' 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 Crown 8vo. cloth, 3$. 6d. 
 
 AINSLIE'S JU-JU: 
 
 A ROMANCE OF THE HINTERLAND. 
 
 1 Mr. Harold Bindloss, one of the few men who know the Niger region as intimately 
 as nous autres know Hyde Park, chats about it in " Ainslie's Ju-ju.". . . The book is 
 well worth getting and reading on account of the vivid glimpses it gives us of the strange 
 land at the back of Lagos." PUNCH. 
 
 ' ' ' Ainslie's Ju-ju " is more than a sensational fancy. Mr. Harold Bindloss has 
 written a striking book on the dismal Niger country, and now he has threaded on a 
 sufficiently excking tale a series of pictures which are as impressive as we belive them to 
 be truthful.' TIMES. 
 
 ' A powerful story, well told, full of incident, strenuously subordinated to enhance 
 the main interest of the characters and the fulfilment of their destiny.' MORNING POST. 
 
 ' An impressive romance. . . . The book, if somewhat sombre, is always interesting 
 and powerful, and it has quite an exceptional knowledge of men and manners in regions 
 little known to civilisation. It draws the negroes from the life. ... It is an able and 
 attractive story, and deserves to be widely read.' SCOTSMAN. 
 
 ' It is a capital tale in every way in plot, incident, characterisation, and literary 
 style.' GLASGOW HERALD. 
 
 ' The strangeness, peril, and fascination of Anglo- African life are amply illustrated.' 
 DUNDEE ADVERTISER. 
 
 ' A thoroughly interesting, well-written, and carefully-constructed effort in a field of 
 fiction where Probability has as yet had little chance.' OUTLOOK. 
 
 1 A thrilling South African novel. The story of the talisman is strikingly told. Very 
 adventurous African life pervades the whole romance.' PERTHSHIRE CONSTITUTIONAL. 
 
 1 Mr. Bindloss has a unique and convincing knowledge of Nigeria and the Lagos 
 Hinterland.' SPEAKER. 
 
 ' " Ainslie's Ju-ju," written by a man who knows every inch of his ground, is a 
 delightful book of travel, flavoured with a soupfon of interesting fiction. Now that the 
 eyes of half the world are turned towards Africa, Mr. Bindloss's charmingly written story 
 will have many greedy readers.' LIVERPOOL REVIEW. 
 
 ' The book is full of excitement. . . . Mr. Bindloss knows the country in which he 
 sets his romance, so that, in addition to its other merits, the story has the local colour 
 that so helps interest.' LLOYD'S NEWS. 
 
 Whether on sea or land or river, Mr. Bindloss's pictures of Nigeria and its in- 
 
 has seen what 
 
 wnetner on sea or lana or river, Mr. cmaiosss pictures or mge 
 habitants are illumined by a hundred touches only possible in a writer who 
 he describes. . . . An astonishingly vivid account of the sufferings of the adventurers from 
 pestilence, drought, and the attacks of hostile natives.' SPECTATOR. 
 
 ' It is a thrilling story. . . . Mr. Bindloss brings this strange country before us with 
 extraordinary vividness, and his thrilling narrative never flags.' PEOPLE'S FRIEND. 
 
 ' A book which all lovers of good writing and a good story ought to read. The 
 author exhibits a keen insight into character, and a command of pure English which are 
 delightful and refreshing.' TOPICAL TIMES. 
 
 ' The real interest lies in the journey of a trading party up country, and for the sake 
 of this journey the book is well worth reading.' PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 ' It is a story that will reward the reader.' LITERARY WORLD. 
 
 'Powerfully and vividly written, and sustains the reader's interest from first to 
 last.' BRADFORD OBSERVER. 
 
 ' Mr. Bindloss has travelled extensively in Western Africa. . . . Mr. Bindloss has 
 used his experience of the country to embody many incidents of adventure and entertain- 
 ing characters which carry the reader pleasantly onward from beginning to close. 1 
 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, in ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. 
 

 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
PRINTED BY 
 
 SPOTTISVVOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 LONDON 
 
A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 BY 
 
 HAROLD BINDLOSS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 AINSLIE'S ju-ju ' IN THE NIGER COUNTRY ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 CHATTO & WINDUS 
 
 1901 
 

 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 I. THE FIRST SOWING 6 
 
 II. THE CHURCH PARADE 15 
 
 III. 'THE LAND OF PROMISE 3 24 
 
 IV. AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP ... 34 
 V. A BID FOR FORTUNE 45 
 
 VI. THE FIRST CROP 55 
 
 VII. HARVEST HOME 65 
 
 VIII. HELD UP 76 
 
 IX. A RECKONING 90 
 
 X. A FORWARD POLICY IO4 
 
 XI. ON THE RAILROAD Il6 
 
 XII. THE UNEXPECTED 127 
 
 XIII. ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 137 
 
 XIV. THE HIRED TEAMSTER 150 
 
 XV. UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH . . . . 162 
 
 XVI. WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 174 
 
 XVII. THE RETURN 183 
 
 XVIII. THE OPENING OF THE LINE 193 
 
 XIX. A GENEROUS OFFER . 208 
 
vi A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XX. THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE . . . . 21 9 
 
 XXI. THE STOLEN CATTLE 230 
 
 XXII. A RACE WITH TIME 241 
 
 XXIII. ON THE GOLD TRAIL 252 
 
 XXIV. THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 266 
 
 XXV. ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 279 
 
 XXVI. THE TRIAL . . . 290 
 
 XXVII. THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 304 
 
 XXVIII. THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 315 
 
 XXIX. CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE . . . 325 
 
 XXX. THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON .... 339 
 
 XXXI. THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON . . . . 351 
 
 XXXII. A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 364 
 
A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 FAIRMEAD, WESTERN CANADA. 
 
 IT is a still, hot day in autumn, and there is a droning 
 of mosquitoes where I sit by an open window, alternately 
 glancing out across the Assiniboian prairie and somewhat 
 blankly at the bundle of paper before me, ready to begin 
 this story. Its telling will not be an easy matter, but one 
 finds idle hours pass heavily after a life such as mine has 
 been, and since the bronco blundering into a badger hole 
 fell and broke my leg the surgeon who rode forty miles to 
 set it said that if I was to work at harvest I must not move 
 before and the harvest is already near. So I nibble the 
 pen and look round the long match-boarded hall, waiting 
 for the inspiration which is strangely slow in coming, while 
 my wife that was Grace Carrington smiles over her sewing 
 and suggests that it is high time to begin. 
 
 There are many guns on the wall glistening like 
 sardines with oil rubbed well in, and among them the old 
 Winchester which once saved us from starvation in British 
 Columbia. There are also long rows of painted butterflies 
 and moths whose colours pleased Grace's fancy when I 
 caught them in the sloos. Sometimes I wonder if she 
 
 B 
 
2 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 really likes that kind of decoration, or merely pinned them 
 to the wall because I caught them for her. Then, and this 
 is my own fancy, the bit of the horse which once saved her 
 life hangs in a place of its own under the heads of the 
 antelopes and the forward half of a crane with which a 
 Winnipeg taxidermist has travestied nature. There are 
 also a few oil paintings and of course some furniture, but I 
 am not learned in such matters, and only know it cost me 
 many dollars when I brought it out from Toronto on one 
 of Grace's birthdays, and never regretted the investment. 
 
 No, there is nothing which merits much comment here, 
 though Fairmead is one of the finest homesteads between 
 the Saskatchewan and the Souris, and then as I gaze with 
 half-closed eyes through the open window the memories 
 awaken and crowd, as it were, upon each other. Far out 
 on the rim of the prairie lies a silvery haze, through which 
 the vault of azure melts into the dusty whiteness of the 
 grasses. Then, level on level, with each slowly swelling 
 rise growing sharper under that crystalline atmosphere the 
 prairie rolls in, broken here by a willow copse and there by 
 a straggling birch bluff, while a belt of cool neutral shadow 
 marks the course of a deep-sunk ravine. At first sight it 
 is all one glaring sweep of white and grey, but on looking 
 closer with understanding eyes one sees the yellow and 
 sage greens of tall reeds in a sloo, the glowing lights of sun- 
 bleached buffalo bones, and a mingling of many colours 
 where there is wild peppermint or flowers among the grass. 
 Then, broad across the foreground, growing tall and green 
 in a few moister places almost breast-high, and in others 
 changing to dchre and coppery red, there ripples, acre 
 beyond acre, a great sea of grain whose extent is beyond the 
 comprehension of the insular Briton. 
 
 That, at least, with its feathery oat tassels and stately 
 heads of wheat, is a picture well worth looking upon, for 
 
PROLOGUE 3 
 
 there are few places in the world where one may see 
 furrows of equal length. It was won hardly, by much 
 privation, and in the sweat of the brow, as well as by the 
 favour of Providence, as Grace would say, and she is right 
 in most things, except when she attempts to instruct me in 
 stock feeding, for we hold on the prairie that it is not fair 
 to place all the burden on Providence. Therefore the 
 settlers who succeed also cut down rations and work double 
 tides to help themselves in time of adversity. 
 
 Yes, though better men have done more and failed, we 
 worked hard enough for it, Harry Lorraine and I, stinting 
 ourselves often to feed the stock and deal justly with the 
 soil, until at last the ill-fortune turned and the kindly earth 
 repaid us a hundred fold for our trust in it. Grace partly 
 approves of the foregoing, for she laid by her sewing to 
 read the loose sheets beside me, bending down until her 
 hair, which is bronze-gold with the sun in it, just touched 
 my own. It may be my eyes are prejudiced, but I have 
 never seen a woman who might compare with her. 
 Neither has her comeliness faded. Instead, it has grown 
 even more refined and stately, for Grace had always a 
 queenly way, since the day when I first met her, the 
 fairest maid I think so now, though it is long ago that 
 ever trod the bleak moorlands of eastern Lancashire. 
 
 Beyond the wheat and straggling birches I can see the 
 shingled roofs of Harry's dwelling. We have long been 
 partners, and he married my sister Aline all the Winnipeg 
 dealers know the firm of Crosfield and Lorraine, and how 
 they send their wheat in by special freight train. Then 
 there is a stretch of raw breaking, and the tinkle of the 
 binders rises out of a hidden hollow, as tireless arms of wood 
 and steel pile up the sheaves of Jasper's crop. Jasper takes 
 a special pride in forestalling us, while the dun smoke of a 
 smudge-fire shows that Harry is in prairie fashion protecting 
 
 B 2 
 
4 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 our stock, and I see it drifting eastwards across the dusty 
 plain, with the cattle seeking shelter from the mosquitoes 
 under it. 
 
 The management of a farm like Fairmead is a serious 
 task, even when there are two to do it, and Grace says there 
 are weighty responsibilities attached. How many toilers in 
 crowded Europe benefit by the cheap flour we send them 
 I do not know, though last year we kept the Winnipeg 
 millers busy, but when in conjunction with a certain 
 society we opened new lands and homes for the homeless 
 poor it was Grace's pet project all those who occupied 
 them were not thankful. Some also stole their neighbours' 
 chickens, and the said neighbours abused us. Others seemed 
 more inclined to live on one another than wrest a living 
 from the soil, while once Macdonald of the North- West 
 Police lodged a solemn protest, * We'll hold ye baith re- 
 sponsible for the depredations o' the wastrels ye're disturb- 
 ing the harmony o' this peaceful prairie with.' 
 
 Still, Harry and I were once poor enough ourselves, 
 and with Grace's help we have done our best to weed out 
 the worthless Harry attends to this and encourage the 
 rest. Very many bushels of seed wheat has she given them, 
 and here as elsewhere there are considerably more good than 
 bad, while already a certain society takes to itself the credit of 
 the flourishing Fairmead colony. Harry, however, says that 
 undeserved prosperity has made me an optimist. But the 
 reader will wonder how I, Ralph Crosfield, who landed in 
 Canada with one hundred pounds capital, became owner of 
 Fairmead and married Grace, only daughter and heiress of 
 Colonel Carrington. Well, that is a long story, and looking 
 back to the beginning of it instead of the sunlit prairie I see 
 a grimy smoke-blackened land where gaunt chimneys stand 
 in rows, and behind it the bare moors of Lancashire. Then 
 again the memories change like the glasses of a kaleidoscope, 
 
PROLOGUE 5 
 
 and I sigh as I remember comrades who helped us in our 
 necessity and now sleep forgotten by all save a few among 
 the snow-bound ranges, under the bitter alkali dust, and 
 deep in the smoking canons we carried the new steel high- 
 way through. 
 
 Failures, probably their friends called them at home, but 
 in this their friends were wrong. With light jest, or grim 
 silent endurance, they played out the lost game to the 
 bitter end, and laid the foundations of a great country's 
 prosperity, while if fate or fortune has but favours for the 
 few, those who receive them should remember with becom- 
 ing humility what otherwise they might have been. So the 
 past comes back, struggle, disappointment, and slow success, 
 at last, until it is a relief when Harry Lorraine strides laugh- 
 ing in and Grace fills for him a great polished horn of cider. 
 
 * Here's success to your story. Tell them simply how 
 we live and work, and some of us, the best, have died in 
 this land,' he said. Then he raises the horn high towards 
 the rafters and I know his meaning. It is a way the fore- 
 runners of civilisation, axe- man, paddle-man, and railroad 
 shoveller had, and he did it in memory of one who lies 
 far off among the northern snows. Then taking up the 
 weary pen as he and Grace go out together I prepare to 
 follow his counsel, telling the story simply and as it 
 happened from the beginning. 
 
A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I 
 
 THE FIRST SOWING 
 
 IT was late in autumn, and the heather had faded into 
 dingy brown, though long streaks of golden fern crept 
 winding down, when Grace Carrington first talked with 
 me of the Canadian Dominion on the bleak slopes of Star- 
 cross Moor. There was a hollow in the hillside where a 
 few pale-stemmed birches and sombre firs formed, as it 
 were, a rampart between the poor, climbing meadows and 
 waste of gorse and fern, while we two beneath them seemed 
 utterly alone in the moorland solitude. 
 
 Grace sat on a lichened boulder with the sunlight upon 
 her, gazing down across the levels of Lancashire. I was 
 just twenty years old, and she seemed the incarnation of all 
 that was fresh and good in early womanhood. Still, it was 
 not only her beauty that attracted me, though she was the 
 well-dowered daughter of a race which has long been 
 famous for fair women, but a certain grave dignity that 
 made her softly spoken wishes seem commands it would be 
 a pleasure to obey. Grace was nineteen then, and she 
 lived in Western Canada with her widowed father, Colonel 
 Carrington, who had made himself a power in that country. 
 Yet she was English by birth and early training, of the 
 fair-haired, grey-eyed, old Lancashire stock, and had lost 
 nothing by her sojourn on the prairie as youthful mistress 
 of Carrington Manor. 
 
 The land which ran west before us was not a pleasant 
 
THE FIRST SOWING 7 
 
 one. Across its horizon hung a pall of factory smoke, and 
 unlovely hamlets, each with its gaunt pit-head gear and 
 stark brick chimney, sprinkled the bare fields between, for 
 hedgerows were scanty and fences of rusty colliery rope 
 replaced them. Yet it was a wealthy country, and bred 
 keen-witted, enterprising men, who, uncouth often in 
 speech and exterior, possessed an energy which has spread 
 their commerce to the far corners of the earth. That day 
 the autumn haze wrapped a mellow dimness round its 
 defects, but Grace Carrington sighed as she turned towards 
 me. 
 
 ' I shall not be sorry to go home again,' she said. 
 4 Perhaps I miss our clear sunshine, but here everyone looks 
 careworn in your dingy towns, and there are so many 
 poor. Besides, the monotony of those endless smoky streets 
 oppresses me. No, I should not care to come back to 
 Lancashire.' 
 
 Now, the words of a young and winsome woman seldom 
 fall lightly on the ears of a young man, and Grace spoke with- 
 out affectation as one accustomed to be listened to, which was 
 hardly surprising in the heiress of Carrington. As it hap- 
 pened, they also wakened an answering echo within me. 
 The love of the open sky had been handed down to me 
 through long generations of a yeoman ancestry, and yet 
 fate had apparently decreed that I should earn my bread in 
 the counting-house of a cotton mill. It is also probable 
 that I should have been abashed and awkward before this 
 patrician damsel in a drawing-room, but here, under the 
 blue lift, with the brown double-barrel it was my uncle's 
 new hammerless across my knees, and the speckled birds 
 beneath, I felt in harmony with the surroundings, and 
 accordingly at ease. I was born and bred under the other 
 edge of the moor. 
 
 1 It does not always rain here, though this has been a 
 
8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 wet season, and trade is bad,' I said. < Will you tell me 
 about Canada, Miss Carrington ? ' and her eyes brightened 
 as she answered, ' It is my adopted country, and I love it. 
 Still it is no place for the weak and idle, for, as they say 
 out there, we have no room for any but live men and 
 strong. Yet, I never saw a ragged woman nor heard of a 
 hungry child. All summer the settlers work from dawn to 
 dusk under the clear sunshine of the open prairie, paying rent 
 to no one, for each tills his own land, and though there are 
 drawbacks drought, hail, and harvest-frost they meet them 
 lightly, for you see neither anxious faces nor bent shoulders 
 there. Our folk walk upright, as becomes free men. 
 Then, through the long winter, when the snow lies firm 
 and white, and the wheat crop has been hauled in, you can 
 hear the jingling sleigh teams flit across the prairie from 
 homestead to homestead under the cloudless blue. The 
 settlers enjoy themselves when their work is done and we 
 have no drunkenness.' 
 
 She ceased, turning an eager face towards me, and I felt 
 an old longing increase. It was the inborn love of a fertile 
 soil and that wide sunlit country seemed to call me, for 
 my father had been the last of a long family to hold one of 
 the extensive farms which with their crumbling feudal halls 
 may yet be found in the remoter corners of Lancashire. 
 Then, asking practical questions, I wondered as Grace 
 Carrington answered, because, though she wore the stamp 
 of refinement to her finger tips, she knew all that concerned 
 the feeding of stock, and the number of bushels that might 
 be thrashed from an acre of wheat. I knew she spoke as 
 one having experience, for I had been taught to till the 
 soil, and only entered the cotton mill when on my father's 
 death it was found his weakness for horses and unlucky 
 experiments had rendered it impossible I should carry on the 
 farm. So, while unobserved the sun sank down, I listened 
 
THE FIRST SOWING 9 
 
 eagerly until at last there was a sound of footsteps among the 
 fern, and she ceased, after a glance at her watch. But like 
 the grain she spoke of, drilled into the black Assiniboian 
 loam, the seed had been sown, and in due time the crop 
 would ripen to maturity. 
 
 A man came out from the birches, a handsome man, 
 glancing about him with a look of indolent good humour 
 upon his face, and though for a moment Grace Carrington 
 seemed displeased she showed no sign of it as she rose 
 leisurely to meet him. 
 
 * I am sorry you had to come in search of me, Geoffrey,' 
 she said ; < this is Mr. Crosfield Captain Ormond. I 
 think you have met before. I lost my way, and he kindly 
 brought me across the moor. I have been telling him about 
 Canada/ 
 
 The newcomer bowed with an easy indifference, for 
 which, not knowing exactly why, I disliked him, as he said, 
 * Don't remember that pleasure meet so many people ! 
 Canada must be a very nice place ; been thinking of going 
 out there myself drive oxen, grow potatoes, and that kind 
 of thing, you know.' 
 
 He glanced at Grace, as though seeking her approval 
 for such an act of self-sacrifice, but the girl laughed frankly 
 as she answered, ' I can't fancy you tramping behind the 
 plough in a jacket patched with flour-bags, Geoffrey ; ' 
 while feeling myself overlooked, and not knowing what to 
 say, I raised my cap and awkwardly turned away. Still, 
 looking back, I caught the waft of a light dress among the 
 fern, and frowned as the sound of laughter came down the 
 wind. These people had been making merry, I thought, 
 at my expense, though I had fancied Miss Carrington 
 incapable of such ungenerous conduct. 
 
 In this, however, I misjudged her, for long afterwards I 
 learned that Grace was laughing at the stories her companion 
 
io A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 told of his strange experiences with sundry recruits, 
 until presently the latter said, ' She stoops to conquer, even 
 a raw Lancashire lad. I congratulate you on your judge- 
 ment, Gracie. There is something in that untrained cub 
 could recognise it by the steady, disapproving way he looked 
 at me, and I am some kind of a relative, which is presumably 
 a warrant for impertinence.' 
 
 Now a saving sense of humour tempered Miss Carrington's 
 seriousness, and Geoffrey Ormond joined in her merry 
 laugh. In spite of his love of ease and frivolous badinage, 
 he was, as I was to learn some day, considerably less of a good- 
 natured fool than it occasionally pleased him to appear to be. 
 
 Meantime, I strode homeward with the fierce longing 
 growing stronger. I hated the dingy office where I sat 
 under a gas-jet making up the count of yarn ; and yet four 
 weary years I had laboured there, partly because I had to earn 
 my bread, and because my uncle and sole guardian greatly 
 desired I should. It grew dark as I entered the valley 
 which led to his house, for the cotton-spinner now lived 
 ten miles by rail from his mill, and the sighing of the pine 
 branches under a cold breeze served to increase my restless- 
 ness. So it was with a sense of relief I found my cousin 
 Alice waiting in a cosy corner of the fire-lit drawing-room. 
 We had known each other from childhood, and, though for 
 that very reason this is not always the case, were the best 
 of friends. She would be rich some day, so the men I met 
 in her father's business said ; but if Alice Crosfield ever 
 remembered the fact, it made but little difference to her. 
 She was delicate, slight, and homely, with a fund of shrewd 
 common-sense and a very kindly heart, whose thoughts, 
 however, she did not always reveal. Now she sat in a 
 lounge before the fire, with the soft light of a coloured lamp 
 falling upon her, while a great embroidered screen shut off 
 the rest of the partly darkened room. 
 
THE FIRST SOWING n 
 
 * I have been waiting for you with the tea so patiently, 
 Ralph,' she said. * You look tired and moody you have 
 been out on the moors too long. See, here is a low chair 
 ready just inside the screen, and here is the tea. Sit down 
 and tell me what is troubling you.' 
 
 I settled myself in the corner, and answered, look- 
 ing into the fire, *You were always kind to me, Alice, 
 and one can talk to you. Something made me unsettled 
 to-day, and I didn't care about the birds, though I got a 
 plump brace for you. Alice, I can't help thinking these 
 brief holidays, though they are like a glimpse of Paradise 
 after my dingy rooms in that sickening town, are not good 
 for me. I am only a poor clerk in your father's mill, and 
 such things as guns and horses are out of my sphere. They 
 only stir up useless longings. So I return on Monday, and 
 hardly think I shall come back for a long time.' 
 
 Alice laughed softly, for she was a shrewd young 
 person, then laid her little hand restrainingly on my 
 arm, before she said : * And who has a better right to 
 the bay horse and the new hammerless ejector than the 
 nephew of the man who never uses them ? Now, I'm 
 guessing at a secret, but it's probable your uncle bought 
 that gun especially for you. Ralph, you are getting morbid 
 and you have not been shooting all day. Did you meet 
 Miss Carrington on the moor again ? ' 
 
 Now in such matters I was generally a blunderer ; yet 
 something warned me my answer would displease her. I 
 could, however, see no way of avoiding it, and when I 
 said as unconcernedly as I could, * Yes, and talked to her 
 about Canada ! ' Alice for no particular reason stooped 
 and dropped a thread into the fire. Then lifting her head 
 she looked at me steadily when I continued, with some 
 hesitation : 
 
 ' You know how I was always taught that in due time 
 
12 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I should work the lands of Lingdale Hall, and how, when 
 we found on my father's death there was nothing left, I 
 tried the cotton mill. Well, after four years' trial I like it 
 worse than I did at the beginning, and now I feel I must 
 give it up. I am going back to the soil again, even if it is 
 across the sea.' 
 
 Alice made no answer for a few moments ; then she 
 said slowly, ' Ralph, you will not be rash ; think it over 
 well. Now tell me if you have any definite plans you 
 know how I always used to advise you ? ' 
 
 I felt I needed sympathy, and Alice was a faithful con- 
 fidant, so I opened my heart to her, and she listened with 
 patient sympathy, while it seemed to me my cousin had 
 never looked so winsome as she sat close beside me with a 
 slight flush of colour in her usually pale face where the 
 soft lamplight touched it. So we sat and talked until 
 Martin Crosfield entered unobserved, and when, on hearing 
 a footstep, I looked up I saw he was smiling with what seemed 
 grim approval as his eyes rested upon us, and this puzzled 
 me. Then his daughter started almost guiltily as he said, 
 * I wondered where you two were. Dinner has been waiting, 
 and you never heard the bell.' 
 
 I retired early that night, and being young forgot my 
 perplexities in heavy slumber, while next morning I noticed 
 Alice's eyes seemed heavy, and wondered what could be the 
 reason. In after years I mentioned it when Grace and I 
 were talking about old times together, but she only smiled 
 gravely, and said, c I sometimes think your cousin was too 
 good for this world.' 
 
 The next day was one of those wet Sundays which it is 
 hard to forget. The bleak moor was lost in vapour, and a 
 pitiless drizzle came slanting down the valley, while the 
 -raw air seemed filled with falling leaves. A prosperous man 
 with a good conscience may make light of such things, but 
 
THE FIRST SOWING 13 
 
 they leave their own impression on the poor and anxious, so, 
 divided between two courses, I wandered up and down, finding 
 rest nowhere until I chanced upon a large new atlas in my 
 uncle's library. Martin Crosfield was proud of his library, 
 and a well-read man, though like others of his kind he made 
 no pretence at scholarship, and used the broad, burring 
 dialect when he spoke in his mill. Here I found occupa- 
 tion studying the Dominion of Canada, especially the prairie 
 territories, and lost myself in dreams of half-mile furrows 
 and a day's ride straight as the crow flies across a cattle run, 
 all of which, though I scarcely dared hope it then, came 
 true in its own appointed time. 
 
 My uncle had ridden out early, for he was to take part 
 in the new mayor's state visit to church in the manu- 
 facturing town, and even Alice seemed out of spirits, so 
 when I left the library there was the weary afternoon to be 
 somehow dragged through. It passed very slowly, and then 
 as I stood by the stables a man from the house at the further 
 end of the valley where Colonel Carrington was staying said to 
 our stable lad : * I mun hurry back. Our folks are wantin' 
 t' horses ; maister an' t' Colonel's daughter's goin' to the 
 church parade. They're sayin' it's a grand turnout, wi' t' 
 firemen, bands, an' t' volunteers, in big brass helmets ! ' 
 
 Neither of them saw me, and presently calling the lad 
 I bade him put the bay horse into the dog-cart. * He's in 
 a gradely bad temper,' said the lad doubtfully. * Not done 
 nothink but eat for a long time now, an' he nearly bit a 
 piece out of me ; I wish t' maister would shoot him.' 
 
 I laughed at the warning then, though I had occasion 
 to remember it, and looking for Alice said, ' I am driving 
 in to church to-night. Would you like to come with me ? ' 
 
 Now Alice Crosfield possessed her father's keen percep- 
 tion, and when he kept his temper he was perhaps the 
 shrewdest man I ever met, so when she looked me straight 
 
i 4 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 in the- face I dropped my eyes, because I really was not 
 anxious for her company, and would not have gone 
 except in the hope of seeing Grace Carrington. * Have 
 you turned religious suddenly, Ralph ? ' she asked. ' Or 
 have you forgotten you told me yesterday that you did not 
 care to go ? ' 
 
 I made some awkward answer, but Alice smiled drily, 
 and with a solemn courtesy said, * Two are company, three 
 are none. Cousin Ralph, I will not go with you. But 
 don't leave the dog-cart behind and come back with the 
 shafts.' 
 
 I went out with a flushed face, and a sense of relief, 
 angry, nevertheless, that she should read my inmost 
 thoughts, having fancied that invitation was a stroke of 
 diplomacy. I learned afterwards that diplomacy is a 
 mistake for the simple man. With a straightforward 
 * Yes ' or * No ' he can often turn aside the schemes of the 
 cunning, but on forsaking these generally finds the other 
 side considerably too clever for him, all of which is a wanton 
 digression from the story. 
 
II 
 
 THE CHURCH PARADE 
 
 IT was raining hard when I climbed into the dog-cart and 
 rattled away into the darkness, while somewhat to my surprise 
 Robert the Devil, or Devilish Bob, as those who had the 
 care of him called the bay horse, played no antics on the 
 outward journey, which was safely accomplished. So 
 leaving him at the venerable * Swan ' I hurried through the 
 miry streets towards the church. They were thronged 
 with pale-faced men and women who had sweated out their 
 vigour in the glare of red furnace, dye-shop, and humming 
 mill, but there was no lack of enthusiasm. I do not think 
 there are any cities in the world with the same public spirit 
 and pride in local customs which one may find in the grimy 
 towns of Lancashire. The enthusiasm is, however, part of 
 their inhabitants' nature, and has nothing to do with the 
 dismal surroundings. 
 
 A haze of smoke had mingled with the rain, yellow 
 gas jets blinked through it, though it would not be dark for 
 an hour or so yet, and the grim, smoke-blackened houses 
 seemed trickling with water. Still, everyone laughed and 
 chattered with good-humoured expectancy, even the many 
 who had no umbrellas. It was hard work to reach the 
 church, though I opined that all the multitude did not 
 intend to venture within, while when once I saw my uncle 
 with a wand in his hand I carefully avoided him. Martin 
 Crosfield was a power and well liked in that town, but I 
 
1 6 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 had not driven ten miles to assist him. Then I waited 
 among the jostling crowd in a fever of impatience, wondering 
 whether Miss Carrington had yet gone in, until at last I 
 saw the Colonel marching through the throng, which and 
 knowing the temperament of our people I wondered at it 
 made way for him. There were others of the party behind, 
 and my heart leapt at the sight of Grace. She was walking 
 beside Captain Ormond, who smiled down on her. 
 
 Then, just as the Colonel passed within, a burst of 
 cheering broke out, and in the mad scramble for the 
 entrance Grace, who turned a moment to recover the cloak 
 she dropped, was separated from her companion. He was 
 driven forward in the thickest part of the stream of excited 
 human beings, and fortune had signally favoured me. 
 Squeezing through from behind a pillar I reached her side, 
 and grew hot with pride when she slipped her arm through 
 mine, and we were borne forward irresistibly by the surging 
 crowd. Once I saw Ormond vainly trying to make his 
 way back in search of his companion, and stood so that 
 he could not recognise her, while when half-way down the 
 aisle we met an official who recognised me as a nephew of 
 Martin Crosfield. * I'll find you and the lady seats in the 
 chancel. It will be the only good place left,' he said. 
 
 I did not care where we went so long as Grace went 
 with me, and when he ensconced us under an oaken canopy 
 among the ancient carved stalls I longed that the service 
 might last a century, while Grace's quiet * Thank you, I 
 am so interested,' filled me with ecstasy. 
 
 The church was interesting There are many cathe- 
 drals that could not compare with it, and it was very old. 
 The damp haze had entered the building, and obscuring 
 half the clerestory enhanced its stateliness, for the great 
 carved pillars and arches led the wandering eye aloft and 
 lost it in a mystery, while far up at the western end above 
 
THE CHURCH PARADE 17 
 
 the organ, which in this case stood there, a gilded Gloria 
 caught a stray shaft of light and blazed out of the gloom. 
 I saw Grace's eyes rest upon it, and then followed them 
 down across the sea of faces, along the quaint escutcheons, 
 and over two marble tombs, until she fixed them on her 
 father, who with his party sat in a high-backed pew. 
 Then the crash of music outside ceased, and with a steady 
 tramp of feet, file by file, men in scarlet uniform moved up 
 the aisle ; while before them, led by the sword and gilded 
 mace, came a little homely man, who seemed burdened by 
 his glittering chain, and most uncomfortable. As I knew, 
 he commenced his business career with ten pounds capital, 
 could hardly speak plain English, and now his goods were 
 known in every bazaar from Cairo to Singapore. This 
 knowledge fostered a vague but daring hope within me. 
 
 I remember little of the service beyond Grace's voice 
 ringing high and clear in the * Magnificat,' while for perhaps 
 the first time I caught a glimmer of its full significance, 
 and her face, clean-cut against shadow where a fretted 
 pinnacle allowed one shaft of light to pass it, looking, I 
 thought, like that of a haloed saint. The rest was all a 
 blurred impression of rolling music, half-seen faces, and gay 
 uniforms, until a tall old man of commanding personality 
 stood high aloft in the carved pulpit, and proclaimed a 
 doctrine which seemed strangely out of place in the busy 
 town. Honest labour brought its own reward in the joy of 
 diligent toil, he said, and the prize of fame or money was 
 a much slighter thing. I could not quite understand this 
 then, for there were many in that district whose daily toil 
 wore body and soul away, so that none of them might 
 hope to live out half man's allotted span, while a prize I 
 would have given my life for sat close beside me, and twice 
 that evening the calm proud eyes had smiled gratefully into 
 mine. 
 
1 8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Still, there was one drawback. As chance would have 
 it, Minnie Lee, who operated the typewriter in the mill 
 offices, sat just opposite, and would cast mischievous glances 
 towards me. We were good friends, in a way, for during 
 two years I had talked to her on business matters every day, 
 and sometimes also indulged in innocent badinage. She 
 was fair-haired and delicately pretty, and was said to be 
 aware of it ; but now of all times I did not want those 
 playful smiles directed at me. However, I hoped Grace 
 did not see them, and not knowing what else to do, for I 
 could not frown at her, sought refuge in what proved to 
 be a bewildering chapter of genealogy until the building 
 trembled as the vast assembly joined in the closing hymn. 
 Long afterward, out on the lone prairie when the stars 
 shone down through the bitter frost, I could hear in fancy 
 Grace's voice rising beside me through the great waves of 
 sound. Then I would remember the song of the speckled 
 thrush singing at sunset after a showery April day through 
 the shadow of a copse. 
 
 We reached the street safely, though in that press there 
 was no hope of finding Colonel Carrington, even if I wished 
 it, which I certainly did not, so after some demur and the 
 discussing of other expedients, Grace accepted my offer to 
 drive her home. ' I am afraid it can't be helped,' she said, 
 I thought with quite unnecessary cruelty. 
 
 The dog-cart was ready, and Robert the Devil went 
 well. The long streets rolled behind us, and were lost in 
 the rain ; then with a rhythmic drumming of hoofs and 
 a constant splashing from under the whirring wheels, we 
 swept out into the blackness of a treeless plain. I knew 
 the road and did not take the shortest one, while it was 
 rapture to draw the rugs and apron round Grace's waist, 
 and feel the soft furs she wore brushing against me. The ten 
 miles passed in what seemed to be scarcely as many minutes, 
 
 
THE CHURCH PARADE 19 
 
 and the rush through the damp air for the rain had ceased 
 at last raised my companion's spirits, and she chatted 
 merrily ; then, just as we reached the crest of a steep dip 
 into the Starcross valley, the Devil must take fright at a 
 coloured railway light he had often seen before. 
 
 I knew we were in for a struggle, and got both hands 
 on the reins, but two men would hardly have held him, and 
 next moment, with a mad rattle of wheels and red sparks 
 flashing under the battering hoofs, we went flying into the 
 long dark hollow, while I think I prayed that the Devil 
 might keep his footing on the loose stones of a very bad 
 road. One lurch flung Grace against the guard-rail, the 
 next against my shoulder, and I remember feeling I would 
 gladly have done battle with ten wild horses were she not 
 also in jeopardy when the little hand fastened on my arm. 
 Fresh drizzle lashed our faces, the wind screamed past, the 
 wheels seemed to leave the ground alternately, and a light 
 rushed up towards us from below, while with my teeth 
 hard set I wondered what would happen when we reached 
 the sharp bend at the bottom. 
 
 I got the Devil round it somehow, and then breathed 
 easier, for the steep slope of Starcross Brow rose close ahead, 
 and I knew no horse was ever foaled who could run away 
 up that. So, trusting to one hand, I slipped my arm round 
 Grace's waist, and, thrilled at the touch of her damp hair 
 on my neck, < I'll hold you safe ; we are near the end, and 
 the danger will soon be past,' I said. 
 
 It turned out so, for though Robert the Devil charged 
 the hill gallantly, Starcross Brow proved too much for him, 
 and, with a sigh of relief, Grace drew herself apart. *I 
 must thank you, Mr. Crosfield. You drive well,' she said. 
 
 Then I thought that if she had been like Minnie, or 
 even cousin Alice, I might have ventured to replace the 
 protecting arm, but there was something about Grace 
 
 c 2 
 
20 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Carrington which made one treat her, as it were, with 
 reverence. When we drew up in front of Starcross House 
 a carriage with flashing lamps stood in the drive ; I had 
 seen those other lights coming down the opposite side of 
 the valley, and after Grace had thanked me with a quiet 
 friendliness as I helped her down, a group turned to meet 
 us at the door. The first was a tall thin-faced man of com- 
 manding presence with a long grey moustache, and he 
 stared hard at me with a haughtiness which I fancied was 
 tinctured with contempt, while Captain Ormond stood 
 behind him smiling languidly and lifted a warning finger 
 unobserved to Grace. There was something forbidding 
 about Colonel Carrington, and to the last few men liked 
 him, while I remember Harry Lorraine once comparing 
 him to Coriolanus ' Steeped in pride to the backbone,' said 
 Harry, ' but it's a clean pride, and there's a good deal of 
 backbone about him.' 
 
 4 1 am glad to see you safe, Grace,' he commenced. 
 * We were anxious about you. But wherever have you 
 been, and how did we pass you ? ' 
 
 I never saw Grace either confused or taken by surprise, 
 and when she explained quietly her father looked down on 
 me from the top step as he said, ' I thank you, sir, but did 
 not catch the name. May I ask who it is we are so much 
 indebted to ? Neither do I quite understand yet how we 
 got here before you.' 
 
 There was nothing in the words, but the glance and 
 tone conveyed the idea that he regretted the debt, while 
 the whimsical look on Ormond's face aided in stirring me, 
 for we had democratic notions in that part of Lancashire. 
 
 ' Ralph Crosfield, assistant cashier in the Orb Mill,' I 
 said. * It was a slight service, and I did not consider the 
 shortest way best ; ' while before the Colonel could answer 
 I raised my hat to Grace, and, taking Robert the Devil's 
 
THE CHURCH PARADE 21 
 
 head, turned him sharply round. Still, as I climbed into 
 the dog-cart I saw that the burly master of Starcross House 
 was chuckling at something, and drove away feeling 
 strangely satisfied with myself, until I began to wonder 
 whether after all to twice walk off the field defiantly before 
 the enemy was not another form of cowardice. Alice met 
 me on the threshold for she heard the wheels with a 
 query why the Satanic Robert was in such a state ; but for 
 several reasons I did not fully enlighten her. 
 
