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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of By Right of Purchase, 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: By Right of Purchase
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Illustrator: Alfred James Dewey
+
+Release Date: July 12, 2011 [EBook #36705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT'S MRS. LELAND.
+SHE'S A DAISY!"--Page 297]
+
+
+
+
+By Right of Purchase
+
+By HAROLD BINDLOSS
+
+AUTHOR OF "Alton of Somasco," etc.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY ALFRED JAMES DEWEY
+
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+Publishers        New York
+
+Copyright, 1908, by
+FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+
+All rights reserved
+
+September, 1908
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER                                     PAGE
+       I.    BARROCK-HOLME                       3
+      II.    LELAND IS ROUSED TO PITY           15
+     III.    PRESSURE OF CIRCUMSTANCES          26
+      IV.    LELAND MAKES THE PLUNGE            36
+       V.    NO ESCAPE                          48
+      VI.    THE PRAIRIE                        60
+     VII.    CARRIE MAKES HER VIEWS CLEAR       73
+    VIII.    LELAND SEEKS DISTRACTION           86
+      IX.    FARMERS IN COUNCIL                 98
+       X.    HOMICIDE                          109
+      XI.    SEEDTIME                          121
+     XII.    LELAND'S PROTEST                  134
+    XIII.    CARRIE ABASES HERSELF             146
+     XIV.    THE OUTLAWS STRIKE BACK           159
+      XV.    BENEFICENT RAIN                   170
+     XVI.    URMSTON SHOWS HIS PRUDENCE        181
+    XVII.    CARRIE MAKES A COMPARISON         191
+   XVIII.    A MIDNIGHT VISITOR                202
+     XIX.    PRAIRIE-HAY                       215
+      XX.    AN UNDERSTANDING                  227
+     XXI.    A WILLING SACRIFICE               237
+    XXII.    HAIL                              248
+   XXIII.    GALLWEY'S ADVENTURE               261
+    XXIV.    LELAND MAKES SURE                 272
+     XXV.    A PORTENTOUS LIGHT                281
+    XXVI.    FIGHTING FIRE                     292
+   XXVII.    LELAND FEELS THE STRAIN           303
+  XXVIII.    CARRIE'S RESPONSIBILITY           313
+    XXIX.    LELAND STRIKES BACK               324
+     XXX.    HARVEST                           335
+
+
+
+
+By Right of Purchase
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BARROCK-HOLME
+
+
+It was a hot September afternoon. Leland wondered vaguely how the
+harvesting and threshing were progressing in his own far distant
+country, as he leant on the moss-grown wall of the terrace beneath the
+old house of Barrock-holme. He had been a week there now as the guest of
+Lieutenant Denham, whose acquaintance he had originally made out on the
+wide prairie in Western Canada, and for whom he had a certain liking
+that was slightly tinged with contempt. The estate would be Jimmy
+Denham's some day, provided that his father succeeded in keeping it out
+of the grasp of his creditors. Those who knew the old man well fancied
+that he might with difficulty accomplish it, for Branscombe Denham of
+Barrock-holme was not troubled by many scruples, and had acquired
+considerable proficiency in the evasion of debts.
+
+The mansion stood on the brink of a ravine in the desolate border
+marshes. Part of it had been built to stand a siege in the days of the
+Scottish wars. The strong square tower was intact and habitable still;
+the rest of the low building stretched round three sides of a
+quadrangle, with a dry moat across the fourth, beyond which lawn and
+flower-garden lay shielded from the shrewd border winds by tall,
+lichened walls. Through an archway one could look down, across
+silver-stemmed birches and dusky firs, upon the Barrock flashing in the
+depths of the ravine.
+
+Leland found the prospect pleasant as he lounged there, with a cigar in
+his hand. He was accustomed to his own country, and there was something
+congenial and, in a fashion, familiar in the sweep of lonely moorlands
+and bleak Scottish hills which stretched, shining warm in the paling
+sunlight, along the northern horizon. It reminded him of his own
+country, which was even more wild and desolate, on the southern border
+of Western Canada. He had been three months in England, and was already
+longing to be home again, though he had found what he called the
+hardness of the North congenial.
+
+It was a land of legends and traditions, of which they were rather proud
+at Barrock-holme. The grey tower had more than once been beset by the
+border spears, on whom the dragon's mouth on the wall above had spouted
+boiling oil. There was an oak on the edge of the ravine which had borne
+bitter fruit in the days of foray, and--for the men of Barrock-holme
+could strike back tellingly then--the quadrangle had been filled with
+Scottish cattle. They were grim, hard men, and what he had heard of
+their doings appealed to Leland. He himself was in some respects a hard
+man, and rather primitive. The life of the wardens of Barrock-holme and
+the moss-troopers was rather more comprehensible to him than the one of
+which he had had brief glimpses in London.
+
+While he stood there, Jimmy Denham came along the terrace, and stopped
+beside him.
+
+"You're not going down to join them?" he said, indicating with a little
+wave of a particularly well-shaped hand the white-clad figures that
+flitted to and fro across a sunken square of turf beyond the lawn.
+
+"No," said Leland. "I don't play tennis well. In fact, I don't play any
+of your games. I never had time to learn them."
+
+Denham sat down upon the wall and looked at him languidly. He was a
+well-favoured young man, tall and fair, with pale blue eyes, and
+distinguished by a finicking, almost feminine daintiness in dress and
+person, though he was proficient in most manly sports and a soldier. His
+friends, however, were aware that his fastidiousness was much less
+noticeable in his character.
+
+"One can't do everything," he said lazily. "I don't know that I've seen
+another beginner show quite as good form at billiards as you do. I'll
+play you fifty with the same allowance as last time. It will be some
+time yet before dinner."
+
+"Not just now. It seems to me I've had about enough of billiards for one
+week. To be quite straight, one finds learning your amusements a trifle
+expensive, and I'm not sure they're worth it. You see, I'm not going to
+stay here forever, and once I go back, it will probably be a very long
+while before I take part in any of them again."
+
+Denham laughed with undiminished good-humour. "Well," he said, "though I
+have taken a little out of you, the acquisition of knowledge is usually
+more or less costly. There's a couple of hours to put in, anyway. What
+would you like to do?"
+
+"I don't mind poker, if you'll make it high enough."
+
+Denham saw the little twinkle in his eyes, and languidly shook his head.
+
+"No," he said; "I rather fancy you would have me there. The suggestion's
+a bit significant, and I have a notion your nerve's too good. Of course,
+it isn't very sporting to say no, but I really can't afford to face a
+risk just now."
+
+"Which was probably why you wanted to play billiards with me?"
+
+Denham regarded him reproachfully for a moment or two, and then made a
+little gesture. "That coming from some people might be considered
+offensive, but nobody seems to mind how you express yourself, although
+your observations aren't always particularly delicate. Still, I'm
+willing to admit that I want fifty pounds rather worse than I generally
+do."
+
+"I wonder," said Leland, with a trace of dryness, "if you would take it
+amiss if I offered to lend it to you?"
+
+Jimmy Denham smiled delicately where another man would have grinned.
+"Not in the least! In fact, I should consider myself distinctly obliged
+to you."
+
+"Then you shall have a cheque after dinner."
+
+Denham thanked him without effusion. One could almost have fancied that
+it was he who was conferring the favour. As Leland listened, a little
+sardonic smile crept into his eyes. He was known in his own country as a
+shrewd man, and was quite aware that he ran some risk in lending his
+comrade fifty pounds. But Jimmy had done him one or two kindnesses, and
+that counted for much with Leland.
+
+"Who is the very pretty girl who has just come into the tennis ground?"
+he asked.
+
+"My sister," said Denham. "I had almost forgotten you had not met
+Carrie. She is rather pretty, though. While the governor and I are
+Denhams, she takes after the other side of the family in more ways than
+one. She has only just come from Town, you know."
+
+Leland did not know. He had merely heard that there was a Carrie Denham;
+but as he looked down across the moat he was conscious of a sudden
+interest in the girl. She stood with one hand on the back of a
+basket-chair, her long white dress flowing in easy lines about her tall
+and shapely figure. So far as he could see it, her face beneath the big
+white hat was attractive, too; but it was her pose that vaguely
+impressed him. There was a suggestion of strength and pride in it that
+was by no means noticeable in the case of either her father or Jimmy
+Denham. The appearance of the man with whom she talked was, however,
+much less pleasing. He was inclined to be portly, his face was coarsely
+fleshy, with the distinctive stamp of the city on him. He looked out of
+place in that quaint old pleasance on the desolate border side. He
+reminded Leland forcibly of the caricatures he had seen of Hebrew
+usurers.
+
+"And the gentleman?" he asked.
+
+Denham laughed. "You would expect his name to be Moses, or Levy, but, as
+a matter of fact, it isn't. Anyway, he calls himself Aylmer. A friend of
+the governor's, and the usual something in the city. Comes down for a
+week or two at the partridges, ostensibly, at least, though it's quite
+possible there will be a dog or two, and, perhaps, a keeper, disabled
+before he goes away. If you care to come down, I'll present you to
+Carrie. She knows you are here, and is no doubt a trifle curious about
+you."
+
+If she was, Miss Denham concealed the fact very well, and Leland, who
+was not readily embarrassed, felt a quite unusual diffidence as she held
+out a little white hand. He noticed, however, that she looked at him
+frankly, and that she had a beautiful hand, like the rest of the
+Denhams. Her face was cold and somewhat colourless, with dusky hair low
+on the broad forehead, unusually straight brows, and dark eyes; a
+beautiful face it seemed to him, but one that had a vague suggestion of
+weariness in it just then. Carrie Denham, he thought, in no way
+resembled her easy-going brother Jimmy. There was, as he expressed it to
+himself, more grit in her; and yet he was, without exactly knowing why,
+rather sorry for her. She was evidently not more than three or
+four-and-twenty, and he felt there must be a reason for her quietness
+and reserve, which appeared a trifle unnatural.
+
+She, on her part, saw a tall and wiry rather than stalwart man, some
+four or five years older than herself, especially straight of limb,
+holding himself well, whilst his bronzed face, which was otherwise of
+brown-eyed, English type, showed undoubted force. He was, she fancied, a
+man accustomed to exert authority, but not exactly what in the most
+restricted English sense of the word would be called a gentleman. At
+least, he was evidently one who earned his living, and his hands were
+curiously brown and hard, while the manner in which he wore his
+shooting clothes suggested that he seldom wasted much time over his
+toilet.
+
+"I hope you will find your stay at Barrock-holme pleasant," she said.
+"In weather like this the birds should lie well. You have not been here
+long?"
+
+"A week," said Leland.
+
+Jimmy Denham had in the meanwhile passed on. His sister glanced at the
+fleshy Aylmer, who was about to move the chair for her.
+
+"No," she said in a coldly even voice, "you need not trouble. I am not
+going to stay here. Have they shown you our dripping-well yet, Mr.
+Leland?"
+
+Leland, who said he had not seen it, surmised that Miss Denham desired
+to be rid of her other cavalier; but Aylmer, who protested that he had
+an absorbing interest in dripping-wells, was not to be shaken off, so
+they crossed the lawn and went out through the archway together. Then
+Leland stopped a moment and flashed a questioning glance at Carrie
+Denham, for the strip of pathway outside the wall was, perhaps, two feet
+wide, and he could look almost straight down through the tops of the
+birch trees upon the Barrock flashing in the hollow a hundred and fifty
+feet below. He was thinking that it would probably go hard with anybody
+who stumbled there. A railed walk led in the opposite direction.
+
+Carrie Denham, however, met his gaze with a faint, understanding smile,
+and he followed her in single file until the path grew broader beyond a
+bend of the wall. Then looking round he saw, as he half-expected, that
+the passage had apparently been too much for the third of the party. In
+another moment he met the girl's glance again.
+
+"I hope you were not afraid?" she said.
+
+Leland's eyes twinkled, but he made no disclaimer, which, for no
+apparent reason, seemed to please her.
+
+"There is, of course, another path," she said.
+
+"So I should surmise!" said Leland. "Do you really wish to show me the
+well?"
+
+The girl laughed for the first time, and the swift change in her face
+almost startled the man. The coldness and reserve had gone, and for a
+moment she was, it seemed to him, subtly alluring.
+
+"Well," she said, "I have to justify myself, and somebody may ask you
+what you think of it. Under the circumstances, it might be better to go
+on, although the way is often a little muddy when one gets among the
+trees."
+
+Leland was fancying that it must have been muddier than usual, or she
+would not have ventured there, when they reached a spot where a tiny
+stream came trickling out of a hollow shrouded with sombre firs. A few
+stones had evidently once been laid in the moss and mire; but some of
+them had sunk, and the gaps were wide between. Carrie Denham stopped and
+surveyed them dubiously.
+
+"I haven't been here for a long while, but I don't like to turn back,"
+she said.
+
+"Or the men who do?"
+
+She flashed a little, swift glance at him, but his face was
+expressionless. "That goes without saying."
+
+Leland glanced down at her little bronze shoes. "Of course, there is
+usually a way; but the trouble is that I am a stranger. If I were in my
+own country, I should suggest a very simple means of getting you over."
+
+The girl looked at him with something in her eyes that suggested
+ironical appreciation of his boldness, but her only action was to shake
+her head.
+
+"It is just as well you are not," she said. "We are a little less
+primitive here."
+
+"Then," said Leland, "I guess we must try the other way."
+
+He plunged boldly into the mossy quagmire, into which he sank well above
+his ankles, and held out his hand to her. She noticed as she sprang from
+stone to stone how hard it was and how firm his grasp. It seemed to her
+that what this man took hold of he would not easily let go, an
+impression she remembered afterwards.
+
+She crossed dry-shod, and Leland did not seem in the least concerned at
+the water squishing in his shoes. There was then a scramble up the
+hillside under the shadowy firs until they reached the well, which
+Leland promptly decided was not very much to look at. It lay at the head
+of a little green hollow, a wall of fissured limestones sprinkled with
+mosses and tufted with hartstongue fern from the midst of which the
+water splashed drip by drip into a shallow basin. Carrie Denham turned
+and glanced at him with a trace of somewhat chilly amusement in her
+face.
+
+"You are no doubt wondering if I haven't wasted your time," she said.
+"Still, now you are here, you may as well notice that the water has
+rather curious properties. If you will pull out one of these sticks, for
+instance, you will see what is happening to them."
+
+Leland stooped and drew out a slender birch branch, whose feathery twigs
+were changing into what looked very like silver lace. The stem was also
+crusted with a white deposit, and it cost him a little effort to snap
+it across. Then he looked up at his companion with a smile as he saw
+that the interior was still soft.
+
+"Do you know that you strike me as being very like this twig?" he said,
+and she noticed for the first time his Western accent and modulation.
+"The hardness is all outside."
+
+"Whatever made you say that?"
+
+Leland met her half-indignant gaze gravely. "Well," he said with a
+little deprecatory gesture, "I have seen you laugh."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "there was a time when I laughed rather more
+frequently than I do now. I should, however, like to point out that the
+stick had not been in quite long enough."
+
+Leland still looked at her with a quizzical expression. "I think I know
+what you mean," he said. "Still, I should scarcely have fancied you
+would have felt it yet. Anyway, that's not the question; and, perhaps,
+it wouldn't do for me to make you stop here. There will be other people
+wanting to talk to you."
+
+They turned back together, this time taking the easier way. As they
+passed along a tall hedge, Leland heard a rustling on its other side and
+darted impulsively through, leaving his astonished companion without a
+word. Following through a gap, she came upon him as he picked up a
+rabbit from the grass. The little creature's eyes were protuding in an
+agony of strangulation, and a thin brass wire hung from its red-smeared
+fur. Then Leland either saw or heard her, for he turned his back to the
+hedge, and flung over his shoulder what seemed to her rather too like a
+command.
+
+"Go back!" he said. "This is not a thing for you to see."
+
+Carrie Denham went back, though she was more accustomed to do what
+pleased her, and make others do it, than to do what she was told. It was
+a minute or two before Leland joined her, grim in face, an ominous
+sparkle in his eyes.
+
+"It was only half-choked, so I put it back in a burrow," he said. "It
+would have pleased me to hang the brute who set that wire."
+
+Carrie Denham watched him with interest. "I believe it is the usual way
+of catching them."
+
+"Then," said Leland grimly, "there must be something very wrong with the
+folks who allow that abominable cruelty to go on. The little beast might
+have struggled there for hours in horrible pain before it choked itself
+in its agony."
+
+The girl fancied that abominable was not the adjective he had wanted to
+employ, but she said nothing further on the subject, though there
+remained with her the picture of him holding the little furry creature
+with womanly gentleness while he slackened the torturing wire. It was
+made even more impressive when, on suggesting hanging for the man who
+had laid the snare, something in his face and voice left her with the
+conviction that he would on due occasion be capable of carrying out his
+suggestion. He was, she decided, altogether different from the men she
+usually saw. When he left her in the quadrangle, she contrived to fall
+in with her brother.
+
+"Who is he?" she asked.
+
+"Charley Leland," said Jimmy with his nearest approach to a grin.
+
+"I know that already."
+
+"I can't tell you very much more, and no doubt you'll find out what you
+want to know for yourself. I spent a month shooting round his place in
+Western Canada, and made him promise if ever he came over he'd look in
+upon me here. Then I met him in London a few weeks ago."
+
+"What does he do out there?"
+
+"Farm, on a lordly scale. I forget how many thousand acres he has under
+wheat, and how many steers he owns; but he's rather a famous man in
+Assiniboia. His father was, I believe, an Englishman, but he died when
+Leland was young, and the farm and the stock-run have doubled in the
+hands of the son. That's about all, except that I rather like the man.
+He has his strong points, but needs handling. I fancy any one who roused
+him would see the devil."
+
+Carrie Denham asked no more questions, but went somewhat thoughtfully to
+her room. On the whole she felt a mild interest in Charley Leland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+LELAND IS ROUSED TO PITY
+
+
+The evening was unusually soft and clear, and a warm, gentle breeze kept
+the dew from settling. Leland strolled out on the terrace above the moat
+at Barrock-holme. He had spent a fortnight there now, and was beginning
+to find the easy-going life of its inmates somewhat pleasant, though at
+first it had caused him contemptuous astonishment. Nobody appeared to
+have any duties; or, if they had, he surmised that they were seldom
+attended to. People got up at all hours, and some of them seldom retired
+before the morning. Whenever he walked over the estate with Jimmy
+Denham, he noticed many things that pained his eyes. There was land that
+lay rushy and sour for the need of draining, the roads in the Barrock
+hollow were so ill-kept and rutted that he wondered how any one could
+haul a full load along them, and rotting gates and tottering dry-stone
+walls dotted the entire acreage. At Barrock-holme, waste and
+short-sighted parsimony that defeated its own object apparently went
+hand-in-hand. Once he ventured to point out to Jimmy what was in his
+mind.
+
+"If you put four or five thousand pounds into the land, you would be
+astonished at what it would give you back," he said.
+
+Jimmy Denham laughed. "The question is, where we would get the four
+thousand pounds. We are, as you have no doubt noticed, confoundedly
+hard-up, and a tenant with capital enough to stand a decent rent would
+think twice before he took a farm from us."
+
+"I guess I wouldn't blame him," said Leland drily. "But what you folks
+spend personally in a couple of years would set the place on its feet."
+
+"It is very probable," and Jimmy laughed again. "Still, you see, you
+can't always live as you should in this country. Of course, I could cut
+the service, and we might let the house to a shooting tenant; that is,
+the thing is physically practicable. The trouble is that it wouldn't
+suit me, and the governor would veto it right off if it did. To be
+candid, there is no particular capacity for hard work and self-denial in
+any of the family."
+
+Leland made no further suggestions. On the last point, he quite
+concurred with Jimmy; but his own life hitherto had been one of
+strenuous endeavour and Spartan simplicity, and it was pleasant to feel
+the strain relaxed for a month or two.
+
+On the night in question he was quite content with circumstances and his
+surroundings, as he strolled out on the terrace an hour after dinner
+with his cigar. There was a clear moon above him, and in the air a
+faint, astringent smell of falling leaves. The splashing of the Barrock
+came up musically athwart the birches in the hollow.
+
+As he was strolling up and down the terrace in the evening dress no
+longer strange to him, he saw Carrie Denham come out from one of the
+long windows that opened into the old stone gallery. A glance about him
+showed Aylmer, to whom he felt an intuitive aversion, hovering big and
+fat in the vicinity. He fancied that the girl saw Aylmer, too, for she
+came down the staircase at the end of the gallery farthest from him and
+moved in Leland's direction. She wore a light evening gown, a fleecy
+white wrap concealing her shoulders and part of her dark hair. Flowing
+straight to the delicate incurving of waist, it emphasised by suggestion
+the outline of her shapely figure. Leland felt a little thrill as she
+came towards him. He surmised that she merely desired to make use of him
+for the purpose of ridding herself of Aylmer's company, or, perhaps, as
+an incentive to the latter; but that did not matter. Leland was shrewd
+enough to be aware of his own disabilities; and, no matter what her
+motive, she looked ethereally beautiful with the soft moonlight upon
+her.
+
+"You need not throw the cigar away," she said, when she stopped and
+seated herself on an old stone bench close to where he stood. "In fact,
+I should be rather sorry if you did."
+
+"Thank you," said Leland, with a little smile. "It would be a pity.
+Jimmy gave me two or three of them, and they're unusually good."
+
+"One would fancy that you were not in the habit of throwing anything
+away?" she half asked, half said.
+
+Again the twinkle flashed in Leland's eyes. "Until I came to England I
+don't think I ever wasted anything, effort or material, in my life. That
+is, when I knew what I was doing, at least."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you would soon get into the way of doing it at
+Barrock-holme. Still, why aren't you playing bridge or billiards? Was
+the long day on the moors too much for you? I believe you walked home."
+
+"So did Jimmy. It was only four miles. I have quite often ridden sixty
+in my own country, and, when it's light, I usually begin to work there
+at four in the morning."
+
+"You are a farmer?"
+
+"Yes, as it's understood out there. Our wheat furrows at Prospect would
+run straight across four of the biggest holdings on this property, and
+I've over a thousand cattle on the new range among the willow bluffs. A
+farm of that kind requires looking after, with wheat at present
+figures."
+
+"You give all your time to it?"
+
+"Every minute until the snow comes, and we usually begin hauling grain
+in to the railroad on the bob-sledges then. In summer it's work from
+sun-up until it's dark, and you go to sleep in ten minutes after you
+come in."
+
+Carrie Denham's little shudder might have expressed either horror or
+sympathy.
+
+"Isn't that, in one way, a waste of life? You have no amusement at all?"
+she asked.
+
+"An hour or two after the antelope, or the brent geese in the sloos in
+fall and spring, when the salt pork runs out. As to the other question,
+there are people who want the wheat we raise. Some of them want it badly
+in your own English towns. A man's life was given him to use at what
+suits him best. It's taking quite a responsibility to fritter it away."
+
+Carrie Denham had naturally heard this sentiment expressed before,
+though she had never seen it taken seriously among her own friends and
+family. She glanced at her companion curiously, rather resenting his
+flinging maxims of that kind at her. It rankled more when she realised
+that there was nothing about the speaker to suggest the trifler or the
+prig. As a new sensation, he was undoubtedly interesting.
+
+"And you never take a holiday?" she asked.
+
+"This is the first one, and I mightn't have taken it if several
+four-bushel bags of wheat hadn't fallen on me in the granary. The doctor
+we brought out two hundred miles to see me wouldn't let me do anything
+active when I commenced to crawl round again."
+
+"I think Jimmy said you were quite young when you were left alone."
+
+"I had been three months at McGill--which is to us much the same thing
+as your Oxford is to you--when the news of my father's death came, and I
+went back and fought my trustees over what was to be done with the farm.
+They were two of the cleverest grain and cattle men in Winnipeg, and I
+was a raw lad, but I beat them. I was to stay at McGill and be educated
+while they let or sold the place, they said; but I had my way of it and,
+instead, went back to the prairie where I belonged. Prospect has doubled
+the acreage it had then."
+
+Carrie Denham listened with slightly languid interest. The narrative had
+been a bit egotistical, but she could imagine the struggle the lonely
+lad had waged with the wilderness. She understood already that it was an
+especially desolate wilderness in which the Prospect farm stood, and
+Jimmy had told her that Leland had neither brother nor sister. He had
+made his own way, and had, no doubt, from his point of view, done a good
+deal with his life; but his outlook was, it seemed to her, necessarily
+restricted. One should not, however, expect too much from a man born in
+the wilderness who had had only three months of what could be considered
+education. She also wondered why he had told her so much, since most of
+the young men she came across took some trouble to keep their best side
+uppermost, until it occurred to her that he probably considered the
+doubling of the acreage of the Prospect farm a very notable achievement.
+It scarcely seemed to her to warrant the effort. She loved pleasure.
+Though she was by no means without a sense of duty, the little graces
+and amenities of life counted for much with her.
+
+Aylmer and two of the other guests came along the terrace, and Leland
+looked at her with a little inquiring smile.
+
+"Shall I go on talking? I can keep it up if you wish," he said.
+
+"No," said the girl. "You have really done enough in the meanwhile."
+
+She rose and joined the others, and Leland was left wondering exactly
+what she meant, though it was borne in upon him that she did not object
+to Aylmer so much when he had a companion. Then he also rose, and
+strolled along to where a little faded lady of uncertain age, who had
+shown him some trifling kindness, was sitting alone. She swept her dress
+aside to let him pass, looking at him with a smile, but he seated
+himself on the broad-topped wall in front of her.
+
+"Why are you not playing cards, or making love to somebody? Don't you
+know what you are here for?" she said.
+
+Leland laughed. "I'm afraid I'm not good at either, Mrs. Annersly. You
+see, I'm from the wilderness."
+
+"Well," said the lady, "there are, I fancy, one or two young women who
+would be willing to teach you the rules of one game."
+
+"Are you sure they would think it worth while to waste powder and shot
+on a prairie farmer?"
+
+"They might, if it was understood that he was willing to sell his broad
+acres and settle down to the simple pleasures of an English country
+life."
+
+"No, by the Lord!" said Leland. "You will excuse me, madam, but I really
+meant it."
+
+Mrs. Annersly laughed. "I believe you did. Still, you must remember that
+there are not many English estates managed like Barrock-holme. In fact,
+one may observe traces of, at least, a moderate prosperity in parts of
+this country; but we needn't talk of that. You will notice that a few of
+the others besides ourselves have sense enough to prefer being outside
+on such a pleasant night."
+
+Leland looked down across the lawn, conscious that she was watching him
+meanwhile, and saw Carrie Denham and Aylmer cross it together. The
+moonlight was upon them, and the silvery radiance that made the girl's
+beauty more apparent seemed to emphasise the grossness of her companion.
+In that space of grass and flowers, moated and hemmed in by mouldering
+walls that had flung back the keen winds of the border for five hundred
+years, Aylmer looked more out of place than he had done by daylight.
+Leland, who had read no little English history, could almost have
+fancied it was filled with memories of the old knightly days when the
+spears of Ettrick and Liddesdale came pricking across the brown moors
+and mosses on many such a night; while Aylmer was from the cities,
+heavy-fleshed, soft of muscle, and sensual, of a wholly modern type.
+
+"Yes," he said drily; "I see two of them."
+
+Mrs. Annersly laughed again. "So does Branscombe Denham, I surmise, but
+that in all probability does not concern you or me." She stopped, and
+flashed a swift glance at her companion. Seeing that he made no denial,
+she changed the subject. "You have been taking billiard lessons from
+Jimmy Denham. Don't you find it expensive?"
+
+"Madam," said Leland, "Jimmy Denham is rather a friend of mine."
+
+"Of course. He is also my relative--which is, however, no great
+advantage to him. Besides, I am a privileged person, an encumbrance the
+Denhams are scarcely likely to get rid of in the present state of their
+affairs, which is, perhaps, a little unfortunate for everybody. My
+tongue is supposed to be dipped in wormwood, nobody expects anything
+pleasant from me, and the weak points in the Denhams constitute my
+special hobby. As you have probably noticed, they have a good many."
+
+Leland looked at her gravely. "You couldn't expect me to admit it, and,
+if I did, you wouldn't be pleased with me. In different ways they have
+all of them been kind to me."
+
+"Have you asked yourself why?"
+
+"I certainly haven't," said Leland, a trifle sharply.
+
+"Well," said the lady, with an air of reflection, "there is usually a
+reason for most things, though it is, perhaps, a little clearer in
+Aylmer's case. They have been somewhat attentive to him, too. Branscombe
+Denham is one of the most improvident of men, and in that respect Jimmy
+is very like him; but, while the strength of the whole family is in the
+girls, there is one thing to their credit: they all stand by one another
+through thick and thin. I fancy there is very little Carrie would stop
+at if it was necessary to save the old man, or, perhaps, Jimmy, from
+disaster."
+
+She turned her head a bit. As it happened, Carrie Denham and Aylmer
+crossed the lawn again just then, and Leland, following the direction of
+Mrs. Annersly's glance, felt that she wished to call his attention to
+them.
+
+"Yes," she said, "unless something unexpected turns up, I should not be
+astonished if they married her to that man."
+
+Leland looked at her, a slight flush in his grim face. "It would be
+almost indecent for several reasons, to say nothing of his age; but Miss
+Denham has surely a will of her own."
+
+Though he seldom manifested the tenderness and pity in his nature until
+an opportunity for helpful action came his way, his face grew softer as
+he watched the pair. His life had of necessity been hard and lonely.
+Perhaps, in some degree at least, from ignorance of them, he had grown
+up with an impersonal, chivalrous respect for all women. Love as between
+man and woman was a thing still remote from him. On the desolate
+prairie, a woman was scarcely ever even seen. It was a man's country.
+As his eyes followed the strolling couple, he was conscious of a
+longing to offer the girl the protection of his strength against Aylmer.
+
+Then the lady, who had been watching him closely, spoke again. "She
+decidedly has a will, and, what is more, a tolerably large share of the
+family pride," she said. "Still, she will probably marry her companion.
+Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end for money, and Jimmy, I am
+very much afraid, has been getting into difficulties again. Carrie is in
+one sense an excellent daughter. She knows her duty, and is scarcely
+likely to flinch from doing it."
+
+"But is there nobody else, no young man of good character and family,
+available?"
+
+"What do you know against the character of the man yonder?"
+
+"Nothing," said Leland tersely. "Nothing at all, except that he carries
+it about with him. You can see it in his face. If I had a sister, I
+should feel tempted to kick a man of that kind for looking at her."
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled as she answered his previous question. "Young men
+of the kind you mention, with any means, are not to be met with every
+day. What's more, they also naturally prefer a girl with money, and, at
+least, there would in their case be a tying up of property in the
+settlements. The happy man does not, as a rule, consider it necessary to
+contribute anything to the bride's family."
+
+Leland turned sharply, and looked at her with a portentous sparkle in
+his eyes. "Isn't it a horribly unpleasant thing you are suggesting?"
+
+"That is, after all, largely a matter of opinion."
+
+Leland sat still a moment watching the two figures on the lawn with a
+curious blending of compassion and disgust. Then he rose and looked down
+on his companion.
+
+"Madam," he said, "I wonder if I might ask you why you thought fit to
+tell me this?"
+
+"One should never ask for a woman's reasons, and I think I have informed
+you already that my tongue is dipped in wormwood."
+
+Leland made a little impatient gesture. "Is it Aylmer's money alone that
+counts with them, or his station, if he has any?"
+
+"One would certainly imagine that it was his means."
+
+Leland left her presently. As she watched him stride along the terrace,
+her shrewd, faded face grew gentle.
+
+"If I have read that man aright, there may be results," she said. "In
+that case, I almost fancy Carrie will have much to thank me for."
+
+Then she rose and, crossing the quadrangle, sought the card-room. It was
+an hour later when she came upon Carrie Denham sitting alone.
+
+"I have been talking to Mr. Leland, and am rather pleased with him," she
+said to the girl. "He is a curious compound of simplicity and
+forcefulness. They must live like anchorites out there."
+
+Carrie Denham laughed. "I thought that type was distinctly out of date
+now. It probably has its disadvantages."
+
+"Still," said Mrs. Annersly with an air of reflection, "he would
+scarcely jar as much on one's self-respect as the people one would meet
+as the wife of the other sort of man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+PRESSURE OF CIRCUMSTANCES
+
+
+The early breakfast over, Leland was walking up and down beneath the red
+beeches that grew close up to the old arched gateway of Barrock-holme,
+one of his fellow guests beside him, and a gun under his arm. Looking in
+through the quadrangle, they saw a young groom holding with some
+difficulty a restive, champing horse that pawed the gravel and shook his
+head impatiently.
+
+"He doesn't like waiting either," said Leland's companion to the groom.
+"How long have you been holding him here?"
+
+"About half an hour, Mr. Terry," said the groom.
+
+Terry glanced at Leland with a little uplifting of his brows, and again
+addressed the groom.
+
+"You can't pack all of us into that dog-cart, and it's four miles,
+anyway, to the edge of Garberry moor," he said. "Do you know how we are
+expected to get there?"
+
+"Mr. Parsons of the Dell farm keeps a smart cart, and he promised to
+lend it Mr. James when he heard we had the tire loose on our other one.
+It should have been here."
+
+"Then why isn't it?"
+
+Leland fancied that a suspicion of a smile flickered in the man's eyes.
+
+"I don't know, sir, unless Mr. James forgot to let him know when we
+wanted it."
+
+"I should consider it very probable," said Terry drily. "Have you any
+objections to walking on as far as the Dell, Leland? It wouldn't
+astonish me greatly if Jimmy kept us waiting an hour yet."
+
+Leland having no objections, they strode away together. Beech-mast
+crackled underfoot between the colonnades of lichened trunks, whose
+great branches stayed the high, vaulted roof of gold and crimson leaves.
+Looking out through the openings between, one could see the sweep of
+rolling champaign stretch away into the horizon through gradations of
+blueness, and the rigid line of the fells smeared with warm brown
+patches of withered bracken.
+
+"It's rather a shame that Jimmy and his father should have a place of
+this kind in their hands at all," said Terry. "Still, for the credit of
+the country, I should like to explain that there are not very many
+English properties run on the same lines. In fact, the Denhams are an
+exception to everything, but I really think Jimmy might have got up in
+time for once in a way."
+
+Leland laughed. "The loss of an hour's shooting seems to count with
+you."
+
+"It does. You see, like a good many other people, I have to work rather
+hard for my living, and time is of a little more value to me than it
+apparently is to Jimmy Denham. Besides, my stay here has cost me a good
+deal more than I expected, and, being engaged in commerce, I can't help
+feeling that I ought to get something in return for my money."
+
+"I don't quite understand that last remark."
+
+"No?" said Terry. "Well, perhaps you don't. In fact, I have had a fancy
+that you were a bona-fide guest. You see, two or three of us aren't."
+
+"Will you make that a little clearer?" And Leland looked astonished,
+though he remembered now several little incidents that had struck him as
+strange.
+
+"With pleasure. Indeed, I feel I owe it to Jimmy for his losing us an
+hour or two every day. Our amusement costs two or three of us a good
+deal directly, as well as the other way. Branscombe Denham, naturally,
+doesn't advertise Barrock-holme as a shooting hotel, but, though affairs
+are arranged more tastefully, it amounts to much the same thing. You
+share expenses of watching and turning down hand-reared birds, and you
+get so many days' shooting with entertainment thrown in. The latter,
+however, is usually costly. One way or the other, Jimmy has taken one
+hundred pounds out of me."
+
+"Ah," said Leland. "Is that sort of thing common in this country? I had
+a notion that you were rather proud of yourselves. It wouldn't strike us
+as quite nice in Western Canada."
+
+"No," said the other man. "Still, it's done occasionally, and, as to
+family pride, you are not likely to come across anybody who has more of
+it than the Denhams. How they reconcile it with some of the things they
+do is a different matter; but you can take it as a rule that the less
+people have to congratulate themselves upon, the prouder they are. In
+fact, Jimmy Denham, who, though one can't help liking him, is a
+downright bad egg, was at first a little shy of me. I am a partner in a
+concern making a certain advertised specialty, you see."
+
+"I wonder," said Leland reflectively, "if the girls quite understand the
+position."
+
+"I don't think they do. Anyway, not exactly. Indeed, it's a little
+difficult to believe they're daughters of Branscombe Denham, or sisters
+of Jimmy. They show some trace of sense and temper, whilst you can't
+ruffle Jimmy. Still, I fancy, if it were necessary, they would stand by
+their delightful relatives through thick and thin."
+
+Leland lapsed into thoughtful silence. He fancied that his companion was
+right, for he had seen a good deal of Carrie Denham during the month he
+had now spent at Barrock-holme. She had been, in her own reserved
+fashion, gracious to him, and Leland did not in the least resent the
+fact that there was in all she said a suggestion of condescension that
+he surmised was unconscious. Indeed, this struck him as being what it
+should be. Though quite aware of his own value where men were concerned,
+he had seen very few women, and regarded them in general with a vague,
+uncomprehending respect. Furthermore, the girl's physical beauty, her
+pride and almost stately coldness, made a strong appeal to him. She was,
+he was quite willing to admit, a being of a very different order from a
+plain Western farmer. Besides that, she was the one person who had quite
+come up to his expectations, for his visit to the old country had in
+most respects brought him disillusionment.
+
+His father had often spoken of it with all the exile's appreciation of
+the home he had left, and he could remember his mother's daintiness and
+refinement; it was, perhaps, not astonishing that he had learned to
+idealise the old land and those who lived in it. It was also unfortunate
+that, whilst it might have happened differently, the few English men and
+women he had met on any terms of intimacy during his stay in London had
+resembled the Denhams more or less, and it had hurt him to discover what
+he considered was the reality. For Jimmy and his father he had a
+tolerant contempt, and it was, in fact, only the presence of Carrie
+Denham that had kept him at Barrock-holme so long. He was sorry for her,
+and had a vague fancy that she might need a friend. There was a vein of
+chivalry in him, and he was also a just man. His sense of justice led
+him to play billiards periodically for somewhat heavy stakes with Jimmy.
+It was one way of getting even, as he expressed it, for he did not care
+to be indebted to a man he looked down upon. Jimmy, who was skilful and
+almost suspiciously fortunate at both billiards and cards, had also no
+objections to emptying the pockets of his guests, though, as Leland was
+aware, the chance stranger very seldom leaves a ranch of Western Canada
+any poorer than when he came there.
+
+In the meanwhile it happened that Branscombe Denham sat talking to his
+son in what he called his library. The few books in it for the most part
+related to the estate, for Denham had reasons for not trusting his
+affairs altogether to a steward or country lawyer. He was, in some
+respects, a handsome man, though his eyes were of too pale a blue, and
+his thin face, in spite of its unmistakable stamp of refinement, lacked
+character. The room was in the old tower, ceiled with dark wood and
+sombrely panelled, with one long, narrow leaded-glass window. The tall,
+sparely-framed man with his white hands and immaculate dress seemed out
+of place there. He was essentially modern, the room belonged to the more
+virile past. There was a pile of letters before him, and he took one up
+delicately.
+
+"If I could have foreseen that it would lead to this kind of thing, I
+should never have consented to your grandfather's breaking the entail,"
+he said, with a little whimsical smile. "Lancely has written me in his
+usual stand-and-deliver style again:--'I am now directed to inform you
+that, unless the last instalment with arrears of interest is remitted me
+by next quarter-day, my clients will regretfully feel themselves
+compelled to foreclose.'"
+
+He laid down the letter with a little lifting of his brows. "I really
+think they mean it at last, and their mortgage covers most of the Dell,
+and the leys on Stapleton's holding. I suppose it is no use asking if
+you could dispense with your next allowance."
+
+Jimmy Denham laughed, though he was quite aware that the occasion was
+serious enough. "I'm afraid not, sir. In fact, as I had regretfully to
+admit, unless I can raise two hundred pounds in addition to it before my
+leave runs out, I shall probably have to send in my papers. Fortunately,
+I think I can manage it."
+
+He spoke quite frankly, and there was nothing in the attitude of either
+to suggest that one was a father embarrassed by financial difficulties
+and the other a spendthrift son. Indeed, they faced each other as
+comrades, one could almost have said confederates, for in spite of their
+shortcomings, which were somewhat plentiful, the Denhams at least
+recognised the family bond, standing by one another in everything.
+
+"In that case," said Branscombe Denham, "the allowance must stand,
+though I don't know at present where it is to come from. The other
+affair is more difficult. In fact, unless we face it resolutely it might
+become serious."
+
+"So one would imagine," said Jimmy, reflectively. "The Dell is the best
+farm we have, and to let those fellows have it would make things a
+little too plain to everybody. Besides, it's splitting up the property.
+To a certain extent, of course, we are living upon our credit."
+
+Branscombe Denham nodded, though there was a curious look in his pale
+blue eyes as he fixed them on his son.
+
+"I'm rather afraid you don't quite grasp the point," he said. "You see,
+Lancely's man holds a mortgage on most of the Dell; but, as you,
+perhaps, remember, Lennox lent me a couple of thousand, with the
+plough-land in the bottom as security. He did it as a friend, and didn't
+worry much about his papers, while I'm not sure I remembered to mention
+Lancely's bond to him, so there is what one might call a certain
+overlapping of the mortgages. Then I found it necessary to realise a
+little on the oaks and beeches at Arkil bank."
+
+Jimmy's face grew grave. "I rather fancy they brought you in a good
+deal. They were unusually good trees. You sold the timber after you
+raised the money on the mortgages?"
+
+"I did. That is just the point of it. I needn't say that I had then a
+scheme of retrenchment in my mind which would provide a kind of sinking
+fund to meet the interest, and in due time extinguish the loan, in
+which case the question of the timber would, naturally, never have been
+raised. Unfortunately, the fall in rents and one or two other
+matters--rendered it unworkable."
+
+Jimmy made a gesture of comprehending sympathy. "I'm afraid it would
+look rather bad, sir, if it came out. Lancely's man might make a good
+deal of trouble if he wants his timber and finds it isn't there, to say
+nothing of what Lennox, who, it seems, has a claim on it as well, might
+do. Still, no doubt, you did what you could, sir, and I'm rather afraid
+it was one or two of my little extravagances that put some of the
+pressure on you. I needn't say that if there is anything I can do, down
+to cutting the service--or bearing part of the responsibility----"
+
+"Thanks," said Denham, as if he meant it. "You were not very
+extravagant, Jimmy, as young men go, and we have hitherto, at least,
+always stood by each other. Still, I'm not sure that it's my son I can
+count on now."
+
+"Ah," and Jimmy's voice was a trifle sharper. "I'm afraid I never liked
+that notion, sir. I think I've mentioned it. There's a good deal of the
+beast in Aylmer. Has he said anything?"
+
+A curious look crept into Denham's face, and it suggested repugnance as
+well as anxiety. "He came to me yesterday, and his ideas of a settlement
+were liberal. I pointed out a few of my difficulties to him, and he
+mentioned rather tastefully that he fancied they could be got over if he
+had my good will in the other matter. In fact, he left me with the
+impression that the mortgage bonds would be handed Carrie after the
+wedding."
+
+Jimmy Denham's face appeared a trifle flushed, though he was considered
+a rather hard case by a certain officers' mess.
+
+"I don't like it, sir," he said again. "I can't claim to be very
+particular, but that man is rather too much for me."
+
+"Then have you any proposition to make?"
+
+Jimmy sat still for at least a minute, apparently lost in thought, which
+was in his case a very unusual thing.
+
+"The whole affair is a little unpleasant, and I think you won't mind my
+saying that much. Still, it's evident that we have to face the
+circumstances, and I scarcely think Carrie will flinch when she
+understands the necessity. There might, however, be a more suitable man
+than Aylmer. In fact, I almost think I know of one."
+
+"The Canadian?"
+
+"Exactly. Anyway, the man is wholesome, which is more than anybody could
+say of Aylmer, and I rather fancy he will be a person of considerable
+importance by-and-bye, in his own country. If, as I suppose, you haven't
+given Aylmer a definite answer yet, I might suggest that you tell him he
+must make his own running, and leave the rest to me. Though she's not
+fond of any of us but Carrie, I've no doubt that Eveline Annersly would
+stand by me."
+
+There was silence again for almost a minute, and then Denham sighed.
+
+"Well," he said, with a little gesture, "you will remember that there is
+not very much time left. In the meanwhile aren't you keeping the rest
+of them waiting?"
+
+Jimmy went out, and none of the three men he drove to the Garberry moor
+could have suspected that he had a single care. They would certainly not
+have believed, had he told them, that he was, for once, sincerely
+disgusted with himself as well as his father, and troubled with a very
+unusual sense of shame. There was courage of a kind in the Denhams, and
+they could, at least, hide their feelings very well. He inspired the
+rest with good-humour and shot rather better than he generally did, but
+he had grown grave again when he had an interview with Mrs. Annersly
+shortly before dinner that evening. She listened to him with a little
+frown.
+
+"Jimmy," she said, "you are almost as deficient in estimable qualities
+as your father is."
+
+"Well," said Jimmy humbly, "I know I am, but you might leave the
+governor out. I think he is a little older than you are--and he is my
+father. Anyway, though you mightn't believe it, I feel a trifle sick
+when I think of Aylmer."
+
+"What do you expect from me?"
+
+Jimmy smiled. "Not a great deal. Only a persistence in your original
+policy. I have rather a fancy that you and I have had the same thing in
+our minds."
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "If it must be one or the other, I'll
+do what I can. In fact, I don't mind admitting that, seeing what it
+would probably come to, I have, as you surmise, had the affair in hand
+already. Still, it was not to make things easier for either you or your
+father."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LELAND MAKES THE PLUNGE
+
+
+There was for the first time a chill of frost in the air, so none of the
+guests at Barrock-holme thought of lounging on the terrace after dinner.
+Some were in Denham's gun-room, some were playing cards, and only a few
+were left in the big drawing-room where Carrie sat at the piano. Leland
+stood beside her to turn the music over, a duty which was new to him and
+indifferently fulfilled. He had no very clear notion then or afterwards
+what she was singing. Still, her voice, which was indubitably good,
+awakened a little thrill in him. Her proximity had also an exhilarating
+effect, and he was lost in a whir of sensations he could not analyse as
+he looked down on the cold face with its crown of dusky hair and saw the
+gleam of ivory shoulders. This was a man who had usually so much to do
+that it left him little time to dissect and classify his emotions.
+
+He did not think he was in love with Carrie Denham, so far as his ideas
+on that subject went; but, until he had come to England, the society of
+a woman of her description was an unknown thing to him. Her physical
+beauty appealed to him, her cold, reposeful sincerity and pride of
+station had made an even stronger impression, and now he was sensible of
+a vague admiration and compassion for her. He felt, too, a feeling of
+awkwardness in her presence, realising at the same time that there was
+nothing to warrant it.
+
+He did not look awkward in the least. His bronze face was quiet, his
+grave, brown eyes were steady, and, though he was quite unconscious of
+it, the pose he had fallen into effectively displayed the spare symmetry
+of his muscular figure. There was also upon him the stamp of the silent
+strength and vigour that comes of a clean life spent in wide spaces out
+in the wind and sun. He did not know that several pairs of eyes were
+watching him with approval, and that the owner of one of them smiled in
+a fashion which suggested satisfaction as she glanced towards Aylmer.
+The fleshy gentleman sat not very far away, and Leland fancied that his
+own presence at the piano was justified when he looked in that
+direction. There was that in his nature which prompted him to offer
+protection to any one who needed it, and he felt it was not fitting that
+such a man as Aylmer should stand at Carrie Denham's side. He had been
+sensible of this before, but the feeling was unusually strong that
+night. At last the music stopped, and she looked up at him with her
+curious little smile.
+
+"Thank you," she said; and the man felt his blood stir, for he fancied
+she understood what had brought him there. Still, shrewd in his own way
+as he was, he was strangely deceived in supposing that nobody except the
+girl and himself had grasped his purpose, or that he would have been
+able to carry it out at all without the concurrence of one, at least,
+of those who watched him. Leland had grappled with adverse seasons, and
+held his own against hard and clever men, but he had not as yet had
+cultured Englishwomen for his enemies or partisans.
+
+He turned away when Carrie Denham rose, and, moving about the room,
+found himself presently near Mrs. Annersly, who was sitting alone just
+then on a divan with a big, partly-folded screen on one hand of her. It
+cut that nook off from the observation of most of the rest, as she was
+probably aware when she settled herself there; but, when she indicated
+the vacant place at her side, it never occurred to Leland that she had
+been lying in wait for him.
+
+"You did that very cleverly. I mean when you opened the piano first,"
+she said. "I never suspected you of being a diplomatist. One could
+almost fancy that Carrie was grateful, too."
+
+Leland was in no way flattered, since all he had done was to reach the
+piano in advance of Aylmer, who was a trifle heavy on his feet. In fact,
+he was slightly disconcerted, though he did not show it.
+
+"Well," he said frankly, "it was either Aylmer or I."
+
+His companion looked at him in a rather strange fashion. "Exactly!" she
+said. "It was either you or Aylmer, and, perhaps, it was natural that
+Carrie should prefer you."
+
+Leland glanced across the big room, towards where Aylmer was sitting,
+and was once more sensible of dislike and repulsion. The man did not
+look well in evening dress. It made his flabby heaviness of flesh too
+apparent, and the sharply contrasted black and white emphasised the
+florid colouring of his broad, sensual face. He was just then regarding
+Carrie Denham out of narrow slits of eyes, priggish eyes, Leland called
+them to himself, and there was the easily recognisable stamp of
+grossness and indulgence upon him. The Westerner himself was hard and
+somewhat spare, a man whose body had been toughened by strenuous labour
+and held in due subjection by an unbending will. Mrs. Annersly noticed
+the clearness of his steady eyes and the clean transparency of his
+bronzed skin. As a man, he was, she decided, certainly to be preferred
+to Aylmer, and perhaps the more so because there was a side of his
+nature which as yet, it was evident, had scarcely been awakened. She was
+glad that the drawing-room was large and the place where they sat
+secluded, because there was a notion with which she desired to inspire
+him. She had already gone a certain distance in that direction, and now
+it was time to go a little further. She could see that her last speech
+had had some effect.
+
+"Madam," he said, with his usual directness, "I wonder what you mean by
+that."
+
+"It ought to be evident," said the lady, with a little smile. "If
+everybody's suppositions are correct, I really think Carrie will have
+enough of Aylmer by-and-bye. There is no reason why she should commence
+the surfeit now."
+
+"Then if she feels as you suggest she does, why in the name of wonder
+should she marry him?"
+
+"There are family reasons. Jimmy and his family are, I fear, in
+difficulties again, and it will be the privilege of Carrie's husband to
+extricate them. I believe I told you as much before, though you do not
+seem to have remembered it."
+
+A slightly darker tinge of colour crept into Leland's cheek. "As a
+matter of fact, madam, the thing has been worrying me ever since you
+did. A marriage of that kind is rather more than any one with a sense of
+the fitness of things could quietly contemplate."
+
+"Still"--and Mrs. Annersly looked at him steadily--"the difficulty is
+that I am afraid there is nothing you or I could do to prevent it."
+
+Leland was a trifle startled. He could almost fancy that she expected a
+disclaimer from him, and meant to suggest that, if he wished it, he
+might find a way where she had failed. He did not know how she had
+conveyed this impression, and, as he could not be sure that she had
+desired to do so, he sat in silence until she abruptly changed the
+subject. With a man of this description there was no necessity for being
+unduly artistic; the one thing was to get the notion into his mind.
+
+"When are you going back?" she said.
+
+"I don't quite know. In a month or so. Of course, I ought to be there
+now; but it is the first time I have been away since I came home from
+Montreal, and it will probably be a long while before I take a rest
+again. As it is, my being away this harvest will probably cost me a good
+deal."
+
+"It must be lonely on the prairie, especially in the winter."
+
+Leland smiled. "It is. Once we haul the grain in, there is very little
+one can do, with a foot of snow upon the ground and the thermometer at
+forty below. There's just Prospect and its birch bluff in the midst of
+the big white circle with the sledge-trails running out from it
+straight to the horizon. Not a house, not a beast, or any sign of life
+about."
+
+He stopped, and made a little gesture. "Of course, there are big hotels
+where one could meet pleasant people, as well as operas and theatres, at
+Winnipeg, and one could get there in two days on the cars. I dare say I
+could manage a trip to Montreal or New York occasionally too, and we
+have a few well-educated people from the East on the prairie not more
+than twenty miles away; but, since I have nobody to go with, going away
+from home doesn't appeal to me, so I spend the long night sitting beside
+the stove with the cedar shingles crackling over me in the cold. Now and
+then I read, and when I don't there is plenty to think about in planning
+out the next year's campaign."
+
+"Has it never occurred to you that it would be a good deal more pleasant
+if you were married?"
+
+"As a matter of fact it has, but I put the notion away from me. For one
+thing, I remember my mother, and, if ever I married, it would have to be
+somebody grave and sweet and dainty like her. She was a well brought-up
+Englishwoman, and, perhaps, she lived long enough to spoil me. She
+showed me what a wife could be, and it's scarcely likely there are many
+women of her kind who would ever care for a prairie farmer who knows
+very little about anything but wheat and cattle."
+
+"You seem almost unreasonably sure of that," said Mrs. Annersly.
+
+Leland laughed. "Madam," he said, "would you go out there to the prairie
+and trust yourself alone to such a man as I am?"
+
+The little faded lady's eyes twinkled, and in the tones of her reply
+there was something which suggested confidence in her companion.
+
+"I scarcely suppose you mean me to consider that seriously?" she said.
+"Still, if I were twenty years younger I almost think I would, and, what
+is more, I scarcely fancy I should be sorry. That is, at least, if you
+were willing to take me to Winnipeg or Montreal now and then, and bring
+out any friends I might make there to stay with me. We, however, needn't
+concern ourselves with that question, since you certainly don't want me.
+The point is that one could fancy there are English girls of the kind
+you mention who would be willing to venture as far as I would. Still,
+you would have to bestir yourself, and make it evident that you wanted
+one in particular to go out with you. You could hardly expect anybody to
+suggest it to you."
+
+Leland was thoughtful, for Eveline Annersly had done her work
+successfully. She had first inspired him with a strong man's pity for
+Carrie Denham, and awakened in him an undefined, chivalrous desire to
+protect her, whilst now she had gone a little further, and suggested
+that there was, perhaps, a way in which he could do so. He sat quite
+still for a moment or two. The great bare room at Prospect, with its
+uncovered walls and floor, and the big stove in the midst of it, rose up
+before his fancy. Then he saw it changed and cosy, filled to suit a
+woman's artistic taste with the things he cared little for, but which
+his wealth could buy for the gracious presence sitting there beside him.
+Then there would be something to look forward to as he floundered home
+from the railroad down the beaten sledge-trail beside his jaded team, or
+swept up in his sleigh out of the white waste, stiff with frost. It was
+an alluring picture in its way, but, after all, material comforts had
+not appealed to him greatly, and while he sat silent by Eveline
+Annersly's side the visions carried him further.
+
+There were, he knew, doors that would be opened to him willingly in
+Winnipeg. He could conceive himself becoming a man of mark in the
+prairie city, and lonely Prospect filled in the shooting season with
+guests whose names were famous in the West. Hitherto he had been a mere
+grower of wheat, but he had a quiet faith in his capabilities, and
+fancied there was no reason why, with a clever wife to help him, he
+should not become famous too, an influence in the new land whose future
+he and others were laboriously building up. So far, it was only his
+reason the fancies appealed to, but, as he glanced across the room
+towards where Carrie Denham sat, he was conscious of a stirring of his
+blood. She was very alluring, with her reposeful stateliness, dark eyes
+that shone with light when she smiled, and dark hair that emphasised the
+clear ivory tinting of the patrician face beneath it. The pity he felt
+for her was becoming lost in a quickening admiration.
+
+"Still," he said, "what you suggest is a trifle difficult to believe. If
+wheat keeps its value, my life, which is now in some ways a hard and
+lonely one, might be changed--it is my personality that presents the
+difficulty. There is so much you set value on that I know nothing about,
+and one could scarcely expect an English girl with any refinement to be
+attracted by a plain Western farmer."
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled at him. "Well," she said, "I believe I told you I
+had no great fault to find with you, and I don't believe the rising
+generation is more fastidious than my own. In fact, it wouldn't be
+difficult to persuade oneself of the contrary. To be frank, I really
+don't think you need be lonely any longer, unless, of course, you prefer
+it."
+
+Again Leland did not answer her. He sat looking straight in front of him
+with a faint glow in his eyes and his lips firmly set, while an
+unreasoning impulse seized him, and swept him away as he saw Aylmer
+approach Carrie Denham's chair. Perhaps Eveline Annersly guessed part,
+at least, of what was in his mind, for she raised her eyes a moment and
+glanced at Jimmy Denham, who was talking to a young girl some distance
+away. Jimmy was a young man of considerable intelligence, and though he
+made no sign, he knew that he was wanted. A minute or two later he made
+his way indirectly and leisurely across the room, and drawing out a
+chair sat down near Leland.
+
+"You two look as if you had been discussing something important," he
+said. "Has he been persuading you to go out and preside over Prospect,
+Aunt Eveline?"
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled. "No," she said; "he naturally wants a younger and
+more attractive person, but I understand is rather afraid that nobody of
+the kind would look at him. I have been trying to show him that he is
+mistaken."
+
+"Of course!" said Jimmy. "He doesn't quite grasp things yet. There are
+few sensible girls who would say no to a man with his income. In fact,
+I'd feel reasonably sure of getting an heiress if I had a third of it."
+
+He stopped with a short laugh, looking straight at Leland with something
+that suggested a definite meaning in his pale blue eyes. "Anyway,
+there's no reason why you shouldn't get any one you have seen at
+Barrock-holme, provided, of course, that the lady in question is in
+other respects pleased with you."
+
+Leland closed his lips a little tighter, for it was borne in upon him
+that Jimmy Denham had not spoken without a purpose, and he realised that
+he might be listened to if he craved permission to offer himself as a
+suitor for his sister's hand. Jimmy, however, was too adroit to dwell
+upon the subject, and, changing it abruptly, led Leland into a
+discussion of hammerless guns. Still, both he and Eveline Annersly
+realised that he had said enough, which in most cases is a good deal
+better than too much. As a matter of fact, his words had stirred Leland
+to the rashest plunge he had ever made in his life, though during most
+of it he had usually taken the boldest course, holding his wheat on a
+falling market and sowing in times of black depression when the prudent
+held their hand.
+
+On the next morning he had an interview with Branscombe Denham in the
+library, which left him with a very unpleasant impression. In fact, the
+silence he forced himself to maintain hurt him, and he felt it would
+have been a vast relief to tell the fastidious, immaculately dressed
+gentleman precisely what he thought of him. Having on certain delicately
+implied conditions secured his goodwill, Leland set about the
+prosecution of his suit with a directness and singleness of purpose that
+was a matter of delight to those who watched his proceedings. He,
+however, was quite oblivious of their amusement. He knew what he
+wanted, and it did not matter in the least that others should guess it,
+too, but, apart from his obvious directness, he played the suitor with a
+grave, old-fashioned gallantry and deference that became him. In fact,
+since it was by no means what they expected from him, they wondered how
+he came to have it. Though Leland himself could not have told them its
+source, it had been his practice in the long nights, when Prospect lay
+silent under the Arctic frost, to read and ponder over the best of the
+early Victorian novelists. His mother had been a woman of taste, and he
+had, perhaps, unconsciously acquired from the books she had left him
+some of the mannerisms of a more punctilious time.
+
+It was, in any case, promptly evident to everybody that Aylmer was
+outclassed. Leland's wooing was, no doubt, a trifle ceremonious, but
+Aylmer's savoured too much of the freedom of the barroom and
+music-halls. There was more than one maiden at Barrock-holme who felt
+that it was a pity she had not accorded a little judicious encouragement
+to the quiet, bronze-faced Canadian, who it now transpired had large
+possessions. After all, his stilted courtesy was attractive in its way
+and had in it the interest of an entirely new sensation.
+
+Nobody, however, knew exactly what Carrie Denham thought of it, although
+it was evident that she preferred him to Aylmer. When at last he spoke
+his mind to her, she listened gravely with a slightly flushed face and a
+thoughtful look in her eyes.
+
+"If you are wise," she said quietly, "you will not press me for an
+answer now. You can wait, at least, until this time to-morrow. Then I
+shall be outside on the steps of the terrace."
+
+It was not very encouraging, but Leland made her a little inclination.
+
+"If that is your wish, I must try to be patient," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+NO ESCAPE
+
+
+It was towards the middle of the next afternoon when Carrie Denham
+leaned upon the rails of the little path outside the grey walls of the
+garden at Barrock-holme. From where she stood she could see the narrower
+and unprotected way along which she had ventured with Leland a few weeks
+earlier, and she could not help remembering his quiet glance of
+interrogation when he had come upon it suddenly. She and Jimmy had often
+crossed that somewhat perilous ledge in their younger days, the more
+often, in fact, because it had been forbidden to them. Though it was, of
+course, new to Leland, he had displayed no hesitation when once she had
+made her wishes plain. This had pleased her at the time, since it
+suggested that he understood her resolution was equal to his own; but
+now she brushed the recollection aside, for just then she felt she
+almost hated him.
+
+Close by, a narrow flight of steps hewn out of the dripping rock led
+down into the ravine, and she watched with a curious sense of strained
+expectancy the path which wound among the silvery birches from the foot
+of them to the mossy stepping-stones round which the Barrock flashed.
+She knew this was unwise, and that she could not escape from what lay
+before her, but hope dies hard when one is young, and there was still
+lurking at the back of her mind a faint belief that after all something
+might happen to stave off the impending disaster. If so, it would be
+only fitting that it should result from the efforts of the man in whom
+she had once had faith and confidence, though neither now was so strong
+as it had been.
+
+A drowsy quietness brooded over Barrock-holme. The men were away
+shooting, and the women had driven to inspect some relics of the Roman
+occupation among the fells. She herself had made excuses for remaining
+behind.
+
+There was not a movement among the birch leaves still hanging here and
+there, flecks of pale gold among the lace-like twigs beneath her, and
+the murmur of the gently swirling water emphasised the silence of the
+hollow. She could hear a squirrel shaking the beech-mast down, and the
+patter of the falling nuts rose sharply distinct from the thin carpet of
+yellow leaves. Then she felt her heart beat as the sound of footsteps
+reached her ears. The man she had once believed in was coming, and, if
+there was any way out of the difficulties that threatened her, it was
+his part to find it.
+
+He came up the rude steps hastily, a well-favoured young man of her own
+world, and almost her own age, which she felt was in some ways
+unfortunate then. As he seized both her hands, with a little resolute
+movement she drew them away from him.
+
+"No," she said a trifle sharply. "As I told you last time, that is all
+done with now. It was a little weak of me to see you, and you must not
+come here again."
+
+The colour faded in the young man's face, and he clenched his hands
+spasmodically.
+
+"Oh!" he said, with a catch in his breath, "you can't mean it, Carrie.
+In spite of what you told me, I had been trying to believe the thing was
+out of the question."
+
+There was pain in Carrie Denham's face, and a little bitter smile
+flickered into her eyes.
+
+"The thing one shrinks from most is generally the one that
+happens--unless one does something to make it impossible," she said.
+
+The man reddened, for, though he was pleasant to look at, a stalwart,
+open-faced Englishman, he was very young, and it was, perhaps, not his
+fault that there was a lack of stiffness in his composition. He was not
+one to grapple resolutely with an emergency, and Carrie Denham, who had
+once looked up to him, realised it then.
+
+"What could I do--what could anybody in my place do?" he said, with a
+little gesture that suggested desperation. "Stanley Crossthwaite is only
+sixty, and may live another twenty years. While he does, I'm something
+between his head keeper and a pensioner."
+
+"Isn't it a pity you didn't think of that earlier?"
+
+The man made as though he would have seized her hands again, but she
+drew back from him with a slight shiver of hopelessness running through
+her.
+
+"You can't blame me," he said. "Who could help falling in love with you?
+There was a time when I think you loved me, too."
+
+Carrie watched him with a quietness at which she herself marvelled. She
+had, at least, fancied she felt for him what he had protested he felt
+for her, but now there was a stirring of contempt in her. Her reason
+recognised that he was right, and there was nothing he could do; but,
+for all that, he had been her last faint hope, and he had failed her.
+
+"There is nothing to be gained by talking of that now," she said
+quietly.
+
+The man, who did not answer her, leaned upon the rails, gazing down into
+the ravine with his face awry, until at last he looked up again.
+
+"It's not that awful brute Aylmer?" he said hoarsely.
+
+"No. I could not have brought myself to that."
+
+"The farmer fellow? It's horrible, anyway, but I suppose one couldn't
+blame you--they, your father and Jimmy, made you."
+
+He straightened himself suddenly and moved along the path a pace or two.
+"It's an abominable thing that you should be driven to such a sacrifice,
+but you shall not make it. Can't you understand? It's out of the
+question. You can't make it. Is there nothing you can do?"
+
+The girl's face was colourless, and her lips were trembling, but her
+eyes were hard, for her contempt was growing stronger now. The man had
+asked her the question to which it seemed fitting that he alone should
+find an answer. She did not know what she had expected from him, and,
+since she had decided that the sacrifice must be made, she recognised
+that there was, in fact, nothing she could expect; but her strength had
+almost failed her. Had he suggested a desperate remedy, and insisted on
+it masterfully, she might have fled with him. Only it would have been
+necessary for him to compel her with an overwhelming forcefulness that
+was stronger than her will, and that was apparently too much to ask of
+him.
+
+"No," she said, with a quietness that was born of despair, "there is
+nothing. Fate is too strong for us, Reggie, and you must go back now. It
+would have been better had I never promised that I would see you. I
+should not have done it, but I wanted you to understand that I couldn't
+help myself."
+
+She held out a hand to him, and the man flushed as he seized it. Then he
+drew her towards him, but the girl shook him off with a strength that
+seemed equal to his own, and, though he scarcely saw her move, in
+another moment she stood a yard or two away from him. There was a spot
+of crimson in her cheek, and she was gasping a little.
+
+"Go now!" she said, and her voice had a faintly grating ring. "Since you
+cannot help me, you shall, at least, not make it harder than I can
+bear."
+
+He stood looking at her, slightly bewildered, irresolute, and
+half-ashamed, though he did not quite realise for the moment why he
+should feel so. Then, with a despairing gesture, he went down the steps
+without a word. Whilst Carrie Denham still leaned dejectedly on the
+terrace railing, Eveline Annersly, coming through the archway, caught a
+glimpse of a shadowy figure moving off through the trees.
+
+"Were you wise?" she asked the girl. "One has to be circumspect, you
+know."
+
+Carrie laughed bitterly.
+
+"I do not think there was any great risk. It is a very long while since
+young Lochinvar swam the Esk at Netherby. In fact, unless men have
+changed with the times, it is difficult to believe that he ever did."
+
+Mrs. Annersly glanced at her shrewdly, for she fancied she understood.
+
+"I'm not sure they have," she said. "There was a gentleman in the ballad
+who said nothing at all, and presumably did nothing, too; but I don't
+know that I'm so very sorry for you. Reggie Urmston is a nice boy, but I
+imagine that is about all that could be said of him."
+
+She stopped a moment, and looked at the girl with a little twinkle in
+her eyes. "I almost think, my dear, that if you had shown the Canadian
+half the favour you have wasted on Reggie, he would, even in these
+degenerate days, have carried you off, in spite of all the Denhams could
+do to prevent him."
+
+Then for the first time Carrie Denham flushed crimson as she heard the
+thought she had not permitted herself to put into words. The impression
+sank in, and she afterwards recalled it. She, however, said nothing in
+comment, and the two went back silently through the archway to the lawn.
+
+The rest of the afternoon seemed very long to Carrie; but it dragged
+itself away, and at last she slipped out of the house as the still night
+was closing down. A full moon had just lifted itself above the ridge of
+moor. As she flitted along the terrace, the pale, silvery light was
+creeping across the old grey house. It rose above her, a pile of rudely
+hewn and weathered stone, not beautiful, for time itself could not make
+it that with its creeping mosses, houseleek, and lichens, but stamped
+with a certain rugged stateliness, and the girl, who had much else to
+think of, felt its influence.
+
+The pride of family was strong in her, and she remembered what kind of
+men those were who had built themselves that home in the days of feud
+and foray. They, at least, had not shrunk from the harder things of
+life, and she, who sprang from them, could emulate their courage. It
+seemed that Barrock-holme demanded a sacrifice, and she must make it.
+Then a little flush crept to her face as she remembered the part her
+father and Jimmy played. It was a degenerate and paltry one, to which
+she felt the very stranger to whom they were willing to sell her would
+never have stooped. He was not of her world, a man, so far as she knew,
+of low degree, one who had held the plough; but there were, at least,
+signs of strength and pride in him.
+
+She stopped for just a moment with a little catching of her breath as
+she saw him, a dim figure in the shadow of the firs beyond the wall that
+lay in sharp, black outline upon the dewy lawn. Then she went on again,
+nerving herself for what must be borne. When he had reached the foot of
+the terrace steps, he stood waiting her there with his hat in his hand.
+It was not exactly what Jimmy Denham or even Reggie Urmston would have
+done in a similar case, but this quaint Westerner had seen fit to make
+use of the formal courtesy of sixty years ago, and, what was most
+curious, farmer as he was, it did not appear ridiculous in him.
+
+"It was," he said, "very good of you to come, though I was 'most afraid
+to hope that you would keep your promise."
+
+"Wouldn't such a thing imply an obligation?'
+
+"Yes"--and Leland made a little gesture--"I think it would with you.
+Still, you see, the fact that you made that promise was in one way an
+astonishing thing to me."
+
+He stopped, and stood for a moment or two regarding her gravely, and the
+girl noticed that he was one who could be silent without awkwardness. It
+also seemed to her that he had made the opening moves rather gracefully.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "I had the honour of making you an offer last
+night."
+
+The girl found something reassuring in his lack of embarrassment and his
+dispassionate tone. She felt that the man was not in love with her, and
+that promised to make things a good deal easier. She was also relieved
+to find that she was mistress of herself.
+
+"It was, perhaps, rather an unusual thing for me to ask you to meet me
+here, but I fancied we should be quite alone," she said. "There is
+something to be said."
+
+"Yes," said Leland gravely. "That is quite natural. I am all attention."
+
+"Then will you tell me candidly why you wish to marry me."
+
+The moonlight showed the faint twinkle in Leland's eyes, as he made her
+one of his queer little bows.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "do you ever look into your mirror?"
+
+"Pshaw!" said the girl. "That is, after all, a very indifferent reason.
+I want the real one."
+
+Leland stood very straight now, looking at her steadily, but it was
+evident that he was somewhat perplexed. Accustomed as he was to being
+frank with himself, he did not quite know why he wanted to marry her
+then. A few weeks earlier he had been swayed by no more than an
+unreasoning desire to save her from Aylmer, but he was by no means sure
+that was all now. She stood full in the moonlight with the fleecy wrap
+about her shoulders, intensifying the duskiness of her eyes and hair,
+and the long light dress suggesting the sweeping lines of a
+beautifully-moulded figure, and her freshness and beauty stirred his
+depths. The faint trace of imperiousness in her pose, and the
+unfaltering gaze of her dark eyes, which were as steady as his own, had
+an effect that was stronger still, for her courage and composure
+appealed most to him. In the meanwhile she was, however, apparently
+awaiting an answer, and, though he was usually candid, nothing would
+have induced him to mention his original reason.
+
+"Well," he said, "I think I have told you that you are the most
+beautiful woman I have ever, at least, spoken to, but that, though it
+goes some distance, isn't quite everything. You've got grit and fibre
+that are worth more than looks. I am a lonely man with big fancies of my
+own, and, with you beside me to teach me what I do not know, I think I
+could make my mark in my own country."
+
+"You have nothing more to urge?"
+
+Leland made a little gesture.
+
+"My dear, I think you would find me kind to you."
+
+If the issue had been less serious, Carrie Denham could have laughed.
+His frankness and the absence of any sign of ardour or impassioned
+protest were, she fancied, under the circumstances, somewhat unusual,
+but that was, after all, a matter of relief to her. She was willing to
+marry him, but she meant to teach him to keep his distance afterwards,
+which would naturally be more difficult to do in the case of a man in
+love with her. Then he fixed his gaze on her again.
+
+"I almost fancy it's my turn now," he said. "I want the answer to a
+question I asked you last night. Will you come back to Prospect with me,
+as my wife?"
+
+Carrie Denham felt her cheeks burn, for she had to make him understand,
+and it was harder than she had imagined.
+
+"Yes," she said simply; "on conditions. One must be honest, and I could
+not make a bargain with you--afterwards--you can draw back now. I think
+you know that I do not love you--and I have nothing to give you except
+my fellowship. Still, as you do not love me, you will, perhaps, be
+content with that."
+
+The moonlight showed that Leland started slightly, and the darker colour
+in his bronzed face, but he made her a little deferential gesture. Then
+he looked up again, straightening himself, with the glint in his eyes
+she had now and then seen there before.
+
+"My dear," he said, "you shall do 'most everything you like; but, when
+you say that I do not love you, I am not sure that you are right."
+
+"Still," said the girl sharply, "I, at least, know what I feel myself,
+and I have tried to tell you that you must not expect too much from me."
+
+Leland, stooping, caught her hand and held it fast.
+
+"It's a bargain," he said. "You shall be your own mistress in every way,
+and your wishes will be quite enough for me; but I almost think that you
+will love me, too, some day. I shall try to find how to make you, and I
+have never been quite beaten yet in anything I undertook."
+
+He saw the look of shrinking in her face, and, though he had not
+expected it, a little thrill of pain ran through him. Then he raised the
+hand he held, and, stooping, touched it with his lips before he laid it
+on his arm. As they went up the steps together, he looked down on her
+again.
+
+"In the meanwhile, I will try to do nothing that could make you sorry
+you married me; and you have only to tell me when anything does not
+please you."
+
+He left her at the entrance to the hall, while he went in search of
+Branscombe Denham, and, as it happened, saw very little of her during
+the rest of the evening. It was late that night when the girl related to
+Eveline Annersly a part of what had passed. The faded, merry little
+woman, her aunt and only confidante, smiled as she listened.
+
+"You probably know your own affairs best, but I can't help wondering if
+you were wise in giving that man to understand that you didn't care in
+the least for him," she said.
+
+"Why?" said Carrie.
+
+"Because it is just possible that you may be sorry for it by-and-bye. As
+it is, I don't think there is any great necessity for pitying you. If it
+had been Aylmer, it would have been a different matter."
+
+The girl looked at her with lifted brows.
+
+"Do you suppose I should ever care for a man like that one?"
+
+"Well," said her companion reflectively, "he seems to me a much superior
+man to Reggie. Quite apart from that, I never could discover any
+particular reason for the belief the Denhams seem to have that they are
+set apart from the rest of humanity. If there were any, I should know
+it, since I'm one of them myself, you see. Henry Annersly, with all his
+shortcomings--and he naturally had them--was a much better man than
+Jimmy will ever be. In any case, you would have had to marry somebody;
+and, if I had been your mother, I would have shaken you for trying to
+fancy yourself in love with Reggie."
+
+Carrie Denham flushed crimson, and her brows straightened ominously, but
+she restrained herself, and laughed, a little bitter laugh.
+
+"Well," she said, "I suppose I did, and I had my chances in two Town
+seasons. Perhaps I was unreasonably fastidious, but I was--if it wasn't
+more than that--fond of Reggie, and, at least, I am willing to bear the
+cost of my foolishness now."
+
+Mrs. Annersly rose, and, after looking down on her a moment, stooped and
+kissed her.
+
+"Still," she said, "it wouldn't be quite honest to expect your husband
+to bear it too. Good-night, and try to think well of him. I almost fancy
+he deserves it."
+
+She went out smiling, but, when the door had closed, her face grew grave
+again.
+
+"I wonder if that man will have reason to hate me for what I have done,"
+she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRAIRIE
+
+
+Two long whistles came ringing up the track.
+
+Carrie Leland rose unsteadily in the big overheated car and struggled
+into the furs which had been one of her husband's gifts to her. She had
+never worn furs of that kind before, and, indeed, had never seen
+anything quite like them in her friends' possession; but, while that had
+naturally been a cause of satisfaction, it was, nevertheless, with a
+vague repugnance she put them on. They were one of the visible tokens
+that in the most sordid sense of the word she belonged to him. The man
+had not won her favour. In fact, he had made no great pretence of
+seeking it, for which, so far as that went, she was grateful; but he had
+evidently carried out his part of the bargain, and now she was part of
+his property, acquired by purchase. The recognition of it carried with
+it an almost intolerable sting, though hitherto--and it was just a
+fortnight since her wedding--she had not felt it quite so keenly. He had
+not been exacting, and it had been comparatively easy to keep him at due
+distance on board the big mail-boat and in the crowded train, but she
+realised it would be different, now they were almost home.
+
+In the meanwhile the great train was slowing down, and, when the
+clanging of the locomotive bell came back to her, she went out through
+the vestibule and leant on the platform-rails. Two huge wooden
+buildings, grain elevators, she supposed, with lines of sledges beneath
+them, flitted by. It was with a shiver she glanced at the little wooden
+town. It rose abruptly from the prairie, without sign of tree or garden
+to relieve its ugliness, an unsightly jumble of wooden houses in the
+midst of a vast white plain, which stretched gleaming to the far
+horizon, with not even a willow bluff to relieve its desolation. She set
+her lips tight as the cars ran slowly into the station. It consisted
+apparently of a stock-yard, a towering water-tank, and a weatherbeaten
+shed half-buried in snow, and was, as usual when the trains came in,
+crowded with men, who looked uncouth and shapeless in dilapidated
+skin-coats, and had hard faces, almost blackened by exposure to the
+frost. It was all strange and unfamiliar. She had not a friend in that
+grim, desolate land, and she felt the physical discomfort almost a
+relief by way of distraction from her overpowering sense of loneliness
+when the bitter cold struck through her with the keenness of steel.
+
+Then the cars stopped, and her husband, who swung her down into the
+dusty snow beside the track, was forthwith surrounded by the crowd. Men
+with the snow-dust sprinkled like flour upon their shaggy furs clustered
+about him, and their harsh, drawling voices grated on her ears. They
+made it evident that he was one of them, for they greeted him with rude
+friendliness as "Charley". That was another shock to her prejudices.
+Leland, however, waved them aside, and they fell back a pace or two,
+gazing at her with unemotional inquiry in their eyes, until he laid his
+hand upon her arm.
+
+"I guess you're going to be astonished," he said. "My wife, boys!"
+
+Then the big fur caps came off, while the men with the hard brown faces
+clustered thicker about the pair, and awkwardly held out mittened hands.
+They were most of them speaking, and, though it was difficult to catch
+all they said, she heard from those at the back odd snatches which did
+not please her.
+
+"Why didn't you let us know, and we'd have turned out the band? . . .
+It's a great country you have come to, ma'am. . . . She's a daisy. . . .
+Where'd he get her from? . . . You've married the whitest man on the
+prairie, Mrs. Leland. . . . Some tone about that one."
+
+A little red spot burned in Carrie Leland's cheeks. She hovered between
+anger and humiliation. Social distinctions counted for much in the land
+of her birth, and it seemed to her that the man she had married might
+have spared her this vulgarity. It might have been different had she
+loved him, for she would then, perhaps, have found pleasure in his
+evident popularity; but, as it was, she felt merely the indignity of
+being exposed to the gaze and comments of these ox-drivers or ploughmen,
+as she took them to be. That she was apparently expected to shake hands
+with them struck her as ridiculous. The ovation, however, died away, and
+there was for a moment an uncomfortable silence, during which the crowd
+gazed at the cold, beautiful woman who regarded them with unsympathetic
+eyes, until her husband touched her arm again.
+
+"Won't you say just a word to them? They mean to be kind," he said.
+
+Carrie made no response. She felt she could not have done so had she
+wished, and Leland turned to the men again. "Mrs. Leland doesn't feel
+quite equal to thanking you, boys," he said. "She has just come off a
+long journey and is feeling a little strange."
+
+The men murmured good-humouredly. One of them pushed his way through the
+crowd and shook hands with Leland.
+
+"We sent your wheat on to Winnipeg, as you cabled, and your people have
+brought us another forty sledge-loads in," he said. "We're rather
+tightly fixed for room, and want to know if you're going to send much
+more along. No doubt you know wheat is two cents down."
+
+"I do," said Leland drily. "Still, in the meanwhile I have got to sell."
+
+The man appeared a little astonished, but he made a sign of
+comprehension. "Well," he said, "if you could have held back a month or
+two, it might have been better. They've been rushing a good deal on to
+the markets lately, but I guess you'll want to straighten up after your
+trip to the old country. Your sleigh's ready, as you wired."
+
+Leland, who, as she noticed, seemed desirous of changing the subject,
+turned to his wife.
+
+"Would you like some tea, or anything of that kind?" he said. "If not,
+we had better start at once. It's forty miles to Prospect, and there's
+not much of the afternoon left. Still, of course, if you prefer it, they
+might fix you up a fairly decent room at the hotel to-night."
+
+Carrie glanced at the little desolate town. It appeared uninviting
+enough, but when she spoke the words seemed to stick in her throat.
+
+"No," she said; "I would sooner go--home."
+
+Leland said something to the man beside him, and then led Carrie into a
+very dirty wooden room with a big stove in the midst of it, after which
+he left her to watch, with a sinking heart, the departing train clatter
+out into the darkness.
+
+He came back transformed--with a battered fur cap hiding most of his
+face, in a very big and somewhat tattered fur coat. With a fresh shock
+of dismay, she noticed that he now looked very much as the others did.
+In another minute he had lifted her into the sleigh and wrapped the big
+robes about her. Then he shook the reins and they were whirled away down
+the long smear of trail that led straight off to the horizon.
+
+It was beaten hard, the team were fresh and fast, and for a while the
+girl felt the exhilaration of the swift rush through nipping air. The
+desolate town faded behind her; a grey blur that lifted itself out of
+the horizon, and was a big birch bluff, came flitting back to her; there
+was deep stillness, only intensified by the screech of runners and the
+soft drumming of hoofs. A vast sweep of fleckless azure overhung the
+glistening plain below. It was not all white, however, for there were
+shades of grey and dusky purple in the hollows, and the trail was a wavy
+riband that rose and fell in varying blue. It was beautiful in its own
+way, and the stinging air stirred her blood like wine. That was for an
+hour or so; but when the sun dipped, a red, copper ball, amidst a frosty
+haze, and the blues and greys crept wide across the whiteness of the
+plain, the cold laid hold of her. Leland, who had scarcely spoken,
+looked down.
+
+"Are you warm?" he said.
+
+The girl was scarcely willing to admit that she was not; but the frost
+of the Northwest strikes keen and deep, and, after all, it was his
+business to attend to her physical comfort.
+
+"No," she said; "I am very cold."
+
+Leland nodded, though there was light enough to show the curious look in
+his eyes. "Well," he said, "that ought to be excuse enough for me, and
+it's going to be a good deal colder presently."
+
+He slipped his free arm round her, and drew her to him masterfully. Then
+he shook the furs higher about her neck with the hand that held the
+reins, and Carrie, who felt that protest would be useless and
+undignified, said nothing when she found her shoulder drawn against his
+breast, though the old fur coat had a faint but unmistakable odour of
+tobacco and the stable about it.
+
+Leland looked down on her with a little laugh. "After all, that is where
+you ought to be," he said. "Perhaps, if I am very good to you, you will
+come there of your own will, by-and-bye."
+
+Carrie said nothing, and, though she felt her cheeks burn, it was not
+altogether with anger against him. The man had been tactfully
+considerate, and had deferred to her as she felt that Aylmer would not
+have done. Indeed, she realised that she owed him a good deal, if only
+because of the delicacy he had displayed, and which she had scarcely
+expected from one so much beneath her in station. It was not even so
+repugnant as she had fancied to lie there warmed by the heat of his
+body, with his arm about her, and she felt, at least, a comforting
+confidence in his ability to shelter and protect her. What Leland felt
+he did not tell her until some time afterwards. He was accustomed to
+restraint, and, too, the driving occupied most of his attention, for
+darkness was creeping across the waste, and the snow was deep outside
+the beaten trail.
+
+Then the cold increased until it grew numbing, and when the pain ceased,
+all feeling died out of the girl's hands and feet. She gradually grew
+drowsy, and, looking up now and then with heavy eyes, saw only the dim
+shapes of the horses projected against the bitter blueness of the night.
+Still, at times, they plunged into belts of shadow, where there was a
+crackling under the runners and a flitting by of ghostly trees that
+vanished when they once more swept out into the awful cold of the open.
+Now and then Leland called to the horses, but his voice was lost again
+next moment in the silence it had scarcely broken. A curious sense of
+the unreality of it all came upon the girl. She almost felt that, if she
+could cry out, he and the team would vanish, and all would be with her
+as it had been in England before she met him. Then the drumming of hoofs
+grew very faint, and with a half-conscious desire for warmth she crept
+still closer to the silent man, who looked down on her very
+compassionately, and then, setting his lips, gave his attention again to
+the team. She remembered nothing further until she roused herself at a
+pressure on her arm.
+
+"Prospect is close in front of us," said her companion.
+
+She raised herself a trifle, and, looking round with a shiver, saw a
+half-moon sailing low above a dusky mass of trees. What seemed to be a
+wooden house stood in the midst of them, and its windows flung out
+streaks of ruddy light upon the snow. Behind it, she could dimly see a
+range of strange, shapeless buildings. They did not in the least look
+like English stables, barns, or granaries. Then there was a sound of
+voices, and a door swung open, letting out a broader track of
+brightness, in the midst of which the sleigh pulled up. Shadowy figures
+appeared here and there, and Leland, who unstrapped the robes, rolled
+them about her. Then, before she quite realised his purpose, he had
+lifted her and them together, and was walking stiffly towards the house.
+In another minute or two he set her down in a little log-walled room
+which had a tiled stove in the middle of it, and a hard-featured elderly
+woman came towards her with a kindly smile in her eyes.
+
+"Mrs. Nesbit, Carrie," said the man. "She has been looking after the
+house for me lately. My wife's 'most frozen, and you'll do what you can
+to make her comfortable. . . . I suppose those are the fixings from
+Montreal?"
+
+Mrs. Nesbit said they were, but that they had arrived with one of the
+sledges too late to be opened that day. Leland pointed to several
+canvas-covered rolls and bulky cases as he turned to the girl.
+
+"They're curtains and rugs and carpets, and things of that kind," he
+said. "We don't worry much about them on the prairie, but this room and
+the next one are your own, unless there are any you like better. We'll
+get the cases opened to-morrow."
+
+He went out, and it was some little time later when Carrie found him
+awaiting her in a great bare room. There were antelope heads, guns,
+axes, rifles, and here and there a splendid cluster of wheat ears, upon
+the walls, but there was nothing on the floor, and the furniture
+appeared to consist of a table, a carpenter's bench, a set of
+bookshelves, and a few lounge chairs. Still, it was well warmed by the
+big crackling stove, and she sank with a little sigh of physical content
+into one of the chairs he drew out. Leland, who now wore a jacket of
+soft white deer-skin, stooped beside her and took one of her still
+chilly hands in his. It was also the one on a finger of which there
+gleamed the ring, and he glanced at it with a queer, half-wistful little
+smile.
+
+"I hope you will be happy here. What I can do to make it home to you
+will be done," he said.
+
+He stopped a moment, and, seeing she made no response, went on:
+
+"All the way out I have thought of you sitting here. Since my mother, no
+woman but Mrs. Nesbit has crossed my threshold. It has been all work and
+loneliness with me. Won't you try to make it different now?"
+
+He laid his other hand gently on her shoulder, and the girl who bore his
+name felt her cheeks burn as she turned her eyes away. A caress would
+have been in one sense a very little thing, but she could not bring
+herself to invite it then, and she was further warned by what she saw in
+her companion's eyes.
+
+Leland for a moment closed one of his hard hands. Presently he smiled
+again and, drawing another of the chairs up, sat down beside her.
+
+"Well," he said, "you will get used to me by-and-bye, and I only want to
+please you in the meanwhile. And now about Mrs. Nesbit. We'll send her
+away if it would suit you, and you can get somebody from Winnipeg,
+though I don't know that it wouldn't be better to let Jake do the
+cooking and cleaning as before. It's quite difficult to get maids in
+this country, and, when you've had them 'bout a week, they marry
+somebody. Anyway, that's your business. The one thing to be done is what
+you like, but if you could see your way to keep Mrs. Nesbit, it would
+please me."
+
+It was almost the only thing he had asked of her, and she was willing to
+humour him in this. "Of course," she said. "In fact, I rather like her.
+Who is she?"
+
+"A widow, the mother of one of the boys who drives a team for me. Wages
+come down when there's little doing with the snow upon the ground, and
+he's away railroading. I told him I'd see the old lady was looked after
+until he came back again."
+
+"But how could you have done that, if I had sent her away?"
+
+"I'd have boarded her out with Custer at The Range, whose wife wants
+help and can't hire it. Mrs. Nesbit would never have known where the
+money came from."
+
+Carrie Leland smiled. It was only a few months since she had first set
+eyes upon the man, but she felt that, if she had been his housekeeper, a
+device of that kind would not have availed with her. There was no doubt
+that he had his strong points.
+
+Then another young man came in, and was presented to her as Tom Gallwey.
+He called her husband "Charley", and spoke with a clean English
+intonation.
+
+"I'm going round to give the boys their instructions," he said. "We have
+cleaned out the sod granaries as you cabled. Are we to break into the
+straw-pile to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes," said Leland. "You'll go on hauling wheat in with every team."
+
+"I suppose you know what has happened to the market? One would fancy it
+wasn't a good time to sell."
+
+"Still, you'll haul that wheat in. We'll go into the rest to-morrow.
+Will you come back to supper?"
+
+The young man glanced at Carrie. "If Mrs. Leland will excuse me, I think
+not," he said, and departed, as he evidently considered, tactfully.
+
+"An Englishman?" said the girl, with a trace of colour in her face.
+
+"I've never asked him, but he talks like one. I struck him shovelling on
+a railroad, and looking very sick, two or three years ago. Now he gets
+decent pay for looking after things for me."
+
+Just then another man in weirdly patched blue-jean, who limped in his
+walk and carried the tray with his left hand, brought in supper. He
+gazed at Carrie so hard that he spilled some of the contents of the
+dishes, and, when he went out, she glanced at her husband with a smile.
+
+"I suppose that is another pensioner?" she said.
+
+"No," said Leland. "He earns his pay, and all I did was to make it a
+little easier for him. He got himself mixed up with a threshing mill at
+another place a while ago."
+
+"And he naturally came to you?"
+
+Leland's eyes sparkled shrewdly. "Well," he said, "I guess I get my full
+value out of him. Won't you come to supper?"
+
+Carrie took her place at the head of the table, and found the pork,
+fried potatoes, apples, flapjacks, and hot corn-cakes much more
+palatable than she had expected. She also looked very dainty sitting
+there in the great bare room, and was not displeased when Leland told
+her so. In fact, the more she saw of him, the more favourably he
+impressed her, and, though she remembered always that she was a Denham
+of Barrock-holme, and he a Western farmer of low degree, she did what
+she could to be gracious to him. It was not until the meal was over that
+a trace of the bitterness she had felt towards him came back to her.
+
+"I suppose you posted the letter I gave you at Winnipeg?" she said.
+
+Leland showed some little embarrassment. "I did. I was going to talk to
+you about it in a day or two, because it wouldn't be quite convenient to
+have Mrs. Heaton out from Chicago just now."
+
+Carrie glanced at him sharply. "You told me I could fill the house with
+my friends, if I wished."
+
+"I believe I did," said Leland. "Anyway, I meant it. Still, we're not
+going to worry about that to-night."
+
+Carrie saw that he was resolute, and discreetly changed the subject. She
+had not yet quite shaken off the effects of the cold, and in another
+hour rose drowsily from beside the stove.
+
+Leland opened the door, and stood with his hand on it. "Mrs. Nesbit will
+see you have everything you want," he said. "Don't come down too
+early--and good-night."
+
+He took the hand she held out, and did not let it go at once. The girl
+felt her heart beat a wee bit faster than usual, as it had done once or
+twice before that day. Again she felt that it was only fitting she
+should offer her cheek to him, but it was more than she could do.
+
+Then he dropped her hand, and made her a little inclination as he once
+more said, "Good-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CARRIE MAKES HER VIEWS CLEAR
+
+
+It was ten o'clock next morning when Carrie, coming down to breakfast,
+found that her husband had gone out two or three hours earlier. Gallwey
+also came in, soon after she had finished the meal, to say that Leland
+might not be back until the evening, and, when he offered to take her
+round the homestead, she decided to go with him. Mrs. Nesbit, who
+equipped her with a pair of lined gum-boots, helped her on with her
+furs, gazing at them admiringly.
+
+"There's not another set like them on the prairie, and I expect there
+are very few folks in Montreal have anything quite as smart," she said.
+"They must have cost a pile of money."
+
+A little flush crept into Carrie's face, but she answered languidly.
+
+"I suppose they did," she said. "Mr. Leland had them made for me."
+
+"Well," said the woman, who gazed at her with an air of deprecation,
+"you have got a good man, my dear. There's not a straighter or a
+better-hearted one between Winnipeg and the Rockies--but it would be
+worth while to humour him a little. He has just a hard spot or two in
+him, and he generally gets his way."
+
+Carrie smiled, a trifle coldly. "And so do I."
+
+She went out with Gallwey, but the hard-handed woman stood still a
+moment with a shadow of anxiety in her eyes, and then sighed a little as
+she went on with her work again. She would have done a good deal to save
+Charley Leland trouble, and she foresaw difficulties.
+
+In the meanwhile, the girl found the cold unlike anything she had felt
+in England, but, after the first few minutes, more endurable than she
+had expected. There was no trace of moisture in that crystalline
+atmosphere, the sun that had no heat in it shone dazzlingly, and the
+snow that flung the sun's rays back fell from her feet dusty and dry as
+flour. No cloud flecked the clear blueness overhead, and fainter washes
+of the same cold colour marked the beaten trails and prints of
+horse-hoofs that alone broke the gleaming surface of the white expanse
+below. On the far horizon she could see grey blurs, which were
+presumably trees.
+
+Gallwey, who was wrapped in an old fur coat from cheeks to ankles,
+proved an agreeable companion. He led her first a little way back among
+the slender birches, where she could see the house. It was, she decided,
+by no means picturesque, a rambling, frame structure roofed with cedar
+shingles, built round what was evidently the original hut of small birch
+logs; but it had a little verandah with rude pillars and trellis work on
+one side of it, and Gallwey assured her there were not many houses in
+that country to equal it. Then he showed her the barns and stables,
+built in part of birch logs and for the rest of sods, stretching back
+into the shelter of the bluff. They were primitive and almost shapeless
+structures, with roofs that apparently consisted of straw and soil and
+snow, but she fancied their thickness would keep out even the frost of
+the Northwest. There were, however, only a horse or two and a few brawny
+oxen standing in them. Last of all, he led her into one of the most
+curious edifices she had ever seen. Sitting down on one of the wheat
+bags inside it, she looked about her.
+
+It had no definite outline, and, from the outside, it had looked like a
+great mound of snow, but she now saw that it had a skeleton wall of
+birch branches. Round this had been piled an immensity of very short
+straw, and the roof, which had partly fallen in as the bags beneath it
+had been cut out, consisted of the same material. It was filled with
+bags of wheat that here and there trickled red-gold grain, and she
+turned to Gallwey with a question.
+
+"Is this the usual granary?" she said.
+
+Gallwey laughed. "There are quite a few of them in this country. You
+see, we don't stack the grain here, but leave most of the straw
+standing, and thresh in the field, whilst most of the smaller men rush
+their grain in to the railroad elevators as soon as that is done. As a
+rule, they want their money, but Charley had meant to hold wheat this
+year."
+
+Carrie felt a little thoughtful, for it was evident that her husband's
+change of purpose had attracted attention, and she fancied she knew the
+reason for it.
+
+"The stables are a little primitive, too," she said.
+
+"They are no doubt very different from what you have been accustomed to
+in England, but they serve their purpose, and in a way they're
+characteristic of your husband. While there are men who would spend
+part of their profits making things comfortable, every dollar Charley
+Leland takes out of the land goes back into it again, and with the
+increase he breaks so many more acres each year. It's a tolerably bold
+policy, but that is what suits him, and it has succeeded well so far.
+For one thing, he wants very little for personal expenses. To all
+intents and purposes he hasn't any."
+
+He stopped a moment, and then went on deprecatingly: "I wonder if I may
+say that I am glad he has married. After all, it is scarcely fit for a
+man to live as he has done, stripping himself of everything. It has been
+all effort and self-denial, and you can do so much to make things
+pleasant for him."
+
+Carrie was touched, though she would not show it. The man, who
+apparently had no time for pleasure and no thought of comfort, had been
+very generous to her. It was also evident that there was much a woman
+could do to brighten the life he led, if it was only to teach him that
+it had more to offer him than the material results of ceaseless labour.
+Still, that had not been her purpose in marrying him, and she felt an
+uncomfortable sense of confusion as she decided that it would have been
+very much better if he had chosen a woman who loved him. As things were,
+he must give everything, and there was so little that she could offer.
+
+"Where are all the horses and the men gone?" she asked.
+
+"To the railroad. They started before the sun was up, but Charley has
+driven twenty miles to meet one of the Winnipeg cattle-brokers. It's
+wheat or beef only with most men in this country, but we raise the two,
+and Charley is thinking of cutting out some stock for the market, though
+it's very seldom done at this season. We only keep store beasts through
+the winter, and, as they take their chances in the open, when the snow
+comes they get poor and thin."
+
+Gallwey excused himself in another minute or two, and Carrie, who went
+back to the house, spent the afternoon lying in a big chair by the stove
+with a book, of which she read but little. From what she had heard, it
+was evident that Leland was selling his wheat and cattle at a sacrifice,
+which, she could understand, he would naturally not have done, could he
+have helped it. The reflection was not exactly a pleasant one, for
+though Branscombe Denham had carefully refrained from mentioning to what
+agreement he and Leland had come, she was, of course, aware that her
+marriage had relieved him from some, at least, of his financial
+difficulties. After all, though she had sacrificed herself for him, she
+could not think highly of her father, and the fact that her husband had
+been thus compelled to strip himself was painful to contemplate. It
+placed her under a heavy obligation to Leland, and there was so little
+she could do, or, at least, was willing to do, that would free her of
+it.
+
+It was dark when he came in, walking stiffly, with his fur coat hard
+with frost, and her heart smote her again as she saw how his weary face
+brightened at the sight of her. It cost her an effort to submit to the
+touch of his lips, but she made it, though she felt her cheeks grow hot,
+and was sorry she had done so when she saw the glint in his eyes and
+felt the constraint of his arm. Drawing herself away from him, she
+slipped back a pace or two. Leland stood looking at her wistfully.
+
+"I didn't wish to startle you," he said. "Still, it has been a little
+hard and lonely here, and I fancied it was going to be different now. I
+was looking forward to a kind word from you all the twenty miles home."
+
+An unusual colour crept into his wife's face. Both of them were glad
+that Jake limped in just then with the evening meal, which in that
+country differs in no way from breakfast or the midday dinner. Salt
+pork, potatoes, apples, flapjacks or hot cakes with molasses, and strong
+green tea, it is usually very much the same from Winnipeg to Calgary.
+Few men have more, or desire it, on the prairie, and fewer still have
+less. At the end of the meal, when Jake had cleared away, Carrie Leland
+looked up questioningly at her husband, who sat opposite her beside the
+crackling stove. There was nobody else in the big, bare room.
+
+"You haven't told me why it is not convenient for me to have Ada Heaton
+here just now," she said.
+
+"You want her very much?" and again the man glanced at her wistfully.
+
+"Yes," said Carrie, "of course I do. I must have somebody to talk to."
+
+Leland made a gesture of vague appeal. "I suppose it's only natural,
+though I had 'most dared to hope you might be content for a little with
+my company. Anyway, we won't let that count. Couldn't you bring Mrs.
+Annersly out? I like her, and she told me that if I asked her she would
+come and stay a year. Then there's your younger sister."
+
+"You don't suppose that Lily would come to live here?" and there was
+something in her smile that jarred upon the man.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm sorry. She was rather nice to me. Is there nobody
+else you could think of?"
+
+"One would almost fancy that you were trying to get away from the
+question. It is why you don't want me to bring Ada Heaton here."
+
+Leland leaned forward a little, and laid his hand upon her arm. "Won't
+you let it rest to please me? I haven't asked you very much."
+
+The girl was almost tempted to do so, but, unfortunately, she had some
+notion of what was influencing him, and resented it.
+
+"No," she said coldly. "I really think I ought to know."
+
+"Then I'm sorry, but it wouldn't suit me to have Mrs. Heaton here at
+all."
+
+"Why?" and an ominous red spot appeared in the girl's cheek as she shook
+off his arm.
+
+Leland stood up, and, leaning upon the chair-back, looked down at her.
+Perhaps he felt it gave him an advantage, and he would need it in the
+struggle which was evidently impending. He had never faced an angry
+woman before, and he shrank from it now, but not sufficiently to desist
+from what he felt he had to do.
+
+"I wonder if you have ever asked yourself why Mrs. Heaton is in Chicago
+when her home is in London," he said. "I can't believe that she told
+you."
+
+"Ah,"--and Carrie moved her head so that he could see the sparkle in her
+eyes--"you have heard those tales, and believed them--about a relative
+of mine. Presumably, you have heard nothing about Captain Heaton?"
+
+"It was one of your people who told me. They said the man was short of
+temper. So are a good many of us; and, it seems, he had some reason.
+Still, there's rather more against Mrs. Heaton than that she's not
+living with her own husband. Knowing you meant to ask her here, I made
+inquiries."
+
+The girl turned towards him with anger and contempt in her face, which
+was almost colourless now, although she fancied that he knew rather more
+than she did about the recent doings of the lady in question. The pride
+of family was especially strong in her, as it occasionally is in cases
+where there is very little to warrant it.
+
+"Your time was well employed," she said. "You who live here with your
+horses and cattle presume to decide how people of our station should
+spend their lives."
+
+"There is one thing, at least, expected of a woman who is married; it's
+the necessary foundation of civilised society. And the woman you want to
+bring here has openly disregarded it. You must have heard something of
+the trouble between her and her husband in London, but I can't quite
+think you know how she came to be in Chicago."
+
+As a matter of fact, Carrie Leland did not know. Still, she would not
+ask the man, who had apparently laid firm hands upon his temper, and was
+looking at her appealingly. It was unfortunate that she only remembered
+he had presumed to cast a slur upon one of her relations, and was, in
+her opinion, very far beneath her. She refused to answer, and Leland's
+face grew grim.
+
+"Well," he said, "you are in almost every way your own mistress, but
+there are points on which what I say stands. This house was built for my
+mother. I have brought my wife home to it now, and Mrs. Heaton does not
+enter its door."
+
+Carrie rose and faced him, imperious, but at last dangerously cold in
+her anger.
+
+"Your wife!" she said. "Could you have expected that I should ever be
+more than that in name to you?"
+
+The veins showed swollen on the man's forehead as he looked at her, and
+a dark flush crept into his bronzed cheek.
+
+"Madam," he said, "now you have gone that far, you have got to tell me
+exactly what you mean."
+
+"It should be quite plain. You could buy me. It sounds absurd, of
+course, and a trifle theatrical, but it is just what took place, and
+there are no doubt many of us for sale. Isn't that alone sufficient to
+make me hate you? Can't you realise the sickening humiliation of it, and
+did you suppose you could buy my love as well?"
+
+Leland made her a little inclination which, though it was the last thing
+she had expected just then, undoubtedly became him. "I had 'most
+ventured to hope that you might give it me by-and-bye," he said.
+
+His restraint did not serve him. The girl realised that she was in the
+wrong, but she had failed in her desire to look down on him. This she
+naturally felt was another grievance against him. She had the old
+disdain of those who own the land for those who till it, and, although
+in this man's case, the contempt she strove to feel seemed out of
+place, it was horribly humiliating to recognise that she was wholly in
+his hands.
+
+"To you?" she said, with a bitter laugh that brought the dark flush to
+his face again.
+
+Leland laid his hand on her shoulder and gripped it hard.
+
+"I have, perhaps, no great reason for setting too high a value on
+myself," he said. "What I am you know, but, if you must have plain talk,
+there were two men made the bargain that disposed of you. It cost me a
+big share of my possessions to satisfy your father, but he showed no
+unwillingness to take my cheque, and he would have taken Aylmer's could
+he have raised him high enough. Who was the lowest down, the Western
+farmer, who, at least, meant to be kind to you, or Branscombe Denham,
+who was willing to sell his daughter to the highest bidder? Still, you
+were right. It was, in one way, about the meanest thing I ever did. The
+blood was in my face when I made my offer--and your father smiled. By
+the Lord, if I'd made that proposition to any hard-up wheat-grower
+between here and Calgary, he'd have whipped me from his door."
+
+The girl had plenty of courage, but she was almost afraid of him now,
+for there was a strength and grimness in his bronzed face which she had
+never seen in that of any Denham, and the tightening grip of his
+ploughman's fingers bruised her shoulder cruelly. Perhaps unconsciously,
+he shook her a little in a gust of passion, and she set her lips hard to
+check the cry she would not have uttered had he beaten her.
+
+"Now," he said, "in any case, you belong to me. That has to be
+remembered always. How are we to go on? What is it to be?"
+
+Carrie contrived to smile sardonically. "Oh," she said, "sit down, and
+try to be rational. All this is a trifle ridiculous."
+
+Leland dropped his hand, and, when she sat down, leaned upon the back of
+the other chair facing her.
+
+"Well?" he said.
+
+"It seems to me that we must quietly try to come to an understanding
+once for all to-night. In the first place, why did you wish to marry
+me?"
+
+Leland set his lips for a moment. It would have been a relief just then
+to tell her that it was to save her from Aylmer, but this appeared a
+brutality to which he could not force himself, for, in spite of what she
+had told him, he could not be sure that it had been his only reason. Her
+shrinking from him, painful to him as it was, nevertheless had its
+attraction.
+
+"I believe I said that you were the most beautiful woman I had, at
+least, ever spoken to," he said. "I was a lonely man, and it seemed to
+me I might, perhaps, do big things some day, with a woman of your kind
+to teach me what I did not know. That was part of it, but I think there
+was more. It was a hard life and a bare one here, and I had a fancy that
+you could show me how much I might have that I was missing. A smile
+would have helped me through my difficulties; a word or two when one had
+to choose between the mean and right, and the knowledge that there was
+some one who believed in me, would have made another and gentler man of
+me. Well, it seems that you have none of them to give me."
+
+He made an emphatic gesture. "Still, we have to face the position as it
+is, and my part's plain. Everything you have been used to you shall
+have, so far as I can get it for you. You can have any of your friends
+here who will make the journey and be civil to your farmer-husband, and
+you can go to them when it pleases you. To save you ever asking me for
+money, I will open you an account in a Winnipeg bank, and you need never
+see me unless you wish to."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you are, at least, generous. To make the
+understanding complete, what do you expect from me?"
+
+Leland moved and laid his hand upon her shoulder again.
+
+"Only to remember that, however little you think of your husband, you
+are my wife, after all."
+
+The girl's cheeks burned, but she looked up at him with a little hard
+laugh. "I think I could have struck you for that, but it must go with
+the rest. Still, even if I were all that your imagination could picture
+me, and went as far as Mrs. Heaton did, why should it trouble you?"
+
+Leland stooped lower over her with the veins swollen on his forehead and
+a glint in his eyes.
+
+"You and your father tricked me--taking all I had to offer for nothing,"
+he said. "I suppose I ought to hate you, too--and still I can't."
+
+Once more he gripped her cruelly. "By the Lord, dolt that I am, I think
+I almost love you for the grit that made you show your scorn. Still,
+that doesn't count. It is for me to go it alone."
+
+He let his grasp relax and left her suddenly, turning at the door.
+
+"You will want a companion. Will you write for Mrs. Annersly to-morrow?"
+
+"I will," said Carrie coldly. "Under the circumstances it is advisable.
+She will be a protection."
+
+He went out and she saw no more of him for a day or two, but that night
+she found a blue mark upon the whiteness of her shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LELAND SEEKS DISTRACTION
+
+
+Dusk was creeping up from the eastwards across the great snow-sheeted
+plain when Leland pulled his horses up where a little by-track branched
+off from the beaten trail. Behind him the wilderness, losing its
+gleaming whiteness and fading into shades of soft blue-grey, ran level
+to the hard blueness on the northern horizon. In front of him there were
+rolling rises ridged with sinuous bands of birches, black in broken
+masses against the lingering light in the south and west. There was room
+for wheat enough to glut markets of the world on the leagues of rich
+black loam that undulated to the frozen waters of Lake Winnipeg. Already
+miles of it were banded together by belts of two-foot stubble; but as
+yet the plough had not invaded the land of bluff and ravine, creek and
+coulee, where the shaggy broncho and the wild steer ran.
+
+Leland was wrapped to the eyes in an old fur coat, and his breath rose
+like steam into the dead still air. A cloud of thin vapour floated above
+the horses. It was exceptionally cold, and Gallwey, who sat half-frozen
+beneath the piled-up robes, wondered why his companion had pulled the
+team up there when they were within some twenty minutes' ride from
+shelter. Still he did not consider it advisable to inquire, for certain
+colts of a blooded sire had been missing, and Leland, who had shown
+signs of temper during the day, looked unusually grim. Flinging the
+reins to Gallwey, he stepped down stiffly from the sleigh.
+
+"Drive on slowly, Tom. You don't want to keep a warm team standing in
+this frost," he said.
+
+Gallwey contrived to clutch the reins, though his hands were numbed
+through the big mittens.
+
+"What are you going to do?" he asked.
+
+"Look at these tracks," said Leland drily. "They kind of interest me."
+
+Gallwey spoke to the team, and the sleigh, which consisted of a light
+waggon-box mounted on a runner frame, slid on. Sleighs such as are used
+about the Eastern cities are not common in the Northwest, where, indeed,
+the snow seldom lies so deep or long; and the prairie farmer either
+makes shift with his waggon or contents himself with the humble
+bob-sled. He now noticed what he had been too cold to notice before,
+that there was something peculiar about the print of hoofs breaking out
+here and there, a blur of scattered blue smudges in the trail he
+followed. Some seemed deeper than others, and there were long spaces
+where they disappeared altogether. This did not seriously concern him,
+so he drove on until he reached the first grove of stunted birches which
+clung beneath the shelter of a winding rise. Here he waited until Leland
+rejoined him. It was quite dark now, and he could not see his comrade's
+face at all, but, as he flung himself into the sleigh, he laughed in a
+fashion of his that Gallwey knew usually portended trouble.
+
+"Go on," Leland said. "I want my supper, and a little talk with Jeff
+Kimball, too. One would have figured that man had a little more sense in
+him. It's 'most two weeks, I think, since you had any snow?"
+
+"A week last Monday. Just enough to dust the trail. Is there anything
+particular to be deduced from that?"
+
+"Only that we had the rustlers round next day, and I've a kind of notion
+my colts went then."
+
+Gallwey sat silent while the sleigh glided on. He did not know, of
+course, that Leland had quarrelled with his wife, but he had noticed the
+man's grimness during the day, and now he was struck with the ring of
+his voice as he spoke of the rustlers.
+
+The cattle war in Montana across the neighbouring border, in which the
+great ranchers and small homesteaders contended for the land, was over;
+and, when the United States cavalry restored order, little bands of
+broken men, ruined in the struggle, and cattle-riders who found their
+occupation gone, had undertaken a smuggling business along the frontier.
+The Prohibition Act was enforced in neighbouring parts of Canada, and
+there was accordingly an excellent profit to be made on any whisky they
+could run. There was, too, among the Chinamen in the United States a
+good demand for opium, which it was supposed came in via Vancouver. For
+the most part, the smugglers were tolerated, perhaps from the same
+motives that prompt otherwise honest people to pardon outlaws who rob
+the rich and the government. At any rate, a farmer seldom grumbled when
+a horse was requisitioned, though he knew that the animal might not be
+returned. As a reward for his silence, he was likely to find mysterious
+cases of whisky near his trail. His opposite conduct could carry with it
+many results. For instance, grass-fires, so dangerous to homesteads and
+ripening crops, had a suspicious way of starting in the harvest season.
+The small farmer, accordingly, was loth to trouble the mounted police
+about anything he might have heard or seen, and the rustlers as a rule
+knew when to stop, and only seized a horse or killed a steer for meat
+when they urgently needed it.
+
+"Do you think it's worth while making trouble?" said Gallwey,
+suggestively.
+
+"I want my colts back," said Leland. "I guess I'm going to get them.
+Shake that team up. It's getting cold."
+
+Gallwey, who was half frozen already, called to the horses, and in
+another ten minutes they came into sight of a blaze of cheerful radiance
+in the gloom of a big bluff. Leland held the big cattle run in the
+vicinity, though it lay a long ride from his homestead.
+
+Gradually a little log house grew into shape, and Leland, who drove the
+sleigh round to the back of it before he got out, turned to the man who
+had slouched from the doorway.
+
+"I guess we'll leave the sleigh here," he said. "We have come for the
+night, and we'll put the team in while you get supper."
+
+Though he could not see the man's face for the dark, Gallwey fancied he
+was a little disconcerted at this announcement. In another half-hour,
+however, they were sitting down to a meal. Leland said very little until
+it was over, when, taking his pipe out, he pulled a hide chair up to
+the stove and looked at the man. "Whom have you had round the place the
+last week or so, Jeff?" he said.
+
+"Thompson," said the other. "He brought four or five horses along."
+
+"He did. I saw his tracks where he headed off the trail for the back
+range. Quite sure he hadn't any more? That reminds me; I'll want to see
+him in a day or two about those steers."
+
+Gallwey fancied this last was meant as an intimation that accuracy was
+advisable, and he watched the big, loose-limbed man who was filling his
+pipe just then. He appeared uneasy under all this scrutiny, for Leland
+was also quietly regarding him.
+
+"Now I come to recollect, it was four."
+
+"Anybody else?" said Leland.
+
+"Custer; he came along with a bob-sled yesterday."
+
+"You can't think of any more?"
+
+"No," said the other man, who flashed a suspicious glance at him. "I
+can't quite figure how I could when they weren't there."
+
+Leland smoked on tranquilly, apparently considering for a moment or two,
+and then, straightening himself a little, looked hard at the man.
+
+"Jeff," he said quietly, "it's a kind of pity you don't know enough to
+make a decent liar."
+
+The man started, but seemed to recover himself again, and it was with
+quickening interest Gallwey watched the pair. A smoky kerosene lamp gave
+out an indifferent light, and a red glare beat out from the open door of
+the stove, streaming uncertainly upon the faces of the men.
+
+It showed Leland sitting motionless, a hard glint in his eyes, and the
+other man making little uneasy movements as he shrank from the steady
+gaze. As Leland spoke again, the man winced.
+
+"If any man had said as much to me, one of us would have been out in the
+snow by now," he said. "Have you no grit in you? Then why in the name of
+thunder did you take hold of a contract that was 'way too big for you?
+Did you think I could be bluffed by a thing like you?"
+
+"I can't quite figure what you mean," said the other man sullenly.
+
+"Then I'll have some pleasure in telling you. Soon after the last snow
+fell, two rustlers came up this trail--there were more of them, but they
+stayed down by the big one. When they went away, three of my horses went
+with them. Now, who caught those horses and had them ready? It's kind of
+curious, too, that they were the pick of the bunch, with good blood in
+them. The only man round here who could tell them which were worth the
+lifting is you. Jeff, you don't know enough to run a peanut stand, and
+yet you figured you were fit to kick against the man who hired you."
+
+Jeff appeared to rouse himself for an effort. "You're guessing a good
+deal of it."
+
+"Guessing, when I've lived on this prairie all my life, and the whole
+thing is written there in the snow. Can't I tell the difference between
+the tracks of a steady ridden horse and a young one that's not used to
+the halter? However, I'm open to listen now."
+
+"I've just this to say. It won't hurt you to lose a horse or two, and
+that's about all anybody has ever taken out of you, while it's quite
+likely you'll be worse off if you make trouble about it. In fact,
+taking it all around, you can't afford to get rid of me."
+
+"Anyway, that is what I mean to do. I have no use for a man who sells my
+property to his friends. You'll get out of this place to-morrow."
+
+"I guess I'll go right now. Thompson will take me in."
+
+"No," said Leland sharply; "you'll stay just where you are until the
+morning, though you can take your blankets into the other room as soon
+as you like. It's quite hard to keep my hands off you, and if you come
+out before I call you to make breakfast, I'm not going to try."
+
+Jeff said nothing further, but, taking two dirty blankets out of a
+hay-filled bunk, shuffled away into a second room behind a log
+partition. Leland went after him, and, laying his hands on the little
+window, shook it violently.
+
+"If you try to get out that way, we're going to hear you, and then
+you'll be sorry for yourself," he said.
+
+He came back and, flinging himself into the chair beside the stove,
+filled his pipe.
+
+"I don't quite know how you worried the thing out, and perhaps it
+doesn't greatly matter, but I rather think it was good advice he gave
+you," said Gallwey reflectively. "You certainly can afford to lose a
+horse or two, and the rustlers are the kind of people it is just as well
+to keep on good terms with. Sergeant Grier has only three or four
+troopers, and the outpost is quite a long way off."
+
+Leland smiled. "Well," he said, "horse-stealing is getting to be a good
+deal more profitable business than liquor-running. They get horses for
+nothing, and they have to buy the whisky. They haven't gone very far
+into it yet, but it's a sure thing that they will if they find out that
+none of us seem to mind it. Somebody has to make a protest, and it may
+as well be me."
+
+"So far as my observation goes, most men would rather let their
+neighbour make it first," said Gallwey drily. "You, however, seem to be
+an exception."
+
+Leland's face hardened. "The fact is, I feel like taking it out of
+somebody soon. I have had a good deal to worry me."
+
+"One would not have expected you to feel like that just now."
+
+"I guess we'll change the subject," said Leland grimly. "You are
+wondering what I sent Jeff in there for? Well, I didn't want him loose
+on the prairie. It seems to me he's expecting a visit from his friends,
+and I'd just as soon they came and let me have a word with them. You get
+into the bunk there, and go to sleep until I want you."
+
+Wrapping one of the sleigh robes about him, Gallwey lay down for the
+night. He saw Leland put the light out and sit down again by the
+snapping, crackling stove. Through its open door a flickering radiance
+now and again touched his earnest face. Though they had been out since
+dawn in the stinging frost, he sat firmly erect, gripping his unlighted
+pipe and gazing straight in front of him with hard, unwavering eyes.
+Behind him the shadows played upon the walls of the gloomy shanty, quiet
+save for the moan of the bitter wind. Gallwey, who did not think it was
+the rustlers, wondered what was worrying his comrade, until his eyes
+grew heavy, and, though he had not intended it, he fell asleep wearily.
+
+Leland, however, sat still while the crackle of the stove died away, and
+the stinging cold crept in. He had much to think of, and could see no
+way out of the difficulties that beset him and his wife. He had known
+that she had no love for him, but, since the night she had met him on
+the terrace steps at Barrock-holme, his admiration for her had grown
+steadily stronger, and he had been conscious of a curious tenderness
+whenever he thought of her. Her smile was worth the winning by any
+effort he could make, and the odd kind word she occasionally flung him
+would set his heart thumping.
+
+Then the revelation had come, and left him dismayed. He had never
+counted on her hating him, as it now seemed she must do, or regarding
+him as one so far beneath her that the most she could feel for him was
+an impersonal toleration. He was a proud man, and her words had stung
+him deeply. It was galling to realise that he was bound to a woman who
+shrank from him and despised him, and that the bonds were unbreakable,
+no matter how irksome they might become to both his wife and himself.
+
+Then that mood passed, for there was a silent, deep-seated optimism in
+him that had carried him through frozen harvests and adverse seasons,
+and he began to appreciate her point of view, and that it might not be
+an unalterable one. He did not blame her for her courage, or even for
+her scorn, though it had hurt him horribly. It was for him to prove it
+unwarranted, or with patience to live it down, but he did not know how
+either could be done, and now and then a little fit of anger set his
+blood tingling as he sat in the growing shadows beside the emptying
+stove. His resentment was not so much against the woman as the man who
+had, knowing what she must feel, forced her into marrying him; but they
+were in England, and he felt illogically that he must strike at some one
+nearer, which was why he waited for the rustlers. He had no pistol. It
+is not often that the plainsman carries arms in Western Canada, but
+there was a big axe at Jeff's wood-pile, which would, he fancied, serve
+in case of necessity. At last, when the stove had almost gone out, he
+roused himself to attention with a little start in the bitter cold and,
+rising, touched Gallwey.
+
+"Get up!" he said. "Slip in behind the door, and shut it when I tell
+you. There are horses on the trail."
+
+Gallwey did as he was bidden, half asleep, though he heard a beat of
+hoofs that grew louder. Then there was a stamping of feet outside, and
+Leland flung a few split billets through the open top of the stove. A
+sharp crackling followed, and a blaze sprang up, but the light only
+flickered here and there, leaving the room almost dark.
+
+"Let them in!" he said.
+
+The door swung open. Two shadowy figures, shapeless in fur coats and
+caps, appeared in the opening, and one of them turned sharply when
+Gallwey slammed the door behind him.
+
+"Now," he said, "what is that for? I don't seem to recognise you,
+anyway."
+
+Leland laughed. "Come right in, gentlemen. I've been waiting to see you,
+and there's no mistake. Jeff's in the second room yonder, and if he
+ventures to come out with any notion of making trouble he'll run a
+considerable risk of getting himself hurt."
+
+He had raised his voice a trifle, and the rustle that had commenced died
+away in token that Jeff had heard. In the meanwhile one of the rustlers
+had slipped his hand inside his furs; but Leland, who noticed it, made a
+little gesture.
+
+"I guess it's not worth while," he said. "If you'll sit down a minute, I
+have a word or two to say to you."
+
+One of the men did so, but the other stood near the door watching
+Gallwey, who was, on the whole, thankful that he had taken down Jeff's
+rifle.
+
+"Well?" said the first outlaw. "It was Jeff who gave us away?"
+
+"Not exactly. At least, he didn't mean to. You should have got a smarter
+man before you ventured to put up a bluff on me. Still, that's not the
+question. When are you going to bring my horses back?"
+
+"I'm afraid I can't quite promise," said the other with a chuckle. "With
+us, finding is sometimes keeping."
+
+"You have two weeks. If they're not back in that time, you're going to
+be sorry."
+
+The outlaw laughed openly. "Come down and look at it reasonably. We have
+got to live, and we have, after all, stuck you for very little. With
+four police troopers to watch this part of the country, there's nothing
+you can do. I guess we've got our grip on it just now."
+
+"You have two weeks to bring back my horses in."
+
+"Then you mean to insist on it?" said the other man.
+
+"I do. Don't you get to thinking the honest men in this country are a
+bit afraid of you. They're only lazy. We have nothing to do with the
+whisky, but this horse-lifting has got to be stopped. Get out, and
+remember it, before I use my feet on you."
+
+The outlaw was a big man. As he slipped his hand beneath his furs,
+Leland quietly reached for the axe.
+
+"I could shear your arm off before you got it out," he said. "Will you
+lay it down, and see if you can stop in this shanty when I tell you to
+get out."
+
+The rustler looked at him for a moment, and, though there was very
+little light, was apparently satisfied.
+
+"No," he said. "I guess that's not business, anyway. You won't get your
+horses, but I'll give you good advice. Sit tight, and mind your farming,
+and it's quite likely you won't lose any more. We're not nice folks when
+we're roused, but we're not looking for trouble."
+
+"You'll get it," said Leland drily, "unless my horses are back two weeks
+to-night. Open the door, Tom, and let the gentlemen out."
+
+Nothing more was said by either, and in another minute or two there was
+a thud of hoofs as the outlaws rode away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FARMERS IN COUNCIL
+
+
+Nearly three weeks had slipped by since Leland met the outlaws, and his
+horses were missing still, when he sat in council at Prospect with a few
+of his scattered neighbours one bitter night. The big room was as bare
+and comfortless as it had been in his bachelor days, though there were
+cases at the railroad station whose contents would have transformed it,
+had he troubled to haul them in. Leland was somewhat grim of face, for
+the past few weeks had not been pleasant ones to him.
+
+The breach between him and his wife was still as wide as ever, and he
+felt it the more keenly because, since the night of their frankness, she
+had shown no sign of anger. Instead, she had treated him with a civility
+that was hard to bear, and had professed herself content with all the
+arrangements at Prospect as they were. Leland was too proud a man to
+make advances which he felt would be repelled, and decided bitterly
+that, since nothing he could do would please her, the comforts she did
+not seem to care about might stay where they were until they rotted. Her
+own rooms, at least, were furnished and fitted luxuriously, in so far
+as he had been able to contrive it, and, since she spent most of her
+time in them, the one in which his mother had lived was good enough for
+him. Still, all this reacted upon his temper, and, on the night when he
+had his neighbours there, he was feeling the strain.
+
+There were four of them, men who toiled early and late, and had a stake
+in the country, and they were all aware that others would probably be
+influenced by what they did. They listened to him gravely, sitting about
+the crackling stove with a box of cigars on the little table in front of
+them. There was nothing to drink, however, since, for several reasons,
+including the enactments of the legislature, strong green tea is the
+beverage most usually to be met with on the prairies, and of that they
+had just had their fill at supper. There was silence until one of them
+turned to the rest with a twinkle in his eyes.
+
+"I'm with Charley Leland in most of what he says," he said. "The law's
+necessary, as you find out when you have lived, as I have, in a country
+where there isn't any. Still, after all, the enforcing of it is the
+business of the legislature, and the most they do for us is to worry us
+for statistics and fine us for not ploughing unnecessary fire-guards.
+Then there are two or three of us on this prairie who aren't fond of
+tea, and, as things are, we generally know where to get a little
+Monongahela or Bourbon when we want it. I guess it would give a kind of
+tone to this _soirée_ if we had some of it now."
+
+There was approving laughter until another man spoke.
+
+"That's quite right, just as far as it goes," he said. "Give me a
+chance of a square kick at the Scott Act, and I'll kick--like a mule. In
+the meanwhile, there it is, and you have to figure if breaking it is
+worth while. When you begin making exceptions, it's quite hard to stop.
+Now, I don't want to go round with a pistol strapped on to me, and,
+while we stand by the law, it isn't necessary. So long as I know that
+the crops I raise are mine and nobody can take them from me, I can do
+without my whisky. That's why I'm with Charley Leland in this thing, and
+you have to remember it's quite a big one."
+
+"It is," said a third speaker. "Here we are, a few scattered farmers
+with stables and granaries that will burn, and horses that can be run
+across the frontier. Behind us stand Sergeant Grier and his four
+troopers, while, if we back up Leland, we have a tolerably extensive
+organisation against us, and the men who belong to it aren't going to
+stick at anything. If we are willing to live and let live, what do we
+stand to lose? A horse borrowed now and then, an odd steer killed,
+perhaps, an unbranded beast or two missing. Well, I guess it might work
+out cheaper than the other thing."
+
+There was silence for a moment or two, and then a young man looked up
+languidly. He had come out four or five years before from Montreal.
+
+"There is hard sense in all we have heard, but I think Leland's point of
+view is nearest the Academic one," he said. "Every honest man has a duty
+to the State, and it is certainly going to cost him more than he gains
+if he won't discharge it. There are probably more honest men than rogues
+everywhere, and yet one usually sees the rogues uppermost, for this
+reason: the honest man won't worry so long as they don't rob him, and
+his neighbour can't make a fight alone. Nobody is anxious to face the
+first blow for the benefit of the rest, and so the rogue gets bolder,
+until he becomes intolerable. Then the honest man stirs himself, and the
+rogues go down, though it causes ever so much more trouble than it would
+have done if the thing had been undertaken earlier. I'll give you an
+example. Begbie hung a man in British Columbia, the first one who wanted
+it, and there was order at once. Coleman and his vigilantes, who were
+scarcely quick enough, had to hang them by the dozen in California. Now
+we come to the question: How bad have things got to be before you think
+it worth while to do anything?"
+
+It was evident that he had made an impression. He had shown them the
+dangers of toleration; and they were men who, while they did little
+rashly, believed in the greatness of their country. They looked at
+Leland, who turned to them with a little grim smile.
+
+"They have gone quite far enough for me," he said. "I'm going to move
+now. The one thing I want to ask is, who is going to stand in with me?"
+
+The man who had last spoken glanced at the rest. "I think you can count
+upon the four of us."
+
+There was a murmur of concurrence, and Leland smiled. "As a matter of
+fact, I did so already, and asked Sergeant Grier to ride across and meet
+you to-night. He should be here any minute now. In the meanwhile I want
+to say that I've been riding up and down the country lately, and have
+reasons for supposing there's a big load of whisky to be run during the
+next few days."
+
+As they talked over this news, there was a knocking at the outer door,
+and a grizzled man who wore what had once been a very smart cavalry
+uniform was shown into the room. He sat down and listened with grave
+attention to what Leland had to say. Then he looked up quietly.
+
+"I have to thank you, gentlemen, and I'll swear you in," he said. "From
+what I can figure, it must be Ned Johnston's gang, and they're about the
+hardest of the crowd. I haven't much fault to find with Mr. Leland's
+programme except on a point or two."
+
+They discussed it for an hour, and, when all was arranged, one of them
+laughed as he laid his hand on Leland's shoulder. "I guess you're doing
+the right thing," he said. "Still, in one way, it's a little curious
+that it's you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well," said the other man drily, "if I had just been married to a woman
+like Mrs. Leland, I figure I mightn't have been so willing to put myself
+in the way of a bullet. I'd have let somebody else make the first move
+and stayed at home with her."
+
+Leland's face grew a trifle hard, as he forced a laugh. "I scarcely
+think marriage has made any great change in me, or that it's likely to
+do so."
+
+Then his guests drove away, but the man to whom he had spoken remembered
+the look in Leland's face.
+
+"Now I wonder what Charley meant by that," he said, getting into his
+sleigh.
+
+Leland in the meanwhile had flung himself down into a chair beside the
+stove, and was lying there moodily with an unlighted pipe in his hand,
+when his wife came in. It was evident that he did not notice her, and
+she had misgivings as she noticed the weariness in his attitude. After
+all, he was her husband, and he looked very lonely in the big bare room.
+She sat down beside him and touched his arm. "Your friends have gone?"
+she said.
+
+The man looked up sharply, and she saw the little glow in his eyes,
+which, however, faded out of them again.
+
+"Yes," he said. "I hope we did not disturb you."
+
+"You were suspiciously quiet. What were you plotting together?"
+
+"Nothing," said Leland. "That is, nothing you would probably care to
+hear about."
+
+Carrie felt repulsed, though she would not show it. She had meant to be
+amiable, and she was a somewhat determined young woman, so she tried
+again.
+
+"Isn't it a little lonely here?" she said. "Why did you not come up to
+me? I have scarcely seen you the last few days."
+
+Leland's smile was not exactly reassuring. "I don't want to trouble you
+too often. Besides, I have been out in the frost since early morning,
+and feel a little tired and drowsy. One naturally doesn't care to appear
+to any more disadvantage than is necessary."
+
+Carrie's lips and brows straightened portentously. "Were you afraid I
+might point it out to you, or do you wish to make it evident to
+everybody that you are purposely keeping out of my way?"
+
+"I suppose I should have thought of that, but it's a thing that never
+occurred to me. Still, you asked me another question, and, though
+perhaps it's weak of me, I can't help giving you an answer."
+
+He stopped a moment and pointed round the desolate room, while the girl
+realised its dreariness as she saw the dry white ears on the walls
+quiver in the icy draughts and heard the wailing of a bitter wind
+outside the birch-log walls.
+
+"Do you suppose--this--is what I bargained for when I asked you to marry
+me? You took the trouble not long ago to point out very plainly what you
+thought of me, and I think you meant every word of it. It was rather a
+bitter draught, but perhaps your point of view was a natural one. I am
+not the kind of man you have been accustomed to. In fact, there are very
+few points on which I resemble your father or Jimmy."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "that was not meant to be conciliatory. It rather
+emphasises the distinction you mention. Still, I think you had not
+finished."
+
+"Not quite. When you are willing to take me as I am, without prejudice,
+and give me a chance of winning your liking, you will not find me
+backward. Until then, I have a little too much self-respect to support
+you in pretending to be the dutiful wife because you think it becoming.
+Your contempt was honest, anyway."
+
+Carrie rose with a little languid gesture. "I wonder how long this
+exceptionally pleasant state of affairs could be expected to continue?"
+
+"Until you change your mind, or one of us is dead. If you get tired of
+it in the meanwhile, you can always go back to the Old Country for a few
+months or so."
+
+"It is really a little difficult to understand what could have induced
+you to marry me."
+
+Leland looked at her with a little grim smile. "I believe I gave you my
+reasons on another occasion. It would be rather more to the purpose to
+ask why you were content with them?"
+
+The girl's cheeks burned, but she turned from him languidly. "You almost
+tempt me to tell you," she said. "Still, perhaps I have already let my
+candour carry me too far."
+
+She went out of the big room quietly and naturally, but, when she
+reached her own apartment, she clenched her hands passionately. Though
+she was very angry, she had to realise that the man's attitude under the
+circumstances was by no means astonishing. She had also exactly what she
+had wished for, since it was clear that he would make no embarrassing
+advances now; and yet her courage almost failed her as she looked
+forward to an indefinite continuance of their present relations. He had
+said that, unless she made it, there could be no change until one of
+them was dead.
+
+It was the next day, and she had seen nothing of Leland, when she met
+Gallwey, with whom she had become friendly.
+
+The young man, she saw, was quite willing to constitute himself her
+devoted servant. At the same time, she felt the sincerity of his
+attachment for her husband, and drew from it a comfortable sense of
+security.
+
+"Of course, you have heard the news?" he said. "I don't know if I'm
+presuming, or if it's kind to admit anything that might distress you,
+but it would be a relief to me if you could persuade Charley to be
+careful. I'm not quite sure he realises what he has undertaken."
+
+Carrie had, of course, heard nothing, though she naturally refused to
+admit it. She also realised the irony of the fact that everybody except
+herself seemed attached to her husband. They were then standing in the
+big general room; but, after she had sat down and smilingly pointed the
+young man to a place near her, ten minutes of judiciously directed
+conversation left her with a tolerably clear notion of the state of
+affairs. She was also sensible of an illogical feeling of dismay and
+apprehension.
+
+"But why does he do it?" she asked.
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "Well," he said, "somebody will have to take
+the thing up eventually, and, when there is anything unpleasant but
+necessary, Charley is usually there to do it. I almost fancy he can't
+help it. As they say in this country, that is the kind of man he is.
+Still, under the circumstances, I really think he ought to let the
+others take an equal risk, and it might be advisable for you to impress
+it upon him."
+
+"You believe that what I said would have any influence?" asked Carrie,
+with a curious little smile.
+
+"Of course!" and Gallwey gazed at her reproachfully. "Surely that ought
+to be evident."
+
+"Well," said the girl, with a trace of languidness, "I have to thank you
+for warning me, and I will do what I can, though I am not very certain
+it will have any great effect on him."
+
+Gallwey left her a few minutes later. Carrie, who was now very
+thoughtful, saw nothing of her husband that night or during most of the
+next day. He came in and asked for supper a little before dusk, and,
+when he had eaten it, carefully went over the lock and magazine action
+of a forty-four Marlin rifle. Then he put on his furs and girt himself
+with a bandolier. On reaching the outer door, he heard a swift patter of
+footsteps on the neighbouring stairs. As Carrie came up to him he stood
+still, with the blue rifle-barrel gleaming over his shoulder, looking
+like a giant in his shaggy coat. She was dressed, as he noticed,
+unusually prettily, and, although he set his lips, the little sparkle
+crept into his eyes. As it faded, the bronzed face, barely visible
+beneath the fur cap, became once more impassive.
+
+The girl walked steadily up to him, and laid a hand upon his arm.
+
+"You have given me a good deal, but I scarcely think I have asked you
+for anything yet. I want you to run no risk that isn't necessary
+to-night," she said.
+
+Leland started, but again he put a constraint upon himself.
+
+"So you know?" he said.
+
+"Of course! Did you think, when everybody else knew, you could keep it
+from me? Still, that isn't what I asked you. I want you to be careful."
+
+Leland looked at her, and though she saw the blood creep slowly into his
+face, his restraint was also evident.
+
+"Did you say that because you believed it was the correct thing, madam?"
+he asked.
+
+Carrie flushed, but the man, shaking her hand off his arm, laid his big
+mittened one upon her shoulder, and, holding her away from him, looked
+down on her gravely.
+
+"You will try to forgive me that. It was a trifle brutal," he said, and
+his voice sank. "Still, to be quite honest, I could scarcely think that
+any risk I ran could cause you very much anxiety."
+
+Carrie said nothing, for, with that steady gaze upon her, she could not
+pretend, even if her pride would have permitted her; and Leland smiled a
+trifle wistfully. His face was almost gentle now.
+
+"Well," he said, "you needn't force yourself to say it would, if it
+hurts you, and I daresay it was kindness that prompted you to try.
+Still, you see, I should want a good deal, and anything you didn't mean
+wouldn't satisfy me. After all, it would make things easier for you if I
+didn't come back again."
+
+The girl shivered. "You surely can't believe I would think of that?"
+
+"No," and Leland made a little gesture, which was expressive of
+weariness; "it was your sense of fitness that turned you against me."
+
+He let his hand fall from her shoulder. "After all, my dear, I am sorry
+for you."
+
+"And yourself?"
+
+"It is a little rough on me, but that can't be helped. Somehow or other
+I guess I can bear it."
+
+Then he stooped, and, taking one of her hands, held it between both of
+his before he turned and flung open the door.
+
+Carrie saw him for a moment, a tall, black figure silhouetted against
+the cold blue, and then he had vanished into the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOMICIDE
+
+
+An almost intolerable cold had descended upon the prairie when Leland
+reached the coulee where Sergeant Grier was mustering his forces late at
+night. They were not a very strong body, three troopers of the Northwest
+Police, all of them rather young, two prairie farmers, Leland, Gallwey,
+and the Sergeant, but the latter had decided that they would be enough,
+for the purpose. He was aware that, in an affair of this kind, a few men
+who understand exactly what they have to do, and can be relied on to set
+about it quietly and collectedly, are apt to prove more efficient than a
+larger body. The unnecessary man, he knew, is usually busy getting in
+his comrade's way. There was also another reason which Leland had
+pointed out. Since his acquaintances had undertaken the business, it was
+advisable that they should carry it out without exposing themselves
+unnecessarily to the outlaws' vengeance. There were several bands of the
+latter acting more or less in concert, and it would lessen the risks if
+there were only three or four men liable to them in place of several
+times as many.
+
+The Sergeant quite concurred in this, and, when Leland rode up stiff
+with frost, quietly sent the men out to their stations. Just there, the
+beaten trail that led south to the frontier dipped into one of the
+winding ravines, traversing the country with many a loop and bend. A
+sluggish creek flowed through its bottom beneath the ice, and a growth
+of willows and birches that there found shelter from the winds straggled
+up its sides. Trees fringed the crest of the dip, too, and in places
+overflowed into the prairie in scattered spurs. The trail ran through
+their midst, and there was no doubt that, if the outlaws came at all,
+which was not certain, they would come that way, since there are
+disadvantages attached to leading loaded horses through a thick
+birch-bluff in the darkness.
+
+A farmer and one of the troopers were sent back to where the trees ran
+farther out into the prairie, and they were to lie hidden there and cut
+off the retreat in case the rustlers endeavoured to head back the way
+they had come. The main body lined the trail in the thickest of the
+bluff, just below the crest of the ravine, and Leland and one young
+trooper proceeded to the foot of the declivity. It would be their
+business to stop anybody who might succeed in breaking through the rest
+of the ambuscade. Each of them knew precisely what was expected of him,
+and the only uncertainty was whether the rustlers were coming, and if
+so, how many there would be of them.
+
+It was a suitable night for their purpose, neither too dark nor too
+light. The heavens were barred with drifting wreaths of cloud, between
+which every now and then a half-moon and an occasional star shone down.
+The birches wailed as they shook their frail twigs beneath a bitter
+wind. Leland was sensible of a distressing tingling in his numbed feet
+and hands. The young trooper beside him limped and stumbled, a shadowy,
+indistinct figure in his furs, stiff with cold. Their softly moccasined
+feet made no sound. Both of them wondered whether they could use their
+slung rifles, if the necessity arose.
+
+It is possible, without feeling desperately cold, to face the frost of
+the Northwest in a prairie waggon when one is packed about with hay and
+wrapped in big fur robes, but there are times when the man who travels
+on horseback runs the risk of freezing, and, because horses might be
+wanted, farmers and police troopers had ridden instead of driving.
+Leland was capable of moving, but the young trooper was in a far worse
+state, and sighed with relief when at last they stopped beside the
+creek, where a dense growth of willows kept off the stinging wind.
+
+"I'm that cold I 'most can't hump myself," he said. "Seems to me I
+haven't got any feet on. I guess they're froze. Still, it's not quite so
+cruel as the night the corporal got one of his nipped. We were sleeping
+way back up Long Traverse trail in a pit in the snow, and were too
+played-out to waken when the fire got low. The frost had the corporal by
+the morning, but we'd most of twenty leagues to make, with two or three
+mighty cold camps on the way, and his moccasins opened up a wound. You
+couldn't have told he had a foot when I last saw him."
+
+Leland said nothing. He was not inclined for conversation, and knew that
+instances of the kind were not uncommon. The wardens of the prairie
+probably know more about cold than anybody, except Arctic explorers,
+and they are expected to face it shelterless in the open for days
+together when occasion arises. They cannot always find a birch-bluff to
+camp in, and the snow is frequently too thin to throw up a bank between
+them and the wind. Only hard men continue in that service, and perhaps
+the prairie wolf alone knows what becomes of some of the unfit who try
+it.
+
+The lad, however, seemed impelled to talk, and stamped up and down
+beating his mittened hands, with the swivel of his slung carbine
+jangling as he moved.
+
+"One would 'most wonder why you folks took a hand in," he said. "I guess
+if I'd been a farmer, it's more than I'd have done myself. There seem to
+be a blame lot of the rustlers, and, so far as we can figure, they stand
+in together. The three or four of us can't be everywhere at once, and
+they might take a notion of getting even by playing the fire-bug when
+the grass is dry in harvest season. I'd plough my fire-guards twice as
+wide. It would be quite easy to burn up a ripening crop."
+
+Leland was aware that there would, unfortunately, be no difficulty in
+doing this, but he was willing to take his chances, and did not answer
+the lad. Indeed, the probable loss of a crop appeared a comparatively
+small matter to him just then. He was sore and bitter, and a feud with
+the outlaws would have been almost a relief. He felt that Branscombe
+Denham had tricked him, but sincerely desired to stand well with his
+wife, in spite of her scornful attitude towards him. He did not blame
+her for that altogether, though her words still rankled, but he would
+not expose himself to her disdain again, and had decided that if things
+were to be different, the first advances must be made by her. In the
+meanwhile, it was singularly unpleasant to both of them, and that night
+he was in a very sensitive and somewhat dangerous mood as he stood
+shivering among the willows.
+
+"I guess they should be here by now, if the fellow who told us was
+playing a straight game," said the lad. "The trouble is, they've a good
+many friends, and nobody can tell exactly who's standing in with them.
+It's kind of easier to pick up an odd case of whisky and say nothing
+than to give us the office and have a fire-stick shoved into your
+granary. I'm not counting too much on the Ontario man."
+
+In the meanwhile, the others fretted at the cold, and wondered how long
+the outlaws meant to keep them waiting. Two of them, upon whom all the
+rest depended for the warning, were just then crouching, almost frozen,
+where the thinnest of the birches broke off abruptly, watching a group
+of vague, shadowy shapes moving in their direction across the white
+wilderness. Gallwey stood behind them. A bank of sombre cloud sailed
+across the moon, and left the watchers in almost utter darkness.
+
+"I can make out four, and there are more behind," said the trooper.
+"It's a sure thing. Snow's deep, and, as we figured, they'll stick to
+the trail. Guess you'd better get back and tell the Sergeant."
+
+Gallwey slipped away, and there was silence for several minutes while
+farmer and policeman crept a little further back amidst the trees. Then
+a soft patter of hoofs and an occasional rattle came up the bitter wind
+as a line of men and horses grew into shape. They came on boldly, the
+men growling to one another and at the beasts. With no outriders
+forward, they plunged into the shadow of the birches. There the sounds
+grew louder, and the thud of hoofs, hoarse voices, crackle of trodden
+twigs, and creaking and jolting of burdens on pack-saddles, rang
+startlingly distinct through the crisp air. The trooper counted at least
+a dozen horses, but he could not quite make out how many men, for they
+walked among the loaded beasts, and the trail was very dark.
+
+They went on by, half-seen, dim shadows that jostled one another among
+the trees; and, when the voices and the trampling grew less distinct,
+the trooper moved out into the trail, with his carbine in his mittened
+hands. The trap was sprung, for, if one or two of the outlaws succeeded
+in breaking through, it was evident that they must, at least, leave
+their beasts behind. With the farmer close behind him he moved
+cautiously a little nearer his comrades and then stood still again.
+
+It was, perhaps, five minutes later when Leland, who was pacing to and
+fro, stopped abruptly, and held up his hand as the young trooper
+materialised out of the gloom in front of him.
+
+"Can't you hear something?" he said.
+
+The trooper thought he could, but his ears were almost covered by the
+big fur cap, and whilst they stood listening the birches swayed and
+wailed before a bitter gust. It seemed to search them to the marrow, for
+the cold was keen as a knife. Then through the night there came a dull,
+thudding sound down from the ridge above, and the trooper flung his
+carbine forward.
+
+"They're here, sure," he said. "It's even chances we don't get a whack
+at one of them."
+
+They stood listening for a minute or two, intent and high-strung, and
+heard only the wailing of the wind, for the birches once more swayed
+about them. It was almost dark, for the moon was still behind a cloud.
+As he moved his mittened hands on the Marlin rifle, Leland forgot that
+he was stiff in every limb. Then a voice rang, harsh and commanding, out
+of the shadows above them.
+
+"Stop right there," it said. "We have got you covered."
+
+It was followed by the whip-like crack of a pistol-shot, there was the
+louder jarring ring of a carbine or a farmer's rifle, and a confused din
+broke out. Men shouted and scuffled in the gloom, loaded beasts
+blundered among the trees and the undergrowth, while through it all
+there rose the detached beat of hoofs.
+
+"One or two of them lit out, anyway," said the trooper. "Guess they'd
+slash the pack lariat, and get into the saddle when they'd let the
+whisky go. That sounds like one of the boys after them. Chancing a
+gallop, too. They'll break their necks certain, if they ride that way
+through the bluff."
+
+He stopped a minute, and just then a faint silvery radiance swept
+athwart the birches as the moon shone down. It sparkled on the dropping
+smear of snow-sheeted trail, and the lad ran forward a pace or two
+fumbling with his carbine.
+
+"Look out, Mr. Leland!" he shouted. "There are two of them riding slap
+down on us."
+
+Two indistinct objects swept out of the shadows, and a moment later
+resolved themselves into men and galloping horses. They were thundering
+headlong down the sharply falling trail, and Leland felt his nerves
+tingle as he watched them. He was in a particularly unpleasant temper
+that night, and the prospect of an encounter stirred the half-frozen
+blood in him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the trooper standing
+a few paces away from him, and then fixed his gaze up the trail ahead.
+The horsemen were coming on at a mad gallop, taking their chances of a
+stumble, and he could see the powdery snow whirl about them like dust.
+Then they saw him standing grimly still in the middle of the trail, for
+one shouted a warning to the other, and the trooper cried aloud:
+
+"Hold on! Pull up before we plug you," he said.
+
+There was no answer. The riders were hard and fearless men, probably
+wanted by Montana sheriffs for things they had done during the cattle
+war, and they showed no sign of drawing bridle. One of them howled
+shrilly as he whirled a whip about his shoulders, and for a moment
+Leland saw him sway in the saddle with the beast stretched out beneath
+him.
+
+Then there was a flash, and a detonation he scarcely heard, a cloud of
+smoke that floated up the trail, and man and horse came thundering down
+on him. He felt the jar of the Marlin rifle on his shoulder as he aimed
+at the flying form of a horse. In another moment the outlaw was almost
+upon him. Then in savage recklessness he leapt forward instead of back,
+with a hand that sought the bridle and an arm the rider's leg. His
+fingers closed on something--bridle, or saddle, or stirrup--and he clung
+with a stiffened grasp, while his feet were torn from under him and a
+rifle flashed.
+
+Exactly what happened after that he did not know, but he was hurled
+forward, still clutching at something, with feet that scraped the snowy
+ice of the creek; and then there was a heavy crash, and what he held was
+torn away from him. He felt himself driven into a bank of snow, and lay
+there for perhaps a minute wondering vaguely if the life had all been
+smashed out of him, and listening to a sound of scuffling and
+floundering close by. Next he essayed to draw one of his feet up, and,
+to his astonishment, found that he had no great difficulty in
+accomplishing it. That done, he raised himself shakily, and, scrambling
+to one of the birches, leaned against it, gasping a little. A few
+seconds earlier he had been almost certain that he would never stand up
+again.
+
+In the meanwhile the moonlight had grown a trifle brighter, for he could
+see a horse that lay near the middle of the creek still moving
+convulsively. Nearby, wrapped in an old fur coat, was an object that did
+not move at all. The trooper, who now had no carbine, stood stooping a
+little as he looked down on it, and there was a curious significant
+stillness in his attitude, whilst as much as could be seen of his young
+face appeared a trifle colourless. It was a moment or two before he
+became aware that Leland was on his feet again.
+
+"He's dead, sure. It's the first man I ever plugged," he said, and his
+voice rang strained and harsh in the frosty air. "He just pitched off
+and never moved. Guess it couldn't have hurt him."
+
+One could have fancied he was anxious about the point, but in another
+moment he turned away with a little deprecatory gesture, and commenced
+to grope about for his carbine.
+
+"Anyway, I couldn't help it, and it was that quick--he never wriggled
+any--he couldn't have felt it."
+
+The thing had its effect on Leland, though he had seen something very
+like it happen before, and he laid his hand reassuringly on the lad's
+shoulder.
+
+"I don't think you need worry," he said. "He took his chances when he
+wouldn't stop, and it's not your responsibility. Anyway, we may as well
+make quite sure that he is dead."
+
+There was no doubt on that point when he dropped on one knee beside the
+man, and he nodded as he glanced at the trooper.
+
+"A sure thing. I'd like some kind of notion of what happened," he said.
+
+"You jumped at him yonder, but I didn't quite see what you got hold of.
+Anyway, you went along with the horse--and him--until I pulled off, and
+you all came down together. You went down on the ice with a bang 'most
+fit to break it, and then into the snow-bank yonder. Guess you plugged
+the horse in a soft place when you fired. In the meanwhile the other man
+went by--whooping--like a whirlwind."
+
+That was about all the explanation Leland ever got, but in another
+moment or two the trooper, who seemed to be looking at him curiously,
+spoke again.
+
+"I'm kind of dazed," he said. "There's quite a lot of blood running down
+your forehead. I've been watching, and it never struck me you'd better
+know. I'll go up now and tell the Sergeant 'bout the other fellow who
+lit out."
+
+Leland, who thrust back his fur cap and felt the gash on his forehead,
+decided that he was a little confused too, or he would have noticed that
+there was a warm trickle running down the outside of his nose. His
+mittens showed red smears in the moonlight when he tried to brush it
+away. When he next looked round, the trooper had disappeared; and,
+moving rather shakily, for his fall had not been without its effect, he
+too plodded up the climbing trail.
+
+When he reached the level, he found several dejected men with manacled
+hands, and a line of loaded horses with two of the troopers watching
+them. The Sergeant, who appeared to be giving instructions to one of the
+troopers, turned to him.
+
+"We have got four of them and most of the horses, but, so far as I can
+figure, two or three must have got away," he said. "The boys will try to
+pick their tracks up, and I'll ask you to give us a hand with the
+pack-horses as far as the forking of the trail."
+
+Leland contrived to drive two of the loaded train, though his head was
+aching and he felt very dizzy. When at last he was about to turn off
+into a second sledge-track, the Sergeant pulled up his horse beside him.
+
+"We are much obliged, Mr. Leland, and you'll hear all that's done," he
+said. "Still, it's a kind of pity one of the two you fell in with got
+away."
+
+"I don't suppose you are particularly pleased any of them broke through,
+for that matter," said Leland.
+
+The Sergeant made a little impressive gesture. "The point is that they'd
+both have got off, if it hadn't been for you, and that fellow's partner
+isn't going to blame--the trooper. That's all in the business. Well, if
+I were you, I'd keep clear of the bluffs and ravines if you have to go
+out when it's dark."
+
+He shook his bridle and rode on, whilst Leland stood a minute or two
+watching the others straggle out along the trail. Last of all a trooper
+led a horse which carried an amorphous burden wrapped in a fur coat, and
+lashed on with a pack-lariat. Something that looked like a moccasined
+foot trailed down on one side in the snow, and, judging from the trouble
+the beast gave its driver, it did not like what it carried.
+
+"It's quite likely that fellow's partner will try to get even," he
+said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SEEDTIME
+
+
+The snow had gone, and the frost-bleached prairie lay steaming under the
+warm April sun, when Carrie Leland pulled her team up on the crest of a
+low rise. The waggon she drove, a light vehicle of four high wheels with
+a shallow, box-like body, had been made especially for her. It was hung
+on comfortable springs, and the harness and horses matched it. There
+were few broncho teams on the prairie to compare with hers. They were
+young, but Carrie liked a mettlesome beast, and Leland had carefully
+chosen and broken them.
+
+It was the same with everything he had given her. Only the best that
+could be had seemed good enough for her, and at times she almost
+resented his generosity. Save when he lost his temper, which happened
+not infrequently, she could not put him in the wrong, and she often felt
+that it would be easier for her if she could charge him with neglect, or
+had something to forgive him. He was gravely considerate for her
+comfort, but it was very seldom that he went any further. While this
+should have pleased her, she was not quite sure that it did.
+
+On the morning in question, Eveline Annersly, who had been at Prospect
+a month now, sat beside her rejoicing in the sunshine and rush of warm
+wind. She had reached the age when one looks for little and makes the
+most of what comes, and the warmth and freshness of the morning
+delighted her. The prospect would also in all probability have had its
+attractions for any one with eyes to see and a nature that could respond
+to the reawakening pulse of life in the land.
+
+Round three-fourths of the horizon the bleached prairie, tinged now with
+sunny ochre, melted into the sweep of lustrous blue, but in the
+foreground the sod was gemmed with little crocus-like flowers and
+already flecked here and there with creeping green. All this was waste
+and virgin, but on the fourth side tall bands of golden stubble, and
+belts of ashes where golden stubble had once been, were narrowed down by
+the steaming chocolate-tinted clods of the plough's upturning. Grain ran
+up in long rippled ridges from Prospect, where the birches gleamed
+silver, across the wide dip of basin and over its fringing rise, into
+the luminous blueness of the sky. That was man's work, and man at
+Prospect worked unusually hard, for it was not his part there to plough
+where others had also sown, but to grapple with the wilderness, and
+subdue it, in fulfilment of the charge given him when the waters dried.
+The wilderness was there, leagues of it, but it required a stout heart
+and a steadfast toil to break it and cover it with red-gold wheat when
+wheat was a drug upon a falling market.
+
+Eveline Annersly, faded and frail, was dainty still. As she sat smiling
+in the waggon, with the sunlight lying warm on her beautiful hands, she
+was a part of the colour scheme in her soft, grey-tinted draperies.
+Some women of the cities would have been a blotch on it. She was the
+figure of tranquil autumn when the wealth of fruits had gone, but her
+companion with the crimson lips and dusky eyes was spring, when as yet
+Nature is only stirring and has not awakened to riotous life at the
+burning kiss of the sun. Eveline Annersly realised this vaguely, and at
+times felt a thrill of concern, for she knew there was fire beneath that
+cold exterior. When the awakening should come, much would depend upon
+whether the sudden untrammelled growth of the girl's nature would cling
+for warmth and shelter to the man who was her husband.
+
+In the meanwhile, she watched the toiling teams coming on across grey
+grass and golden stubble in echelon. Men sat above the horses' heads on
+the driving-seats of the big gang-ploughs, and from amidst the curling
+brown clods came the twinkling flash of steel. The men had brown faces,
+and some of them bare, brown arms. Sun and wind had burned and beaten
+them and their garments to the colour of the soil they sprang from. They
+seemed almost a part of it, as they and the patient beasts did their
+share in the great, harmonious scheme which in return for the sweat of
+effort gives man bread to eat. This was not English farming, mixed and
+variable, but an unlocking of Nature's long-stored wealth in mile-long
+furrows that should fling the golden wheat by trainload and shipload on
+the markets of the world. Even Eveline Annersly, who was not greatly
+interested in agriculture, could realise that.
+
+"It is a tremendous farm," she said. "We have nothing like it in
+England. The length of those furrows appeals to one's imagination. How
+big is it, Carrie?"
+
+The girl smiled a trifle languidly. "I really don't know," she said.
+"Charley has told me, but I never could remember things like that. He
+seems rather proud of having broken--I believe that is the right
+word--most of it out of the prairie. In fact, he is easily content. To
+break so many acres every year seems his one object in life. I don't
+think it's anybody's. Presumably, it's a question of temperament. My
+husband appears to like his occupation, and absorbs himself in it."
+
+"Which, of course, is just as you would have it?"
+
+The girl made a little half-petulant gesture. "Oh," she said, "I suppose
+so. I naturally did not expect Charley Leland and I would have many
+mutual interests when I married him. It would have been in several
+respects a trifle ridiculous. Still, he is, in his own way, very good to
+me."
+
+"So I should have fancied"; and Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "Did
+it ever occur to you that he might have expected a good deal from you?"
+
+A flicker of colour showed in Carrie's cheek. "In that case, he, at
+least, shows no sign that he misses anything. As you know, we scarcely
+see him for two or three days together every now and then. I believe
+these teams are in the field by six in the morning, and it usually is
+dark when he comes in again."
+
+"I wonder if you quite realise the restraint and self-denial implied by
+a life of that kind? After all, your husband is probably no fonder of
+wearing himself out than most other men. Presumably he has a purpose, or
+finds it necessary."
+
+She stopped a moment, and smiled in a curious fashion as she glanced at
+her companion. "I suppose you have heard that they are building a new
+peach-house and vinery at Barrock-holme?"
+
+A bright crimson spot burned for a moment in Carrie's cheek. "I hadn't,"
+she said, with a trace of bitterness. "Jimmy, of course, never writes,
+and even Alice seems to have forgotten me. In fact, I don't suppose
+there is one of them who ever gives me a thought now. Aunt Eveline, you
+are to stay here for ever so long."
+
+Mrs. Annersly nodded reassuringly. "Of course, my dear," she said. "As
+you perhaps know, it is a good deal your father's fault that I am
+reduced to living on my friends, and I really think some of the money he
+is spending on the peach-houses should have come to me. I have been
+inclined to wonder where he got it."
+
+Carrie Denham was usually reposeful, but a trace of the confusion she
+felt showed itself in her face. Eveline Annersly understood her as well
+as she understood herself, and, being aware of this, she stood less upon
+her guard.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I think you know. It is a little hard to bear, isn't
+it? Have they always been the same?"
+
+"One would almost fancy so. Henry Annersly was well off when he married
+me, and everybody knows I have scarcely a penny. Where the rest has gone
+only Branscombe Denham knows, though I'm not even sure that he does. No
+doubt he didn't intend to lose it, but money won't stay with him. And he
+never even writes to you?"
+
+Carrie laid a hand upon her arm. "Aunt," she said, "stay with us
+altogether. Charley likes you--and I can't let you go."
+
+The little lady's eyes grew gentle, but there was a faint smile in them.
+"My dear, I think I know what you are feeling, but, after all, you
+deserve it, and I'm not so very sorry for you. I'm going to make your
+husband stop and speak to me."
+
+Their team stood stamping impatiently on the virgin sod, as Leland came
+up foremost of the long line of men and beasts. He was sitting upright
+on the driving-seat of a great machine, dressed in an old blue-jean
+shirt that was open at his sunburnt throat, with a wide grey hat on his
+head. His arms were bare to the elbow, corded, hard, and brown, and his
+face was the deep colour of the clods that rolled away in long waves
+beneath the three-fold shares. Four splendid horses plodded in front of
+him, and the stain of the soil and the same stamp of enduring strength
+was on him and them. He pulled the team up, and, springing down, came
+towards the waggon with his hat in his hand.
+
+"You are going to the railroad?" he said.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Annersly. "Carrie wants some things, but I understand
+we are to stay the night at Mrs. Custer's on the way."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I may see you there. There are some new harrows
+and seeders I have to wire about, but I don't expect to get in until
+daylight to-morrow."
+
+"You are going to drive all night?"
+
+"I may get an hour's sleep before I go. You see, I have to be back by
+noon to-morrow. Our summer is short, and there is a good deal to do.
+The grain that goes in late is quite often frozen."
+
+He pointed as if in explanation to the great sweep of furrows that ran
+back narrowing all the way to where Prospect nestled like a doll's house
+beneath its bluff. With a great trampling, two other teams came up just
+then. They went by amidst a ripping and crackling of fibres as the
+prairie opened up beneath the gleaming shares, and Leland nodded with a
+little quiet smile.
+
+"Oh, yes," he said; "little time to do it in, and a good deal to do.
+Some of us were born to feel that way."
+
+"Not all," said Eveline Annersly. "There are, as you know, men who waste
+their substance to while the day away. You are not that sort. Perhaps
+it's fortunate for you."
+
+Leland smiled again. "I don't quite know. There's a great order and
+system that runs things, though I can't quite get the hang of it--I
+haven't time. Every man works in this country, as all Nature does. Those
+little grasses have been ten thousand years building up the black loam
+I'm making wheat of. The mallard, the brent goose, and the sandhill
+crane--you can see them coming up from the south in their skeins and
+wedges all day long--have to hunt their food from the shores of the
+Caribbean to the Pole. Well, one feels there must be a balance struck
+some day, and the men who don't do anything are having the soft things
+now."
+
+He laughed good-humouredly, and stroked one of the horses that turned
+its head to nibble affectionately at his shoulder. "I'll be sorry for
+this by and by, but you have a habit of making me give myself away."
+
+"Then we will be practical. Are you going to sow all that ploughing?"
+
+"I am. I expect to break two hundred acres more. There are folks who
+want the wheat, and we'll feed the world some day."
+
+"But wheat is going down."
+
+"It is," and Leland's face grew a trifle hard. "No bottom to the market,
+apparently. That's why I'm buying new machines and cutting things down
+and down. We must have everything that can save or earn a dollar at
+Prospect now."
+
+Carrie Leland was struck by something in her husband's face. It was a
+comely face, as well as forceful, clean-skinned in spite of its deepness
+of tint, and there was a clearness in the steady eyes that is only seen
+in those of such men as he. There was also in his features a suggestion
+of endurance and optimism that, in fact, was strongest in the time of
+stress and struggle. Sun and wind, fruitful soil and barren, nipping
+frosts, drought and devastating hail, all these were things to be
+grappled with or profited by with equal willingness. He and his kind in
+new countries give without stint all they have been given, from the
+sweat of tense effort each and every day to the smiling courage that
+cuts down hours of rest and goes on sowing when seasons are adverse and
+markets fall away; and there is, in turn, usually set upon them plainly
+the symbol of man's dominion over the material world. The patient beasts
+that toiled with him recognised it, and again one of them muzzled his
+shoulder and caught at his arm.
+
+"And," said Mrs. Annersly, "if the market still goes down?"
+
+Leland laughed an optimist's soft laugh. "Then we will go under, I and
+the rest. That is, for a time. Nothing can stop us long, and we will
+start again. Carrie, I am thankful, is provided for."
+
+He struck the horse with the palm of his hand. "I have been keeping you,
+and there is a good deal to do."
+
+The big team stamped and strained; he swung himself into the
+driving-seat, and, with a crackling of fibres, the great plough rolled
+away. Mrs. Annersly smiled as Carrie shook the reins.
+
+"If I were twenty years younger, I almost think I should fall in love
+with your husband," she said. "There is a breadth of view and
+forcefulness Reggie Urmston could never attain even in his simplicity,
+and his egotism becomes him. It's the quiet assurance of a man who knows
+what he can do, and rather thinks that he is doing a good bit. He takes
+all the risk, and you are provided for. Carrie, do you know what that
+man gave, or lent--it's much the same thing--to your father?"
+
+"No," said Carrie, with the spot of colour once more in her cheek. "He
+would never tell me, and how could I ask him? It is a hateful
+subject--why should you mention it?"
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked out over the prairie, a curious smile in her eyes.
+
+"Your husband is cutting down even his hours of sleep," she said. "He is
+driving in forty miles to the railroad when his work is done to-night,
+while Branscombe Denham is building peach-houses at Barrock-holme."
+
+Carrie flushed crimson, and flicked the team with the whip. "You," she
+said, "are the only friend I have, and yet you sometimes take a curious
+pleasure in tormenting me. Do you expect me to turn against my own flesh
+and blood?"
+
+"We have it on good authority that the wife should cleave to her
+husband, and they are one. There are, of course, people nowadays, and
+probably always have been, who think they know better."
+
+The girl caught her breath. "Ah," she said, "you don't quite understand.
+If he were in difficulties I would face them with him cheerfully, but he
+would never let me. It was not said in bitterness, but when he told you
+I was provided for, it hurt me. Why should I be safe, who helped to ruin
+him?"
+
+Eveline Annersly glanced at her with gravely questioning eyes. "My dear,
+I rather fancy you have almost thrown a great treasure away."
+
+"Whether the thing was of great value I do not know, and it is scarcely
+likely I shall ever know. I certainly threw it just as far as I was able
+to, and, though I do not know whether I was wise or not, it is done, and
+there is no use in being sorry."
