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diff --git a/39698-h/39698-h.htm b/39698-h/39698-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58251f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/39698-h/39698-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13606 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Impostor, by Harold Bindloss</title> + <style type="text/css"> + p.center {text-align:center} + p.tight {margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0} + hr.tb {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width:40%; margin-top:10px; margin-bottom:10px} + p.caption {text-align:center; margin-left:20%; margin-right:20%;} + h2.chapter {font-size:1.2em; text-align:center; margin: 2em auto 1em auto; font-weight:normal} + + h1.pg,h3.pg { text-align:center; + clear: both; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Impostor, by Harold Bindloss, Illustrated +by Victor Prout</h1> +<p>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 <a +href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></p> +<p>Title: The Impostor</p> +<p>Author: Harold Bindloss</p> +<p>Release Date: May 14, 2012 [eBook #39698]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPOSTOR***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> + and the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdpcanada.net">http://www.pgdpcanada.net</a>)<br /> + from images of public domain material generously made available<br /> + by the University of Toronto Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca">http://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca</a>)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:1.4em;'>THE IMPOSTOR.</p> +<hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; width:70%; margin:2em auto' /> + +<div style='text-align:center'> +<img src='images/illus-001.jpg' alt=''/> +<p class='caption'>“In the meanwhile, Maud Barrington sat by the open window in her room.” (Chapter XVI.)</p> +</div> +<hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; width:70%; margin:2em auto' /> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:2em;'>THE IMPOSTOR</p> + +<p class='center tight' style=''>By</p> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:2em;'>HAROLD BINDLOSS</p> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:0.8em;'>Author of “Hawtrey’s Deputy,” “The Liberationist,”</p> +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:2em;'>“A Sower of Wheat,” “The Pioneer,” etc.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class='center tight' style=''>WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED</p> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:0.8em;'>LONDON, MELBOURNE AND TORONTO</p> +<hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; width:70%; margin:2em auto' /> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:1.2em;'>CONTENTS</p> + +<table id='toc' style='margin:auto' summary='TOC'> +<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td><a href='#clink01'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Rancher Witham</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td><a href='#clink02'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Lance Courthorne</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td><a href='#clink03'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Trooper Shannon’s Quarrel</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td><a href='#clink04'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>In the Bluff</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V</td><td><a href='#clink05'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Miss Barrington Comes Home</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI</td><td><a href='#clink06'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Anticipations</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII</td><td><a href='#clink07'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Witham’s Decision</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII</td><td><a href='#clink08'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Witham Comes to Silverdale</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX</td><td><a href='#clink09'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>An Armistice</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X</td><td><a href='#clink10'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Maud Barrington’s Promise</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI</td><td><a href='#clink11'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Speed the Plough</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII</td><td><a href='#clink12'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Mastery Recognized</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII</td><td><a href='#clink13'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Fair Advocate</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV</td><td><a href='#clink14'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Unexpected</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV</td><td><a href='#clink15'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Facing the Flame</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI</td><td><a href='#clink16'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Maud Barrington is Merciless</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII</td><td><a href='#clink17'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>With the Stream</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII</td><td><a href='#clink18'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Under Test</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX</td><td><a href='#clink19'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Courthorne Blunders</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX</td><td><a href='#clink20'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Face at the Window</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI</td><td><a href='#clink21'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Colonel Barrington is Convinced</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII</td><td><a href='#clink22'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Sergeant Stimson Confirms his Suspicions</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII</td><td><a href='#clink23'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Revelation</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV</td><td><a href='#clink24'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Courthorne makes Reparation</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXV</td><td><a href='#clink25'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Witham Rides Away</span></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXVI</td><td><a href='#clink26'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Reinstation</span></a></td></tr> +</table> +<hr style='border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; width:70%; margin:2em auto' /> + +<p class='center tight' style='font-size:1.4em;'>THE IMPOSTOR</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink01'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER I—RANCHER WITHAM</a></h2> + +<p>It was a bitter night, for although there was no snow +as yet, the frost had bound the prairie in its iron grip, +when Rancher Witham stood shivering in a little +Canadian settlement in the great, lonely land which +runs north from the American frontier to Athabasca. +There was no blink of starlight in the murky sky, and +a stinging wind that came up out of the great waste +of grass moaned about the frame houses clustering +beside the trail that led south over the limited levels +to the railroad and civilization. It chilled Witham +through his somewhat tattered furs, and he strode +up and down, glancing expectantly into the darkness, +and then across the unpaved street, where the ruts +were ploughed a foot deep in the prairie sod, towards +the warm, red glow from the windows of the wooden +hotel. He knew that the rest of the outlying farmers +and ranchers who had ridden in for their letters were +sitting snug about the stove, but it was customary +for all who sought shelter there to pay for their share +of the six o’clock supper, and the half-dollar Witham +had then in his pocket was required for other purposes.</p> + +<p>He had also retained through all his struggles a +measure of his pride, and because of it strode up and +down buffeted by the blasts until a beat of horse-hoofs +came out of the darkness and was followed by a rattle +of wheels. It grew steadily louder, a blinking ray +of brightness flickered across the frame houses, and +presently dark figures were silhouetted against the +light on the hotel veranda as a lurching wagon drew +up beneath it. Two dusky objects, shapeless in their +furs, sprang down, and one stumbled into the post +office close by with a bag while the other man answered +the questions hurled at him as he fumbled with stiffened +fingers at the harness.</p> + +<p>“Late? Well, you might be thankful you’ve got +your mail at all,” he said. “We had to go round by +Willow Bluff, and didn’t think we’d get through the +ford. Ice an inch thick, anyway, and Charley talked +that much he’s not said anything since, even when +the near horse put his foot into a badger hole.”</p> + +<p>Rude banter followed this, but Witham took no +part in it. Hastening into the post office, he stood +betraying his impatience by his very impassiveness +while a sallow-faced woman tossed the letters out +upon the counter. At last she took up two of them, +and the man’s fingers trembled a little as he stretched +out his hand, when she said—</p> + +<p>“That’s all there are for you.”</p> + +<p>Witham recognized the writing on the envelopes, +and it was with difficulty he held his eagerness in +check, but other men were waiting for his place, and +he went out and crossed the street to the hotel where +there was light to read by. As he entered it a girl, +bustling about a long table in the big stove-warmed +room, turned with a little smile.</p> + +<p>“It’s only you!” she said. “Now I was figuring +it was Lance Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Witham, impatient as he was, stopped and laughed, +for the hotel-keeper’s daughter was tolerably +well-favoured and a friend of his.</p> + +<p>“And you’re disappointed?” he said. “I haven’t +Lance’s good looks, or his ready tongue.”</p> + +<p>The room was empty, for the guests were thronging +about the post office then, and the girl’s eyes twinkled +as she drew back a pace and surveyed the man. There +was nothing in his appearance that would have aroused +a stranger’s interest, or attracted more than a passing +glance, and he stood before her in a very old fur coat, +with a fur cap that was in keeping with it in his hand. +His face had been bronzed almost to the colour of a +Blackfoot Indian’s by frost and wind and sun, and +it was of English type from the crisp fair hair above +the broad forehead to the somewhat solid chin. The +mouth was hidden by the bronze-tinted moustache, +and the eyes alone, were noticeable. They were +grey, and there was a steadiness in them which was +almost unusual even in that country, where men look +into long distances. For the rest, he was of average +stature, and stood impassively straight, looking down +upon the girl without either grace or awkwardness, +while his hard brown hands, suggested, as his attire +did, strenuous labour for a very small reward.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the girl with Western frankness, +“there’s a kind of stamp on Lance that you haven’t +got. I figure he brought it with him from the old +country. Still, one might take you for him if you +stood with the light behind you, and you’re not quite +a bad-looking man. It’s a kind of pity you’re so +solemn.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled. “I don’t fancy that’s astonishing +after losing two harvests in succession,” he said. +“You see, there’s nobody back there in the old country +to send remittances to me.”</p> + +<p>The girl nodded with quick sympathy. “Oh, +yes. The times are bad,” she said. “Well, you +read your letters; I’m not going to worry you.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat down and opened the first envelope +under the big lamp. It was from a land agent and +mortgage-broker, and his face grew a trifle grimmer +as he read, “In the present condition of the money +market your request that we should carry you over +is unreasonable, and we regret that unless you can +extinguish at least half the loan we will be compelled +to foreclose upon your holding.”</p> + +<p>There was a little more of it, but that was sufficient +for Witham, who knew it meant disaster, and it was +with the feeling of one clinging desperately to the last +shred of hope he tore open the second envelope. The +letter it held was from a friend he had made in a +Western city, and once entertained for a month at +his ranch, but the man had evidently sufficient +difficulties of his own to contend with.</p> + +<p>“Very sorry, but it can’t be done,” he wrote. “I’m +loaded up with wheat nobody will buy, and couldn’t +raise five hundred dollars to lend any one just now,”</p> + +<p>Witham sighed a little, but when he rose and slowly +straightened himself nobody would have suspected +he was looking ruin in the face. He had fought a +slow, losing battle for six weary years, holding on +doggedly though defeat appeared inevitable, and now +when it had come he bore it impassively, for the +struggle which, though he was scarcely twenty-six, +had crushed all mirth and brightness out of his life, +had given him endurance in place of them. Just then +a man came bustling towards him, with the girl who +bore a tray close behind.</p> + +<p>“What are you doing with that coat on?” he said. +“Get it off and sit down right there. The boys are +about through with the mail and supper’s ready,”</p> + +<p>Witham glanced at the steaming dishes hungrily, +for he had passed most of the day in the bitter frost, +eating very little, and there was still a drive of twenty +miles before him.</p> + +<p>“It is time I was taking the trail,” he said.</p> + +<p>He was sensible of a pain in his left side, which, as +other men have discovered, not infrequently follows +enforced abstinence from food, but he remembered +what he wanted the half-dollar in his pocket for. The +hotel-keeper had possibly some notion of the state of +affairs, for he laughed a little.</p> + +<p>“You’ve got to sit down,” he said. “Now, after +the way you fixed me up when I stopped at your ranch, +you don’t figure I’d let you go before you had some +supper with me.”</p> + +<p>Witham may have been unduly sensitive, but he +shook his head. “You’re very good, but it’s a long +ride, and I’m going now,” he said. “Good-night, +Nettie.”</p> + +<p>He turned as he spoke, with the swift decision that +was habitual with him, and when he went out the girl +glanced at her father reproachfully.</p> + +<p>“You always get spoiling things when you put your +hand in,” she said. “Now that man’s hungry, and +I’d have fixed it so he’d have got his supper if you had +left it to me.”</p> + +<p>The hotel-keeper laughed a little. “I’m kind of +sorry for Witham because there’s grit in him, and +he’s never had a show,” he said. “Still, I figure he’s +not worth your going out gunning after, Nettie.”</p> + +<p>The girl said nothing, but there was a little flush +in her face which had not been there before, when she +busied herself with the dishes.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Witham was harnessing two bronco +horses to a very dilapidated wagon. They were +vicious beasts, but he had bought them cheap from a +man who had some difficulty in driving them, while +the wagon had been given him, when it was apparently +useless, by a neighbour. The team had, however, +already covered thirty miles that day, and started +homewards at a steady trot without the playful kicking +they usually indulged in. Here and there a man +sprang clear of the rutted road, but Witham did not +notice him or return his greeting. He was abstractedly +watching the rude frame houses flit by, and wondering, +while the pain in his side grew keener, when he +would get his supper, for it happens not infrequently +that the susceptibilities are dulled by a heavy blow, +and the victim finds a distraction that is almost welcome +in the endurance of a petty trouble.</p> + +<p>Witham was very hungry, and weary alike in body +and mind. The sun had not risen when he left his +homestead, and he had passed the day under a +nervous strain, hoping, although it seemed improbable, +that the mail would bring him relief from his +anxieties. Now he knew the worst he could bear it as +he had borne the loss of two harvests, and the disaster +which followed in the wake of the blizzard that killed +off his stock; but it seemed unfair that he should +endure cold and hunger too, and when one wheel sank +in a rut and the jolt shook him in every stiffened limb, +he broke out with a hoarse expletive. It was his first +protest against the fate that was too strong for him, +and almost as he made it he laughed.</p> + +<p>“Pshaw! There’s no use kicking against what +has to be, and I’ve got to keep my head just now,” +he said.</p> + +<p>There was no great comfort in the reflection, but it +had sustained him before, and Witham’s head was a +somewhat exceptional one, though there was as a +rule nothing in any way remarkable about his conversation, +and he was apparently merely one of the +many quietly-spoken, bronze-faced men who are even +by their blunders building up a great future for the +Canadian dominion. He accordingly drew his old +rug tighter round him, and instinctively pulled his +fur cap lower down when the lights of the settlement +faded behind him and the creaking wagon swung out +into the blackness of the prairie. It ran back league +beyond league across three broad provinces, and the +wind that came up out of the great emptiness emphasized +its solitude. A man from the cities would have +heard nothing but the creaking of the wagon and the +drumming fall of hoofs, but Witham heard the grasses +patter as they swayed beneath the bitter blasts stiff +with frost, and the moan of swinging boughs in a far-off +willow bluff. It was these things that guided him, +for he had left the rutted trail, and here and there the +swishen beneath the wheels told of taller grass, while the +bluff ran black athwart the horizon when that had +gone. Then twigs crackled beneath them as the +horses picked their way amidst the shadowy trees +stunted by a ceaseless struggle with the wind, and +Witham shook the creeping drowsiness from him when +they came out into the open again, for he knew it is +not advisable for any man with work still to do to +fall asleep under the frost of that country.</p> + +<p>Still, he grew a trifle dazed as the miles went by, and +because of it indulged in memories he had shaken off +at other times. They were blurred recollections of +the land he had left eight years ago, pictures of sheltered +England, half-forgotten music, the voices of +friends who no longer remembered him, and the +smiles in a girl’s bright eyes. Then he settled himself +more firmly in the driving-seat, and with numbed +fingers sought a tighter grip of the reins as the memory +of the girl’s soft answer to a question he had asked +brought his callow ambitions back.</p> + +<p>He was to hew his way to fortune in the West, and +then come back for her, but the girl who had clung to +him with wet cheeks when he left her had apparently +grown tired of waiting, and Witham sent back her +letters in return for a silver-printed card. That was +six years ago, and now none of the dollars he had +brought into the country remained to him. He +realized, dispassionately and without egotism, that +this was through no fault of his, for he knew that +better men had been crushed and beaten.</p> + +<p>It was, however, time he had done with these reflections, +for while he sat half-dazed and more than half-frozen +the miles had been flitting by, and now the team +knew they were not very far from home. Little by +little their pace increased, and Witham was almost +astonished to see another bluff black against the +night ahead of him. As usual in that country, the +willows and birches crawled up the sides and just +showed their heads above the sinuous crest of a river +hollow. It was very dark when the wagon lurched +in among them, and it cost the man an effort to discern +the winding trail which led down into the blackness +of the hollow. In places the slope was almost precipitous, +and it behoved him to be careful of the horses, +which could not be replaced. Without them he could +not plough in spring, and his life did not appear of any +especial value in comparison with theirs just then.</p> + +<p>The team, however, were evidently bent on getting +home as soon as possible, and Witham’s fingers were too +stiff to effectively grasp the reins. A swinging bough +also struck one of the horses, and when it plunged +and flung up its head the man reeled a little in his seat. +Before he recovered the team were going down-hill at a +gallop. Witham flung himself bodily backwards with +tense muscles, and the reins slipping a trifle in his +hands, knowing that though he bore against them with +all his strength the team were leaving the trail. Then +the wagon jolted against a tree, one horse stumbled, +picked up its stride, and went on at a headlong gallop. +The man felt the wind rush past him and saw +the dim trees whirl by, but he could only hold on and +wonder what would take place when they came to +the bottom. The bridge the trail went round by was +some distance to the right and because the frost had +just set in he knew the ice on the river would not +bear the load, even if the horses could keep their +footing.</p> + +<p>He had not, however, long to wonder. Once more +a horse stumbled, there was a crash, and a branch +hurled Witham backwards into the wagon, which +came to a standstill suddenly. When he rose something +warm was running down his face, and there was +a red smear on the hand he lighted the lantern with. +When that was done he flung himself down from the +wagon, dreading what he would find. The flickering +radiance showed him that the pole had snapped, and +while one bronco still stood trembling on its feet +the other lay inert amidst a tangle of harness. The +man’s face grew a trifle grimmer as he threw the light +upon it, and then, stooping, glanced at one doubled +leg. It was evident that fate, which did nothing by +halves, had dealt him a crushing blow. The last +faint hope he clung to had vanished now.</p> + +<p>He was, however, a humane man, and considerate +of the beasts that worked for him, and accordingly +thrust his hand inside the old fur coat, when he had +loosed the uninjured horse, and drew out a long-bladed +knife. Then he knelt and, setting down the lantern, +felt for the place to strike. When he found it his courage +almost deserted him, and meeting the eyes that +seemed to look up at him with dumb appeal, turned +his head away. Still, he was a man who would not +shirk a painful duty, and shaking off the sense of revulsion +turned again and stroked the beast’s head.</p> + +<p>“It’s all I can do for you,” he said.</p> + +<p>Then his arm came down, and a tremor ran through +the quivering frame, while Witham set his lips tightly +as his hand grew warm. The thing was horrible to +him, but the life he led had taught him the folly of +weakness, and he was too pitiful to let his squeamishness +overcome him.</p> + +<p>Still, he shivered when it was done, and rubbing +the knife in the withered leaves, rose and made shift +to gird a rug about the uninjured horse. Then he +cut the reins and tied them, and mounting without +stirrups rode towards the bridge. The horse went +quietly enough now, and the man allowed it to choose +its way. He was going home to find shelter from +the cold, because his animal instincts prompted him, +but otherwise, almost without volition, in a state of +dispassionate indifference. Nothing more he fancied, +could well befall him.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink02'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER II—LANCE COURTHORNE</a></h2> + +<p>It was late when Witham reached his log-built +house, but he set out once more with his remaining +horse before the lingering daylight crept out of the +east, to haul the wagon home. He also spent most of +the day in repairing it, because occupation of any kind +that would keep him from unpleasant reflections appeared +advisable, and to allow anything to fall out +of use was distasteful to him, although as the wagon +had been built for two horses he had little hope of +driving it again. It was a bitter, grey day, with a low, +smoky sky, and seemed very long to Witham; but +evening came at last, and he was left with nothing +between him and his thoughts.</p> + +<p>He lay in a dilapidated chair beside the stove, and +the little bare room through which its pipe ran was +permeated with the smell of fresh shavings, hot iron, +and the fumes of indifferent tobacco. A carpenter’s +bench ran along one end of it, and was now occupied +by a new wagon pole the man had fashioned out of a +slender birch. A Marlin rifle, an axe, and a big saw +hung beneath the head of an antelope on the wall +above the bench, and all of them showed signs of use +and glistened with oil. Opposite to them a few +shelves were filled with simple crockery and cooking +utensils, and these also shone spotlessly. There +was a pair of knee boots in one corner with a patch +partly sewn on to one of them, and the harness in +another showed traces of careful repair. A bookcase +hung above them, and its somewhat tattered +contents indicated that the man who had chosen and +evidently handled them frequently possessed tastes +any one who did not know that country would scarcely +have expected to find in a prairie farmer. A table +and one or two rude chairs made by their owner’s +hands completed the furniture; but while all hinted +at poverty, it also suggested neatness, industry, and +care, for the room bore the impress of its occupier’s +individuality, as rooms not infrequently do.</p> + +<p>It was not difficult to see that he was frugal, though +possibly from necessity rather than taste, not sparing +of effort, and had a keen eye for utility, and if that +suggested the question why, with such capacities, he +had not attained to greater comfort, the answer was +simple. Witham had no money, and the seasons had +fought against him. He had done his uttermost with +the means at his disposal, and now he knew he was +beaten.</p> + +<p>A doleful wind moaned about the lonely building +and set the roof shingles rattling overhead. Now and +then the stove crackled, or the lamp flickered, and +any one unused to the prairie would have felt the +little loghouse very desolate and lonely. There was +no other human habitation within a league, only a +great waste of whitened grass relieved about the homestead +by the raw clods of the fall ploughing; for, +while his scattered neighbours, for the most part, put +their trust in horses and cattle, Witham had been +among the first to realize the capacities of that land +as a wheat-growing country.</p> + +<p>Now, clad in well-worn jean trousers and an old +deerskin jacket, he looked down at the bundle of documents +on his knee, accounts unpaid, a banker’s intimation +that no more cheques would be honoured +and a mortgage deed. They were not pleasant reading, +and the man’s face clouded as he pencilled notes +on some of them, but there was no weakness or futile +protest in it. Defeat was plain between the lines of +all he read, but he was going on stubbornly until the +struggle was ended, as others of his kind had done, +there at the western limit of the furrows of the plough +and in the great province further east which is one of +the world’s granaries. They went under and were +forgotten, but they showed the way, and while their +guerdon was usually six feet of prairie soil, the wheat-fields, +mills, and railroads came, for it is written +plainly on the new North-West that no man may live +and labour for himself alone, and there are many who, +realizing it, instinctively ask very little, and freely +give their best for the land that but indifferently +shelters them.</p> + +<p>Presently, however, there was a knocking at the +door, and though this was most unusual, Witham +only quietly moved his head when a bitter blast came +in, and a man wrapped in furs stood in the opening.</p> + +<p>“I’ll put my horse in the stable while I’ve got my +furs on. It’s a bitter night,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “You know where the lantern +is,” he said. “There’s some chop in the manger, and +you needn’t spare the oats in the bin. At present +prices it doesn’t pay to haul them in.”</p> + +<p>The man closed the door silently, and it was ten +minutes before he returned, and sloughing off his furs +dropped into a chair beside the stove. “I got supper +at Broughton’s, and don’t want anything but shelter +to-night,” he said. “Shake that pipe out and try +one of these instead.”</p> + +<p>He laid a cigar case on the table, and though well +worn it was of costly make, with a good deal of silver +about it, while Witham, who lighted one, knew that +the cigars were good. He had no esteem for his visitor, +but men are not censorious upon the prairie, and +Western hospitality is always free.</p> + +<p>“Where have you come from, Courthorne?” he +said quietly.</p> + +<p>The other man laughed a little. “The long trail,” he +said. “The Dakotas, Colorado, Montana. Cleaned +up one thousand dollars at Regent, and might have +got more, but some folks down there seemed tired +of me. The play was quite regular, but they have +apparently been getting virtuous lately.”</p> + +<p>“And now?” said Witham, with polite indifference.</p> + +<p>Courthorne made a little gesture of deprecation.</p> + +<p>“I’m back again with the rustlers.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s nod signified comprehension, for the +struggle between the great range-holders across the +frontier and the smaller settlers who with legal right +invaded their cattle runs was just over. It had been +fought out bitterly with dynamite and rifles, and when +at last, with the aid of the United States cavalry, peace +was made, sundry broken men and mercenaries who +had taken the pay of both parties, seeing their occupation +gone, had found a fresh scope for their energies +in smuggling liquor, and on opportunity transferring +cattle, without their owners’ sanction, across +the frontier. That was then a prohibition country, +and the profits and risks attached to supplying it +and the Blackfeet on the reserves with liquor were +heavy.</p> + +<p>“Business this way?” said Witham.</p> + +<p>Courthorne appeared to consider a moment, and +there was a curious little glint which did not escape +his companion’s attention in his eyes, but he laughed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, we’re making a big run,” he said, then +stopped and looked straight at the rancher. “Did +it ever strike you, Witham, that you were not unlike +me?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled, but made a little gesture of dissent +as he returned the other’s gaze. They were about the +same height and had the same English type of face, +while Witham’s eyes were grey and his companion’s +an indefinite blue that approached the former colour, +but there the resemblance, which was not more than +discernible, ended. Witham was quietly-spoken +and somewhat grim, a plain prairie farmer in appearance, +while a vague but recognizable stamp of breeding +and distinction still clung to Courthorne. He +would have appeared more in place in the States upon +the southern Atlantic seaboard, where the characteristics +the Cavalier settlers brought with them are not +extinct, than he did upon the Canadian prairie. His +voice had even in his merriment a little imperious +ring, his face was refined as well as sensual, and there +was a languid gracefulness in his movements and a +hint of pride in his eyes. They, however, lacked the +steadiness of Witham’s, and there were men who had +seen the wild devil that was born in Courthorne look +out of them. Witham knew him as a pleasant companion, +but surmised from stories he had heard that +there were men, and more women, who bitterly rued +the trust they had placed in him.</p> + +<p>“No,” he said dryly. “I scarcely think I am like +you, although only last night Nettie at the settlement +took me for you. You see, the kind of life I’ve +led out here has set its mark on me, and my folks in +the old country were distinctly middle-class people. +There is something in heredity.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne did not parry the unexpressed question. +“Oh, yes,” he said, with a little sardonic smile. “I +know. The backbone of the nation—solemn, virtuous, +and slow. You’re like them, but my folks +were different, as you surmise. I don’t think they +had many estimable qualities from your point of view, +but if they all didn’t go quite straight they never went +slow, and they had a few prejudices, which is why I +found it advisable to leave the old country. Still, +I’ve had my fill of all that life can offer most folks out +here, while you scarcely seem to have found virtue +pay you. They told me at the settlement things were +bad with you.”</p> + +<p>Witham, who was usually correct in his deductions, +surmised that his companion had an object, and expected +something in return for this confidence. There +was also no need for reticence when every farmer in +the district knew all about his affairs, while something +urged him to follow Courthorne’s lead.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said quietly. “They are. You see, +when I lost my cattle in the blizzard, I had to sell out +or mortgage the place to the hilt, and during the last +two years I haven’t made the interest. The loan falls +due in August, and they’re going to foreclose on me.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Courthorne, “what is keeping you +here when the result of every hour’s work you put +in will go straight into another’s man’s pocket?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled a little. “In the first place, I’ve +nowhere else to go, and there’s something in the feeling +that one has held on to the end. Besides, until +a few days ago I had a vague hope that by working +double tides, I might get another crop in. Somebody +might have advanced me a little on it because the +mortgage only claims the house and land.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne looked at him curiously. “No. We +are not alike,” he said. “There’s a slow stubborn +devil in you, Witham, and I think I’d be afraid of you +if I ever did you an injury. But go on.”</p> + +<p>“There’s very little more. My team ran away +down the ravine, and I had to put one beast out of +its misery. I can’t do my ploughing with one horse, +and that leaves me stranded for the want of the dollars +to buy another with. It’s usually a very little +thing that turns the scale, but now the end has come, +I don’t know that I’m sorry. I’ve never had a good +time, you see, and the struggle was slowly crushing +the life out of me.”</p> + +<p>Witham spoke quietly, without bitterness, but +Courthorne, who had never striven at all but stretched +out his hand and taken what was offered, the more +willingly when it was banned alike by judicial and +moral law, dimly understood him. He was a fearless +man, but he knew his courage would not have been +equal to the strain of that six years’ struggle against +loneliness, physical fatigue, and adverse seasons, +during which disaster followed disaster. He looked +at the bronzed farmer as he said, “Still, you would +do a little in return for a hundred dollars that would +help you to go on with the fight?”</p> + +<p>A faint sparkle crept into Witham’s eyes. It was +not hope, but rather the grim anticipation of the man +offered a better weapon when standing with his back +to the wall.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said slowly. “I would do almost anything.”</p> + +<p>“Even if it was against the law?”</p> + +<p>Witham sat silent for almost a minute, but there +was no indecision in his face, which slightly perplexed +Courthorne. “Yes,” he said. “Though I kept it +while I could, the law was made for the safe-guarding +of prosperous men, but with such as I am it is every +man for his own hand and the devil to care for the +vanquished. Still, there is a reservation.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne nodded. “It’s unlawful, but not +against the unwritten code.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham quietly, “when you tell me +what you want I should have a better opinion.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed a little, though there was +something unpleasant in his eyes. “When I first +came out to this country I should have resented that,” +he said. “Now, it seems to me that I’m putting +too much in your hands if I make the whole thing +clear before you commit yourself in any way.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “In fact, you have got to trust +me. You can do so safely.”</p> + +<p>“The assurance of the guileless is astonishing and +occasionally hard to bear,” said Courthorne. “Why +not reverse the position?”</p> + +<p>Witham’s gaze was steady, and free from embarrassment. +“I am,” he said, “waiting for your offer.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Courthorne dryly, “here it is. We +are running a big load through to the northern settlements +and the reserves to-morrow, and while there’s +a good deal of profit attached to the venture, I have +a notion that Sergeant Stimson has had word of it. +Now, the Sergeant knows just how I stand with the +rustlers, though he can fasten no charge on me, and +he will have several of his troopers looking out for me. +Well, I want one of them to see and follow me south +along the Montana trail. There’s no horse in the +Government service can keep pace with that black +of mine, but it would not be difficult to pull him and +just keep the trooper out of carbine shot behind. +When he finds he can’t overtake the black he’ll go +off for his comrades, and the boys will run our goods +across the river while they’re picking up the trail.”</p> + +<p>“You mentioned the horse, but not yourself,” +said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “Yes,” he said; “I will +not be there. I’m offering you one hundred dollars +to ride the black for me. You can put my furs on, +and anybody who saw you and knew the horse would +certify it was me.”</p> + +<p>“And where will you be?”</p> + +<p>“Here,” said Courthorne dryly. “The boys will +have no use for me until they want a guide, but they’ll +leave an unloaded packhorse handy, and, as it wouldn’t +suit any of us to make my connexion with them too +plain, it will be a night or two later when I join them. +In the meanwhile your part’s quite easy. No trooper +could ride you down unless you wanted him to, and +you’ll ride straight on to Montana—I’ve a route +marked out for you. You’ll stop at the places I tell +you, and the testimony of anybody who saw you on +the black would be quite enough to clear me if Stimson’s +men are too clever for the boys.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat still a moment, and it was not avarice +which prompted him when he said, “Considering the +risk, one hundred dollars is very little.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Courthorne. “Still, it isn’t +worth any more to me, and there will be your expenses. +If it doesn’t suit you, I will do the thing myself +and find the boys another guide.”</p> + +<p>He spoke indifferently, but Witham was not a fool, +and knew that he was lying.</p> + +<p>“Turn your face to the light,” he said sharply.</p> + +<p>A little ominous glint became visible in Courthorne’s +eyes, and there was just a trace of darker colour in his +forehead, but Witham saw it and was not astonished. +Still Courthorne did not move.</p> + +<p>“What made you ask me that?” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham watched him closely, but his voice betrayed +no special interest as he said, “I fancied I saw a mark +across your cheek. It seemed to me that it had been +made by a whip.”</p> + +<p>The deeper tint was more visible on Courthorne’s +forehead, where the swollen veins showed a trifle, and +he appeared to swallow something before he spoke. +“Aren’t you asking too many questions? What has +a mark on my face to do with you?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing,” said Witham quietly. “Will you go +through the conditions again?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne nodded. “I pay you one hundred +dollars—now,” he said. “You ride south to-morrow +along the Montana trail and take the risk of the +troopers overtaking you. You will remain away a +fortnight at my expense, and pass in the meanwhile +for me. Then you will return at night as rancher +Witham, and keep the whole thing a secret from +everybody.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat silent and very still again for more than +a minute. He surmised that the man who made the +offer had not told him all and there was more behind, +but that was, after all, of no great importance. He +was prepared to do a good deal for one hundred +dollars, and his bare life of effort and self-denial +had grown almost unendurable. He had now +nothing to lose, and while some impulse urged him +to the venture, he felt that it was possible fate had in +store for him something better than he had known +in the past. In the meanwhile the cigar he held +went out, and the striking of a match as Courthorne +lighted another roused him suddenly from the retrospect +he was sinking into. The bitter wind still +moaned about the ranch, emphasizing its loneliness, +and the cedar shingles rattled dolefully overhead, +while it chanced that as Witham glanced towards the +roof his eyes rested on the suspended piece of rancid +pork which with a little flour and a few potatoes had +during the last few months provided him with a +sustenance. It was of course a trifle, but it tipped +the beam, as trifles often do, and the man who was +tired of all it symbolized straightened himself with +a little mirthless laugh.</p> + +<p>“On your word of honour there is nothing beyond +the risk of a few days’ detention which can affect +me?” he said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Courthorne solemnly, knowing that +he lied. “On my honour. The troopers could only +question you. Is it a deal?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham simply, stretching out his +hand for the roll of bills the other flung down on the +table, and, while one of the contracting parties knew +that the other would regret it bitterly, the bargain +was made.</p> + +<p>Then Courthorne laughed in his usual indolent +fashion as he said, “Well, it’s all decided, and I don’t +even ask your word. To-morrow will see the husk +sloughed off and for a fortnight you’ll be Lance Courthorne. +I hope you feel equal to playing the rôle with +credit, because I wouldn’t entrust my good fame to +everybody.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled dryly. “I fancy I shall,” he said, +and long afterwards recalled the words. “You see, +I had ambitions in my callow days, and it’s not +my fault that hitherto I’ve never had a part to play.”</p> + +<p>Rancher Witham was, however, wrong in this. +He had played the part of an honest man with a +courage which had brought him to ruin, but there +was now to be a difference.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink03'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER III—TROOPER SHANNON’S QUARREL</a></h2> + +<p>There was bitter frost in the darkness outside when +two young men stood talking in the stables of a little +outpost lying a long ride back from the settlement +in the lonely prairie. One leaned against a manger +with a pipe in his hand, while the spotless, softly-gleaming +harness hung up behind him showed what +his occupation had been. The other stood bolt +upright with lips set, and a faint greyness which +betokened strong emotion showing through his tan. +The lantern above them flickered in the icy draughts, +and from out of the shadows beyond its light came +the stamping of restless horses and the smell of prairie +hay, which is pungent with the odours of wild peppermint.</p> + +<p>The two lads, and they were very little more, were +friends, in spite of the difference in their upbringing, +for there are few distinctions between caste and caste +in that country where manhood is still esteemed the +greatest thing, and the primitive virtues count for +more than wealth or intellect. Courage and endurance +still command respect in the new North-West, and +that both the lads possessed them was made evident +by the fact that they were troopers of the North-West +police, a force of splendid cavalry whose duty it is to +patrol the wilderness at all seasons and in all weathers, +under scorching sun and in blinding snow.</p> + +<p>The men who keep the peace of the prairie are +taught what heat and thirst are, when they ride in +couples through a desolate waste wherein there is +only bitter water, parched by pitiless sunrays and +whitened by the intolerable dust of alkali. They +also discover just how much cold the human frame +can endure, when they lie down with only the stars +above them, long leagues from the nearest outpost, +in a trench, scooped in the snow, and they know +how near one may come to suffocation and yet live +through the grassfire’s blinding smoke. It happens +now and then that two who have answered to the last +roster in the icy darkness do not awaken when the +lingering dawn breaks across the great white waste, and +only the coyote knows their resting-place, but the +watch and ward is kept, and the lonely settler dwells +as safe in the wilderness as he would in an English +town.</p> + +<p>Trooper Shannon was an Irishman from the bush +of Ontario, Trooper Payne, English, and a scion +of a somewhat distinguished family in the old +country, but while he told nobody why he left it +suddenly, nobody thought of asking him. He was +known to be a bold rider and careful of his beast, +and that was sufficient for his comrades and the keen-eyed +Sergeant Stimson. He glanced at his companion +thoughtfully as he said, “She was a pretty girl. +You knew her in Ontario?”</p> + +<p>Shannon’s hands trembled a little. “Sure,” he +said, “Larry’s place was just a mile beyont our +clearing, an’ there was never a bonnier thing than +Ailly Blake came out from the old country—but is it +need there is for talking when ye’ve seen her? There +was once I watched her smile at ye with the black +eyes that would have melted the heart out of any +man. Waking and sleeping they’re with me still.”</p> + +<p>Three generations of the Shannons had hewn the +lonely clearing further into the bush of Ontario and +married the daughters of the soil, but the Celtic strain, +it was evident, had not run out yet. Payne, however, +came of English stock, and expressed himself differently.</p> + +<p>“It was a—shame,” he said. “Of course he +flung her over. I think you saw him, Pat?”</p> + +<p>Shannon’s face grew greyer, and he quivered +visibly as his passion shook him, while Payne felt his +own blood pulse faster as he remembered the graceful +dark-eyed girl who had given him and his comrade +many a welcome meal when their duty took them near +her brother’s homestead. That was, however, before +one black day for Ailly and Larry Blake when Lance +Courthorne also rode that way.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the lad from Ontario, “I was driving +in for the stores when I met him in the willow bluff, +an’ Courthorne pulls his divil of a black horse up +with a little ugly smile on the lips of him when I +swung the wagon right across the trail.</p> + +<p>“‘That’s not civil, trooper,’ says he.</p> + +<p>“‘I’m wanting a word,’ says I, with the black +hate choking me at the sight of him. ‘What have ye +done with Ailly?’</p> + +<p>“‘Is it anything to you?’ says he.</p> + +<p>“‘It’s everything,’ says I. ‘And if ye will not +tell me I’ll tear it out of ye.’</p> + +<p>“Courthorne laughs a little, but I saw the divil in +his eyes. ‘I don’t think you’re quite man enough,’ +says he, sitting very quiet on the big black horse. +‘Anyway, I can’t tell you where she is just now, +because she left the dancing saloon she was in down in +Montana when I last saw her.’</p> + +<p>“I had the big whip that day, and I forgot everything +as I heard the hiss of it round my shoulder. +It came home across the ugly face of him, and then I +flung it down and grabbed the carbine as he swung the +black round with one hand fumbling in his jacket. +It came out empty, an’ we sat there a moment, the +two of us, Courthorne white as death, his eyes like +burning coals, and the fingers of me trembling on the +carbine. Sorrow on the man that he hadn’t a pistol, +or I’d have sent the black soul of him to the divil +it came from.”</p> + +<p>The lad panted, and Payne, who had guessed at +his hopeless devotion to the girl who had listened to +Courthorne, made a gesture of disapproval that was +tempered by sympathy. It was for her sake, he +fancied, Shannon had left the Ontario clearing and +followed Larry Blake to the West.</p> + +<p>“I’m glad he hadn’t, Pat,” said Payne. “What +was the end of it?”</p> + +<p>“I remembered,” said the other with a groan, +“remembered I was Trooper Shannon, an’ dropped +the carbine into the wagon. Courthorne wheels +the black horse round, an’ I saw the red line across +the face of him.</p> + +<p>“‘You’ll be sorry for this, my lad,’ says he.”</p> + +<p>“He’s a dangerous man,” Payne said thoughtfully. +“Pat, you came near being a——ass that day. +Anyway, it’s time we went in, and as Larry’s +here I shouldn’t wonder if we saw Courthorne again +before the morning.”</p> + +<p>The icy cold went through them to the bone as +they left the stables, and it was a relief to enter the +loghouse, which was heated to fustiness by the +glowing stove. A lamp hung from a rough birch +beam, and its uncertain radiance showed motionless +figures wrapped in blankets in the bunks round the +walls. Two men were, however, dressing, and one +already in uniform sat at a table talking to another +swathed in furs, who was from his appearance a +prairie farmer. The man at the table was lean and +weather-bronzed, with grizzled hair and observant +eyes. They were fixed steadily upon the farmer, +who knew that very little which happened upon +the prairie escaped the vigilance of Sergeant Stimson.</p> + +<p>“It’s straight talk you’re giving me, Larry? +What do you figure on making by it?” he said.</p> + +<p>The farmer laughed mirthlessly. “Not much, +anyway, beyond the chance of getting a bullet +in me back or me best steer lifted one dark night. +’Tis not forgiving the rustlers are, and Courthorne’s +the divil,” he said. “But listen now, Sergeant; +I’ve told ye where he is, and if ye’re not fit to corral +him I’ll ride him down meself.”</p> + +<p>Sergeant Stimson wrinkled his forehead. “If +anybody knows what they’re after, it should be you,” +he said, watching the man out of the corner of his +eyes. “Still, I’m a little worried as to why, when +you’ll get nothing for it, you’re anxious to serve the +State.”</p> + +<p>The farmer clenched a big hand. “Sergeant, +you that knows everything, will ye drive me mad, +an’ to —— with the State!” he said. “Sure, it’s +gospel I’m telling ye, an’ as you’re knowing well, +it’s me could tell where the boys who ride at midnight +drop many a keg. Well, if ye will have your +reason, it was Courthorne who put the black shame +on me an’ mine.”</p> + +<p>Sergeant Stimson nodded, for he had already +suspected this.</p> + +<p>“Then,” he said dryly, “we’ll give you a chance +of helping us to put the handcuffs on him. Now, +because they wouldn’t risk the bridge, and the +ice is not thick yet everywhere, there are just two +ways they could bring the stuff across, and I figure +we’d be near the thing if we fixed on Graham’s Pool. +Still, Courthorne’s no kind of fool, and just because +that crossing seems the likeliest he might try the +other one. You’re ready for duty, Trooper Payne?”</p> + +<p>The lad stood straight. “I can turn out in ten +minutes, sir,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Then,” and Sergeant Stimson raised his voice a +trifle, “you will ride at once to the rise a league +outside the settlement, and watch the Montana +trail. Courthorne will probably be coming over +from Witham’s soon after you get there, riding the +big black, and you’ll keep out of sight and follow +him. If he heads for Carson’s Crossing ride for +Graham’s at a gallop, where you’ll find me with +the rest. If he makes for the bridge, you will overtake +him if you can and find out what he’s after. +It’s quite likely he’ll tell you nothing, and you will +not arrest him, but bearing in mind that every +minute he spends there will be a loss to the rustlers +you’ll keep him so long as you can. Trooper Shannon, +you’ll ride at once to the bluff above Graham’s +Pool, and watch the trail. Stop any man who +rides that way, and if it’s Courthorne keep him +until the rest of the boys come up with me. You’ve +got your duty quite straight, both of you?”</p> + +<p>The lads saluted, and went out, while the Sergeant +smiled a little as he glanced at the farmer, and the +men who were dressing.</p> + +<p>“It’s steep chances we’ll have Mr. Courthorne’s +company to-morrow, boys,” he said. “Fill up +the kettle, Tom, and serve out a pint of coffee. +There are reasons why we shouldn’t turn out too soon. +We’ll saddle in an hour or so.”</p> + +<p>Two of the men went out, and the stinging blast +that swept in through the open door smote a smoky +smear across the blinking lamp and roused a sharper +crackling from the stove. Then one returned with +the kettle and there was silence, when the fusty +heat resumed its sway. Now and then a tired trooper +murmured in his sleep, or there was a snapping in +the stove, while the icy wind moaned about the +building and the kettle commenced a soft sibilation, +but nobody moved or spoke. Three shadowy +figures in uniform sat just outside the light soaking +in the grateful warmth while they could, for they +knew that they might spend the next night unsheltered +from the Arctic cold of the wilderness. The Sergeant +sat with thoughtful eyes and wrinkled forehead +where the flickering radiance forced up his lean +face and silhouetted his spare outline on the rough +boarding behind him, and close by the farmer +sucked silently at his pipe, waiting, with a stony +calm that sprang from fierce impatience, the reckoning +with the man who had brought back shame +upon him.</p> + +<p>It was about this time when Witham stood +shivering a little with the bridle of a big black horse +in his hand just outside the door of his homestead. +A valise and two thick blankets were strapped to +the saddle, and he had donned the fur cap and coat +Courthorne usually wore. Courthorne himself stood +close by, smiling at him sardonically.</p> + +<p>“If you keep the cap down and ride with your +stirrups long, as I’ve fixed them, anybody would +take you for me,” said he. “Go straight through +the settlement, and let any man you come across +see you. His testimony would come in useful if +Stimson tries to fix a charge on me. You know +your part of the bargain. You’re to be Lance +Courthorne for a fortnight from to-day.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham dryly. “I wish I was +equally sure of yours.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “I’m to be Rancher Witham +until to-morrow night, anyway. Don’t worry about +me. I’ll borrow those books of yours and improve +my mind. Possible starvation is the only thing +that threatens me, and it’s unfortunate you’ve +left nothing fit to eat behind you.”</p> + +<p>Witham swung himself into the saddle, a trifle +awkwardly, for Courthorne rode with longer stirrup +leathers than he was accustomed to, then he raised +one hand, and the other man laughed a little as he +watched him sink into the darkness of the shadowy +prairie. When the drumming of hoofs was lost +in the moaning of the wind he strode towards the +stable, and taking up the lantern surveyed Witham’s +horse thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“The thing cuts with both edges, and the farmer +only sees one of them,” he said. “That beast’s +about as difficult to mistake as my black is.”</p> + +<p>Then he returned to the loghouse, and presently +put on Witham’s old fur coat and tattered fur cap. +Had Witham seen his unpleasant smile as he did it, +he would probably have wheeled the black horse +and returned at a gallop, but the farmer was sweeping +across the waste of whitened grass at least a league +away by this time. Now and then a half-moon +blinked down between wisps of smoky cloud, but +for the most part grey dimness hung over the prairie, +and the drumming of hoofs rang stridently through +the silence. Witham knew a good horse, and had +bred several of them—before a blizzard which swept +the prairie killed off his finest yearlings as well as +their pedigree sire—and his spirits rose as the splendid +beast swung into faster stride beneath him.</p> + +<p>For two weeks at least he would be free from +anxiety, and the monotony of his life at the +lonely homestead had grown horribly irksome. +Witham was young, and, now when for a brief space +he had left his cares behind, the old love of adventure +which had driven him out from England once more +awakened and set his blood stirring. For the first +time in six years of struggle he did not know what +lay before him, and he had a curious, half-instinctive +feeling that the trail he was travelling would lead +him farther than Montana. It was borne in upon +him that he had left the old hopeless life behind, +and, stirred by some impulse, he broke into a little +song he had sung in England, long and forgotten. +He had a clear voice, and the words, which were +filled with the hope of youth, rang bravely through +the stillness of the frozen wilderness until the horse +blundered, and Witham stopped with a little smile.</p> + +<p>“It’s four long years since I felt as I do to-night,” +he said.</p> + +<p>Then he drew bridle and checked the horse as +the lights of the settlement commenced to blink +ahead, for the trail was rutted deep and frozen into +the likeness of adamant, but when the first frame +houses flung tracks of yellow radiance across the +whitened grass he dropped his left arm a trifle and +rode in at a canter as he had seen Courthorne do. +Witham did not like Courthorne, but he meant to +keep his bargain.</p> + +<p>As he passed the hotel more slowly a man who +came out called to him. “Hello, Lance! Taking +the trail?” he said. “Well, it kind of strikes me +it’s time you did. One of Stimson’s boys was down +here, and he seemed quite anxious about you.”</p> + +<p>Witham knew the man, and was about to urge the +horse forward, but in place of it drew bridle, and +laughed with a feeling that was wholly new to him +as he remembered that his neighbours now and +then bantered him about his English and that Courthorne +only used the Western colloquialism when it +suited him.</p> + +<p>“Sergeant Stimson is an enterprising officer, +but there are as keen men as he is,” he said. “You +will, in case he questions you, remember when you +met me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” said the other. “Still, I wouldn’t +fool too much with him—and where did you get +those mittens from? That’s the kind of outfit that +would suit Witham.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded, for though he had turned his +face from the light the hand he held the bridle with +was visible, and his big fur gloves were very old.</p> + +<p>“They are his. The fact is, I’ve just come from his +place,” he said. “Well, you can tell Stimson +you saw me starting out on the Montana trail.”</p> + +<p>He shook the bridle, laughed softly as the frame +houses flitted by, and then grew intent when the +darkness of the prairie once more closed down. +It was, he knew probable that some of Stimson’s, +men would be looking out for him, and he had not +sufficient faith in Courthorne’s assurances to court +an encounter with them.</p> + +<p>The lights had faded, and the harsh grass was, +crackling under the drumming hoofs when the +blurred outline of a mounted man showed up on the +crest of a rise, and a shout came down.</p> + +<p>“Hallo! Pull up there a moment, stranger.”</p> + +<p>There was nothing alarming in the greeting, but +Witham recognized the ring of command, as well as +the faint jingle of steel which had preceded it, and +pressed his heels home. The black swung forward +faster, and Witham glancing over his shoulder, saw, +the dusky shape was now moving down the incline, +Then the voice rose again more commandingly.</p> + +<p>“Pull up; I want a talk with you.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned his head a moment, and remembering +Courthorne’s English, flung back the answer, +“Sorry, I haven’t time.”</p> + +<p>The faint musical jingle grew plainer, there was a +thud of hoofs behind, and the curious, exhilaration +returned to Witham as the big black horse stretched +out at a gallop. The soil was hard as granite, but +the matted grasses formed a covering that rendered +fast riding possible to a man who took the risks +and Witham knew there were few horses in the +Government service to match the one he rode. +Still, it was evident that the trooper meant to overtake +him, and recollecting his compact he tightened +his grip on the bridle. It was a long way to the ranch +where he was to spend the night, and he knew that +the further he drew the trooper on the better it +would suit Courthorne.</p> + +<p>So they swept on through the darkness over the +empty waste, the trooper who was riding hard +slowly creeping up behind. Still, Witham held the +horse in until a glance over his shoulder showed +him that there was less than a hundred yards between +them, and he fancied he heard a portentous rattle +as well as the thud of hoofs. It was not unlike +that made by a carbine flung across the saddle. +This suggested unpleasant possibilities, and he +slackened his grip on the bridle. Then a breathless +shout rang out, “Pull up or I’ll fire.”</p> + +<p>Witham wondered if the threat was genuine or +what is termed “bluff” in that country, but as he had +decided objections to being shot in the back to +please Courthorne, sent his heels home. The horse +shot forward beneath him, and though no carbine +flashed, the next backward glance showed him that +the distance between him and the pursuer was drawing +out, while when he stared ahead again the dark +shape of willows or birches cut the skyline. As they +came back to him the drumming of hoofs swelled +into a staccato roar, while presently the trail grew +steep, and dark boughs swayed above him. In +another few minutes something smooth and level +flung back a blink of light, and the timbers of a +wooden bridge rattled under his passage. Then +he was racing upwards through the gloom of wind-dwarfed +birches on the opposite side, listening for the +rattle behind him on the bridge, and after a struggle +with the horse pulled him up smoking when he did +not hear it.</p> + +<p>There was a beat of hoofs across the river, but +it was slower than when he had last heard it and +grew momentarily less audible, and Witham laughed +as he watched the steam of the horse and his own +breath rise in a thin white cloud.</p> + +<p>“The trooper has given it up, and now for Montana,” +he said.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink04'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER IV—IN THE BLUFF</a></h2> + +<p>It was very dark amidst the birches where Trooper +Shannon sat motionless in his saddle, gazing down +into the denser blackness of the river hollow. The +stream ran deep below the level of the prairie, as +the rivers of that country usually do, and the trees, +which there alone found shelter from the winds, +straggled, gnarled and stunted, up either side +of the steep declivity. Close behind the trooper a +sinuous trail seamed by ruts and the print of hoofs +stretched away across the empty prairie. It forked on +the outskirts of the bluff, and one arm dipped steeply +to the river where, because the stream ran slow just +there and the bottom was firm, a horseman might +cross when the water was low, and heavy sledges +make the passage on the ice in winter time. The +other arm twisted in and out among the birches +towards the bridge, but that detour increased the +distance to any one travelling north or south by +two leagues or so.</p> + +<p>The ice, however was not very thick as yet, and +Shannon, who had heard it ring hollowly under him, +surmised that while it might be possible to lead +a laden horse across, there would be some risk +attached to the operation. For that very reason, +and although his opinion had not been asked, he +agreed with Sergeant Stimson that the +whisky-runners would attempt the passage. They were +men who took the risks as they came, and that +route would considerably shorten the journey it +was especially desirable for them to make at night, +while it would, Shannon fancied, appear probable +to them that if the police had word of their intentions +they would watch the bridge. Between it +and the frozen ford the stream ran faster, and the +trooper decided that no mounted man could cross the +thinner ice.</p> + +<p>It was very cold as well as dark, for although the +snow, which usually precedes the frost in that country, +had not come as yet, it was evidently not far away, +and the trooper shivered in the blasts from the pole +which cut through fur and leather with the keenness +of steel. The temperature had fallen steadily +since morning, and now there was a presage of a +blizzard in the moaning wind and murky sky. If +it broke and scattered its blinking whiteness upon the +roaring blast there would be but little hope for any man +or beast caught shelterless in the empty wilderness, +for it is beyond the power of anything made of flesh +and blood to withstand that cold.</p> + +<p>Already a fine haze of snow swirled between the +birch twigs every now and then, and stung the few +patches of the trooper’s unprotected skin as though +they had been pricked with red-hot needles. It, +however, seldom lasted more than a minute, and when +it whirled away, a half-moon shone down for a +moment between smoky clouds. The uncertain +radiance showed the thrashing birches rising from +the hollow, row on row, struck a faint sparkle from +the ice beneath them, and then went out, leaving the +gloom intensified. It was evident to Shannon that +his eyes would not be much use to him that night, +for which reason he kept his ears uncovered at the +risk of losing them, but though he had been born in +the bush and all the sounds of the wilderness had +for him a meaning, hearing did not promise to be of +much assistance. The dim trees roared about him +with a great thrashing of twigs, and when the wilder +gusts had passed there was an eery moaning, through +which came the murmur of leagues of tormented +grasses. The wind was rising rapidly, and it would, +he fancied, drown the beat of approaching hoofs as +well as any cry from his comrades.</p> + +<p>Four of them were hidden amidst the birches +where the trail wound steeply upwards through the +bluff across the river, two on the nearer side not +far below, and Trooper Shannon’s watch would +serve two purposes. He was to let the rustlers pass +him it they rode for the ford, and then help to cut off +the retreat of any who escaped the sergeant, while if +they found the ice too thin for loaded beasts or rode +towards the bridge, a flash from his carbine would +bring his comrades across in time to join the others +who were watching that trail. It had, as usual +with Stimson’s schemes, all been carefully thought +out and the plan was eminently workable, but +unfortunately for the grizzled sergeant a better +brain than his had foreseen the combination.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the lad felt his limbs grow stiff +and almost useless, and a lethargic numbness blunt +the keenness of his faculties as the heat went out of +him. He had more than usual endurance, and +utter cold, thirst, and the hunger that most ably +helps the frost, are not infrequently the portion of +the wardens of the prairie; but there is a limit to +what man can bear, and the troopers who watched +by the frozen river that night had almost reached it. +Shannon could not feel the stirrups with his feet. +One of his ears was tingling horribly as the blood +that had almost left it resumed its efforts to penetrate +the congealing flesh, while the mittened hands +he beat upon his breast fell solidly on his wrappings +without separate motion of the fingers. Once or +twice the horse stamped fretfully, but a touch of +hand and heel quieted him, for though the frozen +flesh may shrink, unwavering obedience is demanded +equally from man and beast enrolled in the service +of the North-West police.</p> + +<p>“Stiddy now,” said the lad, partly to discover if +he still retained the power of speech. “Sure ye +know the order that was given me, and if it’s a +funeral that comes of it the Government will bury +ye.”</p> + +<p>He sighed as he beat his hands upon his breast +again, and when a flicker of moonlight smote a +passing track of brightness athwart the tossing +birches his young face was very grim. Like many +another trooper of the North-West police, Shannon +had his story, and he remembered the one trace of +romance that had brightened his hard, bare life that +night as he waited for the man who had dissipated +it.