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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl From Keller's, by Harold Bindloss
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Girl From Keller's
+       Sadie's Conquest
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Release Date: April 11, 2006 [EBook #3663]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL FROM KELLER'S ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dagny;John Bickers
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL FROM KELLER'S
+
+
+By Harold Bindloss
+
+
+
+
+ORIGINAL PREPARER'S NOTE
+
+This text was prepared from an edition, published by Frederick A. Stokes
+Company, New York, 1917. It was published in England under the title
+"Sadie's Conquest."
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GIRL FROM KELLER'S
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE PORTRAIT
+
+It was getting dark when Festing stopped at the edge of a ravine on the
+Saskatchewan prairie. The trail that led up through the leafless
+birches was steep, and he had walked fast since he left his work at
+the half-finished railroad bridge. Besides, he felt thoughtful, for
+something had happened during the visit of a Montreal superintendent
+engineer that had given him a hint. It was not exactly disturbing,
+because Festing had, to some extent, foreseen the line the
+superintendent would take; but a post to which he thought he had a claim
+had been offered to somebody else. The post was not remarkably
+well paid, but since he was passed over now, he would, no doubt, be
+disappointed when he applied for the next, and it was significant that
+as he stood at the top of the ravine he first looked back and then
+ahead.
+
+In the distance, a dull red glow marked the bridge, where the glare of
+the throbbing blast-lamps flickered across a muddy river, swollen by
+melting snow. He heard the ring of the riveters' hammers and the clang
+of flung-down rails. The whistle of a gravel train came faintly across
+the grass, and he knew that for a long distance gangs of men were
+smoothing the roughly graded track.
+
+In front, everything was quiet. The pale-green sky was streaked along
+the horizon by a band of smoky red, and the gray prairie rolled into the
+foreground, checkered by clumps of birches and patches of melting snow.
+In one place, the figures of a man and horses moved slowly across the
+fading light; but except for this, the wide landscape was without life
+and desolate. Festing, however, knew it would not long remain a silent
+waste. A change was coming with the railroad; in a few years, the
+wilderness would be covered with wheat; and noisy gasoline tractors
+would displace the plowman's teams. Moreover, a change was coming to
+him; he felt that he had reached the trail fork and now must choose his
+path.
+
+He was thirty years of age and a railroad builder, though he hardly
+thought he had much talent for his profession. Hard work and stubborn
+perseverance had carried him on up to the present, but it looked as
+if he could not go much farther. It was eight years since he began by
+joining a shovel gang, and he felt the lack of scientific training. He
+might continue to fill subordinate posts, but the men who came to the
+front had been taught by famous engineers and held certificates.
+
+Yet Festing was ambitious and had abilities that sprang rather from
+character than technical knowledge, and now wondered whether he should
+leave the railroad and join the breakers of virgin soil. He knew
+something about prairie farming and believed that success was largely a
+matter of temperament. One must be able to hold on if one meant to win.
+Then he dismissed the matter for a time, and set off again with a firm
+and vigorous tread.
+
+Spring had come suddenly, as it does on the high Saskatchewan plains,
+and he was conscious of a strange, bracing but vaguely disturbing
+quality in the keen air. One felt moved to adventure and a longing for
+something new. Men with brain and muscle were needed in the wide, silent
+land that would soon waken to busy life; but one must not give way to
+romantic impulses. Stern experience had taught Festing caution, his
+views were utilitarian, and he distrusted sentiment. Still, looking back
+on years of strenuous effort that aimed at practical objects, he felt
+that there was something he had missed. One must work to live, but
+perhaps life had more to offer than the money one earned by toil.
+
+The red glow on the horizon faded and an unbroken arch of dusky blue
+stretched above the plain. He passed a poplar bluff where the dead
+branches cut against the sky. The undergrowth had withered down and
+the wood was very quiet, with the snow-bleached grass growing about its
+edge, but he seemed to feel the pulse of returning life. The damp sod
+that the frost had lately left had a different smell. Then a faint
+measured throbbing came out of the distance, and he knew the beat of
+wings before a harsh, clanging call fell from the sky.
+
+He stopped and watched a crescent of small dark bodies plane down on
+outstretched wings. The black geese were breaking their long journey
+to the marshes by the Arctic Sea; they would rest for a few days in the
+prairie sloos and then push on again. Their harsh clamor had a note
+of unrest and rang through the dark like a trumpet call, stirring the
+blood. The brant and bernicle beat their way North against the roaring
+winds, and man with a different instinct pressed on towards the West.
+
+It was a rich land that rolled back before him towards the setting sun.
+Birch and poplar bluffs broke the wide expanse; there was good water in
+the winding creeks, a black soil that the wheat plant loved lay beneath
+the sod, and the hollows held shallow lakes that seldom quite dried up.
+Soon the land would be covered with grain; already there were scattered
+patches on which the small homesteaders labored to free themselves from
+debt. For the most part, their means and tools were inadequate, the
+haul to the elevators was long, and many would fall an easy prey to the
+mortgage robber. But things would soon be different; the railroad had
+come. For all that, Festing resolved that he would not be rash. His pay
+was good in the meantime, and he would wait.
+
+By and by a cluster of buildings rose out of the grass. A light or two
+twinkled; a frame house, a sod stable, and straw-covered wheat bins that
+looked like huge beehives grew into shape. The homestead was good, as
+homesteads in the back townships went, but Festing knew the land was
+badly worked. Charnock had begun well, with money in the bank, but luck
+had been against him and he had got slack. Indeed this was Charnock's
+trouble; when a job got difficult, he did not stay with it.
+
+Festing crossed the fall back-set, where the loam from the frost-split
+clods stuck to his boots, passed the sod stable, noting that one end was
+falling down, and was met on the veranda by Charnock's dogs. They sprang
+upon him with welcoming barks, and pushing through them, he entered
+the untidy living-room. Charnock sat at a table strewn with papers that
+looked like bills, and there was a smear of ink on his chin.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "Sit down and take a smoke while I get through with
+these."
+
+Festing pulled a chair into his favorite corner by the stove and looked
+about when he had lighted his pipe. The room was comfortless and bare,
+with cracked, board walls, from which beads of resin exuded. A moose
+head hung above a rack of expensive English guns, a piano stood in
+a corner, and lumps of the _gumbo_ soil that lay about the floor had
+gathered among its legs. Greasy supper plates occupied the end of the
+table, and the boards round the stove were blackened by the distillate
+that dripped from the joint where the pipe went through the ceiling.
+These things were significant, particularly the last, since one need not
+burn green wood, which had caused the tarry stain, and the joint could
+have been made tight.
+
+Then Festing glanced at Charnock. The latter was a handsome man of about
+Festing's age. He had a high color and an easy smile, but he had, so
+to speak, degenerated since he came to Canada. Festing remembered
+his keenness and careless good-humor when he began to farm, but
+disappointment had blunted the first, though his carelessness remained.
+He had been fastidious, but one now got a hint of a coarse streak and
+there was something about his face that indicated dissipation. Yet
+Festing admitted that he had charm.
+
+"You don't look happy," he remarked.
+
+"I don't feel particularly happy," Charnock replied. "In fact, the
+reckoning I've just made looks very like a notice to quit." He threw
+Festing a paper and swept the others into a drawer. "You might examine
+the calculations and see if they're right. I'm not fond of figures."
+
+"That was obvious long since. However, if you'll keep quiet for a few
+minutes----"
+
+Festing studied the paper, which contained a rough statement of
+Charnock's affairs. The balance was against him, but Festing thought
+it might be wiped off, or at least pulled down, by economy and
+well-directed effort. The trouble was that Charnock disliked economy,
+and of late had declined to make a fight. Festing doubted if he could be
+roused, but meant to try.
+
+"I see an error of a hundred dollars, but that doesn't make much
+difference. Things look pretty bad, but I imagine they could be
+straightened out."
+
+"How long would it take you to put them straight?"
+
+"Three years," said Festing, when he had made a rough calculation. "That
+is, if I got moderately good crops, but I'd cut out drinks, the pool
+game, and some other extravagances. You want to keep away from the
+settlement."
+
+"You'd cut out all that makes life bearable," Charnock replied, and
+added while his face went hard: "Besides, three years is too long."
+
+Festing thought he understood. The portrait of an English girl hung on
+the wall behind the stove, and Charnock had already been some time in
+Canada.
+
+"Anyhow," the latter resumed, "you take much for granted if you count
+upon a moderately good crop; I haven't got one yet. We're told this is
+a great country for the small farmer, and perhaps it is, so long as he
+escapes a dry June, summer hail, rust, and autumn frost. As a matter of
+fact, I've suffered from the lot!"
+
+"So have others, but they're making good."
+
+"At a price! They sweat, when it's light long enough, sixteen hours a
+day, deny themselves everything a man can go without, and when the grain
+is sold the storekeeper or implement dealer takes all they get. When the
+fellow's sure of their honesty he carried them on, for the sake of the
+interest, until, if they're unusually lucky, a bonanza crop helps them
+to wipe off the debt. But do you imagine any slave in the old days ever
+worked so hard?"
+
+Festing knitted his brows. He felt that Charnock must be answered, and
+he was not a philosopher.
+
+"Canada's a pretty hard country, and the man without much capital who
+undertakes to break new soil must have nerve. But he has a chance of
+making good, and a few years of self-denial do a man no harm. In fact, I
+expect he's better for it afterwards. A fool can take life easily and do
+himself well while his dollars last."
+
+Charnock smiled sourly. "I've heard something of this kind before!
+You're a Spartan; but suppose we admit that a man might stand the
+strain, what about a woman?"
+
+"That complicates the thing. I suppose you mean an Englishwoman?"
+
+"I do. An Englishwoman of the kind you used to know at home, for
+example. Could she live on rancid pork, molasses, and damaged flour? You
+know the stuff the storekeepers supply their debtors. Would you expect
+a delicately brought-up girl to cook for you, and mend and wash your
+clothes, besides making hers? To struggle with chores that never end,
+and be content, for months, with your society?"
+
+Festing pondered. Life on a small prairie farm was certainly hard for
+a woman; for a man it was bracing, although it needed pluck and
+resolution. Festing had both qualities, perhaps in an unusual degree,
+and his point of view was essentially practical. He had grappled with so
+many difficulties that he regarded them as problems to be solved and
+not troubles to complain about. He believed that what was necessary or
+desirable must be done, no matter how hard it was. One considered only
+the best way of removing an obstacle, not the effort of mind and body
+it cost. Still, he could not explain this to Charnock; he was not a
+moralizer or clever at argument.
+
+Then half-consciously he fixed his eyes on the portrait which he had
+often studied when the talk flagged. The girl was young, but there was
+something in the poise of her head that have her an air of distinction.
+Festing did not know if distinction was quite what he meant, but could
+not think of a better term. She looked at one with steady eyes; her gaze
+was frank and fearless, as if she had confidence in herself. Yet it
+was not an aggressive confidence, but rather a calm that sprang from
+pride--the right kind of pride. In a way, he knew nothing about her, but
+he was sure she would disdain anything that was shabby and mean. He was
+not a judge of beauty, but thought the arch of her brows and the lines
+of nose and mouth were good. She was pretty, but in admitting this one
+did not go far enough. The pleasure he got from studying her picture was
+his only romantic weakness, and he could indulge it safely because if he
+ever saw her it would be when she had married his friend.
+
+The curious thing was that she had promised to marry Charnock. Bob was a
+good sort, but he was not on this girl's level, and if she raised him to
+it, would probably feel uncomfortable there. He was slack and took the
+easiest way, while a hint of coarseness had recently got more marked.
+Festing was not fastidious, but he lived with clear-eyed, wiry men who
+could do all that one could expect from flesh and blood. They quarreled
+about their wages and sometimes struck a domineering boss, but they did
+their work, in spite of scorching heat and biting frost. Raging floods,
+snowslides, and rocks that rolled down the mountain side and smashed
+the track never daunted them. Their character had something of the clean
+hardness of finely tempered steel. But Charnock was different.
+
+"So you think of quitting?" Festing said at length.
+
+"I'm forced to quit; I'm in too deep to get straight. It's possible that
+the man I owe most money might give me time, but it would only mean that
+I'd slave for another year or two and come down after all. I don't
+see why I should sweat and deny myself for somebody else's benefit,
+particularly as I'm not fond of doing so for my own."
+
+"Then you have made a plan?"
+
+Charnock laughed. "I'd a notion of applying for a railroad job. The
+pay's pretty good, and I daresay you could put me on the track."
+
+"I could. The trouble is that somebody else might afterwards put you
+off. However, if you'd like to try--"
+
+"I'll wait a bit. I don't know that it's prudent to plunge into things."
+
+"It is, if you plunge in and stop in until you struggle out with what
+you want. Come up to the track and ask for me when you decide to let the
+farm go."
+
+"On the whole, I think not," said Charnock, whose look got somewhat
+strained. "You see, I expect an offer of another post though nothing's
+been fixed yet. We'll let the matter drop in the meantime. Are you going
+to the Long Lake picnic?"
+
+Festing looked at him with surprise. "Certainly not! Did you ever know
+me leave my job to go to a picnic?"
+
+"It might be better if you did! My opinion is you think too much about
+your job."
+
+"You think too little about yours," Festing rejoined. "Anyhow, what
+amusement do you think I'd get from lounging round Long Lake all day?"
+
+"The ducks ought to be plentiful and I'd lend you a gun. In fact, I'll
+lend you my second team, if you'll drive the Marvin girls over."
+
+"No, thanks," said Festing firmly. "Somebody left Flora Marvin on my
+hands at the supper, and I imagine she got very tired. She certainly
+looked tired; the girls about the settlement don't hide their feelings.
+But who's going with you, since you want the other team?"
+
+"I promised to take Sadie Keller."
+
+"Sadie Keller?" Festing exclaimed and paused, rather awkwardly. "Well,
+of course, I don't see why you shouldn't take her, if she wants to go."
+
+Charnock looked at him with amusement. "As she's the chief organizer
+of the picnic, Sadie does want to go. For that matter, it was her
+suggestion that I should bring you."
+
+"I won't be there; for one thing, I'm too busy," Festing declared, and
+soon afterwards got up. "It's time I started back to camp."
+
+Leaving the homestead, he walked thoughtfully across the plain. Charnock
+had his faults, but he was his friend and was now in trouble. However,
+as he had not the pluck to face his difficulties, Festing did not see
+how he could help. Then he did not like Bob's taking Miss Keller to the
+picnic, because he had met and thought her dangerous. It was not that
+she had tried to flirt with him, although she had done so; he felt that
+if he had played up, it might have been difficult afterwards to let the
+matter drop. Sadie was not a silly coquette. She had a calculating bent,
+ambition, and a resolute character. She would not flirt with anybody who
+was, so to speak, not worth powder and shot.
+
+Festing did not know how Miss Keller rated his value, but he was
+satisfied to remain a bachelor, and had perhaps allowed her to
+understand this, because she had since treated him with cold politeness.
+Now it looked as if she had thrown Bob some favor, which was ominous,
+because Sadie had generally an object. Of course, if Bob were free and
+content to marry a girl from the settlement, Sadie would not be a bad
+choice. She certainly had some virtues. But Bob was not free, and it was
+unthinkable that a man who had won the love of the girl whose portrait
+Festing knew should be satisfied with another of Sadie's type.
+
+Then Festing pulled himself up. He could not warn Bob to be cautious,
+or interfere with the girl's plans, supposing that she had made some.
+Besides, it was Charnock's affair, not his. By and by he dismissed the
+matter and thought about a troublesome job that must be undertaken in
+the morning.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE PICNIC
+
+The picnic at Long Lake was an annual function, held as soon as the
+weather got warm enough, to celebrate the return of spring. Winter is
+long and tedious on the high Western plains, where the frost is often
+Arctic and little work can be done, and after sitting by the red-hot
+stove through the dark, cold months, the inhabitants of the scattered
+homesteads come out with joyful hearts to greet the sunshine. There is,
+however, no slow transition. Rushing winds from the North-west sweep
+the sky, the snow vanishes, and after a week or two, during which the
+prairie trails are impassable, the bleached grass dries and green blades
+and flowers spring from the steaming sod.
+
+Moreover, the country round Long Lake has some beauty. To the east,
+it runs back, bare and level, with scarcely a tree to break the vast
+expanse; but to the west low undulations rise to the edge of the next
+tableland. Sandhills mark the summits, but the slopes are checkered with
+birches and poplars, and creeks of clear water flow through the hollows
+in the shadow of thick bluffs. There are many ponds, and here and there
+a shallow lake shines amidst the sweep of grass. The clear air and the
+distance the view commands give the landscape a distinctive charm. One
+has a sense of space and freedom; all the eye rests upon is clean-cut.
+
+It was a bright morning when Charnock drove up to the door of Keller's
+hotel. The street was one-sided, and for the most part of its length,
+small, ship-lap-board houses boldly fronted the prairie. A few had
+shallow verandas that relieved their bareness, but the rest were frankly
+ugly, and in some the front was carried up level with the roof-ridge,
+giving them a harsh squareness of outline. A plank sidewalk, raised a
+foot or two above the ground, ran along the street, where the black soil
+was torn by wagon wheels.
+
+There was nothing attractive about the settlement, and Charnock had once
+been repelled by its dreariness. He, however, liked society, and as the
+settlement was the only center of human intercourse, had acquired the
+habit of spending time there that ought to have been devoted to his
+farm. He enjoyed a game of pool, and to sit on the hotel veranda,
+bantering the loungers, was a pleasant change from driving the plow or
+plodding through the dust that rolled about the harrows. For all that,
+he knitted his brows as his light wagon lurched past the Chinese laundry
+and the poolroom in the next block. The place looked mean and shabby in
+the strong sunlight, and, with feelings he had thought dead re-awaking,
+he was conscious of a sharp distaste. There was a choice he must shortly
+make, and he knew what it would cost to take the line that might be
+forced on him.
+
+It was with a certain shrinking he stopped his team in front of the
+hotel. The bare windows were open and the door was hooked back, so that
+one could see into the hall, where a row of tin wash-basins stood on
+a shelf. Dirty towels were scattered about, and the boarded floor was
+splashed. The veranda, on to which the hall opened, was strewn with
+cigar-ends and burnt matches, and occupied by a row of cheap wooden
+chairs. Above the door was painted _The Keller House_. The grocery in
+the next block, and the poolroom, bore the same owner's name.
+
+When Charnock stopped, a man without a coat and with the sleeves of his
+fine white shirt rolled up came out. He as rather an old man and
+his movements were slack; his face was hard, but on the whole
+expressionless.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "Late again! The others have pulled out a quarter of
+an hour since."
+
+"I saw them," Charnock answered with a languid hint of meaning. "Didn't
+want to join the procession and thought they might load up my rig if I
+got here on time."
+
+Keller looked hard at him, as if he understood, and then asked: "Want a
+drink before you start?"
+
+"No, thanks," said Charnock, with an effort; and Keller, going to the
+door, shouted: "Sadie!"
+
+A girl came out on the veranda. She was a handsome girl, smartly dressed
+in white, with a fashionable hat that had a tall plume. Her hair and
+eyes were black, the latter marked by a rather hard sparkle; her nose
+was prominent and her mouth firm. Her face was colorless, but her skin
+had the clean smoothness of silk. She had a firmly lined, round figure,
+and her manner was easy and confident. Sadie Keller was then twenty-one
+years of age.
+
+"I thought you had forgotten to come, Bob," she said with a smile.
+
+"Then you were very foolish; you ought to have known me better,"
+Charnock replied, and helped her into the wagon.
+
+"Well, you do forget things," she resumed as he started the team.
+
+"Not those I want to remember. Besides, if you really thought I had
+forgotten, you'd have been angry."
+
+"How d'you know I'm not angry now?"
+
+Charnock laughed. "When you're angry everybody in the neighborhood
+knows."
+
+This was true. Sadie was young, but there was something imperious about
+her. She had a strong will, and when it was thwarted was subject to
+fits of rage. Reserve was not among her virtues, and Charnock's languid
+carelessness sometimes attracted and sometimes annoyed her. It marked
+him as different from the young men she knew and gave him what she
+called tone, but it had drawbacks.
+
+"Let me have the reins; I want to drive," she said, and added as the
+horses trotted across the grass beside the torn-up trail: "You keep a
+smart team, but they're too light for much work about the farm."
+
+"That's so. Still, you see, I like fast horses."
+
+"They have to be paid for," Sadie rejoined.
+
+"Very true, but I don't want to talk about such matters now. Then
+I've given up trying to make the farm pay. When you find a thing's
+impossible, it's better to let it go."
+
+Sadie did not reply. She meant to talk about this later, but preferred
+to choose her time. Her education had been rudimentary, but she was
+naturally clever. She liked admiration, but was not to be led into
+foolishness by vanity. Sadie knew her value. It had for some time been
+obvious that a number of the young farmers who dealt at the store and
+frequented the hotel did so for her sake, and she was willing to extend
+her father's trade. In fact, she helped to manage both businesses as
+cleverly as she managed the customers. Her charm was largely physical,
+but she used it with caution. One might indulge in banter, and Sadie had
+a ringing laugh that young men liked, but there were limits that few who
+knew her overstepped. One or two had done so, but had been rebuked in
+a way they wished to forget. Sadie had the tricks of an accomplished
+coquette, but something of the heart of a prude.
+
+The settlement got indistinct, and crossing a low rise, they drove past
+a birch bluff where the twigs were breaking into tiny points of green.
+Then they forded a creek and skirted a shallow lake, from which a flock
+of ducks rose and flew North in a straggling wedge. Sandhills gleamed
+on the ridges, tall cranes stalked about the hollows, and when the team,
+laboring through the loose soil, crossed an elevation one could see the
+plain roll back into the far distance. It was sharp-cut to the horizon;
+only the varying color that changed from soft blue to white and yellow
+in the foreground helped the eye to gage its vast extent. The snow had
+bleached the grass, which glittered like silver in the strong sunlight.
+
+A boisterous wind from the North-west drove white-edged clouds across
+the sky, but the air was soft with a genial warmth that drew earthy
+smells from the drying sod. In places, an emerald flush had begun to
+spread across the withered grass and small flowers like crocuses were
+pushing through. The freshness and hint of returning life reacted on
+Charnock, and stirred his blood when he glanced at his companion. He
+felt her physical allurement as he had not felt it before, but now and
+then he resolutely looked away. Sadie had shown him marked favor, but
+there was much he might lose.
+
+She would not have charmed him when he first came to the prairie with
+romantic hopes and vague ambitions. He had been fastidious then, and the
+image of a very different girl occupied his heart. Even now he knew
+the other stood for all that was best in life; for tender romances, and
+sweetness, and high purpose. Helen had gracious qualities he had once
+half-reverently admired. She loved pictures and books and music, and was
+marked by a calm serenity that was very different from Sadie's restless
+force. But it looked as if he had lost her, and Sadie, who could break
+a horse and manage a hotel, was nearer his level. Yet he hesitated;
+he must choose one of two paths, and when he had chosen could not turn
+back.
+
+"You don't talk much," Sadie remarked at length. "Guess you must be
+thinking about your mortgage."
+
+"I was, in a way. It was rather useless and very rude. However, I won't
+think of it again until somebody makes me."
+
+"That's a way of yours. You think too late."
+
+"I'm afraid I sometimes do so," Charnock admitted. "Anyhow, to-day, I'm
+not going to think at all."
+
+Sadie noted the reckless humor with which he began to talk, but she led
+him on, and they engaged in cheerful banter until Long Lake began to
+gleam among the woods ahead. Charnock skirted the trees and pulled up
+where a number of picketed teams and rigs stood near the water's edge.
+Farther along, a merry party was gathering wood to build a fire, and
+Charnock did not find Sadie alone again for some hours after he helped
+her down.
+
+In summer, Long Lake has no great beauty and shrinks, leaving a
+white saline crust on its wide margin of sun-baked mud, but it is a
+picturesque stretch of water when the snow melts in spring and the
+reflections of the birches quiver on the smooth belt along its windward
+edge. Farther out, the shadows of flying clouds chase each other across
+the flashing surface. Two or three leaky canoes generally lie among the
+trees, and in the afternoon Charnock dragged one down, and helping Sadie
+on board, paddled up the lake.
+
+As they crept round a point flocks of ducks left the water and the air
+throbbed with a beat of wings that gradually died away. The fire, round
+which the others sat, was out of sight, and the rustle of the tossing
+birches emphasized the quietness. Charnock let the canoe drift, and
+Sadie looked up at him from her low seat among the wagon robes he had
+brought.
+
+"What are you going to do about your farm?" she asked.
+
+"I don't know yet, and don't see why I should bore you with my
+troubles."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Sadie. "You want to put the thing off; but you know you
+can't."
+
+Charnock made a gesture of humorous resignation. "Very well! I expect I
+won't be able to carry on the farm."
+
+"No," said Sadie, thoughtfully, "I don't think you could. There are men
+who would be able, but not you."
+
+"I dare say you're right, but you're not flattering," Charnock rejoined
+with a smile.
+
+Sadie gave him a steady look. "Your trouble is you laugh when you ought
+to set your lips and get busy. One has got to hustle in Canada."
+
+"I have hustled. In fact, it's hustling that has brought me low. If I
+hadn't spent my money trying to break fresh land, I wouldn't have been
+so deep in debt."
+
+"And you'd have had more time to loaf about the settlement?"
+
+"On the whole, I don't think that's kind. If I hadn't come to the
+settlement, I wouldn't have seen you, and that's about the only comfort
+I have left."
+
+A touch of color crept into Sadie's face, but her thoughtful look did
+not change.
+
+"Well," she said, "I'd surely have liked you to make good, and don't
+know that we mightn't have got the mortgage held over; but it wouldn't
+have been much use. You'd have started again and then got tired and not
+have stayed with it." She spread out her hands impatiently. "That's the
+kind of man you are!"
+
+"I'm afraid it's true," Charnock admitted. "But I hope you like me all
+the same."
+
+Sadie was silent for a few moments, but her color was higher and
+Charnock mused. He supposed she meant she could have persuaded her
+father to come to his help, and it looked as if she well knew his
+failings. Still he felt rather amused than resentful.
+
+"We'll let that go," she resumed. "I want you to quit joking and listen.
+We're going to have a boom at the settlement as soon as the railroad's
+opened, and I and the old man can hardly manage the store and hotel.
+We've got to have help; somebody the boys like and we can trust. Well,
+if you took hold the right way----"
+
+She stopped, but Charnock understood. Keller was often ill and was
+getting old. He could not carry on his rapidly extending business much
+longer, and Charnock might presently take his place. But this was not
+all, and he hesitated.
+
+"Do you think I'm fit for the job?" he asked.
+
+"You could do it if you tried."
+
+Charnock smiled. "It's comforting to feel somebody trusts me, and I see
+advantages in the plan. You keep the books, I think. It's very nice in
+the little back office when the lamps are lit and the store is shut. We
+could make up the bills together."
+
+Sadie blushed, and he thought he had not seen her look so attractive.
+She was remarkably pretty, although there was now something about her
+that puzzled him. It was something elusive that acted like a barrier,
+keeping him away. Yet he knew the girl was fond of him; if he wanted
+her, he had but to ask, and it was not on this account he hesitated. He
+thought of a creeper-covered house in England; a house that had an air
+of quiet dignity. He remembered the old silver, the flowers in the shady
+rooms, and the pictures. The girl who moved about the rooms harmonized
+with her surroundings; her voice was low and clear, she had a touch of
+stateliness. Well, he was ruined, and she was far away, but Sadie was
+close by, waiting for him. For a moment he set his lips, and then, while
+his nerves tingled, banished the disturbing doubts.
+
+Dropping the paddle, he leaned forward, put his hand on the girl's
+waist, and drew her towards him. He felt her yield, and heard her draw
+a fluttering breath. Her head drooped so that he could not see her face;
+she was slipping into his arms, and then, in the moment of surrender, he
+felt her body stiffen. She put her hands on his shoulder and pushed him
+back; the canoe lurched and he had some trouble to prevent a capsize.
+The water splashed against the rocking craft, and Sadie, drawing away,
+fixed her eyes on him. She was breathless, but rather from emotion than
+effort.
+
+"Don't do that again!" she said.
+
+Charnock saw she meant it, which was strange. Sadie knew and sometimes
+used her power of attraction, but it was obvious that she was angry. It
+looked as if he had chosen the wrong moment, and he felt worse baffled
+and disappointed than he had thought possible.
+
+"I won't," he said as carelessly as he could. "You nearly threw us both
+into the water."
+
+"I guess that's what I meant to do," she answered fiercely.
+
+"Well, I expect I'd have been able to pull you out. Suppose I ought to
+say I'm sorry; but I'm not. In fact, Sadie, I don't quite understand--"
+
+"No," she said, "you don't understand at all! That's the trouble."
+
+Charnock took out his tobacco pouch and began to make a cigarette.
+Sadie's cold dignity was something new and he thought she could not keep
+it up. If she did not break out in passionate anger, she would soon
+come round. As he finished the cigarette she turned to him with flashing
+eyes.
+
+"Put that tobacco away or I'll throw it in the lake! Do you think you
+can kiss me when you like?"
+
+"I wish I could," said Charnock. "As a matter of fact, I haven't kissed
+you yet. But I'm sorry if you're vexed."
+
+For a moment Sadie hesitated and then fixed him with a fierce, scornful
+gaze.
+
+"Oh," she said, "you're cheap, and you'd make me as cheap as you! You
+want things for nothing; they must be given, where other men would work
+and fight. But you can't amuse yourself by making love to me."
+
+Charnock felt humiliated. If he had really offended her, she could have
+rebuked him with a look or sign. Her unnecessary frankness jarred.
+
+"Very well; I must ask you to forget it. Of course, I was wrong, but
+I'll try not to vex you again. What are we going to do now?"
+
+"Paddle back to the others as quick as you can."
+
+Throwing his cigarette into the water, Charnock turned the canoe. It was
+a relief to be energetic, because Sadie's demand for speed stung him. He
+glanced at her now and then, but she gave no sign of relenting; her face
+was whiter than usual and her look was strained. Getting angry, he drove
+the canoe down the lake with a curling wave at her bow, until the paddle
+snapped in a savage stroke and he flung the haft away. For a moment, he
+hoped Sadie would laugh, but she did not.
+
+"Now you'll have to paddle with your hands until you pick up the broken
+blade," she said.
+
+Charnock did so and afterwards awkwardly propelled the craft towards
+the camp fire. He thought Sadie might have suggested their landing and
+walking back, but she was silent and calmly watched his clumsy efforts.
+He was glad when they reached the beach where the others were and he
+helped her out. An hour or two later he drove her home, but she did
+not talk. Her anger had gone, but she seemed strangely distant. After
+helping her down at the hotel he waited a moment.
+
+"Can't we make this up and be friends again?" he asked.
+
+She gave him a curious steady glance. "Not now. It looks as if you
+didn't know me yet."
+
+Then she left him, and Charnock drove home in a thoughtful mood. He
+had some idea about what she meant and had been rather surprised by the
+pride she had shown. Sadie had certainly led him on; but she was not
+altogether the girl he had thought.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+KELLER INTERFERES
+
+For two or three weeks after the picnic Charnock did not meet Sadie. The
+rebuff he had got did not rankle much, and was rather provocative than
+daunting, but he understood why she had told him he made her cheap. She
+meant to keep her caresses for her husband or declared lover, and if he
+wanted her, he must pay the regular price. This was very proper, from
+her point of view, but from his the price was high.
+
+Sadie was pretty, capable, and amusing, but he was not sure he would
+like to see her every day, in his house and at his table. Besides, the
+house would really be hers, and Sadie would not forget this. She was
+determined and liked her own way. He had promised to marry another girl,
+of a very different stamp, but his conscience was clear on that point.
+It was better for Helen's sake that he should give her up, because he
+was on the edge of ruin and she was much too good for him. Irresolution,
+however, was perhaps his greatest failing, and now he must decide, he
+wavered and thought about what he had lost.
+
+There were days when he would not admit that all was lost, and
+harnessing his team in the early morning, drove the gang-plow through
+the soil until the red sunset faded off the plain. In his heart, he
+knew the fight was hopeless; Festing, for example, in his place, might
+perhaps make good, but he had not the stamina for the long struggle.
+All the same, he worked with savage energy until his mood changed and
+he went off to hunt sandhill cranes. He would sooner have gone to the
+poolroom, but there was a risk of his meeting Sadie at the settlement.
+
+In the meantime the days got warmer and a flush of vivid green spread
+across the grass. The roaring wind that swept the tableland drove clouds
+that never broke across the dazzling sky, and where there were belts
+of plowed land the harrows clanked across the furrows amidst a haze of
+blowing dust. The ducks and geese had gone, and red lilies began to sway
+above the rolling waves of grass. Farmer and hired man worked with tense
+activity, but Charnock's efforts were spasmodic and often slack.
+
+In the meantime, trade was brisk at the settlement, and Keller found his
+business made demands on him that he could hardly meet. It was rapidly
+growing, and his strength got less. Indeed, he would have sold out but
+for Sadie. The girl was clever and had tone; he wanted her to find life
+smooth and taste pleasure her mother had not enjoyed. The latter had
+helped him in a hard fight when dollars were very scarce, and died, worn
+out, just before the tide turned. Since then he had schemed and sweated
+to make her child's future safe.
+
+Now he thought he had done so, but it had been a struggle, and he knew
+he had held on too long. Keeping store in a wheat-growing district was
+not a simple matter of selling groceries; one was in reality a banker.
+Bills were not often paid until the crop was harvested, farmers began
+without much money, and one must know whom to trust. Indeed, one often
+financed a hustler who had no capital, and kept an honest man who had
+lost a crop on his feet; but the risk was great, and one felt the strain
+when there was rust and autumn frost.
+
+One bright afternoon Keller stood on the sidewalk in front of the store.
+He was not old, but his hair was gray and his face was pinched. It
+was rather a hard face, for Keller's glance was keen and his lips were
+generally firmly set. Yet he was liked by his customers. Now he was
+breathing hard because he had helped a farmer to put a heavy bag of
+flour in his wagon. The farmer drove away and a cloud of dust the team
+stirred up blew down the street. The fronts of the wooden houses were
+cracking in the hot sun; there was not a tree to relieve the bare
+ugliness of the place, and the glare was dazzling. Keller at first
+imagined this was why he could not see the wagon well, but after a few
+moments he knew better.
+
+He went into the store with a staggering step, and the rank smell of
+cheese and salt-pork nauseated him. The room felt very hot and was full
+of flies that buzzed in a tormenting cloud round his head. He wanted
+quietness and made his way to the dark back office, where he dropped
+into a chair.
+
+"Go to the hotel," he ordered the clerk who entered after him. "Tell
+Jake to give you a big glass of the special whisky. Be quick, but don't
+run and spill the stuff."
+
+The clerk came back in a few minutes, and Keller pulled himself together
+when he had drained the glass, though his forehead was damp with sweat.
+
+"Now where's the list of the truck Gascoyne got?" he said. "I'll look it
+up."
+
+"Sure you feel all right?" the clerk inquired.
+
+"Get the list," said Keller. "Take that glass away."
+
+He picked up a pen, but put it down when he found his hand shook, and
+told the clerk to charge the goods. When the latter had gone, he sat
+still for some minutes and then opened a book of accounts. He had
+had another warning, sharper than the last, and had better put things
+straight while he could. With this object he worked later than usual,
+and when he returned to the hotel called Sadie into his private room.
+The girl sat down, and he studied her, leaning his elbow heavily on the
+table.
+
+Sadie had a strained look and had been quiet for the last week or two
+except when she was angry. This indicated that her nerves were on edge,
+and Keller thought he knew why.
+
+"I guess we've got to have a talk," he said. "I've put it off, but now's
+the time."
+
+Sadie waited calmly. She had courage and knew she must be frank with
+her father. He did not, as a rule, say much, but he noted things and
+understood.
+
+"Well," he resumed, "I've built up a pretty good business here, but I'll
+have to quit and leave you some day, and reckon you won't be satisfied
+to stop at the hotel all your life. You're smart and a looker, and I
+guess you want to go out and see the world. That's all right, and you'll
+be able, as far as dollars count; but I can't go with you and you can't
+go alone."
+
+Sadie shivered. Keller's face was pinched, and she knew his health was
+not good, although she did not know how bad it really was.
+
+"I couldn't leave you, anyway, and hope you'll be with me a long time
+yet."
+
+"It's possible," said Keller. "All the same, I can't keep my grip on
+the business long and want a man to help. But I'm not going to trust a
+stranger or a hired man. You see where this leads?"
+
+Sadie saw and made a vague gesture, though her glance was level.
+
+"Very well. The man who carries on my business must be your husband.
+Now there are three or four of the boys in the settlement who could
+be taught to run the store and hotel, but I allow you don't want me to
+choose from them. Have I got that right?"
+
+"Yes," said Sadie with quiet calm, although her heart beat. "None of
+them would suit."
+
+Keller knitted his brows and his look was grave. "They're good boys, and
+if you had taken one of that bunch, I'd have been satisfied. I reckon
+the trouble is they're my kind and belong where I do, while you mean
+to go higher. Well, that's right; I've put up the dollars to give you a
+good time, but you can't get where you want on your own feet." He paused
+with a dry smile. "I allow you're smart enough to figure this out."
+
+"I have," said Sadie. "There's much I don't know and couldn't learn
+here. If I'm to move up, my husband must help."
+
+"Then I only know two men round the settlement who could help. Festing's
+my choice."
+
+A wave of color flushed Sadie's white skin, but her voice was quiet. "He
+isn't mine. I allow, in some ways, he's the better man, but that doesn't
+count."
+
+Keller looked hard at her. "I used to think your head would guide you,
+not your heart; but it seems you're like the rest--well, I was a very
+poor man when your mother married me! Now I like Charnock and he has
+tone; but if you take him, there's a risk--"
+
+"I know the risk."
+
+"It's plain! I'd stop the thing right now if you were a different girl,
+but you know what you want and how to keep it when it's got. It looks as
+if you had made up your mind?"
+
+Sadie's hands moved nervously. She made a sign of agreement, but did not
+speak, and Keller went on:
+
+"Anyhow, you'd better understand what you're up against. Sometimes
+you'll have to hustle Charnock and sometimes hold him tight. You must
+keep him off the liquor, and maybe stop him getting after other girls.
+Then when you sell out the business, you'll hold the dollars."
+
+For a moment Sadie turned her head and then got up and stood by her
+father's chair. Her look was strained but resolute as she put her hand
+on his arm.
+
+"I know all that! Bob has plenty of faults, but he's the man I love."
+
+Keller took and pressed her hand. He had some misgivings, but he knew
+his daughter.
+
+"We all like Charnock, and though I wouldn't trust him far, I can trust
+you. I think you've got that right and won't forget. Very well, since
+you want Charnock I'll get him for you."
+
+Sadie stooped and kissed him and then went out. She was moved, but there
+was nothing to be said. Her father was not a sentimentalist, but he had
+never failed her and would not do so now. When she sat down in her room,
+however, her face was grave. Her courage was high, but she felt
+half afraid. Although she loved Bob Charnock, life with him might be
+difficult. He was older than she and knew much more, but she must lead
+him and be firm where he was weak. It was a hard task for an ignorant
+girl, but she resolved to carry it out.
+
+Next morning Keller went down the street and entered a wooden building
+filled with gaudily painted mowers and plows. He was not the man to
+waste time when he had made a plan, and moreover felt that he had not
+much time to lose. Finding the implement dealer in his office, he sat
+down, breathing rather hard.
+
+"You don't look very spry this morning," the dealer remarked.
+
+"I don't feel so bright. The boys have been rushing me the last week or
+two. Say, trade is booming now!"
+
+"It surely is. I could sell more machines than I've got, but I've got
+a lot of money standing out, and after the bad harvest last fall, don't
+know who to trust."
+
+They compared notes about their customers, and presently the dealer
+remarked: "Charnock was in a few days ago, asking about a new wagon, a
+mower, and some small tools."
+
+"Ah!" said Keller, rather sharply. "Then it looks as if he meant to hold
+on! He reckoned, not long since, that he'd have to quit. But what did
+you tell him?"
+
+"To come again. I'd like to keep Bob Charnock up, but guess it's
+dangerous. Owes me a pile. How does he stand with you?"
+
+Keller supplied the information, and the other looked thoughtful.
+"Didn't know it was quite so bad as that. I allow I'd better not let him
+have the goods."
+
+"Well, I reckon he's trying the new man at Concord. Smith said he met
+him there yesterday."
+
+The dealer frowned. He hated to think of a customer going to somebody
+else. In fact, this was, for a debtor, an unpardonable offense.
+
+"Charnock's trouble is that he's not quite straight. Ought to have
+stayed with me, told me how he was fixed, and let me see what I could
+do. If he's going to deal with the new man, I'd better pull him up and
+try to get my money back."
+
+"You can't get it," said Keller dryly. "He can't pay now, and if you let
+him go on until harvest, you'll have a crowd of others with long bills
+fighting for what's left."
+
+"Looks like that," the dealer agreed. "Well, I'd have liked to keep him
+going if he'd stayed with me, but I can't stand for losing the dollars
+he owes. What are we going to do about the thing?"
+
+Keller explained his plans, and after some argument the other agreed.
+The decision they came to would bring Charnock's farming to an end,
+but Keller left the office with some doubts. His scheme was going to
+succeed, but he wondered whether he had indulged Sadie too far. Much
+depended on her firmness, and she might find the job harder than she
+thought; but on the whole he imagined she would be equal to the strain.
+
+A week later, Charnock sat, one afternoon, in the saddle of his
+gang-plow, tearing a row of furrows through the dusty sod. The sweating
+horses moved leisurely, and he did not urge them as he moodily watched
+the tangled grass part before the shares and vanish beneath the polished
+surface of the turned-up clods. He was breaking new soil, doing work
+that would be paid for in the future, and knew the reward of his labor
+might never be his. When he reached the end of the plowing he stopped
+and let the horses rest while he looked about.
+
+One side of the long furrows gleamed in the strong light, and another
+team was moving towards him from the opposite end. The sun was hot, but
+the wind was fresh, and thin clouds of dust blew across the plain. Still
+the belt he was plowing was good soil; the firm black _gumbo_ that holds
+the moisture the wheat plant needs. There was something exhilarating in
+the rushing breeze and glow of light, but Charnock frowned and wondered
+why he had worked so long. He had no real hope, and admitted that he had
+continued his spasmodic efforts because he could not face defeat.
+
+For all that, he had not been fighting entirely for his farm. He
+wanted to keep his freedom; to break through trammels that were getting
+tighter, and try to regain something that he had lost. Sometimes he felt
+desperate, but now and then saw an elusive ray of hope. If he could hold
+out until harvest and reap a record crop----
+
+Then his hired man, driving the other plow, waved his arm, and Charnock
+saw a rig lurch across a rise amidst a cloud of sand. It was the
+mail-carrier going his round, but he would not have come that way unless
+he had letters, and Charnock waited until the man arrived.
+
+"Here's your lot," he said, taking out three or four envelopes.
+
+Charnock's hand shook as he opened the first, it was large and had an
+official look, and he found a number of unpaid accounts inside. Besides
+these, there was a lawyer's letter, stating that certain dealers had
+instructed him to recover payment of the debts Charnock owed. He crushed
+the letter in his clenched hand and the veins stood out on his forehead,
+while his face got red. The blow he feared had fallen and he was
+ruined; but when the shock began to pass he felt a faint relief. It
+was something to be free from doubt and anxiety, and there were
+consolations. Now he was beaten, the line he must take was plain, and it
+had some advantages.
+
+"You can quit plowing and put the teams in the stable," he said to the
+hired man.
+
+"Quit now!" exclaimed the other. "What about the machines?"
+
+"Let them stop," said Charnock. "It seems they belong to my creditors,
+who can look after them. I'm going to Concord and don't know when I'll
+be back."
+
+He went off towards the homestead and half an hour later drove away
+across the plain.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FESTING COMMITS THEFT
+
+The air was sharp and wonderfully invigorating when Festing stopped
+for a few moments, one evening, outside Charnock's homestead. A row of
+sandhills glimmered faintly against the blue haze in the east, but the
+western edge of the plain ran in a hard black line beneath a blaze
+of smoky red. It was not dark, but the house was shadowy, and Festing
+noticed a smell of burning as he entered.
+
+The top was off the stove in Charnock's room, and the flame that
+licked about the hole showed that the floor was strewn with torn paper.
+Charnock was busy picking up the pieces, and when he threw a handful
+into the stove a blaze streamed out and the light shone upon the wall.
+Festing noted that the portrait that had hung there had gone, and
+looking round in search of it, saw a piece of the broken frame lying on
+the stove. It was half burned and a thin streak of smoke rose from its
+glowing end. Festing remarked this with a sense of anger.
+
+"What are you doing, Bob?" he asked.
+
+"Cleaning up," Charnock answered, with a hoarse laugh, as he sat down
+among the litter. "Proper thing when you mean to make a fresh start!
+Suppose you take a drink and help."
+
+A whisky bottle and a glass stood on the table, and Festing thought
+Charnock had taken some liquor, although he was not drunk. Stooping
+down, he began to pick up the papers, which, for the most part, looked
+like bills. There were, however, a few letters in a woman's hand, and
+by and by he found a bit of riband, a glove, and a locket that seemed to
+have been trampled on.
+
+"Are these to be burned?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," said Charnock. "Don't want them about to remind me----Burn the
+lot."
+
+Festing, with some reluctance, threw them into the stove. He was not,
+as a rule, romantic, but it jarred him to see the things destroyed. They
+had, no doubt, once been valued for the giver's sake; dainty hands had
+touched them; the locket had rested on somebody's white skin. They
+were pledges of trust and affection, and he had found them, trampled by
+Charnock's heavy boots, among the dust and rubbish.
+
+"You'd get on faster if you used a brush," he suggested.
+
+"Can't find the brush. Confounded thing's hidden itself somewhere. Can't
+remember where I put anything to-night. Suppose you don't see a small
+lace handkerchief about?"
+
+Festing said he did not, and Charnock made a gesture of resignation.
+"Looks as if I'd burned it with the other truck, but I got that from
+Sadie, and there'll be trouble if she wants to know where it's gone. She
+may want to know some time. Sadie doesn't forget."
+
+"Did Sadie give you the locket?"
+
+"She did not," said Charnock. "You're a tactless brute. But there's
+something else I want, and I don't know where it can have got."
+
+He upset a chair as he turned over some rubbish near the table, under
+which he presently crawled, while Festing looking about, noted a small
+white square laying half hidden by the stove. Picking it up, he saw
+it was the portrait of the English girl, and resolved with a thrill
+of indignation that Charnock should not burn this. He felt that its
+destruction would be something of an outrage.
+
+He glanced at Charnock, but the latter's legs alone stuck out from under
+the table, and as it was obvious that he could not see, Festing dusted
+the portrait and put it in his pocket. By and by Charnock crept out and
+got upon his feet. It was dark now, but the glow of the burning paper
+flickered about the room and touched his face. His hair was ruffled, his
+eyes were dull, and his mouth had a slack droop. Festing felt some pity
+for the man, though he was also sensible of scornful impatience. The
+smell of burned paper disturbed him with its hint of vanished romance.
+Putting the lid on the stove, he took the lamp from Charnock's unsteady
+hand, and, when he had lighted it, found a brush and set to work.
+Presently Charnock made a vague sign of relief as he looked at the swept
+floor.
+
+"All gone!" he remarked. "There was something I couldn't find. Suppose I
+burned it, though I don't remember."
+
+"There's nothing left," said Festing, who felt guilty. "Why did you
+destroy the things?"
+
+Charnock sat down and awkwardly lighted his pipe. "Wanted to begin again
+with what they call a clean slate. Besides, the stove's the best place
+for bills that bother you."
+
+"You can't get rid of the debts by burning the bills."
+
+"That's true," said Charnock with a grin. "Unfortunately obvious, in
+fact! However, I cut up my account book."
+
+"I don't see how that would help."
+
+"My creditors can now amuse themselves by finding out how I stand."
+
+Festing frowned impatiently. "A rather childish trick! It doesn't strike
+me as humorous."
+
+"You're a disgustingly serious fellow," Charnock rejoined. "But you
+might be a bit sympathetic, because I've had a nasty knock. My creditors
+have come down on me, and I'm going to be married."
+
+Festing smiled. He had some sense of humor, and Charnock's manner seemed
+to indicate that he felt he was confronted with two misfortunes.
+
+"You must have known your creditors would pull you up unless you came
+to terms with them, but one would expect you to please yourself about
+getting married."
+
+"I'm not sure your joke's in good taste," Charnock answered sullenly.
+"But in a way, one thing depended on the other. Perhaps I oughtn't to
+have said so, but I'm upset to-night. Though I did expect to be pulled
+up, it was a knock."
+
+"No doubt. Are you going to marry Sadie?"
+
+"I am. Have you any reason to disapprove?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Festing. "Sadie's rather a friend of mine."
+
+In a sense, this was true. When Festing first came to the prairie from
+a mountain construction camp, where he had not seen a woman for twelve
+months, he had felt Sadie's charm. Moreover, he imagined that the
+girl liked him and consciously used her power, although with a certain
+reserve and modesty. For all that, he fought against his inclination and
+conquered without much effort. Marriage had not much attraction for him,
+but if he did marry, he meant to choose a wife of a different type.
+
+"Sadie's a very good sort," Charnock resumed. "She knows what we are,
+and doesn't expect too much; not the kind of girl to make ridiculous
+demands. In fact, Sadie can make allowances."
+
+Festing thought this was doubtful praise, although it bore out his
+opinion of the girl. For all that, Sadie might not be so willing to
+make allowances for her husband as for a lover of whom she was not quite
+sure.
+
+"Perhaps that kind of thing has advantages," he said. "But I don't
+know--"
+
+"I do know," said Charnock; "I've tried the other way. The feeling that
+you're expected to keep on a high plane soon gets tiresome; besides, it
+isn't natural. It's better to be taken for what you are."
+
+"I suppose so," Festing assented. "Anyway, if Sadie's satisfied----"
+
+Charnock grinned, although there was a touch of color in his face.
+
+"You're not given to flattery, but might use a little tact. I've had a
+knock and am not quite sober, so I can't argue the point. Then it isn't
+your business if Sadie's satisfied or not."
+
+"That's so. But what are you going to do when your creditors turn you
+out?"
+
+"Everything's arranged. I'm going to help Keller at the hotel and
+store."
+
+Festing got up. "Well, I've stopped longer than I meant. I wish you good
+luck!"
+
+"We'll have a drink," said Charnock, reaching for the bottle with an
+unsteady hand. Then he paused and gave Festing a suspicious look. "It's
+curious about that portrait! I used to see you gazing at it, and don't
+remember that I picked it up."
+
+"No, thanks," said Festing, refusing the glass. "I think you've had
+enough. In fact, it might have been better when you were wiping the
+slate clean if you had put the bottle in the stove."
+
+He went out and walked back to the camp in the moonlight, thinking hard.
+He was angry with Charnock, but vaguely sorry. Bob had some virtues and
+was throwing himself away, although, when one came to think of it, this
+was only true to some extent. What one meant was that he was throwing
+away his opportunities of rising to a higher plane; while Bob was
+satisfied with his present level Sadie was good enough for him, perhaps
+too good. Life together might be hard for both, and there was a touch of
+pathos in his burning all the tender tokens that bound him to the past,
+though it was ominous that he kept the whisky. He could, however, get as
+much liquor as he wanted at the hotel; that is, if Sadie allowed it, but
+there was some comfort in the thought that the girl was clever and firm.
+
+Festing dismissed the matter, and when he reached his shack at the
+bridge put the portrait on the table and sat down opposite. He felt that
+he knew this girl, whom he had never met, very well. Something in her
+look had cheered him when he had difficulties to overcome; he felt that
+they were friends. She was calm and fearless and would face trouble with
+the level glance he knew, although now and then, when the lamp flickered
+in the draught, he had thought she smiled. They had been companions
+on evenings when Charnock wanted to read the newspaper or the talk
+had flagged. Sometimes the window and door were open and the smell of
+parched grass came in; sometimes the stove was red-hot and the house
+shook in the icy blast. Festing admitted that it was not altogether for
+Charnock's society he had visited the homestead.
+
+Then he began to puzzle about a likeness to somebody he knew. He
+had remarked this before, but the likeness was faint and eluded him.
+Lighting his pipe, he tried to concentrate his thoughts, and by and by
+made an abrupt movement. He had it! When he was in British Columbia,
+engaged on the construction of a section of the railroad that was
+being built among the mountains, he met a young Englishman at a mining
+settlement. The lad had been ill and was not strong enough to undertake
+manual labor, which was the only occupation to be found in the
+neighborhood. Moreover, he had lost his money, in consequence, Festing
+gathered, of his trusting dangerous companions.
+
+Festing, finding that he had been well educated and articled to a civil
+engineer, got him a post on the railroad, where he helped the surveyors.
+Dalton did well and showed himself grateful, but when Festing went to
+the prairie he lost touch with the lad. The latter wrote to him once or
+twice, but he was too busy to keep up the correspondence. Now he knew
+it was something in Dalton's face he found familiar in the portrait.
+The girl had a steady level glance, and the lad looked at one like that.
+Indeed, it was his air of frankness that had persuaded Festing to get
+him the post.
+
+But this led him nowhere. He did not know the girl's name, and if it
+was the same as the lad's, it would not prove that they were related. He
+pushed back his chair and got up. It looked as if he was in some danger
+of becoming a romantic fool, but he put the portrait carefully away,
+Soon after he had done so a man came in, and sitting down, lighted a
+cigarette.
+
+"I wanted to see you, Festing, but hadn't a chance all day," he said.
+"Probably you haven't heard that I've got orders where to send the staff
+when the bridge is finished, as it will be soon."
+
+Festing looked up sharply. Kerr was his superior in the company's
+service, but they were on good terms.
+
+"I haven't heard. I'm anxious to know."
+
+Kerr told him, and Festing's face hardened.
+
+"So Marvin and I go on to the next prairie section! Since they want the
+best men on the difficult work in the mountains, it means that we're
+passed over."
+
+"It does, in a sense," Kerr agreed.
+
+"Then I think I know why you came," said Festing, who pondered for a
+few moments. He had courage and decision, and it was his habit to face
+a crisis boldly. "Now," he resumed, "I'm going to ask your opinion of my
+prospects if I stay on the road?"
+
+"Your record's good. You're sure of a post, so long as there's any
+construction work going on."
+
+"A post of a kind! Not the best kind, where a man would have a chance of
+making his mark?"
+
+"Well," said Kerr, "I think that's what I meant. The headquarters
+bosses don't know us personally, and judge by a man's training and the
+certificates he's got. Of course, in spite of this, talent will find its
+way, and sometimes one gets there by a stroke of luck."
+
+Festing smiled, rather bitterly. "I have no marked talent, and haven't
+found it pay to trust to luck. In fact, my only recommendations are a
+kind of practical ability and a capacity for hard work. I got on the
+road by doing chores and fought my way up."
+
+"You are practical," Kerr agreed. "It's your strong point, but I've
+thought it sometimes kept you back."
+
+He paused when Festing looked at him with surprise, but resumed in a
+thoughtful voice: "When your job's in front of you, you see what must be
+done, and do it well; there's not a man on my section does that kind of
+thing better. Still, I'm not sure you always see quite far enough. You
+miss what lies ahead and sometimes, so to speak, what's lying all round.
+Concentration's good, but one can concentrate too much. However, I
+didn't come to find fault, but to let you know how matters are."
+
+"Thanks. I'm going to look ahead and all round now, and the situation
+strikes me as much like this: If I'm content with a second or third best
+post, I can stop; if I want to go as far as my power of concentration
+may take me and find a place where I can use my independent judgment,
+I'd better quit. Have I got that right?"
+
+"It's what I tried to hint. You can count on my recommendation when
+it's likely to be of use, but you said something that was rather
+illuminating. You want to use your judgment?"
+
+Festing laughed. "I don't know that I've thought much about these
+matters, but I am an individualist. You get up against useless rules,
+empty formalities, and much general stupidity in organized effort, and
+good work is often wasted. When you see things that demand to be done,
+you want to begin right there and get at the job. If you wait to see if
+it's yours or somebody else's, you're apt not to start at all."
+
+"Your plan has drawbacks now and then," Kerr remarked. "But what are you
+going to do about the other matter?"
+
+Festing was silent for a few moments. He had to make a momentous choice,
+but had known that he must do so and did not hesitate.
+
+"I'm going to quit and try farming. After all, I don't know very much
+about railroad building; up to now I've got on rather by determination
+than knowledge. Then, if I stop with you, I'll come up against a locked
+door whenever I try to push ahead."
+
+"There are locked doors in other professions."
+
+"That's so; but in a big organization you must knock and ask somebody
+to let you through, and unless you have a properly stamped ticket, they
+turn you back. When the job's your own you beat down the door."
+
+"I've seen farmers who tried that plan left outside with badly jarred
+hands. Frost and rust and driving sand are difficult obstacles."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Festing. "But they're natural obstacles; you know what
+you're up against and can overcome them, if you're stubborn enough.
+What I really mean is, you don't trust to somebody else's good opinion;
+whether you fail or not depends upon yourself."
+
+"Well," said Kerr, getting up, "I think you're making the right choice,
+but hope you won't forget me when you leave us. You'll have a friend in
+the company's service as long as I'm on the road."
+
+He went out and Festing lighted his pipe. Now he had come to a decision,
+there was much that needed thought; but, to begin with, he knew of a
+suitable piece of land. Living in camp, he had saved the most part of
+his pay, and had inherited a small sum from an English relative. In
+consequence, he could buy the land, build a comfortable wooden house,
+and have something over to carry him on until he sold his first crop.
+
+He resolved to buy the land and set the carpenters to work, but could
+not leave the railroad for a month, when it would be rather late to make
+a start. Then he had worked without a break for twelve years, for the
+most part at camps where no amusement was possible, and resolved to
+take a holiday. He would go back to England, where he had a few friends,
+although his relatives were dead. This was, of course, an extravagance;
+but after the self-denial he had practised there was some satisfaction
+in being rash. Lighting another pipe, he abandoned himself to pleasant
+dreams of his first holiday.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A RASH PROMISE
+
+A few days before he started for England, Festing went over to
+Charnock's homestead, which was shortly to be sold. The evenings were
+getting light, and although Festing had finished his day's work before
+he left the bridge, the glow of sunset flooded Charnock's living-room.
+The strong red light searched out the signs of neglect and dilapidation,
+the broken boots and harness that needed mending, the dust sticking to
+the resin-stains on the cracked walls, and the _gumbo_ soil on the dirty
+floor. As Charnock glanced up a level ray touched his face and showed
+a certain sensual coarseness that one missed when the light was normal.
