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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36705-8.txt b/36705-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d865931 --- /dev/null +++ b/36705-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10813 @@ +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." + + + + +Popular Copyright Books + +AT MODERATE PRICES + +Any of the following titles can be bought of your bookseller at 50 cents +per volume. + + =The Shepherd of the Hills.= By Harold Bell Wright. + =Jane Cable.= By George Barr McCutcheon. + =Abner Daniel.= By Will N. Harben. + =The Far Horizon.= By Lucas Malet. + =The Halo.= By Bettina von Hutten. + =Jerry Junior.= By Jean Webster. + =The Powers and Maxine.= By C. N. and A. M. 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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 + "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. + =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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE *** + +***** This file should be named 36705-8.txt or 36705-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/0/36705/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 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.) + + + + + + +</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=""GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT'S MRS. LELAND. +SHE'S A DAISY!" title="" /> +</div> +<p class="caption">"GET HOLD OF THE BEASTS, SOME OF YOU. IT'S MRS. LELAND. +SHE'S A DAISY!"—<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. 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"> </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—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<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—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."</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—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:—'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—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—or bearing part of the responsibility——"</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—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"—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."</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—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—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—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—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"—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."</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—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."</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—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."</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—if it wasn't +more than that—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—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.</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? . . . +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."</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—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—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. . . . 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—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—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,"—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.<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—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—taking all I had to offer for nothing," +he said. "I suppose I ought to hate you, too—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—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>soirée</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—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—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."</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—bridle, or saddle, or stirrup—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—he never wriggled +any—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—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."</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—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—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."</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—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—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."</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—it's much the same thing—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—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—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—vast, mysterious, shadowy, under a great tense +silence—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—it usually +is—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—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—to please me—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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—and I love you +now. If you had been happy I might have hid my feelings—at least, I +would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> 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."</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—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—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—you—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—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."</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—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—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—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<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—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—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—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—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—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—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."</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—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—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—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—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 depôt. 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—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—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."</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. . . . 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."</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—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—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—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—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—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—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."</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—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—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"—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<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—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—very much as they had +expected—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—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 depôt. 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—and +Prospect—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—" 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—from you."</p> + +<p>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?"</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—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—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—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."</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—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—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—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?"</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—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" /> + +<h2>Popular Copyright Books<br /> +<span class="smallertext">AT MODERATE PRICES</span></h2> + +<p class="center">Any of the following titles can be bought of your bookseller at 50 cents +per volume.</p> + +<div class="booklist"> +<span class="i0"><b>The Shepherd of the Hills.</b> By Harold Bell Wright.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>Jane Cable.</b> By George Barr McCutcheon.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>Abner Daniel.</b> By Will N. Harben.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>The Far Horizon.</b> By Lucas Malet.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>The Halo.</b> By Bettina von Hutten.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>Jerry Junior.</b> By Jean Webster.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>The Powers and Maxine.</b> By C. N. and A. M. 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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. 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 "depôt", 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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE *** + +***** This file should be named 36705-h.htm or 36705-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/0/36705/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 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." + + + + +Popular Copyright Books + +AT MODERATE PRICES + +Any of the following titles can be bought of your bookseller at 50 cents +per volume. + + =The Shepherd of the Hills.= By Harold Bell Wright. + =Jane Cable.= By George Barr McCutcheon. + =Abner Daniel.= By Will N. Harben. + =The Far Horizon.= By Lucas Malet. + =The Halo.= By Bettina von Hutten. + =Jerry Junior.= By Jean Webster. + =The Powers and Maxine.= By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. + =The Balance of Power.= By Arthur Goodrich. + =Adventures of Captain Kettle.= By Cutcliffe Hyne. + =Adventures of Gerard.= By A. Conan Doyle. + =Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.= By A. Conan Doyle. + =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. + =Battle Ground, The.= By Ellen Glasgow. + =Belle of Bowling Green, The.= By Amelia E. Barr. + =Ben Blair.= By Will Lillibridge. + =Best Man, The.= By Harold MacGrath. + =Beth Norvell.= By Randall Parrish. + =Bob Hampton of Placer.= By Randall Parrish. + =Bob, Son of Battle.= By Alfred Ollivant. + =Brass Bowl, The.= By Louis Joseph Vance. + =Brethren, The.= By H. Rider Haggard. + =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 + "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. + =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 "depot", 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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BY RIGHT OF PURCHASE *** + +***** This file should be named 36705.txt or 36705.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/7/0/36705/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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