a leaden sky hanging over it and an icy wind +sweeping through the streets. + +Hawtrey strode along briskly until he reached the open space which +divided the little wooden town from the unfenced railroad track. It was +strewn with fine dusty snow, and the huge bulk of the grain elevators +towered high above it against the lowering sky. A freight locomotive was +just hauling a long string of wheat cars out of a sidetrack. The +locomotive stopped presently, and though Hawtrey could not see anything +beyond the big cars, he knew by the shouts which broke out that +something unusual was going on. He was expecting Sally, who was going +east to Brandon by a train due in an hour or two. + +When the shouts grew a little louder he walked around in front of the +locomotive, which stood still with the steam blowing noisily from a +valve, and he saw the cause of the commotion. A pair of vicious, +half-broken bronchos were backing a light wagon away from the locomotive +on the other side of the track, and a fur-wrapped figure sat stiffly on +the driving seat. Hawtrey called out and ran suddenly forward as he saw +that it was Sally who was in peril. + +Just then one of the horses lifted its fore hoofs off the ground, and +being jerked back by the pole plunged and kicked furiously, until the +other horse flung up its head and the wagon went backward with a run. +Then they stopped, and there was a series of resounding crashes against +the front of the vehicle. Hawtrey was within a pace or two of the wagon +when Sally recognized him. + +"Keep off," she cried, "you can't lead them! They don't want to cross +the track, but they've got to if I pull the jaws off them." + +This was more forcible than elegant, and the shrill harshness of the +girl's voice jarred upon Hawtrey, though he was getting accustomed to +Sally's phraseology. He understood that she would not have his help, +even if it would have been of much avail, which was doubtful, and he +reluctantly moved back toward the group of loungers who were watching +her. + +"I guess you've no call to worry about her," said one of the men. "She's +holding them on the lowest notch, and it's a mighty powerful bit fixing. +Besides, that girl could drive anything that goes on four legs." + +"Sure," said one of the others. "She's a daisy." + +Hawtrey was annoyed to notice that in place of being embarrassed Sally +evidently rather enjoyed the situation, though several of the +freight-train and station hands had now joined the group of loungers and +were cheering her on. He had already satisfied himself that she had not +a trace of fear. In another moment or two, however, he forgot his slight +sense of disapproval, for Sally, sitting tense and strung up on the +driving seat with a glow in her cheeks and a snap in her eyes, was +wholly admirable. There was lithe grace, strength, and resolution in +every line of her fur-wrapped figure. It is possible that her appearance +would have been less effective in a drawing-room, but in the wagon she +was in her place and in harmony with her surroundings. Lowering sky, +gleaming snow, fur-clad men, and even the big, dingy locomotive, all +fitted curiously into the scene, and she made an imposing central figure +as she contended with the half-tamed team. Hawtrey was conscious of a +tumult of emotion as he watched her. + +The struggle with the team lasted for several minutes, during which the +horses plunged and kicked again, until Sally stood boldly erect a moment +while the wagon rocked to and fro. Her tall, straight figure was +commanding and her face with a tress of loosened hair streaming out +beneath her fur cap was glowing with excitement. Again and again she +swung the stinging whip. Then it seemed that the team had had enough, +for as she dropped lightly back into the seat the bronchos broke into a +gallop, and in another moment the wagon, jolting noisily as it bounced +across the track, vanished behind the locomotive. Gregory heard a shout +of acclamation as he turned and hurried after it. + +Sally drove right through the settlement and back outside it before she +could check the horses, and she had just pulled them up in front of the +wooden hotel when Hawtrey reached it. He stood beside the wagon holding +up his hand to her, and Sally, who laughed, dropped bodily into his +arms, which was, as he realized, a thing that Agatha certainly would not +have done. He set Sally down upon the sidewalk, and when a man came out +to take the team Hawtrey took her into the hotel. + +"It was the locomotive that did it," she explained. "They were most too +scared for anything, but I hate to be beaten by a team. Ours know too +much to try, but I got Haslem to drive me in. I dropped him at Norton's, +who'll bring him on." + +"He oughtn't to have left you with them," said Hawtrey severely. + +Sally laughed. "Well," she replied, "I'd quit driving if I couldn't +handle any team you or Haslem could put the harness on." + +The hotels in the smaller prairie settlements offer one very little +comfort or privacy. As a rule they contain two general rooms, in one of +which the three daily meals are served with a punctuality which is as +unvarying as the menu. The traveler who arrives a few minutes too late +for one meal must wait until the next is ready. The second room usually +contains a rusty stove, and a few uncomfortable benches; and there are +not infrequently a couple of rows of very small match-boarded cubicles +on the floor overhead. The Occident was, however, a notable exception. +For one thing, the building was unusually large, and its proprietor had +condescended to study the requirements of his guests, who came from the +outlying settlements. There were two rooms above the general lounging +place on the first floor, one of which was reserved for the wives and +daughters of the farmers who drove in long distances to purchase stores +or clothing. In the other, dry-goods traveling men were permitted to +display their wares, and privileged customers who wished to leave by a +train, the departure of which did not correspond with the hotel +arrangements, were occasionally supplied with meals. + +It was getting dusk when Hawtrey and Sally entered the first of the two +rooms, where the proprietor's wife was just lighting the big lamp. The +woman smiled at Gregory, who was a favorite of hers. + +"Go right along, and I'll bring your supper up in a minute or two," she +said. "I guess you'll want it after your drive." + +Hawtrey strode on down a short corridor towards the second room, but +Sally stopped behind him a moment. + +"Is Hastings in town?" she asked. "I thought I saw his new wagon +outside." + +"His wife is," said the other woman. "She and Miss Ismay drove in to buy +some things." + +Sally asked no further questions. It was evident that Mrs. Hastings +would not start home until after supper, and as the regular hour meal +would be ready in about half an hour it seemed certain that she would +come back to the hotel very shortly. That left Sally very little time, +for she had no desire that Hawtrey should meet either Mrs. Hastings or +Agatha until she had carried out the purpose she had in hand. It was at +Gregory's special request that she had permitted him to drive in to see +her off, and she meant to make the most of the opportunity. She had long +ago regretted her folly in running away from his homestead when he lay +helpless, but things had changed considerably since then. + +When she entered the second room, she said nothing to Hawtrey about what +she had heard. The room was cozily warm and brightly lighted, and the +little table was laid for two with a daintiness very uncommon on the +prairie. It was a change for Sally to be waited on and to have a meal +set before her which she had not prepared with her own fingers, and she +sank into a chair with a smile of appreciation. + +"It's real nice, Gregory," she remarked. "Supper's never quite the same +when you've had to stand over the stove ever so long getting it ready." +She sighed. "When I have to do that after working hard all day I don't +want to eat." + +The man felt compassionate. Sally, as he was aware, had to work +unusually hard at the desolate homestead where she and her mother +perforce undertook a great many duties that do not generally fall to a +woman. Creighton, who was getting to be an old man, was of a grasping +nature, and hired assistance only when it was indispensable. + +"Well," Hawtrey responded, "I'm not particularly fond of cooking +either." + +Sally glanced at him with a provoking smile, for he had given her a +lead. "Then," she asked with a coquettish raising of the eyebrows, "why +don't you get somebody else to do it for you?" + +This was, as Gregory recognized, almost painfully direct, but there was +no doubt that Sally looked very pretty with the faint flush of color in +her cheeks and the tantalizing light in her eyes. + +"As a matter of fact, that's a thing I've been thinking over rather +often the last few months," he said, and he laughed. "It's rather a pity +you don't seem to like cooking, Sally." + +Sally appeared to consider this. "Oh," she said, "it depends a lot on +who it's for." + +Hawtrey became suddenly serious for a moment or two. There was no doubt +that at one time he would have considered it impossible that he should +marry a girl of Sally's description, and even now he had misgivings. He +had, however, almost made up his mind, and he was not exactly pleased +that the proprietor's wife came in with the meal, and stayed to talk a +while. + +When the woman went out he watched Sally with close and what he imagined +was unobtrusive attention while she ate, and though he was aware of the +indelicacy of his scrutiny, he was relieved to find that she did nothing +that was actually repugnant to him. There was a certain daintiness about +the girl, and her frank appreciation of the good things set before her +only amused him. She was certainly much more companionable than Agatha +had been since she came out to Canada, and her cheerful laughter had a +pleasant ring. + +When at last the meal was over Sally bade Gregory draw her chair up to +the stove. + +"Now," she said, as she pointed to another chair across the room, "you +can sit yonder and smoke. I know you want to." + +Hawtrey remembered that Agatha did not like tobacco smoke, and always +had been inclined to exact a certain conventional deference which he had +grown to regard as rather out of place upon the prairie. + +"My chair's a very long way off," he objected. + +Sally showed no sign of conceding the point as he had expected, and he +took out his pipe. He wanted to think, for once more instincts deep down +in him stirred in faint protest against what he almost meant to do. +There were also several points that required practical consideration, +and among them were his financial difficulties, though these did not +trouble him so much as they had done a few months earlier. For a minute +or two neither of them said anything, and then Sally spoke again. + +"You're worrying about something, Gregory," she said. + +Hawtrey admitted it. "Yes," he replied, "I am. My place is a poor one, +and when Wyllard comes home I shall have to go back to it again. Things +would be so much easier for me just now if I had the Range." + +The girl looked at him steadily with reproach in her eyes. + +"Oh," she said, "your place is quite big enough if you'd only take hold +and run it as it ought to be run. You could surely do it, Gregory, if +you tried." + +The man's resistance grew feebler, as it usually did when his prudence +was at variance with his desires. Sally's words were in this case wholly +guileless, as he recognized, and they stirred him. He made no comment, +however, and she spoke again. + +"Isn't it worth while, though there are things you would have to give +up?" she asked. "You couldn't go away and waste your money in Winnipeg +every now and then." + +Hawtrey laughed. "No," he admitted; "I suppose if I meant to make +anything of the place that couldn't be done. Still, you see, it's +horribly lonely sitting by oneself beside the stove in the long winter +nights. I wouldn't want to go to Winnipeg if I had only somebody to keep +me company." + +He turned towards her suddenly with decision in his face, and Sally +lowered her eyes. + +"Don't you think you could get anybody if you tried?" she inquired. + +"The trouble," said Hawtrey gravely, "is that I have so little to offer. +It's a poor place, and I'm almost afraid, Sally, that I'm rather a poor +farmer. As you have once or twice pointed out, I don't stay with things. +Still, it might be different if there was any particular reason why I +should." + +He rose, and crossing the room, stood close beside her chair. "Sally," +he added, "would you be afraid to take hold and see what you could make +of the place and me? Perhaps you could make something, though it would +probably be very hard work, my dear." + +The blood surged into the girl's face, and she looked up at him with +open triumph in her eyes. It was her hour, and Sally, as it happened, +was not afraid of anything. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed; "you really want me?" + +"Yes," said Hawtrey quietly; "I think I have wanted you for ever so +long, though I did not know it until lately." + +"Then," she said, "I'll do what I can, Gregory." + +[Illustration: "'WOULD YOU BE AFRAID TO SEE WHAT YOU COULD MAKE OF +THE PLACE AND ME?'" (Page 242)] + +Hawtrey bent his head and kissed her with a deference that he had not +expected to feel, for there was something in the girl's simplicity and +the completeness of her surrender which, though the thing seemed +astonishing, laid a restraint on him. As he sat down on the arm of her +chair with a hand upon her shoulder, he was more astonished still, for +she quietly made it clear that she expected a good deal from him. For +one thing, he realized that she meant him to take and to keep a foremost +place among his neighbors, and, though Sally had not the gift of clear +and imaginative expression, it became apparent that this was less for +her own sake than his. She was, with somewhat crude forcefulness, trying +to arouse a sense of responsibility in the man, to incite him to +resolute action and wholesome restraint, and, as he remembered what he +had hitherto thought of her, a salutary sense of confusion crept upon +him. + +She seemed to recognize it, for at length she glanced up at him sharply. + +"What is it, Gregory? Why do you look at me like that?" she asked. + +Hawtrey smiled in a perplexed fashion. Hitherto she had made her appeal +through his senses to one side of his nature only. There was no doubt on +that point, but now it seemed there were in her qualities he had never +suspected. She had desired him as a husband, but it was becoming clear +that she would not be content with the mere possession of him. Sally, it +seemed, had wider ideas in her mind, and, though the idea seemed almost +ludicrous, she wanted to be proud of him. + +"My dear," he faltered, "I can't quite tell you--but you have made me +heartily ashamed. I'm afraid it's a very rash thing you are going to +do." + +She looked at him with candid anxiety, and then appeared to dismiss the +subject with a smile. + +"There is so much I want to say, and it mayn't be so easy--afterwards," +she said. "It's a pity the train starts so soon." + +"We can get over that difficulty, anyway," said Hawtrey. "I'll come on +as far as I can with you, and get back from one of the way stations by +the Pacific express." + +Sally made no objections, and drawing a little closer to him she talked +on in a low voice. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PAINFUL REVELATION + + +A sprinkle of snow was driving down the unpaved street before the biting +wind, when Mrs. Hastings came out of a store in the settlement and +handed Sproatly, who was waiting close by, several big packages. + +"You can put them into the wagon, and tell Jake we'll want the team as +soon as supper's over," she said. "We're going to stay with Mrs. Ormond +to-night, and I don't want to get there too late." + +Sproatly took the parcels, and Mrs. Hastings turned to Agatha, who stood +a pace or two behind her with Winifred. + +"Now," she announced, "if there's nothing else you want to buy we'll go +across to the hotel." + +They were standing in a big comfortless room in the hotel when Sproatly +rejoined them. + +"This place is quite shivery," observed Mrs. Hastings. "They generally +have the stove lighted in the little room along the corridor. Go and +see, Jim." + +Sproatly went out. It happened that he was wearing rubber boots, which +make very little noise. He proceeded along the dark corridor, and then +stopped abruptly when he had almost reached a partly-open door, for he +could see into a lighted room. Hawtrey was sitting near the stove on the +arm of Sally's chair. + +Though he was not greatly surprised, Sproatly drew back a pace or two +into the shadow, for it became evident that there were only two courses +open to him. He could judiciously announce his presence by making the +door rattle, and then go in and mention as casually as possible that +Mrs. Hastings and Agatha were in the hotel. He felt that he ought to do +it, but there was the difficulty that he could not warn Hawtrey without +embarrassing Sally. Sproatly hesitated in honest doubt as it became +evident that the situation was a delicate one. He decided on the +alternative. He would go back quietly, and keep Mrs. Hastings out of the +room if it could be done. + +"I think you would be just as comfortable where you are," he informed +her when he joined the others. + +"I'm rather doubtful," declared Mrs. Hastings. "Wasn't the stove +lighted?" + +"Yes," answered Sproatly, "I fancy it was." + +"But I sent you to make sure." + +"The fact is, I didn't go in," said Sproatly uneasily. "There's somebody +in the room already." + +"Any of the boys would go out if they knew we wanted it." + +"Oh, yes," acquiesced Sproatly. "Still, you see, it's only a small room, +and one of them has been smoking." + +Mrs. Hastings flashed a keen glance at him, and then smiled in a manner +he did not like. It suggested that while she yielded to his objections +she had by no means abandoned the subject. + +"Well," she said, "what shall we do until supper? This stove won't draw +properly, and I don't feel inclined to sit shivering here." + +Then Sproatly was seized by what proved to be a singularly unfortunate +inspiration. + +"It's really not snowing much, and we'll go down to the depot and watch +the Atlantic express come in," he suggested. "It's one of the things +everybody does." + +This was, as a matter of fact, correct. There are not many amusements +open to the inhabitants of the smaller settlements along the railroad +track, and the arrival of the infrequent trains is a source of +unflagging interest. Mrs. Hastings fell in with the suggestion, and +Sproatly was congratulating himself upon his diplomacy, when Agatha +stopped as they reached the door of the hotel. + +"Oh," she said, "I've only brought one of my mittens." + +"I'll go back for the other," responded Sproatly promptly. + +"You don't know where I left it." + +"Then I'll lend you one of mine. It will certainly go on," the man +persisted. + +Agatha objected to this, and Sproatly, who fancied that Mrs. Hastings +was watching him, let her go, after which he and the others moved out +into the street. Agatha ran back to the room they had left, and, finding +the mitten, had reached the head of the stairway when she heard voices +behind her in the corridor. She recognized them, and turned in sudden +astonishment. Standing in the shadow she involuntarily waited. Not far +away a stream of light from the door of the room shone out into the +corridor. Next moment Hawtrey and Sally approached the door, and as the +light fell upon them the blood surged into Agatha's face, for she +remembered the embarrassment in Sproatly's manner, and that he had done +all he could to prevent her from going back for the mitten. + +Hawtrey spoke to Sally, and there was no doubt whatever that he called +her "My dear." Filled with burning indignation, Agatha stood still for a +moment and they were almost upon her before she turned and fled +precipitately down the stairway. She felt that this was horribly +undignified, but she could not stay and face them. When she overtook the +others she had recovered her outward composure, and they went on +together toward the track. As yet she was conscious only of anger at +Gregory's treachery. That feeling possessed her too completely for her +to be conscious of anything else. + +Cold as it was, there were a good many loungers in the station, and +Sproatly, who spoke to one or two of them, led his party away from the +little shed where they loitered, and walked briskly up and down beside +the track until a speck of blinking light rose out of the white +wilderness. The light grew rapidly larger, until they could make out a +trail of smoke behind it, and the roar of wheels rose in a long +crescendo. Then a bell commenced to toll, and the blaze of a big lamp +beat into their faces as the great locomotive came clanking into the +station. + +The locomotive stopped, and the light from the long car windows fell +upon the groups of watching fur-clad men, while here and there a shadowy +object that showed black against it leaned out from a platform. There +was, however, no sign of any passengers for the train until at the last +moment two figures appeared hurrying along. They drew nearer, and Agatha +set her lips tight as she recognized them, for the light from a +vestibule shone into Hawtrey's face as he half lifted Sally on to one of +the platforms and sprang up after her. Then the bell tolled again, and +the train slid slowly out of the station with its lights flashing upon +the snow. + +Agatha turned away abruptly and walked a little apart from the rest. The +thing, she felt, admitted of only one explanation. Sproatly's diplomacy +had had a most unfortunate result, and she was sensible of an +intolerable disgust. She had kept faith with Gregory, at least as far as +it was possible, and he had utterly humiliated her. The affront he had +put upon her was almost unbearable. + +In the meanwhile, Mrs. Hastings walked up to Sproatly, who, feeling +distinctly uncomfortable, had drawn back judiciously into the shadow. + +"Now," she said, "I understand. You, of course, anticipated this." + +"I didn't," declared Sproatly with a decision which carried conviction +with it. "I certainly saw them at the hotel, but how could I imagine +that they had anything of the kind in view?" + +He broke off for a moment, and waved his hand. "After all," he added, +"what right have you to think it now?" + +Mrs. Hastings laughed somewhat harshly. "Unfortunately, I have my eyes, +but I'll admit that there's a certain obligation on me to make quite +certain before going any further. That's why I want you to ascertain +where he checked his baggage to." + +"I'm afraid that's more than I'm willing to undertake. Do you consider +it advisable to set the station agent wondering about the thing? +Besides, once or twice in my career appearances have been rather badly +against me, and I'm not altogether convinced yet." + +Mrs. Hastings let the matter drop, and they went back rather silently to +the hotel. As soon as supper was past, Mrs. Hastings bade Sproatly get +their wagon out and she drove away with Agatha. During the long, cold +journey she said very little to the girl, and they had no opportunity of +private conversation when they reached the homestead where they were to +spend the night. Agatha hated herself for the thought in her mind, but +everything seemed to warrant it, and it would not be driven out. She had +heard what Gregory had called Sally at the hotel, and the fact that he +must have bought his ticket and checked his baggage earlier in the +afternoon when there was nobody about, so that he could run down with +Sally at the last moment, evidently in order to escape observation, was +very significant. + +The two women went home next day, and on the following morning a man, +who was driving in to Lander's, brought Mrs. Hastings a note from +Sproatly. It was very brief, and ran: + +"Gregory arrived same night by Pacific train. It is evident he must have +got off at the next station down the line." + +Mrs. Hastings showed it to her husband. + +"I'm afraid we have been too hasty. What am I to do with this?" she +said. + +Hastings smiled. "Since you ask my advice, I'd put it into the stove." + +"But it clears the man. Isn't it my duty to show it to Agatha?" + +"Well," said Hastings reflectively, "I'm not sure that it is your duty +to put ideas into her mind when you can't be quite certain that she has +entertained them." + +"I should be greatly astonished if she hadn't," answered Mrs. Hastings. + +Hastings made an expressive gesture. "Oh," he remarked, "you'll no doubt +do what you think wisest. When you come to me for advice you have +usually made up your mind, and you merely expect me to tell you that +you're right." + +Mrs. Hastings thought over the matter for another hour or two. For one +thing, Agatha's quiet manner puzzled her, and she did not know that the +girl had passed a night in agony of anger and humiliation, and had then +become conscious of a relief of which she was ashamed. There was, +however, no doubt that while Agatha blamed herself in some degree for +what had happened, she did feel as if a weight had been lifted from her +heart. She was sitting alone in a shadowy room watching the light die +off the snowy prairie outside, when Mrs. Hastings came softly in and sat +down beside her. + +"My dear," said Mrs. Hastings, "it's rather difficult to speak of, but +that little scene at the station must have hurt you." + +Agatha looked at her quietly and searchingly, but there was only +sympathy in her face, and she leaned forward impulsively. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "it hurt me horribly, because I feel it was my +fault. I was the cause of it!" + +"How could that be?" + +"If I had only been kinder to Gregory he would, perhaps, never have +thought of that girl. I must have made it clear that he jarred upon me. I +drove him"--Agatha turned her face away, while her voice trembled--"into +that woman's arms. No doubt she was ready to make the most of the +opportunity." + +Mrs. Hastings thought that the girl's scorn and disgust were perfectly +natural, even though, as it happened, they were not quite warranted. + +"In the first place," she suggested, "I think you had better read this +note." + +Agatha took the note, and there was light enough left to show that the +blood had crept into her face when she laid it down again. For almost a +minute she sat very still. + +"It is a great relief to know that I was wrong--in one respect, but you +must not think I hated this girl because Gregory had preferred her to +me," she said at last. "When the first shock had passed, there was an +almost horrible satisfaction in feeling that he had released me--at any +cost. I suppose I shall always be ashamed of that." + +She broke off a moment, and her voice was very steady when she went on +again: + +"Still, what Sproatly says does not alter the case so much after all. It +can't free me of my responsibility. If I hadn't driven him, Gregory +would not have gone to her." + +"You consider that in itself a very dreadful thing?" + +Agatha looked at Mrs. Hastings with suddenly lifted head. "Of course," +she answered. "Can you doubt it?" + +Mrs. Hastings laughed, though there was a little gleam in her eyes, for +this was an opportunity for which she had been waiting. + +"Then," she said, "you spoke like an Englishwoman--of station--just out +from the Old Country--but I'm going to try to disabuse you of one +impression. Sally, to put it crudely, is quite good enough for Gregory. +In fact, if she had been my daughter I'd have kept him away from her. To +begin with, once you strip Gregory of his little surface graces, and his +clean English intonation, how does he compare with the men you meet out +here? What does his superiority consist of? Is he truer or kinder than +you have found most of them to be? Has he a finer courage, or a more +resolute endurance--a greater capacity for labor, or a clearer knowledge +of the calling by which he makes his living?" + +Agatha did not answer. She could not protest that Gregory possessed any +of these qualities, and Mrs. Hastings continued: + +"Has he even a more handsome person? I could point to a dozen men +between here and the railroad, whose clean, self-denying lives have set +a stamp on them that Gregory will never wear. To descend to perhaps the +lowest point of all, has he more money? We know he wasted what he +had--probably in indulgence--and there is a mortgage on his farm. Has he +any sense of honor? He let Sally believe he was in love with her before +you even came out here, and of late, while he still claimed you, he has +gone back to her. Can't you get away from your point of view, and +realize what kind of a man he is?" + +Agatha turned her head away. "Ah!" she cried, "I realized him--several +months ago. They were painful months to me. But you are quite sure he +was in love with Sally before I came out?" + +"Well," Mrs. Hastings declared, "his conduct suggested it." She laid a +caressing hand on the girl's shoulder. "You tried to keep faith with +him. Tried desperately, I think. Did you succeed?" + +Agatha contrived to meet the older woman's eyes. + +"At least, I would have married him." + +"Then," asserted Mrs. Hastings, "I can forgive Gregory even his +treachery, and you have no cause to pity him. Sally is simple--primitive, +you would call her--but she's clever and capable in all practical things. +She will bear with Gregory when you would turn from him in dismay, and, +when it is necessary, she will not shrink from putting a little judicious +pressure on him in a way you could not have done. It may sound +incomprehensible, but that girl will lead or drive Gregory very much +further than he could have gone with you. She doesn't regard him as +perfection, but she loves him." + +Mrs. Hastings paused, and for several minutes there was a tense silence +in the little shadowy room. It had grown almost dark, and the square of +the window glimmered faintly with the dim light flung up by the snow. + +Agatha turned slowly in her chair. "Thank you," she said in a low voice. +"You have taken a heavy weight off my mind." + +She paused a moment, and then added, "You have been a good friend all +along. It was supreme good fortune that placed me in your hands." + +Mrs. Hastings patted her shoulder, and then went out quietly. Agatha lay +still in her chair beside the stove. The fire snapped and crackled +cheerfully, but except for the pleasant sound, there was a restful +quietness. The room was cozily warm, though its occupant could hear a +little icy wind wail about the building. It swept Agatha's thoughts away +to the frozen North, and she realized what it had cost her to keep faith +with Gregory as she pictured a little snow-sheeted schooner hemmed in +among the floes, and two or three worn-out men hauling a sled painfully +over the ridged and furrowed ice. The man who had gone up into that +great desolation had been endued with an almost fantastic sense of +honor, and now he might never even know that she loved him. She admitted +that she had loved him for several months. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THROUGH THE SNOW + + +Next morning, the mail-carrier, who, half-frozen and white all over, +drove up to the homestead out of a haze of falling snow, brought Agatha +a note from Gregory. The note was brief, and Agatha read it with a smile +of half-amused contempt, though she admitted that, considering +everything, he had handled the embarrassing situation gracefully. This +attitude, however, was only what she had expected, and she recognized +that it was characteristic of Hawtrey that he had written releasing her +from her engagement instead of seeking an interview. Gregory, as she +realized now, had always taken the easiest way, and it was evident that +he had not even the courage to face her. She quietly dropped the +note--it did not seem worth while to fling it--into the stove. + +Agatha could forgive Gregory for choosing Sally. Though she was very human +in most respects, that scarcely troubled her, but she could not forgive +him for persisting in his claim to her while he was philandering--and this +seemed the most fitting term--with her rival. Had he only been honest, she +would not have let Wyllard go away without some assurance of her regard +which would have cheered the brave seafarer on his perilous journey. And +it was clear to her that Wyllard might never come back again! Her face +grew hard when she thought of it, and she had thought of it frequently. +For that double-dealing she felt she almost hated Gregory. + +A month passed drearily, with Arctic frost outside on the prairie, and +little to do inside the homestead except to cook and gorge the stove, +and endeavor to keep warmth in one's body. Water froze solid inside the +house, stinging draughts crept in through the double windows, and there +were evenings when Mrs. Hastings and Agatha, shivering close beside the +stove, waited anxiously for the first sign of Hastings and the hired +man, who were bringing back a sled loaded with birch logs from a +neighboring bluff. The bluff was only a few miles away, but men sent out +to cut fuel in the awful cold snaps in that country have now and then +sunk down in the snow with the life frozen out of them. There were other +days when the wooden building seemed to rock beneath the buffeting of +the icy hurricane, and it was a perilous matter to cross the narrow open +space between it and the stables through the haze of swirling snow. + +The weather moderated a little by and by, and one afternoon Mrs. +Hastings drove off to Lander's with the one hired man that they kept +through the winter. Mr. Hastings had set out earlier for the bluff, and +as the Scandinavian maid had been married and had gone away, Agatha was +left in the house with the little girls. + +It was bitterly cold, even inside the dwelling, but Agatha was busy +baking, and she failed to notice that the temperature had become almost +Arctic, until she stood beside a window as evening was closing in. A +low, dingy sky hung over the narrowing sweep of prairie which stretched +back, gleaming lividly, into the creeping dusk, but a few minutes later +a haze of snow whirled across it and cut off the dreary scene. + +The light died out suddenly, and Agatha and the little girls drew their +chairs close up to the stove. The house was very quiet, and Agatha could +hear the mournful wailing of the wind about it, with now and then the +soft swish of driven snow upon the walls and roofing shingles. + +The table was laid for supper, and the kettle was singing cheerfully +upon the stove, but there was no sign of the other members of the +family, and presently Agatha began to feel a little anxious. Mrs. +Hastings, she fancied, would stay one night at Lander's, if there was +any unfavorable change in the weather, but she wondered what could be +detaining Hastings. It was not very far to the bluff, and as he could +not have continued chopping in the darkness it seemed to her that he +should have reached the homestead. + +He did not come, however, and she grew more uneasy as the time slipped +by. The wail of the wind grew louder and the stove crackled more +noisily. At last one of the little girls rose with a cry that she +thought she heard the beat of hoofs. The impression grew more distinct +until she was sure that some one was riding toward the homestead, and +Agatha heard the hoofbeats, but soon after that the sound ceased +abruptly, and she could not hear the rattle of flung-down logs which she +had expected. This struck Agatha as curious, since she knew that +Hastings generally unloaded the sled before he led the team to the +stable. She waited a moment or two, but except for the doleful wind +nothing broke the silence now, and when the stillness became oppressive +she moved towards the door. + +The wind tore the door from her grasp when she opened it, and flung it +against the wall with a jarring crash, while a fine powder that stung +the skin unbearably drove into her face. For a few moments she could see +nothing but a whirling haze, and then, as her eyes became accustomed to +the change of light, she dimly made out the blurred white figures of the +horses standing still, with the load of birch logs rising a shapeless +mass behind them. There seemed to be nobody with the team, and, though +she twice called sharply, no answer came out of the falling snow. Then +she recognized the significant fact that the team had come home alone. + +It was difficult to close the door, and before she accomplished what was +a feat of strength her hands had stiffened and grown almost useless, and +the hall was strewn with snow. It was every evident that there was +something for her to do. It cost her three or four minutes to slip on a +blanket skirt, and soft hide moccasins, with gum boots over them. +Muffled in her furs, she opened the door again. When she had contrived +to close it, the cold struck through her to the bone as she floundered +towards the team. There was nobody to whom she could look for +assistance, but that could not be helped. It was evident that some +misfortune had befallen Hastings and that she must act wisely and +quickly. + +The first thing necessary was to unload the sled, and, though the +birches seldom grow to any size in a prairie bluff, some of the logs +were heavy. She was gasping with the effort when she had flung a few of +them down, after which she discovered that the rest were held up by one +or two stout poles let into sockets. Try as she would, she could not get +them out, and then she remembered that Hastings kept a whipsaw in a shed +close by. She contrived to find it, and attacked the poles in breathless +haste, working clumsily with mittened hands, until there was a crash and +rattle as she sprang clear. Then she started the team, and the rest of +the logs rolled off into the snow. + +That was one difficulty overcome, but the next appeared more serious. +She must find the bluff as soon as possible, and in the snow-filled +darkness she could not tell where it lay. Even if she could have seen +anything of the kind, there was no landmark on the desolate level waste +between it and the homestead. She, however, remembered that she had one +guide. + +Hastings and his hired man had recently hauled in a great many loads of +birch logs, and as they had made a well-worn trail it seemed to her just +possible that she might trace it back to the bluff. No great weight of +snow had fallen yet. + +Before Agatha set out she had a struggle with the team, for the horses +evidently had no intention of making another journey if they could help +it, but at last she swung them into the narrow riband of trail, and +plodded away into the darkness at their heads. It was then that she +first clearly realized what she had undertaken. Very little of her face +was left bare between her fur cap and collar, but every inch of +uncovered skin tingled as if it had been lashed with thorns or stabbed +with innumerable needles. The air was thick with a fine powder that +filled her eyes and nostrils, the wind buffeted her, and there was an +awful cold--the cold that taxes the utmost strength of mind and body of +those who are forced to face it on the shelterless prairie. + +Still the girl struggled on, feeling with half-frozen feet for the +depression of the trail, and grappling with a horrible dismay when she +failed to find it. She was never sure to what extent she guided the +team, or how far from mere force of habit they headed for the bluff, but +as the time went by, and there was nothing before her but the whirling +snow, she grew feverishly apprehensive. The trail was becoming fainter +and fainter, and now and then she could find no trace of it for several +minutes. + +The horses floundered on, blurred shapes as white as the haze they crept +through, and at length she felt that they were dipping into a hollow. +Then a faint sense of comfort crept into her heart as she remembered +that a shallow ravine which seamed the prairie ran through the bluff. +She called out, and started at the faintness of her voice. It seemed +such a pitifully feeble thing. There was no answer, nothing but the soft +fall of the horses' hoofs and the wail of the wind, but the wind was +reassuring, for the volume of sound suggested that it was driving +through a bluff close by. + +A few minutes later Agatha cried out again, and this time she felt the +throbbing of her heart, for a faint sound came out of the whirling haze. +She pulled the horses up, and as she stood still listening, a blurred +object appeared almost in front of them. It shambled forward in a +curious manner, stopped, and moved again, and in another moment or two +Hastings lurched by her with a stagger and sank down into a huddled +white heap on the sled. She turned back towards him, and he seemed to +look up at her. + +"Turn the team," he said. + +Agatha obeyed, and sat down beside him when the horses moved on again. + +"A small birch I was chopping fell on me," he said. "I don't know +whether it smashed my ankle, or whether I twisted it wriggling +clear--the thing pinned me down. It is badly hurt anyway." + +He spoke disconnectedly and hoarsely, as if in pain, and Agatha, who +noticed that one of his gum boots was almost ripped to pieces, realized +part of what he must have suffered. She knew that nobody pinned to the +ground and helpless could have withstood that cold for more than a very +little while. + +"Oh," she cried, "it must have been dreadful!" + +"I found a branch," Hastings added. "It helped me, but I fell over every +now and then. Headed for the homestead. Don't think I could have made it +if you hadn't come for me!" He stopped abruptly, and turned to her. "You +mustn't sit down. Walk--keep warm--but don't try to lead the team." + +Agatha struggled forward as far as the near horse's shoulder. The team +slightly sheltered her, and it was a little easier walking with a hand +upon a trace. It was a relief to cling to something, for the wind that +flung the snow into her face drove her garments against her limbs, so +that now and then she could scarcely move. When her strength began to +flag, every yard of the homeward journey was made with infinite pain and +difficulty. At times she could scarcely see the horses, and again, +blinded, breathless and dazed, she stumbled along beside them. She did +not know how Hastings was faring, but she half-consciously recognized +that if once she let the trace go the sled would slip away from her and +she would sink down to freeze. + +At last, however, a dim mass crept out of the white haze ahead, and a +moment later a man laid hold of her. The man told her that Mrs. Hastings +was with him, and that the homestead was close at hand. Agatha learned +afterwards that they had reached the house a short time previously and +had immediately set out in search of her and Hastings. + +She floundered on beside the horses, with another team dimly visible in +front of her, until a faint ray of light streamed out into the snow. +Then the team stopped, and she had only a hazy recollection of +staggering into a lighted room in the homestead and sinking into a +chair. What they did with Hastings she did not know, but Mrs. Hastings, +who went with her to her room, kissed her before she left her. + +Nobody could have faced the snow next morning, and it was several days +later when Watson, who had attended Hawtrey after his accident, was +brought over. Watson did what he could, but it was several weeks before +Hastings could use his injured foot again. Before Hastings recovered, +news was sent him of some difficulty in the affairs of a small creamery +at a settlement further along the line, in which he and his wife held an +interest, and Mrs. Hastings went East to make inquiries respecting it. +She took Agatha with her, and one evening after she had finished the +business she had in hand they left a little way station by the Pacific +train. + +The car that they entered was empty except for two persons who sat close +together near the middle of it. A big lamp overhead shed a brilliant +light, and Agatha started when one of their fellow passengers looked +around as she approached him. In another moment she stood face to face +with Hawtrey, who had risen, while Sally gazed up at her with a curious +expression in her eyes. Agatha was perfectly composed. She felt no +sympathy for Hawtrey, who was visibly confused. She was not surprised +that he found the situation a somewhat difficult one. + +"You have been to Winnipeg?" she asked. + +"No," answered Hawtrey, with evident relief that she had chosen a safe +topic, "only to Brandon. Sally has some friends there, and she spends a +day or two with them once or twice each winter. Brandon is quite a +lively place after the prairie. I went in last night to bring her back." +He turned to his companion, "I think you have met Miss Ismay?" + +Agatha was conscious that Sally's eyes were fixed upon her, and that +Mrs. Hastings was watching them all with quiet amusement, but she was a +little astonished when the girl moved some wraps from the seat opposite +her. + +"Yes," she said, "I have. If Miss Ismay doesn't mind, I should like to +talk to her." + +Hawtrey's relief was evident, and Agatha glanced at him with a smile +that was half-contemptuous. He had carefully kept out of her way since +he had written her the note, and now it seemed only natural that if +there was anything to be said, he should leave it to Sally. + +"I think I'll go along for a smoke," he observed with evident impatience +to leave them, and he retired precipitately. + +Mrs. Hastings looked after him, and laughed in a manner that caused +Sally to wince. + +"He doesn't seem anxious to talk to me," she said. "You can come along +to the next car by and by, Agatha." + +She moved away, and Agatha, who sat down opposite Sally, looked at her +questioningly. + +"Well?" she said. + +Sally made a little deprecatory gesture. "I've something to say, but +it's hard. To begin with, are you very angry with me?" + +"No," answered Agatha. "I think I really am a little angry with Gregory, +but not altogether because he chose you." + +Sally considered this statement for a moment or two before she looked up +again. + +"Well," she confessed, "not long ago, I wanted to hate you, and I guess +I 'most succeeded. It made things easier. Still, I want to say that I +don't hate you now." She hesitated a moment. "I'd like you to forgive +me." + +Agatha smiled. "I can do that willingly," she said. + +Sally was disconcerted by her quiet ease of manner and perfect candor. +It was evidently not quite what she had looked for. + +"Then you were never very fond of him?" she suggested. + +"No," answered Agatha reflectively, "since you have compelled me to say +it, I don't think now that I ever was really fond of him, though I don't +know how I can make that quite clear to you. It was only after I came +out here that I--realized--Gregory. It was not the actual man I fell in +love with in England." + +Sally turned her face away, for Agatha had made her meaning perfectly +plain. Somewhat to Sally's astonishment, she showed no sign of +resentment. + +"Then," Sally responded, "it is way better that you didn't marry him." +She paused, and seemed to search for words with which to express +herself. "I knew all along all there was to know about Gregory--except +that he was going to marry you, and it was some time before I heard +that--and I was ready to take him. I was fond of him." + +Agatha's heart went out to her. "Yes," she said simply, "it is a very +good thing that I let him go." She smiled. "That, however, doesn't quite +describe it, Sally." + +Gregory's fiancee flushed. "I couldn't have said that, but you don't +quite understand yet. I said I knew all there was to know about him--and +you never did. You made too much of him in England, and when you came +out here you only saw the things you didn't like in him. Still, they +weren't the only ones." + +Agatha started at this statement, for she realized that part of it was +certainly true, and she could admit the possibility of all of it being a +fact. Gregory might possess a few good qualities that she had never +discovered! + +"Perhaps I did," she admitted. "I don't think it matters now." + +"They're all of them mixed," persisted Sally. "One can't expect too +much, but you can bear with a great deal when you're fond of any one." + +Agatha sat silent a while, for she was troubled by a certain sense of +wholesome confusion. It seemed to her that Sally had the clearer vision. +Love had given her discernment as well as charity, and, not expecting +perfection, it was the man's strong points upon which she fixed her +eyes. + +"Yes," she replied presently. "I am glad you look at it that way, +Sally." + +The girl laughed. "Oh!" she said, "I've only seen one man on the prairie +who was quite white all through, and I had a kind of notion that he was +fond of you." + +Agatha sat very still, but it cost her an effort. + +Her face asked the question that was in her heart. + +"Harry Wyllard," announced Sally. + +Agatha made no answer, and Sally changed the subject. "Well," said +Sally, "after all, I want you to be friends with me." + +"I think you can count on that," replied Agatha with a smile, as she +rose to rejoin Mrs. Hastings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE LANDING + + +The ice among the inlets on the American side of the North Pacific broke +up unusually early when spring came round again, and several weeks +before Wyllard had expected it the _Selache_ floated clear. The crew had +suffered little during the bitter winter, for Dampier had kept the men +busy splicing gear and patching sails, and they had fitted the schooner +with a new mainmast hewn out of a small cedar. None of the sailors had +been trained as carpenters, but men who keep the sea for months in small +vessels are necessarily handy at repairs, and they had all used