1 files changed, 9408 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/10076.txt b/old/10076.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f69413
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/10076.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9408 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lister's Great Adventure, by Harold Bindloss
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Lister's Great Adventure
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Release Date: November 13, 2003  [eBook #10076]
+
+Language: English
+
+Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LISTER'S GREAT ADVENTURE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Suzanne Shell, David Kline, and
+Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+LISTER'S GREAT ADVENTURE
+
+BY HAROLD BINDLOSS
+
+_Author_ of "THE WILDERNESS MINE," "WYNDHAM'S PAL," "PARTNERS OF THE
+OUT-TRAIL," "THE BUCCANEER FARMER," "THE LURE OF THE NORTH," "THE GIRL
+FROM KELLER'S," "CARMEN'S MESSENGER," ETC.
+
+1920
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+PART I--BARBARA'S REBELLION
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I    CARTWRIGHT MEDDLES
+
+II   IN THE DARK
+
+III  BARBARA VANISHES
+
+IV   THE GIRL ON THE PLATFORM
+
+V    SHILLITO GETS AWAY
+
+VI   WINNIPEG BEACH
+
+VII  LISTER'S DISSATISFACTION
+
+VIII THE TEST
+
+IX   BARBARA PLAYS A PART
+
+X    VERNON'S CURIOSITY
+
+PART II--THE RECKONING
+
+I    VERNON'S PLOT
+
+II   BARBARA'S RETURN
+
+III  LISTER CLEARS THE GROUND
+
+IV   A DISSATISFIED SHAREHOLDER
+
+V    CARTWRIGHT'S SCRUPLES
+
+VI   A NASTY KNOCK
+
+VII  THE SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING
+
+VIII A STOLEN EXCURSION
+
+IX   CARTWRIGHT SEES A PLAN
+
+X    A BOLD SPECULATION
+
+XI   THE START
+
+PART III--THE BREAKING STRAIN
+
+I    THE FIRST STRUGGLE
+
+II   THE WRECK
+
+III  A FUEL PROBLEM
+
+IV   MONTGOMERY'S OFFER
+
+V    MONTGOMERY USES HIS POWER
+
+VI   LISTER MEETS AN OLD ANTAGONIST
+
+VII  BARBARA'S REFUSAL
+
+VIII CARTWRIGHT GETS TO WORK
+
+IX   LISTER MAKES GOOD
+
+X    BARBARA TAKES CONTROL
+
+XI   LISTER'S REWARD
+
+
+
+PART I--BARBARA'S REBELLION
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CARTWRIGHT MEDDLES
+
+Dinner was over, and Cartwright occupied a chair on the lawn in front of
+the Canadian summer hotel. Automatic sprinklers threw sparkling showers
+across the rough, parched grass, the lake shimmered, smooth as oil, in
+the sunset, and a sweet, resinous smell drifted from the pines that
+rolled down to the water's edge. The straight trunks stood out against a
+background of luminous red and green, and here and there a slanting beam
+touched a branch with fire.
+
+Natural beauty had not much charm for Cartwright, who was satisfied to
+loaf and enjoy the cool of the evening. He had, as usual, dined well,
+his cigar was good, and he meant to give Mrs. Cartwright half an hour.
+Clara expected this, and, although he was sometimes bored, he indulged
+her when he could. Besides, it was too soon for cards. The lights had
+not begun to spring up in the wooden hotel, and for the most part the
+guests were boating on the lake. When he had finished his cigar it would
+be time to join the party in the smoking-room. Cartwright was something
+of a gambler and liked the American games. They gave one scope for
+bluffing, and although his antagonists declared his luck was good, he
+knew his nerve was better. In fact, since he lost his money by a
+reckless plunge, he had to some extent lived by bluff. Yet some people
+trusted Tom Cartwright.
+
+Mrs. Cartwright did so. She was a large, dull woman, but had kept a
+touch of the beauty that had marked her when she was young. She was
+kind, conventional, and generally anxious to take the proper line.
+Cartwright was twelve years older, and since she was a widow and had
+three children when she married him, her friends declared her money
+accounted for much, and a lawyer relation carefully guarded, against
+Cartwright's using her fortune.
+
+Yet, in a sense, Cartwright was not an adventurer, although his ventures
+in finance and shipping were numerous. He sprang from an old Liverpool
+family whose prosperity diminished when steamers replaced sailing ships.
+His father had waited long before he resigned himself to the change, but
+was not altogether too late, and Cartwright was now managing owner of
+the Independent Freighters Line. The company's business had brought him
+to Montreal, and when it was transacted he had taken Mrs. Cartwright and
+her family to the hotel by the Ontario lake.
+
+Cartwright's hair and mustache were white; his face was fleshy and red.
+He was fastidious about his clothes, and his tailor cleverly hid the
+bulkiness of his figure. As a rule, his look was fierce and commanding,
+but now and then his small keen eyes twinkled. Although Cartwright was
+clever, he was, in some respects, primitive. He had long indulged his
+appetites, and wore the stamp of what is sometimes called good living.
+
+The managing owner of the Independent Freighters needed cleverness,
+since the company was small and often embarrassed for money. For the
+most part, it ran its ships in opposition to the regular liners. When
+the _Conference_ forced up freights Cartwright quietly canvassed the
+merchants and offered to carry their goods at something under the
+standard rate, if the shippers would engage to fill up his boat. As a
+rule, secrecy was important, but sometimes, when cargo was scarce,
+Cartwright let his plans be known and allowed the _Conference_ to buy
+him off. Although his skill in the delicate negotiations was marked, the
+company paid small dividends and he had enemies among the shareholders.
+Now, however, he was satisfied. _Oreana_ had sailed for Montreal, loaded
+to the limit the law allowed, and he had booked her return cargo before
+the _Conference_ knew he was cutting rates.
+
+Mrs. Cartwright talked, but she talked much and Cartwright hardly
+listened, and looked across the lake. A canoe drifted out from behind a
+neighboring point, and its varnished side shone in the fading light.
+Then a man dipped the paddle, and the ripple at the bow got longer and
+broke the reflections of the pines. A girl, sitting at the stern, put
+her hands in the water, and when she flung the sparkling drops at her
+companion her laugh came across the lake. Cartwright's look got keen and
+he began to note his wife's remarks.
+
+"Do you imply Barbara's getting fond of the fellow?" he asked.
+
+"I am afraid of something like that," Mrs. Cartwright admitted. "In a
+way, one hesitates to meddle; sometimes meddling does harm, and, of
+course, if Barbara really loved the young man--" She paused and gave
+Cartwright a sentimental smile. "After all, I married for love, and a
+number of my friends did not approve."
+
+Cartwright grunted. He had married Clara because she was rich, but it
+was something to his credit that she had not suspected this. Clara was
+dull, and her dullness often amused him.
+
+"If you think it necessary, I won't hesitate about meddling," he
+remarked. "Shillito's a beggarly sawmill clerk."
+
+"He said he was _treasurer_ for an important lumber company. Barbara's
+very young and romantic, and although she has not known him long--"
+
+"She has known him for about two weeks," Cartwright rejoined. "Perhaps
+it's long enough. Shillito's what Canadians call a looker and Barbara's
+a romantic fool. I've no doubt he's found out she'll inherit some money;
+it's possible she's told him. Now I come to think about it, she was off
+somewhere all the afternoon, and it looks as if she had promised the
+fellow the evening."
+
+He indicated the canoe and was satisfied when Mrs. Cartwright agreed,
+since he refused to wear spectacles and own his sight was going.
+Although Clara was generous, he could not use her money, and, indeed,
+did not mean to do so, but he was extravagant and his managing owner's
+post was not secure. When one had powerful antagonists, one did not
+admit that one was getting old.
+
+"I doubt if Shillito's character is all one could wish,'" Mrs.
+Cartwright resumed. "Character's very important, don't you think? Mrs.
+Grant--the woman with the big hat--knows something about him and she
+said he was _fierce_. I think she meant he was wild. Then she hinted he
+spent money he ought not to spend. But isn't a treasurer's pay good?"
+
+Cartwright smiled, for he was patient to his wife. "It depends upon the
+company. A treasurer is sometimes a book-keeping clerk. However, the
+trouble is, Barbara's as wild as a hawk, though I don't know where she
+got her wildness. Her brother and sister are tame enough."
+
+"Sometimes I'm bothered about Barbara," Mrs. Cartwright agreed. "She's
+rash and obstinate; not like the others. I don't know if they're tame,
+but they had never given me much anxiety. One can trust them to do all
+they ought."
+
+Cartwright said nothing. As a rule, Clara's son and elder daughter
+annoyed him. Mortimer Hyslop was a calculating prig; Grace was finicking
+and bound by ridiculous rules. She was pale and inanimate; there was no
+blood in her. But Cartwright was fond of the younger girl. Barbara was
+frankly flesh and blood; he liked her flashes of temper and her pluck.
+
+When the canoe came to the landing he got up. "Leave the thing to me,"
+he said. "I'll talk to Shillito."
+
+He went off, but when he reached the steps to the veranda in front of
+the hotel he stopped. His gout bothered him. At the top Mortimer Hyslop
+was smoking a cigarette. The young man was thin and looked bored; his
+summer clothes were a study in harmonious colors, and he had delicate
+hands like a woman's. When he saw Cartwright stop he asked: "Can I help
+you up, sir?"
+
+Cartwright's face got red. He hated an offer of help that drew attention
+to his infirmity, and thought Mortimer knew.
+
+"No, thanks! I'm not a cripple yet. Have you seen Shillito?"
+
+"You'll probably find him in the smoking room. The card party has gone
+in and he's a gambler."
+
+"So am I!"
+
+Mortimer shrugged, and Cartwright wondered whether the fellow meant to
+imply that his gambling was not important since he had married a rich
+wife. The young man, however, hesitated and looked thoughtful.
+
+"I don't know your object for wanting Shillito, but if my supposition's
+near the mark, might I state that I approve? In fact, I'd begun to
+wonder whether something ought not to be done. The fellow's plausible.
+Not our sort, of course; but when a girl's romantic and obstinate--"
+
+Cartwright stopped him. "Exactly! Well, I'm the head of the house and
+imagine you can leave the thing to me. Perhaps it doesn't matter if your
+sister is obstinate. I'm going to talk to Shillito."
+
+He crossed the veranda, and Mortimer returned to his chair and
+cigarette. He did not approve his step-father, but admitted that
+Cartwright could be trusted to handle a matter like this. Mortimer's
+fastidiousness was sometimes a handicap, but Cartwright had none.
+
+Cartwright entered the smoking-room and crossed the floor to a table, at
+which two or three men stood as if waiting for somebody. One was young
+and tall. His thin face was finely molded, his eyes and hair were very
+black, and his figure was marked by an agile grace.
+
+He looked up sharply as Cartwright advanced.
+
+"I want you for a few minutes," Cartwright said roughly, as if he gave
+an order.
+
+Shillito frowned, but went with him to the back veranda. Although the
+night was warm and an electric light burned under the roof, nobody was
+about. Cartwright signed the other to sit down.
+
+"I expect your holiday's nearly up, and the hotel car meets the train in
+the morning," he remarked.
+
+"What about it?" Shillito asked. "I'm not going yet."
+
+"You're going to-morrow," said Cartwright grimly.
+
+Shillito smiled and gave him an insolent look, but his smile vanished.
+Cartwright's white mustache bristled, his face was red, and his eyes
+were very steady. It was not for nothing the old ship-owner had fronted
+disappointed investors and forced his will on shareholders' meetings.
+Shillito saw the fellow was dangerous.
+
+"I'll call you," he said, using a gambler's phrase.
+
+"Very well," said Cartwright. "I think my cards are good, and if I can't
+win on one suit, I'll try another. To begin with, the hotel proprietor
+sent for me. He stated the house was new and beginning to pay, and he
+was anxious about its character. People must be amused, but he was
+running a summer hotel, not a gambling den. The play was too high, and
+young fools got into trouble; two or three days since one got broke.
+Well, he wanted me to use my influence, and I said I would."
+
+"He asked you to keep the stakes in bounds? It's a good joke!"
+
+"Not at all," said Cartwright dryly. "I like an exciting game, so long
+as it is straight, and when I lose I pay. I do lose, and if I come out
+fifty dollars ahead when I leave, I'll be satisfied. How much have you
+cleared?"
+
+Shillito said nothing, and Cartwright went on: "My antagonists are old
+card-players who know the game; but when you broke Forman he was drunk
+and the other two were not quite sober. You play against young fools and
+_your luck's too good_. If you force me to tell all I think and
+something that I know. I imagine you'll get a straight hint to quit."
+
+"You talked about another plan," Shillito remarked.
+
+"On the whole, I think the plan I've indicated will work. If it does not
+and you speak to any member of Mrs. Cartwright's family, I'll thrash you
+on the veranda when people are about. I won't state my grounds for doing
+so; they ought to be obvious."
+
+Shillito looked at the other hand. Cartwright's eyes were bloodshot, his
+face was going purple, and he thrust out his heavy chin. Shillito
+thought he meant all he said, and his threat carried weight. The old
+fellow was, of course, not a match for the vigorous young man, but
+Shillito saw he had the power to do him an injury that was not
+altogether physical. He pondered for a few moments, and then got up.
+
+"I'll pull out," he said with a coolness that cost him much.
+
+Cartwright nodded. "There's another thing. If you write to Miss Hyslop,
+your letters will be burned."
+
+He went back to the smoking-room, and playing with his usual boldness,
+won twenty dollars. Then he joined Mrs. Cartwright on the front veranda
+and remarked: "Shillito won't bother us. He goes in the morning."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave him a grateful smile. She had long known that when
+she asked her husband's help difficulties were removed. Now he had
+removed Shillito, and she was satisfied but imagined he was not.
+Cartwright knitted his white brows and drew hard at his cigar.
+
+"You had better watch Barbara until the fellow starts," he resumed.
+"Then I think you and the girls might join the Vernons at their fishing
+camp. Vernon would like it, and he's a useful friend; besides, it's
+possible Shillito's obstinate. Your letters needn't follow you; have
+them sent to me at Montreal, which will cover your tracks. I must go
+back in a few days."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright weighed the suggestion. Vernon was a Winnipeg merchant,
+and his wife had urged her to join the party at the fishing camp in the
+woods. The journey was long, but Mrs. Cartwright rather liked the plan.
+Shillito would not find them, and Mrs. Vernon had two sons.
+
+"Can't you come with us?" she asked. "Mortimer is going to Detroit."
+
+"Sorry I can't," said Cartwright firmly. "I don't want to leave you, but
+business calls."
+
+He was relieved when Mrs. Cartwright let it go. Clara was a good sort
+and seldom argued. He had loafed about with her family for two weeks and
+had had enough. Moreover, business did call. If the _Conference_ found
+out before his boat arrived that he had engaged _Oreana's_ return load,
+they might see the shippers and make trouble. Anyhow, they would use
+some effort to get the cargo for their boats. Sometimes one promised
+regular customers a drawback on standard rates.
+
+"I'll write to Mrs. Vernon in the morning," Mrs. Cartwright remarked.
+
+"Telegraph" said Cartwright, who did not lose time when he had made a
+plan. "When the lines are not engaged after business hours, you can send
+a night-letter; a long message at less than the proper charge."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright looked pleased. Although she was rich and sometimes
+generous, she liked small economies.
+
+"After all, writing a letter's tiresome," she said. "Telegrams are easy.
+Will you get me a form?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN THE DARK
+
+In the morning Cartwright told the porter to take his chair to the beach
+and sat down in a shady spot. He had not seen Barbara at breakfast and
+was rather sorry for her, but she had not known Shillito long, and
+although she might be angry for a time, her hurt could not be deep.
+Lighting his pipe, he watched the path that led between the pines to the
+water.
+
+By and by a girl came out of the shadow, and going to the small
+landing-stage, looked at her wrist-watch. Cartwright imagined she did
+not see him and studied her with some amusement. Barbara looked
+impatient. People did not often keep her waiting, and she had not
+inherited her mother's placidity. She had a touch of youthful beauty,
+and although she was impulsive and rather raw, Cartwright thought her
+charm would be marked when she met the proper people and, so to speak,
+got toned down.
+
+Cartwright meant her to meet the proper people, because he was fond of
+Barbara. She had grace, and although her figure was slender and girlish,
+she carried herself well. Her brown eyes were steady, her small mouth
+was firm, and as a rule her color was delicate white and pink. Now it
+was high, and Cartwright knew she was angry. She wore boating clothes
+and had obviously meant to go on the lake. The trouble was, her
+companion had not arrived.
+
+"Hallo!" said Cartwright. "Are you waiting for somebody?"
+
+Barbara advanced and sat down on a rocky ledge.
+
+"No," she said, "I'm not waiting _now_."
+
+Cartwright smiled. He knew Barbara's temper, and his line was to keep
+her resentment warm.
+
+"You mean, you have given him up and won't go if he does arrive? Well,
+when a young man doesn't keep his appointment, it's the proper plan."
+
+She blushed, but tried to smile. "I don't know if you're clever or not
+just now, although you sometimes do see things the others miss. I really
+was a little annoyed."
+
+"I've lived a long time," said Cartwright. "However, perhaps it's
+important I haven't forgotten I was young. I think your brother and
+sister never were very young. They were soberer than me when I knew them
+first."
+
+"Mortimer _is_ a stick," Barbara agreed. "He and Grace have a calm
+superiority that makes one savage now and then. I like human people, who
+sometimes let themselves go--"
+
+She stopped, and Cartwright noted her wandering glance that searched the
+beach and the path to the hotel. He knew whom she expected, and thought
+it would give her some satisfaction to quarrel with the fellow.
+Cartwright did not mean to soothe her.
+
+"Mr. Shillito ought to have sent his apologies when he found he could
+not come," he said.
+
+Barbara's glance got fixed, and Cartwright knew he had blundered.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "now I begin to see! Mother kept me by her all the
+evening; but mother's not very clever and Mortimer's too fastidious to
+meddle, unless he gets a dignified part. Of course, the plot was yours!"
+
+Cartwright nodded. Sometimes he used tact, but he was sometimes brutally
+frank.
+
+"You had better try to console yourself with the Wheeler boys; they're
+straight young fellows. Shillito is gone. He went by the car this
+morning and it's unlikely he'll come back."
+
+"You sent him off?" said Barbara, and her eyes sparkled. "Well, I'm not
+a child and you're not my father really. Why did you meddle?"
+
+"For one thing, he's not your sort. Then I'm a meddlesome old fellow and
+rather fond of you. To see you entangled by a man like Shillito would
+hurt. Let him go. If you want to try your powers, you'll find a number
+of honest young fellows on whom you can experiment. The boys one meets
+in this country are a pretty good sample."
+
+"There's a rude vein in you," Barbara declared. "One sees it sometimes,
+although you're sometimes kind. Anyhow, I won't be bullied and
+controlled; I'm not a shareholder in the Cartwright line. I don't know
+if it's important, but why don't you like Mr. Shillito?"
+
+Cartwright's eyes twinkled. In a sense, he could justify his getting rid
+of Shillito, but he knew Barbara and doubted if she could be persuaded.
+Still she was not a fool, and he would give her something to think
+about.
+
+"It's possible my views are not important," he agreed. "All the same,
+when I told the man he had better go he saw the force of my arguments.
+He went, and I think his going is significant. Since I'd sooner not
+quarrel, I'll leave you to weigh this."
+
+He went off, but Barbara stopped and brooded. She was angry and
+humiliated, but perhaps the worst was she had a vague notion Cartwright
+might be justified. It was very strange Shillito had gone. All the same,
+she did not mean to submit. Her mother's placid conventionality had long
+irritated her; one got tired of galling rules and criticism. She was not
+going to be molded into a calculating prude like Grace, or a prig like
+Mortimer. They did not know the ridiculous good-form they cultivated was
+out of date. In fact, she had had enough and meant to rebel.
+
+Then she began to think about Shillito. His carelessness was strangely
+intriguing; he stood for adventure and all the romance she had known.
+Besides, he was a handsome fellow; she liked his reckless twinkle and
+his coolness where coolness was needed. For all that, she would not
+acknowledge him her lover; Barbara did not know if she really wanted a
+lover yet. She imagined Cartwright had got near the mark when he said
+she wanted to try her power. Cartwright was keen, although Barbara
+sensed something in him that was fierce and primitive.
+
+Perhaps nobody else could have bullied Shillito; Mortimer certainly
+could not, but Barbara refused to speculate about the means Cartwright
+had used.
+
+Shillito ought not to have gone without seeing her; this was where it
+hurt. She was entitled to be angry--and then she started, for a page boy
+came quietly out of the shade.
+
+"A note, miss," he said with a grin. "I was to give it you when nobody
+was around."
+
+Barbara's heart beat, but she gave the boy a quarter and opened the
+envelope. The note was short and not romantic. Shillito stated he had
+grounds for imagining it might not reach her, but if it did, he begged
+she would give him her address when she left the hotel. He told her
+where to write, and added if she could find a way to get his letters he
+had much to say.
+
+His coolness annoyed Barbara, but he had excited her curiosity and she
+was intrigued. Moreover, Cartwright had tried to meddle and she wanted
+to feel she was cleverer than he. Then Shillito was entitled to defend
+himself, and to find the way he talked about would not be difficult.
+Barbara knitted her brows and began to think.
+
+At lunch Mrs. Cartwright told her they were going to join the Vernons in
+the woods and she acquiesced. Two or three days afterwards they started,
+and at the station she gave Cartwright her hand with a smiling glance,
+but Cartwright knew his step-daughter and was not altogether satisfied.
+Barbara did not sulk; when one tried to baffle her she fought.
+
+The Vernons' camp was like others Winnipeg people pitch in the lonely
+woods that roll west from Fort William to the plains. It is a rugged
+country pierced by angry rivers and dotted by lakes, but a gasolene
+launch brought up supplies, the tents were large and double-roofed, and
+for a few weeks one could play at pioneering without its hardships. The
+Vernons were hospitable, the young men and women given to healthy sport,
+and Mrs. Cartwright, watching Barbara fish and paddle on the lake,
+banished her doubts. For herself she did not miss much; the people were
+nice, and the cooking was really good.
+
+When two weeks had gone, Grace and Barbara sat one evening among the
+stones by a lake. The evening was calm, the sun was setting, and the
+shadow of the pines stretched across the tranquil water. Now and then
+the reflections trembled and a languid ripple broke against the
+driftwood on the beach. In the distance a loon called, but when its wild
+cry died away all was very quiet.
+
+Grace looked across the lake and frowned. She was a tall girl, and
+although she had walked for some distance in the woods, her clothes were
+hardly crumpled. Her face was finely molded, but rather colorless; her
+hands were very white, while Barbara's were brown. Her dress and voice
+indicated cultivated taste; but the taste was negative, as if Grace had
+banished carefully all that jarred and then had stopped. It was
+characteristic that she was tranquil, although she had grounds for
+disturbance. They were some distance from camp and it would soon be
+dark, but nothing broke the gleaming surface of the lake. The boat that
+ought to have met them had not arrived.
+
+"I suppose this is the spot where Harry Vernon agreed to land and take
+us on board?" she said.
+
+"It's like the spot. I understand we must watch out for a point opposite
+an island with big trees."
+
+"Watch out?" Grace remarked.
+
+"Watch out is good Canadian," Barbara rejoined. "I'm studying the
+language and find it expressive and plain. When our new friends talk you
+know what they mean. Besides, I'd better learn their idioms, because I
+might stop in Canada if somebody urged me."
+
+Grace gave her a quiet look. Barbara meant to annoy her, or perhaps did
+not want to admit she had mistaken the spot. Now Grace came to think
+about it, the plan that the young men should meet them and paddle them
+down the lake was Barbara's.
+
+"I don't see why we didn't go with Harry and the other, as he
+suggested," she said.
+
+"Then, you're rather dull. They didn't really want us; they wanted to
+fish. To know when people might be bored is useful."
+
+"But there are a number of bays and islands. They may go somewhere
+else," Grace insisted.
+
+"Oh well, it ought to amuse Harry and Winter to look for us, and if
+they're annoyed, they deserve some punishment. If they had urged us very
+much to go, I would have gone. Anyhow, you needn't bother. There's a
+short way back to camp by the old loggers' trail."
+
+Grace said nothing. She thought Barbara's carelessness was forced;
+Barbara was sometimes moody. Perhaps she felt Shillito's going more than
+she was willing to own. For all that, the fellow was gone, and Barbara
+would, no doubt, presently be consoled.
+
+"If mother could see things!" Barbara resumed. "Sometimes one feels one
+wants a guide, but all one gets is a ridiculous platitude from her
+old-fashioned code. One has puzzles one can't solve by out-of-date
+rules. However, since she doesn't see, there's no use in bothering."
+
+"I'm your elder sister, but you don't give me your confidence."
+
+Barbara's mood changed and her laugh was touched by scorn. "You are
+worse than mother. She's kind, but can't see; you don't want to see. I'd
+sooner trust my step-father. He's a very human old ruffian. I wish I had
+a real girl friend, but you tactfully freeze off all the girls I like.
+It's strange how many people there are whom virtuous folks don't
+approve."
+
+Grace missed the note of appeal in her sister's bitterness. She did not
+see the girl as disturbed by doubts and looked in perplexity for a
+guiding light. Afterwards, when understanding was too late, Grace partly
+understood.
+
+"Mr. Cartwright is not a ruffian." she said coldly.
+
+"I suppose you're taking the proper line, and you'd be rather noble,
+only you're not sincere. You don't like Cartwright and know he doesn't
+like you. All the same, it's not important. We were talking about
+getting home, and since the boys have not come for us we had better
+start."
+
+The loon had flown away and nothing broke the surface of the lake; the
+shadows had got longer and driven back the light. Thin mist drifted
+about the islands, the green glow behind the trunks was fading, and it
+would soon be dark.
+
+"In winter, the big timber wolves prowl about the woods," Barbara
+remarked. "Horrible, savage brutes! I expect you saw the heads at the
+packer's house. Still, one understands they stay North until the frost
+begins."
+
+She got up, and when they set off Grace looked regretfully across the
+lake, for she would sooner have gone home on board the fishing bateau.
+She was puzzled. The bays on the lake were numerous, and islands dotted
+the winding reaches, but it was strange the young men had gone to the
+wrong spot. They knew the lake and had told Barbara where to meet them.
+In the meantime, however, the important thing was to get home.
+
+Darkness crept across the woods, and as she stumbled along the uneven
+trail Grace got disturbed. She felt the daunting loneliness, the quiet
+jarred her nerve. The pines looked ghostly in the gloom. They were
+ragged and strangely stiff, it looked as if their branches never moved,
+and the dark gaps between the trunks were somehow forbidding.
+
+Grace did not like Canada. Her cultivation was artificial, but Canada
+was primitive and stern. In the towns, one found inventions that
+lightened labor, and brought to the reach of all a physical comfort that
+in England only the rich enjoyed, but the contrasts were sharp. One left
+one's hotel, with its very modern furniture, noisy elevators and
+telephones, and plunged into the wilderness where all was as it had been
+from the beginning. Grace shrank from primitive rudeness and hated
+adventure. Living by rule she distrusted all she did not know. She
+thought it strange that Barbara, who feared nothing, let her go in
+front.
+
+They came to a pool. All round, the black tops of the pines cut the sky;
+the water was dark and sullen in the gloom. The trail followed its edge
+and when a loon's wild cry rang across the woods Grace stopped. She knew
+the cry of the lonely bird that haunts the Canadian wilds, but it had a
+strange note, like mocking laughter. Grace disliked the loon when its
+voice first disturbed her sleep at the fishing camp; she hated it
+afterwards.
+
+"Go on!" said Barbara sharply.
+
+For a moment or two Grace stood still. She did not want to stop, but
+something in Barbara's voice indicated strain. If Barbara were startled,
+it was strange. Then, not far off, a branch cracked and the pine-spray
+rustled as if they were gently pushed aside.
+
+"Oh!" Grace cried, "something is creeping through the bush!"
+
+"Then don't stop," said Barbara. "Perhaps it's a wolf!"
+
+Grace clutched her dress and ran. At first, she thought she heard
+Barbara behind, but she owned she had not her sister's pluck and fear
+gave her speed. She must get as far as possible from the pool before she
+stopped. Besides, she imagined something broke through the undergrowth
+near the trail, but her heart beat and she could not hear properly.
+
+At length her breath got labored and she was forced to stop. All was
+quiet and the quiet was daunting. Barbara was not about and when Grace
+called did not reply. Grace tried to brace herself. Perhaps she ought to
+go back, but she could not; she shrank from the terror that haunted the
+dark. Then she began to argue that to go back was illogical. If Barbara
+had lost her way, she could not help. It was better to push on to the
+camp and send men who knew the woods to look for her sister. She set
+off, and presently saw with keen relief the light of a fire reflected on
+calm water.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+BARBARA VANISHES
+
+Grace's arrival was greeted by a shout, and when she stopped in front of
+the dining-tent a group of curious people surrounded her. The double
+roof of the big tent was extended horizontally, and a lamp hanging from
+a pole gave a brilliant light. Grace would sooner the light had been
+dim, for she was hot and her clothes were torn and wet with dew.
+Besides, she must tell her tale and admit that she had not played a
+heroic part.
+
+"Where's Barbara?" Mrs. Cartwright asked.
+
+"I don't know. Harry Vernon did not meet us and we started home by the
+loggers' trail. I lost Barbara by the pool. Something in the bush tried
+to creep up to us; a wolf, I think--"
+
+"Oh, shucks!" remarked a frank Winnipeg girl who did not like Miss
+Hyslop. "In summer, you can't find a wolf south of Broken Range. Looks
+as if you were scared for nothing, but I can't see why Barbara didn't
+beat you at hitting up the pace."
+
+Others asked questions, and when Grace got breath she tried to satisfy
+their curiosity. Some of the group looked thoughtful and Mrs. Vernon
+said:
+
+"Nothing can have hurt Barbara, and if she has lost her way, she cannot
+wander far, because she must be in the loop between the river and the
+lake. But Harry did go to meet you, and when he found you had not come
+back went off again with Bob. I expect they'll soon arrive with
+Barbara."
+
+They waited for half-an-hour, and then, when the splash of paddles stole
+out of the dark, ran down to the beach. Presently a double-ended bateau
+crossed the beam of light and grounded. A young man helped Barbara out
+and gave her his arm.
+
+"You mustn't bother, Harry. I can walk all right," she said.
+
+"Get hold," said Vernon. "You're not going to walk. If you're obstinate,
+I'll carry you."
+
+Barbara leaned upon his arm, but her color was high and her look
+strained when he helped her across the stones. Harry Vernon was a tall,
+thin, wiry Canadian, with a quiet face. When he got to the tent he
+opened the curtain, and beckoning Mrs. Cartwright, pushed Barbara
+inside.
+
+"You'll give her some supper, ma'am, and I'll chase the others off," he
+said. "The little girl's tired and mustn't be disturbed."
+
+Barbara gave him a grateful look and the blood came to his sunburned
+skin.
+
+"I am a little tired," she declared, and added, too quietly for Mrs.
+Cartwright to hear: "You're a white man."
+
+Vernon pulled the curtain across, and joining the others, lighted a
+cigarette.
+
+"The girls stopped at False Point, two miles short of the spot we
+fixed," he said. "I reckon Bob's directions were not plain enough. Since
+we didn't come along, they started back by the loggers' trail, while we
+went to look for them by the other track. At the pool, they thought they
+heard a wolf. That's so, Miss Hyslop?"
+
+"Yes," said Grace. "I ran away and thought I heard Barbara following.
+But what happened afterwards?"
+
+"She fell. Hurt her foot, had to stop, and then couldn't make good time.
+We found her limping along, and shoved through the bush for the river,
+so she needn't walk. Well, I think that's all."
+
+It was plausible, but Grace was not altogether satisfied. Moreover, she
+imagined Vernon was not, and noted that Mrs. Vernon gave him a
+thoughtful glance. All the same, there was nothing to be said, and she
+went to her tent.
+
+At daybreak Vernon left the camp, and when he reached the pool walked
+round its edge and then sat down and lighted his pipe. A few yards in
+front, a number of faint marks were printed on a belt of sand. By and by
+he heard steps, and frowned when Winter came out from an opening in the
+row of trunks. They were friends, and Bob was a very good sort, but
+Vernon would sooner he had stopped away.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "Why have you come along?"
+
+"I lost my hunting-knife," Winter replied. "It was hooked to my belt and
+I thought the clip let go when we helped Miss Hyslop over the big log. A
+bully knife; I wanted to find the thing." He paused and smiled when he
+resumed: "I reckon you pulled out of camp to meditate?"
+
+Vernon hesitated. Had Winter stopped a few yards off, he would have
+begun some banter and drawn him away from the pool. Bob was a woodsman
+and his eyes were keen. The sun was, however, rising behind the pines
+and a beam of light touched the sand. There was no use in trying to hide
+the marks. In fact, Vernon imagined Bob had seen them.
+
+"No," he said. "I thought I'd try to trail the wolf Miss Hyslop talked
+about."
+
+"Looks as if you'd found some tracks," Winter remarked. "Well, they're
+not a wolf's." He sat down opposite Vernon. "A man's! I saw another at a
+soft spot. He followed the girls from the lake and stopped for some
+time. I allow I reckoned on something like that."
+
+Vernon made an experiment. "Might have been a packer going to a logging
+camp, or perhaps an Indian."
+
+"Shucks!" said Winter, although he gave Vernon a sympathetic smile.
+"There are no Indians about the lake and packers' boots don't make marks
+like those. A city boot and a city man! A fellow who's wise to the bush
+lifts his feet. Anyhow, I reckon he doesn't belong to your crowd."
+
+"A sure thing!" Vernon agreed. "I can fix where all the boys were.
+Besides, if somebody in our lot had wanted to talk to Miss Hyslop, he
+wouldn't have hung around in the woods. My mother's pretty fastidious
+about her guests. Well, I'll own up the thing bothers me."
+
+Winter nodded. Harry was frank and honest, and Bob imagined he had felt
+Barbara Hyslop's charm. He was sorry for Harry. The thing was awkward.
+
+"What are you going to do about it?" he asked.
+
+"To begin with, I'm going to hide these tracks. After all, I don't see
+much light. I suppose I ought to tell my mother and put Mrs. Cartwright
+wise; but I won't. Spying on a girl and telling is mean. All the same,
+I'm surely bothered. In a sense, my mother's accountable for her guests
+and the girl's nice. I'd like it if I could talk to the man."
+
+"Nothing doing there; he'll watch out. Well, we'll hide up his tracks
+and look for my knife. D'you think Grace Hyslop knew the job was put
+up?"
+
+"I don't," said Vernon dryly. "I reckon she was puzzled, but that's all.
+You couldn't persuade Miss Hyslop her sister liked adventures in the
+dark. Anyhow, the thing's done with. We have got to let it go."
+
+They went off and Winter pondered. Harry had got something of a knock.
+Perhaps he was taking the proper line; anyhow, it was the line Harry
+would take, but Bob doubted. The girl was very young and the man who met
+her in the dark was obviously a wastrel.
+
+When they returned for breakfast Barbara had joined the others and wore
+soft Indian moccasins. Bob looked at Harry and understood his frown.
+Harry had played up when he helped her home, but he, no doubt, thought
+the game ought to stop. Bob wondered whether Barbara knew, because she
+turned her head when Harry advanced.
+
+After breakfast, Mrs. Vernon, carrying a small bottle, joined Mrs.
+Cartwright's party under the pines outside the tent. The dew was drying
+and the water shone like a mirror, but it was cool in the shade. Barbara
+occupied a camp-chair and rested her foot on a stone, Mrs. Cartwright
+knitted, and Grace studied a philosophical book. Her rule was to
+cultivate her mind for a fixed time every day. Harry Vernon strolled up
+to the group and Mrs. Cartwright put down her knitting.
+
+"You're kind, but the child's obstinate and won't let me see her foot,"
+she said to Mrs. Vernon.
+
+"It's comfortable now," Barbara remarked. "When something that hurt you
+stops hurting I think it's better to leave it alone. Besides, one
+doesn't want to bother people."
+
+"You won't bother me, and I'll fix your foot in two or three minutes so
+it won't hurt again," Mrs. Vernon declared. "The elixir's famous and I
+haven't known it to miss. I always carry some when we camp in the
+woods." She turned to her son. "Tell Barbara how soon I cured you when
+you hurt your arm."
+
+"You want to burn Miss Hyslop with the elixir?"
+
+"It doesn't burn much. You said you hardly felt it, and soon after I
+rubbed your arm the pain was gone."
+
+Harry glanced at Barbara and saw she was embarrassed, although her mouth
+was firm. Since she did not mean to let Mrs. Vernon examine her
+supposititious injury, his business was to help, and he laughed.
+
+"Miss Hyslop's skin is not like my tough hide. You certainly fixed my
+arm, but it was a drastic cure, and I think Miss Hyslop ought to refuse.
+I try to indulge you, like a dutiful son, but you are not her mother."
+
+"I am her mother and she will not indulge me," Mrs. Cartwright remarked
+with languid grievance, and Barbara gave Harry a quick, searching
+glance. His face was inscrutable, but she wondered how much he knew. She
+felt shabby and ashamed.
+
+When Mrs. Vernon went off with the elixir, Harry sat down.
+
+"If you could bring Mr. Cartwright out, I might persuade my father to
+come along," he said. "The old man likes Cartwright; declares he's a
+sport."
+
+"He is a ship-owner." Grace remarked. "I think he used to shoot, but
+it's some time since."
+
+Harry looked at Barbara and his eyes twinkled. "American English isn't
+Oxford English, but your people are beginning to use it and Miss Barbara
+learns fast. All the same, running the Independent Freighters is quite a
+sporting proposition, and I imagine Mr. Cartwright generally makes good.
+The old man and I would back him to put over an awkward deal every
+time."
+
+"My husband is a good business man," Mrs. Cartwright agreed. "But you
+belong to Winnipeg and I understand his business is at Montreal."
+
+"The steamship _Conference_ understood something like that, until
+Cartwright put them wise. You see, we Western people grow the wheat that
+goes down the lakes, and when the _Conference_ got to know an
+Independent boat was coming out they went round and offered Montreal
+shippers and brokers a drawback on the rates. That is, if the shippers
+gave them all their stuff, they'd meet their bills for a rebate some
+time afterwards. Bully for the shippers, but it left the Western men,
+who raised the wheat, in the cold. Well, while the _Conference_ got
+after him at Montreal, Cartwright came West and booked all the grain he
+could load before it started off. When the _Conference_ got wise, the
+cargo was in the Independent freighter's hold. Cartwright's surely a
+business man."
+
+Barbara laughed and Mrs. Cartwright languidly agreed, but Grace frowned.
+Although she did not approve Cartwright, he was the head of her house,
+and to know his clever tricks were something of a joke hurt her dignity.
+Harry saw her frown.
+
+"Anyhow, Cartwright's promise stands," he resumed. "If he ran his boat
+across half empty, he'd make good. You can trust him."
+
+He went off and Barbara mused unhappily. She thought Harry had talked to
+help her over an awkward moment, and she was grateful but disturbed. It
+looked as if he knew something and he might know much. All the same,
+when he talked about her step-father she agreed. Cartwright was bold and
+clever, and, although he was sometimes not very scrupulous, people did
+trust him. Barbara wished she had his cleverness and his talent for
+removing obstacles. There were obstacles in her path and the path was
+dark. Yet she had promised to take it and must make good. She tried to
+banish her doubts and began to talk.
+
+After lunch she allowed one of the party to help her on board a canoe.
+The afternoon was calm, and the light breeze that now and then sighed in
+the pine-tops hardly ruffled the shining water. In the evening, when the
+straight trunks cut against a blaze of gold and green, they sat by a
+smudge fire that kept off the mosquitoes and sang to an accompaniment of
+banjos and mandolins. Barbara sang with the others, but it cost her an
+effort. The tranquil day was nearly done and she felt it was the last
+tranquillity she might know for long. Her companions were frank and
+kind, Canadians, but her sort, and she was going to make a bold plunge
+with another who was not. Yet she knew one could not rebel for nothing,
+and she had pluck. The light faded behind the trees, a loon's wild cry
+rang across the dark water, and the party went to bed.
+
+In the morning Grace awoke Mrs. Cartwright quietly.
+
+"Barbara is gone," she said.
+
+"Ridiculous!" said Mrs. Cartwright.
+
+"She is gone. Her clothes are not about; but we must be calm and not
+disturb the camp. Mrs. Vernon ought to know, but nobody else. You see,
+it's important--"
+
+Mrs. Cartwright saw, and a few minutes afterwards her hostess knew.
+
+"It's plain I must give Harry my confidence, to some extent," Mrs.
+Vernon said, and went to look for her son.
+
+She found him going off for a swim, and when she told her tale he
+frowned.
+
+"In a way, perhaps, I'm accountable, but we'll talk about this again,"
+he said. "Get Mrs. Cartwright on board the launch and come along
+yourself. As soon as Bob's inside his clothes we'll start."
+
+"But Bob--" Mrs. Vernon began.
+
+"Bob _knows_, and I'll need a partner. If Miss Hyslop didn't leave the
+settlement on the night express, she'll be hitting the trail through the
+woods for the United States. You must hustle."
+
+Mrs. Vernon left him, and a few minutes afterwards the fast motor launch
+swung out from the landing and sped down river with a white wave at her
+bows. Grace watched the boat vanish behind a wooded point and then went
+to her tent. She was horribly angry and shocked. Barbara had cheated her
+and disgraced them all.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE GIRL ON THE PLATFORM
+
+The Vancouver express was running in the dark through the woods west of
+Fort William. After the rain of early summer, wash-outs that undermine
+the track are numerous and the express had been delayed. Now, however,
+the road was good and the engineer drove his big locomotive with
+throttle wide open. Black smoke blew about the rocking cars, cinders
+rattled on the roofs, and showers of sparks sped past the windows. The
+wheels roared on shaking trestles and now and then awoke an echoing
+clang of steel, for the company was doubling the track and replacing the
+wooden bridges by metal.
+
+This was George Lister's business, and he lounged in a corner of a
+smoking-compartment, and rather drowsily studied some calculations. He
+was bound West from Montreal, and in the morning would resume his labors
+at a construction camp. There was much to be done and the construction
+bosses who had sent for him were getting impatient.
+
+Lister's thoughts wandered from the figures. He liked his occupation and
+admitted that he had been lucky, but began to see he had gone as far as
+he could expect to go. The trouble was, he had not enjoyed the
+scientific training that distinguished the men who got important posts.
+His mechanical career began in the engine-room of a wheat-boat on the
+lakes, and he had entered the railroad company's service when shipping
+was bad and steamers were laid up. Although he had studied for a term or
+two at McGill University, he knew his drawbacks. Sometimes promotion was
+given for merit, but for the most part the men who made progress came
+from technical colleges and famous engineering works.
+
+An accident in the ranges on the Pacific slope, when a mountain
+locomotive jumped the track and plunged down a precipitous hillside,
+gave Lister his first chance. He got the locomotive back to the line,
+and being rewarded by a better post, stubbornly pushed himself nearer
+the front. Now, however, it looked as if he must stop. Rules were not
+often relaxed in favor of men who had no highly-placed friends. Yet
+Lister wondered.
+
+Not long since, a gentleman whose word carried some weight at the
+company's office had visited the construction camp with his indulged
+daughter. The girl was clever, adventurous, and interested by pioneer
+work, and Lister had helped her to some thrills she obviously enjoyed.
+She had, with his guidance, driven a locomotive across a shaking,
+half-braced bridge, fired a heavy blasting shot, and caught big gray
+trout from his canoe. Although Lister used some reserve, their
+friendship ripened, and when she left she hinted she had some power she
+might be willing to use on his behalf.
+
+All the same, Lister was proud. The girl belonged to a circle he could
+not enter, and if he got promotion, it must be by his merits. He was not
+the man to get forward by intrigue and the clever use of a woman's
+influence; he had no talent for that kind of thing. He let it go, and
+tried to concentrate on his calculations.
+
+By and by the colored porter stopped to tell him his berth was fixed and
+the passengers were going to bed. Lister nodded, put up his papers, and
+then lighted a cigarette. The smoking-compartment was hot, the light the
+rocking lamp threw about had hurt his eyes, and he thought he would go
+out on the platform for a few minutes.
+
+He went. The draught that swept the gap between the cars was bracing and
+cool. There was a moon, he saw water shine and dark pines stream past.
+The snorting of the locomotive broke in a measured beat through the roll
+of wheels; the rocks threw back confused echoes about the clanging cars.
+Then the gleam among the trees got wider and Lister knew they were
+nearing a trestle that crossed an arm of a lake. In fact, he had
+wondered whether he would be sent to pull down the bridge and rebuild it
+with steel.
+
+He sat down on the little box-seat, with his back against the door. The
+platform had not the new guards the company was then fitting; there was
+an opening in the rails, and one could go down the steps when the train
+was running. The moonlight touched the back of the car in front, but
+Lister was in the gloom, and when the vestibule door opposite opened he
+was annoyed. If somebody wanted to go through the train, he must get up.
+
+A girl came out of the other car and seizing the rails looked down. She
+was in the light, and Lister remarked that she did not wear traveling
+clothes; he thought her small, knitted cap, short dress, and loose
+jacket indicated that she had come from a summer camp. Then she turned
+her head and he saw her face was rather white and her look was strained.
+It was obvious that something had disturbed her.
+
+The girl did not see him, and while he wondered whether he ought to get
+up she put her foot on the step and leaned out, as if she weighed the
+possibility of jumping off. She swung back when the cars lurched round a
+curve, and the measured roll of wheels changed to a sharp, broken din.
+The train was running on to the trestle and Lister saw the water shine
+below the platform. He got up, and moving quietly, seized the girl's arm
+and pulled her from the rails.
+
+"A jolt might throw you off," he said.
+
+She looked up with a start and the blood came to her skin, but she gave
+him a quick, searching glance. Lister was athletic, his face was bronzed
+by frost and sun, and his look was frank. She lowered her eyes and her
+color faded.
+
+"Does the train stop soon?" she asked.
+
+"If the engineer's lucky, we won't stop until he makes the next
+water-tank, and it's some distance."
+
+She turned with a quick, nervous movement and glanced at the door.
+Lister imagined she was afraid somebody might come out.
+
+"Could one persuade or bribe the conductor to pull up?"
+
+Lister hesitated. He knew the train gang and was a railroad boss, but
+the company was spending a large sum in order to cut down the
+time-schedule and somebody must account for all delay.
+
+"I think not. You see, unless there's a washout or the track is blocked,
+nothing is allowed to stop the Vancouver express."
+
+The girl glanced at the door again and then gave him an appealing look.
+
+"But I must get off! I oughtn't to have come on board. I want to go
+East, towards Montreal, and not to Winnipeg."
+
+Although he was not romantic, Lister was moved. She was very young and
+her distress was obvious. Somehow he felt her grounds for wanting to
+leave the train were good. Indeed, he rather thought she had meant to
+jump off had they not run on to the bridge. Yet for him to stop the
+express would be ridiculous; the conductor and engineer would pay for
+his meddling. With quiet firmness he pulled the girl farther from the
+opening of the rails.
+
+"We stop long before we get to Winnipeg," he said soothingly. "Then it's
+possible we'll be held up by a blocked track. Wash-outs are pretty
+numerous on this piece of line. However, if we do stop and you get down,
+you'll be left in the woods."
+
+"Oh!" she said, "that's not important! All I want is to get off."
+
+"Very well," said Lister. "If we are held up, I'll look for you. But I
+don't know if the jolting platform is very safe. Hadn't you better go
+back to your car?"
+
+She gave him a quick glance and he thought she braced herself.
+
+"I'm not going back. I can't. It's impossible!"
+
+Lister was curious, but hesitated about trying to satisfy his curiosity.
+The girl was afraid of somebody, and, seeing no other help, she trusted
+him.
+
+"Then, you had better come with me and I'll find you a berth where you
+won't be disturbed," he said.
+
+She followed him with a confidence he thought moving, and when they met
+the conductor he took the man aside.
+
+"That's all right," said the other. "Nobody's going to bother her while
+I'm about."
+
+Lister returned to the smoking-compartment, but the adventure had given
+him a pleasant thrill and he did not feel sleepy. He got out his
+calculations and tried to interest himself until a man entered the car.
+The fellow was rather handsome and his clothes were good, but Lister
+thought he looked perplexed. He gave Lister a keen glance and went on
+through the car. Some minutes afterwards, he came back, frowning
+savagely, stopped in front of Lister, as if he meant to speak,
+hesitated, and went out by the vestibule.
+
+It was plain the fellow had gone to look for the girl and had not found
+her. The conductor had seen to that. Lister smiled, but admitted that
+the thing was puzzling. The man was older than the girl, although he was
+not old enough to be her father. If he were her husband, she would not
+have run away from him, and it did not look as if he were her lover.