+Festing, however, knew the look, and although he had not remarked it
+when he first met Charnock, thought it had always been there.
+
+The change he had noted in his friend was only on the surface. Charnock
+had not really deteriorated in Canada; the qualities that had brought
+him down had been overlaid by a spurious grace and charm, but it now
+looked as if moral slackness might develop into active vice. On the
+whole, he thought Sadie would have trouble with Bob, but this was not
+his business.
+
+"I've come to say good-bye," he remarked. "I won't see you again until
+my return, and expect you'll be married then."
+
+"Yes," said Charnock, shortly. "I suppose you have made some plans for
+your trip. Where are you going to stop in England?"
+
+Festing told him and he looked surprised. "I didn't know you had friends
+in that neighborhood. Will you be with them some time?"
+
+"A month, anyway. Then I may come and go."
+
+Charnock pushed his chair back out of the light. "Well, this makes it
+easier; there's something I want to ask. We are friends and I've let you
+give me good advice, though I haven't always acted on it. I don't know
+if this gives me a claim."
+
+"If there's anything I can do----"
+
+"There is," said Charnock, who hesitated for a few moments. "I want you
+to go and see Helen Dalton. She's the girl I ought to have married, and
+doesn't live very far from your friends."
+
+"Ah!" said Festing with a start. "It was her portrait you meant to
+burn?"
+
+Charnock gave him a sharp glance. "Just so. I imagine I did burn it,
+because I couldn't find it afterwards."
+
+There was silence for a few moments while Festing wondered whether the
+other suspected him. Bob had an air of frankness, but was sometimes
+cunning. This, however, was not important, and Festing was strongly
+moved by the thought that he might see the girl.
+
+"Why do you want me to go?" he asked.
+
+"In order that you can tell her how I was situated. I want her to know
+why I was forced to give her up."
+
+"But you have written and stated your reasons."
+
+"Of course. But I've no talent for explanation, and in a letter you say
+too little or too much; probably I didn't say enough. Then you can't
+tell how far the person written to will understand, and questions rise.
+But will you go?"
+
+Festing wanted to go, although he saw his task might be embarrassing. He
+had been some time in Western Canada, where people are frank and do not
+shrink from dealing with delicate matters. Then Charnock was his friend.
+
+"It will be an awkward job, but you can indicate the line you think I
+ought to take."
+
+"The line is plain. You will tell Helen what it means to lose one's
+crop, and try to make her understand the struggle I've had--how the
+weather was against me, and the debts kept piling up until I was ruined.
+You can describe the havoc made by drought, and frost, and cutting sand.
+Then there's the other side of the matter; the hardships a woman must
+bear on the plains when money's scarce. The loneliness, the monotonous
+drudgery, the heat, the Arctic cold."
+
+"Miss Dalton looks as if she had pluck. She wouldn't be easily daunted."
+
+"Do you think I don't know? But when you meet her you'll see that the
+life we lead is impossible for a girl like that."
+
+"It looks as if you wanted me to be your advocate," Festing remarked
+rather dryly. "I'm to make all the excuses for you I can, and prove that
+you were justified in breaking your engagement. I doubt if I'm clever
+enough--"
+
+Charnock stopped him. "No! Perhaps I used excuses, but my object is not
+to clear myself." He paused and colored. "We'll admit that Helen lost
+nothing when I gave her up; but a girl, particularly a young, romantic
+girl, feels that kind of thing, and it might hurt worse if she thought
+she had loved a wastrel. I want her to feel that I broke my engagement
+for her sake, when nothing else was possible. That might soften the
+blow, and I really think it's true."
+
+"How much of it is true?" Festing asked bluntly.
+
+"Ah," said Charnock, "you're an uncompromising fellow. You meant that if
+you'd had my debts and difficulties, you could have made good?"
+
+"I might; but we both know two or three other men whom I'd have backed
+to do so."
+
+"For all that, you'll admit that the thing was impossible for me?"
+
+Festing knitted his brows. "I believe you could have overcome your
+difficulties; that is, if you had really made an effort and faced the
+situation earlier. But since you hadn't nerve enough, I dare say it was
+impossible."
+
+"You forget one thing; I hadn't time. At the best, it would have
+taken me three or four years to get straight, and as you haven't much
+imagination, I suppose you don't realize what Helen's trials would have
+been in the meanwhile. An engaged girl's situation isn't easy when her
+lover is away. She stands apart, forbidden much others may enjoy, and
+Helen would have had to bear her friends' contemptuous pity for being
+bound to a man who had turned out a failure or worse."
+
+"I expect that's true," Festing agreed. "However, there's another
+difficulty. Suppose I persuade Miss Dalton that you made a plucky fight
+and only gave her up when you were beaten? She may refuse to let you go,
+and insist on coming out to help."
+
+Charnock started, but with a rather obvious effort recovered his calm.
+"You must see your suggestion's stupid. Helen can't come out; I'm going
+to marry Sadie."
+
+"I forgot," said Festing. "Well, since you urge me, I'll do what I can,
+although I don't like the job."
+
+He left the homestead shortly afterwards, but felt puzzled as he walked
+across the plain. When he suggested that Miss Dalton might resolve to
+join and help her lover, Charnock had looked alarmed. This was strange,
+because although Festing had, for a moment, forgotten Sadie, it was
+ridiculous to imagine that Bob had done so. Then why had he started.
+There were, however, one or two other things that disturbed Festing, who
+felt that he had made a rash promise. But the promise had been made, and
+he must do his best to carry it out.
+
+He had a fine voyage, and a week after his arrival in the Old Country
+walked up and down the terrace of a house among the hills in the North
+of England. His host was an old friend of the family who had shown
+Festing some kindness when he was young, and his daughter, Muriel,
+approved her father's guest. She liked the rather frank, brown-skinned,
+athletic man, whom she had joined on the terrace. He was a new and
+interesting type; but although she was two or three years the younger
+and attractive, their growing friendship was free from possible
+complications. Muriel, as Festing had learned, was going to marry the
+curate.
+
+After the roar of activity at the bridge, where the hammers rang all day
+and often far into the night, he found his new surroundings strangely
+pleasant. In Canada, he had lived in the wilds; on the vast bare plains,
+and among snowy mountains where man grappled with Nature in her sternest
+mood. Thundering snowslides swept away one's work, icy rocks must be cut
+through, and savage green floods threatened the half-built track when
+the glaciers began to melt. Every day had brought a fresh anxiety, and
+now he welcomed the slackening of the strain. The struggle had left
+its mark on him; one saw it in his lean, muscular symmetry, his quiet
+alertness, and self-confidence. But he could relax, and found the
+English countryside had a soothing charm.
+
+The sun was low and rugged hills cut against the pale-saffron sky. The
+valley between was filled with blue shadow, but in the foreground a
+river twinkled in the fading light. Feathery larches grew close up to
+the house, and a beck splashed in the gloom among their trunks. Farther
+off, a dog barked, and there was a confused bleating of sheep, but this
+seemed to emphasize the peaceful calm.
+
+"It's wonderfully quiet," Festing remarked. "I can't get used to the
+stillness; I feel as if I was dreaming and would wake up to hear the din
+of the rivers and the ballast roaring off the gravel cars. However, I
+have some business to do to-morrow that I'm not keen about. Can one see
+Knott Scar from here?"
+
+"It's the blue ridge, about six miles off. The dark patch on its slope
+is a big beech wood."
+
+"Then do you know the Daltons?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Muriel. "Helen Dalton is a friend of mine. Although the
+Scar's some way off, I see her now and then. But are you going there?"
+
+"I am; I wish it wasn't needful," Festing answered rather gloomily.
+
+"Ah!" said Muriel, giving him a sharp glance. "Helen was to have married
+a man in Canada, but the engagement was broken off. Do you know him?"
+
+"I do. That's why I'm going to the Scar. I've promised to explain
+matters as far as I can."
+
+Muriel studied his disturbed face with a twinkle of amusement. "Well,
+I'm sorry for Helen; it must have been a shock. For all that, I thought
+the engagement a mistake."
+
+"Then you have seen Charnock?"
+
+"Once. He's a friend of some people Helen used to stay with in the
+South, but I met him at the Scar. Handsome, and charming, in a way, but
+I thought him weak."
+
+"What are Miss Dalton's people like?"
+
+"Don't you want to know what Helen is like?"
+
+"No," said Festing. "I know her already; that is, I've seen her
+picture."
+
+Muriel, glancing at him keenly, did not understand his look, but
+replied: "Helen lives with her mother and aunt, but it's hard to
+describe them. They are not old, but seem to date back to other times.
+In fact, they're rather unique nowadays. Like very dainty old china;
+you'd expect them to break if they were rudely jarred. You feel they
+ought to smell of orris and lavender."
+
+"Ah," said Festing. "I was a fool to promise Charnock. I've never met
+people like that, and am afraid they'll get a jar to-morrow."
+
+"I don't think you need be afraid," Muriel replied. "They're not really
+prudish or censorious, though they are fastidious."
+
+"And is Miss Dalton like her mother and aunt?"
+
+"In a way. Helen has their refinement, but she's made of harder stuff.
+She would wear better among strains and shocks."
+
+Festing shook his head. "Girls like her ought to be sheltered and kept
+from shocks. After all, there's something to be said for Charnock's
+point of view. Your delicate English grace and bloom ought to be
+protected and not rubbed off by the rough cares of life."
+
+"I don't know if you're nice or not," Muriel rejoined with a laugh.
+"Anyway, you don't know many English girls, and your ideas about us are
+old-fashioned. We are not kept in lavender now. Besides, it isn't the
+surface bloom that matters, and fine stuff does not wear out. It takes
+a keener edge and brighter polish from strenuous use. And Helen is fine
+stuff."
+
+"So I thought," said Festing quietly, and stopped at the end of the
+terrace. The bleating of sheep had died away, and except for the splash
+of the beck a deep silence brooded over the dale. The sun had set and
+the landscape was steeped in soft blues and grays, into which woods and
+hills slowly melted.
+
+"It's remarkably pleasant here," he said. "Not a sign of strain and
+hurry; things seem to run on well-oiled wheels! Perhaps the greatest
+change is to feel that one has nothing to do."
+
+"But you had holidays now and then in Canada."
+
+"No," said Festing. "Anyhow I've had none for a very long time. Of
+course there are lonely places, and in winter the homesteads on the
+plains are deadly quiet, but I was always where some big job was rushed
+along. Hauling logs across the snow, driving them down rivers, and after
+I joined the railroad, checking calculations, and track-grading in the
+rain. It was a fierce hustle from sunrise to dark, with all your senses
+highly strung and your efforts speeded up."
+
+"Then one can understand why it's a relief to lounge. But would that
+satisfy you long?"
+
+Festing laughed. "It would certainly satisfy me for a time, but after
+that I don't know. It's a busy world, and there's much to be done."
+
+Muriel studied him as they walked back along the terrace. He wore no
+hat, and she liked the way he held his head and his light, springy step,
+though she smiled as she noted that he pulled himself up to keep pace
+with her. It was obvious that he was not used to moving leisurely. Then
+his figure, although spare, was well proportioned, and his rather
+thin face was frank. He had what she called a fined-down look,
+but concentrated effort of mind and body had given him a hint of
+distinction. He was a man who did things, and she wondered what Helen,
+who was something of a romantic dreamer, would think of him. Then she
+reflected with a touch of amusement that he would probably find the
+errand his friend had given him embarrassing.
+
+"You don't look forward to seeing the Daltons to-morrow," she remarked.
+
+"That's so," Festing admitted. "I didn't quite know what I'd undertaken
+when I gave my promise. The thing looks worse in England. In fact, it
+looks very nearly impossible just now."
+
+"But you are going?"
+
+Festing spread out his hands. "Certainly. What can I do? Charnock
+hustled me into it; he has a way of getting somebody else to do the
+things he shirks. But I gave him my word."
+
+"And that's binding!" remarked Muriel, who was half amused by his
+indignation. She thought Charnock deserved it, but Festing could be
+trusted.
+
+"I wish I could ask your advice," he resumed. "You could tell me what to
+say; but as I don't know if Charnock would approve, it mightn't be the
+proper thing."
+
+Muriel was keenly curious to learn the truth about her friend's love
+affair, but she resisted the temptation. Because she liked Festing, she
+would not persuade him to do something for which he might afterwards
+reproach himself.
+
+"No," she said, "perhaps you oughtn't to tell me. But I don't think you
+need be nervous. If you have the right feeling, you will take the proper
+line."
+
+Then they went into the house where the curate was talking to Gardiner.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FESTING KEEPS HIS WORD
+
+Next afternoon Festing leaned his borrowed bicycle against the gate at
+Knott Scar and walked up the drive. He had grave misgivings, but it was
+too late to indulge them, and he braced himself and looked about with
+keen curiosity. The drive curved and a bank of shrubs on one side
+obstructed his view, but the Scar rose in front, with patches of heather
+glowing a rich crimson among the gray rocks. Beneath these, a dark
+beech wood rolled down the hill. On the other side there was a lawn that
+looked like green velvet. His trained eye could detect no unevenness;
+the smooth surface might have been laid with a spirit level. Festing had
+seen no grass like this in Canada and wondered how much labor it cost.
+
+Then he came to the end of the shrubs and saw a small, creeper-covered
+house, with a low wall, pierced where shallow steps went up, along the
+terrace. The creeper was in full leaf and dark, but roses bloomed about
+the windows and bright-red geraniums in urns grew upon the wall. He
+heard bees humming and a faint wind in the beech tops, but the shadows
+scarcely moved upon the grass, and a strange, drowsy quietness brooded
+over the place. Indeed, the calm was daunting; he felt he belonged
+to another world and was intruding there, but went resolutely up the
+shallow steps.
+
+Two white-haired ladies received him in a shady, old-fashioned room with
+a low ceiling. There was a smell of flowers, but it was faint, and
+he thought it harmonized with the subdued lighting of the room. A
+horizontal piano stood in a corner and the dark, polished rosewood had
+dull reflections; some music lay about, but not in disorder, and he
+noted the delicate modeling of the cabinet with diamond panes it had
+been taken from. He knew nothing about furniture, but he had an eye for
+line and remarked the taste that characterized the rest of the articles.
+There were a few landscapes in water-color, and one or two pieces of old
+china, of a deep blue that struck the right note of contrast with the
+pale-yellow wall.
+
+Festing felt that the house had an influence; a gracious influence
+perhaps, but vaguely antagonistic to him. He had thought of a house as
+a place in which one ate and slept, but did not expect it to mold one's
+character. Surroundings like this were no doubt Helen Dalton's proper
+environment, but he came from the outside turmoil, where men sweated and
+struggled and took hard knocks.
+
+In the meantime, he talked to and studied the two ladies. Although they
+had white hair, they were younger than he thought at first and much
+alike. It was as if they had faded prematurely from breathing too
+rarefied an atmosphere and shutting out rude but bracing blasts. Still
+they had a curious charm, and he had felt a hint of warmth in Mrs.
+Dalton's welcome that puzzled him.
+
+"We have been expecting you. Bob told us you would come," she said in a
+low, sweet voice, and added with a smile: "I wanted to meet you."
+
+Festing wondered what Bob had said about him, but for a time they
+tactfully avoided the object of his visit and asked him questions about
+his journey. Then Mrs. Dalton got up.
+
+"Helen is in the garden. Shall we look for her?"
+
+She took him across the lawn to a bench beneath a copper beech, and
+Festing braced himself when a girl got up. She wore white and the shadow
+of the leaves checkered the plain dress. He noted the unconscious grace
+of her pose as she turned towards him, and her warm color, which seemed
+to indicate a sanguine temperament. Helen Dalton was all that he had
+thought, and something more. He knew her level, penetrating glance, but
+she had a virility he had not expected. The girl was somehow stronger
+than he portrait.
+
+"Perhaps I had better leave you to talk to Mr. Festing," Mrs. Dalton
+said presently and moved away.
+
+Helen waited with a calm that Festing thought must cost her much, and
+moving a folding chair, he sat down opposite.
+
+"I understand Bob told you I would come," he said. "You see, he is a
+friend of mine."
+
+"Yes," she replied with a faint sparkle in her eyes. "He hinted that you
+would explain matters. I think he meant you would make some defense for
+him."
+
+Festing noted that her voice was low like her mother's, but it had a
+firmer note. He could be frank with her, but there was a risk that he
+might say too much.
+
+"Well," he said, "I may make mistakes. In fact, it was with much
+reluctance I promised to come, and if Bob hadn't insisted----" He paused
+and pulled himself together. "On the surface, of course, his conduct
+looks inexcusable, but he really has some defense, and I think you ought
+to hear it, for your own sake."
+
+"Perhaps I ought," she agreed quietly. "Well, I am willing."
+
+Festing began by relating Charnock's troubles. He meant her to
+understand the situation and supplied rather confusing particulars
+about prairie farming and mortgages. For all that, the line he took was
+strong; he showed how Charnock's embarrassments prevented his offering
+her comforts she would find needful and saving her from the monotonous
+toil an impoverished farmer's wife must undertake. In the meantime, but
+unconsciously, he threw some light on Charnock's vacillating character.
+
+When he stopped Helen mused for a few minutes. Although she had got a
+shock when Charnock gave her up, she knew her lover better than when she
+had promised to marry him. He came home once in the winter and she had
+remarked a change. Bob was not altogether the man she had thought; there
+were things that jarred, and his letters gradually made this plainer.
+Still she had meant to keep her promise, and his withdrawal hurt. She
+had borne something for his sake, because her mother and her relations
+had not approved the engagement. Then she roused herself and turned to
+Festing.
+
+"You have done your best for your friend and Bob ought to be grateful,
+but you both start from a wrong point. Why do you take it for granted
+that I would shrink from hardship?"
+
+"I didn't imagine you would shrink," Festing declared. "For all that,
+Bob was right. The life is too hard for a girl brought up like you." He
+hesitated a moment. "I mean for a girl brought up in your surroundings."
+
+Helen smiled and he knew it was a sign of courage, but had a vague
+feeling that he understood why she did so as he looked about. The
+sighing in the beech tops had died away and the shadows did not move
+upon the lawn. A heavy smell of flowers came from the borders and
+the house seemed to be sleeping in the hot sunshine. Everything was
+beautiful, well-ordered, and tranquil, but he knew if he stayed
+there long he would hear the cry of the black geese and the clang of
+flung-down rails ring through the soporific calm. Something in the
+girl's face indicated that she might find the calm oppressive and
+sympathize with him.
+
+"What is Bob going to do now he has lost his farm?" she asked after a
+time.
+
+"In one respect, he won't be much worse off. They expect a boom at
+the settlement, and he'll manage the hotel and store and poolroom for
+Keller. The old man will probably retire soon and Bob will get the
+business."
+
+"But why should the proprietor give the business to Bob?"
+
+"He's Sadie's father," Festing answered with some surprise.
+
+"But who is Sadie?"
+
+Festing looked up sharply and saw that Helen was puzzled and suspicious.
+Her eyes were harder and her mouth was set.
+
+"Ah!" he said. "Don't you know?"
+
+A wave of color flushed Helen's face, but her voice was level. "I don't
+know! It looks as if Bob had not told me the most important thing. Do
+you mean that he is going to marry Miss Keller?"
+
+Festing felt pitiful. He saw that she had got a shock, but she bore it
+pluckily, and he tried to conquer his indignant rage. Charnock had let
+him believe he had told her; he ought to have realized that the fellow
+could not act straight.
+
+"I thought you knew," he stammered.
+
+"That's obvious," Helen replied with an effort for calm. "But tell me
+something about Miss Keller."
+
+"Sadie runs the hotel and helps at the store. She's rather pretty and
+intelligent. In fact, she's generally capable and a good manager."
+
+"You seem to know her well since you call her Sadie."
+
+"Oh," said Festing, "everybody calls her Sadie!"
+
+"You mean in the bar and poolroom? I understand the latter's a public
+billiard-saloon!"
+
+Festing felt that he must do Sadie justice. She had her virtues, and
+although he was very angry with Charnock he did not want Helen to think
+the fellow had given her up for a worthless rival. Still he was not sure
+if his putting the girl in a favorable light would soften the blow or
+not.
+
+"To begin with, they don't employ women in a Canadian bar. Then Sadie's
+quite a good sort and understands Bob--perhaps better than an English
+girl could. She was brought up on the plains and knows all about the
+life we lead."
+
+"You imply that she is not fastidious, and will be lenient to her
+husband's faults? That she will bring him down to her level?"
+
+"Well," said Festing, who thought Helen did not know Charnock's
+dissipated habits, "I imagine she'll keep him there, and that's
+something. I mean she won't let him sink below her level; Sadie's shrewd
+and determined. Then marriage is a problem to men like Bob farming the
+plains. Girls of the type they have been used to and would naturally
+choose couldn't stand the hardships."
+
+"So they are satisfied with a lower type? With any girl who pleases
+their eye?"
+
+"I don't think that's quite fair," Festing objected. "Besides, lower is
+rather vague."
+
+"Then would you, for example, be satisfied with a girl like Miss
+Keller?"
+
+"Certainly not," said Festing, with incautious firmness. "Anyway, not
+now I've seen a different kind in the Old Country."
+
+Helen turned her head and said nothing for a few moments. Then she got
+up.
+
+"I think you have had a difficult task, Mr. Festing, and I must thank
+you for the way you have carried it out. We won't speak of it again; but
+perhaps if Muriel Gardiner----"
+
+"She hasn't asked me any questions or hinted that she is curious."
+
+There was a gleam of amusement in Helen's eyes. "So you imagined she
+wasn't interested! Well, you can tell her about Bob's losses and farming
+troubles. You understand these matters, and it will save me something."
+
+Festing made a sign of agreement and Helen went with him to the terrace,
+where Mrs. Dalton told him when he would find them at home if he wished
+to come again. He was glad to leave because he thought the interview had
+been difficult for Helen, but her mother had made him feel that if he
+came back he would be welcome. This was not altogether conventional
+politeness; he imagined she wanted to see him, although she was
+obviously willing to let him go then.
+
+He puzzled about it and other matters as he rode back. Helen Dalton was
+finer than her picture. He had, no doubt, been awkward and had hurt her
+by his clumsiness, while she had got a painful shock, but had borne it
+with unflinching pluck. Her calm had not deceived him, since he knew
+what it cost, and her smile had roused his pity because it was so brave.
+Then his anger against Charnock returned with extra force. The fellow,
+as usual, had shirked his duty, and left him to tell the girl he had
+really given her up because he meant to marry somebody else. Festing
+thought she was too just to blame him for Bob's fault, but he had been
+forced to witness her humiliation, and she would, no doubt, avoid him
+because of this. Well, he had done with Bob, although he would see him
+once on his return and tell him what he thought.
+
+Then he heard a shout and saw a farmer trying to move a loaded cart out
+of his way. He had not noticed that he was riding furiously down a hill,
+but he sped past the cart upon the grassy margin of the road and laughed
+as he went on. His mood had changed and he resolved that he would go
+back to the creeper-covered house when Helen had had time to recover and
+his society would be less disturbing. After all, Mrs. Dalton had told
+him he might come.
+
+In the evening he walked up and down the terrace with Muriel, and
+told her why he had gone to Knott Scar, although he was satisfied
+with relating Charnock's financial troubles and said nothing about his
+engagement to Sadie. He could not say that Muriel actually led him on,
+but he felt that she would be disappointed if he did not take her into
+his confidence.
+
+"Of course I saw you knew all about it," she said when he stopped.
+"Besides, I expected that Helen would give you leave to tell me. It
+would make things easier for her and be more authentic."
+
+"I should expect Miss Dalton to think of that."
+
+Muriel smiled. "Perhaps not. Well, I imagine it's lucky Charnock
+released her; Helen is much too good for him. I suppose you thought
+you took the proper line in laying all the stress you could upon the
+hardships?"
+
+"I did. I thought she couldn't stand the strain she would have had to
+bear."
+
+"How did she take that?"
+
+"She seemed surprised, as if she didn't think it much of a reason for
+Charnock letting her go."
+
+"Frankly, I don't think it was."
+
+"You haven't been to Canada. The life is hard."
+
+"It doesn't seem to have broken down your health or nerve."
+
+"That's different. A man gets used to hardships and discomfort. They're
+sometimes bracing."
+
+"A very masculine attitude! Then men alone have pluck and endurance?"
+
+"There are two kinds of pluck," Festing rejoined. "I dare say you
+surpass us in the moral kind--I'm sure Miss Dalton has more than
+Charnock. But there's the other; physical courage, and if you like,
+physical strength."
+
+Muriel looked amused. "And you imagine Helen is deficient there? Well, I
+suppose you don't know she's the best tennis player in the county and a
+daring rock-climber. Girls are taking to mountaineering now, you know.
+But are you going back to the Daltons?"
+
+Festing thought she gave him a keen glance, but answered steadily: "I am
+going back, but not for some time. I want to go, but it might be kinder
+if I kept away."
+
+"Well, it's a very proper feeling and you're rather nice. But you talked
+about going to see the mountains for a few days. When do you start?"
+
+"I don't know yet. Everything here is so charming, and I'm getting the
+habit of lazy enjoyment. It will need an effort to go away."
+
+"You're certainly nice," Muriel rejoined, smiling. "However, you might
+tell me when you do think of starting. I don't want you to be away
+when we have arranged something to amuse you; and then, as I know the
+mountains, I can indicate an interesting tour. You might miss much if
+you didn't know where to go and what you ought to see."
+
+Festing promised, and she left him and went back to the house with a
+thoughtful smile that hinted that she had begun to make an amusing plan.
+Muriel was romantic and rather fond of managing her friends' affairs for
+their good.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+HELEN TAKES THE LEAD
+
+Festing was glad to sit down when he reached the bottom of a chasm that
+divided the summits of two towering fells. He had crossed the higher of
+the two without much trouble except for a laborious scramble over large,
+rough stones, but the ascent of the other threatened to be difficult.
+It rose in front, a wall of splintered crag, seamed by deep gullies,
+for the strata was tilted up nearly perpendicular. All the gullies were
+climbed by expert mountaineers, but this needed a party and a rope, and
+the other way, round the shoulder of the great rock, was almost as hard.
+Festing knew the easiest plan was to descend a neighboring hollow, from
+which he would find a steep path to the top.
+
+Lighting his pipe, he glanced at his watch. It was three o'clock in the
+afternoon, and having been on his feet since breakfast, he felt tired.
+The nails he had had driven into his light American boots hurt his feet,
+and the boots were much the worse for the last few days' wear. Muriel
+had carefully planned the trip, and then delayed his start by a week
+because she wanted to take him to a tennis party. Since he could not
+play tennis much, Festing did not see why she had done so, but agreed
+when she insisted.
+
+So far, he had followed her instructions and admitted that she had
+directed him well, because it was hard to imagine there was anything in
+England finer than the country he had seen. The mountains had not the
+majestic grandeur of the British Columbian ranges, but they were wild
+enough, and pierced by dales steeped in sylvan beauty. The chasm in
+which he now rested had an impressive ruggedness.
+
+Blinks of sunshine touched the lower face of the crag, and in their
+track the dark rock glittered with a steely luster, but trails of mist
+rolled among the crannies above. Below, a precipitous slope of small
+stones that the dalesmen call a scree ran down to a hollow strewn with
+broken rocks, and across this he could distinguish the blurred flat top
+of another height. The mountain dropped to a dale that looked profoundly
+deep, although he could not see its bottom.
+
+The light was puzzling. For the most part, the sky was clear and the
+gleams of sun were hot, but heavy, black clouds drifted about, and
+a thick gray haze obscured the lower ground. Rain and mist would be
+dangerous obstacles, but Festing understood that he could reach the dale
+in about two hours' steady walking. Muriel had told him where to stop;
+indeed, she had been rather particular about this, and had recommended
+him to spend two days in the neighborhood. Luckily, there would be no
+crags to climb if he kept the path across the summit, for he had found
+it easier to reach the top of the hills than get down by a different
+line.
+
+A rattle of stones made him look up, and he saw two girls silhouetted in
+a flash of sunshine against the face of the crag. They carried bulging
+rucksacks and were coming down towards him, picking their way among the
+tumbled rocks. He could not see the face of the first, but noticed her
+light poise and graceful movements as she sprang from stone to stone.
+The other followed cautiously and Festing thought she limped, but when
+the first stopped to wait for her and lifted her head he felt a curious
+thrill. It was Helen Dalton.
+
+He sat still, knowing his gray clothes would be hard to distinguish
+among the stones, and wondering what to do. He did not want to force his
+society upon the girl just yet, but would be disappointed if she passed.
+She came on, and when her eyes rested on him he got up. A flush of
+embarrassment colored her face, but she stopped and greeted him with a
+smile.
+
+"Mr. Festing! How did you get here?"
+
+"I came over the Pike," said Festing. "I'm going to the dale."
+
+"So are we," said Helen, who presented him to her companion.
+
+Festing remarked that they wore jackets that had a tanned look,
+unusually short skirts, and thick nailed boots. Then he thought Helen's
+eyes twinkled.
+
+"You would not have expected to find me engaged in anything so strenuous
+as this?"
+
+"It is rather strenuous," Miss Jardine broke in. "You can stand if you
+like; I'm going to sit down."
+
+They found a flat stone, and when Festing leaned against another Helen
+resumed: "We meant to try the Stairs, but have had a hard day and Alison
+is lame."
+
+"I hurt my foot," Miss Jardine explained. "Besides, I'm from the level
+Midlands and we have been walking since breakfast. That doesn't matter
+to Helen; she is never tired."
+
+Festing thought Helen looked remarkably fresh. Exertion and the mountain
+air had brought a fine color to her face, her eyes were bright, and
+there was a hint of vigor in her resting pose. Moreover, he had studied
+the Stairs, which led behind the shoulder of the crag to the summit. One
+could get up, if one was thin enough to squeeze through a gap between
+two rocks, but nerve and agility would be required.
+
+"But you must climb pretty well, if you meant to get up the Stairs," he
+said.
+
+"I know the Carnarvon range, but only go there now and then, and one
+needs some training to keep pace with people born among the fells who
+walk like mountain goats."
+
+Had she said a mountain deer, Festing would have approved, for he had
+noted Helen's easy balance and fearless grace as she crossed the ragged
+blocks of stone. Then a rumble of distant thunder rolled among the crags
+and Miss Jardine resumed: "We ought to fix upon the best way down."
+
+"The best is a rather elastic term," Helen rejoined. "The easiest would
+be to go back by the way we came."
+
+"It's much too far."
+
+"The shortest is up the crag by the Stairs or the gully on the other
+side. The regular track takes us down near the bottom of the next dale,
+and then back over the top."
+
+"That's unthinkable," Miss Jardine declared.
+
+"Well," said Helen thoughtfully, "there's a short line down the scree
+and across the shoulder of the fell below, but it's steep and rough.
+There are some small crags, too, but they're not much of an obstacle
+when they're dry."
+
+They set off and Festing noticed Helen's confidence on the scree. The
+descent was safe, but looked daunting, because their figures made a
+sharp angle with the gravel slope, and now and then a mass of dislodged
+stones rushed down hill. Sometimes the girl allowed herself to slide,
+sometimes she ran a few yards and sprang, but she did not stumble or
+lose her balance. Miss Jardine was cautious, and Festing kept near her,
+carrying her sack.
+
+At the bottom they came to a wide belt of massive stones, fallen from
+the heights above, and their progress was slow. One had to measure the
+gaps between the blocks and step carefully across, while the stones were
+ragged and had sharp corners. Festing was unable to look up and followed
+Helen, but after a time Miss Jardine stopped, and he saw that the crags
+were smothered in leaden cloud and all the sky was dark.
+
+"I must have a few minutes' rest," the tired girl declared.
+
+As they sat down on the edge of a ponderous slab there was a crash of
+thunder that rolled from rock to rock, and a few big drops fell. Then
+as the echoes died away the hillside was hidden by a curtain of driving
+rain. One end of the slab was tilted and they crept into the hollow
+underneath.
+
+"It will be awkward if this goes on," Miss Jardine remarked.
+
+"These thunderstorms seldom last," said Helen. "I expect we have seen
+the worst, and we must start again as soon as we can see."
+
+Festing thought she was anxious to get down, but Miss Jardine grumbled
+about the rain, and then turned to him.
+
+"It was a relief to give you my sack, and I was glad to see it didn't
+bother you. I suppose you are used to these mountains."
+
+"No," said Festing. "This is the first time I've climbed a hill for
+amusement."
+
+"But you are a climber. You have balance, trust your feet and not your
+hands, and know how to step on a loose stone."
+
+Festing laughed. "I used to do something of the kind as a matter of
+business. You see, I helped mark out the line for a new railroad in
+British Columbia, and rocks are plentiful in that country."
+
+"It must be a wonderful place," said Helen. "I have a photograph of the
+gorge at the foot of the glacier, where the line went through. You had
+stern work when you laid the rails in winter."
+
+Festing looked at her in surprise, for he had worked to the edge of
+exhaustion and run many risks at the spot, but while he wondered how she
+knew Helen got up.
+
+"I think the rain is stopping and we can start," she said.
+
+There was not much rain, but thick mist rolled across the top of the
+hill they were now level with, and everything below was blotted out.
+Leaving the stones, they crossed a belt of boggy grass where their feet
+sank, but Festing felt it a relief to have done with the rocks. The
+narrow tableland they were crossing was comfortingly flat, and he looked
+forward to descending a long grassy slope. When they reached the edge,
+however, he got a rude disappointment, for the mist rolled up in waves
+with intervals between, and when a white cloud passed a gray light shone
+down into the gulf at his feet.
+
+In the foreground there was a steep slope where rock ledges broke
+through the wet turf, and in one place a chasm cleft the hill. He could
+not see the bottom, for it was filled with mist, but the height of the
+rock wall hinted at its depth. A transverse ravine ran into the chasm,
+and he could hear the roar of a waterfall. Then the mist rolled up in a
+white smother and blotted everything out.
+
+"We cross the beck," said Helen. "Then we go nearly straight down,
+keeping this side of the big ghyll."
+
+"As far away as possible, I hope. I don't like its look," Miss Jardine
+remarked.
+
+Festing agreed with her. So far as he could see, the descent looked
+forbidding, but there was no sign of the sky's clearing, and it was
+obvious that they must get down. The thunder had gone, but the mist
+brought a curious, searching damp, and a cold wind had begun to blow. He
+was glad to think Helen knew the way.
+
+She took them down a steep pitch where small rocky ledges dropped nearly
+vertical among patches of rotten turf and it was needful to get a good
+grip with one's hands as well as with one's feet. Festing helped Miss
+Jardine when he could, but he had an unpleasant feeling that a rash
+step might take him over the edge of a precipice. Sometimes he could see
+Helen in front, and sometimes, for a few moments, her figure was lost
+in the mist. He was glad to note that she was apparently going down with
+confidence.
+
+After a time the slope got easier and she stopped, lifting her hand.
+Festing found her looking into a ravine through which water flowed. It
+was not very deep, but its sides were perpendicular. Seeing that Miss
+Jardine was some distance behind, she looked at Festing with a quiet
+smile.
+
+"There is a place where one can cross without much trouble, but I don't
+know whether to go up or down."
+
+Festing felt his heart beat. It looked as if she had taken him into her
+confidence and asked his help.
+
+"Not down, I think. That would take us to the big ghyll. Let's try up,
+and cross at the first practicable spot."
+
+Helen made a sign of agreement, and when Miss Jardine joined them they
+turned back along the edge of the ravine. By and by Helen stopped where
+patches of wet soil checkered the steep rock and a mountain-ash offered
+a hold. Almost immediately below the spot, the stream plunged over a
+ledge and vanished into the mist.
+
+Festing looked at Helen. The descent would be awkward, if not dangerous,
+but he could trust her judgment. It was the first time he had allowed a
+woman to give him a lead in a difficulty, and he admitted that he would
+not have done so had his guide been anybody else.
+
+"I think we can get across, and I don't want to go too far up," she
+said. "If you don't mind helping Alison--"
+
+"I'll throw the sacks across first," Festing replied.
+
+He swung them round by the straps and let them go, and when the last
+splashed into a boggy patch on the other side Miss Jardine laughed.
+
+"I'm selfishly glad that one is yours. If Helen's had fallen a foot
+short, it would have gone over the fall, but I expect she had a reason
+for taking the risk. Where our clothes have gone we must follow."
+
+Helen seized a tuft of heather, and sliding down, reached a narrow shelf
+four or five feet below. Then a small mountain-ash gave her a fresh hold
+and she dropped to the top of a projecting stone. Below this there was
+another shelf and some boggy grass, after which a bank of earth dropped
+nearly straight to the stream.
+
+"How we shall get down the last pitch isn't very obvious," Miss Jardine
+remarked. "I suppose we will see when we arrive. It isn't my resolution
+that gives way, but my foot. You might go first."
+
+Festing dropped on to the first shelf, and she came down into his arms.
+The shock nearly flung him off, but he steadied her with an effort and
+seized the stem of the small tree.
+
+"Looks like a tight-wire trick," he said, glancing at the stone.
+"However, if we miss it, there's another ledge below."
+
+He reached the stone, and balancing on it with one foot, kicked a hole
+in the spongy turf. Finding this would support him he held out his hand.
+
+"Now. As lightly as you can!"
+
+The girl came down, struck the stone with her foot, and slipped, but
+Festing had time to clutch her first. He could not hold her back, but he
+could steady her, and for a moment felt his muscles crack and the peat
+tear out from the hole in the bank. Then his hands slipped and he fell,
+gasping and red in face, upon the shelf beside the girl.
+
+"Thank you; you did that rather well," she said. "It looks as if I were
+heavier than you thought."
+
+While he had been occupied Festing imagined he had heard a splash, and
+now looking down saw Helen standing on a boulder in the stream. She gave
+him an approving nod before she sprang to the next stone, and he felt
+a thrill of pleasure. She knew his task was difficult and was satisfied
+with him.
+
+When they came to the scar where the floods had torn away the bank he
+hesitated. It was some distance to the water, and there was no hold upon
+the wall of soil, which was studded with small round stones.
+
+"Helen slid," his companion remarked. "I imagine she chose her time; the
+sitting glissade isn't elegant. But if you'll go first and wait--"
+
+Festing leaned back with his shoulders against the bank and pushed off.
+He alighted in the water, and Miss Jardine, coming down, kicked his
+arm. He saved her from a plunge into the stream, but thought she looked
+something the worse for wear as they made their way from stone to stone.
+The other bank was easier, and for a time they had not much trouble in
+going down hill, but the mist was very thick, and presently the steep
+slope broke off close in front. Helen stopped and beckoned Festing.
+
+Looking down, he saw the wet face of a crag drop into the rolling vapor.
+For eight or nine feet it was perpendicular, and afterwards ran down at
+a very steep slant, but immediately below there was a gully with a foot
+or two of level gravel at its top.
+
+"This is not the regular track," Helen said. "However, I think I know
+the gully."
+
+Festing pondered. The rock looked daunting, but one might get down to
+the patch of gravel. The trouble was that one could not see what lay
+below, and it might be difficult to climb back, if this was needful.
+
+"I could get as far as the edge yonder," he suggested.
+
+"No," said Helen. "You don't know the gully, and if I'm mistaken about
+it, you could help me up."
+
+"That's true. Still I'd sooner go."
+
+Helen shook her head, and although she did not speak, he felt there was
+something delightful in her consulting him. They had come to know each
+other on the misty hillside in a way that would not have been possible
+in conventional surroundings. He had seen a possibility of the girl, so
+to speak, shutting him out in self-defense because he had had some part
+in her humiliation, but he thought that risk had gone.
+
+"Well," he resumed, "what do you propose?"
+
+"I'm going to see if this is the place I think. You can steady me."
+
+Festing lay down with his head over the edge and found a grip for his
+toes and knees. There were a few cracks in the rock and Helen had got
+half way down before she took his hands. He felt the strain and braced
+himself, determined that he would be pulled over before he let her fall.
+
+"Loose me now," she said.
+
+"Have you got a safe hold for your foot?" Festing gasped.
+
+"I think I have. Let go."
+
+"Make sure first," he answered with a sobbing breath.
+
+She looked up into his set face, and although the strain was heavy he
+thrilled as he saw her smile. The smile indicated courage and trust.
+
+"I'm quite safe," she said, and he let her go.
+
+She leaned cautiously over the next edge, but after a moment or two
+turned and waved her hand.
+
+"This is the way I thought. Send Alison down."
+
+Miss Jardine descended with some help from both, and Festing dropped
+safely on the gravel. He leaned against the rock to get his breath, and
+Helen turned to him with a twinkle.
+
+"You doubted my nerve once. I suppose that was why you didn't let go."
+
+"I'm sometimes dull," said Festing. "Just now, however, I wanted to make
+certain I could help you back."
+
+Helen laughed. "Well, I dare say you could have lifted me, but it would
+have been simpler to lower me your coat."
+
+They went down the gully, where jambed stones made rude steps, and
+reaching the bottom found a belt of grass that led them to the head of
+a dale. The mist was thinner, and presently a few scattered houses
+appeared across the fields. The path they followed forked, and Helen
+stopped at the turning.
+
+"The hotel is yonder to the right," she said. "We are going to the hall,
+where they sometimes take people in."
+
+Festing remembered that Muriel had indicated the hall, which he
+understood was a well-built farm, as his stopping place. He wanted to go
+there, but thought there was some risk of its looking as if he meant to
+force his society on the girls. He took the path Helen indicated, and
+when he had gone some distance, stopped, hesitated, and then went on.
+
+The girls noted this and Miss Jardine said: "I suppose he remembered
+that he has my sack, or else his heart failed him."
+
+Helen looked at her in surprise. "Did you forget?"
+
+"I did not," Miss Jardine admitted. "I thought I wouldn't spoil the
+plot. It looked as if he wanted an excuse for meeting us again, but I
+think I wronged him. That sudden stop was genuine."
+
+"The sack is yours," said Helen dryly. "But you will need the things
+inside."
+
+"I imagine I will get them before long, although it doesn't seem to have
+struck him that my clothes are damp. It's rather significant that he
+went on when he could have run across the field and caught us up. Have
+you known him long?"
+
+"I met him once," said Helen with an impatient frown.
+
+"Rather a good type," Miss Jardine remarked. "I think I should like
+Canadians, if they're all like that."
+
+"He isn't a Canadian."
+
+"Then he hasn't been in England for some time, and so far as my
+knowledge goes, men like variety. Of course, to some extent, he saw us
+under a disadvantage. Mountaineering clothes are comfortable, but one
+can't say much more."
+
+"Don't be ridiculous," Helen rejoined and went on across the field.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A DEBT OF GRATITUDE
+
+After dinner Festing walked across the fields to the farm. It was
+raining and a cold wind swept the dale, but a fire burned in the room
+into which he was shown and the curtains were drawn. Helen and Miss
+Jardine got up when he came in and put the rucksack on the table.
+
+"I'm sorry I forgot this until I'd gone some distance," he said. "Then I
+couldn't find anybody to send with it."
+
+"No doubt you wanted your dinner," Miss Jardine suggested.
+
+Festing saw that she wore a different dress that looked rather large.
+
+"No," he said, "it wasn't the dinner that stopped me. Besides, it didn't
+strike me that--"
+
+"That I might need my clothes? Well, I don't suppose it would strike
+you; but since you have come across in the rain, won't you stop?"
+
+Festing found an old leather chair, and sitting down, looked about with
+a sense of satisfaction, for the fire was cheerful after the raw cold
+outside. The room was large and old-fashioned, with heavy beams across
+the low ceiling. There was a tall clock, and a big, black oak chest;
+curled ram's horns and brass candlesticks twinkled on the mantel; an old
+copper kettle threw back red reflections near the fire. His companions
+occupied opposite sides of a large sheepskin rug, and he felt that both
+had charm, though they were different. The contrast added something to
+the charm.
+
+Miss Jardine's skin was a pure white; her hair and eyes were nearly
+black, and she had a sparkling, and perhaps rather daring, humor.
+Helen's colors were rose and cream, her hair changed from warm brown to
+gold as it caught the light, and her eyes were calm and gray. She was
+younger than the other and he thought her smile delightful, but, as a
+rule, she was marked by a certain gravity. Her wide brows and the firm
+lines of her mouth and nose hinted at pride and resolution.
+
+"I hope your foot is better," he said to Miss Jardine.
+
+"Yes, thanks. It mainly needed rest, and I must confess that I didn't
+find it altogether a drawback when we stopped at the bottom of the big
+crag. I should have had to go up if I hadn't been lame."
+
+"You were not disappointed because you couldn't reach the top?"
+
+Miss Jardine laughed. "Helen was. She makes it a rule to accomplish what
+she undertakes. I wasn't disappointed then, though I am now. Perhaps
+one really enjoys mountaineering best afterwards. You like to think
+how adventurous you have been, but it's sometimes difficult while the
+adventure's going on."
+
+"That's true," Festing agreed. "Still you feel sorry if, as we say, you
+are unable to put the thing over."
+
+Helen gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yes; one feels that."
+
+"It depends upon one's temperament," Miss Jardine objected. "I know my
+limits, though Helen does not know hers. When I can't get what I'm out
+for, I'm satisfied with less. One can't always have the best."
+
+"It's worth trying for, anyway," Festing replied.
+
+He was afraid this sounded priggish. Miss Jardine got up.
+
+"Well, I'm not much of a philosopher and had better put out some of the
+clothes you brought to dry, although it was thoughtful of you to throw
+your bag into the bog instead of mine."
+
+"That was an accident," Festing declared. "I meant to throw them both
+across."
+
+Miss Jardine picked up the sack. "There's nobody else here and a wet
+evening's dreary. I hope you won't go before I come back."
+
+"I won't," said Festing. "They have only a deaf tourist and two tired
+climbers, who seem sleepy and bad-tempered, at the hotel."
+
+Miss Jardine's eyes twinkled. "Well," she said as she went out, "I
+suppose it's a fair retort."
+
+Festing colored and looked at Helen apologetically. "You see, I have
+lived in the woods."
+
+"I expect that has some advantages," said Helen, who liked his frank
+embarrassment. "However, it was lucky I met you to-day. You didn't come
+back to see us, and there is something----" She hesitated and then
+gave him a steady glance. "You are not so much a stranger to us as you
+imagine."
+
+Festing wondered what she meant and whether she knew about the portrait,
+but she resumed: "As a matter of fact, my mother and I felt that we knew
+you rather well."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"Some time since, you found a young Englishmen in a Western mining town.
+He had been ill and things had gone against him."
+
+"Ah," said Festing sharply. "Of course! I ought to have known----He
+looked like you. I mean I ought to have known the name. Was he a
+relative?"
+
+"My brother," Helen replied.
+
+She was silent for a moment or two, and then went on in a tone that made
+Festing's heart beat: "You gave him work and helped him to make a new
+start. He was too proud to tell us about his difficulties."
+
+"It cost me nothing; there was a job waiting. Afterwards he got on by
+his own merits. I had nothing to do with that."
+
+"But you gave him his chance. We can't forget this. George was younger
+than me. I have no other brother, and was very fond of him. Indeed, I
+think we owe you much, and my mother is anxious to give you her thanks."
+
+"Is he all right now? I lost sight of him when they sent me to another
+part of the road. It was my fault--he wrote, but I'm not punctual at
+answering letters, and hadn't much time."
+
+"He is in the chief construction office," Helen replied. "In his
+last letter he told us about the likelihood of his getting some new
+promotion." She paused and resumed with a smile: "I don't suppose you
+know you were a hero of his."
+
+"I didn't know. As a rule, the young men we had on the road seemed to
+find their bosses amusing and rather patronized them. Of course, they
+were fresh from a scientific college or engineer's office, and, for the
+most part, we had learned what we knew upon the track."
+
+"But you knew it well. George wrote long letters about the struggle you
+had at the canyon. Some fight, he called it."
+
+"Well," said Festing quietly, "we were up against it then. The job was
+worth doing."
+
+"I know. George told us how the snowslide came down and filled the head
+of the gorge with stones and broken trees, and wash-outs wrecked the
+line you built along its side. He said it was a job for giants;
+clinging to the face of the precipice while you blew out and built
+on--under-pinning, isn't it?--the first construction track. But he
+declared the leaders were fine. They were where the danger was, in the
+blinding rain and swirling snow--and the boys, as he called them, would
+always follow you."
+
+Festing colored, but Helen went on: "We were glad, when the worst was
+over, that he had had this training. It was so clean a fight."
+
+"We were dirty enough often," Festing objected with an effort at humor.
+"When things were humming we slept in our working clothes, which were
+generally stained with mud and engine grease. Then I don't suppose you
+know how dissipated a man looks and feels when he has breathed the fumes
+of giant-powder."
+
+She stopped him with a half imperious glance. "I know it's the
+convention to talk of such things as a joke; but you didn't feel that in
+the canyon. Then it was a stubborn fight of the kind that man was meant
+to wage. If you win in trade and politics, somebody must lose, but a
+victory over Nature is a gain to all. And when your enemies are storms
+and floods, cheating and small cunning are not of much use."
+
+"That is so," Festing agreed, smiling. "When you're sent to cut through
+an icy rock or re-lay the steel across the gap a snowslide has made,
+it's obvious if you have done the job or not. This has some drawbacks,
+because if you don't make good, you often get fired."
+
+"But that was not what drove you on. You must have had a better motive
+for making good."
+
+Festing felt embarrassed. The girl was obviously not indulging a
+sentimental vein. She felt what she frankly hinted at, and although he
+generally avoided imaginative talk, her remarks did not sound cheap or
+ridiculous.
+
+"Well," he said, "the fear of getting fired is a pretty strong incentive
+to do one's best, but I suppose when one gets up against big things
+there is something else. After all, one hates to be beaten."
+
+Helen's eyes sparkled and she gave him a sympathetic nod. "The hate of
+being beaten distinguishes man from the ape and puts him on the side of
+the angels."
+
+Then Miss Jardine came in, somewhat to the relief of Festing, who
+felt he could not keep up long on Helen's plane. Besides, he was not
+altogether sure he understood her last remark.
+
+"I heard," said Miss Jardine. "Helen's sometimes improving, but perhaps
+she was right just now. The ape is cunning but acquiescent and accepts
+things as they are. Man protests, and fights to make them better. At
+least, he ought to, though one can't say he always does."
+
+Festing did not reply and she sat down and resumed: "But I suppose you
+haven't many shirkers in Canada?"
+
+"I imagine we have as many wastrels as there are anywhere else, but as
+a rule one doesn't find them in the woods and on the plains. When they
+leave the cities they're apt to starve."
+
+"You're a grim lot. Work or starve is a stern choice, particularly if
+one has never done either. It looks as if you hadn't much use for purely
+ornamental people. But what about the half-taught women who don't know
+how to work? What do you do with them?"
+
+"They're not numerous. Then one can always learn, and I imagine every
+woman can cook and manage a house."
+
+"You're taking much for granted, though yours seems to be the
+conventional view. But how did you learn railroad building, for
+example?"
+
+"By unloading ties and shoveling ballast on the track. The trouble was
+that I began too late."
+
+"What did you do before that?"
+
+"Sometimes I worked in sawmills and sometimes packed--that means
+carrying things--for survey parties, and went prospecting."
+
+"In the wilds? It sounds interesting. Won't you tell us about it?"
+
+Festing complied; awkwardly at first, and then with growing confidence.
+He did not want to make much of his exploits, but there was a charm in
+talking about things he knew to two clever and attractive girls, and
+they helped him with tactful questions. Indeed, he was surprised to find
+they knew something about the rugged country in which he wandered.
+He told them about risky journeys up lonely rivers in the spring,
+adventurous thrusts into the wilderness where hardship was oftener to be
+found than valuable minerals, and retreats with provisions running out
+before the Arctic winter.
+
+Something of the charm of the empty spaces colored his narratives as
+he drew from memory half-finished pictures of the mad riot of primitive
+forces when the ice broke up and the floods hurled the thundering floes
+among the rocks; and of tangled woods sinking into profound silence
+in the stinging frost. Moreover, he unconsciously delineated his own
+character, and when he stopped, the others understood something of the
+practical resource and stubbornness that had supported him.
+
+It was encouraging to see they were not bored, but he did not know that
+Miss Jardine had found him an interesting study and had skilfully led
+him on. He was a new type to both girls, although Helen was nearer
+to him than the other and sympathized where her companion was amused.
+Festing's ideas were clean-cut, his honesty was obvious, and she noted
+that he did not know much about the lighter side of life. Yet she saw
+that, sternly practical as he was, he had a vague feeling for romance.
+
+"Will you stay on the railroad when it's finished?" she asked presently.
+
+"I've left it. I hadn't the proper training to carry me far, and as the
+road is opening up the country I've bought a prairie farm."
+
+"But do you know much about farming?"
+
+"I don't. As a matter of fact, not many of the boys do know much when
+they begin, but somehow they make progress. On the plains, it isn't what
+you know that counts, but the capacity for work and staying with your
+job. That's what one really needs, if you see what I mean."
+
+"I think I do," Miss Jardine replied. "A Victorian philosopher, whose
+opinions you seem to hold, said something of the kind. He claims that
+genius takes many different forms, but is not different in itself. That
+is, if you have talent, you can do what you like. Build railroads, for
+example, and then succeed on a farm."
+
+Festing laughed good-humoredly. "It's a pretty big thing to claim, but
+that man was near the mark; they live up to his theories on the plains,
+where shams don't count and efficiency's the test. I don't mean that the
+boys have genius, but gift and perseverance seem to be worth as much.
+Anyhow, one can generally trust them to make good when they undertake a
+job they don't know much about."
+
+Helen mused. Charnock, who knew something about farming, had tried
+it and failed, but she thought Festing would succeed. The man
+looked determined and, in a way, ascetic; he could deny himself and
+concentrate. Knowledge was not worth as much as character. But she was
+content to let Miss Jardine lead the talk.
+
+"One understands," said the latter, "that farming's laborious and not
+very profitable work."
+
+"It's always laborious," Festing agreed. "It may be profitable; that
+depends. You see----"
+
+He went on, using plain words but with some force of imagination, to
+picture the wheat-grower's hopes and struggles; but he did more, for as
+he talked Helen was conscious of the romance that underlay the patient
+effort. She saw the empty, silent land rolling back to the West; the
+ox-teams slowly breaking the first furrow, and then the big Percheron
+horses and gasoline tractors taking their place. Wooden shacks
+dotted the white grass, the belts of green wheat widened, wagons,
+and afterwards automobiles, lurched along the rutted trails. Then the
+railroad came, brick homestead and windmills rose, and cities sprang up,
+as it were, in a night. Everything was fluid, there was no permanence;
+rules and customs altered before they got familiar, a new nation, with
+new thoughts and aims, was rising from the welter of tense activity.
+
+Then Festing got up with an apologetic air. "I'm afraid I've stopped
+too long and talked too much. Still the big movement out there is
+fascinating and people in this country don't grasp its significance. I
+felt I'd like to make you understand. Then you didn't seem--"
+
+"If we had been bored, it would have been our fault, but we were not
+bored at all," Miss Jardine replied. "At least, I wasn't, and don't
+think Helen was."
+
+Helen added her denial and gave Festing her hand. When he had gone Miss
+Jardine looked at her with a smile.
+
+"He was interesting," she remarked. "Talks better than he knows, and I
+suppose we ought to feel flattered, because he took our comprehension
+for granted. After all, it was rash to talk about Canadian progress to
+two English girls."
+
+"You made him talk," Helen rejoined. "It's the first time I've known you
+interested in geography."
+
+Miss Jardine laughed. "I was interested in the man. He told us a good
+deal about himself, although it would have embarrassed him if he'd
+guessed. The curious thing is that he imagines he's practical, while
+he's really a reckless sentimentalist."
+
+Helen did not answer and picked up a book, but she thought more about
+Festing than about what she read.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FESTING LOSES HIS TEMPER
+
+Next morning Festing got breakfast early and set off down the dale. This
+was not the way Muriel had indicated, but he thought it better to avoid
+temptation. The girls had received him graciously at the farm and had
+perhaps listened with unusual patience, but if he overtook them in the
+morning the thing might look too marked. Besides, he doubted if it was
+advisable that Helen should see him again so soon, since he might remind
+her of matters she wished to forget.
+
+The self-denial cost him something, and he went down the dale
+irresolutely, stopping once or twice to look back. It was annoying to
+feel himself so weak, because he had seldom vacillated in Canada, but
+had chosen the proper line and then stuck to it. As a matter of fact,
+he had generally had a definite object and definite plans for its
+attainment. Although he had an object now, he was otherwise at a loss.
+
+He meant to marry Helen. Life was strenuous on the plains, and at first
+there might be hardships, but if she loved him she would not flinch. Her
+portrait had not done her justice; he dwelt upon her fearless confidence
+as she came down the screes, her light, sure step, and agile pose. These
+things indicated strength of mind and body, and he knew, if the need
+came, she would make good use of both.
+
+By and by he thought of Charnock with keener anger than he had yet felt.
+Bob was a weak fool and something worse. He had broken the promise and
+then tricked his friend. The fellow's character was warped; he could not
+go straight, but tried to escape the consequences of his folly in a maze
+of crooked ways. The worst was that consequences could not be shirked.
+If the real offender avoided them, they fell upon somebody else, and
+now Festing had to pay. Bob had prejudiced him with Helen. She would
+probably never quite forget that he knew what she had suffered.
+
+Then he remembered that he had meant to spend a week or two in London,
+and made his way towards a valley through which a railway ran. Although
+he wanted to see Helen, he was half afraid, and imagined that the longer
+he waited the less risk he would run of his society jarring. Next day he
+left the hills, but did not greatly enjoy his visit to town. London was
+much like Montreal, where the buildings were as fine, only they did not
+dig up so many streets and fill the air with cement from the towering
+blocks of new offices. The English liked permanence, while the Canadians
+altered their cities from day to day. Besides he wanted to go back to
+the North as soon as it was prudent.
+
+On the evening of his return it rained hard and he talked to Muriel in
+her drawing-room. He liked Muriel Gardiner and she frankly enjoyed his
+society. It did not matter that she sometimes seemed to find him amusing
+when he was serious. A fire burned in the grate, for the summer evening
+was cold, his low chair was comfortable, and Muriel, holding a fan to
+shield her face, sat opposite in the soft light of a shaded lamp that
+left much of the room in shadow. The circle of subdued illumination gave
+one a pleasant feeling of seclusion and made for mutual confidence, but
+Festing was silent for a time, thinking rather hard.