+
+Then she swung the whip again, and sent the light waggon flying headlong
+down a long grassy slope. Mrs. Annersly found it advisable to hold on,
+and in any case she had said her say. Her words must lie with the rest
+she had dropped, until in due time they should bear their fruit. Eveline
+Annersly was old enough to be somewhat of an optimist too.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland went on with his ploughing, and, save for an
+hour's halt at noon to rest the teams, and for the six o'clock supper,
+toiled until a wondrous green transparency, through which the pale stars
+peeped, hung over the prairie. Then, when the cold clear air was
+invigorating as wine, he led the weary beasts to the stables, and, after
+walking stiffly to the homestead, flung himself into a chair, aching and
+drowsy.
+
+"Jake," he said to the man who was busy in the room, "I'll want some
+coffee in an hour or so. Make it black and strong."
+
+Then Gallwey came in, and they sat for an hour going over a file of
+accounts from which Leland made extracts on a sheet. He laid it down at
+last, and pointed to a bundle of papers on a dusty shelf.
+
+"I was worrying over them before I slept last night, and I'm no wiser
+now," he said. "The one thing certain is that wheat is going down, and
+what it will touch next harvest is rather more than any man can tell.
+One has too many climates from California to New Zealand to reckon with.
+If we stop right now and sow, we'd come out just clear as the market
+stands. I had expected to have quite a pile in hand, but with the drop
+in values the bank balance against me needed considerable meeting."
+
+"It certainly did. I was a trifle astonished when you cabled me to
+arrange for the credit at Winnipeg. You were, in view of your usual
+habits, singularly extravagant for once."
+
+"I was," and Leland laughed somewhat harshly. "Still, under the
+circumstances, it wasn't quite unnatural. Anyway, we have wiped it out,
+and it has crippled me for the next campaign."
+
+Gallwey asked no injudicious questions, but he wondered how his comrade,
+who had distinctly inexpensive tastes, had got rid of all the money he
+had apparently spent in England. Mrs. Leland was not an extravagant
+woman, so far as he was aware.
+
+"The question is, how we should meet a further drop," he said.
+
+"That's not very difficult, unless the drop is too big. We have for
+fixed charges the upkeep of this homestead, besides wages, and the
+feeding of the boys we can't do without, and the working horses. That's
+not going to alter more than a little, anyway. Well, we have the seed,
+and there are broken horses on the run, so it's going to cost us just a
+few teamsters' wages, and the threshing to put oats in on as many extra
+acres as we can break. You see, we get a bigger crop on much the same
+cost."
+
+"And the fall breaking?"
+
+"Wheat," said Leland. "Every acre."
+
+Gallwey drew in his breath. He knew his comrade's boldness, but this was
+almost incredible. Cautious men were already holding their hand, but
+Leland purposed to sow more freely than ever.
+
+"It will be a huge crop," he said. "About the biggest that was ever
+raised in this country. Now, of course, within a margin, there's a good
+deal in your notion in increasing the ratio of production to dead
+charges, but, after all, you can't sow a third as much again without its
+costing you something. Well, if the price drops far enough to make that
+a loss?"
+
+Leland laughed again. "Then," he said, "it will be one of the biggest
+smashes ever known in this country; but nobody's going to lose very much
+when they've taken the land and stock from me. It's tolerably steep
+chances, but they're all on me."
+
+Gallwey's uneasiness showed itself in his face. The magnitude of the
+risk almost dismayed him, but while he sat silent Leland made a little
+gesture.
+
+"Tell Jake to bring that coffee in, and see the waggon's ready," he
+said. "I'll be off, and let the team go easy. They'll put me on to the
+wire at the depot at five o'clock when the stopping freight comes
+through. I should be back by noon. You'll start every man as usual."
+
+He drank the bitter coffee to keep himself awake, and climbed into his
+waggon, while Gallwey shook his head as he watched him jolt away into
+the shadowy prairie.
+
+"It's a big thing, almost too big for any other man," he said. "It was
+the confounded bank balance against him that drove him into it. I wonder
+how he spent all that money, or if Mrs. Leland knows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+LELAND'S PROTEST
+
+
+There were two breakfasts served in the Occidental Hotel, which,
+dilapidated and weather-scarred, stands at the foot of the unpaved
+street of a desolate little town beside the railroad track. Most men
+commence their work early in the prairie country, so the first meal was
+laid at six; but there was another from eight to nine when a train came
+in. This was a somewhat unusual concession to the needs of the few
+passengers who alighted there, because throughout most of the Northwest
+no self-respecting hotel cook would prepare a meal out of the fixed
+hours, not even for a cabinet minister or a railroad director. Nor would
+the proprietor vary a dish, for in his estimation what suffices the
+plainsman is quite good enough for anybody else.
+
+The table had just been cleared when a small and select company of men
+who had nothing in particular to do pulled their chairs up to the stove,
+on which as many of them as could find room put their feet. It had not
+been lighted that morning, or black-leaded for many days, but habit was
+strong in them. There are, even in countries where most men are hard
+workers, a few who spend their lives lounging on hotel verandahs and
+sitting round the stove. Nobody unused to it would, in all probability,
+have cared to linger there, for there are few places of entertainment so
+wholly desolate and uninviting as the general room of the average
+prairie hotel.
+
+Its walls were obviously made of dressed boards, and had even borne a
+coat of paint at one time; but they were bare and dirty now. Two lonely
+German oleographs of more than usually barbaric type hung on rusty
+nails. Cigar-ends and burnt matches littered the uncarpeted floor.
+Benches without backs to them ran along either side of the uncovered
+table. The rest of the furniture consisted of the rusty stove and a few
+chairs, which the loungers monopolised. Two of the group wore
+store-clothing, with trousers so tight that one wondered how they ever
+got them on, and two wore blue jean in sad need of patching. They had
+rough, dark faces, relieved by no sign of amiability or unusual
+intelligence; but they could talk. Loafers and tramps usually can.
+
+Outside the open window, bright sunshine flooded the verandah, and fell
+upon the bare frame-houses across the way. A couple of light waggons,
+with the mire of the spring thawing not yet washed off them, passed
+clattering and jolting among the ruts. The streets of a prairie town
+usually resemble a morass when the frost breaks up. When they had gone,
+a police trooper swung by on a spume-flecked horse, with the dust of
+several leagues' journey thick on his trim uniform. Then there was
+silence again until one of the loungers looked up from the greasy paper
+he was reading.
+
+"Wheat still going down," he said. "There's no bottom to the market, or,
+if it had one, it's dropped out. Our boss farmers are going to feel it
+if things go on like this; but nobody's going to be sorry for them. They
+figure they own the country already."
+
+"I hear Leland of Prospect is ploughing the same as if wheat was going
+up," said another man.
+
+The third of the party shook his pipe out, and pursed up his face, which
+was not an attractive one, into an expression of pitying contempt.
+
+"Leland's a blame fool, and always was," he said. "I once worked for
+him. It's the way the market went with him made him what he is. That,
+and nothing else."
+
+"Why'd you quit Prospect, Jasper?" asked the remaining comrade, and the
+others grinned.
+
+A vindictive gleam crept into the man's eyes. "Well," he said, "I've no
+use for being bossed by that kind of man, and one day I up and told him
+what I thought of him. There was considerable trouble before I walked
+out. Anyway, between the market and the English girl he's married, he's
+fixed just now."
+
+"She's flinging his money away?" asked somebody.
+
+"With both hands, and too stuck on herself to be civil to him. They're
+made like that in the Old Country. Leland's no more to her than the
+hired man, one of the boys told me."
+
+"Well, why'd she marry him?"
+
+"For his money. That's a good enough reason, and it's quite likely there
+was another one. Girls like her have got to marry somebody over there,
+and the men with money are kind of particular. I guess it's not
+astonishing. If you got hold of an English paper, it's full of their
+goings-on."
+
+"That's all right," said one of the others in tight store-clothes.
+"Still, until they're married, they've got to be careful. Afterwards, it
+don't so much matter. Unless all's quite straight, buyers hold off, and
+the figure comes down."
+
+"It's quite easy guessing that's what was wrong with Mrs. Leland. What
+else would a girl with her looks make sure of him for? Charley Leland
+comes along with his money, and they plant her right on to him. It's
+even betting she goes off with another man if the market breaks him."
+
+He stopped abruptly as his neighbour drove an elbow into his ribs, and
+his mouth gaped open as he dropped his feet from the stove. Then the
+others moved uneasily in their chairs, for a man stood in the doorway
+regarding them with a singularly unpleasant smile.
+
+"Stand right up, Jasper, you--hog!" he said.
+
+Jasper sat still, glancing at the others, as though he felt that, while
+none of them appeared in any haste to do so, it was their duty to
+support him, until one evidently remembered that there were, after all,
+four of them.
+
+"He's sitting where he is, Charley Leland," he said. "Nobody asked you
+to hang round listening, and if you don't like our talk you can go
+outside again."
+
+Leland showed no sign of having heard him. "Get up," he said, "and tell
+them you're a liar."
+
+Jasper sat still. He was tolerably active and muscular, or he would
+never have worked at Prospect. But there was a dangerous look in
+Leland's eyes. His quiet incisiveness was portentous. Realising that
+his comrades expected something of him, Jasper managed to retort.
+
+"Oh, go home!" he said. "I guess you've plenty of trouble there without
+making any here."
+
+In another moment Leland had crossed the room and swung him to his feet.
+Nobody was very clear about what happened during the next few seconds.
+There is, however, a certain animal courage in every man who has lived
+by bodily toil, and Jasper, who had also a vindictive temper, did all he
+could. When he had once felt Leland's hand, he clinched with him, and,
+reeling locked together, they fell with a crash against the table and
+overturned one of the benches. Then, gasping, panting, floundering, and
+striking when they could, they went swaying towards the door, while
+Jasper's friends howled encouragingly, and men, attracted by the uproar,
+ran out of the opposite store. Foot by foot they neared the verandah,
+and when Leland, gasping with passion, made a supreme effort, they
+staggered out into it.
+
+There was a crowd below it now, and they set up a shout as Leland's
+grasp sank lower down the other man's hollowing back. Jasper, it seemed,
+was not altogether a favourite of theirs. After that there was silence
+for another moment or two, while the two men swayed and strained with
+scuffling feet, until one of them suddenly relaxed his hold, and,
+reeling backwards, plunged down the verandah stairway. He struck a rail
+as he did it, and, overturning, came down headlong in the unpaved
+street. Somebody dragged him to his feet, and he stood still a moment,
+hatless, with the dust upon his flushed face, and his jacket rent,
+gasping with futile rage. Then he slunk away through the gap that was
+opened up for him.
+
+Leland leant somewhat heavily on the rails above. The veins were swollen
+on his forehead, blood trickled down his chin from one of his bleeding
+lips, and his face was dark with rage. Altogether, he was not exactly an
+attractive spectacle. Raising himself stiffly, he disappeared into the
+hotel, from which three other men made their way with as much haste as
+was compatible with any show of dignity. A light waggon had stopped
+unnoticed just outside the crowd.
+
+A few minutes earlier Carrie Leland and Mrs. Annersly had driven across
+the railroad track on their way to the dry-goods store, and, as the
+waggon jolted in the ruts, the girl pointed to the town with a little
+gesture of repugnance.
+
+"Could one well imagine anything less attractive than this?" she said.
+"Still, I believe the desolate place is looked upon as a rising city,
+and they are actually proud of it."
+
+Eveline Annersly glanced up the single street with a twinkle in her
+eyes. It somewhat resembled a ploughed field, though the ruts and ridges
+the wheels had made were crumbling into dust. Above it ran a rickety
+sidewalk of planks, by means of which foot passengers could escape the
+mire in spring; and crude frame-houses, destitute of paint or any
+attempt at adornment, rose from that in turn. The fronts of most of them
+were carried sufficiently high to hide the pitch of sloped roof, so that
+they resembled squares of timber pierced by little windows. Above the
+topmost of the latter there usually ran a blatant but half-obliterated
+commendation of the wares sold within, for in the rising prairie town
+every house is, as a rule, either a store or a hotel.
+
+"Well," she said, "one could scarcely call it picturesque, but we have
+colliery and other industrial villages at home that are not very far
+behind it."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Still, we have the grace to attempt to justify them on
+the score of necessity, while they hold this place up as a model and a
+sign of progress. It is a barbarous country."
+
+"Including Prospect, too?"
+
+"Of course! Still, Prospect makes no pretence of civilisation. It is
+part of the prairie, and nobody could expect much from it."
+
+"Or of those who dwell in it?"
+
+A little tinge of colour showed in the girl's cheek. "Well," she said
+with faint scorn, "I don't mind admitting that, too. They are a
+distinctly primitive people."
+
+Mrs. Annersly said nothing further. She had her fancies respecting the
+reason for the girl's bitterness, and did not think that her marriage
+accounted for all of it. This was, in a way, as she would have it. She
+sat silent until Carrie pulled the team up close to the dry-goods store.
+A crowd was collecting in front of it, and they could get no further.
+While they sat there, a clamour broke out, and amidst a sound of
+scuffling, two men reeled across the verandah of the hotel opposite
+them. Their faces were not at first visible, and Carrie smiled
+contemptuously when the crowd encouraged them as they grappled with each
+other.
+
+"That," she said, "is evidently considered the correct thing when
+Western gentlemen have a difference of opinion. You will notice that
+nobody makes any attempt to put an end to it. After all, since they
+cannot keep their brutality under restraint, there is something to be
+said for the use of pistols."
+
+In another moment one of the men brought his fist down with a dull thud
+upon the other's half-concealed face, and a little spark of scornful
+anger crept into the girl's eyes.
+
+"It is a little disgusting, but we cannot get on without driving over
+somebody, and it would be a trifle absurd to have to go away again," she
+said. "What brutes men of their kind are!"
+
+"Still, there is something to admire in their brutality," said her
+companion. "That man has both lips cut open. One would have fancied the
+blow would have stunned him, but he seems to be disregarding it, and is
+holding on."
+
+She stopped a moment, with a little catching of her breath. "Ah," she
+said, "there will be no more of it."
+
+One of the men loosed his hold and reeled down the stairway. Then for
+the first time they saw the face of the other clearly as he leant upon
+the rails. It was not wholly pleasant to look at, for there was passion
+in it, and blood trickled from the swollen lips. Carrie's hands
+tightened convulsively on the reins as she urged the team forward. Her
+cheeks were almost colourless, but she met Eveline Annersly's eyes
+steadily, and her voice had a bitter ring in it.
+
+"Yes," she said, "it is my husband. No doubt his comrades would expect
+me to be pleased with him."
+
+She stopped a moment and pulled the team up again. "I wonder if you can
+guess what it will cost me to go into that store, but I am going. After
+all, it would be a little absurd for Charley Leland's wife to be
+particular."
+
+Mrs. Annersly's face was compassionate. "My dear," she said, "he had
+probably a reason for it."
+
+"Of course!" said Carrie, languidly. "No doubt they differed over the
+points of a steer, or one of them was too attentive to the waiting-maid.
+I believe they have two at the Occidental."
+
+She swung herself down, ignoring the hand of a man who had seized the
+reins, and, when Mrs. Annersly had descended, went into the big store.
+She was perfectly conscious that everybody was watching her, but she
+made her purchases with a cold serenity, and then drove away. She did
+not inquire for Leland, and was unaware that the object on the verge of
+the prairie was his waggon. Had she known it, she would have held her
+team in a little, for she had not the least desire to overtake him.
+This, however, was scarcely likely, for it was a long way to Prospect,
+and she intended to break the journey for an hour or so at an outlying
+farm to which the trail turned off in a league or two.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland drove on as fast as his weary team could go,
+until he reached the crossing of the ravine where Sergeant Grier had
+waylaid the outlaws. The trail dipped in sharp twists between the
+birches into the hollow, and he had raised himself a trifle on the
+driving-seat to swing the team round a bend when one side of the waggon
+dropped suddenly beneath him. In another moment he went out headlong,
+and, coming down heavily on his shoulder, lay as he fell, half dazed for
+a time. When he pulled his scattered senses together, he saw that the
+team had stopped and that one of the waggon wheels lay not far away from
+him. He rose with difficulty, feeling very sore and very dizzy, but,
+finding that he could walk, picked the wheel up. The brass cap of the
+hub had gone, and so had the nut which locked the bush on the axle. He
+had put a new one on not long before, and felt sure it had not come off
+of itself, as he remembered how tightly it had fitted. Still, it was
+evident that, if anybody had loosened it, the sudden strain upon the
+wheels as the waggon swung round the bend might have jarred it off, even
+after it had held that far.
+
+That question could wait. Rolling the wheel downhill, he attempted to
+put it on the hub. An unloaded prairie waggon is usually so light that a
+strong man can lift one side of it, but Leland was badly shaken by his
+fall. Indeed, he sat down more than once, gasping and dripping with
+perspiration, before he accomplished it. It was a mighty task for any
+man to attempt after a long day's ploughing, a night spent upon the
+trail, and a sixty-mile drive.
+
+Although he was bothered with a distressing headache, and found that a
+branch had scored his cheek, nevertheless, when he had fitted on another
+nut from the tool-box in the waggon, he drove ahead, reaching Prospect
+almost as worn out as the team. Still, after a bite of food, he climbed
+up into the driving-seat of the big gang-plough. Summer is short in the
+Northwest, and the wheat that goes in late runs a risk of freezing, so
+he needed in his struggle the efforts of every man he could get. He
+drove the threefold furrow through the ripping sod until at last the
+copper sun dipped below the prairie's verge. Then, leaving his team to
+the men, he went back to the house, too weary to carry himself erect.
+The birches swayed in a cold green transparency, the crisp air had vim
+in it, but the weary man noticed nothing as he plodded, heavy-eyed,
+through the crackling stubble.
+
+He had just finished his lonely supper, and was sitting, dressed as when
+he came in, with the dust of the journey on him, and smears of the soil
+upon his heavy boots and leggings, when his wife, who apparently did not
+know he was there, entered the room. She started a little as she saw
+him, and Leland drowsily raised his hand to the raw red scar on his
+face. He had not remembered that his lips were twice their natural size
+and very unpleasant to look at, though they pained him.
+
+"It doesn't amount to much," he said deprecatingly. "I've been too busy
+to fix it. I got thrown out of my waggon."
+
+Carrie became rigidly erect, a sparkle of indignation in her eyes.
+
+"That is really a little unnecessary," she said coldly. "I didn't
+presume to trouble you with any inquiries."
+
+Leland looked at her, as though puzzled, with half-closed eyes. "They
+wouldn't have been unnatural in the case of a man who was flung headlong
+out of his waggon."
+
+"One excuse will no doubt serve as well as another. The difficulty is
+that I happen to have some idea as to how you got your injuries."
+
+The man rose wearily. "I have the pleasure of telling you that I was
+thrown out coming down the ravine."
+
+"And I," said Carrie coldly, "was at the settlement at the time you
+furnished everybody with that interesting spectacle on the hotel
+verandah. I don't wish to be unduly fastidious, but hitherto, so far as
+I know, at least you have not taken the trouble to deceive me wilfully."
+
+Leland turned towards her with his cut lips pressed together, and his
+scarred face grim and hard, making a little gesture of weariness.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess it doesn't matter. I don't suppose I could
+make you think anything but hard of me."
+
+He stopped a minute, and then laughed. "I have faced the world alone so
+far, and held my own with it. I suppose there is no reason why I
+shouldn't go on doing it."
+
+"I believe that is, after all, what most men have to do," said Carrie.
+"I shall endeavour to be as small a burden on you as I can manage."
+
+Then she turned and left him; but, as had happened on other occasions,
+her heart smote her in spite of her anger, for he looked shaken and very
+weary and lonely in the big, desolate room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+CARRIE ABASES HERSELF
+
+
+The warm spring day was over. In that land of contrasts, where there is
+no slow melting of season into season, it is often hot while the last
+snow-drifts linger in the shadows of the bluffs. Carrie and Mrs.
+Annersly were sitting by an open window of Carrie's sitting-room. The
+sun had gone, but, as usual at that season, a filmy curtain of green
+overhung the vast sweep of prairie that had shaken off its hues of white
+and grey for the first faint colour of spring. Above hung a pale, sickle
+moon, and down the long slope, over which the harrow-torn furrows ran,
+lines of men and weary teams were plodding home. Round the rest of that
+half of the horizon, the prairie melted into the distance
+imperceptibly--vast, mysterious, shadowy, under a great tense
+silence--while the little chilled breeze that came up had in it the
+properties of an elixir.
+
+The thin-faced woman who lay in Carrie's big chair was not looking at
+the prairie. She had watched the pageant of the seasons too often
+before, and to her and her husband they had usually meant only a
+variation in the ceaseless struggle which had left its mark on both of
+them. In that country, man has to contend with drought, and harvest
+frost, and devastating hail, for it is only by mighty effort and long
+endurance that the Western farmer wrests his bare living from the soil.
+When seasons are adverse, and they frequently are, a heavy share of the
+burden falls upon the woman, too.
+
+Mrs. Custer had borne hers patiently, but her face, which still showed
+traces of refinement, was worn, and her hands and wrists were rough and
+red. While Thomas Custer toiled out in the frost and sunshine from early
+dawn to dusk to profit by the odd fat year, or more often, if it might
+by feverish work be done, to make his losses good, she cooked and washed
+and baked for him and the boys, a term that locally signifies every male
+attached to the homestead. She had also made her own dresses, as well as
+some of her husband's clothes, and darned and patched the latter with
+cotton flour-bags. Yet the ceaseless struggle had not embittered her,
+though it had left her weary. Perhaps it is the sunshine, or something
+in the clean cold airs from the vast spaces of the wilderness, for man
+holds fast to his faith and courage in that land of cloudless skies.
+
+It was the rich, dark curtains, the soft carpet one's feet sank into,
+the dainty furniture, the odds and ends of silver, and the few good
+etchings at which the faded woman glanced with wistful appreciation. She
+had been accustomed to such things once, but that was long ago, and she
+had never seen on the prairie anything like Carrie Leland's room. With a
+wee, contented smile she turned to the girl.
+
+"It was so good of you to have me here, although if Tom's sister from
+Traverse hadn't promised to look after him I couldn't have come," she
+said. "It is three years since I have been away, and to know that one
+has nothing to do for a whole week is almost too delightful now."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm rather afraid that some of us
+have that consolation, if it is one, all our lives," she said. "They
+keep you busy at the Range?"
+
+"From morning to night; and now we must work harder than ever, with one
+of the boys in Montreal and wheat going down. One feels inclined to
+wonder sometimes if the folks who buy our cheap flour would think so
+much of the quarter-dollar on the sack if they knew what it costs us."
+
+She stopped a moment with a little wistful smile. "I'm afraid this is
+going to be a particularly lean year for a good many of us. Last year I
+was busy, though I had a Scandinavian maid, but I shall be single-handed
+now, and the grocery bill must come down, too. It's quite hard to pare
+it any closer when everything you take off means extra work, and, with
+it all, the boys must be fed."
+
+Mrs. Annersly glanced at Carrie, who, for some reason, did not meet her
+gaze.
+
+"I think you mentioned that you came from Montreal," she said. "You must
+have found it very different on the prairie."
+
+"I certainly did. I had never done anything useful or been without all
+the money I wanted when I married Tom Custer, who had gone out a year
+earlier. My friends were against it, and they would probably have been
+more so had they seen the Range as it was then. The house had three
+rooms to it, and one was built of sod, while all the first summer the
+rain ran in. Still we made out together, and got on little by little,
+struggling for everything. A new stove or set of indurated ware meant
+weeks of self-denial. Now I seem to have been pinching a lifetime,
+though I am only forty; but Tom was always kind, and I do not think I
+have ever been sorry."
+
+She lay still, nestling luxuriously in the softly padded chair, and
+through her worn face and hard hands the blurred stamp of refinement
+once more shone. It was twenty years since she had turned away from the
+brighter side of life, and, though she did not expect compassion,
+Eveline Annersly felt sorry for her. There was also a certain
+thoughtfulness in Carrie Leland's expression, which seemed to suggest
+that a comparison was forced upon her. Both of them realised that the
+wilderness is not subdued without a cost. Woman, it seemed, had her part
+in the tense struggle, too, and Mrs. Custer was one of the many of whom
+it can be said: "They also serve."
+
+"Have you ever been home since you were married?" asked Carrie.
+
+"Once," said Mrs. Custer, with a faint shadow in her face. "I never went
+again. The others were not the same, or perhaps I had changed, for they
+did not seem to understand me. My younger sisters were growing up, and
+they thought only of dances, sleigh-rides and nights on the
+toboggan-slides, as I suppose I did once. My dresses looked dowdy beside
+theirs, too, and they told me I was getting too serious. I felt myself a
+stranger in the house where I was born. One, it seems, loses touch so
+soon."
+
+Again she stopped and laughed. "One night something was said that hurt
+me, and I think I lay awake and cried for hours as I realised that I
+could never quite bridge the gulf that had opened up between the rest
+and me. Then I remembered that Tom, who had worked harder than ever to
+raise the wheat that sent me there, wanted me always--and I went back to
+him."
+
+Her voice fell a little, and Carrie was touched by the faint thrill in
+it. She had seen Thomas Custer, a plain, somewhat hard-featured and
+silent man, and yet this woman, who she fancied had once been almost
+beautiful, had willingly worn out her freshness in coarse labour for
+him. Then a tiny flush crept into her face as she remembered that she,
+too, had a husband, one who gave her everything, and for whom she seldom
+had even a smile. She was not innately selfish. Indeed, she had shown
+herself capable of sacrifice. As she sat unobserved in the growing
+shadow, she sighed. She wondered whether they still remembered her at
+Barrock-holme, for, if they did, they had seldom written, and she
+reflected sadly that she had not Mrs. Custer's consolation, since there
+was nobody else who wanted her.
+
+"You really believe this is going to be a lean year?" she said.
+
+"I am afraid so. Still, it is scarcely likely to trouble you, except
+that your husband will have a good deal to face. Tom isn't sure he was
+wise in sowing so much, with wheat going down, and it seems he
+considered it necessary to quarrel with the rustlers, too. They are
+rather vindictive people, and it's a little astonishing they have left
+him alone, though Tom thinks they or their friends had something to do
+with what happened to his waggon. He met him driving home the day he was
+thrown out, and told me that Charley, who had evidently had a bad fall,
+looked very shaky."
+
+Carrie started. "He was thrown out of his waggon?"
+
+"Of course! Didn't he tell you? Well, perhaps he would be afraid of its
+worrying you. It would be like Charley Leland, and here I have been
+giving him away."
+
+Carrie was troubled by an unpleasant sense of confusion as she
+remembered that her husband had really told her, and what her attitude
+had been; but Mrs. Custer had more to say.
+
+"Charley Leland is going to have his hands full this year. The fall in
+wheat is bad enough, and it is quite likely the rustlers will make
+trouble for him. Then he must fall out with a man at the settlement, who
+Tom says is in league with them. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned
+that, though I almost think it was the only thing he could do."
+
+Carrie, seeing Mrs. Annersly look up sharply, controlled herself by
+force of will.
+
+"Would you mind telling me why you think that?" she asked calmly.
+
+Mrs. Custer appeared to be looking at her in astonishment. "You don't
+know? He hasn't told you that, either?"
+
+"No," said Carrie quietly, "he certainly hasn't."
+
+The woman in the big chair sat silent for several moments, and then made
+a little deprecatory gesture. "Even if your husband doesn't thank me for
+telling you, I think you ought to know. It appears from what Tom heard,
+two or three of the loungers at the hotel were talking about you.
+Charley came into the verandah and heard them."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, with a sharpness in her voice that suggested pain,
+"so that was how it came about. No doubt half the people in the
+settlement know what they were saying?"
+
+Once more Mrs. Custer appeared to consider. Like most of his friends,
+she believed in Charley Leland, and it was, of course, not astonishing
+that she was aware that his relations with his wife were not exactly all
+they should be. This to some extent roused her resentment, and, though
+she was inclined to like Carrie, she had half-consciously taken up her
+husband's cause against her.
+
+"My dear," she said, "I scarcely think I could tell you, and I really
+don't believe many people know. Still, neither your husband nor the
+others appear to have noticed that the inner door of the room was open,
+and the man who keeps the hotel heard them. He told Tom that he wouldn't
+have expected anything else from Charley Leland."
+
+Carrie leant forward a little in her chair. "I want you to tell me
+exactly what they said. It is right to my husband and myself that I
+should know."
+
+"Then you will forgive me if it hurts you. They said you had only
+married him for his money, and he was no more to you than one of the
+teamsters. There was a little more I couldn't mention."
+
+There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, and Carrie knew,
+dark as it now was, that Mrs. Annersly was furtively watching her.
+
+"Ah," she said, "then my husband came in?"
+
+Mrs. Custer laughed softly. "I believe the loquacious gentleman was very
+sorry for himself before Charley had done with him."
+
+"Thank you," said Carrie, thoughtfully. "Now I think we will change the
+subject. Could you manage to light the lamp, Aunt Eveline? I can't very
+well get past you."
+
+Mrs. Annersly, lighting the lamp, craftily led their visitor to talk of
+Montreal; for she thought Carrie had suffered enough for the present.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, who had been driving the harrows all day, and
+had just come in, sat with Gallwey in the big room below. He had a
+blackened pipe in his hand, and his face was thoughtful. His torn jacket
+and coarse blue shirt fell away to the elbow from one almost blackened
+and splendidly corded arm. The man, like most of his neighbours at that
+season, was usually too weary with more than twelve hours' labour to
+change his clothes when he came in, for which there was, indeed, no
+great reason, since he seldom saw his wife or Mrs. Annersly in the brief
+hour between his work and sleep.
+
+"Wheat's down another cent, with sellers prevailing," he said, pointing
+to several newspapers on the table. "It's 'most a pity I had fixed up to
+put in the big crop. Things are quiet in Russia, and that means a good
+crop; they've had rain in California, and the kind of season they wanted
+in Argentina, India, and Australia. It seems to me the whole thing's
+going to turn on the States' crop this year. From what I've been reading
+here, they're a little scared about sowing in the Dakotas and Minnesota.
+They'd swamp out all the markets if wheat jumped up just now."
+
+"It shows very little sign of doing it," said Gallwey. "Things are going
+to be a little serious as it is. A short crop in the States would give
+values a fillip, but the trouble is that if they have frost or hail we
+are likely to get it, too."
+
+Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "if the market doesn't stiffen, we
+can only go under. It would hurt to give up Prospect, but it could be
+done. In the meanwhile, I've been wondering about that waggon. It took
+me quite a while to screw the lock-nut on with the big box-spanner, and
+the thing never loosened of itself."
+
+"I don't think it did. The last time you drove in to the settlement,
+your waggon was standing probably four or five hours behind the
+Occidental. I think I'd try to find out if anybody borrowed one of
+Porter's spanners when I went in again. How long was it after you threw
+Jasper out, when you drove away?"
+
+"About five minutes."
+
+"Well, it's quite possible he did it before. I suppose you haven't asked
+yourself how Jasper makes a living. He never seems to be doing anything,
+and I believe it isn't difficult to buy whisky at the settlement. Thanks
+to our beneficent legislature, whoever keeps it makes an excellent
+profit."
+
+Leland's face grew a trifle harder, and he closed one brown hand. "The
+same thing struck me, and I guess you're right. It seems I have a good
+deal against me this year. The market would have been bad enough without
+the rustlers."
+
+Gallwey rose and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can count on me,
+Charley, whatever comes along. There are others, too. It isn't only the
+whisky men who feel they have to get even with you. You'll get what you
+like to ask for, teams, men to harvest for you, and, though it's scarce
+in this country, even money."
+
+He turned away a trifle abruptly, and Leland felt a thrill of gratitude.
+He had many friends on the prairie, and knew the worth of them, though
+it did not occur to him that he had done quite sufficient to warrant
+their good-will. Just then he was most clearly sensible that there was
+much against him.
+
+Presently Carrie came in, looking very dainty and alluring in an evening
+gown. She had not yet discarded all the social conventions to which she
+had been accustomed at Barrock-holme. Leland felt a stirring of his
+blood as he looked at her. He rose and stood waiting, as she watched him
+gravely, a faint flush in her cheeks.
+
+"Charley," she said, and he thought how seldom she used his name, "I
+have a difficult thing to do, but it would not be honest to shirk it. I
+must ask you to forgive me for what I said when you told me about the
+waggon."
+
+"Why?"
+
+The colour grew in the girl's face. "Mrs. Custer has told me that her
+husband saw you."
+
+Leland smiled somewhat bitterly. "You find it easier to believe Tom
+Custer than me?"
+
+"Please wait. What could I think when you told me? I was at the
+settlement that morning, and saw your cut lips when you stood on the
+verandah."
+
+The man started a little, but he promptly recovered from his
+astonishment, and looked at her with twinkling eyes.
+
+"Now I understand," he said. "You were a little disgusted with me. The
+men you are used to wouldn't have thrown any one they couldn't agree
+with out of a hotel."
+
+"No. Still, there are cases when the provocation may be too strong for
+one."
+
+"It is quite often that way with me. I'm afraid I am a little short in
+temper."
+
+He leant upon the table, as though he had nothing more to say, and
+Carrie recognised that he did not mean to tell her what had led up to
+the outbreak. Whether this was due to pride or generosity she did not
+know, but the fact made its impression upon her. Her husband was, it
+seemed, sure enough of his own purposes to disregard what others thought
+of him; but there was a certain sting in the reflection. A desire on his
+part to stand well in her estimation would have been more gratifying.
+Still, she overcame the slight sense of mortification.
+
+"You haven't told me what the provocation was," she said.
+
+"No," said Leland, with a little quiet smile. "It wouldn't be quite the
+thing to worry you with an explanation every time I lose my temper. I do
+it now and then."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "don't you care, then, what I think of you? Still, in
+this case, I needn't ask you. Mrs. Custer told me that, too. That is why
+I felt I must ask you to forgive me for presuming to blame you. I want
+to be just, and I was in my wilfulness horribly far from being so."
+
+"You want to be just? That was the only reason?"
+
+The girl saw the tension in his face, and stood silent, swayed by a
+whirl of confused sensations. She would not admit there was another
+reason, though something in her nature clamoured for a breaking down of
+the restraint between them. She had looked down on this man and wantonly
+wounded him, while he had shown her what she realised was a splendid
+generosity and borne her scorn in silence. It was once more his
+independent silence that troubled her, and she felt just then that she
+would sooner have had him compel her to acknowledge that he was not what
+she had striven to think him.
+
+"Well," he said, a trifle sadly, "I suppose I must not expect too much."
+
+The girl's heart smote her. She knew just what he wanted her to say, but
+she could not say it, and yet she meant to do all she had undertaken.
+
+"There is a little more, and it must be said," she said. "I know part,
+at least, of what those men said of me."
+
+She stopped, and, holding herself rigidly, though one hand which she had
+laid on the table quivered a little, looked at him steadily.
+
+"If I could only prove them wrong, but I can't," she said.
+
+A deep flush crept into Leland's face, and the veins rose swollen on his
+forehead, while he grasped her shoulder almost roughly.
+
+"Do you know what you are saying?" he asked.
+
+"That I married you because we were poor at Barrock-holme. It was a
+horrible wrong I did you--and you have made me ashamed."
+
+The relief that swept into the man's face somewhat puzzled her, but she
+had seen the anger and suspense in it a moment earlier, and her heart
+throbbed painfully. After all, though she did not understand what had
+troubled him, it seemed that he did care very much indeed.
+
+"My dear," he said quietly, "if you think you have done me any wrong, it
+is wiped out now. Perhaps, some day, you will go a little further than
+you have done to-night, and I must try to wait for it. That is all I
+have to say, and this is becoming a little painful to both of us."
+
+He turned slowly away, and Carrie moved towards the door, but, when she
+reached it, she stopped and looked back at him.
+
+"One can be a little too generous now and then," she said.
+
+Then the door closed, and Leland stood still, leaning on the table, with
+thoughtful eyes.
+
+"I don't know if that was a lead or not, and I don't seem able to think
+just now," he said. "I'm not running Prospect, it's driving me, and I'm
+ground down mind and body by the load of wheat I'm carrying."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE OUTLAWS STRIKE BACK
+
+
+The brief spring was merging suddenly, earlier even than usual, into
+summer, and it was a still, oppressive night when Leland sat, somewhat
+grim in face, in a mortgage and land broker's office at the railroad
+settlement. The little, dusty room, with its litter of papers and survey
+prints, was very hot, and Leland, who had just come in from the dusk,
+was a trifle dazed by the light the kerosene lamp flung down. He had in
+his hand two or three letters the broker had given him, and glanced at
+one of them moodily, only with difficulty fixing his attention on it. He
+had toiled with feverish activity that spring, and at last the strain
+was telling, for his head ached, and he felt limp and weary. It had,
+too, been dry weather ever since he put the first plough into the
+ground, and that night there was an oppressive tension in the
+atmosphere.
+
+Macartney, the land-broker, sat opposite him, a gaunt, keen-eyed man,
+with a thin jacket over his white shirt. Leland knew him for an upright
+man, though nobody is supposed to be particularly scrupulous in the
+business he followed.
+
+"You are looking a little played out," he said. "I can give you some ice
+and soda, but it's partly due to your own efforts that I've nothing
+else. Whisky can, I believe, be had, but, in the face of the fall in
+land and wheat, the figure the few men want who venture to keep it is
+prohibitive."
+
+He filled a tumbler from the fountain on the side-table, and dropped in
+a lump of ice. Leland drained it thirstily.
+
+"I've been round since sun-up, and have driven forty miles," he said,
+putting down the empty glass. "I guess it's the weather, for a thing of
+that kind shouldn't have troubled me. Not a blade of wheat up yet, and
+the seed-beds all clods and dust. There are very few of us going to
+escape the frost in the fall."
+
+Macartney nodded sympathetically. "If I come out a hundred cents on the
+dollar when harvest's over, it's rather more than I expect," he said.
+"My stake's in land and wheat, and I couldn't unload anything except at
+a smart loss just now. In the circumstances, it seems to me that Bruce
+is making you a reasonable offer."
+
+"I'm not likely to raise on it from anybody else," and Leland frowned as
+he glanced at the letter. "Still, if I let him have the cattle, I can't
+stock the ranch again. They should have cleared me quite a few thousand
+dollars, if I could have held on, and sold them fat in the fall."
+
+"If I were in your place and could hold on, I would. Still, you have to
+have some money in hand. The banks won't look at land, and I couldn't
+raise you anything on mortgage except at a crippling interest."
+
+"That's just my trouble, I haven't got any cash."
+
+The broker glanced at him reflectively. "Well," he said, "it's not my
+business, but you must have had a pile last year. Of course, you were
+over in the Old Country, but you could afford it, and you never struck
+me as an extravagant man."
+
+Leland smiled in a somewhat wry fashion. "I don't quite think I am, but
+that's not the question. I've got to have the money to go on with, and,
+as you say, I couldn't get it on a mortgage that wouldn't ruin me. Tell
+Bruce he can have the cattle, and, if he'll let me know when he wants
+them, we'll round them up for him. It's that or nothing, but I stand to
+lose 'most enough on the run to break me this year."
+
+"From what you told me, if you hang on to the run, you'll have to let
+Prospect go."
+
+Leland's face hardened. "Well," he said, "I guess I would, and that, if
+it has to be, is going to hurt me. If I stood as I did last fall, I
+could carry over, but now the market and the season are both against me.
+But I must be getting home. You'll fix it up with Bruce?"
+
+The ostler from the Occidental was waiting outside with a hired horse,
+and Leland, swinging himself wearily into the saddle, rode down the
+unpaved street. A blaze of light shone out from the verandah of the
+little hotel, and he could hear the laughter of those inside and the hum
+of merry voices. Further on, somebody was playing a fiddle in a house
+the door and windows of which stood wide open. He sighed a little as he
+rode by. A year ago, he would have spent the night there or at the
+hotel, taking his part in the pointed badinage with keen enjoyment. His
+good-humour had been infectious then, and everybody had had a pleasant
+word for him; but things were different now.
+
+The market was going against him, the season was getting more
+unpropitious. If ruin could be staved off, it would be only by unceasing
+toil and Spartan self-denial. After working from sunrise, he had driven
+forty miles that afternoon, and there was the same distance still to be
+covered in the saddle. He might count himself fortunate if he reached
+Prospect in time for barely two hours' sleep before he must set about
+his work again. He had never spared himself, and he had no thought of
+doing so now, when every effort he could make was urgently necessary.
+Branscombe Denham's creditors had been, if not satisfied, at least
+pacified for a time with the money that would have seen him through, and
+Leland, who knew his man, smiled grimly as he recalled that Denham had
+termed it a loan.
+
+There was nobody in the rutted street, the stores were closed, and only
+a single light burned in the little wooden shed beside the railroad
+track. The place seemed deadly desolate, and Leland, whose physical
+weariness had reacted on his mind, shrank for once from the greater
+loneliness, as he rode out into the silent, empty waste. Save when the
+blue sheet-lightning fell with a sudden blaze, black darkness rested
+heavily upon the night. The drumming of his horse's hoofs rose with a
+jarring distinctness, the air was thick and hot, and the smell of
+sun-scorched earth was in his nostrils. A light, fibrous dust settled on
+his perspiring face.
+
+The sod, green no longer, was turning white before its season, and broad
+cracks seamed its surface from want of moisture. He could remember only
+one or two springs that had been like this; and they, he recalled, had
+broken many a prairie farmer. Seed will not germinate under such
+conditions, and the prairie summer is usually quite short enough to
+ripen the crops. There was nobody to observe him, so he bent under the
+strain, riding slackly in his weariness, with all the vigour gone out of
+him. What his thoughts were, he could never quite remember. Indeed, he
+was not sure that he had had any definite thoughts at all, being
+conscious only of utter lassitude and dejection.
+
+The horse started in alarm whenever the blue radiance flashed athwart
+the prairie, showing here and there a clump of willows, or a birch bluff
+etched black against the brightness. Then darkness followed, and he felt
+his way by the sound the hoofs made on the sun-baked soil of the trail.
+He was astonished, on making the big bluff by the ravine, to hear a beat
+of hoofs among the trees he had not seen until he rode into the midst of
+them. There were evidently a good many horses, and it flashed upon him
+that only the rustlers would be riding that way in a body and at that
+hour of night. He had no pistol, nothing in fact, but a heavy riding
+quirt. This he grasped by the thinner end as he rode on. In his present
+mood, he would not have left the trail had he known absolutely that the
+outlaws had come there in search of him.
+
+They were hidden in the blackness, but he could hear them calling to
+their horses as they climbed the trail out of the hollow, and he
+stiffened himself a little, shifting his hand on the bridle, and feeling
+for a firmer grip with his knees. As he did so, the gap between the
+trunks was filled with a blue flash, and he could plainly see the white
+faces of the foremost of the outlaws. The light lasted long enough to
+show that men and beasts were dripping with wet. Then a curious thing
+happened. Leland's grasp of the riding quirt suddenly relaxed, and he
+checked his horse.
+
+"You have had rain, boys?" he said.
+
+"A shower," said a startled man, who had seen him for an instant. "More
+of it to the westwards--the creek's rising."
+
+There was another blue flash, and Leland's horse plunged. As he swayed
+in his saddle, two, at least, of the others saw his face; but they stood
+still in the black darkness that followed, and he rode through the midst
+of them with a firm grasp on the bridle. Then he gave the startled horse
+the rein. A confused clamour rose from the blackness behind him as he
+swept across the bridge, and he felt that whimsical chance alone had
+saved him. Had he planned his moves with definite purpose, the thing he
+had done would have been impossible.
+
+Reining in when he reached the level beyond the ravine, he sat
+listening. There was no sound of pursuit. As a big, warm drop splashed
+upon one hand, he started nervously. Then from out the silence came a
+soft murmur that rose in sharp crescendo. Suddenly a rush of rain smote
+his perspiring face. The patter swelled into a roar, and a heavy, steamy
+smell like that of a hothouse rose from the drinking earth. Leland felt
+his pulse quicken as the warm deluge washed his cares away. Its value
+could be calculated in hard cash, for it saved his wheat.
+
+He rode for a while bareheaded, with the water trickling over him.
+Though he was physically very weary, the lassitude and dejection melted
+out of him. There was no longer a tension in the atmosphere, and he was
+an optimist again, vaguely thankful for the things he had and the
+strength to grapple with those against him. With that, a great
+tenderness towards his wife swept over him like a wave, and he
+remembered, not her scorn and bitter words, but that there was so much
+she must miss at Prospect. He had left her alone, neglected, while he
+thought only of his work, and, even though she cared nothing for him, he
+might in many ways have made her life pleasanter. He could, he
+reflected, do it yet, for ruin seemed remote, now the wheat was saved.
+The rain still beat his clothing flat against his tired limbs, but he
+rode on almost light-heartedly, with the mire splashing high about him,
+welcoming every drop.
+
+It was still dark when he reached Prospect, wet through and half-asleep,
+but, swinging himself wearily down from the saddle, he made shift to put
+the horse into one of the stables. There were more than one of them, for
+the buildings had been erected here and there as they had been wanted,
+and as the farm had grown. Letting himself into the silent house, and
+groping his way to his room, he shed his wet and muddy garments on the
+floor and crawled dead-tired into bed. He slept very soundly, for Nature
+would have her way, and it was seven in the morning when Carrie, who did
+not know he had returned, entered his room. Though she knew little of
+household management, she had, during the last month or two, been
+quietly assuming the direction of affairs at Prospect.
+
+She started when she saw him, but it was evident that he was very fast
+asleep, so she stood for several minutes looking down on him. One arm
+was flung out on the coverlet, bare to the elbow, sinewy and brown. She
+noticed the hardness of the hand, and her heart grew soft towards him as
+she saw how worn his face was with the resolution melted out of it. The
+man looked so weary in his sleep. When she glanced round the room, his
+very clothes, from which the water had spread across the uncovered
+floor, were suggestive of the hard fight he had fought and the weariness
+it had brought him. There had been no care in his face at Barrock-holme.
+She, she reflected, had brought him trouble. At the thought, there came
+over her a feeling of disgust with herself and compassion for him. It
+was not love, perhaps, but it was, at least, regretful tenderness, and
+she drew nearer with a sudden impulse, the blood creeping into her
+cheeks. He lay very still, apparently fast asleep, and she knew that
+further trouble awaited him on wakening.
+
+Then the impulse, illogical as she felt it was, grew stronger, until it
+became uncontrollable, and she bent down swiftly and kissed his cheek.
+He made no sign, but she rose with her blood tingling, and, not daring
+to look back at him, slipped out of the room. She met Gallwey on the
+stairway, and he looked at her in amazement, for he had never before
+seen that colour in her face or that softness in her eyes.
+
+"If one might be permitted to mention it, the loss of sleep and the
+alarm last night seem to have agreed with you," he said. "You are
+looking as fresh as the prairie after the rain."
+
+Carrie laughed softly, and it seemed to the man that her voice was also
+gentler than usual. "I'm afraid I can't make you an equal compliment,"
+she said. "You look very woe-begone."
+
+"I expect I do," and Gallwey made a little whimsical gesture. "In fact,
+I wish it was any other person's duty to inform your husband what has
+happened. I suppose I am in a way responsible, and his remarks are
+rather vigorous occasionally."
+
+"You are not going to waken him now?"
+
+"I'm afraid I must. The King's command, madam. I have already gone a
+little further than was advisable in giving him an extra hour."
+
+"But," said Carrie, "you don't seem to remember that there is a Queen at
+Prospect, too. Let him sleep until nine o'clock. You have my
+dispensation."
+
+Gallwey made her a little inclination, and it was more deferential than
+joking, though he smiled.
+
+"With that, madam, I will risk my head," he said. "I wonder if I may
+dutifully mention that we have wanted a Queen for a long while--one who
+will rule."
+
+Carrie felt her cheeks glow, and she was glad when he turned and went
+down the stairs in front of her.
+
+It was two hours later when Gallwey, with some difficulty, and not a few
+misgivings, awakened Leland, but the latter's first indignation died
+away when his comrade mentioned why he had not done so earlier. Gallwey,
+who was Carrie Leland's devoted servant, contrived to hide his smile,
+though he had drawn his own inferences and was satisfied. By the time he
+had said all he had to say, Leland's face had, however, grown grim
+again, and that he was quiet was not a favourable sign.
+
+"I will be down in five minutes, and come with you," he said. "One of
+the whisky boys or I would have needed burying if I had known of this
+last night."
+
+Ten minutes had passed when he and Gallwey walked towards the stables
+across the wire-fenced paddock. The rain had ceased, and bright sunshine
+was licking up the gleaming moisture from the sod, but Leland saw only a
+wide space of sodden ashes, and the blackened ruins of the log-stables,
+of which the roofs had fallen in. The birch-trunks that still stood were
+charred and tottering, and a little steam rose from them. They went in
+among them together. Leland stopped suddenly, with hands tight clenched
+and the veins on his forehead standing out, when he saw what lay among a
+mass of half-burnt and fallen beams.
+
+"Four of them," he said hoarsely. "Brave old Bright, and Valerie. Many a
+long furrow have they ploughed for me. Voyageur and Blackfoot, too!"
+
+He swung round fiercely. "Tom, I'd almost sooner the--hogs had crippled
+me. Teams I'd broke and driven year by year. They've done 'most as much
+for Prospect as I have. By the Lord, when next I run up against the boys
+who did it, there's going to be a reckoning. You are sure of what you
+tell me?"
+
+Gallwey touched his arm. "Come and see."
+
+They went out together, across the space of ashes that ran back several
+hundred yards from the stables. Then Gallwey stooped beside a half-burnt
+tussock of taller grass, and pointed to a little card of pasteboard
+sulphur matches. They were, as usual, joined together at the bottom of
+the card, and the heads had melted off them; but Gallwey, stooping,
+picked up a single half-burnt match, and fitted it to the place from
+where it had evidently been broken off.
+
+"I left them there for you to see," he said. "As a rule nobody ever
+finds out how a grass-fire starts, but I think the origin of this one is
+tolerably plain. You will, of course, have noticed that it is within the
+guard-furrows. Perhaps the fellow didn't remember the matches, or he may
+have left them as a hint. I suppose it is gratifying to feel that your
+enemy knows you intended it when you hurt him."
+
+Gallwey's face hardened, and he went on:
+
+"Jake wakened first, and we had the boys out in five minutes, but the
+fire was on the stables then. We couldn't get the door open, either, and
+had to wait while one of them brought an axe. I don't know what jammed
+it, because, when I went back to see, it was burnt, but it never stuck
+fast before. Well, we did what we could, but we couldn't save the four
+horses you saw, and, if it hadn't been for the rain, we might have lost
+them all."
+
+Leland, looking about him, noticed again that the fire had started just
+where the grass was tallest, and within the guard-furrows ploughed to
+cut the homestead off from the sweep of the prairie. This fire, it was
+very evident to him, had been started with a definite purpose that it
+had come very near accomplishing.
+
+"We have everything against us this year," he said, and his brown face
+showed very hard and stern. "Still, by the Lord, if we have to go under,
+there's going to be a struggle first."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BENEFICENT RAIN
+
+
+When Gallwey left him, Leland walked slowly through the bluff where the
+birches rustled softly under the caress of a warm, gentle breeze. There
+was a different note in their low murmur now, for the lace-like twigs
+were covered with slender leaves, and a new scent rose from the steaming
+mould. Leland noticed it vacantly, scarcely seeing the silver stems;
+for, susceptible as he was to all of Nature's moods, he was, at the
+time, bracing himself for the long struggle before him.
+
+There was so much against him, and the loss of his horses had filled him
+with an overwhelming indignation against the men who had wantonly
+injured him. He was combative by nature, as every man with a strenuous
+purpose must necessarily be. With vindictive bitterness, he thought of
+the burnt and mangled beasts that had worked for him so well. Once more
+his lips set, and, brushing heedlessly through the bluff, he clenched
+one hard hand. Men and circumstances might prove too strong for him; but
+he would, at least, go on until he was crushed, and leave his mark upon
+his enemies before they brought him down.
+
+Then, coming out from among the trees, he stopped with a little
+indrawing of his breath as he glanced at the ploughing. It had been,
+when he last saw it, a waste of clods rent into hot and dusty fragments,
+but now all the wide basin and long slope of rise were sprinkled with
+flecks of green, and he stood gazing at it with softening face and
+glowing eyes. The kindly rain had touched the parched and dusty soil,
+and the old familiar miracle had again happened.
+
+Life had emerged from darkness; the wheat was up, in token that, while
+man's faith may falter, and his hand grow slack, the great beneficent
+influences are strongest still, and seedtime and harvest shall not fail.
+As those who worked for him had cause to know, and as shrewd grain
+buyers in Winnipeg admitted, Leland was an essentially practical man;
+but there was in him, as there must be in the optimist, a vague
+recognition of the mysterious, upholding purpose that stands behind, and
+is partially revealed in the world of material things. He could drive
+the long furrow, he could rend the clods, but there was that in the
+red-gold wheat that did not come from them or him. It was the essence of
+life, a mystery and a miracle, his to control, or even to annihilate,
+but a thing he could never create.
+
+He felt something of this while he stood there with the warm wind on his
+face. The bitterness fell from him with his cares. Hope is eternal, and
+it sprang up strong in him as his softening eyes wandered over the vast
+sprinkling of sunny green. The harvest would follow the sowing, and toil
+was indestructible. His courage, which, indeed, had never faltered,
+changed its mood. It was no longer the grim resolution of a desperate
+man, but a more hopeful and gentler thing. Then, and he was not
+astonished, for it only seemed the natural sequence of things, his wife
+came out from among the birches with a smile in her eyes.
+
+"I have come to look for you. Breakfast is ready, and I have been
+waiting ever so long," she said.
+
+It was a trifling matter, but the man's heart beat faster than usual. It
+had not been her habit to rise in time to breakfast with him. As often
+happened when he felt the most, he could think of nothing apposite to
+say, and stood looking at her in silence.
+
+"I was almost afraid to venture until I saw you," she said. "I had
+expected to find you angry. It wouldn't have been astonishing."
+
+Leland laughed softly. "I'm afraid I was," he said "Still, it didn't
+seem to last when I saw the wheat was up, and it was bound to vanish
+when you came, anyway."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, with a faint warmth in her cheeks, "it's a long time
+since you have even tried to say anything of that kind to me. Well, I
+have something to say, and I would like you to believe it is not merely
+what you once called the correct thing. I am very sorry for what has
+happened."
+
+"My dear, I think I know," and Leland smiled at her. "It was very good
+of you, and the only thing that was needed to make my worries melt away.
+I seem to feel I'm going to come out ahead of the market and the
+rustlers, now. Could anybody be afraid when he had seen the wheat?"
+
+The girl turned and gazed with only partial comprehension at the vast
+sweep of green.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I suppose it is a little wonderful. It looked so
+hopeless yesterday. I am glad one, at least, of your troubles has
+vanished, Charley."
+
+"And yours?"
+
+"Am I supposed to have any?"
+
+She spoke without bitterness, as though questioning his faculty of
+comprehension, and she saw the dark colour creep into his face. Still,
+it was not the hue of anger, and, stooping, he gently seized the hand
+that wore the ring.
+
+"My dear," he said, "you must have many. I can feel it now, and, when I
+married you, I was, perhaps, doing wrong. How could one expect you to be
+content with such a man as I am?"
+
+He stopped a moment, and smiled wistfully. "I almost think I know how
+the life you lead here must look to you. You can see it stretching out
+in front of you, all arid and hopeless, like those furrows yesterday.
+Still, now you see them green with promise. The rain has come."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie; "still, the wheat was hidden there, and in some of us
+there are only weeds and tares, while, even if there is among them a
+little wholesome grain, who knows if the rain will ever come at all?"
+She looked up at him and hesitated. "Charley, do you feel that I have
+cheated you very badly?"
+
+"How?"
+
+"Oh, I suppose you will not admit it. One could thank you for that, but
+you know. Have I ever been a companion to you? Isn't your life harder
+than it was before?"
+
+Leland's grasp of her hand grew tighter. "Well," he said, "there are
+times when one must talk, and I have felt that; but I felt, too, that,
+if I could wait, there would be a change."
+
+"I think you must have been always hopeful."
+
+"Hope," said Leland gravely, "is a little like the germ in the wheat. It
+lies dormant; but, while its husk lasts, it will not die. I think," and
+he glanced back at the vast sweep of sprouting green, "I was like that
+dusty ploughing, waiting for the rain."
+
+The girl was silent for a while, though she, too, was conscious of a
+curious stirring of her nature, which showed itself by the warmth in her
+cheeks. The man had, she felt, chosen a peculiarly fitting symbolism,
+for, when the beneficent rain had touched the arid clods, they had put
+on beauty with sudden life and growth.
+
+"And what do you expect, then?" she asked.
+
+Leland smiled. "I don't quite know, but it must be something good and
+beautiful. What is in all Nature is in us too. My dear," and he made a
+little gesture, "one can feel, and not quite understand. The wheat
+yonder doesn't know why and how it grows, but, since you gave me your
+promise at Barrock-holme, I have been waiting for something to come to
+me."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie again, "after what has happened, you can expect it
+still?"
+
+The man looked at her gravely. "Hope is indestructible, and some day the
+rain will come. One cannot hurry it, one can only work and wait."
+
+Carrie smiled a little, though once more pride and a curious tenderness
+struggled within her.
+
+"Well," she said, "in the meantime, Jake is no doubt wondering whether
+we are coming in to breakfast."
+
+They turned, and went back to the house, with the sunshine bright upon
+them, and the clean scents of the soil in their nostrils. The gladness
+that was in all things reacted upon them both.
+
+Half an hour later, Leland set about his work again, and, as he had
+leagues to ride to visit one or two farms, and to see where there was
+likely to be any wild hay in the sloos, dusk was closing down before he
+came back again. In his absence, something had happened that left Carrie
+confused and startled. The men were trooping in for the six o'clock
+supper, when a light waggon swung into sight over the crest of the rise.
+As it reached the door of the homestead, one of the two men in it sprang
+down. Carrie was standing in the entrance hall when Jake showed him in,
+and she caught her breath with a little gasp when she saw who it was.
+The man who stood smiling at her with the sunlight on his face was the
+one she had parted from on the path above the ravine at Barrock-holme.
+
+"Reggie!" she said.
+
+Urmston laughed. "Yes," he said. "In the flesh. I have ridden most of
+two hundred miles on horseback and in a waggon to get here, in the
+expectation that you would be pleased to see me."
+
+Carrie stood still, thankful that she was in the shadow, though for the
+moment she could not tell whether she was pleased or not. For one thing,
+the man's assurance that she would feel so somewhat jarred upon her, and
+the advantage was with him, for he had come there knowing that he would
+see her, and she had not expected him.
+
+"Of course I am," she said. "But the waggon?"
+
+"I hired the man to drive me. I suppose he can put up here, and go back
+to-morrow. Your husband will no doubt set me on my way to the railroad,
+when I go."
+
+Carrie Leland was not, as a rule, readily shaken out of her serenity,
+but she was almost disconcerted now. Urmston evidently meant to stay,
+and even the stranger has only to ask for shelter upon the prairie. The
+man before her had once considered himself much more to her than a
+stranger.
+
+"Yes," she said. "He will be glad to see you. Sit down while I tell Jake
+about the teamster, and see that your room is made ready."
+
+She left him somewhat abruptly, and Urmston laughed a little. "Too
+startled even to shake hands with me," he murmured. "I wonder if that is
+significant."
+
+Twenty minutes later, he was sitting down with Carrie and Mrs. Annersly
+at supper, and was not altogether astonished when the elder lady, who,
+he fancied, had never been fond of him, turned to him with a frank
+question.
+
+"What did you come here for?" she said.
+
+"To see Carrie--and yourself, madam," and Urmston smiled with a
+mischievous relish that made him look very young. "Could one venture to
+hope that in your case the pleasure is reciprocated?"
+
+"I am, at least, disposed to tolerate anybody from the Old Country,
+though I can't go very much further. When one has been a few months
+here, one is apt to become contented with the products of Canada."
+
+"The wheat? Have you turned farmer?"
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "No," she said. "The men. They are,
+after all, the finest thing this country raises."
+
+Urmston laughed, though he felt that he had been favoured with a hint.
+Mrs. Annersly, however, had more to say.
+
+"Have you suddenly grown energetic, and decided to do something?" she
+asked.
+
+"No," said Urmston. "As a matter of fact, I came out to see the country
+and enjoy myself, although I have an ostensible mission. Geoffrey
+Crossthwaite is, as you are aware, a meddler in social economics, and
+has lately become interested in one of the especially commendable
+schemes for dumping into our dependencies the folks nobody seems to want
+at home."
+
+"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, "that explains the thing."
+
+Urmston flushed a trifle, and forced a smile.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm not quite sure that it does in itself. I happen to
+know a little about English farming, and am expected to report upon the
+prospects of giving other undesirables a start in life here, though
+there are two regular experts with the party."
+
+"So you made a journey of two hundred miles to see Carrie and me, while
+they did the work? Still, I have no doubt her husband will be able to
+teach you a little about Canadian farming."
+
+Urmston made a little gesture. "I am a stranger, madam, and in your
+hands. Treat me gently."
+
+This was said good-humouredly, and with some gracefulness; but, trifling
+as the matter was, Carrie contrasted his attitude with the one she
+fancied her husband would have adopted. He would have braced himself for
+the encounter against much longer odds. She was grateful, however, to
+Eveline Annersly for the bantering conversation, as it gave her time to
+decide exactly what her own course must be. The circumstances were
+certainly somewhat embarrassing. When at last the meal was over, Eveline
+Annersly stuck to them persistently, and it was only when the chill of
+the clear, cold evening settled down upon the prairie that she left them
+alone upon the verandah. Urmston, who lay languidly graceful in a cane
+chair, glanced at Carrie.
+
+"I have been looking forward to seeing you for days, and now I feel that
+this is not quite what I expected. You have changed," he said.
+
+Carrie laughed, though she felt that the wistful note in his voice was
+genuine. She remembered, too, that she had once been fond of and
+believed in him, but she had, as she expressed it, grown since then,
+while it was evident that he was still the same. In fact, she felt he
+was remarkably young.
+
+"Well," she said, "you have not."
+
+"No," said Urmston; "I am, unfortunately, one of the people who don't
+change at all. It would be so much easier for me if I did."
+
+This was sufficiently plain, but it brought no gratification to the
+girl. On the whole, she was rather annoyed with him, though she had a
+lingering tenderness for him still. After all, he had loved her as well
+as he was capable of loving, and that counts for a good deal with some
+women.
+
+"There was," he said, "only one woman who could have made the most out
+of me, and have led me to a higher level."
+
+"And she married another man. It is remarkably hard to reach a more
+elevated level alone, and a woman would naturally rather lean on than
+drag her companion."
+
+Urmston's face flushed. "I think I could have been capable of a good
+deal more than I probably ever shall be now, if you could have trusted
+me."
+
+"Still," said Carrie, with a half-wistful sense of regret she could not
+wholly drive out, "the time when I might have done so has gone."
+
+The man leant forward a trifle nearer her, "Carrie," he said, a trifle
+hoarsely, "are you happy with this Canadian?"
+
+The girl felt her cheeks burn, and was glad that the soft dusk was now
+creeping into the verandah. "Well," she said, "I am as happy as I
+deserve to be."
+
+Then there was a drumming of hoofs, and she was only pleased when Leland
+swung himself down, hot and dusty, from the saddle. He came into the
+verandah, and stood a moment glancing at the stranger.
+
+"Mr. Reginald Urmston--an old friend of mine at Barrock-holme," said the
+girl. "I am not quite sure whether you have ever met my husband before."
+
+Leland held out a hard hand, and Carrie was grateful for the swiftness
+with which he did it. It suggested an unquestioning confidence in her.
+
+"Oh, yes," he said, "I remember. Glad to see you, Mr. Urmston. Carrie's
+friends are always welcome. Hope you'll stay here a month if you feel
+like it."
+
+Mrs. Annersly and Gallwey entered the verandah just then, and, when the
+others left them shortly afterwards, remained there. Gallwey thought
+that his companion had something to say to him. Though there was
+nothing very definite to warrant it, he felt that they were allies.
+
+"One could almost fancy that you didn't seem quite pleased
+with--circumstances," he said.
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, "I don't think I am. If that man had
+fallen out of his waggon and broken his leg before he got here, I almost
+believe I should have been happier. I do not care in the least whether
+that is a judicious speech or not."
+
+Gallwey grinned. "There are," he said significantly, "a good many
+badger-holes scattered about the prairie, and the horse that puts its
+foot in one is apt to come down awkwardly. I wonder if there is anything
+definite you expect from me?"
+
+"I should suggest that you insist upon teaching Urmston farming, and
+keep him busy at it," said Mrs. Annersly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+URMSTON SHOWS HIS PRUDENCE
+
+
+It was falling dusk when Reginald Urmston strolled along the little
+trail through the birch bluff with one of Leland's cigars in his hand.
+He had been at Prospect a week now, and had on the whole found the time
+pass pleasantly, though he felt that Carrie's attitude towards him,
+while no doubt the correct one, left much to be desired from his point
+of view. If he had been asked exactly what he had expected from her when
+he came there, he would have had some difficulty in framing a concise
+answer, for he was a man who acted on impulse, without prevision, or any
+great strength of purpose. Still, he had certainly not looked for the
+matter-of-fact friendliness she displayed. He felt that a few hints of
+regret for happiness thrown away, or, at least, a sorrowful protest or
+two against the stern necessity which had separated them, would have
+been considerably more appropriate, and he would have been prepared to
+offer delicate sympathy.
+
+It is also probable that he would have done it gracefully, for, although
+he had not exactly shone at the crisis as a passionate lover, he had the
+capacity for making a successful philanderer. Carrie, however, had
+never admitted that she was either unhappy or dissatisfied with her
+husband, and the farmer's indifference was somewhat galling. Leland did
+not seem to resent in the least the fact that the stranger spent a good
+deal of his time in his wife's company, and frequently strolled up and
+down with her in the lingering twilight, between the house and the birch
+bluff. It suggested that Leland had either an implicit confidence in his
+wife, or a very low opinion of Urmston's attractiveness, and the latter
+found neither of these surmises particularly consoling. He had certainly
+loved Carrie, and fancied that he did so still.
+
+On the evening in question, he expected to meet her, and hoped Eveline
+Annersly would not, as generally happened, be there as well. He did not
+like Eveline Annersly, or her little ironical speeches, for, while he
+could not have complained of her active hostility, had she shown any, it
+was naturally not gratifying to be made to feel that she was merely
+amused with him. It was a clear, still day, and the pale green of
+evening gleamed behind the birches, while their slender stems stood out
+like ebony columns against the glare of smoky red on the verge of the
+prairie. The coolness was exhilarating, and there was something in the
+deep stillness under which the prairie rolled away, vast and shadowy,
+that vaguely stirred the man. He was in a somewhat complacent mood, for
+Carrie had been unusually gracious to him that day, and his cigar was
+very excellent. He was thinking of her when he was startled by a soft
+beat of hoofs, and, looking up, saw a mounted man come suddenly out of
+the shadows.
+
+The stranger pulled his horse up sharply, and sat at rest for a moment
+or two gazing down on him. He wore a wide hat, a loose shirt above his
+jean trousers, and long boots. With one hand on the holster at his hip,
+he looked undoubtedly truculent.
+
+"Leland's in the house?" he asked.
+
+"I believe so," said Urmston, who felt a bit uneasy.
+
+The stranger moved his hand a trifle, so that the butt of a pistol
+appeared above the edge of the holster.
+
+"Then walk straight in front of you, through the bluff, and out on to
+the prairie," he said. "If you turn round, or come back in the next ten
+minutes, you're going to have trouble with my partner, who is watching
+you."
+
+Urmston did not move at once. He did not think this visit promised
+anything particularly pleasant to Leland, but that was, after all, not
+his affair. Still, though he was not expecting either of them just then,
+there was a chance that Carrie or Mrs. Annersly might enter the bluff.
+He had no reason to suppose that the stranger would cause them any
+annoyance if they did, but the man's appearance was far from
+prepossessing.
+
+"Well," said the latter sharply, "what in the name of thunder are you
+stopping for? Hump yourself before you're sorry."
+
+Urmston saw the pistol slide almost out of the holster, and the man's
+hand move on the bridle. The gestures were suggestive, and he did as he
+was bidden. Carrie, he decided, had not come out yet, or he would have
+seen her. He did not stop until rather more than the prescribed ten
+minutes had expired, and then found himself well out in the silent
+prairie. It was almost dark now, but he thought he saw a dim object
+moving down the edge of the wheat, and that he could hear the muffled
+beat of hoofs. There was only one horse, however, and he realised that
+the part he had played had, perhaps, not been an altogether brilliant
+one. On the whole, he fancied, it would be advisable to say nothing
+about it. He went back through the bluff, and came upon Carrie moving
+across the space of dusty grass between it and the house.
+
+"Do you know who it was that rode through the bluff a little while ago?"
+she asked.
+
+"No," said Urmston, as carelessly as he could, "I certainly do not."
+
+Carrie, so far as he could make out, appeared a trifle astonished.
+"Well," she said, "I thought you must have met the man. I saw him come
+out and ride towards the house, but didn't seem to recognise him. Still,
+I daresay he was one of our visitors' cattle boys."
+
+"I scarcely think it's worth worrying about," said Urmston,
+reflectively. "For one thing, it's too beautiful a night to waste in
+thinking about a Canadian stock-rider. One would hardly imagine any of
+them are sufficiently interesting to warrant it."
+
+Carrie understood that this was probably as far as he considered it
+advisable to venture, since she knew that he considered her husband a
+stock-rider too. Although she was not exactly pleased, it did not seem
+worth while to show her displeasure.
+
+"One must talk of something," she said.
+
+Urmston appeared to glance at her reproachfully. "There was a time when
+you and I could be content without a word. Silence is now and then
+wonderfully expressive. Thoughts are often spoiled by being forced into
+clumsy speech."
+
+"That time has gone by some little while ago," she said; and there was a
+quiet decisiveness in the girl's tone that the man did not seem to
+notice. "Perhaps it was our own fault, though I do not know.
+Circumstances were against us, but it might have been different, had we
+had the courage to take our destiny in our hands. Still, I am not
+admitting that I am sorry we did not do so."
+
+Urmston was sensible of a slightly uncomfortable feeling. It had been
+borne in upon him that, had he shown himself bolder and more persistent,
+Carrie might, after all, never have married Leland. Still, he did not
+think it kind that she should remind him of it, if that, indeed, was
+what she had meant to do.
+
+"Those days," he said gently, "will always live with me. I have only the
+memory of them to cheer me, and I cherish it as my dearest possession."
+
+The girl did not know whether she was touched or not. She was naturally,
+at least, a little sorry for him, but his self-compassionate
+sentimentality was apt to become tiresome at times.
+
+"Wouldn't it be wiser if you made an effort to keep it a little further
+in the background?" she said. "It would, in the circumstances, at least,
+be more appropriate."
+
+The man dropped his voice. "Carrie," he said, "I couldn't if I wished
+to. Love of one kind is indestructible. Even the fact that you were
+forced into marrying another man cannot destroy it. He is, after all, an
+accident."
+
+Carrie's face had flushed, but she laughed outright Urmston's love,
+indestructible as he said it was, had, as she realised now, prompted him
+to do very little, while there was something singularly inapposite in
+his terming her strenuous, forceful husband an accident. She felt that,
+had he been in her disconsolate lover's place, he would at any cost have
+broken through the encompassing difficulties.
+
+"Ah," she said, "that was really a little ridiculous. Charley Leland is
+rather unalterable, inflexible of purpose."
+
+Urmston appeared confused, and it was, perhaps, a relief to both when
+Eveline Annersly came up.
+
+"Haven't those people got through their business yet?" asked Carrie.
+
+"No," said the elder lady. "They were still talking as earnestly as ever
+when I passed the door. I think something of importance must be going
+on."
+
+The surmise was, as a matter of fact, warranted, for that evening Leland
+and his neighbours once more sat about the little table discussing the
+outlaws. A little apart from them, Sergeant Grier sat intent and
+upright. The windows of the big room were wide open, and the cool
+evening air flowed in.
+
+"My part is quite simple," the Sergeant said. "I shall be glad to act
+upon any reliable information you may be able to put before me, and, if
+it appears necessary, call upon you for assistance in heading off or
+laying hands on the whisky men. In that case, you will be, for the time
+being, practically police troopers. I guess it's not my business to ask
+if you are acting as an organisation or not. There's nothing to stop any
+citizen giving me information; in fact, it's his duty."
+
+"The question," said one of the others, "is how far you consider it
+necessary for us to go into the thing systematically, and not just
+report any facts that happen to come under our notice."
+
+"That," said the Sergeant, a trifle drily, "is for you to settle among
+yourselves, but I can give you something to figure on. I reported to
+headquarters that the toughs among the railroad settlements were
+standing in with the outlaws, and that there was probably going to be
+trouble soon. The answer was that they had no complaints from the
+settlement or from any of the farmers, and that they could hardly spare
+a man. If things promised to become serious, I was to report again, and,
+in the meanwhile, they would try to send me two more troopers; you know
+as well as I do how much I can do with them."
+
+Leland laughed. "Oh, yes," he said. "Boys, it's quite evident that, if
+we want anything done, we shall have to do it ourselves."
+
+"You have hit it," said one of the others. "The one point is whether or
+not merely to want it wouldn't be just as wise. I've had two steers
+driven off since I took a hand in the fight, Nevis has had the hay
+burned off his sloos, and we know what has happened at Prospect. Nothing
+has gone wrong in the case of the men who left things to the police. I
+guess that's significant. If the Sergeant calls me out, I'll come; but
+I've no desire to go round hunting trouble."
+
+"That," said a comrade, "sounds far more sensible than it is. The
+Sergeant's troopers can't do anything. There aren't enough of them. And
+there's the frontier near enough for the boys to skip out across. Well,
+it may be some time before the police bosses get a move on--it usually
+is--and in the meanwhile we'll have every tough in the country standing
+in with the whisky men. While we lie quiet, they're going to get
+bolder."
+
+Just then Leland turned sharply in his chair, and the others, who
+noticed it, leant towards the window. It was wide open and there was no
+light in the room. Outside, the green transparency was just fading into
+the soft blueness of early dusk. Nobody else had heard anything, but
+Leland's figure was outlined against the last of the light, and there
+was an ominous tenseness and expectancy in his attitude. They waited a
+moment, though none of them knew exactly why, until a little square
+object, which had evidently entered by the window, struck the table.
+
+In another moment Leland had swung himself out by the narrow window,
+which was some distance from the floor. Then there was a crash outside,
+and the rest made for the outer door on the opposite side of the
+building. There was no sign of anybody when they reached it, but two of
+them heard a beat of receding hoofs. The rider did not seem to be in any
+great haste, and they fancied he was rather bent upon slipping away
+quietly. Then Leland appeared again, limping, and beckoned them back to
+the room, where he lighted the lamp before he sat down. His face was
+drawn.
+
+"I wasn't exactly careful how I went out, and came down hard on my elbow
+and my knee," he said. "It took all the running out of me, and the
+fellow evidently had his horse ready. Before we could get a horse
+saddled, he'd be 'most two miles away. Well, we'll see what he has sent
+me, though I have a notion what it is."
+
+He opened the little packet, and took out a pistol bullet. "That may
+have been meant to weight it, or quite as likely as a hint. Now, I'll
+tell you what he says."
+
+One of them moved the lamp for him, and there was close attention as he
+read the note that had been wrapped about the bullet: "'Let up before
+you get hurt. You have had two warnings, but it's going to be different
+with the third one. There's a man or two on your trail who mean
+business.'"
+
+He flung the note on the table with a little contemptuous laugh. "I
+think it's genuine, and he means well, but I'm going on."
+
+"That's not very clear to me," said one of his companions.
+
+"It's quite easy. The rustlers are there for the money and aren't
+anxious for trouble, though, if it's necessary, they are quite willing
+to make it. That, I figure, is the view of most of them. But they had a
+man killed not long ago, and it's probably different with one or two of
+his friends. Unless the others freeze them off, they may undertake to
+run me down for the fun of the thing."
+
+There was a murmur of sympathy and agreement, and Leland saw that the
+rest were watching him curiously.
+
+"Oh," he said impatiently, "I'm going on."
+
+Then they set about discussing the rumour that another lot of whisky was
+being run. By the time this was over, they were all, including the man
+with the misgivings, of one mind again. Still, the Sergeant knew that,
+if Leland had hesitated, it was quite probable he would have looked in
+vain for any support worth having from most of them. The last man had
+driven away when Carrie found him sitting thoughtfully in the empty
+room.
+
+"Something has disturbed you?" she said.
+
+Leland looked up, and there was a trace of dryness in his smile. "I have
+had quite a few things to worry me lately," he said, handing her the
+note. "This is merely one of them."
+
+The girl read it, and looked at him with a perplexed frown on her face.
+Its contents troubled her, for she had acquired from Gallwey and others
+a good deal of information concerning the outlaws. She also knew that
+Leland would, in all probability, not have given it to her, had he
+reason to suppose that it could cause her any great anxiety, and the
+knowledge hurt her.
+
+"Well," she said quietly, "what do you propose to do?"
+
+Leland smiled a little. "My dear, what would you expect me to do?"
+
+There was a faint flash in Carrie's eyes, and she lifted her head a
+trifle. "Oh," she said, "there is of course only one thing possible--to
+you."
+
+"Thank you! I'm afraid there may be just a little risk in this for my
+wife as well. I didn't quite remember it at the time."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Do you think that would count?" Then she laid her hand
+upon his shoulder. "Still, Charley, you will--to please me--be very
+careful?"
+
+Leland fancied he felt her hand tremble, and thought he saw a sudden
+softness in her eyes, but he could not be quite sure. Before he could
+decide how to profit by it, she had turned her face aside and gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+CARRIE MAKES A COMPARISON
+
+
+A week had passed since the last meeting of the farmers at Prospect,
+when Carrie and Eveline Annersly sat out on the verandah of the house
+somewhat late at night. A full moon hung over the prairie, and the
+silence was impressive. Urmston, who was, as usual, also there, leant
+against the balustrade with his back to the light, missing every
+uplifting appeal in the boundless sweep of softly gleaming grass of the
+prairie. He was not one of the men upon whom the silent strength of
+Nature has any marked reaction. His thoughts concerned himself and the
+pleasures of the moment, and he was seldom still or silent very long,
+though his activities, like his speeches, were usually petty, for the
+capacity for absorption in a sustaining purpose was not in him. Carrie
+Leland had come to realise it of late, though she did not exactly know
+why. It may have been the result of a subconscious comparison of him
+with another man. In any case, the recognition of the fact had brought
+her a sense of annoyance, for there was strength as well as pride in
+her, and she was fond of Urmston, who was a man of her own world.
+
+Urmston, in the meanwhile, found the contemplation of her sufficient for
+him, and it is probable that most other men would have done the same.
+She lay, clad in a long white dress, in a big lounge-chair, with the
+silvery moonlight full upon her. It brought out the duskiness of her
+eyes and hair, and made her somewhat cold beauty the more apparent,
+though there was at the time a faint, illusory gentleness in her face, a
+note the man had noticed more than once of late. He would have liked to
+think that he had brought it there, but could not quite persuade himself
+that this was so, though there had been a time when he had seen that
+soft light creep into her eyes as she greeted him. He had also a vague,
+uncomfortable feeling that, although circumstances had certainly been
+against him, it was, perhaps, his own fault that he could now no longer
+call it up. Carrie was gracious to him, save when he was too
+venturesome, but he saw that her regard for him was widely different
+from what it had been. There was more reserve in her attitude towards
+him than her mere recognition of what was due to her husband could
+account for. He also noticed that she was a trifle anxious, which
+brought him no great consolation, in view of the fact that Leland had
+ridden out with his rifle early the day before. Eveline Annersly finally
+spoke after the silence that had lasted for several minutes.
+
+"Gallwey seems to fancy Charley should have been back several hours
+ago," she said. "Charley told him he would be in to supper, if all
+went--as they expected it to."
+
+She stole a swift glance at Carrie, who was then gazing out across the
+prairie as though in search of something, and, though the girl did not
+move, she fancied there was a change in her expression. It suggested a
+growing uneasiness.
+
+"I scarcely suppose Charley could tell exactly how long they would be,"
+she said.
+
+"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is very probable, and, in any case, he
+is not likely to come to harm. In fact, one would be more inclined to
+feel anxious about the outlaws he might fall in with than about Charley
+Leland. I daresay it was fanciful, but, when he rode away, he reminded
+me of the picture the Acres have of the moss-trooper. You, of course,
+know the one I mean--the man in the steel cap with the moonlight
+sparkling on his spear. There is something of the same grimness in both
+faces, and, in the moss-trooper's case, the artist hit it rather well.
+It is an intangible something one can't well define, primitive probably,
+for I don't remember having seen it in the face of any man I am
+acquainted with at home."
+
+She turned towards Urmston with a little laugh. "You haven't got it,
+Reggie, though now and then I almost fancy that Carrie has. I don't
+think you would have made a good moss-trooper."
+
+Urmston smiled in turn. "I really don't think the kind of life they led
+would have appealed to me."
+
+"No," said Eveline Annersly, "you would have sat with the harp in the
+bower, and made love rather nicely and judiciously--that is, when
+circumstances were propitious."
+
+Urmston flushed, glad he was in the shadow where Carrie could not see
+him. He felt, as he had felt before, that he would rather like to gag
+Eveline Annersly.
+
+"Can one fall in love judiciously?" he asked.
+
+"As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that one can. In the days we are
+referring to, they very seldom did. The border knights apparently put on
+steel cap and corselet when they went wooing. When Lochinvar rode to
+Netherby, he swam the Esk, and it is very probable that the men who made
+love in his fashion later on had their swords loose when they crossed
+it, whipping hard for Gretna by the lower bridge. Of course, as
+everybody knows, all that has gone out of fashion long ago--only I think
+the primitive something remains which would drive a man full tilt
+against circumstances for sweet love's sake. At least, one sees it now
+and then in the eyes of the men out here."
+
+Urmston longed to stop her, but he had discovered on other occasions
+that an attempt to do so was very apt to bring about unwished-for
+results. He accordingly said nothing, and Carrie, who, perhaps, felt as
+he did, changed the subject.
+
+"It was rather curious that the man who threw the note through the
+window when our neighbours were last here was able to creep up without
+being seen," she said.
+
+"I can't help thinking that somebody must have seen him," said Eveline
+Annersly.
+
+"Then why didn't they mention it?"
+
+"I naturally don't know. Still, one would fancy that the outlaw found
+means of impressing whomever he came across with the fact that he didn't
+want to be announced, and that it would be wiser to fall in with his
+wishes. Afterwards, the man he met would no doubt feel that, as his
+silence wasn't altogether creditable, it would be advisable to say
+nothing about it."
+
+Carrie looked up sharply. "Of course, that sounds possible. Only from
+what I know of them, he would hardly have succeeded in overawing any of
+the boys at Prospect."
+
+"You can't imagine your husband or Gallwey standing against a tree with
+his eyes shut for ten minutes because a ferocious stranger requested him
+to?"
+
+"No," and Carrie's laugh had a little ring in it, "I certainly couldn't.
+In fact, I think it would be very apt to bring trouble on the stranger."
+
+She stopped a moment, and looked again, expectantly, across the prairie.
+
+"I can't understand how the rustler got here without being noticed at
+all," she said reflectively. "Jake was in the paddock when I went out,
+and he feels quite sure that nobody could have slipped by without his
+seeing them. Of course, it is possible the man came through the bluff."
+
+"I fancy not. In that case Reggie would have met him. I was standing by
+the window when he sauntered into the wood, and it would be about ten
+minutes, or, perhaps, a little more, before you left the house."
+
+She flung a glance in the direction of Urmston, who felt horribly
+uncomfortable. It occurred to him that, if she had seen him enter the
+bluff, it was also possible that she had seen the outlaw come out. That
+she did not say she had done so was, after all, no great consolation,
+for he knew Eveline Annersly could be silent when she had a reason. He
+was afraid that, if she had one now, the result might not be altogether
+creditable to him when she saw fit to speak. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that she expected him to say something.
+
+"I believe you were right about the time," he said.
+
+Carrie looked up, for his indifference seemed too pronounced to be quite
+natural, but she brushed the half-formed thought out of her mind.
+Urmston was a man of her own station, and could not, she reasoned, be
+deficient in qualities which even her husband's teamsters possessed.
+Still, while she sat silent, looking out upon the vast sweep of plain,
+she could not help once more contrasting him with the man she had been
+driven into marrying. She understood Leland better, now that she had
+seen the land he lived in, for there were respects in which he resembled
+it. Men, indeed, usually do not only fit themselves to their
+environment, but borrow from it something that becomes a part of them.
+
+It was evidently from the prairie that Charley Leland had drawn his
+strength of character, his capacity for holding on with everything
+against him, and his silent, deep-rooted optimism. She had seen that
+plain bleached with months of frost and parched with drought, but the
+flowers had sprung up from the streaming sod, and now the wheat was
+growing tall and green again. One could feel out there that, while all
+life is a struggle which every blade of wheat must wage, in due time
+fruition would come. Her husband, it seemed, realised it, and had also
+faith in himself. She remembered how, when his neighbours hesitated,
+fearing the outlaws' vengeance, he had said he was going on even if he
+went on alone. She also knew that he would be as good as his word, for
+he was not the man to turn back because there was peril in his path.
+She could rather fancy him hastening to meet it, with the little hard
+smile she had often seen in his steady eyes.
+
+Then from out of the great stillness there crept the distant sound of a
+moving horse, and Carrie felt a feeling of relief come over her. She
+would scarcely admit it to herself, but, during the past two or three
+hours, she had been troubled by a growing sense of uneasiness. She would
+not have felt it a few months earlier, for, while she would have had no
+harm come to him, there was no hiding the fact that it would have set
+her free from an almost intolerable bondage. It was, however, different
+now.
+
+The thud of hoofs grew louder, and the dim figure of a mounted man grew
+out of the prairie. A little thrill ran through her as she watched him
+swing past at a canter and draw rein between the house and the stables.
+He waited a moment as though looking for somebody in whose care to leave
+the horse, and Carrie could see that he was weary and dusty. Though his
+face was dimly visible, she fancied it was drawn and grey. Slanting over
+his shoulder, the barrel of his Marlin rifle glinted in the moon.
+
+"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is, I think, more suggestive than ever
+of the border spear."
+
+She glanced at Carrie as the girl rose and went down the stairway. Then
+Eveline Annersly turned to Urmston with a little smile.
+
+"I scarcely think they will want us, and I'm going in," she said.
+
+Urmston had moved into the moonlight now, and his face was set. "There
+is, of course, no reason why you shouldn't, but I'm not sure that you
+are entirely right," he said. "In fact, if it's permissible to mention
+it, I had a notion that Carrie asked you here to make the convenient
+third."
+
+His companion looked at him with a faint gleam in her eyes. "You haven't
+any great penetration, after all, or you would have seen that I have
+outstayed my usefulness. In any case, I feel inclined to favour you with
+a piece of advice. It may save you trouble if you go back to your
+agricultural duties as soon as possible."
+
+"You seem unusually anxious to get rid of me," said the man, with
+something in his tone that suggested satisfaction.
+
+Eveline Annersly laughed as she rose and moved back into the shadow.
+"Oh, dear no! If I were really anxious, the thing would be remarkably
+easy."
+
+She left him with this, and Urmston, who leant somewhat moodily on the
+balustrade, felt that his love for her was certainly no greater than it
+had been before. He began to feel himself especially unfortunate in
+having fallen in with the rustler.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, who started as he saw the girl coming towards
+him, swung himself out of the saddle and stood awaiting her, with the
+bridle of the jaded horse in his hand. His face was worn and weary, and
+he stood slackly with all the springy suppleness apparently gone out of
+him. The grime was thick upon his coarse blue shirt and jean jacket.
+
+"It was very good of you to wait so long," he said.
+
+Carrie smiled in a curious fashion. "Did you expect me to sleep?"
+
+"You were a little anxious about me, then?"
+
+"Of course!" said the girl, softly. "Wouldn't it have been unnatural if
+I hadn't been?"
+
+Leland made an abrupt gesture. "My dear, I don't want you to do the
+natural or the correct thing, that is, just because it is so."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "who can tell exactly why they do anything? Still, I
+was anxious. How have you got on?"
+
+The man laughed a trifle grimly. "Badly--we were either fooled or
+outgeneraled, and the whisky boys came out ahead of us. We had one horse
+shot, and another broke its leg in a badger-hole. Hadn't you better go
+in now? It'll take me some time to put up."
+
+"I slept most of last night, and you have been out on the prairie two
+nights and days. I'm coming with you to the stable. I can, at least,
+hold a lantern."
+
+They turned away together, Leland walking very stiffly, the girl, who
+felt her heart beating, close at his side, until they reached one of the
+uninjured buildings. It was very dark inside, and redolent with the
+smell of wild peppermint in the prairie hay. Leland groped for a
+lantern, and, when he had lighted it, hung it to a hook in the stall
+joist, so that its light fell upon them.
+
+"I really think you would have been sorry if the boys had brought me
+back with a bullet in me?" he said, half-questioningly.
+
+He saw the little shiver that ran through his companion, but, in another
+moment, she was standing very straight and still. "How can you ask me
+that?" she said. "I did not think you would be vindictive--to me."
+
+"Look at me," and Leland, leaning forward, laid a hard, dust-grimed hand
+on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have been a release when you had got over
+the shock of it?"
+
+The colour crept into Carrie's face, and, after the first moment, she
+did not meet his eyes, while the man, with an impetuous movement,
+slipped a hand about her waist. Then, with a forced calm, he slowly drew
+her towards him and kissed her on the brow and cheek and mouth. For an
+instant only he held her fast. Then he let his hands fall.
+
+Carrie looked at him, with the hot blood tingling in her cheeks.
+
+"Now," he said gravely, though there was a faint ring of exultation in
+his voice, "that is for a sign that you belong to me, and I guess I'm
+strong enough to keep what is mine. You couldn't get away from me if you
+wanted to."
+
+Carrie realised it, though the fact no longer brought her any sense of
+intolerable restraint or disgust. She said nothing, and made no sign.
+Leland went on.
+
+"Still, I'm not going to hurry you, or spoil things by impatience," he
+said. "You will be willing to take me for what I am some day, and, if
+things hurt you as they are now, that's the one way of escape. There
+can't be any other until one of us is dead."
+
+He turned from her, and commenced to unbuckle the horse's girth, while
+Carrie, scarcely knowing why, slipped past him, busying herself with the
+head-stall. Then she brought the chopped fodder while he went for water,
+and stood holding the lantern while he rubbed the jaded beast down.
+Neither of them said anything, but it was evident to both that the
+distance between them had been lessened. By and by they went back
+together towards the house, and Leland laughingly held up the lantern
+when they reached the threshold.
+
+"You see, I never even remembered to put this thing down," he said.
+
+Carrie smiled, but there was a trace of diffidence in her manner.
+
+"I have kept your supper, and will bring it in as soon as you come
+down," she said. "Everything you will want clean is laid out in your
+room."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Leland, reaching out and grasping her arm, "Mrs. Nesbit
+is quite a smart housekeeper."
+
+Carrie shook his grasp off, and flitted away from him. "Mrs. Nesbit is
+not responsible this time," she said laughingly. "I'm afraid I haven't
+looked after my household duties as I should have done hitherto."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A MIDNIGHT VISITOR
+
+
+Summer had come in earnest, and Leland, who had ridden out at daybreak
+with every man at Prospect to cut prairie hay, had not come back, when
+Carrie sat late at night beside the stove in the big room. The stove was
+lighted, and a kettle stood on it. A meal was laid out upon the table,
+for Carrie expected that Leland would arrive during the next hour. In
+fact, a horse stood ready saddled in one of the stables, and she was
+trying to decide whether she should ride out to meet him or stay where
+she was. It was a still night, the house was unpleasantly hot, and the
+thought of a canter through the cool darkness was attractive. Leland,
+who was busier than ever, had, however, been away somewhat frequently of
+late, and pride was still strong in her. She would not unbend too far,
+or give him reason to believe that he could be sure of her, while there
+was also the difficulty that Urmston, who was then sitting close by,
+would probably insist upon accompanying her, and she fancied that such
+an arrangement might not commend itself to her husband. Urmston, too,
+had been growing somewhat presumptuous, and she felt that on the whole
+it might not be advisable to have him for a companion. Something,
+however, urged her to set out, though she would not admit that it was
+the thought of Leland's satisfaction at meeting her. She had scarcely
+seen him, except for an odd five minutes, during the last week or two,
+and that piqued her, although she knew that he had many anxieties and
+much to do. There was, it seemed, nothing to be gained by being unduly
+gracious, so long as he was content without her company.
+
+This was, perhaps, a little hard upon Leland, who was then toiling at
+something, or in the saddle, from early morning to late at night. He had
+a good many teams to be fed, and hay was scarce after the unusually dry
+spring. Hay is seldom sown in that country, and, as the natural grass
+is, for the most part, only a few inches high, the prairie farmer must
+cut it where it grows harsh and tall in the sloos, or hollows, that are
+turned for a few weeks into lakes and ponds by the melting snows. Most
+of them had dried up prematurely that season, and, as the supply of the
+natural produce was becoming a serious question, Leland had to make long
+journeys in search of it. On the night in question, the men were camped
+beside a distant sloo, though he himself purposed to ride home, calling
+on one of his neighbours on the way. While Carrie considered whether she
+would set out to meet him or not, Urmston glanced at the tray upon the
+table with a sly little laugh.
+
+"You are getting domesticated, Carrie," he said. "I used to fancy that
+you looked down upon anything connected with housekeeping. Be warned,
+and don't go too far. You saw what domesticity has done for Mrs.
+Custer."
+
+"She seems happy," said the girl, reflectively. "Custer, I believe, is,
+in his own way, very kind to her."
+
+There was a trace of wistfulness in her voice that jarred upon the
+listener, and the colour rose in his face.
+
+"Carrie," he said with sudden passion, "the possibility of you ever
+becoming like her is horrible--wholly horrible. There is much that
+Custer is responsible for. One can see what that woman was before she
+married him, and what has happened to her since is a warning. The
+struggle has worn all the daintiness and refinement out of her. With
+that brood of children to be provided for, what has she to look forward
+to but a life of hard work that will steadily drag her to the level of
+an English dairy drudge?"
+
+Carrie shivered a little, for there was, she knew, some truth in this.
+"There is," she said, "a considerable difference between Charley Leland
+and Tom Custer."
+
+"Of course," and Urmston, who appeared to put a restraint upon himself,
+smiled drily. "In his own half-animal fashion, Custer is, as you
+mention, evidently fond of her. If he hadn't been, she might have
+escaped part, at least, of what she had to put up with. I'm not sure one
+couldn't term it degradation. The difference between the man you married
+and Custer is the one thing I am sincerely thankful for."
+
+"Reggie," said Carrie sharply, "I should like to know just what you
+mean."
+
+Urmston laughed. "I suppose I'm presuming, but I don't seem to mind.
+Your husband is, at least, content to leave you very much alone. He
+apparently comes home to eat, and, when he is no longer hungry,
+disappears again. It does not seem to matter that he generally gets his
+meals alone. I fancy it is a week since I have seen him."
+
+He stopped, and leant forward a little in his chair. "I didn't say it to
+hurt you, Carrie, but because the fact that it is so, is and must
+necessarily be an unutterable relief to me. The indifference of such a
+man is incomparably better than what he would probably consider his
+affection. You can see what it has brought Mrs. Custer."
+
+Carrie Leland flushed angrily. It is not especially pleasant to any
+woman to be told that, although she may not be fond of him, her husband
+or lover is indifferent to her; but it was not that alone which brought
+the blood tingling to her face. She was capable of passion, but
+domesticity in itself had no great attraction for her. In fact, she
+rather shrank from it, and Urmston's words had been unpleasantly
+prophetic, since she knew that the placid affection of a man who only
+expected that she should rear a brood of children and keep his house in
+order would become intolerable to her. Still, she felt that this, at
+least, would never be her husband's view concerning her, and that there
+was a much greater difference than Urmston realised between him and
+Thomas Custer. Leland, in fact, had by a clean life of effort and grim
+self-denial, in which the often worn-out body was held in stern
+subjection to the will, attained a vague, indefinite something which was
+not far removed from spirituality.
+
+"Reggie," she said, "what have I done that would lead you to believe
+you were warranted in speaking to me in this fashion?"
+
+The man made a little passionate gesture. "Oh," he said, "nothing. You
+are in everything beyond reproach; that is what makes it so hard to
+bear. Why should you be wasted upon a man without appreciation?"
+
+"That is enough." As Carrie checked him with a lifted hand, a sparkle
+came into her eyes. "Do you suppose for a moment that I would listen to
+anything further?"
+
+Urmston sat silent, his face flushed, and his fingers fumbling with his
+watch-chain. For five minutes neither of them spoke. It was very still
+in the big room, save for the crackling of the stove. Then Carrie
+started, with a little gasp, for the door swung softly open, apparently
+of itself, and she grasped Urmston's arm.
+
+"Shut it! Be quick!" she said.
+
+Urmston swung round, and she felt the involuntary move he made when his
+eyes rested on the door. There were in the house, as both remembered,
+only Eveline Annersly, who had retired early with a headache, and Mrs.
+Nesbit, who would have come in by the other entrance. Doors do not open
+of their own accord when there is not a breath of wind astir, and it is
+somewhat disconcerting when they appear to do so in the middle of the
+night. Urmston accordingly sat where he was, watching the opening grow
+wider, his nerves atingle with something akin to fear. Carrie gripped
+him hard.
+
+"Get Charley's rifle!" she whispered.
+
+At last, with no great alacrity, he rose to his feet, but the time when
+he might have done anything had passed, for a masked man stood just
+inside the threshold with a big pistol in his hand.
+
+"I guess you'll stop just where you are," he said.
+
+Urmston stood still, as most men would have done, though Leland's rifle
+hung close above his head. The stranger moved forward a pace or two. He
+wore soft moccasins, and a strip of grain-bag, pierced at the eyes and
+bound about his face, added nothing to his attractiveness.
+
+"Don't move, Mrs. Leland," he said. "Where is your husband?"
+
+Carrie straightened herself with an effort. She did not like the man's
+tone nor his inquiry. Urmston was close beside her, but she felt that
+she had not much to expect from him, though she was too distracted to
+feel any contempt for him on that account.
+
+"I don't know," she said. "Why? Do you want him?"
+
+The man appeared to smile. "Well," he said, "I guess there's a reason
+for it; but, if he's willing to be reasonable, nobody's going to hurt
+him. In fact, we just want to make a little bargain."
+
+Carrie glanced at the watch on her bracelet, which was another of the
+things which her husband had given her, and realised he might be home at
+any time during the next half-hour. Then she glanced covertly towards
+the other door which led to the kitchen; but it was some distance away,
+and the stranger had a pistol. An almost paralysing fear came upon her,
+for she knew her husband was not the man to be driven into doing
+anything he did not like. The stranger watched her with eyes that
+glittered wickedly behind the mask.
+
+"You know where he went?" he said.
+
+"I do," said Carrie, a trifle too swiftly, as she remembered that he
+would not be there now. "He rode out to the sloos on the Traverse trail
+to cut prairie hay."
+
+"Exactly!" and the man laughed. "Only he went away again, or we wouldn't
+have come on here. Now, there are four or five of us, and we want a word
+with your husband, and mean to have it. It's not going to take us two
+minutes to find out if he's in the house."
+
+"Then why don't you do it?"
+
+The man looked at her with obvious admiration. Though there was fear in
+her heart, there was none in her face. She had the pride of her station,
+and every inborn prejudice in her protested against submission to any
+dictation from this intruding ruffian. There was a gleam in her dark
+eyes, and the red spot showed in her otherwise colourless cheeks again.
+
+"Well," said the outlaw, "I guess we mean to, but I'm not going to leave
+you while you and your partner sneak away."
+
+He raised his voice. "He's not here, Tom, but you may as well go round
+and make sure of it."
+
+There was a tramp of booted feet in the hall outside, and then footsteps
+on the stairs, first mounting and then again descending. "No," a voice
+said, "he hasn't come home."
+
+"Light out, and tell the others. I'll fix things with the lady," said
+his comrade in the room. Then he turned to Urmston. "You're a little
+too near that rifle. Get across there."
+
+Urmston crossed the room as he was bidden, for which one could scarcely
+blame him, and the man sat down where he could watch them both.
+
+"Now," he said, "I'm talking, Mrs. Leland. You listen to me. We are
+going to see your husband, and it might be better if we saw him here. If
+you can persuade him to be reasonable, you will please the boys and me.
+Well, it's only natural that you should know where he is, and you can't
+do anything. Old Jake's fast asleep in his shed, and there's not a boy
+about the homestead."
+
+"Still," said Carrie quietly, "I haven't the least intention of telling
+you anything."
+
+The man showed his impatience in a gesture.
+
+"Then I guess all we have to do is to wait for him, but I can't quite
+figure why you should be willing to make trouble for yourself. Everybody
+knows you don't care two cents for Charley Leland."
+
+Carrie winced, and felt she could have struck Urmston when she saw the
+little sardonic smile in his eyes. Her face grew almost colourless with
+anger, and she closed one hand at her side. Something which had been
+latent within her was now wholly roused and dominant. She knew that what
+the man had said was wholly untrue, and that her husband's safety
+depended then on her. She did not suppose for a moment that he would
+yield because of anything these men could do, and it was clear that they
+were desperate men with a bitter grievance against him. They might even
+kill him, and she resolutely grappled with a numbing fear. She dared not
+let it master her, for something must be done, and once more she felt
+that she had only herself to depend upon.
+
+"Charley Leland will make you sorry for that some day," she said.
+
+The man grinned. "It is quite likely he is going to be sorry for himself
+before we are through with him. Anyway, I don't know any reason why I
+shouldn't eat his supper. I've ridden most of forty miles to-day
+trailing him."
+
+He drew the tray upon the table nearer to him, and ate voraciously,
+while Carrie grew faint with apprehension as she watched him. Urmston,
+who had taken out a cigar, sat motionless, save that he fumbled with it
+instead of his watch-chain. The room was once more very still, except
+for the snapping of the stove and the unpleasant sounds the outlaw made
+over his meal. Time was flying, and Leland might arrive at any moment
+now. She feared that the other men were hidden beside the trail through
+the birch bluff, waiting to waylay him.
+
+Then the outlaw turned to her. "I guess it would be nice to be waited on
+by a lady, and it might please Charley Leland when he hears of it. I'd
+like some coffee, and I see the pot here. Bring me the kettle."
+
+Carrie looked at Urmston. At any risk he would surely resent this insult
+to her. But, though there was a shade more colour than usual in his
+cheeks, Urmston sat still. Then, in a flash, the inspiration came. With
+a glance towards the rear door, which led to the kitchen, she rose with
+the kettle in her hand. The lamp stood upon the table about a yard from
+the man, but, as he was sitting, a little nearer to her.
+
+"Will you hold out the pot?" she said. "It's scalding hot. Take care of
+your hand."
+
+The man turned his eyes a moment, and that was enough, for before he
+looked up again Carrie swung the kettle round, and there was a crash as
+it struck the lamp. Then there was sudden darkness, out of which rang
+venomous expletives and howls of pain. Carrie sped towards the second
+door. She heard the man falling among the chairs behind her, and wasted
+another moment or two turning the key, which was outside. This cost her
+an effort, for the lock was rusty from disuse. Then she flitted along
+the dark corridor, and, opening the kitchen door softly, looked out upon
+the prairie. There was no moon, and the night was still and dark. She
+could hear no sound on that side of the homestead.
+
+Slipping out, she crept in quiet haste along the wall, and with wildly
+beating heart crossed the open space between it and the stable. Nobody,
+however, attempted to stop her, and in another moment or two she was
+standing beside the horse which Jake had ready saddled. The animal was
+fresh and mettlesome, and she lost several precious minutes before she
+contrived to get into the saddle by scrambling on a mound of sod piled
+against the outside of the building. Then she struck him viciously with
+the quirt. One cut was all that was needed, and they were flying out
+into the darkness at a furious gallop.
+
+She knew that her flight was heard, for shouts rose behind her; but she
+knew too that her horse was fresh and the outlaws' tired after a hard
+day's ride. It was also very probable that his comrades had tethered
+their horses somewhere while they watched the trail, since it is
+usually difficult to keep a prairie broncho quiet very long. All this
+flashed upon her while the lights of Prospect blinked and vanished as
+the barns and stables shut them in. With a sigh of relief, she brought
+the quirt down again.
+
+There were stars in the heavens, but the night was dark, and she could
+just discern an outlying birch bluff, a shadowy blur against the sky, a
+mile in front of her. The prairie was rutted deep along the trail by
+waggon-wheels, and riddled here and there with deadly badger-holes, but
+these were hazards that must be taken as they came. One thing was
+sure--the man she had married was in imminent peril, and she alone could
+deliver him. The fact that Urmston was left behind in the outlaws' hands
+did not seem to trouble her. Indeed, she scarcely remembered him at all.
+
+She swept on, her light skirt blown about her, her loosened hair
+whipping her hot face, while a thud of hoofs broke out behind her. The
+horse's blood was up, too, so she let him go, stretched out at a flying
+gallop, up low rise and over long level. The birches flashed by, and the
+open waste lay in front. While nobody riding that pace could find the
+trail, there was a shallow coulee a league away with stunted birches on
+the edge of it, which would presently rise for a landmark out of the
+prairie. Once she glanced over her shoulder. There was only the soft
+darkness, out of which there came a thumping that seemed to be growing
+fainter.
+
+She was almost upon the birches when she heard another beat of hoofs in
+front of her now, and she sent up a breathless cry.
+
+"Charley!" she called, and again in fierce impatience, "Charley!"
+
+For a moment she was conscious of a torturing suspense, and then a man's
+voice came out of the darkness in answer.
+
+"All right," it said. "I'm coming straight along."
+
+In another few moments a shadowy figure had materialised out of the
+prairie. She pulled her horse up with a struggle when Leland drew bridle
+beside her.
+
+"Steady, my dear," he said. "Get your breath and tell me what it is."
+
+Carrie gasped out her news, and the man sat silent a moment or two.
+
+"Urmston's there, and Mrs. Annersly," he said. "I don't think they'll
+hurt them, but I'd better get on."
+
+Carrie leant out from the saddle, and attempted to touch his bridle as
+the fidgeting horses pranced side by side.
+
+"No," she said, "you mustn't. I will not have you go. I think they mean
+to kill you."
+
+Leland appeared to smile. "I guess that contract would be a little too
+big for them. Still, if Urmston riled them, they might hurt him. The
+man's a friend of yours."
+
+Carrie laughed somewhat bitterly. "I don't think he will do anything
+very injudicious. Eveline Annersly's room is just across the house, and
+she sleeps very soundly."
+
+"They wouldn't hurt her," said Leland, reflectively. "One could count on
+that. Urmston would be all right, too, if he has sense enough to keep
+quiet. Now, there are two of Grier's troopers camping in a bluff a
+league back to watch the trail, and if I could only bring them up
+before the rustlers go, we ought to get one or two of them. It's 'most
+worth while trying. You'll ride round with me?"
+
+Nothing more was said when Carrie signified that she was willing, and
+they rode on again to where the troopers were. Then with these
+reinforcements they turned back to Prospect, arriving there when dawn
+was climbing into the sky. There was no sign of the rustlers, but
+Urmston stood just outside the door.
+
+"They went soon after Mrs. Leland got away," he said. "I feel that I
+ought to make excuses for leaving the thing to her, though I'm not sure
+that there was, in view of the circumstances, any other course open to
+me."
+
+Leland laughed as he swung himself from the saddle. "That's all right.
+You did the sensible thing, and nobody's going to blame you," he said.
+"If you don't mind rousing Jake, we'll get the troopers breakfast before
+they go away. You know your way to the stables, boys."
+
+Urmston and the troopers disappeared, and Carrie looked down on her
+husband, who stood, a shadowy figure, beside her stirrup.
+
+"You," she said, with a little soft laugh, "would have found another
+course."
+
+Leland said nothing, but stretched his arms up, and, when she slipped
+from the saddle into them, held her there while he kissed her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+PRAIRIE HAY
+
+
+It was the middle of a scorching afternoon when Carrie drew her waggon
+over a low rise and down the long slope to the dried-up sloo. Urmston,
+riding beside it, sprinkled white with dust, looked uncomfortably hot,
+and Eveline Annersly, whose face was unpleasantly flushed, tried in vain
+to shelter herself beneath her parasol in the jolting waggon.
+
+"I am positively melting, and my head aches," she said. "If I had known
+how hot it was, you would never have got me here, and, if Mrs. Custer
+will keep me, I am not going back to Prospect to-night. How does your
+husband work this weather?"
+
+Carrie laughed as she pulled her team up near the sloo. She, at least,
+looked delightfully fresh and almost cool in her long white dress and
+big white hat.
+
+"He would probably tell you it is because he has to," she said. "In any
+event, he seems to be working rather harder than ever."
+
+"It is one of Charley Leland's strong points that he knows when a thing
+has to be done," and Eveline Annersly glanced at Urmston with a little
+smile. "There are men who don't, and never will, though they are
+sometimes able to shift the consequences on to the shoulders of other
+people."
+
+Then she turned, and blinked about her with half-dazed eyes. In front of
+the waggon a haze of dust floated up against the intense blueness of the
+sky, and under it a belt of tall, harsh grass rustled drily in the
+scant, hot breeze. Everything seemed white and suffused with brightness.
+Beyond them, the parched, grey prairie rolled back to the horizon. There
+was no shade anywhere, nor, so far as the eye could travel, a single
+speck of green.
+
+"And this is a prairie sloo!" she said. "I had pictured a nice, cool
+lake where the wild duck swim. Charley is, presumably, haymaking, though
+I never saw it done this way before."
+
+The dust settled a little, and, with a clashing tinkle, there came out
+of it three big teams and lurching machines. The grass went down before
+them crackling harshly, and the horses plodded on with tossing heads and
+whipping tails amidst a cloud of flies. Men followed behind them heaping
+the hay in piles, and across the mown strip of sloo more men, almost
+naked, were flinging the last of the mounds into a waggon. There is no
+need of turning and winnowing in that country. The one thing necessary
+is to find grass tall enough to cut, and get it home before the fires do
+the reaping.
+
+The big machines came nearer with a clash and clatter and gleam of
+sliding knives, and Leland, swinging his team out from the grass, got
+down from his driving-seat.
+
+"Where's my jacket, Tom?" he said to the man on the machine behind his.
+
+"I expect it has gone home. You pitched it into the waggon," said Tom
+Gallwey, who, swinging off his hat as his team went by, plunged into the
+dust again.
+
+Leland moved forward with a deprecatory gesture as he stopped beside the
+waggon. He wore a coarse blue shirt and old jean trousers, both of which
+were smeared with black grease, on which the dust had settled, for one
+of the mowers had given him trouble that morning. There was dust, too,
+on his dripping face and bare arms, which were scarred here and there.
+Still, the thin attire lent a certain grace to his wiry figure, and he
+appeared the personification of strength and activity. From another
+point of view, his appearance was, however, distinctly against him, and
+Carrie fancied she knew what Urmston was thinking, as he sat still in
+his saddle, immaculate, save for a sprinkling of dust, in neat boots,
+straw hat, and tweed. The difference between the men would have had its
+effect upon her once, but now she looked down at Leland with an
+understanding smile.
+
+"You have been mowing all the time?" she said.
+
+"Since sun-up," and Leland laughed. "I couldn't give the teams more than
+an hour's rest, either. We have to clean this sloo up by dark."
+
+Carrie glanced at the great belt of grass and wondered how it was to be
+done.
+
+"It looks out of the question, and it's very hot," she said. "Couldn't
+you stop a little earlier, for once, and ride over to the Range? Mrs.
+Custer half expects you at supper."
+
+She evidently wanted him to come, and Leland, who seemed to feel it,
+glanced back irresolutely at the sloo.
+
+"I'm afraid not," he said. "It's quite a way, and I haven't a horse. The
+others couldn't get done by dark without me, and we couldn't come back
+here to-morrow. You'll have to excuse me."
+
+Carrie was displeased, though she would not show it, for she had seen
+the smile of satisfaction in Urmston's eyes. Appearances, she knew,
+counted for a good deal with him, as much, in fact, as they had once
+done with her, and she would sooner he had not been there when the dusty
+haymaker made it evident that he was unwilling to leave his work,
+although she had suggested that this would please her.
+
+"I suppose it's necessary?" she said.
+
+Leland appeared to hesitate a moment. "I must get this grass home
+to-night, but, if it's not too late, I would like you to drive round and
+pick me up. It would get me back 'most an hour earlier."
+
+Carrie was sensible, with a little annoyance, that Urmston was watching
+her. "Well," she said, "I can't exactly promise. It will depend upon
+when Mrs. Custer lets us go."
+
+Just then a light waggon came jolting down the opposite slope, and its
+driver pulled his team up when it drew even with them.
+
+"I've some letters for Prospect, and you have saved me 'most a league's
+ride. That counts on a day like this," he said.
+
+Leland caught the packet from him, and handed one or two of the letters
+to Urmston. The man drove on again. As Carrie's waggon also jolted away,
+Leland leant against the wheel of the mower, opening those addressed to
+him. Gallwey, who was passing, pulled his team up and looked down at him
+inquiringly.
+
+"Anything of consequence?" he said.
+
+Leland shrugged a weary shoulder. "The usual thing," he said. "The
+implement man wants his money now, though I understood he was going to
+wait until harvest. The fellow in Winnipeg can't sell the horses.
+There's a letter from the bank, too. If I purpose drawing on them
+further, they'd like something as security. The rest are unpleasantly
+big accounts from the stores."
+
+Then he thrust the papers into his pocket with a harsh laugh. "I'm not
+going to straighten things out by standing here, and they want a lot."
+
+He called to his horses, and the mower clashed on again. The dust rose
+and settled on his face, once more set hard and grim. As he was toiling
+on, with the perspiration dripping from him, Urmston rode beside
+Carrie's waggon, exchanging light badinage with her. Carrie was feeling
+a trifle hurt, but she would not have either of her companions become
+aware of it. Urmston, she noticed, did not open his letters. After they
+had been an hour at the Range, he came, with one of them in his hand,
+into the room where she sat. His face was flushed, and there was an
+anxious look in his eyes. He glanced round the shadowy room. "Where is
+Eveline Annersly?" he asked.
+
+Carrie smiled absently, though something in his attitude caused her a
+slight uneasiness. "Looking at Mrs. Custer's turkeys, I believe," she
+said. "It shows her good-nature, because I don't think they appeal to
+her any more than they do to me."
+
+Urmston stood a moment or two as though listening. There was no sound
+from the buildings outside, and the house was very still. He moved
+forward closer to her, and leant upon the table, his hand clenched on
+the letter.
+
+"I have been endeavouring to get rid of that insufferable Custer for the
+last hour," he said. "There is something I have to tell you."
+
+"Well?" The incisive monosyllable expressed inquiry without
+encouragement.
+
+"The men I came out with are going on north to Edmonton, and expect me
+to go with them. In fact, they have been good enough to intimate that
+they are astonished at my long absence, and it is evident that, if I am
+to go on with the thing, I must leave Prospect to-day or to-morrow."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, with a disconcerting lack of disquietude, "you
+couldn't expect them to wait indefinitely."
+
+The man gazed at her in evident astonishment. "Don't you understand? I
+couldn't get back here from Edmonton."
+
+"That is tolerably evident."
+
+Urmston looked his disappointment, but he roused himself with an effort.
+"Carrie," he said, "I can't go. You don't wish me to?"
+
+Carrie looked at him steadily, though there was now a faint flush in her
+cheeks.
+
+"I think it would be better if you told me exactly what you mean by
+that," she said.
+
+"Is it necessary to ask me? You know that I loved you--and I love you
+now. If you had been happy I might have hid my feelings--at least, I
+would have tried--but when I find you with a ploughman husband who
+could never understand or appreciate you, silence becomes impossible. He
+cares nothing for you, and neglects you openly."
+
+The girl glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Still," she said, with
+portentous calm, "_that_ implies a good deal."
+
+Urmston grew impatient. "Pshaw!" he said hoarsely, "one goes past
+conventions. You never loved him in the least. How could you? It would
+have been preposterous."
+
+"And I once loved you? Well, perhaps I did. But let us be rational. What
+is all this leading to?"
+
+Her dispassionate quietness should have warned him, but it merely jarred
+on his fastidiousness. He was not then in a mood for accurate
+observation.
+
+"Only that I cannot go away," he said. "This summer was meant for us.
+Leland thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but his farm. He has not
+even feeling enough to be jealous of you."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, while the red spot grew plainer in her cheek, "and
+then? A summer, after all, does not last very long."
+
+The man appeared embarrassed and confused at the girl's hard, insistent
+tones.
+
+"Go on," she said sharply. "What is to happen when the summer is gone?"
+
+Again Urmston was silent, with the blood in his face. Carrie Leland
+slowly rose. For a moment she said nothing, but he winced beneath her
+gaze.
+
+"You do not know?" she said. "Well, I think I can tell you. When I had
+earned my husband's hate and contempt, you would go back to England.
+You would not even take me with you, and you would certainly go; for
+what would you do in this country? The life the men here lead would
+crush you. Of course you realised it before you came to me to-day."
+
+Urmston made a gesture of protest, but she silenced him with a flash
+from her eyes.
+
+"I have had patience with you, because there was a time when I loved
+you, but you shall hear me now. If you had shown yourself masterful and
+willing to risk everything for me, when we were at Barrock-holme, I
+think I should have gone away with you and forsaken my duty; but you
+were cautious--and half afraid. You could not even make love boldly.
+Indeed, I wonder how I ever came to believe in such a feeble thing as
+you."
+
+"But," said Urmston hoarsely, "you led me on."
+
+Again Carrie silenced him. "Wait," she said. "Did you suppose that if I
+hated my husband and loved you still, I could have requited all that he
+has done for me with treachery? Do you think I have no sense of honour
+or any sense of shame? It was only for one reason I let you go as far as
+you have done. I wanted to see if there was a spark of courage or
+generosity in you, because I should have liked to think as well as I
+could of you. There was none. After the summer you--would have gone
+away."
+
+She hesitated with a catch of her breath. "Reggie," she said, "do you
+suppose that, even if you had courage enough to suggest it, anything
+would induce me to leave my husband because--you--asked me to?"
+
+The man winced again, and his face grew even hotter beneath her gaze.
+
+"You would have done so once," he said, as though nothing else occurred
+to him.
+
+"And I should have been sorry ever since, even if I had never understood
+the man I have married. As it is, I would rather be Charley Leland's
+slave or mistress than your wife."
+
+At last the man's eyes blazed. "You can love that ploughman, that
+half-tamed brute?"
+
+Carrie laughed softly. "Yes," she said, "I love him. If it is any
+consolation, I think it was partly you who taught me to."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then Urmston, who heard footsteps in
+the hall, swung round as Eveline Annersly came in. She looked at them
+both with a comprehending smile, for she was shrewd, and their faces
+made comparatively plain the nature of what had taken place.
+
+"I wonder," she said, "if I am intruding?"
+
+"No," said Carrie. "In fact, I think Reggie would like to say good-bye
+to you. He is going away to-day."
+
+"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, the twinkle still in her eyes, "I really
+think that is wise of him. He must be keeping the farming experts
+waiting. Indeed, I'm not sure it wouldn't have been more considerate if
+he had gone before."
+
+Urmston said nothing, but went out to make his excuses to Custer. In
+another half-hour he was riding to the railroad across the prairie.
+Carrie watched him from the homestead until at last he sank behind the
+crest of a low rise. Then she went back into the house with a little
+sigh of relief. Eveline Annersly, who was in the room when she came in,
+smiled curiously.
+
+"I am not going back to-night. The sun has given me a headache, for one
+thing," she said. "Besides that, Mrs. Custer insists on keeping me for a
+day or two. You can drive round for Charley."
+
+"The waggon," said Carrie, "will easily hold three."
+
+Her companion looked at her with twinkling eyes. "I almost think two
+will be enough to-night."
+
+Carrie made no answer, but did as was suggested. It was about nine
+o'clock that evening when she pulled her team up beside the sloo.
+Leland, who had found his jacket and brushed off some of the dust, was
+standing there beside a pile of prairie hay. There was nobody else in
+sight. A row of loaded waggons and teams loomed black against the sunset
+at the edge of the prairie. There was a fond gleam in his eyes as he
+looked up at Carrie.
+
+"Eveline Annersly is staying all night," she said. "You will be worn
+out; there is almost a load of the hay left."
+
+Leland looked at the big pile of grass. "We couldn't get that lot up,
+unfortunately. It's a long way to come back to-morrow."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, merrily, "this waggon must have cost you a good
+deal, and it is one of the few things about Prospect that has never done
+anything to warrant its being there. I really don't think a little clean
+hay would harm it."
+
+Leland appeared astonished. "You are sure you wouldn't mind?" he asked.
+
+"Of course not! I will help you to load it if you will hand me down."
+
+The gleam in Leland's eyes was plainer when he reached up and grasped
+her hands. Carrie, who remembered what had happened last time, shrank
+from the caress she half expected. Perhaps Leland realised it with his
+quick intuition, for he merely swung her down. Then she threw in the hay
+by the armful while he plied the fork. The soft green radiance that
+precedes the coming dusk hung above the prairie when he roped the load
+down securely. It was piled high about the driving-seat of the waggon,
+making a warm, fragrant resting place, into which he lifted his wife.
+Then, as the team moved on slowly, he turned and looked at her.
+
+"Thank you, my dear," he said; "that was very kind."
+
+Carrie flushed. "Surely not, when you have so much to do. It saves you a
+long drive to-morrow, doesn't it? But why were you waiting? I did not
+promise to come round, and you could have ridden home on one of the
+waggons. It must be six miles."
+
+"Well," said Leland seriously, "it seemed quite worth while to wait most
+of the night, even if I'd had to walk in afterwards. I knew Mrs.
+Annersly meant to stay, and you and I have had only one drive together."
+
+Carrie felt her cheeks grow warm again. Her usual composure had
+vanished. During that other journey, she had lain half frozen in his
+arms. There had been snow upon the prairie then, and she had shrunk from
+him; but it was summer now, and all was different. The hay overhung and
+projected all about them, so that there was very little room on the
+driving-seat, and she felt her heart throbbing as she sat pressed close
+against his shoulder. Leland said nothing, and the waggon jolted on
+through the silent night to the tune of horses' hoofs, while the green
+transparency faded into the dusky blueness of the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+AN UNDERSTANDING
+
+
+A deep stillness hung over the prairie, and the stars were high and dim,
+while the waggon jolted on. Though the team moved slowly, Leland had
+apparently no wish to hurry them. A clean, aromatic smell of wild
+peppermint floated about the pair on the driving-seat as the faint dew
+damped the load behind them. They sat in a hollow of the fragrant grass,
+and the softness and the warmth of it were pleasant, for, as sometimes
+happens at that season, the night was almost chill. The other teams had
+vanished, and they rode on over the vast shadowy levels alone. Every
+rattle of the harness, every creak of jarring wheels, rang through the
+silence with a startling distinctness.
+
+Some vague influence in it all reacted upon the girl, and she sat very
+still, pressed close against Leland's shoulder, content to be there, and
+almost afraid to speak lest what she should say might rudely break the
+charm. She knew now what she felt for the man at her side, and
+remembered what Eveline Annersly had said. It was fit that she should
+cleave to him, since they were one. Leland finally spoke:
+
+"Urmston did not come back with you."
+
+"No," said Carrie, realising that the crisis was at hand, and yet almost
+afraid to precipitate it. "He rode in to the railroad."
+
+Leland called to the horses before he spoke again.
+
+"Carrie," he said slowly, "any of your friends are welcome at Prospect,
+and especially Mrs. Annersly; but I have felt for some little while now
+that I must ask you why that man is staying here so long."
+
+The girl summoned her self-control with an effort, for she felt she must
+play the part she had decided on; but she felt her heart beat as she
+moved a little so that she could look up at her companion. He had moved,
+too, and though his face showed but vaguely, she could feel that his
+eyes were fixed upon her.
+
+"The night you would not have Mrs. Heaton here, you said something that
+made me very angry, though from your point of view you were right," she
+said. "I think we must understand each other once for all. Do you
+consider it necessary to remind me of the same thing now?"
+
+"No," said Leland, still quietly, though there was a suggestion of
+tension in his voice. "I was ashamed of it afterwards; I lost my temper.
+I know you have too much pride and honesty not to keep your bargain to
+the letter, and I am not in the least jealous of Urmston. You have my
+ring upon your hand. How could I be? Still, one has now and then to talk
+plainly. Urmston is a man who might take much for granted and presume.
+Your good name is precious to me."
+
+"Thank you for that. You do not know that there was a time when, if
+circumstances had been propitious, I would have married Reggie Urmston?"
+
+Leland appeared to smile. "I think I knew that, too."
+
+"And you said nothing when he came here!"
+
+"My dear," said Leland gravely, "I had by that time perfect confidence
+in you. The clean pride that held you away from me would keep you safe
+in spite of anything that such a man might do or say."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, with a calm dignity, "he will never come back
+again. I have sent him away."
+
+She felt the man start, and saw his hands tighten on the reins.
+
+"Carrie," he said, "you will tell me more if you wish; if not, it
+doesn't matter. There is another thing I want to say. I have often been
+sorry for you, but I felt that you would not find it quite so hard some
+day. That is why I waited--I think very patiently--though it was a
+little hard on me, too. I thought I knew what you must feel--indeed, you
+showed it to me--and I was horribly afraid that, if I was too hasty, I
+might lose you."
+
+"And that would have troubled you?"
+
+Leland turned again, and his voice was a trifle hoarse. "My dear, I do
+not understand these things. I have been too busy to worry about my
+feelings, but I know that, while I only admired you at Barrock-holme,
+something else that was different soon took hold of me, and kept on
+growing stronger the more I saw of you. I think it first gripped me hard
+the night you told me what you thought of me--though why then I don't
+know. Now I am sure, at least, that it will never let me go."
+
+Then, his self-restraint failing him, he slipped an arm about her and
+held her tightly to him. "Carrie," he said harshly, "it is getting too
+hard for me. Do you know that now and then something almost drives me
+into taking you into my arms and crushing you into submission? I could
+do it now--the touch of you almost maddens me. This can't go on. I have
+felt lately that you were growing kinder and shrank from me less. After
+all, I am a man and nothing more. How long do you mean to keep me
+waiting?"
+
+Carrie laughed softly, with a little catch of her breath. "Bend your
+head a little, Charley," she said, "I have something to tell you."
+
+As he did her bidding, she, stretching up a soft, warm arm round his
+neck, drew his face down to hers. His hand closed convulsively on her
+waist.
+
+"Charley," she said again, "it needn't go on any longer than you wish. I
+don't want it to. I only want you to love me now."
+
+The man laughed almost fiercely in his exultation. For a space she lay
+crushed and breathless beneath his engirdling arm, with his kisses hot
+upon her lips. When at last his grasp relaxed, her head, with the big
+white hat all crushed and crumpled, was still upon his breast. Her
+cheeks were burning, and her blood ran riot, for she was one who did
+nothing by half, as she clung to him in an ecstasy of complete and
+irrevocable surrender. The man broke out into a flood of disjointed,
+half-coherent, unrestrained words.
+
+"It was worth while waiting--even if I had waited years--though now and
+then you almost drove me mad," he said. "Your daintiness, your pride,
+the clean, hard grit that was in you, made me want to take you in my
+arms and break you and make you yield. Still, I knew, somehow, that was
+not the way with you, and I held myself in. It was hard--oh, it was
+hard. The beauty of you, your freshness, your beautiful little hands,
+even the coldness in your face, set me on fire at times. They were mine,
+you belonged to me, and yet I would claim nothing that went with your
+dislike. I wanted you to give them all to me."
+
+Carrie laughed, though there was a little break in her voice. "They are
+yours, and so am I. Only you must think them precious--and never let me
+go."
+
+Then she stretched her arm up and slipped it round his neck again.
+"Charley, at the very first, what was it made you want to marry me?"
+
+"Well," said Leland, with an air of reflection, "haven't you hair as
+softly dusky as the sky up there, and eyes so deep and clear that one
+can see the wholesome thoughts down in the depths of them? Haven't you
+hands and arms that look like alabaster, until one feels the gracious
+warmth beneath?"
+
+"And a vixenish temper! If I ever show it to you, you must shake me, and
+shake me hard. There was a time when you did it, and left a blue mark on
+my shoulder; but I deserved it, and now I wouldn't mind. I would sooner
+have you shake me every day than never think of me. Still, you haven't
+told me what I asked you yet."
+
+Leland stooped and kissed the shoulder. "When a man looks at you, he can
+see a hundred reasons for wanting you, and every one sufficient."
+
+"Still, that was not all. If you do not tell me, I shall ask Aunt
+Eveline, and I think she knows. Don't you see that we must understand
+everything to-night?"
+
+"Then it seemed to me it would be a horrible thing to marry you to
+Aylmer."
+
+Carrie drew her breath in. "Oh," she said, "I always fancied it was
+that, and I could love you if it was only for saving me from him." Then
+she broke out into a little soft laugh. "Charley, it was the wrong
+shoulder you kissed."
+
+"That is very easily set right," and the man bent down again. As he
+looked up, he called sharply to the horses, and shook the reins.
+
+"I wonder how long we have been waiting here?" he said. "I suppose you
+haven't noticed that the team has stopped?"
+
+They rode on again, in silence seldom broken, into a land of beatific
+visions. With a little wistful sense of regret, they saw Prospect at
+last rise black and shadowy against the big birch bluff. The teamsters,
+however, had not gone to sleep yet, and Leland, leaving the waggon to
+one of them, walked silently with Carrie towards the house. He stooped
+and kissed her as they crossed the threshold.
+
+"From now on, it is home," he said. "I only want to please you, and you
+must tell me when I fail."
+
+They went in together, and he lighted the big lamp. "You had supper with
+Mrs. Custer, but that is quite a while ago, and there should be a little
+fire yet in the cook-shed stove," he said. "Is there anything I can make
+you?"
+
+Carrie laughed as she took off the big crumpled hat and flung it on the
+table.
+
+"No," she said, "you will sit still while I see what can be found. It
+will be my part to cook and bake and wait on you. I almost think, if it
+were necessary, I could drive a team, too."
+
+They decided it by going into the cook-shed together, and, late as it
+was, Carrie wasted a good deal of flour attempting to make flap-jacks
+under her husband's direction, achieving a general disorder that Mrs.
+Nesbit surveyed with astonishment next morning. But the good soul's
+astonishment grew when she came upon Carrie setting the table in the big
+room, at least half an hour before Leland came in for his early
+breakfast.
+
+"I guess you're not going to want me much longer, and it's hardly likely
+that Charley Leland will, either," she said.
+
+Carrie's face flushed. "Oh, yes," she said, "you must stay here and
+teach me everything that a farmer's wife ought to know. I am afraid you
+will be a long while doing it."
+
+The hard-featured woman smiled at her in a very kindly fashion.
+
+"You're going to find it all worth while," she said.
+
+Carrie set about it that morning, and her sympathy with Mrs. Custer grew
+stronger with every hour she spent in Mrs. Nesbit's company, for it was
+evident that there was a great deal a woman could do at Prospect, too.
+Indeed, although she had already taken a spasmodic interest in the work,
+what she was taught before evening left her more than a little confused
+and by no means pleased with herself. It was disconcerting to be brought
+suddenly face to face with the realities of life and the conviction that
+things did not run smoothly of themselves. She realised, for the first
+time, almost with dismay, that, by coldly standing aside while the
+others toiled, she had made her husband's burden heavier than it need
+have been. She had, perhaps not altogether unnaturally, fallen into the
+habit of assuming that it was only fit that all she desired should be
+obtained for her, and had never inquired about the effort it entailed;
+but, as this point of view did not seem quite warranted now, she
+resolved that the future should be different. Finally realising her
+obligations, she did not shrink from the responsibility.
+
+Eveline Annersly, coming home that evening, found her sitting, deep in
+thought, by the window of her room, a new softness in her eyes. She drew
+up a chair close by, and sat looking at her in a shrewd way that the
+girl appeared to find disconcerting.
+
+"Carrie," she said, "I wonder if you know that you look quite as well in
+that simple dress as you do in your usual evening one? Still, your hair
+is a little ruffled. Surely you haven't been rubbing it against
+somebody's shoulder?"
+
+Carrie Leland blushed crimson, which was somewhat remarkable, as it was
+a thing she was by no means in the habit of doing.
+
+"Well," she said with a little musical laugh, "there was no reason why I
+shouldn't. It was my husband's."
+
+Then she rose impulsively, and, drawing up a footstool, sank down beside
+Eveline Annersly, and slipped an arm about her.
+
+"I think you know," she said. "At least, you have done what you could to
+bring it about for ever so long. We are friends at last, Charley and I."
+
+"That is pleasant to hear. Still, I'm not sure it would quite satisfy
+Charley. Haven't you gone any further?"
+
+Carrie's face was hidden as she replied, in a voice that quavered a bit.
+"I think we are lovers, too," she murmured.
+
+"Well," said her companion, "if he had known all I do, you might have
+been that some time ago. In fact, it would have pleased me if he had
+slapped you occasionally. If you had made him believe what you tried, it
+is very probable that you would never have forgiven yourself. But I
+think you ought to be more than lovers."
+
+Feeling a tremor of emotion run through the girl, she stooped and kissed
+her half-hidden cheek. Carrie looked up.
+
+"Charley is my husband--and all that is worth having to me," she said.
+"He is sure of it at last. I have told him so."
+
+She sat silent for a minute, and then turned a little and took out a
+letter.
+
+"It's from Jimmy," she said. "It was among Charley's papers, and he gave
+it to me when we came home."
+
+"He wants something?" said Mrs. Annersly, drily.
+
+"Yes," and Carrie's voice was quietly contemptuous. "Jimmy, it seems, is
+in difficulties again. If he hadn't been, he would not have written. Of
+course, it is only a loan."
+
+"You have a banking account in Winnipeg."
+
+"I have. I owe it to my husband's generosity, and I shall probably want
+it very soon. Do you suppose that, while Charley is crushed with anxiety
+and working from dawn to dusk, I would send Jimmy a penny?"
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "I really don't fancy it
+would be advisable, but this is rather a sudden change on your part. Not
+long ago you wouldn't let me say a word against anybody at
+Barrock-holme."
+
+Carrie laughed in a somewhat curious fashion. "Everything has changed.
+All that is mine I want for Charley, and, while he needs it, there is
+nothing for anybody else."
+
+She stopped for a moment. "Aunt Eveline, there are my mother's pearls
+and diamonds, which I think I should have had. I did not like to ask for
+them, but I always understood they were to come to me when I was
+married. I don't quite understand why my father never mentioned them."
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "I am under very much the same
+impression. In fact, I am almost sure they should have been handed to
+you. Still, what could you do with them here?"
+
+"I may want them presently."
+
+"In that case you had better write and ask for them very plainly."
+
+Carrie rose, with a determined expression in her face. "Well, I must go
+down," she said. "Charley will be here in a few minutes. I see the teams
+coming back from the sloos."
+
+Eveline Annersly sat thoughtfully still. The jewels in question were,
+she knew, of considerable value. For that very reason, she was far from
+sure that Carrie could ever have the good-will of anybody at
+Barrock-holme if she insisted on her rights of possession.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A WILLING SACRIFICE
+
+
+Three weeks had slipped away since the evening Carrie Leland had asked
+about her mother's jewels, when she and Eveline Annersly once more
+referred to them as they sat in her room, a little before the supper
+hour. The window was wide open, and the blaze of sunlight that streamed
+in fell upon Carrie as she took up a letter from the little table before
+her.
+
+"Only a line or two to say the casket has been sent," she said, with a
+half-suppressed sigh. "One could almost fancy they did not care what had
+become of me at Barrock-holme. I might have passed out of their lives
+altogether."
+
+"I'm not sure it's so very unusual in the case of a married woman," said
+her companion, a trifle drily. "Besides, it is quite possible that your
+father was not exactly pleased at having to give the jewels up. In fact,
+it may have been particularly inconvenient for him to do so. They are
+worth a good deal of money."
+
+"Still, they really belong to me."
+
+"Yes," said Eveline Annersly, "they evidently do, or you would not have
+got them. Of course, it would be a more usual thing for them to have
+gone to Jimmy's wife when he married, but they were your mother's, and,
+as you know, they came from her family. It was her wish that you should
+have them, though I was never quite sure it was mentioned in her will.
+In fact, to be candid, I am a little astonished that you have got them."
+
+Carrie's face flushed.
+
+"Aunt," she said, "I don't like to think of it, and I would not admit it
+to anybody else, but I felt what you are suggesting when I wrote for
+them. Still, I would have had them, even at the cost of breaking with
+them all at Barrock-holme."
+
+"I expected a break. Hadn't you better open the casket?"
+
+"In a few minutes," said Carrie, leaving the room.
+
+She wore a dinner-gown when she returned. Sitting down at the table, she
+opened the little metal-bound box before her. There was an inner box,
+and, when she opened that in turn, the sunlight struck a blaze of colour
+from the contents of the little velvet trays. Carrie looked at them with
+a curious softness in her eyes. When she turned to her companion,
+however, there was a lingering wistfulness in her smile.
+
+"I can't resist putting them on--just this once," she said. "I shall
+probably never do it again."
+
+Her companion watched her gravely as she placed a diamond crescent in
+her dusky hair, and then hung a string of pearls about her neck. They
+were exceptionally beautiful, but it was the few rubies that followed
+them and the gleam of the same stones set in the delicate bracelet the
+girl clasped on her wrist that roused Eveline Annersly, who had seen
+them before, to a little gasp of admiration. The blood-red stones shone
+with a wonderful lustre on the polished whiteness of Carrie's neck and
+arm.
+
+"They were, of course, never meant for a necklet, and your mother had
+always intended to have them properly set, but I suppose money was
+scarce at Barrock-holme then," she said. "You look positively dazzling,
+but you carry them well, my dear."
+
+Carrie turned to the mirror in front of her, and surveyed herself for a
+minute with a curious gravity. Then the little wistful look once more
+crept into her eyes. After all, she had been accustomed to the smoother
+side of life, and the beauty of the gems appealed to her. She had worn
+some of them once or twice before, and had seen them stir men's
+admiration and other women's longing at brilliant functions in the Old
+Country. She also knew that they became her wonderfully well, and yet it
+was scarcely likely she would put them on again. Then she heard a little
+gasp, and, turning suddenly, saw Mrs. Nesbit gazing at her from the
+doorway in bewildered admiration.
+
+"The boys are coming in. Shall I have the table set for supper?" she
+said.
+
+"Not yet," said Carrie. "You might ask Mr. Leland to come up. I want
+him."
+
+Mrs. Nesbit went out, apparently still lost in wonder. Carrie turned to
+her companion impulsively.
+
+"I should like Charley to see me as I am--for once," she said.
+
+Five minutes later, Eveline Annersly slipped away as Leland came in,
+dressed in worn and faded jean. He gave a start of astonishment and a
+look that almost suggested pain when Carrie turned to him. She looked
+imperial in the long, graceful dress. The diamonds in her dusky hair
+glinted crystal-clear, and the rubies gleamed on the polished ivory of
+her neck; but her eyes were more wonderful than any gem in their depths
+of tenderness. Then the man saw himself in the mirror, bronzed and hot
+and dusty, with hard hands and broken nails, and the stain of the soil
+upon him. Another glance at her, and he turned his eyes away.
+
+"Aren't you pleased?" said Carrie.
+
+Leland turned again, slowly, with a little sigh, one of his brown hands
+tightly clenched.
+
+"You are beautiful, my dear," he said, "but, if you were old and dressed
+in rags, you would always be that to me. With those things shining on
+you, you are wonderful, but it hurts me to see them."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"They make the difference between us too plain. You should wear them
+always. It was what you were meant for, and, when I married you, I had a
+notion that I might be able to give you such things some day and take
+you where other people wear them. Everything, however, is against me
+now. We may not even keep Prospect, and you are only the wife of a
+half-ruined prairie farmer."
+
+Carrie held her arms out. "I wouldn't be anything else if I could. You
+know that, too. Come and kiss me, Charley, and never say anything of the
+kind again."
+
+The man hesitated, and she guessed that he was thinking of his dusty
+jean.
+
+"Have I lost my attractiveness that you need asking twice?" she said.
+
+Leland came towards her, and she slipped an arm about his neck,
+regardless of the costly dress. Taking up his hard, brown hand, she
+looked tenderly at the broken nails.
+
+"Ah," she said, "it has worked so hard for me. Do you think I don't know
+why you toil late and early this year, and never spend a cent on
+anything that is not for my pleasure? I must have cost you a good deal,
+Charley."
+
+She saw the blood rise into the man's face, and laughed softly. "Oh, I
+know it all. Once I tried to hate you for it--and now, if it hadn't made
+it so hard for you, I should be almost glad. Still, Charley, I would do
+almost anything to make you feel that--it was worth while."
+
+"My dear," said Leland hoarsely, "I have never regretted it, and I would
+not even if I had to turn teamster and let Prospect go, except for the
+trouble it would bring you."
+
+Carrie laughed softly. "Still, it will never come to that. This hand is
+too firm and capable to let anything go, and I fancy I can do something,
+too. After all, I do not think Mrs. Custer is very much stronger or
+cleverer than I am."
+
+She pushed him gently away from her. "Now go and get ready for supper. I
+will be down presently."
+
+Leland went away with glad obedience. When Eveline Annersly came in
+later, she found Carrie once more attired very plainly, and the casket
+locked. Her eyes were a trifle hazy, but she looked up with a smile.
+
+"I shall not put them on again, but I do not mind," she said. "They will
+go to ploughing and harrowing next season. There is something to be done
+beforehand, and I want you to come in to the railroad station with me
+to-morrow."
+
+They went down to supper, during which Carrie was unusually talkative.
+When Eveline Annersly left them after the meal was over, she turned to
+her husband.
+
+"Charley," she said, "you could get along alone for two or three days,
+if I went into Winnipeg?"
+
+"I could," said Leland. "Still, I wouldn't like it. But what do you want
+to go there for?"
+
+"Well," said Carrie, reflectively, "there are two or three things I
+want, and one or two I have to do--business things at the bank. I had a
+letter from Barrock-holme, you know. I suppose those bankers are really
+trustworthy people?"
+
+Leland laughed. "Oh, yes, I think they could be trusted with anything
+you were likely to put into their hands."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, "perhaps I will tell you what it is by and by. In
+the meanwhile, since I am going to-morrow, there are several things I
+have to see to."
+
+Starting next morning with Eveline Annersly, she was on the following
+day ushered into the manager's room at Leland's bank. The gentleman who
+sat there appeared a trifle astonished when he saw her, as though he had
+scarcely expected to see the stamp of refinement and station on Leland's
+wife. He drew out a chair for her, and urbanely asked what he could do
+for her. Carrie laid a casket and a small bundle of papers upon the
+table.
+
+"I think you are acquainted with my husband?" she said.
+
+"Certainly," said the banker. "We have had the pleasure of doing
+business with Mr. Leland of Prospect for a good many years."
+
+"Then," said Carrie, decisively, "you are on no account to tell him
+about any business you may do for me--that is, unless I give you
+permission to do so."
+
+The banker concealed any astonishment he may have felt, merely saying
+that it was his part to fall in with his clients' wishes. Carrie held
+out a pass-book.
+
+"I suppose I could have this money any time I wished?" she said.
+
+"Certainly. You have only to write a cheque for it."
+
+Carrie opened a paper, and handed it to him. "I have had it all
+explained to me, but I am afraid I don't understand it very well," she
+said. "Until I was married I could get only a little of the money as my
+trustees gave it to me, and they put the rest into an English bank for
+me. I have the book here. You will see how much the dividends and
+interest come to every year."
+
+The banker studied the document carefully. Then he took the pass-book
+she handed him. "Well," he said, "you can do whatever you like with it
+now. Quite a sum of money has accumulated."
+
+"I could put it into your bank here?"
+
+"Of course. I should be glad to arrange it for you. You would also get
+more interest for it than you seem to have done in England."
+
+"Then I want you to do it. You lend people money. I wonder if you could
+let me have as much now as I would get in the next four or five years.
+Of course, you would charge me for doing it."
+
+The banker smiled a little, and shook his head as he glanced at the
+document. "You will excuse my mentioning that the interest on the money
+involved is only to be paid--to you."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "of course, I might die, and then, I remember, it
+would go back again. Still, that only makes what I want to do more
+necessary. I suppose I could make over to my husband all the money there
+is in the English bank and anything else that really belongs to me? That
+is, I could put it into his account here? You see, I don't want him to
+know--anything about it for a little while."
+
+The banker reflected. He had done business for years with Leland and
+considered him a friend. This dainty woman's devotion to her husband
+appealed to him. He decided that he might, for once, go a little further
+than was usual from a business point of view. "Well," he said,
+reflectively, "I think I should wait a little. If you kept the money in
+your own name, you could hand him as much as you thought advisable at
+any time it appeared necessary. On the whole, I fancy that would be
+wiser."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Again the banker pondered. Nobody knew better than he how many of the
+wheat-growers were near ruin that year, and he had naturally an accurate
+notion of what would probably happen to Leland when, after harvest, the
+wheat of the West was thrown train-load by train-load upon a lifeless
+market.
+
+"I think there are a good many reasons why it is sound advice I am
+offering you. For one thing, wheat is still going down, you see."
+
+Carrie made a little gesture of comprehension, for financial
+difficulties had formed a by no means infrequent topic at Barrock-holme.
+"Yes," she said quietly, "I understand. You will get the money and put
+it to my name. But there is another thing. Will you please open that
+casket?"
+
+The man did so, and appeared astonished when he saw its contents. "These
+things are very beautiful," he said.
+
+"You could lend me part of their value?" asked Carrie, with a little
+flush in her face.
+
+The man looked thoughtful. The smaller banking houses in the West are
+usually willing to handle any business they can get, but precious gems
+are not a commodity with which they are intimately acquainted.
+
+"They would have to be valued, and I fancy that could only be done in
+Montreal," he said. "After getting an expert's opinion, we could, I
+think, advance you a reasonable proportion of what he considered them
+worth. Shall I have it done?"
+
+"Of course," said Carrie, and went out ten minutes later with a sense of
+satisfaction. She found Eveline Annersly waiting, and smiled as she
+greeted her. "I have been arranging things, and perhaps I can help
+Charley, after all. I am afraid he will want it," she said. "Now, if you
+wouldn't mind very much, we can get the west-bound train this afternoon.
+I am anxious to get back to Prospect again."
+
+Eveline Annersly would have much preferred to spend that night in a
+comfortable hotel, instead of in a sleeping-car, but she made no
+protest. After lunch, they spent an hour or two in the prairie city,
+waiting until the train came in. Ridged with mazy wires and towering
+telegraph-poles, and open to all winds, Winnipeg stands at the side of
+its big, slow river in the midst of a vast sweep of plain. Boasting of
+few natural attractions, there is the quick throb of life in its
+streets. As Carrie and her aunt made their way through bustling crowds,
+past clanging cars, they gradually observed an undertone of slackness in
+the superficial activity about them. The faces they met were sombre, and
+there were few who smiled. The lighthearted rush of a Western town was
+missing. Loungers hung about the newspaper offices, and bands of
+listless immigrants walked the streets aimlessly. Carrie had heard at
+Prospect that it was usually difficult in the Northwest to get men
+enough to do the work, and this air of leisure puzzled her.
+
+There was, however, a reason for this lack of enterprise. Winnipeg lives
+by its trade in wheat, selling at a profit to the crowded East, and
+scattering its store-goods broadcast across the prairie. Just then,
+however, the world appeared to possess a sufficiency of wheat and flour,
+and the great mills were grinding half-time or less, while it happened
+frequently that Western farmers, caught by the fall in values, could not
+meet their bills. When this happens, there is always trouble from the
+storekeepers and dealers in implements who have supplied them throughout
+the year. Carrie caught the despondent tone, wondering why she did so,
+since she felt that it would not have impressed her a little while ago.
+Perhaps it was because she had then looked upon the toilers with an
+uncomprehending pity that was half disdain, and she had since gained not
+only sympathy but appreciation. She stopped outside the newspaper office
+where a big placard was displayed.
+
+"Smitten Dakota wails," it read. "Crops devastated. Thunder and hail.
+Ice does the reaping in Minnesota."
+
+"Oh," she said. "I must have a paper."
+
+Eveline Annersly smiled a little. It was between the hours of issue, and
+the wholesale office did not look inviting, but Carrie went in, and a
+clerk, who gazed at the very dainty lady with some astonishment, gave
+her a paper.
+
+"Now," she said, "we will go on to the depôt. I must sit down and read
+the thing."
+
+By the time she had mastered the gist of it, the big train was rolling
+out with her amidst a doleful clanging of the locomotive bell. It was
+momentous enough. The hail, which now and then sweeps the Northwest, had
+scourged the Dakotas and part of Minnesota, spreading devastation where
+it went. Meteorologists predicted that the disturbance would probably
+spread across the frontier. Carrie laid down the paper and glanced out
+with a little shudder of apprehension at the sliding prairie, into which
+town and wires and mills were sinking. She was relieved to see that
+there hung over it a sweep of cloudless blue.
+
+"There are hundreds ruined, and whole crops destroyed," she said.
+"Perhaps the men who sowed them worked as hard as Charley. It would be
+dreadful if it came to us."
+
+"I am afraid it would," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I don't think it
+would have troubled you when you first came out. That is not so very
+long ago, is it?"
+
+Carrie smiled. "I think I have grown since then," she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HAIL
+
+
+A thin crescent moon hung low in the western sky. The prairie was
+wrapped in silent shadows. Leland stood outside the homestead, with the
+bridle of an impatient horse in his hand, and talked with his wife.
+There was only one light in the house behind them, and everything was
+very still, but Leland knew that two men who could be trusted to keep
+good watch were wide awake that night. The barrel of a Marlin rifle hung
+behind his shoulders, glinting fitfully when it caught the light as he
+moved. Without thinking of what he was doing, he fingered the clip of
+the sling.
+
+"The moon will be down in half an hour, and it will be quite dark before
+I cross the ravine near Thorwald's place," he said. "Jim Thorwald is
+straight, and standing by the law, but none of us are quite sure of all
+of his boys. Anyway, we don't want anybody to know who's riding to the
+outpost."
+
+Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. "I suppose you must go, this once at
+least."
+
+"Of course!" said Leland with a smile. "If I'm wanted, I must go again.
+The trouble's spreading."
+
+"Then," said Carrie, "why can't they bring more troopers in? Why did you
+ever have anything to do with it, Charley?"
+
+"It seemed necessary. A man has to hold on to what is his."
+
+Carrie's fingers tightened on his arm. "Perhaps it is so; I suppose it
+must be; but, after all, I don't think that was your only reason. I
+mean, when you started the quarrel. No, you needn't turn away. I want
+you to look at me."
+
+"It's dark, my dear, and I'm glad it is. I don't want to talk of those
+times, and if it were light enough to see you, I'm afraid it would melt
+the resolution out of me."
+
+"Still," Carrie persisted, "you know you first quarrelled with the
+rustlers because you were angry with me."
+
+Leland laughed softly. "Well, perhaps that was the reason, though I
+would sooner believe it was because I recognised what I owed the State."
+
+"But it is all different--you are not in the least angry with me now?"
+
+The moonlight was very dim, and showed no more than the pale white oval
+of her face; but Leland felt the appeal in her voice, and knew that it
+was also in her eyes.
+
+"My dear," he said quietly, "how could I be?"
+
+Carrie lifted her hand and laid it on his shoulder. "Charley, I can't
+stop you now, but I want you to promise you will not go back again. Do
+you know that I sit still, shivering, when darkness comes while you are
+away, trying not to think of what you may be doing? I daren't think.
+Can't you understand, Charley, that I have only you?"
+
+Feeling how hard it was to leave her, and fearing that further
+tenderness from her might weaken his firm purpose, he sought refuge in a
+frivolous retort.
+
+"There are still a few of your relatives at Barrock-holme," he said.
+
+"They never write me. Perhaps I couldn't expect them to. I thought you
+knew that I had offended them."
+
+"Offended them?"
+
+Carrie laughed a trifle harshly. "Oh," she said, "it is a wife's duty to
+take her husband's part; but, after all, that is not the question. I
+hadn't meant to mention it. It doesn't matter in the least."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I almost think it does. Anyway, if it worries you.
+What have you been falling out with them over, Carrie?"
+
+"That is not your business. They don't care about me now, but you do."
+
+Leland had only one free hand, but he slipped it round her waist. She
+sighed contentedly as she felt his protecting clasp.
+
+"Charley, you will not go back again?" she said once more.
+
+The man drew his arm away. Though she could scarcely see his face, he
+appeared to be looking down upon her gravely.
+
+"It is a little hard not to do what you ask me straight away, but I
+think you can understand," he said. "Whatever I went into the thing for,
+I am in it now. Practically, I'm leader. It is not the Sergeant the boys
+look to, but me, and I'm not quite sure they would have kept the thing
+up if I hadn't worried them into doing it. Still, they'll go on now, and
+they would only think of two reasons if I backed down. Would you like
+them to fancy the rustlers had bought me over, or made me afraid of
+them?"
+
+"Could any one think that?" and Carrie laughed scornfully, though her
+voice grew suddenly soft again. "It wouldn't matter in the least to me
+what anybody said."
+
+"Well," said Leland gravely, "I 'most think it would, and I should like
+it to. Anyway, if I backed down, it would be because I was afraid. In
+fact, I'm afraid now, though I never used to be. It's a little difficult
+to tell you this, though you know it, but, when I stirred the boys up, I
+could not be sure you would ever be what you are to me. It didn't seem
+likely then, but I made no conditions when the rest stood in with me.
+Now I think you see I can't go back on them."
+
+Carrie made a little nod of agreement, and, with an effort, repressed a
+sigh, for she knew that she had failed. Her husband's code was simple,
+and, perhaps, crude, but it was, at least, inflexible. After all, honour
+and duty are things well within the comprehension of very simple men.
+Indeed, it is often the case that, where principles are concerned, the
+simplest men have the clearest vision.
+
+"Ah," she said, with something like a sob, "then you must go. But stand
+still a minute, Charley. I want to see if the clip I bought you in the
+Winnipeg gun-shop is working properly."
+
+Leland smiled as she pressed a little clasp and then, dropping one hand
+smartly, caught the rifle as the sling fell apart. Carrie had changed
+suddenly and curiously. The pride that was in her had awakened, and she
+was at one with her husband and wholly practical.
+
+"It is ever so much quicker than passing it over your shoulder; and,
+after all, you must go," she said.
+
+She stretched up her arms and kissed him. When the man had swung himself
+into the saddle, she looked long after him, with eyes that were hazy.
+When he became a blur in the distance, she went slowly to the house,
+head proudly erect. There Eveline Annersly greeted her.
+
+"My dear," she said, "you need not tell me. You have been trying to hold
+your husband back, and you have failed. The thing was out of the
+question. You might have known."
+
+Carrie made a little half-wistful gesture, though there was a faint glow
+in her eyes. "Yes, I did what I could, and now I shall not rest until he
+comes back again. Still, I think I deserve it, and I'm not sure that I
+would have him different. I think nothing would change Charley. I used
+to wonder more than I do now how he, who was born on the prairie, came
+to have all the real essential things which were not in any of us at
+Barrock-holme."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes sparkled, and her manner was sardonic. "It's not
+very explicit, but I think I know what you mean. Haven't you lost your
+faith in the old fetish yet? Men are men--good, bad, and
+indifferent--the world over, and, though it would be rather nice to
+believe it, we haven't, and never had, a monopoly in our own class of
+what you call the essentials. Indeed, I'm not quite sure one couldn't go
+a little further."
+
+She was standing near the open window, with the light, which was low,
+some distance away from her. Turning, she drew Carrie within the heavy
+curtains. "The very old and the very new are apt to meet," she said.
+"There is an example yonder."
+
+Carrie looked out into the soft moonlight, and saw a mounted figure cut
+against the sky on the crest of a low rise. It was indistinct and
+shadowy, but, as she gazed, she twice caught the gleam of the pale cold
+light on steel, and knew it for the flash of a rifle-barrel.
+
+"Oh," she said, "since I came to this country I have felt it too. That
+was how the border spears rode out six hundred years ago. . . . Of
+course, you were right a little while ago. I think the things that are
+essential must always have been the same--primitive and unchangeable.
+Faith and courage have always been needed, as they are needed still.
+After all, we cannot get away from death and toil and pain."
+
+The lonely figure vanished into the night, and, as her companion moved
+away, Carrie let the curtain fall behind her with a little sigh. "It is
+getting late, and I can only wait and try to think there is no danger,
+until he comes back to me. No doubt others have done it, back through
+all the centuries."
+
+She went out, but Eveline Annersly sat a while thoughtfully by the open
+window. What she had expected had at last come to pass, and she had the
+satisfaction which does not always attend the efforts of the matrimonial
+schemer; for there was no longer any doubt that Carrie Leland loved her
+husband. Once more, as Nature will often have it, like had drawn to
+unlike, with a fusion of discordant qualities in indissoluble and
+harmonious union, that what the one lacked the other might supply. The
+pair she had brought together were no longer two but one, which, while
+she was quite aware that it did not always happen, was, when it did,
+like the springing up of the wheat--a mystery and a miracle.
+
+Eveline Annersly was old enough to know that there are many mysteries,
+but that by love alone man may come nearest to their comprehension.
+
+Then she remembered that it was getting late, and, leaving the window
+open, for the night was hot and still, sought her room, and in another
+half-hour was sound asleep. She had slept several hours, when she was
+awakened by a queer sound that seemed to come from outside through the
+open door. It was a dull noise, which, accustomed as she had grown to
+the beat of hoofs, suggested a company of mounted men riding up out of
+the prairie. The sound kept increasing, until she could have fancied
+that it was made by a regiment, and then suddenly swelled into the roar
+of a brigade of cavalry going by on the gallop. The house seemed to reel
+as under a blow, the doors swung to with a crash, and there was a
+clatter of things hurled down in the adjoining room. Then she rose and
+flung on a dressing-gown, and, crossing the room, stopped when she had
+clutched the door handle, almost afraid to open it, bewildered by the
+indescribable tumult. At last a gleam of light appeared between the
+chinks. Mustering courage to open the door, she saw Carrie standing in
+the room, half dressed, with a candle in her hand. That was just for a
+moment, for the feeble gleam went out, and she groped her way through
+black darkness towards the girl.
+
+"What is it?" she gasped.
+
+"The hail!" said Carrie, hoarsely. "Come with me. We must shut the
+window quick."
+
+It cost them both an effort, and Carrie was some little time lighting
+the lamp when they had accomplished it. Then Eveline Annersly sank into
+the nearest chair, with her arm about the shoulders of the girl who
+knelt beside her. Even with the windows shut, the lamplight flickered,
+and, when it fell upon her, Carrie's face showed set and white.
+
+"Ah," she said, "the wheat! It will all be cut down by morning, and
+Charley ruined."
+
+It was a minute or two before Eveline Annersly quite understood her, for
+there was just then a deafening crash of thunder, and, after it, the
+stout wooden building appeared to rock at the onslaught of an icy wind
+that struck through every crevice with a stinging chill. The hail roared
+on walls and shingled roof with a bewildering din. Then the uproar
+slackened a little, and, as she glanced towards the melting ice which
+had beaten into the room, it seemed to her scarcely possible that
+Leland's crop could have escaped disaster. She had never seen hail like
+that in England; in fact, it scarcely seemed hail at all, but big lumps
+of ice, and the crash of it upon the roof was like the roar upon a beach
+of surf-rolled stones.
+
+The sound of it, and the wild wailing of the gale, sapped her courage;
+so she understood the strained look in Carrie's eyes. There are times
+when men, as well as women, stand appalled by the elemental fury, and,
+shaking off all restraint that a complex civilisation may have laid upon
+them, become wholly human and primitive again. Carrie was half crouching
+at her aunt's feet, gazing up at her with wild, fierce eyes. Eveline
+Annersly shuddered a little as she glanced at her.
+
+"Will the house stand?" she gasped.
+
+The girl's laugh rang harshly through the roar of the hail. "I don't
+know. What does that matter, anyway? Can't you understand? The wheat
+will all be cut down. I have ruined Charley."
+
+Then there was a lull for a minute or two, and Carrie, reaching up a
+hand, gripped her companion's arm.
+
+"Did you ever hear how much I cost my husband?" she said.
+
+Terrified as she was, Eveline Annersly started at the question. It was
+not expressed delicately, but, after all, there was no doubt that the
+girl's marriage had been more or less a matter of bargaining. "Of course
+not," she said.
+
+"I don't know, either, but I'm sure it was ever so much," and Carrie's
+fingers trembled on her arm, though her eyes were fierce. "In one way, I
+am glad it was. I like to feel that he was willing to offer everything
+that was his for me. It isn't in the least degrading to belong to
+Charley Leland, however I came into his possession. Not in the least.
+How could it be? Still, once it seemed horrible even to think of it."
+
+She stopped a minute with a little indrawing of her breath. "Besides, I
+am glad in another way, because, if he is really ruined, I am going to
+get all I cost him back again. Jimmy and my father would call it a
+loan."
+
+Eveline Annersly was distinctly startled, though she understood that all
+restraint had been flung aside, and Carrie Leland had responded to the
+influence of this storm that had brought her face to face with a crisis
+in her husband's affairs, the raw human nature in her had come
+uppermost, and she was for the time being merely a woman with primitive
+passions raised, ready to fight for her mate. It was, her companion
+recognised, a thing that not infrequently happened--a part, indeed, of
+Nature's scheme that had a higher warrant; but, for all that, she was
+sensible again that there was in the girl's set face something from
+which people of fastidious temperament, who had never felt the strain,
+might feel inclined to shrink.
+
+"Carrie," she said, "the thing is out of the question. They are your
+father and brother. You cannot force them into an open rupture. You must
+put it out of your mind."
+
+The girl gripped her arm cruelly. "One must choose sometimes, and I am
+my husband's flesh and blood. Once that seemed a curious fancy,
+repugnant too, but it is real now--one of the great real things to
+Charley and me."
+
+Eveline Annersly said nothing, and the wind beat upon the house as the
+girl went on. "Aunt," she said, "before Charley is ruined, I will make
+them repay the loan. They would have to if I insisted, for they would
+never dare let me tell that tale."
+
+Once more her laugh rang harshly through the uproar of the hail. "Oh,"
+she said, "Charley would pour out his blood for me, and what do I owe
+my father and Jimmy but a badge of shame?"
+
+She was shaking with passion and very white in face. Eveline Annersly at
+last realised how deeply the shame had bitten before love had come to
+lessen the smart of it. The girl's temperament had been, as she knew,
+distinctly virginal, and it was, perhaps, not astonishing, under the
+circumstances, that she had at first shrunk from her husband almost with
+hatred, and certainly with instinctive repulsion. Indeed, it was clear
+to Eveline Annersly that had not Leland been what he was, a man
+accustomed to restraint, she would in all probability have continued to
+hate him until one of them died. Yet the contrast between the girl who
+had always borne herself with a chilling serenity at Barrock-holme and
+the passionate woman who crouched at her side was a very wonderful
+thing.
+
+Then suddenly the wind fell, and the sound of the hail commenced to die
+away. It no longer roared upon the shingles, but sank in a long
+diminuendo, drawing further and further away across the prairie. There
+was a deep impressive stillness as it ceased altogether.
+
+Carrie rose abruptly. "I'm going out," she said in a strained voice.
+"Are you coming too?"
+
+Eveline Annersly had little wish to go. The storm had left her shaken
+and unwilling to move, but she forced herself to get up, for it seemed
+that Carrie might have need of her. So they went out together. There was
+now a little light in the sky, and the bluff showed up black and sharp
+against it. The air was fresh and chill. Carrie, however, noticed
+nothing as she moved swiftly through the wheat, through the melting ice
+that lay thickly upon the sod. Other shadowy figures were also moving in
+the same direction, and there was a murmur of voices when at last she
+stopped.
+
+"It's Mrs. Leland," said somebody, and the group of men drew back a
+little.
+
+Then Carrie caught her breath with a sob, for the tall wheat had gone,
+and, so far as she could see, ruin was spread across the belt of
+ploughing. The green blades lay smashed and torn upon the beaten soil.
+The crop had vanished under the dread reaping of the hail. The light was
+growing clearer, and it seemed to Eveline Annersly, who remembered how
+the roar had suggested the beat of horses' hoofs, that instead of a
+brigade of cavalry, an army division, with guns and transport, had
+passed that way through the grain. Then something in the fancy struck
+her as especially apposite, and she turned to Carrie, who stood rigid,
+as though turned to stone.
+
+"Look!" she said; "it isn't everywhere the same."
+
+A man came up, and she recognised him as Gallwey. He apparently heard
+her, for he beckoned to them.
+
+"Will you come forward, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We have a good deal to
+be thankful for."
+
+They went with him a hundred yards or so. Then Carrie gasped at what she
+saw in the growing light of dawn.
+
+"Oh," she cried joyously, "it hasn't reached the rest of it!"
+
+"No," said Gallwey, "we are on the dividing line. I don't know how many
+bushels it has reaped, but, by comparison, it is not enough to worry
+about. A little wonderful. Still, I believe it's not unusual, and I have
+seen very much the same thing once before."
+
+"Is there no more of the wheat damaged?" asked Carrie, and there was
+still a tension in her voice.
+
+"Not a blade," said Gallwey. "I've been all round."
+
+Then all the strength seemed to leave the girl. Moving shakily, with her
+hand on Eveline Annersly's arm, she turned towards the house, as the
+pearly greyness crept into the eastern sky. Eveline Annersly said
+nothing, for she could feel that her companion was trembling, and hear
+her catch her breath. Carrie stopped when they reached the homestead,
+and looked eastward with tear-dimmed eyes.
+
+"Ah," she said, "I wonder why this favour was shown me. I felt I had
+ruined Charley a little while ago."
+
+Then she pulled herself together. "Aunt Eveline," she said softly, "did
+you ever hate and despise yourself?"