</p> + +<p>When Larry Blake moved West from Ontario, +Shannon, drawn by his sister’s dark eyes, followed +him, and took up a Government grant of prairie +sod. His dollars were few, but he had a stout heart +and two working oxen, and nothing seemed impossible +while Ailly Blake smiled on him, and she smiled +tolerably frequently, for Shannon was a well-favoured +lad. He had worked harder than most grown men +could do, won one good harvest, and had a few dollars +in the bank when Courthorne rode up to Blake’s +homestead on his big black horse. After that, all +Shannon’s hopes and ambitions came down with +a crash; and the day he found Blake grey in +face with shame and rage he offered Sergeant +Stimson his services. Now he was filled with +an unholy content that he had done so, for he +came of a race that does not forget an injury, +and had sufficient cause for a jealous pride in the +virtue of its women. He and Larry might have forgiven +a pistol shot, but they could not forget the +shame.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he stiffened to attention, for though a man +of the cities would probably have heard nothing but +the wailing of the wind, he caught a faint rhythmic +drumming which might have been made by a galloping +horse. It ceased, and he surmised, probably correctly, +that it was Trooper Payne returning. It was, however, +his business to watch the forking of the trail, +and when he could only hear the thrashing of the +birches, he moved his mittened hand from the +bridle, and patted the restive horse. Just then +the bluff was filled with sound as a blast that drove +a haze of snow before it roared down. It was followed +by a sudden stillness that was almost bewildering, +and when a blink of moonlight came streaming down, +Trooper Shannon grabbed at his carbine, for a man +stood close beside him in the trail. The lad, who +had neither seen nor heard him come, looked down +on the glinting barrel of a Marlin rifle and saw a +set white face behind it.</p> + +<p>“Hands up!” said a hoarse voice. “Throw +that thing down,”</p> + +<p>Trooper Shannon recognized it, and all the fierce +hate he was capable of flamed up. It shook him +with a gust of passion, and it was not fear that +caused his stiffened fingers to slip upon the carbine. +It fell with a rattle, and while he sat still, almost +breathless and livid in face, the man laughed a little.</p> + +<p>“That’s better; get down,” he said.</p> + +<p>Trooper Shannon swung himself from the saddle, +and alighted heavily as a flung-off sack would have +done, for his limbs refused to bend. Still it was not +from lack of courage that he obeyed, and during one +moment he had clutched the bridle with the purpose +of riding over his enemy. He had, however, +been taught to think for himself swiftly and shrewdly +from his boyhood up, and realized instinctively +that if he escaped scathless the ringing of the rifle +would warn the rustlers who, he surmised, were +close behind. He was also a police trooper broken +to the iron bond of discipline, and if a bullet from the +Marlin was to end his career, he determined it should, +if possible, also terminate his enemy’s liberty. The +gust of rage had gone, and left him with the cold +vindictive cunning the Celt who has a grievous +injury to remember is also capable of, and there was +contempt in his voice as he turned to Courthorne +quietly.</p> + +<p>“Sure it’s your turn now,” he said. “The +last time I put my mark on the divil’s face of ye.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed wickedly. “It was a bad +day’s work for you; I haven’t forgotten yet,” +he said. “I’m only sorry you’re not a trifle older, +but it will teach Sergeant Stimson the folly of sending +a lad to deal with me. Well, walk straight into the +bush, and remember that the muzzle of the rifle is +scarcely three feet behind you!”</p> + +<p>Trooper Shannon did so with black rage in his +heart, and his empty hands at his sides. He was a +police trooper and a bushman born, and knew that +the rustlers’ laden horses would find some difficulty +in remounting the steep trail and could not escape +to left or right once they were entangled amidst +the trees. Then it would be time to give +the alarm, and go down with a bullet in his body, +or by some contrivance evade the deadly rifle and +come to grips with his enemy. He also knew Lance +Courthorne, and, remembering how the lash had +seamed his face, expected no pity. One of them +it was tolerably certain would have set out on the +long trail before the morning, but they breed grim +men in the bush of Ontario, and no other kind ride +very long with the wardens of the prairie.</p> + +<p>“Stop where you are,” said Courthorne presently. +“Now then, turn round. Move a finger or open your +lips, and I’ll have great pleasure in shooting you. +In the meanwhile you can endeavour to make favour +with whatever saint is honoured by the charge of +you.”</p> + +<p>Shannon smiled in a fashion that resembled a +snarl as once more a blink of moonlight shone down +upon them, and in place of showing apprehension, +his young white face, from which the bronze had +faded, was venomous.</p> + +<p>“And my folks were Orange, but what does that +matter now?” said he. “There’ll be one of us +in——to-morrow, but for the shame ye put on Larry +ye’ll carry my mark there with ye.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne looked at him with a little glow in +his eyes. “You haven’t felt mine yet,” he said. +“You will probably talk differently when you do.”</p> + +<p>It may have been youthful bravado, but Trooper +Shannon laughed. “In the meanwhile,” he said, +“I’m wondering why you’re wearing an honest +man’s coat and cap. Faith, if he saw them on ye, +Witham would burn them.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne returned no answer and the moonlight +went out, but they stood scarcely three feet apart, +and one of them knew that any move he made would +be followed by the pressure of the other’s finger +on the trigger. He, however, did not move at all, +and while the birches roared about them they stood +silently face to face, the man of birth and pedigree +with a past behind him and blood already upon his +head, and the raw lad from the bush, his equal +before the tribunal that would presently judge their +quarrel.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Trooper Shannon heard a drumming +of hoofs that grew steadily louder before +Courthorne apparently noticed the sound, and his +trained ears told him that the rustlers’ horses were +coming down the trail. Now they had passed the +forking, and when the branches ceased roaring again +he knew they had floundered down the first of the +declivity, and it would be well to wait a little until +they had straggled out where the trail was narrow +and deeply rutted. No one could turn them hastily +there, and the men who drove them could scarcely +escape the troopers who waited them, if they blundered +on through the darkness of the bush. So five +breathless minutes passed, Trooper Shannon standing +tense and straight with every nerve tingling as he +braced himself for an effort, Courthorne stooping a little +with forefinger on the trigger, and the Marlin rifle at +his hip. Then through a lull there rose a clearer thud +of hoofs. It was lost in the thrashing of the twigs +as a gust roared down again, and Trooper Shannon +launched himself like a panther upon his enemy.</p> + +<p>He might have succeeded, and the effort was +gallantly made, but Courthorne had never moved +his eyes from the shadowy object before him, and +even as it sprang, his finger contracted further on +the trigger. There was a red flash and because he +fired from the hip the trigger guard gashed his mitten. +He sprang sideways, scarcely feeling the bite of the +steel, for the lad’s hand brushed his shoulder. Then +there was a crash as something went down heavily +amidst the crackling twigs. Courthorne stooped a +little, panting in the smoke that blew into his eyes, +jerked the Marlin lever, and, as the moon came through +again, had a blurred vision of a white, drawn face that +stared up at him still with defiance in its eyes. He +looked down into it as he drew the trigger once more.</p> + +<p>Shannon quivered a moment, and then lay very +still, and it was high time for Courthorne to look to +himself, for there was a shouting in the bluff, and +something came crashing through the undergrowth. +Even then his cunning did not desert him, and +flinging the Marlin down beside the trooper, he +slipped almost silently in and out among the birches +and swung himself into the saddle of a tethered +horse. Unlooping the bridle from a branch, he +pressed his heels home, realizing as he did it that there +was no time to lose, for it was evident that one of +the troopers was somewhat close behind him, and +others were coming across the river. He knew +the bluff well, and having no desire to be entangled +in it was heading for the prairie, when a blink of +moonlight showed him a lad in uniform riding at a +gallop between him and the crest of the slope. It +was Trooper Payne, and Courthorne knew him for +a very bold horseman.</p> + +<p>Now, it is possible that had one of the rustlers, who +were simple men with primitive virtues as well as +primitive passions, been similarly placed, he would +have joined his comrades and taken his chance +with them, but Courthorne kept faith with nobody +unless it suited him, and was equally dangerous to +his friends and enemies. Trooper Shannon had also +been silenced for ever, and if he could cross the frontier +unrecognized, nobody would believe the story of +the man he would leave to bear the brunt in place of +him. Accordingly he headed at a gallop down the +winding trail, while sharp orders and a drumming +of hoofs grew louder behind him, and hoarse cries +rose in front. Trooper Payne was, it seemed, at +least keeping pace with him, and he glanced over +his shoulder as he saw something dark and shadowy +across the trail. It was apparently a horse from +which two men were struggling to loose its +burden.</p> + +<p>Courthorne guessed that the trail was blocked in +front of it by other loaded beasts, and he could not +get past in time, for the half-seen trooper was closing +with him fast, and another still rode between him +and the edge of the bluff cutting off his road to the +prairie. It was evident he could not go on, while +the crackle of twigs, roar of hoofs, and jingle of +steel behind him, made it plain that to turn was to +ride back upon the carbines of men who would be +quite willing to use them. There alone remained +the river. It ran fast below him, and the ice was +thin, and for just a moment he tightened his grip on +the bridle.</p> + +<p>“We’ve got you!” a hoarse voice reached him. +“You’re taking steep chances if you go on.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne swung off from the trail. There was +a flash above him, something whirred through the +twigs above his head, and the horse plunged as he +drove his heels in.</p> + +<p>“One of them gone for the river,” another shout +rang out, and Courthorne was crashing through the +undergrowth straight down the declivity, while thin +snow whirled about him, and now and then he +caught the faint glimmer flung back by the ice +beneath.</p> + +<p>Swaying boughs lashed him, his fur cap was +whipped away, and he felt that his face was bleeding, +but there was another crackle close behind him, +for Trooper Payne was riding as daringly, and he +carried a carbine. Had he desired it Courthorne +could not turn. The bronco he bestrode was madly +excited and less than half broken, and it is probable +no man could have pulled him up just then. It +may also have been borne in upon Courthorne, that +he owed a little to those he had left behind him in the +old country, and he had not lost his pride. There +was, it seemed, no escape, but he had at least a choice +of endings, and with a little breathless laugh he rode +straight for the river.</p> + +<p>It was with difficulty Trooper Payne pulled his +horse up on the steep bank a minute later. A white +haze was now sliding down the hollow between the +two dark walls of trees, and something seemed to +move in the midst of it while the ice rang about it. +Then, as the trooper pitched up his carbine, there +was a crash that was followed by a horrible floundering +and silence again. Payne sat still, shivering a +little in his saddle until the snow that whirled about +him blotted out all the birches, and a roaring blast +came down.</p> + +<p>He knew there was now nothing that he could do. +The current had evidently sucked the fugitive under, +and, dismounting, he groped his way up the slope, +leading the horse by the bridle, and only swung +himself into the saddle when he found the trail +again. A carbine flashed in front of him, two dim +figures went by at a gallop, and a third one flung an +order over his shoulder as he passed.</p> + +<p>“Go back. The Sergeant’s hurt and Shannon +has got a bullet in him.”</p> + +<p>Trooper Payne had surmised as much already, and +went back as fast as he could ride, while the beat of +hoofs grew fainter down the trail. Ten minutes +later he drew bridle close by a man who held a lantern, +and saw Sergeant Stimson sitting very grim in face on +the ground. It transpired later that his horse had +fallen and thrown him, and it was several weeks +before he rode again.</p> + +<p>“You lost your man?” he said. “Get down.”</p> + +<p>Payne dismounted. “Yes, sir, I fancy he is +dead,” he said. “He tried the river, and the ice +wouldn’t carry him. I saw him ride away from here +just after the first shot, and fancied he fired at +Shannon. Have you seen him, sir?”</p> + +<p>The other trooper moved his lantern, and Payne +gasped as he saw a third man stooping, with the +white face of his comrade close by his feet. Shannon +appeared to recognize him, for his eyes moved a +little and the grey lips fell apart. Then Payne turned +his head aside while the other trooper nodded compassionately +in answer to his questioning glance.</p> + +<p>“I’ve sent one of the boys to Graham’s for a +wagon,” said the Sergeant. “You saw the man +who fired at him?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said Trooper Payne.</p> + +<p>“You knew him?” and there was a ring in the +Sergeant’s voice.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said the trooper. “At least he was +riding Witham’s horse, and had on the old, long +coat of his.”</p> + +<p>Sergeant Stimson nodded, and pointed to the +weapon lying with blackened muzzle at his feet. +“And I think you could recognize that rifle? There’s +F. Witham cut on the stock of it.”</p> + +<p>Payne said nothing, for the trooper signed to him.</p> + +<p>“I fancy Shannon wants to talk to you,” he said.</p> + +<p>The lad knelt down, slipped one arm about his +comrade’s neck, and took the mittened hand in his +own. Shannon smiled up at him feebly.</p> + +<p>“Witham’s horse and his cap,” he said, and then +stopped, gasping horribly.</p> + +<p>“You will remember that, boys,” said the Sergeant.</p> + +<p>Payne could say nothing. Trooper Shannon and +he had ridden through icy blizzard and scorching +heat together, and he felt his manhood melting as he +looked down into his dimming eyes. There was a +curious look in them which suggested a strenuous +endeavour and an appeal, and the lips moved again.</p> + +<p>“It was,” said Shannon, and moved his head +a little on Payne’s arm, apparently in an agony of +effort.</p> + +<p>Then the birches roared about them, and drowned +the feeble utterance, while, when the gust passed, all +three, who had not heard what preceded it, caught +only one word—“Witham.”</p> + +<p>Trooper Shannon’s eyes closed, and his head +fell back, while the snow beat softly in to his upturned +face, and there was a very impressive silence, intensified +by the moaning of the wind, until the rattle of +wheels came faintly down the trail.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink05'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER V—MISS BARRINGTON COMES HOME</a></h2> + +<p>The long train was slackening speed and two whistles +rang shrilly through the roar of wheels when Miss +Barrington laid down the book with which she had +beguiled her journey of fifteen hundred miles, and +rose from her seat in a corner of the big first-class +car. The car was sumptuously upholstered, and +its decorations tasteful as well as lavish, but just +then it held no other passenger, and Miss Barrington +smiled curiously as she stood, swaying a little, in +front of the mirror at one end of it, wrapping her +furs about her. There was, however, a faint suggestion +of regret in the smile, and the girl’s eyes +grew grave again, for the soft cushions, dainty curtains, +gleaming gold and nickel, and equable temperature +formed a part of the sheltered life she was about to +leave behind her, and there would, she knew, be a difference +in the future. Still, she laughed again as, +drawing a little fur cap well down upon her broad, +white forehead, she nodded at her own reflection.</p> + +<p>“One cannot have everything, and you might +have stayed there and revelled in civilization if you +had liked,” she said.</p> + +<p>Crossing to the door of the portico she stood a +moment with fingers on its handle, and once more +looked about her. The car was very cosy, and Maud +Barrington had all the average young woman’s +appreciation of the smoother side of life, although she +had also the capacity, which is by no means so +common, for extracting the most it had to give from +the opposite one. Still, it was with a faint regret +she prepared to complete what had been a deed of +renunciation. Montreal, with its gaieties and +luxuries, had not seemed so very far away +while she was carried West amid all the comforts +artizans who were also artists could provide for the +traveller, but once that door closed behind her she +would be cut adrift from it all, and left face to face +with the simple, strenuous life of the prairie.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington had, however, made her mind +up some weeks ago; and when the lock closed with a +little clack that seemed to emphasize the fact that +the door was shut, she had shaken the memories +from her, and was quietly prepared to look forward +instead of back. It also needed some little courage, +for, as she stood with the furs fluttering about her +on the lurching platform, the cold went through her +like a knife, and the roofs of the little prairie town +rose up above the willows the train was now crawling +through. The odours that greeted her nostrils +were the reverse of pleasant, and glancing down +with the faintest shiver of disgust, her eyes rested +on the litter of empty cans, discarded garments, +and other even more unsightly things which are +usually dumped in the handiest bluff by the citizens +of a springing Western town. They have, for the most +part, but little appreciation of the picturesque, +and it would take a good deal to affect their health.</p> + +<p>Then the dwarfed trees opened out, and flanked +by two huge wheat elevators and a great water tank, +the prairie city stood revealed. It was crude and +repellent, devoid of anything that could please the +most lenient eye, for the bare frame houses rose +with their rough boarding weathered and cracked by +frost and sun, hideous almost in their simplicity, +from the white prairie. Paint was apparently an +unknown luxury, and pavement there was none, +though a rude plank platform straggled some distance +above the ground down either side of the street, so +that the citizens might not sink knee-deep in the +mire of the spring thawing. Here and there a +dilapidated wagon was drawn up in front of a store, +but with a clanging of the big bell the locomotive +rolled into the little station, and Maud Barrington +looked down upon a group of silent men who had +sauntered there to enjoy the one relaxation the +desolate place afforded them.</p> + +<p>There was very little in their appearance to attract +the attention of a young woman of Miss Barrington’s +upbringing. They had grave, bronzed faces, and +wore, for the most part, old fur coats stained here +and there with soil. Nor were their mittens and +moccasins in good repair, but there was a curious +steadiness in their gaze which vaguely suggested +the slow, stubborn courage that upheld them +through the strenuous effort and grim self-denial of +their toilsome lives. They were small wheat-growers +who had driven in to purchase provisions or inquire +the price of grain, and here and there a mittened +hand was raised to a well-worn cap, for most of them +recognized Miss Barrington of Silverdale Grange. +She returned their greetings graciously, and then +swung herself from the platform, with a smile in her +eyes as a man came hastily and yet, as it were, +with a certain deliberation in her direction.</p> + +<p>He was elderly, but held himself erect, while his +furs, which were good, fitted him in a fashion which +suggested a uniform. He also wore boots which +reached half-way to the knee, and were presumably +lined to resist the prairie cold, which few men at +that season would do, and scarcely a speck of dust +marred their lustrous exterior, while as much of his +face as was visible beneath the great fur cap was +lean and commanding. Its salient features were +the keen and somewhat imperious grey eyes and +long, straight nose, while something in the squareness +of the man’s shoulders and his pose set him apart from +the prairie farmers and suggested the cavalry officer. +He was, in fact, Colonel Barrington, founder and autocratic +ruler of the English community of Silverdale, +and had been awaiting his niece somewhat impatiently. +Colonel Barrington was invariably +punctual, and resented the fact that the train had +come in an hour later than it should have done.</p> + +<p>“So you have come back to us. We have been +longing for you, my dear,” he said. “I don’t +know what we should have done had they kept +you in Montreal altogether.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington smiled, though there was a +brightness in her eyes and a faint warmth in her +cheek, for the sincerity of her uncle’s welcome was +evident.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said, “I have come back. It was +very pleasant in the city, and they were all kind to +me; but I think, henceforward, I would sooner +stay with you on the prairie.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington patted the hand he drew +through his arm, and there was a very kindly smile +in his eyes as they left the station and crossed the +tract towards a little, and by no means very comfortable, +wooden hotel. He stopped outside it.</p> + +<p>“I want to see the horses put in and get our +mail,” he said. “Mrs. Jasper expects you, and +will have tea ready.”</p> + +<p>He disappeared behind the wooden building, and +his niece standing a moment on the veranda watched +the long train roll away down the faint blur of track +that ran west to the farthest verge of the great white +wilderness. Then with a little impatient gesture she +went into the hotel.</p> + +<p>“That is another leaf turned down, and there +is no use in looking back; but I wonder what is +written on the rest,” she said.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later she watched Colonel Barrington +cross the street with a bundle of letters in his +hand. She fancied that his step was slower than +it had been, and that he seemed a trifle preoccupied +and embarrassed; but he spoke with quiet kindliness +when he handed her into the waiting sleigh, and +the girl’s spirits rose as they swung smoothly northwards +behind two fast horses across the prairie. +It stretched away before her, ridged here and there +with a dusky birch bluff or willow grove under a +vault of crystalline blue. The sun that had no +heat in it struck a silvery glitter from the snow, +and the trail swept back to the horizon a sinuous +blue-grey smear, while the keen, dry cold and sense +of swift motion set the girl’s blood stirring. After +all, it seemed to her, there were worse lives than +those the Western farmers led on the great levels +under the frost and sun.</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington watched her with a little +gleam of approval in his eyes. “You are not sorry +to come back to this and Silverdale?” he said, +sweeping his mittened hand vaguely round the +horizon.</p> + +<p>“No,” said the girl, with a little laugh. “At +least, I shall not be sorry to return to Silverdale. +It has a charm of its own, for while one is occasionally +glad to get away from it, one is even more pleased +to come home again. It is a somewhat purposeless +life our friends are leading yonder in the cities. I, of +course, mean the women.”</p> + +<p>Barrington nodded. “And some of the men! +Well, we have room here for the many who are going +to the devil in the old country for the lack of something +worth while to do; though I am afraid there is +considerably less prospect than I once fancied there +would be of their making money.”</p> + +<p>His niece noticed the gravity in his face, and sat +thoughtfully silent for several minutes, while, with +the snow hissing beneath it, the sleigh nipped into +and swung out of a hollow.</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington had founded the Silverdale +settlement ten years earlier, and gathered about him +other men with a grievance who had once served +their nation, and the younger sons of English gentlemen +who had no inclination for commerce, and +found that lack of brains and capital debarred them +from either a political or military career. He had +settled them on the land, and taught them to farm, +while, for the community had prospered at first when +Western wheat was dear, it had taken ten years to +bring home to him the fact that men who dined +ceremoniously each evening and spent at least a +third of their time in games and sport, could not +well compete with the grim bushmen from Ontario, +or the lean Dakota ploughmen, who ate their meals +in ten minutes and toiled at least twelve hours +every day.</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington was slow to believe that the +race he sprang from could be equalled and much +less beaten at anything, while his respect for and +scrupulous observance of insular traditions had +cost him a good deal, and left him a poorer man +than he had been when he founded Silverdale. Maud +Barrington had been his ward, and he still directed +the farming of a good many acres of wheat land which +she now held in her own right. The soil was excellent, +and would in all probability have provided one of the +Ontario men with a very desirable revenue, but +Colonel Barrington had no taste for small economies.</p> + +<p>“I want to hear all the news,” said the girl. +“You can begin at the beginning—the price of +wheat. I fancied, when I saw you, it had been +declining.”</p> + +<p>Barrington sighed a little. “Hard wheat is five +cents down, and I am sorry I persuaded you to hold +your crop. I am very much afraid we shall see the +balance the wrong side again next half-year.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington smiled curiously. There was +no great cause for merriment in the information +given her, but it emphasized the contrast between +the present and the careless life she had lately led +when her one thought had been how to extract the +greatest pleasure from the day. One had frequently +to grapple with the problems arising from scanty +finances at Silverdale.</p> + +<p>“It will go up again,” she said. “Is there anything +else?”</p> + +<p>Barrington’s face grew a trifle grim as he nodded. +“There is; and while I have not much expectation +of an advance in prices, I have been worrying over +another affair lately.”</p> + +<p>His niece regarded him steadily. “You mean, +Lance Courthorne?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Barrington, who flicked the near +horse somewhat viciously with the whip. “He is +also sufficient to cause any man with my responsibilities +anxiety.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington looked thoughtful. “You fancy +he will come to Silverdale?”</p> + +<p>Barrington appeared to be repressing an inclination +towards vigorous speech with some difficulty, +and a little glint crept into his eyes. “If I could +by any means prevent it, the answer would be, +No. As it is, you know that, while I founded it, +Silverdale was one of Geoffrey Courthorne’s imperialistic +schemes, and a good deal of the land was +recorded in his name. That being so, he had every +right to leave the best farm on it to the man he had +disinherited, especially as Lance will not get a +penny of the English property. Still, I do not +know why he did so, because he never spoke of him +without bitterness.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, while a little flush crept into +her face. “I was sorry for the old man. It was a +painful story.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington nodded. “It is one that is +best forgotten—and you do not know it all. Still, +the fact that the man may settle among us is not the +worst. As you know, there was every reason to +believe that Geoffrey intended all his property at +Silverdale for you.”</p> + +<p>“I have much less right to it than his own son, +and the colonial cure is not infrequently efficacious,” +said Miss Barrington. “Lance may, after all, +quieten down, and he must have some good qualities.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel’s smile was very grim. “It is +fifteen years since I saw him at Westham, and they +were not much in evidence then. I can remember +two little episodes, in which he figured, with painful +distinctness, and one was the hanging of a terrier +which had in some way displeased him. The +beast was past assistance when I arrived on the +scene, but the devilish pleasure in the lad’s face +sent a chill through me. In the other, the gardener’s +lad flung a stone at a blackbird on the wall above +the vinery, and Master Lance, who, I fancy, did not +like the gardener’s lad, flung one through the glass. +Geoffrey, who was angry, but had not seen what I +did, haled the boy before him, and Lance looked +him in the face and lied with the assurance of an +ambassador. The end was that the gardener, who +was admonished, cuffed the innocent lad. These, +my dear, are somewhat instructive memories.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said Maud Barrington, glancing +out across the prairie which was growing dusky +now, “why you took the trouble to call them up +for me?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel smiled dryly. “I never saw a Courthorne +who could not catch a woman’s eye, or had +any undue diffidence about making the most of +the fact; and that is partly why they have brought +so much trouble on everybody connected with them. +Further, it is unfortunate that women are not infrequently +more inclined to be gracious to the +sinner who repents, when it is worth his while, +than they are to the honest man who has done no +wrong. Nor do I know that it is only pity which +influences them. Some of you take an exasperating +delight in picturesque rascality.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington laughed, and fearlessly met her +uncle’s glance. “Then you don’t believe in +penitence?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the Colonel dryly, “I am, I hope, +a Christian man, but it would be difficult to convince +me that the gambler, cattle-thief, and whisky-runner +who ruined every man and woman who +trusted him will be admitted to the same place as +clean-lived English gentlemen. There are, my dear, +plenty of them still.”</p> + +<p>Barrington spoke almost fiercely, and then +flushed through his tan, when the girl, looking into +his eyes, smiled a little. “Yes,” she said, “I can +believe it, because I owe a good deal to one of them.”</p> + +<p>The ring in the girl’s voice belied the smile, and +the speech was warranted; for, dogmatic, domineering, +and vindictive as he was apt to be occasionally, +the words he had used applied most +fitly to Colonel Barrington. His word at least +had never been broken, and had he not adhered +steadfastly to his own rigid code, he would have +been a good deal richer man than he was then. +Nor did his little shortcomings, which were burlesqued +virtues, and ludicrous now and then, greatly +detract from the stamp of dignity which, for +speech was his worst point, sat well upon him. He +was innately conservative to the backbone, though +since an ungrateful Government had slighted him, +he had become an ardent Canadian, and in all +political questions aggressively democratic.</p> + +<p>“My dear, I sometimes fancy I am a hypercritical +old fogey!” he said, and sighed a little, while once +more the anxious look crept into his face. “Just +now I wish devoutly I was a better business man.”</p> + +<p>Nothing more was said for a little, and Miss +Barrington watched the crimson sunset burn out +low down on the prairie’s western rim. Then the +pale stars blinked out through the creeping dusk, +and a great silence and an utter cold settled down +upon the waste. The muffled thud of hoofs, and +the crunching beneath the sliding steel, seemed to +intensify it, and there was a suggestion of frozen +brilliancy in the sparkle flung back by the snow. +Then a coyote howled dolefully in a distant bluff, +and the girl shivered as she shrank down further +amidst the furs.</p> + +<p>“Forty degrees of frost,” said the Colonel. +“Perhaps more. This is very different from the +cold of Montreal. Still, you’ll see the lights of +Silverdale from the crest of the next rise.”</p> + +<p>It was, however, an hour before they reached +them, and Miss Barrington was almost frozen when +the first square loghouse rose out of the prairie. +It and others that followed it flitted by, and then, +flanked by a great birch bluff, with outlying barns, +granaries and stables, looming black about it against +a crystalline sky, Silverdale Grange grew into +shape across their way. Its rows of ruddy windows +cast streaks of flickering orange down the trail, +the baying of dogs changed into a joyous clamour +when the Colonel reined in his team, half-seen men +in furs waved a greeting, and one who risked frost-bite, +with his cap at his knee, handed Miss Barrington +from the sleigh and up the veranda stairway.</p> + +<p>She had need of the assistance, for her limbs +were stiff and almost powerless, and she gasped a +little when she passed into the drowsy warmth and +brightness of the great log-walled hall. The chilled +blood surged back tingling to her skin, and swaying +with a creeping faintness she found refuge in the +arms of a grey-haired lady who stooped and kissed +her gently. Then the door swung to, and she was +home again in the wooden grange of Silverdale, +which stood far remote from any civilization but +its own on the frozen levels of the great white +plain.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink06'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER VI—ANTICIPATIONS</a></h2> + +<p>It was late at night, and outside the prairie lay +white and utterly silent under the Arctic cold, +when Maud Barrington, who glanced at it through +the double windows, flung back the curtains with a +little shiver, and turning towards the fire, sat down +on a little velvet footstool beside her aunt’s knee. +She had shaken out the coils of lustrous brown +hair which flowed about her shoulders glinting in +the light of the shaded lamp, and it was with a little +gesture of physical content she stretched her hands +towards the hearth. A crumbling birch log still +gleamed redly amidst the feathery ashes, but its +effect was chiefly artistic, for no open fire could have +dissipated the cold of the prairie, and a big tiled +stove brought from Teutonic Minnesota furnished +the needful warmth.</p> + +<p>The girl’s face was partly in shadow, and her figure +foreshortened by her pose, which accentuated its +rounded outline and concealed its willowy slenderness; +but the broad white forehead and straight +nose became visible when she moved her head a +trifle, and a faintly humorous sparkle crept into +the clear brown eyes. Possibly Maud Barrington +looked her best just then, for the lower part of the +pale-tinted face was a trifle too firm in its modelling.</p> + +<p>“No, I am not tired, aunt, and I could not sleep +just now,” she said. “You see, after leaving all +that behind one, one feels, as it were, adrift, and +it is necessary to realize one’s self again.”</p> + +<p>The little silver-haired lady who sat in the big +basket chair smiled down upon her and laid a thin +white hand that was still beautiful upon the gleaming +hair.</p> + +<p>“I can understand, my dear, and am glad you +enjoyed your stay in the city, because sometimes +when I count your birthdays, I can’t help a fancy +that you are not young enough,” she said. “You +have lived out here with two old people who belong +to the past too much.”</p> + +<p>The girl moved a little, and swept her glance +slowly round the room. It was small and scantily +furnished, though great curtains shrouded door +and window, and here and there a picture relieved +the bareness of the walls, which were panelled with +roughly-dressed British-Columbian cedar. The floor +was of redwood, diligently polished and adorned, +not covered, by one or two skins brought by some +of Colonel Barrington’s younger neighbours from +the Rockies. There were two basket-chairs and a +plain, redwood table; but in contrast to them a +cabinet of old French workmanship stood in one +corner bearing books in dainty bindings, and two +great silver candlesticks. The shaded lamp was +also of the same metal, and the whole room with +its faint resinous smell conveyed, in a fashion not +uncommon on the prairie, a suggestion of taste +and refinement held in check by the least comparative +poverty. Colonel Barrington was a widower +who had been esteemed a man of wealth, but the +founding of Silverdale had made a serious inroad +on his finances. Even yet, though he occasionally +practised it, he did not take kindly to economy.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, “I enjoyed it all—and it +was so different from the prairie.”</p> + +<p>There was comprehension, and a trace of sympathy, +in Miss Barrington’s nod. “Tell me a +little, my dear,” she said. “There was not a great +deal in your letters.”</p> + +<p>Her niece glanced dreamily into the sinking fire +as though she would call up the pictures there. +“But you know it all—the life I have only had +glimpses of. Well, for the first few months I almost +lost my head, and was swung right off my +feet by the whirl of it. It was then I was, perhaps, +just a trifle thoughtless.”</p> + +<p>The while-haired lady laughed softly. “It is +difficult to believe it, Maud.”</p> + +<p>The girl shook her head reproachfully. “I +know what you mean, and perhaps you are right, +for that was what Twoinette insinuated,” she said. +“She actually told me that I should be thankful I +had a brain since I had no heart. Still, at first I +let myself go, and it was delightful—the opera, +the dances, and the covered skating rink with the +music and the black ice flashing beneath the lights. +The whirr of the toboggans down the great slide was +finer still, and the torchlight meets of the snowshoe +clubs on the mountain. Yes, I think I was really +young while it lasted.”</p> + +<p>“For a month,” said the elder. “And after?”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the girl slowly, “it all seemed to +grow a trifle purposeless, and there was something +that spoiled it. Twoinette was quite angry, and I +know her mother wrote you—but it was not my +fault, aunt. How was I, a guileless girl from the +prairie, to guess that such a man would fling the +handkerchief to me?”</p> + +<p>The evenness of tone and entire absence of embarrassment +was significant. It also pointed to the +fact that there was a closer confidence between Maud +Barrington and her aunt than often exists between +mother and daughter, and the elder lady stroked +the lustrous head that rested against her knee with a +little affectionate pride.</p> + +<p>“My dear, you know you are beautiful, and you +have the cachet that all the Courthornes wear. +Still, you could not like him. Tell me about him.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington curled herself up further. “I +think I could have liked him, but that was all,” +she said. “He was nice to look at and did all the +little things gracefully; but he had never done +anything else, never would, and, I fancy, had never +wanted to. Now, a man of that kind would very +soon pall on me, and I should have lost my temper +trying to waken him to his responsibilities.”</p> + +<p>“And what kind of man would please you?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington’s eyes twinkled, but the fact +that she answered at all was a proof of the sympathy +between herself and the questioner. “I do not +know that I am anxious any of them should,” she +said. “But, since you ask, he would have to be a +man first: a toiling, striving animal, who could +hold his own amidst his fellows wherever he was +placed. Secondly, one would naturally prefer a +gentleman, though I do not like the word, and one +would fancy the combination a trifle rare, because +brains and birth do not necessarily tally, and the +man educated by the struggle for existence is apt to +be taught more than he ever would be at Oxford +or in the army. Still, men of that stamp forget a +good deal, and learn so much that is undesirable, +you see. In fact, I only know one man who would +have suited me, and he is debarred by age and +affinity—but, because we are so much alike, I can’t +help fancying that you once knew another.”</p> + +<p>The smile in Miss Barrington’s face, which was +still almost beautiful as well as patient, became a +trifle wistful.</p> + +<p>“There are few better men than my brother, +though he is not clever,” she said and dropped +her voice a little. “As to the other, he died in +India—beside his mountain gun—long ago.”</p> + +<p>“And you have never forgotten? He must +have been worth it—I wonder if loyalty and chivalric +faith belong only to the past,” said the girl, reaching +up a rounded arm and patting her aunt’s thin +hand. “And now we will be practical. I fancied +the head of the settlement looked worried when he +met me, and he is not very proficient at hiding his +feelings.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington sighed. “I am afraid that is +nothing very new, and with wheat steadily falling +and our granaries full, he has cause for anxiety. +Then the fact that Lance Courthorne has divided +your inheritance and is going to settle here has been +troubling him.”</p> + +<p>“The first is the lesser evil,” said the girl, with +a little laugh. “I wore very short frocks when I +last saw Lance in England, and so far as I can remember +he had the face of an angel and the +temper of a devil. But did not my uncle endeavour +to buy him off, and—for I know you have been +finding out things—I want you to tell me all about +him.”</p> + +<p>“He would not take the money,” said Miss Barrington, +and sat in thoughtful silence a space. Then, +and perhaps she had a reason, she quietly recounted +Courthorne’s Canadian history so far as her brother’s +agents had been able to trace it, not omitting, +dainty in thought and speech as she was, one or +two incidents which a mother might have kept +back from her daughter’s ears. Still, it was very +seldom that Miss Barrington made a blunder. There +was a faint pinkness in her face when she concluded, +but she was not surprised when, with a slow, sinuous +movement, the girl rose to her feet. Her cheeks +were very slightly flushed, but there was a significant +sparkle in her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Oh,” she said, with utter contempt. “How +sickening! Are there men like that?”</p> + +<p>There was a little silence, emphasized by the +snapping in the stove, and if Miss Barrington +had spoken with an object she should have been +contented. The girl was imperious in her anger, +which was caused by something deeper than startled +prudery.</p> + +<p>“It is,” said the little white-haired lady, “all +quite true. Still, I must confess that my brother +and myself were a trifle astonished at the report of +the lawyer he sent to confer with Lance in Montana, +One would almost have imagined that he had of late +been trying to make amends.”</p> + +<p>The girl’s face was very scornful. “Could a +man with a past like that ever live it down.”</p> + +<p>“We have a warrant for believing it,” said +Miss Barrington quietly, as she laid her hand on +her companion’s arm. “My dear, I have told you +what Lance was, because I felt it was right that +you should know; but none of us can tell what he +may be, and if the man is honestly trying to lead a +different life, all I ask is that you should not wound +him by any manifest suspicion. Those who have +never been tempted can afford to be merciful.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed somewhat curiously. +“You are a very wise woman, aunt, but you are +a little transparent now and then,” she said. +“At least, he shall have a fair trial without +prejudice or favour—and if he fails, as fail he will, +we shall find the means of punishing him.”</p> + +<p>“We?” said the elder lady a trifle maliciously.</p> + +<p>The girl nodded as she moved towards the doorway, +and then turned a moment with the folds +of the big red curtain flung behind her. It forced +up the sweeping lines of a figure so delicately moulded +that its slenderness was scarcely apparent, for +Maud Barrington still wore a long, sombre dress +that had assisted in her triumphs in the city. It +emphasized the clear pallor of her skin and the +brightness of her eyes, as she held herself very +erect in a pose which, while assumed in mockery, +had yet in it something that was almost imperial.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said. “We. You know who is the +power behind the throne at Silverdale, and what +the boys call me. And now, good night. Sleep +well, dear.”</p> + +<p>She went out, and Miss Barrington sat very still +gazing, with eyes that were curiously thoughtful, +into the fire. “Princess of the Prairie—and it +fits her well,” she said, and then sighed a little. +“And if there is a trace of hardness in the girl it +may be fortunate. We all have our troubles—and +wheat is going down.”</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, late as it was, Colonel Barrington +and his chief lieutenant, Gordon Dane, sat +in his log-walled smoking-room talking with a man +he sold his wheat through in Winnipeg. The room +was big and bare. There were a few fine heads of +antelope upon the walls, and beneath them an +armoury of English-made shot guns and rifles, +while a row of riding crops, silver-mounted, and +some handled with ivory, stood in a corner. All +these represented amusement, while two or three +treatises on veterinary surgery and agriculture +lying amidst English stud-books and racing records, +presumably stood for industry. The comparison +was significant, and Graham, the Winnipeg wheat-broker, +noticed it as he listened patiently to the +views of Colonel Barrington, who nevertheless +worked hard enough in his own fashion. +Unfortunately, it was rather the fashion of the English +gentleman than that common on the prairie.</p> + +<p>“And now,” he said, with a trace of the anxiety +he had concealed in his eyes, “I am open to hear +what you can do for me.”</p> + +<p>Graham smiled a little. “It isn’t very much, +Colonel. I’ll take all your wheat off you at three +cents down.”</p> + +<p>Now Barrington did not like the broker’s smile. +It savoured too much of equality; and, though he had +already unbent as far as he was capable of doing, +he had no great esteem for men of business. Nor +did it please him to be addressed as “Colonel.”</p> + +<p>“That,” he said coldly, “is out of the question, +I would not sell at the last market price. Besides, +you have hitherto acted as my broker.”</p> + +<p>Graham nodded. “The market price will be +less than what I offered you in a week, and I could +scarcely sell your wheat at it to-day. I was going +to hold it myself, because I can occasionally get a +little more from one or two millers who like that +special grade. Usual sorts I’m selling for a fall. +Quite sure the deal wouldn’t suit you?”</p> + +<p>Barrington lighted a fresh cigar, though Graham, +noticed that he had smoked very little of the one +he flung away. This was, of course, a trifle, but it is +the trifles that count in the aggregate upon the +prairie, as they not infrequently do elsewhere.</p> + +<p>“I fancy I told you so,” he said.</p> + +<p>The broker glanced at Dane, who was a big, +bronzed man, and, since Barrington could not see +him, shook his head deprecatingly.</p> + +<p>“You can consider that decided, Graham,” he +said. “Still, can you as a friendly deed give us +any notion of what to do? As you know, farming, +especially at Silverdale, costs money, and the banks +are demanding an iniquitous interest just now, +while we are carrying over a good deal of wheat.”</p> + +<p>Graham nodded. He understood why farming +was unusually expensive at Silverdale, and was, in +recollection of past favours, inclined to be disinterestedly +friendly.</p> + +<p>“If I were you I would sell right along for forward +delivery at a few cents under the market.”</p> + +<p>“It is a trifle difficult to see how that would +help us,” said Barrington, with a little gesture of +irritation, for it almost seemed that the broker was +deriding him.</p> + +<p>“No!” said the man from Winnipeg, “on the +contrary, it’s quite easy. Now I can predict that +wheat will touch lower prices still before you have +to make delivery, and it isn’t very difficult to figure +out the profit on selling a thing for a dollar and +then buying it, when you have to produce it at +ninety cents. Of course, there is a risk of the +market going against you, but you could buy at +the first rise, and you’ve your stock to dole out in +case anybody cornered you.”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Dane thoughtfully, “appears +quite sensible. Of course, it’s a speculation, but +presumably we couldn’t be much worse off than we +are. Have you any objections to the scheme, +sir.”</p> + +<p>Barrington laid down his cigar, and glanced with +astonished severity at the speaker. “Unfortunately, +I have. We are wheat growers, and not wheat +stock jugglers. Our purpose is to farm, and not +swindle and lie in the wheat pits for decimal +differences. I have a distinct antipathy to anything +of the kind.”</p> + +<p>“But, sir,” said Dane, and Barrington stopped +with a gesture.</p> + +<p>“I would,” he said, “as soon turn gambler. +Still, while it has always been a tradition at +Silverdale that the head of the settlement’s lead is to be +followed, that need not prevent you putting on the +gloves with the wheat-ring blacklegs in Winnipeg.”</p> + +<p>Dane blushed a little under his tan, and then +smiled as he remembered the one speculative venture +his leader had indulged in, for Colonel Barrington +was a somewhat hot-tempered and vindictive man. +He made a little gesture of deprecation as he glanced +at Graham, who straightened himself suddenly in +his chair.</p> + +<p>“I should not think of doing so in face of your +opinion, sir,” he said. “There is an end to the +thing, Graham!”</p> + +<p>The broker’s face was a trifle grim. “I gave you +good advice out of friendship, Colonel, and there +are men with dollars to spare who would value a +hint from me,” he said. “Still, as it doesn’t seem +to strike you the right way, I’ve no use for arguing. +Keep your wheat—and pay bank interest if you want +any help to carry over.”</p> + +<p>“Thanks,” said Dane quietly. “They charge +tolerably high, but I’ve seen what happens to the +man who meddles with the mortgage-broker.”</p> + +<p>Graham nodded. “Well, as I’m starting out at +six o’clock, it’s time I was asleep,” he said. “Good-night +to you, Colonel.”</p> + +<p>Barrington shook hands with Graham, and then +sighed a little when he went out. “I believe the +man is honest, and he is a guest of mine, or I should +have dressed him down,” he said. “I don’t like +the way things are going, Dane; and the fact is +we must find accommodation somewhere, because +now I have to pay out so much on my ward’s +account to that confounded Courthorne, it is necessary +to raise more dollars than the banks will give +me. Now, there was a broker fellow wrote me +a very civil letter.”</p> + +<p>Dane, who was a thoughtful man, ventured to +lay his hand upon his leader’s arm. “Keep yourself +and Miss Barrington out of those fellows’ +clutches, at any cost,” he said.</p> + +<p>Barrington shook off his hand and looked at +him sternly. “Are you not a trifle young to adopt +that tone?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Dane nodded. “No doubt I am, but I’ve seen a +little of mortgage jobbing. You must try to overlook +it. I did not mean to offend.”</p> + +<p>He went out, and, while Colonel Barrington +sat down before a sheaf of accounts, sprang into +a waiting sleigh. “It’s no use; we’ve got to go +through,” he said to the lad who shook the reins, +“Graham made a very sensible suggestion, but +our respected leader came down on him, as he did +on me. You see, one simply can’t talk to the +Colonel; and it’s unfortunate Miss Barrington +didn’t marry that man in Montreal.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said the lad. “Of course, +there are not many girls like Maud Barrington, +but is it necessary she should go outside Silverdale?”</p> + +<p>Dane laughed. “None of us would be old enough +for Miss Barrington when we were fifty. The +trouble is, that we spend half our time in play, +and I’ve a notion it’s a man, and not a gentleman +dilettante, she’s looking for.”</p> + +<p>“Isn’t that a curious way of putting it?” asked +his companion.</p> + +<p>Dane nodded. “It may be the right one. +Woman is as she was made, and I’ve had more +than a suspicion lately that a little less refinement +would not come amiss at Silverdale. Anyway, +I hope she’ll find him, for it’s a man with grit and +energy, who could put a little desirable pressure +on the Colonel occasionally, we’re all wanting. +Of course, I’m backing my leader, though it’s +going to cost me a good deal, but it’s time he had +somebody to help him.”</p> + +<p>“He would never accept assistance,” said the +lad thoughtfully. “That is, unless the man who +offered it was, or became by marriage, one of the +dynasty.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Dane. “That’s why I’m +inclined to take a fatherly interest in Miss Barrington’s +affairs. It’s a misfortune we’ve heard +nothing very reassuring about Courthorne.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink07'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER VII—WITHAM’S DECISION</a></h2> + +<p>Farmer Witham crossed the frontier without +molestation and spent one night in a little wooden +town, where several people he did not speak to +apparently recognized him. Then he pushed on +southwards, and passed a week in the especially +desolate settlement he had been directed to. A few +dilapidated frame houses rose out of the white wilderness +beside the broad, beaten trail, and, for here the +prairie rolled south in long rises like the wakes of a +frozen sea, a low wooden building on the crest of one +cut the skyline a league away. It served as outpost +for a squadron of United States cavalry, and the +troopers daily maligned the Government which had +sent them into that desolation on police duty.</p> + +<p>There was nothing else visible but a few dusky +groves of willows and dazzling snow. The ramshackle +wooden hotel was rather more than usually badly kept +and comfortless, and Witham, who had managed to +conciliate his host, felt relieved one afternoon when +the latter flung down the cards disgustedly.</p> + +<p>“I guess I’ve had enough,” he said. “Playing +for stakes of this kind isn’t good enough for you!”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed a little to hide his resentment, as +he said, “I don’t quite understand.”</p> + +<p>“Pshaw!” said the American with a contemptuous +gesture. “Three times out of four I’ve spoiled your +hand, and if I didn’t know that black horse I’d take +you for some blamed Canadian rancher. You didn’t +handle the pictures that way when you stripped the +boys to the hide at Regent, Mr. Courthorne?”</p> + +<p>“Regent?” said Witham.</p> + +<p>The hotel-keeper laughed. “Oh yes,” he said. +“I wouldn’t go back there too soon, anyway. The +boys seem quite contented, and I don’t figure they +would be very nice to you. Well, now, I’ve no use for +fooling with a man who’s too proud to take my dollars, +and I’ve a pair of horses just stuffed with wickedness +in the stable. There’s not much you don’t know +about a beast, anyway, and you can take them out a +league or two if you feel like it.”</p> + +<p>Witham, who had grown very tired of his host, was +glad of any distraction, especially as he surmised that +while the man had never seen Courthorne, he knew +rather more than he did himself about his doings. +Accordingly, he got into the sleigh that was brought +out by and by, and enjoyed the struggle with the half-tamed +team which stood with ears laid back, prepared +for conflict. Oats had been very plentiful, and prices +low that season. Witham, who knew at least as much +about a horse as Lance Courthorne, however, bent +them to his will and the team were trotting quietly +through the shadow of a big birch bluff a league from +town, when he heard a faint clip-clop coming down +the trail behind him. It led straight beneath the +leafless branches, and was beaten smooth and firm; +while Witham, who had noticed already that whenever +he strayed any distance from the hotel there was a +mounted cavalryman somewhere, in the vicinity, +shook the reins.</p> + +<p>The team swung into faster stride, the cold wind +whistled past him, and the snow whirled up from beneath +the runners; but while he listened the rhythmic +drumming behind him also quickened a little. Then +a faintly musical jingle of steel accompanied the beat +of hoofs, and Witham glanced about him with a little +laugh of annoyance. The dusk was creeping across the +prairie, and a pale star or two growing into brilliancy +in the cloudless sweep of indigo.</p> + +<p>“It’s getting a trifle tiresome. I’ll find out what the +fellow wants,” he said.</p> + +<p>Wheeling the team, he drove back the way he came, +and, when a dusky object materialized out of the +shadows beneath the birches, swung the horses right +across the trail. The snow lay deep on either side of it +just there, with a sharp crust upon its surface, which +rendered it inadvisable to take a horse round the sleigh. +The mounted man accordingly drew bridle, and the +jingle and rattle betokened his profession, though it +was already too dark to see him clearly.</p> + +<p>“Hallo!” he said. “Been buying this trail up, +stranger?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham quietly, though he still held +his team across the way. “Still, I’ve got the same +right as any other citizen to walk or drive along it +without anybody prowling after me, and just now I +want to know if there is a reason I should be favoured +with your company.”</p> + +<p>The trooper laughed a little. “I guess there is. +It’s down in the orders that whoever’s on patrol near +the settlement should keep his eye on you. You see, +if you lit out of here we would want to know just +where you were going to.”</p> + +<p>“I am,” said Witham, “a Canadian citizen, and I +came out here for quietness.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the other, “you’re an American too. +Anyway, when you were in a tight place down in Regent +there, you told the boys so. Now, no sensible +man would boast of being a Britisher unless it was +helping him to play out his hand.”</p> + +<p>Witham kept his temper. “I want a straight +answer. Can you tell me what you and the boys are +trailing me for?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the trooper. “Still, I guess our +commander could. If you don’t know of any reason, +you might ask him.”</p> + +<p>Witham tightened his grip on the reins. “I’ll ride +back with you to the outpost now.”</p> + +<p>The trooper shook his bridle, and trotted behind the +sleigh, while, as it swung up and down over the billowy +rises of the prairie, Witham became sensible of a +curious expectancy. The bare, hopeless life he had +led seemed to have slipped behind him, and though +he suspected that there was no great difference between +his escort and a prisoner’s guard, the old love of excitement +he once fancied he had outgrown for ever awoke +again within him. Anything that was different from +the past would be a relief, and the man who had for +eight long years of strenuous toil practised the grimmest +self-denial wondered with a quickening of all his +faculties what the future, that could not be more +colourless, might have in store for him.</p> + +<p>It was dark, and very cold, when they reached the +wooden building, but Witham’s step was lighter, and +his spirits more buoyant than they had been for some +months when, handing the sleigh over to an orderly, +he walked into the guard-room, where bronzed men +in uniform glanced at him curiously. Then he was +shown into a bare, log-walled hall, where a young man +in blue uniform with a weather-darkened face was +writing at a table.</p> + +<p>“I’ve been partly expecting a visit,” he said. “I’m +glad to see you, Mr. Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed with a very good imitation of the +outlaw’s recklessness, and wondered the while because +it cost him no effort. He who had, throughout the +last two adverse seasons, seldom smiled at all, and +then but grimly, experienced the same delight in an +adventure that he had done when he came out to +Canada.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that I can return the compliment +just yet,” he said. “I have one or two things to ask +you.”</p> + +<p>The young soldier smiled good-humouredly, as he +flung a cigar case on the table. “Oh, sit down and +shake those furs off,” he said. “I’m not a worrying +policeman, and we’re white men, anyway. If you’d +been twelve months in this forsaken place you’d know +what I’m feeling. Take a smoke, and start in with +your questions when you feel like it.”</p> + +<p>Witham lighted a cigar, flung himself down in a hide +chair, and stretched out his feet towards the stove. +“In the first place, I want to know why your boys are +shadowing me. You see, you couldn’t arrest me unless +our folks in the Dominion had got their papers +through.”</p> + +<p>The officer nodded. “No. We couldn’t lay hands +on you, and we only had orders to see where you went +to when you left this place, so the folks there could +corral you if they got the papers. That’s about the +size of it at present, but, as I’ve sent a trooper over to +Regent, I’ll know more to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “It may appear a little astonishing, +but I haven’t the faintest notion why the police +in Canada should worry about me. Is there any +reason you shouldn’t tell me?”</p> + +<p>The officer looked at him thoughtfully. “Bluff? +I’m quite smart at it myself,” he said.</p> + +<p>“No,” and Witham shook his head. “It’s a +straight question. I want to know.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the other, “it couldn’t do much harm if +I told you. You were running whisky a little while +ago, and, though the folks didn’t seem to suspect it, +you had a farmer or a rancher for a partner—it appears +he has mixed up things for you.”</p> + +<p>“Witham?” and the farmer turned to roll the cigar +which did not need it between his fingers.</p> + +<p>“That’s the man,” said his companion. “Well, +though I guess it’s no news to you, the police came +down upon your friends at a river-crossing, and farmer +Witham put a bullet into a young trooper, Shannon, +I fancy.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat upright, and the blood that surged to +his forehead sank from it suddenly, and left his face +grey with anger.</p> + +<p>“Good Lord!” he said hoarsely. “He killed +him?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said the officer, “Killing’s not quite the +word, because one shot would have been enough to +free him of the lad, and the rancher fired twice into +him. They figured, from the way the trooper was +lying and the footprints, that he meant to finish +him.”</p> + +<p>The farmer’s face was very grim as he said, “They +were sure it was Witham?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” and the soldier watched him curiously. +“Anyway, they were sure of his horse, and it was +Witham’s rifle. Another trooper nearly got him, +and he left it behind him. It wasn’t killing, for the +trooper don’t seem to have had a show at all, and I’m +glad to see it makes you kind of sick. Only that one +of the troopers allows he was trailing you at a time +which shows you had no hand in the thing, you +wouldn’t be sitting there smoking that cigar.”</p> + +<p>It was almost a minute before Witham could trust +his voice. Then he said slowly, “And what do they +want me for?”</p> + +<p>“I guess they don’t quite know whether they do or +not,” said the officer. “They crawl slow in Canada. +In the meanwhile they wanted to know where you +were, so they could take out papers if anything turned +up against you.”</p> + +<p>“And Witham?” said the farmer.</p> + +<p>“Got away with a trooper close behind him. The +rest of them had headed him off from the prairie, and +he took to the river. Went through the ice and drowned +himself, though as there was a blizzard nobody quite +saw the end of him, and in case there was any doubt +they’ve got a warrant out. Farmer Witham’s dead, +and if he isn’t he soon will be, for the troopers have +got their net right across the prairie, and the Canadians +don’t fool time away as we do when it comes to hanging +anybody. The tale seems to have worried you.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat rigidly still and silent for almost a +minute. Then he rose up with a curious little shake +of his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“And farmer Witham’s dead. Well he had a hard +life. I knew him rather well,” he said. “Thank +you for the story. On my word this is the first time +I’ve heard it, and now it’s time I was going.”</p> + +<p>The officer laughed a little. “Sit right down again. +Now, there’s something about you that makes me like +you, and as I can’t talk to the boys, I’ll give you the +best supper we can raise in the whole forsaken country, +and you can camp here until to-morrow. It’s +an arrangement that will meet the views of everybody, +because I’ll know whether the Canadians want you or +not in the morning.”</p> + +<p>Witham did not know what prompted him to agree, +but it all seemed part of a purpose that impelled him +against his reasoning will, and he sat still beside the +stove while his host went out to give orders respecting +supper and the return of the sleigh. He was also +glad to be alone for a while, for now and then a fit of +anger shook him as he saw how he had been duped by +Courthorne. He had heard Shannon’s story, and, +remembering it, could fancy that Courthorne had +planned the trooper’s destruction with a devilish +cunning that recognized by what means the blame +could be laid upon a guiltless man. Witham’s face +became mottled with grey again as he realized that +if he revealed his identity he had nothing but his +word to offer in proof of his innocence.</p> + +<p>Still, it was anger and not fear that stirred him, +for nobody could arrest a man who was dead, and +there was no reason that would render it undesirable +for him to remain so. His farm would, when sold, +realize the money borrowed upon it, and the holder of +the mortgage had received a profitable interest already. +Had the unforeseen not happened, Witham would +have held out to the end of the struggle, but now he +had no regret that this was out of the question. Fate +had been too strong for him as farmer Witham, but +it might deal more kindly with him as the outlaw +Courthorne. He could also make a quick decision, +and when the officer returned to say that supper was +ready, he rose with a smile.</p> + +<p>They sat down to a meal that was barbaric in its +simplicity and abundance, for men live and eat in +Homeric fashion in the North-West, while when the +green tea was finished and the officer pushed the +whisky across, his guest laughed as he filled his glass.</p> + +<p>“Here’s better fortune to farmer Witham!” he +said.</p> + +<p>The officer stared at him. “No, sir,” he said +“If the old folks taught me aright, Witham’s in——”</p> + +<p>A curious smile flickered in the farmer’s eyes. +“No,” he said slowly. “He was tolerably near +it once or twice when he was alive, and, because of +what he went through then, there may be something +better in store for him.”</p> + +<p>His companion appeared astonished, but said +nothing further until he brought out the cards. They +played for an hour beside the snapping stove, and +then, when Witham flung a trump away, the officer +groaned.</p> + +<p>“I guess,” he said disgustedly, “you’re not well +to-night, or something is worrying you.”</p> + +<p>Witham looked up with a little twinkle in his eyes. +“I don’t know that there’s very much wrong +with me.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the officer decisively, “if the boys +down at Regent know enough to remember what +trumps are, you’re not Lance Courthorne. Now after +what I’d heard of you, I’d have put up fifty dollars +for the pleasure of watching your game—and it’s not +worth ten cents when I’ve seen it.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Sit down and talk,” he said. +“One isn’t always in his usual form, and there are +folks who get famous too easily.”</p> + +<p>They talked until nearly midnight, sitting close to +the stove, while a doleful wind that moaned without +drove the dust of snow pattering against the windows, +and the shadows grew darker in the corners of the great +log-walled room each time the icy draughts set the +lamp flickering. Then the officer, rising, expressed +the feelings of his guest as he said, “It’s a forsaken +country, and I’m thankful one can sleep and forget it.”