 My uncle did not return that night, and I left for town 
 next morning, while the same afternoon I sought an inter- 
 view with him in his private office. It was with some 
 trepidation I entered, because Martin Crosfield was frank 
 of speech and quick in temper, and I knew he was then 
 busy with the details of a scheme which might double the 
 output of his mill. He thrust the papers away and leaned 
 forward on his desk, a characteristic specimen of his race, 
 square in jaw and shoulder, with keenness and power 
 stamped upon his wrinkled face. 
 
 ' Well, Ralph, what is it now ? ' he said. ' Johnson of 
 Starcross has been telling me some tale about your running 
 away with an heiress and giving his answer to Colonel 
 Carrington. I'm not altogether sorry. I do not like that 
 man. There is also a reason why he doesn't like me.' 
 
 'It has nothing to do with that, sir,' I answered 
 awkwardly. ' You know I have never asked questions 
 about the family money ; and you have been very kind 
 to me. But the fact is I can't stand the mill, and I'm 
 thinking of asking for whatever remains of my share and 
 going out to Canada.' 
 
 Martin Crosfield smote the desk suddenly with his fist, 
 and there was angry bewilderment in his eyes as he asked, 
 * Hast gone mad altogether, lad ? ' 
 
 I met his gaze steadily, answering, * No. I can't help 
 
22 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 longing for a life in the open air ; and there is room in 
 Canada for poor folks like me.' 
 
 Then, thrusting his square jaw forward, he said, * Thy 
 father left four hundred pounds in all. It is now five, 
 under my stewardship. Shall I ask the cashier to make out 
 a statement ? Thy father had whims and fancies, or it 
 would have been four thousand. Tom Crosfield could 
 never see which side his bread was buttered. He was born 
 a fool, like thee.' 
 
 Flinging back my head I rose facing him. But he 
 thundered, ' Stop ! You ought to know my meaning. He 
 was an open-handed gentleman, and my well-loved brother. 
 If you take your share of the five hundred, what is going to 
 educate your brother Reggie and Aline ? I presume you 
 know the fees they charge at both those schools ? And 
 did you ever ask if I had plans for thee ? ' 
 
 I was silent a moment. For the first time it struck me 
 with sudden shame that Martin Crosfield had already most 
 generously done his best to start his brother's orphans well 
 in life. Then I answered slowly, * I beg your pardon, and 
 recognise your goodness ; but I know I should never be 
 successful in the mill. I'm sorry, but that is only the simple 
 truth. Let Reggie and Aline keep all, except enough for 
 a third-class passage to Winnipeg. This is not a rash 
 whim. It has taken me three years to make up my mind.' 
 
 'Then there's an end of the matter,' said Martin 
 Crosfield. < Stubbornness is in the family, and you are your 
 father's son. An archangel would hardly have moved 
 poor Tom ! Well, lad, you shall not go penniless, nor 
 third-class, if it's only for the credit of the name ; and you 
 can't go until spring. I thank thee for telling me ; but 
 I'm busy, and we'll talk again. Hast told thy cousin 
 Alice about it ? ' 
 
 His eyes had lost their angry flash before I went out, and 
 
THE CHURCH PARADE 23 
 
 something in his change of tone revealed the hard bargain- 
 maker's inner self; while, as it happened, Minnie Lee 
 smiled over the typewriter as I passed her room, and I went 
 in to tell her about it. I felt I must talk to someone ; 
 and, if not gifted with much sense, she was a sympathetic 
 girl. She listened with a pretty air of dismay, and said 
 petulantly, ' So I shall lose my only friend in this dreary 
 mill. Don't they pay high wages for my work in Montreal 
 and Winnipeg ? Well, if you hear of a situation you can 
 send straight back for me.' 
 
 Then a door slammed, and I saw a frown on my 
 uncle's face as, perhaps attracted by the sound of voices, 
 he glanced into the room on passing. Still, it was some 
 time afterwards before I learned he had heard the last 
 words ; and, remembering them eventually when recalled 
 by events, Minnie's careless speech proved an unfortunate 
 one for both of us. 
 
24 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 III 
 
 * THE LAND OF PROMISE ' 
 
 IT was a dismal afternoon in early spring when I lounged 
 disconsolately about the streets of Winnipeg. The 
 prairie metropolis had not then attained its present magni- 
 tude, but it was busy and muddy enough ; for when the 
 thaw comes the mire of a Western town is indescribable. 
 Also odd showers of wet snow came down, and I shivered 
 under my new skin coat, envying the busy citizens who, 
 with fur caps drawn low down, hurried to and fro. One 
 and all wore the stamp of prosperity, and their voices had 
 a cheerful ring which grated upon me, for I of all that 
 bustling crowd seemed idle and without a purpose. So, feel- 
 ing utterly forlorn, a stranger in a very strange and, at first 
 sight, a forbidding land, I trudged up and down, waiting 
 for the evening train which was to bear me west and 
 pondering over all that had happened during the past few 
 weeks. 
 
 There was the parting with my uncle, who laid a 
 strong hand on my shoulder and lapsed into the speech 
 of the country as he said, * I need not tell thee to set thy 
 teeth and hang on through the first few years, lad. Thy 
 father played out a losing game only too staunchly ; and 
 it's stey work at the beginning. I mind when I started the 
 mill but that's an old story. It's the man who can 
 - grin and bear it, coming up smiling after each fall, who 
 wins in the end. And thou hast all the world before thee. 
 
'THE LAND OF PROMISE' 25 
 
 Still, remember there are staunch friends behind thee here 
 in Lancashire.' 
 
 I think his fingers shook a little, but Martin Crosfield 
 was not addicted to much display of sentiment, and with a 
 cough he hurried away ; though I remember the old cashier, 
 who had served him since he started, putting a sealed 
 envelope in my hand, said, 'It's a draft for one hundred 
 pounds on the Bank of Montreal, and it's a secret ; but I'm 
 not debiting the estate with it. Thou'rt a gradely fool for 
 thy trouble, Ralph Crosfield. But I knew thy father, and, 
 like him, thou mun go thy own way. Well, maybe it's for 
 the best ; and good luck go with thee.' 
 
 Next came my farewell from cousin Alice, who blushed 
 as, laying before me a fine Winchester repeating rifle, 
 which must have cost her some trouble to obtain in Eng- 
 land then, she said, ' It's only a little keepsake, but I 
 thought you would like it and you will remember your 
 cousin when you use it. Ralph, you have chosen to work 
 out your own destiny, and for many a night your uncle 
 fumed over it until at last he said that the child who fought 
 for scraps in the gutter grew to be worth any two of the 
 spoon-fed. You know how fond he is of forcible simile, 
 and he frowned when I suggested that Canada was not a 
 gutter. Still, it is too late to consider if you did well, and 
 I ask, as a last favour, if you are ever unfortunate, if only 
 for the sake of old times, you will let us know. And now 
 I wish you all prosperity. Good-bye, Ralph dear, and God 
 bless you.' 
 
 Her eyes were dim, and she looked so small and fragile 
 that I stooped and kissed her, while though she drew herself 
 suddenly away with the crimson mantling upwards from her 
 neck, I felt that whatever happened I had a friend for life 
 in Alice Crosfield. 
 
 Now all that had faded into the past I had left behind 
 
26 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 across the sea, and henceforward I knew there must be no 
 more glancing back. I had chosen my own path, and must 
 press forward with eyes turned steadfastly ahead, although 
 at present I could see no further than the prairie station 
 I would reach some time before dawn next day. A wheat- 
 grower's dwelling thirty miles back from the railroad was 
 registered as wanting assistance, the immigration officer 
 said. Slowly, with more snow and a freshening of the 
 bitter wind, the afternoon wore itself away, and I was glad 
 when that evening I boarded the west-bound train. It was 
 thronged with emigrants of many nationalities, and among 
 them were Scandinavian maidens, tow-haired and red- 
 cheeked, each going out to be married in the West. Their 
 courtship would be brief and unromantic, but, as I was 
 afterwards to learn, three-fourths of the marriages so made 
 turned out an unqualified success. Still, I found a corner 
 in the smoking end of a long Colonist car, and with the 
 big bell clanging and a storm of voices exchanging farewells 
 in many tongues, the great locomotive hauled us out into 
 the whirling snow. 
 
 Thick flakes beat on the windows, and icy draughts 
 swept through the car, while the big stove in a boxed-in 
 corner hummed with a drowsy roar, and I leaned back 
 with half-closed eyes against the hard maple while the 
 preceding scenes of the long journey rolled like a panorama 
 before me. Twelve days it took the ancient steamer, 
 which swarmed like a hive, to thrash through mist and 
 screaming gale across the Atlantic, while fifteen hun- 
 dred emigrants below wished themselves dead. Then 
 there followed an apparently endless transit in the lurching 
 cars, where we slept as best we could on uncushioned seats 
 and floor, through dark pine forests, with only an occasional 
 tin-roofed hamlet to break the monotony. After that there 
 were wooden cities in Ontario very like the said hamlets of 
 
'THE LAND OF PROMISE' 27 
 
 a larger growth, and when at last, sickened by the vibra- 
 tion, we sped out on to the long-expected prairie, the 
 prospect was by no means inviting. Spring, I was told, 
 was very late that year, and the plains rolled before us to the 
 horizon a dreary white wilderness streaked by willow-swale, 
 with at first many lonely lakes rippling a bitter steely-blue 
 under the blasts, while crackling ice fringed their shores. 
 Then several of my companions, who were young and 
 romantic Britons with big revolvers strapped about them 
 under their jackets, grew suspiciously quiet, and said no 
 more about the strange adventures they had looked for in 
 the West. There was nothing romantic about this land, 
 which lacked even the clear skies Grace Carrington spoke 
 of. It looked a hard country, which only a man with the 
 power of stubborn endurance could wrest a living out of. 
 
 So with a rhythmic beat of whirring wheels, and now 
 and again a clash of couplings as we slid down some hollow 
 of the track, we rolled on through the night, while the 
 scream of wind grew louder outside the rattling cars, until 
 when I was three parts asleep there came a sudden shock, 
 and the conductor's voice rang out warning us to leave the 
 train. At slackened speed we had run into a snow block, 
 and the old wedge-headed plough was going, so he said, to 
 plug the drifts under a full pressure, and butt her right 
 straight through. 
 
 Shivering to the backbone, I dropped from the platform 
 into two feet of snow, and when after floundering through it 
 I halted among a group of excited men behind the two huge 
 locomotives, it was for a newcomer a striking scene. The 
 snow had ceased, and watery moonlight lit up the great 
 white plain, while in the midst of it, with the black smoke 
 of the engines drifting across it under a double column of 
 roaring steam, stood the illuminated train. There was 
 nothing else to show that man had ever been there before 
 
28 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 except the spectral row of telegraph posts that dwindled 
 in long perspective to the horizon, and ahead a billowy 
 drift which filled a hollow rose level with the wedged- 
 shaped framing on the snow-plough front. They run 
 both better ploughs and more luxurious Colonist cars 
 now. 
 
 * Will they get through ? ' I asked a tall man in fur 
 robes whom I had chatted with ; and he answered cheer- 
 fully, 'Oh, yes, you just bet they will. Jim Grant and 
 Number Sixty are a very bad pair to beat ; he'll either 
 jump the track or rush her through it. He's backing her 
 out for the first lead now.' 
 
 With a clang of the bell to warn us off the line, the 
 coupled engines slowly shoved the long train back the way 
 they had come. Then the roar of blown-off steam grew 
 still, and with loud blasts from the funnels that rapidly 
 quickened they swept like snorting giants down the slight 
 grade again, the huge head-lamp casting a blaze of radiance 
 before them. It went out suddenly ; I heard the thud 
 of a soft but heavy shock, and long waves of whiteness 
 curled up, while above it there was a hurling aloft of red 
 sparks from the twin funnels. Then the tail light glim- 
 mered more brightly as it returned again, and we looked 
 into the steep hollow with rammed back slopes the engines 
 backed out of. 
 
 'She'll do it sure next time,' said the passenger. 
 ' Grant's going right back to Winnipeg to get on speed 
 enough ; ' and under an eddying blast of steam the massive 
 locomotives charged past us once more, while I felt a thrill 
 as I watched them, and envied Grant the engineer. It was 
 something to hold that power in the hollow of one's hand. 
 Thick white powder whirled aloft like smoke before them, 
 a filmy wavy mass that seemed alive rolled aside, while 
 presently the whistle boomed in triumph, and there was an 
 
'THE LAND OF PROMISE' 29 
 
 exultant shout from the passengers, for steam had vanquished 
 the snow, and the road lay open before us. Blundering 
 down the gap they had made I climbed on board the train, 
 colder than ever, and, as my new friend seemed a native of 
 the neighbourhood, asked him if he knew the farmer I was 
 going to offer my services to. 
 
 He laughed as he answered, ' 1 ought to. Beat me badly 
 over a deal in stock he did. Old Coombs is a Britisher, and 
 a precious low-grade specimen. Dare say he'll take you, 
 but stick him for half as much again as he offers you, and 
 bargain ex harvest you'll get double wages anywhere 
 then see ? How does this great country strike you 
 don't think much of it ? well, go slow and steady and it 
 will grow on you. It's good enough for me, and I was 
 raised on the best land in Ontario.' 
 
 This was not encouraging, but I knew most beginnings 
 are unpleasant, and went shivering to sleep until in the grey 
 twilight of what might have been a mid-winter dawn a 
 blast of the whistle wakened me and the brakes began to 
 scream. The train ran slowly past an edifice resembling 
 a sod stable with one light in it, stopped, and the 
 conductor strode into the car. Even now the Western 
 railroad conductor is a personage, but he might have been 
 an emperor then, and this particular specimen had lorded 
 it over the Colonist passengers in a manner which for 
 several days had made me long to rebuke him. It was 
 of course foolish, but I was as yet new to the ways of the 
 country, and I fear we were always a somewhat combative 
 family. 
 
 * Anyone for Elk-tail ? Jump off; we can't wait all 
 night with the West-bound mail,' he said. 'Say you,' 
 looking at me, < you had an Elk-tail ticket. Why aren't 
 you getting off ? ' 
 
 ' It's Vermont I am bound for,' I answered sleepily. 
 
30 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' You will see it on my ticket if you look in your wallet,' 
 but this, of course, the magnate refused to do, and when 
 another hoot of the whistle announced the engineer's im- 
 patience he called a brakesman, saying, * You are bound for 
 Elk-tail, and we've no time for fooling. Won't get off ? 
 Well, we'll soon put you,' and, grasping my shoulder, he 
 hustled me towards the platform of the car. 
 
 Now, though Martin Crosfield sometimes gave way to 
 outbreaks of indignation, he was fond of impressing the fact 
 upon me that if forced into a quarrel one should take the 
 first steps deliberately. Also, even then I remembered that 
 Coombs' homestead lay almost as near Elk-tail, and a happy 
 thought struck me. So I offered but little resistance until, 
 as we stood on the platform, the brakesman or someone 
 waved a lantern ; then, while with a shock of couplings the 
 cars commenced to move, I gripped the guard rail with one 
 hand and held the other ready, for I had determined if I 
 left that train before I reached Vermont the conductor 
 should certainly leave it too. 
 
 ' Off with you ! ' he shouted, and shook me by the 
 shoulder ; but I seized him by the waist the cars were 
 moving faster now and then flung myself off backwards 
 into the snow. I fell soft, for as it happened the conductor 
 fell under me, and, profiting by experience hardly earned in 
 several colliery disputes, took the precaution of sitting upon 
 him before he could get up again. c It won't be my fault 
 if you get hurt because you don't keep still,' I said. 
 
 Then there was a roar of laughter close by, and staring 
 breathless down the track I saw the tail-light of the train 
 grow dimmer across the prairie until it stopped and came 
 swinging towards us again. 
 
 * I'd rather have lost five dollars than missed that,' said 
 my new friend, rubbing his hands. * Not bad for a raw 
 Britisher put the boss conductor off his own train and 
 
<THE LAND OF PROMISE' 31 
 
 held up the Vancouver mail ! Say, what are you going to 
 do with him, sonny ? ' 
 
 ' He can get up, and learn to be civil,' I answered 
 grimly ; and when the man did so sullenly the other said, 
 * Well, I don't want any mess up with the brakesmen, and 
 we may as well walk out now they're coming back for him. 
 Only one man in this shanty, and unless it was a director 
 he wouldn't turn out. Leave your baggage where they 
 dumped it ; can't move it until daylight ; and come along 
 with me !' 
 
 I did so somewhat regretfully, for I felt just then that 
 if this was the way they welcomed the emigrant in that 
 country it would be a relief to do battle with the whole of 
 them. Afterwards I learned that when one understands his 
 ways, which is difficult to do at first, there are many good 
 qualities in the Western railroad-hand. Still, I always 
 wondered why the friendless new-comer should be con- 
 sidered a fair mark for petty hostility, especially by those 
 who were formerly poor themselves, all of which applies 
 only to city-bred men who hold some small office for 
 those who live by hard labour in forest and prairie would 
 share their last crust with the stranger. 
 
 We trudged away from the station, with a square 
 block of wooden houses rising nakedly in front of us 
 from the prairie and two gaunt elevators flanking it to 
 left and right beside the track, which is one's usual first im- 
 pression of a Western town. The rambling wooden 
 building which combined the callings of general store and 
 hotel was all in darkness, for the owner thereof expected no 
 guests just then, and would not have got up for anyone but 
 my companion if he had. So, after pounding long upon the 
 door, a drowsy voice demanded, with many and vivid 
 expletives, who was there, and then added, ' Oh, it's you, 
 Jasper j what in the name of thunder are you making all 
 
32 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 that row about ? Hold on ! You're an obstinate man, and 
 I guess you'll bust my door unless I let you in.' 
 
 The speaker did so, and when he had ushered us into a 
 long bare room with a stove still twinkling in the midst of 
 it, explained that his subordinates would not serve an ambas- 
 sador before the regulation breakfast hour, and lighting a 
 kerosene lamp forthwith withdrew. Jasper, however, took 
 it all as a matter of course, and when, rolled in his long 
 coat, he stretched himself on a settee and went to sleep, I 
 followed suit. Still they gave us a good breakfast porridge, 
 steak, potatoes, corn-cakes and molasses at which I 
 wondered, because I had not discovered as yet that there is 
 no difference on the prairie between any of the three meals 
 of the day. 
 
 When it was finished my companion, who gave me 
 directions how to find Coombs' homestead, said, * Remem- 
 ber what I told you about harvest, and, if you strike nothing 
 better, when the wheat is ripe come straight back to me. 
 I'm Long Jasper of Willow Creek, and everyone knows 
 me. I like vour looks, and I'll give you double whatever 
 Coombs pays you. Guess he'll have taught you something, 
 and I'm not speculating much when I stake on that. 
 You'll fetch Jackson's crossing on the flat ; go in and borrow 
 a horse from him. Tell him Jasper sent you. Your 
 baggage ? When the station agent feels energetic he'll 
 dump it into his shed, but I guess there's nothing that 
 would hurry him until he does. Now strike out ; it's only 
 thirty miles, and if you go on as you've begun you'll soon 
 feel to home in this great country ! ' 
 
 I thanked him sincerely and departed ; while, as I 
 passed the station, I saw that the agent had evidently not 
 felt energetic yet, for my two boxes lay just where they had 
 been flung out beside the track. It was all as a preliminary 
 experience somewhat daunting, and the country forbidding, 
 
'THE LAND OF PROMISE' 33 
 
 raw, even more unfinished than smoke-blackened Lancashire, 
 and very cold ; but I had found that everyone seemed con- 
 tented, and many proud of that new land, and could see no 
 reason why I should not like other men grow fond of it 
 too. At least I had not seen a hungry or ragged person 
 since I landed in Canada. Besides, Carrington Manor was 
 less than fifty miles away, though it was evident now that 
 a great gulf lay between Ralph Crosfield, the emigrant 
 seeking an opportunity to learn his business as farm-servant, 
 and the heiress of Carrington. 
 
34 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 IV 
 
 AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 
 
 BY this time the sun was high, and fastening the skin coat 
 round my shoulders with a piece of string I trudged on, 
 rejoicing in the first warmth and brightness I had so far 
 found in Canada. But it had its disadvantages, for the 
 snow became unpleasantly soft, and it was a relief to find 
 that the breeze had stripped the much thinner covering from 
 the first of the swelling rises which rolled back towards 
 the north. Here I halted a few minutes and surveyed my 
 adopted country. 
 
 Behind lay the roofs of Elk-tail, some of them tin- 
 covered and flashing like a heliograph ; in front a desolate 
 wilderness where the gray-white of frost-bleached grasses 
 was streaked by the incandescent brightness of sloppy snow. 
 There was neither smoke nor sign of a human presence in 
 all its borders only a few dusky patches of willows to break 
 the vast monotony of white and blue. And somewhere out 
 on those endless levels, thirty miles to the north, lay the 
 homestead of the man who might not give me employment 
 even if I could find it, which, remembering Jasper's 
 directions, seemed by no means certain. But the first 
 landmark at least was visible, a sinuous line of dwarfed trees 
 low down on the horizon, and gathering my sinking 
 courage I struck out for it. Slowly the miles were left 
 behind straggling copse, white plateau, and winding ravine 
 until it was a relief to find an erection of sods and birch- 
 
AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 35 
 
 poles nestling in a hollow. The man who greeted me in 
 the doorway was bronzed to coffee colour by the sun-blink 
 on snow, and his first words were, * Walk right in, and 
 make yourself to home.' 
 
 He was thin, hard, and wiry ; the gray slouch hat and 
 tattered deerskin jacket became him ; while if he had not 
 the solidity of our field labourers he had evidently nothing 
 of their slowness, and with natural curiosity I surveyed him. 
 There were many in Lancashire and Yorkshire who might 
 beat him at a heavy lift, but few who could do so in a steady 
 race against time from dawn to dusk, I thought. Then 
 somewhat awkwardly I explained my business, and, men- 
 tioning Jasper, asked if he would lend me a horse, where- 
 upon he called to the cheerful, neatly-dressed woman 
 bustling about the stove, * Hurry on that dinner, Jess ! ' 
 
 Next, turning to me, he added, ' You're welcome to the 
 horse, but it will be supper-time before you fetch Coombs' 
 homestead, and you mayn't get much then. So lie right 
 back where you are until dinner's ready, and tell us the 
 best news of the Old Country. Jess was born there.' 
 
 It was characteristic treatment, and though the meal 
 was frugal potatoes, pork ? green tea, flapjacks (which are 
 pancakes) and drips, which is probably glucose flavoured 
 with essences they gave me of their best, as even the 
 poorest settlers do. One might travel the wide world over 
 to find their equal in kindly hospitality. Perhaps the 
 woman noticed my bashfulness, for she laughed as she said, 
 * You're very welcome to anything we have. New out 
 from England, I see, and maybe we're rough to look at. 
 Still, you'll learn to like us presently.' 
 
 In this, however, she was wrong. They were not 
 rough to look at, for though it was plain to see that both 
 toiled hard for a bare living there was a light-hearted con- 
 tentment about them, and a curious something which 
 
 D 2 
 
36 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 seemed akin to refinement. It was not educational polish, 
 but rather a natural courtesy and self-respect, though the 
 words do not adequately express it, which seems born of 
 freedom and an instinctive realisation of the brotherhood of 
 man expressed in kindly action. Hard-handed and weather- 
 beaten, younger son of good English family or ploughman 
 born, as I was afterwards to find, the breakers of the prairie 
 are rarely barbaric in manners or speech, and, in the sense 
 of its inner meaning, most of them essentially gentlemen. 
 
 It was with a lighter heart and many good wishes I 
 rode out again, and eventually reached Coombs' home- 
 stead, where a welcome of a different kind awaited me. 
 The house was well built of sawn lumber, and backed by a 
 thin birch bluff, while there was no difficulty in setting 
 down its owner as an Englishman of a kind which is 
 fortunately not common. He was stout and flabby in face, 
 with a smug, self-satisfied air I did not like, and leaned 
 against a paddock rail looking me over while I told him 
 what had brought me there. Then he said, with no trace 
 of Western accent, which, it afterwards appeared, he 
 affected to despise : 
 
 < You should not have borrowed that horse, because 
 if we come to terms I shall have to feed him a day or two. 
 Of course you would be useless for several months at 
 least, and with the last one I got a premium. How- 
 ever, as a favour I'll take you until after harvest for your 
 board.' 
 
 < What are the duties ? ' I asked cautiously. And he 
 answered : 
 
 < Rise at dawn, feed the working cattle, and plough 
 until the dinner-hour when you learn how. Then you 
 could water the stock while you're resting ; plough, 
 harrow, or chop wood until supper ; after that, wash up 
 supper dishes, and it's a standing order attend family 
 
AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 37 
 
 prayers. In summer you'll continue hay cutting until it's 
 dark.' 
 
 Now the inhabitants of eastern Lancashire and the 
 West Riding are seldom born foolish, and Jasper had 
 cautioned me. So it may have been native shrewdness 
 which led to my leaving the draft for one hundred pounds 
 intact at the Winnipeg office of the Bank of Montreal and 
 determining to earn experience and a living at the same 
 time as promptly as possible. Also, though I only dis- 
 covered it later, this is the one safe procedure for the 
 would-be colonist. There is not the slightest reason why 
 he should pay a premium, because the work is the same in 
 either case ; and as, there being no caste distinction, all men 
 are equal, hired hand and farmer living and eating together, 
 he will find no difference in the treatment. In any case, 
 I had no intention of working for nothing, and answered 
 shortly, * I'll come for ten dollars a month until harvest. 
 I shall no doubt find someone to give me twenty then.' 
 
 Coombs stared, surveyed me ironically from head to 
 heel again, and, after offering five dollars, said very 
 reluctantly, * Seven-fifty, and it's sinful extravagance. Put 
 the horse in that stable, and don't give him too much chop. 
 Then carry in those stove billets, and see if Mrs. Coombs 
 wants anything to get supper ready.' 
 
 I was tired and sleepy ; but Coombs evidently intended 
 to get the value of his seven-fifty out of me he had a way 
 of exacting the uttermost farthing and after feeding the 
 horse, liberally, I carried fourteen buckets of water to fill a 
 tank from the well before at last supper was ready. We 
 ate it together silently in a long match-boarded room 
 Coombs, his wife, Marvin the big Manitoban hired man, 
 and a curly-haired brown-eyed stripling with a look of 
 good breeding about him. Mrs. Coombs was thin and 
 angular, with a pink-tipped nose ; and in their dwelling 
 
38 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 the only place I ever saw it on the prairie she and her 
 husband always sat with several feet of blank table between 
 themselves and those who worked for them. They were 
 also, I thought, representatives of an unpleasant type 
 the petty professional or suddenly promoted clerk, who 
 lacking equally the operative's sturdiness and the polish 
 of those born in a higher station, apes the latter, and, 
 sacrificing everything for appearance, becomes a poor 
 burlesque upon humanity. Even here, on the lone, wide 
 prairie, they could not shake off the small pretence of 
 superiority. When supper was finished and Coombs' 
 suppers were the worst I ever ate in Canada the working 
 contingent adjourned after washing dishes to the sod 
 stable, where I asked questions about our employer ; and 
 Marvin said, * Meaner than pizon ! Down east, on the 
 'lantic shore, is where he ought to be. Guess he wore 
 them out in the old country, and so they sent him here.' 
 
 Then the young lad stretched out his hand with frank 
 good-nature. * I'm Harry Lorraine, premium pupil on this 
 most delectable homestead. You're clearly fresh out from 
 England, and I'm sure we'll be good friends,' he said. 
 ' Coombs ? Well, Jim Marvin is right. I've set him 
 down in my own mind as a defaulting deacon, or some- 
 thing of the kind. Did my guardian out of a hundred and 
 fifty as premium, with duck, brant goose, and prairie 
 chicken shooting thrown in and he sees I've never time to 
 touch a gun. However, I'm learning the business ; and in 
 spite of his quite superfluous piety he can farm, in a get-all- 
 you-can-for-nothing kind of way.' 
 
 'He can't, just because of that same,' broke in the 
 prairie-born. * I'm sick of this talking religion, but you'll 
 see it written plain on furrow and stock that when the 
 Almighty gives the good soil freely He expects something 
 back, and not a stinting of dumb beasts and land to roll up 
 
AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 39 
 
 dollars in the bank. Take all and give nothing don't pan 
 out worth the washing, and that man will get let down of 
 a sudden some cold day. Hallo ! here's the blamed old 
 reprobate coming.' 
 
 Coombs slid through the stable with a cat-like gait and 
 little eyes that noticed everything, while Harry leaned 
 against a stall defiantly sucking at his pipe, and I wondered 
 if I was expected to be working at something. Idleness 
 does not pay in this country, Crosfield,' he said, with a 
 beatific air. * Diligence is the one road to success. And 
 there is a truss of hay waiting to go through the cutter. 
 Harry, I notice more oats than need be mixed with that 
 chop.' 
 
 He went out, and Harry laughed as he said, * Always 
 the same ! Weighs out the week's sugar to the teaspoon- 
 ful. But you look tired. If you feed I'll work the infernal 
 chopper.' 
 
 So for a time I fed in the hay, while Harry swung up 
 and down at the wheel, slender and debonnair in spite 
 of his coarse blue garments, with merry brown eyes. He 
 was younger than I, and evidently inferior in muscle ; but, 
 as I know now, he had inherited a spirit which is greater than 
 mere bodily strength. No man had a truer comrade than I in 
 Harry Lorraine, and the friendship which commenced in the 
 sod stable that night when I was travel-worn and he cut the 
 hay for me will last while we two remain upon this earth, 
 and after, hallowed in the survivor's memory, until but, re- 
 membering Coombs, I know that silence is often reverence, 
 and so leave Grace's clean lips to voice the eternal hope. 
 
 We went back for family prayers, when Coombs read a 
 chapter of Scripture ; and he read passably well, though, 
 for some reason, his tone jarred upon me, while Harry 
 fidgeted uneasily. Now I think it would do so even more 
 forcibly. A hard life face to face with wild nature, among 
 
40 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 fearless, honest men, either by land or sea, induces, among 
 other things, a becoming humility. There are times, out 
 on the vast prairie, when, through glories of pearl and 
 crimson, night melts into day, or up in the northern 
 muskegs, where the great Aurora blazes down through the 
 bitter frost, when one stands, as it were, abashed and awe- 
 stricken under a dim perception of the majesty upholding 
 this universe. Then, and because of this, the man with 
 understanding eyes will never be deceived by complacent 
 harangues on sacred things from such as Coombs who 
 never lend a luckless neighbour seed-wheat, and oppress the 
 hireling. Much better seemed Jasper's answer when Harry 
 once asked him for twenty acres' seed : * Take half that's 
 in the granary, if you want it. Damnation ! why didn't 
 you come before ? ' 
 
 We retired early, Harry and I, to sleep in the same 
 room with the rusty stove-pipe running through it ; and 
 we rose, I think, at 4 A.M., while an hour later the feet of 
 the big plough-oxen were trampling the rich loam where 
 the frost had mellowed the fall back-setting. We also 
 worked until 9 P.M., and I had words with Coombs when 
 he gave me directions about ploughing. We do not get 
 our land for nothing in Lancashire, and so learn to work 
 the utmost out of every yard of it. But I do not propose 
 to dilate upon either disc-harrows or breaking prairie, nor 
 even the cutting of wild hay which harsh and wiry 
 product is excellent feeding for all these matters will be 
 mentioned again. Still, as spring and summer rolled away 
 I gathered experience which saved me many dollars, and 
 felt at least an inch less round the waist and another 
 broader round the shoulders. 
 
 Then one Saturday evening, when the north-west 
 blazed with orange and saffron flame, I lay among the 
 tussocks of whispering grass reading for the third or fourth 
 
AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 41 
 
 time a few well-worn letters from Cousin Alice. Acre by 
 acre the tall wheat, changing from green to ochre, rippled 
 before me ; and had its owner's hand been more open it 
 would have been a splendid crop. Marvin, Harry, and 
 I had ploughed for and sown it, because Coombs despised 
 manual labour, and confined himself chiefly to fault-finding. 
 It also struck me that if we could do this for another we 
 could do more for ourselves ; and my agreement expired 
 at harvest, while already the first oats were yellowing. 
 Coombs' voice roused me from a pleasant reverie, wherein 
 I sat once more with Alice beside the hearth in England. 
 
 4 It's not dark yet, and there's the wire waiting for 
 the paddock fence,' he said. ' I regret to see you addicted 
 to loafing. And Mrs. Coombs has no water left for the 
 kitchen.' 
 
 Saying nothing, I smiled a little bitterly as I marched 
 away to carry in water, and then the lady, whose thin face 
 seemed sourer than usual that evening, set me to wash the 
 supper dishes. All went well until I had the misfortune 
 to break a stove-cracked plate, when looking at me con- 
 temptuously she said : ' How very clumsy ; do you know 
 you have cost me two dollars already by your breakages ? 
 No the handle always towards a lady ! But what could 
 be expected ? You were never brought up.' 
 
 Now the frying-pan or spider I held out had stood with 
 its handle over an open lid of the range, so, though nettled, I 
 still held it turned from her, and answered shortly, ' Not to 
 wash dishes, madam, though my up-bringing has nothing 
 to do with the case.' 
 
 With an impatient gesture she reached over and grasped 
 the hot handle, then dropped it with a cry just as the door 
 opened and Coombs came in. This did not displease me, 
 for if a quarrel must come it comes best quickly, and I 
 listened unmoved while the mistress of the homestead said. 
 
42 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 * Walter, I think you had better get rid of this man. He 
 not only breaks my crockery, but set a cruel trap to burn 
 my fingers, and I do not choose to be insulted by a hired 
 hand.' 
 
 * Have you anything to say before I turn you out upon 
 the prairie ? ' asked Coombs pompously, and remembering 
 many an old grievance I answered with cheerful readiness, 
 
 * Nothing of much moment, beyond that I warned Mrs. 
 Coombs, and it was an accident. But it is cooler without, 
 and we can discuss it better there.' 
 
 He followed in evident surprise, and I chuckled when 
 he even walked after me into the stable, for already I 
 guessed that if I left before the harvest I might have trouble 
 about my wages. So far, in spite of several requests, 
 Coombs had paid me nothing. It is also possible that a 
 penniless new comer of peaceful disposition might have been 
 victimised, but I had learned in several industrial disputes, 
 argued out with clog and brickbat as well as upon barrel- 
 head platforms, that there are occasions when ethical justice 
 may well be assisted by physical force. Besides, I was a 
 Lingdale Crosfield, and would have faced annihilation rather 
 than let any man rob me of my right. 
 
 * I am afraid Mrs. Coombs is prejudiced against me, 
 and it might save unpleasantness if you paid me my wages 
 and I left this place to-night,' I said ; and read in Coombs' 
 face that this was by no means what he desired. Wages 
 are high at harvest and labour scarce, while anyone with 
 a knowledge of working land was a god-send at seven 
 dollars a month. But Coombs was equal to the emergency. 
 
 * I regret to see so much dishonesty in one so young,' 
 he said. * Our bargain was until after harvest, and I'll 
 neither pay you a dollar nor give up your boxes if you go 
 before. Let this be a lesson, if I overlook it, to confine 
 yourself to the truth.' 
 
AN UNPLEASANT APPRENTICESHIP 43 
 
 I forget what I answered we were always a hot- 
 blooded race but I fancy that several adjectives and the 
 word hypocrite figured therein ; while Coombs, shaken 
 out of his usual assumption of ironical courtesy, made a 
 serious mistake when he tried bullying. As he strode 
 towards me, fuming like an irate turkey cock, in an 
 absurdly helpless attitude, I grasped his shoulder and 
 backed him violently against a stall. Then, and whether 
 this was justifiable I do not know, though I know that 
 otherwise not a cent would I ever have got, I took out his 
 wallet, which as he had been selling stock in Brandon con- 
 tained a roll of dollar bills, and counted out the covenanted 
 hire. 
 
 6 Now I'm going to borrow your spare horse to carry 
 my box,' I said. ' It will be sent back from Jasper's to- 
 morrow, and if you venture to interfere I shall be com- 
 pelled to hurt you. Let this also be a lesson to you never 
 try to bluff an angry man and put your hands up like that.' 
 I think he swore, I am sure he groaned distressfully 
 when I went out with what was due to me, and then 
 meeting Harry I told him the story. 
 
 * I don't think my guardians care much about me, and 
 I'm coming with you,' he said. * Good evening, Mrs. 
 Coombs, you may make dusters of any old clothes I leave. 
 I am going away with Mr. Crosfield, and henceforward I 
 am afraid you will have to trust Marvin, who'll certainly 
 eat the sugar, or do your own plate washing.' 
 
 So twenty minutes later, while Marvin stood chuckling 
 on the threshold and waved his hat to us, we marched out 
 in triumph, leading Coombs' steed which made an efficient 
 pack-horse, and it was dawn next day when aching and 
 footsore we limped into Jasper's. He lay back in his hide 
 chair laughing until there were tears in his eyes when we 
 told him the tale at breakfast, then smote me on the back 
 
44 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 as he said, ' I'd have given a good deal to see it the 
 cunning old rascal ! Got your full wages out of him ? 
 well, I guess you broke the record. What shall you do 
 now ? stay right where you are. It's a bonanza harvest, 
 and I'll keep my promise ; fifteen dollars a month, isn't it ? 
 Mr. Lorraine ! oh yes, I know him offer you the same. 
 Then when harvest's over we'll talk again.' 
 
 Needless to say, we gladly accepted the offer. 
 
45 
 
 V 
 
 A BID FOR FORTUNE 
 
 WE returned the horse with a note of sarcastic thanks, and 
 flattered ourselves we had heard the last of the matter, until 
 several days later, when, grimed with oil and rust, I was 
 overhauling a binder, a weather-beaten man wearing a 
 serviceable cavalry uniform rode in, and explaining that he 
 was a sergeant of the North- West Police added that he 
 had come in the first case to investigate a charge of assault 
 and robbery brought against one Ralph Crosfield by Coombs. 
 I told him what had happened as clearly as I could, and 
 fancied his face relaxed, while his eyes twinkled suspiciously 
 as he patted the fidgeting horse, which did not like the 
 binder. 
 
 Then sitting rigidly erect, the same man who afterwards 
 rode through an ambush of cattle-stealing rustlers deter- 
 mined to kill him, he said, * I'm thinking ye acted impru- 
 dently maist imprudently, but I'm not saying ye could 
 have got your wages otherwise oot o' Coombs. Weel, I'll 
 take Jasper's security for it that ye'll be here, and away back 
 to report to my superior. Don't think ye'll be wanted at 
 Regina, Mr. Crosfield. Good-morning til ye, Jasper.' 
 