ax and +saw to some purpose in their time. + +Wyllard was satisfied when they thrashed the _Selache_ out of the inlet +under whole mainsail in a fresh breeze, and when evening came he sat +smoking near the wheel. He was in a contemplative mood as the climbing +forests and snow-clad heights dropped back astern. He wondered what his +friends were doing upon the prairie, and whether Agatha had married +Gregory yet. It seemed to him that it was, at least, possible that +Agatha was married, for she was one to keep a promise, and it was +difficult to believe that Gregory would fail to press his claim. +Wyllard's face grew grim as he thought of it, though this was a thing he +had done more or less constantly during the winter. He fancied that he +might have ousted Gregory if he had remained at the Range, for perhaps +unconsciously Agatha had shown him that she was not quite indifferent to +him; but that would have been to involve her in a breach of faith which +she would probably always have looked back on with regret. In any case +he could not have stayed to press his suit. He knew that he would never +forget her, but it was not impossible that she might forget him. He +realized also, though this was not by comparison a matter of great +consequence, that the Range was scarcely likely to prosper under +Gregory's management, but that could not be helped, and after all he +owed Gregory something. It never occurred to him that he was doing an +extravagant thing in setting out upon the search that he had undertaken. +He felt that the obligation was laid upon him, and, being what he was, +he could not shrink from it. + +A puff of spray that blew into his face disturbed his meditations, and +when a little tumbling sea splashed in over the weather bow, he helped +the others to haul down a reef in the mainsail. That accomplished, he +went below and brought out a well-worn chart. The _Selache_ drove away +to the westwards over a white-flecked sea. This time she carried fresh +southerly breezes with her most of the way across the Pacific, and +plunged along hove down under the last piece of canvas they dared to set +upon her until at last they ran into the fog close in to the Kamtchatkan +beaches. Then the wind dropped, and they were baffled by light and +fitful breezes, while it became evident that there was ice about. + +The day they saw the first big mass of ice gleaming broad across their +course on a raw green sea, Dampier got an observation, and they held a +brief council in the little cabin that evening. The schooner was hove to +then, and lay rolling with banging blocks and thrashing canvas on a +sluggish heave of sea. + +"Thirty miles off shore," announced Dampier. "If it had been clear +enough we'd have seen the top of the big range quite a way further out +to sea. Now, it's drift ice ahead of us, but it's quite likely there's a +solid block along the beach. Winter holds on a long while in this +country. I guess you're for pushing on as fast as you can?" + +Wyllard nodded. "Of course," he said, "you'll look for an opening, and +work her in as far as possible. Then, if it's necessary, Charly and I +and another man will take the sled and head for the beach across the +ice. If there's a lane anywhere I would, however, probably take the +smallest boat. We might haul her a league or two, anyway, on the sled if +the ice wasn't very rough." + +He looked at Charly, who acquiesced. + +"Well," Charly observed simply, "I guess I'll have to see you through. +Now we've made a sled for her I'd take the boat, anyway. We're quite +likely to strike a big streak of water when the ice is breaking up." + +"There's one other course," declared Dampier; "the sensible one, and +that's to wait until it has gone altogether. Seems to me I ought to +mention it, though it's not likely to appeal to you." + +Wyllard laughed. "From all appearances we might wait a month. I don't +want to stay up here any longer than is strictly necessary." + +"You'll head north?" + +"That's my intention." + +"Then," said Dampier, pointing to the chart before them, "as you should +make the beach in the next day or two I'll head for the inlet here. As +it's not very far you won't have to pack so many provisions along, and +I'll give you, say, three weeks to turn up in. If you don't, I'll figure +that there's something wrong, and do what seems advisable." + +They agreed to that, and when next morning a little breeze came out of +the creeping haze, they sailed the _Selache_ slowly shorewards among the +drifting ice until, at nightfall, an apparently impenetrable barrier +stretched gleaming faintly ahead of them. Wyllard turned in soon +afterwards and slept soundly. All his preparations had been made during +the winter and there was no occasion for new plans. When morning broke +he breakfasted before he went out on deck. The boat was already packed +with provisions, sleeping-bags, a tent, and two light sled frames, on +one of which it seemed possible that they might haul her a few miles. +She was very light and small, and had been built for such a purpose as +they had in view. + +The schooner lay to with backed fore-staysail tumbling wildly on a dim, +gray sea. Half a mile away the ice ran back into a dingy haze, and there +was a low, gray sky to weather. Now and then a fine sprinkle of snow +slid across the water before a nipping breeze. As Wyllard glanced to +windward Dampier strode up to him. + +"I guess you'd better put it off," he said. "I don't like the weather; +we'll have wind before long." + +Wyllard smiled, and Dampier made a forceful gesture. + +"Then," he advised, "I'd get on to the ice just as soon as possible. +You're still quite a way off the beach." + +Wyllard shook hands with him. "We should make the inlet in about nine +days, and if I don't turn up in three weeks you'll know there's +something wrong," he said. "If there's no sign of me in another week you +can take her home again." + +Dampier, who made no further comment, bade them swing the boat over, and +when she lay heaving beneath the rail Wyllard and Charly and one Indian +dropped into her. It was only a preliminary search they were about to +engage in, for they had decided that if they found nothing they would +afterwards push further north or inland when they had supplied +themselves with fresh stores from the schooner. + +They gazed at the _Selache_ with grim faces as they pulled away, and +Wyllard, who loosed his oar a moment to wave his fur cap when Dampier +stood upon her rail, was glad when a fresher rush of the bitter breeze +forced him to fix his attention on his task. The boat was heavily +loaded, and the tops of the gray seas splashed unpleasantly close about +her gunwale. She was running before them, rising sharply, and dropping +down into the hollows, out of sight of all but the schooner's canvas, +and though this made rowing easier, Wyllard was apprehensive of +difficulties when he reached the ice. + +His misgivings proved warranted, for the ice presented an almost +unbroken wall against the face of which the sea spouted. There was no +doubt as to what would happen if the frail craft was hurled upon that +frozen mass, and Wyllard, who was sculling, fancied that before the boat +could even reach it, there was a probability of her being swamped in the +upheaval where the backwash met the oncoming sea. Charly looked at him +dubiously. + +"It's a sure thing we can't get out there," Charly observed. + +Wyllard nodded. "Then," he said, "we'll pull along the edge of it until +we find an opening or something to make a lee. The sea's higher than it +seemed to be from the schooner." + +"We've got to do it soon," Charly declared. "There's more wind not far +away." + +Wyllard dipped his oar again, and for an hour they pulled along the edge +of the ice, for there were now little frothing white tops on the seas. + +It was evident that the wind was freshening, and at times a deluge of +icy water slopped in over the gunwale. The men were hampered by their +furs, and the stores lying about their feet. + +The perspiration dripped from Wyllard when they approached a ragged, +jutting point. It did not seem advisable to attempt a landing on that +side of it, and when a little snow began to fall he looked at his +companions. + +"I guess we've got to pull her out," said Charly. "Dampier's heaving a +reef down; he sees what's working up to windward." + +Wyllard could barely make out the schooner, which had apparently +followed them, a blur of dusky canvas against a bank of haze, and then +as the boat slid down into a hollow there was nothing but the low-hung, +lowering sky. It was evident to him that if they were to make a landing +it must be done promptly. + +"We'll pull around the point first, anyway," he decided. + +A shower of fine snow that blotted out the schooner broke upon them, and +the work was arduous. They were pulling to windward now, and it was +necessary to watch the seas that ranged up ahead and to handle the boat +circumspectly while the freshening breeze blew the spray over them. They +had to fight for every fathom, and once or twice the little craft nearly +rolled over with them. It became apparent by degrees that, as they could +not have reached the schooner had they attempted it, they were pulling +for their lives, and that the one way of escape open to them was to find +an egress of some kind around the point, the ragged tongue of which was +horribly close to lee of them. When the snow cleared for a minute or +two, they saw that Dampier had driven the _Selache_ further off the ice. +The schooner was hove to now, and there was a black figure high up in +her shrouds. + +A bitter rush of wind hurled the spray about them, and the boat fell off +almost beam-on to the sea, in spite of all that they could do. The icy +brine washed into the boat, and it seemed almost certain that she would +swamp or roll over before they could get way on her. Still, pulling +desperately, they drove her around the point. Gasping and dripping they +made their last effort. A sea rolled up ahead, and as the boat swung up +with it Wyllard had a momentary glimpse of an opening not far away. He +shouted to his companions, but could not tell whether they heard and +understood him, for after that he was conscious only of rowing savagely +until another sea broke into the boat and she struck. There was a crash, +and she swung clear with the backwash, with all one side smashed in. +Then she swung in again just beyond a tongue of ice over which the froth +was pouring tumultuously, and the Indian jumped from the bow. He had the +painter with him, and for half a minute, standing in the foam, he held +the boat somehow, while they hurled a few of the carefully made-up +packages that composed her important freight as far on to the ice as +possible. + +As Wyllard, who seized one sled frame, jumped, the disabled boat rolled +over. He landed on his hands and knees, but in another moment he was on +his feet, and he and the Indian clutched at Charly, who drove towards +them amid a long wash of foam. They dragged him clear, and as he stood +up dripping without his cap a sudden haze of snow whirled about them. +There was no sign of the schooner, and they could scarcely see the +broken ice some sixty yards away. They had made the landing, wet +through, with about half their stores, and it was evident that their +boat would not carry them across the narrowest lane of water, even if +they could have recovered her. The sea rumbled along the edge of the +ice, and they could not tell whether the frozen wall extended as far as +the beach. They looked at one another until Wyllard spoke. + +"We have got the hand-sled, and some, at least, of the things," he said. +"The sooner we start for the beach the sooner we'll get there." + +It was a relief to load the sled, and when that was done they put +themselves into the hide traces and set off across the ice. Their +traveling was arduous work apart from the hauling of the load, for the +ice was rough and broken, and covered for the most part with softening +snow. They had only gum-boots with soft hide moccasins under them, for +snow-shoes are used only in Eastern Canada, and it takes one a long +while to learn to walk on them. + +Sometimes the three men sank almost knee-deep, sometimes they slipped +and scrambled on uncovered ledges, but they pushed on with the sled +bouncing and sliding unevenly behind them, until the afternoon had +almost gone. + +They set up the wet tent behind a hummock, and crouched inside it upon a +ground-sheet, while Charly boiled a kettle on the little oil blast +stove. The wind hurled the snow upon the straining canvas, which stood +the buffeting. When they had eaten a simple meal Charly put the stove +out and the darkness was not broken except when one of them struck a +match to light his pipe. They had but one strip of rubber sheeting +between them and the snow, for the water had gotten into the sleeping +bags. Their clothes dried upon them with the heat of their bodies. They +said nothing for a while, and Wyllard was half asleep when Charly spoke. + +"I've been thinking about that boat," he remarked. "Though I don't know +that we could have done it, we ought to have tried to pull her out." + +"Why?" asked Wyllard. "She'd have been all to pieces, anyway. + +"I'm figuring it out like this. If Dampier wasn't up in the shrouds when +we made the landing he'd sent somebody. We could see him up against the +sky, but we'd be much less clear to him low down with the ice and the +surf about us. Besides, it was snowing quite fast then. Well, I don't +know what Dampier saw, but I guess he'd have made out that we hadn't +hauled the boat up, anyway. The trouble is that with the wind freshening +and it getting thick he'd have to thrash the schooner out and lie to +until it cleared. When he runs in again it's quite likely that he'll +find the boat and an oar or two. Seems to me that's going to worry him +considerable." + +Wyllard, drowsy as he was, agreed with this view of the matter. He +realized that it would have been quite impossible for Dampier to send +them any assistance, and it was merely a question whether they should +retrace their steps to the edge of the ice next morning and make him +some signal. Against this there was the strong probability that he would +not run in, if the gale and snow continued, and the fact that it was +desirable to make the beach as soon as possible in case the ice broke up +before they reached it. What was rather more to the purpose, Wyllard was +quietly determined on pushing on. + +"It can't be helped," he said simply. "We'll start for the beach as soon +as it's daylight." + +Charly made no answer, and the brawny, dark-skinned Siwash, who spoke +English reasonably well, merely grunted. Unless it seemed necessary, he +seldom said anything at all. Bred to the sea, and living on the seal and +salmon, an additional hazard or two or an extra strain on his tough body +did not count for much with him. He had been accustomed to sleep wet +through with icy water, and to crouch for hours with numbed hands +clenched on the steering-paddle while the long sea canoe scudded +furiously over the big combers before bitter gale or driving snow. +Wyllard, who rolled over, pulled a wet sleeping-bag across him, and +after that there was silence in the little rocking tent. + + * * * * * + +Charly's deductions had been proved correct, for when the breeze +freshened Dampier climbed into the shrouds. He had noticed the ominous +blackness to windward, and he knew what it meant. That was why he had +hauled down a reef in the schooner's mainsail, and now kept the vessel +out a little from the ice. As the light faded he found it very difficult +to see the boat against the white wash of the seas that recoiled from +the ice, but when the snow was whirling about him he decided that she +was in some peril unless her crew could pull her around the point. It +was evident that this would be a difficult matter, though he had only an +occasional glimpse of her now. He waved an arm to the helmsman, who +understood that he was to run the schooner in. There was a rattle of +blocks as the booms swung out, and as the _Selache_ sped away before the +rapidly freshening breeze it seemed to Dampier that he saw the boat +hurled upon the ice. A blinding haze of snow suddenly shut out +everything, and the skipper hastened down to the deck. He stood beside +the wheel for several minutes. Gazing forward, he could see nothing +except the filmy whiteness and the tops of the seas that had steadily +been getting steeper. The schooner was driving furiously down upon the +ice, but it was evident that to send Wyllard any assistance was utterly +beyond his power. He could have hove to the schooner while he got the +bigger boat over, and two men might have pulled towards the ice with the +breeze astern of them, but it was perfectly clear that they could have +neither made a landing nor have pulled her back again. It was also +uncertain whether he and the other man could have brought the schooner +round or have gotten more sail off her. He stood still until they heard +the wash of the sea upon the ice close to lee of them, and then it was a +hard-clenched hand he raised in sign to the helmsman. + +"On the wind! Haul lee sheets!" he commanded. + +The _Selache_ came round a little, heading off the ice, and when she +drove away with the foam seething white beneath one depressed rail and +the spray whirling high about her plunging bows, there was a tense look +in the white men's faces as they gazed into the thickening white haze to +lee of her. They thrashed her out until Dampier decided that there was +sufficient water between him and the ice, and then stripped most of the +sail off her, and she lay to until next morning, when they once more got +sail on her and ran in again. The breeze had fallen a little, it was +rather clearer, and they picked up the point, though it had somewhat +changed its shape. They got a boat over, and the two men who went off in +her found a few broken planks, a couple of oars, and Charly's cap +washing up and down in the surf. They had very little doubt as to what +that meant. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +NEWS OF DISASTER + + +When the boat reached the schooner Dampier went off with one of the men, +and with difficulty contrived to make a landing on the ice only to find +it covered with a trackless sheet of slushy snow. Though Dampier +floundered shorewards a mile or two, there was nothing except the +shattered boat to suggest what had befallen Wyllard and his companions. +The skipper, who retraced his steps with a heavy heart, retained little +hope of seeing them again. Dampier waited two days until a strong breeze +blew him off the ice, which was rapidly breaking up, and he then stood +out for the open sea, where he hove the _Selache_ to for a week or so. +After that he proceeded northward to the inlet Wyllard and he had agreed +to. + +Dampier was convinced that this was useless, but as the opening was +almost clear of ice he sailed the schooner in, and spent a week or two +scouring the surrounding country. He found it a desolation, still partly +covered with slushy snow, out of which ridges of volcanic rock rose here +and there. On two of these spots a couple of days' march from the +schooner, he made a depot of provisions, and piled a heap of stones +beside them. At times, when it was clear, he could see the top of a +great range high up against the western sky, but those times were rare. +For the most part, the wilderness was swept by rain or wrapped in clammy +fog. + +There was, however, no sign of Wyllard, and at last Dampier, coming back +jaded and dejected from another fruitless search, after the time agreed +upon had expired, shut himself up alone for a couple of hours in the +little cabin. He was certain now that Wyllard and his companions had +been drowned while attempting to make a landing on the ice, since they +would have joined him at the inlet as arranged had this not been the +case. The distance was by no means great, and there were no Russian +settlements on that part of the coast. The skipper sat very still with a +clenched hand upon the little table, balancing conjecture against +conjecture, and then regretfully decided that there was only one course +open to him. It was dark when he went up on deck again, but the men were +sitting smoking about the windlass forward. + +"You can heave some of that cable in, boys," he announced. "We'll clear +out for Vancouver at sun-up." + +The men said nothing, but they shipped the levers, and Dampier went back +to the cabin, for the clank of the windlass and the ringing of the cable +jarred upon him. + +Early next morning the _Selache_ stood out to sea, and once they had +left behind them the fog and rain near the coast, she carried fine +weather with her across the Pacific. On reaching Vancouver, Dampier had +some trouble with the authorities, to whom it was necessary to report +the drowning of three of his crew, but he was more fortunate than he +expected, and after placing the schooner for sale with a broker, he left +the city one evening on the Atlantic train. Three days later he was +driving across the prairie towards the Hastings homestead. The members +were sitting together in the big general room after supper, when the +wagon Dampier had hired swung into sight over the crest of a hill. + +It was a still, hot evening, and, as the windows were open wide, a faint +beat of hoofs came up across the tall wheat and dusty prairie before the +wagon topped the rise. Hastings, who sat in a cane chair near the +window, with his pipe in his hand, looked up as he heard it. + +"Somebody driving in," he remarked. "I shouldn't be astonished if it's +Gregory. He talked about coming over the last time I saw him." + +"If he wants to talk about a deal in wheat, he can stay away," said Mrs. +Hastings sharply. "If all one hears is true, he has lost quite a few of +Harry's dollars on the market lately." + +Hastings looked troubled at this. "I'd sooner think it was his own money +he'd thrown away." + +"That's quite out of the question. He hasn't any." + +"Well," said Hastings, with an air of reflection, "I'll get Sproatly to +make inquiries. He'll probably be along with Winifred this evening, and +if he finds that Gregory is getting in rather deep I'll have a word or +two with him. I can't have him wasting Harry's money, and, as one of the +executors, I have a right to protest." + +Agatha started at the last word. It had an ominous ring, and she fancied +that Hastings had noticed the effect on her, for he glanced at her +curiously. Turning from him, she rose and walked to the window. + +The wheat stretched across the foreground, tall and darkly green, and +beyond it the white grass ran back to the hill, which cut sharply +against a red and smoky glow. The sun had gone down some time before, +and there was an exhilarating coolness in the air. Somehow the sight +reminded her of another evening, when she had looked out across the +prairie from a seat at Wyllard's table. Almost a year had passed since +then. + +The wagon drew nearer down the long slope of the hill, and the beat of +hoofs that grew steadily louder in a sharp staccato made the memories +clearer. She had heard Dampier riding in the night Wyllard had received +his summons, and now she wondered who the approaching stranger was, and +what his business could be. She did not know why, but she thought it was +not Gregory. + +Presently Hastings looked round again. "It's the team Bramfield hires +out at the settlement," he said. "None of our friends would get him to +drive them in. There seem to be two men in the wagon. Bramfield will be +one. I can't make out the other." + +Mrs. Hastings, who was evidently becoming curious about the unexpected +guest, went to his side, and they stood watching the wagon until Agatha +made an abrupt movement. + +"It's Captain Dampier!" she exclaimed with foreboding in her voice. + +She stood tensely still, with lips slightly parted, and a strained look +in her eyes, while Hastings gazed at the wagon for another moment or +two. + +"Yes," he said, and his voice was harsh, "it's Dampier. The other man's +surely Bramfield. Harry's not with him." + +He glanced at Agatha, who turned away, and sat down in the nearest +chair. She made no comment, and there was an oppressive silence, through +which the beat of hoofs and rattle of wheels rang more distinctly. + +It seemed a long time before Dampier came in. He shook hands with Agatha +and Mrs. Hastings diffidently. + +"You remember me?" he asked. + +"Of course," answered Mrs. Hastings, with impatience in her tone. +"Where's Harry?" + +The skipper spread a hard hand out, and sat down heavily. + +"That," he said, "is what I have to tell you. He asked me to." + +"He asked you to?" questioned Agatha, and though her voice was strained +there was relief in it. + +Dampier made a gesture, which seemed to beseech her patience. + +"Yes," he said, "if--anything went wrong--he told me I was to come here +to Mrs. Hastings." + +Agatha turned her head away, but Mrs. Hastings saw that she caught her +breath before she cried: + +"Then