</p> + +<p>He had, however, an honourable calling, and a +welcome from friend and kinsman awaiting him +when he went East again, to revel in the life of the +cities, but the man who followed him silently to the +sleeping-room had nothing but a half-instinctive +assurance that the future could not well be harder or +more lonely than the past had been. Still, farmer +Witham was a man of courage with a quiet belief in +himself, and in ten minutes he was fast asleep.</p> + +<p>When he came down to breakfast his host was +already seated with a bundle of letters before him, +and one addressed to Courthorne lay unopened by +Witham’s plate. The officer nodded when he saw +him.</p> + +<p>“The trooper has come in with the mail, and your +friends in Canada are not going to worry you,” he +said. “Now, if you feel like staying here a few days, +it would be a favour to me.”</p> + +<p>Witham had in the meanwhile opened the envelope. +He knew that when once the decision was made there +could only be peril in half-measures, and his eyes +grew thoughtful as he read. The letter had been +written by a Winnipeg lawyer from a little town not +very far away, and requested Courthorne to meet and +confer with him respecting certain suggestions made +by a Colonel Barrington. Witham decided to take +the risk.</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry, but I have got to go into Annerly at +once,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the officer, “I’ll drive you. I’ve +some stores to get down there.”</p> + +<p>They started after breakfast, but it was dusk +next day when they reached the little town, and +Witham walked quietly into a private room of the +wooden hotel, where a middle-aged man with a +shrewd face sat waiting him. The big nickelled +lamp flickered in the draughts that found their way +in, and Witham was glad of it, though he was outwardly +very collected. The stubborn patience and +self-control with which he had faced the loss of his +wheat crops and frozen stock stood him in good stead +now. He fancied the lawyer seemed a trifle astonished +at his appearance, and sat down wondering whether +he had previously spoken to Courthorne, until the +question was answered for him.</p> + +<p>“Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting +you before, I have acted as Colonel Barrington’s +legal adviser ever since he settled at Silverdale, and +am, therefore, well posted as to his affairs, which are, +of course, connected with those of your own family,” +said the lawyer. “We can accordingly talk with +greater freedom, and I hope without the acerbity +which in your recent communications somewhat +annoyed the Colonel!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne, who had never heard +of Colonel Barrington, “I am ready to listen.”</p> + +<p>The lawyer drummed on the table. “It might +be best to come to the point at once,” he said. +“Colonel Barrington does not deem it convenient +that you should settle at Silverdale, and would be +prepared to offer you a reasonable sum to relinquish +your claim.”</p> + +<p>“My claim?” said Witham, who remembered +having heard of the Silverdale Colony, which lay +several hundred miles away.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the lawyer. “The legacy lately +left you by Roger Courthorne. I have brought you +a schedule of the wheat in store, and amounts due to +you on various sales made. You will also find the +acreage, stock, and implements detailed at a well-known +appraiser’s valuation, which you could, of +course, confirm, and Colonel Barrington would hand +you a cheque for half the total now. He however, +asks four years to pay the balance, which would carry +bank interest in the meanwhile, in.”</p> + +<p>Witham, who was glad of the excuse, spent at least +ten minutes studying the paper, and realized that it +referred to a large and well-appointed farm, though +it occurred to him that the crop was a good deal smaller +than it should have been. He noticed this, as +it were, instinctively, for his brain was otherwise very +busy.</p> + +<p>“Colonel Barrington seems somewhat anxious to +get rid of me,” he said. “You see, this land is mine +by right.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the lawyer. “Colonel Barrington +does not dispute it, though I am of opinion that he +might have done so under one clause of the will. I +do not think we need discuss his motives.”</p> + +<p>Witham moistened his lips with his tongue, and +his lips quivered a little. He had hitherto been an +honest man, and now it was impossible for him to +take the money. It, however, appeared equally +impossible to reveal his identity and escape the halter, +and he felt that the dead man had wronged him +horribly. He was entitled at least to safety by way +of compensation, for by passing as Courthorne he +would avoid recognition as Witham.</p> + +<p>“Still, I do not know how I have offended Colonel +Barrington,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I would sooner,” said the lawyer, “not go into +that. It is, I fancy, fifteen years since Colonel Barrington +saw you, but he desired me to find means of +tracing your Canadian record, and did not seem +pleased with it. Nor, at the risk of offending you, +could I deem him unduly prejudiced.”</p> + +<p>“In fact,” said Witham dryly, “this man who has +not seen me for fifteen years is desirous of withholding +what is mine from me at almost any cost.”</p> + +<p>The lawyer nodded. “There is nothing to be +gained by endeavouring to controvert it. Colonel +Barrington is also, as you know, a somewhat determined +gentleman.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed, for he was essentially a stubborn +man, and felt little kindliness towards any one connected +with Courthorne, as the Colonel evidently +was.</p> + +<p>“I fancy I am not entirely unlike him in that respect,” +he said. “What you have told me makes me +the more determined to follow my own inclinations. +Is there any one else at Silverdale prejudiced against +me?”</p> + +<p>The lawyer fell into the trap. “Miss Barrington, +of course, takes her brother’s view, and her niece +would scarcely go counter to them. She must have +been a very young girl when she last saw you, but +from what I know of her character I should expect +her to support the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham. “I want to think over +the thing. We will talk again to-morrow. You +would require me to establish my identity, anyway?”</p> + +<p>“The fact that a famous inquiry agent has traced +your movements down to a week or two ago, and told +me where to find you, will render that simple,” said +the lawyer dryly.</p> + +<p>Witham sat up late that night turning over the +papers the lawyer left him, and thinking hard. It +was evident that in the meanwhile he must pass as +Courthorne, but as the thought of taking the money +revolted him, the next step led to the occupation of +the dead man’s property. The assumption of it would +apparently do nobody a wrong, while he felt that +Courthorne had taken so much from him that the farm +at Silverdale would be a very small reparation. It +was not, he saw, a great inheritance, but one that in +the right hands could be made profitable, and Witham, +who had fought a plucky fight with obsolete and +worthless implements and indifferent teams, felt that +he could do a great deal with what was, as it were, +thrust upon him at Silverdale. It was not avarice +that tempted him, though he knew he was tempted +now, but a longing to find a fair outlet for his energies, +and show what, once given the chance that most men +had, he could do. He had stinted himself and toiled +almost as a beast of burden, but now he could use his +brains in place of wringing the last effort out of overtaxed +muscle. He had also during the long struggle +lost, to some extent, his clearness of vision, and only +saw himself as a lonely man fighting for his own hand +with fate against him. Now, when prosperity was +offered him, it seemed but folly to stand aside when +he could stretch out a strong hand and take it.</p> + +<p>During the last hour he sat almost motionless, the +issue hung in the balance, and he laid himself down +still undecided. Still, he had lived long in primitive +fashion in close touch with the soil, and sank, as most +men would have done, into restful sleep. The sun +hung red above the rim of the prairie when he awakened, +and going down to breakfast found the lawyer +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>“You can tell Colonel Barrington I’m coming to +Silverdale,” he said.</p> + +<p>The lawyer looked at him curiously. “Would +there be any use in asking you to consider?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “No,” he said. “Now, I rather +like the way you talked to me, and if it wouldn’t be +disloyalty to the Colonel, I should be pleased if you +would undertake to put me in due possession of my +property.”</p> + +<p>He said nothing further, and the lawyer sat down +to write Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Courthorne proves obdurate,” he said. “He +is, however, by no means the type of man I expected +to find, and I venture to surmise that you will +eventually discover him to be a less undesirable +addition to Silverdale than you are at present inclined +to fancy.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink08'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER VIII—WITHAM COMES TO SILVERDALE</a></h2> + +<p>There were warmth and brightness in the cedar-boarded +general room of Silverdale Grange, and most +of the company gathered there basked in it contentedly +after their drive through the bitter night. Those +who came from the homesteads lying farthest out +had risked frost-nipped hands and feet, for when +Colonel Barrington held a levee at the Grange nobody +felt equal to refusing his invitation. Neither scorching +heat nor utter cold might excuse compliance with the +wishes of the founder of Silverdale, and it was not +until Dane, the big middle-aged bachelor, had spoken +very plainly, that he consented to receive his guests +in time of biting frost dressed otherwise than as they +would have appeared in England.</p> + +<p>Dane was the one man in the settlement who dare +remonstrate with its ruler, but it was a painful astonishment +to the latter when he said, in answer to one +invitation, “I have never been frost-bitten, sir, and +I stand the cold well, but one or two of the lads are +weak in the chest, and this climate was never intended +for bare-shouldered women. Hence, if I come, I +shall dress myself to suit it.”</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington stared at him for almost a minute, +and then shook his head. “Have it your own +way,” he said, “Understand that in itself I care +very little for dress, but it is only by holding fast to +every traditional nicety we can prevent ourselves +sinking into Western barbarism, and I am horribly +afraid of the thin end of the wedge.”</p> + +<p>Dane having gained his point, said nothing further, +for he was one of the wise and silent men who know +when to stop, and that evening he sat in a corner +watching his leader thoughtfully, for there was anxiety +in the Colonel’s face. Barrington sat silent near +the ample hearth whose heat would scarcely have +kept water from freezing but for the big stove, and +disdaining the dispensation made his guests, he was +clad conventionally, though the smooth black fabric +clung about him more tightly than it had once been +intended to do. His sister stood, with the stamp of a +not wholly vanished beauty still clinging to her gentle +face, talking to one or two matrons from outlying +farms, and his niece by a little table turning over +Eastern photographs with a few young girls. She, +too, wore black in deference to the Colonel’s taste, +which was sombre, and the garment she had laughed +at as a compromise, left uncovered a narrow strip of +ivory shoulder and enhanced the polished whiteness +of her neck. A slender string of pearls gleamed softly +on the satiny skin, but Maud Barrington wore no other +adornment and did not need it. She had inherited +the Courthorne comeliness, and the Barringtons +she sprang from on her father’s side had always borne +the stamp of distinction.</p> + +<p>A young girl sat at the piano singing in a thin, +reedy voice, while an English lad waited with ill-concealed +jealousy of a too officious companion to +turn over the music by her side. Other men, +mostly young, with weather-bronzed faces, picturesque +in embroidered deerskin or velvet lounge jackets, +were scattered about the room, and all were waiting +for the eight-o’clock dinner, which replaced the usual +prairie supper at Silverdale. They were growers of +wheat who combined a good deal of amusement with +a little not very profitable farming, and most of them +possessed a large share of insular English pride and +a somewhat depleted exchequer.</p> + +<p>Presently Dane crossed over, and sat down by +Colonel Barrington. “You are silent, sir, and not +looking very well to-night,” he said.</p> + +<p>Barrington nodded gravely, for he had a respect +for the one man who occasionally spoke plain truth +to him. “The fact is, I am growing old,” he said, and +then added, with what was only an apparent lack of +connexion, “Wheat is down three cents, and money +tighter than ever.”</p> + +<p>Dane looked thoughtful, and noticed the older +man’s glance in his niece’s direction, as he said, “I +am afraid there are difficult times before us.”</p> + +<p>“I have no doubt we shall weather them as we have +done before,” said the Colonel. “Still, I can’t help +admitting that just now I feel—a little tired—and +am commencing to think we should have been better +prepared for the struggle had we worked a trifle +harder during the recent era of prosperity. I could +wish there were older heads on the shoulders of those +who will come after me.”</p> + +<p>Just then Maud Barrington glanced at them, and +Dane, who could not remember having heard his +leader talk in that fashion before, and could guess +his anxieties, was a little touched as he noticed his +attempt at sprightliness. As it happened, one of the +lads at the piano commenced a song of dogs and horses +that had little to recommend it but the brave young +voice.</p> + +<p>“They have the right spirit, sir,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said Barrington. “They are English +lads, but I think a little more is required. Thank +God we have not rated the dollar too high, but it is +possible we have undervalued its utility, and I fear I +have only taught them to be gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>“That is a good deal, sir,” Dane said quietly.</p> + +<p>“It is. Still, a gentleman, in the restricted sense, +is somewhat of an anachronism on the prairie, and it +is too late to begin again. In the usual course of +nature I must lay down my charge presently, and +that is why I feel the want of a more capable successor, +whom they would follow because of his connexion +with mine and me.”</p> + +<p>Dane looked thoughtful. “If I am not taking a +liberty—you still consider the one apparently born +to fill the place quite unsuitable?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Barrington quietly. “I fear there +is not a redeeming feature in Courthorne’s character.”</p> + +<p>Neither said anything further, until there was a +tapping at the door, and, though this was a most +unusual spectacle on the prairie, a trim English maid +in white-banded dress stood in the opening.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Courthorne, Miss Barrington,” she said.</p> + +<p>Now Silverdale had adopted one Western custom +in that no chance guest was ever kept waiting, and +the music ceased suddenly, while the stillness was +very suggestive, when a man appeared in the doorway. +He wore one of the Scandinavian leather jackets +which are not uncommon in that country, and when +his eyes had become accustomed to the light, moved +forward with a quiet deliberation that was characterized +neither by graceful ease nor the restraint of +embarrassment. His face was almost the colour of +a Blackfoot’s, his eyes steady and grey, but those of +the men who watched him were next moment turned +upon the Colonel’s sister, who rose to receive him, +slight, silver-haired, and faded, but still stamped with +a simple dignity that her ancient silks and lace curiously +enhanced. Then there was a silence that could +be felt, for all realized that a good deal depended +on the stranger’s first words and the fashion of his +reception.</p> + +<p>Witham, as it happened, felt this too, and something +more. It was eight years since he had stood +before an English lady, and he surmised that there +could not be many to compare with this one, while +after his grim, lonely life an intangible something +that seemed to emanate from her gracious serenity +compelled his homage. Then as she smiled at him +and held out her hand, he was for a moment sensible +of an almost overwhelming confusion. It passed as +suddenly, for this was a man of quick perceptions, and +remembering that Courthorne had now and then +displayed some of the grace of bygone days he yielded +to a curious impulse, and, stooping, kissed the little +withered fingers.</p> + +<p>“I have,” he said, “to thank you for a welcome +that does not match my poor deserts, madam.”</p> + +<p>Then Dane, standing beside his leader, saw the +grimness grow a trifle less marked in his eyes. “It +is in the blood,” he said half aloud, but Dane heard +him and afterwards remembered it.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Miss Barrington had turned from +the stranger to her niece. “It is a very long time +since you have seen Lance, Maud, and, though I knew +his mother well, I am less fortunate, because this is +our first meeting,” she said. “I wonder if you still +remember my niece.”</p> + +<p>Now, Witham had been gratified by his first success, +and was about to venture on the answer that it +was impossible to forget; but when he turned towards +the very stately young woman in the long black dress, +whose eyes had a sardonic gleam, and wondered +whether he had ever seen anybody so comely or less +inclined to be companionable, it was borne in upon him +that any speech of the kind would be distinctly out +of place. Accordingly, and because there was no +hand held out in this case, he contented himself with +a little bend of his head. Then he was presented to +the Colonel, who was distantly cordial, and Witham +was thankful when the maid appeared in the doorway +again, to announce that dinner was ready. Miss +Barrington laid her hand upon his arm.</p> + +<p>“You will put up with an old woman’s company +to-night?” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham glanced down deprecatingly at his attire. +“I must explain that I had no intention of trespassing +on your hospitality,” he said. “I purposed +going on to my own homestead, and only called +to acquaint Colonel Barrington with my arrival.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington laughed pleasantly. “That,” +she said, “was neither dutiful nor friendly. I should +have fancied you would also have desired to pay your +respects to my niece and me.”</p> + +<p>Witham was not quite sure what he answered, but +he drew in a deep breath, for he had made the plunge +and felt that the worst was over. His companion, +evidently noticed the gasp of relief.</p> + +<p>“It was somewhat of an ordeal?” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham looked down upon her gravely, and Miss +Barrington noticed a steadiness in his eyes she had +not expected to see. “It was, and I feel guilty because +I was horribly afraid,” he said. “Now I only +wonder if you will always be equally kind to me.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington smiled a little, but the man fancied +there was just a perceptible tightening of the +hand upon his arm. “I would like to be, for your +mother’s sake,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham understood that while Courthorne’s iniquities +were not to be brought up against him, the +little gentle-voiced lady had but taken him on trial; +but, perhaps because it was so long since any woman +had spoken kindly words to him, his heart went out towards +her, and he felt a curious desire to compel her +good opinion. Then he found himself seated near the +head of the long table, with Maud Barrington on his +other hand, and had an uncomfortable feeling that +most of the faces were turned somewhat frequently +in his direction. It is also possible that he would +have betrayed himself, had he been burdened with +self-consciousness, but the long, bitter struggle he had +fought alone had purged him of petty weaknesses and +left him the closer grasp of essential things, with the +strength of character which is one and the same in +all men who possess it, whatever may be their upbringing.</p> + +<p>During a lull in the voices, Maud Barrington, who +may have felt it incumbent on her to show him some +scant civility, turned towards him as she said, “I am +afraid our conversation will not appeal to you. Partly +because there is so little else to interest us, we talk +wheat throughout the year at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham with a curious little smile, +“wheat as a topic is not quite new to me. In fact, +I know almost more about cereals than some folks +would care to do.”</p> + +<p>“In the shape of elevator warrants or Winnipeg +market margins, presumably?”</p> + +<p>Witham’s eyes twinkled, though he understood the +implication. “No,” he said. “The wheat I handled +was in 250-pound bags, and I occasionally grew +somewhat tired of pitching them into a wagon, while +my speculations usually consisted in committing it +to the prairie soil, in the hope of reaping forty bushels +to the acre, and then endeavouring to be content +with ten. It is conceivable that operations on the +Winnipeg market are less laborious as well as more +profitable, but I have no opportunity of trying +them.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked at him steadily, and Witham +felt the blood surge to his forehead as he remembered +having heard of a certain venture made by Courthorne, +which brought discredit on one or two men, connected +with the affairs of a grain elevator. It was evident +that Miss Barrington had also heard of it, and no man +cares to stand convicted of falsification in the eyes +of a very pretty girl. Still, he roused himself with an +effort.</p> + +<p>“It is neither wise nor charitable to believe all one +hears,” he said.</p> + +<p>The girl smiled a little, but the man still winced +inwardly under her clear brown eyes that would, he +fancied, have been very scornful had they been less +indifferent.</p> + +<p>“I do not remember mentioning having heard anything,” +she said. “Were you not a trifle premature +in face of the proverb?”</p> + +<p>Witham’s face was a trifle grim, though he laughed. +“I’m afraid I was; but I am warned,” he said. +“Excuses are, after all, not worth much, and when I +make my defence it will be before a more merciful +judge.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington’s curiosity was piqued. Lance +Courthorne, outcast and gambler, was at least a +different stamp of man from the type she had been +used to, and, being a woman, the romance that was +interwoven with his somewhat iniquitous career was +not without its attractions for her.</p> + +<p>“I did not know that you included farming among +your talents, and should have fancied you would have +found it—monotonous,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I did,” and the provoking smile still flickered in +Witham’s eyes. “Are not all strictly virtuous occupations +usually so?”</p> + +<p>“It is probably a question of temperament. I +have, of course, heard sardonic speeches of the kind +before, and felt inclined to wonder whether those who +made them were qualified to form an opinion.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded, but there was a little ring in his +voice. “Perhaps I laid myself open to the thrust; +but have you any right to assume I have never followed +a commendable profession?”</p> + +<p>No answer was immediately forthcoming, but Witham +did wisely when, in place of waiting, he turned +to Miss Barrington. He had left her niece irritated, +but the trace of anger she felt was likely to enhance +her interest. The meal, however, was a trial to him, +for he had during eight long years lived for the most +part apart from all his kind, a lonely toiler, and now +was constrained to personate a man known to be +almost dangerously skilful with his tongue. At first +sight the task appeared almost insuperably difficult, +but Witham was a clever man, and felt all the thrill +of one playing a risky game just then. Perhaps it +was due to excitement that a readiness he had never +fancied himself capable of came to him in his need, +and, when at last the ladies rose, he felt that he had +not slipped perilously. Still, he found how dry his +lips had grown when somebody poured him a glass +of wine. Then he became sensible that Colonel Barrington, +who had apparently been delivering a lengthy +monologue, was addressing him.</p> + +<p>“The outlook is sufficient to cause us some anxiety,” +he said. “We are holding large stocks, and I can see +no prospect of anything but a steady fall in wheat. +It is, however, presumably a little too soon to ask +your opinion.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, “while I am prepared to act +upon it, I would recommend it to others with some +diffidence. No money can be made at present by +farming, but I see no reason why we should not endeavour +to cut our losses by selling forward down. If +caught by a sudden rally, we could fall back on the +grain we hold.”</p> + +<p>There was a sudden silence, until Dane said softly, +“That is exactly what one of the cleverest brokers +in Winnipeg recommended.”</p> + +<p>“I think,” said Colonel Barrington, “you heard +my answer. I am inclined to fancy that such a measure +would not be advisable or fitting, Mr. Courthorne. +You, however, presumably know very little about +the practical aspect of the wheat question?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled. “On the contrary, I know a +great deal.”</p> + +<p>“You do?” said Barrington sharply, and while +a blunderer would have endeavoured to qualify his +statement, Witham stood by it.</p> + +<p>“You are evidently not aware, sir, that I have tried +my hand at farming, though not very successfully.”</p> + +<p>“That, at least,” said Barrington dryly, as he rose, +“is quite credible.”</p> + +<p>When they went into the smaller room, Witham +crossed over to where Maud Barrington sat alone, and +looked down upon her gravely. “One discovers +that frankness is usually best,” he said. “Now, I +would not like to feel that you had determined to be +unfriendly with me.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington fixed a pair of clear brown eyes +upon his face, and the faintest trace of astonishment +crept into them. She was a woman with high principles, +but neither a fool nor a prude, and she saw +no sign of dissolute living there. The man’s gaze +was curiously steady, his skin clear and brown, and +his sinewy form suggested a capacity for, and she +almost fancied an acquaintance with, physical toil. +Yet he had already denied the truth to her. Witham, +on his part, saw a very fair face with wholesome pride +in it, and felt that the eyes which were coldly contemptuous +now could, if there was a warrant for it, +grow very gentle.</p> + +<p>“Would it be of any moment if I were?” she said.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham quietly. “There are two +people here it is desirable for me to stand well with, +and the first of them, your aunt, has, I fancy, already +decided to give me a fair trial. She told me it was for +my mother’s sake. Now, I can deal with your uncle.”</p> + +<p>The girl smiled a little. “Are you quite sure? +Everybody does not find it easy to get on with Colonel +Barrington. His code is somewhat draconic.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “He is a man, and I hope to convince +him I have at least a right to toleration. That +leaves only you. The rest don’t count. They will +come round by and by, you see.”</p> + +<p>The little forceful gesture with which he concluded +pleased Maud Barrington. It was free from vanity, +but conveyed an assurance that he knew his own +value.</p> + +<p>“No friendship that is lightly given is worth very +much,” she said. “I could decide better in another +six months. Now it is perhaps fortunate that Colonel +Barrington is waiting for us to make up his four +at whist.”</p> + +<p>Witham allowed a faint gesture of dismay to escape +him. “Must I play?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, smiling. “Whist is my +uncle’s hobby, and he is enthusiastic over a clever +game.”</p> + +<p>Witham groaned inwardly. “And I am a fool at +whist.”</p> + +<p>“Then it was poker you played?” and again a +faint trace of anger crept into the girl’s eyes.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head. “No,” he said. “I +had few opportunities of indulging in expensive luxuries.”</p> + +<p>“I think we had better take our places,” said Maud +Barrington, with unveiled contempt.</p> + +<p>Witham’s forehead grew a trifle hot, and when he +sat down Barrington glanced at him. “I should +explain that we never allow stakes of any kind at +Silverdale,” he said. “Some of the lads sent out to +me have been a trifle extravagant in the old country.”</p> + +<p>He dealt out the cards, but a trace of bewildered +irritation crept into his eyes as the game proceeded, +and once or twice he appeared to check an exclamation +of astonishment, while at last he glanced reproachfully +at Witham.</p> + +<p>“My dear sir! Still, you have ridden a long way,” +he said, laying his finger on a king.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed to hide his dismay. “I am +sorry, sir. It was scarcely fair to my partner. You +would, however, have beaten us, anyway.”</p> + +<p>Barrington gravely gathered up the cards. “We +will,” he said, “have some music. I do not play +poker.”</p> + +<p>Then, for the first time, Witham lost his head in +his anger. “Nor do I, sir.”</p> + +<p>Barrington only looked at him, but the farmer felt +as though somebody had struck him in the face, and +as soon as he conveniently could, bade Miss Barrington +good night.</p> + +<p>“But we expected you would stay here a day or +two. Your place is not ready,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled at her. “I think I am wise. I +must feel my way.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington was won, and, making no further +protest, signed to Dane. “You will take Mr. Courthorne +home with you,” she said. “I would have +kept him here, but he is evidently anxious to talk +over affairs with some one more of his age than my +brother is.”</p> + +<p>Dane appeared quite willing, and an hour later, +Witham sat, cigar in hand, in a room of his outlying +farm. It was furnished simply, but there were signs +of taste, and the farmer who occupied it had already +formed a good opinion of the man whose knowledge +of his own profession astonished him.</p> + +<p>“So you are actually going to sell wheat in face of +the Colonel’s views?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Witham simply. “I don’t like +unpleasantness, but I can allow no man to dictate +my affairs to me.”</p> + +<p>Dane grinned. “Well,” he said, “the Colonel +can be nasty, and he has no great reason for being +fond of you already.”</p> + +<p>“No?” said Witham. “Now, of course, my +accession will make a difference at Silverdale, but I +would consider it a friendly act if you will let me know +the views of the colony.”</p> + +<p>Dane looked thoughtful. “The trouble is that +your taking up the land leaves less for Maud Barrington +than there would have been. Barrington, who +is fond of the girl, was trustee for the property, and +after your—estrangement—from your father everybody +expected she would get it all.”</p> + +<p>“So I have deprived Miss Barrington of part of +her income?”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Dane. “Didn’t you know?”</p> + +<p>Witham found it difficult to answer. “I never +quite realized it before. Are there more accounts +against me?”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Dane slowly, “is rather a facer. +We are all more or less friends of the dominant +family, you see.”</p> + +<p>Witham laid down his cigar and stood up, “Now,” +he said, “I generally talk straight, and you have +held out a hand to me. Can you believe in the apparent +improbability of such a man as I am in the opinion +of the folks at Silverdale getting tired of a wasted +life and trying to walk straight again? I want your +answer, yes or no, before I head across the prairie +for my own place.”</p> + +<p>“Sit down,” said Dane with a little smile. “Do +you think I would have brought you here if I hadn’t +believed it? And, if I have my way, the first man +who flings a stone will be sorry for it. Still, I don’t +think any of them will—or could afford it. If we +had all been saints, some of us would never have come +out from the old country.”</p> + +<p>He stopped and poured out two glasses of wine. +“It’s a long while since I’ve talked so much,” he +said. “Here’s to our better acquaintance, Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>After that they talked wheat-growing and horses, +and when his guest retired Dane still sat smoking +thoughtfully beside the stove. “We want a man +with nerve and brains,” he said. “I fancy the one +who has been sent us will make a difference at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>It was about the same time when Colonel Barrington +stood talking with his niece and sister in Silverdale +Grange. “And the man threw that trick away +when it was absolutely clear who had the ace—and +wished me to believe that he forgot!” he said.</p> + +<p>His face was flushed with indignation, but Miss +Barrington smiled at her niece. “What is your +opinion, Maud?”</p> + +<p>The girl moved one white shoulder with a gesture +of disdain. “Can you ask—after that! Besides, he +twice wilfully perverted facts while he talked to me, +though it was not in the least necessary.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked thoughtful. “And yet, +because I was watching him, I do not think he plays +cards well.”</p> + +<p>“But he was a professional gambler,” said the girl.</p> + +<p>The elder lady shook her head. “So we—heard,” +she said. “My dear, give him a little time. I have +seen many men and women—and can’t help a fancy +that there is good in him.”</p> + +<p>“Can the leopard change his spots?” asked Colonel +Barrington, with a grim smile.</p> + +<p>The little white-haired lady glanced at him as she +said quietly, “When the wicked man——”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink09'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER IX—AN ARMISTICE</a></h2> + +<p>The dismal afternoon was drawing in when Witham, +driving home from the railroad, came into sight of a +lonely farm. It lifted itself out of the prairie, a blur +of huddled buildings on the crest of a long rise, but +at first sight Witham scarcely noticed it. He was +gazing abstractedly down the sinuous smear of trail +which unrolled itself like an endless riband across +the great white desolation, and his brain was busy. +Four months had passed since he came to Silverdale, +and they had left their mark on him.</p> + +<p>At first there had been the constant fear of detection, +and when that had lessened and he was accepted +as Lance Courthorne, the latter’s unfortunate record +had met him at every turn. It accounted for the +suspicions of Colonel Barrington, the reserve of his +niece, and the aloofness of some of his neighbours, +while there had been times when Witham found +Silverdale almost unendurable. He was, however, +an obstinate man, and there was on the opposite side +the gracious kindliness of the little grey-haired lady, +who had from the beginning been his champion, and +the friendship of Dane and one or two of the older +men. Witham had also proved his right to be listened +to, and treated, outwardly at least, with due +civility, while something in his resolute quietness +rendered an impertinence impossible. He knew +by this time that he could hold his own at Silverdale, +and based his conduct on the fact, but that was only +one aspect of the question, and he speculated as to +the consummation.</p> + +<p>It was, however, evident that in the meanwhile +he must continue to pose as Courthorne, and he felt, +rightly or wrongly, that the possession of his estate, +was, after all, a small reparation for the injury the +outlaw had done him, but the affair was complicated +by the fact that, in taking Courthorne’s inheritance, +he had deprived Maud Barrington of part of hers. +The girl’s coldness stung him, but her unquestionable +beauty and strength of character had not been without +their effect, and the man winced as he remembered +that she had no pity for anything false or mean. He +had decided only upon two things, first that he would +vindicate himself in her eyes, and, since nobody else +could apparently do it, pull the property that should +have been hers out of the ruin it had been drifting +into under her uncle’s guardianship. When this had +been done, and the killing of Trooper Shannon forgotten, +it would be time for him to slip back into the +obscurity he came from.</p> + +<p>Then the fact that the homestead was growing +nearer forced itself upon his perceptions, and he glanced +doubtfully across the prairie as he approached +the forking of the trail. A grey dimness was creeping +across the wilderness and the smoky sky seemed to +hang lower above the dully gleaming snow, while +the moaning wind flung little clouds of icy dust about +him. It was evident that the snow was not far away, +and it was still two leagues to Silverdale, but Witham, +who had been to Winnipeg, had business with the +farmer, and had faced a prairie storm before. Accordingly +he swung the team into the forking trail and +shook the reins. There was, he knew, little time to +lose, and in another five minutes he stood, still +wearing his white-sprinkled furs, in a room of the birch-log +building.</p> + +<p>“Here are your accounts, Macdonald, and while +we’ve pulled up our losses, I can’t help thinking we +have just got out in time,” he said. “The market +is but little stiffer yet, but there is less selling, and +before a few months are over we’re going to see a +sharp recovery.”</p> + +<p>The farmer glanced at the documents, and smiled +with contentment as he took the cheque. “I’m +glad I listened to you,” he said. “It’s unfortunate +for him and his niece that Barrington wouldn’t—at +least, not until he had lost the opportunity.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t understand,” said Witham.</p> + +<p>“No,” said the farmer, “you’ve been away. +Well, you know it takes a long while to get an idea +into the Colonel’s head, but once it’s in it’s even +harder to get it out again. Now Barrington looked +down on wheat jobbing, but money’s tight at Silverdale, +and when he saw what you were making, he +commenced to think. Accordingly he’s going to sell, +and, as he seems convinced that wheat will not go up +again, let half the acreage lie fallow this season. The +worst of it is, the others will follow him up, and he +controls Maud Barrington’s property as well as his +own.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s face was grave. “I heard in Winnipeg +that most of the smaller men who had lost courage +were doing the same thing. That means a very small +crop of western hard, and millers paying our own +prices. Somebody must stop the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Macdonald dryly, “I wouldn’t like +to be the man, and, after all, it’s only your opinion. +As you have seen, the small men here and in Minnesota +are afraid to plough.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed softly. “The man who makes +the dollars is the one who sees farther than the crowd. +Anyway, I found the views of one or two men who +make big deals were much the same as mine, and I’ll +speak to Miss Barrington.”</p> + +<p>“Then if you will wait a little, you will have an +opportunity. She is here, you see.”</p> + +<p>Witham looked disconcerted. “She should not +have been. Why didn’t you send her home? +There’ll be snow before she reaches Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Macdonald laughed. “I hadn’t noticed the weather, +and, though my wife wished her to stay, there +is no use in attempting to persuade Miss Barrington +to do anything when she does not want to. In some +respects she is very like the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>The farmer led the way into another room, and +Witham flushed a little when the girl returned his +greeting in a fashion which he fancied the presence +of Mrs. Macdonald alone rendered distantly cordial. +Still, a glance through the windows showed him that +delay was inadvisable.</p> + +<p>“I think you had better stay here all night, Miss +Barrington,” he said. “There is snow coming.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry our views do not coincide,” said +the girl. “I have several things to attend to at the +Grange.”</p> + +<p>“Then Macdonald will keep your team, and I will +drive you home,” said Witham. “Mine are the best +horses at Silverdale, and I fancy we will need all their +strength.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked up sharply. There had +been a little ring in Witham’s voice, but there was +also a solicitude in his face which almost astonished +her, and when Macdonald urged her to comply she +rose leisurely.</p> + +<p>“I will be ready in ten minutes,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham waited at least twenty, very impatiently, +but when at last the girl appeared, handed her with +quiet deference into the sleigh, and then took his +place, as far as the dimensions of the vehicle permitted, +apart from her. Once he fancied she noticed +it with faint amusement, but the horses knew what +was coming, and it was only when he pulled them up +to a trot again on the slope of a rise that he found +speech convenient.</p> + +<p>“I am glad we are alone, though I feel a little diffidence +in asking a favour of you, because unfortunately +when I venture to recommend anything you usually +set yourself against it,” he said. “This is, in the +language of this country, tolerably straight.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed. “I could find no +fault with it on the score of ambiguity.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, “I believe your uncle is +going to sell wheat for you, and let a good deal of +your land go out of cultivation. Now, as you perhaps +do not know, the laws which govern the markets +are very simple and almost immutable, but the +trouble is that a good many people do not understand +their application.”</p> + +<p>“You apparently consider yourself an exception,” +said the girl.</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “I do just now. Still, I do not +wish to talk about myself. You see, the people back +there in Europe must be fed, and the latest news from +wheat-growing countries does not promise more than +an average crop, while half the faint-hearted farmers +here are not going to sow much this year. Therefore +when the demand comes for Western wheat there +will be little to sell.”</p> + +<p>“But how is it that you alone see this? Isn’t it +a trifle egotistical?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Can’t we leave my virtues, +or the reverse, out of the question? I feel that I am +right, and want you to dissuade your uncle. It +would be even better if, when I return to Winnipeg, +you would empower me to buy wheat for you.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington looked at him curiously. “I +am a little perplexed as to why you should wish me +to.”</p> + +<p>“No doubt,” said Witham. “Still, is there any +reason why I should be debarred the usual privilege +of taking an interest in my neighbour’s affairs?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the girl slowly. “But can you not see +that it is out of the question that I should entrust +you with this commission?”</p> + +<p>Witham’s hands closed on the reins, and his face +grew a trifle grim as he said, “From the point of view +you evidently take, I presume it is.”</p> + +<p>A flush of crimson suffused the girl’s cheeks. “I +never meant that, and I can scarcely forgive you for +fancying I did. Of course I could trust you with—you +have made me use the word—the dollars, but +you must realize that I could not do anything in +public opposition to my uncle’s opinion.”</p> + +<p>Witham was sensible of a great relief, but it did not +appear advisable to show it. “There are so many +things you apparently find it difficult to forgive me—and +we will let this one pass,” he said. “Still, I +cannot help thinking that Colonel Barrington will +have a good deal to answer for.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington made no answer, but she was sensible +of a respect which appeared quite unwarranted +for the dryly-spoken man who, though she guessed +her words stung him now and then, bore them without +wincing. While she sat silent, shivering under +her furs, darkness crept down. The smoky cloud +dropped lower, the horizon closed in as the grey +obscurity rolled up to meet them across a rapidly-narrowing +strip of snow. Then she could scarcely +see the horses, and the muffled drumming of their +hoofs was lost in a doleful wail of wind. It also seemed +to her that the cold, which was already almost insupportable, +suddenly increased, as it not infrequently +does in that country before the snow. Then a white +powder was whirled into her face, filling her eyes and +searing the skin, while, when she could see anything +again, the horses were plunging at a gallop through a +filmy haze, and Witham, whitened all over, leaned forward +with lowered head hurling hoarse encouragement +at them. His voice reached her fitfully through the +roar of wind, until sight and hearing were lost alike +as the white haze closed about them, and it was +not until the wild gust had passed she heard him +again.</p> + +<p>He was apparently shouting, “Come nearer.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was not sure whether she obeyed +him or he seized and drew her towards him. She, +however, felt the furs piled high about her neck and +that there was an arm round her shoulder, and for a +moment was sensible of an almost overwhelming revulsion +from the contact. She was proud and very +dainty, and fancied she knew what this man had been, +while now she was drawn in to his side, and felt her +chilled blood respond to the warmth of his body. +Indeed, she grew suddenly hot to the neck, and felt +that henceforward she could never forgive him or +herself, but the mood passed almost as swiftly, for +again the awful blast shrieked about them and she +only remembered her companion’s humanity as the +differences of sex and character vanished under that +destroying cold. They were no longer man and +woman, but only beings of flesh and blood, clinging +desperately to the life that was in them, for the first +rush of the Western snowstorm has more than a +physical effect, and man exposed to its fury loses +all but his animal instincts in the primitive struggle +with the elements.</p> + +<p>Then, while the snow folded them closely in its +white embrace during a lull, the girl recovered herself, +and her strained voice was faintly audible.</p> + +<p>“This is my fault; why don’t you tell me so?” +she said.</p> + +<p>A hoarse laugh seemed to issue from the whitened +object beside her, and she was drawn closer to it +again. “We needn’t go into that just now. You +have one thing to do, and that is to keep warm.”</p> + +<p>One of the horses stumbled, the grasp that was +around her became relaxed and she heard the swish +of the whip followed by hoarse expletives, and did +not resent it. The man, it seemed, was fighting for +her life as well as his own, and even brutal virility +was necessary. After that there was a space of +oblivion, while the storm raged about them, until, +when the wind fell a trifle, it became evident that the +horses had left the trail.</p> + +<p>“You are off the track, and will never make the +Grange unless you find it!” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham seemed to nod. “We are not going +there,” he said, and if he added anything, it was lost +in the scream of a returning gust.</p> + +<p>Again Maud Barrington’s reason reasserted itself, +and remembering the man’s history she became +sensible of a curious dismay, but it also passed, and +left her with the vague realization that he and she +were actuated alike only by the desire to escape extinction. +Presently she became sensible that the +sleigh had stopped beside a formless mound of white +and the man was shaking her.</p> + +<p>“Hold those furs about you while I lift you down,” +he said.</p> + +<p>She did his bidding, and did not shrink when she +felt his arms about her, while next moment she was +standing knee-deep in the snow and the man shouting +something she did not catch. Team and sleigh seemed +to vanish, and she saw her companion dimly for a +moment before he was lost in the sliding whiteness +too. Then a horrible fear came upon her.</p> + +<p>It seemed a very long while before he reappeared, +and thrust her in through what seemed to be a door. +Then there was another waiting before the light +of a lamp blinked out, and she saw that she was +standing in a little log-walled room with bare floor +and a few trusses of straw in a corner. There was +also a rusty stove, and a very small pile of billets beside +it. Witham, who had closed the door, stood +looking at them with a curious expression.</p> + +<p>“Where is the team?” she gasped.</p> + +<p>“Heading for a birch bluff or Silverdale, though +I scarcely think they will get there,” said the man. +“I have never stopped here, and it wasn’t astonishing +they fancied the place a pile of snow. While +I was getting the furs out they slipped away from +me.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington now knew where they were. The +shanty was used by the remoter settlers as a half-way +house where they slept occasionally on their long +journey to the railroad, and as there was a birch bluff +not far away, it was the rule that whoever occupied it +should replace the fuel he had consumed. The last +man had, however, not been liberal.</p> + +<p>“But what are we to do?” she asked, with a little +gasp of dismay.</p> + +<p>“Stay here until the morning,” said Witham +quietly. “Unfortunately I can’t even spare you +my company. The stable has fallen in, and it would +be death to stand outside, you see. In the meanwhile, +pull out some of the straw and put it in the +stove.”</p> + +<p>“Can you not do that?” asked Miss Barrington, +feeling that she must commence at once, if she was +to keep this man at a befitting distance.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Oh, yes, but you will freeze +if you stand still, and these billets require splitting. +Still, if you have special objections to doing +what I ask you, you can walk up and down +rapidly.”</p> + +<p>The girl glanced at him a moment, and then +lowered her eyes. “Of course I was wrong! Do +you wish to hear that I am sorry?”</p> + +<p>Witham, answering nothing, swung an axe round +his head, and the girl, kneeling beside the stove, +noticed the sinewy suppleness of his frame and the +precision with which the heavy blade cleft the billets. +The axe, she knew, is by no means an easy tool to +handle. At last the red flame crackled, and though +she had not intended the question to be malicious, +there was a faint trace of irony in her voice as she +asked, “Is there any other thing you wish me to do?”</p> + +<p>Witham flung two bundles of straw down beside +the stove, and stood looking at her gravely. “Yes,” +he said. “I want you to sit down and let me wrap +this sleigh robe about you.”</p> + +<p>The girl submitted, and did not shrink from his +touch visibly when he drew the fur robe about her +shoulders and packed the end of it round her feet. +Still, there was a faint warmth in her face, and she +was grateful for his unconcernedness.</p> + +<p>“Fate or fortune has placed me in charge of you +until to-morrow, and if the position is distasteful to +you it is not my fault,” he said. “Still, I feel the +responsibility, and it would be a little less difficult +if you could accept the fact tacitly.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington would not have shivered if she +could have avoided it, but the cold was too great for +her, and she did not know whether she was vexed +or pleased at the gleam of compassion in the man’s +grey eyes. It was more eloquent than anything of +the kind she had ever seen, but it had gone and he +was only quietly deferent when she glanced at him +again.</p> + +<p>“I will endeavour to be good,” she said, and then +flushed with annoyance at the adjective. Half-dazed +by the cold as she was, she could not think of +a more suitable one. Witham, however, retained +his gravity.</p> + +<p>“Now, Macdonald gave you no supper, and he has +dinner at noon,” he said. “I brought some eatables +along, and you must make the best meal you can.”</p> + +<p>He opened a packet, and laid it, with a little silver +flask, upon her knee.</p> + +<p>“I cannot eat all this—and it is raw spirit,” said +Maud Barrington.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Are you not forgetting your +promise? Still, we will melt a little snow into the +cup.”</p> + +<p>An icy gust swept in when he opened the door, and +it was only by a strenuous effort he closed it again, +while, when he came back panting with the top of +the flask a little colour crept into Maud Barrington’s +face. “I am sorry,” she said. “That at least is +your due.”</p> + +<p>“I really don’t want my due,” said Witham with +a deprecatory gesture as he laid the silver cup upon +the stove. “Can’t we forget we are not exactly +friends, just for to-night? If so, you will drink this +and commence at once on the provisions—to please +me!”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was glad of the reviving draught, +for she was very cold, but presently she held out the +packet.</p> + +<p>“One really cannot eat many crackers at once; +will you help me?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed as he took one of the biscuits. +“If I had expected any one would share my meal, I +would have provided a better one. Still, I have +been glad to feast upon more unappetizing things +occasionally!”</p> + +<p>“When were you unfortunate?” said the girl.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled somewhat dryly. “I was unfortunate +for six years on end.”</p> + +<p>He was aware of the blunder when he had spoken, +but Maud Barrington appeared to be looking at the +flask thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“The design is very pretty,” she said. “You got +it in England?”</p> + +<p>The man knew that it was the name F. Witham +his companion’s eyes rested on, but his face was +expressionless. “Yes,” he said. “It is one of the +things they make for presentation in the old country.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington noticed the absence of any attempt +at explanation, and having considerable pride of her +own, was sensible of a faint approval. “You are +making slow progress,” she said, with a slight but +perceptible difference in her tone. “Now, you can +have eaten nothing since breakfast.”</p> + +<p>Witham said nothing, but by and by poured a little +of the spirit into a rusty can, and the girl, who understood +why he did so, felt that it covered several of +his offences. “Now,” she said graciously, “you +may smoke if you wish to.”</p> + +<p>Witham pointed to the few billets left and shook +his head. “I’m afraid I must get more wood.”</p> + +<p>The roar of the wind almost drowned his voice, +and the birch logs seemed to tremble under the impact +of the blast, while Maud Barrington shivered +as she asked, “Is it safe?”</p> + +<p>“It is necessary,” said Witham, with the little +laugh she had already found reassuring.</p> + +<p>He had gone out in another minute, and the girl +felt curiously lonely as she remembered stories of +men who had left their homesteads during a blizzard +to see to the safety of the horses in a neighbouring +stable, and were found afterwards as still as the snow +that covered them. Maud Barrington was not unduly +timorous, but the roar of that awful icy gale would +have stricken dismay into the hearts of most men, +and she found herself glancing with feverish impatience +at a diminutive gold watch and wondering +whether the cold had retarded its progress. Ten +minutes passed very slowly, lengthened to twenty +more slowly still, and then it flashed upon her that +there was at least something she could do; and, +scraping up a little of the snow that sifted in, she +melted it in the can. Then she set the flask-top upon +the stove, and once more listened for the man’s footsteps +very eagerly.</p> + +<p>She did not hear them, but at last the door swung +open, and carrying a load of birch branches Witham +staggered in. He dropped them, strove to close the +door, and failed, then leaned against it, gasping, with +a livid face, for there are few men who can withstand +the cold of a snow-laden gale at forty degrees below.</p> + +<p>How Maud Barrington closed the door she did not +know; but it was with a little imperious gesture she +turned to the man.</p> + +<p>“Shake those furs at once,” she said; and drawing +him towards the stove held up the steaming cup. +“Now sit there and drink it.”</p> + +<p>Witham stooped and reached out for the can, but +the girl swept it off the stove. “Oh, I know the +silver was for me,” she said. “Still, is this a time +for trifles such as that?”</p> + +<p>Worn out by a very grim struggle, Witham did as +he was bidden, and looked up with a twinkle in his +eyes, when with the faintest trace of colour in her +cheeks the girl sat down close to him and drew part +of the fur robe about him.</p> + +<p>“I really believe you were a little pleased to see +me come back just now,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Was that quite necessary?” asked Maud Barrington. +“Still, I was.”</p> + +<p>Witham made a little deprecatory gesture. “Of +course,” he said. “Now we can resume our former +footing to-morrow, but in the meanwhile I would like +to know why you are so hard upon me, Miss Barrington, +because I really have not done much harm to +any one at Silverdale. Your aunt”—and he made a +little respectful inclination of his head which pleased +the girl—“is at least giving me a fair trial.”</p> + +<p>“It is difficult to tell you—but it was your own +doing,” said Maud Barrington. “At the beginning +you prejudiced us when you told us you could only +play cards indifferently. It was so unnecessary, +and we knew a good deal about you!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham quietly, “I have only my +word to offer, and I wonder if you will believe me +now, but I don’t think I ever won five dollars at cards +in my life.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington watched him closely, but his +tone carried conviction, and again she was glad that +he attempted no explanation. “I am quite willing +to take it,” she said. “Still, you can understand——”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham. “It puts a strain upon +your faith, but some day I may be able to make a +good deal that puzzles you quite clear.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington glanced at the flask. “I wonder +if that is connected with the explanation, but I will +wait. Now, you have not lighted your cigar.”</p> + +<p>Witham understood that the topic was dismissed, +and sat thoughtfully still while the girl nestled +against the birch logs close beside him under the same +furs; for the wind went through the building and +the cold was unbearable a few feet from the stove. +The birch rafters shook above their heads, and every +now and then it seemed that a roaring gust would +lift the roof from them. Still the stove glowed and +snapped, and close in about it there was a drowsy +heat, while presently the girl’s eyes grew heavy. +Finally—for there are few who can resist the desire +for sleep in the cold of the North-West—her head +sank back, and Witham, rising very slowly, held +his breath as he piled the furs about her. That done, +he stooped and looked down upon her while the blood +crept to his face. Maud Barrington lay very still, +the long, dark lashes resting on her cold-tinted cheeks, +and the patrician serenity of her face was even more +marked in her sleep. Then he turned away, feeling +like one who had committed a desecration, knowing +that he had looked too long already upon the sleeping +girl who believed he had been an outcast and yet had +taken his word; for it was borne in upon him that +a time would come when he would try her faith even +more severely. Moving softly, he paced up and down +the room.</p> + +<p>Witham afterwards wondered how many miles he +walked that night, for though the loghouse was not +longer than thirty feet, the cold bit deep; but at +last he heard a sigh as he glanced towards the stove, +and immediately swung round again. When he next +turned, Miss Barrington stood upright, a little flushed +in face, but otherwise very calm; and the man stood +still, shivering in spite of his efforts, and blue with +cold. The wind had fallen, but the sting of the frost +that followed it made itself felt beside the stove.</p> + +<p>“You had only your deerskin jacket—and you +let me sleep under all the furs,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head, and hoped he did not look +as guilty as he felt, when he remembered that it must +have been evident to his companion that the furs did +not get into the position they had occupied themselves.</p> + +<p>“I only fancied you were a trifle drowsy and not +inclined to talk,” he said, with an absence of concern, +for which Miss Barrington, who did not believe him, +felt grateful. “You see”—and the inspiration was +a trifle too evident—“I was too sleepy to notice anything +myself. Still, I am glad you are awake now, +because I must make my way to the Grange.”</p> + +<p>“But the snow will be ever so deep, and I could +not come,” said Maud Barrington.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head. “I’m afraid you must +stay here; but I will be back with Colonel Barrington +in a few hours at latest.”</p> + +<p>The girl deemed it advisable to hide her consternation. +“But you might not find the trail,” she +said. “The ravine would lead you to Graham’s +homestead.”</p> + +<p>“Still,” said Witham slowly, “I am going to +the Grange.”</p> + +<p>Then Maud Barrington remembered, and glanced +aside from him. It was evident this man thought +of everything; and she made no answer when +Witham, who thrust more billets into the stove, +turned to her with a little smile.</p> + +<p>“I think we need remember nothing when we meet +again, beyond the fact that you will give me a chance +of showing that the Lance Courthorne, whose fame +you know, has ceased to exist.”</p> + +<p>Then he went out, and the girl stood with flushed +cheeks looking down at the furs he had left behind +him.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink10'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER X—MAUD HARRINGTON’S PROMISE</a></h2> + +<p>Daylight had not broken across the prairie, when, +floundering through a foot of dusty snow, Witham +reached the Grange. He was aching from fatigue +and cold, and the deerskin jacket stood out from his +numbed body, stiff with frost, when, leaning heavily +on a table, he awaited Colonel Barrington. The +latter, on entering, stared at him and then flung open +a cupboard and poured out a glass of wine.</p> + +<p>“Drink that before you talk. You look half +dead,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head. “Perhaps you had +better hear me first.”</p> + +<p>Barrington thrust the glass upon him. “I could +make nothing of what you told me while you speak +like that. Drink it, and then sit until you get used +to the different temperature.”</p> + +<p>Witham drained the glass and sank limply into a +chair. As yet his face was colourless, though his +chilled flesh tingled horribly as the blood once more +crept into the surface tissues. Then he fixed his +eyes upon his host as he told his story. Barrington +stood very straight watching his visitor, but his +face was drawn, for the resolution which supported +him through the day was less noticeable in the early +morning, and it was evident now at least that he was +an old man carrying a heavy load of anxiety. Still, +as the story proceeded, a little blood crept into his +cheeks, while Witham guessed that he found it difficult +to retain his grim immobility.</p> + +<p>“I am to understand that an attempt to reach the +Grange through the snow would have been perilous?” +he said.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>The older man stood very still regarding him intently, +until he said, “I don’t mind admitting that +it was distinctly regrettable!”</p> + +<p>Witham stopped him with a gesture. “It was at +least unavoidable, sir. The team would not face the +snow, and no one could have reached the Grange +alive.”</p> + +<p>“No doubt you did your best—and, as a connexion +of the family, I am glad it was you. Still—and +there are cases in which it is desirable to speak plainly—the +affair, which you will, of course, dismiss from +your recollection, is to be considered as closed now.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled, and a trace of irony he could not +quite repress was just discernible in his voice. “I +scarcely think that was necessary, sir. It is, of course, +sufficient for me to have rendered a small service to +the distinguished family which has given me an +opportunity of proving my right to recognition, and +neither you, nor Miss Barrington, need have any apprehension +that I will presume upon it!”</p> + +<p>Barrington wheeled round. “You have the Courthorne +temper, at least, and perhaps I deserved this +display of it. You acted with commendable discretion +in coming straight to me—and the astonishment +I got drove the other aspect of the question out of my +head. If it hadn’t been for you, my niece would +have frozen.”</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid I spoke unguardedly, sir; but I am +very tired. Still, if you will wait a few minutes, I +will get the horses out without troubling the hired +man.”</p> + +<p>Barrington made a little gesture of comprehension, +and then shook his head. “You are fit for nothing +further, and need rest and sleep.”</p> + +<p>“You will want somebody, sir,” said Witham. +“The snow is very loose and deep.”</p> + +<p>He went out, and Barrington, who looked after him +with a curious expression in his face, nodded twice as +if in approval. Twenty minutes later he took his +place in the sleigh that slid away from the Grange, +which lay a league behind it when the sunrise flamed +across the prairie. The wind had gone, and there was +only a pitiless brightness and a devastating cold, +while the snow lay blown in wisps, dried dusty and fine +as flour by the frost. It had no cohesion, the runners +sank in it, and Witham was almost waist deep +when he dragged the floundering team through the +drifts. A day had passed since he had eaten anything +worth mention, but he held on with an endurance +which his companion, who was incapable of +rendering him assistance, wondered at. There were +belts of deep snow the almost buried sleigh must be +dragged through, and tracts from which the wind had +swept the dusty covering, leaving bare the grasses +the runners would not slide over, where the team +came to a standstill, and could scarcely be urged +to continue the struggle.</p> + +<p>At last, however, the loghouse rose, a lonely mound +of whiteness, out of the prairie, and Witham drew in +a deep breath of contentment when a dusky figure +appeared for a moment in the doorway. His weariness +seemed to fall from him, and once more his companion +wondered at the tirelessness of the man, as, +floundering on foot beside them, he urged the team +through the powdery drifts beneath the big birch +bluff. Witham did not go in, however, when they +reached the house; and when, five minutes later, +Maud Barrington came out, she saw him leaning with +a drawn face against the sleigh. He straightened +himself suddenly at the sight of her, but she had seen +sufficient, and her heart softened towards him. +Whatever the man’s history had been he had borne +a good deal for her.</p> + +<p>The return journey was even more arduous, and +now and then Maud Barrington felt a curious throb +of pity for the worn-out man, who during most of it +walked beside the team; but it was accomplished at +last, and she contrived to find means of thanking him +alone when they reached the Grange.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head, and then smiled a little. +“It isn’t nice to make a bargain,” he said. “Still, +it is less pleasant now and then to feel under an +obligation, though there is no reason why you should.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was not altogether pleased, but +she could not blind herself to facts, and it was plain +that there was an obligation. “I am afraid I cannot +quite believe that, but I do not see what you are +leading to.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s eyes twinkled. “Well,” he said reflectively, +“I don’t want you to fancy that last night +commits you to any line of conduct in regard to me. +I only asked for a truce, you see.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was a trifle nettled. “Yes?” +she said.</p> + +<p>“Then, I want to show you how you can discharge +any trifling obligation you may fancy you may owe +me, which of course would be more pleasant to you. +Do not allow your uncle to sell any wheat forward for +you, and persuade him to sow every acre that belongs +to you this spring.”