+Lister saw no light, but since it was obvious she feared the man he
+resolved, if possible, to help her to escape.
+
+Some time afterwards, the whistle pierced the roll of wheels, and
+Lister, going to the platform, saw a big electric head-lamp shine like a
+star. The cars were slowing and he imagined the operator had tried to
+run a construction train across the section before the express came up.
+They would probably stop for a minute at the intersection of the main
+and side tracks. Hurrying through the train, Lister found the conductor,
+who look him to a curtained berth, and the girl got down. She was
+dressed and wore her knitted cap.
+
+"If you are resolved to go, I may be able to help you off," Lister said.
+
+"I must go," she replied, and although Lister remarked that her hands
+trembled as she smoothed her crumpled dress, her voice was steady.
+
+"Very well," he said. "Come along."
+
+When he opened the vestibule door the train was stopping and the beam
+from a standing locomotive's head-lamp flooded the track with dazzling
+light. For a moment the girl hesitated, but when Lister went down the
+steps she gave him her hand and jumped. Lister felt her tremble and was
+himself conscious of some excitement. He did not know if he was rash or
+not, but since she meant to go, speed was important, because the man
+from whom she wanted to escape might see them on the line. He went to
+the waiting engine in front of a long row of ballast cars, on which a
+big gravel plough loomed faintly in the dark.
+
+"Who's on board?" he asked.
+
+A man he knew looked out from the cab window.
+
+"Hallo, Mr. Lister! I'm on board with Jake. We're going to Malcolm cut
+for gravel. Washout's mixed things; operator reckoned he could rush us
+through--"
+
+"Then you'll stop and get water at the tank," Lister interrupted. "Will
+you make it before the East-bound comes along?"
+
+"We ought to make it half-an-hour ahead. Wires all right that way.
+Nothing's on the road."
+
+Lister turned to the girl. "If you're going East you must buy a new
+ticket at Malcolm. Have you money?"
+
+"I have some--" she said and stopped, and Lister imagined she had not
+until then thought about money and had not much.
+
+"You'll take this lady to Malcolm, Roberts, and put her down where she
+can get to the station," he said to the engineer. "Nobody will see you
+have a passenger, but if the agent's curious, I'll fix the thing with
+him."
+
+It was breaking rules, but the man knew Lister, and Lister knew he could
+be trusted. He took some bills from his wallet, and as he helped the
+girl up the steps pushed the paper into her hand.
+
+She turned to the cab door, and Lister imagined she was hardly conscious
+of the money he had given her. Her color was high but her look indicated
+keen relief.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "I owe you much! You don't know all you have done. I
+will not forget--"
+
+Somebody waved a lantern, a whistle shrieked, and the locomotive bell
+began to toll. Lister jumped back and seized the rails above the
+platform steps as the car lurched forward. They moved faster, the beam
+of the head-lamp faded, and the train rolled on into the dark.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SHILLITO GETS AWAY
+
+When the train started Lister did not go to his berth. His curiosity was
+excited and he wondered whether he had been rash. Now he came to think
+about it, the girl was attractive, and perhaps this to some extent
+accounted for his willingness to help. Moreover she was young, and it
+was possible her relations had put her in the man's control. If so, his
+meddling could not be justified.
+
+After a time he heard the whistle, and imagined the train was going to
+stop at a small station to which mails were brought from some mining
+camps. The neighboring country was rugged and lonely, but a trail ran
+south through the woods to the American frontier. When the cars stopped
+he pushed down the window and looked out.
+
+Small trees grew along the track and the light from the cars touched
+their branches. The line was checkered by illuminated patches and belts
+of gloom. Lister heard somebody open the baggage car and then saw a man
+run along the line beside the train. Another jumped off a platform and
+they met not far from Lister's window. The man who got down was the
+fellow who had gone through the car looking for the girl. The locomotive
+pump throbbed noisily and Lister could not hear their talk, but he
+thought they argued.
+
+The one who came up the line looked impatient and put his hand on his
+companion's arm, as if to urge him away. The other stepped back, and his
+gesture implied that he refused to go. The train was long, the
+passengers were asleep, and the men, no doubt, imagined nobody saw them.
+Lister thought the fellow who got down did not know the girl was gone
+and did not mean to leave the train without her. The light touched the
+men's faces, and it was obvious that one was angry and the other
+disturbed. The scene intrigued Lister. It was like watching an act in a
+cinema play of which one did not know the plot.
+
+After a minute or two a lantern flashed up the track, the bell tolled,
+and the nearer man jumped back on the step. Lister heard a vestibule
+door shut and then the throb of wheels began. The fellow on the line
+frowned and threw out his hands angrily. From the movement of his lips
+Lister thought he swore, but the car rolled past him and he melted into
+the dark.
+
+Lister went to his berth, but did not undress. Much of the night had
+gone, he would reach his camp soon after daybreak, and the train would
+only stop long enough for him to jump off. He could sleep in his clothes
+for an hour or two. A slackening of the roll of wheels wakened him and
+he got out of his berth, but the big lamps were burning and when he went
+to the door he saw dawn had not come. It was obvious they had not
+reached the construction camp. Lister shivered, and was returning to his
+berth when the conductor opened the door.
+
+"Our luck's surely not good to-night," he said. "They're pulling us up
+at Maple. If it's not a washout, somebody will get fired."
+
+He went off, grumbling, but when the train stopped came back with a
+trooper of the North-West Mounted Police.
+
+"Where's the guy you told me to watch out for?" he asked.
+
+Lister said he did not know and offered to go with them and help find
+the man. It looked as if he were going to see the end of the play.
+
+When they opened a vestibule door a man came out of the car in front and
+stopped, as if he were dazzled by the beam from the conductor's lifted
+lamp.
+
+"That's the fellow," Lister shouted.
+
+He thought the other saw the trooper's uniform, because he stepped back
+quickly. The door, however, was shut. When he let go the handle the
+spring-bolt had engaged.
+
+"Nothing doing that way!" said the trooper. "My partner's coming along
+behind you; you're corraled all right. I've a warrant for you, Louis
+Shillito."
+
+The North-West Police work in couples and the situation was plain. One
+trooper had begun his search at the front of the train, the other at the
+back, and Shillito, hearing the first turn the passengers out of their
+berths, had tried to steal away and met the other. His face got
+strangely white, but Lister thought it was rather with rage than fear.
+His lips drew back in a snarl, and the veins swelled on his forehead. He
+occupied the center of the illuminated circle thrown by the conductor's
+lamp, and his savage gaze was fixed. Lister saw he was not looking at
+the policeman but at him.
+
+"Blast you!" Shillito shouted. "If you hadn't butted in--"
+
+"Cut it out!" said the trooper. "Hands up; we've got you! Don't make
+trouble."
+
+Shillito's hand went behind him. It was possible he felt for the door
+knob, but the trooper meant to run no risks. Although he had put down
+his rifle and taken out his handcuffs, he jumped forward, across the
+platform, and Shillito bent sideways to avoid his spring. The fellow was
+athletic and his quick side-movement indicated he was something of a
+boxer; the policeman was embarrassed by his handcuffs and young.
+Shillito seized him and threw him against the rails, close to the gap
+where the steps went down. The trooper gasped, his grasp got slack, and
+his body slipped along the rails. It looked as if Shillito would throw
+him down the steps, and Lister jumped.
+
+He saw Shillito's hand go up and next moment got a heavy blow. For all
+that, he seized the man and held on, though blood ran into his eyes and
+he felt dizzy. Shillito struggled like a savage animal and Lister
+imagined the trooper did not help much. He got his arms round his
+antagonist and tried to pull him down; Shillito was trying to reach the
+opening in the rails. After a moment or two, Lister felt his muscles
+getting slack, lurched forward, and saw nothing in front. He plunged out
+from the gap, struck a step with his foot, and somebody fell on him.
+Then he thought he heard a rifle-shot, and knew nothing more.
+
+By and by somebody pulled him to his feet and he saw the conductor
+holding his arm. A group of excited passengers stood round them in the
+light that shone from the train and some others ran along the edge of
+the woods. The trooper and Shillito were gone.
+
+Lister's head hurt, he felt shaky, and when he wiped his face his hand
+was wet with blood.
+
+"My head's cut. S'pose I hit something when I fell," he said.
+
+"Shillito socked it to you pretty good," the conductor replied, and
+waved his lamp. "All aboard!" he shouted, and pushed Lister up the
+steps.
+
+When they reached the platform the car jolted and Lister sat down, with
+his back against the door.
+
+"My legs won't hold me," he said in an apologetic voice. "Did Shillito
+get off?"
+
+"Knocked out the trooper and made the bush; the other fellow was way
+back along the train," the conductor replied. "They want him for
+embezzlement and will soon get on his trail, but the wash-out's broke
+the wires and I reckon he'll cross the frontier ahead. Now you come
+along and I'll try to fix your cut."
+
+Lister went, and soon after a porter helped him into his berth. His head
+hurt and he felt very dull and slack, but he slept and when he woke
+bright sunshine streamed into the standing car and he saw the train had
+stopped at Winnipeg. Soon afterwards the conductor and one of the
+station officials put him into an automobile.
+
+"If the reporters get after you, remember you're not to talk about the
+girl," he said to the conductor.
+
+The other nodded, and signed the driver to start. The car rolled off and
+stopped at the house of a doctor who dressed the cut on Lister's head
+and ordered him a week's rest. Lister went to a hotel, and in the
+morning found a romantic narrative of Shillito's escape in the
+newspaper, but was relieved to note that nothing was said about the
+girl. The report, however, stated that a passenger who tried to help the
+police had got badly hurt and Shillito had vanished in the woods. The
+police had not found his trail and it was possible he would reach the
+American frontier.
+
+Lister thought the thing was done with, and when a letter arrived from
+the construction office, telling him to stay until he felt able to
+resume his work, resigned himself to rather dreary idleness. For some
+days his head ached and he could not go out; the other guests were
+engaged in the city and there was nobody to whom he could talk. He got
+badly bored, and it was a relief when one afternoon the gentleman he had
+met at the construction camp arrived with his daughter. For all that,
+Lister was surprised. Duveen was a man of some importance, Miss Duveen
+was a fashionable young lady, and Lister had imagined they had forgotten
+him. He took his guests to a corner of the spacious rotunda where a
+throbbing electric fan blew away the flies, and Duveen gave him a
+cigarette.
+
+"The _Record_ did not give your name, but we soon found out who was the
+plucky passenger," he said with a friendly smile. "Ruth thought she'd
+like to see you, and since I wasn't engaged this afternoon we came
+along."
+
+"I did want to come, but I really think you proposed the visit," Ruth
+remarked.
+
+"Oh, well," said Duveen, "I don't know if it's important, but perhaps we
+oughtn't to make Mr. Lister talk."
+
+Lister declared he wanted to talk, and Duveen said presently, "I don't
+see why you butted in."
+
+For a moment or two Lister hesitated. He was resolved to say nothing
+about the girl; it was obvious she would not like her adventure known,
+but he must be cautious. Duveen was clever, and he thought Miss Duveen
+gave him a curious glance.
+
+"The trooper was young and I sympathized with his keenness. Looked as if
+it was his first important job and he meant to make good."
+
+"A romantic impulse?" Duveen remarked, and laughed. "Well, when one is
+young, I expect it's hard to stand off while a fight's going on. All the
+same, it's strange you didn't sympathize with the fellow who was
+corraled. That's youth's natural instinct, although I allow it's not
+often justified."
+
+"The trooper was corraled. He'd put down his rifle and Shillito had a
+gun; I reckon it was the sharp butt of a heavy automatic that cut my
+head. Then I didn't like the fellow; he'd come through the train before
+and looked a smart crook."
+
+"He is a crook and got away with a big wad of the lumber firm's money.
+However, you were rash to jump for a man with a pistol. You didn't know
+he'd use the butt. All the same, you look brighter than we thought and
+can take a rest. I expect the construction office won't rush you back
+until you're fit."
+
+"I want to get back. Loafing round the hotel is dreary and my job's not
+getting on. Although I'm ordered to lie off, this won't count for much.
+I'll be made accountable for getting behind."
+
+Duveen said nothing for a moment or two, but he looked thoughtful, and
+Lister imagined Miss Duveen studied him quietly. He did not belong to
+the Duveens' circle; he was ruder. In fact, it was rather strange to see
+these people sitting with him, engaged in friendly talk, although, now
+he thought about it, Miss Duveen had not said much.
+
+She was a pretty girl and Lister liked her fashionable dress. Somehow
+Ruth Duveen harmonized with the tall pillars and rich ornamentation of
+the rotunda. One felt she belonged to spacious rooms. Duveen's clothes
+were in quiet taste, he wore a big diamond, and looked commanding. One
+felt this was a man whose word carried weight.
+
+"You're something of a hustler," he remarked with a smile. "For all
+that, you got a nasty knock, and your quitting for a time is justified.
+Well, if you feel lonesome, come along and dine at our hotel. Then we'll
+go and see the American opera. I'm told the show is good."
+
+Lister made some excuses, but Duveen would not be refused.
+
+"When we stopped at your camp you made things smooth for us. You gave
+Ruth some thrills, showed her the romance of track-grading, and
+generally helped her to a good time. Anyhow, the thing is fixed. We'll
+send the car for you."
+
+They went off soon afterwards, and Lister mused and smoked. He had
+hardly expected to meet the Duveens again and wondered whether he owed
+the visit to Ruth or her father; he had remarked at the camp that she
+was generally indulged. Well, it was plain Duveen could help him and
+Lister was ambitious, but he frowned and pulled himself up. He was not
+going to intrigue for promotion and use a girl's friendship in order to
+force his chiefs to see his merits. Things like that were done, but not
+by him; it demanded qualities he did not think were his. Moreover he did
+not know if Ruth Duveen was his friend. She was attractive, but he
+imagined she was clever. All the same, if he could get the doctor to fix
+his bandage so as to make it inconspicuous he would dine with the
+Duveens.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+WINNIPEG BEACH
+
+Lister went to the opera with his hosts and was moved by the music and
+the feeling that he was one of a careless, pleasure-seeking crowd. For
+the most part, his life had been strenuous and the crowds he knew were
+rude. His home was a bare shack, sometimes built on the wind-swept
+alkali plains, and sometimes in the tangled woods. From daybreak until
+dusk fell, hoarse shouts, the clank of rails, the beat of heavy hammers
+filled his ears, and often the uproar did not stop at dark. When a soft
+muskeg swallowed the new track, he must watch, by the flaring
+blast-lamps, noisy ploughs throw showers of gravel from the ballast
+cars.
+
+Labor and concentration had left their mark. Lister's muscles were hard,
+but his body and face were thin. He looked fine-drawn and alert; his
+talk was direct and quick. As a rule, his skin was brown, but now the
+brown was gone, and the lines on his face were deeper. His injury
+accounted for something and he felt the reaction from a strain he had
+hardly noted while it must be borne. Although he had not altogether
+hidden his bandage and his clothes were not the latest fashion, Ruth
+Duveen was satisfied. Somehow he looked a finer type than the business
+men in the neighboring stalls. One felt the man's clean virility and got
+a hint of force.
+
+Lister was highly strung. The music stirred his imagination, and when
+the curtain went down the light and glitter, the perfume that drifted
+about, the women's dress, and the society of his attractive companion
+gave him a curious thrill. He began to see he had missed much; ambitions
+that had forced him to struggle for scope to use fresh efforts took
+another turn. Life was not all labor. Ruth Duveen had enlightened him.
+
+He studied her. She had grace and charm; it was much to enjoy, for one
+evening, the society of a girl like this. Duveen went off between the
+acts to meet his friends, but Ruth stopped and talked. Her smile was
+gracious and Lister let himself go. He told her about adventures on the
+track and asked about her life in the cities. Perhaps it was strange,
+but she did not look bored, and when the curtain went down for the last
+time he felt a pang. The evening was gone and in a day or two he must
+resume his labor in the wilds. Lister did not cheat himself; he knew the
+strange, romantic excitement he had indulged would not be his again.
+When they went down the passage Ruth gave him a smiling glance and saw
+his mouth was firm.
+
+"You look rather tired," she said. "Have we tired you?"
+
+Lister turned and his eyes were thoughtful. She had stopped to fasten
+her cloak, and the people pushing by forced her to his side. An electric
+lamp burned overhead and her beauty moved him. He noted the heavy coils
+of her dark hair, her delicate color, and the grace of her form.
+
+"I'm not at all tired," he said. "I feel remarkably braced and keen, as
+if I'd waked up from sleep. In fact, I think I have awakened."
+
+Ruth laughed. She saw he was not smiling and his graveness gave her a
+sense of power. He had owned, with typical frankness, that she had moved
+him.
+
+"Sometimes to wake up suddenly gives one a jolt," she said. "However,
+you will soon get calm again in the woods."
+
+He sensed something provocative and challenging in her voice, but he
+would not play up.
+
+"I wonder--" he said quietly. "In a way, the proper line's to go to
+sleep again."
+
+"Sometimes one dreams! I expect you dream about locomotives breaking
+through trestles and dump-cars plunging into muskegs?"
+
+He laughed. "They're things I know, and safe to dream about. All the
+same, I rather expect I'll be haunted by lights and music, pretty
+dresses and faces--"
+
+He stopped, and Ruth remarked: "If these have charm, there are no very
+obvious grounds for your going without. You can command a locomotive and
+Winnipeg's not very far from your camp. But we're stopping the people,
+and I can't fix this clasp."
+
+She moved, and the opera cloak fell back from her arm, which was
+uncovered but for the filmy sleeve that reached a little below the
+shoulder. He noted its fine curves and the silky smoothness of her skin.
+Although he fastened the clasp with a workman's firm touch, he thrilled.
+Then the crowd forced them on and they found Duveen waiting by the car.
+When they stopped at Lister's hotel Ruth said, "We are going to Winnipeg
+Beach, Saturday. Would you like to come?"
+
+Duveen nodded. "A happy thought! I've got to talk to some business
+people who make Ruth tired. If you come along, I needn't bother about
+her."
+
+"That's how one's father argues!" Ruth exclaimed.
+
+Lister hesitated. "I was told to lie off because I was hurt. If I'm fit
+to enjoy an excursion, I'm fit to work."
+
+"You're too scrupulous, young man. Have a good time when it's possible,
+or you'll be sorry afterwards. I reckon you're justified to take all the
+company will give."
+
+"It was caution, not scruples. Suppose I meet one of the railroad
+chiefs?"
+
+"I'll fix him," Duveen rejoined. "Your bosses won't get after you when
+you belong to my party. Anyhow, we'll look out for you."
+
+The car rolled off, and Lister, going to the rotunda, lighted a
+cigarette and mused. Ruth Duveen had beauty, he liked her but must use
+caution, since he imagined the friendship she had given him was
+something of an indulged girl's caprice. Then he began to think about
+the girl he had met on board the train. Now he was able, undisturbed, to
+draw her picture, he saw she, too, had charm, but she was not at all
+like Ruth. The strange thing was, one did not note if she were beautiful
+or not. In a way, this did not matter; her pluck and firmness fixed
+one's interest.
+
+Lister threw away his cigarette. He was poor and not romantic. The girl
+he had helped had vanished, and after their excursion he hardly expected
+to see Ruth again. Ruth was kind, but she would soon forget him when he
+was gone. He would go to Winnipeg Beach with her, and then return to the
+woods and let his job absorb him. In the meantime, his head had begun to
+ache and he went to bed.
+
+The Saturday morning was typical of Winnipeg in summer. The fresh
+northwest breeze that sweeps the Manitoba plains had dropped. Dark
+thunder-clouds rolled about the sky, but the sun was hot and an
+enervating humidity brooded over the town. The perspiring crowd in Main
+Street moved slackly, the saloon bars were full, and the groups of
+holiday-makers flocking to the station wore a languid look.
+
+Lister met his hosts in the marble waiting hall where a gold-framed
+panorama of Canadian scenery closes the view between the rows of stately
+pillars. Duveen had brought three or four keen-eyed, nervous business
+men, a rather imposing lady, and Ruth, and they got on board a local
+train soon after Lister arrived. Winnipeg Beach was then beginning to
+attract holiday-makers from the prairie town. One could row and fish in
+sheltered bays, and adventure on board a gasoline launch into the
+northern wilds. Boating, however, had no charm for Duveen's friends. The
+excursion was an opportunity for friendly business talk, and when lunch
+was over Ruth and Lister went out on the lawn in front of the hotel.
+
+There was no wind. A few dark clouds floated motionless overhead, but
+outside their shadow the lake shone like glass, running back until it
+melted into faint reflections on the horizon. A varnished launch flashed
+in the sun and trailed a long white wake across the water.
+
+"Do you want to stay and talk to Mrs. Knapp?" Ruth asked.
+
+"I do not," said Lister. "Anyhow, I imagine Mrs. Knapp doesn't want to
+talk to me. I'm not a big-business man."
+
+Ruth laughed. "Oh, well, when you speculate at the Board of Trade, a
+railroad engineer is not a useful friend. I suppose I ought to stay, but
+the things one ought to do are tiresome. Let's go on the lake."
+
+Lister got a canoe, and fixing a cushion for Ruth, picked up the paddle.
+
+"Where shall we go?"
+
+"North, as far as you can. Let's get away from the boats and trippers
+and imagine we're back in the woods where you helped me catch the big
+gray trout."
+
+"Then you liked it at the construction camp?" Lister remarked. "It was a
+pretty rude spot."
+
+"For an indulged city girl?" Ruth said, smiling. "Well, perhaps I'd got
+all the satisfaction dinner parties and dances and the society at hotels
+can give. I knew the men who handle finance and work the wires behind
+the scenes, but I wanted to know the others who do the strenuous things
+and keep the country going. I came, and you helped me to understand the
+romance of the lakes and woods."
+
+Lister did not remember if he had tried to do so and thought he had not.
+All the same, the girl was keen and interested. In summer, it was not
+hard to feel the lonely sheets of water and tangled bush were touched by
+romance. Then, perhaps, everybody felt at times a vague longing for the
+rude and primitive. But he was not a philosopher, and dipping the
+paddle, he drove the canoe across the tranquil lake.
+
+In the meantime, he imagined Ruth studied him with quiet amusement, and
+wondered whether she thought he was not playing up. He did not mean to
+play up; the game was intricate, and, if he were rash, might cost him
+much. He had taken off his hat and jacket and effort had brought back
+the color to his skin. His thin face had the clean bronze tint of an
+Indian's; the soft shirt showed the fine-drawn lines of his athletic
+figure; but Lister was not conscious of this. He knew his drawbacks, but
+not all his advantages.
+
+When he had gone some distance and the hotel and houses began to melt
+into the background, he stopped and let the canoe drift.
+
+"How far shall we go?" he asked.
+
+Ruth indicated a rocky point, cut off by the glimmering reflection, that
+seemed to float above the horizon.
+
+"Let's see what is on the other side. Now and then one wants to know.
+Exploration's intriguing. Don't you think so?"
+
+"Sometimes; in a practical sense. When a height of land cuts the
+landscape, I wonder whether one could find an easy down-grade for the
+track across the summit. That's about as far as my imagination goes."
+
+"Oh, well," said Ruth, "exploration like that is useful and one doesn't
+run much risk. But risk and adventure appeal to some people."
+
+Lister resumed paddling. The girl had charm and he was young; if he were
+not cautious, there might be some risk for him. He was not a clever
+philanderer, and Ruth and Duveen had been kind. By and by a puff of cool
+wind touched his hot skin and he looked round. A black cloud had rolled
+up and there were lines on the water.
+
+"We may get a blow and some thunder," he remarked. "Shall we go back?"
+
+"Not yet. We'll make the point first. If it does thunder, summer storms
+don't last."
+
+He paddled harder and a small white wave lapped the canoe's bows. The
+sky was getting dark, and now the lines that streaked the lake were
+white, but the wind was astern and they were going fast. The glimmering
+reflections had vanished and the rocks ahead rose sharply from the
+leaden water. The point was some distance off, but Lister knew he must
+reach it soon.
+
+A flash of forked lightning leaped from the sky and touched the lake,
+there was a long, rumbling peal, and then a humming noise began astern.
+Angry white ripples splashed about the canoe and lumps of hail beat
+Lister's head. Then, while the thunder rolled across the sky, the canoe
+swerved. It was blowing hard, the high bow and stern caught the wind,
+the strength was needed to hold her straight with the single paddle. If
+he brought her round, he could not paddle to windward, and to steer
+across the sea that would soon get up might be dangerous. They must make
+the point and land. He threw Ruth his jacket, for spray had begun to fly
+and the drops from the paddle blew on board.
+
+"Put on the thing; I've got to work," he said.
+
+In a few minutes his work was hard. Short, white waves rolled past, the
+canoe lurched and swerved, and Lister knew if she swung off across wind
+and sea she might capsize. He must keep her running and let the combers
+split against her pointed stern. The combers were getting large and
+their hissing tops surged by some height above the gunwale, but so long
+as he could keep her before them they would not come on board. When her
+bows went up she sheered, as if she meant to shoot across the hollow
+left by the sea that rolled by. He stopped her with a back-stroke and
+then drove hard ahead, for he must have speed to steer when the next sea
+came on. In the meantime, the lightning flickered about the lake and
+between the flashes all was nearly dark. The tops of the waves tossed
+against leaden cloud and he could hardly see the rocks for which he
+steered.
+
+By and by, however, the point stood out close ahead. The trees on the
+summit bent in the wind; spray leaped about the bowlders where the white
+foam rolled. He must go round and find a landing to lee, but to go round
+he must cross the belt of breaking water, with the savage wind abeam.
+The canoe shipped some water, and riding in on a comber's crest,
+narrowly missed a rock that lifted its top for a moment out of the foam.
+Then Lister drove her in behind the point and helped Ruth to land on a
+gravel beach. Her eyes sparkled and he saw she had not been daunted.
+
+"We're all right now, but we have got to stay until the storm blows
+out," he said.
+
+They found shelter in a hollow of the cliff and sat among the driftwood
+while the rain that blotted out the lake drove overhead. The deluge did
+not reach them and the cold was going.
+
+"You go back on Monday?" Ruth said at length.
+
+Lister smiled with humorous resignation. "I must. The strange thing is,
+when I left my job before I was keen to get back. Now I'd rather stop
+and loaf."
+
+"Then you were not bored at Winnipeg?"
+
+"Not at all," Lister declared. "If it would give me a holiday like this,
+I'd get hurt again."
+
+"I expect the woods get dreary. Then, perhaps, one doesn't make much
+progress by sticking to the track? Don't you want to get into the office
+where the big plans are made?"
+
+"I don't know," said Lister thoughtfully. "On the track you're all right
+if you know your job; at headquarters you need qualities I don't know
+are mine. Anyhow, I'm not likely to get there, if I want or not."
+
+Ruth gave him a curious glance. "Sometimes one's friends can help. Would
+you really like a headquarters post?"
+
+Lister moved abruptly and his mouth got firm. Perhaps Ruth exaggerated
+her father's importance, but it was possible Duveen could get him
+promotion. All the same, Lister saw what his taking the job implied; he
+must give up his independence and be Duveen's man. Moreover, if the girl
+meant to help, she had some grounds for doing so. He thrilled and was
+tempted, but he thought hard. It looked as if she liked him and was
+perhaps willing to embark upon a sentimental adventure, but he thought
+this was all. She would not marry a poor man.
+
+"No," he said, with a touch of awkwardness. "I reckon I had better stick
+to the track. To know where you properly belong is something, and if I
+took the other job, my chiefs would soon find me out."
+
+"You're modest," Ruth remarked. "One likes modest people, but don't you
+think you're obstinate?"
+
+"When the trail you hit goes uphill, obstinacy's useful."
+
+"If you won't take help, you may be long reaching the top, but we'll let
+it go. The wind hasn't dropped much. How can we get back?"
+
+"We must wait," Lister replied with a twinkle. "The trouble about an
+adventure is, when you start you're often forced to stay with it and put
+it over. That sometimes costs more than you reckon."
+
+Ruth's eyes sparkled, but she forced a smile. "Logical people make me
+tired. But why do you imagine I haven't the pluck to pay?"
+
+"I don't," said Lister. "I've no grounds to imagine anything like that.
+My business was to take care of you and I ought to have seen the storm
+was coming. Now I'm mad because I didn't watch out."
+
+"Sometimes you're rather nice," Ruth remarked. "You know I made you go
+on. All the same, we must start as soon as possible."
+
+Lister got up presently and launched the canoe. The thunder had gone,
+but the breeze was strong and angry white waves rolled up the lake. To
+drive the canoe to windward was heavy labor, and while she lurched
+slowly across the combers the sun got low. Lister's wet hands blistered
+and his arms ached, but he swung the paddle stubbornly, and at length
+the houses and hotel stood out from the beach. When they got near the
+landing Ruth looked ahead.
+
+"The train's ready to pull out!" she exclaimed. "Can you make it?"
+
+Lister tried. His face got dark with effort and his hands bled, but in a
+few minutes he ran the canoe aground. Ruth jumped out and they reached
+the station as the bell began to toll. Duveen waved to them from the
+track by the front of the train and then jumped on board, and Lister
+pushed Ruth up the steps of the last car. The car was second-class and
+crowded by returning holiday-makers, but the conductor, who did not know
+Lister and Miss Duveen, declared all the train was full and they must
+stay where they were. When he went off and locked the vestibule Lister
+looked about.
+
+All the seats and much of the central passage were occupied, for the
+most part by young men and women. Some were frankly lovers and did not
+look disturbed by the banter of their friends. Lister was embarrassed,
+for Ruth's sake, until he saw with some surprise that she studied the
+others with amused curiosity. Looking down he met her twinkling glance
+and thought it something like a challenge. His embarrassment got worse.
+One could not talk because of the noise and to shout was ridiculous. He
+must stand in a cramped pose and try not to fall against Ruth when the
+cars rocked. He admitted that his proper background was the rude
+construction camp, and it was something of a relief when they rolled
+into Winnipeg.
+
+Duveen's car was at the station, and Ruth stopped for a moment before
+she got on board.
+
+"You start on Monday and we will be out of town to-morrow. I wish you
+good luck."
+
+Lister thanked her, and when she got into the car she gave him a curious
+smile. "I think I liked you better in the woods," she said, and the car
+rolled off.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+LISTER'S DISSATISFACTION
+
+Soon after his return from Winnipeg, Lister stood one evening by a
+length of track planned to cut out an awkward curve. The new line ran
+into a muskeg that sucked down brush and logs and the loads of numerous
+gravel trains. Angry foremen declared one could not fill up the bog, and
+Lister knew the heads of the construction office grumbled about the
+delay. He was tired, for he had been strenuously occupied since morning,
+but could not persuade himself that the work had made much progress.
+
+Small trees lay in tangled rows about the fresh gravel; farther back,
+the standing bush ran in a broken line against the fading light. In
+front, thin mist drifted across the muskeg where slender trunks rose
+from the quaking mud. Not far off a high, wooden trestle carried the
+rails across a ravine. The bridge would presently be rebuilt with steel,
+but in the meantime the frame was open and the gaps between the ties
+were wide.
+
+It was getting dark and noisy blast-lamps threw up pillars of white
+fire. The line had sunk in the afternoon and it was necessary to lift
+the rails and fill up the subsidence before the next gravel train
+arrived. Lister was angry and puzzled, for he had pushed the road-bed
+across to near the other side, but the rails had not sunk in the new
+belt but in ground over which the trains had run.
+
+By and by a man joined him and remarked: "The boys have got the ties up,
+but I reckon they won't fix the track for three or four hours. Looks as
+if the blamed muskeg was going to beat us."
+
+"She can't beat us," Lister rejoined impatiently. "The trouble is,
+hauling the stuff she swallows runs up construction costs, and that
+counts against us. Did you leave Willis with the gang?"
+
+The other laughed. "I did not. He was tired. Wanted something at the
+office and allowed he'd stop and take a smoke."
+
+"Hustle him out when you go along, Kemp. I'd sooner our chiefs down East
+had kept that young man. The job's not soft enough for him. However, I
+s'pose he lighted the lamp across the bridge?"
+
+"Willis has friends," Kemp remarked meaningly, and indicated a
+reflection behind the trees. "The lamp's burning."
+
+Lister glanced at the trembling light. "I expect it's good enough for
+the engineer, but the flame's not steady. Willis hasn't bothered to get
+the pressure right. It's possible he didn't wait until she warmed the
+oil."
+
+The powerful lamp had been carried across the bridge in order to warn
+the engineer of the gravel train, who on his last journey had run to the
+end of the line. The light could be seen for some distance up the track.
+
+"I got after Hardie about making good time. We must dump his load in the
+soft spot before we stop," Lister resumed.
+
+"He's coming now; climbing the height of land," said Kemp. "He'll let
+her go all out when he makes the top."
+
+A measured throb rolled across the woods, and as the noise got louder
+the beat of the exhaust marked the progress of the train. The explosive
+snorts indicated that the locomotive labored up the last steep pitch,
+and Lister sat down by the rails. He was tired and would not be needed
+until the gravel plough threw the rattling ballast off the cars. After a
+few moments he looked up, for a man came out of the gloom.
+
+"Hello, Willis! I s'pose you've been taking a quiet smoke?"
+
+"That's so," said the other. "I've hustled round since sun-up and
+imagined the gang could get along for half an hour without my watching.
+You want to leave something to your foremen."
+
+Lister said nothing. He did not choose his helpers, but tried to make
+the best use of those the bosses sent. Willis had some useful qualities,
+but he was slack, and got sulky if one drove him hard. The young man had
+come from the drawing-office of a famous bridge-building works.
+
+In the meantime, the rumble of the gravel train grew to a pulsating
+roar. The locomotive had crossed the divide and was running furiously
+down grade. The roughly-ballasted track was uneven, but the engineer had
+been on board since daybreak and no doubt wanted to finish his job.
+
+"She's in the rock cut now," Kemp remarked. "Hardie ought to throttle
+down when he runs out and sees the light."
+
+Lister listened. The swelling note indicated that the train had left the
+cut, but it did not look as if the engineer was pulling up.
+
+"She's coming along pretty fast," said Willis. "If he doesn't snub her
+soon, she'll jump the steel and take the muskeg."
+
+Next moment Lister was on his feet. Hardie was driving too fast; Lister
+doubted if he could stop before the heavy train plunged through the
+broken track. The unsteady white flicker behind the trees had sunk and
+changed to smoky red. If looked as if the oil was not vaporizing
+properly and the lamp was going out. When the engineer saw the light it
+would be too late.
+
+"Get the boys off the track. I'll try to fix the lamp," Lister shouted,
+and started for the bridge.
+
+The errand was not his. Willis had lighted the lamp: moreover, one might
+have sent a workman, but when a job was urgent Lister went himself. The
+job was urgent and dangerous. Unless he made good speed, he would meet
+the train on the bridge and the cylinders of the locomotive projected
+beyond the edge.
+
+The track was rough and fresh gravel rolled under his feet. Now and then
+he struck a cross-tie and nearly fell. It had got dark and among the
+trees the gloom was deep; one could not see the ties. Yet he must run,
+and his breath got labored and his heart thumped. He did not know where
+the train was, only that it was near. The woods throbbed with a savage
+din; the big cars, loaded with rattling gravel, clanged and roared as
+they plunged down grade.
+
+Lister hardly thought he could stop the train. It looked as if he would
+be caught on the trestle, but he meant to go on. He did not argue about
+it; he was rather moved by instinctive stubbornness. At moments of
+strain one does not argue and logic has no appeal. Character counts for
+all, and Lister followed his bent. His job was urgent and must be
+carried out.
+
+When he reached the bridge he saw white threads of water between the
+timbers of the open frame. The spacing of the ties was not regular, and
+if he stepped short, or too far, he would go through. Then, if he did
+not strike a brace, he would fall upon the rocks in the stream. All the
+same, he saw the blaze of the head-lamp pick out the trees across the
+ravine and sprang on to the bridge.
+
+Somehow he hit the ties; perhaps by subconscious judgment, and perhaps
+by good luck. Then he felt loose gravel under his feet and thrilled with
+a strange fierce satisfaction. His breath was labored and his body wet
+by sweat, but the moving beam had not reached the lamp. He was going to
+make it.
+
+When the black front of a gravel car leaped out of the gloom he jumped
+off the track. The locomotive pushed the cars, the train was long, and
+the lamp was but a few yards off. It had not gone out, although the
+flame had sunk to a faint red jet that would not be seen in the dust.
+His hands shook, but he gave the pump a few strokes and turned the valve
+wheel. The red jet got white and leaped higher and Lister, pumping hard,
+looked up the track. Big cars, rocking and banging, rushed past in a
+cloud of dust. Bits of gravel struck him and rattled against the lamp.
+The blurred, dark figures of men who sat upon the load cut against the
+fan-shaped beam, and in the background he saw a shower of leaping
+sparks.
+
+But the other light was growing and Lister turned the wheel. Burning oil
+splashed around him, a pillar of fire rushed up, and when a whistle
+screamed he let go the valve and turned from the blinding dust. He was
+shaking, but the heavy snorting stopped. The engineer had seen the light
+and cut off steam.
+
+When Lister looked round the train was gone. He had done what he had
+undertaken, and after waiting for a few moments he started back. Now he
+could go cautiously, he stopped and tried to brace himself at the end of
+the bridge. Although he had run across not long since, he shrank from
+the dark, forbidding gaps. For all that, he must get back, and feeling
+carefully for the ties, he reached the other side and was for some time
+engaged at the muskeg where two cars had overrun the broken rails. At
+length he went to the log shack he used for his office and
+sleeping-room, and soon after he lighted his pipe Kemp came in.
+
+"You made it," Kemp remarked. "When you stopped me at the bridge I saw
+you'd get there."
+
+Lister laughed. "Now you talk about it, I believe I did shout you to go
+back. Anyhow, you were some way behind. Did Willis come?"
+
+"He did not. Willis was badly rattled and started for the muskeg.
+Thought he might get the track thrown across the hole, perhaps! I'm
+rather sorry for the kid. But what are you going to do about it?"
+
+"Report we had two cars bogged and state the cost of labor. That's all,
+I think."
+
+Kemp nodded. "Well, perhaps there's no use in talking about the lamp.
+Our business is to make good, using the tools we've got. All the same,
+if they want a man somewhere else, I guess I'd recommend Willis."
+
+He smoked quietly for a time, and then resumed: "We don't get forward
+much. In fact, if the new Western irrigation company would take me on, I
+think I'd quit."
+
+Lister pondered. Since his short stop at Winnipeg he had been conscious
+of a strange restlessness. He wanted something the woods could not give,
+and had begun to think life had more to offer than he had known.
+Besides, he was not making much progress.
+
+"Since the double track is to be pushed on across the plains, the
+department will need a bigger staff and there ought to be a chance for
+some of us," he said. "Then there's the new work with the long bridges
+on the lake section that will carry higher pay. We're next on turn and
+have some claim. They ought to move us up."
+
+"I doubt. We didn't come from a famous office, and it's not always
+enough to know your job."
+
+"Somebody will get a better post, and if I'm lucky I'll stay. If not, I
+think I'll try the irrigation works."
+
+"I feel like that," Kemp declared. "But suppose the irrigation people
+turn our application down?"
+
+"Then I'll lie off for a time. Except when I went, to McGill with money
+I earned on a wheat barge, I haven't stopped work since I was a boy. Now
+I'm getting tired and think I'll pull out and go across to look at the
+Old Country. My father was an Englishman, and I have some money to
+burn."
+
+"A good plan," Kemp agreed. "After a change you come back fresh with a
+stronger punch. Well, if we're not put on to the lake section, we'll try
+the irrigation scheme."
+
+He got up and went off, but Lister sat on his bunk and smoked. The bunk
+was packed with swamp-grass on which his coarse Hudson's Bay blankets
+were laid, and the shack was bare. Ragged slickers and old overalls
+occupied the wall, long gum-boots a corner. A big box carried an iron
+wash-basin, and a small table some drawing instruments. Lister was not
+fastidious, and, as a rule, did not stop long enough at one spot to
+justify his making his shack comfortable. Besides, he found it necessary
+to concentrate on his work, and had not much time to think about
+refinements.
+
+All the same, he felt the shack was dreary and his life was bleak. He
+had not felt this until he went to Winnipeg. On the whole, he had liked
+the struggle against physical obstacles. It was his proper job, but the
+struggle was stern and sometimes exhausting, and his reward was small.
+Now he wanted something different, and gave himself to vague and
+brooding discontent.
+
+Ruth Duveen had broken his former tranquillity. In a sense, she had
+awakened him, and he imagined she had meant to do so. All the same, to
+think she loved him was ridiculous; she was rather experimenting with
+fresh material. Yet she was accountable for his discontent. She had
+helped him to see that while he labored in the woods he had missed much.
+He wanted the society of cultivated women and men with power and
+influence; to use control instead of carrying out orders; and to know
+something of refinement and beauty. After all, his father was a
+cultivated Englishman, although Lister imagined he had inherited
+qualities that helped him most from his Canadian mother. It was all he
+had inherited, except some debts he had laboriously paid.
+
+He admitted that to realize his ambitions might be hard, but he meant to
+try. Canada was for the young and stubborn. If his chiefs did not
+promote him, he would make a plunge, and if his new plan did not work,
+he would go over and see the Old Country. Then he would come back,
+braced and refreshed, and try his luck again.
+
+Putting down his pipe, he got into bed. He was tired and in the morning
+the gravel cars must be pulled out of the muskeg. The job was awkward,
+and while he thought about it he went to sleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE TEST
+
+A boisterous wind swept the high plain and round, white-edged clouds
+rolled across the sky. The grass that ran back from the horizon was
+parched, and in the distance a white streak of blowing dust marked a
+dried alkali lake. Dust of dark color drove along the row of wooden
+stores and houses that fronted the railroad track, across which three
+grain elevators rose like castles. The telegraph posts along the track
+melted into the level waste, and behind the spot where they vanished the
+tops of a larger group of elevators cut the edge of the plain.
+
+The street was not paved, and the soil was deeply ploughed by wheels.
+The soil was the black gumbo in which the wheat plant thrives, but the
+town occupied the fringe of a dry belt and farming had not made much
+progress. Now, however, a company was going to irrigate the land with
+water from a river fed by the Rockies' snow. The town was square, and
+although it looked much smaller than real-estate agents' maps indicated,
+it was ornamented by four wooden churches, a Y.M.C.A. like a temple, and
+an ambitious public hall.
+
+The Tecumseh Hotel occupied a corner lot at the end of the street and
+was not remarkably commodious or clean, but its charges were less than
+the Occidental's by the station, and Lister and Kemp were not
+fastidious. Some time had gone since they pulled the gravel cars out of
+the swamp and they had not been sent to the lake section. In
+consequence, they had applied to the irrigation company for a post, and
+having been called to meet the engineers and directors, imagined they
+were on the short list.
+
+Lister lounged against the rails on the Tecumseh veranda. The boards
+were cracked and dirty; burned matches and cigar ends were scattered
+about, and a skeleton, gauze covered door that shut with a powerful
+spring kept some of the flies and mosquitoes out of the hotel.
+
+"We'll know to-morrow," he remarked presently.
+
+Kemp nodded. "I can't figure on our chances. Feel anxious about it?"
+
+"Not much. In fact, I mean to use the thing to test my luck. If we're
+engaged, I'll stay in Canada; if they turn us down, I'll start for the
+Old Country."
+
+"You have no particular plans, I reckon."
+
+"No," said Lister, smiling. "I'm going to look about. I know our new
+Western towns, but I want to see old cities, churches, and cathedrals;
+the great jobs men made before they used concrete and steel. Then I'd
+like to study art and music and see the people my father talked about.
+Ours is a good country, but when it's all you know it gets monotonous."
+He indicated the row of wooden houses and lonely plain. "One wants more
+than the track and this."
+
+"It's possible you may go across," said Kemp. "Looks as if the company's
+short list was pretty long. There's a gang of candidates in town, we
+have no pull on the directors, and I don't know if our advantages are
+very marked--" He stopped and laughed, for a man came round the corner.
+"Hello, Willis!" he exclaimed. "When did you arrive?"
+
+"I came in on the last train. Got a notice to meet the Irrigation
+Board."
+
+"Oh, well," said Kemp, "since the applicants are more numerous than the
+posts, I reckon another won't count. Do you expect they're going to take
+you on?"
+
+"I expect my chance is as good as yours."
+
+"I'll sell you my chance for ten dollars," Kemp rejoined.
+
+"Nothing doing, at the price," said Willis, and went off.
+
+Kemp laughed. Willis was marked by a superficial smartness his comrades
+sometimes found amusing and sometimes annoying. For the most part, they
+bore with him good-humoredly, but did not trust him when work that
+needed careful thought was done.
+
+"The kid looks confident, but his applying for a job is something of a
+joke," Kemp remarked. "I'd put his value at fifty cents a day."
+
+Lister agreed, and looked up the dusty street. The fronts of the small
+frame houses were cracked by the sun, and some were carried up to hide
+the roof and give the building a fictitious height. A Clover-leaf wagon
+stood in front of a store, the wheels crusted by dry mud, and the team
+fidgeted amidst a swarm of flies. Except for one or two railroad hands
+waiting by the caboose of a freight train, nobody was about. The town
+looked strangely dreary.
+
+Yet Lister knew it stood for all the relief from labor in the stinging
+alkali dust one could get. One could loaf in a hard chair in front of
+the hotel, lose a dollar or two at the shabby pool-room, or go to a
+movie show and see pictures of frankly ridiculous Western melodrama. In
+the real West, the pictures were ridiculous, because romantic
+shootings-up did not happen. In fact, unless a stubborn labor dispute
+began, nothing broke the dull monotony of toilsome effort. Romance had
+vanished with the buffaloes. Lister admitted that he had not long felt
+the monotony. The trouble began when he stopped at Winnipeg.
+
+"I think I'll go up the street," he said.
+
+A rough plank sidewalk ran in front of the houses, and Lister imagined
+it was needed when the spring thaw and summer thunder-storms softened
+the gumbo soil. Opposite the Occidental he stopped, for Duveen occupied
+a chair on the veranda. While Lister hesitated Duveen beckoned him to
+come up.
+
+"It's hot and dusty. Will you take a drink?" he said.
+
+Lister refused with thanks and wondered whether Ruth was at the hotel.
+In a way, he would like to see her, but admitted that perhaps he had
+better not. When he asked if she was well Duveen said she had gone to
+Quebec, and gave Lister a cigar.
+
+"It looks as if you had left the railroad," he remarked.
+
+"I have not left yet," said Lister cautiously.
+
+"Then, you won't go unless you get a better job? Did you know I had
+joined the Irrigation Board?"
+
+Lister said he did not know, and got embarrassed when Duveen gave him a
+thoughtful glance. He wondered whether Ruth had talked to Duveen before
+she hinted he might get a better post.
+
+"Perhaps I ought not to have come up. In fact, I hesitated--"
+
+Duveen laughed. "So I remarked! You reckoned the Occidental stoop was
+pretty public and your talking to me might imply that you wanted my
+support? Well, I'll risk that. It's obvious you're on the short list. Do
+you want a post?"
+
+For a moment or two Lister pondered. He did want a post; anyhow, he
+ought to try for it. On the whole he liked Duveen, and thought he might
+have liked Ruth better had she not been rich. All the same, Duveen was a
+shrewd manipulator of new industries and to take a post by his favor
+would be to own a debt, for which payment might be demanded. Yet Duveen
+had been kind and Lister hesitated.
+
+"I asked for a post," he said. "If I'm engaged, I'll try to make good;
+but I must make good at the dam or on the ditch. Then I don't want to
+bother my friends. The company has my engineering record and must judge
+my usefulness by this. If they're not satisfied, I won't grumble much."
+
+"You're an independent fellow, but I think I understand," Duveen
+rejoined with a twinkle. "A company director's duty _is_ to judge an
+applicant for a post by his professional record. If you are appointed,
+you want us to appoint you because we believe you are the proper man?"
+
+"Something like that," said Lister quietly.
+
+Duveen nodded, and his glance rested for a moment on Lister's forehead.
+
+"I see the mark you got on board the train hasn't altogether gone. Did
+you hear anything about the girl you helped?"
+
+"I did not," said Lister, starting, for he had not imagined Duveen knew
+about the girl. "I have not seen her since she went off on the
+locomotive."
+
+"Then she has not written to you since?"
+
+"She could not write, because she doesn't know who I am, and I don't
+know her. We talked for a minute or two, that's all."
+
+Duveen's face was inscrutable and Lister wondered whether he doubted his
+statement. He was annoyed because the other knew so much.
+
+"Oh, well," said Duveen, "I expect you heard they didn't catch Shillito,
+and since he got across the frontier, it's possible the Canadian police
+won't see him again. But I must get ready for supper. Will you stay?"