+
+Eveline Annersly said nothing, but she smiled with comprehension in her
+eyes, for she understood what was in Carrie Leland's mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+GALLWEY'S ADVENTURE
+
+
+The night was still dark, and there was not then or afterwards any sign
+of hail when Sergeant Grier halted his little force under the Blackfoot
+Ridge. There were, in all, eight of them, excellently mounted, and most
+of them rode with a magazine rifle slung across their shoulders. In
+front of them a deep ravine wound away into the Ridge, which, though
+sometimes called a mountain, consisted of a long, broken rise, perhaps
+two hundred feet above the level of the rest of the prairie. Stunted
+birches, and, where the grounds were moister, a dense growth of willows,
+clothed its sides. Behind the first rise lay a rolling, deeply fissured
+plateau, lined here and there with trees. It stretched away before them,
+a black and shadowy barrier, and Sergeant Grier sat with his hand upon
+his hip, looking at it reflectively.
+
+"I guess your news can be relied on, Mr. Leland?" he said.
+
+Leland patted his fidgeting horse. "I wouldn't have worried you with it
+unless I had felt tolerably sure," he said. "Two waggons, driven by
+strangers, passed through the Cannersly settlement three days ago. I
+don't know what was in them, but they were full of something, and I have
+my notion as to what it was. The same night four men, who asked about
+those waggons, rode into Cannersly. They stayed there just five minutes,
+and that appeared significant to me."
+
+The Sergeant sat silent a moment, and then turned to the rest.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I've been worrying the thing out most of the way. The
+whisky boys have friends round Barber, and they'd get pack-horses there.
+West of the settlement, the folks are shy of them, and it's easy
+figuring they'd push on to get up north, beyond my reach. Well, it would
+cost them a day to work a traverse round the mountain, and that's why
+I'm putting down my stake on their coming through. There's only one good
+trail, and we're here to block it; but a man who knew the way might
+bring them out by the Willow Coulee. I guess it's not more than two
+miles away." He raised his voice a little. "Trooper Standish, you and
+Tom Gallwey will ride up the coulee, and lie by in the old herder's hut.
+If you hear anything, a shot will bring us in at a gallop. Trooper
+Cornet, you'll push on straight ahead for half an hour with Mr. Custer,
+and hide your horses clear of the trail. I guess once the boys get into
+the mountain they're going to have some trouble getting out again."
+
+The troopers saluted, and four shadowy men melted into the darkness.
+When they passed out of hearing, the Sergeant swung himself from the
+saddle.
+
+"Lead your horses well back among the trees, boys, and tether them," he
+said. "Then we'll camp down here. I figure we're not going to see the
+whisky boys before the morning."
+
+They did his bidding. Presently Leland and one or two of the others lay
+down among the first of the birches. The Sergeant sat close by, with his
+back to one of the trees, his pipe in his hand.
+
+"It's 'bout time we got in a blow," he said. "Things are going bad, and,
+with the new country opening up north, I can't get more men. Now, we
+wouldn't be long running off the regular whisky men; the trouble is that
+every blamed tough between here and the frontier is standing in with
+them, and, unless you catch him out at night, you've nothing to show
+against him. When he comes home, he's a harmless settlement loafer, or
+an industrious pre-emptor. A good year would kill the thing, but I guess
+there's more in whisky than wheat, at present figures."
+
+"There's more in running off horses," said one of the others. "The boys
+get them for nothing, and I've lost three of mine. How much have they
+taken out of you altogether, Charley?"
+
+"Most of four or five thousand dollars, one way or another, and I have a
+notion they've not done with me yet. In fact, it seems to me that either
+the whisky boys or I will have to get out of this part of the prairie."
+
+The Sergeant nodded. "It will be the whisky boys," he said. "You can
+bluff the law for awhile, if you're smart enough, but it's quite hard to
+keep it up, and the first mistake you make, it's got you sure. In
+another way, Mr. Leland's right. I'd have done nothing with my few
+troopers if he hadn't brought you in. We have nothing to raise trouble
+over--a few steers and horses missing, a grass fire raised. They're
+things that happen all the time. The whisky boys know it as well as I
+do, and, since I can't get more troopers, it means that what is done
+must be done by you. They know that, too, and it's running up quite a
+big account against the man who's leading you."
+
+There was a little murmur of concurrence, and Leland laughed.
+
+"Well," he said, "there's a _per contra_ claim, and I fancy it's going
+to be settled by-and-bye. I've had about enough to pull against this
+season, and I don't feel kind towards the men who have made it harder
+still for me."
+
+Though he calmly filled his pipe, one or two of those who heard him
+fancied that the reckoning he looked forward to would be a somewhat grim
+one when it came. Leland of Prospect was, as they were aware, not the
+man to submit patiently to an injury, and his quietness had its
+significance. Still, he was only one man, and his enemies were many--men
+who struck shrewdly in the dark, and left no sign to show who they were.
+None of those who rode with him envied their unofficial leader.
+
+In the meantime, Gallwey and the young trooper picked their way along
+the edge of the bluff. The night was dark and hazy, and there were no
+stars in the sky. The smoke of a big grass fire drifted in a grey mist
+athwart the sweep of the plain. Now and then a crimson blaze leapt up
+and faded on the horizon, and the still air was heavy with the smell of
+burning. It was advisable to ride cautiously, for there were a good many
+badger-holes, and here and there the ground was seamed by a
+watercourse. Brittle branches occasionally snapped in the dense silence.
+
+"I guess I could hear myself a mile away," the trooper said. "Still,
+that horse of yours is making row enough for a squadron."
+
+Gallwey did not contradict him, for, as it happened, the horse just then
+blundered into a little watercourse and plunged down the slope of it
+with a great smashing of undergrowth. Gallwey contrived to avoid a fall.
+With some noise they scrambled up the other side, though this time
+Trooper Standish made an effort to control his indignation.
+
+"I guess you would report me if I told you what I think of you," he
+said.
+
+Still, they made the coulee without mishap, and the trooper checked his
+horse as they rode into it. It opened up before them, a black and
+shadowy hollow, with little streamlets trickling through. Dim trees
+rolled up its sides, blurred masses against the sky above. Save the soft
+splash of the stream, no sound broke the stillness.
+
+"Nobody here, anyway," he said. "We'll push on for the herder's hut. It
+was built when the Scotchman who had Lister's ranch put sheep on the
+mountain, but the timber wolves got most of them, and he let up. It's
+'bout the only place in this country where there are any wolves, and the
+agent didn't think it worth while to mention it when he gave his lease
+out. I guess you don't have timber wolves in Scotland."
+
+Gallwey said they didn't. He made no further observations, for his horse
+fell into the stream with a loud splash. After this they pushed on up
+the coulee as silently as they could, until Trooper Standish pulled his
+horse up.
+
+"We're here," he said. "That looks like the hut. We'll get down and
+hitch up the horses at the back of it."
+
+Gallwey made out a shadowy mass among the birches, and swung himself out
+of the saddle as his comrade did. It was not what Sergeant Grier would
+have done, but Gallwey knew nothing of vedette duty, and Standish was
+very young. He had hitched his bridle round a branch when the latter
+turned to him.
+
+"We may as well go in and make ourselves comfortable," he said. "If the
+whisky boys come down this way, it's a sure thing that we'll hear them."
+
+They turned back towards the door of the hut, Gallwey a few paces behind
+the trooper, who thrust the door open. Gallwey could barely see him, for
+they were in the deep shadow of the trees. Just after Standish strolled
+in, there came the sound of a scuffle out of the darkness. Then there
+was a crash, a cry, and the thud of a heavy fall.
+
+Gallwey stood fumbling with his pistol-holster, which, as it happened,
+was buttoned down. The button fitted tightly, and he was clumsy in his
+haste. As he tore at it, he heard a sound behind him, and was swinging
+round when a pair of sinewy arms were wound round him. He struggled
+furiously, reaching back with one foot for his assailant's leg, and
+succeeded in so far that he and the unseen man came down heavily
+together. The other man, however, was uppermost, and when somebody else
+came running up, Gallwey lay still.
+
+"Let him up!" said the last arrival; and when he rose shakily, his
+assailant jerked one arm behind him.
+
+"Walk right into the shanty before you get hurt," he said.
+
+Gallwey did it, since there was apparently no other course open to him.
+The way the man held his arm was excruciatingly painful. Somebody struck
+a sulphur match, and, lighting a lantern, held it up. It showed two more
+men, busily engaged in holding Trooper Standish, who kicked and
+struggled valiantly on the floor. Then the third man laid down the
+lantern, and, taking up a rifle, prodded the trooper with the butt of
+it. It was no gentle, perfunctory prodding.
+
+"Let up and lie still before you're made. You're going to get it hard if
+you move again," he said, and turned to Gallwey. "Sit right down
+yonder."
+
+Gallwey, who fancied that his expostulations would not be listened to,
+did as he was bidden. His holster was buttoned down still, and he did
+not think he could get it open without attracting undesirable attention.
+Presently one of the men unclasped the belt it was fastened to and flung
+it aside, while Gallwey, recognising that a conciliatory attitude was
+advisable, nearly laughed as he looked at Trooper Standish. The lad
+still lay flat upon the earthen floor, flushed in face, and hurled a
+stream of vitriolic compliments at his captors. One of them grinned
+broadly, but did not move his hands from the trooper's arms.
+
+"Now," he said, "if one of you will pass me that pack-rope we'll tie him
+up."
+
+It took two of them to accomplish it. During the operation, Trooper
+Standish contrived to kick one of them where it seemed to hurt. Still,
+they did tie him, and the lad lay still, breathless with fury, with
+wrists bound behind him, his ankles lashed together. Then the men turned
+to Gallwey.
+
+"I guess your hands will be enough. Hold them out!" said one.
+
+Gallwey did it without protesting, which, it was evident, would be of
+very little use. While one of the men went out of the hut, another
+watched him.
+
+"Nobody's going to hurt you if you sit quite still," he said.
+
+Gallwey sat flat on the floor, a position far from comfortable, while
+Standish, who now lay with his head turned from him, did not move at
+all. Then another man went out, leaving only one, who stood on guard
+with nothing in his hand. In spite of certain notions, there are, after
+all, very few pistols to be seen in the West, and though a good many men
+have rifles they keep them because game is plentiful. It was, perhaps,
+ten minutes later when a beat of hoofs grew louder down the coulee,
+until, though the door was shut, Gallwey could hear what seemed to be a
+line of loaded pack-animals going by. He glanced at his jailer, who
+smiled sardonically.
+
+"I guess you're not quite smart enough to play this game," he said.
+"You're from Prospect, aren't you?"
+
+Gallwey said he was a servant of Leland's.
+
+"That's all right," said the man. "It's kind of lucky you aren't his
+partner. We have nothing in particular against you, but, when we get
+hold of Charley Leland, we'll fix him differently."
+
+Gallwey did not answer him. The last horse had gone by when one of the
+men outside flung the door open.
+
+"We have to get up and hustle," he said. "What are you going to do with
+them?"
+
+"I don't quite know," said his comrade. "We might lash this one up as we
+have the trooper, and leave them here. They couldn't chew that pack-rope
+through. You have got their horses?"
+
+The other man said he had, and Gallwey broke in.
+
+"We couldn't get very far without our horses, and you wouldn't be taking
+any risk by leaving us as we are," he said. "It's quite evident that I
+couldn't loose the trooper, and to be tied up so you can't move at all
+is abominably uncomfortable."
+
+The outlaw laughed. "Well," he said, "you have some sense in you, and,
+as you haven't made us any trouble, I'll put a short hobble on you. Hold
+your feet out."
+
+Gallwey did so, and the man busied himself for a minute or two with a
+piece of rope. It was evident that he was acquainted with the secure
+hitches used in lashing a load on the pack-saddle.
+
+"Now," he said, "you might jerk yourself along half a mile in the hour
+if you were careful, though it's quite as likely you'd come down on your
+nose. Anyway, by the time you find the Sergeant, we'll be quite a few
+leagues away. That's about all, I think. Good-night to you."
+
+He went out; and, as they heard him ride away, the trooper, wriggling
+round, looked up.
+
+"Can you get out?" he said.
+
+"Yes," said Gallwey; "I think I could, though it's rather more than
+probable that I shall fall over in attempting it. Under the
+circumstances, half a mile an hour would, I fancy, be an excellent
+pace."
+
+"Still, you've got to try it," said the trooper. "Get up right away, and
+go for the Sergeant."
+
+Gallwey endeavoured to do so, managing to get out of the door before the
+rope jerked him off his feet. He fell over a good many times descending
+the coulee, stopping to rest for a minute or two on each occasion. Still
+he persevered, and made some progress. Dawn was in the sky when a farmer
+caught sight of him. He and his companions had just decided that
+Leland's informant had deceived him, or that the rustlers had gone
+another way, after all, when a weird figure moved out of the gloom
+beneath the bluff. They could not see it clearly, for there was only a
+faint grey light as yet, but it seemed to be moving in a most
+extraordinary fashion. "Well," said one of them, "I never saw a man walk
+quite like that. It is a man, anyway. There aren't any bears on the
+prairie."
+
+He broke off abruptly, for the mysterious object toppled over and
+vanished altogether.
+
+"It might have crawled into a hole," said another man. "No, the blamed
+thing's getting up again. Anyway, it's like a man. I'm going along."
+
+They all went together. A few minutes later, they came upon Gallwey
+sitting in the grass. He had lost his hat, and there was a good deal of
+dust and grass and leaves on him. He sat still, smiling somewhat feebly.
+
+"I don't suppose my appearance is exactly prepossessing, but that's not
+my fault, and I'm unusually pleased to see you, boys," he said. "As you
+may have surmised, the Sergeant's little plan didn't quite work out as
+it should have done. I'll try to tell you about it if you'll take these
+ropes off."
+
+Sergeant Grier, coming up at this juncture, made several observations
+that are unrecordable, but after the first outbreak, he put a check on
+his temper.
+
+"They have come out ahead again," he said. "Well, it's quite likely
+we'll get straight with them yet, and 'bout all we can do now is to pick
+up their trail."
+
+But they could find no trail, for, as little dew falls on a cloudy
+night, the grass was dry and dusty by sunrise. They spent most of that
+day riding about in twos and threes, but nobody at the scattered farms
+where they made inquiries had seen a single outlaw. They and their
+whisky had apparently vanished altogether.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LELAND MAKES SURE
+
+
+The nights were growing longer, dusk was creeping up from the eastward
+across the leagues of whitened grass an hour earlier than it had done
+when they cut the hay. Leland stood outside the homestead door with a
+few newly opened letters in his hand. The waggon of the man who had
+brought them was just then lurching over the crest of the rise, and
+Carrie stood watching it, near her husband's side. His face was a trifle
+sombre, but he smiled when she glanced at him inquiringly.
+
+"From my broker in Winnipeg," he said. "He doesn't know what to make of
+the market, and I can't blame him. Wheat's lower than I ever remember
+it, but the bears are still working their hardest to hammer prices down.
+In a month or so they'll have the whole wheat of the West flung into the
+market to make it easier for them; but they don't seem to have it quite
+so much their own way as I had expected. One could almost fancy that
+somebody was buying quietly. Anyway, there's a man willing to take most
+of my crop off me, when it's ready, at a little under to-day's nominal
+figure. You see, the Prospect hard red's first-grade for milling."
+
+"If you sold, how would you stand?" asked Carrie.
+
+"Very close to ruin. The cattle run would certainly have to go, but that
+wouldn't count so much. It's less than half stocked now."
+
+"Why can't you hold?"
+
+"The trouble is that all accounts must be met at harvest, and I've got
+to have at least five thousand dollars to wipe out the most pressing
+ones. The rest might be carried over at a stiff interest. Then there are
+wages, harvesting and threshing. Besides, if I held the grain up, I'd be
+taking a big risk. It may go down another two or three cents or even
+more, when every man west of Winnipeg rushes his crop in, and that would
+turn me out upon the prairie."
+
+"Still, you mean to hold?" Carrie looked at him steadily, with a little
+gleam in her eyes.
+
+"I almost think I do."
+
+Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. The faint flush in her cheeks was
+born of pride. "Well," she said, "that pleases me. It is like you,
+Charley. Hold it, dear, every bushel, and, before you yield an inch, let
+them break you if they can."
+
+She turned abruptly and glanced at the tall wheat which rolled back,
+dusky green with faint opal gleams in it, across the great level and
+over the swell of rise into the smoky crimson that lingered in the
+western' sky.
+
+"It's yours," she said proudly. "You made it grow, and do you think I
+don't know what it has cost you? You have gone without sleep for it, and
+worn yourself to skin and bone. Perhaps you have always worked hard,
+but, I think, never quite so cruelly hard as you have done this year."
+
+She stopped and gazed fondly on him. Then she went on.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I understand--everything. Charley, dear, it isn't
+without a reason you are so thin and gaunt and brown, and your
+hands--the hands that have done so much for me--are hard and scarred.
+Still, I want them to hold on to what is yours. You have made the
+splendid wheat grow, and you won't let anybody rob you of it now."
+
+Leland smiled, though it was evident that he was stirred.
+
+"Well," he said, "it would be a little easier to stop them doing it if I
+knew where to get five thousand dollars, which is one thousand pounds.
+Of course, I owe a great deal more, but with that in hand to settle the
+odd accounts that must be met, I needn't force my wheat on the market
+for a month or so."
+
+"Oh," said Carrie with a little laugh, "there will not be the least
+difficulty about the money. I am going to give it to you--two thousand
+pounds if you want it."
+
+Leland stared at her in evident astonishment. "My dear, I never knew you
+had so much, and, if you have, it must be every penny that belongs to
+you. I couldn't let you strip yourself of everything for me."
+
+"What have you been doing ever since I came to Prospect? Still, that
+doesn't matter. You must humour me. Do you think, after all you have
+done, I could stand by and see you ruined when there was anything that
+belonged to me? Charley, you must use this money. Can't you see that you
+must, if it's only to show that you have forgiven me?"
+
+She turned swiftly, and threw an arm about his shoulder. "If you don't,
+you will almost make me hate you again. You don't want that? Then you
+will make no more silly objections. We are going into this fight
+together."
+
+Leland made a little gesture of surrender. "Well," he said slowly,
+"since you have made your mind up, I can't say no. I don't think it
+would be much use, anyway. But it will be a big risk, my dear."
+
+"But," said Carrie, "that is one of the things that appeal to me. Still,
+it's all decided. You shall have a cheque for ten thousand dollars.
+That's right, isn't it? Now tell me what is in the rest of the letters."
+
+She drew back from him a little. When Leland looked at her smilingly, a
+faint flush crept into her cheek again.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I know what you are thinking. I always do. Still, you
+see, it isn't entirely my fault that I'm different from the girl you
+married. And now tell me about the other letters."
+
+Leland handed her one of them with an illuminated device at the top of
+it. "It's an annual function, one of the biggest in Winnipeg, and women
+attend it. Everybody with a stake in the country will be there, and they
+want to make me a steward. My broker's on the committee, and Prospect is
+rather a big farm, you see. I am requested to bring Mrs. Leland along
+with me."
+
+Carrie's eyes brightened. After all, it was lonely at Prospect, and she
+had played her part in two London seasons. Now and then she felt a
+longing to move among people of her own station again, and the prospect
+of attending the function was undeniably attractive. Her dresses would
+not be out of fashion yet, and, after the long months on the dusty
+prairie, it would be delightful to appear for once attired becomingly at
+a brilliant assembly. There were also eminent names upon the invitation,
+and she felt that, apart from any pleasure she might derive, it would be
+a source of satisfaction to see her husband among the notables of the
+land.
+
+"You would like to go?" he asked.
+
+"I would like it better than anything."
+
+Leland appeared thoughtful. "I would like to see you there. You could
+put on the bracelet I saw you with and the crescent in your hair."
+
+"No," said Carrie, who looked away from him, "I think I would sooner go
+very plainly--that is, if I could go at all."
+
+The trace of eagerness in her voice was not lost upon the man, and he
+stood silent a moment before he made a little resolute gesture.
+
+"Well," he said, "we'll go. It's the first little pleasure of that kind
+I have been able to offer you, and I daresay Gallwey will see the guards
+ploughed just as well as I could."
+
+"There is some reason why you shouldn't go, after all?" and Carrie
+glanced at him sharply. "You are too busy."
+
+"I'm not quite sure there is. I expect it's mostly fancy, but a man gets
+into the way of thinking that when there's anything of consequence to be
+done he should see it done himself. Now those fire-guards"--and he
+pointed to a belt of furrows that cut off the homestead from the
+prairie--"are the regulation width, but I was thinking of doubling them.
+The grass is tinder-dry, and the oats will soon be ripe enough to
+burn."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you think the rustlers might try again?"
+
+Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "grass-fires are in no way unusual
+at this season."
+
+Carrie guessed what he was thinking as he looked in silence out across
+the ripening wheat. As she gazed at the vast sweep of grain, she, too,
+was stirred with the pride of possession and accomplishment. She longed
+now for the glitter of the assembly, for conversation as one of them
+with men and women of culture and station, with a fervour which in all
+probability any one who had lived, as she had, on the lonely prairie
+levels would quite understand. But, with a little sigh, she crushed the
+longing down.
+
+"Then," she said quietly, "we will stay here, Charley."
+
+Leland appeared irresolute. "After all, we wouldn't be so very long
+away."
+
+"No," said Carrie, firmly. "There is a lot against you, and you mustn't
+leave a single advantage to the enemy."
+
+Leland stooped and kissed her. "Well, I guess you're right--still, I
+think I know what you're going to do without for me."
+
+Nothing more was said, but it was not needed, for there was perfect
+understanding between them as they went into the house together.
+
+It was early next morning when Leland harnessed four horses to the big
+gang-plough, and, as there was moonlight that night, he still sat behind
+another four until long after the red sun went down. There were other
+men he could have bidden to do the work for him, but he knew the odds
+against him, and meant to do it himself thoroughly. It was also careful
+ploughing, and not done in haste, as is most usual in the West, for
+throughout most of it the clods ran dead smooth and level, without a
+break to let the grass tussocks through. Their sides, gleaming from
+contact with the polished steel, were laid towards the prairie,
+presenting to it a serried phalanx of good, black loam; but where the
+sod was unusually friable, Leland got down to toil with the spade.
+
+A grass-fire needs very little to help it. A tuft or two of dry grass
+projecting from a half-turned clod will suffice, and the flame will
+sometimes creep in and out between and across the ridges, wherever a few
+withered stalks may lie. Leland knew he had not done with the rustlers
+yet, and it was advisable to take due precautions. The standard
+guard-furrows were considered quite enough by most of his neighbours,
+who, indeed, now and then neglected to plough them. But he had a good
+deal at stake, and meant, in so far as it was permitted him, to make
+quite sure.
+
+He went round the wheat and oats, and then spent several days ripping
+odd strips here and there across the prairie in the track of the
+prevalent winds. It was fiercely hot weather, but he was busy every hour
+from dawn to dusk, and at nights his men grinned as they mentioned it.
+Charley Leland was getting very afraid of fire, they said. When he was
+satisfied with the ploughing, he had the axes and grub-hoes ground, and
+set the men to work cutting out the smaller growth of willows of
+underbrush in the strip of birches that stretched close up to the
+homestead from the bluff. When Gallwey, who had other duties, found him
+busy at it the first morning, he smiled a little.
+
+"I suppose it's really necessary. If not, it would be a considerable
+waste of time," he said.
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "I almost think it is. A good deal of this
+stuff is tinder-dry, and you can't plough through the bluff. I don't
+know if you have ever seen a bad fire in the underbrush? You can't beat
+it out, as you can now and then when it's in the grass."
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "All this points to one thing. You feel
+tolerably satisfied that the rustlers will make another attempt?"
+
+"It's a sure thing." Leland straightened himself a little, with a lean,
+brown hand clenched on the haft of the big axe. "Before the snow is on
+the ground, I or the whisky boys will have had to quit this prairie. I
+don't want it to be me."
+
+Then he turned away abruptly, and, whirling the great blade high, buried
+it at a stroke in a dry and partly rotten birch. His comrade smiled. He
+had seen Leland's face, and there was something vaguely portentous in
+the flash of whirling steel and the crash of the blow. Charley Leland,
+he knew, could wait and take precautions, but it was also evident that
+when the time came, he could strike in a somewhat impressive fashion.
+
+Leland worked on for several more days, and then one night Carrie and he
+stood outside of the door of the homestead, watching a great pile of
+underbrush blazing furiously. The man smiled as he turned to his
+companion. His hands were blackened, and his old blue-jean garments
+singed.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess I've done what I can. I had to do it, anyway,
+since you lent me that two thousand pounds. If the market would only
+stiffen, you'd get your money back with an interest that would astonish
+people in England."
+
+He broke off for a moment with a curious little laugh. "My dear," he
+said, "you and I should have been in Winnipeg to-night."
+
+Carrie said nothing, but the firelight was on her face when she looked
+up at her husband, and once more he was satisfied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A PORTENTOUS LIGHT
+
+
+It was growing dusk, of a thick, hot evening, when Leland at last pulled
+up his jaded horses, and, turning in the iron saddle, raised his hand in
+signal. Behind him, a drawn-out line of machines and plodding teams were
+moving on at measured distances, binder after binder, half-hidden by the
+tall oats that went down before them with a harsh crackle. Where they
+passed, men toiled hard among the flung-out sheaves, and the trampling
+of weary horses, rasp and tinkle of the knives, and the clash of the
+binders' wooden arms rang far across the great dusky plain. The sounds
+of strenuous activity had risen since the sun first crept up above the
+vast sweep of grass, and continued through the burning heat of the day;
+but now they ceased suddenly, and men, stripped to coarse blue shirt and
+trousers of dusty jean, wiped their dripping faces, and straightened
+their aching backs before they loosed the teams. Their hoarse voices
+came up to Leland, with the clatter of flung-down poles and the tramp of
+horses among the stubble, as he got down from his binder.
+
+Men toil hard at harvest the world over, but, perhaps, nowhere is the
+work so fierce, or demands so much from those engaged in it, as on the
+wide levels which stretch back from the wheat lands of Western Canada
+into the Dakotas across the border. There flesh and blood must keep pace
+with unwearying machines, the latest and most ingenious that man's brain
+can conceive. The reaper has gone, the binder that is a year or two out
+of date is broken up, and, while the machine does more and more, the
+strength of the men who serve and drive it remains the same. For all
+that, none of them can afford to be left behind. They have no use for
+the incompetent in that country, and, though at times the pace is apt to
+kill, man must strain overtaxed muscle and sinew in the tense effort to
+keep up with wooden arms that never ache, and with clashing steel. The
+toilers are, for the most part, well paid and generously fed, and they
+give all that is in them, from pride of manhood, and in some degree from
+sheer necessity. The ban that is still a privilege has never been lifted
+yet, and, while wheat may glut the markets and flour be cheap, it is
+alone by the sweat of somebody's strenuous effort that man has bread to
+eat.
+
+Leland was aching all over, but that was, of course, nothing new to him,
+and he turned to Gallwey, who was standing close by, when a man came up
+to lead his team away.
+
+"If you'll put the saddle on Coureur, Tom, and bring him out, I'd be
+obliged," he said. "I'll sit here and smoke a pipe before I ride out to
+meet Carrie and Mrs. Annersly. They should be well on their way from
+Custer's now."
+
+Gallwey ventured to expostulate with him. "I believe I heard Mrs.
+Leland tell you not to come; and if you are going to start again at four
+o'clock to-morrow, one would fancy you had done about enough," he said.
+"I'm quite sure I have."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I want a look round, anyway. There has been a good
+deal of smoke about most of the day, and there's a big grass-fire, or
+probably more than one, somewhere out on the prairie. The wind's
+freshening, too."
+
+That, at least, was evident, for a rush of hot breeze came up out of the
+growing darkness, and during the last few hours the sun had been hidden
+by driving haze. Gallwey, who felt the wind upon his dusty cheek, turned
+and glanced down the long row of sheaves which ridged the edge of the
+prairie, for he guessed what his comrade was thinking. Behind the oats
+there rolled long, rippling waves of wheat, and, though they were dusky
+now, the daylight would have shown that they were tinted with bronze and
+gold. The tall stems were hot still, and the prairie sod was white and
+thick with fibrous dust.
+
+"Everything is about as safe as you could make it," he said. "We have
+good guards, and you ploughed check-furrows outside of them."
+
+"I did," said Leland, drily. "I cut them across the track of the usual
+winds. This one's an exception, and I have seen a fire jump guards that
+were 'most as wide. There would be trouble if a spark got in among the
+stubble, and I'm taking no chances just now."
+
+Gallwey made a little gesture of concurrence as he once more glanced
+down the long rows of sheaves. The stubble stood among them knee-high
+and above the strip of ploughing that cut it off from the prairie, for
+straw has no great value in that country.
+
+"Well," he said, "I daresay you are right. It's a little hard to see how
+a fire could get in, but, after all, one can never make quite sure of
+anything."
+
+He went away, and when he came back with the horse, Leland, swinging
+himself stiffly into the saddle, rode out across the rise into the
+silent prairie. Half an hour had passed before he met the waggon, but he
+then turned back with it, checking his lively horse as Carrie's team,
+which had travelled a considerable distance that day, plodded slowly
+through tussocky grass up a slope. There are places where the prairie
+runs dead level from horizon to horizon, but here and there it lifts in
+long, gentle rises, as the ocean does when the swell of a past gale
+disturbs its oily surface. Often the change is imperceptible until one
+comes to the dip where the incline softly falls away again. As they
+crossed the ridge, Carrie pulled the horses up and gazed about her.
+
+"It's a trifle impressive. No sky, and darkness on the unseen earth.
+There are only the fires moving in a void," she said.
+
+The others did not answer, though they were in sympathy with her. Thick
+darkness hid the prairie, and they on the crest of the ridge seemed
+utterly alone in an immeasurable immensity of space. Somewhere in the
+midst of it were long smears of crimson light that seized the eye with
+their suggestion of distance as they flung themselves aloft when the
+waggon crossed a rise. Still, the rise remained invisible, and, as
+Carrie had said, the fires seemed to be moving through a great
+emptiness. It was curiously and almost hauntingly impressive.
+
+"I suppose they can't be near Prospect?" she said.
+
+Leland turned his face to the wind, which was filled with the smell of
+burning. "The nearest should be most of a league away from the
+homestead," he said. "It's fortunate it is. That fire's an unusually big
+one."
+
+There was silence again for a minute or two, while they watched the
+moving radiance, and then Carrie stood up suddenly.
+
+"Prospect should be straight in front of us over the horses' heads," she
+said.
+
+"Almost. You couldn't see it. The rise hides the house."
+
+"Ah!" said Carrie, with a little gasp. "Then there's another light
+behind it. Something low and little that twinkles like a star."
+
+Leland shook his bridle and touched the horse with his heel. "Take your
+own time," he said hoarsely. "I'm going on. I'm afraid you'll have light
+enough before you're home."
+
+In another moment he had vanished into the darkness, and they heard a
+drumming of hoofs grow fainter as he rode towards Prospect at a furious
+gallop. For a while there was nothing he could see, but when he swept
+across the last rise, and the lights of Prospect twinkled close in front
+of him, he made out a little patch of radiance beyond them on the
+prairie. It was evident to him that nobody at the homestead, which stood
+lower, would see it. Then he struck the horse again, and was riding by
+the stables at a wild gallop when a voice hailed him.
+
+"That you, Mr. Leland?" it said.
+
+Leland, remembering what instructions he had given the watcher, shouted
+and pulled up his horse with a struggle.
+
+"Turn out the boys!" he said. "Get them along to the south side of the
+oats with the wet grain bags and shovels. Tom Gallwey's in the house?"
+
+The unseen man said he was; and in another minute Leland, who rode on,
+swung himself down at the homestead door. Gallwey, who had apparently
+heard him coming, ran out.
+
+"Bring me my old Marlin, and get yours," said Leland. "There's a
+fire-bug getting his work in to windward of us on the prairie."
+
+Gallwey disappeared, but came back with two rifles in less than a
+minute. Leland, who had let the horse go, turned to him.
+
+"We're going on foot to get that fellow if we can," he said. "I guess
+the boys will know what to do."
+
+Gallwey considered that this was probable, for grass-fires are common at
+that season, and Leland had more than once explained exactly what the
+part of each would be in case one approached the homestead. He and his
+comrade accordingly set off through the bluff at a steady run, though
+Gallwey twice fell over an unseen obstacle, while, when they came out,
+there were two moving lines of fire, small as yet, but growing, on the
+prairie behind it. It was also evident that the hot wind would bring
+them down upon the oats. Leland, however, did not head for either blaze,
+but for a point some distance to the left of the one farthest off.
+
+"That man means to make quite sure," he said. "He'll figure he's as
+safe as he was when he started the first fire, since we've shown no sign
+of seeing it."
+
+"I suppose there is a man," gasped Gallwey.
+
+Leland seemed to laugh, though he was running hard. "Well," he said
+breathlessly, "it's quite a usual thing for one fire to come along in
+weather like this, but it's rather too much of a coincidence when two of
+them start in the same place, while, when you see a third one too, it's
+enough to make one anxious for a good grip of the man who's lighting
+them."
+
+"I can't see a third."
+
+Leland swung his arm up, and appeared to be pointing in front of him.
+"You're going to. Go on slow, but be ready to run when you see a
+twinkle. The one thing to remember is that you have a rifle."
+
+He turned off and vanished, while Gallwey pulled up to a walk. There was
+a very big fire a league or so away, and two small ones behind him which
+were extending rapidly, but all the rest of the prairie was wrapped in
+utter darkness. When he turned, after glancing at the wide blaze of
+radiance, he could not see a yard in front of him. Where his comrade was
+he did not know, but he fancied his object was to place the incendiary
+between the two of them when he betrayed himself by the third blaze.
+Gallwey was, however, not quite sure there would be a third blaze, while
+it appeared not improbable that if the man still lingered, he might hear
+them.
+
+For five minutes he walked straight on, or, at least, he fancied so. It
+seemed to be getting darker, for the air was thick with drifting smoke,
+and there was no moon. Then a pale twinkle leapt up in front of him, and
+that was all he could be certain of, for, since there was no horizon,
+it might have been, for all that he could tell, either above him or
+beneath. It was a feeble blink of light that presently went out again.
+Still, he had his direction now, and his heart beat a good deal faster
+than usual as he went on at a run, until the pale blaze sprang up a
+second time. Then he dropped swiftly, and crouched with one foot under
+him and the rifle in his left hand, watching the radiance increase. He
+could see the taller tussocks of grass between him and the fire now, and
+drew in his breath, pitching the rifle forward with his elbow on his
+knee, when a black figure became faintly visible behind it.
+
+He could not see the sights, but the man who shoots duck on the sloos,
+handles the rifle in that country much as one uses a double-barrel, and
+Gallwey felt that the chances were in favour of his driving a forty-four
+bullet into the black figure by the fire. Still, something in him
+recoiled from doing so without, at least, a warning, and he raised his
+voice.
+
+"Stand still!" he said; "I have you covered." It is possible that the
+man did not believe him, and made a swift calculation of the chances
+against him. In any case, he vanished incontinently, and it was a moment
+or two too late when Gallwey's rifle flashed. He felt the jar of the
+butt on his shoulder, but, as usual, heard no report. He was listening
+for the whine of the bullet and the thud which would tell him whether it
+had reached its mark. He did not hear that either, and, slamming down
+the slide, fired again at a venture. Then he heard a drumming of hoofs,
+and rose to his feet. It would be Leland's turn now, and he fancied his
+comrade would, at least, have endeavoured to place the man between
+himself and the fire. It was certain that there was nothing to be gained
+by running after a man upon a horse.
+
+While he stood still, he saw a little pale flash, and heard the ringing
+of a rifle. The flash appeared again, and this time was followed by a
+cry and a heavy crash. Gallwey ran as fast as he could in the direction
+whence it seemed to come, and in another few minutes stopped beside a
+big, shapeless object that was moving convulsively on the grass. He made
+out his comrade stooping over it.
+
+"Get hold!" said Leland. "The horse is done for, but he has the man
+pinned down under him."
+
+Then it became apparent that another object, which had a certain human
+semblance, lay among the horse's legs, and a faint voice rose from it.
+
+"Hump yourselves, before he rolls over and smashes me all up," it said.
+
+Gallwey was not sure what his comrade did, but he laid hold of what
+seemed to be the man's arm, and, as the horse rolled a little, succeeded
+in dragging him clear of it. He let him go and stood looking down on him
+stupidly.
+
+"Leg's broke!" gasped the man. "The beast fell on me."
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "it will save us some trouble. You're not
+going to walk very far like that, and, when we get the fire under
+control, we'll see what can be done for you. It's your own fault that
+you'll have to wait a little."
+
+Then he swung round to Gallwey. "Back to the guard-furrows for your
+life."
+
+Gallwey fancied that he had never run quite so hard before, but, when
+he reached the strip of ploughing between stubble and prairie, Leland
+was already there, shouting breathlessly to the men spread out along it.
+Not far away a wavy wall of fire was moving down on them out of the
+prairie, and there were two more some distance to the left, though it
+would evidently be a little while before the last of them rolled up.
+Already a thick and acrid vapour whirled among the oats, and, when it
+melted a little, and a brighter blaze sprang up, he could see the men's
+tense faces and the curious rigidity of their attitudes.
+
+Then there was a trampling of hoofs, and, turning, he saw Carrie Leland
+pull her plunging team up in the midst of the smoke. She stood up on the
+front of the waggon, and a flickering blaze of radiance showed that she
+was dripping with water. A pile of wet bags lay behind her.
+
+"Throw them out, boys," she said. "There are more of them waiting."
+
+In another moment Leland ran up and seized the near horse's head, as the
+beast kicked and plunged in the stinging smoke.
+
+"Go home, and leave the team to one of the boys," he said.
+
+Carrie laughed, standing bolt upright, the fire-light on her face, the
+reins in her hands.
+
+"No," she said; "they're wanted, and do you think we can't drive in
+England? Get the bags out as fast as you can, boys."
+
+The warning seemed necessary, for one of the horses' forelegs left the
+ground, and the other's hind hoofs crashed against the front of the
+waggon. Then Leland was almost swung off his feet, and Carrie laughed
+again.
+
+"Let them go. I'll hold them if you're quick," she said.
+
+She dropped into the driving-seat with her feet braced against the
+board, and the men made what haste they could, while the frantic team
+kicked and plunged and backed the waggon in among them. Gallwey was
+stirred to admiration as he watched the tense, shapely figure, braced
+against the strain upon the reins, that was now and then forced up by
+the fire and lost again.
+
+Then a thick wreath of blinding smoke whirled down on them, and Carrie
+cried out as she swung the whip. There was a thud of hoofs and a rattle,
+the men leapt aside, and the waggon plunged into the vapour, as Gallwey
+said afterwards, like a thunderbolt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+FIGHTING FIRE
+
+
+There was silence for a minute, the tense silence that precedes a
+struggle, when the waggon lurched away, and the men stood still, intent
+and at a strain, blinking at the fire. The wind had lulled, and the
+smoke went almost straight up, shining luminously in the red glare.
+Beneath it, a wavy line of flame rolled on across the prairie, licking
+up the parched grass as it came. As it happened, the grass thereabouts
+was higher than usual. Unless there is a gale behind it, a grass-fire
+does not move with much celerity, and that night the one that menaced
+Leland's crop seemed inordinately slow to those who watched it. Indeed,
+one or two of them found it strangely hard to stand still while it
+rolled down on them, which, in cases of the kind, is by no means an
+unusual thing. Action of any kind, even purposeless action, is a relief
+to men under strain.
+
+There was, however, in the meanwhile, nothing that they could do, and
+they commenced to growl inarticulately as they glanced at one another
+with fierce, set faces. Here and there one of them twisted the end of
+the wet bag he held, to give him a firmer grip, or fidgeted aimlessly
+with his shovel. The rest frowned and coughed, for which there was some
+excuse, or stood woodenly still, according to their temperament. Leland,
+however, swung round towards the row of binders that stood half buried
+among the oats.
+
+"That's one thing we overlooked, and they have got to take their chances
+now," he said. "We couldn't get a team to face the smoke, and nobody
+could harness them if we did. If they're burned, we're going to have
+trouble to get the harvest in."
+
+Gallwey, who stood near him, made a sign of agreement. Every binder in
+the country was in use just then, for, since machines are remodelled
+yearly, implement dealers stock no more than they expect to sell, and
+let on hire any by chance left upon their hands. It was accordingly
+evident that, if these were burned, his comrade could not replace them,
+and, in face of the wages usually paid, nobody could garner the harvests
+of the Northwest without the binder, which not only cuts the grain, but
+ties it into sheaves. It is by saving costly labour alone that the
+prairie farmer pours his wheat into the markets of the East, and retains
+a small margin for himself, in spite of fifteen hundred miles railway
+haulage, and three thousand by sea. It is the gang-plough and the
+automatic binder that have opened up the prairie.
+
+"You couldn't get another anywhere in time to be of use," he said.
+
+Leland, however, now laughed harshly. "Well," he said, "after all, I
+needn't worry about them. It's no great comfort, but I'm not likely to
+want them if they're burnt. In that case, there'll be no crop to
+harvest."
+
+It seemed to Gallwey that this was probable enough. The oats stood half
+as high again as most of those he had seen in England, on thick, flinty
+stems that had dried and yellowed under a scorching sun, while behind
+them rolled the wheat that was almost as ripe. There had been no rain
+for days, and very little dew, and now, when a fierce, hot wind was
+driving down the fire on them, the whole crop seemed ready for the
+burning. The guard-furrows would check the flame, but they could not
+stop the sparks, and sheaves and tall stubble lay spread like tinder for
+them to fall among.
+
+Then once more the wind descended, and a long wreath of smoke, blotting
+out everything, drove on. A great shower of sparks blew forward out of
+the midst of it, and, when it was rent aside, there sprang up a great
+crackling blaze. It leapt forward with a roar, and then broke up,
+running low among the grass, while the smoke whirled past the men,
+choking and blinding them, thicker than ever.
+
+"Stand by!" cried Leland. "There's the first! Beat it out! Hold on!
+Don't crowd in on them!"
+
+His voice was lost in the crackle of the fire, and that was the last
+intelligible thing he said for some time. A further hail of sparks came
+out of the smoke, and a blaze sprang up among the stubble. It spread,
+even while two men fell upon it with wet grain bags, but flickered out
+when a third reinforced them with a shovel. Then it grew intolerably
+hot, and the action became general.
+
+The fire was almost up to the guard-furrows, and a rain of burning
+particles blew on before it. Incipient blazes broke out where they fell,
+and men fought them savagely in the blinding smoke. Now and then they
+fell over each other, and one here and there was struck by his comrade's
+shovel, but nobody heeded that. Epithets that at other times would have
+been answered by the clenched fist passed unnoticed; and choking,
+gasping, whirling bag or shovel, they fought on. Now and then the smoke
+thinned a little, and the fierce red light beat upon their dripping
+faces and bowed figures, only to fade into a confused opacity again that
+made but faintly visible the forms flitting like phantoms amidst the
+vapour. Here and there a man cried out, but nobody heard what he said,
+and his feeble voice was drowned in the crackle of the flame. Leland
+appeared to be wherever the fire was fiercest, once knocking Gallwey
+down as he came floundering through the stubble towards a spreading
+blaze.
+
+Then the fire rolled up to the edge of the ploughing, a wall of flame,
+perhaps a hundred yards from end to end, leaping up with a mad roaring;
+then it stopped and fell away. The sparks dropped short, too, in a
+lulling of the wind, and what, by contrast, seemed black darkness rushed
+down upon that part of the prairie. Then there was an impressive
+silence, and men, half dazed by the heat and effort, wiped their
+streaming faces, and looked round in search of their invisible
+neighbours.
+
+None of them knew how long this lasted, but, though they had won so far,
+the fight was not yet over. Presently the smoke that streamed past them
+was torn aside again, and a red light shone along the line. The second
+fire was coming on, and there was still another behind. The flickering
+radiance showed the dusky figures that leant upon the shovel-hafts or
+shook out the half-dried bags. Here and there it also showed a blackened
+face, surmounted by frizzled hair.
+
+Gallwey, as it happened, found himself close to Leland, and looked at
+the latter with a little sardonic smile, not knowing that he himself was
+not much more prepossessing in his outward appearance. Leland's wide hat
+hung shapelessly over his blackened face. There was a charred gap in the
+front brim, as well as several big holes in his jean jacket, which was
+badly rent. Blood was trickling from one of his hands.
+
+"I don't know if I did that myself, or if somebody hit me with a
+shovel," he said. "Anyway, when I fell down, one or two of them ran over
+me."
+
+Then he turned fiercely towards the moving fires. "The next one's
+bigger. If the wind would only drop!"
+
+Gallwey, who fancied by the way the smoke drove past them that there was
+very little chance of it, coughed. "It's evidently not going to. If we
+had only a little water, one could be more content. I feel as if there
+was not a drop of moisture anywhere in me."
+
+One or two of the others heard him, and cries went up.
+
+"Water!" said somebody. "Is there any?"
+
+"I'm 'most as dry as this bag. It will blaze next time," said another
+man. "My jacket's singed to tinder, too. How're we going to do when our
+clothes start burning?"
+
+Leland stood up where the rest could dimly see him on the spoke of a
+binder wheel.
+
+"You should have thought of that before, boys," he said. "Anyway, you'll
+have to hold out until the thing's over. It's too far to the homestead,
+and nobody could bring up a team."
+
+Just then a man further back along the line flung out a pointing hand.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess that looks as if somebody was trying."
+
+The sound of a trampling in the stubble rose through the crackle of the
+fire, and a half-frantic team and a waggon materialised out of the
+vapour. A slim, dimly-seen figure swayed with the jolting upon the
+driving-seat, and, when the watchers saw another apparently clinging to
+the load behind, a confused shouting broke out.
+
+"Wet bags and water. Get hold of the beasts, some of you. It's Mrs.
+Leland. She's a daisy!"
+
+There was a rush of shadowy figures towards the waggon, and every man
+was wanted, for the team would not stand still. Blackened hands clutched
+at rein, head-stall, harness, whatever they could get a finger on, and
+the terror-stricken animals, borne down by sheer weight, could not make
+off with nearly a dozen men hanging on to them. The rest swarmed about
+the waggon, where Carrie still sat with the light of the fire on her,
+while Jake, the cripple, hurled down dripping bags, and strove to
+wriggle out a water barrel. They got it down between them, and Carrie
+made a sign to Leland, who was struggling amidst the press.
+
+"That will do!" he said. "Stand clear, boys. Carrie, don't come back."
+
+Then there was a sudden scattering of the crowd, a clatter and a
+trampling of stubble, and once more waggon and team were lost in the
+darkness and driving smoke. After that, men surged about the barrel,
+striving to dip their hats in it. It was a little while before they were
+satisfied, and then one of them waved his dripping hat as though to
+enforce attention.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I guess it's not every woman would have got that team
+here, and it's not Mrs. Leland's fault there's only water in the barrel.
+You can blame that on your legislature. Anyway, you were glad to get it,
+and I never struck a farm where they fixed the hired man better than
+Leland of Prospect and his wife do. That's why, now the other fire's
+coming along, it's up to every man to see them through."
+
+There were some laughter and shouts of approval, and the shadowy figures
+trooped away to meet the second fire. It was fiercer than the first,
+but, though some burned their clothing and odd patches of their limbs,
+they overcame first it and then the smaller one that came behind it.
+Then Leland, who called Gallwey and two of the men, strode away through
+the darkness to where he had left the outlaw. They found the horse
+without much difficulty, and it was dead; but there was no longer any
+sign of the man. When they shouted, it happened--very much as they had
+expected--that nobody answered them.
+
+"I guess the whisky boys must have played the 'possum on you," said one
+of the men.
+
+Gallwey laughed a little as he turned to his comrade. "Well," he said
+reflectively in his cleanest English, "considering everything, it's
+almost a pity one of us didn't think it worth while to examine his leg.
+You see, he couldn't very well have walked off if it had really been
+broken."
+
+Leland, who had perhaps some excuse for being consumed with vindictive
+fury, swung round on him.
+
+"How far could you walk with a broken leg?" he said. "Do you think I
+have no sense at all?"
+
+Once more Gallwey appeared to reflect. "One would scarcely fancy you had
+shown your usual perspicacity to-night. Of course, I'm not saying
+anything about myself."
+
+Though it was very dark, Leland appeared to glare at him for a moment or
+two, and then broke out into a little laugh.
+
+"Tom," he said, "you do it very well--so well that once or twice I've
+found it hard to keep my hands off you before I saw the point of it. You
+only want an eye-glass to make the thing perfect. Well, I can wait until
+my turn comes, and you have helped me shake the black fit off."
+
+Gallwey said nothing further as they went back together towards the
+house, but he was content. He was well acquainted with his comrade's
+temperament, and knew that his silent, simmering anger was not wholesome
+for himself, or calculated to make things pleasant for anybody else.
+Still, a very little thing would usually serve to dissipate it. They
+overtook the rest on the way to the homestead, and, when they approached
+the door, which it was necessary for the men to pass, saw that it was
+open. Carrie, who appeared just outside it, beckoned Leland to her, and
+then turned to the rest, standing close beside him.
+
+She was now attired in a long dress, almost but not quite an evening
+gown, that became her well; but Leland was blackened all over, and there
+were many singed holes in his clothes, wet and smeared with ashes, and
+part of the wide brim of his hat was missing. The men seemed to notice
+the contrast between the pair, and there was a little good-humoured
+laughter. Carrie Leland smiled at them in turn, though she would have
+borne herself very differently to these rough men a few months ago.
+
+"Are there any of you burnt, boys," she asked.
+
+Several of them admitted that they were, though they said it was nothing
+to count, and were directed to repair to the kitchen, where Mrs. Nesbit
+had oil and flour ready. Then Carrie made a little gesture, as though to
+invite attention.
+
+"Boys," she said. "I can't thank you for what you have done to-night.
+You see, there are things one really can't thank people for properly,
+but I think Charley and I would have been ruined if you hadn't been the
+kind of men you are. Still, it's been a long while since the six o'clock
+supper, and I expect, if I'd been with you, I should be hungry, too. Of
+course, in one way, there's nothing quite good enough for you, but we
+have been busy while you were putting out the fire; so, if you'll go
+along to the dinner-shed, you'll find Jake and Mrs. Nesbit have done
+what they can. There is another thing. Nobody need get up until he likes
+to-morrow. Not a team will leave the stables until after dinner."
+
+Leland turned and looked at her in bewildered astonishment, for nothing
+had ever delayed work at Prospect at harvest, or, indeed, at any other
+time, before; and probably because the men understood what he was
+feeling, there was a great roar of laughter when his wife turned and
+laid her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"It is all right, Charley. I mean it," she said.
+
+The rest stood still a minute, gazing at her, not awkwardly, for
+self-consciousness is rarely a characteristic of the plainsman, but as
+if they felt that there was something to be said or done. Perhaps her
+beauty appealed to them, and it is also possible that the offer of a
+feast had its effect, but her gracious simplicity went considerably
+further. No one would have more quickly resented condescension than
+these hard-handed men, who thought themselves, with some reason, the
+equal of any in the world; but they could recognise the distinction
+between that and sympathy, and were willing to yield her everything she
+did not claim. Yet they were a trifle puzzled, for this was not the
+attitude the cold and silent woman who had come to Prospect had once
+adopted towards them. Then there was a murmuring among them, until one
+stood forward with his hat in his hand.
+
+"Madam," he said in excellent accent, "the boys desire me to reply for
+them, and I must first admit that the thought of a supper appeals to
+them and me. Perhaps it would be admissible to say that, having had the
+honour of dismissal from a good many farms between Dakota and Prince
+Albert, I know a little about prairie rations and cookery, and I would
+like to testify that, in respect to both, Prospect stands alone. One
+might also venture to observe, without making any invidious reflections
+upon Mrs. Nesbit and the somewhat unvarying Jake, that the menu has
+become even more attractive lately, for which there is no doubt a
+sufficient reason."
+
+There was further laughter, and Carrie, who saw the little twinkle in
+her husband's eyes, felt the blood creep into her cheeks; but the man
+went on.
+
+"So much for the supper, and it has its interest. Man is usually hungry,
+especially when he has to work hard enough to satisfy Charley Leland,
+but I would like Mrs. Leland to understand that we wish her to consider
+us her devoted servants. Anybody can hire a man. You can buy his labour
+for so many hours a day, but there must always be a good deal left
+outside that kind of bargain, and it's all that's left outside we would,
+on an occasion like this, like to offer Mrs. Leland. In fact, it would
+not be a great matter to put a fire out every night if it would please
+her. If you sympathise with these few remarks, will you signify your
+approbation, boys?"
+
+There was a clamorous shout, and as the men trooped away, Jake's voice
+rose up.
+
+"Get a big grin on over my cooking, would you?" he said. "It's salt-pork
+bones and bad beans you're going to get if I can fix it, you hungry
+hogs!"
+
+Leland laughed, but Carrie felt that his eyes were on her when they went
+in, and, glancing at him covertly, she saw the little gleam of pride in
+them.
+
+"They're yours," he said, and she knew he meant the men. "Whatever you
+want done, you have only to ask them; but it wasn't because of the
+supper."
+
+The blood crept into Carrie Leland's cheek. "Everybody is very kind to
+me," she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+LELAND FEELS THE STRAIN
+
+
+Supper had not long been cleared away on an evening some three weeks
+after the fire, and the sunlight still streamed into the big general
+room; but Leland lay somewhat limply in a lounge-chair, which,
+considering that there was a good deal of the wheat still to be cut, was
+a somewhat astonishing thing for him to do. His face was paler than
+usual; indeed, here and there a trace of greyness had crept into the
+bronze, and his eyes were heavy. But a mass of papers lay on the little
+table in front of him, and it was evident that he had just been writing.
+His mail, which had come in two or three hours earlier, had been an
+unusually large one. Carrie sat not far away, watching him a trifle
+anxiously. She had been more than a little startled when he came in for
+supper walking unsteadily.
+
+"You are still looking far from well," she said.
+
+Leland laughed, though his eyes were half closed. "Oh," he said, "I'll
+be round again to-morrow all right. It was as hot as I ever remember it
+this afternoon, and each time I came down the long stretch with the
+binder the sun was on the back of my neck. I just want to sit still a
+little and cool off."
+
+Carrie shook her head. "You have been working too hard," she said.
+"Can't you take it a little easier? It surely isn't necessary for you to
+drive a binder."
+
+"Just now, anyway, I almost think it is. When I'm there the boys can't
+do less than I do, and I set the pace for every man in the field. There
+are, you see, quite a few of them, and the little extra effort each one
+makes counts for a good deal. Besides, I have always worked, and now it
+would be quite hard to get used to walking round with nothing in my
+hands, even if I wanted to. Anyway, it won't go on for more than another
+month or so."
+
+He made a little involuntary gesture of weariness. "I don't think I'll
+be sorry. It has been getting a little hard lately, and if the market
+doesn't break me we'll go away when the wheat is in. You would like to
+go to Montreal or New York for a week or two? We would do all the
+concerts and theatres."
+
+Carrie felt that she would like it very much indeed, for, after all,
+life at Prospect had its disadvantages; but she had reasons for not
+displaying too much eagerness. Finances were straitened, and Leland, in
+spite of his simple tastes, was apt to be extravagant where she was
+concerned.
+
+"Of course!" she said. "I mean, if circumstances permitted it, but that
+depends upon the market, doesn't it? What has it been doing lately?"
+
+Leland took up a circular. "Standing still for a week, and that is
+rather a curious thing. You see, with the first wheat pouring in, the
+bears quite often get their own way just now and hammer prices down, but
+quotations seem to have been quite steady in Chicago the last few days.
+They've had a bad season in Minnesota, and the hail wiped out a good
+deal of wheat in Dakota. What one or two States can grow doesn't count
+in itself so much against the world's supply, but it's now and then
+enough to upset a delicate balance. In Winnipeg the bears made another
+raid, but they couldn't break the price, and I'm inclined to fancy that
+all they offered was quietly taken up. The outside men, who like a
+little deal now and then, aren't all of them babes in the wood."
+
+"I'm afraid I could never quite understand these things," said Carrie.
+
+"In one way it's simple. The world wants so much wheat, though the
+quantity varies, because there are places where they eat other things
+when it gets too dear. Now, you can get statistics showing how many
+million bushels they have raised here and there, and it's evident that,
+if it's less than usual, it's going to be dearer. On the other hand, if
+there's more than the world has apparently any use of, the men it
+belongs to have some trouble in selling it, and values come down. That's
+the principle, but there are men who make their living by shoving prices
+up and down, and they're able to do it sometimes against all reason. Now
+and then they half starve poor folks in Europe, and now and then they
+ruin farmers in the Western States and this part of Canada. They have
+millions of dollars behind them, and they're clever at crooked games.
+Still, it sometimes happens that Nature turns against them, and drowns
+them in floods of wheat; or, when they're squeezing the life-blood out
+of the farmers, it strikes men up and down the country that wheat was so
+cheap it ought to be dearer. Then, if the bears slacken their grip a
+little, men who like to gamble and have the money to spare, send their
+buying orders in, and the bears find it hard to get the wheat they have
+pledged themselves to deliver. That sends prices up and up."
+
+"You think that is likely to happen?"
+
+Leland looked very thoughtful. "I can't say. Nobody could. There's one
+significant thing. Prices are steady, though the wheat is coming in.
+You'll get considerably more than your two thousand pounds back if they
+go up. We could have a month in New York then, and you'd go to operas
+with that crescent glittering in your hair."
+
+Carrie said nothing, for though she had not quite understood all he
+said, it was sufficiently clear that if prices went down she would never
+put the crescent on again. She had further reasons, too, for not
+desiring to discuss that subject. While she sat silent, Gallwey came in,
+and Leland, taking up a paper, handed it to him.
+
+"That," he said, "is a little idea of mine, and, if we'd had any sense,
+we would have thought of it earlier. With the new country opening up to
+the North, the police bosses at Regina have their hands full. They don't
+want to be worried, and Sergeant Grier seems kind of afraid to admit he
+can't put the whisky boys down, or to pitch his reports too strong."
+
+Gallwey nodded. "The same thing," he said, "has occurred to me all
+along. His attitude is comprehensible, and I have a certain sympathy
+with the folks at the head of the police. To attend to everything, they
+would want a brigade."
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "I have no intention of getting my homestead
+burnt because it suits anybody's hand, and you'll start round to-morrow
+and get this petition signed by every responsible man. It's a plain
+statement of what we have been putting up with, and a delicate hint that
+there are folks among the Government's opposition who might find the
+information interesting in case the police bosses do nothing. I almost
+fancy that ought to put a move on them."
+
+Gallwey smiled a little as he read the document, which, however, was
+worded with a tactfulness he had scarcely expected from his comrade.
+Leland's proceedings were, as a rule, rather summary and vigorous than
+characterised by any particular delicacy.
+
+"I shall be away three or four days, at least," he said.
+
+"Won't that be a little awkward? You are not very well just now."
+
+Leland made a little impatient gesture. "I'll be all right again
+to-morrow."
+
+His comrade did not contradict him, though he had some doubt upon the
+subject, and, sitting down, talked about other matters for several
+minutes, while, when he rose, he contrived to make Carrie understand it
+was desirable that she should find an excuse for going out soon after
+him. She did so, and came upon him waiting in the kitchen.
+
+"He persists that there is nothing the matter with him, but I am a
+little anxious," she said. "You don't think he is looking well?"
+
+Gallwey appeared thoughtful. "I scarcely fancy it is serious, but there
+is no doubt he has been worrying himself lately and doing a good deal
+too much. In fact, the strain is telling. Still, I dare say a little
+rest would do wonders. Couldn't you keep him in to-morrow?"
+
+"Keep him in!" said Carrie, with a little expostulatory smile.
+
+There was a twinkle in Gallwey's eyes. "It will probably be difficult,
+but I almost think, in your case, not absolutely impossible."
+
+"Well, I will do what I can. It is rather a pity you have to go away."
+
+The smile grew a trifle plainer in Gallwey's eyes. "As a matter of fact,
+and, although I am quite aware that there will probably be trouble about
+it, I am not going. One of the boys will have to ride round with the
+paper, instead of me. Still, you will have to decide how you can keep
+your husband in."
+
+He went away and left her to grapple with the question, which, since
+Leland was a self-willed man, was a somewhat difficult one. It was some
+little while before there occurred to her a rather primitive device
+which appeared likely to prove effective. She had, however, not quite
+realised the inherent obstinacy of her husband's temperament.
+
+It accordingly happened that, when the crippled Jake was busy cleaning
+up the big general room early next morning, he was astonished to see
+Leland, attired in airy pyjamas, appear in the doorway. He raised his
+hand as though in warning, and glanced towards the other door. It
+occurred to Jake that he did not look well.
+
+"Mrs. Nesbit's not around?" Leland asked.
+
+Jake said she was in the cook-shed just then, and Leland sat down
+somewhat limply in the nearest chair.
+
+"Slip up into Tom Gallwey's room, and bring me a suit of his clothes,
+the new ones he goes to the settlement in," he said. "That will square
+the deal, because I can't help thinking he had a hand in the thing."
+
+"Where's your own?" asked Jake in evident bewilderment.
+
+"That," said Leland, drily, "is just what is worrying me. But you do
+what I tell you quick before Mrs. Nesbit comes in."
+
+Jake did as he was bidden, for there was a look in Leland's eyes which
+warned him that further questions would not be advisable; and, when he
+came back with the clothing, the latter dressed himself hastily, and,
+slipping out, made his way to the stable. He had some difficulty in
+putting the harness on the team, and was considerably longer over it
+than usual; but he managed to lead them out, and had reached the binder
+with them about the time Carrie and Eveline Annersly entered the room he
+had quitted. The first thing they saw was a suit of pyjamas lying on the
+floor, and the elder lady laughed as she turned to Carrie.
+
+"I fancied you would find it a little difficult to keep Charley Leland
+in against his will," she said.
+
+Carrie, who did not answer her, summoned Jake.
+
+"Where is Mr. Leland?" she asked.
+
+"I guess he's working in the wheat," said the man, with a grin.
+
+Carrie appeared astonished, and Eveline Annersly laughed again. "Charley
+is a trifle determined, but there are, I almost fancy, lengths to which
+he would not go. He has probably borrowed someone's clothing."
+
+"Did he leave any message?" asked Carrie, turning to the man.
+
+"No," said Jake, reflectively. "I don't think he did. He wasn't coming
+back for his breakfast. I was to take it out to him, and he figured Tom
+Gallwey's store-clothes wouldn't look quite so new by sundown."
+
+He went away, and Eveline Annersly smiled at her companion. "You'll
+simply have to put up with it," she said. "It really doesn't sound as if
+he was very ill."
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, after stopping some twenty minutes for
+breakfast, climbed into the binder's saddle and drove through the wheat
+until almost noon. He did not seem to see quite so well as usual, and
+his head ached almost intolerably. Gallwey's jacket also hampered him,
+until, tearing it off, he let it fall. It was afterwards found, ripped
+in several places by the knife and tied up in a sheaf. The day was
+fiercely hot, and the dust rose thick from crackling stubble and
+trampled soil, but Leland drove on, swaying now and then in his saddle,
+the perspiration dripping from him.
+
+It was close upon the dinner hour, and the sun was almost overhead in a
+cloudless sky, when he approached a turning. The glare from the yellow
+wheat was dazzling, and the ironwork on the binder almost too hot to
+touch with the hand, and Leland once more found his sight grow blurred
+as he strove to turn his team. They did not seem to answer the guidance
+of the reins, and when the machine, turning short, ran in among the
+wheat, he raised himself a little as he called to them. That was the
+last thing he remembered.
+
+The next instant, the man behind him saw him reel and topple from the
+saddle as the whirling arms came round. He pulled his team up, and,
+jumping down, ran as for his life; but, most fortunately, Leland's
+tired horses had stopped of their own accord in a pace or two, for,
+when the other man came up, their driver lay partly across the
+knife-sheath with his feet among the wheat. What could be seen of his
+face was darkly flushed, while the sleeve and breast of his dusty shirt
+were smeared with trickling red. The other man, startled as he was, had,
+however, sense enough to seize the near horse's head before he shouted
+to his comrades.
+
+"Lay hold of the wheel, two of you," he said when several of them came
+running up. "Now get up, somebody, and pull the driving-clutch out. We
+don't want to saw him open."
+
+He had kept himself in hand, but he gasped with relief when the deadly
+steel was thrown out of action. Then, still holding the horses, he
+directed the rest to drag Leland clear. It was a minute later when he
+pushed the others aside and bent over him. Leland lay limp and still in
+the dusty stubble, with eyes half closed, and a red trickle dripping
+into the thirsty soil beneath him. The man, who had seen a good many bad
+axe-wounds in the Ontario bush, rolled back the breast and sleeve of the
+torn shirt before he straightened himself and wiped his dripping face.
+
+"I guess he has come off quite fortunate, in one way. There's no big
+vessel cut, or it would spout," he said. "The first thing to do is to
+get him out of the sun, and it's not very far to the house."
+
+They picked him up, and four of them carried him to the homestead as
+gently as they could. At the door they met Carrie. She closed one hand
+hard, and turned very white when the men, who stopped, stood gasping a
+little and looking at her stupidly, with their burden hanging limply
+between them. Then, while she struggled with a numbing sense of horror,
+the leader awkwardly took off his hat.
+
+"I guess it's nothing very bad. He's cut in two places, and the binder
+hit him on the head, but a man of his kind will soon get over that," he
+said. "Now, I know quite a little about cuts and things, and, if you'll
+send for Mrs. Nesbit, we'll soon fix him up. Get a move on, boys. Mrs.
+Leland will show you where to take him."
+
+The words had a bracing effect. Carrie shook off her first terror, and,
+though she was trembling, went up the stairway in front of them. She was
+almost afraid to look round at the men, who stumbled noisily with their
+burden. Still, she felt a little easier when, in the course of half an
+hour, the Ontario man managed to stop most of the bleeding with a few
+simple compresses, and to get Leland, who had not opened his eyes yet,
+into bed. He turned to Carrie, who was standing close by with a tense,
+white face.
+
+"I guess all he got after he fell off the binder is not going to worry
+him much, but I don't know what he had before," he said. "It might have
+been sunstroke, and it might just as well have been something else. He
+was kind of shaky all the morning. Anyway, I'll tell Tom Gallwey, and
+he'll send some one of the boys in to the railroad to wire for a
+doctor."
+
+He went out, and Carrie was left in the darkened room kneeling by her
+husband's side, while Tom Gallwey drove the fastest team at Prospect
+furiously across the prairie. He did not send another man, but went
+himself, and the horses he drove had reason to remember that journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+CARRIE'S RESPONSIBILITY
+
+
+Carrie Leland spent two very anxious days before a doctor, from one of
+the larger settlements down the line, arrived in company with Gallwey,
+who drove him in from the station. The latter had, during the journey,
+favoured Gallwey with his professional opinions as to the cause of
+Leland's illness. As soon as he reached the homestead he was shown into
+the sick-room. Leland, who had recovered consciousness after the first
+few hours, submitted to a lengthy examination with a patience which
+somewhat astonished his comrade, after which the doctor, who asked him a
+few questions, nodded as though satisfied.
+
+"I have no great fault to find with anything the man did who attended to
+you in the first place." he said. "In fact, I have seen considerably
+worse dressings. A bushman, I presume?"
+
+Leland looked at him languidly out of half-closed eyes. "He's not going
+to be sorry. It would be more to the purpose if you told me what was the
+matter with me."
+
+"An abrasion on your forehead, and a bruise on the back of your head
+which should apparently have been sufficient to produce concussion of
+the brain," the doctor said. "Then your arm is cut half across, and, if
+the knife hadn't brought up on a bone, you would probably not have
+survived the wound on your breast. I almost think that is quite enough."
+
+"Anyway, it's not quite what I mean. The cuts will heal. What made me
+turn dizzy and fall off the binder? I've never had anything of that kind
+happen to me before."
+
+The doctor smiled drily. "Well," he said, "in similar circumstances you
+will in all probability have it happen again. It rests with yourself to
+decide whether you like it. Speaking generally, it's the result of worry
+and trying to work a good deal harder than it's fit for you to work. To
+be a little more definite, you have had what one might call incipient
+sunstroke on the top of it, and, though I don't know how you fell on the
+binder, the thump you got had its effect upon your brain. That's almost
+as near as one can get to it in every-day language."
+
+Leland laughed. "The question is, when can I get up?"
+
+"It depends upon yourself. If you lie quite still and don't worry about
+anything, I will consider the matter, when I come back again."
+
+Leland could extract nothing more definite from him, and, when he went
+out, Carrie took him into her sitting-room.
+
+"There is nothing to be anxious about," he said. "The surgical aspect of
+the case is in no way serious, and I'll leave you an antiseptic dressing
+and mail you some medicine. I don't know when I can get back, but it
+will be a week, anyway; so, if there is any change that seems to make it
+advisable, you will wire me from the depôt. What your husband needs is
+absolute quiet. He is on no account to be worried about any business."
+
+"I think I can promise that," said Carrie. "Still there are his letters.
+If I don't give him any, it will certainly make him restless, and, as
+most of them are about the price of wheat and accounts, I'm afraid they
+would scarcely be likely to soothe him."
+
+The doctor appeared a trifle uncertain, and flashed a swift glance at
+Eveline Annersly, who sat not far away. Like most of his profession, he
+was acquainted with the little shortcomings of human nature, and was
+quite aware that there are men whose wives would probably be none the
+happier if supplied with an insight into all their husband's affairs. He
+was too young to conceal very successfully what he was thinking, and,
+though he was, perhaps, not altogether conscious of it, he looked to
+Eveline Annersly for guidance. She said nothing, but there was, he
+fancied, comprehension and an answer in her little smile.
+
+"Well," he said, "I might suggest that you open them and keep back
+anything that seems likely to disturb him."
+
+In a few more minutes, Mrs. Nesbit came in to announce that a meal was
+awaiting him. When he went out, Eveline Annersly smiled again as she
+glanced at her companion.
+
+"That man is painfully young," she said. "I suppose you are not afraid
+of opening Charley's letters?"
+
+"No," said Carrie with a little flash in her eyes. "Why should I be?"
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "one would almost fancy
+that when Jimmy marries, he would sooner his wife did not see everything
+that came for him. It was a letter that first made the trouble between
+Captain and Ada Heaton. In such cases, it not infrequently is."
+
+Carrie turned upon her with a red spot in her cheek. "You will succeed
+in making me angry presently. You know there is nothing Charley would
+keep from me."
+
+"That, I think, is saying a good deal; but, while you are no doubt
+right, my dear, any one who had only seen you in England would be
+inclined to wonder what had happened to you lately. If I had suggested
+anything of the kind once upon a time, you would only have looked at me
+with chilling disdain, but now a word against Charley Leland brings a
+flash into your eyes. That, however, is by the way. I wonder if you have
+heard that Heaton has at last taken proceedings?"
+
+"I haven't. I never hear from home."
+
+"I have had a letter and a paper. The decision was in his favour. There
+was practically no defence. There couldn't very well have been in face
+of the disclosures, and, while I had a certain sympathy with Ada at
+first, I have none now."
+
+Carrie sat silent a minute, a faint flush in her face. Then she suddenly
+raised her head.
+
+"Aunt," she said, "I suppose you don't know it was about Ada that
+Charley and I quarrelled? In fact, it was on her account I nearly drove
+him away from me altogether. In that, too, it seems that I was wrong. I
+wonder sometimes how he ever forgave me, or why I have so much I never
+deserved to have at all."
+
+She said nothing further, and went out presently. That afternoon and
+for several subsequent days, she opened Leland's letters, finding
+nothing that must be kept back from him. But one evening, however, she
+sent for Gallwey when he came in from harvesting, and, signing him to
+sit down, handed him a letter from the Winnipeg broker.
+
+"Will you tell me what you think I ought to do?" she said. "You will see
+that the man must have an answer."
+
+Gallwey studied the letter carefully for several minutes. When he laid
+it down, he felt a certain sympathy with Mrs. Leland, though he fancied
+she would show herself equal to the occasion.
+
+"It's rather unfortunate it should have come just now," she said.
+"Still, it is here, and I want your views."
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "The thing is rather a big one. As I daresay
+you know, there are different kinds of wheat, but our hard red is rather
+a favourite with millers. There is, it seems, a man who, subject to one
+or two conditions about samples being up to usual grade, is willing to
+buy about half the crop from Charley at a cent the bushel more than he
+previously offered. I wonder if you quite grasp the significance of
+that."
+
+"Prices are rising?"
+
+"Not necessarily, though they are certainly steadier. This man may have
+orders for some special flour for which our grade of red is preferable,
+though he could, of course, get other wheat which would, no doubt, do
+almost as well. Still, prices have, at least, stiffened. It is what is
+called a rally, and it may last a week or so, though it is somewhat
+strange it should happen now, when everybody has wheat to sell."
+
+He stopped a moment. "If you sell this wheat, and prices fall, you will
+have made an excellent bargain, though the figure doesn't cover
+expenses. On the contrary, if prices go up, you will have thrown a good
+deal of money away. You have to bear in mind that it represents about
+half the crop, which makes it evident that a good deal depends upon a
+right decision."
+
+"Have you any idea what prices will do?"
+
+Gallwey made a little gesture. "To be frank, I haven't, and I should
+shrink from mentioning it if I had. There are thousands of people up and
+down this country trying in vain to reason it out, and I have no doubt
+that some of the keenest men in the business find the same difficulty. I
+daren't advise you."
+
+Carrie sat silent for at least a minute, and then looked at him gravely.
+
+"If I sell, we shall not cover expenses; if I hold, we may be ruined
+altogether or it might pour hundreds of dollars into Charley's bank?"
+
+"Yes," said Gallwey. "That is it exactly."
+
+Again there was silence, and then Carrie looked up with a little sparkle
+in her eyes. "Charley's not so well to-day, and this would certainly
+make him ill again. It seems I must not shrink from the responsibility.
+When he does not know exactly what to do, it is the boldest course that
+appeals to him. Write the man in Winnipeg that I will not sell a
+bushel."
+
+Gallwey rose and made her a little inclination. "It shall be done," he
+said. "I wonder if one might venture to compliment you on your
+courage?"
+
+Now the thing was decided, Carrie Leland sat still, somewhat limp, and
+pale in face again.
+
+After that, some ten days passed uneventfully until the doctor came
+back. He did not appear particularly pleased with Leland's condition,
+and repeated his instructions about keeping him quiet and undisturbed.
+He left Carrie anxious, for she could not persuade herself that her
+husband was looking any better. He was, however, rapidly becoming short
+in temper, and, soon after the doctor had gone, she had another struggle
+with him. Entering the room quietly, she found he had raised himself on
+the pillows and was looking about him.
+
+"If you would tell me where my clothes are, I'd be much obliged," he
+said. "That man's no good at his business. I'm going to get up."
+
+He made an effort to rise then and there. With some difficulty, Carrie
+induced him to lie down again. He listened to what she had to say with
+evident impatience, and then shook his head.
+
+"I'm to keep quiet, and not worry. There's no sense in the thing," he
+said. "How can I help chafing and fuming when I have to lie here, while
+everything goes wrong, and nobody will tell me what is being done? I
+felt a little dizzy just now, or you wouldn't have got me back again,
+but I'm going to make another attempt to-morrow. You have to remember
+that when I get up I get better. I've never been tied up like this
+before, and the only thing that's wrong with me is that I've had a
+doctor."
+
+Carrie contrived to quiet him, though she did not find it easy. When at
+last he had gone to sleep she went out, meeting Gallwey in the hall. He
+glanced at her with a little sympathetic smile.
+
+"I came upon the doctor riding away," he said. "It appears that Charley
+has been telling him frankly what he thought of him. I suppose he has
+been trying to get up again?"
+
+Carrie said he had, and Gallwey appeared to consider.
+
+"Well," he said, "it might, perhaps, help to keep him quiet if you let
+him know that the appeal to the police authorities has been considered
+favourably. I met Sergeant Grier, and he told me that they have sent him
+half a dozen more troopers. He seems tolerably confident that he can lay
+hands on the rustlers' leaders, though he was in too much haste to tell
+me how it was to be done. By the way, I'm afraid you will have to get
+Charley to write a cheque in a day or two. We'll have to pay the Ontario
+harvesters shortly."
+
+He left her relieved, at least, to hear that Grier saw some prospect of
+putting the outlaws down, but another couple of weeks had passed before
+she heard anything more of him or them. In the meanwhile, the Sergeant,
+as he had indeed expected, met with a good many difficulties. He was
+supplied with plentiful information concerning the outlaws, but the
+trouble was that he could not always decide how much of it was meant to
+be misleading until he had acted upon it. After a week's hard riding,
+during which his men had very little sleep, he found himself one night
+with six of them rather more than sixty miles west of Prospect. He had
+that day surrounded what he had been told was one of the whisky boys'
+coverts in a big bluff, and "drawn a blank," a thing that had happened
+once or twice already. The horses were dead weary, the men worn-out, so
+he decided to camp where he was in a thick growth of willows. A cooking
+fire was lighted, and when the men had eaten, all but two, who were left
+to watch the horses, lay down, rolled in their blankets.
+
+It was about an hour before the dawn when Trooper Standish paced up and
+down on the outskirts of the bluff. He had been in the saddle under a
+hot sun most of twelve hours the previous day, and now felt more than a
+little shivery as well as weary. A little breeze came sighing out of the
+great waste of plain, and the chill of it struck through his thin, damp
+clothing, in which he had ridden and slept. Trooper Standish was also
+more than a little drowsy, though he would not have admitted it. In
+fact, few men are capable of very much, either in the shape of effort or
+watchfulness, at three o'clock in the morning.
+
+A hundred yards or so behind him, a comrade was standing near the
+tethered horses, though he might have been very much further away for
+all Standish could see of him. A thin fringe of willows lay between
+Standish and the prairie. When he turned a little, he could see the
+faint glow of the fire, which had not quite gone out, where the bushes
+were thicker. Though there was a breeze, it had no great strength, and
+the willows rustled beneath it fitfully with a faint and eery sighing.
+As it happened, this was a little louder than usual, when Trooper
+Standish stopped to listen and consider. His duty in such cases was, of
+course, quite clear, but now that the willows had stopped rustling,
+there was no sound, and he was aware that the young trooper who rouses
+his worn-out comrades without due cause, after a hard day's ride, has
+usually reason to regret it. Besides this, he remembered that he had not
+played a very brilliant part in another affair, and he still tingled
+under the recollection of the others' jibes. Accordingly, he prowled
+cautiously through the bluff, and then sauntered back towards his
+comrade.
+
+"I guess you have heard nothing suspicious?" he said.
+
+"No," said the man. "I didn't expect to, anyway."
+
+"You didn't hear me call out, either?"
+
+"I didn't. If you'd made any noise, I would have heard you. Have any of
+the whisky boys been crawling in on you?"
+
+Trooper Standish gazed hard at the man, who had evidently asked the
+question ironically. He certainly seemed wide awake, and it occurred to
+Standish that he might have been half asleep himself, and had only
+fancied that he called out. He accordingly decided that it might be just
+as well if he said nothing further about the matter, and he strode away
+on his round again.
+
+The sun was creeping up above the prairie when one of his comrades,
+rising to waken the Sergeant, saw a strip of folded paper, of the kind
+used by the storekeepers for packing, fixed between the branches of a
+willow close by. Grier took it down, and his face grew intent when he
+saw that there was a message scribbled across one part of it.
+
+"If you want to do Leland a good turn, get up and ride," it said. "The
+boys are holding Prospect up to-night."
+
+Then Grier turned to the astonished troopers. "It may be a bluff to put
+us off the trail," he said. "Leland keeps good watch at Prospect, and
+has it full of harvesters."
+
+"Well," said one of the others, "I don't quite know. Last time I met one
+of his teamsters he told me they'd have no use for most of the
+harvesters in a day or two. He said something, too, about the boys going
+out to the railroad to haul the new thresher in. I guess that would keep
+them away three or four days altogether."
+
+Grier looked thoughtful. "Oh, yes," he said. "I've heard that mill's an
+extra big one, and they were most of a day getting the old one across
+the ravine. It's quite certain, too, that Leland has a good many friends
+up and down the country who now and then break prairie or cut hay for
+him, and, as some of them stand in with the rustlers, too, it's easy to
+figure why the man who sent us this warning didn't want to show himself.
+Well, I guess we'll take our chances of being wanted, though the horses
+are dead played out, and I don't know where to get another within thirty
+miles. Nobody who can help it is going to let us have a horse at harvest
+time."
+
+Then he turned sharply. "Who was on horse-guard with Ainger?"
+
+"Standish," said one of the men.
+
+Grier smiled unpleasantly. "Send him along. Then get your fire lighted
+and look after your horses. We'll start for Prospect when you've had
+breakfast, but I guess some of you are going to walk a few leagues
+to-day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+LELAND STRIKES BACK
+
+
+It was about ten o'clock at night, and Carrie was sitting with Eveline
+Annersly in the big general room at Prospect. Leland, who had been
+brought downstairs to be further away from the hot roof, lay asleep in
+another room that opened off the corridor leading to the kitchen. Almost
+every man attached to the homestead was away. The threshers were
+expected on the morrow, for throughout that country the wheat is
+threshed where it stands in the sheaves, and it had always been a
+difficult matter to convey the mill and engine across the ravine. The
+thresher now expected was an unusually large one, and Gallwey had set
+out with most of the teams to assist the men in charge of it. He had,
+however, promised to come back with some of the boys that night.
+
+Carrie was a little sleepy, for she had borne her part in the stress of
+work usual in a Western homestead at harvest time; but she had no
+thought of retiring until Gallwey arrived. Nothing had been heard of the
+outlaws since the fire, but since most of the harvesters would require
+to be paid and sent home in a day or two, there was a good deal of money
+for the purpose in the house. It seemed that Eveline Annersly was also
+thinking of it, for presently she looked at her companion with a little
+smile.
+
+"It is on the whole fortunate my nerves are reasonably good," she said.
+"It would be singularly inconvenient if Charley's whisky-smuggling
+friends should visit us to-night. Your bills could, one would fancy, be
+got rid of more easily than English notes, and I understand there are a
+good many of them in Charley's room."
+
+Carrie laughed, for she was unwilling to admit she had any
+apprehensions. She felt that, if she did so, they might become
+oppressive.
+
+"There are," she said. "A visit to the settlement means two days lost,
+and Gallwey and I decided to get enough to pay the threshers, too, so as
+to save another journey. I had expected him back by now."
+
+She rose, and, going out, opened the homestead door. It was a quiet,
+star-lit night, with no moon in the sky, and the prairie rolled away
+before her dim and shadowy. Not a sound rose from it. Even the wind was
+still. As she gazed out across the dusky waste, something in its
+vastness and silence impressed her as never before. She had grown to
+love the prairie, but there were times when its desolation reacted
+almost unpleasantly on her. The homestead, with its barns and stables
+standing back beneath the stars, seemed so little, an insignificant
+speck on that great sweep of plain. She roused herself to listen, but no
+beat of hoofs crept out of the soft darkness, and it was evident that
+Gallwey was a long way off yet.
+
+Then she turned with a little shiver, and went back into the house.
+Crossing the big room, she went down the corridor, and softly opened the
+door of the room where her husband slept. A lamp was burning dimly, and
+it showed his quiet face, now a trifle haggard and lined with care.
+Carrie's eyes grew gentle as she looked at him, for he had been very
+restless and apparently not so well that day, while it was evident to
+her that his vigour was coming back to him very slowly. Then, as she
+turned, her eyes rested on the safe, and again a thrill of apprehension
+ran through her. She was glad that Gallwey had the key.
+
+She went back to the general room, and, though she had not noticed it so
+much before, found the stillness oppressive. There was not a sound, and,
+when her companion turned over a paper, the rustle of it startled her.
+
+"I almost wish I had not let Tom Gallwey go," she said. "Still, it was
+necessary. The threshers couldn't have got their machine here without
+the boys."
+
+Eveline Annersly looked up. "I certainly wish he had come back, though I
+suppose he can't be very long now. He told you ten o'clock, I think. In
+the meanwhile you might find this account of the wedding at Scaleby
+Garth interesting."
+
+Carrie held out her hand for the paper, but her attention wandered from
+the description of the scene in the little English church. She had left
+the outer door open, and found herself listening for a reassuring beat
+of hoofs; but nothing disturbed the deep silence of the prairie. Half an
+hour had passed when she straightened herself suddenly in her chair,
+with her heart beating fast, and saw that Eveline Annersly's face was
+intent as she gazed towards the door.
+
+"Oh!" she said. "You heard it, too?"
+
+"Yes," said the elder lady, with a tremor in her voice. "It sounded like
+a step."
+
+In another moment there was no doubt about it, and Carrie rose with a
+little catching of her breath as a shadowy figure appeared in the hall.
+For a moment she stood as though turned to stone, and then suddenly
+roused herself to action as a man came into the room.
+
+He stopped just inside the threshold, a big, dusty man, with a damp,
+bronzed face; but, as it happened, it was Eveline Annersly his eyes
+first rested on. He glanced at her suspiciously, and then swung round as
+he heard a rattle, just in time to see Carrie snatch down her husband's
+rifle.
+
+She stood very straight, breathless, and a trifle white in face, but
+there was something suggestive in the way the rifle lay in her left
+hand. The man could see that a swift jerk would bring the butt in to her
+shoulder and the barrel in line with him, while the girl's gaze was also
+disconcertingly fixed and steady. She had stood now and then just
+outside the woods at Barrock-holme, with a little 16-bore in her hands,
+getting her share of the pheasants as they came over. The intruder could
+shoot well enough himself to realise that when the barrel went up her
+finger would be clenched upon the trigger. His hand was at his belt, but
+he kept it there, and for a second or two the pair looked at one
+another. Then he quietly turned round, which argued courage, and called
+to somebody outside.
+
+"Come in, boys," he said. "Here's a thing we hadn't quite figured on."
+
+Carrie turned when he did, and in another moment she was standing with
+her back to the door that led to the corridor, while Eveline Annersly,
+who gasped, looked at her with horror in her eyes.
+
+"What are you going to do?" she said.
+
+Carrie did not look in her direction. She was watching the outer door,
+and stood tense and still, but with something in her pose that suggested
+a readiness for swift, decisive movement. In fact, her attitude vaguely
+reminded her companion of a bent bow, or a snake half coiled to strike.
+Her face was set, and there was a portentous glint in her very steady
+eyes. Her voice was harsh, but impressively quiet.
+
+"If they try to get into Charley's room I am going to kill one of them,"
+she said.
+
+Then two other men came in, and one of them made a little half-whimsical
+gesture.
+
+"Hadn't you better be reasonable, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We're not
+going to hurt you."
+
+"What do you want?" asked the girl.
+
+"Money," said the man who had come in first. "Anyway, that's the first
+thing. You have plenty of it here. Tom Gallwey brought a big wallet out
+from the settlement a week ago. They're in the safe in the room behind
+you, too."
+
+Carrie, nervous and overwrought as she was, decided to temporise.
+Gallwey could not be long, and he had promised to bring some of the boys
+home with him.
+
+"Well," she said, in a strained voice, "I haven't the key."
+
+One of the men laughed. "That's not going to worry us. If we can't open
+it with a stick of giant-powder, we'll take the safe along. It's hardly
+likely to be a big one."
+
+"Then it's only the money you want?"
+
+Carrie's perceptions had never been keener than they were that night,
+and she saw one of the others glance at his comrade warningly. She also
+saw the little vindictive gleam in another man's eyes, and she
+understood. It was not alone to empty Leland's safe they had come, and
+he lay sick and helpless in the room where it stood. One other thing was
+also clear to her, and it was that none of them should go in there at
+any cost.
+
+"Well," said the outlaw, "if we got the money without unpleasantness, it
+would help to make things pleasanter for everybody, and we're going to
+get it, anyway. The only two men about this homestead are held up in the
+stable, and there are quite a few of us here. I guess you had better let
+us in to the safe."
+
+Carrie moved a trifle, bringing her left arm, which was aching, further
+forward. "I think there are two keys belonging to the safe," she said.
+"I wonder if I could remember where the other one is."
+
+She delayed them at least a minute while she appeared to consider, and
+then the men evidently lost their patience, for one of them turned
+angrily to their leader.
+
+"We have no use for so much talking, and want to get ahead," he said.
+"It's a sure thing they wouldn't leave the place empty any length of
+time with Leland sick, and I guess you're going to have Gallwey and the
+boys down on you if you stay here long."
+
+One of his comrades growled approvingly. "Oh," he said, "quit talking.
+If she hasn't got that key on her, she doesn't know where it is. We'll
+run in and get hold of her. It's even chances she has nothing in the
+gun."
+
+It was evident that the suggestion commended itself to all of them, but
+the trouble was that nobody seemed anxious to put it into execution.
+Carrie pressed down the magazine slide with one hand. It would, however,
+only move a very little, and she realised that the magazine was almost
+full. Then she laughed harshly, and the sound jarred on Eveline
+Annersly's ears.
+
+"Well," she said, "why don't you come?"
+
+Then she started, and endeavoured to put a further restraint upon
+herself, for it seemed to her that a very faint drumming sound rose from
+the prairie. None of the others, however, appeared to hear it. In
+another moment an inspiration seemed to dawn on one of the men.
+
+"Put the lamp out, and we'll get her easy in the dark," he said.
+
+Eveline Annersly failed to check a little startled cry, but Carrie
+turned towards the leader of the outlaws very quietly.
+
+"Stop a moment," she said. "You daren't hurt a woman. It would raise all
+the prairie against you; but, if one of you comes near that lamp, I will
+certainly shoot him."
+
+The leader made a little gesture, half of admiration and half of anger.
+
+"Now," he said, "we've had 'bout enough talking, and your husband
+spoiled our game when he brought those troopers in. We know who sent for
+them. Well, we're lighting out for good after we've cleaned his safe
+out, and done one or two other little things. We don't want to hurt you,
+but we're not going to be held up by a woman. It's your last chance. Do
+you mean to be reasonable?"
+
+Carrie was white to the lips, for it was perfectly plain that they
+intended to have a reckoning, before they went, with the man who had
+driven them out.
+
+"Keep back from the light!" she said.
+
+Then the outlaw made a little half-impatient gesture of resignation.
+"Well," he said, "you'll have to get hold of her, boys."
+
+They came forward, but, though that would have been wiser, they did not
+run. Two of them moved crouchingly, and Carrie could not see the third
+man. Still, they had only made a pace or two when one of them suddenly
+straightened himself.
+
+"Look out!" he said; "we're going to have trouble now."
+
+Carrie could not see the door behind her open, but Eveline Annersly saw
+it, and gasped. Then she laughed, a little hoarse laugh that at any
+other time would have jarred on those who heard it, as Leland appeared
+in the opening. He was in pyjamas, and his face was white and haggard.
+One arm, still bound up, hung at his side, but a big pistol glinted in
+his other hand. One of the outlaws recoiled, but his comrade sprang
+towards the lamp. Mrs. Annersly saw Carrie's rifle pitched forward,
+there was a double detonation, two jarring reports so close together
+that one could scarcely distinguish between them, and the man nearest
+the light reeled and struck the table before he sank into a huddled heap
+on the floor. A streak of blue smoke hovered in the middle of the room,
+and another filmy cloud floated about the inner door, through which
+Leland presently lurched, gaunt and pale and grim, with a look in his
+eyes that Eveline Annersly remembered afterwards with horror. He said
+nothing whatever, but his pistol blazed, and the room resounded with the
+quick, whip-like reports. Then there was thick darkness as the light
+went out. So far as Eveline Annersly, who was the only one who
+remembered anything, could make out, two of the outlaws retreated
+towards the door, shouting for their comrades; but they did not reach
+it, for a voice rang sharply outside.
+
+"Hold up!" it said; "we've got you this time sure."
+
+What took place outside did not appear at once, but a few minutes later
+somebody came in, calling out for Mrs. Leland, and struck a match. It
+went out, but another man soon appeared, holding up a lamp, the light of
+which showed Leland leaning upon the table with an arm round his wife,
+who was laughing hysterically.
+
+"I didn't hit him, I didn't! You fired first!" she said.
+
+"That's all right," said Leland, soothingly. "Anyway, there's a good
+deal of life in him yet. I'm quite sure I plugged another of them just
+before the light went out."
+
+Carrie turned half round, glancing towards the man, who was struggling
+to raise himself from the floor, and then once more clung to Leland with
+a little cry.
+
+Then Trooper Standish set down the lamp, and Sergeant Grier came
+forward, while several hot and dusty troopers stood revealed about the
+door.
+
+"Is there anybody hurt except this man?" he asked.
+
+Leland said there was nobody so far as he knew, and the Sergeant nodded.
+
+"Then I guess you and Mrs. Leland had better light out of this, while we
+see what can be done for him and another man the boys have outside. I'll
+come along and tell you about it later."
+
+Leland began to expostulate. "I've been tied up by the leg long enough,
+and there are one or two things I want to do right now."
+
+The Sergeant, who ignored him, turned to Carrie with a little dry smile.
+
+"Get him back to his bed, Mrs. Leland, as quick as you can, and send
+your friend away," he said. "You're going to have no more trouble, but
+this is no place for you."
+
+Carrie seemed to rouse herself, and with some difficulty led her
+protesting husband away. Half an hour had passed when the Sergeant and
+Gallwey, who had arrived in the meanwhile, were admitted to Leland's
+room. He now lay, partly dressed, in a big chair, for nothing that
+Carrie could do would induce him to go back to bed again. Grier sat down
+with a little smile, and Carrie looked at him warningly.
+
+"You are not to excite him," she said.
+
+"Excite me!" said Leland. "It's the one thing that has cured me. I'll be
+going round with the threshers in a day or two."
+
+"Well," said the Sergeant, "it's quite a simple tale. One of your
+friends, perhaps a boy who'd worked for you, gave us the office at
+sun-up, and we started as soon as we heard what the rustlers meant to
+do. It seems, from what one or two of them have admitted, that they
+knew the game was up when the new troopers came, and meant to get even
+with you before lighting out."
+
+"How did they know the boys were away, and what in the name of thunder
+did Gallwey keep them all this while at the ravine for?" Leland broke
+in.
+
+Grier raised his hand. "You keep still. I'm telling this thing my own
+way. How the whisky boys found out more than that is one of the points
+I'm going to inquire into. Well, we started, and before we were half-way
+most of the horses were dead played out; and though I went round by a
+ranch, the boys were out driving cattle, and had only two horses in the
+stable. I guess we led the horses most of the rest of the way, until,
+when we were a league off, I rode on with one of the boys. Then, coming
+in quietly, we saw there was something wrong. While we waited for the
+boys, we fixed things so that we got our hands on four of the gang. Two
+of them are the bosses, and one of them wants a doctor, as well as the
+other man with the bullet in his leg. That's about all there is to it.
+You're not going to have any more trouble with the rustlers."
+
+"Will the man Charley shot get well?" asked Carrie, with tense anxiety.
+
+The Sergeant smiled. "Oh, yes," he said. "He'll be on his way to Regina
+jail in a day or two."
+
+He went out with Gallwey by-and-bye, and Carrie sat down by her husband,
+with a little happy laugh.
+
+"Oh," she said, "that's one trouble done with; and, if you won't excite
+yourself, Charley, I'll tell you something more. Wheat is going up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+HARVEST
+
+
+There was no longer any fierceness in the sunshine, and the day was
+cloudless and pleasantly cool when Carrie Leland and Eveline Annersly
+strolled through the harvest field at the middle of afternoon. The
+aspect of things had changed since the morning Leland had fallen from
+his binder, for, though there was a little breeze, the wheat no longer
+rolled before it in rippling waves. It stood piled in long rows of
+sheaves that gleamed with bronze and gold in a great sweep of
+ochre-tinted stubble, beyond which the prairie stretched back, dusty
+white, to the cold blueness of the northern horizon.
+
+The sheaves were, however, melting fast, for waggons piled high with
+them moved towards a big machine that showed up dimly against a cloud of
+smoke and dust in the foreground. A long spout rose high above it,
+pouring down a golden cascade of straw upon a shapeless mound, and a
+swarm of half-seen figures toiled amidst the dust. The threshers are
+usually paid by the bushel in that country, and since they have, as they
+would say, no use for anything but the latest and most powerful engine
+and mill, it was only by fierce, persistent effort the men of Prospect
+kept the big machine fed. Its smoke trail drifted far down the prairie,
+and through the deep hum it made there rose the thud of hoofs and the
+sounds of human activity, which, it seemed to Carrie Leland as she stood
+in the bright sunshine under the cloudless sky, had a glad, exultant
+note in them. It stirred her curiously with its vague suggestion of
+faith that had proved warranted. Once more there had been a fulfilment
+of the promise made when the waters dried, and, in spite of drought and
+scourging hail, the harvest had not failed.
+
+"Ah," she said, "it is easy to be an optimist to-day. It is the looking
+forward when everything appears against one that is difficult; but, when
+I remember the springtime, I feel I shall never have any reason to be
+proud of myself again."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm not sure the time you mentioned
+could have been particularly pleasant to Charley, either."
+
+"Still," said Carrie, with a little sigh, "he held fast to his optimism
+and worked, while I let the gloom of it overmaster me."
+
+"And now, as the result of it, that machine is threshing out I don't
+know how many thousand bushels of splendid wheat."
+
+Carrie's eyes grew gentle, and there was a little thrill in her voice.
+"We have both of us ever so much more than the wheat to be thankful
+for," she said.
+
+Then she changed the subject abruptly. "Aunt, if you want to catch the
+New York mail, you will have to answer that letter to-night. You know
+that neither of us wants you to go."
+
+"Would you like to go back to England?"
+
+Carrie looked at the wheat and great sweep of prairie with glowing
+eyes. "I think I should be content wherever my husband went. There was a
+time when I fancied that if we had several good harvests and he sold
+Prospect, it would be nice to go back with him to the old country, but
+now I do not know. I seem to have grown since I came out here, and the
+prairie has, as he would say, got hold of me. It is so big and
+strenuous, there is so much in this country that is worth doing, and I
+think Charley is like it in many ways. No, I scarcely fancy he would
+ever be quite happy in England. But, after all, that is not the
+question. We want you. Do you feel you must go back again?"
+
+Her companion smiled a little. "I am not altogether sure that I do, but
+one has to consider a good many things. The house Florence writes about
+at Cransly is pretty and convenient, and, by sharing expenses, we could
+live there comfortably enough. Still, you know the life two elderly
+ladies would lead at Cransly, and after Barrock-holme--and
+Prospect--there are ways in which it would not appeal to me very
+strongly."
+
+"Oh, I know," and Carrie laughed. "You would be expected to set
+everybody a model of propriety, and to rule with the vicar's wife such
+society as there is in the place. You would have to know the exact shade
+of graciousness to bestow upon the wife of the local doctor, and how to
+check the presumptuous advances of the retired tradesman or the
+daughters of the stranger who settled within your borders. Isn't it all
+a little small and petty?"
+
+She turned once more to the prairie with a gesture of pride. "Ah," she
+said, "out here it's only what is essential that comes first. We open
+our gates to the stranger and give him our best, even when he comes on
+foot in dusty jean. It's manhood that counts for everything, and Charley
+and the others are always opening the gates a little wider. We take all
+who come, the poor and the outcast, and ask no questions. One has only
+to look round and see what the prairie has made of them. Aunt, I think
+the greatest thing in human nature is the faith of the optimist. No, I
+shall stay here, and you will stay with me."
+
+"I think a little would naturally depend upon what Charley wants."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Well," she said, "we will ascertain his views. He is
+not as a rule very diffident about expressing them."
+
+Tom Gallwey, somewhat lightly dressed, drove up just then in a waggon
+piled with grain bags.
+
+"Where is Charley?" she asked.
+
+Gallwey smiled. "Lifting four-bushel wheat sacks into a waggon. He has
+been doing it most of the afternoon, too, and I almost think it would be
+wise if you looked after him."
+
+He drove on, and Carrie attempted to frown. "Isn't he exasperating?" she
+said. "The doctor told him he was to take it very easy for at least
+another month, and he promised me he would do nothing hard."
+
+They went on towards the thresher, walking delicately among the flinty
+stubble, until they reached the edge of the whirling dust. Overhead the
+straw was rushing down through a haze of smoke. Below, half-naked men
+toiled savagely about the big machine. Steam was roaring from the
+engine, for the threshers were firing recklessly, and the thudding clank
+of the engine and hum of the clattering mill were almost deafening.
+There was a constant passing upwards of golden sheaves, a constant
+downward stream of straw, and the dusty air seemed filled with toiling
+men and kicking teams.
+
+Then Carrie went forward into the midst of the press, for it was
+naturally where the activity was fiercest that she expected to find her
+husband. He was with another harvester pitching up big sacks into a
+waggon. As a bushel of wheat weighs approximately sixty pounds, it was
+an occupation that demanded much from the man engaged in it. She touched
+him on the shoulder, looking at him reproachfully when he swung round
+and let the bag drop.
+
+"Charley," she said, "you remember your promise?"
+
+The twinkle crept into Leland's eyes. "Oh, yes," he said, "I told you
+I'd do nothing hard. When you know the trick of it, this thing's quite
+easy."
+
+It did not appear so to Carrie. "Come away at once," she said. "You are
+to do no more this afternoon."
+
+Leland made a little whimsical gesture of resignation, but it is
+possible that he was not altogether sorry; for, though he had recovered
+rapidly since the affair with the whisky boys, his full strength had not
+come back, and he had been lifting grain bags for several hours. In any
+event, he put on his jacket, and, brushing a little of the dust off his
+person, went away with her. They sat down together with Eveline
+Annersly, beneath one of the straw-pile granaries that stood in a row
+amidst the stubble.
+
+"Aunt Eveline is thinking of going away," said Carrie.
+
+Leland started, and there was no doubt that his concern was genuine.
+"Oh," he said, "the thing's quite out of the question. She told me she
+was going to stay with us as long as we wanted her."
+
+"I did," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I really think you can do
+without me now."
+
+Both Carrie and her husband knew exactly what she meant, but it was the
+latter who had the courage to admit it.
+
+"Madam--" he began.
+
+Eveline Annersly checked him with a smile. "The title has gone out of
+fashion, with a few other old-fashioned things you still seem to cling
+to in the newest West. I do not like it--from you."
+
+Leland made her a bow that included Carrie. "Well," he said, "Aunt
+Eveline--and that, because of the humanity in it, is, perhaps, a finer
+title--I'm talking now, and you are going to listen to me. You were kind
+to me at Barrock-holme, where I was what you call an outsider, and you
+gave me the greatest thing I ever had, or that ever could come to me.
+You didn't find it easy. Things were far from promising when you were
+half-way through, but you stood by me, and now do you think there is
+anything that would be too much for me to do for you?"
+
+There was a little silence. It was the first time the fact that all
+three recognised had been put into words, and a faint flush mantled
+Eveline Annersly's cheeks. Still, her eyes were gentle, and there was no
+doubt that the bond between the little faded lady, upon whom the stamp
+of station was plain, and the gaunt prairie farmer, with the hard hands
+and the bronzed face, sprinkled with the dust of toil, was a wondrous
+strong one. In England it would, perhaps, have seemed incomprehensible,
+an anachronism; but amidst the long rows of sheaves he had called up out
+of the prairie there was nothing strange in their communion. After all,
+it is manhood that counts in the new Northwest.
+
+"Well," she said, quietly, "it was a great responsibility, and there
+were times when I was horribly afraid. Still, events have proved me
+right, and I think it is the greatest compliment I could pay you when I
+say that it was to make Carrie safe I did it."
+
+Carrie said nothing, but there was faith and confidence in her eyes when
+she turned them for a moment upon her husband as he spoke again.
+
+"And now you talk of going away," he said. "Aunt Eveline, we want you
+here always, both of us. You stood by us through the struggle, for it
+has been a hard one this year, and now I want you to share in the result
+of it. Oh, I know, in some ways it's a hard country for a woman brought
+up like you, but things will be different at Prospect with wheat going
+up, and there's one great argument you can't get over--what Carrie
+Leland is content with is sufficient for any woman on this earth."
+
+They had just decided that she was to stay, when Sergeant Grier rode up.
+He swung himself out of the saddle, and tossed Leland a bundle of
+papers.
+
+"I got one or two at the settlement, and Custer asked me to hand you the
+rest," he said. "I guess you'll be glad to see that wheat is jumping up.
+It seems as if everybody was buying. Still, that wasn't what I came to
+talk about."
+
+"You don't want me at the trial of the rustlers' friends?" asked Leland,
+impatiently.
+
+Grier laughed. "I guess we'll fix them without you. It's quite easy to
+find out things, now the gangs are broken up. I heard from Regina the
+other day, and the man who got the bullet in his leg is already doing
+something useful--making roads, I think. The other fellow is going out
+with the work gang as soon as he's strong enough."
+
+"But if they let them out, won't they run away?" asked Carrie.
+
+"I guess not," said the Sergeant, drily. "They hitch a nice little
+weight to their ankles when it appears advisable, and a warder with a
+shot-gun keeps his eye on them." Then he turned to Leland. "I want a few
+particulars about that last fire you had."
+
+"You'll get them after supper. In the meanwhile there's something Tom
+Gallwey wants to talk to you about. Hadn't you better put up your
+horse?"
+
+Sergeant Grier appeared willing to do so, for the fare at Prospect was
+proverbially good. Presently he moved off to the stables. Carrie then
+remembered that she had several matters to attend to. The commissariat
+required supervision when there were threshers about. She, however, made
+Leland promise that he would do nothing further, and left him with
+Eveline Annersly. He turned to the latter with an apologetic smile as he
+took up one or two of the papers the Sergeant had brought.
+
+"I'm rather interested in the markets. You don't mind?" he said.
+
+Eveline Annersly said she didn't, and watched him with pleasure as he
+glanced at the papers in turn, for it was evident that the news was
+reassuring.
+
+"They've got the bears this time--screwed up tight," he said. "Two of
+the big men gone under--couldn't get the wheat to cover, and it looks to
+me as if there is a bull movement everywhere. I can't remember prices
+ever stiffening this way before when the wheat was pouring in, and, if
+the bulls can swing the thing over harvest, there's no saying what they
+may go to."
+
+"I'm glad you're satisfied," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, your
+observations are not very clear to me."
+
+Leland looked at her with a smile. "The fact is that it seems quite
+likely I'm going to be comparatively rich. I'm 'most where I stood this
+time last year already, and if the market doesn't break away under the
+harvest, prices are going up and up. One thing's certain--Carrie's going
+to have a month in New York."
+
+He stopped a moment and looked at his companion steadily. "It's rather a
+curious thing that, when I suggested she might like a run over to
+Barrock-holme, she didn't seem to want to go. And there's another point
+that's puzzling me. When I mention the crescent or the pearls, why does
+she want to change the subject?"
+
+Eveline Annersly decided to tell him. "The two things go together. It
+happens now and then that a woman has to choose between her relations
+and her husband. Carrie chose you. Those jewels are, you know, worth a
+good deal of money, and, while they belong to her, there is reason for
+believing that, unless she had shown herself resolute, Jimmy would have
+had them instead. In fact, I have a notion that her father found it
+distressingly inconvenient to send them. One can raise money on such
+things in England."
+
+A deeper hue crept into Leland's sun-darkened face. "I understand
+now--that is, some of it," he said. "It would be better if you made the
+whole thing clear."
+
+"Well, there was a time when you were rather hard pressed for a thousand
+pounds. Carrie, if I remember, found you a much larger sum. But she
+evidently did not tell you where her jewels went."
+
+The man's eyes glowed. When at last he spoke, there was a thrill in his
+voice.
+
+"It hurts me, in a way, to think of it--but what does that matter?" he
+said. "Her jewels, everything she had . . . when I was in a tight place,
+she brought them all to me. . . . It was the two thousand pounds that
+saved me. . . . Shall I have time enough to get even with her in all my
+life, Aunt Eveline?"
+
+Eveline Annersly smiled reassuringly. "One ought to do a good many
+little things in a lifetime, and, after all, it is deeds of gratitude
+that please us most."
+
+They went in some little time afterwards. While they sat at supper
+together, one of Leland's distant neighbours came in.
+
+"I've ridden straight from the settlement. Macartney had a wire from
+Winnipeg just before I left," he said. "Wheat jumped up another cent
+to-day."
+
+Leland looked across the table at Gallwey. "Tom," he said, "before I
+fell sick, my broker sent along an offer for about half the crop. I
+wouldn't sell. But I have wondered once or twice if the other man made
+another bid."
+
+"He did," said Gallwey, with a quiet smile. "There were, as you may
+remember, two or three weeks when we told you very little, and you
+wouldn't have understood anything during the first of them. At the time
+everybody round here was anxious to sell--that is, except Mrs. Leland.
+By her instructions, I wrote your broker that you meant to hold on to
+every bushel."
+
+Leland said nothing, for there were others present, but Carrie felt her
+face grow hot when he looked at her. It was also significant that soon
+after the meal was over the others seemed to feel they would be excused
+if they went out to watch the threshing. Gallwey, whose face beamed,
+surmised that the impression was conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly,
+though he could not be sure how she had accomplished it.
+
+The dusk came early now, but a full moon was rising above the prairie,
+and men still toiled about the big machine, whose hum rang through the
+stillness. Loaded waggons lurched through the crackling stubble. Outside
+the homestead, Leland sat with his wife, watching them.
+
+"The first wheat we sell will get that crescent back," he said. "The
+next will take us for two months to New York. We'll start when the snow
+is on the ground, but it will not be like that first drive we had."
+
+There was a curious little tremor in Carrie Leland's voice. "Charley,"
+she said, "everything is different now. You have driven out the rustlers
+and you have saved your wheat."
+
+Leland laughed.
+
+"That isn't quite what you mean, and, after all, it wouldn't go very far
+by itself. The thing that counts the most is that Carrie Leland is
+content with her prairie farmer."
+
+
+
+
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+   =Broken Lance, The.= By Herbert Quick.
+   =By Wit of Women.= By Arthur W. Marchmont.
+   =Call of the Blood, The.= By Robert Hitchens.
+   =Cap'n Eri.= By Joseph C. Lincoln.
+   =Cardigan.= By Robert W. Chambers.
+   =Car of Destiny, The.= By C. N. and A. N. Williamson.
+   =Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine.= By Frank R. Stockton.
+   =Cecilia's Lovers.= By Amelia E. Barr.
+   =Circle, The.= By Katherine Cecil Thurston (author of
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+   =Deliverance, The.= By Ellen Glasgow.
+   =Divine Fire, The.= By May Sinclair.
+   =Empire Builders.= By Francis Lynde.
+   =Exploits of Brigadier Gerard.= By A. Conan Doyle.
+   =Fighting Chance, The.= By Robert W. Chambers.
+   =For a Maiden Brave.= By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.
+   =Fugitive Blacksmith, The.= By Chas. D. Stewart.
+   =God's Good Man.= By Marie Corelli.
+   =Heart's Highway, The.= By Mary E. Wilkins.
+   =Holladay Case, The.= By Burton Egbert Stevenson.
+   =Hurricane Island.= By H. B. Marriott Watson.
+   =In Defiance of the King.= By Chauncey C Hotchkiss.
+   =Indifference of Juliet, The.= By Grace S. Richmond.
+   =Infelice.= By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+   =Lady Betty Across the Water.= By C. N. and A. M. Williamson.
+   =Lady of the Mount, The.= By Frederic S. Isham.
+   =Lane That Had No Turning, The.= By Gilbert Parker.
+   =Langford of the Three Bars.= By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.
+   =Last Trail, The.= By Zane Grey.
+   =Leavenworth Case, The.= By Anna Katharine Green.
+   =Lilac Sunbonnet, The.= By S. R. Crockett.
+   =Lin McLean.= By Owen Wister.
+   =Long Night, The.= By Stanley J. Weyman.
+   =Maid at Arms, The.= By Robert W. Chambers.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original text have been corrected.
+
+In Chapter II, "Branscome Denham is usually at his wits' end" was
+changed to "Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end".
+
+In Chapter VII, "Galgary" was changed to "Calgary" in two places.
+
+In Chapter XXII, "I hadn't meant to memtion it" was changed to "I hadn't
+meant to mention it".
+
+In Chapter XXX, "conveyed to them by Eveline Annersley" was changed to
+"conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly".
+
+The spelling of some words, such as "depot" and "depôt", or "flap-jacks"
+and "flapjacks", is inconsistent in the original text.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of By Right of Purchase, by Harold Bindloss
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of By Right Of Purchase, by Harold Bindloss.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
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+         clear: both;
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+    hr.wide { width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;
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+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+            /*  visibility: hidden;  */
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+                left: 92%;
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+                text-align: right;
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+                 margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;}
+
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+    .chapname   {text-align: left; font-variant: small-caps;
+                 padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 3em;}
+    .chappage   {text-align: right;}
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of By Right of Purchase, 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: By Right of Purchase
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Illustrator: Alfred James Dewey
+
+Release Date: July 12, 2011 [EBook #36705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE ***
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+produced from scanned images of public domain material
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+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE</h1>
+
+<hr class="wide" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;">
+<img src="images/front.jpg" width="405" height="600" alt="&quot;GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT&#39;S MRS. LELAND.
+SHE&#39;S A DAISY!" title="" />
+</div>
+<p class="caption">&quot;GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT&#39;S MRS. LELAND.
+SHE&#39;S A DAISY!&quot;&mdash;<a href="#daisy">Page 297</a></p>
+
+<hr class="wide" />
+
+<p class="center biggertext">By Right of Purchase</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>By</i><br /><span class="bigtext">HAROLD BINDLOSS</span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Author of</span><br />
+"Alton of Somasco," etc.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 125px;">
+<img src="images/logo.png" width="125" height="123" alt="publisher's logo" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Illustrated By</span><br />
+ALFRED JAMES DEWEY</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>A.&nbsp;L. BURT COMPANY<br />
+<span style="word-spacing: 3em;">Publishers New</span> York</i></p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1908, by</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">Frederick A. Stokes Company</span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved</i></p>
+
+<p class="center">September, 1908</p>
+
+<hr class="wide" />
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum smalltext">CHAPTER</td>
+<td class="chapname smalltext">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="chappage smalltext">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">I.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Barrock-holme</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">3</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">II.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland is Roused to Pity</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">15</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">III.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Pressure of Circumstances</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">26</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">IV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland Makes the Plunge</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">36</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">V.</td>
+<td class="chapname">No Escape</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Prairie</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">60</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Carrie Makes Her Views Clear</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">73</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland Seeks Distraction</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">86</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">IX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Farmers in Council</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">98</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">X.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Homicide</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">109</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Seedtime</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">121</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland's Protest</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">134</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Carrie Abases Herself</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">146</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Outlaws Strike Back</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">159</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Beneficent Rain</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">170</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Urmston Shows His Prudence</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">181</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Carrie Makes a Comparison</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">A Midnight Visitor</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">202</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Prairie-hay</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">215</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">An Understanding</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">227</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">A Willing Sacrifice</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">237</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Hail</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">248</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Gallwey's Adventure</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">261</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland Makes Sure</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">272</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">A Portentous Light</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">281</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Fighting Fire</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">292</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland Feels the Strain</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">303</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Carrie's Responsibility</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">313</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Leland Strikes Back</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">324</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Harvest</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">335</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr class="wide" />
+
+
+<h2>By Right of Purchase</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br />
+<span class="smalltext">BARROCK-HOLME</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was a hot September afternoon. Leland wondered vaguely how the
+harvesting and threshing were progressing in his own far distant
+country, as he leant on the moss-grown wall of the terrace beneath the
+old house of Barrock-holme. He had been a week there now as the guest of
+Lieutenant Denham, whose acquaintance he had originally made out on the
+wide prairie in Western Canada, and for whom he had a certain liking
+that was slightly tinged with contempt. The estate would be Jimmy
+Denham's some day, provided that his father succeeded in keeping it out
+of the grasp of his creditors. Those who knew the old man well fancied
+that he might with difficulty accomplish it, for Branscombe Denham of
+Barrock-holme was not troubled by many scruples, and had acquired
+considerable proficiency in the evasion of debts.</p>
+
+<p>The mansion stood on the brink of a ravine in the desolate border
+marshes. Part of it had been built to stand a siege in the days of the
+Scottish wars. The strong square tower was intact and habitable still;
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> rest of the low building stretched round three sides of a
+quadrangle, with a dry moat across the fourth, beyond which lawn and
+flower-garden lay shielded from the shrewd border winds by tall,
+lichened walls. Through an archway one could look down, across
+silver-stemmed birches and dusky firs, upon the Barrock flashing in the
+depths of the ravine.</p>
+
+<p>Leland found the prospect pleasant as he lounged there, with a cigar in
+his hand. He was accustomed to his own country, and there was something
+congenial and, in a fashion, familiar in the sweep of lonely moorlands
+and bleak Scottish hills which stretched, shining warm in the paling
+sunlight, along the northern horizon. It reminded him of his own
+country, which was even more wild and desolate, on the southern border
+of Western Canada. He had been three months in England, and was already
+longing to be home again, though he had found what he called the
+hardness of the North congenial.</p>
+
+<p>It was a land of legends and traditions, of which they were rather proud
+at Barrock-holme. The grey tower had more than once been beset by the
+border spears, on whom the dragon's mouth on the wall above had spouted
+boiling oil. There was an oak on the edge of the ravine which had borne
+bitter fruit in the days of foray, and&mdash;for the men of Barrock-holme
+could strike back tellingly then&mdash;the quadrangle had been filled with
+Scottish cattle. They were grim, hard men, and what he had heard of
+their doings appealed to Leland. He himself was in some respects a hard
+man, and rather primitive. The life of the wardens of Barrock-holme and
+the moss-troopers was rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> more comprehensible to him than the one of
+which he had had brief glimpses in London.</p>
+
+<p>While he stood there, Jimmy Denham came along the terrace, and stopped
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"You're not going down to join them?" he said, indicating with a little
+wave of a particularly well-shaped hand the white-clad figures that
+flitted to and fro across a sunken square of turf beyond the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Leland. "I don't play tennis well. In fact, I don't play any
+of your games. I never had time to learn them."</p>
+
+<p>Denham sat down upon the wall and looked at him languidly. He was a
+well-favoured young man, tall and fair, with pale blue eyes, and
+distinguished by a finicking, almost feminine daintiness in dress and
+person, though he was proficient in most manly sports and a soldier. His
+friends, however, were aware that his fastidiousness was much less
+noticeable in his character.</p>
+
+<p>"One can't do everything," he said lazily. "I don't know that I've seen
+another beginner show quite as good form at billiards as you do. I'll
+play you fifty with the same allowance as last time. It will be some
+time yet before dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Not just now. It seems to me I've had about enough of billiards for one
+week. To be quite straight, one finds learning your amusements a trifle
+expensive, and I'm not sure they're worth it. You see, I'm not going to
+stay here forever, and once I go back, it will probably be a very long
+while before I take part in any of them again."</p>
+
+<p>Denham laughed with undiminished good-humour. "Well," he said, "though I
+have taken a little out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> you, the acquisition of knowledge is usually
+more or less costly. There's a couple of hours to put in, anyway. What
+would you like to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind poker, if you'll make it high enough."</p>
+
+<p>Denham saw the little twinkle in his eyes, and languidly shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he said; "I rather fancy you would have me there. The suggestion's
+a bit significant, and I have a notion your nerve's too good. Of course,
+it isn't very sporting to say no, but I really can't afford to face a
+risk just now."</p>
+
+<p>"Which was probably why you wanted to play billiards with me?"</p>
+
+<p>Denham regarded him reproachfully for a moment or two, and then made a
+little gesture. "That coming from some people might be considered
+offensive, but nobody seems to mind how you express yourself, although
+your observations aren't always particularly delicate. Still, I'm
+willing to admit that I want fifty pounds rather worse than I generally
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," said Leland, with a trace of dryness, "if you would take it
+amiss if I offered to lend it to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Denham smiled delicately where another man would have grinned.
+"Not in the least! In fact, I should consider myself distinctly obliged
+to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you shall have a cheque after dinner."</p>
+
+<p>Denham thanked him without effusion. One could almost have fancied that
+it was he who was conferring the favour. As Leland listened, a little
+sardonic smile crept into his eyes. He was known in his own country as a
+shrewd man, and was quite aware that he ran some risk in lending his
+comrade fifty pounds. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> Jimmy had done him one or two kindnesses, and
+that counted for much with Leland.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the very pretty girl who has just come into the tennis ground?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"My sister," said Denham. "I had almost forgotten you had not met
+Carrie. She is rather pretty, though. While the governor and I are
+Denhams, she takes after the other side of the family in more ways than
+one. She has only just come from Town, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Leland did not know. He had merely heard that there was a Carrie Denham;
+but as he looked down across the moat he was conscious of a sudden
+interest in the girl. She stood with one hand on the back of a
+basket-chair, her long white dress flowing in easy lines about her tall
+and shapely figure. So far as he could see it, her face beneath the big
+white hat was attractive, too; but it was her pose that vaguely
+impressed him. There was a suggestion of strength and pride in it that
+was by no means noticeable in the case of either her father or Jimmy
+Denham. The appearance of the man with whom she talked was, however,
+much less pleasing. He was inclined to be portly, his face was coarsely
+fleshy, with the distinctive stamp of the city on him. He looked out of
+place in that quaint old pleasance on the desolate border side. He
+reminded Leland forcibly of the caricatures he had seen of Hebrew
+usurers.</p>
+
+<p>"And the gentleman?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Denham laughed. "You would expect his name to be Moses, or Levy, but, as
+a matter of fact, it isn't. Anyway, he calls himself Aylmer. A friend of
+the governor's, and the usual something in the city. Comes down for a
+week or two at the partridges, ostensibly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> at least, though it's quite
+possible there will be a dog or two, and, perhaps, a keeper, disabled
+before he goes away. If you care to come down, I'll present you to
+Carrie. She knows you are here, and is no doubt a trifle curious about
+you."</p>
+
+<p>If she was, Miss Denham concealed the fact very well, and Leland, who
+was not readily embarrassed, felt a quite unusual diffidence as she held
+out a little white hand. He noticed, however, that she looked at him
+frankly, and that she had a beautiful hand, like the rest of the
+Denhams. Her face was cold and somewhat colourless, with dusky hair low
+on the broad forehead, unusually straight brows, and dark eyes; a
+beautiful face it seemed to him, but one that had a vague suggestion of
+weariness in it just then. Carrie Denham, he thought, in no way
+resembled her easy-going brother Jimmy. There was, as he expressed it to
+himself, more grit in her; and yet he was, without exactly knowing why,
+rather sorry for her. She was evidently not more than three or
+four-and-twenty, and he felt there must be a reason for her quietness
+and reserve, which appeared a trifle unnatural.</p>
+
+<p>She, on her part, saw a tall and wiry rather than stalwart man, some
+four or five years older than herself, especially straight of limb,
+holding himself well, whilst his bronzed face, which was otherwise of
+brown-eyed, English type, showed undoubted force. He was, she fancied, a
+man accustomed to exert authority, but not exactly what in the most
+restricted English sense of the word would be called a gentleman. At
+least, he was evidently one who earned his living, and his hands were
+curiously brown and hard, while the man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>ner in which he wore his
+shooting clothes suggested that he seldom wasted much time over his
+toilet.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will find your stay at Barrock-holme pleasant," she said.
+"In weather like this the birds should lie well. You have not been here
+long?"</p>
+
+<p>"A week," said Leland.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Denham had in the meanwhile passed on. His sister glanced at the
+fleshy Aylmer, who was about to move the chair for her.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said in a coldly even voice, "you need not trouble. I am not
+going to stay here. Have they shown you our dripping-well yet, Mr.
+Leland?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland, who said he had not seen it, surmised that Miss Denham desired
+to be rid of her other cavalier; but Aylmer, who protested that he had
+an absorbing interest in dripping-wells, was not to be shaken off, so
+they crossed the lawn and went out through the archway together. Then
+Leland stopped a moment and flashed a questioning glance at Carrie
+Denham, for the strip of pathway outside the wall was, perhaps, two feet
+wide, and he could look almost straight down through the tops of the
+birch trees upon the Barrock flashing in the hollow a hundred and fifty
+feet below. He was thinking that it would probably go hard with anybody
+who stumbled there. A railed walk led in the opposite direction.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham, however, met his gaze with a faint, understanding smile,
+and he followed her in single file until the path grew broader beyond a
+bend of the wall. Then looking round he saw, as he half-expected, that
+the passage had apparently been too much for the third of the party. In
+another moment he met the girl's glance again.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>"I hope you were not afraid?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland's eyes twinkled, but he made no disclaimer, which, for no
+apparent reason, seemed to please her.</p>
+
+<p>"There is, of course, another path," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"So I should surmise!" said Leland. "Do you really wish to show me the
+well?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl laughed for the first time, and the swift change in her face
+almost startled the man. The coldness and reserve had gone, and for a
+moment she was, it seemed to him, subtly alluring.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "I have to justify myself, and somebody may ask you
+what you think of it. Under the circumstances, it might be better to go
+on, although the way is often a little muddy when one gets among the
+trees."</p>
+
+<p>Leland was fancying that it must have been muddier than usual, or she
+would not have ventured there, when they reached a spot where a tiny
+stream came trickling out of a hollow shrouded with sombre firs. A few
+stones had evidently once been laid in the moss and mire; but some of
+them had sunk, and the gaps were wide between. Carrie Denham stopped and
+surveyed them dubiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't been here for a long while, but I don't like to turn back,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Or the men who do?"</p>
+
+<p>She flashed a little, swift glance at him, but his face was
+expressionless. "That goes without saying."</p>
+
+<p>Leland glanced down at her little bronze shoes. "Of course, there is
+usually a way; but the trouble is that I am a stranger. If I were in my
+own country, I should suggest a very simple means of getting you over."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>The girl looked at him with something in her eyes that suggested
+ironical appreciation of his boldness, but her only action was to shake
+her head.</p>
+
+<p>"It is just as well you are not," she said. "We are a little less
+primitive here."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said Leland, "I guess we must try the other way."</p>
+
+<p>He plunged boldly into the mossy quagmire, into which he sank well above
+his ankles, and held out his hand to her. She noticed as she sprang from
+stone to stone how hard it was and how firm his grasp. It seemed to her
+that what this man took hold of he would not easily let go, an
+impression she remembered afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>She crossed dry-shod, and Leland did not seem in the least concerned at
+the water squishing in his shoes. There was then a scramble up the
+hillside under the shadowy firs until they reached the well, which
+Leland promptly decided was not very much to look at. It lay at the head
+of a little green hollow, a wall of fissured limestones sprinkled with
+mosses and tufted with hartstongue fern from the midst of which the
+water splashed drip by drip into a shallow basin. Carrie Denham turned
+and glanced at him with a trace of somewhat chilly amusement in her
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"You are no doubt wondering if I haven't wasted your time," she said.
+"Still, now you are here, you may as well notice that the water has
+rather curious properties. If you will pull out one of these sticks, for
+instance, you will see what is happening to them."</p>
+
+<p>Leland stooped and drew out a slender birch branch, whose feathery twigs
+were changing into what looked very like silver lace. The stem was also
+crusted with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> a white deposit, and it cost him a little effort to snap
+it across. Then he looked up at his companion with a smile as he saw
+that the interior was still soft.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know that you strike me as being very like this twig?" he said,
+and she noticed for the first time his Western accent and modulation.
+"The hardness is all outside."</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever made you say that?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland met her half-indignant gaze gravely. "Well," he said with a
+little deprecatory gesture, "I have seen you laugh."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "there was a time when I laughed rather more
+frequently than I do now. I should, however, like to point out that the
+stick had not been in quite long enough."</p>
+
+<p>Leland still looked at her with a quizzical expression. "I think I know
+what you mean," he said. "Still, I should scarcely have fancied you
+would have felt it yet. Anyway, that's not the question; and, perhaps,
+it wouldn't do for me to make you stop here. There will be other people
+wanting to talk to you."</p>
+
+<p>They turned back together, this time taking the easier way. As they
+passed along a tall hedge, Leland heard a rustling on its other side and
+darted impulsively through, leaving his astonished companion without a
+word. Following through a gap, she came upon him as he picked up a
+rabbit from the grass. The little creature's eyes were protuding in an
+agony of strangulation, and a thin brass wire hung from its red-smeared
+fur. Then Leland either saw or heard her, for he turned his back to the
+hedge, and flung over his shoulder what seemed to her rather too like a
+command.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>"Go back!" he said. "This is not a thing for you to see."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham went back, though she was more accustomed to do what
+pleased her, and make others do it, than to do what she was told. It was
+a minute or two before Leland joined her, grim in face, an ominous
+sparkle in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It was only half-choked, so I put it back in a burrow," he said. "It
+would have pleased me to hang the brute who set that wire."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham watched him with interest. "I believe it is the usual way
+of catching them."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said Leland grimly, "there must be something very wrong with the
+folks who allow that abominable cruelty to go on. The little beast might
+have struggled there for hours in horrible pain before it choked itself
+in its agony."</p>
+
+<p>The girl fancied that abominable was not the adjective he had wanted to
+employ, but she said nothing further on the subject, though there
+remained with her the picture of him holding the little furry creature
+with womanly gentleness while he slackened the torturing wire. It was
+made even more impressive when, on suggesting hanging for the man who
+had laid the snare, something in his face and voice left her with the
+conviction that he would on due occasion be capable of carrying out his
+suggestion. He was, she decided, altogether different from the men she
+usually saw. When he left her in the quadrangle, she contrived to fall
+in with her brother.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley Leland," said Jimmy with his nearest approach to a grin.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>"I know that already."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell you very much more, and no doubt you'll find out what you
+want to know for yourself. I spent a month shooting round his place in
+Western Canada, and made him promise if ever he came over he'd look in
+upon me here. Then I met him in London a few weeks ago."</p>
+
+<p>"What does he do out there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Farm, on a lordly scale. I forget how many thousand acres he has under
+wheat, and how many steers he owns; but he's rather a famous man in
+Assiniboia. His father was, I believe, an Englishman, but he died when
+Leland was young, and the farm and the stock-run have doubled in the
+hands of the son. That's about all, except that I rather like the man.
+He has his strong points, but needs handling. I fancy any one who roused
+him would see the devil."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham asked no more questions, but went somewhat thoughtfully to
+her room. On the whole she felt a mild interest in Charley Leland.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND IS ROUSED TO PITY</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The evening was unusually soft and clear, and a warm, gentle breeze kept
+the dew from settling. Leland strolled out on the terrace above the moat
+at Barrock-holme. He had spent a fortnight there now, and was beginning
+to find the easy-going life of its inmates somewhat pleasant, though at
+first it had caused him contemptuous astonishment. Nobody appeared to
+have any duties; or, if they had, he surmised that they were seldom
+attended to. People got up at all hours, and some of them seldom retired
+before the morning. Whenever he walked over the estate with Jimmy
+Denham, he noticed many things that pained his eyes. There was land that
+lay rushy and sour for the need of draining, the roads in the Barrock
+hollow were so ill-kept and rutted that he wondered how any one could
+haul a full load along them, and rotting gates and tottering dry-stone
+walls dotted the entire acreage. At Barrock-holme, waste and
+short-sighted parsimony that defeated its own object apparently went
+hand-in-hand. Once he ventured to point out to Jimmy what was in his
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>"If you put four or five thousand pounds into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> land, you would be
+astonished at what it would give you back," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Denham laughed. "The question is, where we would get the four
+thousand pounds. We are, as you have no doubt noticed, confoundedly
+hard-up, and a tenant with capital enough to stand a decent rent would
+think twice before he took a farm from us."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I wouldn't blame him," said Leland drily. "But what you folks
+spend personally in a couple of years would set the place on its feet."</p>
+
+<p>"It is very probable," and Jimmy laughed again. "Still, you see, you
+can't always live as you should in this country. Of course, I could cut
+the service, and we might let the house to a shooting tenant; that is,
+the thing is physically practicable. The trouble is that it wouldn't
+suit me, and the governor would veto it right off if it did. To be
+candid, there is no particular capacity for hard work and self-denial in
+any of the family."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made no further suggestions. On the last point, he quite
+concurred with Jimmy; but his own life hitherto had been one of
+strenuous endeavour and Spartan simplicity, and it was pleasant to feel
+the strain relaxed for a month or two.</p>
+
+<p>On the night in question he was quite content with circumstances and his
+surroundings, as he strolled out on the terrace an hour after dinner
+with his cigar. There was a clear moon above him, and in the air a
+faint, astringent smell of falling leaves. The splashing of the Barrock
+came up musically athwart the birches in the hollow.</p>
+
+<p>As he was strolling up and down the terrace in the evening dress no
+longer strange to him, he saw Carrie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Denham come out from one of the
+long windows that opened into the old stone gallery. A glance about him
+showed Aylmer, to whom he felt an intuitive aversion, hovering big and
+fat in the vicinity. He fancied that the girl saw Aylmer, too, for she
+came down the staircase at the end of the gallery farthest from him and
+moved in Leland's direction. She wore a light evening gown, a fleecy
+white wrap concealing her shoulders and part of her dark hair. Flowing
+straight to the delicate incurving of waist, it emphasised by suggestion
+the outline of her shapely figure. Leland felt a little thrill as she
+came towards him. He surmised that she merely desired to make use of him
+for the purpose of ridding herself of Aylmer's company, or, perhaps, as
+an incentive to the latter; but that did not matter. Leland was shrewd
+enough to be aware of his own disabilities; and, no matter what her
+motive, she looked ethereally beautiful with the soft moonlight upon
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"You need not throw the cigar away," she said, when she stopped and
+seated herself on an old stone bench close to where he stood. "In fact,
+I should be rather sorry if you did."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Leland, with a little smile. "It would be a pity.
+Jimmy gave me two or three of them, and they're unusually good."</p>
+
+<p>"One would fancy that you were not in the habit of throwing anything
+away?" she half asked, half said.</p>
+
+<p>Again the twinkle flashed in Leland's eyes. "Until I came to England I
+don't think I ever wasted anything, effort or material, in my life. That
+is, when I knew what I was doing, at least."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>"Ah," said Carrie, "you would soon get into the way of doing it at
+Barrock-holme. Still, why aren't you playing bridge or billiards? Was
+the long day on the moors too much for you? I believe you walked home."</p>
+
+<p>"So did Jimmy. It was only four miles. I have quite often ridden sixty
+in my own country, and, when it's light, I usually begin to work there
+at four in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a farmer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, as it's understood out there. Our wheat furrows at Prospect would
+run straight across four of the biggest holdings on this property, and
+I've over a thousand cattle on the new range among the willow bluffs. A
+farm of that kind requires looking after, with wheat at present
+figures."</p>
+
+<p>"You give all your time to it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every minute until the snow comes, and we usually begin hauling grain
+in to the railroad on the bob-sledges then. In summer it's work from
+sun-up until it's dark, and you go to sleep in ten minutes after you
+come in."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham's little shudder might have expressed either horror or
+sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't that, in one way, a waste of life? You have no amusement at all?"
+she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"An hour or two after the antelope, or the brent geese in the sloos in
+fall and spring, when the salt pork runs out. As to the other question,
+there are people who want the wheat we raise. Some of them want it badly
+in your own English towns. A man's life was given him to use at what
+suits him best. It's taking quite a responsibility to fritter it away."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>Carrie Denham had naturally heard this sentiment expressed before,
+though she had never seen it taken seriously among her own friends and
+family. She glanced at her companion curiously, rather resenting his
+flinging maxims of that kind at her. It rankled more when she realised
+that there was nothing about the speaker to suggest the trifler or the
+prig. As a new sensation, he was undoubtedly interesting.</p>
+
+<p>"And you never take a holiday?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the first one, and I mightn't have taken it if several
+four-bushel bags of wheat hadn't fallen on me in the granary. The doctor
+we brought out two hundred miles to see me wouldn't let me do anything
+active when I commenced to crawl round again."</p>
+
+<p>"I think Jimmy said you were quite young when you were left alone."</p>
+
+<p>"I had been three months at McGill&mdash;which is to us much the same thing
+as your Oxford is to you&mdash;when the news of my father's death came, and I
+went back and fought my trustees over what was to be done with the farm.
+They were two of the cleverest grain and cattle men in Winnipeg, and I
+was a raw lad, but I beat them. I was to stay at McGill and be educated
+while they let or sold the place, they said; but I had my way of it and,
+instead, went back to the prairie where I belonged. Prospect has doubled
+the acreage it had then."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham listened with slightly languid interest. The narrative had
+been a bit egotistical, but she could imagine the struggle the lonely
+lad had waged with the wilderness. She understood already that it was an
+especially desolate wilderness in which the Prospect farm stood, and
+Jimmy had told her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> that Leland had neither brother nor sister. He had
+made his own way, and had, no doubt, from his point of view, done a good
+deal with his life; but his outlook was, it seemed to her, necessarily
+restricted. One should not, however, expect too much from a man born in
+the wilderness who had had only three months of what could be considered
+education. She also wondered why he had told her so much, since most of
+the young men she came across took some trouble to keep their best side
+uppermost, until it occurred to her that he probably considered the
+doubling of the acreage of the Prospect farm a very notable achievement.
+It scarcely seemed to her to warrant the effort. She loved pleasure.
+Though she was by no means without a sense of duty, the little graces
+and amenities of life counted for much with her.</p>
+
+<p>Aylmer and two of the other guests came along the terrace, and Leland
+looked at her with a little inquiring smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I go on talking? I can keep it up if you wish," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the girl. "You have really done enough in the meanwhile."</p>
+
+<p>She rose and joined the others, and Leland was left wondering exactly
+what she meant, though it was borne in upon him that she did not object
+to Aylmer so much when he had a companion. Then he also rose, and
+strolled along to where a little faded lady of uncertain age, who had
+shown him some trifling kindness, was sitting alone. She swept her dress
+aside to let him pass, looking at him with a smile, but he seated
+himself on the broad-topped wall in front of her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>"Why are you not playing cards, or making love to somebody? Don't you
+know what you are here for?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "I'm afraid I'm not good at either, Mrs. Annersly. You
+see, I'm from the wilderness."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the lady, "there are, I fancy, one or two young women who
+would be willing to teach you the rules of one game."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure they would think it worth while to waste powder and shot
+on a prairie farmer?"</p>
+
+<p>"They might, if it was understood that he was willing to sell his broad
+acres and settle down to the simple pleasures of an English country
+life."</p>
+
+<p>"No, by the Lord!" said Leland. "You will excuse me, madam, but I really
+meant it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly laughed. "I believe you did. Still, you must remember that
+there are not many English estates managed like Barrock-holme. In fact,
+one may observe traces of, at least, a moderate prosperity in parts of
+this country; but we needn't talk of that. You will notice that a few of
+the others besides ourselves have sense enough to prefer being outside
+on such a pleasant night."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked down across the lawn, conscious that she was watching him
+meanwhile, and saw Carrie Denham and Aylmer cross it together. The
+moonlight was upon them, and the silvery radiance that made the girl's
+beauty more apparent seemed to emphasise the grossness of her companion.
+In that space of grass and flowers, moated and hemmed in by mouldering
+walls that had flung back the keen winds of the border for five hundred
+years, Aylmer looked more out of place than he had done by daylight.
+Le<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>land, who had read no little English history, could almost have
+fancied it was filled with memories of the old knightly days when the
+spears of Ettrick and Liddesdale came pricking across the brown moors
+and mosses on many such a night; while Aylmer was from the cities,
+heavy-fleshed, soft of muscle, and sensual, of a wholly modern type.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said drily; "I see two of them."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly laughed again. "So does Branscombe Denham, I surmise, but
+that in all probability does not concern you or me." She stopped, and
+flashed a swift glance at her companion. Seeing that he made no denial,
+she changed the subject. "You have been taking billiard lessons from
+Jimmy Denham. Don't you find it expensive?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," said Leland, "Jimmy Denham is rather a friend of mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. He is also my relative&mdash;which is, however, no great
+advantage to him. Besides, I am a privileged person, an encumbrance the
+Denhams are scarcely likely to get rid of in the present state of their
+affairs, which is, perhaps, a little unfortunate for everybody. My
+tongue is supposed to be dipped in wormwood, nobody expects anything
+pleasant from me, and the weak points in the Denhams constitute my
+special hobby. As you have probably noticed, they have a good many."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her gravely. "You couldn't expect me to admit it, and,
+if I did, you wouldn't be pleased with me. In different ways they have
+all of them been kind to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you asked yourself why?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly haven't," said Leland, a trifle sharply.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>"Well," said the lady, with an air of reflection, "there is usually a
+reason for most things, though it is, perhaps, a little clearer in
+Aylmer's case. They have been somewhat attentive to him, too. Branscombe
+Denham is one of the most improvident of men, and in that respect Jimmy
+is very like him; but, while the strength of the whole family is in the
+girls, there is one thing to their credit: they all stand by one another
+through thick and thin. I fancy there is very little Carrie would stop
+at if it was necessary to save the old man, or, perhaps, Jimmy, from
+disaster."</p>
+
+<p>She turned her head a bit. As it happened, Carrie Denham and Aylmer
+crossed the lawn again just then, and Leland, following the direction of
+Mrs. Annersly's glance, felt that she wished to call his attention to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "unless something unexpected turns up, I should not be
+astonished if they married her to that man."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her, a slight flush in his grim face. "It would be
+almost indecent for several reasons, to say nothing of his age; but Miss
+Denham has surely a will of her own."</p>
+
+<p>Though he seldom manifested the tenderness and pity in his nature until
+an opportunity for helpful action came his way, his face grew softer as
+he watched the pair. His life had of necessity been hard and lonely.
+Perhaps, in some degree at least, from ignorance of them, he had grown
+up with an impersonal, chivalrous respect for all women. Love as between
+man and woman was a thing still remote from him. On the desolate
+prairie, a woman was scarcely ever even seen. It was a man's country.
+As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> his eyes followed the strolling couple, he was conscious of a
+longing to offer the girl the protection of his strength against Aylmer.</p>
+
+<p>Then the lady, who had been watching him closely, spoke again. "She
+decidedly has a will, and, what is more, a tolerably large share of the
+family pride," she said. "Still, she will probably marry her companion.
+Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end for money, and Jimmy, I am
+very much afraid, has been getting into difficulties again. Carrie is in
+one sense an excellent daughter. She knows her duty, and is scarcely
+likely to flinch from doing it."</p>
+
+<p>"But is there nobody else, no young man of good character and family,
+available?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you know against the character of the man yonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," said Leland tersely. "Nothing at all, except that he carries
+it about with him. You can see it in his face. If I had a sister, I
+should feel tempted to kick a man of that kind for looking at her."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly smiled as she answered his previous question. "Young men
+of the kind you mention, with any means, are not to be met with every
+day. What's more, they also naturally prefer a girl with money, and, at
+least, there would in their case be a tying up of property in the
+settlements. The happy man does not, as a rule, consider it necessary to
+contribute anything to the bride's family."</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned sharply, and looked at her with a portentous sparkle in
+his eyes. "Isn't it a horribly unpleasant thing you are suggesting?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is, after all, largely a matter of opinion."</p>
+
+<p>Leland sat still a moment watching the two figures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> on the lawn with a
+curious blending of compassion and disgust. Then he rose and looked down
+on his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," he said, "I wonder if I might ask you why you thought fit to
+tell me this?"</p>
+
+<p>"One should never ask for a woman's reasons, and I think I have informed
+you already that my tongue is dipped in wormwood."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a little impatient gesture. "Is it Aylmer's money alone that
+counts with them, or his station, if he has any?"</p>
+
+<p>"One would certainly imagine that it was his means."</p>
+
+<p>Leland left her presently. As she watched him stride along the terrace,
+her shrewd, faded face grew gentle.</p>
+
+<p>"If I have read that man aright, there may be results," she said. "In
+that case, I almost fancy Carrie will have much to thank me for."</p>
+
+<p>Then she rose and, crossing the quadrangle, sought the card-room. It was
+an hour later when she came upon Carrie Denham sitting alone.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been talking to Mr. Leland, and am rather pleased with him," she
+said to the girl. "He is a curious compound of simplicity and
+forcefulness. They must live like anchorites out there."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham laughed. "I thought that type was distinctly out of date
+now. It probably has its disadvantages."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said Mrs. Annersly with an air of reflection, "he would
+scarcely jar as much on one's self-respect as the people one would meet
+as the wife of the other sort of man."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
+<span class="smalltext">PRESSURE OF CIRCUMSTANCES</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The early breakfast over, Leland was walking up and down beneath the red
+beeches that grew close up to the old arched gateway of Barrock-holme,
+one of his fellow guests beside him, and a gun under his arm. Looking in
+through the quadrangle, they saw a young groom holding with some
+difficulty a restive, champing horse that pawed the gravel and shook his
+head impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't like waiting either," said Leland's companion to the groom.
+"How long have you been holding him here?"</p>
+
+<p>"About half an hour, Mr. Terry," said the groom.</p>
+
+<p>Terry glanced at Leland with a little uplifting of his brows, and again
+addressed the groom.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't pack all of us into that dog-cart, and it's four miles,
+anyway, to the edge of Garberry moor," he said. "Do you know how we are
+expected to get there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Parsons of the Dell farm keeps a smart cart, and he promised to
+lend it Mr. James when he heard we had the tire loose on our other one.
+It should have been here."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>"Then why isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland fancied that a suspicion of a smile flickered in the man's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, sir, unless Mr. James forgot to let him know when we
+wanted it."</p>
+
+<p>"I should consider it very probable," said Terry drily. "Have you any
+objections to walking on as far as the Dell, Leland? It wouldn't
+astonish me greatly if Jimmy kept us waiting an hour yet."</p>
+
+<p>Leland having no objections, they strode away together. Beech-mast
+crackled underfoot between the colonnades of lichened trunks, whose
+great branches stayed the high, vaulted roof of gold and crimson leaves.
+Looking out through the openings between, one could see the sweep of
+rolling champaign stretch away into the horizon through gradations of
+blueness, and the rigid line of the fells smeared with warm brown
+patches of withered bracken.</p>
+
+<p>"It's rather a shame that Jimmy and his father should have a place of
+this kind in their hands at all," said Terry. "Still, for the credit of
+the country, I should like to explain that there are not very many
+English properties run on the same lines. In fact, the Denhams are an
+exception to everything, but I really think Jimmy might have got up in
+time for once in a way."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "The loss of an hour's shooting seems to count with
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"It does. You see, like a good many other people, I have to work rather
+hard for my living, and time is of a little more value to me than it
+apparently is to Jimmy Denham. Besides, my stay here has cost me a good
+deal more than I expected, and, being en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>gaged in commerce, I can't help
+feeling that I ought to get something in return for my money."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite understand that last remark."</p>
+
+<p>"No?" said Terry. "Well, perhaps you don't. In fact, I have had a fancy
+that you were a bona-fide guest. You see, two or three of us aren't."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you make that a little clearer?" And Leland looked astonished,
+though he remembered now several little incidents that had struck him as
+strange.</p>
+
+<p>"With pleasure. Indeed, I feel I owe it to Jimmy for his losing us an
+hour or two every day. Our amusement costs two or three of us a good
+deal directly, as well as the other way. Branscombe Denham, naturally,
+doesn't advertise Barrock-holme as a shooting hotel, but, though affairs
+are arranged more tastefully, it amounts to much the same thing. You
+share expenses of watching and turning down hand-reared birds, and you
+get so many days' shooting with entertainment thrown in. The latter,
+however, is usually costly. One way or the other, Jimmy has taken one
+hundred pounds out of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Leland. "Is that sort of thing common in this country? I had
+a notion that you were rather proud of yourselves. It wouldn't strike us
+as quite nice in Western Canada."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the other man. "Still, it's done occasionally, and, as to
+family pride, you are not likely to come across anybody who has more of
+it than the Denhams. How they reconcile it with some of the things they
+do is a different matter; but you can take it as a rule that the less
+people have to congratulate themselves upon, the prouder they are. In
+fact, Jimmy Denham, who, though one can't help liking him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> is a
+downright bad egg, was at first a little shy of me. I am a partner in a
+concern making a certain advertised specialty, you see."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," said Leland reflectively, "if the girls quite understand the
+position."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think they do. Anyway, not exactly. Indeed, it's a little
+difficult to believe they're daughters of Branscombe Denham, or sisters
+of Jimmy. They show some trace of sense and temper, whilst you can't
+ruffle Jimmy. Still, I fancy, if it were necessary, they would stand by
+their delightful relatives through thick and thin."</p>
+
+<p>Leland lapsed into thoughtful silence. He fancied that his companion was
+right, for he had seen a good deal of Carrie Denham during the month he
+had now spent at Barrock-holme. She had been, in her own reserved
+fashion, gracious to him, and Leland did not in the least resent the
+fact that there was in all she said a suggestion of condescension that
+he surmised was unconscious. Indeed, this struck him as being what it
+should be. Though quite aware of his own value where men were concerned,
+he had seen very few women, and regarded them in general with a vague,
+uncomprehending respect. Furthermore, the girl's physical beauty, her
+pride and almost stately coldness, made a strong appeal to him. She was,
+he was quite willing to admit, a being of a very different order from a
+plain Western farmer. Besides that, she was the one person who had quite
+come up to his expectations, for his visit to the old country had in
+most respects brought him disillusionment.</p>
+
+<p>His father had often spoken of it with all the exile's appreciation of
+the home he had left, and he could re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>member his mother's daintiness and
+refinement; it was, perhaps, not astonishing that he had learned to
+idealise the old land and those who lived in it. It was also unfortunate
+that, whilst it might have happened differently, the few English men and
+women he had met on any terms of intimacy during his stay in London had
+resembled the Denhams more or less, and it had hurt him to discover what
+he considered was the reality. For Jimmy and his father he had a
+tolerant contempt, and it was, in fact, only the presence of Carrie
+Denham that had kept him at Barrock-holme so long. He was sorry for her,
+and had a vague fancy that she might need a friend. There was a vein of
+chivalry in him, and he was also a just man. His sense of justice led
+him to play billiards periodically for somewhat heavy stakes with Jimmy.
+It was one way of getting even, as he expressed it, for he did not care
+to be indebted to a man he looked down upon. Jimmy, who was skilful and
+almost suspiciously fortunate at both billiards and cards, had also no
+objections to emptying the pockets of his guests, though, as Leland was
+aware, the chance stranger very seldom leaves a ranch of Western Canada
+any poorer than when he came there.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile it happened that Branscombe Denham sat talking to his
+son in what he called his library. The few books in it for the most part
+related to the estate, for Denham had reasons for not trusting his
+affairs altogether to a steward or country lawyer. He was, in some
+respects, a handsome man, though his eyes were of too pale a blue, and
+his thin face, in spite of its unmistakable stamp of refinement, lacked
+character. The room was in the old tower, ceiled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> with dark wood and
+sombrely panelled, with one long, narrow leaded-glass window. The tall,
+sparely-framed man with his white hands and immaculate dress seemed out
+of place there. He was essentially modern, the room belonged to the more
+virile past. There was a pile of letters before him, and he took one up
+delicately.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could have foreseen that it would lead to this kind of thing, I
+should never have consented to your grandfather's breaking the entail,"
+he said, with a little whimsical smile. "Lancely has written me in his
+usual stand-and-deliver style again:&mdash;'I am now directed to inform you
+that, unless the last instalment with arrears of interest is remitted me
+by next quarter-day, my clients will regretfully feel themselves
+compelled to foreclose.'"</p>
+
+<p>He laid down the letter with a little lifting of his brows. "I really
+think they mean it at last, and their mortgage covers most of the Dell,
+and the leys on Stapleton's holding. I suppose it is no use asking if
+you could dispense with your next allowance."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Denham laughed, though he was quite aware that the occasion was
+serious enough. "I'm afraid not, sir. In fact, as I had regretfully to
+admit, unless I can raise two hundred pounds in addition to it before my
+leave runs out, I shall probably have to send in my papers. Fortunately,
+I think I can manage it."</p>
+
+<p>He spoke quite frankly, and there was nothing in the attitude of either
+to suggest that one was a father embarrassed by financial difficulties
+and the other a spendthrift son. Indeed, they faced each other as
+comrades, one could almost have said confederates, for in spite of their
+shortcomings, which were some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>what plentiful, the Denhams at least
+recognised the family bond, standing by one another in everything.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case," said Branscombe Denham, "the allowance must stand,
+though I don't know at present where it is to come from. The other
+affair is more difficult. In fact, unless we face it resolutely it might
+become serious."</p>
+
+<p>"So one would imagine," said Jimmy, reflectively. "The Dell is the best
+farm we have, and to let those fellows have it would make things a
+little too plain to everybody. Besides, it's splitting up the property.
+To a certain extent, of course, we are living upon our credit."</p>
+
+<p>Branscombe Denham nodded, though there was a curious look in his pale
+blue eyes as he fixed them on his son.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm rather afraid you don't quite grasp the point," he said. "You see,
+Lancely's man holds a mortgage on most of the Dell; but, as you,
+perhaps, remember, Lennox lent me a couple of thousand, with the
+plough-land in the bottom as security. He did it as a friend, and didn't
+worry much about his papers, while I'm not sure I remembered to mention
+Lancely's bond to him, so there is what one might call a certain
+overlapping of the mortgages. Then I found it necessary to realise a
+little on the oaks and beeches at Arkil bank."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy's face grew grave. "I rather fancy they brought you in a good
+deal. They were unusually good trees. You sold the timber after you
+raised the money on the mortgages?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did. That is just the point of it. I needn't say that I had then a
+scheme of retrenchment in my mind which would provide a kind of sinking
+fund to meet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> the interest, and in due time extinguish the loan, in
+which case the question of the timber would, naturally, never have been
+raised. Unfortunately, the fall in rents and one or two other
+matters&mdash;rendered it unworkable."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy made a gesture of comprehending sympathy. "I'm afraid it would
+look rather bad, sir, if it came out. Lancely's man might make a good
+deal of trouble if he wants his timber and finds it isn't there, to say
+nothing of what Lennox, who, it seems, has a claim on it as well, might
+do. Still, no doubt, you did what you could, sir, and I'm rather afraid
+it was one or two of my little extravagances that put some of the
+pressure on you. I needn't say that if there is anything I can do, down
+to cutting the service&mdash;or bearing part of the responsibility&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks," said Denham, as if he meant it. "You were not very
+extravagant, Jimmy, as young men go, and we have hitherto, at least,
+always stood by each other. Still, I'm not sure that it's my son I can
+count on now."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," and Jimmy's voice was a trifle sharper. "I'm afraid I never liked
+that notion, sir. I think I've mentioned it. There's a good deal of the
+beast in Aylmer. Has he said anything?"</p>
+
+<p>A curious look crept into Denham's face, and it suggested repugnance as
+well as anxiety. "He came to me yesterday, and his ideas of a settlement
+were liberal. I pointed out a few of my difficulties to him, and he
+mentioned rather tastefully that he fancied they could be got over if he
+had my good will in the other matter. In fact, he left me with the
+impression that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the mortgage bonds would be handed Carrie after the
+wedding."</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy Denham's face appeared a trifle flushed, though he was considered
+a rather hard case by a certain officers' mess.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like it, sir," he said again. "I can't claim to be very
+particular, but that man is rather too much for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Then have you any proposition to make?"</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy sat still for at least a minute, apparently lost in thought, which
+was in his case a very unusual thing.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole affair is a little unpleasant, and I think you won't mind my
+saying that much. Still, it's evident that we have to face the
+circumstances, and I scarcely think Carrie will flinch when she
+understands the necessity. There might, however, be a more suitable man
+than Aylmer. In fact, I almost think I know of one."</p>
+
+<p>"The Canadian?"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. Anyway, the man is wholesome, which is more than anybody could
+say of Aylmer, and I rather fancy he will be a person of considerable
+importance by-and-bye, in his own country. If, as I suppose, you haven't
+given Aylmer a definite answer yet, I might suggest that you tell him he
+must make his own running, and leave the rest to me. Though she's not
+fond of any of us but Carrie, I've no doubt that Eveline Annersly would
+stand by me."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence again for almost a minute, and then Denham sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, with a little gesture, "you will remember that there is
+not very much time left. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> meanwhile aren't you keeping the rest
+of them waiting?"</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy went out, and none of the three men he drove to the Garberry moor
+could have suspected that he had a single care. They would certainly not
+have believed, had he told them, that he was, for once, sincerely
+disgusted with himself as well as his father, and troubled with a very
+unusual sense of shame. There was courage of a kind in the Denhams, and
+they could, at least, hide their feelings very well. He inspired the
+rest with good-humour and shot rather better than he generally did, but
+he had grown grave again when he had an interview with Mrs. Annersly
+shortly before dinner that evening. She listened to him with a little
+frown.</p>
+
+<p>"Jimmy," she said, "you are almost as deficient in estimable qualities
+as your father is."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Jimmy humbly, "I know I am, but you might leave the
+governor out. I think he is a little older than you are&mdash;and he is my
+father. Anyway, though you mightn't believe it, I feel a trifle sick
+when I think of Aylmer."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you expect from me?"</p>
+
+<p>Jimmy smiled. "Not a great deal. Only a persistence in your original
+policy. I have rather a fancy that you and I have had the same thing in
+our minds."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "If it must be one or the other, I'll
+do what I can. In fact, I don't mind admitting that, seeing what it
+would probably come to, I have, as you surmise, had the affair in hand
+already. Still, it was not to make things easier for either you or your
+father."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND MAKES THE PLUNGE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>There was for the first time a chill of frost in the air, so none of the
+guests at Barrock-holme thought of lounging on the terrace after dinner.
+Some were in Denham's gun-room, some were playing cards, and only a few
+were left in the big drawing-room where Carrie sat at the piano. Leland
+stood beside her to turn the music over, a duty which was new to him and
+indifferently fulfilled. He had no very clear notion then or afterwards
+what she was singing. Still, her voice, which was indubitably good,
+awakened a little thrill in him. Her proximity had also an exhilarating
+effect, and he was lost in a whir of sensations he could not analyse as
+he looked down on the cold face with its crown of dusky hair and saw the
+gleam of ivory shoulders. This was a man who had usually so much to do
+that it left him little time to dissect and classify his emotions.</p>
+
+<p>He did not think he was in love with Carrie Denham, so far as his ideas
+on that subject went; but, until he had come to England, the society of
+a woman of her description was an unknown thing to him. Her physical
+beauty appealed to him, her cold, reposeful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> sincerity and pride of
+station had made an even stronger impression, and now he was sensible of
+a vague admiration and compassion for her. He felt, too, a feeling of
+awkwardness in her presence, realising at the same time that there was
+nothing to warrant it.</p>
+
+<p>He did not look awkward in the least. His bronze face was quiet, his
+grave, brown eyes were steady, and, though he was quite unconscious of
+it, the pose he had fallen into effectively displayed the spare symmetry
+of his muscular figure. There was also upon him the stamp of the silent
+strength and vigour that comes of a clean life spent in wide spaces out
+in the wind and sun. He did not know that several pairs of eyes were
+watching him with approval, and that the owner of one of them smiled in
+a fashion which suggested satisfaction as she glanced towards Aylmer.
+The fleshy gentleman sat not very far away, and Leland fancied that his
+own presence at the piano was justified when he looked in that
+direction. There was that in his nature which prompted him to offer
+protection to any one who needed it, and he felt it was not fitting that
+such a man as Aylmer should stand at Carrie Denham's side. He had been
+sensible of this before, but the feeling was unusually strong that
+night. At last the music stopped, and she looked up at him with her
+curious little smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," she said; and the man felt his blood stir, for he fancied
+she understood what had brought him there. Still, shrewd in his own way
+as he was, he was strangely deceived in supposing that nobody except the
+girl and himself had grasped his purpose, or that he would have been
+able to carry it out at all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> without the concurrence of one, at least,
+of those who watched him. Leland had grappled with adverse seasons, and
+held his own against hard and clever men, but he had not as yet had
+cultured Englishwomen for his enemies or partisans.</p>
+
+<p>He turned away when Carrie Denham rose, and, moving about the room,
+found himself presently near Mrs. Annersly, who was sitting alone just
+then on a divan with a big, partly-folded screen on one hand of her. It
+cut that nook off from the observation of most of the rest, as she was
+probably aware when she settled herself there; but, when she indicated
+the vacant place at her side, it never occurred to Leland that she had
+been lying in wait for him.</p>
+
+<p>"You did that very cleverly. I mean when you opened the piano first,"
+she said. "I never suspected you of being a diplomatist. One could
+almost fancy that Carrie was grateful, too."</p>
+
+<p>Leland was in no way flattered, since all he had done was to reach the
+piano in advance of Aylmer, who was a trifle heavy on his feet. In fact,
+he was slightly disconcerted, though he did not show it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said frankly, "it was either Aylmer or I."</p>
+
+<p>His companion looked at him in a rather strange fashion. "Exactly!" she
+said. "It was either you or Aylmer, and, perhaps, it was natural that
+Carrie should prefer you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland glanced across the big room, towards where Aylmer was sitting,
+and was once more sensible of dislike and repulsion. The man did not
+look well in evening dress. It made his flabby heaviness of flesh too
+apparent, and the sharply contrasted black and white emphasised the
+florid colouring of his broad,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> sensual face. He was just then regarding
+Carrie Denham out of narrow slits of eyes, priggish eyes, Leland called
+them to himself, and there was the easily recognisable stamp of
+grossness and indulgence upon him. The Westerner himself was hard and
+somewhat spare, a man whose body had been toughened by strenuous labour
+and held in due subjection by an unbending will. Mrs. Annersly noticed
+the clearness of his steady eyes and the clean transparency of his
+bronzed skin. As a man, he was, she decided, certainly to be preferred
+to Aylmer, and perhaps the more so because there was a side of his
+nature which as yet, it was evident, had scarcely been awakened. She was
+glad that the drawing-room was large and the place where they sat
+secluded, because there was a notion with which she desired to inspire
+him. She had already gone a certain distance in that direction, and now
+it was time to go a little further. She could see that her last speech
+had had some effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," he said, with his usual directness, "I wonder what you mean by
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"It ought to be evident," said the lady, with a little smile. "If
+everybody's suppositions are correct, I really think Carrie will have
+enough of Aylmer by-and-bye. There is no reason why she should commence
+the surfeit now."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if she feels as you suggest she does, why in the name of wonder
+should she marry him?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are family reasons. Jimmy and his family are, I fear, in
+difficulties again, and it will be the privilege of Carrie's husband to
+extricate them. I believe I told you as much before, though you do not
+seem to have remembered it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>A slightly darker tinge of colour crept into Leland's cheek. "As a
+matter of fact, madam, the thing has been worrying me ever since you
+did. A marriage of that kind is rather more than any one with a sense of
+the fitness of things could quietly contemplate."</p>
+
+<p>"Still"&mdash;and Mrs. Annersly looked at him steadily&mdash;"the difficulty is
+that I am afraid there is nothing you or I could do to prevent it."</p>
+
+<p>Leland was a trifle startled. He could almost fancy that she expected a
+disclaimer from him, and meant to suggest that, if he wished it, he
+might find a way where she had failed. He did not know how she had
+conveyed this impression, and, as he could not be sure that she had
+desired to do so, he sat in silence until she abruptly changed the
+subject. With a man of this description there was no necessity for being
+unduly artistic; the one thing was to get the notion into his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"When are you going back?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite know. In a month or so. Of course, I ought to be there
+now; but it is the first time I have been away since I came home from
+Montreal, and it will probably be a long while before I take a rest
+again. As it is, my being away this harvest will probably cost me a good
+deal."</p>
+
+<p>"It must be lonely on the prairie, especially in the winter."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled. "It is. Once we haul the grain in, there is very little
+one can do, with a foot of snow upon the ground and the thermometer at
+forty below. There's just Prospect and its birch bluff in the midst of
+the big white circle with the sledge-trails running<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> out from it
+straight to the horizon. Not a house, not a beast, or any sign of life
+about."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and made a little gesture. "Of course, there are big hotels
+where one could meet pleasant people, as well as operas and theatres, at
+Winnipeg, and one could get there in two days on the cars. I dare say I
+could manage a trip to Montreal or New York occasionally too, and we
+have a few well-educated people from the East on the prairie not more
+than twenty miles away; but, since I have nobody to go with, going away
+from home doesn't appeal to me, so I spend the long night sitting beside
+the stove with the cedar shingles crackling over me in the cold. Now and
+then I read, and when I don't there is plenty to think about in planning
+out the next year's campaign."</p>
+
+<p>"Has it never occurred to you that it would be a good deal more pleasant
+if you were married?"</p>
+
+<p>"As a matter of fact it has, but I put the notion away from me. For one
+thing, I remember my mother, and, if ever I married, it would have to be
+somebody grave and sweet and dainty like her. She was a well brought-up
+Englishwoman, and, perhaps, she lived long enough to spoil me. She
+showed me what a wife could be, and it's scarcely likely there are many
+women of her kind who would ever care for a prairie farmer who knows
+very little about anything but wheat and cattle."</p>
+
+<p>"You seem almost unreasonably sure of that," said Mrs. Annersly.</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "Madam," he said, "would you go out there to the prairie
+and trust yourself alone to such a man as I am?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>The little faded lady's eyes twinkled, and in the tones of her reply
+there was something which suggested confidence in her companion.</p>
+
+<p>"I scarcely suppose you mean me to consider that seriously?" she said.
+"Still, if I were twenty years younger I almost think I would, and, what
+is more, I scarcely fancy I should be sorry. That is, at least, if you
+were willing to take me to Winnipeg or Montreal now and then, and bring
+out any friends I might make there to stay with me. We, however, needn't
+concern ourselves with that question, since you certainly don't want me.
+The point is that one could fancy there are English girls of the kind
+you mention who would be willing to venture as far as I would. Still,
+you would have to bestir yourself, and make it evident that you wanted
+one in particular to go out with you. You could hardly expect anybody to
+suggest it to you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland was thoughtful, for Eveline Annersly had done her work
+successfully. She had first inspired him with a strong man's pity for
+Carrie Denham, and awakened in him an undefined, chivalrous desire to
+protect her, whilst now she had gone a little further, and suggested
+that there was, perhaps, a way in which he could do so. He sat quite
+still for a moment or two. The great bare room at Prospect, with its
+uncovered walls and floor, and the big stove in the midst of it, rose up
+before his fancy. Then he saw it changed and cosy, filled to suit a
+woman's artistic taste with the things he cared little for, but which
+his wealth could buy for the gracious presence sitting there beside him.