+
+He was getting used to English comforts, which did not seem so
+enervating as he had imagined, but he could give them up, and would,
+indeed, be forced to do so when he occupied his prairie homestead. A man
+could go without much that people in England required, and be the better
+for the self-denial, but it might be different for a girl. Long habit
+might make comfort and artistic surroundings actual necessities. It was,
+however, encouraging to remember Helen's cheerfulness as she led him
+among the crags in the rain. She had pluck and could bear fatigue and
+hardship. Besides, there need not be much hardship after all.
+
+Presently Muriel gave him a careless glance. "Helen told me she met you
+in the hills and you came over to the hall where she and Alison Jardine
+stopped. Now you have had an opportunity of correcting your first
+impression, what do you think of her?"
+
+"What I have always thought," Festing replied.
+
+Muriel looked at him with surprise, and then laughed. "Oh, yes; I
+remember you saw her portrait first. Well, you have more imagination
+than I thought. But I understand you didn't see Helen again, although
+she and Alison went over part of the route I marked out for you."
+
+Festing thought her manner was too careless, and felt suspicious, but
+he said: "I changed my plans. I thought it might look significant if I
+overtook the girls. One doesn't expect an accident to happen twice."
+
+"Perhaps you did the proper thing. But did you want to overtake them?"
+
+"I did," said Festing quietly. "Still I felt I'd better not."
+
+Muriel was silent for a few moments, and then remarked: "Self-denial
+such as you practised deserves a reward, and I met Mrs. Dalton while you
+were away. She asked me to bring you over when you came back. I suppose
+you know what she wants?"
+
+"Yes," said Festing, who looked disturbed. "Do you?"
+
+"Mrs. Dalton told me. You helped George when he needed help, although he
+had no particular claim."
+
+"He was ill and unfit for hard work."
+
+"Was that the only difficulty?"
+
+"I don't see what you mean," said Festing, with some embarrassment.
+
+"Then I'll be frank. In what kind of company did you find the lad? You
+see, I know something about him."
+
+"If you insist, he'd got into bad hands."
+
+"That was what I suspected, and I think Mrs. Dalton knows. George was
+not very steady when he was at home and got into some trouble before he
+left the office of a civil engineer. In fact, this was why he went to
+Canada."
+
+"But I don't see what it has to do with me."
+
+"I wonder whether you are as dull as you pretend. George is Mrs.
+Dalton's only son; although he had faults she and Helen are very fond of
+him. Now it would have been something if you had merely helped him
+out of a difficulty, but you did much more. You gave him his chance
+of making up for past follies. He has been steady ever since, and I
+understand is now getting on very well. It looks as if you had used some
+moral influence."
+
+"I didn't try," said Festing dryly, "I gave him his job and told him I'd
+have him fired if he shirked."
+
+"You didn't consciously try, but it's possible to influence people
+without knowing. However, as Mrs. Dalton has too much tact to overwhelm
+you by her gratitude, you needn't be afraid of going to the Scar with
+me, although you seem to hesitate about meeting Helen."
+
+Festing, who pondered for a few moments, felt that the girl was studying
+him. She had shown a rather embarrassing curiosity, but he though she
+meant to be his friend.
+
+"Did you know Miss Dalton was in the mountains when you planned my
+walking tour?" he asked.
+
+"I did know," said Muriel with a direct glance. "Perhaps I was rash, but
+if so, I'm not afraid to own my fault. I suppose you understand why I
+sent you where I did?"
+
+"In one way, your object's plain. For all that, I'm puzzled."
+
+Muriel smiled. "As Helen is my friend, you ought to be flattered.
+Doesn't it look as if I was satisfied with you?"
+
+"We'll let that go. You took something for granted. I suppose you see
+you might have been mistaken about my feelings?"
+
+"Then no harm would have been done," Muriel rejoined, and putting down
+her fan, gave him a steady look. "Was I mistaken?"
+
+"You were not," said Festing quietly. "I mean to marry Miss Dalton if
+she is willing. I'm anxious to know what chance I've got."
+
+"I can't tell you that. Perhaps I have gone far enough; but George's
+reformation is a good certificate of your character, and Helen and her
+mother owe you a debt of gratitude."
+
+Festing colored rather angrily. "My helping the lad was, so to speak,
+an accident; I don't want to be judged by this, and won't urge the debt.
+Miss Dalton must take me on my merits."
+
+"You have pluck; it's a bold claim," said Muriel in a dry tone, and then
+got up as Gardiner and the curate came in.
+
+Next day Festing went to the Scar, and when Mrs. Dalton received him she
+put her hand gently on his arm. She said enough, but not too much, and
+he was moved as he saw the moisture glisten in her eyes.
+
+"I don't deserve this," he answered awkwardly. "I found the lad in some
+trouble, but hadn't to make much effort to help him out. In fact, it was
+the kind of thing one does without thinking and forgets."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Dalton, "the consequences of one's deeds follow one,
+whether they're good or bad." Then she gave him a very friendly smile.
+"But perhaps we had better join the rest outside."
+
+Festing found Helen in the garden with her aunt and some friends, but
+the others left them by and by, and they walked alone among the flowers.
+The day was calm, the light clear, and the shadow of the dark beeches on
+the hill crept slowly across the lawn. Beyond a low hedge, woods, smooth
+pastures, and fields of ripening corn rolled back and melted into the
+blue shadow beneath the rugged fells. It seemed to Festing that the
+peaceful sylvan landscape was touched by a glamour that centered in the
+fresh beauty of the girl. Sometimes they were silent, and sometimes
+they talked about the mountains, but when they went back to the house he
+thought they had got nearer.
+
+He returned to the Scar without Muriel a week later, and went again, and
+one evening stood with Helen on the terrace. Gentle rain had fallen
+for most of the day, but it had stopped, and a band of pale-saffron
+glimmered under heavy clouds in the West. Moisture dripped from the
+motionless branches and the air was hot. The lamps had just been lighted
+in the house and a yellow glow streamed out.
+
+"I've stayed longer than I meant and forgot my lamp," Festing remarked.
+"However, this has happened before, and I hope I haven't stayed longer
+than I ought."
+
+"We will let you go now," said Helen. "For one thing, I must get up
+early."
+
+"Eight o'clock?" Festing suggested.
+
+"No," said Helen, smiling. "I am always up before, but it will be six
+o'clock to-morrow. I want to gather some mushrooms; they ought to be
+plentiful after a day like this."
+
+"Is six o'clock a particularly suitable time?"
+
+"Five o'clock might be better. If you don't go early, you often find
+that somebody has been round the fields first."
+
+Festing asked where she expected to find the mushrooms, and when she
+told him said, "Very well; I'll meet you. It only means half an hour's
+journey on your fine English road; that is, if the bicycle holds up."
+
+"But why do you want to gather mushrooms?"
+
+"I don't want to gather mushrooms. I really want to see you where I
+think you belong."
+
+"In the fields?" Helen suggested humorously.
+
+"No," said Festing. "I don't mean in the fields. I've seen you in the
+afternoon when the sun's on the ripening corn and the leaves are dark
+and thick, but they stand for fulfilment, and that's not your proper
+setting. Once or twice I've stopped until evening, but you don't belong
+to the dusk."
+
+"Then where do I belong?"
+
+"To the sunrise, when the earth is fresh and the day is getting bright.
+Promise is your sign; fulfilment hasn't come."
+
+Helen colored, and as she turned her head it struck her as portentous
+that she glanced towards the saffron streak that glimmered in the West.
+When she looked back, however, her face was calm.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "I wonder how and where the fulfilment will come!
+Sometimes I think of it and feel afraid; my life has been so smooth."
+
+"You won't flinch if you have to bear some strain."
+
+Helen gave him her hand. "Well, you must go now. I will expect you
+to-morrow."
+
+She stood looking towards the fading light for some time after his
+figure melted into the shadows on the drive. Her heart beat and she felt
+a thrill, for she admitted that the man had power to move her. As yet
+she would not ask herself how far his power went, but she knew the
+question must be answered soon. Other men had flattered her, and she
+had smiled, knowing what their compliments were worth, but she could not
+smile now. Then she roused herself and went in quietly.
+
+Festing met her next morning while the sun rose above the rounded masses
+of the beech wood, and entering a dewy pasture they skirted a fence
+half-smothered in briars. Both felt invigorated by the freshness of
+the morning and brushed across the sparkling grass, engaged in careless
+talk. By and by as Helen stooped to pick a mushroom a shrill scream came
+from beyond the fence, and she rose with an angry color in her face.
+
+"Oh!" she said; "that spoils everything!"
+
+"What is it?" Festing asked as the pitiful scream rose again.
+
+"A rabbit, choking, in a snare," she answered with a look of horror.
+
+Festing leaped across a ditch and plunged into the briars. Helen heard
+the rotten fence-rails smash and he vanished behind the thorny branches
+that closed across the gap. She was glad he had gone so quickly; partly
+because it was her wish, and partly because she saw the cry of pain had
+moved him. She liked to think he was compassionate.
+
+As a matter of fact, Festing's pity was soon mixed with rage as he came
+upon a scene of barbarous cruelty. Three or four rabbits lay quiet upon
+the grass, but there were others that struggled feebly at his approach;
+their eyes protruding and strangling wires cutting into their
+throats. He thought they were past his help, but one rolled round with
+half-choked screams and he ran to it first. It was difficult to hold the
+struggling animal while he opened the thin brass noose, but he set it
+free, and it lay paralyzed with fear for a few moments before it ran
+off.
+
+Then he released the others as gently as he could. Their dew-draggled
+bodies felt cold and limp and the wire had bitten deep into the swollen
+flesh. Two, however, feebly crawled away and he carried another to
+the mouth of a burrow, after which he wiped the dew and blood from
+his hands, while his lips set in a firm line. He hoped he was not a
+sentimentalist, and admitted that man must kill to eat; moreover he had
+used the rifle in the Northern wilds. Once a hungry cinnamon bear had
+raided the camp, and he remembered a certain big bull moose. That was
+clean sport, for a man who faced such antagonists must shoot quick and
+straight, but this torturing of small defenseless creatures revolted
+him. Still he admitted that it might not have done so quite so much but
+for the pain it caused the girl.
+
+Helen glanced at him with some surprise when he went back to the fence.
+She had not seen him look like that.
+
+"I've let them go, but two or three are dead," he remarked. "I suppose
+they've been lying there all night."
+
+"I'm afraid so. They come out to feed at dusk. It's horribly cruel."
+
+"It's devilish! Why don't you stop it? Is the field yours?"
+
+"It goes with the house, and when we let the grazing I stipulated that
+no snares should be laid, but there was some mistake and the tenant
+claimed the rabbits. We said he could shoot them, and I understand he's
+disputing with the agent. But where are you going?"
+
+"I'm going back to finish the job; these particular snares won't be used
+again. If you like, I'll come over every evening and pull the blamed
+things up."
+
+"I don't think that will be necessary," Helen answered with a strained
+laugh.
+
+She felt disturbed and excited when Festing turned away. Her life had
+been smooth and she did not think she had seen a man seized by savage
+anger; certainly not a man she knew. Festing was angry, and no doubt
+justly, but at the Scar the primitive vein in human nature was decently
+hidden. Now she did not know if she were jarred or not. Then she heard
+voices, and going nearer the fence, tried to see through the briars.
+
+Festing, with a pocket-knife and some brass wire in his hand, confronted
+a big slouching man who carried a heavy stick and a net bag. Bits of fur
+stuck to the fellow's clothes and there was blood on his dirty hands.
+A half-grown lad with another stick waited, rather uneasily, in the
+background.
+
+"What might you be doing?" the man inquired.
+
+"I'm cutting up your snares," Festing replied. "What have you got to say
+about it?"
+
+The other gave him a slow, sullen look. "Only that you'd better leave
+the snares alone. How many rabbits?"
+
+"Four," said Festing, pulling up another snare and cutting the noose.
+
+"Then that will be five shillings. I'll say nothing about the snares;
+wire's cheap."
+
+Festing laughed. "It's a dead bluff. Light out of this field before I
+put you off."
+
+The man hesitated, his eyes fixed on Festing's hardset face. Perhaps a
+way out might have been found, but the lad precipitated matters. Running
+to the mouth of the burrow, he picked up a half-dead rabbit that was
+trying to crawl away, and leered at Festing as he raised his stick. The
+blow was not struck, for Festing leaped across the grass and next moment
+the boy fell beside the burrow. He was unhurt, but too surprised to
+move, because he had never seen anybody move as fast as the man who
+threw him down.
+
+Then Festing heard steps behind, and turned in time to guard his head
+with his right arm. It felt numb and he was half dazed by a shock of
+pain, but he struck savagely with his left hand and his knuckles jarred
+on bone. The other's stick dropped, and when they grappled Festing was
+relieved to feel his arm was not broken. His muscles were hard and
+well trained, his blood was hot, and a struggle of the kind was not
+altogether a novelty. When liquor is smuggled into a construction camp,
+a section boss must sometimes use physical force or relinquish his
+command.
+
+He staggered and nearly fell as his leg was seized. It looked as if the
+lad had come to his master's help; but one could not be fastidious,
+and a savage backward kick got rid of the new antagonist. The other was
+powerful and stubborn, and Festing spent a strenuous few minutes before
+he threw him into the sand beside the burrow.
+
+"I'm pretty fresh and ready to start again if you are," he said. "Still
+I reckon you have had enough."
+
+The fellow got up scowling and told the lad to bring his bag.
+
+"You'll hear more about this," he rejoined and slouched off.
+
+Festing went back, and Helen started when he jumped across the ditch.
+His jacket was torn, his lip was cut, and his face was bruised. He
+looked dishevelled, but not at all embarrassed. In fact, there was a
+gleam of half-humorous satisfaction in his eyes.
+
+"The snares are all cut up," he said. "I broke the fellow's stick and
+threw away the pegs."
+
+Helen felt a strange desire to laugh. There was something ridiculous in
+his naive triumph, but she was not really amused. In fact, her confused
+sensations were puzzling.
+
+"Did you hurt him?" she asked.
+
+"I hope so," said Festing. "I rather think I did and don't expect he'll
+come back while I'm about. However, as I can't come here as often as I'd
+like, it might be better to see your agent. In the meantime, we'll look
+for some mushrooms."
+
+"But don't you want to bathe your face?"
+
+"I forgot that I probably look the worse for wear," said Festing, who
+wiped his cut lip. "Still if I met your mother, she might get a shock,
+and now I come to think of it, I'm no doubt jarring you, so I'll go off
+and see your agent if you'll tell me where he lives."
+
+"It's some distance, and we don't do things so quickly here. I must talk
+to my mother first. Besides, the agent may not have got up."
+
+"Then I'll sit on the doorstep. But what is there to talk about? You
+don't want your rabbits tortured so that somebody may make thirty cents
+apiece. It has got to be stopped, and why not stop it now? Where does
+the fellow live?"
+
+Helen told him, and added: "But you can't go like that."
+
+"No; I suppose not," said Festing doubtfully. "It won't make a long
+round if I call at Gardiner's. I'll come back later and tell you how
+I've fixed things up."
+
+He lifted his badly crushed hat, and when he turned away Helen laughed,
+a half-hysterical laugh. His fierce energy had, so to speak, left her
+breathless; she was shaken by confused emotions. It was for her sake he
+had plunged into the quarrel, but she felt disturbed by his savageness.
+For all that, something in her approved, and it was really this that
+troubled her. Picking up the basket, she crossed the field with a very
+thoughtful look.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HELEN DECIDES
+
+Some weeks had passed since Festing went to gather mushrooms when he
+sat, one evening, on the terrace in front of Gardiner's house. His brows
+were knit and he had in his had a letter from Kerr at the construction
+camp. The back of the letter was covered with penciled calculations, but
+he presently put it down and looked moodily about.
+
+The larches that sheltered the house had been in full leaf when he came,
+but now they were getting bare. One could see the hills through a fine
+network of twigs, dotted with minute tassels of gold. The beeches and
+oaks looked solid yet, but the former shone warm brown and red against
+the others' fading green. Withered leaves fluttered down, and the smell
+of a burning heap hung in the damp air.
+
+The touches of brown and gold in the landscape hinted that time was
+passing. Winter was already advancing across the wastes of Northern
+Canada and the geese and ducks were flying south. Festing heard in fancy
+the brant's changing cry that always filled him with unrest, but the
+letter in his hand was a clearer call. Kerr had offered him a contract
+for hauling a quantity of telegraph posts and logs across the snow,
+and his calculations indicated that the work ought to be profitable.
+It would keep him occupied all winter; one could buy horses cheap when
+harvest was over and sell them advantageously when plowing began in the
+spring. Besides, the money he earned would help him to stock his farm
+and furnish his homestead well.
+
+He had loitered in England long enough. He would never forget this
+holiday, for he had learned what happiness life might have in store;
+but it was a happiness that could not be attained by romantic dreams. He
+must earn it by tense effort, and was willing to pay the price; this was
+the reason he must get back to work. For all that, he had doubts, and
+was glad when Muriel came along the terrace and sat down on the bench.
+
+"You look unusually thoughtful," she said.
+
+"I have something to think about. I find I must go back to Canada very
+soon."
+
+Muriel made an abrupt movement. "You are going away! But we thought--"
+She paused and resumed: "Does Helen know?"
+
+"Not yet; I must tell her. It will cost me something to leave, but I've
+got to go. Perhaps you had better see what Kerr has to say."
+
+He gave her the letter, and after waiting until she had read it, went
+on: "I can't let this chance pass; I want the money."
+
+"I think I understand," said Muriel. "Still you haven't told me much."
+
+He was silent for a few moments and looked very grave, but she had for
+some time imagined that he was bearing a strain.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm up against things and can't see my way. That is, I
+do see where I mean to go, but don't know if I ought."
+
+"The problem's not exactly new. However, if you will state it clearly."
+
+"I'll try," said Festing. "One can trust you; in fact, I wanted to tell
+you before."
+
+He explained his difficulties, practical and moral, and when he finished
+Muriel said: "It comes to this--You are in love with Helen and mean
+to marry her, but hesitate because you fear she may find the life too
+hard."
+
+"It's a big risk for an English girl. She must give up everything, while
+I have all to gain."
+
+"But suppose she were willing?"
+
+"The trouble is that she doesn't know what she may have to bear."
+
+Muriel smiled. "It's a risk that many girls must run. But after all it
+depends upon what she values most."
+
+"Comfort, leisure, refined friends, and other things you enjoy here are
+worth much to a girl."
+
+"All this is true," Muriel agreed, and pausing, continued with a blush:
+"Still these things don't satisfy every need, and perhaps my example may
+be some encouragement. Fred isn't very clever and will probably never be
+rich, but I'd sooner face poverty with him than marry a prince."
+
+Festing bowed. "Thank you for that! Fred's a very good sort. I knew you
+had pluck."
+
+"I really think Helen is pluckier and stronger than me. But I imagine
+you have already made up your mind."
+
+"I have; for all that, I'm afraid. If I have bad luck, Helen will have
+to pay. I know she was willing to marry Charnock, but she was very young
+then and he was rich compared with me."
+
+"Then I suppose a little money would be a useful help?"
+
+"It would, in one way," Festing agreed. "The trouble is that I haven't
+much; only enough to make a fair start if I'm economical."
+
+For a moment Muriel looked amused, but her seriousness returned. "We'll
+let that go. You seem to forget that you don't stand alone. I should
+have found it hard to forgive Fred if he had decided whether he ought
+to marry or not, without consulting me. It's a girl's right, not her
+lover's, to say what she values most and how much she is willing to
+bear. If Helen loves you, she's entitled to be given the choice."
+
+"Ah," said Festing, "I don't know if she loves me yet!"
+
+Muriel's eyes twinkled. "That is something you must find out for
+yourself. But perhaps I have said enough."
+
+She went back to the house and Festing sat still in the gathering dark.
+He had made up his mind and felt encouraged, but he saw difficulties
+that must be met.
+
+Next day he went to the Scar and found that Helen was not at home, but
+Mrs. Dalton and her sister received him, and for a time he talked about
+things that did not matter. It was dull and damp outside, and a bright
+wood fire burned in the grate. The low-ceilinged room was very warm,
+its comfort seemed enervating, and he felt braced as he thought of the
+windswept prairie. Then he knew his remarks were vague and disconnected.
+It was a relief to plunge into the business he had come about.
+
+"I had better tell you that I am going to ask Helen to marry me," he
+said.
+
+Mrs. Dalton did not look surprised, and he thought Miss Graham smiled.
+Perhaps he had been abrupt, but he did not care.
+
+"You have done what is proper in warning my sister first," Miss Graham
+remarked; but Mrs. Dalton was silent for a few moments.
+
+"You imply that Helen doesn't know," she said.
+
+"She does not; I've been careful not to give her a hint," Festing
+declared. "I was afraid to alarm her by, so to speak, rushing things.
+You're not used to it in England."
+
+Miss Graham's amusement was plainer. "The caution you exercised must
+have cost you something."
+
+"After all, you haven't known Helen long," Mrs. Dalton resumed.
+
+"That's so, in a way, but five minutes was long enough. I knew I'd never
+marry anybody else when I saw her in the garden the first day I came."
+
+He thought Miss Graham gave him an approving look, but he turned to Mrs.
+Dalton.
+
+"I hope you will give your consent; but, of course, if you object, or
+there's anything you want to ask----"
+
+Mrs. Dalton roused herself. She felt breathless, as if she had been
+carried along at an unusual pace.
+
+"To begin with," she said quietly, "I cannot object to you. We know
+something about your character; you helped my son, helped him more than
+you perhaps thought. But there is something I must ask." She hesitated
+and then resumed: "You have seen the life Helen leads with us. She
+has never had to use much self-denial. What have you to offer her in
+Canada?"
+
+"Not much. In fact, that's partly why I came first to you. I felt you
+should be warned; that's really what I meant."
+
+"You are honest," Miss Graham interposed. "You want my sister's
+approval, but don't think it essential."
+
+Festing looked at Mrs. Dalton. "If you refused, I wouldn't be altogether
+daunted. I might wait, but that is all. This is a matter Helen must
+decide."
+
+"Yes. All the same, it is my duty to guard her from a possible mistake."
+
+"Very well; I'll make matters as plain as I can. To begin with, I
+haven't much money, and although I'm building a good homestead, a
+Western farm is very different from the Scar. There's none of the
+refinement you have round you; a man must work from sunrise until it's
+dark, and there are many demands upon a woman. For all that, I can
+guard against Helen suffering actual hardship. In fact, she shall suffer
+nothing I can save her from. It's the pressure of things one can't
+control and her own character that may cause the strain. If I know her,
+she won't stand by and watch when there's much that ought to be done."
+
+"She would not. But how long do you expect the strain to last?"
+
+"Not very long. Two years, three years; I can't tell. When you break new
+land you work hard and wait. The railroad throws out branches, elevators
+are built, small towns spring up, and while you improve your holding
+comfort and often prosperity comes to you."
+
+"But in the meantime a little capital would help?"
+
+"Of course," said Festing. "The trouble is I haven't much, but I think I
+have enough to provide all that's strictly necessary."
+
+He thought Mrs. Dalton gave her sister a warning glance, but she said:
+"Well, you have my consent to ask Helen; but if she is willing to run
+the risk, there is a stipulation I must make."
+
+"So long as you consent, I'll agree to anything," Festing declared. "I
+can't repay you for your trust, but I'll try to deserve it."
+
+Mrs. Dalton told him where Helen had gone, and setting off to meet her,
+he presently saw her come round a bend in a lane. The sun had set and
+tall oaks, growing along the hedgerows, darkened the lane, but a faint
+crimson glow from the west shone between the trunks. To the east,
+the quiet countryside rolled back into deepening shadow. For a moment
+Festing hesitated as he watched the girl advance. It was rash to uproot
+this fair bloom of the sheltered English garden and transplant it
+in virgin soil, swept by the rushing winds. Then he went forward
+resolutely.
+
+Helen gave him her hand and moved on with disturbed feelings, for there
+was something different in his look.
+
+"If you don't mind, we'll stop a minute; I have something to say. To
+begin with, I'm going back to Canada."
+
+She looked up sharply and then waited with forced calm until he resumed:
+"That precipitates matters, because I must learn if I've hoped for
+too much before I go. I was a stranger when I came here, and you were
+kind--"
+
+"You were not a stranger," Helen said quietly. "George told us about
+you, and for his sake--"
+
+"I don't want you to be kind for George's sake, but my own. I'd sooner
+you liked me for what I am, with all my faults."
+
+"If it's any comfort, I think I really do like you," Helen admitted with
+a strained smile.
+
+"Well enough to marry me?"
+
+Helen colored, but gave him a level glance. "Ah," she said, "aren't you
+rash? You hardly know me yet."
+
+"I'm not rash at all; I knew you long ago. Your portrait hung in
+Charnock's house and I used to study it on winter nights. It told me
+what you were, and when I saw you under the copper beech I knew you very
+well. Still now I have seen you, your picture had lost its charm."
+
+"Then you have it?" Helen asked.
+
+Festing gave her a Russia leather case and her face flushed red.
+
+"Did Bob give you this?"
+
+"No," said Festing quietly; "I stole it."
+
+"And the case?"
+
+"The case was made in Montreal. I went to Winnipeg, but could get
+nothing good enough."
+
+Helen turned her head. It was a long way to Winnipeg from the prairie
+bridge, and she was moved that he had made the journey to find a proper
+covering for her picture.
+
+"You must have valued the portrait," she remarked shyly.
+
+"I did, but it won't satisfy me now. As soon as I met you I fell in love
+with you. Somehow I think you must have seen--"
+
+"Yes," said Helen quietly, "I did see."
+
+Festing summoned his self-control. "You must know what you decide. I
+must live in Canada; my homestead may seem rude and bare after your
+mother's beautiful house, and I tried to show you what a prairie farm is
+like."
+
+"I think I know," Helen said, and gave him a quick tender look. "Still,
+such things don't really matter----"
+
+Then Festing stepped forward and took her in his arms.
+
+An hour later he sat talking to Mrs. Dalton and Miss Graham in the
+drawing-room.
+
+"I am glad you have agreed to wait and come back for Helen in the
+spring, but I ought to tell you something now, because it may make a
+difference in your plans," Mrs. Dalton remarked "You admitted that some
+of the difficulties you and Helen would have to meet might be avoided if
+you had a little more capital."
+
+"It would certainly make a difference, but I have got no more."
+
+"Helen has some money," Mrs. Dalton replied.
+
+Festing knitted his brows. "I didn't suspect this!"
+
+"That is obvious," Miss Graham interposed.
+
+Festing got up, moved a pace or two, and stopped. "How much has she
+got?"
+
+Mrs. Dalton told him and he frowned. "Then she had better keep it. I'd
+sooner you tied it up."
+
+"Isn't that unreasonable?" Miss Graham asked.
+
+"It's a man's business to support his wife. I don't want to live on
+Helen's money. Besides, I've made my plans."
+
+"I don't think you quite understand," Mrs. Dalton rejoined. "After all,
+it is not a large sum and can be used for Helen's benefit. It may save
+her from some discomfort and give her advantages you could not provide."
+
+Festing pondered for a few moments, and then answered thoughtfully:
+"Yes, I see this, and can't refuse. Well, perhaps the safest way would
+be to transfer the land I bought to Helen and record it in her name.
+It's bound to go up in value and couldn't be taken from her unless she
+borrowed on a mortgage. The arrangement would set free my capital and
+enable us to run the homestead on more comfortable lines." Then he
+paused and asked: "Did Charnock know about the money?"
+
+"He did not," said Mrs. Dalton. "We thought it better not to tell him;
+but we can trust you."
+
+"Thank you," said Festing, who was silent for a time.
+
+He had wondered whether he had misjudged Charnock in one respect, but
+saw that he had not. The fellow was a cur and would not have married
+Sadie if he had known about Helen's money. But this did not matter.
+
+"Well," he resumed, "if you agree to my proposition, we'll get a lawyer
+to fix it up. In a way, it's some relief to know Helen has enough, and
+now I'm going to talk to her."
+
+He found her in the next room and she gave him a smile. "I expect mother
+has told you I'm not as poor as you thought. Are you pleased or not?"
+
+"I'm pleased for your sake, because there's not much risk of your
+finding things too hard, but I'd have been proud to marry you if you had
+nothing at all."
+
+"Not even a certain prettiness?" Helen asked.
+
+"Your beauty's something to be thankful for; but after all it's, so to
+speak, an accident, like your money. It wasn't your beauty, but you, I
+fell in love with."
+
+Helen blushed. "Ah!" she said, "now you're very nice indeed!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SADIE USES PRESSURE
+
+It was getting cold in the small back office when Sadie put down her pen
+and went into the store. She was cramped with sitting, for she had been
+occupied with accounts for several hours and the stove had burned low.
+
+"You can quit now, Steve," she said to the clerk. "Put out the lights,
+but don't lock up. I'm going to wait until the boss comes."
+
+The clerk turned his head to hide a smile; because he knew where
+Charnock was, and thought Mrs. Charnock might have to wait some time;
+but he did as he was told, and when he went out Sadie stood shivering
+at the door. She had married Charnock late in the fall and now it was
+March, but there was no sign yet of returning spring. The sky was dark
+and a bitter wind from the prairie blew down the empty street. Blocks of
+square-fronted houses stood out harshly against the snow, which sparkled
+here and there in a ray of light. The settlement looked ugly and very
+desolate, and Sadie studied it with a feeling of weariness and disgust.
+It seemed strange that she had once thought it a lively place, but this
+was before she met Charnock, who had taught her much.
+
+Shutting the door, she returned to the office and glanced critically at
+her reflection in a mirror on the wall. She had been ill, in consequence
+of the strain she had borne while her father was sick, and looked older.
+Her face was thin and she felt tired, but her skin had not lost its
+silky whiteness, and her black dress hung in becoming lines. It was a
+well-cut dress, for Sadie was extravagant in such matters and knew how
+to choose her clothes. She had lost the freshness that had marked her,
+but had gained something: a touch of dignity that she thought of as
+style.
+
+Sitting down at the desk, she began to muse. Keller had fallen ill soon
+after her wedding. It was a painful illness, and as skilled help was
+scarce, she had nursed him until he died. He was a plain storekeeper,
+but she knew he was, in many ways, a bigger and better man than Bob. He
+demanded all that was his, but he kept his word, and when he undertook a
+thing put it over, which Bob seldom did. Shortly before he died he gave
+Sadie good advice.
+
+"You got the man you wanted, and now it's your job to look after him.
+head him off the liquor, and keep your hands on the dollars. I've fixed
+things so's they belong to you."
+
+Another time he asked for certain accounts, and after studying them
+remarked: "You want to watch the business and run it all it's worth.
+You have a husband to work for now, and I guess a man like Bob comes
+expensive. Still, if you can guild him right, he's not all a fool."
+
+Sadie had not resented this. She knew it was true, and her father had
+not meant to sneer. He was a blunt man and generally talked like that,
+and Sadie sometimes did so. Well, she had not been cheated, because
+she knew what Bob was before they married; and although ambition had
+something to do with it, she loved him. For all that, she had got some
+rude jars, and now passion was dying, her love was colored by a certain
+half-maternal protection. Bob must be watched and guarded.
+
+Her ambition, however, remained. She had beauty and intelligence and
+wanted to win a place in cultured society. Bob could help her, and she
+was tired of the dreary settlement. But she was practical. Money would
+be needed if they were to move to one of the cities, and although trade
+was good, gathering dollars was slow work when one had an extravagant
+husband. While she had been ill Bob was left in charge of the business,
+and on recovering her first task had been to find out how he had
+managed. Now she had found out and got something of a shock.
+
+The room got colder, but Bob had made some entries in a cash-book she
+could not understand, and opening the book again, she spent some time
+in calculations that threw no fresh light on the matter. Then she heard
+steps and turned as Charnock came in.
+
+He took off his fur-coat and Sadie frowned as he dropped it into a dusty
+corner. It was an expensive coat, but one could not teach Bob to take
+care of things. Then he kissed her and sat down on the edge of the
+table.
+
+"You're getting prettier, Sadie; that thoughtful look of yours is
+particularly fetching. But I can see you're tired. Put those books away
+and let's get home."
+
+Sadie knew what his compliments were worth, although they had not lost
+their charm. He wanted to put things off, but she must be firm.
+
+"You make me tired, and I haven't finished with the books. We've got to
+have a talk."
+
+"I like you best when you don't talk; you sometimes say too much,"
+Charnock replied. "Besides a girl like you ought to be satisfied with
+being seen. You're worth looking at."
+
+Sadie gave him a quick glance. He had recently become fastidious about
+his clothes and she did not grudge the dollars he spent on them. His
+taste was good, and he looked very graceful as he turned to her with
+a smile on his face. The hint of dissipation it had worn was not so
+marked, for she had some power over him and used it well, but she
+thought he had been indulging. There was, however, no use in getting
+angry with Bob.
+
+"You were at Wilkinson's again," she said. "You promised you'd stop off
+going there. I suppose he set up the whisky!"
+
+"I didn't take much. It wasn't good whisky; not like ours. That reminds
+me--I'm not much of a business man, but I've had a happy thought. My
+notion is we give the boys better liquor than they want. They wouldn't
+know the difference if we kept cheaper stuff."
+
+Sadie frowned, because she had accepted her father's business code. His
+charges were high, but it had been his boast that Keller's delivered the
+goods one paid for. Then she realized that Bob had nearly succeeded in
+putting off the threatened talk.
+
+"No," she said, "that's bad business in the end. When you'd had some
+whisky, Wilkinson got out the cards?"
+
+"Oh, well, you know you stopped me playing a quiet game at home, and
+three or four of the boys were there. Then a Brandon real-estate man
+asked for the cards."
+
+"How much were you out when you finished the game?"
+
+"Not much," said Charnock with some hesitation.
+
+"How much?"
+
+"If you insist, about ten dollars."
+
+Sadie made a gesture of impatience, but after all he might have had a
+heavier loss.
+
+"Ten dollars and a headache next morning for an evening's card game.
+You surely don't know much, Bob! But look at this statement and tell me
+where the money's gone."
+
+Charnock took the paper she gave him and colored.
+
+"I never thought it was as much as that. Upon my word, I didn't!"
+
+"Where's it gone?" Sadie demanded.
+
+"I've been unlucky," said Charnock, who began a confused explanation.
+
+He had heard of a building lot on the outskirts of Winnipeg, to which he
+had been told a new street line would run. He had paid for a time
+option on the site, and now it appeared that the trolley scheme had been
+abandoned. Then somebody had given him a hint about a deal in grain that
+the speculators could not put over. It looked a safe snap and he had
+sold down, but the market had gone up and his margin was exhausted.
+When he stopped, Sadie's eyes flashed scornfully, but she controlled her
+anger.
+
+"You're a fool, Bob; you never learn," she said wearily. "Anyhow, you
+have got to cut out this kind of thing; the business won't stand for it
+long. Well, as you can't be trusted with dollars, I'll have to put you
+on an allowance. I hate to be mean, but if you waste what I give you,
+you'll get no more."
+
+Charnock's face got red. "This is rather a nasty knock. Not that I want
+your money, but the thing's humiliating."
+
+"Do you think it isn't humiliating to me?"
+
+"Perhaps it is," said Charnock, with a half-ashamed look. "I admit I
+have been something of an ass, but you are mean, in a sense. What are
+you going to do with your money, if you don't intend to spend it?"
+
+"Use if for making more; anyhow, until I get enough."
+
+"When will you have enough?"
+
+"When I can sell out the business and live where I want; give you the
+friends you ought to have instead of low-down gamblers and whisky-tanks.
+If you'd take hold and work, Bob, we'd be rich in a few years. The boys
+like you, you could do all the trade, and the boom that's beginning
+will make this settlement a big place. But I guess there's no use in
+talking--and I'm ill and tired."
+
+Sadie's pose got slack and she leaned her arms on the table with her
+face in her hands. Charnock, feeling penitent, tried to comfort her.
+
+"You're a very good sort, Sadie, and mean well; I'll go steady and try
+not to bother you again. But we won't say any more about it now. Are
+those new letters? The mail hadn't come when I left."
+
+She gave him two envelopes, and after reading part of the first letter
+he started and the paper rustled in his hand.
+
+"What's the matter?" she asked. "Have you lost some money I don't know
+about?"
+
+"I haven't," Charnock answered with a hoarse laugh. "The letter's from
+some English friends. You head that Festing had gone back to the Old
+Country. Well, he's going to be married soon and will bring his wife
+out."
+
+"Do you know her? Who is she?"
+
+"Yes; I know her very well. She's Helen Dalton."
+
+"The girl you ought to have married!" Sadie exclaimed. "What's she like?
+I guess you have her picture, though you haven't shown it me."
+
+"I had one, but haven't now. I meant to burn the thing, but suspect that
+Festing stole it. Confound him!"
+
+Sadie was silent for a few moments and then gave Charnock a searching
+look. "Anyhow, I don't see why that should make you mad. You let her go
+and took me instead. Do you reckon she'd have been as patient with you
+as I am?"
+
+"No," said Charnock, rather drearily. "Helen isn't patient, and I dare
+say I'd have broken her heart. You have done your best for me, and
+I expect you find it a hopeless job. For all that, I never thought
+Festing----"
+
+"It's done with," Sadie rejoined quietly, although there was some color
+in her face. "If the girl likes Festing, what has it to do with you?
+Besides, as he has located some way back from the settlement, there's
+no reason you should meet him or his wife." Then she frowned and got up.
+"But the place is very cold; we'll go home."
+
+Charnock put out the light and locked the door, but he was silent as
+they walked across the snow to the hotel, and Sadie wondered what he
+thought. There was no doubt he was disturbed, or he would have tried to
+coax her into abandoning her resolution to put him on an allowance. She
+meant to be firm about this.
+
+For the next two or three weeks Charnock occupied himself with his
+duties and everything went smoothly at the store and hotel. He was
+popular in the neighborhood, since his weaknesses were rather attractive
+than repellent to people who did not suffer from them. Men who drove
+long distances from their lonely farms liked a cheerful talk and to hear
+the latest joke; others enjoyed a game of cards in the back office when
+Mrs. Charnock was not about. Besides, it was known that Keller's was
+straight; one got full weight and value when one dealt there.
+
+Trade, moreover, was unusually good. Settlers looking for land filled
+the hotel, and now elevators were to be built, farmers hired extra
+labor and broke new soil. Household supplies were purchased on an
+unprecedented scale, and when snow melted the hotel stables were
+occupied by rough-coated teams, while wagons, foul with the mud of the
+prairie trails, waited for their loads in front of the store. Sadie felt
+cheered and encouraged, and although Bob sometimes spent in careless
+talk an hour or two that might have been better employed, she was
+willing to make up for his neglect by extra work in the office at night.
+He was doing well and she began to be hopeful.
+
+One evening, however, when there were goods to be entered and bills
+written out, he went home for supper and did not come back. Sadie
+stopped in the office long after the clerk had gone, but when she put
+down her pen the stove was out and she was surprised to find how late it
+was. She felt tired and annoyed, for she had been busily occupied since
+morning, and suspected that Bob was telling amusing stories while
+she did his work. Then in shutting up the store she forgot her rubber
+over-shoes, and the sidewalk was plastered with sticky mud. She wore
+rather expensive slippers and thought they would be spoiled.
+
+Charnock was not about when she entered the hotel, and the guests seemed
+to have gone to bed. The light was out in the office, and the big
+lounge room, where lumps of half-dry mud lay upon the board floor, was
+unoccupied. The bell-boy, who was using a brush amidst a cloud of
+dust, said he did not think the boss had gone upstairs, and with
+sudden suspicion Sadie entered a dark passage that led to a room where
+commercial travelers showed their goods. She opened the door and stopped
+just inside, her head tilted back and an angry sparkle in her eyes.
+
+The room was very hot and smelt of liquor, tobacco, and kerosene;
+the lamp had been turned too high and its cracked chimney was black.
+Charnock and three others sat round a table on which stood a bottle
+and four glasses. One of the glasses had upset and there was a pool,
+bordered by soaked cigar-ash, on the boards. The men were playing cards,
+and a pile of paper money indicated that the stakes were high.
+Sadie knew them all and deeply distrusted one, whom she suspected of
+practising on her husband's weaknesses; she disliked another, and the
+third did not count. She looked up rather awkwardly, and she saw that
+Charnock had taken too much liquor.
+
+"Good evening, boys," she said. "I want to lock the doors, and guess you
+don't know how late it is."
+
+Wilkinson, the man she distrusted, took out his watch. He had a horse
+ranch some distance off, and the farmers called him a sport. As a matter
+of fact, he was a successful petty gambler, but generally lost his
+winnings by speculating in real-estate and wheat.
+
+"It's surely late, Mrs. Charnock," he agreed. "Still, I dare say you can
+give us a quarter of an hour."
+
+"Five minutes," Sadie answered. "You can cut the game you're playing
+when you like. I'm tired, but I'll wait."
+
+Wilkinson looked at Charnock, but stopped arranging his cards. "Well,
+I'm ready to quit. Bob's made a scoop the last few deals, and I reckon
+I've not much chance of getting my money back."
+
+"Go 'way, Sadie; go 'way right now!" Charnock interrupted. "You gotta
+put up a fair game, and I can't stop when I've all the boys' dollars in
+my pocket."
+
+Sadie was sometimes tactful, but her anger was quick, and she disliked
+to hear her husband use Western idioms. Moreover she expected him to be
+polite.
+
+"Well," she said, "I guess that's a change; your dollars are generally
+in their wallets. But this game has to stop."
+
+Mossup, the man she did not like, turned in his chair. He was not sober
+and his manners were not polished at the best of times. He sold small
+tools and hardware for a Winnipeg wholesale firm.
+
+"Say, you might call a bell-boy. That whisky's rank; I want a different
+drink."
+
+Charnock got up with an awkward movement, but Sadie did not want his
+help.
+
+"Drinks are served in the bar and the bar is shut," she said.
+
+"I'm stopping here; I hired this room, and as long as I pay it's mine.
+We're not in Manitoba, and I guess the law--"
+
+Sadie silenced him imperiously. She understood his reference to
+Manitoba, where regulations dealing with liquor are strictly enforced.
+
+"I make the law at Keller's, and this hotel is not a gambling saloon.
+Mr. Wilkinson, cork that bottle and put it on the shelf."
+
+As Wilkinson obeyed, Mossup put his hand on his arm to hold him back,
+but Charnock interfered:
+
+"You sit down right now. Understand, everybody, what Mrs. Charnock says
+goes."
+
+"Certainly," Wilkinson agreed. "Get off to bed Mossup; you'll have a
+swelled head all right to-morrow, as it is. I'll put out the light, Mrs.
+Charnock; guess I'll do it better than Bob."
+
+"Think I can't put out a common old lamp?" Charnock inquired. "Destroy
+the blamed thing 'fore I let it beat me."
+
+"You're not going to try," said Wilkinson, who hustled him and Mossup
+out of the room and then held the door open for Sadie.
+
+She thanked him, but felt that if she had ground to fear resentment, it
+was not Mossup's but his. Wilkinson had manners, but she knew he did not
+like to be robbed of an easy victim, and it was possible that he had
+let Bob win until he was drunk enough to be fleeced. She waited a few
+moments to let the others go, and then went upstairs and stopped in a
+passage that led to her room. Her face was hot and she breathed fast,
+for her part in the scene had cost her something. It would have been
+different had Charnock not been there; she could have dealt with the
+others, but he had made her ashamed. Then she heard his step and turned
+with passionate anger as he came along the passage. He stopped and
+looked at her with drunken admiration.
+
+"By George, you're a fine thing, Sadie! Handsomest and pluckiest woman
+in the township!"
+
+Sadie said nothing, but her pose stiffened and her lips set tight.
+
+"Look your best when you're angry," Charnock went on. "Not quite so
+'tractive, too pale and want animation, when you're calm."
+
+She did not answer, but felt a quiver of repulsion. His voice was thick,
+his eyes had a stupid amorous look, and he smelt of whisky. Sadie was
+not remarkably fastidious; she had, for several years, managed a hotel,
+and had used her physical charm to attract the man, but she was jarred.
+As yet, she made no appeal to the better side of Bob's nature, if it had
+a better side, and his sensual admiration revolted her.
+
+Charnock felt puzzled and somewhat daunted, but tried to put his arm
+round her waist. Sadie seized his shoulders and pushed him violently
+back.
+
+"Don't you touch me, you drunken hog!" she said.
+
+He gazed at her in dull surprise and then braced himself. Sadie had
+moods, but generally came round if he made love to her. Besides,
+although she was in one of her rages, her attitude was irresistibly
+inciting.
+
+"I'm your husband anyhow. Now don't be a silly little fool----"
+
+She drew back as he advanced and picked up a mop. It was used for
+polishing board floors and had a long handle.
+
+"You're my husband when you're sober; I didn't marry a whisky-tank. If
+you touch me, Bob, I'll knock you down!"
+
+Charnock stopped. When Sadie spoke like that she meant what she said.
+She looked at him steadily for a moment or two, and then put down the
+mop and turned away. He durst not follow, and when she entered a room
+close by, he shrugged with half-bewildered resignation and stumbled off.
+
+Sadie, leaning with labored breath against the rail of her bed, heard
+him fall down the three or four steps in the middle of the passage
+and afterwards get up and go on again. Then she laughed, a strained,
+hysterical laugh.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE SACRIFICE
+
+Charnock hesitated about meeting Sadie at breakfast, but found her calm
+and apparently good-humored. He felt embarrassed and his head ached, but
+she made him some strong coffee in a way he liked. Sadie did not often
+sulk, and he was grateful because she said nothing about what had
+happened on the previous night. Indeed, he was on the point of telling
+her so, but her careless manner discouraged him and he resolved instead
+that he would stop gambling and keep as steady as he could. After all,
+Sadie was really treating him well; she might, for example, have stopped
+his getting liquor. He meant to brace up and give her no more trouble.
+
+He kept his resolve for a fortnight, and then, one morning, a man
+brought him a note from Wilkinson, asking him to drive over to the
+range. Charnock told the man he could not go, but presently put down his
+pen and looked out of the open window of the office of the store. The
+last of the snow had vanished some time since, and round white clouds
+drifted across the sky. Flying shadows streaked the wide plain, which
+gleamed like silver in the sunshine, and the bleached grass rolled in
+long waves before the breeze. There was something strangely exhilarating
+in the air and the dusty office smelt of salt-pork and cheese. It was a
+glorious day for a drive, he need not stay long at Wilkinson's, and the
+team needed exercise. Moreover, Sadie was not about and would not come
+home until afternoon; he might get back before her. He hesitated for a
+few minutes and then sent an order to the stable.
+
+At midnight he had not returned, and Sadie sat in the office at the
+hotel, making futile efforts to fix her attention on a newspaper. The
+guests had gone to bed and the building was very quiet, but she had kept
+the ostler up. He might be needed and she could trust him not to talk.
+
+At length she heard the sound she listened for. A beat of hoofs and
+rattle of wheels came down the street. It was their team, she knew their
+trot, but she wondered anxiously whether Bob was driving. When the rig
+stopped she went to the door, where the ostler stood with a lantern, and
+caught her breath as Wilkinson got down. There was nobody else on the
+seat of the light wagon, and Charnock had set off with a different rig.
+
+"Where's Bob?" she asked in a strained voice.
+
+"We put him inside," said Wilkinson. "He wasn't quite able to sit up.
+I'd have kept him all night only that I reckoned you might be scared."
+
+Sadie, putting her foot on the wheel when the ostler held up the light,
+saw Charnock lying on a bundle of sacks. He was in a drunken stupor.
+
+"Help Bill bring him, in," she said with stony calm.
+
+Wilkinson and the other lifted the unconscious man, and staggering along
+a passage, awkwardly climbed the stairs. They put him on his bed and
+were going out when Sadie stopped them.
+
+"Thank you, Bill; hold the team for a few minutes," she said and turned
+to Wilkinson. "I want you to wait in the office."
+
+Then she shut the door, and after unfastening Charnock's collar and vest
+stood looking at him for a minute or two. He had not wakened, but she
+had seen him like this before and was not alarmed. His face was flushed
+and the veins on his forehead were prominent; his clothes were crumpled
+and sprinkled with bits of hay. Sadie studied him with a feeling of
+helplessness that changed to contemptuous pity. Her romantic dreams and
+ambitions had vanished and left her this----
+
+As she turned away her mood changed again. After all, he was her husband
+and she had schemed to marry him. She was honest with herself about this
+and admitted that Bob had not really loved her much. But he needed her
+and she must not fail him. There was some comfort in remembering that he
+had sought no other woman; her rivals were cards and liquor, and she did
+not mean that they should win. Obeying a sudden impulse, she turned back
+and kissed his hot face, and then, noting the smell of whisky, flushed
+and went out with a firm step.
+
+When she entered the office, however, her face was hard and white. She
+did not sit down, but leaned against a desk opposite Wilkinson.
+
+"Why did you ask Bob out to the range?"
+
+Wilkinson did not like her look. It hinted that she was in a dangerous
+mood, but he answered good-humoredly: "I thought he wanted a change. You
+hold him too tight, Mrs. Charnock. Bob won't stand for being kept busy
+indoors all day; he won't make a clerk."
+
+"He won't," said Sadie. "I'm beginning to see it now. But you don't care
+a straw for Bob. You wanted a pick on me because I made you cut out your
+game that night."
+
+"No," said Wilkinson, with a gesture of protest. "I certainly thought
+you were too smart, although it was not my business. Anyhow, if you let
+him have a quiet game with his friends at home--"
+
+"Pshaw! I know you, Jake Wilkinson, better than Bob does. You meant to
+make him drunk this evening and empty his wallet, and I guess you didn't
+find it hard."
+
+Wilkinson's face got red, but he saw he would gain nothing by denial.
+Besides, there was a matter he was anxious about.
+
+"It wasn't hard to empty his wallet, because he had only a few small
+bills."
+
+"Yes; I fixed that. How much did you win from him when he was drunk?"
+
+"He got drunk afterwards," Wilkinson objected. "Then I didn't win it
+all; there were three or four others."
+
+Sadie smiled rather grimly. "How much?"
+
+She got a jar when Wilkinson told her, but she fixed him with steady
+eyes.
+
+"You knew what he had in his wallet, but let him go on? You thought
+Keller's would stand for the debt?"
+
+"Yes," said Wilkinson, with some alarm; "we certainly thought so."
+
+"Very well. Keller's makes good. Take the pen and right out a bill like
+this--R. Charnock, debtor in losses on a card game."
+
+"You know it's never done."
+
+"It's going to be done now, or you won't get your cheque. I know what
+I'm up against in you and your gang."
+
+Wilkinson hesitated, but he needed the money and made out the bill.
+After examining it, Sadie wrote a cheque.
+
+"I've paid you once, for Keller's sake, but you had better stop the card
+games after this. Bob's not my partner in the business, and no more of
+my dollars will go on gambling."
+
+"Ah!" said Wilkinson sharply, "you're smarter than I thought!"
+
+Sadie gave him a searching glance and he noted an ominous tenseness in
+her pose and her drawn-back lips. He said afterwards that she looked
+like a wild cat.
+
+"Anyhow, I think I have you fixed. There's nothing doing in making Bob
+drunk again, but you had better understand what's going to happen if
+you try. The next time you drive over to the settlement after my husband
+I'll whip you in the street with a riding quirt."
+
+Wilkinson put the cheque in his pocket and picked up his hat.
+
+"On the whole, I guess I'd better not risk it," he said and went out.
+
+Sadie let him go, and then went limply upstairs. She felt worn out and
+her brain was dull. She could not think, and a problem that demanded
+solving must wait until the morning. After looking into the room where
+Charnock lay and seeing that he was sleeping heavily, she went to bed.
+
+Next morning she shut herself in the office at the store and gave the
+clerks strict orders that she was not to be disturbed. Opening a drawer,
+she took out a rough balance sheet, which showed that the business was
+profitable and expanding fast. Things were going very well, in spite of
+Bob's extravagance, and she thought she had prevented his wasting any
+more money. In three or four years she could sell the hotel and store
+for a large sum and, as she thought of it, give herself a chance.
+
+She was young, clever, and attractive, and had recently tried to
+cultivate her mind. It was laborious work and she had not much time, but
+the clergyman of the little Episcopal church gave her some guidance and
+she made progress. For one thing, she was beginning to talk like Bob
+and thought he noticed this, although she had not told him about her
+studies. She meant to be ready to take her part in a wider and brighter
+life when she left the settlement. Knowing little about large towns, she
+exaggerated the pleasures they could offer. Montreal, for example, was
+a city of delight. She had been there twice and had seen the Ice Palace
+glitter against the frosty sky, the covered skating rinks, the jingling
+sleighs, and the toboggans rushing down the long, white slides. Then
+she remembered afternoon drives in summer on the wooded slopes of the
+Mountain, and evenings spent among the garish splendors of Dominion
+Park, where myriads of lights threw their colored reflections upon
+the river. Since then, however, her taste had got refined, and she now
+admitted that if she lived at Montreal it might be better to cut out
+Dominion Park.
+
+But she pulled herself up. It looked as if these delights were not for
+her. She could enjoy them, if she wanted, in a few years' time, but the
+risk was great. Bob might go to pieces while she earned the money that
+would open the gate of fairyland. Although she had checked the pace a
+little, he was going the wrong way fast. Sadie knitted her dark brows as
+she nerved herself to make a momentous choice.
+
+On the one hand there was everything she longed for; on the other much
+that she disliked--monotonous work, the loneliness of the frozen prairie
+in the bitter winter, the society, at very long intervals, of farmers
+who talked about nothing but their crops, and the unslackening strain
+of activity in the hot summer. Sadie thought of it with shrinking; she
+would soon get old and faded, and Bob, for whose sake she had done so,
+might turn from her. Yet there was danger for him if they stayed at the
+settlement. He had too many friends and whisky was always about. She
+must save him from the constant temptation and must do so now.
+
+For all that, she struggled. There were specious arguments for taking
+the other course. Bob had failed as a farmer and would certainly fail
+again if left to himself; but farming was the only occupation on the
+lonely prairie. Loneliness was essential, because he must be kept away
+from the settlements. But she saw the weak point in this reasoning,
+because Bob need not be left to himself. She would, so to speak, stand
+over him and see he did his work. Well, it looked as if she must let
+her ambitions go, and she got up, straightening her body with a little
+resolute jerk.
+
+"Tell the boss I want him," she said to the clerk.
+
+Charnock came in, looking haggard and somewhat ashamed, and Sadie knew
+she had made the right choice when he sat down where the light touched
+his face. For a moment he blinked and frowned.
+
+"I wish you'd pull down that blind," he said. "The sun's in my eyes, and
+I can't get round the desk."
+
+Sadie did so, and then silently gave him Wilkinson's bill. He gazed at
+the paper with surprise, and colored.
+
+"I'd no idea I lost so much. Why did you pay him?"
+
+"Because you can't," said Sadie. "He thought you had a share in the
+business when he risked his dollars."
+
+"I suppose that means you told him I wasn't your partner?"
+
+"It does."
+
+"I see," said Charnock, with some dryness. "You thought he'd leave me
+alone if he knew I wasn't worth powder and shot? Well, I believe
+it's very possible." Then he paused and smiled. "I can imagine his
+astonishment when you asked for a bill, and must admit that you're a
+sport. All the same, it's humiliating to have my friends told you don't
+trust me with money."
+
+"The trouble is I can't trust you. Now you listen, Bob. This tanking and
+gambling has got to be stopped."
+
+"I'm afraid I've given you some bother," Charnock answered penitently.
+"For all that, I'm not so bad as I was. In fact, I really think I'm
+steadying down by degrees, and since you have paid my debts I don't mind
+promising--"
+
+"By degrees won't do; you have got to stop right off. Besides, you know
+how much your promises are worth."
+
+Charnock colored. "That's rather cruel, Sadie, but I suppose it's
+deserved."
+
+"I don't mean what you think; not your promise to Miss Dalton," Sadie
+answered with some embarrassment. "You told me you wouldn't drive over
+to Wilkinson's again, and the first time I wasn't about you went. Very
+well. Since I can't trust you round the settlement, we're going to quit.
+I've decided to sell out the business as soon as I can get the price I
+want."
+
+"Sell the store and hotel!" Charnock exclaimed. "I suppose you know
+you'd get three or four times as much if you held on for a few years."
+
+"That's so. But what's going to happen to you while I wait?"
+
+Charnock turned his head for a moment, and then looked up with a
+contrite air.
+
+"By George, Sadie, you are fine! But I can't allow this sacrifice."
+
+"You won't be asked," Sadie rejoined with forced quietness. She was
+moved by Charnock's exclamation, but durst not trust him or herself.
+There was a risk of his persuading her to abandon the plan if he knew
+how deeply she was stirred.
+
+"Well," he said, "what do you propose to do?"
+
+"Take a farm far enough from town to make it hard for you to drive in
+and out. Donaldson's place would suit; he quits in the fall, you know,
+and we hold his mortgage."
+
+Charnock got up and walked about the floor. Then he stopped opposite his
+wife.
+
+"You mean well, Sadie, and you're very generous," he said with some
+emotion. "Still you ought to see the plan won't work. I had a good farm
+and made a horrible mess of things."
+
+"You won't do that now. I'll be there," Sadie rejoined.
+
+Charnock did not answer, but gave her a curious look, and she pondered
+for a moment or two. He was obviously moved, but one could not tell
+how far his emotions went, and she knew he did not want to listen. She
+understood her husband and knew he sometimes deceived himself.
+
+"No!" He resumed; "it's too big a sacrifice! You like people about you
+and would see nobody but me and the hired man, while I admit I'm enough
+to jar a woman's nerves. Then think of the work; the manual work. You
+couldn't live as the bachelors live among dust and dirt, and it's a big
+undertaking to keep a homestead clean when you can't get proper help.
+Besides, there's the baking, cooking, and washing, while you have done
+nothing but superintend. I'd hate to see you worn and tired, and you
+know you're not so patient then. I get slack if things go wrong, and if
+I slouched about, brooding, when I ought to be at work, it would make
+you worse."
+
+Sadie smiled. "That's very nice, Bob; but how much are you thinking
+about me and how much about yourself?"
+
+"To tell the truth, I don't know," Charnock replied with naive honesty.
+"Anyhow, I am thinking about you."
+
+"That is what I like, but there's no use in talking. Since I can make
+this business go I can run a farm, and see no other way. My plan's made
+and I'm going to put it over."
+
+Charnock was silent for some moments and then turned to her with a look
+in his face she had not seen.
+
+"I don't want to farm, but if you can stand it for my sake, I must try.
+You will need some patience, Sadie--I may break out at times if the
+strain gets too hard. One can't help running away when one is something
+of a cur. But I'll come back, ashamed and sorry, and pitch in again.
+Since you mean to stand by me, perhaps I'll win out in the end."