+
+Lister excused himself and went back to the Tecumseh, where the bill of
+fare was frugal and the serving rude. He imagined he had refused much
+more than a first-class supper, but was satisfied he had taken the
+proper line. For one thing, Duveen knew Ruth had given him her
+friendship and, since he knew his daughter, it was significant that he
+had not thought it necessary to meddle. Lister wondered whether he had
+meant to use him, and was glad he had kept his independence. If he got
+the post now, he would know he had rather misjudged Duveen, but he
+doubted. All the same, he liked the man.
+
+After supper Kemp and he sat on the veranda and watched the green glow
+fade from the edge of the plain. They did not talk much, but by and by
+Kemp remarked: "I thought I saw you go into the Occidental."
+
+"Duveen called me on to the stoop."
+
+"Duveen?" Kemp exclaimed. "Then he's got his hand on the wires! If the
+Irrigation Company puts the undertaking over, a number of the dollars
+will go to Duveen's wad. If he's your friend, I expect you know he could
+get you the job."
+
+"It's possible. All the same, I hinted I didn't want his help."
+
+Kemp laughed. "You surprise me every time! I'm all for a square deal and
+down with scheming grafters and log-rollers, but I allow I hate them
+worst when they give another fellow the post I want."
+
+"The thing's not fixed yet. The company's engineers are going to judge
+and our record's pretty good. They may engage us. We'll know to-morrow."
+
+"Sure thing," Kemp remarked dryly. "I reckon we'll both pull out on the
+first train."
+
+It began to get dark and Lister went off to bed. He must get water from
+a cistern in the roof and to carry the heavy jug was awkward when one
+could not see. At the Tecumseh the guests were expected to carry water
+for themselves, and Lister, groping along the shadowy passage with his
+load, thought his doing so had some significance. It was part of the
+price he must pay for freedom.
+
+At the time fixed in the morning, he went to the Occidental and was
+shown into a room where a number of gentlemen occupied a table. One or
+two were smoking and the others talked in low voices, but when Lister
+came in and the secretary indicated a chair they turned as if to study
+him. Duveen sat next a man at the end of the table and gave Lister a
+nod. Somehow Lister thought he was amused.
+
+Lister's heart beat. He felt this was ridiculous, because he had
+persuaded himself it did not matter whether he got the post or not. Now,
+however, when the moment to try his luck had come, he shrank from the
+plunge he had resolved to make if he were not engaged. After all, he
+knew and liked his occupation; to let it go and try fresh fields would
+be something of a wrench.
+
+The gentlemen did not embarrass him. On the whole, they were urbane, and
+when the secretary gave the chairman his application one asked a few
+questions about the work he had done. Lister was able to answer
+satisfactorily, and another talked to him about the obstacles
+encountered when one excavated treacherous gravel and built a bank to
+stand angry floods. For all that, Lister was anxious. The others looked
+bored, as if they were politely playing a game. He thought they knew
+beforehand how the game would end, but he did not know. The inquiries
+that bored the urbane gentlemen had important consequences for him and
+the suspense was keen.
+
+At length they let him go, and Duveen gave him a smile that Lister
+thought implied much. When he returned to the hotel Kemp remarked that
+he looked as if he needed a drink, and suggested that Lister go with him
+and get one.
+
+"I need three or four drinks, but mean to go without," said Lister
+grimly. "I begin to understand how some men get the tanking habit."
+
+He started off across the plain, and coming back too late for lunch,
+found Kemp on the veranda. Kemp looked as if he were trying to be
+philosophical, but found it hard.
+
+"The secretary arrived not long since," he said. "A polite man! He
+didn't want to let us down too heavily."
+
+"Ah!" said Lister. "The Irrigation people have no use for us?"
+
+Kemp nodded. "Willis has got the best job; they've hired up two or three
+others, but we're left out."
+
+"Willis!" exclaimed Lister, and joined in Kemp's laugh.
+
+"After all, the money he's going to get is theirs," said Kemp. "In this
+country we're a curious lot. We let grafters and wire-pullers run us,
+and, when we start a big job, get away with much of the capital we want
+for machines; but somehow we make good. We shoulder a load we needn't
+carry and hit the pace up hot. If we got clean control, I reckon we'd
+never stop. However, there's not much use in philosophizing when you've
+lost your job, and the East-bound train goes out in a few minutes. You'd
+better pack your grip."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+BARBARA PLAYS A PART
+
+Lister returned to the railroad camp and stayed until the company sent a
+man to fill his post. In the meantime, he wrote to some of his father's
+relations, whom he had not seen, and their reply was kind. They stated
+that while he was in England he must make their house his home. When his
+successor arrived he started for Montreal, and one afternoon sat under a
+tree in the square by the cathedral.
+
+The afternoon was calm. A thunderstorm that wet the streets had gone,
+and an enervating damp heat brooded over the city. After the fresh winds
+that sweep the woods and plains, Lister felt the languid air made him
+slack and dull. His steamer did not sail until daybreak, and since he
+had gone up the mountain and seen the cathedral and Notre Dame, he did
+not know what to do. The bench he occupied was in the shade, and he
+smoked and looked about.
+
+Cabs rolled up the street to the big hotel across the square, and behind
+the trees the huge block of the C.P.R. station cut the sky. One heard
+whistles, the rumble of heavy wheels, and the tolling of locomotive
+bells. Pigeons flew down from the cathedral dome and searched the damp
+gravel.
+
+A group of foreign emigrants picnicked in the shade. Their clothes were
+old and greasy; they carried big shapeless bundles and looked tired and
+worn. Lister could not guess their nationality, but imagined they had
+known poverty and oppression in Eastern Europe. It was obvious they had
+recently disembarked from a crowded steerage and waited for an emigrant
+train. They were going West, to the land of promise, and Lister wished
+them luck. He and they were birds of passage and, with all old landmarks
+left behind, rested for a few hours on their journey.
+
+He studied the group. The men looked dull and beaten; the women had no
+beauty and had grown coarse with toil. Their faces were pinched and
+their shoulders bent. Only the children, in spite of rags and dirt,
+struck a hopeful note. Yet the forlorn strangers had pluck; they had
+made a great adventure and might get their reward. Lister had seen
+others in the West, who had made good, breaking soil they owned and
+walking with the confident step of self-respecting men. On the plains,
+stubborn labor was rewarded, but one needed pluck to leave all one knew
+and break custom's familiar but heavy yoke.
+
+By and by Lister remembered he wanted to take his relations a few
+typically Canadian presents. He had seen nothing that satisfied him at
+Winnipeg, and had better look about the shops at Montreal. Anyhow, it
+would amuse him for an hour or two. He got up, went along the path for a
+few yards, and then stopped.
+
+Across the clanging of the locomotive bells and the roll of trolley cars
+at the bottom of the hill he heard sweet voices. The music was faint and
+somehow ethereal, as if it fell from a height. One lost it now and then.
+It came from the cathedral and Lister stopped and listened. He did not
+know what office was being sung, but the jaded emigrants knew, for a
+child got up and stood with bent head, holding a greasy cap, and a
+ragged woman's face got gentle as she signed herself with the cross. It
+looked as if the birds of passage had found a landmark in a foreign
+land. Lister was moved, and gave the child a coin before he went off.
+
+He strolled east, past Notre Dame, towards the post office, about which
+the stately banks and imposing office blocks stand. This quarter of the
+city drew him, for one saw how constructive talent and imagination could
+be used, and he wondered whether England had new buildings like these.
+Sometimes one felt the Western towns were raw and vulgar, but one saw
+the bold Canadian genius at its best in Montreal.
+
+After a time he stopped in front of a shop in a short side street.
+Indian embroidery work and enameled silver occupied the window, and
+although Lister was not an artist he had an eye for line and knew the
+things were good. The soft, stained deerskin was cleverly embroidered;
+he liked the warm colors of the enamel, and going in was shown a tray of
+spoons.
+
+The shop, shut in by high buildings, was dark and smelt of aromatic wood
+and leather, but a beam from a window pierced the gloom and sparkled on
+the silver. This was emblazoned with the arms of the Provinces; the
+Ship, the Wheatsheaves, and the red Maple Leaf. Lister picked up the
+articles, and while he did so was vaguely conscious that a girl at the
+opposite counter studied him. He, however, did not look up until he had
+selected a few of the spoons, and then he started.
+
+The light that touched the girl's face did not illuminate it all. Her
+profile was sharp as an old daguerreotype: he saw the flowing line from
+brow to chin, drawn with something of austere classic beauty, the arched
+lips and the faint indication of a gently-rounded cheek. The rest was in
+shadow, and the contrast of light and gloom was like a Rembrandt
+picture. Then the enameled spoons rattled as Lister put down the tray.
+He knew the picture. When he last saw the girl, her face was lighted
+like that by the blaze of a locomotive head-lamp.
+
+"I'll take these things," he said, and crossed the floor.
+
+The girl moved back, but he indicated a bundle of deerskin articles he
+thought her business was to sell. Her color was high; he noted the vivid
+white and pink against the dull background of stained leather.
+
+"What does one do with those bags?" he asked.
+
+"They're useful for keeping gloves and handkerchiefs," she replied. "The
+pattern is worked in sinews, but we have some with a neat colored
+embroidery." She paused and signed to a saleswoman farther on. "Will you
+bring this gentleman the Revillon goods?"
+
+Lister's object for stopping her was not very plain, but he did not mean
+to let her go.
+
+"Please don't bother. I expect to find something in this bundle," he
+said to the approaching saleswoman. Then he turned to the girl in front.
+"Let me look at the bag with the arrow-head pattern."
+
+She gave him the bag, and although her glance was steady he knew she was
+embarrassed.
+
+"If you will wrap it up, I'll keep this one," he resumed. "I expect you
+have not forgotten me. When I came into the shop I didn't imagine I
+should meet you, but if you'd sooner I went off, I'll go."
+
+"I have not forgotten," she admitted, and her color faded and came back
+to her delicate skin.
+
+"Very well! Since I sail to-night on the Allan boat, it's plain you
+needn't be afraid of my bothering you. All the same, we were partners in
+an adventure that ought to make us friends. Can't I meet you for a few
+minutes when you stop work?"
+
+She hesitated, and then gave him a searching glance.
+
+"Come to the fountain up the street in an hour. This is my early
+evening."
+
+Lister went off with the bag and spoons, and when he returned to the
+fountain saw her crossing the square in front. She was dressed like the
+shop-girls he had seen hurrying on board the street cars in the morning;
+her clothes were pretty and fashionable, but Lister thought the material
+was cheap. He felt she ought not to wear things like that. While she
+advanced he studied her. She was attractive, in a way he had hardly
+remarked on board the train. One rather noted her quick, resolute
+movements, the sparkle in her eyes, and her keen vitality. Lister began
+to think he had unconsciously noted much.
+
+"I'm going to take you to supper, and you can send me off when you like
+afterwards," he said and started across the square. A famous restaurant
+was not far off.
+
+"No," she said, as if she knew where he was going. "If I go with you, it
+must be the tea-rooms I and my friends use." She gave him a rather hard
+smile and added: "There's no use in my going where I don't belong."
+
+Lister said nothing, but while they walked across the town she talked
+with a brightness he thought forced, and when they stopped at a small
+tea-room in a side street he frowned. He was persuaded she did not
+belong there. She was playing a part, perhaps not very cleverly since he
+had found her out. She wanted him to think her a shop-girl enjoying an
+evening's adventure; her talk and careless laugh hinted at this, but
+Lister was not cheated.
+
+They went in. The room was small and its ornamentation unusual.
+Imitation vines crawled about light wooden arches, cutting up the floor
+space into quiet corners. The room was rather dark, but pink lamps shone
+among the leaves and the soft light touched the tables and clusters of
+artificial grapes. Lister thought the plan was well carried out, for the
+grapes were the small red Muskokas that grow in Canada. When he picked
+up the menu card he understood why girls from the stores and offices
+used the place.
+
+Lister ordered the best supper the French-Canadian landlady could serve,
+and then began to talk while he helped his companion. The corner they
+occupied was secluded and he owned that to sup with an attractive girl
+had a romantic charm. He noted that she frankly enjoyed the food and he
+liked her light, quick laugh and the sparkle in her eyes. Her thin
+summer clothes hinted at a slender, finely-lined form, and her careless
+pose was graceful.
+
+He wondered whether she felt her meeting him was something of an
+adventure, but he was persuaded she was playing a part. Her frankness
+was not bold, the little, French-Canadian gestures were obviously
+borrowed, and some of the colloquialisms she used were out of date.
+Except for these, her talk was cultivated. For a time Lister tried to
+play up, and then resolved to see if he could break her reserve.
+
+"It looks as if you made Malcolm all right on board the gravel train,"
+he remarked.
+
+She gave him a quick glance and colored. "Yes, I made it and got the
+East-bound express. The engineer was kind. I expect you told him he must
+help?"
+
+"When I put you on board the locomotive I knew Roberts would see you
+out. He's a sober fellow and has two girls as old as you."
+
+"You don't know how old I am," she said with an effort for carelessness.
+
+"Anyhow, it's plain you are young enough to be rash," Lister rejoined.
+
+She put down her cup and her glance was soft. He saw she was not acting.
+
+"I don't think I really was rash--not _then_. It's something to know
+when you can trust people, and I did know."
+
+Lister was embarrassed, but her gentleness had charm. He did not want
+her to resume her other manner. Then he was tempted to make an
+experiment.
+
+"You know Shillito got away?"
+
+Her lips trembled and the blood came to her skin, but she fronted him
+bravely and he felt ashamed.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I think I would sooner he had been caught! But why did
+you begin to talk about Shillito?"
+
+"Perhaps I oughtn't; I'm sorry."
+
+She studied him and he thought she pondered, although it was possible
+she wanted to recover her calm.
+
+"Unless you are very dull, you know something," she resumed with an
+effort. "Well, I was rash, but just before I saw you on the platform I
+found out all I'd risked. I think I was desperate; I meant to jump off
+the train, only it was going fast and water shone under the bridge. Then
+you pushed me from the step and I felt I must make another plunge and
+try to get your help. Now I'm glad I did so. But that's all."
+
+Lister understood that the thing was done with. She would tell him
+nothing more, and he was sorry he had indulged his curiosity.
+
+"Oh, well," he said, "there's not much risk of my bothering you about
+the fellow again. I start for England in a few hours."
+
+Her glance got wistful. She moved her plate and her hand trembled.
+
+"You are English?" he resumed.
+
+"I met you first on board a Canadian train and now you find me helping
+at a Montreal store. Isn't this enough? Why do you try to find out where
+I come from?"
+
+"I'm sorry. All the same, you're not a Canadian."
+
+"I am a Canadian now," she rejoined, and then added, as if she were
+resolved to talk about something else, "There's a mark on your forehead,
+like a deep cut. You hadn't got it when I saw you on the platform."
+
+"No," said Lister. "I fell down some steps not long afterwards."
+
+She looked at him sharply and then exclaimed: "Oh! the newspapers said
+there was a struggle on the train! Somebody helped the police and got
+hurt. It was you. Shillito knew you had meddled. You got the cut for
+me!"
+
+"We agreed we wouldn't talk about Shillito. I got the cut because I
+didn't want to see a young police trooper knocked out. People who meddle
+do get hurt now and then. Anyhow, it's some time since and I think we'll
+let it go. Suppose you tell me about Montreal and your job at the
+store?"
+
+She roused herself and began to talk. Lister thought it cost her
+something, but she sketched her working companions with skill and humor.
+She used their accent and their French-Canadian gestures. Lister laughed
+and led her on, although he got a hint of strain. The girl was not happy
+and he had noted her wistful look when she talked about England. At
+length she got up, and stopping at the door for a moment gave him her
+hand.
+
+"Thank you. I wish you _bon voyage_," she said.
+
+"Can't we go somewhere else? Is there nothing doing at the theaters?"
+Lister asked.
+
+"No," she said resolutely; "I'm going home. Anyhow, I'm going where I
+live."
+
+Lister let her go, but waited, watching her while she went up the
+street. Somehow she looked forlorn and he felt pitiful. He remembered
+that he did not know her name, which he had wanted to ask but durst not.
+
+When he returned to his hotel he stopped at the desk and gave the clerk
+a cigarette. As a rule, a Canadian hotel clerk knows something about
+everybody of importance in the town.
+
+"I bought some _souvenirs_ at a curiosity depot," he said, and told the
+other where the shop was. "Although they charged me pretty high, the
+things looked good."
+
+"You haven't got stung," the clerk remarked. "The folks are
+French-Canadians but they like a square deal. If you put up the money,
+they put up the goods."
+
+"The shop hands looked smart and bright. If you study the sales people,
+you can sometimes tell how a store is run."
+
+"That's so. Those girls don't want to grumble. They're treated all
+right."
+
+"Oh, well," said Lister, "since I don't know much about enameled goods
+and deerskin truck, I'm glad I've not got stung."
+
+When he went off the other smiled, for a hotel clerk is not often
+cheated, and he thought he saw where Lister's remarks led. Lister,
+however, was strangely satisfied. It was something to know the
+storekeepers were honest and kind to the people they employed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+VERNON'S CURIOSITY
+
+Silky blue lines streaked the long undulations that ran back to the
+horizon and the _Flaminian_ rolled with a measured swing. When her bows
+went down the shining swell broke with a dull roar and rainbows
+flickered in the spray about her forecastle; then, while the long deck
+got level, one heard the beat of engines and the grinding of screws. A
+wake like an angry torrent foamed astern, and in the distance, where the
+dingy smoke-cloud melted, the crags of Labrador ran in faint, broken
+line. Ahead an ice-floe glittered in the sun. The liner had left Belle
+Isle Strait and was steaming towards Greenland on the northern Atlantic
+course.
+
+Harry Vernon occupied a chair on the saloon-deck and read the _Montreal
+Star_ which had been sent on board at Rimouski. The light reflected by
+the white boats and deck was strong; he was not much interested, and put
+down the newspaper when Lister joined him. They had met on the journey
+from Winnipeg to Montreal, and on boarding the _Flaminian_ Lister was
+given the second berth in Vernon's room. Vernon liked Lister.
+
+"Take a smoke," he said, indicating a packet of cigarettes. "Nothing
+fresh in the newspapers. They've caught the fellow Porteous; he was
+trying to steal across to Detroit."
+
+Lister sat down and lighted a cigarette. Porteous was a clerk who had
+not long since gone off with a large sum of his employer's money.
+
+"Canada is getting a popular hunting ground for smart crooks. It looks
+as if our business men were easily robbed."
+
+"There are two kinds of business men; one lot makes things, the other
+buys and sells. Some of the first are pretty good manufacturers, but
+stop at that. They concentrate on manufacturing and hire a specialist to
+look after finance."
+
+"But if the specialist's a crook, can't you spot him when he gets to
+work?"
+
+"As a rule, the men who get stung know all about machines and material
+but nothing about book-keeping," Vernon replied. "A bright accountant
+could rob one or two I've met when he was asleep. For example, there was
+Shillito. His employers were big and prosperous lumber people; clever
+men at their job, but Shillito gambled with their money for some time
+before they got on his track. I expect you read about him in the
+newspapers?"
+
+Lister smiled and, pushing back his cap, touched his forehead.
+
+"I know something about Shillito. That's his mark!"
+
+"Then you were the man he knocked out!" Vernon exclaimed. "But he hasn't
+got your money. Why did you help the police?"
+
+"It isn't very obvious. Somehow, I didn't like the fellow. Then, you
+see, the girl--"
+
+"The girl? What had a girl to do with it?"
+
+Lister frowned. He had not meant to talk about the girl and was angry
+because he had done so, but did not see how he could withdraw his
+careless statement. Moreover Vernon looked interested, and it was
+important that both were typical Canadians. The young Canadian is not
+subtle; as a rule, his talk is direct, and at awkward moments he is
+generally marked by a frank gravity. Vernon was grave now and Lister
+thought he pondered. He had not known Vernon long, but he felt one could
+trust him.
+
+"I met a girl on board the train," he said. "She was keen about getting
+away from Shillito."
+
+"Why did she want to get away?"
+
+"I don't know. Looked as if she was afraid of him. When I first saw her
+she was on the car platform and I reckoned she was bracing herself to
+jump off. Since we were running across a trestle, I pulled her from the
+steps. That's how the thing began."
+
+"But it didn't stop just then?"
+
+"It stopped soon afterwards," Lister replied. "She wanted to get off and
+go East; the train was bound West, but we were held up at a side-track,
+and I put her on board a gravel train locomotive."
+
+"Then she went East!" said Vernon thoughtfully, and studied the other.
+
+Lister sat with his head thrown back and the sun on his brown face. His
+look was calm and frank; his careless pose brought out the lines of his
+thin but muscular figure. Vernon felt he was honest; he knew Lister's
+type.
+
+"She went off on board our construction locomotive," Lister replied.
+
+"But I don't see yet! Why did you meddle? Why did she give you her
+confidence?"
+
+"She didn't give me her confidence," Lister said, and smiled. "She
+wanted to get away and I helped. That's all. It's obvious I wasn't out
+for a romantic adventure, because I put her off the train."
+
+Vernon nodded. Lister's argument was sound; besides, he did not look
+like a philanderer.
+
+"Then you don't know who she is?"
+
+"I don't know. She didn't put me wise and my business was not to bother
+her."
+
+"What was she like? Did you guess her age? How was she dressed?"
+
+Lister lighted a fresh cigarette. Vernon's keenness rather puzzled him,
+but he thought he had told the fellow enough. In fact, he doubted if the
+girl would approve his frankness. He was not going to state that he had
+met her at Montreal. Anyhow, not yet. If Vernon talked about the thing
+again and gave proper grounds for his curiosity, he might perhaps
+satisfy him.
+
+"She was young," he answered vaguely. "Attractive, something of a
+looker, I think. I don't know much about women's clothes."
+
+"Oh, well!" said Vernon. "You helped her off and Shillito found this out
+and got after you?"
+
+"He got after me when he saw he was corraled," Lister replied, and
+narrated his struggle on the platform. He was now willing to tell Vernon
+all he wanted to know, but saw the other's interest was not keen and
+they presently began to talk about something else.
+
+"What are you going to do in the Old Country?" Vernon asked.
+
+"I have no plans. For a time, I guess I'll loaf and look about. Then I
+want to see my father's folks, whom I haven't met."
+
+"Your father was English?"
+
+"Why, yes," said Lister, smiling. "If you reckon up, you'll find a big
+proportion of the staunchest Canadians' parents came from the Old
+Country. In fact, I sometimes feel Canada belongs to us and the boys of
+the sourdough stock. Between us we have given the country its stamp and
+made it a land for white men; but we'll soon be forced to make good our
+claim. If we're slack, we'll be snowed under by folks from Eastern
+Europe whose rules and habits are not ours."
+
+Vernon nodded. "It's a problem we have got to solve. But are you going
+back to the railroad when you have looked about?"
+
+"I'm going back some time, but, now I have pulled out, I want to see all
+I can. I'd like to look at Europe, Egypt and India."
+
+"Wandering around costs something," Vernon remarked.
+
+"That is so. My wad's small, but if I've not had enough when it's used
+up, I'll look for a job. If nothing else is doing, I'll go to sea."
+
+Vernon's smile was sympathetic and he looked ahead, over the dipping
+forecastle to the far horizon. The sea shone with reflected light and an
+iceberg glimmered against the blue. He felt the measured throb of
+engines and the ship leap forward. Vernon was a young Canadian and
+sprang from pioneering stock. The vague distance called; he felt the
+lure of going somewhere.
+
+"If the thing was possible, I'd go with you," he said. "All the same,
+I'm tied to business and the old man can't pull his load alone. My job's
+to stick to the traces and help him along. But do you know much about
+the sea?"
+
+"I was engineer on board a Pacific coasting boat and a wheat barge on
+the Lakes."
+
+"Well," said Vernon thoughtfully, "I know an English shipping boss who
+might help you get a berth. I'd rather like you to meet him, but we'll
+talk about this again. Now let's join those fellows at deck-quoits."
+
+Their friendship ripened, but it was not until the last day of the
+voyage Vernon said something more about the English ship-owner.
+_Flaminian_ was steaming across the Irish Sea, with the high blue hills
+of Mourne astern and the Manx rocks ahead. Vernon lounged on the
+saloon-deck and his face was thoughtful as he looked across the shining
+water.
+
+"We'll make Liverpool soon after dark, and if I can get the train I
+want, I'll pull out right then," he said. "You allowed you might try a
+run on board an English ship before you went back?"
+
+"It's possible," said Lister. "Depends on how my wad holds out and on
+somebody's being willing to give me a post."
+
+Vernon nodded. "That's where I'm leading." He stopped, and Lister
+wondered why he pondered. The thing did not seem worth the thought his
+companion gave it.
+
+"I reckon you don't know Cartwright of the Independent Freighters, but
+he could put you wise about getting a ship," Vernon resumed. "I'm
+stopping for a week or two at his country house. The freighters are
+small boats, but Cartwright's worth knowing; in fact, to know him is
+something of an education. In the West we're pretty keen business men,
+and I've put across some smart deals at the Winnipeg Board of Trade, but
+I'll admit Cartwright would beat me every time. Where do you mean to
+locate?"
+
+Lister said he was going to the neighborhood of a small country town in
+the North of England, and was puzzled by Vernon's start.
+
+"That fixes it! The thing's strangely lucky. Cartwright's country house
+is not far off. You had better come along by my train. Soon after I
+arrive I'll get Mrs. Cartwright to ask you across."
+
+"I mustn't bother your friends," said Lister. "Besides, I really don't
+know if I want to go to sea."
+
+"All the same, you'll come over to Carrock. You ought to know Cartwright
+and I reckon he'll like to know you. I have a notion you and he would
+make a good team."
+
+Lister wondered whether Vernon had an object for urging him to meet his
+friend, but this looked ridiculous.
+
+"What's Cartwright like?" he asked carelessly.
+
+"My notion is, Cartwright's unique. You imagine he's something of a
+highbrow Englishman, rather formal and polite, but he has an eye like a
+fish-hawk's and his orders go. Hair and mustache white; you don't know
+if his clothes are old or new, but you feel they're exactly what he
+ought to wear. That's Cartwright, so to speak, on top; but when you meet
+him you want to remember you're not up against a Canadian. We're a
+straight type. When we're tough, we're very tough all the time; when
+we're cultivated, you can see the polish shine. In the Old Country it's
+harder to fix where folks belong."
+
+"You imply that you have got to know Cartwright before you fix him?"
+
+Vernon laughed. "I haven't quite fixed him yet. At one time he's a sober
+gentleman of the stiff old school; at another he's as rough as the
+roughest hobo I've met in the West. I reckon he'd beat a business crook
+at the other's smartest trick, but if you're out for a straight deal,
+you'll find Cartwright straight."
+
+He went off to change some money and Lister went to his cabin and began
+to pack his trunk. When he came up they had passed the Chicken Rock and
+a long bright beam touched the sea astern. In the East, water and sky
+faded to dusky blue, but presently a faint light began to blink as if it
+beckoned. The light got brighter and gradually drew abeam. The foaming
+wake glimmered lividly in the dark, the beat of screws seemed quicker,
+and Lister thought the ship was carried forward by a stream of tide.
+
+Other lights began to blink. They stole out of the dark, got bright, and
+vanished, and Lister, leaning on the rails, felt they called him on. One
+knew them by their colors and measured flashes. They were beacons,
+burning on a well-ordered plan to guide the navigator, but he did not
+know the plan. In a sense, this was important, and he began to muse.
+
+Now he would soon reach the Old Country, he felt he had made a momentous
+plunge. Adventure called, he knew Canada and wanted something fresh, but
+he wondered whether this was all. Perhaps the plunge had, so to speak,
+not been a thoughtless caprice. In a sense, things had led up to it and
+made it logical. For example, it might not have been for nothing he met
+the girl on the train and got hurt. His hurt had kept him at Winnipeg
+and stopping there had roused his discontent. Then he had met Vernon,
+who wanted him to know the English ship-owner. It was possible these
+things were like the flashes that leaped out of the dark. He would know
+where they pointed when the journey was over. Then Lister smiled and
+knocked out his pipe.
+
+When he went on deck again some time afterwards the ship was steering
+for a gap between two rows of twinkling lights. They ran on, closing on
+each other, like electric lamps in a long street, and in front the sky
+shone with a dull red glow. It was the glimmer of a great port, they
+were entering the Mersey, and he went off to get up his luggage.
+
+PART II--THE RECKONING
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+VERNON'S PLOT
+
+Lister occupied the end of a slate-flag bench on the lawn at Carrock,
+Mrs. Cartwright's house in Rannerdale. Rannerdale slopes to a lake in
+the North Country, and the old house stands among trees and rocks in a
+sheltered hollow. The sun shone on its lichened front, where a creeper
+was going red; in the background birches with silver stems and leaves
+like showers of gold gleamed against somber firs. Across the lawn and
+winding road, the tranquil lake reflected bordering woods; and then long
+mountain slopes that faded from yellow and green to purple closed the
+view.
+
+While Lister waited for the tea Mrs. Cartwright had given him to cool he
+felt the charm of house and dale was strong. Perhaps it owed something
+to the play of soft light and shade, for, as a rule, in Canada all was
+sharply cut. The English landscape had a strange elusive beauty that
+gripped one hard, and melted as the fleecy clouds rolled by. When the
+light came back color and line were as beautiful but not the same.
+
+There was no grass in Canada like the sweep of smooth English turf, and
+Lister had not thought a house could give the sense of ancient calm one
+got at Carrock. Since his boyhood he had not known a home; his resting
+place had been a shack at a noisy construction camp, a room at a crowded
+cheap hotel, and a berth beside a steamer's rattling engines. Then the
+shining silver on the tea-table was something new; he marked its beauty
+of line, and the blue and gold and brown pattern on the delicate china
+he was almost afraid to touch. In fact, all at Carrock was marked by a
+strange refinement and quiet charm.
+
+He liked his hosts. Mrs. Cartwright was large, rather fat, and placid,
+but he felt the house and all it stood for were hers by rightful
+inheritance. Her son and daughter were not like that. Lister thought
+they had cultivated their well-bred serenity and by doing so had
+cultivated out some virile qualities of human nature. Grace Hyslop had
+beauty, but not much charm; Lister thought her cold, and imagined her
+prejudices were strong and conventional. Mortimer's talk and manners
+were colorlessly correct. Lister did not know yet if Hyslop was a prig
+or not.
+
+Cartwright was frankly puzzling. He looked like a sober country
+gentleman, and this was not the type Lister had thought to meet. His
+clothes were fastidiously good, his voice had a level, restrained note,
+but his eye was like a hawk's, as Vernon had said. Now and then one saw
+a twinkle of ironical amusement and some of his movements were quick and
+vigorous. Lister thought Cartwright's blood was red.
+
+Vernon, lounging at the opposite end of the bench, talked about a day
+Hyslop and he had spent upon the rocks, and rather struck a foreign
+note. He had not Hyslop's graceful languidness; he looked alert and
+highly-strung. His thin face was too grave for Carrock and his glance
+too quick. Lister, listening to his remarks, was surprised to note that
+Hyslop was a bold mountaineer.
+
+"Oh, well," he said, with a deprecatory smile, when Vernon stopped,
+"this small group of mountains is all the wild belt we have got, and you
+like to find a stranger keen about your favorite sport. Then your
+keenness was flattering. In your country, with its lonely woods and
+rivers running to the North, you have a field for strenuous sport and
+adventure."
+
+"The woods pull," Vernon agreed. "All the same, I'm a business man.
+Betting at the Board of Trade is my proper job and I've got to be
+satisfied with a week at a fishing camp now and then. Adventure is for
+the pioneers, lumber men and railroad builders like my friend."
+
+Lister looked up. He did not see why Vernon talked about him.
+
+"My adventures don't count for much," he said. "Sometimes a car went
+into a muskeg and we had to hustle to dig her out. Sometimes the boys
+made trouble about their pay. Railroad building is often dull."
+
+"I don't know if we're all modest in Canada, but my partner is," Vernon
+observed. "If you want a romantic tale, persuade him to tell you how he
+got the mark on his head."
+
+"Oh shucks!" said Lister. "I had sooner you had cut that out." He turned
+to the others apologetically. "It was a dispute with a fellow on board a
+train who threw me down the steps. I don't want to bore you with the
+tale."
+
+"The man was the famous crook, Shillito," Vernon remarked.
+
+Cartwright lifted his head and looked at Vernon hard. Then he looked at
+Lister, who felt embarrassed and angry. He saw Grace and Mrs. Cartwright
+were curious and thought Hyslop's glance got keen.
+
+"If it will not bother Mr. Lister, we would like to hear his narrative,"
+said Cartwright quietly, but Lister got a hint of command.
+
+He narrated his adventure on the train, and although he tried to rob the
+story of its romance, was surprised when he stopped for a moment. Vernon
+was carelessly lighting a cigarette, but Lister saw his carelessness was
+forced. When he got a light he crossed the grass, as if he meant to
+throw the match over the hedge. Lister thought Cartwright watched Harry
+with dry amusement. Mrs. Cartwright's look was obviously disturbed, but
+she had not altogether lost her calm. One felt her calm was part of her,
+but the Hyslops' was cultivated. Lister imagined it cost them something
+to use control.
+
+"Go on," said Cartwright, rather sharply.
+
+Lister resumed, but presently Cartwright stopped him.
+
+"You imagined the girl was afraid of Shillito! What were your grounds?"
+
+"She was disturbed and declared she must get off the train. I think she
+meant to jump off, although we were going fast. Then she asked me if the
+conductor could be bribed to stop."
+
+"Perhaps we can take it for granted she wanted to get away from
+somebody. Why did you surmise the man was Shillito?"
+
+"He came through the car afterwards, as if he tried to find the girl,
+and gave me a keen glance. When he came back I thought him angry and
+disappointed. By and by I had better grounds for imagining he suspected
+I had helped her."
+
+Cartwright pondered, but Lister did not think he doubted. It rather
+looked as if he weighed something carefully. The lines on his face got
+deeper and his look was thoughtful.
+
+"I understand the girl did not give you her name," he said. "What was
+she like? How was she dressed?"
+
+Lister was rather surprised to find he could not answer satisfactorily.
+It was not the girl's physical qualities but her emotions he had marked.
+He remembered the pluck with which she had struggled against the fear
+she obviously felt, her impulsive trust when he offered help, and her
+relief when she got into the locomotive cab. Although he had studied her
+at Montreal, it was her effort to play a part that impressed him most.
+
+"She was young, and I think attractive," he replied. "She wore a knitted
+cap and a kind of jersey a girl might use for boating. I thought she
+came from a summer camp."
+
+Cartwright's face was inscrutable, but Lister saw the others' interest
+was keen. Mrs. Cartwright's eyes were fixed on him and he got a hint of
+suspense. Although Grace was very quiet, a touch of color had come to
+her skin, as if she felt humiliated. Mortimer's pose was stiff and his
+control over done. Then Cartwright turned to his step-daughter.
+
+"Have you told Jones about the box of plants for Liverpool?"
+
+Grace's look indicated that she did not want to go, but Cartwright's
+glance was insistent and she got up. Lister looked about and saw Vernon
+had not come back. He was studying the plants in a border across the
+lawn. When Grace had gone Cartwright asked:
+
+"Can you remember the evening of the month and the time when you first
+saw the girl?"
+
+Lister fixed the date and added: "It was nearly ten o'clock. The porter
+had just gone through the car and when he said my berth was ready I
+looked at my watch. He went to the next Pullman, and I thought he was
+getting busy late."
+
+Cartwright nodded and Mortimer glanced at him sharply, but next moment
+looked imperturbable. Mrs. Cartwright's relief, however, was obvious.
+Her face had become animated and her hands trembled.
+
+"Thank you," said Cartwright. "Go on."
+
+Lister narrated his putting the girl on board the gravel train and Mrs.
+Cartwright interrupted.
+
+"Do you know if she had money?"
+
+"She had some. Enough to buy a ticket East."
+
+"It's strange," said Mrs. Cartwright, and then exclaimed: "You mean you
+gave her some?"
+
+"Oh, well," said Lister awkwardly, "I'd seen her look at her purse and
+frown, and as I helped her up the locomotive steps I pushed a few bills
+into her hand. I don't think she knew they were paper money. She was
+highly-strung and anxious to get off before Shillito came along."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave him a look that moved him. Her eyes shone and he
+knew she was his friend.
+
+"The poor girl was strangely lucky when she met you," she said.
+
+Lister resumed his narrative, but it was plain the climax had passed.
+The others' interest was now polite, and he went on as fast as possible.
+He had begun to see a light and wanted to finish and get away. He did
+not, however, see that while he told his artless tale he had drawn his
+character. When he stopped Cartwright said:
+
+"Then you did not know her name?"
+
+"I don't know it yet," said Lister, as coolly as he could, but got
+embarrassed when he saw Cartwright's smile.
+
+"You don't imagine Shillito rejoined her afterwards?"
+
+"No," said Lister firmly, "I think it's impossible. The gravel train was
+going East, and when the police boarded the cars we had run some
+distance West." He stopped for a moment, because he saw he was very
+dull. If his supposition were correct, there was something the others
+ought to know. "Besides," he resumed, "I met her not long since at
+Montreal."
+
+"At Montreal!" Mrs. Cartwright exclaimed.
+
+"At a shop where they sold _souvenirs_," Lister replied. "I didn't
+expect to meet her; I went in to buy some enameled things. It was a
+pretty good shop and the hotel clerk declared the people were all right.
+She knew me and we went to a tea-room. She left me at the door, and I
+think that's all."
+
+He got up. "I don't know if I have bored you, but I felt you wanted me
+to talk. Now I must get off, and I want to see Harry before I go."
+
+"Mr. Vernon does not seem to be about," Cartwright remarked with some
+dryness. "I'll go to the gate with you."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave Lister her hand and her glance was very kind. "You
+will come back? So long as you stop here I hope you will feel our house
+is open to you."
+
+Hyslop got up, but Cartwright stopped him with a sign. He was quiet
+while they crossed the lawn, but when they reached the wood by the road
+he said, "I imagine you know we owe you much. After a time, your efforts
+to use some tact were rather obvious. Well, the girl you helped is my
+step-daughter."
+
+"At the beginning, I did not know this," Lister declared.
+
+"It was plain," said Cartwright, "Well, I agree with her mother--Barbara
+was very lucky when she met you, but since you look embarrassed, we'll
+let this go. Did she repay your loan?"
+
+"She wanted to pay me," said Lister. "I refused."
+
+"Why?" Cartwright asked, looking at him hard.
+
+Lister hesitated, "For one thing, I didn't know the sum. Then I knew her
+wages were not high. You ought to see I couldn't take the money."
+
+"You ought to have taken the money, for the girl's sake."
+
+"Oh," said Lister, "I think she knew I didn't refuse because I wanted
+her to feel she owed me something."
+
+"It's possible she did know," said Cartwright dryly. "You must try to
+remember the sum when you come again. Now I want the name of the shop at
+Montreal."
+
+Lister told him and added: "You mean to write to Miss Hyslop?"
+
+Cartwright smiled. "I'm going across as soon as possible to bring my
+step-daughter home."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BARBARA'S RETURN
+
+When Lister had gone Cartwright returned to the tea-table and looked at
+Hyslop, who got up and went off. Hyslop did not altogether want to go
+but he had cultivated discretion, and it was plain his step-father meant
+to get rid of him. Then Cartwright gave his wife a sympathetic glance.
+Mrs. Cartwright was calm, but when she put some cups together her hand
+shook.
+
+"Leave the things alone," said Cartwright in a soothing voice. "Vernon's
+plot was clever."
+
+"Do you think Harry planned that Lister should tell us?"
+
+"It looks like that," said Cartwright dryly. "He was keen about bringing
+his friend over, but was cautious enough to wait until the fellow began
+to know us. When he talked about Lister's adventures I wondered where he
+was leading. The other was puzzled, and didn't see until near the end."
+
+"But why didn't Harry, himself, tell us all he knew?"
+
+"Vernon's a good sort and more fastidious than one thinks; he saw he'd
+be forced to venture on rather awkward ground, and there was some doubt.
+He wanted us to weigh the story and judge if the clew he gave us ought
+to be followed. This was not Vernon's job, although I think he was
+satisfied."
+
+"But you are satisfied?"
+
+"Yes," said Cartwright "Lister's portrait of Barbara was lifelike and
+his own was pretty good. I think he drew himself and her better than he
+knew, and perhaps it's lucky we have to deal with fellows like these. A
+good Canadian is a fine type. However, we must bring Barbara back."
+
+"Ah!" said Mrs. Cartwright, "I want her back! One must hide one's hurt,
+but to hide it is hard--" She pulled herself up and added: "Will you
+send a cablegram?"
+
+"I think not. The girl is proud and as wild as a hawk. She thinks she
+has humiliated us, and if she's startled, she'll probably run away."
+
+"You don't think she has humiliated us?" Mrs. Cartwright said in a
+hesitating voice.
+
+Cartwright smiled. "It's plain that her escapade must not be talked
+about but we can trust these Canadians and I know Barbara. In a sense,
+Lister's narrative wasn't necessary. The girl is headstrong, but I was
+persuaded she would find the rascal out. Looks as if she did so soon
+after they got on board the cars, and I imagine Shillito had an awkward
+few moments; Barbara's temper is not mild. Then it's important that she
+was desperately anxious to escape from him. There's no more to be said."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave him a grateful look. Her husband had never failed
+her and he had justified her trust again.
+
+"If you don't send a cablegram, how shall we get Barbara back?"
+
+"I'll go myself," said Cartwright "If she can't be persuaded, I'll bring
+her by force. It's lucky I can charge the cost to the office. The new
+wheat is coming down to Montreal, and the _Conference_ people have a
+plan to get it all, but I expect to beat them and engage some cargo for
+our boats before the St. Lawrence freezes. However, since I'm going, I
+must get to work."
+
+He started for the house and met his step-son at the porch. Mortimer
+looked thoughtful, and held an unlighted cigarette. Cartwright studied
+him with scornful amusement.
+
+"Have you been speculating about the proper way of handling an awkward
+situation?"
+
+"I have been talking to Grace," Hyslop replied in an even voice.
+
+"I rather think Grace has been talking to you, but expect you agreed.
+You have, no doubt, decided the best plan is to leave your headstrong
+sister alone?"
+
+"We did agree about something like that," said Hyslop coolly, although
+when Cartwright fixed his eyes on his he turned his head. "We thought if
+Barbara were given an allowance, she might, for example, stay with the
+Vernons. Grace's notion--"
+
+Cartwright's mouth got hard and his mustache bristled. When he was moved
+his urbanity vanished and his talk was very blunt.
+
+"We'll let Grace's notion go. My form is not my step-children's, but I
+try to moderate my remarks about women. We'll admit Grace is a woman,
+although I sometimes doubt. Anyhow, you are not a man; you haven't a
+drop of warm blood in your veins! You're a curled and scented fine
+lady's lap-dog pup!"
+
+"I don't see much use in talking about my qualities, sir."
+
+"You don't see," Cartwright agreed. "That's your drawback! You see
+nothing that's rude and human; you're afraid to look. All that's obvious
+is, Barbara must not come home to throw an awkward reflection on Grace's
+Puritanical virtue. People might find out something and talk? If anybody
+talks while I'm about, I'll ram the implication down his throat! You
+don't see, or perhaps you don't mind, the drawbacks to separating
+Barbara from her mother and banishing her from home? She's trustful,
+rash, and fiery, and not a statue like Grace. Anyhow, Barbara is coming
+back, and if you don't approve, I'll expect you to be resigned. Now get
+off before I let myself go!"
+
+Hyslop went. One gained nothing by arguing with a brute like Cartwright,
+and since Mrs. Cartwright's infatuation for her husband could not be
+disturbed Hyslop knew he must acquiesce. Cartwright, rather braced by
+the encounter, went to the library and wrote some letters to Liverpool.
+A few days afterwards, he packed his trunk and was driven to the station
+in Mrs. Cartwright's car. Grace got up an hour earlier than usual in
+order to see him off, and when she brought his scarf and gloves
+Cartwright accepted her ministrations with politeness. Although he knew
+she disapproved of him, she thought her duty was to do things like this,
+and he played up.
+
+When the throb of the car was getting faint she met Mortimer going to
+the lake. He stopped and looked up at the valley, which was streaked by
+a thin line of dust.
+
+"For three or four weeks we'll be undisturbed," he said. "I admit I like
+Carrock better when my step-father is away."
+
+"Barbara's coming back with him," Grace remarked. "In some ways, her
+return will be awkward, but perhaps she ought to come."
+
+Mortimer gave her a surprised glance. "This was not your view!"
+
+"Oh, well, I have been thinking. Barbara is rash and very young. In
+Canada, she would be free from all control, and one must not weigh
+drawbacks against one's duty. Perhaps Cartwright takes the proper line,
+although of course it costs him nothing. You didn't tell me what he said
+the other evening."
+
+Mortimer shrugged. "As a rule, my step-father's remarks won't bear
+re-stating. He was a little franker than usual."
+
+"He _is_ coarse," said Grace. "One feels he gets coarser, as if his
+thoughts had begun to react on his body. There is a link, and, of
+course, with his habits--"
+
+"I rather think you mean with his appetites. Cartwright does not often
+let himself go when he's at home, but when he is away he's another man."
+
+Grace looked thoughtful. "One likes restraint. All the same, I sometimes
+think rude, primitive people have a vigor we have not. It's strange, but
+indulgence seems to go with force. One feels our friends are rather
+_bloodless_--I'm using Cartwright's phrase."
+
+"Our Canadian friends are not bloodless. I expect you have remarked that
+Barbara's the type they like."
+
+"She has an appeal for men like that," Grace agreed, and mused.
+
+It was hard to own, but she began to see that when she thought Barbara
+ought to stop in Canada she was inspired by jealousy. Barbara's charm
+for men was strong and when she was about they left Grace alone. Still
+she had a vague perception that her sister's charm was not altogether
+physical. She herself had a classical beauty that did not mark the
+younger girl; it looked as if Barbara had attractive qualities that were
+not hers. Lister, for example, was not a brute like Cartwright, but it
+was plain that Barbara had attracted him. Grace approved his soberness
+and frank gravity; and then she pulled herself up. She must not be
+jealous about her sister.
+
+"Cartwright's power is stronger because he does not use our money,"
+Mortimer resumed. "I don't know if it was cleverness or scruples that
+urged him to refuse. All the same, if he were forced to ask mother's
+help, his influence would be less."
+
+"But his needing help is not probable. He's managing owner of the line."
+
+Mortimer smiled. "He gets a commission on the boat's earnings, but does
+not hold many shares. Then the fleet is small and the boats don't earn
+very much. Things are not going smoothly and some shareholders would
+like to put Cartwright off the Board. At the last meeting, one fellow
+talked about the need for fresh blood. However, I expect Cartwright's
+clever enough, to keep off the rocks, and when one can't get rid of a
+drawback one must submit."
+
+Lighting a cigarette, he started for the lake and Grace returned
+thoughtfully to the house. Mortimer hated Cartwright and Grace admitted
+he had some grounds. Although her brother was indolent and
+philosophical, he did not forget. Rude disputes jarred him, but if by
+some chance he was able to injure the other, Grace thought he would do
+so. Grace, herself, strongly disapproved of Cartwright. All the same, he
+was her step-father and she had tried to cultivate her sense of duty.
+She was prejudiced, cold, and censorious, but she meant to be just and
+did not like Mortimer's bitterness.
+
+Cartwright was occupied for some time at Montreal, and the birch leaves
+had fallen when he returned. The evening was dark, and chilly mist
+rolled down the dale, but a big fire burned in the hall at Carrock and
+tall lamps threw a cheerful light on the oak paneling. A flooded beck
+roared in the hollow of a ghyll across the lawn and its turmoil echoed
+about the hall. Mrs. Cartwright stood by the fire, Grace moved
+restlessly about, and Mortimer appeared to be absorbed by the morning's
+news.
+
+"I wish you would sit down, mother," he said presently. "You can hear
+the car, you know, and the train is often late."
+
+For a few minutes Mrs. Cartwright did not move, and then she started and
+fixed her eyes on the door. She heard an engine throb, there was a noise
+in the porch, and a cold wind blew into the room. Then the door opened
+and Cartwright entered, shaking the damp from his fur coat. He turned,
+beckoning somebody behind, and Barbara came out from the arch. Her face
+was flushed, her eyes were hard, and she stopped irresolutely. Mortimer
+advanced to take the coat she carried and Grace crossed the floor, but
+Barbara waited, as if she did not see them. Then her strained look
+vanished, for Mrs. Cartwright went forward with awkward speed and took
+her in her arms.
+
+Cartwright saw his wife had forgotten him, and turning to the others
+with a commanding gesture, drove them and the servants from the hall.
+When they had gone he gave Mrs. Cartwright a smile.