</p> + +<p>“But however would this benefit you,” asked the +girl.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I have a fancy that I can +straighten up things at Silverdale, if I can get my +way. It would please me, and I believe they want +it. Of course, a desire to improve anything appears +curious in me!”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was relieved of the necessity of +answering, for the Colonel came up just then; but, +moved by some sudden impulse, she nodded as if in +agreement.</p> + +<p>It was afternoon when she awakened from a refreshing +sleep, and descending to the room set apart +for herself and her aunt, sat thoughtfully still awhile +in a chair beside the stove. Then, stretching out +her hand, she took up a little case of photographs and +slipped out one of them. It was a portrait of a boy and +pony, but there was a significance in the fact that +she knew just where to find it. The picture was a +good one, and once more Maud Barrington noticed +the arrogance, which did not, however, seem out of +place there, in the lad’s face. It was also a comely +face, but there was a hint of sensuality in it that +marred its beauty. Then with a growing perplexity +she compared it with that of the weary man who had +plodded beside the team. Witham was not arrogant +but resolute, and there was no stamp of indulgence +in his face. Indeed, the girl had from the beginning +recognized the virility in it that was tinged with +asceticism and sprang from a simple, strenuous life +of toil in the wind and sun.</p> + +<p>Just then there was a rustle of fabric, and she laid +down the photograph a moment too late, as her aunt +came in. As it happened, the elder lady’s eyes rested +on the picture, and a faint flush of annoyance crept +into the face of the girl. It was scarcely perceptible, +but Miss Barrington saw it, and though she felt +tempted, did not smile.</p> + +<p>“I did not know you were down,” she said. “Lance +is still asleep. He seemed very tired.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl. “That is very probable. +He left the railroad before daylight, and had driven +round to several farms before he came to Macdonald’s, +and he was very considerate. He had made me take +all the furs, and, I fancy, walked up and down with +nothing but his indoor clothing on all night long, though +the wind went through the building, and one could +scarcely keep alive a few feet from the stove.”</p> + +<p>Again the flicker of colour crept into the girl’s +cheeks, and the eyes that were keen, as well as +gentle, noticed it.</p> + +<p>“I think you owe him a good deal,” said Miss Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said her niece, with a little laugh which +appeared to imply a trace of resentment. “I believe +I do, but he seemed unusually anxious to relieve +me of that impression. He was also good +enough to hint that nothing he might have done need +prevent me being—the right word is a trifle difficult +to find—but I fancy he meant unpleasant to him if +I wished it.”</p> + +<p>There was a little twinkle in Miss Barrington’s +eyes. “Are you not a trifle hard to please, my dear? +Now, if he had attempted to insist on a claim to your +gratitude, you would have resented it.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the girl reflectively. “Still, it +is annoying to be debarred from offering it. There +are times, aunt, when I can’t help wishing that Lance +Courthorne had never come to Silverdale. There are +men who leave nothing just as they found it, and +whom one can’t ignore.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington shook her head. “I fancy you are +wrong. He has offended after all?”</p> + +<p>She was pleased to see her niece’s face relax into +a smile that expressed unconcern. “We are all +exacting now and then,” said the girl. “Still, he made +me promise to give him a fair trial, which was not +flattering, because it suggested that I had been unnecessarily +harsh, and then hinted this morning that +he had no intention of holding me to it. It really was +not gratifying to find he held the concession he asked +for of so small account. You are, however, as easily +swayed by trifles as I am, because Lance can do no +wrong since he kissed your hand.”</p> + +<p>“I really think I liked him the better for it,” said +the little silver-haired lady. “The respect was not +assumed, but wholly genuine, you see; and whether +I was entitled to it or not, it was a good deal in Lance’s +favour that he should offer it to me. There must +be some good in the man who can be moved to reverence +anything, even if he is mistaken.”</p> + +<p>“No man with any sense could help adoring you,” +said Maud Barrington. “Still, I wonder why you +believe I was wrong in wishing he had not come to +Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked thoughtful. “I will tell +you, my dear. There are few better men than my +brother; but his thoughts, and the traditions he is +bound by, are those of fifty years ago, while the restless +life of the prairie is a thing of to-day. We have +fallen too far behind it at Silverdale, and a crisis is +coming that none of us are prepared for. Even Dane +is scarcely fitted to help my brother to face it, and the +rest are either over-fond of their pleasure or untrained +boys. Brave lads they are, but none of them have +been taught that it is only by mental strain, or the +ceaseless toil of his body, the man without an inheritance +can win himself a competence now. This is +why they want a leader who has known hardship +and hunger, instead of ease, and won what he holds +with his own hand in place of having it given him.”</p> + +<p>“You fancy we could find one in such a man as +Lance has been?”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked grave. “I believe the +prodigal was afterwards a better, as well as a wiser, +man than the one who stayed at home, and I am +not quite sure that Lance’s history is so nearly like +that of the son in the parable as we have believed it +to be. A residence in the sty is apt to leave a stain, +which I have not, though I have looked for it, +found on him.”</p> + +<p>The eyes of the two women met, and, though +nothing more was said, each realized that the other +was perplexed by the same question, while the girl +was astonished to find her vague suspicions shared. +While they sat silent, Colonel Barrington came in.</p> + +<p>“I am glad to see you looking so much better, +Maud,” he said, with a trace of embarrassment. +“Courthorne is resting still. Now, I can’t help +feeling that we have been a trifle more distant than +was needful with him. The man has really behaved +very discreetly. I mean in everything.”</p> + +<p>This was a great admission, and Miss Barrington +smiled. “Did it hurt you very much to tell us +that?” she asked.</p> + +<p>The Colonel laughed. “I know what you mean, +and if you put me on my mettle I’ll retract. After +all, it was no great credit to him, because blood +will tell, and he is, of course, a Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Almost without her intention, Maud Barrington’s +eyes wandered towards the photograph, and then +looking up she met those of her aunt, and once more +saw the thought that troubled her in them.</p> + +<p>“The Courthorne blood is responsible for a good +deal more than discretion,” said Miss Barrington, +who went out quietly.</p> + +<p>Her brother appeared a trifle perplexed. “Now, +I fancied your aunt had taken him under her wing, +and when I was about to suggest that, considering +the connexion between the families, we might ask +him over to dinner occasionally, she goes away,” +he said.</p> + +<p>The girl looked down a moment, for, realizing +that her uncle recognized the obligation he was +under to the man he did not like, she remembered +that she herself owed him considerably more and +he had asked for something in return. It was not +altogether easy to grant, but she had tacitly pledged +herself, and turning suddenly she laid a hand on +Barrington’s arm.</p> + +<p>“Of course; but I want to talk of something +else just now,” she said. “You know I have very +seldom asked you questions about my affairs, but I +wish to take a little practical interest in them this +year.”</p> + +<p>“Yes?” said Barrington, with a smile. “Well, +I am at your service, my dear, and quite ready to +account for my stewardship. You are no longer my +ward, except by your own wishes.”</p> + +<p>“I am still your niece,” said the girl, patting his +arm. “Now, there is, of course, nobody who could +manage the farming better than you do, but I would +like to raise a large crop of wheat this season.”</p> + +<p>“It wouldn’t pay,” and the Colonel grew suddenly +grave. “Very few men in the district are going +to sow all their holding. Wheat is steadily going +down.”</p> + +<p>“Then if nobody sows there will be very little, +and shouldn’t that put up the prices?”</p> + +<p>Barrington’s eyes twinkled. “Who has been +teaching you commercial economy? You are too +pretty to understand such things, and the argument +is fallacious, because the wheat is consumed in Europe—and +even if we have not much to offer, they can +get plenty from California, Chile, India, and Australia.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes—and Russia,” said the girl. “Still, +you see, the big mills in Winnipeg and Minneapolis +depend upon the prairie. They couldn’t very well +bring wheat in from Australia.”</p> + +<p>Barrington was still smiling with his eyes, but +his lips were set. “A little knowledge is dangerous, +my dear, and if you could understand me better, +I could show you where you were wrong. As it +is, I can only tell you that I have decided to sell +wheat forward and plough very little.”</p> + +<p>“But that was a policy you condemned with +your usual vigour. You really know you did.”</p> + +<p>“My dear,” said the Colonel, with a little impatient +gesture, “one can never argue with a lady. You +see—circumstances alter cases considerably.”</p> + +<p>He nodded with an air of wisdom as though that +decided it; but the girl persisted. “Uncle,” she +said, drawing closer to him with lithe gracefulness, +“I want you to let me have my own way just for once, +and if I am wrong I will never do anything you do +not approve of again. After all, it is a very little +thing, and you would like to please me.”</p> + +<p>“It is a trifle that is likely to cost you a good deal +of money,” said the Colonel dryly.</p> + +<p>“I think I could afford it, and you could not +refuse me.”</p> + +<p>“As I am only your uncle, and no longer a trustee, +I could not,” said Barrington. “Still, you would +not act against my wishes?”</p> + +<p>His eyes were gentle, unusually so, for he was +not as a rule very patient when any one questioned +his will; but there was a reproach in them that +hurt the girl. Still, because she had promised, +she persisted.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said. “That is why it would be +ever so much nicer if you would just think as I did.”</p> + +<p>Barrington looked at her steadily. “If you insist, +I can at least hope for the best,” he said, with a +gravity that brought a faint colour to the listener’s +cheek.</p> + +<p>It was next day when Witham took his leave, and +Maud Barrington stood beside him as he put on his +driving furs.</p> + +<p>“You told me there was something you wished +me to do, and, though it was difficult, it is done,” +she said. “My holding will be sown with wheat +this spring.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned his head aside a moment and +apparently found it needful to fumble at the fastenings +of the furs, while there was a curious expression in +his eyes when he looked round again.</p> + +<p>“Then,” he said with a little smile, “we are +quits. That cancels any little obligation which +may have existed.”</p> + +<p>He had gone in another minute, and Maud Barrington +turned back into the stove-warmed room very +quietly. Her lips were, however, somewhat closely +set.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink11'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XI—SPEED THE PLOUGH</a></h2> + +<p>Winter had fled back beyond the barrens to the +lonely North at last, and though here and there +a little slushy snow still lay soaking the black loam +in a hollow, a warm wind swept the vast levels when +one morning Colonel Barrington rode with his niece +and sister across the prairie. Spring comes suddenly +in that region, and the frost-bleached sod was steaming +under an effulgent sun, while in places a hardy +flower peeped through. It was six hundred miles +to the forests of the Rockies’ eastern slope, and as +far to the Athabascan pines, but it seemed to Maud +Barrington that their resinous sweetness was in +the glorious western wind, which awoke a musical +sighing from the sea of rippling grass. It rolled +away before her in billows of lustrous silver-grey, +and had for sole boundary the first upward spring +of the arch of cloudless blue, across which the vanguard +of the feathered host pressed on, company by company +towards the Pole.</p> + +<p>The freshness of it all stirred her blood like wine, +and the brightness that flooded the prairie had +crept into her eyes; for those who bear the iron +winter of that lonely land realize the wonder of the +reawakening, which in a little space of day, dresses +the waste which has lain for long months white +and silent as the dead, in living green. It also has +its subtle significance that the grimmest toiler feels, +and the essence of it is hope eternal and triumphant +life. The girl felt the thrill of it, and gave thanks +by an answering brightness, as the murmuring +grasses and peeping flowerets did; but there was +behind her instinctive gladness a vague wonder and +expectancy. She had read widely, and seen the +life of the cities with understanding eyes, and now +she was to be provided with the edifying spectacle +of the gambler and outcast turned farmer.</p> + +<p>Had she been asked a few months earlier whether +the man who had, as Courthorne had done, cast +away his honour and wallowed in the mire, could +come forth again and purge himself from the stain, +her answer would have been coldly sceptical; but +now, with the old familiar miracle and what it +symbolized before her eyes, the thing looked less +improbable. Why this should give pleasure she +did not know, or would not admit that she did, +but the fact remained that it was so.</p> + +<p>Trotting down the slope of the next rise, they +came upon him, and he stood with very little sign of +dissolute living upon him by a great breaker plough. +In front of him, the quarter-mile furrow led on +beyond the tall sighting poles on the crest of the next +rise, and four splendid horses, of a kind not very +usual on the prairie, were stamping the steaming +clods at his side. Bronzed by frost and sun, with his +brick-red neck and arch of chest revealed by the +coarse blue shirt that, belted at the waist, enhanced +his slenderness of flank, the repentant prodigal +was at least a passable specimen of the animal man, +but it was the strength and patience in his face that +struck the girl, as he turned towards her, bareheaded, +with a little smile in his eyes. She also +noticed the difference he presented with his ingrained +hands and the stain of the soil upon him to her uncle, +who sat his horse, immaculate as usual with gloved +hand on the bridle, for the Englishmen at Silverdale +usually hired other men to do their coarser work +for them.</p> + +<p>“So you are commencing in earnest in face of my +opinion?” said Barrington. “Of course, I wish +you success, but that consummation appears distinctly +doubtful.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed as he pointed to a great machine +which, hauled by four horses, rolled towards them, +scattering the black clods in its wake. “I’m doing +what I can to achieve it, sir,” he said. “In fact, +I’m staking somewhat heavily. That team with the +gang ploughs and cultivators cost me more dollars +than I care to remember.”</p> + +<p>“No doubt,” said Barrington dryly. “Still, +we have always considered oxen good enough for +breaking prairie at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “I used to do so, sir, when +I could get nothing better, but after driving oxen +for eight years one finds out their disadvantages.”</p> + +<p>Barrington’s face grew a trifle stern. “There +are times when you tax our patience, Lance,” he +said. “Still, there is nothing to be gained by questioning +your assertion. What I fail to see is where +your reward for all this will come from, because I +am still convinced that the soil will, so to speak, +give you back eighty cents for every dollar you +put into it. I would, however, like to look at those +implements. I have never seen better ones.”</p> + +<p>He dismounted and helped his companion down, +for Witham made no answer. The farmer was never +sure what actuated him, but, save in an occasional +fit of irony, he had not attempted by any reference +to make his past fall into line with Courthorne’s +since he had first been accepted as the latter at +Silverdale. He had taken the dead man’s inheritance, +for a while, but he would stoop no further, and to +speak the truth, which he saw was not credited, +brought him a grim amusement as well as flung +a sop to his pride. Presently, however, Miss Barrington +turned to him, and there was a kindly gleam +in her eyes as she glanced at the splendid horses and +widening strip of ploughing.</p> + +<p>“You have the hope of youth, Lance, to make +this venture when all looks black—and it pleases +me,” she said. “Sometimes I fancy that men had +braver hearts than they have now when I was young.”</p> + +<p>Witham flushed a trifle, and stretching out an +arm swept his hand round the horizon. “All that +looked dead a very little while ago, and now you +can see the creeping greenness in the sod,” he said. +“The lean years cannot last for ever, and, even if +one is beaten again, there is a consolation in knowing +that one has made a struggle. Now, I am quite +aware that you are fancying a speech of this kind does +not come well from me.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington had seen his gesture, and something +in the thought that impelled it, as well as the +almost statuesque pose of his thinly-clad figure, +appealed to her. Courthorne as farmer, with the +damp of clean effort on his forehead and the stain +of the good soil that would faithfully repay it on +his garments, had very little in common with the +profligate and gambler. Vaguely she wondered +whether he was not working out his own redemption +by every wheat furrow torn from the virgin +prairie, and then again the doubt crept in. Could +this man have ever found pleasure in the mire?</p> + +<p>“You will plough all your holding, Lance?” +asked the elder lady, who had not answered his last +speech yet, but meant to do.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the man. “All I can. It’s a big +venture, and if it fails will cripple me; but I seem to +feel, apart from any reason I can discern, that wheat +is going up again, and I must go through with this +ploughing. Of course, it does not sound very +sensible.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked at him gravely, for there +was a curious and steadily-tightening bond between the +two. “It depends upon what you mean by sense. +Can we reason out all we feel, and is there nothing +intangible but real behind the impulses which may +be sent to us?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, with a little smile, “that +is a trifle too deep for me, and it’s difficult to think +of anything but the work I have to do. But you +were the first at Silverdale to hold out a hand to +me—and I have a feeling that your good wishes would +go a long way now. Is it altogether fantastic to +believe that the good-will of my first friend would +help to bring me prosperity?”</p> + +<p>The white-haired lady’s eyes grew momentarily +soft, and, with a gravity that did not seem out of +place, she moved forward and laid her hand on a big +horse’s neck, and smiled when the dumb beast responded +to her gentle touch.</p> + +<p>“It is a good work,” she said. “Lance, there +is more than dollars, or the bread that somebody +is needing, behind what you are doing, and because +I loved your mother I know how her approval would +have followed you. And now sow in hope, and +God speed your plough!”</p> + +<p>She turned away almost abruptly, and Witham +stood still, with one hand closed tightly and a little +deeper tint in the bronze of his face, sensible at once +of an unchanged resolution and a horrible degradation. +Then he saw that the Colonel had helped Miss +Barrington into the saddle and her niece was speaking.</p> + +<p>“I have something to ask Mr. Courthorne, and +will overtake you,” she said.</p> + +<p>The others rode on, and the girl turned to Witham, +“I made you a promise and did my best to keep it +but I find it harder than I fancied it would be,” +she said. “I want you to release me.”</p> + +<p>“I should like to hear your reasons,” said Witham.</p> + +<p>The girl made a faint gesture of impatience. +“Of course, if you insist!”</p> + +<p>“I do,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>“Then I promised you to have all my holding +sown this year, and I am still willing to do so; but, +though my uncle makes no protests I know he +feels my opposition very keenly, and it hurts me +horribly. Unspoken reproaches are the worst to +bear, you know, and now Dane and some of the +others are following your lead, it is painful to feel +that I am taking part with them against the man +who has always been kind to me.”</p> + +<p>“And you would prefer to be loyal to Colonel +Barrington even if it cost you a good deal?”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said Maud Barrington. “Can +you ask me?”</p> + +<p>Witham saw the sparkle in her eyes and the half-contemptuous +pride in the poise of the shapely head. +Loyalty, it was evident, was not a figure of speech +with her, but he felt that he had seen enough and +turned his face aside.</p> + +<p>“I knew it would be difficult when I asked,” he +said. “Still, I cannot give you back that promise. +We are going to see a great change this year, and I +have set my heart on making all I can for you.”</p> + +<p>“But why should you?” asked Maud Barrington, +somewhat astonished that she did not feel more angry.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham gravely, “I may tell you by +and by, and in the meanwhile you can set it down to +vanity. This may be my last venture at Silverdale, +and I want to make it a big success.”</p> + +<p>The girl glanced at him sharply, and it was because +the news caused her an unreasonable concern that +there was a trace of irony in her voice.</p> + +<p>“Your last venture! Have we been unkind to +you or does it imply that, as you once insinuated, +an exemplary life becomes monotonous?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “No. I should like to stay here—a +very long while,” he said; and the girl saw he +spoke the truth as she watched him glance wistfully +at the splendid teams, great ploughs, and +rich, black soil. “In fact, strange as it may appear, +it will be virtue, given the rein for once, that drives +me out when I go away.”</p> + +<p>“But where are you going to?”</p> + +<p>Witham glanced vaguely across the prairie, and +the girl was puzzled by the look in his eyes. “Back +to my own station,” he said softly, as though to +himself, and then turned with a little shrug of his +shoulders. “In the meanwhile there is a good deal to +do, and once more I am sorry I cannot release you.”</p> + +<p>“Then, there is an end of it. You could not +expect me to beg you to, so we will discuss the +practical difficulty. I cannot under the circumstances +borrow my uncle’s teams, and I am told +I have not sufficient men or horses to put a large +crop in.”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said Witham quietly. “Well, +I have now the best teams and machines on this +part of the prairie, and am bringing Ontario men in. +I will do the ploughing—and, if it will make it +easier for you, you can pay me for the services.”</p> + +<p>There was a little flush on the girl’s face. “It +is all distasteful, but as you will not give me back +my word, I will keep it to the letter. Still, it almost +makes me reluctant to ask you a further favour.”</p> + +<p>“This one is promised before you ask it,” said +Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>It cost Maud Barrington some trouble to make +her wishes clear, and Witham’s smile was not wholly +one of pleasure as he listened. One of the young +English lads, who was, it appeared, a distant connexion +of the girl’s, had been losing large sums of money at +a gaming table, and seeking other equally undesirable +relaxations at the railroad settlement. For the +sake of his mother in England, Miss Barrington +desired him brought to his senses, but was afraid to +appeal to the Colonel, whose measures were occasionally +more draconic than wise.</p> + +<p>“I will do what I can,” said Witham. “Still, +I am not sure that a lad of the kind is worth your +worrying over, and I am a trifle curious as to what +induced you to entrust the mission to me?”</p> + +<p>The girl felt embarrassed, but she saw that an +answer was expected. “Since you ask, it occurred +to me that you could do it better than anybody +else,” she said. “Please don’t misunderstand me; +but I fancy it is the other man who is leading him +away.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled somewhat grimly. “Your meaning +is quite plain, and I am already looking forward +to the encounter with my fellow-gambler. You +believe that I will prove a match for him?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington, to her annoyance, felt the blood +creep to her forehead, but she looked at the man +steadily, noticing the quiet forcefulness beneath his +somewhat caustic amusement.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said simply; “and I shall be grateful.”</p> + +<p>In another few minutes she was galloping across +the prairie, and when she rejoined her aunt and +Barrington, endeavoured to draw out the latter’s +opinion respecting Courthorne’s venture by a few +discreet questions.</p> + +<p>“Heaven knows where he was taught it, but there +is no doubt that the man is an excellent farmer,” +he said. “It is a pity that he is also, to all intents +and purposes, mad.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington glanced at her niece, and both +of them smiled, for the Colonel usually took for +granted the insanity of any one who questioned his +opinions.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, Witham sat swaying on the +driving-seat, mechanically guiding the horses and +noticing how the prairie sod rolled away in black +waves beneath the great plough. He heard the crackle +of fibres beneath the triple shares, and the swish +of greasy loam along the mouldboard’s side; but +his thoughts were far away, and when he raised his +head, he looked into the dim future beyond the +long furrow that cut the skyline on the rise.</p> + +<p>It was shadowy and uncertain, but one thing was +clear to him, and that was that he could not stay +in Silverdale. At first he had almost hoped he might +do this, for the good land, and the means of efficiently +working it, had been a horrible temptation. That +was before he reckoned on Maud Barrington’s attractions; +but of late he had seen what these were +leading him to, and all that was good in him recoiled +from an attempt to win her. Once he had dared +to wonder whether it could be done, for his grim +life had left him self-centred and bitter, but that +mood had passed, and it was with disgust he looked +back upon it. Now he knew that the sooner he left +Silverdale, the less difficult it would be to forget her; +but he was still determined to vindicate himself by +the work he did, and make her affairs secure. Then, +with or without a confession, he would slip back into +the obscurity he came from.</p> + +<p>While he worked the soft wind rioted about him, +and the harbingers of summer passed north in battalions +overhead—crane, brent goose, and mallard—in +crescents, skeins, and wedges, after the fashion of +their kind. Little long-tailed gophers whisked +across the whitened sod, and when the great plough +rolled through the shadows of a bluff, jack rabbits, +pied white and grey, scurried amidst the rustling +leaves. Even the birches were fragrant in that +vivifying air, and seemed to rejoice as all animate +creatures did; but the man’s face grew more sombre +as the day of toil wore on. Still, he did his work +with the grim, unwavering diligence that had already +carried him, dismayed but unyielding, through years +of drought and harvest hail, and the stars shone +down on the prairie when at last he loosed his second +team.</p> + +<p>Then, standing in the door of his lonely homestead, +he glanced at the great shadowy granaries and +barns, and clenched his hand as he saw what +he could do if the things that had been forced upon +him were rightfully his. He knew his own mettle, +and that he could hold them if he would; but the +pale, cold face of a woman rose up in judgment +against him, and he also knew that because of the +love of her, that was casting its toils about him, +he must give them up.</p> + +<p>Far back on the prairie a lonely coyote howled, +and a faint wind, that was now like snow-cooled +wine, brought the sighing of limitless grasses out of +the silence. There was no cloud in the crystalline +ether, and something in the vastness and stillness +that spoke of infinity brought a curious sense of +peace to him. Impostor though he was, he would +leave Silverdale better than he found it, and afterwards +it would be of no great moment what became +of him. Countless generations of toiling men had +borne their petty sorrows before him, and gone back +to the dust they sprang from; but still, in due +succession, harvest followed seed-time, and the world +whirled on. Then, remembering that, in the meanwhile, +he had much to do which would commence +with the sun on the morrow, he went back into the +house and shook the fancies from him.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink12'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XII—MASTERY RECOGNIZED</a></h2> + +<p>There was, considering the latest price of wheat, +a somewhat astonishing attendance in the long room +of the hotel at the railroad settlement one Saturday +evening. A big stove in the midst of it diffused a +stuffy and almost unnecessary heat, gaudy nickelled +lamps an uncertain brilliancy, and the place was +filled with the drifting smoke of indifferent tobacco. +Oleographs, barbaric in colour and drawing, hung +about the roughly-boarded walls, and any critical +stranger would have found the saloon comfortless +and tawdry.</p> + +<p>It was, however, filled that night with bronzed-faced +men who expected nothing better. Most of +them wore jackets of soft black leather or embroidered +deerskin, and the jean trousers and long boots of +not a few apparently stood in need of repairing, +though the sprinkling of more conventional apparel +and paler faces showed that the storekeepers of the +settlement had been drawn together, as well as the +prairie farmers who had driven in to buy provisions +or take up their mail. There was, however, but +little laughter, and their voices were low, for boisterousness +and assertion are not generally met with on +the silent prairie. Indeed, the attitude of some +of the men was mildly deprecatory, as though they +felt that in assisting in what was going forward +they were doing an unusual thing. Still, the eyes +of all were turned toward the table where a man, who +differed widely in appearance from most of them, +dealt out the cards.</p> + +<p>He wore city clothes, and a white shirt with a fine +diamond in the front of it, while there was a keen intentness +behind the half-ironical smile in his somewhat +colourless face. The whiteness of his long, nervous +fingers and the quickness of his gestures would also have +stamped him as a being of different order from the +slowly-spoken prairie farmers, while the slenderness +of the little pile of coins in front of him testified that +his endeavours to tempt them to speculation on +games of chance had met with no very marked success +as yet. Gambling for stakes of moment is not a +popular amusement in that country, where the soil +demands his best from every man in return for the +scanty dollars it yields him, but the gamester had +chosen his time well, and the men who had borne +the dreary solitude of winter in outlying farms, +and now only saw another adverse season opening +before them, were for once in the mood to clutch at +any excitement that would relieve the monotony of +their toilsome lives.</p> + +<p>A few were betting small sums with an apparent +lack of interest which did not in the least deceive the +dealer, and when he handed a few dollars out he +laughed a little as he turned to the bar-keeper.</p> + +<p>“Set them up again. I want a drink to pass the +time,” he said. “I’ll play you at anything you like +to put a name to, boys, if this game don’t suit you, +but you’ll have to give me the chance of making +my hotel bill. In my country I’ve seen folks livelier at +a funeral.”</p> + +<p>The glasses were handed round, but when the +gambler reached out towards the silver at his side, +a big bronzed-skinned rancher stopped him.</p> + +<p>“No,” he drawled. “We’re not sticking you +for a locomotive tank, and this comes out of my +treasury. I’ll call you three dollars and take my +chances on the draw.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the dealer, “that’s a little more +encouraging. Anybody wanting to make it better?”</p> + +<p>A young lad in elaborately-embroidered deerskin +with a flushed face leaned upon the table. “Show +you how we play cards in the old country,” he said. +“I’ll make it thirty—for a beginning.”</p> + +<p>There was a momentary silence, for the lad had +staked heavily and lost of late, but one or two more +bets were made. Then the cards were turned up, +and the lad smiled fatuously as he took up his winnings.</p> + +<p>“Now, I’ll let you see,” he said. “This time we’ll +make it fifty.”</p> + +<p>He won twice more in succession, and the men +closed in about the table, while, for the dealer +knew when to strike, the glasses went round again, +and in the growing interest nobody quite noticed +who paid for the refreshment. Then, while the +dollars began to trickle in, the lad flung a bill for a +hundred down.</p> + +<p>“Go on,” he said a trifle huskily. “To-night +you can’t beat me!”</p> + +<p>Once more he won, and just then two men came +quietly into the room. One of them signed to the +hotel-keeper.</p> + +<p>“What’s going on? The boys seem kind of +keen,” he said.</p> + +<p>The other man laughed a little. “Ferris has struck +a streak of luck, but I wouldn’t be very sorry if you +got him away, Mr. Courthorne. He has had as much +as he can carry already, and I don’t want anybody +broke up in my house. The boys can look out for +themselves, but the Silverdale kid has been losing a +good deal lately, and he doesn’t know when to +stop.”</p> + +<p>Witham glanced at his companion, who nodded. +“The young fool,” he said.</p> + +<p>They crossed towards the table in time to see +the lad take up his winnings again, and Witham +laid his hand quietly upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Come along and have a drink while you give +the rest a show,” he said. “You seem to have done +tolerably well, and it’s usually wise to stop while the +chances are going with you.”</p> + +<p>The lad turned and stared at him with languid +insolence in his half-closed eyes, and, though he came +of a lineage that had been famous in the old country, +there was nothing very prepossessing in his appearance. +His mouth was loose, his face weak in spite +of its inherited pride, and there was little need to +tell either of the men, who noticed his nervous fingers +and muddiness of skin, that he was one who in the +strenuous early days would have worn the woolly +crown.</p> + +<p>“Were you addressing me?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“I was,” said Witham quietly. “I was, in fact, +inviting you to share our refreshment. You see we +have just come in.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the lad, “it was condemnable +impertinence. Since you have taken this fellow up, +couldn’t you teach him that it’s bad taste to thrust +his company upon people who don’t want it, Dane?”</p> + +<p>Witham said nothing, but drew Dane, who flushed +a trifle, aside, and when they sat down the latter +smiled dryly.</p> + +<p>“You have taken on a big contract, Courthorne. +How are you going to get the young ass out?” he +said.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, “it would gratify me to +take him by the neck, but as I don’t know that it +would please the Colonel if I made a public spectacle +of one of his retainers, I fancy I’ll have to tackle the +gambler. I don’t know him, but as he comes from +across the frontier it’s more than likely he has heard +of me. There are advantages in having a record +like mine, you see.”</p> + +<p>“It would, of course, be a kindness to the lad’s +people—but the young fool is scarcely worth it, and +it’s not your affair,” said Dane reflectively.</p> + +<p>Witham guessed the drift of the speech, but he +could respect a confidence, and laughed a little. +“It’s not often I have done any one a good turn, +and the novelty has its attractions.”</p> + +<p>Dane did not appear contented with this explanation, +but he asked nothing further, and the two +sat watching the men about the table, who were +evidently growing eager.</p> + +<p>“That’s two hundred the kid has let go,” said +somebody.</p> + +<p>There was a murmur of excited voices, and one rose +hoarse and a trifle shaky in the consonants above +the rest.</p> + +<p>“Show you how a gentleman can stand up, boys. +Throw them out again. Two hundred this time on +the game!”</p> + +<p>There was silence and the rustle of shuffled cards; +then once more the voices went up. “Against +him! Better let up before he takes your farm. +Oh, let him face it and show his grit—the man +who slings round his hundreds can afford to lose!”</p> + +<p>The lad’s face showed a trifle paler through the +drifting smoke, though a good many of the cigars +had gone out now, and once more there was the +stillness of expectancy through which a strained +voice rose.</p> + +<p>“Going to get it all back. I’ll stake you four +hundred.”</p> + +<p>Witham rose and moved forward quietly, with Dane +behind him, and then stood still where he could see +the table. He had also very observant eyes, and +was free from the excitement of those who had +a risk on the game. Still, when the cards were +dealt, it was the gambler’s face he watched. +For a brief space nobody moved, and then the lad +flung down his cards and stood up with a greyness in +his cheeks and his hands shaking.</p> + +<p>“You’ve got all my dollars now,” he said. “Still, +I’ll play you for doubles if you’ll take my paper.”</p> + +<p>The gambler nodded, and flung down a big pile of +bills. “I guess I’ll trust you. Mine are here.”</p> + +<p>The bystanders waited motionless, and none of them +made a bet, for any stakes they could offer would be +trifles now; but they glanced at the lad who stood +tensely still, while Witham watched the face of the +man at the table in front of him. For a moment +he saw a flicker of triumph in his eyes, and that +decided him. Again, one by one, the cards went +down, and then, when everybody waited in strained +expectancy, the lad seemed to grow limp suddenly +and groaned.</p> + +<p>“You can let up,” he said hoarsely. “I’ve +gone down!”</p> + +<p>Then a hard brown hand was laid upon the table, +and while the rest stared in astonishment, a voice +which had a little stern ring in it said, “Turn the +whole pack up, and hand over the other one.”</p> + +<p>In an instant the gambler’s hand swept beneath +his jacket, but it was a mistaken move, for as swiftly +the other hard, brown fingers closed upon the pile of +bills, and the men, too astonished to murmur, saw +Witham leaning very grim in face across the table. +Then it tilted over beneath him, and the cards were +on the gambler’s knees, while, as the two men rose +and faced each other, something glinted in the hands +of one of them.</p> + +<p>It is more than probable that the man did not +intend to use it, and trusted to its moral effect, +for the display of pistols is not regarded with much +toleration on the Canadian prairie. In any case, he had +not the opportunity, for in another moment Witham’s +right hand closed upon his wrist, and the gambler +was struggling fruitlessly to extricate it. He was a +muscular man, with doubtless a sufficiency of nerve, +but he had not toiled with his arms and led a Spartan +life for eight long years. Before another few seconds +had passed he was wondering whether he would +ever use that wrist again, while Dane picked up the +fallen pistol and put it in his pocket with the bundle +of bills Witham handed him.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said the latter, “I want to do the +square thing. If you’ll let us strip you and turn out +your pockets, we’ll see you get any winnings you’re +entitled to when we’ve straightened up the cards.”</p> + +<p>The gambler was apparently not willing, for, +though it is possible he would have found it advisable +to play an honest game across the frontier, he had +evidently surmised that there was less risk of detection +among the Canadian farmers. He probably knew +they would not wait long for his consent, but in the +first stages of the altercation it is not as a rule insuperably +difficult for a fearless man to hold his own +against an indignant company who have no definite +notion of what they mean to do, and it was to cover +his retreat he turned to Witham.</p> + +<p>“And who the —— are you?” he asked.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled grimly. “I guess you have heard +of me. Anyway, there are a good many places in +Montana where they know Lance Courthorne. Quite +sure I know a straight game when I see it!”</p> + +<p>The man’s resistance vanished, but he had evidently +been taught the necessity of making the best of defeat +in his profession, and he laughed as he swept his +glance round at the angry faces turned upon him.</p> + +<p>“If you don’t there’s nobody does,” he said. +“Still, as you’ve got my pistol and ‘most dislocated +my wrist, the least you can do is to get a partner out +of this.”</p> + +<p>There was an ominous murmur, and the lad’s face +showed livid with fury and humiliation, but Witham +turned quietly to the hotel-keeper.</p> + +<p>“You will take this man with you into your side +room and stop with him there,” he said. “Dane, +give him the bills. The rest of you had better sit +down here and make a list of your losses, and you’ll +get whatever the fellow has upon him divided amongst +you. Then, because I ask you, and you’d have +had nothing but for me, you’ll put him in his wagon +and turn him out quietly upon the prairie.”</p> + +<p>“That’s sense, and we don’t want no circus here,” +said somebody.</p> + +<p>A few voices were raised in protest, but when it +became evident that one or two of the company were +inclined to adopt more draconic measures, Dane spoke +quietly and forcibly, and was listened to. Then +Witham reached out and grasped the shoulder of the +English lad, who made the last attempt to rouse his +companions.</p> + +<p>“Let them alone, Ferris, and come along. You’ll +get most of what you lost back to-morrow, and we’re +going to take you home,” he said.</p> + +<p>Ferris turned upon him, hoarse with passion, flushed +in face, and swaying a trifle on his feet, while Witham +noticed that he drew one arm back.</p> + +<p>“Who are you to lay hands on a gentleman?” he +asked. “Keep your distance. I’m going to stay here, +and, if I’d have had my way, we’d have kicked you +out of Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Witham dropped his hand, but next moment the +ornament of a distinguished family was seized by the +neck, and the farmer glanced at Dane.</p> + +<p>“We’ve had enough of this fooling, and he’ll be +grateful to me to-morrow,” he said.</p> + +<p>Then his captive was thrust, resisting strenuously, +out of the room, and with Dane’s assistance conveyed +to the waiting wagon, into which he was flung, almost +speechless with indignation.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said Dane quietly, “you’ve given us a +good deal more trouble than you’re worth, Ferris, +and if you attempt to get out again, I’ll break your +head for you. Tell Courthorne how much that fellow +got from you.”</p> + +<p>In another ten minutes they had jolted across the +railroad track, and were speeding through the silence +of the lonely prairie. Above them the clear stars flung +their cold radiance down through vast distances of +liquid indigo, and the soft beat of hoofs was the only +sound that disturbed the solemn stillness of the +wilderness. Dane drew in a great breath of the cool +night air and laughed quietly.</p> + +<p>“It’s a good deal more wholesome here in several +ways,” said he. “If you’re wise, you’ll let up on +card-playing and hanging round the settlement, +Ferris, and stick to farming. Even if you lose +almost as many dollars over it, it will pay you considerably +better. Now that’s all I’m going to tell +you, but I know what I’m speaking of, because I’ve +had my fling—and it’s costing me more than I care to +figure out still. You, however, can pull up, because +by this time you have no doubt found out a good deal, +if you’re not all a fool. Curiosity’s at the bottom +of half our youthful follies, isn’t it, Courthorne? +We want to know what the things forbidden actually +taste like.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham dryly, “I don’t quite know. +You see, I had very little money in the old country, +and still less leisure here to spend either on that kind +of experimenting. Where to get enough to eat was +the one problem that worried me.”</p> + +<p>Dane turned a trifle sharply. “We are, I fancy, +tolerably good friends. Isn’t it a little unnecessary +for you to adopt that tone with me?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed, but made no answer, and their +companion said nothing at all. Either the night +wind had a drowsy effect on him or he was moodily +resentful, for it was not until Witham pulled up +before the homestead whose lands he farmed indifferently +under Barrington’s supervision that he opened +his mouth.</p> + +<p>“You have got off very cheaply to-night, and if +you’re wise you’ll let that kind of thing alone in +future,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>The lad stepped down from the wagon and then +stood still. “I resent advice from you as much +as I do your uncalled-for insolence an hour or two +ago,” he said. “To lie low until honest men got +used to him would be considerably more becoming to a +man like you.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, stung into forgetfulness, +“I’m not going to offend in that fashion again, and +you can go to the devil in the way that most pleases +you. In fact, I only pulled you out of the pit to-night +because a lady, who apparently takes a quite +unwarranted interest in you, asked me to.”</p> + +<p>Ferris stared up at him, and his face showed almost +livid through the luminous night.</p> + +<p>“She asked you to!” he said. “By the Lord, +I’ll make you sorry for this.”</p> + +<p>Witham said nothing, but shook the reins, and +when the wagon lurched forward Dane looked at him.</p> + +<p>“I didn’t know that before,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham dryly, “if I hadn’t lost my +temper with the lad you wouldn’t have done now.”</p> + +<p>Dane smiled. “You miss the point of it. Our +engaging friend made himself the laughing-stock of +the colony by favouring Maud Barrington with his +attentions when he came out. In fact, I fancy the +lady, in desperation, had to turn her uncle loose on +him before he could be made to understand that they +were not appreciated. I’d keep your eye on him, +Courthorne, for the little beast has shown himself +abominably vindictive occasionally, though I have +a notion he’s scarcely to be held accountable. It’s a +case of too pure a strain and consanguinity. Two +branches of the family—marriage between land and +money, you see.”</p> + +<p>“It will be my heel if he gets in my way,” said +Witham grimly.</p> + +<p>It was late when they reached his homestead where +Dane was to stay the night, and when they went in a +youthful figure in uniform rose up in the big log-walled +hall. For a moment Witham’s heart almost +stood still, and then, holding himself in hand by a +strenuous effort, he moved forward and stood where +the light of a lamp did not shine quite fully upon him. +He knew that uniform, and he had also seen the lad +who wore it once or twice before, at an outpost six +hundred miles away across the prairie. He knew +the risk he took was great, but it was evident to +him that if his identity escaped detection at first sight, +use would do the rest, and while he had worn a short +pointed beard on the Western prairie, he was cleanly-shaven +now.</p> + +<p>The lad stood quite still a moment staring at him, +and Witham returning his gaze steadily felt his +pulses throb.</p> + +<p>“Well, trooper, what has brought you here?” +he said.</p> + +<p>“Homestead visitation, sir,” said the lad, who +had a pleasant English voice. “Mr. Courthorne, +I presume—accept my regrets if I stared too hard at +you—but for a moment you reminded me of a man +I knew. They’ve changed us round lately, and I’m +from the Alberta Squadron just sent in to this district. +It was late when I rode in, and your people were kind +enough to put me up.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I have been taken for another +man before. Would you like anything to drink, or a +smoke before you turn in, trooper?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said the lad. “If you’ll sign my docket +to show I’ve been here, I’ll get some sleep. I’ve +sixty miles to ride to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Witham did as he was asked, and the trooper withdrew, +while when they sat down to a last cigar it +seemed to Dane that his companion’s face was graver +than usual.</p> + +<p>“Did you notice the lad’s astonishment when you +came in?” he asked. “He looked very much as if +he had seen a ghost.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled. “I believe he fancied he had. +There was a man in the district he came from whom +some folks considered resembled me. In reality, I +was by no means like him, and he’s dead now.”</p> + +<p>“Likenesses are curious things, and it’s stranger +still how folks alter,” said Dane. “Now, they’ve a +photograph at Barrington’s of you as a boy, and +while there is a resemblance in the face, nobody with +any discernment would have fancied that lad would +grow into a man like you. Still, that’s of no great +moment, and I want to know just how you spotted +the gambler. I had a tolerably expensive tuition in +most games of chance in my callow days, and haven’t +forgotten completely what I was taught then, but +though I watched the game I saw nothing that led me +to suspect crooked play.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I watched his face, and what +I saw there decided me to try a bluff, but it was not +until he turned the table over I knew I was +right.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Dane dryly, “you don’t need your +nerves toning up. With only a suspicion to go upon, +it was a tolerably risky game. Still, of course, you had +advantages.”</p> + +<p>“I have played a more risky one, but I don’t know +that I have cause to be very grateful for anything +I acquired in the past,” said Witham with a curious +smile.</p> + +<p>Dane stood up and flung his cigar away. “It’s +time I was asleep,” he said. “Still, since our talk +has turned in this direction, I want to tell you that, +as you have doubtless seen, there is something about +you that puzzles me occasionally. I don’t ask your +confidence until you are ready to give it me—but if +ever you want anybody to stand behind you in a +difficulty, you’ll find me rather more than willing.”</p> + +<p>He went out, and Witham sat still very grave in +face for at least another hour.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink13'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XIII—A FAIR ADVOCATE</a></h2> + +<p>Thanks to the fashion in which the hotel-keeper +managed the affair, the gambler left the settlement +without personal injury, but very little richer than +when he entered it. The rest of those who were +present at his meeting with Witham were also not +desirous that their friends should know they had +been victimized, and because Dane was discreet, +news of what had happened might never have +reached Silverdale, had not one of the younger men +ridden in to the railroad a few days later. Odd +scraps of conversation overheard led him to suspect +that something unusual had taken place, but as +nobody seemed willing to supply details, he returned +to Silverdale with his curiosity unsatisfied. As +it happened, he was shortly afterwards present at a +gathering of his neighbours at Macdonald’s farm and +came across Ferris there.</p> + +<p>“I heard fragments of a curious story at the +settlement,” he said. “There was trouble of some +kind in which a professional gambler figured last +Saturday night, and though nobody seemed to want +to talk about it, I surmised that somebody from +Silverdale was concerned in it.”</p> + +<p>He had perhaps spoken a trifle more loudly than +he had intended, and there were a good many of the +Silverdale farmers with a few of their wives and +daughters whose attention was not wholly confined +to the efforts of Mrs. Macdonald at the piano in the +long room just then. In any case a voice broke +through the silence that followed the final chords.</p> + +<p>“Ferris could tell us if he liked. He was there +that night.”</p> + +<p>Ferris, who had cause for doing so, looked uncomfortable, +and endeavoured to sign to the first +speaker that it was not desirable to pursue the topic.</p> + +<p>“I have been in tolerably often of late. Had +things to attend to,” he said.</p> + +<p>The other man was, however, possessed by a +mischievous spirit, or did not understand him. +“You may just as well tell us now as later, because +you never kept a secret in your life,” he said.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, several of the others had gathered +about them, and Mrs. Macdonald, who had joined +the group, smiled as she said, “There is evidently +something interesting going on. Mayn’t I know, +Gordon?”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the man, who had visited the +settlement. “You shall know as much as I do, +though that is little, and if it excites your curiosity +you can ask Ferris for the rest. He is only anxious +to enhance the value of his story by being mysterious. +Well, there was a more or less dramatic +happening, of the kind our friends in the old country +unwarrantably fancy is typical of the West, in the +saloon at the settlement not long ago. Cards, pistols, +a professional gambler, and the unmasking of foul +play, don’t you know. Somebody from Silverdale +played the leading rôle.”</p> + +<p>“How interesting!” said a young English girl. +“Now, I used to fancy something of that kind +happened here every day before I came out to the +prairie. Please tell us, Mr. Ferris! One would +like to find there was just a trace of reality in our +picturesque fancies of debonair desperadoes and big-hatted +cavaliers.”</p> + +<p>There was a curious expression in Ferris’ face, +but as he glanced round at the rest, who were +regarding him expectantly, he did not observe that +Maud Barrington and her aunt had just come in +and stood close behind him.</p> + +<p>“Can’t you see there’s no getting out of it, +Ferris?” said somebody.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the lad in desperation, “I can only +admit that Gordon is right. There was foul play and a +pistol drawn, but I’m sorry that I can’t add anything +further. In fact, it wouldn’t be quite fair of me.”</p> + +<p>“But the man from Silverdale?” asked Mrs. +Macdonald.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid,” said Ferris, with the air of one +shielding a friend, “I can’t tell you anything about +him.”</p> + +<p>“I know Mr. Courthorne drove in that night,” +said the young English girl, who was not endued +with very much discretion.</p> + +<p>“Courthorne!” said one of the bystanders, and +there was a momentary silence that was very expressive. +“Was he concerned in what took place, +Ferris?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the lad with apparent reluctance. +“Mrs. Macdonald, you will remember that they +dragged it out of me, but I will tell you nothing +more whatever.”</p> + +<p>“It seems to me you have told us quite sufficient +and perhaps a trifle too much,” said somebody.</p> + +<p>There was a curious silence. All of those present +were more or less acquainted with Courthorne’s +past history, and the suggestion of foul play coupled +with the mention of a professional gambler had +been significant. Ferris, while committing himself +in no way, had certainly said sufficient. Then +there was a sudden turning of heads as a young +woman moved quietly into the midst of the group. +She was ominously calm, but she stood very straight, +and there was a little hard glitter in her eyes, +which reminded one or two of them who noticed it +of those of Colonel Barrington. The fingers of one +hand were also closed at her side.</p> + +<p>“I overheard you telling a story, Ferris, but you +have a bad memory and left rather too much out,” +she said.</p> + +<p>“They compelled me to tell them what I did, +Miss Barrington,” said the lad, who winced beneath +her gaze. “Now, there is really nothing to +be gained by going any further into the affair. +Shall I play something for you, Mrs. Macdonald?”</p> + +<p>He turned as he spoke, and would have edged +away but that one of the men, at a glance from the +girl, laid a hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be in a hurry, Ferris. I fancy Miss Barrington +has something more to tell you,” he said dryly.</p> + +<p>The girl thanked him with a gesture. “I want +you to supply the most important part,” she said, +and the lad, saying nothing, changed colour under +the glance she cast upon him. “You do not seem +willing. Then perhaps I had better do it for you. +There were two men from Silverdale directly concerned +in the affair, and one of them at no slight +risk to himself did a very generous thing. That one +was Mr. Courthorne. Did you see him lay a single +stake upon a card, or do anything that led you +to suppose he was there for the purpose of gambling +that evening?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the lad, seeing she knew the truth, +and his hoarse voice was scarcely audible.</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Maud Barrington, “I want you to +tell us what you did see him do.”</p> + +<p>Ferris said nothing, and though the girl laughed +a little as she glanced at the wondering group, her +voice was icily disdainful.</p> + +<p>“Well,” she said, “I will tell you. You saw +him question a professional gambler’s play to save +a man who had no claim on him from ruin, and, +with only one comrade to back him, drive the swindler, +who had a pistol, from the field. He had, you +admit, no interest of any kind in the game?”</p> + +<p>Ferris had grown crimson again, and the veins +on his forehead showed swollen high. “No,” he +said, almost abjectly.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington turned from him to her hostess +as she answered, “That will suffice, in the meanwhile, +until I can decide whether it is desirable to +make known the rest of the tale. I brought the +new song Evelyn wanted, Mrs. Macdonald, and I +will play it for her if she would care to try it.”</p> + +<p>She moved away with the elder lady, and left the +rest astonished to wonder what had become of +Ferris, who was seen no more that evening, while +presently Witham came in.</p> + +<p>His face was a trifle weary, for he had toiled +since the sun rose above the rim of the prairie, and +when the arduous day was over, and those who +worked for him were glad to rest their aching limbs, +had driven two leagues to Macdonald’s. Why he +had done so he was not willing to admit, but he +glanced round the long room anxiously as he came +in, and his eyes brightened as they rested on Maud +Barrington. They were, however, observant eyes, +and he noticed that there was a trifle more colour than +usual in the girl’s pale-tinted face, and signs of suppressed +curiosity about some of the rest. When he +had greeted his hostess, he turned to one of the men.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me you are either trying not to see +something, Gordon, or to forget it as soon as you +can,” he said.</p> + +<p>Gordon laughed a little. “You are not often +mistaken, Courthorne? That is precisely what +we are doing. I presume you haven’t heard what +occurred here an hour ago?”</p> + +<p>“No!” said Witham. “I’m not very curious +if it does not concern me.”</p> + +<p>Gordon looked at him steadily. “I fancy it +does. You see, that young fool Ferris was suggesting +that you had been mixed up in something not +very creditable at the settlement lately. As it +happened, Maud Barrington overheard him and +made him retract before the company. She did it +effectively, and if it had been any one else, the +scene would have been almost theatrical. Still, +you know nothing seems out of place when it comes +from the Colonel’s niece. Nor if you had heard +her would you have wanted a better advocate.”</p> + +<p>For a moment the bronze deepened in Witham’s +forehead, and there was a gleam in his eyes, but +though it passed as rapidly as it came, Gordon had +seen it, and smiled when the farmer moved away.</p> + +<p>“That’s a probability I never counted on,” he +thought. “Still, I fancy if it came about, it would +suit everybody but the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>Then he turned as Mrs. Macdonald came up to him. +“What are you doing here alone when I see there is +nobody talking to the girl from Winnipeg?” she said.</p> + +<p>The man laughed a little. “I was wondering +whether it is a good sign, or otherwise, when a young +woman is, so far as she can decently be, uncivil to a +man who desires her good-will.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Macdonald glanced at him sharply, and then +shook her head. “The question is too deep for you—and +it is not your affair. Besides, haven’t you +seen that indiscreet freedom of speech is not encouraged +at Silverdale?”</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Witham, crossing the room, +took a vacant place at Maud Barrington’s side. +She turned her head a moment and looked at him.</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “Yes, I heard,” he said. +“Why did you do it?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington made a little gesture of impatience. +“That is quite unnecessary. You know +I sent you.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham a trifle dryly, “I see. +You would have felt mean if you hadn’t defended +me.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the girl, with a curious smile. “That +was not exactly the reason, but we cannot talk too +long here. Dane is anxious to take us home in his +new buggy, but it would apparently be a very tight +fit for three. Will you drive me over?”</p> + +<p>Witham only nodded, for Mrs. Macdonald approached +in pursuit of him, but he spent the rest of +the evening in a state of expectancy, and Maud +Barrington fancied that his hard hands were +suspiciously unresponsive as she took them when +he helped her into the Silverdale wagon—a vehicle +a strong man could have lifted, and in no way +resembling its English prototype. The team was +mettlesome, the lights of Macdonald’s homestead +soon faded behind them, and they were racing +with many a lurch and jolt straight as the crow flies +across the prairie.</p> + +<p>There was no moon, but the stars shone far up +in the soft indigo, and the grasses whirled back in +endless ripples to the humming wheels, dimmed to +the dusky blue that suffused the whole intermerging +sweep of earth and sky. The sweetness of wild +peppermint rose through the coolness of the dew, +and the voices of the wilderness were part of the +silence that was but the perfect balance of the +nocturnal harmonies. The two who knew and +loved the prairie could pick out each one of them. +Nor did it seem that there was any need of speech +on such a night, but at last Witham turned with a +little smile to his companion, as he checked the +horses on the slope of a billowy rise.</p> + +<p>“One feels diffident about intruding on this +great quietness,” he said. “Still, I fancy you had +a purpose in asking me to drive you home.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, with a curious gentleness. +“In the first place, though I know it isn’t necessary +with you, I want to thank you. I made Dane tell +me, and you have done all I wished—splendidly.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Well, you see, it naturally +came easy to me.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington noticed the trace of grimness +in his voice. “Please try to overlook our unkindness,” +she said. “Is it really needful to keep +reminding me? And how was I to know what you +were, when I had only heard that wicked story?”</p> + +<p>Witham felt a little thrill run through him, for which +reason he looked straight in front of him and shifted +his grasp on the reins. Disdainful and imperious +as she was at times, he knew there was a wealth of +softer qualities in his companion now. Her daintiness +in thought and person, and honesty of purpose, +appealed to him, while that night her mere physical +presence had an effect that was almost bewildering. +For a moment he wondered vaguely how far a man +with what fate had thrust upon him might dare to +go, and then with a little shiver saw once more the +barrier of deceit and imposture.</p> + +<p>“You believe it was not a true one?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Maud Barrington. “How +could it be? And you have been very patient +under our suspicions. Now, if you still value the +good-will you once asked for, it is yours absolutely.”</p> + +<p>“But you may still hear unpleasant stories about +me,” said Witham, with a note the girl had not +heard before in his voice.</p> + +<p>“I should not believe them,” she said.</p> + +<p>“Still,” persisted Witham, “if the tales were true?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington did nothing by halves. “Then +I should remember that there is always so much we +do not know which would put a different colour +on any story, and I believe they could never be +true again.”</p> + +<p>Witham checked a little gasp of wonder and +delight and Maud Barrington looked away across +the prairie. She was not usually impulsive and +seldom lightly bestowed gifts that were worth the +having, and the man knew that the faith in him she +had confessed to was the result of a conviction +that would last until he himself shattered it. Then, +in the midst of his elation, he shivered again and drew +the lash across the near horse’s back. The wonder +and delight he felt had suddenly gone.</p> + +<p>“Few would venture to predict as much. Now and +then I feel that our deeds are scarcely contrived by +our own will, and one could fancy our parts had +been thrust upon us in a grim joke,” he said. “For +instance, isn’t it strange that I should have a share +in the rousing of Silverdale to a sense of its responsibilities? +Lord, what I could make of it if fate +had but given me a fair opportunity!”</p> + +<p>He spoke almost fiercely, but the words did not +displease the girl. The forceful ring in his voice +set something thrilling within her, and she knew +by this time that his assertions seldom went beyond +the fact.</p> + +<p>“But you will have the opportunity, and we +need you here,” she said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham slowly. “I am afraid not. +Still, I will finish the work I see in front of me. +That at least—one cannot hope for the unattainable.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was sensible of a sudden chill. +“Still, if one has strength and patience, is anything +quite unattainable?”</p> + +<p>Witham looked out across the prairie, and for a +moment the demons of pride and ambition rioted +within him. He knew there were in him the qualities +that compel success, and the temptation to stretch +out a daring hand and take all he longed for grew +almost overmastering. Still, he also knew how +strong the innate prejudices of caste and tradition +are in most women of his companion’s station, and +she had never hidden one aspect of her character +from him. It was with a smothered groan he +realized that if he flung the last shred of honour +aside and grasped the forbidden fruit it would turn +to bitterness in his mouth.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said very slowly. “There is a limit, +which only fools would pass.”</p> + +<p>Then there was silence for a while, until, as they +swept across the rise, Maud Barrington laughed +as she pointed to the lights that blinked in the +hollow, and Witham realized that the barrier between +them stood firm again.</p> + +<p>“Our views seldom coincide for very long, but +there is something else to mention before we reach +the Grange,” she said. “You must have paid out +a good many dollars for the ploughing of your land +and mine, and nobody’s exchequer is inexhaustible +at Silverdale. Now I want you to take a cheque +from me.”</p> + +<p>“Is it necessary, that I should?”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the girl, with a trace of displeasure.