+
+Bending down suddenly, he kissed her and then went to the door. She
+heard it shut, and sat still, but her eyes filled with tears. Bob had
+not promised much, but she thought he meant to keep his word now,
+and doubts that had troubled her melted away. She did not grudge the
+sacrifice she had made, for a ray of hope had begun to shine. It was,
+however, characteristic that after musing for a minute or two she took
+out some notepaper and began to write. Since the business must be sold,
+there was nothing to be gained by delay, and she gave a Winnipeg agent
+clear instructions. Then she went out and hid her annoyance when she saw
+Charnock sitting languidly on the hotel veranda.
+
+"Has Wilkinson sent back our rig?" she asked.
+
+"He has, but the team has done enough. Where are you going?"
+
+"To look at Donaldson's farm. I want you to come along. Go across and
+ask Martin if he'll let you have his team."
+
+Charnock got up with a resigned shrug. "You are a hustler, Sadie. It's
+not many minutes since you decided about the thing."
+
+"I don't see what I'd get by waiting, and you may as well make up your
+mind that you're going to hustle, too. Now get busy and go for Martin's
+team."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AN UNEXPECTED MEETING
+
+It was a bright afternoon and white-edged clouds rolled across the sky
+before a fresh north-west wind when Helen Festing rode up to a birch
+bluff on the prairie. The trees made a musical rustling as they tossed
+their branches, tufted with opening leaves. The sweep of white grass was
+checkered by patches of green that gleamed when the light touched them
+and faded as the shadows swept across the plain. There was something
+strangely invigorating in the air, but when she reached the bluff Helen
+pulled up her horse and looked about.
+
+She missed the soft blue haze that mellowed the landscape among the
+English hills. Every feature was sharp and the colors were vivid; ocher,
+green, and silver gleaming with light. Distant bluffs stood out
+with sharp distinctness. She thought the new country was like its
+inhabitants; they were marked by a certain primitive vigor and their
+character was clearly defined. Neither the land nor the people had been
+tamed by cultivation yet. One missed the delicate half-tones on the
+prairie, but one heard and thrilled to the ringing note of endeavor.
+
+When she looked west the land was empty to the horizon, and a flock of
+big sand-hill cranes planed down the wind. An animal she thought was
+an antelope moved swiftly through the waves of rippling grass. When she
+turned east she saw a plume of black smoke roll across the sky and the
+tops of three elevators above the edge of the plain. It was a portent,
+a warning of momentous change, in which she and her husband must play
+their part. What that part would be she could not tell, but the curtain
+was going up, and on the whole she approved the stage and scenery.
+
+Helen had been some time in Canada and did not feel daunted. The
+sunshine and boisterous winds were bracing; one felt optimistic on the
+high plains, and the wide outlook gave a sense of freedom. She had many
+duties, but did not find them burdensome, or feel the strain of domestic
+labor she had been warned about. For one thing, her money had enabled
+Festing to arrange his household better than he had expected and hire
+useful help.
+
+She took a rough trail through the bluff, picking her way among the
+holes and rotting stumps, and as she rode out the horse plunged. After
+calming the startled animal she saw a dirty handkerchief snapping in the
+wind at the top of a stick. Close by a team cropped the grass and the
+end of a big plow projected from the back of a wagon. There seemed to be
+nobody about, but after riding on a few yards she saw a man lying among
+some bushes with a pipe in his mouth. He looked half asleep, but got
+up as she advanced, and she stopped her horse with a jerk and tried to
+preserve her calm. Charnock stood looking at her with a half-embarrassed
+smile.
+
+"Bob!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think I'd ever meet you."
+
+"I hope it wasn't a shock, and we were bound to meet sooner or later.
+The distance between our homesteads isn't great."
+
+Helen had heard where his homestead was. Indeed, Festing had told her
+that if he had known Charnock was coming to Donaldson's farm, he would
+have located farther off. She would sooner have avoided the meeting, but
+since it had happened, she must not cut it too short.
+
+"But what is the handkerchief for?" she asked. "And why were you lying
+there?"
+
+"It's a signal of distress. Another trail crosses the rise a mile off,
+and I was waiting in the hope that somebody might come along."
+
+Helen now noted that a wheel of the wagon leaned to one side, and he
+remarked her glance.
+
+"The patent bush has got loose in the hub," he resumed. "I took the pin
+out and then saw I might have trouble if the wheel came off. It has been
+threatening to play this trick for some time."
+
+"Then why didn't you put the bush right before you started?"
+
+"I don't know. I expect you think it's typical."
+
+Helen laughed. Bob was taking the proper line, and she studied him with
+curiosity. He looked older than she thought, but remembering Festing's
+hints, she did not see the mark of dissipation she had expected.
+Indeed, Charnock, having spent a sober month or two under Sadie's strict
+supervision, looked very well. His face was brown, his eyes twinkled,
+and his figure was athletic. He did not seem to need her pity, but she
+felt compassionate. After all, she had loved him and he had married a
+girl from a bar.
+
+"But where were you taking the plow?" she asked.
+
+"To the smith's; one of the free preemptors has a forge some distance
+off, and if I'm lucky, I may find him at home."
+
+"You won't find him at home if you stop here."
+
+"That's obvious," said Charnock. "Still, you see, the plow's too heavy
+for me to lift out. Unless I do get it out, I can't try to put the wheel
+right."
+
+"Then why not take it to pieces?"
+
+"The trouble is you need a bent spanner to get at some of the bolts."
+
+"They give you spanners with the plows, and there's a box on the frame
+to put them in. I've seen Stephen use the things."
+
+"Just so," Charnock agreed. "Stephen's methodical, but when I want my
+spanner it isn't in the box."
+
+"You never were very careful," Helen remarked.
+
+"I don't know if there's much comfort in feeling that I've paid for my
+neglect."
+
+Helen smiled; she was not going to be sentimental. "If you mean that you
+lost the spanner, you don't seem to have suffered much. I think you were
+asleep when I rode up. But I was surprised to hear you had begun to farm
+again. Do you like it? And how are you getting on?"
+
+"I like a number of things better, but that's not allowed to make much
+difference. Sadie has decided that farming is good for me. However, I am
+making some progress, though as you know my temperament, I'll admit that
+I'm being firmly helped along."
+
+There was silence for a few moments and Helen pondered. Bob had
+generally been tactful and she thought his humor was rather brave. He,
+no doubt, imagined she would soon learn all about his affairs and meant
+to make the best of things.
+
+In the meantime, Charnock quietly studied her. She looked very fresh and
+prettier than he thought. Although she had not ridden much in England,
+he noted the grace and confidence with which she managed the spirited
+range horse. For all that, he was rather surprised by his sensations. He
+had expected to feel some embarrassment and sentimental tenderness when
+they met, but she left him cold; his pulse had not quickened a beat.
+Still it would be good for Sadie to know Helen, who could teach her
+much, and she unconsciously gave him a lead.
+
+"Well," she said, "I must get home. I shall, no doubt, see you now and
+then."
+
+"Not often, if you leave it to accident," he replied with a smile. "If
+you like to arrange the thing, there's a nice point of etiquette. You
+occupied your homestead before we came to ours, but you see we were on
+the prairie first. Anyhow, I'd be glad if you will let me bring Sadie
+over."
+
+Helen thought he was going too far. She did not want to arrange for a
+meeting and would sooner not receive his wife. After all, the girl had
+supplanted her. Still she was curious and could not refuse.
+
+"I'm often busy and daresay Mrs. Charnock is, while Stephen does not
+stop work until late. However, if you like to take your chance----"
+
+"Thank you," said Charnock; "we'll take the risk of finding you not at
+home. Now perhaps it wouldn't be much trouble if you told Jasper I'm in
+difficulties. You'll see his place when you cross the ravine near the
+bluff."
+
+Helen rode away, but when she saw Jasper's farm it was a mile off the
+trail and she had to cross a broken sandy belt. For all that, she smiled
+as she made the round. It was typical of Bob to send her. He might have
+tethered his horses and walked the distance, but he had a talent for
+leaving to somebody else the things he ought to do.
+
+After supper she sat on the veranda, while Festing leaned against the
+rails. The house was built of ship-lap boards, with a roof of cedar
+shingles, and wooden pillars supporting the projecting eaves. It had
+been improved and made comfortable with Helen's money, and with the land
+about it, registered as belonging to her. Festing had insisted on this,
+rather against her will, because she had meant to make it a gift to him.
+The wind, as usual at sunset, had dropped, and clear green sky, touched
+with dull red on the horizon, overhung the plain. The air was cold and
+bracing; sound carried far, and the musical chime of cowbells came from
+a distant bluff. There were not many cattle in the neighborhood, but the
+Government was trying to encourage stock-raising and had begun to build
+creameries.
+
+Helen meditatively studied her husband. Festing had been plowing since
+sunrise and looked tired. Something had gone wrong with his gasoline
+tractor, and she knew he had spent two or three hours finding out
+the fault. This had annoyed him, because time was valuable and he
+was impatient of delay. Helen approved his industry and the stubborn
+perseverance that led to his overcoming many obstacles, but sometimes
+thought he took things too hard and exaggerated their importance. Now
+as he leaned against the balustrade he had the physical grace of a
+well-trained athlete, but she thought his look was fretful and his mind
+too much occupied.
+
+"I met Bob by the long bluff as I rode home," she said.
+
+Festing looked up sharply. "Well, I suppose you were bound to meet him
+before long. What was he doing at the bluff?"
+
+"Waiting for somebody to help him with his wagon," Helen answered with a
+laugh. "A wheel was coming off."
+
+"That was like Bob. He has a rooted objection to helping himself when it
+means an effort."
+
+"For all that, you were a friend of his."
+
+"I'm not his friend now. I've done with the fellow."
+
+"It's rather awkward," Helen remarked thoughtfully. "He asked if he
+might bring his wife over, and although I wasn't very gracious, I could
+not refuse."
+
+"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. As I won't have a minute until the sowing
+is finished, I'll be out when he comes. If he stayed with his work just
+now, it would be better for him."
+
+Helen was silent for a moment. Stephen was made of much finer stuff than
+Bob, but he had not the latter's graceful humor and his curtness jarred.
+
+"There's no reason you should resume your friendship if you don't like,"
+she said. "All the same, I think you ought to be polite to my guests."
+
+"I can't pretend. The house is yours, but I don't want the fellow here."
+
+"But why do you dislike him so much?"
+
+"I don't think you need ask me that. It's dangerous ground, but you
+see----"
+
+"I have forgiven him," Helen answered, smiling. "Indeed, if I hadn't
+done so long since, it would be easy to forgive him now. At first, I did
+feel dreadfully humiliated, but I soon saw what he had saved me from.
+And, of course, if he had kept his promise, I could not have married
+you."
+
+Festing looked at her with surprise. In spite of her refinement, Helen
+would now and then talk calmly about matters he shrank from mentioning.
+But after the lead she had given him he could be frank.
+
+"Well," he said, "I haven't forgiven him yet; I couldn't pretend
+friendship with anybody who had slighted you. Besides, when I found out
+how he had cheated me it was the worst moment of my life. I thought you
+would never speak to me again because, through the fellow's treachery,
+it was I who hurt you."
+
+"You're very nice, Stephen," Helen replied, coloring. "But that's all
+finished. Don't you like Bob's wife? I really don't want to meet her,
+but one mustn't be a coward."
+
+"You couldn't be a coward. Sadie has her virtues and is certainly much
+too good for Bob, but I don't want her here for all that. Frankly, she's
+not your sort, and she's meddlesome. I'm not afraid she'll make you
+discontented, but I can't have a girl like that telling you how your
+house ought to be run. Although you're a beginner, you manage very well,
+and I'd object to improvements on somebody else's plan."
+
+Helen smiled. "When you talk like that, you're charming; but we'll say
+no more about it. You look tired. Are you sure you are not working too
+hard? The last time Jasper came he seemed surprised when he saw the
+ground you had broken. I imagined he thought you were trying to do too
+much."
+
+As she spoke she glanced at the wide belt of plowing that broke the
+delicate green and silver of the grass. In the foreground, the rows of
+clods shone with an oily gleam in the fading light. Farther off, the
+rows converged and melted into a sweep of purple-brown that narrowed as
+it crossed a distant rise. There were two other belts; one where white
+grasses broke through the harrow-torn sod, and another flat and smooth
+where the land-packer had rolled in the seed. All told of strenuous
+effort in which sweating men and horses had been aided by tractor
+machines.
+
+"Jasper's conservative and I feel I ought to do as much as I can,"
+Festing replied. "When you bought the place you rather put me on my
+mettle."
+
+Helen gave him a sharp glance. "I note that you spoke of it as my house
+when you ought to have said ours. I don't like that, Stephen."
+
+"It is yours. I let you buy it because it's value must go up and the
+money's safe. I'm glad, of course, that you have comforts I couldn't
+have given you, but it's my business to support my wife, and I've got
+to increase my capital. I want to give you things you like, bought with
+money I have earned."
+
+"You really want to feel independent of me," Helen suggested with a
+smile. "I suppose it's an honest ambition, but isn't the distinction you
+try to make ridiculous?"
+
+"Perhaps, in a way," Festing agreed. "All the same, your help makes it
+my duty to do my best. I don't want to feel I might be forced to fall
+back on your dollars."
+
+"You are ridiculous, Stephen," Helen rejoined. "However, let's talk
+about something else."
+
+The talked good-humoredly until the dew and growing cold drove them in.
+Next morning Helen got up while the sun rose from behind a bluff on
+the edge of the plain, but when she went out on the veranda she saw the
+gasoline tractor and gang-plow lurch across the rise. This indicated
+that Festing had been at work for some time, and she looked thoughtful
+as she went back into the house.
+
+Stephen was doing too much, and she wondered whether he could keep it
+up. Things, however, might be easier when the crop was sown, and if not
+she must insist upon his hiring extra help. She liked to see him keen
+about his work, but for the last few weeks he had scarcely had a minute
+to talk to her, and she could not allow him to wear himself out. After
+all, her money gave her some power, and there was no reason she should
+not use the power for her husband's benefit.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+SADIE FINDS A FRIEND
+
+The sun shone hot on the rippling grass, but it was cool on the shady
+veranda where Helen sat in a basket chair. A newspaper lay close by and
+the loose leaves fluttered now and then, but she did not notice that it
+was in some danger of blowing away. She had been occupied since early
+morning, but was not quite asleep, for she was vaguely conscious of a
+rhythmic drumming. By and by she raised her head with a jerk and glanced
+at the watch on her wrist. It was three o'clock and she had been dozing
+for an hour. Then the drumming fixed her attention and she saw a rig
+lurch along the uneven trail. The horses were trotting fast and there
+were two people in the light wagon.
+
+Helen saw that one was Charnock. The other, who held the reins, was, no
+doubt, his wife, and Helen was sorry that Festing was at work beyond
+the rise. She would have liked him to be there when she received her
+visitors, but did not think it prudent to send for him. The rig was near
+the house now, and as she got up her dress moved the newspaper, which
+was caught by a draught and blew down the stairs and across the grass.
+It flapped in the fresh wind and fell near the horses' feet.
+
+This was too much for the range-bred animals to stand, and they reared
+and plunged, and then began to back away from the fluttering white
+object. Charnock jumped out and ran towards their heads, but Sadie
+raised her whip with a gesture of command.
+
+"Don't butt in, Bob; I'm going to take them past."
+
+Charnock stood back obediently, though his alert pose hinted that he was
+ready to run forward if he were needed, and Helen studied his companion.
+
+Sadie, dressed in black and white, with a black feather in her white
+hat, was braced back on the driving seat, with one hand on the reins
+while she used the whip. There was a patch of bright color in her face,
+her eyes flashed, and the rigidity of her figure gave her an air of
+savage resolution. She looked a handsome virago as she battled with the
+powerful horses, which plunged and kicked while the wagon rocked among
+the ruts. Helen watched the struggle with somewhat mixed feelings. This
+was the girl for whom Bob had given her up!
+
+After an exciting minute or two Sadie forced the horses to pass the
+fluttering paper, and then pulled them up.
+
+"Where's Stephen?" she asked.
+
+Helen said he was harrowing on the other side of the rise, and Sadie,
+getting down, signed to Charnock.
+
+"Put the team in the stable, and then go and look for Festing. Don't
+come back too soon."
+
+Then she came towards the house and Helen felt half-annoyed and
+half-amused. Stephen did not like to be disturbed when he was busy,
+and she knew what he thought of Bob. Moreover, she wondered with some
+curiosity what Mrs. Charnock had to say to her. Sadie sat down and
+waited until she recovered breath.
+
+"You know who I am," she remarked presently. "Bob can drive all right,
+but he's too easy with the team. I don't see why I should get down
+before I want because the horses are scared by a paper."
+
+"Perhaps it was better to make them go on, but they nearly upset you,"
+Helen agreed with a smile.
+
+Sadie gave her a steady, criticizing glance, but her naive curiosity
+softened her rudeness.
+
+"Well, I wanted to see you. Looks as if Bob was a fool, in one way, but
+I guess I can see him through what he's up against on the prairie better
+than you."
+
+Helen had been prejudiced against Mrs. Charnock, but her blunt sincerity
+was disarming. Besides, she had expected something different; a hint of
+defiance, or suspicious antagonism.
+
+"It's very possible," she said. "Everything is strange here. I feel
+rather lost sometimes and have much to learn."
+
+Sadie studied her closely, and after pondering for a few moments
+resumed: "When I was driving over I didn't know how I was going to take
+you; in fact, I've been bothering about it for some time. I thought you
+might be dangerous."
+
+"You thought I might be dangerous!" Helen exclaimed with rising color.
+"Surely you understand--"
+
+"Now you wait a bit and let me finish! Well, I might have come now and
+then, found out what I could, and given you a hint or two, until we saw
+how things were going to be. But that's not my way, and I reckon it's
+not yours. Very well. We have got to have a talk and put the thing
+over. To begin with, I somehow feel I can trust you, and needn't be
+disturbed."
+
+"Then I'm afraid you are rash," Helen rejoined with a resentment that
+was softened by a touch of humor. "You can't form a reliable opinion,
+because you don't know me."
+
+"That's so, but I know Bob."
+
+Helen laughed. She ought to be angry, for Mrs. Charnock was taking an
+extraordinary line. But perhaps it was the best line, because it would
+clear the ground. She said nothing and Sadie went on:
+
+"How do you like it here?"
+
+"Very much. I like the open country and the fresh air. Then I think I
+like the people, and one has so much to do that there is not time to
+feel moody. It's bracing to find every minute occupied by something
+useful."
+
+"If you feel that way about it, you'll make good. And you've got a fine
+man for your husband. When Festing first came to the bridge I didn't
+know if I'd take him or Bob. In fact, I thought about it for quite a
+time."
+
+Helen's eyes sparkled. Mrs. Charnock was going too far, but she
+controlled her resentment.
+
+"After all, were you not taking something for granted?"
+
+"Well," said Sadie thoughtfully, "if I'd tried hard, I might have got
+Steve then, but I don't know if I'd have been any happier with him. He'd
+have gone his own way and taken me along; a good way, perhaps, but it
+wouldn't have been mine. Bob's different; sometimes he has to be hustled
+and sometimes led, but you get fond of a man you must take care of. Then
+everybody likes Bob, and he kind of grows on you. I don't know how it
+is, but you can't get mad with him."
+
+Helen thought there was something humiliating to Bob in his wife's
+patience, but she was moved. Mrs. Charnock loved her husband, though she
+knew his faults. Then Sadie resumed in a harder voice:
+
+"Anyhow, he's mine and I know how to keep what belongs to me."
+
+"I imagine you will keep him. I have no wish to take him away."
+
+"Well, that's why I came. I wanted to see you, and now I'm satisfied.
+Bob needs a friend like your husband and he puts Steve pretty high. If
+you can see your way to let us drive over now and then evenings----"
+
+Helen pondered this. Stephen might object, but he was not unreasonable,
+and his society would certainly be good for Bob. She was not altogether
+pleased by the thought of the Charnocks' visits, but Sadie's resolve to
+help her husband had touched her. Then there was something flattering in
+the hint that she and Stephen could take a part in his reformation.
+
+"Very well," she said. "I hope you will come when you like. It will do
+Stephen no harm to get a rest instead of hurrying back to work after
+supper."
+
+Sadie looked grateful. "We'll certainly come. I've talked to you as I'd
+have talked to nobody else, but you know Bob most as well as I do. But
+perhaps there's enough said. Won't you show me the house?"
+
+Helen realized that she had made an alliance with Mrs. Charnock for
+Bob's protection, and was conscious of a virtuous thrill. The work she
+had undertaken was good, but she remembered with faint uneasiness that
+she had pledged her husband to it without his consent. She showed Sadie
+the house, and while there was much the latter admired, she made, from
+her larger knowledge of the plains, a number of suggestions that Helen
+thought useful. By and by Bob returned with Festing for supper, and
+stopped for another hour. When he and Sadie had gone Festing frowned as
+he glanced at his watch.
+
+"It's too late to finish the job I wanted to do tonight," he said, and
+indicated the dark figures of a man and horses silhouetted against the
+sunset on the crest of the rise. "There's Jules coming home. He couldn't
+get on without me."
+
+Helen pretended not to notice his annoyance. "After all, you're not
+often disturbed, and a little relaxation is good. I've no doubt you had
+an amusing talk with Bob."
+
+"Bob bored me badly, though we didn't talk much. I was driving the
+disc-harrows and he lay in the grass. I had to stop for a few minutes
+every time I reached the turning and listen to his remarks."
+
+"And you feel you deserve some sympathy?" Helen said with a laugh.
+"Well, I suppose it was an infliction to be forced to talk."
+
+Festing's annoyance vanished. "I mustn't make too much of it. I really
+don't object to talking when I've finished my work."
+
+"When do you finish your work, Stephen?"
+
+"That's a fair shot! In summer, I stop when it's too dark to see. The
+annoying thing wasn't so much the stopping as Bob's attitude. He lay
+there with his pipe, looking as if nothing would persuade him to work,
+and his smile hinted that he thought delaying me an excellent joke. I
+believe I was polite, but certainly hope he won't come back."
+
+Helen thought it was not the proper time to tell him about the
+invitation she had given Sadie, and she said, "Idleness seems to jar
+you."
+
+"It does. I dislike the man who demands the best to eat and drink and
+won't use his brain or muscle if he can help. In this country, the
+thing's immoral; the fellow's obviously a cheat. We live by our labor,
+raising grain and cattle--"
+
+"But what about the people in the towns?"
+
+"A number of them handle our products and supply us with tools. Of
+course, there are speculators and real-estate boomsters who gamble with
+our earnings, but their job is not as easy as it looks. They run big
+risks and bear some strain. Still, if it was left to me, I'd make them
+plow."
+
+Helen laughed. "You're rather drastic, Stephen; but if one takes the
+long view, I dare say you are right."
+
+"Then let's take the narrowest view we can. When a farmer who hasn't
+much money loafs about the poolroom and lies on his back, smoking, it's
+plain that he's taking advantage of somebody else. Perhaps the thing's
+shabbiest when he puts his responsibilities on his wife. That's what Bob
+does."
+
+"I'm afraid he does," Helen admitted, and mused, while Festing lighted
+his pipe.
+
+Stephen was not a prig and she recognized the justice of his arguments,
+but he was rather hard and his views were too clear-cut. He saw that
+a thing was good or bad, but could not see that faults and virtues
+sometimes merged and there was good in one and bad in the other.
+
+"Well," she said, "I like Mrs. Charnock, and she is certainly energetic
+and practical. She went over the house and suggested some improvements.
+For example, you are building a windmill pump for the cattle, and it
+wouldn't cost very much to bring a pipe to the house. A tap is a great
+convenience and would save Jules' time filling up the tank."
+
+"It will need a long pipe and cost more than Sadie thinks, but I'll have
+it done. However, I wish I had thought of it and she hadn't made the
+suggestion. I don't want Sadie interfering with our house."
+
+"But you don't dislike Mrs. Charnock."
+
+"Not in a way; but I don't know that I want to see her here. Sadie has
+a number of good points, but she's rather fond of managing other folks'
+affairs. Then she's not your kind."
+
+On the whole, Helen was not displeased. Mrs. Charnock's bold statements
+that she could have got Stephen if she had wanted had jarred, but it
+looked as if she had made an empty boast.
+
+"I thought you were a democrat," she remarked, smiling.
+
+"So I am, in general; but when it's a matter of choosing my wife's
+friends, I'm an exclusive aristocrat. That's the worst of having
+theories; they don't apply all round."
+
+Helen thought his utilitarian dislike of idleness was open to this
+objection, but it was not the time to urge Bob's cause. She would wait
+for another opportunity, when Stephen had not been delayed, and she made
+him a humorous curtsey.
+
+"Sometimes you're rather bearish, and sometimes you're very nice," she
+said, and went into the house.
+
+The Charnocks returned a week later and came again at regular intervals,
+while Helen rode over to their house now and then. Festing refused
+to accompany her and sometimes grumbled, but on the whole tolerated
+Charnock's visits so long as they did not delay his work. Nothing must
+be allowed to interfere with that, for he was uneasily conscious that
+he had set himself too big a task. His dislike to using his wife's money
+had spurred him on, and he had sown a very large crop at a heavy expense
+for labor, horses, and machines. Now he must spare no effort to get his
+money back, and much depended on the weather. Indeed, he was beginning
+to feel the strain of the unrelaxing exertion and care about details,
+and this sometimes reacted upon his temper. Still he must hold out until
+the crop was reaped, after which he could go easy during the winter
+months.
+
+One hot afternoon, he lay under a mower in a sloo where the melted snow
+had run in spring and the wild grass now grew tall. It made good hay and
+the fierce sun had dried it well, so that he had only to cut and haul
+it home; but something had gone wrong with the machine, and after taking
+out the broken knife he dismantled the driving gear. When he crawled
+out, with a greasy cogwheel in his hand, he was soaked with perspiration
+and his overalls were stained by oil. The mosquitoes, that did not as a
+rule venture out in the strong wind and sun, had bitten him badly while
+he lay in the grass.
+
+"You had better wait for ten minutes and take a smoke," said Charnock,
+who had come up quietly and sat in the shade of the partly-loaded wagon.
+"You'll get on faster when you have cooled down."
+
+"You believe in waiting, don't you?" Festing rejoined.
+
+Charnock laughed. "I feel justified in going slow just now. Sadie
+has given me a day off, and when she doesn't think I ought to work it
+certainly isn't necessary. It saves you some bother if you can leave
+that sort of thing to your wife."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Festing. "You make me tired."
+
+He picked up the broken knife and looked at Charnock. Bob was bantering
+him, exaggerating his slackness. As a matter of fact, the fellow was not
+so lazy as he pretended; Sadie was beginning to wake him up. Stephen did
+not know if he had forgiven him or not, but they had gradually dropped
+back into something like their old relations.
+
+"You might take off the broken blades," he resumed. "You'll find new
+ones in the box. They ought to be riveted, but if you use the short
+bolts and file down the nuts, I dare say they'll run through the
+guides."
+
+Then he crawled back under the machine and did not come out until he
+head a rattle of wheels. Wilkinson, whom he knew and disliked, stopped
+his team close by and began to talk to Charnock. This annoyed Festing,
+because he was nearly ready to replace the knife.
+
+"I called at your place and found you were out," Wilkinson remarked.
+"They told me where you had gone, and when I saw Festing's wagon I
+reckoned you might have gone with him. You come here pretty often, don't
+you?"
+
+"Steve's patient," Charnock replied with a twinkle. "I'm not sure he
+enjoys my visits, but he puts up with them."
+
+"Well, I want you to drive over to-morrow evening. A man you know from
+Winnipeg is coming to see me about a deal in Brandon building lots. The
+thing looks good and ought to turn out a snap."
+
+"The trouble is I haven't much money to invest," Charnock answered, and
+Festing thought he was hesitating. It looked as if Wilkinson had not
+seen him yet, for he was standing behind the machine.
+
+"I understand you have a bigger interest in the farm than you had in the
+hotel and something might be arranged. Anyhow, come over and hear what
+our friend has to say."
+
+"You'll be a fool if you go, Bob," Festing interposed.
+
+"I don't know that this is your business," Wilkinson rejoined. "I
+haven't suggested that you should join us."
+
+"You know I wouldn't join you. I had one deal with you, and that's
+enough. No doubt you remember selling me the brown horse."
+
+"You tried the horse before you bought him."
+
+"I did. He was quiet then, but I've since suspected that he was doped.
+Anyhow, he nearly killed my hired man."
+
+Wilkinson laughed. "You had your trial and backed your judgment. Know
+more about machines than horses, don't you?"
+
+"I didn't know the man I dealt with then. You warranted the brute
+good-tempered and easy to drive. I'll give you five dollars if you'll
+take him out of the stable and harness him now."
+
+"I haven't time," said Wilkinson. "Didn't charge you high and guess
+you've got to pay for learning your business. The trouble is you're too
+sure about yourself and reckoned you'd make a splash at farming without
+much trouble. Anyhow, I don't want to sell Charnock a horse; he's a
+better judge than you."
+
+"He's not much judge of building lots. If your friend has got a safe
+snap, why do you want to let Charnock in?"
+
+Wilkinson began to look impatient. "I came over to talk to Charnock, and
+if he likes the deal it's not your affair."
+
+"It is my affair if you stop him when he's helping me," Festing
+rejoined. "If he's a fool, he'll talk to you some other time; if he's
+wise, he won't. Just now I'd sooner you drove off my farm."
+
+Wilkinson gave him a curious look. "Very well. I reckon the place is
+yours; or your wife's." Then he turned to Charnock. "Are you coming
+over, Bob?"
+
+"No," said Charnock, irresolutely, "I don't think I will."
+
+He lighted his pipe when Wilkinson started his team, and presently
+remarked: "On the whole, I'm glad you headed him off, because I might
+have gone. You mean well, Stephen, but that man doesn't like you, and
+I've sometimes thought he doesn't like Sadie."
+
+"It doesn't matter if he likes me or not," said Festing. "Let's get on
+with the mower."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE CHEQUE
+
+The North-west breeze was fresher than usual when, one afternoon, Helen
+rode through a belt of sand-hills on her way to the Charnock farm.
+Clouds of dust blew about the horse's feet, and now and then fine grit
+whistled past her head. She had her back to the boisterous wind, but she
+urged the horse until they got behind a grove of scrub poplars. Then she
+rolled up her veil and wiped her face before she looked about.
+
+Round, dark clouds rolled across the sky, as they had done since spring,
+but for nearly a month none had broken. A low ridge, streaked by flying
+shadows, ran across the foreground, and waves of dust rose and fell
+about its crest. Sandy belts are common on parts of the prairie, and
+when they fringe cultivated land are something of a danger in a dry
+season, because the loose sand travels far before the wind.
+
+Beyond the sand-hills, the level grass was getting white and dry, and in
+the distance the figures of a man and horses stood out against a moving
+cloud of dust. Helen supposed he was summer-fallowing, but did not
+understand the dust, because when she last passed the spot the soil
+looked dark and firm. She remembered that Festing had been anxious about
+the weather.
+
+Riding on, she saw the roof of the Charnock homestead above a straggling
+bluff, and her thoughts centered on its occupants. Strange as the thing
+was, she had come to think of Sadie as her friend. Her loyalty and her
+patience with her husband commanded respect, and now it looked as if
+they would be rewarded. Bob was taking an interest in his farm and had
+worked with steady industry for the last month or two. Helen thought she
+deserved some credit for this; she had had a part in Bob's reformation
+and had made Stephen help.
+
+Sadie trusted her, and no suspicion or jealousy marked their relations.
+Indeed, Helen wondered why she had at one time been drawn to Bob. Were
+she free to do so, she would certainly not marry him now. Still she had
+loved him, and this gave her thoughts about him a vague, sentimental
+gentleness. It was a comfort to feel that she had done something to turn
+his wandering feet into the right path.
+
+When she reached the homestead she found Sadie looking disturbed. Her
+face was hard, but her eyes were red, and Helen suspected that she had
+been crying. It was obvious that something serious had happened, because
+Sadie's pluck seldom broke down.
+
+"I'm glad you came," the latter said. "I'm surely in trouble."
+
+Helen asked what the trouble was, and Sadie told her in jerky sentences.
+Charnock had started for the railroad early that morning, and after he
+left she discovered that he had written a cheque, payable to Wilkinson.
+
+"It's not so much the money, but to feel he has cheated me and broken
+loose when I thought he was cured," she concluded. "He has been going
+steady, but now that brute has got hold of him he'll hang around the
+settlement, tanking and betting, for a week or two. Then he'll be slack
+and moody and leave the farm alone, and I'll have to begin the job
+again."
+
+Sadie paused, with tears in her eyes, and then pulled herself together.
+"Pshaw!" she said, "I'm a silly fool. Before you came I thought I'd quit
+and let Bob go his own way; but I'm not beaten yet. If Wilkinson wants
+him, there's going to be some fight. Now, I want you to ride over with
+me to the fellow's place."
+
+Helen felt sympathetic. Sadie's resentment was justified, and she looked
+rather refined when angry. Her stiff pose lent her a touch of dignity;
+her heightened color and the sparkle in her eyes gave her face the charm
+of animation. Moreover, her want of reserve no longer jarred. Reserve is
+not very common on the plains.
+
+"But you must tell me something about it first," Helen replied. "How did
+you find out he had written the cheque?"
+
+"I suspected something after he'd gone and looked for his cheque-book.
+He'd torn out a form, but hadn't filled up the tab. Bob's silly when
+he's cunning and didn't think about his blotter. The top sheet was
+nearly clean and I read what he'd written, in a looking-glass."
+
+"Why did he give Wilkinson the money?"
+
+"I guess it's to speculate in wheat or building-lots, and Bob will
+certainly lose it all; but that's not what makes me mad. After all, it's
+his money; he's been saving it since he steadied down. I can manage Bob
+if he's left alone, and thought I'd cut out the friends he shouldn't
+have. Wilkinson was the only danger left, but he's a blamed tough
+proposition."
+
+Helen knew Festing disliked the man, but she felt puzzled. "The sum is
+not very large," she said. "I don't quite see why Wilkinson thought it
+worth while----"
+
+"It shows he's pinched for money, and there's some hope in that. Then
+he doesn't like me, and I imagine he has a pick on your husband. Stephen
+froze him off one day when he was getting after Bob. Anyhow, I mean to
+get the money back."
+
+"But can you? It is Bob's cheque."
+
+"I'm going to try. The bank deals with _me_," Sadie answered. "But come
+along; I hear the hired man bringing the rig."
+
+When they got into the vehicle, Helen remarked that Sadie had brought
+a flexible riding whip. Since the quirt was useless for driving, Helen
+wondered what she meant to do with it. The trail they took ran through
+the grass, a sinuous riband of hard-beaten soil that flashed where it
+caught the light. It was seamed by ruts and fringed by wild barley but
+in places the grass had spread across it, leaving gaps, into which the
+horses' legs and the wheel sank. The smell of wild peppermint rose from
+among the crackling stalks as the team brushed through. Now and then a
+prairie-hen got up, and small animals, like English squirrels, squatted
+by the trail until the wheels were nearly upon them, and then dived into
+holes.
+
+"The gophers are surely plentiful," Sadie remarked. "Don't know that
+I've seen so many around before, and that's going to be bad for the
+grain. They're generally worst when the crop is poor."
+
+"Do you think the crop will be poor?"
+
+Sadie glanced at the sky, which was a dazzling blue, flooded with light,
+except where the scattered clouds drove by.
+
+"We didn't get the June rains, and the frost-damp has gone down pretty
+deep. Then we have had very few thunder-storms, and the sand is blowing
+bad. It makes trouble in parts of Manitoba, but the scrub trees in our
+sand-hills generally hold it up. What does Steve think?"
+
+"He hasn't told me. Sometimes he looks anxious, but he doesn't talk
+about it much."
+
+"That's Steve's way. I don't know if it's a good way. He sees when he's
+up against a hard thing and makes his own plans. Now I want to know my
+husband's troubles. You feel better when you can talk."
+
+Helen agreed with Sadie; she often wished Stephen would talk to her
+about his anxieties. He wanted to save her and had confidence in
+himself, but she felt that he left her out too much.
+
+"How does the sand damage the wheat?" she asked.
+
+"Cuts the stalk. Takes time, of course, but the sharp grit puts down the
+grain like a binder knife, if it blows through the field long enough.
+However, I'm not worrying much about that; there are worse things than
+the sand and drought. We're fools and make our real troubles; that's
+what's the matter with us."
+
+Helen smiled. Sadie was amusing when philosophized, but Helen thought
+her views were sound. She had chosen a stern country, but its stinging
+cold and boisterous winds were invigorating, and with pluck one could
+overcome its material obstacles. It was human weaknesses that made for
+unhappiness.
+
+"Well," she said, "we must hope the rain will come; but hadn't we better
+go by the long bluff? The new man has put a fence across the other
+trail."
+
+Sadie left the trail, and as they crossed a hollow the tall grass
+rustled about the horses' legs. It had lost its verdure; the red lilies
+and banks of yellow flowers had withered on their parched stalks. When
+they reached the level the grass was only a few inches high and the wide
+plain rolled back in the strong light, shining pale-yellow and gray. It
+was only when the shadows passed that one could see streaks and patches
+of faded green. In the distance a cluster of roofs broke the bare
+expanse, and Helen knew they marked the Wilkinson ranch. A horse and
+buggy approached it, looking very small, and she glanced at Sadie, who
+said nothing, although her face was stern. By and by the latter stopped
+her team in front of the homestead and fastened the reins to a post.
+
+"Now," she said, "you sit on the veranda and wait for me. It was
+Wilkinson's rig we saw, and I'll find him in."
+
+Wilkinson looked up from the table at which he was writing when Sadie
+entered the room. He was, on the whole, a handsome man, but was rather
+fat, and his black eyes were unusually close together. This perhaps
+accounted for the obliquity of his glance, which, some believed,
+conveyed a useful hint about his character. He was neatly dressed
+in light, summer clothes, although the farmers generally wore brown
+overalls. As he got up his look indicated that he was trying to hide his
+annoyance.
+
+"This is something of a surprise, Mrs. Charnock," he said politely.
+"However, if there's anything I can do--"
+
+"You can sit down again in the meantime," Sadie replied, and occupied
+a chair opposite, with the quirt on her knee. "To begin with, if you're
+writing to your Winnipeg friend, you had better wait a bit."
+
+"I'm not writing to Winnipeg; but don't see what this has to do with
+your visit."
+
+"Then you haven't sent off Bob's cheque yet! I mean to get it back."
+
+Wilkinson saw that he had made a rash admission. Mrs. Charnock was
+cleverer than he thought.
+
+"If Bob wants it back, why didn't he come himself?"
+
+"He doesn't know I have come," Sadie answered calmly.
+
+Wilkinson studied her and did not like her look. Her face was hard, her
+color higher than usual, and her eyes sparkled ominously.
+
+"Well," he said, "you told me you would pay no more of your husband's
+debts, but this is not a debt. Besides, the money must be Bob's, since
+he gave me the cheque."
+
+"Why did he give it you?"
+
+The question was awkward, because Wilkinson did not want to state that
+he had persuaded Bob to join him in a speculation. This was the best
+construction that could be put upon the matter, and he did not think it
+would satisfy Mrs. Charnock.
+
+"Why does a man give another a cheque?" he rejoined, with a look of
+good-humor that he did not feel.
+
+"The best reason I know of is--for value received. But this doesn't
+apply. You allowed it wasn't a debt, so Bob has got no value."
+
+"One sometimes pays for value one expects to get."
+
+Sadie laughed scornfully. "If that's what Bob has done, he'll get badly
+stung. There's nothing coming to him from a deal with you. I guess you
+don't claim he made you a present of the money?"
+
+"I don't," said Wilkinson, with a frown, for he thought he saw where she
+was leading him.
+
+"Very well. One pays for something one has got or is going to get, and
+as we can rule out both reasons, the cheque is bad. In fact, it's not
+worth keeping. Better give it me back."
+
+"Your argument looks all right, Mrs. Charnock, but you don't start from
+sure ground. How do you know there's nothing coming to your husband?"
+
+"I know you," Sadie rejoined. "Anyhow, the cheque is certainly bad.
+They'll turn it down if you take it to the bank."
+
+Wilkinson made an abrupt movement. "You can't stop your husband's
+cheque. You don't mean he hasn't the dollars to meet it?"
+
+"I don't," said Sadie, with an angry flush. "Bob is honest. The money's
+there, but if you think the bank will pay when I tell them not, go and
+see. The manager knows me and he knows you."
+
+Wilkinson saw that he was beaten, but tried to hide his anger. "Well, it
+looks as if Bob was lucky. He has a wife who will take care of him, and
+I reckon he needs something of the kind. However, here's the cheque; I
+want a receipt."
+
+Sadie wrote the receipt and he noted that her hand shook. As she got up
+he glanced at the quirt.
+
+"Did you ride over? I thought I heard a rig."
+
+"I drove," said Sadie. "Looks as I needn't have brought the quirt.
+Well, I'm glad you agreed about the cheque being bad. I meant to get it
+anyhow."
+
+Wilkinson gave her a curious look, but said nothing and she went out.
+
+"I've saved Bob's money," she told Helen as she started the team.
+"Wilkinson saw my arguments and didn't kick as much as I expected, but
+he certainly doesn't like me any better. I think he'll make trouble if
+he can."
+
+"That seems unlikely," Helen remarked. "I imagine that as you have
+beaten him he'll be glad to let the matter drop. No doubt he wanted the
+money and was vexed because he had to give it up, but I hardly think
+he'll try to revenge himself on you. Men don't do these things."
+
+"My husband and yours don't, but Wilkinson is different," Sadie
+answered.
+
+Charnock had not returned when she reached the farm, and after Helen
+left she sat on the veranda, feeling disturbed. Bob had told her he was
+going to the railroad to bring out some goods, but he could have got
+back two or three hours earlier. Then Wilkinson no doubt knew where he
+had gone. A small settlement, with two new hotels, had sprung up round
+the station, and as the place was easily reached by the construction
+gangs there was now and then some drunkenness and gambling. For all
+that, Sadie did not mean to anticipate trouble, and set about some
+household work that her drive had delayed. It got dark before she
+finished, but Bob did not come, and she went outside again.
+
+The night was clear and refreshingly cold after the scorching day. The
+wind had dropped, everything was very quiet, and she could see for
+some distance across the plain. The hollows were picked out by belts of
+darker shadow, and the scattered bluffs made dim gray blurs, but nothing
+moved on the waste, and she did not hear the beat of hoofs she listened
+for.
+
+For a time she sat still, lost in gloomy thought. Bob's relapse had been
+a bitter disappointment, because she had begun to hope that the danger
+of his resuming his former habits was past. He had stuck to his work,
+which seemed to absorb his interest, and had looked content. There was
+ground for believing that with a little judicious encouragement he
+might make a good farmer, and Sadie did not grudge the patient effort
+necessary to keep him in the proper path. Now he had left it again and
+might wander far before she could lead him back.
+
+For all that, she did not mean to give up. She had fought hard for Bob
+and was resolved to win, while there was a ray of comfort. The woman
+she had at first thought a danger was her best friend, and she felt for
+Helen Festing a grateful admiration that sometimes moved her deeply.
+Helen had many advantages that she could not have combated had they been
+used against her: grace, polish, and a knowledge of the world in which
+Bob had lived. But Helen was on her side. Sadie's admiration was perhaps
+warranted, but she undervalued her own patience and courage.
+
+At length she got drowsy and forgot her troubles. She did not think she
+really went to sleep, but after a time she got up with a start. A beat
+of hoofs and rattle of wheels had roused her, and she saw a rig coming
+towards the house. For a minute or two she stood shivering and trying
+to brace herself. If Bob was driving, things might be better than she
+thought; but when the horses stopped another man got down.
+
+"Perhaps you'd better rouse out your hired man, Mrs. Charnock," he said
+awkwardly. "I've got your husband here, but it's going to take two of us
+to bring him in."
+
+Sadie brought a lamp and, with her mouth firmly set, looked into the
+rig. Bob lay upon some sacks in an ungainly attitude, and the jolting
+had not broken his heavy sleep. It was some time since he had come home
+like this, and Sadie felt dejected and tired. Then with an effort she
+went to waken the hired man.
+
+They carried Charnock in, and when she had given the driver some money
+she sat down and indulged her passionate indignation. Wilkinson had sent
+the rig, but had not been prompted by kindness when he told the man to
+drive Bob back; it was his revenge for his defeat. He had found Bob,
+made him drunk, when there was nothing to be gained by doing so, and
+sent him home like this. The fellow was poison-mean, but she thought him
+rash. He had struck her a cruel blow, but she did not mean to sit still
+and nurse the wound. She must strike back with all the force she could
+use and make him sorry he had provoked her to fight. Then, putting off
+her half-formed plans until next day, she went to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A COUNTER-STROKE
+
+When Sadie got up next morning she ordered the buggy to be brought
+round, and then went to look at Charnock. He was asleep, of which she
+was rather glad, because there was something to be said and she was
+highly strung. She could not trust her temper yet and might go too
+far. Bob was generally docile, particularly when repentant; but it was
+possible to drive him into an obstinate mood when nothing could be
+done with him. She was angry, but her anger was mainly directed against
+Wilkinson.
+
+After breakfast she drove off across the plain. It was about eight
+o'clock, but the sun was hot. The breeze was not so fresh as usual, and
+a bank of dark clouds rolled up above the prairie's edge. They looked
+solid and their rounded masses shone an oily black, and she wondered
+whether they promised one of the thunder-storms that often broke upon
+the plains on summer afternoons. She would have welcomed the savage
+downpour, even if it had spoiled her clothes.
+
+Sadie was getting anxious about the crop. Its failure would mean a
+serious loss, and she hated to see labor and money wasted; but this was
+not all. Knowing the risks the farmer ran on newly-broken land, she had
+not adventured too much of her capital on the first year's harvest; but
+success might encourage Bob, while failure would certainly daunt him.
+He would work for an object he was likely to gain, but if disappointed,
+regretted the exertions he had made, and refused, with humorous logic,
+to be stirred to fresh effort.
+
+"I'm not convinced that farming's my particular duty," he once said.
+"When I plow it's in the expectation of cashing the elevator warrants
+for the grain. If I'm not to reap the crop, it seems to me that working
+fourteen hours a day is a waste of time that might be agreeably employed
+in shooting or riding about."
+
+Sadie urged that one got nothing worth having without a struggle. Bob
+rejoined: "If you get the thing you aim at, the struggle's justified;
+if you don't you think of what you've missed while you were uselessly
+employed. Of course, if you like a struggle, you have the satisfaction
+of following your bent; but hustling is a habit that has no charm for
+me."
+
+Sadie reflected that the last remark was true. Bob never hustled; his
+talk and movements were marked by a languid grace that sometimes pleased
+and sometimes irritated her. It was difficult to make him angry, and
+she was often silenced by his whimsical arguments when she knew she was
+right. But he was her husband, and she meant to baulk the man who hoped
+to profit by his carelessness.
+
+Then she urged the horse. It was a long drive to the settlement where
+she had kept the hotel, and she had not been there for some time. The
+goods she and her neighbors bought came from the new settlement on the
+railroad, which was not far off; but she had an object in visiting the
+other. It was noon when she reached the hotel and sat down to dinner in
+the familiar room. She did not know if she was pleased or disappointed
+to find the meal served as well as before, but her thoughts were not
+cheerful while she ate. She remembered her ambitions and her resolve to
+leave the dreary plains and make her mark in Toronto or Montreal. Now
+her dreams had vanished and she must grapple with dull realities that
+jarred her worse than they had done.
+
+The dining-room was clean, but unattractive, with its varnished board
+walls, bare floor, and wire-mesh filling the skeleton door, which a
+spring banged to before the mosquitoes could get in. There were no
+curtains or ventilator-fans, the room was very hot, and the glaring
+sunshine emphasized its ugliness. Then it was full of flies that fell
+upon boards and tables from the poisonous papers, and a big gramophone
+made a discordant noise. Sadie remembered Keller's pride in the machine
+and how he had bought it, to amuse the boys, after hearing an electric
+organ in a Montreal restaurant. Yet she knew her craving for society
+must be gratified at such places as this; a rare visit to the settlement
+was the only change from monotonous toil.
+
+When she offered her meal-ticket at the desk the clerk shook his head.
+
+"You don't need to open your wallet in this house. The boss left word
+he'd be glad to see you at the store."
+
+Sadie, who had meant to see the proprietor, complied, and found him and
+his wife in the back office, where she and Bob had often sat. The woman
+gave Sadie a friendly smile.
+
+"I hope they served you well. When you're in town we want you to use the
+house like it still belonged to you."
+
+Sadie made a suitable reply. She had charged a good price for the
+business, but had stuck to the Keller traditions and made a straight
+deal. Stock and furniture had been justly valued, and when the buyers
+examined the accounts she had frankly told them which debts were
+doubtful and which were probably bad. It was about these things they
+wished to talk to her, and she meant to indulge them.
+
+"How's trade?" she asked, to give them a lead.
+
+"In one way, it's good," replied the man. "We're selling out as fast as
+we can get the truck; but there's a point I want your views about. The
+cheque I gave you wiped off most all the capital I had, wholesalers put
+up their prices if you make them wait, and a number of the boys have a
+bad habit of letting their bills run on. Now, if you can give me some
+advice----."
+
+"Certainly," said Sadie, who thought the woman looked anxious. "Suppose
+you read out the names and what they owe?"
+
+The man opened a ledger, and she told him what she knew about his
+customers; whom he could trust and whom he had better refuse further
+credit. Then she looked thoughtful when he said: "Wilkinson, of the
+range--"
+
+"He didn't deal with us."
+
+"But you know everybody round here and can tell me if he's likely to
+make good," the man urged.
+
+"How much does he owe you?" Sadie asked.
+
+The man named a rather large sum and she pretended to consider.
+
+"Well," she replied, "the boys have probably told you that Wilkinson's
+not a friend of mine, and since that's so I'm not going to say much
+about his character."
+
+"It's not his character we're curious about. Do you know how he's
+fixed?"
+
+Sadie was silent for a few moments. The others were young and newly
+married and had admitted that the purchase of the business had strained
+their resources. It was plain that a large bad debt might involve them
+in difficulties. Wilkinson had forced her to fight, and she meant to
+show him no mercy, but she must say nothing that could afterwards be
+brought up against her.
+
+"Character counts for as much as dollars," she remarked. "That was my
+father's motto, and he was never afraid to take steep chances by backing
+an honest man. Although he had debts on his books for three or four
+years, it was seldom a customer let him down. But he cut out a crook as
+soon as he suspected what the fellow was. However, you want to know how
+Wilkinson stands? Well, it's a sure thing he finds dollars tight."
+
+"Anyhow, a man can't disown his debts in this country."
+
+"That's so; but if he's a farmer, the homestead laws stop your seizing
+his house and land and part of his stock, unless he has mortgaged them
+to you. If somebody else holds a mortgage, you generally get stung."
+
+"The trouble is that if you're too hard on a customer, he tells his
+friends, and the opposition gets his trade and theirs."
+
+"Sure," said Sadie, "Keller's let the opposition have that kind of
+trade. A crook's friends are generally like himself, and there's not
+much profit in selling goods to folk who don't mean to pay."
+
+"Has Wilkinson given a mortgage?" the man asked.
+
+"If he had, it's got to be registered. You can find out at the record
+office, and I guess it would pay you to go and see."
+
+"Well, I hear he's just sold a good bunch of horses. That means he'll
+have some money for a while."
+
+"Then you had better take your bills over and get them paid before the
+money's gone," Sadie answered in a meaning tone.
+
+"If you had the store, would you risk his being able to pay all right
+and afterwards dropping you?"
+
+"I certainly would," said Sadie. "I'd harness my team and start for the
+range right now."
+
+The woman looked at her husband. "That's my notion, Tom; you'd better
+go," she said, and turned to Sadie. "It would hit us hard if Wilkinson's
+bill got much longer and he let us down."
+
+Sadie left them and went to a new store farther up the street, after
+which she called on an implement dealer who occasionally speculated in
+real estate and mortgages, and one or two others. She knew them all, and
+they knew that on business matters her judgment was sound. It was plain
+that they were suspicious about Wilkinson, but, so far, undecided what
+to do. They had doubts, but hesitated to admit that they had been rash,
+and shrank from using means that might cost them a customer. Sadie gave
+one information she had gathered from another, and added hints of what
+she herself knew. The tact she used prevented their guessing that she
+had an object, and she did little more than bring their own suspicions
+to a head; but she was satisfied when she returned to the hotel.
+
+When the horse had rested she drove out of the settlement. For some
+distance a wire fence ran along the dusty, graded road, but it ended
+at a hollow, seamed by deep ruts that united on the other side, where
+a trail emerged. Then for a mile or two, she passed new scattered
+homesteads with their windmills and wooden barns, until these dropped
+behind and she drove across the empty wilderness. No rain had fallen,
+the sky was getting clear and green, and a vivid crimson sunset burned
+on the edge of the grass. The air was now cool, and although she was
+anxious about the weather, Sadie felt more cheerful than when she had
+come.
+
+She had no scruples about what she had done. For one thing, she had
+kept to the truth when she might have made her hints more damaging by a
+little exaggeration. Her antagonist had struck her a treacherous blow;
+he was dangerous, and must be downed. Then she smiled with grim humor
+as she admitted that she had perhaps done enough for a time. Wilkinson's
+creditors were on his track; it would be amusing to watch them play her
+game.
+
+It was dark when she reached the farm and found Charnock waiting on the
+veranda. He looked dull but not embarrassed, and there was nothing to
+indicate that he had been disturbed by her absence. Sadie did not tell
+him where she had been and did not talk much. She had found out that it
+was better not to make things too easy for Bob.
+
+"I suppose you have a headache; you deserve it," she said. "I'm tired
+and don't want to hear your excuses now."
+
+"I really haven't begun to make excuses," Charnock answered.
+
+"Then don't begin. It's late, and you have got to start for the bluff at
+sun-up and haul those fence-posts home. The job has been hanging on too
+long and must be finished to-morrow."
+
+"It will be finished before dinner," Charnock replied. "As a matter of
+fact, I brought in most of the posts to-day."
+
+Sadie's look softened, but she did not mean to be gracious yet.
+
+"I reckoned you'd be loafing round the house and finding fault," she
+said and left him.
+
+When she had gone Charnock smiled. Sadie would, no doubt, come round
+to-morrow, and it was lucky she knew nothing about the cheque he had
+given Wilkinson; but he wondered where she had been. Now he came to
+think of it, Wilkinson had said nothing abut the cheque when they met
+at the railroad settlement; but after all there was perhaps no reason he
+should do so.
+
+About seven o'clock one evening a fortnight later, Festing threw down
+the cant-pole he had been using to move a big birch log, and lighting
+his pipe, stopped and looked about. A shallow creek flowed through a
+ravine at the edge of the tall wheat, and below the spot where he stood
+its channel was spanned by the stringers of an unfinished bridge. The
+creek had shrunk to a thread of water, but Festing, who had been wading
+about its bed, was wet and splashed with mire. Moreover he had torn his
+threadbare overalls and his hot face was smeared where he had rubbed off
+the mosquitoes with dirty hands.
+
+The evening was hot, he felt tired and moody, and his depression was not
+relieved when he glanced at the wheat. There was no wind now, but the
+breeze had been fresh, and the ears of grain that were beginning to
+emerge from their sheaths dropped in a sickly manner. The stalks had
+a ragged look and fine sand lay among the roots. The crop was damaged,
+particularly along its exposed edge, although it might recover if there
+was rain. Festing, studying the sky, saw no hope of this. The soft blue
+to the east and the luminous green it melted into, with the harsh red
+glare of the sinking sun, threatened dry and boisterous weather. Unless
+a change came soon, the wheat would be spoiled.
+
+It was obvious that he had sown too large a crop, and the work this
+implied had overtaxed his strength. He had felt the strain for some
+time, and now things were going against him it got worse. Hope might
+have braced him, but the thought of failure was depressing. For all
+that, there were economies he must practise at the cost of extra labor,
+and bridging the creek would lessen the cost of transport and enable him
+to sell one of his teams. He was late for supper, but wanted to finish
+part of the work before he went home.
+
+By and by he saw Helen stop at the edge of the ravine. Her face was hot,
+as if she had been walking fast, and she looked vexed.
+
+"You have kept us waiting half an hour and don't seem ready yet," she
+said.
+
+"I'm not ready," Festing replied, and stopped abruptly. "Very sorry; I
+forgot all about it," he resumed.
+
+Helen made a gesture of annoyance. She had invited some of their
+neighbors to supper and had spent the day preparing the feast. Things,
+however, had gone wrong; the stove had got too hot and spoiled her
+choicest dishes.
+
+"You forgot!" she exclaimed. "It really isn't often I trouble you with
+guests."
+
+"That's lucky, because I haven't much time for entertaining people. I'm
+overworked just now."
+
+Helen hesitated because she was afraid she might say too much. She
+admired his persevering industry, but had begun to feel that he was
+slipping away from her and devoting himself to his farm. Sometimes she
+indulged an angry jealousy, and then tried to persuade herself it was
+illogical.
+
+"Then why give yourself another task by building the bridge?" she asked.
+
+"I tried to explain that. I can get the thing done with less trouble
+when the creek is nearly dry, and if we had to use the ford when hauling
+out the grain, it would mean starting with a light load or keeping a
+team of horses there. When I've built the bridge and graded back the
+road we can take the full number of bags across, and that makes for
+economy. It looks as if I'll have to be severely economical soon."
+
+Helen colored. She thought he did not mean to vex her, but he had
+ventured on dangerous ground.
+
+"You know that what is mine is yours," she said.
+
+"In a way, it is, but I put all my capital into the stock and crop, and
+must try to get it back. I can't ask my wife for money if I loaf about
+and lose my own."
+
+"You don't loaf," Helen rejoined. "But if you lose your crop from causes
+you can't prevent happening, there is no reason you shouldn't accept my
+help."
+
+"I know you're generous and would give me all you had but--"
+
+Helen shook her head. "You don't see the matter in the right way yet;
+but we'll let it go. Get your jacket and come back at once."
+
+"Must I come?" Festing asked irresolutely.
+
+"Isn't it obvious?"
+
+"I don't think so. Can't you tell the folks I'd forgotten and started
+something I must finish?"
+
+"I can't," said Helen sharply. "It hurts to know you had forgotten. The
+farm is lonely and I haven't many friends; but I can't tell outsiders
+how little that matters to you."
+
+"I'm sorry," Festing answered with some embarrassment. "Still I think
+you're exaggerating; nobody would look at it like that. Our neighbors
+know one has to stay with one's work."
+
+"Bob finds time to go about with his wife."