+
+"I've brought her back," he said. "Not altogether an easy job. Barbara's
+ridiculous, but she can fight."
+
+He went off and Barbara clung to her mother. She was shaking and her
+breath came hard.
+
+"You were ridiculous," said Mrs. Cartwright in a gentle voice. "I expect
+you were very obstinate. But he was kind?"
+
+"He's a dear; I love him!" Barbara replied. "He understands everything.
+I think he ought to have stopped at Liverpool; the secretary met us and
+talked about some business, but if he hadn't come with me, I could not
+have borne--"
+
+She stopped, and resting her head on Mrs. Cartwright's shoulder, began
+to cry. Mrs. Cartwright said nothing, but kissed and soothed her with
+loving gentleness.
+
+When, some time afterwards, Barbara came down the stairs that occupied
+one side of the hall she was composed, but tea by the fire was something
+of a strain. It was plain that Grace's careless talk was forced and
+Mortimer's efforts to keep on safe ground were marked. Now and then
+Cartwright's eyes twinkled and Barbara thought she knew why he sometimes
+made a joke that jarred the others. When the meal was over he took them
+away.
+
+"I imagine your sister understands Grace and you are willing to take her
+back and forget the pain she gave you," he said to Hyslop. "Your
+handling of the situation was tactful and correct, but you can leave her
+to her mother."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright stopped with Barbara, who brought a footstool to the
+hearthrug, and sitting down leaned against her knee.
+
+"I have been an obstinate, selfish, romantic fool!" she broke out.
+
+Mrs. Cartwright touched her hair and smiled, for she felt comforted.
+This was the tempestuous Barbara she thought she had lost.
+
+"My dear!" she said. "It's not important since you have come back.''
+
+"I oughtn't to have come back. If you had not sent father, I would not
+have come. He's determined, but he's gentle. You know he sympathizes."
+
+"Although I wanted him to go, I did not send him," Mrs. Cartwright
+replied. "He went because he loves you, but we can talk about this
+again." She hesitated for a moment and went on: "It was not long, I
+think, before you found Shillito was a thief? Mr. Lister's story
+indicated this."
+
+A wave of color came to Barbara's skin, but she looked up and her eyes
+flashed.
+
+"At the beginning, I did not know he was a thief; I found out he was a
+cunning brute. Afterwards, when I read about his escape in the
+newspapers, I rather wished the trooper who shot at him had not
+missed--" She shook with horror and anger and it was a moment or two
+before she resumed: "I can't tell you all, mother. I was frightened, but
+anger gave me pluck. He said I must stick to him because I could not go
+back. I think I struck him, and then I ran away. People were going to
+their berths in the Pullman and he durst not use force. When I got to
+the car platform and was going to jump off I saw Mr. Lister--but he has
+told you--"
+
+Mrs. Cartwright nodded, for she was satisfied.
+
+"My dear," she said, "it's done with. Still I wonder why you were
+willing to leave us."
+
+"Sometimes I wonder. To begin with, I have owned I was a fool; but
+things were dreary and I wanted a thrill. Then I had begun to feel
+nobody at home wanted me. Father and you were kind, but he seemed to
+think me an amusing, willful child. Grace always disapproved, and
+Mortimer sneered. They knew I was not their sort and very proper people
+are cruel if you won't obey their rules. I hated rules; Grace's
+correctness made me rebel. Then Louis came and declared I was all to
+him. He was handsome and romantic, and I was tired of restraint. I
+thought I loved him, but it was ridiculous, because I hate him now.
+Mortimer's a prig, but Louis is a brute!"
+
+Mrs. Cartwright sighed. She liked tranquillity and the girl's passion
+jarred. She tried to soothe her, and presently Barbara asked in a level
+voice: "Where is Harry Vernon?"
+
+"He went to town a few days since."
+
+"When he knew I would soon arrive? His going is significant. I shall
+hate Harry next!"
+
+"You must not be unjust. I imagine he thought to meet him would
+embarrass you."
+
+"It would have embarrassed me, but Harry would not have known," Barbara
+declared. "If I have been a fool, I can pay. Still I ought to have
+stayed in Canada. Father's obstinate and I wanted to come home, but
+things will be harder than at Montreal."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright kissed her. "My poor child, the hurt is not as deep as
+you think. We will try to help you to forget."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+LISTER CLEARS THE GROUND
+
+The sun was on the rocks and the lichen shone in rings of soft and
+varied color. Blue shadows filled the dale, which, from the side of the
+Buttress, looked profoundly deep. A row of young men and women followed
+a ledge that crossed the face of the steep crag; Mortimer Hyslop
+leading, a girl and Vernon a few yards behind, Lister and Barbara
+farther off.
+
+Hyslop knew the rocks and was a good leader. He was cool and cautious
+and did not undertake a climb until he was satisfied about his
+companions' powers. The slanting edge looked dangerous, but was not,
+although one must be steady and there was an awkward corner. At the
+turning, the ledge got narrow, and one must seize a knob and then step
+lightly on a stone embedded in mossy soil.
+
+When they reached the spot Hyslop stopped and told Vernon what to do;
+the girl immediately behind him was a clever mountaineer. They went
+round and Lister watched from a few yards off. For a moment or two each
+in turn, supported by one foot with body braced against the rock,
+grasped the knob and vanished round the corner. It was plain one must
+get a firm hold, but Lister thought this was all. He was used to the
+tall skeleton trestles that carried the rails across Canadian ravines.
+
+After the others disappeared Lister seized the knob. He thought the
+stone he stood on moved and he cautiously took a heavier strain on his
+arm. He could get across, but he obeyed an impulse and gave the stone a
+push. It rolled out and, when he swung himself back to the ledge,
+plunged down and smashed upon the rocks below. For a few moments the
+echoes rolled about the crags, and then Hyslop shouted: "Are you all
+right? Can you get round?"
+
+Lister said he thought not, and Hyslop replied that it did not matter.
+Barbara would take him up a grassy ridge and the others would meet them
+at the top. A rattle of nailed boots indicated that he was going off and
+Lister turned and glanced at Barbara. She had sat down on an inclined
+slab and her figure and face, in profile, cut against the sky. A yard or
+two beneath her, the sloping rock vanished at the top of a steep pitch
+and one saw nothing but the crags across the narrow dale. Yet Lister
+thought the girl was not disturbed.
+
+"I expect I was clumsy,'' he apologized.
+
+"Well," she said, "it looks like that!"
+
+He gave her a quick glance and pondered. Although he had gone to Carrock
+since she came home, she had been strangely cold and, so to speak,
+aloof. He had imagined their meeting might embarrass her, but she was
+not embarrassed. In fact, she had met him as if he were a friend, but he
+had not seen her afterwards unless somebody was about. Now he meant to
+force her to be frank.
+
+"I was clumsy," he resumed. "All the same, when I felt the stone begin
+to move I might have pulled myself across by my hands. I expect the
+block would have been firm enough to carry you."
+
+"Yes, I know," said Barbara. "You didn't want me to get across!"
+
+Lister studied her. He doubted if it was altogether exertion that had
+brought the blood to her skin and given her eyes the keen sparkle.
+Clinging to the rock, with the shadowy gulf below, she looked strangely
+alert and virile. Her figure cut against the sky; he noted its
+slenderness and finely-drawn lines. She was not angry, although he had
+admitted he pushed down the stone, but he felt as if something divided
+them and doubted if he could remove the obstacle.
+
+"I wanted to talk and had found I could not get near you unless the
+others were about," he said. "It looked as if I had unconsciously given
+you some grounds for standing me off. Well, I suppose I did put your
+relations on your track."
+
+"It wasn't that," said Barbara. "I imagine Harry Vernon helped you
+there. You were forced to tell your story."
+
+"I was forced. All the same, I think Harry's plan was good."
+
+"He went away a few days before I arrived!" Barbara remarked.
+
+Lister thought he saw where she led and knitted his brows. He was on
+awkward ground and might say too much, but to say nothing might be
+worse.
+
+"Harry's a good sort and I expect he pulled out because he imagined
+you'd sooner he did so," he said. "For all that, I reckon he ought to
+have stayed."
+
+Although her color was vivid, Barbara gave him a searching glance. "In
+order to imply I had no grounds for embarrassment if I met him? Harry
+was at the camp in the woods."
+
+"He knew you had no grounds for embarrassment," Lister declared. "I
+knew, and Harry's an older friend."
+
+Barbara turned her head, and when she looked back Lister thought his
+boldness was justified. In a sense she had been very frank, although
+perhaps this situation made for frankness. They were alone on the face
+of the towering crag. All was very quiet but for the noise of falling
+water, and the only living object one could see was a buzzard hovering
+high up at a white cloud's edge. One could talk in the mountain solitude
+as one could not talk in a drawing-room. For all that, Lister felt he
+had not altogether broken the girl's reserve.
+
+"One envies men like you who build railways and sail ships," she said,
+and now Lister wondered where she led. "You live a natural life, knowing
+bodily strain and primitive emotions. Sometimes you're exhausted and
+sometimes afraid. Your thought's fixed on the struggle; you're keenly
+occupied. Isn't it like that?"
+
+"Something like that," Lister agreed. "Sometimes the strain gets
+monotonous."
+
+"But it's often thrilling. Men and women need to be thrilled. People
+talk about the modern lust for excitement, but it isn't modern and I
+expect the instinct's sound. Civilization that gives us hot water before
+we get up and food we didn't grow is not all an advantage. Our bodies
+get soft and we're driven back on our emotions. Where we want action we
+get talk. Then one gets up against the rules; you mustn't be angry, you
+mustn't be sincere, you must use a dreary level calm."
+
+Lister was puzzled and said nothing, but Barbara went on: "Perhaps some
+girls like this; others don't, and now and then rebel. We feel we're
+human, we want to live. Adventure calls us, as it calls you. We want to
+front life's shocks and storms; unsatisfied curiosity drives us on. Then
+perhaps romance comes and all the common longings of flesh and blood are
+transfigured."
+
+She stopped, and Lister began to see a light. This was her apology for
+her rashness in Canada, all she would give, and he doubted if she had
+given as much to others. On the whole, he thought the apology good.
+
+"Romance cheats one now and then," he remarked, and pulled himself up
+awkwardly, but Barbara was calm.
+
+"I wonder whether it always cheats one!"
+
+"I think not," he said. "Sometimes one must trust one's luck, and
+venture. All the same, philosophizing is not my habit, and when I didn't
+step lightly on the stone--"
+
+"You mean, when you pushed the stone down?" Barbara interrupted.
+
+"Oh, well. Anyhow, I didn't mean to philosophize. I wanted to find out
+why you kept away from me."
+
+"Although you knew why I did so? You admitted you knew why Harry went
+off!"
+
+"I see I've got to talk," said Lister. "Shillito was a cheat, but when
+you found him out you tried to jump off the train. You let me help
+because I think you trusted me."
+
+"I did trust you. It's much to know my trust was justified. For one
+thing, it looks as if I wasn't altogether a fool."
+
+"Afterwards, when I met you at Montreal, you were friendly, although you
+tried to persuade me you were a shop girl."
+
+Barbara smiled. "I was a shop girl. Besides, you were a stranger, and
+it's sometimes easy to trust people one does not expect to see again."
+
+"My plan's to trust the people I like all the time," Lister replied.
+"When I found you on the car platform I knew I ought to help, I saw you
+meant to escape from something mean. Then at Montreal it was plain you
+were trying in make good because you were proud and would not go back. I
+liked that, although I thought you were not logical. Well, I told your
+story because Vernon bluffed me, but if I'd known your step-father as I
+know him now, I'd have told the tale before."
+
+"Then, it was in order that I might understand this you sent the stone
+down the crag?"
+
+"I think it was," said Lister. "I hope I have, so to speak, cleared the
+ground."
+
+Barbara gave him a puzzling smile. "You're rather obvious, but it's
+important you mean to be nice. However, I expect the others are waiting
+for us and we must join them, although we won't go by the grass ridge,"
+She indicated the slope of cracked rock in front. "The hold is pretty
+good. Do you think you can get up?"
+
+Lister doubted. He was athletic and steady, but the climb looked awkward
+for a beginner.
+
+"If you are going, I'll try."
+
+"You imagine you can go where I can go?"
+
+"Something like that," Lister admitted. "If I'm beaten, you're
+accountable and will have to help."
+
+He was satisfied by Barbara's frank laugh. Her mood was changeable. Not
+long since he had, with awkward sympathy, thought her a proud humiliated
+woman; now she was marked by the humor of a careless girl. He could,
+however, play up to her later mood, and when they set off he began to
+joke.
+
+The rock slanted, and cracks and breaks gave a firm hold, but there was
+not a crack wherever one was needed and the pitch was steep. Then in
+places the slabs were slippery with wet lichen and Lister's ordinary
+walking boots could get no grip. His jokes stopped and the sweat began
+to dew his face. His breath got hard and he felt his heart beat. It was
+obvious that climbing needed study.
+
+For all that, he went on and found a strange delight in watching
+Barbara. Her clothes harmonized with the soft colors of lichen and
+stone; her movements were confident and light. He got no sense of
+effort; her pose was seldom strained and the lines of her limbs and body
+flowed in easy curves. He thought she rather flitted than labored up the
+rock. Practice no doubt accounted for much, but something was due to
+temperament. Barbara did not hesitate; she trusted her luck and went
+ahead.
+
+At length she stopped, pressed against the stone in the hollow of a
+gully, while Lister crept obliquely across a long wet slab. He looked up
+and saw her face, finely colored after effort, against a background of
+green and gold. The berries on a small mountain-ash in a cranny
+harmonized with the carmine of her skin. She looked down and smiled with
+careless amusement.
+
+Then Lister's foot slipped and he could get no hold for his hands. His
+smooth boots drew a greasy line across the wet slab as he slid down.
+Perhaps the risk was not very daunting, but he knew he must not roll
+down far. At the bottom of the slab he brought up with his foot braced
+against a knob, and he saw Barbara coming after him. When she stopped
+her glance was apologetic.
+
+"I forgot you hadn't proper boots. Give me your hand and try again."
+
+"No, thanks," said Lister. "Do you think I'm going to let you pull me
+up?"
+
+"Why not?" she asked with a twinkle.
+
+"To begin with, I'm obstinate and don't mean to be beaten by a bit of
+greasy rock. Then I expect I'm heavier than you think."
+
+"You're ridiculously proud. It would hurt to let a girl help," Barbara
+rejoined. "After all, you're a conventionalist, and I rather thought you
+were not."
+
+"Anyhow, I'm going up myself," Lister declared.
+
+He got up, but his clothes gathered some slime from the rock and his
+skin was stained by soil and moss. Barbara looked at him with a twinkle.
+
+"Your obstinacy cost you something," she remarked. "If you're tired, you
+had better stop and smoke."
+
+Lister lighted a cigarette. She had been rather keen about rejoining the
+others, but he thought she had forgotten. Barbara's carelessness gave
+her charm. Perhaps he ought to go on, but he meant to take the extra few
+minutes luck had given him.
+
+"I'm really sorry I forgot about your boots and brought you up the
+rock," she said.
+
+"I wonder why you did bring me up?"
+
+"Oh, well, a number of the men I know have a comfortable feeling of
+superiority. Of course, nice men don't make you feel this, but it's
+there. One likes to give such pride a jolt."
+
+"I think I see. If it's some comfort, I'll own you can beat me going up
+awkward rocks. But where does this take us?"
+
+Barbara smiled. "It takes us some distance. When you admit a girl's your
+equal, friendship's easier. You know, one reason Mortimer and I can't
+agree is, his feeling of superiority is horribly strong."
+
+"Couldn't you take him up an awkward gully and get him stuck?"
+
+"No," said Barbara, in a regretful voice. "He's really a good cragsman
+and knows exactly how far he can go. When he starts an awkward climb he
+reckons up all the obstacles and is ready to get round them when they
+come. The plan's good. People like Mortimer don't get stuck."
+
+"It's possible, but I expect they miss something now and then. There
+isn't much thrill in knowing you are safe."
+
+"Sometimes you play up rather well," Barbara remarked.
+
+"I'm not playing up. I'm preaching my code. I'm not as sober and
+cautious as you perhaps think."
+
+"For example?"
+
+"You'll probably get bored, but in Canada I turned down a pretty good
+job because it was monotonous. I wanted something fresh, and thought I'd
+go across and see the Old Country. Well, I'm here and all's charming,
+but I don't know how I'll get back when my wad runs out."
+
+"Ah," said Barbara, "you mean your money will soon be gone? But you have
+relations. Somebody would help."
+
+"It's possible, but I would refuse," Lister rejoined. "You're not
+adventuring much when another meets the bill. When my wallet's empty
+I'll pull out and take any old job. The chances are I'll go to sea."
+
+Barbara gave him an approving glance. She had known but one other
+adventurer and he was a rogue. Lister was honest and she thought he
+would go far. She liked his rashness, but if he found it hard to get on
+board ship, she imagined she could help. All the same, she would not
+talk about this yet.
+
+"We really must go," she said, and they started up a gully where holes
+and wedged stones helped them up like steps.
+
+When they left the gully they saw a group of people on the neighboring
+summit of the hill and for a moment Lister stopped.
+
+"We have had a glorious climb," he said, "Now it's over, I hope you're
+not going to stand me off again."
+
+Barbara gave him a curious smile. "One can't stop on the mountains long.
+We're going down to the every-day level and all looks different there."
+
+The others began to wave to them, and crossing a belt of boggy grass
+they joined the group. When they returned to Carrock, Cartwright was not
+about and Mrs. Cartwright said he had got a telegram calling him to
+Liverpool.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A DISSATISFIED SHAREHOLDER
+
+Cartwright had read the morning's letters and the _Journal of Commerce_,
+and finding nothing important, turned his revolving chair to the fire.
+He had been forced to wait for a train at a draughty station, and his
+feet were cold. His office occupied an upper floor of an old-fashioned
+building near the docks. Fog from the river rolled up the street and the
+windows were grimed by soot, but Cartwright had not turned on the
+electric light. The fire snapped cheerfully, and he lighted his pipe and
+looked about.
+
+The furniture was shabby, the carpet was getting threadbare, and some of
+the glass in the partition that cut off the clerks' office was cracked.
+Cartwright had thought about modernizing and decorating the rooms, but
+to do the thing properly would cost five hundred pounds, and money was
+scarce. Besides, a number of the merchants who shipped goods by his
+boats were conservative and rather approved his keeping the parsimonious
+rules of the old school.
+
+The house was old and had been at one time rich and powerful.
+Cartwright's father, however, had used sailing ships too long, and
+Cartwright's speculations and extravagance when he took control had not
+mended its fortunes. Then had come a number of lean years when few
+shipping companies earned a dividend and the line's capital steadily
+melted. Now the shareholders were not numerous and the ships were small.
+
+Cartwright glanced at the pictures in tarnished gold frames. _Oreana_,
+drawn plunging across an Atlantic comber, was the best of the fleet, but
+her engineer had for some time demanded new boilers. Since the reserve
+fund was low and other boats needed expensive repairs, Cartwright
+resolved to wait. He had bought _Melphomene_, above the fireplace, very
+cheap; but her engines were clumsy compounds and she cost much to coal.
+Still she was fast, and now and then got a paying load by reaching a
+port where freights were high before the _Conference_ found out that
+Cartwright meant to cut the rates.
+
+_Titania_, with the white deckhouse and shade-deck, carried a good load
+on a light draught, and sometimes picked up a profitable cargo in
+shallow African lagoons. When he glanced at her picture Cartwright's
+look got thoughtful. She was one of two sister ships, launched at a
+famous yard, and Cartwright had wanted both, but the builders demanded
+terms of payment he could not meet, and another company had bought the
+vessel. She was wrecked soon afterwards, and now lay buried in the sand
+by an African river bar. The salvage company had given up their efforts
+to float her, but Cartwright imagined she could be floated if one were
+willing to run a risk. But no one, it seemed was willing. On the failure
+of the salvage company the underwriters had put the steamer into the
+hands of Messrs. Bull and Morse, a firm of Ship Brokers and Marine
+Auctioneers, but at the public auction no bids whatever had been made.
+Subsequently advertisements appeared in the shipping papers inviting
+offers for the ship as she lay and for the salvage of the cargo. These
+had run for several weeks, but without result. Cartwright had cut them
+out. Now and then he looked at them and speculated about the
+undertaking.
+
+By and by the bookkeeper came in and filed some letters. Gavin's hair
+was going white, and he had been with Cartwright's since he was a boy.
+He was fat, red-faced, and humorous, although his humor was not refined.
+Gavin liked to be thought something of a sport, but Cartwright knew he
+was staunch.
+
+"You imagine Mrs. Seaton will look me up this morning?" Cartwright said
+presently.
+
+"Yes, sir. She called and demanded to see you. In fact, I think she
+doubted when I told her you hadn't come back from the North. She said
+the shareholders' meeting would be soon and she expected you to give a
+bigger dividend; the Blue Funnel people had paid five per cent. If you
+didn't return before long, she might run up to Carrock. So I sent the
+telegram."
+
+Cartwright nodded. He trusted his bookkeeper, who had grounds for
+imagining it was not altogether desirable Mrs. Seaton should arrive at
+Carrock.
+
+"Have you heard anything from Manners while I was away?"
+
+"Nothing direct, sir. His nephew, Hatton, came round with a tender for
+the bunker coal, and implied that he ought to get the job. Then I had a
+notion Mrs. Seaton, so to speak, was _primed_. Looked as if somebody had
+got at her; her arguments about the dividend were rather good."
+
+"It's possible," said Cartwright dryly. "If she comes, you can show her
+in. But what about the wine?"
+
+"I don't know if it will see you out. There's not a great deal left, and
+last time--"
+
+Cartwright's eyes twinkled. "Exactly! Send for another bottle and see
+you get the proper stuff. Some of the biscuits, too; you know the kind.
+Rather a bother, but perhaps the best plan!"
+
+"Safer than going out to lunch," Gavin remarked. "Then, in the office,
+you're on your own ground. That counts."
+
+"Gives you moral support and handicaps an antagonist who's not a
+business man?" Cartwright suggested. "Well, perhaps it does so, but I
+see some drawbacks. Anyhow, get the wine."
+
+Gavin went off and Cartwright mused by the fire. The morning was raw and
+foggy, and if he went out, the damp might get at his throat; moreover,
+Gavin would reply to his letters. Cartwright had begun to feel it was
+time to let others work while he looked on. His control counted for less
+than he had thought; things went without much guidance and it was enough
+to give them a push in the proper direction now and then. To rouse
+himself for an effort was getting harder and he would have been
+satisfied to rest, had not his pride, and, to some extent, his
+step-children's antagonism, prevented his doing so. He needed money and
+would not use his wife's.
+
+One must pay for old extravagances, and the bills were coming in; Mrs.
+Seaton's expected call was an example. Ellen was a widow, but before she
+married Seaton, Cartwright knew she counted him her lover. They were
+alike in temperament; rash, strong-willed, and greedy for all that gave
+life a thrill. In fact, Ellen was a stimulating comrade, but not the
+kind of girl one married. Cartwright married Clara and knew Mrs. Seaton
+bore him a lasting grudge.
+
+Since Seaton was a merchant whose investments in Liverpool were
+numerous, it was perhaps not strange he left his widow shares that gave
+her some control of the Cartwright line. Although she was not poor, she
+was greedy and extravagant. In fact, Cartwright imagined greed was now
+her ruling passion.
+
+By and by he heard steps in the passage behind the partition and thought
+he knew the tap of high-heeled shoes. Then he heard a laugh and Gavin's
+voice. Ellen was using her charm on his bookkeeper and the old sport
+would play up. The door opened, the room smelt of violets, and Mrs.
+Seaton came in. She was tall and her furs gave her large figure a touch
+of dignity. Her color was sharply white and red, and in the rather dim
+light her skin was like a girl's. Cartwright knew Ellen was younger than
+he, but not very much.
+
+"You look hipped and rather slack, Tom," she said when he got up and
+Gavin fetched a chair.
+
+"I feel the cold and damp," Cartwright replied. "Then managing a
+tramp-steamship line when freights are low is a wearing job."
+
+Mrs. Seaton took off her coat. "Your office is shabby and climbing all
+those stairs is a pull. Why don't you launch out, get a lift, and
+modernize things?"
+
+"My trouble is to keep the boats supplied with coal and stores. Besides,
+you see, I don't often use my office for a drawing-room."
+
+"You're very cautious," Mrs. Seaton remarked with a laugh. "You start to
+get on guard before I begin my attack."
+
+"Oh, well," said Cartwright, smiling, "I know your power. But would you
+like a cigarette?"
+
+She took the curiously-decorated box he gave her and broke the seal.
+"Since you don't smoke these things, Tom, you were rather nice to
+remember."
+
+"You had better take the box," said Cartwright. "I sent for a few when
+_Titania_ went to the Levant. One understands they're hard to get in
+England. But I have something else you like. If you will wait a
+moment--"
+
+He rang a bell and Gavin entered, carrying two small glasses, a bottle,
+and some biscuits. When he went out, Cartwright turned the bottle so
+Mrs. Seaton could see the label.
+
+"Climbing our stairs is a fag," he said, and filled the glasses.
+
+Mrs. Seaton smiled and took hers. Cartwright saw her rings sparkle and
+the gleam of her regular, white teeth. The reflection from the grate
+touched her hair and it shone a smooth golden-brown. He admitted with
+amusement that Ellen was nearly as attractive as he had thought her
+thirty years since.
+
+"This is like old times, Tom," she said. "I remember evenings when you
+brought me sandwiches and iced cup at a dance--but I don't think you
+were ever remarkably romantic."
+
+Cartwright remembered an evening when they sat under a shaded lamp in a
+quiet corner of a supper room, listening to music that somehow fired
+one's blood. But perhaps it was the iced cup he had generously drunk.
+All the same he had not been a fool, though he was tempted. He knew
+something about Ellen then, but he knew her better now. Perhaps it was
+typical that she had promptly put the box of Eastern cigarettes in her
+muff.
+
+"Managing ships is not a romantic occupation," he rejoined.
+
+"Anyway, your welcome's kind and I feel shabby because I'm forced to
+bother you. But suppose some of your customers arrive?"
+
+"We shall not be disturbed," said Cartwright, smiling. "Gavin knows his
+job."
+
+"Very well. Do you expect to declare a better dividend at the
+shareholders' meeting?"
+
+"I do not. If I'm lucky, I may keep the dividend where it is, but I
+don't know yet."
+
+"Two per cent. is really nothing," Mrs. Seaton remarked. "I've been
+forced to study economy and you know how I hate to pinch. Besides, I
+know an investment that would give me eight per cent."
+
+"Then, if you're satisfied the venture is not risky, you ought to buy
+the shares."
+
+"I want to buy, but it's a small, private company and the people
+stipulate I must take a large block. I have not enough money."
+
+Cartwright doubted, but her plan was obvious. "When trade is slack, one
+ought to be careful about investing in a private company that pays eight
+per cent," he said. "After all, it might be prudent to be satisfied with
+a small profit."
+
+"But I'm not satisfied and your dividend is remarkably small! Are you
+really unable to make it larger?"
+
+"One can't pay dividends out of capital. Anyhow, one can't keep it up
+for long!"
+
+"Then, as I mean to make a plunge, I must sell some of the investments
+that don't earn me much. My shares in the line carry a good number of
+votes and, if people grumble at the meeting, would give you some
+control. Will you buy them, Tom?"
+
+Cartwright knitted his brows. He thought her hint about the shares
+giving him useful power was significant. In fact, it looked as if
+somebody had put Ellen on his track. He wondered whether Manners.... But
+she must not think him disturbed.
+
+"What is your price?" he asked.
+
+"My price?" she said with a puzzled look he thought well done. "Of
+course, I want the sum the shares stand for."
+
+"I'm sorry it's impossible. Just now the shares of very few shipping
+companies are worth their face value. For example, five-pound shares in
+a good line were not long since offered at two pounds ten."
+
+Mrs. Seaton looked disturbed. "That's dreadful!" she exclaimed. "But I'm
+not rich enough to bear a heavy loss, and if you bought my lot, the
+voting power would enable you to break the grumblers' opposition.
+They're worth more to you than anybody else. Can't you help me?"
+
+Cartwright gave her a smiling glance, although he was bothered. Ellen
+was not a fool and he noted her insistence on the value of the shares to
+him. Where this led was obvious. He had one or two powerful antagonists
+and knew of plots to force his retirement. Ellen had given him his
+choice; he must promise a larger dividend or buy her shares at something
+over their market price. This, of course, was impossible, but he
+imagined she did not know how poor he was.
+
+"I can't buy," he said. "I must trust my luck and fighting power.
+Although we have had stormy meetings and rates are bad, the line is
+running yet."
+
+"If you haven't enough money, why don't you ask your wife? She's rich
+and hasn't risked much of her capital in the line."
+
+"That is so," Cartwright agreed. Ellen meant to be nasty but he must be
+cool. "Although my wife is rich, I don't use her money."
+
+"You're not logical, and sometimes your fastidiousness isn't very
+marked. However, it looks as if you didn't marry because Clara was rich.
+She was romantic before she began to get fat."
+
+Cartwright's face got red. He had had enough and saw Ellen was getting
+savage. She had not forgotten that, in a sense, he ought to have married
+her, and since he would not buy her shares, she would, no doubt, help
+his antagonists. Crossing the floor, he poked the fire noisily.
+
+"Shall I give you some more wine?" he asked, and while he was occupied
+with the glasses the telephone bell rang behind the partition. A few
+moments afterwards Gavin came in.
+
+"Moreton has rung up, sir. If you can give him five minutes, he'll come
+across. He says it's important."
+
+Mrs. Seaton put on her coat. "I mustn't stop when an important customer
+is coming." Then she laughed and gave Cartwright her hand. "You are very
+obstinate, Tom, but I know your pluck."
+
+She went off. Gavin took away the wine, and Cartwright opened the
+window. The smell of violets vanished, but when he sat down again he
+pondered. He knew Mrs. Seaton, and thought she meant to hint his pluck
+might soon be needed. When Ellen smiled like that she was plotting
+something.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+CARTWRIGHT'S SCRUPLES
+
+The drawing-room at Mrs. Cartwright's house on the Cheshire side of the
+Mersey was large and old-fashioned. Cartwright thought the stiff, thick
+curtains and Victorian walnut furniture ugly, but Mrs. Cartwright liked
+the things and he was satisfied. Clara herself frankly belonged to the
+old school. She was conventional and often dull, but she had a placid
+dignity that did not mark all the up-to-date women Cartwright knew.
+Moreover, the house was comfortable. One got there by the Mersey tunnel
+and it was only a few minutes' walk from the station. For all that, the
+encroaching town had not yet reached the neighborhood, and the windows
+commanded a pleasant view of clean rolling country and the blue Welsh
+hills.
+
+Cartwright felt the house was a snug harbor where he could rest when he
+was too old and battered to front the storms that had for some time been
+gathering, and sitting by the fire one evening, he speculated about the
+rocks and shoals ahead. All the same, the time to run for shelter was
+not yet; he thought he could ride out another gale.
+
+An arch with heavy molding occupied the middle of the spacious room. The
+folding doors had been removed and curtains partly screened the arch. On
+the other side, a group of young men and women stood about the piano. On
+Cartwright's side the lights were low. He had dined well and liked to
+loaf after dinner. Besides, he felt dull; his gout bothered him and he
+had been forced to run for his train. He had begun to find out one could
+not do that kind of thing. Mrs. Cartwright sat opposite, knitting
+quietly, and her smooth, rhythmic movements were soothing. Clara was
+never abrupt and jerky.
+
+"I got a letter from Stormont's by the afternoon post," she said. "They
+have been repaid the mortgage, and there's something about a foreign
+bond, drawn for redemption. They want to talk about a new investment."
+
+Stormont, Wilmot and Stormont were her lawyers, and Cartwright nodded.
+"The money ought to be earning interest and you can safely buy stock
+Stormont's approve. Their judgment's sound."
+
+"For all that, I think I'd like to choose for myself. Suppose I bought
+some shares in the line? I have a number, but it's really not large and
+I have felt I'm not supporting the house as I ought."
+
+Cartwright knitted his brows. Clara did not know much about business,
+but she was sometimes shrewder than one thought. He wondered whether
+Mortimer had been talking. If the pup had talked, the thing was ominous,
+because it implied that others knew the difficulties Cartwright might
+have to meet.
+
+"Do you imagine the house needs supporting?" he asked carelessly.
+
+Mrs. Cartwright hesitated. "I really know nothing about it; but don't
+people grumble when you can't pay them much and their shares go down?
+Perhaps if the family owned a good part of the capital, you could take a
+firmer line."
+
+It was plain that Clara had been pondering. Mortimer _had_ talked and
+somebody who was not Cartwright's friend had informed him. Cartwright
+was tempted to let his wife do as she wanted: Clara owned shares in the
+line that he had let her buy when freights were good and she had
+afterwards refused to sell. Now, however, freights were very bad and the
+company was nearer the rocks than he hoped the shareholders knew.
+Cartwright imagined he could yet mend its fortunes, if he were left
+alone, but the job was awkward and opposition might be dangerous. To
+command a solid block of votes would certainly help.
+
+For all that, there was a risk Clara ought not to run. His antagonists
+were getting stronger, and if they meddled and baffled him, the company
+would fail. Its bankruptcy would not ruin his wife, but she would feel
+the loss of her money, and he was not going to use Clara for a shield
+against Ellen Seaton's attacks. The thing was shabby. All the same, the
+situation was humorous, and he saw, with an ironical smile, the
+advantages of Mrs. Cartwright's plan.
+
+"I'm not a business woman, but I have noted you're sometimes moody, as
+if you were anxious, and I want to help," she resumed.
+
+"You do help. The storms I've weathered have left a mark, and now I'm
+old and strained it's much to make a quiet port at night. You take all
+bothers from me, and send me out in the morning, braced for another
+watch in the pilot-house."
+
+"Some time you must give another the helm," said Mrs. Cartwright
+quietly. "I wish I could persuade you to do so soon."
+
+Cartwright sighed, for the strain was heavy and he wanted to rest. The
+trouble was the put-off reckoning for past extravagance was at hand and
+he shrank from asking his wife to pay. He had not been very scrupulous,
+but he had his code. Then Hyslop came through the arch, and stopping,
+noted Cartwright's awkwardly stretched-out leg.
+
+"Gout bothering you again, sir?" he said. "You ought to lie up for a few
+days, but I expect you're needed at the office. I heard the E.P. line
+had a stormy meeting and the dissatisfied shareholders came near turning
+out the directors. Johnson declared they only saved the situation by a
+few votes."
+
+"They ought to be turned out! A blundering lot! They've let a good fleet
+down."
+
+Hyslop smiled. He had pale and watery blue eyes that generally annoyed
+Cartwright. "An awkward doctrine, sir! If all the steamship directors
+who might have used the shareholders' money to better advantage were
+called to account, I imagine a number of respectable gentlemen would
+find their occupation gone. Besides, when people start deposing rulers
+they don't know where to stop. The thing's, so to speak, contagious, and
+panicky investors are not logical."
+
+He went off and Cartwright braced himself. Mortimer meant to be nasty,
+but his languid malice bit deeper than he knew. Cartwright had
+hesitated, weighing the value of his wife's help against his scruples,
+until his step-son's hints had tipped the beam. After all, if he used
+Clara's money and saved his skin at her cost, the pup would have some
+grounds to sneer.
+
+"I must keep control for some time yet," he said. "Times are bad, and if
+I let go the helm I doubt if my successor could steer a safe course.
+When the need is gone I'll willingly give up, but I must bring the old
+ship into port first. In the meantime, you had better let Stormont's buy
+you sound Corporation stock."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright acquiesced and Cartwright watched the young people
+beyond the arch. With the stiff curtains for wing-scenes and the lights
+concealed, the end of the room made a proscenium: it was like looking at
+a drawing-room comedy on the stage. Two of the girls were pretty and he
+approved their fashionable clothes. When she was quiet, Grace was almost
+beautiful, but somehow none had Barbara's charm. Yet Cartwright thought
+the girl was getting thin and her color was too bright. A friend of
+Mortimer's occupied the music stool and Cartwright admitted that the
+fellow played well, although he was something like a character from a
+Gilbert opera.
+
+Lister sat near the piano, and talked to Barbara. He smiled, but his
+smile had a touch of gravity. Cartwright thought him a good Canadian. A
+bit rugged perhaps, but staunch, and his quiet sincerity was after all
+better style than the cleverness of Mortimer's friends. Cartwright
+imagined Barbara studied Lister, who did not know. In fact, it looked as
+if he were puzzled, and Cartwright smiled. Lister had not his talents;
+when Cartwright was young he knew how to amuse a pretty girl.
+
+The man at the piano signed to Barbara, who got up and began to sing.
+The song was modern and the melody not marked. Cartwright liked the
+Victorian ballads with tunes that haunted one and obvious sentiment, but
+because Barbara sang he gave the words and music his languid interest.
+After all, the thing was clever. There was, so to speak, not much on the
+surface, but one heard an elusive note of effort, as if one struggled
+after something one could not grasp. On the whole, Cartwright did not
+approve that kind of sentiment; his objects were generally plain. Then
+he thought the hint of strain was too well done for a young girl, and
+when Barbara stopped he turned to his wife.
+
+"Are you satisfied about Barbara?" he asked.
+
+"Why should I not be satisfied?"
+
+"I have felt she's not quite up to her proper form. Looks thin and
+sometimes she's quiet. Then why has young Vernon gone off? I haven't
+seen him recently."
+
+"Harry's in town; he goes home in a few days," Mrs. Cartwright replied.
+She hesitated and resumed, "I imagined he wanted to marry Barbara,
+although she told me nothing about this. Barbara does not tell one
+much."
+
+"Do you think she likes him?"
+
+"I don't know, but I rather think if she had liked him she would have
+refused."
+
+"Ah!" said Cartwright thoughtfully. "Well, Vernon's a good sort, but I
+see some light; the girl is sensitive and very proud! No doubt, she
+feels her Canadian adventure--ridiculous, of course! But Barbara's hard
+to move. All the same, if Vernon's the proper man and is resolute--"
+
+"I doubt if he is the proper man," Mrs. Cartwright replied.
+
+Cartwright pondered. Sometimes Clara did not say all she thought, and
+his glance wandered back to the group at the other end of the room.
+Barbara was again talking to Lister. He looked thoughtful and her face
+was serious. They were obviously not engaged in philandering; Cartwright
+felt their quiet absorption was significant. After a minute or two,
+however, the party about the piano broke up and went off. Barbara
+stopped to put away some music and then came through the arch.
+
+"Mr. Lister wants to go a voyage," she said to Cartwright. "I suggested
+you might help him to get a post on board a ship."
+
+"I imagine he did not suggest you should persuade me?"
+
+"Certainly not! He refused to bother you," Barbara replied and, with
+some hesitation, added: "However, perhaps in a sense we ought to help."
+
+"That is so," Cartwright agreed. "Why did Mr. Lister come to Liverpool?"
+
+"He wanted to go round the shipping offices. Mother told him our house
+was always open--"
+
+Cartwright nodded, "Of course! Well, I'll think about it and may see a
+plan."
+
+Barbara went off and Cartwright looked at his wife. "I don't know if
+this is a fresh complication; but if she refused Harry, she'd no doubt
+refuse the other. Perhaps it's important that she's willing he should go
+to sea."
+
+"One is forced to like Mr. Lister and we owe him much," Mrs. Cartwright
+remarked.
+
+"Certainly," Cartwright agreed. "However, it looks as if some
+engineering talent is all he has got, and I think a long voyage is
+indicated--" He stopped, and resumed with a twinkle: "For all that, the
+fellow is not an adventurer, and I married a rich woman."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave him a gentle smile. "I have been happy and Barbara
+is not; but, in one sense, I don't imagine we need be disturbed. Barbara
+has not recovered from the jar."
+
+She got up, and Cartwright dozed until he heard a step and Lister
+crossed the floor.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "Are you going? There is no train just now."
+
+Lister said he meant to walk to the tramline, but Cartwright asked him
+to stop for a few minutes.
+
+"Barbara tells me you are trying for a post in an engine-room," he
+remarked.
+
+"That is so," said Lister with a touch of embarrassment. "Still, I
+didn't mean Miss Hyslop to bother you."
+
+"Barbara likes to meddle and I'm a ship-owner. To begin with, why d'you
+want to go to sea?"
+
+"I must go to sea or back to Canada," Lister said, smiling. "I've had a
+pretty good holiday, but my wad's nearly gone."
+
+"Then, wouldn't it be prudent to return to your occupation?"
+
+"I haven't an occupation; I turned mine down. It's possible I'll find
+another, but I'm not ready yet. In Canada, we're a restless, wandering
+lot, and I want to look about the world before I go back. You see, when
+you only know the woods and our Western towns--"
+
+Cartwright saw and sympathized. He remembered how adventure called when
+he was young. Well, he had got adventure, but perhaps not the kind
+Lister seemed to enjoy. Anyhow, he had not started off with an empty
+wallet to look about the world.
+
+"How much does your roll amount to?" he asked with a bluntness he
+sometimes used.
+
+When Lister told him he laughed. The young fellow was good stuff;
+Cartwright liked his rashness.
+
+"Well," he said, "you have pluck, and if you're obstinate, pluck takes
+you far. Have you got a promise from any of our shipping offices?"
+
+Lister said he had not. There were some difficulties about certificates.
+He had sailed on lake boats and made coasting voyages, but the English
+Board of Trade rules were strict. Then he looked at the clock and
+Cartwright gave him his hand.
+
+"Come and see me at the office. We'll talk about this again."
+
+Lister thanked him, and when he had gone Cartwright mused. The young
+fellow was not an adventurer; anyhow not in the sense Shillito was an
+adventurer. His honesty was obvious, it was plain he did not want
+Barbara's money, and Cartwright thought he did not know she was rich. In
+fact, he was Barbara's sort. There was the trouble. Cartwright weighed
+this for a time and then went to sleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A NASTY KNOCK
+
+Frost sparkled on the office windows and Cartwright, with his feet on
+the hearthrug studied an Atlantic weather chart. The temperature
+reported by the liners' captains was low, and winter had begun unusually
+soon. Since Cartwright had hoped for a mild November, this was unlucky.
+As a rule, cargo is plentiful at Montreal shortly before the St.
+Lawrence freezes and the last steamers to go down the river do so with
+heavy loads. Cartwright's plan was to run a boat across at the last
+moment and pick up goods the liners would not engage to carry, and he
+had sent _Oreana_ because she was fast. When the drift ice began to
+gather, speed was useful.
+
+A cablegram two or three days since stated that she had sailed, and
+Cartwright, who knew the St. Lawrence, calculated the progress she ought
+to have made. Perhaps he had cut things rather fine, but Captain Davies
+was a good navigator and would push on. Although the narrow waters below
+Montreal, where the stream runs fast between the islands, would be open,
+Lake St. Peter was freezing, and the liner _Parthian_ had some trouble
+to get through. Still the channels were not yet blocked, and when Davies
+had passed the Narrows he would get open water down the gorge to Quebec.
+Allowing for cautious navigation, Davies ought to be near Rimouski at
+the mouth of the river, and his passing would, no doubt, soon be
+telegraphed from the signal station. Cartwright admitted that to get the
+message would be some relief.
+
+By and by his bookkeeper came in.
+
+"Direct cablegram from Davies, sir."
+
+Cartwright took the form and frowned. The message was not from Rimouski
+and ran: "Delayed Peter; passing Quebec."
+
+"Awkward, sir," Gavin remarked sympathetically.
+
+"Very awkward," said Cartwright. "Davies needed all the time he's lost.
+It will be a near thing if he gets out."
+
+He picked up the weather chart and got no comfort. "Cable Malcolm at St.
+Johns. You'll find questions in the code-book about ice and wind."
+
+Gavin withdrew and Cartwright grappled with disturbing thoughts. He had
+counted on _Oreana's_ earning a good sum, and had engaged a paying cargo
+for her when she got back. In fact, the two good runs ought to have made
+the disappointing balance sheet he must shortly submit to the
+shareholders look a little better. All the same, there was no use in
+meeting trouble. Davies had passed Quebec, and if he made good progress
+in the next twenty-four hours, one might begin to hope.
+
+Below Quebec there were awkward spots where steamers used buoyed
+channels, and if these were blocked by ice Davies must risk crossing the
+shoals. If he got across, the water was deep and he need only bother
+about the floes until he came to the Gulf. Since Belle Isle Strait was
+frozen, Davies would go South of Anticosti and out by the Cabot passage,
+but the Gulf was often dark with snow and fog, and one met the old
+Greenland ice. Well, much depended on the weather, and Cartwright went
+to get his lunch.
+
+The restaurant under a big building was warm, and for a time Cartwright
+occupied his favorite corner of the smoking-room. His tips were
+generous, and so long as he was punctual the waitress allowed nobody to
+use his chair. The noise of the traffic in the street was softened to a
+faint rumble, the electric light was cleverly shaded, and his big chair
+was easy. He got drowsy, but frowned when he began to nod. The trouble
+was, he was often dull when he ought to be keen. His doctor talked about
+the advantages of moderation, but when one got old one's pleasures were
+few and Cartwright liked a good meal. At the luncheon room they did one
+well, and he was not going to use self-denial yet.
+
+By and by a merchant he knew pulled up a chair opposite. "Very cold and
+slippery outside," he remarked. "I nearly came down on the floating
+bridge, and looked in for a drink. A jar shakes a man who carries
+weight."
+
+"What were you doing on the floating bridge?" Cartwright asked.
+
+"I went to the stage to meet some Canadian friends on board the
+_Nepigon_. They'd a bad voyage; thick mist down the St. Lawrence, and
+they lost a day cruising about among the floes in the Gulf. What about
+your little boat?"
+
+"I understand she's coming down river."
+
+"Hasn't she started rather late?"
+
+"If I'd sent her sooner, the _Conference_ would have knocked me out,"
+Cartwright rejoined. "I'd have got nothing but low-rated stuff the
+liners didn't want. One must run some risks."
+
+The other nodded. "That is so, when shareholders must be satisfied.
+Well, I expect I'm lucky because my partner's a good sort. When you
+needn't bother about other folk's greediness, you can take a cautious
+line. Now I come to think of it, I heard some of your people grumbling.
+I hope your boat will get across all right."
+
+He got up and Cartwright pondered. If outsiders knew his shareholders
+were dissatisfied, things were worse than he had thought and he might
+expect trouble at the next meeting. Then he looked at his watch, but his
+chair was deep and when he tried to get up his leg hurt. He sank back
+again. Gavin knew where to find him if a reply from St. Johns arrived.
+
+By and by his office boy, carrying a cable company's envelope, came in,
+and Cartwright's hand shook when he opened the message. It stated that
+an easterly gale and snowstorm raged about the Newfoundland coast and
+the thermometer was very low. The gale would drive the drift ice up the
+Gulf and pack the floes. Things looked bad. Cartwright felt he ought to
+get about and make some plans to meet the threatened blow, but he did
+not see what he could do.
+
+He sat still. The other customers had gone, and all was quiet but for
+the faint rumble of traffic and soothing throb of an electric fan.
+Cartwright mused about _Oreana_ and pictured Davies sheltering behind
+the wind-screens on his bridge and trying to pierce the snow, and the
+look-out man half frozen in the spray that leaped about the forecastle.
+_Oreana_ was a wet boat when she was loaded deep. Now and then, perhaps,
+a buoy loomed in the tossing flakes. One tried to read the number and
+see the color. Then the steering-engine rattled as the rudder was pulled
+across and _Oreana_ headed for another mark.
+
+The work was nervous, because dangerous shoals bordered the channels and
+Davies must let the steamer go. He knew when a risk must be run and the
+engineer was staunch. The trouble was, _Oreana's_ boilers were bad; the
+money Cartwright durst not spend on repairs would have been a good
+investment now. Still, the old boat was fast, and Davies would drive her
+full-speed.
+
+The captain's job would not be easier when he left the shoals. The
+easterly gale would send the floes up stream. Cartwright knew the
+strange chill one felt when ice was about and the faint elusive _blink_
+that marked its edge in the dark. Sometimes one did not see the blink
+until the floe was almost at the bows, and when the look-out's startled
+cry reached the bridge one must trust to luck and pull the helm over
+quick. Then to dodge the floe might mean one crashed upon the next. It
+was steering blind, but, as a rule, the sailor's instinct guided him
+right. Farther on, the river got wide and in thick weather one saw no
+lights: Davies must keep mid-channel and trust his reckoning while he
+rushed her along. For a thousand miles the old boat's track was haunted
+by dangers against which one could not guard, and Cartwright thought she
+carried his last chance to mend his broken fortunes.