something has gone wrong!" + +"About as wrong as it could." Dampier met her gaze gravely. "Wyllard and +two other men are drowned." + +He paused as if watching for words that might soften the dire meaning of +his message, and Mrs. Hastings saw Agatha shiver. The girl turned slowly +around with a drawn white face. It was, however, Hastings who spoke, +almost sternly. + +"Go on," he said. + +"I'm to tell you all?" + +This time it was Agatha who broke in. + +"Yes," she replied, with a steadiness that struck the others as being +strained and unnatural, "you must tell us all." + +Dampier, who appeared to shrink from his task, began awkwardly, but he +gained coherence and force of expression as he proceeded. He made them +understand something of the grim resolution which had animated Wyllard. +He pictured, in terse seaman's words, the little schooner plunging to +windward over long phalanxes of icy seas, or crawling white with snow +through the blinding fog. His listeners saw the big combers tumbling +ready to break short upon the dipping bows, and half-frozen men +struggling for dear life with folds of madly thrashing sail. The +pictures were necessarily somewhat blurred and hazy, for after all only +an epic poet could fittingly describe the things that must be done and +borne at sea, and epic poets are not bred in the forecastle. When he +reached the last scene he gained dramatic power, and Agatha's face grew +white and tense. She saw the dim figures pulling the boat through the +flying spray beneath the wall of ice. + +"We ran her in," he told them, "with the snow blinding us. It was +working up for a heavy blow, and as we'd have to beat her out we +couldn't take sail off her. We stood on until we heard the sea along the +edge of the ice, and then there was nothing to do but jam her on the +wind and thrash her clear. There was only a plank or two of the boat, an +oar, and Charly's cap, when we came back again!" + +"After all, though the boat was smashed, they might have gotten out," +Hastings suggested. + +"Well," said Dampier simply, "it didn't seem likely. The ice was sharp +and ragged, and there was a long wash of sea. A man's not tough enough +to stand much of that kind of hammering." + +Agatha's face grew whiter, but Dampier went on again. + +"Anyway," he said, "they didn't turn up at the inlet as we'd fixed, and +that decided the thing. If Wyllard had been alive, he surely would have +been there." + +"Isn't it just possible that he might have fallen into the hands of the +Russians?" asked Hastings. + +"I naturally thought of that, but so far as the chart shows there isn't +a settlement within leagues of the spot. Besides, supposing the Russians +had got him, how could I have helped him? They'd have sent him off in +the first place to one of the bigger settlements in the South, and if +the authorities couldn't have connected him with any illegal sealing +they'd no doubt have managed to send him across to Japan by and by. In +that case, he'd have gotten home without any trouble." + +Dampier paused, and it was significant that he turned to Agatha with a +deprecatory gesture. + +"No," he added, "there was nothing I could do." + +It was evident that Agatha acquitted him, but she asked a question. + +"Captain Dampier," she said, "had you any expectation of finding those +three men when you sailed the second time?" + +"No," acknowledged the bronzed sailor, with an impressive calmness, "I +hadn't any, and I don't think Wyllard had either. Still, he meant to +make quite certain. He felt he had to." + +The skipper gazed at Agatha, and saw comprehension in her eyes. + +"Yes," she observed with an unsteady voice, "and when you have said +that, you could say very little more of any man." + +She turned her head away from them, and for a few moments there was a +heavy silence in the room. It cost the girl a painful effort to sit +still, apparently unmoved, but there was strength in her, and she would +not betray her distress. She felt that her grief must be endured bravely. +It was almost overwhelming, but there was mingled with it a faint +consolatory thrill of pride, for it was clear that the man who had loved +her had done a splendid thing. He had given all that had been given +him--she knew she would never forget that phrase of his--willingly, and +it seemed to her that the traits with which he had been endowed were rare +and precious ones. She recognized the steadfast, unflinching courage, and +the fine sense of honor which had sent him out on that forlorn hope. +Unyielding and undismayed he had gone down to death--she felt sure of +that--amid the blinding snow. + +Mrs. Hastings set food before Dampier. By and by Sproatly and Winifred +arrived and they heard the story. After that Dampier, who had promised +to stay with them a day or two, left Wyllard's friends for an hour. + +"It seems to me you'll naturally want to talk over things," he said; "if +you'll excuse me, I'll take a stroll across the prairie." + +He went out, and Hastings looked at each member of the little group with +hasty scrutiny. + +"Harry's friends are numerous, but we're, perhaps, the nearest, and, as +Dampier said, we have to consider things," he observed, speaking with +deliberation. "To begin with, there's a certain possibility that he has +escaped, after all." + +He saw the quick movement that Agatha made, and went on more quickly. + +"Gregory, of course, has control of the Range until we have proof of +Harry's death, though Wyllard made a proviso that if there was no word +of the party within eighteen months after he had sailed, or within six +months of the time Dampier had landed him, we could assume it, after +which the will he handed me would take effect. This, it is evident, +leaves Gregory in charge for some months yet, but it seems to me it's +our duty to see he doesn't fling away Harry's property. I've reasons for +believing that he has been doing it lately." + +He looked at Sproatly, who sat silent a moment or two. + +"I'm rather awkwardly placed," Sproatly remarked. "You see, there's no +doubt that I'm indebted to Gregory." + +Winifred turned to him with impatience in her eyes. "Then," she said +severely, "you certainly shouldn't have been, and it ought to be quite +clear that nobody wishes you to do anything that would hurt him." She +looked at Hastings. "In case the will takes effect, who does the +property go to?" + +Hastings appeared embarrassed. "That," he objected, "is a thing I'm not +warranted in telling you now." + +A suggestive gleam flashed into Winifred's eyes, but it vanished and her +manner became authoritative when she turned back to Sproatly. + +"Jim," she said, "you will tell Mr. Hastings all you know." + +Sproatly made a gesture of resignation. "After all," he admitted, "I +think it's necessary. Gregory, as I've told you already, put a big +mortgage on his place, and, in view of the price of wheat and the state +of his crop, it's evident that he must have had some difficulty in +meeting the interest, unless--and one or two things suggest this--he +paid it with Harry's money. Of course, as Harry gave him a share, +there's no reason why he shouldn't do this so long as he does not +overdraw that share. There's no doubt, however, that he has lost a good +deal of money on the wheat market." + +"Has he lost any of Harry's?" Mrs. Hastings asked. + +Sproatly hesitated. "I'm afraid it's practically certain." + +Winifred broke in. "Yes," she asserted, "he has lost a great deal. +Hamilton knows almost everything that's going on, and I got it out of +him. He's a friend of Wyllard's, and seems vexed with Gregory." + +The others did not speak for a moment or two, and then Mrs. Hastings +said: + +"Most of us don't keep much in the bank, and that expedition must have +cost Harry several thousand dollars. How would Gregory get hold of the +money before harvest?" + +"Edmonds, who holds his mortgage, would let him have it," Sproatly +explained. + +"But wouldn't he be afraid of Gregory not being able to pay, if the +market went against him?" + +Sproatly looked thoughtful. "The arrangement Wyllard made with Gregory +would, perhaps, give Edmonds a claim upon the Range if Gregory borrowed +any money in his name. I almost think that's what the money-lender is +scheming for. The man's cunning enough for anything. I don't like him." + +Hastings stood up with an air of resolution. "Yes," he said, "I'm afraid +you're quite correct. Anyway, I'll drive over in a day or two, and have +a talk with Gregory." + +After that they separated. Hastings strolled away to join Dampier. + +Sproatly and Winifred walked out on to the prairie. When they had left +the house Sproatly turned to his companion. + +"Why did you insist upon my telling them what I did?" he asked. + +"Oh!" answered Winifred, "I had several reasons. For one thing, when I +first came out feeling very forlorn and friendless, it was Wyllard who +sent me to the elevator, and they really treat me very decently." + +"They?" repeated Sproatly with resentment in his face. "If you mean +Hamilton, it seems to me that he treats you with an excess of decency +that there's no occasion for." + +Winifred laughed. "In any case, he doesn't drive me out here every two +or three weeks, though"--she glanced at her companion provokingly--"he +once or twice suggested that he would like to." + +"I suppose you pointed out his presumption?" + +"No," confessed Winifred with an air of reflection, "I didn't go quite +so far as that. After all, the man is my employer; I had to handle him +tactfully." + +"He won't be your employer a week after the implement people open their +new depot," returned Sproatly resolutely. "But we're getting away from +the subject. Have you any more reasons for concerning yourself about +what Gregory does with Wyllard's property?" + +"I've one; I suppose you don't know who he has left at least a part of +it to?" + +Sproatly started as an idea crept into his mind. + +"I wonder if you're right," he said. + +"I feel reasonably sure of it." Winifred smiled. "In fact, that's partly +why I don't want Gregory to throw any more of Wyllard's money away. You +have done all I expect from you." + +"Then Hastings is to go on with the thing?" + +"Hastings," Winifred assured him, "will fail--just as you would. This is +a matter which requires to be handled delicately--and effectively." + +"Then who is going to undertake it?" + +Winifred laughed. "Oh," she answered, "a woman, naturally. I'm going +back by and by to have a word or two with Mrs. Hastings." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE RESCUE + + +Winifred's suspicions soon were proved correct, for Hastings, who drove +over to the Range a day or two after her visit, returned home rather +disturbed in temper after what he described as a very unsatisfactory +interview with Hawtrey. + +"I couldn't make the man hear reason," he informed Mrs. Hastings. "In +fact, he practically told me that the matter was no concern of mine. I +assured him that it concerned me directly as one of the executors of +Harry's will, and I'm afraid I afterwards indulged in a few personalities. +I expect that blamed mortgage-broker has got a very strong hold on him." + +Mrs. Hastings looked thoughtful. "You have never told me anything about +the will." + +"If I haven't, it wasn't for want of prompting," returned Hastings +dryly. "The will was sealed, and handed to me by Harry on the express +understanding that it was not to be opened until we had proof that he +was dead or until the six months mentioned had expired. If he turned up +it would, of course, be handed back to him. He made me promise solemnly +that I would not offer the least hint as to its provisions to anybody." + +Mrs. Hastings indulged in a shrug indicating resignation. "In that case +I suppose I must be content, but he might have made an exception of--me. +Anyway, I think I see how we can put what appears to be a little +necessary pressure upon Gregory." She turned again to her husband rather +abruptly. "After all, is it worth while for me to trouble about the +thing?" + +Hastings was taken off his guard. "Yes," he said decidedly, "if you can +put any pressure on Gregory I guess it would be very desirable to do it +as soon as possible." + +"Then you think that Harry may turn up, after all?" + +"I do," said Hastings gravely, "I don't know why. In any case it's +highly desirable that Gregory shouldn't fling his property away." + +Mrs. Hastings smiled. "Well," she said, "I'll think over it. I'll +probably get Agatha to see what she can do in the first place." + +She saw a trace of uncertainty in her husband's face. + +"As you like," he said. "Something must be done, but on the whole I'd +rather you didn't trouble Agatha about the matter. It would be wiser." + +Mrs. Hastings asked no more questions. She believed that she understood +the situation, and she had Agatha's interests at heart, for she had +grown very fond of the girl. There was certainly one slight difficulty +in the way of what she meant to do, but she determined to disregard it, +though she admitted that it might, cause Agatha some embarrassment +afterward. When she found the girl alone, she sat down beside her. + +"My dear," she said, "I wonder if I may ask whether you are quite +convinced that Harry is dead?" + +She felt that the question was necessary, though it seemed rather a +cruel one. + +"No," replied Agatha calmly, "I can't quite bring myself to believe it." + +"Then, since you heard what Sproatly said, you would be willing to do +anything that appeared possible to prevent Gregory throwing Harry's +money away?" + +"Yes," said Agatha, "I have been thinking about it." A sparkle of +disdainful anger showed in her eyes. "Gregory seems to have been acting +shamefully." + +"Then as he won't listen to Allen, we must get Sally to impress that +fact on him." + +"Sally?" questioned Agatha in evident astonishment. + +Mrs. Hastings smiled. "I don't think you understand Sally as well as I +do. Of course, like the rest of us, she falls a long way short of +perfection, and--though it's a difficult subject--there's no doubt that +her conduct in leading Gregory on while he was still engaged to you was +hardly quite correct. After all, however, you owe her something for +that." + +"It isn't very hard to forgive her for it," confessed Agatha. + +"Well, I want you to understand Sally. Right or wrong, she's fond of +Gregory. Of course, I've told you this already, but I must try to make +it clear how that fact bears upon the business in hand. Sally certainly +fought for him, and there's no doubt that one could find fault with +several things she did; but the point is that she's evidently determined +on making the most of him now she has got him. In some respects, at +least, she's absolutely straight--one hundred cents to the dollar is +what Allen says of her--and although you might perhaps not have expected +this, I believe it would hurt her horribly to feel that Gregory was +squandering money that didn't strictly belong to him." + +"Then you mean to make her understand what he is doing?" + +"No," replied Mrs. Hastings; "I want you to do it. I've reasons for +believing that your influence would go further with her than mine. For +one thing, I fancy she is feeling rather ashamed of herself." + +Agatha looked thoughtful. She had certainly not credited Sally with +possessing any fine sense of honor, but she was willing to accept Mrs. +Hastings' assurance. + +"The situation," she pointed out, "is rather a delicate one. You wish to +expose Gregory's conduct to the girl he is going to marry, though, as +you admit, the explanation will probably be painful to her. Can't you +understand that the course suggested is a particularly difficult and +repugnant one--to me?" + +"I've no doubt of it," admitted Mrs. Hastings. "Still, I believe it must +be adopted--for several reasons. In the first place, I think that if we +can pull Gregory up now we shall save him from involving himself +irretrievably. After all, perhaps, you owe him the effort. Then I think +that we all owe something to Harry, and we can, at least, endeavor to +carry out his wishes. He told what was to be done with his possessions +in a will, and he never could have anticipated that Gregory would +dissipate them as he is doing." + +The least reason, as she had foreseen, proved convincing to Agatha, and +she made a sign of concurrence. + +"If you will drive me over I will do what I can," she promised. + +Now that she had succeeded, Mrs. Hastings lost no time, and they set out +for the Creighton homestead next day. Soon after they reached the house +she contrived that Sally should be left alone with Agatha. The two girls +stood outside the house together when Agatha turned to her companion. + +"Sally," she said, "there is something that I must tell you." + +Sally glanced at her face, and then walked forward until the log barn +hid them from the house. She sat down upon a pile of straw and motioned +to Agatha to take a place beside her. + +"Now," she observed sharply, "you can go on; it's about Gregory, I +suppose." + +Agatha, who found it very difficult to begin, though she had been well +primed by Hastings on the previous evening, sat down in the straw, and +looked about her for a moment or two. It was a hot afternoon, dazzlingly +bright, and almost breathlessly still. In front of her the dark green +wheat rolled waist-high, and beyond it the vast sweep of grass stretched +back to the sky-line. Far away a team and a wagon slowly moved across +the prairie, but that was the only sign of life, and no sound from the +house reached them to break the heavy stillness. + +She finally nerved herself to the effort, and spoke earnestly for +several minutes before she glanced at Sally. It was evident that Sally +had understood all that had been said, for she sat very still with a +hard, set face. + +"Oh!" Sally exclaimed, "if I'd thought you'd come to tell me this +because you were vexed with me, I'd know what to do." + +This was what Agatha had dreaded. It certainly looked as if she had come +to triumph over her rival's humiliation, but Sally made it clear that +she acquitted her of that intention. + +"Still," said Sally, "I know that wasn't the reason, and I'm not mad +with--you. It hurts"--she made an abrupt movement--"but I know it's +true." + +She turned to Agatha suddenly. "Why did you do it?" + +"I thought you might save Gregory, if I told you." + +"That was all?" Sally looked at her with incredulous eyes. + +"No," answered Agatha simply, "that was only part. It did not seem right +that Gregory should go against Wyllard's wishes, and gamble the Range +away on the wheat market." + +She admitted it without hesitation, for she realized now exactly what +had animated her to seek this painful interview. She was fighting +Wyllard's battle, and that fact sustained her. + +Sally winced. "Yes" she agreed, "I guess you had to tell me. He was fond +of you. One could be proud of that. Harry Wyllard never did anything low +down and mean." + +Agatha did not resent her candor. Although this was a thing she would +scarcely have credited a little while ago, she saw that the girl felt +the contrast between Gregory's character and that of the man whose place +he had taken, and regretted it. Agatha's eyes became dim with unshed +tears. + +"Wyllard, they think, is dead," she said, in a low voice. "You have +Gregory still." + +Sally looked at her with unveiled compassion, and Agatha did not shrink +from it. + +"Yes," she declared, with a simplicity that became her, "and Gregory +must have someone to--take care of him. I must do it if I can." + +There was no doubt that Agatha was stirred. This half-taught girl's +quiet acceptance of the burden that many women must carry made her +almost ashamed. + +"We will leave it to you," she said. + +It became evident that there was another side to Sally's character, for +her manner changed, and the hardness crept back into her face. + +"Well," she admitted, "I'd 'most been expecting something of this kind +when I heard that man Edmonds was going to the Range. He has got a pull +on Gregory, but he's surely not going to feel quite happy when I get +hold of him." + +She rose in another moment, and saying nothing further, walked back +toward the house, in front of which they came upon Mrs. Hastings. Sally +looked at Mrs. Hastings significantly. + +"I'm going over to the Range after supper," she said. + +Mrs. Hastings drove away with Agatha. She said little to the girl during +the journey, but an hour after they had reached the homestead she +slipped quietly into Agatha's room. She found her reclining in a big +chair sobbing bitterly. She sat down close beside her, and laid a hand +upon her shoulder. + +"I don't think Sally could have said anything to trouble you like this," +she said. + +It was a moment or two before Agatha turned a wet, white face toward +her, and saw gentle sympathy in her eyes. There was, she felt, no cause +for reticence. + +"No," she said, "it was the contrast between us. She has Gregory." + +Mrs. Hastings showed sympathy and comprehension. "And you have lost +Harry--but I think you have not lost him altogether. We do not know that +he is dead--but even if it be so, it was all that was finest in him that +he offered you. It is yours still." + +She sat silent a moment or two before she went on again. + +"My dear, it is, perhaps, cold comfort, and I am not sure that I can +make what I feel quite clear. Still, Harry was only human, and it is +almost inevitable that, had it all turned out differently, he would have +said and done things that would have offended you. Now he has left you a +purged and stainless memory--one, I think, which must come very near to +the reality. The man who went up there--for an idea, a fantastic point +of honor--sloughed off every taint of the baseness that hampers most of +us in doing it. It was a man changed and uplifted above all petty things +by a high chivalrous purpose, who made that last grim journey." + +Agatha realized the truth of this. Already Wyllard's memory had become +etherealized, and she treasured it as a very fine and precious thing. +Still, though he now wore immortal laurels, that would not content her +when all her human nature cried out for his bodily presence. She wanted +him, as she had grown to love him, in the warm, erring flesh, and the +vague, splendid vision was cold and remote. There was a barrier greater +than that of crashing ice and bitter water between them. + +"Oh!" she cried, "I have felt that. I try to feel it always--but just +now it's not enough." + +She turned her face away with a bitter sob, and Mrs. Hastings, who +stooped and kissed her, went out of the room. The older woman knew that +the girl had broken down at last, after months of strain. + + * * * * * + +It happened that Edmonds, the mortgage-broker, drove over to the Range, +and found Hawtrey waiting for him in Wyllard's room. It was early in the +evening, and he could see the hired men busy outside tossing prairie hay +from the wagons into the great barn. The men were half-naked and grimed +with dust, but Hawtrey, who was dressed in store clothes, evidently had +taken no share in their labors. When Edmonds came in he turned to the +money-lender with anxiety in his face. + +"Well?" he questioned brusquely. + +"Market's a little stiffer," said Edmonds. + +Edmonds sat down and stretched out his hand toward the cigar-box on the +table, while Hawtrey waited with very evident impatience. + +"Still moving up?" he asked. + +Edmonds nodded. "It's the other folks' last stand," he declared. "With +the wheat ripening as it's doing, the flood that will pour in before the +next two months are out will sweep them off the market. I was half +afraid from your note that this little rally had some weight with you, +and that as one result of it you meant to cover now." + +"That," admitted Hawtrey, "was in my mind." + +"Then," remarked his companion, "it's a pity." + +Hawtrey leaned upon the table with hesitation in his face and attitude. +He had neither the courage nor the steadfastness to make a gambler, and +every fluctuation of the market swayed him to and fro. He had a good +deal of wheat to deliver by and by, and he could still secure a very +desirable margin if he bought in against his sales now. Unfortunately, +however, he had once or twice lost heavily in an unexpected rally, and +he greatly desired to recoup himself. Then, he had decided, nothing +could tempt him to take part in another deal. + +"If I hold on and the market stiffens further I'll be awkwardly fixed," +he declared. "Wyllard made a will, and in a few months I'll have to hand +everything over to his executors. There would naturally be unpleasantness +over a serious shortage." + +Edmonds smiled. He had handled his man cleverly, and had now a +reasonably secure hold upon him and the Range, but he was far from +satisfied. If Hawtrey made a further loss he would in all probability +become irretrievably involved. + +"Then," he pointed out, "there's every reason why you should try to get +straight." + +Hawtrey admitted it. "Of course," he said. "You feel sure I could do it +by holding on?" + +Edmonds seldom answered such a question. It