+
+"He does," said Festing dryly. "Driving about is easier than farming,
+and Bob has no scruples about living on his wife's money. I expect that
+was his object when he married her. There's another thing I forgot; he's
+coming to-night."
+
+"He and Sadie have been at the house some time."
+
+Festing made a sign of resignation. "I could stand the others better.
+They know what we may have to face, but nothing bothers Bob, and it's
+hard to play up to his confounded cheerfulness when you're not in the
+mood. Then I suppose I've got to put on different clothes?"
+
+Helen forced a smile. When they first came to the homestead, Stephen
+had changed his clothes for supper and afterwards devoted himself to her
+amusement, sometimes playing chess, and sometimes listening while she
+sang. Then, as the days got longer, he had gradually grown careless,
+contenting himself with changing his jacket and half an hour's talk,
+until at length he sat down to the meal in dusty overalls and hurried
+off afterwards. Helen had tried to make excuses for him, but felt hurt
+all the same. Stephen was getting slovenly and neglecting her.
+
+"It's plain that you must take off those muddy overalls," she said.
+
+They went back, and supper was delayed while Festing changed. He
+forced himself to be polite when he joined his guests, but it cost him
+something, and the dishes Helen had carefully prepared were spoiled.
+On the whole, he felt grateful to Sadie and Bob, who kept the others in
+good-humor and relieved him from the necessity of leading the talk; but
+he was glad when they left.
+
+When the rigs melted into the shadowy plain he stood on the veranda and
+yawned.
+
+"Well," he remarked, "that's over, and it will be some time before they
+need come back. I hope none of them will think they have to ask us out
+in return."
+
+"You gave them a very plain hint," Helen said bitterly.
+
+Festing did not answer and went into the house. He felt he had not been
+tactful, but he was very tired, and if he ventured an explanation might
+make things worse. Besides, he must get up at four o'clock next morning.
+
+Helen sat still for some time, looking out on the prairie. She was
+beginning to feel daunted by its loneliness. Except for Sadie Charnock,
+visitors seldom came to the farm. Her neighbors lived at some distance,
+but she had hoped to plan a round of small reunions that would break the
+monotony. Stephen, however, had shown her that she could expect no help
+from him, and had actually forgotten her first party. She felt wounded;
+it was hard to think that so long as he had work to do she must resign
+herself to being left alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+FESTING USES FORCE
+
+A week or so after the supper party Festing started for the settlement
+with some pieces of a binder in his wagon. He had bought the machine
+second-hand, and meant to replace certain worn parts before harvest
+began, although he doubted if this was worth while. The drought was
+ripening the grain prematurely and some of it was spoiled, but he must
+try to save as much as possible. Reaching the edge of the wheat, he
+stopped the team irresolutely, half tempted to turn back, because it
+seemed unlikely that the old binder need be used.
+
+The wind had fallen; the mosquitoes were about and bit his face and
+neck. Everything was strangely quiet, it was very hot, and masses of
+leaden cloud darkened the horizon. Festing, however, had given up hoping
+for rain, which would not make much difference if it came now.
+
+The front of the wide belt of grain was ragged and bitten into hollows
+by the driving sand. The torn stalks drooped and slanted away from the
+wind, while others that had fallen lay about their roots. Farther in,
+the damage was less, but the ears were half-filled and shriveled. The
+field was parti-colored, for the dull, dark green had changed to a
+dingy, sapless hue, and the riper patches had a sickly yellow tinge
+instead of a coppery gleam.
+
+Festing's face hardened. If he thrashed out half the number of bushels
+he had expected, he would be lucky. He had staked all he had on the
+chances of the weather and had lost. It was his first failure and came
+as a rude shock to his self-confidence. He felt shaken and disgusted
+with himself, for it looked as if he had been a rash fool. Still, if
+rain came now, he might save enough to obviate the necessity of using
+Helen's money. She would give him all he asked for, but this was a
+matter about which he felt strongly, and she knew his point of view.
+
+Driving on, he met the mail-carrier, who gave him a letter. It was from
+Kerr, his former chief on the railroad, who had been moved to a new
+section on the Pacific Slope. He told Festing about certain difficulties
+they had encountered, and the latter felt a curious interest. Indeed, he
+looked back with a touch of regret to the strenuous days he had spent at
+the construction camps. The work was hard, but one was provided with the
+material required and efficient tools. Then there was freedom from the
+responsibility he felt now; one did one's best and the company took the
+risk.
+
+Festing's interest deepened when, at the end of the letter, Kerr told
+him about a contract for which nobody seemed anxious to tender. It was
+a difficult undertaking, but Kerr thought a bold, resourceful man could
+carry it out with profit. He did not know if it would appeal to Festing,
+although prairie farmers sometimes went to work with their teams on a
+new track when their harvest was poor. Kerr ended with the hope that
+this was not the case with Festing.
+
+The latter sat still for a few minutes with his brows knit and then
+started his team. It was too late to think of railroad contracts; he had
+chosen his line and must stick to it, but his look was irresolute as he
+drove on.
+
+Some time after Festing reached the settlement, Wilkinson and three or
+four others sat, smoking, in the poolroom. This supplied a useful hint
+about their character, because supper would not be ready for an hour or
+two, and industrious people were busily occupied. The room was hot,
+the floor and green tables were sprinkled with poisoned flies, and
+the wooden chairs were uncomfortably hard, but it was cooler than the
+sidewalk, and the men lounged with their feet on the empty stove.
+
+"Does anybody feel like another game?" one asked.
+
+"No," said the man he looked at. "I've lost three dollars, and that's
+all I can spare. Can't spare it, for that matter, but it's gone. I'm
+going broke if this weather lasts.
+
+"That's nothing," remarked another. "Some of us have been broke since we
+came here; you get used to it. There'll be other folks in a tight place
+if the rain doesn't come; but it won't make much difference to you,
+Wilkinson. I guess the storekeepers have you fixed now."
+
+Wilkinson frowned. He knew the remark was prompted by malice because he
+had won the money his companion had lost. The fellow, however, had
+not exaggerated. His creditors had recently stopped supplies and
+made demands with which he was unable to comply, and since they were
+obviously consulting each other, it looked as if he would be sold up and
+forced to leave the neighborhood. Somebody had put them on his track and
+he suspected Mrs. Charnock. He meant to punish her if he could.
+
+"I've certainly got to sell off a bunch of young horses sooner than
+I meant; I expect you've seen the notices," he said, and added with a
+sneer: "They'd have made a much better price if I could have kept them
+until the spring, and now's your chance if you have any dollars to
+invest. It's a sure snap for anybody who'll help me hold them over."
+
+One of the men laughed ironically and another asked: "Why don't you try
+Charnock? He used to be a partner of yours, and he's more money than the
+rest of us."
+
+Wilkinson saw his opportunity. His companions were loafing gossips, and
+those who were married would tell their wives. In a very short time the
+rumor he meant to start would travel about the neighborhood, and there
+was enough truth in it to make it dangerous and hard to deny.
+
+"Charnock's deadbeat. He's as poor as you."
+
+"His wife has plenty dollars, anyhow."
+
+"That's so, but she's not going to give him any more," Wilkinson
+rejoined. "He married Sadie for her money, and now he hasn't sense
+enough to stick to her."
+
+It was obvious that he had secured the others' attention, for they
+waited eagerly, with their eyes fixed on him. The room was quiet, but a
+rig came up the street and the rattle of wheels and harness drowned
+the sound of steps outside. Nobody noticed that the door, which was not
+quite shut, opened wider.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" one asked.
+
+"Bob's running after Mrs. Festing. Old sweetheart of his in England,
+though he turned her down to marry Sadie. Now she's got hold of him
+again--tired of Festing or has a pick on Mrs. Charnock, perhaps. Anyhow,
+Bob's round the Festing place all the time, and I don't know that I
+blame him much. Mrs. Festing's a looker and Sadie's a difficult woman to
+live with."
+
+"But what has Festing got to say?"
+
+Wilkinson laughed. "Festing's a bit of a sucker and doesn't know. He's
+scared about the big crop he has sown and thinks of nothing but the
+weather and his farm, while Bob goes over when he's off at work. But I
+guess there's trouble coming soon."
+
+"It's coming now," said somebody, and Wilkinson's jaw fell slack, and he
+sat with his mouth open as Festing strode into the room.
+
+The latter had come to look for a smith, and hearing Wilkinson's voice
+as he went up the steps, waited for a moment or two. He was too late, in
+one sense, because the harm had been done, but he could not steal away.
+Although the course he meant to take was not very logical, judgment
+would be given against him if he did nothing. His sunburned face was
+rather white and he stood very stiff, with muscles braced, looking down
+at Wilkinson.
+
+"Get up, you slanderous brute, and tell them it's a lie," he said.
+
+"I'll be shot if I will!" said Wilkinson, who got on his feet
+reluctantly. "You know it's true."
+
+Then he flung up his arm, a second too late, for Festing struck him a
+smashing blow and he staggered, with the blood running down his face.
+
+He recovered in a moment, and seizing a billiard cue brought the thick
+end down on Festing's head. Festing swayed, half-dazed, but grasped
+the cue, and they struggled for its possession, until it broke in the
+middle, and Wilkinson flung his end in the other's face. After this,
+for a minute or two, the fight was close and confused, and both made the
+most of any advantage that offered.
+
+In Western Canada, personal combat is not hampered by rules. The main
+thing is to disable one's antagonist as quickly as possible, and Festing
+knew that Wilkinson would not be scrupulous. He must not be beaten,
+particularly since his defeat would, to some extent, confirm the
+slander.
+
+He grappled with Wilkinson as a precaution, because another cue stood
+near, and with a tense effort threw him against the empty stove. The
+shock was heavy enough to bring the stove-pipe down, and a cloud of soot
+fell upon the struggling men, while the pipe rolled noisily across the
+floor. Wilkinson, however, stuck to him, and they reeled up and down
+between the wall and table, getting an arm loose now and then to strike
+a blow, and scattering the chairs. Nobody interfered or cleared the
+ground, and by and by Wilkinson caught his foot and fell down, bringing
+Festing with him. After this, they fought upon the floor, rolling over
+among the chairs, until their grip got slack. Both got up, breathing
+hard, and Festing gasped:
+
+"Tell them you're a liar. It's the last chance you'll get!"
+
+Wilkinson did not answer, but struck him before he could guard, and
+the fight went on again amidst a cloud of dust that rose from the dirty
+boards. Then it ended suddenly, for Festing got his left arm free as he
+forced his antagonist towards the open door. He struck with savage fury,
+and Wilkinson, reeling backwards across the narrow veranda, plunged
+down the stairs and fell into the street. He did not get up, and Festing
+leaned against the wall and wiped his bleeding face.
+
+"Pick up the hog and take him to the hotel," he said, and tried to fill
+his pipe with shaking hands while the rest went out.
+
+Other people joined them in the street, and Festing, stealing away as a
+crowd began to gather, went to the implement store, where he washed his
+face and brushed his damaged clothes. There was a cut on his forehead
+and his jacket was badly torn, while some of the soot that had fallen
+upon it would not come off. After a rest and a smoke, however, he did
+not feel much worse, and the dealer, going to the hotel, brought back
+news that Wilkinson had driven home.
+
+"I guess you have done all you could and can let the fellow go," he
+said. "My notion is he won't be in the neighborhood long."
+
+An hour later, Festing drove out of the settlement, with a strip of
+sticking plaster on his forehead and his jacket clumsily mended. The sky
+was now a curious leaden color, and the wild barley shone a livid white
+against the dark riband of the trail; the air was very hot and there
+was not a breath of wind. Festing noted that the horses were nervous and
+trotted fast, although they had made a long journey. Now and then they
+threw up their heads and snorted, and swerved violently when a gopher
+ran across the trail or a prairie-hen got up. The flies seemed to have
+gone, but the mosquitoes were out in clouds, and the hand with which
+he slapped his face and neck was soon smeared with small red stains. He
+could not hold the whip; but it was not needed, because the team rather
+required to be checked than urged.
+
+When the trail permitted he let them go, and swung, lost in gloomy
+thoughts, with the jolting of the rig. The damaging part of Wilkinson's
+statement was false, but since part was true the tale would spread and
+some would believe the worst. It was impossible to doubt Helen, but he
+was angry with her. She had let her ridiculous notion of reforming Bob
+carry her away. Festing did not think Bob could be reformed, but it
+was Sadie's business, not Helen's. Besides, he had objected to her
+encouraging the fellow to hang about the homestead, and she had
+disregarded his warnings. Now, the thing must be stopped, and it would
+be horribly disagreeable to tell her why. She had been obstinate and
+rash, but after all she meant well and would be badly hurt. He began to
+feel sorry for her, and his angry thought's centered on Charnock.
+
+It was, of course, ridiculous to imagine that Bob was seriously trying
+to make love to Helen; he knew her character too well. All the same, the
+fellow might amuse himself by mild indulgence in romantic sentiment. He
+was a fool and a slacker, and had now humiliated Helen for the second
+time. The longer Festing thought about it, the angrier he got, and when
+he roused himself as the horses plunged down the side of a ravine he was
+surprised to note how far he had gone. He had just time to tighten the
+reins and guide the team across the open log bridge at the bottom, and
+as they plodded up the other side saw that he had better get home as
+soon as possible.
+
+The drooping leaves of the birches in the hollow flittered ominously,
+and when he reached the summit a bluff that stood out from the plain two
+or three miles off suddenly vanished. It looked as if a curtain had been
+drawn across the grass. The horses set off at a fast trot, and the rig
+jolted furiously among the ruts. It would not be dark for an hour, but
+the gray obscurity that had hidden the bluff was getting near. At its
+edge and about a mile off a pond shone with a strange sickly gleam.
+
+Then a dazzling flash fell from the cloud bank overhead and touched the
+grass. A stunning crash of thunder rolled across the sky, and the team
+plunged into a frantic gallop. Festing braced himself in a vain attempt
+to hold them, for the trail was half covered with tall grass and broken
+by badger holes. He was soon breathless and dazzled, for the lightning
+fell in forked streaks that ran along the plain, and the trail blazed in
+front of the horses' feet. Thunder is common in Canada, but it is on the
+high central plains that the storms attain their greatest violence.
+
+The team plunged on, and Festing, jolting to and fro, durst not lift his
+eyes from the trail. The storm would probably not last long and might do
+some good if it were followed by moderate rain. But he was not sure that
+moderate rain would fall. By and by a few large drops beat upon his hat,
+there was a roar in the distance, and a cool draught touched his face.
+It died away, but the next puff was icy cold, and the roar got louder.
+He looked up, for he knew what was coming, but there was not a bluff in
+sight that would shield him from the wind.
+
+Turning down his hat-brim against the increasing rain, he let the horses
+go. He need not try to hold them; the storm would stop them soon. It
+broke upon him with a scream and a shower of sand and withered grass. He
+staggered as if he had got a blow, and then leaned forward to resist
+the pressure. The horses swerved, and he had trouble to keep them on the
+trail, but their speed slackened and they fell into a labored trot. For
+a few minutes they struggled against the gale, and then the roar Festing
+had heard behind the scream drowned the rumbling thunder. He threw up
+his arm to guard his face as the terrible hail of the plains drove down
+the blast.
+
+It fell in oblique lines of ragged lumps of ice, hammering upon the
+wagon and bringing the horses to a stop. They began to plunge, turning
+half round, while one pressed against the other, in an effort to escape
+the savage buffeting. Festing let them have their way at the risk of
+upsetting the rig, and presently they stopped with their backs to the
+wind. He let the reins fall, and the hail beat upon his bowed head and
+shoulders like a shower of stones. The horses stood limp and trembling,
+as powerless as himself.
+
+Their punishment did not last long. The hail got thinner and the lumps
+smaller; the roar diminished and Festing heard it recede across the
+plain. The wind was still savage, but it was falling, and the thunder
+sounded farther off. There was a savage downpour of drenching rain, and
+when this moderated he pulled himself together, and turning the horses,
+resumed his journey. He was wet to the skin, his shoulders were sore,
+and his face and hands were bruised and cut. Pieces of ice, some as
+large as hazelnuts, lay about the wagon, and the wild barley lay flat
+beside the trail. Not a blade of grass stood upright as far as he could
+see, and the ruts in which the wheels churned were full of melting hail
+and water.
+
+It was getting dark when his homestead rose out of the plain; a shadowy
+group of buildings, marked by two or three twinkling lights. He was wet
+and cold, but he stopped by the wheat and nerved himself to see what
+had happened to the crop. He had not had much hope, but for all that
+got something of a shock. There was no standing grain; the great field
+looked as if it had been mown. Bruised stalks and torn blades lay flat
+in a tattered, tangled mass, splashed with sticky mud. The rain that
+might have saved him had come too late and was finishing the ruin the
+sand and hail had made.
+
+Then the downpour thickened and the light died out, and he drove to the
+house. He could see in the morning if any remnant of the crop could be
+cut, but there would not be enough to make much difference. Hope had
+gone, and his face was stern when he called the hired man and got down
+stiffly from the dripping rig.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+HELEN MAKES A MISTAKE
+
+When Festing had changed his clothes he entered the small sitting-room
+with an effort at cheerfulness. The room was unusually comfortable for
+a prairie homestead. The floor was stained, rugs were spread on the
+polished boards, and Helen had drawn the curtains, which harmonized in
+color with the big easy chairs. There were books in well-made cases, and
+two or three good pictures on the painted walls, while a tall brass lamp
+with a deep shade threw down a soft light. Helen had put a meal on the
+table, and Festing sat down with a feeling that was half uneasiness and
+half content.
+
+While he ate he glanced at his wife. She wore a pretty and rather
+fashionable dress that she kept for evenings. She looked fresh and
+vigorous, although the summer had been hot and she worked hard; the
+numerous petty difficulties she had to contend with had left no mark.
+Her courage had always been evident, but she had shown a resolution
+that Festing had not quite expected. He admired it, in a way, but it was
+sometimes awkward when they took a different point of view.
+
+There was a charm in coming back to a home like this when he was tired
+and disappointed, but its taste and comfort were now disturbing. For one
+thing, he had perhaps not made the best use of his privileges, and, for
+another, Helen might have to be satisfied with a simpler mode of life.
+It hurt him to think of this, because he had hoped to beautify the house
+still further, so that she should miss nothing she had been used to in
+the Old Country. It was obvious that she understood something of his
+misfortune, for her look was sympathetic; but she let him finish his
+supper before she began to talk.
+
+"Your jacket is badly torn, Stephen," she remarked when he lighted his
+pipe. "And how did you cut your face?"
+
+"The hail was pretty fierce."
+
+"It was terrible. We never had storms like that in England. I was
+frightened when I thought of your being out on the prairie. But I don't
+mean the small bruises. How did you cut your forehead?"
+
+"Oh, that!" said Festing awkwardly. "I did it when I fell over a stove
+at the settlement. The pipe came down and I imagine the edge struck me."
+
+"You would have known if it hit you nor not."
+
+"Well, it might have been the top of the stove. The molding was sharp."
+
+"But how did you fall against the stove?" Helen persisted.
+
+Festing did not want to tell her about the fight with Wilkinson. He had
+resolved to say nothing about the matter until morning.
+
+"I tripped. There was a chair in the way and it caught my foot."
+
+Helen did not look altogether satisfied, but let the matter go.
+
+"Has the hail done much damage to the wheat?"
+
+"Yes," said Festing, with grim quietness. "I imagine it has done all the
+damage that was possible. So far as I could see, the crop's wiped out."
+
+They were sitting near together, and Helen, leaning forward, put her
+hand on his arm with a gesture of sympathy.
+
+"Poor Stephen! I'm dreadfully sorry. It must have been a blow."
+
+Festing's hard look softened. "It was. When I stopped beside the wreck I
+felt knocked out, but getting home braced me up. I begin to feel I might
+have had a worse misfortune and mustn't exaggerate the importance of the
+loss."
+
+Helen was silent for a few minutes, but she was sensible of a certain
+relief. She was sorry for her husband, but there was some compensation,
+since it looked as if a ray of light had dawned on him. Although she had
+struggled against the feeling, she was jealous of the farm that had kept
+him away from her.
+
+"I think you sowed too large a crop, and you could not have gone on
+working as you have done," she said. "It would have worn you out."
+
+Festing put down his pipe and looked at her with surprise. "You don't
+seem to understand that I'll have to work harder than before."
+
+"I don't understand," said Helen, taking away her hand. "To begin with,
+it's impossible; then I'd hoped the loss of money, serious as it is,
+would have made you cautious and, in a sense, more content."
+
+"You hoped the loss of the money--!" Festing exclaimed. "Did you ever
+know losing money make anybody content? The thing's absurd!"
+
+Helen made a gesture of protest. "Stephen, dear, try to see what I mean.
+You have been doing too much, running too big risks, and fixing all your
+thought upon the farm. It has made you irritable and impatient, and
+the strain is telling on your health. This could not go on long, and
+although I'm truly sorry the wheat is spoiled, it's some relief to know
+you will be forced to be less ambitious. Besides, it's foolish to be
+disturbed. Neither of us is greedy, and we have enough. In fact, we have
+much that I hardly think you value as you ought."
+
+"I haven't enough; that's the trouble."
+
+"Oh," said Helen, "you know that all I have belongs to both."
+
+"It doesn't," Festing answered in a stubborn tone. "You don't seem to
+realize yet that I can't change my views about this matter. I've lost
+most of my money, but that's no reason I should lose my wife's. Besides,
+since you bought the farm, you haven't a large sum left." He paused and
+indicated the handsome rugs and furniture. "Then it costs a good deal to
+live up to this kind of thing."
+
+"We can change that; I can manage with less help and be more economical.
+There is much that we can go without. I wouldn't mind at all, Stephen,
+if it would help you to take things easily."
+
+Festing colored. "No. I can't let you suffer for my rashness. It's my
+business to give you all the comforts you need."
+
+"Ah," said Helen, "I like you to think of me. But something's due to
+pride. I wonder how much?"
+
+"I don't know," said Festing, rather wearily. "I'm what I am and haven't
+much time to improve myself. For that matter, I'll have less time now."
+
+"Then what do you mean to do?"
+
+"Make the most of what I have left. I'd hoped to give you a change this
+winter--take you to Montreal and go skating and tobogganing, but that's
+done with. I believe I have money enough to begin again in a small way
+and work up. It may take me two or three years to get back to where I
+was, but somehow I will get back."
+
+"Then you are going on as before; concentrating all your mind upon the
+farm, taking no rest, denying yourself every pleasure you might have
+had?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's the only way. It's a pretty grim outlook, but I think
+I can stand the strain."
+
+"Then I suppose I must try," said Helen, very quietly.
+
+She was silent afterwards, and Festing lit his pipe. Something stood
+between them, and she felt that it was not less dangerous because their
+motives were good. Had they differed from selfishness, agreement might
+have been easier, but an estrangement that sprang from principle
+was hard to overcome. She wanted to help her husband and keep him to
+herself; he meant to save her hardship and carry out a task that was
+properly his. But perhaps their motives were not so fine as they looked.
+Suppose there was shabby jealousy on her side, and false pride on his?
+Well, Stephen was tired and could not see things in the proper light,
+and it was some relief when he got up and went out. Helen picked up a
+book, in the hope of banishing her uneasy thoughts.
+
+Next morning Festing came in for breakfast, feeling gloomy and
+preoccupied. He had not slept much and got up early to examine the
+damaged grain. It looked worse than he had thought and, for the most
+part, must be burned off the ground. There were patches that might,
+with difficulty, be cut, but he hardly imagined the stooks would pay
+for thrashing. Moreover, he had bought and fed a number of expensive
+Percheron horses, which ought to have been used for harvesting and
+hauling the grain to the railroad, and had engaged men at lower wages
+than usual, on the understanding that he kept them through the winter.
+Now there was nothing for both to do, although their maintenance would
+cost as much as before.
+
+He read Kerr's letter again. If he had not been married, it would have
+given him a chance of overcoming his difficulties. A man and a team
+of horses could do all that was required on the farm in winter, and he
+could have taken the others to British Columbia. Kerr would arrange
+for free transport, and, if he was lucky, he might earn enough on the
+railroad to cover part of his loss. But this was impossible. He could
+not leave Helen.
+
+Then there was the other matter. He had not yet told her what Wilkinson
+had said, but she must be told, and Bob's visits must stop. The trouble
+was that he had already vexed her by refusing her help, and this would
+not make his delicate task easier. Besides, he was not in the mood to
+use much tact. His nerves were raw; the shock he had got had left him
+savage and physically tired. For all that, the thing could not be put
+off.
+
+He said nothing until breakfast was over, and then, asking Helen to come
+with him, went on to the veranda. The sun was hot, the sky clear, and
+thin steam drifted across the drenched plain. Had the storm come without
+the hail a few weeks sooner, it would have saved his crop; but now the
+vivifying moisture seemed to mock him. It had come too late; the wheat
+had gone. Struggling with a feeling of depression, he turned to his
+wife.
+
+"There's something we must talk about; and I hope you'll be patient with
+me if you get a jar."
+
+He leaned against the balustrade, nervously fingering his pipe, and
+Helen sat down opposite. She felt curious and disturbed.
+
+"Well?" she said.
+
+"To begin with, I'll tell you what happened at the settlement yesterday.
+You must remember that the statements are Wilkinson's."
+
+Helen's color rose, and when he stopped her face was flushed and her
+eyes were very bright.
+
+"Ah," she said in a strained voice. "But what did you do?"
+
+Festing smiled rather grimly. "I dragged the brute about the floor and
+threw him into the street. I don't know that it was a logical denial of
+the slander, but it was what the others expected and I had to indulge
+them."
+
+"And that was how you cut your forehead?"
+
+"Yes," said Festing, and for a few moments Helen tried to regulate her
+thoughts.
+
+She felt shocked and disgusted, but did not mean to let her anger master
+her, because there were matters that must be carefully weighed. Indeed,
+it was something of a relief to dwell upon the first. To hear of
+Festing's thrashing her traducer had given her a pleasant thrill, but
+all the same she vaguely disapproved. He had not taken a dignified line
+and had really made things worse. It was humiliating to feel that she
+had been the subject of a vulgar poolroom brawl.
+
+"Could you not have found a better way to silence him?" she asked.
+
+"I could not. I was afraid you wouldn't like it, but you must try to
+understand that I was forced to play up to local sentiment. English
+notions of what is becoming don't hold good here; you can't stop a man
+like Wilkinson with a supercilious look. If I'd let the thing go, the
+boys would have thought his statements true, and the tale is bad enough
+to deal with."
+
+Helen gave him a steady look, but her color was high and her face was
+hard.
+
+"But you know it isn't true!"
+
+"Of course," said Festing, with quiet scorn. "All that the brute
+insinuated is absolutely false. Bob's a fool, but he knows you, and I'm
+beginning to think he's a little in love with his wife."
+
+"Ah," said Helen, "I knew you knew. But I felt I must hear you say so."
+
+Festing hesitated. One difficulty had vanished, but there was another,
+and he hoped Helen would see his point of view.
+
+"For all that, in a way, there was some truth in the story; enough, in
+fact, to make it dangerous, and I think you have been rash. Bob has been
+here too often, and you will remember I objected to his coming."
+
+"You did," said Helen. "You were rather disagreeable about it; but you
+objected because he liked to talk and kept you from your work."
+
+"He certainly talked. General conversation is all right in English
+country houses where nobody had much to do, but casual chatterers who
+insist on talking when you're busy are a disgusting nuisance in Canada.
+However, I don't think that's worth arguing about."
+
+"It is not," said Helen, with a smile. "Besides, I know your opinions
+about that point. What do you wish me to do?"
+
+"Warn Sadie to keep Bob at home. There's no reason she shouldn't visit
+you, but you can't go there."
+
+The color returned to Helen's face and she got up. She looked stately
+with her air of injured pride.
+
+"Do you mean that I should rule my conduct to suit the ideas of the
+drunken loafers at the settlement poolroom?"
+
+"Oh!" said Festing impatiently, "try to be sensible! You have done a
+foolish thing, but you needn't make it worse. The trouble is that
+those loafers' opinions will be reflected all round the neighborhood.
+Wilkinson won't say anything more; at least, he won't when I'm about;
+but I can't keep on throwing out people who agree with him."
+
+"That is plain. If you were not so angry, the remark would be humorous."
+
+"I'm not angry," Festing rejoined.
+
+"Well, I am," said Helen. "And I think I have some grounds. Must I let
+those tipsy gossips dictate when I may see my friends?"
+
+"Does it matter if you see them or not? You don't really care for Bob."
+
+"No," said Helen, trying to be calm. "In a way, I don't care for Bob;
+that is, I'm glad I didn't marry him. But I don't see why I should stop
+him coming here when Sadie wants to bring him. She's my friend, and she
+knows it does Bob good. I'm too angry to flatter you, Stephen, but you
+have some influence--"
+
+Festing laughed. "All the influence I've got won't go far with Bob. I
+don't say the fellow's vicious, but he's an extravagant slacker and a
+fool, which is perhaps as bad. Anyhow, if he can be reformed at all,
+it's Sadie's business, and I've no doubt she finds it an arduous
+job. There's no use in an outsider meddling, and your anxiety for his
+improvement might be misunderstood. In fact, it has been seriously
+misunderstood."
+
+"You seem to have made up your mind about the matter," Helen remarked
+with a curious look.
+
+"I have. Perhaps the easiest way would be for you to give Sadie a hint."
+
+"Suppose I refuse?"
+
+"Then I shall have to talk to Bob. After all, that might be better."
+
+Helen flushed, but her color faded and her face got white. "You are
+willing to let this scurrilous gossip influence you as far as that? Do
+you mean to forbid my friends coming to see me?"
+
+"I won't have Bob hanging round my house. The wastrel has done you harm
+enough."
+
+"You forget something," Helen rejoined in a strained, cold voice. "The
+house is mine."
+
+She knew her mistake as she saw the change in Festing's look, and weakly
+turned her head. When she looked back it was too late. His hands were
+clenched and his gaze was fixed.
+
+"I--I didn't quite mean that," she faltered.
+
+"Anyhow, it's true," said Festing quietly. "The farm is yours as well,
+and I admit you have no grounds for being satisfied with the way I've
+managed your property. You won't have much trouble in getting a better
+steward."
+
+Helen glanced at him, with a hint of fear. "But I don't want anybody
+else. Do you mean to give up the farm?"
+
+"Yes. As soon as I can arrange things for you I'm going to British
+Columbia for a time. I've been offered a railroad contract, and as it's
+a job I know something about, I mayn't fail at that."
+
+"And you will leave me alone to face this slander?"
+
+"The remedy's in your hands. I'm powerless if you won't use it. I can't
+forbid Bob coming here; you can."
+
+Helen hesitated. It was unfortunate that both were in an abnormal mood.
+They had borne some strain, and the shock of the disaster to the crop
+had left them with jangled nerves. This clouded Helen's judgment, but
+reenforced her pride. She had meant well when she tried to help
+Sadie with Bob, and could not give way to her husband's unreasonable
+prejudice. This was a matter of principle. She could help Bob and must
+not be daunted by vulgar gossip.
+
+"No," she said; "I can't break my promise to Sadie for the reasons you
+give. You must do what you think best."
+
+Festing made a sign of acquiescence and went down the steps, while Helen
+bit her lip. She wanted to call him back, but somehow could not. It
+might be easier if he would look round, but he went on across the grass
+and his step was resolute, although his head was bent. Then she got up,
+and going to her room, sat down trembling. She had let her best chance
+go; Stephen's resolve would stiffen, for when he had made a choice he
+was hard to move. Besides, he had wounded her deeply. He did not seem to
+understand that if he went away he would give people ground for thinking
+the slander true. He ought to have seen this if he had thought about
+her. Perhaps he had seen it and refused to let it influence him. Well,
+if he wanted a reconciliation, he must make the first offer.
+
+In the meantime, Festing went to look for the foreman, whom he could
+trust. After some talk, the man agreed to manage the farm for the winter
+on the terms Festing indicated. Then the latter asked if the other men
+would go with him to the Pacific Slope, and finding them willing, went
+back to his office and carefully studied his accounts. He was glad
+to think that Helen had sufficient help and that the staid Scottish
+housekeeper would take care of her. By and by he wrote a note and then
+drove off to the settlement. He did not come back until next morning,
+but his plans were made and he only waited a telegram from Kerr. Three
+or four days later the telegram arrived.
+
+"All fixed," it ran. "Pass for transport mailed. Come along soon as
+possible."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+SADIE SEES A WAY
+
+Soon after Festing started for British Columbia Sadie drove over to
+the farm; because she had heard about the fight in the poolroom and
+suspected why he had gone. At first she found it difficult to break down
+Helen's reserve, but the latter could not resist her frank sympathy, and
+softening by degrees, allowed herself to be led into confidential talk.
+Sadie waited until she thought she understood the matter, and then
+remarked:
+
+"So you stuck to your promise that you'd help me with Bob, although you
+saw what it would cost? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you hated us."
+
+"It wasn't altogether the promise," Helen replied. "We were both highly
+strung, and I thought Stephen hard and prejudiced; it seemed ridiculous
+that he should care what the loafers said. But I don't hate you. The
+fault was really mine, and I want a friend."
+
+"Well," said Sadie, "I feel I've got to help put this trouble right, if
+I can." She paused and asked with some hesitation: "Will Steve be away
+long?"
+
+"I don't know," Helen answered dejectedly. "He hinted that he might not
+come until spring; I think he means to stop until he has earned enough
+to make him independent. That's partly my fault--I said something rash.
+If I hadn't had more money than him, it wouldn't have happened."
+
+Sadie smiled. "My having more money won't make trouble between me and
+Bob; he doesn't mind how much I've got. But I suppose you want Steve
+back?"
+
+"Of course! It's all I want, but the matter is not as simple as it
+looks. I don't think he will come back as long as he's poor, and if he
+does, he won't use my capital, and things will be as before. If he earns
+some money, I should feel hurt because he was obstinate and wouldn't let
+me help. That's why I don't know what to do. I wish I'd never had the
+money!"
+
+Sadie thought Helen had some ground she had not mentioned yet for her
+distress. Moreover, it looked as if she still felt she had a grievance
+against Festing, and their clashing ideas about the money did not
+altogether account for this.
+
+"I guess you're keeping something back."
+
+Helen's reserve had broken down. She was half ashamed because she had
+lost it, but she felt the need of sympathy, and Sadie could be trusted.
+
+"He didn't see, or didn't mind, that his going away would bear out the
+wicked story!" she exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "I feel that was the
+worst."
+
+"I don't know that it looks quite as bad as you think. It's a common
+thing for a farmer who has lost his crop to go off and work on a new
+railroad, particularly if he has teams the construction boss can use.
+Anyhow, I guess the thing will come right, and I'll help if I can. But I
+want to see my way before I move."
+
+Helen did not answer, and soon afterwards Sadie left the homestead. She
+said nothing to Charnock about her visit, but started for the settlement
+next morning and informed herself about what had happened at the
+poolroom and what people thought. Then she drove home, and getting back
+at dusk, sat down opposite Charnock, who lounged in a basket chair with
+a pipe in his mouth. Her eyes twinkled with rather grim humor.
+
+"You don't look as if anything bothered you," she said.
+
+"It's possible," Charnock agreed. "I suppose I'm lucky because I have
+nothing much to bother about."
+
+"You wouldn't bother about it, anyhow. You leave that kind of thing to
+me."
+
+Charnock gave her a quick glance. She was not angry, which was something
+of a relief, because Sadie was difficult when she let herself go.
+Besides, he was not conscious of having done anything to vex her since
+he gave Wilkinson the cheque. But she looked resolute.
+
+"I've a good excuse," he answered. "I've got a remarkably capable wife."
+
+"We'll cut out the compliments. I don't think you have seen any of the
+boys from the settlement since Festing left."
+
+Charnock said he had not done so, and she gave him a thoughtful look.
+
+"I suppose you can't remember when you last did something useful;
+something that would help somebody else?"
+
+"It's a painful confession, but I can't remember. Still I've some
+experience of being helped along a way I didn't want to go, which leads
+me to believe it's often kinder to leave folks alone."
+
+"Anyhow, you have done some harm."
+
+"I'm afraid that's true. I don't know that I meant to do much harm, but
+it's generally easier than doing good. For example, I've given you some
+trouble; but at the moment I can't think of a new offense."
+
+"You can quit joking and put down that newspaper. It looks as if you
+didn't know why Festing left?"
+
+Charnock said he could not guess, and got up abruptly when Sadie told
+him. He kicked the newspaper out of his way and crossed the floor with
+angry strides. His face was red when he stopped in front of his wife.
+
+"You don't believe the lying tale!"
+
+"No," said Sadie, calmly. "If I had believed it, I wouldn't have talked
+to you like this."
+
+"Thank you! Now we have cleared the ground, I'm certainly going to do
+something. I'll begin by driving over to Wilkinson's to-morrow, and I'll
+take a whip."
+
+"Festing 'tended to that matter before he left, and making another
+circus won't help. Besides, Wilkinson has got to quit. You'll see
+notices about his sale soon; I fixed that up."
+
+Charnock laughed. "You're a marvel, Sadie, but the brute deserves it.
+Well, if I mustn't thrash him, what's your plan?"
+
+"You'll go to British Columbia and bring Festing back."
+
+"I will, by George!" said Charnock. "We owe him and Helen much, and
+the job is obviously mine--by joining Festing I give Wilkinson the
+lie. You're clever, and I expect you saw this. Anyhow, I'll start; but
+Festing's an obstinate fellow. Suppose he won't come back?"
+
+"He mayn't at first. If so, you'll have to wait."
+
+Charnock turned away and walked about the floor while Sadie watched him,
+pleased but curious. Bob was rather hard to move, but he was moved now.
+He came back, and sitting down, looked at her thoughtfully.
+
+"I imagine you are giving me a bigger job than you know. If Festing has
+taken the railroad contract, he'll probably stop until he had carried it
+out. Now I don't imagine I'd find it amusing to loaf about and watch
+him work; for one thing, it's pretty cold in the ranges after the snow
+comes."
+
+"Well?" said Sadie.
+
+Charnock leaned forward with an apologetic smile. "I'd like to take a
+share in the contract and help him through; that is, of course, if he
+won't come back at once. But there's a difficulty; I haven't the cash."
+
+"You want me to give you some?"
+
+"Yes. I shouldn't feel much surprised if you refused. I've squandered
+your money before, but this time I mean business. Can't you see that I
+have, so to speak, got my chance at last?"
+
+"I don't quite see. You have had many chances."
+
+"I have," Charnock agreed; but there was a new note in his voice and a
+look in his eyes that Sadie had not often seen. "I've been a fool, but
+perhaps it doesn't follow that I'm incapable of change. However, let's
+be practical. The crop is spoiled, we have no grain to haul in, and
+there'll be nothing doing here while the snow is on the ground. Well, if
+Festing can get some of his money back, why can't I? I've wasted yours
+long enough, and now, if I can't bring him home, I'll stop with him
+until we both make good."
+
+"You mean that, Bob?"
+
+"I do. Give me a chance to prove it."
+
+Sadie got up, and putting her hands on his shoulders, kissed him. "Very
+well. You shall have all the money you want."
+
+Then she went back to her chair and turned her head. She had borne with
+her husband's follies and fought hard for him, sometimes with hope and
+sometimes in desperation, but always with unflinching courage. Now it
+looked as if she had won. Victory was insecure yet, and there was a
+risk that it might turn to defeat, but Sadie never shrank from a daring
+venture. For a moment she could not speak; her heart was full.
+
+"Hallo!" said Charnock, who got up and came towards her. "Crying, Sadie?
+Will you miss me as much as that?"
+
+Sadie hastily wiped her eyes. "Yes, Bob; I'll miss you all the time. But
+if you'll come back the man you are now, I'll wait as long as you like."
+
+"I'll try," said Charnock simply. "I'm not going to protest, but you
+deserve a much better husband than you've got. If I can't come back
+better fit to live with you, I won't come back at all."
+
+"I wouldn't like that," Sadie answered, smiling uncertainly. "But I
+guess I know what you mean. I'll wait, dear, because I know you are
+going to make good."
+
+Then, feeling that she had said enough, she began to make plans.
+Something might be saved from the ruined crop and she had better keep
+a heavy team, but Charnock could have the other horses if they were
+required. She could carry on whatever work was possible after the frost
+set in, and would pay off one of the hired men. Charnock approved, and
+after a time Sadie leaned back in her chair.
+
+"It's all fixed, but perhaps we mayn't need these plans," she said.
+"Remember you're really going there to bring Festing home."
+
+"That's understood. However, I don't think he'll come, and if so, it
+will be Helen's money that prevents him. If he's foolish enough to doubt
+her, I can put him right, which will be something."
+
+"Yes," said Sadie, with a sigh. "Well, if he won't come, you must stop
+and do the best you can."
+
+In the meantime, Festing reached the railroad camp. It was raining when
+the construction train rolled noisily through a mountain gorge, and he
+stood at the door of the caboose, looking out. Three or four hundred
+feet below, a green river, streaked with muddy foam, brawled among the
+rocks, for the track had been dug out of a steep hillside. Festing knew
+this was difficult work; one could deal with rock, although it cost
+much to cut, but it was another matter to bed the rails in treacherous
+gravel, and the fan-shaped mounds of shale and soil that ran down to the
+water's edge showed how loose the ground was and the abruptness of the
+slope. Above, the silver mist drifted about the black firs that clung to
+the side of the mountain, and in the distance there was a gleam of snow.
+Some of the trees had fallen, and it was significant that, for the most
+part, they did not lie where they fell. They had slipped down hill, and
+the channels in the ground indicated that the shock had been enough to
+start a miniature avalanche which had carried them away. The pitch was
+near the slant engineers call the angle of rest, but Festing thought
+there was rock not far beneath, which prevented the solidification of
+the superincumbent soil. It looked as if his contract would be difficult
+and he would earn his pay.
+
+As the cars passed he saw the ballast creep about the ends of the ties,
+which reached to the edge of the descent, and in places small streams of
+gravel had run down, leaving hollows round the timber. The harsh jolting
+indicated the consequences, but he knew that in the West railroads are
+built as fast as possible and made safe afterwards. For that matter,
+he had often run risks that would have daunted engineers used to
+conservative English methods. In the meantime, the speed was slackening,
+and by and by the harsh tolling of the locomotive bell echoed among the
+pines. Tents, iron huts, and rude log shacks slipped past; men in muddy
+slickers drew back against the bank, and then the train stopped.
+
+Festing got down into the water that flowed among the ties, and Kerr
+came forward in dripping slickers.
+
+"If you want help to get the teams out, I'll send some of the boys," he
+said. "If not, you had better come along and I'll show you your shack.
+I told our cook to fix your supper, and I'll be glad to sit down for a
+time out of the wet."
+
+Festing followed him along the descending track, which presently ended
+at a ledge of rock sixty or seventy feet above the river. Wire ropes
+spanned the gap between the banks, and near the middle a rock islet
+broke the surface of the savage flood. Here men were pouring cement into
+holes among the foundations of an iron frame, while suspended trollies
+clanged across the wires. On the other bank was a small flat where
+shacks of log and bark stood among dripping tents. The roar of the river
+filled the gorge, but its deep note was broken by the rattle of hammers,
+clash of shovels, and clang of thrown-down rails.
+
+The sounds of keen activity stirred Festing's blood. He had a touch of
+constructive genius, but lack of specialized training had forced him
+into the ranks of the pioneers. Others must add the artistic finish and
+divide the prizes of ultimate victory; his part was to rough out the
+work and clear the way. But he was satisfied with this, and something
+in him thrilled as he heard in the crash of a blasting charge man's bold
+challenge to the wilderness. Kerr waited with a twinkle of understanding
+amusement while Festing looked about, and then took him up the hill.
+
+"You have come back," he remarked. "Well, I guessed you would come.
+After all, this is your job; it's here you belong."
+
+"That is so, in a sense," Festing dryly agreed. "It looks as if my job
+was to get tired and wet and dirty while others got the dollars; but
+it's a job with different sides. Farming's as much a part of it as this,
+and has very similar disadvantages."
+
+"There's an altruistic theory that the dollars don't count; but it's
+easier to believe when you draw your wages regularly, and I've known it
+break down when an engineer was offered a more lucrative post. Anyhow,
+I reckon it's our business to make good, even if our pay isn't equal to
+our desserts, which happens pretty often when you work on the railroad."
+
+"If you work on a farm, you often don't get paid at all."
+
+Kerr laughed and indicated the pines that rolled up the hill in somber
+spires.
+
+"Well, there's your raw material, and you won't have much trouble to
+bring the logs down, though you may find stopping them from plunging
+into the river a harder thing. However, you have some notion of what
+you're up against, and I'll show you the plans and specifications when
+we get out of the rain."
+
+He stopped in front of a small log shack, and opening the door, beckoned
+Festing in. There was an earth floor, and a bunk, filled with swamp-hay,
+was fixed to the wall; two or three camp-chairs stood about, and a fire
+of scented cedar logs burned on the clay hearth. A Chinaman, dressed in
+very clean blue clothes, was putting a meal on the table. Festing hung
+up his wet slickers and sat down with a vague sense of satisfaction. It
+was plain that he must go without many comforts he had enjoyed at the
+farm, but he felt strangely at home.
+
+Kerr took supper with him, and afterwards threw some papers on the table
+and lighted his pipe. Half an hour later Festing looked up.
+
+"I imagine I've got the hang of things, and I'll make a start to-morrow.
+Your way of underpinning the track is pretty good, but I don't like
+that plan. You can't hold up the road long with lumber; the work won't
+stand."
+
+"I don't know if your objection springs from artistic delight in a good
+job or British caution. Anyhow, you ought to know that in this country
+we don't want work to stand; our aim is to get it finished. If the track
+holds up until we can start the freight traffic running, it's as much as
+we expect. We'll improve it afterwards as the dollars come in."
+
+"A freight train in a Canadian river isn't a very uncommon object,"
+Festing rejoined. "However, it's my business to cut the logs and do the
+underpinning as well as I can. On the whole, and barring accidents, I
+see some profit on the job. I'm grateful to you for putting it in my
+way."
+
+"Your thanks are really due to somebody else. The head contractor is not
+allowed to sub-let work without our approval, and although I recommended
+your being given a chance, the decision rested with another man."
+
+"Who's that?"
+
+"He'll probably look you up to-night," Kerr replied with a twinkle.
+"They sent him from headquarters to see how we're getting on. But I'll
+leave you the plans. We're working nights with the blast-lamps, and I've
+got to be about when the new shift makes a start."
+
+He went away and Festing studied the drawings. He had undertaken to
+cut and dress to size the heavy logs required for the lower posts
+of trestles and foundation piles. So far, he did not apprehend much
+difficulty, but he would run some risk over the underpinning of part of
+the track. In order to make a secure and permanent road-bed, it would
+have been necessary to cut back the hillside for some distance and then
+distribute the spoil about the slope below, but the engineers had chosen
+a quicker and cheaper plan. Heavy timbers would be driven into the face
+of the hill to make a foundation for the track, which would be partly
+dug out of, and partly built on to, the declivity. Where the main piles
+reached the rock the plan would be safe, but where they were bedded in
+gravel there was danger of their giving way under a heavy load. Festing
+knew he must share the risk of this happening with the head contractor.
+
+By and by somebody knocked at the door, and he got up abruptly as a man
+came in.
+
+"Dalton!" he exclaimed.
+
+The other smiled and threw off his wet slickers. It was getting
+dark, but the firelight touched his face and Festing studied him with
+surprise. The lad, whom he had not seen for some years, had grown into
+a man, and had moreover a look of quiet authority. He had made rapid
+progress if he had, as Kerr had stated, been sent to report upon the
+latter's work.
+
+"You don't seem to have expected me, though, to some extent, I'm
+responsible for your being here," he said. "However, I'm remarkably glad
+we have met again."
+
+Festing, awkwardly conscious that his welcome was somewhat cold,
+indicated a chair, and sitting down opposite began to fill his pipe.
+Dalton sometimes wrote to Helen, but had not mentioned his being sent to
+British Columbia.
+
+"Well," he said, "I was glad to hear you had got a move up once or
+twice, but it looks as if you had gone farther than I thought."
+
+"I had the advantage of a proper training, and the reputation of the
+engineer who gave it me counted for something, although I might never
+have got my chance in this country but for you. Now I'm happy if I've
+been able to show my gratitude. When Kerr brought your name forward I
+told him to see you got the contract."
+
+"You did more than you knew," said Festing. "It looks as if you hadn't
+heard from Helen."
+
+"Not for a time; I hope she's well. I'd thought about coming West to see
+you, but couldn't get away, and she talked about your going to Montreal
+this winter."
+
+"That's off, of course. It's plain you don't know that Helen and I have
+quarreled."
+
+Dalton looked up sharply, but was silent for a moment or two.
+
+"This is a nasty knock," he said. "I don't know if my relation to you
+justifies my venturing on dangerous ground, but do you feel at liberty
+to tell me what you quarreled about?"
+
+Festing decided that Charnock's part in the matter must be kept dark. It
+was unthinkable that Dalton should imagine he suspected his wife.
+
+"To put it roughly, we differed about what you might call a principle,
+although Helen's money had something to do with the thing. You see, I
+lost my crop and she was hurt because I wouldn't use her capital."
+
+"I don't see altogether," Dalton rejoined. "In fact, your objection
+seems unusual."
+
+He pondered for a minute or two, and Festing marked the change in him.
+Dalton had a reserve and thoughtfulness he had not expected. He had
+grown very like Helen.
+
+"A quarrel about a principle is apt to be dangerous," he resumed.
+"Although you are probably both wrong, you can persuade yourselves you
+are right. Then while I was glad to hear about your wedding, I'll admit
+that I saw some difficulties. Helen has a strong will and is sometimes
+rather exacting, while you're an obstinate fellow and a little too
+practical. I must wait until I know more than I do now, but might be
+of some use as a peacemaker. Isn't it possible to compromise? Can't you
+meet half way?"
+
+"Not in the meantime. I can't go home until I'm able to run the farm
+without your sister's help. There's some risk of her despising me if I
+did go."
+
+"You may be right; I can't judge," Dalton thoughtfully agreed. "Now I
+could, of course, find an excuse for getting you dismissed, but I
+know you both too well to imagine that plan would work. You would go
+somewhere else, while though Helen is generous there's a hard streak in
+her. I really think she'd like you better afterwards if you carried your
+intentions out."
+
+He paused and smiled. "She got the money you object to in a very curious
+way--by refusing to indulge the wishes of our only rich relation. I
+was more compliant because his plans met my views, and he paid for my
+education, but when he died we found Helen had got her share and mine.
+I understand he told his lawyer that he still thought her wrong; but if
+she thought she was right, she was justified in refusing, and he admired
+her pluck."
+
+"She has pluck," said Festing. "On the whole I don't think that makes
+things much better for me. Anyhow, I've taken this contract and I've got
+to stay with it."
+
+"I'll help you as far as I can," said Dalton, who soon afterwards left
+the shack.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+FESTING GETS TO WORK
+
+Mist rolled among the pines and it was raining hard when Festing led his
+team down the hill. He wore big rubber boots and slickers, and a heavy
+log trailed behind the horses through the mud. Some distance above the
+river the slope was gradual, and it was necessary to haul the logs to
+the skidway he had built. They would then run down without help; indeed,
+the difficulty was to stop them when they reached the track. Festing was
+wet and dirty, and the sweating horses were splashed. When he stopped
+to unhook the chain, three or four men came up with cant-poles, and
+struggling in the churned-up mire, rolled the log to the top of the
+incline.
+
+A shallow, undulating trough scored the hillside, crossed at short
+intervals by small logs, split up the middle and laid with their round
+sides on top. It looked something like a switchback railway, only that
+while the incline varied, all the undulations ran down hill. A few logs
+rested insecurely on the top skids, and the men put the one Festing had
+brought below the rest. Then they threw down their poles and Festing
+looked about.
+
+Water filled the hollows in the wavy line of skids, which vanished at
+the edge of a steeper dip and reappeared below, to plunge out of sight
+again. Its end was banked up with wet gravel near the track. Festing
+could not see the track, but the opposite side of the river was visible,
+with the island, near which two wire-ropes skimmed the surface of the
+flood. A man stood on the skids about half way down and presently waved
+his arm.
+
+"Watch out below!" he shouted and signed to Festing. "All clear! You can
+start her off."
+
+Festing seized a handspike and the skids groaned as the big log began
+to move. The men helped and sprang back as it gathered speed. Water flew
+up, the bark tore off in crumpled flakes, and the wet timber smoked. The
+other logs were smaller and easier launched, but they did not gain the
+momentum of the first, which plunged furiously down hill and flung up
+its thin end as it leaped over the edge of the dip.
+
+"She's surely hitting up the pace," one of the men remarked.
+
+"The mud is greasing the skids," said Festing, who began to run down the
+incline when the man below shouted.
+
+Two of the others followed, but stopped at the top of the last pitch,
+which ended in the bank of gravel close above the track. The logs,
+spread out at intervals, rushed down, rising and falling on the uneven
+skids. Showers of mud and water marked their progress; there was a crash
+as a smashed skid was flung into the air, and a roar when the leading
+mass plowed through fallen gravel. Stones shot out and Festing saw smoke
+and sparks, but the logs rushed on, and he wondered anxiously whether
+the bank would stop them. So far, it had served its purpose, but he was
+doubtful about it now, and hoped there was nobody on the track beneath.
+
+The big log reached the bank and ran half way up the short incline
+before its speed slackened much. Festing held his breath as he watched,
+for some gravel cars had come down the track, and he could not tell
+where they were. The log was going slower, but he doubted if it would
+stop.
+
+It plowed on through the gravel, which shot up all round, and then the
+end of the bank seemed to fall away. There was a shower of stones; the
+butt of the log went down and its after end tilted up. Then it lurched
+out of sight and there was a heavy crash below. After this Festing
+heard a confused din, and imagined, though he could not see, the mass
+of timber plunging down the precipitous slope, smashing rocks and
+scattering gravel as it went. The noise stopped, he heard a splash, and
+as the following logs leaped the broken bank, the first shot half its
+length out of water, and falling again, drove down stream.
+
+The rope at the island caught it while a trolley ran down, but the
+straining wire curved and parted, and the trolley fell into the river as
+the log swept on. The others followed and vanished in a turmoil of muddy
+foam, and Festing went down to the track. Things might have been worse,
+for nobody was hurt, although some yards of road-bed had been carried
+away and a derrick he had built to put the logs on the cars was smashed.
+As he studied the damage a wet and angry engineer ran up.
+
+"You have got to stop your blamed logs jumping down like that! They've
+broken a steel rope and there's a new trolley-skip in the river!"
+
+"I'm sorry," Festing answered. "I'll try to get the skip out as soon as
+possible, and you can trust me to stop more logs getting away, for my
+own sake."
+
+"There'll be trouble if you let your lumber loose on me, and I want the
+skip soon," said the other. "A stranger asked for you a few minutes ago
+and I sent him up the hill."
+
+He went away and Festing's men came up.
+
+"Pretty rough luck, boss!" one remarked. "What are we going to do about
+it?"
+
+"We'll grade up the gravel dump to begin with, and then make a new
+derrick," Festing answered gloomily. "It doesn't look as if I'd get much
+profit on the first week's work."
+
+He moved off, and as he scrambled up the bank met a man coming down.
+Both stopped abruptly and Festing frowned.
+
+"What in thunder has brought you, Bob?" he asked.
+
+"They told me you were up the hill," Charnock said, smiling. "I came in
+on the last construction train."
+
+"But why did you come?"
+
+"I suppose you mean--Why did I come to bother you again? Well, the
+explanation will take some time, and it's confoundedly muddy and raining
+hard. When are you likely to be unoccupied?"
+
+Festing tried to control his annoyance. The accident had disturbed him
+and he was not pleased to see Charnock, whom he did not wish to make
+free of his shack.
+
+"What have you been doing since you arrived?" he asked.
+
+"Sitting in the bunk-house and waiting for the rain to stop. Then I got
+dinner with the boys, and afterwards went to see a rather nice young
+fellow called Dalton. I told him I was a friend of yours, and he half
+promised to give me a job."
+
+"You don't seem to know who he is?" Festing remarked.
+
+"I don't; but I thought he looked hard at me when he heard my name.
+However, don't disturb yourself on my account; I'm pretty comfortable in
+the bunk-house."
+
+"Very well. You had better come to my shack when work stops. I can't
+leave my men now."
+
+Charnock strolled off with his usual languid air, and Festing resumed
+his work. He could not imagine what Charnock wanted, but wished he had
+stopped away. In the meantime, he had much to do and drove his men hard,
+until a steam-whistle hooted and they threw down their tools. His supper
+was ready when he reached the shack, but Charnock had not arrived, and
+although this was something of a relief, he felt annoyed. He had told
+him to come when work stopped, but the fellow was never punctual. An
+hour later Charnock walked in.
+
+"I thought I'd better wait until after supper," he said. "My coming now
+leaves you more at liberty to turn me out."
+
+"To begin with, I'd like to know why you came at all?"
+
+"Sadie thought it was time I did something useful, and I agreed. It's
+obvious that if anything useful can be done, I'm the proper person to
+undertake the job. Now you understand me, shall I go on?"
+
+Festing nodded. Charnock's careless good humor had vanished; he looked
+embarrassed but resolute, as if he meant to carry out a disagreeable
+task. This was something new for Bob.
+
+"Very well," the latter resumed. "In order to clear the ground, do you
+imagine I'm in love with your wife?"
+
+"I'm sure Helen is not in love with you," Festing rejoined.
+
+"That's much, but we have got to talk about the other side of the
+matter," said Charnock quietly. "I went to your home with Sadie because
+I thought she and Helen could learn something from each other; while
+I suspect she thought your society was good for me. It's obvious
+that Helen agreed, and Sadie and I will always be grateful for her
+staunchness in sticking to us, although you disliked it. Whether I'm
+worth the quarrel or not is another thing. I hope you understand me as
+far as I've gone."
+
+Festing made a sign and Charnock continued: "Very well. There was a time
+when I loved Helen, or honestly thought I did, but I imagine we had both
+found out our mistake when I gave her up. It's certain that she would
+not have been satisfied with me. Our romance came to nothing and was
+done with long since; there's now no woman who could rouse the feeling I
+have for my wife."
+
+He got up and leaned upon his chair, with his eyes fixed on Festing.
+"When I told you I was going to be married, you showed your confounded
+supercilious pity! You thought I was making a fatal mistake. Well,
+you're not a clever fellow, Stephen, but that was the worst blunder you
+ever made. Marrying Sadie is perhaps the only wise thing I have done.