 * Get down, Sergeant Angus,' said Jasper, grasping his 
 rein. * If you have run all decent whiskey off the face of 
 the prairie, I've still got some hard cider to offer you. Say, 
 don't you think you had better ride round and lock up that 
 blamed old Coombs ? * 
 
46 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 There was less hard cider in the homestead when 
 Sergeant Angus Macfarlane rode out again, and our 
 presence was never requested by the North- West Police. 
 Nevertheless, it became evident that either Coombs or his 
 wife was of inquiring as well as revengeful disposition, and 
 had read some of the letters I left about, for some time later, 
 when the snow-drifts raced across the prairie, I received the 
 following epistle from Martin Crosfield : 
 
 * I return the last letter sent your cousin, and until the 
 present cloud is lifted from your name must forbid you 
 writing her. Neither do I desire any more communications 
 from you. We have all of us our failings, and there is 
 much I could have forgiven you, but that you should have 
 used your position in the mill to ruin that foolish girl 
 Minnie Lee is more than I can overlook. The story has 
 roused a very bitter feeling, even among my own hands, 
 who are not particularly virtuous, and now we are on the 
 eve of the elections some of the other side's pettifoggers are 
 using it freely. Still, I would gladly have faced all that, 
 but for my own shame, knowing it is true. Her father is 
 a half-mad religious fanatic of some sort ; he came in to 
 call down vengeance upon me, and I laughed at him, as I 
 insulted the first man who told me, for his trouble. Then 
 I remembered how by chance I once heard her arrange to 
 meet you in Winnipeg. I understand the father is going 
 out especially to look for you, and you had better beware of 
 him. Further, I have a letter from a man called Coombs 
 who brings a charge of robbery against you, saying it 
 appeared his duty to advise me. This I returned endorsed, 
 " A lie," because none of the Lingdale Crosfields ever stole 
 anything back to the time of Hilary, who was hanged 
 like a Jacobite gentleman for taking despatches sword in 
 hand from two of Cumberland's dragoons. If you are ever 
 
A BID FOR FORTUNE 47 
 
 actually in want you can let me know. If not, I am sorry 
 to say it, I do not wish to hear from you.' 
 
 Hot with rage I flung down the letter, and, though how 
 it got there never transpired, a tiny slip of paper fluttered 
 out from it, on which I read the words, ' There is a 
 shameful story told about you, Ralph, but even in spite of 
 my dislike at mentioning it I must tell you I do not believe 
 a word of it. Go on, trust in a clean conscience, and the 
 truth will all come out some day.' 
 
 * God bless her for her sweet charity,' I said ; then 
 sat staring moodily across the frozen prairie until Harry 
 touched me on the arm. c I hope you have no bad news 
 from home,' he said. 
 
 I have suffered at times from speaking too frankly, but 
 I had full trust in Harry, and told him all, adding as I held 
 out the letter, ' He ought to know me better ; it's cruel 
 and unjust. I'll write next mail to Winnipeg and send the 
 confounded money he gave me when I came out back. 
 Read that.' 
 
 Harry did so leisurely, wrinkling his brows ; then he 
 said, ' I think I sympathise with your uncle no, wait a 
 little. That letter was written by a man who would much 
 more gladly have defended you you can recognise regret 
 running through every line of it forced to believe against 
 his wish by apparently conclusive evidence. Otherwise, he 
 would have ended with the first sentences. I should like 
 him from this letter, and would be very pleased to meet 
 your cousin. In any case, apart from the discourtesy, you 
 can't send the money back ; from what you told me you 
 are not certain even that it was a present. Better write and 
 explain the whole thing, then if he doesn't answer leave it 
 to time.' 
 
 I can still see Harry standing wrapped in his long fur 
 
48 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 coat looking down on me with kindly eyes, and learned in 
 due time that he gave me very good counsel, though it was 
 much against my wishes I followed it. 
 
 We worked hard for Jasper that harvest from the clear 
 cold dawning until long after the broad red moon swang up 
 above the prairie. Day by day the tinkling knives of the 
 binders rasped through the flinty stems, and the tossing 
 wooden arms caught up the tall wheat that went down 
 before them and piled it in golden sheaves upon the prairie. 
 This one machine has done great things for the Western 
 Dominion, for without it when wheat is cheap and 
 labour dear many a crop which would not pay for the 
 cutting would rot where it grew. Jasper, however, 
 possessed one of the antiquated kind which bound the 
 sheaves with wire, and occasionally led to wild language 
 when a length of springy steel got mixed up with the 
 thrasher. Every joint and sinew ached, there were times 
 when we were almost too tired to sleep, but and this was 
 never the case with Coombs wherever the work was hardest 
 the master of the homestead did two men's share, and his 
 cheery encouragement put heart into the rest. 
 
 Then, drawn by many sturdy oxen, the big thrasher 
 rolled in, and the pace grew faster still. The engine, like 
 others in use thereabouts, shed steam and hot water round 
 it from every leaky joint, and kept Harry busy feeding it 
 with birch billets and liquid from the well. There were 
 sheaves to pitch to the separator, grain bags to be filled and 
 hauled to the straw-pile granary, while between times we 
 drove waggon loads of chaff and straw bouncing behind the 
 bronco teams to complete that altogether western structure. 
 Its erection is simple. You drive stout birch poles into the 
 sod, wattle them with willow branches, and lash on what- 
 ever comes handiest for rafters ; then pile the straw all over 
 it several fathoms thick, and leave the wind and snow to do 
 
A BID FOR FORTUNE 49 
 
 the rest. When it has settled into shape and solidity it is 
 both frost and rain proof, and often requires a hay-knife to 
 get into it. 
 
 So, under a blue cloud of wood smoke, and amid 
 blinding fibrous dust, panting men, jolting waggons, and 
 the musical whirr of the separator, the work went on, until 
 the thrashers departed, taking their pay with them, and, in 
 the light box-waggons which first rolled across the uneven 
 prairie on groaning wheels, and then slid in swift silence on 
 runners over the snow, we hauled the grain to the railroad 
 forty miles away. It was done at last, and Harry and I sat 
 considering our next move one bitter night by the stove, 
 when Jasper came in shaking the white crystals from his 
 furs. He saw we were plotting something, and laughed as 
 he said : 
 
 ' Making up your bill ? We'll square it at the fifteen 
 dollars to the day you hauled the last load in. Now I heard 
 you talking of taking up land, and I've been thinking some. 
 Nothing to earn a dollar at before the spring, and it will 
 cost you considerable to board at Regina or Brandon. Is 
 there anything the matter with stopping here ? If you are 
 particular we'll make it a deal and cut in three the grocery 
 bill. Meantime you can chop building lumber ready to 
 start your house in spring. No, it isn't any favour ; I'll be 
 mighty glad of your company.' It was a frank offer ; we 
 accepted it as frankly, and lived like three brothers while the 
 prairie lay white and silent month after month under the 
 Arctic frost. Also we found that a young Englishman who 
 lived twenty miles to the west was anxious to dispose of his 
 homestead and one hundred and sixty acres of partly broken 
 land at a bargain. We rode over to make inquiries, and 
 learned that he had lost several successive crops. Jasper, 
 however, said this was because he spent most of his time in 
 shooting, while the man who wished to succeed in that region 
 
 E 
 
50 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 must start his work in grim earnest and stay right with it. 
 Now he was going out to a berth in India, and would take 
 the equivalent of 4.00 sterling for the buildings and land, 
 with the implements and a team of oxen thrown in at least 
 150 down, and the rest to run at eight per cent, on mort- 
 gage. It was dirt cheap at the money, but there was no 
 one to buy it thereabouts, he said, and Jasper, who acted as 
 our adviser, agreed with this. 
 
 ' Got to make a plunge some time, and risking nothin' 
 you never win,' he said. c Figuring all round, it will fit 
 you better than breaking virgin prairie, and you'll pay a 
 pile of that mortgage off if you get a good crop next fall. 
 Then one of you can take up the next quarter-section free 
 land. More working beasts ? I'll trade you my kicking 
 third team at a valuation, and you can pay me after harvest. 
 If the crop fails ? Well, I'll take my chances.' 
 
 We spent one night in calculations beside the glowing 
 stove while the shingles crackled above us under the bitter 
 cold, and found that by staking everything we could just 
 manage it. ' I dare say I could raise a last hundred from 
 my admiring relatives by hinting that without it I had 
 serious thoughts of returning home,' said Harry. * I don't 
 know why, but they're particularly anxious to keep me 
 away.' 
 
 There was a ring of bitterness in his tone, and when in 
 due time Harry got money he did not seem by any means 
 grateful for it. It was long afterwards before he told me 
 much about his affairs, and even then I did not understand 
 them fully, though it seemed probable that somebody had 
 robbed him of his patrimony. Nobody, however, troubles 
 about his comrade's antecedents in the West, where many 
 men have a somewhat vivid history. The new land accepts 
 them for what they are in the present, leaving the past 
 to the mother country. So a bargain was made, and the 
 
A BID FOR FORTUNE 51 
 
 vendor received his first instalment, while as that winter 
 sped I looked forward, half-fearful, half-exultant, to what 
 the coming year should bring. Our feet at least were set 
 on the long road which leads to success, and it was well 
 we could not see the flints and thorns that should wound 
 them cruelly. 
 
 It was a clear spring morning, one of those morn- 
 ings which on the wide grass-lands fill one's heart with 
 hope and stir the frost-chilled blood, when Harry and I 
 stood beside our teams ready to drive the first furrow. A 
 warm breeze from the Pacific, which had crossed the snow- 
 barred Rockies, set the dry grasses rippling, and the prairie 
 running northwards league after league was dappled with 
 moving shadow by the white cloudlets that scudded across 
 the great vault of blue. Behind us straggling silver- 
 stemmed birches sheltered the little log-house of Fairmead, 
 which nestled snugly among them, with its low sod-built 
 stable further among the slender branches behind. Trees 
 are scarce in that region, and the settlers make the most of 
 them. But the white prairie was broken by a space of 
 ashes and black loam, with a fire still crackling in crimson 
 tongues among the stubble at the further end of it. Straw 
 is worth nothing thereabouts, so a little is cut with the ear, 
 and the rest burned off in spring, while the grasses growing 
 'and rotting for countless centuries have added to the rich 
 alluvial left by some inland sea which covered all the 
 prairie when the world was young. Nature, as those who 
 love her know, is never in a hurry, and very slowly, little by 
 little, working on through forgotten ages, she had stored her 
 latent wealth under the matted sod against the time when 
 the ploughshare should convert it into food for beast and 
 man. There is also no wheat soil to beat that of Assiniboia 
 and Manitoba on the surface of the earth. 
 
 Harry leaned on the plough-stilts with a smile on his 
 
 B 2 
 
52 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 handsome sun-bronzed face, and I smiled at him, for we 
 were young and hope was strong within us. Then he said, 
 ' Ralph, I feel a hankering after some old heathen cere- 
 monial, a pouring of wine upon it, or a garlanded priest to 
 bless the fruitful earth. But we put our trust in science 
 and automatic binders now, and disregard the powers of 
 infinity until they smite the crop down with devastating 
 hail. Well, here's the first stroke for fortune. Get up ; 
 aw there, Stonewall ! ' 
 
 He tapped the big red ox with a pointed stick, the two 
 beasts settled their massive shoulders to the collar, and with 
 a soft greasy swish and crackle of half-burnt stubble the 
 mouldboard rolled aside the loam. I also felt that this was 
 a great occasion. At last I was working my own land, 
 opening the gate of an unknown future with the plough- 
 share, and my fingers tingled as I jerked the lines. Then 
 while the coulter sheared its guiding line, and the trampling 
 of hoofs mingled with the soft curl of clods, they seemed by 
 some trick of memory to hammer out words I had last heard 
 far away in the little weathered church under Starcross 
 Moor, * And preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the 
 earth so as in due time we may enjoy them.' 
 
 There was a two-hours' rest at noonday, when we fared 
 frugally on fried potatoes and the usual reisty pork, while 
 Harry's oxen waded deep into a sloo, which is a lake formed 
 by melting snow. Neither would they come out for either 
 threats or blandishments until he went in too, with a pikel ; 
 while Jasper's broncos, which were considerably less than 
 half-tamed, backed round and round in rings when I 
 attempted to re-harness them. Still, with laughter and 
 banter we started again, and worked on until daylight faded 
 and the stars twinkled out one by one above the dewy 
 prairie. The scent of wild peppermint hung heavy in the 
 cool air, which came out of the north exhilarating like 
 
A BID FOR FORTUNE 53 
 
 wine, while the birch twigs sang strange songs to us as we 
 drove the teams to the stable through the litter of withered 
 leaves. An hour's work followed before we had made all 
 straight here, and it was with a proud feeling of possession 
 that at last I patted the neck of one of the horses, while the 
 nervous creature looking up at me with understanding eyes 
 rubbed its head against my shoulder. 
 
 When the stove was lighted we drank green tea, ate 
 more flapjacks which Harry had badly burned, and I 
 remember that when he handed me the first cup he said, 
 * We haven't got champagne, and we don't want whiskey, 
 but this is a great day for both of us. Well, here's luck to 
 the ploughing and increase to the seed, and whether it's 
 success or failure we'll see what we have started through 
 together.' 
 
 Half ashamed of display of sentiment, I clinked the 
 cracked cup against his own, and Harry leaned forward 
 towards me with a smile that could not hide the light of 
 youthful enthusiasm in his eyes, graceful, in spite of the 
 mould of the ploughing on his fretted garments. Then he 
 choked and spluttered, for the hot fluid scalded him, and a 
 roar of laughter saved the situation ; while, made as it was 
 over a cup of very smoky tea, that compact was carried out 
 faithfully under parching heat and bitter cold, in the biting 
 dust of alkali and under the silence of the primeval bush. 
 For an hour we lounged smoking and chatting in ox-hide 
 chairs, watching the red glow from the range door flicker 
 upon the guns and axes on the wall, or the moonlight 
 broaden across the silent grass outside each time it faded, 
 until the mournful coyotes began to wail along the rim of 
 the prairie and we crawled up a ladder into the little upper 
 room, where in ten minutes we were fast asleep on hard 
 wooden couches covered with skins. Also I remember 
 that just before I sank into oblivion a vision of a half-mile 
 
54 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 length of golden wheat floated before my heavy eyes, with 
 Grace Carrington standing, sickle in hand, beside it. Her 
 dress was of the colour of the ear-bent stems, her eyes as 
 the clear ether above, and the sickle was brighter than any 
 crescent moon. Then it all changed. Powdery snow 
 eddied through the withered stubble, and, against a back- 
 ground of sombre firs that loomed above it, there was only 
 the tall forbidding figure of Colonel Carrington. After- 
 wards I often remembered that dream. 
 
55 
 
 VI 
 
 THE FIRST CROP 
 
 EACH day brought much the same tasks at Fainnead until 
 the disc-harrows had rent up the clods, and with a seeder 
 borrowed from a neighbour ten miles away we drilled in 
 the grain. While we worked the air above us was filled 
 with the beat of wings, as in skeins, wedges, and crescents 
 the wild fowl, varying from the tiny butter duck to the 
 brant goose and stately crane, went by on their long journey 
 from the bayoux by the sunny gulf to the newly thawn 
 tundra mosses beside the Polar Sea. Legion by legion they 
 came up from the southwards and passed, though some 
 folded their weary pinions to rest upon the way, and for a 
 few short weeks every sloo was dotted with their plumage. 
 Then they went on again, and we knew we should see no 
 more of them until the first blasts of winter brought them 
 south again. All this appealed to our sporting instincts, but 
 time was precious then, and though I glanced at Harry's 
 double-barrel longingly, I did not lift it from the wall. 
 Every moment had its duties, and the thought of the 
 mortgage held us to our task. 
 
 Then there followed an interlude of building and well- 
 digging, when we sank down some thirty feet or so, and 
 rammed the shaft sides with nigger-head stones, while 
 occasionally some of our scattered neighbours rode twenty 
 miles to lend us assistance. Meantime, a tender flush of 
 emerald crept across the crackling sod, and the birches 
 
56 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 unfolded their tiny leaves until the bluff shimmered with 
 tender verdure silver inlaid, while the jack rabbits, which 
 had not as yet wholly put off their winter robes of ermine, 
 scurried, piebald and mottled, through its shadows. Then, 
 while the wheat grew taller, and the air warmer every day, 
 the prairie assumed an evanescent beauty which it presently 
 put off again, for the flush faded from the grasses, and only 
 the birch bluff remained for a refuge filled with cool neutral 
 shadow in a sun-parched land. It was now time for the hay 
 cutting, and we drove the rusty mower here and there across 
 the dazzling plain, upon which willow grove and bluff stood 
 cut off from the levels beneath by glancing vapour, like islands 
 rising out of a shimmering sea. On much of it the grasses 
 grew only to a few inches length, and we had therefore 
 to seek food for our beasts in winter in each dried up sloo, 
 where they stood sometimes waist-high and even higher. 
 No making was needed ; the sun had done that already 
 better than we could, and we merely drove the mower 
 through, after which I went back with the loaded waggon, 
 while Harry rode further out on to the prairie in search of 
 another sloo. 
 
 The mosquitoes came down in legions and bit us 
 grievously, until it was necessary to anoint our hair with 
 kerosene. Our dwelling was stifling, so that as a matter of 
 necessity we always cooked outside ; but the temperature 
 changed at sundown, and, lying full length on the pepper- 
 mint-scented hay, we rode home content across the darken- 
 ing prairie, which faded under the starlight into the sem- 
 blance of a limitless dusky sea, while the very stillness 
 voiced its own message of infinity. Neither of us would 
 speak at such times. Harry had a turn for emotional sen- 
 timent, I knew, but I could also feel it was good to lie there 
 motionless and silent, and try to grasp its meaning. Then 
 the strained sense of expectancy would fade at the sight of 
 
THE FIRST CROP 57 
 
 the approaching homestead, or a bronco blundering into a 
 badger-hole called us back to a work-a-day world again. 
 
 Harvest came, and that year there was neither drought 
 nor untimely frost, while our hearts grew light when the 
 binders piled up a splendid crop. Still, when we proposed 
 to prepare a thanksgiving feast for all our neighbours, 
 Jasper, who had ridden over,- grinned as he said, 'Better lie 
 low and pay that mortgage off. You're only starting, and 
 they wouldn't expect it from you. Besides, you'll have had 
 your fill of cooking before you have finished with the 
 thrashers.' 
 
 This proved correct enough, for when the men came in 
 with the thrasher and the homestead vibrated to its hum, 
 others whose harvest was garnered came out of good will 
 with them too, and Harry was cooking and baking all 
 day long. Also they kept me busy sometimes for hours 
 together beheading and plucking fowls we turned a steam 
 jet on to them from the engine to make the feathers come 
 off; and it amused me to wonder what Alice would think 
 if she saw me sitting, flecked with down all over, among 
 the feathers, or Harry standing grimed with dust and soot, 
 peeling potatoes by the bucketful beside his field kitchen. 
 When the thrashers departed our larder and henhouse were 
 empty, and the grocery bill long ; but we were only sorry 
 we could not entertain them more royally, for the men 
 who worked for money at so much the bushel and the men 
 who worked for friendship vied with one another in their 
 labour, and there was no one among them but rejoiced at 
 our success. Wheat was also in good demand at remunera- 
 tive prices that year, and I remember the day we hauled the 
 last load to the elevators. 
 
 Winter had set in early, and wrapped in long skin coats 
 we tramped beside the waggons across the waste of crack- 
 ling sod, while the steam from the horses rose like smoke 
 
58 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 into the nipping air. We started long before the wondrous 
 green and crimson dawn, for it was nearly a twelve hours' 
 journey to the railway town. Two hours we also waited 
 shivering among many kicking and biting teams under the 
 gaunt elevators before we could haul our waggons in, and 
 for perhaps fifteen minutes there was a great whirring of 
 wheels. Then they were drawn forth empty, and presently 
 we came out of the office with sundry signed papers readily 
 convertible into coin at Winnipeg, and marched exultant to 
 the hotel, scarcely feeling the frozen earth beneath us in 
 spite of our weariness. No spirituous liquour might be 
 sold there, but for once we meant to enjoy an ample meal 
 which we had not cooked ourselves on clean plates and a 
 real white tablecloth. 
 
 It was a simple banquet, but we felt like feasting kings, 
 and though since then we have both sat at meat among 
 railroad magnates, deputations from Ottawa, and others 
 great in the land, we never enjoyed one like it. Also I 
 remember that Harry, forgetting he was in Western 
 Canada, tried to slip a silver half-dollar into the waitress* 
 hand, who dropped it on the floor, perhaps because in that 
 region wages are such that the hireling is neither dependent 
 on nor looks for a stranger's generosity. I stooped to raise 
 the coin and hand it her, and then started as for the first 
 time our eyes met, while a wave of colour suffused the face 
 of the girl who stepped backwards, for it was Minnie Lee. 
 
 c Harry,' I said, stretching out my hand to her. ' This 
 is the lady I told you about. You remember the letter. 
 Now go along, and settle matters with the proprietor. 
 Sit down, Minnie, I want to talk to you. Tell me how 
 you came here, and why you left England, won't you ? ' 
 
 The girl had lost her pink and white prettiness. Her 
 face was pale, and she was thinner than before, while there 
 was a hard, defiant look in her eyes. Besides, she seemed ill 
 
THE FIRST CROP 59 
 
 at ease and startled when I drew her out a chair, and I was 
 singularly ill at ease too. We had the long room to our- 
 selves, however, for on the prairie meals are served at a 
 definite hour, and usually despatched in ten minutes or so. 
 Few men waste time lounging over the table there. 
 
 'I hardly knew you, Ralph you have changed so 
 much,' she said, and I only nodded, for I was impatient to 
 hear her story, and she had surely changed far more. The 
 Minnie I used to know was characterised by a love of mis- 
 chief and childish vanity, but the present one wore rather 
 the air of a woman with some knowledge of life's tragedy. 
 
 c It's almost an old story now,' she said bitterly. 
 ' Father had a craze for religion, mother was always sighing, 
 and there was no peace at home for me. Then I met Tom 
 Fletcher again you remember him and when he took 
 me to concerts and dances I felt at last I had begun to live. 
 The endless drudgery in the mill, the little house in the 
 smoky street, and the weary chapel three times each Sunday, 
 were crushing the life out of me. You understand you 
 once told me you felt it all, and you went out in search of 
 fortune ; but what can a woman do ? Still, I dare not tell 
 father. All gaiety was an invention of the devil, according 
 to him. We were married before the registrar Tom had 
 reasons. I cannot tell you them ; but we were married,' and 
 she held up a thin finger adorned by a wedding ring. 
 
 I remembered the said Fletcher as a good-looking clerk 
 with a taste for betting and fanciful dress, who had been dis- 
 charged for inattention to his duties from the Orb mill, 
 and wondered that Minnie should have chosen him from 
 among her many other admirers of more sterling character. 
 
 4 1 said nothing to anyone,' she continued. ' Tom was 
 disappointed of something he had counted on. He'd got 
 into trouble over his accounts, too. There had been a 
 scene with father, who said I was a child of the devil, and 
 
60 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 when Tom said there was false accusation against him, and 
 nobody must know we were going, we slipped away quietly. 
 I was too angered to write to father, and it might have put 
 the police on Tom. Tom was innocent, he said. We had 
 very little money, work was hardly to be had and our 
 child died soon after we settled in Winnipeg.' 
 
 ' Go on,' I said gently, and she clenched her hands with 
 a gesture which expressed fierce resentment as well as 
 sorrow as she added : * The poor little innocent thing had 
 no chance for its life we were short of even bare necessi- 
 ties, for Tom could only pick up a few dollars now and 
 then and I think all that was good in me died with it. So 
 when he found work watching the heater of a store a few 
 hours each night, and the wages would not keep two, I had 
 to go out and earn my bread here and I sometimes wish 
 I had never been born.' 
 
 I made no answer for a space. There was nothing I 
 could say that might soften such trouble as was stamped 
 upon her face, while I remembered having heard Jasper say 
 that a weight clerk was wanted at the new elevator further 
 down the line. Then, blundering as usual, I said : * Do you 
 know, Minnie, they blame me at home for bringing you 
 out here, and I heard your father had sworn to be revenged 
 upon me ? ' 
 
 There was sullen fury in the girl's eyes she was very 
 young after all but she kept herself in hand, and answered 
 bitterly, < It was like their lying tongues. Envy and malice, 
 and always someone's character to be taken away. No ; it 
 was Tom and Tom, God help us both, has lost his head 
 and drinks too much when he can. But I must not keep 
 you, Ralph Crosfield, and henceforward you have nothing 
 to do with me.' 
 
 A voice called ' Minnie,' and I had only time to say, 
 < Perhaps I can find some better work for him, and you will 
 
THE FIRST CROP 61 
 
 write home and tell them the truth for your own and my 
 sake, won't you ? J before she hurried away. 
 
 Then Harry and I walked down to the freight-siding, 
 where the big box cars hauled out ready from under the 
 elevators were waiting. Two huge locomotives were pre- 
 sently coupled on, there followed a clanging of bells, and 
 we watched the twinkling tail lights grow dimmer across 
 the prairie. Part of our harvest, we knew, was on board 
 that train, starting on the first stage of its long journey to 
 fill with finest flour the many hungry mouths that were 
 waiting for it in the old land we had left behind. The 
 lights died out in a hollow far away on the prairie's rim, and 
 Harry slipped his arm through mine, perhaps because his 
 heart was full. With much anxiety, ceaseless toil, and the 
 denying ourselves of every petty luxury, we had called that 
 good grain forth from the prairie, and the sale of it meant 
 one year free from care at least. 
 
 But before we turned away, straight as the crow flies a 
 cavalcade came clattering up out of the silent prairie, while 
 after a jingle of harness merry clear-pitched voices filled the 
 station, and something within me stirred at the sound. 
 There was no trace of Western accent here, though the 
 prairie accent is rarely unpleasant, for these were riders from 
 Carrington who spoke pure English, and were proud of it. 
 Two, with a certain courtliness which was also foreign to 
 that district, helped an elderly lady down from a light 
 waggon luxuriously hung on springs, which must have been 
 built specially at the cost of many dollars, and the rest led 
 their well-groomed horses towards the store stables, or 
 strolled beside the track jesting with one another. None 
 of them wore the skin coats of the settler folk, for some 
 were robed in furs, and others in soft-lined deerskin, gaily 
 fringed by Blackfoot squaws, which became them ; but 
 except for this they were of the British type most often met 
 
62 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 with gripping the hot double-barrel when the pheasants 
 sweep clattering athwart the wood, or sitting intent and 
 eager with tight hand on the rein outside the fox cover. 
 
 Still, no one could say they had suffered by their transla- 
 tion to a new country, which was chiefly the work of Colonel 
 Carrington. He had been successful hitherto at wheat- 
 growing on an extensive scale, and though few of the 
 settlers liked him they could not help admiring the bold far- 
 seeing way he speculated on the chances of the weather, or 
 hedged against a risky wheat crop by purchasing western 
 horses. Still, not content with building up the finest 
 property thereabouts, he aspired to rule over a British 
 settlement, and each time he visited the old country at 
 regular intervals several young Englishmen of good family 
 and apparently ample means returning with him commenced 
 breaking virgin prairie. They were not all a success as 
 farmers, the settlers said, and there were not wanting 
 rumours of revolt, but if they had their differences with the 
 grim autocrat they kept them loyally to themselves, and 
 never spoke in public of their leader save with respect. 
 Now it was evident his daughter was expected : they had 
 come to escort her home in state, and no princess could 
 have desired a finer bodyguard. They were the pick of 
 the old country's well-born youth when they came out, and 
 had grown to a splendid manhood in the wide spaces of the 
 new. 
 
 I am afraid we regarded them a little enviously, though 
 they answered our greetings with good fellowship, for the 
 value of some of their horses would have sown us a crop, 
 and even Harry seemed unkempt beside them. We lived 
 and dressed very plainly at Fairmead that year. Then 
 amid a grinding of brakes, with lights flashing, a long train 
 -rolled in, and the group stood, fur cap in hand, about the 
 platform of a car from which a dainty figure looked down 
 
THE FIRST CROP 63 
 
 upon them. It was Grace Carrington, and as I stood a 
 little apart from the rest my heart leapt at the sight of her. 
 Yet, either from bashfulness or foolish pride, I would not 
 move a step nearer. 
 
 * What a picture ! ' said Harry softly. * A princess of 
 the prairie and her subjects doing homage to her. Ralph, 
 I say, you must not stare at the girl like that. But, by 
 Jove, she's smiling this way yes, she is really beckoning 
 you.' 
 
 It was true, for a stripling who wore his deerskin jacket 
 as though it were the dolman of a cavalry officer strode 
 forward, and inclining his head said : ' If you are Mr. Cros- 
 field, Miss Carrington desires to speak with you.' 
 
 For some reason I drew Harry with me. It may have 
 been that I felt the company of a comrade of my own kind 
 would be comforting in that assembly, and then I forgot 
 everything as, fixing her bright eyes upon me, Grace held 
 out her hand. 
 
 ' It was kind of you to meet me, and this is an un- 
 expected pleasure,' she said. 'You must come over to 
 Carrington and tell me where you have settled. Or stay, 
 Raymond, this is Mr. Crosfield he was kind to me in 
 England, and I want you to invite him to your approach- 
 ing festivities. You will come, won't you, and bring your 
 friend very pleased to see you Mr. Lorraine, too ; then I 
 shall have an opportunity of talking to you.' 
 
 ' Delighted, of course, to please you,' said a tall bronzed 
 man of maturer years, bowing. * Met Mr. Crosfield already ; 
 pulled my waggon up most kindly when the team were 
 stalled in a ravine. If I'd known you were from the old 
 country would have ridden over already to ask you.' 
 
 Further introductions followed, all effected in a queenly 
 way, and with a last pleasant glance towards us Grace 
 moved towards the waggon, while I fancied some of the 
 
64 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 younger among her bodyguard regarded us jealously. 
 Harry and I stood silent until the cavalcade vanished into 
 the dimness again, and then, while the last beat of hoofs 
 died away, the blood surged through every artery as he 
 said, * Wasn't she splendid ! When she held out her hand 
 to me I felt I ought to go down on one knee and kiss 
 it, and all that kind of thing, you know. Ralph, you 
 stalked up like a bear ; must have been dazed by too much 
 brightness, because you never even raised your hat. Well, 
 one can understand it ; but I think some of the others 
 would have liked to cut your big solid throat for you.' 
 
 Harry was both enthusiastic and impressionable, though 
 I did not think so then, and the whole scene could scarcely 
 have lasted five minutes, but it filled my mind for days after- 
 wards, and I can recall it clearly still. 
 
VII 
 
 HARVEST HOME 
 
 IT was a bitter night when Harry and I rode into the red 
 glow of light that beat out through the windows of Lone 
 Hollow, the furthest outlying farm of the Carrington group, 
 where, now the last bushel of his wheat had been sold in 
 Winnipeg, Raymond Lyle was celebrating a bounteous 
 harvest. Round about it, drawn up in ranks, stood 
 vehicles or rigs, as we call them of every kind, for it 
 seemed as if the whole country-side had driven in. Most 
 were of better make than those we and the majority of the 
 poorer settlers used, and it was hard not to covet whfin we 
 managed to find our beasts a stall. 
 
 When one has wasted precious time, which in the whole 
 season can scarcely be made up again, by riding behind 
 oxen at the exhilarating pace of some two miles an hour, or 
 hauling in grain with half-tamed horses which jib at every 
 hill, it is easy to realise the advantages of an efficient team, 
 while any of those we saw in the Lone Hollow stables 
 would have saved us many dollars each year. Even in the 
 West the poor man is handicapped from the beginning, and 
 must trust to ready invention and lengthened hours of 
 labour to make up for the shortcomings of indifferent tools. 
 
 Lyle, who had heard the trampling of hoofs, met us at 
 the door. ' It was kind of you to come, and I hope you 
 will enjoy yourselves,' he said. * We have tried to make 
 things homely, but, as you know, this isn't England.' 
 
66 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 We shook off our wrappings and entered the long 
 lamp-lit hall, partly dazed by the sudden glare and warmth 
 after the intense cold. It certainly was different to any- 
 thing I had seen at home, for here in place of paint and 
 gilding the decoration was in harmony with the country, 
 bizarre and bountiful, with a beauty that was distinctly its 
 own. Few oat-heads grown from English furrows might 
 compare with the pale golden tassels that drooped in graceful 
 festoons from the wall, while among the ruddier wheat-ears 
 and bearded barley antelope heads peeped out beside the 
 great horns of caribou which the owner of Lone Hollow 
 had shot in the muskegs of the north. Rifles and bright 
 double-bitted axes of much the same pattern as those with 
 which our forbears hewed through Norman mail caught 
 the light of the polished brass lamps and flashed upon the 
 wainscot, while even an odd cross-cut saw had been skilfully 
 impressed into the scheme of ornamentation. But there 
 was nothing pinchbeck or tawdry about them. Whirled 
 high by sinewy hands, or clenched in hard brown fingers 
 while a steady eye stared down the barrel, that a bridge 
 might span a ravine where no bridge had been, or venison 
 help to cut down the grocery bill and leave the more for 
 the breaking of virgin soil, that steel had played its part in 
 the opening up of a wide country. Yet, the suggestion 
 of strict utility even enhanced its effectiveness, and I re- 
 member with a smile the trophies of weapons stamped out 
 by the gross in Birmingham which I had seen adorning our 
 suburban villas at home. 
 
 The majority of the guests were English one could 
 see that at a glance, and the mother country had small 
 reason to be ashamed o>f her outland sons. The clear skin 
 showed through the snow-blink's tan, and the eyes were 
 bright with a steadfastness which comes from gazing into 
 wide distance. Sun, wind, and snow, the dust of parched 
 
HARVEST HOME 67 
 
 earth and the stinging smoke of the drifts, had played their 
 part in hardening them, but still, a little deeper in colour, 
 a little stronger in limb, they were the same men one finds 
 dwelling in many an English home. Standing beside a 
 great open hearth, on which to aid the stove a huge pile of 
 birch logs crackled joyously, the representative of an alien 
 race drew a cunning bow across the strings of a dingy 
 violin. He sprang from Gallic stock, a descendant of the 
 old coureurs who for two centuries wandered in search of 
 furs across the wilderness, even as far as the northern barrens, 
 before the Briton came to farm. It was a waltz he played 
 at least, that was the time ; but the music seemed filled with 
 the sighing of limitless pines, and the air was probably 
 known in France three hundred years ago. Still, weather- 
 beaten men, and fair women who were considerably less 
 numerous, swept light-heartedly round to it, and when, 
 declining refreshment then, we found a corner, Harry and I 
 sat staring with all our eyes at the scene before us. 
 
 After the monotonous labour of the past two years the 
 swish of light dresses and rhythmic patter of feet, with the 
 merry faces and joyous laughter, moved me strangely. All 
 this seemed to belong to a different world from the one we 
 had been living in, and I wondered if any of those dainty 
 daughters of Carrington would deign to dance with me. 
 They might have been transplanted like English roses from 
 some walled garden at home, and their refined beauty had 
 grown to a fuller blossom upon the prairie. Still, I knew 
 they would have faded in the dry heat of the dwellings in 
 an Eastern town. 
 
 * How do those French-Canadians learn to play like 
 that ? ' said Harry. * No one taught them ; inherited it, I 
 suppose. I know that air ; it's very old, and he's taking 
 liberties with it masterfully ; now it's like the cypress 
 singing in the big coulee. Of course, it wasn't learned in 
 
 F 2 
 
68 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 one generation, but why does a waltz of that kind unsettle 
 one so, with a suggestion of ancient sorrow sighing through 
 its gladness ? But I'm forgetting, and vapouring again. 
 We are ox-drivers, you and I.' 
 
 I nodded silently, for I had not the gift of ready speech, 
 and it was Harry who most often put my thoughts into 
 words for me. Then I grew intent as he said : ' There she 
 is. Who ! Miss Carrington is there anyone else to 
 look at when she is in the room ? ' 
 
 Grace floated past us dressed as I had somewhere seen 
 her before and could not recall it, though the memory puzzled 
 me. Neither do I know what she wore, beyond that the 
 fabric's colour was of the ruddy gold one sees among the 
 stems of ripening grain, while wheat ears nestled between her 
 neck and shoulder. It also rustled like barley rippling to the 
 breeze, as with the music embodied in each movement of 
 her form she whirled by us on Ormond's arm. He looked 
 as he did when I last saw him, placidly good-humoured, 
 with the eyeglass dangling this time loosely by its cord. 
 
 Then I drew in my breath as the music ceased, and 
 Raymond Lyle approached us, saying : ' As usual, men are 
 at a discount, but you have not had a dance, and most of the 
 others have. Come, and I'll find you partners. Ah, if 
 you are not tired, Miss Carrington, will you take pity on 
 an old friend of yours ? I have many duties, and you will 
 excuse me.' 
 
 He withdrew quickly, and Grace smiled. ' One must 
 never be too tired to dance with an old friend at a prairie 
 feast,' she said, running her pencil through the initials on a 
 programme which had travelled several hundred miles from 
 Winnipeg. Then I felt uncomfortable, for I guessed the 
 letters R. L. represented my host, who had good-naturedly 
 made way for me. It was a kindly thought, but Raymond 
 Lyle, who was a confirmed bachelor living under his self- 
 
HARVEST HOME 69 
 
 willed sister's wing, had evidently guessed my interest and 
 remembered the incident of the jibbing team. It was a 
 square dance, and Harry with a laughing damsel formed my 
 vis-a-vis, but having only eyes for my partner I saw little 
 but a moving mixture of soft colours and embroidered 
 deerskin, for some of the men folk were dressed in prairie 
 fashion. Also I felt her warm breath on my neck, the 
 shapely form yielding to my arm, and it was small wonder 
 I lost myself in the glamour of it, until with the crash of a 
 final chord from the piano the music stopped. 
 
 * And you have not danced for four years ! ' she said as 
 I led her through the press. ' Well, it has all come back 
 to you, and out here there is so much more than dancing 
 for a man to do. Yes, you may put down another, there 
 towards the end, and fill in the next one too. I have been 
 looking forward to a quiet talk with you.' 
 