was apt to lead to +unpleasantness afterwards. + +"Well," he said, "Beeman, and Oliphant, and Barstow are operating for a +fall. One would fancy that you were safe in doing what they do. When men +of their weight sell forward figures go down." + +This was correct, as far as it went, but Edmonds was quite aware that +the gentlemen referred to usually played a very deep and obscure game. +He had also reasons for believing that they were doing it now. It was, +however, evident that Hawtrey's hesitation was vanishing. + +"It's a big hazard, but I feel greatly tempted to hang on," he said. + +Edmonds, who disregarded his remark, sat smoking quietly. Since he was +tolerably certain as to what the result would be, he felt that it was now +desirable to let Hawtrey decide for himself, in which case it would be +impossible to reproach him afterwards. Wheat, it seemed very probable, +would fall still further when the harvest began, but he had reasons for +believing that the market would rally first. In that case Hawtrey, who +had sold forward largely, would fall altogether into his hands, and he +looked forward with very pleasurable anticipation to enforcing his claim +upon the Range. In the meanwhile he was unobtrusively watching Hawtrey's +face, and it had become evident that in another moment or two his victim +would adopt the course suggested, when there was a rattle of wheels +outside. Edmonds, who saw a broncho team and a a wagon appear from behind +the barn, realized that he must decide the matter without delay. + +"As I want to reach Lander's before it's dark I'll have to get on," he +said carelessly. "If you'll give me a letter to the broker, I'll send it +to him." + +Next moment a clear voice rose somewhere outside. + +"I guess you needn't worry," it said, "I'll go right in." + +Then Sally walked into the room. + +Edmonds was disconcerted, but bowed, and then sat down again, quietly +determined to wait, for he discovered that there was hostility in the +swift glance she flashed at him. + +"That's quite a smart team you were driving, Miss Creighton," he +remarked. + +Sally, who disregarded this, turned to Hawtrey. + +"What's he doing here?" she asked. + +"He came over on a little matter of business," answered Hawtrey. + +"You have been selling wheat again?" + +Hawtrey looked embarrassed, for her manner was not conciliatory. "Well," +he admitted, "I have sold some." + +"Wheat you haven't got?" + +Hawtrey did not answer, and Sally sat down. Her manner suggested that +she meant thoroughly to investigate the matter, and Edmonds, who would +have greatly preferred to get rid of her, decided that as it appeared +impossible he would appeal to her cupidity. The Creightons were grasping +folk, and he had heard of her engagement to Hawtrey. + +"If you will permit me I'll try to explain," he said. "We'll say that +you have reason for believing that wheat will go down and you tell a +broker to sell it forward at a price a little below the actual one. If +other people do the same it drops faster, and before you have to deliver +you can buy it in at less than you sold it at. A great deal of money can +be picked up that way." + +"It looks easy," Sally agreed, with something in her manner which led +him to fancy he might win her over. "Of course, prices have been +falling. Gregory has been selling down?" + +"He has. In fact, there's already a big margin to his credit," declared +Edmonds unsuspectingly. + +"That is, if he bought in now he'd have cleared--several thousand +dollars?" + +Edmonds told her exactly how much, and then started in sudden +consternation with rage in his heart, for she turned to Hawtrey +imperiously. + +"Then you'll write your broker to buy in right away," she said. + +There was an awkward silence, during which the two men looked at each +other until Edmonds spoke. + +"Are you wise in suggesting this, Miss Creighton?" he asked. + +Sally laughed harshly. "Oh, yes," she replied, "it's a sure thing. And I +don't suggest. I tell him to get it done." + +She turned again to Hawtrey, who sat very still looking at her with a +flush in his face. "Take your pen and give him that letter to the broker +now." + +There was this in her favor that Hawtrey was to some extent relieved by +her persistence. He had not the courage to make a successful speculator, +and he had already felt uneasy about the hazard that he would incur by +waiting. Besides, although prices had slightly advanced, he could still +secure a reasonable margin if he covered his sales. In any case, he did +as she bade him, and in another minute or two he handed Edmonds an +envelope. + +The broker took it from him without protest, for he was one who could +face defeat. + +"Well," he said, with a gesture of resignation, "I'll send the thing on. +If Miss Creighton will excuse me, I'll tell your man to get out my +wagon." + +He went out, and Sally turned to Hawtrey with the color in her cheeks +and a flash in her eyes. + +"It's Harry Wyllard's money!" she commented, as she met his glance with +flashing eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +IN THE WILDERNESS + + +A bitter wind was blowing when Wyllard stood outside the little tent the +morning after he had made a landing on the ice. He was to leeward of the +straining canvas which partly sheltered him, but the raw cold struck +through him to the bone, and he was stiff and sore from his exertions +during the previous day. His joints ached unpleasantly, and his clothing +had not quite dried upon him. He was conscious of a strong desire to +crawl back into the tent and go to sleep again, but that was one it +would clearly not be wise to indulge in, since they were, he believed, +still some distance off the beach, and the ice might begin to break up +at any moment. It stretched away before him, seamed by fissures and +serrated ridges here and there, for a few hundred yards, and then was +lost in the snow. As he gazed at it he shrank from the prospect of the +journey through the frozen desolation. + +With a shiver he crawled back into the tent where his two companions +were crouching beside the cooking-lamp. The feeble light of its +sputtering blue flame touched their faces, which were graver than usual, +but Charly looked up as he came in. + +"Wind's dropping," announced Wyllard curtly. "We'll start as soon as you +have made breakfast. We must try to reach the beach to-night." + +Charly made no answer, though the dusky-skinned Siwash grunted, and in a +few more minutes they silently commenced their meal, which was promptly +finished. They struck the tent, and packed it with their sleeping-bags +and provisions upon the sled, and then, taking up the traces, set out +across the ice. The light had grown clearer now, and the snow was +thinning, but it still whirled about them, and lay piled in drawn-out +wreaths to lee of every hummock or ragged ridge. They floundered +knee-deep, and in the softer places the weight upon the traces grew +unpleasantly heavy. That, however, was not a thing any of them felt the +least desire to complain of, and it was indeed a matter of regret to +them that they were not harnessed to a heavier burden. There was a +snow-wrapped desolation in front of them, and they had lost a number of +small comforts and part of their provisions in making a landing. Whether +the provisions could be replaced they did not know. + +The small supply of food was an excellent reason for pushing on as fast +as possible, and they stumbled and floundered forward until late in the +afternoon. The ice became more rugged and broken as they proceeded. The +snow had ceased, but the drifts which stretched across their path were +plentiful, and they were in the midst of one when it seemed to Wyllard, +who was leading, that they were sinking much deeper than usual. The snow +was over the tops of his long boots, the sled seemed very heavy, and he +could hear his comrades floundering savagely. There was a cry behind +him, and he was jerked suddenly backwards for a pace or two until he +flung himself down at full length in the snow. After that he was drawn +back no further, but the strain upon the trace became almost +insupportable, and there was still a furious scuffling behind him. + +In a moment or two, however, the strain slackened, and looking round, he +saw Charly waist-deep in the snow. Charly struggled out with difficulty, +holding on by the trace, but the sled had vanished, and it was with +grave misgivings that Wyllard scrambled to his feet. They hauled with +all their might, and after a tense effort, that left them gasping, +dragged the sled back into sight. Part of its load, however, had been +left behind in the yawning hole. + +Charly went back a pace or two cautiously until he once more sank to the +waist, and they had some trouble in dragging him clear. Then he sat down +on the sled, and Wyllard stood still looking at the holes in the snow. + +"Did you feel anything under you?" he asked at length in a jarring +voice. + +"I didn't," said Charly simply. "It was only the trace saved me from +dropping through altogether, but if I'd gone a little further I'd have +been in the water. Kind of snow bridge over a crevice. We broke it up, +and the sled fell through." + +Wyllard turned and flung the tent, their sleeping-bags, and the few +packages which had not fallen out of the sled, after which he hastily +opened one or two of them. His companions looked at them with +apprehension in their eyes until he spoke again. + +"The provisions may last a week or so, if we cut down rations," he said. + +He could not remember afterwards whether anybody suggested it, and he +believed that the same idea occurred to all of them at once, but in +another moment or two they set about undoing the traces from the sled, +and making them secure about their bodies. For half an hour they made +perilous attempt after attempt to recover the lost provisions, and +failed. The snow broke through continuously beneath the foremost man, +but it did not break away altogether, and they could not tell what lay +beneath it when they had drawn him out of the hole. When it became +evident that the attempt was useless, sitting on the sled, they held a +brief council. + +"I guess we don't want to go back," said Charly. "It's quite likely +we've crossed a good many of these crevices, and the snow's getting +soft. Besides, Dampier will have hauled off and headed for the inlet by +now." + +He spoke quietly, though his face was grave. Pausing a moment, he waved +his hand. "It seems to me," he added, "we have got to fetch the inlet +while the provisions last." + +"Exactly," agreed Wyllard. "Since the chart shows a river between us and +it, the sooner we start the better. If the thaw holds, the stream will +break up the ice on it." + +The Indian, who made no suggestion, grunted what appeared to be +concurrence, and they silently set to work to reload the sled. That +done, they took up the traces and floundered on again into the gathering +dimness and a thin haze of driving snow. Darkness had fallen when they +made camp again, and sat, worn-out and aching in every bone, about the +sputtering lamp inside the little straining tent. The meal they made was +a very frugal one, and they lay down in the darkness after it, for half +their store of oil had been left behind in the crevice. They spoke +seldom, for the second disaster had almost crushed the courage out of +them, and it was clear to all that it would be only by a strenuous +effort that they could reach the inlet before their provisions quite ran +out. They slept, however, and rising in a stinging frost next morning +set out again on the weary march, but it was slow traveling, and at noon +they left the tent and poles behind. + +"In another few days," said Wyllard, "we'll leave the sled." + +They made the beach that afternoon, though the only sign of it was the +fringe of more ragged ice and the white slope beyond. A thin haze hung +about them heavy with rime, and they could not see more than a quarter +of a mile ahead. When darkness fell they scraped out a hollow beneath +what seemed to be a snow-covered rock, and sat upon their sleeping-bags. +The cooking-lamp gave little heat. Having eaten, they huddled close +together with part of their aching bodies upon the sled, but none of +them slept much that night, for the cold was severe. + +The morning broke clear and warmer, and Wyllard, climbing to the summit +of the rock, had a brief glimpse of the serrated summits of a great +white range that rose to the west and south. It, however, faded like a +vision while he watched it, and turning he looked out across the rolling +wilderness that stretched away to the north. Nothing broke its gleaming +monotony, and there was no sign of life anywhere in the vast expanse. + +They set out after breakfast, breaking through a thin crust of snow, +which rendered the march almost insuperably difficult, and they had made +a league or two by the approach of night. The snow had grown softer, and +the thawing surface would not bear the sled, which sank in the slush +beneath. Still, they floundered on for a while after darkness fell, and +then lay down in a hollow. A fine rain poured down on them. + +Somehow they slept, and, though this was more difficult, got upon their +feet again when morning came, for of all the hard things the wanderer in +rain-swept bush or frozen wilderness must bear, there is none that tests +his powers more than, in the early dawn, the bracing of himself for +another day of effort. Comfortless as the night's lair has been, the +jaded body craves for such faint warmth as it afforded, and further +rest; the brain is dull and heavy, and the aching limbs appear incapable +of supporting the weight on them. Difficulties loom appallingly large in +the faint creeping light, courage fails, and the will grows feeble. +Wyllard and his companions felt all this, but it was clear to them that +they could not dally, with their provisions out, and staggering out of +camp after a very scanty meal they hauled the sled through the slush for +an hour or so. Then they had stopped, gasping, and the Indian slipped +out of the traces. + +"We've hauled that thing about far enough," said Charly, who dropped the +traces, too, and slipped away from the sled. + +Wyllard stood looking at them for a moment or two with anxious eyes. It +was evident that they could haul the hampering load no further, and he +was troubled by an almost insupportable weariness. + +"In that case," he said, "you have to decide what you'll leave behind." + +They discussed the subject for some minutes, partly because it furnished +an excuse for sitting upon the sled, though none of them had much doubt +as to the result of the council. It was unthinkable that they should +sacrifice a scrap of the provisions. Then, when each man had lashed a +light load upon his shoulders with a portion of the cut-up traces, they +set out again, and it rained upon them heavily all that day. + +During the four following days they were buffeted by a furious wind, but +the temperature had risen, and the snow was melting fast, and splashing +knee-deep through slush and water they made progress. While he stumbled +along with the pack-straps galling his shoulders, Wyllard was conscious +of little beyond the unceasing pain in his joints and the leaden +heaviness of his limbs. The recollection of that march haunted him like +a horrible nightmare long afterwards, when each sensation and incident +emerged from the haze of numbing misery. He remembered that he stormed +at Charly, who lagged behind now and then in a fit of languid dejection, +and that once he fell heavily, and was sensible of a half-conscious +regret that he was still capable of going on, when the Indian dragged +him to his feet again. They rarely spoke to one another, and noticed +nothing beyond the strip of white waste, through which uncovered brown +patches commenced to break, immediately in front of them, except when +they crossed some low elevation and looked down upon the stretch of dull +gray water not far away on one hand. The breeze had swept the ice away, +and that was reassuring, because it meant that Dampier would be at the +inlet when they reached it, though now and then a horrible fear that +their strength would fail them or that their provisions would run out +first, crept in. + +Their faces had grown gaunt and haggard, and each scanty meal had been +cut down to the smallest portion which would keep life and power of +movement within them. Still, though the weight of it hampered him almost +intolerably, Wyllard clung to the one rifle that they had saved from the +disaster at the landing and a dozen cartridges. This was a folly about +which he and Charly once had virulent words. + +At last they came to a river which flowed across their path, and lay +down beside it, feeling that the end was not far away. Except in the +eddies and shallows, the ice had broken up, and the stream swirled by in +raging flood, thick with heavy masses which it had brought down from its +higher reaches. The ice crashed upon the gleaming spurs that here and +there projected from the half-thawed fringe, and smashed with a harsh +crackling among the boulders, and there was no doubt as to what would +befall the stoutest swimmer who might attempt the passage. So far as +Wyllard afterwards remembered, none of them said anything when they lay +down among the wet stones, but with the first of the daylight they +started up stream. The river was not a large one, and it seemed just +possible that they might find a means of crossing higher up, though they +afterwards admitted that this was a great deal more than they expected. + +The ground rose sharply, and the stream flowed out of a deep ravine +which they followed. The rocks were of volcanic origin, and some of them +had crumbled into heaps of ragged debris. The slope of the ravine +became a talus along which it was almost impossible to scramble, and +they were forced back upon the boulders and the half-thawed ice in the +slacker pools. + +They made progress, notwithstanding all the obstacles in their way, and +when evening drew near found a little clearer space between rock and +river. The Indian had wrenched his knee, and when they stopped to make +camp among the rocks it was some little time before he overtook them. He +said that he had found the tracks of some animal which he believed had +gone up the ravine. What the beast was he did not know, but he was sure +that it was, at least, large enough to eat, and that appeared to be of +the most importance then. He would not, however, take the rifle. Nothing +could compel him to drag himself another rod that night, he said, and +the others, who had noticed how he limped, accepted his decision. With +an expressionless face he sat down among the stones, and Charly decided +that it was Wyllard's part to pick the trail. + +"You could beat me every time at trailing or shooting when we went +ashore on the American side, and I'm not sorry to let it go at that +now," he said. + +Wyllard smiled grimly. "And I've carried this rifle a week on top of my +other load. You can't shoot when you're dead played out." + +They called in the Indian and gave the rifle to him. He gravely pointed +to Wyllard. + +Charly grinned for the first time in several days. + +"Well," he remarked, "in this case I guess I've no objections to let it +be as he suggests." + +Wyllard resignedly took up the rifle and strode wearily out of camp. +There was, he knew, scarcely an hour's daylight left, and already the +dimness seemed a little more marked down in the hollow. He, however, +found the place where the Indian had seen the animal's track, and as +there was a wall of rock on one side, up which he believed the beast +could not scramble, he pushed on up stream beside the ice. There was +nothing to guide him, but he was a little surprised to feel that his +perceptions, which had been dull and dazed for the last few days, were +growing clearer. He noticed the different sounds the river made, and +picked out the sharp crackle of ice among the stones, though he had +hitherto been conscious only of a hoarse, pulsating roar. The rocks also +took distinctive shapes instead of looming in blurred masses before his +heavy eyes, and he found himself gazing with strained attention into +each strip of deeper shadow. Still, though he walked cautiously, there +was no sign of any life in the ravine. He was horribly weary, and now +and then he set his lips as he stumbled noisily among the stones, but he +pushed on beside the water while the deep hollow grew dimmer and more +shadowy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE UNEXPECTED + + +After a hard tramp Wyllard felt a troublesome dizziness creeping over +him, and he sat down upon a boulder with the rifle across his knees. He +had eaten little in the last few days, which had been spent in arduous +exertion, and now the leaden weariness which he had fought against since +morning threatened to overcome him. In addition to this, he was +oppressed by a black dejection, which, though his mind had never been +clearer, reacted upon his failing physical powers, for it was now +evident that he and his companions could not reach the inlet while their +provisions held out. There was no longer any doubt that he had involved +the two faithful men in disaster, and the knowledge that he had done so +was bitter. + +With haggard face he sat gazing up the ravine. Although he scarcely +imagined that either of the others had expected anything, he shrank from +going back as empty-handed as when he had left them. The light was +getting very dim, but he could still see the ice fringe upon the pool in +front of him, and a mass of rock that rose black against the creeping +dusk not very far away. Beyond it on the one side there seemed to be a +waste of stones amid which a few wreaths of snow still gleamed lividly. +Then a wall of rock scarcely distinguishable in the shadow shut in the +hollow. + +The hollow was filled with the hoarse roar of the river and the sharp +crash and crackle of stream-driven ice, but by and by the worn-out man +started as he caught another faint sound which suggested the clink of a +displaced stone. His hands closed hard upon the rifle, but he sat very +still, listening with strained attention until he heard the sound again. +Then a thrill ran through him, for he was quite certain of it's meaning. +A stone had rolled over higher up the gorge, and he rose and crept +forward, cautiously, keeping the detached rock between him and the upper +portion of the ravine. Once or twice a stone clattered noisily beneath +his feet, and he stopped for a moment or two, wondering with tense +anxiety whether the sound could be heard at any distance through the +roar of the river. This was a much more serious business than crawling +through the long grass for a shot at the prairie antelope, when in ease +of success it had seemed scarcely worth while to pack the tough and +stringy venison back to the homestead. + +By and by he heard the clatter of a displaced stone again, and this time +the sound was so distinct and near that it puzzled him. The wild +creatures of the waste were, he knew, always alert, and their perception +of an approaching danger was wonderful. It seemed strange that the beast +he was creeping in upon could not hear him, but he realized that he must +face the hazard of detection, since in another few minutes it would be +too dark to shoot. He had almost reached the rock by this time, and he +shifted his grasp on the rifle, holding it thrust forward in front of +him while crouching low he looked down for a spot on which to set his +foot each time he moved. It would, he knew, be useless to go any further +if a stone turned over now. He was fortunate, however, and, strung up to +highest tension, he stole into the deeper gloom behind the rock. + +A little pool ran in close beneath the rock, but it was covered with ice +and slushy snow. Treading cautiously, he crept across it, and held his +breath as he moved out from behind the rock. He stopped suddenly, for a +man stood face to face with him scarcely a stone's throw away. The +stranger's fur-clad figure cut sharply against a gleaming back of snow, +and he held a gun in his hand. Though the light had almost gone, it was +evident to Wyllard that he was a white man. + +They stood very still for several seconds gazing at each other, and then +the stranger dropped the butt of his weapon and called out sharply, +uttering words in a tongue that Wyllard did not recognize. Wyllard did +not move and the man spoke again. What he said was still unintelligible, +but this time Wyllard knew that he was trying German. When he received +only a shake of the head as an answer, the stranger tried again. This +time is was French that he spoke. + +"You can come forward, comrade," he said. + +He did not seem to be hostile, and Wyllard, who tossed his rifle into +the hollow of his left arm, moved out a pace or two to meet him. + +"You are Russian?" he questioned in the language the other had used, for +French is freely spoken in parts of Canada. + +The man laughed. "That afterwards," he answered. + +"It is said so. My name is