+Then there would be something to look forward to as he floundered home
+from the railroad down the beaten sledge-trail beside his jaded team, or
+swept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> up in his sleigh out of the white waste, stiff with frost. It was
+an alluring picture in its way, but, after all, material comforts had
+not appealed to him greatly, and while he sat silent by Eveline
+Annersly's side the visions carried him further.</p>
+
+<p>There were, he knew, doors that would be opened to him willingly in
+Winnipeg. He could conceive himself becoming a man of mark in the
+prairie city, and lonely Prospect filled in the shooting season with
+guests whose names were famous in the West. Hitherto he had been a mere
+grower of wheat, but he had a quiet faith in his capabilities, and
+fancied there was no reason why, with a clever wife to help him, he
+should not become famous too, an influence in the new land whose future
+he and others were laboriously building up. So far, it was only his
+reason the fancies appealed to, but, as he glanced across the room
+towards where Carrie Denham sat, he was conscious of a stirring of his
+blood. She was very alluring, with her reposeful stateliness, dark eyes
+that shone with light when she smiled, and dark hair that emphasised the
+clear ivory tinting of the patrician face beneath it. The pity he felt
+for her was becoming lost in a quickening admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"Still," he said, "what you suggest is a trifle difficult to believe. If
+wheat keeps its value, my life, which is now in some ways a hard and
+lonely one, might be changed&mdash;it is my personality that presents the
+difficulty. There is so much you set value on that I know nothing about,
+and one could scarcely expect an English girl with any refinement to be
+attracted by a plain Western farmer."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly smiled at him. "Well," she said, "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> believe I told you I
+had no great fault to find with you, and I don't believe the rising
+generation is more fastidious than my own. In fact, it wouldn't be
+difficult to persuade oneself of the contrary. To be frank, I really
+don't think you need be lonely any longer, unless, of course, you prefer
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Again Leland did not answer her. He sat looking straight in front of him
+with a faint glow in his eyes and his lips firmly set, while an
+unreasoning impulse seized him, and swept him away as he saw Aylmer
+approach Carrie Denham's chair. Perhaps Eveline Annersly guessed part,
+at least, of what was in his mind, for she raised her eyes a moment and
+glanced at Jimmy Denham, who was talking to a young girl some distance
+away. Jimmy was a young man of considerable intelligence, and though he
+made no sign, he knew that he was wanted. A minute or two later he made
+his way indirectly and leisurely across the room, and drawing out a
+chair sat down near Leland.</p>
+
+<p>"You two look as if you had been discussing something important," he
+said. "Has he been persuading you to go out and preside over Prospect,
+Aunt Eveline?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly smiled. "No," she said; "he naturally wants a younger and
+more attractive person, but I understand is rather afraid that nobody of
+the kind would look at him. I have been trying to show him that he is
+mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" said Jimmy. "He doesn't quite grasp things yet. There are
+few sensible girls who would say no to a man with his income. In fact,
+I'd feel reasonably sure of getting an heiress if I had a third of it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>He stopped with a short laugh, looking straight at Leland with something
+that suggested a definite meaning in his pale blue eyes. "Anyway,
+there's no reason why you shouldn't get any one you have seen at
+Barrock-holme, provided, of course, that the lady in question is in
+other respects pleased with you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland closed his lips a little tighter, for it was borne in upon him
+that Jimmy Denham had not spoken without a purpose, and he realised that
+he might be listened to if he craved permission to offer himself as a
+suitor for his sister's hand. Jimmy, however, was too adroit to dwell
+upon the subject, and, changing it abruptly, led Leland into a
+discussion of hammerless guns. Still, both he and Eveline Annersly
+realised that he had said enough, which in most cases is a good deal
+better than too much. As a matter of fact, his words had stirred Leland
+to the rashest plunge he had ever made in his life, though during most
+of it he had usually taken the boldest course, holding his wheat on a
+falling market and sowing in times of black depression when the prudent
+held their hand.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning he had an interview with Branscombe Denham in the
+library, which left him with a very unpleasant impression. In fact, the
+silence he forced himself to maintain hurt him, and he felt it would
+have been a vast relief to tell the fastidious, immaculately dressed
+gentleman precisely what he thought of him. Having on certain delicately
+implied conditions secured his goodwill, Leland set about the
+prosecution of his suit with a directness and singleness of purpose that
+was a matter of delight to those who watched his proceedings. He,
+however, was quite oblivious of their amusement. He knew what he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+wanted, and it did not matter in the least that others should guess it,
+too, but, apart from his obvious directness, he played the suitor with a
+grave, old-fashioned gallantry and deference that became him. In fact,
+since it was by no means what they expected from him, they wondered how
+he came to have it. Though Leland himself could not have told them its
+source, it had been his practice in the long nights, when Prospect lay
+silent under the Arctic frost, to read and ponder over the best of the
+early Victorian novelists. His mother had been a woman of taste, and he
+had, perhaps, unconsciously acquired from the books she had left him
+some of the mannerisms of a more punctilious time.</p>
+
+<p>It was, in any case, promptly evident to everybody that Aylmer was
+outclassed. Leland's wooing was, no doubt, a trifle ceremonious, but
+Aylmer's savoured too much of the freedom of the barroom and
+music-halls. There was more than one maiden at Barrock-holme who felt
+that it was a pity she had not accorded a little judicious encouragement
+to the quiet, bronze-faced Canadian, who it now transpired had large
+possessions. After all, his stilted courtesy was attractive in its way
+and had in it the interest of an entirely new sensation.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody, however, knew exactly what Carrie Denham thought of it, although
+it was evident that she preferred him to Aylmer. When at last he spoke
+his mind to her, she listened gravely with a slightly flushed face and a
+thoughtful look in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"If you are wise," she said quietly, "you will not press me for an
+answer now. You can wait, at least,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> until this time to-morrow. Then I
+shall be outside on the steps of the terrace."</p>
+
+<p>It was not very encouraging, but Leland made her a little inclination.</p>
+
+<p>"If that is your wish, I must try to be patient," he said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
+<span class="smalltext">NO ESCAPE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was towards the middle of the next afternoon when Carrie Denham
+leaned upon the rails of the little path outside the grey walls of the
+garden at Barrock-holme. From where she stood she could see the narrower
+and unprotected way along which she had ventured with Leland a few weeks
+earlier, and she could not help remembering his quiet glance of
+interrogation when he had come upon it suddenly. She and Jimmy had often
+crossed that somewhat perilous ledge in their younger days, the more
+often, in fact, because it had been forbidden to them. Though it was, of
+course, new to Leland, he had displayed no hesitation when once she had
+made her wishes plain. This had pleased her at the time, since it
+suggested that he understood her resolution was equal to his own; but
+now she brushed the recollection aside, for just then she felt she
+almost hated him.</p>
+
+<p>Close by, a narrow flight of steps hewn out of the dripping rock led
+down into the ravine, and she watched with a curious sense of strained
+expectancy the path which wound among the silvery birches from the foot
+of them to the mossy stepping-stones round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> which the Barrock flashed.
+She knew this was unwise, and that she could not escape from what lay
+before her, but hope dies hard when one is young, and there was still
+lurking at the back of her mind a faint belief that after all something
+might happen to stave off the impending disaster. If so, it would be
+only fitting that it should result from the efforts of the man in whom
+she had once had faith and confidence, though neither now was so strong
+as it had been.</p>
+
+<p>A drowsy quietness brooded over Barrock-holme. The men were away
+shooting, and the women had driven to inspect some relics of the Roman
+occupation among the fells. She herself had made excuses for remaining
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>There was not a movement among the birch leaves still hanging here and
+there, flecks of pale gold among the lace-like twigs beneath her, and
+the murmur of the gently swirling water emphasised the silence of the
+hollow. She could hear a squirrel shaking the beech-mast down, and the
+patter of the falling nuts rose sharply distinct from the thin carpet of
+yellow leaves. Then she felt her heart beat as the sound of footsteps
+reached her ears. The man she had once believed in was coming, and, if
+there was any way out of the difficulties that threatened her, it was
+his part to find it.</p>
+
+<p>He came up the rude steps hastily, a well-favoured young man of her own
+world, and almost her own age, which she felt was in some ways
+unfortunate then. As he seized both her hands, with a little resolute
+movement she drew them away from him.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said a trifle sharply. "As I told you last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> time, that is all
+done with now. It was a little weak of me to see you, and you must not
+come here again."</p>
+
+<p>The colour faded in the young man's face, and he clenched his hands
+spasmodically.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" he said, with a catch in his breath, "you can't mean it, Carrie.
+In spite of what you told me, I had been trying to believe the thing was
+out of the question."</p>
+
+<p>There was pain in Carrie Denham's face, and a little bitter smile
+flickered into her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"The thing one shrinks from most is generally the one that
+happens&mdash;unless one does something to make it impossible," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The man reddened, for, though he was pleasant to look at, a stalwart,
+open-faced Englishman, he was very young, and it was, perhaps, not his
+fault that there was a lack of stiffness in his composition. He was not
+one to grapple resolutely with an emergency, and Carrie Denham, who had
+once looked up to him, realised it then.</p>
+
+<p>"What could I do&mdash;what could anybody in my place do?" he said, with a
+little gesture that suggested desperation. "Stanley Crossthwaite is only
+sixty, and may live another twenty years. While he does, I'm something
+between his head keeper and a pensioner."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it a pity you didn't think of that earlier?"</p>
+
+<p>The man made as though he would have seized her hands again, but she
+drew back from him with a slight shiver of hopelessness running through
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't blame me," he said. "Who could help falling in love with you?
+There was a time when I think you loved me, too."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie watched him with a quietness at which she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> herself marvelled. She
+had, at least, fancied she felt for him what he had protested he felt
+for her, but now there was a stirring of contempt in her. Her reason
+recognised that he was right, and there was nothing he could do; but,
+for all that, he had been her last faint hope, and he had failed her.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to be gained by talking of that now," she said
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The man, who did not answer her, leaned upon the rails, gazing down into
+the ravine with his face awry, until at last he looked up again.</p>
+
+<p>"It's not that awful brute Aylmer?" he said hoarsely.</p>
+
+<p>"No. I could not have brought myself to that."</p>
+
+<p>"The farmer fellow? It's horrible, anyway, but I suppose one couldn't
+blame you&mdash;they, your father and Jimmy, made you."</p>
+
+<p>He straightened himself suddenly and moved along the path a pace or two.
+"It's an abominable thing that you should be driven to such a sacrifice,
+but you shall not make it. Can't you understand? It's out of the
+question. You can't make it. Is there nothing you can do?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's face was colourless, and her lips were trembling, but her
+eyes were hard, for her contempt was growing stronger now. The man had
+asked her the question to which it seemed fitting that he alone should
+find an answer. She did not know what she had expected from him, and,
+since she had decided that the sacrifice must be made, she recognised
+that there was, in fact, nothing she could expect; but her strength had
+almost failed her. Had he suggested a desperate remedy, and insisted on
+it masterfully, she might have fled with him. Only it would have been
+neces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>sary for him to compel her with an overwhelming forcefulness that
+was stronger than her will, and that was apparently too much to ask of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said, with a quietness that was born of despair, "there is
+nothing. Fate is too strong for us, Reggie, and you must go back now. It
+would have been better had I never promised that I would see you. I
+should not have done it, but I wanted you to understand that I couldn't
+help myself."</p>
+
+<p>She held out a hand to him, and the man flushed as he seized it. Then he
+drew her towards him, but the girl shook him off with a strength that
+seemed equal to his own, and, though he scarcely saw her move, in
+another moment she stood a yard or two away from him. There was a spot
+of crimson in her cheek, and she was gasping a little.</p>
+
+<p>"Go now!" she said, and her voice had a faintly grating ring. "Since you
+cannot help me, you shall, at least, not make it harder than I can
+bear."</p>
+
+<p>He stood looking at her, slightly bewildered, irresolute, and
+half-ashamed, though he did not quite realise for the moment why he
+should feel so. Then, with a despairing gesture, he went down the steps
+without a word. Whilst Carrie Denham still leaned dejectedly on the
+terrace railing, Eveline Annersly, coming through the archway, caught a
+glimpse of a shadowy figure moving off through the trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you wise?" she asked the girl. "One has to be circumspect, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think there was any great risk. It is a very long while since
+young Lochinvar swam the Esk at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> Netherby. In fact, unless men have
+changed with the times, it is difficult to believe that he ever did."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly glanced at her shrewdly, for she fancied she understood.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not sure they have," she said. "There was a gentleman in the ballad
+who said nothing at all, and presumably did nothing, too; but I don't
+know that I'm so very sorry for you. Reggie Urmston is a nice boy, but I
+imagine that is about all that could be said of him."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a moment, and looked at the girl with a little twinkle in
+her eyes. "I almost think, my dear, that if you had shown the Canadian
+half the favour you have wasted on Reggie, he would, even in these
+degenerate days, have carried you off, in spite of all the Denhams could
+do to prevent him."</p>
+
+<p>Then for the first time Carrie Denham flushed crimson as she heard the
+thought she had not permitted herself to put into words. The impression
+sank in, and she afterwards recalled it. She, however, said nothing in
+comment, and the two went back silently through the archway to the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the afternoon seemed very long to Carrie; but it dragged
+itself away, and at last she slipped out of the house as the still night
+was closing down. A full moon had just lifted itself above the ridge of
+moor. As she flitted along the terrace, the pale, silvery light was
+creeping across the old grey house. It rose above her, a pile of rudely
+hewn and weathered stone, not beautiful, for time itself could not make
+it that with its creeping mosses, houseleek, and lichens, but stamped
+with a certain rugged state<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>liness, and the girl, who had much else to
+think of, felt its influence.</p>
+
+<p>The pride of family was strong in her, and she remembered what kind of
+men those were who had built themselves that home in the days of feud
+and foray. They, at least, had not shrunk from the harder things of
+life, and she, who sprang from them, could emulate their courage. It
+seemed that Barrock-holme demanded a sacrifice, and she must make it.
+Then a little flush crept to her face as she remembered the part her
+father and Jimmy played. It was a degenerate and paltry one, to which
+she felt the very stranger to whom they were willing to sell her would
+never have stooped. He was not of her world, a man, so far as she knew,
+of low degree, one who had held the plough; but there were, at least,
+signs of strength and pride in him.</p>
+
+<p>She stopped for just a moment with a little catching of her breath as
+she saw him, a dim figure in the shadow of the firs beyond the wall that
+lay in sharp, black outline upon the dewy lawn. Then she went on again,
+nerving herself for what must be borne. When he had reached the foot of
+the terrace steps, he stood waiting her there with his hat in his hand.
+It was not exactly what Jimmy Denham or even Reggie Urmston would have
+done in a similar case, but this quaint Westerner had seen fit to make
+use of the formal courtesy of sixty years ago, and, what was most
+curious, farmer as he was, it did not appear ridiculous in him.</p>
+
+<p>"It was," he said, "very good of you to come, though I was 'most afraid
+to hope that you would keep your promise."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>"Wouldn't such a thing imply an obligation?'</p>
+
+<p>"Yes"&mdash;and Leland made a little gesture&mdash;"I think it would with you.
+Still, you see, the fact that you made that promise was in one way an
+astonishing thing to me."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and stood for a moment or two regarding her gravely, and the
+girl noticed that he was one who could be silent without awkwardness. It
+also seemed to her that he had made the opening moves rather gracefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said at length, "I had the honour of making you an offer last
+night."</p>
+
+<p>The girl found something reassuring in his lack of embarrassment and his
+dispassionate tone. She felt that the man was not in love with her, and
+that promised to make things a good deal easier. She was also relieved
+to find that she was mistress of herself.</p>
+
+<p>"It was, perhaps, rather an unusual thing for me to ask you to meet me
+here, but I fancied we should be quite alone," she said. "There is
+something to be said."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Leland gravely. "That is quite natural. I am all attention."</p>
+
+<p>"Then will you tell me candidly why you wish to marry me."</p>
+
+<p>The moonlight showed the faint twinkle in Leland's eyes, as he made her
+one of his queer little bows.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," he said, "do you ever look into your mirror?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw!" said the girl. "That is, after all, a very indifferent reason.
+I want the real one."</p>
+
+<p>Leland stood very straight now, looking at her steadily, but it was
+evident that he was somewhat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> perplexed. Accustomed as he was to being
+frank with himself, he did not quite know why he wanted to marry her
+then. A few weeks earlier he had been swayed by no more than an
+unreasoning desire to save her from Aylmer, but he was by no means sure
+that was all now. She stood full in the moonlight with the fleecy wrap
+about her shoulders, intensifying the duskiness of her eyes and hair,
+and the long light dress suggesting the sweeping lines of a
+beautifully-moulded figure, and her freshness and beauty stirred his
+depths. The faint trace of imperiousness in her pose, and the
+unfaltering gaze of her dark eyes, which were as steady as his own, had
+an effect that was stronger still, for her courage and composure
+appealed most to him. In the meanwhile she was, however, apparently
+awaiting an answer, and, though he was usually candid, nothing would
+have induced him to mention his original reason.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I think I have told you that you are the most
+beautiful woman I have ever, at least, spoken to, but that, though it
+goes some distance, isn't quite everything. You've got grit and fibre
+that are worth more than looks. I am a lonely man with big fancies of my
+own, and, with you beside me to teach me what I do not know, I think I
+could make my mark in my own country."</p>
+
+<p>"You have nothing more to urge?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a little gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I think you would find me kind to you."</p>
+
+<p>If the issue had been less serious, Carrie Denham could have laughed.
+His frankness and the absence of any sign of ardour or impassioned
+protest were, she fancied, under the circumstances, somewhat unusual,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+but that was, after all, a matter of relief to her. She was willing to
+marry him, but she meant to teach him to keep his distance afterwards,
+which would naturally be more difficult to do in the case of a man in
+love with her. Then he fixed his gaze on her again.</p>
+
+<p>"I almost fancy it's my turn now," he said. "I want the answer to a
+question I asked you last night. Will you come back to Prospect with me,
+as my wife?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham felt her cheeks burn, for she had to make him understand,
+and it was harder than she had imagined.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said simply; "on conditions. One must be honest, and I could
+not make a bargain with you&mdash;afterwards&mdash;you can draw back now. I think
+you know that I do not love you&mdash;and I have nothing to give you except
+my fellowship. Still, as you do not love me, you will, perhaps, be
+content with that."</p>
+
+<p>The moonlight showed that Leland started slightly, and the darker colour
+in his bronzed face, but he made her a little deferential gesture. Then
+he looked up again, straightening himself, with the glint in his eyes
+she had now and then seen there before.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," he said, "you shall do 'most everything you like; but, when
+you say that I do not love you, I am not sure that you are right."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said the girl sharply, "I, at least, know what I feel myself,
+and I have tried to tell you that you must not expect too much from me."</p>
+
+<p>Leland, stooping, caught her hand and held it fast.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a bargain," he said. "You shall be your own mistress in every way,
+and your wishes will be quite enough for me; but I almost think that you
+will love me, too, some day. I shall try to find how to make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> you, and I
+have never been quite beaten yet in anything I undertook."</p>
+
+<p>He saw the look of shrinking in her face, and, though he had not
+expected it, a little thrill of pain ran through him. Then he raised the
+hand he held, and, stooping, touched it with his lips before he laid it
+on his arm. As they went up the steps together, he looked down on her
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meanwhile, I will try to do nothing that could make you sorry
+you married me; and you have only to tell me when anything does not
+please you."</p>
+
+<p>He left her at the entrance to the hall, while he went in search of
+Branscombe Denham, and, as it happened, saw very little of her during
+the rest of the evening. It was late that night when the girl related to
+Eveline Annersly a part of what had passed. The faded, merry little
+woman, her aunt and only confidante, smiled as she listened.</p>
+
+<p>"You probably know your own affairs best, but I can't help wondering if
+you were wise in giving that man to understand that you didn't care in
+the least for him," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" said Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"Because it is just possible that you may be sorry for it by-and-bye. As
+it is, I don't think there is any great necessity for pitying you. If it
+had been Aylmer, it would have been a different matter."</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at her with lifted brows.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose I should ever care for a man like that one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said her companion reflectively, "he seems to me a much superior
+man to Reggie. Quite apart from that, I never could discover any
+particular reason<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> for the belief the Denhams seem to have that they are
+set apart from the rest of humanity. If there were any, I should know
+it, since I'm one of them myself, you see. Henry Annersly, with all his
+shortcomings&mdash;and he naturally had them&mdash;was a much better man than
+Jimmy will ever be. In any case, you would have had to marry somebody;
+and, if I had been your mother, I would have shaken you for trying to
+fancy yourself in love with Reggie."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham flushed crimson, and her brows straightened ominously, but
+she restrained herself, and laughed, a little bitter laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "I suppose I did, and I had my chances in two Town
+seasons. Perhaps I was unreasonably fastidious, but I was&mdash;if it wasn't
+more than that&mdash;fond of Reggie, and, at least, I am willing to bear the
+cost of my foolishness now."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly rose, and, after looking down on her a moment, stooped and
+kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>"Still," she said, "it wouldn't be quite honest to expect your husband
+to bear it too. Good-night, and try to think well of him. I almost fancy
+he deserves it."</p>
+
+<p>She went out smiling, but, when the door had closed, her face grew grave
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if that man will have reason to hate me for what I have done,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE PRAIRIE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Two long whistles came ringing up the track.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland rose unsteadily in the big overheated car and struggled
+into the furs which had been one of her husband's gifts to her. She had
+never worn furs of that kind before, and, indeed, had never seen
+anything quite like them in her friends' possession; but, while that had
+naturally been a cause of satisfaction, it was, nevertheless, with a
+vague repugnance she put them on. They were one of the visible tokens
+that in the most sordid sense of the word she belonged to him. The man
+had not won her favour. In fact, he had made no great pretence of
+seeking it, for which, so far as that went, she was grateful; but he had
+evidently carried out his part of the bargain, and now she was part of
+his property, acquired by purchase. The recognition of it carried with
+it an almost intolerable sting, though hitherto&mdash;and it was just a
+fortnight since her wedding&mdash;she had not felt it quite so keenly. He had
+not been exacting, and it had been comparatively easy to keep him at due
+distance on board the big mail-boat and in the crowded train, but she
+realised it would be different, now they were almost home.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>In the meanwhile the great train was slowing down, and, when the
+clanging of the locomotive bell came back to her, she went out through
+the vestibule and leant on the platform-rails. Two huge wooden
+buildings, grain elevators, she supposed, with lines of sledges beneath
+them, flitted by. It was with a shiver she glanced at the little wooden
+town. It rose abruptly from the prairie, without sign of tree or garden
+to relieve its ugliness, an unsightly jumble of wooden houses in the
+midst of a vast white plain, which stretched gleaming to the far
+horizon, with not even a willow bluff to relieve its desolation. She set
+her lips tight as the cars ran slowly into the station. It consisted
+apparently of a stock-yard, a towering water-tank, and a weatherbeaten
+shed half-buried in snow, and was, as usual when the trains came in,
+crowded with men, who looked uncouth and shapeless in dilapidated
+skin-coats, and had hard faces, almost blackened by exposure to the
+frost. It was all strange and unfamiliar. She had not a friend in that
+grim, desolate land, and she felt the physical discomfort almost a
+relief by way of distraction from her overpowering sense of loneliness
+when the bitter cold struck through her with the keenness of steel.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cars stopped, and her husband, who swung her down into the
+dusty snow beside the track, was forthwith surrounded by the crowd. Men
+with the snow-dust sprinkled like flour upon their shaggy furs clustered
+about him, and their harsh, drawling voices grated on her ears. They
+made it evident that he was one of them, for they greeted him with rude
+friendliness as "Charley". That was another shock to her prejudices.
+Leland, however, waved them aside, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> they fell back a pace or two,
+gazing at her with unemotional inquiry in their eyes, until he laid his
+hand upon her arm.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you're going to be astonished," he said. "My wife, boys!"</p>
+
+<p>Then the big fur caps came off, while the men with the hard brown faces
+clustered thicker about the pair, and awkwardly held out mittened hands.
+They were most of them speaking, and, though it was difficult to catch
+all they said, she heard from those at the back odd snatches which did
+not please her.</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you let us know, and we'd have turned out the band? .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.
+It's a great country you have come to, ma'am. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. She's a daisy. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.
+Where'd he get her from? .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. You've married the whitest man on the
+prairie, Mrs. Leland. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Some tone about that one."</p>
+
+<p>A little red spot burned in Carrie Leland's cheeks. She hovered between
+anger and humiliation. Social distinctions counted for much in the land
+of her birth, and it seemed to her that the man she had married might
+have spared her this vulgarity. It might have been different had she
+loved him, for she would then, perhaps, have found pleasure in his
+evident popularity; but, as it was, she felt merely the indignity of
+being exposed to the gaze and comments of these ox-drivers or ploughmen,
+as she took them to be. That she was apparently expected to shake hands
+with them struck her as ridiculous. The ovation, however, died away, and
+there was for a moment an uncomfortable silence, during which the crowd
+gazed at the cold, beautiful woman who regarded them with unsympathetic
+eyes, until her husband touched her arm again.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>"Won't you say just a word to them? They mean to be kind," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie made no response. She felt she could not have done so had she
+wished, and Leland turned to the men again. "Mrs. Leland doesn't feel
+quite equal to thanking you, boys," he said. "She has just come off a
+long journey and is feeling a little strange."</p>
+
+<p>The men murmured good-humouredly. One of them pushed his way through the
+crowd and shook hands with Leland.</p>
+
+<p>"We sent your wheat on to Winnipeg, as you cabled, and your people have
+brought us another forty sledge-loads in," he said. "We're rather
+tightly fixed for room, and want to know if you're going to send much
+more along. No doubt you know wheat is two cents down."</p>
+
+<p>"I do," said Leland drily. "Still, in the meanwhile I have got to sell."</p>
+
+<p>The man appeared a little astonished, but he made a sign of
+comprehension. "Well," he said, "if you could have held back a month or
+two, it might have been better. They've been rushing a good deal on to
+the markets lately, but I guess you'll want to straighten up after your
+trip to the old country. Your sleigh's ready, as you wired."</p>
+
+<p>Leland, who, as she noticed, seemed desirous of changing the subject,
+turned to his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like some tea, or anything of that kind?" he said. "If not,
+we had better start at once. It's forty miles to Prospect, and there's
+not much of the afternoon left. Still, of course, if you prefer it, they
+might fix you up a fairly decent room at the hotel to-night."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>Carrie glanced at the little desolate town. It appeared uninviting
+enough, but when she spoke the words seemed to stick in her throat.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said; "I would sooner go&mdash;home."</p>
+
+<p>Leland said something to the man beside him, and then led Carrie into a
+very dirty wooden room with a big stove in the midst of it, after which
+he left her to watch, with a sinking heart, the departing train clatter
+out into the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>He came back transformed&mdash;with a battered fur cap hiding most of his
+face, in a very big and somewhat tattered fur coat. With a fresh shock
+of dismay, she noticed that he now looked very much as the others did.
+In another minute he had lifted her into the sleigh and wrapped the big
+robes about her. Then he shook the reins and they were whirled away down
+the long smear of trail that led straight off to the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>It was beaten hard, the team were fresh and fast, and for a while the
+girl felt the exhilaration of the swift rush through nipping air. The
+desolate town faded behind her; a grey blur that lifted itself out of
+the horizon, and was a big birch bluff, came flitting back to her; there
+was deep stillness, only intensified by the screech of runners and the
+soft drumming of hoofs. A vast sweep of fleckless azure overhung the
+glistening plain below. It was not all white, however, for there were
+shades of grey and dusky purple in the hollows, and the trail was a wavy
+riband that rose and fell in varying blue. It was beautiful in its own
+way, and the stinging air stirred her blood like wine. That was for an
+hour or so; but when the sun dipped, a red, copper ball, amidst a frosty
+haze, and the blues<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> and greys crept wide across the whiteness of the
+plain, the cold laid hold of her. Leland, who had scarcely spoken,
+looked down.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you warm?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>The girl was scarcely willing to admit that she was not; but the frost
+of the Northwest strikes keen and deep, and, after all, it was his
+business to attend to her physical comfort.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said; "I am very cold."</p>
+
+<p>Leland nodded, though there was light enough to show the curious look in
+his eyes. "Well," he said, "that ought to be excuse enough for me, and
+it's going to be a good deal colder presently."</p>
+
+<p>He slipped his free arm round her, and drew her to him masterfully. Then
+he shook the furs higher about her neck with the hand that held the
+reins, and Carrie, who felt that protest would be useless and
+undignified, said nothing when she found her shoulder drawn against his
+breast, though the old fur coat had a faint but unmistakable odour of
+tobacco and the stable about it.</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked down on her with a little laugh. "After all, that is where
+you ought to be," he said. "Perhaps, if I am very good to you, you will
+come there of your own will, by-and-bye."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said nothing, and, though she felt her cheeks burn, it was not
+altogether with anger against him. The man had been tactfully
+considerate, and had deferred to her as she felt that Aylmer would not
+have done. Indeed, she realised that she owed him a good deal, if only
+because of the delicacy he had displayed, and which she had scarcely
+expected from one so much beneath her in station. It was not even so
+repug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>nant as she had fancied to lie there warmed by the heat of his
+body, with his arm about her, and she felt, at least, a comforting
+confidence in his ability to shelter and protect her. What Leland felt
+he did not tell her until some time afterwards. He was accustomed to
+restraint, and, too, the driving occupied most of his attention, for
+darkness was creeping across the waste, and the snow was deep outside
+the beaten trail.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cold increased until it grew numbing, and when the pain ceased,
+all feeling died out of the girl's hands and feet. She gradually grew
+drowsy, and, looking up now and then with heavy eyes, saw only the dim
+shapes of the horses projected against the bitter blueness of the night.
+Still, at times, they plunged into belts of shadow, where there was a
+crackling under the runners and a flitting by of ghostly trees that
+vanished when they once more swept out into the awful cold of the open.
+Now and then Leland called to the horses, but his voice was lost again
+next moment in the silence it had scarcely broken. A curious sense of
+the unreality of it all came upon the girl. She almost felt that, if she
+could cry out, he and the team would vanish, and all would be with her
+as it had been in England before she met him. Then the drumming of hoofs
+grew very faint, and with a half-conscious desire for warmth she crept
+still closer to the silent man, who looked down on her very
+compassionately, and then, setting his lips, gave his attention again to
+the team. She remembered nothing further until she roused herself at a
+pressure on her arm.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>"Prospect is close in front of us," said her companion.</p>
+
+<p>She raised herself a trifle, and, looking round with a shiver, saw a
+half-moon sailing low above a dusky mass of trees. What seemed to be a
+wooden house stood in the midst of them, and its windows flung out
+streaks of ruddy light upon the snow. Behind it, she could dimly see a
+range of strange, shapeless buildings. They did not in the least look
+like English stables, barns, or granaries. Then there was a sound of
+voices, and a door swung open, letting out a broader track of
+brightness, in the midst of which the sleigh pulled up. Shadowy figures
+appeared here and there, and Leland, who unstrapped the robes, rolled
+them about her. Then, before she quite realised his purpose, he had
+lifted her and them together, and was walking stiffly towards the house.
+In another minute or two he set her down in a little log-walled room
+which had a tiled stove in the middle of it, and a hard-featured elderly
+woman came towards her with a kindly smile in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Nesbit, Carrie," said the man. "She has been looking after the
+house for me lately. My wife's 'most frozen, and you'll do what you can
+to make her comfortable. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. I suppose those are the fixings from
+Montreal?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Nesbit said they were, but that they had arrived with one of the
+sledges too late to be opened that day. Leland pointed to several
+canvas-covered rolls and bulky cases as he turned to the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"They're curtains and rugs and carpets, and things of that kind," he
+said. "We don't worry much about them on the prairie, but this room and
+the next one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> are your own, unless there are any you like better. We'll
+get the cases opened to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>He went out, and it was some little time later when Carrie found him
+awaiting her in a great bare room. There were antelope heads, guns,
+axes, rifles, and here and there a splendid cluster of wheat ears, upon
+the walls, but there was nothing on the floor, and the furniture
+appeared to consist of a table, a carpenter's bench, a set of
+bookshelves, and a few lounge chairs. Still, it was well warmed by the
+big crackling stove, and she sank with a little sigh of physical content
+into one of the chairs he drew out. Leland, who now wore a jacket of
+soft white deer-skin, stooped beside her and took one of her still
+chilly hands in his. It was also the one on a finger of which there
+gleamed the ring, and he glanced at it with a queer, half-wistful little
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will be happy here. What I can do to make it home to you
+will be done," he said.</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment, and, seeing she made no response, went on:</p>
+
+<p>"All the way out I have thought of you sitting here. Since my mother, no
+woman but Mrs. Nesbit has crossed my threshold. It has been all work and
+loneliness with me. Won't you try to make it different now?"</p>
+
+<p>He laid his other hand gently on her shoulder, and the girl who bore his
+name felt her cheeks burn as she turned her eyes away. A caress would
+have been in one sense a very little thing, but she could not bring
+herself to invite it then, and she was further warned by what she saw in
+her companion's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Leland for a moment closed one of his hard hands.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Presently he smiled
+again and, drawing another of the chairs up, sat down beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "you will get used to me by-and-bye, and I only want to
+please you in the meanwhile. And now about Mrs. Nesbit. We'll send her
+away if it would suit you, and you can get somebody from Winnipeg,
+though I don't know that it wouldn't be better to let Jake do the
+cooking and cleaning as before. It's quite difficult to get maids in
+this country, and, when you've had them 'bout a week, they marry
+somebody. Anyway, that's your business. The one thing to be done is what
+you like, but if you could see your way to keep Mrs. Nesbit, it would
+please me."</p>
+
+<p>It was almost the only thing he had asked of her, and she was willing to
+humour him in this. "Of course," she said. "In fact, I rather like her.
+Who is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"A widow, the mother of one of the boys who drives a team for me. Wages
+come down when there's little doing with the snow upon the ground, and
+he's away railroading. I told him I'd see the old lady was looked after
+until he came back again."</p>
+
+<p>"But how could you have done that, if I had sent her away?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd have boarded her out with Custer at The Range, whose wife wants
+help and can't hire it. Mrs. Nesbit would never have known where the
+money came from."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland smiled. It was only a few months since she had first set
+eyes upon the man, but she felt that, if she had been his housekeeper, a
+device of that kind would not have availed with her. There was no doubt
+that he had his strong points.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>Then another young man came in, and was presented to her as Tom Gallwey.
+He called her husband "Charley", and spoke with a clean English
+intonation.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going round to give the boys their instructions," he said. "We have
+cleaned out the sod granaries as you cabled. Are we to break into the
+straw-pile to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Leland. "You'll go on hauling wheat in with every team."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you know what has happened to the market? One would fancy it
+wasn't a good time to sell."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, you'll haul that wheat in. We'll go into the rest to-morrow.
+Will you come back to supper?"</p>
+
+<p>The young man glanced at Carrie. "If Mrs. Leland will excuse me, I think
+not," he said, and departed, as he evidently considered, tactfully.</p>
+
+<p>"An Englishman?" said the girl, with a trace of colour in her face.</p>
+
+<p>"I've never asked him, but he talks like one. I struck him shovelling on
+a railroad, and looking very sick, two or three years ago. Now he gets
+decent pay for looking after things for me."</p>
+
+<p>Just then another man in weirdly patched blue-jean, who limped in his
+walk and carried the tray with his left hand, brought in supper. He
+gazed at Carrie so hard that he spilled some of the contents of the
+dishes, and, when he went out, she glanced at her husband with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that is another pensioner?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Leland. "He earns his pay, and all I did was to make it a
+little easier for him. He got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> himself mixed up with a threshing mill at
+another place a while ago."</p>
+
+<p>"And he naturally came to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland's eyes sparkled shrewdly. "Well," he said, "I guess I get my full
+value out of him. Won't you come to supper?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie took her place at the head of the table, and found the pork,
+fried potatoes, apples, flapjacks, and hot corn-cakes much more
+palatable than she had expected. She also looked very dainty sitting
+there in the great bare room, and was not displeased when Leland told
+her so. In fact, the more she saw of him, the more favourably he
+impressed her, and, though she remembered always that she was a Denham
+of Barrock-holme, and he a Western farmer of low degree, she did what
+she could to be gracious to him. It was not until the meal was over that
+a trace of the bitterness she had felt towards him came back to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you posted the letter I gave you at Winnipeg?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland showed some little embarrassment. "I did. I was going to talk to
+you about it in a day or two, because it wouldn't be quite convenient to
+have Mrs. Heaton out from Chicago just now."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie glanced at him sharply. "You told me I could fill the house with
+my friends, if I wished."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I did," said Leland. "Anyway, I meant it. Still, we're not
+going to worry about that to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie saw that he was resolute, and discreetly changed the subject. She
+had not yet quite shaken off the effects of the cold, and in another
+hour rose drowsily from beside the stove.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>Leland opened the door, and stood with his hand on it. "Mrs. Nesbit will
+see you have everything you want," he said. "Don't come down too
+early&mdash;and good-night."</p>
+
+<p>He took the hand she held out, and did not let it go at once. The girl
+felt her heart beat a wee bit faster than usual, as it had done once or
+twice before that day. Again she felt that it was only fitting she
+should offer her cheek to him, but it was more than she could do.</p>
+
+<p>Then he dropped her hand, and made her a little inclination as he once
+more said, "Good-night."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CARRIE MAKES HER VIEWS CLEAR</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was ten o'clock next morning when Carrie, coming down to breakfast,
+found that her husband had gone out two or three hours earlier. Gallwey
+also came in, soon after she had finished the meal, to say that Leland
+might not be back until the evening, and, when he offered to take her
+round the homestead, she decided to go with him. Mrs. Nesbit, who
+equipped her with a pair of lined gum-boots, helped her on with her
+furs, gazing at them admiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"There's not another set like them on the prairie, and I expect there
+are very few folks in Montreal have anything quite as smart," she said.
+"They must have cost a pile of money."</p>
+
+<p>A little flush crept into Carrie's face, but she answered languidly.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose they did," she said. "Mr. Leland had them made for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the woman, who gazed at her with an air of deprecation,
+"you have got a good man, my dear. There's not a straighter or a
+better-hearted one between Winnipeg and the Rockies&mdash;but it would be
+worth while to humour him a little. He has just a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> hard spot or two in
+him, and he generally gets his way."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled, a trifle coldly. "And so do I."</p>
+
+<p>She went out with Gallwey, but the hard-handed woman stood still a
+moment with a shadow of anxiety in her eyes, and then sighed a little as
+she went on with her work again. She would have done a good deal to save
+Charley Leland trouble, and she foresaw difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, the girl found the cold unlike anything she had felt
+in England, but, after the first few minutes, more endurable than she
+had expected. There was no trace of moisture in that crystalline
+atmosphere, the sun that had no heat in it shone dazzlingly, and the
+snow that flung the sun's rays back fell from her feet dusty and dry as
+flour. No cloud flecked the clear blueness overhead, and fainter washes
+of the same cold colour marked the beaten trails and prints of
+horse-hoofs that alone broke the gleaming surface of the white expanse
+below. On the far horizon she could see grey blurs, which were
+presumably trees.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, who was wrapped in an old fur coat from cheeks to ankles,
+proved an agreeable companion. He led her first a little way back among
+the slender birches, where she could see the house. It was, she decided,
+by no means picturesque, a rambling, frame structure roofed with cedar
+shingles, built round what was evidently the original hut of small birch
+logs; but it had a little verandah with rude pillars and trellis work on
+one side of it, and Gallwey assured her there were not many houses in
+that country to equal it. Then he showed her the barns and stables,
+built in part of birch logs and for the rest of sods, stretching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> back
+into the shelter of the bluff. They were primitive and almost shapeless
+structures, with roofs that apparently consisted of straw and soil and
+snow, but she fancied their thickness would keep out even the frost of
+the Northwest. There were, however, only a horse or two and a few brawny
+oxen standing in them. Last of all, he led her into one of the most
+curious edifices she had ever seen. Sitting down on one of the wheat
+bags inside it, she looked about her.</p>
+
+<p>It had no definite outline, and, from the outside, it had looked like a
+great mound of snow, but she now saw that it had a skeleton wall of
+birch branches. Round this had been piled an immensity of very short
+straw, and the roof, which had partly fallen in as the bags beneath it
+had been cut out, consisted of the same material. It was filled with
+bags of wheat that here and there trickled red-gold grain, and she
+turned to Gallwey with a question.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the usual granary?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey laughed. "There are quite a few of them in this country. You
+see, we don't stack the grain here, but leave most of the straw
+standing, and thresh in the field, whilst most of the smaller men rush
+their grain in to the railroad elevators as soon as that is done. As a
+rule, they want their money, but Charley had meant to hold wheat this
+year."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie felt a little thoughtful, for it was evident that her husband's
+change of purpose had attracted attention, and she fancied she knew the
+reason for it.</p>
+
+<p>"The stables are a little primitive, too," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"They are no doubt very different from what you have been accustomed to
+in England, but they serve their purpose, and in a way they're
+characteristic of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> your husband. While there are men who would spend
+part of their profits making things comfortable, every dollar Charley
+Leland takes out of the land goes back into it again, and with the
+increase he breaks so many more acres each year. It's a tolerably bold
+policy, but that is what suits him, and it has succeeded well so far.
+For one thing, he wants very little for personal expenses. To all
+intents and purposes he hasn't any."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment, and then went on deprecatingly: "I wonder if I may
+say that I am glad he has married. After all, it is scarcely fit for a
+man to live as he has done, stripping himself of everything. It has been
+all effort and self-denial, and you can do so much to make things
+pleasant for him."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was touched, though she would not show it. The man, who
+apparently had no time for pleasure and no thought of comfort, had been
+very generous to her. It was also evident that there was much a woman
+could do to brighten the life he led, if it was only to teach him that
+it had more to offer him than the material results of ceaseless labour.
+Still, that had not been her purpose in marrying him, and she felt an
+uncomfortable sense of confusion as she decided that it would have been
+very much better if he had chosen a woman who loved him. As things were,
+he must give everything, and there was so little that she could offer.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are all the horses and the men gone?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"To the railroad. They started before the sun was up, but Charley has
+driven twenty miles to meet one of the Winnipeg cattle-brokers. It's
+wheat or beef only with most men in this country, but we raise the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> two,
+and Charley is thinking of cutting out some stock for the market, though
+it's very seldom done at this season. We only keep store beasts through
+the winter, and, as they take their chances in the open, when the snow
+comes they get poor and thin."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey excused himself in another minute or two, and Carrie, who went
+back to the house, spent the afternoon lying in a big chair by the stove
+with a book, of which she read but little. From what she had heard, it
+was evident that Leland was selling his wheat and cattle at a sacrifice,
+which, she could understand, he would naturally not have done, could he
+have helped it. The reflection was not exactly a pleasant one, for
+though Branscombe Denham had carefully refrained from mentioning to what
+agreement he and Leland had come, she was, of course, aware that her
+marriage had relieved him from some, at least, of his financial
+difficulties. After all, though she had sacrificed herself for him, she
+could not think highly of her father, and the fact that her husband had
+been thus compelled to strip himself was painful to contemplate. It
+placed her under a heavy obligation to Leland, and there was so little
+she could do, or, at least, was willing to do, that would free her of
+it.</p>
+
+<p>It was dark when he came in, walking stiffly, with his fur coat hard
+with frost, and her heart smote her again as she saw how his weary face
+brightened at the sight of her. It cost her an effort to submit to the
+touch of his lips, but she made it, though she felt her cheeks grow hot,
+and was sorry she had done so when she saw the glint in his eyes and
+felt the constraint of his arm. Drawing herself away from him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> she
+slipped back a pace or two. Leland stood looking at her wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't wish to startle you," he said. "Still, it has been a little
+hard and lonely here, and I fancied it was going to be different now. I
+was looking forward to a kind word from you all the twenty miles home."</p>
+
+<p>An unusual colour crept into his wife's face. Both of them were glad
+that Jake limped in just then with the evening meal, which in that
+country differs in no way from breakfast or the midday dinner. Salt
+pork, potatoes, apples, flapjacks or hot cakes with molasses, and strong
+green tea, it is usually very much the same from Winnipeg to Calgary.
+Few men have more, or desire it, on the prairie, and fewer still have
+less. At the end of the meal, when Jake had cleared away, Carrie Leland
+looked up questioningly at her husband, who sat opposite her beside the
+crackling stove. There was nobody else in the big, bare room.</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't told me why it is not convenient for me to have Ada Heaton
+here just now," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"You want her very much?" and again the man glanced at her wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Carrie, "of course I do. I must have somebody to talk to."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a gesture of vague appeal. "I suppose it's only natural,
+though I had 'most dared to hope you might be content for a little with
+my company. Anyway, we won't let that count. Couldn't you bring Mrs.
+Annersly out? I like her, and she told me that if I asked her she would
+come and stay a year. Then there's your younger sister."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't suppose that Lily would come to live<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> here?" and there was
+something in her smile that jarred upon the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I'm sorry. She was rather nice to me. Is there nobody
+else you could think of?"</p>
+
+<p>"One would almost fancy that you were trying to get away from the
+question. It is why you don't want me to bring Ada Heaton here."</p>
+
+<p>Leland leaned forward a little, and laid his hand upon her arm. "Won't
+you let it rest to please me? I haven't asked you very much."</p>
+
+<p>The girl was almost tempted to do so, but, unfortunately, she had some
+notion of what was influencing him, and resented it.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said coldly. "I really think I ought to know."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'm sorry, but it wouldn't suit me to have Mrs. Heaton here at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" and an ominous red spot appeared in the girl's cheek as she shook
+off his arm.</p>
+
+<p>Leland stood up, and, leaning upon the chair-back, looked down at her.
+Perhaps he felt it gave him an advantage, and he would need it in the
+struggle which was evidently impending. He had never faced an angry
+woman before, and he shrank from it now, but not sufficiently to desist
+from what he felt he had to do.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if you have ever asked yourself why Mrs. Heaton is in Chicago
+when her home is in London," he said. "I can't believe that she told
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah,"&mdash;and Carrie moved her head so that he could see the sparkle in her
+eyes&mdash;"you have heard those tales, and believed them&mdash;about a relative
+of mine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Presumably, you have heard nothing about Captain Heaton?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was one of your people who told me. They said the man was short of
+temper. So are a good many of us; and, it seems, he had some reason.
+Still, there's rather more against Mrs. Heaton than that she's not
+living with her own husband. Knowing you meant to ask her here, I made
+inquiries."</p>
+
+<p>The girl turned towards him with anger and contempt in her face, which
+was almost colourless now, although she fancied that he knew rather more
+than she did about the recent doings of the lady in question. The pride
+of family was especially strong in her, as it occasionally is in cases
+where there is very little to warrant it.</p>
+
+<p>"Your time was well employed," she said. "You who live here with your
+horses and cattle presume to decide how people of our station should
+spend their lives."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one thing, at least, expected of a woman who is married; it's
+the necessary foundation of civilised society. And the woman you want to
+bring here has openly disregarded it. You must have heard something of
+the trouble between her and her husband in London, but I can't quite
+think you know how she came to be in Chicago."</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, Carrie Leland did not know. Still, she would not
+ask the man, who had apparently laid firm hands upon his temper, and was
+looking at her appealingly. It was unfortunate that she only remembered
+he had presumed to cast a slur upon one of her relations, and was, in
+her opinion, very far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> beneath her. She refused to answer, and Leland's
+face grew grim.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "you are in almost every way your own mistress, but
+there are points on which what I say stands. This house was built for my
+mother. I have brought my wife home to it now, and Mrs. Heaton does not
+enter its door."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie rose and faced him, imperious, but at last dangerously cold in
+her anger.</p>
+
+<p>"Your wife!" she said. "Could you have expected that I should ever be
+more than that in name to you?"</p>
+
+<p>The veins showed swollen on the man's forehead as he looked at her, and
+a dark flush crept into his bronzed cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," he said, "now you have gone that far, you have got to tell me
+exactly what you mean."</p>
+
+<p>"It should be quite plain. You could buy me. It sounds absurd, of
+course, and a trifle theatrical, but it is just what took place, and
+there are no doubt many of us for sale. Isn't that alone sufficient to
+make me hate you? Can't you realise the sickening humiliation of it, and
+did you suppose you could buy my love as well?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland made her a little inclination which, though it was the last thing
+she had expected just then, undoubtedly became him. "I had 'most
+ventured to hope that you might give it me by-and-bye," he said.</p>
+
+<p>His restraint did not serve him. The girl realised that she was in the
+wrong, but she had failed in her desire to look down on him. This she
+naturally felt was another grievance against him. She had the old
+disdain of those who own the land for those who till it, and, although
+in this man's case, the contempt she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> strove to feel seemed out of
+place, it was horribly humiliating to recognise that she was wholly in
+his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"To you?" she said, with a bitter laugh that brought the dark flush to
+his face again.</p>
+
+<p>Leland laid his hand on her shoulder and gripped it hard.</p>
+
+<p>"I have, perhaps, no great reason for setting too high a value on
+myself," he said. "What I am you know, but, if you must have plain talk,
+there were two men made the bargain that disposed of you. It cost me a
+big share of my possessions to satisfy your father, but he showed no
+unwillingness to take my cheque, and he would have taken Aylmer's could
+he have raised him high enough. Who was the lowest down, the Western
+farmer, who, at least, meant to be kind to you, or Branscombe Denham,
+who was willing to sell his daughter to the highest bidder? Still, you
+were right. It was, in one way, about the meanest thing I ever did. The
+blood was in my face when I made my offer&mdash;and your father smiled. By
+the Lord, if I'd made that proposition to any hard-up wheat-grower
+between here and Calgary, he'd have whipped me from his door."</p>
+
+<p>The girl had plenty of courage, but she was almost afraid of him now,
+for there was a strength and grimness in his bronzed face which she had
+never seen in that of any Denham, and the tightening grip of his
+ploughman's fingers bruised her shoulder cruelly. Perhaps unconsciously,
+he shook her a little in a gust of passion, and she set her lips hard to
+check the cry she would not have uttered had he beaten her.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "in any case, you belong to me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> That has to be
+remembered always. How are we to go on? What is it to be?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie contrived to smile sardonically. "Oh," she said, "sit down, and
+try to be rational. All this is a trifle ridiculous."</p>
+
+<p>Leland dropped his hand, and, when she sat down, leaned upon the back of
+the other chair facing her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that we must quietly try to come to an understanding
+once for all to-night. In the first place, why did you wish to marry
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland set his lips for a moment. It would have been a relief just then
+to tell her that it was to save her from Aylmer, but this appeared a
+brutality to which he could not force himself, for, in spite of what she
+had told him, he could not be sure that it had been his only reason. Her
+shrinking from him, painful to him as it was, nevertheless had its
+attraction.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I said that you were the most beautiful woman I had, at
+least, ever spoken to," he said. "I was a lonely man, and it seemed to
+me I might, perhaps, do big things some day, with a woman of your kind
+to teach me what I did not know. That was part of it, but I think there
+was more. It was a hard life and a bare one here, and I had a fancy that
+you could show me how much I might have that I was missing. A smile
+would have helped me through my difficulties; a word or two when one had
+to choose between the mean and right, and the knowledge that there was
+some one who believed in me, would have made another and gentler man of
+me. Well, it seems that you have none of them to give me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>He made an emphatic gesture. "Still, we have to face the position as it
+is, and my part's plain. Everything you have been used to you shall
+have, so far as I can get it for you. You can have any of your friends
+here who will make the journey and be civil to your farmer-husband, and
+you can go to them when it pleases you. To save you ever asking me for
+money, I will open you an account in a Winnipeg bank, and you need never
+see me unless you wish to."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "you are, at least, generous. To make the
+understanding complete, what do you expect from me?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland moved and laid his hand upon her shoulder again.</p>
+
+<p>"Only to remember that, however little you think of your husband, you
+are my wife, after all."</p>
+
+<p>The girl's cheeks burned, but she looked up at him with a little hard
+laugh. "I think I could have struck you for that, but it must go with
+the rest. Still, even if I were all that your imagination could picture
+me, and went as far as Mrs. Heaton did, why should it trouble you?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland stooped lower over her with the veins swollen on his forehead and
+a glint in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You and your father tricked me&mdash;taking all I had to offer for nothing,"
+he said. "I suppose I ought to hate you, too&mdash;and still I can't."</p>
+
+<p>Once more he gripped her cruelly. "By the Lord, dolt that I am, I think
+I almost love you for the grit that made you show your scorn. Still,
+that doesn't count. It is for me to go it alone."</p>
+
+<p>He let his grasp relax and left her suddenly, turning at the door.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>"You will want a companion. Will you write for Mrs. Annersly to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will," said Carrie coldly. "Under the circumstances it is advisable.
+She will be a protection."</p>
+
+<p>He went out and she saw no more of him for a day or two, but that night
+she found a blue mark upon the whiteness of her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND SEEKS DISTRACTION</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Dusk was creeping up from the eastwards across the great snow-sheeted
+plain when Leland pulled his horses up where a little by-track branched
+off from the beaten trail. Behind him the wilderness, losing its
+gleaming whiteness and fading into shades of soft blue-grey, ran level
+to the hard blueness on the northern horizon. In front of him there were
+rolling rises ridged with sinuous bands of birches, black in broken
+masses against the lingering light in the south and west. There was room
+for wheat enough to glut markets of the world on the leagues of rich
+black loam that undulated to the frozen waters of Lake Winnipeg. Already
+miles of it were banded together by belts of two-foot stubble; but as
+yet the plough had not invaded the land of bluff and ravine, creek and
+coulee, where the shaggy broncho and the wild steer ran.</p>
+
+<p>Leland was wrapped to the eyes in an old fur coat, and his breath rose
+like steam into the dead still air. A cloud of thin vapour floated above
+the horses. It was exceptionally cold, and Gallwey, who sat half-frozen
+beneath the piled-up robes, wondered why his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> companion had pulled the
+team up there when they were within some twenty minutes' ride from
+shelter. Still he did not consider it advisable to inquire, for certain
+colts of a blooded sire had been missing, and Leland, who had shown
+signs of temper during the day, looked unusually grim. Flinging the
+reins to Gallwey, he stepped down stiffly from the sleigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Drive on slowly, Tom. You don't want to keep a warm team standing in
+this frost," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey contrived to clutch the reins, though his hands were numbed
+through the big mittens.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at these tracks," said Leland drily. "They kind of interest me."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey spoke to the team, and the sleigh, which consisted of a light
+waggon-box mounted on a runner frame, slid on. Sleighs such as are used
+about the Eastern cities are not common in the Northwest, where, indeed,
+the snow seldom lies so deep or long; and the prairie farmer either
+makes shift with his waggon or contents himself with the humble
+bob-sled. He now noticed what he had been too cold to notice before,
+that there was something peculiar about the print of hoofs breaking out
+here and there, a blur of scattered blue smudges in the trail he
+followed. Some seemed deeper than others, and there were long spaces
+where they disappeared altogether. This did not seriously concern him,
+so he drove on until he reached the first grove of stunted birches which
+clung beneath the shelter of a winding rise. Here he waited until Leland
+rejoined him. It was quite dark now, and he could not see his comrade's
+face at all, but, as he flung him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>self into the sleigh, he laughed in a
+fashion of his that Gallwey knew usually portended trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," Leland said. "I want my supper, and a little talk with Jeff
+Kimball, too. One would have figured that man had a little more sense in
+him. It's 'most two weeks, I think, since you had any snow?"</p>
+
+<p>"A week last Monday. Just enough to dust the trail. Is there anything
+particular to be deduced from that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only that we had the rustlers round next day, and I've a kind of notion
+my colts went then."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey sat silent while the sleigh glided on. He did not know, of
+course, that Leland had quarrelled with his wife, but he had noticed the
+man's grimness during the day, and now he was struck with the ring of
+his voice as he spoke of the rustlers.</p>
+
+<p>The cattle war in Montana across the neighbouring border, in which the
+great ranchers and small homesteaders contended for the land, was over;
+and, when the United States cavalry restored order, little bands of
+broken men, ruined in the struggle, and cattle-riders who found their
+occupation gone, had undertaken a smuggling business along the frontier.
+The Prohibition Act was enforced in neighbouring parts of Canada, and
+there was accordingly an excellent profit to be made on any whisky they
+could run. There was, too, among the Chinamen in the United States a
+good demand for opium, which it was supposed came in via Vancouver. For
+the most part, the smugglers were tolerated, perhaps from the same
+motives that prompt otherwise honest people to pardon outlaws who rob
+the rich and the government. At any rate, a farmer seldom grumbled when
+a horse was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> requisitioned, though he knew that the animal might not be
+returned. As a reward for his silence, he was likely to find mysterious
+cases of whisky near his trail. His opposite conduct could carry with it
+many results. For instance, grass-fires, so dangerous to homesteads and
+ripening crops, had a suspicious way of starting in the harvest season.
+The small farmer, accordingly, was loth to trouble the mounted police
+about anything he might have heard or seen, and the rustlers as a rule
+knew when to stop, and only seized a horse or killed a steer for meat
+when they urgently needed it.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it's worth while making trouble?" said Gallwey,
+suggestively.</p>
+
+<p>"I want my colts back," said Leland. "I guess I'm going to get them.
+Shake that team up. It's getting cold."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, who was half frozen already, called to the horses, and in
+another ten minutes they came into sight of a blaze of cheerful radiance
+in the gloom of a big bluff. Leland held the big cattle run in the
+vicinity, though it lay a long ride from his homestead.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually a little log house grew into shape, and Leland, who drove the
+sleigh round to the back of it before he got out, turned to the man who
+had slouched from the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we'll leave the sleigh here," he said. "We have come for the
+night, and we'll put the team in while you get supper."</p>
+
+<p>Though he could not see the man's face for the dark, Gallwey fancied he
+was a little disconcerted at this announcement. In another half-hour,
+however, they were sitting down to a meal. Leland said very little until
+it was over, when, taking his pipe out, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> pulled a hide chair up to
+the stove and looked at the man. "Whom have you had round the place the
+last week or so, Jeff?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Thompson," said the other. "He brought four or five horses along."</p>
+
+<p>"He did. I saw his tracks where he headed off the trail for the back
+range. Quite sure he hadn't any more? That reminds me; I'll want to see
+him in a day or two about those steers."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey fancied this last was meant as an intimation that accuracy was
+advisable, and he watched the big, loose-limbed man who was filling his
+pipe just then. He appeared uneasy under all this scrutiny, for Leland
+was also quietly regarding him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I come to recollect, it was four."</p>
+
+<p>"Anybody else?" said Leland.</p>
+
+<p>"Custer; he came along with a bob-sled yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't think of any more?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the other man, who flashed a suspicious glance at him. "I
+can't quite figure how I could when they weren't there."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smoked on tranquilly, apparently considering for a moment or two,
+and then, straightening himself a little, looked hard at the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Jeff," he said quietly, "it's a kind of pity you don't know enough to
+make a decent liar."</p>
+
+<p>The man started, but seemed to recover himself again, and it was with
+quickening interest Gallwey watched the pair. A smoky kerosene lamp gave
+out an indifferent light, and a red glare beat out from the open door of
+the stove, streaming uncertainly upon the faces of the men.</p>
+
+<p>It showed Leland sitting motionless, a hard glint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> in his eyes, and the
+other man making little uneasy movements as he shrank from the steady
+gaze. As Leland spoke again, the man winced.</p>
+
+<p>"If any man had said as much to me, one of us would have been out in the
+snow by now," he said. "Have you no grit in you? Then why in the name of
+thunder did you take hold of a contract that was 'way too big for you?
+Did you think I could be bluffed by a thing like you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't quite figure what you mean," said the other man sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll have some pleasure in telling you. Soon after the last snow
+fell, two rustlers came up this trail&mdash;there were more of them, but they
+stayed down by the big one. When they went away, three of my horses went
+with them. Now, who caught those horses and had them ready? It's kind of
+curious, too, that they were the pick of the bunch, with good blood in
+them. The only man round here who could tell them which were worth the
+lifting is you. Jeff, you don't know enough to run a peanut stand, and
+yet you figured you were fit to kick against the man who hired you."</p>
+
+<p>Jeff appeared to rouse himself for an effort. "You're guessing a good
+deal of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Guessing, when I've lived on this prairie all my life, and the whole
+thing is written there in the snow. Can't I tell the difference between
+the tracks of a steady ridden horse and a young one that's not used to
+the halter? However, I'm open to listen now."</p>
+
+<p>"I've just this to say. It won't hurt you to lose a horse or two, and
+that's about all anybody has ever taken out of you, while it's quite
+likely you'll be worse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> off if you make trouble about it. In fact,
+taking it all around, you can't afford to get rid of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, that is what I mean to do. I have no use for a man who sells my
+property to his friends. You'll get out of this place to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I'll go right now. Thompson will take me in."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Leland sharply; "you'll stay just where you are until the
+morning, though you can take your blankets into the other room as soon
+as you like. It's quite hard to keep my hands off you, and if you come
+out before I call you to make breakfast, I'm not going to try."</p>
+
+<p>Jeff said nothing further, but, taking two dirty blankets out of a
+hay-filled bunk, shuffled away into a second room behind a log
+partition. Leland went after him, and, laying his hands on the little
+window, shook it violently.</p>
+
+<p>"If you try to get out that way, we're going to hear you, and then
+you'll be sorry for yourself," he said.</p>
+
+<p>He came back and, flinging himself into the chair beside the stove,
+filled his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite know how you worried the thing out, and perhaps it
+doesn't greatly matter, but I rather think it was good advice he gave
+you," said Gallwey reflectively. "You certainly can afford to lose a
+horse or two, and the rustlers are the kind of people it is just as well
+to keep on good terms with. Sergeant Grier has only three or four
+troopers, and the outpost is quite a long way off."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled. "Well," he said, "horse-stealing is getting to be a good
+deal more profitable business than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> liquor-running. They get horses for
+nothing, and they have to buy the whisky. They haven't gone very far
+into it yet, but it's a sure thing that they will if they find out that
+none of us seem to mind it. Somebody has to make a protest, and it may
+as well be me."</p>
+
+<p>"So far as my observation goes, most men would rather let their
+neighbour make it first," said Gallwey drily. "You, however, seem to be
+an exception."</p>
+
+<p>Leland's face hardened. "The fact is, I feel like taking it out of
+somebody soon. I have had a good deal to worry me."</p>
+
+<p>"One would not have expected you to feel like that just now."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess we'll change the subject," said Leland grimly. "You are
+wondering what I sent Jeff in there for? Well, I didn't want him loose
+on the prairie. It seems to me he's expecting a visit from his friends,
+and I'd just as soon they came and let me have a word with them. You get
+into the bunk there, and go to sleep until I want you."</p>
+
+<p>Wrapping one of the sleigh robes about him, Gallwey lay down for the
+night. He saw Leland put the light out and sit down again by the
+snapping, crackling stove. Through its open door a flickering radiance
+now and again touched his earnest face. Though they had been out since
+dawn in the stinging frost, he sat firmly erect, gripping his unlighted
+pipe and gazing straight in front of him with hard, unwavering eyes.
+Behind him the shadows played upon the walls of the gloomy shanty, quiet
+save for the moan of the bitter wind. Gallwey, who did not think it was
+the rustlers, wondered what was worrying his comrade,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> until his eyes
+grew heavy, and, though he had not intended it, he fell asleep wearily.</p>
+
+<p>Leland, however, sat still while the crackle of the stove died away, and
+the stinging cold crept in. He had much to think of, and could see no
+way out of the difficulties that beset him and his wife. He had known
+that she had no love for him, but, since the night she had met him on
+the terrace steps at Barrock-holme, his admiration for her had grown
+steadily stronger, and he had been conscious of a curious tenderness
+whenever he thought of her. Her smile was worth the winning by any
+effort he could make, and the odd kind word she occasionally flung him
+would set his heart thumping.</p>
+
+<p>Then the revelation had come, and left him dismayed. He had never
+counted on her hating him, as it now seemed she must do, or regarding
+him as one so far beneath her that the most she could feel for him was
+an impersonal toleration. He was a proud man, and her words had stung
+him deeply. It was galling to realise that he was bound to a woman who
+shrank from him and despised him, and that the bonds were unbreakable,
+no matter how irksome they might become to both his wife and himself.</p>
+
+<p>Then that mood passed, for there was a silent, deep-seated optimism in
+him that had carried him through frozen harvests and adverse seasons,
+and he began to appreciate her point of view, and that it might not be
+an unalterable one. He did not blame her for her courage, or even for
+her scorn, though it had hurt him horribly. It was for him to prove it
+unwarranted, or with patience to live it down, but he did not know how
+either could be done, and now and then a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> fit of anger set his
+blood tingling as he sat in the growing shadows beside the emptying
+stove. His resentment was not so much against the woman as the man who
+had, knowing what she must feel, forced her into marrying him; but they
+were in England, and he felt illogically that he must strike at some one
+nearer, which was why he waited for the rustlers. He had no pistol. It
+is not often that the plainsman carries arms in Western Canada, but
+there was a big axe at Jeff's wood-pile, which would, he fancied, serve
+in case of necessity. At last, when the stove had almost gone out, he
+roused himself to attention with a little start in the bitter cold and,
+rising, touched Gallwey.</p>
+
+<p>"Get up!" he said. "Slip in behind the door, and shut it when I tell
+you. There are horses on the trail."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did as he was bidden, half asleep, though he heard a beat of
+hoofs that grew louder. Then there was a stamping of feet outside, and
+Leland flung a few split billets through the open top of the stove. A
+sharp crackling followed, and a blaze sprang up, but the light only
+flickered here and there, leaving the room almost dark.</p>
+
+<p>"Let them in!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>The door swung open. Two shadowy figures, shapeless in fur coats and
+caps, appeared in the opening, and one of them turned sharply when
+Gallwey slammed the door behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "what is that for? I don't seem to recognise you,
+anyway."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "Come right in, gentlemen. I've been waiting to see you,
+and there's no mistake. Jeff's in the second room yonder, and if he
+ventures to come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> out with any notion of making trouble he'll run a
+considerable risk of getting himself hurt."</p>
+
+<p>He had raised his voice a trifle, and the rustle that had commenced died
+away in token that Jeff had heard. In the meanwhile one of the rustlers
+had slipped his hand inside his furs; but Leland, who noticed it, made a
+little gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it's not worth while," he said. "If you'll sit down a minute, I
+have a word or two to say to you."</p>
+
+<p>One of the men did so, but the other stood near the door watching
+Gallwey, who was, on the whole, thankful that he had taken down Jeff's
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" said the first outlaw. "It was Jeff who gave us away?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly. At least, he didn't mean to. You should have got a smarter
+man before you ventured to put up a bluff on me. Still, that's not the
+question. When are you going to bring my horses back?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid I can't quite promise," said the other with a chuckle. "With
+us, finding is sometimes keeping."</p>
+
+<p>"You have two weeks. If they're not back in that time, you're going to
+be sorry."</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw laughed openly. "Come down and look at it reasonably. We have
+got to live, and we have, after all, stuck you for very little. With
+four police troopers to watch this part of the country, there's nothing
+you can do. I guess we've got our grip on it just now."</p>
+
+<p>"You have two weeks to bring back my horses in."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you mean to insist on it?" said the other man.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>"I do. Don't you get to thinking the honest men in this country are a
+bit afraid of you. They're only lazy. We have nothing to do with the
+whisky, but this horse-lifting has got to be stopped. Get out, and
+remember it, before I use my feet on you."</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw was a big man. As he slipped his hand beneath his furs,
+Leland quietly reached for the axe.</p>
+
+<p>"I could shear your arm off before you got it out," he said. "Will you
+lay it down, and see if you can stop in this shanty when I tell you to
+get out."</p>
+
+<p>The rustler looked at him for a moment, and, though there was very
+little light, was apparently satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"No," he said. "I guess that's not business, anyway. You won't get your
+horses, but I'll give you good advice. Sit tight, and mind your farming,
+and it's quite likely you won't lose any more. We're not nice folks when
+we're roused, but we're not looking for trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll get it," said Leland drily, "unless my horses are back two weeks
+to-night. Open the door, Tom, and let the gentlemen out."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing more was said by either, and in another minute or two there was
+a thud of hoofs as the outlaws rode away.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FARMERS IN COUNCIL</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Nearly three weeks had slipped by since Leland met the outlaws, and his
+horses were missing still, when he sat in council at Prospect with a few
+of his scattered neighbours one bitter night. The big room was as bare
+and comfortless as it had been in his bachelor days, though there were
+cases at the railroad station whose contents would have transformed it,
+had he troubled to haul them in. Leland was somewhat grim of face, for
+the past few weeks had not been pleasant ones to him.</p>
+
+<p>The breach between him and his wife was still as wide as ever, and he
+felt it the more keenly because, since the night of their frankness, she
+had shown no sign of anger. Instead, she had treated him with a civility
+that was hard to bear, and had professed herself content with all the
+arrangements at Prospect as they were. Leland was too proud a man to
+make advances which he felt would be repelled, and decided bitterly
+that, since nothing he could do would please her, the comforts she did
+not seem to care about might stay where they were until they rotted. Her
+own rooms, at least, were fur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>nished and fitted luxuriously, in so far
+as he had been able to contrive it, and, since she spent most of her
+time in them, the one in which his mother had lived was good enough for
+him. Still, all this reacted upon his temper, and, on the night when he
+had his neighbours there, he was feeling the strain.</p>
+
+<p>There were four of them, men who toiled early and late, and had a stake
+in the country, and they were all aware that others would probably be
+influenced by what they did. They listened to him gravely, sitting about
+the crackling stove with a box of cigars on the little table in front of
+them. There was nothing to drink, however, since, for several reasons,
+including the enactments of the legislature, strong green tea is the
+beverage most usually to be met with on the prairies, and of that they
+had just had their fill at supper. There was silence until one of them
+turned to the rest with a twinkle in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm with Charley Leland in most of what he says," he said. "The law's
+necessary, as you find out when you have lived, as I have, in a country
+where there isn't any. Still, after all, the enforcing of it is the
+business of the legislature, and the most they do for us is to worry us
+for statistics and fine us for not ploughing unnecessary fire-guards.
+Then there are two or three of us on this prairie who aren't fond of
+tea, and, as things are, we generally know where to get a little
+Monongahela or Bourbon when we want it. I guess it would give a kind of
+tone to this <i>soir&eacute;e</i> if we had some of it now."</p>
+
+<p>There was approving laughter until another man spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite right, just as far as it goes," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> "Give me a
+chance of a square kick at the Scott Act, and I'll kick&mdash;like a mule. In
+the meanwhile, there it is, and you have to figure if breaking it is
+worth while. When you begin making exceptions, it's quite hard to stop.
+Now, I don't want to go round with a pistol strapped on to me, and,
+while we stand by the law, it isn't necessary. So long as I know that
+the crops I raise are mine and nobody can take them from me, I can do
+without my whisky. That's why I'm with Charley Leland in this thing, and
+you have to remember it's quite a big one."</p>
+
+<p>"It is," said a third speaker. "Here we are, a few scattered farmers
+with stables and granaries that will burn, and horses that can be run
+across the frontier. Behind us stand Sergeant Grier and his four
+troopers, while, if we back up Leland, we have a tolerably extensive
+organisation against us, and the men who belong to it aren't going to
+stick at anything. If we are willing to live and let live, what do we
+stand to lose? A horse borrowed now and then, an odd steer killed,
+perhaps, an unbranded beast or two missing. Well, I guess it might work
+out cheaper than the other thing."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for a moment or two, and then a young man looked up
+languidly. He had come out four or five years before from Montreal.</p>
+
+<p>"There is hard sense in all we have heard, but I think Leland's point of
+view is nearest the Academic one," he said. "Every honest man has a duty
+to the State, and it is certainly going to cost him more than he gains
+if he won't discharge it. There are probably more honest men than rogues
+everywhere, and yet one usually sees the rogues uppermost, for this
+reason:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> the honest man won't worry so long as they don't rob him, and
+his neighbour can't make a fight alone. Nobody is anxious to face the
+first blow for the benefit of the rest, and so the rogue gets bolder,
+until he becomes intolerable. Then the honest man stirs himself, and the
+rogues go down, though it causes ever so much more trouble than it would
+have done if the thing had been undertaken earlier. I'll give you an
+example. Begbie hung a man in British Columbia, the first one who wanted
+it, and there was order at once. Coleman and his vigilantes, who were
+scarcely quick enough, had to hang them by the dozen in California. Now
+we come to the question: How bad have things got to be before you think
+it worth while to do anything?"</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that he had made an impression. He had shown them the
+dangers of toleration; and they were men who, while they did little
+rashly, believed in the greatness of their country. They looked at
+Leland, who turned to them with a little grim smile.</p>
+
+<p>"They have gone quite far enough for me," he said. "I'm going to move
+now. The one thing I want to ask is, who is going to stand in with me?"</p>
+
+<p>The man who had last spoken glanced at the rest. "I think you can count
+upon the four of us."</p>
+
+<p>There was a murmur of concurrence, and Leland smiled. "As a matter of
+fact, I did so already, and asked Sergeant Grier to ride across and meet
+you to-night. He should be here any minute now. In the meanwhile I want
+to say that I've been riding up and down the country lately, and have
+reasons for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> supposing there's a big load of whisky to be run during the
+next few days."</p>
+
+<p>As they talked over this news, there was a knocking at the outer door,
+and a grizzled man who wore what had once been a very smart cavalry
+uniform was shown into the room. He sat down and listened with grave
+attention to what Leland had to say. Then he looked up quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"I have to thank you, gentlemen, and I'll swear you in," he said. "From
+what I can figure, it must be Ned Johnston's gang, and they're about the
+hardest of the crowd. I haven't much fault to find with Mr. Leland's
+programme except on a point or two."</p>
+
+<p>They discussed it for an hour, and, when all was arranged, one of them
+laughed as he laid his hand on Leland's shoulder. "I guess you're doing
+the right thing," he said. "Still, in one way, it's a little curious
+that it's you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the other man drily, "if I had just been married to a woman
+like Mrs. Leland, I figure I mightn't have been so willing to put myself
+in the way of a bullet. I'd have let somebody else make the first move
+and stayed at home with her."</p>
+
+<p>Leland's face grew a trifle hard, as he forced a laugh. "I scarcely
+think marriage has made any great change in me, or that it's likely to
+do so."</p>
+
+<p>Then his guests drove away, but the man to whom he had spoken remembered
+the look in Leland's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I wonder what Charley meant by that," he said, getting into his
+sleigh.</p>
+
+<p>Leland in the meanwhile had flung himself down into a chair beside the
+stove, and was lying there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> moodily with an unlighted pipe in his hand,
+when his wife came in. It was evident that he did not notice her, and
+she had misgivings as she noticed the weariness in his attitude. After
+all, he was her husband, and he looked very lonely in the big bare room.
+She sat down beside him and touched his arm. "Your friends have gone?"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked up sharply, and she saw the little glow in his eyes,
+which, however, faded out of them again.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he said. "I hope we did not disturb you."</p>
+
+<p>"You were suspiciously quiet. What were you plotting together?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," said Leland. "That is, nothing you would probably care to
+hear about."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie felt repulsed, though she would not show it. She had meant to be
+amiable, and she was a somewhat determined young woman, so she tried
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it a little lonely here?" she said. "Why did you not come up to
+me? I have scarcely seen you the last few days."</p>
+
+<p>Leland's smile was not exactly reassuring. "I don't want to trouble you
+too often. Besides, I have been out in the frost since early morning,
+and feel a little tired and drowsy. One naturally doesn't care to appear
+to any more disadvantage than is necessary."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's lips and brows straightened portentously. "Were you afraid I
+might point it out to you, or do you wish to make it evident to
+everybody that you are purposely keeping out of my way?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I should have thought of that, but it's a thing that never
+occurred to me. Still, you asked me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> another question, and, though
+perhaps it's weak of me, I can't help giving you an answer."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment and pointed round the desolate room, while the girl
+realised its dreariness as she saw the dry white ears on the walls
+quiver in the icy draughts and heard the wailing of a bitter wind
+outside the birch-log walls.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose&mdash;this&mdash;is what I bargained for when I asked you to marry
+me? You took the trouble not long ago to point out very plainly what you
+thought of me, and I think you meant every word of it. It was rather a
+bitter draught, but perhaps your point of view was a natural one. I am
+not the kind of man you have been accustomed to. In fact, there are very
+few points on which I resemble your father or Jimmy."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "that was not meant to be conciliatory. It rather
+emphasises the distinction you mention. Still, I think you had not
+finished."</p>
+
+<p>"Not quite. When you are willing to take me as I am, without prejudice,
+and give me a chance of winning your liking, you will not find me
+backward. Until then, I have a little too much self-respect to support
+you in pretending to be the dutiful wife because you think it becoming.
+Your contempt was honest, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie rose with a little languid gesture. "I wonder how long this
+exceptionally pleasant state of affairs could be expected to continue?"</p>
+
+<p>"Until you change your mind, or one of us is dead. If you get tired of
+it in the meanwhile, you can always go back to the Old Country for a few
+months or so."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>"It is really a little difficult to understand what could have induced
+you to marry me."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her with a little grim smile. "I believe I gave you my
+reasons on another occasion. It would be rather more to the purpose to
+ask why you were content with them?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's cheeks burned, but she turned from him languidly. "You almost
+tempt me to tell you," she said. "Still, perhaps I have already let my
+candour carry me too far."</p>
+
+<p>She went out of the big room quietly and naturally, but, when she
+reached her own apartment, she clenched her hands passionately. Though
+she was very angry, she had to realise that the man's attitude under the
+circumstances was by no means astonishing. She had also exactly what she
+had wished for, since it was clear that he would make no embarrassing
+advances now; and yet her courage almost failed her as she looked
+forward to an indefinite continuance of their present relations. He had
+said that, unless she made it, there could be no change until one of
+them was dead.</p>
+
+<p>It was the next day, and she had seen nothing of Leland, when she met
+Gallwey, with whom she had become friendly.</p>
+
+<p>The young man, she saw, was quite willing to constitute himself her
+devoted servant. At the same time, she felt the sincerity of his
+attachment for her husband, and drew from it a comfortable sense of
+security.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, you have heard the news?" he said. "I don't know if I'm
+presuming, or if it's kind to admit anything that might distress you,
+but it would be a relief to me if you could persuade Charley to be
+care<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>ful. I'm not quite sure he realises what he has undertaken."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie had, of course, heard nothing, though she naturally refused to
+admit it. She also realised the irony of the fact that everybody except
+herself seemed attached to her husband. They were then standing in the
+big general room; but, after she had sat down and smilingly pointed the
+young man to a place near her, ten minutes of judiciously directed
+conversation left her with a tolerably clear notion of the state of
+affairs. She was also sensible of an illogical feeling of dismay and
+apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"But why does he do it?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey looked thoughtful. "Well," he said, "somebody will have to take
+the thing up eventually, and, when there is anything unpleasant but
+necessary, Charley is usually there to do it. I almost fancy he can't
+help it. As they say in this country, that is the kind of man he is.
+Still, under the circumstances, I really think he ought to let the
+others take an equal risk, and it might be advisable for you to impress
+it upon him."</p>
+
+<p>"You believe that what I said would have any influence?" asked Carrie,
+with a curious little smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" and Gallwey gazed at her reproachfully. "Surely that ought
+to be evident."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the girl, with a trace of languidness, "I have to thank you
+for warning me, and I will do what I can, though I am not very certain
+it will have any great effect on him."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey left her a few minutes later. Carrie, who was now very
+thoughtful, saw nothing of her husband that night or during most of the
+next day. He came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> in and asked for supper a little before dusk, and,
+when he had eaten it, carefully went over the lock and magazine action
+of a forty-four Marlin rifle. Then he put on his furs and girt himself
+with a bandolier. On reaching the outer door, he heard a swift patter of
+footsteps on the neighbouring stairs. As Carrie came up to him he stood
+still, with the blue rifle-barrel gleaming over his shoulder, looking
+like a giant in his shaggy coat. She was dressed, as he noticed,
+unusually prettily, and, although he set his lips, the little sparkle
+crept into his eyes. As it faded, the bronzed face, barely visible
+beneath the fur cap, became once more impassive.</p>
+
+<p>The girl walked steadily up to him, and laid a hand upon his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"You have given me a good deal, but I scarcely think I have asked you
+for anything yet. I want you to run no risk that isn't necessary
+to-night," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland started, but again he put a constraint upon himself.</p>
+
+<p>"So you know?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course! Did you think, when everybody else knew, you could keep it
+from me? Still, that isn't what I asked you. I want you to be careful."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her, and though she saw the blood creep slowly into his
+face, his restraint was also evident.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you say that because you believed it was the correct thing, madam?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie flushed, but the man, shaking her hand off his arm, laid his big
+mittened one upon her shoulder, and, holding her away from him, looked
+down on her gravely.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>"You will try to forgive me that. It was a trifle brutal," he said, and
+his voice sank. "Still, to be quite honest, I could scarcely think that
+any risk I ran could cause you very much anxiety."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said nothing, for, with that steady gaze upon her, she could not
+pretend, even if her pride would have permitted her; and Leland smiled a
+trifle wistfully. His face was almost gentle now.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "you needn't force yourself to say it would, if it
+hurts you, and I daresay it was kindness that prompted you to try.
+Still, you see, I should want a good deal, and anything you didn't mean
+wouldn't satisfy me. After all, it would make things easier for you if I
+didn't come back again."</p>
+
+<p>The girl shivered. "You surely can't believe I would think of that?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," and Leland made a little gesture, which was expressive of
+weariness; "it was your sense of fitness that turned you against me."</p>
+
+<p>He let his hand fall from her shoulder. "After all, my dear, I am sorry
+for you."</p>
+
+<p>"And yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a little rough on me, but that can't be helped. Somehow or other
+I guess I can bear it."</p>
+
+<p>Then he stooped, and, taking one of her hands, held it between both of
+his before he turned and flung open the door.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie saw him for a moment, a tall, black figure silhouetted against
+the cold blue, and then he had vanished into the night.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
+<span class="smalltext">HOMICIDE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>An almost intolerable cold had descended upon the prairie when Leland
+reached the coulee where Sergeant Grier was mustering his forces late at
+night. They were not a very strong body, three troopers of the Northwest
+Police, all of them rather young, two prairie farmers, Leland, Gallwey,
+and the Sergeant, but the latter had decided that they would be enough,
+for the purpose. He was aware that, in an affair of this kind, a few men
+who understand exactly what they have to do, and can be relied on to set
+about it quietly and collectedly, are apt to prove more efficient than a
+larger body. The unnecessary man, he knew, is usually busy getting in
+his comrade's way. There was also another reason which Leland had
+pointed out. Since his acquaintances had undertaken the business, it was
+advisable that they should carry it out without exposing themselves
+unnecessarily to the outlaws' vengeance. There were several bands of the
+latter acting more or less in concert, and it would lessen the risks if
+there were only three or four men liable to them in place of several
+times as many.</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant quite concurred in this, and, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> Leland rode up stiff
+with frost, quietly sent the men out to their stations. Just there, the
+beaten trail that led south to the frontier dipped into one of the
+winding ravines, traversing the country with many a loop and bend. A
+sluggish creek flowed through its bottom beneath the ice, and a growth
+of willows and birches that there found shelter from the winds straggled
+up its sides. Trees fringed the crest of the dip, too, and in places
+overflowed into the prairie in scattered spurs. The trail ran through
+their midst, and there was no doubt that, if the outlaws came at all,
+which was not certain, they would come that way, since there are
+disadvantages attached to leading loaded horses through a thick
+birch-bluff in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>A farmer and one of the troopers were sent back to where the trees ran
+farther out into the prairie, and they were to lie hidden there and cut
+off the retreat in case the rustlers endeavoured to head back the way
+they had come. The main body lined the trail in the thickest of the
+bluff, just below the crest of the ravine, and Leland and one young
+trooper proceeded to the foot of the declivity. It would be their
+business to stop anybody who might succeed in breaking through the rest
+of the ambuscade. Each of them knew precisely what was expected of him,
+and the only uncertainty was whether the rustlers were coming, and if
+so, how many there would be of them.</p>
+
+<p>It was a suitable night for their purpose, neither too dark nor too
+light. The heavens were barred with drifting wreaths of cloud, between
+which every now and then a half-moon and an occasional star shone down.
+The birches wailed as they shook their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> frail twigs beneath a bitter
+wind. Leland was sensible of a distressing tingling in his numbed feet
+and hands. The young trooper beside him limped and stumbled, a shadowy,
+indistinct figure in his furs, stiff with cold. Their softly moccasined
+feet made no sound. Both of them wondered whether they could use their
+slung rifles, if the necessity arose.</p>
+
+<p>It is possible, without feeling desperately cold, to face the frost of
+the Northwest in a prairie waggon when one is packed about with hay and
+wrapped in big fur robes, but there are times when the man who travels
+on horseback runs the risk of freezing, and, because horses might be
+wanted, farmers and police troopers had ridden instead of driving.
+Leland was capable of moving, but the young trooper was in a far worse
+state, and sighed with relief when at last they stopped beside the
+creek, where a dense growth of willows kept off the stinging wind.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm that cold I 'most can't hump myself," he said. "Seems to me I
+haven't got any feet on. I guess they're froze. Still, it's not quite so
+cruel as the night the corporal got one of his nipped. We were sleeping
+way back up Long Traverse trail in a pit in the snow, and were too
+played-out to waken when the fire got low. The frost had the corporal by
+the morning, but we'd most of twenty leagues to make, with two or three
+mighty cold camps on the way, and his moccasins opened up a wound. You
+couldn't have told he had a foot when I last saw him."</p>
+
+<p>Leland said nothing. He was not inclined for conversation, and knew that
+instances of the kind were not uncommon. The wardens of the prairie
+probably know more about cold than anybody, except Arctic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> explorers,
+and they are expected to face it shelterless in the open for days
+together when occasion arises. They cannot always find a birch-bluff to
+camp in, and the snow is frequently too thin to throw up a bank between
+them and the wind. Only hard men continue in that service, and perhaps
+the prairie wolf alone knows what becomes of some of the unfit who try
+it.</p>
+
+<p>The lad, however, seemed impelled to talk, and stamped up and down
+beating his mittened hands, with the swivel of his slung carbine
+jangling as he moved.</p>
+
+<p>"One would 'most wonder why you folks took a hand in," he said. "I guess
+if I'd been a farmer, it's more than I'd have done myself. There seem to
+be a blame lot of the rustlers, and, so far as we can figure, they stand
+in together. The three or four of us can't be everywhere at once, and
+they might take a notion of getting even by playing the fire-bug when
+the grass is dry in harvest season. I'd plough my fire-guards twice as
+wide. It would be quite easy to burn up a ripening crop."</p>
+
+<p>Leland was aware that there would, unfortunately, be no difficulty in
+doing this, but he was willing to take his chances, and did not answer
+the lad. Indeed, the probable loss of a crop appeared a comparatively
+small matter to him just then. He was sore and bitter, and a feud with
+the outlaws would have been almost a relief. He felt that Branscombe
+Denham had tricked him, but sincerely desired to stand well with his
+wife, in spite of her scornful attitude towards him. He did not blame
+her for that altogether, though her words still rankled, but he would
+not expose himself to her disdain again, and had decided that if things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+were to be different, the first advances must be made by her. In the
+meanwhile, it was singularly unpleasant to both of them, and that night
+he was in a very sensitive and somewhat dangerous mood as he stood
+shivering among the willows.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess they should be here by now, if the fellow who told us was
+playing a straight game," said the lad. "The trouble is, they've a good
+many friends, and nobody can tell exactly who's standing in with them.
+It's kind of easier to pick up an odd case of whisky and say nothing
+than to give us the office and have a fire-stick shoved into your
+granary. I'm not counting too much on the Ontario man."</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, the others fretted at the cold, and wondered how long
+the outlaws meant to keep them waiting. Two of them, upon whom all the
+rest depended for the warning, were just then crouching, almost frozen,
+where the thinnest of the birches broke off abruptly, watching a group
+of vague, shadowy shapes moving in their direction across the white
+wilderness. Gallwey stood behind them. A bank of sombre cloud sailed
+across the moon, and left the watchers in almost utter darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"I can make out four, and there are more behind," said the trooper.
+"It's a sure thing. Snow's deep, and, as we figured, they'll stick to
+the trail. Guess you'd better get back and tell the Sergeant."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey slipped away, and there was silence for several minutes while
+farmer and policeman crept a little further back amidst the trees. Then
+a soft patter of hoofs and an occasional rattle came up the bitter wind
+as a line of men and horses grew into shape. They came on boldly, the
+men growling to one another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> and at the beasts. With no outriders
+forward, they plunged into the shadow of the birches. There the sounds
+grew louder, and the thud of hoofs, hoarse voices, crackle of trodden
+twigs, and creaking and jolting of burdens on pack-saddles, rang
+startlingly distinct through the crisp air. The trooper counted at least
+a dozen horses, but he could not quite make out how many men, for they
+walked among the loaded beasts, and the trail was very dark.</p>
+
+<p>They went on by, half-seen, dim shadows that jostled one another among
+the trees; and, when the voices and the trampling grew less distinct,
+the trooper moved out into the trail, with his carbine in his mittened
+hands. The trap was sprung, for, if one or two of the outlaws succeeded
+in breaking through, it was evident that they must, at least, leave
+their beasts behind. With the farmer close behind him he moved
+cautiously a little nearer his comrades and then stood still again.</p>
+
+<p>It was, perhaps, five minutes later when Leland, who was pacing to and
+fro, stopped abruptly, and held up his hand as the young trooper
+materialised out of the gloom in front of him.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you hear something?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>The trooper thought he could, but his ears were almost covered by the
+big fur cap, and whilst they stood listening the birches swayed and
+wailed before a bitter gust. It seemed to search them to the marrow, for
+the cold was keen as a knife. Then through the night there came a dull,
+thudding sound down from the ridge above, and the trooper flung his
+carbine forward.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>"They're here, sure," he said. "It's even chances we don't get a whack
+at one of them."</p>
+
+<p>They stood listening for a minute or two, intent and high-strung, and
+heard only the wailing of the wind, for the birches once more swayed
+about them. It was almost dark, for the moon was still behind a cloud.
+As he moved his mittened hands on the Marlin rifle, Leland forgot that
+he was stiff in every limb. Then a voice rang, harsh and commanding, out
+of the shadows above them.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop right there," it said. "We have got you covered."</p>
+
+<p>It was followed by the whip-like crack of a pistol-shot, there was the
+louder jarring ring of a carbine or a farmer's rifle, and a confused din
+broke out. Men shouted and scuffled in the gloom, loaded beasts
+blundered among the trees and the undergrowth, while through it all
+there rose the detached beat of hoofs.</p>
+
+<p>"One or two of them lit out, anyway," said the trooper. "Guess they'd
+slash the pack lariat, and get into the saddle when they'd let the
+whisky go. That sounds like one of the boys after them. Chancing a
+gallop, too. They'll break their necks certain, if they ride that way
+through the bluff."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a minute, and just then a faint silvery radiance swept
+athwart the birches as the moon shone down. It sparkled on the dropping
+smear of snow-sheeted trail, and the lad ran forward a pace or two
+fumbling with his carbine.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out, Mr. Leland!" he shouted. "There are two of them riding slap
+down on us."</p>
+
+<p>Two indistinct objects swept out of the shadows, and a moment later
+resolved themselves into men and gal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>loping horses. They were thundering
+headlong down the sharply falling trail, and Leland felt his nerves
+tingle as he watched them. He was in a particularly unpleasant temper
+that night, and the prospect of an encounter stirred the half-frozen
+blood in him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the trooper standing
+a few paces away from him, and then fixed his gaze up the trail ahead.
+The horsemen were coming on at a mad gallop, taking their chances of a
+stumble, and he could see the powdery snow whirl about them like dust.
+Then they saw him standing grimly still in the middle of the trail, for
+one shouted a warning to the other, and the trooper cried aloud:</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on! Pull up before we plug you," he said.</p>
+
+<p>There was no answer. The riders were hard and fearless men, probably
+wanted by Montana sheriffs for things they had done during the cattle
+war, and they showed no sign of drawing bridle. One of them howled
+shrilly as he whirled a whip about his shoulders, and for a moment
+Leland saw him sway in the saddle with the beast stretched out beneath
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a flash, and a detonation he scarcely heard, a cloud of
+smoke that floated up the trail, and man and horse came thundering down
+on him. He felt the jar of the Marlin rifle on his shoulder as he aimed
+at the flying form of a horse. In another moment the outlaw was almost
+upon him. Then in savage recklessness he leapt forward instead of back,
+with a hand that sought the bridle and an arm the rider's leg. His
+fingers closed on something&mdash;bridle, or saddle, or stirrup&mdash;and he clung
+with a stiffened grasp, while his feet were torn from under him and a
+rifle flashed.</p>
+
+<p>Exactly what happened after that he did not know,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> but he was hurled
+forward, still clutching at something, with feet that scraped the snowy
+ice of the creek; and then there was a heavy crash, and what he held was
+torn away from him. He felt himself driven into a bank of snow, and lay
+there for perhaps a minute wondering vaguely if the life had all been
+smashed out of him, and listening to a sound of scuffling and
+floundering close by. Next he essayed to draw one of his feet up, and,
+to his astonishment, found that he had no great difficulty in
+accomplishing it. That done, he raised himself shakily, and, scrambling
+to one of the birches, leaned against it, gasping a little. A few
+seconds earlier he had been almost certain that he would never stand up
+again.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile the moonlight had grown a trifle brighter, for he could
+see a horse that lay near the middle of the creek still moving
+convulsively. Nearby, wrapped in an old fur coat, was an object that did
+not move at all. The trooper, who now had no carbine, stood stooping a
+little as he looked down on it, and there was a curious significant
+stillness in his attitude, whilst as much as could be seen of his young
+face appeared a trifle colourless. It was a moment or two before he
+became aware that Leland was on his feet again.</p>
+
+<p>"He's dead, sure. It's the first man I ever plugged," he said, and his
+voice rang strained and harsh in the frosty air. "He just pitched off
+and never moved. Guess it couldn't have hurt him."</p>
+
+<p>One could have fancied he was anxious about the point, but in another
+moment he turned away with a little deprecatory gesture, and commenced
+to grope about for his carbine.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>"Anyway, I couldn't help it, and it was that quick&mdash;he never wriggled
+any&mdash;he couldn't have felt it."</p>
+
+<p>The thing had its effect on Leland, though he had seen something very
+like it happen before, and he laid his hand reassuringly on the lad's
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you need worry," he said. "He took his chances when he
+wouldn't stop, and it's not your responsibility. Anyway, we may as well
+make quite sure that he is dead."</p>
+
+<p>There was no doubt on that point when he dropped on one knee beside the
+man, and he nodded as he glanced at the trooper.</p>
+
+<p>"A sure thing. I'd like some kind of notion of what happened," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You jumped at him yonder, but I didn't quite see what you got hold of.
+Anyway, you went along with the horse&mdash;and him&mdash;until I pulled off, and
+you all came down together. You went down on the ice with a bang 'most
+fit to break it, and then into the snow-bank yonder. Guess you plugged
+the horse in a soft place when you fired. In the meanwhile the other man
+went by&mdash;whooping&mdash;like a whirlwind."</p>
+
+<p>That was about all the explanation Leland ever got, but in another
+moment or two the trooper, who seemed to be looking at him curiously,
+spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm kind of dazed," he said. "There's quite a lot of blood running down
+your forehead. I've been watching, and it never struck me you'd better
+know. I'll go up now and tell the Sergeant 'bout the other fellow who
+lit out."</p>
+
+<p>Leland, who thrust back his fur cap and felt the gash on his forehead,
+decided that he was a little confused too, or he would have noticed that
+there was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> warm trickle running down the outside of his nose. His
+mittens showed red smears in the moonlight when he tried to brush it
+away. When he next looked round, the trooper had disappeared; and,
+moving rather shakily, for his fall had not been without its effect, he
+too plodded up the climbing trail.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the level, he found several dejected men with manacled
+hands, and a line of loaded horses with two of the troopers watching
+them. The Sergeant, who appeared to be giving instructions to one of the
+troopers, turned to him.</p>
+
+<p>"We have got four of them and most of the horses, but, so far as I can
+figure, two or three must have got away," he said. "The boys will try to
+pick their tracks up, and I'll ask you to give us a hand with the
+pack-horses as far as the forking of the trail."</p>
+
+<p>Leland contrived to drive two of the loaded train, though his head was
+aching and he felt very dizzy. When at last he was about to turn off
+into a second sledge-track, the Sergeant pulled up his horse beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"We are much obliged, Mr. Leland, and you'll hear all that's done," he
+said. "Still, it's a kind of pity one of the two you fell in with got
+away."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose you are particularly pleased any of them broke through,
+for that matter," said Leland.</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant made a little impressive gesture. "The point is that they'd
+both have got off, if it hadn't been for you, and that fellow's partner
+isn't going to blame&mdash;the trooper. That's all in the business. Well, if
+I were you, I'd keep clear of the bluffs and ravines if you have to go
+out when it's dark."</p>
+
+<p>He shook his bridle and rode on, whilst Leland stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> a minute or two
+watching the others straggle out along the trail. Last of all a trooper
+led a horse which carried an amorphous burden wrapped in a fur coat, and
+lashed on with a pack-lariat. Something that looked like a moccasined
+foot trailed down on one side in the snow, and, judging from the trouble
+the beast gave its driver, it did not like what it carried.</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite likely that fellow's partner will try to get even," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">SEEDTIME</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The snow had gone, and the frost-bleached prairie lay steaming under the
+warm April sun, when Carrie Leland pulled her team up on the crest of a
+low rise. The waggon she drove, a light vehicle of four high wheels with
+a shallow, box-like body, had been made especially for her. It was hung
+on comfortable springs, and the harness and horses matched it. There
+were few broncho teams on the prairie to compare with hers. They were
+young, but Carrie liked a mettlesome beast, and Leland had carefully
+chosen and broken them.</p>
+
+<p>It was the same with everything he had given her. Only the best that
+could be had seemed good enough for her, and at times she almost
+resented his generosity. Save when he lost his temper, which happened
+not infrequently, she could not put him in the wrong, and she often felt
+that it would be easier for her if she could charge him with neglect, or
+had something to forgive him. He was gravely considerate for her
+comfort, but it was very seldom that he went any further. While this
+should have pleased her, she was not quite sure that it did.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning in question, Eveline Annersly, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> had been at Prospect
+a month now, sat beside her rejoicing in the sunshine and rush of warm
+wind. She had reached the age when one looks for little and makes the
+most of what comes, and the warmth and freshness of the morning
+delighted her. The prospect would also in all probability have had its
+attractions for any one with eyes to see and a nature that could respond
+to the reawakening pulse of life in the land.</p>
+
+<p>Round three-fourths of the horizon the bleached prairie, tinged now with
+sunny ochre, melted into the sweep of lustrous blue, but in the
+foreground the sod was gemmed with little crocus-like flowers and
+already flecked here and there with creeping green. All this was waste
+and virgin, but on the fourth side tall bands of golden stubble, and
+belts of ashes where golden stubble had once been, were narrowed down by
+the steaming chocolate-tinted clods of the plough's upturning. Grain ran
+up in long rippled ridges from Prospect, where the birches gleamed
+silver, across the wide dip of basin and over its fringing rise, into
+the luminous blueness of the sky. That was man's work, and man at
+Prospect worked unusually hard, for it was not his part there to plough
+where others had also sown, but to grapple with the wilderness, and
+subdue it, in fulfilment of the charge given him when the waters dried.
+The wilderness was there, leagues of it, but it required a stout heart
+and a steadfast toil to break it and cover it with red-gold wheat when
+wheat was a drug upon a falling market.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly, faded and frail, was dainty still. As she sat smiling
+in the waggon, with the sunlight lying warm on her beautiful hands, she
+was a part of the colour scheme in her soft, grey-tinted draperies.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+Some women of the cities would have been a blotch on it. She was the
+figure of tranquil autumn when the wealth of fruits had gone, but her
+companion with the crimson lips and dusky eyes was spring, when as yet
+Nature is only stirring and has not awakened to riotous life at the
+burning kiss of the sun. Eveline Annersly realised this vaguely, and at
+times felt a thrill of concern, for she knew there was fire beneath that
+cold exterior. When the awakening should come, much would depend upon
+whether the sudden untrammelled growth of the girl's nature would cling
+for warmth and shelter to the man who was her husband.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, she watched the toiling teams coming on across grey
+grass and golden stubble in echelon. Men sat above the horses' heads on
+the driving-seats of the big gang-ploughs, and from amidst the curling
+brown clods came the twinkling flash of steel. The men had brown faces,
+and some of them bare, brown arms. Sun and wind had burned and beaten
+them and their garments to the colour of the soil they sprang from. They
+seemed almost a part of it, as they and the patient beasts did their
+share in the great, harmonious scheme which in return for the sweat of
+effort gives man bread to eat. This was not English farming, mixed and
+variable, but an unlocking of Nature's long-stored wealth in mile-long
+furrows that should fling the golden wheat by trainload and shipload on
+the markets of the world. Even Eveline Annersly, who was not greatly
+interested in agriculture, could realise that.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a tremendous farm," she said. "We have nothing like it in
+England. The length of those fur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>rows appeals to one's imagination. How
+big is it, Carrie?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl smiled a trifle languidly. "I really don't know," she said.
+"Charley has told me, but I never could remember things like that. He
+seems rather proud of having broken&mdash;I believe that is the right
+word&mdash;most of it out of the prairie. In fact, he is easily content. To
+break so many acres every year seems his one object in life. I don't
+think it's anybody's. Presumably, it's a question of temperament. My
+husband appears to like his occupation, and absorbs himself in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Which, of course, is just as you would have it?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl made a little half-petulant gesture. "Oh," she said, "I suppose
+so. I naturally did not expect Charley Leland and I would have many
+mutual interests when I married him. It would have been in several
+respects a trifle ridiculous. Still, he is, in his own way, very good to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"So I should have fancied"; and Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "Did
+it ever occur to you that he might have expected a good deal from you?"</p>
+
+<p>A flicker of colour showed in Carrie's cheek. "In that case, he, at
+least, shows no sign that he misses anything. As you know, we scarcely
+see him for two or three days together every now and then. I believe
+these teams are in the field by six in the morning, and it usually is
+dark when he comes in again."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if you quite realise the restraint and self-denial implied by
+a life of that kind? After all, your husband is probably no fonder of
+wearing himself out than most other men. Presumably he has a purpose, or
+finds it necessary."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>She stopped a moment, and smiled in a curious fashion as she glanced at
+her companion. "I suppose you have heard that they are building a new
+peach-house and vinery at Barrock-holme?"</p>
+
+<p>A bright crimson spot burned for a moment in Carrie's cheek. "I hadn't,"
+she said, with a trace of bitterness. "Jimmy, of course, never writes,
+and even Alice seems to have forgotten me. In fact, I don't suppose
+there is one of them who ever gives me a thought now. Aunt Eveline, you
+are to stay here for ever so long."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly nodded reassuringly. "Of course, my dear," she said. "As
+you perhaps know, it is a good deal your father's fault that I am
+reduced to living on my friends, and I really think some of the money he
+is spending on the peach-houses should have come to me. I have been
+inclined to wonder where he got it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Denham was usually reposeful, but a trace of the confusion she
+felt showed itself in her face. Eveline Annersly understood her as well
+as she understood herself, and, being aware of this, she stood less upon
+her guard.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "I think you know. It is a little hard to bear, isn't
+it? Have they always been the same?"</p>
+
+<p>"One would almost fancy so. Henry Annersly was well off when he married
+me, and everybody knows I have scarcely a penny. Where the rest has gone
+only Branscombe Denham knows, though I'm not even sure that he does. No
+doubt he didn't intend to lose it, but money won't stay with him. And he
+never even writes to you?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>Carrie laid a hand upon her arm. "Aunt," she said, "stay with us
+altogether. Charley likes you&mdash;and I can't let you go."</p>
+
+<p>The little lady's eyes grew gentle, but there was a faint smile in them.
+"My dear, I think I know what you are feeling, but, after all, you
+deserve it, and I'm not so very sorry for you. I'm going to make your
+husband stop and speak to me."</p>
+
+<p>Their team stood stamping impatiently on the virgin sod, as Leland came
+up foremost of the long line of men and beasts. He was sitting upright
+on the driving-seat of a great machine, dressed in an old blue-jean
+shirt that was open at his sunburnt throat, with a wide grey hat on his
+head. His arms were bare to the elbow, corded, hard, and brown, and his
+face was the deep colour of the clods that rolled away in long waves
+beneath the three-fold shares. Four splendid horses plodded in front of
+him, and the stain of the soil and the same stamp of enduring strength
+was on him and them. He pulled the team up, and, springing down, came
+towards the waggon with his hat in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"You are going to the railroad?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Annersly. "Carrie wants some things, but I understand
+we are to stay the night at Mrs. Custer's on the way."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, "I may see you there. There are some new harrows
+and seeders I have to wire about, but I don't expect to get in until
+daylight to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"You are going to drive all night?"</p>
+
+<p>"I may get an hour's sleep before I go. You see, I have to be back by
+noon to-morrow. Our summer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> is short, and there is a good deal to do.
+The grain that goes in late is quite often frozen."</p>
+
+<p>He pointed as if in explanation to the great sweep of furrows that ran
+back narrowing all the way to where Prospect nestled like a doll's house
+beneath its bluff. With a great trampling, two other teams came up just
+then. They went by amidst a ripping and crackling of fibres as the
+prairie opened up beneath the gleaming shares, and Leland nodded with a
+little quiet smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," he said; "little time to do it in, and a good deal to do.
+Some of us were born to feel that way."</p>
+
+<p>"Not all," said Eveline Annersly. "There are, as you know, men who waste
+their substance to while the day away. You are not that sort. Perhaps
+it's fortunate for you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled again. "I don't quite know. There's a great order and
+system that runs things, though I can't quite get the hang of it&mdash;I
+haven't time. Every man works in this country, as all Nature does. Those
+little grasses have been ten thousand years building up the black loam
+I'm making wheat of. The mallard, the brent goose, and the sandhill
+crane&mdash;you can see them coming up from the south in their skeins and
+wedges all day long&mdash;have to hunt their food from the shores of the
+Caribbean to the Pole. Well, one feels there must be a balance struck
+some day, and the men who don't do anything are having the soft things
+now."</p>
+
+<p>He laughed good-humouredly, and stroked one of the horses that turned
+its head to nibble affectionately at his shoulder. "I'll be sorry for
+this by and by,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> but you have a habit of making me give myself away."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we will be practical. Are you going to sow all that ploughing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am. I expect to break two hundred acres more. There are folks who
+want the wheat, and we'll feed the world some day."</p>
+
+<p>"But wheat is going down."</p>
+
+<p>"It is," and Leland's face grew a trifle hard. "No bottom to the market,
+apparently. That's why I'm buying new machines and cutting things down
+and down. We must have everything that can save or earn a dollar at
+Prospect now."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland was struck by something in her husband's face. It was a
+comely face, as well as forceful, clean-skinned in spite of its deepness
+of tint, and there was a clearness in the steady eyes that is only seen
+in those of such men as he. There was also in his features a suggestion
+of endurance and optimism that, in fact, was strongest in the time of
+stress and struggle. Sun and wind, fruitful soil and barren, nipping
+frosts, drought and devastating hail, all these were things to be
+grappled with or profited by with equal willingness. He and his kind in
+new countries give without stint all they have been given, from the
+sweat of tense effort each and every day to the smiling courage that
+cuts down hours of rest and goes on sowing when seasons are adverse and
+markets fall away; and there is, in turn, usually set upon them plainly
+the symbol of man's dominion over the material world. The patient beasts
+that toiled with him recognised it, and again one of them muzzled his
+shoulder and caught at his arm.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>"And," said Mrs. Annersly, "if the market still goes down?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed an optimist's soft laugh. "Then we will go under, I and
+the rest. That is, for a time. Nothing can stop us long, and we will
+start again. Carrie, I am thankful, is provided for."</p>
+
+<p>He struck the horse with the palm of his hand. "I have been keeping you,
+and there is a good deal to do."</p>
+
+<p>The big team stamped and strained; he swung himself into the
+driving-seat, and, with a crackling of fibres, the great plough rolled
+away. Mrs. Annersly smiled as Carrie shook the reins.</p>
+
+<p>"If I were twenty years younger, I almost think I should fall in love
+with your husband," she said. "There is a breadth of view and
+forcefulness Reggie Urmston could never attain even in his simplicity,
+and his egotism becomes him. It's the quiet assurance of a man who knows
+what he can do, and rather thinks that he is doing a good bit. He takes
+all the risk, and you are provided for. Carrie, do you know what that
+man gave, or lent&mdash;it's much the same thing&mdash;to your father?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie, with the spot of colour once more in her cheek. "He
+would never tell me, and how could I ask him? It is a hateful
+subject&mdash;why should you mention it?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly looked out over the prairie, a curious smile in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Your husband is cutting down even his hours of sleep," she said. "He is
+driving in forty miles to the railroad when his work is done to-night,
+while Brans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>combe Denham is building peach-houses at Barrock-holme."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie flushed crimson, and flicked the team with the whip. "You," she
+said, "are the only friend I have, and yet you sometimes take a curious
+pleasure in tormenting me. Do you expect me to turn against my own flesh
+and blood?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have it on good authority that the wife should cleave to her
+husband, and they are one. There are, of course, people nowadays, and
+probably always have been, who think they know better."</p>
+
+<p>The girl caught her breath. "Ah," she said, "you don't quite understand.
+If he were in difficulties I would face them with him cheerfully, but he
+would never let me. It was not said in bitterness, but when he told you
+I was provided for, it hurt me. Why should I be safe, who helped to ruin
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly glanced at her with gravely questioning eyes. "My dear,
+I rather fancy you have almost thrown a great treasure away."</p>
+
+<p>"Whether the thing was of great value I do not know, and it is scarcely
+likely I shall ever know. I certainly threw it just as far as I was able
+to, and, though I do not know whether I was wise or not, it is done, and
+there is no use in being sorry."</p>
+
+<p>Then she swung the whip again, and sent the light waggon flying headlong
+down a long grassy slope. Mrs. Annersly found it advisable to hold on,
+and in any case she had said her say. Her words must lie with the rest
+she had dropped, until in due time they should bear their fruit. Eveline
+Annersly was old enough to be somewhat of an optimist too.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Leland went on with his plough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>ing, and, save for an
+hour's halt at noon to rest the teams, and for the six o'clock supper,
+toiled until a wondrous green transparency, through which the pale stars
+peeped, hung over the prairie. Then, when the cold clear air was
+invigorating as wine, he led the weary beasts to the stables, and, after
+walking stiffly to the homestead, flung himself into a chair, aching and
+drowsy.</p>
+
+<p>"Jake," he said to the man who was busy in the room, "I'll want some
+coffee in an hour or so. Make it black and strong."</p>
+
+<p>Then Gallwey came in, and they sat for an hour going over a file of
+accounts from which Leland made extracts on a sheet. He laid it down at
+last, and pointed to a bundle of papers on a dusty shelf.</p>
+
+<p>"I was worrying over them before I slept last night, and I'm no wiser
+now," he said. "The one thing certain is that wheat is going down, and
+what it will touch next harvest is rather more than any man can tell.
+One has too many climates from California to New Zealand to reckon with.
+If we stop right now and sow, we'd come out just clear as the market
+stands. I had expected to have quite a pile in hand, but with the drop
+in values the bank balance against me needed considerable meeting."</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly did. I was a trifle astonished when you cabled me to
+arrange for the credit at Winnipeg. You were, in view of your usual
+habits, singularly extravagant for once."</p>
+
+<p>"I was," and Leland laughed somewhat harshly. "Still, under the
+circumstances, it wasn't quite unnatural. Anyway, we have wiped it out,
+and it has crippled me for the next campaign."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>Gallwey asked no injudicious questions, but he wondered how his comrade,
+who had distinctly inexpensive tastes, had got rid of all the money he
+had apparently spent in England. Mrs. Leland was not an extravagant
+woman, so far as he was aware.</p>
+
+<p>"The question is, how we should meet a further drop," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"That's not very difficult, unless the drop is too big. We have for
+fixed charges the upkeep of this homestead, besides wages, and the
+feeding of the boys we can't do without, and the working horses. That's
+not going to alter more than a little, anyway. Well, we have the seed,
+and there are broken horses on the run, so it's going to cost us just a
+few teamsters' wages, and the threshing to put oats in on as many extra
+acres as we can break. You see, we get a bigger crop on much the same
+cost."</p>
+
+<p>"And the fall breaking?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wheat," said Leland. "Every acre."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey drew in his breath. He knew his comrade's boldness, but this was
+almost incredible. Cautious men were already holding their hand, but
+Leland purposed to sow more freely than ever.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a huge crop," he said. "About the biggest that was ever
+raised in this country. Now, of course, within a margin, there's a good
+deal in your notion in increasing the ratio of production to dead
+charges, but, after all, you can't sow a third as much again without its
+costing you something. Well, if the price drops far enough to make that
+a loss?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed again. "Then," he said, "it will be one of the biggest
+smashes ever known in this country; but nobody's going to lose very much
+when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> they've taken the land and stock from me. It's tolerably steep
+chances, but they're all on me."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey's uneasiness showed itself in his face. The magnitude of the
+risk almost dismayed him, but while he sat silent Leland made a little
+gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell Jake to bring that coffee in, and see the waggon's ready," he
+said. "I'll be off, and let the team go easy. They'll put me on to the
+wire at the depot at five o'clock when the stopping freight comes
+through. I should be back by noon. You'll start every man as usual."</p>
+
+<p>He drank the bitter coffee to keep himself awake, and climbed into his
+waggon, while Gallwey shook his head as he watched him jolt away into
+the shadowy prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a big thing, almost too big for any other man," he said. "It was
+the confounded bank balance against him that drove him into it. I wonder
+how he spent all that money, or if Mrs. Leland knows."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND'S PROTEST</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>There were two breakfasts served in the Occidental Hotel, which,
+dilapidated and weather-scarred, stands at the foot of the unpaved
+street of a desolate little town beside the railroad track. Most men
+commence their work early in the prairie country, so the first meal was
+laid at six; but there was another from eight to nine when a train came
+in. This was a somewhat unusual concession to the needs of the few
+passengers who alighted there, because throughout most of the Northwest
+no self-respecting hotel cook would prepare a meal out of the fixed
+hours, not even for a cabinet minister or a railroad director. Nor would
+the proprietor vary a dish, for in his estimation what suffices the
+plainsman is quite good enough for anybody else.</p>
+
+<p>The table had just been cleared when a small and select company of men
+who had nothing in particular to do pulled their chairs up to the stove,
+on which as many of them as could find room put their feet. It had not
+been lighted that morning, or black-leaded for many days, but habit was
+strong in them. There are, even in countries where most men are hard
+work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>ers, a few who spend their lives lounging on hotel verandahs and
+sitting round the stove. Nobody unused to it would, in all probability,
+have cared to linger there, for there are few places of entertainment so
+wholly desolate and uninviting as the general room of the average
+prairie hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Its walls were obviously made of dressed boards, and had even borne a
+coat of paint at one time; but they were bare and dirty now. Two lonely
+German oleographs of more than usually barbaric type hung on rusty
+nails. Cigar-ends and burnt matches littered the uncarpeted floor.
+Benches without backs to them ran along either side of the uncovered
+table. The rest of the furniture consisted of the rusty stove and a few
+chairs, which the loungers monopolised. Two of the group wore
+store-clothing, with trousers so tight that one wondered how they ever
+got them on, and two wore blue jean in sad need of patching. They had
+rough, dark faces, relieved by no sign of amiability or unusual
+intelligence; but they could talk. Loafers and tramps usually can.</p>
+
+<p>Outside the open window, bright sunshine flooded the verandah, and fell
+upon the bare frame-houses across the way. A couple of light waggons,
+with the mire of the spring thawing not yet washed off them, passed
+clattering and jolting among the ruts. The streets of a prairie town
+usually resemble a morass when the frost breaks up. When they had gone,
+a police trooper swung by on a spume-flecked horse, with the dust of
+several leagues' journey thick on his trim uniform. Then there was
+silence again until one of the loungers looked up from the greasy paper
+he was reading.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>"Wheat still going down," he said. "There's no bottom to the market, or,
+if it had one, it's dropped out. Our boss farmers are going to feel it
+if things go on like this; but nobody's going to be sorry for them. They
+figure they own the country already."</p>
+
+<p>"I hear Leland of Prospect is ploughing the same as if wheat was going
+up," said another man.</p>
+
+<p>The third of the party shook his pipe out, and pursed up his face, which
+was not an attractive one, into an expression of pitying contempt.</p>
+
+<p>"Leland's a blame fool, and always was," he said. "I once worked for
+him. It's the way the market went with him made him what he is. That,
+and nothing else."</p>
+
+<p>"Why'd you quit Prospect, Jasper?" asked the remaining comrade, and the
+others grinned.</p>
+
+<p>A vindictive gleam crept into the man's eyes. "Well," he said, "I've no
+use for being bossed by that kind of man, and one day I up and told him
+what I thought of him. There was considerable trouble before I walked
+out. Anyway, between the market and the English girl he's married, he's
+fixed just now."</p>
+
+<p>"She's flinging his money away?" asked somebody.</p>
+
+<p>"With both hands, and too stuck on herself to be civil to him. They're
+made like that in the Old Country. Leland's no more to her than the
+hired man, one of the boys told me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, why'd she marry him?"</p>
+
+<p>"For his money. That's a good enough reason, and it's quite likely there
+was another one. Girls like her have got to marry somebody over there,
+and the men with money are kind of particular. I guess it's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> not
+astonishing. If you got hold of an English paper, it's full of their
+goings-on."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," said one of the others in tight store-clothes.
+"Still, until they're married, they've got to be careful. Afterwards, it
+don't so much matter. Unless all's quite straight, buyers hold off, and
+the figure comes down."</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite easy guessing that's what was wrong with Mrs. Leland. What
+else would a girl with her looks make sure of him for? Charley Leland
+comes along with his money, and they plant her right on to him. It's
+even betting she goes off with another man if the market breaks him."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped abruptly as his neighbour drove an elbow into his ribs, and
+his mouth gaped open as he dropped his feet from the stove. Then the
+others moved uneasily in their chairs, for a man stood in the doorway
+regarding them with a singularly unpleasant smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand right up, Jasper, you&mdash;hog!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>Jasper sat still, glancing at the others, as though he felt that, while
+none of them appeared in any haste to do so, it was their duty to
+support him, until one evidently remembered that there were, after all,
+four of them.</p>
+
+<p>"He's sitting where he is, Charley Leland," he said. "Nobody asked you
+to hang round listening, and if you don't like our talk you can go
+outside again."</p>
+
+<p>Leland showed no sign of having heard him. "Get up," he said, "and tell
+them you're a liar."</p>
+
+<p>Jasper sat still. He was tolerably active and muscular, or he would
+never have worked at Prospect. But there was a dangerous look in
+Leland's eyes. His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> quiet incisiveness was portentous. Realising that
+his comrades expected something of him, Jasper managed to retort.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, go home!" he said. "I guess you've plenty of trouble there without
+making any here."</p>
+
+<p>In another moment Leland had crossed the room and swung him to his feet.
+Nobody was very clear about what happened during the next few seconds.
+There is, however, a certain animal courage in every man who has lived
+by bodily toil, and Jasper, who had also a vindictive temper, did all he
+could. When he had once felt Leland's hand, he clinched with him, and,
+reeling locked together, they fell with a crash against the table and
+overturned one of the benches. Then, gasping, panting, floundering, and
+striking when they could, they went swaying towards the door, while
+Jasper's friends howled encouragingly, and men, attracted by the uproar,
+ran out of the opposite store. Foot by foot they neared the verandah,
+and when Leland, gasping with passion, made a supreme effort, they
+staggered out into it.</p>
+
+<p>There was a crowd below it now, and they set up a shout as Leland's
+grasp sank lower down the other man's hollowing back. Jasper, it seemed,
+was not altogether a favourite of theirs. After that there was silence
+for another moment or two, while the two men swayed and strained with
+scuffling feet, until one of them suddenly relaxed his hold, and,
+reeling backwards, plunged down the verandah stairway. He struck a rail
+as he did it, and, overturning, came down headlong in the unpaved
+street. Somebody dragged him to his feet, and he stood still a moment,
+hatless, with the dust upon his flushed face, and his jacket<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> rent,
+gasping with futile rage. Then he slunk away through the gap that was
+opened up for him.</p>
+
+<p>Leland leant somewhat heavily on the rails above. The veins were swollen
+on his forehead, blood trickled down his chin from one of his bleeding
+lips, and his face was dark with rage. Altogether, he was not exactly an
+attractive spectacle. Raising himself stiffly, he disappeared into the
+hotel, from which three other men made their way with as much haste as
+was compatible with any show of dignity. A light waggon had stopped
+unnoticed just outside the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes earlier Carrie Leland and Mrs. Annersly had driven across
+the railroad track on their way to the dry-goods store, and, as the
+waggon jolted in the ruts, the girl pointed to the town with a little
+gesture of repugnance.</p>
+
+<p>"Could one well imagine anything less attractive than this?" she said.
+"Still, I believe the desolate place is looked upon as a rising city,
+and they are actually proud of it."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly glanced up the single street with a twinkle in her
+eyes. It somewhat resembled a ploughed field, though the ruts and ridges
+the wheels had made were crumbling into dust. Above it ran a rickety
+sidewalk of planks, by means of which foot passengers could escape the
+mire in spring; and crude frame-houses, destitute of paint or any
+attempt at adornment, rose from that in turn. The fronts of most of them
+were carried sufficiently high to hide the pitch of sloped roof, so that
+they resembled squares of timber pierced by little windows. Above the
+topmost of the latter there usually ran a blatant but half-obliterated
+commendation of the wares sold within,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> for in the rising prairie town
+every house is, as a rule, either a store or a hotel.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "one could scarcely call it picturesque, but we have
+colliery and other industrial villages at home that are not very far
+behind it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed. "Still, we have the grace to attempt to justify them on
+the score of necessity, while they hold this place up as a model and a
+sign of progress. It is a barbarous country."</p>
+
+<p>"Including Prospect, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course! Still, Prospect makes no pretence of civilisation. It is
+part of the prairie, and nobody could expect much from it."</p>
+
+<p>"Or of those who dwell in it?"</p>
+
+<p>A little tinge of colour showed in the girl's cheek. "Well," she said
+with faint scorn, "I don't mind admitting that, too. They are a
+distinctly primitive people."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly said nothing further. She had her fancies respecting the
+reason for the girl's bitterness, and did not think that her marriage
+accounted for all of it. This was, in a way, as she would have it. She
+sat silent until Carrie pulled the team up close to the dry-goods store.
+A crowd was collecting in front of it, and they could get no further.
+While they sat there, a clamour broke out, and amidst a sound of
+scuffling, two men reeled across the verandah of the hotel opposite
+them. Their faces were not at first visible, and Carrie smiled
+contemptuously when the crowd encouraged them as they grappled with each
+other.</p>
+
+<p>"That," she said, "is evidently considered the correct thing when
+Western gentlemen have a difference<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> of opinion. You will notice that
+nobody makes any attempt to put an end to it. After all, since they
+cannot keep their brutality under restraint, there is something to be
+said for the use of pistols."</p>
+
+<p>In another moment one of the men brought his fist down with a dull thud
+upon the other's half-concealed face, and a little spark of scornful
+anger crept into the girl's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a little disgusting, but we cannot get on without driving over
+somebody, and it would be a trifle absurd to have to go away again," she
+said. "What brutes men of their kind are!"</p>
+
+<p>"Still, there is something to admire in their brutality," said her
+companion. "That man has both lips cut open. One would have fancied the
+blow would have stunned him, but he seems to be disregarding it, and is
+holding on."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a moment, with a little catching of her breath. "Ah," she
+said, "there will be no more of it."</p>
+
+<p>One of the men loosed his hold and reeled down the stairway. Then for
+the first time they saw the face of the other clearly as he leant upon
+the rails. It was not wholly pleasant to look at, for there was passion
+in it, and blood trickled from the swollen lips. Carrie's hands
+tightened convulsively on the reins as she urged the team forward. Her
+cheeks were almost colourless, but she met Eveline Annersly's eyes
+steadily, and her voice had a bitter ring in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "it is my husband. No doubt his comrades would expect
+me to be pleased with him."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a moment and pulled the team up again. "I wonder if you can
+guess what it will cost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> me to go into that store, but I am going. After
+all, it would be a little absurd for Charley Leland's wife to be
+particular."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly's face was compassionate. "My dear," she said, "he had
+probably a reason for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" said Carrie, languidly. "No doubt they differed over the
+points of a steer, or one of them was too attentive to the waiting-maid.
+I believe they have two at the Occidental."</p>
+
+<p>She swung herself down, ignoring the hand of a man who had seized the
+reins, and, when Mrs. Annersly had descended, went into the big store.
+She was perfectly conscious that everybody was watching her, but she
+made her purchases with a cold serenity, and then drove away. She did
+not inquire for Leland, and was unaware that the object on the verge of
+the prairie was his waggon. Had she known it, she would have held her
+team in a little, for she had not the least desire to overtake him.
+This, however, was scarcely likely, for it was a long way to Prospect,
+and she intended to break the journey for an hour or so at an outlying
+farm to which the trail turned off in a league or two.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Leland drove on as fast as his weary team could go,
+until he reached the crossing of the ravine where Sergeant Grier had
+waylaid the outlaws. The trail dipped in sharp twists between the
+birches into the hollow, and he had raised himself a trifle on the
+driving-seat to swing the team round a bend when one side of the waggon
+dropped suddenly beneath him. In another moment he went out headlong,
+and, coming down heavily on his shoulder, lay as he fell, half dazed for
+a time. When he pulled his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> scattered senses together, he saw that the
+team had stopped and that one of the waggon wheels lay not far away from
+him. He rose with difficulty, feeling very sore and very dizzy, but,
+finding that he could walk, picked the wheel up. The brass cap of the
+hub had gone, and so had the nut which locked the bush on the axle. He
+had put a new one on not long before, and felt sure it had not come off
+of itself, as he remembered how tightly it had fitted. Still, it was
+evident that, if anybody had loosened it, the sudden strain upon the
+wheels as the waggon swung round the bend might have jarred it off, even
+after it had held that far.</p>
+
+<p>That question could wait. Rolling the wheel downhill, he attempted to
+put it on the hub. An unloaded prairie waggon is usually so light that a
+strong man can lift one side of it, but Leland was badly shaken by his
+fall. Indeed, he sat down more than once, gasping and dripping with
+perspiration, before he accomplished it. It was a mighty task for any
+man to attempt after a long day's ploughing, a night spent upon the
+trail, and a sixty-mile drive.</p>
+
+<p>Although he was bothered with a distressing headache, and found that a
+branch had scored his cheek, nevertheless, when he had fitted on another
+nut from the tool-box in the waggon, he drove ahead, reaching Prospect
+almost as worn out as the team. Still, after a bite of food, he climbed
+up into the driving-seat of the big gang-plough. Summer is short in the
+Northwest, and the wheat that goes in late runs a risk of freezing, so
+he needed in his struggle the efforts of every man he could get. He
+drove the threefold furrow through the ripping sod until at last the
+copper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> sun dipped below the prairie's verge. Then, leaving his team to
+the men, he went back to the house, too weary to carry himself erect.
+The birches swayed in a cold green transparency, the crisp air had vim
+in it, but the weary man noticed nothing as he plodded, heavy-eyed,
+through the crackling stubble.</p>
+
+<p>He had just finished his lonely supper, and was sitting, dressed as when
+he came in, with the dust of the journey on him, and smears of the soil
+upon his heavy boots and leggings, when his wife, who apparently did not
+know he was there, entered the room. She started a little as she saw
+him, and Leland drowsily raised his hand to the raw red scar on his
+face. He had not remembered that his lips were twice their natural size
+and very unpleasant to look at, though they pained him.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't amount to much," he said deprecatingly. "I've been too busy
+to fix it. I got thrown out of my waggon."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie became rigidly erect, a sparkle of indignation in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"That is really a little unnecessary," she said coldly. "I didn't
+presume to trouble you with any inquiries."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her, as though puzzled, with half-closed eyes. "They
+wouldn't have been unnatural in the case of a man who was flung headlong
+out of his waggon."</p>
+
+<p>"One excuse will no doubt serve as well as another. The difficulty is
+that I happen to have some idea as to how you got your injuries."</p>
+
+<p>The man rose wearily. "I have the pleasure of telling you that I was
+thrown out coming down the ravine."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>"And I," said Carrie coldly, "was at the settlement at the time you
+furnished everybody with that interesting spectacle on the hotel
+verandah. I don't wish to be unduly fastidious, but hitherto, so far as
+I know, at least you have not taken the trouble to deceive me wilfully."</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned towards her with his cut lips pressed together, and his
+scarred face grim and hard, making a little gesture of weariness.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I guess it doesn't matter. I don't suppose I could
+make you think anything but hard of me."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a minute, and then laughed. "I have faced the world alone so
+far, and held my own with it. I suppose there is no reason why I
+shouldn't go on doing it."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe that is, after all, what most men have to do," said Carrie.
+"I shall endeavour to be as small a burden on you as I can manage."</p>
+
+<p>Then she turned and left him; but, as had happened on other occasions,
+her heart smote her in spite of her anger, for he looked shaken and very
+weary and lonely in the big, desolate room.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CARRIE ABASES HERSELF</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The warm spring day was over. In that land of contrasts, where there is
+no slow melting of season into season, it is often hot while the last
+snow-drifts linger in the shadows of the bluffs. Carrie and Mrs.
+Annersly were sitting by an open window of Carrie's sitting-room. The
+sun had gone, but, as usual at that season, a filmy curtain of green
+overhung the vast sweep of prairie that had shaken off its hues of white
+and grey for the first faint colour of spring. Above hung a pale, sickle
+moon, and down the long slope, over which the harrow-torn furrows ran,
+lines of men and weary teams were plodding home. Round the rest of that
+half of the horizon, the prairie melted into the distance
+imperceptibly&mdash;vast, mysterious, shadowy, under a great tense
+silence&mdash;while the little chilled breeze that came up had in it the
+properties of an elixir.</p>
+
+<p>The thin-faced woman who lay in Carrie's big chair was not looking at
+the prairie. She had watched the pageant of the seasons too often
+before, and to her and her husband they had usually meant only a
+variation in the ceaseless struggle which had left its mark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> on both of
+them. In that country, man has to contend with drought, and harvest
+frost, and devastating hail, for it is only by mighty effort and long
+endurance that the Western farmer wrests his bare living from the soil.
+When seasons are adverse, and they frequently are, a heavy share of the
+burden falls upon the woman, too.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Custer had borne hers patiently, but her face, which still showed
+traces of refinement, was worn, and her hands and wrists were rough and
+red. While Thomas Custer toiled out in the frost and sunshine from early
+dawn to dusk to profit by the odd fat year, or more often, if it might
+by feverish work be done, to make his losses good, she cooked and washed
+and baked for him and the boys, a term that locally signifies every male
+attached to the homestead. She had also made her own dresses, as well as
+some of her husband's clothes, and darned and patched the latter with
+cotton flour-bags. Yet the ceaseless struggle had not embittered her,
+though it had left her weary. Perhaps it is the sunshine, or something
+in the clean cold airs from the vast spaces of the wilderness, for man
+holds fast to his faith and courage in that land of cloudless skies.</p>
+
+<p>It was the rich, dark curtains, the soft carpet one's feet sank into,
+the dainty furniture, the odds and ends of silver, and the few good
+etchings at which the faded woman glanced with wistful appreciation. She
+had been accustomed to such things once, but that was long ago, and she
+had never seen on the prairie anything like Carrie Leland's room. With a
+wee, contented smile she turned to the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"It was so good of you to have me here, although if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> Tom's sister from
+Traverse hadn't promised to look after him I couldn't have come," she
+said. "It is three years since I have been away, and to know that one
+has nothing to do for a whole week is almost too delightful now."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm rather afraid that some of us
+have that consolation, if it is one, all our lives," she said. "They
+keep you busy at the Range?"</p>
+
+<p>"From morning to night; and now we must work harder than ever, with one
+of the boys in Montreal and wheat going down. One feels inclined to
+wonder sometimes if the folks who buy our cheap flour would think so
+much of the quarter-dollar on the sack if they knew what it costs us."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a moment with a little wistful smile. "I'm afraid this is
+going to be a particularly lean year for a good many of us. Last year I
+was busy, though I had a Scandinavian maid, but I shall be single-handed
+now, and the grocery bill must come down, too. It's quite hard to pare
+it any closer when everything you take off means extra work, and, with
+it all, the boys must be fed."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly glanced at Carrie, who, for some reason, did not meet her
+gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you mentioned that you came from Montreal," she said. "You must
+have found it very different on the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly did. I had never done anything useful or been without all
+the money I wanted when I married Tom Custer, who had gone out a year
+earlier. My friends were against it, and they would probably have been
+more so had they seen the Range as it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> then. The house had three
+rooms to it, and one was built of sod, while all the first summer the
+rain ran in. Still we made out together, and got on little by little,
+struggling for everything. A new stove or set of indurated ware meant
+weeks of self-denial. Now I seem to have been pinching a lifetime,
+though I am only forty; but Tom was always kind, and I do not think I
+have ever been sorry."</p>
+
+<p>She lay still, nestling luxuriously in the softly padded chair, and
+through her worn face and hard hands the blurred stamp of refinement
+once more shone. It was twenty years since she had turned away from the
+brighter side of life, and, though she did not expect compassion,
+Eveline Annersly felt sorry for her. There was also a certain
+thoughtfulness in Carrie Leland's expression, which seemed to suggest
+that a comparison was forced upon her. Both of them realised that the
+wilderness is not subdued without a cost. Woman, it seemed, had her part
+in the tense struggle, too, and Mrs. Custer was one of the many of whom
+it can be said: "They also serve."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you ever been home since you were married?" asked Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"Once," said Mrs. Custer, with a faint shadow in her face. "I never went
+again. The others were not the same, or perhaps I had changed, for they
+did not seem to understand me. My younger sisters were growing up, and
+they thought only of dances, sleigh-rides and nights on the
+toboggan-slides, as I suppose I did once. My dresses looked dowdy beside
+theirs, too, and they told me I was getting too serious. I felt myself a
+stranger in the house where I was born. One, it seems, loses touch so
+soon."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>Again she stopped and laughed. "One night something was said that hurt
+me, and I think I lay awake and cried for hours as I realised that I
+could never quite bridge the gulf that had opened up between the rest
+and me. Then I remembered that Tom, who had worked harder than ever to
+raise the wheat that sent me there, wanted me always&mdash;and I went back to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Her voice fell a little, and Carrie was touched by the faint thrill in
+it. She had seen Thomas Custer, a plain, somewhat hard-featured and
+silent man, and yet this woman, who she fancied had once been almost
+beautiful, had willingly worn out her freshness in coarse labour for
+him. Then a tiny flush crept into her face as she remembered that she,
+too, had a husband, one who gave her everything, and for whom she seldom
+had even a smile. She was not innately selfish. Indeed, she had shown
+herself capable of sacrifice. As she sat unobserved in the growing
+shadow, she sighed. She wondered whether they still remembered her at
+Barrock-holme, for, if they did, they had seldom written, and she
+reflected sadly that she had not Mrs. Custer's consolation, since there
+was nobody else who wanted her.</p>
+
+<p>"You really believe this is going to be a lean year?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid so. Still, it is scarcely likely to trouble you, except
+that your husband will have a good deal to face. Tom isn't sure he was
+wise in sowing so much, with wheat going down, and it seems he
+considered it necessary to quarrel with the rustlers, too. They are
+rather vindictive people, and it's a little astonishing they have left
+him alone, though Tom thinks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> they or their friends had something to do
+with what happened to his waggon. He met him driving home the day he was
+thrown out, and told me that Charley, who had evidently had a bad fall,
+looked very shaky."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie started. "He was thrown out of his waggon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course! Didn't he tell you? Well, perhaps he would be afraid of its
+worrying you. It would be like Charley Leland, and here I have been
+giving him away."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was troubled by an unpleasant sense of confusion as she
+remembered that her husband had really told her, and what her attitude
+had been; but Mrs. Custer had more to say.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley Leland is going to have his hands full this year. The fall in
+wheat is bad enough, and it is quite likely the rustlers will make
+trouble for him. Then he must fall out with a man at the settlement, who
+Tom says is in league with them. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned
+that, though I almost think it was the only thing he could do."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie, seeing Mrs. Annersly look up sharply, controlled herself by
+force of will.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you mind telling me why you think that?" she asked calmly.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Custer appeared to be looking at her in astonishment. "You don't
+know? He hasn't told you that, either?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie quietly, "he certainly hasn't."</p>
+
+<p>The woman in the big chair sat silent for several moments, and then made
+a little deprecatory gesture. "Even if your husband doesn't thank me for
+telling you, I think you ought to know. It appears from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> what Tom heard,
+two or three of the loungers at the hotel were talking about you.
+Charley came into the verandah and heard them."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, with a sharpness in her voice that suggested pain,
+"so that was how it came about. No doubt half the people in the
+settlement know what they were saying?"</p>
+
+<p>Once more Mrs. Custer appeared to consider. Like most of his friends,
+she believed in Charley Leland, and it was, of course, not astonishing
+that she was aware that his relations with his wife were not exactly all
+they should be. This to some extent roused her resentment, and, though
+she was inclined to like Carrie, she had half-consciously taken up her
+husband's cause against her.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," she said, "I scarcely think I could tell you, and I really
+don't believe many people know. Still, neither your husband nor the
+others appear to have noticed that the inner door of the room was open,
+and the man who keeps the hotel heard them. He told Tom that he wouldn't
+have expected anything else from Charley Leland."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie leant forward a little in her chair. "I want you to tell me
+exactly what they said. It is right to my husband and myself that I
+should know."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will forgive me if it hurts you. They said you had only
+married him for his money, and he was no more to you than one of the
+teamsters. There was a little more I couldn't mention."</p>
+
+<p>There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, and Carrie knew,
+dark as it now was, that Mrs. Annersly was furtively watching her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "then my husband came in?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Mrs. Custer laughed softly. "I believe the loquacious gentleman was very
+sorry for himself before Charley had done with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Carrie, thoughtfully. "Now I think we will change the
+subject. Could you manage to light the lamp, Aunt Eveline? I can't very
+well get past you."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly, lighting the lamp, craftily led their visitor to talk of
+Montreal; for she thought Carrie had suffered enough for the present.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Leland, who had been driving the harrows all day, and
+had just come in, sat with Gallwey in the big room below. He had a
+blackened pipe in his hand, and his face was thoughtful. His torn jacket
+and coarse blue shirt fell away to the elbow from one almost blackened
+and splendidly corded arm. The man, like most of his neighbours at that
+season, was usually too weary with more than twelve hours' labour to
+change his clothes when he came in, for which there was, indeed, no
+great reason, since he seldom saw his wife or Mrs. Annersly in the brief
+hour between his work and sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"Wheat's down another cent, with sellers prevailing," he said, pointing
+to several newspapers on the table. "It's 'most a pity I had fixed up to
+put in the big crop. Things are quiet in Russia, and that means a good
+crop; they've had rain in California, and the kind of season they wanted
+in Argentina, India, and Australia. It seems to me the whole thing's
+going to turn on the States' crop this year. From what I've been reading
+here, they're a little scared about sowing in the Dakotas and Minnesota.
+They'd swamp out all the markets if wheat jumped up just now."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>"It shows very little sign of doing it," said Gallwey. "Things are going
+to be a little serious as it is. A short crop in the States would give
+values a fillip, but the trouble is that if they have frost or hail we
+are likely to get it, too."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "if the market doesn't stiffen, we
+can only go under. It would hurt to give up Prospect, but it could be
+done. In the meanwhile, I've been wondering about that waggon. It took
+me quite a while to screw the lock-nut on with the big box-spanner, and
+the thing never loosened of itself."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it did. The last time you drove in to the settlement,
+your waggon was standing probably four or five hours behind the
+Occidental. I think I'd try to find out if anybody borrowed one of
+Porter's spanners when I went in again. How long was it after you threw
+Jasper out, when you drove away?"</p>
+
+<p>"About five minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's quite possible he did it before. I suppose you haven't asked
+yourself how Jasper makes a living. He never seems to be doing anything,
+and I believe it isn't difficult to buy whisky at the settlement. Thanks
+to our beneficent legislature, whoever keeps it makes an excellent
+profit."</p>
+
+<p>Leland's face grew a trifle harder, and he closed one brown hand. "The
+same thing struck me, and I guess you're right. It seems I have a good
+deal against me this year. The market would have been bad enough without
+the rustlers."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey rose and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can count on me,
+Charley, whatever comes along. There are others, too. It isn't only the
+whisky men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> who feel they have to get even with you. You'll get what you
+like to ask for, teams, men to harvest for you, and, though it's scarce
+in this country, even money."</p>
+
+<p>He turned away a trifle abruptly, and Leland felt a thrill of gratitude.
+He had many friends on the prairie, and knew the worth of them, though
+it did not occur to him that he had done quite sufficient to warrant
+their good-will. Just then he was most clearly sensible that there was
+much against him.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Carrie came in, looking very dainty and alluring in an evening
+gown. She had not yet discarded all the social conventions to which she
+had been accustomed at Barrock-holme. Leland felt a stirring of his
+blood as he looked at her. He rose and stood waiting, as she watched him
+gravely, a faint flush in her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley," she said, and he thought how seldom she used his name, "I
+have a difficult thing to do, but it would not be honest to shirk it. I
+must ask you to forgive me for what I said when you told me about the
+waggon."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>The colour grew in the girl's face. "Mrs. Custer has told me that her
+husband saw you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled somewhat bitterly. "You find it easier to believe Tom
+Custer than me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Please wait. What could I think when you told me? I was at the
+settlement that morning, and saw your cut lips when you stood on the
+verandah."</p>
+
+<p>The man started a little, but he promptly recovered from his
+astonishment, and looked at her with twinkling eyes.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>"Now I understand," he said. "You were a little disgusted with me. The
+men you are used to wouldn't have thrown any one they couldn't agree
+with out of a hotel."</p>
+
+<p>"No. Still, there are cases when the provocation may be too strong for
+one."</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite often that way with me. I'm afraid I am a little short in
+temper."</p>
+
+<p>He leant upon the table, as though he had nothing more to say, and
+Carrie recognised that he did not mean to tell her what had led up to
+the outbreak. Whether this was due to pride or generosity she did not
+know, but the fact made its impression upon her. Her husband was, it
+seemed, sure enough of his own purposes to disregard what others thought
+of him; but there was a certain sting in the reflection. A desire on his
+part to stand well in her estimation would have been more gratifying.
+Still, she overcame the slight sense of mortification.</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't told me what the provocation was," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Leland, with a little quiet smile. "It wouldn't be quite the
+thing to worry you with an explanation every time I lose my temper. I do
+it now and then."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "don't you care, then, what I think of you? Still, in
+this case, I needn't ask you. Mrs. Custer told me that, too. That is why
+I felt I must ask you to forgive me for presuming to blame you. I want
+to be just, and I was in my wilfulness horribly far from being so."</p>
+
+<p>"You want to be just? That was the only reason?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl saw the tension in his face, and stood silent,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> swayed by a
+whirl of confused sensations. She would not admit there was another
+reason, though something in her nature clamoured for a breaking down of
+the restraint between them. She had looked down on this man and wantonly
+wounded him, while he had shown her what she realised was a splendid
+generosity and borne her scorn in silence. It was once more his
+independent silence that troubled her, and she felt just then that she
+would sooner have had him compel her to acknowledge that he was not what
+she had striven to think him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, a trifle sadly, "I suppose I must not expect too much."</p>
+
+<p>The girl's heart smote her. She knew just what he wanted her to say, but
+she could not say it, and yet she meant to do all she had undertaken.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a little more, and it must be said," she said. "I know part,
+at least, of what those men said of me."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped, and, holding herself rigidly, though one hand which she had
+laid on the table quivered a little, looked at him steadily.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could only prove them wrong, but I can't," she said.</p>
+
+<p>A deep flush crept into Leland's face, and the veins rose swollen on his
+forehead, while he grasped her shoulder almost roughly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know what you are saying?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That I married you because we were poor at Barrock-holme. It was a
+horrible wrong I did you&mdash;and you have made me ashamed."</p>
+
+<p>The relief that swept into the man's face somewhat puzzled her, but she
+had seen the anger and suspense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> in it a moment earlier, and her heart
+throbbed painfully. After all, though she did not understand what had
+troubled him, it seemed that he did care very much indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," he said quietly, "if you think you have done me any wrong, it
+is wiped out now. Perhaps, some day, you will go a little further than
+you have done to-night, and I must try to wait for it. That is all I
+have to say, and this is becoming a little painful to both of us."</p>
+
+<p>He turned slowly away, and Carrie moved towards the door, but, when she
+reached it, she stopped and looked back at him.</p>
+
+<p>"One can be a little too generous now and then," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Then the door closed, and Leland stood still, leaning on the table, with
+thoughtful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know if that was a lead or not, and I don't seem able to think
+just now," he said. "I'm not running Prospect, it's driving me, and I'm
+ground down mind and body by the load of wheat I'm carrying."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE OUTLAWS STRIKE BACK</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The brief spring was merging suddenly, earlier even than usual, into
+summer, and it was a still, oppressive night when Leland sat, somewhat
+grim in face, in a mortgage and land broker's office at the railroad
+settlement. The little, dusty room, with its litter of papers and survey
+prints, was very hot, and Leland, who had just come in from the dusk,
+was a trifle dazed by the light the kerosene lamp flung down. He had in
+his hand two or three letters the broker had given him, and glanced at
+one of them moodily, only with difficulty fixing his attention on it. He
+had toiled with feverish activity that spring, and at last the strain
+was telling, for his head ached, and he felt limp and weary. It had,
+too, been dry weather ever since he put the first plough into the
+ground, and that night there was an oppressive tension in the
+atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>Macartney, the land-broker, sat opposite him, a gaunt, keen-eyed man,
+with a thin jacket over his white shirt. Leland knew him for an upright
+man, though nobody is supposed to be particularly scrupulous in the
+business he followed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>"You are looking a little played out," he said. "I can give you some ice
+and soda, but it's partly due to your own efforts that I've nothing
+else. Whisky can, I believe, be had, but, in the face of the fall in
+land and wheat, the figure the few men want who venture to keep it is
+prohibitive."</p>
+
+<p>He filled a tumbler from the fountain on the side-table, and dropped in
+a lump of ice. Leland drained it thirstily.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been round since sun-up, and have driven forty miles," he said,
+putting down the empty glass. "I guess it's the weather, for a thing of
+that kind shouldn't have troubled me. Not a blade of wheat up yet, and
+the seed-beds all clods and dust. There are very few of us going to
+escape the frost in the fall."</p>
+
+<p>Macartney nodded sympathetically. "If I come out a hundred cents on the
+dollar when harvest's over, it's rather more than I expect," he said.
+"My stake's in land and wheat, and I couldn't unload anything except at
+a smart loss just now. In the circumstances, it seems to me that Bruce
+is making you a reasonable offer."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not likely to raise on it from anybody else," and Leland frowned as
+he glanced at the letter. "Still, if I let him have the cattle, I can't
+stock the ranch again. They should have cleared me quite a few thousand
+dollars, if I could have held on, and sold them fat in the fall."</p>
+
+<p>"If I were in your place and could hold on, I would. Still, you have to
+have some money in hand. The banks won't look at land, and I couldn't
+raise you anything on mortgage except at a crippling interest."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just my trouble, I haven't got any cash."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>The broker glanced at him reflectively. "Well," he said, "it's not my
+business, but you must have had a pile last year. Of course, you were
+over in the Old Country, but you could afford it, and you never struck
+me as an extravagant man."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled in a somewhat wry fashion. "I don't quite think I am, but
+that's not the question. I've got to have the money to go on with, and,
+as you say, I couldn't get it on a mortgage that wouldn't ruin me. Tell
+Bruce he can have the cattle, and, if he'll let me know when he wants
+them, we'll round them up for him. It's that or nothing, but I stand to
+lose 'most enough on the run to break me this year."</p>
+
+<p>"From what you told me, if you hang on to the run, you'll have to let
+Prospect go."</p>
+
+<p>Leland's face hardened. "Well," he said, "I guess I would, and that, if
+it has to be, is going to hurt me. If I stood as I did last fall, I
+could carry over, but now the market and the season are both against me.
+But I must be getting home. You'll fix it up with Bruce?"</p>
+
+<p>The ostler from the Occidental was waiting outside with a hired horse,
+and Leland, swinging himself wearily into the saddle, rode down the
+unpaved street. A blaze of light shone out from the verandah of the
+little hotel, and he could hear the laughter of those inside and the hum
+of merry voices. Further on, somebody was playing a fiddle in a house
+the door and windows of which stood wide open. He sighed a little as he
+rode by. A year ago, he would have spent the night there or at the
+hotel, taking his part in the pointed badinage with keen enjoyment. His
+good-humour had been infectious then, and everybody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> had had a pleasant
+word for him; but things were different now.</p>
+
+<p>The market was going against him, the season was getting more
+unpropitious. If ruin could be staved off, it would be only by unceasing
+toil and Spartan self-denial. After working from sunrise, he had driven
+forty miles that afternoon, and there was the same distance still to be
+covered in the saddle. He might count himself fortunate if he reached
+Prospect in time for barely two hours' sleep before he must set about
+his work again. He had never spared himself, and he had no thought of
+doing so now, when every effort he could make was urgently necessary.
+Branscombe Denham's creditors had been, if not satisfied, at least
+pacified for a time with the money that would have seen him through, and
+Leland, who knew his man, smiled grimly as he recalled that Denham had
+termed it a loan.</p>
+
+<p>There was nobody in the rutted street, the stores were closed, and only
+a single light burned in the little wooden shed beside the railroad
+track. The place seemed deadly desolate, and Leland, whose physical
+weariness had reacted on his mind, shrank for once from the greater
+loneliness, as he rode out into the silent, empty waste. Save when the
+blue sheet-lightning fell with a sudden blaze, black darkness rested
+heavily upon the night. The drumming of his horse's hoofs rose with a
+jarring distinctness, the air was thick and hot, and the smell of
+sun-scorched earth was in his nostrils. A light, fibrous dust settled on
+his perspiring face.</p>
+
+<p>The sod, green no longer, was turning white before its season, and broad
+cracks seamed its surface from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> want of moisture. He could remember only
+one or two springs that had been like this; and they, he recalled, had
+broken many a prairie farmer. Seed will not germinate under such
+conditions, and the prairie summer is usually quite short enough to
+ripen the crops. There was nobody to observe him, so he bent under the
+strain, riding slackly in his weariness, with all the vigour gone out of
+him. What his thoughts were, he could never quite remember. Indeed, he
+was not sure that he had had any definite thoughts at all, being
+conscious only of utter lassitude and dejection.</p>
+
+<p>The horse started in alarm whenever the blue radiance flashed athwart
+the prairie, showing here and there a clump of willows, or a birch bluff
+etched black against the brightness. Then darkness followed, and he felt
+his way by the sound the hoofs made on the sun-baked soil of the trail.
+He was astonished, on making the big bluff by the ravine, to hear a beat
+of hoofs among the trees he had not seen until he rode into the midst of
+them. There were evidently a good many horses, and it flashed upon him
+that only the rustlers would be riding that way in a body and at that
+hour of night. He had no pistol, nothing in fact, but a heavy riding
+quirt. This he grasped by the thinner end as he rode on. In his present
+mood, he would not have left the trail had he known absolutely that the
+outlaws had come there in search of him.</p>
+
+<p>They were hidden in the blackness, but he could hear them calling to
+their horses as they climbed the trail out of the hollow, and he
+stiffened himself a little, shifting his hand on the bridle, and feeling
+for a firmer grip with his knees. As he did so, the gap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> between the
+trunks was filled with a blue flash, and he could plainly see the white
+faces of the foremost of the outlaws. The light lasted long enough to
+show that men and beasts were dripping with wet. Then a curious thing
+happened. Leland's grasp of the riding quirt suddenly relaxed, and he
+checked his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"You have had rain, boys?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"A shower," said a startled man, who had seen him for an instant. "More
+of it to the westwards&mdash;the creek's rising."</p>
+
+<p>There was another blue flash, and Leland's horse plunged. As he swayed
+in his saddle, two, at least, of the others saw his face; but they stood
+still in the black darkness that followed, and he rode through the midst
+of them with a firm grasp on the bridle. Then he gave the startled horse
+the rein. A confused clamour rose from the blackness behind him as he
+swept across the bridge, and he felt that whimsical chance alone had
+saved him. Had he planned his moves with definite purpose, the thing he
+had done would have been impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Reining in when he reached the level beyond the ravine, he sat
+listening. There was no sound of pursuit. As a big, warm drop splashed
+upon one hand, he started nervously. Then from out the silence came a
+soft murmur that rose in sharp crescendo. Suddenly a rush of rain smote
+his perspiring face. The patter swelled into a roar, and a heavy, steamy
+smell like that of a hothouse rose from the drinking earth. Leland felt
+his pulse quicken as the warm deluge washed his cares away. Its value
+could be calculated in hard cash, for it saved his wheat.</p>
+
+<p>He rode for a while bareheaded, with the water<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> trickling over him.
+Though he was physically very weary, the lassitude and dejection melted
+out of him. There was no longer a tension in the atmosphere, and he was
+an optimist again, vaguely thankful for the things he had and the
+strength to grapple with those against him. With that, a great
+tenderness towards his wife swept over him like a wave, and he
+remembered, not her scorn and bitter words, but that there was so much
+she must miss at Prospect. He had left her alone, neglected, while he
+thought only of his work, and, even though she cared nothing for him, he
+might in many ways have made her life pleasanter. He could, he
+reflected, do it yet, for ruin seemed remote, now the wheat was saved.
+The rain still beat his clothing flat against his tired limbs, but he
+rode on almost light-heartedly, with the mire splashing high about him,
+welcoming every drop.</p>
+
+<p>It was still dark when he reached Prospect, wet through and half-asleep,
+but, swinging himself wearily down from the saddle, he made shift to put
+the horse into one of the stables. There were more than one of them, for
+the buildings had been erected here and there as they had been wanted,
+and as the farm had grown. Letting himself into the silent house, and
+groping his way to his room, he shed his wet and muddy garments on the
+floor and crawled dead-tired into bed. He slept very soundly, for Nature
+would have her way, and it was seven in the morning when Carrie, who did
+not know he had returned, entered his room. Though she knew little of
+household management, she had, during the last month or two, been
+quietly assuming the direction of affairs at Prospect.</p>
+
+<p>She started when she saw him, but it was evident<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> that he was very fast
+asleep, so she stood for several minutes looking down on him. One arm
+was flung out on the coverlet, bare to the elbow, sinewy and brown. She
+noticed the hardness of the hand, and her heart grew soft towards him as
+she saw how worn his face was with the resolution melted out of it. The
+man looked so weary in his sleep. When she glanced round the room, his
+very clothes, from which the water had spread across the uncovered
+floor, were suggestive of the hard fight he had fought and the weariness
+it had brought him. There had been no care in his face at Barrock-holme.
+She, she reflected, had brought him trouble. At the thought, there came
+over her a feeling of disgust with herself and compassion for him. It
+was not love, perhaps, but it was, at least, regretful tenderness, and
+she drew nearer with a sudden impulse, the blood creeping into her
+cheeks. He lay very still, apparently fast asleep, and she knew that
+further trouble awaited him on wakening.</p>
+
+<p>Then the impulse, illogical as she felt it was, grew stronger, until it
+became uncontrollable, and she bent down swiftly and kissed his cheek.
+He made no sign, but she rose with her blood tingling, and, not daring
+to look back at him, slipped out of the room. She met Gallwey on the
+stairway, and he looked at her in amazement, for he had never before
+seen that colour in her face or that softness in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"If one might be permitted to mention it, the loss of sleep and the
+alarm last night seem to have agreed with you," he said. "You are
+looking as fresh as the prairie after the rain."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed softly, and it seemed to the man that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> her voice was also
+gentler than usual. "I'm afraid I can't make you an equal compliment,"
+she said. "You look very woe-begone."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect I do," and Gallwey made a little whimsical gesture. "In fact,
+I wish it was any other person's duty to inform your husband what has
+happened. I suppose I am in a way responsible, and his remarks are
+rather vigorous occasionally."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not going to waken him now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid I must. The King's command, madam. I have already gone a
+little further than was advisable in giving him an extra hour."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said Carrie, "you don't seem to remember that there is a Queen at
+Prospect, too. Let him sleep until nine o'clock. You have my
+dispensation."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey made her a little inclination, and it was more deferential than
+joking, though he smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"With that, madam, I will risk my head," he said. "I wonder if I may
+dutifully mention that we have wanted a Queen for a long while&mdash;one who
+will rule."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie felt her cheeks glow, and she was glad when he turned and went
+down the stairs in front of her.</p>
+
+<p>It was two hours later when Gallwey, with some difficulty, and not a few
+misgivings, awakened Leland, but the latter's first indignation died
+away when his comrade mentioned why he had not done so earlier. Gallwey,
+who was Carrie Leland's devoted servant, contrived to hide his smile,
+though he had drawn his own inferences and was satisfied. By the time he
+had said all he had to say, Leland's face had, however, grown grim
+again, and that he was quiet was not a favourable sign.</p>
+
+<p>"I will be down in five minutes, and come with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> you," he said. "One of
+the whisky boys or I would have needed burying if I had known of this
+last night."</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes had passed when he and Gallwey walked towards the stables
+across the wire-fenced paddock. The rain had ceased, and bright sunshine
+was licking up the gleaming moisture from the sod, but Leland saw only a
+wide space of sodden ashes, and the blackened ruins of the log-stables,
+of which the roofs had fallen in. The birch-trunks that still stood were
+charred and tottering, and a little steam rose from them. They went in
+among them together. Leland stopped suddenly, with hands tight clenched
+and the veins on his forehead standing out, when he saw what lay among a
+mass of half-burnt and fallen beams.</p>
+
+<p>"Four of them," he said hoarsely. "Brave old Bright, and Valerie. Many a
+long furrow have they ploughed for me. Voyageur and Blackfoot, too!"</p>
+
+<p>He swung round fiercely. "Tom, I'd almost sooner the&mdash;hogs had crippled
+me. Teams I'd broke and driven year by year. They've done 'most as much
+for Prospect as I have. By the Lord, when next I run up against the boys
+who did it, there's going to be a reckoning. You are sure of what you
+tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey touched his arm. "Come and see."</p>
+
+<p>They went out together, across the space of ashes that ran back several
+hundred yards from the stables. Then Gallwey stooped beside a half-burnt
+tussock of taller grass, and pointed to a little card of pasteboard
+sulphur matches. They were, as usual, joined together at the bottom of
+the card, and the heads had melted off them; but Gallwey, stooping,
+picked up a single half-burnt match, and fitted it to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> the place from
+where it had evidently been broken off.</p>
+
+<p>"I left them there for you to see," he said. "As a rule nobody ever
+finds out how a grass-fire starts, but I think the origin of this one is
+tolerably plain. You will, of course, have noticed that it is within the
+guard-furrows. Perhaps the fellow didn't remember the matches, or he may
+have left them as a hint. I suppose it is gratifying to feel that your
+enemy knows you intended it when you hurt him."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey's face hardened, and he went on:</p>
+
+<p>"Jake wakened first, and we had the boys out in five minutes, but the
+fire was on the stables then. We couldn't get the door open, either, and
+had to wait while one of them brought an axe. I don't know what jammed
+it, because, when I went back to see, it was burnt, but it never stuck
+fast before. Well, we did what we could, but we couldn't save the four
+horses you saw, and, if it hadn't been for the rain, we might have lost
+them all."</p>
+
+<p>Leland, looking about him, noticed again that the fire had started just
+where the grass was tallest, and within the guard-furrows ploughed to
+cut the homestead off from the sweep of the prairie. This fire, it was
+very evident to him, had been started with a definite purpose that it
+had come very near accomplishing.</p>
+
+<p>"We have everything against us this year," he said, and his brown face
+showed very hard and stern. "Still, by the Lord, if we have to go under,
+there's going to be a struggle first."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">BENEFICENT RAIN</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>When Gallwey left him, Leland walked slowly through the bluff where the
+birches rustled softly under the caress of a warm, gentle breeze. There
+was a different note in their low murmur now, for the lace-like twigs
+were covered with slender leaves, and a new scent rose from the steaming
+mould. Leland noticed it vacantly, scarcely seeing the silver stems;
+for, susceptible as he was to all of Nature's moods, he was, at the
+time, bracing himself for the long struggle before him.</p>
+
+<p>There was so much against him, and the loss of his horses had filled him
+with an overwhelming indignation against the men who had wantonly
+injured him. He was combative by nature, as every man with a strenuous
+purpose must necessarily be. With vindictive bitterness, he thought of
+the burnt and mangled beasts that had worked for him so well. Once more
+his lips set, and, brushing heedlessly through the bluff, he clenched
+one hard hand. Men and circumstances might prove too strong for him; but
+he would, at least, go on until he was crushed, and leave his mark upon
+his enemies before they brought him down.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>Then, coming out from among the trees, he stopped with a little
+indrawing of his breath as he glanced at the ploughing. It had been,
+when he last saw it, a waste of clods rent into hot and dusty fragments,
+but now all the wide basin and long slope of rise were sprinkled with
+flecks of green, and he stood gazing at it with softening face and
+glowing eyes. The kindly rain had touched the parched and dusty soil,
+and the old familiar miracle had again happened.</p>
+
+<p>Life had emerged from darkness; the wheat was up, in token that, while
+man's faith may falter, and his hand grow slack, the great beneficent
+influences are strongest still, and seedtime and harvest shall not fail.
+As those who worked for him had cause to know, and as shrewd grain
+buyers in Winnipeg admitted, Leland was an essentially practical man;
+but there was in him, as there must be in the optimist, a vague
+recognition of the mysterious, upholding purpose that stands behind, and
+is partially revealed in the world of material things. He could drive
+the long furrow, he could rend the clods, but there was that in the
+red-gold wheat that did not come from them or him. It was the essence of
+life, a mystery and a miracle, his to control, or even to annihilate,
+but a thing he could never create.</p>
+
+<p>He felt something of this while he stood there with the warm wind on his
+face. The bitterness fell from him with his cares. Hope is eternal, and
+it sprang up strong in him as his softening eyes wandered over the vast
+sprinkling of sunny green. The harvest would follow the sowing, and toil
+was indestructible. His courage, which, indeed, had never faltered,
+changed its mood. It was no longer the grim resolution of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> desperate
+man, but a more hopeful and gentler thing. Then, and he was not
+astonished, for it only seemed the natural sequence of things, his wife
+came out from among the birches with a smile in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come to look for you. Breakfast is ready, and I have been
+waiting ever so long," she said.</p>
+
+<p>It was a trifling matter, but the man's heart beat faster than usual. It
+had not been her habit to rise in time to breakfast with him. As often
+happened when he felt the most, he could think of nothing apposite to
+say, and stood looking at her in silence.</p>
+
+<p>"I was almost afraid to venture until I saw you," she said. "I had
+expected to find you angry. It wouldn't have been astonishing."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed softly. "I'm afraid I was," he said "Still, it didn't
+seem to last when I saw the wheat was up, and it was bound to vanish
+when you came, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, with a faint warmth in her cheeks, "it's a long time
+since you have even tried to say anything of that kind to me. Well, I
+have something to say, and I would like you to believe it is not merely
+what you once called the correct thing. I am very sorry for what has
+happened."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, I think I know," and Leland smiled at her. "It was very good
+of you, and the only thing that was needed to make my worries melt away.
+I seem to feel I'm going to come out ahead of the market and the
+rustlers, now. Could anybody be afraid when he had seen the wheat?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl turned and gazed with only partial comprehension at the vast
+sweep of green.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "I suppose it is a little wonderful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> It looked so
+hopeless yesterday. I am glad one, at least, of your troubles has
+vanished, Charley."</p>
+
+<p>"And yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"Am I supposed to have any?"</p>
+
+<p>She spoke without bitterness, as though questioning his faculty of
+comprehension, and she saw the dark colour creep into his face. Still,
+it was not the hue of anger, and, stooping, he gently seized the hand
+that wore the ring.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," he said, "you must have many. I can feel it now, and, when I
+married you, I was, perhaps, doing wrong. How could one expect you to be
+content with such a man as I am?"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment, and smiled wistfully. "I almost think I know how
+the life you lead here must look to you. You can see it stretching out
+in front of you, all arid and hopeless, like those furrows yesterday.
+Still, now you see them green with promise. The rain has come."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie; "still, the wheat was hidden there, and in some of us
+there are only weeds and tares, while, even if there is among them a
+little wholesome grain, who knows if the rain will ever come at all?"