 I was left alone with pulses throbbing. There was very 
 little in what she said, but her face showed a kindly interest 
 in our doings, and it was no small thing that the heiress of 
 Carrington should place me on an old friend's level. 
 Harry was chatting merrily with his late partner, who 
 seemed amused at him, and this was not surprising, for 
 Harry's honest heart was somewhat strangely united with a 
 silver tongue, and all women took kindly to him. But I 
 found other partners and he did the same, so it was some 
 time before we met again, and I remember remarking that 
 all this gaiety and brightness seemed unreal after our 
 quarters at Fairmead, and ended somewhat lamely, ' I 
 suppose it's out of mere pity she danced with me. As you 
 said, we are of the soil, earthy, and a princess of the prairie 
 is far beyond our sphere. Yet she seemed genuinely 
 pleased to see me. If it were even you, Harry ! ' 
 
 He laughed as he pointed to a large mirror draped in 
 cypress, saying, ' Look into that. You are slow at under- 
 
70 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 standing certain matters, Ralph. Not seen the whole of 
 your noble self in a glass for two years ? Neither have I, 
 and it hasn't dawned upon you that you came out in the 
 transition stage a grub, or shall we say a chrysalis ? No, 
 don't wrinkle your forehead ; it's only an allegory. Now 
 you have come out of the chrysalis see ? ' 
 
 Part of this was certainly true, for at Coombs' we had 
 the broken half of a hand-glass to make our simple toilet 
 in, and at Fairmead a whole one of some four inches dia- 
 meter which cost two bits, tin-backed, at the store, and 
 I remember saying that it was an extravagance. Now I 
 stared into the long glass, standing erect in my one gala 
 garment of fringed deerskin, and Harry smiled as he said, 
 * A little too bull-necked, but, except for Raymond Lyle, 
 the stiffest-framed man in the room. Solid and slow from 
 shoulders to ankles ; head, shall we say that of a gladiator, 
 or a prize-fighter ? Good gracious, Ralph, remember 
 you're in a ball room, not trying on your trousseau.' 
 
 His remarks were not exactly flattering, but for the 
 first time I felt glad to stand a strong man among those 
 who had other advantages behind them, though I fumed 
 inwardly when presently I heard Harry's partner say, 
 ' What a curious man your friend is ! I saw him standing 
 before the big glass actually admiring himself.' 
 
 And Harry had the mendacity to assure her that this 
 was a favourite habit of mine. Afterwards I chatted for 
 a time with the giver of the feast. We had much in 
 common, for he was a stalwart plainly spoken man whose 
 chief concern was the improvement of his holding, and 
 from what he said it was clear that taking season by season 
 his bank account increased but little, while he mentioned 
 that several of his neighbours lost a certain sum yearly. 
 There are two ways of farming in the West, and it seemed 
 that after all Harry and I had chosen the best, the creeping 
 
HARVEST HOME 71 
 
 on from acre to acre, living frugally, and doing whatever is 
 needed oneself, then investing each dollar hardly saved in 
 better implements. 
 
 Nevertheless, I saw that the men of Carrington who 
 followed the other plan, spending and hiring freely, were 
 doing a good work for the country, because even if they 
 lost a small sum each year most of them could afford it, and 
 their expenses would have been much greater at home. 
 They helped to maintain a demand for good horses and the 
 product of clever workmen's skill, supported the store- 
 keepers of the wooden towns, while the poorer settlers could 
 always earn a few dollars by working for them. So it 
 dawned upon me that it is well for the nation that some are 
 content to take their pleasure, as these men did, in an occu- 
 pation which brought them small profit, sinking their surplus 
 funds for the benefit of those who will follow them. Neither 
 does the mother country lose, because she reaps the fruit of 
 their labours in the shape of cheap and wholesome food. 
 
 At last the conversation drifted round to the founder of 
 Carrington, and Lyle said : ' An austere man and he's 
 somewhat different to the rest of us ready to gather in 
 wherever he can, very hard to get ahead of at a deal, but if 
 he is keen it's all for the sake of his daughter. There are 
 two things Carrington is proud of, one is this settlement, 
 and the other his heiress. He's not exactly an attractive 
 personage, but there are whispers that some painful incident 
 in her mother's life soured him, and one learns to respect 
 him. His word is better than most other men's bond, and 
 if his will is like cast iron his very determination often saves 
 trouble in the end.' 
 
 Silence succeeded, for bold chords of music held the 
 assembly still, and I saw Harry seated at the piano, which 
 had apparently escaped serious damage in its long transit 
 across the prairie. This was a surprise, for I had not 
 
72 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 suspected Harry of musical proficiency. There was power 
 in his fingers, hardened as they were, and when the ringing 
 prelude to an English ballad filled the room more than his 
 partner felt that he could call up a response to his own 
 spirit from the soul of the instrument. The lad beside him 
 also sang well, perhaps because he was young and sentiment 
 was strong within him, but sturdy labour under the open 
 heaven seems inimical to the development of hypercritical 
 cynicism, and the men who at home would probably have 
 applauded that song with an indulgent smile listened with 
 kindling eyes and then made the long room ring with their 
 bravos. Here, far away from the land that bred them, 
 they were Britons still, and proud of their birthright. 
 
 Then Grace Carrington sang, and I would have given 
 years of my life for Harry's skill, which seemed a bond 
 between them as she smiled gratefully upon him. The 
 words were simple, as became the work of a master who 
 loved the open, and the music flowed with them like the 
 ripple of glancing water, so a deeper silence settled upon all, 
 and I was back in England where a sparkling beck leapt 
 out from the furze of Lingdale and sped in flashing shallows 
 under the yellow fern, while somewhere beyond the singer's 
 voice I could almost hear the alders talking to the breeze. 
 When it ceased the sound grew louder, but it was only a 
 bitter blast that came from the icy Pole moaning about the 
 homestead of Lone Hollow. 
 
 Raymond Lyle stepped forward to express the wish of 
 the rest, and Grace bent her fair head to confer with Harry, 
 who nodded gravely, after which she stood still, while a 
 stately prelude which was curiously familiar awoke old 
 memories. Then the words came, and from the lips of 
 others they might have seemed presumptuous or out of 
 place, but Grace Carrington delivered them as though they 
 were a message which must be hearkened to, and there* 
 
HARVEST HOME 73 
 
 was an expectant hush when the first line, * A sower went 
 forth sowing/ rang clearly forth. Later some of those 
 about me breathed harder, and I saw that big Raymond's 
 eyes were hazy, while one hard brown hand was clenched 
 upon his knee, as in sinking cadence we heard again, 
 ' Within a hallowed acre he sows yet other grain.' 
 
 Then after the last note died away and there was only 
 the moaning of the wind, he said simply, ' Thank you, 
 Miss Carrington. I am glad you sang it at the Lone 
 Hollow harvest home.' 
 
 c I would never have played it here for anyone else,' 
 said Harry presently. i These things are not to be under- 
 taken casually, but she well, I felt they had to listen, and 
 I did the best that was in me. I think it was her clean- 
 hearted simplicity.' 
 
 It was some time afterwards when I led Grace out and 
 spent a blissful ten minutes swinging through the mazes 
 of a prairie dance, before we found a nook under dark 
 spruce branches from the big coulee, where Grace listened 
 with interest while I told her of our experiences in the 
 Dominion. The background of sombre sprays enhanced 
 her fair beauty, and her dress, which, though there was 
 azure about it, was of much the same colour, melted into 
 the festoon of wheat stalks below. The French-Canadian 
 was playing another of his weird waltzes, and it may have 
 been this which reminded me, for now I remembered how I 
 had seen her so before. 
 
 ' You will not laugh, I hope, when I tell you that 
 all this seems familiar,' I said hesitatingly. * Some- 
 times in a strange country one comes upon a scene that 
 one knows perfectly, and we feel that, perhaps in dreams, 
 we have seen it all before. Why it is so, I cannot tell, but 
 once in fancy already I saw you with a dress exactly like 
 the one you are wearing now, and tall wheat behind you. 
 
74 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Of course, it sounds ridiculous, but, as Harry says, we do not 
 know everything, and you believe me, don't you ? ' 
 
 Grace's face grew suddenly grave, and there was a 
 heightened colour in it as she answered, < Your friend' is a 
 philosopher, besides a fine musician, and I quite believe 
 you. I have had such experiences but I think these 
 fancies, if fancies they are, are best forgotten. Still, tell 
 me, did you dream or imagine anything more ? ' 
 
 4 Yes,' I said, still puzzled as a dim memory came back, 
 4 I saw your father too. He seemed in trouble, and I was 
 concerned in it. This I think was on the prairie, but 
 there were tall pines too ; while across the whole dream 
 picture drove an alternate haze of dust and snow.' 
 
 Grace shivered as though the relation troubled her, 
 and was silent until she said with a smile, ' It must be that 
 ghostly music. Louis of Sapin Rouge has missed his 
 vocation, and we will talk no more of it. You once did 
 me a kindness ; I wonder whether you would repeat it.' 
 
 ' I would go to the world's end,' I commenced hotly, 
 but stopped abashed as she checked me with a gesture, 
 though I fancied she did not seem so displeased at my 
 boldness as she might have been. Then she answered, 
 smiling, C I thought you were too staid and sensible for 
 such speeches, and they hardly become you, because, of 
 course you do not mean it. It is nothing very serious. 
 There are signs of bad weather, and my aunt is not strong, 
 so, as Miss Lyle presses us, we shall stay here until to-morrow 
 noon, and I want you to ride over and tell my father. He 
 might grow uneasy about me and for some reason I feel 
 uneasy about him, while, as he has been ailing lately, I 
 would not like him to venture across the prairie. It seems 
 unfair to ask you, but you are young and strong, and I 
 would like you to meet him. He has his peculiarities, so 
 our neighbours say, but he has ever been a most indulgent 
 
HARVEST HOME 75 
 
 parent to me, and he can be a very firm friend. You will 
 do this, as a favour, won't you ? ' 
 
 She gave me her hand as she rose, and, mastering a 
 senseless desire to do more than this, I bowed over it and 
 hurried away, feeling that hers was the favour granted, 
 for Ormond and many others would have gladly ridden 
 fifty miles through a blizzard to do her bidding. It was 
 for this reason that I made my excuses to our host quietly, 
 and Harry laughed as he said, Til ride over with the 
 others for you when the dance is finished, but that won't 
 be until nearly dawn. The length of these prairie festivities 
 is only equalled by their rarity. But beware, Ralph. You 
 are a poor wheat-grower, and too much of those bright eyes 
 is not good for you.' 
 
 I was glad of the skin coat and fur cap before I even 
 reached the stables, and Jasper's horse made trouble when 
 I led him out. He knew the signs of the weather and 
 desired to stay there, because they were not promising. 
 Now, though winter is almost Arctic in that region, the 
 snow-fall is capricious and generally much lighter than that 
 further east, though it can come down in earnest now and 
 then. Thus, swept by the wind, the grass was bare on the 
 levels, or nearly so, and there was no passage for steel 
 runners, while our poor waggon, which would have carried 
 us much more snugly swathed in wrappings, had broken 
 down, as when wanted it usually did. So, shivering to the 
 backbone, I swang myself into the saddle and hardened my 
 heart to face the bitter ride. 
 
76 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 VIII 
 
 HELD UP 
 
 IT was very dark, and the wind had the coldness of death 
 in it, while when the lights of Lone Hollow had faded 
 behind the obscurity closed round me like a thick curtain. 
 Still, trusting to an instinctive sense of direction men 
 acquire in that land, I pushed on for the big coule*e one 
 of those deep ravines which fissure the prairie and much 
 resemble a railway cutting. This one was larger than the 
 rest, and Carrington Manor stood near one end of it. The 
 horse had. evidently little liking for the journey, and did his 
 best to shorten it, while I had hard work to keep my 
 mittened hands from freezing as we swept onwards through 
 the night. 
 
 In places a thin carpet of snow-dust muffled the beat 
 of hoofs, and there was no sound but the mournful shrilling 
 of the wind, which emphasised the great emptiness and 
 sense of desolation until I almost felt that I had ridden out 
 of our busy life into primeval chaos. We are inclined to 
 be superstitious upon the prairie, which is not greatly 
 to be wondered at. Fifty yards from the lighted homestead 
 in winter-time there is only an overpowering loneliness, 
 where Death with his ally the Frost King reign supreme ; 
 while, living closer to nature, we learn that there are even 
 yet many mysteries, and man plays but a small part in the 
 business of the universe. Still, for a time the warmth 
 within me kept out the frost ; for Grace Carrington's hand 
 
HELD UP 77 
 
 had rested in mine, and I understood how the thought 
 of service sustains the North-West troopers in their lonely 
 vigil. They served the nation, but I was serving Grace. 
 
 Presently even this consolation grew fainter, and the 
 spell of the white wilderness oppressed my spirits ; for the 
 air was filled with warning, and I knew that heavy snow 
 was not far off. Sometimes very silently a dim shadow 
 flitted past, and the horse started, snorting as he quickened 
 his pace with the white steam whirling behind him. It 
 may have been a coyote, or perhaps a timber wolf; for 
 though the antelope had departed south, the settlers said 
 that both from the bush of the Saskatchewan and beyond 
 the Cypress hills the lean and grizzled beasts had come 
 down into the prairie. Nevertheless, their noiseless passage 
 harmonised with the surroundings ; and at last I grew 
 thankful for a slight drowsiness which blunted the imagina- 
 tion. But there were other riders out on the waste that 
 night, and, with one hand on the slung rifle, I reined the 
 horse in as three white-sprinkled figures came up at a 
 gallop. Generally, so far as anything human is concerned, 
 the prairie is as safe at midnight, if not safer, than a street 
 in London town ; but because game is plentiful there is 
 generally a gun in the waggon, and when the settlers ride 
 out they often carry a rifle at their back. 
 
 * Halt ! ' cried a voice I recognised ; and there was a 
 jingle of steel as two skin-wrapped troopers of the North- 
 West Police wheeled their horses on either side of me, 
 while another, who spoke with authority, grasped my 
 bridle. Even in that darkness I could see the ready 
 carbines, and, knowing what manner of men these riders 
 were, was glad I could meet them peaceably. 
 
 ' Your name and business,' said the voice of Sergeant 
 Macfarlane ; and a disappointed laugh followed my reply 
 as that worthy added, 4 Then if ye have no' been raiding 
 
78 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Coombs lately ye can pass, friend. Seen no one on the 
 prairie ? I'm sorry. Four cattle-lifting Rustlers held up 
 Clearwater Creek, and we're going south for the next 
 post to head them off from the boundary. Well, time is 
 precious. A fair journey til ye. It's a very bitter night, 
 and snowing beyond.' 
 
 With a faint clatter they vanished again ; and I did not 
 envy them their long ride to the next post, with a blizzard 
 brewing. When his work is over or the snow comes down 
 the settler may sleep snugly and sound, or lounge in 
 tranquil contentment beside the twinkling stove, while, as 
 the price of his security, the North-West Police, snatching 
 sometimes a few hours' rest under the grey cloud in a 
 trench of snow, and sometimes riding a grim race with 
 death, keep watch and ward over the vast territories. We 
 do not rear desperadoes on the prairie, though some few 
 are sent to us, mostly from across the frontier of the great 
 Republic. Neither do they take root and flourish among 
 us, because ours is a hard country and there are not 
 many men worth robbing in it. However, there had been 
 trouble over the border when the rich Cattle Barons strove 
 to crowd the poor man out, and the hardest hit among the 
 latter lay in wait with murderous Winchester for the op- 
 pressor. I do not know the wrongs and rights of the 
 whole question ; neither were details of every skirmish 
 published by the American press ; but cruel things were 
 done by either side, and it took a strong force of United 
 States cavalry to restore order. Then broken men who 
 had lost their livelihood, and some with a price upon their 
 heads, made their name a terror on both sides of the frontier 
 and kept the troopers busy. 
 
 So I was glad those particular outlaws had journeyed 
 south, and even more pleased still when I reached the 
 coulee, for the cold was increasing and the ride had grown 
 
HELD UP 79 
 
 inexpressibly dreary. It was warmer down in the hollow 
 among the trees, but so black that it was the horse rather 
 than I which avoided them, while now and then a branch 
 lashed my forehead like a whip. There were cypress 
 among them resembling solid masses of gloom, and the 
 wind howled weirdly ; but at last I blundered up the 
 winding trail into sight of Carrington Manor. The big 
 log-and-frame-built house was dark and silent, and though 
 I knew at least the majority of its inhabitants were at Lone 
 Hollow the sight depressed me. Then, just as we drew 
 clear of the trees, I checked the horse, for, silhouetted 
 blackly against the sky, a single mounted figure kept watch 
 over it. Perhaps it was instinctive caution, or it may have 
 been Grace's uneasiness had infected me, for I led Jasper's 
 horse back into the coulee and hitched him to a tree, then, 
 unslinging the rifle, stood still shivering as I watched the 
 figure. 
 
 There was something sinister about it, and it might 
 have been frozen stiff but for a faint rattle as the horse 
 moved its head, while once I caught a rigid line across the 
 saddle which suspiciously resembled a rifle. Then, recalling 
 what Sergeant Macfarlane had said, I knew that while the 
 police rode hot-foot towards the boundary the Rustlers had 
 doubled on their tracks to hold up Carrington Manor. It 
 also struck me that as the main trail ran straight across the 
 prairie the watcher knew nothing about the bridle-path 
 through the coulee. In any case, it was plainly my duty 
 to reach the homestead and render assistance if I could. 
 
 I made sure the Winchester cylinder was filled with 
 cartridges by pressing back the slide, and then crept 
 cautiously, with the dark trees for a background, towards 
 the building, observing as I did so that the latter rendered 
 the scout invisible to anyone approaching by the direct trail. 
 Then, stooping low, I crossed the bare space which divided 
 
8o A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 me from the house, trusting that a humming bullet might 
 not overtake me, and reached it safely with a heart that 
 beat at twice its usual speed. It is one thing to face danger 
 in hot blood, but it is quite another and much more 
 unpleasant matter to slink through the darkness wondering 
 whether a foe one cannot see is following each movement 
 with a rifle. Neither is there any chance of hitting back in 
 such cases ; for it is my opinion, from watching a stricken 
 deer, that at short ranges the blow comes almost simul- 
 taneously as the optic nerve records the flash and before the 
 ear has caught the explosion. All this I considered as I 
 flattened myself against the wall for I was by no means 
 braver than my fellows and presently, yard by yard, 
 wormed myself along it until I passed a corner. 
 
 There a light shone out across the snow from a window, 
 and I am perfectly willing to admit that I crawled towards 
 it on hands and knees, for angry voices now reached me, 
 and I knew if I raised myself and the watcher had changed 
 his position he could see me. I reached the sill at last with 
 the rifle clenched in one mittened hand, and while I debated 
 on my next procedure heard Colonel Carrington say slowly 
 and fiercely, * I will neither sign nor tell you.' 
 
 Then, reflecting that while one can always see into a 
 lighted room those inside it cannot see out, I determined to 
 risk the scout's vigilance, and raised my head cautiously, for 
 it was plain that something quite unusual went on inside. 
 It was a kind of ante-room on one side of the entrance, 
 which the ruler of Carrington used as an office or study, I 
 looked into, and he sat in a basket chair with a frown upon 
 his face and disdain in his eyes, while a burly man murHed 
 in wrappings leaned on the table opposite him, holding a 
 rifle, the muzzle of which was turned towards the Colonel's 
 breast. But there was no sign of fear about him, and I 
 had heard the settlers say that nothing living could make 
 
HELD UP 8 i 
 
 Colonel Carrington flinch. An open cheque-book and 
 some note-paper lay beside an inkstand on the table, and 
 another armed ruffian stood near the stove. The door of 
 the hall close by stood partly open, and their voices were 
 audible through it. 
 
 c I guess it's quite simple, but you make us tired,' the 
 latter said. ' You'll tell us where the chest is, and just fill 
 in that cheque, with a letter vouching for the bearer and 
 explaining why you want so much in a hurry. Then, 
 as I said before, you'll ride south with us a day or two while 
 we arrange for cashing it, after which we'll let you go 
 safely, on our honour.' 
 
 Colonel Carrington laughed sardonically, and I could 
 fancy his thin lips curling under the gray moustache before 
 he answered : * I hardly consider that a sufficient guarantee. 
 Again, I will neither sign nor tell you where the chest is. 
 Confusion to you ! ' 
 
 ' You're a hard man,' said the other almost admiringly. 
 1 If we'd had you to head us we'd have bluffed off Uncle 
 Sam's troopers at the Cypress range. Still, we've no time 
 for fooling, and if Jim finds the chest without you we'll 
 risk putting up the price a thousand dollars or so. Jim 
 is tolerably handy at finding things. See here, you have got 
 to sign it, and sign it now, before this Winchester makes 
 a mess of you.' 
 
 The Colonel glanced at the rifle coolly as he answered : 
 4 I fail to see what good that would do. My handwriting 
 is peculiar ; you couldn't imitate it, while you would 
 certainly be hanged when the troopers laid hands upon 
 you.' 
 
 This was incontrovertible logic, and the two outlaws 
 drawing apart conferred with each other softly, while I 
 debated what I should do. The casement was a double 
 one, but I felt sure I could drive a bullet through one of 
 
 G 
 
82 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 them. Still, even under the circumstances it looked too 
 much like murder, and to this day I have never taken the 
 life of a man, though occasionally forced into handling one 
 roughly. Before any decision could be arrived at a tramp 
 of feet in the hall showed that somebody approached under 
 a burden. 
 
 c Keep the muzzle on him,' said one. ' I guess Jim has 
 found the coffer, and we'll make sure of that. I'll help 
 him to cinch it on the horse if we can't open it. Colonel, 
 we'll have to fine you the further thousand dollars.' 
 
 But I realised it was high time to vacate that position 
 unless I wished the couple to discover me, and so slipped 
 back into the shadow, just in time, as they strode out 
 carrying something. I watched them vanish into the 
 blackness, heard the scout answer their hail, and then 
 crawled back swiftly towards the door this time. A 
 glance through the window in passing showed me that the 
 remaining outlaw stood with his back towards the entrance, 
 and his eyes fixed on the Colonel. The door was half- 
 closed when I reached it, and for a moment I stood there 
 shortening my grip on the rifle and gathering my breath ; 
 then with a bound I drove it inwards, and whirled aloft the 
 butt of the Winchester. 
 
 The outlaw twisted round upon his heels, but he moved 
 an instant too late, for even as his fingers tightened on the 
 trigger the steel heel-plate descended in the centre of his 
 face, and I felt something crunch in under it. He staggered 
 sideways, there was a crash as the rifle exploded harmlessly, 
 and before he could recover I had him by the neck and 
 hurled him half-choked through the door. I had the sense 
 to slam it and slip the bolt home, then, while I stood 
 panting, the Colonel prepared to improve our position. 
 
 4 Close those shutters and screw down the wing-nut 
 hard,' he said, hanging the lamp close beside the door. 
 
HELD UP 83 
 
 Now, stand here in the shadow. I am much obliged to 
 you, but you should have made certain of that fellow.' 
 
 It was only natural that he should feel resentment ; but 
 there was a cold vindictiveness in his tone which made me 
 realise it was as well for the outlaw I had not left him in 
 the room. Then he spoke again : ' We have two good 
 weapons ; that rascal's cylinder is charged I saw him fill 
 it out of my own bandolier, and there is an armoury in 
 the other room. They took me by surprise in Western 
 parlance, got the drop on me. Of course they'll come 
 back, but all the doors and windows are fast, and we could 
 hear them breaking in, while in this kind of work the risk 
 is with the aggressor.' 
 
 A pounding on the door cut him short, and a hoarse 
 voice reached us partly muffled : ' We're about sick of 
 fooling, and mean solid business now,' it said. ' Open, and 
 be quick about it, before we smash that door down and try 
 moral suasion by roasting both of you.' 
 
 * You should have stayed when you were in,' was the 
 ironical answer. ' No doubt you have observed the light 
 under the door. Well, the first man across the threshold 
 will get a bullet through him before he even sees us. 
 Haven't you realised yet that this undertaking is too big 
 for you ? ' 
 
 ' Curse him ; he's busted my best teeth in. Hunt 
 round and find something for a battering ram,' cried another 
 voice, but though the assailants had possibly not caught all 
 the answer, they evidently understood the strength of our 
 position, for we heard them moving away. 
 
 ' Gone to open the chest in the stables ; they won't find 
 much in it,' said Colonel Carrington. ' They will try a 
 fresh move next time. Mr. Crosfield, of Fairmead, are you 
 not ? I wish to express my obligations again.' 
 
 He took it very coolly, as it appeared he took everything, 
 
 G 2 
 
84 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and smiled curiously as, glancing at his watch, he said half- 
 aloud : * Well, there are worse things than a clean swift 
 ending, and there was a time when I would not have 
 stepped aside to let death pass. But I apologise, Mr. Crosfield, 
 for inflicting such talk on you. Hope we shall be friends 
 if we come safely out of this. The cheque, yes, we'll put 
 it away. It might have saved trouble to sign it, but you 
 see it was her mother's money, and I only hold it in trust 
 for my daughter. Neither are we so rich as some suppose 
 us to be.' 
 
 His grim face relaxed, and his voice sounded differently 
 when he spoke of Grace, while a few moments passed before 
 he added : * It cannot be far off the dawn, and there's not a 
 soul in Carrington except you and I. Grace took all my 
 people with her to help at Lone Hollow. So, unless you 
 are inclined to stalk them, which I would hardly suggest, as 
 they might be too clever for you, we must wait our friends' 
 arrival and make the best of it.' 
 
 I had no inclination whatever to try the stalking. To 
 take a kneeling shot at an unsuspecting man seemed under 
 any circumstances almost a crime ; so we sat each with 
 a rifle laid across his knees, and for the first time in two 
 years I tasted excellent tobacco. But the vigil grew trying. 
 The house seemed filled with whispers and mysterious noises, 
 while my throat grew dry, and the Colonel laughed when 
 once I moved sharply as a rat scurried behind the wainscot. 
 Neither of us felt inclined to talk, and our eyes were fixed 
 steadfastly upon the door, until at last the lamp seemed 
 to rise and fall with each respiration. Then the Colonel 
 approached the window as though listening, after glancing 
 once more at his watch. 
 
 4 It must be daybreak, and I hear something,' he said. 
 4 There is probably one of them watching, but we must 
 chance it,' and he moved softly towards the door, while 
 
HELD UP 85 
 
 when we stood outside the cold of the morning went through 
 me like a knife. Still a rapid beat of horse hoofs rose out 
 of the big coulee, and it was evident the outlaws had heard 
 them, for we saw two men busy with the horses at the 
 stable door, while two more disappeared behind the bank of 
 sods which walled off the vegetable garden. What their 
 purpose was, unless they meant to check any accession to 
 our strength while their comrades escaped with the coffer, 
 was not apparent. It was blowing strongly now, and the 
 air thick with falling snow, but I made out two riders who 
 resembled Harry and Ormond coming towards us at a 
 gallop, with another horseman some distance behind. Then 
 a hoarse shout reached us ' Stop right there, and wheel your 
 horses before we plug you.' 
 
 1 could not see into the hollow beneath the wall because 
 it was some distance off and the snow whirled about it, but 
 I could imagine the Winchester barrel resting on the sods 
 while a steady eye stared through the sights, and knew that 
 neither Ormond nor Harry carried weapons. So I started 
 at a flounder towards them, roaring as I went, ' Go back 
 for your life, go back ! ' 
 
 They evidently did not hear me, though we were after- 
 wards to hear the reason for an apparent act of madness. 
 Harry was always reckless, and Ormond coolly brave, while 
 as I ran I saw the two horses flying at the wall. A streak 
 of red flame blazed out low down in the snow, a mounted 
 man passed me leading two horses, and I neither knew nor 
 cared if he noticed me, for I felt suddenly dizzy, wondering 
 if the bullet had gone home. Neither did I hear any report 
 at all, for my whole attention was concentrated upon the 
 black shapes of the riders breast high beyond the wall. 
 Then one beast rose into the air, and I saw Ormond swing 
 a riding crop round backwards as though for the sword cut 
 from behind the shoulder. A soft thud followed, Harry's 
 
86 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 horse cleared the sods like a bird, and I blazed off my rifle 
 at a venture towards the hollow as they thundered neck and 
 neck past me. It was clear that empty-handed they had 
 ridden either over or through the foe. 
 
 After that events followed too rapidly to leave a clear 
 impression. A pair of half-seen figures which appeared at 
 the other end of the hollow scrambled for the empty saddles, 
 and one seemed to help his companion. Then they vanished 
 into the whirling haze, and Colonel Carrington's Winchester 
 rapped as he emptied the magazine at the flying foe, while 
 by the time the new arrivals had mastered their excited 
 beasts there was only a narrow circle of prairie shut in by 
 blinding snow. 
 
 ' Very glad to find you safe, sir,' said Ormond. ' We 
 met the Blackfoot who peddles moccasins, and he told us he 
 had seen four men he thought were Stevens' gang heading 
 for Carrington, so we pushed on as fast as we could. 
 Perhaps if we three went on with rifles we might overtake 
 them.' 
 
 Harry looked eager, and I was willing, but Colonel 
 Carrington was wisest, for he said : * You have done 
 gallantly, but it would be only throwing lives away. The 
 snow is coming in earnest, and it strikes me they have gone 
 to their account unless they find shelter in a coulee.' 
 
 Then they dismounted, and a hired man, who had lagged 
 behind through indifferent horseflesh and no fault of his own, 
 was despatched to prepare breakfast, while it was a merry 
 party which assembled round the table, and even the ruler of 
 Carrington's grim face relaxed. 
 
 * I am glad to make the acquaintance of both of you,' 
 he said. ' You will make the best of Carrington I hope for 
 a day or two.' 
 
 We were nothing loth, for twenty miles of deepening 
 snow lay between us and our homestead, where we had little 
 
HELD UP 87 
 
 to do, while to complete my satisfaction Grace and her train 
 arrived in the Lone Hollow sleigh early next morning, and 
 on hearing the story her eyes glistened as she thanked me. 
 * I am so glad I sent you,' she said, * and I feel I owe my 
 father's safety, perhaps his life, to you. It is a debt I can 
 never repay.' 
 
 It was late that afternoon when another sleigh drew up 
 before the Carrington gate, and three white-sheeted troopers 
 lifted a heavy burden out of it. The thing, which seemed 
 a shapeless heap of snow and wrappings, hung limply 
 between them as they carried it into the hall, while it was 
 Sergeant Angus Macfarlane who explained their errand. 
 
 'Lay him down there gently, boys,' he said. 'No, 
 stand back, Miss Carrington, these kind o' sights are no for 
 you. We found him in a coulee after yon Blackfoot pedlar 
 had told us Stevens had fooled us, and ye'll mind it's no that 
 easy to fool the North- West Police. He's one o' the gang, 
 but the poor soul's got several ribs broken, an' after lying 
 out through the blizzard I'm thinking he's near his end. 
 It's a long ride to the outpost, forbye we have no comforts. 
 Maybe ye'll take him ay, I ken he's a robber, but ye cannot 
 leave him to perish in the snow.' 
 
 He flung back the wrappings, and before I could stop 
 her Grace bent down over the drawn white face with the red 
 froth on the lips, while Ormond said quietly : ' Very bad, 
 poor devil ! I fancied Robin's hoofs struck something that 
 yielded when he made a landing. You will take him in if 
 it's only to oblige me, sir.' 
 
 Grace stood upright with tender compassion shining in 
 her wet eyes as she fixed them on the old man. ' I am a 
 woman now, father,' she said, * and I would like to help to 
 cure him if it can be done. Bring him forward, Sergeant 
 Angus. Geoffrey, you know something of surgery.' 
 
 * I don't make war on dying men. You will do whatever 
 
88 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 pleases you, Grace,' the ruler of Carrington answered, 
 indifferently. 
 
 They carried their burden into another room, and I 
 waited beside the stove, with two faces stamped upon my 
 memory. The one was that of the wounded man with its 
 contraction of pain and glassy stare, and the other the 
 countenance of Grace Carrington transfigured for a 
 moment by a great pity that added to its loveliness. Still, 
 the coming of this unexpected guest cast a gloom upon us, 
 and we seldom saw Grace, while Ormond, who seemed to 
 know a little of everything, once said on passing : * I have 
 fixed him up as well as I could, but I think a broken rib 
 has pierced his lung, and he's sinking rapidly. However, 
 Miss Carrington is doing her best, and he could not have a 
 more efficient nurse.' 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when, on tapping at the 
 door in search of tidings, Ormond called me in. The 
 daylight was fading, but I could see the limp, suffering shape 
 on the bed, and Grace sitting near the window, leaning 
 forward as though listening. 
 
 ' Light-headed at times ! ' said Ormond ; * but he was 
 asking for you. Do you feel any easier now ? Here's 
 another enquirer anxious to hear good news of you.' 
 
 The man turned his drawn face towards me, and tried 
 to smile as he said : * I guess you're very good. Hope you 
 don't bear malice. You oughtn't to anyhow nearly broke 
 my neck when you fired me through the doorway. All in 
 the way of business, and I'm corralled now.' 
 
 I bent my head with a friendly gesture, for even I 
 could read death in his face, and the outlaw, glancing 
 towards Grace, added : * If I'd known you, Missy, we'd 
 never have held this homestead up. White folk all 
 through, and you're a prairie daisy. What made me do it ? 
 Well, I guess that's a long story, and some of it might 
 
HELD UP 89 
 
 scare you. A big man froze me off my land, and someone 
 rebranded my few head of stock. Law ! we don't count 
 much on that ; it's often the biggest rascals corral the 
 offices, and we just laid for them with the rifle. They 
 were too many for us and this is the end of it.' 
 
 Grace moved towards him whispering something I 
 could not catch, but the man smiled feebly, and I heard 
 the grim answer : * No ; I guess it's rather too late for that. 
 I lived my own way, and I can die that way too. Don't 
 back down on one's partners ; kind of mean, isn't it ? And 
 if it's true what you're saying I'll just accept my sentence. 
 Going out before the morning ; but I sent two of the men 
 who robbed me to perdition first.' 
 
 Ormond raised his hand for silence, and again I could 
 hear the shrilling of the bitter wind that was never still. 
 Then he said softly : ' You are only exciting him, and had 
 better go,' and with a last glance at Grace's slender figure 
 stooping beside the bed I went out softly. 
 
 It was nearly midnight and a cold creepiness pervaded 
 everything when he joined the rest of us round the stove. 
 4 Gone ! ' he said simply. * Just clenched his hand and 
 died. There was some fine material wasted in that man. 
 Well, I think he was wronged somehow, and I'm sorry for 
 him.' 
 
 We turned away in silence, for a shadow rested upon 
 Carrington, while the outlaw lay in state in the homestead 
 he had helped to rob until the North-West Police bore 
 what was left of him away. But before that time we rode 
 back to our own holding, and I saw nothing for half the 
 journey, thinking over the words Grace Carrington spoke 
 to me on parting. 
 
90 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 IX 
 
 A RECKONING 
 
 IT was some time after the holding up of Carrington 
 Manor before with Jasper's assistance I was able to fulfil 
 my promise to Minnie Fletcher. Jasper knew everybody 
 within fifty miles up and down the C. P. R. line, and at 
 least as far across the prairie, while they all had a good 
 word for him. So when he heard the story he drove us 
 over to Clearwater, where an elevator had been built beside 
 the track, only to find that the agent in charge of it had 
 already a sufficient staff. He, however, informed us that 
 the manager of a new creamery wanted a handy man to 
 drive round collecting milk from the scattered homesteads 
 who could also help at the accounts and clerking. Such a 
 combination might not have been usual in England, but in 
 the Western Dominion one may find University graduates 
 digging trenches and unfortunate barristers glad to earn a 
 few dollars as railroad hands. 
 
 * I guess we'll fix him up in that creamery,' said Jasper. 
 4 The man who runs it was raised not far from the old 
 folks' place in Ontario,' and we started forthwith on an 
 apparently endless ride across the frozen prairie. Some of 
 our horses are not much to look at, and others are hard to 
 drive, but the way they can haul the light waggons or even 
 the humble ground sleigh along league after league would 
 .surprise those not used to them. We spent one night with 
 a Highland crofter in a dwelling which resembled a burrow, 
 for most of it was underground, but the rammed earth 
 
A RECKONING 91 
 
 walls kept out the cold and the interior was both warm and 
 clean. We spent another in somewhat grim conviviality 
 at the creamery, for the men whose fathers hewed sites for 
 what are now thriving towns out of the bush of Ontario 
 are rather hard and staunch than sprightly. 
 
 Still, the manager did his best for us, and said on parting, 
 * Send him right along. I'll give any friend of yours a show 
 if Jasper will vouch for him. Pay's no great thing as yet, 
 but he can live upon it, and if we flourish he'll sail ahead 
 with us.' 
 
 So we brought Thomas Fletcher out from Winnipeg 
 by joint subscription, and it cost us rather more than we 
 cared about, for he came second class, while at that time 
 Harry and I would have travelled * Colonist,' or on oppor- 
 tunity have earned our passage tending stock. If we could 
 spare a dollar in those days we wanted it for our land. 
 The old jauntiness had gone out of him. He looked worn 
 and thinner, with, I fancied, signs of indulgence in alcohol, 
 but professed his willingness to work hard at anything 
 which would keep a roof over Minnie's head. We drove 
 him across to the creamery, and the manager seemed dis- 
 appointed when he saw him, while on the journey home 
 Jasper said : < I've been sizing that young man up. Strikes 
 me he's too like the trash you British are over-fond of 
 dumping on to us. Why can't your folks understand that 
 if a man's a dead failure over there we don't want him ? 
 Daresay he's honest, but he's got no sand. Let that fellow 
 sit up and talk over a glass of rye whiskey and a bad cigar 
 and he's right there ; set him wrestling with a tough job 
 and he'll double up.' 
 
 Jasper posed as a judge of character, and I felt inclined 
 to agree with him. Fletcher had not the appearance of a 
 vicious or dishonest man, but I fancied under pressure of 
 circumstances he might become one. 
 
92 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 We built a new stable and barn that winter, hauling 
 suitable logs and they were very hard to find ten miles 
 across the prairie, while Harry nearly lost his hands by 
 frost-bite bringing one load in. Nevertheless, and there is 
 leisure in that season, we drove over now and then to 
 Fletcher's humble dwelling beside the creamery, and were 
 both embarrassed the first time Minnie thanked us with 
 tears in her eyes. Already she was recovering her good 
 looks and spirits, but as Fletcher's pay would be scanty 
 until spring the odd bags of potatoes and flour we brought 
 them were evidently acceptable. We had received help 
 freely when we needed it, and it seemed only fitting that 
 now we should help others in return, so we did what little 
 we could, and, as transpired later, it brought trouble upon 
 us. Also we managed to pay a few visits to other neigh- 
 bours who lived at any distance within thirty miles, includ- 
 ing a few farms of the Carrington group, where, perhaps 
 especially for Harry's sake, they made us welcome, and 
 twice to Carrington Manor. The second visit was a 
 memorable one. 
 