Overweg--Albrecht Overweg. As to you, it +appears you do not understand Russian." + +Wyllard drew a little nearer, and sat down upon a boulder. Now that the +tension had slackened, his weariness had once more become almost +insupportable, and he felt that he might need his strength and senses. +He was bewildered by the encounter, for it was certainly astonishing in +that desolate wilderness to fall in with a man who spoke three civilized +languages and wore spectacles. + +"No," he replied, after a slight pause, "it is almost the first time I +have heard Russian spoken." + +"Ah," responded the other, "there is a certain significance in that +admission, my friend. May I inquire where you have come from, and what +you are doing here?" + +Wyllard, who had no desire to give him any information concerning the +quest for his lost comrades, pointed towards the east. + +"That is where I come from. As to my business at the moment you will +excuse me. It is perhaps not a rudeness to ask what is yours." + +The stranger laughed. "Caution, it seems, is necessary; and to the east, +where you have pointed, there is only the sea. I will, however, tell you +my business. It is science, and not"--he seemed to add this with a +certain significance--"in any way connected with the administration of +the country." + +Wyllard was conscious of a vast relief on hearing this, but as he was +not quite sure that he could believe it, he felt that prudence was still +advisable. In any case, he could not let the stranger go away until he +had learned whether there were any more white men with him. He sat +still, thinking hard for a moment or two. + +"You have a camp somewhere near?" he asked at length. + +"Certainly," replied the man. "You will come back with me, or shall I +come to yours?" + +"There are several of you?" + +"Besides myself, two Kamtchadales." + +"Then," said Wyllard, "I will come with you. I have left two comrades a +little further down the ravine. Will you wait until I bring them?" + +The stranger made a sign of assent, and sitting down upon a ledge of +rock took out a cigar. Wyllard now felt more sure of him, since it was +evident that had he meditated any treachery he would naturally have +preferred him to make the visit unattended. In any case, it seemed +likely that he would have something to eat in his camp. + +Wyllard plodded back down the ravine, and when he returned with his +comrades Overweg was still sitting there in the gathering darkness. He +greeted them with a wave of his hand, and rising, silently led the way +up the hollow until they came in sight of a little tent that glimmered +beneath a rock. There was a light inside the tent and two dusky figures +were silhoueted against the canvas. Overweg drew the flap back, and the +light shone upon his face as he signed them to enter. Wyllard, standing +still a moment, looked at him steadily, and then, seeing a reassuring +smile, went in. + +Overweg called to one of the Kamtchadales, who came in and busied +himself about the cooking-lamp. The three famished men sat down with a +sense of luxurious content among the skins that were spread upon the +ground sheet. After the raw cold outside the tent was very snug and +warm. Wyllard said little, however, and Overweg made no attempt at +conversation until the Kamtchadale laid out a meal, when he watched his +guests with a smile while they ate voraciously. He had stripped off his +furs, and with his knees drawn up sat on one of the skins. He was a +little, plump, round-faced man, with tow-colored hair, and eyes that +gleamed shrewdly behind his spectacles. + +"Shall I open another can?" he asked presently. + +"No," answered Wyllard. "We owe you thanks enough already. Provisions +are evidently plentiful with you." + +Overweg nodded. "I have a base camp two or three days' journey back," he +explained. "It is possible that I shall make a depot. We brought our +stores up from the south with dog sleds before the snow grew soft, but +it is necessary for me to push on further. My business, you understand, +is the scientific survey; to report upon the natural resources of the +country." + +He paused, and his manner changed a little when he went on again. "I +have," he added, "to this extent taken you into my confidence, and I +invite an equal candor. Two things are evident. You have made a long +journey, and your French is not that one hears in Paris." + +"First of all," said Wyllard, "I must ask again, are you a Russian?" + +Overweg shrugged his shoulders. "My name, which I have told you, is not +Slavonic, and it may be admitted that I was born in Bavaria. In the +meanwhile, it is true that I have been sent on a mission by the Russian +Government." + +"I wonder," remarked Wyllard reflectively, "how far you consider your +duty towards your employers goes." + +Overweg's eyes twinkled. "It covers all that can be ascertained about +the geological structure and the fauna of the country, especially the +fauna that produce marketable furs. At present I am not convinced that +it goes very much further." + +It was clear to Wyllard that he was already in this man's hands, since +he could not reach the inlet without provisions, and Overweg could, if +he thought fit, send back a messenger to the Russian authorities. He was +one who could think quickly and make a momentous decision, and he +realized that if he could not win the man's sympathy there must be open +hostility between them. + +"In that case I think I may tell you what has brought me here," he said. +"If you have traveled much in Kamtchatka you can, perhaps, help me. To +begin with, I sailed from Vancouver, in Canada, nearly a year ago." + +It required some time to make his errand clear, and then Overweg looked +at him with an inscrutable expression. + +"It is," said the scientist, "a tale that in these days one finds some +little difficulty in believing. Still, it must be admitted that I am +acquainted with one fact which appears to substantiate it." + +As he saw the blood rise to Wyllard's forehead he broke off with a +laugh. + +"My friend," he added, "is it permitted to offer you my felicitations? +The men who would attempt a thing of this kind are, I think, singularly +rare." + +"What is the fact that gives me at least partial credence?" asked +Wyllard, impatiently. + +"There is a Kamtchadale in my base camp who told me of a place where a +white man was buried some distance to the west of us. He spoke of a +second white man, but nobody, I understand, knows what became of him." + +Wyllard straightened himself suddenly. "You will send for that +Kamtchadale?" + +"Assuredly. The tale you have told me has stirred my curiosity. As my +path lies west up the river valley, we can, if it pleases you, go on for +a while together." + +Wyllard, who thanked him, turned to Charly with a sigh of relief. + +"It seems that we shall not bring those men back, but I think we may +find out where they lie," he said. + +Charly made no comment, for this was the most he had expected, and a few +minutes later there was silence in the little tent when the men lay down +to sleep among the skins. + +They started at sunrise next morning, and followed the river slowly by +easy stages until the man sent back to Overweg's base camp overtook them +with another Kamtchadale. Then they pushed on still further inland, and +it was a week later when one evening their guide led them up to a little +pile of stones upon a lonely ridge of rock. There were two letters very +rudely cut on one of the stones, and Wyllard, who stooped down beside +it, took off his cap when he rose. + +"There's no doubt that Jake Leslie lies here," he said. Looking at +Overweg, he asked, "Your man is sure there was only one white man who +buried him?" + +Overweg spoke to the Kamtchadale, who answered: + +"There was only one white man. It seems he went inland afterwards--at +least a year ago." + +Wyllard turned to Charly, and his face was very grave. "That makes it +certain that two of them have died. There was one left, and he may be +dead by this time." He made a forceful gesture. "If one only knew!" + +Charly made no answer. He was not a man of education or much +imagination, but like others of his kind he had alternately borne many +privations in the wilderness, logging, prospecting, trail-cutting about +the remoter mines, and at sea. As one result of this there crept into +his mind some recognition of what the outcast who lay at rest beside +their feet had had to face--the infinite toil of the march, the black +despair, the blinding snow, and Arctic frost. He met his leader's gaze +with a look of comprehending sympathy. + +By what grim efforts and primitive devices their comrade had clung to +life for a time, it seemed probable they would never know, but they +clearly realized that, though some might call it an illegal raid, or +even piracy, it was a work of mercy this outlaw had undertaken when he +was cast away. In the command to swing the boats over and face the +roaring surf in the darkness of the night he had heard the clear call of +duty, and had fearlessly obeyed. His obedience had cost him much, but as +the man who had come so far to search for him looked down upon the +little pile of stones there in the desolate wilderness, there awoke +within him a sure recognition of the fact that this was not the end. +That, at least, was unthinkable. His comrade, putting off the +half-frozen, suffering flesh, had gone on to join the immortals with his +duty done. + +It was with warmth at his heart and a slight haziness in his eyes that +Wyllard turned away at length, but when he put on his fur cap again he +was more determined than ever to carry out the search. There were many +perils and difficulties to be faced, but he felt that he must not +flinch. + +"One man went inland," he said to Overweg. "I must go that way, too." + +The little spectacled scientist looked at him curiously. + +"Ah," he replied, "the road your comrade traveled is a hard one. You +have seen what it leads to." + +Then Wyllard gave another a glimpse of the emotion that he generally +kept hidden deep in him. + +"No," he said, quietly, "the hard road leads further--where we do not +know--but one feels that the full knowledge will not bring sorrow when +it is some day given to those who have the courage to follow." + +Overweg waved a hand as he spoke. "It is not the view of the +materialists, but it is conceivable that the materialists may be wrong," +he responded. "In this case, however, it is the concrete and practical +we have to grapple with, my friend. You say you are going inland to +search for that man, and for a while I go that way, but though I have my +base camp there is the question of provisions if you come with me." + +They discussed the matter until Wyllard suggested that he could replace +any provisions his companion supplied him with from the schooner, to +which Overweg agreed, and they afterwards decided to send the Siwash and +one of the Kamtchadales on to the inlet with a letter to Dampier. The +two messengers started next day, when they found a place where the river +was with difficulty fordable, and the rest pushed on slowly into a +broken and rising country seamed with belts of thin forest here and +there. They held westwards for another week, and then one evening made +their camp among a few stunted, straggling firs. The temperature had +risen in the daytime, but the nights were cold, and when they had eaten +their evening meal they were glad of the shelter of the tent. A small +fire of resinous branches was sinking into a faintly glowing mass close +outside the canvas. + +The flap was drawn back, and Wyllard, who lay facing the opening, could +see a triangular patch of dim blue sky with a sharp sickle moon hanging +low above a black fir branch. The night was clear and still, but now and +then among the stunted trees there was a faint elfin sighing that +quickly died away again. While still determined, Wyllard was moodily +discouraged, for they had seen no sign of human life during the journey, +and his reason told him that he might search for years before he found +the bones of the last survivor of the party. Still, he meant to search +while Overweg was willing to supply him with provisions. + +By and by he saw Charly sharply raise his head and gaze towards the +opening. + +"Did you hear anything outside?" asked Charly. + +"It must be the Kamtchadales," Wyllard answered. + +"They went back a mile or two to lay some traps." + +"Then," said Wyllard, decisively, "it couldn't have been anything." + +Charly did not appear satisfied, and it seemed to Wyllard that Overweg +was also listening, but there was deep stillness outside now, and he +dismissed the matter from his mind. A few minutes later, however, it +seemed to him that a shadowy form appeared out of the gloom among the +firs and faded into it again. This struck him as very curious, since if +it had been one of the Kamtchadales he would have walked straight into +camp, but he said nothing to his companions, and there was silence for a +while until Charly rose softly to his feet. + +"Get out as quietly as you can," he said, as he slipped by Wyllard, who +crept after him to the entrance. + +When he reached it Wyllard's voice rang out with a startling vehemence. + +"Stop right now," he cried, and after a pause, "Nobody's going to hurt +you. Walk right ahead." + +Wyllard felt his heart beat furiously, for a dusky, half-seen figure +materialized out of the gloom, and grew into sharper form as it drew +nearer to the sinking fire. The thing was wholly unexpected, almost +incredible, but it was clear that the man could understand English, and +his face was white. In another moment Wyllard's last doubt vanished, and +he sprang forward with a gasp. + +"Lewson--Tom Lewson!" he cried. + +Charly thrust the man inside the tent, and when somebody lighted a lamp +Lewson sat down stupidly and looked at them. His face was gaunt and +almost blackened by exposure to the frost, his hair was long, and +tattered garments of greasy skins hung about him. There was something +that suggested bewildered incredulity in his eyes. + +"It's real?" he said, slowly and haltingly. "You have come at last?" + +They assured him that this was the case. For a moment or two the man's +face was distorted with a strange look and he made a hoarse sound in his +throat. + +"Lord," he muttered! "if I'm dreaming I don't want to wake." + +Charly leaned forward and smote him on the shoulder. + +"Shall I hit you like I did that afternoon in the Thompson House on the +Vancouver water front?" he asked. + +Then the certainty of the thing seemed to dawn upon the man, for he +quivered, and his eyes half closed. After that he straightened himself +with an effort. + +"I should have known, and I think I did," he said, turning to Wyllard. +"Something seemed to tell me that you would come for us when you could." + +Wyllard's face flushed, but he made no answer, and it was Charly who +asked the next question: + +"The others are dead?" + +Lewson made an expressive gesture. "Hopkins was drowned in a crevice of +the ice. I buried Leslie back yonder." + +He broke off abruptly, as though speech cost him an effort, and Wyllard +turned to Overweg. + +"This is the last of the men I was looking for," he announced. + +Overweg quietly nodded. "Then you have my felicitations--but it might be +advisable if you did not tell me too much," he remarked. "Afterwards I +may be questioned by those in authority." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +CAST AWAY + + +Tom Lewson had been an hour in camp before he began the story of his +wanderings, and at first, lying propped up on one elbow, with the +lamplight on his worn face, he spoke slowly and with faltering tongue. + +"We broke an oar coming off the beach that night, and it kind of +crippled us," he said. "Twice the boat nearly went back again in the +surf, and I don't quite know how we pulled her off. Anyway, one of us +was busy heaving out the water that broke into her. It was Jake, I +think, and he seemed kind of silly. Once we saw a boat hove up on a sea, +but we lost her in the spray, and a long while after we saw the +schooner. Just then a comber that broke on board 'most hove us over, and +when we had dodged the next two there wasn't a sign of the schooner. +After that we knew that we were done, and we just tried to keep her +head-to and ease her to the seas." + +He stopped a moment, and looked around at the others with troubled eyes, +as if trying to marshal uncertain memories. He was a simple sailorman, +who contented himself with the baldest narrative; still, two of those +who heard him could fill in the things he had not mentioned--the mad +lurching of the half-swamped boat, the tense struggle with the oars each +time a big frothing comber forged out of the darkness, and the savage +desperation of the drenched and half-frozen men cast away with the +roaring surf to lee of them and their enemies watching upon the hammered +beach. + +"It blew hard that night," he continued. "Somehow our little boat lived +through it, but there wasn't a sign of the island when morning +came--nothing but the combers and the flying haze! Guess the wind must +have shifted a few points and drove us by the end of it. Then we found +Jake had his head laid open by a sealing club. The sea was getting +longer, and as we were too played out to hold the boat to it we got her +away before it, and somehow she didn't roll over. I think it was next +day, though it might have been longer, when we fetched another island. +She just washed up on it, and one of the others pulled me out. There +wasn't a sign of anybody on the beach, but there were plenty of skinned +holluschickie seals on the slope behind it, and that was fortunate for +us." + +"You struck nobody on the island?" questioned Wyllard. + +"We didn't," Lewson answered simply. "The Russians must have sent a +vessel to take off the killers after the last drive of the season a day +or two before, for the holluschickie were quite fresh. It was blowing +hard and the surf was getting steep, and the men had left quite a few of +their things behind them. We found the shacks that the killers lived in, +and we made out that winter in one of them." + +It occurred to Wyllard that this was a thing very few men except sealers +could have done had they been cast ashore without stores or tools to +face the awful winter of the North. + +"How did you get through?" he asked. + +"Well," explained Lewson, "we had a rifle, and the ca'tridges weren't +spoilt. The killers hadn't taken their cooking outfit, and by and by we +got a walrus in an open lane among the ice. They'd left some gear behind +them, but we were most of two days cutting and heaving the beast out +with a parbuckle under him. There was no trouble about things keeping in +that frost. Besides, we'd the holluschickie blubber to burn, and there +was a half-empty bag or two of stores in one of the shacks. No, we +hadn't any great trouble in making out." + +"You had to stay there until the ice broke up," Charly observed. + +"And after. The boat was gone, and we couldn't get away. She broke up in +the surf, and we burned what we saved of her. At last a schooner came +along, and we hid out across the island until she'd gone away. It was +blowing fresh, and hazy, and she just shoved a new gang of killers +ashore. There was an Okotsk Russian with them, but he made no trouble +for us. He was white, anyway, and it kind of seemed to me he didn't like +one of the other men who got hurt that night on the beach." + +"Then some of them did get badly hurt?" Wyllard broke in. + +"Well," Lewson said, "from what that Russian told us--and we got to +understand each other after a time--one of the killers had his ribs +broke, and it seems that another would go lame for life. Besides, among +other things, there was a white man got his face quite smashed. I saw +him with his nose flattened way out to starboard, and one eye canted. He +was a boss of some kind. They called him Smirnoff." + +Overweg looked up sharply. "Ah," he commented, "Smirnoff. A man with an +unsavory name. I have heard of him." + +"Anyway," Lewson went on, "we killed seals all the open season with that +Russian, and I've no fault to find with him. In fact, I figure that if +he could have fixed it he'd have left us on the island that winter, but +when a schooner came to take the killers off and collect the skins +Smirnoff was on board of her. That"--an ominous gleam crept into +Lewson's eyes--"was the real beginning of the trouble. He had us hauled +up before him--guess the other man had to tell him who we were--and when +I wouldn't answer he slashed me across the face with a dog whip." + +Lewson clenched a lean brown fist. "Yes" he added, hoarsely, "I was +whipped--but they should have tied my hands first. It was not my fault I +didn't have that man's life. It was 'most a minute before three of them +pulled me off him, and he was considerably worse to look at then." + +There was silence for a minute or two, and Wyllard, who felt his own +face grow warm, saw the suggestive hardness in Charly's eyes. Lewson was +gazing out into the darkness, but the veins were swollen on his forehead +and his whole body had stiffened. + +"We'll let that go. I can't think of it," he said, recovering his +composure. "They put us on board the schooner, and by and by she ran +into a creek on the coast. We were to be sent somewhere to be dealt +with, and we knew what that meant, with what they had against us. Well, +they went ashore to collect some skins from the Kamtchadales, and at +night we cut the boat adrift. We got off in the darkness, and if they +followed they never trailed us. Guess they figured we couldn't make out +through the winter that was coming on." + +So far the story had been more or less connected and comprehensible. It +laid no great tax on Wyllard's credulity, and, indeed, all that Lewson +described had come about very much as Dampier had once or twice +suggested; but it seemed an almost impossible thing that the three men +should have survived during the years that followed. Lewson, as it +happened, never made that matter very clear. He sat silent for almost a +minute before he went on again. + +"We hauled the boat out, and hid her among the rocks, and after that we +fell in with some Kamtchadales going north," he said. "They took us +along, I don't know how far, but they were trapping for furs, and after +a time--I think it was months after--we got away from them. Then we fell +in with another crowd, and went on further north with them. They were +Koriaks, and we lived with them a long while--a winter and a summer +anyway. It was more, perhaps--I can't remember." + +He broke off with a vague gesture, and sat looking at the others +vacantly with his lean face furrowed. + +"We must have been with them two years--but I don't quite know. It was +all the same up yonder--ever so far to the north." + +It seemed to Wyllard that he had seldom heard anything more expressive +in its way than this sailorman's brief and fragmentary description of +his life in the wilderness. He had heard from whaler-skippers a little +about the tundra that fringes the Polar Sea, the vast desolation frozen +hard in summer a few inches below the surface, on which nothing beyond +the mosses ever grew. It was easy to understand the brain-crushing +sameness and monotony of an existence checkered only by times of dire +scarcity on those lonely shores. + +"How did you live?" he asked. + +"There were the birds in summer, and fish in the rivers. In winter we +killed things in the lanes in the ice, though there were weeks when we +lay about the blubber lamp in the pits. They made pits and put a roof on +them. I don't know why we staked there, but Jake had always a notion +that we might get across to Alaska--somehow. We were way out on the ice +one day when Jim fell into a crevice, and we couldn't get him out." + +He stopped, and sat still a while as one dreaming. "I can't put things +together, but at last we came south, Jake and I, and struck the +Kamtchadales again. We could talk to them, and one of them told us about +a schooner lying in an inlet by a settlement. The Russians had brought +her there from the islands, and she must have been a sealer. Jake +figured it was just possible we might run away with her and push across +for the Aleutians or Alaska." + +Charly looked up suddenly. "She--was--a sealer--Hayson's _Seminole_. I +was in Victoria when we heard that the Russians had seized her." + +Wyllard turned to Overweg, who nodded when he asked a question in +French. + +"Yes," he said, "I believe the vessel lies in the inlet still. They have +used her now and then. It is understood that they were warranted in +seizing her, but I think there was some diplomatic pressure brought to +bear on them, for they sent her crew home." + +Lewson went on again. "Food was scarce that season, and we got 'most +nothing in the traps," he said. "Besides, there were Russians out +prospecting, and that headed us off. We figured that some of the +Kamtchadales who traded skins to the settlements would put them on our +trail. When we went to look for the boat she'd gone, but we hadn't