+She has borne with my follies, hustled me when I needed it, and helped
+me to fight my weaknesses; and if there's any hope of my being a useful
+man, I owe it to her. Now it's obvious that I can't draw comparisons,
+but I think you see where this leads."
+
+"I do see," said Festing, who felt somewhat moved. He had not
+heard Charnock talk like this before, and the note in his voice was
+significant. He smiled, to ease the strain, as he replied: "Comparisons
+would be particularly awkward just now, Bob. Besides, they're
+unnecessary, I'm convinced!"
+
+"Then there's no reason you shouldn't go home, and I've come to take you
+back."
+
+Festing shook his head. "There are two reasons. In the first place, I've
+taken a contract."
+
+"That fellow, Dalton, would probably let you off."
+
+"It's uncertain, and I don't mean to ask. You don't seem to know that
+Dalton is Helen's brother."
+
+Charnock laughed. "Then I've no doubt he knows who I am; his manner
+ought to have given me a hint. The situation has a touch of ironical
+humor, and perhaps the strangest thing is that we should now be better
+friends than we have been yet. But what still prevents your going back?"
+
+"Helen's money. I can't beg from her, after refusing the only thing she
+has asked."
+
+"You're a bit of a fool," Charnock remarked with a grin. "I've begged
+from Sadie often and imagine she liked me for it; anyhow she expected
+it. But if you have made up your mind, I expect I can't persuade you."
+
+Festing's gesture indicated an unshaken resolve, and Charnock said:
+"Then I'm going to stop and see you through."
+
+"That's ridiculous!" said Festing, who was strongly moved now. "You must
+think of Sadie. You can't stop; I won't allow it!"
+
+Charnock's eyes twinkled. "I expect Sadie will bear the separation. For
+one thing, we lost our crop and she'll save money while I'm away. She's
+not parsimonious, but she hates to waste dollars, and must have found me
+expensive now and then. Then I mean to earn something, and can imagine
+her surprise when I show her my wages check."
+
+On the surface, his mood was humorous, but Festing got a hint of
+something fine beneath. "But," he said, "you mustn't stay, and I'd
+sooner you didn't joke."
+
+"Then I'll be serious; but after this there's no more to be said. Don't
+imagine it's altogether for your sake I'm going to stay. You know what
+I owe Sadie, and I want to show that her labor has not all been lost.
+in fact, I've got my opportunity and mean to seize it. Then if you feel
+some reparation is due to your wife, you can finish the work you made
+her drop. Help me to cut out liquor and stay with my job, and if you
+have trouble with your contract, I'll help all I can. Is it a bargain?"
+
+"It's a bargain," said Festing quietly. "Now I think we'll talk about
+something else."
+
+He sat still for some time after Charnock left. His bitterness against
+his wife had gone, and it was plain that he had been a fool. For all
+that, he could not go home yet; the money was still an obstacle. Pride
+forbade his letting Helen support him. Moreover, he felt that to act
+against his convictions now would cost him her respect. There was
+perhaps no ground for supposing she felt much respect for him, but he
+meant to keep all she had.
+
+Then he got up and straightened the blankets in his bunk. The sooner he
+finished his contract, the sooner he could return, and there was much to
+be done next morning. The job had not begun well.
+
+He got up at sunrise and spent several days repairing the damage the
+accident had caused, after which, for a time, things went smoothly.
+Then, one morning, he stood on a rocky ledge of the island, waiting
+while two of his men dragged an iron pulley backwards and forwards along
+a trolley wire.
+
+The morning was clear and cold, and the snow had crept nearer the belt
+of dwindling pines that looked like matches tufted with moss. They grew
+in size as they rolled down the tremendous slopes, until they towered
+above the track in tall, dark spires. The mist had gone; rocks and
+trees and glistening summits were sharply cut, but the valley was rather
+marked by savage grandeur than beauty. There was something about its
+aspect that struck a warning note. It had a look of belonging to a
+half-finished world, into which man might only venture at his peril.
+
+The river had fallen and its turbid green had faded, for the frost had
+touched the glaciers that fed it on the heights, but the stream ran
+fast, swirling round the island and breaking into eddies. In one place,
+a white streak marked a rebound of the current from an obstacle below,
+and it was across this spot the men dragged the pulley. A chain and hook
+hung from the latter, and they were fishing for the skip that was lost
+when the log broke the rope.
+
+Festing had spent the most part of the previous day trying different
+plans for grappling the skip, but the fast currents and smooth side
+of the big steel bucket had baffled him. His efforts had cost time and
+money, and he began to realize that he must give it up or try dangerous
+means. The chain stopped and tightened as the hook struck something
+below the surface, but next moment it moved on again, and when this had
+happened a number of times Festing raised his hand.
+
+"You can quit, boys," he said, and turned to a man close by. "She must
+have fallen with the shackles where the hook can't get hold, but I think
+she's only about three feet under water."
+
+The other studied the broken surface. The water was not transparent, but
+here and there a darker patch indicated a rock below. The eddies made
+a revolving slack along the bank, but near the skip joined the main
+current in its downstream rush.
+
+"I've a notion there's a gully between her and us," he remarked.
+"Anyhow, we'll try to wade, if you like."
+
+Festing threw off his jacket and plunged in. When he had gone a few feet
+he was up to his waist and it cost him an effort to keep his feet. After
+two or three more steps, the bottom fell away and, floundering savagely,
+he sank to his shoulders. Then his companion pulled him back.
+
+"The gully's there all right," the man remarked when they clambered out.
+"Say, that water's surely cold."
+
+"It will be colder soon when the ice comes down, and if the skip's to be
+got out, we must get her now. I think I could reach her by swimming."
+
+The other looked doubtful, but Festing took off his heavy boots, and
+picking up the end of the rope they had used to move the pulley, walked
+to the edge of the island. He was now a short distance above the skip,
+and hoped the eddies would help him to reach the ledge it rested on
+before he was swept past; but he must avoid being drawn into the main
+stream, since there was not much chance of landing on the foam-swept
+rocks lower down. Making sure he had enough slack rope, he plunged in.
+
+An eddy swung him out-shore, towards the dangerous rush; the cold
+cramped his muscles and cut his breath, but he was already below the
+spot he had left, and there was no time to lose. The white streak that
+marked the skip seemed to forge up-stream to meet him, and he swam
+savagely until he was in the broken water and something struck his foot.
+Then he arched his back and dived, groping with his hands. He grasped
+the slippery side of the skip and felt the shackle loop. With some
+trouble he got the rope through, and then tried to put his feet on the
+bottom. They were swept away and he came up gasping, knowing he had made
+a mistake that might cost him dear.
+
+He held the end of the rope, but had been carried several yards
+down-stream, and the lost ground must be regained. The rope was rather
+a hindrance than a help, since the men on the bank could only haul him
+back to the skip and drag him under water, while he must pull the slack
+through the loop as he struggled to land. If he got out of the eddies he
+would be swept past the island, but he did not mean to let the rope go
+yet.
+
+A revolving eddy swung him in-shore, but the reflux caught and drove
+him a few yards lower down. The men were shouting, but he could not tell
+what they said. The roar of water bewildered him, and he fixed his eyes
+upon the rocks that slid past until a wave washed across his face. For
+a moment or two he saw nothing, and then was vaguely conscious that a
+trolley was running down the wire above. An indistinct object hung from
+the trolley and next moment fell away from it. A dark body splashed into
+the water, vanished, and came up close by. Then he was seized by the
+shoulder and driven towards the bank.
+
+The men had stopped shouting and ran into the water at the island's
+lower end. Festing drifted towards them, but it looked as if he would be
+carried past. The drag of the rope kept him back, and his strength was
+going, but he braced himself for an effort and felt a helping push. Then
+somebody seized his hand, he was pulled forward, and felt bottom as he
+dropped his feet. In another few moments he staggered up the bank and
+gave the nearest man the end of the rope.
+
+"Stick to that," he gasped, and turned to see who had helped him.
+
+"Bob!" he exclaimed.
+
+Charnock dashed the water from his hair and face. "Thought you mightn't
+make it and jumped on a trolley they were loosing off. But we had better
+change our clothes."
+
+"Come to my shack," said Festing. "Signal them to send a trolley, boys."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CHARNOCK TRIES HIS STRENGTH
+
+The skip that crossed the river was loaded, and Charnock and Festing
+were forced to wait until it came back. They climbed to a platform on
+the bridge-pier and stood for some minutes, shivering in the wind. The
+skip would only carry one, and when it arrived Charnock made Festing get
+in.
+
+"You were in the water longest," he said. "Get aboard as quick as you
+can!"
+
+Festing was swung across the river, but waited until Charnock arrived,
+when they ran up the hill to the former's shack. The fire was out and
+Festing's face was blue, while Charnock's teeth chattered as he threw
+off his clothes. Festing gave him another suit.
+
+"I'm afraid they're not very dry, but they're the best I've got," he
+said. "You did a plucky thing, Bob."
+
+"Not at all, and you would, no doubt, have landed if I hadn't come. You
+see, the skip was starting and I didn't stop to think. But it's horribly
+cold. Where's your towel?"
+
+He put on the half-dry clothes and went to the door. "I'm not often in
+such a hurry to get back to work, but if I don't move I'll freeze. See
+you later!"
+
+"Stop a moment," Festing called. "Do you find the bunk-house
+comfortable?"
+
+"It's not luxurious, but doesn't leak very much unless it rains
+unusually hard."
+
+"Then why not come up here at night? I haven't another bunk or I'd have
+suggested it before, but a carload of ship-lap has arrived and I dare
+say Kerr will let me have a few boards."
+
+"Thanks; I'd like that," said Charnock, who hurried away.
+
+Soon afterwards Festing resumed his work. Kerr allowed him to take the
+boards, and when he had finished his supper Charnock came in. Sitting
+down by the fire, he filled his pipe.
+
+"There's more room here and you can dry your clothes," he remarked,
+stretching out his legs to the blaze.
+
+"We're going to talk about what happened this morning," Festing replied.
+"I was getting exhausted when you jumped off the skip."
+
+"After all, I only gave you a push now and then. I was fresh, and
+imagine I swim better than you."
+
+"It's possible. I don't swim very well."
+
+"Then why did you go into the rapid? I call it a blamed silly thing!"
+
+"I felt I had to recover the skip."
+
+"Not at all," said Charnock, with a grin. "The skip could have stopped
+where it was. For a man who thinks much, you're ridiculously illogical;
+got no proper sense of relative values. Your business is to carry out
+your contract, and not risk your life for a rusty bucket."
+
+"You risked yours!"
+
+"I didn't. The only risk I ran was knocking your head off with my heavy
+boots. But if you hadn't begun the folly, I wouldn't have jumped, if the
+river had been full of the company's skips."
+
+Then the door opened and the head contractor's engineer came in.
+
+"You did a plucky thing to-day, Festing," he began; but Charnock
+interrupted.
+
+"Don't spoil my argument, Mr. Norton. I've been proving he made a fool
+of himself."
+
+"Then there were two of you," Norton rejoined. "The trolley was running
+fast, and if you had dropped a few yards farther out, you wouldn't have
+got back." He turned to Festing. "I was rather mad about it when you
+broke the wire, and of course wanted the skip. Still I didn't mean you
+to take a risk like that. We could have fixed the thing."
+
+"A matter of bookkeeping?" Charnock suggested. "Much depends on how you
+charge up your costs, and one understands that doing it cleverly leads
+to promotion. The worst is when you come to the total--"
+
+"I'll talk to you later. You're up against a big proposition, Festing;
+but if you find yourself in a tight place and I've a man or two to
+spare, or can help---"
+
+"Thanks; I may take advantage of your promise," Festing replied, and
+Norton turned to Charnock.
+
+"You are doing better than I expected when Dalton sent you along."
+
+"I imagine my recent activity would surprise my friends, and you're a
+stranger. However, I suppose I've got to keep it up so long as I work on
+the road."
+
+"That's sure," said the other dryly. "Well, I didn't think it prudent to
+give you much at first, and now I'll mark you up an extra fifty cents."
+
+He stopped a few minutes, and when he went out Charnock laughed. "Not
+a bad sort, but I'm puzzled by my satisfaction at getting three dollars
+more a week. If I wanted a check not long since, I'd only to look
+penitent and go to Sadie."
+
+After this, they sat smoking quietly for a time, and then Charnock drew
+up his legs and frowned.
+
+"What's the matter?" Festing asked.
+
+"Nothing much," said Charnock. "I've got a bit of a weakness I don't
+think you know about. Neuralgic, I imagine; it grips me here." He
+indicated the region between his belt and chest. "Comes and goes when
+I'm not quite up to my proper form."
+
+"Then I expect jumping into the river and standing about in wet clothes
+brought it on."
+
+"No; I have had it before. Besides, I've often been as wet; so have you.
+Anyhow, the pain's going, and there's a thing I forgot to mention. I met
+Wilkinson this afternoon."
+
+Festing knitted his brows. "Wilkinson! What do you think has brought
+him?"
+
+"Chance and Sadie's scheming. I've cause to suspect she forced him off
+his ranch, though she would probably wish she hadn't meddled if she knew
+she'd sent him here. As he looked surprised when he saw me, I imagine
+he'd no particular object in coming, except that he wanted a job."
+
+"Did you speak to him?"
+
+"I did not. It's very possible he'd have resented my remarks. Then I was
+on the company's business and the foreman was about."
+
+"Well," said Festing thoughtfully, "it might be better to keep out of
+his way as far as you can. I don't know that he's likely to do us harm,
+but wish he had gone somewhere else."
+
+They let the matter drop and talked about other things until they went
+to bed. Next morning broke bracingly cold, but thin mist rolled among
+the pines a few hundred feet above the track. For the most part the
+climate of the interior of British Columbia is dry, and there are belts
+where artificial irrigation is employed, but some of the valleys form
+channels for the moist winds from the Pacific. Except in the bitter
+cold-snaps, it was seldom that the white peaks above the track were
+visible, and now something in the atmosphere threatened heavy rain.
+
+Charnock began his work as usual with the gravel gang. It was his
+business to spread the ballast thrown off the cars by the plow that
+traveled along the train, and although the labor was not exhausting it
+had tried his strength at first. His muscles, however, were hardening,
+and until the last few days, he had been able to scatter heavy
+shovelfuls of stones with a dexterous jerk that distributed them among
+the ties.
+
+Streaks of dingy haze that looked like steam rose from the river. The
+fresh smell of pines hung about the track, and the clash of shovels and
+ringing of hammers mingled harmoniously with the deep-toned roar of
+the rapids. The cold braced the muscles and stirred the blood, and
+the sounds of activity had an invigorating influence while the day was
+young, but Charnock felt slack. His pain had gone, but he was conscious
+of a nervous tension and knew what it meant. A small blister on his hand
+annoyed him, he growled at comrades who got in his way, and swore when
+the gravel fell in the wrong place. Somehow he could not get the stuff
+to go where it ought.
+
+For all that, he felt no serious inconvenience until about eleven
+o'clock, when a stinging pain spread across the front of his body. For
+a few moments he leaned on his shovel and gasped, but the pang moderated
+and he roused himself when the foreman looked his way. He must try to
+hold out for another hour, and he savagely attacked his pile of stones.
+When the echoes of the whistle filled the hollow he had some trouble in
+reaching the bunk-house, but felt better after dinner and a smoke, which
+he enjoyed sitting on a box by the stove; but the time for rest was
+short. The foreman drove him out, and feeling very sore and stiff, he
+resumed work.
+
+About four o'clock another pang shot through him and he dropped his
+shovel and sat down on a heap of ties, hoping to get a few minutes'
+rest before the gravel train came up. The pain was troublesome, but not
+dangerous. It might only bother him for a day or two, but it might last
+a week. Rest was the best cure, but sick men were not wanted at the
+camp. One must work or go, and when a cascade of gravel poured off the
+cars as the plow moved along he pulled himself together.
+
+It began to rain soon afterwards and he had left his slickers at the
+bunk-house, but he stuck to his work, while the sweat the effort caused
+him ran down his face, until the whistle blew. Then he went limply up
+the hill to Festing's shack.
+
+"I thought I'd have supper with you, if you don't mind," he said. "Felt
+I couldn't stand for joining the boys. They've annoyed me all day and
+eat like hogs."
+
+Festing gave him a sharp glance. Bob did not often lose his temper, but
+he looked morose.
+
+"Of course I don't mind. Sit down."
+
+Charnock did so, and when Festing had filled his plate resumed: "This
+food is decently cooked, and I like my supper served and not thrown at
+me. Still, in view of what we're charged for board, it's annoying to
+think the contractor will be richer for a meal I haven't got."
+
+"It's a new thing to find you parsimonious. I hope you'll keep it up."
+
+Charnock's gloomy face softened. "I mean to. I'm thinking of Sadie's
+feelings when I come home with a wad of five-dollar bills. She won't be
+surprised; she'll get a shock."
+
+He talked with better humor during the meal, but was silent afterwards
+and sat with half-closed eyes, stretching out his feet towards the
+crackling logs. Although the pain had nearly gone, it would, no doubt,
+begin again in the morning, and he might have some trouble in hiding his
+weakness from the foreman. He could lay off for a day or two, but as
+his wages would stop and his board would be charged, it would cost him
+something. Besides, if he laid off once or twice, he would be told to
+leave.
+
+This, however, did not account for his moodiness. He knew of no cure
+except rest, but it was easy to find relief; a small dose of spirit
+would banish the pain for a time. The remedy was dangerous, particularly
+to him, since it offered an excuse for repeated indulgence, and he
+struggled with the temptation. Liquor was difficult to get, because
+there was no settlement for some distance and the engineers had tried to
+cut off supplies, but it could be got. In fact, Charnock knew where he
+could buy as much whisky as he wanted, at something above its proper
+price. So far he had not done so, but continued self-denial would
+require a stern effort. A drink would banish the pain and enable him to
+work.
+
+He had not known it fail since he drove over to Wilkinson's one
+afternoon, when he had been loading prairie hay since early morning and
+had forgotten his lunch. He reached the homestead scarcely able to sit
+upright on the driving seat, and a man asked him what was the matter.
+When Charnock told him he sent Wilkinson for whisky.
+
+"I know all about it; the blamed thing grips me now and then if I work
+too hard and cut out a meal," he said. "I'll fix you up for the rest of
+the day, but won't answer for your feeling pert to-morrow."
+
+As a matter of fact, Charnock had felt worse, but obtained relief
+by increasing the dose. Indeed, he had once or twice done so with
+unfortunate consequences; but after Sadie bought the farm and saw he led
+a regular life the pain had gone and had not returned until he went to
+work on the track. Now he was not going to give in, but did not want to
+talk, and was glad that Festing was occupied with some calculations and
+left him alone.
+
+Next morning he felt better and had two days' ease, after which the pain
+wrung him for the rest of the week. Somehow he stuck to his work, and
+his comrades, who were rudely sympathetic, helped him to elude the
+foreman's watchfulness. It was obvious that he could not keep it up,
+but the trouble often ended suddenly. Then an evening came when he could
+scarcely drag himself to the bunk-house for supper. It had rained all
+day and the building was overheated by a glowing stove and filled with
+the smell of rank tobacco and steaming clothes. Charnock could not eat
+the roughly served food, and for a time sat slack and limp, with the
+sweat upon his face, and his arms on the table. Then he got on his feet
+awkwardly and set off for Festing's shack.
+
+The rain and cold revived him, but walking was difficult, and when he
+reached the shack he fell into a chair. Festing was not in, and Charnock
+remembered he had said something about having extra work to do. It was
+dark, but the log fire threw out a red light, and by and by Charnock,
+glancing round as the shadows receded, thought there was something
+unusual on the table. It looked like a bottle, but they kept no liquor
+in the shack. Festing was abstemious but Charnock suspected that he had
+practised some self-denial for his sake.
+
+He waited until a blaze sprung up, and then his relaxed pose stiffened.
+It was a bottle of whisky, better stuff than the railroaders generally
+drank, for he knew the label. Moreover, when the light touched the glass
+the yellow reflection showed that it was full. He got up and approached
+the table, wondering how the liquor came there, until he saw some
+writing on the label. Picking up the bottle, he read his own name.
+
+He put it down abruptly and stood with his hand clenched. The veins
+swelled on his forehead and the pain nearly left him as he fought with
+temptation. It was some weeks since he had tasted liquor, but this was
+not all. A drink would give him relief from the gnawing ache and perhaps
+a night's sound sleep. If he could get that, he might be well for most
+of the next day. But he shrank from the remedy. There was liquor enough
+to last some days, but the next bottle would not last as long, and he
+knew there would be another. He must resist and conquer his craving now.
+
+He opened the door and picked up the bottle by the neck. With a swing of
+his arm he could throw it among the pines; he wanted to hear it smash.
+Victory could be won by a quick movement; but afterwards? The touch of
+the glass and the way the yellow liquid gleamed in the light fired his
+blood. If he was to win an enduring victory, he must fight to a finish.
+
+Leaving the bottle in the light, he moved his chair and sat down close
+by, after which he looked at his watch. He would give himself half an
+hour. If he could hold out now, he need not be afraid again, because the
+odds against him would never be so heavy. The craving was reenforced by
+pain and bodily fatigue; his jangled nerves demanded a stimulant. Yet
+to win would make the next conflict easier, and he had resources that he
+tried to marshal against the enemy.
+
+The rough work on the track had given him confidence. He had always had
+physical courage and muscular strength, and it was something to feel he
+could hold his own with his comrades at a strenuous task. Moreover, his
+saving Festing from the river had restored his self-respect. But he had
+stronger allies, and his face got hot as he thought of the two women who
+had fought for him when he had scarcely tried to help himself.
+
+Sadie had given up her ambitions and was content to live at the lonely
+farm because she thought it best for him. He remembered the bitter
+disappointments he had brought her and how he had found her sitting,
+depressed and tired, at his neglected work when he came home from
+some fresh extravagance. Sometimes she had met him with the anger he
+deserved, but as a rule she had shown a patience that troubled him now.
+Then there was Helen, who had borne slander and estrangement from her
+husband for his sake. Both had made costly sacrifices, of which he was
+unworthy; but it was unthinkable that the sacrifices should be made in
+vain.
+
+Perhaps it was his imagination, or the proximity of relief, but the
+physical torment he suffered got worse. He could not sit straight,
+and leaned forward, with head bent and hands grasping the sides of his
+chair, until he looked at his watch. Ten minutes had gone, but he must
+hold out for twenty minutes more. Fumbling awkwardly in his pocket, he
+got his tobacco pouch. He did not want to smoke, but could occupy some
+time by filling his pipe, and did so with slow deliberation. Then he let
+the match go out as an idea dawned on him. The bottle had been put there
+with an object.
+
+Wilkinson hated Sadie. He had struck at her and injured Helen, but had
+plotted a harder blow. The plot had, however, miscarried, for Charnock
+almost forgot his pain in his fury. The fellow was a dangerous reptile,
+and could not be allowed to hurt Sadie by his poisonous tricks. Charnock
+meant to punish him, but must first overcome the insidious ally the
+other had counted on. He looked at his watch again. A quarter of an hour
+had gone; he felt stronger, and more confident. For all that, the fight
+was stern, and at length Festing, entering quietly, was surprised to
+find Charnock sitting with his watch in his hand. His brows were knit;
+his face looked pinched and damp.
+
+"What are you doing, Bob?" he asked.
+
+"Trying my strength," said Charnock, who got up. "Three minutes yet to
+go, but I think we can take it that I've won."
+
+"I don't understand. Is this a joke?"
+
+"Do I look as if I'm joking?" Charnock rejoined, with a forced smile.
+"Anyhow, I'd like you to notice that I'm perfectly sober and this bottle
+has not been opened, although I've sat opposite it for nearly half an
+hour. I'd have finished the half-hour if you had not come in."
+
+Festing picked up the bottle and read the writing. "Who brought the
+thing here?"
+
+"I suspect Wilkinson. He knows a drink would stop the pain."
+
+"Ah," said Festing quietly. "I think I understand! You have made a good
+fight, Bob, and I believe you've won. But we'll take precautions; it
+will be some satisfaction to throw out the stuff."
+
+He went to the door, but Charnock stopped him.
+
+"Hold on! I mean to keep the satisfaction to myself. Give me the cursed
+thing!"
+
+Festing put the bottle in his hand, and opening the door Charnock swung
+it round his head and let it go. There was a crash as it struck a tree,
+and he went back to his chair.
+
+"That's done with! It's remarkable, but I don't feel as sore as I did.
+Perhaps the effort of resisting was a counter-irritant. However, we have
+said enough about it. Tell me how you got on with the job that kept you
+late."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+FESTING'S NEW PARTNER
+
+Charnock felt better next morning and luck favored him. An accident
+to the gravel train disorganized the work, and he and some others were
+dismissed for the afternoon. He went to Festing's shack, and making
+himself comfortable by the fire, opened a tattered book and enjoyed
+several hours of luxurious idleness. After his exertions in the rain and
+mud, it was delightful to bask in warmth and comfort and rest his aching
+limbs. The next day was Sunday and he lounged about the shack, sometimes
+reading and sometimes bantering his comrade. The pain had gone and he
+felt cheerful.
+
+When he returned to work on Monday he was sent with a bag of bolts to
+the bridge, and presently reached a spot where the heavy rain had washed
+away the track. For about a dozen yards the terrace cut in the hillside
+had slipped down, leaving a narrow shelf against the bank. The shelf
+broke off near the middle, where a gully had opened in the hill. Water
+flowed through the gap, and in order to get across one must pick a
+way carefully over the steep, wet slope. This, however, would save a
+toilsome climb, and Charnock, jerking the bag higher on his shoulders,
+went on.
+
+A few minutes later he saw Wilkinson come round a corner. One of them
+would have to go back to let the other pass, and it would be difficult
+to turn if they met at the gully. Charnock did not mean to give way, and
+with his arms crooked to support his load, he required some room.
+There was no way up the torn bank, and on the other side a nearly
+perpendicular slope of wet soil and gravel ran down to the river. In
+places, the surface was broken by small, half-buried firs.
+
+When both were near the gully Wilkinson stopped, and Charnock, whose
+head was bent, thought he had not known who he was. He certainly looked
+surprised, and Charnock was conscious of rather grim amusement as he
+guessed the reason. Wilkinson had, no doubt, not expected him to be
+capable of carrying a heavy bag along the dangerous ledge.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "The boys told me you were crippled by your pains."
+
+"I was. The pain's gone."
+
+"Rest's a good cure," said Wilkinson. "You got laid off on Saturday,
+didn't you?"
+
+The curiosity that had made Charnock stop was satisfied. Since
+Wilkinson's work kept him at some distance from the gravel gang, it
+looked as if he had made inquiries about Charnock, and had probably been
+surprised to learn he had started with the others. There was, however,
+no use in taxing the fellow with trying to make him drunk, because he
+would deny that he knew anything about the whisky or declare that he had
+sent it with a friendly object.
+
+"Yes," he said, "but I didn't need the cure as badly as you think.
+However, I'm not in a talkative mood and this bag is heavy. I'll trouble
+you to get out of the way."
+
+Wilkinson looked hard at him. Charnock knew why he had sent the whisky
+and meant to quarrel, but was shrewd enough to choose his ground.
+
+"You can dump your bag and wait until I get past."
+
+"Not at all," said Charnock. "I don't see why I should pick up the load
+again to convenience you. Anyhow, I'm going on, and the thing takes up
+some room."
+
+Wilkinson measured the distance across the gap. He imagined he could
+reach the other side first and squeeze against the bank, when Charnock
+must take the outside and would probably fall. He did not mean to be
+forced back, particularly as there were men at work not far off who had,
+no doubt, noted Charnock's aggressive attitude. The latter, however, was
+quicker than he thought, and reached the dangerous spot before Wilkinson
+got across. Splashing, and slipping in the mud, he advanced recklessly,
+and Wilkinson could not turn back. Moreover, he could not strike
+Charnock, because he was in the workmen's view, and the railroaders
+would not approve his attacking an apparently defenseless man. He
+thought Charnock knew this, but the fellow was not as defenseless as he
+looked. The heavy bag gave him a certain stability and momentum.
+
+"If you come any farther before I find a hold, we'll both go down," he
+said.
+
+"It looks like that," Charnock agreed. "I don't mean to stop."
+
+Wilkinson clutched at the slippery bank but the wet gravel tore out. It
+was impossible to get up, and if he tried to scramble down, he might not
+stop until he fell into the river. He glanced at Charnock's set face and
+got something of a shock. He had thought the fellow meant to bluff and
+would give way if he were resolutely met; Charnock was impulsive, but
+never stayed with a thing. Now, however, he looked dangerous.
+
+Driving his boots into the mud, Wilkinson braced himself, with one foot
+so placed that it might trip his antagonist. Then he set his lips as
+he met the shock. Charnock struck him with his shoulder and forced him
+backwards by the weight of the bag. The mud slipped under his feet; he
+staggered and clawed at the bank, but his fingers found no hold. They
+plowed through the miry gravel, and falling face downwards, he rolled
+down the hill.
+
+Charnock lurched across the gully and stopped when he reached the shelf.
+Wilkinson had swung round on his descent and his head was lowest. He
+was sliding down rather slower, and there were some trees not far off.
+Charnock did not care if he brought up among them or not, and watched
+with a curious dispassionate interest. The fellow looked ridiculous
+as he went down, scattering the gravel with his hands. He was in some
+danger, but this was his affair.
+
+Wilkinson rolled against the thin branches of a half-buried tree, which
+caught and turned him partly round. The branches broke and he went down
+sideways, until he and a wave of loosened gravel struck another tree.
+This stopped him, and Charnock plodded on until he was off the shelf.
+
+"Better go down and fetch him, boys," he shouted to the other men. "I
+reckon he's not much the worse, except in temper, and you'll find a rope
+a piece back up the track."
+
+He saw them start and then resumed his journey. Whether he was hurt or
+not, Wilkinson could talk, for he was pouring out scurrilous epithets.
+Charnock laughed as he stamped through the mud. His antagonist had
+got the worst of it, and there was a satisfactory explanation of their
+quarrel. They had met on a narrow path and neither would give way, but
+as Charnock was carrying the load he had put the other in the wrong.
+Wilkinson could not revenge himself by circulating the story he had
+told before because it would interest nobody at the camp, and Charnock's
+friendship with Festing would prove it untrue. In fact, he imagined
+Wilkinson would think it prudent to leave him alone.
+
+He delivered the bag, and going back stopped at a spot where Festing and
+some others were fitting the end of a heavy beam into a pole. Charnock
+watched while the men dragged out the beam and then replaced it after
+deepening the hole. They were splashed and dirty, and presently Festing
+leaned upon his shovel while he got his breath.
+
+"You seem determined to fix it properly," Charnock remarked.
+
+Festing nodded. "There's no use in piling rock about half-bedded frames.
+It would mean trouble if they gave way under a freight train."
+
+"You look ahead. The first difficulty is that if the frames don't hold
+up, you won't get paid. The engineers are responsible after the regular
+traffic starts, and I've no doubt they test a contractor's work. You
+would save something in wages if you built a pile-driver to sink those
+posts."
+
+"I haven't the men or time. If I don't get this part of the work done
+before the frost comes, it's going to cost me more. It would mean using
+powder and making fires to thaw out the ground."
+
+Charnock agreed and went on. He had been long enough over his errand and
+the foreman's tongue was sharp, but he mused about Festing as he picked
+his way across the pools between the ties. Festing's object was to make
+money, and he imagined, perhaps foolishly, that he had urgent ground for
+doing so, but he meant to make a good job. He felt his responsibility,
+and apart from this took a curious delight in doing things well. In
+fact, Festing's thoroughness was rather fine; he was an artist in his
+way. The artist's methods, however, were not as a rule profitable
+when applied to contract work. Then Charnock's meditations were rudely
+disturbed, for he heard a shout and saw the foreman had noted his
+cautious advance.
+
+"Watch him coming, boys!" the latter remarked. "Like a blamed cat that's
+scared of wetting its pretty feet! Say, do you want a private car
+to move you along the track? Jump now and load up that trolley, you
+soft-bodied slob!"
+
+Charnock obeyed, promptly and silently. He had, at first, responded
+to encouragement of this kind by a witty retort, but had found the
+consequences unfortunate. There was no use in wasting delicate satire on
+a dolt. Besides, it was a relief to feel he was getting better and was
+able to work.
+
+In the afternoon, he had occasion to pass the spot where Festing was
+occupied, and stopped to watch. The men were getting a big log on end;
+two steadying it and supporting part of the weight by a tackle fixed
+to its top, while Festing and another guided its foot into a hole. The
+ground was wet and slippery and their task looked almost beyond their
+strength, but Charnock knew he would get into trouble if he were seen
+going to their help. Since he was not in view of the foreman where he
+stood on top of the bank, it was prudent to remain there.
+
+The log swayed as its point caught a stone, and Festing's hands slipped
+on the muddy bank. He shouted to the men at the tackle, who bent their
+backs and hauled, but the timber did not rise as it ought. Charnock,
+looking round, noted that the stake the tackle was fastened to was
+pulling out.
+
+"Get from under! She's coming down on top of you!" he cried.
+
+Festing looked up and saw the danger; but if the log fell it would not
+stop until it and the tackle plunged into the rapid below.
+
+"Stay with it!" he gasped; and he and his companions braced themselves
+against the crushing weight.
+
+The veins rose on his forehead. His back was arched and his wet slickers
+split, but it was plain to Charnock that the men could not hold up the
+timber, which would injure them if it fell. But with help they might
+perhaps move it enough for the point to sink into the hole before the
+tackle gave way, and Charnock leaped recklessly from the top of the
+bank. He knew what he was undertaking when he took hold. Festing would
+not let go; he meant to put the log into its socket, or let it start on
+its plunge to the river over his body.
+
+For a few tense moments they struggled savagely, with slipping hands and
+labored breath, while Festing, using his head as a ram, pushed the point
+of the swaying mass nearer the hole. Then, when all could do no more,
+the strain suddenly slackened and there was a jar as the log, sliding
+through their arms, sank into the pit. After this, it was easier to hold
+it, while one threw in and beat down the gravel. Five minutes later,
+Charnock sat down on the bank. His face was crimson, his hands bled,
+and his chest heaved as he fought for breath, but he felt ridiculously
+satisfied.
+
+"Thanks!" gasped Festing. "Lucky you came along. I thought she was
+going!"
+
+"Blamed silly thing not to let her go," Charnock replied. "Some day your
+confounded obstinacy will ruin you. Anyhow, we've put her in. Not bad
+for a cripple!"
+
+Then he sucked his torn fingers, and fearing that he might have to
+account for the delay, went about his business. It was curious that the
+tense exertion had not brought on the pain, but his back and shoulders
+were sore when he went to Festing's shack in the evening. The small,
+earth-floored room was dry and warm, and smelt pleasantly of resinous
+wood. They did not light the lamp, for although it was dark the red
+glow of the fire flickered about the walls. Charnock felt a comforting
+sensation of bodily ease as he lounged in his chair, and when he had
+smoked a pipe told Festing about his encounter with Wilkinson.
+
+"I imagine the brute isn't hurt much, but don't know if I'm glad or
+not," he said. "He looked remarkably funny as he slid down the bank,
+with his arms and legs spread out like a frog. Suppose I should have
+thought about the risk of his tobogganing into the river, but I didn't."
+
+"Well, I expect he deserves all he got, and remember the satisfaction
+it gave me to throw him out of the poolroom. Looks as if we were
+primitive."
+
+"We're all primitive in this country," Charnock rejoined. "They have no
+use for philosophical refinement in Canada. Their objects are plain
+and practical and they employ simple means. We're not bothered by the
+conventions that handicap you at home. If a man hurts you, and you're
+big enough, you knock him out."
+
+"We have both knocked out Wilkinson, but I'm not sure that we have done
+with him. The simple plan's not always as easy as it looks."
+
+"I don't think he can make much trouble. If he does, one of us will
+knock him out again. As it will hurt us less than it hurts him, he'll
+probably get tired first."
+
+They let the matter drop, and Festing presently remarked: "The rain
+makes things difficult, but it's lucky the frost keeps off. I must try
+to get the frames up at the awkward places before it begins."
+
+"You haven't enough men."
+
+"I could use more. Still, one couldn't engage men to come here on short
+notices, and if we get a long cold-snap I might have trouble to keep
+them employed. I could, of course, use a number of men and teams hauling
+out logs across the snow, but the heavier stuff won't be needed for some
+time, and I can't lock up my money. The small man's trouble is generally
+to finance his undertaking."
+
+Charnock looked thoughtful. "Yes; that's where the pinch comes. You
+can't work economically unless you have capital. Sadie's a good business
+woman, and she often said that if you want to save dollars, you must
+spend some."
+
+"Much depends on how you spend."
+
+"Just so," said Charnock, smiling. "Betting against marked cards doesn't
+pay, but I've stopped that kind of thing. However, I think I could get
+you the money you need."
+
+Festing looked hard at him. "You have none."
+
+"Sadie has a pile. She'd give me enough with pleasure if she thought it
+would help towards my reform. But if you take the dollars, you've got to
+take me."
+
+"Ah!" said Festing. "But why do you want to join?"
+
+"To begin with, I'm getting avaricious and want to go home with my
+wallet full. Then I'm tired of my job. I suppose it's a foreman's
+privilege to insult his gang, but the brute we've got is about the
+limit. He's truculent but not very big, and some day, if I stop on,
+I'll pitch the hog into the river. Then I'll certainly get fired, and
+there'll be an end to my dreams of wealth."
+
+Festing was silent for a few moments. He understood Charnock better now,
+and knew that when he was serious he often used a careless tone. Bob
+wanted to help him as much as he wanted to help himself, and he saw no
+reason to reject his plan. He must, however, be warned.
+
+"If you join me, you run some risk of losing your money."
+
+"Of course. It's obvious that you don't think the risk very big, and I'm
+willing to take a fighting chance."
+
+"I don't know how big it is. That depends on the weather and accidents."
+
+"Exactly," said Charnock. "If I join you with some money and teams, will
+it lessen, or add to, the risk?"
+
+"It will lessen the risk."
+
+"Will it reduce, or increase, your working costs?"
+
+"I think the answer's obvious."
+
+"Then it looks as if you'd be foolish to turn my offer down."
+
+Festing got up and walked about irresolutely for a moment or two. Then
+he stopped with some color in his face.
+
+"I called you a shirker, Bob, and ordered Helen to leave you alone. Now
+I see you're the better man and I'm a confounded, fault-finding prig.
+But you're not vindictive, and we'll let that go. The trouble is,
+I'm obstinate and sure of what I can do--at least, I was, though my
+confidence has got shaken recently. Well, I think I can finish this
+contract, but don't know. I've lost a good deal of money, and would hate
+to feel I might lose yours."
+
+"That's the line you took with Helen," Charnock rejoined. "I'm not
+surprised that she was vexed, and since we're being frank, you're
+a little too proud of yourself yet. Anyhow, I like a plunge; it's
+exhilarating, and there's not much excitement in betting on a
+certainty." He paused and resumed with a twinkle: "Besides, if there is
+a loss, Sadie will stand for it."
+
+Festing gave him a puzzled look, and he laughed.
+
+"You don't understand yet? You're dull, Stephen. Now I'm not a greedy
+fellow, and my chief use for dollars is to spend them. I want to
+take back some money to show Sadie I've made good, and if we put this
+contract over she'll be satisfied and you'll have her gratitude. That's
+why I mean to make a job if I join you, and I imagine you're with me
+there. Well, perhaps I've said enough. Is it a bargain?"
+
+"Yes," said Festing quietly, and they shook hands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+CHARNOCK MAKES PROGRESS
+
+Deep snow covered the hillside and the pines, with lower branches bent,
+rose in somber spires against the dazzling background. The river had
+shrunk and the dark water rolled in angry turmoil between ice-glazed
+rocks. Streaks of gray haze rose a foot or two into the nipping air, and
+the clash of shovels had a new, harsh ring. It was nearly dinner time,
+and Festing noted that his men had not done much since breakfast as he
+walked down the beaten hollow in the middle of the track. One could not
+tell how long the cold-snap would last, but it had already embarrassed
+him.
+
+He stopped above an excavation where Charnock and another were cutting
+a hole in the frozen gravel. The former held a steel bar in blue,
+frost-cracked hands and twisted it in the cavity while his companion
+struck the end. He knelt, in a cramped pose, in the snow, and Festing
+smiled. Bob was fond of comfort, and it was strange to see him occupied
+like this. Then, noting the length of the bar, he thought they would not
+sink the hole deep enough for the blasting charge before dinner, which
+was unfortunate, because the powder fumes are poisonous and would hang
+about the spot for some time.
+
+A few moments later the whistle blew, but Charnock and his companion did
+not stop, and Festing heard the thud of the hammer as he went on. This
+rather puzzled him. The work was hard and he had not expected Charnock's
+assistant to continue his task longer than he need. Festing was
+fastidiously just, and thought it shabby to steal a workman's time;
+moreover, he imagined that if he had asked the fellow to go on after the
+whistle blew he would have refused.
+
+Curiosity led him to wait farther along the track until the thud of the
+hammer stopped. It looked as if Charnock was putting in the dynamite,
+and Festing hoped he would be careful with the detonator. By and by he
+heard a warning shout, and a moment or two afterwards saw a blaze of
+light. Then there was a curious sharp report, and pieces of broken rock
+splashed into the river. The gorge rang with echoes and a mass of gravel
+roared down the slope. It was obviously a good shot and had moved more
+spoil than Festing expected. A glance at his watch showed that the
+others had given up a quarter of an hour of their short noon rest.
+
+Festing set off again, and in the meantime, Charnock, holding his breath
+as he stood on the snowy bank, looked down into the hole the explosion
+had made.
+
+"I think we've made a first-class job," he said, stepping back out of
+reach of the fumes. "I like the company's taste in powder."
+
+"It's better than ours," his companion agreed with a chuckle.
+
+"Much better. The company is richer than us. It would have saved us some
+hard work if you had hooked a few more sticks."
+
+"They're a mean crowd," said the other. "Blamed suspicious how they
+tally out their stores, but I'll see what I can do. I'd sooner use good
+powder than cut frozen gravel with the pick."
+
+"The pick's no tool for white men. We won't use it unless we're forced,"
+Charnock answered, and both laughed.
+
+He went to the shack, and while they were at dinner Festing asked: "How
+did you persuade Jim Brown to stop until you fired the shot?"
+
+"I didn't persuade him. I took it for granted he would stop."
+
+"He's a good man, but sometimes sulky if one wants him to do what
+he thinks is outside his job. I don't imagine I'd have found him so
+obliging if I'd asked him to keep on."
+
+Charnock laughed. "Perhaps not; our methods are different. You would
+have explained logically why the thing ought to be finished; but that's
+a mistake. There are not so many logical people as you think. Instead of
+arguing, I made a silly joke."
+
+"You certainly get on with the boys," said Festing thoughtfully.
+
+"They're a careless, irresponsible crowd. I'm irresponsible, too, and
+they understand me. They trust you, but you sometimes puzzle them.
+Perhaps that accounts for the thing."
+
+Festing talked about something else until they went back to work. Next
+morning he climbed the hill to a level bench where some of his men were
+busy hauling logs to the top of the skids. It was easier to move the big
+trunks across the snow, and he had seized the opportunity to get some
+out, but was surprised when he saw the number ready to be sent down.
+While he examined them, Charnock, sprinkled with dusty snow, came up,
+leading a heavy Percheron team. They dragged a log into place, and then
+Charnock unhooked the chain and beat his hands. His skin-coat was ragged
+and his fur-cap battered, but he looked alert and virile as he stood
+by the steaming horses' heads. The gray trunks of the pines made a good
+background for his tall figure, which had an almost statuesque grace.
+
+"You look very well, Bob," Festing remarked. "It's obvious that the pain
+has gone."
+
+"It won't come back while the dry weather lasts; I don't know about
+afterwards. These are pretty good logs."
+
+"I was wondering how you were able to bring up so many."
+
+"They're here; that's the main thing. You can look after other matters
+and leave this to me."
+
+"If you don't mind, I'd like to see how you did it," Festing replied.
+
+"Oh, well! You're a persistent fellow; I suppose you had better come
+along."
+
+Festing went with him and stopped where a gang of men were at work
+among the fallen trees. Two, swaying backwards and forward with rhythmic
+precision, dragged a big crosscut-saw through a massive trunk. Others
+swung bright axes, and the wood rang with the noise of their activity.
+All were usefully employed, but there were more of them than Festing
+expected.
+
+"The two boys with the cantpoles belong to the contractor's
+bridge-gang," he said. "What are they doing here?"
+
+"I think I told you Norton said I could have them when we were moving
+the big poles," Charnock replied. "He saw I needed help."
+
+"But that was some days since. He sent them to help at a particular job
+which you have finished."
+
+"He hasn't asked me to send them back. Looks as if he'd forgotten them.
+Anyhow, they're useful."
+
+"We have no right to keep the men. How did you get them to stop?"
+
+"That was easy," said Charnock. "The cooking at the bunk-house isn't
+very good, and I told our man to find out what they liked. In fact, I
+said we'd stand for it if he put up a better hash."
+
+Festing laughed. The plan was characteristic of Bob's methods.
+
+"You must send them back," he said, and went away, doubting if Bob would
+do so.
+
+For all that, he admitted that Charnock was doing well. He stuck to his
+work, and had a talent for handling men. Nobody was at all afraid of
+him; but his sympathetic forbearance with his helpers' weaknesses and
+his whimsical humor seemed to pay much better than bullying. He made a
+joke where Festing frowned, but the latter felt thoughtful as he
+went down-hill. One must make allowance, but Bob was something of a
+responsibility.
+
+A week later, he got a jar as he stood with Charnock beside a part of
+the track they had laboriously underpinned. The ballast train was coming
+down, filling the valley with its roar, and the beaten snow heaved among
+the ties as the big cars rolled by. The rails sank beneath the wheels
+and then sprang up until the load on the next axle pressed them down
+again; the snow flaked off the side of the road-bed, which was built up
+with broken rock. Festing thought the movement was too marked and waited
+for the locomotive, which was coupled to the back of the train.
+
+The engine was of the ponderous, mountain type, but it ran smoothly,
+with steam cut off, and although the ground trembled and the rails
+groaned as it passed, there was no threatening disturbance.
+
+"The bank's holding up, and this was about the worst spot," Charnock
+remarked. "We had some trouble in bedding the king posts in the slippery
+stuff."
+
+Then Kerr gave them a nod as he went by. "Looks pretty good, and they
+have a full load on the cars."
+
+"I think we'll wait until the train comes back," Festing said to
+Charnock. "The engineer will open the throttle wide to pull her up the
+grade."
+
+They sat down in a hollow of the bank, for a bitter wind blew through
+the gorge, and after a time the roar of falling gravel echoed among the
+pines. Then there was a heavy snorting and the locomotive came round
+a curve, rocking and belching out black smoke. The cars banged and
+rattled, slowing with jarred couplings and rolling on when the driving
+wheels gripped. Festing waited anxiously, because the wheels of a
+locomotive when driven hard strikes what is called a hammer blow.
+
+By and by the ground began to throb; the vibration got sharper, and
+Festing watched the track as the engine passed. Cinders rattled about
+him, there was a mist of snow, but he saw the cross-ties start and the
+rails spring up and down. Then the clanging cars sped past, and when
+they had gone he climbed down the side of the bank.
+
+It was now bare of snow and one could see the stones. Two or three
+had fallen, and the edges of the others were a little out of line.
+The unevenness was marked, and although one or two of the heads of the
+timbers had moved, the movement might not have caught Festing's eye had
+he not known the treacherous nature of their support. He did not think
+anybody else would notice that they were not quite in their proper
+place.
+
+"I'm afraid we're up against trouble, Bob," he said.
+
+Charnock looked unusually thoughtful. "The engineer had to start from
+a dead stop and turn on full steam. That made the jarring worse, but it
+wouldn't happen with the ordinary traffic."
+
+"Perhaps not," Festing agreed. "Still, you see, the frequent repetition
+of a smaller shock--"
+
+Charnock stopped him. "It's those confounded posts! If we pull them out,
+we'll have to cut down to the rock to find a solid bed, and there's a
+mass of stone to move. What would the job cost?"
+
+He said nothing for a minute after Festing told him, and then remarked:
+"It's Kerr's business to find fault, and he looked satisfied."
+
+"He doesn't know as much about it as we do."
+
+"Then I wish we knew less. How long do you think the track would stand
+if we left it alone?"
+
+"Until we got paid," said Festing. "It might stand for some time
+afterwards."
+
+He fixed his eyes on Charnock and waited. Bob had expressed some
+praiseworthy sentiments about making a good job, but this was a
+different thing from living up to them when it would cost him much.
+What they ought to do was plain, but Festing admitted that the sacrifice
+required an effort. Then, somewhat to his surprise, Charnock looked up
+with a smile.
+
+"You're not sure of me yet, Stephen, and I don't know that you can be
+blamed. It's a nasty knock, but we have got to bear it. Stop there a few
+minutes."
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"To bring Kerr back and show him the damage. He'll have to lay off the
+gravel gang while we pull down the bank."
+
+Festing waited. Bob would stand by him, but he felt anxious. It would
+be an expensive business to rebuild the track and the frost would make
+things worse. In fact, if they had any more trouble of the kind, they
+might be ruined. Then he got up as he saw Kerr coming along the line.
+
+In an hour or two the rails were up and they began to pull down the
+rockwork that faced the bank. The ragged stones cut their numbed hands,
+their backs ached with lifting heavy weights, and they stumbled under
+the loads they carried up the snowy incline. They had, however, help
+enough, for Charnock went away for a time and came back with three or
+four men from the construction gang. Festing noted that although he made
+them useful, he did not give them the hardest work. He refrained from
+asking how Charnock got the men, but was not surprised when the foreman
+arrived and inquired in forcible language what they were doing there.
+
+"Let me answer him," said Charnock. "I feel in the mood. It's my first
+chance of letting myself go; as long as you're working for wages the
+advantage is with the boss. Besides, I think I ought to do something for
+the boys, who can't talk back."
+
+Festing admitted that he talked very well. Charnock had a keen eye for
+the ridiculous and a pretty wit, and was no longer handicapped by the
+fear of being dismissed. While the foreman replied with coarse but
+rather meaningless abuse, Charnock's retorts had a definite aim and
+hit their mark. He indicated with humorous skill the defects in
+his antagonist's looks and character, and Festing's gang laughed
+uproariously, while the borrowed workmen applauded as loudly as they
+durst. At length, the foreman, breathless and red in face, gave up the
+unequal contest and returned to his first question.
+
+"If you came for an argument, you've got it, and I can go on for some
+time yet," Charnock replied. "However, if you really want to know why
+the boys are helping me, you can ask Mr. Norton at the bridge."
+
+The foreman retired, muttering, but not towards the bridge, and Festing
+looked hard at Charnock.
+
+"I was anxious for a moment," Charnock admitted. "But I didn't think
+he'd go. For one thing, I knew he knows Norton doesn't like him."
+
+"Then I'll leave you to deal with Norton if he hears about the matter.
+Now you have had your amusement, we had better get on."
+
+The short rest and laughter had refreshed the gang and they made good
+progress. As the holes between the frames deepened, the work got harder
+and the footing bad, because they were forced to stand on slippery
+ledges while they passed the heavy stones from man to man. Charnock was
+ready with jocular sympathy if one fell or a stone bruised somebody's
+hand, and his jokes spurred on the weary. It got dark soon in the
+hollow, but as the light faded the flame of a powerful blast-lamp sprang
+up and threw out a dazzling glare. The lamp belonged to the company, and
+Festing did not ask Charnock how he had got it. Bob had his own methods,
+and it was better to leave him alone. When the whistle blew, the latter
+turned to the borrowed men.
+
+"Go to our shack, boys, and get supper there. I told the cook to fix up
+something extra, and dare say you'll find it better hash than yours. I'd
+like you to come back to-morrow, but am afraid it's risky."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE CHINOOK WIND
+
+The frost got more rigorous, drying the snow to a dusty powder in which
+Festing's lumber gang floundered awkwardly. Had there been a thaw, the
+surface would have hardened, but now they were forced to move the logs
+through loose, billowy drifts. The men sank to their knees, it was
+difficult to find a fulcrum for the handspikes, and the logs would not
+run well on the beaten roads. The latter broke into holes, and the dry
+snow retarded the smooth sliding of the lumber like dust. One could not
+touch a saw or ax-head with the naked hand.
+
+Festing had seen that he might be embarrassed by hard frost, but had not
+expected it to continue. On the central tablelands of British Columbia
+winter is severe, but near the coast and in valleys open to the West
+the mitigating warmth of the Pacific is often felt. He had imagined that
+when his work upon the track was hindered the snow would help him to
+bring down lumber ready for use when a thaw set in. Now, however, wages
+were mounting up and little work was being done. He began to wonder what
+would happen if a change did not come.
+
+One morning he knelt in a hole below the track, holding a drill. He wore
+mittens, but the back of one was split and showed a raw bruise on
+his skin. It needs practise to hit the end of a drill squarely, and
+Charnock, who swung the big hammer, had missed. The worst was that the
+bruise would not heal while the temperature kept low. They were sinking
+a hole through frozen gravel that was worse to cut than rock, because
+the drill jambed in the crevices and would not turn. But for the frost,
+they need not have used the tool; a hole for the post they meant to put
+in could have been made with a shovel, without using expensive powder.
+
+When he thought they had gone deep enough Festing got up and looked
+about. White peaks glittered against a vivid blue sky. The pines
+sparkled with frost and the snow in their shadow was a soft gray. The
+river looked as black as ink, except where it foamed among the rocks,
+and the gorge echoed with the crash of drifting ice that shocked and
+splintered on the ledges. The light was strong, and rocks and trees far
+up the slopes stood out, harshly distinct. As he turned to the West,
+however, he noted a faint haziness and shading off in the outline of the
+hills.
+
+"I don't know if that softness means anything, and hardly believe it
+does," he said. "When I made up the wages book last night and saw what
+the work we have been able to do has cost us, I got a shock. The boys
+are a pretty good crowd, and if we pay them off we won't get them back;
+but it's obvious we can't go on long like this."
+
+Charnock nodded. "How much money have we left?"
+
+When Festing told him he looked thoughtful. "I didn't know things were
+quite as bad! Well, I suppose I could get another cheque, but don't want
+to put too much strain on Sadie's generosity. She might imagine I'd
+got on a jag! There are drawbacks to having a character like mine; it's
+easier lived up to than got rid of. However, what do you suggest?"
+
+"We'll hold on while the money lasts."
+
+"The plan's simple, as far as it goes. It's remarkable how short a time
+money does last and how hard it is to earn. Sadie misled me about that;
+she used to hint that I had only to apply my talents and pick up the
+cash; but since she's a business woman, she ought to have known better.
+The virtuous path is about as rocky as luck can make it; but perhaps you
+take something for granted if you allow that making money is virtuous."
+
+Festing frowned impatiently. "One ought to pay one's debts."
+
+"One's generally forced," Charnock replied. "But I think I see what
+you mean. We undertook this contract and must carry it out if possible.
+Sadie would agree. She's like her father, and the old man often said:
+'It's safe to deal with Keller's. When you put up the money, we put up
+the goods.' But let's get the powder."
+
+Opening a box, he took out a stick of yellow material that looked rather
+like a thick candle. A big copper cap was squeezed into one end, and
+from the cap there trailed a length of black fuse. Festing put the stick
+into the hole and cautiously filled this up with frozen soil, leaving a
+short piece of fuse sticking out. While he was feeling for his matches
+Kerr arrived.
+
+"You are making trouble for me," the latter began. "You did the square
+thing in pulling out the weak frames, but they're not replaced, and I
+can't run the gravel train across the spot. As the back track is nearly
+ballasted up, I don't know how I'm going to use the locomotive and
+cars."
+
+"The frost is stopping us," said Festing. "It is not our fault."
+
+"That's so, but my chiefs at headquarters don't want to know whose fault
+it is. Their method, as you ought to know, is statistical--we're given
+a number of men and tools, and the value of the work done must equal the
+expense. It's the only standard for judging an engineer. His business
+is to overcome the difficulties, and if he's unable he's obviously of no
+use."
+
+Charnock grinned. "Employers' logic! Piffle of that kind only goes when
+there are more engineers than jobs. I imagine there'll be a change some
+day."
+
+"I'm sorry Dalton's gone back," Kerr resumed. "He's a friend of yours,
+and would have seen what we're all up against. But there's another
+thing; the boys are beginning to kick. We have had to lay off the
+ballast gang for a day now and then, and they claim they're not getting
+a square deal. One fellow told me we oughtn't to have given the contract
+to a man without capital to carry him over a set-back. He said if you'd
+had money you could have hired extra labor and kept to schedule, and in
+the end it wouldn't have cost you more."
+
+"The argument is sound," Festing agreed. "In fact, it shows more
+understanding than I'd expect the boys to use."
+
+Kerr looked hard at him. "I suspect that somebody is stirring them up.
+You see, they haven't demanded more wages yet; they only claim that I
+ought to hustle you."
+
+"The fellow's object isn't very plain, but I've no doubt the demand for
+bigger pay will come. Well, we can't hire more help, and if there's no
+change soon, the frost will break us without your bothering. We'll do
+our best until then."
+
+"We'll leave it at that," said Kerr, with a sympathetic nod; and when he
+went away Charnock turned to Festing.
+
+"Wilkinson's the man, and as the boys have a real grievance he'll find
+them easy to work on. That means I've got to write to Sadie."
+
+"No," said Festing. "If you write, I stop. Your wife has sent you money
+enough, and I'm afraid some of it is lost. We must trust to luck, and in
+the meantime we'll fire the shot."
+
+He blew a whistle and then striking a match lighted the fuse and hurried
+away. A minute or two later, lumps of frozen gravel flew about the track
+and showers of smaller fragments scattered the snow. As Festing came out
+of his shelter a man with an angry look advanced along the line.
+
+"Why don't you warn folks before you shoot off your rocks?" he asked.
+
+"My partner whistled," Charnock answered. "What's the matter, anyhow?
+Did the shot jar your nerves?"
+
+"A rock a foot across mighty near jarred my head! A smaller piece got me
+plumb on the ribs."
+
+Festing thought this unlikely, in view of the fellow's distance from the
+explosion, but could not be certain he was not struck.
+
+"I'm sorry if you got hurt," he said. "You ought to have heard the
+whistle."
+
+"Anyhow, I didn't. You want to stop shooting rocks when there are men
+around. Then you've mussed up the track and can't put her straight. Why
+don't you hire more boys and rush the job? Can't see why the bosses let
+two deadbeats like you and your partner have the contract!"
+
+"We have got it. How we mean to carry it out is our business, not
+yours."