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Then I shall be prepared +to hand you my account whenever you demand it.”</p> + +<p>He did not look at his companion again, but +with a tighter grip than there was any need for on +the reins, sent the light wagon jolting down the +slope to Silverdale Grange.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink14'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XIV—THE UNEXPECTED</a></h2> + +<p>The sun beat down on the prairie, which was +already losing its flush of green, but it was cool +where Maud Barrington and her aunt stood in the +shadow of the bluff by Silverdale Grange. The +birches, tasselled now with whispering foliage, +divided the homestead from the waste which would lie +white and desolate under the parching heat, and that +afternoon it seemed to the girl that the wall of green +shut out more than the driving dust and sun-glare +from the Grange, for where the trees were thinner +she could see moving specks of men and horses +athwart the skyline.</p> + +<p>They had toiled in the sun-baked furrow since the +first flush of crimson streaked the prairie’s rim, and +the chill of dusk would fall upon the grasses before +their work was done. Those men who bore the +burden and heat of the day were, the girl knew, +helots now, but there was in them the silent vigour +and something of the sombreness of the land of +rock and forest they came from, and a time would +come when others would work for them. Winning +slowly, holding grimly, they were moving on, while +secure in its patrician tranquility Silverdale stood +still, and Maud Barrington smiled curiously as she +glanced down at the long white robe that clung very +daintily about her and then towards her companions +in the tennis field. Her apparel had cost many +dollars in Montreal, and there was a joyous irresponsibility +in the faces of those she watched.</p> + +<p>“It is a little unequal, isn’t it, aunt?” she said. +“One feels inclined to wonder what we have done +that we should have exemption from the charge +laid upon the first tiller of the soil we and the men +who are plodding through the dust there are descended +from.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington laughed a little as she glanced +with a nod of comprehension at the distant toilers, +and more gravely towards the net. Merry voices +came up to her through the shadows of the trees +as English lad and English maiden, lissom and +picturesque in many-hued jackets and light dresses, +flitted across the little square of velvet green. The +men had followed the harrow and seeder a while that +morning. Some of them, indeed, had for a few hours +driven a team, and then left the rest to the hired +hands, for the stress and sweat of effort that was to +turn the wilderness into a granary was not for such +as them.</p> + +<p>“Don’t you think it is all made up to those +others?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“In one sense—yes,” said the girl. “Of course, +one can see that all effort must have its idealistic +aspect, and there may be men who find their compensation +in the thrill of the fight, and the knowledge +of work well done when they rest at night. +Still, I fancy most of them only toil to eat, and their +views are not revealed to us. We are, you see, +women—and we live at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Her aunt smiled again. “How long is it since +the plough crossed the Red River, and what is +Manitoba now? How did those mile furrows come +there, and who drove the road that takes the wheat +out through the granite of the Superior shore? +It is more than their appetites that impelled those +men, my dear. Still, it is scarcely wise to expect +too much when one meets them, for though one +could feel it is presumptuous to forgive its deficiencies, +the Berserk type of manhood is not conspicuous +for its refinement.”</p> + +<p>For no apparent reason Maud Barrington evaded +her aunt’s gaze. “You,” she said dryly, “have +forgiven one of that type a good deal already, +but, at least, we have never seen him when the fit +was upon him.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington laughed. “Still, I have no +doubt that, sooner or later, you will enjoy the +spectacle.”</p> + +<p>Just then a light wagon came up behind them, +and when one of the hired men helped them in they +swept out of the cool shade into the dust and glare +of the prairie, and when, some little time later, +with the thud of hoofs and rattle of wheels softened +by the bleaching sod, they rolled down a rise, there +was spread out before them evidence of man’s +activity.</p> + +<p>Acre by acre, gleaming chocolate brown against +the grey and green of the prairie, the wheat loam +rolled away, back to the ridge, over it, and on again. +It was such a breadth of sowing as had but once, +when wheat was dear, been seen at Silverdale, but +still across the foreground, advancing in echelon, +came lines of dusty teams, and there was a meaning +in the furrows they left behind them, for they were +not ploughing where the wheat had been. Each +wave of lustrous clods that rolled from the gleaming +shares was so much rent from the virgin prairie, and +a promise of what would come when man had +fulfilled his mission and the wilderness would blossom. +There was a wealth of food stored, little by little +during ages past counting, in every yard of the +crackling sod to await the time when the toiler +with the sweat of the primeval curse upon his forehead +should unseal it with the plough. It was +also borne in upon Maud Barrington that the man +who directed those energies was either altogether +without discernment, or one who saw further than +his fellows and had an excellent courage, when he +flung his substance into the furrows while wheat +was going down. Then, as the hired man pulled up +the wagon, she saw him.</p> + +<p>A great plough with triple shares had stopped at +the end of the furrow, and the leading horses were +apparently at variance with the man who, while he +gave of his own strength to the uttermost, was +asking too much from them. Young and indifferently +broken, tortured by swarming insects, +and galled by the strain of the collar, they had laid +back their ears, and the wickedness of the bronco +strain shone in their eyes. One rose almost upright +amidst a clatter of harness, its mate squealed +savagely, and the man who loosed one hand from +the headstall flung out an arm. Then he and the +pair whirled round together amidst the trampled +clods in a blurred medley of spume-flecked bodies, +soil-stained jean, flung-up hoofs, and an arm that +swung and smote again. Miss Barrington grew +a trifle pale as she watched, but a little glow crept +into her niece’s eyes.</p> + +<p>The struggle, however, ended suddenly, and +hailing a man who plodded behind another team, +Witham picked up his broad hat, which was trampled +into shapelessness, and turned towards the wagon. +There was dust and spume upon him, a rent in the +blue shirt, and the knuckles of one hand dripped +red, but he laughed as he said, “I did not know we +had an audience, but this, you see, is necessary.”</p> + +<p>“Is it?” asked Miss Barrington, who glanced at +the ploughing. “When wheat is going down?”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I mean, to me; +and the price of wheat is only part of the question.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington stretched out her hand, though +her niece said nothing at all. “Of course, but I +want you to help us down. Maud has an account +you have not sent in, to ask you for.”</p> + +<p>Witham first turned to the two men who now stood +by the idle machine. “You’ll have to drive those +beasts of mine as best you can, Tom, and Jake will +take your team. Get them off again now. This piece +of breaking has to be put through before we loose +again.”</p> + +<p>Then he handed his visitors down, and Maud +Barrington fancied as he walked with them to the +house that the fashion in which the damaged hat +hung down over his eyes would have rendered most +other men ludicrous. He left them a space in his bare +sitting-room, which suggested only grim utility, and +Miss Barrington smiled when her niece glanced at +her.</p> + +<p>“And this is how Lance, the profligate, lives!” said +she.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington shook her head. “No,” she said. +“Can you believe that this man was ever a prodigal?”</p> + +<p>Her aunt was a trifle less astonished than she +would once have been, but before she could answer +Witham, who had made a trifling change in his clothing, +came in.</p> + +<p>“I can give you some green tea, though I am afraid +it might be a good deal better than it is, and our +crockery is not all you have been used to,” he said. +“You see, we have only time to think of one thing +until the sowing is through.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington’s eyes twinkled. “And then?”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham, with a little laugh, “there +will be prairie hay to cut, and after that the harvest +coming on.”</p> + +<p>“In the meanwhile, it was business that brought +me here, and I have a cheque with me,” said Maud +Barrington. “Please let us get it over first of all.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat down at a table and scribbled on a +strip of paper. “That,” he said gravely, “is what +you owe me for the ploughing.”</p> + +<p>There was a little flush in his face as he took the +cheque the girl filled in, and both felt somewhat +grateful for the entrance of a man in blue jean with +the tea. It was of very indifferent quality, and he +had sprinkled a good deal on the tray, but Witham +felt a curious thrill as he watched the girl pour it out +at the head of the bare table. Her white dress gleamed +in the light of a dusty window, and the shadowy +cedar boarding behind her forced up each line of the +shapely figure. Again the maddening temptation +took hold of him and he wondered whether he had +betrayed too much, when he felt the elder lady’s eyes +upon him. There was a tremor in his brown fingers +as he took the cup held out to him, but his voice was +steady.</p> + +<p>“You can scarcely fancy how pleasant this is,” +he said. “For eight years, in fact, ever since I left +England, no woman has ever done any of these graceful +little offices for me.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington glanced at her niece, and both of +them knew that, if the lawyer had traced Courthorne’s +past correctly, this could not be true. Still, there +was no disbelief in the elder lady’s eyes, and the girl’s +faith remained unshaken.</p> + +<p>“Eight years,” she said, with a little smile, “is +a very long while.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham, “horribly long, and one year +at Silverdale is worth them all—that is, a year like +this one, which is going to be remembered by all who +have sown wheat on the prairie; and that leads up +to something. When I have ploughed all my own +holding I shall not be content, and I want to make +another bargain. Give me the use of your unbroken +land, and I will find horses, seed, and men, while we +will share what it yields us when the harvest is in.”</p> + +<p>The girl was astonished. This, she knew, was +splendid audacity, for the man had already staken +very heavily on the crop he had sown, and while the +daring of it stirred her she sat silent a moment.</p> + +<p>“I could lose nothing, but you will have to bring +out a host of men and have risked so much,” she said. +“Nobody but you, and I, and three or four others +in all the province, are ploughing more than half +their holdings.”</p> + +<p>The suggestion of comradeship set Witham’s blood +tingling, but it was with a little laugh he turned over +the pile of papers on the table, and then took them +up in turn.</p> + +<p>“‘Very little ploughing has been done in the tracts +of Minnesota previously alluded to. Farmers find +wheat cannot be grown at present prices, and there +is apparently no prospect of a rise,’” he said.</p> + +<p>“‘The Dakota wheat-growers are mostly following. +They can’t quite figure how they would get +eighty cents for the dollar’s worth of seeding this +year.’</p> + +<p>“‘Milling very quiet in Winnipeg. No inquiries +from Europe coming in, and Manitoba dealers generally +find little demand for harrows or seeders this +year. Reports from Assiniboia seem to show that +the one hope this season will be mixed farming and +the neglect of cereals.’”</p> + +<p>“There is only one inference,” he said. “When +the demand comes there will be nothing to meet it +with.”</p> + +<p>“When it comes,” said Maud Barrington quietly. +“But you who believe it will stand alone.”</p> + +<p>“Almost,” said Witham. “Still there are a few +much cleverer men who feel as I do. I can’t give +you all my reasons, or read you the sheaf of papers +from the Pacific slope, London, New York, Australia; +but, while men lose hope, and little by little the stocks +run down, the world must be fed. Just as sure as the +harvest follows the sowing, it will wake up suddenly +to the fact that it is hungry. They are buying cotton +and scattering their money in other nations’ +bonds in the old country now, for they and the rest +of Europe forget their necessities at times, but it is +impossible to picture them finding their granaries +empty and clamouring for bread?”</p> + +<p>It was a crucial test of faith, and the man knew it, +as the woman did. He stood alone, with the opinions +of the multitude against him; but there was, Maud +Barrington felt, a great if undefinable difference +between his quiet resolution and the gambler’s recklessness. +Once more the boldness of his venture +stirred her, and this time there was a little flash in +her eyes as she bore witness to her perfect confidence.</p> + +<p>“You shall have the land, every acre of it, to do +what you like with, and I will ask no questions +whether you win or lose,” she said.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Barrington glanced at him in turn. +“Lance, I have a thousand dollars I want you to turn +into wheat for me.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s fingers trembled, and a darker hue crept +into his tan. “Madam,” he said, “I can take no +money from you.”</p> + +<p>“You must,” said the little white-haired lady. +“For your mother’s sake, Lance. It is a brave thing +you are doing, and you are the son of one who was +my dearest friend.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned his head away, and both women +wondered when he looked round again. His face +seemed a trifle drawn, and his voice was strained.</p> + +<p>“I hope,” he said slowly, “it will in some degree +make amends for others I have done. In the +meanwhile, there are reasons why your confidence humiliates +me.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington rose and her niece after her. +“Still I believe it is warranted, and you will remember +there are two women who have trusted you, hoping +for your success. And now, I fancy, we have kept +you too long.”</p> + +<p>Witham stood holding the door open a moment, +with his head bent, and then suddenly straightened +himself.</p> + +<p>“I can at least be honest with you in this venture,” +he said, with a curious quietness.</p> + +<p>Nothing further was said, but when his guests drove +away Witham sat still awhile, and then went back +very grim in face to his ploughing. He had passed +other unpleasant moments of that kind since he came +to Silverdale, and long afterwards the memory of +them brought a flush to his face. The excuses he +had made seemed worthless when he strove to view +what he had done, and was doing, through those +women’s eyes.</p> + +<p>It was dusk when he returned to the homestead +worn out in body but more tranquil in mind, and +stopped a moment in the doorway to look back on +the darkening sweep of the ploughing. He felt with +no misgivings that his time of triumph would come, +and in the meanwhile the handling of this great farm +with all the aids that money could buy him was a +keen joy to him; but each time he met Maud Barrington’s +eyes he realized the more surely that the +hour of his success must also see accomplished an +act of abnegation, which he wondered with a growing +fear whether he could find the strength for. Then +as he went in a man who cooked for his hired assistants +came to meet him.</p> + +<p>“There’s a stranger inside waiting for you,” he +said. “Wouldn’t tell me what he wanted, but sat +right down as if the place was his and helped himself +without asking to your cigars. Wanted something +to drink, too, and smiled at me kind of wicked when I +brought him the cider.”</p> + +<p>The room was almost dark when Witham entered +it and stood still a moment staring at a man who +sat, cigar in hand, quietly watching him. His appearance +was curiously familiar, but Witham could not +see his face until he moved forward another step or +two. Then he stopped once more, and the two, saying +nothing, looked at one another. It was Witham +who spoke first, and his voice was very even.</p> + +<p>“What do you want here?” he asked.</p> + +<p>The other man laughed. “Isn’t that a curious +question when the place is mine? You don’t seem +overjoyed to see me come to life again.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat down and slowly lighted a cigar. “We +need not go into that. I asked you what you want.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne dryly, “it is not a great +deal. Only the means to live in a manner more befitting +a gentleman than I have been able to do lately.”</p> + +<p>“You have not been prospering?” and Witham +favoured his companion with a slow scrutiny.</p> + +<p>“No,” and Courthorne laughed again. “You +see, I could pick up a tolerable living as Lance Courthorne, +but there is very little to be made at my business +when you commence in new fields as an unknown +man.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham coldly, “I don’t know that +it wouldn’t be better to face my trial than stay here +at your mercy. So far as my inclinations go, I would +sooner fight than have any further dealings with a +man like you.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne shook his head. “I fixed up the thing +too well, and you would be convicted. Still, we’ll +not go into that, and you will not find me unreasonable. +A life at Silverdale would not suit me, and +you know by this time that it would be difficult to +sell the place, while I don’t know where I could find +a tenant who would farm it better than you. That +being so, it wouldn’t be good policy to bleed you too +severely. Still, I want a thousand dollars in the +meanwhile. They’re mine, you see.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat still a minute. He was sensible of a +fierce distrust and hatred of the man before him, but +he felt he must at least see the consummation of his +sowing.</p> + +<p>“Then you shall have them on condition that you +go away, and stay away, until harvest is over. After +that I will send for you and shall have more to tell +you. If in the meantime you come back here, or +hint that I am Witham, I will surrender to the police +or decide our differences in another fashion.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne nodded. “That is direct,” he said. +“One knows where he is when he deals with a man +who talks as you do. Now, are you not curious as to +the way I cheated both the river and the police?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham grimly, “not in the least. We +will talk business together when it is necessary, but I +can only decline to discuss anything else with you.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “There’s nothing to be +gained by pretending to misunderstand you, but it +wouldn’t pay me to be resentful when I’m graciously +willing to let you work for me. Still, I have been +inclined to wonder how you were getting on with my +estimable relatives and connexions. One of them has, +I hear, unbent a trifle towards you, but I would like +to warn you not to presume on any small courtesy +shown you by the younger Miss Barrington.”</p> + +<p>Witham stood up and set his back to the door. +“You heard my terms, but if you mention that lady +again in connexion with me it would suit me equally +well to make good all I owe you very differently.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne did not appear in any way disconcerted, +but before he could answer a man outside opened the +door.</p> + +<p>“Here’s Sergeant Stimson and one of his troopers +wanting you,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham looked at Courthorne, but the latter smiled. +“The visit has nothing to do with me. It is probably +accidental; but I fancy Stimson knows me, and it +wouldn’t be advisable for him to see us both together. +Now, I wonder whether you could make it fifteen +hundred dollars.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham. “Stay, if it pleases you.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne shook his head. “I don’t know that it +would. You don’t do it badly, Witham.”</p> + +<p>He went out by another door almost as the grizzled +sergeant came in and stood still, looking at the master +of the homestead.</p> + +<p>“I haven’t seen you since I came here, Mr. Courthorne, +and now you remind me of another man I +once had dealings with,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed a little. “I scarcely fancy that +is very civil, Sergeant.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the prairie-rider, “there is a difference, +when I look at you more closely. Let me see, +I met you once or twice back there in Alberta?”</p> + +<p>He appeared to be reflecting, but Witham was on +his guard. “More frequently, I fancy, but you had +nothing definite against me, and the times have +changed. I would like to point that out to you +civilly. Your chiefs are also on good terms with us +at Silverdale, you see.”</p> + +<p>The sergeant laughed. “Well, sir, I meant no +offence, and called round to requisition a horse. One +of the Whitesod boys has been deciding a quarrel with +a neighbour with an axe, and while I fancy they want +me at once, my beast got his foot in a badger hole.”</p> + +<p>“Tell Tom in the stables to let you have your +choice,” said Witham. “If you like them, there’s +no reason you shouldn’t take some of these cigars +along.”</p> + +<p>The sergeant went out, and when the beat of hoofs +sank into the silence of the prairie, Witham called +Courthorne in. “I have offered you no refreshment, +but the best in the house is at your service,” he said.</p> + +<p>Courthorne looked at him curiously, and for the +first time Witham noticed that the life he had led was +telling upon his companion.</p> + +<p>“As your guest?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham. “I am tenant here, and, +that I may owe you nothing, purpose paying you a +second thousand dollars when the crop is in, as well +as bank-rate interest on the value of the stock and +machines and the money I have used, as shown in +the documents handed me by Colonel Barrington. +With wheat at its present price, nobody would give +you more for the land. In return, I demand the +unconditional use of the farm until within three +months from harvest I have the elevator warrants for +whatever wheat I raise, which will belong to me. If +you do not agree, or remain here after sunrise to-morrow, +I shall ride over to the outpost and make a +declaration.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne slowly, “you can consider +it a deal.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink15'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XV—FACING THE FLAME</a></h2> + +<p>Courthorne rode away next morning, and some +weeks had passed when Maud Barrington came upon +Witham sitting beside his mower in a sloo. He did not +at first see her, for the rattle of the machines in a +neighbouring hollow drowned the muffled beat of +hoofs, and the girl, reining her horse in, looked down +on him. The man was sitting very still, which was +unusual with him, a hammer in his hand, gazing +straight before him, as though he could see something +beyond the shimmering heat that danced along the +rim of the prairie.</p> + +<p>Summer had come, and the grass, which grew +scarcely ankle-deep on the great levels, was once more +white and dry; but in the hollows that had held the +melting snow it stood waist-high, scented with peppermint, +harsh and wiry, and Witham had set out with +every man he had to harvest it. Already a line of +loaded wagons crawled slowly across the prairie, and +men and horses moved half-seen amid the dust that +whirled about another sloo. Out of it came the +trampling of hoofs and the musical tinkle of steel.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Witham looked up, and the care which was +stamped upon it fled from his face when he saw +the girl. The dust that lay thick upon his garments +had spared her, and as she sat, patting the restless +horse, with a little smile in her face which showed +just touched by the sun beneath the big white hat, +something in her dainty freshness reacted upon the +tired man’s fancy. He had long borne the stress and +the burden, and as he watched her a longing to taste +for at least a space the life of leisure and refinement +came upon him, as it had done too often for his tranquility +since he came to Silverdale. This woman +who had been born to it could, it seemed to him, lift +the man she trusted beyond the sordid cares of the +turmoil to her own high level, and as he waited for +her to speak, a fit of passion shook him. It betrayed +itself only by the sudden hardening of his face.</p> + +<p>“It is the first time I have surprised you idle. +You were dreaming,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled a trifle mirthlessly. “I was, but +I am afraid the fulfillment of the dreams is not for me. +One is apt to be pulled up suddenly when he ventures +over far.”</p> + +<p>“We are inquisitive, you know,” said Maud Barrington; +“can’t you tell me what they were?”</p> + +<p>Witham did not know what impulse swayed him, +and afterwards blamed himself for complying; but +the girl’s interest compelled him, and he showed her +a little of what was in his heart.</p> + +<p>“I fancy I saw Silverdale gorging the elevators +with the choicest wheat,” he said. “A new bridge +flung level across the ravine where the wagons go +down half-loaded to the creek; a dam turning the +hollow into a lake, and big turbines driving our own +flouring mill. Then there were herds of cattle +fattening on the strippings of the grain that wasteful +people burn, our products clamoured for, east in the +old country, and west in British Columbia—and for +a background, prosperity and power, even if it was +paid for with half the traditions of Silverdale. Still, +you see it may all be due to the effect of the fierce sunshine +on an idle man’s fancy.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington regarded him steadily, and the +smile died out of her eyes. “But,” she said, slowly +“is all that quite beyond realization. Could you not +bring it about?”</p> + +<p>Witham saw her quiet confidence and something +of her pride. There was no avarice in this woman, +but the slight dilation of the nostrils and the glow +in her eyes told of ambition, and for a moment his +soul was not his own.</p> + +<p>“I could,” he said; and Maud Barrington, who +watched the swift straightening of his shoulders and +lifting of his head, felt that he spoke no more than the +truth. Then with a sudden access of bitterness, +“But I never will.”</p> + +<p>“Why?” she asked. “Have you grown tired of +Silverdale, or has what you pictured no charm for +you?”</p> + +<p>Witham leaned, as it were wearily against the +wheel of the mower. “I wonder if you could understand +what my life has been. The crushing poverty +that rendered every effort useless from the beginning, +the wounds that come from using imperfect tools, and +the numb hopelessness that follows repeated failure. +They are tolerably hard to bear alone, but it is more +difficult to make the best of them when the poorly-fed +body is as worn out as the mind. To stay here would +be—paradise—but a glimpse of it will probably have +to suffice. Its gates are well guarded and without are +the dogs, you know.”</p> + +<p>Something in Maud Barrington thrilled in answer +to the faint hoarseness in Witham’s voice, and she +did not resent it. She was a woman with all her sex’s +instinctive response to passion and emotion, though +as yet the primitive impulses that stir the hearts of +men had been covered, if not wholly hidden, from her +by the thin veneer of civilization. Now, at least, she +felt in touch with them, and for a moment she looked +at the man with a daring that matched his own +shining in her eyes.</p> + +<p>“And you fear the angel with the sword?” she +said. “There is nothing so terrible at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham, “I think it is the load I have +to carry I fear the most.”</p> + +<p>For the moment Maud Barrington had flung off +the bonds of conventionality. “Lance,” she said, +“you have proved your right to stay at Silverdale, +and would not what you are doing now cover a great +deal in the past?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled wryly. “It is the present that is +difficult,” he said. “Can a man be pardoned and +retain the offence?”</p> + +<p>He saw the faint bewilderment in the girl’s +face give place to the resentment of frankness unreturned, +and with a little shake of his shoulders shrank +into himself. Maud Barrington, who understood it, +once more put on the becoming reticence of Silverdale.</p> + +<p>“We are getting beyond our depth, and it is very +hot,” she said. “You have all this hay to cut!”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed as he bent over the mower’s +knife. “Yes,” he said, “it is really more in my line, +and I have kept you in the sun too long.”</p> + +<p>In another few moments Maud Barrington was +riding across the prairie, but when the rattle of the +machine rose from the sloo behind her she laughed +curiously.</p> + +<p>“The man knew his place, but you came perilously +near making a fool of yourself this morning, my dear,” +she said.</p> + +<p>It was a week or two later, and very hot when, +with others of his neighbours, Witham sat in the big +hall at Silverdale Grange. The windows were open +wide, and the smell of hot dust came in from the white +waste which rolled away beneath the stars. There +was also another odour in the little puffs of wind that +flickered in, and far off where the arch of indigo +dropped to the dusky earth wavy lines of crimson +moved along the horizon. It was then the season when +fires that are lighted by means which no man knows +creep up and down the waste of grass, until they put +on speed and roll in a surf of flame before a sudden +breeze. Still, nobody was anxious about them, for +the guarding furrows that would oppose a space of +dusty soil to the march of the flame had been ploughed +round every homestead at Silverdale.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was at the piano, and her voice was +good; while Witham, who had known what it is to +toil from red dawn to sunset without hope of more +than daily food, found the simple song she had chosen +chime with his mood: “All day long the reapers.”</p> + +<p>A faint staccato drumming that rose from the +silent prairie throbbed through the final chords of it, +and when the music ceased, swelled into the gallop +of a horse. It seemed in some curious fashion portentous, +and when there was a rattle and jingle outside +other eyes than Witham’s were turned towards the +door. It swung open presently, and Dane came in. +There was quiet elation and some diffidence in his +bronzed face as he turned to Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>“I could not get away earlier from the settlement, +sir, but I have great news,” he said. “They have +awoke to the fact that stocks are getting low in the +old country. Wheat moved up at Winnipeg, and +there was almost a rush to buy yesterday.”</p> + +<p>There was a sudden silence, for among those present +were men who remembered the acres of good soil they +had not ploughed, but a little grim smile crept into +their leader’s face.</p> + +<p>“It is,” he said quietly, “too late for most of us. +Still, we will not grudge you your good fortune, Dane. +You and a few of the others owe it to Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Every eye was on the speaker, for it had become +known among his neighbours that he had sold for a +fall; but Barrington could lose gracefully. Then +both his niece and Dane looked at Witham with a +question in their eyes.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said very quietly, “it is the turning of +the tide.”</p> + +<p>He crossed over to Barrington, who smiled at him +dryly as he said, “It is a trifle soon to admit that +I was wrong.”</p> + +<p>Witham made a gesture of almost impatient deprecation. +“I was wondering how far I might presume, +sir. You have forward wheat to deliver?”</p> + +<p>“I have,” said Barrington; “unfortunately, a +good deal. You believe the advance will continue?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham simply. “Still it is but the +beginning, and there will be a reflux before the stream +sets in. Wait a little, sir, and then telegraph your +broker to cover all your contracts when the price +drops again.”</p> + +<p>“I fancy it would be wiser to cut my losses now,” +said Barrington dryly.</p> + +<p>Then Witham did a somewhat daring thing, for he +raised his voice a trifle, in a fashion that seemed to +invite the attention of the rest of the company.</p> + +<p>“The more certain the advance seems to be, the +fiercer will be the bears’ last attack,” he said. “They +have to get from under, and will take heavy chances +to force prices back. As yet, they may contrive to +check or turn the stream, and then every wise man +who has sold down will try to cover, but no one can +tell how far it may carry us, once it sets strongly in.”</p> + +<p>The men understood, as did Colonel Barrington, +that they were being warned, above their leader’s +head; and his niece, while resenting the slight, admitted +the courage of the man. Barrington’s face was +sardonic, and a less resolute man would have winced +under the implication as he said:</p> + +<p>“This is, no doubt, intuition. I fancy you told +us you had no dealings on the markets at Winnipeg.”</p> + +<p>Witham looked steadily at the speaker, and the +girl noticed with a curious approval that he smiled.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps it is, but I believe events will prove me +right. In any case, what I had the honour of telling +you and Miss Barrington was the fact,” he said.</p> + +<p>Nobody spoke, and the girl was wondering by what +means the strain, which, though few heard what Barrington +said, all seemed to feel, could be relieved, when +out of the darkness came a second beat of hoofs, and by +and by a man swaying on the driving-seat of a jolting +wagon swept into the light from the windows. Then +there were voices outside, and a breathless lad came +in.</p> + +<p>“A big grass fire coming right down on Courthorne’s +farm!” he said. “It was tolerably close +when I got away.”</p> + +<p>In an instant there was commotion, and every man +in Silverdale Grange was on his feet. For the most +part they took life lightly, and looked upon their farming +as an attempt to combine the making of dollars +with gentlemanly relaxation; but there were no laggards +among them when there was perilous work to +be done, and they went out to meet the fire joyously. +Inside five minutes scarcely a horse remained in the +stables, and the men were flying at a gallop across +the dusky prairie, laughing at the risk of a stumble +in a deadly badger hole. Yet in the haste of saddling, +they found time to arrange a twenty-dollar sweepstake +and the allowance for weight.</p> + +<p>Up the long rise and down the back of it they swept, +stirrup as yet by stirrup and neck by neck, while +the roar of the hoofs reft the silence of the prairie +like the roll of musketry. Behind came the wagons, +lurching up the slope, and the blood surged to the +brave young faces as the night wind smote them and +fanned into brightness the crimson smear on the +horizon. They were English lads, and healthy +Englishmen, of the stock that had furnished their nation’s +fighting line, and not infrequently counted no sacrifice +too great that brought their colours home first +on the racing turf. Still, careless to the verge of irresponsibility +as they were in most affairs that did not +touch their pride, the man who rode with red spurs +and Dane next behind him, a clear length before the +first of them, asked no better allies in what was to be +done.</p> + +<p>Then the line drew out as the pace began to tell, +though the rearmost rode grimly, knowing the risks +the leaders ran, and that the chance of being first to +meet the fire might yet fall to them. There was not +one among them who would not have killed his best +horse for that honour, and for further incentive the +Colonel’s niece, in streaming habit, flitted in front of +them. She had come up from behind them, and +passed them on a rise, for Barrington disdained to +breed horses for dollars alone, and there was blood +well known on the English turf in the beast she rode.</p> + +<p>By-and-by a straggling birch bluff rose blackly +across their way, but nobody swung wide. Swaying +low while the branches smote them, they went through, +the twigs crackling under foot, and here and there the +red drops trickling down a flushed, scarred face, for +the slanting rent of a birch bough cuts like a knife. +Dim trees whirled by them, undergrowth went +down, and they were out on the dusty grass again, +while hurled straight, like field guns wanted at the +front, the bouncing wagons went through behind. +Then the fire rose higher in front of them, and when +they topped the last rise the pace grew faster still. +The slope they thundered down was undermined by +gophers and seamed by badger-holes, but they took +their chances gleefully, sparing no effort of hand and +heel, for the sum of twenty dollars and the credit of +being first man in. Then the smoke rolled up to +them, and when eager hands drew bridle at last a +youthful voice rose breathlessly out of it:</p> + +<p>“Stapleton a good first, but he’ll go back on weight. +It used to be black and orange when he was at home.”</p> + +<p>There was a ripple of hoarse laughter, a gasping +cheer, and then silence, for now their play was over, +and it was with the grim quietness, which is not +unusual with their kind, the men of Silverdale turned +towards the fire. It rolled towards the homestead, a +waving crimson wall, not fast, but with remorseless +persistency, out of the dusky prairie, and already +the horses were plunging in the smoke of it. That, +however, did not greatly concern the men, for the +bare fire furrows stretched between themselves and +it; but there was also another blaze inside the defences, +and, unless it was checked, nothing could save +house and barns and granaries, rows of costly binders, +and stock of prairie hay. They looked for a leader, +and found one ready, for Witham’s voice came up +through the crackle of the fire:</p> + +<p>“Some of you lead the saddle-horses back to the +willows and picket them. The rest to the stables +and bring out the working beasts. The ploughs are +by the corral, and the first team that comes up is to +be harnessed to each in turn. Then start in, and turn +over a fall-depth furrow a furlong from the fire.”</p> + +<p>There was no confusion, and already the hired +men were busy with two great machines until Witham +displaced two of them.</p> + +<p>“How that fire passed the guards I don’t know, +but there will be time to find out later,” he said to +Dane. “Follow with the big breaker—it wants a +strong man to keep that share in—as close as you +can.”</p> + +<p>Then they were off, a man at the heads of the leading +horses harnessed to the great machines, and +Witham sitting very intent in the driving-seat of one, +while the tough sod crackled under the rending +shares. Both the man and the reins were needed +when the smoke rolled down on them, but it was for +a moment torn aside again, and there roared up towards +the blurred arch of indigo a great rush of flame. +The heat of it smote into prickliness the uncovered +skin, and in spite of all that Witham could do, the +beasts recoiled upon the machine behind them. Then +they swung round wrenching the shares from the +triplex furrow, and for a few wild minutes man and +terrified beast fought for the mastery. Breathless, +half-strangled objurgations, the clatter of trace and +swivel, and the thud of hoofs, rose muffled through +the roar of the fire, for while swaying, plunging, panting, +they fought with fist and hoof, it was rolling on, +and now the heat was almost insupportable. The +victory, however, was to the men, and when the great +machine went on again, Maud Barrington, who with +the wife of one of her neighbours had watched the +struggle, stood wide-eyed, half-afraid, and yet thrilled +in every fibre.</p> + +<p>“It was splendid!” she said. “They can’t be +beaten.”</p> + +<p>Her companion seemed to shiver a little. “Yes,” +she said, “perhaps it was, but I wish it was over. It +would appeal to you differently, my dear, if you had +a husband at one of those horse’s heads.”</p> + +<p>For a moment Maud Barrington wondered whether +it would, and then, when a red flame flickered out +towards the team, felt a little chill of dread. In +another second the smoke whirled about them, and +she moved backward choking with her companion. +The teams, however, went on, and, though the men +who led them afterwards wondered how they kept +their grip on the horses’ heads, came out frantic +with fear on the farther side. Then it was that +while the machines swung round and other men ran +to help, Witham, springing from the driving-seat, +found Dane amidst the swaying, plunging medley +of beasts and men.</p> + +<p>“If you can’t find hook or clevis, cut the trace,” +he said. “It can’t burn the plough, and the devils +are out of hand now. The fire will jump these furrows, +and we’ve got to try again.”</p> + +<p>In another minute four maddened beasts were +careering across the prairie with portions of their +trappings banging about them, while one man who +was badly kicked sat down grey in face and gasping, +and the fire rolled up to the ridge of loam, checked, +and then sprang across it here and there.</p> + +<p>“I’ll take one of those lad’s places,” said Dane: +“That fellow can’t hold the breaker straight, Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>It was a minute or two later when he flung a breathless +lad away from his plough, and the latter turned +upon him hoarse with indignation.</p> + +<p>“I raced Stapleton for it. Loose your hold, confound +you. It’s mine,” he said.</p> + +<p>Dane turned and laughed at him as he signed to +one of the Ontario hired men to take the near horse’s +head.</p> + +<p>“You’re a plucky lad, and you’ve done what you +could,” he said. “Still, if you get in the way of a +grown man now, I’ll break your head for you.”</p> + +<p>He was off in another moment, crossed Witham, +who had found fresh beasts, in his furrow, and had +turned and doubled it before the fire that had passed +the other barrier came close upon them. Once +more the smoke grew blinding, and one of Dane’s +beasts went down.</p> + +<p>“I’m out of action now,” he said. “Try back. +That team will never face it, Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s face showed very grim under the tossing +flame. “They’ve got to. I’m going through,” +he said. “If the others are to stop it behind there, +they must have time.”</p> + +<p>Then he and the husband of the woman who had +spoken to Maud Barrington passed on with the +frantic team into the smoke that was streaked with +flame.</p> + +<p>“Good Lord!” said Dane, and added more as, +sitting on the horse’s head, he turned his tingling +face from the fire.</p> + +<p>It was some minutes before he and the hired man +who came up loosed the fallen horse, and led it and +its fellow back towards the last defences the rest had +been raising, while the first furrows checked but did +not stay the conflagration. There he presently came +upon the man who had been with Witham.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know where Courthorne is,” he said. +“The beasts bolted with us just after we’d gone +through the worst of it, and I fancy they took the +plough along. Anyway, I didn’t see what became +of them, and don’t fancy anybody would have worried +much about them after being trampled on by +a horse in the lumbar region.”</p> + +<p>Dane saw that the man was limping and white in +face, and asked no more questions. It was evident +to him that Courthorne would be where he was +most needed, and he did what he could with those +who were adding furrow to furrow across the path +of the fire. It rolled up to them roaring, stopped, +flung a shower of burning filaments before it, sank +and swept aloft again, while the sparks rained down +upon the grass before the draught it made.</p> + +<p>Blackened men with smouldering clothes were, +however, ready, and they fought each incipient +blaze with soaked grain bags, and shovels, some of +them also, careless of blistered arms, with their own +wet jackets. As fast as each fire was trampled out +another sprang into life, but the parent blaze that +fed them sank and died, and at last there was a +hoarse cheer. They had won, and the fire they had +beaten passed on divided across the prairie, leaving +the homestead unscathed between.</p> + +<p>Then they turned to look for their leader, and did +not find him until a lad came up to Dane.</p> + +<p>“Courthorne’s back by the second furrows, and +I fancy he’s badly hurt,” he said. “He didn’t appear +to know me, and his head seems all kicked in.”</p> + +<p>It was not apparent how the news went round, +but in a few more minutes Dane was kneeling beside +a limp, blackened object stretched amidst the grass, +and while his comrades clustered behind her, Maud +Barrington bent over him. Her voice was breathless +as she asked, “You don’t believe him dead?”</p> + +<p>Somebody had brought a lantern, and Dane felt +inclined to gasp when he saw the girl’s white face, +but what she felt was not his business then.</p> + +<p>“He’s of a kind that is very hard to kill. Hold +that lantern so I can see him,” he said.</p> + +<p>The rest waited silent, glad that there was somebody +to take a lead, and in a few moments Dane looked +round again.</p> + +<p>“Ride in to the settlement, Stapleton, and bring +that doctor fellow out if you bring him by the neck. +Stop just a moment. You don’t know where you’re +to bring him to.”</p> + +<p>“Here, of course,” said the lad, breaking into a +run.</p> + +<p>“Wait,” and Dane’s voice stopped him. “Now, +I don’t fancy that would do. It seems to me that +this is a case in which a woman to look after him +would be necessary.”</p> + +<p>Then, before any of the married men or their wives +who had followed them could make an offer, Maud +Barrington touched his shoulder.</p> + +<p>“He is coming to the Grange,” she said.</p> + +<p>Dane nodded, signed to Stapleton, then spoke +quickly to the men about him and turned to Maud +Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Ride on at a gallop and get everything ready. +I’ll see he comes to no harm,” he said.</p> + +<p>The girl felt curiously grateful as she rode out with +her companion, and Dane who laid Witham carefully +in a wagon, drew two of the other men aside +when it rolled away towards the Grange.</p> + +<p>“There is something to be looked into. Did you +notice anything unusual about the affair?” he said. +“Since you asked me, I did,” said one of the men. +“I, however, scarcely cared to mention it until I +had time for reflection, but while I fancy the regulation +guards would have checked the fire on the +boundaries without our help, I don’t see how one +started in the hollow inside them.”</p> + +<p>“Exactly,” said Dane very dryly. “Well, we +have got to discover it, and the more quickly we do +it the better. I fancy, however, that the question +who started it is what we have to consider.”</p> + +<p>The men looked at one another, and the third of +them nodded.</p> + +<p>“I fancy it comes to that—though it is horribly +unpleasant to admit it,” he said.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink16'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XVI—MAUD BARRINGTON IS MERCILESS</a></h2> + +<p>Dane overtook the wagon close by the birch bluff +at Silverdale Grange. It was late then, but there +were lights in the windows that blinked beyond the +trees, and, when the wagon stopped, Barrington +stood in the doorway with one or two of his hired +men. Accidents are not infrequent on the prairie, +where surgical assistance is not always available, +and there was a shutter ready on the ground beside +him, for the Colonel had seen the field hospital in +operation.</p> + +<p>“Unhook the tailboard,” he said sharply. “Two +of you pick up the shutter. Four more here. Now, +arms about his shoulders, hips, and knees. Lift and +lower—step off with right foot leading bearer, with +your left in the rear!”</p> + +<p>It was done in a few moments, and when the bearers +passed into the big hall that rang with their shuffling +steps, Maud Barrington shivered as she waited with +her aunt in an inner room. That tramping was +horribly suggestive, and she had seen but little of +sickness and grievous wounds. Still, the fact scarcely +accounted for the painful throbbing of her heart, +and the dizziness that came upon her. Then the +bearers came in, panting, with Barrington and Dane +behind them, and the girl was grateful to her aunt, +who laid a hand upon her arm when she saw the +singed head, and blackened face that was smeared +with a ruddier tint, upon the shutter.</p> + +<p>“Lower!” said Colonel Barrington. “Lift, as I +told you,” and the huddled object was laid upon the +bed. Then there was silence until the impassive +voice rose again.</p> + +<p>“We shall not want you, Maud. Dane, you and +I will get these burnt things off him.”</p> + +<p>The girl went out, and while she stood, feeling +curiously chilly in an adjoining room, Barrington +bent over his patient.</p> + +<p>“Well put together!” he said thoughtfully. +“Most of his people were lighter in the frame. Well, +we can only oil the burns, and get a cold compress about +his head. All intact, so far as I can see, and I fancy +he’d pull through a good deal more than has happened +to him. I am obliged for your assistance, but I need +not keep you.”</p> + +<p>The men withdrew, and when a rattle of wheels +rose from the prairie, Maud Barrington waylaid her +uncle in the hall. Her fingers were trembling, and, +though her voice was steady, the man glanced at her +curiously as she asked, “How is he?”</p> + +<p>“One can scarcely form an opinion yet,” he said +slowly. “He is burned here and there, and his head +is badly cut, but it is the concussion that troubles +me. A frantic horse kicks tolerably hard, you know, +but I shall be able to tell you more when the doctor +comes to-morrow. In the meanwhile you had better +rest, though you could look in and see if your aunt +wants anything in an hour or two.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington passed an hour in horrible impatience, +and then stole quietly into the sick-room. +The windows were open wide, and the shaded lamp +burned unsteadily as the cool night breeze flowed in. +Its dim light just touched the man who lay motionless +with a bandage round his head, and the drawn pallor +of his face once more sent a shiver through the girl. +Then Miss Barrington rose and lifted a warning hand.</p> + +<p>“Quite unconscious still,” she said softly. “I +fancy he was knocked down by one of the horses and +trampled on, but your uncle has hopes of him. He +has evidently led a healthy life.”</p> + +<p>The girl was a little less serene than usual then, and +drew back into the shadow.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said. “We did not think so once.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington smiled curiously. “Are you +very much astonished, Maud? Still, there is nothing +you can do for me, and we shall want you to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Realizing that there was no need for her, the girl +went out, and when the door closed behind her the +little white-haired lady bent down and gazed at her +patient long and steadily. Then she shook her head, +and moved back to the seat she had risen from, with +perplexity in her face.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Maud Barrington sat by the open +window in her room, staring out into the night. There +was a whispering in the birch bluff, and the murmuring +of leagues of grasses rose from the prairie +that stretched away beyond it. Still, though the +wind fanned her throbbing forehead with a pleasant +coolness, the nocturnal harmonies awoke no response +in her. Sleep was out of the question, for her brain +was in a whirl of vague sensation, through which fear +came uppermost every now and then. Why anything +which could befall this man who had come out +of the obscurity and was he had told her, to go back +into it again, should disturb her, Maud Barrington +did not know; but there was no disguising the fact +that she would feel his loss grievously, as others at +Silverdale would do. Then with a little tremor she +wondered whether they must lose him, and, rising, +stood tensely still, listening for any sound from the +room where the sick man lay.</p> + +<p>There was nothing but the sighing of the grasses +outside and the murmur of the birches in the bluff, +until the doleful howl of a coyote stole faintly out of +the night. Again the beast sent its cry out upon the +wind, and the girl trembled as she listened. The +unearthly wail seemed charged with augury, and +every nerve in her thrilled.</p> + +<p>Then she sank down into her chair again, and sat +still, hoping, listening, fearing, and wondering when +the day would come, until at last her eyes grew heavy, +and it was with a start she roused herself when a +rattle of wheels came up out of the prairie in the +early morning. Then a spume-flecked team swept +up to the house, a door swung open, there was a murmur +of voices and a sound of feet that moved softly +in the hall, after which for what seemed an interminable +time, silence reigned again. At last, when +the stealthy patter of feet recommenced, the girl +slipped down the stairway and came upon Barrington. +Still, she could not ask the question that was trembling +on her lips.</p> + +<p>“Is there anything I can do?” she said.</p> + +<p>Barrington shook his head. “Not now! The +doctor is here, and does not seem very anxious about +him. The concussion is not apparently serious, and +his other injuries will not trouble him much.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington said nothing and turned away, +sensible of a great relief, while her aunt entering +her room an hour later found her lying fast asleep +but still dressed as she had last seen her. Then, +being a discerning woman, she went out softly with +a curious smile, and did not at any time mention +what she had seen.</p> + +<p>It was that evening, and Barrington had departed +suddenly on business to Winnipeg, when Dane rode +up to the Grange. He asked for Miss Barrington and +her niece, and when he heard that his comrade was +recovering sensibility, sat down looking very grave.</p> + +<p>“I have something to tell you, but Courthorne +must not know until he is better, while I’m not sure +that we need tell him then,” he said. “In the +meanwhile, I am also inclined to fancy it would +be better kept from Colonel Barrington on his return. +It is the first time anything of the kind has happened +at Silverdale, and it would hurt him horribly, which +decided us to come first to you.”</p> + +<p>“You must be more concise,” said Miss Barrington +quietly, and Dane trifled with the hat in his hand.</p> + +<p>“It is,” he said, “a most unpleasant thing, +and is known to three men only, of whom I am one. +We have also arranged that nobody else will chance +upon what we have discovered. You see, Ferris +is unfortunately connected with you, and his people +have had trouble enough already.”</p> + +<p>“Ferris?” said Maud Barrington, with a sudden +hardening of her face. “You surely don’t mean——”</p> + +<p>Dane nodded. “Yes,” he said reluctantly. “I’m +afraid I do. Now, if you will listen to me for a +minute or two.”</p> + +<p>He told his story with a grim, convincing quietness, +and the blood crept into the girl’s cheeks as she +followed his discoveries step by step. Glancing +at her aunt, she saw that there was horror as well as +belief in the gentle lady’s face.</p> + +<p>“Then,” she said with cold incisiveness, “Ferris +cannot stay here, and he shall be punished.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Dane. “We have no room for a lad +of his disposition at Silverdale—but I’m very uncertain +in regard to the rest. You see, it couldn’t be done +without attracting attention—and I have the honour +of knowing his mother. You will remember how +she lost another son. That is why I did not tell +Colonel Barrington. He is a trifle—precipitate—occasionally.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington glanced at him gratefully. “You +have done wisely,” she said. “Ethel Ferris has +borne enough, and she has never been the same +since the horrible night they brought Frank home, +for she knew how he came by his death, though the +coroner brought it in misadventure. I also fancy my +brother would be implacable in a case like this, +though how far I am warranted in keeping the facts +from him I do not know.”</p> + +<p>Dane nodded gravely. “We leave that to you. +You will, however, remember what happened once +before. We cannot go through what we did then +again.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington recalled the formal court-martial +that had once been held in the hall of the Grange, +when every man in the settlement had been summoned +to attend, for there were offences in regard +to which her brother was inflexible. When it was +over and the disgraced man went forth an outcast, +a full account of the proceedings had been +forwarded to those at home who had hoped for +much from him.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said. “For the sake of the woman +who sent him here we must stop short of that.”</p> + +<p>Then Maud Barrington looked at them both. +“There is one person you do not seem to consider +at all, and that is the man who lies here in +peril through Ferris’s fault,” she said. “Is there +nothing due to him?”</p> + +<p>Dane noticed the sternness in her eyes, and glanced +as if for support towards Miss Barrington. “I fancy +he would be the last to claim it if he knew what +we do. Still, in the meanwhile, I leave the affair +to your aunt and you. We would like to have +your views before doing anything further.”</p> + +<p>He rose as he spoke, and when he had gone out +Maud Barrington sat down at a writing table. +“Aunt,” she said quietly, “I will ask Ferris to come +here at once.”</p> + +<p>It was next day when Ferris came, evidently ill +at ease, though he greeted Miss Barrington with +elaborate courtesy, and would have done the same +with her niece but the girl turned from him with +visible disdain.</p> + +<p>“Sit down,” she said coldly. “Colonel Barrington +is away, but his sister will take his place, and after +him I have the largest stake in the welfare of Silverdale. +Now, a story has come to our ears which, +if it had not been substantiated, would have appeared +incredible. Shall Miss Barrington tell it +you?”</p> + +<p>Ferris, who was a very young man, flushed, but +the colour faded and left his cheeks a trifle grey. +He was not a very prepossessing lad, for it requires +a better physique than he was endowed with to +bear the stamp of viciousness that is usually most +noticeable on the feeble, but he was distinguished +by a trace of arrogance that not infrequently served +him as well as resolution.</p> + +<p>“If it would not inconvenience Miss Barrington, +it would help me to understand a good deal I can +find no meaning for now,” he said.</p> + +<p>The elder lady’s face grew sterner, and very quietly +but remorselessly she set forth his offence, until +no one who heard the tale could have doubted the +origin of the fire.</p> + +<p>“I should have been better pleased had you, if +only when you saw we knew everything, appeared +willing to confess your fault and make amends,” +she said.</p> + +<p>Ferris laughed as ironically as he dared under +the eyes which had lost their gentleness. “You will +pardon me for telling you that I have no intention +of admitting it now. That you should be so readily +prejudiced against me is not gratifying, but, you +see, nobody could take any steps without positive +proof of the story, and my word is at least as credible +as that of the interloper who told it you.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington raised her head suddenly, and +looked at him with a curious light in her eyes, but the +elder lady made a little gesture of deprecation.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Courthorne has told us nothing,” she said. +“Still, three gentlemen whose worth is known at +Silverdale are willing to certify every point of it. +If we lay the affair before Colonel Barrington, you +will have an opportunity of standing face to face +with them.”</p> + +<p>The lad’s assurance, which, so far and no further, +did duty for courage, deserted him. He was evidently +not prepared to be made the subject of another +court-martial, and the hand he laid on the table in +front of him trembled a little.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said hoarsely, “if I admit everything +what will you do?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing,” said Maud Barrington coldly. “On +conditions that within a month you leave Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Ferris stared at her. “You can’t mean that. You +see, I’m fond of farming, and nobody would give me +what the place cost me. I couldn’t live among the +outside settler fellows.”</p> + +<p>The girl smiled coldly. “I mean exactly what you +heard, and, if you do not enlighten them, the settlers +would probably not object to you. Your farm will +be taken over at what you gave for it.”</p> + +<p>Ferris stood up. “I am going to make a last +appeal. Silverdale’s the only place fit for a gentleman +to live in in Canada, and I want to stay here. +You don’t know what it would cost me to go away, +and I’d do anything for reparation—send a big +cheque to a Winnipeg hospital and starve myself +to make up for it if that would content you. Only, +don’t send me away.”</p> + +<p>His tone grew almost abject as he proceeded, and +while Miss Barrington’s eyes softened, her niece’s +heart grew harder because of it, as she remembered +that he had brought a strong man down.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said dryly. “That would punish +your mother and sisters from whom you would +cajole the money. You can decide between leaving +Silverdale and having the story, and the proof of +it, put into the hands of Colonel Barrington.”</p> + +<p>She sat near an open window regarding him with +quiet scorn, and the light that shone upon her struck +a sparkle from her hair and set the rounded cheek +and neck gleaming like ivory. The severity of her +pose became her, and the lad’s callow desire that +had driven him to his ruin stirred him to impotent +rage in his desperation. There were grey patches +in his cheeks, and his voice was strained and hoarse.</p> + +<p>“You have no mercy on me because I struck +at him,” he said. “The one thing I shall always be +sorry for is that I failed, and I would go away with +pleasure if the horse had trampled the life out of him. +Well, there was a time when you could have made +what you wished of me, and now, at least, I shall +not see the blackleg you have showered your favours +on drag you down to the mire he came from.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington’s face had grown very colourless, +but she said nothing, and her aunt rose and +raised the hammer of a gong.</p> + +<p>“Ferris,” she said, “do you wish to be led out +by the hired men?”</p> + +<p>The lad laughed, and the hideous merriment +set the white-haired lady’s nerves on edge. “Oh, +I am going now; but, for once, let us be honest. +It was for her I did it, and if it had been any other +man I had injured, she would have forgiven me.”</p> + +<p>Then with an ironical farewell he swung out of +the room, and the two women exchanged glances +when the door closed noisily behind him. Miss +Barrington was flushed with anger, but her niece’s +face was paler than usual.</p> + +<p>“Are there men like him?” she said.</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington shook off her anger and, rising, +laid a gentle hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Very +few, I hope,” she said. “Still, it would be better +if we sent word to Dane. You would not care for +that tale to spread?”</p> + +<p>For a moment the girl’s cheek flamed, then she +rose quietly and crossed the room.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said; and her aunt stood still, apparently +lost in contemplation, after the door swung softly +to. Then she sat down at the writing table. There +was very little in the note, but an hour after Dane +received it that night, a wagon drew up outside +Ferris’s farm. Two men went quietly in and found +the owner of the homestead sitting with a sheaf of +papers scattered about the table in front of him.</p> + +<p>“Come back to-morrow. I can’t be worried +now,” he said. “Well, why the devil don’t you +go?”</p> + +<p>Dane laid a hand on his shoulder. “We are +waiting for you. You are coming with us!”</p> + +<p>Ferris turned and stared at them. “Where to?”</p> + +<p>“To the railroad,” said Dane dryly. “After +that you can go just where it pleases you. Now, +there’s no use whatever making a fuss, and every +care will be taken of your property until you can +arrange to dispose of it. Hadn’t you better get +ready?”</p> + +<p>The grim quietness of the voice was sufficient, +and Ferris, who saw that force would be used if it +was necessary, decided that it was scarcely likely +his hired men would support him.</p> + +<p>“I might have expected it!” he said. “Of +course, it was imprudent to speak the truth to our +leader’s niece. You know what I have done.”</p> + +<p>“I know what you did the night Courthorne +nearly lost his life,” said Dane. “One would have +fancied that would have contented you.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Ferris, “if you like to hear of a +more serious offence, I’ll oblige you.”</p> + +<p>Dane’s finger closed on his arm. “If you attempt +to tell me, I’ll break your head for you.”</p> + +<p>Next moment Ferris was lifted from his chair, and +in less than ten minutes Dane thrust him into the +wagon, where another man, who passed a hand +through his arm, sat beside him. It was a very +long drive to the railroad, but few words were exchanged +during it, and when they reached the settlement +one of Ferris’s companions mounted guard +outside the hotel he found accommodation in, until +the Montreal express crawled up above the rim of the +prairie. Then both went with him to the station, +and as the long cars rolled in Dane turned quietly +to the lad.</p> + +<p>“Now, I am quite aware that we are incurring some +responsibility, so you need not waste your breath,” +he said. “There are, however, lawyers in Winnipeg, +if you fancy it is advisable to make use of them, and +you know where I and Macdonald are, if you want +us. In the meanwhile, your farm will be run better +than ever it was in your hands, until you dispose +of it. That is all I have to tell you, except that if +any undesirable version of the affair gets about, +Courthorne or I will assuredly find you.”</p> + +<p>Then there was a scream of the whistle, and the +train rolled away with Ferris standing white with fury +on the platform of a car.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, Maud Barrington spent a sleepless +night. Ferris’s taunt had reached its mark, and +she realized with confusion that it was the truth +he spoke. The fact that brought the blood to her +cheeks would no longer be hidden, and she knew +it was a longing to punish the lad who had struck +down the man she loved that had led to her insistence +on the former leaving Silverdale. It was a difficult +admission, but she made it that night. The outcast +who had stepped out of the obscurity and into +her peaceful life, had shown himself a man that any +woman might be proud to mate with; and, though +he had said very little, and now and then his words +were bitter, she knew that he loved her. Whatever +he had done—and she felt against all the teachings +of her reason that it had not been evil—he had +shown himself the equal of the best at Silverdale, +and she laughed as she wondered which of the men +there she could set in the balance against him. Then +she shivered a little, remembering that there was a +barrier whose extent he alone realized between +them, and wondered vaguely what the future would +bring.</p> + +<p>It was a week or two before Witham was on his feet +again, and Maud Barrington was one of the first +to greet him when he walked feebly into the hall. +She had, however, decided on the line of conduct +that would be most fitting, and there was no hint +of more than neighbourly kindliness in her tone. +They had spoken about various trifles when Witham +turned to her.</p> + +<p>“You and Miss Barrington have taken such good +care of me that, if I consulted my inclinations I +would linger in convalescence a long while,” he +said. “Still, I must make an effort to get away +to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“We cannot take the responsibility of letting +you go under a week yet,” said Maud Barrington. +“Have you anything especially important to do?