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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29155-h.zip b/29155-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..87460bb --- /dev/null +++ b/29155-h.zip diff --git a/29155-h/29155-h.htm b/29155-h/29155-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72df061 --- /dev/null +++ b/29155-h/29155-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15599 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Blake's Burden, by Harold Bindloss +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blake's Burden, by Harold Bindloss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blake's Burden + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Release Date: June 18, 2009 [EBook #29155] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAKE'S BURDEN *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="transnote"> +[Transcriber's note: this book has essentially the same story as +Bindloss's "The Intriguers", Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) +#14406, however, the differences in text, paragraphing, and chapter +structure range from minor to radically different. As an example, this +book has 32 chapters, while Intriguers has only 24.] +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +BLAKE'S BURDEN +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +HAROLD BINDLOSS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of "The Impostor," "Hawtrey's Deputy," <BR>"The Pioneer," etc +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED +<BR> +LONDON, MELBOURNE AND TORONTO +<BR> +1917 +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3> +BY THE SAME AUTHOR +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Impostor<BR> +Beneath Her Station<BR> +The Liberationist<BR> +League of the Leopard<BR> +A Damaged Reputation<BR> +The Dust of Conflict<BR> +Hawtrey's Deputy<BR> +The Protector<BR> +The Pioneer<BR> +The Trustee<BR> +The Wastrel<BR> +The Allinson Honour<BR> +Blake's Burden<BR> +The Secret of the Reef<BR> +The Intruder<BR> +A Risky Game<BR> +The Borderer<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAP.</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE BLAKE AFFAIR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">MILLICENT RENEWS AN ACQUAINTANCE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE COUSINS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHALLONER RESUMES HIS JOURNEY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">MRS. KEITH GETS A SURPRISE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">HARDING GROWS CONFIDENTIAL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">MRS. CHUDLEIGH GATHERS INFORMATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE PRAIRIE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">CLARKE MAKES A SUGGESTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">BENSON GIVES TROUBLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">HARDING GROWS SUSPICIOUS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE MUSKEG</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">CLARKE'S SUMMONS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE CURE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">MRS. CHUDLEIGH FINDS A CLUE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">MRS. KEITH ENTERS THE FIELD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE PICTURE GALLERY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">COLONEL CHALLONER PROVES OBDURATE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">CHALLONER'S DECISION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">MRS. CHUDLEIGH MAKES A FRESH ATTEMPT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">A NEW PERSECUTOR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">CLARKE MODIFIES HIS PLANS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">THE CARIBOU</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">THE FACTORY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE BACK TRAIL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">THE RESCUE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">A STARTLING DISCOVERY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">A MATTER OF DUTY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">BLAKE HOLDS HIS GROUND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">MRS. CHUDLEIGH'S DEFEAT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">A DIFFICULT QUESTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">HARDING STRIKES OIL</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLAKE AFFAIR +</H4> + +<P> +It was a fine morning and Mrs. Keith sat with a companion, enjoying the +sunshine, near the end of Dufferin Avenue, which skirts the elevated +ground above the city of Quebec. Behind her rose the Heights of +Abraham where the dying Wolfe wrested Canada from France; in front, +churches, banks, offices and dwellings, curiously combining the old and +the very new, rose tier on tier to the great red <I>Frontenac</I> hotel, at +which she was staying. It is a picturesque city that climbs back from +its noble river; supreme, perhaps, in its situation among Canadian +towns, and still retaining something of the exotic stamp set upon it by +its first builders whose art was learned in the France of long ago. +</P> + +<P> +From where she sat Mrs. Keith could not see the ugly wooden wharves. +Her glance rested on the flood that flowed towards her, still and deep, +through a gorge lined with crags and woods, and then, widening rapidly, +washed the shores of a low, green island. Opposite her white houses +shone on the Levis ridge, and beyond this a vast sweep of country, +steeped in gradations of colour that ended in ethereal blue, rolled +away towards the hills of Maine. Quebec was then filled with +distinguished guests. British royalty had visited it, with many who +belonged to the great world in London and some who aspired to do so. +Canada had become fashionable, and in addition to English folk of +station, Westerners and Americans of note had gathered in the ancient +city. The ceremonies were over, but the company had not all dispersed. +</P> + +<P> +The two ladies were elderly. They had played their part in the drama +of life, one of them in a strenuous manner, and now they were content +with the position of lookers on. So far, however, nothing had occurred +since breakfast to excite their interest, and by and by Mrs. Keith +turned to her companion with characteristic briskness. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I'll go to Montreal by the special boat to-night," she said. +"The hotel's crowded, the town's full, and you keep meeting people whom +you know or have heard about. I came here to see Canada, but find it +hard to realize that I'm not in London; I'm tired of the bustle." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ashborne smiled. She had met Margaret Keith by chance in Quebec, +but their acquaintance was of several years' standing. +</P> + +<P> +"Tired?" she said. "That is surely a new sensation for you. I've +often envied you your energy." +</P> + +<P> +Age had touched Mrs. Keith lightly, though she had long been a +childless widow and had silvery hair. Tall and finely made, with +prominent nose and piercing eyes, she was marked by a certain +stateliness and a decided manner. She was blunt without rudeness, and +though often forceful was seldom arrogant. Careless of her dress, as +she generally was, Margaret Keith bore the stamp of refinement and +breeding. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" she said; "I begin to feel I'm old. But will you come to +Montreal with me to-night?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I'd better, though the boat takes longer than the train and +I hear that the <I>Place Viger</I> is full. I don't know anything about the +other hotels; they mightn't be comfortable." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll no doubt be able to offer us all that we require, and I never +pamper myself," Mrs. Keith replied. "In fact, it's now and then a +relief to do something that's opposed to the luxuriousness of the age." +</P> + +<P> +This was a favourite topic, but she broke off as a man came towards +her, carrying one or two small parcels which apparently belonged to the +girl at his side. He was a handsome man, tall and rather spare, with +dark eyes and a soldierly look. His movements were quick and forceful, +but a hint of what Mrs. Keith called swagger somewhat spoiled his +bearing. She thought he allowed his self-confidence to be seen too +plainly. The girl formed a marked contrast to him; she was short and +slender, her hair and eyes were brown, while her prettiness, for one +could not have called her beautiful, was of an essentially delicate +kind. It did not strike one at first sight, but grew upon her +acquaintances. Her manner was quiet and reserved and she was plainly +dressed in white, but when she turned and dismissed her companion her +pose was graceful. Then she handed Mrs. Keith some letters and papers. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been to the post office and Captain Sedgwick made them search +for our mail," she said. "It came some time ago, but there was a +mistake through its not being addressed to the hotel." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith took the letters and gave Mrs. Ashborne an English +newspaper, but the girl went on: "The bobcat has torn a hole in the +basket and I'm afraid it's trying to get at the mink." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell some of the hotel people to take it out at once and see that the +basket is sent to be mended." +</P> + +<P> +The girl withdrew and Mrs. Ashborne looked up. "Did I hear aright? +She said a bob-cat." +</P> + +<P> +"You did. I am making a collection of the smaller American animals, +and a bob-cat is something like a big English ferret. It has high +hindquarters and walks with a curious jump, which I suppose is why it +got its name. I'm not sure it lives in Canada, and an American got +this one for me. I find natural history interesting." +</P> + +<P> +Margaret Keith was known to be eccentric, and her companion laughed. +"I should imagine you found it expensive, and aren't some of the +creatures savage?" +</P> + +<P> +"Millicent looks after them, and I always beat the sellers down. +Fortunately, I can afford to indulge in my caprices, and you can +consider this my latest fad if you like. I am subject to no claims, +and my means are hardly large enough to make me an object of interest +to sycophantic relatives." +</P> + +<P> +"Is your companion fond of attending to wild animals?" Mrs. Ashborne +inquired. "I have wondered where you got her. You have had a number, +but she is different from the rest." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you mean she is too good for the post?" Mrs. Keith +suggested. "However, I don't mind telling you that she is Eustace +Graham's daughter; you must have heard of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Eustace Graham? Wasn't he in rather bad odour?—only tolerated on the +fringe of society? I seem to recollect some curious tales about him." +</P> + +<P> +"Latterly he was outside the fringe; indeed, I don't know how he kept +on his feet so long, but he went downhill fast towards the end. A +plucker of plump pigeons, an expensive friend to smart young subalterns +and boys about town. Cards, bets, loans arranged, and that kind of +thing! All the same, he had his good points when I first knew him." +</P> + +<P> +"But after such a life as his daughter must have led, do you consider +her a suitable person to take about with you? What do your friends +think? They have to receive her now and then." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say that I have much cause to respect my friends' opinions, +and I'm not afraid of the girl's contaminating me," Mrs. Keith replied. +"Besides, Millicent, who lost her mother early, lived with her aunts +until a few months before her father's death. I expect Eustace felt +more embarrassed than grateful when she came to take care of him, but, +to do him justice, he would see that none of the taint of his +surroundings rested on the girl. He did wrong, but I think he paid for +it, and it is better to be charitable." +</P> + +<P> +She broke off, and glanced down at the big liner with cream-coloured +funnel that was slowly swinging across the stream as she resumed: "I +must send Millicent to buy our tickets for Montreal. The hotel will be +crowded before long with that steamer's noisy passengers." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know anything about Captain Sedgwick, who brought you your +letters?" her companion asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not much. Distinguished himself somewhere and holds a Government post +in a West African colony. Came home on furlough, and seems to have had +some part in the state functions here. I'm inclined to think he's a +soldier of fortune; a man with a humble beginning, determined to get +on." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't that Mrs. Chudleigh he's now talking to?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ashborne was short-sighted, but Margaret Keith's eyes were better, +and she noticed the stylish woman whom Sedgwick had joined. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said. "A widow, I believe, though one would not suspect it +from her clothes. She seems to know some of my friends, but I met her +here for the first time a few days ago." +</P> + +<P> +"She married very young and her husband, who died in a few years, left +her a good deal of money; he was a merchant in Calcutta. She's too +smart and advanced for my taste, but her people have some standing. It +looks as if she were attracted by Sedgwick; she's undoubtedly gracious +to him." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it's an opportunity he won't miss. The man's an adventurer." +</P> + +<P> +Sedgwick and his companion passed out of sight, and Mrs. Ashborne +opened the <I>Morning Post</I>, from which she presently looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"'A marriage—between Blanche Newcombe and Captain Challoner—at +Thornton Holme, in Shropshire,'" she read out. "Do you know the bride?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know Bertram Challoner better," Mrs. Keith replied, and was silent +for a minute or two, musing on former days. Then she went on: "His +mother was an old friend of mine; a woman of imagination, with strong +artistic tastes, and Bertram resembles her. It was his father, the +Colonel, who forced him into the army, and I'm somewhat astonished that +he has done so well." +</P> + +<P> +"They were all soldiers, I understand. But wasn't there some scandal +about a cousin?" +</P> + +<P> +"Richard Blake?" said Mrs. Keith, making room for Millicent Graham, her +companion, who rejoined them. "It's getting an old story, and I always +found it puzzling. So far as one could judge, Dick Blake should have +made an excellent officer; his mother, the Colonel's sister, was true +to the Challoner strain, his father a reckless Irish sportsman." +</P> + +<P> +"But what was the story? I haven't heard it." +</P> + +<P> +"After Blake broke his neck when hunting, the Colonel brought Dick up +and, as a matter of course, sent him into the army. He became a +sapper, and, entering the Indian service, met his cousin, Bertram, who +was in the line, somewhere on the frontier. They were both sent with +an expedition into the hills, and there was a night attack. It was +important that an advanced post should be defended, and Dick had laid +out the trenches. In the middle of the fight an officer lost his +nerve, the position was stormed, and the expedition terribly cut up. +Owing to the darkness and confusion there was a doubt about who had led +the retreat, but Dick was blamed and made no defence. In spite of +this, he was acquitted at the inquiry, perhaps because he was a +favourite and Colonel Challoner was well known upon the frontier, but +the opinion of the mess was against him. He left the service and the +Challoners never speak of him." +</P> + +<P> +"I once met Lieutenant Blake," Millicent broke in with a flush in her +face. "Though he only spoke a word or two to me, he did a very +chivalrous thing; one that needed courage and coolness. I find it hard +to believe he could be a coward." +</P> + +<P> +"So do I," Mrs. Keith agreed. "Still I must say that I haven't seen +him since he was a boy." +</P> + +<P> +"I met him once," said Mrs. Ashborne. "There was a man in the hotel +yesterday who strongly reminded me of him, but I think he must have +left last night." +</P> + +<P> +"I have forgotten my letters, but I know from whom they come, and +they'll no doubt give me some news of the wedding," Mrs. Keith +remarked, and while she opened them Millicent sat looking down on the +glistening river with her thoughts far away. +</P> + +<P> +She was reconstructing a scene from the past, and she could picture +with vivid distinctness the small, untidy drawing-room of a London +flat, in which she sat, alone and half-dismayed, one evening soon after +she had joined her father. A few beautiful objects of art were +scattered amongst the shabby furniture; there were stains of wine on +the fine Eastern rug, an inlaid table was scraped and damaged, and one +chair had a broken leg. All she saw spoke of neglect and vanished +prosperity. Hoarse voices and loud laughter came from an adjoining +room and a smell of cigar smoke accompanied them. Sitting at the +piano, she restlessly turned over some music and now and then played a +few bars to divert her troubled thoughts. Until a few weeks before she +had led a peaceful life in the country, and the finding her father of +such doubtful character and habits had been a painful surprise. +</P> + +<P> +She was interrupted by the violent opening of the door and a group of +excited men burst into the room. They were shouting with laughter at a +joke which made her blush, and one dragged a companion in by the arm. +Another, breaking off from rude horse-play, came towards her with a +drunken leer. She shrank from his hot face and wine-laden breath as +she drew back, wondering how she could reach her father, who stood in +the doorway trying to restrain his guests. Then a young man sprang +forward, with disgust and anger in his brown face, and she felt that +she was safe. He looked clean and wholesome by contrast with the rest +and his movements were swift and athletic. +</P> + +<P> +Millicent could remember him very well, for she had often thought of +Lieutenant Blake with gratitude. Just as the tipsy gallant stretched +out his hand to seize her, the electric light went out; there was a +brief scuffle in the darkness, the door banged, and when the light +flashed up again only Blake and her father were in the room. +Afterwards her father told her with a look of shame in his handsome, +dissipated face, that he had been afraid of something of the kind +happening and she must leave him. Millicent refused, for worn as he +was by many excesses, his health was breaking down and when he fell ill +she nursed him until he died. She had not seen Lieutenant Blake since. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Mrs. Keith's voice broke in upon her recollections. "It's +possible we may see Bertram and the new Mrs. Challoner. She is going +out with him, but they are to travel by the Canadian Pacific route and +spend some time in Japan before proceeding to his Indian station." +Referring to the date of her letter she resumed, "They may have caught +the boat that has just come in; she's one of the railway Empresses, and +there's an Allan liner due to-morrow. Now I think we'll go to the +hotel and try to get a list of the passengers." +</P> + +<P> +She rose and they walked slowly back along the avenue. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MILLICENT RENEWS AN ACQUAINTANCE +</H4> + +<P> +Dusk was falling on the broad river, and the bold ridge behind the city +stood out sharp and black against a fading gleam in the western sky, +when Richard Blake hurried along the wharf. Close at hand a big, +sidewheel steamer, spotlessly white, with tiers of decks that towered +above the sheds and blazed with light, was receiving the last of her +passengers, and on reaching the gangway Blake stood aside to let an +elderly lady pass. She was followed by her maid and a girl whose face +he could not see. It was a few minutes after the sailing time, and as +the lady stepped on board a rope fell with a splash. There was a shout +of warning as the bows, caught by the current, began to swing out into +the stream, and the end of the gangway slipped along the edge of the +wharf. It threatened to fall into the river, the girl was not on board +yet, and Blake leaped upon the plank. Seizing her shoulder, he drove +her forward until a seaman, reaching out, drew her safe on deck. Then +the paddles splashed and as the boat forged out into the stream, the +girl turned and thanked Blake. He could not see her clearly, because +an over-arching deck cast a shadow upon her face. +</P> + +<P> +"Glad to have been of assistance, but I don't think you could have +fallen in," he said. "The guy-rope they had on the gangway might have +held it up." +</P> + +<P> +Turning away, he entered the smoke-room, where he spent a while over an +English newspaper that devoted some space to social functions and the +doings of people of importance, noticing once or twice, with a curious +smile, mention of names he knew. He had the gift of making friends, +and before he went to India had met a number of men and women of note +who had been disposed to like him. Then he had won the good opinion of +responsible officers on the turbulent frontier and made acquaintances +that might have been valuable. Now, however, he had done with all +that; he was banished from the world they moved in, and if they ever +remembered him it was, no doubt, as one who had gone under. +</P> + +<P> +Shaking off these thoughts, he joined some Americans in a game of +cards, and it was late at night when he went out into the moonlight as +the boat steamed up Lake St. Peter. A long plume of smoke trailed +across the cloudless sky, the water glistened with silvery radiance, +and, looking over the wide expanse, he could see dark trees etched +faintly on the blue horizon. Ahead the lights of Three Rivers twinkled +among square, black blocks of houses and tall sawmill stacks. +</P> + +<P> +A few passengers were strolling about, but the English newspaper had +made him restless and to wish to be alone, so, descending to a quieter +deck, he was surprised to see the girl he had assisted sitting in a +canvas chair near the rail. Close by stood several large baskets from +which there rose an angry snarling. +</P> + +<P> +"What is this?" he asked with the careless abruptness which usually +characterized him. "With your permission." He raised a lid, while the +girl watched him with amusement. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like a menagerie on a small scale," he remarked. "Are these +animals yours?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," she answered; "they belong to Mrs. Keith." +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Keith?" he said sharply. "The lady I saw at the <I>Frontenac</I> with +the autocratic manners and a Roman nose? It's curious, but she reminds +me of somebody I knew and the name's the same. I wonder——" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off, and Millicent Graham studied him as he stood in the +moonlight. She did not think he recognized her and perhaps he was +hardly justified in supposing that his timely aid at the gangway +dispensed with the need for an introduction, but she liked his looks, +which she remembered well. She had no fear of this man's presuming too +far; he had a humorous, good-natured air and his surprise when she +mentioned Mrs. Keith had roused her interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said; "I believe it was my employer you knew." +</P> + +<P> +He did not follow this lead, but asked: "Are you supposed to sit up all +night and watch the animals for her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only for an hour or two. The steamboat people refused to have them in +the saloon, and the maid should have relieved me. She was tired, +however, with packing and running errands all day, and I thought I'd +let her sleep a while." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it can't be much of an intrusion if I try to make you more +comfortable. Let me move your chair nearer the deckhouse, where you'll +be out of the wind; but I'll first see if I can find another rug." +</P> + +<P> +He left her without waiting for a reply and, returning with a rug, +placed her chair in a sheltered spot, after which he leaned against the +rails. +</P> + +<P> +"So you are Mrs. Keith's companion," he remarked. "It strikes me as +rather unfeeling of her to keep you here in the cold." He indicated +the baskets. "But what's her object in buying these creatures?" +</P> + +<P> +"Caprice," said Millicent, smiling. "Some of them are savage, and they +cost a good deal. I can't imagine what she means to do with them, and +I don't think she knows. One of them, however, has been growling all +day, and as it's apparently unwell it mustn't be neglected." +</P> + +<P> +"If it growls any more, I'll feel tempted to turn yonder hose upon it +or try some other drastic remedy." +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't!" cried Millicent in alarm. "But you mustn't think Mrs. +Keith is inconsiderate. I have much to thank her for, but she gets +very enthusiastic over her hobbies." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know if she ever goes down to a little place in Shropshire?" +</P> + +<P> +"She does; I have been with her. Once she took me to your old home." +Then the colour crept into Millicent's face. "You don't seem to +remember me, Lieutenant Blake." +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who had learned self-control, did not start, though he came near +doing so as he recalled a scene he had taken part in some years +earlier. He had just risen from a dining-table, where the talk had +been of favourite dancers and the turf, and the wine had circulated too +freely, and entered a small drawing-room with several men whom his host +was assisting in a career of dissipation. As they came in a girl rose +from the piano and on seeing her Blake felt a sense of awkwardness and +shame. She looked very fresh and pretty, untainted, he thought, by her +surroundings, and the annoyance in her father's face suggested that he +had not expected to find her there. Blake saw that she shrank from his +noisy companions in alarm. One of them, who had drunk too deep, not +noticing that she was startled and imagining that she was a fit subject +for rough gallantry, pursued her as she tried to escape, but Blake with +a quick movement reached a switch and cut off the light. Next moment +he seized the offender and hustled him out of the room. He had saved +an awkward situation and was afterwards thanked by the man he had +roughly handled. +</P> + +<P> +"It would have been inexcusable if I had forgotten you," he answered +with a smile. "Still, I couldn't quite place you until a few moments +ago, when you faced the light. But you were wrong in one thing; I'm no +longer Lieutenant Blake." +</P> + +<P> +She appreciated the frankness which had prompted this warning and saw +that she had made a tactless blunder, but she looked at him steadily. +</P> + +<P> +"I forgot," she said; "forgive me. I heard of—what happened in +India—but I felt that there must have been some mistake." She +hesitated for a moment. "I think so now." +</P> + +<P> +Blake made a sudden movement, and then leaned back against the rails. +"I'm afraid that an acquaintance which lasted three or four minutes +could hardly enable you to judge; first impressions are often wrong, +you know. Anyhow, I don't complain of the opinion of gentlemen who +knew more about me." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent saw that the subject must be dropped and resuming, said: "At +our first meeting I had no opportunity of thanking you, and you gave me +none to-night. It's curious that while I've only met you twice, on +both occasions you turned up just when you were needed. Is it a habit +of yours?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's a flattering thing to hint. The man who's always on hand when +he's wanted is an estimable person." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not quite what I meant," she answered, laughing. "What struck me +most was that you don't seem to like gratitude." +</P> + +<P> +"One ought to like it. It's supposed to be rare, but, on the whole, I +haven't found that so." +</P> + +<P> +He studied her with an interest which she noticed but could not resent. +The girl had changed and gained something since their first meeting, +and he thought it was a knowledge of the world. She was, he felt, +neither tainted nor hardened by what she had learned, but her fresh +childish look which suggested ignorance of evil had gone and could not +come back. Indeed, he wondered how she had preserved it in her +father's house. This was not a matter he could touch upon, but by and +by she referred to it. +</P> + +<P> +"I imagine," she said shyly, "that on the evening when you came to my +rescue in London you were surprised to find me—so unprepared; so +incapable of dealing with the situation." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," Blake answered with some awkwardness. "A bachelor +dinner, you know, after a big race meeting at which we had backed +several winners! One has to make allowances." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent smiled rather bitterly. "You may guess that I had to make +them often in those days, but it was on the evening we were speaking of +that my eyes were first opened, and I was startled. But you must +understand that it was not by my father's wish I came to London and +stayed with him—until the end. He urged me to go away, but his health +had broken down and he had no one else to care for him. When he was no +longer able to get about everybody deserted him, and he felt it." +</P> + +<P> +Blake was stirred to compassion. Graham had, no doubt, suffered +nothing he had not deserved, but the man had once been a social +favourite, and it was painful to think of his dying alone in poverty. +His extravagance and the shifts by which he evaded his creditors were +known, and Blake could imagine how hard he would be pressed when he lay +sick and helpless. It must have been a harrowing experience for a +young girl to nurse him and at the same time to grapple with financial +difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +"I was truly sorry to hear of his death," he said. "Your father was +once a very good friend to me. But, if I may ask, how was it he let +you come to his flat?" +</P> + +<P> +"I forced myself upon him," Millicent answered, with a grateful glance. +"My mother died long ago and her unmarried sisters took care of me. +They lived very simply in a small secluded country house; two +old-fashioned Evangelicals, gentle but austere, studying small +economies, giving all they could away. In winter we embroidered for +missionary bazaars; in summer we spent the days in a quiet, walled +garden. It was all very peaceful, but I grew restless, and when I +heard that my father's health was failing I felt I must go to him. My +aunts were grieved and alarmed, but they said they dare not hinder me +if I thought it my duty." +</P> + +<P> +Stirred by troubled memories and perhaps encouraged by the sympathy he +showed, she had spoken on impulse without reserve, and Blake listened +with pity. The girl, brought up, subject to wholesome Puritanical +influences, in such surroundings as she had described, must have +suffered a cruel shock when suddenly plunged into the society of the +rakes and gamblers who frequented her father's flat. +</P> + +<P> +"Could you not have gone back when you were no longer needed?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said; "it would not have been fair. I had changed since I +left my aunts. They were very sensitive, and I think the difference +they must have noticed in me would have jarred on them. I should have +brought something alien into their unworldly life. It was too late to +return; I had to follow the path I had chosen." +</P> + +<P> +Blake mused a while, watching the lights of Three Rivers fade astern +and the broad white wake of the paddles stream back across the glassy +surface of the lake. The girl must have learned much of human failings +since she left her sheltered home, but he thought the sweetness of +character which could not be spoiled by knowledge of evil was greatly +to be admired. He was, however, a man of action and not a philosopher. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "I appreciate your letting me talk to you, but it's +cold and getting late, and you have sat on deck long enough. I'll see +that somebody looks after the animals." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent felt dubious, though she was sleepy and tired. "If anything +happened to her pets, Mrs. Keith would not forgive me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll engage that something will happen to some of them very soon +unless you promise to go to your room," Blake said, laughing. Then he +called a deckhand. "What have you to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Stand here until the watch is changed." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you can keep an eye on these baskets. If any of the beasts +inside them makes an alarming noise, send to my room; the second, +forward, port side. Look me up before we get to Montreal." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said the man, and Blake held out his hand to +Millicent as she rose. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he said, "you can go to rest with a clear conscience." +</P> + +<P> +She left him with a word of thanks, wondering whether she had been +indiscreet, and why she had told him so much. She knew nothing to his +advantage except one chivalrous action, and she had not desired to +arouse his pity, but he had an honest face and had shown an +understanding sympathy which touched her, because she had seldom +experienced it. He had left the army with a stain upon his name, but +she shrank from judging harshly and felt that he had not merited his +disgrace. Then she forgot him and went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Blake stayed on deck some time, thinking about her, but presently +decided that this was an unprofitable occupation. He was a marked man, +with a lonely road to travel, and, though he found some amusement by +the way it led him apart from the society of women of the kind he most +cared for. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE COUSINS +</H4> + +<P> +Dinner was over at the <I>Windsor</I> in Montreal, and Mrs. Keith, who found +the big hotel rather noisy and uncomfortably warm, was sitting with +Mrs. Ashborne in the square between it and St. Catharine's Street. A +cool air blew uphill from the river and the patch of grass with its +fringe of small, dusty trees had a certain picturesqueness in the +twilight. Above it the wooded crest of the mountain rose darkly +against the evening sky; lights glittered behind the network of thin +branches and fluttering leaves along the sidewalk, and the dome of the +cathedral bulked huge and shadowy across the square. Down hill, +towards St. James's, rose towering buildings, with the rough-hewn front +of the Canadian Pacific depot prominent among them, and the air was +filled with the clanging of street cars and the tolling of locomotive +bells. Once or twice, however, when the throb of the traffic +momentarily subsided, music rose faint and sweet from the cathedral, +and Mrs. Keith, who heard the uplifted voices and knew what they sang, +turned to listen. She had heard them before, through her open window +in the early morning when the city was silent and its busy toilers +slept, and now it seemed to her appropriate that the voices could not +be wholly drowned by its hoarse commercial clamour. +</P> + +<P> +The square served as a cool retreat for the inhabitants of crowded +tenements and those who had nowhere else to go, but Margaret Keith was +not fastidious about her company. She was interested in the unkempt +emigrants who, waiting for a Westbound train, lay upon the grass, +surrounded by their tired children, and she had sent Millicent down the +street to buy fruit to distribute among the travellers; she liked to +watch the French Canadian girls who slipped quietly up the broad +cathedral steps. They were the daughters of the rank and file, but +their movements were graceful and they were tastefully dressed. Then +the blue-shirted, sinewy men, who strolled past, smoking, roused her +curiosity. They had not acquired their free, springy stride in the +cities; these were adventurers who had met with strange experiences in +the frozen North and the lonely West. Some of them had hard faces and +a predatory air, but that added to their interest. Margaret Keith +liked to watch them all and speculate about their mode of life; that +pleasure could still be enjoyed, though as she sometimes told herself +with humorous resignation, she could no longer take a very active part +in things. +</P> + +<P> +By and by, however, something that appealed to her in a more direct and +personal way occurred, for a man came down the steps of the <I>Windsor</I> +and crossed the well-lighted street with a very pretty English girl. +He carried himself well and had the look of a soldier, his figure was +finely proportioned, but his handsome face suggested sensibility rather +than decision of character and his eyes were dreamy. His companion, so +far as Mrs. Keith could judge by her smiling glance as she laid her +hand upon his arm when they left the sidewalk, was proud of and much in +love with him. +</P> + +<P> +"Whom are you looking at so hard?" Mrs. Ashborne inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Bertram Challoner and his bride," said Mrs. Keith. "They're coming +towards us yonder." +</P> + +<P> +Then a curious thing happened, for a man who was crossing the street +seemed to see the Challoners and, turning suddenly, stepped back behind +a passing cab. They had their backs to him when he went on, but he +looked round, as if to make sure he had not been observed before he +entered the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"That was strange," said Mrs. Ashborne. "It looked as if the fellow +didn't want to meet our friends. Who can he be?" +</P> + +<P> +"How can I tell?" Mrs. Keith rejoined. "I think I've seen him +somewhere, but that's all I know." +</P> + +<P> +Looking round as Millicent joined them, she noticed her puzzled +expression. The girl had obviously seen the stranger's action, but +Mrs. Keith did not wish to pursue the subject then. Next moment +Challoner came up and greeted her heartily, while his wife spoke to +Mrs. Ashborne. +</P> + +<P> +"We only arrived this afternoon and must have missed you at dinner," he +said. "We may go West to-morrow, though we haven't decided yet. I've +no doubt we shall see you again to-night or at breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +After a few pleasant words the Challoners passed on, and Mrs. Keith +looked after them thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Bertram has changed in the last few years," she said. "I heard he had +malaria in India, which perhaps accounts for it, but he shows signs of +his mother's delicacy. She was not strong, and I always thought he had +her highly-strung nervous temperament, though he must have learned to +control it in the army." +</P> + +<P> +"He couldn't have got in unless the doctors were satisfied with him," +said Mrs. Ashborne. +</P> + +<P> +"That's true, but both mental and physical traits have a way of lying +dormant while we're young and of developing later. Bertram has shown +himself a capable officer, but to my mind, he looked more like a +soldier when he was at Sandhurst than he does now." +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later Mrs. Chudleigh came out of the hotel with Sedgwick +and stopped to speak to Mrs. Keith. +</P> + +<P> +"I came up by the last train and heard that you were here. Captain +Sedgwick travelled with me, but he's going on to Toronto to-morrow. I +suppose you have seen the Challoners? Such a number of English people +in the town! But isn't this a curious place to spend the evening?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's cool," said Mrs. Keith. "I like fresh air." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh, glanced towards Millicent, who was distributing a +basket of peaches among a group of untidy, emigrant children. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a charming picture, isn't it? Miss Graham fits the part very +well, but I suppose you're responsible." +</P> + +<P> +There was a sneer in her tone and Sedgwick broke in: "Miss Graham's a +very nice girl; you can see that she's sorry for the dirty little +beggars. They don't look as if they'd had a happy time, and a liner's +crowded steerage isn't a luxurious place." +</P> + +<P> +"Since you feel so pitiful, it would be more to the purpose if you gave +them something," Mrs. Chudleigh rejoined. +</P> + +<P> +"A good idea!" said Sedgwick coolly. "I'll carry it out." +</P> + +<P> +He crossed the grass and scattered a few small coins among the +children, who clustered round him, after which he stood talking to +Millicent, while Mrs. Chudleigh watched him with an impatience she did +not try to hide. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a new role for Sedgwick," she remarked. "When he has finished, +we are going into the cathedral to hear the music. I'm fond of +churches, and we spent the afternoon in Notre Dame." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ashborne said it was worth seeing and conversation languished for +the next three or four minutes, after which Mrs. Chudleigh moved +forward imperiously and took Sedgwick away. Mrs. Keith turned to her +companion with an amused expression. +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay you noticed that he didn't mind keeping her waiting." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought he meant to flout her when he acted on her suggestion, and I +half expected something of a scene," said Mrs. Ashborne. "The woman +has a temper." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith smiled. "The man is a fortune hunter, but he's taking the +right way. She's used to admiration, and her other suitors have, no +doubt, deferred to her. It's a change to be defied instead of courted, +and though it makes her angry I imagine it strengthens his hold. If he +shows his is the firmer hand, she'll give in." +</P> + +<P> +"You're taking it for granted that she's in love with him." +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like it," Mrs. Keith replied. "He has his attractions and +has done one or two dashing things of the kind that catches the public +eye. However, I have some English letters to write, and I think we'll +go in." +</P> + +<P> +Next evening, about an hour before sunset, Challoner and his wife +leaned upon the rails of a wooden gallery built out from the rock on +the summit of the green mountain that rises close behind Montreal. It +is a view-point that visitors frequent, and they gazed with +appreciation at the wide landscape. Wooded slopes led steeply down to +the stately colleges of McGill and the rows of picturesque houses along +Sherbrook Avenue; lower yet, the city, shining in the clear evening +light, spread across the plain, dominated by its cathedral dome and the +towers of Notre Dame. Green squares with trees in them checkered the +blocks of buildings; along its skirts, where a haze of smoke hung about +the wharves, the great river gleamed in a broad silver band. On the +farther bank the plain ran on again, fading from green to grey and +purple until it melted into the distance and the hills on the Vermont +frontier cut, faintly blue, against the sky. +</P> + +<P> +"How beautiful this world is!" Challoner exclaimed. "I have seen +grander sights and there are more picturesque cities than Montreal—I'm +looking forward to showing you the work of the Moguls in India—but +happiness such as I've had of late casts a glamour over everything. It +wasn't always so with me; I've had my bad hours when I was blind to +beauty." +</P> + +<P> +Though Blanche Challoner was very young and much in love, she ventured +a smiling rebuke. +</P> + +<P> +"You shouldn't wish to remember them; I'm afraid, Bertram, there's a +melancholy strain in you, and I don't mean to let you indulge in it. +Besides, how could you have had bad hours? You have been made much of +and given everything you could wish for since you were a boy. Indeed, +I sometimes wonder how you escaped from being spoiled." +</P> + +<P> +"When I joined it, I hated the army; that sounds like high treason, +doesn't it? However, I got used to things and made art my hobby +instead of my vocation. You won't mind if I confess that a view of +this kind makes me long to paint?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! no; I intend to encourage you. You mustn't waste your talent. +When we stay among the Rockies we will spend the days in the most +beautiful places we can find and I shall take my pleasure in watching +you at work. But didn't your fondness for sketching amuse the mess?" +</P> + +<P> +"I used to be chaffed about it and repaid my tormentors by caricaturing +them. On the whole, they were very good-natured." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect they admired the drawings; they ought to have done. You have +talent. Indeed, I never quite understood why you became a soldier." +</P> + +<P> +"I think it was from a want of moral courage; you have seen that +determination is not among my virtues," Challoner replied. "It's as +much to the purpose that you don't know my father very well. Though +he's fond of pictures, he looks upon artists and poets as a rather +effeminate and irresponsible set, and I must own that he has met one or +two unfavourable specimens. Then he couldn't imagine the possibility +of a son of his not being anxious to follow the family profession, and, +knowing how my defection would grieve him, I let him have his way. +There has always been a Challoner fighting or ruling in India since +John Company's time." +</P> + +<P> +"They must have been fine men by their portraits. There's one of a +Major Henry Challoner I fell in love with. He was with Outram, wasn't +he? You have his look, though there's a puzzling difference. I think +these men were bluffer and blunter than you are. You're gentler and +more sensitive; in a way, finer drawn." +</P> + +<P> +"My sensitiveness has not been a blessing," said Challoner soberly. +</P> + +<P> +"But it makes you lovable," Blanche declared. "There must have been a +certain ruthlessness about those old Challoners which you couldn't +show. After all, their pictures suggest that their courage was of the +unimaginative, physical kind." +</P> + +<P> +A shadow crept into Challoner's face, but he banished it. +</P> + +<P> +"I am happy in having a wife who won't see my faults." Then he added +humorously: "After all, however, that's not good for one." +</P> + +<P> +Blanche gave him a tender smile, but he did not see it, for he was +gazing at a man who came down the steps from the neighbouring cable +railway. The newcomer was about thirty years of age, of average +height, and strongly made. His face was deeply sunburned and he had +eyes of a curious dark-blue with a twinkle in them and dark lashes, +though his hair was fair. As he drew nearer, Blanche was struck by +something that suggested the family likeness of the Challoners. He had +their firm mouth and wide forehead, but by no means their somewhat +austere expression. He looked as if he went careless through life and +could be readily amused. Then he saw Bertram, and, starting, made as +if he would pass the entrance to the gallery, and Blanche turned her +surprised glance upon her husband. Bertram's hand was tightly closed +on the glasses he held and his face was tense and flushed, but he +stepped forward with a cry of "Dick!" +</P> + +<P> +The newcomer moved towards him, and Blanche knew he was the man who had +brought dishonour upon her husband's family. +</P> + +<P> +"This is a fortunate meeting," Bertram said, and his voice was cordial, +though rather strained. Then he turned to his wife. "Blanche, here's +my cousin, Dick Blake." +</P> + +<P> +Blake showed no awkwardness. Indeed, on the whole he looked amused, +but his face grew graver as he fixed his eyes on Mrs. Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Though I'm rather late, you'll let me wish you happiness," he said. +"I believe it will be yours. Bertram's a very good fellow; I have much +to thank him for." +</P> + +<P> +There was a sincerity and a hint of affection in his tone which touched +Blanche. She had been prepared to suspend her judgment and be +charitable, but she found that she pitied the man. He had failed in +his duty in time of stress, but he had suffered for it and it must be +hard to be an outcast. Blake saw her compassion and was moved by it. +</P> + +<P> +"But how did you come here?" Bertram asked. "Where have you been +since——" +</P> + +<P> +He stopped abruptly and Blake laughed. "Since you surreptitiously said +good-bye to me at Peshawur? Well, after that I went to Penang and from +there to Queensland. Stayed a time at a pearl-fishing station among +the Kanakas, and then came to England for a few months." +</P> + +<P> +"But how did you manage?" Bertram inquired with some diffidence. "It +raises a point you wouldn't let me talk about at Peshawur, but I've +often felt guilty because I didn't insist. Travelling about as you +have done is expensive." +</P> + +<P> +"Not to me," Blake rejoined with a twinkle. "I've turned adventurer +and I have the Blake gift of getting along without money." He added in +an explanatory aside to Blanche: "For two or three generations we kept +open house, and a full stable in Ireland, on a revenue derived from +rents which were rarely paid, and if I hadn't been too young when a +disaster gave the creditors their chance, I'd have given them a +sporting run." +</P> + +<P> +"But what did you do when you left England?" Bertram broke in. +</P> + +<P> +"Went to East Africa; after that to this country where I tried my hand +at prairie farming. Found it decidedly monotonous and sold the +homestead at a profit. Then I did some prospecting, and now I'm here +on business." +</P> + +<P> +"On business!" Bertram exclaimed. "You could never be trusted to get +proper value for a shilling." +</P> + +<P> +"I've learned to do so lately, and that's not going far. If you're in +commerce in this country, you must know how to put down fifty cents and +take up a dollar's worth. Anyhow, I'm here to meet an American whose +acquaintance I made farther West. He's a traveller in paints and +varnishes and a very enterprising person as well as an unusually good +sort. But I've told you enough about myself; I want your news." +</P> + +<P> +Blanche, who had been watching him, thought it cost her husband an +effort to fall in with his cousin's casual mood. Blake, however, +seemed quite at ease, and she was growing interested in him. He +reminded her of the Challoner portraits in the dark oak gallery at +Sandymere, but she thought him lighter, more brilliant, and, in a +sense, more human than those stern soldiers. Then she remembered his +Irish father, which explained something. They talked a while about +English friends and relatives; and then Blake said rather abruptly— +</P> + +<P> +"And the Colonel?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Bertram. "I heard that you saw him, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +"I did, for half an hour. I felt it was my duty, though the interview +was hard on both. He was fair, as he always was, and tried to hide his +feelings. I couldn't blame him because he failed." +</P> + +<P> +Bertram looked away, and Blake's face was troubled. There was a hint +of emotion in his voice as he went on, turning to Blanche— +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever he may think of me, Colonel Challoner is a man I have a +sincere respect for, and I owe him more than I can ever repay. He +brought me up after my father's death and started me, like a son, in an +honourable career." Then his tone grew lighter. "It's one of my few +virtues that I don't forget my debts." +</P> + +<P> +He made as if he would leave them. "And now I've kept you some time. +My American friend hasn't turned up yet and I may be here a few days. +Where are you staying? I'll look you up before I leave." +</P> + +<P> +"We go West to-morrow morning. Come down and have dinner with us at +the <I>Windsor</I>," Bertram said, and when Mrs. Challoner seconded the +request they went up the steps to the platform from which the cable +train started. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CHALLONER RESUMES HIS JOURNEY +</H4> + +<P> +Blake, who had known hardship, enjoyed an excellent dinner and the +society of his cousin's wife, whose good opinion he rapidly gained. He +would not have blamed her had she treated him with cold politeness, but +instead of this she was gentle and quietly cordial. She had seen his +affection for her husband, and made him feel that he had her sympathy, +without being openly pitiful. He was quick to appreciate her tact, and +it had its effect on him. After dinner Mrs. Keith took Blanche away, +and the men found a quiet corner in the rotunda, where they sat talking +for a time. At length Blake glanced at his watch. +</P> + +<P> +"I have an appointment to keep and must go in a few minutes. Make my +excuses to your wife; I shall not see her again. It would be better, +because there's no reason why she should be reminded of anything +unpleasant now. She's a good woman, Bertram, and I'm glad she didn't +shrink from me. It would have been a natural thing, but I believe she +was sorry and anxious to make all the allowances she could." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner was silent for a few moments, his face showing signs of +strain. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't deserve her, Dick; the thought of it troubles me. She doesn't +know me for what I really am." +</P> + +<P> +"Rot!" Blake exclaimed. "It's your misfortune that you're a +sentimentalist with a habit of exaggerating things; but if you don't +indulge in your weakness too much, you'll go a long way. You showed +the true Challoner pluck when you smoked out that robbers' nest in the +hills and the pacification of the frontier valley was a very smart +piece of work. When I read about the business I never thought you +would pull it off with the force you had. It must have impressed the +authorities, and you'll get something better than your major's +commission before long. I understand that you're already looked upon +as a coming man." +</P> + +<P> +It was a generous speech, but it was justified, for Challoner had shown +administrative as well as military skill in the affairs his cousin +mentioned. He, however, still looked troubled, and his colour was +higher than usual. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick," he said, "I wish you would let me give you a lift in the only +way I can. You know you had never any idea of economy, and I'm afraid +you must find it hard to get along." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Blake curtly; "it's impossible. Your father made me a +similar offer and I couldn't consent. I suppose I have the Blakes' +carelessness about money, but what I get from my mother's little +property keeps me on my feet." He laughed as he went on: "It's lucky +that your people, knowing the family failing, arranged matters so that +the principal could not be touched. Besides, I've a plan for adding to +my means." +</P> + +<P> +Bertram dropped the subject. Dick was often rather casual and +inconsequent, but there was a stubborn vein in him. When he took the +trouble to think a matter out he was apt to prove immovable. +</P> + +<P> +"Anyway, you will let me know how you get on." +</P> + +<P> +"I think not. What good would it do? The Challoners gave me a fair +start and I disappointed them. While I'm grateful, it's better that +they should have nothing more to do with me. Think of your career, +keep your wife proud of you—she has good reason for being so, and let +me go my way and drop out of sight again. I'm a common adventurer and +have been mixed up in matters that fastidious people would shrink from, +which may happen again. Still, I manage to get a good deal of pleasure +out of the life, which suits me in many ways." He rose, holding out +his hand. "Good-bye, Bertram. We may run across each other somewhere +again." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll always be glad to do so," Challoner said with feeling. "Be sure +I won't forget you, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +Blake turned away, but when he left the hotel his face was sternly set. +It had cost him something to check his cousin's friendly advances and +break the last connexion between himself and the life he once had led, +but he knew it must be broken, and felt no pang of envious bitterness. +For many years Bertram had been a good and generous friend, and Blake +sincerely wished him well. +</P> + +<P> +The Challoners left by the Pacific Express next morning, and during the +evening Captain Sedgwick stood talking to Millicent, who had stopped a +few moments in passing, near a pillar in the entrance hall of the +hotel. It was characteristic of him that he wore evening dress, though +a number of the other guests did not, but it displayed his fine, +symmetrical figure. He was a handsome, soldierly man, with a boldness +of manner which sometimes passed for dash and sometimes prejudiced +fastidious people against him. Now he was watching Millicent, whom he +admired, with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't know you and Mrs. Keith were leaving the <I>Frontenac</I> until +you had gone," he said, and his tone suggested that he wished to +explain why he had not accompanied them. "You didn't give me an +opportunity of speaking to you until just now, but I noticed that you +looked disturbed at dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay I did," Millicent answered ruefully. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be distressed to think there was any serious cause for it." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent laughed. "Mrs. Keith believes it's serious enough, and I'm +in disgrace. One of the animals bit the bob-cat, and now the +creature's missing." +</P> + +<P> +"A catastrophe! But does the absurd old woman hold you responsible for +her ferocious pets?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was told to see that her maid took the unfortunate animal to a +veterinary surgeon. Judkins was frankly mutinous, the hotel porters +were busy with some baggage, and there was not a cab on the rank. I +told her to put the basket down while she looked for a hack near the +station; and then crossed the street as I saw one coming. When I got +back the basket had gone, but a boy gave me a note on a scrap of torn +paper. It said, 'Don't worry; the beast is in safe hands. You'll get +it back to-night.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Most mysterious!" Sedgwick remarked. "But it's unpleasant to think +you should have to suffer from the foibles of the creature's owner." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent felt that he was too intimate for their brief acquaintance, +and that in keeping her behind the pillar, where the semi-privacy of +their position suggested confidential relations, he was hardly showing +good taste. Indeed, she realized that there was often something +lacking in his manners, though he had a certain charm and was much +sought after at the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go," she said. "Mrs. Keith wants me." +</P> + +<P> +Sedgwick moved aside with a bow which Millicent thought need not have +been made, and afterwards crossed the floor to the lounge where Mrs. +Chudleigh was waiting. She was a rather striking, high-coloured woman, +with eyes that had a hard sparkle, and, when her face was in repose, +unusually firm lips. She wore the latest and most pronounced type of +dinner dress with a few jewels of value, but they gave her no air of +ostentation. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you were never coming," she said impatiently. "Why did you +stay talking to that girl so long?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Graham? She's amusing and hasn't many acquaintances in the +hotel. I'm inclined to think her employer keeps a tight hand on her." +</P> + +<P> +"She's pretty in an unformed way, which is more to the purpose," Mrs. +Chudleigh rejoined. "I heard the old woman abusing the manager because +one of her ridiculous pets is missing. But this is of no consequence. +You were going to tell me about your African plans." +</P> + +<P> +"There are good reasons why I should do so. I haven't forgotten that +my advancement is largely due to you." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh laughed. "If you hint as much in public, it may come to +a sudden end. You ought to know that promotion is now made on merit." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm modest. My merit's an uncertain quantity, but there's no doubt +about your influence. I'd sooner trust to it." +</P> + +<P> +The remark was justified. He had shown courage and ability in +controlling rebellious tribes and settling disputes with French +officials on the frontier of the African colony, but Mrs. Chudleigh had +worked well for him. She had many friends, men of importance in +political and military circles were to be met in her London +drawing-room, but she was clever and those she obtained favours from +did not always realize how far they had yielded to her powers of +persuasion. +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind that," she said. "Give me an opportunity and I'll exert my +powers; I'm fond of using them. Moving other people's hands and making +up their minds for them is a fascinating game, but I must have +something to act upon." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand; we're both ambitious. Well, I'm in charge of a strip of +frontier territory, but so far I've had the veto of a cautious and +vacillating superior to contend with. The climate, however, is +breaking down his health, and he can't keep his post much longer; I +want full control. Now to the north of my malaria-haunted district +there's a belt of dry and valuable country, inhabited by industrious +Mohammedans. The French have their eye upon it, but our people know +its worth. Though our respective spheres of influence are badly +defined, neither side has found an excuse for occupying the coveted +region." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Mrs. Chudleigh. "You intend to make an excuse." +</P> + +<P> +"If I can, but it will have to be a good one. That is, we must give +the French no reasonable grounds for objecting; but when we enter the +country in question we stay there." +</P> + +<P> +"It's risky. If you get into difficulties or the French are clever +enough to spoil your game, you'll be disgraced." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a hazard I recognize. If I fail, our authorities will disown +me, but it can't be allowed to count." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh admired his daring, which was what had first attracted +her. His shortcomings were not hidden, he now and then offended her +more cultivated taste, but he could boldly seize an opportunity and she +thought he would go a long way. There was force in him. +</P> + +<P> +"But the excuse?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell you exactly what it will be, but there's an unruly tribe +between us and the territory we want, and they're inclined to give +trouble." He paused with a meaning smile. "It may be necessary to +subjugate them, and, if we enter their country, we'll no doubt find +ourselves compelled to move farther north. Something, however, must be +left to chance. When one is ready to act, an occasion often presents +itself." +</P> + +<P> +"And the benefit to England?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't be doubted. We'll have pushed the frontier back and opened up +trade. It's a region that's rich in useful products, and as soon as it +is ours new factories will spring up wherever there's a suitable spot +along the rivers. I've already thought out a route for a light +railway." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh was satisfied. She believed in Colonial expansion, but +her views were honest in a sense. Where her country stood to gain, the +rights of small native races did not count, and she argued, with some +reason, that they were better off under civilized rule; but she would +have intrigued for no scheme that did not further British interests. +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay," she answered thoughtfully, "something can be done." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm content with that, and perhaps we have said enough. Those rubies +of yours are very fine, but they owe a good deal to their background. +How they gleam on the satiny whiteness they rest upon!" +</P> + +<P> +This was a transgression, but it was one that she could pardon. The +man's taste was defective, but he had charm and she let him lead her +into intimate personal talk. +</P> + +<P> +In the meanwhile, a group of men were engaged in conversation at the +opposite end of the hall. One was a sawmill owner; another served the +Hudson's Bay Company in the northern wilds; the third was a young, +keen-eyed American, quick in his movements and concise in speech. +</P> + +<P> +"You're in lumber, aren't you?" he said, taking a strip of wood from +his pocket and handing it to the mill owner. "What would you call +this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Cedar, sawn from a good log." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so, red cedar. You know something about that material?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ought to, considering how much of it I've cut." The lumber man held +up his right hand, from which the two middle fingers were missing. +"Lost those twenty years ago when I worked in my first, one-horse mill, +and I could show you a number of other scars." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," the American took out another strip. "The same stuff, +sir. How would you say it had been treated?" +</P> + +<P> +The sawmiller carefully examined the piece of wood. "It's not French +polish, but I haven't seen varnish as good as this. Except that it's +clear and shows the grain, it's more like some rare old Japanese +lacquer." +</P> + +<P> +"It is varnish. Try to scrape it with your knife." +</P> + +<P> +The other failed to make a mark on it, and the American looked at him +with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"What would you think of it as a business proposition?" +</P> + +<P> +"If not too dear, it ought to drive every other high-grade varnish off +the market. Do you make the stuff?" +</P> + +<P> +"We're not ready to sell it yet; can't get hold of the raw material in +quantities, and we're not satisfied about the best flux. I'll give you +my card." +</P> + +<P> +He did so, and it bore the address of a paint and varnish factory in +Connecticut, with the words, "Represented by Cyrus P. Harding," at the +bottom. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the lumber man, "you seem to have got hold of a good +thing, Mr. Harding, but if you're not open to sell it, what has brought +you over here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm looking round; we deal in all kinds of paints and miss no chance +of a trade. Then I'm going way up North-West. Is there anything doing +in my line there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not much," said the Hudson's Bay man. "You may sell a few kegs along +the railroad track, but as soon as you leave it you'll find no paint +required. The settlers use logs or shiplap and leave them in the raw. +The trip won't pay you." +</P> + +<P> +"Anyhow, I'll see the country and find out something about the +coniferous gums." +</P> + +<P> +"They're soft and resinous. Don't you get the material you make good +varnish of from the tropics?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding laughed. "You people don't know your own resources. There's +most everything a white man needs right on this American continent, if +he'll take the trouble to look for it. Lumber changes some of its +properties with the location in which it grows, I guess. We have pines +in Florida, but when you get right up to their northern limit you'll +find a difference." +</P> + +<P> +"There's something in that," the sawmiller agreed. +</P> + +<P> +"If you're going up to their northern limit, you'll see some of the +roughest and wildest country on this earth," remarked the Hudson's Bay +agent. "It's almost impossible to get through in summer unless you +stick to the rivers and to cross it in winter with the dog-sledges is +pretty tough work." +</P> + +<P> +"So I've heard," said Harding. "Now I'm going to take a smoke. Will +you come along?" +</P> + +<P> +They declined, and when he left them one smiled at the other. +</P> + +<P> +"They're smart people across the frontier, but to send a man into the +northern timber-belt looking for paint trade openings or resin they can +make varnish of is about the limit to commercial enterprise." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. KEITH GETS A SURPRISE +</H4> + +<P> +Harding was taking out a cigar in the vestibule when a man brushed past +him wearing big mittens and a loose black cloak such as old-fashioned +French-Canadians sometimes use. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Blake!" he cried. "What have you got on? Have you been +serenading somebody?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't stop," the other answered with a grin. "Open that door for +me, quick." +</P> + +<P> +A porter held back the door, but as Blake slipped through Harding +seized his cloak. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on; I want a talk with you. I've been waiting all day." +</P> + +<P> +Blake made an effort to break loose, and as he did so the bob-cat +dropped from beneath his arm and fell, spitting and snarling, to the +ground. Its fur was torn and matted, tufts were hanging loose, and the +creature had a singularly disreputable and ferocious appearance. Blake +made an attempt to recapture it, but, evading him easily, it ran along +the floor with a curious hopping gait and disappeared among the +pillars. Then he turned to his friend with a rueful laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"You see what you've done! It's gone into the rotunda, where everybody +is." +</P> + +<P> +Harding looked at him critically. "You seem sober. What made you get +yourself up like an Italian opera villain and go round the town with a +wild beast under your arm?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you later. What we have to do now is to catch the thing." +</P> + +<P> +"It's time," said Harding drily. "The circus is beginning." +</P> + +<P> +Men's laughter and women's shrieks rose from the entrance hall, which, +in a Canadian hotel, serves as general meeting place and lounge. +Somebody shouted orders in French, there was a patter of running feet, +and then a crash as of chairs being overturned. Blake sprang in and +Harding, who followed, divided between amusement and impatience, looked +on at an animated scene. Two porters were chasing the bob-cat which +now and then turned upon them savagely, while several waiters, who kept +at a judicious distance, tried to frighten it into a corner by +flourishing their napkins. Women fled out of the creature's way, men +hastily moved chairs and tables to give the pursuers room, and some of +the more energetic joined in the chase. At one end of the room Mrs. +Keith stood angrily giving instructions which nobody attended to. +Millicent, who was close by, looked hot and unhappy, but for all that +her eyes twinkled when a waiter, colliding with a chair, went down with +a crash and the bobcat sped away from him in a series of awkward jumps. +</P> + +<P> +At length, Blake managed to seize it with his mittened hands and after +rolling it in a cloth and giving it to a porter, advanced towards Mrs. +Keith, his face red with exertion but contrite, and the cloak, which +had come unhooked, hanging down from one shoulder. She glanced at him +in a puzzled, half-disturbed manner when he stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"The cat is safe," he said. "The man I gave it to will put it with the +other animals. If he holds it firmly, I don't think it can bite him." +</P> + +<P> +"As I'm told you dropped it in the vestibule, I feel I'm entitled to an +explanation," Mrs. Keith replied in a formal tone, looking hard at him. +"I gave the cat to my maid this morning, sending Miss Graham to see it +delivered to a man in the town, and it disappeared. How did it come +into your possession?" +</P> + +<P> +"Through no fault of Miss Graham's. I happened to notice your maid +trying to carry an awkwardly shaped hamper and Miss Graham looking for +a cab. It struck me the thing was more of a man's errand and I +undertook it." +</P> + +<P> +"It's curious that you knew what the errand was, unless Miss Graham +told you." Mrs. Keith looked sternly at Millicent, who blushed. "I +have been led to believe that you made her acquaintance, without my +knowledge, on board the steamer by which we came up." +</P> + +<P> +"That," said Blake respectfully, "is not quite correct. I was formally +presented to Miss Graham in England some time ago. However, as I saw a +car coming along St. Catharine's while your maid was looking for a hack +and there was no time to explain, I scribbled a note on a bit of a +letter and gave it to a boy, and then took the cat to a taxidermist." +</P> + +<P> +"To a taxidermist! Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"It struck me that he ought to know something about the matter. +Anyhow, he was the nearest approach to a vet that I could find." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith looked at him thoughtfully. "You seem to have a curious way +of reasoning. But what did the man say?" +</P> + +<P> +"His first remark was, 'Nom d'une pipe!' and he added something more +which I couldn't catch, but when we became friends he promised to +engage the services of a dog-fancier friend of his." +</P> + +<P> +"You imagined that a dog-fancier would specialize in cats?" +</P> + +<P> +Millicent's eyes twinkled, but Mrs. Keith's face was serious and +Blake's perfectly grave. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know that I argued the matter out. To tell the truth, I +undertook the thing on impulse." +</P> + +<P> +"So it seems. You considered it necessary to make friends with the +French-Canadian taxidermist?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not necessary, perhaps." Blake appeared to reflect. "Still, it's a +way of mine, and the fellow interested me by the tragic manner in which +he broke his pipe when I first showed him the cat. His indignation was +superb." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith gave him a look of rather grim amusement. "I see, but you +haven't told me what became of my hamper." +</P> + +<P> +"The hamper was unfortunately smashed. The car was not allowed to stop +where I wished to get off and I had to jump. I miscalculated the speed +and fell down, after which, as there was a good deal of traffic, a +transfer wagon ran over the hamper, luckily without hurting the animal +inside. I left it at a basket shop and that explains the cloak. My +friend the taxidermist insisted on lending it and his winter gloves to +me. One looks rather conspicuous walking through the streets with a +bob-cat on one's arm." +</P> + +<P> +Then, to Blake's astonishment, Mrs. Keith broke into a soft laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"I understand it all," she said. "It was a prank one would expect you +to play. Though it's a very long time since I saw you, you haven't +changed, Dick. Now take that ridiculous cloak off and come back and +talk to me." +</P> + +<P> +When Blake returned Millicent had gone and Mrs. Keith noticed the +glance he cast about the room. +</P> + +<P> +"I sent Miss Graham away," she said. "You have been here some days. +Why didn't you tell me who you were?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll confess that I knew you. You have changed much less than I have, +but I wasn't sure you would be willing to acknowledge me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you were very wrong. One may be forgiven a first offence and I +never quite agreed with the popular opinion about what you were +supposed to have done. It wasn't like you; there must have been +something that did not come out." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," Blake said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +She gave him a searching glance. "Can't you say something for +yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," he answered. "The least said, the soonest mended." +</P> + +<P> +"But for the sake of others." +</P> + +<P> +"So far as I know, only one person was much troubled about my disgrace. +I'm thankful my father died before it came." +</P> + +<P> +"Your uncle felt it very keenly. He was furious when the first news +arrived and refused to believe you were to blame. Then when Major +Allardyce wrote he scarcely spoke for the rest of the day and it was a +long time before he recovered from the blow; I was staying at +Sandymere. He loved you, Dick, and I imagined he expected you to do +even better than his son." +</P> + +<P> +Blake mused for a few moments, and Mrs. Keith could not read his +thoughts. Then he said, "Bertram is a very good fellow and has brains. +Why should his people think less of him because he likes to paint? But +I've been sorry for the Colonel; more sorry than I've felt for myself." +</P> + +<P> +There was a softness that appealed to Mrs. Keith in his dark-blue eyes. +She had been fond of Dick Blake in his younger days and firmly believed +in him. Now she could not credit his being guilty of cowardice. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said, "you have, I trust, a long life before you, and if +you have been at fault, you must make amends. There are people who +would be glad to see you reinstated." +</P> + +<P> +He made a sign of grave dissent. "That can't happen, in the way you +mean. I closed the door of the old life against my return with my own +hands, and you don't gain distinction, as the Challoners think of it, +in business." +</P> + +<P> +"What business have you gone into?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake's eyes gleamed humorously. "At present I'm in the paint line." +</P> + +<P> +"Paint!" Mrs. Keith exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but not common paint. We use the highest grade of lead and the +purest linseed oil. Varnish also of unapproachable quality, guaranteed +to stand exposure to any climate. There's nothing to equal our +products in North America." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you seriously mean that you are going about selling these things?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake drily, "I'm trying to do so, and I booked an order +for two kegs yesterday, but it isn't to be paid for until arrival, when +I shall not be here. Can't I induce you to give us a trial? Your +house must need painting now and then, and we'll ship you the stuff to +Liverpool in air-tight drums. Once you have tried it you'll use +nothing else." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith laughed. "Dick, you're a marvel and I'm glad adversity +hasn't soured you; but you won't make enough to keep you in neckties at +any business you take up. It's ludicrous to think of your running +about with paint samples, but there's something pathetic in it that +spoils my amusement." Her face softened and she changed her tone. +"I'm a rather rich old woman, Dick, and your mother was a very dear +friend of mine. You must let me help you to something better." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," he answered with a flush. "But you can't give me money. +It's curious that several of my friends have wanted to do so—first the +Colonel, then Bertram, and now you. Not flattering, is it? Suggests +that you doubt my talents, or that I look like a deserving object of +charity." +</P> + +<P> +"You're incorrigible. It was the Blakes' misfortune that they could +never be serious, but I admire your pluck." +</P> + +<P> +"We have our failings, but I'm boring you and I'll come back by and by +if you'll allow me. My American partner has been waiting for a word +with me since this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"And you kept him waiting? That was a true Blake. But go to the man +and then tell the hotel people to give you places at my table. I want +to see your friend." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll feel as honoured as I do," Blake said, and left her. +</P> + +<P> +Harding was leaning back in his chair in the smoking-room with a frown +on his face when Blake joined him. He had a nervous alert look and was +dressed with fastidious neatness. +</P> + +<P> +"You have come along at last," he remarked in an ironical tone. "Feel +like getting down to business or shall we put it off again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry I couldn't come earlier," Blake replied. "Somehow or other I +couldn't get away. Things kept turning up to occupy me." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a way they seem to have. Your trouble is that you're too +diffuse; you spread yourself out too much. You want to fix your mind +on one thing and that will have to be business as soon as we leave +here." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say you're right. My interest's apt to wander; but if you take +advantage of every opportunity that offers, you get most out of life. +Concentration's good, but if you concentrate on a thing and then don't +get it, you begin to think what a lot of other things you've missed." +</P> + +<P> +Harding made a gesture of resignation. "Guess you must be humoured; +I'll wait until you're through. That's a nice girl you stole the +bob-cat from, but if she were a sister of mine, I'd choke off that army +man who's been trotting round after her most of the day." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with Captain Sedgwick?" +</P> + +<P> +"He has a greedy eye. He'll play any game he goes into for his own +hand. Not an unusual plan, but there's generally a code of rules and +if it's going to pay him, Sedgwick will break them. Anyhow, as it +looks as if Mrs. Chudleigh had him earmarked, why can't he let the girl +alone?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who had taken a protective interest in Millicent, was somewhat +disturbed, but would not admit it. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" he said, "our army men aren't ascetics, but I dare say the +fellow's a harmless philanderer, and you're a bit of a Puritan." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm married and don't forget it," snapped Harding. "Marianna—that's +Mrs. Harding—is living in a two-room tenement, making her own dresses +and cooking on a gasoline stove, so's to give me my chance of finding +the gum. And I'm here in an expensive hotel, where I've made about +five dollars commission in three days and written our people several +folios about the iniquities of the Canadian tariff, which is all I've +done. We have got to pull out as soon as possible. Did you get any +information from the Hudson's Bay man?" +</P> + +<P> +"I learned something about our route through the timber-belt and the +kind of camp outfit we'll want; the temperature's often fifty below in +winter. Then I was in Revillons', looking at their cheaper furs, and +in a store where they supply especially light hand-sledges, snowshoes, +and patent cooking cans. We must have these things good, and I +estimate they'll cost six hundred dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Six hundred dollars will make a big hole in our capital." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid so, but we can't run the risk of freezing to death, and we +may have to spend all winter in the wilds." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true; I don't go back until I find the gum." +</P> + +<P> +Harding's tone was resolute, and when he leaned forward, musing, with +knitted brows, Blake, knowing his story, gave him a sympathetic glance. +He had entered the paint factory when a very young man and had studied +chemistry in his scanty spare time with the object of understanding his +business better. He found the composition of varnishes an interesting +subject, and as the best gums employed came from the tropics and were +expensive he began to experiment with the exudations from American +trees. His employers hinted that he was wasting his time, since the +limits to the use of these products were already known, but Harding +continued, trying to test a theory that the texture and hardness of the +gums might depend upon climatic temperature. By chance a resinous +substance which had come from the far North fell into his hands, and he +found that when combined with an African gum it gave astonishing +results. Before this happened, however, his employers had sent him out +on the road, and as they were sceptical about his discovery and he +would not take them fully into his confidence, they merely promised to +keep his place open for a time. Now he was going to search for the gum +at his own expense. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll order the outfit in the morning," he said presently, glancing +towards a man who sat across the room. "Do you think that fellow +Clarke can hear? I've a notion that he's been watching us." +</P> + +<P> +"Does it matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"You must bear in mind that we have a valuable secret, and I understand +he lives somewhere in the country we are going through." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke the Hudson's Bay agent came in with the sawmiller, who said +to the man whom Harding suspected of listening, "That was good stuff +you gave me a dose of. It fixed my ague, though I had the shakes bad +last night." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke rose and strolled with them to a seat nearer where Blake and +Harding sat. "It's a powerful drug and must be used with discretion. +If you feel you need it, I'll give you another dose. It's an Indian +remedy and I learned the secret up in the timber-belt, but I spent some +time experimenting before I was satisfied about its properties." +</P> + +<P> +Sedgwick, who was passing, stopped and lighted a cigar. "Then you get +on with Indians?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," Clarke said shortly. "It isn't difficult when you grasp their +point of view." +</P> + +<P> +"Then your experience doesn't tally with mine and I know something +about the primitive races. Their point of view is generally elusive." +</P> + +<P> +"I can credit it." Clarke's tone was sneering. "You people don't try +to understand them; you can't come down to it. Standing firm on your +colour prejudice and official traditions, you expect the others to +agree with you. It's an indefensible policy." He turned to the +Hudson's Bay agent. "You ought to know something about the matter. On +the whole, the Hudson's Bay treat the Indians well; there was a +starving lad you picked up suffering from snow-blindness near Jack-pine +river and sent back safely to his tribe." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so, but I can't tell how you knew. I don't remember having +talked about the thing; and my clerk has never left the factory. There +wasn't another white man within a week's journey." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard, all the same. You had afterwards some better furs than usual +brought in." +</P> + +<P> +The agent looked surprised. "Some of these people are grateful, but +although I've been in the country twelve years I don't pretend to +understand them." +</P> + +<P> +"They understand you. The proof of it is that you can keep your +factory open in a district where furs are rather scarce and have had +very few mishaps. You can take that as a compliment." +</P> + +<P> +There was something significant in Clarke's tone which Blake remarked, +while Sedgwick, feeling that he was being left out, strolled on. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you know the Jack-pine?" the agent asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty well, though it's not easy to reach. I came down it one winter +from the Wild-goose hills. I'd put in the winter with a band of +Stonies." +</P> + +<P> +"The Northern Stonies? Did you find them easy to get on with?" +</P> + +<P> +"They knew some interesting things," Clarke answered drily. "I went +there to study." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said the agent. "What plain folk, for want of a better name, +call the occult. But it's fortunate there's a barred door between +white men and the Indian's mysticism." +</P> + +<P> +"It has been opened to a white man once or twice." +</P> + +<P> +"Just so. He stepped through into the darkness and never came out +again. There was an instance I could mention." +</P> + +<P> +"Civilized folk would have no use for him afterwards," Harding broke +in. "We want sane, normal men on this continent. Neurotics, hoodoos +and fakirs are worse than a plague; there's contagion in their fooling." +</P> + +<P> +"How would you define them? Those who don't fit in with your ideas of +the normal?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know a clean, straight man when I meet him and that's enough for me." +</P> + +<P> +"I imagine that cleverer people are now and then deceived," said +Clarke, who moved away. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a man I want to keep clear of," Harding remarked to Blake. +"There's something wrong about him; he's not wholesome." He rose. +"It's a fine night; let's walk up the mountain." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HARDING GROWS CONFIDENTIAL +</H4> + +<P> +Next morning Blake and his partner breakfasted at Mrs. Keith's table, +and during the afternoon drove up the mountain with her and one or two +others. The city was unpleasantly hot and the breeze that swept its +streets blew clouds of sand and cement about, for Montreal is subject +to fits of feverish constructional activity and on every other block +buildings were being torn down and replaced by larger ones of concrete +and steel. Leaving its outskirts, the carriage climbed the road which +winds in loops through the shade of overhanging trees. Wide views of +blue hills and shining river opened up through gaps in the foliage; the +air had lost its humid warmth and grew fresh and invigorating. +</P> + +<P> +Reaching the level summit, they dismissed the hacks and found a seat +near the edge of a steep, wooded slope. The strip of tableland is not +remarkably picturesque, but it is thickly covered with trees, and one +can look out across a vast stretch of country traversed by the great +river. By and by the party scattered and Mrs. Keith was left with +Harding. They were, in many ways, strangely assorted companions, the +elderly English lady accustomed to the smoother side of life, and the +young American who had struggled hard from boyhood, but they were +sensible of a mutual lilting. Mrs. Keith had a trace of the grand +manner, which had its effect on Harding; he showed a naive frankness +she found attractive. Besides, his talk and conduct were marked by a +laboured correctness which amused and pleased her. She thought he had +taken some trouble to acquire it. +</P> + +<P> +"So you had to leave your wife at home," she said presently. "Wasn't +that rather hard for both of you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was hard enough," he replied with feeling. "What made it worse was +that I hadn't many dollars to leave with her, but I had to go. The man +who will take no chances has to stay at the bottom." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, if it's not an impertinence, your means are small?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your interest is a compliment, ma'am, and what you say is true. We +had two hundred dollars when we were married. You wouldn't consider +that much to begin on." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Mrs. Keith, whose marriage settlement had made over to her +valuable property. "Still, of course, it depends upon what one +expects. After all; I think my poorest friends have been happiest." +</P> + +<P> +"We had only one trouble; making the dollars go round," Harding told +her with grave confidence. "It was worst in the hot weather when other +people could move out of town, and it hurt me to see Marianna looking +white and tired. I used to wish I could send her to one of the +summer-boarders' farms up in the hills, though I guess she wouldn't +have gone without me. She's brave, and when my chance came she saw +that I must take it. She sent me off with smiles, but I knew what they +cost." +</P> + +<P> +"She will smile more brightly when you come back, and courage to face a +hard task is a great gift. So you consider this trip to the North-West +your opportunity? You must expect to sell a good deal of paint." +</P> + +<P> +Harding looked up with a sudden twinkle. "I'll own to you, ma'am, that +I've another object. The company will pay my commission on any orders +I get at the settlements, but this is my venture, not theirs. I'm +going up into the wilds to look for a valuable raw material." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith. "I suspected something like this. It's +difficult to imagine Dick Blake's going into anything so sober and +matter of fact as the paint business. Have you known him long?" +</P> + +<P> +"I met him a year ago, and we spent two or three weeks together." +</P> + +<P> +"But was that long enough to learn much about him? Do you know his +history?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding gave her a direct glance. "Do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said; "I gather that he has taken you into his confidence." +</P> + +<P> +"Now you set me free to talk. When I asked him to be my partner, he +told me why he had left the army. That was the square thing, and it +made me keen on getting him." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you were not deterred by what you learned?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all. I knew it was impossible that Blake should have done what +he was charged with." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so, but I know him better than you do," Mrs. Keith said +gravely. "What made you jump to the conclusion?" +</P> + +<P> +"You shall judge whether I hadn't good reason. I was in one of our +lake ports, collecting accounts, and Blake had come with me. It was +late at night when I saw my last customer at his hotel, and I had a +valise half-full of silver currency and bills. Going back along the +waterfront where the second-rate saloons are, I thought that somebody +was following me. The lights didn't run far along the street, I hadn't +seen a patrol, and as I was passing a dark block a man jumped out. I +got a blow on the shoulder that made me sore for a week, but the fellow +had missed my head with the sandbag, and I slipped behind a telegraph +post before he could strike again. Still, things looked ugly. The man +who'd been following came into sight, and I was between the two. Then +Blake ran up the street, and I was mighty glad to see him. He had two +men to tackle, and one had a sandbag, while I guess the other had a +pistol." +</P> + +<P> +"But you were there. That made it equal." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Harding. "I'd been near knocked out with the sandbag and +could hardly keep my feet. Besides, I'd my employers' money in the +valise, and it was my business to take care of it." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith made a sign of agreement. "I beg your pardon. You were +right." +</P> + +<P> +"Blake got after the first thief like a panther. He was so quick I +didn't quite see what happened, but the man reeled half-way across the +street before he fell, and when his partner saw Blake coming for him he +ran. Then, when the trouble was over, a patrol came along, and he and +Blake helped me back to my hotel. Knowing I had the money, he'd got +uneasy when I was late." Harding paused and looked meaningly at his +companion. "Later I was asked to believe that the man who went for +those two toughs with no weapon but his fists ran away under fire. The +thing didn't seem possible." +</P> + +<P> +"And so you trust Blake, in spite of his story?" +</P> + +<P> +"The North-West is a hard country in winter and I may find myself in a +tight place before I've finished my search," Harding answered with +grave quietness. "But if that happens I'll have a partner I can trust +my life to beside me. What's more, Mrs. Harding, who's a judge of +character, feels I'm safe with him." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith was moved; his respect for his wife's judgment and his faith +in his comrade appealed to her. +</P> + +<P> +"Though my opinion of Blake is not generally held, I believe you are +right," she said. "And now tell me something about your journey." +</P> + +<P> +While they talked, Millicent and Blake sat in the sunshine on the slope +of the hill. Beneath them a wide landscape stretched away towards the +Ottawa valley, the road to the lonely North, and the girl, who had +never left the confines of civilization, felt a longing to see the +trackless wilds. The distance drew her. +</P> + +<P> +"Your way lies up yonder," she said. "I suppose you are thinking about +it. Are you looking forward to the trip?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so much as Harding is," Blake replied. "He's a bit of an +enthusiast, and I've been in the country before. It's a singularly +rough one, and I anticipate our meeting with more hardships than +dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Which doesn't seem to daunt you." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Blake; "not to a great extent. Hardship is not a novelty to +me, and I don't think I'm avaricious. The fact is, I'm a good deal +better at spending than gathering." +</P> + +<P> +"It's undoubtedly easier," the girl rejoined. "But while I like Mr. +Harding I shouldn't consider him a type of the romantic adventurer." +</P> + +<P> +"You're right in a sense and wrong in another. Harding's out for +dollars, and I believe he'll get them if they're to be had. He'll +avoid adventures so far as he can, but if there's trouble to be faced, +it won't stop him. Then he has left a safe employment, broken up his +home, and set off on this long journey for the sake of a woman who is +trying to hold out on a very few dollars in a couple of poor rooms +until his return. He's taking risks which I believe may be serious in +order that she may have a brighter and fuller life. Is there no +romance in this?" +</P> + +<P> +What Blake said about his comrade's devotion to his wife appealed to +the girl. Marriage had apparently not lessened his tender thought for +her, and Millicent wondered whether she was capable of inspiring such a +feeling. She had found life hard, and so far had shrunk from the few +men who had cultivated her acquaintance. Indeed, she felt contaminated +as she remembered the advances made by one. +</P> + +<P> +"On the face of it, looking for openings in the paint business doesn't +seem to be a very risky matter," she suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"It depends a good deal on how it's done," Blake answered with a laugh. +"With Harding, a business opening is a comprehensive term." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent mused for a moment or two. She liked Blake and he improved +upon acquaintance. He had a whimsical humour and a dash of reckless +gallantry. It was not to his credit that he had frequented her +father's house, and he was supposed to be in disgrace, but she had +cause to know that he was compassionate and chivalrous. +</P> + +<P> +"Though you have not been with us long, we shall be duller when you +have gone," she told him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "in a sense that's nice to hear, but it's with mixed +feelings one leaves friends behind." His tone grew serious. "I've +lost some good ones." +</P> + +<P> +"I can imagine your making others easily, but haven't you retained one +or two? I think, for instance, you could count on Mrs. Keith." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he said, "I owe a good deal to her. A little charity, such as +she shows, goes a very long way." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent did not answer, and he watched her as she sat looking out +into the distance with grave brown eyes. Her face was gentle; he +thought there was pity for him in it and felt strongly drawn to her, +but he remembered that he was a man with a tainted name and must travel +a lonely road. She was conscious of his scrutiny, but took no offence +at it. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps we had better change our place," she said by and by. "The sun +is rather strong now the wind has gone." +</P> + +<P> +Some of the others joined them, and soon afterwards they walked down +the winding road to the city; when they sat outside the hotel after +dinner Blake asked Harding if he had enjoyed the afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +"I did," said Harding with earnestness. "I'd only one regret; that +Mrs. Harding wasn't here to share it with me. Your friends are +charming ladies of a stamp Marianna and I so far haven't had much +chance to meet." Then his face grew very resolute as he added: "But +she shall have her opportunity. If things go right with us she'll get +her share of all that's best in life—and, with that at stake, we have +to make things right." +</P> + +<P> +Two days later Harding got some letters he had been waiting for, and as +there was now nothing to keep them in Montreal, Blake said good-bye to +Mrs. Keith next morning. Though she was gracious to him he felt a +strong sense of disappointment at finding her alone, but when he was +going out he met Millicent in the hall. She wore her hat and the flush +of colour in her face indicated that she had been walking fast. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad I didn't miss you, but I had an errand to do," she said. +"You are going now; by the Vancouver express?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Blake, stopping beside a pillar; "I was feeling rather +gloomy until I saw you. Harding's at the station, and it's depressing +to set off on a long journey feeling that nobody minds your going." +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Keith will mind," said Millicent. "I'm sure she was very +friendly and gave you her good wishes." +</P> + +<P> +Blake looked at her with a smile. "Somehow they didn't seem enough. I +think I wanted yours." +</P> + +<P> +She coloured, but met his glance. "Then," she said, "you have them. I +haven't forgotten what happened one evening in London, and I wish you a +safe journey and success." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," he answered with feeling. "It will be something to +remember that you have wished me well." Then as his eyes rested upon +her he forgot that he was a marked man. She looked very fresh and +desirable; there was a hint of regret and pity in her face and a trace +of shyness in her manner. "I suppose I can't ask you to think of me +now and then; it would be too much," he went on. "But won't you give +me something of yours, some trifle to keep as a memento." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent hesitated and then took a tiny bunch of flowers from the lace +at the neck of her white dress. "Will these do?" she asked, and added +with a smile: "They won't last very long." +</P> + +<P> +"They will last a long time, well taken care of, but what you said had +a sting. Did you mean that you wouldn't give me anything more +enduring?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said shyly, "not that altogether. I think I meant that they +would last as long as you might care to remember our acquaintance." +</P> + +<P> +Blake bowed. "My memory's good. When I come back I will show you your +gift as a token." +</P> + +<P> +"But I shall be in England then." +</P> + +<P> +"I bore that in mind. It is not very far off, and I'm a wanderer." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said with faint confusion, "unless you hurry you will miss +your train. Good-bye and good fortune!" +</P> + +<P> +He took the hand she gave him and held it a moment. "I wonder whether +your last wish will ever be realized, If so, I shall come to thank you, +even in England." +</P> + +<P> +Then he turned and went out with hurried steps, wondering what had led +him to break through the reserve he had prudently determined to +maintain. What he had said might mean nothing, but it might mean much. +He had seen Millicent Graham for a few minutes in her father's house, +and afterwards met her every day during the week spent in Montreal, but +brief as their friendship had been, he had yielded to her charm. Had +he been free to seek her love he would eagerly have done so, but he was +not free. He was an outcast, engaged in a desperate attempt to repair +his fortune. Miss Graham knew this, and had probably taken his remarks +for what they were worth as a piece of sentimental gallantry, but +something in her manner suggested a doubt and the trouble was that he +did not wish her to regard them in this light. It looked as if he had +made a fool of himself, but he had promised to show her the flowers +again some day, and he carefully placed them in his pocket book. +</P> + +<P> +The train was ready to start when he found Harding impatiently waiting +him on the platform and a few moments later the long cars were swiftly +rolling west. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. CHUDLEIGH GATHERS INFORMATION +</H4> + +<P> +It was a fine morning when Mrs. Keith sat on the saloon deck of a river +boat steaming with the ebb tide down the St. Lawrence. The terraced +heights of Quebec had faded astern; ahead a blaze of sunshine rested on +the river, up which a big liner with crowded decks and her smoke-trail +staining the clear blue sky moved majestically. To starboard dark +pinewoods, with here and there a sawmill stack, were faintly marked +upon the lofty bank; to port rose rugged hills with wooden villages at +their feet. The light wind that rippled the blue water was pleasantly +cool, and Mrs. Keith, laying down the book she had been reading, looked +about with languid enjoyment. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I'm neglecting my opportunities, but this is very delightful +and I don't think they have anything finer than the river in Canada," +she said. "Its width impresses one; the French villages with their +church spires are so picturesque—I wonder how many churches there are +in this part of the country. One sees them everywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"You were urged to see the Ontario forests and the prairie," Millicent +remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"One cannot do everything, and I'm not insatiable. I'm getting too old +to stand the shaking in the hot and dusty cars, and I can't accustom +myself to going to bed in public, without undressing. No doubt, it's a +matter of prejudice, but I've been used to more room for taking my +clothes off than they give you behind the flapping curtain." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent laughed as she remembered their experiences during a journey +on a crowded express. +</P> + +<P> +"Getting up is worse," she said. "However, they told us it was very +pretty and generally cool at Saguenay. Then you'll have somebody to +talk to, as Mrs. Chudleigh is coming. But didn't she make up her mind +rather suddenly?" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so, since she didn't speak of going until I sent you for the +tickets. Still, Sedgwick was sent to Ottawa, where she doesn't know +anybody, which may have had something to do with it." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent, who looked very pretty in her light summer dress as she +leaned back in a deckchair, did not reply. Sun and wind had brought a +fine warm colour into her face, but her brown eyes were grave, for +there was a point upon which she must try to form a correct judgment +and she distrusted her inexperience. She was young and had a natural +love of pleasure, as well as a certain longing for excitement and a +willingness to take a risk which she had inherited from her gambling +father. Mrs. Keith had prevented her indulging these tendencies, and +the girl, thrust for the most part into the society of older people, +suffered at times from a feeling of depressing monotony. +</P> + +<P> +Then she had met Captain Sedgwick, who paid her rather marked +attention, at Quebec, and at first had been attracted by the handsome +soldier and flattered by his singling her out among women of higher +station and maturer beauty; but the attraction did not last long. +There was a vein of sound sense in Millicent, and when she tested +Sedgwick by it, he did not ring true, and when Mrs. Chudleigh openly +claimed him as her property she acquiesced. Afterwards she met Blake +on board the steamer and the gratitude and admiration which a +chivalrous act of his had roused suddenly revived. Moreover she was +sorry for him and felt that he had been unjustly blamed, while, though +it was generally hidden by his careless manner, she thought she saw in +him a strong sincerity. Now she wondered whether she was foolish in +letting her thoughts dwell on him, and if he would soon forget her. +Recalling his words when he said good-bye she knew he had been stirred, +but before this she had been conscious of a certain restraint in his +manner which had only broken down at the last moment. By and by Mrs. +Keith disturbed her reflections. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks as if we were to be favoured with Mrs. Chudleigh's society," +she remarked with ironical amusement. "Mine appears to have become +more valuable during the last few days." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent saw Mrs. Chudleigh moving towards them, followed by a steward +carrying a folding chair and a maid who brought a book, a bunch of +flowers, an ornamental leather bag, and several other odds and ends. +Mrs. Chudleigh was elaborately attired, but the large plumed hat and +dress cut in the extreme of the current fashion became her. She made a +stately progress along the deck with her burdened attendants in her +train, and it took a few minutes to arrange her belongings to her +satisfaction. Then she sank into the big chair with marked grace of +movement and smiled at Mrs. Keith. +</P> + +<P> +"A delightful morning. I ought to have been writing letters, but the +sunshine brought me out." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith agreed and Mrs. Chudleigh went on: "I have enjoyed this +visit greatly and find Canada a most interesting country. In fact, I +wish I could stay another month or two, but, of course, when one has +duties." +</P> + +<P> +As Mrs. Chudleigh had neither husband nor children, Margaret Keith +wondered what her duties were, unless she considered the taking a part +in a round of social amusements as such. +</P> + +<P> +"After all," she remarked, "I imagine that one doesn't see very much of +the real Canada from the <I>Frontenac</I> or a big hotel in Montreal." +</P> + +<P> +"True," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "I must confess that I didn't come out to +study the country, though I'm charmed with all I've seen. I'm afraid I +belong to a frivolous set and find a change refreshing. Then several +old friends of mine were going to take a part in the celebrations at +Quebec—Captain Sedgwick among others." +</P> + +<P> +"Is Captain Sedgwick a very old friend?" Mrs. Keith asked, willing to +give the other the lead she seemed to wish for. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; I met him first as a subaltern in India, when he was very raw +and troubled by a seriousness he has since grown out of, but I thought +he would make his mark." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith pondered the explanation. She could not imagine her +companion's patronizing a callow young lieutenant, but this was not +important. Admitting that a hint might have been intended for +Millicent's benefit, Mrs. Chudleigh's boldness in laying claim to the +man by suggesting that she had come out for his sake was puzzling. It +was not in good taste, but although Mrs. Chudleigh's position was +assured, there was something of the audacity of the adventuress about +her. Margaret Keith, however, had no admiration for Sedgwick, whom she +thought of as second-rate, and she was glad to believe that Millicent +did not wish to dispute the woman's right to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going home soon?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Before long, I think. There is a round of visits I have promised to +make and I may stay some time with the Fosters in Shropshire near +Colonel Challoner's place. I believe he is a friend of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"He is. Have you met him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Once; I found him charming. A very fine, old-fashioned gentleman, and +I understand a famous soldier. Somebody told me he never quite got +over his nephew's disgrace and seemed to think it reflected upon the +whole family. Very foolish, of course, but one can admire his sense of +honour." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith began to understand why her companion had sought her. She +wished to speak about Richard Blake and Mrs. Keith was forced to +acquiesce, since he had been seen in her company. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you know the nephew was in Montreal," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"To tell the truth, I do. I saw him talking to Bertram Challoner, whom +I met in London, and the family likeness struck me. Then I saw his +name in the hotel register." +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt you studied him after that. What opinion did you form?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh gave her a look of thoughtful candour. "I was puzzled +and interested. I don't know him, but he did not look the man to run +away." +</P> + +<P> +"He is not," Mrs. Keith declared. "I knew him as a boy, and even then +he was marked by reckless daring. What's more, I noticed very little +change in him." +</P> + +<P> +"It's strange." Mrs. Chudleigh's tone was sympathetically grave. "I +feel much as you do. After all, it may have been one of the affairs +about which the truth never quite comes out." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you wish to suggest by that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing in particular; I've no means of forming an accurate +conclusion. But the regimental honour was threatened and a scapegoat +needed. A mistake may have been made by somebody of greater +importance. One hears of some curious things." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true," Mrs. Keith drily agreed. "I believe in Dick Blake, but +it must be admitted that he made no defence." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh pondered this. "One meets men capable of making a great +sacrifice, though they're by no means numerous. I suppose Colonel +Challoner really felt it a heavy blow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Those who know him can't doubt it, though he never speaks of the +matter." +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been a shock. Apart from whatever affection he had for +his nephew, there was, in a sense, the stigma reflected upon +himself—an old man who has bravely won distinction and retains some +influence! I'm told he has friends in administrative circles and that +his opinion on Indian subjects still carries weight." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe so," said Mrs. Keith. "He certainly holds his opinions +firmly, and was once looked upon as an authority on frontier defence. +Indeed, he gave up his command because he could not get some drastic +change which events subsequently proved needful adopted. His honesty +is remembered by men who hold him in esteem." +</P> + +<P> +"All you have said bears out my impression of him. I must renew our +acquaintance when I am in Shropshire. Are you staying here long?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith was glad to change the subject, but while they talked a +steward appeared with a letter for Millicent, which he explained had +been sent on board the steamer at Quebec. As the girl laid down the +opened envelope Mrs. Chudleigh recognized Sedgwick's writing and her +face grew contemptuously hard. Then she laughed and started a +different topic, which she continued for a time. When she went away, +Mrs. Keith turned to Millicent. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder whether I have told her too much, though it's hard to see +what use she can make of it. Innocent or not, Dick Blake is a +favourite of mine and when I speak of him I'm apt to be unguarded. Of +course, it's obvious that she joined us on purpose to talk about him." +</P> + +<P> +"One would have imagined it was Captain Sedgwick. She dragged him in +rather pointedly." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! no. That was by the way, and perhaps intended to put me off the +scent. She's a scheming woman." +</P> + +<P> +"But she has not learned much from you." +</P> + +<P> +"She has learned two things," Mrs. Keith answered thoughtfully. +"First, that I don't believe Dick Blake failed in his duty; and, +secondly, that Colonel Challoner has some influence. I think she was +particularly interested in the latter point. I've been incautious and +let my tongue run away with me." +</P> + +<P> +Then she took up her book while Millicent read her letter. Though +young and to some extent inexperienced, her judgment was generally +sound, and she had come to see how Sedgwick really regarded her. She +had pleased his eye, and he was a man who would boldly grasp at what +delighted him, but love would not be permitted to interfere with his +ambitions. He wrote in a tone of forced and insincere sentiment, and +his words brought a blush into Millicent's face as well as a rather +bitter smile into her eyes. By and by she tore the sheet into pieces +and dropped them over the steamer's rail. That affair was ended. +</P> + +<P> +As the fragments of paper fluttered astern Mrs. Keith looked up. "You +are treating somebody's letter very unceremoniously." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I am," said Millicent. "It's from Captain Sedgwick." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" exclaimed Mrs. Keith. "Has he anything of interest to say?" +</P> + +<P> +"He mentions that he is going back to Africa sooner than he expected +because the officer above him has suffered so much from the climate +that he has asked to be relieved of his post. Captain Sedgwick +believes this will give him a chance of advancement." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I've no doubt he'll make the most of it. I suppose he doesn't +waste much pity on his unfortunate chief? The man's personal interest +stands first with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't that the usual thing with men?" +</P> + +<P> +"There are exceptions. Colonel Challoner, for instance, threw up his +career when he found he was forced to act against his convictions, and +I've a suspicion that another man I know made as great a sacrifice. +However, Sedgwick will make every effort to get the vacant post, and I +wonder whether he told Mrs. Chudleigh how matters stood. She may have +had a letter before you did." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent knew her employer's penetration, but did not understand the +drift of her remarks. +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say he wrote to her. She told us they were old friends. But +why should it interest you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It does," Mrs. Keith rejoined. "I have a habit of putting things +together and drawing my conclusions, though, of course, I'm now and +then mistaken. Whether I'm right or not in the present instance time +will show, but I must try to watch the woman when we go home." Then +she added sharply: "As you have torn it up, you don't mean to answer +Sedgwick's letter?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Millicent, with a trace of colour; "I don't think it needs a +reply." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith made a sign of agreement. "On the whole," she said +pointedly, "I should imagine that to be a wise decision." +</P> + +<P> +On reaching Saguenay, Mrs. Keith spent the first morning sitting +outside her hotel. Rugged mountains with dark belts of pines +straggling up their sides were spread about her, but she gave the wild +grandeur of the landscape scanty attention as she consulted the +engagement book in her hand. It contained a list of the friends she +wished to entertain and the visits she had thought of making in England +during the winter, and she wondered which could be shortened and whom +she could put off, because it might be desirable to spend some time in +Shropshire. +</P> + +<P> +Margaret Keith was a strong-willed woman who had led a busy life, but +now, when she had resolved to retire into the background and rest, it +looked as if she might again be forced to take an active part in +affairs. She had enjoyed her Canadian trip, but during the last week +or two it had begun to lose its interest, and she was conscious of a +call to be up and doing. She suspected Mrs. Chudleigh, she doubted +Sedgwick, and she was disturbed by the way the unfortunate affair on +the Indian frontier had cropped up again. Somehow, she felt Colonel +Challoner's peace was threatened, which could not be permitted. For +many years she had cherished a warm liking for him, and long ago, when +he was a young lieutenant, she could have made him hers. Family +arrangements, complicated by the interests of landed property, had, +however, stood in the way. Challoner was not free to marry as he +pleased; he had been taught that the desire of the individual must be +subordinated to the welfare of the line, and when he first met Margaret +Keith, who was beautiful then, it was too late for him to rebel. She +let him go, but he had always had a place in her heart, and now they +were firm and trusted friends. +</P> + +<P> +During her stay at Saguenay, Mrs. Chudleigh made two or three attempts +to extract some further information about the Challoners but without +success, and one day, soon after she had left, Mrs. Keith sent +Millicent for a list of steamer sailings. +</P> + +<P> +"This place is very pretty, but we have been here some time and I'm +beginning to think of home," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the Empresses sails next week," said Millicent, returning with +the card. "Mr. Gordon told me this morning that Mrs. Chudleigh went in +the <I>Salmatian</I> the day before he left Quebec." +</P> + +<P> +"Did she?" Mrs. Keith rejoined. "Well, perhaps you had better write to +the Montreal office about our berths." Then, for the call had grown +clearer, she smiled as the girl went away, and added: "It might be +wiser to keep the woman in sight." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRAIRIE +</H4> + +<P> +A strong breeze swept the wide plain, blowing fine sand about, when +Blake plodded beside the jaded Indian pony that drew his Red-river +cart. It was loaded with preserved provisions, camp stores, and winter +clothes, and he had bought it and the pony because that seemed cheaper +than paying for transport. The settlement for which he was bound +stands near the northern edge of the great sweep of grass which +stretches across central Canada, and means of communication between it +and the outer world were scarce. Harding, accordingly, had agreed to +the purchase of the animal with the idea of selling it afterwards to +one of the settlers. +</P> + +<P> +Since leaving the railroad they had spent four days upon the trail, +which sometimes ran plain before them, marked by dints of wheels among +the wiry grass, and sometimes died away, leaving them at a loss in a +wilderness of sand and short poplar scrub, through which Blake steered +by compass. Now it was late in the afternoon and the men were tired of +battling with the wind which buffeted their sunburned faces with sharp +sand. They were crossing one of the high steppes of the middle prairie +towards the belt of pines and muskegs which divides it from the barrens +of the North. The broad stretch of fertile loam, where prosperous +wooden towns are rising fast among the wheatfields, lay to the south of +them, and the arid tract they journeyed through had so far no +attraction for even the adventurous homestead pre-emptor. +</P> + +<P> +They found it a bleak and cheerless country, crossed by the ravines of +a few sluggish creeks, the water of which was unpleasant to drink, and +dotted at long intervals by ponds bitter with alkali. In places, +stunted poplar bluffs cut against the sky, but, for the most part, +there was only a rolling waste of dingy grass. The trail was heavy, +the wheels sank deep in sand as they climbed a low rise, and, to make +things worse, the rounded, white-edged clouds which had scudded across +the sky since morning were gathering in threatening masses. This had +happened every afternoon, but now and then the cloud ranks had broken, +to pour out a furious deluge and a blaze of lightning. Harding +anxiously studied the sky. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we're up against another thunderstorm," he said. "My opinion +of the mid-continental climate is singularly mean, but I'd put this +strip of Canada near the limit. Our Texan northers are fierce when +they come along, but here it blows all the time." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll make camp, if you like; I don't feel very fresh," Blake replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Not here," snapped Harding, "Where I stop I sleep, and I've no use for +sheltering under the cart. Last time we tried it the pony stampeded +and the wheel went over my foot. The tent's no good; you'd want a +chain to stop its blowing away. We'll go on until we bring up to lee +of a big, solid bluff." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," Blake agreed. "I daresay we ought to find one in the +hollow we got a glimpse of from the last rise, but we haven't had to +put up with much discomfort yet." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a matter of opinion; you haven't limped forty miles on a bad +foot, but I'm not complaining," Harding rejoined, "In fact, I've most +been happy since we left the depot. It's something to feel that you +have started; doing nothing takes the sand out of me." +</P> + +<P> +Blake had once or twice suggested that his comrade should ride, but the +pony was overburdened and Harding refused. He explained that they +could not expect to sell it in a worn-out condition, but his partner +suspected him of sympathy for the patient beast. +</P> + +<P> +They crossed the ridge and seeing a wavy line of trees in the wide +hollow, quickened their pace. The soil was firmer, the scrub the +wheels crushed through was short, and the trail led smoothly down a +slight descent. This was comforting, because half the sky was barred +with leaden cloud and the parched grass gleamed beneath it lividly +white, while the light that struck a ridge-top here and there had a +sinister luridness. It was getting cold and the wind was dropping, +which was not a favourable sign. +</P> + +<P> +Pushing the cart through the softer places, dragging the jaded pony by +the head, they hurried on and at length plunged through a creek with +the trees close in front. A few minutes later they tethered the pony +to lee of the cart and set up their tent. Then, while Blake was +rummaging out provisions and Harding searching the bluff for dry +sticks, they heard a beat of hoofs and a man rode up, leading a second +horse. He got down and throwing a bundle off his saddle hobbled the +beasts before he turned to Blake. +</P> + +<P> +"From the south? You're for Sweetwater?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +Blake told him he had guessed correctly, and asked how far they had +still to go. +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to make it in a day and a half," said the other. "I'll ride +in with you; run a store and hotel there, but feel I want to get out on +the prairie now and then, and as a horse was missing I went after him. +A looker, isn't he?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake admired the animal, and suggested that the stranger had better +join them instead of cooking a separate supper. The fellow, who told +them that his name was Gardner, had a good-humoured, sunburned face and +an honest look. The prairie was now wrapped in inky gloom, and there +was an impressive stillness except for the occasional rustle of a leaf, +but when Harding came out of the bluff with a load of wood a puff of +icy wind suddenly stirred the grass. The harsh rustle it made was +followed by a deafening crash, and a jagged streak of lightning fell +from the leaden clouds; then the air was filled with the roar of +driving hail. It swept the wood, rending leaves and smashing twigs, +while the men crouched inside the straining tent and a constant blaze +of lightning flickered about the grass. By and by the thunder died +away and the hail gave place to torrential rain, while the slender +trees rocked in the blast and small branches drove past the tent. This +lasted some minutes, after which the rain ceased suddenly and a fierce +red light streamed along the saturated grass from the huge sinking sun. +Harding, who had brought the wood into the tent, took it out and with +the stranger's help soon made a fire. +</P> + +<P> +It was getting dark, though a band of transcendental green still burned +upon the prairie's western edge when they finished supper and, sitting +round the fire, took out their pipes. The hobbled horses were quietly +grazing near them. +</P> + +<P> +"That's undoubtedly a fine animal," Blake remarked. "Is it yours?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; it belongs to Clarke's Englishman." +</P> + +<P> +"Who's he? It's a curious way to speak of a fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"It fits him," said the other. "Guess he's Clarke's, hide and bones, +and that's all there'll be when the doctor has done with him. He's a +sucker the doctor taught farming and then sold land to." +</P> + +<P> +"Then who's the doctor?" Harding inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"That's not so easy to answer, but he's a man you want to be friends +with if you stay near the settlement. Teaches farming to tenderfoot +young Englishmen and Americans; finds them land and stock to start +with, and makes a mighty good thing out of it. Goes to Montreal now +and then, but whether it's to look up fresh suckers or on the jag is +more than I know." +</P> + +<P> +"We met a fellow called Clarke at the <I>Windsor</I> not long since. What's +he like?" +</P> + +<P> +Gardner described him and Harding said, "That's the man." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I can't see what he was doing at the <I>Windsor</I>; an opium joint +would have been more in his line." +</P> + +<P> +"Does the fellow live at Sweetwater?" Blake asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Has a farm, and runs it well, about three miles back, but he's away +pretty often in the North and at a settlement on the edge of the bush +country. Don't know what he does there, and they're a curious crowd; +Dubokars, Russians of sorts, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +Blake had seen the Dubokars in other parts of Canada and had found them +an industrious people, leading, from religious convictions, a +remarkably primitive life. There were, however, fanatics among them, +and he understood that these now and then led their followers into +outbreaks of emotional extravagance. +</P> + +<P> +"They make good settlers, as a rule," he said. "But, as they don't +speak English, how does the fellow get on with them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Told me he was a philologist, when I asked him; then he allowed two or +three of them were mystics and he was something in that line. He was a +doctor once and got fired out of England for something he shouldn't +have done. Anyhow, the Dubokars are like the rest of us, good, bad, +and pretty mixed, and the crowd back of Sweetwater belong to the last. +At first some of them didn't believe it was right to work horses and +made the women drag the plough, and they'd one or two other habits that +brought the North-West Police down on them. After that they've given +no trouble, but they get on a jag of some kind now and then." +</P> + +<P> +Blake nodded. He knew that the fanatic with untrained and unbalanced +mind is liable under the influence of excitement to indulge in crude +debauchery; but it was strange that a man of culture, such as Clarke +appeared to be, should take a part in these excesses. He had, however, +no interest in the fellow and turned the talk on to other matters, and +when it got cold they went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Starting early next morning, they reached Sweetwater after an +uneventful journey and found it by no means an attractive place. South +of it rolling prairie ran back, greyish white with withered grass, to +the skyline; to the north straggling poplar bluffs and scattered +Jack-pines crowned the summits of the ridges. A lake gleamed in a +hollow, a slow creek wound across the foreground in a deep ravine, and +here and there in the distance one could see an outlying farm. A row +of houses followed the crest of the ravine, the side of which formed a +dumping ground for domestic refuse. Some were built of small logs, and +some of shiplap lumber which had cracked with exposure to the sun, but +all had a neglected and poverty-stricken air. The land was poor and +the settlement located too far from a market. With leaden +thunderclouds hanging over it, the place looked as desolate as the +sad-coloured waste. +</P> + +<P> +Following the deeply-rutted street, which had a narrow, plank sidewalk, +they reached the Imperial hotel; a somewhat pretentious, +double-storeyed building of unpainted wood, with a verandah in front of +it. Here Gardner took the pony from them and gave them a room which +had no furniture except a chair and two rickety iron beds. Before he +went out he indicated a printed list of the things they were not +allowed to do. Harding studied it with a sardonic smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see much use in prohibiting folks from washing their clothes +in the bedrooms when they don't give you any water," he remarked. +"This place must be about the limit in the way of cheap hotels." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't cheap," said Blake; "I've seen the tariff, but on the whole I +like the fellow who keeps it." +</P> + +<P> +They found their supper better than they had reason to expect, and +afterwards sat out on the verandah with the proprietor and one or two +of the settlers who boarded at the hotel. The sun had set and now and +then a heavy shower beat upon the shingled roof, but the western sky +was clear and flushed with vivid crimson, towards which the prairie +rolled away in varying tones of blue. Lights shone in the windows +behind the verandah, and from one which stood open a hoarse voice +drifted out, singing in a maudlin fashion snatches of an old music-hall +ditty. +</P> + +<P> +"It's that fool Benson—Clarke's Englishman," Gardner explained. +"Found he'd got into my bed with his boots on after falling down in a +muskeg. It's not the first time he's played that trick; when he gets +worse than usual he makes straight for my room." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you give him the liquor?" Harding inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't," said Gardner drily. "He's a pretty regular customer, but he +never gets too much at this hotel." +</P> + +<P> +"And there isn't another." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," Gardner agreed, but he offered no explanation and Blake +changed the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless you're fond of farming, life in these remote districts is +trying," he remarked. "The loneliness and monotony are apt to break +down men who are not used to it." +</P> + +<P> +"Turns some of them crazy and kills off a few," agreed a farmer, who +appeared to be well educated. "After all, worse things might happen to +them." +</P> + +<P> +"It's conceivable," said Blake. "But what particular things were you +referring to?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking of men who go to the devil while they're alive. +There's a fellow in this neighbourhood who's doing something of the +kind." +</P> + +<P> +"Rot!" exclaimed a thick voice, and a man's figure appeared against the +light at the open window. "Devil'sh a myth; allegorolical gentleman, +everybody knowsh. Hard word that—allegorolical. Bad word too, +reminds you of things in the rivers down in Florida. Must be some in +the creek here; seen them in my homestead." +</P> + +<P> +"You go to bed," said Gardner sternly. +</P> + +<P> +"Nosh a bit," replied the other. "Who you talking to?" He leaned +forward in danger of falling through the window. "Lemme out." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not all drink," Gardner explained. "He has something like shakes +and ague now and then. Says he got it in India." +</P> + +<P> +The other disappeared and a few moments afterwards reeled out of the +door and held himself upright by one of the verandah posts. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'm here, don't let me interrupt," he said. "Nice place if this +post would keep still." +</P> + +<P> +Warned by a sign from Gardner, the others ignored him, and Harding +remarked to the farmer, "You hadn't finished what you were saying when +he disturbed you." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know that it was of much importance; speaking of degenerates, +weren't we? We have a curious example of the neurotic here: a fellow +who makes a good many dollars by victimizing farmers who are forced to +borrow when they lose a crop, as well as young fools from England, and +by way of amusement studies modern magic and indulges in refined +debauchery. It strikes me as a particularly unhallowed combination." +</P> + +<P> +"No sensible man has any use for hoodoo tricks and the folks who +practise them," Harding said. "They're frauds from the start." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know what you're talking about," Benson broke in. "Not all +tricks! Seen funny things in the East; thingsh decent men better leave +alone." +</P> + +<P> +Letting go the post, he lurched forward and as the light fell upon his +face Blake started. He had been puzzled by something familiar in the +voice, and now he knew the man, whom he had no wish to meet. He was +too late in hitching his chair back into the shadow, for Benson had +seen him and stopped with an excited cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Blake of the sappers! Want to cut your old friendsh? Whatsh you +doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a mutual surprise, Benson," Blake replied, and the other, holding +on by a chair back, smiled at him genially. +</P> + +<P> +"Often wondered where you went to after you left Peshawur, old man. +Though you got the sack for it, it wasn't your fault the ghazees broke +our line that night. Said so to the Colonel—can see him now, sitting +there, looking very sick and cut up, and Bolsover, acting adjutant, +blinking like an owl." +</P> + +<P> +"Be quiet!" Blake said in alarm, for the man had been a lieutenant of +native infantry when they had met on the hill campaign. +</P> + +<P> +Benson, however, was not to be deterred and addressed the rest: "This +gentleman old friend of mine; never agreed with solemn old Colonel, but +they wouldn't listen to me. Very black night in India; ghazees coming +yelling up the hill; nothing would stop them. Rifles cracking, +Nepalese comp'ny busy with the bayonet, and in the thick of it the +bugle goes——" +</P> + +<P> +Raising a hand to his mouth, he gave a shrill imitation of the call +"Cease fire!" and then lost his balance and fell over the chair with a +crash. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave him to me," said Gardner, who seized the fallen man and with +some difficulty lifted him to his feet. After he pushed him through +the door there were sounds of a scuffle and two or three minutes later +Gardner came back with a bruise upon his face. +</P> + +<P> +"He's quiet now and the bartender will put him to bed," he said. +</P> + +<P> +There was silence for the next few moments, for the group on the +verandah had been impressed by the scene; then a man came up the steps. +He was dressed in old brown overalls and carried a riding quirt, but +Harding recognized him as the man they had met at the <I>Windsor</I> in +Montreal. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you got Benson here?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," said Gardner. "He's left his mark on my cheek. Why don't you +look after the fool? Anyhow, you must have come pretty quietly; I +didn't hear you until you were half way up the steps." +</P> + +<P> +"Light boots," Clarke answered, smiling; "I bought them from you. I +don't know that I need hold myself responsible for Benson, but I found +he wasn't in when I rode past his place and it struck me that he might +get into trouble if he got on a jag." +</P> + +<P> +He turned and nodded to Blake. "So you have come up here! I may see +you to-morrow, but if Benson's all right I'm going home now." +</P> + +<P> +He went into the hotel and soon afterwards they heard him leave by +another door. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CLARKE MAKES A SUGGESTION +</H4> + +<P> +At breakfast next morning Blake and Harding found the farmer, who had +spent the night at the hotel, at their table and afterwards sat for a +time on the verandah talking to him. When they mentioned their first +objective point and asked if he could give them any directions for +reaching it he looked thoughtful. +</P> + +<P> +"I only know that it's remarkably rough country; thick pine bush on +rolling ground, with some bad muskegs and small lakes," he said. "You +would find things easier if you could hire an Indian or two and a canoe +when you strike the river. The boys here seldom go up so far, but +Clarke could help you if he liked. He's been north and knows the +Indians." +</P> + +<P> +"We're willing to pay him for any useful help," Harding replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Be careful," said the farmer. "If you're on a prospecting trip, keep +your secret close. There's another thing I might mention." He turned +to Blake. "If you're a friend of Benson's, take him along with you." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I am, in a way, though it's a long time since I met him. +But why do you recommend our taking him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to see a man go to pieces as Benson's doing, and Clarke's +ruining the fellow. He must have got two or three thousand dollars out +of him one way or another and isn't satisfied with that. Lent him +money on mortgage to start a foolish stock-raising speculation and +keeps him well supplied with drink. The fellow's weak, but he has his +good points." +</P> + +<P> +"But what's Clarke's object?" +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't very clear, but a man who's seldom sober is easily robbed and +Benson's place is worth something; Clarke sees it's properly farmed. +However, you must use your judgment about anything he tells you; I've +given you warning." +</P> + +<P> +He went away and Blake sat silent for a time. Though they had not been +intimate friends, he had known Benson when the latter was a wild young +subaltern, and it did not seem fitting to leave him in the clutches of +a man who was ruining him in health and fortune. He would sooner not +have met the man at all, but since they had met, there was, so far as +he could see, only one thing to be done. +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't mind, I'd like to take Benson with us," he said to +Harding. +</P> + +<P> +The American looked doubtful. "We could do with another white man, but +I guess your friend isn't the kind we want. He may give us trouble, +and you can't count on much help from a whisky-tank. However, if you +wish it, you can bring him." +</P> + +<P> +Soon afterwards Benson came out from the dining-room. He was two or +three years younger than Blake and had a muscular figure, but he looked +shaky and his face was weak and marked by dissipation. Smiling in a +deprecatory way, he lighted a cigar. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I made a fool of myself last night," he said. "If I made +any unfortunate allusions you must overlook them. You must have seen +that I wasn't altogether responsible." +</P> + +<P> +"I did," Blake answered drily. "If we are to remain friends, you had +better understand that I can't tolerate any further mention of the +matter you talked about." +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry," said Benson, who gave him a keen glance. "Though I don't +think you have much cause to be touchy about it, I'll try to remember." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'd like you to know my partner, Mr. Harding, who has agreed to a +suggestion I'm going to make. We want you to come with us on a trip to +the northern bush." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," said Benson, who shook hands with Harding. "I wonder what +use you think I would be?" +</P> + +<P> +"To tell the truth, I haven't considered whether you would be of any +use or not; but you had better come. The trip will brace you up, and +you look as if you needed it." +</P> + +<P> +Benson's face grew red. "Your intentions may be good, but you virtuous +and respectable people sometimes show a meddlesome thoughtfulness which +degenerates like myself resent. Besides, I suspect your offer has come +too late." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think you have much reason for taunting me with being +respectable," Blake rejoined with a grim smile. "Anyway, I want you to +come with us." +</P> + +<P> +Tilting his chair back, Benson looked heavily about. "When I was new +to the country I often wished to go north. There are caribou and moose +up yonder; great sights when the rivers break up in spring, and a +sledge trip across the snow must be a thing to remember. The wilds +draw you, but I'm afraid my nerve's not good enough. A man must be fit +in every way to cross the timber belt." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why aren't you fit? Why have you let that fellow Clarke suck the +life and energy out of you, as well as rob you of your money?" +</P> + +<P> +"You hit hard, but I expect I deserve it, and I'll try to explain." +Benson indicated the desolate settlement with a gesture of weariness. +</P> + +<P> +Ugly frame houses straggled, weather-scarred and dilapidated, along one +side of the unpaved street, while unsightly refuse dumps disfigured the +slopes of the ravine in front. There was no sign of activity, but two +or three untidy loungers leaned against a rude shack with "Pool Room," +painted on its dirty window. All round, the rolling prairie stretched +back to the horizon, washed in dingy drab and grey. The prospect was +dreary and depressing. +</P> + +<P> +"This place," Benson resumed, "hasn't much to offer one in the way of +relaxation, and, for a man used to something different, life at a +lonely homestead soon loses its charm. Unless he's a keen farmer, he's +apt to go to bits." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why don't you quit?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Where could I go? A man with no profession except the one he hasn't +the means to follow is not much use at home, and all my money is sunk +in my place here. As things stand, I can't sell it." He turned to +Blake. "I left the army because a financial disaster I wasn't +responsible for stopped my allowance and I was in debt. Eventually +about two thousand pounds were saved out of the wreck, and I came here +with that feeling badly hipped, which was one reason why I took to +whisky, and Clarke, who engaged to teach me farming, saw I got plenty +of it. Now he has his hands on all that's mine, but he keeps me fairly +supplied with cash, and it saves trouble to leave things to him." +</P> + +<P> +When Benson stopped Blake made a sign of comprehension, for he knew +that somewhat exceptional qualities are required of the man who +undertakes the breaking of virgin prairie in the remoter districts. He +must have unflinching courage and stubbornness and be able to dispense +with all the comforts and amenities of civilized life. No interests +are offered him beyond those connected with his task; for half the year +he must toil unremittingly from dawn to dark, and depend upon his own +resources through the long, bitter winter. For society he may have a +hired hand and the loungers in the saloon of the nearest settlement, +which is often a day's ride away, and they are not, as a rule, men of +culture or pleasing manners. For the strong in mind and body it is +nevertheless a healthful life, but Benson was not of sufficiently tough +fibre. +</P> + +<P> +"Now see here," said Harding. "I'm out for dollars, and this is a +business trip, but Blake wants to take you and I'm agreeable. If you +can stand for two or three months hard work in the open and very plain +living, you'll feel yourself a match for Clarke when you get back. +Though there's no reason why you should tell a stranger like myself how +you stand if you'd sooner not, I know something of business and might +see a way out of your difficulties." +</P> + +<P> +Benson hesitated. He would have resented an attempt to use his +troubles as a text for improving remarks, since he already knew his +failings. What he desired was a means of escaping their consequences, +and the American, whose tone was reassuringly matter of fact, seemed to +offer it. He began an explanation and, with the help of a few leading +questions, made his financial position fairly clear. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Harding, "Clarke has certainly got a tight hold on you, +but I guess it's possible to shake him off. As things stand, however, +it seems to me he has most to gain from your death." +</P> + +<P> +"He couldn't count on that; to do the fellow justice, he'd hardly go so +far, but there's some truth in what you say." Benson looked disturbed +and irresolute, but after a few moments he abruptly threw his cigar +away and leaned forward with a decided air. "If you'll have me, I'll +go with you." +</P> + +<P> +"You're wise," Harding said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly afterwards Benson left them and Harding said to Blake, "Now you +had better go along and see if you can learn anything from Clarke about +our road. He's a rogue, but that's no reason we shouldn't make him +useful. If he can help us, pay him and be careful what you say. +Remember that he was watching you at the <I>Windsor</I>, and I've a +suspicion that he was standing in the shadow near the stairs when +Benson talked last night." +</P> + +<P> +Borrowing a saddle, Blake rode over to Clarke's homestead, which had a +well-kept, prosperous look, and found its owner in a small room +furnished as an office. Files of papers and a large map of the Western +Provinces hung upon one wall; the floor was uncovered and a rusty stove +stood in the middle of it, but Clarke was seated at a handsome American +desk. He wore old overalls and the soil upon his boots suggested that +he had been engaged in fall ploughing. As Benson came in he looked up +and the light fell upon his face. It was deeply lined and of a curious +dead colour, but while it bore a sensual stamp and something in it +hinted at cruelty, it was, Blake felt, the face of a clever and +determined man. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he said, "you have ridden over for a talk. Glad to see you. +Have a cigar." +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who took one, explained his errand and Clarke seemed to +consider. Then he took out a small hand-drawn map and passed it to his +visitor. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't ask why you are going north, as I daresay it's a secret," he +remarked. "However, though it's too valuable for me to lend it you, +this will show you your way through the timber belt." He cleared the +other end of the desk. "Sit here and make a note of the features of +the country." +</P> + +<P> +It took Blake some time, but he had been taught such work and did it +carefully. When he had finished, Clarke resumed: "I'll give you a few +directions, and you had better take them down, but you'll want a canoe +and one or two Indians. I daresay I could enable you to get them, but +I think the service is worth fifty dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd be glad to pay it when we come back," Blake answered cautiously. +"It's possible that we mightn't find the Indians, and we might leave +the water and strike overland." +</P> + +<P> +"As you like," Clarke said with a smile. "I'll give you the directions +before you go, but there's another matter I want to talk about." He +fixed his eyes on Blake. "You are a nephew of Colonel Challoner's." +</P> + +<P> +"I am, but I can't see what connexion this has——" +</P> + +<P> +Clarke stopped him. "It's not an impertinence. Hear me out. You were +a lieutenant of engineers and served in India, where you left the army." +</P> + +<P> +"That is correct, but it's not a subject I'm disposed to talk about." +</P> + +<P> +"So I imagined," Clarke said drily. "Still I would like to say that +there is some reason for believing you to be a badly treated man. You +have my sympathy." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said Blake. "I must remind you that I have given you no +grounds for offering it." +</P> + +<P> +"A painful subject! But are you content to quietly suffer injustice?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't admit an injustice. Besides, I don't see what you can know +about the matter." +</P> + +<P> +"A proper line to take with an outsider like myself; but I know you +were turned out of the army for a fault you did not commit." +</P> + +<P> +Blake's face set sternly. "It's hard to understand how you arrived at +that flattering conclusion." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't explain, but I'm convinced of its correctness," Clarke +rejoined, watching him. "One would imagine that the most important +matter is that you were driven out of a calling you liked and were sent +here, ruined in repute and fortune. Are you satisfied with your lot? +Haven't you the courage to insist upon being reinstated?" +</P> + +<P> +"My reinstation would be difficult," Blake said curtly. +</P> + +<P> +He would have left the house only that he was curious to learn where +the other's suggestions led and how much he knew. There was a moment's +silence, and then Clarke went on— +</P> + +<P> +"A young man of ability, with means and influence behind him, has a +choice of careers in England, and there's another point to be +considered: you might wish to marry. That, of course, is out of the +question now." +</P> + +<P> +"It will, no doubt, remain so," Blake replied with the colour creeping +into his set face. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you have given up all idea of clearing yourself? The thing may +be easier than you imagine if properly handled." Clarke paused and +added significantly: "In fact I could show you a way in which the +matter could be straightened out without causing serious trouble to +anybody concerned; that is, if you are disposed to take me into your +confidence." +</P> + +<P> +Blake got up, filled with anger and uneasiness. He had no great faith +in Harding's scheme; his life as a needy adventurer had its trials, and +it had been cunningly hinted that he could change it when he liked, but +he had no intention of doing so. This was an old resolve, but it was +disconcerting to feel that an unscrupulous fellow was anxious to meddle +with his affairs, for Clarke had obviously implied the possibility of +putting some pressure upon Colonel Challoner. Blake shrank from the +suggestion. It was not to be thought of. +</P> + +<P> +"I have nothing more to say on the subject," he answered sternly. "It +must be dropped." +</P> + +<P> +Somewhat to his surprise, Clarke acquiesced good-humouredly, after a +keen glance at him. +</P> + +<P> +"As you wish," he said. "However, that needn't prevent my giving you +the directions I promised, particularly as it may help me to earn fifty +dollars. I believe Benson spent some time with you this morning; are +you taking him?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake started. He wondered how the man could have guessed, but he +admitted that Benson was going. +</P> + +<P> +"You may find him a drag, but that's your affair," said Clarke in a +tone of indifference. "Now sit down and make a careful note of what I +tell you." +</P> + +<P> +Believing that the information might be of service, Blake did as he was +told, and then took his leave. When he had gone, Clarke sat still for +a time with a curious smile. Blake had firmly declined to be +influenced by his hints, but Clarke had half expected this, and what he +had learned about the young man's character cleared the ground. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BENSON GIVES TROUBLE +</H4> + +<P> +It was nearly dark when Blake and Harding led two packhorses through a +thin spruce wood, with Benson lagging a short distance behind. They +had spent some time crossing a wide stretch of rolling country, dotted +with clumps of poplar and birch, which was still sparsely inhabited, +and now they had reached the edge of the timber belt that cuts off the +prairie from the desolate barrens. The spruces were gnarled and +twisted by the wind, a number of them were dead, and many of the rest +leaned unsymmetrically athwart each other. The straggling wood had no +beauty and in the fading light wore a dreary, forbidding look. +Fortunately, however, it was thin enough for the travellers to pick +their way among the fallen branches and patches of muskeg, for the +ground was marsh and their feet sank among the withered needles. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Blake checked his pony and waited until Benson came up. The +man moved with a slack heaviness and his face was worn and tense. He +was tired with the journey, for excess had weakened him, and now the +lust for drink which he had stubbornly fought against had grown +overwhelming. +</P> + +<P> +"I can go no faster. Push on and I'll follow your tracks," he said in +a surly tone. "It takes time to get into condition, and I haven't +walked much for several years." +</P> + +<P> +"Neither have I," Harding answered cheerfully "I'm more used to riding +in elevators and the street cars, but this sort of thing soon makes you +fit." +</P> + +<P> +"You're not troubled with my complaint," Benson rejoined, and when +Blake started the pony deliberately dropped behind. +</P> + +<P> +"He's in a black mood; we'll leave him to himself," Harding remarked. +"So far he's braced up better than I expected, but when a man's been +tanking steadily, it's pretty drastic to put him through the total +deprivation cure." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," Blake said thoughtfully, "whether it is a cure; we have +both seen men who made some effort to save themselves go down. Though +I'm a long way from being a philanthropist, I hate this waste of good +material. Perhaps it's partly an economic objection, because I used to +get savage in India when any of the Tommies' lives were thrown away by +careless handling." +</P> + +<P> +"It was your soldiers' business to be made use of, wasn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Blake, frowning; "but there's a difference between that and +the other thing. It's the needless waste of life and talent that +annoys me. On the frontier, we spent men freely, which is the best +word for it, because we tried to get something in return; a rebel hill +fort seized, a raid turned back. If Benson had killed himself in +breaking a horse or by an accident with a harvesting machine, one +couldn't complain; but to see him do so with whisky is another matter." +</P> + +<P> +Harding nodded. Blake was not given to serious conversation; indeed, +he was rather casual, as a rule, but Harding, who was shrewd, saw +beneath the surface a love of order, and what he thought of as +constructive ability. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're right, but your speaking of India, reminds me of +something I want to mention. I've been thinking over what Clarke said +to you. His game's obvious, and it might have been a profitable one. +He wanted you to help him in squeezing Colonel Challoner." +</P> + +<P> +"He knows now that he applied to the wrong man." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so; it's my point. Suppose the fellow goes to work without +you? It looks as if he'd learned enough to make him dangerous." +</P> + +<P> +"He can do nothing. Let him trump up any plausible theory he likes; it +won't stand for a moment after I deny it." +</P> + +<P> +"True," said Harding gravely. "But if you were out of the way, he'd +have a free hand. Since you wouldn't join him you're a serious +obstacle." +</P> + +<P> +Blake laughed. "I'm glad I am, and as I come of a healthy stock +there's reason to believe I'll continue one." +</P> + +<P> +Harding said nothing more, and they went on in silence through the +gathering darkness The spruces were losing shape and getting blacker, +though through openings here and there they could see a faint line of +smoky red on the horizon. A cold wind wailed among the branches, and +the thud of the tired horses' feet rang dully among the shadowy trunks. +At length, reaching a strip of higher ground, the men pitched camp and +turned out the hobbled horses to graze among the swamp grass that lined +a muskeg. After supper they sat beside their fire, and by and by +Benson took his pipe from his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"I've had enough of this, and I'm only a drag on you," he said. "Give +me grub enough to see me through, and I'll start back for the +settlement first thing in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be a fool," Blake said sharply. "You'll get harder and feel the +march less every day. Are you willing to let Clarke get hold of you +again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to go. I'm driven; I can't help myself." +</P> + +<P> +Blake felt sorry for him. He imagined that Benson had made a hard +fight, but he was being beaten by his craving. Still, it seemed unwise +to show any sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"You want to wallow like a hog for two or three days that you'll regret +all your life," he said. "You have your chance of breaking free now. +Be a man and take it. Hold out a little longer and you'll find it +easier." +</P> + +<P> +Benson regarded him with a mocking smile. "I'm inclined to think the +jag you so feelingly allude to will last a week; that is, if I can +raise dollars enough from Clarke to keep it up. You mayn't understand +that I'm willing to barter all my future for it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Harding grimly; "we understand all right. Yours is not a +singular case; the trouble is that it's too common. But we'll quit +talking about it. You can't go." +</P> + +<P> +He was in no mood to handle the subject delicately; they were alone in +the wilds and the situation made for candour. There was only one way +in which they could help the man and he meant to take it. Benson +turned to him angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"Your permission's not required; I'm a free man." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you?" Harding asked. "It strikes me as a very curious boast. +Improving the occasion's a riling thing, but there was never a slave in +Dixie tighter bound than you." +</P> + +<P> +"That's an impertinence," Benson rejoined, flushing, as unsatisfied +longing drove him to fury. "What business is it of yours to preach to +me? Confound you! who are you? I tell you I won't have it. Give me +food enough to last until I reach Sweetwater and let me go." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke a haughty ring crept into his voice and Blake was moved to +compassion because he recognized it and found it ludicrous. Benson, +who would not have used that tone in his normal state, belonged by +right of birth to a ruling caste, and no doubt felt that he had been +treated with indignity by a man of lower station. Harding, however, +answered quietly— +</P> + +<P> +"I am a paint factory drummer who has never had the opportunities you +have enjoyed, but so long as we're up here in the wilds the only thing +that counts is that we're men with the same weaknesses and feelings. +Because that's so, and you're hard up against it, I and my partner mean +to see you through." +</P> + +<P> +"You can't unless I'm willing. Man, don't you realize that talking's +of no use? The thing I'm driven by won't yield to words. What's more +to the purpose, I didn't engage to go all the way with you. Now I've +had enough, I'm going back to the settlement." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. You were right in claiming that there was no engagement of +any kind. So far, we have found you in grub, but we're not bound to do +so, and if you leave us, you must shift for yourself." Harding +addressed Blake, who sat nearest the provisions. "You'll see that your +friend doesn't touch those stores." +</P> + +<P> +There was silence for a moment or two, and Benson, whose face was +marked with baffled desire and scarcely controlled fury, glared at the +others. Blake's expression was pitiful, but his lips were resolutely +set; Harding's eyes were very keen and determined. Then Benson made a +sign of resignation. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks as if I were beaten. I may as well go to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +He wrapped his blanket round him and lay down near the fire, and soon +afterwards the others crept into the tent. Benson would be warm enough +where he lay and they felt it a relief to get away from him. +</P> + +<P> +Day was breaking when Blake rose and threw fresh wood on the fire, and +as a bright flame leaped up, driving back the shadows, he saw that +Benson was missing. This, however, did not disturb him, because the +man had been restless and they had now and then heard him moving about +at night. When the fire had burned up and he filled the kettle, +without his seeing anything of his friend, he began to grow anxious and +called loudly. There was no answer and he could hear no movement in +the bush. The dark spruces had grown sharper in form; he could see +some distance between the trunks, but everything was still. Then +Harding came out of the tent. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better look if the horses are there," he suggested. +</P> + +<P> +Blake failed to find them near the muskeg, but as the light got clearer +he saw tracks leading through the bush. Following these for a +distance, he came upon the Indian pony, still hobbled, but the other, a +powerful range horse, had gone. Mounting the pony, he rode back to +camp, where he found Harding looking grave. +</P> + +<P> +"The fellow's gone and taken some provisions with him," he said. "He +left this for us." +</P> + +<P> +It was a strip of paper, apparently torn from a pocket-book, with a few +lines written on it. Benson said he regretted having to leave them in +such an unceremonious fashion, but they had given him no choice, and +added that he would leave the horse, hobbled, at a spot about two days' +ride away. +</P> + +<P> +"He seems to think he's showing us some consideration in not riding the +beast down to the settlement," Blake remarked with a dubious smile, +feeling strongly annoyed with himself for not taking more precautions. +With the cunning which the lust for drink breeds in its victims Benson +had outwitted him by feigning acquiescence. "Anyhow," he added, "I'll +have to go after him. We must have the horse, for one thing, but I +suppose we'll lose four days. This is rough on you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," agreed Harding, "you must get after him, but don't mind about +me. The man's a friend of yours and I like him; he wasn't quite +responsible last night. I wouldn't feel happy if we let him fall back +into the clutches of that cunning brute. Now we'll get breakfast; +you'll need it." +</P> + +<P> +They made a hasty meal and during it Blake said, "If you don't mind +waiting, I'll follow him half way to Sweetwater if necessary. You see +I haven't much expectation of overtaking him before he leaves the +horse. It's the faster beast and we don't know when he started." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," said Harding. "Still, you're tough, and I guess the first +hard day's ride will be enough for your partner." +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later Blake was picking his way as fast as possible +through the wood. It was a cool morning, and when he had gone a few +miles the ground was fairly clear. By noon he was in more open +country, where there were long stretches of grass, and after a short +rest he pushed on fast. Bright sunshine flooded the waste that now +stretched back to the south, sprinkled with clumps of bush that showed +a shadowy blue in the distance. In those he passed the birch and +poplar leaves glowed in flecks of vivid lemon among the white stems, +but Blake rode hard, his eyes turned steadily on the misty skyline. It +was only broken by clusters of small trees; nothing moved on the +wilderness he pushed across. +</P> + +<P> +He felt tired when evening came, but he must find water before he +camped, and he pressed on. Benson was a weak fool, who would, no +doubt, give them further trouble, but they had taken him in hand, and +Blake had made up his mind to save him from the rogue who preyed upon +his failings. It was getting late when he saw a faint trail of smoke +curl up against the sky from a distant bluff, and on approaching it he +checked the jaded pony. Later he dismounted and picketing the animal +moved cautiously round the edge of the wood. Passing a projecting +tongue of smaller brush, he saw, as he had expected, Benson sitting +beside a fire, and stopped a moment to watch him. The man's face was +weary, his pose was slack, and it was obvious that the life he had led +had unfitted him for a long, hard ride. He looked forlorn and +dejected, but he started as Blake moved forward and his eyes had an +angry gleam. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have overtaken me; I thought myself safe from you," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"You were wrong," Blake replied. "If it had been needful, I'd have +gone after you to Clarke's. But I'm hungry and I'll cook my supper at +your fire." He glanced at the provisions scattered about. "You +haven't had much of a meal." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a long drink I want," said Benson, looking steadily at him. +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who let this pass, prepared his supper and offered the other a +portion. +</P> + +<P> +"Try some of that," he said, indicating the light flapjacks fizzling +among the pork in the frying-pan. "It strikes me as a good deal more +tempting than the stuff you have been eating." +</P> + +<P> +Benson thrust the food aside, and Blake finished it before he took out +his pipe. "Now," he said, "you can go to sleep when you wish. I +expect you're tired, and it's a long ride back to camp." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to count upon my going back with you," Benson remarked +mockingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I do; don't you mean to come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose it's likely after I've ridden all this way?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake laid down his pipe and looked hard at the man. "You force me to +take a line I'm not cut out for. Think a moment! You have land and +stock worth a good deal of money which my partner believes can be saved +from the rogue who's stealing it from you. You are a young man, and if +you pull yourself together and pay off his claims, you can sell out and +look for another opening wherever you like, but you know what will +happen if you go on as you are doing a year or two longer. Have you no +friends and relatives in England you owe something to? Is your life +worth nothing, that you're willing to throw it away?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's all true," Benson admitted moodily. "Do you think I can't see +where I'm drifting? The trouble is that I've gone too far to stop." +</P> + +<P> +"Try," said Blake. "It's very well worth while." +</P> + +<P> +Benson was silent for a few moments, and then looked up with a curious +expression. "You're wasting time, Dick. I've sunk too far. Go back +in the morning and leave me to my fate." +</P> + +<P> +"When I go back you are coming with me." +</P> + +<P> +Benson's nerves were on edge and his self-control broke down. +"Confound you!" he cried; "let me alone! You have reached the limit; +once for all, I'll stand no more meddling." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," Blake answered quietly, "You have left me only one +recourse, and you can't blame me for taking it." +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Superior strength. You're a heavier man than I am and ought to be a +match for me, but you have lost your nerve and grown soft and flabby +with drink. It's your own doing, and now you have to take the +consequences. If you compel me, I'll drag you back to camp with the +pack lariat." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that?" Benson's face grew flushed and his eyes glittered. +</P> + +<P> +"Try me and see." +</P> + +<P> +Savage as he was, Benson realized that his companion was capable of +making his promise good. The man looked hard and very muscular, and +his expression was determined. +</P> + +<P> +"This is insufferable!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +Blake coolly filled his pipe. "There's no other remedy. Before I go +to sleep I'll picket the horses close beside me and if you steal away +on foot during the night, I'll ride you down a few hours after +daybreak. I think you understand me, and there's nothing more to be +said." +</P> + +<P> +He tried to talk about other matters and found it hard, for Benson, +tormented by his craving, made no response. Darkness crept in about +them and the prairie grew shadowy. The leaves in the bluff rustled in +a faint, cold wind, and the smoke of the fire drifted round the men. +For a while Benson sat moodily watching his companion, and then, +wrapping his blanket round him, lay down and turned away his head. It +was now very dark outside the flickering light of the fire, and by and +by Blake, who felt the strain of the situation, strolled towards the +horses and chose a resting-place beside their pickets. +</P> + +<P> +Waking in the cold of daybreak, he saw Benson asleep, and made +breakfast before he called him. They ate in silence and then Blake led +up the pony. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we'll make a start," he said as cheerfully as he could. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment or two Benson hesitated, standing with hands clenched and +baffled desire in his face, but Blake looked coolly resolute, and he +mounted. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HARDING GROWS SUSPICIOUS +</H4> + +<P> +Benson gave Blake no further trouble, and when they rode up to the +camp, apparently on good terms with one another, Harding made no +reference to what had occurred. He greeted them pleasantly and soon +afterwards they sat down to a meal he had been cooking. When they had +finished and lighted their pipes Benson said, "A remark was made the +other night which struck me as quite warranted. It was pointed out +that I had contributed nothing to the cost of this trip." +</P> + +<P> +"It was very uncivil of Harding to mention it," Blake answered with a +grin. "Still, you see, circumstances rather forced him." +</P> + +<P> +"They did. You might have put it more harshly with truth. But I want +to suggest that you let me take a share in your venture." +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry," said Harding, "I can't agree to that." +</P> + +<P> +Benson sat smoking in silence for the next minute or two. Then he +said, "I think I understand and can't blame you. You haven't much +cause for trusting me." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't mean——" Harding began, but Benson stopped him. +</P> + +<P> +"I know. It's my weakness you're afraid of. However, you must let me +pay my share of the provisions and any transport we may be able to get. +That's all I insist on now; if you feel more confidence in me later, I +may reopen the other question." He paused and added: "You are two very +good fellows. I think I can promise not to play the fool again." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps we'd better talk about something else," Blake suggested. +</P> + +<P> +They broke camp early next morning, and Benson struggled manfully with +his craving during the next week or two which they spent in pushing +farther into the forest. It was a desolate waste of small, stunted +trees, many of which were dead and stripped of half their branches, +while wide belts had been scarred by fire. Harding found the unvarying +sombre green of the needles strangely monotonous, but the ground was +comparatively clear, and the party made progress until at length, when +the country grew more broken, they fell in with three returning +prospectors. +</P> + +<P> +"If you'll trade your horses, we might make a deal," said one when they +camped together. "You can't take them much farther—the country's too +rough—and we could sell out to one of the farmers near the +settlements." +</P> + +<P> +Blake was glad to come to terms, and afterwards another of the men +said, "We've been out two months on a general prospecting trip. It's +the toughest country to get through I ever struck." +</P> + +<P> +His worn and ragged appearance bore this out, and Harding asked: "Are +there minerals up yonder? We're not in that line; it's a forest +product we're looking for." +</P> + +<P> +"We found indications of gold, copper, and one or two other metals, +besides petroleum, but didn't see anything that looked worth taking up. +Considering the cost of transport, you want to strike it pretty rich +before what you find will pay as a business proposition." +</P> + +<P> +"So I should imagine. Petroleum's a cheap product to handle when +you're a long way from a market, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Give us plenty of it and we'll make a market. It's an idea of mine +that there's no part of this country that hasn't something worth +working in it if you can get cheap fuel. Where the land's too poor for +farming you often find minerals, and ore that won't pay for transport +can be reduced on the spot, so long as you have natural resources that +can be turned into power. With an oil well in good flow we'd soon +start some profitable industry and put up a city that would bring a +railroad in. Show our business men a good opening and you'll get the +dollars, while there are folks across the frontier who have a mighty +keen scent for oil." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you done much prospecting?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +The other smiled. "Whenever I can get dollars enough for an outfit I +go off on the trail. There's a fascination in the thing that gets hold +of you—you can't tell what you may strike and the prizes are big. +However, I allow that after seven or eight years of it I'm poorer than +when I started at the game." +</P> + +<P> +Blake made a sign of comprehension. He knew the sanguine nature of the +Westerner and his belief in the richness of his country, and he had +felt the call of the wilderness. There was, in truth, a fascination in +the silent waste that drew the adventurous into its rugged fastnesses, +and that a number of them did not come back seldom deterred the others. +</P> + +<P> +"We want to get as far north as the timber limit, if we can," he said. +"I understand there are no Hudson's Bay factories near our line, but we +were told we might find some Stony Indians." +</P> + +<P> +"There's one bunch of them," the prospector replied. "They ramble +about after fish and furs, but they've a kind of base-camp where a few +generally stop. They're a mean crowd and often short of food, but if +they've been lucky you might get supplies. Now and then they put up a +lot of dried fish and kill some caribou." +</P> + +<P> +He told Blake roughly where the Indian encampment lay, and after +talking for a while they went to sleep. Next morning the prospectors, +who took the horses, started for the south, while Blake's party pushed +on north with loads that severely tried their strength. After a few +days' laborious march they reached a stream and found a few Indians who +were willing to take them some distance down it. It was a relief to +get rid of the heavy packs and rest while the canoe glided smoothly +through the straggling forest, and the labour of hauling her across the +numerous portages was light compared with the toil of the march. +Blake, however, had misgivings; they were making swift progress +northwards, but it would be different when they came back. Rivers and +lakes would be frozen then, which might make travelling easier, if they +could pick up the hand sledges they had cached, but there was a limit +to the provisions they could transport, and unless fresh supplies could +be obtained they would have a long distance to traverse on scanty +rations in the rigours of the Arctic winter. +</P> + +<P> +After a day or two the Indians, who were going no farther, landed them +and they entered a belt of very broken country across which they must +push to reach a larger stream. The ground was rocky, pierced by +ravines, and covered with clumps of small trees. There were stony +tracts they painfully picked their way across, steep ridges to be +clambered over, and belts of quaggy muskeg they must skirt, and the +day's march grew rapidly shorter. Benson, however, gave them no +trouble; the man was getting hard and was generally cheerful, while +when he had an occasional fit of moroseness as he fought with the +longing that tormented him they left him alone. Still at times they +were daunted by the rugged sternness of the region they were steadily +pushing through, and the thought of the long return journey troubled +them. +</P> + +<P> +One night when it was raining they sat beside their fire in a desolate +gorge. A cold wind swept between the thin spruce trunks that loomed +vaguely out of the surrounding gloom as the red glare leaped up, and +wisps of acrid smoke drifted about the camp. There was a lake up the +hollow, and now and then the wild and mournful cry of a loon rang out. +The men were tired and somewhat dejected as they sat about the blaze +with their damp blankets round them, but by and by Blake, who had been +feeling drowsy, looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"What was that?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The others could hear nothing but the sound of running water and the +wail of the wind. Since leaving the Indians they had seen no sign of +life and believed they were crossing uninhabited wilds. Blake could +not tell what had suddenly roused his attention, but in former days he +had developed his perceptive faculties by close night watching on the +Indian frontier, where any relaxing of his vigilance might have cost +his life. Something, he thought, was moving in the bush and he felt +uneasy. Then he rose as a stick cracked, and Harding called out as a +shadowy figure appeared on the edge of the light. Blake laughed, but +his uneasiness did not desert him when he recognized Clarke. The +fellow was not to be trusted and had come upon them in a startling +manner. Moving coolly forward, he sat down by the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose you were surprised to see me," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," Harding answered and added nothing further, while Benson, +whose face wore a curious strained expression, did not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Clarke, who filled his pipe, "I daresay I made a rather +dramatic entrance, falling upon you, so to speak, out of the dark." +</P> + +<P> +"I've a suspicion that you enjoy that kind of thing," Harding rejoined. +"You're a man with the dramatic feeling; guess you find it useful now +and then." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke's eyes twinkled, but it was not with wholesome humour. They +were keen, but he looked old and forbidding as he sat with the smoke +blowing about him and the ruddy firelight on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"There's some truth in your remark and I take it as a compliment, but +my arrival's easily explained. I saw your fire in the distance and +curiosity brought me along." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing up here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Going on a visit to my friends the Stonies. Though it's a long way, I +look them up now and then." +</P> + +<P> +"From what I've heard of them they don't seem a very attractive lot," +Blake interposed. "But we haven't offered you any supper. Benson, you +might put on the frying-pan." +</P> + +<P> +"No thanks," said Clarke. "I'm camped with two half-breeds a little +way back. The Stonies, as you remark, are not a polished set, but +we're on pretty good terms and it's their primitiveness that makes them +interesting. You can learn things civilized folk don't know much about +from these people." +</P> + +<P> +"In my opinion it's knowledge that's not worth much to a white man," +Harding remarked contemptuously. "Guess you mean the secrets of their +medicine-men? What isn't gross superstition is trickery." +</P> + +<P> +"There you are wrong. They have some tricks, rather clever ones, +though that's not unusual with the professors of a more advanced +occultism; but living, as they do, in direct contact with Nature in her +most savage mood, they have found clues to things that we regard as +mysteries. Anyhow, they have discovered a few effective remedies that +aren't generally known yet to medical science." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke with some warmth and had the look of a genuine enthusiast, but +Harding laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Medical science hasn't much to say in favour of hoodoo practices, so +far as I know. But I understand you are a doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"I was pretty well known in London." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said Harding bluntly, "what brought you to Sweetwater?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you haven't heard, I may as well tell you, because the thing isn't +a secret at the settlement." Clarke turned and his eyes rested on +Blake. "I'm by no means the only man who has come to Canada under a +cloud. There was a famous police-court affair I figured in, and though +nothing was proved against me my practice afterwards fell to bits. As +a matter of fact, I was absolutely innocent of the offence I was +charged with. I had acted without much caution out of pity and laid +myself open to an attack that was meant to cover the escape of the real +criminal." +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who thought he spoke the truth, felt some sympathy, but Clarke +went on: "In a few weeks I was without patients or friends; driven out +from the profession I loved and in which I was beginning to make my +mark. It was a blow I never altogether recovered from, and the +generous impulse which got me into trouble was the last I yielded to." +</P> + +<P> +His face changed, growing hard and malevolent, and Blake now felt +strangely repelled. It looked as if the man had been soured by his +misfortunes and turned into an outlaw who found a vindictive pleasure +in making such reprisals as he found possible upon society at large. +This conclusion was borne out by what Blake had learned at the +settlement. +</P> + +<P> +Nobody made any comment, and there was silence for a few minutes while +the smoke whirled about the group and the drips from the dark boughs +above fell upon the brands. Then Clarke asked Benson a question or two +and afterwards talked casually with the others until he rose to go. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall start at daybreak and your way lies to the east of mine," he +said. "You'll find travelling easier when the snow comes; I wish you +good luck." +</P> + +<P> +Though the loneliness of the wilds had now and then weighed upon them, +they felt relieved when he left, and soon afterwards Benson went to +sleep, but Blake and Harding continued talking for a time. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a man I have no use for," the American remarked. "I suppose it +struck you that he made no attempt to get your friend back?" +</P> + +<P> +"I noticed it. He may have thought it wouldn't succeed and didn't wish +to show his hand. Benson already looks a different man; I saw the +fellow studying him." +</P> + +<P> +"He could have drawn him away by the sight of a whisky flask or a hint +of a jag in camp. My opinion is that he didn't want him." +</P> + +<P> +"That's curious," said Blake. "He seems to have stuck to Benson pretty +closely, no doubt with the object of fleecing him, and you think he's +not altogether ruined yet." +</P> + +<P> +"If what he told me is correct, there are still some pickings left on +him." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose the explanation is that Clarke has some conscience and +feels he has robbed him enough." +</P> + +<P> +Harding laughed. "He has as much pity as a hungry wolf; in fact, to my +mind, he's the more dangerous brute, because I've a feeling that he +delights in doing harm. There's something cruel about the man; getting +fired out of his profession must have warped his nature. Then there +was another point that struck me; why's he going so far to stay with +those Indians?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's puzzling," Blake said thoughtfully. "He hinted that he was +interested in their superstitions, and I think there was some truth in +it. Meddling with these things seems to have a fascination for +neurotic people, and as the fellow's a sensualist he may find some form +of indulgence that wouldn't be tolerated near the settlements. All +this, however, doesn't quite seem to account for the thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I've another idea," said Harding. "Clarke's known as a crank and +takes advantage of it to cover his doings. At first, I thought of the +whisky trade, but taking up prohibited liquor would hardly be worth his +while, though I daresay he has some with him to be used for gaining his +Indian friends' good will. He's on the trail of something and it's +probably minerals. What the prospector told us suggested it to me." +</P> + +<P> +"You may be right. Anyway, it doesn't seem to concern us." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Harding gravely, "I'm troubled about his leaving Benson +alone, when one could have understood his trying to take him away. The +fellow had some good reason—I wish I knew." +</P> + +<P> +He rose to throw more wood upon the fire and they changed the subject. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MUSKEG +</H4> + +<P> +It was a fortnight later when the party entered a hollow between two +low ranges. The hills receded as they progressed, the basin widened +and grew more difficult to traverse, for the ground was boggy and +thickly covered with small, rotting pines. Every here and there some +had fallen and lay in horrible tangles among pools of mire. A sluggish +creek wound through the hollow and the men had often to cross it, while +as they plodded through the morass they found their loads intolerably +heavy. Still Clarke's directions had plainly indicated this valley as +their road, and they stubbornly pushed on, camping where they could +find a dry spot. +</P> + +<P> +They were generally wet to the waist and their temper began to give way +under the strain, while Blake was annoyed to find his sleep disturbed +when he lay down in damp clothes beside the fire at nights. Sometimes +he was too hot and sometimes he lay awake shivering, for hours. He +had, however, suffered from malarial fever in India without having it +badly, and supposed that it had again attacked him now that he was +feeling the hardships of the march. Saying nothing to his companions, +he patiently trudged on, though his head throbbed and he was conscious +of a depressing weakness; and the ground grew softer as they proceeded. +The creek no longer kept within its banks but spread in shallow pools, +the rotting trees were giving place to tall grass and reeds. The +valley had turned into a very wet muskeg, but, after making one or two +attempts, they failed to find a better road among the hills that shut +it in. The rocky sides of the knolls were seamed by ravines and +covered with banks of stones and short brush, through which it was very +difficult to force a passage. Then one day, Blake, who felt his head +reel, staggered and sat down heavily. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry I can't keep on my feet," he said. "Think it's malaria I've +got." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment or two his companions gazed at him in dismay. His face +was flushed, his eyes glittered, and moving feebly he sank further down +with his back against a stone. He looked seriously ill, but Harding, +realizing that the situation must be grappled with, resolutely pulled +himself together. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't lie there; the ground's too wet," he said. "It's drier on +yonder hummock and we'll have to get you across to it. If you can +stand up and lean on us we'll fix you comfortably in camp in a few +minutes." +</P> + +<P> +When Blake had shakily risen they unstrapped his pack and afterwards +with much trouble helped him to reach a small, stony knoll, where they +made a fire and spread their blankets on a bundle of reeds for him to +lie on. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," he said in a listless voice. "I found it hard to keep my +eyes open all morning and now I think I'll go to sleep. I'll no doubt +feel better to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +By and by he fell asleep, but his rest was broken, for he moved his +limbs and muttered now and then. It was a heavy, grey afternoon with a +cold wind rippling the leaden pools and rustling the reeds, and the +watchers felt dejected and alarmed. Neither had any medical knowledge, +and they were a very long way from the settlements. Rocky hillsides +and wet muskegs which they could not cross with a sick companion shut +them off from all help; their provisions were not plentiful, and the +rigorous winter would soon set in. +</P> + +<P> +They scarcely spoke to one another as the afternoon wore away, but when +supper time came Harding roused Blake and tried to give him a little +food. He could not eat, however, and soon sank into restless sleep +again, and his companions sat disconsolately beside the fire as night +closed in. Their clothes were damp and splashed with mud, for they had +to cross a patch of very soft muskeg to gather wood among a clump of +rotting spruces. The wind was searching, the reeds clashed and rustled +drearily, and they could hear the splash of the ripples on a +neighbouring pool, It was all depressing, and as in turn they kept +watch in the darkness their hearts sank. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning Blake, who made an attempt to get up, was obviously worse, +and though he insisted irritably that he would be all right again in a +day or two the others felt dubious. +</P> + +<P> +"How often must I tell you that the thing will wear off?" he said. +"You needn't look so glum." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I was looking pretty cheerful," Harding objected with a +forced laugh. "Anyway, I've been working off my best stories for the +last hour, and I really think that one about the Cincinnati man——" +</P> + +<P> +"It's located in half a dozen different places," Blake rejoined. "You +overdo the thing, and the way Benson grins at your threadbare jokes +would worry me if I were well. Do you suppose I'm a fool and don't +know what you think?" He raised himself on his elbow, speaking +angrily. "Try to understand that this is merely common malaria; I've +had it several times, and it seldom bothers you much when you're out of +the tropics. Why, Bertram—you've seen my cousin—was down with it a +week at Sandymere; temperature very high, old fool of a family doctor +looking serious and fussing. Then he got up all right one morning and +rode to hounds next day. Very good fellow, Bertram; so's his father. +If anybody speaks against my cousin, let him look out for me." +</P> + +<P> +He paused and resumed with a vacant air: "Getting off the subject, +wasn't I? Can't think with this pain in my head and back, but don't +worry. Leave me alone; I'll soon be on my feet again." +</P> + +<P> +Lying down, he turned away from them and they exchanged glances, for it +looked as if their comrade's brain were getting clouded. Blake, who +dozed part of the time, said nothing during the next few hours, and +late in the afternoon an Indian reached the camp. He carried a dirty +blue blanket and a few skins and was dressed in ragged white men's +clothes. In a few words of broken English he made them understand that +he was tired and short of food, and they gave him a meal. When he had +finished it, they fell into conversation and Benson, who understood him +best, told Harding that he had been trapping in the neighbourhood. His +tribe lived some distance off, and though there were some Stonies not +far away, he would not go to them for supplies. They were, he said, +quarrelsome people. +</P> + +<P> +Harding looked interested when he heard this and made Benson ask +exactly where the Stony village lay; and when he had been told he +lighted his pipe and said nothing for the next half hour. Rain had +begun to fall, and though they had built a rude shelter of earth and +stones to keep off the wind in place of the tent, which had been +abandoned to save weight, the raw damp seemed to reach their bones. It +was not the place to nurse a fever patient in and Harding was getting +anxious. He had led his comrade into the adventure and felt +responsible for him; moreover, he had a strong affection for the +helpless man. Blake was very ill and something must be done to save +him, but for a time Harding could not see how help could be obtained. +Then an idea crept into his mind, and he got Benson to ask the Indian a +few more questions about the locality. When they were answered he +began to see his way, but he waited until supper was over before he +spoke of his plan. +</P> + +<P> +It was getting dark and raining hard; Blake was asleep, the Indian +sitting silent, and the fire crackled noisily, throwing up a wavering +light against the surrounding gloom. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I needn't consider you a friend of Clarke's?" Harding +remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"There's no reason why I should feel grateful to him, though I can't +blame him for all my misfortunes," Benson replied. +</P> + +<P> +"That clears the ground. Well, it must have struck you that the +fellow's account of the whereabouts of the Stony camp doesn't agree +with what the prospectors and this Indian told us. He fixed the +locality further west and a good deal farther off from where we are +now. Looks as if he didn't want us to reach the place." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a scheming brute, but I can't see his object in deceiving us." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll leave that point for a minute. You must allow it's curious that +when we asked him for the easiest way he sent us through these hills +and muskegs; particularly as you have learned from the Indian that we +could have got north with much less trouble had we headed further west." +</P> + +<P> +"If that's true, it has an ugly look," Benson answered thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well; I'm going to put the thing before you as I see it. Clarke +has lent you money and has a claim on your homestead, which will +increase in value as the settlement grows, while sooner or later +they'll bring a railroad in. Now, after what you once told me, I don't +think there's any reason why you shouldn't pay him off in a year or two +if you keep steady and work hard, but while you were in his clutches +that looked very far from probable." +</P> + +<P> +"You might have put it more plainly—I was drinking myself to death." +Benson's face grew stern. "You suggest that this is what the fellow +wished?" +</P> + +<P> +"You can form your own opinion. My point is that it would suit him if +you didn't come back from this trip. With nobody to dispute his +statements he'd prove he had a claim to all you own." +</P> + +<P> +Benson started. "I believe he would stick at nothing; you may be +right. But I'm only one of the party; what would he gain if you and +Blake came to grief?" +</P> + +<P> +"That," said Harding, "is not so clear." +</P> + +<P> +He glanced at his companion searchingly and seeing that he suspected +nothing, decided not to enlighten him. Benson seemed to have overcome +his craving, but there was a possibility that he might relapse upon his +return to the settlement and betray the secret in his cups. Harding +thought Clarke a dangerous man of unusual ability and abnormal +character. He had learned from Benson something of Blake's history and +had seen a chance of extorting money from Colonel Challoner. Indeed, +Clarke had made overtures to Blake on the subject, with the pretext of +wishing to ascertain whether the latter was willing to seek redress, +and had met with an indignant rebuff. This much was a matter of fact, +but Harding surmised that the man, finding Blake more inclined to +thwart than assist him, would be glad to get rid of him. With Blake +out of the way, the Challoners, father and son, would be at his mercy; +and it unfortunately looked as if his wishes might be gratified. +Harding, however, meant to make a determined effort to save his comrade. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't understand what you're leading up to," Benson remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"It's this—I suspect Clarke intended us to get entangled among these +muskegs where we'd have no chance of renewing our provisions, and +misled us about the Stony village, which he didn't wish us to reach. +Well, he has succeeded in getting us into trouble and now he has to +help us out. The fellow is a doctor." +</P> + +<P> +Benson looked up eagerly. "You're going to bring him here? It's a +daring plan, because it will be difficult to make him come." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll come if he values his life," said Harding drily. "The Indian +will take me to the village, and perhaps see me through if I offer him +enough; he seems to have some grudge against the Stonies. I'll have to +drop in upon the doctor late at night when none of his Indian friends +are about." +</P> + +<P> +"But who'll look after Blake? He can't be left." +</P> + +<P> +"That's your part. You'd run more risk than I would, and I'm his +partner." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd hate to stay," Benson protested, and added with feeling: "You know +how I'm indebted to Blake." +</P> + +<P> +"It's your place," said Harding. "Now you had better try to arrange +the thing with the Indian." +</P> + +<P> +It took some time, but the man proved amenable. He frankly owned that +he would not have ventured near the Stony camp alone and hinted at some +quarrel between its inhabitants and his tribe, originating, Benson +gathered, over a dispute about trapping grounds; but he was ready to +accompany the white man, if the latter went well armed. +</P> + +<P> +"That's fixed; we start at daybreak," said Harding. "I'll lie down +now; it's your watch." +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later he was sound asleep and awoke, quietly determined +and ready for the march, in the cold of dawn. He was a man of the +cities, bred to civilized life and had a just appreciation of the risks +he ran, since he meant to abduct the doctor, who was dangerous to +meddle with, from an Indian village where he was apparently held in +some esteem. The Stonies, living far remote, had, so Harding +understood, escaped the chastening influence of an occasional visit +from the patrols of the North-West Police. Moreover there was a +possibility that Clarke might prove too clever for him. It was +certainly a strange adventure for a business man, but he believed that +Blake would perish unless help was obtained. He shook hands with +Benson, who wished him a sincere "Good-luck!" and then, with the Indian +leading, struck out through the muskeg towards the shadowy hills. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CLARKE'S SUMMONS +</H4> + +<P> +Harding, who knew there was no time to lose, had cause to remember the +forced march he made to the Stony village. The light was faint and the +low ground streaked with haze as they floundered through the muskeg, +sinking deep in the softer spots and splashing through shallow pools. +When they reached the first hill bench he was hot and breathless, and +their path led sharply upwards over banks of ragged stones which had a +trick of slipping down when they trod on them. It was worse where they +were large and he stumbled into the hollows between. Then they +struggled through short pine-scrub, crawled up a wet gorge where thick +willows grew, and afterwards got entangled among thickets of thorny +canes. Harding's clothes were badly torn and his boots giving out; his +breath was laboured and his heart beat painfully, but he pressed on +upwards without slackening his pace. +</P> + +<P> +It was exhausting toil, and until he entered the North-West, he had +undergone no physical training and seldom tried his muscles; being left +to shift for himself at an unusually early age had prevented his even +playing any outdoor games. His career had been a humble one, but it +had taught him self-reliance, and when he was thrown into the company +of men brought up in a higher station he was not surprised that they +accepted him as an equal and comrade. There was, however, nothing +assertive in the man; he knew his powers and their limitations. Now he +clearly recognized that he had undertaken a big thing, but the need was +urgent, and he meant to see it through. He was of essentially +practical temperament, a man of action, and it was necessary that he +should keep up with his Indian guide as long as possible. Therefore he +braced himself for the arduous task. +</P> + +<P> +In the afternoon they reached a tableland where travelling was slightly +easier, but when they camped without a fire among the rocks one of +Harding's feet was bleeding and he was very weary. Walking was painful +for the first hour after they started again at dawn, but by and by his +galled foot troubled him less, and he doggedly followed the Indian up +and down deep ravines and over rough stony slopes. Then they reached +stunted timber; thickly-massed, tangled pines, with many dead trees +among them and a number which had fallen, barring the way. The Indian +seemed tireless; Harding could imagine his muscles having been +toughened into something different from ordinary flesh and blood. He +was feeling distress, but for the present there was only one thing for +him to do, and that was to march. He saw it clearly with his shrewd +sense, and though his worn-out body revolted his resolution did not +flinch. +</P> + +<P> +They forced a way through thickets, they skirted precipitous rocks, +passed clusters of ragged pines, and plunged down ravines. In the +afternoon the sun was hot, and when it got low a cold wind buffeted +them as they crossed the height of land, but although Harding's side +ached as well as his bleeding feet the march went on. Then just before +dark he had a glimpse of a wide valley fading into the blue distance +with water shining in its midst and grey blurs of willows here and +there. The prospect, however, faded swiftly from his sight, and he +found himself limping across a stony ridge into a belt of drifting +mist. Half an hour afterwards he threw himself down exhausted beside a +fire in a sheltered hollow. +</P> + +<P> +Late at night they stopped a few minutes to listen and look about on +the outskirts of the Indian village. Thick willows stretched close up +to it with mist that moved before a light wind drifting past them; and +the blurred shapes of conical tepees showed dimly through the vapour. +The night was dark but still, and Harding thought a sound would carry +some distance, but while he felt his heart beating there was nothing to +be heard. He had seen dogs about the Indian encampments farther south +and was horribly afraid of hearing a warning bark, but nothing broke +the silence and he supposed that Clarke's friends were unable to find +food enough for sledge-teams. This was reassuring, because the odds +against him were heavy enough, knowing, as he did, that the Indian's +sense of hearing is remarkably keen. +</P> + +<P> +Feeling that his magazine pistol was loose, he signed to his guide and +they moved cautiously forward. The ground was fortunately clear and +their footsteps made little noise, though now and then tufts of dry +grass which Harding trod upon rustled with what seemed to him alarming +distinctness. Still nobody challenged them and reaching the centre of +the village they stopped again. The nearest of the tepees was only +thirty or forty yards away, though others ran back into the mist, and +as Harding stood listening with tingling nerves he clearly recognized +the difficulty of his enterprise. In the first place, there was +nothing to indicate which tent Clarke occupied, and it was highly +undesirable that Harding should choose the wrong one and rouse an +Indian from his slumbers. Then it was possible that the man shared a +tepee with some of his hosts, in which case Harding would place himself +at his mercy by entering it. Clarke was a dangerous man, and his Stony +friends were people with rudimentary ideas and barbarous habits. +Harding glanced at his guide, but the man stood very still, and he +could judge nothing about his feelings from his attitude. Pulling +himself together with an effort, Harding went on. +</P> + +<P> +Fortune favoured him, for as he made towards a tepee, without any +particular reason for doing so, except that it stood a little apart +from the rest, he saw a faint streak of light shine out beneath the +curtain, This suggested that it was occupied by the white man, and it +was now an important question whether he could reach it silently enough +to surprise him. Beckoning the Indian to fall behind, he crept forward +with his heart beating painfully and stopped a moment just outside the +entrance. It was obvious that he had not been heard, but he could not +tell whether Clarke was alone. Then the Indian, who had crept up +behind him, dragged the doorway open and Harding, hastily stepping in, +stood, ragged, unkempt, and strung up, blinking in the unaccustomed +light. +</P> + +<P> +The tent had an earth floor with a layer of reeds and grass thrown down +on one side. It was frail and hinted at changing times and poverty, +for the original skin cover had been patched and eked out with the +products of civilization in the shape of cotton flour bags and old +sacking. In the later repairs sewing twine had been used instead of +sinews. A wooden case stood open near the reeds, and Harding saw that +it contained glass jars and what looked like laboratory apparatus; a +common tin kerosene lamp hung from the junction of the frame poles, +which met at the point of the cone. A curious smell, which reminded +him of the paint factory, filled the tent, though he could not +recognize it. +</P> + +<P> +Harding could not tell whether he noted all this at once, or if it +afterwards impressed itself upon him by degrees, because as he entered +Clarke, who sat beside the case, looked up. It was, Harding thought, a +good test of his nerve, but his face was imperturbable and he showed no +surprise. There was silence for a moment or two while the Indian stood +motionless with his axe shining as it caught the light, and Harding's +lips grew firmly set. Then Clarke spoke— +</P> + +<P> +"So you have turned back. You found the muskeg too difficult to cross, +and I suppose this fellow showed you the way here?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding, who was worn out, crossed the floor to the heap of reeds and +sat down facing Clarke. +</P> + +<P> +"We have come for you and must start at once. My partner is very +sick—fever he thinks—and you'll have to cure him." +</P> + +<P> +"You're presuming on my consent." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Harding sternly; "I'm counting right on that. It wouldn't +be wise of you to refuse." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't agree with you. A shout or a shot would bring in my friends, +and you'd find yourself in a very unpleasant position. You had better +understand that the North-West Police have never visited this place and +nobody troubles about what goes on up here, while I believe I'm a +person of some influence." He indicated Harding's guide. "Then, +though I don't know what he's doing in this neighbourhood, this fellow +belongs to a tribe the Stonies have a grudge against. On the whole, I +think you have been very rash." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you're clever enough to see that since I've taken some chances +in coming I'm not likely to be bluffed off now. But we'll let that go. +The most important thing is that Blake will die unless he gets proper +treatment." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke regarded him with a mocking smile. "It's a matter of +indifference to me whether Blake dies or not." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Harding, "I allow it isn't quite so. On the whole, you +would sooner he did die. He's in the way." +</P> + +<P> +He could not tell whether this shot had reached the mark, for though +Clarke's eyes were steadily fixed on him the man's face was inscrutable. +</P> + +<P> +"If you're right, it's strange you should urge me to prescribe for him." +</P> + +<P> +"There are some precautions I mean to take," said Harding drily. +"However, I haven't come here to argue. For reasons of your own, you +sent us into a belt of country which you thought we couldn't get +through. My notion is that you expected us to be held up there until +our stores ran out and winter set in, when these Stonies would, no +doubt, have moved on. Well, part of what you wished has happened, but +the matter is taking a turn you couldn't have looked for. You led us +into difficulties and now you're going to get us out. I guess delay +means danger—get ready to start." +</P> + +<P> +Then the Indian raised his hand in warning. Footsteps approached the +tepee with something strangely stealthy in their tread, and Clarke, +turning his head, listened with a curious expression. Then he looked +at Harding and as the steps drew nearer the American's lips set tight. +His pose grew tense, but it was more expressive of determination than +alarm. For a few moments none of the party moved and then the attitude +of all relaxed as the footsteps passed and grew indistinct. Clarke +broke into a faint smile. +</P> + +<P> +"That was not an ordinary Stony but a gentleman of my profession, with +similar interests, going about his business. There are reasons why he +should undertake it in the dark. You were right in supposing that you +were in some danger." +</P> + +<P> +Harding felt a shiver. He had the repugnance of the healthy-minded man +of affairs from any form of meddling with what he vaguely thought of as +the occult; but in that remote, grim solitude he could not scoff at it. +</P> + +<P> +"Understand this," he said curtly. "I mean to save my partner; I +staked my life on doing so, and since I guess you're not ready to go so +far as that, I've a pretty strong pull on you. But I've said enough. +You're coming with me—now—and if you make any attempt to rouse your +friends, you'll have a chance of learning something about the other +world at first hand a few seconds afterwards." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke saw that it was not an idle threat. The American meant what he +said, and he hurriedly put a few things together and made them into a +pack. Then he turned to Harding with a gesture of ironical resignation. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm ready." +</P> + +<P> +The Indian laid a firm hand on his arm and Harding, who took out his +pistol, extinguished the lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"Your interest in keeping quiet is as strong as mine," he sternly +reminded Clarke. +</P> + +<P> +He set his teeth as they passed a tepee at a few yards distance. He +could see the dark gap of the doorway and had a nervous fancy that eyes +were following his movements, for now he had succeeded in the more +difficult part of his errand he was conscious of strain. Indeed, he +feared he was getting shaky and the danger was not yet over. They were +not clear of the village and a noisy stumble would bring the Indians +out. Unless they reached camp in the next few days he thought Blake +would die, and the journey was a long and arduous one. Still, he was +determined that if disaster overtook him, the plotter who had betrayed +them should not escape. Harding was a respecter of law and social +conventions, but now he had suddenly become primitive under heavy +stress. +</P> + +<P> +They passed the tepee unnoticed, but the tension he felt did not +slacken, because there was another they could not avoid. Nobody, +however, called to them, and he felt easier as they drew away from the +row of shadowy tents. Then, moving very cautiously, they reached the +thick willow bluff, where they were comparatively safe, and Harding, +who found it hard to hold himself in hand, feared that he might grow +limp with the reaction. Difficult as his task had looked, it had been +successfully carried out. +</P> + +<P> +"Get on," he said to Clarke and, walking faster, they plunged into the +open waste. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CURE +</H4> + +<P> +It was noon when Harding returned to camp, ragged and exhausted, with +Clarke limping after him in an even more pitiable state. The latter +had suffered badly from the hurried march, but his conductor would +brook no delay and the grim hints he had been given encouraged him to +the utmost exertion he was capable of. Blake was alive, but when +Harding bent over him he feared that help had come too late. His skin +looked harsh and dry, his face had grown hollow, and his thick strong +hair had turned lank and was falling out. His eyes were vacant and +unrecognizing when he turned them upon Harding. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's your patient," the American said to Clarke. "We expect you to +cure him, and you had better get to work at once." Then his face grew +troubled as he asked Benson: "How long has he been like that?" +</P> + +<P> +"The last two days," said Benson. "I'm afraid he's very bad." +</P> + +<P> +Harding sat down with a smothered groan. Every muscle seemed to ache, +he could scarcely hold himself upright, and his heart was heavy. He +would miss Blake terribly; it was hard to think of going on without +him, but he feared that this was inevitable. He was filled with a deep +pity for the helpless man, but after a few moments his weary face grew +stern. He had done all that he was able, and now Clarke, whom he +believed to be a man of high medical skill, must do his part. If he +were unsuccessful, it would be the worse for him. +</P> + +<P> +"Had you much trouble?" Benson asked as he laid out a meal. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Harding; "I suppose I was fortunate, because the thing was +surprisingly easy. Of course, Clarke did not want to come." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I don't see how you overcame his objections." +</P> + +<P> +Harding broke into a dry smile. "In the kind of game I played with the +doctor your strength depends upon how much you're willing to lose, and +I put down all I had upon the table. That beat him, because he wasn't +willing to stake as much." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean your life?" said Benson. "I've no doubt you were in some +danger, but was it so serious?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would have been if I'd shot him, and I think he saw I meant that. +What's more, I may have to do so yet." +</P> + +<P> +Harding's tone was quietly matter of fact, but Benson no longer +wondered at Clarke's submission. He had been a soldier and had faced +grave risks, but he was inclined to think that even before he had +weakened it by excess his nerve had never been so good as this city +drummer's. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "I'm fond of Blake and recognize my debt to him, while +we were once comrades in an adventure that was more dangerous than +this, but I'm not sure that I'd have been ready to go as far as you. +In a way, though, you were quite justified; the fellow no doubt set a +trap for us, but if he's to have a fair chance, we had better give him +something to eat. If he's as hungry as you are, he needs it." +</P> + +<P> +He called Clarke, who had been busy examining Blake, to join them by +the fire. Weariness had deepened the lines on the doctor's face and +there were puffy pouches under his eyes. He was obviously exhausted +and scarcely able to move, but there was something malignant in his +look. He ate greedily without speaking, and then glanced up at the +others. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Benson, "what's your opinion?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your friend's state is dangerous, and he was right in his conclusions +about what was the matter with him. How he came to suffer from a +severe attack of malaria in this bracing climate I can't determine, and +after all it's not an important point. He can't live much longer at +his present temperature." +</P> + +<P> +"And the remedy?" +</P> + +<P> +"One of two is indicated, and the choice is difficult, because both are +risky." +</P> + +<P> +"Then they're risky to you as well as to your patient," Harding grimly +reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +Clarke made a contemptuous gesture which was not without a touch of +dignity. His manner was now severely professional. +</P> + +<P> +"One course would be to put him into the coldest water we can find; +it's drastic treatment and sometimes effective, but there's a strong +probability of its killing him." +</P> + +<P> +"You had better mention the other." +</P> + +<P> +"The administration of a remedy of my own, which I'll admit few doctors +would venture to use. It's almost as dangerous as the first course, +and in case of success recovery is slower." +</P> + +<P> +Harding pondered this for a moment or two. He distrusted the man and +believed he would feel no compunction about poisoning Blake, should he +consider it safe to do so, but he thought he had convinced him of the +contrary. +</P> + +<P> +"I must leave you to decide, but if the result's unfortunate I'll hold +you responsible," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"If you doubt my professional skill or good faith why do you put your +partner in my charge?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've some confidence in your sense of self-interest," Harding +rejoined. "You'll serve the latter best by curing Blake." +</P> + +<P> +After giving him a curious glance Clarke got up. "I'll try the +draught, and it had better be done now. There is no time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +He moved towards Blake, who lay with half-closed eyes, breathing with +apparent difficulty and making feeble restless movements. Stooping +beside him, he took out a very small bottle, and after carefully +letting a few drops fall into a spoon, with some trouble got the sick +man to swallow them. Then he sat down and turned to Harding. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't predict the result. We must wait an hour; then I may be able +to form some opinion." +</P> + +<P> +Harding lighted his pipe and though he found it strangely hard to sit +still smoked steadily. His mouth grew dry with the strain he was +bearing, but he refilled the pipe as it emptied and bit savagely on its +stem, crushing the wood between his teeth. There was, so far as he +could see, no change in Blake, and he was stirred by a deep pity and a +daunting sense of loneliness. He knew now that he had grown to love +the man; Blake's quick resourcefulness had overcome many of the +obstacles they had met with, his whimsical humour had lightened the +toilsome march, and often when they were wet and worn out he had +banished their dejection by a jest. Now it looked as if they would +hear his cheerful laugh no more, and Harding felt that if the worst +came, he would, in a sense, be accountable for his partner's death. It +was his sanguine expectations that had drawn Blake into the wilds. +</P> + +<P> +Benson, who seemed to find the suspense equally trying, made no remark, +and there was nothing to be learned from Clarke's impassive face. +Harding could only wait with all the fortitude he could muster, but he +long remembered that momentous hour. They were all perfectly still; +there was no wind, a heavy grey sky overhung them, and the smoke of the +fire went straight up. The gurgle of running water came softly through +the silence. At length, when Harding felt the tension becoming +unendurable, Clarke, who glanced at his watch, reopened the small +bottle. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll try again," he said gravely, and Harding thought he detected +anxiety in his tone. +</P> + +<P> +The dose was given and Harding, feeling the urgent need of action if he +were to continue calm, got up and wandered about the muskeg. Coming +back after a time, he looked at Clarke, who merely shook his head, +though his face now showed signs of uneasiness. Harding sat down again +and refilled his pipe, noticing that the stem was nearly bitten +through. He gathered from the doctor's expression that they would soon +know what to expect and he feared the worst. Now, however, he was +growing cool; his eyes were very stern and his lips had set in an +ominously determined fashion. Benson, who glanced at him once or +twice, thought it boded trouble for the doctor if things went badly. +The American had a ruthless air. +</P> + +<P> +At length Clarke, moving silently but quickly, bent over his patient, +felt his pulse, and listened to his breathing; and Harding leaned +eagerly forward. Blake seemed less restless, his face, which had been +furrowed, was relaxing; there was a faint damp on it. He moved and +sighed, but the sigh was somehow reassuring, and then turning his head +weakly, closed his eyes. A few moments later Clarke stood up, +stretching out his arms with a gesture of deep weariness. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe your partner has turned the corner," he said. "He must +sleep as long as he is able." +</P> + +<P> +Harding crept away, conscious of a relief so overpowering that he was +afraid he might do something foolish and disturb his comrade if he +remained. Scarcely noticing where he was going, he plunged into the +swamp and ploughed through it, smashing down the reeds and splashing in +the pools. Quick movement was balm to his raw-edged nerves, for the +suspense of the last two hours had tried him very hard. When he +returned to camp, rather wet and muddy, Clarke, who made him a sign +demanding silence, was sitting by his patient's side, and Harding saw +that Blake was sound asleep. Then with a sense of thankfulness too +deep for expression he set about preparing the evening meal. Now he +could eat with appetite. +</P> + +<P> +Before he and Benson had finished their repast Clarke joined them and, +answering a question, said, "I believe the worst danger's over, though +there's a possibility of a relapse. He'll need careful attention for +several days." +</P> + +<P> +"Longer I think," said Harding. "Anyhow, you'll have to make up your +mind to stop while it strikes us as necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"My time's valuable and you run some risk in keeping me. You must +recognize that there's a likelihood of the Stonies picking up my trail." +</P> + +<P> +"If they get here, they'll run up against all the trouble they'll have +any use for," Harding rejoined. "However, I told our guide, who seems +pretty smart at such matters, to take precautions, and I understand he +fixed things so it would be hard to follow our tracks. You may +remember that he took us across all the bare rocks he could find and +made us wade up a creek. Besides, as you seem to have played on your +friends' superstitions, they mayn't find anything remarkable in your +disappearing mysteriously." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a capable man," Clarke told him with an air of resignation. +"Anyway, I find this case appeals to my professional interest. For one +thing, it's curious that the malaria should attack him in a severe form +after a lengthy absence from the tropical jungles where he caught it. +By the way, how long is it since he left India?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding shrewdly returned an evasive answer. He did not think it +desirable that Clarke should learn too much about his comrade's +connexion with India. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't fix the date, but it's some time. However, I understand he +was afterwards in an unhealthy part of Africa, which may account for +the thing. I don't think he's been in this country more than a year or +two." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he ever speak of having malaria here? It is apt to return within +a rather elastic period." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so far as I can recollect," said Harding. +</P> + +<P> +Seeing that he could extract no useful information from him, Clarke +abandoned the attempt and discussed the case from a medical point of +view. Then he said, "As we're not out of the wood yet, and I don't +expect I'll be needed for a while, I'd better get some sleep. You must +waken me if there's any sign of a change." +</P> + +<P> +Drawing his blanket round him, he lay down on a bed of branches and +reeds and when his deep, regular breathing indicated that he was asleep +Harding looked at Benson. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess he'll do all that's possible, for his own sake. It strikes me +he's a pretty good doctor." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand he once promised to become a famous one," Benson replied. +"Though I left you to deal with the matter, I kept my eye on him, and +my idea is that while he wouldn't have scrupled much about letting +Blake die if it had suited his purpose, as soon as you showed him the +danger of that course his professional feelings came uppermost. In +fact, I believe Blake couldn't have got better treatment in Montreal or +London. Now the fellow has taken his case up, he'll make a cure. But +I'll keep the first watch; you need a rest." +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes Harding was fast asleep and when he relieved Benson +late at night he found Clarke at his post. Shortly afterwards Blake +opened his eyes and asked a few intelligent questions in a weak voice +before he went to sleep again. Next morning he was obviously +improving, but although a strong man often recovers rapidly from an +attack of malarial fever, Clarke stayed several days and gave Harding a +number of careful instructions on parting. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think that can do much harm," said Harding, looking him in the +face. +</P> + +<P> +"Your suspicions die hard," Clarke rejoined with a mocking laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," said Harding coolly. "As soon as you leave this camp I +lose my hold on you. However, I've given you the Indian as guide, and +he'll see you safe to about a day's march from your friends' village, +and I've put up food enough for the journey. Considering everything, +that's all the fee I need offer you." +</P> + +<P> +"There wouldn't be much use in urging my claim," Clarke acquiesced. +</P> + +<P> +"Then what about Benson? I noticed you didn't seem particularly +anxious to renew your acquaintance. Are you willing to leave him with +us?" +</P> + +<P> +Clarke smiled in an ironical manner. "Why do you ask, when you mean to +keep him? So far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to the man; I make +you a present of him. Have you had enough of this trip yet, or are you +going on?" +</P> + +<P> +"We're going ahead; you can do what you like about it. And now, while +I admire the way you pulled my partner through, there's not much more +to say. I wish you a safe journey and good-morning." +</P> + +<P> +He waved his hand and turned back towards the fire, while Clarke, +following the Indian, moved forward across the muskeg. A week later +they broke camp and, finding a somewhat better path along the hillside, +went on by easy stages towards the north. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. CHUDLEIGH FINDS A CLUE +</H4> + +<P> +On a dark November morning when a blustering wind drove the rain +against the windows Thomas Foster sat stripping the lock of a favourite +gun in the room he called his study at Hazlehurst in Shropshire. The +shelves on the handsome panelled walls contained a few works on +agriculture, horse-breeding, and British natural history, but two racks +were filled with guns and fishing rods and the table Foster was seated +at had a vice clamped to its edge. He had once had a commodious +gunroom, but had given it up, under pressure from his wife, who thought +she could make a better use of it, since Hazlehurst was small and she +had numerous guests, but the study was his private retreat. A hacksaw, +a few files, a wire brush, and a bottle of Rangoon oil were spread out +in front of him, the latter standing, for the sake of cleanliness, on +the cover of the <I>Field</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Foster was a red-faced country gentleman who found his greatest +interest in outdoor sports and was characterized by some native +shrewdness and a genial but rather abrupt manner. He laid down his +tools and looked up with an air of humorous resignation as his wife +came in. Mrs. Foster was a slender, vivacious woman, fond of society. +</P> + +<P> +"Put that greasy thing away for a few minutes and listen to me," she +said, sitting down opposite him. +</P> + +<P> +"I am listening; I'm inclined to think it's my normal state," Foster +answered with a smile. "The greasy thing cost forty guineas, and I +wouldn't trust it to Jenkins after young Jimmy dropped it in a ditch. +Jenkins can rear pheasants with any keeper I've met, but he's no good +at a gun." +</P> + +<P> +"You shouldn't have taken Jimmy out; he's not strong enough yet." +</P> + +<P> +"So it seems; he gave us some trouble in getting him back to the cart +after he collapsed in the wood, but it wasn't my fault. He was keen on +coming." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster made a sign of agreement. Jimmy was her cousin, Lieutenant +Walters, lately invalided home from India. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you were not so much to blame, but that was not what I came to +talk about," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I suppose you want my approval of some new plans. Go ahead with +any arrangements you wish to make, but as far as possible, leave me +out. Though it was a very wet spring, I never saw the pheasants more +plentiful; glad I stuck to the hand-rearing, though Jenkins wanted to +leave the birds alone in the higher woods. Of course, now we've +cleared out the vermin——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! never mind," his wife broke in. "You would talk about such things +all day. The question is——" +</P> + +<P> +"It strikes me it's—— When are we going to have the house to +ourselves? Though I don't interfere much, I've lately felt that I'm +qualifying for a hotel-keeper." +</P> + +<P> +"You have been unusually patient, and I'm getting rather tired of +entertaining people, but Margaret Keith says she'd like to come down. +You don't mind her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit, if she doesn't insist on bringing a menagerie. It was cats +last time, but I hear she's now gone in for wild animals. If she turns +up with her collection, we'll probably lose Pattinson; he had all he +could stand on the last occasion. Still, Meg's good fun; ready to meet +you on any ground, keen as a razor. But what about Mrs. Chudleigh? Is +she going?" +</P> + +<P> +"She hasn't mentioned it. In fact, I was wondering——" +</P> + +<P> +"Whether she'd stop if you pressed her? Try it and see. Anyhow, she's +not in my way and the place seems to meet with her approval. But +what's she after? It can't be young Jimmy; he's hardly worth powder +and shot from her point of view." +</P> + +<P> +"You're rather coarse, but I agree," Mrs. Foster answered. "Jimmy's +too young and hasn't much beside his pay. His admiration's +respectfully platonic, but it's largely on his account I thought of +asking her to remain. I'm grateful to her for amusing the poor fellow, +because, as he can't get about with the others, he'd have been left a +good deal to himself if she hadn't taken him up. She's excellent +company when she exerts herself, and she talks and reads to him with +great good-nature." +</P> + +<P> +"Do what you wish. Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken so freely about a +friend of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know whether I quite consider her a friend or not," Mrs. +Foster thoughtfully replied. "She was staying at Mabel's when I was +there, but we didn't become intimate. In fact, I think I asked her +down because she made me feel she wanted to come." +</P> + +<P> +"A delicate hint sometimes goes a long way. Still, there's no doubt +she has brightened Jimmy up, and one feels sorry for him." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster went out, and, finding her guest, asked her to stay on, +which, after a few demurs, Mrs. Chudleigh agreed to do, and on being +left alone smiled in a satisfied manner. She had played her cards +cleverly in obtaining a footing at Hazlehurst, which was a pleasant +house to stay at, and thought that with good luck she might win the +game she had begun. She was a hard and somewhat unscrupulous woman, +but a tender look crept into her eyes as she thought of the man whose +prospects she meant to improve. +</P> + +<P> +Left a widow at an early age by the death of an elderly Anglo-Indian +whom she had married under pressure from her parents, she had spent +some years in social enjoyments before she met Sedgwick, with whom she +fell in love. She was clever enough to recognize his faults, but she +liked his bold, ambitious nature. Though he had no private means and +she was rich, she knew her money would not count for much against the +prospects of a brilliant career. The man had real ability and meant to +make his mark, and in this she was anxious to assist him. She was even +willing to defer their marriage until he had had an opportunity of +displaying his talents in the administration of the West African +territory he had lately returned to, and her object was to secure his +appointment to the post left vacant by the retirement of his superior. +</P> + +<P> +During the evening she sat with Lieutenant Walters in the conservatory. +There were other guests at Hazlehurst, and Mrs. Foster had asked some +of her neighbours to join them in an informal dance. Coloured lamps +hung among the plants, throwing a soft light upon clustering blossoms +and forcing up delicate foliage in black silhouette. Here and there +lay belts of shadow, out of which came voices and a smell of cigar +smoke; but near where Mrs. Chudleigh sat screened by a palm a French +window opened into the hall. The half-light that fell sideways upon +her face suited her, for it failed to reveal the hardness of her lips +and eyes, and made her look gentler. Walters, who was charmed with +her, had no suspicion that she had cultivated his society merely +because she thought he might prove useful. On hearing what regiment he +belonged to, she had marked him down for study. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I'm selfish in keeping you here, though I know how +good-natured you are," he said by and by. "You might have been +enjoying yourself instead of letting me bore you." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh gave him a gracious smile. "I've lost my enthusiasm for +dancing and need a rest now and then. Besides, I like a talk with +interesting people." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a thing I'm seldom credited with being. You're making fun of +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Far from it," she assured him. "If you are very modest, I'll confess +that your knowing places and people I've seen in past days enhances the +interest. Were you long in India?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three years. In some respects, I was sorry to leave, but the doctors +decided it would be twelve months before I was fit for work again, and +I felt very much at a loose end when I got home. I can't dance, I +can't ride, and I mustn't walk far; in fact, there seems to be nothing +that I am allowed to do. I'd have found my helplessness harder only +that you have taken pity on me." +</P> + +<P> +"But you are getting stronger; I've noticed a marked improvement, since +I came. But we were speaking of India. You were on the North-West +frontier, were you not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said and looked round as a man passed the window. "Who's +that? I've seen most of Lucy's neighbours, but I don't know him." +</P> + +<P> +The man moved into the light and stood gazing towards them +absent-mindedly, as if thinking of something. Walters noticed his +white hair and thin face, the keenness of his blue eyes, the firmness +of his mouth, and the erectness of his figure. +</P> + +<P> +"That is Colonel Challoner," Mrs. Chudleigh replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Walters; "I thought I recognized the stamp. Foster told me +he lived a few miles off, but I'll have to move on if he comes in here." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" Mrs. Chudleigh asked in well-simulated surprise, though she saw +the opportunity she had been waiting for was now offered her. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew his son and nephew; served with them in India for a time," +Walters answered with some embarrassment. "That's why Foster warned me +to keep out of Challoner's way. He seemed to think it would be +considerate." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner passed on, and Mrs. Chudleigh fixed her eyes on Walters. "I +see. You must have taken part in a certain unfortunate affair on the +frontier in which the hill men get the best of it." +</P> + +<P> +The blood crept into Walters' face, but he answered simply: "I did. It +is not a subject one talks about." +</P> + +<P> +"That's natural; one can understand the feelings of the mess, but the +thing isn't quite a secret, and I daresay you break through your +reserve now and then. Surely you don't refuse your confidence to your +friends?" +</P> + +<P> +Her manner was reproachful, as though she felt hurt because he could +not trust her, and he looked confused. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't doubt that anything I said would be safe with you, but it's +a painful subject. Besides, you obviously know something about the +matter." +</P> + +<P> +"I do, but not much. I knew Bertram Challoner and have met Richard +Blake. Then at one time I heard a good deal about the frontier and +that makes me curious." She paused, and gave him a look he could not +resist. "I want to know what really happened; won't you tell me? You +can rely upon my treating it in the strictest confidence." +</P> + +<P> +Walters felt reluctant, but he was grateful to her, and flattered by +her preference. She was a handsome woman and much sought after, but +she had often devoted an hour to enlivening his forced idleness when +there were more exciting occupations open to her. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't refuse you anything after the way you have helped me +through a rather trying time," he declared. "When one has been pretty +active, it isn't easy to resign oneself to being laid upon the shelf, +and you cheered me up when I most needed it. Well, I was with the +expedition and we had shelled an old hill fort to bits and laid a heavy +fire on two or three villages, with the object of keeping their +inhabitants quiet, but it hadn't that effect. All their friends came +down to help in cutting us off as we went home and I'm still surprised +that they didn't succeed. They sniped our camp every night and had a +number of brushes with the rearguard as we hurried back through the +hills; but it wasn't until we were nearly clear that things got badly +threatening and we had to make a stand. I believe the idea was that we +must hold our ground until help arrived. But am I boring you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! no," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "Please don't stop." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we were awkwardly placed in the bottom of a pass, but there was +a small steep hill that strengthened our position and Blake made the +trenches. He did it well, in the daylight, because there was no time +to lose, with marksmen we couldn't see firing at him from among the +rocks. I must say that although they made very good shooting and got +several of his men he never flinched." +</P> + +<P> +"He was not a nervous man, was he?" +</P> + +<P> +"One wouldn't have imagined so after seeing him coolly doing his work +with the bullets flattening on the stones all round; but I'll confess I +could never understand what happened afterwards. The orders were that +the hill must be held at any cost, but as our line was long we couldn't +send up many men. Blake stayed with his few sappers, we had a gun from +the mule battery, and there was Challoner, myself, and two more +officers with a handful of native infantry. It was about two in the +morning when the fellows made their rush, a band of Ghazees leading it, +and I'll own that we were all a little overstrung. Forced marches on +half rations and lying awake night after night expecting an attack are +wearing. For all that, it was a strong position, and though there were +not many of them we felt we could trust the men. The hill was hard to +climb except by a ravine the gun did not command and Blake had laid a +mine there. Challoner held the ridge immediately above." +</P> + +<P> +"What is your opinion of Bertram Challoner? Is he a good officer?" +</P> + +<P> +"One of the best. He's what you could call conscientious; took his +duties seriously and knew more about the scientific side of his +business than any of us. In a way, that was curious, because I imagine +that he hadn't much natural aptitude for soldiering and while he was +cool in action one felt he had to work himself up to it. Nobody +doubted his pluck, but I've seen him looking rather white after a hot +brush." +</P> + +<P> +"A nervous temperament, held well in hand," Mrs. Chudleigh suggested. +"But go on; I'm sorry I interrupted you." +</P> + +<P> +"There was a challenge, a yell from the stabbed sentry, and the beggars +were upon us. No time to think; the face of the hill swarmed with +them. The gunners only fired one round before they were cut down, and +the mine did not explode. It was a thick, dark night, and we were +horribly outnumbered, but the orders were to hold on—we could send for +support if very hard pressed, but we mustn't yield a yard of ground. +It was hot work in front of the trench upon the ridge—they poured into +it at one end, but for a time we stayed as well. Then——" +</P> + +<P> +Walters broke off and looked at his companion with appeal. "I've been +talking too freely; said more than I should have done, in fact. You +had better admit that you don't find all this interesting." +</P> + +<P> +"It wouldn't be true," Mrs. Chudleigh declared, determined not to be +put off. "I'm extremely interested, and you must keep your promise. +Tell me all you can." +</P> + +<P> +He made a gesture of resignation. "Well, there was an order given—in +a white man's voice—and the bugle called us off. Somebody had +ventured to disobey instructions, and after that the fight was over; we +got away as best we could. They rolled over us like a wave as we went +downhill and there were not many of us when we reached the bottom. +Then some Gurkhas came up and held them a bit with the steel, a gun +opened, and somehow the main camp was saved, though our ranks were thin +at the next muster." +</P> + +<P> +"There was an inquiry, of course. Did you give evidence?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had to," said Walters ruefully. "I confined my answers as much as +possible to 'Yes, sir,' and 'No,' but one can make a good deal out of +these if the questions are judiciously framed. The bugler was killed, +so they could learn nothing from him, but Watson was forced to declare +that the order came from near the ravine where Blake should have fired +the mine. After some badgering from the Colonel I had to admit that +that was my opinion. There were other points against Blake and he did +not try to clear himself. It was a very bad business, and I remember +that Challoner broke down after his examination." +</P> + +<P> +"But Blake was not cashiered." +</P> + +<P> +"No; to tell the truth, I think some influence was at work. Colonel +Challoner was known and respected on the frontier and he had powerful +friends, though, of course, that sort of thing is not supposed to +count. Anyhow, the official verdict was, 'Not guilty,' but nobody had +much confidence in it and Blake had to leave us. In spite of +everything, I was sorry for the man and felt that he might have made +things look better if he had tried." +</P> + +<P> +"It was very sad," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "You have my thanks for the +story. I can understand that it was painful to tell." +</P> + +<P> +Then she changed the subject and soon afterwards a man came in and +claimed her for a dance. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. KEITH ENTERS THE FIELD +</H4> + +<P> +A day or two after the dance Mrs. Chudleigh was sitting with Lieutenant +Walters in a recess of the big hall when she heard a car coming up the +drive. It stopped, a voice she thought familiar rose from the +vestibule, and her face hardened as Foster came in with Mrs. Keith and +Millicent Graham. Then Mrs. Foster, who did not notice that there was +anybody else about, moved forward to meet the newcomers and led them +through the hall. +</P> + +<P> +"You looked surprised," Walters remarked when the others had +disappeared. "Didn't you know these people were coming?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think you meant displeased, and you were right," said Mrs. +Chudleigh, who was capable of boldly correcting a mistake. "We made +such a pleasant friendly party here that I felt the presence of anybody +else would be rather a nuisance." She laughed as she went on: "Of +course it was a very selfish view to take, especially as I know Mrs. +Keith, and, now I recollect, Mrs. Foster did say some friends were +coming down, though she didn't tell me who they were." +</P> + +<P> +Walters left her by and by, but she sat still to think. It was most +likely by chance that Mrs. Keith had decided to visit Hazlehurst just +then, but there was a possibility that it was due to design. During +their conversation on the Canadian river boat she had incautiously +mentioned that she was going to Shropshire, and Mrs. Keith was an +intimate friend of the Challoners. Mrs. Chudleigh had no wish to be +subjected to the keen old woman's observation, but after all Mrs. Keith +had no knowledge of her plans and would accordingly find it difficult +to interfere with them. Still, she must be careful and avoid any cause +for suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +Tea was being brought in when Mrs. Keith and Millicent returned to the +hall and for a few moments Mrs. Chudleigh sat watching the girl. The +house was old and the dark panelling formed a good background for +Millicent's delicate beauty, which was of the blonde type. Mrs. +Chudleigh had to admit that she was pretty, and though she tried to +think of her as unformed, there was something in her face that hinted +at strength of character. Foster, who was as a rule indifferent to +women's society, obviously found her interesting, for he was talking to +her with animation, and Mrs. Chudleigh realized that the girl was +capable of exciting the admiration of well-matured men. For all that, +she did not consider her a dangerous rival, because she knew there was +a cold, calculating vein in Sedgwick which would prevent his indulging +unduly in romantic weaknesses. Self-interest bound him to her and she +tried to overlook his occasional sentimental vagaries. Indeed, the +indifference he now and then displayed strengthened his hold on her. +Then she rose to meet Mrs. Keith, who was coming her way. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall have an opportunity of renewing a pleasant acquaintance," she +said. "You are looking well, and Miss Graham is as fresh and pretty as +when I last saw her." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith glanced at Millicent. "Yes," she said, "I think so, and she +is really a very nice girl." Then her eyes twinkled with dry +amusement. "I'm not sure that you expected to see me." +</P> + +<P> +It was obvious to Mrs. Chudleigh that she had betrayed her feelings on +her companion's arrival. Nothing seemed to escape Mrs. Keith's +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not," she admitted. "Indeed, I'll confess that I was somewhat +startled when you came in. You see, I imagined that you were still in +Canada." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't stay very long after you. One or two things turned up that +brought me back." +</P> + +<P> +"But you have no family ties, have you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have some old friends. Now and then I'm vain enough to believe that +one of them needs me." +</P> + +<P> +As they spoke Mrs. Foster joined them. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel Challoner is eager to see you, Margaret," she interposed. "He +excused himself for not coming this evening because Greythorpe is +staying with him for a day or two, but he made me promise to bring you +over to-morrow." She turned to Mrs. Chudleigh. "You must join us. +Have you met Greythorpe? He's down here now and then." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to Mrs. Chudleigh that fortune was favouring her. After a +long parliamentary career during which he had been distinguished by his +sound sense and the moderation of his views, Greythorpe had been +entrusted with an office in connexion with the administration of +Colonial affairs. What was more to the purpose, he seemed to be a +friend of Colonel Challoner's, whose assistance Mrs. Chudleigh thought +she had means of securing in the plan she was working out. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be delighted," she declared. "I don't know Mr. Greythorpe +except by reputation and, as it happened, I hadn't an opportunity of +speaking to Colonel Challoner on the evening when he was here, though I +once met him." +</P> + +<P> +Seeing that Mrs. Keith was watching her, she was glad of the chance of +explaining that she had not renewed her acquaintance with the Colonel. +As she had now spent a fortnight with Mrs. Foster, who knew him well, +this should disarm any suspicion that Mrs. Keith might entertain. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know why we're standing when there's room for all of us in the +recess," said their hostess, who led the way towards it, and they +dropped into casual conversation when tea was brought them. +</P> + +<P> +The evening passed pleasantly, for Mrs. Chudleigh who possessed some +charm of manner, exerted herself to be agreeable to the newcomers. +Nevertheless she was looking forward to the next day's visit with +eagerness and wondering how she could best make use of the opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +At Sandymere, three miles away, Colonel Challoner spent the evening in +his library with his guest. It was a large and simply furnished room, +but there was a tone of austere harmony in all its appointments. The +dark oak table, rows of old books in faded leather bindings, antique +lamps, and straight-backed chairs were in keeping with the severe lines +of the sombre panels and the heavy, square moulding of the ceiling. +Two or three wax candles in an old silver holder stood on a small table +by the wide hearth on which a cheerful wood fire burned, but most of +the room was shadowy. +</P> + +<P> +The sense of empty space and gloom had, however, no effect upon the two +elderly men who sat with a cigar box and decanter in front of them, +engaged in quiet, confidential talk. Challoner was white-haired, +straight, and spare, with aquiline features and piercing eyes; +Greythorpe broad-shouldered and big, with a heavy-jawed, thoughtful +face. They had been fast friends since they had met a number of years +ago when Challoner was giving evidence before a parliamentary +commission. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have not heard from Blake after the day he came here," +Greythorpe said by and by. +</P> + +<P> +"Never directly," Challoner replied. "On the whole, it is better so, +though I regret it now and then. A weakness on my part, perhaps, but I +was fond of Dick and expected much from him. However, it seems that +Bertram and Margaret Keith met him in Montreal, and she is coming here +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"A very sad affair." Greythorpe mused. "A promising career cut short +and a life ruined by a moment's failure of nerve. The price paid for +it was a heavy one. Still, I found the matter difficult to understand, +because, so far as I could tell, there was nothing in Blake's character +that made such a failure possible. Then it's known that personal +courage was always a characteristic of your family." +</P> + +<P> +"His mother was my sister. You have seen her portrait." +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe made a sign of assent. He knew the picture of the woman +with the proud, determined face. +</P> + +<P> +"And the other side? Was the strain equally virile?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall judge," said Challoner. "You and Margaret Keith are the +only people to whom I have ever spoken freely of these things. I am +sure of your discretion and sympathy." +</P> + +<P> +He crossed the floor and opening a cabinet came back with a photograph, +which he gave to his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick's father. He was famous as a daring rider across an Irish, +stone-wall country, and was killed when taking a dangerous leap." +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe studied the face, which was of Irish type, with bold eyes in +which a reckless twinkle showed. On the whole, it suggested an ardent +and somewhat irresponsible temperament. +</P> + +<P> +"No sign of weakness there," he said. "Though he might be careless and +headstrong, this man would ride straight and stand fire. I can't hint +at an explanation of his son's disaster, but I imagine that one might +have been found if it had been diligently searched for. My opinion is +that there's something hidden, but whether it will ever come out is +another matter. But your nephew hasn't forfeited my liking. If I can +ever be of any service." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks; I know," said Challoner. "It looks as if he meant to cut +loose from all of us, and while I'm sorry for this I can't say that +he's wrong or that it's not a proper feeling. And now I think we'll +let the subject drop." He lighted a cigar before he resumed: "You look +rather jaded, and I understand that your responsibilities have been +added to. What have you done about the African appointment you +mentioned when last here? To be candid, I never thought the man lately +invalided home was in his right place." +</P> + +<P> +"He was hardly decided enough," Greythorpe answered thoughtfully. "So +far, we haven't filled the post, though two or three names have been +suggested. We have a man out there now who has shown some enterprise +and ability, and are inclined to leave him informally in charge while +we consider things." +</P> + +<P> +"In view of our friendly relations with the French, one would imagine +that the appointment needs careful thought. It's easy for undesirable +disputes to crop up, when you have turbulent native subjects to keep in +hand along another power's frontier." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true. Our territory adjoins theirs for some distance, but, as +it happens, our respective fields of influence outside the recognized +boundaries have not been very clearly defined. Now there's reason to +believe that part of the unclaimed neutral belt would be valuable to +us, and I needn't point out that the Imperial expansionists have made +their influence felt." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a pity the Government seems able to resist it," Challoner drily +remarked. +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe smiled, for he and his host took different sides in party +politics, though they often agreed on points that concerned their +country's foreign policy. +</P> + +<P> +"I think they're wise in their moderation, but I've had plain hints +about the desirability of extending our influence in Africa, which is +why we attach some importance to the appointment in question. Its +holder must be a man of tact, able to keep on friendly terms with the +French officials, and yet bold enough to secure us any advantage that +may offer in the unoccupied belt. In fact, though the post is not +highly paid, he must have exceptional talent." +</P> + +<P> +"Men of that kind are hard to pick up." +</P> + +<P> +"Very true. None of the candidates quite satisfies us, but when we +have investigated their qualifications fully I may ask you what you +think. It would be premature just now." +</P> + +<P> +"Always glad to be of service," Challoner replied. "But the men you'll +have to choose among have grown up since my day." +</P> + +<P> +"That is not important. It's largely a question of personal character, +and you're a judge of that when it must be coupled with military skill." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner smiled in a sombre manner. "I used to think so, but I've +come to doubt it. I made a grave mistake about my nephew. However, +there's a matter you were speaking of this morning and a point has +since occurred to me." +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe said he would be glad to hear it, and they talked over the +subject until they went to bed. +</P> + +<P> +The next afternoon was bright and mild, and soon after Mrs. Foster and +her party arrived Challoner offered to show them his winter shrubbery. +</P> + +<P> +"I have lately planted a number of new specimens which you and Margaret +have not seen," he said. "Your friends may be interested to learn what +effects can be got by a judicious mingling of bushes remarkable for the +beauty of their berries and branch-colouring among the stereotyped +evergreens." +</P> + +<P> +They went out and Mrs. Chudleigh thought the front of the old house +with its mullioned windows, heavy, pillared coping, and angular chimney +stacks, made a picturesque background for the smooth-clipped yew hedges +and broad sweep of lawn. Behind it a wood of tall beeches raised their +naked boughs in pale, intricate tracery against the soft blue sky. The +shrubs proved worth inspection, for some were rich with berries of hues +that varied from crimson to lilac and the massed twigs of others formed +blotches of strong colouring. The grass was dry and lighted by gleams +of sunshine, the air only cold enough to make movement pleasant, and +Mrs. Chudleigh felt content as she paced a sheltered walk with Colonel +Challoner, whom she unobtrusively studied. +</P> + +<P> +He looked rather stern and worn, and his soft grey tweed showed the +leanness of his figure, but his expression and bearing indicated force +of will. In his conversation with women he was marked by an air of +old-fashioned gallantry, and though his wit was now and then ironical +his companion found him attractive. She had cleverly appropriated and +separated him from the rest soon after they entered the garden, but she +was too clever to approach too soon the object she had in view. First +of all, she must ingratiate herself with him, and she saw that he liked +her society, though she made one or two mistakes about the shrubs in +which she professed a keen interest. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid you don't quite grasp my meaning," he said with a smile. +"It's a difference between varieties, not between species. They are +not the same thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I should have remembered," Mrs. Challoner [Transcriber's note: +Chudleigh?] replied. "I must own that I'm not a botanist, but one can +appreciate the beauty of plants without knowing all about them. +Perhaps the same applies to beauty in any form." +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt. Harmonies of outline, and concords of colour make an +unconscious appeal, but in Nature's products knowledge adds to +admiration. The deeper you probe, the more you reveal, until you come +to mysteries beyond our solving." He added with some dryness: "It's +often otherwise with man's work; knowledge means disillusion. You see +how the trick is done." +</P> + +<P> +"Must it always be a trick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! no; not necessarily. There is a sincerity of effort that leads to +lasting and beautiful work, but perhaps it's not common." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid you're a pessimist." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't like to think so, but I have lived a long time and insisted +on using my eyes, even when clearsightedness may not have been a +benefit. There's a penalty attached to the habit of close observation; +one sees things that hurt." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke with dry humour, but his words had their effect on his +companion, who was by no means philosophical. When she studied human +weaknesses it was with the object of turning them to her advantage, but +the shrewd, upright soldier saw them as things to avoid or recognize +with scorn. He, however, plucked a bunch of crimson berries which he +gave her. +</P> + +<P> +"This," he said, "is in my opinion an exceptionally beautiful bush. +Mrs. Keith sent it me from the Tyrol some years ago." +</P> + +<P> +"You are old friends then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Our friendship is of forty years standing, which I should imagine is a +severe test, but in many ways we are alike, and Margaret Keith knows +enough about me to make allowances. We are both well-seasoned and +strong-willed, and sometimes we differ, but I must confess that +whenever the point has been one of importance time has proved her +right." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh looked up at him, smiling. "That is a handsome +admission, because I shouldn't imagine you easily changed your mind." +</P> + +<P> +"No; as one grows older one's ideas are apt to fall into a groove. It +requires an effort to force them out of it." +</P> + +<P> +She said nothing for a few minutes, though his confession had its +significance, since she must sooner or later persuade him to abandon +one fixed idea. +</P> + +<P> +"After all, none of us find that easy," she remarked. +</P> + +<P> +He glanced across the lawn, where Millicent was talking to Greythorpe. +"That girl has a very attractive face. I don't merely mean that it's +pretty." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you call it then?" +</P> + +<P> +He seemed to ponder. "I think I could best say it looks untainted, +though that is rather vague. There's purity in it, by which I don't +mean the guilelessness of inexperience." +</P> + +<P> +"That could hardly be, considering who Miss Graham's father was, and +that she has earned her living for some years." +</P> + +<P> +There was a hint of surprise in the look Challoner gave her and she saw +that she had made a mistake. +</P> + +<P> +"A few people have natures which can't be spoiled," he said. "To them +knowledge brings pity or shrinking instead of temptation. I think Miss +Graham is to be numbered among these, and she is in good hands with my +old friend." +</P> + +<P> +Two or three minutes afterwards, Mrs. Keith resolutely crossed the lawn +towards them, but her determined expression softened as she approached +Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know that I feel neglected?" she said. "Where are those +American azaleas you promised to show me?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner made her an apologetic bow. "Have I been remiss? I saw you +with Greythorpe, and understood you found him interesting." +</P> + +<P> +"I've nothing against the man, and he never bores one, but he's a +friend of yesterday by comparison; it's only six years since I first +met him." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Challoner; "the old ties are strongest." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith insisted on examining the azaleas, though they were dry and +leafless, and Mrs. Chudleigh, seeing no further opportunity of a quiet +talk with Challoner, left them. When she had gone, Mrs. Keith looked +at her companion with a twinkle. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said, "what do you think of Mrs. Chudleigh?" +</P> + +<P> +"You'll allow me to say that I find her charming? It's a comprehensive +word." +</P> + +<P> +"And means anything or nothing. But I understand. You're often only +conventional when you think yourself gallant." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible, but what would you have me say? She's attractive, a +pleasant talker, and I think intelligent." +</P> + +<P> +"Highly intelligent," Mrs. Keith remarked pointedly "Do you think she's +to be trusted?" +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't enter into the question. I don't see that either of us is +required to trust her." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm inclined to think that's fortunate," Mrs. Keith rejoined. +</P> + +<P> +For the next half hour she kept Challoner at her side and then left him +with Mrs. Foster. It was hard to resist Margaret Keith when she had +made up her mind, and Challoner had no wish to do so. Moreover he was +glad to talk to Mrs. Foster, whom he liked, but he had other guests to +whom he owed some attention and he felt as if he were being gently but +firmly kept away from them. Mrs. Chudleigh and Millicent, however, +seemed to be content with Greythorpe's society, and finding it +difficult to leave Mrs. Foster he acquiesced. +</P> + +<P> +Presently she suggested that he should show her friends his pictures, +but he said that as it was near sunset and the gallery was badly +lighted it would be better if she brought her party back in a day or +two. Having promised to do so she summoned the others, and they were +driven home. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE PICTURE GALLERY +</H4> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster brought her guests back to Sandymere, and when Challoner +had shown them the best bits of the old carved oak with which the house +was decorated and some curious works of art he had picked up in India, +he took them to the picture gallery which ran round the big square +hall. A lantern dome admitted a cold light, but a few sunrays struck +through a window looking to the south-west and fell in long bright bars +on polished floor and sombre panelling. On entering the gallery, +Challoner took out a case of miniatures and placing it on a small table +brought a chair for Mrs. Keith. +</P> + +<P> +"You know the pictures, but this collection generally interested you, +and I have added a few examples of a good French period since you were +last here," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith sat down. She was fond of miniatures, and though she would +have preferred to accompany her host she had kept him away from Mrs. +Chudleigh since their arrival and thought she must be content with +that. She seldom overdid anything and had no wish to make her object +too plain; Geoffrey Challoner was by no means a fool. As she expected, +Mrs. Chudleigh found an opportunity of joining him after a time and +diverted his attention from Mrs. Foster, who left him to talk to his +sister. Mrs. Keith watched the manoeuvre, which was cleverly carried +out, with ironical amusement, though she was troubled by a faint +uneasiness. She felt that her old friend was threatened, but she could +not see where the danger lay, and, sitting with the miniatures before +her, she tried to formulate her suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +In the first place, she had unwisely given Mrs. Chudleigh to understand +that it was doubtful whether Richard Blake had merited his disgrace. +Then the former had met Lieutenant Walters, who had fought in the +frontier action, and had gained his confidence. It was possible that +she had led him on to talk about the affair with injudicious freedom, +and now she had met Greythorpe and seemed desirous of cultivating his +acquaintance. All this had an ominous look, because the woman was +ambitious and scheming, besides being in love with Sedgwick, who was +something of an adventurer. She would no doubt seize upon any +opportunity of securing his promotion. +</P> + +<P> +Margaret's Keith's suspicions were justified, for Mrs. Chudleigh was +then cleverly clearing the ground for future action. She had some +knowledge of art and the row of family portraits, hung between suits of +armour and trophies of Eastern weapons, interested her, while Challoner +was gratified by the way she listened as he spoke of them. One or two +were by well-known artists, and the faces of the old Challoners, some +of whom wore wigs and rich court dress, and some obsolete uniforms, +fixed her attention. The resemblance between them all was +recognizable, and she thought the family strain must be unusually +strong. They had obviously been stern, masterful men, practical rather +than imaginative and not likely to be troubled by any emotional +weaknesses. Then she glanced at the picture of a young woman with a +face of singularly delicate beauty. Its expression was gentle and +pensive. +</P> + +<P> +"My wife; she died in Simla twenty years ago," said Challoner gravely, +and passing on, stopped before a water-colour drawing of his son. +</P> + +<P> +It had been painted when Bertram was young, and he had his mother's +dreamy look. Mrs. Chudleigh missed the hardness of expression that +marked the Challoners. +</P> + +<P> +"A sketch rather than a finished study, but there's talent in it," she +remarked. "The subject's temperament has been cleverly seized; I have +met Captain Challoner." +</P> + +<P> +"My wife's work," said the Colonel. "Although I value it, I have +thought she was mistaken in this drawing. My son is a man of action, +and this is the face of a sentimentalist." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Mrs. Chudleigh; "his mother should know him best." +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly," agreed Challoner, who looked disturbed at the +suggestion. "Still, perhaps, in painting a portrait the artist may be +misled into unduly emphasizing some single, passing phase of the +sitter's character. A lad's moods are variable; his nature has not had +time to harden into its mould. I imagine this is what has happened, +because if the likeness is faithful, my son has changed since then." +</P> + +<P> +"One does not change much in essentials," Mrs. Chudleigh answered +thoughtfully. "But what would you have different? It is a good and +very likeable face." +</P> + +<P> +"There is a hint of weakness; something that suggests a too sensitive +disposition." The Colonel pointed to an officer in the old East India +Company's uniform whose expression was grim and arrogant. "A crude +piece of work, but he has the Challoner look." +</P> + +<P> +"It may sound presumptuous, but I think you are scarcely doing the +family justice. One can see the salient characteristics of the male +line in this example, but they're too strongly marked. Good qualities, +such as resolution and courage, may degenerate through being developed +to exaggeration at the expense of others, and after all Captain +Challoner strikes me as a much finer type. I'm afraid you undervalue +the gift of imagination." +</P> + +<P> +"These others," said Challoner, indicating the portraits generally, +"had imagination enough to do their duty, often in difficult +situations. I don't know that one needs much more." +</P> + +<P> +"A stern doctrine; it seems to bar out a good deal of the beauty and +joy of life. But I see some landscapes yonder." +</P> + +<P> +She led him up to several small impressionist sketches in water-colour +of Indian subjects, and stopped in admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"These are very good. I know the country, and they make you realise +what it is like. There is genius here." +</P> + +<P> +"My son did them," said Challoner with dry amusement. "I can see their +cleverness, but I'll admit that I think them rather a waste of time." +</P> + +<P> +"A shocking view. Would you sooner have had him study his drill book +or attend a kit inspection?" +</P> + +<P> +"On the whole, I believe so. It would be more in line with his +profession." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh gave him a direct, reproachful glance. "I know your son +and that he is a good soldier, but I feel you were wrong when you sent +him into the army. With training, he might have made a great artist." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner regarded her with frank astonishment. "But, my dear lady, +would you prefer the latter; a coverer of canvases, a mere portrayer of +action instead of a doer? Is it better to paint human passions and +emotions than to control and direct your own and those of others?" +</P> + +<P> +"Painting is his work," Mrs. Chudleigh persisted. "He has the +temperament; you can see it triumphing over circumstances. In spite of +his duties, the amusements he must be expected to take part in, and, no +doubt, the banter of the mess, he finds time to make these sketches. +Then they exhibit more than mere skill with the brush; they show clear +understanding and the power of feeling." +</P> + +<P> +"The latter is a dangerous gift. A man of action is better without it." +</P> + +<P> +"Your son has it, and it cannot be got rid of; but in a sense, you're +right. Sensibility must be a handicap to a soldier now and then, +making him realize dangers and cruelties he had better have been blind +to." Mrs. Chudleigh paused and added with a thoughtful air: "Captain +Challoner's courage and coolness are known, but I think they must cost +him more than is required of his comrades. I mean that his having +something to overcome before he can practise them, and yet always doing +so, shows a fine moral fibre." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner looked grave. He had suspected what he thought were symptoms +of weakness in his son, though Bertram had never given way to it. His +companion's talk disturbed him because it seemed to prove the +correctness of his suppositions, but he was shortly relieved of her. +</P> + +<P> +Margaret Keith, who had watched closely, decided that Mrs. Chudleigh +had been alone with her host long enough, but for a time she could see +no suitable means of separating them. By and by, however, Millicent +came towards her and she beckoned the girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't Arrowdale near your aunts' place in the North?" she said. +"There's a picture of the hills round it that I think you would like. +Ask Colonel Challoner to show it you." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent joined the others, and when she spoke about the picture Mrs. +Chudleigh went away. She thought she had said enough, for her object +had been to plant a seed of doubt about his son's character in +Challoner's; mind. If he considered sensitiveness, artistic talent, +and imagination failings in a Challoner, she had given him food for +thought, which was as far as she wished to go just then, and on the +whole she thought she had reason to be satisfied. When she had moved +away, Challoner showed Millicent a picture of grey hills and a sullen +tarn, half revealed between folds of rolling vapour, and the girl was +stirred to keen appreciation. +</P> + +<P> +"It's beautiful and full of life," she said. "One can see the mist +drive by and the ripples break upon the stones. Perhaps it's because I +know the tarn I like the picture so much, but it makes one realize the +rugged grandeur and melancholy charm of the place. I suppose that is +genius; who is the painter?" +</P> + +<P> +"My son," said the Colonel, and added with a curious smile: "You are +the second person who has lately tried to persuade me that he should +have been an artist." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent saw he was troubled, though she could not imagine the reason. +</P> + +<P> +"I hardly know Captain Challoner, whom I only met once, but it is +obvious that he has talent. You would sooner have him a soldier?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very much sooner."' +</P> + +<P> +"But he is one and I understand has distinguished himself. After all, +it is perhaps a mistake to think of genius as limited to one ability, +music or painting for example. Real genius, the power of +understanding, is more comprehensive; the man who has it ought to be +successful at whatever he undertakes." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm dubious," said Challoner. "It strikes me as a rather daring +theory." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't mine," Millicent answered, blushing. "It's a favourite theme +of a philosopher I'm fond of, and he insists upon it when he speaks +about great men. Perhaps I'm talking too freely, but I feel that +Captain Challoner's being able to paint well shouldn't prevent his +making a good officer." +</P> + +<P> +"Great men are scarce. I'm content that my son has so far done his +duty quietly and well; all I could wish for is that if any exceptional +call should be made on him he should rise to the occasion. That is the +supreme test, and men one expects much from sometimes fail to meet it." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent guessed that he was thinking of a man who had been dear to +him and had apparently broken down beneath sudden stress. +</P> + +<P> +"It must be hard to judge them unless one knows all the circumstances," +she remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not when a man has entered his country's service. He must carry out +his orders; what he is sent to do must be done. No excuse can justify +disobedience and failure. But we are getting too serious and I am +boring you. There is another picture I think you would like to see." +</P> + +<P> +Soon afterwards Mrs. Foster said that she must go, and when she and her +friends had left, Challoner sat alone for a time while the pictures +faded as dusk crept into the gallery. A man of practical abilities +with a stern perception of his duty, he was inclined to distrust all +that made its strongest appeal to the senses. Art and music he thought +were vocations for women; in his opinion it was hardly fitting that a +man should exploit his emotions by expressing them for public +exhibition. Indeed, he regarded sentimentality of any kind as a +failing, and it had been suggested that his son possessed the dangerous +gift. One of his guests had gone further and hinted that Bertram +should never have been a soldier. Challoner could not agree with this +conclusion, but he thought there was, perhaps, a grain of truth in it. +Then he banished his disturbing thoughts and went out in search of +Greythorpe. +</P> + +<P> +During the next week Mrs. Chudleigh met Challoner twice and skilfully +led the conversation to his son. Then she heard from Sedgwick, who +said that if he could obtain the vacant appointment it would give him +an opportunity of making his mark. The time was ripe for a bold stroke +which would lead to the acquisition of valuable territory, but he could +not carry out his plans unless he had full command. They were, he +felt, bound to succeed, but he frankly owned that he meant to force the +hand of the Colonial authorities and could not act while he held a +subordinate position. Accordingly he begged Mrs. Chudleigh to exert +all her influence to secure his promotion, adding that his name had +been mentioned in connexion with the post, but that there were other +candidates with stronger claims on those who had the power to make the +appointment. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh had already been at work in different quarters, but she +thought Colonel Challoner the most likely man to help her, though he +might be difficult to persuade and she could not hurry him. She had +moreover had several confidential talks with Lieutenant Walters and had +extracted a good deal of information. This enabled her to form a +plausible theory of what had happened during the night attack, and she +was inclined to think that even an experienced soldier could not find +much fault with the conclusions she had arrived at, but she did not +wish to make use of it unless compelled. +</P> + +<P> +When it was getting dark one evening Foster, who was crossing a meadow +with two young men carrying guns dropped behind to speak to a keeper as +Mrs. Chudleigh and Millicent came forward to meet the party. Soon +afterwards he joined his wife, who had waited for him, and they walked +to the house behind the others. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you get on at the Seymours' this afternoon?" he asked. "Did +Ada air her views for the benefit of your friends?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster laughed, for Ada Seymour was a lady with strong opinions +which she was fond of proclaiming. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said; "in fact, she went farther than usual and rather +forgot her manners. After a while Mrs. Chudleigh took exception to +something she said and Miss Graham was drawn into the argument. +Somewhat to my surprise, she supported Ada and spoke really well, but +Ada was getting angry and I was so busy trying to smooth things down +that I hardly know what it was all about." +</P> + +<P> +"The degeneracy of the age and the insidious influence of luxury no +doubt. Ada can't keep off these topics and she makes some surprising +statements when she warms up, but I'm not surprised that Mrs. Chudleigh +and Miss Graham took opposite sides." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're very different types; about as different as a moonlight night +and a spring morning." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster looked at him sharply and he chuckled. +</P> + +<P> +"Not often so poetical, am I? But I prefer the bright morning; +moonlight's a tricky, elusive thing, apt to dazzle and mislead one. +However, does Mrs. Chudleigh intend to remain long? She looks like a +fixture." +</P> + +<P> +"She doesn't inconvenience you." +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all. She's amusing and that and moderate good looks are all +you expect from a woman, so long as you don't mean to marry her. I'm +interested in your friend; very much so, although I can't see her game." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by her game?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you don't know, it isn't often you're so dull. She's up to +something and Meg Keith sees it; she keeps a close watch on the woman +and when she's forced to take her eyes off her sets Miss Graham on +guard." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that Miss Graham informs her of what Mrs. Chudleigh says +or does?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing farther from my thoughts. Meg Keith has lots of pluck, but +she'd be shy of suggesting such a course to that girl. What she does +is not to trust the woman alone when she can help it; when you see Mrs. +Chudleigh you'll generally find Meg or her companion in the +neighbourhood. The plot's interesting and the Colonel's in it. I've +an idea that Meg's somehow defending him. He's an old friend and she's +as staunch as they're made." +</P> + +<P> +"If there is more in the situation than appears on the surface, you had +better leave it alone. You won't improve matters by interfering." +</P> + +<P> +"Seen that all along," Foster agreed. "I'll stick to my shooting, but +provided that I keep my hands off, there's no harm in looking on. But +you mark me; there'll be developments." +</P> + +<P> +He broke off with a chuckle and Mrs. Foster walked on in thoughtful +silence. Her husband occasionally showed shrewd observation, and she +believed that he was right in the present instance. Something was +undoubtedly going on, but she could not determine what it was. As she +entered the hall she saw Millicent talking to one of her sporting +guests who had shown a preference for her society and Mrs. Chudleigh +watching. The latter liked admiration but her expression indicated +critical scrutiny rather than jealousy. Mrs. Foster imagined that she +was trying to analyse the girl's charm. Then as she came forward with +her husband the others joined them and shortly afterwards tea was +brought in. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +COLONEL CHALLONER PROVES OBDURATE +</H4> + +<P> +A week after Mrs. Foster's visit Challoner drove over to Hazlehurst in +the afternoon and on reaching the lodge found her setting out with +several of her guests to meet Foster and his friends on their return +from shooting. Refusing to allow her to turn back with him, he +accompanied the party, and some time later Mrs. Keith, who had remained +at home, went out on the terrace. Following it to the end of the house +near which the stables stood, she saw a man leading in a horse which +she thought she knew. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't that bay Colonel Challoner's?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, ma'am," said the groom. "The gardener brought it up from the +lodge. The Colonel went on with Mrs. Foster to the long wood." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith turned away and sat down on a terrace seat feeling +disturbed. Mrs. Chudleigh was with the others and would no doubt +detach Challoner from them, as she generally succeeded in doing when +Mrs. Keith was unable to prevent her. Now there was nobody to come to +his rescue, he would be at the woman's mercy, and though she admitted +that this was perhaps an exaggerated view to take, Mrs. Keith felt that +he was threatened. It was, however, a long walk to the wood and she +was old enough to shrink from it; besides there was a possibility that +she was after all suspecting Mrs. Chudleigh without much cause, but she +made up her mind to follow. By walking fast she might overtake the +party before much harm was done. Entering the house, she put on thick +boots and then set out with all the speed she was capable of. +</P> + +<P> +In the meanwhile Mrs. Foster's party had split up, and Mrs. Chudleigh +and Challoner were left together. The Colonel did not regret this, +because he had found her an entertaining companion. Though it was a +winter day, the weather was mild and the road almost dry, and after a +time they reached a birch wood which skirted its eastern side. The +rays of the low sun struck in among the trees, forcing up the silvery +trunks and fragile twigs which looked like lacework against a +background of blue shadow. Thick hollies and rhododendrons planted +near the wayside kept off the light wind, and dead leaves and withered +fern made patches of glowing colour. When they came to a gate leading +to a drive through the wood Mrs. Chudleigh stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"The others have vanished; I can't even hear them," she said. "I +wonder which way they have gone." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner listened, but could only distinguish the murmur of the wind +among the birches and the rustle of fallen leaves. The rest of the +party were obviously some distance ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"The road's the longer, but as the field-path's often wet I can't tell +which they've taken," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"The field-path for me," Mrs. Chudleigh replied. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I'm not very fond of walking." +</P> + +<P> +They entered the wood and presently reached a stile, on the other side +of which a boggy patch cut off the path from a strip of sticky +ploughing. Mrs. Chudleigh regarded it with disapproval. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know if Mrs. Foster could jump over that, but I can't," she +said. +</P> + +<P> +She sat down upon the stile and Challoner leaned against the fence. +</P> + +<P> +"There'll be time to meet them coming back before they reach the spot +where the path rejoins the road. After all, I see no reason to +complain of being left behind." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh smiled at him. "That's very nice of you, and while the +sunshine lasts it's pleasant here. I often think an English wood, with +the varied colours of the trunks and mosses showing, is most beautiful +on a bright winter day. Besides, I wanted to talk to you. There's a +favour I must ask." +</P> + +<P> +"You can consider it granted if it's in my power." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be rash," she warned him. "You may be surprised when you hear +what it is, but I want you to see the matter in its proper light and +not to be actuated merely by a wish to please me." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a wish I should like to gratify," Challoner assured her. "But +please go on." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh hesitated. Beneath his formal, old-fashioned courtesy +which she had found attractive she recognized a stern +conscientiousness. He must, if possible, be convinced that the course +she meant to urge was the best, though she had the means of putting +pressure on him if this proved needful. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said, "there is a rather important post vacant in a West +African colony and you have influence. Mr. Greythorpe is an intimate +friend of yours and may consult you about the matter. He will, no +doubt, have a part in making the selection." +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard about it," Challoner admitted guardedly. +</P> + +<P> +Instead of answering, Mrs. Chudleigh started and clenched her hand, for +she was looking towards the road and could see a woman's figure through +an opening between the trees. She recognized the dress, which was +behind the current fashion, and the new-comer's carriage, which somehow +suggested determination, further indicated Mrs. Keith. Mrs. Chudleigh +was glad that Challoner stood where he could not see the road, but she +watched in keen suspense when Mrs. Keith reached the gate and stopped +as if undecided which way to go. If she chose the field-path, Mrs. +Chudleigh's opportunity would be gone, and it might be some time before +she found another, while her business brooked no delay. It was, +however, fortunate that she and her companion could not be plainly seen +from the road because there were some bushes in the way and a tall +thicket close by formed a background against which their figures would +not show. After a few moments Mrs. Keith moved on and Mrs. Chudleigh, +who was conscious of deep relief, saw that Challoner was waiting for +her to speak. +</P> + +<P> +"It is essential that the right man should be chosen," she resumed. +"Our political and commercial interests demand this. There is a chance +of acquiring a strip of territory which would open a way to the trade +of the interior, but it must be done with tact as well as boldness. We +need a man with firmness and judgment who can secure us this opening +without giving the French definite ground for offence, and he must be +experienced in West African affairs. The post could not be entrusted +safely to a newcomer." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Challoner; "as you seem so well informed, I presume you have +somebody to suggest." +</P> + +<P> +She could learn nothing from his manner, which had changed and grown +formal. +</P> + +<P> +"I know a man who has all the necessary qualifications. He is resolute +and enterprising; a soldier who has distinguished himself in action and +a clever administrator. What is more, the direction of affairs has +been largely left in his hands for some time." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean Captain Sedgwick?" Challoner's tone was discouragingly +reserved. "May I ask what leads you to plead his cause?" +</P> + +<P> +"First of all because I think he is the best man." +</P> + +<P> +"A good reason," said the Colonel. "Still I'm inclined to think you +have a better one." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh hesitated while the colour crept into her face; then she +said simply, "I love him." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner bowed. "I am honoured by your confidence, but if he were +chosen, it would separate you. You could not stand the climate of +Western Africa." +</P> + +<P> +"I know," she said eagerly. "These appointments, however, are not for +long and we are willing to defer our marriage if it will give him an +opportunity of showing what he can do." +</P> + +<P> +There was silence for the next minute. Challoner was somewhat touched +by her frank appeal, and though he saw that she was sufficiently +ambitious to subordinate her affection to her desire for her lover's +advancement, it was an ambition he could sympathize with. The woman +was willing to make a sacrifice. For all that, he felt that he could +not conscientiously help her. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you had asked for something else," he said. "I'm sorry this +favour is not in my power." +</P> + +<P> +"You can know nothing against Captain Sedgwick," the answered sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not; the trouble is that personally I know nothing in his +favour." +</P> + +<P> +"But I have assured you that there is nobody so suitable." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a different matter. Your opinion is very natural and does you +credit; I will not suggest that your affection for him may lead you to +rate Captain Sedgwick's qualifications too highly. No doubt, he is an +excellent officer, but these appointments are not made on a lady's +recommendation." +</P> + +<P> +"Are they not?" Mrs. Chudleigh asked with a touch of irony. "Remember +that I have lived at Simla and know that influence often goes a long +way I have seen it at work." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner frowned. "So have I, but it is a thing I have always set my +face against. The man for a post of this kind must be chosen on his +merits." +</P> + +<P> +"How are they to be ascertained, unless you take the opinion of those +who know him best?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is often difficult, but the safest test is his work as it is known +to his official superiors. Unless he is judged by this, there is a +risk of partiality and unfairness. Social influence is a dangerous +thing and deplorable mistakes have been made when it has been allowed +to have effect." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you will do nothing?" +</P> + +<P> +Her tone was harsh and Challoner looked at her in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"It is possible that Greythorpe may consult me, though I do not know +what weight my opinion would have with him. If the information he lays +before me seems to indicate that Captain Sedgwick is the best man, I +should suggest his appointment." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh appeared to acquiesce and said nothing for some minutes. +She was sorry that Challoner had not proved more amenable, since his +stubbornness forced her into a distasteful line of action, but she +could not spare him when her lover's future was at stake. +</P> + +<P> +"After all," she said, "a soldier's official record is sometimes as +little to be trusted as you think his friends' estimate of him ought to +be. I have an instance in view; two men I know took part in an action +on the Indian frontier, and one gained a reputation for courage, and +the other obloquy. As it happened, neither was deserved." +</P> + +<P> +"On the Indian frontier?" Challoner glanced at her sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; some time since. A night attack was made upon a hill which +formed the key to the position of a small British force. An order to +retreat was wrongly given." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Challoner; "I have good reason to remember that affair. May +I ask what you know about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm convinced I know the truth, which has been concealed." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner started and his face grew eager. "Then your knowledge is of +great importance and I must beg you to share it with me. It may clear +a man I have a strong affection for." +</P> + +<P> +"At the cost of involving another." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose that follows." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you do not believe it wiser to let a painful matter which is +already almost forgotten rest? You would rake it up, even if it +brought trouble upon innocent people?" +</P> + +<P> +"Justice must be done," said Challoner. "I have always hated jobbery. +If a wrong has been committed, it must be put right." +</P> + +<P> +"You no doubt know that the order to retreat could only have been given +by one of two officers?" +</P> + +<P> +There were signs of tension in Challoner's face and Mrs. Chudleigh +pitied him, but she was forced to be merciless. +</P> + +<P> +"That seems to have been taken for granted. What then?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was a dark night and nobody saw who gave the order, but Blake was +stationed with his electric apparatus in the ravine and the bugler some +distance behind him. Besides, the latter was attached to Captain +Challoner's company." +</P> + +<P> +"But Blake did not fire the mine." Challoner's voice was strained. +</P> + +<P> +"That is true. The conclusion was that he had deserted his post, but I +believe it must be wrong because he was seen busy with the wires." +</P> + +<P> +"Who saw him?" +</P> + +<P> +"One of his comrades, after the attack began, and it seems impossible +that Blake could have reached the bugler when the retreat was sounded. +There were one or two other points which might have been raised, only +that he made no defence. I will mention them." +</P> + +<P> +She had after a long and careful consideration arranged her evidence in +a skilful manner. Facts which had appeared of minor importance to the +men who had noticed them had now, as she handled them, a telling effect +and Challoner grew troubled. +</P> + +<P> +"If needful, I believe I could prove all this, though it would require +strong pressure to make my informant speak," she concluded. "You must +see what it implies?" +</P> + +<P> +"That my son is a coward and gave the shameful order?" Challoner's +eyes glittered, though his face was colourless. "It's unthinkable!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nevertheless it's true. Why did he, without permission and abusing +his authority over the guard, spend two hours late at night with Blake +who was under arrest? What had they to say that took so long, when +there was a risk of Captain Challoner's being discovered? Why did +Blake make no defence, unless it was because he knew that to clear +himself would throw the blame upon his friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"You press me hard," said Challoner in a hoarse voice. "But that my +son should so have failed in his duty to his country and his cousin is +impossible." +</P> + +<P> +"Yet you were willing to believe your nephew guilty. Had you any cause +to doubt his courage?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Challoner. "I used to think he loved a risk." +</P> + +<P> +He felt beaten by her remorseless reasoning; there was scarcely a point +he could contest and his heart grew very heavy. A conviction that +humbled him to the dust was being forced on him. +</P> + +<P> +"There is only one conclusion," Mrs. Chudleigh resumed. "The order to +retreat was given by the weaker man, Bertram Challoner." +</P> + +<P> +He turned to her with a gesture that begged her to desist. "My dear +lady, this is very painful. I must try to think it out calmly, and I +am not able now." +</P> + +<P> +For a time there was strained silence, and Mrs. Chudleigh waited until +he roused himself. +</P> + +<P> +"I must know if what you have told me has any bearing on your request +that I should recommend Captain Sedgwick's appointment?" +</P> + +<P> +She paused before she answered, for he was very stern and peremptory. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a direct one. I have kept the secret out of consideration for you +and your son, but since I have done so, I ventured to believe you would +not refuse me a favour that would only cost you a few words to your +friend." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm relieved to hear it," Challoner grimly replied. "You wish to +appeal to my gratitude and not my fears? Has it struck you that, if +you are correct in your conclusions, by keeping silent you were +wronging an innocent man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Think!" she said impressively. "In a sense, Blake stands by himself, +a man of no importance; your son is heir to a fine estate and is +expected to carry on the traditions of the family. He has a young wife +who adores him, and many friends. Is a career such as lies before him +to be destroyed by one weak action which he has since well atoned for? +I believe your nephew saw that his cousin's disgrace would be a +disaster and felt that at any cost the situation must be saved." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner regarded her with a stern smile. "One would imagine that you +are trying to heighten the value of your silence." +</P> + +<P> +"You misjudge me, but since you take this line, I have some claim on +your gratitude. Can you deny it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had better answer frankly. If my opinion is desired, I will try to +consider Captain Sedgwick's appointment on its merits. You must not +count on more than this." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh rose and they turned back to the road in silence. It +looked as if she had failed, but she would not give up the game yet. +When Challoner had time to think he would, no doubt, realize the +necessity of safeguarding his son's good name and even his austere +uprightness might fail to stand the strain. +</P> + +<P> +It was half an hour later when Mrs. Keith, who had walked as fast as +she was able, met Foster and the others coming back. She stopped, hot +and breathless, with keen disappointment, for neither Colonel Challoner +nor Mrs. Chudleigh were among them. Then, rousing herself, with an +effort, she asked where they were. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell," Mrs. Foster replied. "They dropped behind us and may +have gone home. Mrs. Chudleigh soon gets tired of walking." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith's heart sank and Foster noticed her expression. "It's a +good way from Hazlehurst, but you look as if you had been hurrying," he +remarked. "Are you very much disappointed that you didn't meet us +earlier?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am disappointed that I missed Challoner," Mrs. Keith answered with a +forced smile. +</P> + +<P> +Foster, who gave her a keen glance, tactfully talked about his shooting +as they went back together, and on reaching the house they found that +Challoner had already driven home. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CHALLONER'S DECISION +</H4> + +<P> +The morning was mild and Challoner paced slowly up and down his +shrubbery. Bright sunshine fell upon him, the massed evergreens cut +off the wind, and in a sheltered border spear-like green points were +pushing through the soil in promise of the spring. Challoner knew them +all, the veined crocus blades, the tight-closed heads of the hyacinths, +and the twin shoots of the daffodils, but, fond as he was of his +garden, he gave them scanty attention, and by and by sat down in a +sheltered nook lost in painful thought. He had a careworn look and had +left the house in a restless mood with a wish to be alone in the open +air. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh's revelation had been a shock. With his sense of duty +and family pride, he had, when the news of the frontier disaster first +reached him, found it almost impossible to believe that his nephew had +been guilty of shameful cowardice; and now it looked as if the disgrace +might be brought still closer home. Bertram would presently take his +place and, retiring from active service, rule the estate in accordance +with Challoner traditions and perhaps exert some influence in politics; +he remembered that Mrs. Chudleigh had laid some stress on this. She +had, however, told him that Bertram, from whom so much was expected, +had shown himself a poltroon and, what was even worse, had allowed an +innocent man to suffer for his baseness. Challoner had spent the last +few days pondering the evidence she had offered him and had seen one or +two weak points in it. By making the most of these, it might, perhaps, +be rebutted, but his honesty rendered such a course out of the question +if she were right in her conclusions, and he was forced to admit that +this was possible. Bertram had shown timidity in his younger +days—Challoner remembered that they had had some trouble in teaching +him to ride—and there was no doubt that his was a highly-strung and +nervous temperament. He had not the calm which marked the Challoners +in time of strain. Then Dick Blake was recklessly generous and loved +his cousin; it would be consistent with his character if he were +willing to suffer in Bertram's stead. Moreover there were reasons +which might have had some effect in inducing Bertram to consent, +because Challoner knew the affection his son bore him and that he would +shrink from involving him in his disgrace. What Bertram would +certainly not have done to secure his own escape he might have done for +the sake of his father and the girl he was to marry. +</P> + +<P> +Admitting all this, Challoner could not take his son's guilt for +granted. There was room for doubt, and soon after leaving Mrs. +Chudleigh he had cabled a friend in Montreal asking him to spare no +effort to trace Blake. If the latter could be found, he must be +summoned home and forced to declare the truth. By and by Challoner +heard a footstep and looking up saw Foster approaching. He stopped and +regarded the Colonel with surprise, for it was seldom Challoner was to +be seen sitting moodily idle. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm taking a short cut through your grounds to the fir spinney," he +said. "As I was leaving home Mrs. Chudleigh asked me to give you this +note, and when I looked in at the house Miss Challoner said she didn't +know where you were and a telegram had just come in. Thinking I might +find you, I brought it along." Handing the other two envelopes he +added: "Sorry to see you're not looking as brisk as usual." +</P> + +<P> +"There's not much the matter," Challoner replied, forcing a smile. +"Still, I do feel a trifle slack, and I've had something to worry me." +</P> + +<P> +Foster gave him a sympathetic nod. "Worry's bad; make a rule to avoid +it when I can. But will you walk as far as the wood?" +</P> + +<P> +He went on when Challoner said he would sooner remain, and the latter +eagerly opened the telegram. It was in answer to his cable and read— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Blake and two others left Sweetwater settlement. Destination supposed +far North." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This implied the impossibility of learning anything from his nephew for +some time, and Challoner could not recall his son, who was then in +Japan and must shortly rejoin his Indian regiment. Besides, if Bertram +were blameless, it would be a cruel blow for him to find that his +father had suspected him of a shameful deed, while if he were guilty, +something must be done. This would probably lead to a disastrous +change in their relations and compel Bertram to leave the army. Though +the suspense was hard to bear, Challoner, as Mrs. Chudleigh had +foreseen, was beginning to feel afraid to learn the truth and inclined +to temporize. +</P> + +<P> +Then he opened her note and read— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"As I hear you expect Mr. Greythorpe, shortly, I venture to believe +that now you have had time for reflection you will see that it would be +better for everybody if you did as I suggested. This would be a great +favour and you could count upon my gratitude and discretion." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Studying it carefully, Challoner saw a threat as well as a promise that +she would keep his secret if he complied, but he tore the note up and +trod the fragments into the soil. So far as the African appointment +was concerned, he was not to be influenced. He would not offer a bribe +for her silence, nor would he derive a personal advantage from a piece +of jobbery. On that point his mind was made up. +</P> + +<P> +A little later Mrs. Keith opened a neighbouring gate and came towards +him. +</P> + +<P> +"The fine morning tempted me out, and as Lucy Foster was passing with +the car, I thought I'd look your sister up," she said. "But I'm afraid +you're in trouble. The last time we met you had a downcast air and you +don't look much brighter to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"It's unpleasant to think I'm in the habit of showing my feelings so +plainly," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't, but your moody calm has its meaning. I've known you long +enough to recognize it. You can't deny that something is disturbing +you." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Challoner. "I'm not clever enough to hide it from your keen +eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"They're very friendly, as you know. I'll strain a friend's privilege +far enough to guess that your perplexities began the last time you and +Mrs. Chudleigh met." +</P> + +<P> +He wondered how much she knew and longed to confide in her. She was +very staunch, but his secret must be kept until he had learned the +truth. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry, Margaret, but I can't tell you what is troubling me." +</P> + +<P> +She made a sign of acquiescence. "You would if it were possible and I +won't press you, but you know I can be trusted if you need me. I was +afraid of that woman; I felt she threatened you." +</P> + +<P> +Their glances met and lingered, and Challoner felt that the reason for +his grief was but thinly veiled from her. Still, for his son's sake, +he could not confirm her suspicions, and he broke into a dry smile. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you tried to protect me, and it certainly wasn't your fault +that you failed. I appreciate it, Margaret, but after all there may be +less cause for anxiety than I imagine, and we'll talk about something +else. Will you come up to the house?" +</P> + +<P> +They walked slowly across the lawn, and though his companion chatted +about indifferent matters Challoner knew he had her sympathy. When +they reached the door she stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"I needn't bring you in, because I have something to ask Hilda. No +doubt, it's unnecessary, but you won't mind my warning you not to be +influenced by anything that woman said." +</P> + +<P> +"I had already decided to disregard it." +</P> + +<P> +A look of gratified confidence came into her eyes. "That is what I +expected; you are not easily swayed, but I see signs of strain. There +is some crisis you must face, and I think it is connected with +Greythorpe's visit." +</P> + +<P> +"You have guessed correctly." +</P> + +<P> +"When one is in difficulties the easiest way out is not always the +best. But you know that." +</P> + +<P> +"I have learned it. One has often to chose between the right and the +most prudent thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith, "I believe they are generally the same in the +end; that is, if one has the courage to choose the former." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner bowed. "You have never failed me, Margaret, and you give me +good counsel now." +</P> + +<P> +She went in, and he turned away, feeling encouraged; but a reaction +followed, and he spent the rest of the day in troubled thought. A day +or two later Greythorpe arrived and in the early evening sat with his +host in the library. Though dusk was closing in, a window near them +stood open and a single shaded candle burned upon a neighbouring table. +Presently Greythorpe opened some papers. +</P> + +<P> +"We have not settled the African appointment yet," he said. "The +matter, of course, is not altogether in my hands, but my recommendation +will have weight, and I should be glad of your opinion before making +it. You will find the names and qualifications of the candidates here." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner studied the papers, and then gazed out of the window without +speaking. It was not quite dark, and he could see the great oaks in +the park, and the sombre masses of the woods rolling back up the +valley. In the foreground, a sheet of water shone with a pale gleam. +It was a rich and beautiful countryside and much of it belonged to him. +Though his wife had brought him money, Sandymere had long been the +property of the Challoners, and the old house had a picturesque +stateliness, while every field and farmstead had been well cared for. +</P> + +<P> +In process of time it would all be his son's, and, in that sense, +Bertram had more than an individual importance. He was one of a line +of men who had served their country well in court and field, and any +disgrace that fell upon him would taint a respected name and reflect +upon his children, for the family honour was indivisible, a thing that +stretched backwards to the past as well as forward. Now, however, it +was threatened by an unprincipled woman who claimed the power to drag +it in the mire; but Challoner recognized that he could not allow this +to influence him. His private affairs must not count where the +interests of his country were concerned. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said at length, "the matter seems difficult to decide. You +have two men of excellent character, whom I know something about, and a +third who has shown ability in a subordinate post." +</P> + +<P> +"Sedgwick? Your manner leads me to believe that you don't quite class +him with the others." +</P> + +<P> +"There is a difference. The first two are honest and reliable but not +brilliant men. Sedgwick is obviously more capable than either, but I +suspect that self-interest is his strongest motive. I knew a major in +his regiment. He might use this appointment to force himself into +prominence." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible, but that needn't prove a great drawback." +</P> + +<P> +"Is the Cabinet ready to embark upon a bold course of Colonial +expansion?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Greythorpe with a smile, "not so far as I'm acquainted with +their views, but we would like the strip of unoccupied territory, and +Sedgwick seems alive to its importance." +</P> + +<P> +"He'll probably get it for you if you give him a chance, but I imagine +he won't stop there. In fact, he may take you much farther than you +wish to go. Suppose he brings off some sensational coup in which you +would have to support him at the expense of France?" +</P> + +<P> +"There might be some risk of that, but he's undoubtedly an able man." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so," Challoner agreed. "It's his disinterestedness I suspect." +</P> + +<P> +"Then if the post were at your disposal, you would not offer it to him?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner was silent for a few moments. It looked as if Greythorpe +were disposed to favour Sedgwick's claim and to concur might save a +good deal of trouble. Even then, it did not follow that Sedgwick would +be chosen, because there were higher authorities to be consulted. +Challoner thought he would not be blamed if they refused the man the +post, because he did Mrs. Chudleigh the justice to believe that she +would not doubt his assurance that he had done his best and that she +would afterwards put no further pressure on him. It was her lover's +promotion she wished to secure. For all that, easy as it would be to +humour her, he had been asked for his opinion by a man who trusted him, +and he must give it honestly. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he said with a resolute air, "I should prefer either of the +others. On the whole, I believe I'd select the first on your list." +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to have thought it well over." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true. It's a rather grave matter," Challoner answered drily. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Greythorpe, "my idea is that Sedgwick should be left in +charge a month or two longer. Then if we send out another man, we'll +try to find him something else." +</P> + +<P> +He changed the subject and Challoner lighted a cigar and listened, +sitting back in the shadow where his companion could not see him. He +felt weary, because he had borne a heavy strain during the last few +days, and the course he had taken had cost him a good deal. Now he +knew that if Sedgwick were not appointed Mrs. Chudleigh would hold him +responsible. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. CHUDLEIGH MAKES A FRESH ATTEMPT +</H4> + +<P> +Next evening Challoner and Greythorpe dined at Foster's with several +other guests, and the Colonel was placed next to Mrs. Chudleigh, while +Mrs. Keith sat opposite. He found his position uncomfortable, because +when he looked up he saw that his old friend was watching him, and, +though she chatted carelessly, there was now and then a hint of tension +in his companion's manner. It was a relief when Mrs. Foster rose, but +he afterwards felt that opposing influences were being brought to bear +on him. When the party dispersed, as was usual at Hazlehurst, some to +play billiards and some to the drawing-room, Mrs. Keith engaged him in +casual talk and stuck to him determinedly for a time. He had no doubt +that her intentions were good, since he noticed Mrs. Chudleigh hovering +in the background, but he wished that she would leave him alone. By +and by their hostess took Mrs. Keith away, but then Millicent, whom he +suspected had been told to do so, came up and spoke to him. It looked +as if he were to be saved from his persecutor, even against his will, +for he was anxious to meet her and get the unpleasant business over, +but he liked Millicent and courtesy demanded that he should listen. +Presently she rather hesitatingly mentioned his nephew. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard anything from Mr. Blake since he left Montreal?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," said Challoner with a trace of grimness. "He does not +correspond with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I suppose you don't know where he is?" +</P> + +<P> +"I took some trouble to find out, but nothing came of it. I merely +learned that he had left a small settlement on the Western prairie and +started for the North." He gave her a sharp glance. "Are you +interested in my nephew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said frankly. "I don't know him very well, but on two +occasions he came to my assistance when I needed it. He was very +tactful and considerate." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he's fortunate in gaining your good opinion. No doubt, you know +something about his history?" +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay my good opinion is not worth much, but I feel that he +deserves it, in spite of what I've been told about him," she answered +with a blush. "It is very sad that he should have to give up all he +valued, and I thought there was something gallant in his cheerfulness; +he was always ready with a jest." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you met his companion? I understand that he is not a man of my +nephew's stamp." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent smiled. "Hardly so, from your point of view." +</P> + +<P> +"Does that mean that yours is not the same as mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have had to earn my living, which changes one's outlook; perhaps I'd +better not say enlarges it. However, you shall judge. Mr. Harding is +a traveller for an American paint factory and had to begin work at an +age when your nephew was at Eton, but I think him a very fine type. +He's serious, courteous, and sanguine, and seems to have a strong +confidence in his partner." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Challoner; "that is not so strange. The Blakes have a way +of inspiring trust and liking. It's a gift of theirs." +</P> + +<P> +"Your nephew undoubtedly has it. He uses it unconsciously, but I think +that those who trust him are not deceived." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner regarded her with a curious expression. "After all," he +said, "that may be true." +</P> + +<P> +Then Greythorpe came up in search of Millicent, and when she went away +with him Challoner saw Mrs. Chudleigh approaching. Obeying her sign he +followed her to a seat in the recess in the hall. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Greythorpe came down yesterday," she said. "I suppose you have +already had a talk with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Last night. As you anticipated, he asked my opinion about the African +matter. Several names have been submitted; trustworthy men." +</P> + +<P> +"Come to the point," she told him sharply. "What did you do about +Captain Sedgwick?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner gravely met her insistent gaze. "I felt compelled to suggest +that he was not the best man for the post." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh's eyes sparkled and the blood swept into her face. Her +pose grew tense and she looked dangerous, but with an obvious effort +she controlled her anger. +</P> + +<P> +"Then if I were a revengeful person, I would warn you that you must +take the consequences." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose that follows, but I would prefer to think you are fair +enough to make allowances for a man who tried to do the right thing in +a difficult situation." +</P> + +<P> +She was silent for a moment, watching him with a curious, half-ashamed +feeling. Then she made an abrupt movement. +</P> + +<P> +"It's hard to do so. A word or two, which you would not speak, would +have led to the appointment of the most talented man. I'm not a saint; +you mustn't expect a higher standard from me than I'm capable of." +</P> + +<P> +She dismissed him with an angry gesture and got up as Mrs. Foster came +in with Greythorpe. When the latter left his hostess she beckoned him +and led him to a seat near the hearth. +</P> + +<P> +"How far does Colonel Challoner's opinion go with you?" she asked +boldly. +</P> + +<P> +"That depends," he answered, smiling. "On some matters it goes a long +way." +</P> + +<P> +"On the choosing of a West African officer, for instance?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Greythorpe, "now I begin to understand. If I am not +indiscreet in mentioning it, I thought my old friend was rather in +disgrace with you." +</P> + +<P> +"You are keen," she told him. "I must warn you that Challoner is +prejudiced." +</P> + +<P> +"If that is so, there is probably a reason for it." +</P> + +<P> +"There is," she said coolly. "I'm afraid it is my fault. I made a +mistake in trying to force the Colonel to speak in favour of one of the +candidates." +</P> + +<P> +"It was unwise," Greythorpe agreed. "Our friend is by no means +amenable to treatment of the kind." +</P> + +<P> +"Still you would not let a good officer suffer because of my +tactlessness?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not; the only thing that could count against any of the men +we are considering is some shortcoming of their own." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I must try to remove a wrong impression and my task is difficult +because you know Challoner better than I do. We can, however, agree +that he is honest." +</P> + +<P> +"Eminently conscientious," Greythorpe remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must allow for a reaction against the injudicious course I +took. I urged him to speak for a friend of mine, which was, no doubt, +very wrong, and it seems I went too far. Can you not imagine his +resenting it and being so determined not to be influenced that he +became hypercritical?" +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe thought this clever, since it was the best means of +lessening the value of Challoner's opinion that she could use. +</P> + +<P> +"I gather that you put too severe a strain upon his friendship." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid there's a breach between us now, but that is not the point." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Greythorpe. "In a general way, your reasoning is logical, +but I hardly think it applicable to Challoner. He might resent your +action; but it would not make him unjust. I presume the man you favour +is Captain Sedgwick?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's much the best of the three you have in view." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you know something about the matter? We thought it was secret." +</P> + +<P> +She laughed. "Secrets are not always well kept. I know the other men, +and though there is nothing that can be urged against their character, +they are plodders, men of routine, without much foresight or +enterprise." +</P> + +<P> +"Allowing that you are right, isn't there something to be said for the +steady plodder?" +</P> + +<P> +"I daresay he's useful," Mrs. Chudleigh agreed with a touch of scorn. +"But for the vacant post you want a bold determined man who can see +ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"To some extent, I must agree. You believe Captain Sedgwick is such a +man?" +</P> + +<P> +He felt a certain tempered admiration for her. She made no secret of +her aim, though he supposed she must find it embarrassing to plead for +her lover, since he did not doubt that she loved Sedgwick. She had +courage and cleverness and he listened with close attention while she +spoke about the man's exploits and abilities. Then she looked up with +an eagerness which somewhat moved him. +</P> + +<P> +"Have I convinced you?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe smiled. "That Sedgwick is a dashing and intrepid soldier? +Yes. But there are other points to take into account, and the matter +does not entirely rest with me. Still, I think if he serves us well, +we may find some use for him." +</P> + +<P> +It was a guarded promise and by no means all that she desired, but she +knew she must be content with it. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I have accomplished something and will remember the consideration +and patience you have shown," she said, and when some of the other +guests came in moved away to join them. +</P> + +<P> +In the meanwhile, Millicent had been sitting alone for a few minutes at +the opposite end of the hall. Somebody was singing in the adjoining +drawing-room, the door of which stood open, and she could see several +people gathered about the piano, though she was herself partly secluded +by a screen. By and by Lieutenant Walters came in, and as he made his +way towards her after looking round she felt tempted to change her +place, but could not do so without making her retreat too marked. Now +and then he suffered from a relapse, and she felt compassionate as she +noticed the heaviness of his movements and his pinched expression. +Still his eyes had been eager as he searched the room, and this had +caused her some alarm, because he had lately shown a noticeable +preference for her society. When he stopped he laid his hand, as if +for support, on the back of a chair and glanced towards a window that +opened into the conservatory. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been hanging about since dinner trying to get hold of you, but +you were in too great demand," he said. "Shall we slip out to the seat +among the palms yonder for a quiet talk?" +</P> + +<P> +The conservatory looked inviting with the coloured lamps hanging among +the flowers and screens of trailing plants throwing their shadows +across warm, scented nooks. Walters, however, had framed his question +injudiciously, because it implied a mutual desire to escape observation +and confidential relations which did not exist. +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," said Millicent. "I may be wanted." +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Keith's talking to Challoner and won't ask for you," Walters +objected. "Be good-natured; it's quiet yonder. That fellow in the +drawing-room can't sing and the piano makes my head ache." +</P> + +<P> +"It really oughtn't to. The girl who's accompanying him plays well, +but I'm afraid you're not feeling very fit to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not; I suppose it's weak, but when I seem to be going back instead +of picking up, I get depressed. That's partly why I came for you; you +know how to cheer one." +</P> + +<P> +"I feel flattered," Millicent rejoined, smiling. "But you shouldn't be +downcast. You're making excellent progress." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! well," he said irritably, "don't let us talk about my ailments; +I'm tired of them. But this light's glaring. Take pity on me and come +in among the flowers, where it's quiet and dim." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent was tempted to agree. She liked the man and felt sorry for +him; he was frank, rather handsome, and generally a pleasant companion, +but she thought their friendship was ripening too fast and was not +prepared to see it change to something deeper Indeed, since it was +pleasant to be sought after, she feared she had allowed herself to +drift too far, and now the time to pull up had come. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said, "I must stay here." +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her rather hard, for there was decision in her tone and he +was not dull. She was very attractive; he liked her thoughtful +expression and her gentle firmness. Half-consciously he compared her +with the highly polished, clever woman, who had at first fascinated +him, and his appreciation of the girl grew stronger. Mrs. Chudleigh, +who did not improve upon close acquaintance, had been inclined to leave +him alone of late, and though he could not resent this he had an +unflattering suspicion that he had somehow been made use of and had +served his turn. Miss Graham was different; she was genuine, which was +the word that occurred to him, and he was growing fond of her. +</P> + +<P> +"As you wish, of course," he said. "Am I allowed to remain?" +</P> + +<P> +She indicated a place on the corner seat and when he took it began to +talk, carefully avoiding any personal topic, but after a time he +interrupted her— +</P> + +<P> +"I heard Mrs. Keith say she was going to the Vivians in Durham later. +I suppose she will take you?" +</P> + +<P> +Millicent said she believed so, and he continued: "It's possible I may +turn up there." +</P> + +<P> +He watched her closely, but could see nothing that suggested +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know the people?" she inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I used to know Herbert Vivian, though I haven't seen him for some +time. No doubt, if he got a hint he'd ask me down." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a high, bleak place," said Millicent. "We were nearly frozen on +our last visit, and I'm afraid you wouldn't find the cold good for you. +Were you not recommended to stay in Devonshire?" +</P> + +<P> +Walters gave her a half-indignant glance. "When that brute of a hill +man knocked me out I'd no suspicion how much his shot would cost me. +Anyhow, I'm not going to Devonshire, and I ventured to think you might +have been glad to see me at the Vivians'." +</P> + +<P> +"Why should I wish you to do an unwise thing?" Millicent asked. +</P> + +<P> +"That's an evasion," he answered bluntly. "I'll be candid. This place +won't be the same after you have gone." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent was silent a moment. She knew he wanted a tacit admission +that their acquaintance need not end with her visit to Hazlehurst, but +he would be right in attaching some significance to her action if she +made it. The man, who had only known her a few weeks, could go no +further yet, and he was eminently likeable, but she would not lead him +on. +</P> + +<P> +"That," she said, "was very nice of you, but you will soon get used to +the change." +</P> + +<P> +"You may," he replied with rather bitter humour. +</P> + +<P> +"After all," said Millicent, "one meets pleasant people here and there, +and though one regrets it has to part from them." +</P> + +<P> +Looking at her fixedly, he understood. Her expression was quietly +resolute, and he recognized that their friendship must shortly come to +an end. The girl knew her mind and had obviously made it up. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said in a resigned tone, "you won't be forgotten. I must +get back to India as soon as I can." +</P> + +<P> +By and by he went away and Mrs. Keith joined Millicent. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you been saying to Walters?" she asked. "I met him going +out, and he looked very crestfallen." +</P> + +<P> +"He hinted that he might follow us to the Vivians' and I suggested that +it was too cold a place for him," Millicent answered with a blush. +</P> + +<P> +"I see," remarked Mrs. Keith, who was sometimes blunt. "Well, I +daresay you were wise; though I'm told he'll be captain shortly, and he +has his good points, Jimmy is no catch. You certainly might do better." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent turned her head, half-indignant, half-embarrassed, and Mrs. +Keith laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear," she resumed gently, "I'm glad you have some sense. It's +perhaps not impossible for the wife of a young Indian officer to live +upon her husband's pay, but unless they're exceptional people it's apt +to lead to disaster." +</P> + +<P> +"It wasn't that," Millicent protested, unwilling to be suspected of a +mercenary mind, and Mrs. Keith's eyes twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"Then what was it that influenced you?" +</P> + +<P> +As the girl did not answer, she turned away and left her to face the +question. It proved troublesome, for Millicent was not daunted by +poverty and could find no fault with Walters; indeed, she was sensible +of some esteem for him. Then, though she would not admit that this was +her reason for checking his advances, her thoughts centred on another +man. He was in disgrace, but she remembered how chivalrously and +adroitly he had come to her rescue in London and had again been of +assistance on the St. Lawrence steamer. He was prompt in action, +pitiful and humorous. She remembered his gay buoyancy, she could +imagine his facing his troubles with a laugh. It was characteristic of +him that he had gone up into the wilds of the frozen North with an +inexperienced companion on a rash search for fortune, which she +gathered would probably elude him. Still, she knew that he would +struggle gallantly against the perils and hardships he might have to +face. Then she remembered that by sitting alone with an abstracted air +she might excite curiosity, and rousing herself, went to look for her +hostess. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A NEW PERSECUTOR +</H4> + +<P> +Soon after Greythorpe's visit Mrs. Chudleigh went away, leaving +Challoner unpleasantly uncertain about the course she might take. He +was still without news of Blake; he could not question his son, whose +integrity he tried hard to believe in, and he spent a few anxious +weeks. Then one evening when he came home from a neighbour's house he +was told that a man who had called to see him some time earlier was in +the library. Challoner glanced at the card his servant gave him. +</P> + +<P> +"Clarke? I don't know anybody of that name," he said and then started +as he saw the word Sweetwater in small type at the bottom of the card. +</P> + +<P> +Taking off his coat he went up the staircase with some eagerness. The +lamps had been lighted in the library and a good fire burned on the +hearth, near which his visitor was comfortably seated in a big leather +chair. He rose as Challoner entered, and the latter was not favourably +impressed by him. There was a hint of grossness about the fellow which +repelled the Colonel, who was of an ascetic type; besides, he was badly +and carelessly dressed, and Challoner was fastidious in such matters. +Also the man had an irritating air of assurance. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel Challoner, I presume?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner bowed. "You have brought me some news of my nephew, Richard +Blake?" +</P> + +<P> +This disconcerted Clarke, who had not imagined that his object would be +known and had counted upon Challoner's being surprised when he heard it +and thrown off his guard. It, however, looked as if the Colonel had +been making inquiries about Blake, and Clarke wished he could guess his +reason, because it might affect the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"That is correct," he said. "I have a good deal to tell you and it may +take some time." +</P> + +<P> +Signing him to be seated, Challoner rang a bell, and wine and cigars +and hothouse fruit were brought in. These he offered his guest, who +helped himself freely and then said, "Your nephew spent a week in the +settlement where I live, preparing for a journey to the North. Though +his object was secret, I believe he went in search of something to make +varnish of, because he took a young American traveller for a colour +factory with him, besides another man." +</P> + +<P> +"I know this," Challoner replied. "I heard about his American +companion; who was the other?" +</P> + +<P> +"We will come to him presently. There is still something which I think +you do not know." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I should be glad to be informed. But, first of all, could you +find Blake if it were necessary?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm doubtful; the thing would be difficult," Clarke answered in a +significant tone. "He hadn't returned when I left, and the country he +meant to cross is rugged and covered deep with snow all winter. Food +is hard to get and the temperature varies from forty to fifty degrees +below." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it could be traversed by a properly equipped expedition?" +</P> + +<P> +Though Challoner's face was calm, Clarke inferred some anxiety to find +his nephew, and answered cautiously: "It would be possible, but whether +a party sent up could strike the others' trail is a different matter." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Challoner; "we'll talk of it again. Go on with what +you wished to say." +</P> + +<P> +He was suspicious, for his visitor's looks were not in his favour, and +the man gave him a keen glance. +</P> + +<P> +"It concerns your nephew's earlier history." +</P> + +<P> +"That is of most importance to himself and me. It can't interest you." +</P> + +<P> +"It interests me very much," Clarke rejoined with an ironical smile. +"I must ask you to let me tell you what I know." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner, who thought he had better learn it, consented, and Clarke +gave him what he admitted was a very accurate account of the action on +the Indian frontier. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he concluded, "the question, Who gave the order to retreat? is +of vital importance to you." +</P> + +<P> +"In a sense, it has been answered." +</P> + +<P> +"I think incorrectly." +</P> + +<P> +"Then if you differ from the general opinion on the matter, you can let +me have your theory of what occurred." +</P> + +<P> +It took Clarke some minutes to give it and Challoner's heart sank, for +the man carefully arranged his points and the damaging inference could +hardly be shirked. On the whole, his account agreed with Mrs. +Chudleigh's, although it was more cleverly worked out, but there was +nothing to be learned from Challoner's expression. He was now not +dealing with a woman who had the excuse that she was acting in her +lover's interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Your suggestions are plausible, but you can't seriously expect me to +attach much weight to them," he remarked. "Besides, you seem to have +overlooked the important fact that at the regimental inquiry the +verdict was that nobody in particular was to blame. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! no," Clarke rejoined with a harsh laugh. "I merely question its +validity. I imagine that reasons which would not be officially +recognized led the court to take a lenient view; but what of that? +Blake had to leave the army, a ruined man, and I've good reason for +knowing what an acquittal like his is worth." He paused a moment. "I +may as well tell you candidly, because it's probable that you'll make +inquiries about me. Well, I'd won some reputation as a medical +specialist when I became involved in a sensational police case—you may +recollect it." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner started. "Yes," he said. "So you are the man! I think +nothing was actually proved against you." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Clarke drily; "there was only a fatal suspicion. As it +happens, I was innocent, but I had to give up my profession and my life +was spoiled. There's no reason why you should be interested in this, +and I mentioned it merely because a similar misfortune has befallen +Richard Blake. The point, of course, is that it has done so +undeservedly. I think you must see who the real culprit is." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll admit that you have told me a rather likely tale. As you don't +speak of having been in India, who gave you the information?" +</P> + +<P> +"Blake's companion, the man I've mentioned, a former Indian officer +called Benson." +</P> + +<P> +"His full name, please." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke gave it him and Challoner, crossing the floor, took a book from +a shelf and turned it over by a lamp. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; he's here. What led him to talk of the thing to an outsider?" +</P> + +<P> +"Drink," said Clarke. "I'll own to having taken advantage of the +condition he was often in." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner, sitting down, coolly lighted a cigar. His position seemed a +weak one, but he had no thought of surrender. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you have given me some interesting information; but there's one +thing you haven't mentioned, and that is your reason for doing so." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't you guess?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't have suspected you of being so diffident, but I daresay +you thought this was a chance of earning some money easily." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Clarke. "For five thousand pounds I'll undertake that no +word of what I've told you will ever pass my lips again." +</P> + +<P> +"You're not flattering. Do you suppose I'd pay five thousand pounds to +see my nephew wronged?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you might do so to save your son." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner, who wished to lead the man on and learn something about his +plans, made a negative sign. +</P> + +<P> +"Out of the question." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'll make you an alternative offer, and it's worth considering. +Take, or get your friends to subscribe for, ten thousand pounds worth +of shares in a commercial syndicate I'm getting up, and you'll never +regret it. If you wish, I'll make you a director so you can satisfy +yourself that the money will be wisely spent. You'll get it back +several times over." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner laughed. "This is to salve my feelings; to make the thing +look like a business transaction?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Clarke, leaning forward and speaking eagerly. "It's a +genuine offer, and I'll ask your attention for a minute or two. +Canada's an undeveloped country; we have scarcely begun to tap its +natural resources, and there's wealth ready for exploitation all over +it. We roughly know the extent of the farming land and the value of +the timber, but the minerals still to a large extent await discovery, +while perhaps the most readily and profitably handled product is oil. +Now I know a belt of country where it's oozing from the soil and with +ten thousand pounds I'll engage to bore wells that will give a +remarkable yield." +</P> + +<P> +His manner was impressive, and though Challoner had no cause to trust +him he thought the man sincere. +</P> + +<P> +"One understands that in Canada all natural commodities belong to the +State and any person discovering them can work them on certain terms. +It seems to follow that if your knowledge of the locality is worth +anything, it must belong to you alone. How is it that nobody else +suspects the belt contains oil?" +</P> + +<P> +"A shrewd objection, but easily answered. The country in question is +one of the most rugged tracts in Canada, difficult to get through in +summer, while the man who enters it in winter runs a serious risk. Now +I'll allow that what you know about me is not likely to prejudice you +in my favour, but on your promise to keep it secret I'll give you +information that must convince you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you make your offer to some company floater or stockjobber?" +</P> + +<P> +Clarke smiled in a pointed manner. "Because I've a damaging record and +no friends to vouch for me. I came here because I felt I had some +claim on you." +</P> + +<P> +"You were mistaken," said Challoner drily. +</P> + +<P> +"Hear me out; try to consider my proposition on its merits. For a +number of years I've known the existence of the oil and have tried to +prospect the country. It was difficult; to transport enough food and +tools meant a costly expedition and the attracting of undesirable +attention. I went alone, living with primitive Russian settlers and +afterwards with the Indians. To gain a hold on them I studied the +occult sciences and learned tricks that impose upon the credulous. To +the white men I'm a crank, to the Indians something of a magician, but +my search for the oil has gone on, and now while I already know where +boring would be commercially profitable, I'm on the brink of tapping a +remarkable flow." +</P> + +<P> +"What will you do if it comes up to your expectations?" Challoner +asked, for he had grown interested. +</P> + +<P> +"Turn it over to a company strong enough to exact good terms from the +American producers or, failing that, to work the wells. Then I'd go +back to London where with money and the standing it would buy me I'd +take up my old profession. I believe I've kept abreast of medical +progress and could still make my mark and reinstate myself. It has +been my steadfast object ever since I became an outcast; I've schemed +and cheated to gain it, besides risking my life often in desolate +muskegs and the Arctic frost. Now I ask you to make it possible, and +you cannot refuse." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner was silent for a minute or two while Clarke smoked +impassively. The former knew he had a determined man to deal with and +believed moreover that he had spoken the truth. Still, the fellow, +although in some respects to be pitied, was obviously a dangerous +rascal, embittered and robbed of all scruples by injustice. There was +something malignant in his face that testified against him, and, worse +than all, he had come there resolved to extort money as the price of +his connivance in a wrong. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" Clarke said, breaking the pause. +</P> + +<P> +"So far as I can judge, your ultimate object's creditable, but I can't +say as much for the means you are ready to employ in raising the money. +If you go on with the scheme, it must be without any help of mine." +</P> + +<P> +Clarke's face grew hard, and there was something forbidding in the way +he knitted his brows. +</P> + +<P> +"Think! Have you gauged the consequences of your refusal?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's more to the purpose that I've tried to estimate the importance of +your version of what happened during the night attack. It has one +fatal weakness which you seem to have overlooked." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Clarke with ironical calm. "You will no doubt mention it." +</P> + +<P> +"You suggest Blake's innocence, but you must be content with doing so. +You cannot prove it in the face of his denial." +</P> + +<P> +To Challoner's surprise, Clarke smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have seen that! The trouble is that your nephew may never have +an opportunity of denying it. He left for the North very badly +equipped, and he has not come back yet." Then he rose with an +undisturbed air. "Well, as it seems we can't come to terms, I needn't +waste my time, and it's a long walk to the station. I must try some +other market, and while I think you have made a grave mistake that is +your affair." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner let him go and afterwards sat down to think. There had been +nothing forcible or obviously threatening in the man's last few +remarks, but their effect was somehow sinister. Challoner wondered +whether he had done well in suggesting that Blake's denial would prove +Clarke's greatest difficulty. After all, he had a strong affection for +his nephew, who might be in danger, and knew that the wilds of Northern +Canada might prove deadly to a weak party unprovided with proper +sledges and stores. Still, something might, perhaps, be done, and by +and by he wrote a letter to a friend who had once made an adventurous +journey across the frozen land. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +CLARKE MODIFIES HIS PLANS +</H4> + +<P> +A bitter wind swept the snowy prairie and the cold was Arctic when +Clarke, shivering in his furs, came into sight of his homestead as he +walked back from Sweetwater. He had gone there for his mail, which +included an English newspaper, and had taken supper at the hotel. It +was now about two hours after dark, but a full moon hung in the western +sky and the cluster of wooden buildings formed a shadowy blur on the +glittering plain. There was no fence, not a tree to break the white +expanse that ran back to the skyline, and it struck Clarke, who had +lately returned from England, that the place looked very dreary. +</P> + +<P> +He walked on with the fine, dry snow the wind whipped up glistening on +his furs, and on reaching the homestead went first to the stable. It +was built of sod, which was cheaper and warmer than sawn lumber, and, +lighting a lantern, he fed his teams. The heavy Clydesdales and +lighter driving horses were all valuable, for Clarke was a successful +farmer and had found that the purchase of the best animals and +implements led to economy, though it was said he seldom paid the full +market price for them. He had walked home because it was impossible to +keep warm driving, and felt tired and morose. The man had passed his +prime and was beginning to find the labour he had never shirked more +irksome than it had been, while he dispensed with a hired hand in +winter, when there was less to be done. Clarke neglected no +opportunity of saving a dollar. +</P> + +<P> +When he had finished in the stable, he crossed the snow to the house, +which was dark and silent. After the bustle and stir of London where +he had spent some time, it was depressing to come back to the empty +dwelling, and he was glad that he had saved himself the task of getting +supper. Shaking the snow from his furs, he lighted the lamp and filled +up the stove before he sat down wearily. The small room was not a +cheerful place in which to spend the winter nights alone, though he +remembered that for a number of years he had not noticed this. Walls +and floor were uncovered and roughly boarded with heat-cracked lumber; +the stove was rusty and gave out a smell of warm iron, while a black +distillate had dripped from its pipe. There were, however, several +well-filled bookcases and one or two comfortable chairs. +</P> + +<P> +Clarke lighted his pipe and drawing his seat as near the stove as +possible opened an English newspaper, which contained some news that +interested him. A short paragraph stated that Captain Bertram +Challoner, then stationed at Delhi, had received an appointment which +would shortly necessitate his return from India. This, Clarke +imagined, might be turned to good account, but the matter demanded +thought, and for a time he sat motionless, deeply pondering. His +farming had prospered, though the bare and laborious life had tried him +hard, and he had made some money by more questionable means, lending to +unfortunate neighbours at extortionate interest and foreclosing on +their possessions. No defaulter got any mercy at his hands and shrewd +sellers of seed and implements took precautions when they dealt with +him. +</P> + +<P> +His money, however, would not last him long if he returned to England +and attempted to regain a footing in his profession, and he had +daringly schemed to increase it. Glancing across the room, his eyes +rested on a bookcase, with a curious smile. It contained works on +hypnotism, telepathy, and psychological speculations in general, and he +had studied some with ironical amusement and others with a quickening +of his interest. Amidst much that he thought of as sterile chaff he +saw germs of truth, and had once or twice been led to the brink of a +startling discovery. There the elusive clue had failed him, though he +felt that strange secrets might be revealed some day. +</P> + +<P> +After all, the books had served his purpose, as well as kept him from +brooding when he sat alone at nights while the icy wind howled round +his dwelling. He passed for a sage and something of a prophet with the +primitive Dubokars, his Indian friends regarded him as a medicine man, +and both had unknowingly made his search for the petroleum easier. +Then, contrary to his expectations, he had found speculators in London +willing to venture a few hundred pounds on his scheme, but the amount +was insufficient and the terms were exacting. It would pay him better +to get rid of his associates. He was growing old; it would be too late +to return to his former life unless he could do so soon, but he must +make a fair start with ample means. The man had no scruples and no +illusions; money well employed would buy him standing and friends. +People were charitable to a man who had something to offer them, and +the blot upon his name must be nearly forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +First of all, however, the richest spot of the oil field must be found +and money enough raised to place him in a strong position when the +venture was put on the market. He had failed to extort any from +Challoner, but he might be more successful with his son. The man who +was weak enough to allow his cousin to suffer for his fault would no +doubt yield to judicious pressure. It was fortunate that Bertram +Challoner was coming to England, because he could be more easily +reached. This led Clarke to think of Blake, since he realized that +Challoner was right in pointing out that the man was his greatest +difficulty. If Blake maintained that the fault was his, nothing could +be done; it was therefore desirable that he should be kept out of the +way. There was another person to whom the same applied; Clarke had +preyed on Benson's weakness, but if the fellow had overcome it and +returned to farm industriously, his exploitation would be no longer +possible. On the other hand, if he failed to pay off his debts, Clarke +saw how he could with much advantage seize his possessions. Thus both +Blake and Benson were obstacles, and now they had ventured into the icy +North it would be better if they did not reappear. +</P> + +<P> +Clarke refilled his pipe and his face wore a sinister look as he took +down a rather sketchy map of the wilds beyond the prairie belt. After +studying it for a time he sank into an attitude of concentrated +thought. The stove crackled, its pipe glowing red, driving snow lashed +the shiplap walls, and the wind moaned drearily about the house. Its +occupant was, however, oblivious to his surroundings and sat very still +in his chair, with pouches under his fixed eyes and his lips set tight. +He looked malignant and dangerous, and perhaps his mental attitude was +not quite normal. Close study and severe physical toil, coupled with +free indulgence, had weakened him; there were drugs he was addicted to +which affected the brain, and he had long been possessed by one fixed +idea. By degrees it had become a mania, and he would stick at nothing +that might help him to carry his purpose out. When at length he got up +with a shiver to throw wood into the stove as the room grew cold, he +thought he saw how his object could be secured. +</P> + +<P> +A month before Clarke spent the evening thinking about them, Blake and +his comrades camped at sunset in a belt of small spruces near the edge +of the open waste that runs back to the Polar Sea. They were worn and +hungry, for the shortage of provisions had been a constant trouble and +such supplies as they obtained from Indians, who had seldom much to +spare, soon ran out. Once or twice they had feasted royally after +shooting a big bull moose, but the frozen meat they were able to carry +did not last long, and again they were threatened with starvation. +</P> + +<P> +It was a calm evening with a coppery sunset flaring across the snow, +but intensely cold, and though they had wood enough and sat close +beside a fire with their ragged blankets wrapped round them they could +not keep warm. Harding and Benson were openly dejected, but Blake had +somehow preserved his cheerful serenity. As usual after finishing +their scanty supper, they began to talk, for during the day +conversation was limited by the toil of the march. By and by Harding +took a few bits of resin out of a bag. +</P> + +<P> +"No good," he said. "It's common fir gum, such as I could gather a +carload of in the forests of Michigan. Guess there's something wrong +with my theory about the effects of extreme cold." Then he took a +larger lump from a neat leather case. "This is the genuine article, +and it's certainly the product of a coniferous tree, while the fellow I +got it from said it was found in the coldest parts of North America. +Seems to me we have tried all the varieties of the firs, but we're as +far from finding what we want as when we started." +</P> + +<P> +"Hard luck!" Benson remarked gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +Harding broke off a fragment and lighted it. "Notice the smell. It's +characteristic." +</P> + +<P> +"The fellow may have been right on one point," said Blake. "When I was +in India I once got some incense which was brought down in small +quantities from the Himalayas, and, I understood, came from near the +snow-line. The smell was the same, one doesn't forget a curious scent." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so. Talking about it reminds me that I was puzzled by a smell +I thought I ought to know when I brought Clarke out of the tepee. I +remembered what it was not long since and the thing's significant. It +was gasoline." +</P> + +<P> +"They extract it from crude petroleum, don't they." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; it's called petrol on your side. Clarke's out for coal-oil, and +I guess he's struck it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he's lucky, but his good fortune doesn't concern us and we have +other things to think about. What are you going to do, now we don't +seem able to find the gum?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a difficult question," Harding answered in a troubled voice. +"I'd hate to go back, with nothing accomplished and all my dollars +spent, and take to the road again. Marianna's paying for this journey +in many ways, and I haven't the grit to tell her we're poorer than when +I left. She wouldn't complain, but when you have to live on a small +commission that's hard to make, it's the woman who meets the bill." +</P> + +<P> +Blake made a sign of sympathy. He had never shared Harding's +confidence in the success of his search and had joined in it from love +of adventure and a warm liking for his comrade. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "I've no means except a small allowance which is so +tied up that it's difficult to borrow anything upon it, but it's at +your disposal as far as it goes. Suppose we keep this prospecting up." +</P> + +<P> +"If Clarke's mortgage doesn't stop me, I might raise a few dollars on +my farm," Benson remarked. "I'll throw them in with pleasure, because +I'm pretty deep in your debt." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," said Harding. "I'm sorry I can't agree, but I wouldn't take +your offer when you first made it, and I can't do so now my plan's a +failure. Anyway, we're doing some useless talking, because I don't see +how we're to go on prospecting or get south again when we have only +three or four days' food in hand." +</P> + +<P> +He stated an unpleasant truth which the others had characteristically +shirked, for Blake was often careless and Benson had taken the risks of +the journey with frank indifference, though they had the excuse that +after nearly starving once or twice they had succeeded in getting fresh +supplies. Now, however, their hearts sank as they thought of the +expanse of frozen wilderness that lay between them and the settlements. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake, "there's a Hudson's Bay factory somewhere to the +east of us. I can't tell how far off it is, though it must be a long +way, but if we could reach it, the agent might take us in." +</P> + +<P> +"How are you going to find the place?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, but a Hudson's Bay post is generally fixed where there +are furs to be got, and there will, no doubt, be Indians trapping in +the neighbourhood. We must take our chances of hitting their tracks." +</P> + +<P> +"But we can't make a long march without food," Benson objected. +</P> + +<P> +"The trouble is that we can't stay here without it," Blake rejoined +with a short laugh. +</P> + +<P> +This was undeniable, and neither of his companions answered. They were +unkempt, worn out, and ragged, and had travelled a long way through +fresh snow on short rations in the past week. Ahead of them lay a vast +and almost untrodden desolation; behind them a rugged wilderness which +there seemed no probability of their being able to cross. Lured by the +hope of finding what they sought they had pushed on from point to +point, and now it was too late to return. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Blake got up. "Our best chance is to kill a caribou, and +this is the kind of country they generally haunt. Since the sooner we +look for one the better, I may as well start at once. There'll be a +moon to-night." +</P> + +<P> +He threw off his blanket and picking up a Marlin rifle, which was their +only weapon, strode out of camp, and as he was a good shot and tracker +they let him go. It was getting dark when he left the shelter of the +trees and the cold in the open struck through him like a knife. The +moon had not risen yet and the waste stretched away before him, its +whiteness changed to a soft blue-grey. In the distance scattered +bluffs rose in long dark smears, but there was nothing to indicate +which way he should turn, and he had no reason to believe there was a +caribou near the camp. As a matter of fact, they had found the larger +deer remarkably scarce. He was tired after breaking the trail since +sunrise, and the snow was loose beneath his big net shoes, but he +plodded towards the farthest bluff, feeling that he was largely to +blame for the party's difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +Knowing something of the country, he should have insisted on turning +back when he found they could obtain no dog-teams to transport their +supplies. Occasionally the Hudson's Bay agents and patrols of the +North-West Police made long journeys in Arctic weather, but they were +provided with proper sledges and sufficient preserved food. Indeed, +Blake was astonished that he and his comrades had got so far. He had, +however, given way to Harding, who hardly knew the risks he ran, and +now he supposed must take the consequences. This did not daunt him +badly. After all, life had not much to offer an outcast, and though he +had managed to extract some amusement from it he had nothing to look +forward to. There was no prospect of his making money—his talents +were not commercial—and the hardships he could bear with now would +press on him more heavily as he grew older. These considerations, +however, were too philosophical for him to continue. He was +essentially a man of action and feeling unpleasantly hungry, and he +quickened his pace, knowing that the chance of his getting a shot at a +caribou in the open was small. +</P> + +<P> +The moon had not risen when he reached the bluff, but the snow +reflected a faint light and he noticed a row of small depressions on +its surface. Kneeling down, he examined them, but there had been wind +during the day and the marks were blurred. He felt for a match, but +his fingers were too numbed to open the watertight case, and he +proceeded to measure the distance between the footprints. This was an +unreliable test because a big deer's stride varies with its pace, but +he thought the tracks indicated a caribou. Then he stopped, without +rising, and looked about. +</P> + +<P> +Close in front the trees rose in a shadowy wall against the clear blue +sky; there was no wind, and it was oppressively still. He could see +about a quarter of a mile across the open, but the darkness of the wood +was impenetrable and its silence daunting. The row of tracks was the +only sign of life he had seen for days. +</P> + +<P> +While he listened a faint howl came out of the distance and was +followed by another. After the deep silence, the sound was startling +and there was danger in it, for Blake recognized the cry of the timber +wolves. The big grey brutes would make short work of a lonely man and +his flesh crept as he wondered whether they were on his trail. On the +whole, it did not seem likely, though they might get scent of him, and, +rising to his feet, he felt that the rifle magazine was full before he +set off at his highest speed. +</P> + +<P> +The snow was loose, however, and his shoes packed and sank; his breath +got shorter, and he began to feel distressed. There was no sound +behind him, but that somehow increased his uneasiness and now and then +he anxiously turned his head. Nothing moved on the sweep of blue-grey +shadow and he pressed on, knowing how poor his speed was compared with +that the wolves were capable of making. At length it was with keen +satisfaction he saw a flicker of light break out from the dark mass of +a bluff ahead and a few minutes later he came, breathing hard, into +camp. +</P> + +<P> +"You haven't stayed out long," Benson remarked. "I suppose you saw +nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard wolves," Blake answered drily. "You had better gather wood +enough to keep a big fire going, because I've no doubt they'll pick up +my trail. However, it's a promising sign." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess we could do without it," Harding broke in. "I've no use for +wolves." +</P> + +<P> +"They must live on something," Blake rejoined. "Since they're here, +there are probably moose or caribou in the neighbourhood. I'll have +another try to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"But the wolves." +</P> + +<P> +"They're not so bold in daylight. Anyhow, it seems to me we must take +some risks." +</P> + +<P> +This was obvious, and when they had heaped up a good supply of wood +Harding and Blake went to sleep, leaving Benson to keep watch. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CARIBOU +</H4> + +<P> +When Blake was awakened by Harding, the cold was almost unendurable, +and it cost him a determined effort to rise from the hollow he had +scraped out of the snow and lined with spruce twigs close beside the +fire. He had not been warm there, and it was significant that the snow +was dry, but sleep had brought him relief from discomfort and he had +found getting up the greatest hardship of the trying journey. In +answer to his drowsy questions, Harding said he had once or twice heard +a wolf howl in the distance, but that was all, and then lay down, +leaving Blake on guard. He sat with his back to a snowbank which +afforded some shelter and imagined from his sensations that the +temperature must be about fifty degrees below zero. The frost bit +through him, stiffening his muscles until he felt that if vigorous +movement were demanded of him he would be incapable of it, and dulling +his brain. He could not reason clearly, though he had things to +consider, and he looked about with heavy eyes, trying to forget his +physical discomfort, while his mind wandered through a maze of confused +thought. +</P> + +<P> +There was a half-moon in the sky, which was pitilessly clear, for +cloudiness might have made it warmer; when the firelight sank he could +see the slender spruce trunks cutting against the silvery radiance and +the hard glitter of the snow. Everything was tinted with blue and +white, and the deathly cold colouring depressed him. Then he began to +consider their position, which was serious. They were worn out and +half-fed; their furs were ragged, and shortage of money and the +difficulty of transport had forced them to cut down their camp +equipment. Indeed, looking back on the long march, he was surprised +that they had escaped crippling frostbite, although both Benson and +Harding were somewhat lame from the strain which the use of snowshoes +puts upon the muscles of the leg. There was, moreover, a risk of this +becoming dangerous. +</P> + +<P> +He imagined that it must be two hundred miles to the Hudson's Bay post +and recognized that the chances were against their reaching it; but +just then a howl rang, harsh and ominous, through the frosty air, and +with a nervous start he reached for his rifle. The wolves had scented +them, and, turning his back to the light, he spent some minutes gazing +fixedly at the glistening white patches among the straggling trees, but +could make out none of the stealthy, flitting shapes he had half +expected to see. It was encouraging that the wolves had not overcome +their timidity of the fire. Keen hunger might have driven them to an +attack, and Blake had no illusions about the result of that. However, +since the fierce brutes were not starving, they must have found +something to eat, and what a wolf could eat would feed men who were by +no means fastidious. Seeing nothing that alarmed him, Blake resumed +his musing. +</P> + +<P> +Their search for the gum had proved useless and he pitied Harding, who +had staked his future upon its success. The man had not complained +much, but Blake knew what he must feel and thought with compassion of +the lonely woman who had bravely sent his comrade out and was now +waiting for him in the mean discomfort of a cheap tenement. It was not +difficult to imagine her anxiety and suspense. +</P> + +<P> +Next he began to ponder his own affairs, which were not encouraging, +though he did not think he really regretted the self-sacrificing course +he had taken. His father had died involved in debt, and Blake +suspected that it had cost Challoner something to redeem the share of +his mother's property which brought him in a small income. That it had +been carefully tied up was not, he thought, enough to guard it from the +Blake extravagance and ingenuity in raising money. Afterwards the +Colonel had brought him up and sent him into the army, doing so with a +generous affection which was very different from cold charity, and +demanded some return. Then Bertram had never been jealous of the +favour shown his cousin, but had given him warm friendship, and Blake, +who was much the stronger, had now and then stood between the lad and +harm. He had done so again in Bertram's greatest need, and now he must +not grumble at the consequences. +</P> + +<P> +Of late they had seemed heavier than formerly, for in tempting him +Clarke had made a telling suggestion—suppose he married? This +appeared improbable; for one thing, no girl he was likely to be +attracted by would look with favour on a man with his reputation, but +he had thought a good deal about Millicent Graham during the weary +march. He imagined that she had inherited enough of her father's +reckless character to make her willing to take a risk. She would not +have a man betray his friend for an advantage that he might gain; she +had a courage that would help her, for love's sake, to tread a +difficult path. Still, there was no reason to believe that she had any +love for him, or indeed that she thought of him except as a stranger to +whom she had, perhaps, some reason to be grateful. Resolutely breaking +off this train of thought, he threw fresh wood upon the fire and sat +shivering and making plans for the march to the factory, until Benson +relieved him. When the grey dawn broke above the trees he got up stiff +with cold and after eating his share of a very frugal breakfast +carefully examined his rifle. Though he kept it clean of superfluous +grease, there was some risk of the striker and magazine-slide freezing, +and a missfire might prove disastrous. Then he glanced up between the +branches and noticed the low, dingy sky, while he thought it was not +quite so cold. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to look for a caribou," he said. "I'll be back by dark." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have snow," said Harding. "If there's much, you'll find it hard +to get home." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd find it harder to do without breakfast and supper, which is what +may happen very soon," Blake rejoined. "One can eat the <I>tripe de +roche</I> which grows upon the stones, but I don't know where to look for +it, and a North-West Police trooper who once tried it told me that it +made him very ill." +</P> + +<P> +"Anyway, you had better take one of us along." +</P> + +<P> +"With the axe?" Blake said, laughing. "It's bad enough to reach a +caribou with a rifle, and Benson's as poor a hand at stalking as I +know, while a day's rest may save you from getting a snowshoe leg. As +we haven't a sledge, it would be awkward to carry you to the factory." +</P> + +<P> +They let him go, but when he reached the open his face hardened. The +sky had a threatening look, the snow was soft, and there were wolves +about, but he was comparatively safe while daylight lasted and food +must be found. During the morning he saw wolf tracks, but no sign of a +deer, and at noon sat down for a few minutes in a sheltered hollow and +managed to light the half-frozen pipe he kept in an inner pocket. He +had brought nothing to eat, since they had decided that it would be +prudent to dispense with a midday meal, and getting stiffly on his feet +by and by, he plodded from bluff to bluff throughout the afternoon. +For the most part, they were thin and the trees very small, while so +far as he could make out the country between them was covered with +slabs of rocks and stones. It was utterly empty, with no sign of life +in it, but he continued his search until the light began to fail, when +he stopped to look about. +</P> + +<P> +No snow had fallen, but the sky was very thick and a stinging wind had +risen, while he would have trouble in reaching camp if his trail got +drifted up. He knew he should have turned back earlier, but there was +what seemed to be an extensive wood in front, and he could not face the +thought of returning empty-handed to his scanty, unearned supper. The +grey trees were not far away; he might reach them and make a mile or +two on the back trail before dark, though he was weary and hunger had +given him a pain in his left side. +</P> + +<P> +Quickening his pace, he neared the bluff, which looked very black and +shadowy against the snow, though the latter was fading to a curious, +lifeless grey. The trees were stunted and scattered, which made it +possible for him to get through, though there were half-covered, fallen +branches which entangled his big shoes. He could see no tracks of any +animal and hardly expected to do so, but in a savage mood he held on +without much caution until he entered a belt of broken ground strewn +with rocky hillocks. Here he could not see where he was going and it +was almost dark in the hollows, but he had found that chance sometimes +favours the hunter as much as careful stalking. Stopping for breath a +moment, half way up a steep ascent, he started, for a shadowy object +unexpectedly appeared upon the summit. It was barely distinguishable +against the background of trees, but he saw the broad-tined horns in an +opening and knew it for a caribou. +</P> + +<P> +There was no time to lose, since the swift creature would take flight +in an instant, and almost as he caught sight of it the rifle went up to +his shoulder. For a moment the foresight wavered across the indistinct +form, and then his numbed hands grew steady, and, trusting that nothing +would check the frost-clogged action, he pressed the trigger. He felt +the jar of the butt, a little smoke blew in his eyes, and he could make +out nothing on the crest of the ridge. It, however, seemed impossible +that he had missed and next moment he heard a heavy floundering in the +snow among the rocks above. He went up the slope at a savage run and +plunged down a precipitous hollow, on the farther side of which a +half-seen object was moving through the gloom of the trees. Stopping a +moment, he threw up the rifle and after the thin red flash the deer +staggered and collapsed. +</P> + +<P> +Running on in desperate haste, he fell upon it with his hunting knife; +and then stopped, feeling strangely limp and breathless, with the long +blade dripping in his hand. Now the caribou lay dead before him, the +strain of the last few minutes made itself felt. Surprised when +exhausted and weak from want of food by an opportunity he had not +looked for, he had forced upon himself sufficient steadiness to shoot. +It had cost him an effort; the short fierce chase had tried him hard, +and now the reaction had set in. For all that, he was conscious of a +savage, exultant excitement. Here was food, and food meant life. +</P> + +<P> +His first impulse was to light a fire and feast, but as he grew calmer +he began to think. He was a long way from camp and feared that if he +rested he could not force himself to resume the march. Besides, there +were the wolves to reckon with, and he could not escape if they +followed him in the dark. Prudence suggested that he should cut off as +much meat as possible, and after placing it out of reach in a tree set +off for camp at his best speed without taking any of the raw flesh to +scent the air; but this was more than he could bring himself to do. +His comrades were very hungry, and some animal might climb to the +frozen meat. It was unthinkable that he should run any risk of losing +the precious food. He decided to take as much as he could carry and +make a depot of the rest, and set to work with the hunting knife in +anxious haste. +</P> + +<P> +It was now quite dark; he could not see what he was cutting, and if he +gashed his hand, which was numbed and almost useless, the wound would +not heal. Then the haft of the knife grew slippery and tough skin and +bone turned the wandering blade. It was an unpleasant business, but he +was not fastidious and he tore the flesh off with his fingers, knowing +that he was in danger while he worked. There were wolves in the +neighbourhood, and their scent for blood was wonderfully keen; it was a +question whether they would reach the spot before he had left it, and +when he stopped to clean the knife in the snow he cast a swift glance +about. +</P> + +<P> +He could see nothing farther off than a fallen trunk about a dozen +yards away; beyond that the trees had faded into a sombre mass. A +biting wind wailed among them, and he could hear the harsh rustle of +the needles, but except for this there was a daunting silence. He +began to feel a horror of the lonely wood and a longing to escape into +the open, though he would be no safer there. But to give way to this +weakness would be dangerous and, pulling himself together, he went to +work more calmly. +</P> + +<P> +It was difficult to reach the branches of the spruce he chose, and when +he had placed the first load of meat in safety he was tempted to +flight. Indeed, for some moments he stood irresolute, struggling to +hold his fears in subjection; and then went back for another supply. +He climbed the tree three times before he was satisfied that he had +stored enough, and afterwards gathered up as much of the flesh as he +could conveniently carry. It would soon freeze, but not before it had +left a scent that any wolf which might happen to be near could follow. +</P> + +<P> +He left the wood with a steady stride, refraining from attempting a +faster pace than he could keep up, but when he had gone a mile he felt +distressed. +</P> + +<P> +His load, which included the rifle, was heavy, and he had been exerting +himself since early morning. The wind was in his face, lashing it +until the cold became intolerable, the dry snow was loose, and he could +not find his outward trail. Still, he was thankful that no more had +fallen and thought he knew the quarter he must make for. Now he was in +the open, he could see some distance, for the snow threw up a dim +light. It stretched away before him, a sweep of glimmering grey, and +the squeaking crunch it made beneath his shoes emphasized the silence. +</P> + +<P> +Skirting a bluff he did not remember, he stopped in alarm until a +taller clump of trees which he thought he knew caught his searching +eyes. If he were right, he must incline farther to the east to strike +the shortest line to camp, and he set off, breathing heavily and +longing to fling away his load. Cold flakes stung his face and a +creeping haze obscured his view in the direction where he expected to +find the next wood. He was within a hundred yards of the nearest trees +when he saw them and as he left the last it was snowing hard. His +heart sank as he launched out into the open, for he had now no guide, +and having neither axe nor blanket he could not make a fire and camp in +a bluff, even if he could find one. It looked as if he must perish +should he fail to reach the camp. The thought of the wolves no longer +troubled him, but when he had gone a mile or two he imagined he heard a +howl behind him and quickened his speed. +</P> + +<P> +After that he had only a hazy recollection of floundering on, passing a +bluff he could not locate and here there and a white rock, while the +snow fell thicker and its surface got worse. Then, when he felt he +could go no farther, a faint glow of light broke out and he turned +towards it with a hoarse cry. An answer reached him; the light grew +brighter, and he was in among the trees. Benson met him, and in +another minute or two he flung himself down, exhausted by the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"I've brought you your supper, boys," he said. "We'll have a feast +to-night." +</P> + +<P> +They ate with keen appetite and afterwards went to sleep, but when they +reached the wood next morning nothing was left of the caribou except +the meat in the tree and a few clean-picked bones. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE FACTORY +</H4> + +<P> +Light snow was driving across the waste before a savage wind when the +party sat at breakfast one morning a fortnight after Blake had shot the +caribou. They had spent the first two days enjoying a badly needed +rest, but the rest of the time had been passed in forced marches which +severely taxed their strength. Part of their way, however, had lain +across open country, for they were near the northern edge of the timber +belt, and the straggling trees, dwarfed and bent by the wind, ran east +and west in a deeply indented line. In some places they boldly +stretched out towards the Pole in long promontories; in others they +fell back in wide bays which Blake, steering by compass, held straight +across and afterwards again plunged into the scrub. Three days were +spent in struggling through the broadest tongue, but as a rule, a few +hours' arduous march brought them out into the open. Even there the +ground was very rough and broken, and they were thankful for the +numerous frozen creeks and lakes which provided an easier road. +</P> + +<P> +Pushing on stubbornly, camping where they could find shelter and wood, +since they could hardly have survived a night spent without a fire in +the open, they had made, by calculation, two hundred miles, and Blake +believed they might by a determined effort reach the Hudson's Bay post +about nightfall. This was necessary since their strength was nearly +exhausted, and provisions had run out, but an Indian trapper whom they +had met two days before had given them directions and landmarks, some +of which they recognized. +</P> + +<P> +Day had broken, but there was little light and Blake, looking out from +behind a slab of rock in the shelter of which a few junipers clung, +thought that three or four miles would be the longest distance that he +could see. This was peculiarly unfortunate, because he understood that +their course led across a wide untimbered stretch, on the opposite side +of which one or two isolated bluffs would indicate the neighbourhood of +the factory. Disastrous consequences might follow the missing of these +woods. +</P> + +<P> +A pannikin of weak tea made from leaves which had already been once or +twice infused stood among the embers, and by and by Benson, who was +dividing the last of the meat, held up a piece. +</P> + +<P> +"I had thought of saving this, but it hardly seems worth while," he +said. "If we make the factory, we'll get a good supper." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't mention what will happen if we miss it," Harding remarked +with grim humour. "Anyhow, that piece of meat won't make much +difference. What do you think, Blake?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake forced a cheerful laugh. "Put it all in; we're going to make the +post; as a matter of fact, we have to. How's the leg this morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think it's worse than it was last night," Harding answered. +"If I'm careful how I go, it ought to stand another journey." +</P> + +<P> +He made a grimace as he stretched out the limb, which was very sore, +for during the last few days the strain the snowshoe threw on the +muscles had nearly disabled him. Now he knew it would be difficult to +hold out for another journey, but he had grown accustomed to pain and +weariness and hunger. They were, he imagined, the lot of all who +braved the rigours of winter in the northern wilds. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Benson, "there's no use in carrying anything that's not +strictly needful and the empty grub-bag may stay behind. Then here's a +pair of worn out moccasins I was keeping as a stand by. I should be +able to get new ones at the factory." +</P> + +<P> +"It's still some distance off," Harding drily reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"If we don't make it, the chances are that I won't need the things. +But what about your collection of gum?" +</P> + +<P> +Nothing had been said on this point for some time, but Harding's face +wore a curious look as he took up a bag which weighed three or four +pounds. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of the stuff might be used for low-grade varnish, but that's not +what I'm out for. I've been trying to believe that a few of the +specimens might prove better on analysis, but I guess it's a delusion." +</P> + +<P> +With a quick resolute movement he threw the bag into the fire and when +the resin flared up with a thick brown smoke the others regarded him +with silent sympathy. This was the end of the project he had expected +so much from, but it was obvious that he could meet failure with +fortitude. Nothing that would serve any purpose could be said, and +they quietly strapped on their blankets. +</P> + +<P> +There was not much snow when they set off and fortunately the wind blew +behind them, but the white haze narrowed in the prospect and Blake, who +broke the trail, kept his eyes upon the compass. He was not quite sure +of the right line, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that he was, +at least, going straight. After a few minutes, Harding glanced behind. +Their camping place had vanished, they were out in an open waste, and +he knew that he had started on the last march he was capable of making. +Where it would lead him he could not tell, though the answer to the +question was of vital importance. +</P> + +<P> +For a time he thought of his wife and wondered with keen anxiety what +would become of her if his strength gave way before they reached the +post, but he drove these cares out of his mind. It was dangerous to +harbour them and served no purpose; his part was to struggle on, +swinging the net shoes while he grappled with the pain each step caused +him. He shrank from contemplating the distance yet to be covered; it +seemed vast to him in his weakness, and he felt himself a feeble, +crippled thing. Soft snow and Arctic cold opposed his advance with +malignant force, but his worn-out body still obeyed the spur of his +will, and he roused himself to fight for the life that had some value +to another. He must march, dividing up the distance into short stages +that had less effect upon the imagination; limping forward from the +ice-glazed rock abreast of him to the white hillock which loomed up +dimly where the snow blurred the horizon. Then he would again look +ahead from some patch of scrub to the most prominent elevation that he +could see. +</P> + +<P> +The marks he chose and passed seemed innumerable, but the wilderness +still ran on, pitilessly empty, in front of him. His leg was horribly +painful, he knew he must break down soon, and they had seen nothing of +a stony rise they were looking for. To find it would simplify matters, +because the Indian had made them understand that the bluffs about the +post lay nearly east of it. +</P> + +<P> +Noon passed and they still pressed forward without a halt, for there +was little more than three hours' daylight left, and it was unthinkable +that they should spend the night without food or shelter. The horizon +steadily narrowed as the snow thickened; there was a risk of their +passing the guiding-marks or even the factory. +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly three o'clock when Harding stumbled and falling into the +snow found himself unable to get up until Benson helped him. In his +attempt to rise he further strained his weakened leg and for a moment +or two he leaned on his companion, his face contorted with pain. +</P> + +<P> +"The fall seems to have hurt you," Benson said sympathetically. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have to go on," Harding gasped and, setting his teeth, strode +forward, made a few paces with horrible pain, and then sank down on his +knees. +</P> + +<P> +The others stopped in consternation and Blake said, "If I've kept the +right line, we can't be far from the factory." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm played out," said Harding. "You'll have to leave me here. If you +make the post, you can come back with a sledge." +</P> + +<P> +"No," Blake answered shortly. "How are we to find you with our trail +drifting up? Besides, you'd be frozen in a few hours. If you can't +walk, you'll have to be carried. Get hold of him, Benson." +</P> + +<P> +Benson lifted him to his feet, Blake seized his arm, and, both +supporting him, they resumed the march. Leaning on them heavily, +Harding was dragged along, and they silenced the feeble protests he +made now and then. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop talking that rot! We see this out together," Blake told him +roughly. +</P> + +<P> +None of them had much doubt as to what the end would be, but they +stubbornly held on. Nothing further was said; Blake and Benson's +pinched faces were set and stern and Harding's drawn up in a ghastly +fashion by suffering. Still, their overtaxed muscles somehow obeyed +the relentless call on them. +</P> + +<P> +At length, when the light had almost gone, Benson stepped into a slight +depression that slanted across their path. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on!" he cried hoarsely. "Look at this!" +</P> + +<P> +Blake stooped while Harding, swaying awkwardly with bent leg, held on +to him. The hollow was small, a smooth groove of slightly lower level +than the rest of the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"A sledge trail!" he said in an exultant voice. "Drifted up a bit, but +they've been hauling lumber over it and that means a good deal to us." +He indicated a shallow furrow a foot or two outside the groove. +"That's been made by the butt of a trailing log. The Indian said there +were bluffs near the post and they wouldn't haul their cordwood farther +than necessary." +</P> + +<P> +Then they were silent for a few moments, overcome by relief. They had +now a guide to shelter and safety, but when they had gathered breath +Blake steadied Harding, who found standing difficult, with his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"We must make a move and hustle all we can," he said. "It will be dark +in half an hour and the snow won't take long in filling up the trail." +</P> + +<P> +The risk of missing the factory, which might be close at hand, was not +to be faced, and they pulled themselves together for a last effort; +Blake and Benson breathing hard as they dragged Harding along. The +light was rapidly going, now they had changed their course the snow +lashed their faces, making it difficult to see, and they plodded +forward with lowered heads and eyes fixed on the guiding-line. It grew +faint in places and vanished altogether after a while. Then they +stopped in dismay, and Blake went down upon his knees scraping with +ragged mittens in the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't see which way it runs, but it certainly doesn't end here," he +said. "Go ahead and look for it, Benson, but don't get out of call." +</P> + +<P> +Benson moved forward and when he faded into the cloud of driving flakes +those he left behind were conscious of a keen uneasiness. They could +only see a few yards, it was blowing fresh and the wind might carry +their voices away, while if this happened the chances were against +their comrade's being able to rejoin them. By and by Blake shouted and +the answer was reassuring. They waited for a time and then when they +cried out a hail came back very faintly: "Nothing yet!" +</P> + +<P> +"Keep closer!" Blake shouted, but it seemed that Benson did not hear +him, for there was no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Hadn't you better go after him?" Harding suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Blake shortly. "It would make things worse to scatter." He +raised his voice. "Come back before your tracks fill up." +</P> + +<P> +The silence that followed filled them with alarm, but while they +listened in strained suspense a minute or two later a faint call came +out of the snow. The words were indistinguishable, but the voice had +an exultant note in it, and Blake said with deep relief, "He has found +the trail." +</P> + +<P> +It was difficult to see the print of Benson's shoes and Harding could +not move a step alone, but they called out at intervals as Blake slowly +helped him along, and at length a shadowy object loomed in front of +them. As they came up Benson pointed to a slight depression. +</P> + +<P> +"We can follow it if it gets no fainter, but there's no time to lose," +he said. "It might be safer if I went first and kept my eye on the +trail." +</P> + +<P> +He shuffled forward with lowered head while Blake came behind, helping +Harding as best he could, and all three long remembered the next half +hour. Once or twice they lost the trail and were seized with despair, +but searching anxiously they found it again. At length a pale, elusive +light appeared amidst the snow ahead and they saw it grow clearer with +keen satisfaction. When it had changed to a strong yellow glow they +passed a broken white barrier which Blake supposed was a ruined +stockade, and the hazy mass of a building showed against the snow. +Then there was a loud barking of dogs, and while they sought for the +door a stream of light suddenly shone out with a man's dark figure in +the midst of it. +</P> + +<P> +Next minute they entered the house and Harding lurching forward across +the floor of a large room, clutched at a table and then fell with a +crash into a chair. After the extreme cold outside, the air was +suffocatingly hot and, overcome by the change and pain, he leaned back +with flushed face and half closed eyes. His companions stood still, +with the snow thick upon their ragged furs, and the other man shut the +door before he turned to them. +</P> + +<P> +"A rough night," he said calmly. "Ye might as weel sit down. Where do +ye hail from?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake laughed as he found a seat. He imagined that their appearance +must have been somewhat startling, but he knew it takes a good deal to +disturb the equanimity of a Hudson's Bay Scot. +</P> + +<P> +"From Sweetwater, but we have been up in the timber belt since winter +set in. Now we have run out of provisions and my partner's lamed by +snowshoe trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay," said the other, "I suspected something o' the kind. But maybe +ye'll be wanting supper?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe, if we were put to it, we could eat half a caribou," Benson +told him with a grin. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no to be had," the Scot answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "I +can give ye a good thick bannock and some whitefish. Our stores are no +so plentiful the now." +</P> + +<P> +They took off their furs and glanced about the place while their host +was busy at the stove. The room was large, its walls of narrow logs +chinked with clay and moss. Guns and steel traps hung upon them, the +floor was made of uneven boards which had obviously been split in the +nearest bluff, and the furniture was of the simplest and rudest +description. It had, however, an air of supreme comfort to the +famishing newcomers, and after the first few minutes they found it +delightfully warm. They ate the food given them ravenously and +afterwards the agent brought Harding some warm water and examined his +leg. +</P> + +<P> +"Ye'll no walk far for a while I'm thinking," he remarked. "Rest it on +the chair here and sit ye still." +</P> + +<P> +Harding was glad to comply and lighting their pipes they began to talk. +Their host, who told them his name was Robertson, was a rather +hard-featured man of middle age. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm all my lone; my clerk's away with the breeds at the Swan lake," he +said. "Where are ye making for?" +</P> + +<P> +"For the south," said Blake. "We came here for shelter, badly tired, +and want to hire a dog team and a half-breed guide if possible, as soon +as my partner's fit to travel. Then we want provisions." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I cannot supply ye. Our stores are low—we got few fish +and caribou the year, and we have not a team to spare." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Benson, "I don't suppose you'll turn us out, and we'd be +glad to pay for our accommodation. We have no wish to take the trail +again without food or transport." +</P> + +<P> +Robertson looked thoughtful. "Ye might wait a week or two; and then +we'll maybe see better what can be done." +</P> + +<P> +He asked them a few questions about their journey, and by and by +Harding took the piece of gum from its case. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you have seen nothing like this round here?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Robertson, who examined it carefully. "I have made it my +business to study the natural products o' the district, and it's my +opinion ye'll find no gum of this kind in the northern timber belt." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect you're right. Leaving furs out, if the country's rich in +anything, it's probably minerals." +</P> + +<P> +"There's copper and some silver, but I've seen no ore that would pay +for working when ye consider the transport." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't suppose you're anxious to encourage prospecting," Benson +suggested. +</P> + +<P> +Robertson smiled. "If there was a rich strike, we would no object. +We're here to trade, and supplying miners is no quite so chancy as +dealing in furs; but to have a crowd from the settlements disturbing +our preserves and going away after finding nothing of value would not +suit us. Still I'm thinking, it's no likely; the distance and the +winter will keep them out." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ever see signs of oil?" +</P> + +<P> +"No here; there's petroleum three hundred miles south, but no enough, +in my opinion, to pay for driving wells. Onyway, the two prospecting +parties that once came up didna come back again." +</P> + +<P> +He left them presently, and when they heard him moving about an +adjoining room, Harding said, "We'll stay here for a time and then look +for that petroleum on our way to the settlements." +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who agreed, thought this determination was characteristic of his +comrade. Harding's project had failed, but instead of being crushed by +disappointment, he was already considering another. While they talked +about it Robertson returned, and shortly afterwards they went to sleep. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAFFER XXV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE BACK TRAIL +</H4> + +<P> +Blake and his friends spent three weeks at the Hudson's Bay post, and +throughout the first fortnight an icy wind hurled the snow against the +quivering building. It was dangerous to venture as far as a +neighbouring bluff where fuel had been cut, and one evening Benson and +the agent, who were hauling cordwood home, narrowly escaped from death +in the suddenly freshening storm. None of the half-breeds could reach +the factory and Robertson confessed to some anxiety about them; there +was little that could be done, and they spent the dreary days lounging +about the red-hot stove, and listening to the roar of the gale. In the +long evenings Robertson told them grim stories of the North. +</P> + +<P> +Then there came a week of still, clear weather with intense frost, and +when several of the trappers arrived Robertson suggested that his +guests had better accompany a man who was going some distance south +with a dog team. He could, however, only spare them a scanty supply of +food, and they knew that a long forced march lay before them when they +had left their guide. +</P> + +<P> +Day was breaking when the dogs were harnessed to the sledge, and +Harding and his companions, shivering in their furs, felt a strong +reluctance to leave the factory. It was a rude place and very lonely, +but they had enjoyed warmth and food there, and their physical nature +shrank from the toil and bitter cold. None of them wished to linger in +the North, and Harding least of all, but it was daunting to contemplate +the distance that lay between them and the settlements. Strong effort +and stern endurance would be required of them before they rested beside +a hearth again. +</P> + +<P> +There was no wind, the smoke went straight up and then, spreading out, +hung above the roof in a motionless cloud; the snow had a strange +ghostly glimmer in the creeping light, and the cold bit to the bone. +It was with a pang they bade their host farewell, and followed the +half-breed, who ran down the slope from the door after his team. +Robertson was going back to sit, warm and well-fed, by his stove, but +they could not tell what hardships awaited them. +</P> + +<P> +Their depression, however, vanished after a time. The snow was good +for travelling, the dogs trotted fast, and the half-breed grunted +approval of their speed as he pointed to landmarks that proved it when +they stopped at noon. After that they held on until dark, and made +camp among a few junipers in the shelter of a rock. All had gone well +the first day, Harding's leg no longer troubled him, and there was +comfort in travelling light with their packs upon the sledge. The +journey began to look less formidable, and gathering close round the +fire they ate their supper cheerfully while the dogs fought over the +scraps of frozen fish. Harding, however, had some misgivings about +their ability to keep the pace up; he thought that in a day or two it +would tell on the white men. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing disturbed their sleep, which was sound, for the cold has less +effect on the man who is fresh and properly fed. Breakfast was quickly +dispatched, and after a short struggle with the dogs they set out +again. It was another good day, and they travelled fast, over a +rolling tableland on which the snow smoothed out the inequalities among +the rocks. Bright sunshine streamed down on them, the sledge ran +easily up the slopes and down the hollows, and looking back when they +nooned Harding noticed the straightness of their course. Picked out in +delicate shades of blue against the unbroken white surface surrounding +it, the sledge trail ran back with scarcely a waver to the crest of a +rise two miles away. This was not how they had journeyed north, with +the icy wind in their faces, laboriously struggling round broken ridges +and through tangled woods. Harding was a sanguine man, but experience +warned him to prepare for much less favourable conditions. It was not +often the wilderness showed a smiling face. +</P> + +<P> +Still, the fine weather held and they were deep in the timber when they +parted from their guide on a frozen stream which he must follow while +they pushed south across a rugged country. He was not a companionable +person, and spoke only a few words of barbarous French, but they were +sorry to see the last of him when he left them with a friendly +farewell. He had brought them speedily a long distance on their way, +but they must now trust to the compass and their own resources, while +the loads they strapped on were unpleasantly heavy. Before this task +was finished dogs and driver had vanished up the white riband of the +stream, and they felt lonely as they stood in the bottom of the gorge +with steep rocks and dark pines hemming them in. Blake glanced at the +high bank with a rueful smile. +</P> + +<P> +"There are advantages in having a good guide, and we hadn't to face a +climb like that all the way," he said. "Anyhow, we had better get up." +</P> + +<P> +It cost them some labour and, after reaching the summit they stopped to +look for the easiest road. Ahead, as far as they could see, small, +ragged pines grew among the rocks, and breaks in the uneven surface +hinted at troublesome ravines. +</P> + +<P> +"It looks rough," said Benson. "There's rather a high ridge yonder. +It might save trouble to work round its end. What do you think?" +</P> + +<P> +"When I'm not sure," said Harding, "I mean to go straight south." +</P> + +<P> +Benson gave him a sympathetic nod. "One can understand that; you have +better reasons for getting back than the rest of us, though I've no +particular wish to loiter up here. Break the trail, Blake; due south +by compass!" +</P> + +<P> +They plunged deeper into the broken belt, clambering down ravines, +crossing frozen lakes and snowy creeks. Indeed, they were thankful +when a strip of level surface indicated water, for the toil of getting +through the timber was heavy. After two days of travel there was a +yellow sunset, and the snow gleamed in the lurid light with an ominous +brilliance, while as they made their fire a moaning wind got up. These +things presaged a change in the weather, and they were rather silent +over the evening meal. They missed the half-breed and the snarling +dogs, while it looked as if the good fortune that had so far attended +them was coming to an end. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning there was a low, brooding sky, and at noon snow began to +fall, but they kept on until evening over very rough ground and then +held a council round the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"The situation requires some thought," Blake remarked. "First of all, +our provisions won't carry us through the timber belt. Now the +shortest course to the prairie, where the going will be easier, is due +south, but after we get there we'll have a long march to the +settlements. I'd partly counted on our killing a caribou or perhaps a +moose, but so far we've seen no tracks." +</P> + +<P> +"There must be some smaller beasts that the Indians eat," Benson +suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"None of us knows where to look for them, and we haven't much time to +spare for hunting." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," Harding agreed. "What's your plan?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm in favour of heading south-west. It may mean an extra hundred +miles, or more, but it would bring us nearer the Stony village, and +afterwards the logging camp on the edge of the timber, where we might +get supplies." +</P> + +<P> +"It's understood that the Indians are often half starved in winter," +Benson observed. "For all that, they might have had good luck, and +anyhow we couldn't cross the prairie with an empty grub-sack. My +vote's for striking off to the west." +</P> + +<P> +Harding concurred, though as his leg had threatened further trouble +during the last day or two, he would have preferred the shorter route. +Then Blake asked him: "What about the petroleum?" +</P> + +<P> +"We can't stop to look for it unless we can lay in a good stock of +food, and I don't suppose we could do much prospecting with the snow +upon the ground." He paused a moment with a thoughtful air. "When we +reach the settlement I must go home, but if the dollars can be raised, +I'll be back as soon as the thaw comes to try for the oil. Clarke's an +unusually smart man, and there's no doubt he's on the trail." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll raise enough money somehow," Benson told him, and Blake +signified his agreement with a nod. Then they dropped into casual talk +which lasted until they went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +When dawn came it was snowing hard, and for a week they made poor +progress with a bitter gale driving the flakes in their faces, while +rations were cut down as the distance covered daily steadily lessened. +Harding's leg was getting sore, but he did not mean to speak of this +unless it was necessary. They were, however, approaching the +neighbourhood of the Indian village and Blake began to speculate upon +the probability of their finding its inhabitants at home. He +understood that the Stonies wandered about, and realized with +uneasiness that it would be singularly unfortunate if they were away on +a hunting trip. +</P> + +<P> +At length, after laboriously climbing the rough but gently rising slope +of a long divide all one blustering day, they camped on a high +tableland, and lay awake, too cold to sleep, beside a sulky, greenwood +fire. In the morning it was difficult to get upon their feet, but as +the light grew clearer, the prospect they looked down upon seized their +attention. The hill summits were wrapped in leaden cloud, but a valley +opened up below. It was wider and deeper than any they had met with +since leaving the factory, the bottom looked unusually level, and it +ran roughly south. +</P> + +<P> +They gazed at it in silence for a time; and then Harding said, "I've a +notion that this is the valley where Blake fell sick, and it's going to +straighten out things for us if I'm right." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," Benson agreed. "We would be sure of striking the Stony +village, and we could afterwards follow the low ground right down to +the river. With the muskegs frozen solid, it ought to make an easy +road." +</P> + +<P> +Blake was conscious of keen satisfaction, but there was still a doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll know more about it after another march," he said. +</P> + +<P> +No snow fell that morning, and as their packs were ominously light they +made good speed across the hill benches and down a ravine where they +scrambled among the boulders of a frozen creek. It was a grey day +without the rise in temperature that often accompanies cloudiness, and +the light was strangely dim. Rocks and pines melted into one another +at a short distance, and leaden haze obscured the lower valley. Blake +was, however, becoming sure it was the one they had travelled up and, +dispensing with the usual noon halt, they pushed on as fast as +possible. All were anxious to set their doubts at rest, for there was +now a prospect of obtaining food and shelter in a few days, but they +recognized no landmarks, and with the approach of evening the frost +grew very keen. The haze drew in closer, the scattered pines they +passed wailed drearily in a rising wind, and the men were tired, but +they could see no suitable camping place and held on, looking for +thicker timber. +</P> + +<P> +It was getting dark when a belt of trees stretched across the valley, +and they were thinking of stopping, when Benson, who led the way, cried +out. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +Benson hesitated. "Well," he said, "the thing doesn't seem probable, +but I believe I saw a light. Anyway, it's gone." +</P> + +<P> +They stopped, gazing eagerly into the gloom. A light meant that there +were men not far off, and after the grim desolation they had travelled +through all were conscious of a longing for human society. Besides, +the strangers would, no doubt, have something to eat and might be +cooking a plentiful supper. There was, however, nothing to be seen +until Blake moved a few yards to one side. Then he turned to Benson +with a cheerful laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"You were right; I can see a glimmer about a mile ahead. I wonder who +the fellows are, though that's not important." +</P> + +<P> +They set off as fast as they could go, though travelling among the +fallen branches and slanting trees was difficult in the dark. Now and +then they lost their beacon, but the brightening glow shone out again +and when it was visible Blake watched it with surprise. It was low, +and he thought hardly large enough for a fire, besides which it had a +curious irregular flicker. Drawing nearer, they dipped into a hollow +where they could only distinguish a faint brightness beyond the rising +ground ahead which they eagerly ascended. Reaching the summit, they +saw the light plainly, but it was very small, and there were no figures +outlined against it. Benson shouted, and all three felt a shock of +disappointment when he got no answer. +</P> + +<P> +He ran as fast as his snowshoes would let him, smashing through brush, +floundering over snowy stones, with Blake and Harding stumbling, short +of breath, behind; and then stopped with a hoarse cry close to the +light. There was nobody about, and the blaze sprang up mysteriously +from the frozen ground. +</P> + +<P> +"A blower of natural gas," said Harding in an excited tone. "In a +sense, we've had our run for nothing, but this may be worth a good deal +more than your supper." +</P> + +<P> +"If I had the option, I'd trade all the natural gas in Canada for a +thick, red moose steak, and a warm place to sleep in," Benson savagely +rejoined. "Anyhow, it will help us to light our fire, and we have a +bit of whitefish and a few hard bannocks left." +</P> + +<P> +Blake shared his comrade's disappointment. He was tired and hungry, +and felt irritated by Harding's satisfaction. For all that, he chopped +wood and made camp, and their frugal supper was half eaten before he +turned to the American. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he said, "you may as well tell us what you think about this gas." +</P> + +<P> +"First of all," Harding answered good-humouredly, "it indicates that +there's oil somewhere about; the two generally go together. Anyhow, if +there were only gas, it would be worth exploiting so long as we found +enough of it, but judging by the pressure there's not much here." +</P> + +<P> +"What would you do with gas in this wilderness?" +</P> + +<P> +"In due time, I or somebody else would build a town. Fuel's power and +if you could get it cheap I expect you'd find minerals that would pay +for working. Men with money in Montreal and New York are looking for +openings like this, and no place is too remote to build a railroad to +if you can ensure freight." +</P> + +<P> +"You're the most sanguine man I ever met," Blake said, grinning. "Take +care your optimism doesn't ruin you." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder," Harding continued, "whether Clarke knows about this gas, +and on the whole I think it probable. We can't be very far from the +Stony camp, and there's reason to believe he's been prospecting this +district. It's oil he's out for." +</P> + +<P> +"How did the thing get lighted?" Benson asked in an indifferent tone. +</P> + +<P> +Harding smiled as he gave him a sharp glance. He had failed in his +search for the gum and did not expect his companions to share his +enthusiasm over a new plan. They had, however, promised to support +him, and that was enough, for he believed he might yet show them the +way to prosperity. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "I guess I can't blame you for not feeling very keen, +but that's not the point. I can't answer what you ask, and I believe +our forest wardens are now and then puzzled about how bush fires get +started. We have crossed big belts of burnt trees in a country where +we saw no signs of Indians." +</P> + +<P> +"If this blower has been burning long, the Stonies must have known of +it," Blake remarked. "Isn't it curious that no news of it has reached +the settlements?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure," Harding rejoined. "They may venerate the thing, and +anyway, they're smart in some respects. They know that where the white +men come their people are rounded up on reserves, and I guess they'd +sooner have the whole country to themselves for trapping and fishing. +Then Clarke may have persuaded them to say nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible," Blake said thoughtfully. "We'll push on for their +camp first thing to-morrow." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE RESCUE +</H4> + +<P> +Starting at daybreak, they reached a hillside overlooking the Stony +village on the third afternoon. Surrounded by willows and ragged +spruces the conical tepees rose in the plain beneath, but Blake, who +was leading, stopped abruptly as he caught sight of them. They were +white to the apex, where the escaping heat of the fire within generally +melted the snow, and no curl of smoke floated across the clearing. The +village was ominously silent and had a deserted look. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm very much afraid Clarke's friends are not at home," he said with +forced calm. "We'll know more about it in half an hour; that is, if +you think it worth while to go down." +</P> + +<P> +The others were silent a moment, struggling with their disappointment. +They had made a toilsome journey to reach the village, their food was +nearly exhausted, and it would cost them two days to return to the +valley which was their best road to the south. +</P> + +<P> +Then Harding said, "Now we're here, we may as well spend another hour +over the job. It's possible they haven't packed all their stores +along." +</P> + +<P> +His companions suspected that they were wasting time, but they followed +him down hill, until Benson, who was a short distance to one side of +them, called out. When they joined him he indicated a row of footsteps +leading up the slope. +</P> + +<P> +"That fellow hasn't been gone very long; there was snow yesterday," he +said. "By the line he took, he must have passed near us. I wonder why +he stayed on after the others." +</P> + +<P> +Blake examined the footsteps carefully, and compared them with the +impress of his own snowshoes. +</P> + +<P> +"It's obvious that they can't be older than yesterday afternoon," he +said. "From their depth and sharpness, I should judge that the fellow +was carrying a good load, which probably means that he meant to be some +time gone. The stride suggests a white man." +</P> + +<P> +"Clarke," said Harding. "He seems to be up here pretty often, though I +can't see how he'd do much prospecting in the winter." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible," Blake rejoined. "Anyhow, the point doesn't seem to +matter, and I'm anxious to find out whether there's anything to eat in +the tepees." +</P> + +<P> +They hurried on, and discovered only a few skins in the first tent. +Then, separating, they eagerly searched the rest without result, and +when they met again were forced to the conclusion that there was no +food in the place. It was about three o'clock and a threatening +afternoon. The light was dim and a savage wind blew the snow about. +They stood with gloomy faces in the shelter of the largest tepee, +feeling that luck was hard against them. +</P> + +<P> +"These northern Indians have often to put up with short commons while +the snow lies," Benson remarked. "No doubt, they set off for some +place where game's more plentiful when they found their grub running +out, and as they've all gone the chances are that they won't come back +soon. We've had our trouble for nothing, but we may as well camp here. +With a big fire going, one could make this tepee warm." +</P> + +<P> +The others felt strongly tempted to agree. The cold had been extreme +the last few nights and weary and scantily fed as they were, they +craved for shelter. Still they had misgivings and Blake said, "We have +wasted too much time already, and there's only a few days' rations in +the bag. We have got to get back to the valley and ought to make +another three hours' march before we stop." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Harding regretfully assented, "I guess that would be wiser." +</P> + +<P> +Setting off at once, they wearily struggled up the hill, and it had +been dark some time when they made camp in a hollow at the foot of a +great rock. It kept off the wind and the spruces which grew close +about it further sheltered them, but Blake told his companions to throw +up a snow bank while he cut wood. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid we're going to have an unusually bad night, and we may as +well take precautions," he said. +</P> + +<P> +His forecast proved correct, for soon after they had finished supper a +cloud of snow swept past the hollow and the spruces roared among the +rocks above. Then there was a crash and the top of a shattered tree +plunged down between the men and fell on the edge of the fire, +scattering a shower of sparks. +</P> + +<P> +"Another foot would have made a difference to two of us," said Harding +coolly. "However, it's fallen where it was wanted; help me heave the +thing on." +</P> + +<P> +It crackled fiercely as the flame licked about it, and sitting between +the snowbank and the fire, the men kept fairly warm, but a white haze +drove past their shelter and eddying in now and then covered them with +snow. In an hour the drifts were level with the top of the bank, but +this was a protection, and they were thankful they had found such a +camping place, since death would have been the consequence of being +caught in the open. The blizzard gathered strength, but though they +heard the crash of broken trees through the roar of the wind no more +logs fell, and by and by they went to sleep, secure in the shelter of +the rock. +</P> + +<P> +When day broke it was long past the usual hour, and the cloud of +driving flakes obscured even the spruces a few yards away. The hollow +at the foot of the crag was shadowy, and the snow had piled up several +feet above the bank, and lapped over at one end. Still, with wood +enough, they could keep warm, and had their supplies been larger they +would have been content to rest. As things were, however, they were +confronted with perhaps the gravest peril that threatens the traveller +in the North—they might be detained by bad weather until their food +ran out. None of them spoke of this, but by tacit agreement they made +a very sparing breakfast and ate nothing at noon. When night came and +the storm still raged, their hearts were very heavy. +</P> + +<P> +It lasted three days, and on the fourth morning it seemed scarcely +possible to face the somewhat lighter wind and break a trail through +the fresh snow. They, however, dare risk no further delay, and +strapping on their packs struggled up the range. At nightfall they +were high among the rocks, and it was piercingly cold, but they got a +few hours' sleep in a clump of junipers and struck the valley late next +day. Finding shelter, they made camp and after dividing a small +bannock between them sat talking gloomily. Their fire had been lighted +to lee of a cluster of willows and burned sulkily because the wood was +green. Pungent smoke curled about them, and they shivered in the +draughts. +</P> + +<P> +"How far do you make it to the logging camp?" Benson asked. "I'm +taking it for granted that the lumber gang's still there." +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred and sixty miles," said Blake. +</P> + +<P> +"And we have food enough for two days; say forty miles." +</P> + +<P> +"About that; it depends upon the snow." +</P> + +<P> +Benson made no answer, and Harding was silent a while, sitting very +still with knitted brows. Then he said, "I can't see any way out. Can +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake quietly, "we'll go on as long as we are able. +Though I haven't had a rosy time, I've faith in my luck." +</P> + +<P> +Conversation languished after this, but they had a small cake of +tobacco left, and sat smoking and hiding their fears while the wind +moaned among the willows and thin snow blew past. The camp was exposed +and hungry and dejected, as they were, they felt the stinging cold. +After an hour of moody silence, Harding suddenly leaned forward, with a +lifted hand. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" he said sharply. "Didn't you hear it?" +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments the others only heard the rustle of the willows and +the swishing sound of driven snow; then a faint patter caught their +ears, and a crack followed like the snapping of a whip. +</P> + +<P> +"A dog team!" cried Benson, and springing to his feet set up a loud +shout. +</P> + +<P> +It was answered in English and while they stood, shaken by excitement +and intense relief, several low shadowy shapes emerged from the gloom; +then a tall figure appeared, and after it two more. Somebody shouted +harsh orders in uncouth French; the dogs sped towards the fire and +stopped. Then their driver, hurrying after them, began to loose the +traces, while another man walked up to Blake. +</P> + +<P> +"We saw your fire and thought we'd make for it," he said. "I see your +cooking outfit's still lying round." +</P> + +<P> +"It's at your service," Blake told him. "I'm sorry we can't offer you +much supper, though there's a bit of a bannock and some flour." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll soon fix that," said the other. "Guess you're up against it, +but our grub's holding out." He turned to the driver. "Come and tend +to the cooking when you're through, Emile." +</P> + +<P> +Though the order was given good-humouredly, there was a hint of +authority in his voice, and the man he spoke to quickened his +movements. Then another came up, and while the dogs snapped at each +other, and rolled in the snow, the half-breed driver unloaded a heavy +provision bag and filled Harding's frying pan. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't spare it," said the first comer. "I guess these folks are +hungry; fix up your best menoo." +</P> + +<P> +Sitting down by the fire, shapeless in his whitened coat, with his +bronzed face half hidden by his big fur cap, he had nevertheless a +soldierly look. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll be wondering who we are?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"No," Blake answered, smiling. "I can make a guess; there's a stamp on +you I recognize. You're from Regina." +</P> + +<P> +"You've hit it first time. I'm Sergeant Lane, R.N.W.M.P. This"—he +indicated his companion—"is Private Walthew. We've been up on a +special patrol to Copper Lake and left two of the boys there to make +some inquiries about the Indians. Now we're on the back trail." +</P> + +<P> +He looked as if he expected the others to return his confidence and +Blake had no hesitation about doing so. He knew the high reputation of +the Royal North-West Mounted Police, which is a force of well-mounted +and carefully chosen frontier cavalry. Its business is to keep order +on a vast stretch of plain, to watch over adventurous settlers who push +out ahead of the advancing farming community, and to keep a keen eye on +the reserve Indians. Men from widely different walks of life serve in +its ranks, and the private history of each squadron is rich in romance, +but one and all are called upon to scour the windy plains in the saddle +in the fierce summer heat and make adventurous sledge journeys across +the winter snow. Their patrols search the lonely North from Hudson's +Bay to the Mackenzie, living in the open in Arctic weather, and the +peaceful progress of Western Canada is largely due to their unrelaxing +vigilance. Blake accordingly gave a short account of his journey and +explained his present straits. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the Sergeant, "I figure we have stores enough to see us +down to the settlements all right, and we'll be glad of your company. +The stronger the party, the smoother the trail, and after what you've +told me, I guess you can march." +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you find the breed?" Benson asked. "Your chiefs at Regina +don't allow you hired packers." +</P> + +<P> +"They surely don't. He's a Hudson's Bay man, working his passage. +Going back to his friends somewhere about Lake Winnipeg, and allowed +he'd come south with us and take the cars to Selkirk. I was glad to +get him; I'm not smart at driving dogs." +</P> + +<P> +"We found it hard to understand the few Indians we met," said Harding. +"The farther north you go, the worse it must be. How will the fellows +you left up yonder get on?" +</P> + +<P> +The Sergeant laughed. "When we want a thing done, we can find a man in +the force fit for the job. One of the boys I took up can talk to them +in Cree or Assiniboine, and it wouldn't beat us if they spoke Hebrew or +Greek. There's a trooper in my detachment who knows both." +</P> + +<P> +Benson, who did not doubt this, turned to Private Walthew, whose face, +upon which the firelight fell, suggested intelligence and refinement. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you specialize in?" +</P> + +<P> +"Farriery," answered the young man, who might have added that +extravagance had cut short his career as veterinary surgeon in the old +country. +</P> + +<P> +"Knows a horse all over, outside and in," Sergeant Lane interposed. "I +allow that's why they sent him when I asked for a good dog driver, +though in a general way our bosses aren't given to joking. Walthew +will tell you there's a difference between physicking a horse and +harnessing a sledge team." +</P> + +<P> +"It's marked," Walthew agreed with a chuckle. "When I first tried to +put the traces on I thought they'd eat me. Even now I have some +trouble, and I'll venture to remind my superior that he'd be short of +some of his fingers if they didn't serve us out good thick mittens." +</P> + +<P> +"That's right," said Lane good-humouredly. "I'm sure no good at dogs. +If you're going to drive them, you want to speak Karalit or French. +Plain English cussin's no blame use." +</P> + +<P> +By and by Emile said that supper was ready, and the police watched +their new acquaintances devour it with sympathetic understanding, for +they had more than once covered long distances on very short commons in +the Arctic frost. Afterwards they lighted their pipes, and Emile, +being tactfully encouraged, told them in broken English stories of the +barrens. These were so strange and gruesome that it was only because +they had learned something of the wilds that Harding and his friends +believed him. Had they been less experienced, they would have denied +that flesh and blood could bear the things the half-breed calmly talked +about. While he spoke there broke out behind the camp a sudden +radiance which leaped from the horizon far up the sky. It had in it +the scintillation of the diamond, for the flickering brilliance changed +to evanescent blue and rose from pure white light. Spreading in a +vast, irregular arc, it hung like a curtain, wavering to and fro and +casting off luminous spears that stabbed the dark. For a time it +blazed in transcendental splendour, then faded and receded, dying out +with Unearthly glimmering far back in the lonely North. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Lane with mild approval, "I allow that's pretty fine." +</P> + +<P> +Blake smiled, but made no answer. He and his comrades were getting +drowsy, and although a stinging wind swept the camp and the green wood +burned badly, they were filled with a serene content. The keen bodily +craving was satisfied, they had eaten and could sleep, while it looked +as if their troubles were over. The dogs were obviously fit for +travel, because they were still engaged in a vigorous quarrel over some +caribou bones, the toil of the journey would be lightened by carrying +their loads on the sledge, and the party was strong enough to assist +any member of it whose strength might give way. There was no reason to +apprehend any difficulty in reaching the settlements, and in their +relief at the unexpected rescue their thoughts went no further. After +the hunger and nervous strain they had borne, they were blissfully +satisfied with their present ease. There would be time enough by and +by to consider the future. +</P> + +<P> +At length Sergeant Lane got up and shook the snow from his blanket. +</P> + +<P> +"I've seen a better fire, boys, but I've camped with none at all on as +cold a night," he said. "So far as I can figure, we have grub enough, +but now there are three more of us we don't want to lose time. You'll +be ready to pull out by seven in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +They lay down in the most comfortable places they could find, though +the choice was limited, and spent the night in comfort, though Harding +was once awakened by a dog that crept up to him for warmth. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A STARTLING DISCOVERY +</H4> + +<P> +It was getting light next morning when the reinforced party entered a +belt of thicker timber where they first clearly realized the fury of +the storm. The trees were small and sprang from a frozen muskeg so +that they could not be uprooted, but the gale had snapped the trunks +and laid them low in swaths. Even in the spots where some had +withstood its force the ground was strewn with split and broken +branches, to lee of which the snow had gathered in billowy drifts. The +scene of ruin impressed the men, who were forced to make long rounds in +search of a passage for the sledge. +</P> + +<P> +"About as fierce a blizzard as I remember," Sergeant Lane remarked. +"We were held up three days and thought ourselves lucky in making a +ravine with a steep bank, but the wind couldn't have been quite so +strong back north a piece. There'd have been two names less on the +roster if we'd been caught down here." +</P> + +<P> +Harding thought this was probable. He had had a protecting rock at his +back, but there was no shelter in the valley from the storm that had +levelled the stoutest trees. Even the four-footed inhabitants of the +wilds could hardly have escaped, and as he stumbled among the wreckage +he thought about the man whose footsteps they had seen near the Indian +village. Unless he had found some secure retreat he must have had to +face the fury of the gale, and Harding felt convinced that the man was +Clarke. It was curious that he should have been living alone among the +empty tepees, but Harding imagined that he was in some way accountable +for the Indians' departure and wondered where he was going when he +crossed the range. There was a mystery about the matter, and if an +explanation could be arrived at it would be of interest to him and his +friends. Even before Clarke had sent them into the muskeg when he knew +it was practically impassable, Harding had entertained a deep distrust +of him. He was, however, called upon to help in dragging the sledge +over an obstacle, and the difficulties of the way afterwards occupied +his attention. +</P> + +<P> +By and by they found clearer ground and made good progress until late +in the afternoon when, seeing a rocky spur running out from the +hillside, they headed for it to look for a sheltered camping place. +There was still some daylight, but a cold wind had sprung up, blowing +the loose snow into their faces, and when, as they neared the spur, the +dogs swerved as if attracted by something, the half-breed struck the +nearest beast and drove them on. +</P> + +<P> +"That was curious," said Private Walthew. "It was old Chasseur who led +them off and he's not given to playing tricks." +</P> + +<P> +"A dead mink or beaver in the snow," the Sergeant suggested. "I didn't +notice anything, but they've a keen scent. Anyhow, let's get into +camp." +</P> + +<P> +They found a nook among the rocks and Emile loosed the dogs and threw +them some frozen fish while the rest made supper. It was a heavy, +lowering evening, and the bitter air was filled with the murmur of the +spruces as the wind passed over them. Though the light was fading, +they kept their sharpness of outline, rising, black and ragged, from a +sweep of chill, lifeless grey. When the meal was nearly finished, Lane +looked round the camp. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the dogs?" he asked. "They're very quiet." +</P> + +<P> +"I leaf zem la bas," said Emile, waving his hand towards a neighbouring +hollow. Then moving a few paces forward he exclaimed: "Ah! les +coquins!" +</P> + +<P> +"Looks as if they'd bolted," Walthew remarked. "I think I know where +to find them." +</P> + +<P> +He left the camp with Emile and presently the others heard the +half-breed threatening the dogs; then Walthew's voice reached them and +there was a hoarse and urgent tone in it. Springing up, they ran back +along the trail and found Emile keeping off the dogs while Walthew bent +over a dark object that lay half revealed in the clawed up snow. At +first Harding saw only a patch or two of ragged fur that looked as if +it belonged to an animal; then with a shock he caught the outline of a +man's shoulder and arm. The rest of the party gathered round, +breathless after their haste, and when Lane spoke there was grave +authority in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me a hand, boys. We have to get him out." +</P> + +<P> +They did so with mingled compassion and reluctance, though Harding was +sensible of a curious strained expectation, and soon the body lay clear +of the snow. The dim light fell on the frozen face and Blake started. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Clarke!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," said Harding gravely. "I'm not surprised." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you knew him?" Lane's tone was sharp. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Benson interposed, "I knew him pretty well. He lived at +Sweetwater, where we're going. I can give you any particulars you +want." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll ask you later." The Sergeant knelt down and carefully studied +the dead man's pose before he added: "Looks as if he'd been caught in +the blizzard and died of exposure; but that's a thing I've got to +ascertain. I'll want somebody's help in getting him out of this big +coat." +</P> + +<P> +None of them volunteered, but when Lane gave Walthew a sharp order +Blake and Harding joined them and the latter afterwards held the fur +coat. Blake noticed that he folded and arranged it on his arm with +what seemed needless care, though he first turned his back upon the +others. Lane was now engaged in examining the body and the others +stood watching him, impressed by the scene. All round the narrow +opening the spruces rose darkly against the threatening sky, and in its +midst the Sergeant bent over the still form. It made a dark blot on +the pale glimmer of the snow and the white patch of the face was +faintly distinguishable in the fading light. The spruce tops stirred, +shaking down loose snow, which fell with a soft patter, and the wind +blew trails of it about. +</P> + +<P> +"I can find nothing wrong," Lane said at last. +</P> + +<P> +"Considering that you came across the man lying frozen after one of the +worst storms you remember, what did you expect to find?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the Sergeant drily, "it's my duty to make investigations. +Though I didn't think it likely, there might have been a knife cut or a +bullet hole. Now one of you had better bring up the sledge. We can't +break this ground without dynamite, but there are some loose rocks +along the foot of the spur." +</P> + +<P> +The sledge was brought and Clarke gently placed on it, wrapped in his +fur coat, after which they took the traces and started for the ridge, +where they built up a few stones above the hollow in which they laid +him. It was quite dark when they had finished, and Lane made a gesture +of relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "that's done and he'll lie safely there. Rough on +him, but it's a hard country and many a good man has left his bones in +it. I guess we'll get back to camp." +</P> + +<P> +They crossed the snow in silence, trailing the empty sledge and for a +time after they reached camp nobody spoke. Lane sat near the fire +where the light fell upon the book in which he wrote with a pencil held +awkwardly in his mittened hand, while Blake watched him and mused. He +had no cause to regret Clarke's death, but he felt some pity for the +man. Gifted with high ability he had, through no fault of his own, +been driven out of a profession he was keenly interested in and made an +outcast. His subsequent life had been a hard and evil one, but it had +ended in a tragic manner and, what made this more impressive, Blake and +his companions had narrowly escaped his fate. In spite of the cheerful +fire, the camp had a lonely air, and Blake shivered as he glanced at +the gleaming snow and dusky trees that shut it in. There was something +in the desolate North that daunted him. +</P> + +<P> +Harding's reflections also centred on the dead man, and he had food for +thought. There was a mystery to be explained, and he imagined that he +had a clue to it in his pocket, though he could not follow it up for +the present. He waited with some anxiety until Lane closed his book. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said the Sergeant, "there are one or two points I want +explained, and as you know the man, it's possible you can help me. How +did he come to be here with only about three days' rations?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can answer that," said Harding. "He was in the habit of staying at +the Indian village we told you of. We saw tracks coming from it when +we were there the day before the blizzard began." +</P> + +<P> +"A white man's tracks? Why did you go to the village?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe they were," Blake replied. "We went to look for provisions +and didn't get them, because the place was empty." +</P> + +<P> +"Then how do you account for the fellow's being there alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't account for it," Blake said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +Lane turned to Harding, who had a theory but was not prepared to +communicate it to the police. +</P> + +<P> +"It's certainly curious," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll start for the village to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"As the Indians are away, there won't be much to be learned," Benson +suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"They may have come back. Anyway, it's my business to find out all I +can." +</P> + +<P> +Soon afterwards they went to sleep and rising an hour or two before +daylight broke camp and turned back across the hills. The march was +rough and toilsome, and when they camped at night fatigue and +drowsiness checked conversation, but Blake's party were sensible of a +difference in Lane's manner. It had become reserved and he had a +thoughtful look. Reaching the village one evening, they were surprised +to find that some of the Indians had returned and after supper Lane +summoned them into the tepee he occupied. Emile interpreted, but he +had some difficulty in making himself understood, for which Harding was +inclined to be thankful. +</P> + +<P> +The Sergeant began by explaining the authority and business of the +North-West Police, of whom it appeared one or two of the Indians had +heard, after which he made Emile ask them if they knew Clarke. One of +them said they did and added that he stayed with them now and then. +Lane next asked why they took him in and the Indian hesitated. +</P> + +<P> +"He was a big medicine man and cured us when we were ill," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know these white men?" Lane asked, indicating Blake's party. +</P> + +<P> +An Indian declared that they had never seen them, though he added that +it was known they were in the neighbourhood. Being questioned about +this, he explained that about the time of Clarke's arrival one of the +tribe had come in from the North, where he had met a half-breed who +told him that he had travelled some distance with three white men who +were going to the settlements. Knowing the country, they had +calculated that the white men could not be very far off. As he heard +this Harding felt anxious. He saw where Lane's questions led, and that +the Sergeant meant to sift the matter thoroughly. There was not much +cause to fear that he and his friends would be held responsible for +Clarke's death, but he suspected things he did not wish the police to +guess, and the Indians might mention having seen a white man's +footprints on the occasion when he had forcibly taken Clarke away. +Owing perhaps to their difficulty in making themselves understood, +nothing was, however, said of this, and by and by Lane asked— +</P> + +<P> +"How was it you left the white man in your village by himself?" +</P> + +<P> +The Indians began to talk to one another, and it was with some trouble +Emile at length elicited an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a thing that puzzles us," said one. "The white man came alone +and told us he had seen tracks of caribou three days' journey back. As +we had no meat and our fish was nearly done, six of us went to look for +the deer." +</P> + +<P> +"Six of you?" said Lane. "Where are the rest? These tepees would hold +a good many people." +</P> + +<P> +"They are hunting farther North," answered the man. "When we got to +the place the white man told us of we could see no caribou tracks. As +he was a good hunter, we thought this strange, but we went on, because +there was another muskeg like the one he spoke of and we might not have +understood him. Then the snow came and we camped until it was over and +afterwards came back, finding no deer. When we reached the tepees, he +had gone and we do not know what has become of him. We could not +follow because the snow had covered his trail." +</P> + +<P> +"He is dead," Lane told them. "I found him frozen some days ago." +</P> + +<P> +Their surprise was obviously genuine and Lane was quick to notice signs +of regret. He imagined that Clarke had been a person of some +importance among them. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell them I don't want them any more," he said to Emile, and when the +Indians went out turned to Benson. "You had better give me all the +information you are able about the man." +</P> + +<P> +Benson told him as much as he thought judicious, after which Lane sat +silent for a time. Then he said, "There is no reason to doubt that he +came to his death by misadventure. I don't quite understand what led +him to visit these fellows, but after all that doesn't count." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't very plain," Benson agreed. "Is there anything else you wish +to know?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Lane, looking at him steadily. "You can take it that this +inquiry is closed; we'll pull out first thing to-morrow." He beckoned +Walthew. "Now we're here, we may as well find out what we can about +these fellows and how they live. It will fill up our report, and they +like that kind of information at Regina." +</P> + +<P> +When the police had left the tepee Harding turned to his companions +with a smile. "Sergeant Lane is a painstaking officer, but his +shrewdness has its limits, and there are points he seems to have +missed. It would have been wiser not to have let Clarke's coat out of +his hands until he had searched it." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Blake sharply. "You emptied the pockets?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did; I allow my action was hardly justifiable, but I thought it +better that the police shouldn't get on the track of matters that +haven't much bearing on Clarke's death. I found two things and they're +both of interest to us. We'll take this one first." +</P> + +<P> +He drew out a metal flask and when he unstoppered it a pungent smell +pervaded the tepee. "Crude petroleum," he explained. "I should +imagine the flashpoint is low. I can't say how Clarke got the stuff +when the ground's hard frozen, but here it is." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't a low flash-point a disadvantage?" Benson asked. "It must make +the oil explosive." +</P> + +<P> +"It does, but all petroleum's refined and the by-products they take +off, which include gasoline, fetch a remarkably good price. Shake a +few drops on the end of a hot log and we'll see how it lights." +</P> + +<P> +A fire burned in a ring of stones in the middle of the tepee and Benson +carefully did as he was told. Hardly had the oil fallen on the wood +than it burst into flame. +</P> + +<P> +"As I thought!" said Harding. "I suspect the presence of one or two +distillates that should be worth as much as the kerosene. We'll get +the stuff analysed later, but you had better stopper the flask, because +we don't want the smell to rouse Lane's curiosity. The important point +is that as I've reasons for believing the oil is fresh from the ground, +Clarke must have found it shortly before the blizzard overtook him. +That fixes the locality and we shouldn't have much trouble in striking +the spot when we come back again." His eyes sparkled as he concluded: +"It's going to be well worth while; this is a big thing." +</P> + +<P> +Blake did not feel much elation. His was not a mercenary nature, and +he had all along thought his comrade too sanguine, though he meant to +back him. +</P> + +<P> +"In a way, it was very hard luck for Clarke," he said. "If you're +right in your conclusions, he's been searching for the oil for several +years, and now he was cut off just when it looks as if he'd found it." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't owe him much pity. What would have happened if we hadn't +met the police?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's unpleasant to think of. No doubt we'd have starved to death." +</P> + +<P> +"A sure thing!" said Harding. "It hasn't struck you that this was what +he meant us to do?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake started. "Are you making a bold guess, or have you any ground +for what you're saying?" +</P> + +<P> +"I see you'll have to be convinced. Very well; in the first place, the +man would have stuck at nothing, and I've already tried to show you +that he'd something to gain by Benson's death." He turned to the +latter. "I suspected when we took you away from him that you were +running a risk." +</P> + +<P> +"I was running a bigger one before that, if you can call a thing a risk +when the result's inevitable," Benson rejoined. "The pace I was going +would have killed me in another year or two, and even now I'm half +afraid——" He paused for a few moments with sombre face and knitted +brows; and then resumed thoughtfully: "I believe you're right, Harding, +but you haven't told us how he proposed to get rid of me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm coming to that. There was, however, another member of this party +who was in his way, and he made his plans to remove you both." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean me?" Blake broke in. "It's possible, but I don't altogether +see how he'd profit." +</P> + +<P> +"First, let's look at what he did. As soon as he reached the village +he heard that we had started from the Hudson's Bay post. It wouldn't +be difficult to calculate how long the stores we could carry would +last, and he'd see that the chances were in favour of our calling at +the village for provisions. Presuming on that, he sent his friends +away to look for caribou which they couldn't find. Recollect that they +owned to being puzzled because he was a good hunter. Then he cleared +out by himself, but I believe that if there was any food left in the +place he carefully hid it." +</P> + +<P> +The others felt that their comrade was taking something for granted, +but they believed his suspicions were correct. They, however, made no +comment, and Harding went on, looking at Blake— +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'll show you how he would have profited. I found this in his +pocket." +</P> + +<P> +He took out a letter which he gave to Blake, and the latter started as +he recognized the writing. It was from Colonel Challoner to Clarke. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better read the thing; it's justifiable," Benson remarked. +</P> + +<P> +Blake read it aloud, holding the paper near the fire with the light +upon his face, which looked very grim. +</P> + +<P> +"'In reply to your letter, I have nothing new to say and believe I have +already made my intentions plain. It would be useless for you to +trouble me with any further proposals.'" +</P> + +<P> +Then Blake folded the letter and put it into his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he said, "I think I see. The man had been trying to bleed the +Colonel and got his answer." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake, "I believe it proves your conclusions right. I +won't go into particulars, but where my uncle and cousin are threatened +I'm, so to speak, the leading witness for the defence and it wouldn't +have suited Clarke to let me speak. No doubt, that's why he took +rather drastic measures to put me out of the way." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you never mean to question the story of the Indian affair?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know about it?" Blake asked curtly. +</P> + +<P> +Harding laughed. "I believe I know the true one. Haven't I marched +and starved and shared my plans with you? If there had been any +meanness in you wouldn't I have found it out? What's more, Benson +knows what really happened and so does Colonel Challoner. How else +could Clarke have put the screw on him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He doesn't seem to have made much impression; you have heard the +Colonel's answer." Blake frowned. "We'll drop this subject. If +Challoner attached any importance to what you think Clarke told him, +his first step would have been to send for me." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect you'll find a letter waiting for you at Sweetwater," Harding +rejoined. +</P> + +<P> +Blake did not answer, and soon afterwards Sergeant Lane came in with +Walthew. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A MATTER OF DUTY +</H4> + +<P> +Sergeant Lane sat by the camp fire in a straggling bluff, a notebook in +his hand, while Emile repacked a quantity of provisions, the weight of +which they had been carefully estimating. The scattered trees were +small and let the cold wind in, for the party had now reached the edge +of the plain where the poplars began to grow. The Sergeant's brows +were knitted, for the calculations he had made were not reassuring. +</P> + +<P> +"The time we lost turning back to the Stony village has made a big hole +in our grub," he said. "Guess we'll have to cut the menoo down and do +a few more miles a day." +</P> + +<P> +"Our party's used to that," Blake answered with a smile. "I suggest +another plan. You have brought us a long way and Sweetwater's a bit +off your line. Suppose you give us food enough to last us on half +rations and let us push on." +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," said Lane decidedly; "we see this trip through together. +For another thing, the dogs are playing out and after the way they've +served us I want to save them. With your help at the traces we make +better time." +</P> + +<P> +Blake could not deny this. The snow had been in bad condition for the +last week, and the men had relieved each other in hauling the sledge. +The police camp equipment was heavy, but it could not be thrown away, +because they preferred some degree of hunger to lying awake at nights, +half frozen. Moreover, neither Blake nor his comrades desired to leave +their new friends and once more face the rigours of the wilds alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll have to make the best speed we can," he said. +</P> + +<P> +They talked about the journey still before them for another hour. It +was a clear night and very cold, but with a crescent moon in the sky +and no wind stirring. The fragile twigs of the birches which shot up +among the poplars were still, and deep silence brooded over the wide +stretch of snow. By and by Emile looked up with his face towards the +south. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he said; "you hear somet'ing?" +</P> + +<P> +They did not, though they listened hard, but the half-breed had been +born in the wilderness and they could not think him mistaken. For a +minute or two his pose suggested strained attention, and then he smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"White man come from the sout'. Mais oui! He come, sure t'ing." +</P> + +<P> +Lane nodded. "I guess he's right, but I can't figure on the kind of +outfit." +</P> + +<P> +Then Blake heard a sound which puzzled him. It was not the quick +patter of a dog-team or the sliding fall of netted shoes. The noise +was dull and heavy, and as he knew the snow would deaden it, whoever +was coming could not be far away. +</P> + +<P> +"Bob-sled!" Emile exclaimed with scorn. "V'la la belle chose! Arrive +the great horse of the plough." +</P> + +<P> +"The fellow's sure a farmer since he's coming up with a Clydesdale +team," Lane said, laughing. "One wouldn't have much trouble in +following his trail." +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later three men appeared, carefully leading two big +horses through the trees. +</P> + +<P> +"Saw your fire a piece back," said one, when they had hauled up a +clumsy sled. Then he caught sight of Blake. "I'm mighty glad to find +you; we were wondering how far we might have to go." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you came up after me, Tom?" said Blake, who knew the man. "You +wouldn't have got much further with that team; but who sent you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't quite know. It seems Gardner got orders from somebody that +you were to be found, and he hired me and the boys. We'd trouble in +getting here, but we allowed we could bring up more grub and blankets +on the sled and we'd send Jake back with the team when we struck the +thick bush. Then we were going to make a depot and pack along the +stuff we didn't cache. But I've a letter which may tell you something." +</P> + +<P> +Blake opened it and Harding noticed that his face grew intent, but he +put the letter into his pocket and turned to the man. +</P> + +<P> +"It's from a friend in England," he said. "You were lucky in finding +me and we'll go back together in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +After attending to their horses, the new arrivals joined the others at +the fire and explained that at the hotelkeeper's suggestion they had +meant to head for the Indian village and make inquiries on their way up +at the logging camp. Though Blake talked to them, he had a preoccupied +look, and Harding knew he was thinking of the letter. He had, however, +no opportunity of questioning him and waited until next day, when +Emile, whom they were helping, chose a shorter way across a ravine than +that taken by the police and the men with the bob-sled. When they +reached the bottom of the hollow, Blake told the half-breed to stop, +and took his comrades aside. +</P> + +<P> +"There's something I must tell you," he said. "It was Colonel +Challoner who sent the boys up from the settlement with food for us and +he begs me to come home at once. That's a point on which I'd like your +opinion, but you shall hear what he has to say." Then, sitting down +upon a log, he began to read from his letter:— +</P> + +<P> +"'A man called Clarke, whom you have evidently met, lately called on me +and suggested an explanation of the Indian affair. As the price of his +keeping silence on the subject, he demanded that I should take a number +of shares in a syndicate he is forming for the exploitation of some +petroleum wells.'" +</P> + +<P> +"I think it was a good offer," Harding interposed. "Clarke must have +had reason for believing he was about to make a big strike; he'd have +kept quiet until he was sure of the thing." +</P> + +<P> +"'The fellow's story was plausible,' Blake continued reading. 'It +seems possible that you have been badly wronged, and I have been +troubled——' He omitted the next few lines and went on: 'As it +happens, another account of the frontier action had been given me some +time earlier by a lady who has been in India. It differed from +Clarke's in one or two details, but agreed in exonerating you; and she +also asked a price which I declined to pay. After giving the matter +careful thought, I feel that these people may have hit upon the truth. +It would, of course, afford me the keenest satisfaction to see you +cleared, but the thing must be thoroughly sifted because——'" +</P> + +<P> +Blake stopped and added quietly: "He insists upon my going home." +</P> + +<P> +"His difficulty is obvious," Benson remarked. "If you are blameless, +his son must be guilty. I arrived at the former conclusion some time +ago." +</P> + +<P> +Blake, who did not answer, sat musing with a disturbed expression. +There was now no sign of the others, who had left the ravine, and no +sound reached the men from the plain above. Emile stood patiently +waiting some distance off, and though they were sheltered from the wind +it was bitterly cold. +</P> + +<P> +"In some ways, it might be better if I went home at once," he said at +last. "I could come back and join you as soon as I saw how things were +going. The Colonel would be safe from any further persecution if I +were with him, but, all the same, I'm inclined to stay away." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" Harding asked. +</P> + +<P> +"For one thing, if I were there, he might insist on taking some quite +unnecessary course that would only cause trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Harding curtly, "I'm going to give you my opinion. I take +it that your uncle is a man who tries to do the square thing?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake's face relaxed and his eyes twinkled. "He's what you call white +and as obstinate as they're made. Convince him that a thing's right +and he'll see it done, no matter how many people it makes +uncomfortable. That's why I don't see my way to encourage him." +</P> + +<P> +"Here's a man who's up against a point of honour; he has, I understand, +a long, clean record and now he's prepared to take a course that may +cost him dear. Are you going to play a low-down game on him; to twist +the truth so's to give him a chance of deceiving himself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Aren't you and Benson taking what you mean by the truth too much for +granted?" +</P> + +<P> +Harding gave him a searching look. "I haven't heard you deny it +squarely; you're a poor liar. It's your clear duty to go back to +England right away and see your uncle through with the thing he means +to do." +</P> + +<P> +"After all, I'll go to England," Blake answered with significant +reserve. "However, we had better get on or we won't catch the others +until they've finished dinner." +</P> + +<P> +Emile started the dogs, and when they had toiled up the ascent they saw +the rest of the party far ahead on the great white plain. +</P> + +<P> +"We mayn't have another chance of a private talk until we reach the +settlement," said Blake. "What are you going to do about the +petroleum?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll come back and prospect the muskeg as soon as the frost goes." +</P> + +<P> +"It will cost a good deal to do that thoroughly. We must hire +transport for a full supply of all the tools and stores we are likely +to need; one experience of the kind we've had this trip is enough. How +are you going to get the money?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not going to the city men for it until our position's secure. The +thing must be kept quiet until we're ready to put it on the market." +</P> + +<P> +"You were doubtful about taking me for a partner once," Benson +interposed. "I don't know that I could blame you, but now I mean to do +all I can to make the scheme successful, and I don't think you'll have +as much reason for being afraid that I might fail you." +</P> + +<P> +"Call it a deal," said Harding. "You're the man we want." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake, "I ought to be out again before you start, and if I +can raise any money in England, I'll send it over. You're satisfied +that this is a project I can recommend to my friends?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe it's such a chance as few people ever get," Harding answered +in a tone of firm conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll see what can be done. It won't be your fault if the +venture fails." +</P> + +<P> +Harding smiled. "There's hard work and perhaps some trouble ahead, but +you won't regret you faced it. You'll be a rich man in another year or +two." +</P> + +<P> +Then Emile urged the dogs, and they set off after the others as fast as +they could go. Sweetwater was safely reached, but on the morning after +his arrival there Blake pushed on south for the railroad with the +police and a week later caught a steamer in Montreal. On landing, he +took the first train to Shropshire, but before going on to Sandymere +called at Hazlehurst, where he had learned that Mrs. Keith was staying. +</P> + +<P> +As it happened, Mrs. Keith was out with Mrs. Foster, and Millicent was +the first to welcome him. She started when he was shown into the hall, +and, dropping the book she was reading, rose with a tingle of +heightened colour, while he felt his heart beat fast. It was a clear +winter afternoon and the sunshine that entered a window fell upon the +girl. Blake thought she looked very beautiful, and, thrown off her +guard as she had been, he caught the gladness in her eyes before she +could hide it. +</P> + +<P> +"I expect you are surprised at my turning up," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said with a shyness she could not overcome. "Indeed I was +startled when you came in, but of course it's pleasant to see you +safely back. I knew Colonel Challoner had given orders for you to be +traced if possible, and that you had been found, but that was all Mrs. +Keith told me. I suppose she didn't know—didn't think, I mean—that I +was interested." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to believe that was foolish of her," Blake answered with a +twinkle. +</P> + +<P> +Millicent laughed; though she felt that his rejoinder did not +adequately express his feelings, his humorous manner set her at ease. +</P> + +<P> +"It really was foolish," she said, smiling. "But you must have some +tea and wait until she comes. I don't think she will be long." +</P> + +<P> +The tea was brought, and she studied him unobtrusively as he sat +opposite her at the small table. He had grown thin, his bronzed face +was worn, and he looked graver than he had done. Though she could not +imagine his ever becoming very solemn, it was obvious that something +had happened in Canada which had had its effect on him. Looking up +suddenly from his plate, he surprised her attentive glance. +</P> + +<P> +"You have changed," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"That's not astonishing," Blake replied. "We didn't get much to eat in +the wilds, and I was thinking how pleasant it is to be back again." He +examined his prettily decorated cup. "It's remarkable how many things +one can do without. In the bush, we drank our tea, when we had any, +out of a blackened can and the rest of our table equipment was to +match. But we'll take it that the change in me is an improvement?" +</P> + +<P> +It was an excuse for looking at her, as if demanding a reply, but she +answered readily: "In a sense, it is." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I feel encouraged to continue starving myself." +</P> + +<P> +"There's a limit; extremes are to be avoided," Millicent rejoined. +"But did you starve yourselves in Canada?" +</P> + +<P> +"I must confess that the thing wasn't altogether voluntary. I'm afraid +we were rather gluttonous when we got the chance." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you find what you were looking for?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Blake, who saw that she was interested. "I think it was a +serious disappointment for Harding, and I was very sorry for him at +first." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," said Millicent. "It must have been very hard, after leaving +his wife alone and badly provided for and risking everything on his +success. But why did you say you <I>were</I> sorry for him? Aren't you +sorry now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Though we didn't find what we were looking for, we found something +else which Harding seems firmly convinced is quite as valuable. Of +course, he's a bit of an optimist, but it looks as if he were right +this time. Anyway, I'm plunging on his scheme." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean you will stake all you have on it?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's it," Blake agreed with a humorous twinkle. "It's true that +what I have doesn't amount to much, but I'm throwing in what I would +like to get, and that's a great deal." +</P> + +<P> +There was something of a hint in his manner and she noticed his +expression suddenly grow serious. It seemed advisable to choose +another topic and she said: "You must have had adventures. Tell me +about them." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" he protested, "they're really not interesting." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me judge. Is it nothing to have gone where other men seldom +venture?" +</P> + +<P> +He began rather awkwardly, but she prompted him with tactful questions, +and he saw that she wished to hear his story. By degrees he lost +himself in his subject and, being gifted with keen imagination, she +followed his journey into the wilds. It was not his wish to represent +himself as a hero, and now and then he spoke with deprecatory humour, +but he betrayed something of his character in doing justice to his +theme. Millicent's eyes sparkled as she listened, for she found the +story moving; he was the man she had thought him, capable of grim +endurance, determined action, and steadfast loyalty. +</P> + +<P> +"So you carried your crippled comrade when you were exhausted and +starving," she said when he came to their search for the factory. "One +likes to hear of such things as that! But what would you have done if +you hadn't found the post?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't answer," he said soberly. "We durst not think of it; a +starving man's will gets weak." Then his expression grew whimsical. +"Besides, if one must be accurate, we dragged him." +</P> + +<P> +"Still," said Millicent softly, "I can't think you would have left him." +</P> + +<P> +He looked at her with some embarrassment and then smiled. "I'm +flattered, Miss Graham, but you really haven't very strong grounds for +your confidence in me." +</P> + +<P> +Supposing he was thinking of his disgrace, she made a gesture of half +scornful impatience. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said, "please go on with the tale." +</P> + +<P> +The rest of it had its interest, though he made no reference to +Clarke's treachery, and Millicent listened with close attention. It +was growing dark, but they had forgotten to ring for lights; neither of +them heard the door open when he was near the conclusion, and Mrs. +Keith, entering quietly with Mrs. Foster, stopped a moment in surprise. +The room was shadowy, but she could see the man leaning forward with an +arm upon the table and the girl's intent face. There was something +that pleased her in the scene. Then as she moved forward Millicent +looked up quickly and Blake rose. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have come back," said Mrs. Keith, giving him her hand. "How +was it you didn't go straight to Sandymere, where your uncle is eagerly +waiting you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I sent him a telegram as soon as the steamer was boarded, but on +landing found there was an earlier train. As he won't expect me for +another two hours, I thought I'd like to pay my respects to you." +</P> + +<P> +"It sounds plausible," Mrs. Keith rejoined with rather dry amusement. +"Well, I'm flattered, and as it happens I've something to say to you." +</P> + +<P> +Then Mrs. Foster joined them, and it was some time later when Mrs. +Keith took Blake into the empty drawing-room. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you have come home," she said. "I think you are needed." +</P> + +<P> +"That," said Blake, "is how it seemed to me." +</P> + +<P> +His quietness was reassuring. Mrs. Keith knew he was to be trusted, +but she felt some misgivings about supporting him in a line of action +that would cost him much. Still, she could not be deterred by +compassionate scruples when there was an opportunity of saving her old +friend from suffering. Troubled by a certain sense of guilt but +determined, she tried to test his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't find waiting for us tedious," she remarked. "I suppose you +were telling Millicent about your adventures when we came in; playing +Othello, and she seemed to be listening as Desdemona did." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect she was exercising a good deal of patience," Blake rejoined +with a laugh. "Anyway, since you compare me to the Moor, you must own +that I've never pretended to be less black that I'm painted." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith with marked gentleness, "you needn't pretend to +me. I have my own opinion about you, and if it doesn't agree with +other people's, so much the worse for theirs. I knew you would come +home as soon as you could be found." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must know what has been going on in my absence." +</P> + +<P> +"I have a strong suspicion. Your uncle has been hard pressed by +unscrupulous people with an end to gain. How much impression they have +made on him I cannot tell, but he's fond of you, Dick, and in trouble. +It's a cruel position for an honourable man with traditions like those +of the Challoners' behind him." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true; I hate to think of it. You know what I owe to him and +Bertram." +</P> + +<P> +"He's old," continued Mrs. Keith. "It would be a great thing if he +could be allowed to spend his last years in quietness, but I fear +that's impossible, although, perhaps, to some extent, it lies in your +hands." Then she looked steadily at Blake. "Now you have come back, +what do you mean to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever is needful; I'm for the defence. The Colonel's position +can't be stormed while I'm on guard; and this time there'll be no +retreat." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't add that, Dick; it hurts me. I'm not so hard as I sometimes +pretend. I never doubted your staunchness, but I wonder whether you +quite realize what the defence may cost you. Have you thought about +your future?" +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to know that the Blakes never think of the future. We're a +happy-go-lucky, irresponsible lot." +</P> + +<P> +"But suppose you wished to marry?" +</P> + +<P> +He smiled at her. "It's a difficulty that has already been pointed +out. If I ever marry, the girl I choose will believe in me in spite of +appearances. In fact, she'll have to; I've no medals and decorations +to bring her." +</P> + +<P> +"You have much that's worth more!" Mrs. Keith exclaimed, moved by his +steadfastness. "Still, it's a severe test for any girl." Then she +laid her hand gently on his arm. "In the end, you won't regret the +course you mean to take. I have lived a long while and have lost many +pleasant illusions, but I believe that loyalty like yours has its +reward. I loved you for your mother's sake when you were a boy; +afterwards when things looked blackest I kept my faith in you, and now +I'm proud I did so." +</P> + +<P> +Blake looked confused. "Confidence like yours is an embarrassing gift. +It makes one feel one must live up to it, and that isn't easy." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith regarded him affectionately. "It's yours, Dick; given +without reserve. But I think there's nothing more to be said, and no +doubt you're anxious to get away. Besides, the Colonel will be +expecting you." +</P> + +<P> +"He used to be seriously annoyed if he had to wait for dinner, and I've +been here some time," Blake answered, laughing, and went out to take +leave of Mrs. Foster. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BLAKE HOLDS HIS GROUND +</H4> + +<P> +Dinner was finished at Sandymere, Miss Challoner had gone out, and, in +accordance with ancient custom, the cloth had been removed from the +great mahogany table. Its glistening surface was only broken by a +decanter, two choice wine-glasses, and a tall silver candlestick. +There were lamps in other parts of the room, but Challoner liked +candles. Lighting a cigar, Blake looked about while he braced himself +for the ordeal that must be faced. +</P> + +<P> +He knew the big room well, but its air of solemnity, with which the +heavy Georgian furniture was in keeping, impressed him. The ceiling +had been decorated by a French artist of the eighteenth century and the +faded delicacy of the design, bearing as it did the stamp of its +period, helped to give the place a look of age. Challoner could trace +his descent much further than his house and furniture suggested, but +the family had first come to the front in the East India Company's +wars, and while maintaining its position afterwards had escaped the +modernizing influence of the country's awakening in the early Victorian +days. It seemed to Blake, fresh from the new and democratic West, that +his uncle, shrewd and well-informed man as he was, was very much of the +type of Wellington's officers. For all that he pitied him. Challoner +looked old and worn, and there were wrinkles that hinted at anxious +thought round his eyes. His life was lonely, and his unmarried sister, +who spent much of her time in visits, was the only relative who shared +his home. Now that age was limiting his activities and interests, he +had one great source of gratification; the career of the soldier son +who was worthily following in his steps. His nephew determined that +this should be saved for him, as he remembered the benefits he had +received at his hands. +</P> + +<P> +By and by Challoner filled the glasses. "Dick," he said, "I'm very +glad to see you home. I should like to think you have come to stay." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir. I'll stay as long as you need me." +</P> + +<P> +"I feel I need you altogether. It's now doubtful whether Bertram will +leave India after all. His regiment has been ordered into the hills +where there's serious trouble brewing, and he has asked permission to +remain. Even if he comes home, he will have many duties, and I have +nobody left." +</P> + +<P> +Blake did not answer immediately, and his uncle studied him. Dick had +grown thin, but he looked very hard, and the evening dress set off his +fine, muscular figure. His face was still somewhat pinched, but its +deep bronze and the steadiness of his eyes and firmness of his lips +gave him a very soldierly look and a certain air of distinction. There +was no doubt that he was true to the Challoner type. +</P> + +<P> +Then Blake said slowly, "I must go back sooner or later, sir; there is +an engagement I am bound to keep. Besides, your pressing me to stay +raises a question. The last time we met you acquiesced in my decision +that I had better keep out of the country, and I see no reason for +changing it." +</P> + +<P> +"The question must certainly be raised; that is why I sent for you. +You can understand my anxiety to learn what truth there is in the +stories I have heard." +</P> + +<P> +"It might be better if you told me all about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well; the task is painful, but it can't be shirked. We'll take +the woman's tale first." Challoner carefully outlined Mrs. Chudleigh's +theory of what had happened during the night attack and Blake listened +quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he said, "you might give me Clarke's account." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner did so and concluded: "Both these people have an obvious end +to serve, and I daresay they're capable of misrepresenting things to +suit it. I'll confess I found the thought comforting; but I want the +truth, Dick. I must do what's right." +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place, Clarke, who once approached me about the matter, +will never trouble either of us again. I helped to bury him up in the +wilds." +</P> + +<P> +"Dead!" exclaimed Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Frozen. In fact, it was not his fault we escaped his fate. He set a +trap for us, intending that we should starve." +</P> + +<P> +"But why?" +</P> + +<P> +"His motive was obvious," Blake rejoined. "There was a man with us +whose farm and stock would, in the event of his death, fall into +Clarke's hands, and it's clear that I was a serious obstacle in his +way. Can't you see that he couldn't use his absurd story to bleed you +unless I supported it?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner felt the force of this. He was a shrewd man, but just then +he was too disturbed to reason closely and failed to perceive that his +nephew's refusal to confirm the story did not necessarily disprove it. +That Clarke had thought it worth while to attempt his life bulked most +largely in his uncle's eye. +</P> + +<P> +"He urged me to take some shares in a petroleum syndicate," he remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I believe you missed a good thing, sir." Blake seized upon the +change of topic. "The shares would probably have paid you well." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought he proposed it to make the thing look better; in fact, to +give me something to salve my conscience with." +</P> + +<P> +"Anyway, he found the oil and put us on the track of it, though I don't +suppose he had any wish to do the latter. We expect to make a good +deal out of the discovery." +</P> + +<P> +"It looks like justice," said Challoner. "But we are getting away from +the point. I'd better tell you that after my talk with the man I felt +he might be dangerous and that I must send for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you send for Bertram?" +</P> + +<P> +Challoner hesitated. "When I cabled out instructions to find you, +there was no word of his leaving India; then you must see how hard it +would have been to hint at my suspicions. This would have opened a +breach between us that could never be closed." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Blake, leaning forward on the table and speaking earnestly, +"your reluctance was very natural. I'm afraid of presuming too far, +but I can't understand how you could believe this thing of your only +son." +</P> + +<P> +"It lies between my son and my nephew, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +There was emotion in the Colonel's voice. "I had a great liking for +your father and I brought you up. Then I took a keen pride in you; +there were respects in which I found you truer to our type than +Bertram." +</P> + +<P> +"You heaped favours on me," Blake replied. "That I bitterly +disappointed you has been my deepest shame; in fact, it's the one thing +that counts. For the rest, I can't regret the friends who turned their +backs on me, and poverty never troubled the Blakes." +</P> + +<P> +"But the taint—the stain upon your name!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have the advantage of bearing it alone, and, to tell the truth, it +doesn't bother me much. That a man should go straight in the present +is all they ask in Canada, and homeless adventurers with no +possessions, which is the kind of comrades I've generally met, are +charitable. As a rule, it wouldn't become them to be fastidious. +Anyhow, sir, you must see the absurdity of believing that Bertram could +have failed in his duty in the way these tales suggest." +</P> + +<P> +"I once felt that strongly; the trouble is that the objection applies +with equal force to you. Your mother had a resolute character; your +father was a daring man." +</P> + +<P> +Blake coloured as he answered: "I'm glad you mentioned this; my parents +can't be held responsible for my faults. You must know that rather +surprising variations are apt to appear in a family strain. It's +possible I'm what gardeners call a sport; a throwback to some inferior +type. There may have been a weakling even among the Challoners." +</P> + +<P> +"I have dreaded that there was one in the present generation," the +Colonel answered with stern gravity. "But we get no farther. Do you +deny the stories these people have told me?" +</P> + +<P> +Blake felt that his task was hard. He had to convict himself and must +do so logically, since Challoner was by no means a fool. As he nerved +himself to the effort he was conscious of a rather grim amusement. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it would be better if I tried to show you how the attack was +made. Is the old set of Indian chessmen still in the drawer?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe so. It must be twenty years since they were taken out. +It's strange you should remember them." +</P> + +<P> +A stirring of half-painful emotions troubled Blake. +</P> + +<P> +He loved the old house and all that it contained and had a deep-seated +pride in the Challoner traditions. Now he must show that he was a +degenerate scion of the honoured stock and could have no part in them. +</P> + +<P> +"I have forgotten nothing at Sandymere, but we must stick to the +subject." Crossing the floor he came back with the chessmen, which he +carefully arranged, setting up the white pawns in two separate ranks to +represent bodies of infantry, with the knights and bishops for +officers. The coloured pieces he placed in an irregular mass. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," he continued, "this represents the disposition of our force +pretty well, and I've good reason for remembering it. I was here, at +the top of the ravine"—he laid a cigar on the table to indicate the +spot—"Bertram on the ridge yonder. This bunch of red pawns stands for +the Ghazee rush." +</P> + +<P> +"It agrees with what I've heard," said Challoner, surveying the roughly +marked scene of battle with critical eyes. "You were weak in numbers, +but your position was strong. It could have been held." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll take Mrs. Chudleigh's suggestion first." Blake began to move +the pieces. "The Ghazees rolled straight over our first line; my mine, +which might have checked them, wouldn't go off; a broken circuit in the +firing wires, I suppose. We were hustled out of the trenches; it was +too dark for effective rifle fire." +</P> + +<P> +"The trench the second detachment held should have been difficult to +rush." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! well," said Blake, "you must remember that the beggars were +Ghazees; they're hard to stop. Then our men were worn out and had been +sniped every night for the last week or two. However, the bugler's the +key to my explanation; I'll put this dab of cigar ash here to represent +him. This bishop's Bertram, and you can judge by the distance whether +the fellow could have heard the order to blow, 'Cease fire,' through +the row that was going on." +</P> + +<P> +He resumed his quick moving of the chessmen, accompanying it by a +running commentary. "Here's another weak point in the woman's tale, +which must be obvious to any one who has handled troops; these fellows +couldn't have gained a footing in this hollow because it was raked by +our fire. There was no cover and the range was short. Then you see +the folly of believing that the section with which the bugler was could +have moved along the ridge; they couldn't have crossed between the +Ghazees and the trench. They'd have been exposed to our own fire in +the rear." +</P> + +<P> +He added more to much the same effect, and concluded: "I think that +disposes of Mrs. Chudleigh's theory." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner made a sign of agreement without speaking, and Blake, +lighting a fresh cigar, leaned back in his chair. He believed he had +succeeded so far, but he was feeling the strain. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I'll deal with Clarke's suggestion; it's certainly ingenious," he +said presently and began to rearrange the chessmen. +</P> + +<P> +Proceeding much as he had already done, he followed the movements of +the pieces with short explanations, and when he finally swept them up +into a heap looked hard at his companion. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you ought to be convinced," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"It all turns upon the bugler's movements," Challoner remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"And he was killed. Mrs. Chudleigh's account presupposes that he was +in one place, Clarke's in another, while I've tried to show you that he +couldn't have been in either." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner was silent for a time and Blake watched him anxiously until +he looked up. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you have succeeded, Dick, though I feel that with a trifling +alteration here and there you could have cleared yourself. Now we'll +let the painful matter drop for good, unless, indeed, some fresh light +is ever thrown on it." +</P> + +<P> +"That can't happen," Blake replied and added with a gleam of humour: +"As a matter of fact, I'd sooner remain in friendly obscurity." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner rose and laid a hand on his arm. "If you were once at fault, +you have since shown yourself a man of honour. Though the thing hurt +me at the time, I'm glad you are my nephew. Had there been any +baseness in you, some suspicion must always have rested on your cousin. +Well, we are neither of us sentimentalists, but I must say that you +have amply made amends." +</P> + +<P> +He turned away and Blake went out into the open air to walk up and +down. The face of the old house rose above him, dark against the clear +night sky; in front the great oaks in the park rolled back in shadowy +masses. Blake, who loved Sandymere, had thought of it often in his +wanderings, and now he was glad that through his action his cousin +would enjoy it without reproach. After all, it was some return to make +for the favours he had received. For himself there remained the charm +of the lonely trail and the wide wilderness, unless, indeed, Harding +succeeded better than Blake really expected with his petroleum +exploitation scheme. +</P> + +<P> +For all that, he had been badly tempted. Poverty and disgrace were +serious obstacles to marriage, and had he been free to do so, he would +eagerly have sought the hand of Millicent Graham. He knew now that he +loved her and it was hard to hold his longing for her in check, but +while this must be done for the present he did not altogether despair. +He was hopeful and believed that if she loved him, she would not shrink +from his painful story, while it was possible that another of his +disadvantages might be removed. Harding was confident that they were +going to be rich. Thinking about the girl tenderly, he walked up and +down the terrace until he grew calm, and then went in to talk to Miss +Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +The next fortnight passed uneventfully and then one afternoon he met +Millicent in a field-path and turned back with her to Hazlehurst. It +was a raw day and the wind had brought a fine colour into her face, +while she wore a little fur cap and fur-trimmed jacket which he thought +became her very well. +</P> + +<P> +"You have not been over often; Foster was remarking about it," she said +to him. +</P> + +<P> +"That's true," said Blake, who had kept away for fear of his resolution +melting if he saw much of her. "Still, my uncle seems to think he has +a prior claim, and I mayn't be able to stay with him long." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are going back to Canada?" The quick way the girl looked up, +and something in her tone, suggested unpleasant surprise, for she had +been taken off her guard. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to go when Harding needs me. I haven't heard from him +since I arrived, but I'll get my summons sooner or later." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you had come home for good." +</P> + +<P> +There was rueful humour but no bitterness in Blake's smile. "Oh! no; +though I'm very fond of it, Sandymere is not my home. It will be +Bertram's by and by and he is married. I'm the poor relation and no +great credit to the family." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent's colour deepened, but she looked at him steadily. "I think +that is wrong. Since you have been so frank, I may perhaps say that I +know there has been a serious mistake somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm flattered," Blake rejoined, and something in his voice was out of +keeping with his half whimsical bow. "It's nice to know your friends +think well of you; but you mustn't let your good-nature get the better +of your judgment." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I shouldn't have ventured so far." There was a hint of +impatience in Millicent's gesture. "But are you content with your life +in the North-West?" +</P> + +<P> +"It has its charm. There are very few restrictions, one feels free. +The fences haven't reached us yet; you can ride as far as you can see +over miles of grass and through the clumps of bush. There's something +attractive in the wide horizon; the riband of trail that seems to run +forward for ever draws you on." +</P> + +<P> +"But the Arctic frost and snow?" +</P> + +<P> +"After all, they're bracing. Our board shacks with the big stoves in +them are fairly warm, and no one can tell what developments may +suddenly come about in such a country. A railroad may be run through, +wheat-land opened up, minerals found, and wooden cities spring up from +the empty plain. Life's rapid and strenuous; one is swept along with +the stream." +</P> + +<P> +"But you were in the wilds." +</P> + +<P> +Blake laughed. "We were, but not far behind us the tide of population +pours across the plain, and if we had stayed a year or two in the +timber, it would have caught us up. That flood won't stop until it +reaches the Polar Sea." +</P> + +<P> +"But can people live in a rugged land covered with snow that only melts +for a month or two?" +</P> + +<P> +"It depends upon what they find there. So long as the country has +natural resources, the climate doesn't count. One hears of precious +metals and some are being mined." He paused and added in a tone of +humorous confidence: "My partner believes in oil." +</P> + +<P> +They were now close to Hazlehurst and Millicent could ask no more +questions because as they reached the high-road Mrs. Keith joined them. +</P> + +<P> +"You might go in and write the letter I told you about," she said to +Millicent, and then turned to Blake. "As I want a quiet walk, Dick, I +daresay you will keep me company." +</P> + +<P> +Blake said he would be delighted, and when Millicent had left them +remarked: "I didn't know you were given to this form of exercise." +</P> + +<P> +"I may as well tell you that I came out because I couldn't take part in +the meaningless chatter that was going on. As a matter of fact, I was +too disturbed to stay in." +</P> + +<P> +"May one ask what disturbed you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Foster's announcement that Mrs. Chudleigh is coming down again. +She only heard this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"You think this means a fresh attack upon my persecuted relative?" +</P> + +<P> +"Judge for yourself. Mrs. Chudleigh had no pressing invitation to come +back and has not been away long; after all, she and Lucy Foster are not +great friends. Now she has only a flimsy excuse for the visit—I've +seen her letter. Why should the woman force herself into Hazlehurst, +unless it's to be within striking distance of your uncle?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. I suppose she couldn't have come down independently and +called on him, because it would have excited remark; but that's not the +question. The Colonel mustn't see her." +</P> + +<P> +"How would you prevent his doing so if she goes to the house?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think," said Blake, "the matter could be most effectively dealt with +by letting her see me." +</P> + +<P> +"An excellent plan, but if your uncle's to be kept in ignorance, it +will need some arranging." +</P> + +<P> +"Undoubtedly," said Blake; "that's your business." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I must undertake it. The probability is that Mrs. Chudleigh +doesn't know you are at home and she must, if possible, be kept from +learning it until she sees you. As she's only down for a few days, I +expect she'll make her first move to-morrow. Is your uncle going to +the Croxleigh meet?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is; so am I. Is there any risk of Mrs. Chudleigh's turning up at +the cover?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think so. Foster has only one spare horse, and as he promised +it to Millicent I'll see she goes. I'm more afraid that Mrs. Chudleigh +will make Lucy Foster take her across to Sandymere in the afternoon, +and if I'm able to prevent that, she'll go alone. She has cultivated +an acquaintance with your aunt." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Blake, "it's a long way to Croxleigh, and the Colonel +won't ride hard. He'll probably be satisfied with seeing the hounds +throw off and then go quietly home. As it happens, there isn't a +direct road." +</P> + +<P> +"Where does all this lead?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should imagine it will be four o'clock when he gets back, while by +leaving the hunt and heading straight across country I ought to beat +him by some time. In fact, I might get rid of the lady before he +arrives. After she has seen me she mayn't wish to stay." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Mrs. Keith. "If Lucy goes to Sandymere, I'll go with +them and hurry them off as soon as I can. Then I'll try to make an +opportunity for you." +</P> + +<P> +After a few more words she dismissed him and turned back to Hazlehurst. +She thought the plan would work. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +MRS. CHUDLEIGH'S DEFEAT +</H4> + +<P> +Challoner kept one or two good horses, though he no longer used them +much, and he and his nephew were well mounted when they rode to +Croxleigh gorse. As the place was difficult of access, the meet had +been arranged late, and it was after mid-day when they drew near a +broad stretch of furze on the crest of a grassy hill. Mounted men and +a few women were climbing the slope, the scarlet coats shining in a +gleam of light, carriages and motors were drawn up in the shelter of a +beech wood, and from the summit there fell a faint blast of a horn. +</P> + +<P> +It was a raw day, with a nipping wind and blinks of sunshine that swept +across grass and ploughland and faded again. There were glistening +pools in the narrow road and drops of moisture hung on the briars and +withered fern along the hedgerows. Both Challoner and Blake were +dressed in sober tweed, for the Colonel said he only wore the pink when +he felt fit to follow the hounds and now he must be content to see them +find. Glancing at his watch, he pulled up his horse to a walk. +</P> + +<P> +"We are in good time, and it's generally a lengthy matter getting a fox +out of the gorse," he said. "Though we haven't hurried, it's rather a +long way, and I feel I have done enough. Don't trouble about me when +the hounds get off. I expect to pick up some elderly crony, and, if +the fox does not run straight, may be able to see something of the hunt +after an easy ride; then I'll jog quietly home." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll stay with you, if you'd prefer it, sir," Blake declared, though +this was far from his wish, but Challoner shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Get a good run if you can, my boy. Old folks mustn't be selfish, and +I know what young blood is." He turned and regarded Blake +affectionately. "You have been a good nephew, Dick, and since you came +home I have felt that I ought to make some provision for you. That, of +course, was my intention when you were young, but when the break +occurred you cut yourself adrift and refused assistance." +</P> + +<P> +Blake coloured, for there were, he thought, adequate reasons why he +should take no further favours from his uncle. If the truth about the +frontier affair ever came out, it would look as if he had valued his +honour less than the money he could extort and the Colonel would bear +the stigma of having bought his silence. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm grateful, sir, but I must still refuse," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"But why? The property would stand the cost of the arrangement I +thought of making, and Bertram wouldn't feel that I had been unfair to +him; besides, his wife has means." +</P> + +<P> +"Bertram's as generous as you are; he pressed me to take some help from +him in Montreal, but I could not consent." +</P> + +<P> +"I think you were wrong, and see I have made a mistake. I should have +stuck to my first intention of saying nothing about it and putting you +into my will, but it struck me that you would like to know how you +stood, in case you thought of marrying or going in for farming on a +remunerative scale in Canada." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, but if my future is to be provided for, I'm the person who +ought to look after it. There's no reason why it should become a +charge on you." +</P> + +<P> +"I think there is," Challoner rejoined. "In fact, I feel somewhat hurt +that you don't see it." +</P> + +<P> +Blake was touched, but his determination held. "I'm glad you made me +the offer, sir, because it shows I haven't forfeited your regard. You +must, however, let me have my way, particularly as I see a chance of +making money." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you have some plan?" +</P> + +<P> +"My partner has," Blake answered, smiling. "I leave that kind of thing +to him. I told you about the oil." +</P> + +<P> +"You did, and Clarke had something to say upon the subject. He, +however, gave me to understand that capital was needed." +</P> + +<P> +"That is so," Blake replied unguardedly, for he did not see where his +uncle's remark led. "Boring plant is expensive, and transport costs +something. Then you have to spend a good deal beforehand if you wish +to float a company." +</P> + +<P> +"But you believe this venture will pay you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Harding is convinced of it, and he's shrewd. Personally, I don't know +enough about the business to judge, but if I had any money to risk I'd +take his word for it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Challoner, urging his horse to a trot, "perhaps we had +better get on." +</P> + +<P> +They joined the company gathered round the edge of the gorse and when +Challoner greeted an acquaintance Blake found what he thought was a +good place for getting a start from. He could hear the cries of the +huntsman and an occasional blast of his horn among the furze; once or +twice a ranging dog broke cover and disappeared again. Outside, +red-coated men and some in grey jammed their hats tight and tried to +keep their fidgeting horses quiet. Close by a young girl, finely +habited, with a glowing face, gracefully controlled her plunging mount, +and a few older women seemed to have some trouble in holding their +thoroughbreds. Everybody wore a strained, eager look, but Blake was +disappointed, for although he looked round for Millicent and Foster he +did not see them. +</P> + +<P> +By and by a deep baying broke out and swelled into a burst of thrilling +sound, the horn called sharply, somebody shouted, and there was a rush +of well-mounted riders towards a corner of the gorse. Then the hounds +streamed out, speeding across the grassy slope with a small, red-brown +object travelling very fast some distance in front. Blake, who let his +chestnut go, swept down the hill at a furious gallop, and felt the +horse rise and heard a thud of hoofs on sloppy ground as a fence was +cleared. Then he toiled across a strip of ploughing, with firm grip on +the bridle, for, exhilarating as the chase was, he could not enjoy it +long. In his younger days he had hunted the country he was now riding +over, he had been a crack polo player, and had covered wide stretches +of the Canadian prairie in the saddle. He could feel the power of the +good horse he bestrode, the speed fired his blood, and for the first +few minutes he had been in danger of forgetting that the keen pleasure +he was conscious of could not be enjoyed long. +</P> + +<P> +There was a crash as they broke through the top of a bending hedge, he +heard a rail break beneath the hoofs, and they were flying across a +wide pasture, the chestnut pulling hard. It needed some strength of +will to hold him, but Blake did so, keeping his place behind the +foremost while the rest of the hunt tailed out. After another awkward +jump or two most of the rearguard were out of sight, scattering, no +doubt, in search of gates, and Blake was not pleased to find himself +level with two well-mounted, red-coated men. There was a brook with a +fringe of willows along its side not far ahead and, a short distance to +the right, a deep, tree-shrouded hollow. This was where he must break +off, but, sitting a good horse in the company of hard-riding men, it +was not pleasant to look as if he shirked the leap. +</P> + +<P> +"'Ware rotten bank!" cried one, glancing round at him. "Head for the +pollard stump!" +</P> + +<P> +"Give me a lead," Blake shouted. "You know the country." +</P> + +<P> +With a strong effort, he held the chestnut back, and saw the first +red-coated figure rise above the willows and alight with the mire +flying among the rushes across the stream. Then he swung to the right, +where he remembered there was a broad, shallow place, and drove the +chestnut at its widest part. They came down with a great splash and +the horse floundered badly, for the bottom was soft, but Blake had done +what he meant to do, and as the second horseman leaped across a +narrower spot he caught a sympathetic, "Hard luck!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he turned the chestnut and scrambling out upon the bank he had +left trotted to the hollow, where he was lost among the trees before +the tail of the hunt came up. He thought he had withdrawn himself +neatly and must now get home as soon as possible, because if his uncle +saw no opportunity of picking up the hounds again after an easy ride, +he might return before Mrs. Chudleigh could be dealt with. +</P> + +<P> +Crossing a sunk lane by and by, Blake, who glanced at his watch, held +straight across the fields, and was glad to find that the hunt-club +subsidies had had some effect in determining the nature of the fences. +The most part could be jumped without much trouble, but the chestnut +was foul-coated and flecked with spume when at length he turned into a +road. There he pulled up to a steady trot and got home, rather wet and +splashed with mire, early in the afternoon, and after a bath and change +felt himself ready for the encounter. He had not much diplomacy, but +thought he could make up for that by stubbornly sticking to his point. +</P> + +<P> +As he sat in the library with the door left open he heard Mrs. Foster +and her friends arrive and recognized the voices. Mrs. Keith had come +and Millicent, besides another lady whom he surmised was Mrs. +Chudleigh. He hardly thought his aunt, whom he had not taken into his +confidence, would mention him, and it might be better if he waited +until tea was served, after which the party would probably separate and +saunter about the hall and picture gallery. It was important that he +should have a few words with Mrs. Chudleigh alone. Fortune favoured +him, for when he entered the gallery she stood before a picture and the +nearest of her companions was some yards further on. She started when +he came up and joined her. +</P> + +<P> +"You remember me, though I imagine my appearance is a surprise to you," +he said with a bow. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she answered calmly, though she had received something of a +shock. "Nobody told me you had returned from Canada." +</P> + +<P> +"There was no obvious reason for thinking you would be interested. But +will you sit down? My uncle has some rather good miniatures which +might please you. They're in yonder drawer." +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him sharply. "You may bring them. I suppose you have +something to say." +</P> + +<P> +Blake placed the case of miniatures on a table and she took up one or +two. "They are worth seeing, and in good French style; beauties of +Marie Antoinette's court, perhaps, though this one in the high-waisted +dress may have been attached to Josephine's." Then she put them down +with a smile. "Now they have served their purpose. What have you to +say?" +</P> + +<P> +"You must excuse the bluntness which I feel is needful. You came over +to see my uncle and I'm afraid you were disappointed in finding me +instead." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose I admit it? That wouldn't prevent my seeing Colonel Challoner +another time." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not, provided that you still wished to do so, but I'm +inclined to think you won't consider it necessary when you know what my +attitude is. You must realize that a good deal depends on this." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said frankly, "in a sense, you're important. I see you +understand the situation." +</P> + +<P> +"You believe you have the power to force my uncle into furthering a +plan of yours. You found him obstinate at your first attempt, but you +think his resolution may since have given way." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said; "if I insist, he cannot refuse me." +</P> + +<P> +"That is where we differ. I'm in your way, and you'll excuse my saying +that you'll find me rather troublesome to remove. Then a secret loses +its value when people find it out, and it's perhaps news to you that a +man from Canada called upon my uncle not long since with a story very +like yours. He found the Colonel no more amenable than you did." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh looked surprised, but that was all. "It may save us +both trouble if you tell me candidly what you mean to do." +</P> + +<P> +Blake glanced down the gallery. Mrs. Keith was sitting at a table with +some old prints spread out before her, but as the light was fading he +hardly supposed that she could see him well, though he imagined that +she was watching. In the background Mrs. Foster was talking to Miss +Challoner, with Millicent standing in the shadow. The Challoner +portraits were growing indistinct, though their heavy gold frames +glimmered faintly, and he could no longer distinguish the carving on +the ends of the dark oak beams. Though he thought he was safe from +interruption by any of the others, Blake realized that he had no time +to lose, because Challoner must arrive soon. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said, "I think it would be better. Well, I mean to relieve +my uncle from any further attacks of the kind you have made on him and +to defend my cousin's honour. You must see that you are powerless to +injure it unless I confirm your tale." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh clenched her hand and her eyes flashed. "You are +willing to bear undeserved disgrace, to wander about Canada, an outcast +from all society you could take pleasure in? It's incomprehensible, +unless you have something to gain." +</P> + +<P> +Blake regarded her with a tolerant smile. "My dear lady, it's obvious +that I should not gain anything by supporting your ingenious theory of +what happened on the frontier, because if you were right, your only +power over the Colonel would lie in his supposed desire to keep it +quiet, which would, of course, prevent my clearing my character. If, +however, you wish to believe that I have been bought over by him or +Bertram, you must do so. I'll own that it seems the best explanation; +but I should then have a strong reason for opposing you." +</P> + +<P> +"But you are opposing me." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Blake. "My object in doing so hasn't much bearing on the +matter so far as you are concerned, but it will simplify things if you +will realize that I mean to stand between my relatives and harm. I'm +not a clever player of this kind of game, but you must see I hold the +ace of trumps among my cards. Now you know I'm ready to play it, don't +you think it would be wiser to leave the Colonel alone?" +</P> + +<P> +For a few moments she looked at him in silence, and though she burned +with anger and disappointment she kept her head. She was beaten; no +art that she could practise and no argument would prevail against the +man's resolution. The only thing left was to retire with as much +dignity as possible from the fight. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she answered, getting up, "I suppose there is no more to be +said, and after all you might have shown me less consideration. I must +do you the justice to admit that I believe you are acting out of +loyalty to your friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," Blake said with a bow. "Now I notice Mrs. Foster coming +towards us and imagine that she doesn't mean to stay much longer." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Chudleigh left him, and in another few minutes Mrs. Foster +declared that she must go, while as they walked towards the staircase +Mrs. Keith came up to Blake. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" she asked in an anxious tone. +</P> + +<P> +Blake smiled at her. "I think we needn't fear any further trouble." +</P> + +<P> +Admiration shone in Margaret Keith's eyes. "It's a great relief, +though I knew the worst danger was over when you came home. None of +the Challoners ever did so fine a thing, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +She went by before he could answer and he turned back into the gallery +while the others descended to the hall. Standing near a window, he saw +Foster's car speed down the drive; then the hoot of the horn reached +him from the corner by the lodge, and there was silence again. It was +broken a few minutes later by a beat of hoofs, and Blake, looking out, +saw Challoner dismount. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you get to, Dick?" the Colonel asked when his nephew went +down to meet him. "I saw you close behind the hounds for a time, but +you disappeared and nobody seemed to know what had become of you." +</P> + +<P> +"I had a good run," Blake said, smiling. "Then I dropped out and rode +home across country. I remembered that there was something I had to +do." +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been something important to take you off the field when +the hounds were running as they were then." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought the matter needed attention," Blake rejoined, lighting a +cigar. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A DIFFICULT QUESTION +</H4> + +<P> +On the evening after Mrs. Chudleigh's visit, Challoner sent for Blake, +who had just returned from an afternoon's shooting with Foster. The +Colonel was sitting in a big leather chair near a good fire, but he had +a heavy rug wrapped about him. +</P> + +<P> +"Had you good sport?" he asked. "You must have found it very cold +standing about the covers." +</P> + +<P> +"We made a fair bag. The air was raw, but nothing unusual." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't keep warm; I've been shivering all day. It looks as if I'd +got a chill waiting outside Croxleigh gorse, but that is not what I +want to talk about." His tone grew sharper. "It's curious that I +wasn't told Mrs. Chudleigh came here yesterday; had you anything to do +with keeping the information from me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I must own up, sir. I thought it might disturb you, if you +knew." +</P> + +<P> +"Your intentions were, no doubt, good, but please remember in future +that I can't permit things that concern me to be taken out of my hands. +I believe I'm still capable of managing my affairs." +</P> + +<P> +It struck Blake that his uncle looked ill, which might account for his +asperity, and he made an apologetic answer. +</P> + +<P> +"You may as well tell me what she said," Challoner resumed. +</P> + +<P> +"As a matter of fact, she didn't say very much," Blake answered with a +twinkle. "I did most of the talking, but you must guess her object; +she seems a persistent lady." +</P> + +<P> +"Then what did you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I tried to show her that she was helpless to make any trouble so long +as I stuck to my guns, and I think she recognized it. Anyhow, Foster +mentioned that she told his wife this morning she was afraid she +couldn't stay as long as she had expected. I suppose this means she's +ready to leave the field as soon as she can do so without exciting +curiosity." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner looked much relieved, but when Blake left him he grew +thoughtful. His nephew's demonstration with the chessmen had lifted a +weight off his mind, but he was troubled by a doubt about the absolute +correctness of his explanation. Moreover, when he dwelt upon it, the +doubt gathered strength, but there was nothing that he could do; Dick +obviously meant to stick to his story, and Bertram could not be +questioned. Another matter troubled him; Dick, whom he had meant to +provide for, would not allow it, and though Challoner admired his +independence he thought Dick was carrying it too far. +</P> + +<P> +In the meanwhile, Blake sought Miss Challoner and said, "I don't think +my uncle's looking fit. Mightn't it be better to send for Dr. Onslow?" +</P> + +<P> +"He wouldn't be pleased," Miss Challoner answered dubiously "Still, he +sometimes enjoys a talk with Onslow, who's a tactful man. If he looked +in, as it were, casually——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Blake; "we'll give him a hint. I'll send the groom with a +note at once." +</P> + +<P> +The doctor came and left without expressing any clear opinion, but when +he returned next day he ordered Challoner to bed and told Blake he +feared a sharp attack of pneumonia. His fears were justified, for it +was some weeks before Challoner was able to leave his room. During his +illness he insisted on his nephew's company whenever the nurses would +allow it, and when he began to recover, again begged him to remain at +Sandymere. He had come to lean upon the younger man and entrusted him +with all the business of the estate, which he was no longer able to +attend to. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick," he said one day when Blake thought he was too ill to perceive +that he was casting a reflection on his son, "I wish my personal means +were larger, so I could give Bertram enough and leave Sandymere to you; +then I'd know the place would be in good hands. On the surface, you're +a happy-go-lucky fellow, but that's deceptive. In reality, you have a +surprising grip of things—however, you know my opinion of you. But +you won't go away, Dick?" +</P> + +<P> +The nurse interrupted them, and Blake was glad he had written to +Harding stating his inability to rejoin him. A week or two later he +received a cable message: "No hurry." +</P> + +<P> +When spring came he was still at Sandymere, for Challoner, who got +better very slowly, would not let him go, and saw Millicent frequently. +At first he felt that this was a weakness, since he had nothing to +offer her except a tainted name, but his love was getting beyond +control and his resistance feebler. After all, he thought, the story +of the Indian disaster must be almost forgotten, and Harding had a good +chance of finding the oil. If the latter had not already started for +the North, he would do so soon, but Blake had had no news from him +since his cabled message. +</P> + +<P> +Then, after a quiet month, things began to happen, for one afternoon +when Challoner had driven over to Hazlehurst with his nephew, Foster +came in from the station, bringing a newspaper. The party was sitting +in the conservatory; Mrs. Keith talking to Challoner, Millicent and +Blake standing close by, but there were no other guests, and Mrs. +Chudleigh had left some weeks earlier. Foster sat down near the +Colonel. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's a paragraph that may be of interest; it wasn't in the morning +papers." he remarked. "I believe I've heard Miss Graham and Mrs. +Chudleigh mention a Captain Sedgwick." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Millicent; "we both knew him, but what has he been doing?" +</P> + +<P> +"He seems to have got into trouble, but I'll read you the account." +</P> + +<P> +The interest he had roused was obvious. Challoner leaned forward with +an intent face, Blake dropped the match with which he was lighting a +cigarette, while Mrs. Keith fixed her eyes eagerly on Foster. +Millicent was the least concerned, and she wondered at the others' air +of tension while Foster unfolded his paper. +</P> + +<P> +"'Telegraphic news has been received of a disaster to a small British +force in Western Africa,' he read. 'Captain Sedgwick left his +headquarters at Ambolana with a detachment of native troops to demand +guarantees of good behaviour from the headman of a fortified village +near the French frontier. The expedition was ambushed in thick jungle, +but, escaping after heavy loss, made a stand against large numbers at a +place which appears to lie outside the British boundary. Here Sedgwick +again suffered some loss before a body of French black troops appeared +upon the field. Further details are anxiously waited, since the +affair, which is complicated by a doubt about the headman's suzerainty, +may lead to strong representations from France.'" +</P> + +<P> +"It looks as if your friend will get a wigging," Foster remarked to +Millicent as he laid down the paper. "As I understand it, the +Government doesn't thank too zealous officers who make trouble with our +neighbours, unless there's some substantial gain. There can't be any +in this case, because the French had to rescue the fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'm sorry for Captain Sedgwick," Millicent replied. "I met him +in Quebec, but only saw him for a few weeks." She turned to Blake. +"The news seems to have made some impression on you." +</P> + +<P> +"It has, in a way," Blake admitted with embarrassment, because he did +not wish his interest to be noticed. "As it happens, I've heard a good +deal about the man." +</P> + +<P> +Then Mrs. Keith beckoned the girl. "I think I left my outdoor +spectacles in my room; would you mind getting them?" +</P> + +<P> +Millicent went away and Mrs. Keith led Foster to talk about something +else, because she saw that his wife's curiosity was aroused. It was +undesirable that any one should guess that the news had its importance +to Challoner. Prudence prevented her saying anything to her old friend +alone before he left, but she gave him a look which was expressive of +relief and satisfaction. As they drove home Challoner turned to Blake. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll know more about the matter in a day or two," he said. +"Greythorpe's coming down." +</P> + +<P> +"In my opinion, Sedgwick has ruined himself," Blake replied. "No +influence could get him the appointment now." +</P> + +<P> +This view was taken by Greythorpe when he sat talking with Challoner a +few evenings afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +"You were right about Captain Sedgwick," he remarked. "The man came +near getting us into serious difficulties. I suppose you have read the +newspaper account?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. You have more complete information?" +</P> + +<P> +Greythorpe nodded. "The other was accurate, so far as it went. The +fellow played a bold stroke, making the usual excuse; the necessity for +putting an end to the depredations and barbarities of a native headman." +</P> + +<P> +"To do him justice, I daresay the excuse was good." +</P> + +<P> +"It's possible, but Sedgwick's motive was not humanitarian. He knew +that if he could seize the headman's stronghold and effectively occupy +the surrounding country, we should stay there and after a protest or +two the French would have to acquiesce. As it happened, he bungled the +business, and, worst of all, had to be extricated by the people he +meant to outwit. They led him politely but very firmly across the +frontier, and now it's our part to express our regret and promise to +avoid any fresh aggression." +</P> + +<P> +"What will you do with Sedgwick?" +</P> + +<P> +"He'll have to be reprimanded, and after this we can't trust him with +independent authority. He's too venturesome, though I'll admit that it +would have been different if he had succeeded. Still, he has his +talents, and I daresay we'll find him useful in a subordinate post. +I'm inclined to sympathize with your friend Mrs. Chudleigh." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner made no answer to this, and they talked about matters until +Blake came in, when Greythorpe left them alone together. +</P> + +<P> +"He agrees with you about the African affair," said the Colonel. +"Sedgwick is, so to speak, done for and will be kept in the background +after this." +</P> + +<P> +"It's more important that Mrs. Chudleigh is disposed of," Blake +replied. "As she can't help the man, she'll no longer have any motive +for troubling us, and I don't think she would do so out of malice. +That sets me free, and as you're getting strong again I ought to go +back to Canada as soon as I can." +</P> + +<P> +"If you feel you must go, I'll have to consent." +</P> + +<P> +"I've a duty to my partner. It's probable that he has already set off, +but I know where to find him and there'll be plenty to do. For one +thing, as transport is expensive, we'll have to relay our supplies over +very rough country and that means making the same stage several times, +while I don't suppose Harding will have been able to buy very efficient +boring plant." +</P> + +<P> +"He may have done better than you imagined," Challoner remarked. "A +man as capable as he seems to be would somehow get hold of what was +needful." +</P> + +<P> +Blake was surprised at this, because his uncle understood their +financial difficulties; but he said, "There's a fast boat next +Saturday. I think I'll go by her." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait another week, to please me," Challoner urged him. "You have had +a dull time since I've been ill, and now I'd like you to get about. I +shall miss you badly, Dick." +</P> + +<P> +Blake agreed. He felt that he ought to have sailed earlier, but the +temptation to remain was strong. He now met Millicent every day, and +it might be a very long time before he returned to England. He feared +that he was laying up trouble for himself, but he recklessly determined +to make the most of the present, and, in spite of his misgivings, the +next eight or nine days brought him many delightful hours. Now she +knew he was going, Millicent abandoned the reserve she had sometimes +shown. She was sympathetic, interested in his plans, and, he thought, +wonderfully charming. They were rapidly drawn closer together, and the +more he learned of her character, the stronger his admiration grew. At +times he imagined he noticed a tender shyness in her manner, and though +it delighted him he afterwards took himself to task. He was not acting +honourably; he had no right to win this girl's love, as he was trying +to do, but there was the excuse that she knew his history and it had +not made her cold to him. +</P> + +<P> +In the meanwhile, Mrs. Keith, who had grown very fond of her companion +and entirely approved of her, looked on with observant eyes and made +opportunities for throwing the two together. One afternoon a day or +two before Blake's departure she called Millicent into her room and +asked her abruptly: "Have you ever thought about your future?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not often since I have been with you," Millicent answered. "Before +that it used to trouble me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I'm afraid you're imprudent. You have no relations you could +look to for help, and while my health is pretty good I can't, of +course, live for ever. I might leave you something, but it would not +be much, because my property is earmarked for a particular purpose." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent wondered where this led, but Mrs. Keith went on: "As you have +found out, I'm a frank old woman and not afraid to say what I think. +Well, considering how attractive you are, there's a way out of the +difficulty, and I believe it's the best one. You ought to marry; it's +your true vocation." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure," said Millicent, blushing. "Besides it mightn't be +possible. I owe everything to your generosity, but you have brought me +into a station where I must stand comparison with girls who have more +advantages." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean they have more money? Well, it's not to be despised, but +I've met men who didn't attach too much importance to it. They had the +sense to see there were other things of greater value, and while I +don't often flatter people, you're not poor in this respect. But if +you liked a man who was far from rich, would you marry him?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would depend," Millicent replied, while her colour deepened. "Why +do you ask? I can't give you a general answer." +</P> + +<P> +"Then give me a particular one; I want to know." +</P> + +<P> +The girl was embarrassed, but she had learned that her employer was not +to be put off easily. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose his being poor wouldn't daunt me, if I loved him enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll suppose something else. If he had done something to be +ashamed of?" +</P> + +<P> +Millicent looked up with a flash in her eyes. "People are so ready to +believe the worst. He did nothing that he need blush for—that's +impossible." Then she saw the trap into which her generous indignation +had led her, but instead of looking down in confusion she boldly faced +Mrs. Keith. "Yes," she added, "if he loved me, I would marry him in +spite of what people are foolish enough to think." +</P> + +<P> +"And you would not regret it." Mrs. Keith laid her hand on the girl's +arm with a caressing touch. "My dear, if you value your happiness, you +will tell him so. Remember that he is going away in a day or two." +</P> + +<P> +"How can I tell him?" Millicent cried with burning face. "I only—I +mean you tricked me into telling you." +</P> + +<P> +"It shouldn't be difficult to give him a tactful hint, and that +wouldn't be a remarkably unusual course," Mrs. Keith rejoined with +amusement. "The idea that a proposal comes quite spontaneously is to +some extent a convention nowadays. I don't suppose you need reminding +that we dine at Sandymere to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent made no reply, and as she seemed rather overwhelmed by her +employer's frankness, the latter took pity on her. +</P> + +<P> +"You might ask Foster for the review he promised me, but you can send +it up instead of coming back," she said, and added as Millicent turned +away: "Think over what I told you." +</P> + +<P> +The recommendation was superfluous, because Millicent thought of +nothing else. She knew Blake was her lover and believed she understood +why he had not declared himself. Now he might go away without speaking +if she let him. Mrs. Keith's blunt candour left her no excuse for +shirking the truth; she loved the man, but it was hateful to feel that +she must make the first advances and reveal her tenderness for him. +She said she could not do so and yet vacillated, for the alternative +was worse. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +HARDING STRIKES OIL +</H4> + +<P> +Next evening Millicent accompanied Mrs. Keith to Sandymere in a +troubled mood. Dinner was a trying function, because she sat next to +Foster, who talked in a humorous strain and expected her to appreciate +his jokes. She found it hard to smile at the right moment and noticed +that Blake was unusually quiet. It was his last evening in England. +</P> + +<P> +When they went into the drawing-room Challoner engaged her in +conversation for a time and she was afterwards asked to sing. An hour +passed before Blake had an opportunity of exchanging a word with her, +and then Miss Challoner was sitting close by. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll make you sing again if you stop here," he said softly. +</P> + +<P> +She understood that he wanted her to himself and thrilled at something +in his voice, but instead of complying she asked: "Don't you wish me +to?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, of course," he answered lamely and was silent for a few moments. +Then he resumed: "You're interested in Eastern brasswork, I think?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hardly know," said Millicent. "I haven't seen much of it." +</P> + +<P> +She was vexed with herself for her prudish weakness. An opportunity +that might never be repeated was offered her, and she could not muster +the courage to seize it. Blake, however, did not seem daunted. +</P> + +<P> +"You said you were delighted with the things my uncle showed you when +you were last here and a friend has just sent him a fresh lot from +Benares." He gave her an appealing look. "It struck me you might like +to see them." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Millicent with forced calm; "I really think I would." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you give me the key of the Indian collection?" Blake asked +Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is," said the Colonel, who turned to Mrs. Keith. "That +reminds me, you haven't seen my new treasures yet. Dryhurst has lately +sent me some rather good things; among others there's a small Buddha, +exquisitely carved. Shall we go and look at them?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Keith felt angry with him for a marplot, but she said: "Wouldn't +it be better to wait until I'm here in the daylight? If I try to +examine anything closely with these spectacles, they strain my eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"I've had a new lamp placed in front of the case," Challoner persisted, +and Mrs. Keith found it hard to forgive him for his obtuseness. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," she said in a resigned tone, and when Millicent and Blake +had gone out walked slowly to the door with Challoner. +</P> + +<P> +They were half way up the staircase which led rather sharply from the +hall when she stopped and turned to her companion. +</P> + +<P> +"It's obvious that you have recovered," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"I certainly feel much better, but what prompted your remark?" +</P> + +<P> +"These stairs. You don't seem to feel them, but if you expect me to +run up and down, you'll have to make them shallower and less steep. +I've been up twice since I came; Hilda insisted on my seeing the new +decorations in the west wing, and I must confess to a weakness in my +knee." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner gave her a sharp glance and then said, "I'm sorry. Mrs. +Foster mentioned something about your not walking much; I should have +remembered." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the weather; I find the damp troublesome. If you don't mind, I +think we'll go down." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner gave her his arm, and Millicent, standing in the picture +gallery, noticed their return. She suspected that this was the result +of some manoeuvre of Mrs. Keith's intended for her advantage, and tried +to summon her resolution. The man she loved would sail next day, +believing that his poverty and the stain he had not earned must stand +between them, unless she could force herself to give him a hint to the +contrary. This was the only sensible course, but she timidly shrank +from it. +</P> + +<P> +Blake unlocked a glass case and taking out two shelves laid them on a +table. "There they are," he said with a rather nervous smile. "I've +no doubt the things are interesting, and if our friends come up they +can look at them. But it wasn't Benares brassware that brought me +here." +</P> + +<P> +"Was it not?" Millicent asked with a fluttering heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not! One couldn't talk with Foster enlarging upon the only +rational way of rearing pheasants, and you know I'm going away first +thing to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I know," said Millicent, and then looked up at him with sudden +courage. "I'm sorry." +</P> + +<P> +"Truly sorry; you mean that?" He gave her a very keen glance while he +knitted his brows. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said recklessly; "I mean it. You ought to know I do." +</P> + +<P> +He laid his hand on her shoulder, holding her a little away from him. +"I came up here in a state of horrible indecision, torn different ways +by a sense of the duty I owed you and my selfish longing. Even if +nothing had been said to make it harder for me, I can't tell how the +struggle would have ended." +</P> + +<P> +"Why should there be a struggle?" she asked him. +</P> + +<P> +His grasp tightened and his eyes were steadily fixed upon her face. +"You're very young and beautiful and, though I love you, I'm a broken +man." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it's through no fault of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"The consequences are the same and, apart from this, I have nothing to +offer. Can you wonder, my dear, that I was afraid? I come to you a +beggar, with everything to gain." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" she said, "all I have to give is yours; I think it was yours +before you asked for it." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are not afraid?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him with a happy smile. "What should I fear? Aren't you +able to take care of me? It must be for my sake that you are so timid +and I love you for it, but I think this must be the first time you ever +hesitated long. Where has your usual recklessness gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's coming back." He passed his arm about her waist, drawing her +strongly to him. "We'll laugh at cold-blooded prudence and take our +chances. It's a wide world, and we'll find a nook somewhere if we go +out and look for it. All my care will be to smooth the trail for your +dear, pretty feet." +</P> + +<P> +They spent a time in happy talk, and Blake murmured when Millicent +protested that they must go back, while she feared that her lover's +exultant air would betray them as they entered the drawing-room. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's the key?" Challoner asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I forgot it, sir," Blake confessed. "Very sorry, but I'm +not even sure I put the things away." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner rang a bell and gave an order to a servant. Then he asked +Millicent: "Did you see the Buddha?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," she said. "I don't think so." +</P> + +<P> +"Or the brass plate with the fantastic serpent pattern round the rim?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I didn't," Millicent owned with a trace of confusion. +</P> + +<P> +Challoner looked hard at Blake, and then his eyes twinkled. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said pointedly, "perhaps it wasn't to be expected." +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment's silence. Millicent looked down with the colour in +her face; Blake stood very straight, smiling at the others. Then he +said, "We are all friends here, and I'm proud to announce that +Millicent has promised to marry me as soon as I return from Canada." +He bowed to Mrs. Keith and the Colonel. "As you have taken her +guardian's place, madam, and you, sir, are the head of the house, I +should like to think we have your approval." +</P> + +<P> +"How formal, Dick!" said Mrs. Keith with a laugh. "I imagine my +consent is very much a matter of form, but I give it with the greatest +satisfaction." +</P> + +<P> +Challoner got up and took Millicent's hand. "My dear, I am very glad, +and I think Dick has shown great wisdom. I wish you both all +happiness." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Foster and her husband offered their congratulations, and for the +next hour they discussed Blake's future plans, after which they were +interrupted by the entrance of a servant with a small silver tray. +</P> + +<P> +"Telegram, sir, for Mr. Blake," he said. "Hopkins was at the post +office, and they gave it him." +</P> + +<P> +Blake took the envelope and looked at Miss Challoner for permission to +open it. When he had done so, he started and gave the form to +Millicent. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dick!" she cried with sparkling eyes. "Isn't this very good." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe so." Blake turned to the others. "After the good feeling +you have shown towards us, I daresay you'll be interested to hear my +partner's latest news." He read out: "'Come. Struck it. Tell +Challoner.'" +</P> + +<P> +He turned to Mrs. Keith. "This should set me firmly on my feet and may +make me rich." Then he addressed Challoner. "But I don't understand +the last of it. Why does he wish you to know?" +</P> + +<P> +The Colonel chuckled. "I sent Mr. Harding five hundred pounds to buy +anything he needed for his prospecting, and told him to give me an +option on a good block of shares in the new syndicate at par. You're +very independent, Dick, but I can't see why you should object to your +relatives putting money into what looks like a promising thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I've no doubt it was mainly through your help Harding found the oil," +Blake said gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after this the Fosters rose to go, but they waited sympathetically +in the hall while Millicent lingered with Blake in the drawing-room. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick," she said, blushing, "you made a rash statement, I didn't quite +promise to marry you as soon as you came back." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it was understood," Blake answered firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't let you off." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," she said; "if it will bring you home any quicker, dear! But +how long must you stay?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell; there may be much to do and, if Harding needs me, I must +see it out, but I won't delay a minute more than's needful. You know +we may have to live in Canada?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she said shyly; "I won't object. Where you are will be home." +</P> + +<P> +Then Foster opened the door. "The car's waiting, and it's coming on to +rain." +</P> + +<P> +Millicent went out with him; and Blake, who sailed next day, found, on +reaching the timber belt, that, as he had predicted, there was much to +be done. After some months' hard work, Harding, who was confident that +the oil would pay handsomely, left him in charge while he set off for +the cities to arrange about pipes and plant and the raising of capital. +It was early winter when he returned, satisfied with what he had +accomplished, and Blake saw that he would be able to visit England in a +few weeks. +</P> + +<P> +He was sitting in their office shack one bitter day when a sledge +arrived with supplies, and the teamster brought him a telegram. His +face grew grave as he opened it and read— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Bertram killed in action.—Challoner." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"This sets you free, doesn't it?" Harding remarked after expressing his +sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell," Blake answered. "I haven't thought of it in such a +light. I was very fond of my cousin." +</P> + +<P> +"But the action must have been in India," Harding resumed after a +while. "Didn't you tell me Captain Challoner was coming home?" +</P> + +<P> +"He gave up a good appointment when he found his regiment was to be +sent to a station where there was a likelihood of some fighting. I +think I can guess the reason." +</P> + +<P> +Shortly before Blake left the camp he received further news by mail and +some English newspapers. Bertram had been shot when leading an attack +upon a fort among the frontier hills, and the accounts agreed that he +had shown exceptional gallantry. +</P> + +<P> +On reaching England, Blake found Millicent at the station. Mrs. Keith, +she told him, had given up her London house and taken one near +Sandymere. Then she looked thoughtful when he asked about his uncle. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid you will see a marked change in him," she said. "He has +not been well since you left, and the news of Bertram's death was a +shock." +</P> + +<P> +She was with him when he met Challoner, who looked very frail and +forlorn. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a comfort to see you back, Dick; you are all I have now," he +said, and went on with a break in his voice: "After all, it was a good +end my boy made—a very daring thing! The place was supposed to be +unassailable by such a force as he had, but he stormed it. In spite of +his fondness for painting, he was true to strain." +</P> + +<P> +Some time later Blake said to Millicent, "You heard what he told me, +dear? The secret must still be kept; I can't speak." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Millicent, "not while your uncle lives. It's hard, when I +want everybody to know what you are." +</P> + +<P> +He kissed her. "I daresay it's natural that you should be prejudiced +in my favour, but I like it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" she answered, smiling, "I've no doubt you have some faults, but +you're very staunch. You must do what you think right, Dick, and I'll +try to be content. One reason for my loving you is that you are brave +enough to take this generous part." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blake's Burden, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAKE'S BURDEN *** + +***** This file should be named 29155-h.htm or 29155-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/5/29155/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Blake's Burden + +Author: Harold Bindloss + +Release Date: June 18, 2009 [EBook #29155] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAKE'S BURDEN *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: this book has essentially the same story as +Bindloss's "The Intriguers", Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) +#14406, however, the differences in text, paragraphing, and chapter +structure range from minor to radically different. As an example, this +book has 32 chapters, while Intriguers has only 24.] + + + + + +BLAKE'S BURDEN + + +By + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + + +Author of "The Impostor," "Hawtrey's Deputy," "The Pioneer," etc + + + + +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED + +LONDON, MELBOURNE AND TORONTO + +1917 + + + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + + The Impostor + Beneath Her Station + The Liberationist + League of the Leopard + A Damaged Reputation + The Dust of Conflict + Hawtrey's Deputy + The Protector + The Pioneer + The Trustee + The Wastrel + The Allinson Honour + Blake's Burden + The Secret of the Reef + The Intruder + A Risky Game + The Borderer + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + I THE BLAKE AFFAIR + II MILLICENT RENEWS AN ACQUAINTANCE + III THE COUSINS + IV CHALLONER RESUMES HIS JOURNEY + V MRS. KEITH GETS A SURPRISE + VI HARDING GROWS CONFIDENTIAL + VII MRS. CHUDLEIGH GATHERS INFORMATION + VIII THE PRAIRIE + IX CLARKE MAKES A SUGGESTION + X BENSON GIVES TROUBLE + XI HARDING GROWS SUSPICIOUS + XII THE MUSKEG + XIII CLARKE'S SUMMONS + XIV THE CURE + XV MRS. CHUDLEIGH FINDS A CLUE + XVI MRS. KEITH ENTERS THE FIELD + XVII THE PICTURE GALLERY + XVIII COLONEL CHALLONER PROVES OBDURATE + XIX CHALLONER'S DECISION + XX MRS. CHUDLEIGH MAKES A FRESH ATTEMPT + XXI A NEW PERSECUTOR + XXII CLARKE MODIFIES HIS PLANS + XXIII THE CARIBOU + XXIV THE FACTORY + XXV THE BACK TRAIL + XXVI THE RESCUE + XXVII A STARTLING DISCOVERY + XXVIII A MATTER OF DUTY + XXIX BLAKE HOLDS HIS GROUND + XXX MRS. CHUDLEIGH'S DEFEAT + XXXI A DIFFICULT QUESTION + XXXII HARDING STRIKES OIL + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BLAKE AFFAIR + +It was a fine morning and Mrs. Keith sat with a companion, enjoying the +sunshine, near the end of Dufferin Avenue, which skirts the elevated +ground above the city of Quebec. Behind her rose the Heights of +Abraham where the dying Wolfe wrested Canada from France; in front, +churches, banks, offices and dwellings, curiously combining the old and +the very new, rose tier on tier to the great red _Frontenac_ hotel, at +which she was staying. It is a picturesque city that climbs back from +its noble river; supreme, perhaps, in its situation among Canadian +towns, and still retaining something of the exotic stamp set upon it by +its first builders whose art was learned in the France of long ago. + +From where she sat Mrs. Keith could not see the ugly wooden wharves. +Her glance rested on the flood that flowed towards her, still and deep, +through a gorge lined with crags and woods, and then, widening rapidly, +washed the shores of a low, green island. Opposite her white houses +shone on the Levis ridge, and beyond this a vast sweep of country, +steeped in gradations of colour that ended in ethereal blue, rolled +away towards the hills of Maine. Quebec was then filled with +distinguished guests. British royalty had visited it, with many who +belonged to the great world in London and some who aspired to do so. +Canada had become fashionable, and in addition to English folk of +station, Westerners and Americans of note had gathered in the ancient +city. The ceremonies were over, but the company had not all dispersed. + +The two ladies were elderly. They had played their part in the drama +of life, one of them in a strenuous manner, and now they were content +with the position of lookers on. So far, however, nothing had occurred +since breakfast to excite their interest, and by and by Mrs. Keith +turned to her companion with characteristic briskness. + +"I think I'll go to Montreal by the special boat to-night," she said. +"The hotel's crowded, the town's full, and you keep meeting people whom +you know or have heard about. I came here to see Canada, but find it +hard to realize that I'm not in London; I'm tired of the bustle." + +Mrs. Ashborne smiled. She had met Margaret Keith by chance in Quebec, +but their acquaintance was of several years' standing. + +"Tired?" she said. "That is surely a new sensation for you. I've +often envied you your energy." + +Age had touched Mrs. Keith lightly, though she had long been a +childless widow and had silvery hair. Tall and finely made, with +prominent nose and piercing eyes, she was marked by a certain +stateliness and a decided manner. She was blunt without rudeness, and +though often forceful was seldom arrogant. Careless of her dress, as +she generally was, Margaret Keith bore the stamp of refinement and +breeding. + +"Ah!" she said; "I begin to feel I'm old. But will you come to +Montreal with me to-night?" + +"I suppose I'd better, though the boat takes longer than the train and +I hear that the _Place Viger_ is full. I don't know anything about the +other hotels; they mightn't be comfortable." + +"They'll no doubt be able to offer us all that we require, and I never +pamper myself," Mrs. Keith replied. "In fact, it's now and then a +relief to do something that's opposed to the luxuriousness of the age." + +This was a favourite topic, but she broke off as a man came towards +her, carrying one or two small parcels which apparently belonged to the +girl at his side. He was a handsome man, tall and rather spare, with +dark eyes and a soldierly look. His movements were quick and forceful, +but a hint of what Mrs. Keith called swagger somewhat spoiled his +bearing. She thought he allowed his self-confidence to be seen too +plainly. The girl formed a marked contrast to him; she was short and +slender, her hair and eyes were brown, while her prettiness, for one +could not have called her beautiful, was of an essentially delicate +kind. It did not strike one at first sight, but grew upon her +acquaintances. Her manner was quiet and reserved and she was plainly +dressed in white, but when she turned and dismissed her companion her +pose was graceful. Then she handed Mrs. Keith some letters and papers. + +"I have been to the post office and Captain Sedgwick made them search +for our mail," she said. "It came some time ago, but there was a +mistake through its not being addressed to the hotel." + +Mrs. Keith took the letters and gave Mrs. Ashborne an English +newspaper, but the girl went on: "The bobcat has torn a hole in the +basket and I'm afraid it's trying to get at the mink." + +"Tell some of the hotel people to take it out at once and see that the +basket is sent to be mended." + +The girl withdrew and Mrs. Ashborne looked up. "Did I hear aright? +She said a bob-cat." + +"You did. I am making a collection of the smaller American animals, +and a bob-cat is something like a big English ferret. It has high +hindquarters and walks with a curious jump, which I suppose is why it +got its name. I'm not sure it lives in Canada, and an American got +this one for me. I find natural history interesting." + +Margaret Keith was known to be eccentric, and her companion laughed. +"I should imagine you found it expensive, and aren't some of the +creatures savage?" + +"Millicent looks after them, and I always beat the sellers down. +Fortunately, I can afford to indulge in my caprices, and you can +consider this my latest fad if you like. I am subject to no claims, +and my means are hardly large enough to make me an object of interest +to sycophantic relatives." + +"Is your companion fond of attending to wild animals?" Mrs. Ashborne +inquired. "I have wondered where you got her. You have had a number, +but she is different from the rest." + +"I suppose you mean she is too good for the post?" Mrs. Keith +suggested. "However, I don't mind telling you that she is Eustace +Graham's daughter; you must have heard of him." + +"Eustace Graham? Wasn't he in rather bad odour?--only tolerated on the +fringe of society? I seem to recollect some curious tales about him." + +"Latterly he was outside the fringe; indeed, I don't know how he kept +on his feet so long, but he went downhill fast towards the end. A +plucker of plump pigeons, an expensive friend to smart young subalterns +and boys about town. Cards, bets, loans arranged, and that kind of +thing! All the same, he had his good points when I first knew him." + +"But after such a life as his daughter must have led, do you consider +her a suitable person to take about with you? What do your friends +think? They have to receive her now and then." + +"I can't say that I have much cause to respect my friends' opinions, +and I'm not afraid of the girl's contaminating me," Mrs. Keith replied. +"Besides, Millicent, who lost her mother early, lived with her aunts +until a few months before her father's death. I expect Eustace felt +more embarrassed than grateful when she came to take care of him, but, +to do him justice, he would see that none of the taint of his +surroundings rested on the girl. He did wrong, but I think he paid for +it, and it is better to be charitable." + +She broke off, and glanced down at the big liner with cream-coloured +funnel that was slowly swinging across the stream as she resumed: "I +must send Millicent to buy our tickets for Montreal. The hotel will be +crowded before long with that steamer's noisy passengers." + +"Do you know anything about Captain Sedgwick, who brought you your +letters?" her companion asked. + +"Not much. Distinguished himself somewhere and holds a Government post +in a West African colony. Came home on furlough, and seems to have had +some part in the state functions here. I'm inclined to think he's a +soldier of fortune; a man with a humble beginning, determined to get +on." + +"Isn't that Mrs. Chudleigh he's now talking to?" + +Mrs. Ashborne was short-sighted, but Margaret Keith's eyes were better, +and she noticed the stylish woman whom Sedgwick had joined. + +"Yes," she said. "A widow, I believe, though one would not suspect it +from her clothes. She seems to know some of my friends, but I met her +here for the first time a few days ago." + +"She married very young and her husband, who died in a few years, left +her a good deal of money; he was a merchant in Calcutta. She's too +smart and advanced for my taste, but her people have some standing. It +looks as if she were attracted by Sedgwick; she's undoubtedly gracious +to him." + +"Then it's an opportunity he won't miss. The man's an adventurer." + +Sedgwick and his companion passed out of sight, and Mrs. Ashborne +opened the _Morning Post_, from which she presently looked up. + +"'A marriage--between Blanche Newcombe and Captain Challoner--at +Thornton Holme, in Shropshire,'" she read out. "Do you know the bride?" + +"I know Bertram Challoner better," Mrs. Keith replied, and was silent +for a minute or two, musing on former days. Then she went on: "His +mother was an old friend of mine; a woman of imagination, with strong +artistic tastes, and Bertram resembles her. It was his father, the +Colonel, who forced him into the army, and I'm somewhat astonished that +he has done so well." + +"They were all soldiers, I understand. But wasn't there some scandal +about a cousin?" + +"Richard Blake?" said Mrs. Keith, making room for Millicent Graham, her +companion, who rejoined them. "It's getting an old story, and I always +found it puzzling. So far as one could judge, Dick Blake should have +made an excellent officer; his mother, the Colonel's sister, was true +to the Challoner strain, his father a reckless Irish sportsman." + +"But what was the story? I haven't heard it." + +"After Blake broke his neck when hunting, the Colonel brought Dick up +and, as a matter of course, sent him into the army. He became a +sapper, and, entering the Indian service, met his cousin, Bertram, who +was in the line, somewhere on the frontier. They were both sent with +an expedition into the hills, and there was a night attack. It was +important that an advanced post should be defended, and Dick had laid +out the trenches. In the middle of the fight an officer lost his +nerve, the position was stormed, and the expedition terribly cut up. +Owing to the darkness and confusion there was a doubt about who had led +the retreat, but Dick was blamed and made no defence. In spite of +this, he was acquitted at the inquiry, perhaps because he was a +favourite and Colonel Challoner was well known upon the frontier, but +the opinion of the mess was against him. He left the service and the +Challoners never speak of him." + +"I once met Lieutenant Blake," Millicent broke in with a flush in her +face. "Though he only spoke a word or two to me, he did a very +chivalrous thing; one that needed courage and coolness. I find it hard +to believe he could be a coward." + +"So do I," Mrs. Keith agreed. "Still I must say that I haven't seen +him since he was a boy." + +"I met him once," said Mrs. Ashborne. "There was a man in the hotel +yesterday who strongly reminded me of him, but I think he must have +left last night." + +"I have forgotten my letters, but I know from whom they come, and +they'll no doubt give me some news of the wedding," Mrs. Keith +remarked, and while she opened them Millicent sat looking down on the +glistening river with her thoughts far away. + +She was reconstructing a scene from the past, and she could picture +with vivid distinctness the small, untidy drawing-room of a London +flat, in which she sat, alone and half-dismayed, one evening soon after +she had joined her father. A few beautiful objects of art were +scattered amongst the shabby furniture; there were stains of wine on +the fine Eastern rug, an inlaid table was scraped and damaged, and one +chair had a broken leg. All she saw spoke of neglect and vanished +prosperity. Hoarse voices and loud laughter came from an adjoining +room and a smell of cigar smoke accompanied them. Sitting at the +piano, she restlessly turned over some music and now and then played a +few bars to divert her troubled thoughts. Until a few weeks before she +had led a peaceful life in the country, and the finding her father of +such doubtful character and habits had been a painful surprise. + +She was interrupted by the violent opening of the door and a group of +excited men burst into the room. They were shouting with laughter at a +joke which made her blush, and one dragged a companion in by the arm. +Another, breaking off from rude horse-play, came towards her with a +drunken leer. She shrank from his hot face and wine-laden breath as +she drew back, wondering how she could reach her father, who stood in +the doorway trying to restrain his guests. Then a young man sprang +forward, with disgust and anger in his brown face, and she felt that +she was safe. He looked clean and wholesome by contrast with the rest +and his movements were swift and athletic. + +Millicent could remember him very well, for she had often thought of +Lieutenant Blake with gratitude. Just as the tipsy gallant stretched +out his hand to seize her, the electric light went out; there was a +brief scuffle in the darkness, the door banged, and when the light +flashed up again only Blake and her father were in the room. +Afterwards her father told her with a look of shame in his handsome, +dissipated face, that he had been afraid of something of the kind +happening and she must leave him. Millicent refused, for worn as he +was by many excesses, his health was breaking down and when he fell ill +she nursed him until he died. She had not seen Lieutenant Blake since. + +By and by Mrs. Keith's voice broke in upon her recollections. "It's +possible we may see Bertram and the new Mrs. Challoner. She is going +out with him, but they are to travel by the Canadian Pacific route and +spend some time in Japan before proceeding to his Indian station." +Referring to the date of her letter she resumed, "They may have caught +the boat that has just come in; she's one of the railway Empresses, and +there's an Allan liner due to-morrow. Now I think we'll go to the +hotel and try to get a list of the passengers." + +She rose and they walked slowly back along the avenue. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MILLICENT RENEWS AN ACQUAINTANCE + +Dusk was falling on the broad river, and the bold ridge behind the city +stood out sharp and black against a fading gleam in the western sky, +when Richard Blake hurried along the wharf. Close at hand a big, +sidewheel steamer, spotlessly white, with tiers of decks that towered +above the sheds and blazed with light, was receiving the last of her +passengers, and on reaching the gangway Blake stood aside to let an +elderly lady pass. She was followed by her maid and a girl whose face +he could not see. It was a few minutes after the sailing time, and as +the lady stepped on board a rope fell with a splash. There was a shout +of warning as the bows, caught by the current, began to swing out into +the stream, and the end of the gangway slipped along the edge of the +wharf. It threatened to fall into the river, the girl was not on board +yet, and Blake leaped upon the plank. Seizing her shoulder, he drove +her forward until a seaman, reaching out, drew her safe on deck. Then +the paddles splashed and as the boat forged out into the stream, the +girl turned and thanked Blake. He could not see her clearly, because +an over-arching deck cast a shadow upon her face. + +"Glad to have been of assistance, but I don't think you could have +fallen in," he said. "The guy-rope they had on the gangway might have +held it up." + +Turning away, he entered the smoke-room, where he spent a while over an +English newspaper that devoted some space to social functions and the +doings of people of importance, noticing once or twice, with a curious +smile, mention of names he knew. He had the gift of making friends, +and before he went to India had met a number of men and women of note +who had been disposed to like him. Then he had won the good opinion of +responsible officers on the turbulent frontier and made acquaintances +that might have been valuable. Now, however, he had done with all +that; he was banished from the world they moved in, and if they ever +remembered him it was, no doubt, as one who had gone under. + +Shaking off these thoughts, he joined some Americans in a game of +cards, and it was late at night when he went out into the moonlight as +the boat steamed up Lake St. Peter. A long plume of smoke trailed +across the cloudless sky, the water glistened with silvery radiance, +and, looking over the wide expanse, he could see dark trees etched +faintly on the blue horizon. Ahead the lights of Three Rivers twinkled +among square, black blocks of houses and tall sawmill stacks. + +A few passengers were strolling about, but the English newspaper had +made him restless and to wish to be alone, so, descending to a quieter +deck, he was surprised to see the girl he had assisted sitting in a +canvas chair near the rail. Close by stood several large baskets from +which there rose an angry snarling. + +"What is this?" he asked with the careless abruptness which usually +characterized him. "With your permission." He raised a lid, while the +girl watched him with amusement. + +"Looks like a menagerie on a small scale," he remarked. "Are these +animals yours?" + +"No," she answered; "they belong to Mrs. Keith." + +"Mrs. Keith?" he said sharply. "The lady I saw at the _Frontenac_ with +the autocratic manners and a Roman nose? It's curious, but she reminds +me of somebody I knew and the name's the same. I wonder----" + +He broke off, and Millicent Graham studied him as he stood in the +moonlight. She did not think he recognized her and perhaps he was +hardly justified in supposing that his timely aid at the gangway +dispensed with the need for an introduction, but she liked his looks, +which she remembered well. She had no fear of this man's presuming too +far; he had a humorous, good-natured air and his surprise when she +mentioned Mrs. Keith had roused her interest. + +"Yes," she said; "I believe it was my employer you knew." + +He did not follow this lead, but asked: "Are you supposed to sit up all +night and watch the animals for her?" + +"Only for an hour or two. The steamboat people refused to have them in +the saloon, and the maid should have relieved me. She was tired, +however, with packing and running errands all day, and I thought I'd +let her sleep a while." + +"Then it can't be much of an intrusion if I try to make you more +comfortable. Let me move your chair nearer the deckhouse, where you'll +be out of the wind; but I'll first see if I can find another rug." + +He left her without waiting for a reply and, returning with a rug, +placed her chair in a sheltered spot, after which he leaned against the +rails. + +"So you are Mrs. Keith's companion," he remarked. "It strikes me as +rather unfeeling of her to keep you here in the cold." He indicated +the baskets. "But what's her object in buying these creatures?" + +"Caprice," said Millicent, smiling. "Some of them are savage, and they +cost a good deal. I can't imagine what she means to do with them, and +I don't think she knows. One of them, however, has been growling all +day, and as it's apparently unwell it mustn't be neglected." + +"If it growls any more, I'll feel tempted to turn yonder hose upon it +or try some other drastic remedy." + +"Please don't!" cried Millicent in alarm. "But you mustn't think Mrs. +Keith is inconsiderate. I have much to thank her for, but she gets +very enthusiastic over her hobbies." + +"Do you know if she ever goes down to a little place in Shropshire?" + +"She does; I have been with her. Once she took me to your old home." +Then the colour crept into Millicent's face. "You don't seem to +remember me, Lieutenant Blake." + +Blake, who had learned self-control, did not start, though he came near +doing so as he recalled a scene he had taken part in some years +earlier. He had just risen from a dining-table, where the talk had +been of favourite dancers and the turf, and the wine had circulated too +freely, and entered a small drawing-room with several men whom his host +was assisting in a career of dissipation. As they came in a girl rose +from the piano and on seeing her Blake felt a sense of awkwardness and +shame. She looked very fresh and pretty, untainted, he thought, by her +surroundings, and the annoyance in her father's face suggested that he +had not expected to find her there. Blake saw that she shrank from his +noisy companions in alarm. One of them, who had drunk too deep, not +noticing that she was startled and imagining that she was a fit subject +for rough gallantry, pursued her as she tried to escape, but Blake with +a quick movement reached a switch and cut off the light. Next moment +he seized the offender and hustled him out of the room. He had saved +an awkward situation and was afterwards thanked by the man he had +roughly handled. + +"It would have been inexcusable if I had forgotten you," he answered +with a smile. "Still, I couldn't quite place you until a few moments +ago, when you faced the light. But you were wrong in one thing; I'm no +longer Lieutenant Blake." + +She appreciated the frankness which had prompted this warning and saw +that she had made a tactless blunder, but she looked at him steadily. + +"I forgot," she said; "forgive me. I heard of--what happened in +India--but I felt that there must have been some mistake." She +hesitated for a moment. "I think so now." + +Blake made a sudden movement, and then leaned back against the rails. +"I'm afraid that an acquaintance which lasted three or four minutes +could hardly enable you to judge; first impressions are often wrong, +you know. Anyhow, I don't complain of the opinion of gentlemen who +knew more about me." + +Millicent saw that the subject must be dropped and resuming, said: "At +our first meeting I had no opportunity of thanking you, and you gave me +none to-night. It's curious that while I've only met you twice, on +both occasions you turned up just when you were needed. Is it a habit +of yours?" + +"That's a flattering thing to hint. The man who's always on hand when +he's wanted is an estimable person." + +"It's not quite what I meant," she answered, laughing. "What struck me +most was that you don't seem to like gratitude." + +"One ought to like it. It's supposed to be rare, but, on the whole, I +haven't found that so." + +He studied her with an interest which she noticed but could not resent. +The girl had changed and gained something since their first meeting, +and he thought it was a knowledge of the world. She was, he felt, +neither tainted nor hardened by what she had learned, but her fresh +childish look which suggested ignorance of evil had gone and could not +come back. Indeed, he wondered how she had preserved it in her +father's house. This was not a matter he could touch upon, but by and +by she referred to it. + +"I imagine," she said shyly, "that on the evening when you came to my +rescue in London you were surprised to find me--so unprepared; so +incapable of dealing with the situation." + +"That is true," Blake answered with some awkwardness. "A bachelor +dinner, you know, after a big race meeting at which we had backed +several winners! One has to make allowances." + +Millicent smiled rather bitterly. "You may guess that I had to make +them often in those days, but it was on the evening we were speaking of +that my eyes were first opened, and I was startled. But you must +understand that it was not by my father's wish I came to London and +stayed with him--until the end. He urged me to go away, but his health +had broken down and he had no one else to care for him. When he was no +longer able to get about everybody deserted him, and he felt it." + +Blake was stirred to compassion. Graham had, no doubt, suffered +nothing he had not deserved, but the man had once been a social +favourite, and it was painful to think of his dying alone in poverty. +His extravagance and the shifts by which he evaded his creditors were +known, and Blake could imagine how hard he would be pressed when he lay +sick and helpless. It must have been a harrowing experience for a +young girl to nurse him and at the same time to grapple with financial +difficulties. + +"I was truly sorry to hear of his death," he said. "Your father was +once a very good friend to me. But, if I may ask, how was it he let +you come to his flat?" + +"I forced myself upon him," Millicent answered, with a grateful glance. +"My mother died long ago and her unmarried sisters took care of me. +They lived very simply in a small secluded country house; two +old-fashioned Evangelicals, gentle but austere, studying small +economies, giving all they could away. In winter we embroidered for +missionary bazaars; in summer we spent the days in a quiet, walled +garden. It was all very peaceful, but I grew restless, and when I +heard that my father's health was failing I felt I must go to him. My +aunts were grieved and alarmed, but they said they dare not hinder me +if I thought it my duty." + +Stirred by troubled memories and perhaps encouraged by the sympathy he +showed, she had spoken on impulse without reserve, and Blake listened +with pity. The girl, brought up, subject to wholesome Puritanical +influences, in such surroundings as she had described, must have +suffered a cruel shock when suddenly plunged into the society of the +rakes and gamblers who frequented her father's flat. + +"Could you not have gone back when you were no longer needed?" he asked. + +"No," she said; "it would not have been fair. I had changed since I +left my aunts. They were very sensitive, and I think the difference +they must have noticed in me would have jarred on them. I should have +brought something alien into their unworldly life. It was too late to +return; I had to follow the path I had chosen." + +Blake mused a while, watching the lights of Three Rivers fade astern +and the broad white wake of the paddles stream back across the glassy +surface of the lake. The girl must have learned much of human failings +since she left her sheltered home, but he thought the sweetness of +character which could not be spoiled by knowledge of evil was greatly +to be admired. He was, however, a man of action and not a philosopher. + +"Well," he said, "I appreciate your letting me talk to you, but it's +cold and getting late, and you have sat on deck long enough. I'll see +that somebody looks after the animals." + +Millicent felt dubious, though she was sleepy and tired. "If anything +happened to her pets, Mrs. Keith would not forgive me." + +"I'll engage that something will happen to some of them very soon +unless you promise to go to your room," Blake said, laughing. Then he +called a deckhand. "What have you to do?" + +"Stand here until the watch is changed." + +"Then you can keep an eye on these baskets. If any of the beasts +inside them makes an alarming noise, send to my room; the second, +forward, port side. Look me up before we get to Montreal." + +"That's all right," said the man, and Blake held out his hand to +Millicent as she rose. + +"Now," he said, "you can go to rest with a clear conscience." + +She left him with a word of thanks, wondering whether she had been +indiscreet, and why she had told him so much. She knew nothing to his +advantage except one chivalrous action, and she had not desired to +arouse his pity, but he had an honest face and had shown an +understanding sympathy which touched her, because she had seldom +experienced it. He had left the army with a stain upon his name, but +she shrank from judging harshly and felt that he had not merited his +disgrace. Then she forgot him and went to sleep. + +Blake stayed on deck some time, thinking about her, but presently +decided that this was an unprofitable occupation. He was a marked man, +with a lonely road to travel, and, though he found some amusement by +the way it led him apart from the society of women of the kind he most +cared for. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE COUSINS + +Dinner was over at the _Windsor_ in Montreal, and Mrs. Keith, who found +the big hotel rather noisy and uncomfortably warm, was sitting with +Mrs. Ashborne in the square between it and St. Catharine's Street. A +cool air blew uphill from the river and the patch of grass with its +fringe of small, dusty trees had a certain picturesqueness in the +twilight. Above it the wooded crest of the mountain rose darkly +against the evening sky; lights glittered behind the network of thin +branches and fluttering leaves along the sidewalk, and the dome of the +cathedral bulked huge and shadowy across the square. Down hill, +towards St. James's, rose towering buildings, with the rough-hewn front +of the Canadian Pacific depot prominent among them, and the air was +filled with the clanging of street cars and the tolling of locomotive +bells. Once or twice, however, when the throb of the traffic +momentarily subsided, music rose faint and sweet from the cathedral, +and Mrs. Keith, who heard the uplifted voices and knew what they sang, +turned to listen. She had heard them before, through her open window +in the early morning when the city was silent and its busy toilers +slept, and now it seemed to her appropriate that the voices could not +be wholly drowned by its hoarse commercial clamour. + +The square served as a cool retreat for the inhabitants of crowded +tenements and those who had nowhere else to go, but Margaret Keith was +not fastidious about her company. She was interested in the unkempt +emigrants who, waiting for a Westbound train, lay upon the grass, +surrounded by their tired children, and she had sent Millicent down the +street to buy fruit to distribute among the travellers; she liked to +watch the French Canadian girls who slipped quietly up the broad +cathedral steps. They were the daughters of the rank and file, but +their movements were graceful and they were tastefully dressed. Then +the blue-shirted, sinewy men, who strolled past, smoking, roused her +curiosity. They had not acquired their free, springy stride in the +cities; these were adventurers who had met with strange experiences in +the frozen North and the lonely West. Some of them had hard faces and +a predatory air, but that added to their interest. Margaret Keith +liked to watch them all and speculate about their mode of life; that +pleasure could still be enjoyed, though as she sometimes told herself +with humorous resignation, she could no longer take a very active part +in things. + +By and by, however, something that appealed to her in a more direct and +personal way occurred, for a man came down the steps of the _Windsor_ +and crossed the well-lighted street with a very pretty English girl. +He carried himself well and had the look of a soldier, his figure was +finely proportioned, but his handsome face suggested sensibility rather +than decision of character and his eyes were dreamy. His companion, so +far as Mrs. Keith could judge by her smiling glance as she laid her +hand upon his arm when they left the sidewalk, was proud of and much in +love with him. + +"Whom are you looking at so hard?" Mrs. Ashborne inquired. + +"Bertram Challoner and his bride," said Mrs. Keith. "They're coming +towards us yonder." + +Then a curious thing happened, for a man who was crossing the street +seemed to see the Challoners and, turning suddenly, stepped back behind +a passing cab. They had their backs to him when he went on, but he +looked round, as if to make sure he had not been observed before he +entered the hotel. + +"That was strange," said Mrs. Ashborne. "It looked as if the fellow +didn't want to meet our friends. Who can he be?" + +"How can I tell?" Mrs. Keith rejoined. "I think I've seen him +somewhere, but that's all I know." + +Looking round as Millicent joined them, she noticed her puzzled +expression. The girl had obviously seen the stranger's action, but +Mrs. Keith did not wish to pursue the subject then. Next moment +Challoner came up and greeted her heartily, while his wife spoke to +Mrs. Ashborne. + +"We only arrived this afternoon and must have missed you at dinner," he +said. "We may go West to-morrow, though we haven't decided yet. I've +no doubt we shall see you again to-night or at breakfast." + +After a few pleasant words the Challoners passed on, and Mrs. Keith +looked after them thoughtfully. + +"Bertram has changed in the last few years," she said. "I heard he had +malaria in India, which perhaps accounts for it, but he shows signs of +his mother's delicacy. She was not strong, and I always thought he had +her highly-strung nervous temperament, though he must have learned to +control it in the army." + +"He couldn't have got in unless the doctors were satisfied with him," +said Mrs. Ashborne. + +"That's true, but both mental and physical traits have a way of lying +dormant while we're young and of developing later. Bertram has shown +himself a capable officer, but to my mind, he looked more like a +soldier when he was at Sandhurst than he does now." + +A few minutes later Mrs. Chudleigh came out of the hotel with Sedgwick +and stopped to speak to Mrs. Keith. + +"I came up by the last train and heard that you were here. Captain +Sedgwick travelled with me, but he's going on to Toronto to-morrow. I +suppose you have seen the Challoners? Such a number of English people +in the town! But isn't this a curious place to spend the evening?" + +"It's cool," said Mrs. Keith. "I like fresh air." + +Mrs. Chudleigh, glanced towards Millicent, who was distributing a +basket of peaches among a group of untidy, emigrant children. + +"That's a charming picture, isn't it? Miss Graham fits the part very +well, but I suppose you're responsible." + +There was a sneer in her tone and Sedgwick broke in: "Miss Graham's a +very nice girl; you can see that she's sorry for the dirty little +beggars. They don't look as if they'd had a happy time, and a liner's +crowded steerage isn't a luxurious place." + +"Since you feel so pitiful, it would be more to the purpose if you gave +them something," Mrs. Chudleigh rejoined. + +"A good idea!" said Sedgwick coolly. "I'll carry it out." + +He crossed the grass and scattered a few small coins among the +children, who clustered round him, after which he stood talking to +Millicent, while Mrs. Chudleigh watched him with an impatience she did +not try to hide. + +"It's a new role for Sedgwick," she remarked. "When he has finished, +we are going into the cathedral to hear the music. I'm fond of +churches, and we spent the afternoon in Notre Dame." + +Mrs. Ashborne said it was worth seeing and conversation languished for +the next three or four minutes, after which Mrs. Chudleigh moved +forward imperiously and took Sedgwick away. Mrs. Keith turned to her +companion with an amused expression. + +"I daresay you noticed that he didn't mind keeping her waiting." + +"I thought he meant to flout her when he acted on her suggestion, and I +half expected something of a scene," said Mrs. Ashborne. "The woman +has a temper." + +Mrs. Keith smiled. "The man is a fortune hunter, but he's taking the +right way. She's used to admiration, and her other suitors have, no +doubt, deferred to her. It's a change to be defied instead of courted, +and though it makes her angry I imagine it strengthens his hold. If he +shows his is the firmer hand, she'll give in." + +"You're taking it for granted that she's in love with him." + +"It looks like it," Mrs. Keith replied. "He has his attractions and +has done one or two dashing things of the kind that catches the public +eye. However, I have some English letters to write, and I think we'll +go in." + +Next evening, about an hour before sunset, Challoner and his wife +leaned upon the rails of a wooden gallery built out from the rock on +the summit of the green mountain that rises close behind Montreal. It +is a view-point that visitors frequent, and they gazed with +appreciation at the wide landscape. Wooded slopes led steeply down to +the stately colleges of McGill and the rows of picturesque houses along +Sherbrook Avenue; lower yet, the city, shining in the clear evening +light, spread across the plain, dominated by its cathedral dome and the +towers of Notre Dame. Green squares with trees in them checkered the +blocks of buildings; along its skirts, where a haze of smoke hung about +the wharves, the great river gleamed in a broad silver band. On the +farther bank the plain ran on again, fading from green to grey and +purple until it melted into the distance and the hills on the Vermont +frontier cut, faintly blue, against the sky. + +"How beautiful this world is!" Challoner exclaimed. "I have seen +grander sights and there are more picturesque cities than Montreal--I'm +looking forward to showing you the work of the Moguls in India--but +happiness such as I've had of late casts a glamour over everything. It +wasn't always so with me; I've had my bad hours when I was blind to +beauty." + +Though Blanche Challoner was very young and much in love, she ventured +a smiling rebuke. + +"You shouldn't wish to remember them; I'm afraid, Bertram, there's a +melancholy strain in you, and I don't mean to let you indulge in it. +Besides, how could you have had bad hours? You have been made much of +and given everything you could wish for since you were a boy. Indeed, +I sometimes wonder how you escaped from being spoiled." + +"When I joined it, I hated the army; that sounds like high treason, +doesn't it? However, I got used to things and made art my hobby +instead of my vocation. You won't mind if I confess that a view of +this kind makes me long to paint?" + +"Oh! no; I intend to encourage you. You mustn't waste your talent. +When we stay among the Rockies we will spend the days in the most +beautiful places we can find and I shall take my pleasure in watching +you at work. But didn't your fondness for sketching amuse the mess?" + +"I used to be chaffed about it and repaid my tormentors by caricaturing +them. On the whole, they were very good-natured." + +"I expect they admired the drawings; they ought to have done. You have +talent. Indeed, I never quite understood why you became a soldier." + +"I think it was from a want of moral courage; you have seen that +determination is not among my virtues," Challoner replied. "It's as +much to the purpose that you don't know my father very well. Though +he's fond of pictures, he looks upon artists and poets as a rather +effeminate and irresponsible set, and I must own that he has met one or +two unfavourable specimens. Then he couldn't imagine the possibility +of a son of his not being anxious to follow the family profession, and, +knowing how my defection would grieve him, I let him have his way. +There has always been a Challoner fighting or ruling in India since +John Company's time." + +"They must have been fine men by their portraits. There's one of a +Major Henry Challoner I fell in love with. He was with Outram, wasn't +he? You have his look, though there's a puzzling difference. I think +these men were bluffer and blunter than you are. You're gentler and +more sensitive; in a way, finer drawn." + +"My sensitiveness has not been a blessing," said Challoner soberly. + +"But it makes you lovable," Blanche declared. "There must have been a +certain ruthlessness about those old Challoners which you couldn't +show. After all, their pictures suggest that their courage was of the +unimaginative, physical kind." + +A shadow crept into Challoner's face, but he banished it. + +"I am happy in having a wife who won't see my faults." Then he added +humorously: "After all, however, that's not good for one." + +Blanche gave him a tender smile, but he did not see it, for he was +gazing at a man who came down the steps from the neighbouring cable +railway. The newcomer was about thirty years of age, of average +height, and strongly made. His face was deeply sunburned and he had +eyes of a curious dark-blue with a twinkle in them and dark lashes, +though his hair was fair. As he drew nearer, Blanche was struck by +something that suggested the family likeness of the Challoners. He had +their firm mouth and wide forehead, but by no means their somewhat +austere expression. He looked as if he went careless through life and +could be readily amused. Then he saw Bertram, and, starting, made as +if he would pass the entrance to the gallery, and Blanche turned her +surprised glance upon her husband. Bertram's hand was tightly closed +on the glasses he held and his face was tense and flushed, but he +stepped forward with a cry of "Dick!" + +The newcomer moved towards him, and Blanche knew he was the man who had +brought dishonour upon her husband's family. + +"This is a fortunate meeting," Bertram said, and his voice was cordial, +though rather strained. Then he turned to his wife. "Blanche, here's +my cousin, Dick Blake." + +Blake showed no awkwardness. Indeed, on the whole he looked amused, +but his face grew graver as he fixed his eyes on Mrs. Challoner. + +"Though I'm rather late, you'll let me wish you happiness," he said. +"I believe it will be yours. Bertram's a very good fellow; I have much +to thank him for." + +There was a sincerity and a hint of affection in his tone which touched +Blanche. She had been prepared to suspend her judgment and be +charitable, but she found that she pitied the man. He had failed in +his duty in time of stress, but he had suffered for it and it must be +hard to be an outcast. Blake saw her compassion and was moved by it. + +"But how did you come here?" Bertram asked. "Where have you been +since----" + +He stopped abruptly and Blake laughed. "Since you surreptitiously said +good-bye to me at Peshawur? Well, after that I went to Penang and from +there to Queensland. Stayed a time at a pearl-fishing station among +the Kanakas, and then came to England for a few months." + +"But how did you manage?" Bertram inquired with some diffidence. "It +raises a point you wouldn't let me talk about at Peshawur, but I've +often felt guilty because I didn't insist. Travelling about as you +have done is expensive." + +"Not to me," Blake rejoined with a twinkle. "I've turned adventurer +and I have the Blake gift of getting along without money." He added in +an explanatory aside to Blanche: "For two or three generations we kept +open house, and a full stable in Ireland, on a revenue derived from +rents which were rarely paid, and if I hadn't been too young when a +disaster gave the creditors their chance, I'd have given them a +sporting run." + +"But what did you do when you left England?" Bertram broke in. + +"Went to East Africa; after that to this country where I tried my hand +at prairie farming. Found it decidedly monotonous and sold the +homestead at a profit. Then I did some prospecting, and now I'm here +on business." + +"On business!" Bertram exclaimed. "You could never be trusted to get +proper value for a shilling." + +"I've learned to do so lately, and that's not going far. If you're in +commerce in this country, you must know how to put down fifty cents and +take up a dollar's worth. Anyhow, I'm here to meet an American whose +acquaintance I made farther West. He's a traveller in paints and +varnishes and a very enterprising person as well as an unusually good +sort. But I've told you enough about myself; I want your news." + +Blanche, who had been watching him, thought it cost her husband an +effort to fall in with his cousin's casual mood. Blake, however, +seemed quite at ease, and she was growing interested in him. He +reminded her of the Challoner portraits in the dark oak gallery at +Sandymere, but she thought him lighter, more brilliant, and, in a +sense, more human than those stern soldiers. Then she remembered his +Irish father, which explained something. They talked a while about +English friends and relatives; and then Blake said rather abruptly-- + +"And the Colonel?" + +"Well," said Bertram. "I heard that you saw him, Dick." + +"I did, for half an hour. I felt it was my duty, though the interview +was hard on both. He was fair, as he always was, and tried to hide his +feelings. I couldn't blame him because he failed." + +Bertram looked away, and Blake's face was troubled. There was a hint +of emotion in his voice as he went on, turning to Blanche-- + +"Whatever he may think of me, Colonel Challoner is a man I have a +sincere respect for, and I owe him more than I can ever repay. He +brought me up after my father's death and started me, like a son, in an +honourable career." Then his tone grew lighter. "It's one of my few +virtues that I don't forget my debts." + +He made as if he would leave them. "And now I've kept you some time. +My American friend hasn't turned up yet and I may be here a few days. +Where are you staying? I'll look you up before I leave." + +"We go West to-morrow morning. Come down and have dinner with us at +the _Windsor_," Bertram said, and when Mrs. Challoner seconded the +request they went up the steps to the platform from which the cable +train started. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CHALLONER RESUMES HIS JOURNEY + +Blake, who had known hardship, enjoyed an excellent dinner and the +society of his cousin's wife, whose good opinion he rapidly gained. He +would not have blamed her had she treated him with cold politeness, but +instead of this she was gentle and quietly cordial. She had seen his +affection for her husband, and made him feel that he had her sympathy, +without being openly pitiful. He was quick to appreciate her tact, and +it had its effect on him. After dinner Mrs. Keith took Blanche away, +and the men found a quiet corner in the rotunda, where they sat talking +for a time. At length Blake glanced at his watch. + +"I have an appointment to keep and must go in a few minutes. Make my +excuses to your wife; I shall not see her again. It would be better, +because there's no reason why she should be reminded of anything +unpleasant now. She's a good woman, Bertram, and I'm glad she didn't +shrink from me. It would have been a natural thing, but I believe she +was sorry and anxious to make all the allowances she could." + +Challoner was silent for a few moments, his face showing signs of +strain. + +"I don't deserve her, Dick; the thought of it troubles me. She doesn't +know me for what I really am." + +"Rot!" Blake exclaimed. "It's your misfortune that you're a +sentimentalist with a habit of exaggerating things; but if you don't +indulge in your weakness too much, you'll go a long way. You showed +the true Challoner pluck when you smoked out that robbers' nest in the +hills and the pacification of the frontier valley was a very smart +piece of work. When I read about the business I never thought you +would pull it off with the force you had. It must have impressed the +authorities, and you'll get something better than your major's +commission before long. I understand that you're already looked upon +as a coming man." + +It was a generous speech, but it was justified, for Challoner had shown +administrative as well as military skill in the affairs his cousin +mentioned. He, however, still looked troubled, and his colour was +higher than usual. + +"Dick," he said, "I wish you would let me give you a lift in the only +way I can. You know you had never any idea of economy, and I'm afraid +you must find it hard to get along." + +"No," said Blake curtly; "it's impossible. Your father made me a +similar offer and I couldn't consent. I suppose I have the Blakes' +carelessness about money, but what I get from my mother's little +property keeps me on my feet." He laughed as he went on: "It's lucky +that your people, knowing the family failing, arranged matters so that +the principal could not be touched. Besides, I've a plan for adding to +my means." + +Bertram dropped the subject. Dick was often rather casual and +inconsequent, but there was a stubborn vein in him. When he took the +trouble to think a matter out he was apt to prove immovable. + +"Anyway, you will let me know how you get on." + +"I think not. What good would it do? The Challoners gave me a fair +start and I disappointed them. While I'm grateful, it's better that +they should have nothing more to do with me. Think of your career, +keep your wife proud of you--she has good reason for being so, and let +me go my way and drop out of sight again. I'm a common adventurer and +have been mixed up in matters that fastidious people would shrink from, +which may happen again. Still, I manage to get a good deal of pleasure +out of the life, which suits me in many ways." He rose, holding out +his hand. "Good-bye, Bertram. We may run across each other somewhere +again." + +"I'll always be glad to do so," Challoner said with feeling. "Be sure +I won't forget you, Dick." + +Blake turned away, but when he left the hotel his face was sternly set. +It had cost him something to check his cousin's friendly advances and +break the last connexion between himself and the life he once had led, +but he knew it must be broken, and felt no pang of envious bitterness. +For many years Bertram had been a good and generous friend, and Blake +sincerely wished him well. + +The Challoners left by the Pacific Express next morning, and during the +evening Captain Sedgwick stood talking to Millicent, who had stopped a +few moments in passing, near a pillar in the entrance hall of the +hotel. It was characteristic of him that he wore evening dress, though +a number of the other guests did not, but it displayed his fine, +symmetrical figure. He was a handsome, soldierly man, with a boldness +of manner which sometimes passed for dash and sometimes prejudiced +fastidious people against him. Now he was watching Millicent, whom he +admired, with a smile. + +"I didn't know you and Mrs. Keith were leaving the _Frontenac_ until +you had gone," he said, and his tone suggested that he wished to +explain why he had not accompanied them. "You didn't give me an +opportunity of speaking to you until just now, but I noticed that you +looked disturbed at dinner." + +"I daresay I did," Millicent answered ruefully. + +"I should be distressed to think there was any serious cause for it." + +Millicent laughed. "Mrs. Keith believes it's serious enough, and I'm +in disgrace. One of the animals bit the bob-cat, and now the +creature's missing." + +"A catastrophe! But does the absurd old woman hold you responsible for +her ferocious pets?" + +"I was told to see that her maid took the unfortunate animal to a +veterinary surgeon. Judkins was frankly mutinous, the hotel porters +were busy with some baggage, and there was not a cab on the rank. I +told her to put the basket down while she looked for a hack near the +station; and then crossed the street as I saw one coming. When I got +back the basket had gone, but a boy gave me a note on a scrap of torn +paper. It said, 'Don't worry; the beast is in safe hands. You'll get +it back to-night.'" + +"Most mysterious!" Sedgwick remarked. "But it's unpleasant to think +you should have to suffer from the foibles of the creature's owner." + +Millicent felt that he was too intimate for their brief acquaintance, +and that in keeping her behind the pillar, where the semi-privacy of +their position suggested confidential relations, he was hardly showing +good taste. Indeed, she realized that there was often something +lacking in his manners, though he had a certain charm and was much +sought after at the hotel. + +"I must go," she said. "Mrs. Keith wants me." + +Sedgwick moved aside with a bow which Millicent thought need not have +been made, and afterwards crossed the floor to the lounge where Mrs. +Chudleigh was waiting. She was a rather striking, high-coloured woman, +with eyes that had a hard sparkle, and, when her face was in repose, +unusually firm lips. She wore the latest and most pronounced type of +dinner dress with a few jewels of value, but they gave her no air of +ostentation. + +"I thought you were never coming," she said impatiently. "Why did you +stay talking to that girl so long?" + +"Miss Graham? She's amusing and hasn't many acquaintances in the +hotel. I'm inclined to think her employer keeps a tight hand on her." + +"She's pretty in an unformed way, which is more to the purpose," Mrs. +Chudleigh rejoined. "I heard the old woman abusing the manager because +one of her ridiculous pets is missing. But this is of no consequence. +You were going to tell me about your African plans." + +"There are good reasons why I should do so. I haven't forgotten that +my advancement is largely due to you." + +Mrs. Chudleigh laughed. "If you hint as much in public, it may come to +a sudden end. You ought to know that promotion is now made on merit." + +"I'm modest. My merit's an uncertain quantity, but there's no doubt +about your influence. I'd sooner trust to it." + +The remark was justified. He had shown courage and ability in +controlling rebellious tribes and settling disputes with French +officials on the frontier of the African colony, but Mrs. Chudleigh had +worked well for him. She had many friends, men of importance in +political and military circles were to be met in her London +drawing-room, but she was clever and those she obtained favours from +did not always realize how far they had yielded to her powers of +persuasion. + +"Never mind that," she said. "Give me an opportunity and I'll exert my +powers; I'm fond of using them. Moving other people's hands and making +up their minds for them is a fascinating game, but I must have +something to act upon." + +"I understand; we're both ambitious. Well, I'm in charge of a strip of +frontier territory, but so far I've had the veto of a cautious and +vacillating superior to contend with. The climate, however, is +breaking down his health, and he can't keep his post much longer; I +want full control. Now to the north of my malaria-haunted district +there's a belt of dry and valuable country, inhabited by industrious +Mohammedans. The French have their eye upon it, but our people know +its worth. Though our respective spheres of influence are badly +defined, neither side has found an excuse for occupying the coveted +region." + +"Ah!" said Mrs. Chudleigh. "You intend to make an excuse." + +"If I can, but it will have to be a good one. That is, we must give +the French no reasonable grounds for objecting; but when we enter the +country in question we stay there." + +"It's risky. If you get into difficulties or the French are clever +enough to spoil your game, you'll be disgraced." + +"That's a hazard I recognize. If I fail, our authorities will disown +me, but it can't be allowed to count." + +Mrs. Chudleigh admired his daring, which was what had first attracted +her. His shortcomings were not hidden, he now and then offended her +more cultivated taste, but he could boldly seize an opportunity and she +thought he would go a long way. There was force in him. + +"But the excuse?" she asked. + +"I can't tell you exactly what it will be, but there's an unruly tribe +between us and the territory we want, and they're inclined to give +trouble." He paused with a meaning smile. "It may be necessary to +subjugate them, and, if we enter their country, we'll no doubt find +ourselves compelled to move farther north. Something, however, must be +left to chance. When one is ready to act, an occasion often presents +itself." + +"And the benefit to England?" + +"Can't be doubted. We'll have pushed the frontier back and opened up +trade. It's a region that's rich in useful products, and as soon as it +is ours new factories will spring up wherever there's a suitable spot +along the rivers. I've already thought out a route for a light +railway." + +Mrs. Chudleigh was satisfied. She believed in Colonial expansion, but +her views were honest in a sense. Where her country stood to gain, the +rights of small native races did not count, and she argued, with some +reason, that they were better off under civilized rule; but she would +have intrigued for no scheme that did not further British interests. + +"I daresay," she answered thoughtfully, "something can be done." + +"I'm content with that, and perhaps we have said enough. Those rubies +of yours are very fine, but they owe a good deal to their background. +How they gleam on the satiny whiteness they rest upon!" + +This was a transgression, but it was one that she could pardon. The +man's taste was defective, but he had charm and she let him lead her +into intimate personal talk. + +In the meanwhile, a group of men were engaged in conversation at the +opposite end of the hall. One was a sawmill owner; another served the +Hudson's Bay Company in the northern wilds; the third was a young, +keen-eyed American, quick in his movements and concise in speech. + +"You're in lumber, aren't you?" he said, taking a strip of wood from +his pocket and handing it to the mill owner. "What would you call +this?" + +"Cedar, sawn from a good log." + +"That's so, red cedar. You know something about that material?" + +"I ought to, considering how much of it I've cut." The lumber man held +up his right hand, from which the two middle fingers were missing. +"Lost those twenty years ago when I worked in my first, one-horse mill, +and I could show you a number of other scars." + +"Very well," the American took out another strip. "The same stuff, +sir. How would you say it had been treated?" + +The sawmiller carefully examined the piece of wood. "It's not French +polish, but I haven't seen varnish as good as this. Except that it's +clear and shows the grain, it's more like some rare old Japanese +lacquer." + +"It is varnish. Try to scrape it with your knife." + +The other failed to make a mark on it, and the American looked at him +with a smile. + +"What would you think of it as a business proposition?" + +"If not too dear, it ought to drive every other high-grade varnish off +the market. Do you make the stuff?" + +"We're not ready to sell it yet; can't get hold of the raw material in +quantities, and we're not satisfied about the best flux. I'll give you +my card." + +He did so, and it bore the address of a paint and varnish factory in +Connecticut, with the words, "Represented by Cyrus P. Harding," at the +bottom. + +"Well," said the lumber man, "you seem to have got hold of a good +thing, Mr. Harding, but if you're not open to sell it, what has brought +you over here?" + +"I'm looking round; we deal in all kinds of paints and miss no chance +of a trade. Then I'm going way up North-West. Is there anything doing +in my line there?" + +"Not much," said the Hudson's Bay man. "You may sell a few kegs along +the railroad track, but as soon as you leave it you'll find no paint +required. The settlers use logs or shiplap and leave them in the raw. +The trip won't pay you." + +"Anyhow, I'll see the country and find out something about the +coniferous gums." + +"They're soft and resinous. Don't you get the material you make good +varnish of from the tropics?" + +Harding laughed. "You people don't know your own resources. There's +most everything a white man needs right on this American continent, if +he'll take the trouble to look for it. Lumber changes some of its +properties with the location in which it grows, I guess. We have pines +in Florida, but when you get right up to their northern limit you'll +find a difference." + +"There's something in that," the sawmiller agreed. + +"If you're going up to their northern limit, you'll see some of the +roughest and wildest country on this earth," remarked the Hudson's Bay +agent. "It's almost impossible to get through in summer unless you +stick to the rivers and to cross it in winter with the dog-sledges is +pretty tough work." + +"So I've heard," said Harding. "Now I'm going to take a smoke. Will +you come along?" + +They declined, and when he left them one smiled at the other. + +"They're smart people across the frontier, but to send a man into the +northern timber-belt looking for paint trade openings or resin they can +make varnish of is about the limit to commercial enterprise." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MRS. KEITH GETS A SURPRISE + +Harding was taking out a cigar in the vestibule when a man brushed past +him wearing big mittens and a loose black cloak such as old-fashioned +French-Canadians sometimes use. + +"Why, Blake!" he cried. "What have you got on? Have you been +serenading somebody?" + +"I can't stop," the other answered with a grin. "Open that door for +me, quick." + +A porter held back the door, but as Blake slipped through Harding +seized his cloak. + +"Hold on; I want a talk with you. I've been waiting all day." + +Blake made an effort to break loose, and as he did so the bob-cat +dropped from beneath his arm and fell, spitting and snarling, to the +ground. Its fur was torn and matted, tufts were hanging loose, and the +creature had a singularly disreputable and ferocious appearance. Blake +made an attempt to recapture it, but, evading him easily, it ran along +the floor with a curious hopping gait and disappeared among the +pillars. Then he turned to his friend with a rueful laugh. + +"You see what you've done! It's gone into the rotunda, where everybody +is." + +Harding looked at him critically. "You seem sober. What made you get +yourself up like an Italian opera villain and go round the town with a +wild beast under your arm?" + +"I'll tell you later. What we have to do now is to catch the thing." + +"It's time," said Harding drily. "The circus is beginning." + +Men's laughter and women's shrieks rose from the entrance hall, which, +in a Canadian hotel, serves as general meeting place and lounge. +Somebody shouted orders in French, there was a patter of running feet, +and then a crash as of chairs being overturned. Blake sprang in and +Harding, who followed, divided between amusement and impatience, looked +on at an animated scene. Two porters were chasing the bob-cat which +now and then turned upon them savagely, while several waiters, who kept +at a judicious distance, tried to frighten it into a corner by +flourishing their napkins. Women fled out of the creature's way, men +hastily moved chairs and tables to give the pursuers room, and some of +the more energetic joined in the chase. At one end of the room Mrs. +Keith stood angrily giving instructions which nobody attended to. +Millicent, who was close by, looked hot and unhappy, but for all that +her eyes twinkled when a waiter, colliding with a chair, went down with +a crash and the bobcat sped away from him in a series of awkward jumps. + +At length, Blake managed to seize it with his mittened hands and after +rolling it in a cloth and giving it to a porter, advanced towards Mrs. +Keith, his face red with exertion but contrite, and the cloak, which +had come unhooked, hanging down from one shoulder. She glanced at him +in a puzzled, half-disturbed manner when he stopped. + +"The cat is safe," he said. "The man I gave it to will put it with the +other animals. If he holds it firmly, I don't think it can bite him." + +"As I'm told you dropped it in the vestibule, I feel I'm entitled to an +explanation," Mrs. Keith replied in a formal tone, looking hard at him. +"I gave the cat to my maid this morning, sending Miss Graham to see it +delivered to a man in the town, and it disappeared. How did it come +into your possession?" + +"Through no fault of Miss Graham's. I happened to notice your maid +trying to carry an awkwardly shaped hamper and Miss Graham looking for +a cab. It struck me the thing was more of a man's errand and I +undertook it." + +"It's curious that you knew what the errand was, unless Miss Graham +told you." Mrs. Keith looked sternly at Millicent, who blushed. "I +have been led to believe that you made her acquaintance, without my +knowledge, on board the steamer by which we came up." + +"That," said Blake respectfully, "is not quite correct. I was formally +presented to Miss Graham in England some time ago. However, as I saw a +car coming along St. Catharine's while your maid was looking for a hack +and there was no time to explain, I scribbled a note on a bit of a +letter and gave it to a boy, and then took the cat to a taxidermist." + +"To a taxidermist! Why?" + +"It struck me that he ought to know something about the matter. +Anyhow, he was the nearest approach to a vet that I could find." + +Mrs. Keith looked at him thoughtfully. "You seem to have a curious way +of reasoning. But what did the man say?" + +"His first remark was, 'Nom d'une pipe!' and he added something more +which I couldn't catch, but when we became friends he promised to +engage the services of a dog-fancier friend of his." + +"You imagined that a dog-fancier would specialize in cats?" + +Millicent's eyes twinkled, but Mrs. Keith's face was serious and +Blake's perfectly grave. + +"I don't know that I argued the matter out. To tell the truth, I +undertook the thing on impulse." + +"So it seems. You considered it necessary to make friends with the +French-Canadian taxidermist?" + +"Not necessary, perhaps." Blake appeared to reflect. "Still, it's a +way of mine, and the fellow interested me by the tragic manner in which +he broke his pipe when I first showed him the cat. His indignation was +superb." + +Mrs. Keith gave him a look of rather grim amusement. "I see, but you +haven't told me what became of my hamper." + +"The hamper was unfortunately smashed. The car was not allowed to stop +where I wished to get off and I had to jump. I miscalculated the speed +and fell down, after which, as there was a good deal of traffic, a +transfer wagon ran over the hamper, luckily without hurting the animal +inside. I left it at a basket shop and that explains the cloak. My +friend the taxidermist insisted on lending it and his winter gloves to +me. One looks rather conspicuous walking through the streets with a +bob-cat on one's arm." + +Then, to Blake's astonishment, Mrs. Keith broke into a soft laugh. + +"I understand it all," she said. "It was a prank one would expect you +to play. Though it's a very long time since I saw you, you haven't +changed, Dick. Now take that ridiculous cloak off and come back and +talk to me." + +When Blake returned Millicent had gone and Mrs. Keith noticed the +glance he cast about the room. + +"I sent Miss Graham away," she said. "You have been here some days. +Why didn't you tell me who you were?" + +"I'll confess that I knew you. You have changed much less than I have, +but I wasn't sure you would be willing to acknowledge me." + +"Then you were very wrong. One may be forgiven a first offence and I +never quite agreed with the popular opinion about what you were +supposed to have done. It wasn't like you; there must have been +something that did not come out." + +"Thank you," Blake said quietly. + +She gave him a searching glance. "Can't you say something for +yourself?" + +"I think not," he answered. "The least said, the soonest mended." + +"But for the sake of others." + +"So far as I know, only one person was much troubled about my disgrace. +I'm thankful my father died before it came." + +"Your uncle felt it very keenly. He was furious when the first news +arrived and refused to believe you were to blame. Then when Major +Allardyce wrote he scarcely spoke for the rest of the day and it was a +long time before he recovered from the blow; I was staying at +Sandymere. He loved you, Dick, and I imagined he expected you to do +even better than his son." + +Blake mused for a few moments, and Mrs. Keith could not read his +thoughts. Then he said, "Bertram is a very good fellow and has brains. +Why should his people think less of him because he likes to paint? But +I've been sorry for the Colonel; more sorry than I've felt for myself." + +There was a softness that appealed to Mrs. Keith in his dark-blue eyes. +She had been fond of Dick Blake in his younger days and firmly believed +in him. Now she could not credit his being guilty of cowardice. + +"Well," she said, "you have, I trust, a long life before you, and if +you have been at fault, you must make amends. There are people who +would be glad to see you reinstated." + +He made a sign of grave dissent. "That can't happen, in the way you +mean. I closed the door of the old life against my return with my own +hands, and you don't gain distinction, as the Challoners think of it, +in business." + +"What business have you gone into?" + +Blake's eyes gleamed humorously. "At present I'm in the paint line." + +"Paint!" Mrs. Keith exclaimed. + +"Yes, but not common paint. We use the highest grade of lead and the +purest linseed oil. Varnish also of unapproachable quality, guaranteed +to stand exposure to any climate. There's nothing to equal our +products in North America." + +"Do you seriously mean that you are going about selling these things?" + +"Well," said Blake drily, "I'm trying to do so, and I booked an order +for two kegs yesterday, but it isn't to be paid for until arrival, when +I shall not be here. Can't I induce you to give us a trial? Your +house must need painting now and then, and we'll ship you the stuff to +Liverpool in air-tight drums. Once you have tried it you'll use +nothing else." + +Mrs. Keith laughed. "Dick, you're a marvel and I'm glad adversity +hasn't soured you; but you won't make enough to keep you in neckties at +any business you take up. It's ludicrous to think of your running +about with paint samples, but there's something pathetic in it that +spoils my amusement." Her face softened and she changed her tone. +"I'm a rather rich old woman, Dick, and your mother was a very dear +friend of mine. You must let me help you to something better." + +"Thank you," he answered with a flush. "But you can't give me money. +It's curious that several of my friends have wanted to do so--first the +Colonel, then Bertram, and now you. Not flattering, is it? Suggests +that you doubt my talents, or that I look like a deserving object of +charity." + +"You're incorrigible. It was the Blakes' misfortune that they could +never be serious, but I admire your pluck." + +"We have our failings, but I'm boring you and I'll come back by and by +if you'll allow me. My American partner has been waiting for a word +with me since this morning." + +"And you kept him waiting? That was a true Blake. But go to the man +and then tell the hotel people to give you places at my table. I want +to see your friend." + +"He'll feel as honoured as I do," Blake said, and left her. + +Harding was leaning back in his chair in the smoking-room with a frown +on his face when Blake joined him. He had a nervous alert look and was +dressed with fastidious neatness. + +"You have come along at last," he remarked in an ironical tone. "Feel +like getting down to business or shall we put it off again?" + +"Sorry I couldn't come earlier," Blake replied. "Somehow or other I +couldn't get away. Things kept turning up to occupy me." + +"It's a way they seem to have. Your trouble is that you're too +diffuse; you spread yourself out too much. You want to fix your mind +on one thing and that will have to be business as soon as we leave +here." + +"I dare say you're right. My interest's apt to wander; but if you take +advantage of every opportunity that offers, you get most out of life. +Concentration's good, but if you concentrate on a thing and then don't +get it, you begin to think what a lot of other things you've missed." + +Harding made a gesture of resignation. "Guess you must be humoured; +I'll wait until you're through. That's a nice girl you stole the +bob-cat from, but if she were a sister of mine, I'd choke off that army +man who's been trotting round after her most of the day." + +"What's the matter with Captain Sedgwick?" + +"He has a greedy eye. He'll play any game he goes into for his own +hand. Not an unusual plan, but there's generally a code of rules and +if it's going to pay him, Sedgwick will break them. Anyhow, as it +looks as if Mrs. Chudleigh had him earmarked, why can't he let the girl +alone?" + +Blake, who had taken a protective interest in Millicent, was somewhat +disturbed, but would not admit it. + +"Oh!" he said, "our army men aren't ascetics, but I dare say the +fellow's a harmless philanderer, and you're a bit of a Puritan." + +"I'm married and don't forget it," snapped Harding. "Marianna--that's +Mrs. Harding--is living in a two-room tenement, making her own dresses +and cooking on a gasoline stove, so's to give me my chance of finding +the gum. And I'm here in an expensive hotel, where I've made about +five dollars commission in three days and written our people several +folios about the iniquities of the Canadian tariff, which is all I've +done. We have got to pull out as soon as possible. Did you get any +information from the Hudson's Bay man?" + +"I learned something about our route through the timber-belt and the +kind of camp outfit we'll want; the temperature's often fifty below in +winter. Then I was in Revillons', looking at their cheaper furs, and +in a store where they supply especially light hand-sledges, snowshoes, +and patent cooking cans. We must have these things good, and I +estimate they'll cost six hundred dollars." + +"Six hundred dollars will make a big hole in our capital." + +"I'm afraid so, but we can't run the risk of freezing to death, and we +may have to spend all winter in the wilds." + +"That's true; I don't go back until I find the gum." + +Harding's tone was resolute, and when he leaned forward, musing, with +knitted brows, Blake, knowing his story, gave him a sympathetic glance. +He had entered the paint factory when a very young man and had studied +chemistry in his scanty spare time with the object of understanding his +business better. He found the composition of varnishes an interesting +subject, and as the best gums employed came from the tropics and were +expensive he began to experiment with the exudations from American +trees. His employers hinted that he was wasting his time, since the +limits to the use of these products were already known, but Harding +continued, trying to test a theory that the texture and hardness of the +gums might depend upon climatic temperature. By chance a resinous +substance which had come from the far North fell into his hands, and he +found that when combined with an African gum it gave astonishing +results. Before this happened, however, his employers had sent him out +on the road, and as they were sceptical about his discovery and he +would not take them fully into his confidence, they merely promised to +keep his place open for a time. Now he was going to search for the gum +at his own expense. + +"We'll order the outfit in the morning," he said presently, glancing +towards a man who sat across the room. "Do you think that fellow +Clarke can hear? I've a notion that he's been watching us." + +"Does it matter?" + +"You must bear in mind that we have a valuable secret, and I understand +he lives somewhere in the country we are going through." + +As he spoke the Hudson's Bay agent came in with the sawmiller, who said +to the man whom Harding suspected of listening, "That was good stuff +you gave me a dose of. It fixed my ague, though I had the shakes bad +last night." + +Clarke rose and strolled with them to a seat nearer where Blake and +Harding sat. "It's a powerful drug and must be used with discretion. +If you feel you need it, I'll give you another dose. It's an Indian +remedy and I learned the secret up in the timber-belt, but I spent some +time experimenting before I was satisfied about its properties." + +Sedgwick, who was passing, stopped and lighted a cigar. "Then you get +on with Indians?" + +"I do," Clarke said shortly. "It isn't difficult when you grasp their +point of view." + +"Then your experience doesn't tally with mine and I know something +about the primitive races. Their point of view is generally elusive." + +"I can credit it." Clarke's tone was sneering. "You people don't try +to understand them; you can't come down to it. Standing firm on your +colour prejudice and official traditions, you expect the others to +agree with you. It's an indefensible policy." He turned to the +Hudson's Bay agent. "You ought to know something about the matter. On +the whole, the Hudson's Bay treat the Indians well; there was a +starving lad you picked up suffering from snow-blindness near Jack-pine +river and sent back safely to his tribe." + +"That's so, but I can't tell how you knew. I don't remember having +talked about the thing; and my clerk has never left the factory. There +wasn't another white man within a week's journey." + +"I heard, all the same. You had afterwards some better furs than usual +brought in." + +The agent looked surprised. "Some of these people are grateful, but +although I've been in the country twelve years I don't pretend to +understand them." + +"They understand you. The proof of it is that you can keep your +factory open in a district where furs are rather scarce and have had +very few mishaps. You can take that as a compliment." + +There was something significant in Clarke's tone which Blake remarked, +while Sedgwick, feeling that he was being left out, strolled on. + +"Then you know the Jack-pine?" the agent asked. + +"Pretty well, though it's not easy to reach. I came down it one winter +from the Wild-goose hills. I'd put in the winter with a band of +Stonies." + +"The Northern Stonies? Did you find them easy to get on with?" + +"They knew some interesting things," Clarke answered drily. "I went +there to study." + +"Ah!" said the agent. "What plain folk, for want of a better name, +call the occult. But it's fortunate there's a barred door between +white men and the Indian's mysticism." + +"It has been opened to a white man once or twice." + +"Just so. He stepped through into the darkness and never came out +again. There was an instance I could mention." + +"Civilized folk would have no use for him afterwards," Harding broke +in. "We want sane, normal men on this continent. Neurotics, hoodoos +and fakirs are worse than a plague; there's contagion in their fooling." + +"How would you define them? Those who don't fit in with your ideas of +the normal?" + +"I know a clean, straight man when I meet him and that's enough for me." + +"I imagine that cleverer people are now and then deceived," said +Clarke, who moved away. + +"That's a man I want to keep clear of," Harding remarked to Blake. +"There's something wrong about him; he's not wholesome." He rose. +"It's a fine night; let's walk up the mountain." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HARDING GROWS CONFIDENTIAL + +Next morning Blake and his partner breakfasted at Mrs. Keith's table, +and during the afternoon drove up the mountain with her and one or two +others. The city was unpleasantly hot and the breeze that swept its +streets blew clouds of sand and cement about, for Montreal is subject +to fits of feverish constructional activity and on every other block +buildings were being torn down and replaced by larger ones of concrete +and steel. Leaving its outskirts, the carriage climbed the road which +winds in loops through the shade of overhanging trees. Wide views of +blue hills and shining river opened up through gaps in the foliage; the +air had lost its humid warmth and grew fresh and invigorating. + +Reaching the level summit, they dismissed the hacks and found a seat +near the edge of a steep, wooded slope. The strip of tableland is not +remarkably picturesque, but it is thickly covered with trees, and one +can look out across a vast stretch of country traversed by the great +river. By and by the party scattered and Mrs. Keith was left with +Harding. They were, in many ways, strangely assorted companions, the +elderly English lady accustomed to the smoother side of life, and the +young American who had struggled hard from boyhood, but they were +sensible of a mutual lilting. Mrs. Keith had a trace of the grand +manner, which had its effect on Harding; he showed a naive frankness +she found attractive. Besides, his talk and conduct were marked by a +laboured correctness which amused and pleased her. She thought he had +taken some trouble to acquire it. + +"So you had to leave your wife at home," she said presently. "Wasn't +that rather hard for both of you?" + +"It was hard enough," he replied with feeling. "What made it worse was +that I hadn't many dollars to leave with her, but I had to go. The man +who will take no chances has to stay at the bottom." + +"Then, if it's not an impertinence, your means are small?" + +"Your interest is a compliment, ma'am, and what you say is true. We +had two hundred dollars when we were married. You wouldn't consider +that much to begin on." + +"No," said Mrs. Keith, whose marriage settlement had made over to her +valuable property. "Still, of course, it depends upon what one +expects. After all; I think my poorest friends have been happiest." + +"We had only one trouble; making the dollars go round," Harding told +her with grave confidence. "It was worst in the hot weather when other +people could move out of town, and it hurt me to see Marianna looking +white and tired. I used to wish I could send her to one of the +summer-boarders' farms up in the hills, though I guess she wouldn't +have gone without me. She's brave, and when my chance came she saw +that I must take it. She sent me off with smiles, but I knew what they +cost." + +"She will smile more brightly when you come back, and courage to face a +hard task is a great gift. So you consider this trip to the North-West +your opportunity? You must expect to sell a good deal of paint." + +Harding looked up with a sudden twinkle. "I'll own to you, ma'am, that +I've another object. The company will pay my commission on any orders +I get at the settlements, but this is my venture, not theirs. I'm +going up into the wilds to look for a valuable raw material." + +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith. "I suspected something like this. It's +difficult to imagine Dick Blake's going into anything so sober and +matter of fact as the paint business. Have you known him long?" + +"I met him a year ago, and we spent two or three weeks together." + +"But was that long enough to learn much about him? Do you know his +history?" + +Harding gave her a direct glance. "Do you?" + +"Yes," she said; "I gather that he has taken you into his confidence." + +"Now you set me free to talk. When I asked him to be my partner, he +told me why he had left the army. That was the square thing, and it +made me keen on getting him." + +"Then you were not deterred by what you learned?" + +"Not at all. I knew it was impossible that Blake should have done what +he was charged with." + +"I thought so, but I know him better than you do," Mrs. Keith said +gravely. "What made you jump to the conclusion?" + +"You shall judge whether I hadn't good reason. I was in one of our +lake ports, collecting accounts, and Blake had come with me. It was +late at night when I saw my last customer at his hotel, and I had a +valise half-full of silver currency and bills. Going back along the +waterfront where the second-rate saloons are, I thought that somebody +was following me. The lights didn't run far along the street, I hadn't +seen a patrol, and as I was passing a dark block a man jumped out. I +got a blow on the shoulder that made me sore for a week, but the fellow +had missed my head with the sandbag, and I slipped behind a telegraph +post before he could strike again. Still, things looked ugly. The man +who'd been following came into sight, and I was between the two. Then +Blake ran up the street, and I was mighty glad to see him. He had two +men to tackle, and one had a sandbag, while I guess the other had a +pistol." + +"But you were there. That made it equal." + +"No," said Harding. "I'd been near knocked out with the sandbag and +could hardly keep my feet. Besides, I'd my employers' money in the +valise, and it was my business to take care of it." + +Mrs. Keith made a sign of agreement. "I beg your pardon. You were +right." + +"Blake got after the first thief like a panther. He was so quick I +didn't quite see what happened, but the man reeled half-way across the +street before he fell, and when his partner saw Blake coming for him he +ran. Then, when the trouble was over, a patrol came along, and he and +Blake helped me back to my hotel. Knowing I had the money, he'd got +uneasy when I was late." Harding paused and looked meaningly at his +companion. "Later I was asked to believe that the man who went for +those two toughs with no weapon but his fists ran away under fire. The +thing didn't seem possible." + +"And so you trust Blake, in spite of his story?" + +"The North-West is a hard country in winter and I may find myself in a +tight place before I've finished my search," Harding answered with +grave quietness. "But if that happens I'll have a partner I can trust +my life to beside me. What's more, Mrs. Harding, who's a judge of +character, feels I'm safe with him." + +Mrs. Keith was moved; his respect for his wife's judgment and his faith +in his comrade appealed to her. + +"Though my opinion of Blake is not generally held, I believe you are +right," she said. "And now tell me something about your journey." + +While they talked, Millicent and Blake sat in the sunshine on the slope +of the hill. Beneath them a wide landscape stretched away towards the +Ottawa valley, the road to the lonely North, and the girl, who had +never left the confines of civilization, felt a longing to see the +trackless wilds. The distance drew her. + +"Your way lies up yonder," she said. "I suppose you are thinking about +it. Are you looking forward to the trip?" + +"Not so much as Harding is," Blake replied. "He's a bit of an +enthusiast, and I've been in the country before. It's a singularly +rough one, and I anticipate our meeting with more hardships than +dollars." + +"Which doesn't seem to daunt you." + +"No," said Blake; "not to a great extent. Hardship is not a novelty to +me, and I don't think I'm avaricious. The fact is, I'm a good deal +better at spending than gathering." + +"It's undoubtedly easier," the girl rejoined. "But while I like Mr. +Harding I shouldn't consider him a type of the romantic adventurer." + +"You're right in a sense and wrong in another. Harding's out for +dollars, and I believe he'll get them if they're to be had. He'll +avoid adventures so far as he can, but if there's trouble to be faced, +it won't stop him. Then he has left a safe employment, broken up his +home, and set off on this long journey for the sake of a woman who is +trying to hold out on a very few dollars in a couple of poor rooms +until his return. He's taking risks which I believe may be serious in +order that she may have a brighter and fuller life. Is there no +romance in this?" + +What Blake said about his comrade's devotion to his wife appealed to +the girl. Marriage had apparently not lessened his tender thought for +her, and Millicent wondered whether she was capable of inspiring such a +feeling. She had found life hard, and so far had shrunk from the few +men who had cultivated her acquaintance. Indeed, she felt contaminated +as she remembered the advances made by one. + +"On the face of it, looking for openings in the paint business doesn't +seem to be a very risky matter," she suggested. + +"It depends a good deal on how it's done," Blake answered with a laugh. +"With Harding, a business opening is a comprehensive term." + +Millicent mused for a moment or two. She liked Blake and he improved +upon acquaintance. He had a whimsical humour and a dash of reckless +gallantry. It was not to his credit that he had frequented her +father's house, and he was supposed to be in disgrace, but she had +cause to know that he was compassionate and chivalrous. + +"Though you have not been with us long, we shall be duller when you +have gone," she told him. + +"Well," he said, "in a sense that's nice to hear, but it's with mixed +feelings one leaves friends behind." His tone grew serious. "I've +lost some good ones." + +"I can imagine your making others easily, but haven't you retained one +or two? I think, for instance, you could count on Mrs. Keith." + +"Ah!" he said, "I owe a good deal to her. A little charity, such as +she shows, goes a very long way." + +Millicent did not answer, and he watched her as she sat looking out +into the distance with grave brown eyes. Her face was gentle; he +thought there was pity for him in it and felt strongly drawn to her, +but he remembered that he was a man with a tainted name and must travel +a lonely road. She was conscious of his scrutiny, but took no offence +at it. + +"Perhaps we had better change our place," she said by and by. "The sun +is rather strong now the wind has gone." + +Some of the others joined them, and soon afterwards they walked down +the winding road to the city; when they sat outside the hotel after +dinner Blake asked Harding if he had enjoyed the afternoon. + +"I did," said Harding with earnestness. "I'd only one regret; that +Mrs. Harding wasn't here to share it with me. Your friends are +charming ladies of a stamp Marianna and I so far haven't had much +chance to meet." Then his face grew very resolute as he added: "But +she shall have her opportunity. If things go right with us she'll get +her share of all that's best in life--and, with that at stake, we have +to make things right." + +Two days later Harding got some letters he had been waiting for, and as +there was now nothing to keep them in Montreal, Blake said good-bye to +Mrs. Keith next morning. Though she was gracious to him he felt a +strong sense of disappointment at finding her alone, but when he was +going out he met Millicent in the hall. She wore her hat and the flush +of colour in her face indicated that she had been walking fast. + +"I'm glad I didn't miss you, but I had an errand to do," she said. +"You are going now; by the Vancouver express?" + +"Yes," said Blake, stopping beside a pillar; "I was feeling rather +gloomy until I saw you. Harding's at the station, and it's depressing +to set off on a long journey feeling that nobody minds your going." + +"Mrs. Keith will mind," said Millicent. "I'm sure she was very +friendly and gave you her good wishes." + +Blake looked at her with a smile. "Somehow they didn't seem enough. I +think I wanted yours." + +She coloured, but met his glance. "Then," she said, "you have them. I +haven't forgotten what happened one evening in London, and I wish you a +safe journey and success." + +"Thank you," he answered with feeling. "It will be something to +remember that you have wished me well." Then as his eyes rested upon +her he forgot that he was a marked man. She looked very fresh and +desirable; there was a hint of regret and pity in her face and a trace +of shyness in her manner. "I suppose I can't ask you to think of me +now and then; it would be too much," he went on. "But won't you give +me something of yours, some trifle to keep as a memento." + +Millicent hesitated and then took a tiny bunch of flowers from the lace +at the neck of her white dress. "Will these do?" she asked, and added +with a smile: "They won't last very long." + +"They will last a long time, well taken care of, but what you said had +a sting. Did you mean that you wouldn't give me anything more +enduring?" + +"No," she said shyly, "not that altogether. I think I meant that they +would last as long as you might care to remember our acquaintance." + +Blake bowed. "My memory's good. When I come back I will show you your +gift as a token." + +"But I shall be in England then." + +"I bore that in mind. It is not very far off, and I'm a wanderer." + +"Well," she said with faint confusion, "unless you hurry you will miss +your train. Good-bye and good fortune!" + +He took the hand she gave him and held it a moment. "I wonder whether +your last wish will ever be realized, If so, I shall come to thank you, +even in England." + +Then he turned and went out with hurried steps, wondering what had led +him to break through the reserve he had prudently determined to +maintain. What he had said might mean nothing, but it might mean much. +He had seen Millicent Graham for a few minutes in her father's house, +and afterwards met her every day during the week spent in Montreal, but +brief as their friendship had been, he had yielded to her charm. Had +he been free to seek her love he would eagerly have done so, but he was +not free. He was an outcast, engaged in a desperate attempt to repair +his fortune. Miss Graham knew this, and had probably taken his remarks +for what they were worth as a piece of sentimental gallantry, but +something in her manner suggested a doubt and the trouble was that he +did not wish her to regard them in this light. It looked as if he had +made a fool of himself, but he had promised to show her the flowers +again some day, and he carefully placed them in his pocket book. + +The train was ready to start when he found Harding impatiently waiting +him on the platform and a few moments later the long cars were swiftly +rolling west. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MRS. CHUDLEIGH GATHERS INFORMATION + +It was a fine morning when Mrs. Keith sat on the saloon deck of a river +boat steaming with the ebb tide down the St. Lawrence. The terraced +heights of Quebec had faded astern; ahead a blaze of sunshine rested on +the river, up which a big liner with crowded decks and her smoke-trail +staining the clear blue sky moved majestically. To starboard dark +pinewoods, with here and there a sawmill stack, were faintly marked +upon the lofty bank; to port rose rugged hills with wooden villages at +their feet. The light wind that rippled the blue water was pleasantly +cool, and Mrs. Keith, laying down the book she had been reading, looked +about with languid enjoyment. + +"I suppose I'm neglecting my opportunities, but this is very delightful +and I don't think they have anything finer than the river in Canada," +she said. "Its width impresses one; the French villages with their +church spires are so picturesque--I wonder how many churches there are +in this part of the country. One sees them everywhere." + +"You were urged to see the Ontario forests and the prairie," Millicent +remarked. + +"One cannot do everything, and I'm not insatiable. I'm getting too old +to stand the shaking in the hot and dusty cars, and I can't accustom +myself to going to bed in public, without undressing. No doubt, it's a +matter of prejudice, but I've been used to more room for taking my +clothes off than they give you behind the flapping curtain." + +Millicent laughed as she remembered their experiences during a journey +on a crowded express. + +"Getting up is worse," she said. "However, they told us it was very +pretty and generally cool at Saguenay. Then you'll have somebody to +talk to, as Mrs. Chudleigh is coming. But didn't she make up her mind +rather suddenly?" + +"I thought so, since she didn't speak of going until I sent you for the +tickets. Still, Sedgwick was sent to Ottawa, where she doesn't know +anybody, which may have had something to do with it." + +Millicent, who looked very pretty in her light summer dress as she +leaned back in a deckchair, did not reply. Sun and wind had brought a +fine warm colour into her face, but her brown eyes were grave, for +there was a point upon which she must try to form a correct judgment +and she distrusted her inexperience. She was young and had a natural +love of pleasure, as well as a certain longing for excitement and a +willingness to take a risk which she had inherited from her gambling +father. Mrs. Keith had prevented her indulging these tendencies, and +the girl, thrust for the most part into the society of older people, +suffered at times from a feeling of depressing monotony. + +Then she had met Captain Sedgwick, who paid her rather marked +attention, at Quebec, and at first had been attracted by the handsome +soldier and flattered by his singling her out among women of higher +station and maturer beauty; but the attraction did not last long. +There was a vein of sound sense in Millicent, and when she tested +Sedgwick by it, he did not ring true, and when Mrs. Chudleigh openly +claimed him as her property she acquiesced. Afterwards she met Blake +on board the steamer and the gratitude and admiration which a +chivalrous act of his had roused suddenly revived. Moreover she was +sorry for him and felt that he had been unjustly blamed, while, though +it was generally hidden by his careless manner, she thought she saw in +him a strong sincerity. Now she wondered whether she was foolish in +letting her thoughts dwell on him, and if he would soon forget her. +Recalling his words when he said good-bye she knew he had been stirred, +but before this she had been conscious of a certain restraint in his +manner which had only broken down at the last moment. By and by Mrs. +Keith disturbed her reflections. + +"It looks as if we were to be favoured with Mrs. Chudleigh's society," +she remarked with ironical amusement. "Mine appears to have become +more valuable during the last few days." + +Millicent saw Mrs. Chudleigh moving towards them, followed by a steward +carrying a folding chair and a maid who brought a book, a bunch of +flowers, an ornamental leather bag, and several other odds and ends. +Mrs. Chudleigh was elaborately attired, but the large plumed hat and +dress cut in the extreme of the current fashion became her. She made a +stately progress along the deck with her burdened attendants in her +train, and it took a few minutes to arrange her belongings to her +satisfaction. Then she sank into the big chair with marked grace of +movement and smiled at Mrs. Keith. + +"A delightful morning. I ought to have been writing letters, but the +sunshine brought me out." + +Mrs. Keith agreed and Mrs. Chudleigh went on: "I have enjoyed this +visit greatly and find Canada a most interesting country. In fact, I +wish I could stay another month or two, but, of course, when one has +duties." + +As Mrs. Chudleigh had neither husband nor children, Margaret Keith +wondered what her duties were, unless she considered the taking a part +in a round of social amusements as such. + +"After all," she remarked, "I imagine that one doesn't see very much of +the real Canada from the _Frontenac_ or a big hotel in Montreal." + +"True," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "I must confess that I didn't come out to +study the country, though I'm charmed with all I've seen. I'm afraid I +belong to a frivolous set and find a change refreshing. Then several +old friends of mine were going to take a part in the celebrations at +Quebec--Captain Sedgwick among others." + +"Is Captain Sedgwick a very old friend?" Mrs. Keith asked, willing to +give the other the lead she seemed to wish for. + +"Oh, yes; I met him first as a subaltern in India, when he was very raw +and troubled by a seriousness he has since grown out of, but I thought +he would make his mark." + +Mrs. Keith pondered the explanation. She could not imagine her +companion's patronizing a callow young lieutenant, but this was not +important. Admitting that a hint might have been intended for +Millicent's benefit, Mrs. Chudleigh's boldness in laying claim to the +man by suggesting that she had come out for his sake was puzzling. It +was not in good taste, but although Mrs. Chudleigh's position was +assured, there was something of the audacity of the adventuress about +her. Margaret Keith, however, had no admiration for Sedgwick, whom she +thought of as second-rate, and she was glad to believe that Millicent +did not wish to dispute the woman's right to him. + +"Are you going home soon?" she asked. + +"Before long, I think. There is a round of visits I have promised to +make and I may stay some time with the Fosters in Shropshire near +Colonel Challoner's place. I believe he is a friend of yours." + +"He is. Have you met him?" + +"Once; I found him charming. A very fine, old-fashioned gentleman, and +I understand a famous soldier. Somebody told me he never quite got +over his nephew's disgrace and seemed to think it reflected upon the +whole family. Very foolish, of course, but one can admire his sense of +honour." + +Mrs. Keith began to understand why her companion had sought her. She +wished to speak about Richard Blake and Mrs. Keith was forced to +acquiesce, since he had been seen in her company. + +"I suppose you know the nephew was in Montreal," she said. + +"To tell the truth, I do. I saw him talking to Bertram Challoner, whom +I met in London, and the family likeness struck me. Then I saw his +name in the hotel register." + +"No doubt you studied him after that. What opinion did you form?" + +Mrs. Chudleigh gave her a look of thoughtful candour. "I was puzzled +and interested. I don't know him, but he did not look the man to run +away." + +"He is not," Mrs. Keith declared. "I knew him as a boy, and even then +he was marked by reckless daring. What's more, I noticed very little +change in him." + +"It's strange." Mrs. Chudleigh's tone was sympathetically grave. "I +feel much as you do. After all, it may have been one of the affairs +about which the truth never quite comes out." + +"What do you wish to suggest by that?" + +"Nothing in particular; I've no means of forming an accurate +conclusion. But the regimental honour was threatened and a scapegoat +needed. A mistake may have been made by somebody of greater +importance. One hears of some curious things." + +"That's true," Mrs. Keith drily agreed. "I believe in Dick Blake, but +it must be admitted that he made no defence." + +Mrs. Chudleigh pondered this. "One meets men capable of making a great +sacrifice, though they're by no means numerous. I suppose Colonel +Challoner really felt it a heavy blow?" + +"Those who know him can't doubt it, though he never speaks of the +matter." + +"It must have been a shock. Apart from whatever affection he had for +his nephew, there was, in a sense, the stigma reflected upon +himself--an old man who has bravely won distinction and retains some +influence! I'm told he has friends in administrative circles and that +his opinion on Indian subjects still carries weight." + +"I believe so," said Mrs. Keith. "He certainly holds his opinions +firmly, and was once looked upon as an authority on frontier defence. +Indeed, he gave up his command because he could not get some drastic +change which events subsequently proved needful adopted. His honesty +is remembered by men who hold him in esteem." + +"All you have said bears out my impression of him. I must renew our +acquaintance when I am in Shropshire. Are you staying here long?" + +Mrs. Keith was glad to change the subject, but while they talked a +steward appeared with a letter for Millicent, which he explained had +been sent on board the steamer at Quebec. As the girl laid down the +opened envelope Mrs. Chudleigh recognized Sedgwick's writing and her +face grew contemptuously hard. Then she laughed and started a +different topic, which she continued for a time. When she went away, +Mrs. Keith turned to Millicent. + +"I wonder whether I have told her too much, though it's hard to see +what use she can make of it. Innocent or not, Dick Blake is a +favourite of mine and when I speak of him I'm apt to be unguarded. Of +course, it's obvious that she joined us on purpose to talk about him." + +"One would have imagined it was Captain Sedgwick. She dragged him in +rather pointedly." + +"Oh! no. That was by the way, and perhaps intended to put me off the +scent. She's a scheming woman." + +"But she has not learned much from you." + +"She has learned two things," Mrs. Keith answered thoughtfully. +"First, that I don't believe Dick Blake failed in his duty; and, +secondly, that Colonel Challoner has some influence. I think she was +particularly interested in the latter point. I've been incautious and +let my tongue run away with me." + +Then she took up her book while Millicent read her letter. Though +young and to some extent inexperienced, her judgment was generally +sound, and she had come to see how Sedgwick really regarded her. She +had pleased his eye, and he was a man who would boldly grasp at what +delighted him, but love would not be permitted to interfere with his +ambitions. He wrote in a tone of forced and insincere sentiment, and +his words brought a blush into Millicent's face as well as a rather +bitter smile into her eyes. By and by she tore the sheet into pieces +and dropped them over the steamer's rail. That affair was ended. + +As the fragments of paper fluttered astern Mrs. Keith looked up. "You +are treating somebody's letter very unceremoniously." + +"Perhaps I am," said Millicent. "It's from Captain Sedgwick." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Mrs. Keith. "Has he anything of interest to say?" + +"He mentions that he is going back to Africa sooner than he expected +because the officer above him has suffered so much from the climate +that he has asked to be relieved of his post. Captain Sedgwick +believes this will give him a chance of advancement." + +"Then I've no doubt he'll make the most of it. I suppose he doesn't +waste much pity on his unfortunate chief? The man's personal interest +stands first with him." + +"Isn't that the usual thing with men?" + +"There are exceptions. Colonel Challoner, for instance, threw up his +career when he found he was forced to act against his convictions, and +I've a suspicion that another man I know made as great a sacrifice. +However, Sedgwick will make every effort to get the vacant post, and I +wonder whether he told Mrs. Chudleigh how matters stood. She may have +had a letter before you did." + +Millicent knew her employer's penetration, but did not understand the +drift of her remarks. + +"I dare say he wrote to her. She told us they were old friends. But +why should it interest you?" + +"It does," Mrs. Keith rejoined. "I have a habit of putting things +together and drawing my conclusions, though, of course, I'm now and +then mistaken. Whether I'm right or not in the present instance time +will show, but I must try to watch the woman when we go home." Then +she added sharply: "As you have torn it up, you don't mean to answer +Sedgwick's letter?" + +"No," said Millicent, with a trace of colour; "I don't think it needs a +reply." + +Mrs. Keith made a sign of agreement. "On the whole," she said +pointedly, "I should imagine that to be a wise decision." + +On reaching Saguenay, Mrs. Keith spent the first morning sitting +outside her hotel. Rugged mountains with dark belts of pines +straggling up their sides were spread about her, but she gave the wild +grandeur of the landscape scanty attention as she consulted the +engagement book in her hand. It contained a list of the friends she +wished to entertain and the visits she had thought of making in England +during the winter, and she wondered which could be shortened and whom +she could put off, because it might be desirable to spend some time in +Shropshire. + +Margaret Keith was a strong-willed woman who had led a busy life, but +now, when she had resolved to retire into the background and rest, it +looked as if she might again be forced to take an active part in +affairs. She had enjoyed her Canadian trip, but during the last week +or two it had begun to lose its interest, and she was conscious of a +call to be up and doing. She suspected Mrs. Chudleigh, she doubted +Sedgwick, and she was disturbed by the way the unfortunate affair on +the Indian frontier had cropped up again. Somehow, she felt Colonel +Challoner's peace was threatened, which could not be permitted. For +many years she had cherished a warm liking for him, and long ago, when +he was a young lieutenant, she could have made him hers. Family +arrangements, complicated by the interests of landed property, had, +however, stood in the way. Challoner was not free to marry as he +pleased; he had been taught that the desire of the individual must be +subordinated to the welfare of the line, and when he first met Margaret +Keith, who was beautiful then, it was too late for him to rebel. She +let him go, but he had always had a place in her heart, and now they +were firm and trusted friends. + +During her stay at Saguenay, Mrs. Chudleigh made two or three attempts +to extract some further information about the Challoners but without +success, and one day, soon after she had left, Mrs. Keith sent +Millicent for a list of steamer sailings. + +"This place is very pretty, but we have been here some time and I'm +beginning to think of home," she said. + +"One of the Empresses sails next week," said Millicent, returning with +the card. "Mr. Gordon told me this morning that Mrs. Chudleigh went in +the _Salmatian_ the day before he left Quebec." + +"Did she?" Mrs. Keith rejoined. "Well, perhaps you had better write to +the Montreal office about our berths." Then, for the call had grown +clearer, she smiled as the girl went away, and added: "It might be +wiser to keep the woman in sight." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PRAIRIE + +A strong breeze swept the wide plain, blowing fine sand about, when +Blake plodded beside the jaded Indian pony that drew his Red-river +cart. It was loaded with preserved provisions, camp stores, and winter +clothes, and he had bought it and the pony because that seemed cheaper +than paying for transport. The settlement for which he was bound +stands near the northern edge of the great sweep of grass which +stretches across central Canada, and means of communication between it +and the outer world were scarce. Harding, accordingly, had agreed to +the purchase of the animal with the idea of selling it afterwards to +one of the settlers. + +Since leaving the railroad they had spent four days upon the trail, +which sometimes ran plain before them, marked by dints of wheels among +the wiry grass, and sometimes died away, leaving them at a loss in a +wilderness of sand and short poplar scrub, through which Blake steered +by compass. Now it was late in the afternoon and the men were tired of +battling with the wind which buffeted their sunburned faces with sharp +sand. They were crossing one of the high steppes of the middle prairie +towards the belt of pines and muskegs which divides it from the barrens +of the North. The broad stretch of fertile loam, where prosperous +wooden towns are rising fast among the wheatfields, lay to the south of +them, and the arid tract they journeyed through had so far no +attraction for even the adventurous homestead pre-emptor. + +They found it a bleak and cheerless country, crossed by the ravines of +a few sluggish creeks, the water of which was unpleasant to drink, and +dotted at long intervals by ponds bitter with alkali. In places, +stunted poplar bluffs cut against the sky, but, for the most part, +there was only a rolling waste of dingy grass. The trail was heavy, +the wheels sank deep in sand as they climbed a low rise, and, to make +things worse, the rounded, white-edged clouds which had scudded across +the sky since morning were gathering in threatening masses. This had +happened every afternoon, but now and then the cloud ranks had broken, +to pour out a furious deluge and a blaze of lightning. Harding +anxiously studied the sky. + +"I guess we're up against another thunderstorm," he said. "My opinion +of the mid-continental climate is singularly mean, but I'd put this +strip of Canada near the limit. Our Texan northers are fierce when +they come along, but here it blows all the time." + +"We'll make camp, if you like; I don't feel very fresh," Blake replied. + +"Not here," snapped Harding, "Where I stop I sleep, and I've no use for +sheltering under the cart. Last time we tried it the pony stampeded +and the wheel went over my foot. The tent's no good; you'd want a +chain to stop its blowing away. We'll go on until we bring up to lee +of a big, solid bluff." + +"Very well," Blake agreed. "I daresay we ought to find one in the +hollow we got a glimpse of from the last rise, but we haven't had to +put up with much discomfort yet." + +"It's a matter of opinion; you haven't limped forty miles on a bad +foot, but I'm not complaining," Harding rejoined, "In fact, I've most +been happy since we left the depot. It's something to feel that you +have started; doing nothing takes the sand out of me." + +Blake had once or twice suggested that his comrade should ride, but the +pony was overburdened and Harding refused. He explained that they +could not expect to sell it in a worn-out condition, but his partner +suspected him of sympathy for the patient beast. + +They crossed the ridge and seeing a wavy line of trees in the wide +hollow, quickened their pace. The soil was firmer, the scrub the +wheels crushed through was short, and the trail led smoothly down a +slight descent. This was comforting, because half the sky was barred +with leaden cloud and the parched grass gleamed beneath it lividly +white, while the light that struck a ridge-top here and there had a +sinister luridness. It was getting cold and the wind was dropping, +which was not a favourable sign. + +Pushing the cart through the softer places, dragging the jaded pony by +the head, they hurried on and at length plunged through a creek with +the trees close in front. A few minutes later they tethered the pony +to lee of the cart and set up their tent. Then, while Blake was +rummaging out provisions and Harding searching the bluff for dry +sticks, they heard a beat of hoofs and a man rode up, leading a second +horse. He got down and throwing a bundle off his saddle hobbled the +beasts before he turned to Blake. + +"From the south? You're for Sweetwater?" he said. + +Blake told him he had guessed correctly, and asked how far they had +still to go. + +"You ought to make it in a day and a half," said the other. "I'll ride +in with you; run a store and hotel there, but feel I want to get out on +the prairie now and then, and as a horse was missing I went after him. +A looker, isn't he?" + +Blake admired the animal, and suggested that the stranger had better +join them instead of cooking a separate supper. The fellow, who told +them that his name was Gardner, had a good-humoured, sunburned face and +an honest look. The prairie was now wrapped in inky gloom, and there +was an impressive stillness except for the occasional rustle of a leaf, +but when Harding came out of the bluff with a load of wood a puff of +icy wind suddenly stirred the grass. The harsh rustle it made was +followed by a deafening crash, and a jagged streak of lightning fell +from the leaden clouds; then the air was filled with the roar of +driving hail. It swept the wood, rending leaves and smashing twigs, +while the men crouched inside the straining tent and a constant blaze +of lightning flickered about the grass. By and by the thunder died +away and the hail gave place to torrential rain, while the slender +trees rocked in the blast and small branches drove past the tent. This +lasted some minutes, after which the rain ceased suddenly and a fierce +red light streamed along the saturated grass from the huge sinking sun. +Harding, who had brought the wood into the tent, took it out and with +the stranger's help soon made a fire. + +It was getting dark, though a band of transcendental green still burned +upon the prairie's western edge when they finished supper and, sitting +round the fire, took out their pipes. The hobbled horses were quietly +grazing near them. + +"That's undoubtedly a fine animal," Blake remarked. "Is it yours?" + +"No; it belongs to Clarke's Englishman." + +"Who's he? It's a curious way to speak of a fellow." + +"It fits him," said the other. "Guess he's Clarke's, hide and bones, +and that's all there'll be when the doctor has done with him. He's a +sucker the doctor taught farming and then sold land to." + +"Then who's the doctor?" Harding inquired. + +"That's not so easy to answer, but he's a man you want to be friends +with if you stay near the settlement. Teaches farming to tenderfoot +young Englishmen and Americans; finds them land and stock to start +with, and makes a mighty good thing out of it. Goes to Montreal now +and then, but whether it's to look up fresh suckers or on the jag is +more than I know." + +"We met a fellow called Clarke at the _Windsor_ not long since. What's +he like?" + +Gardner described him and Harding said, "That's the man." + +"Then I can't see what he was doing at the _Windsor_; an opium joint +would have been more in his line." + +"Does the fellow live at Sweetwater?" Blake asked. + +"Has a farm, and runs it well, about three miles back, but he's away +pretty often in the North and at a settlement on the edge of the bush +country. Don't know what he does there, and they're a curious crowd; +Dubokars, Russians of sorts, I guess." + +Blake had seen the Dubokars in other parts of Canada and had found them +an industrious people, leading, from religious convictions, a +remarkably primitive life. There were, however, fanatics among them, +and he understood that these now and then led their followers into +outbreaks of emotional extravagance. + +"They make good settlers, as a rule," he said. "But, as they don't +speak English, how does the fellow get on with them?" + +"Told me he was a philologist, when I asked him; then he allowed two or +three of them were mystics and he was something in that line. He was a +doctor once and got fired out of England for something he shouldn't +have done. Anyhow, the Dubokars are like the rest of us, good, bad, +and pretty mixed, and the crowd back of Sweetwater belong to the last. +At first some of them didn't believe it was right to work horses and +made the women drag the plough, and they'd one or two other habits that +brought the North-West Police down on them. After that they've given +no trouble, but they get on a jag of some kind now and then." + +Blake nodded. He knew that the fanatic with untrained and unbalanced +mind is liable under the influence of excitement to indulge in crude +debauchery; but it was strange that a man of culture, such as Clarke +appeared to be, should take a part in these excesses. He had, however, +no interest in the fellow and turned the talk on to other matters, and +when it got cold they went to sleep. + +Starting early next morning, they reached Sweetwater after an +uneventful journey and found it by no means an attractive place. South +of it rolling prairie ran back, greyish white with withered grass, to +the skyline; to the north straggling poplar bluffs and scattered +Jack-pines crowned the summits of the ridges. A lake gleamed in a +hollow, a slow creek wound across the foreground in a deep ravine, and +here and there in the distance one could see an outlying farm. A row +of houses followed the crest of the ravine, the side of which formed a +dumping ground for domestic refuse. Some were built of small logs, and +some of shiplap lumber which had cracked with exposure to the sun, but +all had a neglected and poverty-stricken air. The land was poor and +the settlement located too far from a market. With leaden +thunderclouds hanging over it, the place looked as desolate as the +sad-coloured waste. + +Following the deeply-rutted street, which had a narrow, plank sidewalk, +they reached the Imperial hotel; a somewhat pretentious, +double-storeyed building of unpainted wood, with a verandah in front of +it. Here Gardner took the pony from them and gave them a room which +had no furniture except a chair and two rickety iron beds. Before he +went out he indicated a printed list of the things they were not +allowed to do. Harding studied it with a sardonic smile. + +"I don't see much use in prohibiting folks from washing their clothes +in the bedrooms when they don't give you any water," he remarked. +"This place must be about the limit in the way of cheap hotels." + +"It isn't cheap," said Blake; "I've seen the tariff, but on the whole I +like the fellow who keeps it." + +They found their supper better than they had reason to expect, and +afterwards sat out on the verandah with the proprietor and one or two +of the settlers who boarded at the hotel. The sun had set and now and +then a heavy shower beat upon the shingled roof, but the western sky +was clear and flushed with vivid crimson, towards which the prairie +rolled away in varying tones of blue. Lights shone in the windows +behind the verandah, and from one which stood open a hoarse voice +drifted out, singing in a maudlin fashion snatches of an old music-hall +ditty. + +"It's that fool Benson--Clarke's Englishman," Gardner explained. +"Found he'd got into my bed with his boots on after falling down in a +muskeg. It's not the first time he's played that trick; when he gets +worse than usual he makes straight for my room." + +"Why do you give him the liquor?" Harding inquired. + +"I don't," said Gardner drily. "He's a pretty regular customer, but he +never gets too much at this hotel." + +"And there isn't another." + +"That's so," Gardner agreed, but he offered no explanation and Blake +changed the subject. + +"Unless you're fond of farming, life in these remote districts is +trying," he remarked. "The loneliness and monotony are apt to break +down men who are not used to it." + +"Turns some of them crazy and kills off a few," agreed a farmer, who +appeared to be well educated. "After all, worse things might happen to +them." + +"It's conceivable," said Blake. "But what particular things were you +referring to?" + +"I was thinking of men who go to the devil while they're alive. +There's a fellow in this neighbourhood who's doing something of the +kind." + +"Rot!" exclaimed a thick voice, and a man's figure appeared against the +light at the open window. "Devil'sh a myth; allegorolical gentleman, +everybody knowsh. Hard word that--allegorolical. Bad word too, +reminds you of things in the rivers down in Florida. Must be some in +the creek here; seen them in my homestead." + +"You go to bed," said Gardner sternly. + +"Nosh a bit," replied the other. "Who you talking to?" He leaned +forward in danger of falling through the window. "Lemme out." + +"It's not all drink," Gardner explained. "He has something like shakes +and ague now and then. Says he got it in India." + +The other disappeared and a few moments afterwards reeled out of the +door and held himself upright by one of the verandah posts. + +"Now I'm here, don't let me interrupt," he said. "Nice place if this +post would keep still." + +Warned by a sign from Gardner, the others ignored him, and Harding +remarked to the farmer, "You hadn't finished what you were saying when +he disturbed you." + +"I don't know that it was of much importance; speaking of degenerates, +weren't we? We have a curious example of the neurotic here: a fellow +who makes a good many dollars by victimizing farmers who are forced to +borrow when they lose a crop, as well as young fools from England, and +by way of amusement studies modern magic and indulges in refined +debauchery. It strikes me as a particularly unhallowed combination." + +"No sensible man has any use for hoodoo tricks and the folks who +practise them," Harding said. "They're frauds from the start." + +"Don't know what you're talking about," Benson broke in. "Not all +tricks! Seen funny things in the East; thingsh decent men better leave +alone." + +Letting go the post, he lurched forward and as the light fell upon his +face Blake started. He had been puzzled by something familiar in the +voice, and now he knew the man, whom he had no wish to meet. He was +too late in hitching his chair back into the shadow, for Benson had +seen him and stopped with an excited cry. + +"Blake of the sappers! Want to cut your old friendsh? Whatsh you +doing here?" + +"It's a mutual surprise, Benson," Blake replied, and the other, holding +on by a chair back, smiled at him genially. + +"Often wondered where you went to after you left Peshawur, old man. +Though you got the sack for it, it wasn't your fault the ghazees broke +our line that night. Said so to the Colonel--can see him now, sitting +there, looking very sick and cut up, and Bolsover, acting adjutant, +blinking like an owl." + +"Be quiet!" Blake said in alarm, for the man had been a lieutenant of +native infantry when they had met on the hill campaign. + +Benson, however, was not to be deterred and addressed the rest: "This +gentleman old friend of mine; never agreed with solemn old Colonel, but +they wouldn't listen to me. Very black night in India; ghazees coming +yelling up the hill; nothing would stop them. Rifles cracking, +Nepalese comp'ny busy with the bayonet, and in the thick of it the +bugle goes----" + +Raising a hand to his mouth, he gave a shrill imitation of the call +"Cease fire!" and then lost his balance and fell over the chair with a +crash. + +"Leave him to me," said Gardner, who seized the fallen man and with +some difficulty lifted him to his feet. After he pushed him through +the door there were sounds of a scuffle and two or three minutes later +Gardner came back with a bruise upon his face. + +"He's quiet now and the bartender will put him to bed," he said. + +There was silence for the next few moments, for the group on the +verandah had been impressed by the scene; then a man came up the steps. +He was dressed in old brown overalls and carried a riding quirt, but +Harding recognized him as the man they had met at the _Windsor_ in +Montreal. + +"Have you got Benson here?" he asked. + +"Sure," said Gardner. "He's left his mark on my cheek. Why don't you +look after the fool? Anyhow, you must have come pretty quietly; I +didn't hear you until you were half way up the steps." + +"Light boots," Clarke answered, smiling; "I bought them from you. I +don't know that I need hold myself responsible for Benson, but I found +he wasn't in when I rode past his place and it struck me that he might +get into trouble if he got on a jag." + +He turned and nodded to Blake. "So you have come up here! I may see +you to-morrow, but if Benson's all right I'm going home now." + +He went into the hotel and soon afterwards they heard him leave by +another door. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CLARKE MAKES A SUGGESTION + +At breakfast next morning Blake and Harding found the farmer, who had +spent the night at the hotel, at their table and afterwards sat for a +time on the verandah talking to him. When they mentioned their first +objective point and asked if he could give them any directions for +reaching it he looked thoughtful. + +"I only know that it's remarkably rough country; thick pine bush on +rolling ground, with some bad muskegs and small lakes," he said. "You +would find things easier if you could hire an Indian or two and a canoe +when you strike the river. The boys here seldom go up so far, but +Clarke could help you if he liked. He's been north and knows the +Indians." + +"We're willing to pay him for any useful help," Harding replied. + +"Be careful," said the farmer. "If you're on a prospecting trip, keep +your secret close. There's another thing I might mention." He turned +to Blake. "If you're a friend of Benson's, take him along with you." + +"I suppose I am, in a way, though it's a long time since I met him. +But why do you recommend our taking him?" + +"I hate to see a man go to pieces as Benson's doing, and Clarke's +ruining the fellow. He must have got two or three thousand dollars out +of him one way or another and isn't satisfied with that. Lent him +money on mortgage to start a foolish stock-raising speculation and +keeps him well supplied with drink. The fellow's weak, but he has his +good points." + +"But what's Clarke's object?" + +"It isn't very clear, but a man who's seldom sober is easily robbed and +Benson's place is worth something; Clarke sees it's properly farmed. +However, you must use your judgment about anything he tells you; I've +given you warning." + +He went away and Blake sat silent for a time. Though they had not been +intimate friends, he had known Benson when the latter was a wild young +subaltern, and it did not seem fitting to leave him in the clutches of +a man who was ruining him in health and fortune. He would sooner not +have met the man at all, but since they had met, there was, so far as +he could see, only one thing to be done. + +"If you don't mind, I'd like to take Benson with us," he said to +Harding. + +The American looked doubtful. "We could do with another white man, but +I guess your friend isn't the kind we want. He may give us trouble, +and you can't count on much help from a whisky-tank. However, if you +wish it, you can bring him." + +Soon afterwards Benson came out from the dining-room. He was two or +three years younger than Blake and had a muscular figure, but he looked +shaky and his face was weak and marked by dissipation. Smiling in a +deprecatory way, he lighted a cigar. + +"I'm afraid I made a fool of myself last night," he said. "If I made +any unfortunate allusions you must overlook them. You must have seen +that I wasn't altogether responsible." + +"I did," Blake answered drily. "If we are to remain friends, you had +better understand that I can't tolerate any further mention of the +matter you talked about." + +"Sorry," said Benson, who gave him a keen glance. "Though I don't +think you have much cause to be touchy about it, I'll try to remember." + +"Then I'd like you to know my partner, Mr. Harding, who has agreed to a +suggestion I'm going to make. We want you to come with us on a trip to +the northern bush." + +"Thanks," said Benson, who shook hands with Harding. "I wonder what +use you think I would be?" + +"To tell the truth, I haven't considered whether you would be of any +use or not; but you had better come. The trip will brace you up, and +you look as if you needed it." + +Benson's face grew red. "Your intentions may be good, but you virtuous +and respectable people sometimes show a meddlesome thoughtfulness which +degenerates like myself resent. Besides, I suspect your offer has come +too late." + +"I don't think you have much reason for taunting me with being +respectable," Blake rejoined with a grim smile. "Anyway, I want you to +come with us." + +Tilting his chair back, Benson looked heavily about. "When I was new +to the country I often wished to go north. There are caribou and moose +up yonder; great sights when the rivers break up in spring, and a +sledge trip across the snow must be a thing to remember. The wilds +draw you, but I'm afraid my nerve's not good enough. A man must be fit +in every way to cross the timber belt." + +"Then why aren't you fit? Why have you let that fellow Clarke suck the +life and energy out of you, as well as rob you of your money?" + +"You hit hard, but I expect I deserve it, and I'll try to explain." +Benson indicated the desolate settlement with a gesture of weariness. + +Ugly frame houses straggled, weather-scarred and dilapidated, along one +side of the unpaved street, while unsightly refuse dumps disfigured the +slopes of the ravine in front. There was no sign of activity, but two +or three untidy loungers leaned against a rude shack with "Pool Room," +painted on its dirty window. All round, the rolling prairie stretched +back to the horizon, washed in dingy drab and grey. The prospect was +dreary and depressing. + +"This place," Benson resumed, "hasn't much to offer one in the way of +relaxation, and, for a man used to something different, life at a +lonely homestead soon loses its charm. Unless he's a keen farmer, he's +apt to go to bits." + +"Then why don't you quit?" Harding asked. + +"Where could I go? A man with no profession except the one he hasn't +the means to follow is not much use at home, and all my money is sunk +in my place here. As things stand, I can't sell it." He turned to +Blake. "I left the army because a financial disaster I wasn't +responsible for stopped my allowance and I was in debt. Eventually +about two thousand pounds were saved out of the wreck, and I came here +with that feeling badly hipped, which was one reason why I took to +whisky, and Clarke, who engaged to teach me farming, saw I got plenty +of it. Now he has his hands on all that's mine, but he keeps me fairly +supplied with cash, and it saves trouble to leave things to him." + +When Benson stopped Blake made a sign of comprehension, for he knew +that somewhat exceptional qualities are required of the man who +undertakes the breaking of virgin prairie in the remoter districts. He +must have unflinching courage and stubbornness and be able to dispense +with all the comforts and amenities of civilized life. No interests +are offered him beyond those connected with his task; for half the year +he must toil unremittingly from dawn to dark, and depend upon his own +resources through the long, bitter winter. For society he may have a +hired hand and the loungers in the saloon of the nearest settlement, +which is often a day's ride away, and they are not, as a rule, men of +culture or pleasing manners. For the strong in mind and body it is +nevertheless a healthful life, but Benson was not of sufficiently tough +fibre. + +"Now see here," said Harding. "I'm out for dollars, and this is a +business trip, but Blake wants to take you and I'm agreeable. If you +can stand for two or three months hard work in the open and very plain +living, you'll feel yourself a match for Clarke when you get back. +Though there's no reason why you should tell a stranger like myself how +you stand if you'd sooner not, I know something of business and might +see a way out of your difficulties." + +Benson hesitated. He would have resented an attempt to use his +troubles as a text for improving remarks, since he already knew his +failings. What he desired was a means of escaping their consequences, +and the American, whose tone was reassuringly matter of fact, seemed to +offer it. He began an explanation and, with the help of a few leading +questions, made his financial position fairly clear. + +"Well," said Harding, "Clarke has certainly got a tight hold on you, +but I guess it's possible to shake him off. As things stand, however, +it seems to me he has most to gain from your death." + +"He couldn't count on that; to do the fellow justice, he'd hardly go so +far, but there's some truth in what you say." Benson looked disturbed +and irresolute, but after a few moments he abruptly threw his cigar +away and leaned forward with a decided air. "If you'll have me, I'll +go with you." + +"You're wise," Harding said quietly. + +Shortly afterwards Benson left them and Harding said to Blake, "Now you +had better go along and see if you can learn anything from Clarke about +our road. He's a rogue, but that's no reason we shouldn't make him +useful. If he can help us, pay him and be careful what you say. +Remember that he was watching you at the _Windsor_, and I've a +suspicion that he was standing in the shadow near the stairs when +Benson talked last night." + +Borrowing a saddle, Blake rode over to Clarke's homestead, which had a +well-kept, prosperous look, and found its owner in a small room +furnished as an office. Files of papers and a large map of the Western +Provinces hung upon one wall; the floor was uncovered and a rusty stove +stood in the middle of it, but Clarke was seated at a handsome American +desk. He wore old overalls and the soil upon his boots suggested that +he had been engaged in fall ploughing. As Benson came in he looked up +and the light fell upon his face. It was deeply lined and of a curious +dead colour, but while it bore a sensual stamp and something in it +hinted at cruelty, it was, Blake felt, the face of a clever and +determined man. + +"Ah!" he said, "you have ridden over for a talk. Glad to see you. +Have a cigar." + +Blake, who took one, explained his errand and Clarke seemed to +consider. Then he took out a small hand-drawn map and passed it to his +visitor. + +"I won't ask why you are going north, as I daresay it's a secret," he +remarked. "However, though it's too valuable for me to lend it you, +this will show you your way through the timber belt." He cleared the +other end of the desk. "Sit here and make a note of the features of +the country." + +It took Blake some time, but he had been taught such work and did it +carefully. When he had finished, Clarke resumed: "I'll give you a few +directions, and you had better take them down, but you'll want a canoe +and one or two Indians. I daresay I could enable you to get them, but +I think the service is worth fifty dollars." + +"I'd be glad to pay it when we come back," Blake answered cautiously. +"It's possible that we mightn't find the Indians, and we might leave +the water and strike overland." + +"As you like," Clarke said with a smile. "I'll give you the directions +before you go, but there's another matter I want to talk about." He +fixed his eyes on Blake. "You are a nephew of Colonel Challoner's." + +"I am, but I can't see what connexion this has----" + +Clarke stopped him. "It's not an impertinence. Hear me out. You were +a lieutenant of engineers and served in India, where you left the army." + +"That is correct, but it's not a subject I'm disposed to talk about." + +"So I imagined," Clarke said drily. "Still I would like to say that +there is some reason for believing you to be a badly treated man. You +have my sympathy." + +"Thank you," said Blake. "I must remind you that I have given you no +grounds for offering it." + +"A painful subject! But are you content to quietly suffer injustice?" + +"I don't admit an injustice. Besides, I don't see what you can know +about the matter." + +"A proper line to take with an outsider like myself; but I know you +were turned out of the army for a fault you did not commit." + +Blake's face set sternly. "It's hard to understand how you arrived at +that flattering conclusion." + +"I won't explain, but I'm convinced of its correctness," Clarke +rejoined, watching him. "One would imagine that the most important +matter is that you were driven out of a calling you liked and were sent +here, ruined in repute and fortune. Are you satisfied with your lot? +Haven't you the courage to insist upon being reinstated?" + +"My reinstation would be difficult," Blake said curtly. + +He would have left the house only that he was curious to learn where +the other's suggestions led and how much he knew. There was a moment's +silence, and then Clarke went on-- + +"A young man of ability, with means and influence behind him, has a +choice of careers in England, and there's another point to be +considered: you might wish to marry. That, of course, is out of the +question now." + +"It will, no doubt, remain so," Blake replied with the colour creeping +into his set face. + +"Then you have given up all idea of clearing yourself? The thing may +be easier than you imagine if properly handled." Clarke paused and +added significantly: "In fact I could show you a way in which the +matter could be straightened out without causing serious trouble to +anybody concerned; that is, if you are disposed to take me into your +confidence." + +Blake got up, filled with anger and uneasiness. He had no great faith +in Harding's scheme; his life as a needy adventurer had its trials, and +it had been cunningly hinted that he could change it when he liked, but +he had no intention of doing so. This was an old resolve, but it was +disconcerting to feel that an unscrupulous fellow was anxious to meddle +with his affairs, for Clarke had obviously implied the possibility of +putting some pressure upon Colonel Challoner. Blake shrank from the +suggestion. It was not to be thought of. + +"I have nothing more to say on the subject," he answered sternly. "It +must be dropped." + +Somewhat to his surprise, Clarke acquiesced good-humouredly, after a +keen glance at him. + +"As you wish," he said. "However, that needn't prevent my giving you +the directions I promised, particularly as it may help me to earn fifty +dollars. I believe Benson spent some time with you this morning; are +you taking him?" + +Blake started. He wondered how the man could have guessed, but he +admitted that Benson was going. + +"You may find him a drag, but that's your affair," said Clarke in a +tone of indifference. "Now sit down and make a careful note of what I +tell you." + +Believing that the information might be of service, Blake did as he was +told, and then took his leave. When he had gone, Clarke sat still for +a time with a curious smile. Blake had firmly declined to be +influenced by his hints, but Clarke had half expected this, and what he +had learned about the young man's character cleared the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BENSON GIVES TROUBLE + +It was nearly dark when Blake and Harding led two packhorses through a +thin spruce wood, with Benson lagging a short distance behind. They +had spent some time crossing a wide stretch of rolling country, dotted +with clumps of poplar and birch, which was still sparsely inhabited, +and now they had reached the edge of the timber belt that cuts off the +prairie from the desolate barrens. The spruces were gnarled and +twisted by the wind, a number of them were dead, and many of the rest +leaned unsymmetrically athwart each other. The straggling wood had no +beauty and in the fading light wore a dreary, forbidding look. +Fortunately, however, it was thin enough for the travellers to pick +their way among the fallen branches and patches of muskeg, for the +ground was marsh and their feet sank among the withered needles. + +By and by Blake checked his pony and waited until Benson came up. The +man moved with a slack heaviness and his face was worn and tense. He +was tired with the journey, for excess had weakened him, and now the +lust for drink which he had stubbornly fought against had grown +overwhelming. + +"I can go no faster. Push on and I'll follow your tracks," he said in +a surly tone. "It takes time to get into condition, and I haven't +walked much for several years." + +"Neither have I," Harding answered cheerfully "I'm more used to riding +in elevators and the street cars, but this sort of thing soon makes you +fit." + +"You're not troubled with my complaint," Benson rejoined, and when +Blake started the pony deliberately dropped behind. + +"He's in a black mood; we'll leave him to himself," Harding remarked. +"So far he's braced up better than I expected, but when a man's been +tanking steadily, it's pretty drastic to put him through the total +deprivation cure." + +"I wonder," Blake said thoughtfully, "whether it is a cure; we have +both seen men who made some effort to save themselves go down. Though +I'm a long way from being a philanthropist, I hate this waste of good +material. Perhaps it's partly an economic objection, because I used to +get savage in India when any of the Tommies' lives were thrown away by +careless handling." + +"It was your soldiers' business to be made use of, wasn't it?" + +"Yes," said Blake, frowning; "but there's a difference between that and +the other thing. It's the needless waste of life and talent that +annoys me. On the frontier, we spent men freely, which is the best +word for it, because we tried to get something in return; a rebel hill +fort seized, a raid turned back. If Benson had killed himself in +breaking a horse or by an accident with a harvesting machine, one +couldn't complain; but to see him do so with whisky is another matter." + +Harding nodded. Blake was not given to serious conversation; indeed, +he was rather casual, as a rule, but Harding, who was shrewd, saw +beneath the surface a love of order, and what he thought of as +constructive ability. + +"I guess you're right, but your speaking of India, reminds me of +something I want to mention. I've been thinking over what Clarke said +to you. His game's obvious, and it might have been a profitable one. +He wanted you to help him in squeezing Colonel Challoner." + +"He knows now that he applied to the wrong man." + +"That's so; it's my point. Suppose the fellow goes to work without +you? It looks as if he'd learned enough to make him dangerous." + +"He can do nothing. Let him trump up any plausible theory he likes; it +won't stand for a moment after I deny it." + +"True," said Harding gravely. "But if you were out of the way, he'd +have a free hand. Since you wouldn't join him you're a serious +obstacle." + +Blake laughed. "I'm glad I am, and as I come of a healthy stock +there's reason to believe I'll continue one." + +Harding said nothing more, and they went on in silence through the +gathering darkness The spruces were losing shape and getting blacker, +though through openings here and there they could see a faint line of +smoky red on the horizon. A cold wind wailed among the branches, and +the thud of the tired horses' feet rang dully among the shadowy trunks. +At length, reaching a strip of higher ground, the men pitched camp and +turned out the hobbled horses to graze among the swamp grass that lined +a muskeg. After supper they sat beside their fire, and by and by +Benson took his pipe from his mouth. + +"I've had enough of this, and I'm only a drag on you," he said. "Give +me grub enough to see me through, and I'll start back for the +settlement first thing in the morning." + +"Don't be a fool," Blake said sharply. "You'll get harder and feel the +march less every day. Are you willing to let Clarke get hold of you +again?" + +"I don't want to go. I'm driven; I can't help myself." + +Blake felt sorry for him. He imagined that Benson had made a hard +fight, but he was being beaten by his craving. Still, it seemed unwise +to show any sympathy. + +"You want to wallow like a hog for two or three days that you'll regret +all your life," he said. "You have your chance of breaking free now. +Be a man and take it. Hold out a little longer and you'll find it +easier." + +Benson regarded him with a mocking smile. "I'm inclined to think the +jag you so feelingly allude to will last a week; that is, if I can +raise dollars enough from Clarke to keep it up. You mayn't understand +that I'm willing to barter all my future for it." + +"Yes," said Harding grimly; "we understand all right. Yours is not a +singular case; the trouble is that it's too common. But we'll quit +talking about it. You can't go." + +He was in no mood to handle the subject delicately; they were alone in +the wilds and the situation made for candour. There was only one way +in which they could help the man and he meant to take it. Benson +turned to him angrily. + +"Your permission's not required; I'm a free man." + +"Are you?" Harding asked. "It strikes me as a very curious boast. +Improving the occasion's a riling thing, but there was never a slave in +Dixie tighter bound than you." + +"That's an impertinence," Benson rejoined, flushing, as unsatisfied +longing drove him to fury. "What business is it of yours to preach to +me? Confound you! who are you? I tell you I won't have it. Give me +food enough to last until I reach Sweetwater and let me go." + +As he spoke a haughty ring crept into his voice and Blake was moved to +compassion because he recognized it and found it ludicrous. Benson, +who would not have used that tone in his normal state, belonged by +right of birth to a ruling caste, and no doubt felt that he had been +treated with indignity by a man of lower station. Harding, however, +answered quietly-- + +"I am a paint factory drummer who has never had the opportunities you +have enjoyed, but so long as we're up here in the wilds the only thing +that counts is that we're men with the same weaknesses and feelings. +Because that's so, and you're hard up against it, I and my partner mean +to see you through." + +"You can't unless I'm willing. Man, don't you realize that talking's +of no use? The thing I'm driven by won't yield to words. What's more +to the purpose, I didn't engage to go all the way with you. Now I've +had enough, I'm going back to the settlement." + +"Very well. You were right in claiming that there was no engagement of +any kind. So far, we have found you in grub, but we're not bound to do +so, and if you leave us, you must shift for yourself." Harding +addressed Blake, who sat nearest the provisions. "You'll see that your +friend doesn't touch those stores." + +There was silence for a moment or two, and Benson, whose face was +marked with baffled desire and scarcely controlled fury, glared at the +others. Blake's expression was pitiful, but his lips were resolutely +set; Harding's eyes were very keen and determined. Then Benson made a +sign of resignation. + +"It looks as if I were beaten. I may as well go to sleep." + +He wrapped his blanket round him and lay down near the fire, and soon +afterwards the others crept into the tent. Benson would be warm enough +where he lay and they felt it a relief to get away from him. + +Day was breaking when Blake rose and threw fresh wood on the fire, and +as a bright flame leaped up, driving back the shadows, he saw that +Benson was missing. This, however, did not disturb him, because the +man had been restless and they had now and then heard him moving about +at night. When the fire had burned up and he filled the kettle, +without his seeing anything of his friend, he began to grow anxious and +called loudly. There was no answer and he could hear no movement in +the bush. The dark spruces had grown sharper in form; he could see +some distance between the trunks, but everything was still. Then +Harding came out of the tent. + +"You had better look if the horses are there," he suggested. + +Blake failed to find them near the muskeg, but as the light got clearer +he saw tracks leading through the bush. Following these for a +distance, he came upon the Indian pony, still hobbled, but the other, a +powerful range horse, had gone. Mounting the pony, he rode back to +camp, where he found Harding looking grave. + +"The fellow's gone and taken some provisions with him," he said. "He +left this for us." + +It was a strip of paper, apparently torn from a pocket-book, with a few +lines written on it. Benson said he regretted having to leave them in +such an unceremonious fashion, but they had given him no choice, and +added that he would leave the horse, hobbled, at a spot about two days' +ride away. + +"He seems to think he's showing us some consideration in not riding the +beast down to the settlement," Blake remarked with a dubious smile, +feeling strongly annoyed with himself for not taking more precautions. +With the cunning which the lust for drink breeds in its victims Benson +had outwitted him by feigning acquiescence. "Anyhow," he added, "I'll +have to go after him. We must have the horse, for one thing, but I +suppose we'll lose four days. This is rough on you." + +"Yes," agreed Harding, "you must get after him, but don't mind about +me. The man's a friend of yours and I like him; he wasn't quite +responsible last night. I wouldn't feel happy if we let him fall back +into the clutches of that cunning brute. Now we'll get breakfast; +you'll need it." + +They made a hasty meal and during it Blake said, "If you don't mind +waiting, I'll follow him half way to Sweetwater if necessary. You see +I haven't much expectation of overtaking him before he leaves the +horse. It's the faster beast and we don't know when he started." + +"That's so," said Harding. "Still, you're tough, and I guess the first +hard day's ride will be enough for your partner." + +Five minutes later Blake was picking his way as fast as possible +through the wood. It was a cool morning, and when he had gone a few +miles the ground was fairly clear. By noon he was in more open +country, where there were long stretches of grass, and after a short +rest he pushed on fast. Bright sunshine flooded the waste that now +stretched back to the south, sprinkled with clumps of bush that showed +a shadowy blue in the distance. In those he passed the birch and +poplar leaves glowed in flecks of vivid lemon among the white stems, +but Blake rode hard, his eyes turned steadily on the misty skyline. It +was only broken by clusters of small trees; nothing moved on the +wilderness he pushed across. + +He felt tired when evening came, but he must find water before he +camped, and he pressed on. Benson was a weak fool, who would, no +doubt, give them further trouble, but they had taken him in hand, and +Blake had made up his mind to save him from the rogue who preyed upon +his failings. It was getting late when he saw a faint trail of smoke +curl up against the sky from a distant bluff, and on approaching it he +checked the jaded pony. Later he dismounted and picketing the animal +moved cautiously round the edge of the wood. Passing a projecting +tongue of smaller brush, he saw, as he had expected, Benson sitting +beside a fire, and stopped a moment to watch him. The man's face was +weary, his pose was slack, and it was obvious that the life he had led +had unfitted him for a long, hard ride. He looked forlorn and +dejected, but he started as Blake moved forward and his eyes had an +angry gleam. + +"So you have overtaken me; I thought myself safe from you," he said. + +"You were wrong," Blake replied. "If it had been needful, I'd have +gone after you to Clarke's. But I'm hungry and I'll cook my supper at +your fire." He glanced at the provisions scattered about. "You +haven't had much of a meal." + +"It's a long drink I want," said Benson, looking steadily at him. + +Blake, who let this pass, prepared his supper and offered the other a +portion. + +"Try some of that," he said, indicating the light flapjacks fizzling +among the pork in the frying-pan. "It strikes me as a good deal more +tempting than the stuff you have been eating." + +Benson thrust the food aside, and Blake finished it before he took out +his pipe. "Now," he said, "you can go to sleep when you wish. I +expect you're tired, and it's a long ride back to camp." + +"You seem to count upon my going back with you," Benson remarked +mockingly. + +"I do; don't you mean to come?" + +"Do you suppose it's likely after I've ridden all this way?" + +Blake laid down his pipe and looked hard at the man. "You force me to +take a line I'm not cut out for. Think a moment! You have land and +stock worth a good deal of money which my partner believes can be saved +from the rogue who's stealing it from you. You are a young man, and if +you pull yourself together and pay off his claims, you can sell out and +look for another opening wherever you like, but you know what will +happen if you go on as you are doing a year or two longer. Have you no +friends and relatives in England you owe something to? Is your life +worth nothing, that you're willing to throw it away?" + +"It's all true," Benson admitted moodily. "Do you think I can't see +where I'm drifting? The trouble is that I've gone too far to stop." + +"Try," said Blake. "It's very well worth while." + +Benson was silent for a few moments, and then looked up with a curious +expression. "You're wasting time, Dick. I've sunk too far. Go back +in the morning and leave me to my fate." + +"When I go back you are coming with me." + +Benson's nerves were on edge and his self-control broke down. +"Confound you!" he cried; "let me alone! You have reached the limit; +once for all, I'll stand no more meddling." + +"Very well," Blake answered quietly, "You have left me only one +recourse, and you can't blame me for taking it." + +"What's that?" + +"Superior strength. You're a heavier man than I am and ought to be a +match for me, but you have lost your nerve and grown soft and flabby +with drink. It's your own doing, and now you have to take the +consequences. If you compel me, I'll drag you back to camp with the +pack lariat." + +"Do you mean that?" Benson's face grew flushed and his eyes glittered. + +"Try me and see." + +Savage as he was, Benson realized that his companion was capable of +making his promise good. The man looked hard and very muscular, and +his expression was determined. + +"This is insufferable!" he cried. + +Blake coolly filled his pipe. "There's no other remedy. Before I go +to sleep I'll picket the horses close beside me and if you steal away +on foot during the night, I'll ride you down a few hours after +daybreak. I think you understand me, and there's nothing more to be +said." + +He tried to talk about other matters and found it hard, for Benson, +tormented by his craving, made no response. Darkness crept in about +them and the prairie grew shadowy. The leaves in the bluff rustled in +a faint, cold wind, and the smoke of the fire drifted round the men. +For a while Benson sat moodily watching his companion, and then, +wrapping his blanket round him, lay down and turned away his head. It +was now very dark outside the flickering light of the fire, and by and +by Blake, who felt the strain of the situation, strolled towards the +horses and chose a resting-place beside their pickets. + +Waking in the cold of daybreak, he saw Benson asleep, and made +breakfast before he called him. They ate in silence and then Blake led +up the pony. + +"I think we'll make a start," he said as cheerfully as he could. + +For a moment or two Benson hesitated, standing with hands clenched and +baffled desire in his face, but Blake looked coolly resolute, and he +mounted. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HARDING GROWS SUSPICIOUS + +Benson gave Blake no further trouble, and when they rode up to the +camp, apparently on good terms with one another, Harding made no +reference to what had occurred. He greeted them pleasantly and soon +afterwards they sat down to a meal he had been cooking. When they had +finished and lighted their pipes Benson said, "A remark was made the +other night which struck me as quite warranted. It was pointed out +that I had contributed nothing to the cost of this trip." + +"It was very uncivil of Harding to mention it," Blake answered with a +grin. "Still, you see, circumstances rather forced him." + +"They did. You might have put it more harshly with truth. But I want +to suggest that you let me take a share in your venture." + +"Sorry," said Harding, "I can't agree to that." + +Benson sat smoking in silence for the next minute or two. Then he +said, "I think I understand and can't blame you. You haven't much +cause for trusting me." + +"I didn't mean----" Harding began, but Benson stopped him. + +"I know. It's my weakness you're afraid of. However, you must let me +pay my share of the provisions and any transport we may be able to get. +That's all I insist on now; if you feel more confidence in me later, I +may reopen the other question." He paused and added: "You are two very +good fellows. I think I can promise not to play the fool again." + +"Perhaps we'd better talk about something else," Blake suggested. + +They broke camp early next morning, and Benson struggled manfully with +his craving during the next week or two which they spent in pushing +farther into the forest. It was a desolate waste of small, stunted +trees, many of which were dead and stripped of half their branches, +while wide belts had been scarred by fire. Harding found the unvarying +sombre green of the needles strangely monotonous, but the ground was +comparatively clear, and the party made progress until at length, when +the country grew more broken, they fell in with three returning +prospectors. + +"If you'll trade your horses, we might make a deal," said one when they +camped together. "You can't take them much farther--the country's too +rough--and we could sell out to one of the farmers near the +settlements." + +Blake was glad to come to terms, and afterwards another of the men +said, "We've been out two months on a general prospecting trip. It's +the toughest country to get through I ever struck." + +His worn and ragged appearance bore this out, and Harding asked: "Are +there minerals up yonder? We're not in that line; it's a forest +product we're looking for." + +"We found indications of gold, copper, and one or two other metals, +besides petroleum, but didn't see anything that looked worth taking up. +Considering the cost of transport, you want to strike it pretty rich +before what you find will pay as a business proposition." + +"So I should imagine. Petroleum's a cheap product to handle when +you're a long way from a market, isn't it?" + +"Give us plenty of it and we'll make a market. It's an idea of mine +that there's no part of this country that hasn't something worth +working in it if you can get cheap fuel. Where the land's too poor for +farming you often find minerals, and ore that won't pay for transport +can be reduced on the spot, so long as you have natural resources that +can be turned into power. With an oil well in good flow we'd soon +start some profitable industry and put up a city that would bring a +railroad in. Show our business men a good opening and you'll get the +dollars, while there are folks across the frontier who have a mighty +keen scent for oil." + +"Have you done much prospecting?" Harding asked. + +The other smiled. "Whenever I can get dollars enough for an outfit I +go off on the trail. There's a fascination in the thing that gets hold +of you--you can't tell what you may strike and the prizes are big. +However, I allow that after seven or eight years of it I'm poorer than +when I started at the game." + +Blake made a sign of comprehension. He knew the sanguine nature of the +Westerner and his belief in the richness of his country, and he had +felt the call of the wilderness. There was, in truth, a fascination in +the silent waste that drew the adventurous into its rugged fastnesses, +and that a number of them did not come back seldom deterred the others. + +"We want to get as far north as the timber limit, if we can," he said. +"I understand there are no Hudson's Bay factories near our line, but we +were told we might find some Stony Indians." + +"There's one bunch of them," the prospector replied. "They ramble +about after fish and furs, but they've a kind of base-camp where a few +generally stop. They're a mean crowd and often short of food, but if +they've been lucky you might get supplies. Now and then they put up a +lot of dried fish and kill some caribou." + +He told Blake roughly where the Indian encampment lay, and after +talking for a while they went to sleep. Next morning the prospectors, +who took the horses, started for the south, while Blake's party pushed +on north with loads that severely tried their strength. After a few +days' laborious march they reached a stream and found a few Indians who +were willing to take them some distance down it. It was a relief to +get rid of the heavy packs and rest while the canoe glided smoothly +through the straggling forest, and the labour of hauling her across the +numerous portages was light compared with the toil of the march. +Blake, however, had misgivings; they were making swift progress +northwards, but it would be different when they came back. Rivers and +lakes would be frozen then, which might make travelling easier, if they +could pick up the hand sledges they had cached, but there was a limit +to the provisions they could transport, and unless fresh supplies could +be obtained they would have a long distance to traverse on scanty +rations in the rigours of the Arctic winter. + +After a day or two the Indians, who were going no farther, landed them +and they entered a belt of very broken country across which they must +push to reach a larger stream. The ground was rocky, pierced by +ravines, and covered with clumps of small trees. There were stony +tracts they painfully picked their way across, steep ridges to be +clambered over, and belts of quaggy muskeg they must skirt, and the +day's march grew rapidly shorter. Benson, however, gave them no +trouble; the man was getting hard and was generally cheerful, while +when he had an occasional fit of moroseness as he fought with the +longing that tormented him they left him alone. Still at times they +were daunted by the rugged sternness of the region they were steadily +pushing through, and the thought of the long return journey troubled +them. + +One night when it was raining they sat beside their fire in a desolate +gorge. A cold wind swept between the thin spruce trunks that loomed +vaguely out of the surrounding gloom as the red glare leaped up, and +wisps of acrid smoke drifted about the camp. There was a lake up the +hollow, and now and then the wild and mournful cry of a loon rang out. +The men were tired and somewhat dejected as they sat about the blaze +with their damp blankets round them, but by and by Blake, who had been +feeling drowsy, looked up. + +"What was that?" he asked. + +The others could hear nothing but the sound of running water and the +wail of the wind. Since leaving the Indians they had seen no sign of +life and believed they were crossing uninhabited wilds. Blake could +not tell what had suddenly roused his attention, but in former days he +had developed his perceptive faculties by close night watching on the +Indian frontier, where any relaxing of his vigilance might have cost +his life. Something, he thought, was moving in the bush and he felt +uneasy. Then he rose as a stick cracked, and Harding called out as a +shadowy figure appeared on the edge of the light. Blake laughed, but +his uneasiness did not desert him when he recognized Clarke. The +fellow was not to be trusted and had come upon them in a startling +manner. Moving coolly forward, he sat down by the fire. + +"I suppose you were surprised to see me," he remarked. + +"That's so," Harding answered and added nothing further, while Benson, +whose face wore a curious strained expression, did not speak. + +"Well," said Clarke, who filled his pipe, "I daresay I made a rather +dramatic entrance, falling upon you, so to speak, out of the dark." + +"I've a suspicion that you enjoy that kind of thing," Harding rejoined. +"You're a man with the dramatic feeling; guess you find it useful now +and then." + +Clarke's eyes twinkled, but it was not with wholesome humour. They +were keen, but he looked old and forbidding as he sat with the smoke +blowing about him and the ruddy firelight on his face. + +"There's some truth in your remark and I take it as a compliment, but +my arrival's easily explained. I saw your fire in the distance and +curiosity brought me along." + +"What are you doing up here?" + +"Going on a visit to my friends the Stonies. Though it's a long way, I +look them up now and then." + +"From what I've heard of them they don't seem a very attractive lot," +Blake interposed. "But we haven't offered you any supper. Benson, you +might put on the frying-pan." + +"No thanks," said Clarke. "I'm camped with two half-breeds a little +way back. The Stonies, as you remark, are not a polished set, but +we're on pretty good terms and it's their primitiveness that makes them +interesting. You can learn things civilized folk don't know much about +from these people." + +"In my opinion it's knowledge that's not worth much to a white man," +Harding remarked contemptuously. "Guess you mean the secrets of their +medicine-men? What isn't gross superstition is trickery." + +"There you are wrong. They have some tricks, rather clever ones, +though that's not unusual with the professors of a more advanced +occultism; but living, as they do, in direct contact with Nature in her +most savage mood, they have found clues to things that we regard as +mysteries. Anyhow, they have discovered a few effective remedies that +aren't generally known yet to medical science." + +He spoke with some warmth and had the look of a genuine enthusiast, but +Harding laughed. + +"Medical science hasn't much to say in favour of hoodoo practices, so +far as I know. But I understand you are a doctor." + +"I was pretty well known in London." + +"Then," said Harding bluntly, "what brought you to Sweetwater?" + +"If you haven't heard, I may as well tell you, because the thing isn't +a secret at the settlement." Clarke turned and his eyes rested on +Blake. "I'm by no means the only man who has come to Canada under a +cloud. There was a famous police-court affair I figured in, and though +nothing was proved against me my practice afterwards fell to bits. As +a matter of fact, I was absolutely innocent of the offence I was +charged with. I had acted without much caution out of pity and laid +myself open to an attack that was meant to cover the escape of the real +criminal." + +Blake, who thought he spoke the truth, felt some sympathy, but Clarke +went on: "In a few weeks I was without patients or friends; driven out +from the profession I loved and in which I was beginning to make my +mark. It was a blow I never altogether recovered from, and the +generous impulse which got me into trouble was the last I yielded to." + +His face changed, growing hard and malevolent, and Blake now felt +strangely repelled. It looked as if the man had been soured by his +misfortunes and turned into an outlaw who found a vindictive pleasure +in making such reprisals as he found possible upon society at large. +This conclusion was borne out by what Blake had learned at the +settlement. + +Nobody made any comment, and there was silence for a few minutes while +the smoke whirled about the group and the drips from the dark boughs +above fell upon the brands. Then Clarke asked Benson a question or two +and afterwards talked casually with the others until he rose to go. + +"I shall start at daybreak and your way lies to the east of mine," he +said. "You'll find travelling easier when the snow comes; I wish you +good luck." + +Though the loneliness of the wilds had now and then weighed upon them, +they felt relieved when he left, and soon afterwards Benson went to +sleep, but Blake and Harding continued talking for a time. + +"That's a man I have no use for," the American remarked. "I suppose it +struck you that he made no attempt to get your friend back?" + +"I noticed it. He may have thought it wouldn't succeed and didn't wish +to show his hand. Benson already looks a different man; I saw the +fellow studying him." + +"He could have drawn him away by the sight of a whisky flask or a hint +of a jag in camp. My opinion is that he didn't want him." + +"That's curious," said Blake. "He seems to have stuck to Benson pretty +closely, no doubt with the object of fleecing him, and you think he's +not altogether ruined yet." + +"If what he told me is correct, there are still some pickings left on +him." + +"I don't suppose the explanation is that Clarke has some conscience and +feels he has robbed him enough." + +Harding laughed. "He has as much pity as a hungry wolf; in fact, to my +mind, he's the more dangerous brute, because I've a feeling that he +delights in doing harm. There's something cruel about the man; getting +fired out of his profession must have warped his nature. Then there +was another point that struck me; why's he going so far to stay with +those Indians?" + +"It's puzzling," Blake said thoughtfully. "He hinted that he was +interested in their superstitions, and I think there was some truth in +it. Meddling with these things seems to have a fascination for +neurotic people, and as the fellow's a sensualist he may find some form +of indulgence that wouldn't be tolerated near the settlements. All +this, however, doesn't quite seem to account for the thing." + +"I've another idea," said Harding. "Clarke's known as a crank and +takes advantage of it to cover his doings. At first, I thought of the +whisky trade, but taking up prohibited liquor would hardly be worth his +while, though I daresay he has some with him to be used for gaining his +Indian friends' good will. He's on the trail of something and it's +probably minerals. What the prospector told us suggested it to me." + +"You may be right. Anyway, it doesn't seem to concern us." + +"Well," said Harding gravely, "I'm troubled about his leaving Benson +alone, when one could have understood his trying to take him away. The +fellow had some good reason--I wish I knew." + +He rose to throw more wood upon the fire and they changed the subject. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE MUSKEG + +It was a fortnight later when the party entered a hollow between two +low ranges. The hills receded as they progressed, the basin widened +and grew more difficult to traverse, for the ground was boggy and +thickly covered with small, rotting pines. Every here and there some +had fallen and lay in horrible tangles among pools of mire. A sluggish +creek wound through the hollow and the men had often to cross it, while +as they plodded through the morass they found their loads intolerably +heavy. Still Clarke's directions had plainly indicated this valley as +their road, and they stubbornly pushed on, camping where they could +find a dry spot. + +They were generally wet to the waist and their temper began to give way +under the strain, while Blake was annoyed to find his sleep disturbed +when he lay down in damp clothes beside the fire at nights. Sometimes +he was too hot and sometimes he lay awake shivering, for hours. He +had, however, suffered from malarial fever in India without having it +badly, and supposed that it had again attacked him now that he was +feeling the hardships of the march. Saying nothing to his companions, +he patiently trudged on, though his head throbbed and he was conscious +of a depressing weakness; and the ground grew softer as they proceeded. +The creek no longer kept within its banks but spread in shallow pools, +the rotting trees were giving place to tall grass and reeds. The +valley had turned into a very wet muskeg, but, after making one or two +attempts, they failed to find a better road among the hills that shut +it in. The rocky sides of the knolls were seamed by ravines and +covered with banks of stones and short brush, through which it was very +difficult to force a passage. Then one day, Blake, who felt his head +reel, staggered and sat down heavily. + +"I'm sorry I can't keep on my feet," he said. "Think it's malaria I've +got." + +For a moment or two his companions gazed at him in dismay. His face +was flushed, his eyes glittered, and moving feebly he sank further down +with his back against a stone. He looked seriously ill, but Harding, +realizing that the situation must be grappled with, resolutely pulled +himself together. + +"You can't lie there; the ground's too wet," he said. "It's drier on +yonder hummock and we'll have to get you across to it. If you can +stand up and lean on us we'll fix you comfortably in camp in a few +minutes." + +When Blake had shakily risen they unstrapped his pack and afterwards +with much trouble helped him to reach a small, stony knoll, where they +made a fire and spread their blankets on a bundle of reeds for him to +lie on. + +"Thanks," he said in a listless voice. "I found it hard to keep my +eyes open all morning and now I think I'll go to sleep. I'll no doubt +feel better to-morrow." + +By and by he fell asleep, but his rest was broken, for he moved his +limbs and muttered now and then. It was a heavy, grey afternoon with a +cold wind rippling the leaden pools and rustling the reeds, and the +watchers felt dejected and alarmed. Neither had any medical knowledge, +and they were a very long way from the settlements. Rocky hillsides +and wet muskegs which they could not cross with a sick companion shut +them off from all help; their provisions were not plentiful, and the +rigorous winter would soon set in. + +They scarcely spoke to one another as the afternoon wore away, but when +supper time came Harding roused Blake and tried to give him a little +food. He could not eat, however, and soon sank into restless sleep +again, and his companions sat disconsolately beside the fire as night +closed in. Their clothes were damp and splashed with mud, for they had +to cross a patch of very soft muskeg to gather wood among a clump of +rotting spruces. The wind was searching, the reeds clashed and rustled +drearily, and they could hear the splash of the ripples on a +neighbouring pool, It was all depressing, and as in turn they kept +watch in the darkness their hearts sank. + +Next morning Blake, who made an attempt to get up, was obviously worse, +and though he insisted irritably that he would be all right again in a +day or two the others felt dubious. + +"How often must I tell you that the thing will wear off?" he said. +"You needn't look so glum." + +"I thought I was looking pretty cheerful," Harding objected with a +forced laugh. "Anyway, I've been working off my best stories for the +last hour, and I really think that one about the Cincinnati man----" + +"It's located in half a dozen different places," Blake rejoined. "You +overdo the thing, and the way Benson grins at your threadbare jokes +would worry me if I were well. Do you suppose I'm a fool and don't +know what you think?" He raised himself on his elbow, speaking +angrily. "Try to understand that this is merely common malaria; I've +had it several times, and it seldom bothers you much when you're out of +the tropics. Why, Bertram--you've seen my cousin--was down with it a +week at Sandymere; temperature very high, old fool of a family doctor +looking serious and fussing. Then he got up all right one morning and +rode to hounds next day. Very good fellow, Bertram; so's his father. +If anybody speaks against my cousin, let him look out for me." + +He paused and resumed with a vacant air: "Getting off the subject, +wasn't I? Can't think with this pain in my head and back, but don't +worry. Leave me alone; I'll soon be on my feet again." + +Lying down, he turned away from them and they exchanged glances, for it +looked as if their comrade's brain were getting clouded. Blake, who +dozed part of the time, said nothing during the next few hours, and +late in the afternoon an Indian reached the camp. He carried a dirty +blue blanket and a few skins and was dressed in ragged white men's +clothes. In a few words of broken English he made them understand that +he was tired and short of food, and they gave him a meal. When he had +finished it, they fell into conversation and Benson, who understood him +best, told Harding that he had been trapping in the neighbourhood. His +tribe lived some distance off, and though there were some Stonies not +far away, he would not go to them for supplies. They were, he said, +quarrelsome people. + +Harding looked interested when he heard this and made Benson ask +exactly where the Stony village lay; and when he had been told he +lighted his pipe and said nothing for the next half hour. Rain had +begun to fall, and though they had built a rude shelter of earth and +stones to keep off the wind in place of the tent, which had been +abandoned to save weight, the raw damp seemed to reach their bones. It +was not the place to nurse a fever patient in and Harding was getting +anxious. He had led his comrade into the adventure and felt +responsible for him; moreover, he had a strong affection for the +helpless man. Blake was very ill and something must be done to save +him, but for a time Harding could not see how help could be obtained. +Then an idea crept into his mind, and he got Benson to ask the Indian a +few more questions about the locality. When they were answered he +began to see his way, but he waited until supper was over before he +spoke of his plan. + +It was getting dark and raining hard; Blake was asleep, the Indian +sitting silent, and the fire crackled noisily, throwing up a wavering +light against the surrounding gloom. + +"I suppose I needn't consider you a friend of Clarke's?" Harding +remarked. + +"There's no reason why I should feel grateful to him, though I can't +blame him for all my misfortunes," Benson replied. + +"That clears the ground. Well, it must have struck you that the +fellow's account of the whereabouts of the Stony camp doesn't agree +with what the prospectors and this Indian told us. He fixed the +locality further west and a good deal farther off from where we are +now. Looks as if he didn't want us to reach the place." + +"He's a scheming brute, but I can't see his object in deceiving us." + +"We'll leave that point for a minute. You must allow it's curious that +when we asked him for the easiest way he sent us through these hills +and muskegs; particularly as you have learned from the Indian that we +could have got north with much less trouble had we headed further west." + +"If that's true, it has an ugly look," Benson answered thoughtfully. + +"Very well; I'm going to put the thing before you as I see it. Clarke +has lent you money and has a claim on your homestead, which will +increase in value as the settlement grows, while sooner or later +they'll bring a railroad in. Now, after what you once told me, I don't +think there's any reason why you shouldn't pay him off in a year or two +if you keep steady and work hard, but while you were in his clutches +that looked very far from probable." + +"You might have put it more plainly--I was drinking myself to death." +Benson's face grew stern. "You suggest that this is what the fellow +wished?" + +"You can form your own opinion. My point is that it would suit him if +you didn't come back from this trip. With nobody to dispute his +statements he'd prove he had a claim to all you own." + +Benson started. "I believe he would stick at nothing; you may be +right. But I'm only one of the party; what would he gain if you and +Blake came to grief?" + +"That," said Harding, "is not so clear." + +He glanced at his companion searchingly and seeing that he suspected +nothing, decided not to enlighten him. Benson seemed to have overcome +his craving, but there was a possibility that he might relapse upon his +return to the settlement and betray the secret in his cups. Harding +thought Clarke a dangerous man of unusual ability and abnormal +character. He had learned from Benson something of Blake's history and +had seen a chance of extorting money from Colonel Challoner. Indeed, +Clarke had made overtures to Blake on the subject, with the pretext of +wishing to ascertain whether the latter was willing to seek redress, +and had met with an indignant rebuff. This much was a matter of fact, +but Harding surmised that the man, finding Blake more inclined to +thwart than assist him, would be glad to get rid of him. With Blake +out of the way, the Challoners, father and son, would be at his mercy; +and it unfortunately looked as if his wishes might be gratified. +Harding, however, meant to make a determined effort to save his comrade. + +"I don't understand what you're leading up to," Benson remarked. + +"It's this--I suspect Clarke intended us to get entangled among these +muskegs where we'd have no chance of renewing our provisions, and +misled us about the Stony village, which he didn't wish us to reach. +Well, he has succeeded in getting us into trouble and now he has to +help us out. The fellow is a doctor." + +Benson looked up eagerly. "You're going to bring him here? It's a +daring plan, because it will be difficult to make him come." + +"He'll come if he values his life," said Harding drily. "The Indian +will take me to the village, and perhaps see me through if I offer him +enough; he seems to have some grudge against the Stonies. I'll have to +drop in upon the doctor late at night when none of his Indian friends +are about." + +"But who'll look after Blake? He can't be left." + +"That's your part. You'd run more risk than I would, and I'm his +partner." + +"I'd hate to stay," Benson protested, and added with feeling: "You know +how I'm indebted to Blake." + +"It's your place," said Harding. "Now you had better try to arrange +the thing with the Indian." + +It took some time, but the man proved amenable. He frankly owned that +he would not have ventured near the Stony camp alone and hinted at some +quarrel between its inhabitants and his tribe, originating, Benson +gathered, over a dispute about trapping grounds; but he was ready to +accompany the white man, if the latter went well armed. + +"That's fixed; we start at daybreak," said Harding. "I'll lie down +now; it's your watch." + +Five minutes later he was sound asleep and awoke, quietly determined +and ready for the march, in the cold of dawn. He was a man of the +cities, bred to civilized life and had a just appreciation of the risks +he ran, since he meant to abduct the doctor, who was dangerous to +meddle with, from an Indian village where he was apparently held in +some esteem. The Stonies, living far remote, had, so Harding +understood, escaped the chastening influence of an occasional visit +from the patrols of the North-West Police. Moreover there was a +possibility that Clarke might prove too clever for him. It was +certainly a strange adventure for a business man, but he believed that +Blake would perish unless help was obtained. He shook hands with +Benson, who wished him a sincere "Good-luck!" and then, with the Indian +leading, struck out through the muskeg towards the shadowy hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CLARKE'S SUMMONS + +Harding, who knew there was no time to lose, had cause to remember the +forced march he made to the Stony village. The light was faint and the +low ground streaked with haze as they floundered through the muskeg, +sinking deep in the softer spots and splashing through shallow pools. +When they reached the first hill bench he was hot and breathless, and +their path led sharply upwards over banks of ragged stones which had a +trick of slipping down when they trod on them. It was worse where they +were large and he stumbled into the hollows between. Then they +struggled through short pine-scrub, crawled up a wet gorge where thick +willows grew, and afterwards got entangled among thickets of thorny +canes. Harding's clothes were badly torn and his boots giving out; his +breath was laboured and his heart beat painfully, but he pressed on +upwards without slackening his pace. + +It was exhausting toil, and until he entered the North-West, he had +undergone no physical training and seldom tried his muscles; being left +to shift for himself at an unusually early age had prevented his even +playing any outdoor games. His career had been a humble one, but it +had taught him self-reliance, and when he was thrown into the company +of men brought up in a higher station he was not surprised that they +accepted him as an equal and comrade. There was, however, nothing +assertive in the man; he knew his powers and their limitations. Now he +clearly recognized that he had undertaken a big thing, but the need was +urgent, and he meant to see it through. He was of essentially +practical temperament, a man of action, and it was necessary that he +should keep up with his Indian guide as long as possible. Therefore he +braced himself for the arduous task. + +In the afternoon they reached a tableland where travelling was slightly +easier, but when they camped without a fire among the rocks one of +Harding's feet was bleeding and he was very weary. Walking was painful +for the first hour after they started again at dawn, but by and by his +galled foot troubled him less, and he doggedly followed the Indian up +and down deep ravines and over rough stony slopes. Then they reached +stunted timber; thickly-massed, tangled pines, with many dead trees +among them and a number which had fallen, barring the way. The Indian +seemed tireless; Harding could imagine his muscles having been +toughened into something different from ordinary flesh and blood. He +was feeling distress, but for the present there was only one thing for +him to do, and that was to march. He saw it clearly with his shrewd +sense, and though his worn-out body revolted his resolution did not +flinch. + +They forced a way through thickets, they skirted precipitous rocks, +passed clusters of ragged pines, and plunged down ravines. In the +afternoon the sun was hot, and when it got low a cold wind buffeted +them as they crossed the height of land, but although Harding's side +ached as well as his bleeding feet the march went on. Then just before +dark he had a glimpse of a wide valley fading into the blue distance +with water shining in its midst and grey blurs of willows here and +there. The prospect, however, faded swiftly from his sight, and he +found himself limping across a stony ridge into a belt of drifting +mist. Half an hour afterwards he threw himself down exhausted beside a +fire in a sheltered hollow. + +Late at night they stopped a few minutes to listen and look about on +the outskirts of the Indian village. Thick willows stretched close up +to it with mist that moved before a light wind drifting past them; and +the blurred shapes of conical tepees showed dimly through the vapour. +The night was dark but still, and Harding thought a sound would carry +some distance, but while he felt his heart beating there was nothing to +be heard. He had seen dogs about the Indian encampments farther south +and was horribly afraid of hearing a warning bark, but nothing broke +the silence and he supposed that Clarke's friends were unable to find +food enough for sledge-teams. This was reassuring, because the odds +against him were heavy enough, knowing, as he did, that the Indian's +sense of hearing is remarkably keen. + +Feeling that his magazine pistol was loose, he signed to his guide and +they moved cautiously forward. The ground was fortunately clear and +their footsteps made little noise, though now and then tufts of dry +grass which Harding trod upon rustled with what seemed to him alarming +distinctness. Still nobody challenged them and reaching the centre of +the village they stopped again. The nearest of the tepees was only +thirty or forty yards away, though others ran back into the mist, and +as Harding stood listening with tingling nerves he clearly recognized +the difficulty of his enterprise. In the first place, there was +nothing to indicate which tent Clarke occupied, and it was highly +undesirable that Harding should choose the wrong one and rouse an +Indian from his slumbers. Then it was possible that the man shared a +tepee with some of his hosts, in which case Harding would place himself +at his mercy by entering it. Clarke was a dangerous man, and his Stony +friends were people with rudimentary ideas and barbarous habits. +Harding glanced at his guide, but the man stood very still, and he +could judge nothing about his feelings from his attitude. Pulling +himself together with an effort, Harding went on. + +Fortune favoured him, for as he made towards a tepee, without any +particular reason for doing so, except that it stood a little apart +from the rest, he saw a faint streak of light shine out beneath the +curtain, This suggested that it was occupied by the white man, and it +was now an important question whether he could reach it silently enough +to surprise him. Beckoning the Indian to fall behind, he crept forward +with his heart beating painfully and stopped a moment just outside the +entrance. It was obvious that he had not been heard, but he could not +tell whether Clarke was alone. Then the Indian, who had crept up +behind him, dragged the doorway open and Harding, hastily stepping in, +stood, ragged, unkempt, and strung up, blinking in the unaccustomed +light. + +The tent had an earth floor with a layer of reeds and grass thrown down +on one side. It was frail and hinted at changing times and poverty, +for the original skin cover had been patched and eked out with the +products of civilization in the shape of cotton flour bags and old +sacking. In the later repairs sewing twine had been used instead of +sinews. A wooden case stood open near the reeds, and Harding saw that +it contained glass jars and what looked like laboratory apparatus; a +common tin kerosene lamp hung from the junction of the frame poles, +which met at the point of the cone. A curious smell, which reminded +him of the paint factory, filled the tent, though he could not +recognize it. + +Harding could not tell whether he noted all this at once, or if it +afterwards impressed itself upon him by degrees, because as he entered +Clarke, who sat beside the case, looked up. It was, Harding thought, a +good test of his nerve, but his face was imperturbable and he showed no +surprise. There was silence for a moment or two while the Indian stood +motionless with his axe shining as it caught the light, and Harding's +lips grew firmly set. Then Clarke spoke-- + +"So you have turned back. You found the muskeg too difficult to cross, +and I suppose this fellow showed you the way here?" + +Harding, who was worn out, crossed the floor to the heap of reeds and +sat down facing Clarke. + +"We have come for you and must start at once. My partner is very +sick--fever he thinks--and you'll have to cure him." + +"You're presuming on my consent." + +"Yes," said Harding sternly; "I'm counting right on that. It wouldn't +be wise of you to refuse." + +"I don't agree with you. A shout or a shot would bring in my friends, +and you'd find yourself in a very unpleasant position. You had better +understand that the North-West Police have never visited this place and +nobody troubles about what goes on up here, while I believe I'm a +person of some influence." He indicated Harding's guide. "Then, +though I don't know what he's doing in this neighbourhood, this fellow +belongs to a tribe the Stonies have a grudge against. On the whole, I +think you have been very rash." + +"I guess you're clever enough to see that since I've taken some chances +in coming I'm not likely to be bluffed off now. But we'll let that go. +The most important thing is that Blake will die unless he gets proper +treatment." + +Clarke regarded him with a mocking smile. "It's a matter of +indifference to me whether Blake dies or not." + +"No," said Harding, "I allow it isn't quite so. On the whole, you +would sooner he did die. He's in the way." + +He could not tell whether this shot had reached the mark, for though +Clarke's eyes were steadily fixed on him the man's face was inscrutable. + +"If you're right, it's strange you should urge me to prescribe for him." + +"There are some precautions I mean to take," said Harding drily. +"However, I haven't come here to argue. For reasons of your own, you +sent us into a belt of country which you thought we couldn't get +through. My notion is that you expected us to be held up there until +our stores ran out and winter set in, when these Stonies would, no +doubt, have moved on. Well, part of what you wished has happened, but +the matter is taking a turn you couldn't have looked for. You led us +into difficulties and now you're going to get us out. I guess delay +means danger--get ready to start." + +Then the Indian raised his hand in warning. Footsteps approached the +tepee with something strangely stealthy in their tread, and Clarke, +turning his head, listened with a curious expression. Then he looked +at Harding and as the steps drew nearer the American's lips set tight. +His pose grew tense, but it was more expressive of determination than +alarm. For a few moments none of the party moved and then the attitude +of all relaxed as the footsteps passed and grew indistinct. Clarke +broke into a faint smile. + +"That was not an ordinary Stony but a gentleman of my profession, with +similar interests, going about his business. There are reasons why he +should undertake it in the dark. You were right in supposing that you +were in some danger." + +Harding felt a shiver. He had the repugnance of the healthy-minded man +of affairs from any form of meddling with what he vaguely thought of as +the occult; but in that remote, grim solitude he could not scoff at it. + +"Understand this," he said curtly. "I mean to save my partner; I +staked my life on doing so, and since I guess you're not ready to go so +far as that, I've a pretty strong pull on you. But I've said enough. +You're coming with me--now--and if you make any attempt to rouse your +friends, you'll have a chance of learning something about the other +world at first hand a few seconds afterwards." + +Clarke saw that it was not an idle threat. The American meant what he +said, and he hurriedly put a few things together and made them into a +pack. Then he turned to Harding with a gesture of ironical resignation. + +"I'm ready." + +The Indian laid a firm hand on his arm and Harding, who took out his +pistol, extinguished the lamp. + +"Your interest in keeping quiet is as strong as mine," he sternly +reminded Clarke. + +He set his teeth as they passed a tepee at a few yards distance. He +could see the dark gap of the doorway and had a nervous fancy that eyes +were following his movements, for now he had succeeded in the more +difficult part of his errand he was conscious of strain. Indeed, he +feared he was getting shaky and the danger was not yet over. They were +not clear of the village and a noisy stumble would bring the Indians +out. Unless they reached camp in the next few days he thought Blake +would die, and the journey was a long and arduous one. Still, he was +determined that if disaster overtook him, the plotter who had betrayed +them should not escape. Harding was a respecter of law and social +conventions, but now he had suddenly become primitive under heavy +stress. + +They passed the tepee unnoticed, but the tension he felt did not +slacken, because there was another they could not avoid. Nobody, +however, called to them, and he felt easier as they drew away from the +row of shadowy tents. Then, moving very cautiously, they reached the +thick willow bluff, where they were comparatively safe, and Harding, +who found it hard to hold himself in hand, feared that he might grow +limp with the reaction. Difficult as his task had looked, it had been +successfully carried out. + +"Get on," he said to Clarke and, walking faster, they plunged into the +open waste. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE CURE + +It was noon when Harding returned to camp, ragged and exhausted, with +Clarke limping after him in an even more pitiable state. The latter +had suffered badly from the hurried march, but his conductor would +brook no delay and the grim hints he had been given encouraged him to +the utmost exertion he was capable of. Blake was alive, but when +Harding bent over him he feared that help had come too late. His skin +looked harsh and dry, his face had grown hollow, and his thick strong +hair had turned lank and was falling out. His eyes were vacant and +unrecognizing when he turned them upon Harding. + +"Here's your patient," the American said to Clarke. "We expect you to +cure him, and you had better get to work at once." Then his face grew +troubled as he asked Benson: "How long has he been like that?" + +"The last two days," said Benson. "I'm afraid he's very bad." + +Harding sat down with a smothered groan. Every muscle seemed to ache, +he could scarcely hold himself upright, and his heart was heavy. He +would miss Blake terribly; it was hard to think of going on without +him, but he feared that this was inevitable. He was filled with a deep +pity for the helpless man, but after a few moments his weary face grew +stern. He had done all that he was able, and now Clarke, whom he +believed to be a man of high medical skill, must do his part. If he +were unsuccessful, it would be the worse for him. + +"Had you much trouble?" Benson asked as he laid out a meal. + +"No," said Harding; "I suppose I was fortunate, because the thing was +surprisingly easy. Of course, Clarke did not want to come." + +"Then I don't see how you overcame his objections." + +Harding broke into a dry smile. "In the kind of game I played with the +doctor your strength depends upon how much you're willing to lose, and +I put down all I had upon the table. That beat him, because he wasn't +willing to stake as much." + +"You mean your life?" said Benson. "I've no doubt you were in some +danger, but was it so serious?" + +"It would have been if I'd shot him, and I think he saw I meant that. +What's more, I may have to do so yet." + +Harding's tone was quietly matter of fact, but Benson no longer +wondered at Clarke's submission. He had been a soldier and had faced +grave risks, but he was inclined to think that even before he had +weakened it by excess his nerve had never been so good as this city +drummer's. + +"Well," he said, "I'm fond of Blake and recognize my debt to him, while +we were once comrades in an adventure that was more dangerous than +this, but I'm not sure that I'd have been ready to go as far as you. +In a way, though, you were quite justified; the fellow no doubt set a +trap for us, but if he's to have a fair chance, we had better give him +something to eat. If he's as hungry as you are, he needs it." + +He called Clarke, who had been busy examining Blake, to join them by +the fire. Weariness had deepened the lines on the doctor's face and +there were puffy pouches under his eyes. He was obviously exhausted +and scarcely able to move, but there was something malignant in his +look. He ate greedily without speaking, and then glanced up at the +others. + +"Well," said Benson, "what's your opinion?" + +"Your friend's state is dangerous, and he was right in his conclusions +about what was the matter with him. How he came to suffer from a +severe attack of malaria in this bracing climate I can't determine, and +after all it's not an important point. He can't live much longer at +his present temperature." + +"And the remedy?" + +"One of two is indicated, and the choice is difficult, because both are +risky." + +"Then they're risky to you as well as to your patient," Harding grimly +reminded him. + +Clarke made a contemptuous gesture which was not without a touch of +dignity. His manner was now severely professional. + +"One course would be to put him into the coldest water we can find; +it's drastic treatment and sometimes effective, but there's a strong +probability of its killing him." + +"You had better mention the other." + +"The administration of a remedy of my own, which I'll admit few doctors +would venture to use. It's almost as dangerous as the first course, +and in case of success recovery is slower." + +Harding pondered this for a moment or two. He distrusted the man and +believed he would feel no compunction about poisoning Blake, should he +consider it safe to do so, but he thought he had convinced him of the +contrary. + +"I must leave you to decide, but if the result's unfortunate I'll hold +you responsible," he said. + +"If you doubt my professional skill or good faith why do you put your +partner in my charge?" + +"I've some confidence in your sense of self-interest," Harding +rejoined. "You'll serve the latter best by curing Blake." + +After giving him a curious glance Clarke got up. "I'll try the +draught, and it had better be done now. There is no time to lose." + +He moved towards Blake, who lay with half-closed eyes, breathing with +apparent difficulty and making feeble restless movements. Stooping +beside him, he took out a very small bottle, and after carefully +letting a few drops fall into a spoon, with some trouble got the sick +man to swallow them. Then he sat down and turned to Harding. + +"I can't predict the result. We must wait an hour; then I may be able +to form some opinion." + +Harding lighted his pipe and though he found it strangely hard to sit +still smoked steadily. His mouth grew dry with the strain he was +bearing, but he refilled the pipe as it emptied and bit savagely on its +stem, crushing the wood between his teeth. There was, so far as he +could see, no change in Blake, and he was stirred by a deep pity and a +daunting sense of loneliness. He knew now that he had grown to love +the man; Blake's quick resourcefulness had overcome many of the +obstacles they had met with, his whimsical humour had lightened the +toilsome march, and often when they were wet and worn out he had +banished their dejection by a jest. Now it looked as if they would +hear his cheerful laugh no more, and Harding felt that if the worst +came, he would, in a sense, be accountable for his partner's death. It +was his sanguine expectations that had drawn Blake into the wilds. + +Benson, who seemed to find the suspense equally trying, made no remark, +and there was nothing to be learned from Clarke's impassive face. +Harding could only wait with all the fortitude he could muster, but he +long remembered that momentous hour. They were all perfectly still; +there was no wind, a heavy grey sky overhung them, and the smoke of the +fire went straight up. The gurgle of running water came softly through +the silence. At length, when Harding felt the tension becoming +unendurable, Clarke, who glanced at his watch, reopened the small +bottle. + +"We'll try again," he said gravely, and Harding thought he detected +anxiety in his tone. + +The dose was given and Harding, feeling the urgent need of action if he +were to continue calm, got up and wandered about the muskeg. Coming +back after a time, he looked at Clarke, who merely shook his head, +though his face now showed signs of uneasiness. Harding sat down again +and refilled his pipe, noticing that the stem was nearly bitten +through. He gathered from the doctor's expression that they would soon +know what to expect and he feared the worst. Now, however, he was +growing cool; his eyes were very stern and his lips had set in an +ominously determined fashion. Benson, who glanced at him once or +twice, thought it boded trouble for the doctor if things went badly. +The American had a ruthless air. + +At length Clarke, moving silently but quickly, bent over his patient, +felt his pulse, and listened to his breathing; and Harding leaned +eagerly forward. Blake seemed less restless, his face, which had been +furrowed, was relaxing; there was a faint damp on it. He moved and +sighed, but the sigh was somehow reassuring, and then turning his head +weakly, closed his eyes. A few moments later Clarke stood up, +stretching out his arms with a gesture of deep weariness. + +"I believe your partner has turned the corner," he said. "He must +sleep as long as he is able." + +Harding crept away, conscious of a relief so overpowering that he was +afraid he might do something foolish and disturb his comrade if he +remained. Scarcely noticing where he was going, he plunged into the +swamp and ploughed through it, smashing down the reeds and splashing in +the pools. Quick movement was balm to his raw-edged nerves, for the +suspense of the last two hours had tried him very hard. When he +returned to camp, rather wet and muddy, Clarke, who made him a sign +demanding silence, was sitting by his patient's side, and Harding saw +that Blake was sound asleep. Then with a sense of thankfulness too +deep for expression he set about preparing the evening meal. Now he +could eat with appetite. + +Before he and Benson had finished their repast Clarke joined them and, +answering a question, said, "I believe the worst danger's over, though +there's a possibility of a relapse. He'll need careful attention for +several days." + +"Longer I think," said Harding. "Anyhow, you'll have to make up your +mind to stop while it strikes us as necessary." + +"My time's valuable and you run some risk in keeping me. You must +recognize that there's a likelihood of the Stonies picking up my trail." + +"If they get here, they'll run up against all the trouble they'll have +any use for," Harding rejoined. "However, I told our guide, who seems +pretty smart at such matters, to take precautions, and I understand he +fixed things so it would be hard to follow our tracks. You may +remember that he took us across all the bare rocks he could find and +made us wade up a creek. Besides, as you seem to have played on your +friends' superstitions, they mayn't find anything remarkable in your +disappearing mysteriously." + +"You're a capable man," Clarke told him with an air of resignation. +"Anyway, I find this case appeals to my professional interest. For one +thing, it's curious that the malaria should attack him in a severe form +after a lengthy absence from the tropical jungles where he caught it. +By the way, how long is it since he left India?" + +Harding shrewdly returned an evasive answer. He did not think it +desirable that Clarke should learn too much about his comrade's +connexion with India. + +"I can't fix the date, but it's some time. However, I understand he +was afterwards in an unhealthy part of Africa, which may account for +the thing. I don't think he's been in this country more than a year or +two." + +"Did he ever speak of having malaria here? It is apt to return within +a rather elastic period." + +"Not so far as I can recollect," said Harding. + +Seeing that he could extract no useful information from him, Clarke +abandoned the attempt and discussed the case from a medical point of +view. Then he said, "As we're not out of the wood yet, and I don't +expect I'll be needed for a while, I'd better get some sleep. You must +waken me if there's any sign of a change." + +Drawing his blanket round him, he lay down on a bed of branches and +reeds and when his deep, regular breathing indicated that he was asleep +Harding looked at Benson. + +"I guess he'll do all that's possible, for his own sake. It strikes me +he's a pretty good doctor." + +"I understand he once promised to become a famous one," Benson replied. +"Though I left you to deal with the matter, I kept my eye on him, and +my idea is that while he wouldn't have scrupled much about letting +Blake die if it had suited his purpose, as soon as you showed him the +danger of that course his professional feelings came uppermost. In +fact, I believe Blake couldn't have got better treatment in Montreal or +London. Now the fellow has taken his case up, he'll make a cure. But +I'll keep the first watch; you need a rest." + +In a few minutes Harding was fast asleep and when he relieved Benson +late at night he found Clarke at his post. Shortly afterwards Blake +opened his eyes and asked a few intelligent questions in a weak voice +before he went to sleep again. Next morning he was obviously +improving, but although a strong man often recovers rapidly from an +attack of malarial fever, Clarke stayed several days and gave Harding a +number of careful instructions on parting. + +"I don't think that can do much harm," said Harding, looking him in the +face. + +"Your suspicions die hard," Clarke rejoined with a mocking laugh. + +"That's so," said Harding coolly. "As soon as you leave this camp I +lose my hold on you. However, I've given you the Indian as guide, and +he'll see you safe to about a day's march from your friends' village, +and I've put up food enough for the journey. Considering everything, +that's all the fee I need offer you." + +"There wouldn't be much use in urging my claim," Clarke acquiesced. + +"Then what about Benson? I noticed you didn't seem particularly +anxious to renew your acquaintance. Are you willing to leave him with +us?" + +Clarke smiled in an ironical manner. "Why do you ask, when you mean to +keep him? So far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to the man; I make +you a present of him. Have you had enough of this trip yet, or are you +going on?" + +"We're going ahead; you can do what you like about it. And now, while +I admire the way you pulled my partner through, there's not much more +to say. I wish you a safe journey and good-morning." + +He waved his hand and turned back towards the fire, while Clarke, +following the Indian, moved forward across the muskeg. A week later +they broke camp and, finding a somewhat better path along the hillside, +went on by easy stages towards the north. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MRS. CHUDLEIGH FINDS A CLUE + +On a dark November morning when a blustering wind drove the rain +against the windows Thomas Foster sat stripping the lock of a favourite +gun in the room he called his study at Hazlehurst in Shropshire. The +shelves on the handsome panelled walls contained a few works on +agriculture, horse-breeding, and British natural history, but two racks +were filled with guns and fishing rods and the table Foster was seated +at had a vice clamped to its edge. He had once had a commodious +gunroom, but had given it up, under pressure from his wife, who thought +she could make a better use of it, since Hazlehurst was small and she +had numerous guests, but the study was his private retreat. A hacksaw, +a few files, a wire brush, and a bottle of Rangoon oil were spread out +in front of him, the latter standing, for the sake of cleanliness, on +the cover of the _Field_. + +Foster was a red-faced country gentleman who found his greatest +interest in outdoor sports and was characterized by some native +shrewdness and a genial but rather abrupt manner. He laid down his +tools and looked up with an air of humorous resignation as his wife +came in. Mrs. Foster was a slender, vivacious woman, fond of society. + +"Put that greasy thing away for a few minutes and listen to me," she +said, sitting down opposite him. + +"I am listening; I'm inclined to think it's my normal state," Foster +answered with a smile. "The greasy thing cost forty guineas, and I +wouldn't trust it to Jenkins after young Jimmy dropped it in a ditch. +Jenkins can rear pheasants with any keeper I've met, but he's no good +at a gun." + +"You shouldn't have taken Jimmy out; he's not strong enough yet." + +"So it seems; he gave us some trouble in getting him back to the cart +after he collapsed in the wood, but it wasn't my fault. He was keen on +coming." + +Mrs. Foster made a sign of agreement. Jimmy was her cousin, Lieutenant +Walters, lately invalided home from India. + +"Perhaps you were not so much to blame, but that was not what I came to +talk about," she said. + +"Then I suppose you want my approval of some new plans. Go ahead with +any arrangements you wish to make, but as far as possible, leave me +out. Though it was a very wet spring, I never saw the pheasants more +plentiful; glad I stuck to the hand-rearing, though Jenkins wanted to +leave the birds alone in the higher woods. Of course, now we've +cleared out the vermin----" + +"Oh! never mind," his wife broke in. "You would talk about such things +all day. The question is----" + +"It strikes me it's---- When are we going to have the house to +ourselves? Though I don't interfere much, I've lately felt that I'm +qualifying for a hotel-keeper." + +"You have been unusually patient, and I'm getting rather tired of +entertaining people, but Margaret Keith says she'd like to come down. +You don't mind her?" + +"Not a bit, if she doesn't insist on bringing a menagerie. It was cats +last time, but I hear she's now gone in for wild animals. If she turns +up with her collection, we'll probably lose Pattinson; he had all he +could stand on the last occasion. Still, Meg's good fun; ready to meet +you on any ground, keen as a razor. But what about Mrs. Chudleigh? Is +she going?" + +"She hasn't mentioned it. In fact, I was wondering----" + +"Whether she'd stop if you pressed her? Try it and see. Anyhow, she's +not in my way and the place seems to meet with her approval. But +what's she after? It can't be young Jimmy; he's hardly worth powder +and shot from her point of view." + +"You're rather coarse, but I agree," Mrs. Foster answered. "Jimmy's +too young and hasn't much beside his pay. His admiration's +respectfully platonic, but it's largely on his account I thought of +asking her to remain. I'm grateful to her for amusing the poor fellow, +because, as he can't get about with the others, he'd have been left a +good deal to himself if she hadn't taken him up. She's excellent +company when she exerts herself, and she talks and reads to him with +great good-nature." + +"Do what you wish. Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken so freely about a +friend of yours." + +"I don't know whether I quite consider her a friend or not," Mrs. +Foster thoughtfully replied. "She was staying at Mabel's when I was +there, but we didn't become intimate. In fact, I think I asked her +down because she made me feel she wanted to come." + +"A delicate hint sometimes goes a long way. Still, there's no doubt +she has brightened Jimmy up, and one feels sorry for him." + +Mrs. Foster went out, and, finding her guest, asked her to stay on, +which, after a few demurs, Mrs. Chudleigh agreed to do, and on being +left alone smiled in a satisfied manner. She had played her cards +cleverly in obtaining a footing at Hazlehurst, which was a pleasant +house to stay at, and thought that with good luck she might win the +game she had begun. She was a hard and somewhat unscrupulous woman, +but a tender look crept into her eyes as she thought of the man whose +prospects she meant to improve. + +Left a widow at an early age by the death of an elderly Anglo-Indian +whom she had married under pressure from her parents, she had spent +some years in social enjoyments before she met Sedgwick, with whom she +fell in love. She was clever enough to recognize his faults, but she +liked his bold, ambitious nature. Though he had no private means and +she was rich, she knew her money would not count for much against the +prospects of a brilliant career. The man had real ability and meant to +make his mark, and in this she was anxious to assist him. She was even +willing to defer their marriage until he had had an opportunity of +displaying his talents in the administration of the West African +territory he had lately returned to, and her object was to secure his +appointment to the post left vacant by the retirement of his superior. + +During the evening she sat with Lieutenant Walters in the conservatory. +There were other guests at Hazlehurst, and Mrs. Foster had asked some +of her neighbours to join them in an informal dance. Coloured lamps +hung among the plants, throwing a soft light upon clustering blossoms +and forcing up delicate foliage in black silhouette. Here and there +lay belts of shadow, out of which came voices and a smell of cigar +smoke; but near where Mrs. Chudleigh sat screened by a palm a French +window opened into the hall. The half-light that fell sideways upon +her face suited her, for it failed to reveal the hardness of her lips +and eyes, and made her look gentler. Walters, who was charmed with +her, had no suspicion that she had cultivated his society merely +because she thought he might prove useful. On hearing what regiment he +belonged to, she had marked him down for study. + +"I'm afraid I'm selfish in keeping you here, though I know how +good-natured you are," he said by and by. "You might have been +enjoying yourself instead of letting me bore you." + +Mrs. Chudleigh gave him a gracious smile. "I've lost my enthusiasm for +dancing and need a rest now and then. Besides, I like a talk with +interesting people." + +"That's a thing I'm seldom credited with being. You're making fun of +me." + +"Far from it," she assured him. "If you are very modest, I'll confess +that your knowing places and people I've seen in past days enhances the +interest. Were you long in India?" + +"Three years. In some respects, I was sorry to leave, but the doctors +decided it would be twelve months before I was fit for work again, and +I felt very much at a loose end when I got home. I can't dance, I +can't ride, and I mustn't walk far; in fact, there seems to be nothing +that I am allowed to do. I'd have found my helplessness harder only +that you have taken pity on me." + +"But you are getting stronger; I've noticed a marked improvement, since +I came. But we were speaking of India. You were on the North-West +frontier, were you not?" + +"Yes," he said and looked round as a man passed the window. "Who's +that? I've seen most of Lucy's neighbours, but I don't know him." + +The man moved into the light and stood gazing towards them +absent-mindedly, as if thinking of something. Walters noticed his +white hair and thin face, the keenness of his blue eyes, the firmness +of his mouth, and the erectness of his figure. + +"That is Colonel Challoner," Mrs. Chudleigh replied. + +"Ah!" said Walters; "I thought I recognized the stamp. Foster told me +he lived a few miles off, but I'll have to move on if he comes in here." + +"Why?" Mrs. Chudleigh asked in well-simulated surprise, though she saw +the opportunity she had been waiting for was now offered her. + +"I knew his son and nephew; served with them in India for a time," +Walters answered with some embarrassment. "That's why Foster warned me +to keep out of Challoner's way. He seemed to think it would be +considerate." + +Challoner passed on, and Mrs. Chudleigh fixed her eyes on Walters. "I +see. You must have taken part in a certain unfortunate affair on the +frontier in which the hill men get the best of it." + +The blood crept into Walters' face, but he answered simply: "I did. It +is not a subject one talks about." + +"That's natural; one can understand the feelings of the mess, but the +thing isn't quite a secret, and I daresay you break through your +reserve now and then. Surely you don't refuse your confidence to your +friends?" + +Her manner was reproachful, as though she felt hurt because he could +not trust her, and he looked confused. + +"I couldn't doubt that anything I said would be safe with you, but it's +a painful subject. Besides, you obviously know something about the +matter." + +"I do, but not much. I knew Bertram Challoner and have met Richard +Blake. Then at one time I heard a good deal about the frontier and +that makes me curious." She paused, and gave him a look he could not +resist. "I want to know what really happened; won't you tell me? You +can rely upon my treating it in the strictest confidence." + +Walters felt reluctant, but he was grateful to her, and flattered by +her preference. She was a handsome woman and much sought after, but +she had often devoted an hour to enlivening his forced idleness when +there were more exciting occupations open to her. + +"I couldn't refuse you anything after the way you have helped me +through a rather trying time," he declared. "When one has been pretty +active, it isn't easy to resign oneself to being laid upon the shelf, +and you cheered me up when I most needed it. Well, I was with the +expedition and we had shelled an old hill fort to bits and laid a heavy +fire on two or three villages, with the object of keeping their +inhabitants quiet, but it hadn't that effect. All their friends came +down to help in cutting us off as we went home and I'm still surprised +that they didn't succeed. They sniped our camp every night and had a +number of brushes with the rearguard as we hurried back through the +hills; but it wasn't until we were nearly clear that things got badly +threatening and we had to make a stand. I believe the idea was that we +must hold our ground until help arrived. But am I boring you?" + +"Oh! no," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "Please don't stop." + +"Well, we were awkwardly placed in the bottom of a pass, but there was +a small steep hill that strengthened our position and Blake made the +trenches. He did it well, in the daylight, because there was no time +to lose, with marksmen we couldn't see firing at him from among the +rocks. I must say that although they made very good shooting and got +several of his men he never flinched." + +"He was not a nervous man, was he?" + +"One wouldn't have imagined so after seeing him coolly doing his work +with the bullets flattening on the stones all round; but I'll confess I +could never understand what happened afterwards. The orders were that +the hill must be held at any cost, but as our line was long we couldn't +send up many men. Blake stayed with his few sappers, we had a gun from +the mule battery, and there was Challoner, myself, and two more +officers with a handful of native infantry. It was about two in the +morning when the fellows made their rush, a band of Ghazees leading it, +and I'll own that we were all a little overstrung. Forced marches on +half rations and lying awake night after night expecting an attack are +wearing. For all that, it was a strong position, and though there were +not many of them we felt we could trust the men. The hill was hard to +climb except by a ravine the gun did not command and Blake had laid a +mine there. Challoner held the ridge immediately above." + +"What is your opinion of Bertram Challoner? Is he a good officer?" + +"One of the best. He's what you could call conscientious; took his +duties seriously and knew more about the scientific side of his +business than any of us. In a way, that was curious, because I imagine +that he hadn't much natural aptitude for soldiering and while he was +cool in action one felt he had to work himself up to it. Nobody +doubted his pluck, but I've seen him looking rather white after a hot +brush." + +"A nervous temperament, held well in hand," Mrs. Chudleigh suggested. +"But go on; I'm sorry I interrupted you." + +"There was a challenge, a yell from the stabbed sentry, and the beggars +were upon us. No time to think; the face of the hill swarmed with +them. The gunners only fired one round before they were cut down, and +the mine did not explode. It was a thick, dark night, and we were +horribly outnumbered, but the orders were to hold on--we could send for +support if very hard pressed, but we mustn't yield a yard of ground. +It was hot work in front of the trench upon the ridge--they poured into +it at one end, but for a time we stayed as well. Then----" + +Walters broke off and looked at his companion with appeal. "I've been +talking too freely; said more than I should have done, in fact. You +had better admit that you don't find all this interesting." + +"It wouldn't be true," Mrs. Chudleigh declared, determined not to be +put off. "I'm extremely interested, and you must keep your promise. +Tell me all you can." + +He made a gesture of resignation. "Well, there was an order given--in +a white man's voice--and the bugle called us off. Somebody had +ventured to disobey instructions, and after that the fight was over; we +got away as best we could. They rolled over us like a wave as we went +downhill and there were not many of us when we reached the bottom. +Then some Gurkhas came up and held them a bit with the steel, a gun +opened, and somehow the main camp was saved, though our ranks were thin +at the next muster." + +"There was an inquiry, of course. Did you give evidence?" + +"I had to," said Walters ruefully. "I confined my answers as much as +possible to 'Yes, sir,' and 'No,' but one can make a good deal out of +these if the questions are judiciously framed. The bugler was killed, +so they could learn nothing from him, but Watson was forced to declare +that the order came from near the ravine where Blake should have fired +the mine. After some badgering from the Colonel I had to admit that +that was my opinion. There were other points against Blake and he did +not try to clear himself. It was a very bad business, and I remember +that Challoner broke down after his examination." + +"But Blake was not cashiered." + +"No; to tell the truth, I think some influence was at work. Colonel +Challoner was known and respected on the frontier and he had powerful +friends, though, of course, that sort of thing is not supposed to +count. Anyhow, the official verdict was, 'Not guilty,' but nobody had +much confidence in it and Blake had to leave us. In spite of +everything, I was sorry for the man and felt that he might have made +things look better if he had tried." + +"It was very sad," said Mrs. Chudleigh. "You have my thanks for the +story. I can understand that it was painful to tell." + +Then she changed the subject and soon afterwards a man came in and +claimed her for a dance. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MRS. KEITH ENTERS THE FIELD + +A day or two after the dance Mrs. Chudleigh was sitting with Lieutenant +Walters in a recess of the big hall when she heard a car coming up the +drive. It stopped, a voice she thought familiar rose from the +vestibule, and her face hardened as Foster came in with Mrs. Keith and +Millicent Graham. Then Mrs. Foster, who did not notice that there was +anybody else about, moved forward to meet the newcomers and led them +through the hall. + +"You looked surprised," Walters remarked when the others had +disappeared. "Didn't you know these people were coming?" + +"I think you meant displeased, and you were right," said Mrs. +Chudleigh, who was capable of boldly correcting a mistake. "We made +such a pleasant friendly party here that I felt the presence of anybody +else would be rather a nuisance." She laughed as she went on: "Of +course it was a very selfish view to take, especially as I know Mrs. +Keith, and, now I recollect, Mrs. Foster did say some friends were +coming down, though she didn't tell me who they were." + +Walters left her by and by, but she sat still to think. It was most +likely by chance that Mrs. Keith had decided to visit Hazlehurst just +then, but there was a possibility that it was due to design. During +their conversation on the Canadian river boat she had incautiously +mentioned that she was going to Shropshire, and Mrs. Keith was an +intimate friend of the Challoners. Mrs. Chudleigh had no wish to be +subjected to the keen old woman's observation, but after all Mrs. Keith +had no knowledge of her plans and would accordingly find it difficult +to interfere with them. Still, she must be careful and avoid any cause +for suspicion. + +Tea was being brought in when Mrs. Keith and Millicent returned to the +hall and for a few moments Mrs. Chudleigh sat watching the girl. The +house was old and the dark panelling formed a good background for +Millicent's delicate beauty, which was of the blonde type. Mrs. +Chudleigh had to admit that she was pretty, and though she tried to +think of her as unformed, there was something in her face that hinted +at strength of character. Foster, who was as a rule indifferent to +women's society, obviously found her interesting, for he was talking to +her with animation, and Mrs. Chudleigh realized that the girl was +capable of exciting the admiration of well-matured men. For all that, +she did not consider her a dangerous rival, because she knew there was +a cold, calculating vein in Sedgwick which would prevent his indulging +unduly in romantic weaknesses. Self-interest bound him to her and she +tried to overlook his occasional sentimental vagaries. Indeed, the +indifference he now and then displayed strengthened his hold on her. +Then she rose to meet Mrs. Keith, who was coming her way. + +"We shall have an opportunity of renewing a pleasant acquaintance," she +said. "You are looking well, and Miss Graham is as fresh and pretty as +when I last saw her." + +Mrs. Keith glanced at Millicent. "Yes," she said, "I think so, and she +is really a very nice girl." Then her eyes twinkled with dry +amusement. "I'm not sure that you expected to see me." + +It was obvious to Mrs. Chudleigh that she had betrayed her feelings on +her companion's arrival. Nothing seemed to escape Mrs. Keith's +attention. + +"I did not," she admitted. "Indeed, I'll confess that I was somewhat +startled when you came in. You see, I imagined that you were still in +Canada." + +"I didn't stay very long after you. One or two things turned up that +brought me back." + +"But you have no family ties, have you?" + +"I have some old friends. Now and then I'm vain enough to believe that +one of them needs me." + +As they spoke Mrs. Foster joined them. + +"Colonel Challoner is eager to see you, Margaret," she interposed. "He +excused himself for not coming this evening because Greythorpe is +staying with him for a day or two, but he made me promise to bring you +over to-morrow." She turned to Mrs. Chudleigh. "You must join us. +Have you met Greythorpe? He's down here now and then." + +It seemed to Mrs. Chudleigh that fortune was favouring her. After a +long parliamentary career during which he had been distinguished by his +sound sense and the moderation of his views, Greythorpe had been +entrusted with an office in connexion with the administration of +Colonial affairs. What was more to the purpose, he seemed to be a +friend of Colonel Challoner's, whose assistance Mrs. Chudleigh thought +she had means of securing in the plan she was working out. + +"I should be delighted," she declared. "I don't know Mr. Greythorpe +except by reputation and, as it happened, I hadn't an opportunity of +speaking to Colonel Challoner on the evening when he was here, though I +once met him." + +Seeing that Mrs. Keith was watching her, she was glad of the chance of +explaining that she had not renewed her acquaintance with the Colonel. +As she had now spent a fortnight with Mrs. Foster, who knew him well, +this should disarm any suspicion that Mrs. Keith might entertain. + +"I don't know why we're standing when there's room for all of us in the +recess," said their hostess, who led the way towards it, and they +dropped into casual conversation when tea was brought them. + +The evening passed pleasantly, for Mrs. Chudleigh who possessed some +charm of manner, exerted herself to be agreeable to the newcomers. +Nevertheless she was looking forward to the next day's visit with +eagerness and wondering how she could best make use of the opportunity. + +At Sandymere, three miles away, Colonel Challoner spent the evening in +his library with his guest. It was a large and simply furnished room, +but there was a tone of austere harmony in all its appointments. The +dark oak table, rows of old books in faded leather bindings, antique +lamps, and straight-backed chairs were in keeping with the severe lines +of the sombre panels and the heavy, square moulding of the ceiling. +Two or three wax candles in an old silver holder stood on a small table +by the wide hearth on which a cheerful wood fire burned, but most of +the room was shadowy. + +The sense of empty space and gloom had, however, no effect upon the two +elderly men who sat with a cigar box and decanter in front of them, +engaged in quiet, confidential talk. Challoner was white-haired, +straight, and spare, with aquiline features and piercing eyes; +Greythorpe broad-shouldered and big, with a heavy-jawed, thoughtful +face. They had been fast friends since they had met a number of years +ago when Challoner was giving evidence before a parliamentary +commission. + +"So you have not heard from Blake after the day he came here," +Greythorpe said by and by. + +"Never directly," Challoner replied. "On the whole, it is better so, +though I regret it now and then. A weakness on my part, perhaps, but I +was fond of Dick and expected much from him. However, it seems that +Bertram and Margaret Keith met him in Montreal, and she is coming here +to-morrow." + +"A very sad affair." Greythorpe mused. "A promising career cut short +and a life ruined by a moment's failure of nerve. The price paid for +it was a heavy one. Still, I found the matter difficult to understand, +because, so far as I could tell, there was nothing in Blake's character +that made such a failure possible. Then it's known that personal +courage was always a characteristic of your family." + +"His mother was my sister. You have seen her portrait." + +Greythorpe made a sign of assent. He knew the picture of the woman +with the proud, determined face. + +"And the other side? Was the strain equally virile?" he asked. + +"You shall judge," said Challoner. "You and Margaret Keith are the +only people to whom I have ever spoken freely of these things. I am +sure of your discretion and sympathy." + +He crossed the floor and opening a cabinet came back with a photograph, +which he gave to his companion. + +"Dick's father. He was famous as a daring rider across an Irish, +stone-wall country, and was killed when taking a dangerous leap." + +Greythorpe studied the face, which was of Irish type, with bold eyes in +which a reckless twinkle showed. On the whole, it suggested an ardent +and somewhat irresponsible temperament. + +"No sign of weakness there," he said. "Though he might be careless and +headstrong, this man would ride straight and stand fire. I can't hint +at an explanation of his son's disaster, but I imagine that one might +have been found if it had been diligently searched for. My opinion is +that there's something hidden, but whether it will ever come out is +another matter. But your nephew hasn't forfeited my liking. If I can +ever be of any service." + +"Thanks; I know," said Challoner. "It looks as if he meant to cut +loose from all of us, and while I'm sorry for this I can't say that +he's wrong or that it's not a proper feeling. And now I think we'll +let the subject drop." He lighted a cigar before he resumed: "You look +rather jaded, and I understand that your responsibilities have been +added to. What have you done about the African appointment you +mentioned when last here? To be candid, I never thought the man lately +invalided home was in his right place." + +"He was hardly decided enough," Greythorpe answered thoughtfully. "So +far, we haven't filled the post, though two or three names have been +suggested. We have a man out there now who has shown some enterprise +and ability, and are inclined to leave him informally in charge while +we consider things." + +"In view of our friendly relations with the French, one would imagine +that the appointment needs careful thought. It's easy for undesirable +disputes to crop up, when you have turbulent native subjects to keep in +hand along another power's frontier." + +"That's true. Our territory adjoins theirs for some distance, but, as +it happens, our respective fields of influence outside the recognized +boundaries have not been very clearly defined. Now there's reason to +believe that part of the unclaimed neutral belt would be valuable to +us, and I needn't point out that the Imperial expansionists have made +their influence felt." + +"It's a pity the Government seems able to resist it," Challoner drily +remarked. + +Greythorpe smiled, for he and his host took different sides in party +politics, though they often agreed on points that concerned their +country's foreign policy. + +"I think they're wise in their moderation, but I've had plain hints +about the desirability of extending our influence in Africa, which is +why we attach some importance to the appointment in question. Its +holder must be a man of tact, able to keep on friendly terms with the +French officials, and yet bold enough to secure us any advantage that +may offer in the unoccupied belt. In fact, though the post is not +highly paid, he must have exceptional talent." + +"Men of that kind are hard to pick up." + +"Very true. None of the candidates quite satisfies us, but when we +have investigated their qualifications fully I may ask you what you +think. It would be premature just now." + +"Always glad to be of service," Challoner replied. "But the men you'll +have to choose among have grown up since my day." + +"That is not important. It's largely a question of personal character, +and you're a judge of that when it must be coupled with military skill." + +Challoner smiled in a sombre manner. "I used to think so, but I've +come to doubt it. I made a grave mistake about my nephew. However, +there's a matter you were speaking of this morning and a point has +since occurred to me." + +Greythorpe said he would be glad to hear it, and they talked over the +subject until they went to bed. + +The next afternoon was bright and mild, and soon after Mrs. Foster and +her party arrived Challoner offered to show them his winter shrubbery. + +"I have lately planted a number of new specimens which you and Margaret +have not seen," he said. "Your friends may be interested to learn what +effects can be got by a judicious mingling of bushes remarkable for the +beauty of their berries and branch-colouring among the stereotyped +evergreens." + +They went out and Mrs. Chudleigh thought the front of the old house +with its mullioned windows, heavy, pillared coping, and angular chimney +stacks, made a picturesque background for the smooth-clipped yew hedges +and broad sweep of lawn. Behind it a wood of tall beeches raised their +naked boughs in pale, intricate tracery against the soft blue sky. The +shrubs proved worth inspection, for some were rich with berries of hues +that varied from crimson to lilac and the massed twigs of others formed +blotches of strong colouring. The grass was dry and lighted by gleams +of sunshine, the air only cold enough to make movement pleasant, and +Mrs. Chudleigh felt content as she paced a sheltered walk with Colonel +Challoner, whom she unobtrusively studied. + +He looked rather stern and worn, and his soft grey tweed showed the +leanness of his figure, but his expression and bearing indicated force +of will. In his conversation with women he was marked by an air of +old-fashioned gallantry, and though his wit was now and then ironical +his companion found him attractive. She had cleverly appropriated and +separated him from the rest soon after they entered the garden, but she +was too clever to approach too soon the object she had in view. First +of all, she must ingratiate herself with him, and she saw that he liked +her society, though she made one or two mistakes about the shrubs in +which she professed a keen interest. + +"I'm afraid you don't quite grasp my meaning," he said with a smile. +"It's a difference between varieties, not between species. They are +not the same thing." + +"I should have remembered," Mrs. Challoner [Transcriber's note: +Chudleigh?] replied. "I must own that I'm not a botanist, but one can +appreciate the beauty of plants without knowing all about them. +Perhaps the same applies to beauty in any form." + +"No doubt. Harmonies of outline, and concords of colour make an +unconscious appeal, but in Nature's products knowledge adds to +admiration. The deeper you probe, the more you reveal, until you come +to mysteries beyond our solving." He added with some dryness: "It's +often otherwise with man's work; knowledge means disillusion. You see +how the trick is done." + +"Must it always be a trick?" + +"Oh! no; not necessarily. There is a sincerity of effort that leads to +lasting and beautiful work, but perhaps it's not common." + +"I'm afraid you're a pessimist." + +"I wouldn't like to think so, but I have lived a long time and insisted +on using my eyes, even when clearsightedness may not have been a +benefit. There's a penalty attached to the habit of close observation; +one sees things that hurt." + +He spoke with dry humour, but his words had their effect on his +companion, who was by no means philosophical. When she studied human +weaknesses it was with the object of turning them to her advantage, but +the shrewd, upright soldier saw them as things to avoid or recognize +with scorn. He, however, plucked a bunch of crimson berries which he +gave her. + +"This," he said, "is in my opinion an exceptionally beautiful bush. +Mrs. Keith sent it me from the Tyrol some years ago." + +"You are old friends then?" + +"Our friendship is of forty years standing, which I should imagine is a +severe test, but in many ways we are alike, and Margaret Keith knows +enough about me to make allowances. We are both well-seasoned and +strong-willed, and sometimes we differ, but I must confess that +whenever the point has been one of importance time has proved her +right." + +Mrs. Chudleigh looked up at him, smiling. "That is a handsome +admission, because I shouldn't imagine you easily changed your mind." + +"No; as one grows older one's ideas are apt to fall into a groove. It +requires an effort to force them out of it." + +She said nothing for a few minutes, though his confession had its +significance, since she must sooner or later persuade him to abandon +one fixed idea. + +"After all, none of us find that easy," she remarked. + +He glanced across the lawn, where Millicent was talking to Greythorpe. +"That girl has a very attractive face. I don't merely mean that it's +pretty." + +"What do you call it then?" + +He seemed to ponder. "I think I could best say it looks untainted, +though that is rather vague. There's purity in it, by which I don't +mean the guilelessness of inexperience." + +"That could hardly be, considering who Miss Graham's father was, and +that she has earned her living for some years." + +There was a hint of surprise in the look Challoner gave her and she saw +that she had made a mistake. + +"A few people have natures which can't be spoiled," he said. "To them +knowledge brings pity or shrinking instead of temptation. I think Miss +Graham is to be numbered among these, and she is in good hands with my +old friend." + +Two or three minutes afterwards, Mrs. Keith resolutely crossed the lawn +towards them, but her determined expression softened as she approached +Challoner. + +"Do you know that I feel neglected?" she said. "Where are those +American azaleas you promised to show me?" + +Challoner made her an apologetic bow. "Have I been remiss? I saw you +with Greythorpe, and understood you found him interesting." + +"I've nothing against the man, and he never bores one, but he's a +friend of yesterday by comparison; it's only six years since I first +met him." + +"Ah!" said Challoner; "the old ties are strongest." + +Mrs. Keith insisted on examining the azaleas, though they were dry and +leafless, and Mrs. Chudleigh, seeing no further opportunity of a quiet +talk with Challoner, left them. When she had gone, Mrs. Keith looked +at her companion with a twinkle. + +"Well," she said, "what do you think of Mrs. Chudleigh?" + +"You'll allow me to say that I find her charming? It's a comprehensive +word." + +"And means anything or nothing. But I understand. You're often only +conventional when you think yourself gallant." + +"It's possible, but what would you have me say? She's attractive, a +pleasant talker, and I think intelligent." + +"Highly intelligent," Mrs. Keith remarked pointedly "Do you think she's +to be trusted?" + +"It doesn't enter into the question. I don't see that either of us is +required to trust her." + +"I'm inclined to think that's fortunate," Mrs. Keith rejoined. + +For the next half hour she kept Challoner at her side and then left him +with Mrs. Foster. It was hard to resist Margaret Keith when she had +made up her mind, and Challoner had no wish to do so. Moreover he was +glad to talk to Mrs. Foster, whom he liked, but he had other guests to +whom he owed some attention and he felt as if he were being gently but +firmly kept away from them. Mrs. Chudleigh and Millicent, however, +seemed to be content with Greythorpe's society, and finding it +difficult to leave Mrs. Foster he acquiesced. + +Presently she suggested that he should show her friends his pictures, +but he said that as it was near sunset and the gallery was badly +lighted it would be better if she brought her party back in a day or +two. Having promised to do so she summoned the others, and they were +driven home. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE PICTURE GALLERY + +Mrs. Foster brought her guests back to Sandymere, and when Challoner +had shown them the best bits of the old carved oak with which the house +was decorated and some curious works of art he had picked up in India, +he took them to the picture gallery which ran round the big square +hall. A lantern dome admitted a cold light, but a few sunrays struck +through a window looking to the south-west and fell in long bright bars +on polished floor and sombre panelling. On entering the gallery, +Challoner took out a case of miniatures and placing it on a small table +brought a chair for Mrs. Keith. + +"You know the pictures, but this collection generally interested you, +and I have added a few examples of a good French period since you were +last here," he said. + +Mrs. Keith sat down. She was fond of miniatures, and though she would +have preferred to accompany her host she had kept him away from Mrs. +Chudleigh since their arrival and thought she must be content with +that. She seldom overdid anything and had no wish to make her object +too plain; Geoffrey Challoner was by no means a fool. As she expected, +Mrs. Chudleigh found an opportunity of joining him after a time and +diverted his attention from Mrs. Foster, who left him to talk to his +sister. Mrs. Keith watched the manoeuvre, which was cleverly carried +out, with ironical amusement, though she was troubled by a faint +uneasiness. She felt that her old friend was threatened, but she could +not see where the danger lay, and, sitting with the miniatures before +her, she tried to formulate her suspicions. + +In the first place, she had unwisely given Mrs. Chudleigh to understand +that it was doubtful whether Richard Blake had merited his disgrace. +Then the former had met Lieutenant Walters, who had fought in the +frontier action, and had gained his confidence. It was possible that +she had led him on to talk about the affair with injudicious freedom, +and now she had met Greythorpe and seemed desirous of cultivating his +acquaintance. All this had an ominous look, because the woman was +ambitious and scheming, besides being in love with Sedgwick, who was +something of an adventurer. She would no doubt seize upon any +opportunity of securing his promotion. + +Margaret's Keith's suspicions were justified, for Mrs. Chudleigh was +then cleverly clearing the ground for future action. She had some +knowledge of art and the row of family portraits, hung between suits of +armour and trophies of Eastern weapons, interested her, while Challoner +was gratified by the way she listened as he spoke of them. One or two +were by well-known artists, and the faces of the old Challoners, some +of whom wore wigs and rich court dress, and some obsolete uniforms, +fixed her attention. The resemblance between them all was +recognizable, and she thought the family strain must be unusually +strong. They had obviously been stern, masterful men, practical rather +than imaginative and not likely to be troubled by any emotional +weaknesses. Then she glanced at the picture of a young woman with a +face of singularly delicate beauty. Its expression was gentle and +pensive. + +"My wife; she died in Simla twenty years ago," said Challoner gravely, +and passing on, stopped before a water-colour drawing of his son. + +It had been painted when Bertram was young, and he had his mother's +dreamy look. Mrs. Chudleigh missed the hardness of expression that +marked the Challoners. + +"A sketch rather than a finished study, but there's talent in it," she +remarked. "The subject's temperament has been cleverly seized; I have +met Captain Challoner." + +"My wife's work," said the Colonel. "Although I value it, I have +thought she was mistaken in this drawing. My son is a man of action, +and this is the face of a sentimentalist." + +"Ah!" said Mrs. Chudleigh; "his mother should know him best." + +"Undoubtedly," agreed Challoner, who looked disturbed at the +suggestion. "Still, perhaps, in painting a portrait the artist may be +misled into unduly emphasizing some single, passing phase of the +sitter's character. A lad's moods are variable; his nature has not had +time to harden into its mould. I imagine this is what has happened, +because if the likeness is faithful, my son has changed since then." + +"One does not change much in essentials," Mrs. Chudleigh answered +thoughtfully. "But what would you have different? It is a good and +very likeable face." + +"There is a hint of weakness; something that suggests a too sensitive +disposition." The Colonel pointed to an officer in the old East India +Company's uniform whose expression was grim and arrogant. "A crude +piece of work, but he has the Challoner look." + +"It may sound presumptuous, but I think you are scarcely doing the +family justice. One can see the salient characteristics of the male +line in this example, but they're too strongly marked. Good qualities, +such as resolution and courage, may degenerate through being developed +to exaggeration at the expense of others, and after all Captain +Challoner strikes me as a much finer type. I'm afraid you undervalue +the gift of imagination." + +"These others," said Challoner, indicating the portraits generally, +"had imagination enough to do their duty, often in difficult +situations. I don't know that one needs much more." + +"A stern doctrine; it seems to bar out a good deal of the beauty and +joy of life. But I see some landscapes yonder." + +She led him up to several small impressionist sketches in water-colour +of Indian subjects, and stopped in admiration. + +"These are very good. I know the country, and they make you realise +what it is like. There is genius here." + +"My son did them," said Challoner with dry amusement. "I can see their +cleverness, but I'll admit that I think them rather a waste of time." + +"A shocking view. Would you sooner have had him study his drill book +or attend a kit inspection?" + +"On the whole, I believe so. It would be more in line with his +profession." + +Mrs. Chudleigh gave him a direct, reproachful glance. "I know your son +and that he is a good soldier, but I feel you were wrong when you sent +him into the army. With training, he might have made a great artist." + +Challoner regarded her with frank astonishment. "But, my dear lady, +would you prefer the latter; a coverer of canvases, a mere portrayer of +action instead of a doer? Is it better to paint human passions and +emotions than to control and direct your own and those of others?" + +"Painting is his work," Mrs. Chudleigh persisted. "He has the +temperament; you can see it triumphing over circumstances. In spite of +his duties, the amusements he must be expected to take part in, and, no +doubt, the banter of the mess, he finds time to make these sketches. +Then they exhibit more than mere skill with the brush; they show clear +understanding and the power of feeling." + +"The latter is a dangerous gift. A man of action is better without it." + +"Your son has it, and it cannot be got rid of; but in a sense, you're +right. Sensibility must be a handicap to a soldier now and then, +making him realize dangers and cruelties he had better have been blind +to." Mrs. Chudleigh paused and added with a thoughtful air: "Captain +Challoner's courage and coolness are known, but I think they must cost +him more than is required of his comrades. I mean that his having +something to overcome before he can practise them, and yet always doing +so, shows a fine moral fibre." + +Challoner looked grave. He had suspected what he thought were symptoms +of weakness in his son, though Bertram had never given way to it. His +companion's talk disturbed him because it seemed to prove the +correctness of his suppositions, but he was shortly relieved of her. + +Margaret Keith, who had watched closely, decided that Mrs. Chudleigh +had been alone with her host long enough, but for a time she could see +no suitable means of separating them. By and by, however, Millicent +came towards her and she beckoned the girl. + +"Isn't Arrowdale near your aunts' place in the North?" she said. +"There's a picture of the hills round it that I think you would like. +Ask Colonel Challoner to show it you." + +Millicent joined the others, and when she spoke about the picture Mrs. +Chudleigh went away. She thought she had said enough, for her object +had been to plant a seed of doubt about his son's character in +Challoner's; mind. If he considered sensitiveness, artistic talent, +and imagination failings in a Challoner, she had given him food for +thought, which was as far as she wished to go just then, and on the +whole she thought she had reason to be satisfied. When she had moved +away, Challoner showed Millicent a picture of grey hills and a sullen +tarn, half revealed between folds of rolling vapour, and the girl was +stirred to keen appreciation. + +"It's beautiful and full of life," she said. "One can see the mist +drive by and the ripples break upon the stones. Perhaps it's because I +know the tarn I like the picture so much, but it makes one realize the +rugged grandeur and melancholy charm of the place. I suppose that is +genius; who is the painter?" + +"My son," said the Colonel, and added with a curious smile: "You are +the second person who has lately tried to persuade me that he should +have been an artist." + +Millicent saw he was troubled, though she could not imagine the reason. + +"I hardly know Captain Challoner, whom I only met once, but it is +obvious that he has talent. You would sooner have him a soldier?" + +"Very much sooner."' + +"But he is one and I understand has distinguished himself. After all, +it is perhaps a mistake to think of genius as limited to one ability, +music or painting for example. Real genius, the power of +understanding, is more comprehensive; the man who has it ought to be +successful at whatever he undertakes." + +"I'm dubious," said Challoner. "It strikes me as a rather daring +theory." + +"It isn't mine," Millicent answered, blushing. "It's a favourite theme +of a philosopher I'm fond of, and he insists upon it when he speaks +about great men. Perhaps I'm talking too freely, but I feel that +Captain Challoner's being able to paint well shouldn't prevent his +making a good officer." + +"Great men are scarce. I'm content that my son has so far done his +duty quietly and well; all I could wish for is that if any exceptional +call should be made on him he should rise to the occasion. That is the +supreme test, and men one expects much from sometimes fail to meet it." + +Millicent guessed that he was thinking of a man who had been dear to +him and had apparently broken down beneath sudden stress. + +"It must be hard to judge them unless one knows all the circumstances," +she remarked. + +"Not when a man has entered his country's service. He must carry out +his orders; what he is sent to do must be done. No excuse can justify +disobedience and failure. But we are getting too serious and I am +boring you. There is another picture I think you would like to see." + +Soon afterwards Mrs. Foster said that she must go, and when she and her +friends had left, Challoner sat alone for a time while the pictures +faded as dusk crept into the gallery. A man of practical abilities +with a stern perception of his duty, he was inclined to distrust all +that made its strongest appeal to the senses. Art and music he thought +were vocations for women; in his opinion it was hardly fitting that a +man should exploit his emotions by expressing them for public +exhibition. Indeed, he regarded sentimentality of any kind as a +failing, and it had been suggested that his son possessed the dangerous +gift. One of his guests had gone further and hinted that Bertram +should never have been a soldier. Challoner could not agree with this +conclusion, but he thought there was, perhaps, a grain of truth in it. +Then he banished his disturbing thoughts and went out in search of +Greythorpe. + +During the next week Mrs. Chudleigh met Challoner twice and skilfully +led the conversation to his son. Then she heard from Sedgwick, who +said that if he could obtain the vacant appointment it would give him +an opportunity of making his mark. The time was ripe for a bold stroke +which would lead to the acquisition of valuable territory, but he could +not carry out his plans unless he had full command. They were, he +felt, bound to succeed, but he frankly owned that he meant to force the +hand of the Colonial authorities and could not act while he held a +subordinate position. Accordingly he begged Mrs. Chudleigh to exert +all her influence to secure his promotion, adding that his name had +been mentioned in connexion with the post, but that there were other +candidates with stronger claims on those who had the power to make the +appointment. + +Mrs. Chudleigh had already been at work in different quarters, but she +thought Colonel Challoner the most likely man to help her, though he +might be difficult to persuade and she could not hurry him. She had +moreover had several confidential talks with Lieutenant Walters and had +extracted a good deal of information. This enabled her to form a +plausible theory of what had happened during the night attack, and she +was inclined to think that even an experienced soldier could not find +much fault with the conclusions she had arrived at, but she did not +wish to make use of it unless compelled. + +When it was getting dark one evening Foster, who was crossing a meadow +with two young men carrying guns dropped behind to speak to a keeper as +Mrs. Chudleigh and Millicent came forward to meet the party. Soon +afterwards he joined his wife, who had waited for him, and they walked +to the house behind the others. + +"How did you get on at the Seymours' this afternoon?" he asked. "Did +Ada air her views for the benefit of your friends?" + +Mrs. Foster laughed, for Ada Seymour was a lady with strong opinions +which she was fond of proclaiming. + +"Yes," she said; "in fact, she went farther than usual and rather +forgot her manners. After a while Mrs. Chudleigh took exception to +something she said and Miss Graham was drawn into the argument. +Somewhat to my surprise, she supported Ada and spoke really well, but +Ada was getting angry and I was so busy trying to smooth things down +that I hardly know what it was all about." + +"The degeneracy of the age and the insidious influence of luxury no +doubt. Ada can't keep off these topics and she makes some surprising +statements when she warms up, but I'm not surprised that Mrs. Chudleigh +and Miss Graham took opposite sides." + +"Why?" + +"They're very different types; about as different as a moonlight night +and a spring morning." + +Mrs. Foster looked at him sharply and he chuckled. + +"Not often so poetical, am I? But I prefer the bright morning; +moonlight's a tricky, elusive thing, apt to dazzle and mislead one. +However, does Mrs. Chudleigh intend to remain long? She looks like a +fixture." + +"She doesn't inconvenience you." + +"Not at all. She's amusing and that and moderate good looks are all +you expect from a woman, so long as you don't mean to marry her. I'm +interested in your friend; very much so, although I can't see her game." + +"What do you mean by her game?" + +"If you don't know, it isn't often you're so dull. She's up to +something and Meg Keith sees it; she keeps a close watch on the woman +and when she's forced to take her eyes off her sets Miss Graham on +guard." + +"Do you mean that Miss Graham informs her of what Mrs. Chudleigh says +or does?" + +"Nothing farther from my thoughts. Meg Keith has lots of pluck, but +she'd be shy of suggesting such a course to that girl. What she does +is not to trust the woman alone when she can help it; when you see Mrs. +Chudleigh you'll generally find Meg or her companion in the +neighbourhood. The plot's interesting and the Colonel's in it. I've +an idea that Meg's somehow defending him. He's an old friend and she's +as staunch as they're made." + +"If there is more in the situation than appears on the surface, you had +better leave it alone. You won't improve matters by interfering." + +"Seen that all along," Foster agreed. "I'll stick to my shooting, but +provided that I keep my hands off, there's no harm in looking on. But +you mark me; there'll be developments." + +He broke off with a chuckle and Mrs. Foster walked on in thoughtful +silence. Her husband occasionally showed shrewd observation, and she +believed that he was right in the present instance. Something was +undoubtedly going on, but she could not determine what it was. As she +entered the hall she saw Millicent talking to one of her sporting +guests who had shown a preference for her society and Mrs. Chudleigh +watching. The latter liked admiration but her expression indicated +critical scrutiny rather than jealousy. Mrs. Foster imagined that she +was trying to analyse the girl's charm. Then as she came forward with +her husband the others joined them and shortly afterwards tea was +brought in. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +COLONEL CHALLONER PROVES OBDURATE + +A week after Mrs. Foster's visit Challoner drove over to Hazlehurst in +the afternoon and on reaching the lodge found her setting out with +several of her guests to meet Foster and his friends on their return +from shooting. Refusing to allow her to turn back with him, he +accompanied the party, and some time later Mrs. Keith, who had remained +at home, went out on the terrace. Following it to the end of the house +near which the stables stood, she saw a man leading in a horse which +she thought she knew. + +"Isn't that bay Colonel Challoner's?" she asked. + +"Yes, ma'am," said the groom. "The gardener brought it up from the +lodge. The Colonel went on with Mrs. Foster to the long wood." + +Mrs. Keith turned away and sat down on a terrace seat feeling +disturbed. Mrs. Chudleigh was with the others and would no doubt +detach Challoner from them, as she generally succeeded in doing when +Mrs. Keith was unable to prevent her. Now there was nobody to come to +his rescue, he would be at the woman's mercy, and though she admitted +that this was perhaps an exaggerated view to take, Mrs. Keith felt that +he was threatened. It was, however, a long walk to the wood and she +was old enough to shrink from it; besides there was a possibility that +she was after all suspecting Mrs. Chudleigh without much cause, but she +made up her mind to follow. By walking fast she might overtake the +party before much harm was done. Entering the house, she put on thick +boots and then set out with all the speed she was capable of. + +In the meanwhile Mrs. Foster's party had split up, and Mrs. Chudleigh +and Challoner were left together. The Colonel did not regret this, +because he had found her an entertaining companion. Though it was a +winter day, the weather was mild and the road almost dry, and after a +time they reached a birch wood which skirted its eastern side. The +rays of the low sun struck in among the trees, forcing up the silvery +trunks and fragile twigs which looked like lacework against a +background of blue shadow. Thick hollies and rhododendrons planted +near the wayside kept off the light wind, and dead leaves and withered +fern made patches of glowing colour. When they came to a gate leading +to a drive through the wood Mrs. Chudleigh stopped. + +"The others have vanished; I can't even hear them," she said. "I +wonder which way they have gone." + +Challoner listened, but could only distinguish the murmur of the wind +among the birches and the rustle of fallen leaves. The rest of the +party were obviously some distance ahead. + +"The road's the longer, but as the field-path's often wet I can't tell +which they've taken," he said. + +"The field-path for me," Mrs. Chudleigh replied. + +"I'm afraid I'm not very fond of walking." + +They entered the wood and presently reached a stile, on the other side +of which a boggy patch cut off the path from a strip of sticky +ploughing. Mrs. Chudleigh regarded it with disapproval. + +"I don't know if Mrs. Foster could jump over that, but I can't," she +said. + +She sat down upon the stile and Challoner leaned against the fence. + +"There'll be time to meet them coming back before they reach the spot +where the path rejoins the road. After all, I see no reason to +complain of being left behind." + +Mrs. Chudleigh smiled at him. "That's very nice of you, and while the +sunshine lasts it's pleasant here. I often think an English wood, with +the varied colours of the trunks and mosses showing, is most beautiful +on a bright winter day. Besides, I wanted to talk to you. There's a +favour I must ask." + +"You can consider it granted if it's in my power." + +"Don't be rash," she warned him. "You may be surprised when you hear +what it is, but I want you to see the matter in its proper light and +not to be actuated merely by a wish to please me." + +"It's a wish I should like to gratify," Challoner assured her. "But +please go on." + +Mrs. Chudleigh hesitated. Beneath his formal, old-fashioned courtesy +which she had found attractive she recognized a stern +conscientiousness. He must, if possible, be convinced that the course +she meant to urge was the best, though she had the means of putting +pressure on him if this proved needful. + +"Well," she said, "there is a rather important post vacant in a West +African colony and you have influence. Mr. Greythorpe is an intimate +friend of yours and may consult you about the matter. He will, no +doubt, have a part in making the selection." + +"I have heard about it," Challoner admitted guardedly. + +Instead of answering, Mrs. Chudleigh started and clenched her hand, for +she was looking towards the road and could see a woman's figure through +an opening between the trees. She recognized the dress, which was +behind the current fashion, and the new-comer's carriage, which somehow +suggested determination, further indicated Mrs. Keith. Mrs. Chudleigh +was glad that Challoner stood where he could not see the road, but she +watched in keen suspense when Mrs. Keith reached the gate and stopped +as if undecided which way to go. If she chose the field-path, Mrs. +Chudleigh's opportunity would be gone, and it might be some time before +she found another, while her business brooked no delay. It was, +however, fortunate that she and her companion could not be plainly seen +from the road because there were some bushes in the way and a tall +thicket close by formed a background against which their figures would +not show. After a few moments Mrs. Keith moved on and Mrs. Chudleigh, +who was conscious of deep relief, saw that Challoner was waiting for +her to speak. + +"It is essential that the right man should be chosen," she resumed. +"Our political and commercial interests demand this. There is a chance +of acquiring a strip of territory which would open a way to the trade +of the interior, but it must be done with tact as well as boldness. We +need a man with firmness and judgment who can secure us this opening +without giving the French definite ground for offence, and he must be +experienced in West African affairs. The post could not be entrusted +safely to a newcomer." + +"Ah!" said Challoner; "as you seem so well informed, I presume you have +somebody to suggest." + +She could learn nothing from his manner, which had changed and grown +formal. + +"I know a man who has all the necessary qualifications. He is resolute +and enterprising; a soldier who has distinguished himself in action and +a clever administrator. What is more, the direction of affairs has +been largely left in his hands for some time." + +"You mean Captain Sedgwick?" Challoner's tone was discouragingly +reserved. "May I ask what leads you to plead his cause?" + +"First of all because I think he is the best man." + +"A good reason," said the Colonel. "Still I'm inclined to think you +have a better one." + +Mrs. Chudleigh hesitated while the colour crept into her face; then she +said simply, "I love him." + +Challoner bowed. "I am honoured by your confidence, but if he were +chosen, it would separate you. You could not stand the climate of +Western Africa." + +"I know," she said eagerly. "These appointments, however, are not for +long and we are willing to defer our marriage if it will give him an +opportunity of showing what he can do." + +There was silence for the next minute. Challoner was somewhat touched +by her frank appeal, and though he saw that she was sufficiently +ambitious to subordinate her affection to her desire for her lover's +advancement, it was an ambition he could sympathize with. The woman +was willing to make a sacrifice. For all that, he felt that he could +not conscientiously help her. + +"I wish you had asked for something else," he said. "I'm sorry this +favour is not in my power." + +"You can know nothing against Captain Sedgwick," the answered sharply. + +"Certainly not; the trouble is that personally I know nothing in his +favour." + +"But I have assured you that there is nobody so suitable." + +"That is a different matter. Your opinion is very natural and does you +credit; I will not suggest that your affection for him may lead you to +rate Captain Sedgwick's qualifications too highly. No doubt, he is an +excellent officer, but these appointments are not made on a lady's +recommendation." + +"Are they not?" Mrs. Chudleigh asked with a touch of irony. "Remember +that I have lived at Simla and know that influence often goes a long +way I have seen it at work." + +Challoner frowned. "So have I, but it is a thing I have always set my +face against. The man for a post of this kind must be chosen on his +merits." + +"How are they to be ascertained, unless you take the opinion of those +who know him best?" + +"It is often difficult, but the safest test is his work as it is known +to his official superiors. Unless he is judged by this, there is a +risk of partiality and unfairness. Social influence is a dangerous +thing and deplorable mistakes have been made when it has been allowed +to have effect." + +"Then you will do nothing?" + +Her tone was harsh and Challoner looked at her in surprise. + +"It is possible that Greythorpe may consult me, though I do not know +what weight my opinion would have with him. If the information he lays +before me seems to indicate that Captain Sedgwick is the best man, I +should suggest his appointment." + +Mrs. Chudleigh appeared to acquiesce and said nothing for some minutes. +She was sorry that Challoner had not proved more amenable, since his +stubbornness forced her into a distasteful line of action, but she +could not spare him when her lover's future was at stake. + +"After all," she said, "a soldier's official record is sometimes as +little to be trusted as you think his friends' estimate of him ought to +be. I have an instance in view; two men I know took part in an action +on the Indian frontier, and one gained a reputation for courage, and +the other obloquy. As it happened, neither was deserved." + +"On the Indian frontier?" Challoner glanced at her sharply. + +"Yes; some time since. A night attack was made upon a hill which +formed the key to the position of a small British force. An order to +retreat was wrongly given." + +"Ah!" said Challoner; "I have good reason to remember that affair. May +I ask what you know about it?" + +"I'm convinced I know the truth, which has been concealed." + +Challoner started and his face grew eager. "Then your knowledge is of +great importance and I must beg you to share it with me. It may clear +a man I have a strong affection for." + +"At the cost of involving another." + +"I suppose that follows." + +"Then you do not believe it wiser to let a painful matter which is +already almost forgotten rest? You would rake it up, even if it +brought trouble upon innocent people?" + +"Justice must be done," said Challoner. "I have always hated jobbery. +If a wrong has been committed, it must be put right." + +"You no doubt know that the order to retreat could only have been given +by one of two officers?" + +There were signs of tension in Challoner's face and Mrs. Chudleigh +pitied him, but she was forced to be merciless. + +"That seems to have been taken for granted. What then?" + +"It was a dark night and nobody saw who gave the order, but Blake was +stationed with his electric apparatus in the ravine and the bugler some +distance behind him. Besides, the latter was attached to Captain +Challoner's company." + +"But Blake did not fire the mine." Challoner's voice was strained. + +"That is true. The conclusion was that he had deserted his post, but I +believe it must be wrong because he was seen busy with the wires." + +"Who saw him?" + +"One of his comrades, after the attack began, and it seems impossible +that Blake could have reached the bugler when the retreat was sounded. +There were one or two other points which might have been raised, only +that he made no defence. I will mention them." + +She had after a long and careful consideration arranged her evidence in +a skilful manner. Facts which had appeared of minor importance to the +men who had noticed them had now, as she handled them, a telling effect +and Challoner grew troubled. + +"If needful, I believe I could prove all this, though it would require +strong pressure to make my informant speak," she concluded. "You must +see what it implies?" + +"That my son is a coward and gave the shameful order?" Challoner's +eyes glittered, though his face was colourless. "It's unthinkable!" + +"Nevertheless it's true. Why did he, without permission and abusing +his authority over the guard, spend two hours late at night with Blake +who was under arrest? What had they to say that took so long, when +there was a risk of Captain Challoner's being discovered? Why did +Blake make no defence, unless it was because he knew that to clear +himself would throw the blame upon his friend?" + +"You press me hard," said Challoner in a hoarse voice. "But that my +son should so have failed in his duty to his country and his cousin is +impossible." + +"Yet you were willing to believe your nephew guilty. Had you any cause +to doubt his courage?" + +"No," said Challoner. "I used to think he loved a risk." + +He felt beaten by her remorseless reasoning; there was scarcely a point +he could contest and his heart grew very heavy. A conviction that +humbled him to the dust was being forced on him. + +"There is only one conclusion," Mrs. Chudleigh resumed. "The order to +retreat was given by the weaker man, Bertram Challoner." + +He turned to her with a gesture that begged her to desist. "My dear +lady, this is very painful. I must try to think it out calmly, and I +am not able now." + +For a time there was strained silence, and Mrs. Chudleigh waited until +he roused himself. + +"I must know if what you have told me has any bearing on your request +that I should recommend Captain Sedgwick's appointment?" + +She paused before she answered, for he was very stern and peremptory. + +"Not a direct one. I have kept the secret out of consideration for you +and your son, but since I have done so, I ventured to believe you would +not refuse me a favour that would only cost you a few words to your +friend." + +"I'm relieved to hear it," Challoner grimly replied. "You wish to +appeal to my gratitude and not my fears? Has it struck you that, if +you are correct in your conclusions, by keeping silent you were +wronging an innocent man?" + +"Think!" she said impressively. "In a sense, Blake stands by himself, +a man of no importance; your son is heir to a fine estate and is +expected to carry on the traditions of the family. He has a young wife +who adores him, and many friends. Is a career such as lies before him +to be destroyed by one weak action which he has since well atoned for? +I believe your nephew saw that his cousin's disgrace would be a +disaster and felt that at any cost the situation must be saved." + +Challoner regarded her with a stern smile. "One would imagine that you +are trying to heighten the value of your silence." + +"You misjudge me, but since you take this line, I have some claim on +your gratitude. Can you deny it?" + +"I had better answer frankly. If my opinion is desired, I will try to +consider Captain Sedgwick's appointment on its merits. You must not +count on more than this." + +Mrs. Chudleigh rose and they turned back to the road in silence. It +looked as if she had failed, but she would not give up the game yet. +When Challoner had time to think he would, no doubt, realize the +necessity of safeguarding his son's good name and even his austere +uprightness might fail to stand the strain. + +It was half an hour later when Mrs. Keith, who had walked as fast as +she was able, met Foster and the others coming back. She stopped, hot +and breathless, with keen disappointment, for neither Colonel Challoner +nor Mrs. Chudleigh were among them. Then, rousing herself, with an +effort, she asked where they were. + +"I can't tell," Mrs. Foster replied. "They dropped behind us and may +have gone home. Mrs. Chudleigh soon gets tired of walking." + +Mrs. Keith's heart sank and Foster noticed her expression. "It's a +good way from Hazlehurst, but you look as if you had been hurrying," he +remarked. "Are you very much disappointed that you didn't meet us +earlier?" + +"I am disappointed that I missed Challoner," Mrs. Keith answered with a +forced smile. + +Foster, who gave her a keen glance, tactfully talked about his shooting +as they went back together, and on reaching the house they found that +Challoner had already driven home. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +CHALLONER'S DECISION + +The morning was mild and Challoner paced slowly up and down his +shrubbery. Bright sunshine fell upon him, the massed evergreens cut +off the wind, and in a sheltered border spear-like green points were +pushing through the soil in promise of the spring. Challoner knew them +all, the veined crocus blades, the tight-closed heads of the hyacinths, +and the twin shoots of the daffodils, but, fond as he was of his +garden, he gave them scanty attention, and by and by sat down in a +sheltered nook lost in painful thought. He had a careworn look and had +left the house in a restless mood with a wish to be alone in the open +air. + +Mrs. Chudleigh's revelation had been a shock. With his sense of duty +and family pride, he had, when the news of the frontier disaster first +reached him, found it almost impossible to believe that his nephew had +been guilty of shameful cowardice; and now it looked as if the disgrace +might be brought still closer home. Bertram would presently take his +place and, retiring from active service, rule the estate in accordance +with Challoner traditions and perhaps exert some influence in politics; +he remembered that Mrs. Chudleigh had laid some stress on this. She +had, however, told him that Bertram, from whom so much was expected, +had shown himself a poltroon and, what was even worse, had allowed an +innocent man to suffer for his baseness. Challoner had spent the last +few days pondering the evidence she had offered him and had seen one or +two weak points in it. By making the most of these, it might, perhaps, +be rebutted, but his honesty rendered such a course out of the question +if she were right in her conclusions, and he was forced to admit that +this was possible. Bertram had shown timidity in his younger +days--Challoner remembered that they had had some trouble in teaching +him to ride--and there was no doubt that his was a highly-strung and +nervous temperament. He had not the calm which marked the Challoners +in time of strain. Then Dick Blake was recklessly generous and loved +his cousin; it would be consistent with his character if he were +willing to suffer in Bertram's stead. Moreover there were reasons +which might have had some effect in inducing Bertram to consent, +because Challoner knew the affection his son bore him and that he would +shrink from involving him in his disgrace. What Bertram would +certainly not have done to secure his own escape he might have done for +the sake of his father and the girl he was to marry. + +Admitting all this, Challoner could not take his son's guilt for +granted. There was room for doubt, and soon after leaving Mrs. +Chudleigh he had cabled a friend in Montreal asking him to spare no +effort to trace Blake. If the latter could be found, he must be +summoned home and forced to declare the truth. By and by Challoner +heard a footstep and looking up saw Foster approaching. He stopped and +regarded the Colonel with surprise, for it was seldom Challoner was to +be seen sitting moodily idle. + +"I'm taking a short cut through your grounds to the fir spinney," he +said. "As I was leaving home Mrs. Chudleigh asked me to give you this +note, and when I looked in at the house Miss Challoner said she didn't +know where you were and a telegram had just come in. Thinking I might +find you, I brought it along." Handing the other two envelopes he +added: "Sorry to see you're not looking as brisk as usual." + +"There's not much the matter," Challoner replied, forcing a smile. +"Still, I do feel a trifle slack, and I've had something to worry me." + +Foster gave him a sympathetic nod. "Worry's bad; make a rule to avoid +it when I can. But will you walk as far as the wood?" + +He went on when Challoner said he would sooner remain, and the latter +eagerly opened the telegram. It was in answer to his cable and read-- + + +"Blake and two others left Sweetwater settlement. Destination supposed +far North." + + +This implied the impossibility of learning anything from his nephew for +some time, and Challoner could not recall his son, who was then in +Japan and must shortly rejoin his Indian regiment. Besides, if Bertram +were blameless, it would be a cruel blow for him to find that his +father had suspected him of a shameful deed, while if he were guilty, +something must be done. This would probably lead to a disastrous +change in their relations and compel Bertram to leave the army. Though +the suspense was hard to bear, Challoner, as Mrs. Chudleigh had +foreseen, was beginning to feel afraid to learn the truth and inclined +to temporize. + +Then he opened her note and read-- + + +"As I hear you expect Mr. Greythorpe, shortly, I venture to believe +that now you have had time for reflection you will see that it would be +better for everybody if you did as I suggested. This would be a great +favour and you could count upon my gratitude and discretion." + + +Studying it carefully, Challoner saw a threat as well as a promise that +she would keep his secret if he complied, but he tore the note up and +trod the fragments into the soil. So far as the African appointment +was concerned, he was not to be influenced. He would not offer a bribe +for her silence, nor would he derive a personal advantage from a piece +of jobbery. On that point his mind was made up. + +A little later Mrs. Keith opened a neighbouring gate and came towards +him. + +"The fine morning tempted me out, and as Lucy Foster was passing with +the car, I thought I'd look your sister up," she said. "But I'm afraid +you're in trouble. The last time we met you had a downcast air and you +don't look much brighter to-day." + +"It's unpleasant to think I'm in the habit of showing my feelings so +plainly," he answered. + +"You don't, but your moody calm has its meaning. I've known you long +enough to recognize it. You can't deny that something is disturbing +you." + +"No," said Challoner. "I'm not clever enough to hide it from your keen +eyes." + +"They're very friendly, as you know. I'll strain a friend's privilege +far enough to guess that your perplexities began the last time you and +Mrs. Chudleigh met." + +He wondered how much she knew and longed to confide in her. She was +very staunch, but his secret must be kept until he had learned the +truth. + +"I'm sorry, Margaret, but I can't tell you what is troubling me." + +She made a sign of acquiescence. "You would if it were possible and I +won't press you, but you know I can be trusted if you need me. I was +afraid of that woman; I felt she threatened you." + +Their glances met and lingered, and Challoner felt that the reason for +his grief was but thinly veiled from her. Still, for his son's sake, +he could not confirm her suspicions, and he broke into a dry smile. + +"I believe you tried to protect me, and it certainly wasn't your fault +that you failed. I appreciate it, Margaret, but after all there may be +less cause for anxiety than I imagine, and we'll talk about something +else. Will you come up to the house?" + +They walked slowly across the lawn, and though his companion chatted +about indifferent matters Challoner knew he had her sympathy. When +they reached the door she stopped. + +"I needn't bring you in, because I have something to ask Hilda. No +doubt, it's unnecessary, but you won't mind my warning you not to be +influenced by anything that woman said." + +"I had already decided to disregard it." + +A look of gratified confidence came into her eyes. "That is what I +expected; you are not easily swayed, but I see signs of strain. There +is some crisis you must face, and I think it is connected with +Greythorpe's visit." + +"You have guessed correctly." + +"When one is in difficulties the easiest way out is not always the +best. But you know that." + +"I have learned it. One has often to chose between the right and the +most prudent thing." + +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith, "I believe they are generally the same in the +end; that is, if one has the courage to choose the former." + +Challoner bowed. "You have never failed me, Margaret, and you give me +good counsel now." + +She went in, and he turned away, feeling encouraged; but a reaction +followed, and he spent the rest of the day in troubled thought. A day +or two later Greythorpe arrived and in the early evening sat with his +host in the library. Though dusk was closing in, a window near them +stood open and a single shaded candle burned upon a neighbouring table. +Presently Greythorpe opened some papers. + +"We have not settled the African appointment yet," he said. "The +matter, of course, is not altogether in my hands, but my recommendation +will have weight, and I should be glad of your opinion before making +it. You will find the names and qualifications of the candidates here." + +Challoner studied the papers, and then gazed out of the window without +speaking. It was not quite dark, and he could see the great oaks in +the park, and the sombre masses of the woods rolling back up the +valley. In the foreground, a sheet of water shone with a pale gleam. +It was a rich and beautiful countryside and much of it belonged to him. +Though his wife had brought him money, Sandymere had long been the +property of the Challoners, and the old house had a picturesque +stateliness, while every field and farmstead had been well cared for. + +In process of time it would all be his son's, and, in that sense, +Bertram had more than an individual importance. He was one of a line +of men who had served their country well in court and field, and any +disgrace that fell upon him would taint a respected name and reflect +upon his children, for the family honour was indivisible, a thing that +stretched backwards to the past as well as forward. Now, however, it +was threatened by an unprincipled woman who claimed the power to drag +it in the mire; but Challoner recognized that he could not allow this +to influence him. His private affairs must not count where the +interests of his country were concerned. + +"Well," he said at length, "the matter seems difficult to decide. You +have two men of excellent character, whom I know something about, and a +third who has shown ability in a subordinate post." + +"Sedgwick? Your manner leads me to believe that you don't quite class +him with the others." + +"There is a difference. The first two are honest and reliable but not +brilliant men. Sedgwick is obviously more capable than either, but I +suspect that self-interest is his strongest motive. I knew a major in +his regiment. He might use this appointment to force himself into +prominence." + +"It's possible, but that needn't prove a great drawback." + +"Is the Cabinet ready to embark upon a bold course of Colonial +expansion?" + +"No," said Greythorpe with a smile, "not so far as I'm acquainted with +their views, but we would like the strip of unoccupied territory, and +Sedgwick seems alive to its importance." + +"He'll probably get it for you if you give him a chance, but I imagine +he won't stop there. In fact, he may take you much farther than you +wish to go. Suppose he brings off some sensational coup in which you +would have to support him at the expense of France?" + +"There might be some risk of that, but he's undoubtedly an able man." + +"I think so," Challoner agreed. "It's his disinterestedness I suspect." + +"Then if the post were at your disposal, you would not offer it to him?" + +Challoner was silent for a few moments. It looked as if Greythorpe +were disposed to favour Sedgwick's claim and to concur might save a +good deal of trouble. Even then, it did not follow that Sedgwick would +be chosen, because there were higher authorities to be consulted. +Challoner thought he would not be blamed if they refused the man the +post, because he did Mrs. Chudleigh the justice to believe that she +would not doubt his assurance that he had done his best and that she +would afterwards put no further pressure on him. It was her lover's +promotion she wished to secure. For all that, easy as it would be to +humour her, he had been asked for his opinion by a man who trusted him, +and he must give it honestly. + +"No," he said with a resolute air, "I should prefer either of the +others. On the whole, I believe I'd select the first on your list." + +"You seem to have thought it well over." + +"That's true. It's a rather grave matter," Challoner answered drily. + +"Well," said Greythorpe, "my idea is that Sedgwick should be left in +charge a month or two longer. Then if we send out another man, we'll +try to find him something else." + +He changed the subject and Challoner lighted a cigar and listened, +sitting back in the shadow where his companion could not see him. He +felt weary, because he had borne a heavy strain during the last few +days, and the course he had taken had cost him a good deal. Now he +knew that if Sedgwick were not appointed Mrs. Chudleigh would hold him +responsible. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MRS. CHUDLEIGH MAKES A FRESH ATTEMPT + +Next evening Challoner and Greythorpe dined at Foster's with several +other guests, and the Colonel was placed next to Mrs. Chudleigh, while +Mrs. Keith sat opposite. He found his position uncomfortable, because +when he looked up he saw that his old friend was watching him, and, +though she chatted carelessly, there was now and then a hint of tension +in his companion's manner. It was a relief when Mrs. Foster rose, but +he afterwards felt that opposing influences were being brought to bear +on him. When the party dispersed, as was usual at Hazlehurst, some to +play billiards and some to the drawing-room, Mrs. Keith engaged him in +casual talk and stuck to him determinedly for a time. He had no doubt +that her intentions were good, since he noticed Mrs. Chudleigh hovering +in the background, but he wished that she would leave him alone. By +and by their hostess took Mrs. Keith away, but then Millicent, whom he +suspected had been told to do so, came up and spoke to him. It looked +as if he were to be saved from his persecutor, even against his will, +for he was anxious to meet her and get the unpleasant business over, +but he liked Millicent and courtesy demanded that he should listen. +Presently she rather hesitatingly mentioned his nephew. + +"Have you heard anything from Mr. Blake since he left Montreal?" + +"Nothing," said Challoner with a trace of grimness. "He does not +correspond with me." + +"Then I suppose you don't know where he is?" + +"I took some trouble to find out, but nothing came of it. I merely +learned that he had left a small settlement on the Western prairie and +started for the North." He gave her a sharp glance. "Are you +interested in my nephew?" + +"Yes," she said frankly. "I don't know him very well, but on two +occasions he came to my assistance when I needed it. He was very +tactful and considerate." + +"Then he's fortunate in gaining your good opinion. No doubt, you know +something about his history?" + +"I daresay my good opinion is not worth much, but I feel that he +deserves it, in spite of what I've been told about him," she answered +with a blush. "It is very sad that he should have to give up all he +valued, and I thought there was something gallant in his cheerfulness; +he was always ready with a jest." + +"Have you met his companion? I understand that he is not a man of my +nephew's stamp." + +Millicent smiled. "Hardly so, from your point of view." + +"Does that mean that yours is not the same as mine?" + +"I have had to earn my living, which changes one's outlook; perhaps I'd +better not say enlarges it. However, you shall judge. Mr. Harding is +a traveller for an American paint factory and had to begin work at an +age when your nephew was at Eton, but I think him a very fine type. +He's serious, courteous, and sanguine, and seems to have a strong +confidence in his partner." + +"Ah!" said Challoner; "that is not so strange. The Blakes have a way +of inspiring trust and liking. It's a gift of theirs." + +"Your nephew undoubtedly has it. He uses it unconsciously, but I think +that those who trust him are not deceived." + +Challoner regarded her with a curious expression. "After all," he +said, "that may be true." + +Then Greythorpe came up in search of Millicent, and when she went away +with him Challoner saw Mrs. Chudleigh approaching. Obeying her sign he +followed her to a seat in the recess in the hall. + +"Mr. Greythorpe came down yesterday," she said. "I suppose you have +already had a talk with him." + +"Last night. As you anticipated, he asked my opinion about the African +matter. Several names have been submitted; trustworthy men." + +"Come to the point," she told him sharply. "What did you do about +Captain Sedgwick?" + +Challoner gravely met her insistent gaze. "I felt compelled to suggest +that he was not the best man for the post." + +Mrs. Chudleigh's eyes sparkled and the blood swept into her face. Her +pose grew tense and she looked dangerous, but with an obvious effort +she controlled her anger. + +"Then if I were a revengeful person, I would warn you that you must +take the consequences." + +"I suppose that follows, but I would prefer to think you are fair +enough to make allowances for a man who tried to do the right thing in +a difficult situation." + +She was silent for a moment, watching him with a curious, half-ashamed +feeling. Then she made an abrupt movement. + +"It's hard to do so. A word or two, which you would not speak, would +have led to the appointment of the most talented man. I'm not a saint; +you mustn't expect a higher standard from me than I'm capable of." + +She dismissed him with an angry gesture and got up as Mrs. Foster came +in with Greythorpe. When the latter left his hostess she beckoned him +and led him to a seat near the hearth. + +"How far does Colonel Challoner's opinion go with you?" she asked +boldly. + +"That depends," he answered, smiling. "On some matters it goes a long +way." + +"On the choosing of a West African officer, for instance?" + +"Ah!" said Greythorpe, "now I begin to understand. If I am not +indiscreet in mentioning it, I thought my old friend was rather in +disgrace with you." + +"You are keen," she told him. "I must warn you that Challoner is +prejudiced." + +"If that is so, there is probably a reason for it." + +"There is," she said coolly. "I'm afraid it is my fault. I made a +mistake in trying to force the Colonel to speak in favour of one of the +candidates." + +"It was unwise," Greythorpe agreed. "Our friend is by no means +amenable to treatment of the kind." + +"Still you would not let a good officer suffer because of my +tactlessness?" + +"Certainly not; the only thing that could count against any of the men +we are considering is some shortcoming of their own." + +"Then I must try to remove a wrong impression and my task is difficult +because you know Challoner better than I do. We can, however, agree +that he is honest." + +"Eminently conscientious," Greythorpe remarked. + +"Then you must allow for a reaction against the injudicious course I +took. I urged him to speak for a friend of mine, which was, no doubt, +very wrong, and it seems I went too far. Can you not imagine his +resenting it and being so determined not to be influenced that he +became hypercritical?" + +Greythorpe thought this clever, since it was the best means of +lessening the value of Challoner's opinion that she could use. + +"I gather that you put too severe a strain upon his friendship." + +"I'm afraid there's a breach between us now, but that is not the point." + +"No," said Greythorpe. "In a general way, your reasoning is logical, +but I hardly think it applicable to Challoner. He might resent your +action; but it would not make him unjust. I presume the man you favour +is Captain Sedgwick?" + +"He's much the best of the three you have in view." + +"Then you know something about the matter? We thought it was secret." + +She laughed. "Secrets are not always well kept. I know the other men, +and though there is nothing that can be urged against their character, +they are plodders, men of routine, without much foresight or +enterprise." + +"Allowing that you are right, isn't there something to be said for the +steady plodder?" + +"I daresay he's useful," Mrs. Chudleigh agreed with a touch of scorn. +"But for the vacant post you want a bold determined man who can see +ahead." + +"To some extent, I must agree. You believe Captain Sedgwick is such a +man?" + +He felt a certain tempered admiration for her. She made no secret of +her aim, though he supposed she must find it embarrassing to plead for +her lover, since he did not doubt that she loved Sedgwick. She had +courage and cleverness and he listened with close attention while she +spoke about the man's exploits and abilities. Then she looked up with +an eagerness which somewhat moved him. + +"Have I convinced you?" she asked. + +Greythorpe smiled. "That Sedgwick is a dashing and intrepid soldier? +Yes. But there are other points to take into account, and the matter +does not entirely rest with me. Still, I think if he serves us well, +we may find some use for him." + +It was a guarded promise and by no means all that she desired, but she +knew she must be content with it. + +"Then I have accomplished something and will remember the consideration +and patience you have shown," she said, and when some of the other +guests came in moved away to join them. + +In the meanwhile, Millicent had been sitting alone for a few minutes at +the opposite end of the hall. Somebody was singing in the adjoining +drawing-room, the door of which stood open, and she could see several +people gathered about the piano, though she was herself partly secluded +by a screen. By and by Lieutenant Walters came in, and as he made his +way towards her after looking round she felt tempted to change her +place, but could not do so without making her retreat too marked. Now +and then he suffered from a relapse, and she felt compassionate as she +noticed the heaviness of his movements and his pinched expression. +Still his eyes had been eager as he searched the room, and this had +caused her some alarm, because he had lately shown a noticeable +preference for her society. When he stopped he laid his hand, as if +for support, on the back of a chair and glanced towards a window that +opened into the conservatory. + +"I've been hanging about since dinner trying to get hold of you, but +you were in too great demand," he said. "Shall we slip out to the seat +among the palms yonder for a quiet talk?" + +The conservatory looked inviting with the coloured lamps hanging among +the flowers and screens of trailing plants throwing their shadows +across warm, scented nooks. Walters, however, had framed his question +injudiciously, because it implied a mutual desire to escape observation +and confidential relations which did not exist. + +"I think not," said Millicent. "I may be wanted." + +"Mrs. Keith's talking to Challoner and won't ask for you," Walters +objected. "Be good-natured; it's quiet yonder. That fellow in the +drawing-room can't sing and the piano makes my head ache." + +"It really oughtn't to. The girl who's accompanying him plays well, +but I'm afraid you're not feeling very fit to-night." + +"I'm not; I suppose it's weak, but when I seem to be going back instead +of picking up, I get depressed. That's partly why I came for you; you +know how to cheer one." + +"I feel flattered," Millicent rejoined, smiling. "But you shouldn't be +downcast. You're making excellent progress." + +"Oh! well," he said irritably, "don't let us talk about my ailments; +I'm tired of them. But this light's glaring. Take pity on me and come +in among the flowers, where it's quiet and dim." + +Millicent was tempted to agree. She liked the man and felt sorry for +him; he was frank, rather handsome, and generally a pleasant companion, +but she thought their friendship was ripening too fast and was not +prepared to see it change to something deeper Indeed, since it was +pleasant to be sought after, she feared she had allowed herself to +drift too far, and now the time to pull up had come. + +"No," she said, "I must stay here." + +He looked at her rather hard, for there was decision in her tone and he +was not dull. She was very attractive; he liked her thoughtful +expression and her gentle firmness. Half-consciously he compared her +with the highly polished, clever woman, who had at first fascinated +him, and his appreciation of the girl grew stronger. Mrs. Chudleigh, +who did not improve upon close acquaintance, had been inclined to leave +him alone of late, and though he could not resent this he had an +unflattering suspicion that he had somehow been made use of and had +served his turn. Miss Graham was different; she was genuine, which was +the word that occurred to him, and he was growing fond of her. + +"As you wish, of course," he said. "Am I allowed to remain?" + +She indicated a place on the corner seat and when he took it began to +talk, carefully avoiding any personal topic, but after a time he +interrupted her-- + +"I heard Mrs. Keith say she was going to the Vivians in Durham later. +I suppose she will take you?" + +Millicent said she believed so, and he continued: "It's possible I may +turn up there." + +He watched her closely, but could see nothing that suggested +satisfaction. + +"Do you know the people?" she inquired. + +"I used to know Herbert Vivian, though I haven't seen him for some +time. No doubt, if he got a hint he'd ask me down." + +"It's a high, bleak place," said Millicent. "We were nearly frozen on +our last visit, and I'm afraid you wouldn't find the cold good for you. +Were you not recommended to stay in Devonshire?" + +Walters gave her a half-indignant glance. "When that brute of a hill +man knocked me out I'd no suspicion how much his shot would cost me. +Anyhow, I'm not going to Devonshire, and I ventured to think you might +have been glad to see me at the Vivians'." + +"Why should I wish you to do an unwise thing?" Millicent asked. + +"That's an evasion," he answered bluntly. "I'll be candid. This place +won't be the same after you have gone." + +Millicent was silent a moment. She knew he wanted a tacit admission +that their acquaintance need not end with her visit to Hazlehurst, but +he would be right in attaching some significance to her action if she +made it. The man, who had only known her a few weeks, could go no +further yet, and he was eminently likeable, but she would not lead him +on. + +"That," she said, "was very nice of you, but you will soon get used to +the change." + +"You may," he replied with rather bitter humour. + +"After all," said Millicent, "one meets pleasant people here and there, +and though one regrets it has to part from them." + +Looking at her fixedly, he understood. Her expression was quietly +resolute, and he recognized that their friendship must shortly come to +an end. The girl knew her mind and had obviously made it up. + +"Well," he said in a resigned tone, "you won't be forgotten. I must +get back to India as soon as I can." + +By and by he went away and Mrs. Keith joined Millicent. + +"What have you been saying to Walters?" she asked. "I met him going +out, and he looked very crestfallen." + +"He hinted that he might follow us to the Vivians' and I suggested that +it was too cold a place for him," Millicent answered with a blush. + +"I see," remarked Mrs. Keith, who was sometimes blunt. "Well, I +daresay you were wise; though I'm told he'll be captain shortly, and he +has his good points, Jimmy is no catch. You certainly might do better." + +Millicent turned her head, half-indignant, half-embarrassed, and Mrs. +Keith laughed. + +"My dear," she resumed gently, "I'm glad you have some sense. It's +perhaps not impossible for the wife of a young Indian officer to live +upon her husband's pay, but unless they're exceptional people it's apt +to lead to disaster." + +"It wasn't that," Millicent protested, unwilling to be suspected of a +mercenary mind, and Mrs. Keith's eyes twinkled. + +"Then what was it that influenced you?" + +As the girl did not answer, she turned away and left her to face the +question. It proved troublesome, for Millicent was not daunted by +poverty and could find no fault with Walters; indeed, she was sensible +of some esteem for him. Then, though she would not admit that this was +her reason for checking his advances, her thoughts centred on another +man. He was in disgrace, but she remembered how chivalrously and +adroitly he had come to her rescue in London and had again been of +assistance on the St. Lawrence steamer. He was prompt in action, +pitiful and humorous. She remembered his gay buoyancy, she could +imagine his facing his troubles with a laugh. It was characteristic of +him that he had gone up into the wilds of the frozen North with an +inexperienced companion on a rash search for fortune, which she +gathered would probably elude him. Still, she knew that he would +struggle gallantly against the perils and hardships he might have to +face. Then she remembered that by sitting alone with an abstracted air +she might excite curiosity, and rousing herself, went to look for her +hostess. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A NEW PERSECUTOR + +Soon after Greythorpe's visit Mrs. Chudleigh went away, leaving +Challoner unpleasantly uncertain about the course she might take. He +was still without news of Blake; he could not question his son, whose +integrity he tried hard to believe in, and he spent a few anxious +weeks. Then one evening when he came home from a neighbour's house he +was told that a man who had called to see him some time earlier was in +the library. Challoner glanced at the card his servant gave him. + +"Clarke? I don't know anybody of that name," he said and then started +as he saw the word Sweetwater in small type at the bottom of the card. + +Taking off his coat he went up the staircase with some eagerness. The +lamps had been lighted in the library and a good fire burned on the +hearth, near which his visitor was comfortably seated in a big leather +chair. He rose as Challoner entered, and the latter was not favourably +impressed by him. There was a hint of grossness about the fellow which +repelled the Colonel, who was of an ascetic type; besides, he was badly +and carelessly dressed, and Challoner was fastidious in such matters. +Also the man had an irritating air of assurance. + +"Colonel Challoner, I presume?" he said. + +Challoner bowed. "You have brought me some news of my nephew, Richard +Blake?" + +This disconcerted Clarke, who had not imagined that his object would be +known and had counted upon Challoner's being surprised when he heard it +and thrown off his guard. It, however, looked as if the Colonel had +been making inquiries about Blake, and Clarke wished he could guess his +reason, because it might affect the situation. + +"That is correct," he said. "I have a good deal to tell you and it may +take some time." + +Signing him to be seated, Challoner rang a bell, and wine and cigars +and hothouse fruit were brought in. These he offered his guest, who +helped himself freely and then said, "Your nephew spent a week in the +settlement where I live, preparing for a journey to the North. Though +his object was secret, I believe he went in search of something to make +varnish of, because he took a young American traveller for a colour +factory with him, besides another man." + +"I know this," Challoner replied. "I heard about his American +companion; who was the other?" + +"We will come to him presently. There is still something which I think +you do not know." + +"Then I should be glad to be informed. But, first of all, could you +find Blake if it were necessary?" + +"I'm doubtful; the thing would be difficult," Clarke answered in a +significant tone. "He hadn't returned when I left, and the country he +meant to cross is rugged and covered deep with snow all winter. Food +is hard to get and the temperature varies from forty to fifty degrees +below." + +"I suppose it could be traversed by a properly equipped expedition?" + +Though Challoner's face was calm, Clarke inferred some anxiety to find +his nephew, and answered cautiously: "It would be possible, but whether +a party sent up could strike the others' trail is a different matter." + +"Very well," said Challoner; "we'll talk of it again. Go on with what +you wished to say." + +He was suspicious, for his visitor's looks were not in his favour, and +the man gave him a keen glance. + +"It concerns your nephew's earlier history." + +"That is of most importance to himself and me. It can't interest you." + +"It interests me very much," Clarke rejoined with an ironical smile. +"I must ask you to let me tell you what I know." + +Challoner, who thought he had better learn it, consented, and Clarke +gave him what he admitted was a very accurate account of the action on +the Indian frontier. + +"Now," he concluded, "the question, Who gave the order to retreat? is +of vital importance to you." + +"In a sense, it has been answered." + +"I think incorrectly." + +"Then if you differ from the general opinion on the matter, you can let +me have your theory of what occurred." + +It took Clarke some minutes to give it and Challoner's heart sank, for +the man carefully arranged his points and the damaging inference could +hardly be shirked. On the whole, his account agreed with Mrs. +Chudleigh's, although it was more cleverly worked out, but there was +nothing to be learned from Challoner's expression. He was now not +dealing with a woman who had the excuse that she was acting in her +lover's interest. + +"Your suggestions are plausible, but you can't seriously expect me to +attach much weight to them," he remarked. "Besides, you seem to have +overlooked the important fact that at the regimental inquiry the +verdict was that nobody in particular was to blame. + +"Oh! no," Clarke rejoined with a harsh laugh. "I merely question its +validity. I imagine that reasons which would not be officially +recognized led the court to take a lenient view; but what of that? +Blake had to leave the army, a ruined man, and I've good reason for +knowing what an acquittal like his is worth." He paused a moment. "I +may as well tell you candidly, because it's probable that you'll make +inquiries about me. Well, I'd won some reputation as a medical +specialist when I became involved in a sensational police case--you may +recollect it." + +Challoner started. "Yes," he said. "So you are the man! I think +nothing was actually proved against you." + +"No," said Clarke drily; "there was only a fatal suspicion. As it +happens, I was innocent, but I had to give up my profession and my life +was spoiled. There's no reason why you should be interested in this, +and I mentioned it merely because a similar misfortune has befallen +Richard Blake. The point, of course, is that it has done so +undeservedly. I think you must see who the real culprit is." + +"I'll admit that you have told me a rather likely tale. As you don't +speak of having been in India, who gave you the information?" + +"Blake's companion, the man I've mentioned, a former Indian officer +called Benson." + +"His full name, please." + +Clarke gave it him and Challoner, crossing the floor, took a book from +a shelf and turned it over by a lamp. + +"Yes; he's here. What led him to talk of the thing to an outsider?" + +"Drink," said Clarke. "I'll own to having taken advantage of the +condition he was often in." + +Challoner, sitting down, coolly lighted a cigar. His position seemed a +weak one, but he had no thought of surrender. + +"Well, you have given me some interesting information; but there's one +thing you haven't mentioned, and that is your reason for doing so." + +"Can't you guess?" + +"I shouldn't have suspected you of being so diffident, but I daresay +you thought this was a chance of earning some money easily." + +"Yes," said Clarke. "For five thousand pounds I'll undertake that no +word of what I've told you will ever pass my lips again." + +"You're not flattering. Do you suppose I'd pay five thousand pounds to +see my nephew wronged?" + +"I believe you might do so to save your son." + +Challoner, who wished to lead the man on and learn something about his +plans, made a negative sign. + +"Out of the question." + +"Then I'll make you an alternative offer, and it's worth considering. +Take, or get your friends to subscribe for, ten thousand pounds worth +of shares in a commercial syndicate I'm getting up, and you'll never +regret it. If you wish, I'll make you a director so you can satisfy +yourself that the money will be wisely spent. You'll get it back +several times over." + +Challoner laughed. "This is to salve my feelings; to make the thing +look like a business transaction?" + +"No," said Clarke, leaning forward and speaking eagerly. "It's a +genuine offer, and I'll ask your attention for a minute or two. +Canada's an undeveloped country; we have scarcely begun to tap its +natural resources, and there's wealth ready for exploitation all over +it. We roughly know the extent of the farming land and the value of +the timber, but the minerals still to a large extent await discovery, +while perhaps the most readily and profitably handled product is oil. +Now I know a belt of country where it's oozing from the soil and with +ten thousand pounds I'll engage to bore wells that will give a +remarkable yield." + +His manner was impressive, and though Challoner had no cause to trust +him he thought the man sincere. + +"One understands that in Canada all natural commodities belong to the +State and any person discovering them can work them on certain terms. +It seems to follow that if your knowledge of the locality is worth +anything, it must belong to you alone. How is it that nobody else +suspects the belt contains oil?" + +"A shrewd objection, but easily answered. The country in question is +one of the most rugged tracts in Canada, difficult to get through in +summer, while the man who enters it in winter runs a serious risk. Now +I'll allow that what you know about me is not likely to prejudice you +in my favour, but on your promise to keep it secret I'll give you +information that must convince you." + +"Why don't you make your offer to some company floater or stockjobber?" + +Clarke smiled in a pointed manner. "Because I've a damaging record and +no friends to vouch for me. I came here because I felt I had some +claim on you." + +"You were mistaken," said Challoner drily. + +"Hear me out; try to consider my proposition on its merits. For a +number of years I've known the existence of the oil and have tried to +prospect the country. It was difficult; to transport enough food and +tools meant a costly expedition and the attracting of undesirable +attention. I went alone, living with primitive Russian settlers and +afterwards with the Indians. To gain a hold on them I studied the +occult sciences and learned tricks that impose upon the credulous. To +the white men I'm a crank, to the Indians something of a magician, but +my search for the oil has gone on, and now while I already know where +boring would be commercially profitable, I'm on the brink of tapping a +remarkable flow." + +"What will you do if it comes up to your expectations?" Challoner +asked, for he had grown interested. + +"Turn it over to a company strong enough to exact good terms from the +American producers or, failing that, to work the wells. Then I'd go +back to London where with money and the standing it would buy me I'd +take up my old profession. I believe I've kept abreast of medical +progress and could still make my mark and reinstate myself. It has +been my steadfast object ever since I became an outcast; I've schemed +and cheated to gain it, besides risking my life often in desolate +muskegs and the Arctic frost. Now I ask you to make it possible, and +you cannot refuse." + +Challoner was silent for a minute or two while Clarke smoked +impassively. The former knew he had a determined man to deal with and +believed moreover that he had spoken the truth. Still, the fellow, +although in some respects to be pitied, was obviously a dangerous +rascal, embittered and robbed of all scruples by injustice. There was +something malignant in his face that testified against him, and, worse +than all, he had come there resolved to extort money as the price of +his connivance in a wrong. + +"Well?" Clarke said, breaking the pause. + +"So far as I can judge, your ultimate object's creditable, but I can't +say as much for the means you are ready to employ in raising the money. +If you go on with the scheme, it must be without any help of mine." + +Clarke's face grew hard, and there was something forbidding in the way +he knitted his brows. + +"Think! Have you gauged the consequences of your refusal?" + +"It's more to the purpose that I've tried to estimate the importance of +your version of what happened during the night attack. It has one +fatal weakness which you seem to have overlooked." + +"Ah!" said Clarke with ironical calm. "You will no doubt mention it." + +"You suggest Blake's innocence, but you must be content with doing so. +You cannot prove it in the face of his denial." + +To Challoner's surprise, Clarke smiled. + +"So you have seen that! The trouble is that your nephew may never have +an opportunity of denying it. He left for the North very badly +equipped, and he has not come back yet." Then he rose with an +undisturbed air. "Well, as it seems we can't come to terms, I needn't +waste my time, and it's a long walk to the station. I must try some +other market, and while I think you have made a grave mistake that is +your affair." + +Challoner let him go and afterwards sat down to think. There had been +nothing forcible or obviously threatening in the man's last few +remarks, but their effect was somehow sinister. Challoner wondered +whether he had done well in suggesting that Blake's denial would prove +Clarke's greatest difficulty. After all, he had a strong affection for +his nephew, who might be in danger, and knew that the wilds of Northern +Canada might prove deadly to a weak party unprovided with proper +sledges and stores. Still, something might, perhaps, be done, and by +and by he wrote a letter to a friend who had once made an adventurous +journey across the frozen land. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +CLARKE MODIFIES HIS PLANS + +A bitter wind swept the snowy prairie and the cold was Arctic when +Clarke, shivering in his furs, came into sight of his homestead as he +walked back from Sweetwater. He had gone there for his mail, which +included an English newspaper, and had taken supper at the hotel. It +was now about two hours after dark, but a full moon hung in the western +sky and the cluster of wooden buildings formed a shadowy blur on the +glittering plain. There was no fence, not a tree to break the white +expanse that ran back to the skyline, and it struck Clarke, who had +lately returned from England, that the place looked very dreary. + +He walked on with the fine, dry snow the wind whipped up glistening on +his furs, and on reaching the homestead went first to the stable. It +was built of sod, which was cheaper and warmer than sawn lumber, and, +lighting a lantern, he fed his teams. The heavy Clydesdales and +lighter driving horses were all valuable, for Clarke was a successful +farmer and had found that the purchase of the best animals and +implements led to economy, though it was said he seldom paid the full +market price for them. He had walked home because it was impossible to +keep warm driving, and felt tired and morose. The man had passed his +prime and was beginning to find the labour he had never shirked more +irksome than it had been, while he dispensed with a hired hand in +winter, when there was less to be done. Clarke neglected no +opportunity of saving a dollar. + +When he had finished in the stable, he crossed the snow to the house, +which was dark and silent. After the bustle and stir of London where +he had spent some time, it was depressing to come back to the empty +dwelling, and he was glad that he had saved himself the task of getting +supper. Shaking the snow from his furs, he lighted the lamp and filled +up the stove before he sat down wearily. The small room was not a +cheerful place in which to spend the winter nights alone, though he +remembered that for a number of years he had not noticed this. Walls +and floor were uncovered and roughly boarded with heat-cracked lumber; +the stove was rusty and gave out a smell of warm iron, while a black +distillate had dripped from its pipe. There were, however, several +well-filled bookcases and one or two comfortable chairs. + +Clarke lighted his pipe and drawing his seat as near the stove as +possible opened an English newspaper, which contained some news that +interested him. A short paragraph stated that Captain Bertram +Challoner, then stationed at Delhi, had received an appointment which +would shortly necessitate his return from India. This, Clarke +imagined, might be turned to good account, but the matter demanded +thought, and for a time he sat motionless, deeply pondering. His +farming had prospered, though the bare and laborious life had tried him +hard, and he had made some money by more questionable means, lending to +unfortunate neighbours at extortionate interest and foreclosing on +their possessions. No defaulter got any mercy at his hands and shrewd +sellers of seed and implements took precautions when they dealt with +him. + +His money, however, would not last him long if he returned to England +and attempted to regain a footing in his profession, and he had +daringly schemed to increase it. Glancing across the room, his eyes +rested on a bookcase, with a curious smile. It contained works on +hypnotism, telepathy, and psychological speculations in general, and he +had studied some with ironical amusement and others with a quickening +of his interest. Amidst much that he thought of as sterile chaff he +saw germs of truth, and had once or twice been led to the brink of a +startling discovery. There the elusive clue had failed him, though he +felt that strange secrets might be revealed some day. + +After all, the books had served his purpose, as well as kept him from +brooding when he sat alone at nights while the icy wind howled round +his dwelling. He passed for a sage and something of a prophet with the +primitive Dubokars, his Indian friends regarded him as a medicine man, +and both had unknowingly made his search for the petroleum easier. +Then, contrary to his expectations, he had found speculators in London +willing to venture a few hundred pounds on his scheme, but the amount +was insufficient and the terms were exacting. It would pay him better +to get rid of his associates. He was growing old; it would be too late +to return to his former life unless he could do so soon, but he must +make a fair start with ample means. The man had no scruples and no +illusions; money well employed would buy him standing and friends. +People were charitable to a man who had something to offer them, and +the blot upon his name must be nearly forgotten. + +First of all, however, the richest spot of the oil field must be found +and money enough raised to place him in a strong position when the +venture was put on the market. He had failed to extort any from +Challoner, but he might be more successful with his son. The man who +was weak enough to allow his cousin to suffer for his fault would no +doubt yield to judicious pressure. It was fortunate that Bertram +Challoner was coming to England, because he could be more easily +reached. This led Clarke to think of Blake, since he realized that +Challoner was right in pointing out that the man was his greatest +difficulty. If Blake maintained that the fault was his, nothing could +be done; it was therefore desirable that he should be kept out of the +way. There was another person to whom the same applied; Clarke had +preyed on Benson's weakness, but if the fellow had overcome it and +returned to farm industriously, his exploitation would be no longer +possible. On the other hand, if he failed to pay off his debts, Clarke +saw how he could with much advantage seize his possessions. Thus both +Blake and Benson were obstacles, and now they had ventured into the icy +North it would be better if they did not reappear. + +Clarke refilled his pipe and his face wore a sinister look as he took +down a rather sketchy map of the wilds beyond the prairie belt. After +studying it for a time he sank into an attitude of concentrated +thought. The stove crackled, its pipe glowing red, driving snow lashed +the shiplap walls, and the wind moaned drearily about the house. Its +occupant was, however, oblivious to his surroundings and sat very still +in his chair, with pouches under his fixed eyes and his lips set tight. +He looked malignant and dangerous, and perhaps his mental attitude was +not quite normal. Close study and severe physical toil, coupled with +free indulgence, had weakened him; there were drugs he was addicted to +which affected the brain, and he had long been possessed by one fixed +idea. By degrees it had become a mania, and he would stick at nothing +that might help him to carry his purpose out. When at length he got up +with a shiver to throw wood into the stove as the room grew cold, he +thought he saw how his object could be secured. + +A month before Clarke spent the evening thinking about them, Blake and +his comrades camped at sunset in a belt of small spruces near the edge +of the open waste that runs back to the Polar Sea. They were worn and +hungry, for the shortage of provisions had been a constant trouble and +such supplies as they obtained from Indians, who had seldom much to +spare, soon ran out. Once or twice they had feasted royally after +shooting a big bull moose, but the frozen meat they were able to carry +did not last long, and again they were threatened with starvation. + +It was a calm evening with a coppery sunset flaring across the snow, +but intensely cold, and though they had wood enough and sat close +beside a fire with their ragged blankets wrapped round them they could +not keep warm. Harding and Benson were openly dejected, but Blake had +somehow preserved his cheerful serenity. As usual after finishing +their scanty supper, they began to talk, for during the day +conversation was limited by the toil of the march. By and by Harding +took a few bits of resin out of a bag. + +"No good," he said. "It's common fir gum, such as I could gather a +carload of in the forests of Michigan. Guess there's something wrong +with my theory about the effects of extreme cold." Then he took a +larger lump from a neat leather case. "This is the genuine article, +and it's certainly the product of a coniferous tree, while the fellow I +got it from said it was found in the coldest parts of North America. +Seems to me we have tried all the varieties of the firs, but we're as +far from finding what we want as when we started." + +"Hard luck!" Benson remarked gloomily. + +Harding broke off a fragment and lighted it. "Notice the smell. It's +characteristic." + +"The fellow may have been right on one point," said Blake. "When I was +in India I once got some incense which was brought down in small +quantities from the Himalayas, and, I understood, came from near the +snow-line. The smell was the same, one doesn't forget a curious scent." + +"That's so. Talking about it reminds me that I was puzzled by a smell +I thought I ought to know when I brought Clarke out of the tepee. I +remembered what it was not long since and the thing's significant. It +was gasoline." + +"They extract it from crude petroleum, don't they." + +"Yes; it's called petrol on your side. Clarke's out for coal-oil, and +I guess he's struck it." + +"Then he's lucky, but his good fortune doesn't concern us and we have +other things to think about. What are you going to do, now we don't +seem able to find the gum?" + +"It's a difficult question," Harding answered in a troubled voice. +"I'd hate to go back, with nothing accomplished and all my dollars +spent, and take to the road again. Marianna's paying for this journey +in many ways, and I haven't the grit to tell her we're poorer than when +I left. She wouldn't complain, but when you have to live on a small +commission that's hard to make, it's the woman who meets the bill." + +Blake made a sign of sympathy. He had never shared Harding's +confidence in the success of his search and had joined in it from love +of adventure and a warm liking for his comrade. + +"Well," he said, "I've no means except a small allowance which is so +tied up that it's difficult to borrow anything upon it, but it's at +your disposal as far as it goes. Suppose we keep this prospecting up." + +"If Clarke's mortgage doesn't stop me, I might raise a few dollars on +my farm," Benson remarked. "I'll throw them in with pleasure, because +I'm pretty deep in your debt." + +"Thanks," said Harding. "I'm sorry I can't agree, but I wouldn't take +your offer when you first made it, and I can't do so now my plan's a +failure. Anyway, we're doing some useless talking, because I don't see +how we're to go on prospecting or get south again when we have only +three or four days' food in hand." + +He stated an unpleasant truth which the others had characteristically +shirked, for Blake was often careless and Benson had taken the risks of +the journey with frank indifference, though they had the excuse that +after nearly starving once or twice they had succeeded in getting fresh +supplies. Now, however, their hearts sank as they thought of the +expanse of frozen wilderness that lay between them and the settlements. + +"Well," said Blake, "there's a Hudson's Bay factory somewhere to the +east of us. I can't tell how far off it is, though it must be a long +way, but if we could reach it, the agent might take us in." + +"How are you going to find the place?" + +"I don't know, but a Hudson's Bay post is generally fixed where there +are furs to be got, and there will, no doubt, be Indians trapping in +the neighbourhood. We must take our chances of hitting their tracks." + +"But we can't make a long march without food," Benson objected. + +"The trouble is that we can't stay here without it," Blake rejoined +with a short laugh. + +This was undeniable, and neither of his companions answered. They were +unkempt, worn out, and ragged, and had travelled a long way through +fresh snow on short rations in the past week. Ahead of them lay a vast +and almost untrodden desolation; behind them a rugged wilderness which +there seemed no probability of their being able to cross. Lured by the +hope of finding what they sought they had pushed on from point to +point, and now it was too late to return. + +By and by Blake got up. "Our best chance is to kill a caribou, and +this is the kind of country they generally haunt. Since the sooner we +look for one the better, I may as well start at once. There'll be a +moon to-night." + +He threw off his blanket and picking up a Marlin rifle, which was their +only weapon, strode out of camp, and as he was a good shot and tracker +they let him go. It was getting dark when he left the shelter of the +trees and the cold in the open struck through him like a knife. The +moon had not risen yet and the waste stretched away before him, its +whiteness changed to a soft blue-grey. In the distance scattered +bluffs rose in long dark smears, but there was nothing to indicate +which way he should turn, and he had no reason to believe there was a +caribou near the camp. As a matter of fact, they had found the larger +deer remarkably scarce. He was tired after breaking the trail since +sunrise, and the snow was loose beneath his big net shoes, but he +plodded towards the farthest bluff, feeling that he was largely to +blame for the party's difficulties. + +Knowing something of the country, he should have insisted on turning +back when he found they could obtain no dog-teams to transport their +supplies. Occasionally the Hudson's Bay agents and patrols of the +North-West Police made long journeys in Arctic weather, but they were +provided with proper sledges and sufficient preserved food. Indeed, +Blake was astonished that he and his comrades had got so far. He had, +however, given way to Harding, who hardly knew the risks he ran, and +now he supposed must take the consequences. This did not daunt him +badly. After all, life had not much to offer an outcast, and though he +had managed to extract some amusement from it he had nothing to look +forward to. There was no prospect of his making money--his talents +were not commercial--and the hardships he could bear with now would +press on him more heavily as he grew older. These considerations, +however, were too philosophical for him to continue. He was +essentially a man of action and feeling unpleasantly hungry, and he +quickened his pace, knowing that the chance of his getting a shot at a +caribou in the open was small. + +The moon had not risen when he reached the bluff, but the snow +reflected a faint light and he noticed a row of small depressions on +its surface. Kneeling down, he examined them, but there had been wind +during the day and the marks were blurred. He felt for a match, but +his fingers were too numbed to open the watertight case, and he +proceeded to measure the distance between the footprints. This was an +unreliable test because a big deer's stride varies with its pace, but +he thought the tracks indicated a caribou. Then he stopped, without +rising, and looked about. + +Close in front the trees rose in a shadowy wall against the clear blue +sky; there was no wind, and it was oppressively still. He could see +about a quarter of a mile across the open, but the darkness of the wood +was impenetrable and its silence daunting. The row of tracks was the +only sign of life he had seen for days. + +While he listened a faint howl came out of the distance and was +followed by another. After the deep silence, the sound was startling +and there was danger in it, for Blake recognized the cry of the timber +wolves. The big grey brutes would make short work of a lonely man and +his flesh crept as he wondered whether they were on his trail. On the +whole, it did not seem likely, though they might get scent of him, and, +rising to his feet, he felt that the rifle magazine was full before he +set off at his highest speed. + +The snow was loose, however, and his shoes packed and sank; his breath +got shorter, and he began to feel distressed. There was no sound +behind him, but that somehow increased his uneasiness and now and then +he anxiously turned his head. Nothing moved on the sweep of blue-grey +shadow and he pressed on, knowing how poor his speed was compared with +that the wolves were capable of making. At length it was with keen +satisfaction he saw a flicker of light break out from the dark mass of +a bluff ahead and a few minutes later he came, breathing hard, into +camp. + +"You haven't stayed out long," Benson remarked. "I suppose you saw +nothing." + +"I heard wolves," Blake answered drily. "You had better gather wood +enough to keep a big fire going, because I've no doubt they'll pick up +my trail. However, it's a promising sign." + +"I guess we could do without it," Harding broke in. "I've no use for +wolves." + +"They must live on something," Blake rejoined. "Since they're here, +there are probably moose or caribou in the neighbourhood. I'll have +another try to-morrow." + +"But the wolves." + +"They're not so bold in daylight. Anyhow, it seems to me we must take +some risks." + +This was obvious, and when they had heaped up a good supply of wood +Harding and Blake went to sleep, leaving Benson to keep watch. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE CARIBOU + +When Blake was awakened by Harding, the cold was almost unendurable, +and it cost him a determined effort to rise from the hollow he had +scraped out of the snow and lined with spruce twigs close beside the +fire. He had not been warm there, and it was significant that the snow +was dry, but sleep had brought him relief from discomfort and he had +found getting up the greatest hardship of the trying journey. In +answer to his drowsy questions, Harding said he had once or twice heard +a wolf howl in the distance, but that was all, and then lay down, +leaving Blake on guard. He sat with his back to a snowbank which +afforded some shelter and imagined from his sensations that the +temperature must be about fifty degrees below zero. The frost bit +through him, stiffening his muscles until he felt that if vigorous +movement were demanded of him he would be incapable of it, and dulling +his brain. He could not reason clearly, though he had things to +consider, and he looked about with heavy eyes, trying to forget his +physical discomfort, while his mind wandered through a maze of confused +thought. + +There was a half-moon in the sky, which was pitilessly clear, for +cloudiness might have made it warmer; when the firelight sank he could +see the slender spruce trunks cutting against the silvery radiance and +the hard glitter of the snow. Everything was tinted with blue and +white, and the deathly cold colouring depressed him. Then he began to +consider their position, which was serious. They were worn out and +half-fed; their furs were ragged, and shortage of money and the +difficulty of transport had forced them to cut down their camp +equipment. Indeed, looking back on the long march, he was surprised +that they had escaped crippling frostbite, although both Benson and +Harding were somewhat lame from the strain which the use of snowshoes +puts upon the muscles of the leg. There was, moreover, a risk of this +becoming dangerous. + +He imagined that it must be two hundred miles to the Hudson's Bay post +and recognized that the chances were against their reaching it; but +just then a howl rang, harsh and ominous, through the frosty air, and +with a nervous start he reached for his rifle. The wolves had scented +them, and, turning his back to the light, he spent some minutes gazing +fixedly at the glistening white patches among the straggling trees, but +could make out none of the stealthy, flitting shapes he had half +expected to see. It was encouraging that the wolves had not overcome +their timidity of the fire. Keen hunger might have driven them to an +attack, and Blake had no illusions about the result of that. However, +since the fierce brutes were not starving, they must have found +something to eat, and what a wolf could eat would feed men who were by +no means fastidious. Seeing nothing that alarmed him, Blake resumed +his musing. + +Their search for the gum had proved useless and he pitied Harding, who +had staked his future upon its success. The man had not complained +much, but Blake knew what he must feel and thought with compassion of +the lonely woman who had bravely sent his comrade out and was now +waiting for him in the mean discomfort of a cheap tenement. It was not +difficult to imagine her anxiety and suspense. + +Next he began to ponder his own affairs, which were not encouraging, +though he did not think he really regretted the self-sacrificing course +he had taken. His father had died involved in debt, and Blake +suspected that it had cost Challoner something to redeem the share of +his mother's property which brought him in a small income. That it had +been carefully tied up was not, he thought, enough to guard it from the +Blake extravagance and ingenuity in raising money. Afterwards the +Colonel had brought him up and sent him into the army, doing so with a +generous affection which was very different from cold charity, and +demanded some return. Then Bertram had never been jealous of the +favour shown his cousin, but had given him warm friendship, and Blake, +who was much the stronger, had now and then stood between the lad and +harm. He had done so again in Bertram's greatest need, and now he must +not grumble at the consequences. + +Of late they had seemed heavier than formerly, for in tempting him +Clarke had made a telling suggestion--suppose he married? This +appeared improbable; for one thing, no girl he was likely to be +attracted by would look with favour on a man with his reputation, but +he had thought a good deal about Millicent Graham during the weary +march. He imagined that she had inherited enough of her father's +reckless character to make her willing to take a risk. She would not +have a man betray his friend for an advantage that he might gain; she +had a courage that would help her, for love's sake, to tread a +difficult path. Still, there was no reason to believe that she had any +love for him, or indeed that she thought of him except as a stranger to +whom she had, perhaps, some reason to be grateful. Resolutely breaking +off this train of thought, he threw fresh wood upon the fire and sat +shivering and making plans for the march to the factory, until Benson +relieved him. When the grey dawn broke above the trees he got up stiff +with cold and after eating his share of a very frugal breakfast +carefully examined his rifle. Though he kept it clean of superfluous +grease, there was some risk of the striker and magazine-slide freezing, +and a missfire might prove disastrous. Then he glanced up between the +branches and noticed the low, dingy sky, while he thought it was not +quite so cold. + +"I'm going to look for a caribou," he said. "I'll be back by dark." + +"We'll have snow," said Harding. "If there's much, you'll find it hard +to get home." + +"I'd find it harder to do without breakfast and supper, which is what +may happen very soon," Blake rejoined. "One can eat the _tripe de +roche_ which grows upon the stones, but I don't know where to look for +it, and a North-West Police trooper who once tried it told me that it +made him very ill." + +"Anyway, you had better take one of us along." + +"With the axe?" Blake said, laughing. "It's bad enough to reach a +caribou with a rifle, and Benson's as poor a hand at stalking as I +know, while a day's rest may save you from getting a snowshoe leg. As +we haven't a sledge, it would be awkward to carry you to the factory." + +They let him go, but when he reached the open his face hardened. The +sky had a threatening look, the snow was soft, and there were wolves +about, but he was comparatively safe while daylight lasted and food +must be found. During the morning he saw wolf tracks, but no sign of a +deer, and at noon sat down for a few minutes in a sheltered hollow and +managed to light the half-frozen pipe he kept in an inner pocket. He +had brought nothing to eat, since they had decided that it would be +prudent to dispense with a midday meal, and getting stiffly on his feet +by and by, he plodded from bluff to bluff throughout the afternoon. +For the most part, they were thin and the trees very small, while so +far as he could make out the country between them was covered with +slabs of rocks and stones. It was utterly empty, with no sign of life +in it, but he continued his search until the light began to fail, when +he stopped to look about. + +No snow had fallen, but the sky was very thick and a stinging wind had +risen, while he would have trouble in reaching camp if his trail got +drifted up. He knew he should have turned back earlier, but there was +what seemed to be an extensive wood in front, and he could not face the +thought of returning empty-handed to his scanty, unearned supper. The +grey trees were not far away; he might reach them and make a mile or +two on the back trail before dark, though he was weary and hunger had +given him a pain in his left side. + +Quickening his pace, he neared the bluff, which looked very black and +shadowy against the snow, though the latter was fading to a curious, +lifeless grey. The trees were stunted and scattered, which made it +possible for him to get through, though there were half-covered, fallen +branches which entangled his big shoes. He could see no tracks of any +animal and hardly expected to do so, but in a savage mood he held on +without much caution until he entered a belt of broken ground strewn +with rocky hillocks. Here he could not see where he was going and it +was almost dark in the hollows, but he had found that chance sometimes +favours the hunter as much as careful stalking. Stopping for breath a +moment, half way up a steep ascent, he started, for a shadowy object +unexpectedly appeared upon the summit. It was barely distinguishable +against the background of trees, but he saw the broad-tined horns in an +opening and knew it for a caribou. + +There was no time to lose, since the swift creature would take flight +in an instant, and almost as he caught sight of it the rifle went up to +his shoulder. For a moment the foresight wavered across the indistinct +form, and then his numbed hands grew steady, and, trusting that nothing +would check the frost-clogged action, he pressed the trigger. He felt +the jar of the butt, a little smoke blew in his eyes, and he could make +out nothing on the crest of the ridge. It, however, seemed impossible +that he had missed and next moment he heard a heavy floundering in the +snow among the rocks above. He went up the slope at a savage run and +plunged down a precipitous hollow, on the farther side of which a +half-seen object was moving through the gloom of the trees. Stopping a +moment, he threw up the rifle and after the thin red flash the deer +staggered and collapsed. + +Running on in desperate haste, he fell upon it with his hunting knife; +and then stopped, feeling strangely limp and breathless, with the long +blade dripping in his hand. Now the caribou lay dead before him, the +strain of the last few minutes made itself felt. Surprised when +exhausted and weak from want of food by an opportunity he had not +looked for, he had forced upon himself sufficient steadiness to shoot. +It had cost him an effort; the short fierce chase had tried him hard, +and now the reaction had set in. For all that, he was conscious of a +savage, exultant excitement. Here was food, and food meant life. + +His first impulse was to light a fire and feast, but as he grew calmer +he began to think. He was a long way from camp and feared that if he +rested he could not force himself to resume the march. Besides, there +were the wolves to reckon with, and he could not escape if they +followed him in the dark. Prudence suggested that he should cut off as +much meat as possible, and after placing it out of reach in a tree set +off for camp at his best speed without taking any of the raw flesh to +scent the air; but this was more than he could bring himself to do. +His comrades were very hungry, and some animal might climb to the +frozen meat. It was unthinkable that he should run any risk of losing +the precious food. He decided to take as much as he could carry and +make a depot of the rest, and set to work with the hunting knife in +anxious haste. + +It was now quite dark; he could not see what he was cutting, and if he +gashed his hand, which was numbed and almost useless, the wound would +not heal. Then the haft of the knife grew slippery and tough skin and +bone turned the wandering blade. It was an unpleasant business, but he +was not fastidious and he tore the flesh off with his fingers, knowing +that he was in danger while he worked. There were wolves in the +neighbourhood, and their scent for blood was wonderfully keen; it was a +question whether they would reach the spot before he had left it, and +when he stopped to clean the knife in the snow he cast a swift glance +about. + +He could see nothing farther off than a fallen trunk about a dozen +yards away; beyond that the trees had faded into a sombre mass. A +biting wind wailed among them, and he could hear the harsh rustle of +the needles, but except for this there was a daunting silence. He +began to feel a horror of the lonely wood and a longing to escape into +the open, though he would be no safer there. But to give way to this +weakness would be dangerous and, pulling himself together, he went to +work more calmly. + +It was difficult to reach the branches of the spruce he chose, and when +he had placed the first load of meat in safety he was tempted to +flight. Indeed, for some moments he stood irresolute, struggling to +hold his fears in subjection; and then went back for another supply. +He climbed the tree three times before he was satisfied that he had +stored enough, and afterwards gathered up as much of the flesh as he +could conveniently carry. It would soon freeze, but not before it had +left a scent that any wolf which might happen to be near could follow. + +He left the wood with a steady stride, refraining from attempting a +faster pace than he could keep up, but when he had gone a mile he felt +distressed. + +His load, which included the rifle, was heavy, and he had been exerting +himself since early morning. The wind was in his face, lashing it +until the cold became intolerable, the dry snow was loose, and he could +not find his outward trail. Still, he was thankful that no more had +fallen and thought he knew the quarter he must make for. Now he was in +the open, he could see some distance, for the snow threw up a dim +light. It stretched away before him, a sweep of glimmering grey, and +the squeaking crunch it made beneath his shoes emphasized the silence. + +Skirting a bluff he did not remember, he stopped in alarm until a +taller clump of trees which he thought he knew caught his searching +eyes. If he were right, he must incline farther to the east to strike +the shortest line to camp, and he set off, breathing heavily and +longing to fling away his load. Cold flakes stung his face and a +creeping haze obscured his view in the direction where he expected to +find the next wood. He was within a hundred yards of the nearest trees +when he saw them and as he left the last it was snowing hard. His +heart sank as he launched out into the open, for he had now no guide, +and having neither axe nor blanket he could not make a fire and camp in +a bluff, even if he could find one. It looked as if he must perish +should he fail to reach the camp. The thought of the wolves no longer +troubled him, but when he had gone a mile or two he imagined he heard a +howl behind him and quickened his speed. + +After that he had only a hazy recollection of floundering on, passing a +bluff he could not locate and here there and a white rock, while the +snow fell thicker and its surface got worse. Then, when he felt he +could go no farther, a faint glow of light broke out and he turned +towards it with a hoarse cry. An answer reached him; the light grew +brighter, and he was in among the trees. Benson met him, and in +another minute or two he flung himself down, exhausted by the fire. + +"I've brought you your supper, boys," he said. "We'll have a feast +to-night." + +They ate with keen appetite and afterwards went to sleep, but when they +reached the wood next morning nothing was left of the caribou except +the meat in the tree and a few clean-picked bones. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE FACTORY + +Light snow was driving across the waste before a savage wind when the +party sat at breakfast one morning a fortnight after Blake had shot the +caribou. They had spent the first two days enjoying a badly needed +rest, but the rest of the time had been passed in forced marches which +severely taxed their strength. Part of their way, however, had lain +across open country, for they were near the northern edge of the timber +belt, and the straggling trees, dwarfed and bent by the wind, ran east +and west in a deeply indented line. In some places they boldly +stretched out towards the Pole in long promontories; in others they +fell back in wide bays which Blake, steering by compass, held straight +across and afterwards again plunged into the scrub. Three days were +spent in struggling through the broadest tongue, but as a rule, a few +hours' arduous march brought them out into the open. Even there the +ground was very rough and broken, and they were thankful for the +numerous frozen creeks and lakes which provided an easier road. + +Pushing on stubbornly, camping where they could find shelter and wood, +since they could hardly have survived a night spent without a fire in +the open, they had made, by calculation, two hundred miles, and Blake +believed they might by a determined effort reach the Hudson's Bay post +about nightfall. This was necessary since their strength was nearly +exhausted, and provisions had run out, but an Indian trapper whom they +had met two days before had given them directions and landmarks, some +of which they recognized. + +Day had broken, but there was little light and Blake, looking out from +behind a slab of rock in the shelter of which a few junipers clung, +thought that three or four miles would be the longest distance that he +could see. This was peculiarly unfortunate, because he understood that +their course led across a wide untimbered stretch, on the opposite side +of which one or two isolated bluffs would indicate the neighbourhood of +the factory. Disastrous consequences might follow the missing of these +woods. + +A pannikin of weak tea made from leaves which had already been once or +twice infused stood among the embers, and by and by Benson, who was +dividing the last of the meat, held up a piece. + +"I had thought of saving this, but it hardly seems worth while," he +said. "If we make the factory, we'll get a good supper." + +"You don't mention what will happen if we miss it," Harding remarked +with grim humour. "Anyhow, that piece of meat won't make much +difference. What do you think, Blake?" + +Blake forced a cheerful laugh. "Put it all in; we're going to make the +post; as a matter of fact, we have to. How's the leg this morning?" + +"I don't think it's worse than it was last night," Harding answered. +"If I'm careful how I go, it ought to stand another journey." + +He made a grimace as he stretched out the limb, which was very sore, +for during the last few days the strain the snowshoe threw on the +muscles had nearly disabled him. Now he knew it would be difficult to +hold out for another journey, but he had grown accustomed to pain and +weariness and hunger. They were, he imagined, the lot of all who +braved the rigours of winter in the northern wilds. + +"Well," said Benson, "there's no use in carrying anything that's not +strictly needful and the empty grub-bag may stay behind. Then here's a +pair of worn out moccasins I was keeping as a stand by. I should be +able to get new ones at the factory." + +"It's still some distance off," Harding drily reminded him. + +"If we don't make it, the chances are that I won't need the things. +But what about your collection of gum?" + +Nothing had been said on this point for some time, but Harding's face +wore a curious look as he took up a bag which weighed three or four +pounds. + +"Some of the stuff might be used for low-grade varnish, but that's not +what I'm out for. I've been trying to believe that a few of the +specimens might prove better on analysis, but I guess it's a delusion." + +With a quick resolute movement he threw the bag into the fire and when +the resin flared up with a thick brown smoke the others regarded him +with silent sympathy. This was the end of the project he had expected +so much from, but it was obvious that he could meet failure with +fortitude. Nothing that would serve any purpose could be said, and +they quietly strapped on their blankets. + +There was not much snow when they set off and fortunately the wind blew +behind them, but the white haze narrowed in the prospect and Blake, who +broke the trail, kept his eyes upon the compass. He was not quite sure +of the right line, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that he was, +at least, going straight. After a few minutes, Harding glanced behind. +Their camping place had vanished, they were out in an open waste, and +he knew that he had started on the last march he was capable of making. +Where it would lead him he could not tell, though the answer to the +question was of vital importance. + +For a time he thought of his wife and wondered with keen anxiety what +would become of her if his strength gave way before they reached the +post, but he drove these cares out of his mind. It was dangerous to +harbour them and served no purpose; his part was to struggle on, +swinging the net shoes while he grappled with the pain each step caused +him. He shrank from contemplating the distance yet to be covered; it +seemed vast to him in his weakness, and he felt himself a feeble, +crippled thing. Soft snow and Arctic cold opposed his advance with +malignant force, but his worn-out body still obeyed the spur of his +will, and he roused himself to fight for the life that had some value +to another. He must march, dividing up the distance into short stages +that had less effect upon the imagination; limping forward from the +ice-glazed rock abreast of him to the white hillock which loomed up +dimly where the snow blurred the horizon. Then he would again look +ahead from some patch of scrub to the most prominent elevation that he +could see. + +The marks he chose and passed seemed innumerable, but the wilderness +still ran on, pitilessly empty, in front of him. His leg was horribly +painful, he knew he must break down soon, and they had seen nothing of +a stony rise they were looking for. To find it would simplify matters, +because the Indian had made them understand that the bluffs about the +post lay nearly east of it. + +Noon passed and they still pressed forward without a halt, for there +was little more than three hours' daylight left, and it was unthinkable +that they should spend the night without food or shelter. The horizon +steadily narrowed as the snow thickened; there was a risk of their +passing the guiding-marks or even the factory. + +It was nearly three o'clock when Harding stumbled and falling into the +snow found himself unable to get up until Benson helped him. In his +attempt to rise he further strained his weakened leg and for a moment +or two he leaned on his companion, his face contorted with pain. + +"The fall seems to have hurt you," Benson said sympathetically. + +"I'll have to go on," Harding gasped and, setting his teeth, strode +forward, made a few paces with horrible pain, and then sank down on his +knees. + +The others stopped in consternation and Blake said, "If I've kept the +right line, we can't be far from the factory." + +"I'm played out," said Harding. "You'll have to leave me here. If you +make the post, you can come back with a sledge." + +"No," Blake answered shortly. "How are we to find you with our trail +drifting up? Besides, you'd be frozen in a few hours. If you can't +walk, you'll have to be carried. Get hold of him, Benson." + +Benson lifted him to his feet, Blake seized his arm, and, both +supporting him, they resumed the march. Leaning on them heavily, +Harding was dragged along, and they silenced the feeble protests he +made now and then. + +"Stop talking that rot! We see this out together," Blake told him +roughly. + +None of them had much doubt as to what the end would be, but they +stubbornly held on. Nothing further was said; Blake and Benson's +pinched faces were set and stern and Harding's drawn up in a ghastly +fashion by suffering. Still, their overtaxed muscles somehow obeyed +the relentless call on them. + +At length, when the light had almost gone, Benson stepped into a slight +depression that slanted across their path. + +"Hold on!" he cried hoarsely. "Look at this!" + +Blake stooped while Harding, swaying awkwardly with bent leg, held on +to him. The hollow was small, a smooth groove of slightly lower level +than the rest of the snow. + +"A sledge trail!" he said in an exultant voice. "Drifted up a bit, but +they've been hauling lumber over it and that means a good deal to us." +He indicated a shallow furrow a foot or two outside the groove. +"That's been made by the butt of a trailing log. The Indian said there +were bluffs near the post and they wouldn't haul their cordwood farther +than necessary." + +Then they were silent for a few moments, overcome by relief. They had +now a guide to shelter and safety, but when they had gathered breath +Blake steadied Harding, who found standing difficult, with his arm. + +"We must make a move and hustle all we can," he said. "It will be dark +in half an hour and the snow won't take long in filling up the trail." + +The risk of missing the factory, which might be close at hand, was not +to be faced, and they pulled themselves together for a last effort; +Blake and Benson breathing hard as they dragged Harding along. The +light was rapidly going, now they had changed their course the snow +lashed their faces, making it difficult to see, and they plodded +forward with lowered heads and eyes fixed on the guiding-line. It grew +faint in places and vanished altogether after a while. Then they +stopped in dismay, and Blake went down upon his knees scraping with +ragged mittens in the snow. + +"I can't see which way it runs, but it certainly doesn't end here," he +said. "Go ahead and look for it, Benson, but don't get out of call." + +Benson moved forward and when he faded into the cloud of driving flakes +those he left behind were conscious of a keen uneasiness. They could +only see a few yards, it was blowing fresh and the wind might carry +their voices away, while if this happened the chances were against +their comrade's being able to rejoin them. By and by Blake shouted and +the answer was reassuring. They waited for a time and then when they +cried out a hail came back very faintly: "Nothing yet!" + +"Keep closer!" Blake shouted, but it seemed that Benson did not hear +him, for there was no reply. + +"Hadn't you better go after him?" Harding suggested. + +"No," said Blake shortly. "It would make things worse to scatter." He +raised his voice. "Come back before your tracks fill up." + +The silence that followed filled them with alarm, but while they +listened in strained suspense a minute or two later a faint call came +out of the snow. The words were indistinguishable, but the voice had +an exultant note in it, and Blake said with deep relief, "He has found +the trail." + +It was difficult to see the print of Benson's shoes and Harding could +not move a step alone, but they called out at intervals as Blake slowly +helped him along, and at length a shadowy object loomed in front of +them. As they came up Benson pointed to a slight depression. + +"We can follow it if it gets no fainter, but there's no time to lose," +he said. "It might be safer if I went first and kept my eye on the +trail." + +He shuffled forward with lowered head while Blake came behind, helping +Harding as best he could, and all three long remembered the next half +hour. Once or twice they lost the trail and were seized with despair, +but searching anxiously they found it again. At length a pale, elusive +light appeared amidst the snow ahead and they saw it grow clearer with +keen satisfaction. When it had changed to a strong yellow glow they +passed a broken white barrier which Blake supposed was a ruined +stockade, and the hazy mass of a building showed against the snow. +Then there was a loud barking of dogs, and while they sought for the +door a stream of light suddenly shone out with a man's dark figure in +the midst of it. + +Next minute they entered the house and Harding lurching forward across +the floor of a large room, clutched at a table and then fell with a +crash into a chair. After the extreme cold outside, the air was +suffocatingly hot and, overcome by the change and pain, he leaned back +with flushed face and half closed eyes. His companions stood still, +with the snow thick upon their ragged furs, and the other man shut the +door before he turned to them. + +"A rough night," he said calmly. "Ye might as weel sit down. Where do +ye hail from?" + +Blake laughed as he found a seat. He imagined that their appearance +must have been somewhat startling, but he knew it takes a good deal to +disturb the equanimity of a Hudson's Bay Scot. + +"From Sweetwater, but we have been up in the timber belt since winter +set in. Now we have run out of provisions and my partner's lamed by +snowshoe trouble." + +"Ay," said the other, "I suspected something o' the kind. But maybe +ye'll be wanting supper?" + +"I believe, if we were put to it, we could eat half a caribou," Benson +told him with a grin. + +"It's no to be had," the Scot answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "I +can give ye a good thick bannock and some whitefish. Our stores are no +so plentiful the now." + +They took off their furs and glanced about the place while their host +was busy at the stove. The room was large, its walls of narrow logs +chinked with clay and moss. Guns and steel traps hung upon them, the +floor was made of uneven boards which had obviously been split in the +nearest bluff, and the furniture was of the simplest and rudest +description. It had, however, an air of supreme comfort to the +famishing newcomers, and after the first few minutes they found it +delightfully warm. They ate the food given them ravenously and +afterwards the agent brought Harding some warm water and examined his +leg. + +"Ye'll no walk far for a while I'm thinking," he remarked. "Rest it on +the chair here and sit ye still." + +Harding was glad to comply and lighting their pipes they began to talk. +Their host, who told them his name was Robertson, was a rather +hard-featured man of middle age. + +"I'm all my lone; my clerk's away with the breeds at the Swan lake," he +said. "Where are ye making for?" + +"For the south," said Blake. "We came here for shelter, badly tired, +and want to hire a dog team and a half-breed guide if possible, as soon +as my partner's fit to travel. Then we want provisions." + +"I'm afraid I cannot supply ye. Our stores are low--we got few fish +and caribou the year, and we have not a team to spare." + +"Well," said Benson, "I don't suppose you'll turn us out, and we'd be +glad to pay for our accommodation. We have no wish to take the trail +again without food or transport." + +Robertson looked thoughtful. "Ye might wait a week or two; and then +we'll maybe see better what can be done." + +He asked them a few questions about their journey, and by and by +Harding took the piece of gum from its case. + +"I guess you have seen nothing like this round here?" + +"No," said Robertson, who examined it carefully. "I have made it my +business to study the natural products o' the district, and it's my +opinion ye'll find no gum of this kind in the northern timber belt." + +"I expect you're right. Leaving furs out, if the country's rich in +anything, it's probably minerals." + +"There's copper and some silver, but I've seen no ore that would pay +for working when ye consider the transport." + +"I don't suppose you're anxious to encourage prospecting," Benson +suggested. + +Robertson smiled. "If there was a rich strike, we would no object. +We're here to trade, and supplying miners is no quite so chancy as +dealing in furs; but to have a crowd from the settlements disturbing +our preserves and going away after finding nothing of value would not +suit us. Still I'm thinking, it's no likely; the distance and the +winter will keep them out." + +"Did you ever see signs of oil?" + +"No here; there's petroleum three hundred miles south, but no enough, +in my opinion, to pay for driving wells. Onyway, the two prospecting +parties that once came up didna come back again." + +He left them presently, and when they heard him moving about an +adjoining room, Harding said, "We'll stay here for a time and then look +for that petroleum on our way to the settlements." + +Blake, who agreed, thought this determination was characteristic of his +comrade. Harding's project had failed, but instead of being crushed by +disappointment, he was already considering another. While they talked +about it Robertson returned, and shortly afterwards they went to sleep. + + + + +CHAFFER XXV + +THE BACK TRAIL + +Blake and his friends spent three weeks at the Hudson's Bay post, and +throughout the first fortnight an icy wind hurled the snow against the +quivering building. It was dangerous to venture as far as a +neighbouring bluff where fuel had been cut, and one evening Benson and +the agent, who were hauling cordwood home, narrowly escaped from death +in the suddenly freshening storm. None of the half-breeds could reach +the factory and Robertson confessed to some anxiety about them; there +was little that could be done, and they spent the dreary days lounging +about the red-hot stove, and listening to the roar of the gale. In the +long evenings Robertson told them grim stories of the North. + +Then there came a week of still, clear weather with intense frost, and +when several of the trappers arrived Robertson suggested that his +guests had better accompany a man who was going some distance south +with a dog team. He could, however, only spare them a scanty supply of +food, and they knew that a long forced march lay before them when they +had left their guide. + +Day was breaking when the dogs were harnessed to the sledge, and +Harding and his companions, shivering in their furs, felt a strong +reluctance to leave the factory. It was a rude place and very lonely, +but they had enjoyed warmth and food there, and their physical nature +shrank from the toil and bitter cold. None of them wished to linger in +the North, and Harding least of all, but it was daunting to contemplate +the distance that lay between them and the settlements. Strong effort +and stern endurance would be required of them before they rested beside +a hearth again. + +There was no wind, the smoke went straight up and then, spreading out, +hung above the roof in a motionless cloud; the snow had a strange +ghostly glimmer in the creeping light, and the cold bit to the bone. +It was with a pang they bade their host farewell, and followed the +half-breed, who ran down the slope from the door after his team. +Robertson was going back to sit, warm and well-fed, by his stove, but +they could not tell what hardships awaited them. + +Their depression, however, vanished after a time. The snow was good +for travelling, the dogs trotted fast, and the half-breed grunted +approval of their speed as he pointed to landmarks that proved it when +they stopped at noon. After that they held on until dark, and made +camp among a few junipers in the shelter of a rock. All had gone well +the first day, Harding's leg no longer troubled him, and there was +comfort in travelling light with their packs upon the sledge. The +journey began to look less formidable, and gathering close round the +fire they ate their supper cheerfully while the dogs fought over the +scraps of frozen fish. Harding, however, had some misgivings about +their ability to keep the pace up; he thought that in a day or two it +would tell on the white men. + +Nothing disturbed their sleep, which was sound, for the cold has less +effect on the man who is fresh and properly fed. Breakfast was quickly +dispatched, and after a short struggle with the dogs they set out +again. It was another good day, and they travelled fast, over a +rolling tableland on which the snow smoothed out the inequalities among +the rocks. Bright sunshine streamed down on them, the sledge ran +easily up the slopes and down the hollows, and looking back when they +nooned Harding noticed the straightness of their course. Picked out in +delicate shades of blue against the unbroken white surface surrounding +it, the sledge trail ran back with scarcely a waver to the crest of a +rise two miles away. This was not how they had journeyed north, with +the icy wind in their faces, laboriously struggling round broken ridges +and through tangled woods. Harding was a sanguine man, but experience +warned him to prepare for much less favourable conditions. It was not +often the wilderness showed a smiling face. + +Still, the fine weather held and they were deep in the timber when they +parted from their guide on a frozen stream which he must follow while +they pushed south across a rugged country. He was not a companionable +person, and spoke only a few words of barbarous French, but they were +sorry to see the last of him when he left them with a friendly +farewell. He had brought them speedily a long distance on their way, +but they must now trust to the compass and their own resources, while +the loads they strapped on were unpleasantly heavy. Before this task +was finished dogs and driver had vanished up the white riband of the +stream, and they felt lonely as they stood in the bottom of the gorge +with steep rocks and dark pines hemming them in. Blake glanced at the +high bank with a rueful smile. + +"There are advantages in having a good guide, and we hadn't to face a +climb like that all the way," he said. "Anyhow, we had better get up." + +It cost them some labour and, after reaching the summit they stopped to +look for the easiest road. Ahead, as far as they could see, small, +ragged pines grew among the rocks, and breaks in the uneven surface +hinted at troublesome ravines. + +"It looks rough," said Benson. "There's rather a high ridge yonder. +It might save trouble to work round its end. What do you think?" + +"When I'm not sure," said Harding, "I mean to go straight south." + +Benson gave him a sympathetic nod. "One can understand that; you have +better reasons for getting back than the rest of us, though I've no +particular wish to loiter up here. Break the trail, Blake; due south +by compass!" + +They plunged deeper into the broken belt, clambering down ravines, +crossing frozen lakes and snowy creeks. Indeed, they were thankful +when a strip of level surface indicated water, for the toil of getting +through the timber was heavy. After two days of travel there was a +yellow sunset, and the snow gleamed in the lurid light with an ominous +brilliance, while as they made their fire a moaning wind got up. These +things presaged a change in the weather, and they were rather silent +over the evening meal. They missed the half-breed and the snarling +dogs, while it looked as if the good fortune that had so far attended +them was coming to an end. + +Next morning there was a low, brooding sky, and at noon snow began to +fall, but they kept on until evening over very rough ground and then +held a council round the fire. + +"The situation requires some thought," Blake remarked. "First of all, +our provisions won't carry us through the timber belt. Now the +shortest course to the prairie, where the going will be easier, is due +south, but after we get there we'll have a long march to the +settlements. I'd partly counted on our killing a caribou or perhaps a +moose, but so far we've seen no tracks." + +"There must be some smaller beasts that the Indians eat," Benson +suggested. + +"None of us knows where to look for them, and we haven't much time to +spare for hunting." + +"That's so," Harding agreed. "What's your plan?" + +"I'm in favour of heading south-west. It may mean an extra hundred +miles, or more, but it would bring us nearer the Stony village, and +afterwards the logging camp on the edge of the timber, where we might +get supplies." + +"It's understood that the Indians are often half starved in winter," +Benson observed. "For all that, they might have had good luck, and +anyhow we couldn't cross the prairie with an empty grub-sack. My +vote's for striking off to the west." + +Harding concurred, though as his leg had threatened further trouble +during the last day or two, he would have preferred the shorter route. +Then Blake asked him: "What about the petroleum?" + +"We can't stop to look for it unless we can lay in a good stock of +food, and I don't suppose we could do much prospecting with the snow +upon the ground." He paused a moment with a thoughtful air. "When we +reach the settlement I must go home, but if the dollars can be raised, +I'll be back as soon as the thaw comes to try for the oil. Clarke's an +unusually smart man, and there's no doubt he's on the trail." + +"We'll raise enough money somehow," Benson told him, and Blake +signified his agreement with a nod. Then they dropped into casual talk +which lasted until they went to sleep. + +When dawn came it was snowing hard, and for a week they made poor +progress with a bitter gale driving the flakes in their faces, while +rations were cut down as the distance covered daily steadily lessened. +Harding's leg was getting sore, but he did not mean to speak of this +unless it was necessary. They were, however, approaching the +neighbourhood of the Indian village and Blake began to speculate upon +the probability of their finding its inhabitants at home. He +understood that the Stonies wandered about, and realized with +uneasiness that it would be singularly unfortunate if they were away on +a hunting trip. + +At length, after laboriously climbing the rough but gently rising slope +of a long divide all one blustering day, they camped on a high +tableland, and lay awake, too cold to sleep, beside a sulky, greenwood +fire. In the morning it was difficult to get upon their feet, but as +the light grew clearer, the prospect they looked down upon seized their +attention. The hill summits were wrapped in leaden cloud, but a valley +opened up below. It was wider and deeper than any they had met with +since leaving the factory, the bottom looked unusually level, and it +ran roughly south. + +They gazed at it in silence for a time; and then Harding said, "I've a +notion that this is the valley where Blake fell sick, and it's going to +straighten out things for us if I'm right." + +"That's so," Benson agreed. "We would be sure of striking the Stony +village, and we could afterwards follow the low ground right down to +the river. With the muskegs frozen solid, it ought to make an easy +road." + +Blake was conscious of keen satisfaction, but there was still a doubt. + +"We'll know more about it after another march," he said. + +No snow fell that morning, and as their packs were ominously light they +made good speed across the hill benches and down a ravine where they +scrambled among the boulders of a frozen creek. It was a grey day +without the rise in temperature that often accompanies cloudiness, and +the light was strangely dim. Rocks and pines melted into one another +at a short distance, and leaden haze obscured the lower valley. Blake +was, however, becoming sure it was the one they had travelled up and, +dispensing with the usual noon halt, they pushed on as fast as +possible. All were anxious to set their doubts at rest, for there was +now a prospect of obtaining food and shelter in a few days, but they +recognized no landmarks, and with the approach of evening the frost +grew very keen. The haze drew in closer, the scattered pines they +passed wailed drearily in a rising wind, and the men were tired, but +they could see no suitable camping place and held on, looking for +thicker timber. + +It was getting dark when a belt of trees stretched across the valley, +and they were thinking of stopping, when Benson, who led the way, cried +out. + +"What is it?" Harding asked. + +Benson hesitated. "Well," he said, "the thing doesn't seem probable, +but I believe I saw a light. Anyway, it's gone." + +They stopped, gazing eagerly into the gloom. A light meant that there +were men not far off, and after the grim desolation they had travelled +through all were conscious of a longing for human society. Besides, +the strangers would, no doubt, have something to eat and might be +cooking a plentiful supper. There was, however, nothing to be seen +until Blake moved a few yards to one side. Then he turned to Benson +with a cheerful laugh. + +"You were right; I can see a glimmer about a mile ahead. I wonder who +the fellows are, though that's not important." + +They set off as fast as they could go, though travelling among the +fallen branches and slanting trees was difficult in the dark. Now and +then they lost their beacon, but the brightening glow shone out again +and when it was visible Blake watched it with surprise. It was low, +and he thought hardly large enough for a fire, besides which it had a +curious irregular flicker. Drawing nearer, they dipped into a hollow +where they could only distinguish a faint brightness beyond the rising +ground ahead which they eagerly ascended. Reaching the summit, they +saw the light plainly, but it was very small, and there were no figures +outlined against it. Benson shouted, and all three felt a shock of +disappointment when he got no answer. + +He ran as fast as his snowshoes would let him, smashing through brush, +floundering over snowy stones, with Blake and Harding stumbling, short +of breath, behind; and then stopped with a hoarse cry close to the +light. There was nobody about, and the blaze sprang up mysteriously +from the frozen ground. + +"A blower of natural gas," said Harding in an excited tone. "In a +sense, we've had our run for nothing, but this may be worth a good deal +more than your supper." + +"If I had the option, I'd trade all the natural gas in Canada for a +thick, red moose steak, and a warm place to sleep in," Benson savagely +rejoined. "Anyhow, it will help us to light our fire, and we have a +bit of whitefish and a few hard bannocks left." + +Blake shared his comrade's disappointment. He was tired and hungry, +and felt irritated by Harding's satisfaction. For all that, he chopped +wood and made camp, and their frugal supper was half eaten before he +turned to the American. + +"Now," he said, "you may as well tell us what you think about this gas." + +"First of all," Harding answered good-humouredly, "it indicates that +there's oil somewhere about; the two generally go together. Anyhow, if +there were only gas, it would be worth exploiting so long as we found +enough of it, but judging by the pressure there's not much here." + +"What would you do with gas in this wilderness?" + +"In due time, I or somebody else would build a town. Fuel's power and +if you could get it cheap I expect you'd find minerals that would pay +for working. Men with money in Montreal and New York are looking for +openings like this, and no place is too remote to build a railroad to +if you can ensure freight." + +"You're the most sanguine man I ever met," Blake said, grinning. "Take +care your optimism doesn't ruin you." + +"I wonder," Harding continued, "whether Clarke knows about this gas, +and on the whole I think it probable. We can't be very far from the +Stony camp, and there's reason to believe he's been prospecting this +district. It's oil he's out for." + +"How did the thing get lighted?" Benson asked in an indifferent tone. + +Harding smiled as he gave him a sharp glance. He had failed in his +search for the gum and did not expect his companions to share his +enthusiasm over a new plan. They had, however, promised to support +him, and that was enough, for he believed he might yet show them the +way to prosperity. + +"Well," he said, "I guess I can't blame you for not feeling very keen, +but that's not the point. I can't answer what you ask, and I believe +our forest wardens are now and then puzzled about how bush fires get +started. We have crossed big belts of burnt trees in a country where +we saw no signs of Indians." + +"If this blower has been burning long, the Stonies must have known of +it," Blake remarked. "Isn't it curious that no news of it has reached +the settlements?" + +"I'm not sure," Harding rejoined. "They may venerate the thing, and +anyway, they're smart in some respects. They know that where the white +men come their people are rounded up on reserves, and I guess they'd +sooner have the whole country to themselves for trapping and fishing. +Then Clarke may have persuaded them to say nothing." + +"It's possible," Blake said thoughtfully. "We'll push on for their +camp first thing to-morrow." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE RESCUE + +Starting at daybreak, they reached a hillside overlooking the Stony +village on the third afternoon. Surrounded by willows and ragged +spruces the conical tepees rose in the plain beneath, but Blake, who +was leading, stopped abruptly as he caught sight of them. They were +white to the apex, where the escaping heat of the fire within generally +melted the snow, and no curl of smoke floated across the clearing. The +village was ominously silent and had a deserted look. + +"I'm very much afraid Clarke's friends are not at home," he said with +forced calm. "We'll know more about it in half an hour; that is, if +you think it worth while to go down." + +The others were silent a moment, struggling with their disappointment. +They had made a toilsome journey to reach the village, their food was +nearly exhausted, and it would cost them two days to return to the +valley which was their best road to the south. + +Then Harding said, "Now we're here, we may as well spend another hour +over the job. It's possible they haven't packed all their stores +along." + +His companions suspected that they were wasting time, but they followed +him down hill, until Benson, who was a short distance to one side of +them, called out. When they joined him he indicated a row of footsteps +leading up the slope. + +"That fellow hasn't been gone very long; there was snow yesterday," he +said. "By the line he took, he must have passed near us. I wonder why +he stayed on after the others." + +Blake examined the footsteps carefully, and compared them with the +impress of his own snowshoes. + +"It's obvious that they can't be older than yesterday afternoon," he +said. "From their depth and sharpness, I should judge that the fellow +was carrying a good load, which probably means that he meant to be some +time gone. The stride suggests a white man." + +"Clarke," said Harding. "He seems to be up here pretty often, though I +can't see how he'd do much prospecting in the winter." + +"It's possible," Blake rejoined. "Anyhow, the point doesn't seem to +matter, and I'm anxious to find out whether there's anything to eat in +the tepees." + +They hurried on, and discovered only a few skins in the first tent. +Then, separating, they eagerly searched the rest without result, and +when they met again were forced to the conclusion that there was no +food in the place. It was about three o'clock and a threatening +afternoon. The light was dim and a savage wind blew the snow about. +They stood with gloomy faces in the shelter of the largest tepee, +feeling that luck was hard against them. + +"These northern Indians have often to put up with short commons while +the snow lies," Benson remarked. "No doubt, they set off for some +place where game's more plentiful when they found their grub running +out, and as they've all gone the chances are that they won't come back +soon. We've had our trouble for nothing, but we may as well camp here. +With a big fire going, one could make this tepee warm." + +The others felt strongly tempted to agree. The cold had been extreme +the last few nights and weary and scantily fed as they were, they +craved for shelter. Still they had misgivings and Blake said, "We have +wasted too much time already, and there's only a few days' rations in +the bag. We have got to get back to the valley and ought to make +another three hours' march before we stop." + +"Yes," Harding regretfully assented, "I guess that would be wiser." + +Setting off at once, they wearily struggled up the hill, and it had +been dark some time when they made camp in a hollow at the foot of a +great rock. It kept off the wind and the spruces which grew close +about it further sheltered them, but Blake told his companions to throw +up a snow bank while he cut wood. + +"I'm afraid we're going to have an unusually bad night, and we may as +well take precautions," he said. + +His forecast proved correct, for soon after they had finished supper a +cloud of snow swept past the hollow and the spruces roared among the +rocks above. Then there was a crash and the top of a shattered tree +plunged down between the men and fell on the edge of the fire, +scattering a shower of sparks. + +"Another foot would have made a difference to two of us," said Harding +coolly. "However, it's fallen where it was wanted; help me heave the +thing on." + +It crackled fiercely as the flame licked about it, and sitting between +the snowbank and the fire, the men kept fairly warm, but a white haze +drove past their shelter and eddying in now and then covered them with +snow. In an hour the drifts were level with the top of the bank, but +this was a protection, and they were thankful they had found such a +camping place, since death would have been the consequence of being +caught in the open. The blizzard gathered strength, but though they +heard the crash of broken trees through the roar of the wind no more +logs fell, and by and by they went to sleep, secure in the shelter of +the rock. + +When day broke it was long past the usual hour, and the cloud of +driving flakes obscured even the spruces a few yards away. The hollow +at the foot of the crag was shadowy, and the snow had piled up several +feet above the bank, and lapped over at one end. Still, with wood +enough, they could keep warm, and had their supplies been larger they +would have been content to rest. As things were, however, they were +confronted with perhaps the gravest peril that threatens the traveller +in the North--they might be detained by bad weather until their food +ran out. None of them spoke of this, but by tacit agreement they made +a very sparing breakfast and ate nothing at noon. When night came and +the storm still raged, their hearts were very heavy. + +It lasted three days, and on the fourth morning it seemed scarcely +possible to face the somewhat lighter wind and break a trail through +the fresh snow. They, however, dare risk no further delay, and +strapping on their packs struggled up the range. At nightfall they +were high among the rocks, and it was piercingly cold, but they got a +few hours' sleep in a clump of junipers and struck the valley late next +day. Finding shelter, they made camp and after dividing a small +bannock between them sat talking gloomily. Their fire had been lighted +to lee of a cluster of willows and burned sulkily because the wood was +green. Pungent smoke curled about them, and they shivered in the +draughts. + +"How far do you make it to the logging camp?" Benson asked. "I'm +taking it for granted that the lumber gang's still there." + +"A hundred and sixty miles," said Blake. + +"And we have food enough for two days; say forty miles." + +"About that; it depends upon the snow." + +Benson made no answer, and Harding was silent a while, sitting very +still with knitted brows. Then he said, "I can't see any way out. Can +you?" + +"Well," said Blake quietly, "we'll go on as long as we are able. +Though I haven't had a rosy time, I've faith in my luck." + +Conversation languished after this, but they had a small cake of +tobacco left, and sat smoking and hiding their fears while the wind +moaned among the willows and thin snow blew past. The camp was exposed +and hungry and dejected, as they were, they felt the stinging cold. +After an hour of moody silence, Harding suddenly leaned forward, with a +lifted hand. + +"What's that?" he said sharply. "Didn't you hear it?" + +For a few moments the others only heard the rustle of the willows and +the swishing sound of driven snow; then a faint patter caught their +ears, and a crack followed like the snapping of a whip. + +"A dog team!" cried Benson, and springing to his feet set up a loud +shout. + +It was answered in English and while they stood, shaken by excitement +and intense relief, several low shadowy shapes emerged from the gloom; +then a tall figure appeared, and after it two more. Somebody shouted +harsh orders in uncouth French; the dogs sped towards the fire and +stopped. Then their driver, hurrying after them, began to loose the +traces, while another man walked up to Blake. + +"We saw your fire and thought we'd make for it," he said. "I see your +cooking outfit's still lying round." + +"It's at your service," Blake told him. "I'm sorry we can't offer you +much supper, though there's a bit of a bannock and some flour." + +"We'll soon fix that," said the other. "Guess you're up against it, +but our grub's holding out." He turned to the driver. "Come and tend +to the cooking when you're through, Emile." + +Though the order was given good-humouredly, there was a hint of +authority in his voice, and the man he spoke to quickened his +movements. Then another came up, and while the dogs snapped at each +other, and rolled in the snow, the half-breed driver unloaded a heavy +provision bag and filled Harding's frying pan. + +"Don't spare it," said the first comer. "I guess these folks are +hungry; fix up your best menoo." + +Sitting down by the fire, shapeless in his whitened coat, with his +bronzed face half hidden by his big fur cap, he had nevertheless a +soldierly look. + +"You'll be wondering who we are?" he said. + +"No," Blake answered, smiling. "I can make a guess; there's a stamp on +you I recognize. You're from Regina." + +"You've hit it first time. I'm Sergeant Lane, R.N.W.M.P. This"--he +indicated his companion--"is Private Walthew. We've been up on a +special patrol to Copper Lake and left two of the boys there to make +some inquiries about the Indians. Now we're on the back trail." + +He looked as if he expected the others to return his confidence and +Blake had no hesitation about doing so. He knew the high reputation of +the Royal North-West Mounted Police, which is a force of well-mounted +and carefully chosen frontier cavalry. Its business is to keep order +on a vast stretch of plain, to watch over adventurous settlers who push +out ahead of the advancing farming community, and to keep a keen eye on +the reserve Indians. Men from widely different walks of life serve in +its ranks, and the private history of each squadron is rich in romance, +but one and all are called upon to scour the windy plains in the saddle +in the fierce summer heat and make adventurous sledge journeys across +the winter snow. Their patrols search the lonely North from Hudson's +Bay to the Mackenzie, living in the open in Arctic weather, and the +peaceful progress of Western Canada is largely due to their unrelaxing +vigilance. Blake accordingly gave a short account of his journey and +explained his present straits. + +"Well," said the Sergeant, "I figure we have stores enough to see us +down to the settlements all right, and we'll be glad of your company. +The stronger the party, the smoother the trail, and after what you've +told me, I guess you can march." + +"Where did you find the breed?" Benson asked. "Your chiefs at Regina +don't allow you hired packers." + +"They surely don't. He's a Hudson's Bay man, working his passage. +Going back to his friends somewhere about Lake Winnipeg, and allowed +he'd come south with us and take the cars to Selkirk. I was glad to +get him; I'm not smart at driving dogs." + +"We found it hard to understand the few Indians we met," said Harding. +"The farther north you go, the worse it must be. How will the fellows +you left up yonder get on?" + +The Sergeant laughed. "When we want a thing done, we can find a man in +the force fit for the job. One of the boys I took up can talk to them +in Cree or Assiniboine, and it wouldn't beat us if they spoke Hebrew or +Greek. There's a trooper in my detachment who knows both." + +Benson, who did not doubt this, turned to Private Walthew, whose face, +upon which the firelight fell, suggested intelligence and refinement. + +"What do you specialize in?" + +"Farriery," answered the young man, who might have added that +extravagance had cut short his career as veterinary surgeon in the old +country. + +"Knows a horse all over, outside and in," Sergeant Lane interposed. "I +allow that's why they sent him when I asked for a good dog driver, +though in a general way our bosses aren't given to joking. Walthew +will tell you there's a difference between physicking a horse and +harnessing a sledge team." + +"It's marked," Walthew agreed with a chuckle. "When I first tried to +put the traces on I thought they'd eat me. Even now I have some +trouble, and I'll venture to remind my superior that he'd be short of +some of his fingers if they didn't serve us out good thick mittens." + +"That's right," said Lane good-humouredly. "I'm sure no good at dogs. +If you're going to drive them, you want to speak Karalit or French. +Plain English cussin's no blame use." + +By and by Emile said that supper was ready, and the police watched +their new acquaintances devour it with sympathetic understanding, for +they had more than once covered long distances on very short commons in +the Arctic frost. Afterwards they lighted their pipes, and Emile, +being tactfully encouraged, told them in broken English stories of the +barrens. These were so strange and gruesome that it was only because +they had learned something of the wilds that Harding and his friends +believed him. Had they been less experienced, they would have denied +that flesh and blood could bear the things the half-breed calmly talked +about. While he spoke there broke out behind the camp a sudden +radiance which leaped from the horizon far up the sky. It had in it +the scintillation of the diamond, for the flickering brilliance changed +to evanescent blue and rose from pure white light. Spreading in a +vast, irregular arc, it hung like a curtain, wavering to and fro and +casting off luminous spears that stabbed the dark. For a time it +blazed in transcendental splendour, then faded and receded, dying out +with Unearthly glimmering far back in the lonely North. + +"Now," said Lane with mild approval, "I allow that's pretty fine." + +Blake smiled, but made no answer. He and his comrades were getting +drowsy, and although a stinging wind swept the camp and the green wood +burned badly, they were filled with a serene content. The keen bodily +craving was satisfied, they had eaten and could sleep, while it looked +as if their troubles were over. The dogs were obviously fit for +travel, because they were still engaged in a vigorous quarrel over some +caribou bones, the toil of the journey would be lightened by carrying +their loads on the sledge, and the party was strong enough to assist +any member of it whose strength might give way. There was no reason to +apprehend any difficulty in reaching the settlements, and in their +relief at the unexpected rescue their thoughts went no further. After +the hunger and nervous strain they had borne, they were blissfully +satisfied with their present ease. There would be time enough by and +by to consider the future. + +At length Sergeant Lane got up and shook the snow from his blanket. + +"I've seen a better fire, boys, but I've camped with none at all on as +cold a night," he said. "So far as I can figure, we have grub enough, +but now there are three more of us we don't want to lose time. You'll +be ready to pull out by seven in the morning." + +They lay down in the most comfortable places they could find, though +the choice was limited, and spent the night in comfort, though Harding +was once awakened by a dog that crept up to him for warmth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A STARTLING DISCOVERY + +It was getting light next morning when the reinforced party entered a +belt of thicker timber where they first clearly realized the fury of +the storm. The trees were small and sprang from a frozen muskeg so +that they could not be uprooted, but the gale had snapped the trunks +and laid them low in swaths. Even in the spots where some had +withstood its force the ground was strewn with split and broken +branches, to lee of which the snow had gathered in billowy drifts. The +scene of ruin impressed the men, who were forced to make long rounds in +search of a passage for the sledge. + +"About as fierce a blizzard as I remember," Sergeant Lane remarked. +"We were held up three days and thought ourselves lucky in making a +ravine with a steep bank, but the wind couldn't have been quite so +strong back north a piece. There'd have been two names less on the +roster if we'd been caught down here." + +Harding thought this was probable. He had had a protecting rock at his +back, but there was no shelter in the valley from the storm that had +levelled the stoutest trees. Even the four-footed inhabitants of the +wilds could hardly have escaped, and as he stumbled among the wreckage +he thought about the man whose footsteps they had seen near the Indian +village. Unless he had found some secure retreat he must have had to +face the fury of the gale, and Harding felt convinced that the man was +Clarke. It was curious that he should have been living alone among the +empty tepees, but Harding imagined that he was in some way accountable +for the Indians' departure and wondered where he was going when he +crossed the range. There was a mystery about the matter, and if an +explanation could be arrived at it would be of interest to him and his +friends. Even before Clarke had sent them into the muskeg when he knew +it was practically impassable, Harding had entertained a deep distrust +of him. He was, however, called upon to help in dragging the sledge +over an obstacle, and the difficulties of the way afterwards occupied +his attention. + +By and by they found clearer ground and made good progress until late +in the afternoon when, seeing a rocky spur running out from the +hillside, they headed for it to look for a sheltered camping place. +There was still some daylight, but a cold wind had sprung up, blowing +the loose snow into their faces, and when, as they neared the spur, the +dogs swerved as if attracted by something, the half-breed struck the +nearest beast and drove them on. + +"That was curious," said Private Walthew. "It was old Chasseur who led +them off and he's not given to playing tricks." + +"A dead mink or beaver in the snow," the Sergeant suggested. "I didn't +notice anything, but they've a keen scent. Anyhow, let's get into +camp." + +They found a nook among the rocks and Emile loosed the dogs and threw +them some frozen fish while the rest made supper. It was a heavy, +lowering evening, and the bitter air was filled with the murmur of the +spruces as the wind passed over them. Though the light was fading, +they kept their sharpness of outline, rising, black and ragged, from a +sweep of chill, lifeless grey. When the meal was nearly finished, Lane +looked round the camp. + +"Where are the dogs?" he asked. "They're very quiet." + +"I leaf zem la bas," said Emile, waving his hand towards a neighbouring +hollow. Then moving a few paces forward he exclaimed: "Ah! les +coquins!" + +"Looks as if they'd bolted," Walthew remarked. "I think I know where +to find them." + +He left the camp with Emile and presently the others heard the +half-breed threatening the dogs; then Walthew's voice reached them and +there was a hoarse and urgent tone in it. Springing up, they ran back +along the trail and found Emile keeping off the dogs while Walthew bent +over a dark object that lay half revealed in the clawed up snow. At +first Harding saw only a patch or two of ragged fur that looked as if +it belonged to an animal; then with a shock he caught the outline of a +man's shoulder and arm. The rest of the party gathered round, +breathless after their haste, and when Lane spoke there was grave +authority in his voice. + +"Give me a hand, boys. We have to get him out." + +They did so with mingled compassion and reluctance, though Harding was +sensible of a curious strained expectation, and soon the body lay clear +of the snow. The dim light fell on the frozen face and Blake started. + +"It's Clarke!" he cried. + +"Sure," said Harding gravely. "I'm not surprised." + +"Then you knew him?" Lane's tone was sharp. + +"Yes," Benson interposed, "I knew him pretty well. He lived at +Sweetwater, where we're going. I can give you any particulars you +want." + +"I'll ask you later." The Sergeant knelt down and carefully studied +the dead man's pose before he added: "Looks as if he'd been caught in +the blizzard and died of exposure; but that's a thing I've got to +ascertain. I'll want somebody's help in getting him out of this big +coat." + +None of them volunteered, but when Lane gave Walthew a sharp order +Blake and Harding joined them and the latter afterwards held the fur +coat. Blake noticed that he folded and arranged it on his arm with +what seemed needless care, though he first turned his back upon the +others. Lane was now engaged in examining the body and the others +stood watching him, impressed by the scene. All round the narrow +opening the spruces rose darkly against the threatening sky, and in its +midst the Sergeant bent over the still form. It made a dark blot on +the pale glimmer of the snow and the white patch of the face was +faintly distinguishable in the fading light. The spruce tops stirred, +shaking down loose snow, which fell with a soft patter, and the wind +blew trails of it about. + +"I can find nothing wrong," Lane said at last. + +"Considering that you came across the man lying frozen after one of the +worst storms you remember, what did you expect to find?" Harding asked. + +"Well," said the Sergeant drily, "it's my duty to make investigations. +Though I didn't think it likely, there might have been a knife cut or a +bullet hole. Now one of you had better bring up the sledge. We can't +break this ground without dynamite, but there are some loose rocks +along the foot of the spur." + +The sledge was brought and Clarke gently placed on it, wrapped in his +fur coat, after which they took the traces and started for the ridge, +where they built up a few stones above the hollow in which they laid +him. It was quite dark when they had finished, and Lane made a gesture +of relief. + +"Well," he said, "that's done and he'll lie safely there. Rough on +him, but it's a hard country and many a good man has left his bones in +it. I guess we'll get back to camp." + +They crossed the snow in silence, trailing the empty sledge and for a +time after they reached camp nobody spoke. Lane sat near the fire +where the light fell upon the book in which he wrote with a pencil held +awkwardly in his mittened hand, while Blake watched him and mused. He +had no cause to regret Clarke's death, but he felt some pity for the +man. Gifted with high ability he had, through no fault of his own, +been driven out of a profession he was keenly interested in and made an +outcast. His subsequent life had been a hard and evil one, but it had +ended in a tragic manner and, what made this more impressive, Blake and +his companions had narrowly escaped his fate. In spite of the cheerful +fire, the camp had a lonely air, and Blake shivered as he glanced at +the gleaming snow and dusky trees that shut it in. There was something +in the desolate North that daunted him. + +Harding's reflections also centred on the dead man, and he had food for +thought. There was a mystery to be explained, and he imagined that he +had a clue to it in his pocket, though he could not follow it up for +the present. He waited with some anxiety until Lane closed his book. + +"Now," said the Sergeant, "there are one or two points I want +explained, and as you know the man, it's possible you can help me. How +did he come to be here with only about three days' rations?" + +"I can answer that," said Harding. "He was in the habit of staying at +the Indian village we told you of. We saw tracks coming from it when +we were there the day before the blizzard began." + +"A white man's tracks? Why did you go to the village?" + +"I believe they were," Blake replied. "We went to look for provisions +and didn't get them, because the place was empty." + +"Then how do you account for the fellow's being there alone?" + +"I can't account for it," Blake said quietly. + +Lane turned to Harding, who had a theory but was not prepared to +communicate it to the police. + +"It's certainly curious," he remarked. + +"We'll start for the village to-morrow." + +"As the Indians are away, there won't be much to be learned," Benson +suggested. + +"They may have come back. Anyway, it's my business to find out all I +can." + +Soon afterwards they went to sleep and rising an hour or two before +daylight broke camp and turned back across the hills. The march was +rough and toilsome, and when they camped at night fatigue and +drowsiness checked conversation, but Blake's party were sensible of a +difference in Lane's manner. It had become reserved and he had a +thoughtful look. Reaching the village one evening, they were surprised +to find that some of the Indians had returned and after supper Lane +summoned them into the tepee he occupied. Emile interpreted, but he +had some difficulty in making himself understood, for which Harding was +inclined to be thankful. + +The Sergeant began by explaining the authority and business of the +North-West Police, of whom it appeared one or two of the Indians had +heard, after which he made Emile ask them if they knew Clarke. One of +them said they did and added that he stayed with them now and then. +Lane next asked why they took him in and the Indian hesitated. + +"He was a big medicine man and cured us when we were ill," he replied. + +"Do you know these white men?" Lane asked, indicating Blake's party. + +An Indian declared that they had never seen them, though he added that +it was known they were in the neighbourhood. Being questioned about +this, he explained that about the time of Clarke's arrival one of the +tribe had come in from the North, where he had met a half-breed who +told him that he had travelled some distance with three white men who +were going to the settlements. Knowing the country, they had +calculated that the white men could not be very far off. As he heard +this Harding felt anxious. He saw where Lane's questions led, and that +the Sergeant meant to sift the matter thoroughly. There was not much +cause to fear that he and his friends would be held responsible for +Clarke's death, but he suspected things he did not wish the police to +guess, and the Indians might mention having seen a white man's +footprints on the occasion when he had forcibly taken Clarke away. +Owing perhaps to their difficulty in making themselves understood, +nothing was, however, said of this, and by and by Lane asked-- + +"How was it you left the white man in your village by himself?" + +The Indians began to talk to one another, and it was with some trouble +Emile at length elicited an answer. + +"It is a thing that puzzles us," said one. "The white man came alone +and told us he had seen tracks of caribou three days' journey back. As +we had no meat and our fish was nearly done, six of us went to look for +the deer." + +"Six of you?" said Lane. "Where are the rest? These tepees would hold +a good many people." + +"They are hunting farther North," answered the man. "When we got to +the place the white man told us of we could see no caribou tracks. As +he was a good hunter, we thought this strange, but we went on, because +there was another muskeg like the one he spoke of and we might not have +understood him. Then the snow came and we camped until it was over and +afterwards came back, finding no deer. When we reached the tepees, he +had gone and we do not know what has become of him. We could not +follow because the snow had covered his trail." + +"He is dead," Lane told them. "I found him frozen some days ago." + +Their surprise was obviously genuine and Lane was quick to notice signs +of regret. He imagined that Clarke had been a person of some +importance among them. + +"Tell them I don't want them any more," he said to Emile, and when the +Indians went out turned to Benson. "You had better give me all the +information you are able about the man." + +Benson told him as much as he thought judicious, after which Lane sat +silent for a time. Then he said, "There is no reason to doubt that he +came to his death by misadventure. I don't quite understand what led +him to visit these fellows, but after all that doesn't count." + +"It isn't very plain," Benson agreed. "Is there anything else you wish +to know?" + +"No," said Lane, looking at him steadily. "You can take it that this +inquiry is closed; we'll pull out first thing to-morrow." He beckoned +Walthew. "Now we're here, we may as well find out what we can about +these fellows and how they live. It will fill up our report, and they +like that kind of information at Regina." + +When the police had left the tepee Harding turned to his companions +with a smile. "Sergeant Lane is a painstaking officer, but his +shrewdness has its limits, and there are points he seems to have +missed. It would have been wiser not to have let Clarke's coat out of +his hands until he had searched it." + +"Ah!" said Blake sharply. "You emptied the pockets?" + +"I did; I allow my action was hardly justifiable, but I thought it +better that the police shouldn't get on the track of matters that +haven't much bearing on Clarke's death. I found two things and they're +both of interest to us. We'll take this one first." + +He drew out a metal flask and when he unstoppered it a pungent smell +pervaded the tepee. "Crude petroleum," he explained. "I should +imagine the flashpoint is low. I can't say how Clarke got the stuff +when the ground's hard frozen, but here it is." + +"Isn't a low flash-point a disadvantage?" Benson asked. "It must make +the oil explosive." + +"It does, but all petroleum's refined and the by-products they take +off, which include gasoline, fetch a remarkably good price. Shake a +few drops on the end of a hot log and we'll see how it lights." + +A fire burned in a ring of stones in the middle of the tepee and Benson +carefully did as he was told. Hardly had the oil fallen on the wood +than it burst into flame. + +"As I thought!" said Harding. "I suspect the presence of one or two +distillates that should be worth as much as the kerosene. We'll get +the stuff analysed later, but you had better stopper the flask, because +we don't want the smell to rouse Lane's curiosity. The important point +is that as I've reasons for believing the oil is fresh from the ground, +Clarke must have found it shortly before the blizzard overtook him. +That fixes the locality and we shouldn't have much trouble in striking +the spot when we come back again." His eyes sparkled as he concluded: +"It's going to be well worth while; this is a big thing." + +Blake did not feel much elation. His was not a mercenary nature, and +he had all along thought his comrade too sanguine, though he meant to +back him. + +"In a way, it was very hard luck for Clarke," he said. "If you're +right in your conclusions, he's been searching for the oil for several +years, and now he was cut off just when it looks as if he'd found it." + +"You don't owe him much pity. What would have happened if we hadn't +met the police?" + +"It's unpleasant to think of. No doubt we'd have starved to death." + +"A sure thing!" said Harding. "It hasn't struck you that this was what +he meant us to do?" + +Blake started. "Are you making a bold guess, or have you any ground +for what you're saying?" + +"I see you'll have to be convinced. Very well; in the first place, the +man would have stuck at nothing, and I've already tried to show you +that he'd something to gain by Benson's death." He turned to the +latter. "I suspected when we took you away from him that you were +running a risk." + +"I was running a bigger one before that, if you can call a thing a risk +when the result's inevitable," Benson rejoined. "The pace I was going +would have killed me in another year or two, and even now I'm half +afraid----" He paused for a few moments with sombre face and knitted +brows; and then resumed thoughtfully: "I believe you're right, Harding, +but you haven't told us how he proposed to get rid of me." + +"I'm coming to that. There was, however, another member of this party +who was in his way, and he made his plans to remove you both." + +"You mean me?" Blake broke in. "It's possible, but I don't altogether +see how he'd profit." + +"First, let's look at what he did. As soon as he reached the village +he heard that we had started from the Hudson's Bay post. It wouldn't +be difficult to calculate how long the stores we could carry would +last, and he'd see that the chances were in favour of our calling at +the village for provisions. Presuming on that, he sent his friends +away to look for caribou which they couldn't find. Recollect that they +owned to being puzzled because he was a good hunter. Then he cleared +out by himself, but I believe that if there was any food left in the +place he carefully hid it." + +The others felt that their comrade was taking something for granted, +but they believed his suspicions were correct. They, however, made no +comment, and Harding went on, looking at Blake-- + +"Now I'll show you how he would have profited. I found this in his +pocket." + +He took out a letter which he gave to Blake, and the latter started as +he recognized the writing. It was from Colonel Challoner to Clarke. + +"You had better read the thing; it's justifiable," Benson remarked. + +Blake read it aloud, holding the paper near the fire with the light +upon his face, which looked very grim. + +"'In reply to your letter, I have nothing new to say and believe I have +already made my intentions plain. It would be useless for you to +trouble me with any further proposals.'" + +Then Blake folded the letter and put it into his pocket. + +"Now," he said, "I think I see. The man had been trying to bleed the +Colonel and got his answer." + +"Is that all?" Harding asked. + +"Well," said Blake, "I believe it proves your conclusions right. I +won't go into particulars, but where my uncle and cousin are threatened +I'm, so to speak, the leading witness for the defence and it wouldn't +have suited Clarke to let me speak. No doubt, that's why he took +rather drastic measures to put me out of the way." + +"Then you never mean to question the story of the Indian affair?" + +"What do you know about it?" Blake asked curtly. + +Harding laughed. "I believe I know the true one. Haven't I marched +and starved and shared my plans with you? If there had been any +meanness in you wouldn't I have found it out? What's more, Benson +knows what really happened and so does Colonel Challoner. How else +could Clarke have put the screw on him?" + +"He doesn't seem to have made much impression; you have heard the +Colonel's answer." Blake frowned. "We'll drop this subject. If +Challoner attached any importance to what you think Clarke told him, +his first step would have been to send for me." + +"I expect you'll find a letter waiting for you at Sweetwater," Harding +rejoined. + +Blake did not answer, and soon afterwards Sergeant Lane came in with +Walthew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +A MATTER OF DUTY + +Sergeant Lane sat by the camp fire in a straggling bluff, a notebook in +his hand, while Emile repacked a quantity of provisions, the weight of +which they had been carefully estimating. The scattered trees were +small and let the cold wind in, for the party had now reached the edge +of the plain where the poplars began to grow. The Sergeant's brows +were knitted, for the calculations he had made were not reassuring. + +"The time we lost turning back to the Stony village has made a big hole +in our grub," he said. "Guess we'll have to cut the menoo down and do +a few more miles a day." + +"Our party's used to that," Blake answered with a smile. "I suggest +another plan. You have brought us a long way and Sweetwater's a bit +off your line. Suppose you give us food enough to last us on half +rations and let us push on." + +"No, sir," said Lane decidedly; "we see this trip through together. +For another thing, the dogs are playing out and after the way they've +served us I want to save them. With your help at the traces we make +better time." + +Blake could not deny this. The snow had been in bad condition for the +last week, and the men had relieved each other in hauling the sledge. +The police camp equipment was heavy, but it could not be thrown away, +because they preferred some degree of hunger to lying awake at nights, +half frozen. Moreover, neither Blake nor his comrades desired to leave +their new friends and once more face the rigours of the wilds alone. + +"Then we'll have to make the best speed we can," he said. + +They talked about the journey still before them for another hour. It +was a clear night and very cold, but with a crescent moon in the sky +and no wind stirring. The fragile twigs of the birches which shot up +among the poplars were still, and deep silence brooded over the wide +stretch of snow. By and by Emile looked up with his face towards the +south. + +"Ah!" he said; "you hear somet'ing?" + +They did not, though they listened hard, but the half-breed had been +born in the wilderness and they could not think him mistaken. For a +minute or two his pose suggested strained attention, and then he smiled. + +"White man come from the sout'. Mais oui! He come, sure t'ing." + +Lane nodded. "I guess he's right, but I can't figure on the kind of +outfit." + +Then Blake heard a sound which puzzled him. It was not the quick +patter of a dog-team or the sliding fall of netted shoes. The noise +was dull and heavy, and as he knew the snow would deaden it, whoever +was coming could not be far away. + +"Bob-sled!" Emile exclaimed with scorn. "V'la la belle chose! Arrive +the great horse of the plough." + +"The fellow's sure a farmer since he's coming up with a Clydesdale +team," Lane said, laughing. "One wouldn't have much trouble in +following his trail." + +A few minutes later three men appeared, carefully leading two big +horses through the trees. + +"Saw your fire a piece back," said one, when they had hauled up a +clumsy sled. Then he caught sight of Blake. "I'm mighty glad to find +you; we were wondering how far we might have to go." + +"Then you came up after me, Tom?" said Blake, who knew the man. "You +wouldn't have got much further with that team; but who sent you?" + +"I don't quite know. It seems Gardner got orders from somebody that +you were to be found, and he hired me and the boys. We'd trouble in +getting here, but we allowed we could bring up more grub and blankets +on the sled and we'd send Jake back with the team when we struck the +thick bush. Then we were going to make a depot and pack along the +stuff we didn't cache. But I've a letter which may tell you something." + +Blake opened it and Harding noticed that his face grew intent, but he +put the letter into his pocket and turned to the man. + +"It's from a friend in England," he said. "You were lucky in finding +me and we'll go back together in the morning." + +After attending to their horses, the new arrivals joined the others at +the fire and explained that at the hotelkeeper's suggestion they had +meant to head for the Indian village and make inquiries on their way up +at the logging camp. Though Blake talked to them, he had a preoccupied +look, and Harding knew he was thinking of the letter. He had, however, +no opportunity of questioning him and waited until next day, when +Emile, whom they were helping, chose a shorter way across a ravine than +that taken by the police and the men with the bob-sled. When they +reached the bottom of the hollow, Blake told the half-breed to stop, +and took his comrades aside. + +"There's something I must tell you," he said. "It was Colonel +Challoner who sent the boys up from the settlement with food for us and +he begs me to come home at once. That's a point on which I'd like your +opinion, but you shall hear what he has to say." Then, sitting down +upon a log, he began to read from his letter:-- + +"'A man called Clarke, whom you have evidently met, lately called on me +and suggested an explanation of the Indian affair. As the price of his +keeping silence on the subject, he demanded that I should take a number +of shares in a syndicate he is forming for the exploitation of some +petroleum wells.'" + +"I think it was a good offer," Harding interposed. "Clarke must have +had reason for believing he was about to make a big strike; he'd have +kept quiet until he was sure of the thing." + +"'The fellow's story was plausible,' Blake continued reading. 'It +seems possible that you have been badly wronged, and I have been +troubled----' He omitted the next few lines and went on: 'As it +happens, another account of the frontier action had been given me some +time earlier by a lady who has been in India. It differed from +Clarke's in one or two details, but agreed in exonerating you; and she +also asked a price which I declined to pay. After giving the matter +careful thought, I feel that these people may have hit upon the truth. +It would, of course, afford me the keenest satisfaction to see you +cleared, but the thing must be thoroughly sifted because----'" + +Blake stopped and added quietly: "He insists upon my going home." + +"His difficulty is obvious," Benson remarked. "If you are blameless, +his son must be guilty. I arrived at the former conclusion some time +ago." + +Blake, who did not answer, sat musing with a disturbed expression. +There was now no sign of the others, who had left the ravine, and no +sound reached the men from the plain above. Emile stood patiently +waiting some distance off, and though they were sheltered from the wind +it was bitterly cold. + +"In some ways, it might be better if I went home at once," he said at +last. "I could come back and join you as soon as I saw how things were +going. The Colonel would be safe from any further persecution if I +were with him, but, all the same, I'm inclined to stay away." + +"Why?" Harding asked. + +"For one thing, if I were there, he might insist on taking some quite +unnecessary course that would only cause trouble." + +"Now," said Harding curtly, "I'm going to give you my opinion. I take +it that your uncle is a man who tries to do the square thing?" + +Blake's face relaxed and his eyes twinkled. "He's what you call white +and as obstinate as they're made. Convince him that a thing's right +and he'll see it done, no matter how many people it makes +uncomfortable. That's why I don't see my way to encourage him." + +"Here's a man who's up against a point of honour; he has, I understand, +a long, clean record and now he's prepared to take a course that may +cost him dear. Are you going to play a low-down game on him; to twist +the truth so's to give him a chance of deceiving himself?" + +"Aren't you and Benson taking what you mean by the truth too much for +granted?" + +Harding gave him a searching look. "I haven't heard you deny it +squarely; you're a poor liar. It's your clear duty to go back to +England right away and see your uncle through with the thing he means +to do." + +"After all, I'll go to England," Blake answered with significant +reserve. "However, we had better get on or we won't catch the others +until they've finished dinner." + +Emile started the dogs, and when they had toiled up the ascent they saw +the rest of the party far ahead on the great white plain. + +"We mayn't have another chance of a private talk until we reach the +settlement," said Blake. "What are you going to do about the +petroleum?" + +"I'll come back and prospect the muskeg as soon as the frost goes." + +"It will cost a good deal to do that thoroughly. We must hire +transport for a full supply of all the tools and stores we are likely +to need; one experience of the kind we've had this trip is enough. How +are you going to get the money?" + +"I'm not going to the city men for it until our position's secure. The +thing must be kept quiet until we're ready to put it on the market." + +"You were doubtful about taking me for a partner once," Benson +interposed. "I don't know that I could blame you, but now I mean to do +all I can to make the scheme successful, and I don't think you'll have +as much reason for being afraid that I might fail you." + +"Call it a deal," said Harding. "You're the man we want." + +"Well," said Blake, "I ought to be out again before you start, and if I +can raise any money in England, I'll send it over. You're satisfied +that this is a project I can recommend to my friends?" + +"I believe it's such a chance as few people ever get," Harding answered +in a tone of firm conviction. + +"Then we'll see what can be done. It won't be your fault if the +venture fails." + +Harding smiled. "There's hard work and perhaps some trouble ahead, but +you won't regret you faced it. You'll be a rich man in another year or +two." + +Then Emile urged the dogs, and they set off after the others as fast as +they could go. Sweetwater was safely reached, but on the morning after +his arrival there Blake pushed on south for the railroad with the +police and a week later caught a steamer in Montreal. On landing, he +took the first train to Shropshire, but before going on to Sandymere +called at Hazlehurst, where he had learned that Mrs. Keith was staying. + +As it happened, Mrs. Keith was out with Mrs. Foster, and Millicent was +the first to welcome him. She started when he was shown into the hall, +and, dropping the book she was reading, rose with a tingle of +heightened colour, while he felt his heart beat fast. It was a clear +winter afternoon and the sunshine that entered a window fell upon the +girl. Blake thought she looked very beautiful, and, thrown off her +guard as she had been, he caught the gladness in her eyes before she +could hide it. + +"I expect you are surprised at my turning up," he remarked. + +"Yes," she said with a shyness she could not overcome. "Indeed I was +startled when you came in, but of course it's pleasant to see you +safely back. I knew Colonel Challoner had given orders for you to be +traced if possible, and that you had been found, but that was all Mrs. +Keith told me. I suppose she didn't know--didn't think, I mean--that I +was interested." + +"I'd like to believe that was foolish of her," Blake answered with a +twinkle. + +Millicent laughed; though she felt that his rejoinder did not +adequately express his feelings, his humorous manner set her at ease. + +"It really was foolish," she said, smiling. "But you must have some +tea and wait until she comes. I don't think she will be long." + +The tea was brought, and she studied him unobtrusively as he sat +opposite her at the small table. He had grown thin, his bronzed face +was worn, and he looked graver than he had done. Though she could not +imagine his ever becoming very solemn, it was obvious that something +had happened in Canada which had had its effect on him. Looking up +suddenly from his plate, he surprised her attentive glance. + +"You have changed," she said. + +"That's not astonishing," Blake replied. "We didn't get much to eat in +the wilds, and I was thinking how pleasant it is to be back again." He +examined his prettily decorated cup. "It's remarkable how many things +one can do without. In the bush, we drank our tea, when we had any, +out of a blackened can and the rest of our table equipment was to +match. But we'll take it that the change in me is an improvement?" + +It was an excuse for looking at her, as if demanding a reply, but she +answered readily: "In a sense, it is." + +"Then I feel encouraged to continue starving myself." + +"There's a limit; extremes are to be avoided," Millicent rejoined. +"But did you starve yourselves in Canada?" + +"I must confess that the thing wasn't altogether voluntary. I'm afraid +we were rather gluttonous when we got the chance." + +"Did you find what you were looking for?" + +"No," said Blake, who saw that she was interested. "I think it was a +serious disappointment for Harding, and I was very sorry for him at +first." + +"So am I," said Millicent. "It must have been very hard, after leaving +his wife alone and badly provided for and risking everything on his +success. But why did you say you _were_ sorry for him? Aren't you +sorry now?" + +"Though we didn't find what we were looking for, we found something +else which Harding seems firmly convinced is quite as valuable. Of +course, he's a bit of an optimist, but it looks as if he were right +this time. Anyway, I'm plunging on his scheme." + +"You mean you will stake all you have on it?" + +"That's it," Blake agreed with a humorous twinkle. "It's true that +what I have doesn't amount to much, but I'm throwing in what I would +like to get, and that's a great deal." + +There was something of a hint in his manner and she noticed his +expression suddenly grow serious. It seemed advisable to choose +another topic and she said: "You must have had adventures. Tell me +about them." + +"Oh!" he protested, "they're really not interesting." + +"Let me judge. Is it nothing to have gone where other men seldom +venture?" + +He began rather awkwardly, but she prompted him with tactful questions, +and he saw that she wished to hear his story. By degrees he lost +himself in his subject and, being gifted with keen imagination, she +followed his journey into the wilds. It was not his wish to represent +himself as a hero, and now and then he spoke with deprecatory humour, +but he betrayed something of his character in doing justice to his +theme. Millicent's eyes sparkled as she listened, for she found the +story moving; he was the man she had thought him, capable of grim +endurance, determined action, and steadfast loyalty. + +"So you carried your crippled comrade when you were exhausted and +starving," she said when he came to their search for the factory. "One +likes to hear of such things as that! But what would you have done if +you hadn't found the post?" + +"I can't answer," he said soberly. "We durst not think of it; a +starving man's will gets weak." Then his expression grew whimsical. +"Besides, if one must be accurate, we dragged him." + +"Still," said Millicent softly, "I can't think you would have left him." + +He looked at her with some embarrassment and then smiled. "I'm +flattered, Miss Graham, but you really haven't very strong grounds for +your confidence in me." + +Supposing he was thinking of his disgrace, she made a gesture of half +scornful impatience. + +"Well," she said, "please go on with the tale." + +The rest of it had its interest, though he made no reference to +Clarke's treachery, and Millicent listened with close attention. It +was growing dark, but they had forgotten to ring for lights; neither of +them heard the door open when he was near the conclusion, and Mrs. +Keith, entering quietly with Mrs. Foster, stopped a moment in surprise. +The room was shadowy, but she could see the man leaning forward with an +arm upon the table and the girl's intent face. There was something +that pleased her in the scene. Then as she moved forward Millicent +looked up quickly and Blake rose. + +"So you have come back," said Mrs. Keith, giving him her hand. "How +was it you didn't go straight to Sandymere, where your uncle is eagerly +waiting you?" + +"I sent him a telegram as soon as the steamer was boarded, but on +landing found there was an earlier train. As he won't expect me for +another two hours, I thought I'd like to pay my respects to you." + +"It sounds plausible," Mrs. Keith rejoined with rather dry amusement. +"Well, I'm flattered, and as it happens I've something to say to you." + +Then Mrs. Foster joined them, and it was some time later when Mrs. +Keith took Blake into the empty drawing-room. + +"I'm glad you have come home," she said. "I think you are needed." + +"That," said Blake, "is how it seemed to me." + +His quietness was reassuring. Mrs. Keith knew he was to be trusted, +but she felt some misgivings about supporting him in a line of action +that would cost him much. Still, she could not be deterred by +compassionate scruples when there was an opportunity of saving her old +friend from suffering. Troubled by a certain sense of guilt but +determined, she tried to test his feelings. + +"You didn't find waiting for us tedious," she remarked. "I suppose you +were telling Millicent about your adventures when we came in; playing +Othello, and she seemed to be listening as Desdemona did." + +"I expect she was exercising a good deal of patience," Blake rejoined +with a laugh. "Anyway, since you compare me to the Moor, you must own +that I've never pretended to be less black that I'm painted." + +"Ah!" said Mrs. Keith with marked gentleness, "you needn't pretend to +me. I have my own opinion about you, and if it doesn't agree with +other people's, so much the worse for theirs. I knew you would come +home as soon as you could be found." + +"Then you must know what has been going on in my absence." + +"I have a strong suspicion. Your uncle has been hard pressed by +unscrupulous people with an end to gain. How much impression they have +made on him I cannot tell, but he's fond of you, Dick, and in trouble. +It's a cruel position for an honourable man with traditions like those +of the Challoners' behind him." + +"That's true; I hate to think of it. You know what I owe to him and +Bertram." + +"He's old," continued Mrs. Keith. "It would be a great thing if he +could be allowed to spend his last years in quietness, but I fear +that's impossible, although, perhaps, to some extent, it lies in your +hands." Then she looked steadily at Blake. "Now you have come back, +what do you mean to do?" + +"Whatever is needful; I'm for the defence. The Colonel's position +can't be stormed while I'm on guard; and this time there'll be no +retreat." + +"Don't add that, Dick; it hurts me. I'm not so hard as I sometimes +pretend. I never doubted your staunchness, but I wonder whether you +quite realize what the defence may cost you. Have you thought about +your future?" + +"You ought to know that the Blakes never think of the future. We're a +happy-go-lucky, irresponsible lot." + +"But suppose you wished to marry?" + +He smiled at her. "It's a difficulty that has already been pointed +out. If I ever marry, the girl I choose will believe in me in spite of +appearances. In fact, she'll have to; I've no medals and decorations +to bring her." + +"You have much that's worth more!" Mrs. Keith exclaimed, moved by his +steadfastness. "Still, it's a severe test for any girl." Then she +laid her hand gently on his arm. "In the end, you won't regret the +course you mean to take. I have lived a long while and have lost many +pleasant illusions, but I believe that loyalty like yours has its +reward. I loved you for your mother's sake when you were a boy; +afterwards when things looked blackest I kept my faith in you, and now +I'm proud I did so." + +Blake looked confused. "Confidence like yours is an embarrassing gift. +It makes one feel one must live up to it, and that isn't easy." + +Mrs. Keith regarded him affectionately. "It's yours, Dick; given +without reserve. But I think there's nothing more to be said, and no +doubt you're anxious to get away. Besides, the Colonel will be +expecting you." + +"He used to be seriously annoyed if he had to wait for dinner, and I've +been here some time," Blake answered, laughing, and went out to take +leave of Mrs. Foster. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +BLAKE HOLDS HIS GROUND + +Dinner was finished at Sandymere, Miss Challoner had gone out, and, in +accordance with ancient custom, the cloth had been removed from the +great mahogany table. Its glistening surface was only broken by a +decanter, two choice wine-glasses, and a tall silver candlestick. +There were lamps in other parts of the room, but Challoner liked +candles. Lighting a cigar, Blake looked about while he braced himself +for the ordeal that must be faced. + +He knew the big room well, but its air of solemnity, with which the +heavy Georgian furniture was in keeping, impressed him. The ceiling +had been decorated by a French artist of the eighteenth century and the +faded delicacy of the design, bearing as it did the stamp of its +period, helped to give the place a look of age. Challoner could trace +his descent much further than his house and furniture suggested, but +the family had first come to the front in the East India Company's +wars, and while maintaining its position afterwards had escaped the +modernizing influence of the country's awakening in the early Victorian +days. It seemed to Blake, fresh from the new and democratic West, that +his uncle, shrewd and well-informed man as he was, was very much of the +type of Wellington's officers. For all that he pitied him. Challoner +looked old and worn, and there were wrinkles that hinted at anxious +thought round his eyes. His life was lonely, and his unmarried sister, +who spent much of her time in visits, was the only relative who shared +his home. Now that age was limiting his activities and interests, he +had one great source of gratification; the career of the soldier son +who was worthily following in his steps. His nephew determined that +this should be saved for him, as he remembered the benefits he had +received at his hands. + +By and by Challoner filled the glasses. "Dick," he said, "I'm very +glad to see you home. I should like to think you have come to stay." + +"Thank you, sir. I'll stay as long as you need me." + +"I feel I need you altogether. It's now doubtful whether Bertram will +leave India after all. His regiment has been ordered into the hills +where there's serious trouble brewing, and he has asked permission to +remain. Even if he comes home, he will have many duties, and I have +nobody left." + +Blake did not answer immediately, and his uncle studied him. Dick had +grown thin, but he looked very hard, and the evening dress set off his +fine, muscular figure. His face was still somewhat pinched, but its +deep bronze and the steadiness of his eyes and firmness of his lips +gave him a very soldierly look and a certain air of distinction. There +was no doubt that he was true to the Challoner type. + +Then Blake said slowly, "I must go back sooner or later, sir; there is +an engagement I am bound to keep. Besides, your pressing me to stay +raises a question. The last time we met you acquiesced in my decision +that I had better keep out of the country, and I see no reason for +changing it." + +"The question must certainly be raised; that is why I sent for you. +You can understand my anxiety to learn what truth there is in the +stories I have heard." + +"It might be better if you told me all about it." + +"Very well; the task is painful, but it can't be shirked. We'll take +the woman's tale first." Challoner carefully outlined Mrs. Chudleigh's +theory of what had happened during the night attack and Blake listened +quietly. + +"Now," he said, "you might give me Clarke's account." + +Challoner did so and concluded: "Both these people have an obvious end +to serve, and I daresay they're capable of misrepresenting things to +suit it. I'll confess I found the thought comforting; but I want the +truth, Dick. I must do what's right." + +"In the first place, Clarke, who once approached me about the matter, +will never trouble either of us again. I helped to bury him up in the +wilds." + +"Dead!" exclaimed Challoner. + +"Frozen. In fact, it was not his fault we escaped his fate. He set a +trap for us, intending that we should starve." + +"But why?" + +"His motive was obvious," Blake rejoined. "There was a man with us +whose farm and stock would, in the event of his death, fall into +Clarke's hands, and it's clear that I was a serious obstacle in his +way. Can't you see that he couldn't use his absurd story to bleed you +unless I supported it?" + +Challoner felt the force of this. He was a shrewd man, but just then +he was too disturbed to reason closely and failed to perceive that his +nephew's refusal to confirm the story did not necessarily disprove it. +That Clarke had thought it worth while to attempt his life bulked most +largely in his uncle's eye. + +"He urged me to take some shares in a petroleum syndicate," he remarked. + +"Then I believe you missed a good thing, sir." Blake seized upon the +change of topic. "The shares would probably have paid you well." + +"I thought he proposed it to make the thing look better; in fact, to +give me something to salve my conscience with." + +"Anyway, he found the oil and put us on the track of it, though I don't +suppose he had any wish to do the latter. We expect to make a good +deal out of the discovery." + +"It looks like justice," said Challoner. "But we are getting away from +the point. I'd better tell you that after my talk with the man I felt +he might be dangerous and that I must send for you." + +"Why didn't you send for Bertram?" + +Challoner hesitated. "When I cabled out instructions to find you, +there was no word of his leaving India; then you must see how hard it +would have been to hint at my suspicions. This would have opened a +breach between us that could never be closed." + +"Yes," said Blake, leaning forward on the table and speaking earnestly, +"your reluctance was very natural. I'm afraid of presuming too far, +but I can't understand how you could believe this thing of your only +son." + +"It lies between my son and my nephew, Dick." + +There was emotion in the Colonel's voice. "I had a great liking for +your father and I brought you up. Then I took a keen pride in you; +there were respects in which I found you truer to our type than +Bertram." + +"You heaped favours on me," Blake replied. "That I bitterly +disappointed you has been my deepest shame; in fact, it's the one thing +that counts. For the rest, I can't regret the friends who turned their +backs on me, and poverty never troubled the Blakes." + +"But the taint--the stain upon your name!" + +"I have the advantage of bearing it alone, and, to tell the truth, it +doesn't bother me much. That a man should go straight in the present +is all they ask in Canada, and homeless adventurers with no +possessions, which is the kind of comrades I've generally met, are +charitable. As a rule, it wouldn't become them to be fastidious. +Anyhow, sir, you must see the absurdity of believing that Bertram could +have failed in his duty in the way these tales suggest." + +"I once felt that strongly; the trouble is that the objection applies +with equal force to you. Your mother had a resolute character; your +father was a daring man." + +Blake coloured as he answered: "I'm glad you mentioned this; my parents +can't be held responsible for my faults. You must know that rather +surprising variations are apt to appear in a family strain. It's +possible I'm what gardeners call a sport; a throwback to some inferior +type. There may have been a weakling even among the Challoners." + +"I have dreaded that there was one in the present generation," the +Colonel answered with stern gravity. "But we get no farther. Do you +deny the stories these people have told me?" + +Blake felt that his task was hard. He had to convict himself and must +do so logically, since Challoner was by no means a fool. As he nerved +himself to the effort he was conscious of a rather grim amusement. + +"I think it would be better if I tried to show you how the attack was +made. Is the old set of Indian chessmen still in the drawer?" + +"I believe so. It must be twenty years since they were taken out. +It's strange you should remember them." + +A stirring of half-painful emotions troubled Blake. + +He loved the old house and all that it contained and had a deep-seated +pride in the Challoner traditions. Now he must show that he was a +degenerate scion of the honoured stock and could have no part in them. + +"I have forgotten nothing at Sandymere, but we must stick to the +subject." Crossing the floor he came back with the chessmen, which he +carefully arranged, setting up the white pawns in two separate ranks to +represent bodies of infantry, with the knights and bishops for +officers. The coloured pieces he placed in an irregular mass. + +"Now," he continued, "this represents the disposition of our force +pretty well, and I've good reason for remembering it. I was here, at +the top of the ravine"--he laid a cigar on the table to indicate the +spot--"Bertram on the ridge yonder. This bunch of red pawns stands for +the Ghazee rush." + +"It agrees with what I've heard," said Challoner, surveying the roughly +marked scene of battle with critical eyes. "You were weak in numbers, +but your position was strong. It could have been held." + +"We'll take Mrs. Chudleigh's suggestion first." Blake began to move +the pieces. "The Ghazees rolled straight over our first line; my mine, +which might have checked them, wouldn't go off; a broken circuit in the +firing wires, I suppose. We were hustled out of the trenches; it was +too dark for effective rifle fire." + +"The trench the second detachment held should have been difficult to +rush." + +"Oh! well," said Blake, "you must remember that the beggars were +Ghazees; they're hard to stop. Then our men were worn out and had been +sniped every night for the last week or two. However, the bugler's the +key to my explanation; I'll put this dab of cigar ash here to represent +him. This bishop's Bertram, and you can judge by the distance whether +the fellow could have heard the order to blow, 'Cease fire,' through +the row that was going on." + +He resumed his quick moving of the chessmen, accompanying it by a +running commentary. "Here's another weak point in the woman's tale, +which must be obvious to any one who has handled troops; these fellows +couldn't have gained a footing in this hollow because it was raked by +our fire. There was no cover and the range was short. Then you see +the folly of believing that the section with which the bugler was could +have moved along the ridge; they couldn't have crossed between the +Ghazees and the trench. They'd have been exposed to our own fire in +the rear." + +He added more to much the same effect, and concluded: "I think that +disposes of Mrs. Chudleigh's theory." + +Challoner made a sign of agreement without speaking, and Blake, +lighting a fresh cigar, leaned back in his chair. He believed he had +succeeded so far, but he was feeling the strain. + +"Now I'll deal with Clarke's suggestion; it's certainly ingenious," he +said presently and began to rearrange the chessmen. + +Proceeding much as he had already done, he followed the movements of +the pieces with short explanations, and when he finally swept them up +into a heap looked hard at his companion. + +"I think you ought to be convinced," he said. + +"It all turns upon the bugler's movements," Challoner remarked. + +"And he was killed. Mrs. Chudleigh's account presupposes that he was +in one place, Clarke's in another, while I've tried to show you that he +couldn't have been in either." + +Challoner was silent for a time and Blake watched him anxiously until +he looked up. + +"I think you have succeeded, Dick, though I feel that with a trifling +alteration here and there you could have cleared yourself. Now we'll +let the painful matter drop for good, unless, indeed, some fresh light +is ever thrown on it." + +"That can't happen," Blake replied and added with a gleam of humour: +"As a matter of fact, I'd sooner remain in friendly obscurity." + +Challoner rose and laid a hand on his arm. "If you were once at fault, +you have since shown yourself a man of honour. Though the thing hurt +me at the time, I'm glad you are my nephew. Had there been any +baseness in you, some suspicion must always have rested on your cousin. +Well, we are neither of us sentimentalists, but I must say that you +have amply made amends." + +He turned away and Blake went out into the open air to walk up and +down. The face of the old house rose above him, dark against the clear +night sky; in front the great oaks in the park rolled back in shadowy +masses. Blake, who loved Sandymere, had thought of it often in his +wanderings, and now he was glad that through his action his cousin +would enjoy it without reproach. After all, it was some return to make +for the favours he had received. For himself there remained the charm +of the lonely trail and the wide wilderness, unless, indeed, Harding +succeeded better than Blake really expected with his petroleum +exploitation scheme. + +For all that, he had been badly tempted. Poverty and disgrace were +serious obstacles to marriage, and had he been free to do so, he would +eagerly have sought the hand of Millicent Graham. He knew now that he +loved her and it was hard to hold his longing for her in check, but +while this must be done for the present he did not altogether despair. +He was hopeful and believed that if she loved him, she would not shrink +from his painful story, while it was possible that another of his +disadvantages might be removed. Harding was confident that they were +going to be rich. Thinking about the girl tenderly, he walked up and +down the terrace until he grew calm, and then went in to talk to Miss +Challoner. + +The next fortnight passed uneventfully and then one afternoon he met +Millicent in a field-path and turned back with her to Hazlehurst. It +was a raw day and the wind had brought a fine colour into her face, +while she wore a little fur cap and fur-trimmed jacket which he thought +became her very well. + +"You have not been over often; Foster was remarking about it," she said +to him. + +"That's true," said Blake, who had kept away for fear of his resolution +melting if he saw much of her. "Still, my uncle seems to think he has +a prior claim, and I mayn't be able to stay with him long." + +"Then you are going back to Canada?" The quick way the girl looked up, +and something in her tone, suggested unpleasant surprise, for she had +been taken off her guard. + +"I shall have to go when Harding needs me. I haven't heard from him +since I arrived, but I'll get my summons sooner or later." + +"I thought you had come home for good." + +There was rueful humour but no bitterness in Blake's smile. "Oh! no; +though I'm very fond of it, Sandymere is not my home. It will be +Bertram's by and by and he is married. I'm the poor relation and no +great credit to the family." + +Millicent's colour deepened, but she looked at him steadily. "I think +that is wrong. Since you have been so frank, I may perhaps say that I +know there has been a serious mistake somewhere." + +"I'm flattered," Blake rejoined, and something in his voice was out of +keeping with his half whimsical bow. "It's nice to know your friends +think well of you; but you mustn't let your good-nature get the better +of your judgment." + +"Perhaps I shouldn't have ventured so far." There was a hint of +impatience in Millicent's gesture. "But are you content with your life +in the North-West?" + +"It has its charm. There are very few restrictions, one feels free. +The fences haven't reached us yet; you can ride as far as you can see +over miles of grass and through the clumps of bush. There's something +attractive in the wide horizon; the riband of trail that seems to run +forward for ever draws you on." + +"But the Arctic frost and snow?" + +"After all, they're bracing. Our board shacks with the big stoves in +them are fairly warm, and no one can tell what developments may +suddenly come about in such a country. A railroad may be run through, +wheat-land opened up, minerals found, and wooden cities spring up from +the empty plain. Life's rapid and strenuous; one is swept along with +the stream." + +"But you were in the wilds." + +Blake laughed. "We were, but not far behind us the tide of population +pours across the plain, and if we had stayed a year or two in the +timber, it would have caught us up. That flood won't stop until it +reaches the Polar Sea." + +"But can people live in a rugged land covered with snow that only melts +for a month or two?" + +"It depends upon what they find there. So long as the country has +natural resources, the climate doesn't count. One hears of precious +metals and some are being mined." He paused and added in a tone of +humorous confidence: "My partner believes in oil." + +They were now close to Hazlehurst and Millicent could ask no more +questions because as they reached the high-road Mrs. Keith joined them. + +"You might go in and write the letter I told you about," she said to +Millicent, and then turned to Blake. "As I want a quiet walk, Dick, I +daresay you will keep me company." + +Blake said he would be delighted, and when Millicent had left them +remarked: "I didn't know you were given to this form of exercise." + +"I may as well tell you that I came out because I couldn't take part in +the meaningless chatter that was going on. As a matter of fact, I was +too disturbed to stay in." + +"May one ask what disturbed you?" + +"Mrs. Foster's announcement that Mrs. Chudleigh is coming down again. +She only heard this morning." + +"You think this means a fresh attack upon my persecuted relative?" + +"Judge for yourself. Mrs. Chudleigh had no pressing invitation to come +back and has not been away long; after all, she and Lucy Foster are not +great friends. Now she has only a flimsy excuse for the visit--I've +seen her letter. Why should the woman force herself into Hazlehurst, +unless it's to be within striking distance of your uncle?" + +"I don't know. I suppose she couldn't have come down independently and +called on him, because it would have excited remark; but that's not the +question. The Colonel mustn't see her." + +"How would you prevent his doing so if she goes to the house?" + +"I think," said Blake, "the matter could be most effectively dealt with +by letting her see me." + +"An excellent plan, but if your uncle's to be kept in ignorance, it +will need some arranging." + +"Undoubtedly," said Blake; "that's your business." + +"I suppose I must undertake it. The probability is that Mrs. Chudleigh +doesn't know you are at home and she must, if possible, be kept from +learning it until she sees you. As she's only down for a few days, I +expect she'll make her first move to-morrow. Is your uncle going to +the Croxleigh meet?" + +"He is; so am I. Is there any risk of Mrs. Chudleigh's turning up at +the cover?" + +"I don't think so. Foster has only one spare horse, and as he promised +it to Millicent I'll see she goes. I'm more afraid that Mrs. Chudleigh +will make Lucy Foster take her across to Sandymere in the afternoon, +and if I'm able to prevent that, she'll go alone. She has cultivated +an acquaintance with your aunt." + +"Well," said Blake, "it's a long way to Croxleigh, and the Colonel +won't ride hard. He'll probably be satisfied with seeing the hounds +throw off and then go quietly home. As it happens, there isn't a +direct road." + +"Where does all this lead?" + +"I should imagine it will be four o'clock when he gets back, while by +leaving the hunt and heading straight across country I ought to beat +him by some time. In fact, I might get rid of the lady before he +arrives. After she has seen me she mayn't wish to stay." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Keith. "If Lucy goes to Sandymere, I'll go with +them and hurry them off as soon as I can. Then I'll try to make an +opportunity for you." + +After a few more words she dismissed him and turned back to Hazlehurst. +She thought the plan would work. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +MRS. CHUDLEIGH'S DEFEAT + +Challoner kept one or two good horses, though he no longer used them +much, and he and his nephew were well mounted when they rode to +Croxleigh gorse. As the place was difficult of access, the meet had +been arranged late, and it was after mid-day when they drew near a +broad stretch of furze on the crest of a grassy hill. Mounted men and +a few women were climbing the slope, the scarlet coats shining in a +gleam of light, carriages and motors were drawn up in the shelter of a +beech wood, and from the summit there fell a faint blast of a horn. + +It was a raw day, with a nipping wind and blinks of sunshine that swept +across grass and ploughland and faded again. There were glistening +pools in the narrow road and drops of moisture hung on the briars and +withered fern along the hedgerows. Both Challoner and Blake were +dressed in sober tweed, for the Colonel said he only wore the pink when +he felt fit to follow the hounds and now he must be content to see them +find. Glancing at his watch, he pulled up his horse to a walk. + +"We are in good time, and it's generally a lengthy matter getting a fox +out of the gorse," he said. "Though we haven't hurried, it's rather a +long way, and I feel I have done enough. Don't trouble about me when +the hounds get off. I expect to pick up some elderly crony, and, if +the fox does not run straight, may be able to see something of the hunt +after an easy ride; then I'll jog quietly home." + +"I'll stay with you, if you'd prefer it, sir," Blake declared, though +this was far from his wish, but Challoner shook his head. + +"Get a good run if you can, my boy. Old folks mustn't be selfish, and +I know what young blood is." He turned and regarded Blake +affectionately. "You have been a good nephew, Dick, and since you came +home I have felt that I ought to make some provision for you. That, of +course, was my intention when you were young, but when the break +occurred you cut yourself adrift and refused assistance." + +Blake coloured, for there were, he thought, adequate reasons why he +should take no further favours from his uncle. If the truth about the +frontier affair ever came out, it would look as if he had valued his +honour less than the money he could extort and the Colonel would bear +the stigma of having bought his silence. + +"I'm grateful, sir, but I must still refuse," he said. + +"But why? The property would stand the cost of the arrangement I +thought of making, and Bertram wouldn't feel that I had been unfair to +him; besides, his wife has means." + +"Bertram's as generous as you are; he pressed me to take some help from +him in Montreal, but I could not consent." + +"I think you were wrong, and see I have made a mistake. I should have +stuck to my first intention of saying nothing about it and putting you +into my will, but it struck me that you would like to know how you +stood, in case you thought of marrying or going in for farming on a +remunerative scale in Canada." + +"Thank you, but if my future is to be provided for, I'm the person who +ought to look after it. There's no reason why it should become a +charge on you." + +"I think there is," Challoner rejoined. "In fact, I feel somewhat hurt +that you don't see it." + +Blake was touched, but his determination held. "I'm glad you made me +the offer, sir, because it shows I haven't forfeited your regard. You +must, however, let me have my way, particularly as I see a chance of +making money." + +"Then you have some plan?" + +"My partner has," Blake answered, smiling. "I leave that kind of thing +to him. I told you about the oil." + +"You did, and Clarke had something to say upon the subject. He, +however, gave me to understand that capital was needed." + +"That is so," Blake replied unguardedly, for he did not see where his +uncle's remark led. "Boring plant is expensive, and transport costs +something. Then you have to spend a good deal beforehand if you wish +to float a company." + +"But you believe this venture will pay you?" + +"Harding is convinced of it, and he's shrewd. Personally, I don't know +enough about the business to judge, but if I had any money to risk I'd +take his word for it." + +"Well," said Challoner, urging his horse to a trot, "perhaps we had +better get on." + +They joined the company gathered round the edge of the gorse and when +Challoner greeted an acquaintance Blake found what he thought was a +good place for getting a start from. He could hear the cries of the +huntsman and an occasional blast of his horn among the furze; once or +twice a ranging dog broke cover and disappeared again. Outside, +red-coated men and some in grey jammed their hats tight and tried to +keep their fidgeting horses quiet. Close by a young girl, finely +habited, with a glowing face, gracefully controlled her plunging mount, +and a few older women seemed to have some trouble in holding their +thoroughbreds. Everybody wore a strained, eager look, but Blake was +disappointed, for although he looked round for Millicent and Foster he +did not see them. + +By and by a deep baying broke out and swelled into a burst of thrilling +sound, the horn called sharply, somebody shouted, and there was a rush +of well-mounted riders towards a corner of the gorse. Then the hounds +streamed out, speeding across the grassy slope with a small, red-brown +object travelling very fast some distance in front. Blake, who let his +chestnut go, swept down the hill at a furious gallop, and felt the +horse rise and heard a thud of hoofs on sloppy ground as a fence was +cleared. Then he toiled across a strip of ploughing, with firm grip on +the bridle, for, exhilarating as the chase was, he could not enjoy it +long. In his younger days he had hunted the country he was now riding +over, he had been a crack polo player, and had covered wide stretches +of the Canadian prairie in the saddle. He could feel the power of the +good horse he bestrode, the speed fired his blood, and for the first +few minutes he had been in danger of forgetting that the keen pleasure +he was conscious of could not be enjoyed long. + +There was a crash as they broke through the top of a bending hedge, he +heard a rail break beneath the hoofs, and they were flying across a +wide pasture, the chestnut pulling hard. It needed some strength of +will to hold him, but Blake did so, keeping his place behind the +foremost while the rest of the hunt tailed out. After another awkward +jump or two most of the rearguard were out of sight, scattering, no +doubt, in search of gates, and Blake was not pleased to find himself +level with two well-mounted, red-coated men. There was a brook with a +fringe of willows along its side not far ahead and, a short distance to +the right, a deep, tree-shrouded hollow. This was where he must break +off, but, sitting a good horse in the company of hard-riding men, it +was not pleasant to look as if he shirked the leap. + +"'Ware rotten bank!" cried one, glancing round at him. "Head for the +pollard stump!" + +"Give me a lead," Blake shouted. "You know the country." + +With a strong effort, he held the chestnut back, and saw the first +red-coated figure rise above the willows and alight with the mire +flying among the rushes across the stream. Then he swung to the right, +where he remembered there was a broad, shallow place, and drove the +chestnut at its widest part. They came down with a great splash and +the horse floundered badly, for the bottom was soft, but Blake had done +what he meant to do, and as the second horseman leaped across a +narrower spot he caught a sympathetic, "Hard luck!" + +Then he turned the chestnut and scrambling out upon the bank he had +left trotted to the hollow, where he was lost among the trees before +the tail of the hunt came up. He thought he had withdrawn himself +neatly and must now get home as soon as possible, because if his uncle +saw no opportunity of picking up the hounds again after an easy ride, +he might return before Mrs. Chudleigh could be dealt with. + +Crossing a sunk lane by and by, Blake, who glanced at his watch, held +straight across the fields, and was glad to find that the hunt-club +subsidies had had some effect in determining the nature of the fences. +The most part could be jumped without much trouble, but the chestnut +was foul-coated and flecked with spume when at length he turned into a +road. There he pulled up to a steady trot and got home, rather wet and +splashed with mire, early in the afternoon, and after a bath and change +felt himself ready for the encounter. He had not much diplomacy, but +thought he could make up for that by stubbornly sticking to his point. + +As he sat in the library with the door left open he heard Mrs. Foster +and her friends arrive and recognized the voices. Mrs. Keith had come +and Millicent, besides another lady whom he surmised was Mrs. +Chudleigh. He hardly thought his aunt, whom he had not taken into his +confidence, would mention him, and it might be better if he waited +until tea was served, after which the party would probably separate and +saunter about the hall and picture gallery. It was important that he +should have a few words with Mrs. Chudleigh alone. Fortune favoured +him, for when he entered the gallery she stood before a picture and the +nearest of her companions was some yards further on. She started when +he came up and joined her. + +"You remember me, though I imagine my appearance is a surprise to you," +he said with a bow. + +"Yes," she answered calmly, though she had received something of a +shock. "Nobody told me you had returned from Canada." + +"There was no obvious reason for thinking you would be interested. But +will you sit down? My uncle has some rather good miniatures which +might please you. They're in yonder drawer." + +She looked at him sharply. "You may bring them. I suppose you have +something to say." + +Blake placed the case of miniatures on a table and she took up one or +two. "They are worth seeing, and in good French style; beauties of +Marie Antoinette's court, perhaps, though this one in the high-waisted +dress may have been attached to Josephine's." Then she put them down +with a smile. "Now they have served their purpose. What have you to +say?" + +"You must excuse the bluntness which I feel is needful. You came over +to see my uncle and I'm afraid you were disappointed in finding me +instead." + +"Suppose I admit it? That wouldn't prevent my seeing Colonel Challoner +another time." + +"Certainly not, provided that you still wished to do so, but I'm +inclined to think you won't consider it necessary when you know what my +attitude is. You must realize that a good deal depends on this." + +"Yes," she said frankly, "in a sense, you're important. I see you +understand the situation." + +"You believe you have the power to force my uncle into furthering a +plan of yours. You found him obstinate at your first attempt, but you +think his resolution may since have given way." + +"Yes," she said; "if I insist, he cannot refuse me." + +"That is where we differ. I'm in your way, and you'll excuse my saying +that you'll find me rather troublesome to remove. Then a secret loses +its value when people find it out, and it's perhaps news to you that a +man from Canada called upon my uncle not long since with a story very +like yours. He found the Colonel no more amenable than you did." + +Mrs. Chudleigh looked surprised, but that was all. "It may save us +both trouble if you tell me candidly what you mean to do." + +Blake glanced down the gallery. Mrs. Keith was sitting at a table with +some old prints spread out before her, but as the light was fading he +hardly supposed that she could see him well, though he imagined that +she was watching. In the background Mrs. Foster was talking to Miss +Challoner, with Millicent standing in the shadow. The Challoner +portraits were growing indistinct, though their heavy gold frames +glimmered faintly, and he could no longer distinguish the carving on +the ends of the dark oak beams. Though he thought he was safe from +interruption by any of the others, Blake realized that he had no time +to lose, because Challoner must arrive soon. + +"Yes," he said, "I think it would be better. Well, I mean to relieve +my uncle from any further attacks of the kind you have made on him and +to defend my cousin's honour. You must see that you are powerless to +injure it unless I confirm your tale." + +Mrs. Chudleigh clenched her hand and her eyes flashed. "You are +willing to bear undeserved disgrace, to wander about Canada, an outcast +from all society you could take pleasure in? It's incomprehensible, +unless you have something to gain." + +Blake regarded her with a tolerant smile. "My dear lady, it's obvious +that I should not gain anything by supporting your ingenious theory of +what happened on the frontier, because if you were right, your only +power over the Colonel would lie in his supposed desire to keep it +quiet, which would, of course, prevent my clearing my character. If, +however, you wish to believe that I have been bought over by him or +Bertram, you must do so. I'll own that it seems the best explanation; +but I should then have a strong reason for opposing you." + +"But you are opposing me." + +"Yes," said Blake. "My object in doing so hasn't much bearing on the +matter so far as you are concerned, but it will simplify things if you +will realize that I mean to stand between my relatives and harm. I'm +not a clever player of this kind of game, but you must see I hold the +ace of trumps among my cards. Now you know I'm ready to play it, don't +you think it would be wiser to leave the Colonel alone?" + +For a few moments she looked at him in silence, and though she burned +with anger and disappointment she kept her head. She was beaten; no +art that she could practise and no argument would prevail against the +man's resolution. The only thing left was to retire with as much +dignity as possible from the fight. + +"Well," she answered, getting up, "I suppose there is no more to be +said, and after all you might have shown me less consideration. I must +do you the justice to admit that I believe you are acting out of +loyalty to your friends." + +"Thank you," Blake said with a bow. "Now I notice Mrs. Foster coming +towards us and imagine that she doesn't mean to stay much longer." + +Mrs. Chudleigh left him, and in another few minutes Mrs. Foster +declared that she must go, while as they walked towards the staircase +Mrs. Keith came up to Blake. + +"Well?" she asked in an anxious tone. + +Blake smiled at her. "I think we needn't fear any further trouble." + +Admiration shone in Margaret Keith's eyes. "It's a great relief, +though I knew the worst danger was over when you came home. None of +the Challoners ever did so fine a thing, Dick." + +She went by before he could answer and he turned back into the gallery +while the others descended to the hall. Standing near a window, he saw +Foster's car speed down the drive; then the hoot of the horn reached +him from the corner by the lodge, and there was silence again. It was +broken a few minutes later by a beat of hoofs, and Blake, looking out, +saw Challoner dismount. + +"Where did you get to, Dick?" the Colonel asked when his nephew went +down to meet him. "I saw you close behind the hounds for a time, but +you disappeared and nobody seemed to know what had become of you." + +"I had a good run," Blake said, smiling. "Then I dropped out and rode +home across country. I remembered that there was something I had to +do." + +"It must have been something important to take you off the field when +the hounds were running as they were then." + +"I thought the matter needed attention," Blake rejoined, lighting a +cigar. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +A DIFFICULT QUESTION + +On the evening after Mrs. Chudleigh's visit, Challoner sent for Blake, +who had just returned from an afternoon's shooting with Foster. The +Colonel was sitting in a big leather chair near a good fire, but he had +a heavy rug wrapped about him. + +"Had you good sport?" he asked. "You must have found it very cold +standing about the covers." + +"We made a fair bag. The air was raw, but nothing unusual." + +"I can't keep warm; I've been shivering all day. It looks as if I'd +got a chill waiting outside Croxleigh gorse, but that is not what I +want to talk about." His tone grew sharper. "It's curious that I +wasn't told Mrs. Chudleigh came here yesterday; had you anything to do +with keeping the information from me?" + +"I'm afraid I must own up, sir. I thought it might disturb you, if you +knew." + +"Your intentions were, no doubt, good, but please remember in future +that I can't permit things that concern me to be taken out of my hands. +I believe I'm still capable of managing my affairs." + +It struck Blake that his uncle looked ill, which might account for his +asperity, and he made an apologetic answer. + +"You may as well tell me what she said," Challoner resumed. + +"As a matter of fact, she didn't say very much," Blake answered with a +twinkle. "I did most of the talking, but you must guess her object; +she seems a persistent lady." + +"Then what did you say?" + +"I tried to show her that she was helpless to make any trouble so long +as I stuck to my guns, and I think she recognized it. Anyhow, Foster +mentioned that she told his wife this morning she was afraid she +couldn't stay as long as she had expected. I suppose this means she's +ready to leave the field as soon as she can do so without exciting +curiosity." + +Challoner looked much relieved, but when Blake left him he grew +thoughtful. His nephew's demonstration with the chessmen had lifted a +weight off his mind, but he was troubled by a doubt about the absolute +correctness of his explanation. Moreover, when he dwelt upon it, the +doubt gathered strength, but there was nothing that he could do; Dick +obviously meant to stick to his story, and Bertram could not be +questioned. Another matter troubled him; Dick, whom he had meant to +provide for, would not allow it, and though Challoner admired his +independence he thought Dick was carrying it too far. + +In the meanwhile, Blake sought Miss Challoner and said, "I don't think +my uncle's looking fit. Mightn't it be better to send for Dr. Onslow?" + +"He wouldn't be pleased," Miss Challoner answered dubiously "Still, he +sometimes enjoys a talk with Onslow, who's a tactful man. If he looked +in, as it were, casually----" + +"Yes," said Blake; "we'll give him a hint. I'll send the groom with a +note at once." + +The doctor came and left without expressing any clear opinion, but when +he returned next day he ordered Challoner to bed and told Blake he +feared a sharp attack of pneumonia. His fears were justified, for it +was some weeks before Challoner was able to leave his room. During his +illness he insisted on his nephew's company whenever the nurses would +allow it, and when he began to recover, again begged him to remain at +Sandymere. He had come to lean upon the younger man and entrusted him +with all the business of the estate, which he was no longer able to +attend to. + +"Dick," he said one day when Blake thought he was too ill to perceive +that he was casting a reflection on his son, "I wish my personal means +were larger, so I could give Bertram enough and leave Sandymere to you; +then I'd know the place would be in good hands. On the surface, you're +a happy-go-lucky fellow, but that's deceptive. In reality, you have a +surprising grip of things--however, you know my opinion of you. But +you won't go away, Dick?" + +The nurse interrupted them, and Blake was glad he had written to +Harding stating his inability to rejoin him. A week or two later he +received a cable message: "No hurry." + +When spring came he was still at Sandymere, for Challoner, who got +better very slowly, would not let him go, and saw Millicent frequently. +At first he felt that this was a weakness, since he had nothing to +offer her except a tainted name, but his love was getting beyond +control and his resistance feebler. After all, he thought, the story +of the Indian disaster must be almost forgotten, and Harding had a good +chance of finding the oil. If the latter had not already started for +the North, he would do so soon, but Blake had had no news from him +since his cabled message. + +Then, after a quiet month, things began to happen, for one afternoon +when Challoner had driven over to Hazlehurst with his nephew, Foster +came in from the station, bringing a newspaper. The party was sitting +in the conservatory; Mrs. Keith talking to Challoner, Millicent and +Blake standing close by, but there were no other guests, and Mrs. +Chudleigh had left some weeks earlier. Foster sat down near the +Colonel. + +"Here's a paragraph that may be of interest; it wasn't in the morning +papers." he remarked. "I believe I've heard Miss Graham and Mrs. +Chudleigh mention a Captain Sedgwick." + +"Yes," said Millicent; "we both knew him, but what has he been doing?" + +"He seems to have got into trouble, but I'll read you the account." + +The interest he had roused was obvious. Challoner leaned forward with +an intent face, Blake dropped the match with which he was lighting a +cigarette, while Mrs. Keith fixed her eyes eagerly on Foster. +Millicent was the least concerned, and she wondered at the others' air +of tension while Foster unfolded his paper. + +"'Telegraphic news has been received of a disaster to a small British +force in Western Africa,' he read. 'Captain Sedgwick left his +headquarters at Ambolana with a detachment of native troops to demand +guarantees of good behaviour from the headman of a fortified village +near the French frontier. The expedition was ambushed in thick jungle, +but, escaping after heavy loss, made a stand against large numbers at a +place which appears to lie outside the British boundary. Here Sedgwick +again suffered some loss before a body of French black troops appeared +upon the field. Further details are anxiously waited, since the +affair, which is complicated by a doubt about the headman's suzerainty, +may lead to strong representations from France.'" + +"It looks as if your friend will get a wigging," Foster remarked to +Millicent as he laid down the paper. "As I understand it, the +Government doesn't thank too zealous officers who make trouble with our +neighbours, unless there's some substantial gain. There can't be any +in this case, because the French had to rescue the fellow." + +"Then I'm sorry for Captain Sedgwick," Millicent replied. "I met him +in Quebec, but only saw him for a few weeks." She turned to Blake. +"The news seems to have made some impression on you." + +"It has, in a way," Blake admitted with embarrassment, because he did +not wish his interest to be noticed. "As it happens, I've heard a good +deal about the man." + +Then Mrs. Keith beckoned the girl. "I think I left my outdoor +spectacles in my room; would you mind getting them?" + +Millicent went away and Mrs. Keith led Foster to talk about something +else, because she saw that his wife's curiosity was aroused. It was +undesirable that any one should guess that the news had its importance +to Challoner. Prudence prevented her saying anything to her old friend +alone before he left, but she gave him a look which was expressive of +relief and satisfaction. As they drove home Challoner turned to Blake. + +"I'll know more about the matter in a day or two," he said. +"Greythorpe's coming down." + +"In my opinion, Sedgwick has ruined himself," Blake replied. "No +influence could get him the appointment now." + +This view was taken by Greythorpe when he sat talking with Challoner a +few evenings afterwards. + +"You were right about Captain Sedgwick," he remarked. "The man came +near getting us into serious difficulties. I suppose you have read the +newspaper account?" + +"Yes. You have more complete information?" + +Greythorpe nodded. "The other was accurate, so far as it went. The +fellow played a bold stroke, making the usual excuse; the necessity for +putting an end to the depredations and barbarities of a native headman." + +"To do him justice, I daresay the excuse was good." + +"It's possible, but Sedgwick's motive was not humanitarian. He knew +that if he could seize the headman's stronghold and effectively occupy +the surrounding country, we should stay there and after a protest or +two the French would have to acquiesce. As it happened, he bungled the +business, and, worst of all, had to be extricated by the people he +meant to outwit. They led him politely but very firmly across the +frontier, and now it's our part to express our regret and promise to +avoid any fresh aggression." + +"What will you do with Sedgwick?" + +"He'll have to be reprimanded, and after this we can't trust him with +independent authority. He's too venturesome, though I'll admit that it +would have been different if he had succeeded. Still, he has his +talents, and I daresay we'll find him useful in a subordinate post. +I'm inclined to sympathize with your friend Mrs. Chudleigh." + +Challoner made no answer to this, and they talked about matters until +Blake came in, when Greythorpe left them alone together. + +"He agrees with you about the African affair," said the Colonel. +"Sedgwick is, so to speak, done for and will be kept in the background +after this." + +"It's more important that Mrs. Chudleigh is disposed of," Blake +replied. "As she can't help the man, she'll no longer have any motive +for troubling us, and I don't think she would do so out of malice. +That sets me free, and as you're getting strong again I ought to go +back to Canada as soon as I can." + +"If you feel you must go, I'll have to consent." + +"I've a duty to my partner. It's probable that he has already set off, +but I know where to find him and there'll be plenty to do. For one +thing, as transport is expensive, we'll have to relay our supplies over +very rough country and that means making the same stage several times, +while I don't suppose Harding will have been able to buy very efficient +boring plant." + +"He may have done better than you imagined," Challoner remarked. "A +man as capable as he seems to be would somehow get hold of what was +needful." + +Blake was surprised at this, because his uncle understood their +financial difficulties; but he said, "There's a fast boat next +Saturday. I think I'll go by her." + +"Wait another week, to please me," Challoner urged him. "You have had +a dull time since I've been ill, and now I'd like you to get about. I +shall miss you badly, Dick." + +Blake agreed. He felt that he ought to have sailed earlier, but the +temptation to remain was strong. He now met Millicent every day, and +it might be a very long time before he returned to England. He feared +that he was laying up trouble for himself, but he recklessly determined +to make the most of the present, and, in spite of his misgivings, the +next eight or nine days brought him many delightful hours. Now she +knew he was going, Millicent abandoned the reserve she had sometimes +shown. She was sympathetic, interested in his plans, and, he thought, +wonderfully charming. They were rapidly drawn closer together, and the +more he learned of her character, the stronger his admiration grew. At +times he imagined he noticed a tender shyness in her manner, and though +it delighted him he afterwards took himself to task. He was not acting +honourably; he had no right to win this girl's love, as he was trying +to do, but there was the excuse that she knew his history and it had +not made her cold to him. + +In the meanwhile, Mrs. Keith, who had grown very fond of her companion +and entirely approved of her, looked on with observant eyes and made +opportunities for throwing the two together. One afternoon a day or +two before Blake's departure she called Millicent into her room and +asked her abruptly: "Have you ever thought about your future?" + +"Not often since I have been with you," Millicent answered. "Before +that it used to trouble me." + +"Then I'm afraid you're imprudent. You have no relations you could +look to for help, and while my health is pretty good I can't, of +course, live for ever. I might leave you something, but it would not +be much, because my property is earmarked for a particular purpose." + +Millicent wondered where this led, but Mrs. Keith went on: "As you have +found out, I'm a frank old woman and not afraid to say what I think. +Well, considering how attractive you are, there's a way out of the +difficulty, and I believe it's the best one. You ought to marry; it's +your true vocation." + +"I'm not sure," said Millicent, blushing. "Besides it mightn't be +possible. I owe everything to your generosity, but you have brought me +into a station where I must stand comparison with girls who have more +advantages." + +"You mean they have more money? Well, it's not to be despised, but +I've met men who didn't attach too much importance to it. They had the +sense to see there were other things of greater value, and while I +don't often flatter people, you're not poor in this respect. But if +you liked a man who was far from rich, would you marry him?" + +"It would depend," Millicent replied, while her colour deepened. "Why +do you ask? I can't give you a general answer." + +"Then give me a particular one; I want to know." + +The girl was embarrassed, but she had learned that her employer was not +to be put off easily. + +"I suppose his being poor wouldn't daunt me, if I loved him enough." + +"Then we'll suppose something else. If he had done something to be +ashamed of?" + +Millicent looked up with a flash in her eyes. "People are so ready to +believe the worst. He did nothing that he need blush for--that's +impossible." Then she saw the trap into which her generous indignation +had led her, but instead of looking down in confusion she boldly faced +Mrs. Keith. "Yes," she added, "if he loved me, I would marry him in +spite of what people are foolish enough to think." + +"And you would not regret it." Mrs. Keith laid her hand on the girl's +arm with a caressing touch. "My dear, if you value your happiness, you +will tell him so. Remember that he is going away in a day or two." + +"How can I tell him?" Millicent cried with burning face. "I only--I +mean you tricked me into telling you." + +"It shouldn't be difficult to give him a tactful hint, and that +wouldn't be a remarkably unusual course," Mrs. Keith rejoined with +amusement. "The idea that a proposal comes quite spontaneously is to +some extent a convention nowadays. I don't suppose you need reminding +that we dine at Sandymere to-morrow." + +Millicent made no reply, and as she seemed rather overwhelmed by her +employer's frankness, the latter took pity on her. + +"You might ask Foster for the review he promised me, but you can send +it up instead of coming back," she said, and added as Millicent turned +away: "Think over what I told you." + +The recommendation was superfluous, because Millicent thought of +nothing else. She knew Blake was her lover and believed she understood +why he had not declared himself. Now he might go away without speaking +if she let him. Mrs. Keith's blunt candour left her no excuse for +shirking the truth; she loved the man, but it was hateful to feel that +she must make the first advances and reveal her tenderness for him. +She said she could not do so and yet vacillated, for the alternative +was worse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +HARDING STRIKES OIL + +Next evening Millicent accompanied Mrs. Keith to Sandymere in a +troubled mood. Dinner was a trying function, because she sat next to +Foster, who talked in a humorous strain and expected her to appreciate +his jokes. She found it hard to smile at the right moment and noticed +that Blake was unusually quiet. It was his last evening in England. + +When they went into the drawing-room Challoner engaged her in +conversation for a time and she was afterwards asked to sing. An hour +passed before Blake had an opportunity of exchanging a word with her, +and then Miss Challoner was sitting close by. + +"They'll make you sing again if you stop here," he said softly. + +She understood that he wanted her to himself and thrilled at something +in his voice, but instead of complying she asked: "Don't you wish me +to?" + +"Yes, of course," he answered lamely and was silent for a few moments. +Then he resumed: "You're interested in Eastern brasswork, I think?" + +"I hardly know," said Millicent. "I haven't seen much of it." + +She was vexed with herself for her prudish weakness. An opportunity +that might never be repeated was offered her, and she could not muster +the courage to seize it. Blake, however, did not seem daunted. + +"You said you were delighted with the things my uncle showed you when +you were last here and a friend has just sent him a fresh lot from +Benares." He gave her an appealing look. "It struck me you might like +to see them." + +"Yes," said Millicent with forced calm; "I really think I would." + +"Will you give me the key of the Indian collection?" Blake asked +Challoner. + +"Here it is," said the Colonel, who turned to Mrs. Keith. "That +reminds me, you haven't seen my new treasures yet. Dryhurst has lately +sent me some rather good things; among others there's a small Buddha, +exquisitely carved. Shall we go and look at them?" + +Mrs. Keith felt angry with him for a marplot, but she said: "Wouldn't +it be better to wait until I'm here in the daylight? If I try to +examine anything closely with these spectacles, they strain my eyes." + +"I've had a new lamp placed in front of the case," Challoner persisted, +and Mrs. Keith found it hard to forgive him for his obtuseness. + +"Very well," she said in a resigned tone, and when Millicent and Blake +had gone out walked slowly to the door with Challoner. + +They were half way up the staircase which led rather sharply from the +hall when she stopped and turned to her companion. + +"It's obvious that you have recovered," she said. + +"I certainly feel much better, but what prompted your remark?" + +"These stairs. You don't seem to feel them, but if you expect me to +run up and down, you'll have to make them shallower and less steep. +I've been up twice since I came; Hilda insisted on my seeing the new +decorations in the west wing, and I must confess to a weakness in my +knee." + +Challoner gave her a sharp glance and then said, "I'm sorry. Mrs. +Foster mentioned something about your not walking much; I should have +remembered." + +"It's the weather; I find the damp troublesome. If you don't mind, I +think we'll go down." + +Challoner gave her his arm, and Millicent, standing in the picture +gallery, noticed their return. She suspected that this was the result +of some manoeuvre of Mrs. Keith's intended for her advantage, and tried +to summon her resolution. The man she loved would sail next day, +believing that his poverty and the stain he had not earned must stand +between them, unless she could force herself to give him a hint to the +contrary. This was the only sensible course, but she timidly shrank +from it. + +Blake unlocked a glass case and taking out two shelves laid them on a +table. "There they are," he said with a rather nervous smile. "I've +no doubt the things are interesting, and if our friends come up they +can look at them. But it wasn't Benares brassware that brought me +here." + +"Was it not?" Millicent asked with a fluttering heart. + +"Certainly not! One couldn't talk with Foster enlarging upon the only +rational way of rearing pheasants, and you know I'm going away first +thing to-morrow." + +"Yes; I know," said Millicent, and then looked up at him with sudden +courage. "I'm sorry." + +"Truly sorry; you mean that?" He gave her a very keen glance while he +knitted his brows. + +"Yes," she said recklessly; "I mean it. You ought to know I do." + +He laid his hand on her shoulder, holding her a little away from him. +"I came up here in a state of horrible indecision, torn different ways +by a sense of the duty I owed you and my selfish longing. Even if +nothing had been said to make it harder for me, I can't tell how the +struggle would have ended." + +"Why should there be a struggle?" she asked him. + +His grasp tightened and his eyes were steadily fixed upon her face. +"You're very young and beautiful and, though I love you, I'm a broken +man." + +"Then it's through no fault of yours." + +"The consequences are the same and, apart from this, I have nothing to +offer. Can you wonder, my dear, that I was afraid? I come to you a +beggar, with everything to gain." + +"Ah!" she said, "all I have to give is yours; I think it was yours +before you asked for it." + +"Then you are not afraid?" + +She looked at him with a happy smile. "What should I fear? Aren't you +able to take care of me? It must be for my sake that you are so timid +and I love you for it, but I think this must be the first time you ever +hesitated long. Where has your usual recklessness gone?" + +"It's coming back." He passed his arm about her waist, drawing her +strongly to him. "We'll laugh at cold-blooded prudence and take our +chances. It's a wide world, and we'll find a nook somewhere if we go +out and look for it. All my care will be to smooth the trail for your +dear, pretty feet." + +They spent a time in happy talk, and Blake murmured when Millicent +protested that they must go back, while she feared that her lover's +exultant air would betray them as they entered the drawing-room. + +"Where's the key?" Challoner asked. + +"I'm afraid I forgot it, sir," Blake confessed. "Very sorry, but I'm +not even sure I put the things away." + +Challoner rang a bell and gave an order to a servant. Then he asked +Millicent: "Did you see the Buddha?" + +"No," she said. "I don't think so." + +"Or the brass plate with the fantastic serpent pattern round the rim?" + +"I'm afraid I didn't," Millicent owned with a trace of confusion. + +Challoner looked hard at Blake, and then his eyes twinkled. + +"Well," he said pointedly, "perhaps it wasn't to be expected." + +There was a moment's silence. Millicent looked down with the colour in +her face; Blake stood very straight, smiling at the others. Then he +said, "We are all friends here, and I'm proud to announce that +Millicent has promised to marry me as soon as I return from Canada." +He bowed to Mrs. Keith and the Colonel. "As you have taken her +guardian's place, madam, and you, sir, are the head of the house, I +should like to think we have your approval." + +"How formal, Dick!" said Mrs. Keith with a laugh. "I imagine my +consent is very much a matter of form, but I give it with the greatest +satisfaction." + +Challoner got up and took Millicent's hand. "My dear, I am very glad, +and I think Dick has shown great wisdom. I wish you both all +happiness." + +Mrs. Foster and her husband offered their congratulations, and for the +next hour they discussed Blake's future plans, after which they were +interrupted by the entrance of a servant with a small silver tray. + +"Telegram, sir, for Mr. Blake," he said. "Hopkins was at the post +office, and they gave it him." + +Blake took the envelope and looked at Miss Challoner for permission to +open it. When he had done so, he started and gave the form to +Millicent. + +"Oh, Dick!" she cried with sparkling eyes. "Isn't this very good." + +"I believe so." Blake turned to the others. "After the good feeling +you have shown towards us, I daresay you'll be interested to hear my +partner's latest news." He read out: "'Come. Struck it. Tell +Challoner.'" + +He turned to Mrs. Keith. "This should set me firmly on my feet and may +make me rich." Then he addressed Challoner. "But I don't understand +the last of it. Why does he wish you to know?" + +The Colonel chuckled. "I sent Mr. Harding five hundred pounds to buy +anything he needed for his prospecting, and told him to give me an +option on a good block of shares in the new syndicate at par. You're +very independent, Dick, but I can't see why you should object to your +relatives putting money into what looks like a promising thing." + +"I've no doubt it was mainly through your help Harding found the oil," +Blake said gratefully. + +Soon after this the Fosters rose to go, but they waited sympathetically +in the hall while Millicent lingered with Blake in the drawing-room. + +"Dick," she said, blushing, "you made a rash statement, I didn't quite +promise to marry you as soon as you came back." + +"Then it was understood," Blake answered firmly. + +"I can't let you off." + +"Well," she said; "if it will bring you home any quicker, dear! But +how long must you stay?" + +"I can't tell; there may be much to do and, if Harding needs me, I must +see it out, but I won't delay a minute more than's needful. You know +we may have to live in Canada?" + +"Yes," she said shyly; "I won't object. Where you are will be home." + +Then Foster opened the door. "The car's waiting, and it's coming on to +rain." + +Millicent went out with him; and Blake, who sailed next day, found, on +reaching the timber belt, that, as he had predicted, there was much to +be done. After some months' hard work, Harding, who was confident that +the oil would pay handsomely, left him in charge while he set off for +the cities to arrange about pipes and plant and the raising of capital. +It was early winter when he returned, satisfied with what he had +accomplished, and Blake saw that he would be able to visit England in a +few weeks. + +He was sitting in their office shack one bitter day when a sledge +arrived with supplies, and the teamster brought him a telegram. His +face grew grave as he opened it and read-- + + +"Bertram killed in action.--Challoner." + + +"This sets you free, doesn't it?" Harding remarked after expressing his +sympathy. + +"I can't tell," Blake answered. "I haven't thought of it in such a +light. I was very fond of my cousin." + +"But the action must have been in India," Harding resumed after a +while. "Didn't you tell me Captain Challoner was coming home?" + +"He gave up a good appointment when he found his regiment was to be +sent to a station where there was a likelihood of some fighting. I +think I can guess the reason." + +Shortly before Blake left the camp he received further news by mail and +some English newspapers. Bertram had been shot when leading an attack +upon a fort among the frontier hills, and the accounts agreed that he +had shown exceptional gallantry. + +On reaching England, Blake found Millicent at the station. Mrs. Keith, +she told him, had given up her London house and taken one near +Sandymere. Then she looked thoughtful when he asked about his uncle. + +"I'm afraid you will see a marked change in him," she said. "He has +not been well since you left, and the news of Bertram's death was a +shock." + +She was with him when he met Challoner, who looked very frail and +forlorn. + +"It's a comfort to see you back, Dick; you are all I have now," he +said, and went on with a break in his voice: "After all, it was a good +end my boy made--a very daring thing! The place was supposed to be +unassailable by such a force as he had, but he stormed it. In spite of +his fondness for painting, he was true to strain." + +Some time later Blake said to Millicent, "You heard what he told me, +dear? The secret must still be kept; I can't speak." + +"No," said Millicent, "not while your uncle lives. It's hard, when I +want everybody to know what you are." + +He kissed her. "I daresay it's natural that you should be prejudiced +in my favour, but I like it." + +"Oh!" she answered, smiling, "I've no doubt you have some faults, but +you're very staunch. You must do what you think right, Dick, and I'll +try to be content. One reason for my loving you is that you are brave +enough to take this generous part." + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blake's Burden, by Harold Bindloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAKE'S BURDEN *** + +***** This file should be named 29155.txt or 29155.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/1/5/29155/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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