+
+If she were wrecked, the reckoning he had long put off must be fronted,
+for when his embarrassments were known his antagonists would combine and
+try to pull him down. One must pay for one's extravagance, but to pay
+would break him, and if he were broken, Mortimer would sneer and Grace
+treat him with humiliating pity. He would be their mother's pensioner,
+and to lose his independence was hard. He had long ruled, and bullied,
+others.
+
+By and by a waitress moved some glasses and Cartwright looked up with a
+start. The afternoon was nearly over; he must have gone to sleep.
+Returning to the office, he gave his bookkeeper some orders and then
+went to the station. The pavements were slippery with frost, and tall
+buildings with yellow lights loomed in the fog. Cartwright shivered, but
+reflected that Davies, fighting the snow and gale, was no doubt colder.
+For a day or two he must bear the suspense, and then, if no cablegram
+arrived, he could take it for granted that _Oreana_ had reached the
+Atlantic. After dinner he sat by the fire and smoked while Mrs.
+Cartwright knitted.
+
+"In the afternoon I went to Mrs. Oliver's and met Mrs. Seaton," she said
+presently. "She talked to me for some time. At the beginning, I thought
+it strange!"
+
+"It's pretty obvious that you don't like her," Cartwright remarked.
+
+"Ellen Seaton is not my sort, but I understand she was a friend of
+yours."
+
+"She was my friend," said Cartwright carelessly. "It's long since, and I
+rather doubt if she is my friend now."
+
+"Then why did she buy her shares in the line?"
+
+"Ellen did not buy the shares. Seaton bought them when shipping was
+good."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright looked relieved and Cartwright resumed: "All the same, I
+don't see her object for telling you she was a shareholder."
+
+"She wanted to sell her shares to me; I knew she had some plan when she
+crossed the floor. I was talking to Janet, but Ellen got Janet away and
+persuaded a young man on the other side to move. It was clever. I don't
+think Mrs. Oliver or anybody else remarked what she was doing. But you
+know Ellen!"
+
+"I know Ellen rather well," said Cartwright dryly. "However, when you
+saw she wanted to get you alone, why did you indulge her?"
+
+"For one thing, I was curious; then it wasn't worth while to spoil her
+plan. I didn't think Ellen would persuade me, if I did not approve."
+
+Cartwright smiled. Clara did not argue much and generally agreed with
+him, but sometimes she was as immovable as a rock. He pictured with
+amusement the little comedy at Mrs. Oliver's, but all the same he was
+annoyed.
+
+"Well, Ellen wanted you to buy her shares? Did she give you any
+grounds?"
+
+"She declared she wanted money. Then she said it would help you if I
+took the lot. There might be a dispute at the meeting; the directors'
+report would not be satisfactory. People would ask awkward questions,
+and she expected some organized opposition. It would be useful for you
+to command a large number of votes."
+
+Cartwright's face got red. Ellen was well informed; in fact, it was
+ominous that she knew so much. Had she not been greedy, he thought she
+would have kept the shares in order to vote against him, but she
+obviously meant to sell them before the crash she expected came. If a
+number of others agreed with her, his retirement would be forced.
+
+"What price were you to pay?" he asked.
+
+Mrs. Cartwright told him, and he laughed. "If Ellen found a buyer at a
+number of shillings less, she would be lucky! Well, I understand you
+didn't take her offer?"
+
+"I did not," said Mrs. Cartwright tranquilly. "When I wanted to buy some
+shares not long since, you did not approve. Since you refused to let me
+help, I didn't mean to be persuaded by Ellen Seaton!"
+
+"You're staunch," said Cartwright and Mrs. Cartwright resumed her
+knitting. In the morning he went to the office sooner than usual, but
+there was no news and the dark, cold day passed drearily. When he
+started for home Gavin promised to wait until the cable offices closed,
+and Cartwright had gone to dinner when he was called to the telephone.
+When he took down the instrument his hand shook.
+
+"Hallo!" he said hoarsely. "Is that you, Gavin?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said a voice he knew. "Cablegram from Davies just arrived,
+part in code. I'll give it you slow--"
+
+"Go on," said Cartwright.
+
+"_Oreana_ ashore east Cape Chat, surrounded ice, water in fore hold.
+Think some plates broken; have abandoned ship. Salvage impossible until
+ice breaks."
+
+There was a pause, and Gavin added: "That's all. Have you got it, sir?"
+
+"I've got enough," Cartwright replied.
+
+He hung up the instrument, and going back to the dining-room, drained
+his glass. Then he turned to Mrs. Cartwright, who had remarked his grim
+look.
+
+"I've got a nasty knock. _Oreana's_ in the ice and may be wrecked.
+Anyhow, we can't get her off until spring, and she's the best of the
+fleet."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave him a sympathetic glance and signed a servant to
+bring another plate. As a rule she did not say much. She studied her
+husband quietly and was not much comforted when he resumed his dinner.
+This was characteristic, but it was plain he had got a nasty knock.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING
+
+The afternoon was dark and electric lights burned along the cornice of
+the room engaged for the shareholders' meeting. The room was big and
+cold, and as Gavin moved about the table on the platform his steps
+echoed hollowly. He was the company's secretary and was putting down
+papers by the blotting pads. A group of gentlemen, engaged in thoughtful
+talk, stood by the fire. They were directors of the line and did not
+look happy. Nominally, by the company's constitution, the shareholders
+elected the Board; in practice, Cartwright had, so far, appointed the
+directors, and meant, if possible, to do so again. The gentlemen by the
+fire were eligible for reelection, and Cartwright was satisfied,
+although he had not chosen them for their business talent. Their names
+were good in Liverpool and their honesty was known. Cartwright did not
+want clever men. He was head of the house and knew it would totter to a
+disastrous fall unless he kept his firm control.
+
+Now and then Gavin gave his employer a keen glance. Cartwright's lips
+were rather blue and the lines round his eyes were sharply drawn. His
+white mustache stuck out, and one got a hint of stubbornness, but except
+for this his face was inscrutable. Although Gavin thought Cartwright
+would score again, he was anxious. Nobody but Cartwright could persuade
+the dissatisfied shareholders to accept _that_ balance sheet.
+
+Cartwright himself felt in rather good form. He had curtailed his lunch
+and been satisfied with a single glass of liquor that generally braced
+him up. He imagined he would need all his skill and coolness before the
+meeting was over. The trouble was, he might not get much support. The
+directors did not know all he knew, but they knew something, and he saw
+one or two hesitated. Then Mrs. Cartwright was ill, and although she had
+given her husband her proxy votes, had sent Mortimer. Mortimer was
+entitled to come because he had some shares, but Cartwright did not know
+the line he meant to take. The pup did not like him and was cunning.
+Presently Cartwright looked at his watch.
+
+"They won't be long. I imagine we are going to have some opposition."
+
+"It's very possible," one of the others agreed. "A two-per-cent dividend
+is disappointing and we are paying this by cutting down the reserve
+fund. Then people know we have lost the use of our best boat for six
+months and may lose her for good. When we reduced our insurance, I urged
+that we were rash."
+
+"We saved a good sum and economy was needful," Cartwright rejoined.
+"Insurance is expensive for our type of boats."
+
+"The balance sheet looks bad. I'll admit I'd sooner not be accountable
+for a state of things like this," another remarked.
+
+Cartwright smiled. The balance sheet looked better than it was, but
+Jordan had given him a useful lead. He knew his colleagues' weaknesses
+and how they might be worked upon.
+
+"We are all accountable. I have consulted you frankly and you approved
+my plans."
+
+Jordan gave him a rather doubtful look. "Anyhow, we must front an
+awkward situation. Suppose the shareholders ask for an investigation
+committee?"
+
+"We must refuse," said Cartwright, with quiet firmness. "A frightened
+committee would probably urge a drastic re-construction scheme, the
+writing off much of our capital, and perhaps winding up the line. When
+rates are bad and cargo's scarce, one must take a low price for ships;
+our liabilities are large, and I imagine selling off would leave us much
+in debt--"
+
+Cartwright paused. He saw his remarks carried weight and knew his
+co-directors. He would give them a few moments for thought before he
+finished his argument.
+
+"Very well," he resumed. "Jordan declares he does not like to be
+accountable for an unsatisfactory balance sheet. I take it he would much
+less like to be made accountable for a bad bankruptcy! No doubt you
+sympathize with him?"
+
+It was obvious that they did so and one said, "If I thought my occupying
+a seat on the Board would lead to this, I would sooner have given my
+shares away!"
+
+"I have not talked about my feelings," Cartwright went on. "All the
+same, I am head of the old house; you can imagine I do not want to see
+it fall. But rates are not always low, and if I'm not embarrassed by
+rash meddlers, my persuasion is, I can keep the fleet running until
+better times arrive."
+
+He saw he had won them. The number of shares they owned was not very
+large: for the most part, the men were rich and not disturbed about
+their money. They valued a high place in business and social circles and
+their good name. To be entangled by a bankruptcy was unthinkable.
+
+"Then, I feel we ought to support you," Jordan replied. "For all that,
+our power's not very great. We are going to meet some opposition and if
+the dissatisfied people are resolute they can turn us out."
+
+"So long as I know the Board will back me, I'm not afraid of the
+shareholders," Cartwright declared.
+
+"You imagine you can save the situation?" a red-faced gentleman
+remarked.
+
+"It's possible," said Cartwright dryly.
+
+"Very well," said the other. "We must try to see you out."
+
+They went to the table soon afterwards and the shareholders began to
+arrive. They were not numerous, and the scattered groups emphasized the
+bareness of the big echoing room. Cartwright studied the people as they
+came in. Some looked gloomy and some stubborn; a few looked frankly
+bored. There were five or six women and two whispered, while the others
+glanced about with jerky movements. Cartwright's face hardened when he
+saw Mrs. Seaton, and then he noted Hyslop in a back row. He thought
+Hyslop looked languidly amused.
+
+When all was quiet, he took the notes Gavin handed him, glanced at the
+paper, and put it down. Then, speaking in a steady voice, he gave the
+report of the year's work and talked about the balance sheet. He was
+frank but not apologetic, and claimed, in view of the difficulties, that
+the directors had well guarded the company's interests. When he stopped
+there were murmurs of approval, as if some of the despondent had begun
+to hope; the cautious admitted that Cartwright had made a bad situation
+look better.
+
+One or two asked questions, which he answered candidly, and then there
+was a pause and somebody moved the adoption of the chairman's report and
+balance sheet. His seconder made a short nervous speech, and Mrs. Seaton
+got up at the end of the room. She pushed back her veil, took out her
+handkerchief, put her hand on a chair in front, and gave the directors
+an apologetic smile.
+
+"I don't know if it is usual for a woman to speak at a business meeting,
+but I have a number of shares in the line and it's long since I got a
+good dividend," she said. "Two per cent is ridiculous and my lawyer
+tells me I could get four per cent, where the security is really good."
+She paused and added naively: "To have twice as much to spend would be
+very nice."
+
+Somebody laughed and Cartwright braced himself. Ellen Seaton was
+cleverer than she looked, and he thought her dangerous, but in the
+meantime he durst not stop her.
+
+"One feels that security's important and it's plain ours is not
+first-class," she resumed. "Well, I suppose if we accept the report, it
+means we are satisfied to let the company's business be managed on the
+old plan?"
+
+"It does mean something like that," a man agreed.
+
+"Then I'm _not_ satisfied. For one thing, I want a proper dividend."
+
+"We all want a proper dividend," somebody remarked.
+
+Mrs. Seaton smiled, as if she were encouraged. "To go without is
+disappointing, but perhaps the dividend is not most important. I'd like
+to feel my shares were worth the money they cost, and find out they are
+not. We have drawn on the reserves and I expect this implies we are
+losing money. You can't go on losing money very long, and we ought to
+stop while we have some capital left."
+
+A number of the others applauded and she continued: "Our directors have
+worked very hard. To manage ships that don't pay must be tiring and
+perhaps we oughtn't to ask them to bear the heavy strain. Could we not
+choose somebody with fresh ideas to help?"
+
+"That's what we want!" said one. "The Board needs new blood!"
+
+Then the storm broke and for a time Cartwright lost control of the
+meeting. Mrs. Seaton had loosed passions he might have restrained and
+the shareholders were frankly moved by fear, distrust, and greed. Men
+got up, asking angry questions and shouting implications, but for a few
+minutes Cartwright sat like a rock and let them rage. When they stopped
+and there was an awkward pause, Mortimer Hyslop got up. He looked
+languid and his voice was soft, but Cartwright admitted his speech was
+clever.
+
+He and Mrs. Cartwright, whom he represented, owned shares in the line,
+and he had not risen before because the chairman was his relation. Now,
+when attacks, perhaps not altogether justified, had been made on the
+Board, he was forced to state his conviction that nobody else could have
+steered the company past the dangers that threatened. One must admit the
+situation was bad; and for a minute or two Mortimer cleverly indicated
+its drawbacks. For all that, he argued, it was rash to change pilot and
+officers in the middle of a storm. The officers they knew and had
+trusted must be left control until the gale blew over.
+
+Mortimer sat down and Cartwright knitted his brows. On the surface, his
+step-son had taken the proper line. Mortimer meant to support the Board,
+but he had indicated that he did so because it was his duty. His remarks
+about the dangers by which the company was surrounded had made things
+look worse. All the same, he had calmed the meeting, but Cartwright did
+not know if this was an advantage. Criticism was harder to meet when the
+critics were cool.
+
+Another man got up and began to talk in a quiet voice.
+
+"Mr. Hyslop has an object for trusting the chairman that we have not
+got. We won't grumble about his staunchness, but we are entitled to
+weigh his arguments, which are not altogether sound. He owns the
+situation is awkward and the outlook dark, but he urges us to trust the
+officers who got the ship in danger. One feels this is not remarkably
+logical. Then he declares nobody else could have kept the fleet running.
+I think the claim is rash. In this city we are conservative and names
+long known in business circles carry an exaggerated weight; we expect a
+man to work wonders because his father started a prosperous line, and
+another because he long since made a lucky plunge. Men like these are
+often satisfied with former triumphs while times and methods change. We
+want fresh thought and modern methods. It's obvious the old have brought
+us near the rocks!"
+
+Cartwright saw the shareholders were moved and the time for him to speak
+had come. He got up and fronted a doubting and antagonistic audience.
+His face was inscrutable, but he looked dignified.
+
+"We have heard angry criticism and hints about slackness," he began.
+"Some of you have suggested rejecting the report, a committee of
+inquiry, and new members for the Board, but no substantive motion has
+been put. Well, before this is done, I claim your patience for a few
+minutes. If you are not satisfied, I and your directors are jointly
+accountable. We stand together; if you get rid of one, you get rid of
+all. This is a drastic but risky cure--"
+
+He paused and one or two of the gentlemen at the table looked surprised.
+It was plain they felt the chairman had gone farther than he ought. The
+red-faced man, however, smiled as if he approved and Cartwright resumed:
+
+"Times are bad, the markets are flat, and goods are not moved about the
+world. I venture to state no steamship company is free from
+embarrassments. You can, no doubt, find men with business talent equal
+to ours and give them control; but you cannot give them the knowledge,
+gained by long experience, one needs to grapple with the particular
+difficulties the Cartwright line must meet. The personal touch is
+needed; your manager must be known by the company's friends, and its
+antagonists, who would not hesitate to snatch our trade from a stranger.
+They know me and the others, and are cautious about attacking us. In all
+that's important, until times get better, _I am the company_--"
+
+Cartwright stopped and drank some water. He saw he had struck the right
+note and began again:
+
+"I will not labor the argument; the thing is obvious! If I go, the line
+will stop running before the new men learn their job. Well, I'm old and
+tired, but it would hurt to see the house-flag hauled down; it was
+carried by famous oak clippers in my grandfather's time. You hesitate to
+risk your money? I risk mine and much that money cannot buy; the honor
+of a house whose ships have sailed from Liverpool for a hundred years!"
+
+The shareholders were moved and one heard murmurs of sympathy. Boldness
+paid, and Cartwright saw he was recovering his shaken power, but it was
+not all good acting. To some extent, he was sincere. He got his breath
+and resumed:
+
+"I don't urge you with a selfish object to let me keep my post; I'd be
+relieved to let it go. Counted in money, the reward for my labor is not
+large. I want to save the Cartwright line, to pilot it into port, and,
+if there is no rash meddling, I believe I can. But I warn you the thing
+is in no other's power. Well, I have finished. You must choose whether
+your directors go or not."
+
+There was an awkward silence, and then somebody asked: "Will the
+chairman state if he has a plan for meeting a situation he admits is
+difficult?"
+
+Cartwright smiled rather grimly. "I will not make a public statement
+that might be useful to our antagonists! So long as I am chairman, you
+must trust me. My proposition is, give us six months, and then, if
+things are no better, we will welcome a committee of inquiry. In the
+meantime, a motion is before the meeting--"
+
+"It is proposed and seconded that the directors' report and balance
+sheet be accepted," Gavin remarked.
+
+The resolution was carried, the directors were reelected, and the
+meeting broke up. Cartwright sat down rather limply and wiped his face.
+
+"I pulled it off, but they pushed me hard," he said. "At one time, it
+looked as if our defenses would go down."
+
+"You have put off the reckoning; I think that's all," one of the
+directors remarked.
+
+"We have six months," said Cartwright. "This is something. If they call
+a meeting then, I imagine I can meet them."
+
+He signed to Gavin, who helped him with his big coat, and went off to
+the underground restaurant, where he presently fell asleep in a chair by
+the fire.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A STOLEN EXCURSION
+
+Barbara stopped at the top of James Street and looked down hill to the
+river. The afternoon was dark and the pavement wet. Thin fog drifted
+about the tall offices, lights shone in the windows, and she heard
+steamers' whistles. Down the street, a white plume of steam, streaking
+the dark-colored fog, marked the tunnel station, and Barbara glanced at
+a neighboring clock.
+
+She could get a train in a few minutes, but she would be forced to wait
+at a station on the Cheshire side, and there was not another train for
+some time. She had bought the things she needed and did not know what to
+do. One could pass half an hour at a cafe; but Mrs. Cartwright did not
+like her to go to a cafe; alone and Barbara frowned impatiently. Her
+mother was horribly conventional and Barbara missed the freedom she had
+enjoyed in Canada. In fact, it was very dull at home; Grace's correct
+serenity and cold disapproval made one savage; Mortimer's very proper
+friends were tiresome.
+
+Barbara was restless and dissatisfied. She wanted to play an active part
+and feel she was alive. Moreover, since she came home she had felt she
+was being watched, and, so to speak, protected from herself. Her
+relations had forgiven her Canadian escapade, but they meant to guard
+against her doing something of the kind again. Perhaps from their point
+of view, they were justified, but Barbara was not tempted to make a
+fresh experiment. She had not yet got over the shock; she saw how near
+her romantic trustfulness had brought her to disaster and thought her
+faith in men and women had gone. This was perhaps the worst, because she
+was generous and had frankly trusted people she liked.
+
+Now she imagined the gloomy day had re-acted on her spirits. She was
+moody and longed for something that would banish the dreariness.
+Starting down hill for the station, she stopped abruptly a few moments
+afterwards. Lister was crossing the street, and if she went on they
+would meet. It was some time since she had seen him and she noted with
+surprise that he wore a rather soiled blue uniform. His cap, which had a
+badge in front, was greasy, and he carried an oilskin coat.
+
+He walked quickly, looking straight in front, with his head well up, and
+Barbara got a hint of purposeful activity. Barbara liked him much, but
+she had, as a rule, quietly baffled his efforts to know her better. She
+waited, rather hoping he would pass, until he looked round and advanced
+to meet her.
+
+"I'm lucky!" he remarked, and his satisfaction was comforting. "It's
+long since I have seen you."
+
+"You know our house," Barbara rejoined.
+
+"Oh, well," he said with a twinkle, "when I last came, you talked to me
+for about two minutes and then left me to play billiards with your
+brother. He was polite, but in Canada we play pool and my game's not
+very good. I imagined he was bored."
+
+"Mortimer is like that," said Barbara. "But why are you wearing the
+steamship badge and sailor's clothes?"
+
+Lister laughed. "They're engineer's clothes. I go to sea; that's another
+reason I didn't come over."
+
+"Ah," said Barbara. "Did my step-father get you a post on board ship?"
+
+"He did not. He told me to look him up at the office, but I didn't go.
+One would sooner not bother one's friends."
+
+"Canadians are an independent lot," Barbara remarked. "In this country,
+we use our friends for all they are worth, and we're justified so long
+as they want to help. If Cartwright said he would help, he meant to do
+so. But what ship are you on board?"
+
+"_Ardrigh_, cross-channel cattle boat. She's unloading Irish steers,
+sheep and pigs not far off. Will you come and see her? I don't suppose
+you've been on board a Noah's ark before."
+
+Barbara did not hesitate. She doubted if Mrs. Cartwright would approve
+and knew Grace would not, but this was not important. Grace disapproved
+all she did and the stolen excursion would break the monotony. Then
+Lister's twinkling smile appealed, and somehow her reserve vanished when
+she was out of doors with him.
+
+"I'd like to go," she said.
+
+"Then, come along," he urged, and they started for the elevated railway
+at the bottom of the street.
+
+While the electric cars rolled along the docks Barbara's moodiness went.
+She could not see much in the fog. Wet warehouse roofs, masts and
+funnels, and half-seen hulls floating on dull water, loomed up and
+vanished. Inside the car, lights glimmered on polished wood; the
+rattling and shaking were somehow cheerful. Barbara felt braced and
+alert. Lister talked and she laughed. She could not hear all he said,
+because of the noise, and thought he did not hear her, but she did not
+mind. She liked his cheerfulness and frank satisfaction. The gloom
+outside and the blurred lights in the fog gave the excursion a touch of
+romantic adventure.
+
+They got down at a station by a muddy dock-road. Ponderous lorries with
+giant horses rolled out of the gloom between stacks of goods; wet cattle
+were entangled in the press of traffic, and Barbara was relieved when
+Lister pushed back a sliding door. Then she stopped for a moment, half
+daunted by the noise and bustle, and looked about.
+
+Big lights hung from the room of the long shed, but did not pierce the
+gloom that lurked between the piles of cargo. A flock of sheep, moving
+in a dense woolly mass, came down a gangway; squealing pigs occupied a
+bay across the piles of goods. The front of the shed was open and in
+places one saw a faint reflection that looked like water. Opposite
+Barbara, the gap between the low roof and dock-sill was filled by a
+deckhouse and a steamer's funnel. Steam blew across the opening farther
+on, and in the vapor bales and boxes shot up and rattling chains plunged
+down. Through the roar of the winches she heard coarse shouts and the
+bellowing of cattle.
+
+Lister took her to a slanting plank that spanned a dark gulf and she saw
+dim water and then the hollow of a steamer's hold. Men who looked like
+ghosts moved in the gloom and indistinct cattle came up a railed plank.
+Barbara could not see where they came from; they plunged out of the
+dark, their horns glimmering in the beam of the lamps.
+
+After a few moments Lister helped her down on the steamer's bridge-deck.
+The boat listed away from the wall. Her tall red funnel was inclined
+sharply, much of her side was above water, and muddy streams poured from
+the scuppers on the after deck, where men with long boots pulled a
+hose-pipe about. The boat was horribly dirty, but her lean bows and the
+length of the iron engine-room casing indicated speed.
+
+A man came along the bridge-deck, and Barbara thought the gold bands on
+his cap indicated the captain. He stopped and when he glanced at Lister
+she blushed, for there was a hint of sympathetic understanding in her
+smile.
+
+"We won't want you until high-water," he said and went off.
+
+Barbara hoped Lister had not seen her blush and thought he had not. He
+took her down some iron steps and to a door in a dark passage.
+
+"Our mess-room," he said. "I expect it's the quietest spot on board the
+ship."
+
+He pushed the door open and stopped. The small room was bright with
+electric light and a young man and woman sat opposite each other at the
+table. The man's uniform was stained by oil; the girl was pretty and
+fashionably dressed, but Barbara knew her clothes were cheap. She stood
+at the door, hesitating, and the man gave Lister a smile like the
+captain's.
+
+"I didn't expect you yet, but come in," he said. "The tea's not cold,
+and Mike has made some doughnuts."
+
+"Mr. Robertson, my chief," Lister said to Barbara, and the man presented
+Lister to his companion, and put a machine in a box on the floor. "Now
+there's room; I was pulling out the indicator diagrams," he added.
+"Won't you take off your coat, Miss Hyslop, and try Mike's doughnuts?"
+
+The little room was hot, and when Barbara hung up her furs she noted the
+other girl's appraising glance. Miss Grant poured some black tea from a
+big cracked pot and pushed across a tin of condensed milk and a plate of
+greasy buns. When Barbara picked one up and looked at it doubtfully
+Robertson opened a drawer.
+
+"We pull ours in two, but I expect you'd like a knife," he said.
+
+He found a knife, which he rubbed on the table-cloth. "I used the thing
+on the indicator, the contraption in the box, but I think it's clean
+enough."
+
+Barbara ate her doughnut and drank the bitter tea. Miss Grant looked
+friendly and she liked the engineer. They were frank, human people, and
+she thought them kind. Robertson began to talk about carpets, gas-stoves
+and pans, and Miss Grant told Barbara what the articles cost. They had
+been buying furniture and Robertson stated they were to be married soon.
+
+"I reckon you haven't got so far yet," he said to Lister, and when
+Barbara saw Miss Grant touch him she blushed. It was ridiculous, but the
+blood came to her skin, and then, noting Lister's embarrassment, she
+began to laugh.
+
+"Jim _will_ talk like that!" Miss Grant remarked.
+
+"Oh, well," said Robertson, "I expect it's rather soon. Mr. Lister
+hasn't joined us long, and you don't begin at the top." He turned to
+Barbara with an encouraging smile. "All the same, he knows his job and
+has got one move up. Perhaps if he sticks to it, for a year or two--"
+
+Miss Grant stopped him and asked Barbara's views about curtains. She had
+some patterns, and while they contrasted the material and the prices the
+door opened and a greasy, red-haired fellow gave the group a benevolent
+grin.
+
+"Was thim doughnuts all right?" he inquired.
+
+"I've had better, but you've made some worse, Mike," Robertson replied.
+
+"Yez said _tea for two_. If ye'd told me it was a party, I'd have been
+afther stealing the captain's Cork butter. A cook cannot do his best
+whin the shore-steward sends him engine-grease. Annyhow, whin ye're
+young an' romantic, what's it mather what ye ate?"
+
+He went off and Robertson began to talk about _Ardrigh_. He was naively
+proud of the boat and his engines, and narrated hard runs in bad weather
+to land the livestock in time for important markets. Sometimes the
+hollow channel-seas that buried the plunging forecastle filled the decks
+and icy cataracts came down the stokehold gratings. Sometimes the cattle
+pens broke and mangled bullocks rolled about in the water and wreckage.
+
+Robertson had a talent for narrative and Barbara felt something of the
+terror and lure of the sea. She liked the _Ardrigh's_ rather grimy crew,
+their cheerfulness and rude good-humor. They did useful things, big
+things now and then; they were strong, warm-blooded fellows, not
+polished loafers like Mortimer's friends. Then she approved Miss Grant's
+frank pride in her lover. There was something primitive about these
+people. They were, so to speak, human, and not ashamed of their
+humanity. Lister was somehow like them; she wondered whether this had
+attracted her. Perhaps she was attracted, but the attraction must not be
+indulged.
+
+By and by Miss Grant resumed her talk about curtains, and when they had
+agreed about the material that ought to wear best Barbara looked at her
+watch. Miss Grant gave her her hand and Robertson declared she must come
+back when the boat was in port again. Lister took her down the gangway
+and was quiet until they reached the station. Then he smiled
+apologetically.
+
+"You played up well. I didn't know Robertson was on board, but he's a
+very good sort. So's the girl, I think."
+
+Barbara laughed. "I didn't play up; I liked the people. The excursion
+was delightful; I've enjoyed it all."
+
+Lister saw she was sincere and thrilled. He had begun to think he ought
+not to have suggested the adventure, but he was not sorry now; Barbara
+was not bothered by ridiculous conventions. She talked gayly while the
+cars rolled along beside the warehouse walls, but when they got down at
+the station she stopped in the middle of a sentence. Cartwright had
+alighted from the next car and was a yard or two in front. Lister knew
+his fur coat and rather dragging walk. If he and Barbara went on, they
+would confront Cartwright when he turned to go down the steps.
+
+Barbara gave him a twinkling glance and remarked that he knitted his
+brows but did not hesitate. In the few moments since her step-father
+left the train she had seen three or four plans for avoiding him. Lister
+obviously had not, and on the whole she approved his honesty. He
+advanced and touched Cartwright.
+
+"I didn't know you were on board our train, sir."
+
+Cartwright looked at him rather hard and Barbara waited. Although she
+had been caught enjoying a stolen excursion, she was not afraid of her
+step-father, but she was curious.
+
+"I was in front," said Cartwright dryly. "Barbara has picked a rather
+dreary day for a run to the north docks. I understood she was going to
+the shops."
+
+"Miss Hyslop met me near the station and I persuaded her to come and see
+my ship."
+
+"Then you have got a ship?" said Cartwright. "If you are not on duty,
+come to the office in the morning and tell me about the boat. In the
+meantime, I'll put Barbara on the tunnel train."
+
+He went off with the girl, but Barbara turned her head and Lister saw
+her smile.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CARTWRIGHT SEES A PLAN
+
+In the morning Lister went to Cartwright's office. To some extent, he
+was embarrassed, because he had begun to see that Barbara's relations
+might not approve her going on board his ship and he imagined Cartwright
+meant to talk about this. When he came in Cartwright gave him a nod and
+indicated a chair.
+
+"I understand you did not arrange for Barbara to meet you and go to the
+dock?" he said.
+
+"No, sir. I didn't expect to meet Miss Hyslop. I was talking about the
+boat and thought Miss Hyslop might like to see her."
+
+Cartwright turned and the electric light touched his face. He looked
+thoughtful, but somehow Lister imagined he was not thinking about his
+step-daughter.
+
+"Oh, well!" he said, as if the matter were not important, and went on:
+"I might have got you a post had you looked me up. What boat are you on
+board?"
+
+"_Ardrigh_. Perhaps you know her?"
+
+"Yes. Belfast model; long bow and fine lines aft. Don't know if I
+approve the type. Give you speed, at the cost of carrying power, but
+makes a wet ship in a head sea."
+
+"She is wet," Lister agreed with a smile. "Last run we couldn't keep the
+water out of the stokehold. Had to cover and batten gratings, and then a
+boat fetched adrift and smashed the engine skylights."
+
+"What's your rating?" Cartwright asked.
+
+Lister told him and he remarked: "You have made some progress!"
+
+"I was lucky. She burst some boiler tubes in my watch. We were steaming
+hard, head to an ugly sea, with a lot of cattle on board, and were
+forced to keep her going. Two firemen were scalded, but I was able to
+put the patent-stoppers in the tubes. I used a trick I'd learned on a
+Canadian lake boat; rather risky, but it worked. Afterwards the company
+moved me up."
+
+Cartwright was not surprised. He knew men and saw the young fellow was
+all he had thought. All the same, it might be worth while to get some
+particulars about the accident from the _Ardrigh's_ owners.
+
+"You won't go far in the cross-channel trade. Why did you not try for a
+berth with an Atlantic line!"
+
+"There was some trouble about your Board of Trade rules and I might have
+been required to prove my qualifications for an English certificate.
+While I was inquiring I heard an engineer was wanted on board _Ardrigh_.
+The regulations don't apply to coasting voyages."
+
+"You might have got your certificate. Would it not have been worth
+while?"
+
+Lister hesitated. His main object for joining the _Ardrigh_ was that she
+sailed from Liverpool and he wanted to see Barbara now and then. As a
+rule, he was frank, but he did not think it prudent to enlighten
+Cartwright.
+
+"I don't know," he said. "You see, I may go back to the railroad soon."
+
+He wondered whether Cartwright did see and thought he had remarked his
+hesitation; the old fellow was very keen. Cartwright's look, however,
+was inscrutable and for a few moments he said nothing. Then he picked up
+some papers on his desk.
+
+"Look me up now and then when you're in port. I might have a job for
+you, but I don't know yet," he said, and added in a meaning voice: "If
+you want to see my family, Mrs. Cartwright will receive you at her
+house."
+
+Lister colored and got up. "I'll remember, sir! Perhaps I oughtn't to
+have persuaded Miss Hyslop--I didn't stop to think--"
+
+When he went off Cartwright smiled, but soon afterwards he put his
+cigar-case in his pocket and told Gavin he was going out. He thought he
+knew where to find the cattle boat's shore-engineer, and when he did so
+the waitress gave them a table at which they would not be disturbed. In
+half an hour Cartwright had found out all he wanted to know, and
+returning to his office, he smoked and mused.
+
+Lister had not exaggerated; his pluck and coolness had kept _Ardrigh's_
+engines going when to stop might have meant the loss of the livestock on
+board. Well, Cartwright had known the fellow was good stuff and he might
+soon want a man like that. Somebody staunch and resolute who knew his
+job! He had beaten his antagonists at the shareholders' meeting, but
+doubted if he could do so again. In fact, he had only put off the
+reckoning for six months, in which he must make good, and he knitted his
+brows while he studied _Titania's_ picture. He thought about her sister
+ship, wrecked and abandoned on the African coast.
+
+_Arcturus_ was a useful boat and cheap to run. Although times were bad,
+Cartwright could run her and earn some profit. He had known the company
+that bought her was getting near the rocks, but they had insured her
+heavily and there was something strange about the wreck. Cartwright
+understood the underwriters had hesitated before they paid. He, himself,
+would not have paid; he had a notion--.
+
+An effort had been made to float _Arcturus_, but the salvors did not
+know all Cartwright thought he knew. If his supposition were correct,
+the wreck might be worth buying and one could, no doubt, buy her very
+cheap. The boat had for some time lain half-buried in shifting sands at
+the mouth of an African river.
+
+The underwriters would be lucky if they sold her for old iron.
+
+Cartwright weighed the cost of floating. If he employed a regular
+salvage company, this would be high, because they would bargain for a
+large part of the value recovered; his plan was to do the job himself,
+with cheaper appliances than theirs. The trouble was, he could not go
+out and superintend. He was too old, and one ought to be an engineer;
+Cartwright had grounds for imagining the job was rather an engineer's
+than a sailor's. Well, he knew a young fellow who would not be daunted
+and would work for him honestly, but to get the proper man was not all.
+
+He pondered about the money. Somehow he might get the necessary sum, but
+if the venture failed, it would be the last. Nobody would trust him
+again; he would be forced into retirement and dependence on his wife. It
+was a risk he hesitated to run and he resolved to wait.
+
+In the evening after dinner Barbara joined him in the drawing-room, and
+Cartwright waited with some amusement, for he thought he knew what she
+wanted.
+
+"Did Mr. Lister come to the office?" she asked presently.
+
+"He did come. Did you think he would not?"
+
+"Oh, no!" said Barbara, smiling, "I knew he would come. Mr. Lister is
+like that!"
+
+"I suppose you mean he's honest?"
+
+"I think I mean he's scrupulous. When you crossed the station platform
+in front of us he got a jolt."
+
+"Then, you did not get a jolt?"
+
+"Not at all," said Barbara. "To keep behind and meet you after I'd sent
+Lister off would not have bothered me. However, I was curious, although
+I think I knew the line he'd take. You see, for an unsophisticated young
+man, the situation was awkward."
+
+"If he felt it awkward, it indicated he knew he ought not to have taken
+you on board his boat."
+
+"You're horribly logical," Barbara rejoined with a twinkle. "When we
+started he didn't know I ought not to have gone. Mr. Lister is not like
+you; he's very obvious. Of course, I did know, but I went!"
+
+"I wonder why!" said Cartwright dryly.
+
+"Sometimes you're keen, but you didn't remark, I meant to give you a
+lead. Well, I didn't go altogether because I wanted to enjoy Mr.
+Lister's society. To see a cattle boat was something fresh and I was
+dull."
+
+"Then, when did Lister see a light? Since he stopped me, it's plain he'd
+got some illumination."
+
+"I think it was when the engineer and the girl Robertson is going to
+marry began to talk about house furnishings in the _Ardrigh's_
+mess-room. They took it for granted Lister was my lover and he was
+horribly embarrassed. The thing really was humorous."
+
+"Folks have hinted I'm getting a back-number," Cartwright remarked. "To
+talk to a modern girl makes me feel I am out-of-date."
+
+"Grace is not modern and to talk to her makes you tired," Barbara
+rejoined. "But I'll tell you about the tea-party in the mess-room if you
+like."
+
+"Then you got tea in the cattle boat's mess-room?"
+
+"Of course," said Barbara. "Black tea and condensed milk, and a ruffian
+with red hair whom they called Mike had made some doughnuts with lard
+like engine-grease. For all that, they were very nice people, and if you
+don't interrupt, I'll tell you--"
+
+She told him about the party and Cartwright chuckled. He pictured her in
+the dirty mess-room, looking exotic in her fashionable clothes and
+expensive furs, but no doubt quite serene. She said the other girl was
+pretty, but Cartwright admitted that Barbara was beautiful. He rather
+sympathized with Lister's embarrassment, and wondered whether Barbara
+meant to throw some light on the young man's character.
+
+When she stopped, he asked: "Did they talk about some burst boiler
+tubes?"
+
+"No," said Barbara. "We talked about gas-stoves and kitchen pans." Then
+she gave Cartwright a keen glance. "But what are boiler tubes? Do they
+sometimes burst?"
+
+"They carry the flame from the furnace through the water. If you're much
+interested, Gavin will show you a plan of a ship's boiler when you come
+to the office. In the meantime, have you found out all you want to
+know?"
+
+"You really are keen!" Barbara rejoined.
+
+"I was a little curious about what you said to Mr. Lister."
+
+"Ah," said Cartwright, "I imagined something like this. I told him if he
+wanted to see my family, he must come to the house."
+
+Barbara looked thoughtful. "This was all? Was it worth while to tell him
+to come to the office? To order him, in fact?"
+
+"It was all that's important. I think it was important and expect you to
+agree."
+
+"Well, you have carried out your duty and ought to be satisfied," said
+Barbara, who got up and gave Cartwright a smiling glance. "All the same,
+if you want a man for an awkward job, I think you can trust Mr. Lister!"
+
+She went off and Cartwright laughed. Barbara was clever. The strange
+thing was, she had been cheated by a theatrical rogue, but clever girls
+were sometimes like that. He imagined she liked Lister, but this was
+perhaps all, since she had been frank. In one sense, Lister was the man
+for Barbara; he was honest, sober, and resolute, and she needed firm
+control. The girl was as wild as a hawk, and although she was marked by
+a fine fastidiousness, would revolt from a narrow-minded prig. Lister
+was not a prig; his blood was red.
+
+In another sense, perhaps, the thing was ridiculous. Barbara was rich
+and ought to make a good marriage, but good marriages sometimes brought
+unhappiness.
+
+Human nature was stubborn; one paid for forcing it to obey the rules of
+worldly prudence. Then Barbara had a romantic vein. She would risk all
+for her lover and not grumble if she were forced to pay for her
+staunchness. Besides, she and Lister had qualities he had not. They were
+marked by something ascetic, or perhaps he meant Spartan, and if it were
+worth while, could go without much that he required.
+
+Cartwright admitted that indulgence had cost him dear. He had paid with
+grim philosophy, but he did not want Barbara to pay. Although she was
+not his daughter, he loved the girl, and her recent moodiness bothered
+him. If she did not love Lister, why was she disturbed? Sometimes
+Cartwright thought he saw a gleam of light. Suppose she did love the
+fellow and was trying to keep him off because of her Canadian adventure?
+Lister knew about that and Barbara was proud.
+
+Cartwright's eyes got bloodshot and he clenched his fist. He would very
+much like to meet Shillito. His muscles were getting slack, but he had
+not lost all his power; anyhow, he could talk. Well, the thing was
+humiliating, but he must not get savage. When he let himself go he
+suffered for it afterwards. Getting up, he threw away his cigar, and
+went off to talk to his wife.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A BOLD SPECULATION
+
+After weighing for some weeks all he could learn about the wreck on the
+African coast, Cartwright went to London and was carried up one morning
+to the second floor of an imposing office block. Black marble columns
+supported the molded roof of the long passage, the wide stairs were
+guarded by polished mahogany and shining brass, and a screen of artistic
+iron work enclosed the elevator shaft. Cartwright's fur coat and gloves
+and varnished boots harmonized with the surroundings; he looked rich and
+important, but as he went along the corridor his face was stern. He was
+going to make a plunge that would mend or break his fortune. Unless he
+got straight in the next six months, he must retire from the Board and
+make the best bargain possible with his creditors.
+
+He opened a door, and giving a clerk his card, was shown into a handsome
+private office. Mr. Morse at a writing-table indicated a chair, and when
+Cartwright sat down, rested his chin in his hand.
+
+"We have considered your letters, and my partner, Mr. Bull, agrees that,
+if we can come to terms, your suggestion has some advantages," he said.
+
+"The advantages for your clients are obvious," Cartwright remarked.
+
+The other smiled. "They paid out a good sum when _Arcturus_ was wrecked,
+and would frankly like to get something back. Well, we understand you
+are willing to buy her, _as she lies_."
+
+"At my price! I'll give you a check when the agreement's signed."
+
+"Then, I expect you have made some calculations and know all about the
+efforts to float the wreck. If we sell her to you, the job is yours, but
+I admit some curiosity. Why do you expect to float her when the salvage
+company failed?"
+
+"For one thing, they started the job on extravagant lines," Cartwright
+replied. "They sent out two first-class tugs and a number of highly-paid
+men; they ought to have hired negro laborers at the spot. The surf is
+often bad, they could only work when it was calm, and while they were
+doing nothing, wages mounted up. So did their bills for the coal they
+must bring from Sierra Leone, where coal is expensive. Then they were
+bothered by fever and were forced to send men home. They saw the
+contract would not pay and let it go. The job was not impossible; it was
+costing too much."
+
+Mr. Morse agreed that Cartwright's statement was plausible and probably
+accurate, but thought he rather labored his argument.
+
+"You mean to use another plan?" he said.
+
+"My outfit will be small and cheap. This has the advantage that when my
+men can't work, I won't pay much for wasted time. All the same, my risk
+is obvious. The thing's a rash speculation, on which I can't embark
+unless you are satisfied to take a very small price."
+
+For a few moments the ship broker pondered. Cartwright's line was the
+line a man who wanted to buy something cheap would take. All the same,
+Mr. Morse did not altogether see why he wanted to buy the wreck.
+
+"What about the cargo?" he suggested. "Of course, you understand that I
+have no authority to sell this; you noticed the wording of our original
+advertisement? 'And for the salving of the cargo,' Precisely it is on
+that basis alone that the cargo underwriters will deal. Together with
+your offer for the steamer as she lies, you must accept a percentage of
+the value of the cargo you save."
+
+"What is the cargo?"
+
+"She carried palm-kernels in the forehold; I expect they have fermented
+and rotted. Perhaps the palm oil aft isn't spoiled."
+
+"The barrels will have gone to bits."
+
+"Oak barrel staves stand salt water long."
+
+"The iron hoops do not," Cartwright rejoined. "Anyhow, I don't reckon on
+the cargo; I expect to make my profit on buying the hull."
+
+"Yet the cargo is worth something. I imagine you know she carried some
+valuable gums, ivory and a quantity of gold?"
+
+Cartwright smiled. "I do know the goods were on the ship's manifest. How
+much gold did the salvage company get?"
+
+"Six boxes; but this was not all that was shipped."
+
+"I imagine it's all that will be recovered!" Cartwright remarked.
+
+The other looked hard at him, but his face was inscrutable and he went
+on: "Well, I don't want the cargo, and may be forced to heave much of it
+overboard in order to lighten the hull. However, if we find stuff worth
+saving, we'll put it on the beach and I'll take a third-part of the
+value, and you can send out an agent to tally the goods."
+
+"Very well," said the other, who approved the latter plan, although he
+imagined Cartwright knew something he did not. "Let's be frank," he
+resumed. "Personally, I felt from the beginning there was a mystery
+about the wreck."
+
+"Oh, well," said Cartwright, "the owners of the boat went broke, and the
+merchant who put the goods on board died. His son sold the business to a
+small company, in which he took shares. The new house is prosperous and
+respectable; it would be necessary to know your ground well before you
+bothered them. Then I have nothing to go upon but a vague supposition.
+In fact, the thing's a risky plunge, and if you refuse my offer, I won't
+grumble. All the same, I doubt if anybody else would give you, for
+example, five hundred pounds for _Arcturus_."
+
+"Five hundred pounds is, of course, ridiculous," the other rejoined, and
+they began to bargain.
+
+When Cartwright left the office he was, on the whole, satisfied. He
+could finance the undertaking, but this was all. There would be no
+margin to cover unforeseen difficulties. It was his last gamble, and,
+besides his money, he staked his post and reputation. If he lost, he was
+done for, and the house must fall. Soon after his return he sent for
+Lister and told him about the wreck and his salvage plans.
+
+"I had some bother to get a captain," he said. "The job has not much
+attraction for a sober man, but Brown is not sober; he's frankly
+reckless and irresponsible. The strange thing is, I've known him make
+good where cautious men have failed. Then much depends on the engineer.
+I brought you across to ask if you would go."
+
+Lister's eyes sparkled. "Yes, sir. I've been looking for a chance like
+this."
+
+Cartwright studied him quietly. Lister's keenness was obvious; the young
+fellow liked adventure, but Cartwright imagined this did not account for
+all.
+
+"From one point of view, I think the chance is pretty good," he said.
+"If you can float the wreck and bring her home, I expect some of the big
+salvage companies will offer you a post. Anyhow, you'll get your pay,
+and if we are lucky, a bonus that will depend on the cost of the
+undertaking and the value of all we salve."
+
+"I'm going," Lister declared, and Cartwright noted that he did not
+inquire about the pay. Then he hesitated and resumed: "But I haven't got
+an English chief-engineer's certificate."
+
+"I don't know if it's important. I expect you'll find the adventure is
+marked by a number of small irregularities. However, to satisfy the
+Board of Trade is my business."
+
+"Then you can reckon on me; but there's another thing. Why do you hope
+to lift the wreck when the salvage men could not?"
+
+Cartwright smiled. "I have been asked this before, but saw no grounds
+for satisfying the inquirer's curiosity. All the same, I'll enlighten
+you."
+
+He did so, and Lister looked up sharply. He had known Cartwright was
+clever, but the old fellow was cleverer than he thought. It was possible
+he had solved a puzzle that had baffled the salvage engineers. After
+all, perhaps, it was not strange they were baffled. They had reckoned on
+mechanical obstacles; Cartwright had reckoned on the intricacies of
+human nature.
+
+"I expect you have got it, sir," Lister agreed. "If her bilge was in the
+sand and the divers couldn't break into the engine-room--" He paused and
+laughed. "A powerful centrifugal pump lifts some water, but you can't
+pump out the Atlantic!"
+
+"It looks as if the salvage company tried," said Cartwright, dryly.
+"However--"
+
+He talked about the undertaking, giving Lister particulars he thought he
+ought to know, and when the young man went off, all important plans had
+been agreed upon. Soon afterwards Cartwright went home and found Mrs.
+Cartwright had gone to bed. He was getting disturbed about her, but
+since the doctor had said she must rest, he talked to Barbara in the
+evening. He told her about the wreck, and smiled when he stated that
+Lister would have control.
+
+"I think you declared he was the man for an awkward job," he said.
+
+Barbara looked at him rather hard. "Perhaps I did say so. You don't
+imply you are sending Mr. Lister because you thought I'd like it?"
+
+"Not at all," said Cartwright. "The thing's a business venture. Still
+your statement carried weight. I admit your judgment sometimes is
+sound."
+
+She turned her head and when she looked up and replied, her voice was
+rather hard.
+
+"You must not trust my judgment. I have been cheated."
+
+"My dear!" said Cartwright. "Perhaps my remark was unlucky, but the
+cleverest of us is sometimes cheated, and you were not cheated long.
+We'll let it go. I'm bothered about your mother. She feels the damp and
+cold and is not picking up. Perhaps we ought to send her South. I must
+talk to the doctor."
+
+In the morning he saw the doctor, who said they had better wait for a
+time, and Cartwright occupied himself by outfitting the salvage
+expedition. Finding it necessary to go to London, he called on the
+gentleman from whom he had bought the wreck a short time ago.
+
+"When we made the agreement, you asked if I knew anybody who would give
+me five hundred pounds for the boat," remarked Mr. Morse. "Just then I
+did not know, but not long since I was offered a better price than
+yours."
+
+"Ah," said Cartwright, thoughtfully. "She lay in the sand for some time
+and nobody bothered about her. Who was willing to buy?"
+
+The other smiled. "A shipbroker stated a sum at which he would take her
+off our hands. It was plain he was an agent, but he wouldn't give his
+customer's name. I don't imagine you will find out from him. I tried!"