 It was a still starlit night with an intense frost and a 
 few pale green streamers shimmering in the north, but the 
 big main room of the Manor with its open fireplace and 
 central stove was very warm and snug. Our team was also 
 safely stabled, for owing to the distance we could not well 
 return that night, while since the affair with the cattle 
 thieves Colonel Carrington had so far as in him lay been 
 cordial. He sat beside the glowing birch logs silent and 
 stern of aspect as usual, with a big shaggy hound which I 
 had seen roll over a coyote with a broken spine curled up 
 against his knee, while the firelight flickered redly across 
 his lean, bronzed face. Opposite sat his sister, who partly 
 resembled him, though in her case the Carrington dignity 
 was softened by a winning sympathy. She was an old 
 
A RECKONING 93 
 
 maid of a fine but perhaps not common type, white-haired 
 and stately, and in all things gracious. 
 
 Harry, who was a favourite of hers, knelt with one knee 
 on a wolf-skin rug, turning over a collection of photographs 
 on a low table that she might see, and she smiled at some 
 of his comments. Ormond leaned against the wall behind 
 them interposing whimsical sallies, and cast occasional 
 glances towards myself and Grace. Resigning his com- 
 mission, he had lately, we understood, purchased land 
 thereabouts. One or two other of the Colonel's subjects 
 were present, while, being lighted with shaded lamps which 
 shed their soft radiance only where it was wanted, portions 
 of the long room remained in shadow, so Grace and I, 
 sitting near one window, could look out between the looped- 
 back curtains across the prairie. High over the sweep of 
 dimly glimmering snow hung a vault of fathomless indigo. 
 It was not such a sky as one sees in England, but rather a 
 clear transparency where the stars, ranged one behind the 
 other, led the gaze back and lost it in infinity, while at 
 intervals a steely scintillation flickered up from horizon to 
 zenith and then back again. Also feathery frost-flowers 
 on the window framed the picture like a screen of delicate 
 embroidery. 
 
 I do not think either of us said much, but I felt we had 
 a kindred interest in the spectacle. Within there was 
 warmth and light and life ; outside, impressive silence 
 reigned unbroken, with the coldness of the grave. Yet 
 there was one man who, poorly nourished and still more 
 poorly clad, had the courage to cross long leagues of frozen 
 prairie on foot, for presently we heard a knocking at the 
 door, and after an altercation with somebody outside a 
 stranger walked with uneven steps into the room. White 
 crystals sprinkled his old English coat, a most inadequate 
 protection against such weather, while his breath was frozen 
 
94 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 about the collar, and the fur cap he could scarcely hold in 
 one stiffened hand was of the cheap and rubbishy description 
 Jew pedlars retail to the new arrival in Winnipeg. His age 
 might have been fifty, but he had been bent by toil or sick- 
 ness, and his pinched face was a study in itself. Anxiety, 
 suspense, and fierce determination seemed written upon it. 
 
 'I'm wanting Ralph Crosfield, who came out from 
 England. They told me he was here,' he said, and clutched 
 at the table, for, as often happens, the change of temperature 
 had been too much for him. Then I recollected what 
 Jasper, who had been in to Winnipeg, told me a day or two 
 before. ' I looked in at the Tecumseh house, and the clerk 
 mentioned that a wild man from the old country had been 
 asking for you. Wouldn't answer any questions ; a lunatic 
 of some sort the clerk reckoned.' 
 
 Nevertheless, as I stood up by the window I had no 
 suspicion of the truth, though perhaps Harry had, for, 
 drawing forward a chair, he said : ' Feeling dizzy, are you 
 not ? Better sit down. But before we answer I would 
 like to know who you are, and what you want with him.' 
 
 ' What has that to do with thee ? ' was the fierce 
 answer. c I'm wanting Ralph Crosfield, and if he's alive in 
 Canada I'll find him.' 
 
 I stepped out into the lamplight, saying : ' You need not 
 search far. With your permission, Miss Carrington ! Now 
 I am only a guest here, and will you follow me ? ' 
 
 The drawn face twitched, his left hand was clenched, 
 and the other fumbled inside the breast of the threadbare 
 coat as the old man turned to meet me. * No ; here before 
 them all I'll ask thee,' he said hoarsely. ' I'm Adam Lee 
 of Stoney Clough. Where's my daughter, Minnie Lee, 
 that left her home to follow thee ?' 
 
 The words seemed to break in on the warmth and 
 harmony like a blast of Arctic cold, and sudden silence 
 
A RECKONING 95 
 
 followed them. Colonel Carrington leaned forward with 
 an angry glitter in his eyes, Miss Carrington watched me 
 in cold surprise, and Grace well, I do not care to recall 
 her face. Once afterwards I saw her look the same, and 
 was thankful that her scornful glance rested upon another 
 man. Then, while I stood bolt upright, staring at the 
 speaker, and wondering how I could make the matter 
 plain, others intervened, for Ormond, turning towards 
 Colonel Carrington, said, ' I fancy, sir, this is not the place 
 for er such explanations. They might prove embar- 
 rassing.' 
 
 Colonel Carrington glanced at his sister, who followed 
 by the rest had already risen from her chair, beckoning to 
 Grace, but Harry broke in. 
 
 4 1 agree with Captain Ormond in part,' he said, ( but 
 this is a serious matter. We have all of us unfortunately 
 heard the charge, and in fairness to Mr. Crosfield we should 
 hear him refute it. It's either a cruel mistake, sir, or 
 gratuitous malice, and I would stake my last dollar upon 
 his honour. A few words will suffice.' 
 
 It was a kindly thought of Harry's, and the Colonel 
 nodded. < You will excuse us, Jessy,' he said. * Geoffrey, 
 as a matter of fairness he is perfectly right. Now, sir, for 
 the space of two minutes will you restrain your impatience 
 and follow us ? ' 
 
 But Adam Lee of Stoney Clough thought differently. 
 I had never seen him before, but knew him well by reputa- 
 tion ; for, though not born there, he was one of the 
 erratic ultra-reformers one may find in many an English 
 industrial town. They have left all regular creeds and 
 parties behind, and look for the regeneration of an iniquitous 
 world by some fantastic new religion, or the subversion of 
 all existing authorities. Some, it is true, live lives of self- 
 denial, and die, worn out by disappointment, of a broken 
 
96 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 heart at last, but the rest develop into fanatics of savage 
 bigotry. 
 
 * No ; I've followed him weary and hungry for many 
 days,' he said. ' He doesn't leave my sight until he has 
 answered me. Stop ; you that sit warm in luxury, pam- 
 pering your sinful bodies and grinding the poor, you shall 
 hear what one of your kind has done, and judge between us. 
 The tale will be good for you. Shall the rich rob us of our 
 children, as they rob us of our bread ? ' 
 
 He flung one arm out as he spoke, and there was a rude 
 power in voice and gesture which commanded attention. 
 Neither was his accent now altogether that of Lancashire, 
 for Lee, as is not uncommon, would sometimes speak a 
 purer English than the local vernacular. Miss Carrington 
 glanced past him towards the door, irresolute, and Grace 
 leaned forward staring at him as though fascinated, while 
 perhaps I of all the others found the sentiment familiar. 
 It was the same spirit which, trammelled by poverty and 
 ignorance, stirs many a man weary of a hopeless struggle 
 for better things, and blazes into strange coruscations of 
 eloquence in market-square orations and from the platforms 
 of conventicles where men whose religion is a thing of 
 terror worship the jealous God of the Hebrews. 
 
 ' Nay, sit still and hear.' The words fell as though they 
 were an order. ' I am a poor man, a maker of shoes for the 
 poor who could not always buy them, and I had one daughter. 
 She was all I had, and I wrestled with the devil for her 
 that she might escape perdition through the snare of beauty. 
 But the nephew of a rich man cast desiring eyes upon her, 
 and Satan helped him. He might well be strong and 
 comely, for he fed on the finest, while when trade was bad 
 half of us went cold and hungry in Stoney Clough ; but he 
 .was filled with the wiles of the devil and the lusts of the flesh, 
 so when there were plenty of his own kind to choose among 
 
A RECKONING 97 
 
 he tempted the poor man's daughter who worked for a 
 pittance in his uncle's mill. Her mother died ; they mocked 
 me at the chapel ; and I have come four thousand miles 
 to find him, but now and here he shall answer. Ralph 
 Crosfield of Orb Mill, where is Minnie Lee ? ' 
 
 His hand was clear of the threadbare coat now ; some- 
 thing glinted in it, and I looked into the muzzle of a pistol. 
 But Geoffrey Ormond, in spite of his surface languidness, 
 was quick of thought and action, and with swift dexterity 
 gripped his right arm from behind. Then, and we were 
 never quite sure how it happened, though the weapon was 
 evidently a cheap Belgian revolver, and perhaps the hammer 
 shook down, there was a ringing crash, a cry from Grace, a 
 tinkle of falling glass, and Adam Lee stood empty-handed, 
 while Ormond, who flung down the smoking weapon, said 
 coolly : * It is safer with me. These things are dangerous to 
 people who don't understand them, and you may be thankful 
 that, without perhaps intending it, you are not a murderer.' 
 
 * Thank you, Geoffrey,' said Colonel Carrington. ' Lee, 
 sit down. I don't know what your religious or political crazes 
 are, and it does not matter, but I have rather more power 
 here than an English magistrate, and if you move again, by 
 the Lord I'll send you in irons to Winnipeg for attempted 
 murder. Mr. Crosfield, I am not inclined to thank you, 
 but if you have any explanation you had better give it 
 him.' 
 
 Lee, I learned, was a fearless man, with the full courage 
 of his somewhat curious convictions, but there were few 
 who could withstand Colonel Carrington, and, half-dazed, 
 half-savage, he did his bidding, while again every eye in 
 the room was turned upon me as I said slowly : * Minnie 
 Lee was certainly employed in my uncle's mill in Lanca- 
 shire, but on my word of honour nothing ever passed 
 between us that all the world might not hear. She married 
 
 H 
 
98 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 a former clerk there, one Thomas Fletcher, secretly, and at 
 present lives with him at the Willow Lake creamery. I 
 met her at the Elktail hotel, where she was a waitress, for 
 the first time in Canada, and at her request helped to find her 
 husband the situation. She promised to write home, but 
 evidently did not do so.' 
 
 * It is perfectly true,' said Harry. * I was present at 
 that meeting. If our visitor has any doubts on the subject 
 he has only to ride over there and see.' 
 
 Lee gasped for breath, recovered himself, and strode 
 towards me with fingers trembling and his eyes blood- 
 shot. 
 
 * Is it true ? ' he said. ' I know thy vain pride in an 
 honour that can stoop to steal the honour of the poor ; it is 
 only women thy kind tell lies to. Here, before these wit- 
 nesses, tell me again, is it Gospel true ? ' 
 
 He seemed half-crazed by excitement and over-fatigue, 
 while his relief was evidently tempered by a fear that we 
 might yet be bent on duping him ; but I pitied him in all 
 sincerity, for whatever were his foibles it was evident that 
 this broken-down wreck of humanity with the warped 
 intellect loved his daughter, while as I wondered what 
 would most quickly set his mind at rest Harry said stiffly : 
 c We do not lie to anyone, and we are poor men, too. At 
 least we work for a bare living harder than many English 
 poor. On his friend's word as well, in deference to your 
 prejudices, we'll say an honest man Mr. Crosfield has 
 told you nothing but the truth. You will find Mrs. 
 Fletcher safe and well at the Willow Lake creamery.' 
 
 4 Then I'm going there now,' was the answer. ' I 
 thank thee for the story. No, I don't want the pistol. It 
 was the devil tempted me to bring it, but it was only to 
 force the truth from him, and it went off of itself.' 
 
 * You are somewhat premature,' said Colonel Carrington. 
 
A RECKONING 99 
 
 ' We haven't quite done with you. As I said, I hold myself 
 responsible for the peace of Carrington, and though I am 
 inclined to believe it was an accident, you can't ride twenty 
 miles hungry at midnight. You came here without my 
 invitation, and you have customs of your own, but you'll 
 certainly get lost and frozen on the prairie if you leave this 
 house before to-morrow morning.' 
 
 They stood facing each other, a curious contrast, the 
 pinched and bowed cobbler and the army officer, but there 
 was the same stubborn pride in both ; for with a quaint 
 dignity, which in some measure covered its discourtesy, the 
 former made answer in the tongue of the spinning country, 
 * I thank thee, but I take no favours from the rich. Thou 
 and the others like thee have all the smooth things in this 
 life, though even they cannot escape the bitterness that is 
 hidden under them. Well, maybe thou'lt find a difference 
 in the next. Good night to thee.' 
 
 He marched out, we heard the door crash to, and the 
 Colonel smiled curiously as he said : * I dare say he is right. 
 I almost hope at times we will. An interesting character, 
 slightly mad, I think ; heard of such people, but I never met 
 them.' 
 
 This was evidently true, for the lot of Colonel Car- 
 rington had not been cast among the alleys of a spinning 
 town where the heavens are blackened by factory smoke, 
 and as the silver value changes in the East there is hunger 
 among the operatives. In such places the mind of many a 
 thinking man, worn keen as it were by poor living, sickened 
 by foulness and monotony, makes fantastic efforts to reach 
 beyond its environment, and occasionally hurries its owner 
 to the brink of what some call insanity, and perhaps is not so. 
 Then one lonely and pathetic figure, with bent head 
 and shambling gait, grew smaller down the white waste of 
 prairie, until when it vanished Grace said : * I am very sorry 
 
 II 2 
 
ioo A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 for him, but the poor old man will never reach Willow 
 Lake on foot, even if he could find the way. He must 
 have walked many miles already, and he will be frozen 
 before morning. Someone must go after him.' 
 
 c If you will allow us, Miss Carrington, I think we had 
 better take our leave and drive him there on our homeward 
 way. I am sorry that all this happened under your roof,' I 
 said. ' Harry, we must hurry before we lose him ; ' and 
 Colonel Carrington answered coldly, < I am inclined to agree 
 with you.' 
 
 Brief leavetakings followed. Miss Carrington was cordial, 
 but, and it may have been exaggeration of sentiment, I 
 dare not look at Grace with the shadow of such a charge 
 hanging over me. Neither, I think, did the Colonel shake 
 hands with me, while when the sleigh sped hissing down 
 the beaten trail Harry said : * Ralph, you almost make one 
 angry. Of course, she is too high for you ; but there was 
 no reason you should look like a convicted felon when we 
 took the trouble to demonstrate your innocence. Con- 
 fusion to Thomas Fletcher and all his works, I say ! Why 
 should that invertebrate wastrel have turned up to plague 
 us so ? ' 
 
 Now some time had elapsed before we got the horses 
 harnessed, because they objected strenuously, and several 
 branching trails crossed the prairie, so we spent a much 
 longer space than I liked in driving through the bitter 
 cold before we found my late accuser sitting under a copse 
 of willows, and apparently waiting his death. As the 
 settlers say when it freezes on the prairie, you can't fool 
 with that kind of cold. Also I remember Harry for some 
 reason swore profanely. 
 
 4 Get in, and we'll take you straight to Willow Lake,' 
 he said, lifting the unfortunate man, who had already almost 
 lost the use of his limbs, and answered with his teeth chat- 
 
A RECKONING 101 
 
 taring : c You two are very good ; I couldn't drag myself 
 further ; walked there from Elktail to-day, and I felt main 
 drowsy. What brought thee after me ? From one of thy 
 sort I never expected it.' 
 
 ' I don't care what you expected,' said Harry briefly, ' so 
 you needn't trouble to tell me. Get into these furs here 
 before you freeze to death ; another half-hour would have 
 made an end of you.' 
 
 The team had travelled far already that day, but they 
 responded to Harry's encouragement gallantly. The cold 
 bit deep, however, and I could scarcely move a limb when, 
 towards midnight, with a hiss of runners and jingle of bells, 
 we came into sight of Fletcher's shanty by Willow Lake. 
 As luck would have it a light still shone in the window, 
 and he opened the door when Harry and I made shift to 
 draw some wrappings over the team. It grieved me to 
 leave the poor beasts waiting there, for I found it difficult 
 even to speak. 
 
 ' It's Mr. Crosfield, Minnie,' Fletcher shouted ; and 
 before I could intervene a woman's shape filled the lighted 
 door, while Harry said softly, < Confound it ! I hoped to 
 have got out before the play commenced.' 
 
 * We have brought you a visitor, Minnie,' I said. * You 
 must not be surprised. There's nothing too strange to 
 happen in a new country. Harry, help me with him ; ' 
 and between us we half carried Lee inside, for all the 
 strength had gone out of him. The hot room reeled 
 about me, and there was a drumming in my head, but with 
 an effort I said, * It's your father, Minnie. You forgot the 
 letter, and he came over to Carrington in search of me.' 
 
 She dropped the stove-iron in her hand with a startled 
 cry. Fletcher blinked at us stupidly, and the old man sat 
 down with one elbow on the table and his head drooping 
 forward limply, while for a moment or two afterwards no 
 
102 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 one moved, and the ticking of a nickelled clock almost 
 maddened me. Then the woman came forward timidly 
 with the word ' Father ' on her lips, and Lee, groaning as 
 though in pain, checked her with a gesture, ' Who is this 
 man here, lass ? ' he said. 
 
 c My husband, Thomas Fletcher ; you ought to remem- 
 ber him. We were married before I left home,' she said ; 
 and Harry coughed, while Lee said hoarsely, ' I thank the 
 Lord for it ; lass, thou hast acted cruelly, but we'll say no 
 more of that. I've left all I had to find thee, and now I'm 
 only glad.' 
 
 There were tears in Minnie's eyes as she leaned over 
 him with one arm round his shoulder, but I also fancied 
 there was a flash of resentment in them too. ' If you had 
 listened that night before you said what you said, all might 
 have been so different,' she answered. * But I'm so glad 
 to see you, and hungry for news. How did you leave 
 mother, and the shop ? I don't care to hear about the 
 chapel.' 
 
 < Thy mother is dead. The Lord took her,' the old 
 man answered solemnly, though as yet the warmth brought 
 only pain to him. * I'll hear no word against the chapel. 
 Nay,' as the woman straightened herself with a cry, ' she 
 grieved sorely ; but it was the typhoid, and to the last she 
 would hear no ill of thee. The shop, I sold it ; and maybe 
 there's harness to mend, and saddles, that will earn my bread 
 in this country. I'm an old broken man, and a little will 
 content me. A weary time of struggle and black shame 
 I've suffered for thee ; but now there's nought that matters 
 when I find thee so.' 
 
 * We must go,' I said. .* Our team is freezing and we 
 can't afford to lose them ; ' and Minnie, touching her father, 
 said, *You should thank Mr. Crosfield. Forty miles at 
 least he has driven to-day, and there's another fifteen before 
 
A RECKONING 103 
 
 him ;' but ere he could turn I bundled Harry out of the 
 door, and two minutes later we were flying across the 
 prairie. 
 
 ' I'm sorry for the old man,' said Harry. * Fletcher 
 didn't look delighted, and perhaps it's not to be wondered 
 at. As to Minnie, she'll probably cry over him all night 
 long ; but I hardly fancy she has quite forgiven him. It's 
 not a nice thing, either, when you think of it. And I 
 suppose it cost the old fanatic a fearful wrench to give up 
 what he considered his mission to reform that benighted 
 town. Lord, what fools it's true we mortals are.' 
 
 I was too drowsy and cold to answer, and how we got 
 the team into the stables or even found Fairmead I do 
 not remember ; but we probably did it by force of habit and 
 it was high noon next day before we awakened. 
 
io 4 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 A FORWARD POLICY 
 
 GRACE and I met often again before the thaw in spring put 
 an end to all thoughts of amusement. Each time she 
 seemed to place me on a more friendly footing, and I laid 
 myself out to cultivate the good will of the Carrington 
 settlers, in the hope of meeting her at their gatherings, for 
 they at least enjoyed themselves during the winter. Some 
 of the younger gallants regarded me with evident hostility ; 
 but I could afford to smile at them, because, though the 
 heiress of Carrington was gracious to all, she seemed to 
 find more pleasure in my company than in their attentions. 
 Still, at last even Harry grumbled when, half-frozen and 
 with a worn-out team, I reached Fairmead at dawn. 
 4 We'll want another pair of horses if this is to continue,' he 
 said. ' Ralph, it's not my business, but I'm afraid you are 
 laying up trouble for yourself.' 
 
 There were, however, disappointments, for now and 
 then I drove long leagues through whirling snow or bitter 
 frost only to find that Grace was not present, and it was 
 on one of these occasions I betrayed my secret to her 
 aunt, Miss Carrington. She had been visiting an outlying 
 farm, and though there were others whom the duty 
 devolved upon I insisted on driving her home. In my case 
 it was an inestimable privilege, for by good fortune Grace 
 -might be waiting to welcome her. I had been silent all 
 evening, and when with a hissing beneath the steel runners 
 
A FORWARD POLICY 105 
 
 and a rhythmic beat of hoofs we swept on under radiant 
 moonlight, Miss Carrington made some jesting comment 
 upon it. Perhaps the exhilarating rush through the cold, 
 still air had stirred me into undue frankness, for I answered : 
 * Grace was not there, and nothing seems the same without 
 her. She brings an atmosphere of brightness with her, and 
 one learns to miss it. What would this prairie look like if 
 a cloud obscured the moon ? ' 
 
 Miss Carrington smiled a little, glancing at me keenly, 
 as she said : ' A pretty simile ! It was more than I expected 
 after your rueful looks to-night. But you are not singular. 
 There are others in the Carrington settlement who think 
 the same young men with many rich acres and wealthy 
 kinsfolk behind them at home.' 
 
 Her voice changed, and I think the last part was intended 
 to have its meaning, but a sudden impulse overcame my 
 reason, and I answered rashly : c That may well be, but 
 there are none among them who would work or starve for 
 her as I would do. I am only a poor settler, but with one 
 purpose always before him a determined man may ac- 
 complish much. However, I never meant to tell you or 
 anyone this until I and my partner have accomplished 
 something ; and yet perhaps I have said too much not to 
 finish.' 
 
 Miss Carrington moved in her wrappings so that she 
 could meet my eyes, but when I returned her gaze steadily 
 it was a relief to find rather sympathy than anger in her 
 face. < I think you have,' she said, with gentleness. 
 
 So, tightening my grip on the reins, I continued dog- 
 gedly : * Then, even at the risk of seeming a presumptuous 
 fool, you shall hear it all. This new land is for the strong 
 and enterprising, who will stake their best on success within 
 it, and with the hope I have before me I must succeed. So 
 while brain and sinew hold out neither drought, nor frost, 
 
io6 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 nor hardship shall turn me aside until until I am more 
 equal in worldly possessions with Colonel Carrington. 
 Others have risen from obscurity to hold many acres before, 
 and somehow I feel that I shall do so too. But if I 
 owned half the Dominion it would be little to offer Miss 
 Carrington, and without her my present holding would 
 content me.' Then I ended slowly, ' I wonder if, even in 
 that case, there would be any chance for me ? ' 
 
 My companion's face was grave under the moonlight, 
 but she touched my arm with a friendly gesture, as she 
 answered : * Those are a young man's words, and I suppose 
 some would call them foolish ; but though I am old I like 
 the spirit in them. After all, even in these days, we have 
 not done with romance, and a stout heart is often better 
 than land and property. Grace is like you in many ways ; 
 she takes life seriously, and I fancy sees, as I do, that some 
 of us are spending our best on pleasure in Carrington. My 
 brother is a stern, proud man, and yet, as you say, the good 
 things come to those who can fight and wait for them. 
 More I cannot tell you.' 
 
 ' Thank you, Miss Carrington,' I answered, feeling that 
 for ever afterwards she had made me her servant. ' Now, 
 please forget it all until some day I say the same thing to 
 Colonel Carrington, and you will forgive me for ever telling 
 you,' but her eyes were troubled as she turned her face away. 
 
 We reached the manor safely, but I caught no glimpse 
 of Grace, and Colonel Carrington hardly troubled to thank 
 me, while Harry pitied the team when I led them into our 
 stable. A few days afterwards, when we spent all one 
 afternoon discussing finances and our programme for spring, 
 he agreed with me when, contrary to my usual caution, I 
 suggested we should make a plunge that year by purchasing 
 a gang-plough and hiring more horses, then, giving a bond 
 upon the homestead and expected crop, sink the last dollar 
 
A FORWARD POLICY 107 
 
 we could raise in sowing the utmost acreage and breaking 
 more sod on the free land we had pre-empted. There was 
 a sporting instinct in Harry which made him willing to run 
 risks I would generally have avoided. 
 
 Now, however, I was bent on playing a bold game, trusting 
 in the axiom that those who nothing venture cannot expect to 
 win. Also, on the prairie the credit system is universal, and 
 though some abuse it, it has its advantage. For instance, 
 the settler may obtain seed, implements, and provisions on 
 a promise to pay with interest after harvest, and thus he is 
 enabled to break an extra quantity of virgin soil. If the 
 crop is good all benefit alike dealer, maker of implements, 
 and grower of wheat ; while if the grain fails, instead of one 
 man to bear it there are several to divide the loss. 
 
 So we pledged our credit up to the hilt, and, though at 
 times I grew grave as I wondered what would happen if 
 there was hail or frost, we commenced work in earnest with 
 the first of the thaw, and drilled in grain enough to leave us 
 an ample profit if all went well. Then we would double 
 our sowing next year, and, so Harry said, in a few seasons 
 rise to affluence. It was a simple programme, and fortunes 
 have been made in that way ; but, as we were to find, it 
 also leads to disaster occasionally. 
 
 It was a gray day in spring, and a cold wind swept the 
 grasses as I stood beside the double yoke of oxen and the 
 great breaker plough, when Colonel Carrington, who was 
 passing that way, rode towards me across the prairie. Also, 
 while I wondered what his errand was, I saw two mounted 
 figures outlined against the sombre sky on the crest of a 
 distant rise, whom I recognised as Grace and Captain 
 Ormond. He rode a splendid bay horse, and after the 
 first greeting sat looking down upon me ironically a space, 
 erect, soldierly, and immaculately neat down to the bur- 
 nished stirrups and the toes of his speckless boots. Under 
 
io8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 no circumstances did the Colonel forget that he once com- 
 manded a famous regiment, and now ruled drastically over 
 Carrington, while I must have appeared a sufficiently 
 homely object, in battered slouch hat and torn blue over- 
 alls, with the mire clinging to my leggings. 
 
 * You are staking heavily on the weather this year ; I 
 wonder what for,' he said, glancing down the long furrows, 
 and I felt there was a warning in it, for this man seldom 
 wasted words. * The last time I passed it struck me you 
 had better, as they say here, go slow and not risk a surety 
 on the chance of what you can never attain to. It takes 
 capital to farm on a large scale, you know. By the way, I 
 came to tell you that we will not want the disc-harrows, so 
 you can keep them until your work is finished, and as Miss 
 Carrington Miss Grace Carrington is going to England 
 shortly we shall be occupied with preparations for some time. 
 This will save you wasting precious hours riding over just 
 now in the busy season. Well, I must join the others. 
 Good-day to you.' 
 
 He wheeled his horse with a parting salutation, a 
 slender figure waved a hand to me from the crest of the 
 rise before it sank below the sky-line, and that was the last 
 I saw of Grace Carrington for many a day, while breathing 
 hard I watched the horseman grow smaller across the 
 prairie. Her father sometimes delighted to speak in 
 metaphor, and I could not fail to recognise it was a plain 
 hint he had, perhaps in grim kindness, given me. For a 
 moment I wondered if I should have made him listen in 
 turn, and was glad I had not, for his words stung me like a 
 whip, and it would not have helped matters if I had spoken 
 my mind to him. Then, shaking myself together, I called 
 to the oxen, reflecting that many a formerly poor man 
 had married the daughter of even a greater than Colonel 
 Carrington, while if it was a matter of land and money that 
 
A FORWARD POLICY 109 
 
 divided us, every extra furrow brought me so much nearer 
 her. Still, I was graver than usual, even until the 
 ploughing was done, and Harry, not knowing the reason, 
 commented satirically upon it. 
 
 The thaw came early that year, and the latter snow 
 had been light, while steady dry weather followed it, and 
 there were times when I felt I would have given several 
 years of my life for rain. It came, and, though there was 
 not much of it, as if by magic tender grain stood a hand's 
 breadth above the black loam, while I watched it lengthen 
 daily with my heart in my eyes, and grew feverishly anxious 
 about the weather. Many things depended on the success 
 of that crop. Then suddenly it was summer, the hottest 
 summer for ten seasons our neighbours said, and I wondered 
 how we would manage to cut hay for our own beasts, and the 
 teams we had purchased conditionally, because long grass 
 was scanty. Assistance was equally scarce, for, seeing us 
 reach out towards prosperity, our friends evidently con- 
 sidered we were now well able to help ourselves. 
 
 It was done somehow, though often for a week together 
 we worked all day and most of the night, until there was 
 only an hour or two left before the dawn, and I lay wide 
 awake, too overstrung and fatigued to sleep. Once, too, 
 in the burning heat of noon I fell from the waggon in a 
 state of limp collapse, and there were occasions when Harry 
 lay for long spaces with a paler colour than usual gasping 
 in the shade. We could spare little time for cooking, or a 
 tedious journey to bring in provisions, so when one thing 
 ran out we made shift with the rest. Still, we kept 
 Sunday, and once Harry laughed as he said : ' I'm thankful 
 there is a Fourth Commandment, because without it we 
 should have caved in utterly. Do you know we've been 
 living on potatoes, tea, and porridge every meal for the last 
 ten days ? It's doubtful whether we can hold out until 
 
no A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 harvest, and you'll remember it's then the pace grows 
 killing.' 
 
 For the first time I noticed his face was very thin under 
 the sun-burn, and perhaps he read my thoughts, for he 
 laughed as he said : c We have taken on too big a contract, 
 Ralph, but once in we'll carry it through. Still, I wish I 
 had been born with the frame of a bullock, like you.' 
 
 I lay in a hide chair ten hours together that Sunday, 
 only moving to light the stove for Harry, or consume 
 another pint of strong green tea, which is generally our 
 sole indulgence on the prairie. It might not, however, 
 have suited fastidious palates, because the little squirrel-like 
 gophers which abounded everywhere, burrowing near by, 
 fell into the well by scores, and we had no leisure to fish 
 them out. Neither is there any mistaking the flavour of 
 gopher extract. Meantime it grew hotter and drier, and I 
 had to admit to myself that the crop might have been 
 better, while Harry, to hide his misgivings, talked cheerfully 
 about higher prices, until at last the crisis came. 
 
 I awoke one morning with an unusual feeling of chilli- 
 ness, sprang upright, and saw that the first rays of the red 
 sun scintillated upon something that was not dew among 
 the grass, and with a cry strode over to Harry's berth- 
 Even half-asleep he could read the fear in my face, and 
 when he asked, ' What is it ? ' I scarcely knew my own 
 voice as I answered hoarsely, * Frost ! ' 
 
 We ran out half-dressed, and when we stood by the 
 edge of the tall wheat, which was already turning yellow, 
 we knew that the destroyer had breathed upon our grain, 
 and that every stately head contained its percentage of 
 shrivelled berries. Still, it might sell under a lower grading 
 yet if there was no more frost. But the frost came twice 
 again and on the third sunrise I stood staring across the 
 blighted crop with despairing eyes, while my hands would 
 
A FORWARD POLICY in 
 
 tremble in spite of my will. Few men had laboured as 
 Harry and I had done ; indeed, it was often only the hope 
 of winning Grace Carrington that sustained me, while 
 now I was poorer far than when first I landed in Canada. 
 Neither dare I contemplate what the result of my folly 
 would be to Harry. But Harry, who seldom thought of 
 himself, laid his hand affectionately on my shoulder. 
 
 ' Poor old Ralph ! ' he said. ' Well, we did our best, 
 and there's room for us somewhere in this wide country. 
 I suppose it is hopeless absolutely ? ' 
 
 * Quite ! ' I answered, trying to steady my voice. ' We 
 can leave it with a clear conscience to the gophers. How- 
 ever, we might earn a little with the teams to feed us 
 through the winter, and strike out next spring for British 
 Columbia. The new railroad people are open to let track- 
 grading contracts, you know. Lend me your double- 
 barrel ; I'm in no mood for talking, and an all-day tramp 
 after prairie chicken may help to steady me.' 
 
 I took down the old weapon ; it was a muzzle-loader, 
 and called our little English terrier Grip. He was rather a 
 nuisance than otherwise when stalking prairie fowl, but an 
 affectionate beast, and I felt glad of his company. Then 
 for several hours I strode on across the prairie, hardly 
 seeing the clattering coveys at which Grip barked furiously, 
 and might have wandered on until midnight but that 
 when skirting a grove of willows he must most foolishly 
 follow the trail of a coyote. Now, the prairie wolf, though 
 timorous enough where a man is concerned, is generally 
 willing to try conclusions with even a powerful dog, and 
 when presently a great snarling commenced I burst at 
 full speed through the willows. It was high time, for the 
 coyote had pinned the terrier down, and there was barely 
 opportunity to pitch the gun up and take a snapshot at its 
 shoulder before my pet's struggles would have ended. 
 
ii2 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Then I ran in through the smoke to find the wounded 
 beast still held the hapless dog, and as the other barrel was 
 also empty I swang the butt aloft and brought it down 
 crashing on its head. But the coyote was not quite van- 
 quished yet, for I felt its teeth meet almost in my leg, 
 and stumbled head foremost over it, after which for a 
 few moments there was a mixed-up scuffle, until with one 
 hand closing on the hairy throat I got another chance to 
 bring the gun-butt down. Then the beast lay still, flecked 
 all over with blood and foam, while my hands and clothes 
 were torn, and there were crimson patches about me. 
 Grip whined and licked my bleeding fingers when I lifted 
 all that seemed left of him, and he presented a sorry 
 spectacle. Nevertheless, for some curious reason that 
 struggle had done me good, and I limped home carrying 
 the dog, with a wound in my leg, considerably more cheerful 
 than when I left it. I even laughed as Harry, meeting 
 me in the doorway, said, * Good heavens, Ralph, what have 
 you been doing ? you look like a butcher.' 
 
 4 It's a case of inherent savagery, a return to the 
 instincts of barbaric days,' I answered. * I've been killing 
 a coyote with my hands, and feel better for it. But don't 
 ask questions ; I'm almost famished.' 
 
 We fared well that evening, for there was no need of 
 hurry now, and when the meal was over sat talking long 
 in the little room. Already the nights were closing in and 
 the coolness outside invigorated like wine, but we felt the 
 sight of the blighted wheat would not improve our spirits. 
 So I stated my views as clearly as I could, ending with 
 forced cheerfulness, though I meant every syllable of it, 
 4 We are not beaten yet, and if we must go under we'll 
 make at least another tough fight of it.' 
 
 Meanwhile Harry covered several sheets of paper with 
 figures, until at last he said, * You are perfectly right. The 
 
A FORWARD POLICY 113 
 
 homestead, stock, and implements will have to go ; but I 
 think we'll ask our largest creditors to give us time while 
 we see what we can do at the track-grading. It's 
 possible, but not likely, we might earn enough to make 
 some arrangement to commence again. However, to con- 
 sider the probable, there'll be a meeting of creditors, and 
 perhaps enough after the sale to buy us a Colonist ticket to 
 British Columbia. Anyway, we'll ride out to-morrow and 
 call upon the road surveyor.' 
 
 It may have been because we were young, or the 
 suspense had brought its own reaction, but a faint hope 
 commenced to spring up within us, and now, when at 
 least we knew the worst, we were both of us more tranquil 
 than we had been for the last three days, while I slept 
 peacefully until Harry roused me with the news that 
 breakfast was ready. We started at noon, and before the 
 sun crossed the meridian next day found the surveyor busy 
 beside the new steel road which stretched out from the 
 trunk line so many fathoms daily across the prairie. He 
 was a native Canadian, emphatic in gesture, curt in speech, 
 with, as we say here, a snap about him, and looked us over 
 critically as I explained that we were willing to work for 
 him. I fancied there was satisfaction in his gaze, and this 
 was not unlikely, for we were both lean, hard, and bronzed, 
 while our old stained canvas garments told their own tale of 
 sturdy toil. 
 
 'Guess I could let you a track-grading contract,' he 
 said meditatively. ' We find the scoops, you find the 
 teams and take all risks, but it's pay up when you're 
 through. We've no use on this road for the men who 
 when they strike a hard streak just turn their contract 
 up.' 
 
 ' What we begin we'll finish,' I answered with emphasis, 
 while Harry smiled and raised a warning hand unseen by 
 
n 4 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 the surveyor. * Neither hard work nor hard luck is new 
 to us, and if it wasn't for the latter we wouldn't be here.' 
 
 * Glad to hear it,' said the surveyor drily, * you look like 
 that. Well, here's the schedule ; glance through it ; then 
 you can come back to-morrow and we'll sign the agree- 
 ment. But you'll have to rustle and keep the rail-bed 
 ready ; this road's going right through to Green Lake 
 before the winter.' 
 
 I ran my eye down the list of stipulations respecting the 
 work to be done at so much per rod, with allowance for 
 extra depth scooped out through the rises per cubic ton, 
 saw there should be a profit in it from what little I knew, 
 and tossed the sheet to Harry, answering, * Our time is 
 precious, and if my partner is willing we'll sign it now. 
 As to what we look like, I'll thank you to remember that 
 has nothing to do with you.' 
 
 * I apologise ; meant it as a compliment,' said our 
 future employer, who was grimed thick with sweat and dust, 
 and Harry answered lightly, * We are much obliged to you ; 
 my partner is quick in temper. But you know you can't 
 get teams or men for love or money now when harvest's 
 coming on, and so we're going to strike you for another 
 two cents per measure.' 
 
 * Might stretch that far,' said the other after more 
 figuring, 'but somehow we'll take it out of you. Here, 
 fill your distinguished names into this, and if you like to 
 take it there's another lot it's hauling in birch logs for 
 stump piles and fencing purposes.' 
 
 We signed both papers, and on leaving the surveyor 
 found a man in old blue over-alls, whose appearance sug- 
 gested the Briton, waiting for us near the construction 
 train which had just come up with its load of rails and 
 rail-layers. 
 
 ' Did you get the grading contract ? ' he asked ; and 
 
A FORWARD POLICY 115 
 
 when Harry nodded continued : * Then as a preliminary I'll 
 introduce myself, Ellsworthy Johnston, one-time Barrister, 
 and, as the surveyor classified me, general roustabout. Had 
 a bush ranch in British Columbia and came to grief over it 
 by fooling time away gold prospecting. Rode in and asked 
 yonder eloquent autocrat for a contract, but he didn't see 
 it. Said, and he explained it wasn't flattery, I looked too 
 much of a gentleman, and in consequence if I liked I could 
 shovel ballast at one dollar seventy-five daily. Now shovel- 
 ling ballast grows monotonous, and one gets a confounded 
 back-ache over it, so if you're agreeable I'll fling in a small 
 sum and my services as junior partner.' 
 