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham—and the girl understood +the grimness of his face—“I have.”</p> + +<p>“It concerns the fire?”</p> + +<p>Witham looked at her curiously. “I would +sooner you did not ask me that question, Miss Barrington.”</p> + +<p>“I scarcely fancy it is necessary,” said the girl, +with a little smile. “Still I have something to +tell you, and a favour to ask. Ferris has left Silverdale, +and you must never make any attempt to discover +what caused the fire.”</p> + +<p>“You know?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Maud Barrington. “Dane, Macdonald, +and Hassal know, too; but you will not +ask them, and if you did they would not tell you.”</p> + +<p>“I can refuse you nothing,” said Witham with a +laugh, though his voice betrayed him. “Still, I +want a <i>quid pro quo</i>. Wait until Ferris’s farm is +in the sale list, and then take it with the growing +crop.”</p> + +<p>“I could not. There are reasons,” said the girl.</p> + +<p>Witham gazed at her steadily, and a little colour +crept to his forehead, but he answered unconcernedly, +“They can be over-ridden. It may be the last +favour I shall ever ask you.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Maud Barrington. “Anything else +you wish, but not that. You must believe, without +wondering why, that it is out of the question!”</p> + +<p>Witham yielded with a curious little smile. “Well,” +he said, “we will let it drop. I ask no questions. +You have accepted so much already without understanding +it.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink17'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XVII—WITH THE STREAM</a></h2> + +<p>It was Witham’s last afternoon at the Grange, and +almost unpleasantly hot, while the man whose +vigour had not as yet returned to him was content +to lounge in the big window-seat listlessly watching +his companion. He had borne the strain of effort +long, and the time of his convalescence amidst +the tranquility of Silverdale Grange had, with the +gracious kindliness of Miss Barrington and her +niece, been a revelation to him. There were moments +when it brought him bitterness and self-reproach, +but these were usually brief, and he made the most of +what he knew might never be his again, telling himself +that it would at least be something to look back upon.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington sat close by, glancing through +the letters a mounted man had brought in, and the +fact that his presence put no restraint on her curiously +pleased the man. At last, however, she opened +a paper and passed it across to him.</p> + +<p>“You have been very patient, but no doubt you +will find something that will atone for my silence +there,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham turned over the journal, and then smiled +at her. “Is there anything of moment in your +letters?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the girl with a little laugh. “I +scarcely think there is—a garden party, a big reception, +the visit of a high official, and a description of +the latest hat. Still, you know, that is supposed +to be enough for us.”</p> + +<p>“Then I wonder whether you will find this more +interesting. ‘The bears made a determined rally +yesterday, and wheat moved back again. There +was later in the day a rush to sell, and prices now +stand at almost two cents below their lowest level.’”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Maud Barrington, noticing the sudden +intentness of his pallid face. “I do. It is serious +news for you?”</p> + +<p>“And for you! You see where I have led you. +Ill or well, I must start for Winnipeg to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington smiled curiously. “You and +I and a handful of others stand alone, but I told you +I would not blame you whether we won or lost. +Do you know that I am grateful for the glimpses +of the realities of life that you have given me?”</p> + +<p>Witham felt his pulses throb faster, for the girl’s +unabated confidence stirred him, but he looked at her +gravely. “I wonder if you realize what you have +given me in return? Life as I had seen it was very +grim and bare—and now I know what, with a little +help, it is possible to make of it.”</p> + +<p>“With a little help?” said Maud Barrington.</p> + +<p>Witham nodded, and his face, which had grown +almost wistful, hardened. “Those who strive in +the pit are apt to grow blind to the best—the sweetness +and order and all the little graces that mean +so much. Even if their eyes are opened, it is usually +too late. You see, they lose touch with all that +lies beyond the struggle, and without some one to +lead them they cannot get back to it. Still, if I +talk in this fashion you will laugh at me; but every +one has his weakness now and then—and no doubt +I shall make up for it at Winnipeg to-morrow. One cannot +afford to be fanciful when wheat is two cents down.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington was not astonished. Tireless +in his activities and, more curious still, almost ascetic +in his mode of life, the man had already given her +glimpses of his inner self and the vague longings +that came upon him. He never asked her pity, +but she found something pathetic in his attitude, for +it seemed he knew that the stress and the turmoil +alone could be his. Why this was so, she did not +know, but it was with a confidence that could not +be shaken now she felt it was through no fault of his. +His last words, however, showed her that the mask +was on again.</p> + +<p>“I scarcely fancy you are well enough, but if +you must go, I wonder whether you would do a good +turn to Alfreton?” she said. “The lad has been +speculating and he seems anxious lately.”</p> + +<p>“It is natural that they should all bring their +troubles to you.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed. “I, however, generally +pass them on to you.”</p> + +<p>A trace of colour crept into the man’s face, and +his voice was a trifle hoarse as he said. “Do you +know that I would ask nothing better than to take +every care you had and bear it for you?”</p> + +<p>“Still,” said the girl with a little smile, “that +is very evidently out of the question.”</p> + +<p>Witham rose, and she saw that one hand was +closed as he looked down upon her. Then he turned +and stared out at the prairie, but there was something +very significant in the rigidity of his attitude, +and his face seemed to have grown suddenly careworn +when he glanced back at her.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” he said quietly. “You see, I +have been ill, and a little off my balance lately. +That accounts for erratic speeches, though I meant +it all. Colonel Barrington is still in Winnipeg?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, who was not convinced +by the explanation, very quietly. “I am a little +anxious about him, too. He sold wheat forward, and +I gather from his last letter has not bought it yet. +Now, as Alfreton is driving in to-morrow, he could +take you.”</p> + +<p>Witham was grateful to her, and still more to +Miss Barrington, who came in just then; while +he did not see the girl again before he departed +with Alfreton on the morrow. When they had +left Silverdale a league behind, the trail dipped +steeply amidst straggling birches to a bridge which +spanned the creek in a hollow, and Witham glanced +at the winding ascent thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“It has struck me that going round by this +place puts another six miles on to your journey to +the railroad, and a double team could not pull a +big load up,” he said.</p> + +<p>The lad nodded. “The creek is a condemned +nuisance. We have either to load light when we +are hauling grain in and then pitch half the bags off +at the bottom and come back for them—while, you +know, one man can’t put up many four bushel bags—or +keep a man and horses at the ravine until we’re +through.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “Now, I wonder whether you +ever figured how much those little things put up the +price of your wheat.”</p> + +<p>“This is the only practicable way down,” said +the lad. “You can scarcely climb up one side +where the ravine’s narrow abreast of Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“Drive round. I want to see it,” said Witham. +“Call at Rushforth for a spool of binder twine.”</p> + +<p>Half-an-hour later Alfreton pulled the wagon +up amidst the birches on the edge of the ravine, +which just there sloped steep as a railway cutting, +and not very much broader, to the creek. Witham +gazed at it, and then handed the twine to the hired man.</p> + +<p>“Take that with you, Charley, and get down,” +he said. “If you strip your boots off you can wade +through the creek.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that I want to,” said the man.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, “it would please me if +you did, as well as cool your feet. Then you could +climb up and hold that twine down on the other +side.”</p> + +<p>The man grinned; and, though Alfreton remembered +that he was not usually so tractable with him, +proceeded to do Witham’s bidding. When he came +back there was a twinkle of comprehension in his +eyes; and Witham, who cut off the length of twine, +smiled at Alfreton.</p> + +<p>“It is,” he said dryly, “only a little idea of mine.”</p> + +<p>They drove on, and, reaching Winnipeg next +day, went straight to Graham the wheat-broker’s +offices. He kept them waiting some time, and in the +meanwhile men with intent faces passed hastily +in and out through the outer office. Some of them +had telegrams or bundles of papers in their hands, +and the eyes of all were eager. The corridor rang +with footsteps, the murmur of voices seemed to +vibrate through the great building; while it seemed +to Alfreton there was a suggestion of strain and +expectancy in all he heard and saw. Witham, however, +sat gravely still, though the lad noticed that his +eyes were keener than usual, for the muffled roar +of the city, patter of messengers’ feet, ceaseless +tinkle of telephone call bells, and whirr of the elevators, +each packed with human freight, all stirred him. +Hitherto, he had grappled with nature, but now he +was to test his judgment against the keenest wits +of the cities, and stand or fall by it, in the struggle +that was to be waged over the older nation’s food.</p> + +<p>At last, however, a clerk signed to them from +a doorway, and they found Graham sitting before +a littered table. A man sat opposite him with the +telephone receiver in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Sorry to keep you, but I’ve both hands full +just now. Every man in this city is thinking wheat,” +he said. “Has he word from Chicago, Thomson?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the clerk. “Bears lost hold this +morning. General buying!”</p> + +<p>Just then the door swung open, and a breathless +man came in. “Guess I scared that clerk of yours +who wanted to turn me off,” he said. “Heard +what Chicago’s doing? Well, you’ve got to buy +for me now. They’re going to send her right up into +the sky, and it’s ’bout time I got out before the bulls +trample the life out of me.”</p> + +<p>“Quite sure you can’t wait until to-morrow?” +asked Graham.</p> + +<p>The man shook his head. “No, sir. When I’ve +been selling all along the line! Send off right away, +and tell your man on the market to cover every +blame sale for me.”</p> + +<p>Graham signed to the clerk, and as the telephone +bell tinkled, a lad brought in a message. The broker +opened it. “‘New York lost advance and recovered +it twice in the first hour,’” he read. “‘At present +a point or two better. Steady buying in Liverpool.’”</p> + +<p>“That,” said the other man, “is quite enough +for me. Let me have the contracts as soon as they’re +ready.”</p> + +<p>He went out, and Graham turned to Witham. +“There’s half-a-dozen more of them outside,” he +said. “Do you buy or sell?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I want to know which a +wise man would do.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Graham, “I can’t tell you. The +bulls rushed wheat up as I wired you, but the other +folks got their claws in and worried it down again. +Wheat’s anywhere and nowhere all the time, and +I’m advising nobody just now. No doubt you’ve +formed your own opinion.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “It’s the last of the grappled, +and the bears aren’t quite beaten yet, but any time +the next week or two the decisive turn will come. +Then, if they haven’t got out, there’ll be very little +left of them.”</p> + +<p>“You seem tolerably sure of the thing. Got +plenty of confidence in the bulls?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled. “I fancy I know how Western +wheat was sown this year better than any statistician +of the ring, and it’s not the bulls I’m counting on +but those millions of hungry folks in the old country. +It’s not New York or Chicago, but Liverpool the +spark is coming from.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Graham, “that’s my notion, too, +but I’ve no time for anybody who hasn’t grist for +me just now. Still, I’d be glad to come round and +take you home to supper if you haven’t the prejudice, +which is not unknown at Silverdale, against +eating with a man who makes his dollars on the +market and didn’t get them given him.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed, and held up a lean brown hand. +“All I ever had until less than a year ago I earned +with that. I’ll be ready for you.”</p> + +<p>He went out with Alfreton, and noticed that the +lad ate little at lunch. When the meal was over +he glanced at him with a smile through the cigar +smoke.</p> + +<p>“I think it would do you good to take me into +your confidence,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Alfreton, “it would be a relief +to talk, and I feel I could trust you. Still, it’s only +fair to tell you I didn’t at the beginning. I was an +opinionated ass, you see.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I don’t mind in the least, +and we have most of us felt that way.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the lad, “I was a little short of +funds, and proud of myself, and when everybody +seemed certain that wheat was going down for ever, +I thought I saw my chance of making a little. Now +I’ve more wheat than I care to think of to deliver, +the market’s against me. If it stiffens any further +it will break me; and that’s not all, you see. Things +have gone tolerably badly with the folks at home, +and I fancy it took a good deal of what should have +been the girls’ portion to start me at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham, “it’s no use trying to +show you how foolish you’ve been. That is the usual +thing, and it’s easy; but what the man in the hole +wants to know is the means of getting out again.”</p> + +<p>Alfreton smiled ruefully. “I’m tolerably far in. +I could just cover at to-day’s prices if I pledged my +crop, but it would leave me nothing to go on with +and the next advance would swamp the farm.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham quietly, “don’t buy +to-day. There’s going to be an advance that will +take folks’ breath away, but the time’s not quite +ripe yet. You’ll see prices knocked back a little +the next day or two, and then you will cover your +sales to the last bushel.”</p> + +<p>“But are you sure?” asked the lad a trifle hoarsely. +“You see, if you’re mistaken, it will mean ruin to me.”</p> + +<p>Witham laid his hand on his shoulder. “If I am +wrong, I’ll make your losses good.”</p> + +<p>Nothing more was said on that subject, but Alfreton’s +face grew anxious once more as they went up and +down the city. Everybody was talking wheat, +which was not astonishing, for that city and the +two great provinces to the west of it lived by the +trade in grain; and before the afternoon had passed +they learned that there had been a persistent advance. +The lad’s uneasiness showed itself, but when +they went back to the hotel about the supper hour +Witham smiled at him.</p> + +<p>“You’re feeling sick?” he said. “Still, I don’t +fancy you need worry.”</p> + +<p>Then Graham appeared and claimed him, and +it was next morning when he saw Alfreton again. +He was breakfasting with Colonel Barrington and +Dane, and Witham noticed that the older man did +not appear to have much appetite. When the meal +was finished he drew him aside.</p> + +<p>“You have covered your sales, sir?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said Barrington. “I have not.”</p> + +<p>“Then I wonder if it would be presumption if I +asked you a question?”</p> + +<p>Barrington looked at him steadily. “To be +frank, I fancy it would be better if you did not. +I have, of course, only my own folly to blame for +believing I could equal your natural aptitude for +this risky amusement, which I had, and still have, +objections to. I was, however, in need of money, +and seeing your success, yielded to the temptation. +I am not laying any of the responsibility on you, +but am not inclined to listen to more of your suggestions.”</p> + +<p>Witham met his gaze without embarrassment. +“I am sorry you have been unfortunate, sir.”</p> + +<p>Just then Dane joined them. “I sat up late +last night in the hope of seeing you,” he said. “Now, +I don’t know what to make of the market, but +there were one or two fellows who would have bought +my estimated crop from me at a figure which would +have about covered working expenses. Some of +the others who did not know you were coming in, +put their affairs in my hands, too.”</p> + +<p>“Sell nothing,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>It was an hour later when a messenger from Graham +found them in the smoking-room, and Colonel Barrington +smiled dryly as he tore up the envelope +handed him.</p> + +<p>“‘Market opened with sellers prevailing. Chicago +flat!’” he read.</p> + +<p>Dane glanced at Witham somewhat ruefully, but +the latter’s eyes were fixed on Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>“If I had anything to cover I should still wait,” +he said.</p> + +<p>“That,” said Dane, “is not exactly good news +to me.”</p> + +<p>“Our turn will come,” said Witham gravely.</p> + +<p>That day, and during several which followed +it, wheat moved down, and Dane said nothing to +Witham about what he felt, though his face grew +grimmer as the time went on. Barrington was +quietly impassive when they met him, while Alfreton, +who saw a way out of his difficulties, was hard to +restrain. Witham long afterwards remembered that +horrible suspense, but he showed no sign of what he +was enduring then, and was only a trifle quieter +than usual when he and Alfreton entered Graham’s +office one morning. It was busier than ever, while +the men who hastened in and out seemed to reveal +by attitude and voice that they felt something was +going to happen.</p> + +<p>“In sellers’ favour!” said the broker. “Everybody +with a few dollars is hammering prices one way +or the other. Nothing but wheat is heard of in this +city. Well, we’ll simmer down when the turn comes, +and though I’m piling up dollars, I’ll be thankful. +Hallo, Thomson, anything going on now?”</p> + +<p>“Chicago buying,” said the clerk. “Now it’s +Liverpool! Sellers holding off. Wanting a two-eights +more the cental.”</p> + +<p>The telephone bell tinkled again, and there was a +trace of excitement in the face of the man who answered +it.</p> + +<p>“Walthew has got news ahead of us,” he said. +“Chicago bears caved in. Buying orders from +Liverpool broke them. Got it there strong.”</p> + +<p>Witham tapped Alfreton’s shoulder. “Now is +the time. Tell him to buy,” he said. “We’ll wait +outside until you’ve put this deal through, Graham.”</p> + +<p>It was twenty minutes before Graham came out +to them. “I’ll let you have your contracts, Mr. +Alfreton, and my man on the market just fixed them +in time,” he said. “They’re up a penny on the +cental in Liverpool now, and nobody will sell, while +here in Winnipeg they’re falling over each other +to buy. Never had such a circus since the trade +began.”</p> + +<p>Alfreton, who seemed to quiver, turned to his +companion, and then forgot what he had to tell him. +Witham had straightened himself and his eyes were +shining, while the lad was puzzled by his face. Still, +save for the little tremor in it, his voice was very +quiet.</p> + +<p>“It has come at last,” he said. “Two farms +would not have covered your losses, Alfreton, if you +had waited until to-morrrow. Have supper with +us Graham—if you like it, lakes of champagne.”</p> + +<p>“I want my head, but I’ll come,” said Graham, +with a curious smile. “I don’t know that it wouldn’t +pay me to hire yours just now.”</p> + +<p>Then Witham turned suddenly, and running down +the stairway shook the man awaiting him by the arm.</p> + +<p>“The flood’s with us now,” he said. “Find +Colonel Barrington, and make him cover everything +before he’s ruined. Dane, you and I, and a few +others, will see the dollars rolling into Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Dane found Barrington, who listened with a grim +smile to what he had to tell him.</p> + +<p>“The words are yours, Dane, but that is all,” he said. +“Wheat will go down again, and I do not know that +I am grateful to Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Dane dare urge nothing further, and spent the rest +of that day wandering up and down the city, in a +state of blissful content, with Alfreton and Witham. +One of them had turned his losses into a small profit, +and the other two, who had, hoping almost against +hope, sown when others had feared to plough, saw +that the harvest would repay them beyond their +wildest expectations. They heard nothing but +predictions of higher prices everywhere, and the +busy city seemed to throb with exultation. The +turn had come, and there was hope for the vast +wheat lands it throve upon.</p> + +<p>Graham had much to tell them when they sat +down to the somewhat elaborate meal Witham +termed supper that night, and he nodded approvingly +when Dane held out his glass of champagne and +touched his comrade’s.</p> + +<p>“I’m not fond of speeches, Courthorne, and I +fancy our tastes are the same,” he said. “Still, +I can’t let this great night pass without greeting you +as the man who has saved not a few of us at Silverdale. +We were in a very tight place before you +came, and we are with you when you want us from +this time, soul and body, and all our possessions.” +Alfreton’s eyes glistened, and his hand shook a little +as he touched the rim of Witham’s goblet.</p> + +<p>“There are folks in the old country who will +bless you when they know,” he said. “You’ll +forget it, though I can’t, that I was once against you.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded to them gravely, and when the +glasses were empty shook hands with the three.</p> + +<p>“We have put up a good fight, and I think we +shall win; but, while you will understand me better +by-and-by what you have offered me almost hurts,” +he said.</p> + +<p>“What we have given is yours. We don’t take +it back,” said Dane.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled, though there was a wistfulness +in his eyes as he saw the faint bewilderment in his +companions’ faces.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said slowly, “you can do a little +for me now. Colonel Barrington was right when +he set his face against speculation, and it was only +because I saw dollars were badly needed at Silverdale, +and the one means of getting them, I made my +deal. Still, if we are to succeed as farmers we must +market our wheat as cheaply as our rivals, and we +want a new bridge on the level. Now, I got a drawing +of one and estimates for British Columbia stringers, +yesterday, while the birches in the ravine will give +us what else we want. I’ll build a bridge myself, +but it will cheapen the wheat-hauling to everybody, +and you might like to help me.”</p> + +<p>Dane glanced at the drawing laid before him, but +Alfreton spoke first. “One hundred dollars. I’m +only a small man, but I wish it was five,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I’ll make it that much, and see the others do +their share,” said Dane, and then glanced at the +broker with a curious smile.</p> + +<p>“How does he do it—this and other things? +He was never a business man!”</p> + +<p>Graham nodded. “He can’t help it. It was +born in him. You and I can figure and plan, but +Courthorne is different—the right thing comes to +him. I knew, the first night I saw him, you had got +the man you wanted at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Then Witham stood up, wineglass in hand. “I +am obliged to you, but I fancy this has gone far +enough,” he said. “There is one man who has +done more for you than I could ever do. Prosperity +is a good thing, but you at least know what he has +aimed at stands high above that. May you have +the head of the Silverdale community long with you!”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink18'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XVIII—UNDER TEST</a></h2> + +<p>The prairie lay dim and shadowy in the creeping +dusk when Witham sat on a redwood stringer near +the head of his partly-finished bridge. There was no +sound from the hollow behind him but the faint +gurgle of the creek and the almost imperceptible +vibration of countless minute wings. The birches +which climbed the slope to it wound away sinuously, +a black wall on either hand, and the prairie lying +grey and still stretched back into the silence in +front of him. Here and there a smouldering fire +showed dully red on the brink of the ravine, but the +tired men who had lighted them were already wrapped +in heavy slumber.</p> + +<p>The prairie hay was gathered, harvest had not +come, and for the last few weeks Witham, with his +hired men from the bush of Ontario, had toiled at +the bridge with a tireless persistency which had +somewhat astonished the gentlemen farmers of +Silverdale. They, however, rode over every now and +then, and most cheerfully rendered what assistance +they could, until it was time to return for tennis +or a shooting sweepstake, and Witham thanked +them gravely, even when he and his Ontario axemen +found it necessary to do the work again. He +could have told nobody why he had undertaken to +build the bridge, which could be of no use to him, +but he was in a measure prompted by instincts +born in him; for he was one of the Englishmen +who, with a dim recognition of the primeval charge +to subdue the earth and render it fruitful, gravitate +to the newer lands, and usually leave their mark +upon them. He had also a half-defined notion that +it would be something he could leave behind in reparation, +that the men of Silverdale might remember +the stranger who had imposed on them more leniently, +while in the strain of the mental struggle strenuous +occupation was a necessity to him.</p> + +<p>A bundle of papers it was now too dim to see +lay beside him, clammy with the dew, and he sat +bareheaded, a pipe which had gone out in his hand, +staring across the prairie with an ironical smile in +his eyes. He had planned boldly and striven tirelessly, +and now the fee he could not take would surely +be tendered him. Wheat was growing dearer every +day, and such crops as he had sown had not been +seen at Silverdale. Still, the man, who had had +few compunctions before he met Maud Barrington, +knew now that in a little while he must leave all +he had painfully achieved behind. What he would +do then he did not know, for only one fact seemed +certain—in another four months, or less, he would +have turned his back on Silverdale.</p> + +<p>Presently, however, the sound of horse-hoofs +caught his ears, and he stood up when a mounted +figure rose out of the prairie. The moon had just +swung up, round and coppery, from behind a rise, +and when horse and rider cut black and sharp against +it his pulses throbbed faster and a little flush crept +into his face, for he knew every line of the figure in +the saddle. Some minutes had passed when Maud +Barrington rode slowly to the head of the bridge, +and pulled up her horse at the sight of him.</p> + +<p>The moon, turning silver now, shone behind her +head, and a tress of hair sparkled beneath her wide +hat, while the man had a glimpse of the gleaming +whiteness of rounded cheek and neck. Her face +he could not see, but shapely shoulders, curve of +waist, and sweeping line of the light habit were +forced up as in a daguerreotype, and as the girl sat +still looking down on him, slender, lissom, dainty, +etherealized almost by the brightening radiance, +she seemed to him a visionary complement of the +harmonies of the night. It also appeared wiser +to think of her as such than a being of flesh and +blood whom he had wildly ventured to long for, and +he almost regretted when her first words dispelled +the illusion.</p> + +<p>“It is dreadfully late,” she said. “Pluto went +very lame soon after I left Macdonald’s, and I knew +if I went back for another horse he would have +insisted on riding home with me. I had slipped +away while he was in the granary. One can cross +the bridge?”</p> + +<p>“Not mounted,” said Witham. “There are +only a few planks between the stringers here and +there, but, if you don’t mind waiting, I can lead your +horse across.”</p> + +<p>He smiled a little, for the words seemed trivial +and out of place in face of the effect the girl’s appearance +had on him, but she glanced at him questioningly.</p> + +<p>“No!” she said. “Now, I would have gone +round by the old bridge, only that Allardyce told +me you let him ride across this afternoon.”</p> + +<p>“Still,” and the man stopped a moment, “it +was daylight then, you see.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed a little, for his face was +visible, and she understood the slowness of his answer. +“Is that all? It is moonlight now.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham dryly, “but one is apt +to make an explanation too complete occasionally. +Will you let me help you down?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington held out her hands, and when he +swung her down watched him tramp away with the +horse with a curious smile. A light compliment +seldom afforded her much pleasure, but the man’s +grim reserve had now and then piqued more than her +curiosity, though she was sensible that the efforts she +occasionally made to uncover what lay behind it were +not without their risk. Then he came back, and +turned to her very gravely.</p> + +<p>“Let me have your hand,” he said.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington gave it him, and hoped the curious +little thrill that ran through her when his hard fingers +closed upon her palm did not communicate itself to +him. She also noticed that he moved his head sharply +a moment, and then looked straight in front again. +Then the birches seemed to fall away beneath them, +and they moved out across the dim gully with the +loosely-laid planking rattling under their feet, until +they came to a strip scarcely three feet wide which +spanned a gulf of blackness in the shadow of the trees.</p> + +<p>“Hold fast!” said Witham with a trace of hoarseness. +“You are sure you feel quite steady?”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said the girl with a little laugh, +though she recognized the anxiety in his voice, and +felt his hand close almost cruelly on her own. She +was by no means timorous, and still less fanciful, but +when they moved out into the blackness that closed +about them above and beneath along the slender strip +of swaying timber she was glad of the masterful grip. +It seemed in some strange fashion portentous, for she +felt that she would once more be willing to brave +unseen perils, secure only in his guidance. What +he felt she did not know, and was sensible of an almost +overwhelming curiosity, until when at last well-stiffened +timber lay beneath them, she contrived to +drop a glove just where the moonlight smote the +bridge. Witham stooped, and his face was clear in +the silvery light when he rose again. Maud Barrington +saw the relief in it, and, compelled by some influence, +stood still looking at him with a little glow behind the +smile in her eyes. A good deal was revealed to both +of them in that instant, but the man dare not admit +it, and was master of himself.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said, very simply, “I am glad you are +across.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed. “I scarcely fancy +the risk was very great, but tell me about the bridge,” +she said. “You are living beside it?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham, “in a tent, I must have +it finished before harvest, you see!”</p> + +<p>The girl understood why this was necessary, but +deciding that she had on other occasions ventured +sufficiently far with that topic, moved on across the +bridge.</p> + +<p>“A tent,” she said, “cannot be a very comfortable +place to live in, and who cooks for you?”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled dryly. “I am used to it, and can +do all the cooking that is necessary,” he said. “It is +the usual home for the beginner, and I lived six +months in one—on grindstone bread, the tinctured +glucose you are probably not acquainted with as +‘drips,’ and rancid pork—when I first came out to +this country and hired myself, for ten dollars monthly, +to another man. It is a diet one gets a little tired of +occasionally, but after breaking prairie twelve hours +every day one can eat almost anything, and when I +afterwards turned farmer my credit was rarely good +enough to provide the pork.”</p> + +<p>The girl looked at him curiously, for she knew how +some of the smaller settlers lived, and once more felt +divided between wonder and sympathy. She could +picture the grim self-denial, for she had seen the +stubborn patience in this man’s face as well as a +stamp that was not borne by any other man at Silverdale. +Some of the crofter settlers, who periodically +came near starvation in their sod hovels, and the men +from Ontario who staked their little handful of dollars +on the first wheat crop to be wrested from the prairie, +bore it, however. From what Miss Barrington had +told her, it was clear that Courthorne’s first year in +Canada could not have been spent in this fashion, +but there was no doubt in the girl’s mind as she +listened. Her faith was equal to a more strenuous +test.</p> + +<p>“There is a difference in the present, but who +taught you bridge-building? It takes years to +learn the use of the axe,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I think it took me four, but +the man who has not a dollar to spare usually finds +out how to do a good many things for himself, +and I had working drawings of the bridge made in +Winnipeg. Besides, your friends have helped me +with their hands as well as their good-will. Except +at the beginning, they have all been kind to me, and +one could not well have expected very much from +them then.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington coloured a trifle as she remembered +her own attitude towards him. “Cannot you forget +it?” she said, with a curious little ring in her voice. +“They would do anything you asked them now.”</p> + +<p>“One generally finds it useful to have a good +memory, and I remember most clearly that, although +they had very little reason for it, most of them +afterwards trusted me. That made, and still makes, +a great difference to me.”</p> + +<p>The girl appeared thoughtful. “Does it?” she +said. “Still, do you know, I fancy that if they had +tried to drive you out, you would have stayed in spite +of them.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham dryly, “I believe I would, but +the fact that in a very little while they held out a +friendly hand to a stranger steeped in suspicion, and +gave him the chance to prove himself their equal, +carries a big responsibility. That, and your aunt’s +goodness, puts so many things one might have done +out of the question.”</p> + +<p>The obvious inference was that the prodigal had +been reclaimed by the simple means of putting him +on his honour, but that did not for a moment suggest +itself to the girl. She had often regretted her own +disbelief, and once more felt the need for reparation.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” she said, very quietly, “my aunt was +wiser than I was, but she was mistaken. What +she gave you out of her wide charity was already yours +by right.”</p> + +<p>That was complete and final, for Maud Barrington +did nothing by half, and Witham recognized that +she held him blameless in the past, which she could +not know, as well as in the present, which was visible +to her. Her confidence stung him as a whip, and +when in place of answering he looked away, the girl +fancied that a smothered groan escaped him. She +waited, curiously expectant, but he did not speak, +and just then the fall of hoofs rose from behind the +birches in the bluff. Then a man’s voice came +through it singing a little French song, and Maud +Barrington glanced at her companion.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” she said, “how long is it since you sang +that song?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, doggedly conscious of what +he was doing, “I do not know a word of it, and never +heard it in my life.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington stared at him. “Think,” she +said. “It seems ever so long ago, but you cannot +have forgotten. Surely you remember Madame +Aubert, who taught me to prattle in French, and the +day you slipped into the music-room and picked up +the song, while she tried in vain to teach it me. Can’t +you recollect how I cried, when you sang it in the +billiard-room, and Uncle Geoffrey gave you the half-sovereign +which had been promised to me?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham a trifle hoarsely, and with his +head turned from her watched the trail.</p> + +<p>A man in embroidered deerskin jacket was riding +into the moonlight, and though the little song had +ceased, and the wide hat hid his face, there was an +almost insolent gracefulness in his carriage that +seemed familiar to Witham. It was not the +<i>abandon</i> of the swashbuckler stock-rider from across +the frontier, but something more finished and distinguished +that suggested the bygone cavalier. +Maud Barrington, it was evident, also noticed it.</p> + +<p>“Geoffrey Courthorne rode as that man does,” she +said. “I remember hearing my mother once tell +him that he had been born too late, because his +attributes and tastes would have fitted him to follow +Prince Rupert.”</p> + +<p>Witham made no answer, and the man rode on +until he drew bridle in front of them. Then he swung +his hat off, and while the moonlight shone into his +face looked down with a little ironical smile at the +man and woman standing beside the horse. Witham +closed one hand a trifle, and slowly straightened +himself, feeling that there was need of all his self-control, +for he saw his companion glance at him, and +then almost too steadily at Lance Courthorne.</p> + +<p>The latter said nothing for a space of seconds, for +which Witham hated him, and yet in the tension of +the suspense he noticed that the signs of indulgence +he had seen on the last occasion were plainer in +Courthorne’s face. The little bitter smile upon his +lips was also not quite in keeping with the restlessness +of his fingers upon the bridle.</p> + +<p>“Is that bridge fit for crossing, farmer?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham quietly. “You must lead +your horse.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington had in the meanwhile stood very +still, and now moved as by an effort. “It is time I +rode on, and you can show the stranger across,” she +said. “I have kept you at least five minutes longer +than was necessary.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne, Witham fancied, shifted one foot from +the stirrup, but then sat still as the farmer held his +hand for the girl to mount by, while when she rode +away he looked at his companion with a trace of anger +as well as irony in his eyes.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham. “What you heard was +correct. Miss Barrington’s horse fell lame coming +from one of the farms, which accounts for her passing +here so late. I had just led the beast across the +incompleted bridge. Still, it is not on my account +I tell you this. Where have you been and why have +you broken one of my conditions?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “It seems to me you are +adopting a somewhat curious tone. I went to my +homestead to look for you.”</p> + +<p>“You have not answered my other question, and +in the meanwhile I am your tenant, and the place is +mine.”</p> + +<p>“We really needn’t quibble,” said Courthorne. +“I came for the very simple reason that I wanted +money.”</p> + +<p>“You had one thousand dollars,” said Witham +dryly.</p> + +<p>Courthorne made a little gesture of resignation. +“It is, however, certain that I haven’t got them +now. They went as dollars usually do. The fact +is, I have met one or two men recently who apparently +know rather more about games of chance +than I do, and I passed on the fame, which was my +most valuable asset, to you.”</p> + +<p>“You passed me on the brand of a crime I never +committed,” said Witham grimly. “That, however, +is not the question now. Not one dollar, except +at the time agreed upon, will you get from me. Why +did you come here dressed as we usually are on the +prairie?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne glanced down at the deerskin jacket +and smiled as he straightened himself into a caricature +of Witham’s mounted attitude. It was done +cleverly.</p> + +<p>“When I ride in this fashion we are really not very +unlike, you see, and I let one or two men I met get a +good look at me,” he said. “I meant it as a hint +that it would be wise of you to come to terms with me.”</p> + +<p>“I have done so already. You made the bargain.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne smiling, “a contract may +be modified at any time when both parties are willing.”</p> + +<p>“One is not,” said Witham dryly. “You heard +my terms, and nothing that you can urge will move +me a hairsbreadth from them.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne looked at him steadily, and some men +would have found his glance disconcerting, for now +and then all the wickedness that was in him showed +in his half-closed eyes. Still, he saw that the farmer +was unyielding.</p> + +<p>“Then we will let it go; in the meanwhile,” he +said, “take me across the bridge.”</p> + +<p>They were half-way along it when he pulled the +horse up, and once more looked down on Witham.</p> + +<p>“Your hand is a tolerably good one so long as you +are willing to sacrifice yourself, but it has its weak +points, and there is one thing I could not tolerate,” +he said.</p> + +<p>“What is that?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed wickedly, “You wish me to be +explicit? Maud Barrington is devilishly pretty, but +it is quite out of the question that you should ever +marry her.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned towards him with the veins on +his forehead swollen. “Granting that it is so, what +is that to you?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne nodded as if in comprehension. “Well, +I’m probably not consistent, but one rarely quite loses +touch with everything, and if I believed that my +kinswoman was growing fond of a beggarly farmer, +I’d venture to put a sudden stop to your love-making. +This, at least, is perfectly <i>bona fide</i>, Witham.”</p> + +<p>Witham had borne a good deal of late, and his +hatred of the man flared up. He had no definite +intention, but he moved a pace forward, and Courthorne +touched the horse with his heel. It backed, +and then growing afraid of the blackness about it +plunged, while Witham for the first time saw that +there was a gap in the loosely-laid planking close +behind it. Another plunge or flounder, and horse +and rider would go down together.</p> + +<p>For a moment he held his breath and watched. +Then, as the beast, resisting its rider’s efforts, backed +again, sprang forward and seized the bridle.</p> + +<p>“Get your spurs in! Shove him forward for your +life,” he said.</p> + +<p>There was a momentary struggle on the slippery +planking, and, almost as its hind hoofs overhung the +edge, Witham dragged the horse away. Courthorne +swung himself out of the saddle, left the farmer the +bridle, and glanced behind him at the gap. Then he +turned, and the two men looked at each other steadily. +Their faces were a trifle paler than usual.</p> + +<p>“You saw it?” asked Courthorne.</p> + +<p>“Yes, but not until you backed the beast and he +commenced plunging.”</p> + +<p>“He plunged once or twice before you caught the +bridle?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “You are a curious man. +It would have cleared the ground for you.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham dryly, “I don’t know +that you will understand me, but I scarcely think +it would. It may have been a mistake of mine to do +what I did, but I have a good deal on my shoulders +already.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne made no answer as he led his horse +across the bridge. Then he mounted and looked +down on the farmer who stood beside him.</p> + +<p>“I remember some things, though I don’t always +let them influence me to my detriment,” he said. +“I’m going back to the railroad, and then West, +and don’t quite know when you will have the pleasure +of seeing me again.”</p> + +<p>Witham watched him quietly. “It would be +wiser if you did not come back until I send for you.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink19'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XIX—COURTHORNE BLUNDERS</a></h2> + +<p>Lance Courthorne had lightly taken a good +many risks in his time, for he usually found a spice +of danger stimulating, and there was in him an irresponsible +daring that not infrequently served him +better than a well-laid plan. There are also men of +his type who, for a time at least, appear immune +from the disasters which follow the one rash venture +the prudent make, and it was half in frolic and half +in malice he rode to Silverdale dressed as a prairie +farmer in the light of day, and forgot that their occupation +sets a stamp he had never worn upon the tillers +of the soil. The same spirit induced him to imitate +one or two of Witham’s gestures for the benefit of his +cook, and afterwards wait for a police trooper, who, +apparently desired to overtake him when he had just +left the homestead.</p> + +<p>He pulled his horse up when the other man shouted +to him, and trusting to the wide hat that hid most +of his face, smiled out of half-closed eyes when he +handed a packet.</p> + +<p>“You have saved me a ride, Mr. Courthorne, +I heard you were at the bridge,” the trooper said, +“If you’ll sign for those documents I needn’t keep you.”</p> + +<p>He brought out a pencil, and Courthorne scribbled +on the paper handed him. He was quite aware that +there was a risk attached to this, but if Witham had +any communications with the police it appeared +advisable to discover what they were about. Then +he laughed, as riding on again he opened the packet.</p> + +<p>“Agricultural Bureau documents,” he said. “This +lot to be returned filled in! Well, if I can remember, +I’ll give them to Witham.”</p> + +<p>As it happened, he did not remember; but he made +a worse mistake just before his departure from the +railroad settlement. He had spent two nights at a +little wooden hotel, which was not the one where +Witham put up when he drove into the place, and +to pass the time commenced a flirtation with the +proprietor’s daughter. The girl was pretty, and +Courthorne a man of different type from the wheat-growers +she had been used to. When his horse was +at the door, he strolled into the saloon where he found +the girl alone in the bar.</p> + +<p>“I’m a very sad man to-day, my dear,” he said, +and his melancholy became him.</p> + +<p>The girl blushed prettily. “Still,” she said, +“whenever you want to, you can come back again.”</p> + +<p>“If I did, would you be pleased to see me?”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said the girl. “Now, you wait a +minute, and I’ll give you something to remember me +by. I don’t mix this up for everybody.”</p> + +<p>She busied herself with certain decanters and +essences, and Courthorne held the glass she handed +him high.</p> + +<p>“The brightest eyes and the reddest lips between +Winnipeg and the Rockies!” he said. “This is +nectar, but I would like to remember you by something +sweeter still!”</p> + +<p>Their heads were not far apart when he laid down +his glass, and before the girl quite knew what was +happening an arm was round her neck. Next moment +she had flung the man backwards, and stood very +straight, quivering with anger and crimson in face, +for Courthorne, as occasionally happens with men of +his type, assumed too much, and did not always +know when to stop. Then she called sharply, “Jake.”</p> + +<p>There was a tramp of feet outside, and when a big, +grim-faced man looked in at the door Courthorne +decided it was time for him to effect his retreat +while it could be done with safety. He knew already +that there were two doors to the saloon, and his finger +closed on the neck of a decanter. Next moment it +smote the newcomer on the chest, and while he +staggered backwards with the fluid trickling from +him, Courthorne departed through the opposite entrance. +Once outside, he mounted leisurely, but nobody +came out from the hotel, and shaking the bridle +with a little laugh he cantered out of the settlement.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the other man carefully wiped +his garments, and then turned to his companion.</p> + +<p>“Now what’s all this about?” he said.</p> + +<p>The girl told him, and the man ruminated for a +minute or two. “Well, he’s gone, and I don’t know +that I’m sorry there wasn’t a circus here,” he said. +“I figured there was something not square about that +fellow, anyway. Registered as Guyler from Minnesota, +but I’ve seen somebody like him among the boys from +Silverdale. Guess I’ll find out when I ride over about +the horse, and then I’ll have a talk with him quietly.”</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the police trooper who had +handed him the packet returned to the outpost, and, +as it happened, found the grizzled Sergeant Stimson, +who appeared astonished to see him back so soon there.</p> + +<p>“I met Courthorne near his homestead, and gave +him the papers, sir,” he said.</p> + +<p>“You did?” said the Sergeant. “Now that’s +kind of curious, because he’s at the bridge.”</p> + +<p>“It couldn’t have been anybody else, because he +took the documents and signed for them,” said the +trooper.</p> + +<p>“Big bay horse?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said the trooper. “It was a bronco, and +a screw at that.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Stimson dryly, “let me have your +book. If Payne has come in, tell him I want him.”</p> + +<p>The trooper went out, and when his comrade +came in Stimson laid a strip of paper before him. +“You have seen Courthorne’s writing,” he said; +“would you call it anything like that?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said Trooper Payne. “I would not!”</p> + +<p>Stimson nodded. “Take a good horse and ride +round by the bridge. If you find Courthorne there, +as you probably will, head for the settlement and see +if you can come across a man who might pass for him. +Ask your question as though the answer didn’t count, +and tell nobody what you hear but me.”</p> + +<p>Payne rode out, and when he returned three days +later, Sergeant Stimson made a journey to confer +with one of his superiors. The officer was a man +who had risen in the service somewhat rapidly, and +when he heard the tale said nothing, while he turned +over a bundle of papers a trooper brought him. Then +he glanced at Stimson thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“I have a report of the Shannon shooting case +here,” he said. “How did it strike you at the time?”</p> + +<p>Stimson’s answer was guarded. “As a curious +affair. You see, it was quite easy to get at Witham’s +character from anybody down there, and he wasn’t +the kind of man to do the thing. There were one or +two other trifles I couldn’t quite figure out the +meaning of.”</p> + +<p>“Witham was drowned?” said the officer.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Stimson, “the trooper who rode +after him heard him break through the ice, but +nobody ever found him, though a farmer came upon +his horse.”</p> + +<p>The officer nodded. “I fancy you are right, and +the point is this. There were two men, who apparently +bore some resemblance to each other, engaged in an +unlawful venture, and one of them commits a crime +nobody believed him capable of, but which would +have been less out of keeping with the other’s character. +Then the second man comes into an inheritance, and +leads a life which seems to have astonished everybody +who knows him. Now, have you ever seen these +two men side by side?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said Stimson. “Courthorne kept out +of our sight when he could in Alberta, and I don’t +think I or any of the boys, except Shannon, ever saw +him for more than a minute or two. Now and then +we passed Witham on the prairie or saw him from the +trail, but I think I only once spoke to him.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the officer, “it seems to me I had +better get you sent back to your old station, where +you can quietly pick up the threads again. Would +the trooper you mentioned be fit to keep an eye on +things at Silverdale?”</p> + +<p>“No one better, sir,” said Stimson.</p> + +<p>“Then it shall be done,” said the officer. “The +quieter you keep the affair the better.”</p> + +<p>It was a week or two later when Witham returned +to his homestead from the bridge, which was almost +completed. Dusk was closing in, but as he rode +down the rise he could see the wheat roll in slow +ripples back into the distance. The steady beat of +its rhythmic murmur told of heavy ears, and where +the stalks stood waist-high on the rise, the last flush +of saffron in the north-west was flung back in a dull +bronze gleam. The rest swayed athwart the shadowy +hollow, dusky indigo and green, but that flash of +gold and red told that harvest was nigh again.</p> + +<p>Witham had seen no crop to compare with it +during the eight years he had spent in the Dominion. +There had been neither drought nor hail that year, +and now, when the warm western breezes kept +sweet and wholesome the splendid ears they fanned, +there was removed from him the terrors of the harvest +frost, which not infrequently blights the fairest prospects +in one bitter night. Fate, which had tried +him hardly hitherto, denying the seed its due share +of fertilizing rain, sweeping his stock from existence +with icy blizzard, and mowing down the tall green +corn with devastating hail, was now showering favours +on him when it was too late. Still, though he felt +the irony of it, he was glad, for others had followed +his lead, and while the lean years had left a lamentable +scarcity of dollars at Silverdale, wealth would +now pour in to every man who had had the faith to +sow.</p> + +<p>He dismounted beside the oats which he would +harvest first, and listened with a curious stirring of +his pulses to their musical patter. It was not the +full-toned song of the wheat, but there was that in +the quicker beat of it which told that each graceful +tassel would redeem its promise. He could not see +the end of them, but by the right of the producer +they were all his. He knew that he could also hold +them by right of conquest, too, for that year a knowledge +of his strength had been forced upon him. Still, +from something he had seen in the eyes of a girl and +grasped at in the words of a white-haired lady, he +realized that there is a limit beyond which man’s +ambition may not venture, and a right before which +even that of possession must bow.</p> + +<p>It had been shown him plainly that no man of his +own devices can make the wheat grow, and standing +beside it in the creeping dusk he felt in a vague, +half-pagan fashion that there was, somewhere behind +what appeared the chaotic chances of life, a scheme +of order and justice immutable, which would in due +time crush the too presumptuous human atom who +opposed himself to it. Regret and rebellion were, +it seemed, equally futile, and he must go out from +Silverdale before retribution overtook him. He had +done wrong, and, though he had made what reparation +he could, knew that he would carry his punishment +with him.</p> + +<p>The house was almost dark when he reached it, +and as he went in his cook signed to him. “There’s +a man in here waiting for you,” he said. “He +doesn’t seem in any way friendly or civil.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded as he went on, wondering with a +grim expectancy whether Courthorne had returned +again. If he had, he felt in a mood for very direct +speech with him. His visitor was, however, not +Courthorne. Witham could see that at a glance, +although the room was dim.</p> + +<p>“I don’t seem to know you, but I’ll get a light in a +minute,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I wouldn’t waste time,” said the other. “We +can talk just as straight in the dark, and I guess this +meeting will finish up outside on the prairie. You’ve +given me a good deal of trouble to trail you, Mr. +Guyler.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham dryly, “it seems to me that +you have found the wrong man.”</p> + +<p>The stranger laughed unpleasantly. “I was figuring +you’d take it like that, but you can’t bluff me. +Well now, I’ve come round to take it out of you for +slinging that decanter at me, and if there is another +thing, we needn’t mention it.”</p> + +<p>Witham stared at the man, and his astonishment +was evident, but the fact that he still spoke with an +English accentuation, as Courthorne did, was against +him.</p> + +<p>“To the best of my recollection, I have never +suffered the unpleasantness of meeting you in my life,” +he said. “I certainly never threw a decanter or +anything else at you, though I understand that one +might feel tempted to.”</p> + +<p>The man rose up slowly, and appeared big and +heavy-shouldered as he moved athwart the window. +“I guess that is quite enough for me,” he said. +“What were you condemned Englishmen made +for, anyway, but to take the best of what other +men worked for, until the folks who’ve got grit +enough run you out of the old country! Lord, why +don’t they drown you instead of dumping you and your +wickedness on to us? Still, I’m going to show one +of you, as I’ve longed to do, that you can’t play your +old tricks with the women of this country.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t see the drift of a word of it,” said Witham. +“Hadn’t you better come back when you’ve worked +the vapours off to-morrow?”</p> + +<p>“Come out!” said the other man grimly. +“There’s scarcely room in here. Well then, have it +your own way, and the devil take care of you!”</p> + +<p>“I think there’s enough,” said Witham, and as +the other swung forward, closed with him.</p> + +<p>He felt sick and dizzy for a moment, for he had +laid himself open and the first blow got home, but +he had decided that if the grapple was inevitable, +it was best to commence it and end it speedily. +A few seconds later there was a crash against the +table, and the stranger gasped as he felt the edge of +it pressed into his backbone. Then he felt himself +borne backwards until he groaned under the strain, +and heard a hoarse voice say, “If you attempt to +use that foot again, I’ll make the leg useless all your +life to you. Come right in here, Tom.”</p> + +<p>A man carrying a lantern came in, and stared at +the pair as he set it down. “Do you want me to see +a fair finish-up?” he said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham. “I want you to see this +gentleman out with me. Nip his arms behind his +back; he can’t hurt you.”</p> + +<p>It was done with a little difficulty, and there was a +further scuffle in the hall, for the stranger resisted +strenuously, but a minute later the trio reeled out of the +door just as a buggy pulled up. Then, as the evicted +man plunged forward alone, Witham, straightening +himself suddenly, saw that Colonel Barrington was +looking down on him, and that his niece was seated +at his side. He stood still, flushed and breathless, +with his jacket hanging rent half-way up about him, +and the Colonel’s voice was quietly ironical.</p> + +<p>“I had a question or two to ask you, but can wait,” +he said. “No doubt I shall find you less engaged +another time.”</p> + +<p>He flicked the horse, and as the buggy rolled away +the other man walked up to Witham.</p> + +<p>“While I only wanted to get rid of you before, I +feel greatly tempted to give you your wish now,” said +the latter.</p> + +<p>The stranger laughed dryly. “I guess you needn’t +worry. I don’t fight because I’m fond of it, and +you’re not the man.”</p> + +<p>“Not the man?” said Witham.</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said the other. “Not like him, now I +can see you better. Well, I’m kind of sorry I started +a circus here.”</p> + +<p>A suspicion of the truth flashed upon Witham. +“What sort of a man was the one you mistook for +me?”</p> + +<p>“Usual British waster. Never done a day’s work +in his life, and never wanted to; too tired to open his +eyes more than half-way when he looked at you, but +if he ever fools round the saloon again, he’ll know +what he is before I’m through with him.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “I wouldn’t be rash or you +may get another astonishment. We really know +one or two useful things in the old country, but you +can’t fetch the settlement before morning, and we’ll +put you up if you like.”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said the other dryly. “I’m not fond of +Englishmen, and we might get arguing, while I’ve had +’bout enough of you for one night.”</p> + +<p>He rode away, and Witham went back into the house +very thoughtfully, wondering whether he would be +called upon to answer for more of Courthorne’s doings.</p> + +<p>It was two or three days later when Maud Barrington +returned with her aunt from a visit to an outlying +farm, where, because an account of what took +place in the saloon had by some means been spread +about, she heard a story brought in from the settlement. +It kept her silent during the return journey, +and Miss Barrington said nothing, but when the +Colonel met them in the hall he glanced at his niece.</p> + +<p>“I see Mrs. Carndall has been telling you both a +tale,” he said. “It would have been more fitting if +she had kept it to herself.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Maud Barrington. “Still, you do not +credit it?”</p> + +<p>Barrington smiled a trifle dryly. “I should very +much prefer not to, my dear, but what we saw the +other night appears to give it probability. The man +Courthorne was dismissing somewhat summarily is, +I believe, to marry the lady in question. You will +remember I asked you once before whether the leopard +can change his spots.”</p> + +<p>The girl laughed a little. “Still, are you not +presuming when you take it for granted that there are +spots to change?”</p> + +<p>Colonel Barrington said nothing further, and it was +late that night when the two women reopened the +subject.</p> + +<p>“Aunt,” said Maud Barrington, “I want to know +what you think about Mrs. Carndall’s tale.”</p> + +<p>The little lady shook her head. “I should like to +disbelieve it if I could.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Maud Barrington, “why don’t +you?”</p> + +<p>“Can you give me any reasons? One must not +expect too much from human nature, my dear.”</p> + +<p>The girl sat silent awhile, remembering the man +whom she had at first sight, and in the moonlight, +fancied was like her companion at the time. It +was not, however, the faint resemblance that had +impressed her, but a vague something in his manner—his +grace, his half-veiled insolence, his poise in the +saddle. She had only seen Lance Courthorne on a few +occasions when she was very young, but she had seen +others of his race, and the man reminded her of them. +Still, she felt half-instinctively that as yet it would be +better that nobody should know this, and she stooped +over some lace on the table as she answered the elder +lady.</p> + +<p>“I only know one, and it is convincing. That Lance +should have done what he is credited with doing is +quite impossible.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington smiled. “I almost believe so, too, +but others of his family have done such things somewhat +frequently. Do you know that Lance has all +along been a problem to me, for there is a good deal +in my brother’s question. Although it seems out of +the question, I have wondered whether there could be +two Lance Courthornes in Western Canada.”</p> + +<p>The girl looked at her aunt in silence for a space, +but each hid a portion of her thoughts. Then Maud +Barrington laughed.</p> + +<p>“The Lance Courthorne now at Silverdale is as +free from reproach as any man may be,” she said. +“I can’t tell you why I am sure of it—but I know I +am not mistaken.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink20'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XX—THE FACE AT THE WINDOW</a></h2> + +<p>It was a hot morning when Sergeant Stimson and +Corporal Payne rode towards the railroad across the +prairie. The grassy levels rolled away before them, +white and parched, into the blue distance, where +willow grove and straggling bluff floated on the dazzling +horizon, and the fibrous dust rose in little puffs beneath +the horses’ feet, until Stimson pulled his beast +up in the shadow of the birches by the bridge, and +looked back towards Silverdale. There, wooden +homesteads girt about with barns and granaries rose +from the whitened waste, and behind some of them +stretched great belts of wheat. Then the Sergeant, +understanding the faith of the men who had sown +that splendid grain, nodded, for he was old and wise, +and had seen many adverse seasons, and the slackness +that comes, when hope has gone, to beaten men.</p> + +<p>“They will reap this year—a handful of cents on +every bushel,” he said. “A fine gentleman is +Colonel Barrington, but some of them will be +thankful there’s a better head than the one he has at +Silverdale.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said Corporal Payne, who wore the +double chevrons for the first time, and surmised that +his companion’s observations were not without their +purpose.</p> + +<p>Stimson glanced at the bridge. “Good work,” +he said. “It will save them dollars on every load +they haul in. A gambler built it! Do they teach +men to use the axe in Montana saloons?”</p> + +<p>The corporal smiled and waited for what he felt +would come. He was no longer the hot-blooded lad +who had come out from the old country, for he had +felt the bonds of discipline, and been taught restraint +and silence on the lonely marches of the prairie.</p> + +<p>“I have,” he said tentatively, “fancied there +was something a little unusual about the thing.”</p> + +<p>Stimson nodded, but his next observation was +apparently quite unconnected with the topic. “You +were a raw colt when I got you, Payne, and the bit +galled you now and then, but you had good hands +on a bridle, and somebody who knew his business +had taught you to sit a horse in the old country. +Still, you were not as handy with brush and fork +at stable duty.”</p> + +<p>The bronze seemed to deepen in the corporal’s face, +but it was turned steadily toward his officer. “Sir,” +he said, “has that anything to do with what you +were speaking of?”</p> + +<p>Stimson laughed softly. “That depends, my lad. +Now, I’ve taught you to ride straight and to hold +your tongue. I’ve asked you no questions, but I’ve +eyes in my head, and it’s not without a purpose +you’ve been made corporal. You’re the kind they +give commissions to now and then—and your folks +in the old country never raised you for a police trooper.”</p> + +<p>“Can you tell me how to win one?” asked the +corporal, and Stimson noticed the little gleam in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>“There’s one road to advancement, and you know +where to find the trooper’s duty laid down plain,” +he said with a dry smile. “Now, you saw Lance +Courthorne once or twice back there in Alberta?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir; but never close to.”</p> + +<p>“And you knew Farmer Witham?”</p> + +<p>Payne appeared thoughtful. “Of course I met +him a few times on the prairie, always on horseback, +with his big hat on; but Witham is dead—that is, +I heard him break through the ice.”</p> + +<p>The men’s eyes met for a moment, and Stimson +smiled curiously. “There is,” he said, “still a +warrant out for him. Now, you know where I am +going, and while I am away you will watch Courthorne +and his homestead. If anything curious happens +there you will let me know. The new man has +instructions to find you any duty that will suit you.”</p> + +<p>The corporal looked at his officer steadily, and +again there was comprehension in his eyes. Then +he nodded. “Yes, sir. I have wondered whether, +if Shannon could have spoken another word that +night, it would have been Witham the warrant was +issued for.”</p> + +<p>Stimson raised a restraining hand. “My lad,” +he said dryly, “the police trooper who gets advancement +is the one that carries out his orders and never +questions them until he can show that they are wrong. +Then he uses a good deal of discretion. Now you +know your duty?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said Payne, and Stimson shaking his +bridle cantered off across the prairie.