+
+Cartwright said it was strange, and went off soon afterwards. When he
+went down in the lift he smiled, for he thought he saw a light; after
+all, his speculation was not as rash as it looked.
+
+When he got home Mrs. Cartwright had come downstairs and she joined the
+others at dinner. The doctor said she was stronger and might soon
+undertake a journey South; he suggested the Canaries, and Cartwright
+approved.
+
+"If you sail by a Cape liner, it's a short run, and after you leave the
+Spanish coast the sea is generally smooth," he said. "Since I must stay
+at the office, we must decide who is going with you."
+
+Hyslop said he would like to go, and would do so if it were necessary,
+but to get away just then was awkward. Grace declared somebody must stop
+to look after Cartwright and the house, and she imagined this was her
+post. For all that, since she was older than Barbara, it was hard to see
+her duty. Mrs. Cartwright did not indicate whom she wanted, although she
+glanced at Barbara. Since she was ill she had got very languid, and
+Cartwright did not meddle. He knew his stepchildren, and it was
+characteristic that Grace talked about her duty; taking care of an
+invalid at a foreign hotel had not much charm for Grace.
+
+"Very well," said Barbara, "I gave you and Mortimer first chance,
+because I'm not important, but since you have good grounds for staying,
+we won't argue." She turned to Mrs. Cartwright: "I'm going, because I
+want to go."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright gave her a gentle smile and it was plain that she was
+satisfied, but when she had gone to bed and Cartwright was alone, he
+pondered. Barbara loved her mother and would have gone had she not
+wanted to go, but he thought she did want and had an object. He had told
+her something about his plans, and had stated that he would use Grand
+Canary as a supply depot for the expedition; then he had found the girl
+studying an Atlantic chart in the library. Barbara had no doubt noted
+the island lay conveniently near the African coast, and knew it was an
+important coaling station, at which steamers bound South from Liverpool
+called. Cartwright wondered whether she had argued she might see Lister
+at Grand Canary.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE START
+
+Rain was falling and the light had hardly reached the opening between
+the tall warehouses. In the dock the water was smooth and shone with
+dull reflections, but the gates were open and the muddy swell the flood
+tide brought up the river splashed about the entrance. Ponderous lorries
+rumbled across a bridge, indistinct figures moved and shouted on the
+pierhead, and men in wet oilskins splashed about _Terrier's_ deck.
+
+She was a battered propeller tug and lay against the wall, with large
+cases of machinery lashed to her bulwarks, and a stack of coal built up
+beside the engine-skylights. Her bunkers were full, but the fuel she
+carried would not last very long, and coal is dear at foreign ports.
+Coils of thick wire rope and diving gear occupied her shallow hold, and
+Cartwright was annoyed because she could not take the massive
+centrifugal pump which he had sent by an African liner. Some extra coal
+and supplies were loaded on a clumsy wooden hulk, but he durst not risk
+her carrying expensive machinery.
+
+When he talked to the captain in the pilot-house, he was, on the whole,
+satisfied. Brown's face was flushed and his voice was hoarse, but he
+would pull himself together after he got to sea. Cartwright knew Brown's
+habits when he gave him the job, although, in an important sense, the
+job was Lister's. To trust the young fellow was a bold experiment, but
+Cartwright did so. If Lister were not the man he thought, Cartwright
+imagined his control of the line would presently come to an inglorious
+end. To some extent this accounted for his bringing Barbara to see the
+salvage expedition start. He knew the power of love.
+
+Barbara had not gone up the greasy ladder to the bridge and waited on
+deck. She had left home without much breakfast, in the dark, and was
+cold and rather depressed. All was gloomy and strangely flat. The tug
+looked small and was horribly dirty. Coal-dust covered rails and ropes;
+grimy drops from the rigging splashed on the trampled black mud on deck.
+The crew were not sober and their faces were black. Two or three
+draggled women called to them from the pierhead, their voices sounding
+melancholy and harsh.
+
+Barbara had not seen Lister and wondered where he was, until a man
+plunged out from the neighboring door of the engine-room. The abruptness
+of his exit indicated that he had been rudely propelled by somebody
+behind, and as he lurched across the deck, Lister appeared at the door.
+His cap was dark with grease, his overalls were stained, and a black
+smear ran from his eye to chin.
+
+"Hustle and get that oil drum on the wharf, you drunken hog!" he
+shouted. "If I hadn't watched out you'd have left half the truck."
+
+He stopped when he saw Barbara. "This is very kind," he said to her. "I
+knew Cartwright was on board, but hadn't hoped you would come to give us
+a good send-off."
+
+Barbara noted his satisfaction and was moved by something in his voice.
+He looked thin and fine-drawn in his stained engineer's clothes, and his
+hands were greasy. The surroundings were not romantic, but somehow they
+got brighter and her gloom vanished. Lister's eyes sparkled; he wore the
+stamp of strength and confidence.
+
+"I doubted if my step-father would bring me, but I really meant to
+come," she said. "For one thing, I wanted to ask you--"
+
+She hesitated, for it was hard to strike the right note. She had begun
+to see there was something exciting and perhaps heroic about the
+adventure. The handful of men had undertaken a big thing; there was much
+against them, and daunting risks must be run. Moreover, she had studied
+Cartwright and remarked the anxiety he thought he had hid. Cartwright
+was rather inscrutable, but sympathy had given her power to understand.
+She thought he was engaged in a reckless gamble and could not afford to
+lose.
+
+"Whatever you want--" Lister declared, but she stopped him.
+
+"I want you to do your best."
+
+"You can reckon on that, anyhow! Cartwright has hired me; I'm his man."
+
+Barbara smiled. "Yes; I know! You're honest and will do all you engaged;
+but in a sense, this is not enough. I want you to make an extra effort,
+because--"
+
+She paused and the blood came to her skin when she went on: "You see,
+it's important you should float the wreck and bring her home. It means
+much to my step-father; very much, I think. He's kind and I love him. I
+feel I ought to help."
+
+Lister saw her statement was significant, and her embarrassment
+indicated that she knew it was so. In fact, she had admitted that she
+knew he would, for her sake, use all his powers. He was moved, but he
+was not a fool. The girl, wearing her costly furs, looked rich and
+dignified; he was a working engineer and conscious of his greasy
+clothes. He loved her, but for a time he must be cautious. To begin
+with, he would not have her think he made a claim.
+
+"You're not very logical," he replied carelessly. "When I took the job I
+undertook to earn my pay. Cartwright sends me off to float the wreck,
+and if it's possible, I must make good."
+
+"I am logical," Barbara declared, while her color came and went. "One
+thinks one does one's best, but sometimes when the strain comes, one can
+do better. It really isn't ridiculous! Emotion, sentiment, give one
+extra force--" She stopped and resumed in a strangely gentle voice: "You
+are young, and if you don't make good it won't hurt very much. Mr.
+Cartwright's old; he can't try again. Then he's not my step-father only.
+He's my friend, and I know he trusts you. For his sake, I must be
+frank--I trust you!"
+
+Lister smiled, but his voice betrayed him, although he thought he used
+control.
+
+"Very well! If it's possible for flesh and blood, we'll bring _Arcturus_
+home. That's all. The thing's done with."
+
+She gave him her hand, and kept the glove with the dark grease stain.
+Then, seeing there was no more to be said, she looked about. Ragged
+clouds rolled up from the Southwest, and the disturbed swell that
+splashed about the dock gates indicated wind down channel. A shower beat
+upon the engine skylights and Barbara moved beneath the bridge. A great
+rope rose out of the water as the men at the winch hauled up the clumsy
+hulk. Two or three others, dragging a thin, stiff wire rope, floundered
+unsteadily across the deck.
+
+"They look rough, and they're not very sober," Barbara remarked.
+
+Lister laughed. "They're frankly drunk! A pretty hard crowd, but Brown
+and I have handled a hard crowd before. In fact, I reckon Cartwright has
+got the proper men for the job."
+
+"Captain Brown is like them," said Barbara, thoughtfully. "You are not."
+
+"You haven't seen me hustling round when things go wrong."
+
+"I saw you throw a man out of the engine-room not long since!"
+
+"With a gang like ours, one must prove one's claim to be boss at the
+start. Anyhow, there are different kinds of wastrels, and the fellow who
+gets on a jag at intervals is often a pretty good sort. The wastrel one
+has no use for is the fellow who keeps it up. But I see Mr. Cartwright
+coming and mustn't philosophize."
+
+A gateman on the pierhead began to shout to the captain, and Cartwright
+gave Lister his hand.
+
+"They are waiting for you and we must get ashore," he said. "Well, I've
+given you and Brown a big job, but I expect you'll see me out."
+
+"We'll put in all we've got, sir," said Lister quietly.
+
+Cartwright nodded, as if he were satisfied, and touched Barbara, who
+turned and gave Lister a smile.
+
+"Good luck!" she said, and following Cartwright, went up the steps in
+the wall.
+
+She thought it significant Cartwright had left her for some time and had
+given Lister a quick, searching glance. Lister had said nothing about
+their talk and his promise; she had known he would not do so. Yet this
+was not because he was clever. He had a sort of instinctive
+fastidiousness. She liked his reply to Cartwright; he _would_ put in all
+he had got, and a man like that had much. Fine courage, resolution and
+staunch loyalty.
+
+When Barbara reached the pierhead, _Terrier's_ engines began to throb.
+The propeller churned the green water, and the tug bumped against the
+wall. Gatemen shouted, the big tow-rope splashed and tightened with a
+jerk, and the hulk began to move. Then the tug's bow crept round the
+corner and swung off from the gates. The engine throbbed faster, and a
+blast of the whistle echoed about the warehouses. Brown waved his cap
+and signed to a man in the pilot-house. The hulk swung round in a wide
+sweep, and the adventurous voyage had begun.
+
+_Terrier_, steaming across the strong current, looked small and dingy;
+when she rolled as the helm went over, the swell washed her low
+bulwarks. She got smaller, until a rain squall blew across from the
+Cheshire side and she melted into the background of dark water and
+smoke. Barbara felt strangely forlorn, and it was some relief when
+Cartwright touched her arm and they set off along the wall.
+
+After the rain the wind freshened, and when Brown steamed out from the
+river, a confused sea rolled across the shoals. The light was not good,
+but a double row of buoys led out to sea, the ebb-tide was running, and
+_Terrier_ made good progress. She shipped no water yet, and the hulk
+lurched along without much strain on the rope. The rope was fastened to
+a massive iron hook and ran across a curved wooden horse at the tug's
+stern. Sometimes it slipped along the horse and tightened with a bang,
+for the clumsy hulk sheered about. When her stern went up one saw an
+indistinct figure holding the wheel.
+
+When they passed the Bar Lightship, Lister climbed to the bridge and for
+a few minutes looked about. The plunging red hull to starboard was the
+last of the Mersey marks, for the North-West ship was hidden by low
+clouds. Ahead the angry gray water was broken by streaks of foam.
+_Terrier_ rolled and quivered when her bows smashed a sea, and showers
+of spray beat like hail against the screens on the bridge.
+
+"She's loggish," Brown remarked. "If you don't burn up that coal soon,
+she'll wash it off. Looks like a dirty night, and I'm pushing across for
+Lynas Point. With the wind at south-west, I want to get under the
+Anglesey coast. There'll be some sea in the channel when we open up
+Holyhead."
+
+"The boat's good," said Lister. "Engines a bit neglected, but they're
+running smooth and cool, and she has power to shove her along.
+Cartwright has an eye for a useful craft."
+
+Brown nodded. "The old fellow has an eye for all that's useful; I reckon
+he sees farther than any man I know. There's something encouraging about
+this, because the job he's given us looks tough--"
+
+He stopped, for the tow-rope slipped noisily across the horse. There was
+a clang of iron as the hook took the strain, and the captain frowned.
+"That hulk is going to bother us before very long."
+
+Lister seized the slanted rails. The lightship had vanished, but a
+bright beam pierced the haze astern. Ahead the sea was empty; gray water
+rolled beneath low and ragged clouds. Spray flew about the plunging
+bows, and the tug rolled uneasily. Lister turned and left the bridge,
+but stopped for a few moments at the engine-room door. Barbara had stood
+just opposite, where the iron funnel-stay ran down. Her rich furs gave
+her girlish figure a touch of dignity, the color was in her face, and
+her eyes shone.
+
+Lister knew the picture would haunt him, and he would come to the engine
+door to recapture it when he needed bracing. He would need bracing, for
+there were obstacles ahead, but he had promised Barbara to help
+Cartwright out. Stepping across the ledge to a slippery platform, he
+went below.
+
+PART III--THE BREAKING STRAIN
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE FIRST STRUGGLE
+
+The engine-room floor-plates slanted, and light and shadow played about
+the throbbing machinery. It looked as if the lamps swung in a
+semicircle, but they did not. All else slanted at an ever-changing
+angle; the swiveled lamps were still. Overhead the dark and bulky
+cylinders cut against the reflected glimmer on the skylights; below,
+valve-gear and connecting-rod flashed across the gloom, and the
+twinkling cranks spun in their shallow pit. One saw the big columns
+shake and strain as the crosshead shot up and down; the thrust-blocks
+groaned with the back push of the propeller.
+
+A door in the bulkhead was open, and now and then a blaze from the
+stokehold lighted the engine-room. Shovels clanged and the thud of a
+hammer jarred upon the throb of machinery. Men moved about like ghosts.
+Their feet made no noise; for a moment one saw their sweat-streaked
+faces and then they vanished. Lister sat on a tool-box, an old pipe in
+his mouth, and was happier than he had been for long. For one thing, his
+men were getting sober and he saw they knew their job; then he was
+satisfied with his engines and relished the sense of control. He was
+_chief_, and until the tug came back from Africa the engines were his.
+
+In the meantime he need not move about. It was like listening to an
+orchestra of which he knew all the instruments, and he heard no jarring
+notes. The harmony was good and the rhythm well marked. The clash and
+clang rose and fell with a measured beat; but the smooth running of his
+engines did not account for all Lister's satisfaction. In a sense,
+Barbara had given him his job, he was her servant, doing her work, and
+this was much, although he scarcely durst hope for another reward.
+
+Cartwright had not without careful thought sent Lister on board. He knew
+the young fellow's staunchness as he knew Barbara's, and, because his
+need was great, had not hesitated to use him and the girl. He was old
+and must be resigned to sit at his desk and plan, but, as a rule, his
+plans worked, and he had a talent for choosing his tools. When it was
+possible, he used his tools carefully; he hated to overstrain fine
+material.
+
+_Terrier's_ regular lurch and roll indicated that she was steaming along
+the coast, in some shelter from the wind that blew obliquely off the
+land. By and by, however, the lurches got violent, and when Lister heard
+the thud of water on deck he went up, and opening the door on the lee
+side, looked out. Water splashed against the ledge that protected the
+engine-room; the stack of coal worked and he heard big lumps fall. Spray
+blew across the bulwarks and fell in heavy showers from a boat on the
+skids. For a few moments this was all he could distinguish, and then he
+saw slopes of water slanting away from the tug's low side. A half-moon
+shone for a few moments between ragged clouds and was hidden.
+
+Lister stepped across the ledge and went aft. _Terrier_ felt the drag of
+the hulk astern, and he wanted to see how she was towing. He heard the
+iron ring clang on the hook, and when he stopped by the horse, the big
+tow-rope surged to and fro across the arch. The hulk steered wildly, and
+if the sea got worse, he doubted if they could hold her. He knew where
+he was, because he had steamed along the coast on board the cattle boat.
+The Anglesey shore was fringed by reefs, the tide-races ran in white
+turmoil across the ledges. The tide had now nearly run out, but when
+they turned the corner at Carmel Point they would meet the flood stream
+and the big combers the gale drove up channel. Going to the pilot-house,
+Lister lighted his pipe.
+
+"A fierce night!" he remarked to Brown, who peered through the
+spray-swept glass. "I reckon you'll want to slow down when we make
+Carmel."
+
+The house was dark, but Lister saw the captain turn. "I'm bothered,"
+Brown admitted. "We ought to push on, but while we might tow the hulk
+under, we can't tow her down channel. We can't turn and run; it's
+blowing down the Menai Strait like a bellows spout, and there's all the
+Mersey sands to leeward. We have got to face the sea and try to make
+Holyhead. Will your engines shove her through?"
+
+"They'll give you six or seven knots, head to wind. Will your tow rope
+hold?"
+
+"I doubt. We have a steel hawser ready, but if she breaks the hemp rope
+she'll probably break the wire."
+
+Lister agreed. The thick hemp rope stretched and absorbed the strain;
+the wire was less elastic. They were approaching Carmel Point, and
+Holyhead was not far, but they must front the gale when they got round
+the corner. In the meantime, the engines were running smoothly, and
+Lister smoked and waited while the sea got worse. Flashing lights ahead
+and the violent lurching indicated that they crept round the point. Then
+_Terrier_ plunged into a white sea and deck and bulwarks vanished. Her
+bows swung out of the foam and Lister ran to the door. He felt the tug
+leap forward and knew the rope had gone.
+
+He got out in front of Brown and plunged down the ladder. Since
+_Terrier_ must be stopped and turned, he was needed. Water ran from his
+clothes when he reached a slanted platform and seized a greasy wheel.
+The telegraph gong was clanging and the beat of engines slackened as he
+followed the orders. Then the spinning cranks stopped altogether and for
+a minute or two there was a strange quietness. One heard the wind, and
+water splashed in the bilges.
+
+Lister got the signal _Ahead slow_, and when he restarted his engines
+ran up the ladder. He could trust the man he left, and wanted to see
+what was happening. It was a moment or two before he could satisfy his
+curiosity, and then a bright beam illuminated the tug and angry water.
+Brown was burning a blue-light while _Terrier_ crept up to the hulk. He
+meant to pass the fresh hawser, but could not launch a boat, and Lister
+doubted if the men on the hulk could heave the heavy wire rope on board.
+Although one must get near to throw a line, it looked as if Brown were
+going alongside.
+
+Two dark figures, crouched on _Terrier's_ rail like animals ready to
+spring, cut against the blaze. Brown was going alongside; anyhow, he was
+going near enough for the men to jump, but the thing was horribly risky.
+If the rolling hulk struck the tug planks and iron plates would be
+beaten in; moreover the men must jump from the slanted rail, and if they
+jumped short, their long boots and oilskins would drag them down.
+
+It looked as if Cartwright knew how to choose men for an awkward job,
+for as the tug got nearer Lister saw the men meant to go. She swung up
+on the top of a white sea; the hulk, swept by spray, rolled down, with
+her deck close below the steamer's rail. One felt they must shock, but
+they did not. The dark figures leaped, there was a faint shout, a line
+whirled out from _Terrier's_ bridge and the hulk drove astern. Then the
+blue light vanished and Lister plunged into the engine-room. Somehow the
+thing was done.
+
+The gong signaled _Half-speed_, the rhythmic clash of engines began, and
+Lister felt _Terrier_ tremble as she tightened the rope. Brown had
+played his part and Lister's had begun. He wondered whether they could
+keep the water out of the engine-room. They had drifted off-shore, and
+now they had opened up the channel the combers leaped on board. The seas
+were not regular; they ran in short, steep ridges, and gave the tug no
+time to lift. While she swung her bows from the foaming turmoil the next
+swept her deck. But to watch the seas and keep the hulk in line was the
+captain's business, and Lister was occupied by his.
+
+Standing on a slanted platform with his hand on the throttle, he waited
+for the lurch that lifted the spinning screw. When the blades left the
+water, the engines raced with a horrible din and he must cut off steam.
+If he let the engines go, something might break when the propeller got
+hold again. The work demanded a firm but delicate touch, since the
+pressure must change with the swiftly-changing load. One could not argue
+when the bows would plunge and the stern swing clear; one must know
+instinctively. The muscular effort was not hard, but Lister's face was
+wet with sweat, and when he was slow and the engine-room rang with the
+clash of machinery his heart beat. The big columns that held the
+cylinders rocked; crank and connecting-rod spun too fast for him to see.
+There was a confusing flash of steel and a daunting uproar.
+
+For the most part, he was able to get control before the stern came
+down. Moreover, he was not using full steam; to let her go would swamp
+the boat and wash the men off the laboring hulk. Lister knew the rope
+held because he felt the heavy drag. Although she rolled and plunged,
+there was no life in _Terrier's_ movements. She was sluggish,
+embarrassed by the load she hauled.
+
+Lister thought about the men on board the hulk. Two, buffeted by wind
+and spray, must hold the wheel on the short quarter-deck that lifted
+them above the shelter of the bulwarks. Forward of this, the water
+rolled about, washing on board and pouring out. The men could not for a
+moment slack their watchfulness. Sweating and straining at the spokes,
+they must hold her straight. To let her sheer when she crossed a
+comber's top would break the rope.
+
+The strain on the laboring engines indicated that the men held out and
+Lister fixed his thoughts on his machinery. One could not see much, but
+while he turned the valve-wheel he listened. If a bearing got hot or a
+brass shook loose, he would hear the jar. An engine running as it ought
+to run was like a well-tuned instrument.
+
+He heard no discord. The heavy thud of the cross-heads, flashing between
+their guides, beat time to the clang of the valve-gear, a pump throbbed
+like a kettledrum, and something tinkled like a high-pitched triangle.
+All went well, the engines were good and _Terrier_ stubbornly forged
+ahead.
+
+By and by the strain was less marked. The load was getting lighter and
+after a time Lister let go the wheel and wiped his wet face. He could
+stand on the platform without support, the plunges were easy and
+regular. Calling a man to relieve him, he went to the door.
+
+The sea was white, but it no longer ran in crested ridges and a vague
+dark line crossed the foam ahead. Sometimes part of the line vanished
+and reappeared like a row of dots with broad gaps between. Lister knew
+it was breakwater. On the other side anchor-lights tossed, and in the
+background a dull, reflected illumination indicated a town. Then the
+gong rang and Lister went back to the platform. In a few minutes he
+would get the signal to stop his engines. The first struggle was over;
+Brown had made Holyhead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE WRECK
+
+The night was calm, but now and then a faint, hot wind blew from the
+shadowy coast, and rippling the water, brought a strange, sour smell.
+Lister did not know the smell; Brown knew and frowned, for he had been
+broken by the malaria that haunts West African river mouths. Heavy dew
+dripped from the awnings on _Terrier's_ bridge and in places trickled
+through the material, since canvas burns in the African sun. Brown
+searched the dark coast with his glasses, trying to find the marks he
+had noted on the chart. Lister leaned against the rails and mused about
+the voyage.
+
+They had ridden out a winter's gale in the Bay of Biscay and for a night
+had lost the hulk and the men on board. Then they went into Vigo, where
+Lister's firemen wrecked a wine shop and it cost him much in bribes to
+save them from jail. He had another taste of their quality at Las
+Palmas, where they made trouble with the port guards and Brown brawled
+in the cheap wine shops behind the cathedral. In fact, it was some
+relief when the captain fell off the steam tram that runs between town
+and port, and a cut on his head stopped his adventures.
+
+Then they steamed for fourteen-hundred miles before the Northeast
+Trades, with a misty blue sky overhead and long, white-topped seas
+rolling up astern. The Trade breeze was cool and bracing, but they lost
+it near the coast, and now the air was hot and strangely heavy. One felt
+languid and cheerfulness cost an effort. The men had begun to grumble
+and Lister was glad the voyage was nearly over and it was time to get to
+work.
+
+Lightning flickered on the sea, touching the back of the smooth swell,
+and then for a few moments left all very dark. The moon was new, the sky
+was cloudy, and the swell ran high, for it rolled, unbroken and
+gathering momentum, from the Antarctic ice. When the lightning was
+bright, one saw a low cloud that looked like steam, with a white streak
+beneath that marked the impact of the big rollers on the sandy coast.
+The crash of breakers came out of the dark, like the rattle of a goods
+train crossing an iron bridge.
+
+"Four fathoms at spring tides, and a shifting channel!" Brown remarked,
+quoting from a pilot-book. "The depth, however, varies with the wind,
+and a stranger must use caution when entering the lagoon." He stopped,
+and laughed as he resumed: "If this was a sober undertaking I'd steam
+off and wait for daylight."
+
+"I reckon it would be prudent," said Lister dryly.
+
+"We have nothing to do with prudence," Brown rejoined. "Our job's to
+work in a sun that knocks a white man down, and stew in the hot malaria
+damp the land breeze brings off at night. Cartwright's orders are to
+lose no time and I want to finish before the fever finishes me. Very
+well! When the moon is new, high-water's at twelve o'clock, and along
+this coast sunset's about six hours later. If we wait for
+noon-to-morrow, it will be four or five o'clock before we get on board
+the wreck--I understand the tide doesn't leave her until about four
+hours' ebb. If we push across the bar to-night, we'll see her at
+daybreak and can make our plans for getting to work."
+
+Lister agreed. Expenses were heavy and it was important they should not
+lose a day. Moreover, Cartwright had hinted that he expected them to run
+risks, and Lister had promised Barbara to help him out. If Brown touched
+bottom steaming in, tug and barge would soon break up; but Lister was
+not going to be daunted.
+
+"I'll go down and raise some extra steam," he said. "You'll need full
+pressure to shove her through the surf."
+
+He was occupied for some time, but when a plume of steam blew from the
+escape-pipe he came up to the door and looked about. _Terrier's_ languid
+roll was getting sharper; mast and funnel swung into a wide sweep.
+Sometimes the dark hull lurched up high above the tug's stern, and
+sometimes sank in a hollow. The rollers had angry white tops, and a belt
+of filmy vapor that looked luminous closed the view ahead. Lister knew
+the vapor was phosphorescent spray, flung up by the turmoil on the bar,
+through which they must go. If the tug struck and stopped, the white
+seas would beat her down into the sand. In the meantime, she was using
+full steam, because, since tide and surf carried her on, one must have
+speed to steer.
+
+The spray cloud got thick, and wavered with luminous tremblings when the
+long rollers broke. They came up, spangled with green and gold flashes,
+from astern, shook their fiery crests about the tug, and vanished ahead,
+but one heard them crash. Lister thought the tug throbbed to the savage
+concussion. He could not hear his engines; one heard nothing but the
+daunting uproar.
+
+By and by he felt a shock; not a violent shock, but as if the boat had
+touched, and was pushing through, something soft. She slowed and Lister
+saw the black hulk swing up and ride forward on a giant roller's top. It
+looked as if she were coming on board the tug, and Lister jumped through
+and slammed the iron door. Brown would need him now.
+
+He heard the roar of water on deck, there was a crash of broken glass,
+and a shower fell on his head. A cloud of steam and a loud hissing came
+from the stokehold, and he knew the sea that swept the tug had covered
+the gratings. If she stuck, the next sea would swamp her and drown the
+fires, but she had not altogether stopped. The propeller was beating
+hard and he opened the throttle wide. He felt her move and tremble, as
+if she struggled in the grip of the sand, and then lift buoyantly. The
+water that pressed her down had rolled off the deck and the oncoming
+comber had picked her up and was carrying her along.
+
+Her progress was obvious. One felt the headlong rush, and Lister thought
+about a toboggan speeding down an icy slope. The roller would bear her
+on until it broke, but if she struck the sand she might not lift again.
+She did not strike; there was another wild leap forward, a savage
+plunge, and a comber crashed astern. It looked as if she had crossed the
+shoal and Lister let go the wheel and got his breath. He had used no
+effort, but he gasped and his hand shook.
+
+The gong signaled _half-speed_, and when he slowed his engines the roar
+of escaping steam pierced the turmoil of the surf. This was significant,
+because he could not have heard the steam a few minutes earlier.
+_Terrier_ rolled, but the rolling was not violent and began to get easy.
+The gong signaled _stand by, stop_; he shut the valve and presently
+heard the anchor plunge and the rattle of running chain. Then _Terrier_
+swung languidly and all was quiet but for the monotonous rumble in the
+background. Lister gave some orders and went to his room.
+
+In the morning, he put a greasy jacket over his pajamas and went on
+deck. The land breeze had dropped and it was very calm. Vague trees
+loomed in the fog that hid the beach; there was a belt of dull, heaving
+water, and then the spray cloud closed the view. The air was heavy, the
+men on deck moved slackly, and Lister's skin was wet by sweat. He felt
+dull and shrank from effort, but when he saw Brown in a boat alongside
+he jumped on board.
+
+The light was getting brighter and the wreck lay about a hundred yards
+off. The stump of her broken funnel, a bare iron mast, a smashed
+deckhouse, and a strip of slanted side rose from the languid swell. The
+rows of plates were red with rust and encrusted by shells. When the
+smooth undulations sank, long weed swung about in the sandy water.
+Lister thought the story of the wreck was, on the surface, plain.
+Steaming out with a heavy load, _Arcturus_ had struck the bar. The surf
+had beaten in her hatches, broken some plates, and afterwards washed her
+back across the sand. Then, while the captain tried to reach the beach,
+she had sunk in deeper water. The story was plausible, but, if
+Cartwright had found the proper clew, it did not account for all.
+
+They rowed round _Arcturus_. She lay with a sharp list and her other
+side was under water. The tide was beginning to rise and when it crept
+up her slanted deck they pulled back to the tug.
+
+"We'll moor the hulk alongside and rig the diving pumps. I think that's
+all to-day," Brown remarked. "When the sun is low I'll go to the factory
+up the creek and try to hire some native boys. On this coast, a white
+man who does heavy work soon gets fever."
+
+In the afternoon they took two men and rowed up a muddy creek that
+flowed into the lagoon, but the factory was farther than they thought
+and when they landed dusk was falling. The white-washed wooden house
+stood near the bank, with a stockaded compound between it and the water.
+It was built on piles and at the top of the outside stairs a veranda ran
+along the front. The compound was tunneled by land-crabs' holes, and
+light mist crept about the giant cotton woods behind. There was no
+movement of air, a sickly smell rose from the creek, and all was very
+damp.
+
+Lister and Brown went up the stairs and were received by a white man in
+a big damp room. A lamp hung from a beam and the light touched the
+patches of mildew on the discolored walls. There was not much furniture;
+a few canvas chairs, a desk and a table. Flies crawled about the table
+and hovered in a black swarm round the lamp. The room smelt of palm oil
+and river mud. The white man was young, but his face was haggard and he
+looked worn. His rather long hair was wet and his duck jacket was dirty.
+It was obvious that he did not bother about his clothes.
+
+"Good of you to look me up! I expect you know I'm Montgomery; the house
+is Montgomery and Raeburn," he said. "However, to begin with, you had
+better have a drink. I'll call my boy."
+
+A negro came in and got a bottle and some glasses. He was a
+strongly-built fellow with a blue stripe on his forehead, and muscular
+arms and chest, but his legs, which stuck out from short cotton
+trousers, were ridiculously thin. He beat up some frothy liquor in a jug
+and when he filled the big glasses Lister felt disturbed, for he knew
+Brown and had noted the quantity of gin the negro used. The captain,
+however, was cautious and they began to talk. Lister asked Montgomery if
+he carried on the factory alone.
+
+"I'm doing so for a time. My clerk died two or three weeks since and I
+haven't got another yet."
+
+"Fever?" said Brown.
+
+"Common malaria. Perhaps this spot is worse than others, because,
+although we're beginning to kill mosquitos and poison the drains, we
+can't keep English boys. The last two didn't hold out six months."
+
+Lister got thoughtful. He knew the African coast was unhealthy, but had
+not imagined it was as bad as this. He said nothing and Montgomery
+resumed: "I have been forced to lie up and am shaky yet. Malaria gets us
+all, but as a rule it gets strangers, particularly the young, soonest.
+Looks as if the microbe liked fresh blood."
+
+"If I was an African merchant, I'd let an agent run my factories," Brown
+remarked.
+
+Montgomery smiled. "Sometimes it's necessary for me to come out. This
+factory is perhaps our best, and when Nevis, our agent, died, I started
+by the first boat. Montgomery's is an old house, but since the big men
+combined and the Amalgamation built a factory on the next creek, we have
+had some trouble to pull along. Our capital is small and we can't use
+up-to-date methods. In fact, I imagine our situation is much like
+Cartwright's. When he bought the wreck he no doubt felt some strain. But
+won't you take another drink?"
+
+Brown indicated his glass, which still held some liquor, and Lister
+refused politely. He noted that Montgomery knew their object and was
+surprised, since he thought Cartwright had not talked much about the
+undertaking. Then, although Montgomery was obviously ill, one felt he
+tried to paint the coast in the darkest colors.
+
+"What do you think about our job?" Brown asked.
+
+"I think it a rash experiment and imagine Cartwright agrees. All the
+same, the old fellow's a bold gambler and is perhaps willing to
+speculate on the chance of getting out of his embarrassments. However,
+this is his business and you'll, no doubt, get your wages, although you
+won't float the wreck."
+
+"What do you reckon the obstacles?"
+
+"Fever," said Montgomery dryly. "The salvage people lost some men. Surf
+will wash the sand about her, if the wind comes fresh from the
+south-east. Then the sharks may give you some trouble. They're nearly as
+numerous as they are at Lagos Roads." He paused and added carelessly: "I
+expect you know my father loaded _Arcturus_?"
+
+"I heard something about it," Brown replied. "All the same, Cartwright
+sent us to lift her and we have got to try. Will you let me hire some of
+your factory boys?"
+
+"Sorry, but they're Liberian Kroos, engaged on a twelve-months' contract
+to work in my compound, and I'm accountable for them to the Liberian
+government."
+
+"Then what about boys from the bush?"
+
+Montgomery smiled. "I can't recommend the bushmen. They're a turbulent
+lot, but you might send a present to the headman at the native town up
+river, and it's possible he'll let you go to see him. For all that, some
+caution's indicated. The fellow's a cunning old rascal."
+
+Brown looked thoughtful, but began to talk about something else and by
+and by got up. Montgomery went with him and Lister to the steps and when
+they reached the compound they found the sailors bemused with gin under
+the veranda. Brown had some trouble to get the men on board, and when
+they awkwardly pulled away Lister was conscious of relief.
+
+"I agree with the fellow. Caution _is_ indicated," Brown observed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A FUEL PROBLEM
+
+A few days after his visit to the factory, Lister sat one morning under
+a tarpaulin they had stretched across the hulk. The paint on the canvas
+smelt as if it burned, but the awning gave some shade and one could not
+front the sun on the open deck. The sea breeze had not sprung up and
+dazzling reflections played about the oily surface of the swell. In one
+place, where the shadow of the wreck fell, the water was a cool, dull
+green.
+
+A row of bubbles slowly crossed the belt of shade, stopped and made a
+frothy patch, and then lengthened out. A flexible pipe slipped across
+the edge of the open gangway, and Lister felt the line he held. The line
+was slack and he knew the diver needed nothing. Two half-naked men,
+their skins shining with sweat, turned the air-pumps handles, and the
+rattle of the cranks cut the dull rumble of the surf. Brown, sitting on
+a tool-box, studied a plan of the wreck Cartwright had given him, and
+Lister thought it typical Cartwright had got the plan. The old fellow
+was very keen.
+
+By and by Brown looked up and indicated the panting men.
+
+"We want colored boys for this job and must get a gang. I expect you
+noted Montgomery declared his lot were Kroos. The Kroos are hefty boys
+and pretty good sailors, but they come from Liberia and there are
+regulations about their employment. You must engage them on a contract,
+hold yourself accountable for their return and so forth. All the same my
+notion is, Montgomery didn't mean to help."
+
+"Then we had better try the native headman he talked about."
+
+Brown smiled, "I've no use for bushmen, but didn't see much use in
+telling Montgomery I'd been on the Coast before. For one thing, his boys
+were not all Kroos. You know the Kroo by his blue forehead-stripe, but I
+saw two or three with another mark. Thought them Gold Coast Fantis, and
+a Fanti fisherman is useful on board ship. In a day or two I'm going
+back to see."
+
+Lister lighted his pipe and weighed the captain's remarks. On the whole,
+he agreed that it did not look as if Montgomery meant to help. The
+fellow was hospitable, but hospitality that implied his pressing liquor
+on the captain and making the sailors drunk had drawbacks. Brown had
+used control, but Lister doubted if his resolution would stand much
+strain. Then, although Montgomery's story about the need for his being
+on the spot was plausible, it was, perhaps, strange the head of a
+merchant house would stop for some time at a factory where his clerks
+died. However, now Lister thought about it, Montgomery did not state if
+he had been there long.
+
+"The fellow was generous with his liquor and his boy can mix a
+cocktail," he remarked.
+
+Brown grinned. "On the Coast, they're all generous with liquor.
+Montgomery knows this; but I've a notion you are wondering whether he
+knows me. I reckon not, but he knows the kind of skipper you generally
+meet in the palm oil trade. Still the type's going out; now ship-owners
+pay higher, they get better men. In fact, I'm something of a survival
+from the old school."
+
+He picked up the plan and Lister thought about Montgomery. The man was
+ill and highly-strung, but this was not strange. The factory was rather
+a daunting spot; reeking with foul smells and haunted by a sense of
+gloom. Lister thought one might get morbid and imaginative if one
+stopped there long. Yet he rather liked Montgomery; there was something
+attractive about him. Perhaps if they had met in brighter surroundings,
+when the other's health and mood were normal, they might have been
+friends. Now, however, he doubted and saw Brown was not satisfied.
+
+The line he held jerked and he signed to the men at the pump. One kept
+the cranks turning; the other went to the top of a ladder lashed to the
+hulk's side. The bubbles moved away from the wreck and broke the surface
+in a fixed, sparkling patch. The diver was coming up and Lister
+presently helped him on board. When they had taken off his copper helmet
+and unfastened his canvas he leaned against the pump and breathed hard.
+
+"Well?" said Brown, after waiting a minute or two for the man to get
+back his normal breathing.
+
+"She lies with a sharp list; sand's high up her starboard bilge.
+Engine-room doors jambed, but I found the stokehold grating and got some
+way down the ladder. Sand's washed down and buried the starboard
+bunkers. To clear out the stuff will be a long job."
+
+"Packed hard?"
+
+The diver nodded. "Like cement! I reckon the pump won't move it."
+
+Lister understood the captain's frown. Sometimes the sand that enters a
+sunken vessel solidifies, with the pressure of surf or tide, into a mass
+that one can hardly dig out. This, however, was not all.
+
+"Starboard bunkers buried?" Brown resumed. "They were pretty full. When
+she left Forcados she had a list to port, and they trimmed her by using
+the coal on that side first. Well, it's awkward! I reckoned on getting
+the fuel!"
+
+"There is some coal on the port side," said Lister.
+
+"If Cartwright's plan and notes are accurate, there's not enough to see
+us out. The wrecking pump will burn a lot," Brown rejoined and turned to
+the diver. "Did you see any sharks?"
+
+"One big fellow; he hung about as if he was curious and I didn't like
+him near my air-pipe, but he left me alone. The pulps you meet in warm
+seas are worse than sharks. When I was down at the Spanish boat,
+crawling through the holes in her broken hull was nervous work. Once I
+saw an arm as thick as mine waving in the dark, and started for the
+ladder. We blew in that piece of her bilge with dynamite before I went
+on board again. However, when I've cleared up a bit, I'll take Mr.
+Lister down."
+
+The diver got into the boat and rowed to the tug, but the others stopped
+in the shade of the awning. They had brought a spare diving dress, and
+before they tried to lift the wreck Lister must find out if Cartwright's
+supposition was correct, because if Cartwright had found the proper clew
+the job would be easier. For all that, Lister frankly shrank from the
+preparatory exercise. Diving in shark-haunted water had not much charm.
+
+In the morning they hauled the tug alongside the wreck and at low-water
+rigged a derrick and opened the fore hatch. The palm kernels had rotted
+and a horrible pulpy mass, swollen by fermentation, rose nearly to the
+ledge. It was glutinous and too thick for the pump to lift, since the
+water that filled the vessel drained away through the broken plates as
+the tide sank. Brown, kneeling on the hatch-coaming, knitted his brows.
+
+"The stuff's water-borne, forced up by its buoyancy," he said. "We may
+find it looser as we get down. In the meantime, suction's no use; we
+have got to break it out by hand. Start your winch and we'll fill the
+skip."
+
+Lister signaled a man on board the tug, the winch rattled, and a big
+iron bucket, hanging by a wire rope, dropped into the hold. A gang of
+men climbed across the ledge and began to cut the slimy mass with
+spades. The surface heaved beneath them like a treacherous bog and the
+smell was horrible. Now and then a spade made an opening for the gases
+to escape and the nauseated men were driven back. For all that, they
+filled the skip and the swinging derrick carried the load across the
+deck and tilted it overboard.
+
+The heat was almost unbearable, the reflections from the oily swell and
+wet deck hurt one's eyes, and Lister noted that the deck did not dry
+until the sea breeze began to blow. The wind brought a faint coolness
+and drove back the smell, but the men's efforts presently got slack. The
+labor was exhausting and one must wear some clothes because the sun
+burned one's skin. They held out until the rising water drove them from
+the hatch and when they went back to the tug Brown looked thoughtful.
+
+"The men can't keep it up; the thing's impossible! A week like this
+would knock out the lot," he said. "We must use native boys and I'm
+going to get some."
+
+In the morning Lister took his first diving lesson, and when the big
+copper helmet was screwed on and the air began to swell his canvas
+clothes, he shrank from the experiment. The load of metal he carried was
+crushing, he could hardly drag his weighted boots across the deck, and
+at the top of the ladder he hesitated, watching the bubbles that marked
+the spot where the diver had vanished. Then he remembered his promise to
+Barbara and cautiously went down.
+
+The dazzling sunshine vanished, a wave of misty green closed above the
+helmet glass, hot compressed air blew about his head, and his ear-drums
+began to throb. Then lead and copper lost their weight; he felt buoyant
+and clung to the steps. At the bottom he was for a few moments afraid to
+let go, but an indistinct, monstrous object came out of the strange
+green gloom and beckoned him on. Lister went, making an effort for
+balance, because he now felt ridiculously light. Then the reflections
+were puzzling, for the light came and went with the rise and fall of the
+swell. Yet he could see and he followed the diver until they stopped
+opposite the wreck's port bilge. Her side went up like a dark wall,
+covered by waving weed.
+
+Lister's head ached and his breathing was labored, but not much pressure
+was needed to keep out the shallow water and the diver had promised to
+warn him when they had stayed long enough. He forced himself to examine
+the plate the other indicated. _Arcturus_ was a butt-strapped vessel and
+a number of the straps had burst. Plates were smashed and some of the
+holes were large, but in places the iron was drilled and in others
+patches had been bolted on. The salvage company had done part of this
+work and he thought it possible to make the damage good. If they could
+stop the remaining holes, the big pump ought to throw out the water; but
+Cartwright had talked about another opening and this would be awkward to
+reach.
+
+Signing the diver to go on, he followed him round the vessel's stern.
+The sand on the other side was high and one could climb on board, but
+Lister shrank from the dark alleyway that led to the engine-room. For
+all that, he went in and saw the diver had opened the jambed door. When
+he reached the ledge a flash from the other's electric lamp pierced the
+gloom and he tried to forget his throbbing head and looked about.
+
+Sparkling bubbles from his and the diver's helmets floated straight up
+to the skylights, along which they glided and vanished through a hole in
+the glass. The water, moving gently with the pulse of the swell, broke
+the beam of light and objects it touched were distorted and magnified.
+The top of the big low-pressure cylinder looked gigantic, and the thick
+columns appeared to bend. Long weed clung to the platforms, from which
+iron ladders went down, but so far as Lister could distinguish, all
+below was buried in sand.
+
+He had seen enough. To clear the engines would be a heavy task, and one
+must work in semi-darkness amidst a maze of ladders, gratings, and
+machinery. To keep signal-line and air-pipe free from entanglement
+looked impossible, but perhaps when they had broken the surface the pump
+would lift the sand. Anyhow, he was getting dizzy and his breath was
+labored.
+
+He touched the diver and they went back along the alleyway and round the
+vessel's stern. Lister was desperately anxious to reach the ladder and
+it cost him an effort to use control. As he went up his dress got heavy
+and he was conscious of his weighted boots. The pressure on his lungs
+lessened, he was dazzled by a strong light, and feeling the edge of the
+hulk's deck, he got his knee on her covering-board and lurched forward.
+Somebody took off his helmet and lifted the weight from his chest. He
+shut his eyes and for a few moments lay on the deck.
+
+"Well?" said Brown presently. "You reached the engine-room?"
+
+Lister nodded. "She's badly sanded up. It's plain we shan't get much
+coal from the starboard bunkers until we can lift her to an even keel."
+
+"That will be long," Brown rejoined and pondered. "We must have coal,"
+he resumed. "If I can't find another plan, you must take the tug to
+Sierra Leone and bring a load; but we'll let it go just now. The first
+thing is to hire some negro laborers, and as soon as I can leave the
+wreck I'll try again."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+MONTGOMERY'S OFFER
+
+High-water was near and a trail of smoke, creeping up along the coast,
+streaked the shining sea. Brown watched the smoke until two masts and a
+funnel rose out of the vapor and began to get distinct. Then he put down
+his glasses and lighted his pipe. The steamer was making for the lagoon.
+
+He had not long since gone to the native town up the creek and returned
+with a gang of laborers. So far, the negroes had worked well, but just
+now he did not need them and they lay about in the shade, some wearing a
+short waist-cloth and some a sheet of cotton that hung from their
+shoulders. The tide had covered the wreck, but the big rotary pump was
+running and, since the men had loosened the top of the cargo, it lifted
+the slimy stuff.
+
+A plume of steam that looked faint and diaphanous in the strong light
+blew away from the noisy machine. A large flexible pipe rose from the
+submerged hold and another ran from the pump across the hulk's deck.
+From the end of the pipe a thick, brown flood poured into the water and
+stained the green lagoon as the flood tide carried it along. The clash
+and rattle of the engine carried far, for the load was heavy and Lister
+was using full steam. The boiler was large and the furnace burned more
+coal than he had thought. Sometimes palm kernels that had not altogether
+rotted jambed the fans, and he held the valve-wheel, trying to ease the
+shocks, while the perspiration dripped from his blistered skin. When
+Brown indicated the steamer he looked up.
+
+"She's coming in; I think I know the hooker," the captain remarked.
+"Shallow-draught, coasting tank; goes anywhere she'll float for twenty
+tons of freight. The skipper, no doubt, expects Montgomery's got a few
+hogsheads of oil, and it's possible he'll sell us some coal. The
+parcels-vanners are pretty keen to trade."
+
+"We want coal," said Lister and turned abruptly.
+
+The pump jarred and stopped, the swollen suction pipe shrank, and the
+splash of the discharge died away. For some time Lister was occupied and
+when he restarted the engine and looked about again the steamer was
+steering for the hulk. She was a small vessel, going light, with much of
+her rusty side above water. A big surf-boat hung, ready for lowering, at
+her rail and a wooden awning covered her bridge-deck. When the throb of
+her engines slackened two or three white men leaned over her bulwarks
+and looked down at the hulk with languid curiosity. Their faces were
+haggard and their poses slack. The stamp of the fever-coast was plain.
+
+The telegraph rang, the engines stopped, and a man on the bridge
+shouted: "Good morning! You have taken on an awkward job!"
+
+His voice was hollow and strained, and by contrast Brown's sounded full
+and hearty.
+
+"We're getting ahead all the same. Where are you for?"
+
+"_Sar_ Leone, after we call at Montgomery's."
+
+"Then you can fill your bunkers, and our coal's getting short. Can you
+sell us some?"
+
+The other asked how much Brown wanted and how much he would pay. Then he
+beckoned a man on the deck to come up, and turned to Brown again.
+
+"We might give you two or three surf-boat loads, but I'll see you when
+we come back. We must get up the creek and moor her before the tide
+ebbs."
+
+He seized the telegraph handle, the propeller began to turn, and when
+the steamer forged ahead Brown looked thoughtful.
+
+"Perhaps I'd better take a trip up the creek in the evening. We want the
+coal and I don't altogether trust Montgomery," he said.
+
+Lister agreed that it might be prudent for Brown to go, but he was
+occupied by the pump and they said no more. To lift the cargo when the
+water covered the wreck's hatches and loosened the pulpy mass was easier
+and he must keep his engine running full speed. When they stopped he was
+exhausted by the heat and the strain of watching and did not go with
+Brown.
+
+The captain did not, as he had promised, come back in the morning, but
+after a time a smoke-trail streaked the forest and the steamer moved out
+on the lagoon. Lister sent a boy for the glasses, since he expected
+Brown was on board, but so far as he could see, the captain was not. The
+white wave at the bows indicated that the vessel was steaming fast and
+it did not look as if she was going to stop. In order to reach the
+channel across the bar, she must pass near the hulk, and Lister waved to
+the captain.
+
+"What about the coal?" he shouted.
+
+The other leaned out from the rails and Lister, studying him with the
+glasses, saw a small patch, like sticking plaster, on his forehead. The
+side of his face was discolored, as if it were bruised, and frowning
+savagely, he shook his fist.