 * We're not too rich,' said Harry, * and we'll talk it 
 over,' while when somebody in authority called, ' Get a 
 move on there, Sam Johnsing, before the flies eat you. 
 Guess the rails are growing rusty while you're resting,' 
 with a smile of whimsical resignation our new acquaintance 
 hurried away. 
 
 We made a bargain with him to the satisfaction of all 
 concerned that evening, and next morning Harry rode 
 away to divide our few head of stock among our neighbours 
 and hire if possible one or two among those whose crops 
 had also suffered from frost. The latter, like the devastat- 
 ing hail, performs its work erratically, wiping out one man's 
 grain and sparing his neighbours'. Meanwhile I found 
 plenty to do making arrangements to commence our work 
 upon the track. 
 
 12 
 
n6 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XI 
 
 ON THE RAILROAD 
 
 IT was a hot autumn morning when we prepared to 
 commence our task of railroad building, the last forlorn 
 hope between ourselves and ruin. Harry and I stood each 
 beside our teams, which were harnessed to a great iron 
 scoop or scraper designed to tear out a heavy load of spoil 
 at each traverse. This we would pile in the slight hollows, 
 so that, sinking a few feet through the rises and raised 
 slightly above each depression, the road-bed might run 
 straight and level across the prairie. A group of sinewy, 
 dusty men waited about the line of flat cars loaded with 
 rails close behind, while a plume of black smoke curled 
 aloft from the huge locomotive in a dingy column against 
 the blue of the sky. This, with the cluster of tents and 
 shanties, was all that broke the white grass land's empty 
 monotony. 
 
 The surveyor, who was perhaps dustier than any, leaned 
 against the engine's buffer-frame close beside me, mopping 
 his face, which was also smeared with soot, and surveyed us 
 complacently, for with our assistants we formed, so far as 
 outward appearances went, a workman-like if somewhat 
 disreputable company. Water was scarce that season and 
 too precious to waste in superfluous washing, while we had 
 little leisure to spare on even much- needed repairs to our 
 garments. Still, we were alert, hard, and eager, while after 
 the preceding anxiety it was with improved spirits we found 
 
ON THE RAILROAD 117 
 
 definite work before us, with what was better still definite 
 pay at the end of it. 
 
 4 Well, they've finished the line posts ; I guess you can 
 start in,' said the surveyor. * You look as if you could keep 
 those scoops from rusting, and good luck go with you* 
 Stir round and heave those rails down, boys ! ' 
 
 Then with a crack of whips we started, and it was with 
 satisfaction I heard the trampling hoofs bite into the sod and 
 the bright steel edges rip through the matted roots. Soft 
 earth and tangled grasses filled the iron scoop behind, the air 
 vibrated with the strident clang of rails, and the locomotive 
 engineer performed an inspiriting solo upon his whistle, 
 while the rest of our party followed to finish the wake we 
 left with their shovels. Somewhat improved appliances are 
 used in railroad building now, but though it had limitations 
 the scraper did excellent work in its day. All went well 
 and smoothly for at least a month, and our hearts grew 
 lighter every day, while each time the big locomotive came 
 clattering up we had another length of road-bed ready for 
 the rails, and the surveyor commented on our progress with 
 frank approval. He also did so to some purpose in his 
 reports to Winnipeg, as subsequently transpired, while 
 occasionally, when we lounged languidly contented under 
 the dew-damped canvas at nights, Harry would figure with 
 the end of a pencil how much we had already placed to our 
 credit. 
 
 'We are doing well, Ralph,' he said the last time it 
 happened, with a smile that lighted his sunny face. 
 ' There's enough to pay off those folks in Brandon now, 
 and with luck before the frost comes we'll manage to settle 
 with the worst of the rest. It's almost a pity we didn't 
 try the railroad sooner, but ' and here he glanced with a 
 twinkle in his eye at me * we came out to work our own 
 land, and it's your intention to add acre to acre until 
 
n8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Fairmead's one of the biggest farms in the Territories, 
 isn't it ? ' 
 
 * Yes,' I answered soberly. < God willing, if health and 
 strength hold out,' and in his own expressive way Harry 
 shook hands with me. Harry's hand harmonised with the 
 rest of him, and hands are characteristic of their owners' 
 temperament as well as faces. It was small and shapely, 
 one might call it almost feminine, but its touch conveyed 
 the subtle impression of courage and nervous energy, while 
 I wondered what the woman who reared him would think 
 if she saw those toughened and ingrained fingers now. 
 Neither were words needed, for Harry's actions had each 
 their meaning, and that grasp seemed to say that in this I 
 was leader and whatever happened he would loyally follow 
 me. Then he added softly, ' Yes with your reservation 
 we will do it.' 
 
 But uninterrupted good fortune seldom lasts long, or at 
 least it seldom did with us, and presently the line ran into a 
 big coulee which wound through what we call hills upon 
 the prairie that is to say, a ridge of slightly higher levels 
 swelling into billowy rises. In the Western Dominion the 
 rivers, instead of curving round the obstacles they encounter, 
 generally go through, though whether they find the gorges 
 or fret them out is beyond me. In the latter case, judging 
 from what one sees in British Columbia, they must have 
 worked hard for countless centuries. The hollow as usual 
 was partly filled with birches and willows, which hampered 
 us, for they must be cut down and the roots grubbed up, 
 while when at last we had scooped a strip of road-bed out 
 of the slanting side it seemed as if disaster again meant to 
 overtake us. 
 
 Autumn had melted into Indian summer, but it was 
 still hot one afternoon, when with the perspiration dripping 
 from me I whirled and drove the keen axe into a silver 
 
ON THE RAILROAD 119 
 
 birch's side, seldom turning my eyes from the shower of 
 white chips, because looking up between the slender stems 
 one could see the black smoke of a thrasher streaking the 
 prairie. The crops of the man who employed it had 
 escaped damage, and as those of many had been spoiled by 
 frost I knew he would reap a handsome profit on every 
 bushel. I did not grudge it him, but the contrast with our 
 failure troubled me. My throat was parched and dried up, 
 for we had finished all the water they brought us in by train, 
 and no man could drink of the shrunken creek, which was 
 alkaline. It flowed down from one of those curious lakes to 
 be found upon the Western prairie, where clouds of biting 
 dust which smarts one's eyes and nostrils intolerably rise 
 up like smoke from the white crust about the margin of the 
 waters, whose colour is a vivid greenish blue. 
 
 I stepped aside a moment to let the construction train 
 with its load of rails roll past, and stood leaning on the axe 
 wiping the perspiration out of my eyes until Harry's shout 
 rang out warningly. Then through the strident scream of 
 brakes and roar of blown-off steam an ominous rumbling 
 commenced round a bend ; there was a rush of flying foot- 
 steps, and Harry shouted again. I ran forward down the 
 newly-laid track, and when I halted, breathless, my first 
 sensation was one of thankfulness followed by dismay. 
 Harry was struggling to hold an excited team not far away, 
 and it was evident he and the rest were safe, but it was also 
 equally plain we must gather our courage to meet another 
 blow. Under no circumstances could much if any profit 
 have been made on that portion of the line which traversed 
 the coulee, but we took it with the rest, while now the 
 road-bed we had painfully scooped out had been swept away 
 and lay a chaotic mass of debris, some sixty yards below, for, 
 loosened by the excavation, the side of the ravine had 
 slipped down bodily. 
 
120 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' I'm glad you and the teams are safe,' was all I could 
 find to say when Harry met me, for I struggled against an 
 inclination to do either of two things. One was to sit 
 down and groan despairingly, and the other to abuse every- 
 thing upon the Canadian prairie. 
 
 Harry at first said nothing. He was panting heavily, 
 but another man answered for him : * I guess you might be, 
 and only for your partner's grit the teams wouldn't have 
 been. When we saw the whole blame ravine tumbling in 
 the only thing that struck us was to light out quick, and 
 we did it in a hurry, not stopping to think. Something 
 else struck your partner, too, a devastatin' load of dirt 
 coming down on the teams, and he went back for them. 
 Cut the traces of one scraper you can see the blame thing 
 busted in the bottom there ; then there was a roar and she 
 came down solid with a rush, while we did the shouting 
 when he brought them safe at a gallop out of the dust.' 
 
 ' That's a side issue,' said Harry very gravely, ' and the 
 main one is serious. Ralph, if all this slope is going to slip 
 down it means disaster to us. You see, after what was said 
 when we took the contract, we couldn't well back out of it, 
 even if we wanted to. Hallo, here's his majesty the surveyor 
 on his trolley.' 
 
 With a clatter of wheels the light frame raced down the 
 slight incline, and unloaded its occupants violently when it 
 ran into the back of the construction train which they had 
 just stopped in time. We did not, however, follow it, 
 because we wanted time to think, while both our faces 
 were anxious when the surveyor returned. 
 
 * I'm afraid it's a hard case one of those things no man 
 can figure on ahead give you my word we never expected 
 this,' he said. ' That bank looked solid enough, but there's 
 more of it just waiting to go, and the whole track will 
 have to be set back several yards or so. Any way, it's par- 
 
ON THE RAILROAD 121 
 
 ticularly hard on you. Remembering what I told you, have 
 you settled yet what you are going to do ? ' 
 
 ' Yes,' I answered slowly. * We made the agreement, 
 and we mean to keep it. Hire more men and teams if what 
 we have won't do. Somehow we've got to finish out- 
 bargain, and get our money back, and we'll come to the end 
 of the ravine some day. Isn't that your view, Harry ? ' 
 
 * Of course ! ' said Harry, as the surveyor turned in his 
 direction. By this time we had fallen into our respective 
 parts. When there was need of judicious speech or care in 
 matters financial it was Harry's tact or calculations which 
 solved the difficulty, while when it came to a hard grapple 
 with natural difficulties I led the way. Again the surveyor 
 glanced from one to the other before he said : 
 
 ' There's grit in both of you. After all, what you think 
 does not affect the question ; a contract's a contract, and we 
 hold the whip hand over you, but I'm glad to see you take it 
 that way.' 
 
 The surveyor, as we were to learn, was a man of dis- 
 cernment, and he may have been making an experiment, 
 but my blood was up, and I answered stiffly : * The whip 
 hand has nothing to do with it. We will carry out our 
 agreement, because we pledged ourselves to do so, but if we 
 hadn't ten railroad companies would not make us, and we're 
 open to defy any man in the Dominion, director or surveyor, 
 to force an injustice upon us.' 
 
 The autocrat was not in the least angry, and smiled 
 drily as he said, 'I believe you. Well, I make no promises, 
 but if you're not above all assistance I guess I might help 
 you. You can lay off and rest your teams for two days any 
 way, while I turn loose the shovellers ; then you'll want all 
 the energy that's in you.' 
 
 Under different circumstances we might have enjoyed 
 that holiday. As it was I lay still in the sunshine all day, 
 
122 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 disconsolately staring across the prairie down the track that 
 was apparently going to complete our discomfiture, and 
 smoking until my mouth was blistered, while where Harry 
 went to I did not know. On the second evening, however, 
 our new partner, who had been back to the main line for 
 supplies, came in, and listened with apparent unconcern while 
 we explained matters to him. Acting under impulse, I even 
 suggested that we might release him from his unfortunate 
 bargain, but he laughed as he answered : 
 
 * It's generous, but it can't be done. Experiences of 
 this kind are not new to me, and I'm a Jonah, as I warned 
 you. Still, when bad luck follows one everywhere floods 
 on the Fraser, cattle-sickness, snow coming heavy just 
 when one is finding signs of gold you know there's no 
 earthly use running away from it, and it's wisest to laugh 
 at fortune and stay right where you are. Daresay we'll 
 come out on the right side yet ; and if we don't, in fifty 
 years it won't make much difference. Now try to look 
 less like guests at a funeral, and talk of something cheerful.' 
 
 I made some moody answer and envied him his way of 
 taking things, while Harry tried to smile, and Johnston, 
 lifting down a banjo, commenced a plantation ditty, which 
 he sang with so much spirit that presently he had most of 
 the shovel gang for an appreciative audience. Then there 
 were roars of laughter when he stood in the entrance of the 
 tent and, with the utmost solemnity, made them a ridi- 
 culous speech. After this they went away to their canvas 
 dwellings, and I knew that Ellsworthy Johnston was one 
 of those born soldiers of fortune who extract the utmost 
 brightness from an arduous life, and, meeting each reverse 
 with a smiling face, cheerfully bear their ill-rewarded share 
 in the development of Greater Britain beyond the seas. 
 One may find a good many of them upon the Western 
 prairie. 
 
ON THE RAILROAD 123 
 
 We recommenced work next morning, and, under the 
 delicious still coolness of the Indian summer, increased 
 the strain on nerve and muscle and cut down the grocery 
 bill, though I insisted upon feeding the horses even better 
 than before. It is never economy to stint one's working 
 cattle, especially when one demands the utmost from them, 
 besides being a procedure which is distasteful to any 
 merciful man. But, though we had to hire more horses, 
 wondering how we would ever pay for them when the 
 contract was finished, the track crept on along the 
 treacherous slope, where we scooped out a double width 
 as basis, winding among the birches in glistening, sinuous 
 curves, while the end of the valley grew nearer every day. 
 Again Harry and I lapsed into the excitement of a race 
 against adversity, because unless we were well out on the 
 open prairie before winter bound the sod into the likeness of 
 concrete there could be no hope of even partly recouping 
 our loss. Even Johnston seemed infected with our spirit ; 
 but while we generally worked in dogged silence, he had 
 ever a jest upon his lips. 
 
 One evening and the days were shortening all too 
 rapidly when I sat tired and dejected on an empty 
 provision case, a rail-layer brought in several letters, and, 
 as usual, they were all for me. Harry stood bare-armed, 
 with the dust still thick upon him, just outside the entrance 
 of the tent, holding a spider over our little stove, and glanced 
 half regretfully towards the budget. No one ever seemed 
 to write to Harry. The first was from Jasper. He had 
 visited Brandon and Winnipeg on business, and wrote in 
 his usual off-hand style. 
 
 ' I've been in to see those dealers, taking my best broker 
 along, to convince them we only raised solid men in this 
 section,' it ran. * Thought I'd enlighten them about you, 
 and the broker laid himself out to back me. He gets all 
 
124 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 my business see ? while you can't beat a Winnipeg 
 broker at real tall talking. I should say we impressed them 
 considerable ; or perhaps it was the big cigars and the spread 
 at the hotel. Said they'd sense enough to know a straight 
 man when they saw him, and they'd give you plenty time 
 to pay in. So all you've got to do is to sail right on with the 
 track-grading. The boys were saying down to Elktail that 
 Fletcher and his father-in-law don't get on, and there's going 
 to be trouble there presently. I think the old man started 
 in to reform him, and Fletcher don't like unlimited reform.' 
 
 'Just like Jasper,' said Harry. 'A woman's heart, and 
 the strength of three ordinary men. Still, when Jasper 
 starts in with a rush no man can say where he'll finish, and 
 we may hear next that he has been all round Winnipeg on 
 our account borrowing money.' 
 
 Then the new partner, who was splitting firewood close 
 by, laid down his axe as he said : * You'll introduce me to 
 Jasper some day. From what you say, he is a man worth 
 knowing.' 
 
 There were two more letters, and the next my fingers 
 trembled as I opened it was from Grace. It was dated 
 from Starcross House, in Lancashire, and written in frank 
 friendliness, expressing regret for our misfortune, which, it 
 seemed, she had heard about, ending : ' But by this time you 
 will have learned that there are ups and downs in every 
 country, and I know you both have the courage to face 
 the latter. So go on with a stout heart, believing that I 
 and all your other friends look for your ultimate success.' 
 To this there was a postscript : ' I met your cousin, Miss 
 Crosfield, the other day, and was sorry to find her very pale 
 and thin. She had just recovered from a serious illness, and 
 seemed troubled when I told her how you had lost your 
 harvest.' 
 
 I placed the thin sheets reverently in an inside pocket, 
 
ON THE RAILROAD 125 
 
 and read them afterwards over and over again, because I 
 might not answer them. She had written out of kindly 
 sympathy when the news of our trouble first reached her, 
 and that was all ; while T felt I could not write a mere 
 formal note of thanks and more than this was out of the 
 question now. Nevertheless, I was thankful for her good 
 wishes, and then stood silent under the starlight, staring 
 down the misty coule*e and thinking of Cousin Alice as 
 mechanically I stripped the envelope from the following 
 one. She had always been ailing, even in the days when we 
 were almost as brother and sister ; and now I longed that I 
 could comfort her as in my periodical fits of restlessness she 
 used to soothe me. That, however, was impossible, for my 
 cousin was part of the sheltered life I had left behind across 
 the sea, and I was in Western Canada with a very uncertain 
 future before me. 
 
 Then, moving back into the light of the lamp, I read 
 the last letter, and, with a gasp of astonishment, handed it 
 to Harry, saying, * I can make nothing of this. Who in 
 the wide world can have sent the money ? ' 
 
 He laid down the spider, and, bending until the glow 
 from the tent door fell upon the paper, read : 
 
 ' Mr. Ralph Crosfield, of Fair mead. 
 
 <SiR, We have received the sum of one thousand 
 dollars, from a correspondent whose identity we are not at 
 liberty to reveal, to place to your credit. If you prefer, 
 you may regard this amount as an unsecured loan and repay 
 it with current interest on opportunity. Otherwise it is 
 unconditionally at your disposal, and we will have pleasure 
 in honouring your drafts to that extent. 
 
 i A 'gent for the Bank of Montreal? 
 
126 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' You are a lucky man,' said Harry. * What will you 
 do with it ? ' And I answered with some hesitation : 
 
 4 1 don't exactly know. Tell them to send it back, 
 most likely. We can both of us take care of ourselves 
 without depending on other folk's charity like remittance 
 men. And what right has any unknown person to send 
 money to me ? My friends in England have apparently 
 cast me off utterly, and in no case would I accept a favour 
 from them. Still, I would like to discover who sent it. 5 
 
 'It's someone who knows your little we'll say pecu- 
 liarities,' answered Harry drily. * I sometimes wonder, 
 Ralph, what makes you so confoundedly proud of yourself. 
 Can't you take it in the spirit it's evidently meant, and be 
 thankful ? You are not overburdened with worldly riches 
 at present, any way.' 
 
 To this I made no answer. We needed money badly 
 enough that at least was certain ; and after our frugal 
 repast I marched up and down the line, thinking it over, 
 and then decided to accept the sum as a loan, chiefly for 
 Harry's sake. It would materially help to lighten that 
 other crushing load of debt ; and though growing more and 
 more puzzled, I felt, as Harry did, there was yet a great 
 kindness behind it. 
 
127 
 
 XII 
 
 THE UNEXPECTED 
 
 ON the first opportunity we paid the most pressing of our 
 creditors off, and continued our labour with greater cheer- 
 fulness, working double tides when there was moonlight, 
 scooping out the line along the sides of the coulee, though 
 we lost more than I cared to calculate on every yard of it. 
 As we did so the days grew shorter and shorter, and often 
 in the mornings there was a keen frost in the air. It was a 
 losing game, but we had given our bond and played it out 
 stubbornly, while Johnston, who worked as hard as either 
 now, cheered us with witty anecdote and quaint philosophy 
 after each especially disappointing day. Then one evening 
 when the surveyor sat with us, as he did occasionally, a man 
 approached the tent to say : * There's a curious critter 
 hunting round for you looks most like a low-down played- 
 out Britisher. He's wanting contractor Crosfield, and won't 
 lie down until he finds him.' 
 
 * Adam Lee of Stoney dough for a dollar ; I've been 
 expecting him,' said Harry, with a low whistle. * You 
 needn't go, surveyor. Have you been fascinating any more 
 young damsels, Ralph ? Larry, will you be kind enough 
 to show his reverence in.' 
 
 The man grinned as he went out, and presently Lee 
 stood before us. He looked a little stronger than when I 
 last saw him, but there was trouble in his face, and, when I 
 explained who he was to the rest, sat down and commenced 
 
128 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 his story. Life is generally hard to such as he, and living 
 close packed together in the hive of a swarming town, with 
 their few joys and many sorrows open for every eye to see, 
 they lose the grace of reticence. 
 
 ' I set up a stitching shop in a shed against Tom 
 Fletcher's house,' he said. ' There were none of my kin left 
 in the wide world but Minnie, and, if I wasn't a burden, I 
 wanted ^to live near her. They brought me saddles and 
 harness to sew, and I earned a little, but I was main anxious 
 for Thomas Fletcher. The lust of strong drink was in him, 
 and he had sinful fits of temper, raging like one demented 
 when I told him to cast out the devil. " I'll cast out thee 
 an' thy preaching into perdition," he said. Then Minnie 
 must tell me if I was too good for her husband, and only 
 making trouble, they did not want me there, and I saw that 
 sometimes Tom Fletcher scowled with angry eyes at her 
 after I had spoken to him faithfully. So, because it is an ill 
 thing to cause strife between man and wife, I left my 
 daughter and I had come half across the world to find her. 
 They told me there were lots of men and horses working on 
 the new railway, and I wondered if there was anything I 
 could do that would keep me. They said Ralph Crosfield 
 was a big contractor an' there was doubt between us, but I 
 have forgiven thee.' 
 
 4 Very kind of you, I'm sure ! ' said Harry. * The 
 question is, however, what can you do ? ' and the old man 
 answered eagerly : * Anything, if it's saddles or harness 
 or mending shoes. I can cut things in hardwood and 
 sharpen saws too, and I'll work for a trial for nothing but 
 my keep.' 
 
 I looked down on him compassionately, for he was old 
 and broken in spirit, and would plainly starve if turned 
 adrift upon the prairie, while as I did so the surveyor broke 
 in < You had better take him ! ' 
 
THE UNEXPECTED 129 
 
 Then, deciding that perhaps he could help us in some 
 small degree, and that we might spare a few dollars to give 
 him, even if he only kept us in whole shoes, I answered, 
 ' Well, we'll see what you can do, and you can camp in 
 the other tent. There's a set of worn-out harness for a 
 beginning to-morrow, while if you go right across you'll 
 just be in time for supper.' 
 
 He thanked us with effusion, and when he went out 
 Harry said lightly : ' We have made a very bad bargain, of 
 course, but I dare say we can manage to raise all he will cost 
 us. Naturally, I feel inclined to do something for the old 
 man, but that confounded Fletcher exasperates me. His 
 shadow has been upon you ever since you started in this 
 country, and, I suppose it's foolish, but I feel that some day 
 he'll do you a greater injury. However, at present I almost 
 sympathise with his action. It isn't cheerful to have a 
 future state of brimstone held up before one continually.' 
 
 * When I said you had better take him, I didn't mean 
 at your own expense,' interposed the surveyor, ' but that 
 under the circumstances it would come better so. I guess 
 we'll squeeze him somehow on to the pay-roll of the Com- 
 pany. Heard all about the whole thing from someone. 
 Who oh, General Jackson, how should I remember ? Kind 
 of religio-political crank, isn't he ? Well, I've seen some 
 inventive geniuses among the species, and while we're 
 driving straight ahead we can find use for a man if he's 
 honest and handy finicking round the chores. Still, that 
 has nothing to do with what I'm coming to. We have room 
 for straight, live men on this road, and I've been watching 
 you two. Guess you've been losing heavy, and you stuck 
 right down to it. Now, this branch is going to be froze 
 up presently, and they've sent for me to finish a mining 
 loop among the mountains of British Columbia ; when some 
 one else has fooled a tough job they generally do. They 
 
130 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 listen at head-quarters when I get up to talk, and the ques- 
 tion is, will you bring along your outfit and haul rocks and 
 lumber in the ranges for me ? This time we'll try to make 
 the deal a better one for you. We'll square up and pay off 
 on what you've done so far ; it will cut the loss, because 
 there's more of the coulee, and there'll be hard frost before 
 you're out on the prairie. Now, I've been talking straight 
 what have you to say ? ' 
 
 I looked round at the others. Harry beamed approval, 
 Johnston nodded indifferently, and I felt a thrill of satisfac- 
 tion as I turned to the railroad autocrat, saying, ' We will 
 come.' 
 
 ' That's good,' was the laconic answer. ' Don't think 
 you'll regret it,' and with a nod to each of us the man who 
 in a few moments had made a great change in our destiny 
 was gone. 
 
 4 On the up-grade now ! ' said Johnston, * but don't lose 
 your heads. The great man paid you a tremendous com- 
 pliment, Ralph, and that kind of thing isn't usual with him, 
 but you'll take it coolly. More folks get badly busted, as 
 they say in this benighted country, by sudden success than 
 by hard luck ! ' 
 
 It was good to lounge in the tent door that evening, and 
 remember that there would be no more dreary awakenings 
 to a day of profitless labour, but perhaps it was the cool 
 night wind and frosty glitter of the stars which helped to 
 check the rush of hot, hopeful fancies through my brain. 
 I had learned already to distrust any untested offer of 
 prosperity. For another week nothing of moment hap- 
 pened, and then we spent an hour one morning with the 
 surveyor and a grey-haired gentleman from Winnipeg. He 
 differed from the former in many ways, and spoke with a 
 deliberate urbanity, but I felt he also spoke with authority 
 and was quietly taking stock of us. We signed several 
 
THE UNEXPECTED 131 
 
 papers, a receipt among them, and it was only then I realised 
 what that unfortunate coulee had cost us, while, when at 
 last we went out, the surveyor said : 
 
 * You have made a good impression, and that man's 
 favourable opinion may mean great things to you. I 
 shouldn't wonder if you cashed a good many big pay drafts 
 before we have finished with you.' 
 
 1 1 hope so,' I answered grimly. * At present we are 
 rather poorer than when we commenced the work, and 
 whoever the new railroad benefits it has only done harm to 
 us. That, however, is in no way your fault, and having 
 started we're going on to see the end of it.' 
 
 * Good man ! ' said the surveyor with a significant 
 smile. ' I wouldn't be too previous. You have six days 
 to straighten up your business in ; ' and after a brief con- 
 ference with Harry I departed for Fairmead and Winnipeg. 
 
 Our few cattle were thriving among the herds of our 
 neighbours, to whom we made over our stock of prairie 
 hay. The homestead would doubtless take care of itself 
 until we were ready to return there, as prairie homesteads 
 often have to do ; while, whether it was owing to Jasper's 
 eloquence or other causes, I found our remaining creditors 
 both reasonable and willing to meet us so far as they could. 
 So I came back with a satisfactory report, and the same 
 evening we gathered those who worked for us about the 
 tent, and when we had handed each a roll of dollar bills 
 Harry laid the position before them. 
 
 * We sunk all that was left us in this contract,' he said, 
 'and now when we are transferred to British Columbia 
 we set out almost empty-handed, with the wrong kind of 
 balance. It seems only fair I should tell you this 
 frankly. If you decide to come with us we will, if all goes 
 well, pay at present rates for the services of men and teams. 
 On the other hand, if there is any unforeseen difficulty we 
 
 K 2 
 
1 32 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 may have nothing to pay with, and if anyone wishes to go 
 back to his holding I should only say he's sensible. We, 
 however, hold on so long as we have a dollar left.' 
 
 c It's a toss up,' added Johnston. * You take your 
 chances, and get what you can, facing the music pleasantly 
 like the rest of us if you get nothing, which seems quite 
 probable. Now don't jump over the edge of a ravine like 
 the giddy antelope, but put your heads together and think 
 about it.' 
 
 There was a laugh from one of the men, who conferred 
 apart, and another said, ' We're coming along. There's no 
 work for men or horses here in winter, and we've neither 
 money nor credit to sow in spring. Besides, we've taken 
 your dollars, you have treated us fairly, and it strikes us 
 as mean to back down on you now. So we're open to 
 take the chances, and all we ask is that the chances should 
 figure either way. If you're cleaned out, we get nothing ; 
 if you win we want to come in. No ; we've no use for a 
 sliding scale to fight each other on, and I guess we'll take 
 Contractor Crosfield's word he'll do the square thing.' 
 
 ' I give it,' I said simply. * We thank you,' and when 
 they went away I felt the weight of a double responsibility, 
 while Johnston said lightly, 'I congratulate you on your 
 leadership of the hard- up company. This is the kind of 
 thing that appeals to me nothing to lose and all to win, 
 and determined men who can do anything with axe and 
 saw and horseflesh to back one. So it's loose guy, up peg, 
 on saddle, and see what future waits us in the garden of the 
 Pacific slope in mid-winter.' 
 
 It was seven days later, and many things had been done, 
 when with our working beasts and few other possessions 
 lurching before us in a couple of cattle cars, we went 
 clattering through the Rockies at the tail of a big freight 
 train. It was just breaking day, and Harry leaned beside 
 
THE UNEXPECTED 133 
 
 me over the platform rails of a car hooked on for our 
 accommodation, while Lee sat on the step close by 
 wrapped in an old skin coat Harry had given him. A shrill 
 whistle came ringing out of the stirred-up dust ahead, then 
 the roar of wheels grew louder, rolling back repeated and 
 magnified from the rocks above, while half-seen through 
 the mist that rose from a river spectral pines reeled by, and 
 an icy blast lashed my cheeks like a whip as with throttle 
 wide open and the long cars bouncing behind the great 
 mountain locomotive thundered down a declivity. 
 
 * Steve's letting her go/ said the surveyor, who came out 
 from the car. * Got to rush her through for the side-track 
 ahead of the west- bound mail. Say, the light is growing : 
 stay just where you are, for presently there'll be unrolled 
 the most gorgeous panorama that ever delighted a sinful 
 mortal's eye, and you'll see the first of what some day is 
 going to be of all lands on this wide green earth the greatest 
 country.' 
 
 I looked up, and already the mist was rolling back like 
 a curtain from the great slopes of rock above, sliding in 
 smoky wreaths across the climbing pines, while as the 
 brightness increased we could see the torrent, whose voice 
 now almost drowned the clash of couplings and clamour 
 of the wheels, frothing green and white-streaked among 
 mighty boulders in the gorge below. Then as we swung 
 giddily over a gossamer-like timber bridge, the walls of 
 quartz and blue grit fell back on either hand ; and, for the 
 first time, I gazed in rapt silence upon the cold unsullied 
 whiteness of eternal snow, undefiled from the beginning by 
 any foot of man. It stretched in a glimmering saw-edge 
 high above us athwart the brightening East, and, below 
 smooth-scarped slopes of rock polished to a steely lustre by 
 endless ages of grinding ice, slid down two, or it may have 
 been four thousand feet, to the stately pines on the hillsides 
 at their feet. 
 
134 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 There were peaks like castles, spires like the fretted 
 stonework of Indian minarets, wrought by the hand of 
 nature out of an awful cold purity, and mountains which 
 resembled nothing I had ever seen or dreamed of, banded 
 white with broken edges of green by winding glaciers ; 
 while sombre forests, every trunk in which the surveyor 
 said exceeded two hundred feet in height, were wrapped 
 about their knees. It was a scene of plutonic grandeur, 
 weirdly impressive under the first of the light, with a stamp 
 upon it of unearthly glory, and Harry drew in his breath 
 when a great peak behind us glowed for a moment rosy 
 red and then faded into saffron, just before a long shaft 
 of radiance turned the whiteness on its shoulders into 
 incandescence. 
 
 * What do you think of that, Lee ? ' he asked, and the 
 old man, who stared about him with a great wonder in his 
 eyes, answered, with half-coherent solemnity, * It's the 
 Almighty's handiwork made manifest,' while, as we swept 
 across a trestle and the trembling timber flung back the 
 vibratory din, I caught the disjointed phrases, ' The framing 
 of the everlastin' hills ; a sign an' a token while the earth 
 shall last an' there are many who will not see it.' 
 
 'Just so,' said the surveyor, smiling across at me. 
 4 Now, I'm a mechanic, and look at in a practical way. It's 
 a tremendous display of power, which is irresistible, if it 
 works mighty slowly. Sun, wind, and frost, all doing their 
 share in rubbing out broad valleys and wearing down the 
 hills, while with the debris the rivers are spreading new 
 lands for wheat and fruit west into the sea. "Wild 
 nature run riot, chaotic desolation ! " it says in the guide. 
 No, sir ; this is a great scheme, and I guess there's neither 
 waste nor riot. Well, that is not our business ; it's our 
 part to make a way to take out ore and produce, and bring 
 men in this is going to be an almighty great country. 
 
THE UNEXPECTED 135 
 
 Timber for half the world, gold and silver, iron, lead, coal, and 
 copper, rivers to give you power for nothing wherever you 
 like to tap it with a dynamo, and a coast that's punctuated 
 with ready-made harbours ! All we want is men and rail- 
 roads, and we mean to get them. I figure that if sometime 
 our children I'm thankful I've got none move the 
 greatest Empire's centre West, they'll leave Montreal and 
 Ottawa rusting, and locate it here between the Rockies 
 and the sea. But I guess I'm talking nonsense, and there's 
 a little in the flask here's to the New Westminster, and 
 blank all annexationists ! ' 
 
 Harry nodded as he passed me on the flask, while Lee 
 groaned deprecatingly, and then, brushing the grey hair 
 back from his forehead with thin crooked fingers, said, 
 4 An' by then there'll be no more cold homes and hunger 
 for the poor in England. It's coming, the time we've been 
 waiting, starving, and some of us praying for so long, an* 
 if they get their own by law, or take it trampling through 
 the blood of the oppressor, they'll live and speak free 
 Englishmen, spread out on all the good lands the Almighty 
 intended for them.' 
 
 I did not answer, though Harry said aside that he did 
 not know the whole earth was made for Englishmen. 
 There was occasionally much in what Lee said that com- 
 manded sympathy, but he had a habit of relapsing into 
 vague prophetic utterance, which was perhaps acquired 
 when he ran the Stoney Clough chapel. Still, as hour by 
 hour we went clattering through solemn forests almost un- 
 touched by the axe, or rending apart the silence that hung 
 over great lonely lakes, and past wide rivers, while the whole 
 air was filled with the fragrance of pines and cedars, I 
 wondered if either his or the surveyor's forecast would come 
 true, and decided if that were so England would have cause 
 to be proud of this rich country. For the rest, Harry and 
 
136 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I never found our interest slacken, and looked on in silence 
 as that most gorgeous panorama of snow-peak, forest, and 
 glacier unwound itself league after league before us, until 
 at last amid a grinding of brakes the long freight train 
 ran into a side track. She was only just in time, 
 for with the ballast trembling beneath, and red cinders 
 flying from the funnel of the mammoth mountain engine 
 ahead, the Atlantic mail went by. Then, as we stepped 
 down on the track the same thought was evidently upper- 
 most in each of us, for Harry said : * Ralph, this land ap- 
 proaches one's wildest fancies of a terrestrial paradise, and if 
 in spite of our efforts we fail at Fairmead it's comforting to 
 think we can always bring up here. If I had the choice 
 I'd like to be buried in the heart of those forests. What do 
 you say, Johnston ? ' 
 
 Johnston smiled a little, but his tone was not the usual 
 one as he said, < I think I will. You'll say, it sounds like 
 old woman's talk, but I fancy I'll never recross those 
 Rockies. Anyway, it won't worry the rest of humanity 
 very much if I don't, and I dare say we'll get some small 
 excitement track-grading in the meantime. This country 
 doesn't lay itself out to favour railroad building, especially 
 
137 
 
 XIII 
 
 ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 
 
 IT was a month later, and we had settled down to our new 
 task, when Lee, who had managed to make himself generally 
 useful, took a wholly unexpected step. Our camp stood 
 beside the partly completed track, which after climbing 
 through the passes wound along the edge of a precipice into 
 a bowl-shaped hollow among the mountains. High above 
 it on the one hand the hillsides sloped up towards the snow, 
 which now crept lower to meet them every day. It was 
 strewn with massy boulders and bare outcrops of rock, while 
 the pines which managed to find a foothold here and there 
 glittered with frost crystals every morning. Below, a wide 
 blue lake filled half the hollow, and shingled roofs peeped 
 out among the cedars that spread their rigid branches over 
 its placid waters, while the roar of a frothing torrent rose 
 hoarsely from the forest behind. Beyond this, and walled 
 off by stupendous mountains from the outer world, lay an 
 auriferous region, and a wooden town whose inhabitants 
 had long struggled for an existence hampered by the cost of 
 bringing in stores and machinery by pack-horse train. 
 
 Railroad building in such a land is an arduous task, 
 needing a bold conception and reckless execution, while 
 no line is ever driven that is not partly paid for with the 
 adventurous legion's blood. Our share, however, was one of 
 the safest, for it consisted in hewing logs out of the forest 
 for framing the spidery trestles and snow-sheds, hauling 
 
138 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 sawn lumber into position, and general teamster's work. 
 Risks there were of course the rush of a charging boulder, or 
 a sudden descent of shale, while occasionally a partly grubbed 
 out trunk came thundering down before it was expected to. 
 Comparatively few trained mechanics could be found among 
 all the men about us, and, as usual, the hardest part of the 
 struggle devolved upon the reckless free-lances sailor-men 
 deserters, unfortunate prospectors, forest ranchers whose 
 possessions were mortgaged to the hilt, and others of the 
 kind, who are always to the front when at the risk of life 
 and limb a new way for civilisation is hewn through the 
 forests of the Pacific Slope. 
 
 One morning, when I rested my team a few moments, 
 talking to Harry and the surveyor after hauling a heavy log, 
 Johnston came up chuckling, with a strip of cedar bark on 
 which a notice was written. 
 
 'We have an ardent reformer among our ranks, and, 
 everything considered, I admire his pluck,' he said. ' You'll 
 notice you're all invited if you listen to this " A temper- 
 ance meeting will be held outside the Magnolia saloon to- 
 night, when Fanny Marvin and Adam Lee will turn the 
 flash light upon the evils of drink and gamblin'. Every 
 sensible man is requested to step along." 
 
 ' I thought there was something brewing,' said Harry. 
 * Lee has lately foregathered with certain sober-faced indi- 
 viduals from Ontario, and they've been plotting mysteriously. 
 Well, I suppose there will be trouble over it ; but who is 
 this Marvin ? ' 
 
 * She's a rising religious reformer who has taken several 
 towns on Puget Sound by storm,' said the surveyor, c and it 
 has cost somebody considerable to bring her here. That 
 prottgt of yours is clearly a crank, but he's also more of a 
 man than he looks, and, if it can be done unofficially, I'm 
 inclined to back him. No ? I'm not a teetotaler, and as rule 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 139 
 
 we're a sober people in Western Canada, but they're a 
 tolerably hard crowd down at Cedar, and if once the man 
 who runs the Magnolia takes hold with his tables we'll have 
 chaos in this camp. I'm not prejudiced, but if they must 
 have excitement I'd sooner see the boys whooping round a 
 temperance meeting than a gaming bank.' 
 
 c Are you going, Ralph ? ' asked Harry. * I'm not 
 altogether fond of the man, but in a measure we are 
 responsible for him ; ' and I did not answer at first as I 
 looked down upon the roofs of Cedar Crossing. The old 
 trail, which would be useless presently, came winding down 
 through the passes into it, and I knew that while the 
 average British Columbian is a sturdy law-abiding citizen, 
 a love of excitement characterises the miner, and after 
 being driven out of the central town site by an energetic 
 reform committee, a few adventurers of both sexes and 
 indifferent morals had foregathered at Cedar Crossing, with 
 the Magnolia saloon as head-quarters. 
 