+She looked up at him and hesitated. "Charley, do you feel that I have
+cheated you very badly?"</p>
+
+<p>"How?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I suppose you will not admit it. One could thank you for that, but
+you know. Have I ever been a companion to you? Isn't your life harder
+than it was before?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland's grasp of her hand grew tighter. "Well," he said, "there are
+times when one must talk, and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> have felt that; but I felt, too, that,
+if I could wait, there would be a change."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you must have been always hopeful."</p>
+
+<p>"Hope," said Leland gravely, "is a little like the germ in the wheat. It
+lies dormant; but, while its husk lasts, it will not die. I think," and
+he glanced back at the vast sweep of sprouting green, "I was like that
+dusty ploughing, waiting for the rain."</p>
+
+<p>The girl was silent for a while, though she, too, was conscious of a
+curious stirring of her nature, which showed itself by the warmth in her
+cheeks. The man had, she felt, chosen a peculiarly fitting symbolism,
+for, when the beneficent rain had touched the arid clods, they had put
+on beauty with sudden life and growth.</p>
+
+<p>"And what do you expect, then?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled. "I don't quite know, but it must be something good and
+beautiful. What is in all Nature is in us too. My dear," and he made a
+little gesture, "one can feel, and not quite understand. The wheat
+yonder doesn't know why and how it grows, but, since you gave me your
+promise at Barrock-holme, I have been waiting for something to come to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie again, "after what has happened, you can expect it
+still?"</p>
+
+<p>The man looked at her gravely. "Hope is indestructible, and some day the
+rain will come. One cannot hurry it, one can only work and wait."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled a little, though once more pride and a curious tenderness
+struggled within her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "in the meantime, Jake is no doubt wondering whether
+we are coming in to breakfast."</p>
+
+<p>They turned, and went back to the house, with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> sunshine bright upon
+them, and the clean scents of the soil in their nostrils. The gladness
+that was in all things reacted upon them both.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later, Leland set about his work again, and, as he had
+leagues to ride to visit one or two farms, and to see where there was
+likely to be any wild hay in the sloos, dusk was closing down before he
+came back again. In his absence, something had happened that left Carrie
+confused and startled. The men were trooping in for the six o'clock
+supper, when a light waggon swung into sight over the crest of the rise.
+As it reached the door of the homestead, one of the two men in it sprang
+down. Carrie was standing in the entrance hall when Jake showed him in,
+and she caught her breath with a little gasp when she saw who it was.
+The man who stood smiling at her with the sunlight on his face was the
+one she had parted from on the path above the ravine at Barrock-holme.</p>
+
+<p>"Reggie!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Urmston laughed. "Yes," he said. "In the flesh. I have ridden most of
+two hundred miles on horseback and in a waggon to get here, in the
+expectation that you would be pleased to see me."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie stood still, thankful that she was in the shadow, though for the
+moment she could not tell whether she was pleased or not. For one thing,
+the man's assurance that she would feel so somewhat jarred upon her, and
+the advantage was with him, for he had come there knowing that he would
+see her, and she had not expected him.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I am," she said. "But the waggon?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hired the man to drive me. I suppose he can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> put up here, and go back
+to-morrow. Your husband will no doubt set me on my way to the railroad,
+when I go."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland was not, as a rule, readily shaken out of her serenity,
+but she was almost disconcerted now. Urmston evidently meant to stay,
+and even the stranger has only to ask for shelter upon the prairie. The
+man before her had once considered himself much more to her than a
+stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said. "He will be glad to see you. Sit down while I tell Jake
+about the teamster, and see that your room is made ready."</p>
+
+<p>She left him somewhat abruptly, and Urmston laughed a little. "Too
+startled even to shake hands with me," he murmured. "I wonder if that is
+significant."</p>
+
+<p>Twenty minutes later, he was sitting down with Carrie and Mrs. Annersly
+at supper, and was not altogether astonished when the elder lady, who,
+he fancied, had never been fond of him, turned to him with a frank
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"What did you come here for?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"To see Carrie&mdash;and yourself, madam," and Urmston smiled with a
+mischievous relish that made him look very young. "Could one venture to
+hope that in your case the pleasure is reciprocated?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am, at least, disposed to tolerate anybody from the Old Country,
+though I can't go very much further. When one has been a few months
+here, one is apt to become contented with the products of Canada."</p>
+
+<p>"The wheat? Have you turned farmer?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "No," she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> "The men. They are,
+after all, the finest thing this country raises."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston laughed, though he felt that he had been favoured with a hint.
+Mrs. Annersly, however, had more to say.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you suddenly grown energetic, and decided to do something?" she
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Urmston. "As a matter of fact, I came out to see the country
+and enjoy myself, although I have an ostensible mission. Geoffrey
+Crossthwaite is, as you are aware, a meddler in social economics, and
+has lately become interested in one of the especially commendable
+schemes for dumping into our dependencies the folks nobody seems to want
+at home."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, "that explains the thing."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston flushed a trifle, and forced a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I'm not quite sure that it does in itself. I happen to
+know a little about English farming, and am expected to report upon the
+prospects of giving other undesirables a start in life here, though
+there are two regular experts with the party."</p>
+
+<p>"So you made a journey of two hundred miles to see Carrie and me, while
+they did the work? Still, I have no doubt her husband will be able to
+teach you a little about Canadian farming."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston made a little gesture. "I am a stranger, madam, and in your
+hands. Treat me gently."</p>
+
+<p>This was said good-humouredly, and with some gracefulness; but, trifling
+as the matter was, Carrie contrasted his attitude with the one she
+fancied her husband would have adopted. He would have braced himself for
+the encounter against much longer odds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> She was grateful, however, to
+Eveline Annersly for the bantering conversation, as it gave her time to
+decide exactly what her own course must be. The circumstances were
+certainly somewhat embarrassing. When at last the meal was over, Eveline
+Annersly stuck to them persistently, and it was only when the chill of
+the clear, cold evening settled down upon the prairie that she left them
+alone upon the verandah. Urmston, who lay languidly graceful in a cane
+chair, glanced at Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been looking forward to seeing you for days, and now I feel that
+this is not quite what I expected. You have changed," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed, though she felt that the wistful note in his voice was
+genuine. She remembered, too, that she had once been fond of and
+believed in him, but she had, as she expressed it, grown since then,
+while it was evident that he was still the same. In fact, she felt he
+was remarkably young.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "you have not."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Urmston; "I am, unfortunately, one of the people who don't
+change at all. It would be so much easier for me if I did."</p>
+
+<p>This was sufficiently plain, but it brought no gratification to the
+girl. On the whole, she was rather annoyed with him, though she had a
+lingering tenderness for him still. After all, he had loved her as well
+as he was capable of loving, and that counts for a good deal with some
+women.</p>
+
+<p>"There was," he said, "only one woman who could have made the most out
+of me, and have led me to a higher level."</p>
+
+<p>"And she married another man. It is remarkably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> hard to reach a more
+elevated level alone, and a woman would naturally rather lean on than
+drag her companion."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston's face flushed. "I think I could have been capable of a good
+deal more than I probably ever shall be now, if you could have trusted
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said Carrie, with a half-wistful sense of regret she could not
+wholly drive out, "the time when I might have done so has gone."</p>
+
+<p>The man leant forward a trifle nearer her, "Carrie," he said, a trifle
+hoarsely, "are you happy with this Canadian?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl felt her cheeks burn, and was glad that the soft dusk was now
+creeping into the verandah. "Well," she said, "I am as happy as I
+deserve to be."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a drumming of hoofs, and she was only pleased when Leland
+swung himself down, hot and dusty, from the saddle. He came into the
+verandah, and stood a moment glancing at the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Reginald Urmston&mdash;an old friend of mine at Barrock-holme," said the
+girl. "I am not quite sure whether you have ever met my husband before."</p>
+
+<p>Leland held out a hard hand, and Carrie was grateful for the swiftness
+with which he did it. It suggested an unquestioning confidence in her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," he said, "I remember. Glad to see you, Mr. Urmston. Carrie's
+friends are always welcome. Hope you'll stay here a month if you feel
+like it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly and Gallwey entered the verandah just then, and, when the
+others left them shortly afterwards, remained there. Gallwey thought
+that his companion had something to say to him. Though there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> was
+nothing very definite to warrant it, he felt that they were allies.</p>
+
+<p>"One could almost fancy that you didn't seem quite pleased
+with&mdash;circumstances," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Eveline Annersly, "I don't think I am. If that man had
+fallen out of his waggon and broken his leg before he got here, I almost
+believe I should have been happier. I do not care in the least whether
+that is a judicious speech or not."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey grinned. "There are," he said significantly, "a good many
+badger-holes scattered about the prairie, and the horse that puts its
+foot in one is apt to come down awkwardly. I wonder if there is anything
+definite you expect from me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should suggest that you insist upon teaching Urmston farming, and
+keep him busy at it," said Mrs. Annersly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">URMSTON SHOWS HIS PRUDENCE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was falling dusk when Reginald Urmston strolled along the little
+trail through the birch bluff with one of Leland's cigars in his hand.
+He had been at Prospect a week now, and had on the whole found the time
+pass pleasantly, though he felt that Carrie's attitude towards him,
+while no doubt the correct one, left much to be desired from his point
+of view. If he had been asked exactly what he had expected from her when
+he came there, he would have had some difficulty in framing a concise
+answer, for he was a man who acted on impulse, without prevision, or any
+great strength of purpose. Still, he had certainly not looked for the
+matter-of-fact friendliness she displayed. He felt that a few hints of
+regret for happiness thrown away, or, at least, a sorrowful protest or
+two against the stern necessity which had separated them, would have
+been considerably more appropriate, and he would have been prepared to
+offer delicate sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>It is also probable that he would have done it gracefully, for, although
+he had not exactly shone at the crisis as a passionate lover, he had the
+capacity for making a successful philanderer. Carrie, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> had
+never admitted that she was either unhappy or dissatisfied with her
+husband, and the farmer's indifference was somewhat galling. Leland did
+not seem to resent in the least the fact that the stranger spent a good
+deal of his time in his wife's company, and frequently strolled up and
+down with her in the lingering twilight, between the house and the birch
+bluff. It suggested that Leland had either an implicit confidence in his
+wife, or a very low opinion of Urmston's attractiveness, and the latter
+found neither of these surmises particularly consoling. He had certainly
+loved Carrie, and fancied that he did so still.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening in question, he expected to meet her, and hoped Eveline
+Annersly would not, as generally happened, be there as well. He did not
+like Eveline Annersly, or her little ironical speeches, for, while he
+could not have complained of her active hostility, had she shown any, it
+was naturally not gratifying to be made to feel that she was merely
+amused with him. It was a clear, still day, and the pale green of
+evening gleamed behind the birches, while their slender stems stood out
+like ebony columns against the glare of smoky red on the verge of the
+prairie. The coolness was exhilarating, and there was something in the
+deep stillness under which the prairie rolled away, vast and shadowy,
+that vaguely stirred the man. He was in a somewhat complacent mood, for
+Carrie had been unusually gracious to him that day, and his cigar was
+very excellent. He was thinking of her when he was startled by a soft
+beat of hoofs, and, looking up, saw a mounted man come suddenly out of
+the shadows.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger pulled his horse up sharply, and sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> at rest for a moment
+or two gazing down on him. He wore a wide hat, a loose shirt above his
+jean trousers, and long boots. With one hand on the holster at his hip,
+he looked undoubtedly truculent.</p>
+
+<p>"Leland's in the house?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe so," said Urmston, who felt a bit uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger moved his hand a trifle, so that the butt of a pistol
+appeared above the edge of the holster.</p>
+
+<p>"Then walk straight in front of you, through the bluff, and out on to
+the prairie," he said. "If you turn round, or come back in the next ten
+minutes, you're going to have trouble with my partner, who is watching
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston did not move at once. He did not think this visit promised
+anything particularly pleasant to Leland, but that was, after all, not
+his affair. Still, though he was not expecting either of them just then,
+there was a chance that Carrie or Mrs. Annersly might enter the bluff.
+He had no reason to suppose that the stranger would cause them any
+annoyance if they did, but the man's appearance was far from
+prepossessing.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the latter sharply, "what in the name of thunder are you
+stopping for? Hump yourself before you're sorry."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston saw the pistol slide almost out of the holster, and the man's
+hand move on the bridle. The gestures were suggestive, and he did as he
+was bidden. Carrie, he decided, had not come out yet, or he would have
+seen her. He did not stop until rather more than the prescribed ten
+minutes had expired, and then found himself well out in the silent
+prairie. It was almost dark now, but he thought he saw a dim object
+moving down the edge of the wheat, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> he could hear the muffled
+beat of hoofs. There was only one horse, however, and he realised that
+the part he had played had, perhaps, not been an altogether brilliant
+one. On the whole, he fancied, it would be advisable to say nothing
+about it. He went back through the bluff, and came upon Carrie moving
+across the space of dusty grass between it and the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know who it was that rode through the bluff a little while ago?"
+she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Urmston, as carelessly as he could, "I certainly do not."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie, so far as he could make out, appeared a trifle astonished.
+"Well," she said, "I thought you must have met the man. I saw him come
+out and ride towards the house, but didn't seem to recognise him. Still,
+I daresay he was one of our visitors' cattle boys."</p>
+
+<p>"I scarcely think it's worth worrying about," said Urmston,
+reflectively. "For one thing, it's too beautiful a night to waste in
+thinking about a Canadian stock-rider. One would hardly imagine any of
+them are sufficiently interesting to warrant it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie understood that this was probably as far as he considered it
+advisable to venture, since she knew that he considered her husband a
+stock-rider too. Although she was not exactly pleased, it did not seem
+worth while to show her displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>"One must talk of something," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Urmston appeared to glance at her reproachfully. "There was a time when
+you and I could be content without a word. Silence is now and then
+wonderfully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> expressive. Thoughts are often spoiled by being forced into
+clumsy speech."</p>
+
+<p>"That time has gone by some little while ago," she said; and there was a
+quiet decisiveness in the girl's tone that the man did not seem to
+notice. "Perhaps it was our own fault, though I do not know.
+Circumstances were against us, but it might have been different, had we
+had the courage to take our destiny in our hands. Still, I am not
+admitting that I am sorry we did not do so."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston was sensible of a slightly uncomfortable feeling. It had been
+borne in upon him that, had he shown himself bolder and more persistent,
+Carrie might, after all, never have married Leland. Still, he did not
+think it kind that she should remind him of it, if that, indeed, was
+what she had meant to do.</p>
+
+<p>"Those days," he said gently, "will always live with me. I have only the
+memory of them to cheer me, and I cherish it as my dearest possession."</p>
+
+<p>The girl did not know whether she was touched or not. She was naturally,
+at least, a little sorry for him, but his self-compassionate
+sentimentality was apt to become tiresome at times.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't it be wiser if you made an effort to keep it a little further
+in the background?" she said. "It would, in the circumstances, at least,
+be more appropriate."</p>
+
+<p>The man dropped his voice. "Carrie," he said, "I couldn't if I wished
+to. Love of one kind is indestructible. Even the fact that you were
+forced into marrying another man cannot destroy it. He is, after all, an
+accident."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's face had flushed, but she laughed outright<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> Urmston's love,
+indestructible as he said it was, had, as she realised now, prompted him
+to do very little, while there was something singularly inapposite in
+his terming her strenuous, forceful husband an accident. She felt that,
+had he been in her disconsolate lover's place, he would at any cost have
+broken through the encompassing difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "that was really a little ridiculous. Charley Leland is
+rather unalterable, inflexible of purpose."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston appeared confused, and it was, perhaps, a relief to both when
+Eveline Annersly came up.</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't those people got through their business yet?" asked Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the elder lady. "They were still talking as earnestly as ever
+when I passed the door. I think something of importance must be going
+on."</p>
+
+<p>The surmise was, as a matter of fact, warranted, for that evening Leland
+and his neighbours once more sat about the little table discussing the
+outlaws. A little apart from them, Sergeant Grier sat intent and
+upright. The windows of the big room were wide open, and the cool
+evening air flowed in.</p>
+
+<p>"My part is quite simple," the Sergeant said. "I shall be glad to act
+upon any reliable information you may be able to put before me, and, if
+it appears necessary, call upon you for assistance in heading off or
+laying hands on the whisky men. In that case, you will be, for the time
+being, practically police troopers. I guess it's not my business to ask
+if you are acting as an organisation or not. There's nothing to stop any
+citizen giving me information; in fact, it's his duty."</p>
+
+<p>"The question," said one of the others, "is how far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> you consider it
+necessary for us to go into the thing systematically, and not just
+report any facts that happen to come under our notice."</p>
+
+<p>"That," said the Sergeant, a trifle drily, "is for you to settle among
+yourselves, but I can give you something to figure on. I reported to
+headquarters that the toughs among the railroad settlements were
+standing in with the outlaws, and that there was probably going to be
+trouble soon. The answer was that they had no complaints from the
+settlement or from any of the farmers, and that they could hardly spare
+a man. If things promised to become serious, I was to report again, and,
+in the meanwhile, they would try to send me two more troopers; you know
+as well as I do how much I can do with them."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "Oh, yes," he said. "Boys, it's quite evident that, if
+we want anything done, we shall have to do it ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>"You have hit it," said one of the others. "The one point is whether or
+not merely to want it wouldn't be just as wise. I've had two steers
+driven off since I took a hand in the fight, Nevis has had the hay
+burned off his sloos, and we know what has happened at Prospect. Nothing
+has gone wrong in the case of the men who left things to the police. I
+guess that's significant. If the Sergeant calls me out, I'll come; but
+I've no desire to go round hunting trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"That," said a comrade, "sounds far more sensible than it is. The
+Sergeant's troopers can't do anything. There aren't enough of them. And
+there's the frontier near enough for the boys to skip out across. Well,
+it may be some time before the police bosses get a move on&mdash;it usually
+is&mdash;and in the meanwhile we'll have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> every tough in the country standing
+in with the whisky men. While we lie quiet, they're going to get
+bolder."</p>
+
+<p>Just then Leland turned sharply in his chair, and the others, who
+noticed it, leant towards the window. It was wide open and there was no
+light in the room. Outside, the green transparency was just fading into
+the soft blueness of early dusk. Nobody else had heard anything, but
+Leland's figure was outlined against the last of the light, and there
+was an ominous tenseness and expectancy in his attitude. They waited a
+moment, though none of them knew exactly why, until a little square
+object, which had evidently entered by the window, struck the table.</p>
+
+<p>In another moment Leland had swung himself out by the narrow window,
+which was some distance from the floor. Then there was a crash outside,
+and the rest made for the outer door on the opposite side of the
+building. There was no sign of anybody when they reached it, but two of
+them heard a beat of receding hoofs. The rider did not seem to be in any
+great haste, and they fancied he was rather bent upon slipping away
+quietly. Then Leland appeared again, limping, and beckoned them back to
+the room, where he lighted the lamp before he sat down. His face was
+drawn.</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't exactly careful how I went out, and came down hard on my elbow
+and my knee," he said. "It took all the running out of me, and the
+fellow evidently had his horse ready. Before we could get a horse
+saddled, he'd be 'most two miles away. Well, we'll see what he has sent
+me, though I have a notion what it is."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>He opened the little packet, and took out a pistol bullet. "That may
+have been meant to weight it, or quite as likely as a hint. Now, I'll
+tell you what he says."</p>
+
+<p>One of them moved the lamp for him, and there was close attention as he
+read the note that had been wrapped about the bullet: "'Let up before
+you get hurt. You have had two warnings, but it's going to be different
+with the third one. There's a man or two on your trail who mean
+business.'"</p>
+
+<p>He flung the note on the table with a little contemptuous laugh. "I
+think it's genuine, and he means well, but I'm going on."</p>
+
+<p>"That's not very clear to me," said one of his companions.</p>
+
+<p>"It's quite easy. The rustlers are there for the money and aren't
+anxious for trouble, though, if it's necessary, they are quite willing
+to make it. That, I figure, is the view of most of them. But they had a
+man killed not long ago, and it's probably different with one or two of
+his friends. Unless the others freeze them off, they may undertake to
+run me down for the fun of the thing."</p>
+
+<p>There was a murmur of sympathy and agreement, and Leland saw that the
+rest were watching him curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," he said impatiently, "I'm going on."</p>
+
+<p>Then they set about discussing the rumour that another lot of whisky was
+being run. By the time this was over, they were all, including the man
+with the misgivings, of one mind again. Still, the Sergeant knew that,
+if Leland had hesitated, it was quite probable he would have looked in
+vain for any support<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> worth having from most of them. The last man had
+driven away when Carrie found him sitting thoughtfully in the empty
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"Something has disturbed you?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked up, and there was a trace of dryness in his smile. "I have
+had quite a few things to worry me lately," he said, handing her the
+note. "This is merely one of them."</p>
+
+<p>The girl read it, and looked at him with a perplexed frown on her face.
+Its contents troubled her, for she had acquired from Gallwey and others
+a good deal of information concerning the outlaws. She also knew that
+Leland would, in all probability, not have given it to her, had he
+reason to suppose that it could cause her any great anxiety, and the
+knowledge hurt her.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said quietly, "what do you propose to do?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled a little. "My dear, what would you expect me to do?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a faint flash in Carrie's eyes, and she lifted her head a
+trifle. "Oh," she said, "there is of course only one thing possible&mdash;to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you! I'm afraid there may be just a little risk in this for my
+wife as well. I didn't quite remember it at the time."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed. "Do you think that would count?" Then she laid her hand
+upon his shoulder. "Still, Charley, you will&mdash;to please me&mdash;be very
+careful?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland fancied he felt her hand tremble, and thought he saw a sudden
+softness in her eyes, but he could not be quite sure. Before he could
+decide how to profit by it, she had turned her face aside and gone.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CARRIE MAKES A COMPARISON</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>A week had passed since the last meeting of the farmers at Prospect,
+when Carrie and Eveline Annersly sat out on the verandah of the house
+somewhat late at night. A full moon hung over the prairie, and the
+silence was impressive. Urmston, who was, as usual, also there, leant
+against the balustrade with his back to the light, missing every
+uplifting appeal in the boundless sweep of softly gleaming grass of the
+prairie. He was not one of the men upon whom the silent strength of
+Nature has any marked reaction. His thoughts concerned himself and the
+pleasures of the moment, and he was seldom still or silent very long,
+though his activities, like his speeches, were usually petty, for the
+capacity for absorption in a sustaining purpose was not in him. Carrie
+Leland had come to realise it of late, though she did not exactly know
+why. It may have been the result of a subconscious comparison of him
+with another man. In any case, the recognition of the fact had brought
+her a sense of annoyance, for there was strength as well as pride in
+her, and she was fond of Urmston, who was a man of her own world.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Urmston, in the meanwhile, found the contemplation of her sufficient for
+him, and it is probable that most other men would have done the same.
+She lay, clad in a long white dress, in a big lounge-chair, with the
+silvery moonlight full upon her. It brought out the duskiness of her
+eyes and hair, and made her somewhat cold beauty the more apparent,
+though there was at the time a faint, illusory gentleness in her face, a
+note the man had noticed more than once of late. He would have liked to
+think that he had brought it there, but could not quite persuade himself
+that this was so, though there had been a time when he had seen that
+soft light creep into her eyes as she greeted him. He had also a vague,
+uncomfortable feeling that, although circumstances had certainly been
+against him, it was, perhaps, his own fault that he could now no longer
+call it up. Carrie was gracious to him, save when he was too
+venturesome, but he saw that her regard for him was widely different
+from what it had been. There was more reserve in her attitude towards
+him than her mere recognition of what was due to her husband could
+account for. He also noticed that she was a trifle anxious, which
+brought him no great consolation, in view of the fact that Leland had
+ridden out with his rifle early the day before. Eveline Annersly finally
+spoke after the silence that had lasted for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"Gallwey seems to fancy Charley should have been back several hours
+ago," she said. "Charley told him he would be in to supper, if all
+went&mdash;as they expected it to."</p>
+
+<p>She stole a swift glance at Carrie, who was then gazing out across the
+prairie as though in search of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> something, and, though the girl did not
+move, she fancied there was a change in her expression. It suggested a
+growing uneasiness.</p>
+
+<p>"I scarcely suppose Charley could tell exactly how long they would be,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is very probable, and, in any case, he
+is not likely to come to harm. In fact, one would be more inclined to
+feel anxious about the outlaws he might fall in with than about Charley
+Leland. I daresay it was fanciful, but, when he rode away, he reminded
+me of the picture the Acres have of the moss-trooper. You, of course,
+know the one I mean&mdash;the man in the steel cap with the moonlight
+sparkling on his spear. There is something of the same grimness in both
+faces, and, in the moss-trooper's case, the artist hit it rather well.
+It is an intangible something one can't well define, primitive probably,
+for I don't remember having seen it in the face of any man I am
+acquainted with at home."</p>
+
+<p>She turned towards Urmston with a little laugh. "You haven't got it,
+Reggie, though now and then I almost fancy that Carrie has. I don't
+think you would have made a good moss-trooper."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston smiled in turn. "I really don't think the kind of life they led
+would have appealed to me."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Eveline Annersly, "you would have sat with the harp in the
+bower, and made love rather nicely and judiciously&mdash;that is, when
+circumstances were propitious."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston flushed, glad he was in the shadow where Carrie could not see
+him. He felt, as he had felt before, that he would rather like to gag
+Eveline Annersly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>"Can one fall in love judiciously?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that one can. In the days we are
+referring to, they very seldom did. The border knights apparently put on
+steel cap and corselet when they went wooing. When Lochinvar rode to
+Netherby, he swam the Esk, and it is very probable that the men who made
+love in his fashion later on had their swords loose when they crossed
+it, whipping hard for Gretna by the lower bridge. Of course, as
+everybody knows, all that has gone out of fashion long ago&mdash;only I think
+the primitive something remains which would drive a man full tilt
+against circumstances for sweet love's sake. At least, one sees it now
+and then in the eyes of the men out here."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston longed to stop her, but he had discovered on other occasions
+that an attempt to do so was very apt to bring about unwished-for
+results. He accordingly said nothing, and Carrie, who, perhaps, felt as
+he did, changed the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"It was rather curious that the man who threw the note through the
+window when our neighbours were last here was able to creep up without
+being seen," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help thinking that somebody must have seen him," said Eveline
+Annersly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then why didn't they mention it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I naturally don't know. Still, one would fancy that the outlaw found
+means of impressing whomever he came across with the fact that he didn't
+want to be announced, and that it would be wiser to fall in with his
+wishes. Afterwards, the man he met would no doubt feel that, as his
+silence wasn't altogether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> creditable, it would be advisable to say
+nothing about it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked up sharply. "Of course, that sounds possible. Only from
+what I know of them, he would hardly have succeeded in overawing any of
+the boys at Prospect."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't imagine your husband or Gallwey standing against a tree with
+his eyes shut for ten minutes because a ferocious stranger requested him
+to?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," and Carrie's laugh had a little ring in it, "I certainly couldn't.
+In fact, I think it would be very apt to bring trouble on the stranger."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a moment, and looked again, expectantly, across the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't understand how the rustler got here without being noticed at
+all," she said reflectively. "Jake was in the paddock when I went out,
+and he feels quite sure that nobody could have slipped by without his
+seeing them. Of course, it is possible the man came through the bluff."</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy not. In that case Reggie would have met him. I was standing by
+the window when he sauntered into the wood, and it would be about ten
+minutes, or, perhaps, a little more, before you left the house."</p>
+
+<p>She flung a glance in the direction of Urmston, who felt horribly
+uncomfortable. It occurred to him that, if she had seen him enter the
+bluff, it was also possible that she had seen the outlaw come out. That
+she did not say she had done so was, after all, no great consolation,
+for he knew Eveline Annersly could be silent when she had a reason. He
+was afraid that, if she had one now, the result might not be altogether
+credit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>able to him when she saw fit to speak. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that she expected him to say something.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you were right about the time," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked up, for his indifference seemed too pronounced to be quite
+natural, but she brushed the half-formed thought out of her mind.
+Urmston was a man of her own station, and could not, she reasoned, be
+deficient in qualities which even her husband's teamsters possessed.
+Still, while she sat silent, looking out upon the vast sweep of plain,
+she could not help once more contrasting him with the man she had been
+driven into marrying. She understood Leland better, now that she had
+seen the land he lived in, for there were respects in which he resembled
+it. Men, indeed, usually do not only fit themselves to their
+environment, but borrow from it something that becomes a part of them.</p>
+
+<p>It was evidently from the prairie that Charley Leland had drawn his
+strength of character, his capacity for holding on with everything
+against him, and his silent, deep-rooted optimism. She had seen that
+plain bleached with months of frost and parched with drought, but the
+flowers had sprung up from the streaming sod, and now the wheat was
+growing tall and green again. One could feel out there that, while all
+life is a struggle which every blade of wheat must wage, in due time
+fruition would come. Her husband, it seemed, realised it, and had also
+faith in himself. She remembered how, when his neighbours hesitated,
+fearing the outlaws' vengeance, he had said he was going on even if he
+went on alone. She also knew that he would be as good as his word, for
+he was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> the man to turn back because there was peril in his path.
+She could rather fancy him hastening to meet it, with the little hard
+smile she had often seen in his steady eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Then from out of the great stillness there crept the distant sound of a
+moving horse, and Carrie felt a feeling of relief come over her. She
+would scarcely admit it to herself, but, during the past two or three
+hours, she had been troubled by a growing sense of uneasiness. She would
+not have felt it a few months earlier, for, while she would have had no
+harm come to him, there was no hiding the fact that it would have set
+her free from an almost intolerable bondage. It was, however, different
+now.</p>
+
+<p>The thud of hoofs grew louder, and the dim figure of a mounted man grew
+out of the prairie. A little thrill ran through her as she watched him
+swing past at a canter and draw rein between the house and the stables.
+He waited a moment as though looking for somebody in whose care to leave
+the horse, and Carrie could see that he was weary and dusty. Though his
+face was dimly visible, she fancied it was drawn and grey. Slanting over
+his shoulder, the barrel of his Marlin rifle glinted in the moon.</p>
+
+<p>"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is, I think, more suggestive than ever
+of the border spear."</p>
+
+<p>She glanced at Carrie as the girl rose and went down the stairway. Then
+Eveline Annersly turned to Urmston with a little smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I scarcely think they will want us, and I'm going in," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Urmston had moved into the moonlight now, and his face was set. "There
+is, of course, no reason<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> why you shouldn't, but I'm not sure that you
+are entirely right," he said. "In fact, if it's permissible to mention
+it, I had a notion that Carrie asked you here to make the convenient
+third."</p>
+
+<p>His companion looked at him with a faint gleam in her eyes. "You haven't
+any great penetration, after all, or you would have seen that I have
+outstayed my usefulness. In any case, I feel inclined to favour you with
+a piece of advice. It may save you trouble if you go back to your
+agricultural duties as soon as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"You seem unusually anxious to get rid of me," said the man, with
+something in his tone that suggested satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly laughed as she rose and moved back into the shadow.
+"Oh, dear no! If I were really anxious, the thing would be remarkably
+easy."</p>
+
+<p>She left him with this, and Urmston, who leant somewhat moodily on the
+balustrade, felt that his love for her was certainly no greater than it
+had been before. He began to feel himself especially unfortunate in
+having fallen in with the rustler.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Leland, who started as he saw the girl coming towards
+him, swung himself out of the saddle and stood awaiting her, with the
+bridle of the jaded horse in his hand. His face was worn and weary, and
+he stood slackly with all the springy suppleness apparently gone out of
+him. The grime was thick upon his coarse blue shirt and jean jacket.</p>
+
+<p>"It was very good of you to wait so long," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled in a curious fashion. "Did you expect me to sleep?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>"You were a little anxious about me, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" said the girl, softly. "Wouldn't it have been unnatural if
+I hadn't been?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland made an abrupt gesture. "My dear, I don't want you to do the
+natural or the correct thing, that is, just because it is so."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "who can tell exactly why they do anything? Still, I
+was anxious. How have you got on?"</p>
+
+<p>The man laughed a trifle grimly. "Badly&mdash;we were either fooled or
+outgeneraled, and the whisky boys came out ahead of us. We had one horse
+shot, and another broke its leg in a badger-hole. Hadn't you better go
+in now? It'll take me some time to put up."</p>
+
+<p>"I slept most of last night, and you have been out on the prairie two
+nights and days. I'm coming with you to the stable. I can, at least,
+hold a lantern."</p>
+
+<p>They turned away together, Leland walking very stiffly, the girl, who
+felt her heart beating, close at his side, until they reached one of the
+uninjured buildings. It was very dark inside, and redolent with the
+smell of wild peppermint in the prairie hay. Leland groped for a
+lantern, and, when he had lighted it, hung it to a hook in the stall
+joist, so that its light fell upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"I really think you would have been sorry if the boys had brought me
+back with a bullet in me?" he said, half-questioningly.</p>
+
+<p>He saw the little shiver that ran through his companion, but, in another
+moment, she was standing very straight and still. "How can you ask me
+that?" she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> said. "I did not think you would be vindictive&mdash;to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Look at me," and Leland, leaning forward, laid a hard, dust-grimed hand
+on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have been a release when you had got over
+the shock of it?"</p>
+
+<p>The colour crept into Carrie's face, and, after the first moment, she
+did not meet his eyes, while the man, with an impetuous movement,
+slipped a hand about her waist. Then, with a forced calm, he slowly drew
+her towards him and kissed her on the brow and cheek and mouth. For an
+instant only he held her fast. Then he let his hands fall.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked at him, with the hot blood tingling in her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said gravely, though there was a faint ring of exultation in
+his voice, "that is for a sign that you belong to me, and I guess I'm
+strong enough to keep what is mine. You couldn't get away from me if you
+wanted to."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie realised it, though the fact no longer brought her any sense of
+intolerable restraint or disgust. She said nothing, and made no sign.
+Leland went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Still, I'm not going to hurry you, or spoil things by impatience," he
+said. "You will be willing to take me for what I am some day, and, if
+things hurt you as they are now, that's the one way of escape. There
+can't be any other until one of us is dead."</p>
+
+<p>He turned from her, and commenced to unbuckle the horse's girth, while
+Carrie, scarcely knowing why, slipped past him, busying herself with the
+head-stall. Then she brought the chopped fodder while he went for water,
+and stood holding the lantern while he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> rubbed the jaded beast down.
+Neither of them said anything, but it was evident to both that the
+distance between them had been lessened. By and by they went back
+together towards the house, and Leland laughingly held up the lantern
+when they reached the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I never even remembered to put this thing down," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled, but there was a trace of diffidence in her manner.</p>
+
+<p>"I have kept your supper, and will bring it in as soon as you come
+down," she said. "Everything you will want clean is laid out in your
+room."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," said Leland, reaching out and grasping her arm, "Mrs. Nesbit
+is quite a smart housekeeper."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie shook his grasp off, and flitted away from him. "Mrs. Nesbit is
+not responsible this time," she said laughingly. "I'm afraid I haven't
+looked after my household duties as I should have done hitherto."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">A MIDNIGHT VISITOR</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Summer had come in earnest, and Leland, who had ridden out at daybreak
+with every man at Prospect to cut prairie hay, had not come back, when
+Carrie sat late at night beside the stove in the big room. The stove was
+lighted, and a kettle stood on it. A meal was laid out upon the table,
+for Carrie expected that Leland would arrive during the next hour. In
+fact, a horse stood ready saddled in one of the stables, and she was
+trying to decide whether she should ride out to meet him or stay where
+she was. It was a still night, the house was unpleasantly hot, and the
+thought of a canter through the cool darkness was attractive. Leland,
+who was busier than ever, had, however, been away somewhat frequently of
+late, and pride was still strong in her. She would not unbend too far,
+or give him reason to believe that he could be sure of her, while there
+was also the difficulty that Urmston, who was then sitting close by,
+would probably insist upon accompanying her, and she fancied that such
+an arrangement might not commend itself to her husband. Urmston, too,
+had been growing somewhat presumptuous, and she felt that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> on the whole
+it might not be advisable to have him for a companion. Something,
+however, urged her to set out, though she would not admit that it was
+the thought of Leland's satisfaction at meeting her. She had scarcely
+seen him, except for an odd five minutes, during the last week or two,
+and that piqued her, although she knew that he had many anxieties and
+much to do. There was, it seemed, nothing to be gained by being unduly
+gracious, so long as he was content without her company.</p>
+
+<p>This was, perhaps, a little hard upon Leland, who was then toiling at
+something, or in the saddle, from early morning to late at night. He had
+a good many teams to be fed, and hay was scarce after the unusually dry
+spring. Hay is seldom sown in that country, and, as the natural grass
+is, for the most part, only a few inches high, the prairie farmer must
+cut it where it grows harsh and tall in the sloos, or hollows, that are
+turned for a few weeks into lakes and ponds by the melting snows. Most
+of them had dried up prematurely that season, and, as the supply of the
+natural produce was becoming a serious question, Leland had to make long
+journeys in search of it. On the night in question, the men were camped
+beside a distant sloo, though he himself purposed to ride home, calling
+on one of his neighbours on the way. While Carrie considered whether she
+would set out to meet him or not, Urmston glanced at the tray upon the
+table with a sly little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"You are getting domesticated, Carrie," he said. "I used to fancy that
+you looked down upon anything connected with housekeeping. Be warned,
+and don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> go too far. You saw what domesticity has done for Mrs.
+Custer."</p>
+
+<p>"She seems happy," said the girl, reflectively. "Custer, I believe, is,
+in his own way, very kind to her."</p>
+
+<p>There was a trace of wistfulness in her voice that jarred upon the
+listener, and the colour rose in his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Carrie," he said with sudden passion, "the possibility of you ever
+becoming like her is horrible&mdash;wholly horrible. There is much that
+Custer is responsible for. One can see what that woman was before she
+married him, and what has happened to her since is a warning. The
+struggle has worn all the daintiness and refinement out of her. With
+that brood of children to be provided for, what has she to look forward
+to but a life of hard work that will steadily drag her to the level of
+an English dairy drudge?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie shivered a little, for there was, she knew, some truth in this.
+"There is," she said, "a considerable difference between Charley Leland
+and Tom Custer."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," and Urmston, who appeared to put a restraint upon himself,
+smiled drily. "In his own half-animal fashion, Custer is, as you
+mention, evidently fond of her. If he hadn't been, she might have
+escaped part, at least, of what she had to put up with. I'm not sure one
+couldn't term it degradation. The difference between the man you married
+and Custer is the one thing I am sincerely thankful for."</p>
+
+<p>"Reggie," said Carrie sharply, "I should like to know just what you
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston laughed. "I suppose I'm presuming, but I don't seem to mind.
+Your husband is, at least, con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>tent to leave you very much alone. He
+apparently comes home to eat, and, when he is no longer hungry,
+disappears again. It does not seem to matter that he generally gets his
+meals alone. I fancy it is a week since I have seen him."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, and leant forward a little in his chair. "I didn't say it to
+hurt you, Carrie, but because the fact that it is so, is and must
+necessarily be an unutterable relief to me. The indifference of such a
+man is incomparably better than what he would probably consider his
+affection. You can see what it has brought Mrs. Custer."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland flushed angrily. It is not especially pleasant to any
+woman to be told that, although she may not be fond of him, her husband
+or lover is indifferent to her; but it was not that alone which brought
+the blood tingling to her face. She was capable of passion, but
+domesticity in itself had no great attraction for her. In fact, she
+rather shrank from it, and Urmston's words had been unpleasantly
+prophetic, since she knew that the placid affection of a man who only
+expected that she should rear a brood of children and keep his house in
+order would become intolerable to her. Still, she felt that this, at
+least, would never be her husband's view concerning her, and that there
+was a much greater difference than Urmston realised between him and
+Thomas Custer. Leland, in fact, had by a clean life of effort and grim
+self-denial, in which the often worn-out body was held in stern
+subjection to the will, attained a vague, indefinite something which was
+not far removed from spirituality.</p>
+
+<p>"Reggie," she said, "what have I done that would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> lead you to believe
+you were warranted in speaking to me in this fashion?"</p>
+
+<p>The man made a little passionate gesture. "Oh," he said, "nothing. You
+are in everything beyond reproach; that is what makes it so hard to
+bear. Why should you be wasted upon a man without appreciation?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is enough." As Carrie checked him with a lifted hand, a sparkle
+came into her eyes. "Do you suppose for a moment that I would listen to
+anything further?"</p>
+
+<p>Urmston sat silent, his face flushed, and his fingers fumbling with his
+watch-chain. For five minutes neither of them spoke. It was very still
+in the big room, save for the crackling of the stove. Then Carrie
+started, with a little gasp, for the door swung softly open, apparently
+of itself, and she grasped Urmston's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Shut it! Be quick!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Urmston swung round, and she felt the involuntary move he made when his
+eyes rested on the door. There were in the house, as both remembered,
+only Eveline Annersly, who had retired early with a headache, and Mrs.
+Nesbit, who would have come in by the other entrance. Doors do not open
+of their own accord when there is not a breath of wind astir, and it is
+somewhat disconcerting when they appear to do so in the middle of the
+night. Urmston accordingly sat where he was, watching the opening grow
+wider, his nerves atingle with something akin to fear. Carrie gripped
+him hard.</p>
+
+<p>"Get Charley's rifle!" she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>At last, with no great alacrity, he rose to his feet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> but the time when
+he might have done anything had passed, for a masked man stood just
+inside the threshold with a big pistol in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you'll stop just where you are," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Urmston stood still, as most men would have done, though Leland's rifle
+hung close above his head. The stranger moved forward a pace or two. He
+wore soft moccasins, and a strip of grain-bag, pierced at the eyes and
+bound about his face, added nothing to his attractiveness.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't move, Mrs. Leland," he said. "Where is your husband?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie straightened herself with an effort. She did not like the man's
+tone nor his inquiry. Urmston was close beside her, but she felt that
+she had not much to expect from him, though she was too distracted to
+feel any contempt for him on that account.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," she said. "Why? Do you want him?"</p>
+
+<p>The man appeared to smile. "Well," he said, "I guess there's a reason
+for it; but, if he's willing to be reasonable, nobody's going to hurt
+him. In fact, we just want to make a little bargain."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie glanced at the watch on her bracelet, which was another of the
+things which her husband had given her, and realised he might be home at
+any time during the next half-hour. Then she glanced covertly towards
+the other door which led to the kitchen; but it was some distance away,
+and the stranger had a pistol. An almost paralysing fear came upon her,
+for she knew her husband was not the man to be driven into doing
+anything he did not like. The stranger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> watched her with eyes that
+glittered wickedly behind the mask.</p>
+
+<p>"You know where he went?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I do," said Carrie, a trifle too swiftly, as she remembered that he
+would not be there now. "He rode out to the sloos on the Traverse trail
+to cut prairie hay."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly!" and the man laughed. "Only he went away again, or we wouldn't
+have come on here. Now, there are four or five of us, and we want a word
+with your husband, and mean to have it. It's not going to take us two
+minutes to find out if he's in the house."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why don't you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>The man looked at her with obvious admiration. Though there was fear in
+her heart, there was none in her face. She had the pride of her station,
+and every inborn prejudice in her protested against submission to any
+dictation from this intruding ruffian. There was a gleam in her dark
+eyes, and the red spot showed in her otherwise colourless cheeks again.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the outlaw, "I guess we mean to, but I'm not going to leave
+you while you and your partner sneak away."</p>
+
+<p>He raised his voice. "He's not here, Tom, but you may as well go round
+and make sure of it."</p>
+
+<p>There was a tramp of booted feet in the hall outside, and then footsteps
+on the stairs, first mounting and then again descending. "No," a voice
+said, "he hasn't come home."</p>
+
+<p>"Light out, and tell the others. I'll fix things with the lady," said
+his comrade in the room. Then he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> turned to Urmston. "You're a little
+too near that rifle. Get across there."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston crossed the room as he was bidden, for which one could scarcely
+blame him, and the man sat down where he could watch them both.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "I'm talking, Mrs. Leland. You listen to me. We are
+going to see your husband, and it might be better if we saw him here. If
+you can persuade him to be reasonable, you will please the boys and me.
+Well, it's only natural that you should know where he is, and you can't
+do anything. Old Jake's fast asleep in his shed, and there's not a boy
+about the homestead."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said Carrie quietly, "I haven't the least intention of telling
+you anything."</p>
+
+<p>The man showed his impatience in a gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I guess all we have to do is to wait for him, but I can't quite
+figure why you should be willing to make trouble for yourself. Everybody
+knows you don't care two cents for Charley Leland."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie winced, and felt she could have struck Urmston when she saw the
+little sardonic smile in his eyes. Her face grew almost colourless with
+anger, and she closed one hand at her side. Something which had been
+latent within her was now wholly roused and dominant. She knew that what
+the man had said was wholly untrue, and that her husband's safety
+depended then on her. She did not suppose for a moment that he would
+yield because of anything these men could do, and it was clear that they
+were desperate men with a bitter grievance against him. They might even
+kill him, and she resolutely grappled with a numbing fear. She dared not
+let it master her, for something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> must be done, and once more she felt
+that she had only herself to depend upon.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley Leland will make you sorry for that some day," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The man grinned. "It is quite likely he is going to be sorry for himself
+before we are through with him. Anyway, I don't know any reason why I
+shouldn't eat his supper. I've ridden most of forty miles to-day
+trailing him."</p>
+
+<p>He drew the tray upon the table nearer to him, and ate voraciously,
+while Carrie grew faint with apprehension as she watched him. Urmston,
+who had taken out a cigar, sat motionless, save that he fumbled with it
+instead of his watch-chain. The room was once more very still, except
+for the snapping of the stove and the unpleasant sounds the outlaw made
+over his meal. Time was flying, and Leland might arrive at any moment
+now. She feared that the other men were hidden beside the trail through
+the birch bluff, waiting to waylay him.</p>
+
+<p>Then the outlaw turned to her. "I guess it would be nice to be waited on
+by a lady, and it might please Charley Leland when he hears of it. I'd
+like some coffee, and I see the pot here. Bring me the kettle."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked at Urmston. At any risk he would surely resent this insult
+to her. But, though there was a shade more colour than usual in his
+cheeks, Urmston sat still. Then, in a flash, the inspiration came. With
+a glance towards the rear door, which led to the kitchen, she rose with
+the kettle in her hand. The lamp stood upon the table about a yard from
+the man, but, as he was sitting, a little nearer to her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>"Will you hold out the pot?" she said. "It's scalding hot. Take care of
+your hand."</p>
+
+<p>The man turned his eyes a moment, and that was enough, for before he
+looked up again Carrie swung the kettle round, and there was a crash as
+it struck the lamp. Then there was sudden darkness, out of which rang
+venomous expletives and howls of pain. Carrie sped towards the second
+door. She heard the man falling among the chairs behind her, and wasted
+another moment or two turning the key, which was outside. This cost her
+an effort, for the lock was rusty from disuse. Then she flitted along
+the dark corridor, and, opening the kitchen door softly, looked out upon
+the prairie. There was no moon, and the night was still and dark. She
+could hear no sound on that side of the homestead.</p>
+
+<p>Slipping out, she crept in quiet haste along the wall, and with wildly
+beating heart crossed the open space between it and the stable. Nobody,
+however, attempted to stop her, and in another moment or two she was
+standing beside the horse which Jake had ready saddled. The animal was
+fresh and mettlesome, and she lost several precious minutes before she
+contrived to get into the saddle by scrambling on a mound of sod piled
+against the outside of the building. Then she struck him viciously with
+the quirt. One cut was all that was needed, and they were flying out
+into the darkness at a furious gallop.</p>
+
+<p>She knew that her flight was heard, for shouts rose behind her; but she
+knew too that her horse was fresh and the outlaws' tired after a hard
+day's ride. It was also very probable that his comrades had tethered
+their horses somewhere while they watched the trail, since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> it is
+usually difficult to keep a prairie broncho quiet very long. All this
+flashed upon her while the lights of Prospect blinked and vanished as
+the barns and stables shut them in. With a sigh of relief, she brought
+the quirt down again.</p>
+
+<p>There were stars in the heavens, but the night was dark, and she could
+just discern an outlying birch bluff, a shadowy blur against the sky, a
+mile in front of her. The prairie was rutted deep along the trail by
+waggon-wheels, and riddled here and there with deadly badger-holes, but
+these were hazards that must be taken as they came. One thing was
+sure&mdash;the man she had married was in imminent peril, and she alone could
+deliver him. The fact that Urmston was left behind in the outlaws' hands
+did not seem to trouble her. Indeed, she scarcely remembered him at all.</p>
+
+<p>She swept on, her light skirt blown about her, her loosened hair
+whipping her hot face, while a thud of hoofs broke out behind her. The
+horse's blood was up, too, so she let him go, stretched out at a flying
+gallop, up low rise and over long level. The birches flashed by, and the
+open waste lay in front. While nobody riding that pace could find the
+trail, there was a shallow coulee a league away with stunted birches on
+the edge of it, which would presently rise for a landmark out of the
+prairie. Once she glanced over her shoulder. There was only the soft
+darkness, out of which there came a thumping that seemed to be growing
+fainter.</p>
+
+<p>She was almost upon the birches when she heard another beat of hoofs in
+front of her now, and she sent up a breathless cry.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"Charley!" she called, and again in fierce impatience, "Charley!"</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she was conscious of a torturing suspense, and then a man's
+voice came out of the darkness in answer.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," it said. "I'm coming straight along."</p>
+
+<p>In another few moments a shadowy figure had materialised out of the
+prairie. She pulled her horse up with a struggle when Leland drew bridle
+beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Steady, my dear," he said. "Get your breath and tell me what it is."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie gasped out her news, and the man sat silent a moment or two.</p>
+
+<p>"Urmston's there, and Mrs. Annersly," he said. "I don't think they'll
+hurt them, but I'd better get on."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie leant out from the saddle, and attempted to touch his bridle as
+the fidgeting horses pranced side by side.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said, "you mustn't. I will not have you go. I think they mean
+to kill you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared to smile. "I guess that contract would be a little too
+big for them. Still, if Urmston riled them, they might hurt him. The
+man's a friend of yours."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed somewhat bitterly. "I don't think he will do anything
+very injudicious. Eveline Annersly's room is just across the house, and
+she sleeps very soundly."</p>
+
+<p>"They wouldn't hurt her," said Leland, reflectively. "One could count on
+that. Urmston would be all right, too, if he has sense enough to keep
+quiet. Now, there are two of Grier's troopers camping in a bluff a
+league back to watch the trail, and if I could only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> bring them up
+before the rustlers go, we ought to get one or two of them. It's 'most
+worth while trying. You'll ride round with me?"</p>
+
+<p>Nothing more was said when Carrie signified that she was willing, and
+they rode on again to where the troopers were. Then with these
+reinforcements they turned back to Prospect, arriving there when dawn
+was climbing into the sky. There was no sign of the rustlers, but
+Urmston stood just outside the door.</p>
+
+<p>"They went soon after Mrs. Leland got away," he said. "I feel that I
+ought to make excuses for leaving the thing to her, though I'm not sure
+that there was, in view of the circumstances, any other course open to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed as he swung himself from the saddle. "That's all right.
+You did the sensible thing, and nobody's going to blame you," he said.
+"If you don't mind rousing Jake, we'll get the troopers breakfast before
+they go away. You know your way to the stables, boys."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston and the troopers disappeared, and Carrie looked down on her
+husband, who stood, a shadowy figure, beside her stirrup.</p>
+
+<p>"You," she said, with a little soft laugh, "would have found another
+course."</p>
+
+<p>Leland said nothing, but stretched his arms up, and, when she slipped
+from the saddle into them, held her there while he kissed her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">PRAIRIE HAY</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was the middle of a scorching afternoon when Carrie drew her waggon
+over a low rise and down the long slope to the dried-up sloo. Urmston,
+riding beside it, sprinkled white with dust, looked uncomfortably hot,
+and Eveline Annersly, whose face was unpleasantly flushed, tried in vain
+to shelter herself beneath her parasol in the jolting waggon.</p>
+
+<p>"I am positively melting, and my head aches," she said. "If I had known
+how hot it was, you would never have got me here, and, if Mrs. Custer
+will keep me, I am not going back to Prospect to-night. How does your
+husband work this weather?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed as she pulled her team up near the sloo. She, at least,
+looked delightfully fresh and almost cool in her long white dress and
+big white hat.</p>
+
+<p>"He would probably tell you it is because he has to," she said. "In any
+event, he seems to be working rather harder than ever."</p>
+
+<p>"It is one of Charley Leland's strong points that he knows when a thing
+has to be done," and Eveline Annersly glanced at Urmston with a little
+smile. "There are men who don't, and never will, though they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> are
+sometimes able to shift the consequences on to the shoulders of other
+people."</p>
+
+<p>Then she turned, and blinked about her with half-dazed eyes. In front of
+the waggon a haze of dust floated up against the intense blueness of the
+sky, and under it a belt of tall, harsh grass rustled drily in the
+scant, hot breeze. Everything seemed white and suffused with brightness.
+Beyond them, the parched, grey prairie rolled back to the horizon. There
+was no shade anywhere, nor, so far as the eye could travel, a single
+speck of green.</p>
+
+<p>"And this is a prairie sloo!" she said. "I had pictured a nice, cool
+lake where the wild duck swim. Charley is, presumably, haymaking, though
+I never saw it done this way before."</p>
+
+<p>The dust settled a little, and, with a clashing tinkle, there came out
+of it three big teams and lurching machines. The grass went down before
+them crackling harshly, and the horses plodded on with tossing heads and
+whipping tails amidst a cloud of flies. Men followed behind them heaping
+the hay in piles, and across the mown strip of sloo more men, almost
+naked, were flinging the last of the mounds into a waggon. There is no
+need of turning and winnowing in that country. The one thing necessary
+is to find grass tall enough to cut, and get it home before the fires do
+the reaping.</p>
+
+<p>The big machines came nearer with a clash and clatter and gleam of
+sliding knives, and Leland, swinging his team out from the grass, got
+down from his driving-seat.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's my jacket, Tom?" he said to the man on the machine behind his.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>"I expect it has gone home. You pitched it into the waggon," said Tom
+Gallwey, who, swinging off his hat as his team went by, plunged into the
+dust again.</p>
+
+<p>Leland moved forward with a deprecatory gesture as he stopped beside the
+waggon. He wore a coarse blue shirt and old jean trousers, both of which
+were smeared with black grease, on which the dust had settled, for one
+of the mowers had given him trouble that morning. There was dust, too,
+on his dripping face and bare arms, which were scarred here and there.
+Still, the thin attire lent a certain grace to his wiry figure, and he
+appeared the personification of strength and activity. From another
+point of view, his appearance was, however, distinctly against him, and
+Carrie fancied she knew what Urmston was thinking, as he sat still in
+his saddle, immaculate, save for a sprinkling of dust, in neat boots,
+straw hat, and tweed. The difference between the men would have had its
+effect upon her once, but now she looked down at Leland with an
+understanding smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been mowing all the time?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Since sun-up," and Leland laughed. "I couldn't give the teams more than
+an hour's rest, either. We have to clean this sloo up by dark."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie glanced at the great belt of grass and wondered how it was to be
+done.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks out of the question, and it's very hot," she said. "Couldn't
+you stop a little earlier, for once, and ride over to the Range? Mrs.
+Custer half expects you at supper."</p>
+
+<p>She evidently wanted him to come, and Leland,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> who seemed to feel it,
+glanced back irresolutely at the sloo.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid not," he said. "It's quite a way, and I haven't a horse. The
+others couldn't get done by dark without me, and we couldn't come back
+here to-morrow. You'll have to excuse me."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was displeased, though she would not show it, for she had seen
+the smile of satisfaction in Urmston's eyes. Appearances, she knew,
+counted for a good deal with him, as much, in fact, as they had once
+done with her, and she would sooner he had not been there when the dusty
+haymaker made it evident that he was unwilling to leave his work,
+although she had suggested that this would please her.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it's necessary?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared to hesitate a moment. "I must get this grass home
+to-night, but, if it's not too late, I would like you to drive round and
+pick me up. It would get me back 'most an hour earlier."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was sensible, with a little annoyance, that Urmston was watching
+her. "Well," she said, "I can't exactly promise. It will depend upon
+when Mrs. Custer lets us go."</p>
+
+<p>Just then a light waggon came jolting down the opposite slope, and its
+driver pulled his team up when it drew even with them.</p>
+
+<p>"I've some letters for Prospect, and you have saved me 'most a league's
+ride. That counts on a day like this," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland caught the packet from him, and handed one or two of the letters
+to Urmston. The man drove on again. As Carrie's waggon also jolted away,
+Leland leant against the wheel of the mower, opening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> those addressed to
+him. Gallwey, who was passing, pulled his team up and looked down at him
+inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"Anything of consequence?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland shrugged a weary shoulder. "The usual thing," he said. "The
+implement man wants his money now, though I understood he was going to
+wait until harvest. The fellow in Winnipeg can't sell the horses.
+There's a letter from the bank, too. If I purpose drawing on them
+further, they'd like something as security. The rest are unpleasantly
+big accounts from the stores."</p>
+
+<p>Then he thrust the papers into his pocket with a harsh laugh. "I'm not
+going to straighten things out by standing here, and they want a lot."</p>
+
+<p>He called to his horses, and the mower clashed on again. The dust rose
+and settled on his face, once more set hard and grim. As he was toiling
+on, with the perspiration dripping from him, Urmston rode beside
+Carrie's waggon, exchanging light badinage with her. Carrie was feeling
+a trifle hurt, but she would not have either of her companions become
+aware of it. Urmston, she noticed, did not open his letters. After they
+had been an hour at the Range, he came, with one of them in his hand,
+into the room where she sat. His face was flushed, and there was an
+anxious look in his eyes. He glanced round the shadowy room. "Where is
+Eveline Annersly?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled absently, though something in his attitude caused her a
+slight uneasiness. "Looking at Mrs. Custer's turkeys, I believe," she
+said. "It shows her good-nature, because I don't think they appeal to
+her any more than they do to me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>Urmston stood a moment or two as though listening. There was no sound
+from the buildings outside, and the house was very still. He moved
+forward closer to her, and leant upon the table, his hand clenched on
+the letter.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been endeavouring to get rid of that insufferable Custer for the
+last hour," he said. "There is something I have to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" The incisive monosyllable expressed inquiry without
+encouragement.</p>
+
+<p>"The men I came out with are going on north to Edmonton, and expect me
+to go with them. In fact, they have been good enough to intimate that
+they are astonished at my long absence, and it is evident that, if I am
+to go on with the thing, I must leave Prospect to-day or to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Carrie, with a disconcerting lack of disquietude, "you
+couldn't expect them to wait indefinitely."</p>
+
+<p>The man gazed at her in evident astonishment. "Don't you understand? I
+couldn't get back here from Edmonton."</p>
+
+<p>"That is tolerably evident."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston looked his disappointment, but he roused himself with an effort.
+"Carrie," he said, "I can't go. You don't wish me to?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked at him steadily, though there was now a faint flush in her
+cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it would be better if you told me exactly what you mean by
+that," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it necessary to ask me? You know that I loved you&mdash;and I love you
+now. If you had been happy I might have hid my feelings&mdash;at least, I
+would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> tried&mdash;but when I find you with a ploughman husband who
+could never understand or appreciate you, silence becomes impossible. He
+cares nothing for you, and neglects you openly."</p>
+
+<p>The girl glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Still," she said, with
+portentous calm, "<i>that</i> implies a good deal."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston grew impatient. "Pshaw!" he said hoarsely, "one goes past
+conventions. You never loved him in the least. How could you? It would
+have been preposterous."</p>
+
+<p>"And I once loved you? Well, perhaps I did. But let us be rational. What
+is all this leading to?"</p>
+
+<p>Her dispassionate quietness should have warned him, but it merely jarred
+on his fastidiousness. He was not then in a mood for accurate
+observation.</p>
+
+<p>"Only that I cannot go away," he said. "This summer was meant for us.
+Leland thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but his farm. He has not
+even feeling enough to be jealous of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, while the red spot grew plainer in her cheek, "and
+then? A summer, after all, does not last very long."</p>
+
+<p>The man appeared embarrassed and confused at the girl's hard, insistent
+tones.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," she said sharply. "What is to happen when the summer is gone?"</p>
+
+<p>Again Urmston was silent, with the blood in his face. Carrie Leland
+slowly rose. For a moment she said nothing, but he winced beneath her
+gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not know?" she said. "Well, I think I can tell you. When I had
+earned my husband's hate and contempt, you would go back to England.
+You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> would not even take me with you, and you would certainly go; for
+what would you do in this country? The life the men here lead would
+crush you. Of course you realised it before you came to me to-day."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston made a gesture of protest, but she silenced him with a flash
+from her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I have had patience with you, because there was a time when I loved
+you, but you shall hear me now. If you had shown yourself masterful and
+willing to risk everything for me, when we were at Barrock-holme, I
+think I should have gone away with you and forsaken my duty; but you
+were cautious&mdash;and half afraid. You could not even make love boldly.
+Indeed, I wonder how I ever came to believe in such a feeble thing as
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said Urmston hoarsely, "you led me on."</p>
+
+<p>Again Carrie silenced him. "Wait," she said. "Did you suppose that if I
+hated my husband and loved you still, I could have requited all that he
+has done for me with treachery? Do you think I have no sense of honour
+or any sense of shame? It was only for one reason I let you go as far as
+you have done. I wanted to see if there was a spark of courage or
+generosity in you, because I should have liked to think as well as I
+could of you. There was none. After the summer you&mdash;would have gone
+away."</p>
+
+<p>She hesitated with a catch of her breath. "Reggie," she said, "do you
+suppose that, even if you had courage enough to suggest it, anything
+would induce me to leave my husband because&mdash;you&mdash;asked me to?"</p>
+
+<p>The man winced again, and his face grew even hotter beneath her gaze.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>"You would have done so once," he said, as though nothing else occurred
+to him.</p>
+
+<p>"And I should have been sorry ever since, even if I had never understood
+the man I have married. As it is, I would rather be Charley Leland's
+slave or mistress than your wife."</p>
+
+<p>At last the man's eyes blazed. "You can love that ploughman, that
+half-tamed brute?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed softly. "Yes," she said, "I love him. If it is any
+consolation, I think it was partly you who taught me to."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's silence, and then Urmston, who heard footsteps in
+the hall, swung round as Eveline Annersly came in. She looked at them
+both with a comprehending smile, for she was shrewd, and their faces
+made comparatively plain the nature of what had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder," she said, "if I am intruding?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie. "In fact, I think Reggie would like to say good-bye
+to you. He is going away to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, the twinkle still in her eyes, "I really
+think that is wise of him. He must be keeping the farming experts
+waiting. Indeed, I'm not sure it wouldn't have been more considerate if
+he had gone before."</p>
+
+<p>Urmston said nothing, but went out to make his excuses to Custer. In
+another half-hour he was riding to the railroad across the prairie.
+Carrie watched him from the homestead until at last he sank behind the
+crest of a low rise. Then she went back into the house with a little
+sigh of relief. Eveline Annersly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> who was in the room when she came in,
+smiled curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going back to-night. The sun has given me a headache, for one
+thing," she said. "Besides that, Mrs. Custer insists on keeping me for a
+day or two. You can drive round for Charley."</p>
+
+<p>"The waggon," said Carrie, "will easily hold three."</p>
+
+<p>Her companion looked at her with twinkling eyes. "I almost think two
+will be enough to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie made no answer, but did as was suggested. It was about nine
+o'clock that evening when she pulled her team up beside the sloo.
+Leland, who had found his jacket and brushed off some of the dust, was
+standing there beside a pile of prairie hay. There was nobody else in
+sight. A row of loaded waggons and teams loomed black against the sunset
+at the edge of the prairie. There was a fond gleam in his eyes as he
+looked up at Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"Eveline Annersly is staying all night," she said. "You will be worn
+out; there is almost a load of the hay left."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at the big pile of grass. "We couldn't get that lot up,
+unfortunately. It's a long way to come back to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Carrie, merrily, "this waggon must have cost you a good
+deal, and it is one of the few things about Prospect that has never done
+anything to warrant its being there. I really don't think a little clean
+hay would harm it."</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared astonished. "You are sure you wouldn't mind?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not! I will help you to load it if you will hand me down."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>The gleam in Leland's eyes was plainer when he reached up and grasped
+her hands. Carrie, who remembered what had happened last time, shrank
+from the caress she half expected. Perhaps Leland realised it with his
+quick intuition, for he merely swung her down. Then she threw in the hay
+by the armful while he plied the fork. The soft green radiance that
+precedes the coming dusk hung above the prairie when he roped the load
+down securely. It was piled high about the driving-seat of the waggon,
+making a warm, fragrant resting place, into which he lifted his wife.
+Then, as the team moved on slowly, he turned and looked at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, my dear," he said; "that was very kind."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie flushed. "Surely not, when you have so much to do. It saves you a
+long drive to-morrow, doesn't it? But why were you waiting? I did not
+promise to come round, and you could have ridden home on one of the
+waggons. It must be six miles."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland seriously, "it seemed quite worth while to wait most
+of the night, even if I'd had to walk in afterwards. I knew Mrs.
+Annersly meant to stay, and you and I have had only one drive together."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie felt her cheeks grow warm again. Her usual composure had
+vanished. During that other journey, she had lain half frozen in his
+arms. There had been snow upon the prairie then, and she had shrunk from
+him; but it was summer now, and all was different. The hay overhung and
+projected all about them, so that there was very little room on the
+driving-seat, and she felt her heart throbbing as she sat pressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> close
+against his shoulder. Leland said nothing, and the waggon jolted on
+through the silent night to the tune of horses' hoofs, while the green
+transparency faded into the dusky blueness of the night.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">AN UNDERSTANDING</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>A deep stillness hung over the prairie, and the stars were high and dim,
+while the waggon jolted on. Though the team moved slowly, Leland had
+apparently no wish to hurry them. A clean, aromatic smell of wild
+peppermint floated about the pair on the driving-seat as the faint dew
+damped the load behind them. They sat in a hollow of the fragrant grass,
+and the softness and the warmth of it were pleasant, for, as sometimes
+happens at that season, the night was almost chill. The other teams had
+vanished, and they rode on over the vast shadowy levels alone. Every
+rattle of the harness, every creak of jarring wheels, rang through the
+silence with a startling distinctness.</p>
+
+<p>Some vague influence in it all reacted upon the girl, and she sat very
+still, pressed close against Leland's shoulder, content to be there, and
+almost afraid to speak lest what she should say might rudely break the
+charm. She knew now what she felt for the man at her side, and
+remembered what Eveline Annersly had said. It was fit that she should
+cleave to him, since they were one. Leland finally spoke:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>"Urmston did not come back with you."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie, realising that the crisis was at hand, and yet almost
+afraid to precipitate it. "He rode in to the railroad."</p>
+
+<p>Leland called to the horses before he spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"Carrie," he said slowly, "any of your friends are welcome at Prospect,
+and especially Mrs. Annersly; but I have felt for some little while now
+that I must ask you why that man is staying here so long."</p>
+
+<p>The girl summoned her self-control with an effort, for she felt she must
+play the part she had decided on; but she felt her heart beat as she
+moved a little so that she could look up at her companion. He had moved,
+too, and though his face showed but vaguely, she could feel that his
+eyes were fixed upon her.</p>
+
+<p>"The night you would not have Mrs. Heaton here, you said something that
+made me very angry, though from your point of view you were right," she
+said. "I think we must understand each other once for all. Do you
+consider it necessary to remind me of the same thing now?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Leland, still quietly, though there was a suggestion of
+tension in his voice. "I was ashamed of it afterwards; I lost my temper.
+I know you have too much pride and honesty not to keep your bargain to
+the letter, and I am not in the least jealous of Urmston. You have my
+ring upon your hand. How could I be? Still, one has now and then to talk
+plainly. Urmston is a man who might take much for granted and presume.
+Your good name is precious to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for that. You do not know that there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> was a time when, if
+circumstances had been propitious, I would have married Reggie Urmston?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared to smile. "I think I knew that, too."</p>
+
+<p>"And you said nothing when he came here!"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," said Leland gravely, "I had by that time perfect confidence
+in you. The clean pride that held you away from me would keep you safe
+in spite of anything that such a man might do or say."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Carrie, with a calm dignity, "he will never come back
+again. I have sent him away."</p>
+
+<p>She felt the man start, and saw his hands tighten on the reins.</p>
+
+<p>"Carrie," he said, "you will tell me more if you wish; if not, it
+doesn't matter. There is another thing I want to say. I have often been
+sorry for you, but I felt that you would not find it quite so hard some
+day. That is why I waited&mdash;I think very patiently&mdash;though it was a
+little hard on me, too. I thought I knew what you must feel&mdash;indeed, you
+showed it to me&mdash;and I was horribly afraid that, if I was too hasty, I
+might lose you."</p>
+
+<p>"And that would have troubled you?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned again, and his voice was a trifle hoarse. "My dear, I do
+not understand these things. I have been too busy to worry about my
+feelings, but I know that, while I only admired you at Barrock-holme,
+something else that was different soon took hold of me, and kept on
+growing stronger the more I saw of you. I think it first gripped me hard
+the night you told me what you thought of me&mdash;though why then I don't
+know. Now I am sure, at least, that it will never let me go."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>Then, his self-restraint failing him, he slipped an arm about her and
+held her tightly to him. "Carrie," he said harshly, "it is getting too
+hard for me. Do you know that now and then something almost drives me
+into taking you into my arms and crushing you into submission? I could
+do it now&mdash;the touch of you almost maddens me. This can't go on. I have
+felt lately that you were growing kinder and shrank from me less. After
+all, I am a man and nothing more. How long do you mean to keep me
+waiting?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed softly, with a little catch of her breath. "Bend your
+head a little, Charley," she said, "I have something to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>As he did her bidding, she, stretching up a soft, warm arm round his
+neck, drew his face down to hers. His hand closed convulsively on her
+waist.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley," she said again, "it needn't go on any longer than you wish. I
+don't want it to. I only want you to love me now."</p>
+
+<p>The man laughed almost fiercely in his exultation. For a space she lay
+crushed and breathless beneath his engirdling arm, with his kisses hot
+upon her lips. When at last his grasp relaxed, her head, with the big
+white hat all crushed and crumpled, was still upon his breast. Her
+cheeks were burning, and her blood ran riot, for she was one who did
+nothing by half, as she clung to him in an ecstasy of complete and
+irrevocable surrender. The man broke out into a flood of disjointed,
+half-coherent, unrestrained words.</p>
+
+<p>"It was worth while waiting&mdash;even if I had waited years&mdash;though now and
+then you almost drove me mad," he said. "Your daintiness, your pride,
+the clean, hard grit that was in you, made me want to take you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> in my
+arms and break you and make you yield. Still, I knew, somehow, that was
+not the way with you, and I held myself in. It was hard&mdash;oh, it was
+hard. The beauty of you, your freshness, your beautiful little hands,
+even the coldness in your face, set me on fire at times. They were mine,
+you belonged to me, and yet I would claim nothing that went with your
+dislike. I wanted you to give them all to me."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed, though there was a little break in her voice. "They are
+yours, and so am I. Only you must think them precious&mdash;and never let me
+go."</p>
+
+<p>Then she stretched her arm up and slipped it round his neck again.
+"Charley, at the very first, what was it made you want to marry me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, with an air of reflection, "haven't you hair as
+softly dusky as the sky up there, and eyes so deep and clear that one
+can see the wholesome thoughts down in the depths of them? Haven't you
+hands and arms that look like alabaster, until one feels the gracious
+warmth beneath?"</p>
+
+<p>"And a vixenish temper! If I ever show it to you, you must shake me, and
+shake me hard. There was a time when you did it, and left a blue mark on
+my shoulder; but I deserved it, and now I wouldn't mind. I would sooner
+have you shake me every day than never think of me. Still, you haven't
+told me what I asked you yet."</p>
+
+<p>Leland stooped and kissed the shoulder. "When a man looks at you, he can
+see a hundred reasons for wanting you, and every one sufficient."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, that was not all. If you do not tell me, I shall ask Aunt
+Eveline, and I think she knows. Don't you see that we must understand
+everything to-night?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>"Then it seemed to me it would be a horrible thing to marry you to
+Aylmer."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie drew her breath in. "Oh," she said, "I always fancied it was
+that, and I could love you if it was only for saving me from him." Then
+she broke out into a little soft laugh. "Charley, it was the wrong
+shoulder you kissed."</p>
+
+<p>"That is very easily set right," and the man bent down again. As he
+looked up, he called sharply to the horses, and shook the reins.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how long we have been waiting here?" he said. "I suppose you
+haven't noticed that the team has stopped?"</p>
+
+<p>They rode on again, in silence seldom broken, into a land of beatific
+visions. With a little wistful sense of regret, they saw Prospect at
+last rise black and shadowy against the big birch bluff. The teamsters,
+however, had not gone to sleep yet, and Leland, leaving the waggon to
+one of them, walked silently with Carrie towards the house. He stooped
+and kissed her as they crossed the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"From now on, it is home," he said. "I only want to please you, and you
+must tell me when I fail."</p>
+
+<p>They went in together, and he lighted the big lamp. "You had supper with
+Mrs. Custer, but that is quite a while ago, and there should be a little
+fire yet in the cook-shed stove," he said. "Is there anything I can make
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed as she took off the big crumpled hat and flung it on the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said, "you will sit still while I see what can be found. It
+will be my part to cook and bake and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> wait on you. I almost think, if it
+were necessary, I could drive a team, too."</p>
+
+<p>They decided it by going into the cook-shed together, and, late as it
+was, Carrie wasted a good deal of flour attempting to make flap-jacks
+under her husband's direction, achieving a general disorder that Mrs.
+Nesbit surveyed with astonishment next morning. But the good soul's
+astonishment grew when she came upon Carrie setting the table in the big
+room, at least half an hour before Leland came in for his early
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you're not going to want me much longer, and it's hardly likely
+that Charley Leland will, either," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's face flushed. "Oh, yes," she said, "you must stay here and
+teach me everything that a farmer's wife ought to know. I am afraid you
+will be a long while doing it."</p>
+
+<p>The hard-featured woman smiled at her in a very kindly fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"You're going to find it all worth while," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie set about it that morning, and her sympathy with Mrs. Custer grew
+stronger with every hour she spent in Mrs. Nesbit's company, for it was
+evident that there was a great deal a woman could do at Prospect, too.
+Indeed, although she had already taken a spasmodic interest in the work,
+what she was taught before evening left her more than a little confused
+and by no means pleased with herself. It was disconcerting to be brought
+suddenly face to face with the realities of life and the conviction that
+things did not run smoothly of themselves. She realised, for the first
+time, almost with dismay, that, by coldly standing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> aside while the
+others toiled, she had made her husband's burden heavier than it need
+have been. She had, perhaps not altogether unnaturally, fallen into the
+habit of assuming that it was only fit that all she desired should be
+obtained for her, and had never inquired about the effort it entailed;
+but, as this point of view did not seem quite warranted now, she
+resolved that the future should be different. Finally realising her
+obligations, she did not shrink from the responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly, coming home that evening, found her sitting, deep in
+thought, by the window of her room, a new softness in her eyes. She drew
+up a chair close by, and sat looking at her in a shrewd way that the
+girl appeared to find disconcerting.</p>
+
+<p>"Carrie," she said, "I wonder if you know that you look quite as well in
+that simple dress as you do in your usual evening one? Still, your hair
+is a little ruffled. Surely you haven't been rubbing it against
+somebody's shoulder?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie Leland blushed crimson, which was somewhat remarkable, as it was
+a thing she was by no means in the habit of doing.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said with a little musical laugh, "there was no reason why I
+shouldn't. It was my husband's."</p>
+
+<p>Then she rose impulsively, and, drawing up a footstool, sank down beside
+Eveline Annersly, and slipped an arm about her.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you know," she said. "At least, you have done what you could to
+bring it about for ever so long. We are friends at last, Charley and I."</p>
+
+<p>"That is pleasant to hear. Still, I'm not sure it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> would quite satisfy
+Charley. Haven't you gone any further?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's face was hidden as she replied, in a voice that quavered a bit.
+"I think we are lovers, too," she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said her companion, "if he had known all I do, you might have
+been that some time ago. In fact, it would have pleased me if he had
+slapped you occasionally. If you had made him believe what you tried, it
+is very probable that you would never have forgiven yourself. But I
+think you ought to be more than lovers."</p>
+
+<p>Feeling a tremor of emotion run through the girl, she stooped and kissed
+her half-hidden cheek. Carrie looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley is my husband&mdash;and all that is worth having to me," she said.
+"He is sure of it at last. I have told him so."</p>
+
+<p>She sat silent for a minute, and then turned a little and took out a
+letter.</p>
+
+<p>"It's from Jimmy," she said. "It was among Charley's papers, and he gave
+it to me when we came home."</p>
+
+<p>"He wants something?" said Mrs. Annersly, drily.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," and Carrie's voice was quietly contemptuous. "Jimmy, it seems, is
+in difficulties again. If he hadn't been, he would not have written. Of
+course, it is only a loan."</p>
+
+<p>"You have a banking account in Winnipeg."</p>
+
+<p>"I have. I owe it to my husband's generosity, and I shall probably want
+it very soon. Do you suppose that, while Charley is crushed with anxiety
+and working from dawn to dusk, I would send Jimmy a penny?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "I really don't fancy it
+would be advisable, but this is rather a sudden change on your part. Not
+long ago you wouldn't let me say a word against anybody at
+Barrock-holme."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed in a somewhat curious fashion. "Everything has changed.
+All that is mine I want for Charley, and, while he needs it, there is
+nothing for anybody else."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped for a moment. "Aunt Eveline, there are my mother's pearls
+and diamonds, which I think I should have had. I did not like to ask for
+them, but I always understood they were to come to me when I was
+married. I don't quite understand why my father never mentioned them."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "I am under very much the same
+impression. In fact, I am almost sure they should have been handed to
+you. Still, what could you do with them here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I may want them presently."</p>
+
+<p>"In that case you had better write and ask for them very plainly."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie rose, with a determined expression in her face. "Well, I must go
+down," she said. "Charley will be here in a few minutes. I see the teams
+coming back from the sloos."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly sat thoughtfully still. The jewels in question were,
+she knew, of considerable value. For that very reason, she was far from
+sure that Carrie could ever have the good-will of anybody at
+Barrock-holme if she insisted on her rights of possession.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">A WILLING SACRIFICE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Three weeks had slipped away since the evening Carrie Leland had asked
+about her mother's jewels, when she and Eveline Annersly once more
+referred to them as they sat in her room, a little before the supper
+hour. The window was wide open, and the blaze of sunlight that streamed
+in fell upon Carrie as she took up a letter from the little table before
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Only a line or two to say the casket has been sent," she said, with a
+half-suppressed sigh. "One could almost fancy they did not care what had
+become of me at Barrock-holme. I might have passed out of their lives
+altogether."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not sure it's so very unusual in the case of a married woman," said
+her companion, a trifle drily. "Besides, it is quite possible that your
+father was not exactly pleased at having to give the jewels up. In fact,
+it may have been particularly inconvenient for him to do so. They are
+worth a good deal of money."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, they really belong to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Eveline Annersly, "they evidently do, or you would not have
+got them. Of course, it would be a more usual thing for them to have
+gone to Jimmy's wife when he married, but they were your mother's, and,
+as you know, they came from her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> family. It was her wish that you should
+have them, though I was never quite sure it was mentioned in her will.
+In fact, to be candid, I am a little astonished that you have got them."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's face flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt," she said, "I don't like to think of it, and I would not admit it
+to anybody else, but I felt what you are suggesting when I wrote for
+them. Still, I would have had them, even at the cost of breaking with
+them all at Barrock-holme."</p>
+
+<p>"I expected a break. Hadn't you better open the casket?"</p>
+
+<p>"In a few minutes," said Carrie, leaving the room.</p>
+
+<p>She wore a dinner-gown when she returned. Sitting down at the table, she
+opened the little metal-bound box before her. There was an inner box,
+and, when she opened that in turn, the sunlight struck a blaze of colour
+from the contents of the little velvet trays. Carrie looked at them with
+a curious softness in her eyes. When she turned to her companion,
+however, there was a lingering wistfulness in her smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't resist putting them on&mdash;just this once," she said. "I shall
+probably never do it again."</p>
+
+<p>Her companion watched her gravely as she placed a diamond crescent in
+her dusky hair, and then hung a string of pearls about her neck. They
+were exceptionally beautiful, but it was the few rubies that followed
+them and the gleam of the same stones set in the delicate bracelet the
+girl clasped on her wrist that roused Eveline Annersly, who had seen
+them before, to a little gasp of admiration. The blood-red stones shone
+with a wonderful lustre on the polished whiteness of Carrie's neck and
+arm.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>"They were, of course, never meant for a necklet, and your mother had
+always intended to have them properly set, but I suppose money was
+scarce at Barrock-holme then," she said. "You look positively dazzling,
+but you carry them well, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie turned to the mirror in front of her, and surveyed herself for a
+minute with a curious gravity. Then the little wistful look once more
+crept into her eyes. After all, she had been accustomed to the smoother
+side of life, and the beauty of the gems appealed to her. She had worn
+some of them once or twice before, and had seen them stir men's
+admiration and other women's longing at brilliant functions in the Old
+Country. She also knew that they became her wonderfully well, and yet it
+was scarcely likely she would put them on again. Then she heard a little
+gasp, and, turning suddenly, saw Mrs. Nesbit gazing at her from the
+doorway in bewildered admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"The boys are coming in. Shall I have the table set for supper?" she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet," said Carrie. "You might ask Mr. Leland to come up. I want
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Nesbit went out, apparently still lost in wonder. Carrie turned to
+her companion impulsively.</p>
+
+<p>"I should like Charley to see me as I am&mdash;for once," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes later, Eveline Annersly slipped away as Leland came in,
+dressed in worn and faded jean. He gave a start of astonishment and a
+look that almost suggested pain when Carrie turned to him. She looked
+imperial in the long, graceful dress. The diamonds in her dusky hair
+glinted crystal-clear, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> the rubies gleamed on the polished ivory of
+her neck; but her eyes were more wonderful than any gem in their depths
+of tenderness. Then the man saw himself in the mirror, bronzed and hot
+and dusty, with hard hands and broken nails, and the stain of the soil
+upon him. Another glance at her, and he turned his eyes away.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you pleased?" said Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned again, slowly, with a little sigh, one of his brown hands
+tightly clenched.</p>
+
+<p>"You are beautiful, my dear," he said, "but, if you were old and dressed
+in rags, you would always be that to me. With those things shining on
+you, you are wonderful, but it hurts me to see them."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"They make the difference between us too plain. You should wear them
+always. It was what you were meant for, and, when I married you, I had a
+notion that I might be able to give you such things some day and take
+you where other people wear them. Everything, however, is against me
+now. We may not even keep Prospect, and you are only the wife of a
+half-ruined prairie farmer."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie held her arms out. "I wouldn't be anything else if I could. You
+know that, too. Come and kiss me, Charley, and never say anything of the
+kind again."</p>
+
+<p>The man hesitated, and she guessed that he was thinking of his dusty
+jean.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I lost my attractiveness that you need asking twice?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland came towards her, and she slipped an arm about his neck,
+regardless of the costly dress. Taking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> up his hard, brown hand, she
+looked tenderly at the broken nails.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "it has worked so hard for me. Do you think I don't know
+why you toil late and early this year, and never spend a cent on
+anything that is not for my pleasure? I must have cost you a good deal,
+Charley."</p>
+
+<p>She saw the blood rise into the man's face, and laughed softly. "Oh, I
+know it all. Once I tried to hate you for it&mdash;and now, if it hadn't made
+it so hard for you, I should be almost glad. Still, Charley, I would do
+almost anything to make you feel that&mdash;it was worth while."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," said Leland hoarsely, "I have never regretted it, and I would
+not even if I had to turn teamster and let Prospect go, except for the
+trouble it would bring you."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed softly. "Still, it will never come to that. This hand is
+too firm and capable to let anything go, and I fancy I can do something,
+too. After all, I do not think Mrs. Custer is very much stronger or
+cleverer than I am."</p>
+
+<p>She pushed him gently away from her. "Now go and get ready for supper. I
+will be down presently."</p>
+
+<p>Leland went away with glad obedience. When Eveline Annersly came in
+later, she found Carrie once more attired very plainly, and the casket
+locked. Her eyes were a trifle hazy, but she looked up with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not put them on again, but I do not mind," she said. "They will
+go to ploughing and harrowing next season. There is something to be done
+be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>forehand, and I want you to come in to the railroad station with me
+to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>They went down to supper, during which Carrie was unusually talkative.
+When Eveline Annersly left them after the meal was over, she turned to
+her husband.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley," she said, "you could get along alone for two or three days,
+if I went into Winnipeg?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could," said Leland. "Still, I wouldn't like it. But what do you want
+to go there for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Carrie, reflectively, "there are two or three things I
+want, and one or two I have to do&mdash;business things at the bank. I had a
+letter from Barrock-holme, you know. I suppose those bankers are really
+trustworthy people?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "Oh, yes, I think they could be trusted with anything
+you were likely to put into their hands."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Carrie, "perhaps I will tell you what it is by and by. In
+the meanwhile, since I am going to-morrow, there are several things I
+have to see to."</p>
+
+<p>Starting next morning with Eveline Annersly, she was on the following
+day ushered into the manager's room at Leland's bank. The gentleman who
+sat there appeared a trifle astonished when he saw her, as though he had
+scarcely expected to see the stamp of refinement and station on Leland's
+wife. He drew out a chair for her, and urbanely asked what he could do
+for her. Carrie laid a casket and a small bundle of papers upon the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are acquainted with my husband?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said the banker. "We have had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> pleasure of doing
+business with Mr. Leland of Prospect for a good many years."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said Carrie, decisively, "you are on no account to tell him
+about any business you may do for me&mdash;that is, unless I give you
+permission to do so."</p>
+
+<p>The banker concealed any astonishment he may have felt, merely saying
+that it was his part to fall in with his clients' wishes. Carrie held
+out a pass-book.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I could have this money any time I wished?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. You have only to write a cheque for it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie opened a paper, and handed it to him. "I have had it all
+explained to me, but I am afraid I don't understand it very well," she
+said. "Until I was married I could get only a little of the money as my
+trustees gave it to me, and they put the rest into an English bank for
+me. I have the book here. You will see how much the dividends and
+interest come to every year."</p>
+
+<p>The banker studied the document carefully. Then he took the pass-book
+she handed him. "Well," he said, "you can do whatever you like with it
+now. Quite a sum of money has accumulated."</p>
+
+<p>"I could put it into your bank here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. I should be glad to arrange it for you. You would also get
+more interest for it than you seem to have done in England."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I want you to do it. You lend people money. I wonder if you could
+let me have as much now as I would get in the next four or five years.
+Of course, you would charge me for doing it."</p>
+
+<p>The banker smiled a little, and shook his head as he glanced at the
+document. "You will excuse my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> mentioning that the interest on the money
+involved is only to be paid&mdash;to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "of course, I might die, and then, I remember, it
+would go back again. Still, that only makes what I want to do more
+necessary. I suppose I could make over to my husband all the money there
+is in the English bank and anything else that really belongs to me? That
+is, I could put it into his account here? You see, I don't want him to
+know&mdash;anything about it for a little while."</p>
+
+<p>The banker reflected. He had done business for years with Leland and
+considered him a friend. This dainty woman's devotion to her husband
+appealed to him. He decided that he might, for once, go a little further
+than was usual from a business point of view. "Well," he said,
+reflectively, "I think I should wait a little. If you kept the money in
+your own name, you could hand him as much as you thought advisable at
+any time it appeared necessary. On the whole, I fancy that would be
+wiser."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>Again the banker pondered. Nobody knew better than he how many of the
+wheat-growers were near ruin that year, and he had naturally an accurate
+notion of what would probably happen to Leland when, after harvest, the
+wheat of the West was thrown train-load by train-load upon a lifeless
+market.</p>
+
+<p>"I think there are a good many reasons why it is sound advice I am
+offering you. For one thing, wheat is still going down, you see."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie made a little gesture of comprehension, for financial
+difficulties had formed a by no means infrequent topic at Barrock-holme.
+"Yes," she said quietly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> "I understand. You will get the money and put
+it to my name. But there is another thing. Will you please open that
+casket?"</p>
+
+<p>The man did so, and appeared astonished when he saw its contents. "These
+things are very beautiful," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You could lend me part of their value?" asked Carrie, with a little
+flush in her face.</p>
+
+<p>The man looked thoughtful. The smaller banking houses in the West are
+usually willing to handle any business they can get, but precious gems
+are not a commodity with which they are intimately acquainted.</p>
+
+<p>"They would have to be valued, and I fancy that could only be done in
+Montreal," he said. "After getting an expert's opinion, we could, I
+think, advance you a reasonable proportion of what he considered them
+worth. Shall I have it done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," said Carrie, and went out ten minutes later with a sense of
+satisfaction. She found Eveline Annersly waiting, and smiled as she
+greeted her. "I have been arranging things, and perhaps I can help
+Charley, after all. I am afraid he will want it," she said. "Now, if you
+wouldn't mind very much, we can get the west-bound train this afternoon.
+I am anxious to get back to Prospect again."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly would have much preferred to spend that night in a
+comfortable hotel, instead of in a sleeping-car, but she made no
+protest. After lunch, they spent an hour or two in the prairie city,
+waiting until the train came in. Ridged with mazy wires and towering
+telegraph-poles, and open to all winds, Winnipeg stands at the side of
+its big, slow river in the midst of a vast sweep of plain. Boasting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> of
+few natural attractions, there is the quick throb of life in its
+streets. As Carrie and her aunt made their way through bustling crowds,
+past clanging cars, they gradually observed an undertone of slackness in
+the superficial activity about them. The faces they met were sombre, and
+there were few who smiled. The lighthearted rush of a Western town was
+missing. Loungers hung about the newspaper offices, and bands of
+listless immigrants walked the streets aimlessly. Carrie had heard at
+Prospect that it was usually difficult in the Northwest to get men
+enough to do the work, and this air of leisure puzzled her.</p>
+
+<p>There was, however, a reason for this lack of enterprise. Winnipeg lives
+by its trade in wheat, selling at a profit to the crowded East, and
+scattering its store-goods broadcast across the prairie. Just then,
+however, the world appeared to possess a sufficiency of wheat and flour,
+and the great mills were grinding half-time or less, while it happened
+frequently that Western farmers, caught by the fall in values, could not
+meet their bills. When this happens, there is always trouble from the
+storekeepers and dealers in implements who have supplied them throughout
+the year. Carrie caught the despondent tone, wondering why she did so,
+since she felt that it would not have impressed her a little while ago.
+Perhaps it was because she had then looked upon the toilers with an
+uncomprehending pity that was half disdain, and she had since gained not
+only sympathy but appreciation. She stopped outside the newspaper office
+where a big placard was displayed.</p>
+
+<p>"Smitten Dakota wails," it read. "Crops devas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>tated. Thunder and hail.
+Ice does the reaping in Minnesota."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said. "I must have a paper."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly smiled a little. It was between the hours of issue, and
+the wholesale office did not look inviting, but Carrie went in, and a
+clerk, who gazed at the very dainty lady with some astonishment, gave
+her a paper.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," she said, "we will go on to the dep&ocirc;t. I must sit down and read
+the thing."</p>
+
+<p>By the time she had mastered the gist of it, the big train was rolling
+out with her amidst a doleful clanging of the locomotive bell. It was
+momentous enough. The hail, which now and then sweeps the Northwest, had
+scourged the Dakotas and part of Minnesota, spreading devastation where
+it went. Meteorologists predicted that the disturbance would probably
+spread across the frontier. Carrie laid down the paper and glanced out
+with a little shudder of apprehension at the sliding prairie, into which
+town and wires and mills were sinking. She was relieved to see that
+there hung over it a sweep of cloudless blue.</p>
+
+<p>"There are hundreds ruined, and whole crops destroyed," she said.
+"Perhaps the men who sowed them worked as hard as Charley. It would be
+dreadful if it came to us."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid it would," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I don't think it
+would have troubled you when you first came out. That is not so very
+long ago, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie smiled. "I think I have grown since then," she said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">HAIL</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>A thin crescent moon hung low in the western sky. The prairie was
+wrapped in silent shadows. Leland stood outside the homestead, with the
+bridle of an impatient horse in his hand, and talked with his wife.
+There was only one light in the house behind them, and everything was
+very still, but Leland knew that two men who could be trusted to keep
+good watch were wide awake that night. The barrel of a Marlin rifle hung
+behind his shoulders, glinting fitfully when it caught the light as he
+moved. Without thinking of what he was doing, he fingered the clip of
+the sling.</p>
+
+<p>"The moon will be down in half an hour, and it will be quite dark before
+I cross the ravine near Thorwald's place," he said. "Jim Thorwald is
+straight, and standing by the law, but none of us are quite sure of all
+of his boys. Anyway, we don't want anybody to know who's riding to the
+outpost."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. "I suppose you must go, this once at
+least."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" said Leland with a smile. "If I'm wanted, I must go again.
+The trouble's spreading."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>"Then," said Carrie, "why can't they bring more troopers in? Why did you
+ever have anything to do with it, Charley?"</p>
+
+<p>"It seemed necessary. A man has to hold on to what is his."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's fingers tightened on his arm. "Perhaps it is so; I suppose it
+must be; but, after all, I don't think that was your only reason. I
+mean, when you started the quarrel. No, you needn't turn away. I want
+you to look at me."</p>
+
+<p>"It's dark, my dear, and I'm glad it is. I don't want to talk of those
+times, and if it were light enough to see you, I'm afraid it would melt
+the resolution out of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," Carrie persisted, "you know you first quarrelled with the
+rustlers because you were angry with me."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed softly. "Well, perhaps that was the reason, though I
+would sooner believe it was because I recognised what I owed the State."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is all different&mdash;you are not in the least angry with me now?"</p>
+
+<p>The moonlight was very dim, and showed no more than the pale white oval
+of her face; but Leland felt the appeal in her voice, and knew that it
+was also in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," he said quietly, "how could I be?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie lifted her hand and laid it on his shoulder. "Charley, I can't
+stop you now, but I want you to promise you will not go back again. Do
+you know that I sit still, shivering, when darkness comes while you are
+away, trying not to think of what you may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> be doing? I daren't think.
+Can't you understand, Charley, that I have only you?"</p>
+
+<p>Feeling how hard it was to leave her, and fearing that further
+tenderness from her might weaken his firm purpose, he sought refuge in a
+frivolous retort.</p>
+
+<p>"There are still a few of your relatives at Barrock-holme," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"They never write me. Perhaps I couldn't expect them to. I thought you
+knew that I had offended them."</p>
+
+<p>"Offended them?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed a trifle harshly. "Oh," she said, "it is a wife's duty to
+take her husband's part; but, after all, that is not the question. I
+hadn't meant to mention it. It doesn't matter in the least."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, "I almost think it does. Anyway, if it worries you.
+What have you been falling out with them over, Carrie?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is not your business. They don't care about me now, but you do."</p>
+
+<p>Leland had only one free hand, but he slipped it round her waist. She
+sighed contentedly as she felt his protecting clasp.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley, you will not go back again?" she said once more.</p>
+
+<p>The man drew his arm away. Though she could scarcely see his face, he
+appeared to be looking down upon her gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a little hard not to do what you ask me straight away, but I
+think you can understand," he said. "Whatever I went into the thing for,
+I am in it now. Practically, I'm leader. It is not the Sergeant the boys
+look to, but me, and I'm not quite sure they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> would have kept the thing
+up if I hadn't worried them into doing it. Still, they'll go on now, and
+they would only think of two reasons if I backed down. Would you like
+them to fancy the rustlers had bought me over, or made me afraid of
+them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Could any one think that?" and Carrie laughed scornfully, though her
+voice grew suddenly soft again. "It wouldn't matter in the least to me
+what anybody said."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland gravely, "I 'most think it would, and I should like
+it to. Anyway, if I backed down, it would be because I was afraid. In
+fact, I'm afraid now, though I never used to be. It's a little difficult
+to tell you this, though you know it, but, when I stirred the boys up, I
+could not be sure you would ever be what you are to me. It didn't seem
+likely then, but I made no conditions when the rest stood in with me.
+Now I think you see I can't go back on them."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie made a little nod of agreement, and, with an effort, repressed a
+sigh, for she knew that she had failed. Her husband's code was simple,
+and, perhaps, crude, but it was, at least, inflexible. After all, honour
+and duty are things well within the comprehension of very simple men.
+Indeed, it is often the case that, where principles are concerned, the
+simplest men have the clearest vision.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, with something like a sob, "then you must go. But stand
+still a minute, Charley. I want to see if the clip I bought you in the
+Winnipeg gun-shop is working properly."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled as she pressed a little clasp and then, dropping one hand
+smartly, caught the rifle as the sling fell apart. Carrie had changed
+suddenly and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> curiously. The pride that was in her had awakened, and she
+was at one with her husband and wholly practical.</p>
+
+<p>"It is ever so much quicker than passing it over your shoulder; and,
+after all, you must go," she said.</p>
+
+<p>She stretched up her arms and kissed him. When the man had swung himself
+into the saddle, she looked long after him, with eyes that were hazy.
+When he became a blur in the distance, she went slowly to the house,
+head proudly erect. There Eveline Annersly greeted her.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," she said, "you need not tell me. You have been trying to hold
+your husband back, and you have failed. The thing was out of the
+question. You might have known."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie made a little half-wistful gesture, though there was a faint glow
+in her eyes. "Yes, I did what I could, and now I shall not rest until he
+comes back again. Still, I think I deserve it, and I'm not sure that I
+would have him different. I think nothing would change Charley. I used
+to wonder more than I do now how he, who was born on the prairie, came
+to have all the real essential things which were not in any of us at
+Barrock-holme."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly's eyes sparkled, and her manner was sardonic. "It's not
+very explicit, but I think I know what you mean. Haven't you lost your
+faith in the old fetish yet? Men are men&mdash;good, bad, and
+indifferent&mdash;the world over, and, though it would be rather nice to
+believe it, we haven't, and never had, a monopoly in our own class of
+what you call the essentials. Indeed, I'm not quite sure one couldn't go
+a little further."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>She was standing near the open window, with the light, which was low,
+some distance away from her. Turning, she drew Carrie within the heavy
+curtains. "The very old and the very new are apt to meet," she said.
+"There is an example yonder."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked out into the soft moonlight, and saw a mounted figure cut
+against the sky on the crest of a low rise. It was indistinct and
+shadowy, but, as she gazed, she twice caught the gleam of the pale cold
+light on steel, and knew it for the flash of a rifle-barrel.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "since I came to this country I have felt it too. That
+was how the border spears rode out six hundred years ago. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Of
+course, you were right a little while ago. I think the things that are
+essential must always have been the same&mdash;primitive and unchangeable.
+Faith and courage have always been needed, as they are needed still.
+After all, we cannot get away from death and toil and pain."</p>
+
+<p>The lonely figure vanished into the night, and, as her companion moved
+away, Carrie let the curtain fall behind her with a little sigh. "It is
+getting late, and I can only wait and try to think there is no danger,
+until he comes back to me. No doubt others have done it, back through
+all the centuries."</p>
+
+<p>She went out, but Eveline Annersly sat a while thoughtfully by the open
+window. What she had expected had at last come to pass, and she had the
+satisfaction which does not always attend the efforts of the matrimonial
+schemer; for there was no longer any doubt that Carrie Leland loved her
+husband. Once more, as Nature will often have it, like had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> drawn to
+unlike, with a fusion of discordant qualities in indissoluble and
+harmonious union, that what the one lacked the other might supply. The
+pair she had brought together were no longer two but one, which, while
+she was quite aware that it did not always happen, was, when it did,
+like the springing up of the wheat&mdash;a mystery and a miracle.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly was old enough to know that there are many mysteries,
+but that by love alone man may come nearest to their comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>Then she remembered that it was getting late, and, leaving the window
+open, for the night was hot and still, sought her room, and in another
+half-hour was sound asleep. She had slept several hours, when she was
+awakened by a queer sound that seemed to come from outside through the
+open door. It was a dull noise, which, accustomed as she had grown to
+the beat of hoofs, suggested a company of mounted men riding up out of
+the prairie. The sound kept increasing, until she could have fancied
+that it was made by a regiment, and then suddenly swelled into the roar
+of a brigade of cavalry going by on the gallop. The house seemed to reel
+as under a blow, the doors swung to with a crash, and there was a
+clatter of things hurled down in the adjoining room. Then she rose and
+flung on a dressing-gown, and, crossing the room, stopped when she had
+clutched the door handle, almost afraid to open it, bewildered by the
+indescribable tumult. At last a gleam of light appeared between the
+chinks. Mustering courage to open the door, she saw Carrie standing in
+the room, half dressed, with a candle in her hand. That was just for a
+moment, for the feeble gleam went out, and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> groped her way through
+black darkness towards the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" she gasped.</p>
+
+<p>"The hail!" said Carrie, hoarsely. "Come with me. We must shut the
+window quick."</p>
+
+<p>It cost them both an effort, and Carrie was some little time lighting
+the lamp when they had accomplished it. Then Eveline Annersly sank into
+the nearest chair, with her arm about the shoulders of the girl who
+knelt beside her. Even with the windows shut, the lamplight flickered,
+and, when it fell upon her, Carrie's face showed set and white.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "the wheat! It will all be cut down by morning, and
+Charley ruined."</p>
+
+<p>It was a minute or two before Eveline Annersly quite understood her, for
+there was just then a deafening crash of thunder, and, after it, the
+stout wooden building appeared to rock at the onslaught of an icy wind
+that struck through every crevice with a stinging chill. The hail roared
+on walls and shingled roof with a bewildering din. Then the uproar
+slackened a little, and, as she glanced towards the melting ice which
+had beaten into the room, it seemed to her scarcely possible that
+Leland's crop could have escaped disaster. She had never seen hail like
+that in England; in fact, it scarcely seemed hail at all, but big lumps
+of ice, and the crash of it upon the roof was like the roar upon a beach
+of surf-rolled stones.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of it, and the wild wailing of the gale, sapped her courage;
+so she understood the strained look in Carrie's eyes. There are times
+when men, as well as women, stand appalled by the elemental fury,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> and,
+shaking off all restraint that a complex civilisation may have laid upon
+them, become wholly human and primitive again. Carrie was half crouching
+at her aunt's feet, gazing up at her with wild, fierce eyes. Eveline
+Annersly shuddered a little as she glanced at her.</p>
+
+<p>"Will the house stand?" she gasped.</p>
+
+<p>The girl's laugh rang harshly through the roar of the hail. "I don't
+know. What does that matter, anyway? Can't you understand? The wheat
+will all be cut down. I have ruined Charley."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a lull for a minute or two, and Carrie, reaching up a
+hand, gripped her companion's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever hear how much I cost my husband?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Terrified as she was, Eveline Annersly started at the question. It was
+not expressed delicately, but, after all, there was no doubt that the
+girl's marriage had been more or less a matter of bargaining. "Of course
+not," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, either, but I'm sure it was ever so much," and Carrie's
+fingers trembled on her arm, though her eyes were fierce. "In one way, I
+am glad it was. I like to feel that he was willing to offer everything
+that was his for me. It isn't in the least degrading to belong to
+Charley Leland, however I came into his possession. Not in the least.
+How could it be? Still, once it seemed horrible even to think of it."</p>
+
+<p>She stopped a minute with a little indrawing of her breath. "Besides, I
+am glad in another way, because, if he is really ruined, I am going to
+get all I cost him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> back again. Jimmy and my father would call it a
+loan."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly was distinctly startled, though she understood that all
+restraint had been flung aside, and Carrie Leland had responded to the
+influence of this storm that had brought her face to face with a crisis
+in her husband's affairs, the raw human nature in her had come
+uppermost, and she was for the time being merely a woman with primitive
+passions raised, ready to fight for her mate. It was, her companion
+recognised, a thing that not infrequently happened&mdash;a part, indeed, of
+Nature's scheme that had a higher warrant; but, for all that, she was
+sensible again that there was in the girl's set face something from
+which people of fastidious temperament, who had never felt the strain,
+might feel inclined to shrink.</p>
+
+<p>"Carrie," she said, "the thing is out of the question. They are your
+father and brother. You cannot force them into an open rupture. You must
+put it out of your mind."</p>
+
+<p>The girl gripped her arm cruelly. "One must choose sometimes, and I am
+my husband's flesh and blood. Once that seemed a curious fancy,
+repugnant too, but it is real now&mdash;one of the great real things to
+Charley and me."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly said nothing, and the wind beat upon the house as the
+girl went on. "Aunt," she said, "before Charley is ruined, I will make
+them repay the loan. They would have to if I insisted, for they would
+never dare let me tell that tale."</p>
+
+<p>Once more her laugh rang harshly through the uproar of the hail. "Oh,"
+she said, "Charley would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> pour out his blood for me, and what do I owe
+my father and Jimmy but a badge of shame?"</p>
+
+<p>She was shaking with passion and very white in face. Eveline Annersly at
+last realised how deeply the shame had bitten before love had come to
+lessen the smart of it. The girl's temperament had been, as she knew,
+distinctly virginal, and it was, perhaps, not astonishing, under the
+circumstances, that she had at first shrunk from her husband almost with
+hatred, and certainly with instinctive repulsion. Indeed, it was clear
+to Eveline Annersly that had not Leland been what he was, a man
+accustomed to restraint, she would in all probability have continued to
+hate him until one of them died. Yet the contrast between the girl who
+had always borne herself with a chilling serenity at Barrock-holme and
+the passionate woman who crouched at her side was a very wonderful
+thing.</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly the wind fell, and the sound of the hail commenced to die
+away. It no longer roared upon the shingles, but sank in a long
+diminuendo, drawing further and further away across the prairie. There
+was a deep impressive stillness as it ceased altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie rose abruptly. "I'm going out," she said in a strained voice.
+"Are you coming too?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly had little wish to go. The storm had left her shaken
+and unwilling to move, but she forced herself to get up, for it seemed
+that Carrie might have need of her. So they went out together. There was
+now a little light in the sky, and the bluff showed up black and sharp
+against it. The air was fresh and chill. Carrie, however, noticed
+nothing as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> she moved swiftly through the wheat, through the melting ice
+that lay thickly upon the sod. Other shadowy figures were also moving in
+the same direction, and there was a murmur of voices when at last she
+stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Mrs. Leland," said somebody, and the group of men drew back a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>Then Carrie caught her breath with a sob, for the tall wheat had gone,
+and, so far as she could see, ruin was spread across the belt of
+ploughing. The green blades lay smashed and torn upon the beaten soil.
+The crop had vanished under the dread reaping of the hail. The light was
+growing clearer, and it seemed to Eveline Annersly, who remembered how
+the roar had suggested the beat of horses' hoofs, that instead of a
+brigade of cavalry, an army division, with guns and transport, had
+passed that way through the grain. Then something in the fancy struck
+her as especially apposite, and she turned to Carrie, who stood rigid,
+as though turned to stone.</p>
+
+<p>"Look!" she said; "it isn't everywhere the same."</p>
+
+<p>A man came up, and she recognised him as Gallwey. He apparently heard
+her, for he beckoned to them.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come forward, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We have a good deal to
+be thankful for."</p>
+
+<p>They went with him a hundred yards or so. Then Carrie gasped at what she
+saw in the growing light of dawn.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she cried joyously, "it hasn't reached the rest of it!"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Gallwey, "we are on the dividing line. I don't know how many
+bushels it has reaped, but,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> by comparison, it is not enough to worry
+about. A little wonderful. Still, I believe it's not unusual, and I have
+seen very much the same thing once before."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there no more of the wheat damaged?" asked Carrie, and there was
+still a tension in her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a blade," said Gallwey. "I've been all round."</p>
+
+<p>Then all the strength seemed to leave the girl. Moving shakily, with her
+hand on Eveline Annersly's arm, she turned towards the house, as the
+pearly greyness crept into the eastern sky. Eveline Annersly said
+nothing, for she could feel that her companion was trembling, and hear
+her catch her breath. Carrie stopped when they reached the homestead,
+and looked eastward with tear-dimmed eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "I wonder why this favour was shown me. I felt I had
+ruined Charley a little while ago."</p>
+
+<p>Then she pulled herself together. "Aunt Eveline," she said softly, "did
+you ever hate and despise yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly said nothing, but she smiled with comprehension in her
+eyes, for she understood what was in Carrie Leland's mind.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">GALLWEY'S ADVENTURE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The night was still dark, and there was not then or afterwards any sign
+of hail when Sergeant Grier halted his little force under the Blackfoot
+Ridge. There were, in all, eight of them, excellently mounted, and most
+of them rode with a magazine rifle slung across their shoulders. In
+front of them a deep ravine wound away into the Ridge, which, though
+sometimes called a mountain, consisted of a long, broken rise, perhaps
+two hundred feet above the level of the rest of the prairie. Stunted
+birches, and, where the grounds were moister, a dense growth of willows,
+clothed its sides. Behind the first rise lay a rolling, deeply fissured
+plateau, lined here and there with trees. It stretched away before them,
+a black and shadowy barrier, and Sergeant Grier sat with his hand upon
+his hip, looking at it reflectively.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess your news can be relied on, Mr. Leland?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland patted his fidgeting horse. "I wouldn't have worried you with it
+unless I had felt tolerably sure," he said. "Two waggons, driven by
+strangers, passed through the Cannersly settlement three days ago. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+don't know what was in them, but they were full of something, and I have
+my notion as to what it was. The same night four men, who asked about
+those waggons, rode into Cannersly. They stayed there just five minutes,
+and that appeared significant to me."</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant sat silent a moment, and then turned to the rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," he said, "I've been worrying the thing out most of the way. The
+whisky boys have friends round Barber, and they'd get pack-horses there.
+West of the settlement, the folks are shy of them, and it's easy
+figuring they'd push on to get up north, beyond my reach. Well, it would
+cost them a day to work a traverse round the mountain, and that's why
+I'm putting down my stake on their coming through. There's only one good
+trail, and we're here to block it; but a man who knew the way might
+bring them out by the Willow Coulee. I guess it's not more than two
+miles away." He raised his voice a little. "Trooper Standish, you and
+Tom Gallwey will ride up the coulee, and lie by in the old herder's hut.
+If you hear anything, a shot will bring us in at a gallop. Trooper
+Cornet, you'll push on straight ahead for half an hour with Mr. Custer,
+and hide your horses clear of the trail. I guess once the boys get into
+the mountain they're going to have some trouble getting out again."</p>
+
+<p>The troopers saluted, and four shadowy men melted into the darkness.
+When they passed out of hearing, the Sergeant swung himself from the
+saddle.</p>
+
+<p>"Lead your horses well back among the trees, boys, and tether them," he
+said. "Then we'll camp down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> here. I figure we're not going to see the
+whisky boys before the morning."</p>
+
+<p>They did his bidding. Presently Leland and one or two of the others lay
+down among the first of the birches. The Sergeant sat close by, with his
+back to one of the trees, his pipe in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"It's 'bout time we got in a blow," he said. "Things are going bad, and,
+with the new country opening up north, I can't get more men. Now, we
+wouldn't be long running off the regular whisky men; the trouble is that
+every blamed tough between here and the frontier is standing in with
+them, and, unless you catch him out at night, you've nothing to show
+against him. When he comes home, he's a harmless settlement loafer, or
+an industrious pre-emptor. A good year would kill the thing, but I guess
+there's more in whisky than wheat, at present figures."</p>
+
+<p>"There's more in running off horses," said one of the others. "The boys
+get them for nothing, and I've lost three of mine. How much have they
+taken out of you altogether, Charley?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most of four or five thousand dollars, one way or another, and I have a
+notion they've not done with me yet. In fact, it seems to me that either
+the whisky boys or I will have to get out of this part of the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant nodded. "It will be the whisky boys," he said. "You can
+bluff the law for awhile, if you're smart enough, but it's quite hard to
+keep it up, and the first mistake you make, it's got you sure. In
+another way, Mr. Leland's right. I'd have done nothing with my few
+troopers if he hadn't brought you in. We have nothing to raise trouble
+over&mdash;a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> steers and horses missing, a grass fire raised. They're
+things that happen all the time. The whisky boys know it as well as I
+do, and, since I can't get more troopers, it means that what is done
+must be done by you. They know that, too, and it's running up quite a
+big account against the man who's leading you."</p>
+
+<p>There was a little murmur of concurrence, and Leland laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "there's a <i>per contra</i> claim, and I fancy it's going
+to be settled by-and-bye. I've had about enough to pull against this
+season, and I don't feel kind towards the men who have made it harder
+still for me."</p>
+
+<p>Though he calmly filled his pipe, one or two of those who heard him
+fancied that the reckoning he looked forward to would be a somewhat grim
+one when it came. Leland of Prospect was, as they were aware, not the
+man to submit patiently to an injury, and his quietness had its
+significance. Still, he was only one man, and his enemies were many&mdash;men
+who struck shrewdly in the dark, and left no sign to show who they were.
+None of those who rode with him envied their unofficial leader.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, Gallwey and the young trooper picked their way along
+the edge of the bluff. The night was dark and hazy, and there were no
+stars in the sky. The smoke of a big grass fire drifted in a grey mist
+athwart the sweep of the plain. Now and then a crimson blaze leapt up
+and faded on the horizon, and the still air was heavy with the smell of
+burning. It was advisable to ride cautiously, for there were a good many
+badger-holes, and here and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> the ground was seamed by a
+watercourse. Brittle branches occasionally snapped in the dense silence.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I could hear myself a mile away," the trooper said. "Still,
+that horse of yours is making row enough for a squadron."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did not contradict him, for, as it happened, the horse just then
+blundered into a little watercourse and plunged down the slope of it
+with a great smashing of undergrowth. Gallwey contrived to avoid a fall.
+With some noise they scrambled up the other side, though this time
+Trooper Standish made an effort to control his indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you would report me if I told you what I think of you," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Still, they made the coulee without mishap, and the trooper checked his
+horse as they rode into it. It opened up before them, a black and
+shadowy hollow, with little streamlets trickling through. Dim trees
+rolled up its sides, blurred masses against the sky above. Save the soft
+splash of the stream, no sound broke the stillness.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody here, anyway," he said. "We'll push on for the herder's hut. It
+was built when the Scotchman who had Lister's ranch put sheep on the
+mountain, but the timber wolves got most of them, and he let up. It's
+'bout the only place in this country where there are any wolves, and the
+agent didn't think it worth while to mention it when he gave his lease
+out. I guess you don't have timber wolves in Scotland."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey said they didn't. He made no further observations, for his horse
+fell into the stream with a loud splash. After this they pushed on up
+the coulee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> as silently as they could, until Trooper Standish pulled his
+horse up.</p>
+
+<p>"We're here," he said. "That looks like the hut. We'll get down and
+hitch up the horses at the back of it."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey made out a shadowy mass among the birches, and swung himself out
+of the saddle as his comrade did. It was not what Sergeant Grier would
+have done, but Gallwey knew nothing of vedette duty, and Standish was
+very young. He had hitched his bridle round a branch when the latter
+turned to him.</p>
+
+<p>"We may as well go in and make ourselves comfortable," he said. "If the
+whisky boys come down this way, it's a sure thing that we'll hear them."</p>
+
+<p>They turned back towards the door of the hut, Gallwey a few paces behind
+the trooper, who thrust the door open. Gallwey could barely see him, for
+they were in the deep shadow of the trees. Just after Standish strolled
+in, there came the sound of a scuffle out of the darkness. Then there
+was a crash, a cry, and the thud of a heavy fall.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey stood fumbling with his pistol-holster, which, as it happened,
+was buttoned down. The button fitted tightly, and he was clumsy in his
+haste. As he tore at it, he heard a sound behind him, and was swinging
+round when a pair of sinewy arms were wound round him. He struggled
+furiously, reaching back with one foot for his assailant's leg, and
+succeeded in so far that he and the unseen man came down heavily
+together. The other man, however, was uppermost, and when somebody else
+came running up, Gallwey lay still.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him up!" said the last arrival; and when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> rose shakily, his
+assailant jerked one arm behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Walk right into the shanty before you get hurt," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did it, since there was apparently no other course open to him.
+The way the man held his arm was excruciatingly painful. Somebody struck
+a sulphur match, and, lighting a lantern, held it up. It showed two more
+men, busily engaged in holding Trooper Standish, who kicked and
+struggled valiantly on the floor. Then the third man laid down the
+lantern, and, taking up a rifle, prodded the trooper with the butt of
+it. It was no gentle, perfunctory prodding.</p>
+
+<p>"Let up and lie still before you're made. You're going to get it hard if
+you move again," he said, and turned to Gallwey. "Sit right down
+yonder."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, who fancied that his expostulations would not be listened to,
+did as he was bidden. His holster was buttoned down still, and he did
+not think he could get it open without attracting undesirable attention.
+Presently one of the men unclasped the belt it was fastened to and flung
+it aside, while Gallwey, recognising that a conciliatory attitude was
+advisable, nearly laughed as he looked at Trooper Standish. The lad
+still lay flat upon the earthen floor, flushed in face, and hurled a
+stream of vitriolic compliments at his captors. One of them grinned
+broadly, but did not move his hands from the trooper's arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "if one of you will pass me that pack-rope we'll tie him
+up."</p>
+
+<p>It took two of them to accomplish it. During the operation, Trooper
+Standish contrived to kick one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> of them where it seemed to hurt. Still,
+they did tie him, and the lad lay still, breathless with fury, with
+wrists bound behind him, his ankles lashed together. Then the men turned
+to Gallwey.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess your hands will be enough. Hold them out!" said one.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did it without protesting, which, it was evident, would be of
+very little use. While one of the men went out of the hut, another
+watched him.</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody's going to hurt you if you sit quite still," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey sat flat on the floor, a position far from comfortable, while
+Standish, who now lay with his head turned from him, did not move at
+all. Then another man went out, leaving only one, who stood on guard
+with nothing in his hand. In spite of certain notions, there are, after
+all, very few pistols to be seen in the West, and though a good many men
+have rifles they keep them because game is plentiful. It was, perhaps,
+ten minutes later when a beat of hoofs grew louder down the coulee,
+until, though the door was shut, Gallwey could hear what seemed to be a
+line of loaded pack-animals going by. He glanced at his jailer, who
+smiled sardonically.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you're not quite smart enough to play this game," he said.
+"You're from Prospect, aren't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey said he was a servant of Leland's.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," said the man. "It's kind of lucky you aren't his
+partner. We have nothing in particular against you, but, when we get
+hold of Charley Leland, we'll fix him differently."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did not answer him. The last horse had gone by when one of the
+men outside flung the door open.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>"We have to get up and hustle," he said. "What are you going to do with
+them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite know," said his comrade. "We might lash this one up as we
+have the trooper, and leave them here. They couldn't chew that pack-rope
+through. You have got their horses?"</p>
+
+<p>The other man said he had, and Gallwey broke in.</p>
+
+<p>"We couldn't get very far without our horses, and you wouldn't be taking
+any risk by leaving us as we are," he said. "It's quite evident that I
+couldn't loose the trooper, and to be tied up so you can't move at all
+is abominably uncomfortable."</p>
+
+<p>The outlaw laughed. "Well," he said, "you have some sense in you, and,
+as you haven't made us any trouble, I'll put a short hobble on you. Hold
+your feet out."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey did so, and the man busied himself for a minute or two with a
+piece of rope. It was evident that he was acquainted with the secure
+hitches used in lashing a load on the pack-saddle.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "you might jerk yourself along half a mile in the hour
+if you were careful, though it's quite as likely you'd come down on your
+nose. Anyway, by the time you find the Sergeant, we'll be quite a few
+leagues away. That's about all, I think. Good-night to you."</p>
+
+<p>He went out; and, as they heard him ride away, the trooper, wriggling
+round, looked up.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you get out?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gallwey; "I think I could, though it's rather more than
+probable that I shall fall over in attempting it. Under the
+circumstances, half a mile an hour would, I fancy, be an excellent
+pace."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>"Still, you've got to try it," said the trooper. "Get up right away, and
+go for the Sergeant."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey endeavoured to do so, managing to get out of the door before the
+rope jerked him off his feet. He fell over a good many times descending
+the coulee, stopping to rest for a minute or two on each occasion. Still
+he persevered, and made some progress. Dawn was in the sky when a farmer
+caught sight of him. He and his companions had just decided that
+Leland's informant had deceived him, or that the rustlers had gone
+another way, after all, when a weird figure moved out of the gloom
+beneath the bluff. They could not see it clearly, for there was only a
+faint grey light as yet, but it seemed to be moving in a most
+extraordinary fashion. "Well," said one of them, "I never saw a man walk
+quite like that. It is a man, anyway. There aren't any bears on the
+prairie."</p>
+
+<p>He broke off abruptly, for the mysterious object toppled over and
+vanished altogether.</p>
+
+<p>"It might have crawled into a hole," said another man. "No, the blamed
+thing's getting up again. Anyway, it's like a man. I'm going along."</p>
+
+<p>They all went together. A few minutes later, they came upon Gallwey
+sitting in the grass. He had lost his hat, and there was a good deal of
+dust and grass and leaves on him. He sat still, smiling somewhat feebly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose my appearance is exactly prepossessing, but that's not
+my fault, and I'm unusually pleased to see you, boys," he said. "As you
+may have surmised, the Sergeant's little plan didn't quite work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> out as
+it should have done. I'll try to tell you about it if you'll take these
+ropes off."</p>
+
+<p>Sergeant Grier, coming up at this juncture, made several observations
+that are unrecordable, but after the first outbreak, he put a check on
+his temper.</p>
+
+<p>"They have come out ahead again," he said. "Well, it's quite likely
+we'll get straight with them yet, and 'bout all we can do now is to pick
+up their trail."</p>
+
+<p>But they could find no trail, for, as little dew falls on a cloudy
+night, the grass was dry and dusty by sunrise. They spent most of that
+day riding about in twos and threes, but nobody at the scattered farms
+where they made inquiries had seen a single outlaw. They and their
+whisky had apparently vanished altogether.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND MAKES SURE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The nights were growing longer, dusk was creeping up from the eastward
+across the leagues of whitened grass an hour earlier than it had done
+when they cut the hay. Leland stood outside the homestead door with a
+few newly opened letters in his hand. The waggon of the man who had
+brought them was just then lurching over the crest of the rise, and
+Carrie stood watching it, near her husband's side. His face was a trifle
+sombre, but he smiled when she glanced at him inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"From my broker in Winnipeg," he said. "He doesn't know what to make of
+the market, and I can't blame him. Wheat's lower than I ever remember
+it, but the bears are still working their hardest to hammer prices down.
+In a month or so they'll have the whole wheat of the West flung into the
+market to make it easier for them; but they don't seem to have it quite
+so much their own way as I had expected. One could almost fancy that
+somebody was buying quietly. Anyway, there's a man willing to take most
+of my crop off me, when it's ready, at a little under to-day's nominal
+figure. You see, the Prospect hard red's first-grade for milling."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>"If you sold, how would you stand?" asked Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"Very close to ruin. The cattle run would certainly have to go, but that
+wouldn't count so much. It's less than half stocked now."</p>
+
+<p>"Why can't you hold?"</p>
+
+<p>"The trouble is that all accounts must be met at harvest, and I've got
+to have at least five thousand dollars to wipe out the most pressing
+ones. The rest might be carried over at a stiff interest. Then there are
+wages, harvesting and threshing. Besides, if I held the grain up, I'd be
+taking a big risk. It may go down another two or three cents or even
+more, when every man west of Winnipeg rushes his crop in, and that would
+turn me out upon the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, you mean to hold?" Carrie looked at him steadily, with a little
+gleam in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I almost think I do."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. The faint flush in her cheeks was
+born of pride. "Well," she said, "that pleases me. It is like you,
+Charley. Hold it, dear, every bushel, and, before you yield an inch, let
+them break you if they can."</p>
+
+<p>She turned abruptly and glanced at the tall wheat which rolled back,
+dusky green with faint opal gleams in it, across the great level and
+over the swell of rise into the smoky crimson that lingered in the
+western' sky.</p>
+
+<p>"It's yours," she said proudly. "You made it grow, and do you think I
+don't know what it has cost you? You have gone without sleep for it, and
+worn yourself to skin and bone. Perhaps you have always worked hard,
+but, I think, never quite so cruelly hard as you have done this year."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>She stopped and gazed fondly on him. Then she went on.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "I understand&mdash;everything. Charley, dear, it isn't
+without a reason you are so thin and gaunt and brown, and your
+hands&mdash;the hands that have done so much for me&mdash;are hard and scarred.
+Still, I want them to hold on to what is yours. You have made the
+splendid wheat grow, and you won't let anybody rob you of it now."</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled, though it was evident that he was stirred.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "it would be a little easier to stop them doing it if I
+knew where to get five thousand dollars, which is one thousand pounds.
+Of course, I owe a great deal more, but with that in hand to settle the
+odd accounts that must be met, I needn't force my wheat on the market
+for a month or so."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," said Carrie with a little laugh, "there will not be the least
+difficulty about the money. I am going to give it to you&mdash;two thousand
+pounds if you want it."</p>
+
+<p>Leland stared at her in evident astonishment. "My dear, I never knew you
+had so much, and, if you have, it must be every penny that belongs to
+you. I couldn't let you strip yourself of everything for me."</p>
+
+<p>"What have you been doing ever since I came to Prospect? Still, that
+doesn't matter. You must humour me. Do you think, after all you have
+done, I could stand by and see you ruined when there was anything that
+belonged to me? Charley, you must use this money. Can't you see that you
+must, if it's only to show that you have forgiven me?"</p>
+
+<p>She turned swiftly, and threw an arm about his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> shoulder. "If you don't,
+you will almost make me hate you again. You don't want that? Then you
+will make no more silly objections. We are going into this fight
+together."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a little gesture of surrender. "Well," he said slowly,
+"since you have made your mind up, I can't say no. I don't think it
+would be much use, anyway. But it will be a big risk, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said Carrie, "that is one of the things that appeal to me. Still,
+it's all decided. You shall have a cheque for ten thousand dollars.
+That's right, isn't it? Now tell me what is in the rest of the letters."</p>
+
+<p>She drew back from him a little. When Leland looked at her smilingly, a
+faint flush crept into her cheek again.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "I know what you are thinking. I always do. Still, you
+see, it isn't entirely my fault that I'm different from the girl you
+married. And now tell me about the other letters."</p>
+
+<p>Leland handed her one of them with an illuminated device at the top of
+it. "It's an annual function, one of the biggest in Winnipeg, and women
+attend it. Everybody with a stake in the country will be there, and they
+want to make me a steward. My broker's on the committee, and Prospect is
+rather a big farm, you see. I am requested to bring Mrs. Leland along
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's eyes brightened. After all, it was lonely at Prospect, and she
+had played her part in two London seasons. Now and then she felt a
+longing to move among people of her own station again, and the prospect
+of attending the function was undeniably attractive. Her dresses would
+not be out of fashion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> yet, and, after the long months on the dusty
+prairie, it would be delightful to appear for once attired becomingly at
+a brilliant assembly. There were also eminent names upon the invitation,
+and she felt that, apart from any pleasure she might derive, it would be
+a source of satisfaction to see her husband among the notables of the
+land.</p>
+
+<p>"You would like to go?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like it better than anything."</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared thoughtful. "I would like to see you there. You could
+put on the bracelet I saw you with and the crescent in your hair."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie, who looked away from him, "I think I would sooner go
+very plainly&mdash;that is, if I could go at all."</p>
+
+<p>The trace of eagerness in her voice was not lost upon the man, and he
+stood silent a moment before he made a little resolute gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "we'll go. It's the first little pleasure of that kind
+I have been able to offer you, and I daresay Gallwey will see the guards
+ploughed just as well as I could."</p>
+
+<p>"There is some reason why you shouldn't go, after all?" and Carrie
+glanced at him sharply. "You are too busy."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not quite sure there is. I expect it's mostly fancy, but a man gets
+into the way of thinking that when there's anything of consequence to be
+done he should see it done himself. Now those fire-guards"&mdash;and he
+pointed to a belt of furrows that cut off the homestead from the
+prairie&mdash;"are the regulation width, but I was thinking of doubling them.
+The grass is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> tinder-dry, and the oats will soon be ripe enough to
+burn."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said Carrie, "you think the rustlers might try again?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "grass-fires are in no way unusual
+at this season."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie guessed what he was thinking as he looked in silence out across
+the ripening wheat. As she gazed at the vast sweep of grain, she, too,
+was stirred with the pride of possession and accomplishment. She longed
+now for the glitter of the assembly, for conversation as one of them
+with men and women of culture and station, with a fervour which in all
+probability any one who had lived, as she had, on the lonely prairie
+levels would quite understand. But, with a little sigh, she crushed the
+longing down.</p>
+
+<p>"Then," she said quietly, "we will stay here, Charley."</p>
+
+<p>Leland appeared irresolute. "After all, we wouldn't be so very long
+away."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie, firmly. "There is a lot against you, and you mustn't
+leave a single advantage to the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>Leland stooped and kissed her. "Well, I guess you're right&mdash;still, I
+think I know what you're going to do without for me."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing more was said, but it was not needed, for there was perfect
+understanding between them as they went into the house together.</p>
+
+<p>It was early next morning when Leland harnessed four horses to the big
+gang-plough, and, as there was moonlight that night, he still sat behind
+another four until long after the red sun went down. There were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> other
+men he could have bidden to do the work for him, but he knew the odds
+against him, and meant to do it himself thoroughly. It was also careful
+ploughing, and not done in haste, as is most usual in the West, for
+throughout most of it the clods ran dead smooth and level, without a
+break to let the grass tussocks through. Their sides, gleaming from
+contact with the polished steel, were laid towards the prairie,
+presenting to it a serried phalanx of good, black loam; but where the
+sod was unusually friable, Leland got down to toil with the spade.</p>
+
+<p>A grass-fire needs very little to help it. A tuft or two of dry grass
+projecting from a half-turned clod will suffice, and the flame will
+sometimes creep in and out between and across the ridges, wherever a few
+withered stalks may lie. Leland knew he had not done with the rustlers
+yet, and it was advisable to take due precautions. The standard
+guard-furrows were considered quite enough by most of his neighbours,
+who, indeed, now and then neglected to plough them. But he had a good
+deal at stake, and meant, in so far as it was permitted him, to make
+quite sure.</p>
+
+<p>He went round the wheat and oats, and then spent several days ripping
+odd strips here and there across the prairie in the track of the
+prevalent winds. It was fiercely hot weather, but he was busy every hour
+from dawn to dusk, and at nights his men grinned as they mentioned it.
+Charley Leland was getting very afraid of fire, they said. When he was
+satisfied with the ploughing, he had the axes and grub-hoes ground, and
+set the men to work cutting out the smaller growth of willows of
+underbrush in the strip of birches that stretched close up to the
+homestead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> from the bluff. When Gallwey, who had other duties, found him
+busy at it the first morning, he smiled a little.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it's really necessary. If not, it would be a considerable
+waste of time," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, drily, "I almost think it is. A good deal of this
+stuff is tinder-dry, and you can't plough through the bluff. I don't
+know if you have ever seen a bad fire in the underbrush? You can't beat
+it out, as you can now and then when it's in the grass."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey looked thoughtful. "All this points to one thing. You feel
+tolerably satisfied that the rustlers will make another attempt?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a sure thing." Leland straightened himself a little, with a lean,
+brown hand clenched on the haft of the big axe. "Before the snow is on
+the ground, I or the whisky boys will have had to quit this prairie. I
+don't want it to be me."</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned away abruptly, and, whirling the great blade high, buried
+it at a stroke in a dry and partly rotten birch. His comrade smiled. He
+had seen Leland's face, and there was something vaguely portentous in
+the flash of whirling steel and the crash of the blow. Charley Leland,
+he knew, could wait and take precautions, but it was also evident that
+when the time came, he could strike in a somewhat impressive fashion.</p>
+
+<p>Leland worked on for several more days, and then one night Carrie and he
+stood outside of the door of the homestead, watching a great pile of
+underbrush blazing furiously. The man smiled as he turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> to his
+companion. His hands were blackened, and his old blue-jean garments
+singed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I guess I've done what I can. I had to do it, anyway,
+since you lent me that two thousand pounds. If the market would only
+stiffen, you'd get your money back with an interest that would astonish
+people in England."</p>
+
+<p>He broke off for a moment with a curious little laugh. "My dear," he
+said, "you and I should have been in Winnipeg to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said nothing, but the firelight was on her face when she looked
+up at her husband, and once more he was satisfied.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">A PORTENTOUS LIGHT</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was growing dusk, of a thick, hot evening, when Leland at last pulled
+up his jaded horses, and, turning in the iron saddle, raised his hand in
+signal. Behind him, a drawn-out line of machines and plodding teams were
+moving on at measured distances, binder after binder, half-hidden by the
+tall oats that went down before them with a harsh crackle. Where they
+passed, men toiled hard among the flung-out sheaves, and the trampling
+of weary horses, rasp and tinkle of the knives, and the clash of the
+binders' wooden arms rang far across the great dusky plain. The sounds
+of strenuous activity had risen since the sun first crept up above the
+vast sweep of grass, and continued through the burning heat of the day;
+but now they ceased suddenly, and men, stripped to coarse blue shirt and
+trousers of dusty jean, wiped their dripping faces, and straightened
+their aching backs before they loosed the teams. Their hoarse voices
+came up to Leland, with the clatter of flung-down poles and the tramp of
+horses among the stubble, as he got down from his binder.</p>
+
+<p>Men toil hard at harvest the world over, but, per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>haps, nowhere is the
+work so fierce, or demands so much from those engaged in it, as on the
+wide levels which stretch back from the wheat lands of Western Canada
+into the Dakotas across the border. There flesh and blood must keep pace
+with unwearying machines, the latest and most ingenious that man's brain
+can conceive. The reaper has gone, the binder that is a year or two out
+of date is broken up, and, while the machine does more and more, the
+strength of the men who serve and drive it remains the same. For all
+that, none of them can afford to be left behind. They have no use for
+the incompetent in that country, and, though at times the pace is apt to
+kill, man must strain overtaxed muscle and sinew in the tense effort to
+keep up with wooden arms that never ache, and with clashing steel. The
+toilers are, for the most part, well paid and generously fed, and they
+give all that is in them, from pride of manhood, and in some degree from
+sheer necessity. The ban that is still a privilege has never been lifted
+yet, and, while wheat may glut the markets and flour be cheap, it is
+alone by the sweat of somebody's strenuous effort that man has bread to
+eat.</p>
+
+<p>Leland was aching all over, but that was, of course, nothing new to him,
+and he turned to Gallwey, who was standing close by, when a man came up
+to lead his team away.</p>
+
+<p>"If you'll put the saddle on Coureur, Tom, and bring him out, I'd be
+obliged," he said. "I'll sit here and smoke a pipe before I ride out to
+meet Carrie and Mrs. Annersly. They should be well on their way from
+Custer's now."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey ventured to expostulate with him. "I be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>lieve I heard Mrs.
+Leland tell you not to come; and if you are going to start again at four
+o'clock to-morrow, one would fancy you had done about enough," he said.
+"I'm quite sure I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, "I want a look round, anyway. There has been a good
+deal of smoke about most of the day, and there's a big grass-fire, or
+probably more than one, somewhere out on the prairie. The wind's
+freshening, too."</p>
+
+<p>That, at least, was evident, for a rush of hot breeze came up out of the
+growing darkness, and during the last few hours the sun had been hidden
+by driving haze. Gallwey, who felt the wind upon his dusty cheek, turned
+and glanced down the long row of sheaves which ridged the edge of the
+prairie, for he guessed what his comrade was thinking. Behind the oats
+there rolled long, rippling waves of wheat, and, though they were dusky
+now, the daylight would have shown that they were tinted with bronze and
+gold. The tall stems were hot still, and the prairie sod was white and
+thick with fibrous dust.</p>
+
+<p>"Everything is about as safe as you could make it," he said. "We have
+good guards, and you ploughed check-furrows outside of them."</p>
+
+<p>"I did," said Leland, drily. "I cut them across the track of the usual
+winds. This one's an exception, and I have seen a fire jump guards that
+were 'most as wide. There would be trouble if a spark got in among the
+stubble, and I'm taking no chances just now."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey made a little gesture of concurrence as he once more glanced
+down the long rows of sheaves. The stubble stood among them knee-high
+and above<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> the strip of ploughing that cut it off from the prairie, for
+straw has no great value in that country.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I daresay you are right. It's a little hard to see how
+a fire could get in, but, after all, one can never make quite sure of
+anything."</p>
+
+<p>He went away, and when he came back with the horse, Leland, swinging
+himself stiffly into the saddle, rode out across the rise into the
+silent prairie. Half an hour had passed before he met the waggon, but he
+then turned back with it, checking his lively horse as Carrie's team,
+which had travelled a considerable distance that day, plodded slowly
+through tussocky grass up a slope. There are places where the prairie
+runs dead level from horizon to horizon, but here and there it lifts in
+long, gentle rises, as the ocean does when the swell of a past gale
+disturbs its oily surface. Often the change is imperceptible until one
+comes to the dip where the incline softly falls away again. As they
+crossed the ridge, Carrie pulled the horses up and gazed about her.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a trifle impressive. No sky, and darkness on the unseen earth.
+There are only the fires moving in a void," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The others did not answer, though they were in sympathy with her. Thick
+darkness hid the prairie, and they on the crest of the ridge seemed
+utterly alone in an immeasurable immensity of space. Somewhere in the
+midst of it were long smears of crimson light that seized the eye with
+their suggestion of distance as they flung themselves aloft when the
+waggon crossed a rise. Still, the rise remained invisible, and, as
+Carrie had said, the fires seemed to be moving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> through a great
+emptiness. It was curiously and almost hauntingly impressive.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose they can't be near Prospect?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned his face to the wind, which was filled with the smell of
+burning. "The nearest should be most of a league away from the
+homestead," he said. "It's fortunate it is. That fire's an unusually big
+one."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence again for a minute or two, while they watched the
+moving radiance, and then Carrie stood up suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Prospect should be straight in front of us over the horses' heads," she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost. You couldn't see it. The rise hides the house."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" said Carrie, with a little gasp. "Then there's another light
+behind it. Something low and little that twinkles like a star."</p>
+
+<p>Leland shook his bridle and touched the horse with his heel. "Take your
+own time," he said hoarsely. "I'm going on. I'm afraid you'll have light
+enough before you're home."</p>
+
+<p>In another moment he had vanished into the darkness, and they heard a
+drumming of hoofs grow fainter as he rode towards Prospect at a furious
+gallop. For a while there was nothing he could see, but when he swept
+across the last rise, and the lights of Prospect twinkled close in front
+of him, he made out a little patch of radiance beyond them on the
+prairie. It was evident to him that nobody at the homestead, which stood
+lower, would see it. Then he struck the horse again, and was riding by
+the stables at a wild gallop when a voice hailed him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>"That you, Mr. Leland?" it said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland, remembering what instructions he had given the watcher, shouted
+and pulled up his horse with a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>"Turn out the boys!" he said. "Get them along to the south side of the
+oats with the wet grain bags and shovels. Tom Gallwey's in the house?"</p>
+
+<p>The unseen man said he was; and in another minute Leland, who rode on,
+swung himself down at the homestead door. Gallwey, who had apparently
+heard him coming, ran out.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring me my old Marlin, and get yours," said Leland. "There's a
+fire-bug getting his work in to windward of us on the prairie."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey disappeared, but came back with two rifles in less than a
+minute. Leland, who had let the horse go, turned to him.</p>
+
+<p>"We're going on foot to get that fellow if we can," he said. "I guess
+the boys will know what to do."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey considered that this was probable, for grass-fires are common at
+that season, and Leland had more than once explained exactly what the
+part of each would be in case one approached the homestead. He and his
+comrade accordingly set off through the bluff at a steady run, though
+Gallwey twice fell over an unseen obstacle, while, when they came out,
+there were two moving lines of fire, small as yet, but growing, on the
+prairie behind it. It was also evident that the hot wind would bring
+them down upon the oats. Leland, however, did not head for either blaze,
+but for a point some distance to the left of the one farthest off.</p>
+
+<p>"That man means to make quite sure," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> "He'll figure he's as
+safe as he was when he started the first fire, since we've shown no sign
+of seeing it."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose there is a man," gasped Gallwey.</p>
+
+<p>Leland seemed to laugh, though he was running hard. "Well," he said
+breathlessly, "it's quite a usual thing for one fire to come along in
+weather like this, but it's rather too much of a coincidence when two of
+them start in the same place, while, when you see a third one too, it's
+enough to make one anxious for a good grip of the man who's lighting
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't see a third."</p>
+
+<p>Leland swung his arm up, and appeared to be pointing in front of him.
+"You're going to. Go on slow, but be ready to run when you see a
+twinkle. The one thing to remember is that you have a rifle."</p>
+
+<p>He turned off and vanished, while Gallwey pulled up to a walk. There was
+a very big fire a league or so away, and two small ones behind him which
+were extending rapidly, but all the rest of the prairie was wrapped in
+utter darkness. When he turned, after glancing at the wide blaze of
+radiance, he could not see a yard in front of him. Where his comrade was
+he did not know, but he fancied his object was to place the incendiary
+between the two of them when he betrayed himself by the third blaze.
+Gallwey was, however, not quite sure there would be a third blaze, while
+it appeared not improbable that if the man still lingered, he might hear
+them.</p>
+
+<p>For five minutes he walked straight on, or, at least, he fancied so. It
+seemed to be getting darker, for the air was thick with drifting smoke,
+and there was no moon. Then a pale twinkle leapt up in front of him, and
+that was all he could be certain of, for,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> since there was no horizon,
+it might have been, for all that he could tell, either above him or
+beneath. It was a feeble blink of light that presently went out again.
+Still, he had his direction now, and his heart beat a good deal faster
+than usual as he went on at a run, until the pale blaze sprang up a
+second time. Then he dropped swiftly, and crouched with one foot under
+him and the rifle in his left hand, watching the radiance increase. He
+could see the taller tussocks of grass between him and the fire now, and
+drew in his breath, pitching the rifle forward with his elbow on his
+knee, when a black figure became faintly visible behind it.</p>
+
+<p>He could not see the sights, but the man who shoots duck on the sloos,
+handles the rifle in that country much as one uses a double-barrel, and
+Gallwey felt that the chances were in favour of his driving a forty-four
+bullet into the black figure by the fire. Still, something in him
+recoiled from doing so without, at least, a warning, and he raised his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand still!" he said; "I have you covered." It is possible that the
+man did not believe him, and made a swift calculation of the chances
+against him. In any case, he vanished incontinently, and it was a moment
+or two too late when Gallwey's rifle flashed. He felt the jar of the
+butt on his shoulder, but, as usual, heard no report. He was listening
+for the whine of the bullet and the thud which would tell him whether it
+had reached its mark. He did not hear that either, and, slamming down
+the slide, fired again at a venture. Then he heard a drumming of hoofs,
+and rose to his feet. It would be Leland's turn now, and he fancied his
+comrade would, at least,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> have endeavoured to place the man between
+himself and the fire. It was certain that there was nothing to be gained
+by running after a man upon a horse.</p>
+
+<p>While he stood still, he saw a little pale flash, and heard the ringing
+of a rifle. The flash appeared again, and this time was followed by a
+cry and a heavy crash. Gallwey ran as fast as he could in the direction
+whence it seemed to come, and in another few minutes stopped beside a
+big, shapeless object that was moving convulsively on the grass. He made
+out his comrade stooping over it.</p>
+
+<p>"Get hold!" said Leland. "The horse is done for, but he has the man
+pinned down under him."</p>
+
+<p>Then it became apparent that another object, which had a certain human
+semblance, lay among the horse's legs, and a faint voice rose from it.</p>
+
+<p>"Hump yourselves, before he rolls over and smashes me all up," it said.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey was not sure what his comrade did, but he laid hold of what
+seemed to be the man's arm, and, as the horse rolled a little, succeeded
+in dragging him clear of it. He let him go and stood looking down on him
+stupidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Leg's broke!" gasped the man. "The beast fell on me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, drily, "it will save us some trouble. You're not
+going to walk very far like that, and, when we get the fire under
+control, we'll see what can be done for you. It's your own fault that
+you'll have to wait a little."</p>
+
+<p>Then he swung round to Gallwey. "Back to the guard-furrows for your
+life."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey fancied that he had never run quite so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> hard before, but, when
+he reached the strip of ploughing between stubble and prairie, Leland
+was already there, shouting breathlessly to the men spread out along it.
+Not far away a wavy wall of fire was moving down on them out of the
+prairie, and there were two more some distance to the left, though it
+would evidently be a little while before the last of them rolled up.
+Already a thick and acrid vapour whirled among the oats, and, when it
+melted a little, and a brighter blaze sprang up, he could see the men's
+tense faces and the curious rigidity of their attitudes.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a trampling of hoofs, and, turning, he saw Carrie Leland
+pull her plunging team up in the midst of the smoke. She stood up on the
+front of the waggon, and a flickering blaze of radiance showed that she
+was dripping with water. A pile of wet bags lay behind her.</p>
+
+<p>"Throw them out, boys," she said. "There are more of them waiting."</p>
+
+<p>In another moment Leland ran up and seized the near horse's head, as the
+beast kicked and plunged in the stinging smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Go home, and leave the team to one of the boys," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed, standing bolt upright, the fire-light on her face, the
+reins in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said; "they're wanted, and do you think we can't drive in
+England? Get the bags out as fast as you can, boys."</p>
+
+<p>The warning seemed necessary, for one of the horses' forelegs left the
+ground, and the other's hind hoofs crashed against the front of the
+waggon. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Leland was almost swung off his feet, and Carrie laughed
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Let them go. I'll hold them if you're quick," she said.</p>
+
+<p>She dropped into the driving-seat with her feet braced against the
+board, and the men made what haste they could, while the frantic team
+kicked and plunged and backed the waggon in among them. Gallwey was
+stirred to admiration as he watched the tense, shapely figure, braced
+against the strain upon the reins, that was now and then forced up by
+the fire and lost again.</p>
+
+<p>Then a thick wreath of blinding smoke whirled down on them, and Carrie
+cried out as she swung the whip. There was a thud of hoofs and a rattle,
+the men leapt aside, and the waggon plunged into the vapour, as Gallwey
+said afterwards, like a thunderbolt.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FIGHTING FIRE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>There was silence for a minute, the tense silence that precedes a
+struggle, when the waggon lurched away, and the men stood still, intent
+and at a strain, blinking at the fire. The wind had lulled, and the
+smoke went almost straight up, shining luminously in the red glare.
+Beneath it, a wavy line of flame rolled on across the prairie, licking
+up the parched grass as it came. As it happened, the grass thereabouts
+was higher than usual. Unless there is a gale behind it, a grass-fire
+does not move with much celerity, and that night the one that menaced
+Leland's crop seemed inordinately slow to those who watched it. Indeed,
+one or two of them found it strangely hard to stand still while it
+rolled down on them, which, in cases of the kind, is by no means an
+unusual thing. Action of any kind, even purposeless action, is a relief
+to men under strain.</p>
+
+<p>There was, however, in the meanwhile, nothing that they could do, and
+they commenced to growl inarticulately as they glanced at one another
+with fierce, set faces. Here and there one of them twisted the end of
+the wet bag he held, to give him a firmer grip, or fidgeted aimlessly
+with his shovel. The rest frowned and coughed, for which there was some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+excuse, or stood woodenly still, according to their temperament. Leland,
+however, swung round towards the row of binders that stood half buried
+among the oats.</p>
+
+<p>"That's one thing we overlooked, and they have got to take their chances
+now," he said. "We couldn't get a team to face the smoke, and nobody
+could harness them if we did. If they're burned, we're going to have
+trouble to get the harvest in."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, who stood near him, made a sign of agreement. Every binder in
+the country was in use just then, for, since machines are remodelled
+yearly, implement dealers stock no more than they expect to sell, and
+let on hire any by chance left upon their hands. It was accordingly
+evident that, if these were burned, his comrade could not replace them,
+and, in face of the wages usually paid, nobody could garner the harvests
+of the Northwest without the binder, which not only cuts the grain, but
+ties it into sheaves. It is by saving costly labour alone that the
+prairie farmer pours his wheat into the markets of the East, and retains
+a small margin for himself, in spite of fifteen hundred miles railway
+haulage, and three thousand by sea. It is the gang-plough and the
+automatic binder that have opened up the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>"You couldn't get another anywhere in time to be of use," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland, however, now laughed harshly. "Well," he said, "after all, I
+needn't worry about them. It's no great comfort, but I'm not likely to
+want them if they're burnt. In that case, there'll be no crop to
+harvest."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>It seemed to Gallwey that this was probable enough. The oats stood half
+as high again as most of those he had seen in England, on thick, flinty
+stems that had dried and yellowed under a scorching sun, while behind
+them rolled the wheat that was almost as ripe. There had been no rain
+for days, and very little dew, and now, when a fierce, hot wind was
+driving down the fire on them, the whole crop seemed ready for the
+burning. The guard-furrows would check the flame, but they could not
+stop the sparks, and sheaves and tall stubble lay spread like tinder for
+them to fall among.</p>
+
+<p>Then once more the wind descended, and a long wreath of smoke, blotting
+out everything, drove on. A great shower of sparks blew forward out of
+the midst of it, and, when it was rent aside, there sprang up a great
+crackling blaze. It leapt forward with a roar, and then broke up,
+running low among the grass, while the smoke whirled past the men,
+choking and blinding them, thicker than ever.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand by!" cried Leland. "There's the first! Beat it out! Hold on!
+Don't crowd in on them!"</p>
+
+<p>His voice was lost in the crackle of the fire, and that was the last
+intelligible thing he said for some time. A further hail of sparks came
+out of the smoke, and a blaze sprang up among the stubble. It spread,
+even while two men fell upon it with wet grain bags, but flickered out
+when a third reinforced them with a shovel. Then it grew intolerably
+hot, and the action became general.</p>
+
+<p>The fire was almost up to the guard-furrows, and a rain of burning
+particles blew on before it. Incipient blazes broke out where they fell,
+and men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> fought them savagely in the blinding smoke. Now and then they
+fell over each other, and one here and there was struck by his comrade's
+shovel, but nobody heeded that. Epithets that at other times would have
+been answered by the clenched fist passed unnoticed; and choking,
+gasping, whirling bag or shovel, they fought on. Now and then the smoke
+thinned a little, and the fierce red light beat upon their dripping
+faces and bowed figures, only to fade into a confused opacity again that
+made but faintly visible the forms flitting like phantoms amidst the
+vapour. Here and there a man cried out, but nobody heard what he said,
+and his feeble voice was drowned in the crackle of the flame. Leland
+appeared to be wherever the fire was fiercest, once knocking Gallwey
+down as he came floundering through the stubble towards a spreading
+blaze.</p>
+
+<p>Then the fire rolled up to the edge of the ploughing, a wall of flame,
+perhaps a hundred yards from end to end, leaping up with a mad roaring;
+then it stopped and fell away. The sparks dropped short, too, in a
+lulling of the wind, and what, by contrast, seemed black darkness rushed
+down upon that part of the prairie. Then there was an impressive
+silence, and men, half dazed by the heat and effort, wiped their
+streaming faces, and looked round in search of their invisible
+neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>None of them knew how long this lasted, but, though they had won so far,
+the fight was not yet over. Presently the smoke that streamed past them
+was torn aside again, and a red light shone along the line. The second
+fire was coming on, and there was still another behind. The flickering
+radiance showed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> the dusky figures that leant upon the shovel-hafts or
+shook out the half-dried bags. Here and there it also showed a blackened
+face, surmounted by frizzled hair.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, as it happened, found himself close to Leland, and looked at
+the latter with a little sardonic smile, not knowing that he himself was
+not much more prepossessing in his outward appearance. Leland's wide hat
+hung shapelessly over his blackened face. There was a charred gap in the
+front brim, as well as several big holes in his jean jacket, which was
+badly rent. Blood was trickling from one of his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know if I did that myself, or if somebody hit me with a
+shovel," he said. "Anyway, when I fell down, one or two of them ran over
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned fiercely towards the moving fires. "The next one's
+bigger. If the wind would only drop!"</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey, who fancied by the way the smoke drove past them that there was
+very little chance of it, coughed. "It's evidently not going to. If we
+had only a little water, one could be more content. I feel as if there
+was not a drop of moisture anywhere in me."</p>
+
+<p>One or two of the others heard him, and cries went up.</p>
+
+<p>"Water!" said somebody. "Is there any?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm 'most as dry as this bag. It will blaze next time," said another
+man. "My jacket's singed to tinder, too. How're we going to do when our
+clothes start burning?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland stood up where the rest could dimly see him on the spoke of a
+binder wheel.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>"You should have thought of that before, boys," he said. "Anyway, you'll
+have to hold out until the thing's over. It's too far to the homestead,
+and nobody could bring up a team."</p>
+
+<p>Just then a man further back along the line flung out a pointing hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I guess that looks as if somebody was trying."</p>
+
+<p>The sound of a trampling in the stubble rose through the crackle of the
+fire, and a half-frantic team and a waggon materialised out of the
+vapour. A slim, dimly-seen figure swayed with the jolting upon the
+driving-seat, and, when the watchers saw another apparently clinging to
+the load behind, a confused shouting broke out.</p>
+
+<p><a name="daisy" id="daisy"></a>"Wet bags and water. Get hold of the beasts, some of you. It's Mrs.
+Leland. She's a daisy!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a rush of shadowy figures towards the waggon, and every man
+was wanted, for the team would not stand still. Blackened hands clutched
+at rein, head-stall, harness, whatever they could get a finger on, and
+the terror-stricken animals, borne down by sheer weight, could not make
+off with nearly a dozen men hanging on to them. The rest swarmed about
+the waggon, where Carrie still sat with the light of the fire on her,
+while Jake, the cripple, hurled down dripping bags, and strove to
+wriggle out a water barrel. They got it down between them, and Carrie
+made a sign to Leland, who was struggling amidst the press.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do!" he said. "Stand clear, boys. Carrie, don't come back."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>Then there was a sudden scattering of the crowd, a clatter and a
+trampling of stubble, and once more waggon and team were lost in the
+darkness and driving smoke. After that, men surged about the barrel,
+striving to dip their hats in it. It was a little while before they were
+satisfied, and then one of them waved his dripping hat as though to
+enforce attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," he said, "I guess it's not every woman would have got that team
+here, and it's not Mrs. Leland's fault there's only water in the barrel.
+You can blame that on your legislature. Anyway, you were glad to get it,
+and I never struck a farm where they fixed the hired man better than
+Leland of Prospect and his wife do. That's why, now the other fire's
+coming along, it's up to every man to see them through."</p>
+
+<p>There were some laughter and shouts of approval, and the shadowy figures
+trooped away to meet the second fire. It was fiercer than the first,
+but, though some burned their clothing and odd patches of their limbs,
+they overcame first it and then the smaller one that came behind it.
+Then Leland, who called Gallwey and two of the men, strode away through
+the darkness to where he had left the outlaw. They found the horse
+without much difficulty, and it was dead; but there was no longer any
+sign of the man. When they shouted, it happened&mdash;very much as they had
+expected&mdash;that nobody answered them.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess the whisky boys must have played the 'possum on you," said one
+of the men.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey laughed a little as he turned to his comrade. "Well," he said
+reflectively in his cleanest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> English, "considering everything, it's
+almost a pity one of us didn't think it worth while to examine his leg.
+You see, he couldn't very well have walked off if it had really been
+broken."</p>
+
+<p>Leland, who had perhaps some excuse for being consumed with vindictive
+fury, swung round on him.</p>
+
+<p>"How far could you walk with a broken leg?" he said. "Do you think I
+have no sense at all?"</p>
+
+<p>Once more Gallwey appeared to reflect. "One would scarcely fancy you had
+shown your usual perspicacity to-night. Of course, I'm not saying
+anything about myself."</p>
+
+<p>Though it was very dark, Leland appeared to glare at him for a moment or
+two, and then broke out into a little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Tom," he said, "you do it very well&mdash;so well that once or twice I've
+found it hard to keep my hands off you before I saw the point of it. You
+only want an eye-glass to make the thing perfect. Well, I can wait until
+my turn comes, and you have helped me shake the black fit off."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey said nothing further as they went back together towards the
+house, but he was content. He was well acquainted with his comrade's
+temperament, and knew that his silent, simmering anger was not wholesome
+for himself, or calculated to make things pleasant for anybody else.
+Still, a very little thing would usually serve to dissipate it. They
+overtook the rest on the way to the homestead, and, when they approached
+the door, which it was necessary for the men to pass, saw that it was
+open. Carrie, who appeared just outside it, beckoned Leland to her, and
+then turned to the rest, standing close beside him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>She was now attired in a long dress, almost but not quite an evening
+gown, that became her well; but Leland was blackened all over, and there
+were many singed holes in his clothes, wet and smeared with ashes, and
+part of the wide brim of his hat was missing. The men seemed to notice
+the contrast between the pair, and there was a little good-humoured
+laughter. Carrie Leland smiled at them in turn, though she would have
+borne herself very differently to these rough men a few months ago.</p>
+
+<p>"Are there any of you burnt, boys," she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Several of them admitted that they were, though they said it was nothing
+to count, and were directed to repair to the kitchen, where Mrs. Nesbit
+had oil and flour ready. Then Carrie made a little gesture, as though to
+invite attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys," she said. "I can't thank you for what you have done to-night.
+You see, there are things one really can't thank people for properly,
+but I think Charley and I would have been ruined if you hadn't been the
+kind of men you are. Still, it's been a long while since the six o'clock
+supper, and I expect, if I'd been with you, I should be hungry, too. Of
+course, in one way, there's nothing quite good enough for you, but we
+have been busy while you were putting out the fire; so, if you'll go
+along to the dinner-shed, you'll find Jake and Mrs. Nesbit have done
+what they can. There is another thing. Nobody need get up until he likes
+to-morrow. Not a team will leave the stables until after dinner."</p>
+
+<p>Leland turned and looked at her in bewildered astonishment, for nothing
+had ever delayed work at Prospect at harvest, or, indeed, at any other
+time, be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>fore; and probably because the men understood what he was
+feeling, there was a great roar of laughter when his wife turned and
+laid her hand upon his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all right, Charley. I mean it," she said.</p>
+
+<p>The rest stood still a minute, gazing at her, not awkwardly, for
+self-consciousness is rarely a characteristic of the plainsman, but as
+if they felt that there was something to be said or done. Perhaps her
+beauty appealed to them, and it is also possible that the offer of a
+feast had its effect, but her gracious simplicity went considerably
+further. No one would have more quickly resented condescension than
+these hard-handed men, who thought themselves, with some reason, the
+equal of any in the world; but they could recognise the distinction
+between that and sympathy, and were willing to yield her everything she
+did not claim. Yet they were a trifle puzzled, for this was not the
+attitude the cold and silent woman who had come to Prospect had once
+adopted towards them. Then there was a murmuring among them, until one
+stood forward with his hat in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," he said in excellent accent, "the boys desire me to reply for
+them, and I must first admit that the thought of a supper appeals to
+them and me. Perhaps it would be admissible to say that, having had the
+honour of dismissal from a good many farms between Dakota and Prince
+Albert, I know a little about prairie rations and cookery, and I would
+like to testify that, in respect to both, Prospect stands alone. One
+might also venture to observe, without making any invidious reflections
+upon Mrs. Nesbit and the somewhat unvarying Jake, that the menu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> has
+become even more attractive lately, for which there is no doubt a
+sufficient reason."</p>
+
+<p>There was further laughter, and Carrie, who saw the little twinkle in
+her husband's eyes, felt the blood creep into her cheeks; but the man
+went on.</p>
+
+<p>"So much for the supper, and it has its interest. Man is usually hungry,
+especially when he has to work hard enough to satisfy Charley Leland,
+but I would like Mrs. Leland to understand that we wish her to consider
+us her devoted servants. Anybody can hire a man. You can buy his labour
+for so many hours a day, but there must always be a good deal left
+outside that kind of bargain, and it's all that's left outside we would,
+on an occasion like this, like to offer Mrs. Leland. In fact, it would
+not be a great matter to put a fire out every night if it would please
+her. If you sympathise with these few remarks, will you signify your
+approbation, boys?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a clamorous shout, and as the men trooped away, Jake's voice
+rose up.</p>
+
+<p>"Get a big grin on over my cooking, would you?" he said. "It's salt-pork
+bones and bad beans you're going to get if I can fix it, you hungry
+hogs!"</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed, but Carrie felt that his eyes were on her when they went
+in, and, glancing at him covertly, she saw the little gleam of pride in
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"They're yours," he said, and she knew he meant the men. "Whatever you
+want done, you have only to ask them; but it wasn't because of the
+supper."</p>
+
+<p>The blood crept into Carrie Leland's cheek. "Everybody is very kind to
+me," she said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND FEELS THE STRAIN</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Supper had not long been cleared away on an evening some three weeks
+after the fire, and the sunlight still streamed into the big general
+room; but Leland lay somewhat limply in a lounge-chair, which,
+considering that there was a good deal of the wheat still to be cut, was
+a somewhat astonishing thing for him to do. His face was paler than
+usual; indeed, here and there a trace of greyness had crept into the
+bronze, and his eyes were heavy. But a mass of papers lay on the little
+table in front of him, and it was evident that he had just been writing.
+His mail, which had come in two or three hours earlier, had been an
+unusually large one. Carrie sat not far away, watching him a trifle
+anxiously. She had been more than a little startled when he came in for
+supper walking unsteadily.</p>
+
+<p>"You are still looking far from well," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed, though his eyes were half closed. "Oh," he said, "I'll
+be round again to-morrow all right. It was as hot as I ever remember it
+this afternoon, and each time I came down the long stretch with the
+binder the sun was on the back of my neck. I just want to sit still a
+little and cool off."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>Carrie shook her head. "You have been working too hard," she said.
+"Can't you take it a little easier? It surely isn't necessary for you to
+drive a binder."</p>
+
+<p>"Just now, anyway, I almost think it is. When I'm there the boys can't
+do less than I do, and I set the pace for every man in the field. There
+are, you see, quite a few of them, and the little extra effort each one
+makes counts for a good deal. Besides, I have always worked, and now it
+would be quite hard to get used to walking round with nothing in my
+hands, even if I wanted to. Anyway, it won't go on for more than another
+month or so."</p>
+
+<p>He made a little involuntary gesture of weariness. "I don't think I'll
+be sorry. It has been getting a little hard lately, and if the market
+doesn't break me we'll go away when the wheat is in. You would like to
+go to Montreal or New York for a week or two? We would do all the
+concerts and theatres."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie felt that she would like it very much indeed, for, after all,
+life at Prospect had its disadvantages; but she had reasons for not
+displaying too much eagerness. Finances were straitened, and Leland, in
+spite of his simple tastes, was apt to be extravagant where she was
+concerned.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course!" she said. "I mean, if circumstances permitted it, but that
+depends upon the market, doesn't it? What has it been doing lately?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland took up a circular. "Standing still for a week, and that is
+rather a curious thing. You see, with the first wheat pouring in, the
+bears quite often get their own way just now and hammer prices down, but
+quotations seem to have been quite steady in Chicago the last few days.
+They've had a bad season<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> in Minnesota, and the hail wiped out a good
+deal of wheat in Dakota. What one or two States can grow doesn't count
+in itself so much against the world's supply, but it's now and then
+enough to upset a delicate balance. In Winnipeg the bears made another
+raid, but they couldn't break the price, and I'm inclined to fancy that
+all they offered was quietly taken up. The outside men, who like a
+little deal now and then, aren't all of them babes in the wood."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid I could never quite understand these things," said Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"In one way it's simple. The world wants so much wheat, though the
+quantity varies, because there are places where they eat other things
+when it gets too dear. Now, you can get statistics showing how many
+million bushels they have raised here and there, and it's evident that,
+if it's less than usual, it's going to be dearer. On the other hand, if
+there's more than the world has apparently any use of, the men it
+belongs to have some trouble in selling it, and values come down. That's
+the principle, but there are men who make their living by shoving prices
+up and down, and they're able to do it sometimes against all reason. Now
+and then they half starve poor folks in Europe, and now and then they
+ruin farmers in the Western States and this part of Canada. They have
+millions of dollars behind them, and they're clever at crooked games.
+Still, it sometimes happens that Nature turns against them, and drowns
+them in floods of wheat; or, when they're squeezing the life-blood out
+of the farmers, it strikes men up and down the country that wheat was so
+cheap it ought to be dearer. Then, if the bears slacken their grip a
+little, men who like to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> gamble and have the money to spare, send their
+buying orders in, and the bears find it hard to get the wheat they have
+pledged themselves to deliver. That sends prices up and up."</p>
+
+<p>"You think that is likely to happen?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked very thoughtful. "I can't say. Nobody could. There's one
+significant thing. Prices are steady, though the wheat is coming in.
+You'll get considerably more than your two thousand pounds back if they
+go up. We could have a month in New York then, and you'd go to operas
+with that crescent glittering in your hair."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said nothing, for though she had not quite understood all he
+said, it was sufficiently clear that if prices went down she would never
+put the crescent on again. She had further reasons, too, for not
+desiring to discuss that subject. While she sat silent, Gallwey came in,
+and Leland, taking up a paper, handed it to him.</p>
+
+<p>"That," he said, "is a little idea of mine, and, if we'd had any sense,
+we would have thought of it earlier. With the new country opening up to
+the North, the police bosses at Regina have their hands full. They don't
+want to be worried, and Sergeant Grier seems kind of afraid to admit he
+can't put the whisky boys down, or to pitch his reports too strong."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey nodded. "The same thing," he said, "has occurred to me all
+along. His attitude is comprehensible, and I have a certain sympathy
+with the folks at the head of the police. To attend to everything, they
+would want a brigade."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Leland, drily, "I have no intention of getting my homestead
+burnt because it suits any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>body's hand, and you'll start round to-morrow
+and get this petition signed by every responsible man. It's a plain
+statement of what we have been putting up with, and a delicate hint that
+there are folks among the Government's opposition who might find the
+information interesting in case the police bosses do nothing. I almost
+fancy that ought to put a move on them."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey smiled a little as he read the document, which, however, was
+worded with a tactfulness he had scarcely expected from his comrade.