+
+"You can go to _Sar_ Leone or the next hottest spot for your coal!" he
+roared and began to storm.
+
+Lister had sometimes disputed with Western railroad hands and marine
+firemen, but he thought the captain's remarks equaled the others' best
+efforts. In fact, it was some relief when a lump of coal, thrown by a
+sailor on the hulk, crashed upon the wooden awning, and for a moment the
+savage skipper paused. For all that, Lister stopped the sailor, who was
+going to throw another block.
+
+"Hold on! The stuff is valuable!" he said.
+
+The captain began again, but the steamer had forged ahead, and his voice
+got fainter and was presently drowned by the beat of the screw. Lister
+went back to the pump. The machine was running unevenly and sometimes
+the powerful engine jarred. He meant to take it down, but so long as the
+pump sucked up the kernels he durst not stop. Speed was important; they
+must finish the job and get away before the heat and malaria wore them
+out. In the meantime, he was disturbed about Brown, who ought to have
+returned, and at sunset he started for the factory in the tug's second
+boat.
+
+Dark came suddenly and when he landed a hot, clammy fog thickened the
+gloom. Little fires the factory boys had lighted by ancient custom
+twinkled in the haze and a yellow beam from the veranda windows touched
+the towering cottonwoods, but all else was dark and the spot was somehow
+forbidding. One felt the gloom was sinister. A few miles up the creek,
+the naked bushmen served their savage gods with fantastic rites and the
+Ju-Ju men and Ghost Leopards ruled the shadowy land. At the factory
+white men got sick and died.
+
+Lister went up the steps, and entering the big room, saw Montgomery in a
+Madeira chair. His face was wet by sweat, but although his thin form was
+covered by a blanket he shook with ague. Brown occupied a rude couch,
+made from two long boxes in which flintlock guns are shipped. He lay in
+an ungainly pose, his head had fallen from a cushion, and his face was
+dark with blood. His eyes were shut and he breathed with a snoring
+noise.
+
+"What's the matter with the captain?" Lister asked, although he thought
+he knew.
+
+"He's exhausted by his efforts and the worse for liquor," Montgomery
+answered with a laugh. "On the whole, I think you had better let him
+sleep. Perhaps you remarked that some of the glass is broken and two of
+my chairs are smashed!"
+
+Lister had not remarked this, but he looked about and began to
+understand. He had seen Brown throw a Spanish landlord out of a Grand
+Canary wine shop.
+
+"Your captain arrived when the steamboat men were dining with me,"
+Montgomery resumed. "In this country we're a hospitable lot and it's the
+custom to send West African factories a supply of liquor every three
+months. Mine arrived not long since, and if you open the cupboard you'll
+see how much is left. But there are cigarettes in the tin box; they
+mildew unless they're canned. Make yourself a cocktail. I don't want to
+get up and my boy's in the compound, playing a drum to keep off the
+ghosts."
+
+Lister lighted a cigarette and listened. A monotonous, rhythmic throb
+stole into the room, and he felt there was something about the noise
+that jarred.
+
+"I'll cut out the cocktail. You're rather generous with your liquor," he
+remarked dryly. "But how did the trouble Brown made begin?"
+
+"By a dispute about some coal."
+
+"Ah!" said Lister, who looked at Montgomery hard.
+
+He imagined the steamboat captain had meant to give them coal, since the
+man had agreed with Brown about the price. In fact, it looked as if he
+had been willing to do so, until he arrived at the factory. Then he
+refused, and Brown, no doubt, got savage.
+
+Montgomery was not embarrassed and indicated the unconscious skipper.
+
+"If Cartwright's not losing his keenness, it's strange he sent out a man
+like this, but perhaps he couldn't get a sober captain to go."
+
+"Brown has some talents. For example, he got the boys we wanted,
+although you refused to help."
+
+"We must see if he can keep them!" Montgomery rejoined, with a meaning
+smile. "In the meantime, it's not important. Are you making much
+progress at the wreck?"
+
+Lister admitted that they were not getting on as fast as he had hoped,
+and when Montgomery gave him a keen glance tried to brace himself. He
+felt slack and his head ached. He had been getting slack recently, and
+now, when he imagined he must be alert, to think was a bother.
+
+"You have not been long at the lagoon, but you're beginning to feel the
+climate," the other remarked. "It's perhaps the unhealthiest spot on an
+unhealthy coast, and a white man cannot work in the African sun.
+However, you know why the salvage company threw up their contract. They
+lost a number of their men and if you stay until the morning you can see
+their graves. The rest of the gang had had enough and were too sick to
+keep the pump running."
+
+"You are not encouraging," Lister observed.
+
+"I don't exaggerate. I know the country and the caution one must use,
+but you see I'm ill."
+
+The thing was obvious. Montgomery's hollow face was wet by sweat, his
+eyes were dull, and his hands shook. Lister saw he tried to be cool, but
+thought him highly strung.
+
+"If you're wise, you'll give up your post and get away before fever
+knocks you out," Montgomery resumed. "In fact, I think I can promise you
+another berth. The house owns two or three factories and at one we are
+going to start a big oil-launch running to a native market up river.
+Then we have bought new machinery for breaking palm nuts and extracting
+the kernels and have fixed a site for the building at a dry, sandy spot.
+I don't claim the neighborhood's healthy, but it's healthier than this,
+and we have inquired about an engineer. Would you like the post?"
+
+"I think not. I'm Cartwright's man. I've taken his pay."
+
+Montgomery smiled ironically. "Let's be frank! I expect you want to
+force me to make a high bid. You don't know the African coast yet, but
+you're not a fool and are beginning to understand the job you have
+undertaken. You can't float the wreck; the fellow Cartwright sent to
+help you is a drunken brute, and I have grounds for thinking Cartwright,
+himself, will soon go broke. Well, we need an engineer and I'll admit we
+have not found good men keen about applying. If you can run the launch
+and palm-nut plant, we'll give you two hundred pounds bonus for breaking
+your engagement, besides better wages than Cartwright pays."
+
+Lister knitted his brows and lighted a fresh cigarette. He was not
+tempted, but he wanted to think and his brain was dull. To begin with,
+he wondered whether Montgomery did not think him something of a fool,
+because it was plain the fellow had grounds for offering a bribe. His
+doing so indicated that he did not want the wreck floated. Anyhow,
+Montgomery had imagined he would not hesitate to break his engagement
+for two hundred pounds. He must be cautious and control his anger.
+
+"On the whole, it wouldn't pay me to turn down Cartwright's job," he
+said. "Two hundred pounds is not a very big wad, and if we can take the
+boat home I reckon the salvage people would give me a good post. I must
+wait until I'm satisfied the thing's impossible."
+
+"When you are satisfied I'll have no object for engaging you. We want an
+engineer now," Montgomery replied.
+
+"Well," said Lister, "I reckon that is so." He paused, and thinking he
+saw where the other led, resolved to make an experiment. "All the same,
+since you are willing to buy me off, it looks as if we had a fighting
+chance to make good. Then, if I am forced to quit, I rather think you'd
+pay me something not to talk. For example, if I put Cartwright wise--"
+
+Montgomery gave him a scornful smile. "You're keener than I thought, but
+you can't tell Cartwright much he doesn't believe he knows. I'll risk
+your talking to somebody else."
+
+"Oh, well," said Lister, "I guess we'll let it go. In the meantime, I'll
+get off and take the captain along. I allow you have fixed him pretty
+good but he put his mark on the steamboat man and your furniture."
+
+He called the sailors, and finding the two who had brought Brown to the
+factory, carried him downstairs and put him on board the boat. The
+captain snored heavily and did not awake. When they pushed off, and with
+the other boat in tow drifted down the creek, Lister pondered.
+
+He did not know if he had well played his part, but he had not wanted
+Montgomery to think his staunchness to his employer must be reckoned on;
+he would sooner the fellow thought him something of a fool. When
+Montgomery offered the bribe he probably knew he was rash; his doing so
+indicated that he was willing to run some risk, and this implied that
+Cartwright's supposition about the wreck was justified. Montgomery was
+obviously resolved she should not be floated and might be a troublesome
+antagonist. For example, he had stopped their getting coal and Lister
+was persuaded he had made Brown drunk. If the control the captain had so
+far used broke down, it would be awkward, since Montgomery would no
+doubt supply him with liquor.
+
+It was plain the fellow meant to bother them as much as possible, but
+since he had not owned the wrecked steamer his object was hard to see.
+In the meantime, Lister let it go and concentrated on steering the boat
+past the mud banks in the creek.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MONTGOMERY USES HIS POWER
+
+Some time after Lister went to the factory he woke one night from
+disturbed sleep. His small room under _Terrier's_ bridge was very hot
+and the door and port were open. A faint draught blew in and the
+mosquito curtain moved about his bed. The tug rolled languidly and the
+water splashed against her side. Farther off the gentle swell broke with
+a dull murmur across the wreck.
+
+This was all, but Lister was persuaded he had, when half awake, heard
+something else. At dusk a drum had begun to beat across the lagoon and
+the faint monotonous noise had jarred. It was typically African; the
+negroes used drums for signaling, although white men had not found out
+their code. Lister had come to hate all that belonged to the fever
+coast.
+
+The drum, however, was not beating now, and he rather thought he had
+heard the splash of a canoe paddle. There was no obvious reason this
+should bother him, but he was bothered and after a few minutes got up
+and put on a thin jacket. On deck it was very hot and he felt the warmth
+of the iron plates through his slippers. In West Africa one puts on
+slippers as soon as one gets out of bed, for fear of the jigger insect
+that bores into one's foot. A gentle land breeze blew across the lagoon
+and the air was hot and damp like steam. Lister smelt river mud and
+aromatic forest.
+
+There was no moon, but he saw the dark hull rise and fall, and the flash
+of phosphorescent foam where the swell washed across the deck. In the
+distance, the surf rumbled and now and then there was a peal of thunder.
+Lister wondered why he had left his berth. He was tired and needed
+sleep, for he had been occupied all day at the pump, which was not
+running well. Recently he had been conscious of a nervous strain and
+things that were not important annoyed him; then he often woke at night,
+feeling that some danger threatened.
+
+Walking along the deck he found a white sailor sitting on the windlass
+drum. The man did not move until Lister touched his arm.
+
+"Did you hear something not very long since, Watson?"
+
+"No, sir," said the other with a start. "Now and then a fish splashed
+and she got her cable across the stem. Links rattled. That was all."
+
+Lister thought the man had slept, but it was not important, since there
+was no obvious necessity for keeping anchor watch.
+
+"Did you hear something, sir?" the other inquired.
+
+"I don't know. I imagine I did!"
+
+The sailor laughed, as if he understood. "A queer country; I've been
+here before! Beautiful, bits of it; shining surf, yellow sands, and
+palms, but it plays some funny tricks with white men. About half of them
+at the factories get addled brains if they stay long. Believe in things
+the bushmen believe, ghosts and magic, and such. Perhaps it's the
+climate, but on this coast you get fancies you get nowhere else. I'd
+sooner take look-out on the fo'cas'le in a North Sea gale than keep
+anchor watch in an African calm."
+
+Lister nodded. He thought the man felt lonely and wanted to talk and he
+sympathized. There was something insidious and daunting about the
+African coast. He walked round the deck and then returning to his room
+presently went to sleep.
+
+At daybreak he heard angry voices and going out found Brown storming
+about the deck. Two white sailors had come back in the boat from the
+hulk, with the news that the negroes berthed on board her had vanished
+in the night, except for three or four whom the sailors had brought to
+the tug. When Brown got cooler he went up to the men who squatted
+tranquilly on the hatch. They were big muscular fellows and wore,
+instead of the usual piece of cotton, ragged duck clothes.
+
+"Where's the rest of the gang?" Brown asked.
+
+"No savvy, sah," said one. "Some fella put them t'ing Ju-Ju on him and
+he lib for bush."
+
+"What's a Ju-Ju?" Lister inquired.
+
+"Hocus-pocus, magic of a sort," the captain growled. "When a white man
+knows much about Ju-Ju his proper place is an asylum." He turned to the
+boys. "How did them other fellows go?"
+
+"No savvy, sah. We done hear not'ing."
+
+"I expect they were afraid to meddle," Brown remarked, and resumed: "Why
+did you lib for stop?"
+
+"We Accra boy; white man's boy. Them bushman him d--n fool too much. Run
+in bush like monkey, without him clo'es."
+
+Brown knitted his brows and then made a sign of resignation. "I reckon
+it's all we'll know! Well, the tide's falling and we must shift for some
+kernels before the sun is hot. Better start your pump."
+
+The pump was soon at work, and Lister, watching the engine, mused. He
+wondered how much the Accra boys knew, or if it was possible the others
+had stolen away without waking them. Watson, the look-out, had heard
+nothing, and Lister remembered Brown's remarks about the Ju-Ju and
+thought the boys did know something but were afraid to tell. Watson had
+said the country was queer, and if he meant fantastic, Lister agreed.
+There was something about it that re-acted strangely on one's
+imagination. In the North American wilds, one was, so to speak, a
+materialist and conquered savage Nature by using well-known rules. In
+Africa one did not know the rules and felt the power of the
+supernatural. It looked as if there was a mysterious, malignant force.
+But the pump was running badly and Lister saw he must not philosophize.
+
+When the sun got hot he stopped for breakfast and afterwards he and
+Brown smoked for a few minutes under the awning.
+
+"I'm bothered about the boys' going," the captain declared. "There's not
+much doubt Montgomery got somebody to put Ju-Ju on them; bribed a
+magician to frighten them by a trick. Since they're a superstitious lot,
+I reckon we can't hire another gang in this neighborhood. However, now
+he's stopped our coal, you'll have to go to _Sar_ Leone, and may pick up
+some British Kroos about the port."
+
+"Then I'd better go soon," said Lister. "The braces I bolted on the pump
+won't hold long; she rocks and strains the shaft when she's running
+hard. I must get a proper casting made at a foundry. Besides, the engine
+crosshead's worn and jumps about. I must try to find a forge and
+machine-shop."
+
+"They've got something of the kind at _Sar_ Leone; I don't know about a
+foundry," Brown replied. "Take Learmont to navigate, and start when you
+like. We'll shift the hulk to leeward of the wreck and she ought to ride
+out a south-east breeze."
+
+Lister sailed a few days afterwards, and reaching Sierra Leone found
+nobody could make the articles he required. For all that, they must be
+got, and he resolved to push on for Grand Canary. The distance was long,
+he had not men enough for an ocean voyage, and would be lucky if he got
+back to the lagoon in three or four weeks, but if he could not mend the
+pump, the salvage work must stop. Lister knew when to run a risk was
+justified.
+
+After he passed the Gambier, wind and sea were ahead, his crew was
+short, and he was hard pressed to keep the engine going and watch the
+furnaces. He slept when he could, in snatches, with his clothes on, and
+now and then used an exhausted fireman's shovel On the steamy African
+coast the labor and watchfulness would have worn him out, but the cool
+Trade breeze was bracing. Although he was thin, and got thinner, the
+lassitude he had felt at the lagoon vanished, and the fatigue he fought
+against was not the fatigue that kills.
+
+In the meantime, _Terrier_ pushed stubbornly north across the long,
+foam-tipped seas that broke in clouds of spray against her thrusting
+bows. She was swept by the sparkling showers, but the showers were warm,
+and the combers were not often steep enough to flood her deck. For all
+that, their impact slowed her speed. She must be driven through their
+tumbling crests, full steam was needed to overcome the shock, and the
+worn-out men moved down coal from the stack on deck to feed the hungry
+fires.
+
+Lister's eyes ached from the glare of smoky lamps that threw puzzling
+lights about the machinery. After long balancing on slanted platforms,
+his back and legs were sore; his brows were knit in a steady frown, and
+his mouth was always firm. When the strain was over, he sometimes
+wondered what he thought about in the long, exhausting watches, but
+remembered nothing except his obstinate concentration on his task. The
+strange thing was, he did not think much about Barbara, although he was
+vaguely conscious that, for her sake, he must hold out. He meant to hold
+out. Perhaps his talents were not numerous, but he could handle engines,
+and when it was necessary he could keep awake.
+
+At length, Learmont called him one morning to the bridge, and he leaned
+slackly against the rails. His eyes were dull, and for some hours he had
+breathed the fumes of burning tallow. A slide had given him trouble; he
+could keep the metal cool. On the bridge, however, the air was keen and
+sweet, and he felt the contrast. _Terrier_ plunged and threw the spray
+about, but the seas were short, as if something ahead broke the wind. By
+and by Learmont indicated a lofty bank of mist.
+
+"Teneriffe!" he said. "I was half-asleep when I took the sun, but my
+reckoning was not very far out."
+
+Lister looked up. In the distance a sharp white cone, rising from fleecy
+vapor, cut the sky, and Lister, with dull satisfaction, knew the famous
+peak. Nearer the tug was another bank of mist, that looked strangely
+solid but ragged, as if it were wrapped about something with a broken
+outline. Some minutes afterwards a high, dark object like a
+mountain-top, loomed in the haze.
+
+"Grand Canary!" Learmont remarked. "The range behind Las Palmas town. I
+expect the smudge ahead is the Isleta hill."
+
+"We've made it!" Lister said hoarsely, and braced himself. Now the
+strain was gone, he felt very slack.
+
+The sun rose out of the water, the mist began to melt, and rolling back,
+uncovered a line of surf and a belt of rough hillside. Then volcanic
+cliffs, a sandy isthmus, and a cluster of masts and funnels got
+distinct, and Lister fixed the glasses on a white stripe across a cinder
+hill. His hand shook, but he steadied the glasses and saw the stripe was
+a row of huge letters.
+
+"... _ary Engineering Co_ ..." he read.
+
+His heart beat when he went below. Luck had given him a hard job, but he
+had put it across. Soon after _Terrier_ arrived he went to the
+engineering company's office and the manager looked at him curiously.
+Then he gave Lister some wine and, after studying his drawings and
+patterns, said he could make the things required. Lister drove to the
+town, and going to a Spanish barber's, started when he saw his
+reflection in a glass. He had not shaved for long, and fresh water was
+scarce on board the tug. His face was haggard, the engine grime had got
+into his skin, and his eyes were red. He was forced to wait, and while
+the barber attended to other customers, he fell asleep in his chair.
+When he left the shop he went to a hotel and slept for twelve hours.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+LISTER MEETS AN OLD ANTAGONIST
+
+The hotel Catalina, half-way between Las Palmas harbor and the town, was
+not crowded, and a number of the quests had gone to a ball at the
+neighboring Metropole. Barbara, going out some time after dinner, found
+the veranda unoccupied and sat down. Mrs. Cartwright was getting better
+and did not need her, and Barbara was satisfied to be alone. Her
+thoughts were disturbing, and trying to banish them for a few minutes,
+she looked about.
+
+The veranda was long, and the lights from the hotel threw the shadow of
+the wooden pillars across the dusty grass. Barbara's figure was outlined
+in a dark silhouette. She did not wear a hat and, since the night was
+warm, had put nothing over her thin dinner dress. She looked slender and
+very young.
+
+A strip of parched garden, where a few dusty palms grew, ran down to the
+road, across which the square block of the Metropole cut the shining
+sea. Steamers' lights swung gently against the dark background of the
+Isleta hill. Beyond the Metropole a white belt of surf ran back to the
+cluster of lights at the foot of the mountain that marked Las Palmas.
+One heard the languid rollers break upon the beach and the measured
+crash of surges on the reefs across the isthmus. Sometimes, when the
+throb of the surf sank, music came from the Metropole. A distant rattle
+indicated a steam-tram going to the port.
+
+The long line across the harbor was the mole, and Barbara had thought
+the small steamer, lying near its end, like _Terrier_. There was nothing
+in the soft blue dark behind the mole until one came to the African
+coast. Then Barbara firmly turned her glance. In a sense, she had sent
+Lister to Africa, but she was not going to think about him yet. She must
+not think about him until she had weighed something else.
+
+A few hours since she had got a jar. Walking in the town she saw a man
+whose figure and step she thought she knew. He was some distance off,
+and she entered a shop and bought a Spanish fan she did not want.
+Perhaps her disturbance was ridiculous, but the man was very like
+Shillito, and their meeting at the busy port was not impossible. Las
+Palmas was something like an important railway junction. Numerous
+steamers called, and passengers from all quarters, particularly South
+America and the West Indies, changed boats. Then Barbara understood that
+a fugitive from justice was safer in South and Central America than
+anywhere else. She wondered with keen anxiety whether the man had seen
+her.
+
+She knew now she had not loved Shillito. He had cunningly worked upon
+her ignorance, discontent, and longing for romance. Illumination had
+come on board the train, but although she had found him out and escaped,
+she had afterwards felt herself humiliated and set apart from happy
+girls who had nothing to hide. The humiliation was not altogether
+earned, and the people who knew about her adventure were not numerous,
+but they were all the people for whom she cared. When she thought about
+it, she hated Louis Shillito.
+
+The steam-tram stopped at the Metropole and went on to the port,
+trailing a cloud of dust. When the rattle it made began to die away,
+Barbara roused herself with a start from her moody thoughts. A man was
+coming up the path, and when he reached the steps she shrank back
+against the wall. The light from the hotel touched his face and she saw
+it was Shillito.
+
+Anger conquered her shrinking, for Barbara had pluck and her temper was
+hot. When Shillito, lifting his hat, advanced, she got up and stood by a
+pillar. Her skin had gone very white, but her eyes sparkled and her
+hands were clenched. Shillito bowed and smiled.
+
+"It looks as if I was lucky!" he remarked, and Barbara imagined his not
+finding Mrs. Cartwright about accounted for his satisfaction.
+
+"I suppose you saw me in the _calle mayor_?" she said.
+
+He nodded. "You went into a shop. Your object was pretty obvious. I
+allow it hurt."
+
+Barbara gave him a scornful glance. "The statement's ridiculous! Do you
+imagine you can cheat me now, as you cheated me in Canada?"
+
+"In one way, I did not cheat you. When I said I loved you, I was
+honest."
+
+"I doubt it! All was dishonest from the beginning. You taught me deceit
+and made me ashamed for my shabbiness. For your sake I tricked people
+who loved and trusted me; but to you I was rashly sincere. I trusted you
+and was willing to give up much in order to marry you."
+
+"You mean you thought you were willing, until you knew the cost?"
+Shillito rejoined. "Then you saw you couldn't make good and resolved to
+turn me down."
+
+The blood came to Barbara's skin, but she fronted him steadily.
+
+"I had _found you out_. Had you been something of the man I thought, I
+might have gone with you and helped to baffle the police; but you were
+not. You were very dull and played a stupid part. When you thought you
+had won and I was in your power, I knew you for a brute."
+
+Shillito colored, but forced a smile. "Perhaps I was dull; I was
+desperate. You had kept me hanging round the summer camp when I knew the
+police were on my track; and I had been put wise they might hold up the
+train. A man hitting the trail for liberty doesn't use the manners of a
+highbrow carpet-knight. I reckoned you were human and your blood was
+red."
+
+"Ah," said Barbara, "I was very human! Although I was afraid, I felt all
+the passion hate can rouse. You declared I must stay with you, because I
+durst not go back; I had broken rules and my fastidious relations would
+have no more to do with me. Something like that! In a sense, it wasn't
+true; but you said it with brutal coarseness. When I struck you I meant
+to hurt; I looked for something that would hurt--"
+
+She stopped and struggled for calm. To indulge her anger was some
+relief, but she felt the man was dangerous and she must be cool. There
+was not much use in leaving him and going to her mother, because he
+would, no doubt, follow and disturb Mrs. Cartwright. It was unlucky her
+step-father had not arrived; he was coming out, but his boat was not
+expected for a day or two.
+
+"Oh, well," said Shillito, "let's talk about something else. I didn't
+calculate to meet you at Las Palmas, but when I saw you in the _calle_,
+I hoped you might, after all, be kind for old times' sake. However, it's
+obvious you have no use for me, and if you are willing to make it
+easier, I'll pull out and leave you alone."
+
+Barbara gave him a keen glance. She had known he wanted something.
+
+"How can I make it easier for you to go?"
+
+"You don't see? Well, I've had some adventures since you left me on
+board the train. I had money, but I'd waited too long to negotiate some
+of the bonds and my partner robbed me. I made San Francisco and found
+nothing doing there. Went down the coast to Chile and got fixed for a
+time at a casino, in which I invested the most part of my wad. One night
+a Chileno pulled his knife on another who cleaned him out, and when the
+police got busy the casino shut down. I pushed across for Argentina, but
+my luck wasn't good, and I made Las Palmas not long since on board an
+Italian boat. On the whole, I like the dagos, and reckoned I might try
+Cuba, or perhaps the Philippines--"
+
+"A Lopez boat sails for Havana in two or three days," Barbara
+interrupted.
+
+"That is so," Shillito agreed, smiling because he noted her relief. "The
+trouble is, I haven't much money. Five hundred pounds would help me
+along."
+
+"You thought I would give you five hundred pounds?"
+
+"Sure," said Shillito, coolly. "You're rich; anyhow, Mrs. Cartwright is
+rich, and I reckoned you would see my staying about the town has
+drawbacks. For one thing, the English tourists are a gossiping lot. It
+ought to pay you and your mother to help me get off."
+
+Barbara tried to think. The drawbacks Shillito indicated were plain, and
+as long as he stayed at Las Palmas she would know no ease of mind, but
+she had not five hundred pounds, and Mrs. Cartwright must not be
+disturbed. Moreover, one could not trust the fellow. He might take the
+money and then use his power again. He had power to humiliate her, but
+unless she was willing to meet all his claims, she must resist some
+time.
+
+"I imagine you put your importance too high," she said. "You can stay,
+if you like. I certainly will not bribe you to go away."
+
+He studied her for a few moments; Barbara looked resolute, but he
+thought her resolution forced.
+
+"Very well! Since I can't start for Cuba without money, I must find an
+occupation at Las Palmas, and I have a plan. You see, I know some
+Spanish and something about running a gambling joint. The people here
+are sports, and one or two are willing to put up the money to start a
+club that ought to attract the English tourists. If I found the thing
+didn't pay before you went back, I could quit and get after you."
+
+"I think not," said Barbara, desperately. "If you came to England, a
+cablegram to the Canadian police--"
+
+Shillito laughed. "You wouldn't send a cablegram! If I was caught I
+could tell a romantic story about the girl who helped me get off. No;
+I'm not going to bother about your putting the police on my trail!"
+
+He turned his head and Barbara clenched her hand, for a rattle of wheels
+in the road broke off, as if a _tartana_ had stopped at the gate. If the
+passengers from the vehicle were coming to the hotel she must get rid of
+Shillito before they arrived.
+
+"You waste your arguments," she declared. "I will not give you money. If
+you come back, I will tell the _mayordomo_ you are annoying me and he
+must not let you in."
+
+"The plan's not very clever," Shillito rejoined. "If I made trouble for
+the hotel porters, the guests would wonder, and when people have nothing
+to do but loaf, they like to talk. I expect you'd find their curiosity
+awkward--" He paused and laughed when he resumed: "You're embarrassed
+now because somebody will see us!"
+
+Barbara was embarrassed. A man was coming up the path, and she knew her
+figure and Shillito's cut against the light. When the stranger reached
+the veranda he would see she was disturbed; but to move back into the
+gloom, where Shillito would follow her, would be significant. She
+thought he meant to excite the other's curiosity.
+
+The man stopped for a moment at the bottom of the steps and Barbara
+turned her head, since she imagined he would think she was quarreling
+with her lover. Then he ran up the steps, and when he stopped in front
+of Shillito her heart beat fast. It was Lister, and she knew he had
+remarked her strained look, for his face was very stern.
+
+"Hallo!" he said. "Are you bothering Miss Hyslop again?" He glanced at
+Barbara. "I expect the fellow is bothering you?"
+
+For a moment Barbara hesitated, but she had borne a heavy strain and her
+control was going. Besides, one could trust Lister and he knew ... She
+signed agreement and he touched Shillito.
+
+"Get off the veranda!"
+
+Shillito did not move. His pose was tense and he looked malevolent.
+
+"You won't help Miss Hyslop by butting in like a clumsy fool. The
+thing's too delicate for you to meddle--"
+
+"Get off the veranda!" Lister shouted, and threw Shillito back.
+
+He was highly strung, and worn by want of sleep and exhausting labor,
+but he had some notion of all Barbara had borne on Shillito's account.
+Although perhaps caution and tact were indicated, he was going to use
+force. When Shillito struck him he seized the fellow, and rocking in a
+savage grapple, they fell with a crash against the rails. Lister felt
+the other's hand at his throat, and straining back, jerked his head away
+while he tried to lift his antagonist off the ground. He pulled him from
+the rails and they reeled across the veranda and struck the wall.
+
+A neighboring window rattled with the shock, the heavy tramp of their
+feet shook the boards, and Barbara knew the noise would soon bring a
+group of curious servants to the door; besides, all the guests had not
+gone to the Metropole. Yet she could not meddle. The men's passions were
+unloosed; they fought like savage animals, driven by an instinctive fury
+that would not vanish until one was beaten. She looked on, trembling and
+helpless, while they wrestled, with swaying bodies and hands that felt
+for a firmer hold. Her face was very white and she got her breath in
+painful gasps. There was something horribly primitive about the
+struggle, but it fascinated.
+
+In the meantime, Lister was conscious that he had been rash. Shillito
+was muscular and fresh, but he was tired. It was plain he could not keep
+it up for long. Moreover, unless the fight soon ended, people would come
+to see what the disturbance was about. This would be awkward for
+Barbara; he wanted to tell her to go away, but could not. He was
+breathless and Shillito was trying to choke him.
+
+Afterwards he knew he was lucky. They had got near the steps and he
+threw Shillito against the post at the top. The jar shook the other, his
+grasp got slack, and Lister saw that for a moment the advantage was his.
+Using a desperate effort he pushed his antagonist back and struck him a
+smashing blow. Shillito vanished and a crash in the gloom indicated that
+he had fallen on an aloe in a tub by the path. Lister leaned against the
+rail and laughed, because he knew aloe spikes are sharp.
+
+Then he heard steps and voices in the hotel, and turned to Barbara. His
+face was cut, his hat was gone, and his white jacket was torn. He looked
+strangely savage and disheveled, but Barbara went to him and her eyes
+shone. Lister stopped her.
+
+"Don't know if I've helped much, but you must get off!" he gasped.
+"People are coming. Go in by another door!"
+
+He turned and plunged down the stairs, and Barbara, seeing that Shillito
+had vanished, ran along the veranda. A few moments afterwards she stood
+by the window of her room and saw a group of curious servants and one or
+two tourists in the path at the bottom of the steps. It looked as if
+they were puzzled, and the _mayordomo_ gravely examined Lister's
+battered hat.
+
+Barbara went from the window and sat down. She was horribly overstrained
+and wanted to cry, but she began to laugh, and for some minutes could
+not stop. She must get relief from the tension and, after all, in a
+sense, the thing was humorous.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+BARBARA'S REFUSAL
+
+In the morning Barbara went to the Catalina mole. The short lava pier
+was not far off, and one got the breeze, although the hotel garden was
+hot. Besides, she did not want to meet people and talk about the strange
+disturbance on the veranda. On the whole, she thought nobody imagined
+she could satisfy the general curiosity. Finding a block of lava in the
+shade, she sat down and looked about.
+
+A boat crossed the harbor mouth, swinging up on the smooth swell and
+vanishing when the undulations rolled by. A tug towed a row of barges to
+an anchored steamer, and the rattle of winches came down the wind. In
+the background, clouds of dust blew about the coaling wharfs, and a
+string of flags fluttered from the staff on the Isleta hill. Barbara
+beckoned a port-guard and inquired what the signal meant.
+
+The Spaniard said an African mail-boat from England was coming in, and
+Barbara was conscious of some relief. Cartwright was on board and would
+arrive sooner than she had thought; the boat had obviously not called at
+Madeira, the time-bills stated. Cartwright would know how to deal with
+Shillito if he bothered her again. In the meantime she mused about
+Lister. She had thrilled when he ran up the steps at the hotel, but, in
+a sense, his arrival just then was awkward.
+
+She turned her head, for the sunshine on the water dazzled her eyes, and
+the port was not attractive. The limekilns, coal-wharfs, and shabby lava
+houses had for a background volcanic rocks, bare cinder slopes and
+tossing dust. Besides, she wanted to think. She would see Lister soon;
+she wanted to see him, but she shrank. For one thing, the line she ought
+to take was hard.
+
+By and by she heard a rattle of oars thrown on board a boat behind the
+neighboring wall; somebody shouted, and Lister came up. His white
+clothes were clean but crumpled, and Barbara smiled when she saw his hat
+was new. Crossing the lava pavement, he stopped opposite her and she
+noted a piece of sticking-plaster on his cheek.
+
+"May I join you for a few minutes?" he asked.
+
+"Of course," she said graciously.
+
+Lister sat down. The sailors had gone off, and except for an officer of
+the _Commandancia_, nobody was about.
+
+"I was going to the hotel to look for you. For one thing, I reckoned I
+ought to apologize. When I came into the veranda and saw Shillito--"
+
+"I think you stopped for a moment at the bottom of the steps!" Barbara
+remarked.
+
+He colored, but gave her a steady look. "That is so. I admit the thing's
+ridiculous; but at first I felt I'd better pull out. Then I noted
+something about your pose; you looked angry."
+
+"Ah," said Barbara. "It was a relief to see I was angry? You were
+satisfied then?"
+
+"I was really satisfied before. It was impossible you should engage a
+brute like that in friendly talk. Anyhow, I took the wrong line and
+might have made things awkward. In fact, the situation needed a lighter
+touch than mine. All the same, when I saw the fellow was bullying you--"
+
+"You butted in?" Barbara suggested, smiling, although her heart beat.
+
+"Like a bull moose," said Lister with a frown. "I ought to have kept
+cool, used caution, and frozen him off by a few short arguments. You can
+picture Cartwright's putting across the job! After all, however, I don't
+know the arguments I could have used, and I remembered how the fellow
+had injured you--"
+
+He saw Barbara's color rise, and stopped for a moment. It looked as if
+he had not used much caution now.
+
+"Since I thought you in Africa, I don't understand how you arrived," she
+began.
+
+"The thing's not very strange," said Lister. "I saw your name in a
+visitors' list and meant to ask for you in the morning. Then I ran up
+against Shillito, who didn't know me, and when he got on board the steam
+tram, I hired a _tartana_. Thought he might mean trouble and I'd better
+come along--"
+
+"Well," he resumed, "I'm sorry I handled the job clumsily, since I might
+have hurt you worse; but I hated the fellow on my own account and saw
+red. Perhaps it was lucky I was able to throw him down the steps,
+because I expect neither of us meant to quit until the other was knocked
+out." He paused and added, with a laugh: "Now I'm cool, I think the
+chances were I got knocked out. Last time we met he threw me off the
+car; I reckon my luck has turned!"
+
+Barbara studied him and was moved by pity and some other emotions. He
+was very thin and his face was pinched. He looked as if he were
+exhausted by the work she had sent him to do. Barbara admitted that she
+had sent him. Before Cartwright planned the salvage undertaking she had
+declared he would find Lister the man for an awkward job.
+
+"You ran some risk for my sake, and I must acknowledge a fresh debt,"
+she said. "I would sooner be your debtor than another's, but sometimes
+I'm embarrassed. You see, I owe you so much."
+
+"You have paid all by letting me know you," Lister declared.
+
+She was quiet for a few moments, and then asked: "Are you making much
+progress at the wreck?"
+
+"Our progress is slow, but we are getting there," Lister replied, and
+seeing her interest, narrated his and Brown's struggles, and his long
+voyage with a short crew on board the tug.
+
+The story was moving and Barbara's eyes sparkled. Lister had borne much
+and done all that flesh and blood could do. He was the man she had
+thought, and she knew it was for her sake that he had labored.
+
+"It's a splendid fight!" she said.
+
+"We haven't won yet," he replied, and was quiet for a few moments. Then
+his look got very resolute and he went on: "All the same, if the thing
+is anyhow possible, I'm going to win. You see, I've got to win! When
+Cartwright engaged me I was engineer on board a cattle boat; a man of no
+importance, without friends or money, and with no particular chance of
+making good. Now I've got my chance. If we put across the job a big
+salvage company turned down, I'll make my mark. Somebody will give me a
+good post; I'll have got my foot on the ladder that leads to the top."
+
+"I wish you luck," said Barbara. "I expect you will get near the top."
+
+"If you are willing, you can help."
+
+"Ah," said Barbara, with forced quietness, "I think not--"
+
+He stopped her. "I didn't expect to find you willing. My business is to
+persuade you, and I mean to try. Well, I wasn't boasting, and my
+drawbacks are plain, but if I make good in Africa, some will be cut out
+and you can help me remove the others. I've long wanted you, and now my
+luck's turning. I was going to Catalina to tell you so. If Brown and I
+float _Arcturus_, will you marry me?"
+
+Barbara's color came and went, but she said quietly: "When you came to
+the hotel in the evening you met Shillito!"
+
+"I did," said Lister, with incautious passion. "If I had killed the
+brute I'd have been justified! However, I threw him on to the aloe tub
+and ran off. The thing was grotesquely humorous. A boy's fool trick!"
+
+"You ran off for my sake," said Barbara. "I liked you for it. I like you
+for many things, but I will not marry you."
+
+He saw she was resolute. Her mouth was firm and her hand was tightly
+closed. He thought he knew the grounds for her refusal, and his heart
+sank. Barbara was stubborn and very proud. Moreover, the situation was
+awkward, but the awkwardness must be fronted.
+
+"Let's be frank; perhaps you owe me this," he urged. "Since you allow
+you do like me, what's to stop our marrying?"
+
+"For one thing, my adventure in Canada," she replied and turned her
+head.
+
+Lister put his hand on her arm and forced her to look up. "Now you're
+clean ridiculous! Shillito cheated you; he's a plausible wastrel, but
+you found him out. It doesn't count at all! Besides, nobody but your
+relations know."
+
+"You know," said Barbara, and, getting up started along the mole.
+
+Lister tried to brace himself, for he saw she could not be moved. Yet
+there was something to be said.
+
+"You are the girl I mean to marry," he declared. "Some day, perhaps,
+you'll see you're indulging a blamed extravagant illusion and I'm going
+to wait. When you're logical I'll try again."
+
+Barbara forced a smile. "Sometimes I am logical; I feel I'm logical now.
+But I have left my mother alone rather long and you must let me go."
+
+Lister went with her to the road and got on a tram going to the town. He
+was hurt and angry, but not altogether daunted. Barbara's ridiculous
+pride might break and she was worth waiting for. When he returned on
+board, a small African liner had anchored not far off, and while he
+watched the boats that swarmed about the ship, one left the others and
+came towards the tug. The Spanish crew were pulling hard and a passenger
+occupied the stern. Learmont, lounging near, turned his glasses on the
+boat.
+
+"I'm not sorry you are boss," he said. "The Old Man is coming!"
+
+A few minutes afterwards Cartwright got over the tug's rail. His face
+was red, and he looked very stern.
+
+"Why have you left the wreck?" he asked Lister.
+
+"I came for some castings I couldn't get at Sierra Leone. The pump and
+engine needed mending."
+
+"Then where's Brown?"
+
+"He's busy at the lagoon, sir. There's enough to keep him occupied,
+unless the pump plays out before I get back."
+
+Cartwright looked relieved, but asked meaningly: "Did you know Mrs.
+Cartwright and Miss Hyslop were at Las Palmas?"
+
+"I did not know until yesterday evening, twenty-four hours after I
+arrived; but we'll talk about this again. I expect you want to know how
+we are getting on at the wreck?"
+
+Cartwright nodded. "I think my curiosity is natural! Let's get out of
+the sun, and if you have liquor on board, order me a drink. When the
+mail-boat steamed round the mole and I saw _Terrier_, I got a nasty
+jolt."
+
+Lister took him to the captain's room and gave him some sour red Canary
+wine. Cartwright drained his glass and looked up with an ironical smile.
+
+"If you use stuff like this. Brown ought not to be tempted much!
+However, you can tell me what you have done at the lagoon, and the
+difficulties you have met. You needn't bother to smooth down Brown's
+extravagances, I knew the captain before I knew you."
+
+Lister told his story, and when he stopped Cartwright filled his glass,
+raised it to his lips and put it back with a frown.
+
+"Send somebody along the mole to Garcia's shop for two or three bottles
+of his Amontillado and white Muscatel. Charge the stuff to ship's
+victualing. When you got Brown out of the factory, did you think it
+possible he had a private stock of liquor?"
+
+"I'm satisfied he had not. Montgomery gave him the liquor, and I imagine
+meant to give him too, much."
+
+"It looks like that," Cartwright agreed. "If we take something I suspect
+for granted, Montgomery's opposition would be logical. I imagine you
+know part of the cargo was worth much? Expensive stuff in small bulk,
+you see!"
+
+"I have studied the cargo-lists and plans of the holds, sir."
+
+Cartwright nodded. "We'll find out presently if my notion how the boat
+was lost is accurate," The cargo's another thing. There may have been
+conspiracy between merchant and ship-owner; I don't know yet, but if it
+was conspiracy, this would account for much. Some of the gum shipped was
+very costly, and African alluvial gold, washed by the negroes, has been
+found mixed with brass filings."
+
+"Montgomery frankly stated his father loaded the vessel."
+
+"His frankness may have been calculated," Cartwright rejoined and
+knitted his brows. "Yet I'll admit the young fellow's name is good at
+Liverpool, and all he sells is up to sample. His father was another
+sort, but he died, and the house is now well run. However, in the
+meantime we'll let it go."
+
+He looked up, for a fireman, carrying a basket, came in. Cartwright took
+the basket and opened a bottle of white wine.
+
+"Take some of this," he said. "I understand you have seen Mrs.
+Cartwright?"
+
+"Not yet, sir," said Lister, quietly. "I met Miss Hyslop soon before
+your boat arrived. Perhaps I ought to tell you I asked her if she would
+marry me if we floated the wreck."
+
+"Ah!" said Cartwright. "But why did you add the stipulation?"
+
+"It ought to be obvious. If we put the undertaking over, I expect to get
+a post that will enable me to support a wife, although she might be
+forced to go without things I'd like to give her."
+
+"I see!" said Cartwright, with some dryness. "Well, I don't know if
+Barbara is extravagant, but she has not used much economy. Was she
+willing to take the plunge?"
+
+"She was not, sir."
+
+"Then I suppose she stated her grounds for refusing?"
+
+"That is so," said Lister. "Perhaps Miss Hyslop will tell you what they
+are. I will not."
+
+Cartwright looked at him hard. "All the same, I imagine you did not
+agree?"
+
+"I did not agree. If I make good at the wreck, I will try again."
+
+"Barbara is pretty obstinate," Cartwright remarked with a smile, and
+then filled Lister's glass. "I must go; but come to the hotel in the
+morning. We must talk about the salvage plans."
+
+He went off, but when the boat crossed the harbor he looked back at the
+tug with twinkling eyes. Lister was honest and had not asked Barbara to
+marry him until he saw some chance of his supporting a wife. Since
+Barbara was rich, the thing was amusing. All the same, it was possible
+the young fellow must wait. Barbara exaggerated and indulged her
+imagination, but she was firm.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CARTWRIGHT GETS TO WORK
+
+The morning was hot and Barbara, sitting on the hotel veranda, struggled
+against a flat reaction. The glitter of the sea hurt her eyes, and the
+dust that blew in clouds from the road smeared her white dress. Her
+mouth dropped and her pose was languid. To refuse Lister had cost her
+much, and although she had done so because she felt she ought, the sense
+of having carried out a duty was not remarkably soothing. It was a
+relief to know she need not pretend to Cartwright, who occupied a
+basket-chair opposite. One could not cheat her step-father by false
+cheerfulness.
+
+"When you disappointed Lister you took the prudent line," he said. "The
+young fellow has some talent, but he has not yet made his mark. I
+approve your caution, and expect your mother will agree."
+
+"I wasn't cautious; I didn't argue at all like that," Barbara declared.
+"Besides, I haven't told mother. She mustn't be disturbed."
+
+Cartwright looked thoughtful. To some extent he was sympathetic, and to
+some extent amused.
+
+"Then I don't altogether understand why you did refuse!"
+
+"Oh, well," said Barbara, and the blood came to her skin, "for one
+thing, Mr. Lister waited for some time, and then asked me to marry him,
+after Shillito arrived." She paused and her look got hard when she
+resumed: "Perhaps he thought he ought; sometimes he's chivalrous."
+
+Cartwright imagined Barbara was badly hurt, and this accounted for her
+frankness.
+
+"Your reasoning isn't very obvious, but I think I see a light," he said.
+"It's possible, however, he asked you because he wanted you, and there
+is an explanation for his waiting. I understand he hesitated because he
+doubted if he could support a wife. It looks as if Mr. Lister didn't
+know you were rich."
+
+"He doesn't know; I think I didn't want him to know," Barbara admitted
+with some embarrassment.
+
+"Shillito knew, but one learns caution," Cartwright remarked. "Well,
+Shillito became somewhat of a nuisance, and I don't imagine you want him
+to look us up again. I rather think I must get to work."
+
+"I hate him!" said Barbara, passionately. "Until your boat was signaled
+I was horribly alarmed, but then the trouble went. I felt I needn't
+bother after you arrived." Her voice softened as she added: "You are a
+clever old dear! One feels safe while you're about!"
+
+"Thank you," said Cartwright. "I am old, but I have some useful talents.
+Well, is there something else about which you want to talk?"
+
+Barbara hesitated. There was something for which she meant to ask,
+although her object was not very plain. Perhaps Shillito's demand for
+money had made her feel its power; moreover, she was independent and
+liked to control her affairs.
+
+"My birthday was not long since, and I'm entitled to use some of the
+money that is mine."
+
+"That is so," Cartwright agreed with a twinkle. "All the same, you're
+not entitled to use much until you marry, and you have just sent off one
+lover. Would you like me to send you out a sum?"
+
+"I think I'd like a check book, and then I needn't bother people."
+
+Cartwright nodded. Barbara was not extravagant. "Very well. I expect we
+can trust you, and the money is yours. I can probably arrange for a
+business house to meet your drafts. I'll see about it when I'm in the
+town."
+
+He started for Las Palmas presently, and after some inquiries stopped at
+a Spanish hotel, where he found Shillito. The latter frowned when he saw
+Cartwright, but went with him to the courtyard and they sat down in the
+shade.
+
+"Have you bought your ticket for Havana?" Cartwright asked.
+
+"I have not," said Shillito. "So far I haven't decided to leave Las
+Palmas."
+
+"Then I imagine you had better decide _now_. If money is a difficulty, I
+might lend you enough for a second-class passage, but that is all."
+
+Shillito smiled. "If you want to get rid of me, you'll have to go
+higher. I reckon it's worth while!"
+
+"I think not," said Cartwright, dryly. "In fact, since I can get rid of
+you for nothing, I doubt if it's worth the price of a cheap berth on
+board the Lopez boat. However, I'll risk this, in order to save
+bothering."
+
+"Bluff! You can cut it out and get to business!"
+
+"Very well. Your call at the Catalina didn't help you much, and if you
+come again you will not be received by Miss Hyslop, but by me. I have
+met and beaten fellows like you before. My offer's a second-class berth.
+You had better take it!"
+
+"Not at all," said Shillito. "Before long you'll want to raise your
+bid."
+
+Cartwright got up and crossed the flags; the other frowned and
+hesitated, but let him go. When he reached the street Cartwright called
+his _tartana_ and told the driver to take him to the British
+Vice-Consul's. The Vice-Consul was a merchant who sometimes supplied the
+Cartwright boats with stores, and he gave his visitor a cigar.
+Cartwright told him as much about Shillito as he thought useful, and the
+Vice-Consul weighed his remarks.
+
+"The extradition of a criminal is a long and troublesome business," he
+observed. "In the meantime the fellow must not be allowed to annoy you,
+and I imagine my duty is to inform the Spanish _justicia_. Don Ramon is
+tactful, and I think will handle the situation discreetly. Suppose we go
+to see him?"
+
+He took Cartwright to an old Spanish house, with the royal arms above
+the door, and a very dignified gentleman received them politely. He
+allowed the Vice-Consul to tell Cartwright's story in Castilian, and
+then smiled.
+
+"Senor Graham has our thanks for the warning he has brought," he said.
+"In this island we are sportsmen. We have our cockpits and casinos, but
+our aim is to develop our commerce and not make the town a Monte Carlo.
+Then the play at the casinos must be honest. Our way with cardsharpers
+is stern."
+
+The Vice-Consul's eyes twinkled. He knew Don Ramon, who resumed: "Senor
+Cartwright's duty is to inform the British police. No doubt he will do
+so, but until they apply to our _justicia_ in the proper form, I cannot
+put in prison a British subject for a robbery he did not commit on
+Spanish soil. Perhaps, however, this is not necessary?"