 Then I said, ' Yes, I'm going ; ' and, as he departed, 
 the surveyor observed drily : ' I'd take a few picked men 
 with axes along. They might come in handy.' 
 
 Bright starlight shone coldly on the dim white peaks 
 when Harry and I stumbled among the boulders by Cedar 
 Lake, in whose clear depths it lay reflected with a silvery 
 glitter. But it was warm down in the valley, and the 
 drowsy breath of cedars filled the air, until a reek of kero- 
 sene replaced it, and presently a ruddy glare broke out 
 among the giant trunks, while when we halted under the 
 blinking torches and two petroleum cressets outside the 
 Magnolia, it seemed as if all the staff of the railroad had 
 gathered there. 
 
 ' They're both here,' said Harry, and I saw Lee stand- 
 ing beside a slender figure in unbecoming dress among a 
 group of men in blue shirts and quaintly mended jackets ; 
 
140 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 also that some planks had been laid across two barrels 
 close by. 
 
 * Don't crowd upon the lady ! ' said a voice, * Order ! 
 the circus is going to begin ; we're only waiting for the 
 chairman. What's that ? Ain't got no such luxuries ; 
 well, he can take the barrel/ 
 
 After this, to our astonishment, Johnston stood aloft 
 neatly attired upon an overturned barrel, and said : ' I'm 
 glad to see so many of you, boys. Now I'm not a 
 teetotaler myself, and this is the first time I've occupied 
 such a platform ; but we're all open to conviction, and I 
 want you to remember we've a lady here who has travelled 
 three hundred miles to talk to you. All we ask is that 
 you will give her and the old man a fair show.' 
 
 He had struck the right note, for the British Columbian 
 is a somewhat chivalrous person, and there was silence, 
 through which the jingle of a piano in the saloon broke 
 irritatingly, until Lee stood up. ' I'm a sinful man like the 
 rest of you,' he began in the more formal English and high- 
 pitched inflection I knew so well, though the effect was 
 diminished because someone broke in with assumed wonder, 
 * You don't say ? ' 
 
 4 I've the same passions in me,' continued the orator, 
 unheeding, * and once I came near murder, while for six 
 long years I was a sodden slave to this awful drink.' 
 
 * Only awful when it's bad ! ' another voice said ; and 
 there was a cry, ' He's getting ahead nicely. 'Rah for the 
 next President ! Give him a show.' 
 
 * Sodden mind and body ! ' repeated Lee ; * a-grovelling 
 on hands and knees in the pit of iniquity, and when I came 
 out it left me what you see a broken man who, if he'd 
 saved his soul, was too late to save his body. That's what 
 you'll remember no one can wallow without paying for 
 it, and you're strong men as were meant for better. It's 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 141 
 
 all in the choice you make health, happiness, prosperity 
 a jump down a precipice into eternity, or dying half-rotten 
 in a Vancouver hospital.' 
 
 c The old thing, but he's taking hold,' said Harry when 
 the speaker paused a moment, and then a glow of light 
 beat out while a tall figure stood in the doorway of the 
 saloon. The man's face was scornful beneath the costly 
 wide-brimmed hat : he wore a spotless white shirt instead of 
 a blue one, while and this was an unusual sight a heavy 
 revolver was strapped about his waist, and neatly polished 
 boots reached to his knees. This I knew was Hemlock 
 Jim, of evil repute, who had set up a gaming table, and was 
 supposed to have purchased an interest in the Magnolia. 
 
 * Won't you come in, boys, instead of fooling round 
 outside there in the cold r ' he said derisively. * You can 
 have as much water as you like, and we won't charge you 
 nothin' for the room ; ' and I wondered what Johnston, who 
 conferred with his companions, would do. 
 
 ' I think we will,' said the chairman. * Much obliged to 
 you. File in quietly, boys, and those who can't find room 
 will sit on the verandah,' while Harry chuckled as he com- 
 mented, < This is distinctly a new line for our partner, and 
 the whole trio have pluck enough. I fancy if the other 
 side try any tricks they'll find their match in Johnston.' 
 
 Then, amid banter and laughter, the big bronzed men 
 filled up the long bare room, after which all eyes were 
 turned upon the three who sat on a little platform beside a 
 piano. Facing them another group, who I fancied meant 
 mischief, lounged against the bar, looking on sardonically. 
 Then the proprietor, who wore a large diamond in his 
 white shirt-front, came out to say, * This yere discussin' 
 temperance is thirsty work, and it might improve the 
 general harmony if before you begin in earnest you had a 
 
i 4 2 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 drink with me. Ask them what they're shouting for, 
 Jim, and, Jess, for once you'll rustle round with the 
 tray.* 
 
 There was a jingle of glasses, and a damsel with very 
 pink cheeks and lemon-coloured hair, who apparently pre- 
 sided over the piano, went round with a tray. It was 
 emptied several times, and I began to foresee that the 
 temperance demonstration would fail miserably, as it might 
 have done but for Johnston's ready wit and the opposite 
 party's imprudence. Grinning derisively, Hemlock Jim led 
 the waitress straight up to the orators' platform, and, with 
 the revolver showing significantly as he bent forward, held 
 out the tray saying, * It will help the good feelin' if you 
 have a drink with me.' 
 
 This was a false step. A big man from the bush of 
 Ontario, whose forbears had probably been Scottish Cove- 
 nanters, stretched his long limbs out in front of Hemlock, 
 while Johnston smiled as he answered, 'Not at present. 
 Unfortunately I'm a little particular who I drink with. 
 Boys, don't you think it would be fairer if you heard our 
 guests first, and then paid for your own refreshment 
 afterwards if they didn't convince you ? ' 
 
 Hemlock Jim deliberately set down his tray, the Ontario 
 bushman seemed gathering himself together for some pur- 
 pose, and there was an ominous glitter in Johnston's eyes, 
 while just as I expected the fray to begin, the proprietor 
 called out laughingly, < Sit right down, Jim. Pass on them 
 glasses, Jess. I guess they won't refuse you.' 
 
 It was diplomatic, but Johnston's hint of fairness went 
 further, and in spite of the frail beauty's smiles, a number 
 of those who listened waved the tray aside with the words 
 < I pass 1 ' 
 
 Then, when some one called out to ask what was the 
 matter with the circus, and if the clown were lost, while 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 143 
 
 others demanded * The lady,' Johnston turned to Miss 
 Marvin, and there was a hush as the slight girlish figure 
 and she seemed very young stood upright before us. She 
 thrust back the unlovely bonnet, and her thin face was 
 flushed ; but when, clenching nervous fingers upon the 
 dowdy gown, she raised a high clear voice, every man 
 in the assembly settled himself to listen. Perhaps it was 
 a chivalrous respect for her womanhood, or mere admira- 
 tion for personal courage, and she had most gallantly 
 taken up the challenge ; but I think she also spoke with 
 force and sincerity, for my own pulse quickened in time to 
 the rapid utterance. Then changing from the somewhat 
 conventional tirade, she leaned forward speaking very gently, 
 and one could hear the men breathe in the stillness, while, 
 so far as I can remember, the plain words ran : 
 
 * It's not only for you I'm pleading ; there are the 
 women, too ; the sweethearts, wives, and daughters waiting 
 at home for you. Just where and how are they waiting ? 
 Shall I tell you ? 'Way back up yonder tending the cattle 
 in the lonely ranch, where the timber wolves howl along 
 ranges on the moonlight nights ; and I guess you know it's 
 lonely up there in the bush. Then I can see others sewing 
 with heavy eyes and backs that are aching in a Vancouver 
 shack. You had no money to leave them, and they had to 
 do the best they could. Have they no use for the dollars 
 you would spend in liquor here the women who never 
 cried out when they let you go ? Don't heart-break and 
 black, black solitude count anything with you ? You're 
 building railroads, building up a great Dominion, but the 
 waiting women are doing their part, too. And I'm think- 
 ing of others still, gilt-edged and dainty, 'way in the old 
 country. I've seen a few. Where's the man from an 
 English college that used to feel himself better after they 
 talked to him ? Is he here with the fire of bad whisky i n 
 
144 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 him, betting against the banker to win a smile from Jess of 
 Caribou ? ' 
 
 This woman knew how to stir them, and there was an 
 expressive murmur, while some fidgetted. Then the pro- 
 prietor beckoned across the room, and Hemlock Jim said : 
 4 This is only high-tone sentiment. Most of us isn't 
 married, and don't intend to. No, sir, we've no use for 
 a missis rustling round with a long-handled broom on the 
 track of us, and I'm going to move an amendment.' 
 
 ' You can't do it,' said Johnston, ' You brought us 
 in of your own will, and now you've got to hear us. 
 This meeting is going on quietly to its conclusion if I hold 
 the chair. Sit down, sir.' 
 
 * I'll be shot if I do ! ' said the other, and it became 
 evident that trouble was near, for a group of the disaffected 
 commenced to sidle towards the platform, calling on Caribou 
 Jessy to give them a song. 
 
 But Johnston was equal to the occasion, and called out, 
 * If you're wanting music we've brought our own orchestra 
 along. Mr. Harry Lorraine, the tenor, will oblige you.' 
 
 Harry promptly entered into the spirit of the thing, for 
 he sat down good-humouredly, and, though I forget what 
 he sang, it was a ballad with a catching refrain, which he 
 rendered well, and hardly had the applause died away than 
 the girl commenced again, while Lee, who followed, made 
 a strong impression this time. Then, before the interest 
 had slackened, Miss Marvin held up a little book, smiling 
 sweetly as she said, * It was real kind of you to listen so 
 patiently, and now I'm asking a last favour. Won't you 
 all walk along and write your names down here ? ' 
 
 A number of the listeners did so, and when the rest 
 refused jestingly, Johnston got up. c The meeting is over,' 
 he said, ' but there's one thing yet to do to pass a vote 
 of thanks to the proprietor for the use of his saloon. Then 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 145 
 
 I would like to ask him to lay out his best cigars on the 
 bar for everyone to help himself to.' 
 
 There was acclamation, and the assembly would have 
 dispersed peaceably but that just as we went out Hemlock 
 Jim, who had gathered the disaffected round him, said to 
 Johnston, ' I'm glad to see the last of you. Now sail out 
 into perdition, and take your shameless woman with you. 
 But I'm not particular she's got to pay tribute first.' 
 
 He grasped the trembling girl's shoulder, dragged back 
 the ample bonnet, but next moment I had him by the 
 throat, and he went reeling sideways among his comrades. 
 Then, as by a signal, the tumult began, for with a crash 
 of splintered glass the nearest lamp went out, and a rush 
 was made upon us. Something struck me heavily upon the 
 head ; I saw Johnston stagger under a heavy blow ; but I 
 held myself before the girl as we were hustled through the 
 doorway, and when a pistol-barrel glinted one of the railroad 
 men whirled aloft an axe. We were outside now, but the 
 pistol blazed before the blade came down, and a man beside 
 me caught at a verandah pillar with a cry just as the door 
 banged to. 
 
 * It's Pete of the shovel gang ! ' somebody said. * It was 
 Hemlock Jim who shot him. Where's the man with the 
 axe to chop one of these pillars for a battering-ram ? Roll 
 round here, railroad builders.' 
 
 A roar of angry voices broke out, and it was evident 
 popular sympathy was on the reformers' side, while my 
 blood was up. Pete of the shovel gang, a quiet, inoffensive 
 man, sat limply on the verandah, with the blood trickling 
 from his shoulder, and there was the insult to the girl to be 
 avenged ; while, if more were needed, somebody hurled 
 opprobrious epithets at us from an upper window. I 
 wrenched the axe from its owner and he resisted stubbornly 
 whirled it round my shoulder, and there was another roar 
 
 L 
 
146 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 when after a shower of splinters the stout post yielded. It 
 was torn loose from the rafters, swung backwards by sinewy 
 arms, and driven crashing against the saloon door, one panel 
 of which went in before it. Twice again, while another 
 pistol-shot rang out, we plied the ram, and then followed it 
 pell-mell across the threshold, where we went down in a 
 heap amid the wreckage of the door, though I had sense 
 enough left to remove Hemlock's smoking revolver which lay 
 close by, just where he had dropped it upon the floor. He 
 had evidently not expected this kind of attack and suffered 
 for his ignorance. We could not see him, but a breathless 
 voice implored somebody to ' Give them blame deadbeats 
 socks ! ' and there was evidently need for prompt action, 
 because the rest of our opponents had entrenched themselves 
 behind the bar, which was freely strengthened by chairs and 
 tables. Also, as we picked ourselves up, an invisible man 
 behind the barricade called out in warning, c Stop right 
 there. Two of us have guns ! ' 
 
 * Will you come out, and give up Hemlock Jim ? ' 
 asked Johnston, while half a dozen men who had found 
 strangely assorted weapons gathered alert and eager behind 
 him, a little in advance of the rest, and Lee panted among 
 them with the blood running down his face. 
 
 c If you want him you've got to lick us first ! ' was the 
 answer. ' We don't back down on a partner. But I guess 
 he's hardly worth the trouble, for he's looking very sick 
 your blank battering-ram took him in the stummick.' 
 
 * One minute to change your mind in ! ' said Johnston, 
 holding up his watch. * Bring along that log, boys, and get 
 her on the swing ' ; and tightening my grip upon the axe I 
 watched the heavy beam oscillate as our partner called off 
 the last few seconds. 
 
 * Fifty-four ! fifty-five ! fifty-six ! ' but he got no 
 
 further. Swinging sideways from the waist, he was only 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 147 
 
 just in time, for once more a pistol flashed among the 
 chairs ; and when another man loosed his hold Johnston 
 roared, ' Let her go ! ' 
 
 The head of the beam went forward ; we followed it 
 with a yell. There was a crash of splintered red-wood, and 
 my axe clove a chair. Then shouting men were scrambling 
 over the remnants of the bar, while just what happened 
 during the next few moments I do not remember, except 
 that there was a great destruction of property, and 
 presently I halted breathless, while the leader of the van- 
 quished, who were hemmed in a corner, said, * We're 
 corralled, and give up. Here's Hemlock Jim not much 
 good to anyone by the look of him. What are you going 
 to do with us ? ' 
 
 * Are those men badly hurt ? ' asked Johnston, and 
 when someone answered, ' Not much. Pete's drilled clean 
 through the upper arm ; it missed the artery, and the ball 
 just ripped my leg,' he said : ' We'll settle about Jim after- 
 wards ; it's surgical assistance he wants first. As to the 
 rest of you, he led you into this, and we'll let you go on 
 two conditions you subscribe a dollar each to Miss Marvin's 
 society and sign the pledge.' 
 
 There was a burst of laughter, in which even some of 
 the vanquished joined sheepishly; but as they filed past 
 between a guard armed with shovels and empty bottles 
 Johnston saw they filled their names into the book, and duly 
 handed each his ticket, while I regret to say that Harry's 
 selection was daringly appropriate, as with full musical 
 honours he played them out.' 
 
 4 There's a hat at the door ! ' said Johnston, * you can 
 put your dollars in. You have spent an exciting evening, 
 and must pay for your fun.' And presently that hat over- 
 flowed with dollars, while Lee, with his Ontario stalwarts, 
 did huge execution with a shovel among such bottles as 
 
148 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 remained unwrecked behind the bar. We placed Hemlock 
 Jim on a stretcher, groaning distressfully, while our two 
 wounded declared themselves fit to walk, and before we 
 marched off in triumph to the camp Johnston raised his 
 hat as he placed a heavy package of silver in Miss Marvin's 
 hand. 
 
 * I've no doubt your organisation can make a good use 
 of this,' he said. ' It's also a tribute to your own bravery, 
 and I'll leave you half a dozen men who'll camp in the road 
 opposite your lodgings, and see you safely back to the main 
 line to-morrow. They're most sober Calvinists, with con- 
 victions of the Cromwellian kind, and I don't think any 
 of our late disturbers will care to interfere with them.' 
 
 When we approached the tents, chanting weird songs of 
 victory, the surveyor met us, and in answer to his questions 
 Johnston laughed as he said, ' The temperance meeting was 
 an unqualified success. We've broken up all the bottles 
 in the Magnolia saloon Lee revelled among them with a 
 hammer. Then we made all the malcontents we could 
 catch sign the pledge, and you'll find the chief dissenter 
 behind there on the stretcher.' 
 
 * Glad to hear it,' said the surveyor, drily. * Judging by 
 your appearance the proceedings must have been of the 
 nature of an Irish fair.' 
 
 I also remember that when we discussed the affair later 
 Johnston said, * What did I do it for ? Well, perhaps from a 
 sense of fairness, or because that girl's courage got hold of 
 me. Don't set up as a reformer that's not me ; but I've 
 a weakness for downright if blundering sincerity, and I 
 fancied I could indirectly help them a little.' 
 
 Next morning we were astonished to find that Hemlock 
 Jim had gone. ' Thought he was dyin' last night ! ' said 
 the watcher, c and as that didn't matter I went to sleep ; woke 
 
ADVOCATES OF TEMPERANCE 149 
 
 up, and there wasn't a trace of him.' This was evidently 
 true, and where he went to remained a mystery, for we 
 heard no more of Hemlock Jim, though there was a marked 
 improvement in the morals of Cedar Crossing, while, and 
 this we hardly expected, some of those who signed that 
 pledge honestly kept it. 
 
150 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XIV 
 
 THE HIRED TEAMSTER 
 
 SPEAKING generally, winter is much less severe in British 
 Columbia, especially near the coast, than it is upon the 
 prairie, though it is sufficiently trying high up among the 
 mountains, where as a rule little work is done at that 
 season. Still, though the number of the track-layers was 
 largely reduced, the inhabitants of the mining region had 
 waited long enough, and so, in spite of many hardships, 
 slowly, fathom by fathom, we carried the rail-head on. 
 
 Now and then for several days together we sat in our 
 log-built shelter while a blinding snowstorm raged outside 
 and the pines filled the valley with their roaring. Then 
 there were weeks of bitter frost, when work was partly 
 suspended, and both rock and soil defied our efforts, while 
 one of our best horses died and another fell over a precipice. 
 Hay was hardly to be bought with money, provisions only 
 at an exorbitant cost, and though we received a few 
 interim payments it was, as Johnston said, even chances 
 either way if we kept on top, because every day of enforced 
 idleness cost us many dollars. But, floundering through 
 snow-slush, swinging the axe in driving sleet and rain, or 
 hauling the massy logs through the mire of a sudden thaw, 
 we persisted in our task, though often at nights we sat 
 inside the shanty, which was filled with steaming garments, 
 counting the cost, in a state of gloomy despondency. 
 Except for the thought of Grace, there were moments 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 151 
 
 when I might have yielded, but we were always an obstinate 
 race, and, seeing that I was steadfastly determined to hold out 
 to the last, the others gallantly aided me. Now, when the 
 time of stress is past, I know how much I owe to their 
 loyalty. 
 
 But at length the winter drew to an end, and the whole 
 mountain region rejoiced at the coming of the spring. 
 A warm wind from the Pacific set the cedars rustling, the 
 sun shone bright and hot, and the open fringe of the forest 
 was garlanded with flowers, while a torrent made wild 
 music in every ravine, t was sitting outside our shanty 
 one morning smoking a pet English briar, whose stem was 
 bitten half away, and revelling in the warmth and bright- 
 ness, when the unexpected happened. By degrees, perhaps 
 under the spell of some influence which stirs us when 
 sleeping nature awakens once more to life, I lost myself in 
 reverie, and recalled drowsily a certain deep, oak-shrouded 
 hollow under the Lancashire hills, where at that season pale 
 yellow stars of primroses peeped out among the fresh green 
 of tender leaves. Then the bald heights of Starcross Moor 
 rose up before me, and Grace came lightly across the 
 heather chanting a song, with her hat flung back, and the 
 west wind kissing her face into delicate colour, until a 
 tramp of footsteps drew nearer down the track. 
 
 A man who was evidently neither a bush-rancher nor 
 railroad hand approached, and said with a pure English 
 accent, ' I'm in a difficulty, and it was suggested Contractor 
 Crosfield might help me. I presume I have the pleasure of 
 addressing him ? My name is Calvert.' 
 
 1 1 will if I can,' I answered, and the stranger continued : 
 ' It's my duty to escort two ladies from the main line into 
 the Lonsdale valley. They have a quantity of baggage, 
 and I have no confidence in the half-starved Cayuse ponies 
 the Indians offered me. The trails are hardly safe just now, 
 
152 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and the regular freighters hadn't a beast to spare. It would 
 be a favour if you came with yours, and we would, of course, 
 be glad to recoup you for the time you lose.' 
 
 His manner was pleasant, dollars were very scarce then, 
 and as it happened we had been compelled to lay off, waiting 
 material for a day or two ; so I arranged to start with him, 
 and when he departed, Harry, who sat inside the shanty, 
 said, ' A little change will be good for you. You have been 
 looking as grim as a hungry bear lately. Jim Lawrence, I 
 dare say, would lend you his sisters' saddles.' 
 
 The outward journey, made partly under cover of 
 darkness, was arduous, for each torrent came roaring down 
 swollen by melting snow almost bank-full, and portions of 
 the trail had been washed away, but we reached the station 
 settlement in safety, and after a few hours' sleep there turned 
 out to meet the west-bound train. It came thundering down 
 the valley presently with the sunlight flashing upon burnished 
 metal and the long car windows, and when amid a roar 
 of blown-off steam it rolled into the station, I wondered 
 with mild curiosity what kind of women the new 
 arrivals would be. Next moment my pulse quickened 
 as a grey-haired lady stepped down from the platform of 
 a car, for when my companion hurried forward with up- 
 lifted hat I saw it was Miss Carrington, while fresh 
 and dainty, as though she had not travelled at all, Grace 
 followed her. 
 
 Then I remembered that my place was that of hired 
 teamster, and stood waiting outside the baggage-car until 
 Calvert gave me the brass checks, after which I assisted the 
 man who came with me to cinch a surprisingly heavy load 
 upon our two pack-horses. The battered felt hat probably 
 concealed my face, all I had on was homely, and consider- 
 ably the worse for wear, and it was scarcely surprising they 
 did not recognise me. Presently, leading Jasper's bay horse 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 153 
 
 forward, I stooped and held out my hand for Grace to rest 
 her little foot upon, while when she swang herself lightly 
 into the saddle, Calvert said, * The sooner we start the better, 
 the trails are positively awful. Contractor Crosfield, you 
 will no doubt take especial care of Miss Carrington.' 
 
 Swinging low the broad hat, I looked up and saw a 
 faint tinge of crimson mantle in the face of the girl, while 
 again a thrill went through me when she said simply, 
 ' Ralph ! ' for that name had never passed her lips before in 
 my hearing. 
 
 Then, while Calvert looked hard at me and the elder 
 lady bowed, she patted the bay horse's neck, saying frankly, 
 ' It is an unexpected pleasure, and I have often been thinking 
 about you, but never expected to meet you here. What a 
 handsome beast you have brought me ! ' 
 
 Grace seldom showed all her feelings, for a sweet 
 serenity characterised her, but this time I fancied our 
 relative positions both puzzled and troubled her, and 
 regretted my own stupidity in not asking who the ladies 
 were. Still, I managed to answer that Caesar should be 
 proud of his burden before we started. That was a memo- 
 rable journey in various ways. In places, beaten by the 
 hoofs of many pack-horses, the trail was knee-deep in mire, 
 and lost in others under beds of treacherous shale. But 
 Caesar was used to the mountains, and I strode beside his 
 head, heeding neither slippery shingle nor plastic mud, for 
 Grace chatted about her English visit, and with such a 
 companion I would have floundered contentedly over leagues 
 of ice and snow. 
 
 Also the valleys were filled with freshness, and the air 
 was balmy with scents, while every bird and beast rejoiced 
 with the vigour of the spring. Now and then a blue 
 grouse broke out drumming from the summit of a stately 
 fir, white-headed eagles and fish-hawks wheeled screaming 
 
154 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 above the frothing shallows on slanted wing, and silently, 
 like flitting shadows, the little wood deer leapt across the 
 trail, or amid a crash of undergrowth a startled black bear 
 charged in blind panic through the dim recesses of the bush. 
 Once, too, with a snarl, a panther sprang out from a thicket, 
 and Calvert's rifle flashed. But the only result was that 
 Caesar tried to rear upright, and with sudden fear I clutched 
 at his rein, while it was a pretty sight to see the big, rough- 
 coated horse settle down as if ashamed of his fright when 
 the fair rider spoke soothingly to him. All dumb creatures 
 took kindly to Grace, and, though Caesar could show a very 
 pretty temper in ungentle hands, he yielded to the caressing 
 touch of her soft fingers. Then he turned his eyes upon 
 me with a look that seemed an apology for dividing his 
 allegiance, while Grace smiled under lowered lashes, as 
 though she did not wish to meet my gaze. It was a trifling 
 incident, but inwardly I thanked the good horse for it. 
 Later, when we came up out of a roaring ford, through 
 which I carefully led Caesar with the stream boiling about 
 my waist, into a dim avenue, she looked down upon me as 
 she said : * This is a dream-like country, and I never 
 imagined anything so beautiful. And yet it is familiar. 
 Do you remember what you once said to me at Lone 
 Hollow ?' 
 
 The question was wholly unnecessary, for I could 
 remember each moment of that night, and anyone in touch 
 with nature could understand her comment. It was a great 
 forest temple we were marching through, where the giant 
 conifers were solemn with the antiquity of long ages, for it 
 had taken probably a thousand years to raise the vaulted 
 roof above us, with its groined arches of red branches and 
 mighty pillars of living wood. Nature does all things 
 slowly, but her handiwork is very good. 
 
 * Yes,' Grace continued, ' it seems familiar, as though 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 155 
 
 you and I had ridden together through such a country once 
 before ; I even seem to know those great redwoods well. 
 I I think I dreamt it, but there is another intangible 
 memory in which you figured too.' 
 
 * I could not be in better company,' I answered, smiling, 
 though my heart beat. ' We are such stuff as dreams are 
 made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep, you 
 know ; and here among the mountains it seems borne in 
 on one forcibly that, as I told you my partner said, man's 
 intellect is feeble and we do not know everything.' 
 
 Grace sighed, and then, though she answered lightly, 
 there was the same puzzled look in her face which I had 
 seen for a moment at Cypress Hollow. It seemed as if her 
 mind reached forward towards something which eluded its 
 grasp, until we both broke into laughter as a willow-grouse 
 disturbed by the horse's feet rose whirring to a redwood 
 branch and perched there, close within reach, regarding us 
 with an assurance that was ludicrous. 
 
 ' It thinks it is perfectly safe,' I said. * You might shoot 
 until you hit it, or knock it down with a stick, and yet there 
 is no more timorous creature among the undergrowth, 
 unless it has a brood of chicks, when it will attack anyone.' 
 
 At noon we rested for luncheon in an open glade, where 
 bright sunlight beat down upon the boulders of a stream 
 which surged among them, stained green by the drainage 
 from a glacier ; and there was merry laughter over the 
 viands Calvert produced from his pack. 
 
 < 1 did my best, Miss Carrington,' he said, < but as yet 
 they're a primitive people among these mountains and it's 
 not to be wondered at, with that huge rampart between 
 them and civilisation. " Something nice for a lady ? " the 
 storekeeper said. " Guess I've just got it." And he 
 planked down a salmon-fed reisty ham and this bottle 
 of ancient candy, with the dead flies thrown in. Still, one 
 
156 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 can't help admiring them for the way they've held on, 
 growing stuff they cannot sell, building stores where few 
 men come to buy, and piling up low-grade ore that won't 
 pay its pack-freight to the smelter. Also I've seen work 
 that three men spent a year over which a hydraulic monitor 
 would have done in a few days, while the rocks seem 
 bursting with riches and the valleys with fertility ; but they 
 can neither get produce out nor mining plant in. Their 
 greatest hero now is a certain enterprising director, and 
 they'd decline an angel's visit at any time for that of a 
 railroad builder.' 
 
 * I sometimes wish I had been born a man, with work 
 of that kind to do,' said Grace, with a fire in her eyes. 
 * We hear of the old romance and lost chivalry, but there 
 was never more than in these modern days, only it has 
 changed its guise. If we haven't the knight in armour or 
 roystering swashbuckler, we have the man with the drill 
 and axe ; and is it not a task for heroes to drive the level 
 steel road through these tremendous mountains ? You are 
 smiling, Mr. Calvert. I read the papers Colonial and 
 British, all I can come across and I know that some day 
 England will need all her colonies. And you cannot deny 
 that this is a sensible question : Which is the better for an 
 English gentleman, to use all the strength and valour that 
 is entrusted him we are taught there will be a reckoning 
 when he must account for them subduing savage Nature, 
 that the hungry may eat cheap bread, or lounging about a 
 racecourse, shooting driven pheasants I know it needs high 
 skill or wasting precious hours in the reeking smoke-room 
 of his club ? If I had a brother I would sooner see him 
 working as a C.P.R. track-shoveller.' 
 
 * Grace has strong opinions,' said the old lady. * I think 
 she is right, in a measure.' And Calvert bowed as he 
 answered : 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 157 
 
 4 It's in the Carrington blood. Miss Grace, I once 
 heard one of your father's old comrades say that the Colonel 
 could keep no officers because he wore them out, and he 
 might have ended as General but that he reversed the 
 positions and wanted to instruct the War Office. But you 
 mustn't be too hard upon the poor loungers : they eat the 
 things the other fellows grow, and some of them subscribe 
 the money to make the new railroads go they don't 
 always get dividends upon it either. Besides,' and there 
 was a twinkle in his eyes ' you are making my new friend 
 uncomfortable. He is a railroad builder. Are you working 
 for philanthropic notions, Mr. Crosfield ? ' 
 
 * No,' I answered soberly ; and the rest of the party 
 laughed as I added, ' Only to pay back what I owe ; and 
 we are making slow progress in that direction. Still, the 
 work has its fascination, and it will last and be useful after 
 we are gone.' 
 
 Then, while Calvert spoke to Miss Carrington, Grace 
 turned towards me with a sudden look of interest. c You 
 are not exactly prospering, I gather,' she said, ' and I am 
 very sorry. Please, commence when you left Fairmead and 
 tell me all the story.' 
 
 I did so perhaps not very clearly, for she asked many 
 questions during the course of the narrative ; and her eyes 
 sparkled at the story of our profitless struggle in the coulee. 
 
 ' Flour poor thirds ; whose brand ? local pork and 
 doubtless the cheapest tea, you lived upon. I manage the 
 affairs of the Manor, and may I ask what your grocery- 
 store list came to ? How much maize and oats for the 
 horses ? Thank you. It was just as one might have 
 expected. No, I have never been disappointed in either 
 Harry Lorraine or you.' 
 
 She dragged the particulars from me and no one, 
 much less Ralph Crosfield, could refuse to answer Grace 
 
138 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Carrington with a skill that came from practical know- 
 ledge of such details, before I even guessed what she wished 
 to arrive at. Then she laughed at my confusion, saying, 
 * You have no need to blush. Starved yourselves and fed 
 the cattle. It was well done. And did not the new 
 partner grumble ? ' 
 
 'No,' I answered, glad to change the subject. * John- 
 ston never grumbled at anything in his life, I think. It 
 was he who managed the commissariat.' 
 
 * Do you realise, Mr. Crosfield, that you are in many 
 ways a lucky man ? ' she added. ' I understand perfectly 
 what it means to lose a crop and carry out an unprofitable 
 contract. But it is in reference to your comrades I speak. 
 Fearless, loyal partners are considerably better than the 
 best of gear with half-hearted help, and it is evident you 
 have them.' 
 
 ' Yes,' I said. ' No man ever had better ; and it is 
 quite true what you say. With a loyal partner a man may 
 do very much, and, if he is sure of himself, with a higher 
 mind to show him the way, he might reach out towards the 
 heavens and ' 
 
 Here I stopped abruptly. Wild thoughts were crystal- 
 lising into words I might not speak, and I grew hot with 
 the struggle to check them, while I fancied Grace blushed 
 before she turned her face away. I know my brow was 
 furrowed and my fingers trembled, so that it was a relief 
 presently to hear her musical laugh. ' You are not an 
 orator,' she said, turning round calmly ; ' and perhaps it is 
 as well. It is not orators who are wanted in this country. 
 Your eloquent beginning too suddenly breaks away. But 
 don't you think we are in the meantime drifting into idle 
 sentiment ? And you have neither asked me where I am 
 going, nor about Colonel Carrington.' 
 
 It was true : the first would have seemed presumptuous 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 159 
 
 and I did not care greatly about the redoubtable Colonel's 
 health. 
 
 ' He has invested some money in a new mine in the 
 Lonsdale district,' she said ; and there was a slight cloud 
 upon her brow as she continued : ' The Manor farm has 
 lately cost us, through bad seasons, more than we made 
 from it. So, while Foster takes charge, we are going to live 
 in a ranch up here this summer, in order that my father 
 may assist in the development of the mine. He is prac- 
 tically the leading partner, and until your railroad is finished 
 there will be serious transportation difficulties. I hope you 
 will often come and see us.' 
 
 * Time is up ! ' said Calvert, and I helped Grace into 
 the saddle ; while the rest of the perfect afternoon passed 
 like a happy dream. Even if alone, at that season the mere 
 sounds and scents of reawakening Nature would have elated 
 me ; but then I strode on, holding Caesar's rein, lost in the 
 golden glamour of it all, until snow peak and solemn forest 
 seemed but a fitting background for the slender figure 
 swaying to the horse's stride, while the pale, calm face 
 brought into the shadowy aisles a charm of its own. Once 
 and I could not help myself a few lines written by 
 a master who loved Nature broke from me, and for a 
 moment Grace seemed startled. It was a passage from 
 the first home-coming of Queen Guinevere. 
 
 * Shall we thank Providence for a good conceit of our- 
 selves ? ' she said lightly, a little later. * You are hardly a 
 Lancelot, Sir Railroad Builder ; and she is it a compliment 
 to compare me with Arthur's faithless Queen ? ' 
 
 Thereupon I lapsed into silence, feeling like one who 
 has blundered upon the edge of a precipice ; and Grace 
 was silent too, for the day drew towards its close, and a red 
 glare of sunset came, slanting in among the massy trunks, 
 striking strange glints of colour from her hair, while, 
 
160 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 winsome and graceful to the tiny foot in the stirrup, her 
 lissom shape was outlined against it. Then for a space we 
 left the woods, and rode down the hillside under the last of 
 the afterglow, which blazed, orange, green, and crimson, 
 along the heights of eternal snow, calling up ruby flashes 
 from the ragged edge of a glacier, while Grace seemed lost 
 in wonder and awe. I do not think there are any sunsets 
 in the world like those of British Columbia. 
 
 ' It is unearthly majestic ! ' she said half to herself. 
 * And once I almost felt inclined to sympathise with a 
 Transatlantic scribbler, who compared the Revelation to 
 what he termed a wholesale jewellery show. He was a 
 townsman who had never crossed the Rockies and if there 
 are glories like this on earth, what must the everlasting 
 city be ? ' 
 
 The weird fires paled and faded, and the peaks were 
 coldly solemn under their crown of snow, while a little 
 breeze awoke strange harmonies among the cedars, and there 
 was no more talking. Perhaps we were physically tired, 
 though that day's march was a very slight task for me, but 
 I felt that after what we had seen silence became me best. 
 It was dark long before we rode into Cedar Crossing, and 
 Grace was worn-out when I helped her from the saddle. 
 Miss Carrington apparently found some difficulty in 
 straightening herself, while when Calvert had installed 
 them in the one second-rate hotel, after a visit to an 
 acquaintance there, I sat smoking beneath a hemlock most 
 of the night keeping guard over it. This was, of course, 
 palpably absurd, but I was young, and from early ages many 
 others have done much the same, while, though it seems the 
 fashion to despise all sentiment now, it is probable that 
 future generations will show traces of equal foolishness. 
 
 We finished the journey on the third day, but I did not 
 see Colonel Carrington. He was busy at the mine, and it 
 
THE HIRED TEAMSTER 161 
 
 was not worth while wasting precious time in the really 
 comfortable ranch he had hired until his return for the mere 
 pleasure of exchanging greetings with him, while Grace 
 was far too tired to entertain anybody. 
 
 Calvert looked awkward when he shook hands with 
 me. c I don't quite know how to put it,' he said, ' but 
 you will understand we can't take you away several days 
 from your work gratuitously, and all transport is charged 
 to the Syndicate. Being a trained engineer, I'm working 
 manager, and, as a matter of business, what do I owe you ? ' 
 
 ' Nothing ! ' I answered shortly. ' I could take no pay- 
 ment for assisting Miss Carrington. If you like, you can 
 send five dollars to the Vancouver hospital.' 
 
 * I trust we'll be friends,' said Calvert. ' Hope I didn't 
 offend you. Meant it in the best of faith. I'm coming 
 round to see you, and whenever you have leisure you must 
 look upon my quarters yonder as your own.' 
 
 I rode back wondering if the work had suffered during 
 my absence, though I knew my partners would not com- 
 plain, and when I reached camp Harry said : ' 1 hardly 
 thought we'd set up as packers, but in the meantime all is 
 fish that comes to our net. I'm getting quite a mercenary 
 character. You had a long journey how much did you 
 get?' 
 
 * Nothing,' I answered, * except a gift of five dollars for 
 the Vancouver hospital. It was Miss Carrington.' 
 
 Harry made no articulate comment at first, though his 
 whistle, which from anyone else would have been imperti- 
 nence, was eloquent, while some moments elapsed before he 
 said : ' Then it's Colonel Carrington who is running the 
 Day Spring mine. I've heard the free prospectors talking 
 about the new Syndicate. They opine there's nothing in 
 it, and that somebody is going to be hardly hit.' 
 
 M 
 
162 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XV 
 
 UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 
 
 IN spite of the many new hands who flocked in with the 
 spring, the line progressed slowly. This was quite compre- 
 hensible, and when I travelled over it afterwards as a pas- 
 senger I wondered how we had ever built it at all. Portions 
 were hewn out of the solid rock, of a hardness which was 
 often too much for our most carefully tempered drills ; others 
 were underpinned with timber against the mountain side, or 
 carried across deep ravines on open trestles ; while much of it 
 had to be roofed in by massive sheds, so that the snow- 
 slides might not hurl it into the valley. 
 