+Leland's proceedings were, as a rule, rather summary and vigorous than
+characterised by any particular delicacy.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be away three or four days, at least," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't that be a little awkward? You are not very well just now."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a little impatient gesture. "I'll be all right again
+to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>His comrade did not contradict him, though he had some doubt upon the
+subject, and, sitting down, talked about other matters for several
+minutes, while, when he rose, he contrived to make Carrie understand it
+was desirable that she should find an excuse for going out soon after
+him. She did so, and came upon him waiting in the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"He persists that there is nothing the matter with him, but I am a
+little anxious," she said. "You don't think he is looking well?"</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey appeared thoughtful. "I scarcely fancy it is serious, but there
+is no doubt he has been worrying himself lately and doing a good deal
+too much. In fact, the strain is telling. Still, I dare say a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
+rest would do wonders. Couldn't you keep him in to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Keep him in!" said Carrie, with a little expostulatory smile.</p>
+
+<p>There was a twinkle in Gallwey's eyes. "It will probably be difficult,
+but I almost think, in your case, not absolutely impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I will do what I can. It is rather a pity you have to go away."</p>
+
+<p>The smile grew a trifle plainer in Gallwey's eyes. "As a matter of fact,
+and, although I am quite aware that there will probably be trouble about
+it, I am not going. One of the boys will have to ride round with the
+paper, instead of me. Still, you will have to decide how you can keep
+your husband in."</p>
+
+<p>He went away and left her to grapple with the question, which, since
+Leland was a self-willed man, was a somewhat difficult one. It was some
+little while before there occurred to her a rather primitive device
+which appeared likely to prove effective. She had, however, not quite
+realised the inherent obstinacy of her husband's temperament.</p>
+
+<p>It accordingly happened that, when the crippled Jake was busy cleaning
+up the big general room early next morning, he was astonished to see
+Leland, attired in airy pyjamas, appear in the doorway. He raised his
+hand as though in warning, and glanced towards the other door. It
+occurred to Jake that he did not look well.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Nesbit's not around?" Leland asked.</p>
+
+<p>Jake said she was in the cook-shed just then, and Leland sat down
+somewhat limply in the nearest chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Slip up into Tom Gallwey's room, and bring me a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> suit of his clothes,
+the new ones he goes to the settlement in," he said. "That will square
+the deal, because I can't help thinking he had a hand in the thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's your own?" asked Jake in evident bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>"That," said Leland, drily, "is just what is worrying me. But you do
+what I tell you quick before Mrs. Nesbit comes in."</p>
+
+<p>Jake did as he was bidden, for there was a look in Leland's eyes which
+warned him that further questions would not be advisable; and, when he
+came back with the clothing, the latter dressed himself hastily, and,
+slipping out, made his way to the stable. He had some difficulty in
+putting the harness on the team, and was considerably longer over it
+than usual; but he managed to lead them out, and had reached the binder
+with them about the time Carrie and Eveline Annersly entered the room he
+had quitted. The first thing they saw was a suit of pyjamas lying on the
+floor, and the elder lady laughed as she turned to Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancied you would find it a little difficult to keep Charley Leland
+in against his will," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie, who did not answer her, summoned Jake.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Mr. Leland?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he's working in the wheat," said the man, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie appeared astonished, and Eveline Annersly laughed again. "Charley
+is a trifle determined, but there are, I almost fancy, lengths to which
+he would not go. He has probably borrowed someone's clothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he leave any message?" asked Carrie, turning to the man.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>"No," said Jake, reflectively. "I don't think he did. He wasn't coming
+back for his breakfast. I was to take it out to him, and he figured Tom
+Gallwey's store-clothes wouldn't look quite so new by sundown."</p>
+
+<p>He went away, and Eveline Annersly smiled at her companion. "You'll
+simply have to put up with it," she said. "It really doesn't sound as if
+he was very ill."</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Leland, after stopping some twenty minutes for
+breakfast, climbed into the binder's saddle and drove through the wheat
+until almost noon. He did not seem to see quite so well as usual, and
+his head ached almost intolerably. Gallwey's jacket also hampered him,
+until, tearing it off, he let it fall. It was afterwards found, ripped
+in several places by the knife and tied up in a sheaf. The day was
+fiercely hot, and the dust rose thick from crackling stubble and
+trampled soil, but Leland drove on, swaying now and then in his saddle,
+the perspiration dripping from him.</p>
+
+<p>It was close upon the dinner hour, and the sun was almost overhead in a
+cloudless sky, when he approached a turning. The glare from the yellow
+wheat was dazzling, and the ironwork on the binder almost too hot to
+touch with the hand, and Leland once more found his sight grow blurred
+as he strove to turn his team. They did not seem to answer the guidance
+of the reins, and when the machine, turning short, ran in among the
+wheat, he raised himself a little as he called to them. That was the
+last thing he remembered.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant, the man behind him saw him reel and topple from the
+saddle as the whirling arms came round. He pulled his team up, and,
+jumping down, ran as for his life; but, most fortunately, Leland's
+tired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> horses had stopped of their own accord in a pace or two, for,
+when the other man came up, their driver lay partly across the
+knife-sheath with his feet among the wheat. What could be seen of his
+face was darkly flushed, while the sleeve and breast of his dusty shirt
+were smeared with trickling red. The other man, startled as he was, had,
+however, sense enough to seize the near horse's head before he shouted
+to his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"Lay hold of the wheel, two of you," he said when several of them came
+running up. "Now get up, somebody, and pull the driving-clutch out. We
+don't want to saw him open."</p>
+
+<p>He had kept himself in hand, but he gasped with relief when the deadly
+steel was thrown out of action. Then, still holding the horses, he
+directed the rest to drag Leland clear. It was a minute later when he
+pushed the others aside and bent over him. Leland lay limp and still in
+the dusty stubble, with eyes half closed, and a red trickle dripping
+into the thirsty soil beneath him. The man, who had seen a good many bad
+axe-wounds in the Ontario bush, rolled back the breast and sleeve of the
+torn shirt before he straightened himself and wiped his dripping face.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess he has come off quite fortunate, in one way. There's no big
+vessel cut, or it would spout," he said. "The first thing to do is to
+get him out of the sun, and it's not very far to the house."</p>
+
+<p>They picked him up, and four of them carried him to the homestead as
+gently as they could. At the door they met Carrie. She closed one hand
+hard, and turned very white when the men, who stopped, stood gasping a
+little and looking at her stupidly, with their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> burden hanging limply
+between them. Then, while she struggled with a numbing sense of horror,
+the leader awkwardly took off his hat.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it's nothing very bad. He's cut in two places, and the binder
+hit him on the head, but a man of his kind will soon get over that," he
+said. "Now, I know quite a little about cuts and things, and, if you'll
+send for Mrs. Nesbit, we'll soon fix him up. Get a move on, boys. Mrs.
+Leland will show you where to take him."</p>
+
+<p>The words had a bracing effect. Carrie shook off her first terror, and,
+though she was trembling, went up the stairway in front of them. She was
+almost afraid to look round at the men, who stumbled noisily with their
+burden. Still, she felt a little easier when, in the course of half an
+hour, the Ontario man managed to stop most of the bleeding with a few
+simple compresses, and to get Leland, who had not opened his eyes yet,
+into bed. He turned to Carrie, who was standing close by with a tense,
+white face.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess all he got after he fell off the binder is not going to worry
+him much, but I don't know what he had before," he said. "It might have
+been sunstroke, and it might just as well have been something else. He
+was kind of shaky all the morning. Anyway, I'll tell Tom Gallwey, and
+he'll send some one of the boys in to the railroad to wire for a
+doctor."</p>
+
+<p>He went out, and Carrie was left in the darkened room kneeling by her
+husband's side, while Tom Gallwey drove the fastest team at Prospect
+furiously across the prairie. He did not send another man, but went
+himself, and the horses he drove had reason to remember that journey.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CARRIE'S RESPONSIBILITY</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Carrie Leland spent two very anxious days before a doctor, from one of
+the larger settlements down the line, arrived in company with Gallwey,
+who drove him in from the station. The latter had, during the journey,
+favoured Gallwey with his professional opinions as to the cause of
+Leland's illness. As soon as he reached the homestead he was shown into
+the sick-room. Leland, who had recovered consciousness after the first
+few hours, submitted to a lengthy examination with a patience which
+somewhat astonished his comrade, after which the doctor, who asked him a
+few questions, nodded as though satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no great fault to find with anything the man did who attended to
+you in the first place." he said. "In fact, I have seen considerably
+worse dressings. A bushman, I presume?"</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at him languidly out of half-closed eyes. "He's not going
+to be sorry. It would be more to the purpose if you told me what was the
+matter with me."</p>
+
+<p>"An abrasion on your forehead, and a bruise on the back of your head
+which should apparently have been sufficient to produce concussion of
+the brain," the doctor said. "Then your arm is cut half across, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> if
+the knife hadn't brought up on a bone, you would probably not have
+survived the wound on your breast. I almost think that is quite enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, it's not quite what I mean. The cuts will heal. What made me
+turn dizzy and fall off the binder? I've never had anything of that kind
+happen to me before."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor smiled drily. "Well," he said, "in similar circumstances you
+will in all probability have it happen again. It rests with yourself to
+decide whether you like it. Speaking generally, it's the result of worry
+and trying to work a good deal harder than it's fit for you to work. To
+be a little more definite, you have had what one might call incipient
+sunstroke on the top of it, and, though I don't know how you fell on the
+binder, the thump you got had its effect upon your brain. That's almost
+as near as one can get to it in every-day language."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed. "The question is, when can I get up?"</p>
+
+<p>"It depends upon yourself. If you lie quite still and don't worry about
+anything, I will consider the matter, when I come back again."</p>
+
+<p>Leland could extract nothing more definite from him, and, when he went
+out, Carrie took him into her sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to be anxious about," he said. "The surgical aspect of
+the case is in no way serious, and I'll leave you an antiseptic dressing
+and mail you some medicine. I don't know when I can get back, but it
+will be a week, anyway; so, if there is any change that seems to make it
+advisable, you will wire me from the dep&ocirc;t. What your husband needs is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+absolute quiet. He is on no account to be worried about any business."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I can promise that," said Carrie. "Still there are his letters.
+If I don't give him any, it will certainly make him restless, and, as
+most of them are about the price of wheat and accounts, I'm afraid they
+would scarcely be likely to soothe him."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor appeared a trifle uncertain, and flashed a swift glance at
+Eveline Annersly, who sat not far away. Like most of his profession, he
+was acquainted with the little shortcomings of human nature, and was
+quite aware that there are men whose wives would probably be none the
+happier if supplied with an insight into all their husband's affairs. He
+was too young to conceal very successfully what he was thinking, and,
+though he was, perhaps, not altogether conscious of it, he looked to
+Eveline Annersly for guidance. She said nothing, but there was, he
+fancied, comprehension and an answer in her little smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "I might suggest that you open them and keep back
+anything that seems likely to disturb him."</p>
+
+<p>In a few more minutes, Mrs. Nesbit came in to announce that a meal was
+awaiting him. When he went out, Eveline Annersly smiled again as she
+glanced at her companion.</p>
+
+<p>"That man is painfully young," she said. "I suppose you are not afraid
+of opening Charley's letters?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Carrie with a little flash in her eyes. "Why should I be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "one would almost fancy
+that when Jimmy marries, he would sooner his wife did not see everything
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> came for him. It was a letter that first made the trouble between
+Captain and Ada Heaton. In such cases, it not infrequently is."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie turned upon her with a red spot in her cheek. "You will succeed
+in making me angry presently. You know there is nothing Charley would
+keep from me."</p>
+
+<p>"That, I think, is saying a good deal; but, while you are no doubt
+right, my dear, any one who had only seen you in England would be
+inclined to wonder what had happened to you lately. If I had suggested
+anything of the kind once upon a time, you would only have looked at me
+with chilling disdain, but now a word against Charley Leland brings a
+flash into your eyes. That, however, is by the way. I wonder if you have
+heard that Heaton has at last taken proceedings?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't. I never hear from home."</p>
+
+<p>"I have had a letter and a paper. The decision was in his favour. There
+was practically no defence. There couldn't very well have been in face
+of the disclosures, and, while I had a certain sympathy with Ada at
+first, I have none now."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie sat silent a minute, a faint flush in her face. Then she suddenly
+raised her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt," she said, "I suppose you don't know it was about Ada that
+Charley and I quarrelled? In fact, it was on her account I nearly drove
+him away from me altogether. In that, too, it seems that I was wrong. I
+wonder sometimes how he ever forgave me, or why I have so much I never
+deserved to have at all."</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing further, and went out presently.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> That afternoon and
+for several subsequent days, she opened Leland's letters, finding
+nothing that must be kept back from him. But one evening, however, she
+sent for Gallwey when he came in from harvesting, and, signing him to
+sit down, handed him a letter from the Winnipeg broker.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell me what you think I ought to do?" she said. "You will see
+that the man must have an answer."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey studied the letter carefully for several minutes. When he laid
+it down, he felt a certain sympathy with Mrs. Leland, though he fancied
+she would show herself equal to the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"It's rather unfortunate it should have come just now," she said.
+"Still, it is here, and I want your views."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey looked thoughtful. "The thing is rather a big one. As I daresay
+you know, there are different kinds of wheat, but our hard red is rather
+a favourite with millers. There is, it seems, a man who, subject to one
+or two conditions about samples being up to usual grade, is willing to
+buy about half the crop from Charley at a cent the bushel more than he
+previously offered. I wonder if you quite grasp the significance of
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Prices are rising?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not necessarily, though they are certainly steadier. This man may have
+orders for some special flour for which our grade of red is preferable,
+though he could, of course, get other wheat which would, no doubt, do
+almost as well. Still, prices have, at least, stiffened. It is what is
+called a rally, and it may last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> a week or so, though it is somewhat
+strange it should happen now, when everybody has wheat to sell."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment. "If you sell this wheat, and prices fall, you will
+have made an excellent bargain, though the figure doesn't cover
+expenses. On the contrary, if prices go up, you will have thrown a good
+deal of money away. You have to bear in mind that it represents about
+half the crop, which makes it evident that a good deal depends upon a
+right decision."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any idea what prices will do?"</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey made a little gesture. "To be frank, I haven't, and I should
+shrink from mentioning it if I had. There are thousands of people up and
+down this country trying in vain to reason it out, and I have no doubt
+that some of the keenest men in the business find the same difficulty. I
+daren't advise you."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie sat silent for at least a minute, and then looked at him gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"If I sell, we shall not cover expenses; if I hold, we may be ruined
+altogether or it might pour hundreds of dollars into Charley's bank?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Gallwey. "That is it exactly."</p>
+
+<p>Again there was silence, and then Carrie looked up with a little sparkle
+in her eyes. "Charley's not so well to-day, and this would certainly
+make him ill again. It seems I must not shrink from the responsibility.
+When he does not know exactly what to do, it is the boldest course that
+appeals to him. Write the man in Winnipeg that I will not sell a
+bushel."</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey rose and made her a little inclination. "It shall be done," he
+said. "I wonder if one might venture to compliment you on your
+courage?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>Now the thing was decided, Carrie Leland sat still, somewhat limp, and
+pale in face again.</p>
+
+<p>After that, some ten days passed uneventfully until the doctor came
+back. He did not appear particularly pleased with Leland's condition,
+and repeated his instructions about keeping him quiet and undisturbed.
+He left Carrie anxious, for she could not persuade herself that her
+husband was looking any better. He was, however, rapidly becoming short
+in temper, and, soon after the doctor had gone, she had another struggle
+with him. Entering the room quietly, she found he had raised himself on
+the pillows and was looking about him.</p>
+
+<p>"If you would tell me where my clothes are, I'd be much obliged," he
+said. "That man's no good at his business. I'm going to get up."</p>
+
+<p>He made an effort to rise then and there. With some difficulty, Carrie
+induced him to lie down again. He listened to what she had to say with
+evident impatience, and then shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm to keep quiet, and not worry. There's no sense in the thing," he
+said. "How can I help chafing and fuming when I have to lie here, while
+everything goes wrong, and nobody will tell me what is being done? I
+felt a little dizzy just now, or you wouldn't have got me back again,
+but I'm going to make another attempt to-morrow. You have to remember
+that when I get up I get better. I've never been tied up like this
+before, and the only thing that's wrong with me is that I've had a
+doctor."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie contrived to quiet him, though she did not find it easy. When at
+last he had gone to sleep she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> went out, meeting Gallwey in the hall. He
+glanced at her with a little sympathetic smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I came upon the doctor riding away," he said. "It appears that Charley
+has been telling him frankly what he thought of him. I suppose he has
+been trying to get up again?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said he had, and Gallwey appeared to consider.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said, "it might, perhaps, help to keep him quiet if you let
+him know that the appeal to the police authorities has been considered
+favourably. I met Sergeant Grier, and he told me that they have sent him
+half a dozen more troopers. He seems tolerably confident that he can lay
+hands on the rustlers' leaders, though he was in too much haste to tell
+me how it was to be done. By the way, I'm afraid you will have to get
+Charley to write a cheque in a day or two. We'll have to pay the Ontario
+harvesters shortly."</p>
+
+<p>He left her relieved, at least, to hear that Grier saw some prospect of
+putting the outlaws down, but another couple of weeks had passed before
+she heard anything more of him or them. In the meanwhile, the Sergeant,
+as he had indeed expected, met with a good many difficulties. He was
+supplied with plentiful information concerning the outlaws, but the
+trouble was that he could not always decide how much of it was meant to
+be misleading until he had acted upon it. After a week's hard riding,
+during which his men had very little sleep, he found himself one night
+with six of them rather more than sixty miles west of Prospect. He had
+that day surrounded what he had been told was one of the whisky boys'
+coverts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> in a big bluff, and "drawn a blank," a thing that had happened
+once or twice already. The horses were dead weary, the men worn-out, so
+he decided to camp where he was in a thick growth of willows. A cooking
+fire was lighted, and when the men had eaten, all but two, who were left
+to watch the horses, lay down, rolled in their blankets.</p>
+
+<p>It was about an hour before the dawn when Trooper Standish paced up and
+down on the outskirts of the bluff. He had been in the saddle under a
+hot sun most of twelve hours the previous day, and now felt more than a
+little shivery as well as weary. A little breeze came sighing out of the
+great waste of plain, and the chill of it struck through his thin, damp
+clothing, in which he had ridden and slept. Trooper Standish was also
+more than a little drowsy, though he would not have admitted it. In
+fact, few men are capable of very much, either in the shape of effort or
+watchfulness, at three o'clock in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>A hundred yards or so behind him, a comrade was standing near the
+tethered horses, though he might have been very much further away for
+all Standish could see of him. A thin fringe of willows lay between
+Standish and the prairie. When he turned a little, he could see the
+faint glow of the fire, which had not quite gone out, where the bushes
+were thicker. Though there was a breeze, it had no great strength, and
+the willows rustled beneath it fitfully with a faint and eery sighing.
+As it happened, this was a little louder than usual, when Trooper
+Standish stopped to listen and consider. His duty in such cases was, of
+course, quite clear, but now that the willows had stopped rustling,
+there was no sound, and he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> aware that the young trooper who rouses
+his worn-out comrades without due cause, after a hard day's ride, has
+usually reason to regret it. Besides this, he remembered that he had not
+played a very brilliant part in another affair, and he still tingled
+under the recollection of the others' jibes. Accordingly, he prowled
+cautiously through the bluff, and then sauntered back towards his
+comrade.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you have heard nothing suspicious?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the man. "I didn't expect to, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't hear me call out, either?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't. If you'd made any noise, I would have heard you. Have any of
+the whisky boys been crawling in on you?"</p>
+
+<p>Trooper Standish gazed hard at the man, who had evidently asked the
+question ironically. He certainly seemed wide awake, and it occurred to
+Standish that he might have been half asleep himself, and had only
+fancied that he called out. He accordingly decided that it might be just
+as well if he said nothing further about the matter, and he strode away
+on his round again.</p>
+
+<p>The sun was creeping up above the prairie when one of his comrades,
+rising to waken the Sergeant, saw a strip of folded paper, of the kind
+used by the storekeepers for packing, fixed between the branches of a
+willow close by. Grier took it down, and his face grew intent when he
+saw that there was a message scribbled across one part of it.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want to do Leland a good turn, get up and ride," it said. "The
+boys are holding Prospect up to-night."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>Then Grier turned to the astonished troopers. "It may be a bluff to put
+us off the trail," he said. "Leland keeps good watch at Prospect, and
+has it full of harvesters."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said one of the others, "I don't quite know. Last time I met one
+of his teamsters he told me they'd have no use for most of the
+harvesters in a day or two. He said something, too, about the boys going
+out to the railroad to haul the new thresher in. I guess that would keep
+them away three or four days altogether."</p>
+
+<p>Grier looked thoughtful. "Oh, yes," he said. "I've heard that mill's an
+extra big one, and they were most of a day getting the old one across
+the ravine. It's quite certain, too, that Leland has a good many friends
+up and down the country who now and then break prairie or cut hay for
+him, and, as some of them stand in with the rustlers, too, it's easy to
+figure why the man who sent us this warning didn't want to show himself.
+Well, I guess we'll take our chances of being wanted, though the horses
+are dead played out, and I don't know where to get another within thirty
+miles. Nobody who can help it is going to let us have a horse at harvest
+time."</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned sharply. "Who was on horse-guard with Ainger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Standish," said one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>Grier smiled unpleasantly. "Send him along. Then get your fire lighted
+and look after your horses. We'll start for Prospect when you've had
+breakfast, but I guess some of you are going to walk a few leagues
+to-day."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">LELAND STRIKES BACK</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was about ten o'clock at night, and Carrie was sitting with Eveline
+Annersly in the big general room at Prospect. Leland, who had been
+brought downstairs to be further away from the hot roof, lay asleep in
+another room that opened off the corridor leading to the kitchen. Almost
+every man attached to the homestead was away. The threshers were
+expected on the morrow, for throughout that country the wheat is
+threshed where it stands in the sheaves, and it had always been a
+difficult matter to convey the mill and engine across the ravine. The
+thresher now expected was an unusually large one, and Gallwey had set
+out with most of the teams to assist the men in charge of it. He had,
+however, promised to come back with some of the boys that night.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was a little sleepy, for she had borne her part in the stress of
+work usual in a Western homestead at harvest time; but she had no
+thought of retiring until Gallwey arrived. Nothing had been heard of the
+outlaws since the fire, but since most of the harvesters would require
+to be paid and sent home in a day or two, there was a good deal of money
+for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> the purpose in the house. It seemed that Eveline Annersly was also
+thinking of it, for presently she looked at her companion with a little
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"It is on the whole fortunate my nerves are reasonably good," she said.
+"It would be singularly inconvenient if Charley's whisky-smuggling
+friends should visit us to-night. Your bills could, one would fancy, be
+got rid of more easily than English notes, and I understand there are a
+good many of them in Charley's room."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed, for she was unwilling to admit she had any
+apprehensions. She felt that, if she did so, they might become
+oppressive.</p>
+
+<p>"There are," she said. "A visit to the settlement means two days lost,
+and Gallwey and I decided to get enough to pay the threshers, too, so as
+to save another journey. I had expected him back by now."</p>
+
+<p>She rose, and, going out, opened the homestead door. It was a quiet,
+star-lit night, with no moon in the sky, and the prairie rolled away
+before her dim and shadowy. Not a sound rose from it. Even the wind was
+still. As she gazed out across the dusky waste, something in its
+vastness and silence impressed her as never before. She had grown to
+love the prairie, but there were times when its desolation reacted
+almost unpleasantly on her. The homestead, with its barns and stables
+standing back beneath the stars, seemed so little, an insignificant
+speck on that great sweep of plain. She roused herself to listen, but no
+beat of hoofs crept out of the soft darkness, and it was evident that
+Gallwey was a long way off yet.</p>
+
+<p>Then she turned with a little shiver, and went back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> into the house.
+Crossing the big room, she went down the corridor, and softly opened the
+door of the room where her husband slept. A lamp was burning dimly, and
+it showed his quiet face, now a trifle haggard and lined with care.
+Carrie's eyes grew gentle as she looked at him, for he had been very
+restless and apparently not so well that day, while it was evident to
+her that his vigour was coming back to him very slowly. Then, as she
+turned, her eyes rested on the safe, and again a thrill of apprehension
+ran through her. She was glad that Gallwey had the key.</p>
+
+<p>She went back to the general room, and, though she had not noticed it so
+much before, found the stillness oppressive. There was not a sound, and,
+when her companion turned over a paper, the rustle of it startled her.</p>
+
+<p>"I almost wish I had not let Tom Gallwey go," she said. "Still, it was
+necessary. The threshers couldn't have got their machine here without
+the boys."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly looked up. "I certainly wish he had come back, though I
+suppose he can't be very long now. He told you ten o'clock, I think. In
+the meanwhile you might find this account of the wedding at Scaleby
+Garth interesting."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie held out her hand for the paper, but her attention wandered from
+the description of the scene in the little English church. She had left
+the outer door open, and found herself listening for a reassuring beat
+of hoofs; but nothing disturbed the deep silence of the prairie. Half an
+hour had passed when she straightened herself suddenly in her chair,
+with her heart beating fast, and saw that Eveline Annersly's face was
+intent as she gazed towards the door.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>"Oh!" she said. "You heard it, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the elder lady, with a tremor in her voice. "It sounded like
+a step."</p>
+
+<p>In another moment there was no doubt about it, and Carrie rose with a
+little catching of her breath as a shadowy figure appeared in the hall.
+For a moment she stood as though turned to stone, and then suddenly
+roused herself to action as a man came into the room.</p>
+
+<p>He stopped just inside the threshold, a big, dusty man, with a damp,
+bronzed face; but, as it happened, it was Eveline Annersly his eyes
+first rested on. He glanced at her suspiciously, and then swung round as
+he heard a rattle, just in time to see Carrie snatch down her husband's
+rifle.</p>
+
+<p>She stood very straight, breathless, and a trifle white in face, but
+there was something suggestive in the way the rifle lay in her left
+hand. The man could see that a swift jerk would bring the butt in to her
+shoulder and the barrel in line with him, while the girl's gaze was also
+disconcertingly fixed and steady. She had stood now and then just
+outside the woods at Barrock-holme, with a little 16-bore in her hands,
+getting her share of the pheasants as they came over. The intruder could
+shoot well enough himself to realise that when the barrel went up her
+finger would be clenched upon the trigger. His hand was at his belt, but
+he kept it there, and for a second or two the pair looked at one
+another. Then he quietly turned round, which argued courage, and called
+to somebody outside.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, boys," he said. "Here's a thing we hadn't quite figured on."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>Carrie turned when he did, and in another moment she was standing with
+her back to the door that led to the corridor, while Eveline Annersly,
+who gasped, looked at her with horror in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Carrie did not look in her direction. She was watching the outer door,
+and stood tense and still, but with something in her pose that suggested
+a readiness for swift, decisive movement. In fact, her attitude vaguely
+reminded her companion of a bent bow, or a snake half coiled to strike.
+Her face was set, and there was a portentous glint in her very steady
+eyes. Her voice was harsh, but impressively quiet.</p>
+
+<p>"If they try to get into Charley's room I am going to kill one of them,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>Then two other men came in, and one of them made a little half-whimsical
+gesture.</p>
+
+<p>"Hadn't you better be reasonable, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We're not
+going to hurt you."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want?" asked the girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Money," said the man who had come in first. "Anyway, that's the first
+thing. You have plenty of it here. Tom Gallwey brought a big wallet out
+from the settlement a week ago. They're in the safe in the room behind
+you, too."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie, nervous and overwrought as she was, decided to temporise.
+Gallwey could not be long, and he had promised to bring some of the boys
+home with him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, in a strained voice, "I haven't the key."</p>
+
+<p>One of the men laughed. "That's not going to worry us. If we can't open
+it with a stick of giant-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>powder, we'll take the safe along. It's hardly
+likely to be a big one."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it's only the money you want?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's perceptions had never been keener than they were that night,
+and she saw one of the others glance at his comrade warningly. She also
+saw the little vindictive gleam in another man's eyes, and she
+understood. It was not alone to empty Leland's safe they had come, and
+he lay sick and helpless in the room where it stood. One other thing was
+also clear to her, and it was that none of them should go in there at
+any cost.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the outlaw, "if we got the money without unpleasantness, it
+would help to make things pleasanter for everybody, and we're going to
+get it, anyway. The only two men about this homestead are held up in the
+stable, and there are quite a few of us here. I guess you had better let
+us in to the safe."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie moved a trifle, bringing her left arm, which was aching, further
+forward. "I think there are two keys belonging to the safe," she said.
+"I wonder if I could remember where the other one is."</p>
+
+<p>She delayed them at least a minute while she appeared to consider, and
+then the men evidently lost their patience, for one of them turned
+angrily to their leader.</p>
+
+<p>"We have no use for so much talking, and want to get ahead," he said.
+"It's a sure thing they wouldn't leave the place empty any length of
+time with Leland sick, and I guess you're going to have Gallwey and the
+boys down on you if you stay here long."</p>
+
+<p>One of his comrades growled approvingly. "Oh," he said, "quit talking.
+If she hasn't got that key on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> her, she doesn't know where it is. We'll
+run in and get hold of her. It's even chances she has nothing in the
+gun."</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the suggestion commended itself to all of them, but
+the trouble was that nobody seemed anxious to put it into execution.
+Carrie pressed down the magazine slide with one hand. It would, however,
+only move a very little, and she realised that the magazine was almost
+full. Then she laughed harshly, and the sound jarred on Eveline
+Annersly's ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "why don't you come?"</p>
+
+<p>Then she started, and endeavoured to put a further restraint upon
+herself, for it seemed to her that a very faint drumming sound rose from
+the prairie. None of the others, however, appeared to hear it. In
+another moment an inspiration seemed to dawn on one of the men.</p>
+
+<p>"Put the lamp out, and we'll get her easy in the dark," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly failed to check a little startled cry, but Carrie
+turned towards the leader of the outlaws very quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop a moment," she said. "You daren't hurt a woman. It would raise all
+the prairie against you; but, if one of you comes near that lamp, I will
+certainly shoot him."</p>
+
+<p>The leader made a little gesture, half of admiration and half of anger.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he said, "we've had 'bout enough talking, and your husband
+spoiled our game when he brought those troopers in. We know who sent for
+them. Well, we're lighting out for good after we've cleaned his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> safe
+out, and done one or two other little things. We don't want to hurt you,
+but we're not going to be held up by a woman. It's your last chance. Do
+you mean to be reasonable?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie was white to the lips, for it was perfectly plain that they
+intended to have a reckoning, before they went, with the man who had
+driven them out.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep back from the light!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>Then the outlaw made a little half-impatient gesture of resignation.
+"Well," he said, "you'll have to get hold of her, boys."</p>
+
+<p>They came forward, but, though that would have been wiser, they did not
+run. Two of them moved crouchingly, and Carrie could not see the third
+man. Still, they had only made a pace or two when one of them suddenly
+straightened himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out!" he said; "we're going to have trouble now."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie could not see the door behind her open, but Eveline Annersly saw
+it, and gasped. Then she laughed, a little hoarse laugh that at any
+other time would have jarred on those who heard it, as Leland appeared
+in the opening. He was in pyjamas, and his face was white and haggard.
+One arm, still bound up, hung at his side, but a big pistol glinted in
+his other hand. One of the outlaws recoiled, but his comrade sprang
+towards the lamp. Mrs. Annersly saw Carrie's rifle pitched forward,
+there was a double detonation, two jarring reports so close together
+that one could scarcely distinguish between them, and the man nearest
+the light reeled and struck the table before he sank into a huddled heap
+on the floor. A streak of blue smoke hovered in the middle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> of the room,
+and another filmy cloud floated about the inner door, through which
+Leland presently lurched, gaunt and pale and grim, with a look in his
+eyes that Eveline Annersly remembered afterwards with horror. He said
+nothing whatever, but his pistol blazed, and the room resounded with the
+quick, whip-like reports. Then there was thick darkness as the light
+went out. So far as Eveline Annersly, who was the only one who
+remembered anything, could make out, two of the outlaws retreated
+towards the door, shouting for their comrades; but they did not reach
+it, for a voice rang sharply outside.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold up!" it said; "we've got you this time sure."</p>
+
+<p>What took place outside did not appear at once, but a few minutes later
+somebody came in, calling out for Mrs. Leland, and struck a match. It
+went out, but another man soon appeared, holding up a lamp, the light of
+which showed Leland leaning upon the table with an arm round his wife,
+who was laughing hysterically.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't hit him, I didn't! You fired first!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right," said Leland, soothingly. "Anyway, there's a good
+deal of life in him yet. I'm quite sure I plugged another of them just
+before the light went out."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie turned half round, glancing towards the man, who was struggling
+to raise himself from the floor, and then once more clung to Leland with
+a little cry.</p>
+
+<p>Then Trooper Standish set down the lamp, and Sergeant Grier came
+forward, while several hot and dusty troopers stood revealed about the
+door.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>"Is there anybody hurt except this man?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Leland said there was nobody so far as he knew, and the Sergeant nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I guess you and Mrs. Leland had better light out of this, while we
+see what can be done for him and another man the boys have outside. I'll
+come along and tell you about it later."</p>
+
+<p>Leland began to expostulate. "I've been tied up by the leg long enough,
+and there are one or two things I want to do right now."</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant, who ignored him, turned to Carrie with a little dry smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Get him back to his bed, Mrs. Leland, as quick as you can, and send
+your friend away," he said. "You're going to have no more trouble, but
+this is no place for you."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie seemed to rouse herself, and with some difficulty led her
+protesting husband away. Half an hour had passed when the Sergeant and
+Gallwey, who had arrived in the meanwhile, were admitted to Leland's
+room. He now lay, partly dressed, in a big chair, for nothing that
+Carrie could do would induce him to go back to bed again. Grier sat down
+with a little smile, and Carrie looked at him warningly.</p>
+
+<p>"You are not to excite him," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Excite me!" said Leland. "It's the one thing that has cured me. I'll be
+going round with the threshers in a day or two."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the Sergeant, "it's quite a simple tale. One of your
+friends, perhaps a boy who'd worked for you, gave us the office at
+sun-up, and we started as soon as we heard what the rustlers meant to
+do. It seems, from what one or two of them have admitted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> that they
+knew the game was up when the new troopers came, and meant to get even
+with you before lighting out."</p>
+
+<p>"How did they know the boys were away, and what in the name of thunder
+did Gallwey keep them all this while at the ravine for?" Leland broke
+in.</p>
+
+<p>Grier raised his hand. "You keep still. I'm telling this thing my own
+way. How the whisky boys found out more than that is one of the points
+I'm going to inquire into. Well, we started, and before we were half-way
+most of the horses were dead played out; and though I went round by a
+ranch, the boys were out driving cattle, and had only two horses in the
+stable. I guess we led the horses most of the rest of the way, until,
+when we were a league off, I rode on with one of the boys. Then, coming
+in quietly, we saw there was something wrong. While we waited for the
+boys, we fixed things so that we got our hands on four of the gang. Two
+of them are the bosses, and one of them wants a doctor, as well as the
+other man with the bullet in his leg. That's about all there is to it.
+You're not going to have any more trouble with the rustlers."</p>
+
+<p>"Will the man Charley shot get well?" asked Carrie, with tense anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>The Sergeant smiled. "Oh, yes," he said. "He'll be on his way to Regina
+jail in a day or two."</p>
+
+<p>He went out with Gallwey by-and-bye, and Carrie sat down by her husband,
+with a little happy laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "that's one trouble done with; and, if you won't excite
+yourself, Charley, I'll tell you something more. Wheat is going up."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">HARVEST</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>There was no longer any fierceness in the sunshine, and the day was
+cloudless and pleasantly cool when Carrie Leland and Eveline Annersly
+strolled through the harvest field at the middle of afternoon. The
+aspect of things had changed since the morning Leland had fallen from
+his binder, for, though there was a little breeze, the wheat no longer
+rolled before it in rippling waves. It stood piled in long rows of
+sheaves that gleamed with bronze and gold in a great sweep of
+ochre-tinted stubble, beyond which the prairie stretched back, dusty
+white, to the cold blueness of the northern horizon.</p>
+
+<p>The sheaves were, however, melting fast, for waggons piled high with
+them moved towards a big machine that showed up dimly against a cloud of
+smoke and dust in the foreground. A long spout rose high above it,
+pouring down a golden cascade of straw upon a shapeless mound, and a
+swarm of half-seen figures toiled amidst the dust. The threshers are
+usually paid by the bushel in that country, and since they have, as they
+would say, no use for anything but the latest and most powerful engine
+and mill, it was only by fierce, persistent effort the men of Prospect
+kept the big machine fed. Its smoke trail drifted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> far down the prairie,
+and through the deep hum it made there rose the thud of hoofs and the
+sounds of human activity, which, it seemed to Carrie Leland as she stood
+in the bright sunshine under the cloudless sky, had a glad, exultant
+note in them. It stirred her curiously with its vague suggestion of
+faith that had proved warranted. Once more there had been a fulfilment
+of the promise made when the waters dried, and, in spite of drought and
+scourging hail, the harvest had not failed.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, "it is easy to be an optimist to-day. It is the looking
+forward when everything appears against one that is difficult; but, when
+I remember the springtime, I feel I shall never have any reason to be
+proud of myself again."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm not sure the time you mentioned
+could have been particularly pleasant to Charley, either."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said Carrie, with a little sigh, "he held fast to his optimism
+and worked, while I let the gloom of it overmaster me."</p>
+
+<p>"And now, as the result of it, that machine is threshing out I don't
+know how many thousand bushels of splendid wheat."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie's eyes grew gentle, and there was a little thrill in her voice.
+"We have both of us ever so much more than the wheat to be thankful
+for," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Then she changed the subject abruptly. "Aunt, if you want to catch the
+New York mail, you will have to answer that letter to-night. You know
+that neither of us wants you to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to go back to England?"</p>
+
+<p>Carrie looked at the wheat and great sweep of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> prairie with glowing
+eyes. "I think I should be content wherever my husband went. There was a
+time when I fancied that if we had several good harvests and he sold
+Prospect, it would be nice to go back with him to the old country, but
+now I do not know. I seem to have grown since I came out here, and the
+prairie has, as he would say, got hold of me. It is so big and
+strenuous, there is so much in this country that is worth doing, and I
+think Charley is like it in many ways. No, I scarcely fancy he would
+ever be quite happy in England. But, after all, that is not the
+question. We want you. Do you feel you must go back again?"</p>
+
+<p>Her companion smiled a little. "I am not altogether sure that I do, but
+one has to consider a good many things. The house Florence writes about
+at Cransly is pretty and convenient, and, by sharing expenses, we could
+live there comfortably enough. Still, you know the life two elderly
+ladies would lead at Cransly, and after Barrock-holme&mdash;and
+Prospect&mdash;there are ways in which it would not appeal to me very
+strongly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know," and Carrie laughed. "You would be expected to set
+everybody a model of propriety, and to rule with the vicar's wife such
+society as there is in the place. You would have to know the exact shade
+of graciousness to bestow upon the wife of the local doctor, and how to
+check the presumptuous advances of the retired tradesman or the
+daughters of the stranger who settled within your borders. Isn't it all
+a little small and petty?"</p>
+
+<p>She turned once more to the prairie with a gesture of pride. "Ah," she
+said, "out here it's only what is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> essential that comes first. We open
+our gates to the stranger and give him our best, even when he comes on
+foot in dusty jean. It's manhood that counts for everything, and Charley
+and the others are always opening the gates a little wider. We take all
+who come, the poor and the outcast, and ask no questions. One has only
+to look round and see what the prairie has made of them. Aunt, I think
+the greatest thing in human nature is the faith of the optimist. No, I
+shall stay here, and you will stay with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I think a little would naturally depend upon what Charley wants."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie laughed. "Well," she said, "we will ascertain his views. He is
+not as a rule very diffident about expressing them."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Gallwey, somewhat lightly dressed, drove up just then in a waggon
+piled with grain bags.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Charley?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Gallwey smiled. "Lifting four-bushel wheat sacks into a waggon. He has
+been doing it most of the afternoon, too, and I almost think it would be
+wise if you looked after him."</p>
+
+<p>He drove on, and Carrie attempted to frown. "Isn't he exasperating?" she
+said. "The doctor told him he was to take it very easy for at least
+another month, and he promised me he would do nothing hard."</p>
+
+<p>They went on towards the thresher, walking delicately among the flinty
+stubble, until they reached the edge of the whirling dust. Overhead the
+straw was rushing down through a haze of smoke. Below, half-naked men
+toiled savagely about the big machine. Steam was roaring from the
+engine, for the threshers were firing recklessly, and the thudding clank
+of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> engine and hum of the clattering mill were almost deafening.
+There was a constant passing upwards of golden sheaves, a constant
+downward stream of straw, and the dusty air seemed filled with toiling
+men and kicking teams.</p>
+
+<p>Then Carrie went forward into the midst of the press, for it was
+naturally where the activity was fiercest that she expected to find her
+husband. He was with another harvester pitching up big sacks into a
+waggon. As a bushel of wheat weighs approximately sixty pounds, it was
+an occupation that demanded much from the man engaged in it. She touched
+him on the shoulder, looking at him reproachfully when he swung round
+and let the bag drop.</p>
+
+<p>"Charley," she said, "you remember your promise?"</p>
+
+<p>The twinkle crept into Leland's eyes. "Oh, yes," he said, "I told you
+I'd do nothing hard. When you know the trick of it, this thing's quite
+easy."</p>
+
+<p>It did not appear so to Carrie. "Come away at once," she said. "You are
+to do no more this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made a little whimsical gesture of resignation, but it is
+possible that he was not altogether sorry; for, though he had recovered
+rapidly since the affair with the whisky boys, his full strength had not
+come back, and he had been lifting grain bags for several hours. In any
+event, he put on his jacket, and, brushing a little of the dust off his
+person, went away with her. They sat down together with Eveline
+Annersly, beneath one of the straw-pile granaries that stood in a row
+amidst the stubble.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Eveline is thinking of going away," said Carrie.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>Leland started, and there was no doubt that his concern was genuine.
+"Oh," he said, "the thing's quite out of the question. She told me she
+was going to stay with us as long as we wanted her."</p>
+
+<p>"I did," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I really think you can do
+without me now."</p>
+
+<p>Both Carrie and her husband knew exactly what she meant, but it was the
+latter who had the courage to admit it.</p>
+
+<p>"Madam&mdash;" he began.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly checked him with a smile. "The title has gone out of
+fashion, with a few other old-fashioned things you still seem to cling
+to in the newest West. I do not like it&mdash;from you."</p>
+
+<p>Leland made her a bow that included Carrie. "Well," he said, "Aunt
+Eveline&mdash;and that, because of the humanity in it, is, perhaps, a finer
+title&mdash;I'm talking now, and you are going to listen to me. You were kind
+to me at Barrock-holme, where I was what you call an outsider, and you
+gave me the greatest thing I ever had, or that ever could come to me.
+You didn't find it easy. Things were far from promising when you were
+half-way through, but you stood by me, and now do you think there is
+anything that would be too much for me to do for you?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a little silence. It was the first time the fact that all
+three recognised had been put into words, and a faint flush mantled
+Eveline Annersly's cheeks. Still, her eyes were gentle, and there was no
+doubt that the bond between the little faded lady, upon whom the stamp
+of station was plain, and the gaunt prairie farmer, with the hard hands
+and the bronzed face, sprinkled with the dust of toil, was a wondrous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>
+strong one. In England it would, perhaps, have seemed incomprehensible,
+an anachronism; but amidst the long rows of sheaves he had called up out
+of the prairie there was nothing strange in their communion. After all,
+it is manhood that counts in the new Northwest.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, quietly, "it was a great responsibility, and there
+were times when I was horribly afraid. Still, events have proved me
+right, and I think it is the greatest compliment I could pay you when I
+say that it was to make Carrie safe I did it."</p>
+
+<p>Carrie said nothing, but there was faith and confidence in her eyes when
+she turned them for a moment upon her husband as he spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"And now you talk of going away," he said. "Aunt Eveline, we want you
+here always, both of us. You stood by us through the struggle, for it
+has been a hard one this year, and now I want you to share in the result
+of it. Oh, I know, in some ways it's a hard country for a woman brought
+up like you, but things will be different at Prospect with wheat going
+up, and there's one great argument you can't get over&mdash;what Carrie
+Leland is content with is sufficient for any woman on this earth."</p>
+
+<p>They had just decided that she was to stay, when Sergeant Grier rode up.
+He swung himself out of the saddle, and tossed Leland a bundle of
+papers.</p>
+
+<p>"I got one or two at the settlement, and Custer asked me to hand you the
+rest," he said. "I guess you'll be glad to see that wheat is jumping up.
+It seems as if everybody was buying. Still, that wasn't what I came to
+talk about."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>"You don't want me at the trial of the rustlers' friends?" asked Leland,
+impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>Grier laughed. "I guess we'll fix them without you. It's quite easy to
+find out things, now the gangs are broken up. I heard from Regina the
+other day, and the man who got the bullet in his leg is already doing
+something useful&mdash;making roads, I think. The other fellow is going out
+with the work gang as soon as he's strong enough."</p>
+
+<p>"But if they let them out, won't they run away?" asked Carrie.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not," said the Sergeant, drily. "They hitch a nice little
+weight to their ankles when it appears advisable, and a warder with a
+shot-gun keeps his eye on them." Then he turned to Leland. "I want a few
+particulars about that last fire you had."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll get them after supper. In the meanwhile there's something Tom
+Gallwey wants to talk to you about. Hadn't you better put up your
+horse?"</p>
+
+<p>Sergeant Grier appeared willing to do so, for the fare at Prospect was
+proverbially good. Presently he moved off to the stables. Carrie then
+remembered that she had several matters to attend to. The commissariat
+required supervision when there were threshers about. She, however, made
+Leland promise that he would do nothing further, and left him with
+Eveline Annersly. He turned to the latter with an apologetic smile as he
+took up one or two of the papers the Sergeant had brought.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm rather interested in the markets. You don't mind?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly said she didn't, and watched him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> with pleasure as he
+glanced at the papers in turn, for it was evident that the news was
+reassuring.</p>
+
+<p>"They've got the bears this time&mdash;screwed up tight," he said. "Two of
+the big men gone under&mdash;couldn't get the wheat to cover, and it looks to
+me as if there is a bull movement everywhere. I can't remember prices
+ever stiffening this way before when the wheat was pouring in, and, if
+the bulls can swing the thing over harvest, there's no saying what they
+may go to."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad you're satisfied," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, your
+observations are not very clear to me."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked at her with a smile. "The fact is that it seems quite
+likely I'm going to be comparatively rich. I'm 'most where I stood this
+time last year already, and if the market doesn't break away under the
+harvest, prices are going up and up. One thing's certain&mdash;Carrie's going
+to have a month in New York."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped a moment and looked at his companion steadily. "It's rather a
+curious thing that, when I suggested she might like a run over to
+Barrock-holme, she didn't seem to want to go. And there's another point
+that's puzzling me. When I mention the crescent or the pearls, why does
+she want to change the subject?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly decided to tell him. "The two things go together. It
+happens now and then that a woman has to choose between her relations
+and her husband. Carrie chose you. Those jewels are, you know, worth a
+good deal of money, and, while they belong to her, there is reason for
+believing that, unless she had shown herself resolute, Jimmy would have
+had them instead. In fact, I have a notion that her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> father found it
+distressingly inconvenient to send them. One can raise money on such
+things in England."</p>
+
+<p>A deeper hue crept into Leland's sun-darkened face. "I understand
+now&mdash;that is, some of it," he said. "It would be better if you made the
+whole thing clear."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there was a time when you were rather hard pressed for a thousand
+pounds. Carrie, if I remember, found you a much larger sum. But she
+evidently did not tell you where her jewels went."</p>
+
+<p>The man's eyes glowed. When at last he spoke, there was a thrill in his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"It hurts me, in a way, to think of it&mdash;but what does that matter?" he
+said. "Her jewels, everything she had .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. when I was in a tight place,
+she brought them all to me. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. It was the two thousand pounds that
+saved me. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Shall I have time enough to get even with her in all my
+life, Aunt Eveline?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline Annersly smiled reassuringly. "One ought to do a good many
+little things in a lifetime, and, after all, it is deeds of gratitude
+that please us most."</p>
+
+<p>They went in some little time afterwards. While they sat at supper
+together, one of Leland's distant neighbours came in.</p>
+
+<p>"I've ridden straight from the settlement. Macartney had a wire from
+Winnipeg just before I left," he said. "Wheat jumped up another cent
+to-day."</p>
+
+<p>Leland looked across the table at Gallwey. "Tom," he said, "before I
+fell sick, my broker sent along an offer for about half the crop. I
+wouldn't sell. But I have wondered once or twice if the other man made
+another bid."</p>
+
+<p>"He did," said Gallwey, with a quiet smile. "There were, as you may
+remember, two or three weeks when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> we told you very little, and you
+wouldn't have understood anything during the first of them. At the time
+everybody round here was anxious to sell&mdash;that is, except Mrs. Leland.
+By her instructions, I wrote your broker that you meant to hold on to
+every bushel."</p>
+
+<p>Leland said nothing, for there were others present, but Carrie felt her
+face grow hot when he looked at her. It was also significant that soon
+after the meal was over the others seemed to feel they would be excused
+if they went out to watch the threshing. Gallwey, whose face beamed,
+surmised that the impression was conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly,
+though he could not be sure how she had accomplished it.</p>
+
+<p>The dusk came early now, but a full moon was rising above the prairie,
+and men still toiled about the big machine, whose hum rang through the
+stillness. Loaded waggons lurched through the crackling stubble. Outside
+the homestead, Leland sat with his wife, watching them.</p>
+
+<p>"The first wheat we sell will get that crescent back," he said. "The
+next will take us for two months to New York. We'll start when the snow
+is on the ground, but it will not be like that first drive we had."</p>
+
+<p>There was a curious little tremor in Carrie Leland's voice. "Charley,"
+she said, "everything is different now. You have driven out the rustlers
+and you have saved your wheat."</p>
+
+<p>Leland laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"That isn't quite what you mean, and, after all, it wouldn't go very far
+by itself. The thing that counts the most is that Carrie Leland is
+content with her prairie farmer."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="wide" />
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+<span class="i0"><b>Brass Bowl, The.</b> By Louis Joseph Vance.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Brethren, The.</b> By H. Rider Haggard.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Broken Lance, The.</b> By Herbert Quick.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>By Wit of Women.</b> By Arthur W. Marchmont.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Call of the Blood, The.</b> By Robert Hitchens.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Cap'n Eri.</b> By Joseph C. Lincoln.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Cardigan.</b> By Robert W. Chambers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Car of Destiny, The.</b> By C.&nbsp;N. and A.&nbsp;N. Williamson.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine.</b> By Frank R. Stockton.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Cecilia's Lovers.</b> By Amelia E. Barr.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Circle, The.</b> By Katherine Cecil Thurston (author of "The Masquerader," "The Gambler").<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Colonial Free Lance, A.</b> By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Conquest of Canaan, The.</b> By Booth Tarkington.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Conner of Fortune, A.</b> By Arthur W. Marchmont.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Darrow Enigma, The.</b> By Melvin Severy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Deliverance, The.</b> By Ellen Glasgow.<br /></span>
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+<span class="i0"><b>Empire Builders.</b> By Francis Lynde.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Exploits of Brigadier Gerard.</b> By A. Conan Doyle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Fighting Chance, The.</b> By Robert W. Chambers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>For a Maiden Brave.</b> By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Fugitive Blacksmith, The.</b> By Chas. D. Stewart.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>God's Good Man.</b> By Marie Corelli.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Heart's Highway, The.</b> By Mary E. Wilkins.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Holladay Case, The.</b> By Burton Egbert Stevenson.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Hurricane Island.</b> By H.&nbsp;B. Marriott Watson.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>In Defiance of the King.</b> By Chauncey C Hotchkiss.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Indifference of Juliet, The.</b> By Grace S. Richmond.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Infelice.</b> By Augusta Evans Wilson.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Lady Betty Across the Water.</b> By C.&nbsp;N. and A.&nbsp;M. Williamson.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Lady of the Mount, The.</b> By Frederic S. Isham.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Lane That Had No Turning, The.</b> By Gilbert Parker.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Langford of the Three Bars.</b> By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Last Trail, The.</b> By Zane Grey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Leavenworth Case, The.</b> By Anna Katharine Green.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Lilac Sunbonnet, The.</b> By S.&nbsp;R. Crockett.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Lin McLean.</b> By Owen Wister.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Long Night, The.</b> By Stanley J. Weyman.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><b>Maid at Arms, The.</b> By Robert W. Chambers.<br /></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="wide" />
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original text have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter II, "Branscome Denham is usually at his wits' end" was
+changed to "Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter VII, "Galgary" was changed to "Calgary" in two places.</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXII, "I hadn't meant to memtion it" was changed to "I hadn't
+meant to mention it".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXX, "conveyed to them by Eveline Annersley" was changed to
+"conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly".</p>
+
+<p>The spelling of some words, such as "depot" and "dep&ocirc;t", or "flap-jacks"
+and "flapjacks", is inconsistent in the original text.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of By Right of Purchase, by Harold Bindloss
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of By Right of Purchase, 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: By Right of Purchase
+
+Author: Harold Bindloss
+
+Illustrator: Alfred James Dewey
+
+Release Date: July 12, 2011 [EBook #36705]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT'S MRS. LELAND.
+SHE'S A DAISY!"--Page 297]
+
+
+
+
+By Right of Purchase
+
+By HAROLD BINDLOSS
+
+AUTHOR OF "Alton of Somasco," etc.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY ALFRED JAMES DEWEY
+
+
+A. L. BURT COMPANY
+Publishers        New York
+
+Copyright, 1908, by
+FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
+
+All rights reserved
+
+September, 1908
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER                                     PAGE
+       I.    BARROCK-HOLME                       3
+      II.    LELAND IS ROUSED TO PITY           15
+     III.    PRESSURE OF CIRCUMSTANCES          26
+      IV.    LELAND MAKES THE PLUNGE            36
+       V.    NO ESCAPE                          48
+      VI.    THE PRAIRIE                        60
+     VII.    CARRIE MAKES HER VIEWS CLEAR       73
+    VIII.    LELAND SEEKS DISTRACTION           86
+      IX.    FARMERS IN COUNCIL                 98
+       X.    HOMICIDE                          109
+      XI.    SEEDTIME                          121
+     XII.    LELAND'S PROTEST                  134
+    XIII.    CARRIE ABASES HERSELF             146
+     XIV.    THE OUTLAWS STRIKE BACK           159
+      XV.    BENEFICENT RAIN                   170
+     XVI.    URMSTON SHOWS HIS PRUDENCE        181
+    XVII.    CARRIE MAKES A COMPARISON         191
+   XVIII.    A MIDNIGHT VISITOR                202
+     XIX.    PRAIRIE-HAY                       215
+      XX.    AN UNDERSTANDING                  227
+     XXI.    A WILLING SACRIFICE               237
+    XXII.    HAIL                              248
+   XXIII.    GALLWEY'S ADVENTURE               261
+    XXIV.    LELAND MAKES SURE                 272
+     XXV.    A PORTENTOUS LIGHT                281
+    XXVI.    FIGHTING FIRE                     292
+   XXVII.    LELAND FEELS THE STRAIN           303
+  XXVIII.    CARRIE'S RESPONSIBILITY           313
+    XXIX.    LELAND STRIKES BACK               324
+     XXX.    HARVEST                           335
+
+
+
+
+By Right of Purchase
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BARROCK-HOLME
+
+
+It was a hot September afternoon. Leland wondered vaguely how the
+harvesting and threshing were progressing in his own far distant
+country, as he leant on the moss-grown wall of the terrace beneath the
+old house of Barrock-holme. He had been a week there now as the guest of
+Lieutenant Denham, whose acquaintance he had originally made out on the
+wide prairie in Western Canada, and for whom he had a certain liking
+that was slightly tinged with contempt. The estate would be Jimmy
+Denham's some day, provided that his father succeeded in keeping it out
+of the grasp of his creditors. Those who knew the old man well fancied
+that he might with difficulty accomplish it, for Branscombe Denham of
+Barrock-holme was not troubled by many scruples, and had acquired
+considerable proficiency in the evasion of debts.
+
+The mansion stood on the brink of a ravine in the desolate border
+marshes. Part of it had been built to stand a siege in the days of the
+Scottish wars. The strong square tower was intact and habitable still;
+the rest of the low building stretched round three sides of a
+quadrangle, with a dry moat across the fourth, beyond which lawn and
+flower-garden lay shielded from the shrewd border winds by tall,
+lichened walls. Through an archway one could look down, across
+silver-stemmed birches and dusky firs, upon the Barrock flashing in the
+depths of the ravine.
+
+Leland found the prospect pleasant as he lounged there, with a cigar in
+his hand. He was accustomed to his own country, and there was something
+congenial and, in a fashion, familiar in the sweep of lonely moorlands
+and bleak Scottish hills which stretched, shining warm in the paling
+sunlight, along the northern horizon. It reminded him of his own
+country, which was even more wild and desolate, on the southern border
+of Western Canada. He had been three months in England, and was already
+longing to be home again, though he had found what he called the
+hardness of the North congenial.
+
+It was a land of legends and traditions, of which they were rather proud
+at Barrock-holme. The grey tower had more than once been beset by the
+border spears, on whom the dragon's mouth on the wall above had spouted
+boiling oil. There was an oak on the edge of the ravine which had borne
+bitter fruit in the days of foray, and--for the men of Barrock-holme
+could strike back tellingly then--the quadrangle had been filled with
+Scottish cattle. They were grim, hard men, and what he had heard of
+their doings appealed to Leland. He himself was in some respects a hard
+man, and rather primitive. The life of the wardens of Barrock-holme and
+the moss-troopers was rather more comprehensible to him than the one of
+which he had had brief glimpses in London.
+
+While he stood there, Jimmy Denham came along the terrace, and stopped
+beside him.
+
+"You're not going down to join them?" he said, indicating with a little
+wave of a particularly well-shaped hand the white-clad figures that
+flitted to and fro across a sunken square of turf beyond the lawn.
+
+"No," said Leland. "I don't play tennis well. In fact, I don't play any
+of your games. I never had time to learn them."
+
+Denham sat down upon the wall and looked at him languidly. He was a
+well-favoured young man, tall and fair, with pale blue eyes, and
+distinguished by a finicking, almost feminine daintiness in dress and
+person, though he was proficient in most manly sports and a soldier. His
+friends, however, were aware that his fastidiousness was much less
+noticeable in his character.
+
+"One can't do everything," he said lazily. "I don't know that I've seen
+another beginner show quite as good form at billiards as you do. I'll
+play you fifty with the same allowance as last time. It will be some
+time yet before dinner."
+
+"Not just now. It seems to me I've had about enough of billiards for one
+week. To be quite straight, one finds learning your amusements a trifle
+expensive, and I'm not sure they're worth it. You see, I'm not going to
+stay here forever, and once I go back, it will probably be a very long
+while before I take part in any of them again."
+
+Denham laughed with undiminished good-humour. "Well," he said, "though I
+have taken a little out of you, the acquisition of knowledge is usually
+more or less costly. There's a couple of hours to put in, anyway. What
+would you like to do?"
+
+"I don't mind poker, if you'll make it high enough."
+
+Denham saw the little twinkle in his eyes, and languidly shook his head.
+
+"No," he said; "I rather fancy you would have me there. The suggestion's
+a bit significant, and I have a notion your nerve's too good. Of course,
+it isn't very sporting to say no, but I really can't afford to face a
+risk just now."
+
+"Which was probably why you wanted to play billiards with me?"
+
+Denham regarded him reproachfully for a moment or two, and then made a
+little gesture. "That coming from some people might be considered
+offensive, but nobody seems to mind how you express yourself, although
+your observations aren't always particularly delicate. Still, I'm
+willing to admit that I want fifty pounds rather worse than I generally
+do."
+
+"I wonder," said Leland, with a trace of dryness, "if you would take it
+amiss if I offered to lend it to you?"
+
+Jimmy Denham smiled delicately where another man would have grinned.
+"Not in the least! In fact, I should consider myself distinctly obliged
+to you."
+
+"Then you shall have a cheque after dinner."
+
+Denham thanked him without effusion. One could almost have fancied that
+it was he who was conferring the favour. As Leland listened, a little
+sardonic smile crept into his eyes. He was known in his own country as a
+shrewd man, and was quite aware that he ran some risk in lending his
+comrade fifty pounds. But Jimmy had done him one or two kindnesses, and
+that counted for much with Leland.
+
+"Who is the very pretty girl who has just come into the tennis ground?"
+he asked.
+
+"My sister," said Denham. "I had almost forgotten you had not met
+Carrie. She is rather pretty, though. While the governor and I are
+Denhams, she takes after the other side of the family in more ways than
+one. She has only just come from Town, you know."
+
+Leland did not know. He had merely heard that there was a Carrie Denham;
+but as he looked down across the moat he was conscious of a sudden
+interest in the girl. She stood with one hand on the back of a
+basket-chair, her long white dress flowing in easy lines about her tall
+and shapely figure. So far as he could see it, her face beneath the big
+white hat was attractive, too; but it was her pose that vaguely
+impressed him. There was a suggestion of strength and pride in it that
+was by no means noticeable in the case of either her father or Jimmy
+Denham. The appearance of the man with whom she talked was, however,
+much less pleasing. He was inclined to be portly, his face was coarsely
+fleshy, with the distinctive stamp of the city on him. He looked out of
+place in that quaint old pleasance on the desolate border side. He
+reminded Leland forcibly of the caricatures he had seen of Hebrew
+usurers.
+
+"And the gentleman?" he asked.
+
+Denham laughed. "You would expect his name to be Moses, or Levy, but, as
+a matter of fact, it isn't. Anyway, he calls himself Aylmer. A friend of
+the governor's, and the usual something in the city. Comes down for a
+week or two at the partridges, ostensibly, at least, though it's quite
+possible there will be a dog or two, and, perhaps, a keeper, disabled
+before he goes away. If you care to come down, I'll present you to
+Carrie. She knows you are here, and is no doubt a trifle curious about
+you."
+
+If she was, Miss Denham concealed the fact very well, and Leland, who
+was not readily embarrassed, felt a quite unusual diffidence as she held
+out a little white hand. He noticed, however, that she looked at him
+frankly, and that she had a beautiful hand, like the rest of the
+Denhams. Her face was cold and somewhat colourless, with dusky hair low
+on the broad forehead, unusually straight brows, and dark eyes; a
+beautiful face it seemed to him, but one that had a vague suggestion of
+weariness in it just then. Carrie Denham, he thought, in no way
+resembled her easy-going brother Jimmy. There was, as he expressed it to
+himself, more grit in her; and yet he was, without exactly knowing why,
+rather sorry for her. She was evidently not more than three or
+four-and-twenty, and he felt there must be a reason for her quietness
+and reserve, which appeared a trifle unnatural.
+
+She, on her part, saw a tall and wiry rather than stalwart man, some
+four or five years older than herself, especially straight of limb,
+holding himself well, whilst his bronzed face, which was otherwise of
+brown-eyed, English type, showed undoubted force. He was, she fancied, a
+man accustomed to exert authority, but not exactly what in the most
+restricted English sense of the word would be called a gentleman. At
+least, he was evidently one who earned his living, and his hands were
+curiously brown and hard, while the manner in which he wore his
+shooting clothes suggested that he seldom wasted much time over his
+toilet.
+
+"I hope you will find your stay at Barrock-holme pleasant," she said.
+"In weather like this the birds should lie well. You have not been here
+long?"
+
+"A week," said Leland.
+
+Jimmy Denham had in the meanwhile passed on. His sister glanced at the
+fleshy Aylmer, who was about to move the chair for her.
+
+"No," she said in a coldly even voice, "you need not trouble. I am not
+going to stay here. Have they shown you our dripping-well yet, Mr.
+Leland?"
+
+Leland, who said he had not seen it, surmised that Miss Denham desired
+to be rid of her other cavalier; but Aylmer, who protested that he had
+an absorbing interest in dripping-wells, was not to be shaken off, so
+they crossed the lawn and went out through the archway together. Then
+Leland stopped a moment and flashed a questioning glance at Carrie
+Denham, for the strip of pathway outside the wall was, perhaps, two feet
+wide, and he could look almost straight down through the tops of the
+birch trees upon the Barrock flashing in the hollow a hundred and fifty
+feet below. He was thinking that it would probably go hard with anybody
+who stumbled there. A railed walk led in the opposite direction.
+
+Carrie Denham, however, met his gaze with a faint, understanding smile,
+and he followed her in single file until the path grew broader beyond a
+bend of the wall. Then looking round he saw, as he half-expected, that
+the passage had apparently been too much for the third of the party. In
+another moment he met the girl's glance again.
+
+"I hope you were not afraid?" she said.
+
+Leland's eyes twinkled, but he made no disclaimer, which, for no
+apparent reason, seemed to please her.
+
+"There is, of course, another path," she said.
+
+"So I should surmise!" said Leland. "Do you really wish to show me the
+well?"
+
+The girl laughed for the first time, and the swift change in her face
+almost startled the man. The coldness and reserve had gone, and for a
+moment she was, it seemed to him, subtly alluring.
+
+"Well," she said, "I have to justify myself, and somebody may ask you
+what you think of it. Under the circumstances, it might be better to go
+on, although the way is often a little muddy when one gets among the
+trees."
+
+Leland was fancying that it must have been muddier than usual, or she
+would not have ventured there, when they reached a spot where a tiny
+stream came trickling out of a hollow shrouded with sombre firs. A few
+stones had evidently once been laid in the moss and mire; but some of
+them had sunk, and the gaps were wide between. Carrie Denham stopped and
+surveyed them dubiously.
+
+"I haven't been here for a long while, but I don't like to turn back,"
+she said.
+
+"Or the men who do?"
+
+She flashed a little, swift glance at him, but his face was
+expressionless. "That goes without saying."
+
+Leland glanced down at her little bronze shoes. "Of course, there is
+usually a way; but the trouble is that I am a stranger. If I were in my
+own country, I should suggest a very simple means of getting you over."
+
+The girl looked at him with something in her eyes that suggested
+ironical appreciation of his boldness, but her only action was to shake
+her head.
+
+"It is just as well you are not," she said. "We are a little less
+primitive here."
+
+"Then," said Leland, "I guess we must try the other way."
+
+He plunged boldly into the mossy quagmire, into which he sank well above
+his ankles, and held out his hand to her. She noticed as she sprang from
+stone to stone how hard it was and how firm his grasp. It seemed to her
+that what this man took hold of he would not easily let go, an
+impression she remembered afterwards.
+
+She crossed dry-shod, and Leland did not seem in the least concerned at
+the water squishing in his shoes. There was then a scramble up the
+hillside under the shadowy firs until they reached the well, which
+Leland promptly decided was not very much to look at. It lay at the head
+of a little green hollow, a wall of fissured limestones sprinkled with
+mosses and tufted with hartstongue fern from the midst of which the
+water splashed drip by drip into a shallow basin. Carrie Denham turned
+and glanced at him with a trace of somewhat chilly amusement in her
+face.
+
+"You are no doubt wondering if I haven't wasted your time," she said.
+"Still, now you are here, you may as well notice that the water has
+rather curious properties. If you will pull out one of these sticks, for
+instance, you will see what is happening to them."
+
+Leland stooped and drew out a slender birch branch, whose feathery twigs
+were changing into what looked very like silver lace. The stem was also
+crusted with a white deposit, and it cost him a little effort to snap
+it across. Then he looked up at his companion with a smile as he saw
+that the interior was still soft.
+
+"Do you know that you strike me as being very like this twig?" he said,
+and she noticed for the first time his Western accent and modulation.
+"The hardness is all outside."
+
+"Whatever made you say that?"
+
+Leland met her half-indignant gaze gravely. "Well," he said with a
+little deprecatory gesture, "I have seen you laugh."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "there was a time when I laughed rather more
+frequently than I do now. I should, however, like to point out that the
+stick had not been in quite long enough."
+
+Leland still looked at her with a quizzical expression. "I think I know
+what you mean," he said. "Still, I should scarcely have fancied you
+would have felt it yet. Anyway, that's not the question; and, perhaps,
+it wouldn't do for me to make you stop here. There will be other people
+wanting to talk to you."
+
+They turned back together, this time taking the easier way. As they
+passed along a tall hedge, Leland heard a rustling on its other side and
+darted impulsively through, leaving his astonished companion without a
+word. Following through a gap, she came upon him as he picked up a
+rabbit from the grass. The little creature's eyes were protuding in an
+agony of strangulation, and a thin brass wire hung from its red-smeared
+fur. Then Leland either saw or heard her, for he turned his back to the
+hedge, and flung over his shoulder what seemed to her rather too like a
+command.
+
+"Go back!" he said. "This is not a thing for you to see."
+
+Carrie Denham went back, though she was more accustomed to do what
+pleased her, and make others do it, than to do what she was told. It was
+a minute or two before Leland joined her, grim in face, an ominous
+sparkle in his eyes.
+
+"It was only half-choked, so I put it back in a burrow," he said. "It
+would have pleased me to hang the brute who set that wire."
+
+Carrie Denham watched him with interest. "I believe it is the usual way
+of catching them."
+
+"Then," said Leland grimly, "there must be something very wrong with the
+folks who allow that abominable cruelty to go on. The little beast might
+have struggled there for hours in horrible pain before it choked itself
+in its agony."
+
+The girl fancied that abominable was not the adjective he had wanted to
+employ, but she said nothing further on the subject, though there
+remained with her the picture of him holding the little furry creature
+with womanly gentleness while he slackened the torturing wire. It was
+made even more impressive when, on suggesting hanging for the man who
+had laid the snare, something in his face and voice left her with the
+conviction that he would on due occasion be capable of carrying out his
+suggestion. He was, she decided, altogether different from the men she
+usually saw. When he left her in the quadrangle, she contrived to fall
+in with her brother.
+
+"Who is he?" she asked.
+
+"Charley Leland," said Jimmy with his nearest approach to a grin.
+
+"I know that already."
+
+"I can't tell you very much more, and no doubt you'll find out what you
+want to know for yourself. I spent a month shooting round his place in
+Western Canada, and made him promise if ever he came over he'd look in
+upon me here. Then I met him in London a few weeks ago."
+
+"What does he do out there?"
+
+"Farm, on a lordly scale. I forget how many thousand acres he has under
+wheat, and how many steers he owns; but he's rather a famous man in
+Assiniboia. His father was, I believe, an Englishman, but he died when
+Leland was young, and the farm and the stock-run have doubled in the
+hands of the son. That's about all, except that I rather like the man.
+He has his strong points, but needs handling. I fancy any one who roused
+him would see the devil."
+
+Carrie Denham asked no more questions, but went somewhat thoughtfully to
+her room. On the whole she felt a mild interest in Charley Leland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+LELAND IS ROUSED TO PITY
+
+
+The evening was unusually soft and clear, and a warm, gentle breeze kept
+the dew from settling. Leland strolled out on the terrace above the moat
+at Barrock-holme. He had spent a fortnight there now, and was beginning
+to find the easy-going life of its inmates somewhat pleasant, though at
+first it had caused him contemptuous astonishment. Nobody appeared to
+have any duties; or, if they had, he surmised that they were seldom
+attended to. People got up at all hours, and some of them seldom retired
+before the morning. Whenever he walked over the estate with Jimmy
+Denham, he noticed many things that pained his eyes. There was land that
+lay rushy and sour for the need of draining, the roads in the Barrock
+hollow were so ill-kept and rutted that he wondered how any one could
+haul a full load along them, and rotting gates and tottering dry-stone
+walls dotted the entire acreage. At Barrock-holme, waste and
+short-sighted parsimony that defeated its own object apparently went
+hand-in-hand. Once he ventured to point out to Jimmy what was in his
+mind.
+
+"If you put four or five thousand pounds into the land, you would be
+astonished at what it would give you back," he said.
+
+Jimmy Denham laughed. "The question is, where we would get the four
+thousand pounds. We are, as you have no doubt noticed, confoundedly
+hard-up, and a tenant with capital enough to stand a decent rent would
+think twice before he took a farm from us."
+
+"I guess I wouldn't blame him," said Leland drily. "But what you folks
+spend personally in a couple of years would set the place on its feet."
+
+"It is very probable," and Jimmy laughed again. "Still, you see, you
+can't always live as you should in this country. Of course, I could cut
+the service, and we might let the house to a shooting tenant; that is,
+the thing is physically practicable. The trouble is that it wouldn't
+suit me, and the governor would veto it right off if it did. To be
+candid, there is no particular capacity for hard work and self-denial in
+any of the family."
+
+Leland made no further suggestions. On the last point, he quite
+concurred with Jimmy; but his own life hitherto had been one of
+strenuous endeavour and Spartan simplicity, and it was pleasant to feel
+the strain relaxed for a month or two.
+
+On the night in question he was quite content with circumstances and his
+surroundings, as he strolled out on the terrace an hour after dinner
+with his cigar. There was a clear moon above him, and in the air a
+faint, astringent smell of falling leaves. The splashing of the Barrock
+came up musically athwart the birches in the hollow.
+
+As he was strolling up and down the terrace in the evening dress no
+longer strange to him, he saw Carrie Denham come out from one of the
+long windows that opened into the old stone gallery. A glance about him
+showed Aylmer, to whom he felt an intuitive aversion, hovering big and
+fat in the vicinity. He fancied that the girl saw Aylmer, too, for she
+came down the staircase at the end of the gallery farthest from him and
+moved in Leland's direction. She wore a light evening gown, a fleecy
+white wrap concealing her shoulders and part of her dark hair. Flowing
+straight to the delicate incurving of waist, it emphasised by suggestion
+the outline of her shapely figure. Leland felt a little thrill as she
+came towards him. He surmised that she merely desired to make use of him
+for the purpose of ridding herself of Aylmer's company, or, perhaps, as
+an incentive to the latter; but that did not matter. Leland was shrewd
+enough to be aware of his own disabilities; and, no matter what her
+motive, she looked ethereally beautiful with the soft moonlight upon
+her.
+
+"You need not throw the cigar away," she said, when she stopped and
+seated herself on an old stone bench close to where he stood. "In fact,
+I should be rather sorry if you did."
+
+"Thank you," said Leland, with a little smile. "It would be a pity.
+Jimmy gave me two or three of them, and they're unusually good."
+
+"One would fancy that you were not in the habit of throwing anything
+away?" she half asked, half said.
+
+Again the twinkle flashed in Leland's eyes. "Until I came to England I
+don't think I ever wasted anything, effort or material, in my life. That
+is, when I knew what I was doing, at least."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you would soon get into the way of doing it at
+Barrock-holme. Still, why aren't you playing bridge or billiards? Was
+the long day on the moors too much for you? I believe you walked home."
+
+"So did Jimmy. It was only four miles. I have quite often ridden sixty
+in my own country, and, when it's light, I usually begin to work there
+at four in the morning."
+
+"You are a farmer?"
+
+"Yes, as it's understood out there. Our wheat furrows at Prospect would
+run straight across four of the biggest holdings on this property, and
+I've over a thousand cattle on the new range among the willow bluffs. A
+farm of that kind requires looking after, with wheat at present
+figures."
+
+"You give all your time to it?"
+
+"Every minute until the snow comes, and we usually begin hauling grain
+in to the railroad on the bob-sledges then. In summer it's work from
+sun-up until it's dark, and you go to sleep in ten minutes after you
+come in."
+
+Carrie Denham's little shudder might have expressed either horror or
+sympathy.
+
+"Isn't that, in one way, a waste of life? You have no amusement at all?"
+she asked.
+
+"An hour or two after the antelope, or the brent geese in the sloos in
+fall and spring, when the salt pork runs out. As to the other question,
+there are people who want the wheat we raise. Some of them want it badly
+in your own English towns. A man's life was given him to use at what
+suits him best. It's taking quite a responsibility to fritter it away."
+
+Carrie Denham had naturally heard this sentiment expressed before,
+though she had never seen it taken seriously among her own friends and
+family. She glanced at her companion curiously, rather resenting his
+flinging maxims of that kind at her. It rankled more when she realised
+that there was nothing about the speaker to suggest the trifler or the
+prig. As a new sensation, he was undoubtedly interesting.
+
+"And you never take a holiday?" she asked.
+
+"This is the first one, and I mightn't have taken it if several
+four-bushel bags of wheat hadn't fallen on me in the granary. The doctor
+we brought out two hundred miles to see me wouldn't let me do anything
+active when I commenced to crawl round again."
+
+"I think Jimmy said you were quite young when you were left alone."
+
+"I had been three months at McGill--which is to us much the same thing
+as your Oxford is to you--when the news of my father's death came, and I
+went back and fought my trustees over what was to be done with the farm.
+They were two of the cleverest grain and cattle men in Winnipeg, and I
+was a raw lad, but I beat them. I was to stay at McGill and be educated
+while they let or sold the place, they said; but I had my way of it and,
+instead, went back to the prairie where I belonged. Prospect has doubled
+the acreage it had then."
+
+Carrie Denham listened with slightly languid interest. The narrative had
+been a bit egotistical, but she could imagine the struggle the lonely
+lad had waged with the wilderness. She understood already that it was an
+especially desolate wilderness in which the Prospect farm stood, and
+Jimmy had told her that Leland had neither brother nor sister. He had
+made his own way, and had, no doubt, from his point of view, done a good
+deal with his life; but his outlook was, it seemed to her, necessarily
+restricted. One should not, however, expect too much from a man born in
+the wilderness who had had only three months of what could be considered
+education. She also wondered why he had told her so much, since most of
+the young men she came across took some trouble to keep their best side
+uppermost, until it occurred to her that he probably considered the
+doubling of the acreage of the Prospect farm a very notable achievement.
+It scarcely seemed to her to warrant the effort. She loved pleasure.
+Though she was by no means without a sense of duty, the little graces
+and amenities of life counted for much with her.
+
+Aylmer and two of the other guests came along the terrace, and Leland
+looked at her with a little inquiring smile.
+
+"Shall I go on talking? I can keep it up if you wish," he said.
+
+"No," said the girl. "You have really done enough in the meanwhile."
+
+She rose and joined the others, and Leland was left wondering exactly
+what she meant, though it was borne in upon him that she did not object
+to Aylmer so much when he had a companion. Then he also rose, and
+strolled along to where a little faded lady of uncertain age, who had
+shown him some trifling kindness, was sitting alone. She swept her dress
+aside to let him pass, looking at him with a smile, but he seated
+himself on the broad-topped wall in front of her.
+
+"Why are you not playing cards, or making love to somebody? Don't you
+know what you are here for?" she said.
+
+Leland laughed. "I'm afraid I'm not good at either, Mrs. Annersly. You
+see, I'm from the wilderness."
+
+"Well," said the lady, "there are, I fancy, one or two young women who
+would be willing to teach you the rules of one game."
+
+"Are you sure they would think it worth while to waste powder and shot
+on a prairie farmer?"
+
+"They might, if it was understood that he was willing to sell his broad
+acres and settle down to the simple pleasures of an English country
+life."
+
+"No, by the Lord!" said Leland. "You will excuse me, madam, but I really
+meant it."
+
+Mrs. Annersly laughed. "I believe you did. Still, you must remember that
+there are not many English estates managed like Barrock-holme. In fact,
+one may observe traces of, at least, a moderate prosperity in parts of
+this country; but we needn't talk of that. You will notice that a few of
+the others besides ourselves have sense enough to prefer being outside
+on such a pleasant night."
+
+Leland looked down across the lawn, conscious that she was watching him
+meanwhile, and saw Carrie Denham and Aylmer cross it together. The
+moonlight was upon them, and the silvery radiance that made the girl's
+beauty more apparent seemed to emphasise the grossness of her companion.
+In that space of grass and flowers, moated and hemmed in by mouldering
+walls that had flung back the keen winds of the border for five hundred
+years, Aylmer looked more out of place than he had done by daylight.
+Leland, who had read no little English history, could almost have
+fancied it was filled with memories of the old knightly days when the
+spears of Ettrick and Liddesdale came pricking across the brown moors
+and mosses on many such a night; while Aylmer was from the cities,
+heavy-fleshed, soft of muscle, and sensual, of a wholly modern type.
+
+"Yes," he said drily; "I see two of them."
+
+Mrs. Annersly laughed again. "So does Branscombe Denham, I surmise, but
+that in all probability does not concern you or me." She stopped, and
+flashed a swift glance at her companion. Seeing that he made no denial,
+she changed the subject. "You have been taking billiard lessons from
+Jimmy Denham. Don't you find it expensive?"
+
+"Madam," said Leland, "Jimmy Denham is rather a friend of mine."
+
+"Of course. He is also my relative--which is, however, no great
+advantage to him. Besides, I am a privileged person, an encumbrance the
+Denhams are scarcely likely to get rid of in the present state of their
+affairs, which is, perhaps, a little unfortunate for everybody. My
+tongue is supposed to be dipped in wormwood, nobody expects anything
+pleasant from me, and the weak points in the Denhams constitute my
+special hobby. As you have probably noticed, they have a good many."
+
+Leland looked at her gravely. "You couldn't expect me to admit it, and,
+if I did, you wouldn't be pleased with me. In different ways they have
+all of them been kind to me."
+
+"Have you asked yourself why?"
+
+"I certainly haven't," said Leland, a trifle sharply.
+
+"Well," said the lady, with an air of reflection, "there is usually a
+reason for most things, though it is, perhaps, a little clearer in
+Aylmer's case. They have been somewhat attentive to him, too. Branscombe
+Denham is one of the most improvident of men, and in that respect Jimmy
+is very like him; but, while the strength of the whole family is in the
+girls, there is one thing to their credit: they all stand by one another
+through thick and thin. I fancy there is very little Carrie would stop
+at if it was necessary to save the old man, or, perhaps, Jimmy, from
+disaster."
+
+She turned her head a bit. As it happened, Carrie Denham and Aylmer
+crossed the lawn again just then, and Leland, following the direction of
+Mrs. Annersly's glance, felt that she wished to call his attention to
+them.
+
+"Yes," she said, "unless something unexpected turns up, I should not be
+astonished if they married her to that man."
+
+Leland looked at her, a slight flush in his grim face. "It would be
+almost indecent for several reasons, to say nothing of his age; but Miss
+Denham has surely a will of her own."
+
+Though he seldom manifested the tenderness and pity in his nature until
+an opportunity for helpful action came his way, his face grew softer as
+he watched the pair. His life had of necessity been hard and lonely.
+Perhaps, in some degree at least, from ignorance of them, he had grown
+up with an impersonal, chivalrous respect for all women. Love as between
+man and woman was a thing still remote from him. On the desolate
+prairie, a woman was scarcely ever even seen. It was a man's country.
+As his eyes followed the strolling couple, he was conscious of a
+longing to offer the girl the protection of his strength against Aylmer.
+
+Then the lady, who had been watching him closely, spoke again. "She
+decidedly has a will, and, what is more, a tolerably large share of the
+family pride," she said. "Still, she will probably marry her companion.
+Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end for money, and Jimmy, I am
+very much afraid, has been getting into difficulties again. Carrie is in
+one sense an excellent daughter. She knows her duty, and is scarcely
+likely to flinch from doing it."
+
+"But is there nobody else, no young man of good character and family,
+available?"
+
+"What do you know against the character of the man yonder?"
+
+"Nothing," said Leland tersely. "Nothing at all, except that he carries
+it about with him. You can see it in his face. If I had a sister, I
+should feel tempted to kick a man of that kind for looking at her."
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled as she answered his previous question. "Young men
+of the kind you mention, with any means, are not to be met with every
+day. What's more, they also naturally prefer a girl with money, and, at
+least, there would in their case be a tying up of property in the
+settlements. The happy man does not, as a rule, consider it necessary to
+contribute anything to the bride's family."
+
+Leland turned sharply, and looked at her with a portentous sparkle in
+his eyes. "Isn't it a horribly unpleasant thing you are suggesting?"
+
+"That is, after all, largely a matter of opinion."
+
+Leland sat still a moment watching the two figures on the lawn with a
+curious blending of compassion and disgust. Then he rose and looked down
+on his companion.
+
+"Madam," he said, "I wonder if I might ask you why you thought fit to
+tell me this?"
+
+"One should never ask for a woman's reasons, and I think I have informed
+you already that my tongue is dipped in wormwood."
+
+Leland made a little impatient gesture. "Is it Aylmer's money alone that
+counts with them, or his station, if he has any?"
+
+"One would certainly imagine that it was his means."
+
+Leland left her presently. As she watched him stride along the terrace,
+her shrewd, faded face grew gentle.
+
+"If I have read that man aright, there may be results," she said. "In
+that case, I almost fancy Carrie will have much to thank me for."
+
+Then she rose and, crossing the quadrangle, sought the card-room. It was
+an hour later when she came upon Carrie Denham sitting alone.
+
+"I have been talking to Mr. Leland, and am rather pleased with him," she
+said to the girl. "He is a curious compound of simplicity and
+forcefulness. They must live like anchorites out there."
+
+Carrie Denham laughed. "I thought that type was distinctly out of date
+now. It probably has its disadvantages."
+
+"Still," said Mrs. Annersly with an air of reflection, "he would
+scarcely jar as much on one's self-respect as the people one would meet
+as the wife of the other sort of man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+PRESSURE OF CIRCUMSTANCES
+
+
+The early breakfast over, Leland was walking up and down beneath the red
+beeches that grew close up to the old arched gateway of Barrock-holme,
+one of his fellow guests beside him, and a gun under his arm. Looking in
+through the quadrangle, they saw a young groom holding with some
+difficulty a restive, champing horse that pawed the gravel and shook his
+head impatiently.
+
+"He doesn't like waiting either," said Leland's companion to the groom.
+"How long have you been holding him here?"
+
+"About half an hour, Mr. Terry," said the groom.
+
+Terry glanced at Leland with a little uplifting of his brows, and again
+addressed the groom.
+
+"You can't pack all of us into that dog-cart, and it's four miles,
+anyway, to the edge of Garberry moor," he said. "Do you know how we are
+expected to get there?"
+
+"Mr. Parsons of the Dell farm keeps a smart cart, and he promised to
+lend it Mr. James when he heard we had the tire loose on our other one.
+It should have been here."
+
+"Then why isn't it?"
+
+Leland fancied that a suspicion of a smile flickered in the man's eyes.
+
+"I don't know, sir, unless Mr. James forgot to let him know when we
+wanted it."
+
+"I should consider it very probable," said Terry drily. "Have you any
+objections to walking on as far as the Dell, Leland? It wouldn't
+astonish me greatly if Jimmy kept us waiting an hour yet."
+
+Leland having no objections, they strode away together. Beech-mast
+crackled underfoot between the colonnades of lichened trunks, whose
+great branches stayed the high, vaulted roof of gold and crimson leaves.
+Looking out through the openings between, one could see the sweep of
+rolling champaign stretch away into the horizon through gradations of
+blueness, and the rigid line of the fells smeared with warm brown
+patches of withered bracken.
+
+"It's rather a shame that Jimmy and his father should have a place of
+this kind in their hands at all," said Terry. "Still, for the credit of
+the country, I should like to explain that there are not very many
+English properties run on the same lines. In fact, the Denhams are an
+exception to everything, but I really think Jimmy might have got up in
+time for once in a way."
+
+Leland laughed. "The loss of an hour's shooting seems to count with
+you."
+
+"It does. You see, like a good many other people, I have to work rather
+hard for my living, and time is of a little more value to me than it
+apparently is to Jimmy Denham. Besides, my stay here has cost me a good
+deal more than I expected, and, being engaged in commerce, I can't help
+feeling that I ought to get something in return for my money."
+
+"I don't quite understand that last remark."
+
+"No?" said Terry. "Well, perhaps you don't. In fact, I have had a fancy
+that you were a bona-fide guest. You see, two or three of us aren't."
+
+"Will you make that a little clearer?" And Leland looked astonished,
+though he remembered now several little incidents that had struck him as
+strange.
+
+"With pleasure. Indeed, I feel I owe it to Jimmy for his losing us an
+hour or two every day. Our amusement costs two or three of us a good
+deal directly, as well as the other way. Branscombe Denham, naturally,
+doesn't advertise Barrock-holme as a shooting hotel, but, though affairs
+are arranged more tastefully, it amounts to much the same thing. You
+share expenses of watching and turning down hand-reared birds, and you
+get so many days' shooting with entertainment thrown in. The latter,
+however, is usually costly. One way or the other, Jimmy has taken one
+hundred pounds out of me."
+
+"Ah," said Leland. "Is that sort of thing common in this country? I had
+a notion that you were rather proud of yourselves. It wouldn't strike us
+as quite nice in Western Canada."
+
+"No," said the other man. "Still, it's done occasionally, and, as to
+family pride, you are not likely to come across anybody who has more of
+it than the Denhams. How they reconcile it with some of the things they
+do is a different matter; but you can take it as a rule that the less
+people have to congratulate themselves upon, the prouder they are. In
+fact, Jimmy Denham, who, though one can't help liking him, is a
+downright bad egg, was at first a little shy of me. I am a partner in a
+concern making a certain advertised specialty, you see."
+
+"I wonder," said Leland reflectively, "if the girls quite understand the
+position."
+
+"I don't think they do. Anyway, not exactly. Indeed, it's a little
+difficult to believe they're daughters of Branscombe Denham, or sisters
+of Jimmy. They show some trace of sense and temper, whilst you can't
+ruffle Jimmy. Still, I fancy, if it were necessary, they would stand by
+their delightful relatives through thick and thin."
+
+Leland lapsed into thoughtful silence. He fancied that his companion was
+right, for he had seen a good deal of Carrie Denham during the month he
+had now spent at Barrock-holme. She had been, in her own reserved
+fashion, gracious to him, and Leland did not in the least resent the
+fact that there was in all she said a suggestion of condescension that
+he surmised was unconscious. Indeed, this struck him as being what it
+should be. Though quite aware of his own value where men were concerned,
+he had seen very few women, and regarded them in general with a vague,
+uncomprehending respect. Furthermore, the girl's physical beauty, her
+pride and almost stately coldness, made a strong appeal to him. She was,
+he was quite willing to admit, a being of a very different order from a
+plain Western farmer. Besides that, she was the one person who had quite
+come up to his expectations, for his visit to the old country had in
+most respects brought him disillusionment.
+
+His father had often spoken of it with all the exile's appreciation of
+the home he had left, and he could remember his mother's daintiness and
+refinement; it was, perhaps, not astonishing that he had learned to
+idealise the old land and those who lived in it. It was also unfortunate
+that, whilst it might have happened differently, the few English men and
+women he had met on any terms of intimacy during his stay in London had
+resembled the Denhams more or less, and it had hurt him to discover what
+he considered was the reality. For Jimmy and his father he had a
+tolerant contempt, and it was, in fact, only the presence of Carrie
+Denham that had kept him at Barrock-holme so long. He was sorry for her,
+and had a vague fancy that she might need a friend. There was a vein of
+chivalry in him, and he was also a just man. His sense of justice led
+him to play billiards periodically for somewhat heavy stakes with Jimmy.
+It was one way of getting even, as he expressed it, for he did not care
+to be indebted to a man he looked down upon. Jimmy, who was skilful and
+almost suspiciously fortunate at both billiards and cards, had also no
+objections to emptying the pockets of his guests, though, as Leland was
+aware, the chance stranger very seldom leaves a ranch of Western Canada
+any poorer than when he came there.
+
+In the meanwhile it happened that Branscombe Denham sat talking to his
+son in what he called his library. The few books in it for the most part
+related to the estate, for Denham had reasons for not trusting his
+affairs altogether to a steward or country lawyer. He was, in some
+respects, a handsome man, though his eyes were of too pale a blue, and
+his thin face, in spite of its unmistakable stamp of refinement, lacked
+character. The room was in the old tower, ceiled with dark wood and
+sombrely panelled, with one long, narrow leaded-glass window. The tall,
+sparely-framed man with his white hands and immaculate dress seemed out
+of place there. He was essentially modern, the room belonged to the more
+virile past. There was a pile of letters before him, and he took one up
+delicately.
+
+"If I could have foreseen that it would lead to this kind of thing, I
+should never have consented to your grandfather's breaking the entail,"
+he said, with a little whimsical smile. "Lancely has written me in his
+usual stand-and-deliver style again:--'I am now directed to inform you
+that, unless the last instalment with arrears of interest is remitted me
+by next quarter-day, my clients will regretfully feel themselves
+compelled to foreclose.'"
+
+He laid down the letter with a little lifting of his brows. "I really
+think they mean it at last, and their mortgage covers most of the Dell,
+and the leys on Stapleton's holding. I suppose it is no use asking if
+you could dispense with your next allowance."
+
+Jimmy Denham laughed, though he was quite aware that the occasion was
+serious enough. "I'm afraid not, sir. In fact, as I had regretfully to
+admit, unless I can raise two hundred pounds in addition to it before my
+leave runs out, I shall probably have to send in my papers. Fortunately,
+I think I can manage it."
+
+He spoke quite frankly, and there was nothing in the attitude of either
+to suggest that one was a father embarrassed by financial difficulties
+and the other a spendthrift son. Indeed, they faced each other as
+comrades, one could almost have said confederates, for in spite of their
+shortcomings, which were somewhat plentiful, the Denhams at least
+recognised the family bond, standing by one another in everything.
+
+"In that case," said Branscombe Denham, "the allowance must stand,
+though I don't know at present where it is to come from. The other
+affair is more difficult. In fact, unless we face it resolutely it might
+become serious."
+
+"So one would imagine," said Jimmy, reflectively. "The Dell is the best
+farm we have, and to let those fellows have it would make things a
+little too plain to everybody. Besides, it's splitting up the property.
+To a certain extent, of course, we are living upon our credit."
+
+Branscombe Denham nodded, though there was a curious look in his pale
+blue eyes as he fixed them on his son.
+
+"I'm rather afraid you don't quite grasp the point," he said. "You see,
+Lancely's man holds a mortgage on most of the Dell; but, as you,
+perhaps, remember, Lennox lent me a couple of thousand, with the
+plough-land in the bottom as security. He did it as a friend, and didn't
+worry much about his papers, while I'm not sure I remembered to mention
+Lancely's bond to him, so there is what one might call a certain
+overlapping of the mortgages. Then I found it necessary to realise a
+little on the oaks and beeches at Arkil bank."
+
+Jimmy's face grew grave. "I rather fancy they brought you in a good
+deal. They were unusually good trees. You sold the timber after you
+raised the money on the mortgages?"
+
+"I did. That is just the point of it. I needn't say that I had then a
+scheme of retrenchment in my mind which would provide a kind of sinking
+fund to meet the interest, and in due time extinguish the loan, in
+which case the question of the timber would, naturally, never have been
+raised. Unfortunately, the fall in rents and one or two other
+matters--rendered it unworkable."
+
+Jimmy made a gesture of comprehending sympathy. "I'm afraid it would
+look rather bad, sir, if it came out. Lancely's man might make a good
+deal of trouble if he wants his timber and finds it isn't there, to say
+nothing of what Lennox, who, it seems, has a claim on it as well, might
+do. Still, no doubt, you did what you could, sir, and I'm rather afraid
+it was one or two of my little extravagances that put some of the
+pressure on you. I needn't say that if there is anything I can do, down
+to cutting the service--or bearing part of the responsibility----"
+
+"Thanks," said Denham, as if he meant it. "You were not very
+extravagant, Jimmy, as young men go, and we have hitherto, at least,
+always stood by each other. Still, I'm not sure that it's my son I can
+count on now."
+
+"Ah," and Jimmy's voice was a trifle sharper. "I'm afraid I never liked
+that notion, sir. I think I've mentioned it. There's a good deal of the
+beast in Aylmer. Has he said anything?"
+
+A curious look crept into Denham's face, and it suggested repugnance as
+well as anxiety. "He came to me yesterday, and his ideas of a settlement
+were liberal. I pointed out a few of my difficulties to him, and he
+mentioned rather tastefully that he fancied they could be got over if he
+had my good will in the other matter. In fact, he left me with the
+impression that the mortgage bonds would be handed Carrie after the
+wedding."
+
+Jimmy Denham's face appeared a trifle flushed, though he was considered
+a rather hard case by a certain officers' mess.
+
+"I don't like it, sir," he said again. "I can't claim to be very
+particular, but that man is rather too much for me."
+
+"Then have you any proposition to make?"
+
+Jimmy sat still for at least a minute, apparently lost in thought, which
+was in his case a very unusual thing.
+
+"The whole affair is a little unpleasant, and I think you won't mind my
+saying that much. Still, it's evident that we have to face the
+circumstances, and I scarcely think Carrie will flinch when she
+understands the necessity. There might, however, be a more suitable man
+than Aylmer. In fact, I almost think I know of one."
+
+"The Canadian?"
+
+"Exactly. Anyway, the man is wholesome, which is more than anybody could
+say of Aylmer, and I rather fancy he will be a person of considerable
+importance by-and-bye, in his own country. If, as I suppose, you haven't
+given Aylmer a definite answer yet, I might suggest that you tell him he
+must make his own running, and leave the rest to me. Though she's not
+fond of any of us but Carrie, I've no doubt that Eveline Annersly would
+stand by me."
+
+There was silence again for almost a minute, and then Denham sighed.
+
+"Well," he said, with a little gesture, "you will remember that there is
+not very much time left. In the meanwhile aren't you keeping the rest
+of them waiting?"
+
+Jimmy went out, and none of the three men he drove to the Garberry moor
+could have suspected that he had a single care. They would certainly not
+have believed, had he told them, that he was, for once, sincerely
+disgusted with himself as well as his father, and troubled with a very
+unusual sense of shame. There was courage of a kind in the Denhams, and
+they could, at least, hide their feelings very well. He inspired the
+rest with good-humour and shot rather better than he generally did, but
+he had grown grave again when he had an interview with Mrs. Annersly
+shortly before dinner that evening. She listened to him with a little
+frown.
+
+"Jimmy," she said, "you are almost as deficient in estimable qualities
+as your father is."
+
+"Well," said Jimmy humbly, "I know I am, but you might leave the
+governor out. I think he is a little older than you are--and he is my
+father. Anyway, though you mightn't believe it, I feel a trifle sick
+when I think of Aylmer."
+
+"What do you expect from me?"
+
+Jimmy smiled. "Not a great deal. Only a persistence in your original
+policy. I have rather a fancy that you and I have had the same thing in
+our minds."
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "If it must be one or the other, I'll
+do what I can. In fact, I don't mind admitting that, seeing what it
+would probably come to, I have, as you surmise, had the affair in hand
+already. Still, it was not to make things easier for either you or your
+father."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LELAND MAKES THE PLUNGE
+
+
+There was for the first time a chill of frost in the air, so none of the
+guests at Barrock-holme thought of lounging on the terrace after dinner.
+Some were in Denham's gun-room, some were playing cards, and only a few
+were left in the big drawing-room where Carrie sat at the piano. Leland
+stood beside her to turn the music over, a duty which was new to him and
+indifferently fulfilled. He had no very clear notion then or afterwards
+what she was singing. Still, her voice, which was indubitably good,
+awakened a little thrill in him. Her proximity had also an exhilarating
+effect, and he was lost in a whir of sensations he could not analyse as
+he looked down on the cold face with its crown of dusky hair and saw the
+gleam of ivory shoulders. This was a man who had usually so much to do
+that it left him little time to dissect and classify his emotions.
+
+He did not think he was in love with Carrie Denham, so far as his ideas
+on that subject went; but, until he had come to England, the society of
+a woman of her description was an unknown thing to him. Her physical
+beauty appealed to him, her cold, reposeful sincerity and pride of
+station had made an even stronger impression, and now he was sensible of
+a vague admiration and compassion for her. He felt, too, a feeling of
+awkwardness in her presence, realising at the same time that there was
+nothing to warrant it.
+
+He did not look awkward in the least. His bronze face was quiet, his
+grave, brown eyes were steady, and, though he was quite unconscious of
+it, the pose he had fallen into effectively displayed the spare symmetry
+of his muscular figure. There was also upon him the stamp of the silent
+strength and vigour that comes of a clean life spent in wide spaces out
+in the wind and sun. He did not know that several pairs of eyes were
+watching him with approval, and that the owner of one of them smiled in
+a fashion which suggested satisfaction as she glanced towards Aylmer.
+The fleshy gentleman sat not very far away, and Leland fancied that his
+own presence at the piano was justified when he looked in that
+direction. There was that in his nature which prompted him to offer
+protection to any one who needed it, and he felt it was not fitting that
+such a man as Aylmer should stand at Carrie Denham's side. He had been
+sensible of this before, but the feeling was unusually strong that
+night. At last the music stopped, and she looked up at him with her
+curious little smile.
+
+"Thank you," she said; and the man felt his blood stir, for he fancied
+she understood what had brought him there. Still, shrewd in his own way
+as he was, he was strangely deceived in supposing that nobody except the
+girl and himself had grasped his purpose, or that he would have been
+able to carry it out at all without the concurrence of one, at least,
+of those who watched him. Leland had grappled with adverse seasons, and
+held his own against hard and clever men, but he had not as yet had
+cultured Englishwomen for his enemies or partisans.
+
+He turned away when Carrie Denham rose, and, moving about the room,
+found himself presently near Mrs. Annersly, who was sitting alone just
+then on a divan with a big, partly-folded screen on one hand of her. It
+cut that nook off from the observation of most of the rest, as she was
+probably aware when she settled herself there; but, when she indicated
+the vacant place at her side, it never occurred to Leland that she had
+been lying in wait for him.
+
+"You did that very cleverly. I mean when you opened the piano first,"
+she said. "I never suspected you of being a diplomatist. One could
+almost fancy that Carrie was grateful, too."
+
+Leland was in no way flattered, since all he had done was to reach the
+piano in advance of Aylmer, who was a trifle heavy on his feet. In fact,
+he was slightly disconcerted, though he did not show it.
+
+"Well," he said frankly, "it was either Aylmer or I."
+
+His companion looked at him in a rather strange fashion. "Exactly!" she
+said. "It was either you or Aylmer, and, perhaps, it was natural that
+Carrie should prefer you."
+
+Leland glanced across the big room, towards where Aylmer was sitting,
+and was once more sensible of dislike and repulsion. The man did not
+look well in evening dress. It made his flabby heaviness of flesh too
+apparent, and the sharply contrasted black and white emphasised the
+florid colouring of his broad, sensual face. He was just then regarding
+Carrie Denham out of narrow slits of eyes, priggish eyes, Leland called
+them to himself, and there was the easily recognisable stamp of
+grossness and indulgence upon him. The Westerner himself was hard and
+somewhat spare, a man whose body had been toughened by strenuous labour
+and held in due subjection by an unbending will. Mrs. Annersly noticed
+the clearness of his steady eyes and the clean transparency of his
+bronzed skin. As a man, he was, she decided, certainly to be preferred
+to Aylmer, and perhaps the more so because there was a side of his
+nature which as yet, it was evident, had scarcely been awakened. She was
+glad that the drawing-room was large and the place where they sat
+secluded, because there was a notion with which she desired to inspire
+him. She had already gone a certain distance in that direction, and now
+it was time to go a little further. She could see that her last speech
+had had some effect.
+
+"Madam," he said, with his usual directness, "I wonder what you mean by
+that."
+
+"It ought to be evident," said the lady, with a little smile. "If
+everybody's suppositions are correct, I really think Carrie will have
+enough of Aylmer by-and-bye. There is no reason why she should commence
+the surfeit now."
+
+"Then if she feels as you suggest she does, why in the name of wonder
+should she marry him?"
+
+"There are family reasons. Jimmy and his family are, I fear, in
+difficulties again, and it will be the privilege of Carrie's husband to
+extricate them. I believe I told you as much before, though you do not
+seem to have remembered it."
+
+A slightly darker tinge of colour crept into Leland's cheek. "As a
+matter of fact, madam, the thing has been worrying me ever since you
+did. A marriage of that kind is rather more than any one with a sense of
+the fitness of things could quietly contemplate."
+
+"Still"--and Mrs. Annersly looked at him steadily--"the difficulty is
+that I am afraid there is nothing you or I could do to prevent it."
+
+Leland was a trifle startled. He could almost fancy that she expected a
+disclaimer from him, and meant to suggest that, if he wished it, he
+might find a way where she had failed. He did not know how she had
+conveyed this impression, and, as he could not be sure that she had
+desired to do so, he sat in silence until she abruptly changed the
+subject. With a man of this description there was no necessity for being
+unduly artistic; the one thing was to get the notion into his mind.
+
+"When are you going back?" she said.
+
+"I don't quite know. In a month or so. Of course, I ought to be there
+now; but it is the first time I have been away since I came home from
+Montreal, and it will probably be a long while before I take a rest
+again. As it is, my being away this harvest will probably cost me a good
+deal."
+
+"It must be lonely on the prairie, especially in the winter."
+
+Leland smiled. "It is. Once we haul the grain in, there is very little
+one can do, with a foot of snow upon the ground and the thermometer at
+forty below. There's just Prospect and its birch bluff in the midst of
+the big white circle with the sledge-trails running out from it
+straight to the horizon. Not a house, not a beast, or any sign of life
+about."
+
+He stopped, and made a little gesture. "Of course, there are big hotels
+where one could meet pleasant people, as well as operas and theatres, at
+Winnipeg, and one could get there in two days on the cars. I dare say I
+could manage a trip to Montreal or New York occasionally too, and we
+have a few well-educated people from the East on the prairie not more
+than twenty miles away; but, since I have nobody to go with, going away
+from home doesn't appeal to me, so I spend the long night sitting beside
+the stove with the cedar shingles crackling over me in the cold. Now and
+then I read, and when I don't there is plenty to think about in planning
+out the next year's campaign."
+
+"Has it never occurred to you that it would be a good deal more pleasant
+if you were married?"
+
+"As a matter of fact it has, but I put the notion away from me. For one
+thing, I remember my mother, and, if ever I married, it would have to be
+somebody grave and sweet and dainty like her. She was a well brought-up
+Englishwoman, and, perhaps, she lived long enough to spoil me. She
+showed me what a wife could be, and it's scarcely likely there are many
+women of her kind who would ever care for a prairie farmer who knows
+very little about anything but wheat and cattle."
+
+"You seem almost unreasonably sure of that," said Mrs. Annersly.
+
+Leland laughed. "Madam," he said, "would you go out there to the prairie
+and trust yourself alone to such a man as I am?"
+
+The little faded lady's eyes twinkled, and in the tones of her reply
+there was something which suggested confidence in her companion.
+
+"I scarcely suppose you mean me to consider that seriously?" she said.
+"Still, if I were twenty years younger I almost think I would, and, what
+is more, I scarcely fancy I should be sorry. That is, at least, if you
+were willing to take me to Winnipeg or Montreal now and then, and bring
+out any friends I might make there to stay with me. We, however, needn't
+concern ourselves with that question, since you certainly don't want me.
+The point is that one could fancy there are English girls of the kind
+you mention who would be willing to venture as far as I would. Still,
+you would have to bestir yourself, and make it evident that you wanted
+one in particular to go out with you. You could hardly expect anybody to
+suggest it to you."
+
+Leland was thoughtful, for Eveline Annersly had done her work
+successfully. She had first inspired him with a strong man's pity for
+Carrie Denham, and awakened in him an undefined, chivalrous desire to
+protect her, whilst now she had gone a little further, and suggested
+that there was, perhaps, a way in which he could do so. He sat quite
+still for a moment or two. The great bare room at Prospect, with its
+uncovered walls and floor, and the big stove in the midst of it, rose up
+before his fancy. Then he saw it changed and cosy, filled to suit a
+woman's artistic taste with the things he cared little for, but which
+his wealth could buy for the gracious presence sitting there beside him.
+Then there would be something to look forward to as he floundered home
+from the railroad down the beaten sledge-trail beside his jaded team, or
+swept up in his sleigh out of the white waste, stiff with frost. It was
+an alluring picture in its way, but, after all, material comforts had
+not appealed to him greatly, and while he sat silent by Eveline
+Annersly's side the visions carried him further.
+
+There were, he knew, doors that would be opened to him willingly in
+Winnipeg. He could conceive himself becoming a man of mark in the
+prairie city, and lonely Prospect filled in the shooting season with
+guests whose names were famous in the West. Hitherto he had been a mere
+grower of wheat, but he had a quiet faith in his capabilities, and
+fancied there was no reason why, with a clever wife to help him, he
+should not become famous too, an influence in the new land whose future
+he and others were laboriously building up. So far, it was only his
+reason the fancies appealed to, but, as he glanced across the room
+towards where Carrie Denham sat, he was conscious of a stirring of his
+blood. She was very alluring, with her reposeful stateliness, dark eyes
+that shone with light when she smiled, and dark hair that emphasised the
+clear ivory tinting of the patrician face beneath it. The pity he felt
+for her was becoming lost in a quickening admiration.
+
+"Still," he said, "what you suggest is a trifle difficult to believe. If
+wheat keeps its value, my life, which is now in some ways a hard and
+lonely one, might be changed--it is my personality that presents the
+difficulty. There is so much you set value on that I know nothing about,
+and one could scarcely expect an English girl with any refinement to be
+attracted by a plain Western farmer."
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled at him. "Well," she said, "I believe I told you I
+had no great fault to find with you, and I don't believe the rising
+generation is more fastidious than my own. In fact, it wouldn't be
+difficult to persuade oneself of the contrary. To be frank, I really
+don't think you need be lonely any longer, unless, of course, you prefer
+it."
+
+Again Leland did not answer her. He sat looking straight in front of him
+with a faint glow in his eyes and his lips firmly set, while an
+unreasoning impulse seized him, and swept him away as he saw Aylmer
+approach Carrie Denham's chair. Perhaps Eveline Annersly guessed part,
+at least, of what was in his mind, for she raised her eyes a moment and
+glanced at Jimmy Denham, who was talking to a young girl some distance
+away. Jimmy was a young man of considerable intelligence, and though he
+made no sign, he knew that he was wanted. A minute or two later he made
+his way indirectly and leisurely across the room, and drawing out a
+chair sat down near Leland.
+
+"You two look as if you had been discussing something important," he
+said. "Has he been persuading you to go out and preside over Prospect,
+Aunt Eveline?"
+
+Mrs. Annersly smiled. "No," she said; "he naturally wants a younger and
+more attractive person, but I understand is rather afraid that nobody of
+the kind would look at him. I have been trying to show him that he is
+mistaken."
+
+"Of course!" said Jimmy. "He doesn't quite grasp things yet. There are
+few sensible girls who would say no to a man with his income. In fact,
+I'd feel reasonably sure of getting an heiress if I had a third of it."
+
+He stopped with a short laugh, looking straight at Leland with something
+that suggested a definite meaning in his pale blue eyes. "Anyway,
+there's no reason why you shouldn't get any one you have seen at
+Barrock-holme, provided, of course, that the lady in question is in
+other respects pleased with you."
+
+Leland closed his lips a little tighter, for it was borne in upon him
+that Jimmy Denham had not spoken without a purpose, and he realised that
+he might be listened to if he craved permission to offer himself as a
+suitor for his sister's hand. Jimmy, however, was too adroit to dwell
+upon the subject, and, changing it abruptly, led Leland into a
+discussion of hammerless guns. Still, both he and Eveline Annersly
+realised that he had said enough, which in most cases is a good deal
+better than too much. As a matter of fact, his words had stirred Leland
+to the rashest plunge he had ever made in his life, though during most
+of it he had usually taken the boldest course, holding his wheat on a
+falling market and sowing in times of black depression when the prudent
+held their hand.
+
+On the next morning he had an interview with Branscombe Denham in the
+library, which left him with a very unpleasant impression. In fact, the
+silence he forced himself to maintain hurt him, and he felt it would
+have been a vast relief to tell the fastidious, immaculately dressed
+gentleman precisely what he thought of him. Having on certain delicately
+implied conditions secured his goodwill, Leland set about the
+prosecution of his suit with a directness and singleness of purpose that
+was a matter of delight to those who watched his proceedings. He,
+however, was quite oblivious of their amusement. He knew what he
+wanted, and it did not matter in the least that others should guess it,
+too, but, apart from his obvious directness, he played the suitor with a
+grave, old-fashioned gallantry and deference that became him. In fact,
+since it was by no means what they expected from him, they wondered how
+he came to have it. Though Leland himself could not have told them its
+source, it had been his practice in the long nights, when Prospect lay
+silent under the Arctic frost, to read and ponder over the best of the
+early Victorian novelists. His mother had been a woman of taste, and he
+had, perhaps, unconsciously acquired from the books she had left him
+some of the mannerisms of a more punctilious time.
+
+It was, in any case, promptly evident to everybody that Aylmer was
+outclassed. Leland's wooing was, no doubt, a trifle ceremonious, but
+Aylmer's savoured too much of the freedom of the barroom and
+music-halls. There was more than one maiden at Barrock-holme who felt
+that it was a pity she had not accorded a little judicious encouragement
+to the quiet, bronze-faced Canadian, who it now transpired had large
+possessions. After all, his stilted courtesy was attractive in its way
+and had in it the interest of an entirely new sensation.
+
+Nobody, however, knew exactly what Carrie Denham thought of it, although
+it was evident that she preferred him to Aylmer. When at last he spoke
+his mind to her, she listened gravely with a slightly flushed face and a
+thoughtful look in her eyes.
+
+"If you are wise," she said quietly, "you will not press me for an
+answer now. You can wait, at least, until this time to-morrow. Then I
+shall be outside on the steps of the terrace."
+
+It was not very encouraging, but Leland made her a little inclination.
+
+"If that is your wish, I must try to be patient," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+NO ESCAPE
+
+
+It was towards the middle of the next afternoon when Carrie Denham
+leaned upon the rails of the little path outside the grey walls of the
+garden at Barrock-holme. From where she stood she could see the narrower
+and unprotected way along which she had ventured with Leland a few weeks
+earlier, and she could not help remembering his quiet glance of
+interrogation when he had come upon it suddenly. She and Jimmy had often
+crossed that somewhat perilous ledge in their younger days, the more
+often, in fact, because it had been forbidden to them. Though it was, of
+course, new to Leland, he had displayed no hesitation when once she had
+made her wishes plain. This had pleased her at the time, since it
+suggested that he understood her resolution was equal to his own; but
+now she brushed the recollection aside, for just then she felt she
+almost hated him.
+
+Close by, a narrow flight of steps hewn out of the dripping rock led
+down into the ravine, and she watched with a curious sense of strained
+expectancy the path which wound among the silvery birches from the foot
+of them to the mossy stepping-stones round which the Barrock flashed.
+She knew this was unwise, and that she could not escape from what lay
+before her, but hope dies hard when one is young, and there was still
+lurking at the back of her mind a faint belief that after all something
+might happen to stave off the impending disaster. If so, it would be
+only fitting that it should result from the efforts of the man in whom
+she had once had faith and confidence, though neither now was so strong
+as it had been.
+
+A drowsy quietness brooded over Barrock-holme. The men were away
+shooting, and the women had driven to inspect some relics of the Roman
+occupation among the fells. She herself had made excuses for remaining
+behind.
+
+There was not a movement among the birch leaves still hanging here and
+there, flecks of pale gold among the lace-like twigs beneath her, and
+the murmur of the gently swirling water emphasised the silence of the
+hollow. She could hear a squirrel shaking the beech-mast down, and the
+patter of the falling nuts rose sharply distinct from the thin carpet of
+yellow leaves. Then she felt her heart beat as the sound of footsteps
+reached her ears. The man she had once believed in was coming, and, if
+there was any way out of the difficulties that threatened her, it was
+his part to find it.
+
+He came up the rude steps hastily, a well-favoured young man of her own
+world, and almost her own age, which she felt was in some ways
+unfortunate then. As he seized both her hands, with a little resolute
+movement she drew them away from him.
+
+"No," she said a trifle sharply. "As I told you last time, that is all
+done with now. It was a little weak of me to see you, and you must not
+come here again."
+
+The colour faded in the young man's face, and he clenched his hands
+spasmodically.
+
+"Oh!" he said, with a catch in his breath, "you can't mean it, Carrie.
+In spite of what you told me, I had been trying to believe the thing was
+out of the question."
+
+There was pain in Carrie Denham's face, and a little bitter smile
+flickered into her eyes.
+
+"The thing one shrinks from most is generally the one that
+happens--unless one does something to make it impossible," she said.
+
+The man reddened, for, though he was pleasant to look at, a stalwart,
+open-faced Englishman, he was very young, and it was, perhaps, not his
+fault that there was a lack of stiffness in his composition. He was not
+one to grapple resolutely with an emergency, and Carrie Denham, who had
+once looked up to him, realised it then.
+
+"What could I do--what could anybody in my place do?" he said, with a
+little gesture that suggested desperation. "Stanley Crossthwaite is only
+sixty, and may live another twenty years. While he does, I'm something
+between his head keeper and a pensioner."
+
+"Isn't it a pity you didn't think of that earlier?"
+
+The man made as though he would have seized her hands again, but she
+drew back from him with a slight shiver of hopelessness running through
+her.
+
+"You can't blame me," he said. "Who could help falling in love with you?
+There was a time when I think you loved me, too."
+
+Carrie watched him with a quietness at which she herself marvelled. She
+had, at least, fancied she felt for him what he had protested he felt
+for her, but now there was a stirring of contempt in her. Her reason
+recognised that he was right, and there was nothing he could do; but,
+for all that, he had been her last faint hope, and he had failed her.
+
+"There is nothing to be gained by talking of that now," she said
+quietly.
+
+The man, who did not answer her, leaned upon the rails, gazing down into
+the ravine with his face awry, until at last he looked up again.
+
+"It's not that awful brute Aylmer?" he said hoarsely.
+
+"No. I could not have brought myself to that."
+
+"The farmer fellow? It's horrible, anyway, but I suppose one couldn't
+blame you--they, your father and Jimmy, made you."
+
+He straightened himself suddenly and moved along the path a pace or two.
+"It's an abominable thing that you should be driven to such a sacrifice,
+but you shall not make it. Can't you understand? It's out of the
+question. You can't make it. Is there nothing you can do?"
+
+The girl's face was colourless, and her lips were trembling, but her
+eyes were hard, for her contempt was growing stronger now. The man had
+asked her the question to which it seemed fitting that he alone should
+find an answer. She did not know what she had expected from him, and,
+since she had decided that the sacrifice must be made, she recognised
+that there was, in fact, nothing she could expect; but her strength had
+almost failed her. Had he suggested a desperate remedy, and insisted on
+it masterfully, she might have fled with him. Only it would have been
+necessary for him to compel her with an overwhelming forcefulness that
+was stronger than her will, and that was apparently too much to ask of
+him.
+
+"No," she said, with a quietness that was born of despair, "there is
+nothing. Fate is too strong for us, Reggie, and you must go back now. It
+would have been better had I never promised that I would see you. I
+should not have done it, but I wanted you to understand that I couldn't
+help myself."
+
+She held out a hand to him, and the man flushed as he seized it. Then he
+drew her towards him, but the girl shook him off with a strength that
+seemed equal to his own, and, though he scarcely saw her move, in
+another moment she stood a yard or two away from him. There was a spot
+of crimson in her cheek, and she was gasping a little.
+
+"Go now!" she said, and her voice had a faintly grating ring. "Since you
+cannot help me, you shall, at least, not make it harder than I can
+bear."
+
+He stood looking at her, slightly bewildered, irresolute, and
+half-ashamed, though he did not quite realise for the moment why he
+should feel so. Then, with a despairing gesture, he went down the steps
+without a word. Whilst Carrie Denham still leaned dejectedly on the
+terrace railing, Eveline Annersly, coming through the archway, caught a
+glimpse of a shadowy figure moving off through the trees.
+
+"Were you wise?" she asked the girl. "One has to be circumspect, you
+know."
+
+Carrie laughed bitterly.
+
+"I do not think there was any great risk. It is a very long while since
+young Lochinvar swam the Esk at Netherby. In fact, unless men have
+changed with the times, it is difficult to believe that he ever did."
+
+Mrs. Annersly glanced at her shrewdly, for she fancied she understood.
+
+"I'm not sure they have," she said. "There was a gentleman in the ballad
+who said nothing at all, and presumably did nothing, too; but I don't
+know that I'm so very sorry for you. Reggie Urmston is a nice boy, but I
+imagine that is about all that could be said of him."
+
+She stopped a moment, and looked at the girl with a little twinkle in
+her eyes. "I almost think, my dear, that if you had shown the Canadian
+half the favour you have wasted on Reggie, he would, even in these
+degenerate days, have carried you off, in spite of all the Denhams could
+do to prevent him."
+
+Then for the first time Carrie Denham flushed crimson as she heard the
+thought she had not permitted herself to put into words. The impression
+sank in, and she afterwards recalled it. She, however, said nothing in
+comment, and the two went back silently through the archway to the lawn.
+
+The rest of the afternoon seemed very long to Carrie; but it dragged
+itself away, and at last she slipped out of the house as the still night
+was closing down. A full moon had just lifted itself above the ridge of
+moor. As she flitted along the terrace, the pale, silvery light was
+creeping across the old grey house. It rose above her, a pile of rudely
+hewn and weathered stone, not beautiful, for time itself could not make
+it that with its creeping mosses, houseleek, and lichens, but stamped
+with a certain rugged stateliness, and the girl, who had much else to
+think of, felt its influence.
+
+The pride of family was strong in her, and she remembered what kind of
+men those were who had built themselves that home in the days of feud
+and foray. They, at least, had not shrunk from the harder things of
+life, and she, who sprang from them, could emulate their courage. It
+seemed that Barrock-holme demanded a sacrifice, and she must make it.
+Then a little flush crept to her face as she remembered the part her
+father and Jimmy played. It was a degenerate and paltry one, to which
+she felt the very stranger to whom they were willing to sell her would
+never have stooped. He was not of her world, a man, so far as she knew,
+of low degree, one who had held the plough; but there were, at least,
+signs of strength and pride in him.
+
+She stopped for just a moment with a little catching of her breath as
+she saw him, a dim figure in the shadow of the firs beyond the wall that
+lay in sharp, black outline upon the dewy lawn. Then she went on again,
+nerving herself for what must be borne. When he had reached the foot of
+the terrace steps, he stood waiting her there with his hat in his hand.
+It was not exactly what Jimmy Denham or even Reggie Urmston would have
+done in a similar case, but this quaint Westerner had seen fit to make
+use of the formal courtesy of sixty years ago, and, what was most
+curious, farmer as he was, it did not appear ridiculous in him.
+
+"It was," he said, "very good of you to come, though I was 'most afraid
+to hope that you would keep your promise."
+
+"Wouldn't such a thing imply an obligation?'
+
+"Yes"--and Leland made a little gesture--"I think it would with you.
+Still, you see, the fact that you made that promise was in one way an
+astonishing thing to me."
+
+He stopped, and stood for a moment or two regarding her gravely, and the
+girl noticed that he was one who could be silent without awkwardness. It
+also seemed to her that he had made the opening moves rather gracefully.
+
+"Well," he said at length, "I had the honour of making you an offer last
+night."
+
+The girl found something reassuring in his lack of embarrassment and his
+dispassionate tone. She felt that the man was not in love with her, and
+that promised to make things a good deal easier. She was also relieved
+to find that she was mistress of herself.
+
+"It was, perhaps, rather an unusual thing for me to ask you to meet me
+here, but I fancied we should be quite alone," she said. "There is
+something to be said."
+
+"Yes," said Leland gravely. "That is quite natural. I am all attention."
+
+"Then will you tell me candidly why you wish to marry me."
+
+The moonlight showed the faint twinkle in Leland's eyes, as he made her
+one of his queer little bows.
+
+"I wonder," he said, "do you ever look into your mirror?"
+
+"Pshaw!" said the girl. "That is, after all, a very indifferent reason.
+I want the real one."
+
+Leland stood very straight now, looking at her steadily, but it was
+evident that he was somewhat perplexed. Accustomed as he was to being
+frank with himself, he did not quite know why he wanted to marry her
+then. A few weeks earlier he had been swayed by no more than an
+unreasoning desire to save her from Aylmer, but he was by no means sure
+that was all now. She stood full in the moonlight with the fleecy wrap
+about her shoulders, intensifying the duskiness of her eyes and hair,
+and the long light dress suggesting the sweeping lines of a
+beautifully-moulded figure, and her freshness and beauty stirred his
+depths. The faint trace of imperiousness in her pose, and the
+unfaltering gaze of her dark eyes, which were as steady as his own, had
+an effect that was stronger still, for her courage and composure
+appealed most to him. In the meanwhile she was, however, apparently
+awaiting an answer, and, though he was usually candid, nothing would
+have induced him to mention his original reason.
+
+"Well," he said, "I think I have told you that you are the most
+beautiful woman I have ever, at least, spoken to, but that, though it
+goes some distance, isn't quite everything. You've got grit and fibre
+that are worth more than looks. I am a lonely man with big fancies of my
+own, and, with you beside me to teach me what I do not know, I think I
+could make my mark in my own country."
+
+"You have nothing more to urge?"
+
+Leland made a little gesture.
+
+"My dear, I think you would find me kind to you."
+
+If the issue had been less serious, Carrie Denham could have laughed.
+His frankness and the absence of any sign of ardour or impassioned
+protest were, she fancied, under the circumstances, somewhat unusual,
+but that was, after all, a matter of relief to her. She was willing to
+marry him, but she meant to teach him to keep his distance afterwards,
+which would naturally be more difficult to do in the case of a man in
+love with her. Then he fixed his gaze on her again.
+
+"I almost fancy it's my turn now," he said. "I want the answer to a
+question I asked you last night. Will you come back to Prospect with me,
+as my wife?"
+
+Carrie Denham felt her cheeks burn, for she had to make him understand,
+and it was harder than she had imagined.
+
+"Yes," she said simply; "on conditions. One must be honest, and I could
+not make a bargain with you--afterwards--you can draw back now. I think
+you know that I do not love you--and I have nothing to give you except
+my fellowship. Still, as you do not love me, you will, perhaps, be
+content with that."
+
+The moonlight showed that Leland started slightly, and the darker colour
+in his bronzed face, but he made her a little deferential gesture. Then
+he looked up again, straightening himself, with the glint in his eyes
+she had now and then seen there before.
+
+"My dear," he said, "you shall do 'most everything you like; but, when
+you say that I do not love you, I am not sure that you are right."
+
+"Still," said the girl sharply, "I, at least, know what I feel myself,
+and I have tried to tell you that you must not expect too much from me."
+
+Leland, stooping, caught her hand and held it fast.
+
+"It's a bargain," he said. "You shall be your own mistress in every way,
+and your wishes will be quite enough for me; but I almost think that you
+will love me, too, some day. I shall try to find how to make you, and I
+have never been quite beaten yet in anything I undertook."
+
+He saw the look of shrinking in her face, and, though he had not
+expected it, a little thrill of pain ran through him. Then he raised the
+hand he held, and, stooping, touched it with his lips before he laid it
+on his arm. As they went up the steps together, he looked down on her
+again.
+
+"In the meanwhile, I will try to do nothing that could make you sorry
+you married me; and you have only to tell me when anything does not
+please you."
+
+He left her at the entrance to the hall, while he went in search of
+Branscombe Denham, and, as it happened, saw very little of her during
+the rest of the evening. It was late that night when the girl related to
+Eveline Annersly a part of what had passed. The faded, merry little
+woman, her aunt and only confidante, smiled as she listened.
+
+"You probably know your own affairs best, but I can't help wondering if
+you were wise in giving that man to understand that you didn't care in
+the least for him," she said.
+
+"Why?" said Carrie.
+
+"Because it is just possible that you may be sorry for it by-and-bye. As
+it is, I don't think there is any great necessity for pitying you. If it
+had been Aylmer, it would have been a different matter."
+
+The girl looked at her with lifted brows.
+
+"Do you suppose I should ever care for a man like that one?"
+
+"Well," said her companion reflectively, "he seems to me a much superior
+man to Reggie. Quite apart from that, I never could discover any
+particular reason for the belief the Denhams seem to have that they are
+set apart from the rest of humanity. If there were any, I should know
+it, since I'm one of them myself, you see. Henry Annersly, with all his
+shortcomings--and he naturally had them--was a much better man than
+Jimmy will ever be. In any case, you would have had to marry somebody;
+and, if I had been your mother, I would have shaken you for trying to
+fancy yourself in love with Reggie."
+
+Carrie Denham flushed crimson, and her brows straightened ominously, but
+she restrained herself, and laughed, a little bitter laugh.
+
+"Well," she said, "I suppose I did, and I had my chances in two Town
+seasons. Perhaps I was unreasonably fastidious, but I was--if it wasn't
+more than that--fond of Reggie, and, at least, I am willing to bear the
+cost of my foolishness now."
+
+Mrs. Annersly rose, and, after looking down on her a moment, stooped and
+kissed her.
+
+"Still," she said, "it wouldn't be quite honest to expect your husband
+to bear it too. Good-night, and try to think well of him. I almost fancy
+he deserves it."
+
+She went out smiling, but, when the door had closed, her face grew grave
+again.
+
+"I wonder if that man will have reason to hate me for what I have done,"
+she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRAIRIE
+
+
+Two long whistles came ringing up the track.
+
+Carrie Leland rose unsteadily in the big overheated car and struggled
+into the furs which had been one of her husband's gifts to her. She had
+never worn furs of that kind before, and, indeed, had never seen
+anything quite like them in her friends' possession; but, while that had
+naturally been a cause of satisfaction, it was, nevertheless, with a
+vague repugnance she put them on. They were one of the visible tokens
+that in the most sordid sense of the word she belonged to him. The man
+had not won her favour. In fact, he had made no great pretence of
+seeking it, for which, so far as that went, she was grateful; but he had
+evidently carried out his part of the bargain, and now she was part of
+his property, acquired by purchase. The recognition of it carried with
+it an almost intolerable sting, though hitherto--and it was just a
+fortnight since her wedding--she had not felt it quite so keenly. He had
+not been exacting, and it had been comparatively easy to keep him at due
+distance on board the big mail-boat and in the crowded train, but she
+realised it would be different, now they were almost home.
+
+In the meanwhile the great train was slowing down, and, when the
+clanging of the locomotive bell came back to her, she went out through
+the vestibule and leant on the platform-rails. Two huge wooden
+buildings, grain elevators, she supposed, with lines of sledges beneath
+them, flitted by. It was with a shiver she glanced at the little wooden
+town. It rose abruptly from the prairie, without sign of tree or garden
+to relieve its ugliness, an unsightly jumble of wooden houses in the
+midst of a vast white plain, which stretched gleaming to the far
+horizon, with not even a willow bluff to relieve its desolation. She set
+her lips tight as the cars ran slowly into the station. It consisted
+apparently of a stock-yard, a towering water-tank, and a weatherbeaten
+shed half-buried in snow, and was, as usual when the trains came in,
+crowded with men, who looked uncouth and shapeless in dilapidated
+skin-coats, and had hard faces, almost blackened by exposure to the
+frost. It was all strange and unfamiliar. She had not a friend in that
+grim, desolate land, and she felt the physical discomfort almost a
+relief by way of distraction from her overpowering sense of loneliness
+when the bitter cold struck through her with the keenness of steel.
+
+Then the cars stopped, and her husband, who swung her down into the
+dusty snow beside the track, was forthwith surrounded by the crowd. Men
+with the snow-dust sprinkled like flour upon their shaggy furs clustered
+about him, and their harsh, drawling voices grated on her ears. They
+made it evident that he was one of them, for they greeted him with rude
+friendliness as "Charley". That was another shock to her prejudices.
+Leland, however, waved them aside, and they fell back a pace or two,
+gazing at her with unemotional inquiry in their eyes, until he laid his
+hand upon her arm.
+
+"I guess you're going to be astonished," he said. "My wife, boys!"
+
+Then the big fur caps came off, while the men with the hard brown faces
+clustered thicker about the pair, and awkwardly held out mittened hands.
+They were most of them speaking, and, though it was difficult to catch
+all they said, she heard from those at the back odd snatches which did
+not please her.
+
+"Why didn't you let us know, and we'd have turned out the band? . . .
+It's a great country you have come to, ma'am. . . . She's a daisy. . . .
+Where'd he get her from? . . . You've married the whitest man on the
+prairie, Mrs. Leland. . . . Some tone about that one."
+
+A little red spot burned in Carrie Leland's cheeks. She hovered between
+anger and humiliation. Social distinctions counted for much in the land
+of her birth, and it seemed to her that the man she had married might
+have spared her this vulgarity. It might have been different had she
+loved him, for she would then, perhaps, have found pleasure in his
+evident popularity; but, as it was, she felt merely the indignity of
+being exposed to the gaze and comments of these ox-drivers or ploughmen,
+as she took them to be. That she was apparently expected to shake hands
+with them struck her as ridiculous. The ovation, however, died away, and
+there was for a moment an uncomfortable silence, during which the crowd
+gazed at the cold, beautiful woman who regarded them with unsympathetic
+eyes, until her husband touched her arm again.
+
+"Won't you say just a word to them? They mean to be kind," he said.
+
+Carrie made no response. She felt she could not have done so had she
+wished, and Leland turned to the men again. "Mrs. Leland doesn't feel
+quite equal to thanking you, boys," he said. "She has just come off a
+long journey and is feeling a little strange."
+
+The men murmured good-humouredly. One of them pushed his way through the
+crowd and shook hands with Leland.
+
+"We sent your wheat on to Winnipeg, as you cabled, and your people have
+brought us another forty sledge-loads in," he said. "We're rather
+tightly fixed for room, and want to know if you're going to send much
+more along. No doubt you know wheat is two cents down."
+
+"I do," said Leland drily. "Still, in the meanwhile I have got to sell."
+
+The man appeared a little astonished, but he made a sign of
+comprehension. "Well," he said, "if you could have held back a month or
+two, it might have been better. They've been rushing a good deal on to
+the markets lately, but I guess you'll want to straighten up after your
+trip to the old country. Your sleigh's ready, as you wired."
+
+Leland, who, as she noticed, seemed desirous of changing the subject,
+turned to his wife.
+
+"Would you like some tea, or anything of that kind?" he said. "If not,
+we had better start at once. It's forty miles to Prospect, and there's
+not much of the afternoon left. Still, of course, if you prefer it, they
+might fix you up a fairly decent room at the hotel to-night."
+
+Carrie glanced at the little desolate town. It appeared uninviting
+enough, but when she spoke the words seemed to stick in her throat.
+
+"No," she said; "I would sooner go--home."
+
+Leland said something to the man beside him, and then led Carrie into a
+very dirty wooden room with a big stove in the midst of it, after which
+he left her to watch, with a sinking heart, the departing train clatter
+out into the darkness.
+
+He came back transformed--with a battered fur cap hiding most of his
+face, in a very big and somewhat tattered fur coat. With a fresh shock
+of dismay, she noticed that he now looked very much as the others did.
+In another minute he had lifted her into the sleigh and wrapped the big
+robes about her. Then he shook the reins and they were whirled away down
+the long smear of trail that led straight off to the horizon.
+
+It was beaten hard, the team were fresh and fast, and for a while the
+girl felt the exhilaration of the swift rush through nipping air. The
+desolate town faded behind her; a grey blur that lifted itself out of
+the horizon, and was a big birch bluff, came flitting back to her; there
+was deep stillness, only intensified by the screech of runners and the
+soft drumming of hoofs. A vast sweep of fleckless azure overhung the
+glistening plain below. It was not all white, however, for there were
+shades of grey and dusky purple in the hollows, and the trail was a wavy
+riband that rose and fell in varying blue. It was beautiful in its own
+way, and the stinging air stirred her blood like wine. That was for an
+hour or so; but when the sun dipped, a red, copper ball, amidst a frosty
+haze, and the blues and greys crept wide across the whiteness of the
+plain, the cold laid hold of her. Leland, who had scarcely spoken,
+looked down.
+
+"Are you warm?" he said.
+
+The girl was scarcely willing to admit that she was not; but the frost
+of the Northwest strikes keen and deep, and, after all, it was his
+business to attend to her physical comfort.
+
+"No," she said; "I am very cold."
+
+Leland nodded, though there was light enough to show the curious look in
+his eyes. "Well," he said, "that ought to be excuse enough for me, and
+it's going to be a good deal colder presently."
+
+He slipped his free arm round her, and drew her to him masterfully. Then
+he shook the furs higher about her neck with the hand that held the
+reins, and Carrie, who felt that protest would be useless and
+undignified, said nothing when she found her shoulder drawn against his
+breast, though the old fur coat had a faint but unmistakable odour of
+tobacco and the stable about it.
+
+Leland looked down on her with a little laugh. "After all, that is where
+you ought to be," he said. "Perhaps, if I am very good to you, you will
+come there of your own will, by-and-bye."
+
+Carrie said nothing, and, though she felt her cheeks burn, it was not
+altogether with anger against him. The man had been tactfully
+considerate, and had deferred to her as she felt that Aylmer would not
+have done. Indeed, she realised that she owed him a good deal, if only
+because of the delicacy he had displayed, and which she had scarcely
+expected from one so much beneath her in station. It was not even so
+repugnant as she had fancied to lie there warmed by the heat of his
+body, with his arm about her, and she felt, at least, a comforting
+confidence in his ability to shelter and protect her. What Leland felt
+he did not tell her until some time afterwards. He was accustomed to
+restraint, and, too, the driving occupied most of his attention, for
+darkness was creeping across the waste, and the snow was deep outside
+the beaten trail.
+
+Then the cold increased until it grew numbing, and when the pain ceased,
+all feeling died out of the girl's hands and feet. She gradually grew
+drowsy, and, looking up now and then with heavy eyes, saw only the dim
+shapes of the horses projected against the bitter blueness of the night.
+Still, at times, they plunged into belts of shadow, where there was a
+crackling under the runners and a flitting by of ghostly trees that
+vanished when they once more swept out into the awful cold of the open.
+Now and then Leland called to the horses, but his voice was lost again
+next moment in the silence it had scarcely broken. A curious sense of
+the unreality of it all came upon the girl. She almost felt that, if she
+could cry out, he and the team would vanish, and all would be with her
+as it had been in England before she met him. Then the drumming of hoofs
+grew very faint, and with a half-conscious desire for warmth she crept
+still closer to the silent man, who looked down on her very
+compassionately, and then, setting his lips, gave his attention again to
+the team. She remembered nothing further until she roused herself at a
+pressure on her arm.
+
+"Prospect is close in front of us," said her companion.
+
+She raised herself a trifle, and, looking round with a shiver, saw a
+half-moon sailing low above a dusky mass of trees. What seemed to be a
+wooden house stood in the midst of them, and its windows flung out
+streaks of ruddy light upon the snow. Behind it, she could dimly see a
+range of strange, shapeless buildings. They did not in the least look
+like English stables, barns, or granaries. Then there was a sound of
+voices, and a door swung open, letting out a broader track of
+brightness, in the midst of which the sleigh pulled up. Shadowy figures
+appeared here and there, and Leland, who unstrapped the robes, rolled
+them about her. Then, before she quite realised his purpose, he had
+lifted her and them together, and was walking stiffly towards the house.
+In another minute or two he set her down in a little log-walled room
+which had a tiled stove in the middle of it, and a hard-featured elderly
+woman came towards her with a kindly smile in her eyes.
+
+"Mrs. Nesbit, Carrie," said the man. "She has been looking after the
+house for me lately. My wife's 'most frozen, and you'll do what you can
+to make her comfortable. . . . I suppose those are the fixings from
+Montreal?"
+
+Mrs. Nesbit said they were, but that they had arrived with one of the
+sledges too late to be opened that day. Leland pointed to several
+canvas-covered rolls and bulky cases as he turned to the girl.
+
+"They're curtains and rugs and carpets, and things of that kind," he
+said. "We don't worry much about them on the prairie, but this room and
+the next one are your own, unless there are any you like better. We'll
+get the cases opened to-morrow."
+
+He went out, and it was some little time later when Carrie found him
+awaiting her in a great bare room. There were antelope heads, guns,
+axes, rifles, and here and there a splendid cluster of wheat ears, upon
+the walls, but there was nothing on the floor, and the furniture
+appeared to consist of a table, a carpenter's bench, a set of
+bookshelves, and a few lounge chairs. Still, it was well warmed by the
+big crackling stove, and she sank with a little sigh of physical content
+into one of the chairs he drew out. Leland, who now wore a jacket of
+soft white deer-skin, stooped beside her and took one of her still
+chilly hands in his. It was also the one on a finger of which there
+gleamed the ring, and he glanced at it with a queer, half-wistful little
+smile.
+
+"I hope you will be happy here. What I can do to make it home to you
+will be done," he said.
+
+He stopped a moment, and, seeing she made no response, went on:
+
+"All the way out I have thought of you sitting here. Since my mother, no
+woman but Mrs. Nesbit has crossed my threshold. It has been all work and
+loneliness with me. Won't you try to make it different now?"
+
+He laid his other hand gently on her shoulder, and the girl who bore his
+name felt her cheeks burn as she turned her eyes away. A caress would
+have been in one sense a very little thing, but she could not bring
+herself to invite it then, and she was further warned by what she saw in
+her companion's eyes.
+
+Leland for a moment closed one of his hard hands. Presently he smiled
+again and, drawing another of the chairs up, sat down beside her.
+
+"Well," he said, "you will get used to me by-and-bye, and I only want to
+please you in the meanwhile. And now about Mrs. Nesbit. We'll send her
+away if it would suit you, and you can get somebody from Winnipeg,
+though I don't know that it wouldn't be better to let Jake do the
+cooking and cleaning as before. It's quite difficult to get maids in
+this country, and, when you've had them 'bout a week, they marry
+somebody. Anyway, that's your business. The one thing to be done is what
+you like, but if you could see your way to keep Mrs. Nesbit, it would
+please me."
+
+It was almost the only thing he had asked of her, and she was willing to
+humour him in this. "Of course," she said. "In fact, I rather like her.
+Who is she?"
+
+"A widow, the mother of one of the boys who drives a team for me. Wages
+come down when there's little doing with the snow upon the ground, and
+he's away railroading. I told him I'd see the old lady was looked after
+until he came back again."
+
+"But how could you have done that, if I had sent her away?"
+
+"I'd have boarded her out with Custer at The Range, whose wife wants
+help and can't hire it. Mrs. Nesbit would never have known where the
+money came from."
+
+Carrie Leland smiled. It was only a few months since she had first set
+eyes upon the man, but she felt that, if she had been his housekeeper, a
+device of that kind would not have availed with her. There was no doubt
+that he had his strong points.
+
+Then another young man came in, and was presented to her as Tom Gallwey.
+He called her husband "Charley", and spoke with a clean English
+intonation.
+
+"I'm going round to give the boys their instructions," he said. "We have
+cleaned out the sod granaries as you cabled. Are we to break into the
+straw-pile to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes," said Leland. "You'll go on hauling wheat in with every team."
+
+"I suppose you know what has happened to the market? One would fancy it
+wasn't a good time to sell."
+
+"Still, you'll haul that wheat in. We'll go into the rest to-morrow.
+Will you come back to supper?"
+
+The young man glanced at Carrie. "If Mrs. Leland will excuse me, I think
+not," he said, and departed, as he evidently considered, tactfully.
+
+"An Englishman?" said the girl, with a trace of colour in her face.
+
+"I've never asked him, but he talks like one. I struck him shovelling on
+a railroad, and looking very sick, two or three years ago. Now he gets
+decent pay for looking after things for me."
+
+Just then another man in weirdly patched blue-jean, who limped in his
+walk and carried the tray with his left hand, brought in supper. He
+gazed at Carrie so hard that he spilled some of the contents of the
+dishes, and, when he went out, she glanced at her husband with a smile.
+
+"I suppose that is another pensioner?" she said.
+
+"No," said Leland. "He earns his pay, and all I did was to make it a
+little easier for him. He got himself mixed up with a threshing mill at
+another place a while ago."
+
+"And he naturally came to you?"
+
+Leland's eyes sparkled shrewdly. "Well," he said, "I guess I get my full
+value out of him. Won't you come to supper?"
+
+Carrie took her place at the head of the table, and found the pork,
+fried potatoes, apples, flapjacks, and hot corn-cakes much more
+palatable than she had expected. She also looked very dainty sitting
+there in the great bare room, and was not displeased when Leland told
+her so. In fact, the more she saw of him, the more favourably he
+impressed her, and, though she remembered always that she was a Denham
+of Barrock-holme, and he a Western farmer of low degree, she did what
+she could to be gracious to him. It was not until the meal was over that
+a trace of the bitterness she had felt towards him came back to her.
+
+"I suppose you posted the letter I gave you at Winnipeg?" she said.
+
+Leland showed some little embarrassment. "I did. I was going to talk to
+you about it in a day or two, because it wouldn't be quite convenient to
+have Mrs. Heaton out from Chicago just now."
+
+Carrie glanced at him sharply. "You told me I could fill the house with
+my friends, if I wished."
+
+"I believe I did," said Leland. "Anyway, I meant it. Still, we're not
+going to worry about that to-night."
+
+Carrie saw that he was resolute, and discreetly changed the subject. She
+had not yet quite shaken off the effects of the cold, and in another
+hour rose drowsily from beside the stove.
+
+Leland opened the door, and stood with his hand on it. "Mrs. Nesbit will
+see you have everything you want," he said. "Don't come down too
+early--and good-night."
+
+He took the hand she held out, and did not let it go at once. The girl
+felt her heart beat a wee bit faster than usual, as it had done once or
+twice before that day. Again she felt that it was only fitting she
+should offer her cheek to him, but it was more than she could do.
+
+Then he dropped her hand, and made her a little inclination as he once
+more said, "Good-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CARRIE MAKES HER VIEWS CLEAR
+
+
+It was ten o'clock next morning when Carrie, coming down to breakfast,
+found that her husband had gone out two or three hours earlier. Gallwey
+also came in, soon after she had finished the meal, to say that Leland
+might not be back until the evening, and, when he offered to take her
+round the homestead, she decided to go with him. Mrs. Nesbit, who
+equipped her with a pair of lined gum-boots, helped her on with her
+furs, gazing at them admiringly.
+
+"There's not another set like them on the prairie, and I expect there
+are very few folks in Montreal have anything quite as smart," she said.
+"They must have cost a pile of money."
+
+A little flush crept into Carrie's face, but she answered languidly.
+
+"I suppose they did," she said. "Mr. Leland had them made for me."
+
+"Well," said the woman, who gazed at her with an air of deprecation,
+"you have got a good man, my dear. There's not a straighter or a
+better-hearted one between Winnipeg and the Rockies--but it would be
+worth while to humour him a little. He has just a hard spot or two in
+him, and he generally gets his way."
+
+Carrie smiled, a trifle coldly. "And so do I."
+
+She went out with Gallwey, but the hard-handed woman stood still a
+moment with a shadow of anxiety in her eyes, and then sighed a little as
+she went on with her work again. She would have done a good deal to save
+Charley Leland trouble, and she foresaw difficulties.
+
+In the meanwhile, the girl found the cold unlike anything she had felt
+in England, but, after the first few minutes, more endurable than she
+had expected. There was no trace of moisture in that crystalline
+atmosphere, the sun that had no heat in it shone dazzlingly, and the
+snow that flung the sun's rays back fell from her feet dusty and dry as
+flour. No cloud flecked the clear blueness overhead, and fainter washes
+of the same cold colour marked the beaten trails and prints of
+horse-hoofs that alone broke the gleaming surface of the white expanse
+below. On the far horizon she could see grey blurs, which were
+presumably trees.
+
+Gallwey, who was wrapped in an old fur coat from cheeks to ankles,
+proved an agreeable companion. He led her first a little way back among
+the slender birches, where she could see the house. It was, she decided,
+by no means picturesque, a rambling, frame structure roofed with cedar
+shingles, built round what was evidently the original hut of small birch
+logs; but it had a little verandah with rude pillars and trellis work on
+one side of it, and Gallwey assured her there were not many houses in
+that country to equal it. Then he showed her the barns and stables,
+built in part of birch logs and for the rest of sods, stretching back
+into the shelter of the bluff. They were primitive and almost shapeless
+structures, with roofs that apparently consisted of straw and soil and
+snow, but she fancied their thickness would keep out even the frost of
+the Northwest. There were, however, only a horse or two and a few brawny
+oxen standing in them. Last of all, he led her into one of the most
+curious edifices she had ever seen. Sitting down on one of the wheat
+bags inside it, she looked about her.
+
+It had no definite outline, and, from the outside, it had looked like a
+great mound of snow, but she now saw that it had a skeleton wall of
+birch branches. Round this had been piled an immensity of very short
+straw, and the roof, which had partly fallen in as the bags beneath it
+had been cut out, consisted of the same material. It was filled with
+bags of wheat that here and there trickled red-gold grain, and she
+turned to Gallwey with a question.
+
+"Is this the usual granary?" she said.
+
+Gallwey laughed. "There are quite a few of them in this country. You
+see, we don't stack the grain here, but leave most of the straw
+standing, and thresh in the field, whilst most of the smaller men rush
+their grain in to the railroad elevators as soon as that is done. As a
+rule, they want their money, but Charley had meant to hold wheat this
+year."
+
+Carrie felt a little thoughtful, for it was evident that her husband's
+change of purpose had attracted attention, and she fancied she knew the
+reason for it.
+
+"The stables are a little primitive, too," she said.
+
+"They are no doubt very different from what you have been accustomed to
+in England, but they serve their purpose, and in a way they're
+characteristic of your husband. While there are men who would spend
+part of their profits making things comfortable, every dollar Charley
+Leland takes out of the land goes back into it again, and with the
+increase he breaks so many more acres each year. It's a tolerably bold
+policy, but that is what suits him, and it has succeeded well so far.
+For one thing, he wants very little for personal expenses. To all
+intents and purposes he hasn't any."
+
+He stopped a moment, and then went on deprecatingly: "I wonder if I may
+say that I am glad he has married. After all, it is scarcely fit for a
+man to live as he has done, stripping himself of everything. It has been
+all effort and self-denial, and you can do so much to make things
+pleasant for him."
+
+Carrie was touched, though she would not show it. The man, who
+apparently had no time for pleasure and no thought of comfort, had been
+very generous to her. It was also evident that there was much a woman
+could do to brighten the life he led, if it was only to teach him that
+it had more to offer him than the material results of ceaseless labour.
+Still, that had not been her purpose in marrying him, and she felt an
+uncomfortable sense of confusion as she decided that it would have been
+very much better if he had chosen a woman who loved him. As things were,
+he must give everything, and there was so little that she could offer.
+
+"Where are all the horses and the men gone?" she asked.
+
+"To the railroad. They started before the sun was up, but Charley has
+driven twenty miles to meet one of the Winnipeg cattle-brokers. It's
+wheat or beef only with most men in this country, but we raise the two,
+and Charley is thinking of cutting out some stock for the market, though
+it's very seldom done at this season. We only keep store beasts through
+the winter, and, as they take their chances in the open, when the snow
+comes they get poor and thin."
+
+Gallwey excused himself in another minute or two, and Carrie, who went
+back to the house, spent the afternoon lying in a big chair by the stove
+with a book, of which she read but little. From what she had heard, it
+was evident that Leland was selling his wheat and cattle at a sacrifice,
+which, she could understand, he would naturally not have done, could he
+have helped it. The reflection was not exactly a pleasant one, for
+though Branscombe Denham had carefully refrained from mentioning to what
+agreement he and Leland had come, she was, of course, aware that her
+marriage had relieved him from some, at least, of his financial
+difficulties. After all, though she had sacrificed herself for him, she
+could not think highly of her father, and the fact that her husband had
+been thus compelled to strip himself was painful to contemplate. It
+placed her under a heavy obligation to Leland, and there was so little
+she could do, or, at least, was willing to do, that would free her of
+it.
+
+It was dark when he came in, walking stiffly, with his fur coat hard
+with frost, and her heart smote her again as she saw how his weary face
+brightened at the sight of her. It cost her an effort to submit to the
+touch of his lips, but she made it, though she felt her cheeks grow hot,
+and was sorry she had done so when she saw the glint in his eyes and
+felt the constraint of his arm. Drawing herself away from him, she
+slipped back a pace or two. Leland stood looking at her wistfully.
+
+"I didn't wish to startle you," he said. "Still, it has been a little
+hard and lonely here, and I fancied it was going to be different now. I
+was looking forward to a kind word from you all the twenty miles home."
+
+An unusual colour crept into his wife's face. Both of them were glad
+that Jake limped in just then with the evening meal, which in that
+country differs in no way from breakfast or the midday dinner. Salt
+pork, potatoes, apples, flapjacks or hot cakes with molasses, and strong
+green tea, it is usually very much the same from Winnipeg to Calgary.
+Few men have more, or desire it, on the prairie, and fewer still have
+less. At the end of the meal, when Jake had cleared away, Carrie Leland
+looked up questioningly at her husband, who sat opposite her beside the
+crackling stove. There was nobody else in the big, bare room.
+
+"You haven't told me why it is not convenient for me to have Ada Heaton
+here just now," she said.
+
+"You want her very much?" and again the man glanced at her wistfully.
+
+"Yes," said Carrie, "of course I do. I must have somebody to talk to."
+
+Leland made a gesture of vague appeal. "I suppose it's only natural,
+though I had 'most dared to hope you might be content for a little with
+my company. Anyway, we won't let that count. Couldn't you bring Mrs.
+Annersly out? I like her, and she told me that if I asked her she would
+come and stay a year. Then there's your younger sister."
+
+"You don't suppose that Lily would come to live here?" and there was
+something in her smile that jarred upon the man.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm sorry. She was rather nice to me. Is there nobody
+else you could think of?"
+
+"One would almost fancy that you were trying to get away from the
+question. It is why you don't want me to bring Ada Heaton here."
+
+Leland leaned forward a little, and laid his hand upon her arm. "Won't
+you let it rest to please me? I haven't asked you very much."
+
+The girl was almost tempted to do so, but, unfortunately, she had some
+notion of what was influencing him, and resented it.
+
+"No," she said coldly. "I really think I ought to know."
+
+"Then I'm sorry, but it wouldn't suit me to have Mrs. Heaton here at
+all."
+
+"Why?" and an ominous red spot appeared in the girl's cheek as she shook
+off his arm.
+
+Leland stood up, and, leaning upon the chair-back, looked down at her.
+Perhaps he felt it gave him an advantage, and he would need it in the
+struggle which was evidently impending. He had never faced an angry
+woman before, and he shrank from it now, but not sufficiently to desist
+from what he felt he had to do.
+
+"I wonder if you have ever asked yourself why Mrs. Heaton is in Chicago
+when her home is in London," he said. "I can't believe that she told
+you."
+
+"Ah,"--and Carrie moved her head so that he could see the sparkle in her
+eyes--"you have heard those tales, and believed them--about a relative
+of mine. Presumably, you have heard nothing about Captain Heaton?"
+
+"It was one of your people who told me. They said the man was short of
+temper. So are a good many of us; and, it seems, he had some reason.
+Still, there's rather more against Mrs. Heaton than that she's not
+living with her own husband. Knowing you meant to ask her here, I made
+inquiries."
+
+The girl turned towards him with anger and contempt in her face, which
+was almost colourless now, although she fancied that he knew rather more
+than she did about the recent doings of the lady in question. The pride
+of family was especially strong in her, as it occasionally is in cases
+where there is very little to warrant it.
+
+"Your time was well employed," she said. "You who live here with your
+horses and cattle presume to decide how people of our station should
+spend their lives."
+
+"There is one thing, at least, expected of a woman who is married; it's
+the necessary foundation of civilised society. And the woman you want to
+bring here has openly disregarded it. You must have heard something of
+the trouble between her and her husband in London, but I can't quite
+think you know how she came to be in Chicago."
+
+As a matter of fact, Carrie Leland did not know. Still, she would not
+ask the man, who had apparently laid firm hands upon his temper, and was
+looking at her appealingly. It was unfortunate that she only remembered
+he had presumed to cast a slur upon one of her relations, and was, in
+her opinion, very far beneath her. She refused to answer, and Leland's
+face grew grim.
+
+"Well," he said, "you are in almost every way your own mistress, but
+there are points on which what I say stands. This house was built for my
+mother. I have brought my wife home to it now, and Mrs. Heaton does not
+enter its door."
+
+Carrie rose and faced him, imperious, but at last dangerously cold in
+her anger.
+
+"Your wife!" she said. "Could you have expected that I should ever be
+more than that in name to you?"
+
+The veins showed swollen on the man's forehead as he looked at her, and
+a dark flush crept into his bronzed cheek.
+
+"Madam," he said, "now you have gone that far, you have got to tell me
+exactly what you mean."
+
+"It should be quite plain. You could buy me. It sounds absurd, of
+course, and a trifle theatrical, but it is just what took place, and
+there are no doubt many of us for sale. Isn't that alone sufficient to
+make me hate you? Can't you realise the sickening humiliation of it, and
+did you suppose you could buy my love as well?"
+
+Leland made her a little inclination which, though it was the last thing
+she had expected just then, undoubtedly became him. "I had 'most
+ventured to hope that you might give it me by-and-bye," he said.
+
+His restraint did not serve him. The girl realised that she was in the
+wrong, but she had failed in her desire to look down on him. This she
+naturally felt was another grievance against him. She had the old
+disdain of those who own the land for those who till it, and, although
+in this man's case, the contempt she strove to feel seemed out of
+place, it was horribly humiliating to recognise that she was wholly in
+his hands.
+
+"To you?" she said, with a bitter laugh that brought the dark flush to
+his face again.
+
+Leland laid his hand on her shoulder and gripped it hard.
+
+"I have, perhaps, no great reason for setting too high a value on
+myself," he said. "What I am you know, but, if you must have plain talk,
+there were two men made the bargain that disposed of you. It cost me a
+big share of my possessions to satisfy your father, but he showed no
+unwillingness to take my cheque, and he would have taken Aylmer's could
+he have raised him high enough. Who was the lowest down, the Western
+farmer, who, at least, meant to be kind to you, or Branscombe Denham,
+who was willing to sell his daughter to the highest bidder? Still, you
+were right. It was, in one way, about the meanest thing I ever did. The
+blood was in my face when I made my offer--and your father smiled. By
+the Lord, if I'd made that proposition to any hard-up wheat-grower
+between here and Calgary, he'd have whipped me from his door."
+
+The girl had plenty of courage, but she was almost afraid of him now,
+for there was a strength and grimness in his bronzed face which she had
+never seen in that of any Denham, and the tightening grip of his
+ploughman's fingers bruised her shoulder cruelly. Perhaps unconsciously,
+he shook her a little in a gust of passion, and she set her lips hard to
+check the cry she would not have uttered had he beaten her.
+
+"Now," he said, "in any case, you belong to me. That has to be
+remembered always. How are we to go on? What is it to be?"
+
+Carrie contrived to smile sardonically. "Oh," she said, "sit down, and
+try to be rational. All this is a trifle ridiculous."
+
+Leland dropped his hand, and, when she sat down, leaned upon the back of
+the other chair facing her.
+
+"Well?" he said.
+
+"It seems to me that we must quietly try to come to an understanding
+once for all to-night. In the first place, why did you wish to marry
+me?"
+
+Leland set his lips for a moment. It would have been a relief just then
+to tell her that it was to save her from Aylmer, but this appeared a
+brutality to which he could not force himself, for, in spite of what she
+had told him, he could not be sure that it had been his only reason. Her
+shrinking from him, painful to him as it was, nevertheless had its
+attraction.
+
+"I believe I said that you were the most beautiful woman I had, at
+least, ever spoken to," he said. "I was a lonely man, and it seemed to
+me I might, perhaps, do big things some day, with a woman of your kind
+to teach me what I did not know. That was part of it, but I think there
+was more. It was a hard life and a bare one here, and I had a fancy that
+you could show me how much I might have that I was missing. A smile
+would have helped me through my difficulties; a word or two when one had
+to choose between the mean and right, and the knowledge that there was
+some one who believed in me, would have made another and gentler man of
+me. Well, it seems that you have none of them to give me."
+
+He made an emphatic gesture. "Still, we have to face the position as it
+is, and my part's plain. Everything you have been used to you shall
+have, so far as I can get it for you. You can have any of your friends
+here who will make the journey and be civil to your farmer-husband, and
+you can go to them when it pleases you. To save you ever asking me for
+money, I will open you an account in a Winnipeg bank, and you need never
+see me unless you wish to."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you are, at least, generous. To make the
+understanding complete, what do you expect from me?"
+
+Leland moved and laid his hand upon her shoulder again.
+
+"Only to remember that, however little you think of your husband, you
+are my wife, after all."
+
+The girl's cheeks burned, but she looked up at him with a little hard
+laugh. "I think I could have struck you for that, but it must go with
+the rest. Still, even if I were all that your imagination could picture
+me, and went as far as Mrs. Heaton did, why should it trouble you?"
+
+Leland stooped lower over her with the veins swollen on his forehead and
+a glint in his eyes.
+
+"You and your father tricked me--taking all I had to offer for nothing,"
+he said. "I suppose I ought to hate you, too--and still I can't."
+
+Once more he gripped her cruelly. "By the Lord, dolt that I am, I think
+I almost love you for the grit that made you show your scorn. Still,
+that doesn't count. It is for me to go it alone."
+
+He let his grasp relax and left her suddenly, turning at the door.
+
+"You will want a companion. Will you write for Mrs. Annersly to-morrow?"
+
+"I will," said Carrie coldly. "Under the circumstances it is advisable.
+She will be a protection."
+
+He went out and she saw no more of him for a day or two, but that night
+she found a blue mark upon the whiteness of her shoulder.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LELAND SEEKS DISTRACTION
+
+
+Dusk was creeping up from the eastwards across the great snow-sheeted
+plain when Leland pulled his horses up where a little by-track branched
+off from the beaten trail. Behind him the wilderness, losing its
+gleaming whiteness and fading into shades of soft blue-grey, ran level
+to the hard blueness on the northern horizon. In front of him there were
+rolling rises ridged with sinuous bands of birches, black in broken
+masses against the lingering light in the south and west. There was room
+for wheat enough to glut markets of the world on the leagues of rich
+black loam that undulated to the frozen waters of Lake Winnipeg. Already
+miles of it were banded together by belts of two-foot stubble; but as
+yet the plough had not invaded the land of bluff and ravine, creek and
+coulee, where the shaggy broncho and the wild steer ran.
+
+Leland was wrapped to the eyes in an old fur coat, and his breath rose
+like steam into the dead still air. A cloud of thin vapour floated above
+the horses. It was exceptionally cold, and Gallwey, who sat half-frozen
+beneath the piled-up robes, wondered why his companion had pulled the
+team up there when they were within some twenty minutes' ride from
+shelter. Still he did not consider it advisable to inquire, for certain
+colts of a blooded sire had been missing, and Leland, who had shown
+signs of temper during the day, looked unusually grim. Flinging the
+reins to Gallwey, he stepped down stiffly from the sleigh.
+
+"Drive on slowly, Tom. You don't want to keep a warm team standing in
+this frost," he said.
+
+Gallwey contrived to clutch the reins, though his hands were numbed
+through the big mittens.
+
+"What are you going to do?" he asked.
+
+"Look at these tracks," said Leland drily. "They kind of interest me."
+
+Gallwey spoke to the team, and the sleigh, which consisted of a light
+waggon-box mounted on a runner frame, slid on. Sleighs such as are used
+about the Eastern cities are not common in the Northwest, where, indeed,
+the snow seldom lies so deep or long; and the prairie farmer either
+makes shift with his waggon or contents himself with the humble
+bob-sled. He now noticed what he had been too cold to notice before,
+that there was something peculiar about the print of hoofs breaking out
+here and there, a blur of scattered blue smudges in the trail he
+followed. Some seemed deeper than others, and there were long spaces
+where they disappeared altogether. This did not seriously concern him,
+so he drove on until he reached the first grove of stunted birches which
+clung beneath the shelter of a winding rise. Here he waited until Leland
+rejoined him. It was quite dark now, and he could not see his comrade's
+face at all, but, as he flung himself into the sleigh, he laughed in a
+fashion of his that Gallwey knew usually portended trouble.
+
+"Go on," Leland said. "I want my supper, and a little talk with Jeff
+Kimball, too. One would have figured that man had a little more sense in
+him. It's 'most two weeks, I think, since you had any snow?"
+
+"A week last Monday. Just enough to dust the trail. Is there anything
+particular to be deduced from that?"
+
+"Only that we had the rustlers round next day, and I've a kind of notion
+my colts went then."
+
+Gallwey sat silent while the sleigh glided on. He did not know, of
+course, that Leland had quarrelled with his wife, but he had noticed the
+man's grimness during the day, and now he was struck with the ring of
+his voice as he spoke of the rustlers.
+
+The cattle war in Montana across the neighbouring border, in which the
+great ranchers and small homesteaders contended for the land, was over;
+and, when the United States cavalry restored order, little bands of
+broken men, ruined in the struggle, and cattle-riders who found their
+occupation gone, had undertaken a smuggling business along the frontier.
+The Prohibition Act was enforced in neighbouring parts of Canada, and
+there was accordingly an excellent profit to be made on any whisky they
+could run. There was, too, among the Chinamen in the United States a
+good demand for opium, which it was supposed came in via Vancouver. For
+the most part, the smugglers were tolerated, perhaps from the same
+motives that prompt otherwise honest people to pardon outlaws who rob
+the rich and the government. At any rate, a farmer seldom grumbled when
+a horse was requisitioned, though he knew that the animal might not be
+returned. As a reward for his silence, he was likely to find mysterious
+cases of whisky near his trail. His opposite conduct could carry with it
+many results. For instance, grass-fires, so dangerous to homesteads and
+ripening crops, had a suspicious way of starting in the harvest season.
+The small farmer, accordingly, was loth to trouble the mounted police
+about anything he might have heard or seen, and the rustlers as a rule
+knew when to stop, and only seized a horse or killed a steer for meat
+when they urgently needed it.
+
+"Do you think it's worth while making trouble?" said Gallwey,
+suggestively.
+
+"I want my colts back," said Leland. "I guess I'm going to get them.
+Shake that team up. It's getting cold."
+
+Gallwey, who was half frozen already, called to the horses, and in
+another ten minutes they came into sight of a blaze of cheerful radiance
+in the gloom of a big bluff. Leland held the big cattle run in the
+vicinity, though it lay a long ride from his homestead.
+
+Gradually a little log house grew into shape, and Leland, who drove the
+sleigh round to the back of it before he got out, turned to the man who
+had slouched from the doorway.
+
+"I guess we'll leave the sleigh here," he said. "We have come for the
+night, and we'll put the team in while you get supper."