+
+"Then it's certainly our business if we work or not," the other
+rejoined. "As the bosses will find out if they reckon we're going to
+lose our time to help you save your dollars!"
+
+He went away grumbling, and Charnock looked at Festing.
+
+"Was that bluff? Do you think he means it?"
+
+"I don't know. They haven't lost much time through our fault, but the
+frost has interfered with other jobs, and I expect there'll be trouble
+if it lasts. I'm puzzled, because they're not a bad-tempered lot, and I
+understand that Wilkinson is not a favorite. Your throwing him down the
+bank wouldn't strengthen his influence."
+
+"It's easy to work on men's feelings when they're discontented,"
+Charnock replied. "The worst is that Kerr can't stand by us if the gang
+put down their tools. Labor's scarce in the mountains, and he'll be
+forced to do what they want."
+
+Festing gloomily agreed. "I'm afraid so. However, we must do the best we
+can in the time we have left."
+
+They worked by a blast-lamp until late at night and began again before
+daybreak in the morning. The weakened frame had been replaced, but
+others needed strengthening and the rockwork must be built up among the
+timbers. The stones required careful fitting, and it was impossible to
+dress them to rough shape. The frozen surface resisted the tool and
+they broke if much force was used. Fires were made, but the rock thawed
+irregularly and much time was lost.
+
+Festing's bruised hand gave him trouble, his mittens wore to rags,
+and his numbed fingers cracked and bled, but he worked savagely until
+evening. Then he walked stiffly to the shack and sat, dejected and
+aching, looking at the food on the table. Although he had eaten little
+all day, it cost him something of an effort to begin his meal.
+
+An hour afterward he heard steps and voices outside and opened the door.
+The light shone out from behind him and he saw a group of dark figures
+in the snow.
+
+"Well, boys," he asked, "what do you want?"
+
+"We want to know when you're going to fix the track," one replied.
+
+"That's easily answered. We mean to put it right as soon as we can."
+
+"Not good enough!" remarked another. "We've got to know when."
+
+"Then I'm sorry I can't tell you. It depends on the weather."
+
+Some of them growled, and Festing felt Charnock's hand close warningly
+on his arm.
+
+"Won't you come into the light, boys?" the latter asked. "I'd like to
+know to whom I'm talking."
+
+They did not move, and Charnock resumed: "Have you brought your foreman
+or Wilkinson?"
+
+Somebody said neither had come, and Charnock nodded.
+
+"Well, I reckon they know what's best for them! Wilkinson doesn't like
+me, but he's not looking for more trouble; I imagine he's had enough.
+Then the foreman's not a friend of mine, but he has a better job than
+yours and means to hold it down. If you get up against the bosses, he's
+not going to be fired."
+
+There was silence, and he saw his remarks had not been wasted. He had
+hinted that the men were being used and given them ground to distrust
+their leaders.
+
+"I half expected another fellow, a friend of Wilkinson's, who claimed he
+had been hit by a stone. Has he come along?"
+
+"Said he was too sore and would have to lay off to-morrow," one replied.
+"That's another thing. When you shoot off your blasts you have got to
+watch out that nobody gets hurt."
+
+"Sure," agreed Charnock. "We did watch out and blew the whistle; but we
+want to do the square thing. If Pearson got hurt and can't work, let him
+show you the bruise. We'll stand for his pay until you think he's fit to
+begin again."
+
+"That's fair," admitted the other with a laugh. "He wasn't showing the
+bruise much. Say, you're pretty smart!"
+
+"I hope so," said Charnock, modestly. "Looks as if I needed all the
+smartness I've got. We're up against the weather and a big awkward job,
+and then you come along and worry us! However, what are you going to do
+about it if we can't put the rails down as soon as you want?"
+
+"We'll make the bosses break your contract."
+
+Charnock pondered, keeping his hand on Festing's arm, because he thought
+he could handle the matter better than his comrade. Festing was too
+blunt and sometimes got angry. He saw that the men were determined,
+but while they had, no doubt, been worked upon, he thought they had no
+personal grudge against him or his partner.
+
+"There's only one way you could put the screw to the bosses, and that
+way's dangerous. The _Colonist_ states that they have a number of men
+unemployed in the coast towns. If Kerr wrote to a labor agent, he'd send
+him up a crowd."
+
+"It would cost him high to bring the men here, and take some time."
+
+"That is so," Charnock agreed. He saw the others had made their plans
+and calculated the pressure they could put upon the engineers. Time was
+important, and he thought the foreman had helped them to estimate the
+expense the company would incur by the delay before they could get new
+men.
+
+"Putting down your tools would cost you something," he resumed. "How
+long do you imagine it would take to persuade Kerr?"
+
+"I guess a week would fix him; he wouldn't stand for a fortnight."
+
+"Very well! I don't suppose your object is to put us off the road;
+you want what you're entitled to. So do we all, and though it's often
+troublesome to get, there's no use in taking the hardest way. If you
+stop, you lose a fortnight's wages and somebody will get fired. Not now,
+of course, but afterwards; the bosses know their job. Well, give us ten
+days, and the time you miss won't run to many dollars. If we can't put
+the rails down then, we'll quit."
+
+There was silence for a moment, and then somebody said, "We'll let it go
+at that. It's a deal!"
+
+The others growled consent and Charnock waited until they moved away,
+after which he shut the door and sat down wearily.
+
+"You took the right line," Festing said.
+
+"I hesitated about fixing the time, but we can't go on much longer."
+
+"No," said Festing. "Well, we have ten days!"
+
+They said nothing more and soon afterwards went to bed. Next morning
+there was a marked haziness in the west, but the frost was keener. It
+looked as if they must be beaten, although they meant to fight until
+defeat was sure, and Festing was surprised when he glanced at his
+comrade. This was not the careless lounger he had known. Charnock's
+face was grim and somewhat pinched; his hands were torn and bruised.
+He picked the heaviest stones to lift and was the first to take hold of
+ponderous beams. Festing owned that he had misjudged Charnock, but
+not more than he had misjudged himself. His farming had been a rash
+experiment and the contract a reckless gamble; the one threatened to end
+as badly as the other. Then Bob had somehow kept his wife's love, and
+he, with senseless obstinacy, had estranged Helen.
+
+His thoughts were depressing, but they drove him on. Hope was dead; he
+had made a horrible mess of things. All that was left was to take his
+punishment and hold on until he was knocked out, but he meant to do
+this. He did not stop for dinner with the rest, but occupied himself
+with something that needed doing, and forgot that he had gone without
+the meal. Afterwards a pain began in his left side, but he had other
+aches, and the extra discomfort did not trouble him much. In the
+afternoon he worked with a kind of sudden fury, and when at length the
+tired men dropped their tools found some difficulty in straightening
+his back. He had never used his muscles as he had done for the past few
+days, but the strain would soon be over.
+
+It was unusually dark when he went up the hill to the shack. The pines
+rose in blurred masses from the shadowy snow and he could not see the
+hollow of the path. Supper was a melancholy meal, but he ate because he
+was hungry, and afterwards dragged his chair to the fire. There was a
+great pile of crackling logs and the blaze flickered about the room, but
+bitter draughts came in beneath the door.
+
+"An open fire's of no use; I thought about getting a stove," he said,
+and paused with a dreary smile. "It's lucky I didn't send the order!"
+
+"You may need it yet," Charnock replied. "Somehow we'll put the rails
+down in time."
+
+Festing did not answer and picked up a newspaper. He did not want to
+read, but could not sleep, although he was very tired, and felt he
+must have some relief from his anxious thoughts. The newspaper was
+a _Colonist_ that had left Victoria some days before, and he read it
+methodically from the first column, trying to fix his attention on
+things that had happened in remote mining settlements and market
+reports. His efforts were mechanical, but he long afterwards remembered
+what he read and how he dully followed the arguments in an article on
+political reform. Indeed, when he saw the _Colonist_ his imagination
+carried him back to the log-walled hut, and he felt something of the
+dazed hopelessness that blunted his senses then.
+
+In the meantime, Charnock, half asleep, lounged with his legs stretched
+out to the fire. The logs snapped and a fitful wind stirred the tops of
+the pines. Now and then some snow fell from a branch and a loose roofing
+shingle rattled, but by degrees the sounds died away. Everything was
+strangely quiet, except for the roar of the river, which had got more
+distinct. Charnock shivered and felt a puzzling tension. It was often
+calm at night, particularly in hard frost, but he felt as if something
+was going to happen. Looking up, he saw Festing nod with his eyes half
+shut, and felt for his tobacco.
+
+While he cut the plug, the silence was broken. There was a humming in
+the pine tops and light branches began to toss. The draught from the
+door got stronger, but did not bite as keenly, and it sounded as if the
+snow was falling from the trees. Then some slipped down the roof, and
+getting up with tingling nerves, he opened the door. All the trees were
+rustling and waves of sound came up the valley. The sound swelled, the
+air felt damp, and a drop of moisture from the roof splashed upon his
+head. He drew a deep breath of relief, for a warm wind from the Pacific
+was roaring through the defile. Then Festing dropped the newspaper.
+
+"Why have you opened the door?" he asked drowsily, and got up with a
+jerk as the draught swept the smoke about the room.
+
+"A Chinook!" he exclaimed, and ran to the door. "We'll have rain and
+warmth while it blows."
+
+"It's great!" said Charnock hoarsely. "We are through the worst!" Then
+he caught Festing's arm and laughed. "Say something wise, partner; I
+want to shout and dance."
+
+"You had better go to bed. It will be thawing hard to-morrow, and
+there's much to be done. A Chinook doesn't last long in the mountains."
+
+"This Chinook is going to last until we put the rails down," Charnock
+replied.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE THAW
+
+When Festing went out at daybreak the air was soft, and drops from the
+wet pines fell into the honeycombed snow. The surface was turning to
+slush, but he knew it would wear down into a slippery mass on which the
+logs would run. This was fortunate, because he doubted if labor could
+be usefully employed upon the stones just yet. For a few moments he
+pondered the matter and listened to the river's turmoil. The deep,
+booming note was sharper, water splashed noisily in the gullies, and
+there was a ringing crash as an ice-floe broke upon a rock. Then he
+turned as Charnock came up.
+
+"Which is it--logs or stones?" the latter asked.
+
+"Logs, I think; we can handle them easily," Festing replied. "The other
+job is urgent, but the thaw has only begun, and when the ground gets
+properly soft we'll do twice as much as we could now. Still, there's
+a risk. We could make some progress with the track, and the warm spell
+mayn't last."
+
+"Take the risk," said Charnock with a laugh. "There's not much fun in
+playing for safety, and you don't get far that way, while when you try
+to foresee things you generally see them wrong. But let's be practical!
+As soon as the ground is soft enough we'll ask leave to hire half the
+gravel gang. That will make friends of the opposition and won't put
+up our wages bill. If you double your helpers, you halve the working
+hours."
+
+"Obviously. But you have to pay the larger number all at once. Where's
+the money coming from?"
+
+"From the head contractor. We'll try to make Norton sign for an interim
+payment. Let's go and see him."
+
+Festing was doubtful, but they found Norton, the contractor's engineer,
+more compliant than he hoped.
+
+"I suppose you are entitled to ask for a sum on account, but I'd take
+some responsibility in allowing the demand," he said. "Why did you come
+to me now?"
+
+"We want to be just," Charnock answered modestly. "At present, there's
+no prospect of our finishing the work we ask the money for."
+
+"It doesn't go much beyond a prospect yet," Norton rejoined. "However,
+I'll help you if I can, and will see what Kerr thinks. He's the man we
+have both to satisfy in the end."
+
+They went to work up the hill in the melting snow, and soon their
+clothes were dripping and their long boots soaked. At first, the logs
+vanished in the drifts through which they tried to roll them, and the
+horses slipped and floundered in the slush, but this flowed away and
+left a harder layer that was presently beaten firm. The surface turned
+black and compressed into ice, and before long rows of heavy logs
+plunged down the skids. Every moment must be turned to good account, and
+Festing stopped and went down reluctantly when Kerr sent for him.
+
+"I've seen Norton and he thinks we ought to help you out," Kerr
+remarked. "Though he argues from single instances, his judgment's often
+good, and he seems convinced you can be trusted because you saved a skip
+of his. Of course, I had my opinion; but as he represents the contractor
+you are working for, I couldn't urge him."
+
+"Thanks!" said Festing. "I wish I'd brought Charnock; he'd deal with
+this better."
+
+Kerr laughed. "Your partner has some talents and seems to have made
+Norton and my storekeepers his friends. If he hadn't, there might have
+been trouble about certain irregularities. However, you can have the
+gravel gang if I'm forced to lay the boys off, and as soon as we can run
+the train over the repaired track you'll get your cheque."
+
+Festing went away, feeling satisfied, but not without some anxiety. He
+could not urge Norton to go farther than his employer would approve, and
+the payment agreed upon was small. Besides, if the frost returned before
+he had made the track secure, he would have spent enough money in
+extra wages to prevent his going on, and should this happen it might be
+difficult to obtain payment for other work already completed. He would
+be at the mercy of Norton's employer, who might contend that by throwing
+up his contract he had forfeited his claim. It was obvious that he must
+make the utmost use of every hour of open weather, and for the rest of
+the day he worked with a stubborn energy that conquered fatigue.
+
+For a time, the logs went screaming and grinding down the skids, but
+darkness made launching them dangerous, and they could not light the
+lumber road on the hill. They worked in the dark, rolling out the sawn
+trunks from among the brush and melting snow until there was room to
+hook on the team. Then the driver, walking by his horses' heads,
+felt with his feet for the hollowed track, and losing it now and
+then embedded his load in snow. Then he called for help, and men with
+cantpoles laboriously hove the ponderous mass back to the road.
+
+The work was worse on the inclines, where the logs ran smoothly and
+there was a risk of their overtaking the horses. Rain had begun to fall
+and one could not see the obstacles, but there were pitches where one
+must go fast in order to keep in front of the dangerous loads. But risks
+must be run in lumbering, and Festing felt that rashness was justified.
+Speed was the thing that counted most.
+
+When supper time drew near, men and horses were worn out, and Festing
+knew that if he urged the former to continue he could not do much
+without the teams. There were, however, a few logs he meant to haul
+to the skidway before he stopped, and he had some misgivings when he
+started with the last. It was an unusually large trunk, and the tired
+horses floundered as they tightened the chain. Thawing snow when beaten
+hard is as slippery as ice, but the animals kept their feet and the mass
+began to move. Festing got a firm grip on the near horse's bridle and
+plodded forward cautiously, with the rain in his face when he crossed
+the openings in the wood. The snow reflected a puzzling glimmer, but the
+darkness was thick among the trees, and drops from the shaking branches
+fell into his eyes. Turning his hat-brim down, he felt for the edge of
+the trail.
+
+By and by he stopped at the top of a descent. The gray snow looked all
+the same, and the hollow track vanished a few yards in front; the
+rows of trunks had faded into a vague dark mass, and the branches met
+overhead in a thick canopy. The horses were big, valuable Percherons,
+but they were exhausted and stood slackly, with steam rising from their
+foam-flecked coats. Festing did not like the look of the dip, and knew
+the trees grew close upon the track at the bottom, but he must go down,
+and shouted to the hesitating animals.
+
+They moved faster; the log grinding heavily across the snow behind. Then
+the strain on the chain slackened, and he dragged at the bridle as he
+began to run. The log could not be stopped now; it was moving faster
+than he had thought, and all that he could do was to keep the team in
+front. His feet slipped on the icy trail, and the horses floundered, but
+they knew the danger and broke into a clumsy trot. It was hard to keep
+up, but Festing must hold them to the track and steer them round a bend
+ahead.
+
+The log lurched noisily across lumps and hollows, the chain made a harsh
+clank, and the wood echoed the thud of heavy hoofs. Festing ran his
+best, and imagined that he was running for the horses' lives and perhaps
+for his. He durst not look round, and could only guess where the log was
+by the noise. The blurred trees rolled back to him in a thick dark mass,
+but he thought the gap he followed got narrower ahead. This was, no
+doubt, the awkward spot where the trunks closed on the track, and there
+was a corner. He must go on and trust to luck for getting round.
+
+In a few moments he was almost at the corner, and although it was hard
+to see, thought he distinguished a break in the dark wall of trees. One
+must keep to the inside, on the right; but there was very little room,
+and if he miscalculated, he or the horses would collide with a trunk.
+He smashed through a bush that caught his foot, but his hold upon the
+bridle saved him from a fall. It looked as if he had left the track and
+was plunging into the wood. Then a black trunk became detached from the
+rest, apparently straight in front. He did not mean to let go, although
+he might be crushed between the horse's shoulder and the tree, and drew
+as close as possible to the animal. Something brushed his coat, he felt
+a button torn off, but the tree was passed. He knew where he was now,
+and thrusting hard against the horse urged the animal towards the other
+side of the road. The log ran into soft snow and slowed; there was more
+room here and the steepest pitch was behind. A few minutes later, he
+reached the top of the skids and sat down on the log, breathing fast and
+feeling badly shaken.
+
+He frowned as he thought there was no physical reason he should feel
+shaken. He was used to strenuous effort, and danger could not be avoided
+when one engaged in construction work. It was mental strain that was
+wearing him out; the constant endeavor to finish a task in less than
+the necessary time. Want of money was, however, the main cause of his
+difficulties, and when he had got his cheque it would be possible to
+take things easier. Comforting himself with this reflection, he got up
+and led the horses down-hill.
+
+The clang of hammers and rattle of shovels rose from the gorge, sharply
+distinct at times, but melting when the throb of the river swelled and
+a gust roared among the trees. A dark skeleton of steel that stood out
+against pulsating flame, with blurred reflections below, marked
+the central pier of the bridge; the line of track was picked out by
+twinkling fires. Then the scream of a whistle pierced the sound and the
+lights went out. The men were going back to the bunk-house and Festing
+envied them. Their work was finished for the day and they could rest,
+free from care, until the whistle roused them to begin again. Many were,
+no doubt, tired, but that was man's common lot, and muscular fatigue
+in moderation was no hardship. The strain came when one had to make
+the dollars go round and see that every effort paid its cost. Among the
+mountains, the cost was high.
+
+Charnock joined him when he was grooming the horses in the rude stable,
+because the teams must be cared for before the men thought of food.
+Supper was ready when they went in, and when they had eaten they sat by
+the hearth, drying their damp clothes and enjoying the warmth. They had
+scarcely spoken to one another during the day; as a rule, it was only
+after supper one could indulge in talk.
+
+Presently Charnock took his pipe from his mouth. "It's luxuriously warm,
+but one can't expect the Chinook to last. I imagine we'll have some use
+for a stove after all."
+
+"We're not out of danger yet," Festing replied. "Norton's cheque has
+still to be earned, but I begin to feel hopeful. If we can hold out for
+a few more days, I think we'll turn the corner. Anyhow, the plan you
+made prevents any trouble from Wilkinson for a time. Do you think he has
+had enough and will leave us alone?"
+
+"I can't tell, but it doesn't matter much. We mustn't exaggerate the
+fellow's importance; he's a very poor sample of the theatrical villain.
+Besides, I imagine you seldom meet the latter in real life; it's an
+unnecessary part."
+
+"You mean we're up against enough without a plotting antagonist? Well, I
+must agree. Considering the weather--"
+
+Charnock stopped him with a smile. "I don't mean the weather, though one
+can't leave that out. In a new country, man must make the best fight he
+can against Nature; but she's not his worst enemy. It's our passions,
+our virtues sometimes, that lead us into a coil. Looks as if they didn't
+want much help from outside."
+
+"That kind of speculation's not much in my line."
+
+"Just so. You're what you call practical, and your mind runs upon the
+number of yards of rockwork you can put up in a day or the logs you can
+cut. Very useful, but it doesn't take you far enough. In fact, if you
+had thought more about other matters, you wouldn't be here now. Nor
+would I."
+
+"I'm not sure I see your drift," said Festing impatiently. "What's your
+explanation for our being here?"
+
+Charnock's eyes twinkled. "If you want the truth, it's because you're
+something of an obstinate ass. Wilkinson had really nothing to do with
+it, and the weather hasn't much. Your pride brought you and keeps you.
+You took the wrong line with Helen, and then, knowing you were wrong,
+couldn't force yourself to accept her help. However, I'll admit that we
+are a pair of fools. I could have spent a lazy winter at the homestead
+if I'd liked."
+
+"You came to look for me," Festing remarked with feeling.
+
+"I did, but stayed to please myself. Thought I'd show Sadie what I could
+do; felt virtuous about it at the time, but begin to suspect that
+vanity pushed me on. Sadie would, no doubt, sooner have me safe at home.
+Anyhow, I think I've proved my argument--we're here, doing unthinkable
+things, freezing, sweating, getting thin, because of our own stupidity."
+
+"In a way, that is so," Festing agreed. "Still, I can't go back until I
+have finished this job."
+
+"Perhaps you had better not," said Charnock dryly. "I imagine you
+wouldn't be easy to live with it you felt you had come home because you
+had failed. You might make good resolutions, but the thing would spoil
+your temper all the same. The pinch comes when you try to carry good
+resolutions out."
+
+Festing got up and threw fresh wood on the fire. "If you have finished
+philosophizing, we'll talk about something else."
+
+"I'm not going to talk about logs and wages," Charnock replied.
+
+"Very well. You haven't told me much about Wilkinson. He seems a clever
+rascal. Do you think we have ground for being afraid of him?"
+
+"I don't imagine he'd run much risk or make a sacrifice for the sake
+of getting his revenge; that kind of thing isn't often done by normal
+people. All the same, he doesn't like us, and if he found he could do us
+an injury without much trouble, I dare say he'd seize the chance. On the
+whole, it might be prudent to watch him. Now we'll let the matter go."
+
+Festing nodded, and they lounged in silence by the snapping fire.
+
+Next morning they got to work upon the track, and on the following
+afternoon, when the thaw had gone far enough into the ground, Charnock
+went for the gravel gang. The men came willingly, although Wilkinson
+and the foreman did not appear, and with the connivance of one Charnock
+obtained several of the company's blast-lamps. They worked well, and
+when they went away Festing was satisfied with what they had done. He
+imagined that Kerr and Norton had put themselves to some inconvenience
+in order to let him have the gang, and for the next two or three days he
+redoubled his efforts. The strain was getting unbearable, but the thaw
+would not last, and he must finish all the work the frost would delay
+while he could get the men. When he dismissed his helpers, they parted
+on friendly terms; but his look was grave that evening when he made up
+his accounts.
+
+The wages had been a heavy drain, and he could not meet his
+storekeeper's bills unless he got his cheque. The defective underpinning
+had, however, been replaced or strengthened, and he expected that Kerr
+would test it soon. If the work did not pass the test, he would be
+ruined, and would, moreover, have involved Charnock in a serious loss.
+
+It was about the middle of the morning when he stood with Kerr and his
+partner beside the mended tract. Bright sunshine touched the hillside,
+leaving the gorge in shadow, and the air was clear and cold. The snow
+had gone for a few hundred feet above the rails; the pines stood out
+sharply from the dark background, and the hollows in the glittering
+slopes beyond were marked by lines of soft-blue shade. Festing thought a
+change was coming, and he had not finished the track too soon.
+
+By and by a plume of smoke rose above the trees and something twinkled
+in an opening. A rhythmic snorting and a rumble pierced the throb of the
+river, and Kerr looked up the track.
+
+"The engineer's bringing her along fast. Shall I flag him to snub her
+and shut the throttle before he runs across the new stuff?"
+
+"No," said Festing quietly. "It won't be needful."
+
+"The work hasn't had much time to settle, and a locomotive using steam
+hits the rails harder than when she's running loose."
+
+"We don't want our money until it's earned, and you'll have to haul
+heavy loads up the grade when the regular traffic begins."
+
+"In the meantime, I'm not thinking about the rest, but about the gravel
+train."
+
+"The track will stand," said Festing, in a steady voice.
+
+The train came on; the long, low-sided cars rocking and banging down the
+incline. Small figures jolted up and down on the gravel, and at the far
+end the big plow flashed in the sun. The front of the engine got larger,
+and Festing fixed his eyes upon the rockwork he had built among the
+piles. All that could be done had been done; he had not spared money
+or labor, for Charnock had agreed that the job must stand. It was, no
+doubt, exaggerated sentiment, for he was highly strung, but he felt that
+he had staked his wife's respect and his future happiness on his work.
+
+The ground shook, and flying fragments of ballast beat upon his
+turned-down hat; there was a deafening roar as the cars jolted past,
+and he saw the rails spring. Then the wind that buffeted him changed
+to eddying puffs, the noise receded, and he lifted his bent head. The
+rockwork stood firm, the ends of the timbers had not moved, and only
+a few small heaps of gravel had fallen from the road-bed. Festing felt
+that he was trembling, and Kerr put his hand on his arm.
+
+"It's a good job; I'm quite satisfied. If you'll come along to Norton's
+office, I'll tell him he can give you an order on headquarters for your
+cheque."
+
+"I'll come instead," said Charnock, who turned to Festing. "Go to the
+shack and take a smoke. If you come out before I return, I'll stop the
+gang."
+
+Half an hour later he found Festing sitting slackly by the fire.
+
+"The order is in the mail-bag and will go out on the first train," he
+said. "It's lucky we got it, because we have cut things very fine. I
+had a note some days since from the fellow who sends us our stores,
+insisting on our settling his bill."
+
+"Then why didn't you tell me?" Festing asked.
+
+Charnock laughed. "I imagined you had enough to bother you, and his
+account is big. We couldn't have paid him without going broke, and
+wages have first claim. There was a way out, but you had given me strict
+orders not to write to Sadie."
+
+"I couldn't have allowed that, but you're a good sort, Bob!"
+
+"Well," said Charnock cheerfully, "it was, so to speak, touch and go;
+but we have turned the awkward corner, and I think are going to make
+good."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A NEW UNDERTAKING
+
+Soon after the rails were laid down the frost returned, and one cold
+morning Festing sat in his shack, studying a letter from Helen. Norton's
+cheque had helped him to overcome the worst of his difficulties, things
+were going better, and Charnock would superintend the workmen until he
+was ready to go out. Festing felt that he need not hurry, and wanted to
+think.
+
+Helen had written to him before, without any hint of resentment, and
+he had told her what he was doing. She knew Bob was his partner, and
+no doubt understood what this implied. It was obvious that he had been
+wrong in disliking Bob and half suspecting him; besides Helen knew from
+the beginning that he had not suspected her, although he had insisted
+that she had been imprudent. This ground for difference had vanished,
+but he wondered what she thought, and could not gather much from her
+letter.
+
+She wrote with apparent good-humor and stated that all was going
+satisfactorily at the farm, where, indeed, nothing of importance could
+be done until spring. For all that, there was some reserve. A personal
+explanation was needed before they could get back to their old
+relations of intimate confidence, and he was ready to own his mistakes.
+Unfortunately, the explanation must be put off, because there was one
+point on which he was still determined, although his resolve no longer
+altogether sprang from pride. He must, if possible, repair his damaged
+fortunes before he went home. Farming on a proper scale was expensive
+work, and Helen's capital was not large. In order to raise a big crop,
+one must speculate boldly, and he meant to do so with his own money.
+
+He saw a danger in staying away too long, but his contract was only
+beginning to be profitable. Besides, one thing led to another, and a
+number of extras, for which the pay was good, had been added to the
+original plans. Then he had been asked to undertake another job and had
+arranged to go over the ground with Kerr and Norton that morning. In
+a way, he would sooner have left it alone, because it would keep him
+longer from home, but the terms offered a strong inducement to stop.
+Glancing at his watch, he saw it was nearly time to meet the engineers.
+
+He found them and Charnock near the half-finished bridge, which crossed
+the river obliquely. The track approached its end in a curve and then
+stopped where a noisy steam-digger was at work. Between the machine and
+the bridge, the hillside fell in a very steep slope to the water, which
+rolled in angry turmoil past its foot, and the channel dividing the bank
+from the island that supported the central bridge-pier was deep. Here
+and there a slab of rock projected from the slope, but, for the most
+part, the latter consisted of small stones and soil. The surface was now
+frozen beneath a thin crust of snow and the pines were white.
+
+"You know roughly what we want," said Kerr. "If you'll come along, you
+can look at the shot-holes we made to test the ground. Then I'll show
+you a car-load of the rock we want to use, but it's largely a lumber
+job and that's why we thought of offering it you. You have some good
+choppers besides the teams and plant required."
+
+They climbed about the bank by dangerous paths, and then stopped at the
+end of the bridge.
+
+"The thing can be done, but it will only make a temporary job," Festing
+remarked. "You will have to do it again, properly, in a year or two."
+
+"That the Company's business," Kerr replied. "As soon as we start the
+traffic improvements can be paid for out of revenue instead of piling up
+construction costs."
+
+"You can imagine the cost if we cut back the hill far enough to ease
+the curve and lay the track on solid ground," Norton interposed. "The
+half-measure of scooping out a shallow road-bed and dumping the stuff on
+the incline is ruled out, because the spoil wouldn't lie and the river
+would sweep the dirt away. If we filled up the channel with rock, we'd
+turn the current on the bridge-pier."
+
+Then Charnock said something and Festing let them talk while he looked
+about. Since a temporary job was required, he thought the plan was
+perhaps the best that could be used. It called for a timber framework,
+beginning about half-way up the bank, although its height would vary
+with the ground. The gaps between the frames would be faced with
+rockwork and then filled with rubble in order to make a bed for the
+rails on top.
+
+"If you will come to the office, I'll show you the detailed drawings,"
+Norton said presently, and the others followed him.
+
+When they reached the office Festing studied the drawings, and then
+giving them to Charnock, lighted his pipe. He wanted to undertake the
+contract, but hesitated. The work already on his hands would occupy him
+for some time, and a lengthy absence might prejudice him with Helen.
+Besides, he had taken risks enough and a new venture might prove a rash
+challenge to fortune; one could not foresee all the difficulties that
+might arise. But, if he succeeded, he would go home with the means to
+resume his farming on a profitable scale. Then he saw Charnock looking
+at him and knew he would agree to his decision. Festing put down his
+pipe and knitted his brows.
+
+"Well?" said Charnock.
+
+Festing got up with a quick, resolute movement, and turned to Norton.
+
+"We'll undertake the job."
+
+"That's all right," said Norton. "I'll get the papers drawn up and send
+them over for you to sign."
+
+They went out, and as they climbed the hill Charnock remarked: "This may
+turn out a big thing, partner. Are you going home before we start?"
+
+Festing looked up sharply, with a disturbed air. "No. To begin with,
+I've got to be about because the thing is big."
+
+"Then, as matters are going smoothly now, I'll leave you for a week."
+
+"I can manage for a week and one of us must stay. But why d'you want to
+leave?"
+
+"On the whole, I think one of us had better go," Charnock answered with
+some dryness. "If you don't mind, I'll get off to-morrow."
+
+He started next morning, in the caboose of a returning supply train, and
+Festing, who went to see him off, stood for a few minutes on the snowy
+track while the rattle of wheels and snorting of the locomotive died
+away. Bob had made a curious remark when he talked about going, and
+Festing wondered what he meant, but dismissed the matter and went back
+to his work.
+
+It was a bitter afternoon when Charnock got down at the little prairie
+station that was marked by a water-tank, the agent's shack, and the
+lower frames of three unfinished grain elevators. He hired a rig at the
+livery stable, and borrowing a fur-robe started on his drive across
+the plain. The landscape was empty and featureless except for the gray
+smears of distant bluffs. Nothing moved on the white expanse, and there
+was no sound but the measured thud of the horses' feet; the air was
+still and keen with frost. When the cluster of wooden houses sank behind
+a gradual rise, the wavy, blue riband of the trail was the only sign of
+human activity in the frozen wilderness.
+
+The snowfall, however, is generally light on the Western plains, and the
+trail was good. Its smooth surface was dusty rather than slippery and
+the team went fast. Everything was different from the varied grandeur of
+the mountains; the eye found no point to rest upon, and the level snow
+emphasized the loneliness. In spite of the thick driving-robe, the
+cold bit through Charnock's worn-out clothes, but he was conscious of a
+strange and almost poignant satisfaction. This was not because he was at
+heart still something of a sybarite and had borne many hardships on the
+railroad; he was going home and in an hour or two Sadie would welcome
+him. It was curious, but when he married Sadie he had not thought she
+could inspire him with the feeling he had now. But he had learned her
+value and understood something of what she had done for him.
+
+When it got dark he urged the horses and tried to control his
+impatience. Later he felt his heart beat as he drove round the corner of
+a shadowy bluff and saw his home-lights twinkle across the snow. A hired
+man came out to take the team, he got down, nearly too numbed to move,
+and as he stumbled up the steps Sadie met him with a cry of delight. She
+drew him in and when he stood, half-dazed by the brightness and change
+of temperature, in the well-warmed room, she took her arm from round his
+neck and moved back a pace or two.
+
+Charnock's skin-coat was ragged, his mittens were tattered, and his long
+boots badly worn. He looked tired and unkempt, but Sadie's eyes were
+soft as she studied him.
+
+"Your face is very thin, but I don't like it less," she said. "You
+haven't come back the same, Bob; I think you have grown."
+
+"Perhaps the pains account for the thinness," Charnock answered with a
+smile. "Anyway, you ought to be satisfied, because you tried to make me
+grow, and in a sense I was very small when I left you. But we won't be
+sentimental and I want to change my clothes."
+
+He found fresh clothes ready, and when he came back his slippers, pipe,
+and a recent newspaper occupied their usual place. Sitting down with a
+smile of content, he lazily looked about.
+
+"This is remarkably nice," he said. "The curious thing is that I feel
+as if I'd only left the house five minutes since. Everything I want is
+waiting, although you didn't know I was coming."
+
+"I knew you would come some day, and come like this, without letting me
+know."
+
+"And so you kept everything ready?" Charnock rejoined. "Well, I imagine
+that's significant! But you see, I didn't know I could leave camp until
+the day before I started, and then it looked as if I'd get here as soon
+as the mail."
+
+Sadie gave him a quick glance. "Then something happened that made you
+leave?"
+
+"Something did happen, but nothing bad. However, it's a long story and
+I've not had much to eat."
+
+"Supper will be ready in five minutes, and I've got something that you
+like."
+
+"Ah!" said Charnock, "I suppose that means you kept the thing I like
+ready, too?"
+
+They talked about matters of no importance until the meal was over, and
+then Sadie made him sit down by the stove and light his pipe.
+
+"Now," she said, "you can tell me all you did at the construction camp,
+and leave nothing out."
+
+Charnock was frank. He knew Sadie understood him, perhaps better than
+he understood himself, and if his narrative gave her any pleasure, he
+thought she deserved it. Moreover, when he wanted he talked rather well,
+making his meaning clear without saying too much. When he finished she
+gave him a level glance.
+
+"You're surely a bigger man, Bob! I see that, not only by what you have
+done but by what you think."
+
+"Well," said Charnock, twinkling, "I'm glad you're satisfied, but you'll
+probably find out that there's room for improvement yet."
+
+"I suppose you must joke," Sadie rejoined with mild reproof. "But what
+about Festing? Doesn't he meant to come back until the job's finished?"
+
+"So far as I could gather, he does not. I tried tactfully to persuade
+him he was acting like a fool and imagine he sees a glimmer of the
+truth. All the same, he's obstinate."
+
+Sadie was silent for a minute, knitting her brows, and then looked up.
+
+"You have only three days; I suppose I mustn't keep you after that?"
+
+"It mightn't be prudent. If I stay longer, I shall, no doubt, feel
+unequal to going back at all. My industrious fit's very recent and good
+resolutions fail."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Sadie. "Try to be serious. I must see Helen to-morrow and
+can't take you. She may have a message for her husband."
+
+"Couldn't she write the message, if you went after I had gone?"
+
+"NO," said Sadie firmly. "She must send it now."
+
+Charnock looked hard at her and nodded. "Well, perhaps it's a good plan.
+Meddling is sometimes dangerous, but one can trust you."
+
+Sadie, wrapped in furs, drove across the prairie next afternoon, and
+found Helen at home. The latter looked rather forlorn and dispirited,
+and Sadie felt that she had undertaken a delicate task.
+
+"Bob has come home for three days," she said by and by. "He can't stop
+longer, but I thought you'd like to know how they are getting on with
+their contract."
+
+"Stephen writes to me," Helen replied with a hint of sharpness.
+
+"I guess he does," Sadie agreed. "Still, from what Bob says, they
+haven't much time for letters, and he talked to me about the work all
+last evening. He could leave when Stephen couldn't because he's the
+junior partner and doesn't know much about railroading yet."
+
+Helen smiled, rather curiously. "Do you feel you must explain why your
+husband came home and mine did not?"
+
+For a moment or two Sadie hesitated. It looked as if she had not begun
+well, but she braced herself. If her tact were faulty, she would try
+frankness.
+
+"Yes," she said; "in a way that was what I did come to explain, though
+it's difficult. In the first place, I know why Stephen couldn't come."
+
+Helen waited, and then, as Sadie seemed to need some encouragement,
+said, "Very well. I think I'd like to be convinced."
+
+"The reason Bob came and Stephen stayed begins with the difference
+between them. We know them both, and I want to state that I'm quite
+satisfied with Bob. That had to be said, and now we'll let it go. But
+they are different. Bob will work for an object; for dollars, to feel
+he's making good, or to please me. Your husband must work, whether he
+had an object or not, because that's the kind of man he is."
+
+"Bob's way is easier understood," Helen rejoined. "Besides, Stephen is
+working for money enough to farm again on the old large scale."
+
+"He is; but you don't understand yet, and I want to show you why he
+feels he has got to farm. Stephen's the kind we have most use for in
+this country. In fact, he's my kind; perhaps I know him better than you.
+Give him a patch of pine-scrub or a bit of poor soil in a sand-belt and
+he'd feel it his duty to cultivate it, no matter how much work it cost.
+Show him good wheat land lying vacant or rocks that block a railroad,
+and he won't rest till he starts the gang-plow or gets to work with
+giant-powder. He can't help it; the thing's born in him. Like liquor or
+gambling, only cleaner!"
+
+"But when such a man marries----"
+
+"What about his wife? Well, she must help all she can or stand out and
+let him work alone. It's a sure thing she can't stop him."
+
+Helen pondered, and then remarked: "Stephen is not your kind, as you
+said. You wanted to leave the prairie and live in a town."
+
+"I certainly did, but I didn't know myself. Though I wanted to meet
+smart people and wear smart clothes, to push Bob on and see him make his
+mark in big business or perhaps in politics. Now I know I really wanted
+power; to order folks about and get things done."
+
+"You found you must give up your ambitions."
+
+"I saw they had to be altered," Sadie replied. "But when you can't get
+things done by others, you can do them, in a smaller way, yourself, and
+I find I can be satisfied with running a prairie farm as it ought to be
+run." She paused and resumed with a soft laugh: "Looks as if neither of
+us was fixed quite as we like. I have a husband who must be hustled;
+you want to hold yours back. Well, I guess we can't change that; we must
+take the boys for what they are and make allowances. Besides, your man's
+fine energy is perhaps the best thing he has."
+
+Helen was somewhat moved. Sadie's rude philosophy was founded on truth,
+and having made sacrifices, she had a right to preach. After all, to
+dull the fine edge of Stephen's energy would be an unworthy action and
+perhaps dangerous. Helen had been jealous of his farm, but admitted that
+she might have had worse rivals.
+
+"Do you know 'The Sons of Martha'?" she asked and recited a verse.
+
+"It's great," said Sadie simply. "That man has our folks placed. Well, I
+don't read much poetry, but there's a piece of Whitman's I like. When
+I watch an ox-team break the first furrow in virgin soil, or a
+construction train, loaded with new steel, go by, I hear him calling:
+'Pioneers! Oh, Pioneers!'"
+
+There was silence for a few moments, and then Sadie leaned forward. "I
+don't know if I've said enough, or said too much, but Bob goes back in
+three days and could take a message."
+
+The color crept into Helen's face, and her look was strangely soft.
+
+"Let him tell Stephen to finish his work as well as he can; say I
+understand."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+SNOW
+
+Tossing snowflakes filled the air, and although it was three o'clock in
+the afternoon the light was fading, when Charnock opened the door of the
+caboose. A bitter wind rushed past him and eddied about the car, making
+the stove crackle. The iron was red-hot in places and a fierce twinkle
+shone out beneath the rattling door. Half-seen men lay in the bunks
+along the shadowy wall, tools jingled upon the throbbing boards, but the
+motion was gentler than usual and the wheels churned softly instead of
+hammering.
+
+"Is she going to make it?" somebody asked.
+
+Charnock leaned out of the door. Black smoke streamed about the cars
+and he heard a heavy snorting some distance off, but the caboose lurched
+slowly along the uneven track. The construction train was climbing a
+steep grade, the driving wheels slipped and he doubted if the locomotive
+could reach the summit, from which the line ran down to the camp. Dim
+pines, hardly distinguishable from the white hillside, drifted past; a
+shapeless rack loomed up and slowly drew abreast. It was some moments
+before Charnock lost it in the tossing white haze.
+
+"I don't know if she'll make it or not, but rather think she won't," he
+said.
+
+"Then come in and shut the blamed door," another growled. "No need to
+worry about it, anyhow! Pay's as good for stopping in the caboose as for
+humping rails in the snow."
+
+"You're luckier than me in that way," Charnock answered as he shut the
+door. "There are some drawbacks to being your own boss. When you can't
+get to work it's comforting to know that somebody else has to find the
+dollars and put up the hash."
+
+He shivered as he sat down on a box. The snow was obviously deep and
+things would be unpleasant at the camp, but Festing would not let this
+interfere with work. Charnock thought he had been foolish to come back,
+but Festing expected him and Sadie agreed that he ought to go. It was
+something of an effort to live up to the standards of such a partner and
+such a wife. Sadie was a very good sort, better than he deserved, but
+he would not have minded it if she were not quite so anxious about his
+moral welfare. Besides, after the comfort of the homestead, the caboose
+jarred. It smelt of acrid soft-coal smoke, the air was full of dust,
+and rubbish jolted about the floor. Then Charnock grinned as he admitted
+that he had not expected to find the path of virtue smooth.
+
+His reflections were rudely disturbed, for a violent jolt threw him off
+the box. The boards he fell upon no longer throbbed, and it was evident
+that the train had stopped. The others laughed as he got up.
+
+"Loco's hit a big drift," said one. "I guess the engineer won't butt her
+through."
+
+"He'll surely try; Jake hates to be beat," another remarked, and the
+caboose began to shake as the train ran backwards down the line.
+
+A minute or two later there was a savage jerk and a furious snorting.
+The caboose rolled ahead again, faster than before, for the wheels had
+cut a channel through the snow, and somebody said, "Watch out! Hold
+tight when she jumps!"
+
+The speed slackened, a jarring crash ran backwards along the train, and
+the caboose tilted as if the wheels had left the rails. Tools and sacks
+of provisions rolled across the inclined floor, which suddenly sank to
+a level, and a man who had fallen from his bunk got up and opened the
+door.
+
+"She's bedded in good and fast. Guess Jake will be satisfied now," he
+said, and laughed when a whistle rang through the snow. "Nobody could
+hear that a mile ahead, and as she's not over the divide it's some way
+to camp. I reckon we'll stop here until they dig us out."
+
+Soon afterwards some more men came in, covered with snow. Then the door
+was shut, the stove filled and a lamp lighted, and Charnock resigned
+himself to spending another night in the caboose. After all, it was as
+warm as the shack, and he reflected with some amusement that Festing
+probably did not expect him to be punctual. The latter knew his habits,
+and no doubt imagined that he would find the comfort of the homestead
+seductive. But Festing did not know Sadie, who had sent him back within
+the promised time. He enjoyed his supper and slept well afterwards.
+In fact, he did not waken until a stinging draught swept through the
+caboose and he saw that it was daylight. The door was open and he heard
+voices outside. He recognized one as the foreman's, and presently the
+fellow came in.
+
+"D'you reckon you're here for good, you blamed hibernating deadbeats?"
+he asked the occupants of the bunks. "Turn out and get busy before I put
+a move on you!"
+
+The men got up, grumbling, and Charnock buttoned his skin-coat and
+jumped down into the snow. He sank to his knees, but went deeper before
+he reached the engine, round which a gang of men were at work with
+shovels. It was not his business to help them and he floundered on up
+the track they had made until he crossed the summit and saw the bridge
+in the distance. Half an hour afterwards he met Festing and thought he
+looked surprised.
+
+"You didn't come with the boys to dig us out," Charnock remarked.
+
+"No," said Festing. "We knew the train had passed the Butte, and guessed
+where she was held up. But I hardly thought--"
+
+"You didn't think I'd be up to time?" Charnock suggested. "Well, it's
+remarkable what a good example does!"
+
+"Did you see Helen?"
+
+"Sadie saw her. I understand she was very well and sent you a message.
+You're to finish your job and make good--Helen understands."
+
+Festing was silent a moment, and when he looked up his eyes were soft.
+"Thank you, Bob! Or perhaps it's Sadie I ought to thank?"
+
+"I wouldn't bother about it. Sadie's fond of meddling," Charnock
+answered with some embarrassment. "But will the snow stop the work?"
+
+"Not altogether. We can keep busy on the hill and I'm going up now. Will
+you come?"
+
+"Presently," said Charnock, smiling. "Food's a thing you don't seem to
+need when you're occupied, but I want my breakfast before I start."
+
+Festing went away, and after a time Charnock joined him on the hill,
+where fresh trees had been felled and roughly squared with the ax. Men
+and horses were working hard, but Charnock stopped for a minute or two
+before he began. The snow was different from the thin covering that
+scarcely hid the short grass on the plains. The pines were glittering
+white pyramids, with branches that bent beneath their load, and there
+were no inequalities on the drop to the river. Every projection was
+leveled up, the hollows were filled, and the snow ran unbroken among the
+trunks in a smooth white sheet. It was not drying and getting powdery,
+because the frost was not very keen, and he imagined that Festing meant
+to get as much lumber as possible down while the surface could be beaten
+into a smooth track.
+
+"You might take Gordon's team and break a trail by hauling the lighter
+pieces to the top," Festing said. "They'll run down when they have worn
+a chute, but we'll have some trouble man-handling the first."
+
+Charnock nodded as he glanced over the edge of the narrow tableland.
+The descent was not steep near the top, but farther on it dropped
+precipitously to the water, crossing the curve by the bridge.
+
+"How will you stop the heavy stuff going into the river?" he asked.
+
+Festing indicated two men moving about the waterside. They looked
+curiously stumpy with their legs buried in the snow.
+
+"I sent them to make a chain fast to the rocks. We'll shackle up the
+first logs we run down and make a lumber pond. A few may shoot across
+the top, but we'll see what must be done as we get on."
+
+Charnock hooked the chain round the smallest log he could find and
+started the horses. They slipped and floundered as they plodded through
+the soft snow. Sometimes the log ran for a few yards, crushing down the
+surface, but it often sank overhead and the team struggled hard to drag
+it out. For all that, Charnock reached the top of the slope, and turning
+back, widened the trail he had made. The next log ran easier, although
+it gave him trouble, but when he stopped at noon he had beaten down a
+road.
+
+When they started again he left the team to somebody else and joined the
+men who were clearing out a trough down the hill. This was harder work,
+but the small contractor finds it pays to give his men a lead instead
+of orders, and for a time Charnock used the shovel and his feet. Then
+Festing said they had better move a few logs as far as they would go,
+and they worked the first trunk down hill with handspikes and tackles.
+The lumber scored the bottom of the trough and would not run, and they
+struggled through the banked-up snow, lifting the heavy mass when it
+sank. Now and then they fixed the tackle to a tree and dragged the log
+across short skids thrust under its end, and at length launched it from
+the brow of the steeper pitch.
+
+It plunged down some distance, but stopped again, half buried in loose
+snow, and they scrambled after it, clinging to small trees. Then the
+work got dangerous. One could scarcely stand on the steep bank, and when
+the log started it rather leaped than slid. Spikes, torn from the men's
+hands, shot into the air, and those in front sprang back for their
+lives, but the mass seldom went far before loose snow brought it up and
+the struggle with the levers began again. At last, it slipped from a
+hummock and glided slowly down, crumpling the snow in front, while a
+man, clinging to the butt and shouting hoarse jokes, trailed down the
+track behind.
+
+Moving the next was easier, and those that followed ran without much
+help for most of the way, while when dark came the bank at the top
+was empty and there was a pile of logs held up by the chain at the
+waterside. Their descent had worn the channel smooth, and it was now
+difficult to stop them going too far. In a day or two Festing brought
+the most part of his material to the spot where it would be used, and
+got ready to put up the frames.
+
+Stinging frost set in, and on the morning they cleared the ground for
+the first post Charnock felt daunted as he beat his numbed hands. The
+sky was clear; a hard, dazzling blue, against which the white peaks
+were silhouetted with every ridge and pinnacle in sharp outline. They
+twinkled like steel in places, but there were patches of delicate gray,
+and here and there a dark rock broke through its covering. The bottom of
+the gorge was soft blue, and the river a streak of raw indigo, but there
+was no touch of warm color in the savage landscape. The glitter made
+Charnock's eyes ache and the reflected sunshine burned his skin.
+
+Some of the construction gangs were laid off, but in places men were at
+work. They looked small and feeble on the vast white slope, and a few
+plumes of smoke seemed to curl futilely out of the hollow. Frost and
+snow defied man's engine power, and the rattle of the machines was lost
+in the din the river made. Its channel was full of snow that had frozen
+in the honey-combed masses, and the ragged floes broke with a harsh,
+ringing crash. Others screamed as they smashed among the rocks and
+ground across ledges, while the tall cliffs on the opposite bank flung
+the echoes far among the pines. The uproar rose and sank, but its
+throbbing note voiced a challenge to human effort, and Charnock admitted
+that had the choice been left to him, he would have gone back to the
+warm shack and waited for better conditions.
+
+Festing, however, would wait for nothing, and Kerr and Norton were
+equally resolute. Just now Festing was clearing away the snow while
+three or four men cautiously descended the bank, dragging loads of
+branches. A big fire was soon lighted, and when the resinous wood broke
+into snapping flame Festing cleared a spot farther on for another. By
+and by he scattered the first, the thawed surface was pierced, and a
+hole dug. Then with half an hour's savage labor they got the first big
+post on end. The next broke the supporting tackle and a man narrowly
+escaped when it fell, but they raised it again and got to work upon the
+braces. The wood was unseasoned and hard with frozen sap. Saw and auger
+would scarcely bite, but somehow they cut the notches and bored the
+holes. When the first frame was roughly stayed Charnock sat down with a
+breathless laugh.
+
+"I suppose it's the best job we can make and it's up to specification.
+Still, when one comes to think of it, the optimism of these railroad men
+is remarkable. Green wood and uncovered bolts that will soon work loose
+in the rotting pine! If I was an engineer, the thing would frighten me."
+
+"The track will stand while they want it," Festing answered with an
+impatient look. "Long before it gets shaky they'll pull it down."
+
+"Pulling things down is a national habit. A man I met in Winnipeg bought
+a nearly new hotel because he thought he could put up a better building
+on the site. However, I suppose there's something to be said for his
+point of view. Progress implies continuous moving on!"
+
+"It does," said Festing. "While you moralize, the men you ought to put
+to work are standing still."
+
+Charnock got up and went off, beating his hands. He noted that there
+was a hole in the mittens he had brought from home. This was annoying
+because Sadie had given him the mittens. In spite of many difficulties,
+they braced the posts securely before they stopped work, and when supper
+was over Charnock reluctantly put on his coat. He wanted to ask Norton
+something, and when he left the latter's office came back along a narrow
+path above the track. After going a short distance he stopped to look
+down at the half-finished frames.
+
+The moon had not risen, but a pale glow shone above a gray peak and
+the sky was clear. One could not see much in the hollow, but the snow
+reflected a faint light. The timbers they had erected rose like a black
+skeleton, and after glancing at them, Charnock's eyes were drawn
+towards the pile of logs in the pond at the water's edge. A log pond is
+generally made in a river, where the stream will carry the trunks into
+the containing chains. But Festing had made his on land, using the snow
+instead of the current. Charnock could not tell what had attracted his
+attention, but stood motionless for a moment or two.
+
+He heard nothing but the roar of the current and the crash of
+splintering ice, and could hardly distinguish the logs. Their outline
+was blurred and the dark-colored mass melted into a dusky background of
+rock and water. Yet he thought something had moved beside the pond.
+
+Then an indistinct object detached itself from the pile. It was
+shapeless and he lost it next moment, but it had been visible against a
+patch of snow. It was not a man's height, and, so far as he could see,
+moved like an animal, but no wild beast would haunt the outskirts of
+a noisy construction camp. Since he could not imagine why a man should
+crawl about the logs at night, he resolved to satisfy his curiosity.
+
+This needed caution, and he lay down and rolled himself in the snow. It
+stuck to his shaggy skin-coat, and remembering that some drills had been
+left near the track he felt about until he found one. The short steel
+bar was easy to carry and might be useful. The next thing was to get
+down without being seen, and he crept to the log-slide and sitting
+down let himself go. His coat rolled up and acted like a brake, but he
+reached and shot over the top of the last pitch. Next moment he struck
+the logs at the bottom with a jar that left him breathless, and he lay
+still to recover. His coat was white; indeed, the snow had forced its
+way inside his clothes, but he must be careful about his background and
+avoid abrupt movements.
+
+Getting on his hands and knees, he crawled along the bottom of the pile.
+The logs were not numerous, since some had been used, and when Charnock
+reached the end he crouched in the snow and looked about. Nobody was
+there and his ears were not of much use because the crash of ice drowned
+every other sound. This made silence needless, and he tried to get
+between the logs and the water, but found it dangerous. The chain had
+sagged with the strain, and the lowest tier was scarcely a foot from the
+bank, along which the ice-floes rasped.
+
+He came back and crawled half-way up the pile, meaning to reach the top,
+but stopped and lay flat. An object moved along the highest row, and he
+knew it was a man. The fellow's figure showed against the sky, though
+Charnock imagined he would have been invisible from above. He waited and
+felt his heart beat as he clenched the bar. The other did not seem to
+know he was watched and Charnock resolved to find out what he meant to
+do. He thought of the chain that held the logs; if this were loosed,
+the pile would roll into the river and be washed away, but it would be
+impossible to slip the fastening toggle while the links were strained.
+Still one might be nicked with a hacksaw and left to break with the
+shock when the next log ran down the slide. The man, however, could not
+get at the chain from the top row.
+
+He came nearer and then stopped abruptly, as if alarmed. Charnock lay
+close in the hollow between two logs, but his coat was snowy and it was
+possible that the other had noticed the white patch. He turned and
+began to move back, not fast but with caution. Charnock felt it was
+unthinkable that he should get away, and raising himself, swung the
+drill round his head and let it go. It flew over the other man and
+vanished without a sound because the turmoil of the water drowned the
+splash, but Charnock lost his balance and rolled off the logs. He fell
+into the snow, and when he got up the man had gone.
+
+For a few moments he stood still, hesitating and abusing his folly. He
+did not know if the fellow had seen the drill fly past or not, but he
+had thrown away his weapon, and might have a dangerous antagonist.
+For all that, he meant to discover who his antagonist was. Floundering
+through the snow, he reached the end of the pile, but found nobody
+there. The lumber gang had made a path along the water's edge, but
+Charnock could see nobody among the scattered trees. He climbed to
+the top of the logs and looked down on the other side, but saw nothing
+between the water and the pile.
+
+After this, he felt the fastening of the chain, which did not seem to
+have been tampered with, because the toggle was securely fixed
+across the strap-link. Then he crept about the pile again, with an
+uncomfortable feeling that the other might be lying in wait for him, but
+saw nothing suspicious, and there was no use in examining the trampled
+snow. By and by he gave up the search and returned to the path, feeling
+disturbed. It was impossible to guess what the man had meant to do, or
+who he was, but Charnock resolved to watch.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE LEWIS BOLT
+
+Charnock went back next morning and examined the chain, but found none
+of the links or fastenings damaged. This was puzzling, and he wondered
+whether the man he had seen, knowing that somebody was about, had
+stolen away without beginning what he came to do. The explanation was
+plausible, but left Charnock uncertain who the fellow was. He suspected
+Wilkinson, but only because he could think of nobody else with any
+ground for wishing to do him or Festing an injury.
+
+On the whole, he thought it better not to tell Festing. It was rather an
+improbable story, and Stephen might think him imaginative, but he would
+watch and try to catch the fellow if he came again. For a week, he made
+excuses for going out after supper, and Festing did not object although
+he looked surprised, but he saw nothing and it was very cold lurking
+about the track. Moreover he was generally tired after his day's hard
+work, and was glad to give up the search.
+
+Some time later, he returned from Norton's office one night and had
+reached the track when he saw a man coming obliquely up the slope. There
+was moonlight, and the snow glittered between the shadows of the trees.
+Charnock saw the other plainly and drew back into the gloom along the
+bank. The fellow did not seem to mind whether he was seen or not, but
+Charnock thought he knew his walk and figure, and when he reached the
+track set off with the object of overtaking him. The loose snow dulled
+his steps, and he was close upon the man when the latter stopped and
+turned. Then Charnock saw, without much surprise, that it was Wilkinson.
+
+"What were you doing down there?" he asked.
+
+"I don't see what that has to do with you," Wilkinson answered coolly.
+
+"The logs in the pond are ours."
+
+Wilkinson looked amused and Charnock tried to control his temper. He
+would gain nothing by using force, and thought the other meant to give
+him no excuse for doing so.
+
+"You don't imagine I meant to steal your logs!" Wilkinson rejoined.
+"They're too large to carry away, and there's no sawmill to buy them if
+I sent them down the river."
+
+"That's obvious," said Charnock, who thought it prudent not to hint that
+he had seen the fellow lurking about the pond before. For that matter,
+he was not certain he had seen Wilkinson.
+
+"You're much more suspicious than you were when I first knew you,"
+Wilkinson resumed in a mocking tone.
+
+"I was a confiding fool then and trusted my friends. It cost me
+something."
+
+"And now you're afraid to let anybody pass your logs in the dark? Well,
+caution's useful, but it can be overdone."
+
+"Why did you want to pass the pond?"
+
+"For one thing, because it's the easiest way of getting from the
+smithy to the track; then this piece of hillside doesn't belong to you.
+However, as I guess you don't claim it, you no doubt reckoned I meant to
+play you some shabby trick; turn your logs adrift, for example?"
+
+"I don't think it's impossible."
+
+Wilkinson laughed. "Well, I might do you an injury if the thing wasn't
+difficult, but don't let your suspicions make you ridiculous. If you
+feel uneasy, you can watch the pond. Anyhow, the cold's fierce and I'm
+going to the bunk-house."