much +notion of getting off in her, though another time--I don't remember +when--we gave two Kamtchadales messages we'd cut on slips of wood. +Sometimes the schooners stood in along the coast." + +Wyllard nodded. "Dunton of the _Cypress_ got your message," he said. "He +was in difficulties then, but he afterwards sent it me." + +"Well," said Lewson, "there isn't much more to it. We hung about the +beach a while, and then went north before the winter. Jake played out on +the trail. By and by he had to let up, and in a day or two I buried +him." + +His voice grew hoarse. "After that it didn't seem to matter what became +of me, but I kept the trail somehow, and found I couldn't stay up +yonder. That's why I started south with some of them before the summer +came. Now I'm here--talking English--talking with white men--but it +doesn't seem the same as it should have been--without the others." + +He talked no more that night, but Wyllard translated part of his story +for the benefit of Overweg. + +"The thing, it seems incredible," commented the scientist. "This man, +who has so little to tell, knows things which would make a trained +explorer famous." + +"It generally happens that way," said Wyllard. "The men who know can't +tell." + +Overweg made a sign of assent, and then changed the subject. + +"What shall you do now?" he asked. + +"Start for the inlet, where we expect to find the schooner, at sunrise. +I want to say"--Wyllard hesitated--"that you have laid an obligation on +me which I can never repay; but I can, at least, replace the provisions +you have given me." + +"That goes for nothing," declared Overweg, with a smile. "I have, +however, drawn upon my base camp rather heavily, and should be glad of +any stores from the schooner that you could let me have. The difficulty +is that I do not wish to go too far toward the beach." + +They arranged a rendezvous a few days' march from the inlet, and in +another half-hour all of them were fast asleep. + +When the first of the daylight came Wyllard set off with his two +companions, and since it was evident that Dampier must have now lain in +the inlet awaiting them a considerable time, they marched fast for +several days. Then, to their consternation, they came upon the Siwash +lying beside a river badly lame. It appeared that in climbing a slippery +ridge of rock the knee he had injured had given way, and he had fallen +some distance heavily, after which the Kamtchadale, finding him +helpless, had disappeared with most of the provisions. None of the party +ever learned what had become of the faithless courier, but they realized +that the situation was now a rather serious one. Charly, who looked at +Wyllard when he had heard the Indian's story, explained it concisely. + +"I'm worrying about the boat we left on the edge of the ice," he said. +"I've had a notion all along it was going to make trouble. Dampier would +see the wreckage when he ran in, and I guess it would only mean one +thing to him. He'd make quite certain he was right when he didn't find +us at the inlet." He paused and pointed towards the distant sea. "You +have got to push right on with Lewson as fast as you can while I try to +bring the Siwash along." + +Wyllard started within the next few minutes, and afterward never quite +forgot the strain and stress of that arduous march. The journey that he +had made with Overweg had been difficult enough, but they had then +traversed rising ground from which most of the melting snow had drained +away. Now, however, as they approached the more level littoral there +were wide tracts of mire and swamp to be painfully floundered through, +while every ravine and hollow was swept by a frothing torrent, and they +had often to search for hours for a place where it was possible to +cross. To make things worse, they were drenched with rain half the time, +and trails of dingy mist obscured their path, but they toiled on +stubbornly through every obstacles, though it was only by the tensest +effort that Wyllard kept pace with his companion. The gaunt, long-haired +Lewson seemed proof against physical weariness, and there was seldom any +change in the expression of his grim, lined face. Now and then Wyllard +felt a curious shrinking as he glanced at Lewson, for his fixed look +suggested what he had borne in the awful solitudes of the frozen North. + +Slowly, with infinite toil, they crossed the weary leagues, lying at +night with a single skin between them and the soil, for they traveled +light. Wyllard was limping painfully, with his boots worn off his feet, +when one morning they came into sight of a low promontory which rose +against a stretch of gray lifeless sea. His heart throbbed fast as he +realized that behind it lay the inlet into which Dampier had arranged to +bring the _Selache_. He glanced at Lewson, who said nothing, and they +plodded forward faster than before. + +The misty sun was high in the heavens when they reached the foot of the +steep rise, and Wyllard gasped heavily as they crept up the ascent. He +was making a severe muscular effort; but it was the nervous tension that +troubled him most, for he knew that he would look down upon the inlet +from the summit. He blamed himself bitterly for not sending a messenger +to Dampier immediately after he fell in with Overweg. There had +certainly been difficulties in the way, for the increase in the +scientist's party had made additional packers necessary, and Wyllard +felt that he could not reasonably compel the man who had succored him to +leave behind the camp comforts to which he had evidently been +accustomed. In spite of that, he had been at fault in not disregarding +every objection, and he realized it now. + +Somehow he kept pace with Lewson, but he closed one hand tight as he +neared the top of the promontory. When he reached the summit he stopped +suddenly, and his face set hard as he looked down. Beneath him lay a +strip of dim, green water, with a fringe of soft white surf, while +beyond the beach there stretched away an empty expanse of slowly heaving +sea. There was no schooner in the inlet, no boat upon the beach. + +In another moment or two they went down the slope at a stumbling run, +and then stopped, gasping by the water's edge, and looked at one +another. There were marks in the sand which showed where a boat had been +drawn up not very long before. The _Selache_ evidently had been there, +and had sailed away again. + +Wyllard sat down limply upon the shingle, for all the strength seemed +suddenly to melt out of him, and it was several minutes before he looked +up. Gazing out at sea, Lewson was still standing, a shapeless, barbaric +figure in his garments of skins. The hide moccasins he wore had chafed +through, and Wyllard noticed that the blood was trickling from one of +his feet. + +"Well?" Lewson asked harshly. + +Wyllard laid a stern restraint upon himself. Their case looked +desperate, but it must be grappled with. + +"We must go back and meet the rest," he said. "That first--what is to +come afterwards I don't quite know." A faint gleam of resolution crept +into his eyes. "The schooner the Russians seized lies in an inlet down +the coast." + +Lewson made a sign of comprehension. "There are four of us. There will +be birds by and by. I can trap things." + +He flung himself down near his comrade, and for an hour neither of them +spoke. Wyllard was worn out physically and limp from the last few hours' +mental strain, while Lewson very seldom said more than was absolutely +necessary. They made a very frugal meal, and long afterwards Wyllard was +haunted by the memory of that dreary afternoon during which he lay upon +the shingle watching the slow pulsations of the dim, lifeless sea. + +They set out again early next morning, and, as it happened, found a +little depot of provisions that Dampier had made, but it was several +days before they met Charly and the Indian, and another week had passed +before Overweg reached the appointed meeting-place. The scientist +listened to Wyllard's story gravely, and then appeared to consider. + +"You have some plans?" he asked. + +Wyllard admitted that this was the case, and Overweg smiled behind his +spectacles. + +"It is, perhaps, better that you should not tell me what they are," he +said. "There is, however, one thing I can do. You say you left some +stores you could not carry at the depot, which I will take, for +provisions are now not plentiful with me, but at my base camp there are +still a few things you have not which are almost necessary, and"--he +made a gesture of reassuring significance--"after all, if I have to go +south a little earlier than I intended it is not a great matter." + +He wrote on a strip of paper which he handed to Wyllard. "You will take +these, and nothing else. I may add that Smirnoff is stationed at the +inlet where the schooner lies." + +Wyllard thanked him, and then looked him in the eyes. "There is a long +journey before us, and you have only my word that I will take nothing +but these things." + +Overweg nodded quietly. "Yes," he said, "it is perhaps permissible to +assure you that it is sufficient for me." + +Little more was said, and in another half-hour Wyllard and his +companions were ready to set out. He and the little spectacled scientist +grasped each other's hands, and then Wyllard abruptly turned away. +Looking back a few minutes later, he saw Overweg standing upon the ridge +where he had left him, silhouetted against a low, gray sky. The +scientist raised his cap once, and Wyllard, who answered him, swung +around once more, and strode faster towards the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE LAST EFFORT + + +It was after a long and arduous journey which had left its mark on all +of them that Wyllard and his companions, one lowering evening, lay among +the boulders beside a sheltered inlet waiting for the dusk to fall. They +were cramped and aching, for they had scarcely moved during the last +hour. Their garments were badly tattered, and their half-covered feet +were bleeding. With three knives and one rifle among them they were a +pitiful company to seize a vessel, but there was resolution in their +haggard faces. + +Close in front of them the green water lapped softly among the stones. +The breeze was light off shore, and the tide, which was just running +ebb, rippled against the bows of a little schooner lying some thirty +yards from the bank. The vessel had been seized for illegal sealing some +years earlier, and it was evident that she had been little used since +then. The paint was peeling from her cracked and weathered side, her +gear was frayed and bleached with frost and rain, and only very +hardpressed men would have faced the thought of going to sea in her. +Wyllard and his companions were, however, very hardpressed indeed, and +they preferred the hazards of a voyage in the crazy vessel to falling +into the Russians' hands. It was also clear that they had no choice. It +must be either one thing or the other. + +Some little distance up stream a low hill cut against the dingy sky. It +shut off all of the upper part of the inlet which wound in behind it, +but Wyllard and his companions had cautiously climbed the slope earlier +in the afternoon, and, lying flat upon the summit, had looked down upon +the little wooden houses that clustered above the beach. He had then +decided that this part of the inlet would dry out at about half-ebb, and +as the schooner's boat, which he meant to seize lay upon the shingle, it +was evident that he must carry out his plans within the next three +hours. + +These plans were very simple. There was nobody on board the schooner, +which lay in deeper water, and he believed that it would be possible to +swim off to her and slip the cable; but they must have provisions, and +there was, so far as he could see, only one way of obtaining them. A +building which stood by itself close beside the beach was evidently a +store, for he had seen two men carrying bags and cases out of it under +the superintendence of a third in some kind of uniform, and it appeared +to be unguarded. Wyllard had reasons for surmising that the store +contained Government supplies, and had arranged that Charly and Lewson +should break into it as soon as darkness fell. They were to pull off to +the schooner with anything they could find inside. Whether they would +succeed in doing this he did not know, and he admitted to himself that +it scarcely seemed probable, but he could think of no other plan, and +the attempt must be made. + +A thin haze drove across the crest of the hill, the breeze freshened +slightly, and the little ripples lapped more noisily along the shingle. +There was evidently a great deal of fresh water coming down the inlet, +and it was in a fever of impatience he watched the schooner strain at +her cable. That evening had already seemed the longest he had ever spent +in his life. By and by it began to rain, and little streams of chilly +water trickled about the weary men, but they lay still, with lips tight +set in tense suspense. What Lewson had had to face in the awful icy +wastes to the north of them Wyllard could scarcely imagine, and Lewson +could not tell, but he and his two other comrades had borne things +almost beyond endurance since he began his search, and now there was far +too much at stake for him to increase the odds against them by any undue +precipitancy. He was then in a dangerous mood, but he had laid his plans +with grim, cold-blooded caution, and he meant to adhere to them. + +Very slowly the light faded, until the beach grew shadowy, and the +schooner's spars and rigging showed dim and blurred against a dusky +background. The rise that shut off the settlement was lost in drifting +haze, and the dull rumble of the surf on the outer beach came up more +sharply through the gathering darkness. The measured beat of the tide's +deep pulsations almost maddened Wyllard as he lay and listened, for if +all went right, in an hour or two he would be sliding out over the long +heave with every sail piled on to the crazy schooner. + +When there was only a faint gleam of water sliding by below, he rose +stiffly to his feet, and Lewson stretched out a hand for the rifle that +lay among the stones. There was a sharp click as he jerked the lever, +and then he laughed, a little jarring laugh, as the magazine snapped +back. + +"They'll treat us as pirates if they get hands on us--and I've been +lashed in the face--with a sled-dog-whip," he said. + +Charly made no remark as he loosed the long seaman's knife in his belt. +Wyllard could not utter a remonstrance, for there is, as he recognized, +a point beyond which prudence does not count. After what Overweg had +once or twice told him, it was unthinkable that they should fall into +Smirnoff's hands. + +Lewson and Charly melted away into the darkness. Wyllard and the Siwash +walked quietly down to the water's edge, a little up-stream of the +schooner, as the stream was running strong. As they waited a few moments +before plunging into the sea they stripped off nothing, for it was +evident that none of the rags they left behind could be replaced, and +they knew from experience that when the first shock is over a man +swimming in icy water is kept a little warmer by his clothing. For all +that, the cold struck through Wyllard when he flung himself forward and +swung his left hand out. It was perhaps a minute before he was clearly +conscious of anything beyond the physical agony and the mental effort to +retain control of his faculties. Then he made out the schooner, a vague, +blurred shape a little down-stream, and he swam furiously, his face +dipping under each time his left hand came out. + +He drew level with the vessel, clutched at her cable, a foot short, and +was driven against her bows. The stream swept him onward, gasping, and +clawing savagely at the slippery side of the schooner, until his fingers +found a hold. It was merely the rounded top of a bolt that he touched, +but with a desperate effort he clutched the bent iron that led up from +it to one of the dead-eyes of the mainmast-shrouds. He could not, +however, draw himself up any further, and he hung on, wondering when his +strength would fail him. The Siwash, who had crawled up the cable, +leaned down from above and seized his shoulder. In another moment he +reached the rail, and went staggering across the deck, dripping and +half-dazed. + +Action was imperatively necessary, and he braced himself for the effort. +The schooner was lying with her anchor up-stream, but he did not think +it would be possible to heave her over it and break it out unless he +waited until the others arrived, and it would then be a lengthy and, +what was more to the purpose, a noisy operation. The anchor must be +sacrificed, but there was the difficulty that in the dark he could +hardly expect to find a shackle on the cable. Running forward with the +Siwash, he pulled out a chain stopper, and then shipping the windlass +levers found with vast relief that it would work. It would make a +horribly distinct clanking, he knew, but that could not be helped, and +the next thing was to discover whether the end of the chain was made +fast below, for it is very seldom that a skipper finds it necessary to +pay out all his cable. + +Dropping into the darkness of the locker beneath the forecastle, he was +more fortunate than he could reasonably have expected to be, for as he +crawled over the rusty links he felt a shackle. It appeared to be of the +usual harp-pattern with a cottered pin, and he called out sharply to the +Siwash, who presently flung him an iron bar and a big spike. He struck +one of the two or three sulphur matches he had carefully treasured, and +when the sputtering blue flame went out set to work to back the pin out +in the dark. He smashed his knuckles and badly bruised his hands, but he +succeeded, and knew that he had shortened the chain by two-thirds now. + +He scrambled up on deck again and hurried aft for the vessel's kedge had +been laid out astern to prevent her swinging. There was a heavy hemp +warp attached to it, and it cost them some time to heave most of it +over, after which they proceeded to get the mainsail on to her. It was +covered with a coat, and Wyllard cut himself as he slashed through the +tiers in savage impatience. Then he and the Siwash toiled at the +halliards desperately, for the task of raising the heavy gaff was almost +beyond their powers. + +There was no grease on the mast-hoops; the blocks evidently had not been +used for months. Several times they desisted a moment or two, gasping, +breathless, and utterly exhausted. Still, foot by foot they got the +black canvas up, and then, leaving the peak hanging, ran forward to the +boom-foresail, which was smaller and lighter. They set that, cast two +jibs and the staysail loose, and let them lie. Wyllard sat down feeling +that the thing they had done would, if attempted in cold blood, have +appeared almost impossible. It was done, however, and now he must wait +until the boat appeared. There was no sign of her, and as he gazed up +the inlet, seeing only the glimmer of the water and the sliding mist, +the suspense became almost intolerable. Minute after minute slipped by, +and still nothing loomed out of the haze. The canvas rustled and banged +above him, there was a growing splashing beneath the bows, and the +schooner strained more heavily at her cable. Everything was ready, only +his comrades did not appear. He clenched his hands and set his lips as +he waited. He wondered at the Siwash, who sat upon the rail, a dim, +shapeless figure, impassively still. + +At last his heart leaped, for a faint splash of oars came out of the +darkness. Both men ran forward to the windlass. The sharp clanking it +made drowned the splash of oars, but in another minute or two there was +a crash as the boat drove alongside, and Charly scrambled up with a rope +while Lewson hurled sundry bags and cases after him. Then he climbed on +deck in turn, and Charly began a breathless explanation. + +"It's all we could get. There's nobody on our trail," he said. + +The last fact was most important, and Wyllard cut him short. "Get the +jibs and staysail on to her," he commanded. + +The new arrivals worked rapidly while the cable clanked and rattled as +the schooner drove astern, but at the first heave the rotten staysail +tore off the hanks, and one jib burst as they ran it up its stay. For an +anxious moment or two the cable jammed, and the anchor brought the +schooner up. All four flung themselves upon the windlass levers, and +after a furious effort the chain came up again and ran out faster, +fathom by fathom, rattling horribly, until the end of it shot suddenly +over the windlass. Then there was another check as the schooner brought +up by the kedge swung suddenly across the stream. + +Her banging canvas filled, she listed over, and it was evident to all of +them that if the kedge started she would forthwith drive ashore. Tense +with strain, its warp ripped out of the water, and she was swinging on +it heading for the beach when Wyllard flung himself upon the wheel. + +"Hang on to every inch or break it!" he roared. "Out main-boom; box your +jib and staysail up to weather!" + +In desperate haste they obeyed orders, amid a great clatter of blocks +and thrashing of canvas, while Wyllard wrenched up his helm, and the +schooner, straining on the warp, fell away with her bows down-stream. +The sweat of effort dripped from Wyllard when he swung up an arm to +Lewson, who was standing at the bollard to which the warp was made fast. + +"Now!" he cried hoarsely, "let her go!" + +The rope fell with a splash, the schooner lurched forward and drove away +down the inlet with the stream running seaward under her, while Wyllard +felt a trifle dazed from sheer revulsion of feeling. The rumble of the +surf was growing louder; the deck slanted slightly beneath him. If they +could keep her off the beach for the next few minutes there was freedom +before them! He hazarded a glance astern, but could see no sign of a +boat up the inlet. They had done a thing which even then appeared almost +incredible. + +The breeze came down fresher, the gurgle at the bows grew louder, and +the deck began to heave with a slow and regular rise and fall. A long, +shadowy point girt about with spectral surf slipped by, and they were +out in open water. They ran the schooner out for an hour or two and +then, though the peak of the mainsail burst to tatters as they hauled +her on a wind, let her stretch away northward following the trend of +coast. + +"We'll stand on as she's lying until we find a creek or river mouth. We +must have water," Wyllard said. + +An hour later he called Charly to the wheel, and sitting down in the +shelter of the rail, went to sleep, though this was about the last thing +he had contemplated doing. It was gray dawn when he opened his eyes +again, and aching all over and very cold, stood up to see that the +schooner was tumbling over a spiteful sea with the hazy loom of land not +far away from her. He glanced at the gear and canvas, and was almost +appalled, while Charly, who was busy close by, saw his face and grinned. + +"You don't want to look at her too much," he observed. "We took a swig +on the peak-halliards a little while ago, and had to let up before we +pulled the gaff off her. Boom-foresail's worse, and the jibs are +dropping off her, while the water just pours in through her top-sides +when she puts another lee plank down." + +Wyllard made an expressive gesture, and leaned upon the rail. He +realized then something of the nature of the task he had undertaken. +They had no anchor, no fresh water, no fuel for cooking, and, so far as +he was aware, very few provisions, while it seemed to him that the +weathered, worn-out gear would not hold the masts in the vessel in any +weight of breeze. Still, the thing must be attempted, and there was one +want, at least, that could be supplied. + +"Anyway," he said, "we'll beat her in. When we come abreast of the first +creek you and Tom and the Siwash will go ashore." + +It was afternoon when they sighted a little stream, and they took most +of the canvas off the vessel before three of them pulled away in the +boat, leaving Wyllard at the helm. It was blowing moderately fresh off +shore, and it was with feverish impatience that he watched them toiling +at the oars, two of them pulling while the third man sculled. They +disappeared behind a point, and an anxious hour went by before the boat, +which now showed a very scanty strip of side above the tumbling foam, +crept out from the beach again. Having no breakers, they had brought the +water off in bulk, sitting in it as they pulled, and it was fortunate +that the boat lurched off shore easily before the little splashing seas. +They lost some of the water before they hove it into the big rusty tank, +and then they held a consultation when they had swung the boat in and +the schooner was running off to the east again. + +"We've about stores enough to last two weeks--that is, if you don't +expect too much," Lewson pointed out. "There's an American stove in the +deck-house, and