+
+Though he could not see the man's face for the dark, Gallwey fancied he
+was a little disconcerted at this announcement. In another half-hour,
+however, they were sitting down to a meal. Leland said very little until
+it was over, when, taking his pipe out, he pulled a hide chair up to
+the stove and looked at the man. "Whom have you had round the place the
+last week or so, Jeff?" he said.
+
+"Thompson," said the other. "He brought four or five horses along."
+
+"He did. I saw his tracks where he headed off the trail for the back
+range. Quite sure he hadn't any more? That reminds me; I'll want to see
+him in a day or two about those steers."
+
+Gallwey fancied this last was meant as an intimation that accuracy was
+advisable, and he watched the big, loose-limbed man who was filling his
+pipe just then. He appeared uneasy under all this scrutiny, for Leland
+was also quietly regarding him.
+
+"Now I come to recollect, it was four."
+
+"Anybody else?" said Leland.
+
+"Custer; he came along with a bob-sled yesterday."
+
+"You can't think of any more?"
+
+"No," said the other man, who flashed a suspicious glance at him. "I
+can't quite figure how I could when they weren't there."
+
+Leland smoked on tranquilly, apparently considering for a moment or two,
+and then, straightening himself a little, looked hard at the man.
+
+"Jeff," he said quietly, "it's a kind of pity you don't know enough to
+make a decent liar."
+
+The man started, but seemed to recover himself again, and it was with
+quickening interest Gallwey watched the pair. A smoky kerosene lamp gave
+out an indifferent light, and a red glare beat out from the open door of
+the stove, streaming uncertainly upon the faces of the men.
+
+It showed Leland sitting motionless, a hard glint in his eyes, and the
+other man making little uneasy movements as he shrank from the steady
+gaze. As Leland spoke again, the man winced.
+
+"If any man had said as much to me, one of us would have been out in the
+snow by now," he said. "Have you no grit in you? Then why in the name of
+thunder did you take hold of a contract that was 'way too big for you?
+Did you think I could be bluffed by a thing like you?"
+
+"I can't quite figure what you mean," said the other man sullenly.
+
+"Then I'll have some pleasure in telling you. Soon after the last snow
+fell, two rustlers came up this trail--there were more of them, but they
+stayed down by the big one. When they went away, three of my horses went
+with them. Now, who caught those horses and had them ready? It's kind of
+curious, too, that they were the pick of the bunch, with good blood in
+them. The only man round here who could tell them which were worth the
+lifting is you. Jeff, you don't know enough to run a peanut stand, and
+yet you figured you were fit to kick against the man who hired you."
+
+Jeff appeared to rouse himself for an effort. "You're guessing a good
+deal of it."
+
+"Guessing, when I've lived on this prairie all my life, and the whole
+thing is written there in the snow. Can't I tell the difference between
+the tracks of a steady ridden horse and a young one that's not used to
+the halter? However, I'm open to listen now."
+
+"I've just this to say. It won't hurt you to lose a horse or two, and
+that's about all anybody has ever taken out of you, while it's quite
+likely you'll be worse off if you make trouble about it. In fact,
+taking it all around, you can't afford to get rid of me."
+
+"Anyway, that is what I mean to do. I have no use for a man who sells my
+property to his friends. You'll get out of this place to-morrow."
+
+"I guess I'll go right now. Thompson will take me in."
+
+"No," said Leland sharply; "you'll stay just where you are until the
+morning, though you can take your blankets into the other room as soon
+as you like. It's quite hard to keep my hands off you, and if you come
+out before I call you to make breakfast, I'm not going to try."
+
+Jeff said nothing further, but, taking two dirty blankets out of a
+hay-filled bunk, shuffled away into a second room behind a log
+partition. Leland went after him, and, laying his hands on the little
+window, shook it violently.
+
+"If you try to get out that way, we're going to hear you, and then
+you'll be sorry for yourself," he said.
+
+He came back and, flinging himself into the chair beside the stove,
+filled his pipe.
+
+"I don't quite know how you worried the thing out, and perhaps it
+doesn't greatly matter, but I rather think it was good advice he gave
+you," said Gallwey reflectively. "You certainly can afford to lose a
+horse or two, and the rustlers are the kind of people it is just as well
+to keep on good terms with. Sergeant Grier has only three or four
+troopers, and the outpost is quite a long way off."
+
+Leland smiled. "Well," he said, "horse-stealing is getting to be a good
+deal more profitable business than liquor-running. They get horses for
+nothing, and they have to buy the whisky. They haven't gone very far
+into it yet, but it's a sure thing that they will if they find out that
+none of us seem to mind it. Somebody has to make a protest, and it may
+as well be me."
+
+"So far as my observation goes, most men would rather let their
+neighbour make it first," said Gallwey drily. "You, however, seem to be
+an exception."
+
+Leland's face hardened. "The fact is, I feel like taking it out of
+somebody soon. I have had a good deal to worry me."
+
+"One would not have expected you to feel like that just now."
+
+"I guess we'll change the subject," said Leland grimly. "You are
+wondering what I sent Jeff in there for? Well, I didn't want him loose
+on the prairie. It seems to me he's expecting a visit from his friends,
+and I'd just as soon they came and let me have a word with them. You get
+into the bunk there, and go to sleep until I want you."
+
+Wrapping one of the sleigh robes about him, Gallwey lay down for the
+night. He saw Leland put the light out and sit down again by the
+snapping, crackling stove. Through its open door a flickering radiance
+now and again touched his earnest face. Though they had been out since
+dawn in the stinging frost, he sat firmly erect, gripping his unlighted
+pipe and gazing straight in front of him with hard, unwavering eyes.
+Behind him the shadows played upon the walls of the gloomy shanty, quiet
+save for the moan of the bitter wind. Gallwey, who did not think it was
+the rustlers, wondered what was worrying his comrade, until his eyes
+grew heavy, and, though he had not intended it, he fell asleep wearily.
+
+Leland, however, sat still while the crackle of the stove died away, and
+the stinging cold crept in. He had much to think of, and could see no
+way out of the difficulties that beset him and his wife. He had known
+that she had no love for him, but, since the night she had met him on
+the terrace steps at Barrock-holme, his admiration for her had grown
+steadily stronger, and he had been conscious of a curious tenderness
+whenever he thought of her. Her smile was worth the winning by any
+effort he could make, and the odd kind word she occasionally flung him
+would set his heart thumping.
+
+Then the revelation had come, and left him dismayed. He had never
+counted on her hating him, as it now seemed she must do, or regarding
+him as one so far beneath her that the most she could feel for him was
+an impersonal toleration. He was a proud man, and her words had stung
+him deeply. It was galling to realise that he was bound to a woman who
+shrank from him and despised him, and that the bonds were unbreakable,
+no matter how irksome they might become to both his wife and himself.
+
+Then that mood passed, for there was a silent, deep-seated optimism in
+him that had carried him through frozen harvests and adverse seasons,
+and he began to appreciate her point of view, and that it might not be
+an unalterable one. He did not blame her for her courage, or even for
+her scorn, though it had hurt him horribly. It was for him to prove it
+unwarranted, or with patience to live it down, but he did not know how
+either could be done, and now and then a little fit of anger set his
+blood tingling as he sat in the growing shadows beside the emptying
+stove. His resentment was not so much against the woman as the man who
+had, knowing what she must feel, forced her into marrying him; but they
+were in England, and he felt illogically that he must strike at some one
+nearer, which was why he waited for the rustlers. He had no pistol. It
+is not often that the plainsman carries arms in Western Canada, but
+there was a big axe at Jeff's wood-pile, which would, he fancied, serve
+in case of necessity. At last, when the stove had almost gone out, he
+roused himself to attention with a little start in the bitter cold and,
+rising, touched Gallwey.
+
+"Get up!" he said. "Slip in behind the door, and shut it when I tell
+you. There are horses on the trail."
+
+Gallwey did as he was bidden, half asleep, though he heard a beat of
+hoofs that grew louder. Then there was a stamping of feet outside, and
+Leland flung a few split billets through the open top of the stove. A
+sharp crackling followed, and a blaze sprang up, but the light only
+flickered here and there, leaving the room almost dark.
+
+"Let them in!" he said.
+
+The door swung open. Two shadowy figures, shapeless in fur coats and
+caps, appeared in the opening, and one of them turned sharply when
+Gallwey slammed the door behind him.
+
+"Now," he said, "what is that for? I don't seem to recognise you,
+anyway."
+
+Leland laughed. "Come right in, gentlemen. I've been waiting to see you,
+and there's no mistake. Jeff's in the second room yonder, and if he
+ventures to come out with any notion of making trouble he'll run a
+considerable risk of getting himself hurt."
+
+He had raised his voice a trifle, and the rustle that had commenced died
+away in token that Jeff had heard. In the meanwhile one of the rustlers
+had slipped his hand inside his furs; but Leland, who noticed it, made a
+little gesture.
+
+"I guess it's not worth while," he said. "If you'll sit down a minute, I
+have a word or two to say to you."
+
+One of the men did so, but the other stood near the door watching
+Gallwey, who was, on the whole, thankful that he had taken down Jeff's
+rifle.
+
+"Well?" said the first outlaw. "It was Jeff who gave us away?"
+
+"Not exactly. At least, he didn't mean to. You should have got a smarter
+man before you ventured to put up a bluff on me. Still, that's not the
+question. When are you going to bring my horses back?"
+
+"I'm afraid I can't quite promise," said the other with a chuckle. "With
+us, finding is sometimes keeping."
+
+"You have two weeks. If they're not back in that time, you're going to
+be sorry."
+
+The outlaw laughed openly. "Come down and look at it reasonably. We have
+got to live, and we have, after all, stuck you for very little. With
+four police troopers to watch this part of the country, there's nothing
+you can do. I guess we've got our grip on it just now."
+
+"You have two weeks to bring back my horses in."
+
+"Then you mean to insist on it?" said the other man.
+
+"I do. Don't you get to thinking the honest men in this country are a
+bit afraid of you. They're only lazy. We have nothing to do with the
+whisky, but this horse-lifting has got to be stopped. Get out, and
+remember it, before I use my feet on you."
+
+The outlaw was a big man. As he slipped his hand beneath his furs,
+Leland quietly reached for the axe.
+
+"I could shear your arm off before you got it out," he said. "Will you
+lay it down, and see if you can stop in this shanty when I tell you to
+get out."
+
+The rustler looked at him for a moment, and, though there was very
+little light, was apparently satisfied.
+
+"No," he said. "I guess that's not business, anyway. You won't get your
+horses, but I'll give you good advice. Sit tight, and mind your farming,
+and it's quite likely you won't lose any more. We're not nice folks when
+we're roused, but we're not looking for trouble."
+
+"You'll get it," said Leland drily, "unless my horses are back two weeks
+to-night. Open the door, Tom, and let the gentlemen out."
+
+Nothing more was said by either, and in another minute or two there was
+a thud of hoofs as the outlaws rode away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FARMERS IN COUNCIL
+
+
+Nearly three weeks had slipped by since Leland met the outlaws, and his
+horses were missing still, when he sat in council at Prospect with a few
+of his scattered neighbours one bitter night. The big room was as bare
+and comfortless as it had been in his bachelor days, though there were
+cases at the railroad station whose contents would have transformed it,
+had he troubled to haul them in. Leland was somewhat grim of face, for
+the past few weeks had not been pleasant ones to him.
+
+The breach between him and his wife was still as wide as ever, and he
+felt it the more keenly because, since the night of their frankness, she
+had shown no sign of anger. Instead, she had treated him with a civility
+that was hard to bear, and had professed herself content with all the
+arrangements at Prospect as they were. Leland was too proud a man to
+make advances which he felt would be repelled, and decided bitterly
+that, since nothing he could do would please her, the comforts she did
+not seem to care about might stay where they were until they rotted. Her
+own rooms, at least, were furnished and fitted luxuriously, in so far
+as he had been able to contrive it, and, since she spent most of her
+time in them, the one in which his mother had lived was good enough for
+him. Still, all this reacted upon his temper, and, on the night when he
+had his neighbours there, he was feeling the strain.
+
+There were four of them, men who toiled early and late, and had a stake
+in the country, and they were all aware that others would probably be
+influenced by what they did. They listened to him gravely, sitting about
+the crackling stove with a box of cigars on the little table in front of
+them. There was nothing to drink, however, since, for several reasons,
+including the enactments of the legislature, strong green tea is the
+beverage most usually to be met with on the prairies, and of that they
+had just had their fill at supper. There was silence until one of them
+turned to the rest with a twinkle in his eyes.
+
+"I'm with Charley Leland in most of what he says," he said. "The law's
+necessary, as you find out when you have lived, as I have, in a country
+where there isn't any. Still, after all, the enforcing of it is the
+business of the legislature, and the most they do for us is to worry us
+for statistics and fine us for not ploughing unnecessary fire-guards.
+Then there are two or three of us on this prairie who aren't fond of
+tea, and, as things are, we generally know where to get a little
+Monongahela or Bourbon when we want it. I guess it would give a kind of
+tone to this _soiree_ if we had some of it now."
+
+There was approving laughter until another man spoke.
+
+"That's quite right, just as far as it goes," he said. "Give me a
+chance of a square kick at the Scott Act, and I'll kick--like a mule. In
+the meanwhile, there it is, and you have to figure if breaking it is
+worth while. When you begin making exceptions, it's quite hard to stop.
+Now, I don't want to go round with a pistol strapped on to me, and,
+while we stand by the law, it isn't necessary. So long as I know that
+the crops I raise are mine and nobody can take them from me, I can do
+without my whisky. That's why I'm with Charley Leland in this thing, and
+you have to remember it's quite a big one."
+
+"It is," said a third speaker. "Here we are, a few scattered farmers
+with stables and granaries that will burn, and horses that can be run
+across the frontier. Behind us stand Sergeant Grier and his four
+troopers, while, if we back up Leland, we have a tolerably extensive
+organisation against us, and the men who belong to it aren't going to
+stick at anything. If we are willing to live and let live, what do we
+stand to lose? A horse borrowed now and then, an odd steer killed,
+perhaps, an unbranded beast or two missing. Well, I guess it might work
+out cheaper than the other thing."
+
+There was silence for a moment or two, and then a young man looked up
+languidly. He had come out four or five years before from Montreal.
+
+"There is hard sense in all we have heard, but I think Leland's point of
+view is nearest the Academic one," he said. "Every honest man has a duty
+to the State, and it is certainly going to cost him more than he gains
+if he won't discharge it. There are probably more honest men than rogues
+everywhere, and yet one usually sees the rogues uppermost, for this
+reason: the honest man won't worry so long as they don't rob him, and
+his neighbour can't make a fight alone. Nobody is anxious to face the
+first blow for the benefit of the rest, and so the rogue gets bolder,
+until he becomes intolerable. Then the honest man stirs himself, and the
+rogues go down, though it causes ever so much more trouble than it would
+have done if the thing had been undertaken earlier. I'll give you an
+example. Begbie hung a man in British Columbia, the first one who wanted
+it, and there was order at once. Coleman and his vigilantes, who were
+scarcely quick enough, had to hang them by the dozen in California. Now
+we come to the question: How bad have things got to be before you think
+it worth while to do anything?"
+
+It was evident that he had made an impression. He had shown them the
+dangers of toleration; and they were men who, while they did little
+rashly, believed in the greatness of their country. They looked at
+Leland, who turned to them with a little grim smile.
+
+"They have gone quite far enough for me," he said. "I'm going to move
+now. The one thing I want to ask is, who is going to stand in with me?"
+
+The man who had last spoken glanced at the rest. "I think you can count
+upon the four of us."
+
+There was a murmur of concurrence, and Leland smiled. "As a matter of
+fact, I did so already, and asked Sergeant Grier to ride across and meet
+you to-night. He should be here any minute now. In the meanwhile I want
+to say that I've been riding up and down the country lately, and have
+reasons for supposing there's a big load of whisky to be run during the
+next few days."
+
+As they talked over this news, there was a knocking at the outer door,
+and a grizzled man who wore what had once been a very smart cavalry
+uniform was shown into the room. He sat down and listened with grave
+attention to what Leland had to say. Then he looked up quietly.
+
+"I have to thank you, gentlemen, and I'll swear you in," he said. "From
+what I can figure, it must be Ned Johnston's gang, and they're about the
+hardest of the crowd. I haven't much fault to find with Mr. Leland's
+programme except on a point or two."
+
+They discussed it for an hour, and, when all was arranged, one of them
+laughed as he laid his hand on Leland's shoulder. "I guess you're doing
+the right thing," he said. "Still, in one way, it's a little curious
+that it's you."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well," said the other man drily, "if I had just been married to a woman
+like Mrs. Leland, I figure I mightn't have been so willing to put myself
+in the way of a bullet. I'd have let somebody else make the first move
+and stayed at home with her."
+
+Leland's face grew a trifle hard, as he forced a laugh. "I scarcely
+think marriage has made any great change in me, or that it's likely to
+do so."
+
+Then his guests drove away, but the man to whom he had spoken remembered
+the look in Leland's face.
+
+"Now I wonder what Charley meant by that," he said, getting into his
+sleigh.
+
+Leland in the meanwhile had flung himself down into a chair beside the
+stove, and was lying there moodily with an unlighted pipe in his hand,
+when his wife came in. It was evident that he did not notice her, and
+she had misgivings as she noticed the weariness in his attitude. After
+all, he was her husband, and he looked very lonely in the big bare room.
+She sat down beside him and touched his arm. "Your friends have gone?"
+she said.
+
+The man looked up sharply, and she saw the little glow in his eyes,
+which, however, faded out of them again.
+
+"Yes," he said. "I hope we did not disturb you."
+
+"You were suspiciously quiet. What were you plotting together?"
+
+"Nothing," said Leland. "That is, nothing you would probably care to
+hear about."
+
+Carrie felt repulsed, though she would not show it. She had meant to be
+amiable, and she was a somewhat determined young woman, so she tried
+again.
+
+"Isn't it a little lonely here?" she said. "Why did you not come up to
+me? I have scarcely seen you the last few days."
+
+Leland's smile was not exactly reassuring. "I don't want to trouble you
+too often. Besides, I have been out in the frost since early morning,
+and feel a little tired and drowsy. One naturally doesn't care to appear
+to any more disadvantage than is necessary."
+
+Carrie's lips and brows straightened portentously. "Were you afraid I
+might point it out to you, or do you wish to make it evident to
+everybody that you are purposely keeping out of my way?"
+
+"I suppose I should have thought of that, but it's a thing that never
+occurred to me. Still, you asked me another question, and, though
+perhaps it's weak of me, I can't help giving you an answer."
+
+He stopped a moment and pointed round the desolate room, while the girl
+realised its dreariness as she saw the dry white ears on the walls
+quiver in the icy draughts and heard the wailing of a bitter wind
+outside the birch-log walls.
+
+"Do you suppose--this--is what I bargained for when I asked you to marry
+me? You took the trouble not long ago to point out very plainly what you
+thought of me, and I think you meant every word of it. It was rather a
+bitter draught, but perhaps your point of view was a natural one. I am
+not the kind of man you have been accustomed to. In fact, there are very
+few points on which I resemble your father or Jimmy."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "that was not meant to be conciliatory. It rather
+emphasises the distinction you mention. Still, I think you had not
+finished."
+
+"Not quite. When you are willing to take me as I am, without prejudice,
+and give me a chance of winning your liking, you will not find me
+backward. Until then, I have a little too much self-respect to support
+you in pretending to be the dutiful wife because you think it becoming.
+Your contempt was honest, anyway."
+
+Carrie rose with a little languid gesture. "I wonder how long this
+exceptionally pleasant state of affairs could be expected to continue?"
+
+"Until you change your mind, or one of us is dead. If you get tired of
+it in the meanwhile, you can always go back to the Old Country for a few
+months or so."
+
+"It is really a little difficult to understand what could have induced
+you to marry me."
+
+Leland looked at her with a little grim smile. "I believe I gave you my
+reasons on another occasion. It would be rather more to the purpose to
+ask why you were content with them?"
+
+The girl's cheeks burned, but she turned from him languidly. "You almost
+tempt me to tell you," she said. "Still, perhaps I have already let my
+candour carry me too far."
+
+She went out of the big room quietly and naturally, but, when she
+reached her own apartment, she clenched her hands passionately. Though
+she was very angry, she had to realise that the man's attitude under the
+circumstances was by no means astonishing. She had also exactly what she
+had wished for, since it was clear that he would make no embarrassing
+advances now; and yet her courage almost failed her as she looked
+forward to an indefinite continuance of their present relations. He had
+said that, unless she made it, there could be no change until one of
+them was dead.
+
+It was the next day, and she had seen nothing of Leland, when she met
+Gallwey, with whom she had become friendly.
+
+The young man, she saw, was quite willing to constitute himself her
+devoted servant. At the same time, she felt the sincerity of his
+attachment for her husband, and drew from it a comfortable sense of
+security.
+
+"Of course, you have heard the news?" he said. "I don't know if I'm
+presuming, or if it's kind to admit anything that might distress you,
+but it would be a relief to me if you could persuade Charley to be
+careful. I'm not quite sure he realises what he has undertaken."
+
+Carrie had, of course, heard nothing, though she naturally refused to
+admit it. She also realised the irony of the fact that everybody except
+herself seemed attached to her husband. They were then standing in the
+big general room; but, after she had sat down and smilingly pointed the
+young man to a place near her, ten minutes of judiciously directed
+conversation left her with a tolerably clear notion of the state of
+affairs. She was also sensible of an illogical feeling of dismay and
+apprehension.
+
+"But why does he do it?" she asked.
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "Well," he said, "somebody will have to take
+the thing up eventually, and, when there is anything unpleasant but
+necessary, Charley is usually there to do it. I almost fancy he can't
+help it. As they say in this country, that is the kind of man he is.
+Still, under the circumstances, I really think he ought to let the
+others take an equal risk, and it might be advisable for you to impress
+it upon him."
+
+"You believe that what I said would have any influence?" asked Carrie,
+with a curious little smile.
+
+"Of course!" and Gallwey gazed at her reproachfully. "Surely that ought
+to be evident."
+
+"Well," said the girl, with a trace of languidness, "I have to thank you
+for warning me, and I will do what I can, though I am not very certain
+it will have any great effect on him."
+
+Gallwey left her a few minutes later. Carrie, who was now very
+thoughtful, saw nothing of her husband that night or during most of the
+next day. He came in and asked for supper a little before dusk, and,
+when he had eaten it, carefully went over the lock and magazine action
+of a forty-four Marlin rifle. Then he put on his furs and girt himself
+with a bandolier. On reaching the outer door, he heard a swift patter of
+footsteps on the neighbouring stairs. As Carrie came up to him he stood
+still, with the blue rifle-barrel gleaming over his shoulder, looking
+like a giant in his shaggy coat. She was dressed, as he noticed,
+unusually prettily, and, although he set his lips, the little sparkle
+crept into his eyes. As it faded, the bronzed face, barely visible
+beneath the fur cap, became once more impassive.
+
+The girl walked steadily up to him, and laid a hand upon his arm.
+
+"You have given me a good deal, but I scarcely think I have asked you
+for anything yet. I want you to run no risk that isn't necessary
+to-night," she said.
+
+Leland started, but again he put a constraint upon himself.
+
+"So you know?" he said.
+
+"Of course! Did you think, when everybody else knew, you could keep it
+from me? Still, that isn't what I asked you. I want you to be careful."
+
+Leland looked at her, and though she saw the blood creep slowly into his
+face, his restraint was also evident.
+
+"Did you say that because you believed it was the correct thing, madam?"
+he asked.
+
+Carrie flushed, but the man, shaking her hand off his arm, laid his big
+mittened one upon her shoulder, and, holding her away from him, looked
+down on her gravely.
+
+"You will try to forgive me that. It was a trifle brutal," he said, and
+his voice sank. "Still, to be quite honest, I could scarcely think that
+any risk I ran could cause you very much anxiety."
+
+Carrie said nothing, for, with that steady gaze upon her, she could not
+pretend, even if her pride would have permitted her; and Leland smiled a
+trifle wistfully. His face was almost gentle now.
+
+"Well," he said, "you needn't force yourself to say it would, if it
+hurts you, and I daresay it was kindness that prompted you to try.
+Still, you see, I should want a good deal, and anything you didn't mean
+wouldn't satisfy me. After all, it would make things easier for you if I
+didn't come back again."
+
+The girl shivered. "You surely can't believe I would think of that?"
+
+"No," and Leland made a little gesture, which was expressive of
+weariness; "it was your sense of fitness that turned you against me."
+
+He let his hand fall from her shoulder. "After all, my dear, I am sorry
+for you."
+
+"And yourself?"
+
+"It is a little rough on me, but that can't be helped. Somehow or other
+I guess I can bear it."
+
+Then he stooped, and, taking one of her hands, held it between both of
+his before he turned and flung open the door.
+
+Carrie saw him for a moment, a tall, black figure silhouetted against
+the cold blue, and then he had vanished into the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOMICIDE
+
+
+An almost intolerable cold had descended upon the prairie when Leland
+reached the coulee where Sergeant Grier was mustering his forces late at
+night. They were not a very strong body, three troopers of the Northwest
+Police, all of them rather young, two prairie farmers, Leland, Gallwey,
+and the Sergeant, but the latter had decided that they would be enough,
+for the purpose. He was aware that, in an affair of this kind, a few men
+who understand exactly what they have to do, and can be relied on to set
+about it quietly and collectedly, are apt to prove more efficient than a
+larger body. The unnecessary man, he knew, is usually busy getting in
+his comrade's way. There was also another reason which Leland had
+pointed out. Since his acquaintances had undertaken the business, it was
+advisable that they should carry it out without exposing themselves
+unnecessarily to the outlaws' vengeance. There were several bands of the
+latter acting more or less in concert, and it would lessen the risks if
+there were only three or four men liable to them in place of several
+times as many.
+
+The Sergeant quite concurred in this, and, when Leland rode up stiff
+with frost, quietly sent the men out to their stations. Just there, the
+beaten trail that led south to the frontier dipped into one of the
+winding ravines, traversing the country with many a loop and bend. A
+sluggish creek flowed through its bottom beneath the ice, and a growth
+of willows and birches that there found shelter from the winds straggled
+up its sides. Trees fringed the crest of the dip, too, and in places
+overflowed into the prairie in scattered spurs. The trail ran through
+their midst, and there was no doubt that, if the outlaws came at all,
+which was not certain, they would come that way, since there are
+disadvantages attached to leading loaded horses through a thick
+birch-bluff in the darkness.
+
+A farmer and one of the troopers were sent back to where the trees ran
+farther out into the prairie, and they were to lie hidden there and cut
+off the retreat in case the rustlers endeavoured to head back the way
+they had come. The main body lined the trail in the thickest of the
+bluff, just below the crest of the ravine, and Leland and one young
+trooper proceeded to the foot of the declivity. It would be their
+business to stop anybody who might succeed in breaking through the rest
+of the ambuscade. Each of them knew precisely what was expected of him,
+and the only uncertainty was whether the rustlers were coming, and if
+so, how many there would be of them.
+
+It was a suitable night for their purpose, neither too dark nor too
+light. The heavens were barred with drifting wreaths of cloud, between
+which every now and then a half-moon and an occasional star shone down.
+The birches wailed as they shook their frail twigs beneath a bitter
+wind. Leland was sensible of a distressing tingling in his numbed feet
+and hands. The young trooper beside him limped and stumbled, a shadowy,
+indistinct figure in his furs, stiff with cold. Their softly moccasined
+feet made no sound. Both of them wondered whether they could use their
+slung rifles, if the necessity arose.
+
+It is possible, without feeling desperately cold, to face the frost of
+the Northwest in a prairie waggon when one is packed about with hay and
+wrapped in big fur robes, but there are times when the man who travels
+on horseback runs the risk of freezing, and, because horses might be
+wanted, farmers and police troopers had ridden instead of driving.
+Leland was capable of moving, but the young trooper was in a far worse
+state, and sighed with relief when at last they stopped beside the
+creek, where a dense growth of willows kept off the stinging wind.
+
+"I'm that cold I 'most can't hump myself," he said. "Seems to me I
+haven't got any feet on. I guess they're froze. Still, it's not quite so
+cruel as the night the corporal got one of his nipped. We were sleeping
+way back up Long Traverse trail in a pit in the snow, and were too
+played-out to waken when the fire got low. The frost had the corporal by
+the morning, but we'd most of twenty leagues to make, with two or three
+mighty cold camps on the way, and his moccasins opened up a wound. You
+couldn't have told he had a foot when I last saw him."
+
+Leland said nothing. He was not inclined for conversation, and knew that
+instances of the kind were not uncommon. The wardens of the prairie
+probably know more about cold than anybody, except Arctic explorers,
+and they are expected to face it shelterless in the open for days
+together when occasion arises. They cannot always find a birch-bluff to
+camp in, and the snow is frequently too thin to throw up a bank between
+them and the wind. Only hard men continue in that service, and perhaps
+the prairie wolf alone knows what becomes of some of the unfit who try
+it.
+
+The lad, however, seemed impelled to talk, and stamped up and down
+beating his mittened hands, with the swivel of his slung carbine
+jangling as he moved.
+
+"One would 'most wonder why you folks took a hand in," he said. "I guess
+if I'd been a farmer, it's more than I'd have done myself. There seem to
+be a blame lot of the rustlers, and, so far as we can figure, they stand
+in together. The three or four of us can't be everywhere at once, and
+they might take a notion of getting even by playing the fire-bug when
+the grass is dry in harvest season. I'd plough my fire-guards twice as
+wide. It would be quite easy to burn up a ripening crop."
+
+Leland was aware that there would, unfortunately, be no difficulty in
+doing this, but he was willing to take his chances, and did not answer
+the lad. Indeed, the probable loss of a crop appeared a comparatively
+small matter to him just then. He was sore and bitter, and a feud with
+the outlaws would have been almost a relief. He felt that Branscombe
+Denham had tricked him, but sincerely desired to stand well with his
+wife, in spite of her scornful attitude towards him. He did not blame
+her for that altogether, though her words still rankled, but he would
+not expose himself to her disdain again, and had decided that if things
+were to be different, the first advances must be made by her. In the
+meanwhile, it was singularly unpleasant to both of them, and that night
+he was in a very sensitive and somewhat dangerous mood as he stood
+shivering among the willows.
+
+"I guess they should be here by now, if the fellow who told us was
+playing a straight game," said the lad. "The trouble is, they've a good
+many friends, and nobody can tell exactly who's standing in with them.
+It's kind of easier to pick up an odd case of whisky and say nothing
+than to give us the office and have a fire-stick shoved into your
+granary. I'm not counting too much on the Ontario man."
+
+In the meanwhile, the others fretted at the cold, and wondered how long
+the outlaws meant to keep them waiting. Two of them, upon whom all the
+rest depended for the warning, were just then crouching, almost frozen,
+where the thinnest of the birches broke off abruptly, watching a group
+of vague, shadowy shapes moving in their direction across the white
+wilderness. Gallwey stood behind them. A bank of sombre cloud sailed
+across the moon, and left the watchers in almost utter darkness.
+
+"I can make out four, and there are more behind," said the trooper.
+"It's a sure thing. Snow's deep, and, as we figured, they'll stick to
+the trail. Guess you'd better get back and tell the Sergeant."
+
+Gallwey slipped away, and there was silence for several minutes while
+farmer and policeman crept a little further back amidst the trees. Then
+a soft patter of hoofs and an occasional rattle came up the bitter wind
+as a line of men and horses grew into shape. They came on boldly, the
+men growling to one another and at the beasts. With no outriders
+forward, they plunged into the shadow of the birches. There the sounds
+grew louder, and the thud of hoofs, hoarse voices, crackle of trodden
+twigs, and creaking and jolting of burdens on pack-saddles, rang
+startlingly distinct through the crisp air. The trooper counted at least
+a dozen horses, but he could not quite make out how many men, for they
+walked among the loaded beasts, and the trail was very dark.
+
+They went on by, half-seen, dim shadows that jostled one another among
+the trees; and, when the voices and the trampling grew less distinct,
+the trooper moved out into the trail, with his carbine in his mittened
+hands. The trap was sprung, for, if one or two of the outlaws succeeded
+in breaking through, it was evident that they must, at least, leave
+their beasts behind. With the farmer close behind him he moved
+cautiously a little nearer his comrades and then stood still again.
+
+It was, perhaps, five minutes later when Leland, who was pacing to and
+fro, stopped abruptly, and held up his hand as the young trooper
+materialised out of the gloom in front of him.
+
+"Can't you hear something?" he said.
+
+The trooper thought he could, but his ears were almost covered by the
+big fur cap, and whilst they stood listening the birches swayed and
+wailed before a bitter gust. It seemed to search them to the marrow, for
+the cold was keen as a knife. Then through the night there came a dull,
+thudding sound down from the ridge above, and the trooper flung his
+carbine forward.
+
+"They're here, sure," he said. "It's even chances we don't get a whack
+at one of them."
+
+They stood listening for a minute or two, intent and high-strung, and
+heard only the wailing of the wind, for the birches once more swayed
+about them. It was almost dark, for the moon was still behind a cloud.
+As he moved his mittened hands on the Marlin rifle, Leland forgot that
+he was stiff in every limb. Then a voice rang, harsh and commanding, out
+of the shadows above them.
+
+"Stop right there," it said. "We have got you covered."
+
+It was followed by the whip-like crack of a pistol-shot, there was the
+louder jarring ring of a carbine or a farmer's rifle, and a confused din
+broke out. Men shouted and scuffled in the gloom, loaded beasts
+blundered among the trees and the undergrowth, while through it all
+there rose the detached beat of hoofs.
+
+"One or two of them lit out, anyway," said the trooper. "Guess they'd
+slash the pack lariat, and get into the saddle when they'd let the
+whisky go. That sounds like one of the boys after them. Chancing a
+gallop, too. They'll break their necks certain, if they ride that way
+through the bluff."
+
+He stopped a minute, and just then a faint silvery radiance swept
+athwart the birches as the moon shone down. It sparkled on the dropping
+smear of snow-sheeted trail, and the lad ran forward a pace or two
+fumbling with his carbine.
+
+"Look out, Mr. Leland!" he shouted. "There are two of them riding slap
+down on us."
+
+Two indistinct objects swept out of the shadows, and a moment later
+resolved themselves into men and galloping horses. They were thundering
+headlong down the sharply falling trail, and Leland felt his nerves
+tingle as he watched them. He was in a particularly unpleasant temper
+that night, and the prospect of an encounter stirred the half-frozen
+blood in him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the trooper standing
+a few paces away from him, and then fixed his gaze up the trail ahead.
+The horsemen were coming on at a mad gallop, taking their chances of a
+stumble, and he could see the powdery snow whirl about them like dust.
+Then they saw him standing grimly still in the middle of the trail, for
+one shouted a warning to the other, and the trooper cried aloud:
+
+"Hold on! Pull up before we plug you," he said.
+
+There was no answer. The riders were hard and fearless men, probably
+wanted by Montana sheriffs for things they had done during the cattle
+war, and they showed no sign of drawing bridle. One of them howled
+shrilly as he whirled a whip about his shoulders, and for a moment
+Leland saw him sway in the saddle with the beast stretched out beneath
+him.
+
+Then there was a flash, and a detonation he scarcely heard, a cloud of
+smoke that floated up the trail, and man and horse came thundering down
+on him. He felt the jar of the Marlin rifle on his shoulder as he aimed
+at the flying form of a horse. In another moment the outlaw was almost
+upon him. Then in savage recklessness he leapt forward instead of back,
+with a hand that sought the bridle and an arm the rider's leg. His
+fingers closed on something--bridle, or saddle, or stirrup--and he clung
+with a stiffened grasp, while his feet were torn from under him and a
+rifle flashed.
+
+Exactly what happened after that he did not know, but he was hurled
+forward, still clutching at something, with feet that scraped the snowy
+ice of the creek; and then there was a heavy crash, and what he held was
+torn away from him. He felt himself driven into a bank of snow, and lay
+there for perhaps a minute wondering vaguely if the life had all been
+smashed out of him, and listening to a sound of scuffling and
+floundering close by. Next he essayed to draw one of his feet up, and,
+to his astonishment, found that he had no great difficulty in
+accomplishing it. That done, he raised himself shakily, and, scrambling
+to one of the birches, leaned against it, gasping a little. A few
+seconds earlier he had been almost certain that he would never stand up
+again.
+
+In the meanwhile the moonlight had grown a trifle brighter, for he could
+see a horse that lay near the middle of the creek still moving
+convulsively. Nearby, wrapped in an old fur coat, was an object that did
+not move at all. The trooper, who now had no carbine, stood stooping a
+little as he looked down on it, and there was a curious significant
+stillness in his attitude, whilst as much as could be seen of his young
+face appeared a trifle colourless. It was a moment or two before he
+became aware that Leland was on his feet again.
+
+"He's dead, sure. It's the first man I ever plugged," he said, and his
+voice rang strained and harsh in the frosty air. "He just pitched off
+and never moved. Guess it couldn't have hurt him."
+
+One could have fancied he was anxious about the point, but in another
+moment he turned away with a little deprecatory gesture, and commenced
+to grope about for his carbine.
+
+"Anyway, I couldn't help it, and it was that quick--he never wriggled
+any--he couldn't have felt it."
+
+The thing had its effect on Leland, though he had seen something very
+like it happen before, and he laid his hand reassuringly on the lad's
+shoulder.
+
+"I don't think you need worry," he said. "He took his chances when he
+wouldn't stop, and it's not your responsibility. Anyway, we may as well
+make quite sure that he is dead."
+
+There was no doubt on that point when he dropped on one knee beside the
+man, and he nodded as he glanced at the trooper.
+
+"A sure thing. I'd like some kind of notion of what happened," he said.
+
+"You jumped at him yonder, but I didn't quite see what you got hold of.
+Anyway, you went along with the horse--and him--until I pulled off, and
+you all came down together. You went down on the ice with a bang 'most
+fit to break it, and then into the snow-bank yonder. Guess you plugged
+the horse in a soft place when you fired. In the meanwhile the other man
+went by--whooping--like a whirlwind."
+
+That was about all the explanation Leland ever got, but in another
+moment or two the trooper, who seemed to be looking at him curiously,
+spoke again.
+
+"I'm kind of dazed," he said. "There's quite a lot of blood running down
+your forehead. I've been watching, and it never struck me you'd better
+know. I'll go up now and tell the Sergeant 'bout the other fellow who
+lit out."
+
+Leland, who thrust back his fur cap and felt the gash on his forehead,
+decided that he was a little confused too, or he would have noticed that
+there was a warm trickle running down the outside of his nose. His
+mittens showed red smears in the moonlight when he tried to brush it
+away. When he next looked round, the trooper had disappeared; and,
+moving rather shakily, for his fall had not been without its effect, he
+too plodded up the climbing trail.
+
+When he reached the level, he found several dejected men with manacled
+hands, and a line of loaded horses with two of the troopers watching
+them. The Sergeant, who appeared to be giving instructions to one of the
+troopers, turned to him.
+
+"We have got four of them and most of the horses, but, so far as I can
+figure, two or three must have got away," he said. "The boys will try to
+pick their tracks up, and I'll ask you to give us a hand with the
+pack-horses as far as the forking of the trail."
+
+Leland contrived to drive two of the loaded train, though his head was
+aching and he felt very dizzy. When at last he was about to turn off
+into a second sledge-track, the Sergeant pulled up his horse beside him.
+
+"We are much obliged, Mr. Leland, and you'll hear all that's done," he
+said. "Still, it's a kind of pity one of the two you fell in with got
+away."
+
+"I don't suppose you are particularly pleased any of them broke through,
+for that matter," said Leland.
+
+The Sergeant made a little impressive gesture. "The point is that they'd
+both have got off, if it hadn't been for you, and that fellow's partner
+isn't going to blame--the trooper. That's all in the business. Well, if
+I were you, I'd keep clear of the bluffs and ravines if you have to go
+out when it's dark."
+
+He shook his bridle and rode on, whilst Leland stood a minute or two
+watching the others straggle out along the trail. Last of all a trooper
+led a horse which carried an amorphous burden wrapped in a fur coat, and
+lashed on with a pack-lariat. Something that looked like a moccasined
+foot trailed down on one side in the snow, and, judging from the trouble
+the beast gave its driver, it did not like what it carried.
+
+"It's quite likely that fellow's partner will try to get even," he
+said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SEEDTIME
+
+
+The snow had gone, and the frost-bleached prairie lay steaming under the
+warm April sun, when Carrie Leland pulled her team up on the crest of a
+low rise. The waggon she drove, a light vehicle of four high wheels with
+a shallow, box-like body, had been made especially for her. It was hung
+on comfortable springs, and the harness and horses matched it. There
+were few broncho teams on the prairie to compare with hers. They were
+young, but Carrie liked a mettlesome beast, and Leland had carefully
+chosen and broken them.
+
+It was the same with everything he had given her. Only the best that
+could be had seemed good enough for her, and at times she almost
+resented his generosity. Save when he lost his temper, which happened
+not infrequently, she could not put him in the wrong, and she often felt
+that it would be easier for her if she could charge him with neglect, or
+had something to forgive him. He was gravely considerate for her
+comfort, but it was very seldom that he went any further. While this
+should have pleased her, she was not quite sure that it did.
+
+On the morning in question, Eveline Annersly, who had been at Prospect
+a month now, sat beside her rejoicing in the sunshine and rush of warm
+wind. She had reached the age when one looks for little and makes the
+most of what comes, and the warmth and freshness of the morning
+delighted her. The prospect would also in all probability have had its
+attractions for any one with eyes to see and a nature that could respond
+to the reawakening pulse of life in the land.
+
+Round three-fourths of the horizon the bleached prairie, tinged now with
+sunny ochre, melted into the sweep of lustrous blue, but in the
+foreground the sod was gemmed with little crocus-like flowers and
+already flecked here and there with creeping green. All this was waste
+and virgin, but on the fourth side tall bands of golden stubble, and
+belts of ashes where golden stubble had once been, were narrowed down by
+the steaming chocolate-tinted clods of the plough's upturning. Grain ran
+up in long rippled ridges from Prospect, where the birches gleamed
+silver, across the wide dip of basin and over its fringing rise, into
+the luminous blueness of the sky. That was man's work, and man at
+Prospect worked unusually hard, for it was not his part there to plough
+where others had also sown, but to grapple with the wilderness, and
+subdue it, in fulfilment of the charge given him when the waters dried.
+The wilderness was there, leagues of it, but it required a stout heart
+and a steadfast toil to break it and cover it with red-gold wheat when
+wheat was a drug upon a falling market.
+
+Eveline Annersly, faded and frail, was dainty still. As she sat smiling
+in the waggon, with the sunlight lying warm on her beautiful hands, she
+was a part of the colour scheme in her soft, grey-tinted draperies.
+Some women of the cities would have been a blotch on it. She was the
+figure of tranquil autumn when the wealth of fruits had gone, but her
+companion with the crimson lips and dusky eyes was spring, when as yet
+Nature is only stirring and has not awakened to riotous life at the
+burning kiss of the sun. Eveline Annersly realised this vaguely, and at
+times felt a thrill of concern, for she knew there was fire beneath that
+cold exterior. When the awakening should come, much would depend upon
+whether the sudden untrammelled growth of the girl's nature would cling
+for warmth and shelter to the man who was her husband.
+
+In the meanwhile, she watched the toiling teams coming on across grey
+grass and golden stubble in echelon. Men sat above the horses' heads on
+the driving-seats of the big gang-ploughs, and from amidst the curling
+brown clods came the twinkling flash of steel. The men had brown faces,
+and some of them bare, brown arms. Sun and wind had burned and beaten
+them and their garments to the colour of the soil they sprang from. They
+seemed almost a part of it, as they and the patient beasts did their
+share in the great, harmonious scheme which in return for the sweat of
+effort gives man bread to eat. This was not English farming, mixed and
+variable, but an unlocking of Nature's long-stored wealth in mile-long
+furrows that should fling the golden wheat by trainload and shipload on
+the markets of the world. Even Eveline Annersly, who was not greatly
+interested in agriculture, could realise that.
+
+"It is a tremendous farm," she said. "We have nothing like it in
+England. The length of those furrows appeals to one's imagination. How
+big is it, Carrie?"
+
+The girl smiled a trifle languidly. "I really don't know," she said.
+"Charley has told me, but I never could remember things like that. He
+seems rather proud of having broken--I believe that is the right
+word--most of it out of the prairie. In fact, he is easily content. To
+break so many acres every year seems his one object in life. I don't
+think it's anybody's. Presumably, it's a question of temperament. My
+husband appears to like his occupation, and absorbs himself in it."
+
+"Which, of course, is just as you would have it?"
+
+The girl made a little half-petulant gesture. "Oh," she said, "I suppose
+so. I naturally did not expect Charley Leland and I would have many
+mutual interests when I married him. It would have been in several
+respects a trifle ridiculous. Still, he is, in his own way, very good to
+me."
+
+"So I should have fancied"; and Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "Did
+it ever occur to you that he might have expected a good deal from you?"
+
+A flicker of colour showed in Carrie's cheek. "In that case, he, at
+least, shows no sign that he misses anything. As you know, we scarcely
+see him for two or three days together every now and then. I believe
+these teams are in the field by six in the morning, and it usually is
+dark when he comes in again."
+
+"I wonder if you quite realise the restraint and self-denial implied by
+a life of that kind? After all, your husband is probably no fonder of
+wearing himself out than most other men. Presumably he has a purpose, or
+finds it necessary."
+
+She stopped a moment, and smiled in a curious fashion as she glanced at
+her companion. "I suppose you have heard that they are building a new
+peach-house and vinery at Barrock-holme?"
+
+A bright crimson spot burned for a moment in Carrie's cheek. "I hadn't,"
+she said, with a trace of bitterness. "Jimmy, of course, never writes,
+and even Alice seems to have forgotten me. In fact, I don't suppose
+there is one of them who ever gives me a thought now. Aunt Eveline, you
+are to stay here for ever so long."
+
+Mrs. Annersly nodded reassuringly. "Of course, my dear," she said. "As
+you perhaps know, it is a good deal your father's fault that I am
+reduced to living on my friends, and I really think some of the money he
+is spending on the peach-houses should have come to me. I have been
+inclined to wonder where he got it."
+
+Carrie Denham was usually reposeful, but a trace of the confusion she
+felt showed itself in her face. Eveline Annersly understood her as well
+as she understood herself, and, being aware of this, she stood less upon
+her guard.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I think you know. It is a little hard to bear, isn't
+it? Have they always been the same?"
+
+"One would almost fancy so. Henry Annersly was well off when he married
+me, and everybody knows I have scarcely a penny. Where the rest has gone
+only Branscombe Denham knows, though I'm not even sure that he does. No
+doubt he didn't intend to lose it, but money won't stay with him. And he
+never even writes to you?"
+
+Carrie laid a hand upon her arm. "Aunt," she said, "stay with us
+altogether. Charley likes you--and I can't let you go."
+
+The little lady's eyes grew gentle, but there was a faint smile in them.
+"My dear, I think I know what you are feeling, but, after all, you
+deserve it, and I'm not so very sorry for you. I'm going to make your
+husband stop and speak to me."
+
+Their team stood stamping impatiently on the virgin sod, as Leland came
+up foremost of the long line of men and beasts. He was sitting upright
+on the driving-seat of a great machine, dressed in an old blue-jean
+shirt that was open at his sunburnt throat, with a wide grey hat on his
+head. His arms were bare to the elbow, corded, hard, and brown, and his
+face was the deep colour of the clods that rolled away in long waves
+beneath the three-fold shares. Four splendid horses plodded in front of
+him, and the stain of the soil and the same stamp of enduring strength
+was on him and them. He pulled the team up, and, springing down, came
+towards the waggon with his hat in his hand.
+
+"You are going to the railroad?" he said.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Annersly. "Carrie wants some things, but I understand
+we are to stay the night at Mrs. Custer's on the way."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I may see you there. There are some new harrows
+and seeders I have to wire about, but I don't expect to get in until
+daylight to-morrow."
+
+"You are going to drive all night?"
+
+"I may get an hour's sleep before I go. You see, I have to be back by
+noon to-morrow. Our summer is short, and there is a good deal to do.
+The grain that goes in late is quite often frozen."
+
+He pointed as if in explanation to the great sweep of furrows that ran
+back narrowing all the way to where Prospect nestled like a doll's house
+beneath its bluff. With a great trampling, two other teams came up just
+then. They went by amidst a ripping and crackling of fibres as the
+prairie opened up beneath the gleaming shares, and Leland nodded with a
+little quiet smile.
+
+"Oh, yes," he said; "little time to do it in, and a good deal to do.
+Some of us were born to feel that way."
+
+"Not all," said Eveline Annersly. "There are, as you know, men who waste
+their substance to while the day away. You are not that sort. Perhaps
+it's fortunate for you."
+
+Leland smiled again. "I don't quite know. There's a great order and
+system that runs things, though I can't quite get the hang of it--I
+haven't time. Every man works in this country, as all Nature does. Those
+little grasses have been ten thousand years building up the black loam
+I'm making wheat of. The mallard, the brent goose, and the sandhill
+crane--you can see them coming up from the south in their skeins and
+wedges all day long--have to hunt their food from the shores of the
+Caribbean to the Pole. Well, one feels there must be a balance struck
+some day, and the men who don't do anything are having the soft things
+now."
+
+He laughed good-humouredly, and stroked one of the horses that turned
+its head to nibble affectionately at his shoulder. "I'll be sorry for
+this by and by, but you have a habit of making me give myself away."
+
+"Then we will be practical. Are you going to sow all that ploughing?"
+
+"I am. I expect to break two hundred acres more. There are folks who
+want the wheat, and we'll feed the world some day."
+
+"But wheat is going down."
+
+"It is," and Leland's face grew a trifle hard. "No bottom to the market,
+apparently. That's why I'm buying new machines and cutting things down
+and down. We must have everything that can save or earn a dollar at
+Prospect now."
+
+Carrie Leland was struck by something in her husband's face. It was a
+comely face, as well as forceful, clean-skinned in spite of its deepness
+of tint, and there was a clearness in the steady eyes that is only seen
+in those of such men as he. There was also in his features a suggestion
+of endurance and optimism that, in fact, was strongest in the time of
+stress and struggle. Sun and wind, fruitful soil and barren, nipping
+frosts, drought and devastating hail, all these were things to be
+grappled with or profited by with equal willingness. He and his kind in
+new countries give without stint all they have been given, from the
+sweat of tense effort each and every day to the smiling courage that
+cuts down hours of rest and goes on sowing when seasons are adverse and
+markets fall away; and there is, in turn, usually set upon them plainly
+the symbol of man's dominion over the material world. The patient beasts
+that toiled with him recognised it, and again one of them muzzled his
+shoulder and caught at his arm.
+
+"And," said Mrs. Annersly, "if the market still goes down?"
+
+Leland laughed an optimist's soft laugh. "Then we will go under, I and
+the rest. That is, for a time. Nothing can stop us long, and we will
+start again. Carrie, I am thankful, is provided for."
+
+He struck the horse with the palm of his hand. "I have been keeping you,
+and there is a good deal to do."
+
+The big team stamped and strained; he swung himself into the
+driving-seat, and, with a crackling of fibres, the great plough rolled
+away. Mrs. Annersly smiled as Carrie shook the reins.
+
+"If I were twenty years younger, I almost think I should fall in love
+with your husband," she said. "There is a breadth of view and
+forcefulness Reggie Urmston could never attain even in his simplicity,
+and his egotism becomes him. It's the quiet assurance of a man who knows
+what he can do, and rather thinks that he is doing a good bit. He takes
+all the risk, and you are provided for. Carrie, do you know what that
+man gave, or lent--it's much the same thing--to your father?"
+
+"No," said Carrie, with the spot of colour once more in her cheek. "He
+would never tell me, and how could I ask him? It is a hateful
+subject--why should you mention it?"
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked out over the prairie, a curious smile in her eyes.
+
+"Your husband is cutting down even his hours of sleep," she said. "He is
+driving in forty miles to the railroad when his work is done to-night,
+while Branscombe Denham is building peach-houses at Barrock-holme."
+
+Carrie flushed crimson, and flicked the team with the whip. "You," she
+said, "are the only friend I have, and yet you sometimes take a curious
+pleasure in tormenting me. Do you expect me to turn against my own flesh
+and blood?"
+
+"We have it on good authority that the wife should cleave to her
+husband, and they are one. There are, of course, people nowadays, and
+probably always have been, who think they know better."
+
+The girl caught her breath. "Ah," she said, "you don't quite understand.
+If he were in difficulties I would face them with him cheerfully, but he
+would never let me. It was not said in bitterness, but when he told you
+I was provided for, it hurt me. Why should I be safe, who helped to ruin
+him?"
+
+Eveline Annersly glanced at her with gravely questioning eyes. "My dear,
+I rather fancy you have almost thrown a great treasure away."
+
+"Whether the thing was of great value I do not know, and it is scarcely
+likely I shall ever know. I certainly threw it just as far as I was able
+to, and, though I do not know whether I was wise or not, it is done, and
+there is no use in being sorry."
+
+Then she swung the whip again, and sent the light waggon flying headlong
+down a long grassy slope. Mrs. Annersly found it advisable to hold on,
+and in any case she had said her say. Her words must lie with the rest
+she had dropped, until in due time they should bear their fruit. Eveline
+Annersly was old enough to be somewhat of an optimist too.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland went on with his ploughing, and, save for an
+hour's halt at noon to rest the teams, and for the six o'clock supper,
+toiled until a wondrous green transparency, through which the pale stars
+peeped, hung over the prairie. Then, when the cold clear air was
+invigorating as wine, he led the weary beasts to the stables, and, after
+walking stiffly to the homestead, flung himself into a chair, aching and
+drowsy.
+
+"Jake," he said to the man who was busy in the room, "I'll want some
+coffee in an hour or so. Make it black and strong."
+
+Then Gallwey came in, and they sat for an hour going over a file of
+accounts from which Leland made extracts on a sheet. He laid it down at
+last, and pointed to a bundle of papers on a dusty shelf.
+
+"I was worrying over them before I slept last night, and I'm no wiser
+now," he said. "The one thing certain is that wheat is going down, and
+what it will touch next harvest is rather more than any man can tell.
+One has too many climates from California to New Zealand to reckon with.
+If we stop right now and sow, we'd come out just clear as the market
+stands. I had expected to have quite a pile in hand, but with the drop
+in values the bank balance against me needed considerable meeting."
+
+"It certainly did. I was a trifle astonished when you cabled me to
+arrange for the credit at Winnipeg. You were, in view of your usual
+habits, singularly extravagant for once."
+
+"I was," and Leland laughed somewhat harshly. "Still, under the
+circumstances, it wasn't quite unnatural. Anyway, we have wiped it out,
+and it has crippled me for the next campaign."
+
+Gallwey asked no injudicious questions, but he wondered how his comrade,
+who had distinctly inexpensive tastes, had got rid of all the money he
+had apparently spent in England. Mrs. Leland was not an extravagant
+woman, so far as he was aware.
+
+"The question is, how we should meet a further drop," he said.
+
+"That's not very difficult, unless the drop is too big. We have for
+fixed charges the upkeep of this homestead, besides wages, and the
+feeding of the boys we can't do without, and the working horses. That's
+not going to alter more than a little, anyway. Well, we have the seed,
+and there are broken horses on the run, so it's going to cost us just a
+few teamsters' wages, and the threshing to put oats in on as many extra
+acres as we can break. You see, we get a bigger crop on much the same
+cost."
+
+"And the fall breaking?"
+
+"Wheat," said Leland. "Every acre."
+
+Gallwey drew in his breath. He knew his comrade's boldness, but this was
+almost incredible. Cautious men were already holding their hand, but
+Leland purposed to sow more freely than ever.
+
+"It will be a huge crop," he said. "About the biggest that was ever
+raised in this country. Now, of course, within a margin, there's a good
+deal in your notion in increasing the ratio of production to dead
+charges, but, after all, you can't sow a third as much again without its
+costing you something. Well, if the price drops far enough to make that
+a loss?"
+
+Leland laughed again. "Then," he said, "it will be one of the biggest
+smashes ever known in this country; but nobody's going to lose very much
+when they've taken the land and stock from me. It's tolerably steep
+chances, but they're all on me."
+
+Gallwey's uneasiness showed itself in his face. The magnitude of the
+risk almost dismayed him, but while he sat silent Leland made a little
+gesture.
+
+"Tell Jake to bring that coffee in, and see the waggon's ready," he
+said. "I'll be off, and let the team go easy. They'll put me on to the
+wire at the depot at five o'clock when the stopping freight comes
+through. I should be back by noon. You'll start every man as usual."
+
+He drank the bitter coffee to keep himself awake, and climbed into his
+waggon, while Gallwey shook his head as he watched him jolt away into
+the shadowy prairie.
+
+"It's a big thing, almost too big for any other man," he said. "It was
+the confounded bank balance against him that drove him into it. I wonder
+how he spent all that money, or if Mrs. Leland knows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+LELAND'S PROTEST
+
+
+There were two breakfasts served in the Occidental Hotel, which,
+dilapidated and weather-scarred, stands at the foot of the unpaved
+street of a desolate little town beside the railroad track. Most men
+commence their work early in the prairie country, so the first meal was
+laid at six; but there was another from eight to nine when a train came
+in. This was a somewhat unusual concession to the needs of the few
+passengers who alighted there, because throughout most of the Northwest
+no self-respecting hotel cook would prepare a meal out of the fixed
+hours, not even for a cabinet minister or a railroad director. Nor would
+the proprietor vary a dish, for in his estimation what suffices the
+plainsman is quite good enough for anybody else.
+
+The table had just been cleared when a small and select company of men
+who had nothing in particular to do pulled their chairs up to the stove,
+on which as many of them as could find room put their feet. It had not
+been lighted that morning, or black-leaded for many days, but habit was
+strong in them. There are, even in countries where most men are hard
+workers, a few who spend their lives lounging on hotel verandahs and
+sitting round the stove. Nobody unused to it would, in all probability,
+have cared to linger there, for there are few places of entertainment so
+wholly desolate and uninviting as the general room of the average
+prairie hotel.
+
+Its walls were obviously made of dressed boards, and had even borne a
+coat of paint at one time; but they were bare and dirty now. Two lonely
+German oleographs of more than usually barbaric type hung on rusty
+nails. Cigar-ends and burnt matches littered the uncarpeted floor.
+Benches without backs to them ran along either side of the uncovered
+table. The rest of the furniture consisted of the rusty stove and a few
+chairs, which the loungers monopolised. Two of the group wore
+store-clothing, with trousers so tight that one wondered how they ever
+got them on, and two wore blue jean in sad need of patching. They had
+rough, dark faces, relieved by no sign of amiability or unusual
+intelligence; but they could talk. Loafers and tramps usually can.
+
+Outside the open window, bright sunshine flooded the verandah, and fell
+upon the bare frame-houses across the way. A couple of light waggons,
+with the mire of the spring thawing not yet washed off them, passed
+clattering and jolting among the ruts. The streets of a prairie town
+usually resemble a morass when the frost breaks up. When they had gone,
+a police trooper swung by on a spume-flecked horse, with the dust of
+several leagues' journey thick on his trim uniform. Then there was
+silence again until one of the loungers looked up from the greasy paper
+he was reading.
+
+"Wheat still going down," he said. "There's no bottom to the market, or,
+if it had one, it's dropped out. Our boss farmers are going to feel it
+if things go on like this; but nobody's going to be sorry for them. They
+figure they own the country already."
+
+"I hear Leland of Prospect is ploughing the same as if wheat was going
+up," said another man.
+
+The third of the party shook his pipe out, and pursed up his face, which
+was not an attractive one, into an expression of pitying contempt.
+
+"Leland's a blame fool, and always was," he said. "I once worked for
+him. It's the way the market went with him made him what he is. That,
+and nothing else."
+
+"Why'd you quit Prospect, Jasper?" asked the remaining comrade, and the
+others grinned.
+
+A vindictive gleam crept into the man's eyes. "Well," he said, "I've no
+use for being bossed by that kind of man, and one day I up and told him
+what I thought of him. There was considerable trouble before I walked
+out. Anyway, between the market and the English girl he's married, he's
+fixed just now."
+
+"She's flinging his money away?" asked somebody.
+
+"With both hands, and too stuck on herself to be civil to him. They're
+made like that in the Old Country. Leland's no more to her than the
+hired man, one of the boys told me."
+
+"Well, why'd she marry him?"
+
+"For his money. That's a good enough reason, and it's quite likely there
+was another one. Girls like her have got to marry somebody over there,
+and the men with money are kind of particular. I guess it's not
+astonishing. If you got hold of an English paper, it's full of their
+goings-on."
+
+"That's all right," said one of the others in tight store-clothes.
+"Still, until they're married, they've got to be careful. Afterwards, it
+don't so much matter. Unless all's quite straight, buyers hold off, and
+the figure comes down."
+
+"It's quite easy guessing that's what was wrong with Mrs. Leland. What
+else would a girl with her looks make sure of him for? Charley Leland
+comes along with his money, and they plant her right on to him. It's
+even betting she goes off with another man if the market breaks him."
+
+He stopped abruptly as his neighbour drove an elbow into his ribs, and
+his mouth gaped open as he dropped his feet from the stove. Then the
+others moved uneasily in their chairs, for a man stood in the doorway
+regarding them with a singularly unpleasant smile.
+
+"Stand right up, Jasper, you--hog!" he said.
+
+Jasper sat still, glancing at the others, as though he felt that, while
+none of them appeared in any haste to do so, it was their duty to
+support him, until one evidently remembered that there were, after all,
+four of them.
+
+"He's sitting where he is, Charley Leland," he said. "Nobody asked you
+to hang round listening, and if you don't like our talk you can go
+outside again."
+
+Leland showed no sign of having heard him. "Get up," he said, "and tell
+them you're a liar."
+
+Jasper sat still. He was tolerably active and muscular, or he would
+never have worked at Prospect. But there was a dangerous look in
+Leland's eyes. His quiet incisiveness was portentous. Realising that
+his comrades expected something of him, Jasper managed to retort.
+
+"Oh, go home!" he said. "I guess you've plenty of trouble there without
+making any here."
+
+In another moment Leland had crossed the room and swung him to his feet.
+Nobody was very clear about what happened during the next few seconds.
+There is, however, a certain animal courage in every man who has lived
+by bodily toil, and Jasper, who had also a vindictive temper, did all he
+could. When he had once felt Leland's hand, he clinched with him, and,
+reeling locked together, they fell with a crash against the table and
+overturned one of the benches. Then, gasping, panting, floundering, and
+striking when they could, they went swaying towards the door, while
+Jasper's friends howled encouragingly, and men, attracted by the uproar,
+ran out of the opposite store. Foot by foot they neared the verandah,
+and when Leland, gasping with passion, made a supreme effort, they
+staggered out into it.
+
+There was a crowd below it now, and they set up a shout as Leland's
+grasp sank lower down the other man's hollowing back. Jasper, it seemed,
+was not altogether a favourite of theirs. After that there was silence
+for another moment or two, while the two men swayed and strained with
+scuffling feet, until one of them suddenly relaxed his hold, and,
+reeling backwards, plunged down the verandah stairway. He struck a rail
+as he did it, and, overturning, came down headlong in the unpaved
+street. Somebody dragged him to his feet, and he stood still a moment,
+hatless, with the dust upon his flushed face, and his jacket rent,
+gasping with futile rage. Then he slunk away through the gap that was
+opened up for him.
+
+Leland leant somewhat heavily on the rails above. The veins were swollen
+on his forehead, blood trickled down his chin from one of his bleeding
+lips, and his face was dark with rage. Altogether, he was not exactly an
+attractive spectacle. Raising himself stiffly, he disappeared into the
+hotel, from which three other men made their way with as much haste as
+was compatible with any show of dignity. A light waggon had stopped
+unnoticed just outside the crowd.
+
+A few minutes earlier Carrie Leland and Mrs. Annersly had driven across
+the railroad track on their way to the dry-goods store, and, as the
+waggon jolted in the ruts, the girl pointed to the town with a little
+gesture of repugnance.
+
+"Could one well imagine anything less attractive than this?" she said.
+"Still, I believe the desolate place is looked upon as a rising city,
+and they are actually proud of it."
+
+Eveline Annersly glanced up the single street with a twinkle in her
+eyes. It somewhat resembled a ploughed field, though the ruts and ridges
+the wheels had made were crumbling into dust. Above it ran a rickety
+sidewalk of planks, by means of which foot passengers could escape the
+mire in spring; and crude frame-houses, destitute of paint or any
+attempt at adornment, rose from that in turn. The fronts of most of them
+were carried sufficiently high to hide the pitch of sloped roof, so that
+they resembled squares of timber pierced by little windows. Above the
+topmost of the latter there usually ran a blatant but half-obliterated
+commendation of the wares sold within, for in the rising prairie town
+every house is, as a rule, either a store or a hotel.
+
+"Well," she said, "one could scarcely call it picturesque, but we have
+colliery and other industrial villages at home that are not very far
+behind it."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Still, we have the grace to attempt to justify them on
+the score of necessity, while they hold this place up as a model and a
+sign of progress. It is a barbarous country."
+
+"Including Prospect, too?"
+
+"Of course! Still, Prospect makes no pretence of civilisation. It is
+part of the prairie, and nobody could expect much from it."
+
+"Or of those who dwell in it?"
+
+A little tinge of colour showed in the girl's cheek. "Well," she said
+with faint scorn, "I don't mind admitting that, too. They are a
+distinctly primitive people."
+
+Mrs. Annersly said nothing further. She had her fancies respecting the
+reason for the girl's bitterness, and did not think that her marriage
+accounted for all of it. This was, in a way, as she would have it. She
+sat silent until Carrie pulled the team up close to the dry-goods store.
+A crowd was collecting in front of it, and they could get no further.
+While they sat there, a clamour broke out, and amidst a sound of
+scuffling, two men reeled across the verandah of the hotel opposite
+them. Their faces were not at first visible, and Carrie smiled
+contemptuously when the crowd encouraged them as they grappled with each
+other.
+
+"That," she said, "is evidently considered the correct thing when
+Western gentlemen have a difference of opinion. You will notice that
+nobody makes any attempt to put an end to it. After all, since they
+cannot keep their brutality under restraint, there is something to be
+said for the use of pistols."
+
+In another moment one of the men brought his fist down with a dull thud
+upon the other's half-concealed face, and a little spark of scornful
+anger crept into the girl's eyes.
+
+"It is a little disgusting, but we cannot get on without driving over
+somebody, and it would be a trifle absurd to have to go away again," she
+said. "What brutes men of their kind are!"
+
+"Still, there is something to admire in their brutality," said her
+companion. "That man has both lips cut open. One would have fancied the
+blow would have stunned him, but he seems to be disregarding it, and is
+holding on."
+
+She stopped a moment, with a little catching of her breath. "Ah," she
+said, "there will be no more of it."
+
+One of the men loosed his hold and reeled down the stairway. Then for
+the first time they saw the face of the other clearly as he leant upon
+the rails. It was not wholly pleasant to look at, for there was passion
+in it, and blood trickled from the swollen lips. Carrie's hands
+tightened convulsively on the reins as she urged the team forward. Her
+cheeks were almost colourless, but she met Eveline Annersly's eyes
+steadily, and her voice had a bitter ring in it.
+
+"Yes," she said, "it is my husband. No doubt his comrades would expect
+me to be pleased with him."
+
+She stopped a moment and pulled the team up again. "I wonder if you can
+guess what it will cost me to go into that store, but I am going. After
+all, it would be a little absurd for Charley Leland's wife to be
+particular."
+
+Mrs. Annersly's face was compassionate. "My dear," she said, "he had
+probably a reason for it."
+
+"Of course!" said Carrie, languidly. "No doubt they differed over the
+points of a steer, or one of them was too attentive to the waiting-maid.
+I believe they have two at the Occidental."
+
+She swung herself down, ignoring the hand of a man who had seized the
+reins, and, when Mrs. Annersly had descended, went into the big store.
+She was perfectly conscious that everybody was watching her, but she
+made her purchases with a cold serenity, and then drove away. She did
+not inquire for Leland, and was unaware that the object on the verge of
+the prairie was his waggon. Had she known it, she would have held her
+team in a little, for she had not the least desire to overtake him.
+This, however, was scarcely likely, for it was a long way to Prospect,
+and she intended to break the journey for an hour or so at an outlying
+farm to which the trail turned off in a league or two.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland drove on as fast as his weary team could go,
+until he reached the crossing of the ravine where Sergeant Grier had
+waylaid the outlaws. The trail dipped in sharp twists between the
+birches into the hollow, and he had raised himself a trifle on the
+driving-seat to swing the team round a bend when one side of the waggon
+dropped suddenly beneath him. In another moment he went out headlong,
+and, coming down heavily on his shoulder, lay as he fell, half dazed for
+a time. When he pulled his scattered senses together, he saw that the
+team had stopped and that one of the waggon wheels lay not far away from
+him. He rose with difficulty, feeling very sore and very dizzy, but,
+finding that he could walk, picked the wheel up. The brass cap of the
+hub had gone, and so had the nut which locked the bush on the axle. He
+had put a new one on not long before, and felt sure it had not come off
+of itself, as he remembered how tightly it had fitted. Still, it was
+evident that, if anybody had loosened it, the sudden strain upon the
+wheels as the waggon swung round the bend might have jarred it off, even
+after it had held that far.
+
+That question could wait. Rolling the wheel downhill, he attempted to
+put it on the hub. An unloaded prairie waggon is usually so light that a
+strong man can lift one side of it, but Leland was badly shaken by his
+fall. Indeed, he sat down more than once, gasping and dripping with
+perspiration, before he accomplished it. It was a mighty task for any
+man to attempt after a long day's ploughing, a night spent upon the
+trail, and a sixty-mile drive.
+
+Although he was bothered with a distressing headache, and found that a
+branch had scored his cheek, nevertheless, when he had fitted on another
+nut from the tool-box in the waggon, he drove ahead, reaching Prospect
+almost as worn out as the team. Still, after a bite of food, he climbed
+up into the driving-seat of the big gang-plough. Summer is short in the
+Northwest, and the wheat that goes in late runs a risk of freezing, so
+he needed in his struggle the efforts of every man he could get. He
+drove the threefold furrow through the ripping sod until at last the
+copper sun dipped below the prairie's verge. Then, leaving his team to
+the men, he went back to the house, too weary to carry himself erect.
+The birches swayed in a cold green transparency, the crisp air had vim
+in it, but the weary man noticed nothing as he plodded, heavy-eyed,
+through the crackling stubble.
+
+He had just finished his lonely supper, and was sitting, dressed as when
+he came in, with the dust of the journey on him, and smears of the soil
+upon his heavy boots and leggings, when his wife, who apparently did not
+know he was there, entered the room. She started a little as she saw
+him, and Leland drowsily raised his hand to the raw red scar on his
+face. He had not remembered that his lips were twice their natural size
+and very unpleasant to look at, though they pained him.
+
+"It doesn't amount to much," he said deprecatingly. "I've been too busy
+to fix it. I got thrown out of my waggon."
+
+Carrie became rigidly erect, a sparkle of indignation in her eyes.
+
+"That is really a little unnecessary," she said coldly. "I didn't
+presume to trouble you with any inquiries."
+
+Leland looked at her, as though puzzled, with half-closed eyes. "They
+wouldn't have been unnatural in the case of a man who was flung headlong
+out of his waggon."
+
+"One excuse will no doubt serve as well as another. The difficulty is
+that I happen to have some idea as to how you got your injuries."
+
+The man rose wearily. "I have the pleasure of telling you that I was
+thrown out coming down the ravine."
+
+"And I," said Carrie coldly, "was at the settlement at the time you
+furnished everybody with that interesting spectacle on the hotel
+verandah. I don't wish to be unduly fastidious, but hitherto, so far as
+I know, at least you have not taken the trouble to deceive me wilfully."
+
+Leland turned towards her with his cut lips pressed together, and his
+scarred face grim and hard, making a little gesture of weariness.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess it doesn't matter. I don't suppose I could
+make you think anything but hard of me."
+
+He stopped a minute, and then laughed. "I have faced the world alone so
+far, and held my own with it. I suppose there is no reason why I
+shouldn't go on doing it."
+
+"I believe that is, after all, what most men have to do," said Carrie.
+"I shall endeavour to be as small a burden on you as I can manage."
+
+Then she turned and left him; but, as had happened on other occasions,
+her heart smote her in spite of her anger, for he looked shaken and very
+weary and lonely in the big, desolate room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+CARRIE ABASES HERSELF
+
+
+The warm spring day was over. In that land of contrasts, where there is
+no slow melting of season into season, it is often hot while the last
+snow-drifts linger in the shadows of the bluffs. Carrie and Mrs.
+Annersly were sitting by an open window of Carrie's sitting-room. The
+sun had gone, but, as usual at that season, a filmy curtain of green
+overhung the vast sweep of prairie that had shaken off its hues of white
+and grey for the first faint colour of spring. Above hung a pale, sickle
+moon, and down the long slope, over which the harrow-torn furrows ran,
+lines of men and weary teams were plodding home. Round the rest of that
+half of the horizon, the prairie melted into the distance
+imperceptibly--vast, mysterious, shadowy, under a great tense
+silence--while the little chilled breeze that came up had in it the
+properties of an elixir.
+
+The thin-faced woman who lay in Carrie's big chair was not looking at
+the prairie. She had watched the pageant of the seasons too often
+before, and to her and her husband they had usually meant only a
+variation in the ceaseless struggle which had left its mark on both of
+them. In that country, man has to contend with drought, and harvest
+frost, and devastating hail, for it is only by mighty effort and long
+endurance that the Western farmer wrests his bare living from the soil.
+When seasons are adverse, and they frequently are, a heavy share of the
+burden falls upon the woman, too.
+
+Mrs. Custer had borne hers patiently, but her face, which still showed
+traces of refinement, was worn, and her hands and wrists were rough and
+red. While Thomas Custer toiled out in the frost and sunshine from early
+dawn to dusk to profit by the odd fat year, or more often, if it might
+by feverish work be done, to make his losses good, she cooked and washed
+and baked for him and the boys, a term that locally signifies every male
+attached to the homestead. She had also made her own dresses, as well as
+some of her husband's clothes, and darned and patched the latter with
+cotton flour-bags. Yet the ceaseless struggle had not embittered her,
+though it had left her weary. Perhaps it is the sunshine, or something
+in the clean cold airs from the vast spaces of the wilderness, for man
+holds fast to his faith and courage in that land of cloudless skies.
+
+It was the rich, dark curtains, the soft carpet one's feet sank into,
+the dainty furniture, the odds and ends of silver, and the few good
+etchings at which the faded woman glanced with wistful appreciation. She
+had been accustomed to such things once, but that was long ago, and she
+had never seen on the prairie anything like Carrie Leland's room. With a
+wee, contented smile she turned to the girl.
+
+"It was so good of you to have me here, although if Tom's sister from
+Traverse hadn't promised to look after him I couldn't have come," she
+said. "It is three years since I have been away, and to know that one
+has nothing to do for a whole week is almost too delightful now."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm rather afraid that some of us
+have that consolation, if it is one, all our lives," she said. "They
+keep you busy at the Range?"
+
+"From morning to night; and now we must work harder than ever, with one
+of the boys in Montreal and wheat going down. One feels inclined to
+wonder sometimes if the folks who buy our cheap flour would think so
+much of the quarter-dollar on the sack if they knew what it costs us."
+
+She stopped a moment with a little wistful smile. "I'm afraid this is
+going to be a particularly lean year for a good many of us. Last year I
+was busy, though I had a Scandinavian maid, but I shall be single-handed
+now, and the grocery bill must come down, too. It's quite hard to pare
+it any closer when everything you take off means extra work, and, with
+it all, the boys must be fed."
+
+Mrs. Annersly glanced at Carrie, who, for some reason, did not meet her
+gaze.
+
+"I think you mentioned that you came from Montreal," she said. "You must
+have found it very different on the prairie."
+
+"I certainly did. I had never done anything useful or been without all
+the money I wanted when I married Tom Custer, who had gone out a year
+earlier. My friends were against it, and they would probably have been
+more so had they seen the Range as it was then. The house had three
+rooms to it, and one was built of sod, while all the first summer the
+rain ran in. Still we made out together, and got on little by little,
+struggling for everything. A new stove or set of indurated ware meant
+weeks of self-denial. Now I seem to have been pinching a lifetime,
+though I am only forty; but Tom was always kind, and I do not think I
+have ever been sorry."
+
+She lay still, nestling luxuriously in the softly padded chair, and
+through her worn face and hard hands the blurred stamp of refinement
+once more shone. It was twenty years since she had turned away from the
+brighter side of life, and, though she did not expect compassion,
+Eveline Annersly felt sorry for her. There was also a certain
+thoughtfulness in Carrie Leland's expression, which seemed to suggest
+that a comparison was forced upon her. Both of them realised that the
+wilderness is not subdued without a cost. Woman, it seemed, had her part
+in the tense struggle, too, and Mrs. Custer was one of the many of whom
+it can be said: "They also serve."
+
+"Have you ever been home since you were married?" asked Carrie.
+
+"Once," said Mrs. Custer, with a faint shadow in her face. "I never went
+again. The others were not the same, or perhaps I had changed, for they
+did not seem to understand me. My younger sisters were growing up, and
+they thought only of dances, sleigh-rides and nights on the
+toboggan-slides, as I suppose I did once. My dresses looked dowdy beside
+theirs, too, and they told me I was getting too serious. I felt myself a
+stranger in the house where I was born. One, it seems, loses touch so
+soon."
+
+Again she stopped and laughed. "One night something was said that hurt
+me, and I think I lay awake and cried for hours as I realised that I
+could never quite bridge the gulf that had opened up between the rest
+and me. Then I remembered that Tom, who had worked harder than ever to
+raise the wheat that sent me there, wanted me always--and I went back to
+him."
+
+Her voice fell a little, and Carrie was touched by the faint thrill in
+it. She had seen Thomas Custer, a plain, somewhat hard-featured and
+silent man, and yet this woman, who she fancied had once been almost
+beautiful, had willingly worn out her freshness in coarse labour for
+him. Then a tiny flush crept into her face as she remembered that she,
+too, had a husband, one who gave her everything, and for whom she seldom
+had even a smile. She was not innately selfish. Indeed, she had shown
+herself capable of sacrifice. As she sat unobserved in the growing
+shadow, she sighed. She wondered whether they still remembered her at
+Barrock-holme, for, if they did, they had seldom written, and she
+reflected sadly that she had not Mrs. Custer's consolation, since there
+was nobody else who wanted her.
+
+"You really believe this is going to be a lean year?" she said.
+
+"I am afraid so. Still, it is scarcely likely to trouble you, except
+that your husband will have a good deal to face. Tom isn't sure he was
+wise in sowing so much, with wheat going down, and it seems he
+considered it necessary to quarrel with the rustlers, too. They are
+rather vindictive people, and it's a little astonishing they have left
+him alone, though Tom thinks they or their friends had something to do
+with what happened to his waggon. He met him driving home the day he was
+thrown out, and told me that Charley, who had evidently had a bad fall,
+looked very shaky."
+
+Carrie started. "He was thrown out of his waggon?"
+
+"Of course! Didn't he tell you? Well, perhaps he would be afraid of its
+worrying you. It would be like Charley Leland, and here I have been
+giving him away."
+
+Carrie was troubled by an unpleasant sense of confusion as she
+remembered that her husband had really told her, and what her attitude
+had been; but Mrs. Custer had more to say.
+
+"Charley Leland is going to have his hands full this year. The fall in
+wheat is bad enough, and it is quite likely the rustlers will make
+trouble for him. Then he must fall out with a man at the settlement, who
+Tom says is in league with them. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned
+that, though I almost think it was the only thing he could do."
+
+Carrie, seeing Mrs. Annersly look up sharply, controlled herself by
+force of will.
+
+"Would you mind telling me why you think that?" she asked calmly.
+
+Mrs. Custer appeared to be looking at her in astonishment. "You don't
+know? He hasn't told you that, either?"
+
+"No," said Carrie quietly, "he certainly hasn't."
+
+The woman in the big chair sat silent for several moments, and then made
+a little deprecatory gesture. "Even if your husband doesn't thank me for
+telling you, I think you ought to know. It appears from what Tom heard,
+two or three of the loungers at the hotel were talking about you.
+Charley came into the verandah and heard them."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, with a sharpness in her voice that suggested pain,
+"so that was how it came about. No doubt half the people in the
+settlement know what they were saying?"
+
+Once more Mrs. Custer appeared to consider. Like most of his friends,
+she believed in Charley Leland, and it was, of course, not astonishing
+that she was aware that his relations with his wife were not exactly all
+they should be. This to some extent roused her resentment, and, though
+she was inclined to like Carrie, she had half-consciously taken up her
+husband's cause against her.
+
+"My dear," she said, "I scarcely think I could tell you, and I really
+don't believe many people know. Still, neither your husband nor the
+others appear to have noticed that the inner door of the room was open,
+and the man who keeps the hotel heard them. He told Tom that he wouldn't
+have expected anything else from Charley Leland."
+
+Carrie leant forward a little in her chair. "I want you to tell me
+exactly what they said. It is right to my husband and myself that I
+should know."
+
+"Then you will forgive me if it hurts you. They said you had only
+married him for his money, and he was no more to you than one of the
+teamsters. There was a little more I couldn't mention."
+
+There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, and Carrie knew,
+dark as it now was, that Mrs. Annersly was furtively watching her.
+
+"Ah," she said, "then my husband came in?"
+
+Mrs. Custer laughed softly. "I believe the loquacious gentleman was very
+sorry for himself before Charley had done with him."
+
+"Thank you," said Carrie, thoughtfully. "Now I think we will change the
+subject. Could you manage to light the lamp, Aunt Eveline? I can't very
+well get past you."
+
+Mrs. Annersly, lighting the lamp, craftily led their visitor to talk of
+Montreal; for she thought Carrie had suffered enough for the present.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, who had been driving the harrows all day, and
+had just come in, sat with Gallwey in the big room below. He had a
+blackened pipe in his hand, and his face was thoughtful. His torn jacket
+and coarse blue shirt fell away to the elbow from one almost blackened
+and splendidly corded arm. The man, like most of his neighbours at that
+season, was usually too weary with more than twelve hours' labour to
+change his clothes when he came in, for which there was, indeed, no
+great reason, since he seldom saw his wife or Mrs. Annersly in the brief
+hour between his work and sleep.
+
+"Wheat's down another cent, with sellers prevailing," he said, pointing
+to several newspapers on the table. "It's 'most a pity I had fixed up to
+put in the big crop. Things are quiet in Russia, and that means a good
+crop; they've had rain in California, and the kind of season they wanted
+in Argentina, India, and Australia. It seems to me the whole thing's
+going to turn on the States' crop this year. From what I've been reading
+here, they're a little scared about sowing in the Dakotas and Minnesota.
+They'd swamp out all the markets if wheat jumped up just now."
+
+"It shows very little sign of doing it," said Gallwey. "Things are going
+to be a little serious as it is. A short crop in the States would give
+values a fillip, but the trouble is that if they have frost or hail we
+are likely to get it, too."
+
+Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "if the market doesn't stiffen, we
+can only go under. It would hurt to give up Prospect, but it could be
+done. In the meanwhile, I've been wondering about that waggon. It took
+me quite a while to screw the lock-nut on with the big box-spanner, and
+the thing never loosened of itself."
+
+"I don't think it did. The last time you drove in to the settlement,
+your waggon was standing probably four or five hours behind the
+Occidental. I think I'd try to find out if anybody borrowed one of
+Porter's spanners when I went in again. How long was it after you threw
+Jasper out, when you drove away?"
+
+"About five minutes."
+
+"Well, it's quite possible he did it before. I suppose you haven't asked
+yourself how Jasper makes a living. He never seems to be doing anything,
+and I believe it isn't difficult to buy whisky at the settlement. Thanks
+to our beneficent legislature, whoever keeps it makes an excellent
+profit."
+
+Leland's face grew a trifle harder, and he closed one brown hand. "The
+same thing struck me, and I guess you're right. It seems I have a good
+deal against me this year. The market would have been bad enough without
+the rustlers."
+
+Gallwey rose and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can count on me,
+Charley, whatever comes along. There are others, too. It isn't only the
+whisky men who feel they have to get even with you. You'll get what you
+like to ask for, teams, men to harvest for you, and, though it's scarce
+in this country, even money."
+
+He turned away a trifle abruptly, and Leland felt a thrill of gratitude.
+He had many friends on the prairie, and knew the worth of them, though
+it did not occur to him that he had done quite sufficient to warrant
+their good-will. Just then he was most clearly sensible that there was
+much against him.
+
+Presently Carrie came in, looking very dainty and alluring in an evening
+gown. She had not yet discarded all the social conventions to which she
+had been accustomed at Barrock-holme. Leland felt a stirring of his
+blood as he looked at her. He rose and stood waiting, as she watched him
+gravely, a faint flush in her cheeks.
+
+"Charley," she said, and he thought how seldom she used his name, "I
+have a difficult thing to do, but it would not be honest to shirk it. I
+must ask you to forgive me for what I said when you told me about the
+waggon."
+
+"Why?"
+
+The colour grew in the girl's face. "Mrs. Custer has told me that her
+husband saw you."
+
+Leland smiled somewhat bitterly. "You find it easier to believe Tom
+Custer than me?"
+
+"Please wait. What could I think when you told me? I was at the
+settlement that morning, and saw your cut lips when you stood on the
+verandah."
+
+The man started a little, but he promptly recovered from his
+astonishment, and looked at her with twinkling eyes.
+
+"Now I understand," he said. "You were a little disgusted with me. The
+men you are used to wouldn't have thrown any one they couldn't agree
+with out of a hotel."
+
+"No. Still, there are cases when the provocation may be too strong for
+one."
+
+"It is quite often that way with me. I'm afraid I am a little short in
+temper."
+
+He leant upon the table, as though he had nothing more to say, and
+Carrie recognised that he did not mean to tell her what had led up to
+the outbreak. Whether this was due to pride or generosity she did not
+know, but the fact made its impression upon her. Her husband was, it
+seemed, sure enough of his own purposes to disregard what others thought
+of him; but there was a certain sting in the reflection. A desire on his
+part to stand well in her estimation would have been more gratifying.
+Still, she overcame the slight sense of mortification.
+
+"You haven't told me what the provocation was," she said.
+
+"No," said Leland, with a little quiet smile. "It wouldn't be quite the
+thing to worry you with an explanation every time I lose my temper. I do
+it now and then."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "don't you care, then, what I think of you? Still, in
+this case, I needn't ask you. Mrs. Custer told me that, too. That is why
+I felt I must ask you to forgive me for presuming to blame you. I want
+to be just, and I was in my wilfulness horribly far from being so."
+
+"You want to be just? That was the only reason?"
+
+The girl saw the tension in his face, and stood silent, swayed by a
+whirl of confused sensations. She would not admit there was another
+reason, though something in her nature clamoured for a breaking down of
+the restraint between them. She had looked down on this man and wantonly
+wounded him, while he had shown her what she realised was a splendid
+generosity and borne her scorn in silence. It was once more his
+independent silence that troubled her, and she felt just then that she
+would sooner have had him compel her to acknowledge that he was not what
+she had striven to think him.
+
+"Well," he said, a trifle sadly, "I suppose I must not expect too much."
+
+The girl's heart smote her. She knew just what he wanted her to say, but
+she could not say it, and yet she meant to do all she had undertaken.
+
+"There is a little more, and it must be said," she said. "I know part,
+at least, of what those men said of me."
+
+She stopped, and, holding herself rigidly, though one hand which she had
+laid on the table quivered a little, looked at him steadily.
+
+"If I could only prove them wrong, but I can't," she said.
+
+A deep flush crept into Leland's face, and the veins rose swollen on his
+forehead, while he grasped her shoulder almost roughly.
+
+"Do you know what you are saying?" he asked.
+
+"That I married you because we were poor at Barrock-holme. It was a
+horrible wrong I did you--and you have made me ashamed."
+
+The relief that swept into the man's face somewhat puzzled her, but she
+had seen the anger and suspense in it a moment earlier, and her heart
+throbbed painfully. After all, though she did not understand what had
+troubled him, it seemed that he did care very much indeed.
+
+"My dear," he said quietly, "if you think you have done me any wrong, it
+is wiped out now. Perhaps, some day, you will go a little further than
+you have done to-night, and I must try to wait for it. That is all I
+have to say, and this is becoming a little painful to both of us."
+
+He turned slowly away, and Carrie moved towards the door, but, when she
+reached it, she stopped and looked back at him.
+
+"One can be a little too generous now and then," she said.
+
+Then the door closed, and Leland stood still, leaning on the table, with
+thoughtful eyes.
+
+"I don't know if that was a lead or not, and I don't seem able to think
+just now," he said. "I'm not running Prospect, it's driving me, and I'm
+ground down mind and body by the load of wheat I'm carrying."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE OUTLAWS STRIKE BACK
+
+
+The brief spring was merging suddenly, earlier even than usual, into
+summer, and it was a still, oppressive night when Leland sat, somewhat
+grim in face, in a mortgage and land broker's office at the railroad
+settlement. The little, dusty room, with its litter of papers and survey
+prints, was very hot, and Leland, who had just come in from the dusk,
+was a trifle dazed by the light the kerosene lamp flung down. He had in
+his hand two or three letters the broker had given him, and glanced at
+one of them moodily, only with difficulty fixing his attention on it. He
+had toiled with feverish activity that spring, and at last the strain
+was telling, for his head ached, and he felt limp and weary. It had,
+too, been dry weather ever since he put the first plough into the
+ground, and that night there was an oppressive tension in the
+atmosphere.
+
+Macartney, the land-broker, sat opposite him, a gaunt, keen-eyed man,
+with a thin jacket over his white shirt. Leland knew him for an upright
+man, though nobody is supposed to be particularly scrupulous in the
+business he followed.
+
+"You are looking a little played out," he said. "I can give you some ice
+and soda, but it's partly due to your own efforts that I've nothing
+else. Whisky can, I believe, be had, but, in the face of the fall in
+land and wheat, the figure the few men want who venture to keep it is
+prohibitive."
+
+He filled a tumbler from the fountain on the side-table, and dropped in
+a lump of ice. Leland drained it thirstily.
+
+"I've been round since sun-up, and have driven forty miles," he said,
+putting down the empty glass. "I guess it's the weather, for a thing of
+that kind shouldn't have troubled me. Not a blade of wheat up yet, and
+the seed-beds all clods and dust. There are very few of us going to
+escape the frost in the fall."
+
+Macartney nodded sympathetically. "If I come out a hundred cents on the
+dollar when harvest's over, it's rather more than I expect," he said.
+"My stake's in land and wheat, and I couldn't unload anything except at
+a smart loss just now. In the circumstances, it seems to me that Bruce
+is making you a reasonable offer."
+
+"I'm not likely to raise on it from anybody else," and Leland frowned as
+he glanced at the letter. "Still, if I let him have the cattle, I can't
+stock the ranch again. They should have cleared me quite a few thousand
+dollars, if I could have held on, and sold them fat in the fall."
+
+"If I were in your place and could hold on, I would. Still, you have to
+have some money in hand. The banks won't look at land, and I couldn't
+raise you anything on mortgage except at a crippling interest."
+
+"That's just my trouble, I haven't got any cash."
+
+The broker glanced at him reflectively. "Well," he said, "it's not my
+business, but you must have had a pile last year. Of course, you were
+over in the Old Country, but you could afford it, and you never struck
+me as an extravagant man."
+
+Leland smiled in a somewhat wry fashion. "I don't quite think I am, but
+that's not the question. I've got to have the money to go on with, and,
+as you say, I couldn't get it on a mortgage that wouldn't ruin me. Tell
+Bruce he can have the cattle, and, if he'll let me know when he wants
+them, we'll round them up for him. It's that or nothing, but I stand to
+lose 'most enough on the run to break me this year."
+
+"From what you told me, if you hang on to the run, you'll have to let
+Prospect go."
+
+Leland's face hardened. "Well," he said, "I guess I would, and that, if
+it has to be, is going to hurt me. If I stood as I did last fall, I
+could carry over, but now the market and the season are both against me.
+But I must be getting home. You'll fix it up with Bruce?"
+
+The ostler from the Occidental was waiting outside with a hired horse,
+and Leland, swinging himself wearily into the saddle, rode down the
+unpaved street. A blaze of light shone out from the verandah of the
+little hotel, and he could hear the laughter of those inside and the hum
+of merry voices. Further on, somebody was playing a fiddle in a house
+the door and windows of which stood wide open. He sighed a little as he
+rode by. A year ago, he would have spent the night there or at the
+hotel, taking his part in the pointed badinage with keen enjoyment. His
+good-humour had been infectious then, and everybody had had a pleasant
+word for him; but things were different now.
+
+The market was going against him, the season was getting more
+unpropitious. If ruin could be staved off, it would be only by unceasing
+toil and Spartan self-denial. After working from sunrise, he had driven
+forty miles that afternoon, and there was the same distance still to be
+covered in the saddle. He might count himself fortunate if he reached
+Prospect in time for barely two hours' sleep before he must set about
+his work again. He had never spared himself, and he had no thought of
+doing so now, when every effort he could make was urgently necessary.
+Branscombe Denham's creditors had been, if not satisfied, at least
+pacified for a time with the money that would have seen him through, and
+Leland, who knew his man, smiled grimly as he recalled that Denham had
+termed it a loan.
+
+There was nobody in the rutted street, the stores were closed, and only
+a single light burned in the little wooden shed beside the railroad
+track. The place seemed deadly desolate, and Leland, whose physical
+weariness had reacted on his mind, shrank for once from the greater
+loneliness, as he rode out into the silent, empty waste. Save when the
+blue sheet-lightning fell with a sudden blaze, black darkness rested
+heavily upon the night. The drumming of his horse's hoofs rose with a
+jarring distinctness, the air was thick and hot, and the smell of
+sun-scorched earth was in his nostrils. A light, fibrous dust settled on
+his perspiring face.
+
+The sod, green no longer, was turning white before its season, and broad
+cracks seamed its surface from want of moisture. He could remember only
+one or two springs that had been like this; and they, he recalled, had
+broken many a prairie farmer. Seed will not germinate under such
+conditions, and the prairie summer is usually quite short enough to
+ripen the crops. There was nobody to observe him, so he bent under the
+strain, riding slackly in his weariness, with all the vigour gone out of
+him. What his thoughts were, he could never quite remember. Indeed, he
+was not sure that he had had any definite thoughts at all, being
+conscious only of utter lassitude and dejection.
+
+The horse started in alarm whenever the blue radiance flashed athwart
+the prairie, showing here and there a clump of willows, or a birch bluff
+etched black against the brightness. Then darkness followed, and he felt
+his way by the sound the hoofs made on the sun-baked soil of the trail.
+He was astonished, on making the big bluff by the ravine, to hear a beat
+of hoofs among the trees he had not seen until he rode into the midst of
+them. There were evidently a good many horses, and it flashed upon him
+that only the rustlers would be riding that way in a body and at that
+hour of night. He had no pistol, nothing in fact, but a heavy riding
+quirt. This he grasped by the thinner end as he rode on. In his present
+mood, he would not have left the trail had he known absolutely that the
+outlaws had come there in search of him.
+
+They were hidden in the blackness, but he could hear them calling to
+their horses as they climbed the trail out of the hollow, and he
+stiffened himself a little, shifting his hand on the bridle, and feeling
+for a firmer grip with his knees. As he did so, the gap between the
+trunks was filled with a blue flash, and he could plainly see the white
+faces of the foremost of the outlaws. The light lasted long enough to
+show that men and beasts were dripping with wet. Then a curious thing
+happened. Leland's grasp of the riding quirt suddenly relaxed, and he
+checked his horse.
+
+"You have had rain, boys?" he said.
+
+"A shower," said a startled man, who had seen him for an instant. "More
+of it to the westwards--the creek's rising."
+
+There was another blue flash, and Leland's horse plunged. As he swayed
+in his saddle, two, at least, of the others saw his face; but they stood
+still in the black darkness that followed, and he rode through the midst
+of them with a firm grasp on the bridle. Then he gave the startled horse
+the rein. A confused clamour rose from the blackness behind him as he
+swept across the bridge, and he felt that whimsical chance alone had
+saved him. Had he planned his moves with definite purpose, the thing he
+had done would have been impossible.
+
+Reining in when he reached the level beyond the ravine, he sat
+listening. There was no sound of pursuit. As a big, warm drop splashed
+upon one hand, he started nervously. Then from out the silence came a
+soft murmur that rose in sharp crescendo. Suddenly a rush of rain smote
+his perspiring face. The patter swelled into a roar, and a heavy, steamy
+smell like that of a hothouse rose from the drinking earth. Leland felt
+his pulse quicken as the warm deluge washed his cares away. Its value
+could be calculated in hard cash, for it saved his wheat.
+
+He rode for a while bareheaded, with the water trickling over him.
+Though he was physically very weary, the lassitude and dejection melted
+out of him. There was no longer a tension in the atmosphere, and he was
+an optimist again, vaguely thankful for the things he had and the
+strength to grapple with those against him. With that, a great
+tenderness towards his wife swept over him like a wave, and he
+remembered, not her scorn and bitter words, but that there was so much
+she must miss at Prospect. He had left her alone, neglected, while he
+thought only of his work, and, even though she cared nothing for him, he
+might in many ways have made her life pleasanter. He could, he
+reflected, do it yet, for ruin seemed remote, now the wheat was saved.
+The rain still beat his clothing flat against his tired limbs, but he
+rode on almost light-heartedly, with the mire splashing high about him,
+welcoming every drop.
+
+It was still dark when he reached Prospect, wet through and half-asleep,
+but, swinging himself wearily down from the saddle, he made shift to put
+the horse into one of the stables. There were more than one of them, for
+the buildings had been erected here and there as they had been wanted,
+and as the farm had grown. Letting himself into the silent house, and
+groping his way to his room, he shed his wet and muddy garments on the
+floor and crawled dead-tired into bed. He slept very soundly, for Nature
+would have her way, and it was seven in the morning when Carrie, who did
+not know he had returned, entered his room. Though she knew little of
+household management, she had, during the last month or two, been
+quietly assuming the direction of affairs at Prospect.
+
+She started when she saw him, but it was evident that he was very fast
+asleep, so she stood for several minutes looking down on him. One arm
+was flung out on the coverlet, bare to the elbow, sinewy and brown. She
+noticed the hardness of the hand, and her heart grew soft towards him as
+she saw how worn his face was with the resolution melted out of it. The
+man looked so weary in his sleep. When she glanced round the room, his
+very clothes, from which the water had spread across the uncovered
+floor, were suggestive of the hard fight he had fought and the weariness
+it had brought him. There had been no care in his face at Barrock-holme.
+She, she reflected, had brought him trouble. At the thought, there came
+over her a feeling of disgust with herself and compassion for him. It
+was not love, perhaps, but it was, at least, regretful tenderness, and
+she drew nearer with a sudden impulse, the blood creeping into her
+cheeks. He lay very still, apparently fast asleep, and she knew that
+further trouble awaited him on wakening.
+
+Then the impulse, illogical as she felt it was, grew stronger, until it
+became uncontrollable, and she bent down swiftly and kissed his cheek.
+He made no sign, but she rose with her blood tingling, and, not daring
+to look back at him, slipped out of the room. She met Gallwey on the
+stairway, and he looked at her in amazement, for he had never before
+seen that colour in her face or that softness in her eyes.
+
+"If one might be permitted to mention it, the loss of sleep and the
+alarm last night seem to have agreed with you," he said. "You are
+looking as fresh as the prairie after the rain."
+
+Carrie laughed softly, and it seemed to the man that her voice was also
+gentler than usual. "I'm afraid I can't make you an equal compliment,"
+she said. "You look very woe-begone."
+
+"I expect I do," and Gallwey made a little whimsical gesture. "In fact,
+I wish it was any other person's duty to inform your husband what has
+happened. I suppose I am in a way responsible, and his remarks are
+rather vigorous occasionally."
+
+"You are not going to waken him now?"
+
+"I'm afraid I must. The King's command, madam. I have already gone a
+little further than was advisable in giving him an extra hour."
+
+"But," said Carrie, "you don't seem to remember that there is a Queen at
+Prospect, too. Let him sleep until nine o'clock. You have my
+dispensation."
+
+Gallwey made her a little inclination, and it was more deferential than
+joking, though he smiled.
+
+"With that, madam, I will risk my head," he said. "I wonder if I may
+dutifully mention that we have wanted a Queen for a long while--one who
+will rule."
+
+Carrie felt her cheeks glow, and she was glad when he turned and went
+down the stairs in front of her.
+
+It was two hours later when Gallwey, with some difficulty, and not a few
+misgivings, awakened Leland, but the latter's first indignation died
+away when his comrade mentioned why he had not done so earlier. Gallwey,
+who was Carrie Leland's devoted servant, contrived to hide his smile,
+though he had drawn his own inferences and was satisfied. By the time he
+had said all he had to say, Leland's face had, however, grown grim
+again, and that he was quiet was not a favourable sign.
+
+"I will be down in five minutes, and come with you," he said. "One of
+the whisky boys or I would have needed burying if I had known of this
+last night."
+
+Ten minutes had passed when he and Gallwey walked towards the stables
+across the wire-fenced paddock. The rain had ceased, and bright sunshine
+was licking up the gleaming moisture from the sod, but Leland saw only a
+wide space of sodden ashes, and the blackened ruins of the log-stables,
+of which the roofs had fallen in. The birch-trunks that still stood were
+charred and tottering, and a little steam rose from them. They went in
+among them together. Leland stopped suddenly, with hands tight clenched
+and the veins on his forehead standing out, when he saw what lay among a
+mass of half-burnt and fallen beams.
+
+"Four of them," he said hoarsely. "Brave old Bright, and Valerie. Many a
+long furrow have they ploughed for me. Voyageur and Blackfoot, too!"
+
+He swung round fiercely. "Tom, I'd almost sooner the--hogs had crippled
+me. Teams I'd broke and driven year by year. They've done 'most as much
+for Prospect as I have. By the Lord, when next I run up against the boys
+who did it, there's going to be a reckoning. You are sure of what you
+tell me?"
+
+Gallwey touched his arm. "Come and see."
+
+They went out together, across the space of ashes that ran back several
+hundred yards from the stables. Then Gallwey stooped beside a half-burnt
+tussock of taller grass, and pointed to a little card of pasteboard
+sulphur matches. They were, as usual, joined together at the bottom of
+the card, and the heads had melted off them; but Gallwey, stooping,
+picked up a single half-burnt match, and fitted it to the place from
+where it had evidently been broken off.
+
+"I left them there for you to see," he said. "As a rule nobody ever
+finds out how a grass-fire starts, but I think the origin of this one is
+tolerably plain. You will, of course, have noticed that it is within the
+guard-furrows. Perhaps the fellow didn't remember the matches, or he may
+have left them as a hint. I suppose it is gratifying to feel that your
+enemy knows you intended it when you hurt him."
+
+Gallwey's face hardened, and he went on:
+
+"Jake wakened first, and we had the boys out in five minutes, but the
+fire was on the stables then. We couldn't get the door open, either, and
+had to wait while one of them brought an axe. I don't know what jammed
+it, because, when I went back to see, it was burnt, but it never stuck
+fast before. Well, we did what we could, but we couldn't save the four
+horses you saw, and, if it hadn't been for the rain, we might have lost
+them all."
+
+Leland, looking about him, noticed again that the fire had started just
+where the grass was tallest, and within the guard-furrows ploughed to
+cut the homestead off from the sweep of the prairie. This fire, it was
+very evident to him, had been started with a definite purpose that it
+had come very near accomplishing.
+
+"We have everything against us this year," he said, and his brown face
+showed very hard and stern. "Still, by the Lord, if we have to go under,
+there's going to be a struggle first."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BENEFICENT RAIN
+
+
+When Gallwey left him, Leland walked slowly through the bluff where the
+birches rustled softly under the caress of a warm, gentle breeze. There
+was a different note in their low murmur now, for the lace-like twigs
+were covered with slender leaves, and a new scent rose from the steaming
+mould. Leland noticed it vacantly, scarcely seeing the silver stems;
+for, susceptible as he was to all of Nature's moods, he was, at the
+time, bracing himself for the long struggle before him.
+
+There was so much against him, and the loss of his horses had filled him
+with an overwhelming indignation against the men who had wantonly
+injured him. He was combative by nature, as every man with a strenuous
+purpose must necessarily be. With vindictive bitterness, he thought of
+the burnt and mangled beasts that had worked for him so well. Once more
+his lips set, and, brushing heedlessly through the bluff, he clenched
+one hard hand. Men and circumstances might prove too strong for him; but
+he would, at least, go on until he was crushed, and leave his mark upon
+his enemies before they brought him down.
+
+Then, coming out from among the trees, he stopped with a little
+indrawing of his breath as he glanced at the ploughing. It had been,
+when he last saw it, a waste of clods rent into hot and dusty fragments,
+but now all the wide basin and long slope of rise were sprinkled with
+flecks of green, and he stood gazing at it with softening face and
+glowing eyes. The kindly rain had touched the parched and dusty soil,
+and the old familiar miracle had again happened.
+
+Life had emerged from darkness; the wheat was up, in token that, while
+man's faith may falter, and his hand grow slack, the great beneficent
+influences are strongest still, and seedtime and harvest shall not fail.
+As those who worked for him had cause to know, and as shrewd grain
+buyers in Winnipeg admitted, Leland was an essentially practical man;
+but there was in him, as there must be in the optimist, a vague
+recognition of the mysterious, upholding purpose that stands behind, and
+is partially revealed in the world of material things. He could drive
+the long furrow, he could rend the clods, but there was that in the
+red-gold wheat that did not come from them or him. It was the essence of
+life, a mystery and a miracle, his to control, or even to annihilate,
+but a thing he could never create.
+
+He felt something of this while he stood there with the warm wind on his
+face. The bitterness fell from him with his cares. Hope is eternal, and
+it sprang up strong in him as his softening eyes wandered over the vast
+sprinkling of sunny green. The harvest would follow the sowing, and toil
+was indestructible. His courage, which, indeed, had never faltered,
+changed its mood. It was no longer the grim resolution of a desperate
+man, but a more hopeful and gentler thing. Then, and he was not
+astonished, for it only seemed the natural sequence of things, his wife
+came out from among the birches with a smile in her eyes.
+
+"I have come to look for you. Breakfast is ready, and I have been
+waiting ever so long," she said.
+
+It was a trifling matter, but the man's heart beat faster than usual. It
+had not been her habit to rise in time to breakfast with him. As often
+happened when he felt the most, he could think of nothing apposite to
+say, and stood looking at her in silence.
+
+"I was almost afraid to venture until I saw you," she said. "I had
+expected to find you angry. It wouldn't have been astonishing."
+
+Leland laughed softly. "I'm afraid I was," he said "Still, it didn't
+seem to last when I saw the wheat was up, and it was bound to vanish
+when you came, anyway."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, with a faint warmth in her cheeks, "it's a long time
+since you have even tried to say anything of that kind to me. Well, I
+have something to say, and I would like you to believe it is not merely
+what you once called the correct thing. I am very sorry for what has
+happened."
+
+"My dear, I think I know," and Leland smiled at her. "It was very good
+of you, and the only thing that was needed to make my worries melt away.
+I seem to feel I'm going to come out ahead of the market and the
+rustlers, now. Could anybody be afraid when he had seen the wheat?"
+
+The girl turned and gazed with only partial comprehension at the vast
+sweep of green.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I suppose it is a little wonderful. It looked so
+hopeless yesterday. I am glad one, at least, of your troubles has
+vanished, Charley."
+
+"And yours?"
+
+"Am I supposed to have any?"
+
+She spoke without bitterness, as though questioning his faculty of
+comprehension, and she saw the dark colour creep into his face. Still,
+it was not the hue of anger, and, stooping, he gently seized the hand
+that wore the ring.
+
+"My dear," he said, "you must have many. I can feel it now, and, when I
+married you, I was, perhaps, doing wrong. How could one expect you to be
+content with such a man as I am?"
+
+He stopped a moment, and smiled wistfully. "I almost think I know how
+the life you lead here must look to you. You can see it stretching out
+in front of you, all arid and hopeless, like those furrows yesterday.
+Still, now you see them green with promise. The rain has come."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie; "still, the wheat was hidden there, and in some of us
+there are only weeds and tares, while, even if there is among them a
+little wholesome grain, who knows if the rain will ever come at all?"
+She looked up at him and hesitated. "Charley, do you feel that I have
+cheated you very badly?"
+
+"How?"
+
+"Oh, I suppose you will not admit it. One could thank you for that, but
+you know. Have I ever been a companion to you? Isn't your life harder
+than it was before?"
+
+Leland's grasp of her hand grew tighter. "Well," he said, "there are
+times when one must talk, and I have felt that; but I felt, too, that,
+if I could wait, there would be a change."
+
+"I think you must have been always hopeful."
+
+"Hope," said Leland gravely, "is a little like the germ in the wheat. It
+lies dormant; but, while its husk lasts, it will not die. I think," and
+he glanced back at the vast sweep of sprouting green, "I was like that
+dusty ploughing, waiting for the rain."
+
+The girl was silent for a while, though she, too, was conscious of a
+curious stirring of her nature, which showed itself by the warmth in her
+cheeks. The man had, she felt, chosen a peculiarly fitting symbolism,
+for, when the beneficent rain had touched the arid clods, they had put
+on beauty with sudden life and growth.
+
+"And what do you expect, then?" she asked.
+
+Leland smiled. "I don't quite know, but it must be something good and
+beautiful. What is in all Nature is in us too. My dear," and he made a
+little gesture, "one can feel, and not quite understand. The wheat
+yonder doesn't know why and how it grows, but, since you gave me your
+promise at Barrock-holme, I have been waiting for something to come to
+me."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie again, "after what has happened, you can expect it
+still?"
+
+The man looked at her gravely. "Hope is indestructible, and some day the
+rain will come. One cannot hurry it, one can only work and wait."
+
+Carrie smiled a little, though once more pride and a curious tenderness
+struggled within her.
+
+"Well," she said, "in the meantime, Jake is no doubt wondering whether
+we are coming in to breakfast."
+
+They turned, and went back to the house, with the sunshine bright upon
+them, and the clean scents of the soil in their nostrils. The gladness
+that was in all things reacted upon them both.
+
+Half an hour later, Leland set about his work again, and, as he had
+leagues to ride to visit one or two farms, and to see where there was
+likely to be any wild hay in the sloos, dusk was closing down before he
+came back again. In his absence, something had happened that left Carrie
+confused and startled. The men were trooping in for the six o'clock
+supper, when a light waggon swung into sight over the crest of the rise.
+As it reached the door of the homestead, one of the two men in it sprang
+down. Carrie was standing in the entrance hall when Jake showed him in,
+and she caught her breath with a little gasp when she saw who it was.
+The man who stood smiling at her with the sunlight on his face was the
+one she had parted from on the path above the ravine at Barrock-holme.
+
+"Reggie!" she said.
+
+Urmston laughed. "Yes," he said. "In the flesh. I have ridden most of
+two hundred miles on horseback and in a waggon to get here, in the
+expectation that you would be pleased to see me."
+
+Carrie stood still, thankful that she was in the shadow, though for the
+moment she could not tell whether she was pleased or not. For one thing,
+the man's assurance that she would feel so somewhat jarred upon her, and
+the advantage was with him, for he had come there knowing that he would
+see her, and she had not expected him.
+
+"Of course I am," she said. "But the waggon?"
+
+"I hired the man to drive me. I suppose he can put up here, and go back
+to-morrow. Your husband will no doubt set me on my way to the railroad,
+when I go."
+
+Carrie Leland was not, as a rule, readily shaken out of her serenity,
+but she was almost disconcerted now. Urmston evidently meant to stay,
+and even the stranger has only to ask for shelter upon the prairie. The
+man before her had once considered himself much more to her than a
+stranger.
+
+"Yes," she said. "He will be glad to see you. Sit down while I tell Jake
+about the teamster, and see that your room is made ready."
+
+She left him somewhat abruptly, and Urmston laughed a little. "Too
+startled even to shake hands with me," he murmured. "I wonder if that is
+significant."
+
+Twenty minutes later, he was sitting down with Carrie and Mrs. Annersly
+at supper, and was not altogether astonished when the elder lady, who,
+he fancied, had never been fond of him, turned to him with a frank
+question.
+
+"What did you come here for?" she said.
+
+"To see Carrie--and yourself, madam," and Urmston smiled with a
+mischievous relish that made him look very young. "Could one venture to
+hope that in your case the pleasure is reciprocated?"
+
+"I am, at least, disposed to tolerate anybody from the Old Country,
+though I can't go very much further. When one has been a few months
+here, one is apt to become contented with the products of Canada."
+
+"The wheat? Have you turned farmer?"
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "No," she said. "The men. They are,
+after all, the finest thing this country raises."
+
+Urmston laughed, though he felt that he had been favoured with a hint.
+Mrs. Annersly, however, had more to say.
+
+"Have you suddenly grown energetic, and decided to do something?" she
+asked.
+
+"No," said Urmston. "As a matter of fact, I came out to see the country
+and enjoy myself, although I have an ostensible mission. Geoffrey
+Crossthwaite is, as you are aware, a meddler in social economics, and
+has lately become interested in one of the especially commendable
+schemes for dumping into our dependencies the folks nobody seems to want
+at home."
+
+"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, "that explains the thing."
+
+Urmston flushed a trifle, and forced a smile.
+
+"Well," he said, "I'm not quite sure that it does in itself. I happen to
+know a little about English farming, and am expected to report upon the
+prospects of giving other undesirables a start in life here, though
+there are two regular experts with the party."
+
+"So you made a journey of two hundred miles to see Carrie and me, while
+they did the work? Still, I have no doubt her husband will be able to
+teach you a little about Canadian farming."
+
+Urmston made a little gesture. "I am a stranger, madam, and in your
+hands. Treat me gently."
+
+This was said good-humouredly, and with some gracefulness; but, trifling
+as the matter was, Carrie contrasted his attitude with the one she
+fancied her husband would have adopted. He would have braced himself for
+the encounter against much longer odds. She was grateful, however, to
+Eveline Annersly for the bantering conversation, as it gave her time to
+decide exactly what her own course must be. The circumstances were
+certainly somewhat embarrassing. When at last the meal was over, Eveline
+Annersly stuck to them persistently, and it was only when the chill of
+the clear, cold evening settled down upon the prairie that she left them
+alone upon the verandah. Urmston, who lay languidly graceful in a cane
+chair, glanced at Carrie.
+
+"I have been looking forward to seeing you for days, and now I feel that
+this is not quite what I expected. You have changed," he said.
+
+Carrie laughed, though she felt that the wistful note in his voice was
+genuine. She remembered, too, that she had once been fond of and
+believed in him, but she had, as she expressed it, grown since then,
+while it was evident that he was still the same. In fact, she felt he
+was remarkably young.
+
+"Well," she said, "you have not."
+
+"No," said Urmston; "I am, unfortunately, one of the people who don't
+change at all. It would be so much easier for me if I did."
+
+This was sufficiently plain, but it brought no gratification to the
+girl. On the whole, she was rather annoyed with him, though she had a
+lingering tenderness for him still. After all, he had loved her as well
+as he was capable of loving, and that counts for a good deal with some
+women.
+
+"There was," he said, "only one woman who could have made the most out
+of me, and have led me to a higher level."
+
+"And she married another man. It is remarkably hard to reach a more
+elevated level alone, and a woman would naturally rather lean on than
+drag her companion."
+
+Urmston's face flushed. "I think I could have been capable of a good
+deal more than I probably ever shall be now, if you could have trusted
+me."
+
+"Still," said Carrie, with a half-wistful sense of regret she could not
+wholly drive out, "the time when I might have done so has gone."
+
+The man leant forward a trifle nearer her, "Carrie," he said, a trifle
+hoarsely, "are you happy with this Canadian?"
+
+The girl felt her cheeks burn, and was glad that the soft dusk was now
+creeping into the verandah. "Well," she said, "I am as happy as I
+deserve to be."
+
+Then there was a drumming of hoofs, and she was only pleased when Leland
+swung himself down, hot and dusty, from the saddle. He came into the
+verandah, and stood a moment glancing at the stranger.
+
+"Mr. Reginald Urmston--an old friend of mine at Barrock-holme," said the
+girl. "I am not quite sure whether you have ever met my husband before."
+
+Leland held out a hard hand, and Carrie was grateful for the swiftness
+with which he did it. It suggested an unquestioning confidence in her.
+
+"Oh, yes," he said, "I remember. Glad to see you, Mr. Urmston. Carrie's
+friends are always welcome. Hope you'll stay here a month if you feel
+like it."
+
+Mrs. Annersly and Gallwey entered the verandah just then, and, when the
+others left them shortly afterwards, remained there. Gallwey thought
+that his companion had something to say to him. Though there was
+nothing very definite to warrant it, he felt that they were allies.
+
+"One could almost fancy that you didn't seem quite pleased
+with--circumstances," he said.
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, "I don't think I am. If that man had
+fallen out of his waggon and broken his leg before he got here, I almost
+believe I should have been happier. I do not care in the least whether
+that is a judicious speech or not."
+
+Gallwey grinned. "There are," he said significantly, "a good many
+badger-holes scattered about the prairie, and the horse that puts its
+foot in one is apt to come down awkwardly. I wonder if there is anything
+definite you expect from me?"
+
+"I should suggest that you insist upon teaching Urmston farming, and
+keep him busy at it," said Mrs. Annersly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+URMSTON SHOWS HIS PRUDENCE
+
+
+It was falling dusk when Reginald Urmston strolled along the little
+trail through the birch bluff with one of Leland's cigars in his hand.
+He had been at Prospect a week now, and had on the whole found the time
+pass pleasantly, though he felt that Carrie's attitude towards him,
+while no doubt the correct one, left much to be desired from his point
+of view. If he had been asked exactly what he had expected from her when
+he came there, he would have had some difficulty in framing a concise
+answer, for he was a man who acted on impulse, without prevision, or any
+great strength of purpose. Still, he had certainly not looked for the
+matter-of-fact friendliness she displayed. He felt that a few hints of
+regret for happiness thrown away, or, at least, a sorrowful protest or
+two against the stern necessity which had separated them, would have
+been considerably more appropriate, and he would have been prepared to
+offer delicate sympathy.
+
+It is also probable that he would have done it gracefully, for, although
+he had not exactly shone at the crisis as a passionate lover, he had the
+capacity for making a successful philanderer. Carrie, however, had
+never admitted that she was either unhappy or dissatisfied with her
+husband, and the farmer's indifference was somewhat galling. Leland did
+not seem to resent in the least the fact that the stranger spent a good
+deal of his time in his wife's company, and frequently strolled up and
+down with her in the lingering twilight, between the house and the birch
+bluff. It suggested that Leland had either an implicit confidence in his
+wife, or a very low opinion of Urmston's attractiveness, and the latter
+found neither of these surmises particularly consoling. He had certainly
+loved Carrie, and fancied that he did so still.
+
+On the evening in question, he expected to meet her, and hoped Eveline
+Annersly would not, as generally happened, be there as well. He did not
+like Eveline Annersly, or her little ironical speeches, for, while he
+could not have complained of her active hostility, had she shown any, it
+was naturally not gratifying to be made to feel that she was merely
+amused with him. It was a clear, still day, and the pale green of
+evening gleamed behind the birches, while their slender stems stood out
+like ebony columns against the glare of smoky red on the verge of the
+prairie. The coolness was exhilarating, and there was something in the
+deep stillness under which the prairie rolled away, vast and shadowy,
+that vaguely stirred the man. He was in a somewhat complacent mood, for
+Carrie had been unusually gracious to him that day, and his cigar was
+very excellent. He was thinking of her when he was startled by a soft
+beat of hoofs, and, looking up, saw a mounted man come suddenly out of
+the shadows.
+
+The stranger pulled his horse up sharply, and sat at rest for a moment
+or two gazing down on him. He wore a wide hat, a loose shirt above his
+jean trousers, and long boots. With one hand on the holster at his hip,
+he looked undoubtedly truculent.
+
+"Leland's in the house?" he asked.
+
+"I believe so," said Urmston, who felt a bit uneasy.
+
+The stranger moved his hand a trifle, so that the butt of a pistol
+appeared above the edge of the holster.
+
+"Then walk straight in front of you, through the bluff, and out on to
+the prairie," he said. "If you turn round, or come back in the next ten
+minutes, you're going to have trouble with my partner, who is watching
+you."
+
+Urmston did not move at once. He did not think this visit promised
+anything particularly pleasant to Leland, but that was, after all, not
+his affair. Still, though he was not expecting either of them just then,
+there was a chance that Carrie or Mrs. Annersly might enter the bluff.
+He had no reason to suppose that the stranger would cause them any
+annoyance if they did, but the man's appearance was far from
+prepossessing.
+
+"Well," said the latter sharply, "what in the name of thunder are you
+stopping for? Hump yourself before you're sorry."
+
+Urmston saw the pistol slide almost out of the holster, and the man's
+hand move on the bridle. The gestures were suggestive, and he did as he
+was bidden. Carrie, he decided, had not come out yet, or he would have
+seen her. He did not stop until rather more than the prescribed ten
+minutes had expired, and then found himself well out in the silent
+prairie. It was almost dark now, but he thought he saw a dim object
+moving down the edge of the wheat, and that he could hear the muffled
+beat of hoofs. There was only one horse, however, and he realised that
+the part he had played had, perhaps, not been an altogether brilliant
+one. On the whole, he fancied, it would be advisable to say nothing
+about it. He went back through the bluff, and came upon Carrie moving
+across the space of dusty grass between it and the house.
+
+"Do you know who it was that rode through the bluff a little while ago?"
+she asked.
+
+"No," said Urmston, as carelessly as he could, "I certainly do not."
+
+Carrie, so far as he could make out, appeared a trifle astonished.
+"Well," she said, "I thought you must have met the man. I saw him come
+out and ride towards the house, but didn't seem to recognise him. Still,
+I daresay he was one of our visitors' cattle boys."
+
+"I scarcely think it's worth worrying about," said Urmston,
+reflectively. "For one thing, it's too beautiful a night to waste in
+thinking about a Canadian stock-rider. One would hardly imagine any of
+them are sufficiently interesting to warrant it."
+
+Carrie understood that this was probably as far as he considered it
+advisable to venture, since she knew that he considered her husband a
+stock-rider too. Although she was not exactly pleased, it did not seem
+worth while to show her displeasure.
+
+"One must talk of something," she said.
+
+Urmston appeared to glance at her reproachfully. "There was a time when
+you and I could be content without a word. Silence is now and then
+wonderfully expressive. Thoughts are often spoiled by being forced into
+clumsy speech."
+
+"That time has gone by some little while ago," she said; and there was a
+quiet decisiveness in the girl's tone that the man did not seem to
+notice. "Perhaps it was our own fault, though I do not know.
+Circumstances were against us, but it might have been different, had we
+had the courage to take our destiny in our hands. Still, I am not
+admitting that I am sorry we did not do so."
+
+Urmston was sensible of a slightly uncomfortable feeling. It had been
+borne in upon him that, had he shown himself bolder and more persistent,
+Carrie might, after all, never have married Leland. Still, he did not
+think it kind that she should remind him of it, if that, indeed, was
+what she had meant to do.
+
+"Those days," he said gently, "will always live with me. I have only the
+memory of them to cheer me, and I cherish it as my dearest possession."
+
+The girl did not know whether she was touched or not. She was naturally,
+at least, a little sorry for him, but his self-compassionate
+sentimentality was apt to become tiresome at times.
+
+"Wouldn't it be wiser if you made an effort to keep it a little further
+in the background?" she said. "It would, in the circumstances, at least,
+be more appropriate."
+
+The man dropped his voice. "Carrie," he said, "I couldn't if I wished
+to. Love of one kind is indestructible. Even the fact that you were
+forced into marrying another man cannot destroy it. He is, after all, an
+accident."
+
+Carrie's face had flushed, but she laughed outright Urmston's love,
+indestructible as he said it was, had, as she realised now, prompted him
+to do very little, while there was something singularly inapposite in
+his terming her strenuous, forceful husband an accident. She felt that,
+had he been in her disconsolate lover's place, he would at any cost have
+broken through the encompassing difficulties.
+
+"Ah," she said, "that was really a little ridiculous. Charley Leland is
+rather unalterable, inflexible of purpose."
+
+Urmston appeared confused, and it was, perhaps, a relief to both when
+Eveline Annersly came up.
+
+"Haven't those people got through their business yet?" asked Carrie.
+
+"No," said the elder lady. "They were still talking as earnestly as ever
+when I passed the door. I think something of importance must be going
+on."
+
+The surmise was, as a matter of fact, warranted, for that evening Leland
+and his neighbours once more sat about the little table discussing the
+outlaws. A little apart from them, Sergeant Grier sat intent and
+upright. The windows of the big room were wide open, and the cool
+evening air flowed in.
+
+"My part is quite simple," the Sergeant said. "I shall be glad to act
+upon any reliable information you may be able to put before me, and, if
+it appears necessary, call upon you for assistance in heading off or
+laying hands on the whisky men. In that case, you will be, for the time
+being, practically police troopers. I guess it's not my business to ask
+if you are acting as an organisation or not. There's nothing to stop any
+citizen giving me information; in fact, it's his duty."
+
+"The question," said one of the others, "is how far you consider it
+necessary for us to go into the thing systematically, and not just
+report any facts that happen to come under our notice."
+
+"That," said the Sergeant, a trifle drily, "is for you to settle among
+yourselves, but I can give you something to figure on. I reported to
+headquarters that the toughs among the railroad settlements were
+standing in with the outlaws, and that there was probably going to be
+trouble soon. The answer was that they had no complaints from the
+settlement or from any of the farmers, and that they could hardly spare
+a man. If things promised to become serious, I was to report again, and,
+in the meanwhile, they would try to send me two more troopers; you know
+as well as I do how much I can do with them."
+
+Leland laughed. "Oh, yes," he said. "Boys, it's quite evident that, if
+we want anything done, we shall have to do it ourselves."
+
+"You have hit it," said one of the others. "The one point is whether or
+not merely to want it wouldn't be just as wise. I've had two steers
+driven off since I took a hand in the fight, Nevis has had the hay
+burned off his sloos, and we know what has happened at Prospect. Nothing
+has gone wrong in the case of the men who left things to the police. I
+guess that's significant. If the Sergeant calls me out, I'll come; but
+I've no desire to go round hunting trouble."
+
+"That," said a comrade, "sounds far more sensible than it is. The
+Sergeant's troopers can't do anything. There aren't enough of them. And
+there's the frontier near enough for the boys to skip out across. Well,
+it may be some time before the police bosses get a move on--it usually
+is--and in the meanwhile we'll have every tough in the country standing
+in with the whisky men. While we lie quiet, they're going to get
+bolder."
+
+Just then Leland turned sharply in his chair, and the others, who
+noticed it, leant towards the window. It was wide open and there was no
+light in the room. Outside, the green transparency was just fading into
+the soft blueness of early dusk. Nobody else had heard anything, but
+Leland's figure was outlined against the last of the light, and there
+was an ominous tenseness and expectancy in his attitude. They waited a
+moment, though none of them knew exactly why, until a little square
+object, which had evidently entered by the window, struck the table.
+
+In another moment Leland had swung himself out by the narrow window,
+which was some distance from the floor. Then there was a crash outside,
+and the rest made for the outer door on the opposite side of the
+building. There was no sign of anybody when they reached it, but two of
+them heard a beat of receding hoofs. The rider did not seem to be in any
+great haste, and they fancied he was rather bent upon slipping away
+quietly. Then Leland appeared again, limping, and beckoned them back to
+the room, where he lighted the lamp before he sat down. His face was
+drawn.
+
+"I wasn't exactly careful how I went out, and came down hard on my elbow
+and my knee," he said. "It took all the running out of me, and the
+fellow evidently had his horse ready. Before we could get a horse
+saddled, he'd be 'most two miles away. Well, we'll see what he has sent
+me, though I have a notion what it is."
+
+He opened the little packet, and took out a pistol bullet. "That may
+have been meant to weight it, or quite as likely as a hint. Now, I'll
+tell you what he says."
+
+One of them moved the lamp for him, and there was close attention as he
+read the note that had been wrapped about the bullet: "'Let up before
+you get hurt. You have had two warnings, but it's going to be different
+with the third one. There's a man or two on your trail who mean
+business.'"
+
+He flung the note on the table with a little contemptuous laugh. "I
+think it's genuine, and he means well, but I'm going on."
+
+"That's not very clear to me," said one of his companions.
+
+"It's quite easy. The rustlers are there for the money and aren't
+anxious for trouble, though, if it's necessary, they are quite willing
+to make it. That, I figure, is the view of most of them. But they had a
+man killed not long ago, and it's probably different with one or two of
+his friends. Unless the others freeze them off, they may undertake to
+run me down for the fun of the thing."
+
+There was a murmur of sympathy and agreement, and Leland saw that the
+rest were watching him curiously.
+
+"Oh," he said impatiently, "I'm going on."
+
+Then they set about discussing the rumour that another lot of whisky was
+being run. By the time this was over, they were all, including the man
+with the misgivings, of one mind again. Still, the Sergeant knew that,
+if Leland had hesitated, it was quite probable he would have looked in
+vain for any support worth having from most of them. The last man had
+driven away when Carrie found him sitting thoughtfully in the empty
+room.
+
+"Something has disturbed you?" she said.
+
+Leland looked up, and there was a trace of dryness in his smile. "I have
+had quite a few things to worry me lately," he said, handing her the
+note. "This is merely one of them."
+
+The girl read it, and looked at him with a perplexed frown on her face.
+Its contents troubled her, for she had acquired from Gallwey and others
+a good deal of information concerning the outlaws. She also knew that
+Leland would, in all probability, not have given it to her, had he
+reason to suppose that it could cause her any great anxiety, and the
+knowledge hurt her.
+
+"Well," she said quietly, "what do you propose to do?"
+
+Leland smiled a little. "My dear, what would you expect me to do?"
+
+There was a faint flash in Carrie's eyes, and she lifted her head a
+trifle. "Oh," she said, "there is of course only one thing possible--to
+you."
+
+"Thank you! I'm afraid there may be just a little risk in this for my
+wife as well. I didn't quite remember it at the time."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Do you think that would count?" Then she laid her hand
+upon his shoulder. "Still, Charley, you will--to please me--be very
+careful?"
+
+Leland fancied he felt her hand tremble, and thought he saw a sudden
+softness in her eyes, but he could not be quite sure. Before he could
+decide how to profit by it, she had turned her face aside and gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+CARRIE MAKES A COMPARISON
+
+
+A week had passed since the last meeting of the farmers at Prospect,
+when Carrie and Eveline Annersly sat out on the verandah of the house
+somewhat late at night. A full moon hung over the prairie, and the
+silence was impressive. Urmston, who was, as usual, also there, leant
+against the balustrade with his back to the light, missing every
+uplifting appeal in the boundless sweep of softly gleaming grass of the
+prairie. He was not one of the men upon whom the silent strength of
+Nature has any marked reaction. His thoughts concerned himself and the
+pleasures of the moment, and he was seldom still or silent very long,
+though his activities, like his speeches, were usually petty, for the
+capacity for absorption in a sustaining purpose was not in him. Carrie
+Leland had come to realise it of late, though she did not exactly know
+why. It may have been the result of a subconscious comparison of him
+with another man. In any case, the recognition of the fact had brought
+her a sense of annoyance, for there was strength as well as pride in
+her, and she was fond of Urmston, who was a man of her own world.
+
+Urmston, in the meanwhile, found the contemplation of her sufficient for
+him, and it is probable that most other men would have done the same.
+She lay, clad in a long white dress, in a big lounge-chair, with the
+silvery moonlight full upon her. It brought out the duskiness of her
+eyes and hair, and made her somewhat cold beauty the more apparent,
+though there was at the time a faint, illusory gentleness in her face, a
+note the man had noticed more than once of late. He would have liked to
+think that he had brought it there, but could not quite persuade himself
+that this was so, though there had been a time when he had seen that
+soft light creep into her eyes as she greeted him. He had also a vague,
+uncomfortable feeling that, although circumstances had certainly been
+against him, it was, perhaps, his own fault that he could now no longer
+call it up. Carrie was gracious to him, save when he was too
+venturesome, but he saw that her regard for him was widely different
+from what it had been. There was more reserve in her attitude towards
+him than her mere recognition of what was due to her husband could
+account for. He also noticed that she was a trifle anxious, which
+brought him no great consolation, in view of the fact that Leland had
+ridden out with his rifle early the day before. Eveline Annersly finally
+spoke after the silence that had lasted for several minutes.
+
+"Gallwey seems to fancy Charley should have been back several hours
+ago," she said. "Charley told him he would be in to supper, if all
+went--as they expected it to."
+
+She stole a swift glance at Carrie, who was then gazing out across the
+prairie as though in search of something, and, though the girl did not
+move, she fancied there was a change in her expression. It suggested a
+growing uneasiness.
+
+"I scarcely suppose Charley could tell exactly how long they would be,"
+she said.
+
+"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is very probable, and, in any case, he
+is not likely to come to harm. In fact, one would be more inclined to
+feel anxious about the outlaws he might fall in with than about Charley
+Leland. I daresay it was fanciful, but, when he rode away, he reminded
+me of the picture the Acres have of the moss-trooper. You, of course,
+know the one I mean--the man in the steel cap with the moonlight
+sparkling on his spear. There is something of the same grimness in both
+faces, and, in the moss-trooper's case, the artist hit it rather well.
+It is an intangible something one can't well define, primitive probably,
+for I don't remember having seen it in the face of any man I am
+acquainted with at home."
+
+She turned towards Urmston with a little laugh. "You haven't got it,
+Reggie, though now and then I almost fancy that Carrie has. I don't
+think you would have made a good moss-trooper."
+
+Urmston smiled in turn. "I really don't think the kind of life they led
+would have appealed to me."
+
+"No," said Eveline Annersly, "you would have sat with the harp in the
+bower, and made love rather nicely and judiciously--that is, when
+circumstances were propitious."
+
+Urmston flushed, glad he was in the shadow where Carrie could not see
+him. He felt, as he had felt before, that he would rather like to gag
+Eveline Annersly.
+
+"Can one fall in love judiciously?" he asked.
+
+"As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that one can. In the days we are
+referring to, they very seldom did. The border knights apparently put on
+steel cap and corselet when they went wooing. When Lochinvar rode to
+Netherby, he swam the Esk, and it is very probable that the men who made
+love in his fashion later on had their swords loose when they crossed
+it, whipping hard for Gretna by the lower bridge. Of course, as
+everybody knows, all that has gone out of fashion long ago--only I think
+the primitive something remains which would drive a man full tilt
+against circumstances for sweet love's sake. At least, one sees it now
+and then in the eyes of the men out here."
+
+Urmston longed to stop her, but he had discovered on other occasions
+that an attempt to do so was very apt to bring about unwished-for
+results. He accordingly said nothing, and Carrie, who, perhaps, felt as
+he did, changed the subject.
+
+"It was rather curious that the man who threw the note through the
+window when our neighbours were last here was able to creep up without
+being seen," she said.
+
+"I can't help thinking that somebody must have seen him," said Eveline
+Annersly.
+
+"Then why didn't they mention it?"
+
+"I naturally don't know. Still, one would fancy that the outlaw found
+means of impressing whomever he came across with the fact that he didn't
+want to be announced, and that it would be wiser to fall in with his
+wishes. Afterwards, the man he met would no doubt feel that, as his
+silence wasn't altogether creditable, it would be advisable to say
+nothing about it."
+
+Carrie looked up sharply. "Of course, that sounds possible. Only from
+what I know of them, he would hardly have succeeded in overawing any of
+the boys at Prospect."
+
+"You can't imagine your husband or Gallwey standing against a tree with
+his eyes shut for ten minutes because a ferocious stranger requested him
+to?"
+
+"No," and Carrie's laugh had a little ring in it, "I certainly couldn't.
+In fact, I think it would be very apt to bring trouble on the stranger."
+
+She stopped a moment, and looked again, expectantly, across the prairie.
+
+"I can't understand how the rustler got here without being noticed at
+all," she said reflectively. "Jake was in the paddock when I went out,
+and he feels quite sure that nobody could have slipped by without his
+seeing them. Of course, it is possible the man came through the bluff."
+
+"I fancy not. In that case Reggie would have met him. I was standing by
+the window when he sauntered into the wood, and it would be about ten
+minutes, or, perhaps, a little more, before you left the house."
+
+She flung a glance in the direction of Urmston, who felt horribly
+uncomfortable. It occurred to him that, if she had seen him enter the
+bluff, it was also possible that she had seen the outlaw come out. That
+she did not say she had done so was, after all, no great consolation,
+for he knew Eveline Annersly could be silent when she had a reason. He
+was afraid that, if she had one now, the result might not be altogether
+creditable to him when she saw fit to speak. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that she expected him to say something.
+
+"I believe you were right about the time," he said.
+
+Carrie looked up, for his indifference seemed too pronounced to be quite
+natural, but she brushed the half-formed thought out of her mind.
+Urmston was a man of her own station, and could not, she reasoned, be
+deficient in qualities which even her husband's teamsters possessed.
+Still, while she sat silent, looking out upon the vast sweep of plain,
+she could not help once more contrasting him with the man she had been
+driven into marrying. She understood Leland better, now that she had
+seen the land he lived in, for there were respects in which he resembled
+it. Men, indeed, usually do not only fit themselves to their
+environment, but borrow from it something that becomes a part of them.
+
+It was evidently from the prairie that Charley Leland had drawn his
+strength of character, his capacity for holding on with everything
+against him, and his silent, deep-rooted optimism. She had seen that
+plain bleached with months of frost and parched with drought, but the
+flowers had sprung up from the streaming sod, and now the wheat was
+growing tall and green again. One could feel out there that, while all
+life is a struggle which every blade of wheat must wage, in due time
+fruition would come. Her husband, it seemed, realised it, and had also
+faith in himself. She remembered how, when his neighbours hesitated,
+fearing the outlaws' vengeance, he had said he was going on even if he
+went on alone. She also knew that he would be as good as his word, for
+he was not the man to turn back because there was peril in his path.
+She could rather fancy him hastening to meet it, with the little hard
+smile she had often seen in his steady eyes.
+
+Then from out of the great stillness there crept the distant sound of a
+moving horse, and Carrie felt a feeling of relief come over her. She
+would scarcely admit it to herself, but, during the past two or three
+hours, she had been troubled by a growing sense of uneasiness. She would
+not have felt it a few months earlier, for, while she would have had no
+harm come to him, there was no hiding the fact that it would have set
+her free from an almost intolerable bondage. It was, however, different
+now.
+
+The thud of hoofs grew louder, and the dim figure of a mounted man grew
+out of the prairie. A little thrill ran through her as she watched him
+swing past at a canter and draw rein between the house and the stables.
+He waited a moment as though looking for somebody in whose care to leave
+the horse, and Carrie could see that he was weary and dusty. Though his
+face was dimly visible, she fancied it was drawn and grey. Slanting over
+his shoulder, the barrel of his Marlin rifle glinted in the moon.
+
+"That," said Eveline Annersly, "is, I think, more suggestive than ever
+of the border spear."
+
+She glanced at Carrie as the girl rose and went down the stairway. Then
+Eveline Annersly turned to Urmston with a little smile.
+
+"I scarcely think they will want us, and I'm going in," she said.
+
+Urmston had moved into the moonlight now, and his face was set. "There
+is, of course, no reason why you shouldn't, but I'm not sure that you
+are entirely right," he said. "In fact, if it's permissible to mention
+it, I had a notion that Carrie asked you here to make the convenient
+third."
+
+His companion looked at him with a faint gleam in her eyes. "You haven't
+any great penetration, after all, or you would have seen that I have
+outstayed my usefulness. In any case, I feel inclined to favour you with
+a piece of advice. It may save you trouble if you go back to your
+agricultural duties as soon as possible."
+
+"You seem unusually anxious to get rid of me," said the man, with
+something in his tone that suggested satisfaction.
+
+Eveline Annersly laughed as she rose and moved back into the shadow.
+"Oh, dear no! If I were really anxious, the thing would be remarkably
+easy."
+
+She left him with this, and Urmston, who leant somewhat moodily on the
+balustrade, felt that his love for her was certainly no greater than it
+had been before. He began to feel himself especially unfortunate in
+having fallen in with the rustler.
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, who started as he saw the girl coming towards
+him, swung himself out of the saddle and stood awaiting her, with the
+bridle of the jaded horse in his hand. His face was worn and weary, and
+he stood slackly with all the springy suppleness apparently gone out of
+him. The grime was thick upon his coarse blue shirt and jean jacket.
+
+"It was very good of you to wait so long," he said.
+
+Carrie smiled in a curious fashion. "Did you expect me to sleep?"
+
+"You were a little anxious about me, then?"
+
+"Of course!" said the girl, softly. "Wouldn't it have been unnatural if
+I hadn't been?"
+
+Leland made an abrupt gesture. "My dear, I don't want you to do the
+natural or the correct thing, that is, just because it is so."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "who can tell exactly why they do anything? Still, I
+was anxious. How have you got on?"
+
+The man laughed a trifle grimly. "Badly--we were either fooled or
+outgeneraled, and the whisky boys came out ahead of us. We had one horse
+shot, and another broke its leg in a badger-hole. Hadn't you better go
+in now? It'll take me some time to put up."
+
+"I slept most of last night, and you have been out on the prairie two
+nights and days. I'm coming with you to the stable. I can, at least,
+hold a lantern."
+
+They turned away together, Leland walking very stiffly, the girl, who
+felt her heart beating, close at his side, until they reached one of the
+uninjured buildings. It was very dark inside, and redolent with the
+smell of wild peppermint in the prairie hay. Leland groped for a
+lantern, and, when he had lighted it, hung it to a hook in the stall
+joist, so that its light fell upon them.
+
+"I really think you would have been sorry if the boys had brought me
+back with a bullet in me?" he said, half-questioningly.
+
+He saw the little shiver that ran through his companion, but, in another
+moment, she was standing very straight and still. "How can you ask me
+that?" she said. "I did not think you would be vindictive--to me."
+
+"Look at me," and Leland, leaning forward, laid a hard, dust-grimed hand
+on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have been a release when you had got over
+the shock of it?"
+
+The colour crept into Carrie's face, and, after the first moment, she
+did not meet his eyes, while the man, with an impetuous movement,
+slipped a hand about her waist. Then, with a forced calm, he slowly drew
+her towards him and kissed her on the brow and cheek and mouth. For an
+instant only he held her fast. Then he let his hands fall.
+
+Carrie looked at him, with the hot blood tingling in her cheeks.
+
+"Now," he said gravely, though there was a faint ring of exultation in
+his voice, "that is for a sign that you belong to me, and I guess I'm
+strong enough to keep what is mine. You couldn't get away from me if you
+wanted to."
+
+Carrie realised it, though the fact no longer brought her any sense of
+intolerable restraint or disgust. She said nothing, and made no sign.
+Leland went on.
+
+"Still, I'm not going to hurry you, or spoil things by impatience," he
+said. "You will be willing to take me for what I am some day, and, if
+things hurt you as they are now, that's the one way of escape. There
+can't be any other until one of us is dead."
+
+He turned from her, and commenced to unbuckle the horse's girth, while
+Carrie, scarcely knowing why, slipped past him, busying herself with the
+head-stall. Then she brought the chopped fodder while he went for water,
+and stood holding the lantern while he rubbed the jaded beast down.
+Neither of them said anything, but it was evident to both that the
+distance between them had been lessened. By and by they went back
+together towards the house, and Leland laughingly held up the lantern
+when they reached the threshold.
+
+"You see, I never even remembered to put this thing down," he said.
+
+Carrie smiled, but there was a trace of diffidence in her manner.
+
+"I have kept your supper, and will bring it in as soon as you come
+down," she said. "Everything you will want clean is laid out in your
+room."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Leland, reaching out and grasping her arm, "Mrs. Nesbit
+is quite a smart housekeeper."
+
+Carrie shook his grasp off, and flitted away from him. "Mrs. Nesbit is
+not responsible this time," she said laughingly. "I'm afraid I haven't
+looked after my household duties as I should have done hitherto."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A MIDNIGHT VISITOR
+
+
+Summer had come in earnest, and Leland, who had ridden out at daybreak
+with every man at Prospect to cut prairie hay, had not come back, when
+Carrie sat late at night beside the stove in the big room. The stove was
+lighted, and a kettle stood on it. A meal was laid out upon the table,
+for Carrie expected that Leland would arrive during the next hour. In
+fact, a horse stood ready saddled in one of the stables, and she was
+trying to decide whether she should ride out to meet him or stay where
+she was. It was a still night, the house was unpleasantly hot, and the
+thought of a canter through the cool darkness was attractive. Leland,
+who was busier than ever, had, however, been away somewhat frequently of
+late, and pride was still strong in her. She would not unbend too far,
+or give him reason to believe that he could be sure of her, while there
+was also the difficulty that Urmston, who was then sitting close by,
+would probably insist upon accompanying her, and she fancied that such
+an arrangement might not commend itself to her husband. Urmston, too,
+had been growing somewhat presumptuous, and she felt that on the whole
+it might not be advisable to have him for a companion. Something,
+however, urged her to set out, though she would not admit that it was
+the thought of Leland's satisfaction at meeting her. She had scarcely
+seen him, except for an odd five minutes, during the last week or two,
+and that piqued her, although she knew that he had many anxieties and
+much to do. There was, it seemed, nothing to be gained by being unduly
+gracious, so long as he was content without her company.
+
+This was, perhaps, a little hard upon Leland, who was then toiling at
+something, or in the saddle, from early morning to late at night. He had
+a good many teams to be fed, and hay was scarce after the unusually dry
+spring. Hay is seldom sown in that country, and, as the natural grass
+is, for the most part, only a few inches high, the prairie farmer must
+cut it where it grows harsh and tall in the sloos, or hollows, that are
+turned for a few weeks into lakes and ponds by the melting snows. Most
+of them had dried up prematurely that season, and, as the supply of the
+natural produce was becoming a serious question, Leland had to make long
+journeys in search of it. On the night in question, the men were camped
+beside a distant sloo, though he himself purposed to ride home, calling
+on one of his neighbours on the way. While Carrie considered whether she
+would set out to meet him or not, Urmston glanced at the tray upon the
+table with a sly little laugh.
+
+"You are getting domesticated, Carrie," he said. "I used to fancy that
+you looked down upon anything connected with housekeeping. Be warned,
+and don't go too far. You saw what domesticity has done for Mrs.
+Custer."
+
+"She seems happy," said the girl, reflectively. "Custer, I believe, is,
+in his own way, very kind to her."
+
+There was a trace of wistfulness in her voice that jarred upon the
+listener, and the colour rose in his face.
+
+"Carrie," he said with sudden passion, "the possibility of you ever
+becoming like her is horrible--wholly horrible. There is much that
+Custer is responsible for. One can see what that woman was before she
+married him, and what has happened to her since is a warning. The
+struggle has worn all the daintiness and refinement out of her. With
+that brood of children to be provided for, what has she to look forward
+to but a life of hard work that will steadily drag her to the level of
+an English dairy drudge?"
+
+Carrie shivered a little, for there was, she knew, some truth in this.
+"There is," she said, "a considerable difference between Charley Leland
+and Tom Custer."
+
+"Of course," and Urmston, who appeared to put a restraint upon himself,
+smiled drily. "In his own half-animal fashion, Custer is, as you
+mention, evidently fond of her. If he hadn't been, she might have
+escaped part, at least, of what she had to put up with. I'm not sure one
+couldn't term it degradation. The difference between the man you married
+and Custer is the one thing I am sincerely thankful for."
+
+"Reggie," said Carrie sharply, "I should like to know just what you
+mean."
+
+Urmston laughed. "I suppose I'm presuming, but I don't seem to mind.
+Your husband is, at least, content to leave you very much alone. He
+apparently comes home to eat, and, when he is no longer hungry,
+disappears again. It does not seem to matter that he generally gets his
+meals alone. I fancy it is a week since I have seen him."
+
+He stopped, and leant forward a little in his chair. "I didn't say it to
+hurt you, Carrie, but because the fact that it is so, is and must
+necessarily be an unutterable relief to me. The indifference of such a
+man is incomparably better than what he would probably consider his
+affection. You can see what it has brought Mrs. Custer."
+
+Carrie Leland flushed angrily. It is not especially pleasant to any
+woman to be told that, although she may not be fond of him, her husband
+or lover is indifferent to her; but it was not that alone which brought
+the blood tingling to her face. She was capable of passion, but
+domesticity in itself had no great attraction for her. In fact, she
+rather shrank from it, and Urmston's words had been unpleasantly
+prophetic, since she knew that the placid affection of a man who only
+expected that she should rear a brood of children and keep his house in
+order would become intolerable to her. Still, she felt that this, at
+least, would never be her husband's view concerning her, and that there
+was a much greater difference than Urmston realised between him and
+Thomas Custer. Leland, in fact, had by a clean life of effort and grim
+self-denial, in which the often worn-out body was held in stern
+subjection to the will, attained a vague, indefinite something which was
+not far removed from spirituality.
+
+"Reggie," she said, "what have I done that would lead you to believe
+you were warranted in speaking to me in this fashion?"
+
+The man made a little passionate gesture. "Oh," he said, "nothing. You
+are in everything beyond reproach; that is what makes it so hard to
+bear. Why should you be wasted upon a man without appreciation?"
+
+"That is enough." As Carrie checked him with a lifted hand, a sparkle
+came into her eyes. "Do you suppose for a moment that I would listen to
+anything further?"
+
+Urmston sat silent, his face flushed, and his fingers fumbling with his
+watch-chain. For five minutes neither of them spoke. It was very still
+in the big room, save for the crackling of the stove. Then Carrie
+started, with a little gasp, for the door swung softly open, apparently
+of itself, and she grasped Urmston's arm.
+
+"Shut it! Be quick!" she said.
+
+Urmston swung round, and she felt the involuntary move he made when his
+eyes rested on the door. There were in the house, as both remembered,
+only Eveline Annersly, who had retired early with a headache, and Mrs.
+Nesbit, who would have come in by the other entrance. Doors do not open
+of their own accord when there is not a breath of wind astir, and it is
+somewhat disconcerting when they appear to do so in the middle of the
+night. Urmston accordingly sat where he was, watching the opening grow
+wider, his nerves atingle with something akin to fear. Carrie gripped
+him hard.
+
+"Get Charley's rifle!" she whispered.
+
+At last, with no great alacrity, he rose to his feet, but the time when
+he might have done anything had passed, for a masked man stood just
+inside the threshold with a big pistol in his hand.
+
+"I guess you'll stop just where you are," he said.
+
+Urmston stood still, as most men would have done, though Leland's rifle
+hung close above his head. The stranger moved forward a pace or two. He
+wore soft moccasins, and a strip of grain-bag, pierced at the eyes and
+bound about his face, added nothing to his attractiveness.
+
+"Don't move, Mrs. Leland," he said. "Where is your husband?"
+
+Carrie straightened herself with an effort. She did not like the man's
+tone nor his inquiry. Urmston was close beside her, but she felt that
+she had not much to expect from him, though she was too distracted to
+feel any contempt for him on that account.
+
+"I don't know," she said. "Why? Do you want him?"
+
+The man appeared to smile. "Well," he said, "I guess there's a reason
+for it; but, if he's willing to be reasonable, nobody's going to hurt
+him. In fact, we just want to make a little bargain."
+
+Carrie glanced at the watch on her bracelet, which was another of the
+things which her husband had given her, and realised he might be home at
+any time during the next half-hour. Then she glanced covertly towards
+the other door which led to the kitchen; but it was some distance away,
+and the stranger had a pistol. An almost paralysing fear came upon her,
+for she knew her husband was not the man to be driven into doing
+anything he did not like. The stranger watched her with eyes that
+glittered wickedly behind the mask.
+
+"You know where he went?" he said.
+
+"I do," said Carrie, a trifle too swiftly, as she remembered that he
+would not be there now. "He rode out to the sloos on the Traverse trail
+to cut prairie hay."
+
+"Exactly!" and the man laughed. "Only he went away again, or we wouldn't
+have come on here. Now, there are four or five of us, and we want a word
+with your husband, and mean to have it. It's not going to take us two
+minutes to find out if he's in the house."
+
+"Then why don't you do it?"
+
+The man looked at her with obvious admiration. Though there was fear in
+her heart, there was none in her face. She had the pride of her station,
+and every inborn prejudice in her protested against submission to any
+dictation from this intruding ruffian. There was a gleam in her dark
+eyes, and the red spot showed in her otherwise colourless cheeks again.
+
+"Well," said the outlaw, "I guess we mean to, but I'm not going to leave
+you while you and your partner sneak away."
+
+He raised his voice. "He's not here, Tom, but you may as well go round
+and make sure of it."
+
+There was a tramp of booted feet in the hall outside, and then footsteps
+on the stairs, first mounting and then again descending. "No," a voice
+said, "he hasn't come home."
+
+"Light out, and tell the others. I'll fix things with the lady," said
+his comrade in the room. Then he turned to Urmston. "You're a little
+too near that rifle. Get across there."
+
+Urmston crossed the room as he was bidden, for which one could scarcely
+blame him, and the man sat down where he could watch them both.
+
+"Now," he said, "I'm talking, Mrs. Leland. You listen to me. We are
+going to see your husband, and it might be better if we saw him here. If
+you can persuade him to be reasonable, you will please the boys and me.
+Well, it's only natural that you should know where he is, and you can't
+do anything. Old Jake's fast asleep in his shed, and there's not a boy
+about the homestead."
+
+"Still," said Carrie quietly, "I haven't the least intention of telling
+you anything."
+
+The man showed his impatience in a gesture.
+
+"Then I guess all we have to do is to wait for him, but I can't quite
+figure why you should be willing to make trouble for yourself. Everybody
+knows you don't care two cents for Charley Leland."
+
+Carrie winced, and felt she could have struck Urmston when she saw the
+little sardonic smile in his eyes. Her face grew almost colourless with
+anger, and she closed one hand at her side. Something which had been
+latent within her was now wholly roused and dominant. She knew that what
+the man had said was wholly untrue, and that her husband's safety
+depended then on her. She did not suppose for a moment that he would
+yield because of anything these men could do, and it was clear that they
+were desperate men with a bitter grievance against him. They might even
+kill him, and she resolutely grappled with a numbing fear. She dared not
+let it master her, for something must be done, and once more she felt
+that she had only herself to depend upon.
+
+"Charley Leland will make you sorry for that some day," she said.
+
+The man grinned. "It is quite likely he is going to be sorry for himself
+before we are through with him. Anyway, I don't know any reason why I
+shouldn't eat his supper. I've ridden most of forty miles to-day
+trailing him."
+
+He drew the tray upon the table nearer to him, and ate voraciously,
+while Carrie grew faint with apprehension as she watched him. Urmston,
+who had taken out a cigar, sat motionless, save that he fumbled with it
+instead of his watch-chain. The room was once more very still, except
+for the snapping of the stove and the unpleasant sounds the outlaw made
+over his meal. Time was flying, and Leland might arrive at any moment
+now. She feared that the other men were hidden beside the trail through
+the birch bluff, waiting to waylay him.
+
+Then the outlaw turned to her. "I guess it would be nice to be waited on
+by a lady, and it might please Charley Leland when he hears of it. I'd
+like some coffee, and I see the pot here. Bring me the kettle."
+
+Carrie looked at Urmston. At any risk he would surely resent this insult
+to her. But, though there was a shade more colour than usual in his
+cheeks, Urmston sat still. Then, in a flash, the inspiration came. With
+a glance towards the rear door, which led to the kitchen, she rose with
+the kettle in her hand. The lamp stood upon the table about a yard from
+the man, but, as he was sitting, a little nearer to her.
+
+"Will you hold out the pot?" she said. "It's scalding hot. Take care of
+your hand."
+
+The man turned his eyes a moment, and that was enough, for before he
+looked up again Carrie swung the kettle round, and there was a crash as
+it struck the lamp. Then there was sudden darkness, out of which rang
+venomous expletives and howls of pain. Carrie sped towards the second
+door. She heard the man falling among the chairs behind her, and wasted
+another moment or two turning the key, which was outside. This cost her
+an effort, for the lock was rusty from disuse. Then she flitted along
+the dark corridor, and, opening the kitchen door softly, looked out upon
+the prairie. There was no moon, and the night was still and dark. She
+could hear no sound on that side of the homestead.
+
+Slipping out, she crept in quiet haste along the wall, and with wildly
+beating heart crossed the open space between it and the stable. Nobody,
+however, attempted to stop her, and in another moment or two she was
+standing beside the horse which Jake had ready saddled. The animal was
+fresh and mettlesome, and she lost several precious minutes before she
+contrived to get into the saddle by scrambling on a mound of sod piled
+against the outside of the building. Then she struck him viciously with
+the quirt. One cut was all that was needed, and they were flying out
+into the darkness at a furious gallop.
+
+She knew that her flight was heard, for shouts rose behind her; but she
+knew too that her horse was fresh and the outlaws' tired after a hard
+day's ride. It was also very probable that his comrades had tethered
+their horses somewhere while they watched the trail, since it is
+usually difficult to keep a prairie broncho quiet very long. All this
+flashed upon her while the lights of Prospect blinked and vanished as
+the barns and stables shut them in. With a sigh of relief, she brought
+the quirt down again.
+
+There were stars in the heavens, but the night was dark, and she could
+just discern an outlying birch bluff, a shadowy blur against the sky, a
+mile in front of her. The prairie was rutted deep along the trail by
+waggon-wheels, and riddled here and there with deadly badger-holes, but
+these were hazards that must be taken as they came. One thing was
+sure--the man she had married was in imminent peril, and she alone could
+deliver him. The fact that Urmston was left behind in the outlaws' hands
+did not seem to trouble her. Indeed, she scarcely remembered him at all.
+
+She swept on, her light skirt blown about her, her loosened hair
+whipping her hot face, while a thud of hoofs broke out behind her. The
+horse's blood was up, too, so she let him go, stretched out at a flying
+gallop, up low rise and over long level. The birches flashed by, and the
+open waste lay in front. While nobody riding that pace could find the
+trail, there was a shallow coulee a league away with stunted birches on
+the edge of it, which would presently rise for a landmark out of the
+prairie. Once she glanced over her shoulder. There was only the soft
+darkness, out of which there came a thumping that seemed to be growing
+fainter.
+
+She was almost upon the birches when she heard another beat of hoofs in
+front of her now, and she sent up a breathless cry.
+
+"Charley!" she called, and again in fierce impatience, "Charley!"
+
+For a moment she was conscious of a torturing suspense, and then a man's
+voice came out of the darkness in answer.
+
+"All right," it said. "I'm coming straight along."
+
+In another few moments a shadowy figure had materialised out of the
+prairie. She pulled her horse up with a struggle when Leland drew bridle
+beside her.
+
+"Steady, my dear," he said. "Get your breath and tell me what it is."
+
+Carrie gasped out her news, and the man sat silent a moment or two.
+
+"Urmston's there, and Mrs. Annersly," he said. "I don't think they'll
+hurt them, but I'd better get on."
+
+Carrie leant out from the saddle, and attempted to touch his bridle as
+the fidgeting horses pranced side by side.
+
+"No," she said, "you mustn't. I will not have you go. I think they mean
+to kill you."
+
+Leland appeared to smile. "I guess that contract would be a little too
+big for them. Still, if Urmston riled them, they might hurt him. The
+man's a friend of yours."
+
+Carrie laughed somewhat bitterly. "I don't think he will do anything
+very injudicious. Eveline Annersly's room is just across the house, and
+she sleeps very soundly."
+
+"They wouldn't hurt her," said Leland, reflectively. "One could count on
+that. Urmston would be all right, too, if he has sense enough to keep
+quiet. Now, there are two of Grier's troopers camping in a bluff a
+league back to watch the trail, and if I could only bring them up
+before the rustlers go, we ought to get one or two of them. It's 'most
+worth while trying. You'll ride round with me?"
+
+Nothing more was said when Carrie signified that she was willing, and
+they rode on again to where the troopers were. Then with these
+reinforcements they turned back to Prospect, arriving there when dawn
+was climbing into the sky. There was no sign of the rustlers, but
+Urmston stood just outside the door.
+
+"They went soon after Mrs. Leland got away," he said. "I feel that I
+ought to make excuses for leaving the thing to her, though I'm not sure
+that there was, in view of the circumstances, any other course open to
+me."
+
+Leland laughed as he swung himself from the saddle. "That's all right.
+You did the sensible thing, and nobody's going to blame you," he said.
+"If you don't mind rousing Jake, we'll get the troopers breakfast before
+they go away. You know your way to the stables, boys."
+
+Urmston and the troopers disappeared, and Carrie looked down on her
+husband, who stood, a shadowy figure, beside her stirrup.
+
+"You," she said, with a little soft laugh, "would have found another
+course."
+
+Leland said nothing, but stretched his arms up, and, when she slipped
+from the saddle into them, held her there while he kissed her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+PRAIRIE HAY
+
+
+It was the middle of a scorching afternoon when Carrie drew her waggon
+over a low rise and down the long slope to the dried-up sloo. Urmston,
+riding beside it, sprinkled white with dust, looked uncomfortably hot,
+and Eveline Annersly, whose face was unpleasantly flushed, tried in vain
+to shelter herself beneath her parasol in the jolting waggon.
+
+"I am positively melting, and my head aches," she said. "If I had known
+how hot it was, you would never have got me here, and, if Mrs. Custer
+will keep me, I am not going back to Prospect to-night. How does your
+husband work this weather?"
+
+Carrie laughed as she pulled her team up near the sloo. She, at least,
+looked delightfully fresh and almost cool in her long white dress and
+big white hat.
+
+"He would probably tell you it is because he has to," she said. "In any
+event, he seems to be working rather harder than ever."
+
+"It is one of Charley Leland's strong points that he knows when a thing
+has to be done," and Eveline Annersly glanced at Urmston with a little
+smile. "There are men who don't, and never will, though they are
+sometimes able to shift the consequences on to the shoulders of other
+people."
+
+Then she turned, and blinked about her with half-dazed eyes. In front of
+the waggon a haze of dust floated up against the intense blueness of the
+sky, and under it a belt of tall, harsh grass rustled drily in the
+scant, hot breeze. Everything seemed white and suffused with brightness.
+Beyond them, the parched, grey prairie rolled back to the horizon. There
+was no shade anywhere, nor, so far as the eye could travel, a single
+speck of green.
+
+"And this is a prairie sloo!" she said. "I had pictured a nice, cool
+lake where the wild duck swim. Charley is, presumably, haymaking, though
+I never saw it done this way before."
+
+The dust settled a little, and, with a clashing tinkle, there came out
+of it three big teams and lurching machines. The grass went down before
+them crackling harshly, and the horses plodded on with tossing heads and
+whipping tails amidst a cloud of flies. Men followed behind them heaping
+the hay in piles, and across the mown strip of sloo more men, almost
+naked, were flinging the last of the mounds into a waggon. There is no
+need of turning and winnowing in that country. The one thing necessary
+is to find grass tall enough to cut, and get it home before the fires do
+the reaping.
+
+The big machines came nearer with a clash and clatter and gleam of
+sliding knives, and Leland, swinging his team out from the grass, got
+down from his driving-seat.
+
+"Where's my jacket, Tom?" he said to the man on the machine behind his.
+
+"I expect it has gone home. You pitched it into the waggon," said Tom
+Gallwey, who, swinging off his hat as his team went by, plunged into the
+dust again.
+
+Leland moved forward with a deprecatory gesture as he stopped beside the
+waggon. He wore a coarse blue shirt and old jean trousers, both of which
+were smeared with black grease, on which the dust had settled, for one
+of the mowers had given him trouble that morning. There was dust, too,
+on his dripping face and bare arms, which were scarred here and there.
+Still, the thin attire lent a certain grace to his wiry figure, and he
+appeared the personification of strength and activity. From another
+point of view, his appearance was, however, distinctly against him, and
+Carrie fancied she knew what Urmston was thinking, as he sat still in
+his saddle, immaculate, save for a sprinkling of dust, in neat boots,
+straw hat, and tweed. The difference between the men would have had its
+effect upon her once, but now she looked down at Leland with an
+understanding smile.
+
+"You have been mowing all the time?" she said.
+
+"Since sun-up," and Leland laughed. "I couldn't give the teams more than
+an hour's rest, either. We have to clean this sloo up by dark."
+
+Carrie glanced at the great belt of grass and wondered how it was to be
+done.
+
+"It looks out of the question, and it's very hot," she said. "Couldn't
+you stop a little earlier, for once, and ride over to the Range? Mrs.
+Custer half expects you at supper."
+
+She evidently wanted him to come, and Leland, who seemed to feel it,
+glanced back irresolutely at the sloo.
+
+"I'm afraid not," he said. "It's quite a way, and I haven't a horse. The
+others couldn't get done by dark without me, and we couldn't come back
+here to-morrow. You'll have to excuse me."
+
+Carrie was displeased, though she would not show it, for she had seen
+the smile of satisfaction in Urmston's eyes. Appearances, she knew,
+counted for a good deal with him, as much, in fact, as they had once
+done with her, and she would sooner he had not been there when the dusty
+haymaker made it evident that he was unwilling to leave his work,
+although she had suggested that this would please her.
+
+"I suppose it's necessary?" she said.
+
+Leland appeared to hesitate a moment. "I must get this grass home
+to-night, but, if it's not too late, I would like you to drive round and
+pick me up. It would get me back 'most an hour earlier."
+
+Carrie was sensible, with a little annoyance, that Urmston was watching
+her. "Well," she said, "I can't exactly promise. It will depend upon
+when Mrs. Custer lets us go."
+
+Just then a light waggon came jolting down the opposite slope, and its
+driver pulled his team up when it drew even with them.
+
+"I've some letters for Prospect, and you have saved me 'most a league's
+ride. That counts on a day like this," he said.