</p> + +<p>Then, seeing no need to waste time, the corporal +rode towards Courthorne’s homestead and found its +owner stripping a binder. Pieces of the machine +lay all around him, and from the fashion in which +he handled them it was evident that he was capable +of doing what the other men at Silverdale left to the +mechanic at the settlement. Payne wondered, as +he watched him, who had taught the gambler to use +spanner and file.</p> + +<p>“I will not trouble you if you are busy, Mr. +Courthorne; but if you would give me the returns +the Bureau ask for, it would save me riding round +again,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Witham. “You see, +I haven’t had the papers.”</p> + +<p>“Trooper Bacon told me he had given them to +you.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t seem to remember it,” said Witham.</p> + +<p>Payne laughed. “One forgets things when he +is busy. Still, you had them—because you signed +for them.”</p> + +<p>Witham looked up suddenly, and in another +moment smiled; but he was a trifle too late, for +Payne had seen his astonishment, and that he was +now on guard.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he said, “I haven’t got them now. Send +me a duplicate. You have, no doubt, some extra +forms at the outpost.”</p> + +<p>Payne decided that the man had never had the +documents, but was too clever to ask any questions +or offer explanations that might involve him. It was +evident he knew that somebody had personated him, +and the fact sent a little thrill through the corporal; +he was at least on the trail.</p> + +<p>“I’ll bring you one round the next time I’m in the +neighbourhood,” he said; and Witham sat still with +the spanner lying idle in his hand when he rode away.</p> + +<p>He realized that Courthorne had taken the papers, +and his face grew anxious as well as grim. The harvest +was almost ready now, and a little while would +see it in. Then his work would be over; but he had +of late felt a growing fear lest something, that +would prevent its accomplishment, might happen +in the meanwhile. Then almost fiercely he resumed +the stripping of the machine.</p> + +<p>An hour or two later Dane rode up, and sat still +in his saddle looking down on Witham with a curious +smile in his face.</p> + +<p>“I was down at the settlement and found a curious +story going round,” he said. “Of course, it had its +humorous aspect, but I don’t know that the thing +was quite discreet. You see, Barrington has once or +twice had to put a stern check on the indulgence in +playfulness of that kind by some of the younger men, +and you are becoming an influence at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“You naturally believed what you heard. It +was in keeping with what you have seen of me?”</p> + +<p>Dane’s eyes twinkled. “I didn’t want to, and I +must admit that it isn’t. Still, a good many of you +quiet men are addicted to occasionally astonishing +our friends, and I can’t help a fancy that you +could do that kind of thing as well as most folks, +if it pleased you. It fact, there was an artistic finish +to the climax that suggested your usual thoroughness.”</p> + +<p>“It did?” said Witham grimly, remembering +his recent visitor and one or two of Courthorne’s +Albertan escapades. “Still, as I’m afraid I haven’t +the dramatic instinct, do you mind telling me how?”</p> + +<p>Dane laughed. “Well, it is probable there are +other men who would have kissed the girl, but I don’t +know that it would have occurred to them to smash +a decanter on the irate lover’s head.”</p> + +<p>Witham felt his finger tingle for a grip on Courthorne’s +throat. “And that’s what I’ve been doing +lately? You, of course, concluded that after conducting +myself in an exemplary fashion an astonishing +time it was a trifling lapse?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Dane dryly. “As I admitted, it +appeared somewhat out of your usual line; but when +I heard that a man from the settlement had been +ejected with violence from your homestead, what +could one believe?”</p> + +<p>“Colonel Barrington told you that!”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Dane; “you know he didn’t. Still, +he had a hired man riding a horse he’d bought, and +I believe—though it is not my affair—Maud Barrington +was there. Now, of course, one feels diffident +about anything that may appear like preaching, but +you see a good many of us are following you, and I +wouldn’t like you to have many little lapses of that kind +while I am backing you. You and I have done with +these frivolities some time ago, but there are lads here +they might appeal to. I should be pleased if you +could deny the story.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s face was grim. “I’m afraid it would not +suit me to do as much just now,” he said. “Still, +between you and me, do you believe it likely that I +would fly at that kind of game?”</p> + +<p>Dane laughed softly. “Well,” he said, “tastes +differ, and the girl is pretty, while, you know, after +all they’re very much the same. We have, however, +got to look at the thing sensibly, and you admit you +can’t deny it.”</p> + +<p>“I told you it wouldn’t suit me.”</p> + +<p>“Then there is a difference?”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “You must make the best of +that, but the others may believe exactly what they +please. It will be a favour to me if you remember +it.”</p> + +<p>Dane smiled curiously. “Then I think it is +enough for me, and you will overlook my presumption. +Courthorne, I wonder now and then when I +shall altogether understand you!”</p> + +<p>“The time will come,” said Witham dryly, to hide +what he felt; for his comrade’s simple avowal had +been wonderfully eloquent. Then Dane touched +his horse with his heel and rode away.</p> + +<p>It was two or three weeks later when Witham, +being requested to do so, drove over to attend one +of the assemblies at Silverdale Grange. It was dark +when he reached the house, for the nights were drawing +in; but because of the temperature, few of the +great oil lamps were lighted, and the windows were +open wide. Somebody had just finished singing +when he walked into the big general room, and he +would have preferred another moment to make his +entrance, but disdained to wait. He, however, felt +a momentary warmth in his face when Miss Barrington, +stately as when he had first seen her in her rustling +silk and ancient laces, came forward to greet him +with her usual graciousness. He knew that every +eye was upon them, and guessed why she had done +so much.</p> + +<p>What she said was of no moment, but the fact that +she had received him without sign of coldness was +eloquent, and the man bent very respectfully over +the little white hand. Then he stood straight and +square for a moment and met her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said, “I shall know who to come +to when I want a friend.”</p> + +<p>Afterwards he drifted towards a group of married +farmers and their wives, who, except for that open +warranty, might have been less cordial to him; and +presently, though he was never quite sure how it +came about, found himself standing beside Maud +Barrington. She smiled at him and then glanced +towards one of the open windows, outside which one +or two of the older men were sitting.</p> + +<p>“The room is very hot,” said Witham tentatively.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, “I fancy it would be cooler +in the hall.”</p> + +<p>They passed out together into the shadowy hall, +but a little gleam of light from the doorway behind +them rested on Maud Barrington as she sat down. +She looked inquiringly at the man as though in wait +for something.</p> + +<p>“It is distinctly cooler here,” he said.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed impatiently. “It is,” +she said.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, with a little smile. “I will +try again. Wheat has made another advance lately.”</p> + +<p>The girl turned towards him with a little sparkle +in her eyes. Witham saw it, and the faint shimmer +of the pearls upon the whiteness of her neck and then +moved his head so that he looked out upon the dusky +prairie.</p> + +<p>“Pshaw!” she said. “You know why you were +brought here to-night.”</p> + +<p>Witham admired her courage, but did not turn +round, for there were times when he feared his will +might fail him. “I fancy I know why your aunt +was so gracious to me. Do you know that her confidence +almost hurts me.”</p> + +<p>“Then why don’t you vindicate it and yourself? +Dane would be your mouthpiece, and two or three +words would be sufficient.”</p> + +<p>Witham made no answer for a space. Somebody +was singing in the room behind them, and through +the open window he could see the stars in the soft +indigo above the great sweep of prairie. He noticed +them vacantly, and took a curious impersonal interest +in the two dim figures standing close together outside +the window. One was a young English lad, and the +other a girl in a long white dress. What they were +doing there was no concern of his, but any trifle that +diverted his attention a moment was welcome in that +time of strain, for he had felt of late that exposure +was close at hand, and was fiercely anxious to finish +his work before it came. Maud Barrington’s finances +must be made secure before he left Silverdale, +and he must remain at any cost until the wheat was +sold.</p> + +<p>Then he turned slowly towards her. “It is not +your aunt’s confidence that hurts me the most.”</p> + +<p>The girl looked at him steadily, the colour a trifle +plainer in her face, which she would not turn from the +light, and a growing wonder in her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” she said, “we both know that it is not +misplaced. Still, your impassiveness does not please +us.”</p> + +<p>Witham groaned inwardly, and the swollen veins +showed on his forehead. His companion had leaned +forward a little, so that she could see him, and one +white shoulder almost touched his own. The perfume +of her hair was in his nostrils, and when he remembered +how cold she had once been to him, a longing +that was stronger than the humiliation that came +with it grew almost overwhelming. Still, because +of her very trust in him, there was a wrong he could +not do, and it dawned on him that a means of placing +himself beyond further temptation was opening to him. +Maud Barrington, he knew, would have scanty +sympathy with an intrigue of the kind Courthorne’s +recent adventure pointed to.</p> + +<p>“You mean, why do I not deny what you have no +doubt heard?” he said. “What could one gain by +that if you had heard the truth?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed softly. “Isn’t the +question useless?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham, a trifle hoarsely now.</p> + +<p>The girl touched his arm almost imperiously as he +turned his head again.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” she said, “men of your kind need not +deal in subterfuge. The wheat and the bridge you +built speak for you.”</p> + +<p>“Still——” persisted Witham, and the girl checked +him with a smile.</p> + +<p>“I fancy you are wasting time,” she said. “Now, +I wonder whether, when you were in England, you +ever saw a play founded on an incident in the life of +a once famous actor. At the time it rather appealed to +me. The hero, with a chivalric purpose, assumed +various shortcomings he had really no sympathy +with—but while there is, of course, no similarity +beyond the generous impulse between the cases, +he did not do it clumsily. It is, however, a trifle +difficult to understand what purpose you could have, +and one cannot help fancying that you owe a little to +Silverdale and yourself.”</p> + +<p>It was a somewhat daring parallel; for Witham, +who dare not look at his companion and saw that +he had failed, knew the play.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t the subject a trifle difficult?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Maud Barrington, “we will end it. +Still, you promised that I should understand—a +good deal—when the time came.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded gravely. “You shall,” he said.</p> + +<p>Then, somewhat to his embarrassment, the two +figures moved further across the window, and as they +were silhouetted against the blue duskiness, he saw +that there was an arm about the waist of the girl’s +white dress. He became sensible that Maud Barrington +saw it too, and then that, perhaps to save the +situation, she was smiling. The two figures, however, +vanished, and a minute later a young girl in a +long white dress came in and stood still, apparently +dismayed, when she saw Maud Barrington. She did +not notice Witham, who sat further in the shadow. +He, however, saw her face suddenly crimson.</p> + +<p>“Have you been here long?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Maud Barrington, with a significant +glance towards the window. “At least ten minutes. +I am sorry, but I really couldn’t help it. It was very +hot in the other room, and Allender was singing.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the girl, with a little tremor in her +voice, “you will not tell?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Maud Barrington. “But you must +not do it again.”</p> + +<p>The girl stooped swiftly and kissed her, then recoiled +with a gasp when she saw the man, but Maud +Barrington laughed.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said, “I can answer for Mr. +Courthorne’s silence. Still, when I have an opportunity, +I am going to lecture you.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned with a twinkle he could not quite +repress in his eyes, and with a flutter of her dress the +girl whisked away.</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid this makes me an accessory, but I +can only neglect my manifest duty, which would be +to warn her mother,” said Maud Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Is it a duty?” asked Witham, feeling that the +further he drifted away from the previous topic, the +better it would be for him.</p> + +<p>“Some people would fancy so,” said his companion. +“Lily will have a good deal of money by and by, +and she is very young. Atterly has nothing but an +unprofitable farm; but he is an honest lad, and I +know she is very fond of him.”</p> + +<p>“And would that count against the dollars?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington laughed a little. “Yes,” she +said quietly. “I think it would if the girl is wise. +Even now such things do happen; but I fancy it is +time I went back again.”</p> + +<p>She moved away, but Witham stayed where he +was until the lad came in with a cigar in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Hallo, Courthorne!” he said. “Did you notice +anybody pass the window a little while ago?”</p> + +<p>“You are the first come in through it,” said +Witham dryly. “The kind of things you wear admit +of climbing.”</p> + +<p>The lad glanced at him with a trace of embarrassment.</p> + +<p>“I don’t quite understand you; but I meant a man,” +he said. “He was walking curiously, as if he was +half asleep, but he slipped round the corner of the +building, and I lost him.”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “There’s a want of finish in +the tale, but you needn’t worry about me. I didn’t +see a man.”</p> + +<p>“There’s rather less wisdom than usual in your +remarks to-night; but I tell you I saw him,” said the +lad.</p> + +<p>He passed on, and a minute later there was a cry +from the inner room. “It’s there again! Can’t +you see the face at the window?”</p> + +<p>Witham was in the larger room next moment, and +saw, as a startled girl had evidently done, a face that +showed distorted and white to ghastliness through +the window. He also recognized it, and running back +through the hall was outside in another few +seconds. Courthorne was leaning against one of the +casements as though faint with weakness or pain, and +collapsed when Witham dragged him backwards into +the shadow. He had scarcely laid him down when +the window was opened and Colonel Barrington’s +shoulders showed black against the light.</p> + +<p>“Come outside alone, sir,” said Witham. Barrington +did so, and Witham stood so that no light +fell on the pallid face in the grass. “It’s a man I +have dealings with,” he said. “He has evidently +ridden out from the settlement and fallen from his +horse.”</p> + +<p>“Why should he fall?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Witham laughed. “There is a perfume about him +that is tolerably conclusive. I was, however, on +the point of going, and if you will tell your hired man +to get my wagon out, I’ll take him away quietly. +You can make light of the affair to the others.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Barrington. “Unless you think the +man is hurt, that would be best, but we’ll keep him +if you like.”</p> + +<p>“No, sir. I couldn’t trouble you,” said Witham +hastily. “Men of his kind are also very hard to kill.”</p> + +<p>Five minutes later he and the hired man hoisted +Courthorne into the wagon and packed some hay +about him, while, soon after the rattle of wheels sank +into the silence of the prairie, the girl Maud Barrington +had spoken to rejoined her companion.</p> + +<p>“Could Courthorne have seen you coming in?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the girl, blushing. “He did.”</p> + +<p>“Then it can’t be helped, and, after all, Courthorne +wouldn’t talk, even if he wasn’t what he is,” said +the lad. “You don’t know why, and I’m not going +to tell you, but it wouldn’t become him.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean Maud Barrington?” asked his +companion.</p> + +<p>“No,” said the lad with a laugh. “Courthorne +is not like me. He has no sense. It’s quite another +kind of girl, you see.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink21'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXI—COLONEL BARRINGTON IS CONVINCED</a></h2> + +<p>It was not until early morning that Courthorne +awakened from the stupor he sank into, soon after +Witham conveyed him into his homestead. First, +however, he asked for a little food, and ate it with +apparent difficulty. When Witham came in, he +looked up from the bed where he lay, with the dust +still white upon his clothing, and his face showed grey +and haggard in the creeping light.</p> + +<p>“I’m feeling a trifle better now,” he said; “still, +I scarcely fancy I could get up just yet. I gave you +a little surprise last night?”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “You did. Of course, I knew +how much your promise was worth, but in view of +the risks you ran, I had not expected you to turn +up at the Grange.”</p> + +<p>“The risks!” said Courthorne with an unpleasant +smile.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham wearily; “I have a good deal +on hand I would like to finish here, and it will not take +me long, but I am quite prepared to give myself up +now, if it is necessary.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “I don’t think you need, +and it wouldn’t be wise. You see, even if you made +out your innocence, which you couldn’t do, you rendered +yourself an accessory by not denouncing me +long ago. I fancy we can come to an understanding +which would be pleasanter to both of us.”</p> + +<p>“The difficulty,” said Witham, “is that an +understanding is useless when made with a man who never +keeps his word.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne dryly, “we shall gain +nothing by paying each other compliments, and +whether you believe it or otherwise, it was not by +intention I turned up at the Grange. I was coming +here from a place west of the settlement and you can +see that I have been ill if you look at me. I counted +too much on my strength, couldn’t find a homestead +where I could get anything to eat, and the rest may +be accounted for by the execrable brandy I had with +me. Anyway, the horse threw me and made off, and +after lying under some willows a good deal of the day, +I dragged myself along until I saw a house.”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Witham, “is beside the question. +What do you want of me? Dollars, in all probability. +Well, you will not get them.”</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid I’m scarcely fit for a discussion now,” +said Courthorne. “The fact is, it hurts me to talk, +and there’s an aggressiveness about you which isn’t +pleasant to a badly-shaken man. Wait until this +evening, but there is no necessity for you to ride to +the outpost before you have heard me.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not sure it would be advisable to leave you +here,” said Witham dryly.</p> + +<p>Courthorne smiled ironically. “Use your eyes. +Would any one expect me to get up and indulge in a +fresh folly? Leave me a little brandy—I need it—and +go about your work. You’ll certainly find me +here when you want me.”</p> + +<p>Witham, glancing at the man’s face, considered +this very probable, and went out. He found his +cook, who could be trusted, and said to him, “The +man yonder is tolerably sick, and you’ll let him have a +little brandy, and something to eat when he asks for +it. Still, you’ll bring the decanter away with you, +and lock him in whenever you go out.”</p> + +<p>The man nodded, and making a hasty breakfast, +Witham, who had business at several outlying farms, +mounted and rode away. It was evening before he +returned, and found Courthorne lying in a big chair +with a cigar in his hand, languidly <i>debonair</i> but apparently +ill. His face was curiously pallid, and his eyes +dimmer than they had been, but there was a sardonic +twinkle in them.</p> + +<p>“You take a look at the decanter,” said the man, +who went up with Witham, carrying a lamp. “He’s +been wanting brandy all the time, but it doesn’t seem +to have muddled him.”</p> + +<p>Witham dismissed the man and sat down in front +of Courthorne.</p> + +<p>“Well?” he said.</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “You ought to be a witty +man, though one would scarcely charge you with that. +You surmised correctly this morning. It is dollars I +want.”</p> + +<p>“You had my answer.”</p> + +<p>“Of course. Still, I don’t want very many in the +meanwhile, and you haven’t heard what led up to the +demand, or why I came back to you. You are evidently +not curious, but I’m going to tell you. Soon +after I left you, I fell very sick, and lay in the saloon +of a little desolate settlement for days. The place was +suffocating, and the wind blew the alkali dust in. They +had only horrible brandy, and bitter water to drink +it with, and I lay there on my back, panting, with the +flies crawling over me. I knew if I stayed any longer +it would finish me, and when there came a merciful +cool day I got myself into the saddle and started off +to find you. I don’t quite know how I made the +journey, and during a good deal of it I couldn’t see +the prairie, but I knew you would feel there was an +obligation on you to do something for me. Of course, +I could put it differently.”</p> + +<p>Witham had as little liking for Courthorne as he +had ever had, but he remembered the time when he had +lain very sick in his lonely log hut. He also remembered +that everything he now held belonged to this man.</p> + +<p>“You made the bargain,” he said, less decisively.</p> + +<p>Courthorne nodded. “Still, I fancy one of the +conditions could be modified. Now, if I wait for +another three months I may be dead before the reckoning +comes, and while that probably wouldn’t grieve +you, I could, when it appeared advisable, send for a +magistrate and make a deposition.”</p> + +<p>“You could,” said Witham. “I have, however, +something of the same kind in contemplation.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne smiled curiously. “I don’t know that +it will be necessary. Carry me on until you have sold +your crop, and then make a reasonable offer, and +it’s probable you may still keep what you have at +Silverdale. To be quite frank, I’ve a notion that my +time in this world is tolerably limited, and I want a +last taste of all it has to offer a man of my capacities +before I leave it. One is a long while dead, you know.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded, for he understood. He had also +during the grim cares of the lean years known the +fierce longing for one deep draught of the wine of +pleasure, whatever it afterwards cost him.</p> + +<p>“It was that which induced you to look for a little +relaxation at the settlement at my expense,” he said. +“A trifle paltry, wasn’t it?”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed. “It seems you don’t know +me yet. That was a frolic, indulged in out of humour, +for your benefit. You see, your rôle demanded a +good deal more ability than you ever displayed in +it, and it did not seem fitting that a very puritanical +and priggish person should pose as me at Silverdale. +The little affair was the one touch of verisimilitude +about the thing. No doubt my worthy connexions +are grieving over your lapse.”</p> + +<p>“My sense of humour had never much chance of +developing,” said Witham grimly. “What is the +matter with you?”</p> + +<p>“Pulmonary haemorrhage!” said Courthorne. +“Perhaps it was born in me, but I never had much +trouble until after that night in the snow at the river. +Would you care to hear about it? We’re not fond +of each other, but after the steer-drivers I’ve been herding +with, it’s a relief to talk to a man of moderate +intelligence.”</p> + +<p>“Go on,” said Witham.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne, “when the trooper was +close behind me, my horse went through the ice, but +somehow I crawled out. We were almost across the +river, and it was snowing fast, while I had a fancy +that I might have saved the horse but, as the +trooper would probably have seen a mounted man, +I let him go. The stream sucked him under, and, +though you may not believe it, I felt very mean when +I saw nothing but the hole in the ice. Then, as the +troopers didn’t seem inclined to cross, I went on +through the snow, and, as it happened, blundered +across Jardine’s old shanty. There was still a little +prairie hay in the place, and I lay in it until morning, +dragging fresh armfuls around me as I burnt it in +the stove. Did you ever spend a night, wet through, +in a place that was ten to twenty under freezing?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham dryly. “I have done it +twice.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Courthorne, “I fancy that night +narrowed in my life for me, but I made out across +the prairie in the morning, and as we had a good many +friends up and down the country, one of them took +care of me.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat silent a while. The story had held +his attention, and the frankness of the man who lay +panting a little in his chair had its effect on him. +There was no sound from the prairie, and the house +was very still.</p> + +<p>“Why did you kill Shannon?” he asked at length.</p> + +<p>“Is any one quite sure of his motives?” said +Courthorne. “The lad had done something which +was difficult to forgive him, but I think I would have +let him go if he hadn’t recognized me. The world +is tolerably good to the man who has no scruples, +you see, and I took all it offered me, while it did not +seem fitting that a clod of a trooper without capacity +for enjoyment, or much more sensibility than the +beast he rode, should put an end to all my opportunities. +Still, it was only when he tried to warn +his comrades he threw his last chance away.”</p> + +<p>Witham shivered a little at the dispassionate +brutality of the speech, and then checked the anger +that came upon him.</p> + +<p>“Fate, or my own folly, has put it out of my power +to denounce you without abandoning what I have set +my heart upon, and after all it is not my business,” +he said. “I will give you five hundred dollars and +you can go to Chicago or Montreal, and consult +a specialist. If the money is exhausted before I +send for you, I will pay your hotel bills, but +every dollar will be deducted when we come to the +reckoning.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne laughed a little. “You had better +make it seven-fifty. Five hundred dollars will not +go very far with me.”</p> + +<p>“Then you will have to husband them,” said +Witham dryly. “I am paying you at a rate agreed +upon for the use of your land and small bank balance +handed me, and want all of it. The rent is a fair +one in face of the fact that a good deal of the farm +consisted of virgin prairie, which can be had from +the Government for nothing.”</p> + +<p>He said nothing further, and soon after he went out +Courthorne went to sleep, but Witham sat by an open +window with a burned-out cigar in his hand, staring +at the prairie while the night wore through, until he +rose with a shiver in the chill of early morning to +commence his task again.</p> + +<p>A few days later he saw Courthorne safely into a +sleeping car with a ticket for Chicago in his pocket, +and felt that a load had been lifted off his shoulders +when the train rolled out of the little prairie station. +Another week had passed, when, riding home one +evening, he stopped at the Grange, and, as it happened, +found Maud Barrington alone. She received +him without any visible restraint, but he realized +that all that had passed at their last meeting was to +be tacitly ignored.</p> + +<p>“Has your visitor recovered yet?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“So far as to leave my place, and I was not anxious +to keep him,” said Witham with a little laugh. “I +am sorry he disturbed you.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington seemed thoughtful. “I can +scarcely think the man was to blame.”</p> + +<p>“No?” said Witham.</p> + +<p>The girl looked at him curiously, and shook her +head. “No,” she said. “I heard my uncle’s +explanation, but it was not convincing. I saw the +man’s face.”</p> + +<p>It was several seconds before Witham answered, and +then he took the bold course.</p> + +<p>“Well?” he said.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington made a curious little gesture. +“I knew I had seen it before at the bridge, but that +was not all. It was vaguely familiar, and I felt I +ought to know it. It reminded me of somebody.”</p> + +<p>“Of me?” and Witham laughed.</p> + +<p>“No. There was a resemblance, but it was very +superficial. That man’s face had little in common +with yours.”</p> + +<p>“These faint likenesses are not unusual,” said +Witham, and once more Maud Barrington looked at +him steadily.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said. “Of course not. Well, we will +conclude that my fancies ran away with me, and +be practical. What is wheat doing just now?”</p> + +<p>“Rising still,” said Witham, and regretted the +alacrity with which he had seized the opportunity +of changing the topic when he saw that it had not +escaped the notice of his companion. “You and I +and a few others will be rich this year.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, but I am afraid some of the rest will find +it has only further anxieties for them.”</p> + +<p>“I fancy,” said Witham, “you are thinking of +one.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington nodded. “Yes; I am sorry +for him.”</p> + +<p>“Then it would please you if I tried to straighten +out things for him? It would be difficult, but I +believe it could be accomplished.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington’s eyes were grateful, but there +was something that Witham could not fathom behind +her smile.</p> + +<p>“If you undertook it. One could almost believe +you had the wonderful lamp,” she said.</p> + +<p>Witham smiled somewhat dryly. “Then all its +virtues will be tested to-night, and I had better make +a commencement while I have the courage. Colonel +Barrington is in?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington went with him to the door, and +then laid her hand a moment on his arm. “Lance,” +she said, with a little tremor in her voice, “if there +was a time when our distrust hurt you, it has recoiled +upon our heads. You have returned it with a splendid +generosity.”</p> + +<p>Witham did not trust himself to answer, but walked +straight to Barrington’s room, and finding the door +open went quietly in. The head of the Silverdale +settlement was sitting at a littered table in front of +a shaded lamp, and the light that fell upon it showed +the care in his face. It grew a trifle grimmer when +he saw the younger man.</p> + +<p>“Will you sit down?” he said. “I have been +looking for a visit from you for some little time. It +would have been more fitting had you made it earlier.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded as he took a chair. “I fancy I +understand you, but I have nothing that you expect +to hear to tell you, sir.”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Barrington, “is unfortunate. Now, +it is not my business to pose as a censor on the conduct +of any man here, except when it affects the community, +but their friends have sent out a good many young +English lads, some of whom have not been too discreet +in the old country, to me. They did not do so +solely that I might teach them farming. A charge +of that kind is no light responsibility, and I look +for assistance from the men who have almost as +large a stake as I have in the prosperity of Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“Have you ever seen me do anything you could +consider prejudicial to it?” asked Witham.</p> + +<p>“I have not,” said Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>“And it was by her own wish Miss Barrington, +who, I fancy, is seldom mistaken, asked me to the +Grange?”</p> + +<p>“Is is a good plea,” said Barrington. “I cannot +question anything my sister does.”</p> + +<p>“Then we will let it pass, though I am afraid you +will consider what I am going to ask a further presumption. +You have forward wheat to deliver, and +find it difficult to obtain it?”</p> + +<p>Barrington’s smile was somewhat grim. “In +both cases you have surmised correctly.”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “Still, it is not mere +inquisitiveness, sir. I fancy I am the only man at Silverdale +who can understand your difficulties, and, what +is more to the point, suggest a means of obviating +them. You still expect to buy at lower prices before +the time to make delivery comes?”</p> + +<p>Again the care crept into Barrington’s face, and +he sat silent for almost a minute. Then he said, +very slowly, “I feel that I should resent the question, +but I will answer. It is what I hope to do.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham, “I am afraid you will +find prices higher still. There is very little wheat in +Minnesota this year, and what there was in Dakota +was cut down by hail. Millers in St. Paul and +Minneapolis are anxious already, and there is talk +of a big corner in Chicago. Nobody is offering again, +while you know what land lies fallow in Manitoba, +and the activity of their brokers shows the fears of +Winnipeg millers with contracts on hand. This +is not my opinion alone. I can convince you from the +papers and market reports I see before you.”</p> + +<p>Barrington could not controvert the unpleasant +truth he was still endeavouring to shut his eyes to. +“The demand from the East may slacken,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head. “Russia can give them +nothing. There was a failure in the Indian monsoon, +and South American crops were small. Now, I +am going to take a further liberty. How much are +you short?”</p> + +<p>Barrington was never sure why he told him, but +he was hard pressed then, and there was a quiet +forcefulness about the younger man that had its +effect on him. “That,” he said, holding out a +document, “is the one contract I have not covered.”</p> + +<p>Witham glanced at it. “The quantity is small. +Still, money is very scarce, and bank interest almost +extortionate just now.”</p> + +<p>Barrington flushed a trifle, and there was anger +in his face. He knew the fact that his loss on this +sale should cause him anxiety was significant, and +that Witham had surmised the condition of his +finances tolerably correctly.</p> + +<p>“Have you not gone quite far enough?” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “I fancy I need ask no more, +sir. You can scarcely buy the wheat, and the banks +will advance nothing further on what you have to +offer at Silverdale. It would be perilous to put +yourself in the hands of a mortgage-broker.”</p> + +<p>Barrington stood up very grim and straight, +and there were not many men at Silverdale who +would have met his gaze.</p> + +<p>“Your content is a little too apparent, but I can +still resent an impertinence,” he said. “Are my +affairs your business?”</p> + +<p>“Sit down, sir,” said Witham. “I fancy they +are, and had it not been necessary, I would not have +ventured so far. You have done much for Silverdale, +and it had cost you a good deal, while it seems to +me that every man here has a duty to the head of +the settlement. I am, however, not going to urge +that point, but have, as you know, a propensity for +taking risks. I can’t help it. It was probably +born in me. Now, I will take that contract up for +you.”</p> + +<p>Barrington gazed at him in bewildered astonishment. +“But you would lose on it heavily. How +could you overcome a difficulty that is too great for +me?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Witham with a little smile, “it +seems I have some ability in dealing with these +affairs.”</p> + +<p>Barrington did not answer for a while, and when +he spoke it was slowly. “You have a wonderful +capacity for making any one believe in you.”</p> + +<p>“That is not the point,” said Witham. “If +you will let me have the contract, or, and it comes to +the same thing, buy the wheat it calls for, and if +advisable sell as much again, exactly as I tell you, +at my risk and expense, I shall get what I want out of +it. My affairs are a trifle complicated, and it would +take some little time to make you understand how +this would suit me. In the meanwhile you can +give me a mere I O U for the difference between what +you sold at, and the price to-day, to be paid without +interest and whenever it suits you. It isn’t very +formal, but you will have to trust me.”</p> + +<p>Barrington moved twice up and down the room +before he turned to the younger man. “Lance,” +he said, “when you first came here, any deal of this +kind between us would have been out of the question. +Now, it is only your due to tell you that I have +been wrong from the beginning, and you have a good +deal to forgive.”</p> + +<p>“I think we need not go into that,” said Witham, +with a little smile. “This is a business deal, and if +it hadn’t suited me I would not have made it.”</p> + +<p>He went out in another few minutes with a little +strip of paper, and just before he left the Grange +placed it in Maud Barrington’s hand.</p> + +<p>“You will not ask any questions, but if ever +Colonel Barrington is not kind to you, you can show +him that,” he said.</p> + +<p>He had gone in another moment, but the girl, +comprehending dimly what he had done, stood still, +staring at the paper with a warmth in her cheeks +and a mistiness in her eyes.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink22'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXII—SERGEANT STIMSON CONFIRMS HIS SUSPICIONS</a></h2> + +<p>It was late in the afternoon when Colonel Barrington +drove up to Witham’s homestead. He had his niece +and sister with him, and when he pulled up his team, +all three were glad of the little breeze that came +down from the blueness of the north and rippled the +whitened grass. It had blown over leagues of sun-bleached +prairie, and the great desolation beyond +the pines of the Saskatchewan, but had not wholly +lost the faint wholesome chill it brought from the +Pole.</p> + +<p>There was no cloud in the vault of ether, and +slanting sunrays beat fiercely down upon the prairie, +until the fibrous dust grew fiery, and the eyes ached +from the glare of the vast stretch of silvery grey. +The latter was, however, relieved by stronger colour +in front of the party, for, blazing gold on the dazzling +stubble, the oat sheaves rolled away in long rows that +diminished and melted into each other, until they +cut the blue of the sky in a delicate filigree. Oats +had moved up in value in sympathy with wheat, and +the good soil had most abundantly redeemed its +promise that year. Colonel Barrington, however, +sighed a little as he looked at them, and remembered +that such a harvest might have been his.</p> + +<p>“We will get down and walk towards the wheat,” +he said. “It is a good crop, and Lance is to be +envied.”</p> + +<p>“Still,” said Miss Barrington, “he deserved +it, and those sheaves stand for more than the toil that +brought them there.”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said the Colonel with a curious +little smile. “For rashness, I fancied, when they +showed the first blade above the clod, but I am less +sure of it now. Well, the wheat is even finer.”</p> + +<p>A man who came up took charge of the horses, +and the party walked in silence towards the wheat. +It stretched before them in a vast parallelogram, +and while the oats were the pale gold of the austral, +there was the tint of the ruddier metal of their own +North-West in this. It stood tall and stately, murmuring +as the sea does, until it rolled before a stronger +puff of breeze in waves of ochre, through which the +warm bronze gleamed when its rhythmic patter swelled +into deeper-toned harmonies. There was that in the +elfin music and blaze of colour which appealed to +sensual ear and eye, and something which struck deeper +still, as it did in the days men poured libations on the +fruitful soil, and white-robed priest blessed it, when +the world was young.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington felt it vaguely, but she recognized +more clearly, as her aunt had done, the faith and +daring of the sower. The earth was very bountiful, +but that wheat had not come there of itself; and +she knew the man who had called it up had done +more than bear his share of the primeval curse +which, however, was apparently more or less evaded +at Silverdale. Even when the issue appeared +hopeless, the courage that held him resolute in face +of other’s fears, and the greatness of his projects, had +appealed to her, and it almost counted for less that +he had achieved success. Then, glancing further across +the billowing grain she saw him—still, as it seemed +it had always been with him, amidst the stress and +dust of strenuous endeavour.</p> + +<p>Once more, as she had seen them when the furrows +were bare at seed time, and there was apparently +only ruin in store for those who raised the Eastern +people’s bread, lines of dusty teams came plodding +down the rise. They advanced in echelon, keeping +their time and distance with a military precision; +but in place of the harrows the tossing arms of the +binders flashed and swung. The wheat went down +before them, their wake was strewn with gleaming +sheaves, and one man came foremost, swaying in +the driving-seat of a rattling machine. His face +was the colour of a Blackfoot’s, and she could see the +darkness of his neck above the loose-fronted shirt +and a bare blackened arm that was raised to hold +the tired beasts to their task. Their trampling and +the crash and rattle that swelled in slow crescendo +drowned the murmur of the wheat, until one of the +machines stood still, and the leader, turning a moment +in his saddle, held up a hand. Then those that came +behind swung into changed formation, passed, and +fell into indented line again, while Colonel Barrington +nodded with grim approval.</p> + +<p>“It is very well done,” he said. “The best of +harvesters! No newcomers yonder. They’re capable +Manitoba men. I don’t know where he got them, and, +in any other year, one would have wondered where +he would find the means of paying them. We have +never seen farming of this kind at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>He seemed to sigh a little, while his hand closed on +the bridle; and Maud Barrington fancied she understood +his thoughts just then.</p> + +<p>“Nobody can be always right, and the good +years do not come alone,” she said. “You will +plough every acre next one.”</p> + +<p>Barrington smiled dryly. “I’m afraid that will +be a little late, my dear. Any one can follow, but +since, when everybody’s crop is good, the price +comes down, the man who gets the prize is the one +who shows the way.”</p> + +<p>“He was content to face the risk,” said Miss +Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the Colonel quietly. “I +should be the last to make light of his foresight +and courage. Indeed, I am glad I can acknowledge +it, in more ways than one, for I have felt lately that I +am getting an old man. Still, there is one with greater +capacities ready to step into my shoes; and though it +was long before I could overcome my prejudice against +him, I think I should now be content to let him have +them. Whatever Lance may have been, he was born a +gentleman, and blood is bound to tell.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington, who was of a patrician parentage, +and would not at one time have questioned this +assertion, wondered why she felt less sure of it just +then.</p> + +<p>“But if he had not been, would not what he has +done be sufficient to vouch for him?” she said.</p> + +<p>Barrington smiled a little, and the girl felt that +her question was useless as she glanced at him. He +sat very straight in his saddle, immaculate in dress, +with a gloved hand on his hip and a stamp which he +had inherited, with the thinly-covered pride that +usually accompanies it, from generations of a similar +type, on his clean-cut face. It was evidently needless +to look for any sympathy with that view from him.</p> + +<p>“My dear,” he said, “there are things at which +the others can beat us; but, after all, I do not think +they are worth the most; and while Lance has +occasionally exhibited a few undesirable characteristics, +no doubt acquired in this country, and has not +been always blameless, the fact that he is a Courthorne +at once covers and accounts for a good deal.”</p> + +<p>Then Witham recognized them, and made a +sign to one of the men behind him as he hauled his +binder clear of the wheat. He had dismounted in +another minute and came towards them, with the +jacket he had not wholly succeeded in struggling into +loose about his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“It is almost time I gave my team a rest,” he said. +“Will you come with me to the house?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Colonel Barrington. “We only stopped +in passing. The crop will harvest well.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham, turning with a little smile +to Miss Barrington. “Better than I expected, and +prices are still moving up. You will remember, +madam, who it was wished me good fortune. It +has undeniably come!”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the white-haired lady, “next +year I will do as much again, though it will be a +little unnecessary, because you have my good wishes +all the time. Still, you are too prosaic to fancy +they can have anything to do with—this.”</p> + +<p>She pointed to the wheat, but though Witham +smiled again, there was a curious expression in his +face as he glanced at her niece.</p> + +<p>“I certainly do, and your good-will has made +a greater difference than you realize to me,” he said.</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington looked at him steadily. “Lance,” +she said, “there is something about you and your +speeches that occasionally puzzles me. Now, of +course, that was the only rejoinder you could make, +but I fancied you meant it.”</p> + +<p>“I did,” said Witham, with a trace of grimness +in his smile. “Still, isn’t it better to tell any one too +little rather than too much?”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Miss Barrington, “you are going +to be franker with me by and by. Now, my brother +has been endeavouring to convince us that you +owe your success to qualities inherited from bygone +Courthornes.”</p> + +<p>Witham did not answer for a moment and then he +laughed. “I fancy Colonel Barrington is wrong,” +he said. “Don’t you think there are latent capabilities +in every man, though only one here and there gets +an opportunity of using them? In any case, wouldn’t +it be pleasanter for any one to feel that his virtues +were his own and not those of his family?”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington’s eyes twinkled but she shook +her head. “That,” she said, “would be distinctly +wrong of him, but I fancy it is time we were getting +on.”</p> + +<p>In another few minutes Colonel Barrington took +up the reins, and as they drove slowly past the +wheat his niece had another view of the toiling +teams. They were moving on tirelessly with their +leader in front of them, and the rasp of the knives, +trample of hoofs, and clash of the binders’ wooden +arms once more stirred her. She had heard those +sounds often before, and attached no significance to +them; but now she knew a little of the stress and +effort that preceded them; she could hear through +the turmoil the exultant note of victory.</p> + +<p>Then the wagon rolled more slowly up the rise +and had passed from view behind it when a mounted +man rode up to Witham with an envelope in his +hand.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Macdonald was in at the settlement, and +the telegraph clerk gave it him,” he said. “He +told me to come along with it.”</p> + +<p>Witham opened the message, and his face grew grim +as he read, “Send me five hundred dollars. Urgent.”</p> + +<p>Then he thrust it into his pocket and went on +with his harvesting, when he had thanked the man. +He also worked until dusk was creeping up across +the prairie before he concerned himself further +about the affair; and then the note he wrote was +laconic.</p> + +<p>“Enclosed you will find fifty dollars, sent only +because you may be ill. In case of necessity, you +can forward your doctor’s or hotel bills,” it ran.</p> + +<p>It was with a wry smile he watched the man ride +off towards the settlement with it. “I shall not +be sorry when the climax comes,” he said. “The +strain is telling.”</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, Sergeant Stimson had been +quietly renewing his acquaintance with certain +ranchers and herders of sheep scattered across the +Albertan prairie some six hundred miles away. +They found him more communicative and cordial +than he used to be, and with one or two he unbent +so far as, in the face of regulations, to refresh himself +with whisky which had contributed nothing to the +Canadian revenue. Now, the lonely ranchers have, +as a rule, few opportunities of friendly talk with +anybody, and as they responded to the sergeant’s +geniality, he became acquainted with a good many +facts, some of which confirmed certain vague suspicions +of his, though others astonished him. In consequence +of this, he rode out one night with two or three +troopers of a Western squadron.</p> + +<p>His apparent business was somewhat prosaic. +Musquash, the Blackfoot, in place of remaining quietly +on his reserve, had in a state of inebriation reverted +to the primitive customs of his race, and taking the +trail not only annexed some of his white neighbours’ +ponies and badly frightened their wives, but drove +off a steer with which he feasted his people. The +owner, following, came upon the hide, and Musquash, +seeing it was too late to remove the brand from it, +expressed his contrition, and pleaded in extenuation +that he was rather worthy of sympathy than +blame, because he would never have laid hands on +what was not his had not a white man sold him +deleterious liquor. As no white man is allowed +to supply an Indian with alcohol in any form, the +wardens of the prairie took a somewhat similar view +of the case; and Stimson was, from motives which +he did not mention, especially anxious to get his grip +upon the other offender.</p> + +<p>The night when they rode out was very dark, +and they spent half of it beneath a birch bluff, +seeing nothing whatever, and only hearing a coyote +howl. It almost appeared that there was something +wrong with the information supplied them respecting +the probable running of another load of prohibited +whisky, and towards morning Stimson rode up to the +young commissioned officer.</p> + +<p>“The man who brought us word has either played +their usual trick and sent us here while his friends +take the other trail, or somebody saw us ride out and +went south to tell the boys,” he said. “Now, you +might consider it advisable that I and one of the +troopers should head for the ford at Willow Hollow, +sir.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the young officer, who was quite +aware that there was as yet many things connected +with his duties he did not know. “Now I come to +think of it, Sergeant, I do. We’ll give you two +hours, and then, if you don’t turn up, ride over +after you; it’s condemnably shivery waiting for +nothing here.”</p> + +<p>Stimson saluted and shook his bridle, and rather +less than an hour later faintly discerned a rattle of +wheels that rose from a long way off across the +prairie. Then he used the spur, and by and by it +became evident that the drumming of their horses’ +feet had carried far, for though the rattle grew a +little louder there was no doubt that whoever drove +the wagon had no desire to be overtaken. Still, +two horses cannot haul a vehicle over a rutted trail +as fast as one can carry a man, and when the wardens +of the prairie raced towards the black wall of birches +that rose higher in front of them, the sound of wheels +seemed very near. It, however, ceased suddenly, +and was followed by a drumming that could only have +been made by a galloping horse.</p> + +<p>“One beast!” said the Sergeant. “Well, they’d +have two men, anyway, in that wagon. Get down +and picket. We’ll find the other fellow somewhere +in the bluff.”</p> + +<p>They came upon him within five minutes endeavouring +to cut loose the remaining horse from the +entangled harness in such desperate haste that +he did not hear them until Stimson grasped his +shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Hold out your hands,” he said. “You have +your carbine ready, trooper?”</p> + +<p>The man made no resistance, and Stimson laughed +when the handcuffs were on.</p> + +<p>“Now,” he said, “where’s your partner?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that I mind telling you,” said +the prisoner. “It was a low down trick he played +on me. We got down to take out the horses, when +we saw we couldn’t get away from you, and I’d +a blanket girthed round the best of them, when he +said he’d hold him while I tried what I could do +with the other. Well, I let him, and the first thing +I knew he was off at a gallop, leaving me with the +other kicking devil two men couldn’t handle. You’ll +find him rustling south over the Montana trail.”</p> + +<p>“Mount and ride!” said Stimson, and when +his companion galloped off turned once more to his +prisoner.</p> + +<p>“You’ll have a lantern somewhere, and I’d like +a look at you,” he said. “If you’re the man I +expect, I’m glad I found you.”</p> + +<p>“It’s in the wagon,” said the other dejectedly.</p> + +<p>Stimson got a light, and when he had released +and picketed the plunging horse, held it so that he +could see his prisoner. Then he nodded with evident +contentment.</p> + +<p>“You may as well sit down. We’ve got to have +a talk,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the other, “I’d help you to catch +Harmon if I could, but I can prove he hired me to +drive him over to Kemp’s in the wagon, and you’d +find it difficult to show I knew what there was in the +packages he took along.”</p> + +<p>Stimson smiled dryly. “Still,” he said, “I +think it could be done, and I’ve another count against +you. You had one or two deals with the boys some +little while ago.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not afraid of your fixing up against me +anything I did then,” said the other man.</p> + +<p>“No?” said Stimson. “Now, I guess you’re +wrong, and it might be a good deal more serious +than whisky-running. One night a man crawled +up to your homestead through the snow, and you +took him in.”</p> + +<p>He saw the sudden fear in his companion’s face +before he turned it from the lantern.</p> + +<p>“It has happened quite a few times,” said the +latter. “We don’t turn any stranger out in this +country.”</p> + +<p>“Of course!” said the Sergeant gravely, though +he felt a little thrill of content as he saw the shot, +he had been by no means sure of, had told. “That +man, however, had lost his horse in the river, and it +was the one he got from you that took him out of the +country. Now, if we could show you knew what +he had done, it might go as far as hanging somebody.”</p> + +<p>The man was evidently not a confirmed law-breaker, +but merely one of the small farmers who +were willing to pick up a few dollars by assisting +the whisky-runners now and then, and he abandoned +all resistance.</p> + +<p>“Sergeant,” he said, “it was most a week before +I knew, and if anybody had told me at the time +I’d have turned him out to freeze before I’d have let +him have a horse of mine.”</p> + +<p>“That wouldn’t go very far if we brought the +charge against you,” said Stimson grimly. “If +you’d sent us word when you did know, we’d have +had him.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the man, “he was across the frontier +by that time, and I don’t know that most folks would +have done it, if they’d had the warning the boys sent +me.”</p> + +<p>Stimson appeared to consider for almost a minute, +and then gravely rapped his companion’s arm.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me that the sooner you and I have +an understanding, the better it will be for you,” +he said.</p> + +<p>They were some time arriving at it, and the Sergeant’s +superiors might not have been pleased with all he +promised during the discussion. Still, he was flying +at higher game and had to sacrifice a little, while +he knew his man.</p> + +<p>“We’ll fix it up without you, as far as we can; +but if we want you to give evidence that the man +who lost his horse in the river was not Farmer Witham, +we’ll know where to find you,” he said. “You’ll +have to take your chance of being tried with him, +if we find you trying to get out of the country.”</p> + +<p>It was half an hour later when the rest of the +troopers arrived, and Stimson had some talk with +their officer aside.</p> + +<p>“A little out of the usual course, isn’t it?” said +the latter. “I don’t know that I’d have countenanced +it, so to speak, off my own bat at all, but I had a +tolerably plain hint that you were to use your discretion +over this affair. After all, one has to stretch a +point or two occasionally.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said Stimson; “a good many now +and then.”</p> + +<p>The officer smiled a little and went back to the +rest. “Two of you will ride after the other rascal,” +he said. “Now look here, my man; the first time +my troopers, who’ll call round quite frequently, don’t +find you about your homestead, you’ll land yourself +in a tolerably serious difficulty. In the meanwhile, +I’m sorry we can’t bring a charge of whisky-running +against you, but another time be careful who you +hire your wagon to.”</p> + +<p>Then there was a rapid drumming of hoofs as +two troopers went off at a gallop, while when the +rest turned back towards the outpost, Stimson rode +with them, quietly content.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink23'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXIII—THE REVELATION</a></h2> + +<p>Witham’s harvesting prospered as his sowing had +done, for day by day the bright sunshine shone down +on standing wheat and lengthening rows of sheaves. +It was in the bracing cold of sunrise the work began, +and the first pale stars were out before the tired men +and jaded horses dragged themselves home again. +Not infrequently it happened that the men wore +out the teams and machines, but there was no stoppage +then, for fresh horses were led out from the corral +or a new binder was ready. Every minute was worth +a dollar, and Witham, who had apparently foreseen +and provided for everything, wasted none.</p> + +<p>Then—for wheat is seldom stacked in that country—as +the days grew shorter and the evenings cool, +the smoke of the big thrasher streaked the harvest +field, and the wagons went jolting between humming +separator and granary, until the latter was gorged +to repletion, and the wheat was stored within a +willow framing beneath the chaff and straw that +streamed from the shoot of the great machine. +Witham had round him the best men that dollars +could hire, and toiled tirelessly with the grimy host +in the whirling dust of the thrasher and amidst the +sheaves, wherever another pair of hands, or the +quick decision that would save an hour’s delay, was +needed most.</p> + +<p>As compared with the practice of insular Britain, +there were not half enough of them; but wages +are high in that country, and the crew of the thrasher +paid by the bushel, while the rest had long worked for +their own hand on the levels of Manitoba and in +the bush of Ontario, and knew that the sooner their +toil was over the sooner they would go home again +with well-lined pockets. So, generously fed, splendid +human muscle kept pace with clinking steel +under a stress that is seldom borne outside the sun-bleached +prairie at harvest time, and Witham forgot +everything save the constant need for the utmost +effort of body and brain. It was even of little +import to him that prices moved steadily upwards +as he toiled.</p> + +<p>At last it was finished, and only knee-high stubble +covered his land and that of Maud Barrington; +while—for he was one who could venture fearlessly +and still know when he had risked enough—soon +after it was thrashed out the wheat was sold. The +harvesters went home with enough to maintain +them through the winter; and Witham, who spent +two days counting his gain, wrote asking Graham +to send him an accountant from Winnipeg. With +him he spent a couple more, and then, with an effort +he was never to forget, prepared himself for the +reckoning. It was time to fling off the mask before +the eyes of all who had trusted him.</p> + +<p>He had thought over it carefully, and his first +decision had been to make the revelation alone +to Colonel Barrington. That, however, would, he +felt be too simple, and his pride rebelled against +anything that would stamp him as one who dare +not face the men he had deceived. One by one +they had tacitly offered him their friendship and +then their esteem, until he knew that he was virtually +leader at Silverdale; and it seemed fitting that he +should admit the wrong he had done them, and +bear the obloquy before them all. For a while +the thought of Maud Barrington restrained him, +and then he brushed that aside. He had fancied +with masculine blindness that what he felt for her +had been well concealed, and that her attitude to him +could be no more than kindly sympathy with one +who was endeavouring to atone for a discreditable +past. Her anger and astonishment would be hard +to bear, but once more his pride prompted him, +and he decided that she should at least see he had +the courage to face the results of his wrong-doing. +As it happened, he was also given an opportunity +when he was invited to the harvest celebration that +was held each year at Silverdale.</p> + +<p>It was a still, cool evening when every man of the +community, and most of the women gathered in the +big dining-room of the Grange. The windows were +shut now, for the chill of the early frost was on the +prairie, and the great lamps burned steadily above +the long tables. Cut glass, dainty china and silver +gleamed beneath them amidst the ears of wheat +that stood in clusters for sole and appropriate ornamentation. +They merited the place of honour, for +wheat had brought prosperity to every man at +Silverdale who had had the faith to sow that year.</p> + +<p>On either hand were rows of smiling faces: the +men’s burned and bronzed, the women’s kissed into +faintly warmer colour by the sun, and white shoulders +shone amidst the sombrely covered ones, while +here and there a diamond gleamed on a snowy neck. +Barrington sat at the head of the longest table, with +his niece and sister, Dane, and his oldest followers +about him, and Witham at its foot, dressed very +simply after the usual fashion of the prairie farmers. +There were few in the company who had not noticed +this, though they did not as yet understand its +purport.</p> + +<p>Nothing happened during dinner, but Maud +Barrington noticed that although some of his younger +neighbours rallied him, Witham was grimly quiet. +When it was over, Barrington rose, and the men +who knew the care he had borne that year never +paid him more willing homage than they did when +he stood smiling down on them. As usual, he was +immaculate in dress, erect, and quietly commanding; +but, in spite of its smile, his face seemed worn, and +there were thickening wrinkles, which told of anxiety, +about his eyes.</p> + +<p>“Another year has gone, and we have met again +to celebrate with gratefulness the fulfilment of the +promise made when the world was young,” he +said. “We do well to be thankful, but I think +humility becomes us, too. While we doubted, the +sun and the rain have been with us for a sign that, +though men grow faint-hearted and spare their +toil, seed time and harvest shall not fail.”</p> + +<p>It was the first time Colonel Barrington had spoken +in quite that strain, and when he paused a moment +there was a curious stillness, for those who heard +him noticed an unusual tremor in his voice. There +was also a gravity that was not far removed from +sadness in his face when he went on again, but the +intentness of his retainers would have been greater +had they known that two separate detachments +of police troopers were then riding toward Silverdale.</p> + +<p>“The year has brought its changes and set its +mark deeply on some of us,” he said. “We cannot +recall it, or retrieve our blunders, but we can hope +they will be forgiven us, and endeavour to avoid +them again. This is not the fashion in which I had +meant to speak to you to-night, but after the bounty +showered upon us I feel my responsibility. The +law is unchangeable. The man who would have +bread to eat or sell must toil for it, and I, in disregard +of it, bade you hold your hand. Well, we have had +our lesson, and we will be wiser another time; but I +have felt that my usefulness as your leader is slipping +away from me. This year has shown me that I am +getting an old man.”</p> + +<p>Dane kicked the foot of a lad beside him, and +glanced at the piano as he stood up.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said simply, “although we have differed +about trifles and may do again, we don’t want a +better one—and if we did, we couldn’t find him.”</p> + +<p>A chord from the piano rang through the approving +murmurs, and the company rose to their feet before +the lad had beaten out the first bar of the jingling +rhythm. Then the voices took it up, and the great +hall shook to the rafters with the last “Nobody can +deny.”</p> + +<p>Trite as it was, Barrington saw the darker flush +in the bronzed faces, and there was a shade of warmer +colour in his own as he went on again.</p> + +<p>“The things one feels the most are those one can +least express, and I will not try to tell you how I +value your confidence,” he said. “Still, the fact +remains that sooner or later I must let the reins +fall into younger hands, and there is a man here who +will, I fancy, lead you farther than you would ever +go with me. Times change, and he can teach +you how those who would do the most for the Dominion +need live to-day. He is also, and I am glad of it, +one of us, for traditions do not wholly lose their +force, and we know that blood will tell. That +this year has not ended hi disaster irretrievable is +due to our latest comrade, Lance Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>This time there were no musical honours or need +of them, for a shout went up that called forth an +answering rattle from the cedar panelling. It was flung +back from table to table up and down the great room, +and when the men sat down flushed and breathless, +their eyes still shining, the one they admitted had +saved Silverdale rose up quietly at the foot of the +table. The hand he laid on the snowy cloth shook +a little, and the bronze that generally suffused it +was less noticeable in his face. All who saw it felt +that something unusual was coming, and Maud +Barrington leaned forward a trifle with a curious +throbbing of her heart.</p> + +<p>“Comrades! It is, I think, the last time you +will hear the term from me,” he said—“I am glad +that we have made and won a good fight at Silverdale, +because it may soften your most warranted resentment +when you think of me.”</p> + +<p>Every eye was turned upon him, and an expression +of bewilderment crept into the faces, while a lad +who sat next to him touched his arm reassuringly.</p> + +<p>“You’ll feel your feet in a moment, but that’s a +curious fashion of putting it,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham turned to Barrington, and stood silent a +moment. He saw Maud Barrington’s face showing +strained and intent, but less bewildered than the +others, and that of her aunt, which seemed curiously +impassive, and a little thrill ran through him. It +passed, and once more he only saw the leader of +Silverdale.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said, “I did you a wrong when I came +here, and with your convictions you would never +tolerate me as your successor.”