+
+"On the whole, I don't think it is necessary," Cartwright remarked. "The
+fellow is a dangerous scoundrel, but I don't know that it is my duty to
+give you the bother extradition formalities would imply. Still you may
+find him a nuisance if he stays long."
+
+Don Ramon smiled. "I imagine he will not stay long! My post gives me
+power to deal with troublesome foreigners. Well, I thank you, and can
+promise you will not be disturbed again."
+
+He let them go, and when they went out the Vice-Consul laughed.
+
+"You can trust Don Ramon. For one thing, he knows I have some claim; in
+this country a merchant finds it pays to acknowledge fair treatment by
+the men who rule. For all that, Don Ramon is just and uses prudently a
+power we do not give British officials. The Spanish know the advantages
+of firm control, and I admit their plan works well."
+
+Shillito did not return to the Catalina. When he was playing cards for
+high stakes one evening, two _guardias civiles_ entered the gambling
+house and one touched Shillito's arm.
+
+"You will come with us, senor," he said politely.
+
+Shillito pushed back his chair and looked about. The man carried a
+pistol, and the civil guards have power to shoot. His comrade watched
+the door.
+
+"What is your authority for bothering me?" he asked.
+
+"It is possible Don Ramon will tell you. He is waiting," said the other.
+He took Shillito to the house with the coat of arms, and Don Ramon,
+sending off the guards, indicated a chair.
+
+"We have heard something about you, and do not think you ought to remain
+at Las Palmas," he remarked. "In fact, since we understand you meant to
+go to Cuba, we expect you to start by the Lopez boat."
+
+"I don't mean to go to Cuba," Shillito rejoined.
+
+Don Ramon shrugged. "Well, we do not mind if you sail for another
+country. Numerous steamers touch here and the choice is yours. So long
+as you leave Las Palmas--"
+
+Shillito looked at him hard. "I am a British subject and stay where I
+like!"
+
+"You are obstinate, senor, but I think your statement's rash," Don Ramon
+observed. "A British subject is governed by British laws, but we will
+not talk about this."
+
+He paused and studied Shillito, who began to look disturbed. "One would
+sooner be polite and take the easy line," Don Ramon resumed. "So far
+this is possible, because you are not on the list sent our Government by
+the British police, but we have power to examine foreigners about whom
+we are not satisfied. Well, I doubt if you could satisfy us that you
+ought to remain, and when we begin to investigate, a demand for your
+extradition might arrive. If you forced us to inquire about you, a
+cablegram would soon reach London."
+
+Shillito saw he was beaten and got up.
+
+"I'll buy my ticket for Havana in the morning," he replied.
+
+The Lopez liner was some days late, and in the meantime Lister haunted
+the office of the engineering company. At length the articles he needed
+were ready, and one afternoon Cartwright hired a boat to take him and
+Barbara across the harbor. _Terrier_ lay with full steam up at the end
+of the long mole, and when her winch began to rattle, Cartwright told
+the Spanish _peons_ to stop rowing. The tug's mooring ropes splashed,
+her propeller throbbed, and she swung away from the wall.
+
+She was rusty and dingy; the screens along her bridge were cracked and
+burned by the sun. The boat at her rail was blackened by soot, and when
+she rolled the weed streamed down from her water-line. She looked very
+small and overloaded by the stack of coal on deck. The wash round her
+stern got whiter, ripples ran back from her bows, and when she steamed
+near Cartwright's boat, her whistle shrieked. Cartwright stood up and
+waved; Learmont, on the bridge, touched his cap, but for a few moments
+Barbara fixed her eyes on _Terrier's_ deckhouse. Then she blushed and
+her heart beat, for she saw Lister at the door of the engine-room. He
+saw her and smiled.
+
+The tug's whistle was drowned by a deeper blast. A big liner, painted
+black from water-line to funnel-top, was coming out, and Cartwright's
+boat lay between her and the tug. Barbara gave the great ship a careless
+glance and then started, for she read the name at the bow. This was the
+Havana boat.
+
+Studying the groups of passengers at the rails, she thought she saw a
+face she knew. The face got distinct, and when the liner's lofty side
+towered above the boat, Shillito, looking down, lifted his cap and bowed
+with ironical politeness. Barbara turned her head and tried for calm
+while she watched the tug.
+
+Lister had not gone. Barbara knew he would not go so long as he could
+see the boat, and standing up, with her hand on Cartwright's shoulder,
+she waved her handkerchief. Lister's hand went to his cap, but he was
+getting indistinct and _Terrier_ had begun to plunge on the long swell
+outside the wall. She steered for open sea, the big black liner followed
+the coast, and presently Cartwright signed the men to pull. Then he
+looked at Barbara and smiled, for he knew she had seen Shillito.
+
+"Things do sometimes happen like that!" he said. "I think the fellow has
+gone for good, but the other will come back."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+LISTER MAKES GOOD
+
+_Arcturus'_ holds were empty and a long row of oil puncheons occupied
+the beach, but the men who had dragged the goods from the water were
+exhausted by heavy toil in the scorching sun, and some were sick. The
+divers had bolted on plates to cover the holes in the vessel's bilge
+before one fell ill and his mate's nerve went. The heat and poisonous
+vapors from the swamps had broken his health, and he got a bad jar one
+day his air-pipe entangled and the pump-gang dragged him, unconscious,
+to the top.
+
+Afterwards, for the most part, Lister undertook the diving, but for long
+his efforts to reach the floor of the engine-room were baffled. To crawl
+across slanted gratings and down weedy ladders, while air-pipe and
+signal-line trailed about the machinery, was horribly dangerous, but he
+kept it up, although he got slacker and felt his pluck was breaking.
+Then one afternoon he knew he could not go down again, and he stayed
+under water long.
+
+Brown, standing by the air-pumps, looked at his watch and waited
+anxiously. The bubbles broke the surface above the wreck and the
+signal-line was slack, but Lister had been down longer than he ought. He
+wars not a diver, and the others who knew their job, had come up sooner.
+Then Brown had other grounds for anxiety. If Lister were beaten, their
+chance of floating the wreck was small.
+
+At length, the bubbles began to move towards the hulk, the ladder shook,
+and a dull, red reflection shone through the water. Then the copper
+helmet broke the surface, rose a few inches, and stopped, and Brown ran
+to the gangway. Lister was exhausted and his worn-out body could not
+meet the change of pressure. They dragged him on board and took off his
+helmet and canvas dress. For some minutes he lay like a log, and then
+opened his eyes and looked at Brown.
+
+"Cartwright was on the track!" he gasped. "We can go ahead--"
+
+The sun was low, but the pitch in the seams was liquid and smeared the
+hot planks, and Brown pulled Lister into the shade. For a time he was
+quiet, but by and by he said, "When the tide falls we'll start the pump
+and let her go all night. I must get up and tell Jones to clean the
+fire."
+
+"I'll tell him. You stay there until we get some food," Brown replied.
+
+The cook served the meal on deck, but they had hardly begun when he
+lighted a storm-lamp. As soon as the red sun dipped thick vapor floated
+off from the swamps, the water got oily black, and dark clouds rolled
+across the sky. Flickering lightning illumined the tumbling surf and
+sandy beach, but there was no thunder and the night was calm. The hulk
+and tug were moored at opposite sides of the wreck, forward of her
+engine room, and thick wire ropes that ran between them had been dragged
+back under the vessel for some distance from her bow. The ropes,
+however, were not yet hauled tight. When the cook took away the plates
+Brown made a rough calculation.
+
+"We have caulked all hatches and gratings forward, and stopped the
+ventilators," he said. "I reckon the water will leave the deck long
+enough for the pump to give her fore-end some buoyancy. If she rises
+with the flood tide, well heave the cables aft, until we can get a hold
+that will lift her bow from the ground. Then you can pump out the fore
+hold and we'll make a fresh start aft. We'll soon know if Cartwright's
+notion is correct."
+
+"We know _now_; I'll satisfy you in the morning," Lister rejoined and
+his confidence was not exaggerated.
+
+A steamer's hull below her load-line is pierced in places to admit water
+for the condensers and ballast tanks. Lister had found some inlets open,
+but now they were shut.
+
+"I'll own old Cartwright's a great man," Brown said thoughtfully. "When
+he takes on a job he studies things all round. The salvage folks, no
+doubt, reckoned on the possibility that the valves were open, but they
+couldn't get at the controls and didn't know all Cartwright knew--" He
+paused and added with a laugh: "I wonder how much the other fellows got
+for the job! But it's time we started."
+
+Lister got up with an effort and went to the pump, which presently began
+to throb. The mended engine ran well and the regular splash of water,
+flung out from the big discharge pipe, drowned the languid rumble of the
+surf. The hull shook; shadowy figures crossed the beam of light from the
+furnace, and vanished in the dark. Twinkling lamps threw broken
+reflections on the water that looked like black silk, lightning flashed
+in the background, and when the swell broke with phosphorescent sparkles
+about the wreck Lister marked the height the pale illumination crept up
+her plates. She would not lift that tide, but the pump was clearing the
+hold, and he hoped much water was not coming in. If the leakage was not
+excessive, her bow ought to rise when the next tide flowed.
+
+For some hours he kept his watch, dragging himself wearily about the
+engine and pump. He had helpers, but control was his, and to an engineer
+a machine is not a dead mass of metal. Lister, so to speak, felt the
+pump had individuality and temperament, like a spirited horse. Sometimes
+it must be humored and sometimes urged; it would run faster for a man
+whose touch was firm but light than for another. Perhaps he was
+fanciful, and he was certainly over-strung, but he imagined the big,
+rattling machine knew his hand.
+
+At length when he looked at the gauge glass he found he could not see
+the line that marked the water-level. His head swam and his legs shook,
+and calling a fireman to keep watch, he sat down in the coal. He wanted
+to get to the awning, out of the dew, but could not, and leaning against
+the rough blocks, he went to sleep.
+
+In the morning, he knew the fever that bothered him now and then had
+returned. For all that, he must hold out and he began his labor in the
+burning sun. When the flood tide rippled about the wreck it was obvious
+the pump was getting the water down. The bows lifted, and starting the
+winches, they hauled aft the ropes. If they could keep it, before long
+they might heave her from the sand.
+
+It was a time of stubborn effort and crushing strain. Some of the men
+were sick and all had lost their vigor. The fierce sun had not burned
+but bleached their skin; their blood was poisoned by the miasma the land
+breeze blew off at night. For all that, Cartwright's promise was they
+should share his reward and somehow they held on.
+
+At length, in the scorching heat one afternoon when the flood tide began
+to run, they hauled the hulk and tug abaft the wreck's engine-room and
+made the great ropes fast. If Lister's calculations were accurate, the
+pump had thrown out enough water, and the buoyancy of the other craft
+would lift the wreck's stern. If not--but he refused to think about
+this.
+
+The sea breeze had dropped and the smoke of the engine went straight up.
+There was not a line on the glittering lagoon. The sea looked like
+melted silver; one felt it give out light and heat. The men's eyes ached
+and the intolerable sun pierced their double hats and dulled their
+brains. When all was ready, they waited and watched the sandy water
+creep up _Arcturus'_ plates until the ropes stretched and groaned and
+the hulk began to list. On the wreck's other side, the tug's mast and
+funnel slanted.
+
+_Arcturus_ was not yet afloat, and the big wire-ropes, running beneath
+her bilge, held down the helping craft. The ends were made fast by hemp
+lashings and somebody had put an ax beside the post. For all that,
+Lister did not think Brown would give the order to cut; he himself would
+not. If they did not float Arcturus now, she must remain in the sand for
+good. He would hold on until the rising tide flowed across the tug.
+
+In the meantime, he watched the pump. The engine carried a dangerous
+load and the spouting discharge pipe was swollen. Throbbing and
+rattling, she fought the water that held _Arcturus_ down. A greaser
+touched the crosshead-slides with a tallow swab, and a panting fireman
+thrust a bar through the furnace door. Their skin was blackened by sweat
+and coal dust; soaked singlets, tight like gloves, clung to their lean
+bodies. Nobody else, however, was actively occupied. The negroes lay on
+the deck and the white men lounged in the shade of the awning. They had
+done all that flesh and blood could do, in a climate that breaks the
+white man's strength, and now the tide ought to finish their labor. But
+they did not know, and some doubted.
+
+The ropes cracked and the hulk's list got sharp. On one side, her deck
+was very near the water. She was broad, but if _Arcturus_ did not lift,
+it was obvious she must soon capsize. Lister opened the engine throttle
+until the valve-wheel would not turn. The cylinders shook, a gland blew
+steam, and the pump clashed and rocked. All the same, he knew himself
+ridiculous. The extra water the pump lifted would not help much now.
+They had a few minutes, and then, if nobody cut the ropes, the hulk
+would go down.
+
+The massive oak mooring-post groaned and the deck-seams opened with the
+strain; the wire-ropes were rigid; one could see no hint of curve. The
+water touched the hulk's deck and began to creep up. Then it stopped,
+the hulk shook, and the wreck's long side slowly got upright.
+
+"She's off!" said Brown hoarsely. Somebody blew the tug's whistle, and
+one or two shouted, but this was all. They had won a very stubborn
+fight, but winning had cost them much, and Lister felt their triumph was
+strangely flat. He smiled and owned he would be satisfied to lie down
+and sleep.
+
+Brown gave an order; _Terrier's_ propeller splashed noisily, and
+_Arcturus_ began to move. Somehow it looked impossible, but she was
+moving. They took her slowly and cautiously across the lagoon, and when
+the tide was full put her on the sand. There was much to do yet and
+Lister wondered whether he could hold out until all was done.
+
+In the evening Montgomery came off on board a boat pulled by four sturdy
+Kroos. He was very thin and haggard, but the fever had left him. When
+his boat got near, Brown, frowning savagely, went to the rail.
+
+"What d'you want?" he asked.
+
+"Let me come on board. If we can't, agree, I'll go back in a few
+minutes," Montgomery replied, and climbing the bulwarks, went to the
+awning and lighted a cigarette.
+
+"You have floated her, but the job's not finished," he said. "I expect
+you mean to bring off the cargo you landed and you'll need a fresh gang
+of native boys. Well, I can help."
+
+"You imply you can bother us if we don't agree?" Brown remarked.
+
+"Something like that! I can certainly make things awkward. However, all
+I want is to go with you when you open the lazaret where the boxes of
+gold were stored."
+
+"Ah!" said Brown. "I expect you see what your wanting to go indicates?
+Looks as if you knew something about the wreck."
+
+"I imagine I do know something," Montgomery admitted quietly. "At the
+beginning, I reckoned you would not float her, but in order to run no
+risk, I meant to hinder you as much as possible. Now I'm beaten, I'm
+going to be frank--"
+
+He paused and resumed in a low voice: "When I was left control of a
+respected business house I was young and ambitious. It was plain the
+house had weathered a bad storm, but our fortunes were mending and I
+thought they could be built up again. Well, I think I was honest, and
+when one of _Arcturus'_ crew demanded money I got a jar. Since my father
+loaded the ship, I expect you see where the fellow's threats led?"
+
+"I see the line Cartwright might take," Brown remarked dryly. "If the
+boxes don't hold gold, he could break you! We have found out enough
+already to give him a strong pull on the boat's last owners. They're in
+his power."
+
+"He won't use his power. Cartwright is not that sort! Besides, the
+company is bankrupt."
+
+"You are not bankrupt. Do you know what sort Lister and I are?"
+
+Montgomery smiled. "It's not important. If there is no gold in the
+boxes, I don't want to carry on the house's business. You can do what
+you like--"
+
+He stopped for a few moments and Lister began to feel some sympathy. The
+man was desperate and had obviously borne much.
+
+"My staying at the factory was a strain," Montgomery continued. "I was
+ill and when at length I saw you might succeed, the suspense was
+horrible. You see, I risked the honor of the house, my marriage, my
+fortune. All I had and cared about!"
+
+"Were you to be married?" Lister asked.
+
+Montgomery signed agreement. "The wedding was put off. While it looked
+as if my mended fortune was built on fraud and I had known, and agreed
+to, the trick, I could not marry a high-principled girl."
+
+Brown knitted his brows and was quiet for some moments. Then he said,
+"You are now willing to get us the boys we want and help us where you
+can?"
+
+"That is so," Montgomery agreed.
+
+"Very well!" said Brown. "We expect to open the lazaret at daybreak and
+you can come with us. You had better send off your boat and stop on
+board."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BARBARA TAKES CONTROL
+
+The sun was rising and the mist rolled back from the lagoon. The tide
+was low and _Arcturus'_ rusty side rose high above the smooth green
+water. Damp weed hung from the beams in her poop cabin and a dull light
+came down through the broken glass. A sailor, kneeling on the slimy
+planks, tried to force a corroded ring-bolt from its niche; another
+trimmed a smoky lantern. Lister, Brown and Montgomery waited. In the
+half-light, their faces looked gray and worn. The sun had given them a
+dull pallor, and on the West African coast nobody sleeps much.
+
+After a few minutes the sailor opened the swollen trap-door and then
+went down, Brown carrying the lantern. As a rule a ship's lazaret is a
+small, dark strong-room, used for stowing liquor and articles of value.
+_Arcturus_ was wet and smelt of salt. A row of shelves crossed the
+bulkhead and some water lay in the angle where the slanted floor met the
+side sheathing. A thin jacket and an officer's peaked cap were in the
+water. Brown indicated the objects.
+
+"Looks as if somebody had stripped before he got to work, and then left
+without bothering about his clothes," he said. "I don't know if I
+expected this, but we'll examine the thing later." He lifted the lantern
+and the flickering beam touched five or six small, thick boxes. "Well,
+there's some of the gold!"
+
+Lister seized a box and tried to lift it up, but stopped.
+
+"It feels like gold," he said and signed to a sailor. "Help me get the
+stuff on deck, Watson."
+
+They carried the boxes up the ladder and Brown brought the cap and
+jacket.
+
+"Second-mate's clothes," he said, indicating the bands round the cuffs
+and cap. The imitation gold-lace had gone green but clung to the rotten
+material.
+
+"Something in the pocket," he added and taking out a small wet book put
+it in the sun. "We'll look at this again, and now for the first box! I
+may want you to state you saw me break the seals."
+
+Sitting in the shade of the poop, they opened the box, which was filled
+with fine dull-yellow grains. Then Lister sent a man to the boat for
+some things he had brought, and when the fellow came back hung a small
+steel cup from a spring-balance.
+
+"The scale's pretty accurate; I use it on board," he said. "Well, I got
+the specific gravity of gold, zinc and copper from my pocket-tables, and
+made a few experiments with some bearing metals. They're all brasses;
+alloys of copper and zinc, with a little lead and tin in some. I weighed
+and measured two or three small ingots and afterwards calculated what
+they'd weigh, if their cubic size was the capacity of the cup. I'll give
+you the figures."
+
+He did so and then filled the cup with the yellow grains and held up the
+balance. Montgomery, leaning forward, looked over his shoulder.
+
+"Weighs more than your heaviest bearing metal! It's gold!" he exclaimed
+hoarsely.
+
+"Yes," said Lister, "it's obviously gold. Perhaps we needn't open the
+other boxes. When we get on board well weigh them against this lot. So
+far as I can reckon after heaving them up the ladder, well not find much
+difference."
+
+Montgomery sat down, as if he were too limp to stand. "But these are not
+all the boxes that were shipped--"
+
+Brown went for the pocket-book he had put to dry and took out some
+papers. "This thing belonged to Gordon Herries, second officer."
+
+"Mr. Herries?" exclaimed the sailor Watson. "The second-mate as was
+drowned when the surf-boat capsized!"
+
+"What do you know about it?" Brown asked.
+
+"I know something, sir," said Watson, but Montgomery stopped him and
+turned to the others.
+
+"It seems the second mate tried to _save_ the stuff."
+
+"Looks like that," Brown agreed and signed to the sailor. "Now tell us
+all you do know."
+
+"We was lying in Forcados river, shifting cargo to the Lagos boat
+alongside. Barret, my townie, was on board her; he'd made a run in
+_Arcturus_, and told me about the wreck. When she struck, Mr. Herries
+swung out number two surf-boat and Barret was her bowman. He went to the
+lazaret with Herries and they got up some bags of special gum and some
+heavy boxes. Barret thought they were gold, but hadn't seen them put on
+board. Then a big comber hit the poop, smashed the skylights, and
+flooded the lazaret. They reckoned she was going over and had some
+bother to get out. Well, they got the surf-boat off her side; she was
+pretty full with a load of Kroo boys and three or four white men. In the
+surf, the steering oar broke, she yawed across a sea, and turned out the
+lot. Some held on to her, but she rolled over and Barret made for the
+beach. They all landed but Mr. Herries; Barret thought the boat hit him.
+Gum and boxes went down in the surf."
+
+"Very good," said Brown. "Now get off and send somebody to help heave
+the boxes on board."
+
+Montgomery turned his head and leaned against the poop. Lister saw he
+trembled as if the reaction from the strain was keen. After a few
+moments he braced himself.
+
+"It's done with! I think all the boxes held gold, but they're gone."
+
+Brown indicated the cloud of spray that tossed above the advancing lines
+of foam. The long rollers had crashed on the bar from the beginning and
+would never stop.
+
+"All the surf gets it keeps," he said. "If there is a secret, I reckon
+the secret's safe! However, we have to talk about something else. You
+can get us some native boys?"
+
+"I'll send you a fresh gang. If my new agent arrives soon, I'll go with
+you as far as Sierra Leone. Since you're short-handed, I might perhaps
+help, and I've had enough of the factory."
+
+The others agreed and soon afterwards got to work. When the negroes
+Montgomery sent arrived all the cargo worth salving was re-stowed, and
+he bought the hulk for a floating store. Then, one night when the moon
+and tide were full, _Terrier_ steamed slowly across the lagoon. Two
+massive ropes trailed across her stern and _Arcturus'_ high dark bow
+towered above her phosphorescent wake. The land breeze blew behind her
+and the surf had not the fury the sea breeze gives by day, but when
+_Terrier_ plunged into the turmoil Brown watched the tow ropes with
+anxious eyes.
+
+_Arcturus_ rolled and sheered about, putting a horrible strain on the
+hawsers, and sometimes for a minute or two it looked as if she went
+astern. Flame blew from the tug's funnel, lighting the black trail of
+smoke; steam roared at her escape-pipe, and the engines throbbed hard.
+The ebb tide, however, was beginning to run and helped her across the
+shoals. The leadsman got deeper water, the rollers got smooth, and
+presently the swell was long and regular and the spray cloud melted
+astern. In the morning, a faint dark line to starboard was all that
+indicated the African coast. Next day Brown steered for the land and
+called Montgomery to the bridge.
+
+"I reckon to make an anchorage before dark," he said. "We'll give the
+boys the rest they need and send _Terrier_ to _Sar_ Leone for coal.
+Learmont will land you."
+
+"Then you're not going to take _Arcturus_ into port?" Montgomery
+remarked with some surprise.
+
+"I am not. Cartwright expects me to save him as much as possible and
+there are British officers and Board of Trade rules at _Sar_ Leone. You
+don't imagine they'd let me start for Las Palmas? Surveys, reports,
+repairs and sending for another tug, might cost two or three thousand
+pounds. Then half my crew are sick and some are helpless, though I
+reckon they'll pick up sooner at sea than in an African hospital."
+
+"It's a big risk. After all, I owe you much and know something about
+curing malarial fever. Besides, I'm a yachtsman and can steer and use
+the lead. If you'll take me, I'll go all the way. However, you ought to
+send Lister off. He can't hold out."
+
+"He claims he can," Brown said dryly. "We have argued about his going to
+Grand Canary by a mail-boat, but he's obstinate. Means to finish the
+job; that's his sort! Anyhow, it's possible the Trade breeze will brace
+him up, and if he did go, the chances of my taking _Arcturus_ to
+Liverpool are not good."
+
+Montgomery stayed on board and when the tug returned with coal they hove
+anchor and began the long run to Las Palmas. For a time, Lister kept the
+engines going and superintended the pump on board the wreck, but he
+could not sleep and in the morning it was hard to drag himself from his
+bunk and start another laborious day. The strain was horrible and he was
+weakening fast, but it would be cooler soon and perhaps he might hold
+out until they met the invigorating Northeast breeze.
+
+In the meantime, Cartwright went back to Liverpool, Mrs. Cartwright got
+better, and Barbara waited for news. She had refused Lister, but to
+refuse had cost her more than she had thought. After a time Cartwright
+wrote and stated that the tug and Arcturus had started home. No fresh
+news arrived and Barbara tried to hide her suspense, until one morning a
+small African liner steamed into port. Some passengers landed and when
+they lunched at the hotel one talked about his going off with the first
+officer to a ship that signaled for help.
+
+"It was a moving picture," he said. "The rusty, weed-coated steamer
+rolling on the blue combers, and the little, battered tug, holding her
+head-to-sea. The breeze was strong and for some days they had not made
+three knots an hour. Well, I know something about fever, but they were
+_all sick;_ the engineer delirious and very weak--"
+
+Barbara, sitting near the passenger, made an effort for calm. Her heart
+beat and her breath came fast. Nobody remarked her abrupt movement and
+the other went on:
+
+"Coal, food and fresh water were running out; their medicine chest was
+empty. Everything was foul with soot, coal-dust and salt. I expect it
+was long since they were able to clean decks. The skipper was in a
+hammock under the bridge-awning and could not get up. An African trader,
+Montgomery of a Liverpool house, seemed to have control. His skin was
+yellow, like a mulatto's."
+
+A young American doctor to whom Barbara had been talking looked up.
+
+"Jaundice after malaria!" he remarked. "I don't know West Africa, but I
+was at Panama! Was malaria all the rest had got?"
+
+"It was not," the passenger replied meaningly. "However, if you know
+Panama--"
+
+"Did you try to tow the ship?" Barbara interrupted.
+
+"The mate thought it impossible. She was big and foul with weed, our
+boat is small, and we could not delay much because of the mails. We sent
+a surf-boat across with water and food, and then steamed on."
+
+Barbara looked about the table. Mrs. Cartwright was at the other end and
+Barbara thought she had not heard. She touched the young doctor.
+
+"Will you help me on board the African steamer? I must see the captain."
+
+"Why, certainly! We'll look for a boat," the other replied and they went
+off.
+
+Barbara saw the captain and when she stated that the owner of _Arcturus_
+was her step-father he sent for the chief mate, who narrated his visit
+to the wreck.
+
+"You took the ship's doctor," said Barbara. "Is he now on board?"
+
+The mate said he imagined the doctor had not landed and Barbara turned
+to Wheeler.
+
+"Go and find him! Find out all you can!"
+
+For some time afterwards she talked to the ship's officers, and when
+Wheeler returned went back to her boat. While the _peons_ rowed them to
+the mole she asked Wheeler for his pocket-book and wrote an address.
+
+"Don Luis Sarmiento is the best doctor in the town and had something to
+do with a fever hospital in Cuba," she said. "If you tell him I sent
+you, he will help. Take all the medicine he can give you and then go to
+Leopard Trading Company and buy whatever you think sick men would need.
+Bring me the bills."
+
+"If I get all that would be useful, it will cost you high," said Wheeler
+and helped her up the steps at the mole.
+
+"That is not important. Get the things!"
+
+"Very well. But the ship is six hundred miles off. How are you going to
+put the truck on board?"
+
+"I'm going to see about that next," Barbara replied and indicated a
+cloud of dust rolling along the road. "There's the steam tram. Don't
+talk; hustle!"
+
+Wheeler lifted his cap and running along the mole jumped on board the
+tram.
+
+When he had gone Barbara went to the office of an important English
+merchant house and asked for the junior partner. She was strangely calm,
+although she knew that when the strain was over she would pay. In the
+meantime, she needed help and admitted it was lucky young men liked her;
+she had not hesitated to use her charm on the American. The junior
+partner was keen to help, and going with her to a coaling office,
+offered to charter a powerful Spanish tug the company had recently
+bought. The manager agreed and Barbara made a calculation.
+
+"If you can get the boat ready to sail in the morning, I'll send you a
+check when she starts," she said.
+
+They went out and the merchant gave Barbara an approving smile. "I
+imagine they haven't at the moment much use for the tug, which accounts
+for their being willing to take a moderate sum. All the same, you
+handled the situation like a good business man. Had they known much
+about your plans before we agreed, they would have sent the tug and
+claimed a large reward for salvage. In fact, it looks as if you had
+saved Mr. Cartwright--"
+
+"It's possible," Barbara broke in impatiently. "Still they don't know
+where _Arcturus_ is and that her crew are ill. Now, however, we must
+engage fresh men to relieve the others. I don't mind if you pay them
+something over the usual rate."
+
+The merchant engaged the crew of a Spanish fishing schooner that was
+being laid up, and Barbara returning to the hotel found Wheeler in the
+garden.
+
+"I've got all the medicine and truck I reckon would be useful," he said.
+"If the steamboat man didn't exaggerate, you want a doctor next."
+
+Barbara gave him a level glance and smiled. "If you like, you may go! A
+fast tug sails in the morning."
+
+"Why," he said, "I'd be delighted! You can call it fixed. I came along
+for a holiday, but soon found that loafing made me tired--"
+
+"Thank you," said Barbara and was gone.
+
+The doctor laughed and joining an English friend in the hotel ordered a
+drink.
+
+"I reckon I've been rushed," he remarked. "You folks look slow, but I
+allow when you do get started some of you can move. Since lunch I've
+been helping an English girl fix some things and she hit a pace that
+left me out of breath."
+
+"Miss Hyslop?" said the other. "Perhaps if she'd had a job for me I
+might have used an effort to get up speed. A charming girl, and I think
+she's resolute."
+
+"She's surely resolute!" Wheeler agreed. "Miss Hyslop sees where she
+wants to go and gets there by the shortest road."
+
+When dusk fell Barbara thought all was ready and sitting down by Mrs.
+Cartwright narrated what she had done. After she stopped Mrs. Cartwright
+put her hand gently on the girl's arm.
+
+"It's lucky you came out with me," she said. "I would not have known
+what to do, and I doubt if Mortimer--"
+
+Barbara laughed. "Mortimer would have calculated, weighed one thing
+against another, and studied his plans for a week. Mine are rude, but in
+the morning they'll begin to work. After all, in a sense, I have not
+done much. I have sent others, when I want to go myself."
+
+"It's impossible, my dear," said Mrs. Cartwright, firmly.
+
+"Well, I expect I must be resigned. One is forced to pay for breaking
+rules! I have paid; but we'll talk about something else."
+
+"The tug and supplies have, no doubt, cost much," Mrs. Cartwright
+remarked. "You must let me give you a check."
+
+"No," said Barbara in a resolute voice. "I will take no money until
+mine's all gone. Father's a dear, I owe him much, and now I can help I'm
+going to help. I have sent a cablegram he had better come out but in the
+meantime he needn't be anxious because I have taken control."
+
+Mrs. Cartwright let her go presently and Barbara went to her room. She
+had borne a heavy strain, but the reaction had begun, and throwing
+herself on a couch she covered her face with her hands and cried.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+LISTER'S REWARD
+
+Signal flags fluttered in the breeze at the top of the Isleta and a
+smoke cloud stained the blue horizon. For a few minutes the cloud
+vanished, and then rolled up again, thicker than before. Cartwright
+studied it carefully and gave the glasses to Barbara, who stood near him
+on the Catalina mole.
+
+"Is that _one_ trail of smoke?" he asked.
+
+"I think I see two. Sometimes they melt, but they're getting distinct
+now. There _are_ two!"
+
+"Ah!" said Cartwright. "Then it's _Arcturus_. I expect your tug has
+saved the situation."
+
+"Lister saved _Arcturus_ before I meddled," Barbara declared with a
+blush. "However, I'm glad I could help. You have often helped me."
+
+Cartwright's eyes twinkled. "All I gave I have got back, but I'm not
+persuaded you didn't mean to help another. Well, perhaps, the other
+deserves your interest. Brown's a useful man, but he has some drawbacks
+and I doubt if he could have carried through the undertaking."
+
+"If you'll wait in the shade, I'll get a jacket," Barbara replied.
+"There's a fresh breeze, the launch splashes, and I'm going with you to
+meet _Arcturus_."
+
+When the first flag blew out from the Isleta staff, she had called
+Cartwright, and they had hurried to the neighboring mole. Cartwright had
+arrived two days before and they had watched the signals until the
+longed for message came: _Steamer in tow from the South._
+
+"I think you'll wait," said Cartwright quietly. "You don't know much
+about fever and the men I sent are not altogether making a triumphant
+return."
+
+The blood came to Barbara's skin. She had meant to go and hated to be
+baffled, but Cartwright gave her a steady glance and she knew there was
+no use in arguing when he looked like that.
+
+"Did you or your mother tell me Mrs. Seaton arrived by a recent boat?"
+he resumed.
+
+Barbara was surprised, but said Mrs. Seaton was at the Metropole.
+Cartwright looked at the tugs' smoke.
+
+"Then, I ought to have time to see her before they tow _Arcturus_ in.
+Some sea is running and they can't steam fast."
+
+He started for the Catalina and when he stopped by Mrs. Cartwright's
+chair his face was hot and he trembled. Hurry and muscular effort upset
+him, but time was valuable.
+
+"I have not yet asked you for money, Clara," he said.
+
+"That is so," Mrs. Cartwright agreed. "Sometimes I was hurt because you
+did not. You ought to know all that's mine is yours."
+
+Cartwright smiled. "You are a good sort and I'm going to borrow now
+because I can pay back. I want you to telegraph your bank to meet my
+check."
+
+"I'll write you a check."
+
+"No," said Cartwright, "I think the other plan is better. Well, the sum
+is rather large--"
+
+He stated the sum and Mrs. Cartwright said, "I'm not very curious, but
+why do you want the money?"
+
+"I'm going to buy Mrs. Seaton's shares."
+
+"Ah," said Mrs. Cartwright with a disturbed look, "she tried to force
+you to buy before."
+
+Cartwright knew his placid, good-humored wife hated Mrs. Seaton.
+
+"You're puzzled?" he remarked. "Well, I'd have bought the shares long
+since, but I wasn't rich enough and didn't think my borrowing was
+justified. All the same, the block she holds gives her a dangerous
+power, and if I can get them I'll baffle the opposition at the company's
+meeting. But I must be quick."
+
+"If you want to baffle Ellen Seaton, you can use all the money I have
+got!" Mrs. Cartwright declared. "Tell me what I must telegraph the
+bank."
+
+Cartwright did so and made for the Metropole as fast as possible,
+because the tugs' smoke was not far off. When he reached the big square
+hotel he gave a page his card and frowned while he waited in the
+glass-roofed patio. Time was valuable and he hoped Mrs. Seaton would not
+be long. On the whole, he did not think he was going to be shabby, but
+perhaps shabbiness was justified. Ellen had not forgotten she had
+thought him her lover, and although it was long since she would not
+forget. She hated his wife and had tried to injure him. Cartwright
+imagined she would try again, and so long as she kept her shares her
+antagonism was dangerous.
+
+She entered the patio with two young tourists, whom she sent off, and
+beckoned Cartwright to a bench behind a palm. The sun that pierced the
+glass roof was strong and he reflected with dry amusement that Ellen
+looked better by electric light in the evening. Although she smiled, her
+glance was keen and not friendly.
+
+"I arrived some days since and met Barbara in the street, but she has
+not been to see me yet," she said. "However, now you have come I ought
+to be satisfied! Since you were able to get away from the office, I
+expect shipping is languid."
+
+Cartwright thought she meant to be nasty. For one thing, Barbara had not
+gone to see her and perhaps had not urged her calling at the hotel.
+Ellen did not like the girl, but she wanted to know people and Mrs.
+Cartwright had stopped at Las Palmas for some time. As a rule, Clara's
+friends were good. This, however, was not important. He must buy Ellen's
+shares before _Arcturus_ arrived and the news of her salvage got about.
+
+"Oh, well," he said, "although I think I see signs of improvement,
+things are not very promising yet."
+
+"If you are not hopeful, the outlook must be black," Mrs. Seaton
+remarked meaningly. "Perhaps I ought to sympathize, but the effort's too
+much. My investments have all gone wrong and my luck at the Grand
+National was remarkably bad. In fact, if nobody will buy my shares in
+your line, I may be forced to agree with the people who want to wind up
+the company."
+
+Cartwright thought his luck was good. Ellen was extravagant and a
+gambler. No doubt, she needed money, but he knew she was willing to hurt
+him and could do so. All the same, if she could force him to buy the
+shares she thought worth nothing, her greed would conquer her
+spitefulness. Well, he was going to indulge her.
+
+"If you did join my antagonists, I might pull through, but I'll admit it
+would be awkward," he replied. "In order to avoid the fight, I'll buy
+your shares for ten shillings."
+
+Mrs. Seaton hesitated. She did not want to lose her power, but she
+wanted money. Nominally, the shares were worth a much larger sum, but
+she had found out that nobody else was willing to buy the block. For all
+that, Cartwright was cunning and she wondered whether he knew something
+she did not. She asked for a higher price, but Cartwright refused. He
+was cool and humorous, although he knew _Arcturus_ was steadily nearing
+the harbor. Perhaps in a few minutes the look-out on the Isleta would
+read her flags. At length he pulled out his watch.
+
+"I have an engagement, but I rather want the shares. My getting them
+would help me at the meeting," he said. "Shall we say twelve-and-sixpence?
+This is the limit."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Seaton and smiled with a sense of triumph. "It
+looks very greedy, but when can I have a check? You see, I'm nearly
+bankrupt."
+
+"Now," said Cartwright, and taking out his fountain pen, rang a bell.
+"Send a page for some notepaper and write an undertaking to deliver me
+the shares."
+
+Mrs. Seaton did so and Cartwright wrote the check. Then she signed to
+one of the young men she had sent off. "Since you are very
+business-like, you had better have a witness! I'm relieved to get the
+check, particularly since I expected you would be forced to ask Clara
+for the money."
+
+Cartwright had to smile. The sneer was Ellen's Parthian shot. She was
+retiring from the field, but he owned that she might have beaten him by
+a bold attack and he had been afraid.
+
+He went to the bar and ordered a drink, and then going out saw fresh
+signals blow from the Isleta staff. _Arcturus'_ hull was visible in the
+tugs' thick smoke; the look-out on the hill with his big telescope had
+read her flags and was signaling her name and number to the town.
+Cartwright had won by a few minutes and was satisfied, although he had
+given Mrs. Seaton twelve-and-sixpence for her shares, when perhaps he
+need not. This was now about their just value, and, for old time's sake,
+he had not meant to cheat her. In the meantime a launch was waiting to
+take him on board _Arcturus_ and he hurried to the mole.
+
+Barbara saw the launch start, with mixed emotions. She was something of
+a rebel and had anybody but Cartwright ordered her to stop she would not
+have obeyed. She waited in the shade, fixing her eyes on the laboring
+tugs. Sometimes she felt a thrill of triumph because Lister had
+conquered; sometimes she was tortured by suspense. She did not know if
+he stood at the levers in the engine-room, or lay, unconscious, in his
+bunk. Well, she would soon know and she shrank.
+
+She rubbed the glasses and looked again. There were two towropes;
+_Terrier_ plunged across the rollers on _Arcturus'_ starboard bow, the
+Spanish tug to port. It looked as if the wreck's steering-gear did not
+work. Spray blew about the boats and the crested seas broke in foaming
+turmoil against the towed vessel's side until she drew in behind the
+Isleta. A few minutes afterwards she swung round the mole and Barbara
+thought the picture moving.
+
+The tugs looked very small; the half-loaded hull they towed to an
+anchorage floated high above her proper water-line. Rolling on the
+languid swell at the harbor mouth, she looked huge. Her rusty side was
+like a warehouse wall. When she lifted her plates from the water one saw
+the wet weed shine; higher up it clung, parched and dry, to the red
+iron, although there were clean belts where the stuff was scraped away.
+Barbara pictured the exhausted men scraping feebly when the sea was calm
+and the sun did not touch the vessel's side.
+
+All the same, the men had won a triumph. It looked impossible that the
+handful of bemused ruffians she had seen start at Liverpool could have
+dragged the big vessel from the bottom of the lagoon, but the thing was
+done. _Arcturus_, battered and rusty, with sagging masts and broken
+funnel, was coming into harbor. A big pump throbbed on board, throwing
+water down her side; she flew a small, bright red ensign aft and a new
+house-flag at the masthead. Barbara thought the flag flaunted proudly
+and the thing was significant. Cartwright had weathered the storm, but
+she had helped.
+
+The tugs' engines stopped and Barbara's heart beat, for a yellow flag
+went up. She hated the ominous signal, and turning the glasses, followed
+the doctor's launch. The boat ran alongside _Terrier_, a man went on
+board, returned and climbed a ladder to _Arcturus'_ deck. He did not
+come back for some time and Barbara looked for Lister, but could not see
+him. Then the yellow flag was hauled down and _Arcturus_ moved slowly up
+the harbor.
+
+A fleet of shore-boats followed and when the anchor dropped crowded
+about the ship. Barbara braced herself and waited. Half the voyage was
+over and when the engines were cleaned and mended _Arcturus_ would steam
+to England. The salvors had won, but sometimes victory cost much, and
+Barbara knew she might have to pay.
+
+A launch with an awning steamed to the mole and vanished behind the
+wall. Barbara stopped in the shade; somehow she durst not go to the
+steps. Cartwright came up, but seeing his grave look, she let him pass.
+Then the American doctor reached the top and called to somebody below.
+Three or four men awkwardly lifted a stretcher to the pavement, and
+Cartwright signed to the driver of a carriage waiting in the road.
+Wheeler stopped him.
+
+"It's not far. Carrying will be smoother."
+
+"Very well, I'll see all's ready," said Cartwright and got into the
+carriage.
+
+Then Barbara went to the stretcher, which was covered by green canvas.
+She thought she knew who lay behind the screens, and her look was
+strained.
+
+"Is Mr. Lister very ill?" she asked.
+
+Wheeler gave her a sympathetic glance. "He is pretty sick; he was nearly
+all in when I boarded the ship. Now it's possible he'll get better."
+
+Barbara turned her head, but after a few moments looked up. "Thank you
+for going! Where are the others?"
+
+"We have sent some to the Spanish hospital, landed them at the coaling
+wharf. They're not very sick. The rest are on board."
+
+"_All_ the rest?"
+
+"Three short," said the doctor quietly. "They have made their last
+voyage. But the boys are waiting to get off with the stretcher."
+
+Barbara let him go and followed. He looked very tired and she did not
+want to talk. She saw the stretcher carried up the hotel steps and along
+a passage, and then went to her room. A Spanish doctor and nurse were
+waiting and she knew she would be sent away. To feel she could not help
+was hard, but she tried to be resigned and stopped in the quiet room,
+listening for steps. Somebody might bring a message that Lister wanted
+her.
+
+The message did not come and she was conscious of some relief, although
+she was tormented by regretful thoughts. Lister loved her and she had
+refused him, because she was proud. Perhaps her refusal was justified,
+but she was honest, and admitted that she had known he would not let her
+go, and had afterwards wondered how she would reply when he asked her
+again. Now she knew. The strain had broken her resolution. She had
+indulged her ridiculous pride and saw it might cost her much. Her lover
+was very ill; Wheeler doubted if he would get better.
+
+In the evening Montgomery joined Cartwright in a corner of the
+smoking-room.
+
+"I expect Captain Brown told you about the bother I gave him," he
+remarked.
+
+"That is so," said Cartwright. "He, however, stated you gave him some
+help."
+
+"All the same, at the beginning, I held up the job. When Brown could not
+work, your expenses ran on and I feel I ought to pay."
+
+"It's just. Coming home, when my men were sick and Brown was in his
+bunk, you undertook the duties of doctor and navigator, and Wheeler
+admits your cures were good. Since you have a counter-claim, suppose we
+say we're quits?"
+
+Montgomery felt some relief. It looked as if Cartwright did not mean to
+use his advantage; the old fellow was generous. Montgomery hesitated for
+a moment and then resumed: "I understand you bought the wreck?"
+
+"I used the shareholders' money; at all events, I used as much as I
+durst. She's the company's ship."
+
+"But the cargo?"
+
+"The cargo's mine. That is, I get an allowance, agreed upon with the
+underwriters for all I have salved. I rather think the sum will be
+large."
+
+"Then you're satisfied? Although you didn't get all the gold and lost
+the valuable gum in the lazaret?"
+
+Cartwright's eyes twinkled. "I've some grounds for satisfaction, and I
+know when to stop! But perhaps I'd better be as frank as is needful.
+Very well! I get salvage on some of the gold. The rest is under the surf
+and nobody will open the boxes now. The thing's done with."
+
+Montgomery was moved, but he saw there was no more to be said and asked
+quietly: "Will you tell me what you think about the prospects of the
+line?"
+
+"On the whole, I imagine the prospects are good. We have got a useful
+boat for a very small sum, and the last report was _Oreana_ could
+probably be floated without much damage when the St. Lawrence ice
+breaks. Well, I calculate next year's trading will earn us a small
+dividend, and since business is improving, we ought to prosper before
+very long."
+
+"Thank you," said Montgomery. "I know something about the line and
+imagine the directors may need support. Just now I have some money that
+does not earn much. Would it help if I bought a number of your shares?"
+
+"I think not," said Cartwright. "The plan has drawbacks. People are
+sometimes uncharitable and I have antagonists who might hint at a bribe.
+Besides, I don't need support. My luck has turned and I rather think I
+can break the opposition." He smiled and getting up, put his hand on
+Montgomery's arm. "All the same, when I send a boat to Africa you can
+load her up. Now I'm going to find the nurse and ask about Lister."
+
+Lister was delirious, and for two or three days the doctors doubted his
+recovery. Then, one morning, they said his temperature had fallen and
+there was hope. Next morning they admitted that he was slowly making
+progress. Barbara did not leave the hotel, lest she miss the latest news
+from the sick-room. She was not allowed to go in, and when evening came
+she knew she could not sleep. She had not slept much since they carried
+Lister up the steps.
+
+When all was quiet and the guests had gone to bed she went to the
+veranda and leaned against the rails. She was highly strung and
+rebellious. Lister had sent her a message, but she was not allowed to
+see him yet. She wanted to see him and was persuaded that for him to see
+her would not hurt. She knew he wanted her.
+
+The moon was bright, but the shadow of the hotel stretched across the
+garden. Somebody was moving about in the gloom and Barbara started when
+she saw it was the nurse. The tired woman had gone out to rest for a few
+minutes in the cool night air and Barbara saw her opportunity.
+
+Stealing across the veranda, she went along a passage and up some
+stairs. The landing at the top was dark, but she knew Lister's door, and
+turning the handle quietly, looked in. Bright moonlight shone through
+the open window and a curtain moved in the gentle breeze. Mosquito gauze
+wavered about the bed where a quiet figure lay. Barbara stole across the
+floor and pulled back the guard. The rings rattled and Lister opened his
+eyes. He smiled, and Barbara, kneeling by the bed, put her arm round his
+neck.
+
+"My dear! You know me?"
+
+"Of course! I wanted you. Since I got my senses back, I've tried to call
+you."
+
+"You called not long since. I cheated the nurse and came; but if you
+ought to be quiet, I mustn't talk. The doctors said--"
+
+"They don't understand," said Lister. "Now I have seen you, I'm going to
+get well."
+
+Barbara lifted her head and studied him. His face was pinched, his skin
+was very white and wet. Her eyes filled and she was moved by tender
+pity.
+
+"Oh, my dear!" she said. "It was for my sake you went!"
+
+Lister took her hand, and she felt his was thin and hot. "I'm paid for
+all! But, Barbara, I think you're _logical_ When I'm better--?"
+
+She kissed him. "Of course. I'll marry you when you like. In the
+meantime you're weak and tired and must go to sleep."
+
+"I am tired," he admitted. "Besides, the nurse will come."
+
+Barbara gently touched his wet hair and moved his pillow. "The nurse is
+not important, but you mustn't talk."
+
+She gave him her hand again and he went to sleep. Some time afterwards
+the nurse returned and started when she saw the white figure kneeling by
+the bed. Then she began to talk angrily in a low voice. Barbara was
+getting cramped, but without moving her body, she looked at the nurse
+and her eyes sparkled with rebellious fire.
+
+"Be quiet; he mustn't wake!" she said. "There's no use in arguing. I
+mean to stay!"
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LISTER'S GREAT ADVENTURE***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 10076.txt or 10076.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/7/10076
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS," WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
+eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
+compressed (zipped), HTML and others.
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
+the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
+new filenames and etext numbers.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
+are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
+download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
+search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
+download by the etext year.
+
+http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06
+
+    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
+     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
+
+EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
+filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
+of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
+identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
+digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
+example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:
+
+https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
+
+or filename 24689 would be found at:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
+
+An alternative method of locating eBooks:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***