+
+Leland caught the packet from him, and handed one or two of the letters
+to Urmston. The man drove on again. As Carrie's waggon also jolted away,
+Leland leant against the wheel of the mower, opening those addressed to
+him. Gallwey, who was passing, pulled his team up and looked down at him
+inquiringly.
+
+"Anything of consequence?" he said.
+
+Leland shrugged a weary shoulder. "The usual thing," he said. "The
+implement man wants his money now, though I understood he was going to
+wait until harvest. The fellow in Winnipeg can't sell the horses.
+There's a letter from the bank, too. If I purpose drawing on them
+further, they'd like something as security. The rest are unpleasantly
+big accounts from the stores."
+
+Then he thrust the papers into his pocket with a harsh laugh. "I'm not
+going to straighten things out by standing here, and they want a lot."
+
+He called to his horses, and the mower clashed on again. The dust rose
+and settled on his face, once more set hard and grim. As he was toiling
+on, with the perspiration dripping from him, Urmston rode beside
+Carrie's waggon, exchanging light badinage with her. Carrie was feeling
+a trifle hurt, but she would not have either of her companions become
+aware of it. Urmston, she noticed, did not open his letters. After they
+had been an hour at the Range, he came, with one of them in his hand,
+into the room where she sat. His face was flushed, and there was an
+anxious look in his eyes. He glanced round the shadowy room. "Where is
+Eveline Annersly?" he asked.
+
+Carrie smiled absently, though something in his attitude caused her a
+slight uneasiness. "Looking at Mrs. Custer's turkeys, I believe," she
+said. "It shows her good-nature, because I don't think they appeal to
+her any more than they do to me."
+
+Urmston stood a moment or two as though listening. There was no sound
+from the buildings outside, and the house was very still. He moved
+forward closer to her, and leant upon the table, his hand clenched on
+the letter.
+
+"I have been endeavouring to get rid of that insufferable Custer for the
+last hour," he said. "There is something I have to tell you."
+
+"Well?" The incisive monosyllable expressed inquiry without
+encouragement.
+
+"The men I came out with are going on north to Edmonton, and expect me
+to go with them. In fact, they have been good enough to intimate that
+they are astonished at my long absence, and it is evident that, if I am
+to go on with the thing, I must leave Prospect to-day or to-morrow."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, with a disconcerting lack of disquietude, "you
+couldn't expect them to wait indefinitely."
+
+The man gazed at her in evident astonishment. "Don't you understand? I
+couldn't get back here from Edmonton."
+
+"That is tolerably evident."
+
+Urmston looked his disappointment, but he roused himself with an effort.
+"Carrie," he said, "I can't go. You don't wish me to?"
+
+Carrie looked at him steadily, though there was now a faint flush in her
+cheeks.
+
+"I think it would be better if you told me exactly what you mean by
+that," she said.
+
+"Is it necessary to ask me? You know that I loved you--and I love you
+now. If you had been happy I might have hid my feelings--at least, I
+would have tried--but when I find you with a ploughman husband who
+could never understand or appreciate you, silence becomes impossible. He
+cares nothing for you, and neglects you openly."
+
+The girl glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Still," she said, with
+portentous calm, "_that_ implies a good deal."
+
+Urmston grew impatient. "Pshaw!" he said hoarsely, "one goes past
+conventions. You never loved him in the least. How could you? It would
+have been preposterous."
+
+"And I once loved you? Well, perhaps I did. But let us be rational. What
+is all this leading to?"
+
+Her dispassionate quietness should have warned him, but it merely jarred
+on his fastidiousness. He was not then in a mood for accurate
+observation.
+
+"Only that I cannot go away," he said. "This summer was meant for us.
+Leland thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but his farm. He has not
+even feeling enough to be jealous of you."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, while the red spot grew plainer in her cheek, "and
+then? A summer, after all, does not last very long."
+
+The man appeared embarrassed and confused at the girl's hard, insistent
+tones.
+
+"Go on," she said sharply. "What is to happen when the summer is gone?"
+
+Again Urmston was silent, with the blood in his face. Carrie Leland
+slowly rose. For a moment she said nothing, but he winced beneath her
+gaze.
+
+"You do not know?" she said. "Well, I think I can tell you. When I had
+earned my husband's hate and contempt, you would go back to England.
+You would not even take me with you, and you would certainly go; for
+what would you do in this country? The life the men here lead would
+crush you. Of course you realised it before you came to me to-day."
+
+Urmston made a gesture of protest, but she silenced him with a flash
+from her eyes.
+
+"I have had patience with you, because there was a time when I loved
+you, but you shall hear me now. If you had shown yourself masterful and
+willing to risk everything for me, when we were at Barrock-holme, I
+think I should have gone away with you and forsaken my duty; but you
+were cautious--and half afraid. You could not even make love boldly.
+Indeed, I wonder how I ever came to believe in such a feeble thing as
+you."
+
+"But," said Urmston hoarsely, "you led me on."
+
+Again Carrie silenced him. "Wait," she said. "Did you suppose that if I
+hated my husband and loved you still, I could have requited all that he
+has done for me with treachery? Do you think I have no sense of honour
+or any sense of shame? It was only for one reason I let you go as far as
+you have done. I wanted to see if there was a spark of courage or
+generosity in you, because I should have liked to think as well as I
+could of you. There was none. After the summer you--would have gone
+away."
+
+She hesitated with a catch of her breath. "Reggie," she said, "do you
+suppose that, even if you had courage enough to suggest it, anything
+would induce me to leave my husband because--you--asked me to?"
+
+The man winced again, and his face grew even hotter beneath her gaze.
+
+"You would have done so once," he said, as though nothing else occurred
+to him.
+
+"And I should have been sorry ever since, even if I had never understood
+the man I have married. As it is, I would rather be Charley Leland's
+slave or mistress than your wife."
+
+At last the man's eyes blazed. "You can love that ploughman, that
+half-tamed brute?"
+
+Carrie laughed softly. "Yes," she said, "I love him. If it is any
+consolation, I think it was partly you who taught me to."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then Urmston, who heard footsteps in
+the hall, swung round as Eveline Annersly came in. She looked at them
+both with a comprehending smile, for she was shrewd, and their faces
+made comparatively plain the nature of what had taken place.
+
+"I wonder," she said, "if I am intruding?"
+
+"No," said Carrie. "In fact, I think Reggie would like to say good-bye
+to you. He is going away to-day."
+
+"Ah," said Eveline Annersly, the twinkle still in her eyes, "I really
+think that is wise of him. He must be keeping the farming experts
+waiting. Indeed, I'm not sure it wouldn't have been more considerate if
+he had gone before."
+
+Urmston said nothing, but went out to make his excuses to Custer. In
+another half-hour he was riding to the railroad across the prairie.
+Carrie watched him from the homestead until at last he sank behind the
+crest of a low rise. Then she went back into the house with a little
+sigh of relief. Eveline Annersly, who was in the room when she came in,
+smiled curiously.
+
+"I am not going back to-night. The sun has given me a headache, for one
+thing," she said. "Besides that, Mrs. Custer insists on keeping me for a
+day or two. You can drive round for Charley."
+
+"The waggon," said Carrie, "will easily hold three."
+
+Her companion looked at her with twinkling eyes. "I almost think two
+will be enough to-night."
+
+Carrie made no answer, but did as was suggested. It was about nine
+o'clock that evening when she pulled her team up beside the sloo.
+Leland, who had found his jacket and brushed off some of the dust, was
+standing there beside a pile of prairie hay. There was nobody else in
+sight. A row of loaded waggons and teams loomed black against the sunset
+at the edge of the prairie. There was a fond gleam in his eyes as he
+looked up at Carrie.
+
+"Eveline Annersly is staying all night," she said. "You will be worn
+out; there is almost a load of the hay left."
+
+Leland looked at the big pile of grass. "We couldn't get that lot up,
+unfortunately. It's a long way to come back to-morrow."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, merrily, "this waggon must have cost you a good
+deal, and it is one of the few things about Prospect that has never done
+anything to warrant its being there. I really don't think a little clean
+hay would harm it."
+
+Leland appeared astonished. "You are sure you wouldn't mind?" he asked.
+
+"Of course not! I will help you to load it if you will hand me down."
+
+The gleam in Leland's eyes was plainer when he reached up and grasped
+her hands. Carrie, who remembered what had happened last time, shrank
+from the caress she half expected. Perhaps Leland realised it with his
+quick intuition, for he merely swung her down. Then she threw in the hay
+by the armful while he plied the fork. The soft green radiance that
+precedes the coming dusk hung above the prairie when he roped the load
+down securely. It was piled high about the driving-seat of the waggon,
+making a warm, fragrant resting place, into which he lifted his wife.
+Then, as the team moved on slowly, he turned and looked at her.
+
+"Thank you, my dear," he said; "that was very kind."
+
+Carrie flushed. "Surely not, when you have so much to do. It saves you a
+long drive to-morrow, doesn't it? But why were you waiting? I did not
+promise to come round, and you could have ridden home on one of the
+waggons. It must be six miles."
+
+"Well," said Leland seriously, "it seemed quite worth while to wait most
+of the night, even if I'd had to walk in afterwards. I knew Mrs.
+Annersly meant to stay, and you and I have had only one drive together."
+
+Carrie felt her cheeks grow warm again. Her usual composure had
+vanished. During that other journey, she had lain half frozen in his
+arms. There had been snow upon the prairie then, and she had shrunk from
+him; but it was summer now, and all was different. The hay overhung and
+projected all about them, so that there was very little room on the
+driving-seat, and she felt her heart throbbing as she sat pressed close
+against his shoulder. Leland said nothing, and the waggon jolted on
+through the silent night to the tune of horses' hoofs, while the green
+transparency faded into the dusky blueness of the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+AN UNDERSTANDING
+
+
+A deep stillness hung over the prairie, and the stars were high and dim,
+while the waggon jolted on. Though the team moved slowly, Leland had
+apparently no wish to hurry them. A clean, aromatic smell of wild
+peppermint floated about the pair on the driving-seat as the faint dew
+damped the load behind them. They sat in a hollow of the fragrant grass,
+and the softness and the warmth of it were pleasant, for, as sometimes
+happens at that season, the night was almost chill. The other teams had
+vanished, and they rode on over the vast shadowy levels alone. Every
+rattle of the harness, every creak of jarring wheels, rang through the
+silence with a startling distinctness.
+
+Some vague influence in it all reacted upon the girl, and she sat very
+still, pressed close against Leland's shoulder, content to be there, and
+almost afraid to speak lest what she should say might rudely break the
+charm. She knew now what she felt for the man at her side, and
+remembered what Eveline Annersly had said. It was fit that she should
+cleave to him, since they were one. Leland finally spoke:
+
+"Urmston did not come back with you."
+
+"No," said Carrie, realising that the crisis was at hand, and yet almost
+afraid to precipitate it. "He rode in to the railroad."
+
+Leland called to the horses before he spoke again.
+
+"Carrie," he said slowly, "any of your friends are welcome at Prospect,
+and especially Mrs. Annersly; but I have felt for some little while now
+that I must ask you why that man is staying here so long."
+
+The girl summoned her self-control with an effort, for she felt she must
+play the part she had decided on; but she felt her heart beat as she
+moved a little so that she could look up at her companion. He had moved,
+too, and though his face showed but vaguely, she could feel that his
+eyes were fixed upon her.
+
+"The night you would not have Mrs. Heaton here, you said something that
+made me very angry, though from your point of view you were right," she
+said. "I think we must understand each other once for all. Do you
+consider it necessary to remind me of the same thing now?"
+
+"No," said Leland, still quietly, though there was a suggestion of
+tension in his voice. "I was ashamed of it afterwards; I lost my temper.
+I know you have too much pride and honesty not to keep your bargain to
+the letter, and I am not in the least jealous of Urmston. You have my
+ring upon your hand. How could I be? Still, one has now and then to talk
+plainly. Urmston is a man who might take much for granted and presume.
+Your good name is precious to me."
+
+"Thank you for that. You do not know that there was a time when, if
+circumstances had been propitious, I would have married Reggie Urmston?"
+
+Leland appeared to smile. "I think I knew that, too."
+
+"And you said nothing when he came here!"
+
+"My dear," said Leland gravely, "I had by that time perfect confidence
+in you. The clean pride that held you away from me would keep you safe
+in spite of anything that such a man might do or say."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, with a calm dignity, "he will never come back
+again. I have sent him away."
+
+She felt the man start, and saw his hands tighten on the reins.
+
+"Carrie," he said, "you will tell me more if you wish; if not, it
+doesn't matter. There is another thing I want to say. I have often been
+sorry for you, but I felt that you would not find it quite so hard some
+day. That is why I waited--I think very patiently--though it was a
+little hard on me, too. I thought I knew what you must feel--indeed, you
+showed it to me--and I was horribly afraid that, if I was too hasty, I
+might lose you."
+
+"And that would have troubled you?"
+
+Leland turned again, and his voice was a trifle hoarse. "My dear, I do
+not understand these things. I have been too busy to worry about my
+feelings, but I know that, while I only admired you at Barrock-holme,
+something else that was different soon took hold of me, and kept on
+growing stronger the more I saw of you. I think it first gripped me hard
+the night you told me what you thought of me--though why then I don't
+know. Now I am sure, at least, that it will never let me go."
+
+Then, his self-restraint failing him, he slipped an arm about her and
+held her tightly to him. "Carrie," he said harshly, "it is getting too
+hard for me. Do you know that now and then something almost drives me
+into taking you into my arms and crushing you into submission? I could
+do it now--the touch of you almost maddens me. This can't go on. I have
+felt lately that you were growing kinder and shrank from me less. After
+all, I am a man and nothing more. How long do you mean to keep me
+waiting?"
+
+Carrie laughed softly, with a little catch of her breath. "Bend your
+head a little, Charley," she said, "I have something to tell you."
+
+As he did her bidding, she, stretching up a soft, warm arm round his
+neck, drew his face down to hers. His hand closed convulsively on her
+waist.
+
+"Charley," she said again, "it needn't go on any longer than you wish. I
+don't want it to. I only want you to love me now."
+
+The man laughed almost fiercely in his exultation. For a space she lay
+crushed and breathless beneath his engirdling arm, with his kisses hot
+upon her lips. When at last his grasp relaxed, her head, with the big
+white hat all crushed and crumpled, was still upon his breast. Her
+cheeks were burning, and her blood ran riot, for she was one who did
+nothing by half, as she clung to him in an ecstasy of complete and
+irrevocable surrender. The man broke out into a flood of disjointed,
+half-coherent, unrestrained words.
+
+"It was worth while waiting--even if I had waited years--though now and
+then you almost drove me mad," he said. "Your daintiness, your pride,
+the clean, hard grit that was in you, made me want to take you in my
+arms and break you and make you yield. Still, I knew, somehow, that was
+not the way with you, and I held myself in. It was hard--oh, it was
+hard. The beauty of you, your freshness, your beautiful little hands,
+even the coldness in your face, set me on fire at times. They were mine,
+you belonged to me, and yet I would claim nothing that went with your
+dislike. I wanted you to give them all to me."
+
+Carrie laughed, though there was a little break in her voice. "They are
+yours, and so am I. Only you must think them precious--and never let me
+go."
+
+Then she stretched her arm up and slipped it round his neck again.
+"Charley, at the very first, what was it made you want to marry me?"
+
+"Well," said Leland, with an air of reflection, "haven't you hair as
+softly dusky as the sky up there, and eyes so deep and clear that one
+can see the wholesome thoughts down in the depths of them? Haven't you
+hands and arms that look like alabaster, until one feels the gracious
+warmth beneath?"
+
+"And a vixenish temper! If I ever show it to you, you must shake me, and
+shake me hard. There was a time when you did it, and left a blue mark on
+my shoulder; but I deserved it, and now I wouldn't mind. I would sooner
+have you shake me every day than never think of me. Still, you haven't
+told me what I asked you yet."
+
+Leland stooped and kissed the shoulder. "When a man looks at you, he can
+see a hundred reasons for wanting you, and every one sufficient."
+
+"Still, that was not all. If you do not tell me, I shall ask Aunt
+Eveline, and I think she knows. Don't you see that we must understand
+everything to-night?"
+
+"Then it seemed to me it would be a horrible thing to marry you to
+Aylmer."
+
+Carrie drew her breath in. "Oh," she said, "I always fancied it was
+that, and I could love you if it was only for saving me from him." Then
+she broke out into a little soft laugh. "Charley, it was the wrong
+shoulder you kissed."
+
+"That is very easily set right," and the man bent down again. As he
+looked up, he called sharply to the horses, and shook the reins.
+
+"I wonder how long we have been waiting here?" he said. "I suppose you
+haven't noticed that the team has stopped?"
+
+They rode on again, in silence seldom broken, into a land of beatific
+visions. With a little wistful sense of regret, they saw Prospect at
+last rise black and shadowy against the big birch bluff. The teamsters,
+however, had not gone to sleep yet, and Leland, leaving the waggon to
+one of them, walked silently with Carrie towards the house. He stooped
+and kissed her as they crossed the threshold.
+
+"From now on, it is home," he said. "I only want to please you, and you
+must tell me when I fail."
+
+They went in together, and he lighted the big lamp. "You had supper with
+Mrs. Custer, but that is quite a while ago, and there should be a little
+fire yet in the cook-shed stove," he said. "Is there anything I can make
+you?"
+
+Carrie laughed as she took off the big crumpled hat and flung it on the
+table.
+
+"No," she said, "you will sit still while I see what can be found. It
+will be my part to cook and bake and wait on you. I almost think, if it
+were necessary, I could drive a team, too."
+
+They decided it by going into the cook-shed together, and, late as it
+was, Carrie wasted a good deal of flour attempting to make flap-jacks
+under her husband's direction, achieving a general disorder that Mrs.
+Nesbit surveyed with astonishment next morning. But the good soul's
+astonishment grew when she came upon Carrie setting the table in the big
+room, at least half an hour before Leland came in for his early
+breakfast.
+
+"I guess you're not going to want me much longer, and it's hardly likely
+that Charley Leland will, either," she said.
+
+Carrie's face flushed. "Oh, yes," she said, "you must stay here and
+teach me everything that a farmer's wife ought to know. I am afraid you
+will be a long while doing it."
+
+The hard-featured woman smiled at her in a very kindly fashion.
+
+"You're going to find it all worth while," she said.
+
+Carrie set about it that morning, and her sympathy with Mrs. Custer grew
+stronger with every hour she spent in Mrs. Nesbit's company, for it was
+evident that there was a great deal a woman could do at Prospect, too.
+Indeed, although she had already taken a spasmodic interest in the work,
+what she was taught before evening left her more than a little confused
+and by no means pleased with herself. It was disconcerting to be brought
+suddenly face to face with the realities of life and the conviction that
+things did not run smoothly of themselves. She realised, for the first
+time, almost with dismay, that, by coldly standing aside while the
+others toiled, she had made her husband's burden heavier than it need
+have been. She had, perhaps not altogether unnaturally, fallen into the
+habit of assuming that it was only fit that all she desired should be
+obtained for her, and had never inquired about the effort it entailed;
+but, as this point of view did not seem quite warranted now, she
+resolved that the future should be different. Finally realising her
+obligations, she did not shrink from the responsibility.
+
+Eveline Annersly, coming home that evening, found her sitting, deep in
+thought, by the window of her room, a new softness in her eyes. She drew
+up a chair close by, and sat looking at her in a shrewd way that the
+girl appeared to find disconcerting.
+
+"Carrie," she said, "I wonder if you know that you look quite as well in
+that simple dress as you do in your usual evening one? Still, your hair
+is a little ruffled. Surely you haven't been rubbing it against
+somebody's shoulder?"
+
+Carrie Leland blushed crimson, which was somewhat remarkable, as it was
+a thing she was by no means in the habit of doing.
+
+"Well," she said with a little musical laugh, "there was no reason why I
+shouldn't. It was my husband's."
+
+Then she rose impulsively, and, drawing up a footstool, sank down beside
+Eveline Annersly, and slipped an arm about her.
+
+"I think you know," she said. "At least, you have done what you could to
+bring it about for ever so long. We are friends at last, Charley and I."
+
+"That is pleasant to hear. Still, I'm not sure it would quite satisfy
+Charley. Haven't you gone any further?"
+
+Carrie's face was hidden as she replied, in a voice that quavered a bit.
+"I think we are lovers, too," she murmured.
+
+"Well," said her companion, "if he had known all I do, you might have
+been that some time ago. In fact, it would have pleased me if he had
+slapped you occasionally. If you had made him believe what you tried, it
+is very probable that you would never have forgiven yourself. But I
+think you ought to be more than lovers."
+
+Feeling a tremor of emotion run through the girl, she stooped and kissed
+her half-hidden cheek. Carrie looked up.
+
+"Charley is my husband--and all that is worth having to me," she said.
+"He is sure of it at last. I have told him so."
+
+She sat silent for a minute, and then turned a little and took out a
+letter.
+
+"It's from Jimmy," she said. "It was among Charley's papers, and he gave
+it to me when we came home."
+
+"He wants something?" said Mrs. Annersly, drily.
+
+"Yes," and Carrie's voice was quietly contemptuous. "Jimmy, it seems, is
+in difficulties again. If he hadn't been, he would not have written. Of
+course, it is only a loan."
+
+"You have a banking account in Winnipeg."
+
+"I have. I owe it to my husband's generosity, and I shall probably want
+it very soon. Do you suppose that, while Charley is crushed with anxiety
+and working from dawn to dusk, I would send Jimmy a penny?"
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "I really don't fancy it
+would be advisable, but this is rather a sudden change on your part. Not
+long ago you wouldn't let me say a word against anybody at
+Barrock-holme."
+
+Carrie laughed in a somewhat curious fashion. "Everything has changed.
+All that is mine I want for Charley, and, while he needs it, there is
+nothing for anybody else."
+
+She stopped for a moment. "Aunt Eveline, there are my mother's pearls
+and diamonds, which I think I should have had. I did not like to ask for
+them, but I always understood they were to come to me when I was
+married. I don't quite understand why my father never mentioned them."
+
+Mrs. Annersly looked thoughtful. "I am under very much the same
+impression. In fact, I am almost sure they should have been handed to
+you. Still, what could you do with them here?"
+
+"I may want them presently."
+
+"In that case you had better write and ask for them very plainly."
+
+Carrie rose, with a determined expression in her face. "Well, I must go
+down," she said. "Charley will be here in a few minutes. I see the teams
+coming back from the sloos."
+
+Eveline Annersly sat thoughtfully still. The jewels in question were,
+she knew, of considerable value. For that very reason, she was far from
+sure that Carrie could ever have the good-will of anybody at
+Barrock-holme if she insisted on her rights of possession.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+A WILLING SACRIFICE
+
+
+Three weeks had slipped away since the evening Carrie Leland had asked
+about her mother's jewels, when she and Eveline Annersly once more
+referred to them as they sat in her room, a little before the supper
+hour. The window was wide open, and the blaze of sunlight that streamed
+in fell upon Carrie as she took up a letter from the little table before
+her.
+
+"Only a line or two to say the casket has been sent," she said, with a
+half-suppressed sigh. "One could almost fancy they did not care what had
+become of me at Barrock-holme. I might have passed out of their lives
+altogether."
+
+"I'm not sure it's so very unusual in the case of a married woman," said
+her companion, a trifle drily. "Besides, it is quite possible that your
+father was not exactly pleased at having to give the jewels up. In fact,
+it may have been particularly inconvenient for him to do so. They are
+worth a good deal of money."
+
+"Still, they really belong to me."
+
+"Yes," said Eveline Annersly, "they evidently do, or you would not have
+got them. Of course, it would be a more usual thing for them to have
+gone to Jimmy's wife when he married, but they were your mother's, and,
+as you know, they came from her family. It was her wish that you should
+have them, though I was never quite sure it was mentioned in her will.
+In fact, to be candid, I am a little astonished that you have got them."
+
+Carrie's face flushed.
+
+"Aunt," she said, "I don't like to think of it, and I would not admit it
+to anybody else, but I felt what you are suggesting when I wrote for
+them. Still, I would have had them, even at the cost of breaking with
+them all at Barrock-holme."
+
+"I expected a break. Hadn't you better open the casket?"
+
+"In a few minutes," said Carrie, leaving the room.
+
+She wore a dinner-gown when she returned. Sitting down at the table, she
+opened the little metal-bound box before her. There was an inner box,
+and, when she opened that in turn, the sunlight struck a blaze of colour
+from the contents of the little velvet trays. Carrie looked at them with
+a curious softness in her eyes. When she turned to her companion,
+however, there was a lingering wistfulness in her smile.
+
+"I can't resist putting them on--just this once," she said. "I shall
+probably never do it again."
+
+Her companion watched her gravely as she placed a diamond crescent in
+her dusky hair, and then hung a string of pearls about her neck. They
+were exceptionally beautiful, but it was the few rubies that followed
+them and the gleam of the same stones set in the delicate bracelet the
+girl clasped on her wrist that roused Eveline Annersly, who had seen
+them before, to a little gasp of admiration. The blood-red stones shone
+with a wonderful lustre on the polished whiteness of Carrie's neck and
+arm.
+
+"They were, of course, never meant for a necklet, and your mother had
+always intended to have them properly set, but I suppose money was
+scarce at Barrock-holme then," she said. "You look positively dazzling,
+but you carry them well, my dear."
+
+Carrie turned to the mirror in front of her, and surveyed herself for a
+minute with a curious gravity. Then the little wistful look once more
+crept into her eyes. After all, she had been accustomed to the smoother
+side of life, and the beauty of the gems appealed to her. She had worn
+some of them once or twice before, and had seen them stir men's
+admiration and other women's longing at brilliant functions in the Old
+Country. She also knew that they became her wonderfully well, and yet it
+was scarcely likely she would put them on again. Then she heard a little
+gasp, and, turning suddenly, saw Mrs. Nesbit gazing at her from the
+doorway in bewildered admiration.
+
+"The boys are coming in. Shall I have the table set for supper?" she
+said.
+
+"Not yet," said Carrie. "You might ask Mr. Leland to come up. I want
+him."
+
+Mrs. Nesbit went out, apparently still lost in wonder. Carrie turned to
+her companion impulsively.
+
+"I should like Charley to see me as I am--for once," she said.
+
+Five minutes later, Eveline Annersly slipped away as Leland came in,
+dressed in worn and faded jean. He gave a start of astonishment and a
+look that almost suggested pain when Carrie turned to him. She looked
+imperial in the long, graceful dress. The diamonds in her dusky hair
+glinted crystal-clear, and the rubies gleamed on the polished ivory of
+her neck; but her eyes were more wonderful than any gem in their depths
+of tenderness. Then the man saw himself in the mirror, bronzed and hot
+and dusty, with hard hands and broken nails, and the stain of the soil
+upon him. Another glance at her, and he turned his eyes away.
+
+"Aren't you pleased?" said Carrie.
+
+Leland turned again, slowly, with a little sigh, one of his brown hands
+tightly clenched.
+
+"You are beautiful, my dear," he said, "but, if you were old and dressed
+in rags, you would always be that to me. With those things shining on
+you, you are wonderful, but it hurts me to see them."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"They make the difference between us too plain. You should wear them
+always. It was what you were meant for, and, when I married you, I had a
+notion that I might be able to give you such things some day and take
+you where other people wear them. Everything, however, is against me
+now. We may not even keep Prospect, and you are only the wife of a
+half-ruined prairie farmer."
+
+Carrie held her arms out. "I wouldn't be anything else if I could. You
+know that, too. Come and kiss me, Charley, and never say anything of the
+kind again."
+
+The man hesitated, and she guessed that he was thinking of his dusty
+jean.
+
+"Have I lost my attractiveness that you need asking twice?" she said.
+
+Leland came towards her, and she slipped an arm about his neck,
+regardless of the costly dress. Taking up his hard, brown hand, she
+looked tenderly at the broken nails.
+
+"Ah," she said, "it has worked so hard for me. Do you think I don't know
+why you toil late and early this year, and never spend a cent on
+anything that is not for my pleasure? I must have cost you a good deal,
+Charley."
+
+She saw the blood rise into the man's face, and laughed softly. "Oh, I
+know it all. Once I tried to hate you for it--and now, if it hadn't made
+it so hard for you, I should be almost glad. Still, Charley, I would do
+almost anything to make you feel that--it was worth while."
+
+"My dear," said Leland hoarsely, "I have never regretted it, and I would
+not even if I had to turn teamster and let Prospect go, except for the
+trouble it would bring you."
+
+Carrie laughed softly. "Still, it will never come to that. This hand is
+too firm and capable to let anything go, and I fancy I can do something,
+too. After all, I do not think Mrs. Custer is very much stronger or
+cleverer than I am."
+
+She pushed him gently away from her. "Now go and get ready for supper. I
+will be down presently."
+
+Leland went away with glad obedience. When Eveline Annersly came in
+later, she found Carrie once more attired very plainly, and the casket
+locked. Her eyes were a trifle hazy, but she looked up with a smile.
+
+"I shall not put them on again, but I do not mind," she said. "They will
+go to ploughing and harrowing next season. There is something to be done
+beforehand, and I want you to come in to the railroad station with me
+to-morrow."
+
+They went down to supper, during which Carrie was unusually talkative.
+When Eveline Annersly left them after the meal was over, she turned to
+her husband.
+
+"Charley," she said, "you could get along alone for two or three days,
+if I went into Winnipeg?"
+
+"I could," said Leland. "Still, I wouldn't like it. But what do you want
+to go there for?"
+
+"Well," said Carrie, reflectively, "there are two or three things I
+want, and one or two I have to do--business things at the bank. I had a
+letter from Barrock-holme, you know. I suppose those bankers are really
+trustworthy people?"
+
+Leland laughed. "Oh, yes, I think they could be trusted with anything
+you were likely to put into their hands."
+
+"Well," said Carrie, "perhaps I will tell you what it is by and by. In
+the meanwhile, since I am going to-morrow, there are several things I
+have to see to."
+
+Starting next morning with Eveline Annersly, she was on the following
+day ushered into the manager's room at Leland's bank. The gentleman who
+sat there appeared a trifle astonished when he saw her, as though he had
+scarcely expected to see the stamp of refinement and station on Leland's
+wife. He drew out a chair for her, and urbanely asked what he could do
+for her. Carrie laid a casket and a small bundle of papers upon the
+table.
+
+"I think you are acquainted with my husband?" she said.
+
+"Certainly," said the banker. "We have had the pleasure of doing
+business with Mr. Leland of Prospect for a good many years."
+
+"Then," said Carrie, decisively, "you are on no account to tell him
+about any business you may do for me--that is, unless I give you
+permission to do so."
+
+The banker concealed any astonishment he may have felt, merely saying
+that it was his part to fall in with his clients' wishes. Carrie held
+out a pass-book.
+
+"I suppose I could have this money any time I wished?" she said.
+
+"Certainly. You have only to write a cheque for it."
+
+Carrie opened a paper, and handed it to him. "I have had it all
+explained to me, but I am afraid I don't understand it very well," she
+said. "Until I was married I could get only a little of the money as my
+trustees gave it to me, and they put the rest into an English bank for
+me. I have the book here. You will see how much the dividends and
+interest come to every year."
+
+The banker studied the document carefully. Then he took the pass-book
+she handed him. "Well," he said, "you can do whatever you like with it
+now. Quite a sum of money has accumulated."
+
+"I could put it into your bank here?"
+
+"Of course. I should be glad to arrange it for you. You would also get
+more interest for it than you seem to have done in England."
+
+"Then I want you to do it. You lend people money. I wonder if you could
+let me have as much now as I would get in the next four or five years.
+Of course, you would charge me for doing it."
+
+The banker smiled a little, and shook his head as he glanced at the
+document. "You will excuse my mentioning that the interest on the money
+involved is only to be paid--to you."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "of course, I might die, and then, I remember, it
+would go back again. Still, that only makes what I want to do more
+necessary. I suppose I could make over to my husband all the money there
+is in the English bank and anything else that really belongs to me? That
+is, I could put it into his account here? You see, I don't want him to
+know--anything about it for a little while."
+
+The banker reflected. He had done business for years with Leland and
+considered him a friend. This dainty woman's devotion to her husband
+appealed to him. He decided that he might, for once, go a little further
+than was usual from a business point of view. "Well," he said,
+reflectively, "I think I should wait a little. If you kept the money in
+your own name, you could hand him as much as you thought advisable at
+any time it appeared necessary. On the whole, I fancy that would be
+wiser."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Again the banker pondered. Nobody knew better than he how many of the
+wheat-growers were near ruin that year, and he had naturally an accurate
+notion of what would probably happen to Leland when, after harvest, the
+wheat of the West was thrown train-load by train-load upon a lifeless
+market.
+
+"I think there are a good many reasons why it is sound advice I am
+offering you. For one thing, wheat is still going down, you see."
+
+Carrie made a little gesture of comprehension, for financial
+difficulties had formed a by no means infrequent topic at Barrock-holme.
+"Yes," she said quietly, "I understand. You will get the money and put
+it to my name. But there is another thing. Will you please open that
+casket?"
+
+The man did so, and appeared astonished when he saw its contents. "These
+things are very beautiful," he said.
+
+"You could lend me part of their value?" asked Carrie, with a little
+flush in her face.
+
+The man looked thoughtful. The smaller banking houses in the West are
+usually willing to handle any business they can get, but precious gems
+are not a commodity with which they are intimately acquainted.
+
+"They would have to be valued, and I fancy that could only be done in
+Montreal," he said. "After getting an expert's opinion, we could, I
+think, advance you a reasonable proportion of what he considered them
+worth. Shall I have it done?"
+
+"Of course," said Carrie, and went out ten minutes later with a sense of
+satisfaction. She found Eveline Annersly waiting, and smiled as she
+greeted her. "I have been arranging things, and perhaps I can help
+Charley, after all. I am afraid he will want it," she said. "Now, if you
+wouldn't mind very much, we can get the west-bound train this afternoon.
+I am anxious to get back to Prospect again."
+
+Eveline Annersly would have much preferred to spend that night in a
+comfortable hotel, instead of in a sleeping-car, but she made no
+protest. After lunch, they spent an hour or two in the prairie city,
+waiting until the train came in. Ridged with mazy wires and towering
+telegraph-poles, and open to all winds, Winnipeg stands at the side of
+its big, slow river in the midst of a vast sweep of plain. Boasting of
+few natural attractions, there is the quick throb of life in its
+streets. As Carrie and her aunt made their way through bustling crowds,
+past clanging cars, they gradually observed an undertone of slackness in
+the superficial activity about them. The faces they met were sombre, and
+there were few who smiled. The lighthearted rush of a Western town was
+missing. Loungers hung about the newspaper offices, and bands of
+listless immigrants walked the streets aimlessly. Carrie had heard at
+Prospect that it was usually difficult in the Northwest to get men
+enough to do the work, and this air of leisure puzzled her.
+
+There was, however, a reason for this lack of enterprise. Winnipeg lives
+by its trade in wheat, selling at a profit to the crowded East, and
+scattering its store-goods broadcast across the prairie. Just then,
+however, the world appeared to possess a sufficiency of wheat and flour,
+and the great mills were grinding half-time or less, while it happened
+frequently that Western farmers, caught by the fall in values, could not
+meet their bills. When this happens, there is always trouble from the
+storekeepers and dealers in implements who have supplied them throughout
+the year. Carrie caught the despondent tone, wondering why she did so,
+since she felt that it would not have impressed her a little while ago.
+Perhaps it was because she had then looked upon the toilers with an
+uncomprehending pity that was half disdain, and she had since gained not
+only sympathy but appreciation. She stopped outside the newspaper office
+where a big placard was displayed.
+
+"Smitten Dakota wails," it read. "Crops devastated. Thunder and hail.
+Ice does the reaping in Minnesota."
+
+"Oh," she said. "I must have a paper."
+
+Eveline Annersly smiled a little. It was between the hours of issue, and
+the wholesale office did not look inviting, but Carrie went in, and a
+clerk, who gazed at the very dainty lady with some astonishment, gave
+her a paper.
+
+"Now," she said, "we will go on to the depot. I must sit down and read
+the thing."
+
+By the time she had mastered the gist of it, the big train was rolling
+out with her amidst a doleful clanging of the locomotive bell. It was
+momentous enough. The hail, which now and then sweeps the Northwest, had
+scourged the Dakotas and part of Minnesota, spreading devastation where
+it went. Meteorologists predicted that the disturbance would probably
+spread across the frontier. Carrie laid down the paper and glanced out
+with a little shudder of apprehension at the sliding prairie, into which
+town and wires and mills were sinking. She was relieved to see that
+there hung over it a sweep of cloudless blue.
+
+"There are hundreds ruined, and whole crops destroyed," she said.
+"Perhaps the men who sowed them worked as hard as Charley. It would be
+dreadful if it came to us."
+
+"I am afraid it would," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I don't think it
+would have troubled you when you first came out. That is not so very
+long ago, is it?"
+
+Carrie smiled. "I think I have grown since then," she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HAIL
+
+
+A thin crescent moon hung low in the western sky. The prairie was
+wrapped in silent shadows. Leland stood outside the homestead, with the
+bridle of an impatient horse in his hand, and talked with his wife.
+There was only one light in the house behind them, and everything was
+very still, but Leland knew that two men who could be trusted to keep
+good watch were wide awake that night. The barrel of a Marlin rifle hung
+behind his shoulders, glinting fitfully when it caught the light as he
+moved. Without thinking of what he was doing, he fingered the clip of
+the sling.
+
+"The moon will be down in half an hour, and it will be quite dark before
+I cross the ravine near Thorwald's place," he said. "Jim Thorwald is
+straight, and standing by the law, but none of us are quite sure of all
+of his boys. Anyway, we don't want anybody to know who's riding to the
+outpost."
+
+Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. "I suppose you must go, this once at
+least."
+
+"Of course!" said Leland with a smile. "If I'm wanted, I must go again.
+The trouble's spreading."
+
+"Then," said Carrie, "why can't they bring more troopers in? Why did you
+ever have anything to do with it, Charley?"
+
+"It seemed necessary. A man has to hold on to what is his."
+
+Carrie's fingers tightened on his arm. "Perhaps it is so; I suppose it
+must be; but, after all, I don't think that was your only reason. I
+mean, when you started the quarrel. No, you needn't turn away. I want
+you to look at me."
+
+"It's dark, my dear, and I'm glad it is. I don't want to talk of those
+times, and if it were light enough to see you, I'm afraid it would melt
+the resolution out of me."
+
+"Still," Carrie persisted, "you know you first quarrelled with the
+rustlers because you were angry with me."
+
+Leland laughed softly. "Well, perhaps that was the reason, though I
+would sooner believe it was because I recognised what I owed the State."
+
+"But it is all different--you are not in the least angry with me now?"
+
+The moonlight was very dim, and showed no more than the pale white oval
+of her face; but Leland felt the appeal in her voice, and knew that it
+was also in her eyes.
+
+"My dear," he said quietly, "how could I be?"
+
+Carrie lifted her hand and laid it on his shoulder. "Charley, I can't
+stop you now, but I want you to promise you will not go back again. Do
+you know that I sit still, shivering, when darkness comes while you are
+away, trying not to think of what you may be doing? I daren't think.
+Can't you understand, Charley, that I have only you?"
+
+Feeling how hard it was to leave her, and fearing that further
+tenderness from her might weaken his firm purpose, he sought refuge in a
+frivolous retort.
+
+"There are still a few of your relatives at Barrock-holme," he said.
+
+"They never write me. Perhaps I couldn't expect them to. I thought you
+knew that I had offended them."
+
+"Offended them?"
+
+Carrie laughed a trifle harshly. "Oh," she said, "it is a wife's duty to
+take her husband's part; but, after all, that is not the question. I
+hadn't meant to mention it. It doesn't matter in the least."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I almost think it does. Anyway, if it worries you.
+What have you been falling out with them over, Carrie?"
+
+"That is not your business. They don't care about me now, but you do."
+
+Leland had only one free hand, but he slipped it round her waist. She
+sighed contentedly as she felt his protecting clasp.
+
+"Charley, you will not go back again?" she said once more.
+
+The man drew his arm away. Though she could scarcely see his face, he
+appeared to be looking down upon her gravely.
+
+"It is a little hard not to do what you ask me straight away, but I
+think you can understand," he said. "Whatever I went into the thing for,
+I am in it now. Practically, I'm leader. It is not the Sergeant the boys
+look to, but me, and I'm not quite sure they would have kept the thing
+up if I hadn't worried them into doing it. Still, they'll go on now, and
+they would only think of two reasons if I backed down. Would you like
+them to fancy the rustlers had bought me over, or made me afraid of
+them?"
+
+"Could any one think that?" and Carrie laughed scornfully, though her
+voice grew suddenly soft again. "It wouldn't matter in the least to me
+what anybody said."
+
+"Well," said Leland gravely, "I 'most think it would, and I should like
+it to. Anyway, if I backed down, it would be because I was afraid. In
+fact, I'm afraid now, though I never used to be. It's a little difficult
+to tell you this, though you know it, but, when I stirred the boys up, I
+could not be sure you would ever be what you are to me. It didn't seem
+likely then, but I made no conditions when the rest stood in with me.
+Now I think you see I can't go back on them."
+
+Carrie made a little nod of agreement, and, with an effort, repressed a
+sigh, for she knew that she had failed. Her husband's code was simple,
+and, perhaps, crude, but it was, at least, inflexible. After all, honour
+and duty are things well within the comprehension of very simple men.
+Indeed, it is often the case that, where principles are concerned, the
+simplest men have the clearest vision.
+
+"Ah," she said, with something like a sob, "then you must go. But stand
+still a minute, Charley. I want to see if the clip I bought you in the
+Winnipeg gun-shop is working properly."
+
+Leland smiled as she pressed a little clasp and then, dropping one hand
+smartly, caught the rifle as the sling fell apart. Carrie had changed
+suddenly and curiously. The pride that was in her had awakened, and she
+was at one with her husband and wholly practical.
+
+"It is ever so much quicker than passing it over your shoulder; and,
+after all, you must go," she said.
+
+She stretched up her arms and kissed him. When the man had swung himself
+into the saddle, she looked long after him, with eyes that were hazy.
+When he became a blur in the distance, she went slowly to the house,
+head proudly erect. There Eveline Annersly greeted her.
+
+"My dear," she said, "you need not tell me. You have been trying to hold
+your husband back, and you have failed. The thing was out of the
+question. You might have known."
+
+Carrie made a little half-wistful gesture, though there was a faint glow
+in her eyes. "Yes, I did what I could, and now I shall not rest until he
+comes back again. Still, I think I deserve it, and I'm not sure that I
+would have him different. I think nothing would change Charley. I used
+to wonder more than I do now how he, who was born on the prairie, came
+to have all the real essential things which were not in any of us at
+Barrock-holme."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes sparkled, and her manner was sardonic. "It's not
+very explicit, but I think I know what you mean. Haven't you lost your
+faith in the old fetish yet? Men are men--good, bad, and
+indifferent--the world over, and, though it would be rather nice to
+believe it, we haven't, and never had, a monopoly in our own class of
+what you call the essentials. Indeed, I'm not quite sure one couldn't go
+a little further."
+
+She was standing near the open window, with the light, which was low,
+some distance away from her. Turning, she drew Carrie within the heavy
+curtains. "The very old and the very new are apt to meet," she said.
+"There is an example yonder."
+
+Carrie looked out into the soft moonlight, and saw a mounted figure cut
+against the sky on the crest of a low rise. It was indistinct and
+shadowy, but, as she gazed, she twice caught the gleam of the pale cold
+light on steel, and knew it for the flash of a rifle-barrel.
+
+"Oh," she said, "since I came to this country I have felt it too. That
+was how the border spears rode out six hundred years ago. . . . Of
+course, you were right a little while ago. I think the things that are
+essential must always have been the same--primitive and unchangeable.
+Faith and courage have always been needed, as they are needed still.
+After all, we cannot get away from death and toil and pain."
+
+The lonely figure vanished into the night, and, as her companion moved
+away, Carrie let the curtain fall behind her with a little sigh. "It is
+getting late, and I can only wait and try to think there is no danger,
+until he comes back to me. No doubt others have done it, back through
+all the centuries."
+
+She went out, but Eveline Annersly sat a while thoughtfully by the open
+window. What she had expected had at last come to pass, and she had the
+satisfaction which does not always attend the efforts of the matrimonial
+schemer; for there was no longer any doubt that Carrie Leland loved her
+husband. Once more, as Nature will often have it, like had drawn to
+unlike, with a fusion of discordant qualities in indissoluble and
+harmonious union, that what the one lacked the other might supply. The
+pair she had brought together were no longer two but one, which, while
+she was quite aware that it did not always happen, was, when it did,
+like the springing up of the wheat--a mystery and a miracle.
+
+Eveline Annersly was old enough to know that there are many mysteries,
+but that by love alone man may come nearest to their comprehension.
+
+Then she remembered that it was getting late, and, leaving the window
+open, for the night was hot and still, sought her room, and in another
+half-hour was sound asleep. She had slept several hours, when she was
+awakened by a queer sound that seemed to come from outside through the
+open door. It was a dull noise, which, accustomed as she had grown to
+the beat of hoofs, suggested a company of mounted men riding up out of
+the prairie. The sound kept increasing, until she could have fancied
+that it was made by a regiment, and then suddenly swelled into the roar
+of a brigade of cavalry going by on the gallop. The house seemed to reel
+as under a blow, the doors swung to with a crash, and there was a
+clatter of things hurled down in the adjoining room. Then she rose and
+flung on a dressing-gown, and, crossing the room, stopped when she had
+clutched the door handle, almost afraid to open it, bewildered by the
+indescribable tumult. At last a gleam of light appeared between the
+chinks. Mustering courage to open the door, she saw Carrie standing in
+the room, half dressed, with a candle in her hand. That was just for a
+moment, for the feeble gleam went out, and she groped her way through
+black darkness towards the girl.
+
+"What is it?" she gasped.
+
+"The hail!" said Carrie, hoarsely. "Come with me. We must shut the
+window quick."
+
+It cost them both an effort, and Carrie was some little time lighting
+the lamp when they had accomplished it. Then Eveline Annersly sank into
+the nearest chair, with her arm about the shoulders of the girl who
+knelt beside her. Even with the windows shut, the lamplight flickered,
+and, when it fell upon her, Carrie's face showed set and white.
+
+"Ah," she said, "the wheat! It will all be cut down by morning, and
+Charley ruined."
+
+It was a minute or two before Eveline Annersly quite understood her, for
+there was just then a deafening crash of thunder, and, after it, the
+stout wooden building appeared to rock at the onslaught of an icy wind
+that struck through every crevice with a stinging chill. The hail roared
+on walls and shingled roof with a bewildering din. Then the uproar
+slackened a little, and, as she glanced towards the melting ice which
+had beaten into the room, it seemed to her scarcely possible that
+Leland's crop could have escaped disaster. She had never seen hail like
+that in England; in fact, it scarcely seemed hail at all, but big lumps
+of ice, and the crash of it upon the roof was like the roar upon a beach
+of surf-rolled stones.
+
+The sound of it, and the wild wailing of the gale, sapped her courage;
+so she understood the strained look in Carrie's eyes. There are times
+when men, as well as women, stand appalled by the elemental fury, and,
+shaking off all restraint that a complex civilisation may have laid upon
+them, become wholly human and primitive again. Carrie was half crouching
+at her aunt's feet, gazing up at her with wild, fierce eyes. Eveline
+Annersly shuddered a little as she glanced at her.
+
+"Will the house stand?" she gasped.
+
+The girl's laugh rang harshly through the roar of the hail. "I don't
+know. What does that matter, anyway? Can't you understand? The wheat
+will all be cut down. I have ruined Charley."
+
+Then there was a lull for a minute or two, and Carrie, reaching up a
+hand, gripped her companion's arm.
+
+"Did you ever hear how much I cost my husband?" she said.
+
+Terrified as she was, Eveline Annersly started at the question. It was
+not expressed delicately, but, after all, there was no doubt that the
+girl's marriage had been more or less a matter of bargaining. "Of course
+not," she said.
+
+"I don't know, either, but I'm sure it was ever so much," and Carrie's
+fingers trembled on her arm, though her eyes were fierce. "In one way, I
+am glad it was. I like to feel that he was willing to offer everything
+that was his for me. It isn't in the least degrading to belong to
+Charley Leland, however I came into his possession. Not in the least.
+How could it be? Still, once it seemed horrible even to think of it."
+
+She stopped a minute with a little indrawing of her breath. "Besides, I
+am glad in another way, because, if he is really ruined, I am going to
+get all I cost him back again. Jimmy and my father would call it a
+loan."
+
+Eveline Annersly was distinctly startled, though she understood that all
+restraint had been flung aside, and Carrie Leland had responded to the
+influence of this storm that had brought her face to face with a crisis
+in her husband's affairs, the raw human nature in her had come
+uppermost, and she was for the time being merely a woman with primitive
+passions raised, ready to fight for her mate. It was, her companion
+recognised, a thing that not infrequently happened--a part, indeed, of
+Nature's scheme that had a higher warrant; but, for all that, she was
+sensible again that there was in the girl's set face something from
+which people of fastidious temperament, who had never felt the strain,
+might feel inclined to shrink.
+
+"Carrie," she said, "the thing is out of the question. They are your
+father and brother. You cannot force them into an open rupture. You must
+put it out of your mind."
+
+The girl gripped her arm cruelly. "One must choose sometimes, and I am
+my husband's flesh and blood. Once that seemed a curious fancy,
+repugnant too, but it is real now--one of the great real things to
+Charley and me."
+
+Eveline Annersly said nothing, and the wind beat upon the house as the
+girl went on. "Aunt," she said, "before Charley is ruined, I will make
+them repay the loan. They would have to if I insisted, for they would
+never dare let me tell that tale."
+
+Once more her laugh rang harshly through the uproar of the hail. "Oh,"
+she said, "Charley would pour out his blood for me, and what do I owe
+my father and Jimmy but a badge of shame?"
+
+She was shaking with passion and very white in face. Eveline Annersly at
+last realised how deeply the shame had bitten before love had come to
+lessen the smart of it. The girl's temperament had been, as she knew,
+distinctly virginal, and it was, perhaps, not astonishing, under the
+circumstances, that she had at first shrunk from her husband almost with
+hatred, and certainly with instinctive repulsion. Indeed, it was clear
+to Eveline Annersly that had not Leland been what he was, a man
+accustomed to restraint, she would in all probability have continued to
+hate him until one of them died. Yet the contrast between the girl who
+had always borne herself with a chilling serenity at Barrock-holme and
+the passionate woman who crouched at her side was a very wonderful
+thing.
+
+Then suddenly the wind fell, and the sound of the hail commenced to die
+away. It no longer roared upon the shingles, but sank in a long
+diminuendo, drawing further and further away across the prairie. There
+was a deep impressive stillness as it ceased altogether.
+
+Carrie rose abruptly. "I'm going out," she said in a strained voice.
+"Are you coming too?"
+
+Eveline Annersly had little wish to go. The storm had left her shaken
+and unwilling to move, but she forced herself to get up, for it seemed
+that Carrie might have need of her. So they went out together. There was
+now a little light in the sky, and the bluff showed up black and sharp
+against it. The air was fresh and chill. Carrie, however, noticed
+nothing as she moved swiftly through the wheat, through the melting ice
+that lay thickly upon the sod. Other shadowy figures were also moving in
+the same direction, and there was a murmur of voices when at last she
+stopped.
+
+"It's Mrs. Leland," said somebody, and the group of men drew back a
+little.
+
+Then Carrie caught her breath with a sob, for the tall wheat had gone,
+and, so far as she could see, ruin was spread across the belt of
+ploughing. The green blades lay smashed and torn upon the beaten soil.
+The crop had vanished under the dread reaping of the hail. The light was
+growing clearer, and it seemed to Eveline Annersly, who remembered how
+the roar had suggested the beat of horses' hoofs, that instead of a
+brigade of cavalry, an army division, with guns and transport, had
+passed that way through the grain. Then something in the fancy struck
+her as especially apposite, and she turned to Carrie, who stood rigid,
+as though turned to stone.
+
+"Look!" she said; "it isn't everywhere the same."
+
+A man came up, and she recognised him as Gallwey. He apparently heard
+her, for he beckoned to them.
+
+"Will you come forward, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We have a good deal to
+be thankful for."
+
+They went with him a hundred yards or so. Then Carrie gasped at what she
+saw in the growing light of dawn.
+
+"Oh," she cried joyously, "it hasn't reached the rest of it!"
+
+"No," said Gallwey, "we are on the dividing line. I don't know how many
+bushels it has reaped, but, by comparison, it is not enough to worry
+about. A little wonderful. Still, I believe it's not unusual, and I have
+seen very much the same thing once before."
+
+"Is there no more of the wheat damaged?" asked Carrie, and there was
+still a tension in her voice.
+
+"Not a blade," said Gallwey. "I've been all round."
+
+Then all the strength seemed to leave the girl. Moving shakily, with her
+hand on Eveline Annersly's arm, she turned towards the house, as the
+pearly greyness crept into the eastern sky. Eveline Annersly said
+nothing, for she could feel that her companion was trembling, and hear
+her catch her breath. Carrie stopped when they reached the homestead,
+and looked eastward with tear-dimmed eyes.
+
+"Ah," she said, "I wonder why this favour was shown me. I felt I had
+ruined Charley a little while ago."
+
+Then she pulled herself together. "Aunt Eveline," she said softly, "did
+you ever hate and despise yourself?"
+
+Eveline Annersly said nothing, but she smiled with comprehension in her
+eyes, for she understood what was in Carrie Leland's mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+GALLWEY'S ADVENTURE
+
+
+The night was still dark, and there was not then or afterwards any sign
+of hail when Sergeant Grier halted his little force under the Blackfoot
+Ridge. There were, in all, eight of them, excellently mounted, and most
+of them rode with a magazine rifle slung across their shoulders. In
+front of them a deep ravine wound away into the Ridge, which, though
+sometimes called a mountain, consisted of a long, broken rise, perhaps
+two hundred feet above the level of the rest of the prairie. Stunted
+birches, and, where the grounds were moister, a dense growth of willows,
+clothed its sides. Behind the first rise lay a rolling, deeply fissured
+plateau, lined here and there with trees. It stretched away before them,
+a black and shadowy barrier, and Sergeant Grier sat with his hand upon
+his hip, looking at it reflectively.
+
+"I guess your news can be relied on, Mr. Leland?" he said.
+
+Leland patted his fidgeting horse. "I wouldn't have worried you with it
+unless I had felt tolerably sure," he said. "Two waggons, driven by
+strangers, passed through the Cannersly settlement three days ago. I
+don't know what was in them, but they were full of something, and I have
+my notion as to what it was. The same night four men, who asked about
+those waggons, rode into Cannersly. They stayed there just five minutes,
+and that appeared significant to me."
+
+The Sergeant sat silent a moment, and then turned to the rest.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I've been worrying the thing out most of the way. The
+whisky boys have friends round Barber, and they'd get pack-horses there.
+West of the settlement, the folks are shy of them, and it's easy
+figuring they'd push on to get up north, beyond my reach. Well, it would
+cost them a day to work a traverse round the mountain, and that's why
+I'm putting down my stake on their coming through. There's only one good
+trail, and we're here to block it; but a man who knew the way might
+bring them out by the Willow Coulee. I guess it's not more than two
+miles away." He raised his voice a little. "Trooper Standish, you and
+Tom Gallwey will ride up the coulee, and lie by in the old herder's hut.
+If you hear anything, a shot will bring us in at a gallop. Trooper
+Cornet, you'll push on straight ahead for half an hour with Mr. Custer,
+and hide your horses clear of the trail. I guess once the boys get into
+the mountain they're going to have some trouble getting out again."
+
+The troopers saluted, and four shadowy men melted into the darkness.
+When they passed out of hearing, the Sergeant swung himself from the
+saddle.
+
+"Lead your horses well back among the trees, boys, and tether them," he
+said. "Then we'll camp down here. I figure we're not going to see the
+whisky boys before the morning."
+
+They did his bidding. Presently Leland and one or two of the others lay
+down among the first of the birches. The Sergeant sat close by, with his
+back to one of the trees, his pipe in his hand.
+
+"It's 'bout time we got in a blow," he said. "Things are going bad, and,
+with the new country opening up north, I can't get more men. Now, we
+wouldn't be long running off the regular whisky men; the trouble is that
+every blamed tough between here and the frontier is standing in with
+them, and, unless you catch him out at night, you've nothing to show
+against him. When he comes home, he's a harmless settlement loafer, or
+an industrious pre-emptor. A good year would kill the thing, but I guess
+there's more in whisky than wheat, at present figures."
+
+"There's more in running off horses," said one of the others. "The boys
+get them for nothing, and I've lost three of mine. How much have they
+taken out of you altogether, Charley?"
+
+"Most of four or five thousand dollars, one way or another, and I have a
+notion they've not done with me yet. In fact, it seems to me that either
+the whisky boys or I will have to get out of this part of the prairie."
+
+The Sergeant nodded. "It will be the whisky boys," he said. "You can
+bluff the law for awhile, if you're smart enough, but it's quite hard to
+keep it up, and the first mistake you make, it's got you sure. In
+another way, Mr. Leland's right. I'd have done nothing with my few
+troopers if he hadn't brought you in. We have nothing to raise trouble
+over--a few steers and horses missing, a grass fire raised. They're
+things that happen all the time. The whisky boys know it as well as I
+do, and, since I can't get more troopers, it means that what is done
+must be done by you. They know that, too, and it's running up quite a
+big account against the man who's leading you."
+
+There was a little murmur of concurrence, and Leland laughed.
+
+"Well," he said, "there's a _per contra_ claim, and I fancy it's going
+to be settled by-and-bye. I've had about enough to pull against this
+season, and I don't feel kind towards the men who have made it harder
+still for me."
+
+Though he calmly filled his pipe, one or two of those who heard him
+fancied that the reckoning he looked forward to would be a somewhat grim
+one when it came. Leland of Prospect was, as they were aware, not the
+man to submit patiently to an injury, and his quietness had its
+significance. Still, he was only one man, and his enemies were many--men
+who struck shrewdly in the dark, and left no sign to show who they were.
+None of those who rode with him envied their unofficial leader.
+
+In the meantime, Gallwey and the young trooper picked their way along
+the edge of the bluff. The night was dark and hazy, and there were no
+stars in the sky. The smoke of a big grass fire drifted in a grey mist
+athwart the sweep of the plain. Now and then a crimson blaze leapt up
+and faded on the horizon, and the still air was heavy with the smell of
+burning. It was advisable to ride cautiously, for there were a good many
+badger-holes, and here and there the ground was seamed by a
+watercourse. Brittle branches occasionally snapped in the dense silence.
+
+"I guess I could hear myself a mile away," the trooper said. "Still,
+that horse of yours is making row enough for a squadron."
+
+Gallwey did not contradict him, for, as it happened, the horse just then
+blundered into a little watercourse and plunged down the slope of it
+with a great smashing of undergrowth. Gallwey contrived to avoid a fall.
+With some noise they scrambled up the other side, though this time
+Trooper Standish made an effort to control his indignation.
+
+"I guess you would report me if I told you what I think of you," he
+said.
+
+Still, they made the coulee without mishap, and the trooper checked his
+horse as they rode into it. It opened up before them, a black and
+shadowy hollow, with little streamlets trickling through. Dim trees
+rolled up its sides, blurred masses against the sky above. Save the soft
+splash of the stream, no sound broke the stillness.
+
+"Nobody here, anyway," he said. "We'll push on for the herder's hut. It
+was built when the Scotchman who had Lister's ranch put sheep on the
+mountain, but the timber wolves got most of them, and he let up. It's
+'bout the only place in this country where there are any wolves, and the
+agent didn't think it worth while to mention it when he gave his lease
+out. I guess you don't have timber wolves in Scotland."
+
+Gallwey said they didn't. He made no further observations, for his horse
+fell into the stream with a loud splash. After this they pushed on up
+the coulee as silently as they could, until Trooper Standish pulled his
+horse up.
+
+"We're here," he said. "That looks like the hut. We'll get down and
+hitch up the horses at the back of it."
+
+Gallwey made out a shadowy mass among the birches, and swung himself out
+of the saddle as his comrade did. It was not what Sergeant Grier would
+have done, but Gallwey knew nothing of vedette duty, and Standish was
+very young. He had hitched his bridle round a branch when the latter
+turned to him.
+
+"We may as well go in and make ourselves comfortable," he said. "If the
+whisky boys come down this way, it's a sure thing that we'll hear them."
+
+They turned back towards the door of the hut, Gallwey a few paces behind
+the trooper, who thrust the door open. Gallwey could barely see him, for
+they were in the deep shadow of the trees. Just after Standish strolled
+in, there came the sound of a scuffle out of the darkness. Then there
+was a crash, a cry, and the thud of a heavy fall.
+
+Gallwey stood fumbling with his pistol-holster, which, as it happened,
+was buttoned down. The button fitted tightly, and he was clumsy in his
+haste. As he tore at it, he heard a sound behind him, and was swinging
+round when a pair of sinewy arms were wound round him. He struggled
+furiously, reaching back with one foot for his assailant's leg, and
+succeeded in so far that he and the unseen man came down heavily
+together. The other man, however, was uppermost, and when somebody else
+came running up, Gallwey lay still.
+
+"Let him up!" said the last arrival; and when he rose shakily, his
+assailant jerked one arm behind him.
+
+"Walk right into the shanty before you get hurt," he said.
+
+Gallwey did it, since there was apparently no other course open to him.
+The way the man held his arm was excruciatingly painful. Somebody struck
+a sulphur match, and, lighting a lantern, held it up. It showed two more
+men, busily engaged in holding Trooper Standish, who kicked and
+struggled valiantly on the floor. Then the third man laid down the
+lantern, and, taking up a rifle, prodded the trooper with the butt of
+it. It was no gentle, perfunctory prodding.
+
+"Let up and lie still before you're made. You're going to get it hard if
+you move again," he said, and turned to Gallwey. "Sit right down
+yonder."
+
+Gallwey, who fancied that his expostulations would not be listened to,
+did as he was bidden. His holster was buttoned down still, and he did
+not think he could get it open without attracting undesirable attention.
+Presently one of the men unclasped the belt it was fastened to and flung
+it aside, while Gallwey, recognising that a conciliatory attitude was
+advisable, nearly laughed as he looked at Trooper Standish. The lad
+still lay flat upon the earthen floor, flushed in face, and hurled a
+stream of vitriolic compliments at his captors. One of them grinned
+broadly, but did not move his hands from the trooper's arms.
+
+"Now," he said, "if one of you will pass me that pack-rope we'll tie him
+up."
+
+It took two of them to accomplish it. During the operation, Trooper
+Standish contrived to kick one of them where it seemed to hurt. Still,
+they did tie him, and the lad lay still, breathless with fury, with
+wrists bound behind him, his ankles lashed together. Then the men turned
+to Gallwey.
+
+"I guess your hands will be enough. Hold them out!" said one.
+
+Gallwey did it without protesting, which, it was evident, would be of
+very little use. While one of the men went out of the hut, another
+watched him.
+
+"Nobody's going to hurt you if you sit quite still," he said.
+
+Gallwey sat flat on the floor, a position far from comfortable, while
+Standish, who now lay with his head turned from him, did not move at
+all. Then another man went out, leaving only one, who stood on guard
+with nothing in his hand. In spite of certain notions, there are, after
+all, very few pistols to be seen in the West, and though a good many men
+have rifles they keep them because game is plentiful. It was, perhaps,
+ten minutes later when a beat of hoofs grew louder down the coulee,
+until, though the door was shut, Gallwey could hear what seemed to be a
+line of loaded pack-animals going by. He glanced at his jailer, who
+smiled sardonically.
+
+"I guess you're not quite smart enough to play this game," he said.
+"You're from Prospect, aren't you?"
+
+Gallwey said he was a servant of Leland's.
+
+"That's all right," said the man. "It's kind of lucky you aren't his
+partner. We have nothing in particular against you, but, when we get
+hold of Charley Leland, we'll fix him differently."
+
+Gallwey did not answer him. The last horse had gone by when one of the
+men outside flung the door open.
+
+"We have to get up and hustle," he said. "What are you going to do with
+them?"
+
+"I don't quite know," said his comrade. "We might lash this one up as we
+have the trooper, and leave them here. They couldn't chew that pack-rope
+through. You have got their horses?"
+
+The other man said he had, and Gallwey broke in.
+
+"We couldn't get very far without our horses, and you wouldn't be taking
+any risk by leaving us as we are," he said. "It's quite evident that I
+couldn't loose the trooper, and to be tied up so you can't move at all
+is abominably uncomfortable."
+
+The outlaw laughed. "Well," he said, "you have some sense in you, and,
+as you haven't made us any trouble, I'll put a short hobble on you. Hold
+your feet out."
+
+Gallwey did so, and the man busied himself for a minute or two with a
+piece of rope. It was evident that he was acquainted with the secure
+hitches used in lashing a load on the pack-saddle.
+
+"Now," he said, "you might jerk yourself along half a mile in the hour
+if you were careful, though it's quite as likely you'd come down on your
+nose. Anyway, by the time you find the Sergeant, we'll be quite a few
+leagues away. That's about all, I think. Good-night to you."
+
+He went out; and, as they heard him ride away, the trooper, wriggling
+round, looked up.
+
+"Can you get out?" he said.
+
+"Yes," said Gallwey; "I think I could, though it's rather more than
+probable that I shall fall over in attempting it. Under the
+circumstances, half a mile an hour would, I fancy, be an excellent
+pace."
+
+"Still, you've got to try it," said the trooper. "Get up right away, and
+go for the Sergeant."
+
+Gallwey endeavoured to do so, managing to get out of the door before the
+rope jerked him off his feet. He fell over a good many times descending
+the coulee, stopping to rest for a minute or two on each occasion. Still
+he persevered, and made some progress. Dawn was in the sky when a farmer
+caught sight of him. He and his companions had just decided that
+Leland's informant had deceived him, or that the rustlers had gone
+another way, after all, when a weird figure moved out of the gloom
+beneath the bluff. They could not see it clearly, for there was only a
+faint grey light as yet, but it seemed to be moving in a most
+extraordinary fashion. "Well," said one of them, "I never saw a man walk
+quite like that. It is a man, anyway. There aren't any bears on the
+prairie."
+
+He broke off abruptly, for the mysterious object toppled over and
+vanished altogether.
+
+"It might have crawled into a hole," said another man. "No, the blamed
+thing's getting up again. Anyway, it's like a man. I'm going along."
+
+They all went together. A few minutes later, they came upon Gallwey
+sitting in the grass. He had lost his hat, and there was a good deal of
+dust and grass and leaves on him. He sat still, smiling somewhat feebly.
+
+"I don't suppose my appearance is exactly prepossessing, but that's not
+my fault, and I'm unusually pleased to see you, boys," he said. "As you
+may have surmised, the Sergeant's little plan didn't quite work out as
+it should have done. I'll try to tell you about it if you'll take these
+ropes off."
+
+Sergeant Grier, coming up at this juncture, made several observations
+that are unrecordable, but after the first outbreak, he put a check on
+his temper.
+
+"They have come out ahead again," he said. "Well, it's quite likely
+we'll get straight with them yet, and 'bout all we can do now is to pick
+up their trail."
+
+But they could find no trail, for, as little dew falls on a cloudy
+night, the grass was dry and dusty by sunrise. They spent most of that
+day riding about in twos and threes, but nobody at the scattered farms
+where they made inquiries had seen a single outlaw. They and their
+whisky had apparently vanished altogether.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+LELAND MAKES SURE
+
+
+The nights were growing longer, dusk was creeping up from the eastward
+across the leagues of whitened grass an hour earlier than it had done
+when they cut the hay. Leland stood outside the homestead door with a
+few newly opened letters in his hand. The waggon of the man who had
+brought them was just then lurching over the crest of the rise, and
+Carrie stood watching it, near her husband's side. His face was a trifle
+sombre, but he smiled when she glanced at him inquiringly.
+
+"From my broker in Winnipeg," he said. "He doesn't know what to make of
+the market, and I can't blame him. Wheat's lower than I ever remember
+it, but the bears are still working their hardest to hammer prices down.
+In a month or so they'll have the whole wheat of the West flung into the
+market to make it easier for them; but they don't seem to have it quite
+so much their own way as I had expected. One could almost fancy that
+somebody was buying quietly. Anyway, there's a man willing to take most
+of my crop off me, when it's ready, at a little under to-day's nominal
+figure. You see, the Prospect hard red's first-grade for milling."
+
+"If you sold, how would you stand?" asked Carrie.
+
+"Very close to ruin. The cattle run would certainly have to go, but that
+wouldn't count so much. It's less than half stocked now."
+
+"Why can't you hold?"
+
+"The trouble is that all accounts must be met at harvest, and I've got
+to have at least five thousand dollars to wipe out the most pressing
+ones. The rest might be carried over at a stiff interest. Then there are
+wages, harvesting and threshing. Besides, if I held the grain up, I'd be
+taking a big risk. It may go down another two or three cents or even
+more, when every man west of Winnipeg rushes his crop in, and that would
+turn me out upon the prairie."
+
+"Still, you mean to hold?" Carrie looked at him steadily, with a little
+gleam in her eyes.
+
+"I almost think I do."
+
+Carrie laid her hand upon his arm. The faint flush in her cheeks was
+born of pride. "Well," she said, "that pleases me. It is like you,
+Charley. Hold it, dear, every bushel, and, before you yield an inch, let
+them break you if they can."
+
+She turned abruptly and glanced at the tall wheat which rolled back,
+dusky green with faint opal gleams in it, across the great level and
+over the swell of rise into the smoky crimson that lingered in the
+western' sky.
+
+"It's yours," she said proudly. "You made it grow, and do you think I
+don't know what it has cost you? You have gone without sleep for it, and
+worn yourself to skin and bone. Perhaps you have always worked hard,
+but, I think, never quite so cruelly hard as you have done this year."
+
+She stopped and gazed fondly on him. Then she went on.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I understand--everything. Charley, dear, it isn't
+without a reason you are so thin and gaunt and brown, and your
+hands--the hands that have done so much for me--are hard and scarred.
+Still, I want them to hold on to what is yours. You have made the
+splendid wheat grow, and you won't let anybody rob you of it now."
+
+Leland smiled, though it was evident that he was stirred.
+
+"Well," he said, "it would be a little easier to stop them doing it if I
+knew where to get five thousand dollars, which is one thousand pounds.
+Of course, I owe a great deal more, but with that in hand to settle the
+odd accounts that must be met, I needn't force my wheat on the market
+for a month or so."
+
+"Oh," said Carrie with a little laugh, "there will not be the least
+difficulty about the money. I am going to give it to you--two thousand
+pounds if you want it."
+
+Leland stared at her in evident astonishment. "My dear, I never knew you
+had so much, and, if you have, it must be every penny that belongs to
+you. I couldn't let you strip yourself of everything for me."
+
+"What have you been doing ever since I came to Prospect? Still, that
+doesn't matter. You must humour me. Do you think, after all you have
+done, I could stand by and see you ruined when there was anything that
+belonged to me? Charley, you must use this money. Can't you see that you
+must, if it's only to show that you have forgiven me?"
+
+She turned swiftly, and threw an arm about his shoulder. "If you don't,
+you will almost make me hate you again. You don't want that? Then you
+will make no more silly objections. We are going into this fight
+together."
+
+Leland made a little gesture of surrender. "Well," he said slowly,
+"since you have made your mind up, I can't say no. I don't think it
+would be much use, anyway. But it will be a big risk, my dear."
+
+"But," said Carrie, "that is one of the things that appeal to me. Still,
+it's all decided. You shall have a cheque for ten thousand dollars.
+That's right, isn't it? Now tell me what is in the rest of the letters."
+
+She drew back from him a little. When Leland looked at her smilingly, a
+faint flush crept into her cheek again.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I know what you are thinking. I always do. Still, you
+see, it isn't entirely my fault that I'm different from the girl you
+married. And now tell me about the other letters."
+
+Leland handed her one of them with an illuminated device at the top of
+it. "It's an annual function, one of the biggest in Winnipeg, and women
+attend it. Everybody with a stake in the country will be there, and they
+want to make me a steward. My broker's on the committee, and Prospect is
+rather a big farm, you see. I am requested to bring Mrs. Leland along
+with me."
+
+Carrie's eyes brightened. After all, it was lonely at Prospect, and she
+had played her part in two London seasons. Now and then she felt a
+longing to move among people of her own station again, and the prospect
+of attending the function was undeniably attractive. Her dresses would
+not be out of fashion yet, and, after the long months on the dusty
+prairie, it would be delightful to appear for once attired becomingly at
+a brilliant assembly. There were also eminent names upon the invitation,
+and she felt that, apart from any pleasure she might derive, it would be
+a source of satisfaction to see her husband among the notables of the
+land.
+
+"You would like to go?" he asked.
+
+"I would like it better than anything."
+
+Leland appeared thoughtful. "I would like to see you there. You could
+put on the bracelet I saw you with and the crescent in your hair."
+
+"No," said Carrie, who looked away from him, "I think I would sooner go
+very plainly--that is, if I could go at all."
+
+The trace of eagerness in her voice was not lost upon the man, and he
+stood silent a moment before he made a little resolute gesture.
+
+"Well," he said, "we'll go. It's the first little pleasure of that kind
+I have been able to offer you, and I daresay Gallwey will see the guards
+ploughed just as well as I could."
+
+"There is some reason why you shouldn't go, after all?" and Carrie
+glanced at him sharply. "You are too busy."
+
+"I'm not quite sure there is. I expect it's mostly fancy, but a man gets
+into the way of thinking that when there's anything of consequence to be
+done he should see it done himself. Now those fire-guards"--and he
+pointed to a belt of furrows that cut off the homestead from the
+prairie--"are the regulation width, but I was thinking of doubling them.
+The grass is tinder-dry, and the oats will soon be ripe enough to
+burn."
+
+"Ah," said Carrie, "you think the rustlers might try again?"
+
+Leland smiled drily. "Well," he said, "grass-fires are in no way unusual
+at this season."
+
+Carrie guessed what he was thinking as he looked in silence out across
+the ripening wheat. As she gazed at the vast sweep of grain, she, too,
+was stirred with the pride of possession and accomplishment. She longed
+now for the glitter of the assembly, for conversation as one of them
+with men and women of culture and station, with a fervour which in all
+probability any one who had lived, as she had, on the lonely prairie
+levels would quite understand. But, with a little sigh, she crushed the
+longing down.
+
+"Then," she said quietly, "we will stay here, Charley."
+
+Leland appeared irresolute. "After all, we wouldn't be so very long
+away."
+
+"No," said Carrie, firmly. "There is a lot against you, and you mustn't
+leave a single advantage to the enemy."
+
+Leland stooped and kissed her. "Well, I guess you're right--still, I
+think I know what you're going to do without for me."
+
+Nothing more was said, but it was not needed, for there was perfect
+understanding between them as they went into the house together.
+
+It was early next morning when Leland harnessed four horses to the big
+gang-plough, and, as there was moonlight that night, he still sat behind
+another four until long after the red sun went down. There were other
+men he could have bidden to do the work for him, but he knew the odds
+against him, and meant to do it himself thoroughly. It was also careful
+ploughing, and not done in haste, as is most usual in the West, for
+throughout most of it the clods ran dead smooth and level, without a
+break to let the grass tussocks through. Their sides, gleaming from
+contact with the polished steel, were laid towards the prairie,
+presenting to it a serried phalanx of good, black loam; but where the
+sod was unusually friable, Leland got down to toil with the spade.
+
+A grass-fire needs very little to help it. A tuft or two of dry grass
+projecting from a half-turned clod will suffice, and the flame will
+sometimes creep in and out between and across the ridges, wherever a few
+withered stalks may lie. Leland knew he had not done with the rustlers
+yet, and it was advisable to take due precautions. The standard
+guard-furrows were considered quite enough by most of his neighbours,
+who, indeed, now and then neglected to plough them. But he had a good
+deal at stake, and meant, in so far as it was permitted him, to make
+quite sure.
+
+He went round the wheat and oats, and then spent several days ripping
+odd strips here and there across the prairie in the track of the
+prevalent winds. It was fiercely hot weather, but he was busy every hour
+from dawn to dusk, and at nights his men grinned as they mentioned it.
+Charley Leland was getting very afraid of fire, they said. When he was
+satisfied with the ploughing, he had the axes and grub-hoes ground, and
+set the men to work cutting out the smaller growth of willows of
+underbrush in the strip of birches that stretched close up to the
+homestead from the bluff. When Gallwey, who had other duties, found him
+busy at it the first morning, he smiled a little.
+
+"I suppose it's really necessary. If not, it would be a considerable
+waste of time," he said.
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "I almost think it is. A good deal of this
+stuff is tinder-dry, and you can't plough through the bluff. I don't
+know if you have ever seen a bad fire in the underbrush? You can't beat
+it out, as you can now and then when it's in the grass."
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "All this points to one thing. You feel
+tolerably satisfied that the rustlers will make another attempt?"
+
+"It's a sure thing." Leland straightened himself a little, with a lean,
+brown hand clenched on the haft of the big axe. "Before the snow is on
+the ground, I or the whisky boys will have had to quit this prairie. I
+don't want it to be me."
+
+Then he turned away abruptly, and, whirling the great blade high, buried
+it at a stroke in a dry and partly rotten birch. His comrade smiled. He
+had seen Leland's face, and there was something vaguely portentous in
+the flash of whirling steel and the crash of the blow. Charley Leland,
+he knew, could wait and take precautions, but it was also evident that
+when the time came, he could strike in a somewhat impressive fashion.
+
+Leland worked on for several more days, and then one night Carrie and he
+stood outside of the door of the homestead, watching a great pile of
+underbrush blazing furiously. The man smiled as he turned to his
+companion. His hands were blackened, and his old blue-jean garments
+singed.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess I've done what I can. I had to do it, anyway,
+since you lent me that two thousand pounds. If the market would only
+stiffen, you'd get your money back with an interest that would astonish
+people in England."
+
+He broke off for a moment with a curious little laugh. "My dear," he
+said, "you and I should have been in Winnipeg to-night."
+
+Carrie said nothing, but the firelight was on her face when she looked
+up at her husband, and once more he was satisfied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A PORTENTOUS LIGHT
+
+
+It was growing dusk, of a thick, hot evening, when Leland at last pulled
+up his jaded horses, and, turning in the iron saddle, raised his hand in
+signal. Behind him, a drawn-out line of machines and plodding teams were
+moving on at measured distances, binder after binder, half-hidden by the
+tall oats that went down before them with a harsh crackle. Where they
+passed, men toiled hard among the flung-out sheaves, and the trampling
+of weary horses, rasp and tinkle of the knives, and the clash of the
+binders' wooden arms rang far across the great dusky plain. The sounds
+of strenuous activity had risen since the sun first crept up above the
+vast sweep of grass, and continued through the burning heat of the day;
+but now they ceased suddenly, and men, stripped to coarse blue shirt and
+trousers of dusty jean, wiped their dripping faces, and straightened
+their aching backs before they loosed the teams. Their hoarse voices
+came up to Leland, with the clatter of flung-down poles and the tramp of
+horses among the stubble, as he got down from his binder.
+
+Men toil hard at harvest the world over, but, perhaps, nowhere is the
+work so fierce, or demands so much from those engaged in it, as on the
+wide levels which stretch back from the wheat lands of Western Canada
+into the Dakotas across the border. There flesh and blood must keep pace
+with unwearying machines, the latest and most ingenious that man's brain
+can conceive. The reaper has gone, the binder that is a year or two out
+of date is broken up, and, while the machine does more and more, the
+strength of the men who serve and drive it remains the same. For all
+that, none of them can afford to be left behind. They have no use for
+the incompetent in that country, and, though at times the pace is apt to
+kill, man must strain overtaxed muscle and sinew in the tense effort to
+keep up with wooden arms that never ache, and with clashing steel. The
+toilers are, for the most part, well paid and generously fed, and they
+give all that is in them, from pride of manhood, and in some degree from
+sheer necessity. The ban that is still a privilege has never been lifted
+yet, and, while wheat may glut the markets and flour be cheap, it is
+alone by the sweat of somebody's strenuous effort that man has bread to
+eat.
+
+Leland was aching all over, but that was, of course, nothing new to him,
+and he turned to Gallwey, who was standing close by, when a man came up
+to lead his team away.
+
+"If you'll put the saddle on Coureur, Tom, and bring him out, I'd be
+obliged," he said. "I'll sit here and smoke a pipe before I ride out to
+meet Carrie and Mrs. Annersly. They should be well on their way from
+Custer's now."
+
+Gallwey ventured to expostulate with him. "I believe I heard Mrs.
+Leland tell you not to come; and if you are going to start again at four
+o'clock to-morrow, one would fancy you had done about enough," he said.
+"I'm quite sure I have."
+
+"Well," said Leland, "I want a look round, anyway. There has been a good
+deal of smoke about most of the day, and there's a big grass-fire, or
+probably more than one, somewhere out on the prairie. The wind's
+freshening, too."
+
+That, at least, was evident, for a rush of hot breeze came up out of the
+growing darkness, and during the last few hours the sun had been hidden
+by driving haze. Gallwey, who felt the wind upon his dusty cheek, turned
+and glanced down the long row of sheaves which ridged the edge of the
+prairie, for he guessed what his comrade was thinking. Behind the oats
+there rolled long, rippling waves of wheat, and, though they were dusky
+now, the daylight would have shown that they were tinted with bronze and
+gold. The tall stems were hot still, and the prairie sod was white and
+thick with fibrous dust.
+
+"Everything is about as safe as you could make it," he said. "We have
+good guards, and you ploughed check-furrows outside of them."
+
+"I did," said Leland, drily. "I cut them across the track of the usual
+winds. This one's an exception, and I have seen a fire jump guards that
+were 'most as wide. There would be trouble if a spark got in among the
+stubble, and I'm taking no chances just now."
+
+Gallwey made a little gesture of concurrence as he once more glanced
+down the long rows of sheaves. The stubble stood among them knee-high
+and above the strip of ploughing that cut it off from the prairie, for
+straw has no great value in that country.
+
+"Well," he said, "I daresay you are right. It's a little hard to see how
+a fire could get in, but, after all, one can never make quite sure of
+anything."
+
+He went away, and when he came back with the horse, Leland, swinging
+himself stiffly into the saddle, rode out across the rise into the
+silent prairie. Half an hour had passed before he met the waggon, but he
+then turned back with it, checking his lively horse as Carrie's team,
+which had travelled a considerable distance that day, plodded slowly
+through tussocky grass up a slope. There are places where the prairie
+runs dead level from horizon to horizon, but here and there it lifts in
+long, gentle rises, as the ocean does when the swell of a past gale
+disturbs its oily surface. Often the change is imperceptible until one
+comes to the dip where the incline softly falls away again. As they
+crossed the ridge, Carrie pulled the horses up and gazed about her.
+
+"It's a trifle impressive. No sky, and darkness on the unseen earth.
+There are only the fires moving in a void," she said.
+
+The others did not answer, though they were in sympathy with her. Thick
+darkness hid the prairie, and they on the crest of the ridge seemed
+utterly alone in an immeasurable immensity of space. Somewhere in the
+midst of it were long smears of crimson light that seized the eye with
+their suggestion of distance as they flung themselves aloft when the
+waggon crossed a rise. Still, the rise remained invisible, and, as
+Carrie had said, the fires seemed to be moving through a great
+emptiness. It was curiously and almost hauntingly impressive.
+
+"I suppose they can't be near Prospect?" she said.
+
+Leland turned his face to the wind, which was filled with the smell of
+burning. "The nearest should be most of a league away from the
+homestead," he said. "It's fortunate it is. That fire's an unusually big
+one."
+
+There was silence again for a minute or two, while they watched the
+moving radiance, and then Carrie stood up suddenly.
+
+"Prospect should be straight in front of us over the horses' heads," she
+said.
+
+"Almost. You couldn't see it. The rise hides the house."
+
+"Ah!" said Carrie, with a little gasp. "Then there's another light
+behind it. Something low and little that twinkles like a star."
+
+Leland shook his bridle and touched the horse with his heel. "Take your
+own time," he said hoarsely. "I'm going on. I'm afraid you'll have light
+enough before you're home."
+
+In another moment he had vanished into the darkness, and they heard a
+drumming of hoofs grow fainter as he rode towards Prospect at a furious
+gallop. For a while there was nothing he could see, but when he swept
+across the last rise, and the lights of Prospect twinkled close in front
+of him, he made out a little patch of radiance beyond them on the
+prairie. It was evident to him that nobody at the homestead, which stood
+lower, would see it. Then he struck the horse again, and was riding by
+the stables at a wild gallop when a voice hailed him.
+
+"That you, Mr. Leland?" it said.
+
+Leland, remembering what instructions he had given the watcher, shouted
+and pulled up his horse with a struggle.
+
+"Turn out the boys!" he said. "Get them along to the south side of the
+oats with the wet grain bags and shovels. Tom Gallwey's in the house?"
+
+The unseen man said he was; and in another minute Leland, who rode on,
+swung himself down at the homestead door. Gallwey, who had apparently
+heard him coming, ran out.
+
+"Bring me my old Marlin, and get yours," said Leland. "There's a
+fire-bug getting his work in to windward of us on the prairie."
+
+Gallwey disappeared, but came back with two rifles in less than a
+minute. Leland, who had let the horse go, turned to him.
+
+"We're going on foot to get that fellow if we can," he said. "I guess
+the boys will know what to do."
+
+Gallwey considered that this was probable, for grass-fires are common at
+that season, and Leland had more than once explained exactly what the
+part of each would be in case one approached the homestead. He and his
+comrade accordingly set off through the bluff at a steady run, though
+Gallwey twice fell over an unseen obstacle, while, when they came out,
+there were two moving lines of fire, small as yet, but growing, on the
+prairie behind it. It was also evident that the hot wind would bring
+them down upon the oats. Leland, however, did not head for either blaze,
+but for a point some distance to the left of the one farthest off.
+
+"That man means to make quite sure," he said. "He'll figure he's as
+safe as he was when he started the first fire, since we've shown no sign
+of seeing it."
+
+"I suppose there is a man," gasped Gallwey.
+
+Leland seemed to laugh, though he was running hard. "Well," he said
+breathlessly, "it's quite a usual thing for one fire to come along in
+weather like this, but it's rather too much of a coincidence when two of
+them start in the same place, while, when you see a third one too, it's
+enough to make one anxious for a good grip of the man who's lighting
+them."
+
+"I can't see a third."
+
+Leland swung his arm up, and appeared to be pointing in front of him.
+"You're going to. Go on slow, but be ready to run when you see a
+twinkle. The one thing to remember is that you have a rifle."
+
+He turned off and vanished, while Gallwey pulled up to a walk. There was
+a very big fire a league or so away, and two small ones behind him which
+were extending rapidly, but all the rest of the prairie was wrapped in
+utter darkness. When he turned, after glancing at the wide blaze of
+radiance, he could not see a yard in front of him. Where his comrade was
+he did not know, but he fancied his object was to place the incendiary
+between the two of them when he betrayed himself by the third blaze.
+Gallwey was, however, not quite sure there would be a third blaze, while
+it appeared not improbable that if the man still lingered, he might hear
+them.
+
+For five minutes he walked straight on, or, at least, he fancied so. It
+seemed to be getting darker, for the air was thick with drifting smoke,
+and there was no moon. Then a pale twinkle leapt up in front of him, and
+that was all he could be certain of, for, since there was no horizon,
+it might have been, for all that he could tell, either above him or
+beneath. It was a feeble blink of light that presently went out again.
+Still, he had his direction now, and his heart beat a good deal faster
+than usual as he went on at a run, until the pale blaze sprang up a
+second time. Then he dropped swiftly, and crouched with one foot under
+him and the rifle in his left hand, watching the radiance increase. He
+could see the taller tussocks of grass between him and the fire now, and
+drew in his breath, pitching the rifle forward with his elbow on his
+knee, when a black figure became faintly visible behind it.
+
+He could not see the sights, but the man who shoots duck on the sloos,
+handles the rifle in that country much as one uses a double-barrel, and
+Gallwey felt that the chances were in favour of his driving a forty-four
+bullet into the black figure by the fire. Still, something in him
+recoiled from doing so without, at least, a warning, and he raised his
+voice.
+
+"Stand still!" he said; "I have you covered." It is possible that the
+man did not believe him, and made a swift calculation of the chances
+against him. In any case, he vanished incontinently, and it was a moment
+or two too late when Gallwey's rifle flashed. He felt the jar of the
+butt on his shoulder, but, as usual, heard no report. He was listening
+for the whine of the bullet and the thud which would tell him whether it
+had reached its mark. He did not hear that either, and, slamming down
+the slide, fired again at a venture. Then he heard a drumming of hoofs,
+and rose to his feet. It would be Leland's turn now, and he fancied his
+comrade would, at least, have endeavoured to place the man between
+himself and the fire. It was certain that there was nothing to be gained
+by running after a man upon a horse.
+
+While he stood still, he saw a little pale flash, and heard the ringing
+of a rifle. The flash appeared again, and this time was followed by a
+cry and a heavy crash. Gallwey ran as fast as he could in the direction
+whence it seemed to come, and in another few minutes stopped beside a
+big, shapeless object that was moving convulsively on the grass. He made
+out his comrade stooping over it.
+
+"Get hold!" said Leland. "The horse is done for, but he has the man
+pinned down under him."
+
+Then it became apparent that another object, which had a certain human
+semblance, lay among the horse's legs, and a faint voice rose from it.
+
+"Hump yourselves, before he rolls over and smashes me all up," it said.
+
+Gallwey was not sure what his comrade did, but he laid hold of what
+seemed to be the man's arm, and, as the horse rolled a little, succeeded
+in dragging him clear of it. He let him go and stood looking down on him
+stupidly.
+
+"Leg's broke!" gasped the man. "The beast fell on me."
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "it will save us some trouble. You're not
+going to walk very far like that, and, when we get the fire under
+control, we'll see what can be done for you. It's your own fault that
+you'll have to wait a little."
+
+Then he swung round to Gallwey. "Back to the guard-furrows for your
+life."
+
+Gallwey fancied that he had never run quite so hard before, but, when
+he reached the strip of ploughing between stubble and prairie, Leland
+was already there, shouting breathlessly to the men spread out along it.
+Not far away a wavy wall of fire was moving down on them out of the
+prairie, and there were two more some distance to the left, though it
+would evidently be a little while before the last of them rolled up.
+Already a thick and acrid vapour whirled among the oats, and, when it
+melted a little, and a brighter blaze sprang up, he could see the men's
+tense faces and the curious rigidity of their attitudes.
+
+Then there was a trampling of hoofs, and, turning, he saw Carrie Leland
+pull her plunging team up in the midst of the smoke. She stood up on the
+front of the waggon, and a flickering blaze of radiance showed that she
+was dripping with water. A pile of wet bags lay behind her.
+
+"Throw them out, boys," she said. "There are more of them waiting."
+
+In another moment Leland ran up and seized the near horse's head, as the
+beast kicked and plunged in the stinging smoke.
+
+"Go home, and leave the team to one of the boys," he said.
+
+Carrie laughed, standing bolt upright, the fire-light on her face, the
+reins in her hands.
+
+"No," she said; "they're wanted, and do you think we can't drive in
+England? Get the bags out as fast as you can, boys."
+
+The warning seemed necessary, for one of the horses' forelegs left the
+ground, and the other's hind hoofs crashed against the front of the
+waggon. Then Leland was almost swung off his feet, and Carrie laughed
+again.
+
+"Let them go. I'll hold them if you're quick," she said.
+
+She dropped into the driving-seat with her feet braced against the
+board, and the men made what haste they could, while the frantic team
+kicked and plunged and backed the waggon in among them. Gallwey was
+stirred to admiration as he watched the tense, shapely figure, braced
+against the strain upon the reins, that was now and then forced up by
+the fire and lost again.
+
+Then a thick wreath of blinding smoke whirled down on them, and Carrie
+cried out as she swung the whip. There was a thud of hoofs and a rattle,
+the men leapt aside, and the waggon plunged into the vapour, as Gallwey
+said afterwards, like a thunderbolt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+FIGHTING FIRE
+
+
+There was silence for a minute, the tense silence that precedes a
+struggle, when the waggon lurched away, and the men stood still, intent
+and at a strain, blinking at the fire. The wind had lulled, and the
+smoke went almost straight up, shining luminously in the red glare.
+Beneath it, a wavy line of flame rolled on across the prairie, licking
+up the parched grass as it came. As it happened, the grass thereabouts
+was higher than usual. Unless there is a gale behind it, a grass-fire
+does not move with much celerity, and that night the one that menaced
+Leland's crop seemed inordinately slow to those who watched it. Indeed,
+one or two of them found it strangely hard to stand still while it
+rolled down on them, which, in cases of the kind, is by no means an
+unusual thing. Action of any kind, even purposeless action, is a relief
+to men under strain.
+
+There was, however, in the meanwhile, nothing that they could do, and
+they commenced to growl inarticulately as they glanced at one another
+with fierce, set faces. Here and there one of them twisted the end of
+the wet bag he held, to give him a firmer grip, or fidgeted aimlessly
+with his shovel. The rest frowned and coughed, for which there was some
+excuse, or stood woodenly still, according to their temperament. Leland,
+however, swung round towards the row of binders that stood half buried
+among the oats.
+
+"That's one thing we overlooked, and they have got to take their chances
+now," he said. "We couldn't get a team to face the smoke, and nobody
+could harness them if we did. If they're burned, we're going to have
+trouble to get the harvest in."
+
+Gallwey, who stood near him, made a sign of agreement. Every binder in
+the country was in use just then, for, since machines are remodelled
+yearly, implement dealers stock no more than they expect to sell, and
+let on hire any by chance left upon their hands. It was accordingly
+evident that, if these were burned, his comrade could not replace them,
+and, in face of the wages usually paid, nobody could garner the harvests
+of the Northwest without the binder, which not only cuts the grain, but
+ties it into sheaves. It is by saving costly labour alone that the
+prairie farmer pours his wheat into the markets of the East, and retains
+a small margin for himself, in spite of fifteen hundred miles railway
+haulage, and three thousand by sea. It is the gang-plough and the
+automatic binder that have opened up the prairie.
+
+"You couldn't get another anywhere in time to be of use," he said.
+
+Leland, however, now laughed harshly. "Well," he said, "after all, I
+needn't worry about them. It's no great comfort, but I'm not likely to
+want them if they're burnt. In that case, there'll be no crop to
+harvest."
+
+It seemed to Gallwey that this was probable enough. The oats stood half
+as high again as most of those he had seen in England, on thick, flinty
+stems that had dried and yellowed under a scorching sun, while behind
+them rolled the wheat that was almost as ripe. There had been no rain
+for days, and very little dew, and now, when a fierce, hot wind was
+driving down the fire on them, the whole crop seemed ready for the
+burning. The guard-furrows would check the flame, but they could not
+stop the sparks, and sheaves and tall stubble lay spread like tinder for
+them to fall among.
+
+Then once more the wind descended, and a long wreath of smoke, blotting
+out everything, drove on. A great shower of sparks blew forward out of
+the midst of it, and, when it was rent aside, there sprang up a great
+crackling blaze. It leapt forward with a roar, and then broke up,
+running low among the grass, while the smoke whirled past the men,
+choking and blinding them, thicker than ever.
+
+"Stand by!" cried Leland. "There's the first! Beat it out! Hold on!
+Don't crowd in on them!"
+
+His voice was lost in the crackle of the fire, and that was the last
+intelligible thing he said for some time. A further hail of sparks came
+out of the smoke, and a blaze sprang up among the stubble. It spread,
+even while two men fell upon it with wet grain bags, but flickered out
+when a third reinforced them with a shovel. Then it grew intolerably
+hot, and the action became general.
+
+The fire was almost up to the guard-furrows, and a rain of burning
+particles blew on before it. Incipient blazes broke out where they fell,
+and men fought them savagely in the blinding smoke. Now and then they
+fell over each other, and one here and there was struck by his comrade's
+shovel, but nobody heeded that. Epithets that at other times would have
+been answered by the clenched fist passed unnoticed; and choking,
+gasping, whirling bag or shovel, they fought on. Now and then the smoke
+thinned a little, and the fierce red light beat upon their dripping
+faces and bowed figures, only to fade into a confused opacity again that
+made but faintly visible the forms flitting like phantoms amidst the
+vapour. Here and there a man cried out, but nobody heard what he said,
+and his feeble voice was drowned in the crackle of the flame. Leland
+appeared to be wherever the fire was fiercest, once knocking Gallwey
+down as he came floundering through the stubble towards a spreading
+blaze.
+
+Then the fire rolled up to the edge of the ploughing, a wall of flame,
+perhaps a hundred yards from end to end, leaping up with a mad roaring;
+then it stopped and fell away. The sparks dropped short, too, in a
+lulling of the wind, and what, by contrast, seemed black darkness rushed
+down upon that part of the prairie. Then there was an impressive
+silence, and men, half dazed by the heat and effort, wiped their
+streaming faces, and looked round in search of their invisible
+neighbours.
+
+None of them knew how long this lasted, but, though they had won so far,
+the fight was not yet over. Presently the smoke that streamed past them
+was torn aside again, and a red light shone along the line. The second
+fire was coming on, and there was still another behind. The flickering
+radiance showed the dusky figures that leant upon the shovel-hafts or
+shook out the half-dried bags. Here and there it also showed a blackened
+face, surmounted by frizzled hair.
+
+Gallwey, as it happened, found himself close to Leland, and looked at
+the latter with a little sardonic smile, not knowing that he himself was
+not much more prepossessing in his outward appearance. Leland's wide hat
+hung shapelessly over his blackened face. There was a charred gap in the
+front brim, as well as several big holes in his jean jacket, which was
+badly rent. Blood was trickling from one of his hands.
+
+"I don't know if I did that myself, or if somebody hit me with a
+shovel," he said. "Anyway, when I fell down, one or two of them ran over
+me."
+
+Then he turned fiercely towards the moving fires. "The next one's
+bigger. If the wind would only drop!"
+
+Gallwey, who fancied by the way the smoke drove past them that there was
+very little chance of it, coughed. "It's evidently not going to. If we
+had only a little water, one could be more content. I feel as if there
+was not a drop of moisture anywhere in me."
+
+One or two of the others heard him, and cries went up.
+
+"Water!" said somebody. "Is there any?"
+
+"I'm 'most as dry as this bag. It will blaze next time," said another
+man. "My jacket's singed to tinder, too. How're we going to do when our
+clothes start burning?"
+
+Leland stood up where the rest could dimly see him on the spoke of a
+binder wheel.
+
+"You should have thought of that before, boys," he said. "Anyway, you'll
+have to hold out until the thing's over. It's too far to the homestead,
+and nobody could bring up a team."
+
+Just then a man further back along the line flung out a pointing hand.
+
+"Well," he said, "I guess that looks as if somebody was trying."
+
+The sound of a trampling in the stubble rose through the crackle of the
+fire, and a half-frantic team and a waggon materialised out of the
+vapour. A slim, dimly-seen figure swayed with the jolting upon the
+driving-seat, and, when the watchers saw another apparently clinging to
+the load behind, a confused shouting broke out.
+
+"Wet bags and water. Get hold of the beasts, some of you. It's Mrs.
+Leland. She's a daisy!"
+
+There was a rush of shadowy figures towards the waggon, and every man
+was wanted, for the team would not stand still. Blackened hands clutched
+at rein, head-stall, harness, whatever they could get a finger on, and
+the terror-stricken animals, borne down by sheer weight, could not make
+off with nearly a dozen men hanging on to them. The rest swarmed about
+the waggon, where Carrie still sat with the light of the fire on her,
+while Jake, the cripple, hurled down dripping bags, and strove to
+wriggle out a water barrel. They got it down between them, and Carrie
+made a sign to Leland, who was struggling amidst the press.
+
+"That will do!" he said. "Stand clear, boys. Carrie, don't come back."
+
+Then there was a sudden scattering of the crowd, a clatter and a
+trampling of stubble, and once more waggon and team were lost in the
+darkness and driving smoke. After that, men surged about the barrel,
+striving to dip their hats in it. It was a little while before they were
+satisfied, and then one of them waved his dripping hat as though to
+enforce attention.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I guess it's not every woman would have got that team
+here, and it's not Mrs. Leland's fault there's only water in the barrel.
+You can blame that on your legislature. Anyway, you were glad to get it,
+and I never struck a farm where they fixed the hired man better than
+Leland of Prospect and his wife do. That's why, now the other fire's
+coming along, it's up to every man to see them through."
+
+There were some laughter and shouts of approval, and the shadowy figures
+trooped away to meet the second fire. It was fiercer than the first,
+but, though some burned their clothing and odd patches of their limbs,
+they overcame first it and then the smaller one that came behind it.
+Then Leland, who called Gallwey and two of the men, strode away through
+the darkness to where he had left the outlaw. They found the horse
+without much difficulty, and it was dead; but there was no longer any
+sign of the man. When they shouted, it happened--very much as they had
+expected--that nobody answered them.
+
+"I guess the whisky boys must have played the 'possum on you," said one
+of the men.
+
+Gallwey laughed a little as he turned to his comrade. "Well," he said
+reflectively in his cleanest English, "considering everything, it's
+almost a pity one of us didn't think it worth while to examine his leg.
+You see, he couldn't very well have walked off if it had really been
+broken."
+
+Leland, who had perhaps some excuse for being consumed with vindictive
+fury, swung round on him.
+
+"How far could you walk with a broken leg?" he said. "Do you think I
+have no sense at all?"
+
+Once more Gallwey appeared to reflect. "One would scarcely fancy you had
+shown your usual perspicacity to-night. Of course, I'm not saying
+anything about myself."
+
+Though it was very dark, Leland appeared to glare at him for a moment or
+two, and then broke out into a little laugh.
+
+"Tom," he said, "you do it very well--so well that once or twice I've
+found it hard to keep my hands off you before I saw the point of it. You
+only want an eye-glass to make the thing perfect. Well, I can wait until
+my turn comes, and you have helped me shake the black fit off."
+
+Gallwey said nothing further as they went back together towards the
+house, but he was content. He was well acquainted with his comrade's
+temperament, and knew that his silent, simmering anger was not wholesome
+for himself, or calculated to make things pleasant for anybody else.
+Still, a very little thing would usually serve to dissipate it. They
+overtook the rest on the way to the homestead, and, when they approached
+the door, which it was necessary for the men to pass, saw that it was
+open. Carrie, who appeared just outside it, beckoned Leland to her, and
+then turned to the rest, standing close beside him.
+
+She was now attired in a long dress, almost but not quite an evening
+gown, that became her well; but Leland was blackened all over, and there
+were many singed holes in his clothes, wet and smeared with ashes, and
+part of the wide brim of his hat was missing. The men seemed to notice
+the contrast between the pair, and there was a little good-humoured
+laughter. Carrie Leland smiled at them in turn, though she would have
+borne herself very differently to these rough men a few months ago.
+
+"Are there any of you burnt, boys," she asked.
+
+Several of them admitted that they were, though they said it was nothing
+to count, and were directed to repair to the kitchen, where Mrs. Nesbit
+had oil and flour ready. Then Carrie made a little gesture, as though to
+invite attention.
+
+"Boys," she said. "I can't thank you for what you have done to-night.
+You see, there are things one really can't thank people for properly,
+but I think Charley and I would have been ruined if you hadn't been the
+kind of men you are. Still, it's been a long while since the six o'clock
+supper, and I expect, if I'd been with you, I should be hungry, too. Of
+course, in one way, there's nothing quite good enough for you, but we
+have been busy while you were putting out the fire; so, if you'll go
+along to the dinner-shed, you'll find Jake and Mrs. Nesbit have done
+what they can. There is another thing. Nobody need get up until he likes
+to-morrow. Not a team will leave the stables until after dinner."
+
+Leland turned and looked at her in bewildered astonishment, for nothing
+had ever delayed work at Prospect at harvest, or, indeed, at any other
+time, before; and probably because the men understood what he was
+feeling, there was a great roar of laughter when his wife turned and
+laid her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"It is all right, Charley. I mean it," she said.
+
+The rest stood still a minute, gazing at her, not awkwardly, for
+self-consciousness is rarely a characteristic of the plainsman, but as
+if they felt that there was something to be said or done. Perhaps her
+beauty appealed to them, and it is also possible that the offer of a
+feast had its effect, but her gracious simplicity went considerably
+further. No one would have more quickly resented condescension than
+these hard-handed men, who thought themselves, with some reason, the
+equal of any in the world; but they could recognise the distinction
+between that and sympathy, and were willing to yield her everything she
+did not claim. Yet they were a trifle puzzled, for this was not the
+attitude the cold and silent woman who had come to Prospect had once
+adopted towards them. Then there was a murmuring among them, until one
+stood forward with his hat in his hand.
+
+"Madam," he said in excellent accent, "the boys desire me to reply for
+them, and I must first admit that the thought of a supper appeals to
+them and me. Perhaps it would be admissible to say that, having had the
+honour of dismissal from a good many farms between Dakota and Prince
+Albert, I know a little about prairie rations and cookery, and I would
+like to testify that, in respect to both, Prospect stands alone. One
+might also venture to observe, without making any invidious reflections
+upon Mrs. Nesbit and the somewhat unvarying Jake, that the menu has
+become even more attractive lately, for which there is no doubt a
+sufficient reason."
+
+There was further laughter, and Carrie, who saw the little twinkle in
+her husband's eyes, felt the blood creep into her cheeks; but the man
+went on.
+
+"So much for the supper, and it has its interest. Man is usually hungry,
+especially when he has to work hard enough to satisfy Charley Leland,
+but I would like Mrs. Leland to understand that we wish her to consider
+us her devoted servants. Anybody can hire a man. You can buy his labour
+for so many hours a day, but there must always be a good deal left
+outside that kind of bargain, and it's all that's left outside we would,
+on an occasion like this, like to offer Mrs. Leland. In fact, it would
+not be a great matter to put a fire out every night if it would please
+her. If you sympathise with these few remarks, will you signify your
+approbation, boys?"
+
+There was a clamorous shout, and as the men trooped away, Jake's voice
+rose up.
+
+"Get a big grin on over my cooking, would you?" he said. "It's salt-pork
+bones and bad beans you're going to get if I can fix it, you hungry
+hogs!"
+
+Leland laughed, but Carrie felt that his eyes were on her when they went
+in, and, glancing at him covertly, she saw the little gleam of pride in
+them.
+
+"They're yours," he said, and she knew he meant the men. "Whatever you
+want done, you have only to ask them; but it wasn't because of the
+supper."
+
+The blood crept into Carrie Leland's cheek. "Everybody is very kind to
+me," she said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+LELAND FEELS THE STRAIN
+
+
+Supper had not long been cleared away on an evening some three weeks
+after the fire, and the sunlight still streamed into the big general
+room; but Leland lay somewhat limply in a lounge-chair, which,
+considering that there was a good deal of the wheat still to be cut, was
+a somewhat astonishing thing for him to do. His face was paler than
+usual; indeed, here and there a trace of greyness had crept into the
+bronze, and his eyes were heavy. But a mass of papers lay on the little
+table in front of him, and it was evident that he had just been writing.
+His mail, which had come in two or three hours earlier, had been an
+unusually large one. Carrie sat not far away, watching him a trifle
+anxiously. She had been more than a little startled when he came in for
+supper walking unsteadily.
+
+"You are still looking far from well," she said.
+
+Leland laughed, though his eyes were half closed. "Oh," he said, "I'll
+be round again to-morrow all right. It was as hot as I ever remember it
+this afternoon, and each time I came down the long stretch with the
+binder the sun was on the back of my neck. I just want to sit still a
+little and cool off."
+
+Carrie shook her head. "You have been working too hard," she said.
+"Can't you take it a little easier? It surely isn't necessary for you to
+drive a binder."
+
+"Just now, anyway, I almost think it is. When I'm there the boys can't
+do less than I do, and I set the pace for every man in the field. There
+are, you see, quite a few of them, and the little extra effort each one
+makes counts for a good deal. Besides, I have always worked, and now it
+would be quite hard to get used to walking round with nothing in my
+hands, even if I wanted to. Anyway, it won't go on for more than another
+month or so."
+
+He made a little involuntary gesture of weariness. "I don't think I'll
+be sorry. It has been getting a little hard lately, and if the market
+doesn't break me we'll go away when the wheat is in. You would like to
+go to Montreal or New York for a week or two? We would do all the
+concerts and theatres."
+
+Carrie felt that she would like it very much indeed, for, after all,
+life at Prospect had its disadvantages; but she had reasons for not
+displaying too much eagerness. Finances were straitened, and Leland, in
+spite of his simple tastes, was apt to be extravagant where she was
+concerned.
+
+"Of course!" she said. "I mean, if circumstances permitted it, but that
+depends upon the market, doesn't it? What has it been doing lately?"
+
+Leland took up a circular. "Standing still for a week, and that is
+rather a curious thing. You see, with the first wheat pouring in, the
+bears quite often get their own way just now and hammer prices down, but
+quotations seem to have been quite steady in Chicago the last few days.
+They've had a bad season in Minnesota, and the hail wiped out a good
+deal of wheat in Dakota. What one or two States can grow doesn't count
+in itself so much against the world's supply, but it's now and then
+enough to upset a delicate balance. In Winnipeg the bears made another
+raid, but they couldn't break the price, and I'm inclined to fancy that
+all they offered was quietly taken up. The outside men, who like a
+little deal now and then, aren't all of them babes in the wood."
+
+"I'm afraid I could never quite understand these things," said Carrie.
+
+"In one way it's simple. The world wants so much wheat, though the
+quantity varies, because there are places where they eat other things
+when it gets too dear. Now, you can get statistics showing how many
+million bushels they have raised here and there, and it's evident that,
+if it's less than usual, it's going to be dearer. On the other hand, if
+there's more than the world has apparently any use of, the men it
+belongs to have some trouble in selling it, and values come down. That's
+the principle, but there are men who make their living by shoving prices
+up and down, and they're able to do it sometimes against all reason. Now
+and then they half starve poor folks in Europe, and now and then they
+ruin farmers in the Western States and this part of Canada. They have
+millions of dollars behind them, and they're clever at crooked games.
+Still, it sometimes happens that Nature turns against them, and drowns
+them in floods of wheat; or, when they're squeezing the life-blood out
+of the farmers, it strikes men up and down the country that wheat was so
+cheap it ought to be dearer. Then, if the bears slacken their grip a
+little, men who like to gamble and have the money to spare, send their
+buying orders in, and the bears find it hard to get the wheat they have
+pledged themselves to deliver. That sends prices up and up."
+
+"You think that is likely to happen?"
+
+Leland looked very thoughtful. "I can't say. Nobody could. There's one
+significant thing. Prices are steady, though the wheat is coming in.
+You'll get considerably more than your two thousand pounds back if they
+go up. We could have a month in New York then, and you'd go to operas
+with that crescent glittering in your hair."
+
+Carrie said nothing, for though she had not quite understood all he
+said, it was sufficiently clear that if prices went down she would never
+put the crescent on again. She had further reasons, too, for not
+desiring to discuss that subject. While she sat silent, Gallwey came in,
+and Leland, taking up a paper, handed it to him.
+
+"That," he said, "is a little idea of mine, and, if we'd had any sense,
+we would have thought of it earlier. With the new country opening up to
+the North, the police bosses at Regina have their hands full. They don't
+want to be worried, and Sergeant Grier seems kind of afraid to admit he
+can't put the whisky boys down, or to pitch his reports too strong."
+
+Gallwey nodded. "The same thing," he said, "has occurred to me all
+along. His attitude is comprehensible, and I have a certain sympathy
+with the folks at the head of the police. To attend to everything, they
+would want a brigade."
+
+"Well," said Leland, drily, "I have no intention of getting my homestead
+burnt because it suits anybody's hand, and you'll start round to-morrow
+and get this petition signed by every responsible man. It's a plain
+statement of what we have been putting up with, and a delicate hint that
+there are folks among the Government's opposition who might find the
+information interesting in case the police bosses do nothing. I almost
+fancy that ought to put a move on them."
+
+Gallwey smiled a little as he read the document, which, however, was
+worded with a tactfulness he had scarcely expected from his comrade.
+Leland's proceedings were, as a rule, rather summary and vigorous than
+characterised by any particular delicacy.
+
+"I shall be away three or four days, at least," he said.
+
+"Won't that be a little awkward? You are not very well just now."
+
+Leland made a little impatient gesture. "I'll be all right again
+to-morrow."
+
+His comrade did not contradict him, though he had some doubt upon the
+subject, and, sitting down, talked about other matters for several
+minutes, while, when he rose, he contrived to make Carrie understand it
+was desirable that she should find an excuse for going out soon after
+him. She did so, and came upon him waiting in the kitchen.
+
+"He persists that there is nothing the matter with him, but I am a
+little anxious," she said. "You don't think he is looking well?"
+
+Gallwey appeared thoughtful. "I scarcely fancy it is serious, but there
+is no doubt he has been worrying himself lately and doing a good deal
+too much. In fact, the strain is telling. Still, I dare say a little
+rest would do wonders. Couldn't you keep him in to-morrow?"
+
+"Keep him in!" said Carrie, with a little expostulatory smile.
+
+There was a twinkle in Gallwey's eyes. "It will probably be difficult,
+but I almost think, in your case, not absolutely impossible."
+
+"Well, I will do what I can. It is rather a pity you have to go away."
+
+The smile grew a trifle plainer in Gallwey's eyes. "As a matter of fact,
+and, although I am quite aware that there will probably be trouble about
+it, I am not going. One of the boys will have to ride round with the
+paper, instead of me. Still, you will have to decide how you can keep
+your husband in."
+
+He went away and left her to grapple with the question, which, since
+Leland was a self-willed man, was a somewhat difficult one. It was some
+little while before there occurred to her a rather primitive device
+which appeared likely to prove effective. She had, however, not quite
+realised the inherent obstinacy of her husband's temperament.
+
+It accordingly happened that, when the crippled Jake was busy cleaning
+up the big general room early next morning, he was astonished to see
+Leland, attired in airy pyjamas, appear in the doorway. He raised his
+hand as though in warning, and glanced towards the other door. It
+occurred to Jake that he did not look well.
+
+"Mrs. Nesbit's not around?" Leland asked.
+
+Jake said she was in the cook-shed just then, and Leland sat down
+somewhat limply in the nearest chair.
+
+"Slip up into Tom Gallwey's room, and bring me a suit of his clothes,
+the new ones he goes to the settlement in," he said. "That will square
+the deal, because I can't help thinking he had a hand in the thing."
+
+"Where's your own?" asked Jake in evident bewilderment.
+
+"That," said Leland, drily, "is just what is worrying me. But you do
+what I tell you quick before Mrs. Nesbit comes in."
+
+Jake did as he was bidden, for there was a look in Leland's eyes which
+warned him that further questions would not be advisable; and, when he
+came back with the clothing, the latter dressed himself hastily, and,
+slipping out, made his way to the stable. He had some difficulty in
+putting the harness on the team, and was considerably longer over it
+than usual; but he managed to lead them out, and had reached the binder
+with them about the time Carrie and Eveline Annersly entered the room he
+had quitted. The first thing they saw was a suit of pyjamas lying on the
+floor, and the elder lady laughed as she turned to Carrie.
+
+"I fancied you would find it a little difficult to keep Charley Leland
+in against his will," she said.
+
+Carrie, who did not answer her, summoned Jake.
+
+"Where is Mr. Leland?" she asked.
+
+"I guess he's working in the wheat," said the man, with a grin.
+
+Carrie appeared astonished, and Eveline Annersly laughed again. "Charley
+is a trifle determined, but there are, I almost fancy, lengths to which
+he would not go. He has probably borrowed someone's clothing."
+
+"Did he leave any message?" asked Carrie, turning to the man.
+
+"No," said Jake, reflectively. "I don't think he did. He wasn't coming
+back for his breakfast. I was to take it out to him, and he figured Tom
+Gallwey's store-clothes wouldn't look quite so new by sundown."
+
+He went away, and Eveline Annersly smiled at her companion. "You'll
+simply have to put up with it," she said. "It really doesn't sound as if
+he was very ill."
+
+In the meanwhile, Leland, after stopping some twenty minutes for
+breakfast, climbed into the binder's saddle and drove through the wheat
+until almost noon. He did not seem to see quite so well as usual, and
+his head ached almost intolerably. Gallwey's jacket also hampered him,
+until, tearing it off, he let it fall. It was afterwards found, ripped
+in several places by the knife and tied up in a sheaf. The day was
+fiercely hot, and the dust rose thick from crackling stubble and
+trampled soil, but Leland drove on, swaying now and then in his saddle,
+the perspiration dripping from him.
+
+It was close upon the dinner hour, and the sun was almost overhead in a
+cloudless sky, when he approached a turning. The glare from the yellow
+wheat was dazzling, and the ironwork on the binder almost too hot to
+touch with the hand, and Leland once more found his sight grow blurred
+as he strove to turn his team. They did not seem to answer the guidance
+of the reins, and when the machine, turning short, ran in among the
+wheat, he raised himself a little as he called to them. That was the
+last thing he remembered.
+
+The next instant, the man behind him saw him reel and topple from the
+saddle as the whirling arms came round. He pulled his team up, and,
+jumping down, ran as for his life; but, most fortunately, Leland's
+tired horses had stopped of their own accord in a pace or two, for,
+when the other man came up, their driver lay partly across the
+knife-sheath with his feet among the wheat. What could be seen of his
+face was darkly flushed, while the sleeve and breast of his dusty shirt
+were smeared with trickling red. The other man, startled as he was, had,
+however, sense enough to seize the near horse's head before he shouted
+to his comrades.
+
+"Lay hold of the wheel, two of you," he said when several of them came
+running up. "Now get up, somebody, and pull the driving-clutch out. We
+don't want to saw him open."
+
+He had kept himself in hand, but he gasped with relief when the deadly
+steel was thrown out of action. Then, still holding the horses, he
+directed the rest to drag Leland clear. It was a minute later when he
+pushed the others aside and bent over him. Leland lay limp and still in
+the dusty stubble, with eyes half closed, and a red trickle dripping
+into the thirsty soil beneath him. The man, who had seen a good many bad
+axe-wounds in the Ontario bush, rolled back the breast and sleeve of the
+torn shirt before he straightened himself and wiped his dripping face.
+
+"I guess he has come off quite fortunate, in one way. There's no big
+vessel cut, or it would spout," he said. "The first thing to do is to
+get him out of the sun, and it's not very far to the house."
+
+They picked him up, and four of them carried him to the homestead as
+gently as they could. At the door they met Carrie. She closed one hand
+hard, and turned very white when the men, who stopped, stood gasping a
+little and looking at her stupidly, with their burden hanging limply
+between them. Then, while she struggled with a numbing sense of horror,
+the leader awkwardly took off his hat.
+
+"I guess it's nothing very bad. He's cut in two places, and the binder
+hit him on the head, but a man of his kind will soon get over that," he
+said. "Now, I know quite a little about cuts and things, and, if you'll
+send for Mrs. Nesbit, we'll soon fix him up. Get a move on, boys. Mrs.
+Leland will show you where to take him."
+
+The words had a bracing effect. Carrie shook off her first terror, and,
+though she was trembling, went up the stairway in front of them. She was
+almost afraid to look round at the men, who stumbled noisily with their
+burden. Still, she felt a little easier when, in the course of half an
+hour, the Ontario man managed to stop most of the bleeding with a few
+simple compresses, and to get Leland, who had not opened his eyes yet,
+into bed. He turned to Carrie, who was standing close by with a tense,
+white face.
+
+"I guess all he got after he fell off the binder is not going to worry
+him much, but I don't know what he had before," he said. "It might have
+been sunstroke, and it might just as well have been something else. He
+was kind of shaky all the morning. Anyway, I'll tell Tom Gallwey, and
+he'll send some one of the boys in to the railroad to wire for a
+doctor."
+
+He went out, and Carrie was left in the darkened room kneeling by her
+husband's side, while Tom Gallwey drove the fastest team at Prospect
+furiously across the prairie. He did not send another man, but went
+himself, and the horses he drove had reason to remember that journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+CARRIE'S RESPONSIBILITY
+
+
+Carrie Leland spent two very anxious days before a doctor, from one of
+the larger settlements down the line, arrived in company with Gallwey,
+who drove him in from the station. The latter had, during the journey,
+favoured Gallwey with his professional opinions as to the cause of
+Leland's illness. As soon as he reached the homestead he was shown into
+the sick-room. Leland, who had recovered consciousness after the first
+few hours, submitted to a lengthy examination with a patience which
+somewhat astonished his comrade, after which the doctor, who asked him a
+few questions, nodded as though satisfied.
+
+"I have no great fault to find with anything the man did who attended to
+you in the first place." he said. "In fact, I have seen considerably
+worse dressings. A bushman, I presume?"
+
+Leland looked at him languidly out of half-closed eyes. "He's not going
+to be sorry. It would be more to the purpose if you told me what was the
+matter with me."
+
+"An abrasion on your forehead, and a bruise on the back of your head
+which should apparently have been sufficient to produce concussion of
+the brain," the doctor said. "Then your arm is cut half across, and, if
+the knife hadn't brought up on a bone, you would probably not have
+survived the wound on your breast. I almost think that is quite enough."
+
+"Anyway, it's not quite what I mean. The cuts will heal. What made me
+turn dizzy and fall off the binder? I've never had anything of that kind
+happen to me before."
+
+The doctor smiled drily. "Well," he said, "in similar circumstances you
+will in all probability have it happen again. It rests with yourself to
+decide whether you like it. Speaking generally, it's the result of worry
+and trying to work a good deal harder than it's fit for you to work. To
+be a little more definite, you have had what one might call incipient
+sunstroke on the top of it, and, though I don't know how you fell on the
+binder, the thump you got had its effect upon your brain. That's almost
+as near as one can get to it in every-day language."
+
+Leland laughed. "The question is, when can I get up?"
+
+"It depends upon yourself. If you lie quite still and don't worry about
+anything, I will consider the matter, when I come back again."
+
+Leland could extract nothing more definite from him, and, when he went
+out, Carrie took him into her sitting-room.
+
+"There is nothing to be anxious about," he said. "The surgical aspect of
+the case is in no way serious, and I'll leave you an antiseptic dressing
+and mail you some medicine. I don't know when I can get back, but it
+will be a week, anyway; so, if there is any change that seems to make it
+advisable, you will wire me from the depot. What your husband needs is
+absolute quiet. He is on no account to be worried about any business."
+
+"I think I can promise that," said Carrie. "Still there are his letters.
+If I don't give him any, it will certainly make him restless, and, as
+most of them are about the price of wheat and accounts, I'm afraid they
+would scarcely be likely to soothe him."
+
+The doctor appeared a trifle uncertain, and flashed a swift glance at
+Eveline Annersly, who sat not far away. Like most of his profession, he
+was acquainted with the little shortcomings of human nature, and was
+quite aware that there are men whose wives would probably be none the
+happier if supplied with an insight into all their husband's affairs. He
+was too young to conceal very successfully what he was thinking, and,
+though he was, perhaps, not altogether conscious of it, he looked to
+Eveline Annersly for guidance. She said nothing, but there was, he
+fancied, comprehension and an answer in her little smile.
+
+"Well," he said, "I might suggest that you open them and keep back
+anything that seems likely to disturb him."
+
+In a few more minutes, Mrs. Nesbit came in to announce that a meal was
+awaiting him. When he went out, Eveline Annersly smiled again as she
+glanced at her companion.
+
+"That man is painfully young," she said. "I suppose you are not afraid
+of opening Charley's letters?"
+
+"No," said Carrie with a little flash in her eyes. "Why should I be?"
+
+"Well," said Eveline Annersly, reflectively, "one would almost fancy
+that when Jimmy marries, he would sooner his wife did not see everything
+that came for him. It was a letter that first made the trouble between
+Captain and Ada Heaton. In such cases, it not infrequently is."
+
+Carrie turned upon her with a red spot in her cheek. "You will succeed
+in making me angry presently. You know there is nothing Charley would
+keep from me."
+
+"That, I think, is saying a good deal; but, while you are no doubt
+right, my dear, any one who had only seen you in England would be
+inclined to wonder what had happened to you lately. If I had suggested
+anything of the kind once upon a time, you would only have looked at me
+with chilling disdain, but now a word against Charley Leland brings a
+flash into your eyes. That, however, is by the way. I wonder if you have
+heard that Heaton has at last taken proceedings?"
+
+"I haven't. I never hear from home."
+
+"I have had a letter and a paper. The decision was in his favour. There
+was practically no defence. There couldn't very well have been in face
+of the disclosures, and, while I had a certain sympathy with Ada at
+first, I have none now."
+
+Carrie sat silent a minute, a faint flush in her face. Then she suddenly
+raised her head.
+
+"Aunt," she said, "I suppose you don't know it was about Ada that
+Charley and I quarrelled? In fact, it was on her account I nearly drove
+him away from me altogether. In that, too, it seems that I was wrong. I
+wonder sometimes how he ever forgave me, or why I have so much I never
+deserved to have at all."
+
+She said nothing further, and went out presently. That afternoon and
+for several subsequent days, she opened Leland's letters, finding
+nothing that must be kept back from him. But one evening, however, she
+sent for Gallwey when he came in from harvesting, and, signing him to
+sit down, handed him a letter from the Winnipeg broker.
+
+"Will you tell me what you think I ought to do?" she said. "You will see
+that the man must have an answer."
+
+Gallwey studied the letter carefully for several minutes. When he laid
+it down, he felt a certain sympathy with Mrs. Leland, though he fancied
+she would show herself equal to the occasion.
+
+"It's rather unfortunate it should have come just now," she said.
+"Still, it is here, and I want your views."
+
+Gallwey looked thoughtful. "The thing is rather a big one. As I daresay
+you know, there are different kinds of wheat, but our hard red is rather
+a favourite with millers. There is, it seems, a man who, subject to one
+or two conditions about samples being up to usual grade, is willing to
+buy about half the crop from Charley at a cent the bushel more than he
+previously offered. I wonder if you quite grasp the significance of
+that."
+
+"Prices are rising?"
+
+"Not necessarily, though they are certainly steadier. This man may have
+orders for some special flour for which our grade of red is preferable,
+though he could, of course, get other wheat which would, no doubt, do
+almost as well. Still, prices have, at least, stiffened. It is what is
+called a rally, and it may last a week or so, though it is somewhat
+strange it should happen now, when everybody has wheat to sell."
+
+He stopped a moment. "If you sell this wheat, and prices fall, you will
+have made an excellent bargain, though the figure doesn't cover
+expenses. On the contrary, if prices go up, you will have thrown a good
+deal of money away. You have to bear in mind that it represents about
+half the crop, which makes it evident that a good deal depends upon a
+right decision."
+
+"Have you any idea what prices will do?"
+
+Gallwey made a little gesture. "To be frank, I haven't, and I should
+shrink from mentioning it if I had. There are thousands of people up and
+down this country trying in vain to reason it out, and I have no doubt
+that some of the keenest men in the business find the same difficulty. I
+daren't advise you."
+
+Carrie sat silent for at least a minute, and then looked at him gravely.
+
+"If I sell, we shall not cover expenses; if I hold, we may be ruined
+altogether or it might pour hundreds of dollars into Charley's bank?"
+
+"Yes," said Gallwey. "That is it exactly."
+
+Again there was silence, and then Carrie looked up with a little sparkle
+in her eyes. "Charley's not so well to-day, and this would certainly
+make him ill again. It seems I must not shrink from the responsibility.
+When he does not know exactly what to do, it is the boldest course that
+appeals to him. Write the man in Winnipeg that I will not sell a
+bushel."
+
+Gallwey rose and made her a little inclination. "It shall be done," he
+said. "I wonder if one might venture to compliment you on your
+courage?"
+
+Now the thing was decided, Carrie Leland sat still, somewhat limp, and
+pale in face again.
+
+After that, some ten days passed uneventfully until the doctor came
+back. He did not appear particularly pleased with Leland's condition,
+and repeated his instructions about keeping him quiet and undisturbed.
+He left Carrie anxious, for she could not persuade herself that her
+husband was looking any better. He was, however, rapidly becoming short
+in temper, and, soon after the doctor had gone, she had another struggle
+with him. Entering the room quietly, she found he had raised himself on
+the pillows and was looking about him.
+
+"If you would tell me where my clothes are, I'd be much obliged," he
+said. "That man's no good at his business. I'm going to get up."
+
+He made an effort to rise then and there. With some difficulty, Carrie
+induced him to lie down again. He listened to what she had to say with
+evident impatience, and then shook his head.
+
+"I'm to keep quiet, and not worry. There's no sense in the thing," he
+said. "How can I help chafing and fuming when I have to lie here, while
+everything goes wrong, and nobody will tell me what is being done? I
+felt a little dizzy just now, or you wouldn't have got me back again,
+but I'm going to make another attempt to-morrow. You have to remember
+that when I get up I get better. I've never been tied up like this
+before, and the only thing that's wrong with me is that I've had a
+doctor."
+
+Carrie contrived to quiet him, though she did not find it easy. When at
+last he had gone to sleep she went out, meeting Gallwey in the hall. He
+glanced at her with a little sympathetic smile.
+
+"I came upon the doctor riding away," he said. "It appears that Charley
+has been telling him frankly what he thought of him. I suppose he has
+been trying to get up again?"
+
+Carrie said he had, and Gallwey appeared to consider.
+
+"Well," he said, "it might, perhaps, help to keep him quiet if you let
+him know that the appeal to the police authorities has been considered
+favourably. I met Sergeant Grier, and he told me that they have sent him
+half a dozen more troopers. He seems tolerably confident that he can lay
+hands on the rustlers' leaders, though he was in too much haste to tell
+me how it was to be done. By the way, I'm afraid you will have to get
+Charley to write a cheque in a day or two. We'll have to pay the Ontario
+harvesters shortly."
+
+He left her relieved, at least, to hear that Grier saw some prospect of
+putting the outlaws down, but another couple of weeks had passed before
+she heard anything more of him or them. In the meanwhile, the Sergeant,
+as he had indeed expected, met with a good many difficulties. He was
+supplied with plentiful information concerning the outlaws, but the
+trouble was that he could not always decide how much of it was meant to
+be misleading until he had acted upon it. After a week's hard riding,
+during which his men had very little sleep, he found himself one night
+with six of them rather more than sixty miles west of Prospect. He had
+that day surrounded what he had been told was one of the whisky boys'
+coverts in a big bluff, and "drawn a blank," a thing that had happened
+once or twice already. The horses were dead weary, the men worn-out, so
+he decided to camp where he was in a thick growth of willows. A cooking
+fire was lighted, and when the men had eaten, all but two, who were left
+to watch the horses, lay down, rolled in their blankets.
+
+It was about an hour before the dawn when Trooper Standish paced up and
+down on the outskirts of the bluff. He had been in the saddle under a
+hot sun most of twelve hours the previous day, and now felt more than a
+little shivery as well as weary. A little breeze came sighing out of the
+great waste of plain, and the chill of it struck through his thin, damp
+clothing, in which he had ridden and slept. Trooper Standish was also
+more than a little drowsy, though he would not have admitted it. In
+fact, few men are capable of very much, either in the shape of effort or
+watchfulness, at three o'clock in the morning.
+
+A hundred yards or so behind him, a comrade was standing near the
+tethered horses, though he might have been very much further away for
+all Standish could see of him. A thin fringe of willows lay between
+Standish and the prairie. When he turned a little, he could see the
+faint glow of the fire, which had not quite gone out, where the bushes
+were thicker. Though there was a breeze, it had no great strength, and
+the willows rustled beneath it fitfully with a faint and eery sighing.
+As it happened, this was a little louder than usual, when Trooper
+Standish stopped to listen and consider. His duty in such cases was, of
+course, quite clear, but now that the willows had stopped rustling,
+there was no sound, and he was aware that the young trooper who rouses
+his worn-out comrades without due cause, after a hard day's ride, has
+usually reason to regret it. Besides this, he remembered that he had not
+played a very brilliant part in another affair, and he still tingled
+under the recollection of the others' jibes. Accordingly, he prowled
+cautiously through the bluff, and then sauntered back towards his
+comrade.
+
+"I guess you have heard nothing suspicious?" he said.
+
+"No," said the man. "I didn't expect to, anyway."
+
+"You didn't hear me call out, either?"
+
+"I didn't. If you'd made any noise, I would have heard you. Have any of
+the whisky boys been crawling in on you?"
+
+Trooper Standish gazed hard at the man, who had evidently asked the
+question ironically. He certainly seemed wide awake, and it occurred to
+Standish that he might have been half asleep himself, and had only
+fancied that he called out. He accordingly decided that it might be just
+as well if he said nothing further about the matter, and he strode away
+on his round again.
+
+The sun was creeping up above the prairie when one of his comrades,
+rising to waken the Sergeant, saw a strip of folded paper, of the kind
+used by the storekeepers for packing, fixed between the branches of a
+willow close by. Grier took it down, and his face grew intent when he
+saw that there was a message scribbled across one part of it.
+
+"If you want to do Leland a good turn, get up and ride," it said. "The
+boys are holding Prospect up to-night."
+
+Then Grier turned to the astonished troopers. "It may be a bluff to put
+us off the trail," he said. "Leland keeps good watch at Prospect, and
+has it full of harvesters."
+
+"Well," said one of the others, "I don't quite know. Last time I met one
+of his teamsters he told me they'd have no use for most of the
+harvesters in a day or two. He said something, too, about the boys going
+out to the railroad to haul the new thresher in. I guess that would keep
+them away three or four days altogether."
+
+Grier looked thoughtful. "Oh, yes," he said. "I've heard that mill's an
+extra big one, and they were most of a day getting the old one across
+the ravine. It's quite certain, too, that Leland has a good many friends
+up and down the country who now and then break prairie or cut hay for
+him, and, as some of them stand in with the rustlers, too, it's easy to
+figure why the man who sent us this warning didn't want to show himself.
+Well, I guess we'll take our chances of being wanted, though the horses
+are dead played out, and I don't know where to get another within thirty
+miles. Nobody who can help it is going to let us have a horse at harvest
+time."
+
+Then he turned sharply. "Who was on horse-guard with Ainger?"
+
+"Standish," said one of the men.
+
+Grier smiled unpleasantly. "Send him along. Then get your fire lighted
+and look after your horses. We'll start for Prospect when you've had
+breakfast, but I guess some of you are going to walk a few leagues
+to-day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+LELAND STRIKES BACK
+
+
+It was about ten o'clock at night, and Carrie was sitting with Eveline
+Annersly in the big general room at Prospect. Leland, who had been
+brought downstairs to be further away from the hot roof, lay asleep in
+another room that opened off the corridor leading to the kitchen. Almost
+every man attached to the homestead was away. The threshers were
+expected on the morrow, for throughout that country the wheat is
+threshed where it stands in the sheaves, and it had always been a
+difficult matter to convey the mill and engine across the ravine. The
+thresher now expected was an unusually large one, and Gallwey had set
+out with most of the teams to assist the men in charge of it. He had,
+however, promised to come back with some of the boys that night.
+
+Carrie was a little sleepy, for she had borne her part in the stress of
+work usual in a Western homestead at harvest time; but she had no
+thought of retiring until Gallwey arrived. Nothing had been heard of the
+outlaws since the fire, but since most of the harvesters would require
+to be paid and sent home in a day or two, there was a good deal of money
+for the purpose in the house. It seemed that Eveline Annersly was also
+thinking of it, for presently she looked at her companion with a little
+smile.
+
+"It is on the whole fortunate my nerves are reasonably good," she said.
+"It would be singularly inconvenient if Charley's whisky-smuggling
+friends should visit us to-night. Your bills could, one would fancy, be
+got rid of more easily than English notes, and I understand there are a
+good many of them in Charley's room."
+
+Carrie laughed, for she was unwilling to admit she had any
+apprehensions. She felt that, if she did so, they might become
+oppressive.
+
+"There are," she said. "A visit to the settlement means two days lost,
+and Gallwey and I decided to get enough to pay the threshers, too, so as
+to save another journey. I had expected him back by now."
+
+She rose, and, going out, opened the homestead door. It was a quiet,
+star-lit night, with no moon in the sky, and the prairie rolled away
+before her dim and shadowy. Not a sound rose from it. Even the wind was
+still. As she gazed out across the dusky waste, something in its
+vastness and silence impressed her as never before. She had grown to
+love the prairie, but there were times when its desolation reacted
+almost unpleasantly on her. The homestead, with its barns and stables
+standing back beneath the stars, seemed so little, an insignificant
+speck on that great sweep of plain. She roused herself to listen, but no
+beat of hoofs crept out of the soft darkness, and it was evident that
+Gallwey was a long way off yet.
+
+Then she turned with a little shiver, and went back into the house.
+Crossing the big room, she went down the corridor, and softly opened the
+door of the room where her husband slept. A lamp was burning dimly, and
+it showed his quiet face, now a trifle haggard and lined with care.
+Carrie's eyes grew gentle as she looked at him, for he had been very
+restless and apparently not so well that day, while it was evident to
+her that his vigour was coming back to him very slowly. Then, as she
+turned, her eyes rested on the safe, and again a thrill of apprehension
+ran through her. She was glad that Gallwey had the key.
+
+She went back to the general room, and, though she had not noticed it so
+much before, found the stillness oppressive. There was not a sound, and,
+when her companion turned over a paper, the rustle of it startled her.
+
+"I almost wish I had not let Tom Gallwey go," she said. "Still, it was
+necessary. The threshers couldn't have got their machine here without
+the boys."
+
+Eveline Annersly looked up. "I certainly wish he had come back, though I
+suppose he can't be very long now. He told you ten o'clock, I think. In
+the meanwhile you might find this account of the wedding at Scaleby
+Garth interesting."
+
+Carrie held out her hand for the paper, but her attention wandered from
+the description of the scene in the little English church. She had left
+the outer door open, and found herself listening for a reassuring beat
+of hoofs; but nothing disturbed the deep silence of the prairie. Half an
+hour had passed when she straightened herself suddenly in her chair,
+with her heart beating fast, and saw that Eveline Annersly's face was
+intent as she gazed towards the door.
+
+"Oh!" she said. "You heard it, too?"
+
+"Yes," said the elder lady, with a tremor in her voice. "It sounded like
+a step."
+
+In another moment there was no doubt about it, and Carrie rose with a
+little catching of her breath as a shadowy figure appeared in the hall.
+For a moment she stood as though turned to stone, and then suddenly
+roused herself to action as a man came into the room.
+
+He stopped just inside the threshold, a big, dusty man, with a damp,
+bronzed face; but, as it happened, it was Eveline Annersly his eyes
+first rested on. He glanced at her suspiciously, and then swung round as
+he heard a rattle, just in time to see Carrie snatch down her husband's
+rifle.
+
+She stood very straight, breathless, and a trifle white in face, but
+there was something suggestive in the way the rifle lay in her left
+hand. The man could see that a swift jerk would bring the butt in to her
+shoulder and the barrel in line with him, while the girl's gaze was also
+disconcertingly fixed and steady. She had stood now and then just
+outside the woods at Barrock-holme, with a little 16-bore in her hands,
+getting her share of the pheasants as they came over. The intruder could
+shoot well enough himself to realise that when the barrel went up her
+finger would be clenched upon the trigger. His hand was at his belt, but
+he kept it there, and for a second or two the pair looked at one
+another. Then he quietly turned round, which argued courage, and called
+to somebody outside.
+
+"Come in, boys," he said. "Here's a thing we hadn't quite figured on."
+
+Carrie turned when he did, and in another moment she was standing with
+her back to the door that led to the corridor, while Eveline Annersly,
+who gasped, looked at her with horror in her eyes.
+
+"What are you going to do?" she said.
+
+Carrie did not look in her direction. She was watching the outer door,
+and stood tense and still, but with something in her pose that suggested
+a readiness for swift, decisive movement. In fact, her attitude vaguely
+reminded her companion of a bent bow, or a snake half coiled to strike.
+Her face was set, and there was a portentous glint in her very steady
+eyes. Her voice was harsh, but impressively quiet.
+
+"If they try to get into Charley's room I am going to kill one of them,"
+she said.
+
+Then two other men came in, and one of them made a little half-whimsical
+gesture.
+
+"Hadn't you better be reasonable, Mrs. Leland?" he said. "We're not
+going to hurt you."
+
+"What do you want?" asked the girl.
+
+"Money," said the man who had come in first. "Anyway, that's the first
+thing. You have plenty of it here. Tom Gallwey brought a big wallet out
+from the settlement a week ago. They're in the safe in the room behind
+you, too."
+
+Carrie, nervous and overwrought as she was, decided to temporise.
+Gallwey could not be long, and he had promised to bring some of the boys
+home with him.
+
+"Well," she said, in a strained voice, "I haven't the key."
+
+One of the men laughed. "That's not going to worry us. If we can't open
+it with a stick of giant-powder, we'll take the safe along. It's hardly
+likely to be a big one."
+
+"Then it's only the money you want?"
+
+Carrie's perceptions had never been keener than they were that night,
+and she saw one of the others glance at his comrade warningly. She also
+saw the little vindictive gleam in another man's eyes, and she
+understood. It was not alone to empty Leland's safe they had come, and
+he lay sick and helpless in the room where it stood. One other thing was
+also clear to her, and it was that none of them should go in there at
+any cost.
+
+"Well," said the outlaw, "if we got the money without unpleasantness, it
+would help to make things pleasanter for everybody, and we're going to
+get it, anyway. The only two men about this homestead are held up in the
+stable, and there are quite a few of us here. I guess you had better let
+us in to the safe."
+
+Carrie moved a trifle, bringing her left arm, which was aching, further
+forward. "I think there are two keys belonging to the safe," she said.
+"I wonder if I could remember where the other one is."
+
+She delayed them at least a minute while she appeared to consider, and
+then the men evidently lost their patience, for one of them turned
+angrily to their leader.
+
+"We have no use for so much talking, and want to get ahead," he said.
+"It's a sure thing they wouldn't leave the place empty any length of
+time with Leland sick, and I guess you're going to have Gallwey and the
+boys down on you if you stay here long."
+
+One of his comrades growled approvingly. "Oh," he said, "quit talking.
+If she hasn't got that key on her, she doesn't know where it is. We'll
+run in and get hold of her. It's even chances she has nothing in the
+gun."
+
+It was evident that the suggestion commended itself to all of them, but
+the trouble was that nobody seemed anxious to put it into execution.
+Carrie pressed down the magazine slide with one hand. It would, however,
+only move a very little, and she realised that the magazine was almost
+full. Then she laughed harshly, and the sound jarred on Eveline
+Annersly's ears.
+
+"Well," she said, "why don't you come?"
+
+Then she started, and endeavoured to put a further restraint upon
+herself, for it seemed to her that a very faint drumming sound rose from
+the prairie. None of the others, however, appeared to hear it. In
+another moment an inspiration seemed to dawn on one of the men.
+
+"Put the lamp out, and we'll get her easy in the dark," he said.
+
+Eveline Annersly failed to check a little startled cry, but Carrie
+turned towards the leader of the outlaws very quietly.
+
+"Stop a moment," she said. "You daren't hurt a woman. It would raise all
+the prairie against you; but, if one of you comes near that lamp, I will
+certainly shoot him."
+
+The leader made a little gesture, half of admiration and half of anger.
+
+"Now," he said, "we've had 'bout enough talking, and your husband
+spoiled our game when he brought those troopers in. We know who sent for
+them. Well, we're lighting out for good after we've cleaned his safe
+out, and done one or two other little things. We don't want to hurt you,
+but we're not going to be held up by a woman. It's your last chance. Do
+you mean to be reasonable?"
+
+Carrie was white to the lips, for it was perfectly plain that they
+intended to have a reckoning, before they went, with the man who had
+driven them out.
+
+"Keep back from the light!" she said.
+
+Then the outlaw made a little half-impatient gesture of resignation.
+"Well," he said, "you'll have to get hold of her, boys."
+
+They came forward, but, though that would have been wiser, they did not
+run. Two of them moved crouchingly, and Carrie could not see the third
+man. Still, they had only made a pace or two when one of them suddenly
+straightened himself.
+
+"Look out!" he said; "we're going to have trouble now."
+
+Carrie could not see the door behind her open, but Eveline Annersly saw
+it, and gasped. Then she laughed, a little hoarse laugh that at any
+other time would have jarred on those who heard it, as Leland appeared
+in the opening. He was in pyjamas, and his face was white and haggard.
+One arm, still bound up, hung at his side, but a big pistol glinted in
+his other hand. One of the outlaws recoiled, but his comrade sprang
+towards the lamp. Mrs. Annersly saw Carrie's rifle pitched forward,
+there was a double detonation, two jarring reports so close together
+that one could scarcely distinguish between them, and the man nearest
+the light reeled and struck the table before he sank into a huddled heap
+on the floor. A streak of blue smoke hovered in the middle of the room,
+and another filmy cloud floated about the inner door, through which
+Leland presently lurched, gaunt and pale and grim, with a look in his
+eyes that Eveline Annersly remembered afterwards with horror. He said
+nothing whatever, but his pistol blazed, and the room resounded with the
+quick, whip-like reports. Then there was thick darkness as the light
+went out. So far as Eveline Annersly, who was the only one who
+remembered anything, could make out, two of the outlaws retreated
+towards the door, shouting for their comrades; but they did not reach
+it, for a voice rang sharply outside.
+
+"Hold up!" it said; "we've got you this time sure."
+
+What took place outside did not appear at once, but a few minutes later
+somebody came in, calling out for Mrs. Leland, and struck a match. It
+went out, but another man soon appeared, holding up a lamp, the light of
+which showed Leland leaning upon the table with an arm round his wife,
+who was laughing hysterically.
+
+"I didn't hit him, I didn't! You fired first!" she said.
+
+"That's all right," said Leland, soothingly. "Anyway, there's a good
+deal of life in him yet. I'm quite sure I plugged another of them just
+before the light went out."
+
+Carrie turned half round, glancing towards the man, who was struggling
+to raise himself from the floor, and then once more clung to Leland with
+a little cry.
+
+Then Trooper Standish set down the lamp, and Sergeant Grier came
+forward, while several hot and dusty troopers stood revealed about the
+door.
+
+"Is there anybody hurt except this man?" he asked.
+
+Leland said there was nobody so far as he knew, and the Sergeant nodded.
+
+"Then I guess you and Mrs. Leland had better light out of this, while we
+see what can be done for him and another man the boys have outside. I'll
+come along and tell you about it later."
+
+Leland began to expostulate. "I've been tied up by the leg long enough,
+and there are one or two things I want to do right now."
+
+The Sergeant, who ignored him, turned to Carrie with a little dry smile.
+
+"Get him back to his bed, Mrs. Leland, as quick as you can, and send
+your friend away," he said. "You're going to have no more trouble, but
+this is no place for you."
+
+Carrie seemed to rouse herself, and with some difficulty led her
+protesting husband away. Half an hour had passed when the Sergeant and
+Gallwey, who had arrived in the meanwhile, were admitted to Leland's
+room. He now lay, partly dressed, in a big chair, for nothing that
+Carrie could do would induce him to go back to bed again. Grier sat down
+with a little smile, and Carrie looked at him warningly.
+
+"You are not to excite him," she said.
+
+"Excite me!" said Leland. "It's the one thing that has cured me. I'll be
+going round with the threshers in a day or two."
+
+"Well," said the Sergeant, "it's quite a simple tale. One of your
+friends, perhaps a boy who'd worked for you, gave us the office at
+sun-up, and we started as soon as we heard what the rustlers meant to
+do. It seems, from what one or two of them have admitted, that they
+knew the game was up when the new troopers came, and meant to get even
+with you before lighting out."
+
+"How did they know the boys were away, and what in the name of thunder
+did Gallwey keep them all this while at the ravine for?" Leland broke
+in.
+
+Grier raised his hand. "You keep still. I'm telling this thing my own
+way. How the whisky boys found out more than that is one of the points
+I'm going to inquire into. Well, we started, and before we were half-way
+most of the horses were dead played out; and though I went round by a
+ranch, the boys were out driving cattle, and had only two horses in the
+stable. I guess we led the horses most of the rest of the way, until,
+when we were a league off, I rode on with one of the boys. Then, coming
+in quietly, we saw there was something wrong. While we waited for the
+boys, we fixed things so that we got our hands on four of the gang. Two
+of them are the bosses, and one of them wants a doctor, as well as the
+other man with the bullet in his leg. That's about all there is to it.
+You're not going to have any more trouble with the rustlers."
+
+"Will the man Charley shot get well?" asked Carrie, with tense anxiety.
+
+The Sergeant smiled. "Oh, yes," he said. "He'll be on his way to Regina
+jail in a day or two."
+
+He went out with Gallwey by-and-bye, and Carrie sat down by her husband,
+with a little happy laugh.
+
+"Oh," she said, "that's one trouble done with; and, if you won't excite
+yourself, Charley, I'll tell you something more. Wheat is going up."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+HARVEST
+
+
+There was no longer any fierceness in the sunshine, and the day was
+cloudless and pleasantly cool when Carrie Leland and Eveline Annersly
+strolled through the harvest field at the middle of afternoon. The
+aspect of things had changed since the morning Leland had fallen from
+his binder, for, though there was a little breeze, the wheat no longer
+rolled before it in rippling waves. It stood piled in long rows of
+sheaves that gleamed with bronze and gold in a great sweep of
+ochre-tinted stubble, beyond which the prairie stretched back, dusty
+white, to the cold blueness of the northern horizon.
+
+The sheaves were, however, melting fast, for waggons piled high with
+them moved towards a big machine that showed up dimly against a cloud of
+smoke and dust in the foreground. A long spout rose high above it,
+pouring down a golden cascade of straw upon a shapeless mound, and a
+swarm of half-seen figures toiled amidst the dust. The threshers are
+usually paid by the bushel in that country, and since they have, as they
+would say, no use for anything but the latest and most powerful engine
+and mill, it was only by fierce, persistent effort the men of Prospect
+kept the big machine fed. Its smoke trail drifted far down the prairie,
+and through the deep hum it made there rose the thud of hoofs and the
+sounds of human activity, which, it seemed to Carrie Leland as she stood
+in the bright sunshine under the cloudless sky, had a glad, exultant
+note in them. It stirred her curiously with its vague suggestion of
+faith that had proved warranted. Once more there had been a fulfilment
+of the promise made when the waters dried, and, in spite of drought and
+scourging hail, the harvest had not failed.
+
+"Ah," she said, "it is easy to be an optimist to-day. It is the looking
+forward when everything appears against one that is difficult; but, when
+I remember the springtime, I feel I shall never have any reason to be
+proud of myself again."
+
+Eveline Annersly's eyes twinkled. "I'm not sure the time you mentioned
+could have been particularly pleasant to Charley, either."
+
+"Still," said Carrie, with a little sigh, "he held fast to his optimism
+and worked, while I let the gloom of it overmaster me."
+
+"And now, as the result of it, that machine is threshing out I don't
+know how many thousand bushels of splendid wheat."
+
+Carrie's eyes grew gentle, and there was a little thrill in her voice.
+"We have both of us ever so much more than the wheat to be thankful
+for," she said.
+
+Then she changed the subject abruptly. "Aunt, if you want to catch the
+New York mail, you will have to answer that letter to-night. You know
+that neither of us wants you to go."
+
+"Would you like to go back to England?"
+
+Carrie looked at the wheat and great sweep of prairie with glowing
+eyes. "I think I should be content wherever my husband went. There was a
+time when I fancied that if we had several good harvests and he sold
+Prospect, it would be nice to go back with him to the old country, but
+now I do not know. I seem to have grown since I came out here, and the
+prairie has, as he would say, got hold of me. It is so big and
+strenuous, there is so much in this country that is worth doing, and I
+think Charley is like it in many ways. No, I scarcely fancy he would
+ever be quite happy in England. But, after all, that is not the
+question. We want you. Do you feel you must go back again?"
+
+Her companion smiled a little. "I am not altogether sure that I do, but
+one has to consider a good many things. The house Florence writes about
+at Cransly is pretty and convenient, and, by sharing expenses, we could
+live there comfortably enough. Still, you know the life two elderly
+ladies would lead at Cransly, and after Barrock-holme--and
+Prospect--there are ways in which it would not appeal to me very
+strongly."
+
+"Oh, I know," and Carrie laughed. "You would be expected to set
+everybody a model of propriety, and to rule with the vicar's wife such
+society as there is in the place. You would have to know the exact shade
+of graciousness to bestow upon the wife of the local doctor, and how to
+check the presumptuous advances of the retired tradesman or the
+daughters of the stranger who settled within your borders. Isn't it all
+a little small and petty?"
+
+She turned once more to the prairie with a gesture of pride. "Ah," she
+said, "out here it's only what is essential that comes first. We open
+our gates to the stranger and give him our best, even when he comes on
+foot in dusty jean. It's manhood that counts for everything, and Charley
+and the others are always opening the gates a little wider. We take all
+who come, the poor and the outcast, and ask no questions. One has only
+to look round and see what the prairie has made of them. Aunt, I think
+the greatest thing in human nature is the faith of the optimist. No, I
+shall stay here, and you will stay with me."
+
+"I think a little would naturally depend upon what Charley wants."
+
+Carrie laughed. "Well," she said, "we will ascertain his views. He is
+not as a rule very diffident about expressing them."
+
+Tom Gallwey, somewhat lightly dressed, drove up just then in a waggon
+piled with grain bags.
+
+"Where is Charley?" she asked.
+
+Gallwey smiled. "Lifting four-bushel wheat sacks into a waggon. He has
+been doing it most of the afternoon, too, and I almost think it would be
+wise if you looked after him."
+
+He drove on, and Carrie attempted to frown. "Isn't he exasperating?" she
+said. "The doctor told him he was to take it very easy for at least
+another month, and he promised me he would do nothing hard."
+
+They went on towards the thresher, walking delicately among the flinty
+stubble, until they reached the edge of the whirling dust. Overhead the
+straw was rushing down through a haze of smoke. Below, half-naked men
+toiled savagely about the big machine. Steam was roaring from the
+engine, for the threshers were firing recklessly, and the thudding clank
+of the engine and hum of the clattering mill were almost deafening.
+There was a constant passing upwards of golden sheaves, a constant
+downward stream of straw, and the dusty air seemed filled with toiling
+men and kicking teams.
+
+Then Carrie went forward into the midst of the press, for it was
+naturally where the activity was fiercest that she expected to find her
+husband. He was with another harvester pitching up big sacks into a
+waggon. As a bushel of wheat weighs approximately sixty pounds, it was
+an occupation that demanded much from the man engaged in it. She touched
+him on the shoulder, looking at him reproachfully when he swung round
+and let the bag drop.
+
+"Charley," she said, "you remember your promise?"
+
+The twinkle crept into Leland's eyes. "Oh, yes," he said, "I told you
+I'd do nothing hard. When you know the trick of it, this thing's quite
+easy."
+
+It did not appear so to Carrie. "Come away at once," she said. "You are
+to do no more this afternoon."
+
+Leland made a little whimsical gesture of resignation, but it is
+possible that he was not altogether sorry; for, though he had recovered
+rapidly since the affair with the whisky boys, his full strength had not
+come back, and he had been lifting grain bags for several hours. In any
+event, he put on his jacket, and, brushing a little of the dust off his
+person, went away with her. They sat down together with Eveline
+Annersly, beneath one of the straw-pile granaries that stood in a row
+amidst the stubble.
+
+"Aunt Eveline is thinking of going away," said Carrie.
+
+Leland started, and there was no doubt that his concern was genuine.
+"Oh," he said, "the thing's quite out of the question. She told me she
+was going to stay with us as long as we wanted her."
+
+"I did," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, I really think you can do
+without me now."
+
+Both Carrie and her husband knew exactly what she meant, but it was the
+latter who had the courage to admit it.
+
+"Madam--" he began.
+
+Eveline Annersly checked him with a smile. "The title has gone out of
+fashion, with a few other old-fashioned things you still seem to cling
+to in the newest West. I do not like it--from you."
+
+Leland made her a bow that included Carrie. "Well," he said, "Aunt
+Eveline--and that, because of the humanity in it, is, perhaps, a finer
+title--I'm talking now, and you are going to listen to me. You were kind
+to me at Barrock-holme, where I was what you call an outsider, and you
+gave me the greatest thing I ever had, or that ever could come to me.
+You didn't find it easy. Things were far from promising when you were
+half-way through, but you stood by me, and now do you think there is
+anything that would be too much for me to do for you?"
+
+There was a little silence. It was the first time the fact that all
+three recognised had been put into words, and a faint flush mantled
+Eveline Annersly's cheeks. Still, her eyes were gentle, and there was no
+doubt that the bond between the little faded lady, upon whom the stamp
+of station was plain, and the gaunt prairie farmer, with the hard hands
+and the bronzed face, sprinkled with the dust of toil, was a wondrous
+strong one. In England it would, perhaps, have seemed incomprehensible,
+an anachronism; but amidst the long rows of sheaves he had called up out
+of the prairie there was nothing strange in their communion. After all,
+it is manhood that counts in the new Northwest.
+
+"Well," she said, quietly, "it was a great responsibility, and there
+were times when I was horribly afraid. Still, events have proved me
+right, and I think it is the greatest compliment I could pay you when I
+say that it was to make Carrie safe I did it."
+
+Carrie said nothing, but there was faith and confidence in her eyes when
+she turned them for a moment upon her husband as he spoke again.
+
+"And now you talk of going away," he said. "Aunt Eveline, we want you
+here always, both of us. You stood by us through the struggle, for it
+has been a hard one this year, and now I want you to share in the result
+of it. Oh, I know, in some ways it's a hard country for a woman brought
+up like you, but things will be different at Prospect with wheat going
+up, and there's one great argument you can't get over--what Carrie
+Leland is content with is sufficient for any woman on this earth."
+
+They had just decided that she was to stay, when Sergeant Grier rode up.
+He swung himself out of the saddle, and tossed Leland a bundle of
+papers.
+
+"I got one or two at the settlement, and Custer asked me to hand you the
+rest," he said. "I guess you'll be glad to see that wheat is jumping up.
+It seems as if everybody was buying. Still, that wasn't what I came to
+talk about."
+
+"You don't want me at the trial of the rustlers' friends?" asked Leland,
+impatiently.
+
+Grier laughed. "I guess we'll fix them without you. It's quite easy to
+find out things, now the gangs are broken up. I heard from Regina the
+other day, and the man who got the bullet in his leg is already doing
+something useful--making roads, I think. The other fellow is going out
+with the work gang as soon as he's strong enough."
+
+"But if they let them out, won't they run away?" asked Carrie.
+
+"I guess not," said the Sergeant, drily. "They hitch a nice little
+weight to their ankles when it appears advisable, and a warder with a
+shot-gun keeps his eye on them." Then he turned to Leland. "I want a few
+particulars about that last fire you had."
+
+"You'll get them after supper. In the meanwhile there's something Tom
+Gallwey wants to talk to you about. Hadn't you better put up your
+horse?"
+
+Sergeant Grier appeared willing to do so, for the fare at Prospect was
+proverbially good. Presently he moved off to the stables. Carrie then
+remembered that she had several matters to attend to. The commissariat
+required supervision when there were threshers about. She, however, made
+Leland promise that he would do nothing further, and left him with
+Eveline Annersly. He turned to the latter with an apologetic smile as he
+took up one or two of the papers the Sergeant had brought.
+
+"I'm rather interested in the markets. You don't mind?" he said.
+
+Eveline Annersly said she didn't, and watched him with pleasure as he
+glanced at the papers in turn, for it was evident that the news was
+reassuring.
+
+"They've got the bears this time--screwed up tight," he said. "Two of
+the big men gone under--couldn't get the wheat to cover, and it looks to
+me as if there is a bull movement everywhere. I can't remember prices
+ever stiffening this way before when the wheat was pouring in, and, if
+the bulls can swing the thing over harvest, there's no saying what they
+may go to."
+
+"I'm glad you're satisfied," said Eveline Annersly. "Still, your
+observations are not very clear to me."
+
+Leland looked at her with a smile. "The fact is that it seems quite
+likely I'm going to be comparatively rich. I'm 'most where I stood this
+time last year already, and if the market doesn't break away under the
+harvest, prices are going up and up. One thing's certain--Carrie's going
+to have a month in New York."
+
+He stopped a moment and looked at his companion steadily. "It's rather a
+curious thing that, when I suggested she might like a run over to
+Barrock-holme, she didn't seem to want to go. And there's another point
+that's puzzling me. When I mention the crescent or the pearls, why does
+she want to change the subject?"
+
+Eveline Annersly decided to tell him. "The two things go together. It
+happens now and then that a woman has to choose between her relations
+and her husband. Carrie chose you. Those jewels are, you know, worth a
+good deal of money, and, while they belong to her, there is reason for
+believing that, unless she had shown herself resolute, Jimmy would have
+had them instead. In fact, I have a notion that her father found it
+distressingly inconvenient to send them. One can raise money on such
+things in England."
+
+A deeper hue crept into Leland's sun-darkened face. "I understand
+now--that is, some of it," he said. "It would be better if you made the
+whole thing clear."
+
+"Well, there was a time when you were rather hard pressed for a thousand
+pounds. Carrie, if I remember, found you a much larger sum. But she
+evidently did not tell you where her jewels went."
+
+The man's eyes glowed. When at last he spoke, there was a thrill in his
+voice.
+
+"It hurts me, in a way, to think of it--but what does that matter?" he
+said. "Her jewels, everything she had . . . when I was in a tight place,
+she brought them all to me. . . . It was the two thousand pounds that
+saved me. . . . Shall I have time enough to get even with her in all my
+life, Aunt Eveline?"
+
+Eveline Annersly smiled reassuringly. "One ought to do a good many
+little things in a lifetime, and, after all, it is deeds of gratitude
+that please us most."
+
+They went in some little time afterwards. While they sat at supper
+together, one of Leland's distant neighbours came in.
+
+"I've ridden straight from the settlement. Macartney had a wire from
+Winnipeg just before I left," he said. "Wheat jumped up another cent
+to-day."
+
+Leland looked across the table at Gallwey. "Tom," he said, "before I
+fell sick, my broker sent along an offer for about half the crop. I
+wouldn't sell. But I have wondered once or twice if the other man made
+another bid."
+
+"He did," said Gallwey, with a quiet smile. "There were, as you may
+remember, two or three weeks when we told you very little, and you
+wouldn't have understood anything during the first of them. At the time
+everybody round here was anxious to sell--that is, except Mrs. Leland.
+By her instructions, I wrote your broker that you meant to hold on to
+every bushel."
+
+Leland said nothing, for there were others present, but Carrie felt her
+face grow hot when he looked at her. It was also significant that soon
+after the meal was over the others seemed to feel they would be excused
+if they went out to watch the threshing. Gallwey, whose face beamed,
+surmised that the impression was conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly,
+though he could not be sure how she had accomplished it.
+
+The dusk came early now, but a full moon was rising above the prairie,
+and men still toiled about the big machine, whose hum rang through the
+stillness. Loaded waggons lurched through the crackling stubble. Outside
+the homestead, Leland sat with his wife, watching them.
+
+"The first wheat we sell will get that crescent back," he said. "The
+next will take us for two months to New York. We'll start when the snow
+is on the ground, but it will not be like that first drive we had."
+
+There was a curious little tremor in Carrie Leland's voice. "Charley,"
+she said, "everything is different now. You have driven out the rustlers
+and you have saved your wheat."
+
+Leland laughed.
+
+"That isn't quite what you mean, and, after all, it wouldn't go very far
+by itself. The thing that counts the most is that Carrie Leland is
+content with her prairie farmer."
+
+
+
+
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+   =Arms and the Woman.= By Harold MacGrath.
+   =Artemus Ward's Works= (extra illustrated).
+   =At the Mercy of Tiberius.= By Augusta Evans Wilson.
+   =Awakening of Helena Richie.= By Margaret Deland.
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+   =Bob, Son of Battle.= By Alfred Ollivant.
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+   =Car of Destiny, The.= By C. N. and A. N. Williamson.
+   =Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine.= By Frank R. Stockton.
+   =Cecilia's Lovers.= By Amelia E. Barr.
+   =Circle, The.= By Katherine Cecil Thurston (author of
+          "The Masquerader," "The Gambler").
+   =Colonial Free Lance, A.= By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.
+   =Conquest of Canaan, The.= By Booth Tarkington.
+   =Conner of Fortune, A.= By Arthur W. Marchmont.
+   =Darrow Enigma, The.= By Melvin Severy.
+   =Deliverance, The.= By Ellen Glasgow.
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+   =Exploits of Brigadier Gerard.= By A. Conan Doyle.
+   =Fighting Chance, The.= By Robert W. Chambers.
+   =For a Maiden Brave.= By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss.
+   =Fugitive Blacksmith, The.= By Chas. D. Stewart.
+   =God's Good Man.= By Marie Corelli.
+   =Heart's Highway, The.= By Mary E. Wilkins.
+   =Holladay Case, The.= By Burton Egbert Stevenson.
+   =Hurricane Island.= By H. B. Marriott Watson.
+   =In Defiance of the King.= By Chauncey C Hotchkiss.
+   =Indifference of Juliet, The.= By Grace S. Richmond.
+   =Infelice.= By Augusta Evans Wilson.
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+   =Lane That Had No Turning, The.= By Gilbert Parker.
+   =Langford of the Three Bars.= By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles.
+   =Last Trail, The.= By Zane Grey.
+   =Leavenworth Case, The.= By Anna Katharine Green.
+   =Lilac Sunbonnet, The.= By S. R. Crockett.
+   =Lin McLean.= By Owen Wister.
+   =Long Night, The.= By Stanley J. Weyman.
+   =Maid at Arms, The.= By Robert W. Chambers.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original text have been corrected.
+
+In Chapter II, "Branscome Denham is usually at his wits' end" was
+changed to "Branscombe Denham is usually at his wits' end".
+
+In Chapter VII, "Galgary" was changed to "Calgary" in two places.
+
+In Chapter XXII, "I hadn't meant to memtion it" was changed to "I hadn't
+meant to mention it".
+
+In Chapter XXX, "conveyed to them by Eveline Annersley" was changed to
+"conveyed to them by Eveline Annersly".
+
+The spelling of some words, such as "depot" and "depot", or "flap-jacks"
+and "flapjacks", is inconsistent in the original text.
+
+
+
+
+
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