while we can't find anything meant to burn in it there's +an ax down forward, and we could cut out cabin floorings, or a beam or +two, without taking too much stiffening out of her." + +Wyllard, who had inspected the stores, knew that a fortnight was the +very longest that could be counted on, though they ate no more than +would keep a modicum of strength in them. From their kind and quality he +surmised that the provisions had been intended for the officials in +charge of the settlement. + +"How did you get them, Tom?" he asked. + +"The thing;" said Lewson quietly, "was simple. It was dark and hazy, and +raining quite hard. The first thing we did was to run the boat down and +leave her nearly afloat. Then we crawled back, and lay by listening +outside that store. We were figuring how we were to break it in when two +men came along. They went in and came out with a bag or two, and as they +left the door open we figured they were coming back for more. We humped +out a moderate load, and had just got it down to the boat when we saw +those men, or two others, in the haze. I was for lying by, but Charly +would get out then." + +Charly laughed dryly. "He wanted to take the rifle and go back to look +for Smirnoff. I'd no use for any trouble of that kind, and I shoved the +boat off while he was seeing how many ca'tridges there were in the +magazine. He waded in and grabbed the boat when he saw I was sure going, +but I shoved her away from him. Then it kind of struck him he had to get +in or swim." + +Lewson's expression grew grim. "That's the thing that hurts the most--to +go away before I got even with that man," he declared. "Still, I may get +over it if I try to think of him with his nose smashed hard to +starboard." + +Wyllard made a sign of impatience. He felt that, after all, there was +perhaps something to be said for Smirnoff's point of view. + +"There is just one plan open to us, and that's to drive the schooner +across to the eastward as fast as we can," he said. "We might, perhaps, +pick up an Alaska C. C. factory before the provisions quite run out if +this breeze and the gear hold up. Failing that, we must try for one of +the Western Aleutians." + +The others concurred in this, and very fortunately the breeze kept to +the west and south, for Wyllard had very grave doubts as to whether he +could have thrashed the schooner to windward through a steep head sea. +Indeed, on looking back on that voyage and remembering the state of the +vessel, it seemed to him that he and his companions had escaped as by a +miracle. In any case, they hove the vessel to, one misty evening, in a +deep inlet behind a promontory, and Wyllard, who sculled up the inlet +alone in the growing darkness, badly startled the agent of an A.C.C. +factory when he appeared, ragged, haggard, and wet with rain, in the +doorway of a big, stove-warmed room. + +The agent, however, was out for business, but when Wyllard produced a +wad of paper money stained by wet and perspiration he appeared quite +willing to part with certain provisions. He was told that no questions +would be answered, and when he had given his visitor supper, Wyllard +sculled away in the darkness leaving him none the wiser. Half an hour +later the schooner slipped out to sea again. + +The rest was by comparison easy. They had the coast of Alaska and +British Columbia close aboard, and they crept southwards in fine +weather, once running off their course when the smoke of a steamer crept +up above the horizon. In a strong breeze, they ran for the northern +tongue of Vancouver Island, and Wyllard, who had already decided that +the vessel would fetch scarcely five hundred dollars, and that it would +be better if all trace of her disappeared, pulled his wheel over +suddenly as she was scraping by a surf-swept reef. + +In another minute she was on hard and fast, and they had scarcely got +the boat over when the masts went with a crash. A quarter of an hour +later the wreckage was thrown up on the beach, and, before they set out +on a long march through the bush, there was very little to be seen of +the vessel. + +Three or four days afterward they reached a little wooden town, and +Wyllard, who slipped into it alone in the dusk, bought clothing for +himself and his companions, who put it on in the bush. Then they went +into the town together, and slept that night in a hotel. + +Their troubles were over, and, what was more, Wyllard, who pledged the +rest to secrecy, fancied that what had become of the schooner would +remain a mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +WYLLARD COMES HOME + + +Harvest had commenced at the Range, and the clashing binders were moving +through the grain when Hawtrey sat one afternoon in Wyllard's room. It +was about five o'clock, and every man belonging to the homestead was +toiling, bare-armed and grimed with dust, among the yellow oats, but +Hawtrey sat at a table gazing with a troubled face at the litter of +papers in front of him. He wore a white shirt and store clothes, which +was distinctly unusual in case of a Western farmer at harvest time, and +Edmonds, the mortgage-jobber, leaned back in a big chair quietly +watching him. + +Edmonds had called at a singularly inconvenient time, and Hawtrey was +anxious to get rid of him before the arrival of the guests that he +expected. It was Sally's birthday, and, since she took pleasure in +simple festivities of any kind, he had arranged to celebrate it at the +Range. He was, however, sufficiently acquainted with the money-lender's +character to realize that it was most unlikely that he would take his +departure before he had accomplished the purpose which had brought him +there. This was to collect several thousand dollars. + +It was quite clear to Hawtrey that he was in an unpleasantly tight +place. Edmonds held a bond upon his homestead, teams and implements as +security for a short date loan, repayment of which was due, and he was +to be married to Sally in a month or so. + +"Can't you wait a little?" he asked at length. + +"I'm afraid not," was the uncompromising reply. "Money's tight this +fall, and things have gone against me. Besides, you could pay me off if +you wanted to." + +Edmonds turned toward an open window, and glanced at the great stretch +of yellow grain that ran back across the prairie. Dusty teams and +binders with flashing wooden arms moved half-hidden along the edge of +the vast field, and the still, clear air was filled with a clash and +clatter and the rustle of flung-out sheaves. + +There was no doubt that money could be raised upon that harvest field. +Indeed, Hawtrey fancied that his companion would be quite content to +take a bond for the delivery of so many thousand bushels in repayment of +the loan, but while he had already gone further than he had at one time +contemplated doing, this was a course he shrank from suggesting. After +all, the grain was Wyllard's, and there was the difficulty that Wyllard +might still come back. If Wyllard failed to return, an absence of +another few months would entitle his executors to consider him dead. In +either case, Hawtrey would be required to account for his property. + +"No," he decided, "I can't take--that way." + +There was a trace of contempt in the mortgage-jobber's smile. "You of +course understand just how you're fixed, but it seemed to me from that +draft of the arrangement with Wyllard that you have the power to do +pretty much what you like. Anyway, if you gave me a bond on as much of +that grain as would wipe out the loan at the present figure, it would +only mean that you would have Wyllard's trustees for creditors instead +of me, and it's probable that they wouldn't be as hard upon you as I'm +compelled to be. As things stand, you have got to square up or I throw +your place on the market." + +Hawtrey's face betrayed his dismay; and Edmonds believed that he would +yield to a little further pressure. Gregory had not said anything about +the mortgage to Sally, and it would be extremely unpleasant to be turned +out upon the prairie within a month or two of his marriage, for he could +not count upon being left in possession of the Range much longer. + +"I'm only entitled to handle Wyllard's money on his account," he +objected. + +Edmonds appeared to reflect. "So far as I can remember there was nothing +of that kind stated in the draft of the arrangement. It empowered you to +do anything you thought fit with the money, but it's altogether your own +affair. I can, of course, get my money back by selling your homestead, +and I must decide if that must be done or not before I leave." + +Edmonds had very little doubt as to what the decision would be. Hawtrey +would yield, and afterwards it would not be difficult to draw him into +some unwise speculation with the object of getting the money back, which +he imagined that Hawtrey would be desperately anxious to do. As the +result of this, he expected to get such a hold upon the Range that he +would be master of the situation when the property fell into the hands +of Wyllard's trustees. That Hawtrey would be disgraced as well as ruined +naturally did not count with him. + +Gregory took up one of the papers, and read it through. Then he rose, +and stood leaning on the table while he gazed at the teams toiling amid +the grain. There was wealth enough yonder to release him from his +torturing anxieties, and after all, he felt, something must turn up +before the reckoning was due. It was not in his nature to face a crisis, +and with him a trouble seemed less formidable if it could only be put +off a little. Edmonds, who knew with what kind of man he had to deal, +said nothing further, and quietly reached out for another cigar. He saw +vacillation in his victim's manner. + +Meantime, though neither of the men were aware of it, Sally had alighted +from her wagon on the other side of the house, and two other vehicles +were growing larger upon the sweep of whitened prairie. As she entered +the homestead the girl met Mrs. Nansen, who informed her that Hawtrey +was busy with Edmonds in Wyllard's room. Sally's eyes sparkled when she +heard it, and her face grew hard. + +"That man!" she exclaimed. "Well, I guess I'll go right in to them." + +In another minute she opened the door, and answered the mortgage-jobber's +embarrassed greeting with a frigid stare. Having had some experience with +Sally's uncompromising directness, he was inclined to fancy that the game +was up, but he waited calmly. + +"What's this man doing here again?" Sally asked, fixing her eyes on +Hawtrey. "You promised me you would never make another deal with him." + +Gregory flushed. Had he thought it would be the least use he would have +made some attempt to get Sally out of the room, but he was unpleasantly +sure that unless she was fully satisfied first it would only result in +failure. Driven to desperation, as he was, he had a half-conscious +feeling that she might provide him with some means of escape. Sally had +certainly saved him once, and, humiliating as the thought was, he had an +idea that she did not expect too much from him. She might be very angry, +but Sally's anger was, after all, less difficult to face than Agatha's +quiet scorn. + +"I haven't made another deal. It's--a previous one," Gregory explained +lamely. + +Sally swung around on Edmonds. "You have come here for money? You may as +well tell me. I won't leave you with Gregory until you do." + +It was quite evident that she would make her promise good, and Edmonds +nodded. + +"Yes," he said, "about three thousand dollars." + +"And Gregory can't pay you?" + +Edmonds thought rapidly, and decided to take a bold course. He was +acquainted with Hawtrey's habit of putting things off, and fancied that +his debtor would seize upon the first loophole of escape from an +embarrassing situation. That was why he gave him a lead. + +"Well," he said, "there is a way in which he could do it if he wished. +He has only to fill in a paper and hand it to me." + +Edmonds had not sufficiently counted on Sally's knowledge of his +victim's affairs, or her quickness of wit, for she turned to Hawtrey +with a commanding gesture. + +"Where are you going to get three thousand dollars from?" she asked. + +The blood rushed into Hawtrey's face, for this was a thing he could not +tell her; but a swift suspicion, flashed into her mind as she looked at +him. + +"Perhaps it could be--raised," he answered. + +"To pay this mortgage off?" Sally swung round on Edmonds now, as she +questioned him. + +"Yes," he admitted, "he can easily do it." + +Then the girl turned to Hawtrey. "Gregory," she said with harsh +incisiveness, "there's only one way you could get that money--and it +isn't yours." + +Hawtrey made no reply. He could not meet her gaze, and when he turned +from her she looked back at the mortgage-broker. + +"If you're gone before I come back there'll sure be trouble," she +informed him, and sped swiftly out of the room. + +Hawtrey sat down limply in his chair, and Edmonds laughed in a jarring +manner. The game was up, but, after all, if he got his three thousand +dollars he could be satisfied, for one way or another he had already +extracted a great deal of money from Hawtrey. + +"If I were you I'd marry that girl right away," Edmonds advised Hawtrey. +"You'd be safer if you had her to look after you." + +Hawtrey let the jibe pass. For one thing, he felt that it was warranted, +and just then his anxiety was too strong for anger. + +In the meanwhile, Sally had run out of the house to meet Hastings, who +had just handed his wife down from their wagon. The girl drew him a pace +or two aside. + +"I'm worried about Gregory," she said; "he's in trouble--big trouble. +Somehow we have got to raise three thousand dollars. Edmonds is inside +with him." + +Hastings did not seem surprised. "Ah!" he said, "I guess it's over that +mortgage of his. It would be awkward for you and Gregory if Edmonds took +the homestead and turned him out." + +Sally's face grew white, but she met his gaze steadily. + +"Oh," she replied, "that's not what I would mind the most." + +Hastings reflected a moment or two. He thought that it was a very +difficult admission for the girl to make, and that she had made it +suggested that Hawtrey might become involved in more serious +difficulties. He had also a strong suspicion of what they were likely to +be. + +"Sally," questioned Hastings quietly, "you are afraid of Edmonds making +him do something you would not like?" + +Though she did not answer directly, he saw the shame in the girl's face, +and remembered that he was one of Wyllard's trustees. + +"I must raise that money--now--and I don't know where to get more than +five hundred dollars from. I might manage that," she said. + +"Well," answered Hastings, "you want me to lead you then, and I'm not +sure that I can. Still, if you'll wait a few minutes I'll see what I can +do." + +Sally left him, and he turned to his wife, whose expression suggested +that she had overheard part of what was said and had guessed the rest. + +"You mean to raise that money? After all, we are friends of his, and it +may save him from letting Edmonds get his grip upon the Range," she +said. + +Hastings made a sign of reluctant assent. "I don't quite know how I can +do it personally, in view of the figure wheat is standing at, and I +don't think much of any security that Gregory could offer me. Still, +there is, perhaps, a way in which it could be arranged, and it's one +that, considering everything, is more or less admissible. I think I'll +wait here for Agatha." + +Agatha was in the wagon driven by Sproatly. When Sproatly had helped her +and Winifred to alight, Hastings, who walked to the house with them, +drew Agatha into an unoccupied room. + +"I'm afraid that Gregory's in rather serious trouble. Sally seems very +anxious about him," he said. "It's rather a delicate subject, but I +understand that in a general way you are on good terms with both of +them?" + +Agatha met his embarrassed gaze with a smile. She knew that what he +really wished to discover was whether she still felt any bitterness +against Gregory or blamed him for pledging himself to Sally. + +"Yes," she answered, "Sally and I are good friends, and I am very sorry +to hear that Gregory is in any difficulty." + +Hastings still seemed embarrassed, and she was becoming puzzled by his +manner. + +"Once upon a time you would have done anything possible to make things +easier for him," he said. "I wonder if I might ask if to some extent you +have that feeling still?" + +"Of course. If he is in serious trouble I should be glad to do anything +within my power to help him." + +"Even if it cost, we will say, about six hundred English pounds?" + +Agatha gazed at him in bewilderment. + +"There are some twenty dollars in my possession which your wife handed +me not long ago," she remarked in a puzzled tone. + +"Still, if you had the money, you would be glad to help him--and would +not regret it afterwards?" + +"No," asserted Agatha decisively; "if I had the means, and the need was +urgent, I should be glad to do what I could." Then she laughed. "I can't +understand in the least how this is to the purpose." + +"If you will wait for the next two or three months I may be able to +explain it to you," replied Hastings. "In the meanwhile, there are one +or two things I have to do." + +When he left her, Agatha sat still, wondering what he could have meant, +but feeling that she would be willing to do what she could for Gregory. +Hastings' suggestion that it was possible that she still cherished any +sense of grievance against him because he was going to marry Sally, +brought a scornful smile to her lips. It was easy to forgive Gregory +that, for she now saw him as he was--shallow, careless, shiftless, a man +without depth of character. He had a few surface graces, and on occasion +a certain half-insolent forcefulness of manner which in a curious +fashion was almost becoming. There was, however, nothing beneath the +surface. He was, it seemed, quite willing that a woman should help him +out of the trouble in which he had involved himself, for she had no +doubt that Sally had sent Hastings on his incomprehensible errand. + +Then a clear voice came in through the window, and turning towards it +Agatha discovered that a young lad clad in blue duck was singing as he +drove his binder through the grain. The song was a simple one which had +some vogue just then upon the prairie, but her eyes grew suddenly hazy +as odd snatches of it reached her through the beat of hoofs, the clash +of the binder's arms and the rustle of the flung-out sheaves. + + "My Bonny lies over the ocean, + My Bonny lies over the sea." + +The youth called to his horses, and it was a few moments before she +heard again-- + + "Bring back my Bonny to me." + +A quiver ran through her as she leaned upon the window frame. There was +a certain pathos in the simple strain, and she could fancy that the lad, +who was clearly English, as an exile felt it, too. Once more as the +jaded horses and clashing machine grew smaller down the edge of the +great sweep of yellow grain, his voice came faintly up to her with its +haunting thrill of longing and regret-- + + "Bring back my Bonny to me." + +This in her case was more than anyone could do, and as she stood +listening a tear splashed upon her closed hands. The man, by comparison +with whom Gregory appeared a mere lay figure, was in all probability +lying still far up in the solitudes of the frozen North, with his last +grim journey done. This time, however, he had not carried her picture +with him. Gregory was to blame for that, and it was the one thing she +could not forgive him. + +She leaned against the window for another minute, struggling with an +almost uncontrollable longing, and looking out upon the sweep of golden +wheat and whitened grass with brimming eyes, until there was a rattle of +wheels, and she saw Edmonds drive away. She heard voices in the +corridor, and it became evident that Hastings was speaking to his wife. + +"I've got rid of the man, and it's reasonable to expect that Gregory +will keep clear of him after this," he said. + +"Don't you mean that Agatha did it?" + +It was Mrs. Hastings who asked the question, and Agatha became intent as +she heard her name. She did not, however, hear the answer, and Mrs. +Hastings spoke again. + +"Allen," she said, "you don't keep a secret badly, though Harry pledged +you not to tell. Still, all that caution was a little unnecessary. It +was, of course, just the kind of thing he would do." + +"What did he do?" Hastings asked, and Agatha heard Mrs. Hastings' soft +laugh, for they were just outside the door now. + +"Left the Range, or most of it, to Agatha in case he didn't come back +again." + +They went on, and Agatha, turning from the window, sat down limply with +the blood in her face and her heart beating fast. Wyllard's last care, +it seemed, had been to provide for her, and that fact brought her a +curious sense of solace. In an unexplainable fashion it took the +bitterest sting out of her grief, though how far he had succeeded in his +intentions did not seem to matter in the least.. It was sufficient to +know that amid all the haste of his preparation he had not forgotten +her. + +Becoming a little calmer, she understood what had been in Hastings' mind +during the interview that had puzzled her, and was glad that she assured +him of her willingness to sacrifice anything that might be hers if it +was needed to set Gregory free. It was, she felt, what Wyllard would +have done with the money. He had said that Gregory was a friend of his, +and that, she knew, meant a great deal to him. + +She suddenly realized that she must join the others if she did not wish +her absence to excite comment. Going out, she came face to face with +Sally in the corridor. The girl stopped, and saw the sympathy in her +eyes. + +"Yes," she said impulsively, "I've saved him. Edmonds has gone. Hastings +bought him off, and, though I don't quite know how, you helped him. He +stayed behind to wait for you." + +Agatha smiled. The vibrant relief in her companion's voice stirred her, +and she realized once more that in choosing this half-taught girl +Gregory had acted with a wholly unusual wisdom. It was with a sense of +half-contemptuous amusement at her own folly that she remembered how she +had once fancied that Gregory was marrying beneath him. Sally was far +from perfect, but in the essentials the man was not fit to brush her +shoes. + +"My dear," responded Agatha, "I really don't know exactly what +I--have--done, but if it amounts to anything it is a pleasure to me." + +They went together into the big general room where Gregory was talking +to Winifred somewhat volubly. Agatha, however, judged from his manner +that he had, at least, the grace to feel ashamed of himself. Supper, she +heard Mrs. Nansen say, would be ready very shortly, and feeling in no +mood for general conversation, she sat near a window looking out across +the harvest field until she heard a distant shout, and saw a wagon +appear on the crest of the hill. To her astonishment, two of the binders +stopped, and she saw the men who sprang down from them run to meet the +wagon. In another moment or two more of the teams stopped, and a faint +clamor of cries went up, while here and there little running figures +straggled up the slope. All the occupants of the room clustered about +her at the window, and Winifred turned to Hastings. + +"What are they shouting for?" she asked. "They are all crowding about +the wagon now." + +Agatha felt suddenly dazed and dizzy, for she knew what the answer to +that question must be even before Mrs. Hastings spoke. + +"It's Harry coming back!" she gasped. + +In another moment they all hastened out of the house, and Agatha found +it scarcely possible to follow them, for the sudden revulsion of feeling +had almost overpowered her. Still, she reached the door, and saw the +wagon drawn up amid a cluster of struggling men. Presently Wyllard, whom +they surrounded, broke from them. She stood on the threshold waiting for +him, and in the moment of her exultation a pang smote her as she saw how +gaunt and worn he was. He came straight toward her, apparently +regardless of the others, and, clasping the hands she held out, drew her +into the house. + +"So you have not married Gregory yet?" he questioned, and laughed +triumphantly when he saw the answer in her shining eyes. + +"No," she said softly, "it is certain that I will never marry him." + +Wyllard drew her back still further with a compelling grasp. + +"Why?" he asked. + +Agatha looked up at him, and then turned her eyes away. + +"I was waiting for you," she said simply. + +Then he took her in his arms and kissed her before he turned, still with +her hand in his, to face the others who were now flocking back to the +house. In another moment they went in together, amid a confused clamor +of good wishes. + +THE END + + + * * * * * + + +Popular Copyright Books +AT MODERATE PRICES + +Any of the following titles can be bought of your +bookseller at the price you paid for this volume + +Alternative, The. 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