+
+Charnock let him go and returned thoughtfully to the shack. He did not
+doubt that Wilkinson had been to the smithy, because one could find out
+if he had not, but he felt disturbed. The fellow had somehow encouraged
+him to believe he might tamper with the logs; but would hardly have done
+so had he meant to set them adrift. He might, of course, have wanted to
+keep him uneasy without ground; but suppose it was a feint, intended to
+cover the real attack, made at another point? Charnock determined to be
+cautious and keep his eyes open.
+
+He saw nothing to cause him fresh anxiety, although he once or twice
+visited the pond at night. In the daytime his work absorbed his
+attention, for they were now building a lofty frame on the steepest
+pitch of the dip. The foot of the longest timber, which was unusually
+massive, rested in a socket cut in the rock near the water's edge, and
+it cost them a very hard and dangerous day's work to get the log on end.
+Indeed, for a few anxious minutes Charnock imagined that the mass
+would break the tackles and come down. When fixed, it was nearly
+perpendicular, but its top inclined slightly toward the bank, and
+Festing sent for Norton and Kerr.
+
+"It's a good post, but I'm not sure we have got spread enough," he
+said. "There's not much to resist the outward thrust a heavy train might
+cause. Still, I don't see how we could have carried the foot farther
+back."
+
+"You'd have to go into the water," Norton agreed. "That would have meant
+a coffer dam, and the Company won't stand for expensive extras."
+
+"The ice would have smashed the dam," said Kerr. "The job meets the
+plan, which calls for stays to stop the post canting out. Put in
+an extra king-tie half-way up and I'll pass your bill and find the
+ironwork."
+
+Festing was satisfied with this, and the post was stayed with chains
+while they got the braces fixed. This took some days, for the men were
+forced to work on dangerous snowy ledges and boards, hung from the top.
+Where there was most risk and difficulty Festing went himself, but he
+looked anxious.
+
+"It's the worst part of the job and perhaps the most awkward thing I've
+done," he said one night. "If the frame came down with the rockwork
+filling, it might start the rest and shake some length of road."
+
+"But there's no reason it should come down," Charnock argued.
+
+"Not in a way, but I'm glad Kerr authorized the extra brace. We'll use
+the heaviest stuff we can, and although the fastenings may give some
+trouble, we haven't come to them yet. Perhaps I'm getting nervous. We're
+up to schedule and doing pretty well, but it will be a relief to get the
+contract finished."
+
+Charnock told him about Wilkinson, and he looked thoughtful.
+
+"I can't see his object, particularly since he left the chain alone. Of
+course he may have meant some mischief, but gave it up when he found you
+on his track."
+
+"Somehow I don't think that was it," said Charnock, who went to open the
+door.
+
+Kerr came in and after a time began to talk about the fastenings for the
+main tie-beam.
+
+"As the rock is sound and can be thawed, I think we could use a bolt on
+the Lewis plan. Give me some paper and I'll make a sketch you can take
+to the smith."
+
+Charnock examined the drawing and noted that the holding part of the
+bolt was shaped like the letter Y, except that the stalk was split.
+A wedge was sketched to fit the split, and would obviously expand the
+upper arms to fit tightly into a fan-shaped hole with a narrow mouth.
+
+"I've not seen this kind of fastening before," he said. "It ought to
+grip well, but something depends upon the wedge."
+
+Kerr nodded. "The wedge must be properly forged and fit tight, but
+there's a cross bolt to stop it backing out. So long as it doesn't break
+under the hammer, it can't come loose. Something depends on the way the
+hole is cut and the rock, but the stuff you're working is hard enough."
+
+Next morning Charnock took the drawing to the smith, and calling at
+the forge a day or two later, found Wilkinson sitting on a box. He had
+brought a pick to be mended and made a few ironical remarks, until the
+smith showed Charnock some irons he had forged.
+
+"I guess that's what you want, but I haven't finished the Lewis yet.
+Reckoned I'd wait until I could get a bit of horseshoe iron for the
+wedge when the new stores come along."
+
+"What's that bar in the corner?" Charnock asked.
+
+"Steel," said the smith. "A bit off the end would make a wedge, but you
+want to be careful you don't overheat the steel in the forge if it's to
+stand hammering after. Horseshoe iron's better for your particular job.
+Come back in a day or two and I'll have the thing ready."
+
+Charnock left him and one afternoon soon afterwards helped Festing to
+notch and bore the heavy cross-tie to fit the post and the ends of the
+timbers it was to hold in place. These were intended to strengthen the
+frame, of which the post and tie were the most important members, and
+Festing had waited until their other ends were securely fixed. When the
+light was fading he beckoned Charnock.
+
+"You might get the Lewis bolt. The smith sent word it's ready and I want
+to fasten the tie before we stop."
+
+When Charnock reached the forge the smith was absent, but he blew the
+fire until the light flickered about the shop and looked for the
+bolt. He found it in a corner and took the wedge to the hearth. It was
+properly shaped and slotted for a cross-bolt, but it looked rough and
+scaly, and giving the blower a few more strokes he tapped it once or
+twice. The scale fell off and the metal looked sound. Then while the
+flame spread about the fuel he glanced round the shop. There was no
+horseshoe iron, but the bar of steel had recently been cut, and he
+thought the wedge had been forged out of its end.
+
+Charnock did not think this mattered much. Festing had urged the smith
+to finish the job, and the man knew his business. Since he had been
+forced to use steel, he had no doubt taken the necessary precautions. It
+was dark when Charnock got back to the frame, but a blast-lamp threw out
+a dazzling glare and he climbed to a beam on which Festing sat. At
+the timber's inner end a fire burned on a shelf of rock and a man was
+stirring something in an iron pot.
+
+"We're melting lead to fill up the hole, though I don't know if it's
+necessary," Festing said. "Have you got the bolt?"
+
+"It's here. He has made it out of steel; the iron he expected hasn't
+arrived."
+
+"That's all right. They now use steel for many jobs instead of iron, and
+the softer kinds are quite as tough. Anyhow, we can trust the smith not
+to burn the metal. Help Black while I get the tie ready for fastening."
+
+Half an hour later the big cross-beam was in position and Charnock
+watched Festing fit the bolt into its fan-shaped socket. He did so with
+fastidious care and then standing on the beam swung the hammer a workman
+gave him. The blast-lamp roared upon a timber overhead, throwing down
+waves of light that flooded the rock face, but the twinkling brightness
+rather puzzled the eye. For all that, Festing struck the wedge
+squarely and drove it home with a few heavy blows. Then he fastened
+the cross-bolt and Charnock filled a ladle with the melted lead. A blue
+flame flickered about the cavity as he poured in the stuff, there was
+an angry sputtering, and he afterwards found some holes in his coat.
+Festing dropped his hammer with a gesture of satisfaction.
+
+"That's an awkward piece of work finished, and I feel happier now! You
+can put out the lamp and quit, boys; I'll mark you up full time."
+
+Then they got down from the frame and went home to supper, earlier than
+usual. In the morning they began to build a wall of roughly-cut stones
+among the timber, filling in the space behind with rubble; and kept
+on until at noon, a day or two later, heavy snow began to fall. It
+was impossible to work, and they lounged about the shack, smoking and
+reading, all next day. Charnock was thankful for the rest, but Festing
+grumbled and now and then walked impatiently to the door. Late at night
+the former was wakened by a distant rumbling. It sounded like thunder,
+and he called to his comrade.
+
+"What's that? Had we better get up?"
+
+"Sounds like a big snow-slide," said Festing, raising himself in his
+bunk. "Won't harm us; shack's on top of the ridge and we're safer here
+than anywhere else." He stopped and listened to the swelling roar and
+then resumed: "I'm glad we got that frame braced. It's a big slide and
+will probably come down the gully near the bridge. They're going to
+snowshed that piece of track and we'll haul out the posts if we can't
+get on with the other job."
+
+He lay down again, but Charnock waited. This was the first snow-slide he
+had heard and he felt awed by the din. Growing in a long crescendo, it
+rolled down the hill in a torrent of sound, but by and by he thought he
+could distinguish different notes; the crash of trees carried away by
+the avalanche and the scream of gravel grinding across rocky scraps. He
+could imagine the stones being planed away and the mass of broken trunks
+riding on top of the huge white billow.
+
+It was impossible to sit still, and jumping down, he lighted the lamp,
+but found it hard to replace the glass. The shack throbbed, the table on
+which he put the matches shook, and there was a rattle of crockery, but
+this was drowned by an overwhelming roar. The avalanche was pouring down
+a gully near the shack, and he leaned against the table, deafened,
+until it passed. Then he heard the turmoil of a tremendous cataract and
+imagined the snow was plunging into the river and deflecting the current
+upon the other bank. The sound gradually died away and he could hear
+detached noises; great pines, broken rocks, and soil, rushing down
+behind the fallen mass. There were heavy splashes, and then a strange,
+unnatural silence.
+
+"It's finished," Festing remarked. "Rather alarming for the first time,
+but one gets used to it. You can put out the light and go back to bed."
+
+Charnock did so and soon went to sleep. In the morning they found that
+the most part of the avalanche had fallen into the river, but its tail
+remained, resting in a steep cone of snow and broken trees and soil,
+against the bank on which they had built the frames. The top of the cone
+extended far up the hill, but, owing to the sharpness of the pitch, its
+bottom, which covered the frames and rockwork, was thin. Festing sent
+half the men to cut this portion away, and the others up the hill to
+haul posts for the snowshed to the top of the slides. It was obvious
+that a very heavy weight rested on the buried work, but the pressure was
+uniform, unlike the jarring of a train, and he did not feel disturbed.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon he came to see how much progress
+the shovel gang had made, and Charnock, who superintended their labor,
+showed him what they had done. They had cut a gap in the cone, and part
+of the rockwork was exposed nearly to the bottom. On each side, the snow
+ran down to the water in a uniform smooth slant, except where broken
+trees projected from the surface. Above, the mass of snow rested on the
+shelf that would carry the track and on the top of the half-finished
+work. It glittered with a yellow flush where it caught the fading light,
+but in the hollow its color was a dull, cold blue.
+
+By and by they examined the wall. So far as they could see, the
+stonework bore the unusual load well, but in one spot there was a crack
+between two courses.
+
+"I'll get up there in the morning and see if it's worth while to drive
+in a few wedges," Festing remarked. "You had better watch that bank of
+snow. Some of it will probably break away."
+
+"We have had two or three small falls," said Charnock, and Festing
+beckoned one of the men.
+
+"Come up the hill in the morning, Tom. I'm going to clear the log-slide
+or break a new one. Which d'you think would be best?"
+
+While they talked about it, a shower of snow fell on Charnock, who
+stepped back.
+
+"Watch out!" he cried. "There's more coming!"
+
+Festing moved a pace or two and went on talking, but Charnock fixed his
+eyes on the snow. The part above the track overhung the gap in a bulging
+cornice, as if it was moving down hill, and in a few moments a heavier
+shower began. The bulge got more prominent, but the cornice did not
+break off, and while he watched it, wondering whether he should call out
+the men, a stone fell from the wall and dropped at his feet. This was
+ominous, but next moment a mass of snow struck his head, nearly knocking
+him down, and when he recovered his balance and wiped his face he
+noted with alarm that the stones were opening and the big post leaned
+outwards.
+
+"Jump for your lives, boys!" he shouted, and throwing himself on
+Festing, drove him back.
+
+Then there was a roar of falling stones and a crash. The massive post
+lurched towards him and the air was filled with snow. He heard struts
+and braces crack as the post tore them out, and thought Festing turned
+round in order to see what was happening. He pushed him away, and
+then sank into loose snow and fell. Before he could get up there was a
+deafening noise, something struck him a heavy blow, and he was buried.
+
+After a short struggle he got his head out, and finding that he was
+thinly covered, made an effort to extricate himself. When he had done
+so, he saw the men some distance up the bank. They were all there except
+Festing, but he noticed a heap of big stones and broken beams close by.
+
+"Back here, boys! The boss is underneath!" he shouted, and threw himself
+upon the stones as the others ran up.
+
+For a minute or two they worked desperately, flinging the lumps of rock
+about and dragging away the beams; and then stopped as they uncovered
+Festing. His face looked very white, although a red stain ran down his
+forehead. Charnock shivered and glanced at the break in the white mass
+above the track.
+
+"It's risky, but we've got to pull him out before some more snow comes
+down," he said in a hoarse voice. "Scrape the snow off carefully, Tom.
+Get hold here with me, Pete."
+
+After two or three minutes' cautious work they lifted Festing out of
+the hole. He was unconscious and his arm looked short and distorted.
+Charnock felt horror-struck and dizzy, but pulled himself together.
+
+"Go for Kerr, one of you," he said. "Then I want the stretcher and a
+hand-sledge. Bring a blast-lamp; ours is smashed."
+
+The men scattered, except for one who stayed with him, and kneeling in
+the snow he opened Festing's fur-coat and took off his cap. His head
+was cut and his arm broken, but Charnock did not think this altogether
+accounted for his unconsciousness. He suspected broken ribs, but could
+detect nothing unusual when he felt his comrade's side.
+
+Kerr arrived first and looked at Festing.
+
+"Unconscious all the time?" he asked, and when Charnock nodded resumed:
+"Most important thing's to get a doctor, and I'll see to that. Then I'll
+get some brandy."
+
+As he hurried away three or four men came down the hill with the sledge
+and stretcher, and one rigged and lighted a powerful lamp. Accidents are
+common at construction camps, and one of Norton's gang examined Festing.
+
+"He's sure got it badly; arm's not the worst," he said. "We'll tend to
+that and then slide him gently on the stretcher. Carrying him might be
+dangerous; we'll fix the whole outfit on the sled."
+
+While they were occupied a plume of smoke shot up above the pines, and
+Charnock knew Kerr had sent off a locomotive to bring help. When they
+had put Festing on the stretcher a man arrived with brandy, but Festing
+could not swallow, and seizing the sledge traces, they started up the
+hill. Norton was in the shack when they reached it, and felt Festing's
+clothes.
+
+"Not damp; it would be safer to let him lie until the doctor comes," he
+said, and sent the men away. Then he turned to Charnock sharply. "Sit
+right down!"
+
+Charnock swayed, clutched the chair, and sank limply into the seat. The
+floor heaved and the quiet figure on the stretcher got indistinct. Then
+Norton held out a glass.
+
+"Drink it quick!"
+
+Charnock's teeth rattled against the glass, but he swallowed the liquor,
+and sat motionless for a moment or two.
+
+"Seemed to lose my balance. Bit of a shock you know, and I expect that
+stone hit me pretty hard."
+
+"So I imagine; there's an ugly bruise on your face," said Norton, giving
+him back the glass. "The first dose braced you. Take some more."
+
+"I think not," said Charnock, with a forced smile. "Dangerous remedy if
+you have suffered from my complaint. Didn't know my face was hurt until
+you told me. When d'you think the doctor will come?"
+
+"There's a man at Jackson's Bench. Loco ought to make the double trip in
+about two hours."
+
+"Two hours!" said Charnock faintly, and braced himself to wait.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+FOUL PLAY
+
+Some time after the accident a doctor arrived and set Festing's arm. He
+found two ribs were broken and suspected other injuries, but could
+not question his half conscious patient. When he had done all that was
+possible in the meantime and had seen Festing lifted carefully into his
+bunk, he put a dressing on Charnock's bruised face and pulled a chair to
+the fire.
+
+"I'll keep watch; your partner has got an ugly knock," he said. "Don't
+think I'll want anything, and you had better go to bed."
+
+Charnock could not sleep and spent the night uncomfortably on a chair.
+He was sore and dazed, but his anxiety would not let him rest, and once
+or twice he softly crossed the floor to his comrade's bunk. The last
+time he did so the doctor, whose head had fallen forward, looked up with
+a jerk and frowned as he signed him to go back. After this, Charnock
+kept as still as his jarred nerves would permit. Sometimes Festing
+groaned, and sometimes made a feeble movement, but so far as Charnock
+could see, his eyes were shut.
+
+About three o'clock in the morning, the doctor stood for some minutes
+beside the bunk, and Charnock shivered as he watched his face. The shack
+seemed very quiet except for the throb of the river and the grinding of
+the ice. Then the doctor gave him a nod that hinted at satisfaction, and
+told him to refill the iron drum at Festing's feet with hot water. By
+and by he put fresh wood in the stove, moving cautiously and taking as
+long as possible, because it was a relief to do something after sitting
+still in suspense.
+
+At daybreak there was a knock at the door, and Charnock, finding Kerr
+and Norton outside, looked at the doctor, who put on his fur-coat and
+went out to them.
+
+"Have you any news for us?" Norton asked.
+
+"No change yet. That's encouraging, as far as it goes."
+
+"What about breakfast? Ours is ready. Will you join us?"
+
+"I think not. If my patient doesn't come out of his stupor, I must try
+to rouse him soon. Send a man here and take Mr. Charnock. I expect he
+needs food."
+
+"Very well," said Kerr. "We'll see the cook looks after you; but can
+you give us no idea about Festing? You see, there are matters, business
+matters--"
+
+"He has had a bad shock and it will be a long job; a month anyway.
+I can't stop long and he ought to have a nurse, although it would be
+difficult to get one to come here. But I can't form an opinion yet."
+
+He dismissed them and Kerr took Charnock away. It was very cold. The
+white pines were growing into shape; their tops caught the light in the
+east and glimmered with a faint warm flush against the dim blue shadow.
+Smoke and puffs of steam floated up from the gorge, and the ringing
+clang of steel pierced the turmoil of the river. Charnock felt braced
+but dizzy. Now he came to think of it, he had eaten no supper, and after
+a day of laborious effort the night's watch had fatigued him. Besides,
+his face smarted under the bandage, and his back was sore.
+
+When he sat down in Norton's shack, where a plate was put for Kerr, he
+felt ravenously hungry and did not talk much until the meal was over.
+Then Norton made him sit near the stove.
+
+"It's an awkward business," he said. "To begin with, what are we going
+to do about a nurse? This is hardly the place for a woman, and I doubt
+if we could get anybody to undertake the job."
+
+"I'll write to Mrs. Festing."
+
+"Would she come out?"
+
+"I imagine so," said Charnock thoughtfully. "Still she doesn't know much
+about nursing."
+
+"His wife is the proper person to look after him," Kerr interposed.
+"Then I have a young fellow in the rail gang who could help; found him
+useful once or twice when the boys got hurt. In fact, I suspect he's had
+some medical training, though I didn't ask why he quit."
+
+Norton smiled. It is not unusual to find men whose professional career
+has been cut short working on a Western track.
+
+"That simplifies matters. If you had wanted a lawyer or an accountant, I
+could have sent a man. However, there's another thing--"
+
+"There is; it's important," Kerr agreed. "Who's going to carry on the
+contract?"
+
+Charnock leaned forward eagerly. "I'll try. Give me a chance. I think I
+know my job."
+
+There was silence for a few moments and Norton looked at Kerr, who
+slowly filled his pipe.
+
+"I'd like to consent," he said, "but I'm the Company's servant and
+there's a risk." He paused and turned to Norton. "However, it's really
+your business. If things go wrong, the trouble's coming to you first."
+
+"Sure. I'm willing to take the risk. I don't expect Charnock will fool
+the job, but if he does you can get after me. I'll stand for it."
+
+"Very well! We'll let it go at that."
+
+Charnock got up, with some color in his bandaged face, because he knew
+what Norton's confidence meant. He was, so to speak, an unknown man
+and the contract had been given to Festing, who was an engineer. If he
+failed, the men who trusted him would be held accountable.
+
+"Thank you both," he said with feeling. "If labor and money can put the
+thing over, I won't let you down."
+
+He went out, for he had, in his anxiety about other matters, forgotten
+his men, and it was now important that no time, which must be paid for,
+should be wasted. Finding some of the gang at work clearing away the
+fallen material and some hauling lumber on the hill, he gave them a
+few orders and returned to the shack. When he got there Festing was
+conscious and the doctor said he might speak to him.
+
+"How do you feel?" Charnock asked.
+
+"Better than the doctor thinks I ought to feel," Festing answered with a
+feeble smile. "You seem to have got knocked about!"
+
+Charnock said he was not much the worse, and Festing resumed: "Have you
+seen Norton? What does he say about the contract?"
+
+"I have seen him; you needn't bother. He has left the job to me; I'll
+finish it somehow."
+
+A look of relief came into Festing's face. "That's comforting news; I
+was afraid--You're a good partner, Bob!"
+
+"I don't know if I've been of much help so far, and the money I put into
+the undertaking wasn't mine. There's a third partner, Stephen, and I
+think she'd like me to see you through."
+
+Festing gave him a grateful glance and closed his eyes. After a time, he
+opened them feebly and asked: "Do you know why the frame gave way?"
+
+"Not yet," said Charnock with some dryness. "I mean to find out!"
+
+Then the doctor interrupted and sent him away. Going back to the scene
+of the accident, he found the damage less serious than he thought. Part
+of the wall had fallen and the post, which had broken, had pulled down
+the timbers attached, but these could be replaced, and Charnock, calling
+two men, began to clear the snow from the king-tie, which he imagined
+had given way first. He found the Lewis bolt fixed to its end, but the
+wedge had gone, and he climbed to the spot where the end of the beam had
+been fixed. The stone socket had not broken, but pieces of crushed lead
+lay near the hole. The soft metal had not much holding power and had
+been used to fill up the crevices.
+
+Sitting down, he began with methodical patience to turn over the snow
+and loose rubble that remained on the shelf after the large stones
+had fallen. The odds were against his finding what he sought, but he
+persevered for an hour and then picked up a piece of broken metal a few
+inches long. It was half of the wedge, which had broken at the slot, but
+although he searched carefully he could not find the other part. Putting
+the piece in his pocket, he went to the forge and, seeing the smith was
+occupied, sat down and filled his pipe. The door was open and the light
+reflected from the snow was strong. Charnock was glad of this, because
+he wanted to see the smith, who presently dropped his hammer and leaned
+against the hearth.
+
+"How's your partner getting on?" he asked. "Mr. Festing's the kind of
+man I like; I was sorry to hear he had got hurt."
+
+Charnock studied the man. His face was pale and wrinkled under the
+grime, but he looked honest, and if his statement was sincere, as
+Charnock thought, it seemed to clear the ground. After giving him a few
+particulars about Festing's injuries, he lighted his pipe.
+
+"Wilkinson's not here to-day," he remarked.
+
+"He's not always here," said the smith. "He comes when there are picks
+and drills that want sharpening."
+
+"I saw him once or twice when I was in, and thought he was a friend of
+yours."
+
+"He can swap a good yarn; kind of handy man and sometimes helps me with
+the hammer, but I guess that's all there is to it."
+
+"Just so," said Charnock carelessly. "This is a warm place for a
+quiet smoke, and the foreman can't tell how long one ought to stop,
+particularly as you're sometimes out at the machine-shop. Do you find
+the boys meddle with your tools if they come in while you're away?"
+
+"No, sir; there'd be trouble if I did! Besides, nobody comes but
+Wilkinson, and if I'm out he waits."
+
+Charnock nodded, as if it did not matter. He had found out what he
+wanted to know and thought he had not excited the smith's suspicions.
+Taking the broken wedge from his pocket, he put it on the hearth.
+
+"I expect you know what that is! The Lewis smashed when the frame came
+down."
+
+"It's the wedge. Don't see why it broke; plenty metal left, though the
+slot weakened it."
+
+"What's it made of?"
+
+"Steel. The iron I wanted didn't come; but this is mild, low-carbon
+stuff."
+
+"Then what's the matter with it. It did break."
+
+The smith put the piece into a socket in the anvil and struck it with a
+hammer. The end broke short, and picking up the fragment he went to the
+door.
+
+"Nature's gone out of it; I sure can't understand the thing," he said
+with a puzzled look. "If I hadn't forged the stuff myself, I'd allow it
+was burned."
+
+"You don't often overheat the steel you work."
+
+"No, sir," said the smith, who took up a piece of metal, pierced with
+holes. "Made this out of the same bar, and it took more forging. Now you
+watch!"
+
+He put the object in a vise and hammered down the end, which did not
+break. "That's all right, anyhow; tough and most as soft as iron. But
+steel's sometimes treacherous; you want to be careful--"
+
+"Could you tell by looking at it if a piece was burned?"
+
+"Well," said the smith thoughtfully, "it's not always easy, but if the
+thing was badly scaled, I'd be suspicious. Of course, there might be
+some scale--"
+
+"But the wedge looked all right when you finished it?"
+
+"It certainly did," said the smith, who hesitated. "Say do you reckon it
+was the bolt going that let down your frame?"
+
+"So far, I imagine it was the weight of snow. The pile ran back up the
+hill and must have made a crushing load. For all that, I'm curious about
+the wedge."
+
+"Well," said the other, "If it was the wedge, I'm surely sorry! The
+blamed thing is burned, though I don't know how. But if she was loaded
+up too much, she might have broken anyhow, burned or not."
+
+"I expect so," said Charnock, getting up. "You needn't bother about the
+matter; I'm not blaming you."
+
+His face got very grim when he went out, for what he had learned fitted
+in with his suspicions. Wilkinson had heard the smith say that steel
+could be easily spoiled, and sometimes came to the forge when the man
+was away. Then there was the rough, scaly look of the wedge, which had
+been put out of the smith's sight, inside the split shank of the bolt.
+Everything was plain; Charnock knew why the tie gave way and allowed the
+frame to fall.
+
+The thought of the treacherous injury made his blood boil. The thing
+had been so easily done; five minutes' work at the blower, a few strokes
+with a big hammer when the steel was dangerously hot, and then, perhaps,
+a sudden quenching in the snow, when the steel ought to have slowly
+cooled. He had been wrong in thinking men would not risk much for the
+sake of revenge. Wilkinson had foully struck his comrade and perhaps
+crippled him for life. But the cunning brute must be punished, and
+driven from the camp, and when he left should carry marks that would
+make it difficult to forget his offense.
+
+Charnock, however, could not at once seek out his antagonist. He had
+promised Festing to carry on the contract; they had had a number of
+setbacks, and the accident would cost them much. Wages were high and it
+was essential that the men should be usefully employed, while there
+was now nobody but himself to superintend the work. Besides, the doctor
+might want him and he must call at the shack every now and then to see
+how Festing was getting on. It looked as if he must leave Wilkinson
+alone until he had more leisure in the evening.
+
+It was a trying day. The doctor sent him errands and sometimes allowed
+him to come in for a few minutes, but his reports were not favorable,
+and Festing was either asleep or too feeble to talk. When work stopped
+and Charnock went to the shack after some hours' absence the doctor
+looked very grave.
+
+"I'm sorry I must keep you out," he said. "You mean well, but you're
+clumsy, while the young fellow Mr. Kerr sent has had some training and
+knows his job."
+
+"Then my partner's worse?"
+
+"Well, I'll own that I'm anxious about to-night; but if he gets over the
+early morning, I'll have hope. Go to the engineer's shack and I'll send
+you a report, if possible."
+
+Charnock tried to brace himself as he went away. So far, he had not
+imagined that Festing might die. He had got a shock, but must not let
+it overwhelm him. Thinking hard, he walked to Norton's shack to get some
+food. He was worn out and felt some pain.
+
+Norton gave him supper and offered him room for the night, and
+Charnock forced himself to eat. When the meal was over he lounged in a
+comfortable chair with his eyes shut for a time, and then got up and put
+on his coat.
+
+"Where are you going?" Norton asked.
+
+"I've some business at the camp," Charnock replied in a very grim voice.
+
+He went out and as he walked down the track met the locomotive engineer,
+who stopped.
+
+"Is that you, Mr. Charnock? Cold's pretty fierce to-night. How's Mr.
+Festing?"
+
+Charnock had not felt the cold until then, but he shivered and beat his
+hands as he replied that Festing was badly hurt. Then he asked: "Are you
+going out with the loco?"
+
+"Thought I'd finished, but they've wired that the cars are wanted on the
+next section and I've got to run them along."
+
+"Ah," said Charnock. "Have you seen Wilkinson?"
+
+"Met him going to the bunk-house just before you came up."
+
+Charnock went on, and presently entered the big wooden shed, which was
+full of tobacco smoke and the smell of hot iron and food. The warmth
+made him dizzy after the cold outside. A group of men had gathered about
+the stove, others sat at the dirty table with pipes and newspapers, and
+a few were quarreling about a game of cards, but Charnock could not see
+them distinctly.
+
+One or two looked round as he stopped near the door, dazzled by the
+light. He had pulled off the bandage, and there was a large, dark bruise
+on his face, which was set. His mouth made a firm line and his eyes
+glittered. Then the foreman got up.
+
+"Well," he asked harshly, "what do you want?"
+
+Charnock gave him a careless glance. The fellow was truculent and
+had bullied Charnock when he worked in his gang, while the latter had
+sometimes replied to his abuse with witty retorts that left a sting.
+Afterwards, he had beaten his persecutor badly in the dispute about the
+borrowed workmen.
+
+"I'm looking for Wilkinson."
+
+"What d'you want him for?" the foreman asked suspiciously.
+
+"That's my business."
+
+"Then this is my bunk-house; anyhow, I'm in charge. Guess you'd better
+get back to the bosses' shacks, where you belong."
+
+Charnock noted the sneer, but said quietly, "I'll go as soon as I've had
+a word with Wilkinson."
+
+He tried to see if Wilkinson was there, and did not think he was, but
+could not be certain. The foreman's manner hinted that he meant to
+protect the fellow.
+
+"You'll go now! D'you want me to put you out?"
+
+For a moment Charnock stood still, and then suddenly lost his
+self-control in a fit of savage rage. He had suffered at the hands of
+the brute, who was trying to prevent his finding Wilkinson. But he did
+not mean to be baulked, and stepped forward with his fists clenched.
+
+He could not remember who struck first, but got a blow on his body that
+made him gasp. Then he felt his knuckles jar on his antagonist's face,
+and the next moment staggered and fell against a bench that upset with a
+crash. He recovered, bent from the waist to dodge a blow that would have
+felled him, and struck over the other's arm.
+
+The foreman reeled, but did not fall, and closed with Charnock,
+who could not get away because of the table. The latter felt his
+antagonist's strength, and there was no room for skill. When he tried to
+break loose his feet struck the upset bench, and the wall was close by.
+Breathing hard, they rocked to and fro in a furious grapple, striking
+when a hand could be loosed, and then fell apart, exhausted. Both were
+bleeding but determined, for deep-rooted dislike had suddenly changed
+to overpowering hate. Moreover Charnock knew the foreman was Wilkinson's
+friend, and half suspected him of a share in the plot.
+
+In the meantime the men gathered round, scarcely giving the fighters
+room, and some, crowded off the floor, mounted the table. Nobody,
+however, interfered. They had no part in the quarrel and did not know
+what it was about, but while a number sympathized with Charnock, it was
+dangerous to offend their boss.
+
+Charnock resumed the attack, advancing with a savage rush. The foreman
+gave ground, but stretched out his foot and Charnock, tripping over it,
+plunged forward and fell among the legs of the nearest men. They crowded
+back, and as he got up awkwardly the foreman seized a heavy billet of
+cordwood and flung it at his head. The billet struck his shoulder, but
+he was on his feet, his face set and white, and his eyes vindictively
+hard. It was a foul blow, but there are few rules to hamper men
+who fight in a Western construction camp, and Charnock thought his
+antagonist meant to use a stove-iron that lay close by. Feinting at the
+other, he dodged and seized a pick-handle he had noticed on the floor.
+He was just in time, for the foreman struck at him with the iron. It
+clashed upon the pick-handle, but Charnock got the next blow home and
+the foreman fell upon the table, on which Charnock pinned him down. Then
+getting his right arm loose, he struck with blind fury.
+
+He was seized from behind, and while he struggled to get loose somebody
+gasped: "That's enough! Do you want to kill the man?"
+
+"Yes," said Charnock hoarsely. "Let me go!"
+
+"Help me choke him off! He's surely mad!" cried the man behind.
+
+Somebody else got hold of Charnock. He was dragged back, hustled away
+from the table and towards the door. Then the bar was torn from his
+hands and a man pushed him out in the snow.
+
+"You have fixed him good," said somebody in a breathless voice. "Go home
+and cool off!"
+
+"If Wilkinson's inside, I'm coming back," Charnock declared.
+
+The man laughed. "Wilkinson lit out through the store-shed 'bout a
+minute after you came in."
+
+Charnock felt faint and dizzy, but tried to think when the fellow banged
+the door. It looked as if Wilkinson knew why he had come, and had stolen
+away after seeing the struggle begin. Moreover he had friends who might
+go after him and tell him what had happened to the foreman. Then he
+remembered that the locomotive engineer had been ordered to move some
+cars, and set off for the track.
+
+The snow was rough, he fell into holes, and stubbed his feet against the
+ties, but stumbled on until he heard the locomotive snort. Then there
+was a jar of iron, wheels rattled, and a dark mass in front began to
+roll away. He was too late, and when he stopped and tried to get his
+breath two men came down the track.
+
+"Did any of the boys go out on the train?" he asked.
+
+"Only Wilkinson," one replied.
+
+"Where's he going?"
+
+"I don't know," said the other. "As he took his clothes-bag, it doesn't
+look as if he was coming back."
+
+Charnock set off for Norton's office. He did not know how he got there,
+because a reaction had begun, and he sat down feeling powerless and
+badly shaken.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+UNDERSTANDING
+
+At midnight, Charnock, sitting drowsily in a chair in Norton's office,
+roused himself with a jerk. He was too anxious about Festing to go to
+bed, but bodily fatigue reacted on his brain and dulled his senses. For
+all that, he thought he heard steps in the snow, and getting up quickly
+went to the door. The bitter cold pierced him like a knife and he
+shivered. A man stood outside, and his dark figure, silhouetted against
+the snow, was somehow ominous. Charnock tried to brace himself, for he
+feared bad news.
+
+"Well?" he said hoarsely.
+
+"It's Musgrave; the doctor sent me along. Your partner's taken a turn.
+He's going the right way now."
+
+Charnock looked at the messenger. His relief was overwhelming and he
+could not speak.
+
+"That's all, but I guess it's good enough, and you can go to sleep," the
+other resumed, and went away.
+
+When he vanished among the trees Charnock returned to his chair. He
+thought he ought to have brought the man in and made him some coffee,
+but he was horribly tired and did not want to move about and talk.
+Besides, he was conscious of a poignant satisfaction that prevented his
+thinking about anything else. While he indulged it a wave of fatigue
+swept over him and his head drooped. He tried to open his eyes but could
+not, and a few minutes later he was sound asleep.
+
+When he awoke the sun shone into the office and he felt stiff and
+cramped, but not cold. This was strange, and he glanced at the stove,
+which he had expected to find nearly out. The iron, however, glowed a
+dull red and he could hear the cordwood snapping. Somebody must have put
+in fresh fuel, and looking at his watch he got up with a start. The men
+had been at work for two hours, with nobody to superintend them. Then he
+heard a movement and turning round saw one in the room.
+
+"Feeling better, boss?" the fellow asked. "Mr. Kerr told me to come and
+see if you were awake. Said you'd find breakfast ready if you went to
+his place."
+
+"I expect you thought waiting for me to wake was easier than rolling
+logs," Charnock suggested.
+
+"Oh, well!" said the other; "you won't find we've fooled away much
+time."
+
+Charnock went to Festing's shack and the doctor nodded and indicated his
+comrade's bunk. As Charnock stopped beside it Festing turned his head.
+
+"Things going all right, Bob?"
+
+"They were last night," said Charnock, with some embarrassment. "I don't
+know about this morning because I've just got up. But how are you?"
+
+Festing smiled. "Much better; imagine I'm not knocked out yet. You
+needn't bother about being late. The boys are a pretty good crowd,
+and they like you. I'm rather glad you didn't hustle them as much as I
+wanted."
+
+"That's enough," said the doctor, who followed Charnock to the door and
+gave him a hopeful report.
+
+Charnock ate a very good breakfast in Kerr's shack, but his face
+was grave when he began his work. Luck had put upon him a heavy
+responsibility, but he must shoulder the load. Sadie and Helen and
+Festing had given him much, and now the time had come to pay them back.
+Moreover, with the responsibility had come a chance of proving and, so
+to speak reinstating, himself. He was entangled in a coil from which
+there was but one way out; he must stand by his comrade and finish the
+contract, or own himself a wastrel. The difficulties were obvious,
+but there was some encouragement. Perhaps the hardest battle had been
+fought, for he had grappled with his craving for liquor and thought he
+had won. Then the pain had not troubled him for some time.
+
+The men gave him no trouble, and he imagined they worked with more
+energy than usual. Now and then one or another stopped to ask, with
+obvious sincerity, how the boss was getting on; men from the railroad
+gangs, some of whom he scarcely knew, made inquiries, and Charnock felt
+moved. His partner's justice had won him respect, but he saw that some
+of the sympathy was meant for himself.
+
+Two days later he heard the rumble of an approaching supply train and
+walked up the track to meet it. The locomotive stopped farther off than
+he expected, and a woman got down. Running forward, he saw that it was
+Helen.
+
+"Stephen's doing well; that's the first thing you'll want to know," he
+said when they met.
+
+"I know it already. A man told me as soon as the train stopped; he
+seemed to guess who I am."
+
+"Ah!" said Charnock; "the boys are very good! It makes me proud to feel
+they all like Stephen. But why didn't you telegraph us? The Company
+would have sent on the message."
+
+Helen smiled. "I didn't see much use in doing so. You knew when
+your letter would arrive and how long it would take me to come. It's
+significant that you came to meet the train."
+
+"Perhaps it's characteristic that I came too late to help you down! But
+the engineer stopped short of the usual place, and I really have much to
+do just now."
+
+Helen gave him a quick glance. Bob had not lost his humor, but had
+gained something else. He was thin and haggard, but looked determined.
+Although his smile was frank, his mouth was firm and his eyes were
+steady.
+
+"I know!" she answered quickly; "I know what you have done for Stephen
+and what you mean to do. There is nobody else who can help him and if
+there was, the help would not be like yours."
+
+"Thank you," said Charnock. "I'm afraid you're mistaken about one point,
+but I have an extra reason for doing the best I can." Then he paused and
+smiled. "We tried to make the place comfortable, but you'll find things
+rough. One lives in a rather primitive way at a construction camp."
+
+"Perhaps, so far, I have found things too smooth."
+
+Then Helen asked him about the accident and he told her as much as he
+thought advisable, until they reached the shack, where the doctor met
+them at the door.
+
+"I expect you're Mrs. Festing," he said. "You'll find your husband able
+to talk, but remember that he must be kept calm. I'm going out, but will
+be back soon, and we'll see about getting you some food."
+
+He took Charnock away, and Festing looked up with a strained expression
+as Helen crossed the floor. Her eyes were wonderfully gentle, and
+stooping beside the bunk she kissed him and put her arm round his neck.
+
+"My dear!" she said softly. "My poor hurt dear! I have come to take care
+of you until you get well."
+
+"I imagine I'll need to be taken care of afterwards," Festing
+answered, with a forced smile. "It looks as if I hadn't much ground for
+self-confidence."
+
+Helen pressed his arm. "We have both made mistakes; but we won't talk
+about that now. Do you really feel you're getting better?"
+
+"Of course," said Festing, smiling. "Very much better! I'll get well
+remarkably fast now you have come."
+
+Helen brought a chair and for a time they engaged in happy but careless
+talk. Both knew there was much to be said, but Helen skilfully avoided
+striking a serious note. The time for that had not arrived yet.
+
+When it got dark the doctor came in and joined them at a meal.
+
+"The engineers have promised to put me up to-night, and I must leave
+to-morrow when the train goes out," he said. "I'll try to get back, but
+Musgrave knows what to do and will send for me if necessary. The most
+important thing is to keep Mr. Festing quiet."
+
+"I'm afraid it will be difficult," Helen answered.
+
+The doctor's eyes twinkled. "So I imagine, but it's your job. If you
+find it too hard, Musgrave will put your husband in plaster."
+
+He went East next morning with the supply train, and Helen was sorry to
+see him go. He had done what was needed with quiet efficiency, but she
+knew he had other patients scattered about a wide district.
+
+Charnock came in for a few minutes now and then during the day, and
+Musgrave was often about, but Helen was content to be left alone with
+her husband. His helplessness moved her; he had been marked by such
+vigor and energy, and it was strange to see him unable to move. Yet,
+while very pitiful, she felt a vague satisfaction because she could help
+him and he needed her.
+
+When it was getting dark she went to the door and looked out. The
+evening was calm and belts of pale-yellow broke the soft gray clouds.
+The eastern peaks were touched with an orange glow, but the snow lower
+down faded through shades of blue and purple into gloom. To the west,
+the pines were black and sharp, with white smears on their lower
+branches, and a thin haze rose from the river. The coloring of the
+landscape was harmoniously subdued, but its rugged grandeur of outline
+caught Helen's eye, and she stood for a few minutes, looking about with
+half-awed admiration.
+
+"Do you feel the cold, Stephen?" she asked.
+
+"No," said Festing. "Wonderful view, isn't it? But what's it like
+outside?"
+
+"Very still. Everything has a soft look; the harsh glitter's gone and
+the air has not the sting it had. Somehow the calm's majestic. The
+pictures one sees of the mountains hardly give a hint; one feels this is
+the grandest country in the world, but it looks strangely unfinished."
+
+Festing laughed. "A few ranches, roads, and cornfields would make a
+difference? Well, they follow the Steel in Canada and it's my job to
+clear the way. But the soft look promises warmer weather, and Bob will
+get ahead if a Chinook wind begins to blow. I imagine he hasn't done
+very much the last few days."
+
+"You mustn't bother about what Bob is doing," Helen said firmly.
+
+"Very well. Light the lamp and sit where I can see you. There's
+something I want to say."
+
+Helen did so and waited until Festing resumed: "To begin with, I've been
+a short-sighted, censorious fool about Bob. I'm ashamed to remember that
+I said he was a shiftless wastrel. The worst is I can't apologize; it
+wouldn't make things better to tell him what I thought."
+
+"That's obvious," said Helen, with a smile. "Still, in a way perhaps,
+you were not so very wrong. Bob was something of a wastrel; his wife has
+made him a useful man."
+
+"Another thing I was mistaken about! I rather despised Sadie. Now I
+want to take off my hat when I think of her. But it's puzzling. A girl
+without polish, taste, or accomplishments marries a man who has them
+all. She has no particular talents; nothing, in fact, except some
+beauty, rude integrity, and native shrewdness. Yet she, so to speak,
+works wonders. Puts Bob on his feet and leads him on, when nobody else
+could have pulled him out of the mire!"
+
+"She loved him," said Helen softly. "Love gave her patience and
+cleverness. However, I think Sadie did not always lead Bob. She knew
+when to drive."
+
+Festing was silent for a few moments and then went on: "Well, I have
+confessed two blunders and think it has done me good; but I'm getting
+nearer what I want to say. Bob's something of a philosopher and once
+remarked that events and people seldom force us into coils; our
+passions and characters entangle us. He was scoffing at the power of the
+theatrical villain and used Wilkinson for an example."
+
+"But Wilkinson had something to do with our troubles."
+
+"Not very much, after all. Perhaps he's accountable for my broken bones,
+but it was my obstinacy and ridiculous self-confidence that sent me
+here. That's what I really mean to talk about."
+
+"Is it necessary?" Helen asked. "I was foolish to be jealous of the
+farm. Women have sometimes worse grounds for jealousy."
+
+"That would have been impossible for us! Nobody who knew you could be
+attracted by another woman."
+
+"Bob was attracted," said Helen with a blush. "One must own that he was
+prudent. I haven't Sadie's courage and patience."
+
+"In those days, Bob was a besotted whisky-tank; but we are not going to
+talk about him. I'm afraid I was forgetful and went my own way like
+an obstinate fool. It was wrong, ridiculously wrong; I'm not going to
+excuse myself, but I want you to understand."
+
+He paused, for effort and emotion had tired him, but presently resumed:
+"I wouldn't use your money, but this wasn't altogether because I was
+too proud to let you help. I wanted to keep you safe; farming's a risky
+business, and I couldn't play a niggardly, cautious game. There was the
+land, waiting to be worked; I couldn't spare labor or money. But since
+both might be lost, I was afraid to use your fortune as a stake."
+
+"I understand," said Helen. "All the same, I would have been glad to
+take the risk. I don't think I'm very much afraid of hardship--"
+
+Festing smiled. "You have pluck, but don't know the strain that the
+wives of the struggling farmers have to bear. My object is to see that
+you don't know. But there's another thing, harder to explain; you felt
+that I neglected you, and I fear I did!"
+
+"You didn't mean to neglect me. Perhaps I was foolish, Stephen, but I
+felt you left me out. There were ways I could have helped."
+
+"I took the wrong line; that's plain now, but we must think of the
+future and not make the same mistake. You are first with me, Helen,
+but I must work; it's all I'm fit for. I can't play games and am not an
+amusing talker--though I'm talking at large to-night. Well, we have made
+our home on the prairie, and all round us the best wheat-soil in the
+world is lying waste. They're getting short of food in Europe, America
+will soon use all she grows, and folks in the older countries fix their
+eyes on us. Then we have room for an industrious population on our wide
+plains, cities are waiting to spring up, a new nation is being born.
+I and the others who were given the land must clear the way. It's our
+business, our only justification for being there. Sounds romantic and
+exaggerated, but I think it's true!"
+
+"It is true," said Helen. "Your views are larger than mine."
+
+"Well," said Festing, smiling. "I don't often let myself go and look
+far ahead. It's my share to tackle the job before my eyes; to drive
+the tractor plow, and the grading scoop along the road reserve. For all
+that, it's not a vague sense of duty that really drives me on; I must
+work, I'm unhappy when I stop! I'm afraid I'll always feel like that.
+what are we going to do about it?"
+
+"You must let me help more."
+
+"I need help; that's something I have learned, and nobody can help like
+you. But the strain will slacken soon. The things that will make life
+easier for you are coming fast; branch railroads, telephones, busy
+little towns, neighbors, and social amusements. Much that you enjoyed in
+England will surround you on the plains. But it will not come as a gift,
+as it did at home; we will have worked for and made it possible."
+
+Helen got up. Her color was higher than usual and her eyes sparkled. She
+was romantic and Festing had struck the right note, with rude sincerity
+and unconscious power. She saw visions of the future and the dignity of
+the immediate task. In this wide, new country, man needed woman's help,
+and her part was as large as his. Like Sadie, and many another, she
+heard the call for Pioneers. Crossing the door she stood by Festing's
+bunk.
+
+"I understand it all, Stephen. We must be patient and allow for small
+differences in our points of view, for I think, in the main, we see
+together. You must never leave me out again; I want to do my part."
+
+Festing said nothing, but he pressed her hand and she kissed him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+CHARNOCK'S TRIUMPH
+
+Six weeks after the accident Musgrave and Charnock came into the shack
+one evening. The former had examined Festing in the afternoon, and Helen
+gave him a meaning look. It hinted that she had expected his visit and
+meant to encourage him.
+
+"Come near the stove and smoke if you like. It is very cold."
+
+"No sign of the frost's breaking, I suppose?" said Festing, who lay
+propped up with pillows. "Did you get the particulars I asked for, Bob?"
+
+Charnock gave him a paper with some calculations, and after a time he
+nodded.
+
+"On the whole, this is satisfactory; things are going better than I
+thought. But what about the new job across the river?"
+
+"Things are going better than he thought! Isn't that like Stephen?"
+Charnock remarked to the others, and then turned to Festing. "However,
+I expect you didn't mean to be rude and you never were very tactful. We
+haven't begun the job you mentioned, but I don't know that it matters
+since we're busy at something else, and that's not what I want to talk
+about. Musgrave has examined you and gives us an encouraging report."
+
+"My opinion is that he can be moved and the journey home won't hurt him
+if proper care is used."
+
+"But I don't want to be moved just yet," Festing objected.
+
+"No doubt," said Musgrave dryly. "You are an obstinate fellow, but
+you're in our hands now, and we have to think what is best for you. To
+begin with, you won't be able to get about in time to be of much use,
+and you don't get better as fast as you ought. Then I understood you
+were resigned to going home before the contract is finished."
+
+"If I must; but I don't want to go now. I'm able to arrange things with
+Charnock in the evenings."
+
+"The fact is he doesn't trust me yet," Charnock remarked with a grin.
+
+"You know that isn't true, Bob!"
+
+"Then prove you trust me by going home with Helen. She has been plucky
+to stay so long, and now you're fit to be moved, you oughtn't to keep
+her. There's another thing; to be frank, you don't help much. We need a
+boss to superintend, which you can't do, and when I want advice I can
+go to Norton. As a matter of fact, when I come here in the evenings you
+find fault with what I've done. When I undertake a job I like to feel
+I'm carrying it out."
+
+Festing stopped him and looked at Helen, for he was not deceived by
+Charnock's injured tone.
+
+"I imagine this is something like a plot to get me away."
+
+"I think you would get better much faster at home, Stephen. You cannot
+do anything useful here, and you cannot rest. Mr. Musgrave agrees."
+
+"Certainly. If he stays, Festing will do himself harm and bother his
+partner."
+
+Festing knitted his brows and was silent for a moment or two. Then he
+said, "Since it looks as if you had made your plans, I had better go.
+You're a very good fellow, Bob; but if you can't keep things straight,
+I'll come back and superintend from a stretcher."
+
+They talked about other matters, but when Charnock left, Helen put on
+her furs and told Festing she wanted fresh air. Moonlight shone upon
+the dark pines and sparkled on the snow, and when they came out of the
+shadow of the trees she thought Charnock's face was grave.
+
+"I'm grateful, Bob," she said. "It's a big thing you have undertaken!"
+
+"I frankly wish it was smaller," Charnock answered. "I fact, I feel I
+have been horribly rash. I haven't Stephen's constructive talent or, for
+that matter, his energy, but somehow I mustn't be beaten."
+
+Helen gave him a gentle look. "You won't be beaten. It's unthinkable! We
+trust you."
+
+Then she went back and read a newspaper to Festing, who was carried
+down to the supply train next day and made comfortable in the caboose.
+Charnock talked to him carelessly until the couplings tightened and the
+locomotive began to snort, but his mouth was firm and his face set as
+he went back to his work. He knew what he was up against, and there were
+difficulties he had not told Festing about.
+
+The days got longer, and the frost was relaxing its grip on the white
+prairie, when Festing left his homestead and walked to the trail-fork
+to meet the mail-carrier. He returned with some letters and sat down
+limply. His face was thin and pale.
+
+"I get tired soon, and there's nothing from Bob yet," he grumbled as he
+turned over the envelopes. "It's curious, because he told us the job was
+nearly finished and some of the big engineers were coming out to examine
+the track. They ought to have arrived some days ago, and I've no doubt
+they'd test the work thoroughly when they were there."
+
+"You get too anxious," Helen replied. "If you had a calmer temperament,
+you would be stronger now. The engineers can hardly have had time to
+make a proper test."
+
+"I have some grounds for being anxious. If the fellows aren't satisfied,
+we won't get paid."
+
+Helen smiled. "You're really afraid that Bob may have been careless and
+neglected something!"
+
+"Bob's a very good partner; I've confessed that I misjudged him,"
+Festing answered with a touch of embarrassment. "Still, you see, I know
+his drawbacks, and I know mine. There were two or three pieces of work,
+done before I left, that I now see might have been better planned."
+
+Helen went to the door, for she heard a soft drumming of hoofs on beaten
+snow.
+
+"Sadie's coming," she said. "Perhaps she has some news."
+
+Festing followed her and Sadie stopped the horses, but did not get down.
+
+"I've a telegram from Bob; he'll be home to-morrow," she said. "He wants
+you both to meet him at the station."
+
+"Did he say anything about the job being finished?" Festing asked as he
+went down the steps.
+
+"No," said Sadie. "He seemed particularly anxious to see you at the
+depot; my hands are too numb or I'd show you the telegram. I haven't
+time to come in and don't want the team to stand in the cold."
+
+Then she waved her hand to Helen and drove away.
+
+About six o'clock next evening Helen and Festing walked up and down
+beside the track at the railroad settlement. There was no platform, but
+the agent's office stood near the rails, with a baggage shed, and a big
+tank for filtering saline water near the locomotive pipe. Behind these,
+three tall grain-elevators, which had not been finished when Festing saw
+them last, rose against the sky, dwarfing the skeleton frame of a new
+hotel. The ugly wooden houses had extended some distance across the
+snow, and Festing knew the significance of this. It was not dark yet,
+but the headlamp of a locomotive in the side-track flung a glittering
+beam a quarter of a mile down the line. In the west, a belt of saffron
+light, cut by the black smear of a bluff, glimmered on the horizon.
+Festing indicated the settlement.
+
+"It has grown fast, but if things go as some of us expect, the change
+will soon be magical. In a year or two you'll see a post-office like a
+palace, and probably an opera-house, besides street cars running north
+and south from the track."
+
+"I think I should like that," Helen remarked. "When it comes, you will
+have an office and a telephone, and be satisfied to superintend."
+
+Festing laughed. "It's possible, but there's much to be done first, and
+I'm not getting on very fast just now. Still I don't feel knocked out
+and I've walked half a mile."
+
+Glancing at the elevator towers and blocks of square-fronted houses
+that rose abruptly from the snow, Helen mused. The settlement jarred
+her fastidious taste, but she had seen Western towns that had, in a few
+years, grown out of their raw ugliness and blossomed in an efflorescence
+of ambitious architecture. Such beauty as they then possessed was not
+refined or subdued, but it was somehow characteristic of the country and
+harmonized with the builders' optimism. There was no permanence on the
+prairie; everything was in a fluid state of change and marked by a bold,
+but sometime misguided, striving for something better. Then she turned
+to her husband. His face was thin and she noted lines that came from
+mental strain and physical suffering, but his eyes were calm. She liked
+his look of quiet resolution.
+
+"You are getting stronger fast," she said. "The days are lengthening,
+spring is near, and you will soon be able to work again. Well, I will
+not try to stop you. When the prairie is plowed and covered with wheat I
+want you to feel that you have done your part. The change that is coming
+will bring the things women like; comfort, amusements, society. But what
+about you and the others, the pioneers, when there is no more ground to
+be broken and the way is cleared?"
+
+Festing smiled. "As a rule, the pioneer sells his homestead and goes on
+into the wilds to blaze another trail, but I imagine I shall be glad to
+rest. If not, we're an adaptable people and there are different ways of
+helping things along. One can learn to use other tools than the ax and
+plow."
+
+"Ah," said Helen, "You are getting broader. You see clearly, Stephen,
+and your views are often long, but I sometimes thought you focused them
+too narrowly on the object in front. Perhaps I shall have done something
+if I have taught you to look all round. But here's Sadie and the train."
+
+A light sprang out from the distant bluff and grew into a dazzling
+fan-shaped beam. Then the roar of wheels slackened, and Sadie joined the
+others as a bell began to toll, and with smoke streaming back along the
+cars the train rolled into the station. Somebody leaned out from the
+rails of a vestibule, and Sadie began to run beside the track.
+
+"Come along!" she cried. "It's Bob!"
+
+Festing and Helen followed, and when they reached the vestibule Charnock
+pushed a door open and took them inside. The car was brightly lighted,
+but not furnished on the usual plan. A table stood in the middle, the
+curtained berths were at one end, and there were cases holding books and
+surveying instruments. It was obviously meant for the use of railroad
+managers and engineers, and three or four gentlemen stood near the
+table, as if they had just got up. Festing saw that one was Dalton, who
+advanced eagerly as Helen came in. He presented his companions to her
+and Sadie, and a gentleman who was well known on Canadian railroads gave
+Festing his hand. Another was Norton's employer, a famous contractor.
+
+"Sit down," said the first. "The engineer wants to fill his tank, and
+they won't pull out until we are ready." Then he turned to Festing. "We
+have examined a piece of tract you helped build and I must compliment
+you on a first-class job. As a rule, we are glad to get our contract
+work up to specification, but you have done better."
+
+"My partner is really responsible for that," Festing replied. "I got
+knocked out soon after we made a good start and had to leave him to
+carry on."
+
+The contractor smiled as he interposed: "A good beginning counts for
+much, and I'm glad to state that Mr. Charnock has kept to your lines.
+When you were forced to leave it seemed prudent to make some inquiries,
+but we found that your partner was doing high-grade work, and now we
+have inspected it, I must admit that Norton's favorable reports were
+deserved." He paused and turned to Sadie. "If your husband's as good a
+farmer as an engineer, he'll make progress."
+
+Sadie flushed with pride. "Looks as if he'd made some already, but you
+didn't run much risk when you trusted him."
+
+"My wife's the farmer and my partner the engineer," Charnock remarked.
+"I know my limits, but try to keep going when somebody starts me well."
+
+"You have gone farther than our bargain demanded, which doesn't often
+happen," said the contractor, who turned to Festing. "Mr. Charnock has
+my cheque for the main job, but there are some accounts to make up and
+you won't find my cashier disputes the extras. Perhaps that's all I need
+say, except that you have satisfied me, and, I gather, satisfied your
+men. In fact, you and Mr. Charnock leave us with general good feeling."
+
+Then they talked about something else until a man came in to say that
+the locomotive tank was filled, and the engineer and contractor went to
+the vestibule with their guests. For a minute or two the group stood on
+the platform, exchanging farewell compliments, while the station agent
+waited in the snow. Then the engineer said:
+
+"I wanted to meet your husband, Mrs. Festing, and if we have any more
+difficult work, hope you will let me have him again."
+
+"He came back the worse last time," Helen answered smiling. "I'm not
+sure I would have the courage to let him go. Besides, he has other work
+at home. A farm makes many demands on one."
+
+"I have no doubt it does," agreed the engineer. "One imagines that on
+the Festing farm all demands will be met."
+
+He signed to the agent, the others went down the steps, and the bell
+began to toll as the lighted cars rolled by. The rattle of wheels got
+louder, and a plume of smoke trailed back and spread in a dingy cloud,
+but Helen and Festing stood, a little way from the others, watching the
+receding train. They felt that something was finished; satisfactorily
+finished amidst well-earned praise, but done with for good. Festing
+looked at Helen with a comprehending smile.
+
+"You answered right; I'm not going back! Our work is waiting, here on
+the plains."
+
+"Ah," said Helen softly, "how much easier you make it when you call it
+ours!"
+
+They went to the hotel where they had left the team, and as the others
+followed Sadie turned to her husband with a glow of happy pride. He had
+come back, so to speak, triumphant, the guest of famous men who had said
+flattering things about him, and for his sake the train had been held up
+while the great contractor talked to her.
+
+"Bob," she said, "you have made good! I can't tell you all I feel about
+it. Some day you'll be a famous man."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Girl From Keller's, by Harold Bindloss
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