</p> + +<p>There was a rustle of fabric as some of the women +moved, and a murmur of uncontrollable astonishment, +while those who noticed it remembered Barrington’s +gasp. It expressed absolute bewilderment, +but in another moment he smiled.</p> + +<p>“Sit down, Lance,” he said. “You need make +no speeches. We expect better things from you.”</p> + +<p>Witham stood very still. “It was the simple +truth I told you, sir,” he said. “Don’t make it +too hard for me.”</p> + +<p>Just then there was a disturbance at the rear of +the room, and a man, who shook off the grasp of one +that followed him, came in. He moved forward +with uneven steps, and then, resting his hand on a +chair-back, faced about and looked at Witham. +The dust was thick upon his clothes, but it was his +face that seized and held attention. It was horribly +pallid, save for the flush that showed in either +cheek, and his half-closed eyes were dazed.</p> + +<p>“I heard them cheering,” he said. “Couldn’t +find you at your homestead. You should have sent +the five hundred dollars. They would have saved +you this.”</p> + +<p>The defective utterance would alone have attracted +attention, and, with the man’s attitude, was very +significant, but it was equally evident to most of +those who watched him that he was also struggling +with some infirmity. Western hospitality has, however, +no limit, and one of the younger men drew out +a chair.</p> + +<p>“Hadn’t you better sit down, and if you want anything +to eat we’ll get it you,” he said. “Then you +can tell us what your errand is.”</p> + +<p>The man made a gesture of negation, and pointed +to Witham.</p> + +<p>“I came to find a friend of mine. They told me +at his homestead that he was here,” he said.</p> + +<p>There was an impressive silence, until Colonel Barrington +glanced at Witham, who still stood, quietly +impassive, at the foot of the table.</p> + +<p>“You know our visitor?” he said. “The Grange +is large enough to give a stranger shelter.”</p> + +<p>The man laughed. “Of course, he does! It’s my +place he’s living in!”</p> + +<p>Barrington turned again to Witham and his face +seemed to have grown a trifle stern.</p> + +<p>“Who is this man?” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham looked steadily in front of him, vacantly +noticing the rows of faces turned towards him under +the big lamps. “If he had waited a few minutes +longer, you would have known,” he said. “He is +Lance Courthorne!”</p> + +<p>This time the murmurs implied incredulity, but +the man who stood swaying a little with his hand +on the chair, and a smile in his half-closed eyes, made +an ironical inclination.</p> + +<p>“It’s evident you don’t believe it, or wish to. +Still, it’s true,” he said.</p> + +<p>One of the men nearest him rose and quietly pushed +him into the chair.</p> + +<p>“Sit down in the meanwhile,” he said dryly. “By +and by, Colonel Barrington will talk to you.”</p> + +<p>Barrington thanked him with a gesture, and +glanced at the rest. “One would have preferred to +carry out this inquiry more privately,” he said, very +slowly, but with hoarse distinctness. “Still, you +have already heard so much.”</p> + +<p>Dane nodded. “I fancy you are right, sir. Because +we have known and respected the man who +has, at least, done a good deal for us, it would be +better that we should hear the rest.”</p> + +<p>Barrington made a little gesture of agreement, and +once more fixed his eyes on Witham. “Then will +you tell us who you are?”</p> + +<p>“A struggling prairie farmer,” said Witham quietly. +“The son of an English country doctor, who died in +penury, and one who, from your point of view, could +never have been entitled to more than courteous +toleration from any of you.”</p> + +<p>He stopped, but—for the astonishment was passing—there +was negation in the murmurs which followed, +while somebody said, “Go on!”</p> + +<p>Dane stood up. “I fancy our comrade is mistaken,” +he said. “Whatever he may have been, +we recognize our debt to him. Still, I think he owes +us a more complete explanation.”</p> + +<p>Then Maud Barrington, sitting where all could see +her, signed imperiously to Alfreton, who was on his +feet next moment, with Macdonald and more of the +men following him.</p> + +<p>“I,” he said with a little ring in his voice and a +flush in his young face, “owe him everything, and +I’m not the only one. This, it seems to me, is the +time to acknowledge it.”</p> + +<p>Barrington checked him with a gesture. “Sit +down, all of you. Painful and embarrassing as it is, +now we have gone so far, this affair must be elucidated. +It would be better if you told us more.”</p> + +<p>Witham drew back a chair, and when Courthorne +moved, the man who sat next to him laid a grasp on +his arm. “You will oblige me by not making any +remarks just now,” he said dryly. “When Colonel +Barrington wants to hear anything from you he’ll +ask you.”</p> + +<p>“There is little more,” said Witham. “I could +see no hope in the old country, and came out to this +one with one hundred pounds, a distant connexion +lent me. That sum will not go very far anywhere, +as I found when, after working for other men, I bought +stock and took up Government land. To hear how +I tried to do three men’s work for six weary years, +and at times went for months together half-fed, +might not interest you, though it has its bearing on +what came after. The seasons were against me, and +I had not the dollars to tide me over the time of +drought and blizzard until a good one came. Still, +though my stock died, and I could scarcely haul in +the little wheat the frost and hail left me, with +my worn-out team, I held on, feeling that I could +achieve prosperity if I once had the chances of other +men.”</p> + +<p>He stopped a moment, and Macdonald poured out +a glass of wine and passed it across to him in a fashion +that made the significance of what he did evident.</p> + +<p>“We know what kind of a struggle you made by +what we have seen at Silverdale,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham put the glass aside, and turned once more +to Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Still,” he said, “until Courthorne crossed my +path, I had done no wrong, and I was in dire need of +the money that tempted me to take his offer. He +made a bargain with me that I should ride his horse +and personate him, that the police troopers might +leave him unsuspected to lead his comrades running +whisky, while they followed me. I kept my part +of the bargain, and it cost me what I fancy I can never +recover, unless the trial I shall shortly face will take +the stain from me. While I passed for him your +lawyer found me, and I had no choice between being +condemned as a criminal for what Courthorne had +in the meanwhile done, or continuing the deception. +He had, as soon as I had left him, taken my horse +and garments, so that if seen by the police they would +charge me. I could not take your money, but, though +Courthorne was apparently drowned I did wrong +when I came to Silverdale. For a time the opportunities +dazzled me; ambition drew me on, and I +knew what I could do.”</p> + +<p>He stopped again, and once more there was a soft +rustle of dresses, and a murmur, as those who listened +gave inarticulate expression to their feelings. Moving +a little, he looked steadily at Maud Barrington, +and her aunt, who sat close together.</p> + +<p>“Then,” he said very slowly, “it was borne in +upon me that I could not persist in deceiving you. +Courthorne, I fancied, could not return to trouble +me, but the confidence that little by little you placed +in me rendered it out of the question. Still, I saw +that I could save some at least at Silverdale from +drifting to disaster, and there was work for me here +which would go a little way in reparation, and now +that it is done I was about to bid you good-bye and +ask you not to think too hardly of me.”</p> + +<p>There was a moment’s intense silence until once +more Dane rose up, and pointed to Courthorne sitting +with half-closed eyes, dusty, partly dazed by indulgence, +and with the stamp of dissolute living on him, +in his chair. Then, he glanced at Witham’s bronzed +face, which showed quietly resolute at the bottom +of the table.</p> + +<p>“Whatever we would spare you and ourselves, +sir, we must face the truth,” he said. “Which of +these men was needed at Silverdale?”</p> + +<p>Again the murmurs rose up, but Witham sat silent, +his pulses throbbing with a curious exultation. He +had seen the colour creep into Maud Barrington’s +face, and her aunt’s eyes, when he told her what had +prompted him to leave Silverdale, and knew they +understood him. Then, in the stillness that followed, +the drumming of hoofs rose from the prairie. It grew +louder, and when another sound became audible +too, more than one of those who listened recognized +the jingle of accoutrements. Courthorne rose unsteadily, +and made for the door.</p> + +<p>“I think,” he said with a curious laugh, “I must +be going. I don’t know whether the troopers want +me or your comrade.”</p> + +<p>A lad sprang to his feet, and as he ran to the door +called “Stop him!”</p> + +<p>In another moment Dane had caught his arm, +and his voice rang through the confusion, as everybody +turned or rose.</p> + +<p>“Keep back all of you,” he said. “Let him go!”</p> + +<p>Courthorne was outside by this time, and only +those who reached the door before Dane closed it +heard a faint beat of hoofs as somebody rode quietly +away beneath the bluff, while as the rest clustered +together, wondering, a minute or two later, Corporal +Payne, flecked with spume and covered with dust +came in. He raised his hand in salutation to Colonel +Barrington, who sat very grim in face in his chair at +the head of the table.</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry, sir, but it’s my duty to apprehend +Lance Courthorne,” he said.</p> + +<p>“You have a warrant?” asked Barrington.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” said the corporal.</p> + +<p>There was intense silence for a moment. Then +the Colonel’s voice broke through it very quietly.</p> + +<p>“He is not here,” he said.</p> + +<p>Payne made a little deprecatory gesture. “We +knew he came here. It is my duty to warn you that +proceedings will be taken against any one concealing or +harbouring him.”</p> + +<p>Barrington rose up very stiffly, with a little grey +tinge in his face, but words seemed to fail him, and +Dane laid his hand on the corporal’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Then,” he said grimly, “don’t exceed it. If +you believe he’s here, we will give you every opportunity +of finding him.”</p> + +<p>Payne called to a comrade outside, who was, as it +happened, new to the force, and they spent at least +ten minutes questioning the servants and going up +and down the house. Then, as they glanced into +the general room, the trooper looked deprecatingly +at his officer.</p> + +<p>“I fancied I heard somebody riding by the bluff +just before we reached the house,” he said.</p> + +<p>Payne wheeled round with a flash in his eyes. +“Then you have lost us our man. Out with you, +and tell Jackson to try the bluff for a trail.”</p> + +<p>They had gone in another moment, and Witham +still sat at the foot of the table and Barrington at the +head, while the rest of the company were scattered, +some wonderingly silent, though others talked in +whispers, about the room. As yet they felt only +consternation and astonishment.</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink24'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXIV—COURTHORNE MAKES REPARATION</a></h2> + +<p>The silence in the big room had grown oppressive +when Barrington raised his head and sat stiffly upright.</p> + +<p>“What has happened has been a blow to me, and +I am afraid I am scarcely equal to entertaining you +to-night,” he said. “I should, however, like Dane +and Macdonald, and one or two of the older men, +to stay a while. There is still, I fancy, a good deal +for us to do.”</p> + +<p>The others turned towards the door, but as they +passed Witham, Miss Barrington turned and touched +his shoulder. The man, looking up suddenly, saw +her and her niece standing close beside her.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said hoarsely, though it was Maud +Barrington he glanced at, “the comedy is over. +Well, I promised you an explanation, and now you +have it you will try not to think too bitterly of me. +I cannot ask you to forgive me.”</p> + +<p>The little white-haired lady pointed to the ears of +wheat which stood gleaming ruddy-bronze in front +of him.</p> + +<p>“That,” she said very quietly, “will make it easier.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington said nothing, but every one in the +room saw her standing a moment beside the man +with a little flush in her face and no blame in her eyes. +Then she passed on, but, short as it was, the pause +had been very significant, for it seemed that whatever +the elders of the community might decide, the two +women, whose influence was supreme at Silverdale, +had given the impostor absolution.</p> + +<p>The girl could not analyse her feelings, but through +them all a vague relief was uppermost; for whatever +he had been, it was evident the man had done one +wrong only, and daringly, and that was a good deal +easier to forgive than several incidents in Courthorne’s +past would have been. Then she was conscious +that Miss Barrington’s eyes were upon her.</p> + +<p>“Aunt,” she said with a little tremor in her voice, +“it is almost bewildering. Still one seemed to feel +that what that man has done could never have been +the work of Lance Courthorne.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington made no answer, but her face was +very grave; and just then those nearest it drew back +a little from the door. A trooper stood outside it, +his carbine glinting in the light, and another was +silhouetted against the sky, sitting motionless in +his saddle further back on the prairie.</p> + +<p>“The police are still there,” said somebody.</p> + +<p>One by one they passed out under the trooper’s +gaze, but there was the usual delay in harnessing and +saddling, and the first vehicle had scarcely rolled +away when again the beat of hoofs and thin jingle +of steel came portentously out of the silence. Maud +Barrington shivered a little as she heard it.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the few who remained had seated +themselves about Colonel Barrington. When there +was quietness again he glanced at Witham, who still +sat at the foot of the table.</p> + +<p>“Have you anything more to tell us?” he asked. +“These gentlemen are here to advise me if necessary.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham quietly. “I shall probably +leave Silverdale before morning, and have now to +hand you a statement of my agreement with Courthorne +and the result of my farming here, drawn up +by a Winnipeg accountant. Here is also a document +in which I have taken the liberty of making +you and Dane my assigns. You will, as authorized +by it, pay to Courthorne the sum due to him, and +with your consent, which you have power to withhold, +I propose taking one thousand dollars only of +the balance that remains to me. I have it here now, +and in the meanwhile surrender it to you. Of the +rest, you will make whatever use that appears desirable +for the general benefit of Silverdale. Courthorne +has absolutely no claim upon it.”</p> + +<p>He laid a wallet on the table, and Dane glanced +at Colonel Barrington, who nodded when he returned +it unopened.</p> + +<p>“We will pass it without counting. You accept +the charge, sir?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Barrington gravely. “It seems it +is forced on me. Well, we will glance through the +statement.”</p> + +<p>For at least ten minutes nobody spoke, and then +Dane said, “There are prairie farmers who would +consider what he is leaving behind him a competence.”</p> + +<p>“If this agreement, which was apparently verbal, +is confirmed by Courthorne, the entire sum rightfully +belongs to the man he made his tenant,” said Barrington; +and Macdonald smiled gravely as he +glanced at Witham.</p> + +<p>“I think we can accept the statement that it was +made, without question, sir,” he said.</p> + +<p>Witham shook his head. “I claim one thousand +dollars as the fee of my services, and they should be +worth that much; but I will take no more.”</p> + +<p>“Are we not progressing a little too rapidly, sir?” +said Dane. “It seems to me we have yet to decide +whether it is necessary that the man who has done +so much for us should leave Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Witham smiled a trifle grimly. “I think,” he said, +“that question will very shortly be answered for you.”</p> + +<p>Macdonald held his hand up, and a rapid thud of +hoofs came faintly through the silence.</p> + +<p>“Troopers! They are coming here,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham. “I fancy they will relieve +you from any further difficulty.”</p> + +<p>Dane strode to one of the windows, and glanced +at Colonel Barrington as he pulled back the catch. +Witham, however, shook his head, and a little flush +crept into Dane’s bronzed face.</p> + +<p>“Sorry. Of course, you are right,” he said. “It +will be better that they should acquit you.”</p> + +<p>No one moved for a few more minutes, and then +with a trooper behind him Sergeant Stimson came +in, and laid his hand on Witham’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“I have a warrant for your apprehension, Farmer +Witham,” he said. “You probably know the charge +against you.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham, simply. “I hope to refute +it. I will come with you.”</p> + +<p>He went out, and Barrington stared at the men +about him. “I did not catch the name before. +That was the man who shot the police trooper in +Alberta?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir,” said Dane very quietly. “Nothing +would induce me to believe it of him.”</p> + +<p>Barrington looked at him in bewilderment. “But +he must have done—unless,” he said, and ended with +a little gasp. “Good Lord! There was the faint +resemblance, and they changed horses—it is horrible.”</p> + +<p>Dane’s eyes were very compassionate as he laid +his hand gently on his leader’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Sir,” he said, “you have our sympathy, and I +am sorry that to offer it is all we can do. Now, I +think, we have stayed too long already.”</p> + +<p>They went out and left Colonel Barrington sitting +alone with a grey face at the head of the table.</p> + +<p>It was a minute or two later when Witham swung +himself into the saddle at the door of the Grange; +All the vehicles had not left as yet, and there was a +little murmur of sympathy—when the troopers +closed in about him. Still before they rode away, +one of the men wheeled his horse aside, and Witham +saw Maud Barrington standing bareheaded by his +stirrup. The moonlight showed that her face was +impassive but curiously pale.</p> + +<p>“We could not let you go without a word; and +you will come back to us with your innocence made +clear,” she said.</p> + +<p>Her voice had a little ring in it that carried far, and +her companions heard her. What Witham said, they +could not hear, and he did not remember it, but he +swung his hat off, and those who saw the girl at his +stirrup recognized with confusion that she alone had +proclaimed her faith, while they had stood aside from +him. Then the Sergeant raised his hand and the +troopers rode forward with their prisoner.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, Courthorne was pressing south +for the American frontier and daylight was just +creeping across the prairie when the pursuers, who had +found his trail and the ranch he obtained a fresh +horse at, had sight of him. There were three of them, +riding wearily, grimed with dust, when a lonely +mounted figure showed for a moment on the crest of a +rise. In another minute it dipped into a hollow, and +Corporal Payne smiled grimly.</p> + +<p>“I think we have him now. The creek can’t be +far away, and he’s west of the bridge,” he said. +“While we try to head him off, you’ll follow +behind him Hilton.”</p> + +<p>One trooper sent the spurs in and, while the others +swung off, rode straight on. Courthorne was at +least a mile from them, but they were nearer the bridge, +and Payne surmised that his jaded horse would fail +him if he essayed to ford the creek and climb the +farther side of the deep ravine it flowed through. +They saw nothing of him when they swept across the +rise, for here and there a grove of willows stretched +out across the prairie from the sinuous band of trees +in front of them. These marked the river hollow, +and Payne knowing that the chase might be ended +in a few more minutes did not spare the spur. He +also remembered, as he tightened his grip on the +bridle, the white face of Trooper Shannon flecked +with the drifting snow.</p> + +<p>The bluff that rose steadily higher came back to +them, willow and straggling birch flashed by, and at +last Payne drew bridle where a rutted trail wound +down between the trees to the bridge in the hollow. +A swift glance showed him that a mounted man could +scarcely make his way between them and he smiled +dryly as he signed to his companion.</p> + +<p>“Back your horse clear of the trail,” he said; and +there was a rattle as he flung his carbine across the +saddle. “With Hilton behind him, he’ll ride straight +into our hands.”</p> + +<p>He wheeled his horse in among the birches, and +then sat still, with fingers that quivered a little on +the carbine stock, until a faint drumming rose from +the prairie.</p> + +<p>“He’s coming!” said the trooper. “Hilton’s +hanging on to him!”</p> + +<p>Payne made no answer, and the sound that rang +more loudly every moment through the greyness of +the early daylight was not pleasant to hear. Man’s +vitality is near its lowest about that hour, and the +troopers had ridden furiously the long night through, +while one of them, who knew Lance Courthorne, +surmised that there was grim work before him. +Still, though he shivered as a little chilly wind shook +the birch twigs, he set his lips, and once more remembered +the comrade who had ridden far and kept many +a lonely vigil with him.</p> + +<p>Then a mounted man appeared in the space +between the trees. His horse was jaded, and he rode +loosely, swaying once or twice in his saddle; but he +came straight on, and there was a jingle and rattle +as the troopers swung out into the trail. The man +saw them, for he glanced over his shoulder, as if at +the rider who appeared behind, and then sent the +spurs in again.</p> + +<p>“Pull him up,” cried Corporal Payne, and his voice +was a little strained. “Stop right where you are +before we fire on you!”</p> + +<p>The man must have seen the carbines, for he raised +himself a trifle, and Payne saw his face under the +flapping hat. It was drawn and grey, but there was +no sign of yielding or consternation in the half-closed +eyes. Then he lurched in his saddle, as from exhaustion +or weariness, and straightened himself +again with both hands on the bridle. Payne saw +his heels move and the spurs drip red, and slid his +left hand further along the carbine stock. The trail +was steep and narrow. A horseman could scarcely +turn in it, and the stranger was coming on at a gallop.</p> + +<p>“He will have it,” said the trooper hoarsely. +“If he rides one of us down he may get away.”</p> + +<p>“We have got to stop him,” said Corporal Payne.</p> + +<p>Once more the swaying man straightened himself, +flung his head back, and with a little breathless laugh +drove his horse furiously at Payne. He was very +close now, and his face showed livid under the smearing +dust; but his lips were drawn up in a little bitter +smile as he rode straight upon the levelled carbines. +Payne at least understood it, and the absence of flung-up +hand or cry. Courthorne’s inborn instincts were +strong to the end.</p> + +<p>There was a hoarse shout from the trooper, and no +answer, and a carbine flashed. Then Courthorne +loosed the bridle, reeled sideways from the saddle, +rolled half round with one foot in the stirrup and his +head upon the ground, and was left behind, while the +riderless horse and pursuer swept past the two men +who, avoiding them by a hairsbreadth, sat motionless +a moment in the thin drifting smoke.</p> + +<p>Then Corporal Payne swung himself down, and, +while the trooper followed, stooped over the man who +lay, a limp huddled object, in the trail. He blinked +up at them out of eyes that were almost closed.</p> + +<p>“I think you have done for me,” he said.</p> + +<p>Payne glanced at his comrade. “Push on to the +settlement,” he said. “They’ve a doctor there. +Bring him and Harland the magistrate out.”</p> + +<p>The trooper seemed glad to mount and ride away, +and Payne once more bent over the wounded man.</p> + +<p>“Very sorry,” he said. “Still, you see, you left +me no other means of stopping you. Now, is there +anything I can do for you?”</p> + +<p>A little wry smile crept into Courthorne’s face. +“Don’t worry,” he said. “I had no wish to wait +for the jury, and you can’t get at an injury that’s +inside me.”</p> + +<p>He said nothing more, and it seemed a very long +while to Corporal Payne and Trooper Hilton, who +rejoined him, before a wagon with two men in it +beside the trooper came jolting up the trail. They +got out, and one of them, who was busy with Courthorne +for some minutes, nodded to Payne.</p> + +<p>“Any time in the next twelve hours. He may +last that long,” he said. “Nobody’s going to +worry him now, but I’ll see if I can revive him +a little when we get to Adamson’s. It can’t be +more than a league away.”</p> + +<p>They lifted Courthorne, who appeared insensible, +into the wagon, and Payne signed to Trooper Hilton. +“Take my horse and tell Colonel Barrington. Let +him understand there’s no time to lose. Then you +can bring Stimson.”</p> + +<p>The tired lad hoisted himself into his saddle and +groaned a little as he rode away, but he did his +errand, and late that night Barrington and Dane drove +up to a lonely homestead. A man led them into a +room where a limp figure was lying on a bed.</p> + +<p>“Been kind of sleeping most of the day, but the +doctor has given him something that has wakened +him,” he said.</p> + +<p>Barrington returned Payne’s greeting and sat down +with Dane close beside him, while, when the wounded +man raised his head, the doctor spoke softly to the +magistrate from the settlement a league or two away.</p> + +<p>“I fancy he can talk to you, but you had better +be quick if you wish to ask him anything,” he said.</p> + +<p>Courthorne seemed to have heard him, for he +smiled a little as he glanced at Barrington. “I’m +afraid it will hurt you to hear what I have to tell this +gentleman,” he said. “Now, I want you to listen +carefully, and every word put down. Doctor, a +little more brandy.”</p> + +<p>Barrington apparently would have spoken, but +while the doctor held a glass to the bloodless lips the +magistrate, who took up a strip of paper, signed to +him.</p> + +<p>“We’ll have it in due form. Give him that book, +doctor,” he said. “Now, repeat after me, and then +we’ll take your testimony.”</p> + +<p>It was done, and a flicker of irony showed in Courthorne’s +half-closed eyes.</p> + +<p>“You feel more sure of me after that?” he said, +in a voice that was very faint and strained. “Still, +you see, I could gain nothing by deviating from the +truth now. Well, I shot Trooper Shannon. You’ll +have the date in the warrant. Don’t know if it will +seem strange to you, but I forget it. I borrowed +Farmer Witham’s horse and rifle without his knowledge, +though I had paid him a trifle to personate +me and draw the troopers off the whisky-runners. +That was Witham’s only complicity. The troopers, +who fancied they were chasing him, followed me until +his horse which I was riding went through the ice; +but Witham was in Montana at the time, and did +not know that I was alive until a very little while +ago. Now, you can straighten that up and read it +out to me.”</p> + +<p>The magistrate’s pen scratched noisily in the stillness +of the room, but before he had finished, Sergeant +Stimson, hot and dusty, came in. Then he raised +his hand, and for a while his voice rose and fell +monotonously until Courthorne nodded.</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” he said. “I’ll sign.”</p> + +<p>The doctor raised him a trifle, and moistened his +lips with brandy as he gave him the pen. It scratched +for a moment or two, and then fell from his relaxing +fingers, while the man who took the paper wrote across +the foot of it, and then would have handed it to +Colonel Barrington, but that Dane quietly laid his +hand upon it.</p> + +<p>“No,” he said. “If you want another witness, +take me.”</p> + +<p>Barrington thanked him with a gesture; and Courthorne, +looking round, saw Stimson.</p> + +<p>“You have been very patient, Sergeant, and it’s +rough on you that the one man you can lay your +hands upon is slipping away from you,” he said. +“You’ll see by my deposition that Witham thought +me as dead as the rest of you did.”</p> + +<p>Stimson nodded to the magistrate. “I heard what +was read, and it is confirmed by the facts I have +picked up,” he said.</p> + +<p>Then Courthorne turned to Barrington. “I sympathize +with you, sir,” he said, “This must be +horribly mortifying; but, you see, Witham once +stopped my horse backing over a bridge into a gully +when just to hold his hand would have rid him of me. +You will not grudge me the one good turn I have +probably done any man, when I shall assuredly not +have the chance of doing another.”</p> + +<p>Barrington winced a little, for he recognized the +irony in the failing voice; but he rose and moved +towards the bed.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” he said, a trifle hoarsely, “it is not that +which makes what has happened horrible to me, and +I am only glad that you have righted this man. Your +father had many claims on me, and things might +have gone differently if, when you came out to +Canada, I had done my duty by his son.”</p> + +<p>Courthorne smiled a little, but without bitterness. +“It would have made no difference, sir; and, after +all, I led the life that suited me. By and by you will +be grateful to me. I sent you a man who will bring +prosperity to Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Then he turned to Stimson, and his voice sank +almost beyond hearing as he said, “Sergeant, remember +Witham fancied I was dead.”</p> + +<p>He moved his head a trifle, and the doctor, stooping +over him, signed to the rest, who went out +except Barrington.</p> + +<p>It was some hours later, and very cold, when Barrington +came softly into the room where Dane lay +half asleep in a big chair. The latter glanced at him +with a question in his eyes, and the Colonel nodded +very gravely.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said. “He has slipped out of the +troopers’ hands and beyond our reproaches—but I +think the last thing he did will count for a little.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink25'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXV—WITHAM RIDES AWAY</a></h2> + +<p>The first of the snow was driving across the prairie +before a bitter wind when Maud Barrington stood by a +window of the Grange looking out into the night. The +double casements rattled, the curtains behind her +moved with the icy draughts, until, growing weary +of watching the white flakes whirl past, she drew +them to and walked slowly towards a mirror. Then +a faint tinge of pink crept into her cheeks, and a +softness that became her into her eyes. They, however, +grew critical as she smoothed back a tress of +lustrous hair a trifle from her forehead, straightened +the laces at neck and wrist, and shook into more +flowing lines the long black dress. Maud Barrington +was not unduly vain, but it was some time before +she seemed contented, and one would have surmised +that she desired to appear her best that night.</p> + +<p>The result was beyond cavil in its artistic simplicity, +for the girl, knowing the significance that +trifles have at times, had laid aside every adornment +that might hint at wealth, and the sombre draperies +alone emphasized the polished whiteness of her face +and neck. Still, and she did not know whether she +was pleased or otherwise at this, the mirror had +shown the stamp which revealed itself even in passive +pose and poise of head. It was her birthright, +and would not be disguised.</p> + +<p>Then she drew a low chair towards the stove, and +once more the faint colour crept into her face as she +took up a note. It was laconic, and requested permission +to call at the Grange, but Maud Barrington +was not deceived, and recognized the consideration +each word had cost the man who wrote it. Afterwards +she glanced at her watch, raised it with a little +gesture of impatience to make sure it had not stopped, +and sat still, listening to the moaning of the wind, +until the door opened, and Miss Barrington came in. +She glanced at her niece, who felt that her eyes had +noticed each detail of her somewhat unusual dress, +but said nothing until the younger woman turned +to her.</p> + +<p>“They would scarcely come to-night, aunt,” she +said.</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington, listening a moment, heard the +wind that whirled the snow about the lonely building, +but smiled incredulously.</p> + +<p>“I fancy you are wrong, and I wish my brother +were here,” she said. “We could not refuse Mr. +Witham permission to call, but whatever passes between +us will have more than its individual significance. +Anything we tacitly promise the others will +agree to, and I feel the responsibility of deciding for +Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington went out; but her niece, who +understood her smile and that she had received a +warning, sat with a strained expression in her eyes. +The prosperity of Silverdale had been dear to her, +but she knew she must let something that was dearer +still slip away from her, or, since they must come from +her, trample on her pride as she made the first advances. +It seemed a very long while before there +was a knocking at the outer door, and she rose with +a little quiver when light steps came up the stairway.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, two men stood beside the stove +in the hall until an English maid returned to them.</p> + +<p>“Colonel Barrington is away, but Miss Barrington +and Miss Maud are at home,” she said. “Will you +go forward into the morning-room when you have +taken off your furs?”</p> + +<p>“Did you know Barrington was not here?” asked +Witham, when the maid moved away.</p> + +<p>Dane appeared embarrassed. “The fact is, I did.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham dryly, “I am a little astonished +you did not think fit to tell me.”</p> + +<p>Dane’s face flushed, but he laid his hand on his +comrade’s arm. “No,” he said. “I didn’t. Now, +listen to me for the last time, Witham. I’ve not +been blind, you see; and, as I told you, your comrades +have decided that they wish you to stay. Can’t +you sink your confounded pride and take what is +offered you?”</p> + +<p>Witham shook his grasp off, and there was weariness +in his face. “You need not go through it all +again. I made my decision a long while ago.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Dane, with a gesture of hopelessness, +“I’ve done all I could and, since you are going on, +I’ll look at that trace clip while you tell Miss Barrington. +I mean the younger one.”</p> + +<p>“The harness can wait,” said Witham. “You are +coming with me.”</p> + +<p>A little grim smile crept into Dane’s eyes. “I am +not. I wouldn’t raise a finger to help you now,” he +said, and retreated hastily.</p> + +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>It was five minutes later when Witham walked +quietly into Maud Barrington’s presence, and sat +down when the girl signed to him. He wondered if +she guessed how his heart was beating.</p> + +<p>“It is very good of you to receive me, but I felt I +could not slip away without acknowledging the +kindness you and Miss Barrington have shown me,” +he said. “I did not know Colonel Barrington was +away.”</p> + +<p>The girl smiled a little. “Or you would not have +come? Then we should have had no opportunity of +congratulating you on your triumphant acquittal. +You see it must be mentioned.”</p> + +<p>“I’m afraid there was a miscarriage of justice,” +said Witham quietly. “Still, though it is a difficult +subject, the deposition of the man I supplanted went +a long way, and the police did not seem desirous of +pressing a charge against me. Perhaps I should have +insisted on implicating myself, but you would scarcely +have looked for that after what you now know of me.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington braced herself for an effort, though +she was outwardly very calm. “No,” she said, “no +one would have looked for it from any man placed as +you were, and you are purposing to do more than is +required of you. Why will you go away?”</p> + +<p>“I am a poor man,” said Witham. “One must +have means to live at Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the girl with a soft laugh which cost +her a good deal, “it is because you prefer poverty, +and you have at least one opportunity at Silverdale. +Courthorne’s land was mine to all intents and purposes +before it was his, and now it reverts to me. I owe him +nothing, and he did not give it me. Will you stay and +farm it on whatever arrangement Dane and Macdonald +may consider equitable? My uncle’s hands are too +full for him to attempt it.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham, and his voice trembled a little. +“Your friends would resent it.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the girl, “why have they urged you +to stay?”</p> + +<p>“A generous impulse. They would repent of it +by and by. I am not one of them, and they know it +now, as I did at the beginning. No doubt they +would be courteous, but you see a half-contemptuous +toleration would gall me.”</p> + +<p>There was a little smile on Maud Barrington’s lips, +but it was not in keeping with the tinge in her cheek +and the flash in her eyes.</p> + +<p>“I once told you that you were poor at subterfuge, +and you know you are wronging them,” she said. +“You also know that even if they were hostile to you, +you could stay and compel them to acknowledge you. +I fancy you once admitted as much to me. What has become +of this pride of the democracy you showed me?”</p> + +<p>Witham made a deprecatory gesture. “You must +have laughed at me. I had not been long at Silverdale +then,” he said dryly. “I should feel very lonely +now. One man against long generations. Wouldn’t +it be a trifle unequal?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington smiled again. “I did not laugh, +and this is not England, though what you consider +prejudices do not count for so much as they used to +there, while there is, one is told quite frequently, no +limit to what a man may attain to here, if he dares +sufficiently.”</p> + +<p>A little quiver ran through Witham, and he rose +and stood looking down on her, with one brown hand +clenched on the table and the veins showing on his +forehead.</p> + +<p>“You would have me stay?” he said.</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington met his eyes, for the spirit that +was in her was the equal of his. “I would have you +be yourself—what you were when you came here in +defiance of Colonel Barrington, and again when you +sowed the last acre of Courthorne’s land, while my +friends, who are yours too, looked on wondering. Then +you would stay—if it pleased you. Where has your +splendid audacity gone?”</p> + +<p>Witham slowly straightened himself and the girl +noticed the damp the struggle had brought there on +his forehead, for he understood that if he would +stretch out his hand and take it what he longed for +might be his.</p> + +<p>“I do not know, any more than I know where it +came from, for until I met Courthorne I had never +made a big venture in my life,” he said. “It seems +it has served its turn and left me—for now there are +things I am afraid to do.”</p> + +<p>“So you will go away and forget us?”</p> + +<p>Witham stood very still a moment, and the girl, who +felt her heart beating noticed that his face was drawn. +Still, she could go no further. Then he said very slowly, +“I should be under the shadow always if I stay, and +my friends would feel it even more deeply than I +would do. I may win the right to come back again +if I go away.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington made no answer, but both knew +no further word could be spoken on that subject until, +if fate ever willed it, the man returned again, and it +was a relief when Miss Barrington came in with Dane. +He glanced at his comrade keenly, and then, seeing +the grimness in his face, quietly declined the white-haired +lady’s offer of hospitality. Five minutes later the +farewells were said and Maud Barrington stood with +the stinging flakes whirling about her in the doorway, +while the sleigh slid out into the filmy whiteness that +drove across the prairie. When it vanished she turned +back into the warmth and brightness with a little +shiver and one hand tightly closed.</p> + +<p>The great room seemed very lonely when, while the +wind moaned outside, she and her aunt sat down to +dinner. Neither of them appeared communicative, +and both felt it a relief when the meal was over. +Then Maud Barrington smiled curiously as she rose +and stood with hands stretched out towards the stove.</p> + +<p>“Aunt,” she said, “Twoinette has twice asked me +to go back to Montreal, and I think I will. The +prairie is very dreary in the winter.”</p> + +<p>It was about this time when, as the whitened horses +floundered through the lee of a bluff where there was +shelter from the wind, the men in the sleigh found +opportunity for speech.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said Dane quietly, “I know that we have +lost you, for a while at least. Will you ever come +back, Witham?”</p> + +<p>Witham nodded. “Yes,” he said. “When time +has done its work and Colonel Barrington asks me, +if I can buy land enough to give me a standing at +Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Dane, “will need a good many +dollars, and you insisted on flinging those you had +away. How are you going to make them?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said Witham simply. “Still, +by some means it will be done.”</p> + +<p>It was next day when he walked into Graham’s +office at Winnipeg, and laughed when the broker +who shook hands, passed the cigar box across to him.</p> + +<p>“We had better understand each other first,” he +said. “You have heard what has happened to me, +and will not find me a profitable customer to-day.”</p> + +<p>“These cigars are the best in the city, or I wouldn’t +ask you to take one,” said Graham dryly. “You +understand me, anyway. Wait until I tell my clerk +that if anybody comes round I’m busy.”</p> + +<p>A bell rang, a little window opened and shut again, +and Witham smiled over his cigar.</p> + +<p>“I want to make thirty thousand dollars as soon +as I can, and it seems to me there are going to be +opportunities in this business. Do you know anybody +who would take me as clerk or salesman?”</p> + +<p>Graham did not appear astonished.</p> + +<p>“You’ll scarcely make them that way if I find you +a berth at fifty a month,” he said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham. “Still, I wouldn’t purpose +keeping it for more than six months or so. By that +time I should know a little about the business.”</p> + +<p>“Got any dollars now?”</p> + +<p>“One thousand,” said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>Graham nodded. “Smoke that cigar out, and +don’t worry me. I’ve got some thinking to do.”</p> + +<p>Witham took up a journal, and laid it down again +twenty minutes later. “Well,” he said, “you think +it’s too big a thing?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Graham. “It depends upon the man, +and it might be done. Knowing the business goes a +good way, and so does having dollars in hand, but +there’s something that’s born in one man in a thousand +that goes a long way further still. I can’t tell you +what it is, but I know it when I see it.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham, “you have seen this thing +in me?”</p> + +<p>Graham nodded gravely. “Yes, sir, but you don’t +want to get proud. You had nothing to do with the +getting of it. It was given you. Now, we’re going to +have a year that will not be forgotten by those who +handle wheat and flour, and the men with the long +heads will roll the dollars in. Well, I’ve no use for +another clerk, and my salesman’s good enough for me, +but if we can agree on the items I’ll take you for a +partner.”</p> + +<p>The offer was made and accepted quietly, and when +a rough draft of the arrangement had been agreed upon, +Graham nodded as he lighted another cigar.</p> + +<p>“You may as well take hold at once, and there’s +work ready now,” he said. “You’ve heard of the old +St. Louis mills back on the edge of the bush country. +Never did any good. Folks who had them were short +of dollars, and didn’t know how they should be run. +Well, I and two other men have bought them for a +song, and while the place is tumbling in, the plant +seems good. Now, I can get hold of orders for flour +when I want them, and everybody with dollars to +spare will plank them right into any concern handling +food-stuffs this year. You go down to-morrow with +an engineer, and, when you’ve got the mills running +and orders coming in, we’ll sell out to a company if +we don’t want them.”</p> + +<p>Witham sat silent a space, turning over a big bundle +of plans and estimates. Then he said, “You’ll have +to lay out a pile of dollars.”</p> + +<p>Graham laughed. “That’s going to be your affair. +When you want them the dollars will be ready, and +there’s only one condition. Every dollar we put down +has got to bring another in.”</p> + +<p>“But,” said Witham, “I don’t know anything +about milling.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Graham dryly, “you have got to +learn. A good many men have got quite rich in this +country running things they didn’t know much +about when they took hold of them.”</p> + +<p>“There’s one more point,” said Witham. “I must +make those thirty thousand dollars soon, or they’ll +be no great use to me, and when I have them I may +want to leave you.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” said Graham. “By the time +you’ve done it, you’ll have made sixty for me. We’ll +go out and have some lunch to clinch the deal if you’re +ready.”</p> + +<p>It might have appeared unusual in England, but it +was much less so in a country where the specialization +of professions is still almost unknown, and the man who +can adapt himself attains ascendency, and on the +morrow Witham arrived at a big wooden building +beside a pine-shrouded river. It appeared falling to +pieces, and the engineer looked disdainfully at some +of the machinery, but, somewhat against his wishes, +he sat up with his companion most of the night in a +little log hotel, and orders that occasioned one of +Graham’s associates consternation were mailed to the +city next morning. Then machines came out by the +carload, and men with tools in droves. Some of them +murmured mutinously when they found they were +expected to do as much as their leader who was not a +tradesman, but these were forthwith sent back again, +and the rest were willing to stay and earn the premium +he promised them for rapid work.</p> + +<p>Before the frost grew Arctic, the building stood +firm and the hammers rang inside it night and day +until when the ice had bound the dam and lead the +fires were lighted and the trials under steam again. +It cost more than water, but buyers with orders +from the East were clamouring for flour just then. +For a fortnight Witham snatched his food in mouthfuls, +and scarcely closed his eyes, when Graham +found him pale and almost haggard when he came +down with several men from the cities in response to +a telegram. For an hour they moved up and down, +watching whirring belt and humming roller, and then, +whitened with the dust, stood very intent and quiet +while one of them dipped up a little flour from the +delivery hopper. His opinions on, and dealings in +that product were famous in the land. He said nothing +for several minutes, and then, brushing the white +dust from his hands, turned with a little smile to +Graham.</p> + +<p>“We’ll have some baked, but I don’t know that +there’s much use for it. This will grade a very good +first,” he said. “You can book me the thousand +two eighties for a beginning now.”</p> + +<p>Witham’s fingers trembled, but there was a twinkle +in Graham’s eyes as he brought his hand down on his +shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen,” he said, “I was figuring right on +this when I brought the champagne along. It was +all I could do, but Imperial Tokay wouldn’t be good +enough to rinse this dust down with, when every +speck of it that’s on you means dollars by the handful +rolling in.”</p> + +<p>It was a very contented and slightly hilarious party +that went back to the city, but Witham sat down +before a shaded lamp with a wet rag round his head +when they left him, and bent over a sheaf of drawings +until his eyes grew dim. Then he once more took up +a little strip of paper that Graham had given him, +and leaned forward with his arms upon the table. +The mill was very silent at last, for of all who toiled +in it that day one weary man alone sat awake, staring, +with aching eyes, in front of him. There was, however, +a little smile in them, for roseate visions floated +before them. If the promise that strip of paper held +out was redeemed, they might be materialized, for +those who had toiled and wasted their substance that +the eastern peoples might be fed would that year, at +least, not go without their reward. Then he stretched +out his arms wearily above his head.</p> + +<p>“It almost seems that what I have hoped for may +be mine,” he said. “Still, there is a good deal to be +done first, and not two hours left before I begin it +to-morrow.”</p> + +<h2 class='chapter' id='clink26'><a href='#toc'>CHAPTER XXVI—REINSTATION</a></h2> + +<p>A year of tireless effort and some anxiety had passed +since Witham had seen the first load of flour sent to +the east, when he and Graham sat talking in their +Winnipeg office. The products of the St. Louis mills +were already in growing demand, and Graham appeared +quietly contented as he turned over the letters before +him. When he laid down the last one, however, he +glanced at his companion somewhat anxiously.</p> + +<p>“We have got to fix up something soon,” he said. +“I have booked all the St. Louis can turn out for +six months ahead, and the syndicate is ready to take +the business over, though I don’t know quite whether +it would be wise to let them. It seems to me that +milling is going to pay tolerably well for another year, +and if I knew what you were wanting, it would suit me +better.”</p> + +<p>“I told you I wanted thirty thousand dollars,” +said Witham quietly.</p> + +<p>“You’ve got them,” said Graham. “When the +next balance comes out you’ll have a good many +more. The question is, what you’re going to do with +them now they’re yours?”</p> + +<p>Witham took out a letter from Dane and passed it +across to Graham. “I’m sorry to tell you the Colonel is +getting no better,” it ran. “The specialist we brought +in seems to think he will never be quite himself again, +and now he has let the reins go, things are falling to +pieces at Silverdale. Somebody left Atterly a pile of +money, and he is going back to the old country, +Carshalton is going, too; and, as they can’t sell out +to any one we don’t approve of, the rest insisted on +my seeing you. I purpose starting to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“What happened to Colonel Barrington?” asked +Graham.</p> + +<p>“His sleigh turned over,” said Witham. “Horse +trampled on him, and it was an hour or two before +his hired man could get him under shelter.”</p> + +<p>“You would be content to turn farmer again?”</p> + +<p>“I think I would,” said Witham. “At least, at +Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>Graham made a little grimace. “Well,” he said +resignedly, “I guess it’s human nature; but I’m +thankful now and then there’s nothing about me but +my dollars that would take the eye of any young +woman. I figure they’re kind of useful to wake up a +man so he’ll stir round looking for something to offer +one of them, but he is apt to find his business must go +second when she has got it and him, and he has to +waste on house fixings what would give a man a fair +start in life. Still, it’s no use talking. What have +you told him?”</p> + +<p>Witham laughed a little. “Nothing,” he said. +“I will let him come, and you shall have my decision +when I’ve been to Silverdale.”</p> + +<p>It was next day when Dane arrived at Winnipeg, +and Witham listened gravely to all he had to tell him.</p> + +<p>“I have two questions to ask,” he said. “Would +the others be unanimous in receiving me, and does +Colonel Barrington know of your mission?”</p> + +<p>“Yes to both,” said Dane. “We haven’t a man +there who would not hold out his hand to you, and +Barrington has been worrying and talking a good +deal about you lately. He seems to fancy nothing +has gone right at Silverdale since you left it, and +others share his opinion. The fact is, the old man +is losing his grip tolerably rapidly.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham quietly, “I’ll go down with +you, but I can make no promise until I have heard +the others.”</p> + +<p>Dane smiled a little. “That is all I want. I don’t +know whether I told you that Maud Barrington is +there. Would to-morrow suit you?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham. “I will come to-day.”</p> + +<p>It was early next morning when they stepped out +of the stove-warmed car into the stinging cold of the +prairie. Fur-clad figures, showing shapeless in the +creeping light, clustered about them, and Witham +felt himself thumped on the shoulders by mittened +hands, while Alfreton’s young voice broke through +the murmurs of welcome.</p> + +<p>“Let him alone while he’s hungry,” he said. +“It’s the first time in its history they’ve had breakfast +ready at this hour in the hotel, and it would not have +been accomplished if I hadn’t spent most of yesterday +playing cards with the man who keeps it and making +love to the young women!”</p> + +<p>“That’s quite right,” said another lad. “When +he takes his cap off you’ll see how one of them rewarded +him. But come along, Witham. It—is—ready.”</p> + +<p>The greetings might, of course, have been expressed +differently, but Witham also was not addicted to +displaying all he felt, and the little ring in the lads’ +voices was enough for him. As they moved towards +the hotel he saw that Dane was looking at him.</p> + +<p>“Well?” said the latter, “you see, they want you.”</p> + +<p>That was probably the most hilarious breakfast that +had ever been held in the wooden hotel; and before +it was over, three of his companions had said to +Witham, “Of course, you’ll drive in with me!”</p> + +<p>“Boys,” he said, as they put their furs on, and his +voice shook a trifle, “I can’t ride in with everybody +who has asked me unless you dismember me.”</p> + +<p>Finally, Alfreton, who was a trifle too quick for the +others, got him into his sleigh, and they swept out +behind a splendid team into the frozen stillness of +the prairie. The white leagues rolled behind them, +the cold grew intense; but while Witham was for the +most part silent and apparently preoccupied, Alfreton +talked almost incessantly, and only once looked +grave. That happened when Witham asked about +Colonel Barrington.</p> + +<p>The lad shook his head. “I scarcely think he will +ever take hold again,” he said. “You will understand +me better when you see him.”</p> + +<p>They stopped awhile at mid-day at an outlying +farm, but Witham glanced inquiringly at Alfreton +when one of the sleighs went on. The lad smiled at +him.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said. “He is going on to tell them we +have got you.”</p> + +<p>“They would have found it out in a few more hours,” +said Witham.</p> + +<p>Alfreton’s eyes twinkled. “No doubt they would,” +he said dryly. “Still, you see, somebody was +offering two to one that Dane couldn’t bring you, +and you know we’re generally keen about any kind of +wager.”</p> + +<p>The explanation, which was not quite out of keeping +with the customs of the younger men at Silverdale +did not content Witham, but he said nothing. So +far his return had resembled a triumph, and while +the sincerity of the welcome had its effect on him, +he shrank a little from what he fancied might be +waiting him.</p> + +<p>The creeping darkness found them still upon the +waste, and the cold grew keener when the stars peeped +out. Even sound seemed frozen, and the faint muffled +beat of hoofs unreal and out of place in the icy stillness +of the wilderness. Still, the horses knew they were +nearing home, and swung into faster pace, while the +men drew fur caps down and the robes closer round +them as the draught their passage made stung them +with a cold that seemed to sear the skin where there +was an inch left uncovered on the face. Now and then +a clump of willows or a birch bluff flitted out of the +dimness, grew a trifle blacker, and was left behind; +but there was still no sign of habitation, and Alfreton, +too chilled at last to speak, passed the reins to Witham +and beat his mittened hands. Witham could scarcely +grasp them, for he had lived of late in the cities, and +the cold he had been sheltered from was numbing.</p> + +<p>For another hour they slid onwards, and then a +dim blur crept out of the white waste. It rose higher, +cutting more blackly against the sky; and Witham +recognized with a curious little quiver the birch bluff +that sheltered Silverdale Grange. Then, as they +swept through the gloom of it, a row of ruddy lights +blinked across the snow; and Witham felt his heart +beat as he watched the homestead grow into form. +He had first come there an impostor, and had left it +an outcast; while now it was amidst the acclamations +of those who had once looked on him with suspicion +he was coming back again.</p> + +<p>Still, he was almost too cold for any definite feeling +but the sting of the frost, and it was very stiffly he stood +up, shaken by vague emotions, when at last the horses +stopped. A great door swung open, somebody grasped +his hand, there was a murmur of voices, and partly +dazed by the change of temperature he blundered +into the warmth of the hall. The blaze of light +bewildered him, and he was but dimly sensible that +the men who greeted him were helping him to shake +off his furs; while the next thing he was sure of was +that a little white-haired lady was holding out her hand.</p> + +<p>“We are all very glad to see you back,” she said, +with a simplicity that yet suggested stateliness. +“Your friends insisted on coming over to welcome you, +and Dane will not let you keep them waiting too long. +Dinner is almost ready.”</p> + +<p>Witham could not remember what he answered, but +Miss Barrington smiled at him as she moved away, for +the flush in his face was very eloquent. The man was +very grateful for that greeting, and what it implied. +It was a few minutes later when he found himself +alone with Dane, who laughed softly as he nodded +to him.</p> + +<p>“You are convinced at last?” he said. “Still +there is a little more of the same thing to be faced; +and, if it would relieve you, I will send for Alfreton, +who has some taste in that direction, to fix that tie +for you. You have been five minutes over it, and it +evidently does not please you. It’s the first time +I’ve ever seen you worry about your dress.”</p> + +<p>Witham turned, and a curious smile crept into his +face as he laid a lean hand that shook a little on the +toilet table.</p> + +<p>“I also think it’s the first time these fingers wouldn’t +do what I wanted them. You can deduce what you +please from that,” he said.</p> + +<p>Dane only nodded, and when they went down +together laid a kindly grasp upon his comrade’s arm +as he led him into the great dining-room. Every +man at Silverdale was apparently there, as were most +of the women; and Witham stood still a moment, very +erect, with shoulders square, because the posture +enabled him to conceal the tremor that ran through +him when he saw the smiling faces turned upon him. +Then he moved slowly down the room towards Maud +Barrington, and felt her hand rest for a second between +his fingers, which he feared were too responsive. +After that, everybody seemed to speak to him, and +he was glad when he found himself sitting next to +Miss Barrington at the head of the long table, with +her niece opposite him.</p> + +<p>He could not remember what he or the others talked +about during the meal, but he had a vague notion that +there was now and then a silence of attention when +he answered a question, and that the little lady’s face +grew momentarily grave when, as the voice sank a +trifle, he turned to her.</p> + +<p>“I would have paid my respects to Colonel Barrington, +but Dane did not consider it advisable,” he +said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Miss Barrington. “He has talked a +good deal about you during the last two days, but he +is sleeping now, and we did not care to disturb him. +I am afraid you will find a great change in him when +you see him.”</p> + +<p>Witham asked no more questions on that topic until +later in the evening, when he found a place apart from +the rest by Miss Barrington’s side. He fancied this +would not have happened without her connivance and +she seemed graver than usual when he stood by her +chair.</p> + +<p>“I don’t wish to pain you, but I surmise that Colonel +Barrington is scarcely well enough to be consulted +about anything of importance just now,” he said.</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington made a little gesture of assent. +“We usually pay him the compliment, but I am +almost afraid he will never make a decision of moment +again.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham slowly, “you stand in his +place, and I fancy you know why I have come back +to Silverdale. Will you listen for a very few minutes +while I tell you about my parents and what my upbringing +has been? I must return to Winnipeg, +for a time, at least, to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington signed her willingness, and the +man spoke rapidly with a faint trace of hoarseness. +Then he looked down on her.</p> + +<p>“Madam,” he said, “I have told you everything, +partly from respect for those who only by a grim +sacrifice did what they could for me, and that you +may realize the difference between myself and the +rest at Silverdale. I want to be honest now at least, +and I discovered, not without bitterness at the time, +that the barriers between our castes are strong in the +old country.”</p> + +<p>Miss Barrington smiled a little. “Have I ever +made you feel it here?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Witham gravely. “Still, I am going to +put your forbearance to a strenuous test. I want your +approval. I have a question to ask your niece to-night.”</p> + +<p>“If I withheld it?”</p> + +<p>“It would hurt me,” said Witham. “Still, I +would not be astonished, and I could not blame you.”</p> + +<p>“But it would make no difference?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Witham gravely. “It would, but +it would not cause me to desist. Nothing would do +that, if Miss Barrington can overlook the past.”</p> + +<p>The little white-haired lady smiled at him. +“Then,” she said, “if it is any comfort to you, you +have my good wishes. I do not know what Maud’s +decision will be, but that is the spirit which would +have induced me to listen in times long gone by!”</p> + +<p>She rose and left him, and it may have been by her +arranging that shortly afterwards Witham found +Maud Barrington passing through the dimly-lighted +hall. He opened the door she moved towards a trifle, +and then stood facing her, with it in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Will you wait a moment, and then you may pass +if you wish,” he said. “I had one great inducement +for coming here to-night. I wonder if you know what +it is?”</p> + +<p>The girl stood still and met his gaze, though, dim +as the light was, the man could see the crimson in her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said, very quietly.</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Witham with a little smile, though +the fingers on the door quivered visibly, “I think +the audacity you once mentioned must have returned +to me, for I am going to make a very great venture.”</p> + +<p>For a moment Maud Barrington turned her eyes +away. “It is the daring venture that most frequently +succeeds.”</p> + +<p>Then she felt the man’s hand on her shoulder, and +that he was compelling her to look up at him.</p> + +<p>“It is you I came for,” he said quietly. “Still, +for you know the wrong I have done, I dare not urge +you, and have little to offer. It is you who must +give everything, if you can come down from your +station and be content with mine.”</p> + +<p>“One thing,” said Maud Barrington, very softly, +“is, however, necessary.”</p> + +<p>“That,” said Witham, “was yours ever since we +spent the night in the snow.”</p> + +<p>The girl felt his grip upon her shoulder grow almost +painful, but her eyes shone softly when she lifted her +head again.</p> + +<p>“Then,” she said, “what I can give is yours—and +it seems you have already taken possession.”</p> + +<p>Witham drew her towards him, and it may have +been by Miss Barrington’s arranging that nobody +entered the hall, but at last the girl glanced up at +the man half-shyly as she said, “Why did you wait +so long?”</p> + +<p>“It was well worth while,” said Witham. “Still, +I think you know.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Maud Barrington softly. “Now, at +least, I can tell you I am glad you went away—but if +you had asked me I would have gone with you.”</p> + +<p>It was some little time later when Miss Barrington +came in and, after a glance at Witham, kissed her +niece. Then she turned to the man. “My brother +is asking for you,” she said. “Will you come up +with me?”</p> + +<p>Witham followed her, and hid his astonishment +when he found Colonel Barrington lying in a big chair. +His face was haggard and pale, his form seemed to +have grown limp and fragile, and the hand he held out +trembled.</p> + +<p>“Lance,” he said, “I am very pleased to have +you home again. I hear you have done wonders in +the city, but you are, I think, the first of your family +who could ever make money. I have, as you will see, +not been well lately.”</p> + +<p>“I am relieved to find you better than I expected, +sir,” Witham said quietly. “Still, I fancy you are +forgetting what I told you the night I went away.”</p> + +<p>Barrington nodded, and then made a little impatient +gesture. “There was something unpleasant, but my +memory seems to be going, and my sister has forgiven +you. I know you did a good deal for us at Silverdale, +and showed yourself a match for the best of them in +the city. That pleases me. By and by, you will +take hold here after me.”</p> + +<p>Witham glanced at Miss Barrington, who smiled +somewhat sadly.</p> + +<p>“I am glad you mentioned that, sir, because I +purpose staying at Silverdale now,” he said. “It +leads up to what I have to ask you.”</p> + +<p>Barrington’s perceptions seemed to grow clearer, +and he asked a few pertinent questions before he +nodded approbation.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said, “she is a good girl—a very good +girl, and it would be a suitable match. I should like +somebody to send for her.”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington came in softly, with a little glow +in her eyes and a flush in her face, and Barrington +smiled at her.</p> + +<p>“My dear, I am very pleased, and I wish you every +happiness,” he said. “Once I would scarcely have +trusted you to Lance, but he will forgive me, and has +shown me that I was wrong. You and he will make +Silverdale famous, and it is comforting to know, now +my rest is very near, that you have chosen a man of +your own station to follow me. With all our faults +and blunders, blood is bound to tell.”</p> + +<p>Witham saw that Miss Barrington’s eyes were a +trifle misty, and he felt his face grow hot, but the +girl’s fingers touched his arm, and he followed, when, +while her aunt signed approbation, she led him away. +Then, when they stood outside she laid her hands upon +his face and drew it down to her.</p> + +<p>“You will forget it, dear, and he is still wrong. +If you had been Lance Courthorne, I should never have +done this,” she said.</p> + +<p>“No,” said the man gravely. “I think there are +many ways in which he is right, but you can be content +with Witham the prairie farmer?”</p> + +<p>Maud Barrington drew closer to him with a little +smile in her eyes. “Yes,” she said simply. “There +never was a Courthorne who could stand beside +him.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class='center tight' style=''><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>London: Ward, Lock & Co., Ltd.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IMPOSTOR***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 39698-h.txt or 39698-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/6/9/39698">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/6/9/39698</a></p> +<p> +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p> +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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