 On several occasions we were almost checkmated in 
 our efforts to supply and clear a way for the builders. 
 There was, of course, no lack of timber, but the difficulty 
 was to get it out of the forests and into position, for we 
 often spent days building skidways or hewing roads to bring 
 the great logs down, after which it cost us even a longer 
 time rigging gear to lower them over dangerous ledges to 
 those who worked below. Still, we made progress, and the 
 free miners or forest ranchers who trudged behind their 
 weary pack-horses down the trail that crossed the track en- 
 couraged us in their own fashion, which was at times slightly 
 eccentric ; while now and then a party of citizens from the 
 struggling town rode over to inspect the new road they 
 hoped would do so much for them. 
 
 Sometimes they brought small presents with them, and 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 163 
 
 I remember one who watched our efforts admiringly said : 
 ' You must be clearing your little pile by the way you're 
 rustling,' and looked blankly incredulous when I answered : 
 ' No ; we're only trying to pay back other men their own.' 
 
 Nevertheless, on occasions when the work was sus- 
 pended temporarily, I made a two days' journey to Colonel 
 Carrington's ranch, and spent a few blissful hours there 
 beneath the cedars with his sister and Grace. Both seemed 
 pleased to see me, and I managed to console myself for the 
 absence of the Colonel and Ormond. They returned at 
 sunset, when I took my departure, and even Ormond was 
 usually disreputable of aspect. Many difficulties were 
 connected with the development of the Day Spring mine, 
 and when there was need for it Ormond showed himself 
 a capable man of action. Night and day the freighters 
 met him riding along the heavy trails, hurrying tools 
 and supplies in, and the shaft-sinkers said that he was 
 always foremost when there was risky work to be done. 
 Once also, when I sat smoking in Calvert's shanty, the latter, 
 who was freely smeared with the green mountain clay, 
 said : 
 
 4 We are none of us exactly idlers, but Geoffrey Ormond 
 is tireless. In fact, I hardly recognise him as the same man, 
 and it is just as well. We have sunk a good deal in this 
 undertaking, and it will go hard with some of the Syndicate 
 if we don't get rich quartz out. Ormond in particular 
 invested, I think, almost recklessly. He's a distant connec- 
 tion of our leader's, you know, and it's probable he's hoping 
 for Miss,Carrington's hand. There's no doubt the irascible 
 Colonel would be glad to have him for a son-in-law, and he 
 is really a very good fellow, but I'm not sure that Miss 
 Carrington likes him in that way.' 
 
 Here Calvert flicked the ash off his cigar, and looked at 
 me before he continued : ' It's not my business, and perhaps 
 
 M 2 
 
1 64 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I'm gossiping, but Colonel Carrington is not addicted to 
 changing his mind, and I anticipate a dramatic climax some 
 day. In any case, she will never with his consent marry a 
 poor man. You can take my word for it I'm speaking 
 feelingly.' 
 
 When, after exchanging a few words of cold politeness 
 with the Colonel, I rode homewards next morning I won- 
 dered if Calvert, who was certainly not given to gossiping, 
 had intended this as a friendly warning. Everyone in 
 their own manner seemed bent on warning me, and yet, so 
 long as Grace remained Miss Carrington, I could not give 
 up hope, and it was that very hope which added force to 
 every stroke of the glinting axe or another hour of toil to 
 the weary day. And so, while spring melted into summer, 
 I worked and waited until fate intervened. Now between 
 the 'mining town and Cedar the river loses itself in a gloomy 
 canon, one of those awful gorges which are common among 
 the mountains of British Columbia. Two great rocks 
 partly close the entrance, and beyond this the chasm is veiled 
 in spray, while its roar when the floods race through it can 
 be heard several miles away. Scarcely a ray of sunlight 
 enters its shadowy depths, and looking up from beside the 
 entrance one can see the great pines which crown the sheer 
 fall of rock looming against the skyline in a slender lace- 
 like filigree. Sometimes, when frost bound fast the feeding 
 snows, the Siwash Indians ran their light canoes through, 
 but I never heard of a white man attempting the passage, 
 and one glance was sufficient to show the reason. I under- 
 stood it better when as by a miracle I came alive out of the 
 canon. 
 
 It was a still evening, and again the afterglow flamed 
 behind the western pines, when, holding Caesar's rein, I stood 
 under a hemlock talking to Grace Carrington. We had been 
 compelled to wait for more ironwork, and I made the long 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 165 
 
 journey on the specious excuse of visiting a certain black- 
 smith who was skilled in sharpening tools. Calvert's offer 
 of hospitality was now proving an inestimable boon. Harry 
 pointed out that we had a man in camp who could do the 
 work equally well, but I found a temporary deafness con- 
 venient then. 
 
 4 It was very kind of you to suggest it, and if you could 
 get the things in by your supply train we would be very 
 glad,' she said. * I really do not know who to write to, 
 and the pack-horse freighters often wet or spoil them. 
 Aunt and I intend to spend a few days at the Lawrences' 
 ranch, and you could meet us with the package at the 
 canon crossing on Thursday morning.' 
 
 I glanced at the list she handed me, and wondered what 
 Harry, who had to visit Vancouver, would say when he 
 found I had pledged him to ransack the dry-goods stores for 
 all kinds of fabrics. Still, I felt I would have faced much 
 more than my comrade's remonstrances to please Grace 
 Carrington then, as she stood beside me, glorified as it were 
 by the garish sunset. 
 
 * My aunt will be specially grateful,' she added. ' And 
 now, good-bye. She will never forgive you if you damage 
 her new dress.' 
 
 She spoke with a half-mocking and wholly bewitching 
 air, for when Grace unbent she did it charmingly, holding 
 out a shapely hand, while the light sparkled among the 
 glossy clusters above her forehead. Grace's hair might 
 have been intended for a net to catch stray sunshine in. 
 Then while I prepared to take up the challenge the slender 
 fingers tightened on my own, and with a start she said, 
 ' What was that ? ' for a wild shrill cry rang suddenly out 
 of the stillness, and the hillside returned the sound in a 
 doleful wailing before it died away. 
 
 * Only a loon, a water bird ! ' I said, though the cry 
 
1 66 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 / 
 
 had also startled me, and I fancied Grace shivered as she 
 answered, c I have never heard it before, and it sounded so 
 unearthly almost like a warning of some evil. But it is 
 growing late, and you have far to go. I shall expect you 
 at the crossing.' 
 
 She turned back towards the house, and I laughed at 
 my momentary confusion as I rode on through the deepen- 
 ing shadow, for though it is strangely mournful the loon's 
 shrill call was nothing unusual in that land. Still, mere 
 coincidence as it was, remembering Grace's shiver it 
 troubled me, and I should have been more uneasy had I 
 known how we were to keep that fateful tryst. It was a 
 glorious morning when, with a package strapped to the 
 saddle, I rode down between the pine trunks to the crossing. 
 The river flashed like burnished silver below, and the sun- 
 light made coloured haloes in the filmy spray that drifted 
 about the black mouth of the canon, while rising and falling 
 in thunderous cadence the voice of many waters rang forth 
 from its gloomy depths. The package was a heavy one, 
 for there were many domestic sundries as well as yards ot 
 dry goods packed within it, and Harry assured me it had 
 taken him a whole day to procure them, adding that he 
 was doubtful even then if he had satisfactorily filled the 
 bill. 
 
 I had loitered some time on the hillside until I could 
 see the party winding down the opposite slope. Then the 
 forest hid them, and it appeared that, perhaps because the 
 waters were high, they were not going straight to the usual 
 ford, but intended first to send the ladies across in a canoe 
 which lay lower down near a slacker portion of the rapid 
 stream. The slope on my own side was steep, but, picking 
 my way cautiously, I was not far above the river, which 
 boiled in a succession of white-ridged rapids, when I saw 
 Grace seat herself in the stern of the canoe, which Ormond 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 167 
 
 thrust off until it was nearly afloat. Then he returned for 
 her aunt, while Colonel Carrington and rancher Lawrence 
 led the horses towards the somewhat risky ford up stream. 
 The river was swollen by melting snow, and it struck me 
 that they would have some difficulty in crossing. 
 
 Then a hoarse shout rang out, ' The canoe's adrift ! ' 
 followed by another from the Colonel, * Get hold of the 
 paddle, Grace ! for your life paddle ! ' 
 
 It had all happened in a moment. Doubtless some 
 slight movement on the girl's part had set the light Indian 
 craft afloat, and for another second or two I stared aghast 
 upon a scene that is indelibly impressed upon my memory. 
 There was Ormond scrambling madly among the boulders, 
 tearing off his jacket as he ran, Colonel Carrington strug- 
 gling with a startled horse, and his sister standing rigid and 
 still, apparently horror-stricken, against the background of 
 sombre pines. Then forest and hillside melted away, and 
 while my blood grew chill I saw only a slender white-robed 
 figure in the stern of the canoe, which was sliding fast 
 towards the head of the tossing rapid that raced in a mad 
 seething into the canon. 
 
 Then I smote the horse, gripped the rein, and we 
 were off at a flying gallop down the declivity. A branch 
 lashed my forehead, sweeping my hat away ; for an instant 
 something warm dimmed my vision, and as I raised one 
 hand to dash it away a cry that had a note of agony in it 
 came ringing down the valley, * Make for the eddy, Grace. 
 For heaven's sake, paddle ! ' 
 
 How Caesar kept his footing I do not know. The 
 gravel was rattling behind us, the trunks reeled by, and the 
 rushing water seemed flying upwards towards me. Even 
 now I do not think I had any definite plan, and it was only 
 blind instinct prompted me to head down stream diagonally 
 to cut off the approaching canoe, but I answered the 
 
1 68 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Colonel's shout with an excited cry, and drove the horse 
 headlong at a shelf of rock. I felt his hoofs slipping 
 upon its mossy covering, there was a strident clang of iron 
 on stone, and then with a sudden splash we were in 
 the torrent together. Caesar must have felt the bottom 
 beneath him a moment or two, for I had time to free my 
 feet from the stirrups before he was swimming gallantly, 
 but one cannot take a horse on board a Siwash canoe, and 
 the light cedar shell shot down the green and white-streaked 
 rush towards me even as I flung myself out of the saddle. 
 And, staring forward with drawn-back lips and eyes wide 
 open, I could see the white face in the stern. 
 
 Then, thanking Providence that I could swim well, I 
 swang my left arm forward with hollowed palm, and shot 
 away from the beast with head half-buried under the side- 
 stroke's impetus, making a fierce effort to gain the centre 
 of the flow in time. Something long and dark swept past 
 me : with an inarticulate gasp of triumph I seized it, 
 managed to fall in head foremost over the stem, which in a 
 tender craft of that beam is a difficult thing to do, and then, 
 snatching the second paddle, whirled it madly. I felt the 
 stout redwood bend at every stroke, my lungs seemed 
 bursting, and there was a mist before my eyes, but it was 
 borne in upon me I had come too late, and that already no 
 earthly power could snatch us from the canon. 
 
 Hemlock and boulder, stream-hammered reef and pine, 
 flitted by, closing in on one another along the half-seen 
 shore. The river frothed white about us in steep boiling 
 ridges as it raced down the incline, and nearer and nearer 
 ahead tossed the ghostly spray cloud that veiled the mouth 
 of the chasm. As we lurched broadside to the rapid each 
 - steeper liquid upheaval broke into the canoe ; for every foot 
 I won shorewards the stream swept us sideways two ; and 
 when, grasping the pole, I thrust against a submerged boulder 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 169 
 
 with all my strength, the treacherous redwood snapped in 
 half. Then there was a bewildering roar, a blinding 
 shower of spray, and we were out upon the short slide of 
 glassy green water which divided the tail of the rapid from 
 the mouth of the canon. As I flung the broken pole away 
 and groped for the paddle I saw with eyes that were clouded 
 by blood and sweat Grace raise her hand as though in a 
 last farewell, and then as she faced round once more our 
 glances met. She said no word. I could not have heard 
 if she had, for all sound was swallowed up in one great 
 pulsating diapason ; but she afterwards said she felt impelled 
 to look at me, and knew that I would turn my head. And 
 so for an instant, there where the barriers of caste and 
 wealth had melted away before the presence of death, our 
 two souls met in a bond that should never be broken. 
 
 Now there are occasions when even the weakest seem 
 endowed with a special strength, while a look of blind 
 confidence from the woman he loves is capable of trans- 
 forming almost any man, and I knew in the exaltation of 
 that moment, for my own sake, I had no fear of death. If 
 I could not save her, I felt it would be a good end to go 
 down into the green depths attempting it. 
 
 Then the canoe lurched forward half its length clear of 
 the water, a white haze eddied about us, the sunlight went 
 out, and we were in the canon, shooting down the mad rush 
 of a rapid towards eternity. I plied the paddle my hardest to 
 keep the frail craft head on, that she might not roll over by 
 sheering athwart the stream, not because I had any hope 
 of escape, but that it seemed better to go under righting. 
 Also the work was severe enough, because not having 
 learned the back-feather under water I must dip the blade 
 on either side alternately, while each time I dare turn my 
 eyes backward a moment the sight of Grace kneeling with 
 set white face in the stern further strengthened me. The 
 
1 7 o A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 pace grew a little easier as we drew out into a somewhat 
 slacker flow, and I made shift with an empty fruit-can to 
 free the craft of water, until Grace spoke, and her words 
 reached me brokenly through the deeper growling of the 
 river : * Do you think there is any chance of safety ? ' 
 
 1 Yes,' I answered stoutly, though it is probable my 
 voice belied me. It was so strained I could hardly recog- 
 nise it. * The canoe may keep afloat until we reach the 
 other end, or perhaps we can find a bar to land on and 
 climb up somewhere.' Then I felt glad my shoulders were 
 turned towards her as she said, 'I am afraid it is a very 
 small one. There is a fall and a whirlpool ahead, and no 
 one could climb that awful precipice look ! ' 
 
 The canoe was shooting onward through dim shadow 
 very fast but more steadily, and raising my eyes from the 
 dull green water before us these craft are always paddled 
 with one's face towards the bow I looked about me hope- 
 lessly. In these days of easy travel there are doubtless 
 many who have from a securely railed off platform gazed 
 down into the black depths of a Pacific Slope canon upon a 
 river that seems a narrow thread in the great gulf below. 
 These will have some idea of what I saw, but they may 
 take the word of one who knows, which is easier than 
 making the experiment, that such places look very much 
 worse from the bottom. Those who have not may try to 
 picture tremendous and the word is used with its amplest 
 significance walls of slightly overhanging rock, through 
 which aided by grinding boulders and scoring shingle, the 
 river has widened as well as deepened its channel a little 
 every century, while between the white welter at their feet 
 lies a breadth of troubled green where the stream flows as 
 it were heaped up in the centre. 
 
 In places it roared in filmy wreaths about a broken 
 mass of stone that cumbered the channel, but elsewhere the 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 171 
 
 hollowed sides, upon which the smallest clawed creature 
 could not have found a foothold, had been worn down into 
 a smooth slipperiness. 
 
 * It is all so horrible,' said Grace, bending back her head, 
 so that as I glanced over my shoulder I could see her firm 
 white neck through the laces as she stared upwards at the 
 streak of blue sky so far above. Then she turned her face 
 towards me again, and it seemed to my excited fancy it had 
 grown ethereal, when she added, ' We may pass the whirl- 
 pool, and if not death can come no harder here than in 
 any other place.' 
 
 I tried to answer, and failed miserably, feeling glad that 
 an increasing tumult covered my silence, for I could not 
 drive out a horrible picture of that fair face with the gold 
 bronze hair swept in long wet wisps across it washing out, 
 frozen still for ever, into the sunlit valley, or the soft hands 
 I would have given a life to kiss clutching in a last vain 
 agony at the cruel stones which mocked them. Then I 
 set my teeth, clenching the paddle until each muscle 
 swelled as though it would burst the skin, and, with 
 something that was divided between an incoherent prayer 
 and an imprecation upon my lips, determined that if human 
 flesh and blood could save her she should not perish. 
 
 The roar of water grew louder and louder, rolling in 
 reverberations along the scarped rock's side, until it seemed 
 as if the few dwarf pines which clung in odd crannies here 
 and there trembled in unison, and once more the white 
 smoke of a fall or rapid rose up close before us. Then I 
 could see the smooth lip of the cataract held apart, as 
 it were, by one curved glittering ripple from the tumult 
 beneath, and remembered having heard the Indian packers 
 say that when shooting a low fall one has only to keep the 
 craft straight before the current, which is not always easy, 
 and let her go. 
 
172 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 c Sit quite still, Grace,' I cried. ' If the canoe upsets I 
 will at once take hold of you. We shall know the worst in 
 another few minutes now.' 
 
 Her lips moved a little, and though I heard no words I 
 fancied it was a prayer, then I turned my head forward and 
 prepared for the struggle. I had small skill in handling 
 canoes, but I had more than average strength, and felt 
 thankful for it as, lifting the light cedar at every wrench- 
 ing stroke, I drove it towards the fall. Then a whirling 
 mist shot up, there was a deep booming in my ears, the 
 canoe leapt out as into mid air, and I could feel her dropping 
 bodily from beneath us. A heavy splash followed, water 
 was flying everywhere, and a boiling wave lapped in, but 
 the paddle bent under my hand, and breathless and half- 
 blinded we shot out down the tail rush into daylight again. 
 One swift glance over my shoulder showed the slanting 
 spout of water behind Grace's pallid face. The fall ap- 
 parently must have been more than a fathom in three yards 
 or so, and I wondered how we had ever come down it alive. 
 
 Then, with laboured breathing and heart that thumped 
 painfully, I plied the paddle, while the craft swang off at a 
 tangent across the dark green whirling which, marked by 
 white concentric rings, swang round and round a down- 
 sucking hollow in the centre. Twice we shot past the 
 latter, and had time to notice how a battered log of drift- 
 wood tilted endways and went down, but as on the second 
 revolution we swept towards a jutting fang of quartz I made 
 a fierce effort, because here the stream had piled a few 
 yards of shingle against the foot of the rock. The craft 
 yielded to the impulse and drove lurching among the back- 
 wash, and then there followed a sickening crash. Water 
 poured in deep over one depressed side as she swayed 
 downwards and over, and next moment, with one hand on 
 the ragged quartz and another gripping Grace's arm, I was 
 
UNDER THE SHADOW OF DEATH 173 
 
 struggling in the stream. Fortunately the dress fabric held, 
 and my failing strength was equal to the strain, for I found 
 a foothold, and crawled out upon the shingle, dragging her 
 after me. Then rising, I lurched forward and went down 
 headforemost with a clatter among the stones, where I lay 
 fighting hard for breath and overcome by the revulsion of 
 relief, though it may have been the mere physical over- 
 pressure on heart and lungs which had prostrated me. 
 
174 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XVI 
 
 WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 
 
 PRESENTLY, while I lay upon the shingle panting, a wet 
 hand touched my head, and looking up with dazzled eyes I 
 saw Grace bending down beside me. The water drained 
 from her garments, she was shivering, but at least she had 
 suffered no injury. 
 
 c Ralph ! Ralph ! tell me you are not hurt,' she said, 
 and something in her voice and eyes thrilled me through, 
 but, though I struggled to do so, I could not as yet over- 
 come the weakness, and lay still, no doubt a ghastly half- 
 drowned object, with the blood from the wound the branch 
 made trickling down my forehead, until stooping further 
 she laid her hand upon my shoulder, and there was more 
 than compassion in the eyes that regarded me so anxiously. 
 
 Then, slowly, power and speech came back together, 
 and covering the slender fingers with kisses I staggered to 
 my feet, and said, ' Thank God, you are safe ! and, what- 
 ever happens, I have saved you. You will forgive me this 
 last folly, but all the rest was only a small price to pay 
 for it.' 
 
 She did not answer, though for a moment the hot blood 
 suffused her cheek, and I stood erect, dazed and bewildered 
 yet for the quartz reef had cruelly bruised me 
 glancing round in search of the canoe, and, failing to find 
 it, again broke out gratefully : c Thank heaven, you are 
 safe ! ' 
 
WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 175 
 
 Grace leaned against a boulder. * Sit down upon that 
 ledge. You have not quite recovered,' she said ; and I 
 was glad to obey, for my limbs were shaky, and the power 
 of command was born in her. Then with a sigh she added 
 very slowly : * I fear you are premature. Still, I think you 
 are a brave man, and no Carrington was ever a coward. 
 Look round and notice the level, and remember the daily 
 rise.' 
 
 Stupidly I blinked about me, trying to collect my 
 scattered wits. The strip of shingle stood perhaps a foot 
 above the river and was only a few yards wide. In front, 
 the horrible eddy lapped upon the pebbles at each revolving 
 swirl, and behind us rose a smooth wall of rock absolutely 
 unclimbable, even if it had not overhung. That, however, 
 was not the worst, for a numbing sense of dismay, colder 
 far than the chilly snow-water, crept over me as I re- 
 membered that most mountain streams in British Columbia 
 rise and fall several feet daily. They are lowest in early 
 morning, because at night the frost holds fast the drainage 
 of snow-field and glacier which feeds them on the peaks 
 above ; then, as the sun unchains the waters, they increase 
 in volume, so that many a ford which a man might pass 
 knee-deep at dawn is swept by roaring flood before the close 
 of afternoon. 
 
 ' Watch that stone,' said Grace with a stately calmness, 
 though first she seemed to choke down some obstruction in 
 her throat. ' There ! the last wash has buried it, and when 
 we landed the one with the red veins it is covered several 
 inches now was bare.' 
 
 A sudden fury seized me, and raising a clenched hand 
 aloft I ground my heels into the shingle, while Grace looked 
 on pityingly. ' I was almost afraid to mention it at first,' 
 she said. c I I had hoped you would have taken it 
 differently.' 
 
176 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Then at last I began to understand clearly, and flung 
 back my head as I. answered : 'It is not my own miserable 
 safety I care one atom for. Neither if we had gone down 
 together in the fall would it have seemed so hard ; but 
 after bringing you in safety so far it is horrible to be held 
 helpless here while inch by inch the waters rise. Great 
 God ! is there nothing I can do ? Grace, if I had ten lives 
 I would gladly give them all to save you ! ' 
 
 Again the tell-tale colour flickered in her face ; then it 
 vanished, and her voice shook a little as she answered : ' I 
 believe you. Indeed, it seems only too probable you gave 
 up one when you leapt the poor horse into the river. It 
 was done very gallantly, and now you must wait for what 
 that great God sends as gallantly.' 
 
 She seemed so young and winsome and beautiful that 
 suddenly in place of rage a great pity came upon me, and I 
 think my eyes grew dim, for Grace looked at me very 
 gently as she added : ' No ; death comes to all of us some 
 time, and you must not grieve for me.' 
 
 But because I was young and the full tide of lusty life 
 pulsed within me, I could not bear to think of what must 
 follow. Again, it seemed beyond human comprehension 
 that she, the incarnation of all that was fair and lovable, 
 must perish so miserably, and once more I had to struggle 
 hard to restrain a fresh outbreak of impotent fury. But 
 presently her great fortitude infected me, and with the 
 calmness it brought there came a feeling that I must tell 
 her all now or never. Nevertheless, I felt she knew it 
 already, for one glance had made many things manifest 
 when we first entered the canon. 
 
 4 Grace,' I said huskily, * I want you to listen while I 
 answer a question which, without speaking, you asked me 
 Why should I, a rough railroad contractor, esteem it an 
 inestimable privilege to freely lay down my life for you ? It 
 
WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 177 
 
 is only because I love you, and have done so from the day 
 we talked together on Starcross Moor it seems so long 
 ago. Listen yet. I meant never to have told you until I 
 had won the right to do so, and had something to offer the 
 heiress of Carrington, and I fought hard for it, toiling late 
 and early, with a dead weight of adverse fortune against 
 me ; but all that was little when every blow was struck for 
 your sweet sake. And, if you had chosen another, I would 
 have kept my secret, and prayed that you might be happy. 
 Now, when so far as worldly rank goes, we stand as equals 
 in the valley of death, I dare open all my heart to you ; and 
 if it must be I would ask no better end than to enter eternity 
 here holding your hand.' 
 
 She trembled a little, great tears were brimming in her 
 eyes, but again I read more than pity or sorrow in their liquid 
 depths, and next moment it happened that I had spread my 
 wet arms about her and her head rested upon my shoulder. 
 There are some things which concern but two souls among 
 all those on earth, and the low answer that came for the 
 first time falteringly through her lips is to be numbered 
 among them ; but a little later, with my arm still about 
 her, Grace smiled up at me wistfully as the remorseless 
 waters lapped nearer. 
 
 ' 1 loved you because you were steadfast and fearless,' 
 she said. ' Sweetheart, it will not be so hard to die together 
 now. Do you know this is all a part of the strange 
 memories, as though I had learned somewhere and somehow 
 what was to be. Either in dreams or a mental phantasy I 
 saw you riding across the prairie through the whirling snow. 
 When you strode with bronzed face, and hard hand on my 
 bridle, through the forest that was familiar too, and you 
 remember the passage about Lancelot I knew you were 
 my own true knight. But this is not the last of the dream 
 forecasts or memories, and there was something brighter 
 
 N 
 
178 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 beyond it I could not grasp. Perhaps it may be the glories 
 of the hereafter. I wonder if the thought was born when 
 that sunset flamed and flashed ? ' 
 
 I listened, tightening my grasp about her and shivering 
 a little. This may have been due to physical cold, or a 
 suggestion of the supernatural ; but Grace spoke without 
 terror, reverently, and ended : < Ralph, have you ever 
 thought about that other world ? Shall we be permitted 
 to walk hand in hand through the first thick darkness, 
 darling ? ' 
 
 4 Don't ! ' I cried, choking. * You shall not die. Wait 
 here while I try to climb round those boulders ; there 
 might be a branch that would float us, or a log of drift- 
 wood in a lower eddy,' and leaving her I managed with 
 much difficulty to scale a few great water- worn masses 
 which had fallen from above and shut out the view of the 
 lower river. Still, though I eagerly scanned the boulders 
 scattered here and there along the opposite bank, there was 
 only foam and battered stone, and at last I flung myself 
 down dejectedly upon a ledge. I dare not go back just 
 then and tell her the search was quite hopeless, and it may 
 have been inherited obstinacy, but I would not own myself 
 quite beaten yet. So I lay watching the cruel water slide 
 past, while a host of impossible schemes flashed through my 
 bewildered brain. They all needed at least a rope, or a few 
 logs, though one might have been rendered feasible by a 
 small crowbar. But I had none of these things. 
 
 Meantime a few white cloudlets drifted across the rift 
 of blue above, and a cool breadth of shadow darkened the 
 pines on the great rocks. Something suggested a fringe 
 of smaller firs along the edge of a moor in Lancashire, 
 and for a moment my thoughts sped back to the little 
 grey-stone church under the Ling Fell. Then a slow 
 stately droning swelled into a measured boom and I won- 
 
WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 179 
 
 dered what it was, until it flashed upon me that this was a 
 funeral march I had once heard there upon just such a day, 
 and it was followed by a voice reading something faint 
 and far away, snatches of which reached me brokenly, 
 * In the sure and certain hope,' and again, * Blessed are the 
 dead.' 
 
 There was, perhaps, a reason for such fancies, though I 
 did not know it at that time, for as I found afterwards by 
 the deep score across the scalp, my head must have been 
 driven against the stone with sufficient violence to destroy 
 for ever the balance of a less thickly covered brain. But it 
 could not have lasted more than a few moments before I 
 knew that the funeral march was only the boom of the 
 river, and if I would not have it as sole requiem for one who 
 was dearer far than life to me I must summon all my 
 powers of invention. The waters had risen several inches 
 since I first flung myself down. Great events hang upon 
 very small ones, and we might well have left our bones in 
 the canon, but that when crawling over a boulder I slipped 
 and fell heavily, while, when for a moment I lay with my 
 head almost in the river, I could see from that level some- 
 thing in the eddy behind a rock on the further shore which 
 had remained unnoticed before. 
 
 It was a dark object, half-hidden among grinding 
 fragments of driftwood and great flakes of spume, but I 
 caught hard at my breath when a careful scrutiny showed 
 that beyond all doubt it was the overturned canoe. Still, at 
 first sight, it seemed beyond the power of flesh and blood to 
 reach it. The rapid would apparently sweep the strongest 
 swimmer down the canon, while the revolving pool span 
 suggestively in narrowing circles towards the deadly vortex 
 where the main rush from the fall went down. Second 
 thoughts, however, suggested there might be a very small 
 chance that when swept round towards the opposite shore 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 he could by a frantic struggle draw clear of the rotary 
 swirl into the downward flow, which ran more slackly close 
 under the bank. I came back and explained this to Grace, 
 and then for the first time her courage gave way. 
 
 4 You must not go,' she said. ' No one could swim 
 through that awful pool, and I am only a woman, weak 
 after all I could not stay here and see you drown. Ralph, 
 it was the thought of having you beside me that gave me 
 courage you must not leave me to the river alone.' 
 
 ' It is our last chance, sweetheart,' I said very slowly, 
 4 and we dare not neglect it, but I will make a promise. If 
 I feel my strength failing, when I know I can do no more, 
 I will come back to you. Standing here you could reach 
 my hand as the eddying current sweeps me round. Now, 
 wish me good fortune, darling.' 
 
 Grace stooped and kissed my forehead, for even as I 
 spoke I knelt to strip the long boots off. This was no time 
 for useless ceremony. Then with a faint ghost of a blush 
 she added, ' You must not be handicapped fling away 
 your jacket and whatever would hamper you,' after which, 
 standing beside me at the edge of the water, she said very 
 solemnly, ' God bless and keep you, Ralph.' 
 
 Then I whirled both hands above my head, leapt 
 out from the quartz shelf, and felt the chilly flood part 
 before me until, instead of dull green transparency, there 
 was daylight about me again, and my left hand swept 
 forward through the air with the side-stroke which in 
 younger days I had taken much pains to cultivate. Now 
 there was the hardness which comes from constant toil in 
 muscles behind it, besides a force which I think was not 
 born altogether of bodily strength, and even then I could 
 almost rejoice to feel the water sweep past me a clear 
 half-fathom as the palm drove backwards hollowed to 
 the hip, while the river boiled and bubbled under my 
 
WHEN THE WATERS ROSE 181 
 
 partly submerged head. But I swang right round the 
 eddy, and almost under the tail rush of the fall, while 
 once for a second I caught sight of Grace's intent face as, 
 husbanding my strength for a few seconds, I passed tossed 
 about on the confused welter close by the quartz shelf. 
 Then, as the circling waters hurried me a second time 
 round and outwards towards the further shore, I made what 
 I knew must be the last effort, made it with cracking 
 sinews and bursting lungs, and drew clear by a foot or two 
 of the eddy's circumference. A few more strokes and an 
 easy paddling carried me down stream, and a wild cry of 
 triumph, which more resembled a hoarse cackle than a shout, 
 went up when at last I drew myself out of the water beside 
 the canoe. 
 
 I lay breathing hard on the cold stone for several minutes, 
 then managed to drag the light shell out and empty her, 
 after which I tore up a strip of the cedar flooring to form a 
 paddle, and found that though one side was crushed the 
 damage was mostly above flotation level. It would serve 
 no purpose to narrate the return passage, and it was suffi- 
 ciently arduous, but a man in the poorest craft with a paddle 
 has four times the power of any swimmer, and at last I 
 reached the shingle, which was almost covered now. Grace 
 stood on the brink to meet me with a cry of heartfelt 
 relief when I ran the bows in, then a momentary dizziness 
 came upon me, as, all dripping as I was, I lifted her into the 
 stern, while after I thrust the craft off, and, struggling clear 
 of the eddy, we shot away on the outgoing stream, she said : 
 * It was splendidly done. Ralph, is it foolish I once sup- 
 posed it would be so that because you have the strength 
 to do these things you make me proud of you ?' 
 
 There is little more to tell, and that passage through 
 the canon left behind it an unpleasant memory. But, 
 though it was rising all the time, the stream ran more 
 
1 82 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 evenly, there were no more cataracts or whirlpools, and 
 while Grace was obliged to bail hard with so closely does 
 burlesque follow on tragedy one of my long boots, she 
 could keep the leaks under. I did my best with the paddle, 
 for I could see the tension was telling upon her, and at last 
 the great rock walls fell back on either hand, and dwarf 
 pines and juniper climbed the less precipitous slopes, until 
 these too opened out into a wide valley, and we slid forth 
 safely into clear sunlight. Never had brightness and warmth 
 so rejoiced me as they did after the cold damp horror or 
 that passage through the dark rift in the earth. 
 
XVII 
 
 THE RETURN 
 
 IT was James Lawrence, the English rancher, and Miss 
 Carrington who told me what happened to those we left 
 behind after the fateful moment when the canoe first slipped 
 clear of the shingle bank. Lawrence accompanied the 
 party on their return journey, and it was he who suggested 
 sending Grace and Miss Carrington across in the canoe. 
 The river ran high that morning, and he felt dubious 
 about the ford, because several pack-horses had already been 
 drowned there. 
 
 The first intimation he had of anything wrong was a 
 cry from the girl, and he saw a strip of water widen between 
 the canoe and the bank. He ran his hardest, but made 
 little headway, for thorny bushes and fern formed 
 thickets along the bank, while when he reached the 
 boulders he felt he had come too late, because no swimmer 
 could then overtake the canoe, even if he escaped destruc- 
 tion in the first rapid immediately below. Nevertheless, 
 after a glance at the drawn face of the girl, which haunted 
 him long afterwards, as with the first shock of terror on 
 her she laboured helplessly at the paddle, he would even 
 have made the hopeless attempt but that Colonel Car- 
 rington, who of all the trio had retained his common sense, 
 intervened. It was not without reason that the Colonel 
 had earned the reputation of being a hard man. 
 
 ' Come back ! Stop him ! Geoffrey, are you mad ? ' 
 
1 84 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 he roared ; and Lawrence, who had now recovered his 
 wits, flung himself upon a man who, stripping himself to 
 the waist as he ran, floundered at break-neck speed among 
 the boulders. They went down together heavily, and next 
 moment the runner had him by the throat, hissing through 
 his teeth, * Let go, you fool, before I murder you.' 
 
 Lawrence was strong, however, and held fast half-choked 
 for a moment or two, until the Colonel's cry reached them 
 again : * Get up, Geoffrey, you lunatic ! Follow, and head 
 them off along the bank ! ' 
 
 The shouts and the confusion had startled his restive 
 horse, and by the time he had mounted the pair were 
 on their feet again stumbling over the boulders or 
 smashing through the undergrowth in a desperate race, 
 with the horse blundering behind them and the canoe 
 ahead. They might possibly have overtaken it except 
 for the rapid, Lawrence said, but it swept like a 
 toboggan down that seething rush, and, as realising it was 
 almost hopeless, they held on, there was a clatter upon 
 the opposite slope, and they saw me break out at head- 
 long gallop from the woods. They halted when I 
 crawled into the canoe, for we were beyond all human help 
 from that bank now, and, flinging himself from the saddle, 
 Colonel Carrington stood with clenched hands and quiver- 
 ing lips, staring after us, so Lawrence said, out of awful eyes. 
 
 * Bravo ! ' he gasped at length. c He'll reach the gravel- 
 spit. Another two good strokes they're almost in the 
 eddy ; ' but the next words were frozen on his lips, for the 
 backwash from a boulder swept the bows of the canoe away, 
 while those that followed came hoarse and brokenly, ' My 
 God he's too late ! ' 
 
 Colonel Carrington was right, for, as held still and spell- 
 bound they watched, the canoe leapt down the entrance 
 rapid and was lost in the mist of the black canon. The 
 
THE RETURN 185 
 
 Colonel said nothing further, though he groaned aloud, and 
 Lawrence did not care to look at him ; but Ormond's face 
 was ashy until a livid fury filled it as he turned upon the 
 rancher. * Confusion to you ! Why must you stop me 
 then ? ' he said. 
 
 c You would only have drowned yourself in the rapid 
 and done nobody any good,' Lawrence said ; and Ormond 
 answered with cold deliberateness, * I wish to heaven I had. 
 As it is, you have helped that man to rob me again, even 
 at the last, and I would give all I have to change places 
 now with him.' 
 
 Then, while Lawrence wondered what he meant, 
 though when I heard the story I fully understood, the head 
 of my horse rose for an instant out of the tumbling 
 waters, sank, and rising, went down again, while a tremor 
 ran through the Colonel's rigid frame, and he leaned against 
 a hemlock with great beads of sweat upon his forehead. 
 The poor beast had doubtless been mangled against a 
 boulder, and the sight was horribly suggestive. 
 
 * A very grim man,' said Lawrence, when he narrated 
 what happened to me. * But I felt most cruelly sorry for 
 him. Didn't say very much his sort never do ; but he was 
 in mortal anguish, and I knew how he would miss the girl.' 
 
 Colonel Carrington was, nevertheless, the first to master 
 his feelings, and his voice was steady once more when he 
 said, c Geoffrey, you will go back and send my sister round 
 with the Indian by Tomlinson's crossing. Then you will 
 return and overtake us in the ravine yonder. We are 
 going to follow the crest of the canon to to see what we 
 can find.' 
 
 It was a stiff climb up the ravine, trying in places to a 
 mountaineer, but the old man held close behind his com- 
 panion, and Lawrence wondered at him. He also felt 
 sorry for Ormond, whose task it was to overtake them, but 
 
1 86 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 when at last they hurried breathless through the pinewoods 
 towards the edge of the chasm above the fall the latter, 
 looking like a ghost, came panting up with them. Then, 
 standing on the dizzy brink, Colonel Carrington gazed down 
 at the spout of green water and the whirling spray, which 
 were dwarfed by the distance. 
 
 ' That is the greatest danger, that and the whirlpool. 
 Anything would swing round in the eddy, would it not ? ' 
 he said. * Now, I want only the truth you understand 
 these rivers could any white man take a canoe down there 
 and through the pool safely ? ' and Lawrence, who dare not 
 prevaricate with that gaze upon him, answered reluctantly, 
 ' 1 do not think so.' 
 
 The Colonel's thin face twitched as he said, c I thank 
 you. No other possible landing place or foothold, is there ? 
 And it would take a day to go back to Tomlinson's and 
 portage a canoe. Well, we'll go on to the end in a last 
 hope that they have got through.' 
 
 Now climbing is difficult in that region, because where 
 the mountain slopes do not consist of almost precipitous 
 snow-ground rock, they are clothed with forest and dense 
 undergrowth, and it was therefore some time before the 
 three had traversed the league or so that divided the summit 
 from the outlet valley. Neither when they got there did 
 they find the canoe, because when I helped Grace ashore 
 I did not care where it went to, and once on terra firma 
 she fainted suddenly, and then lay for a time sobbing on 
 my shoulder in a state of nervous collapse. As she said, 
 though a brave one she was only a woman, and what had 
 happened would have tested the endurance of many a man. 
 At last, however, I managed to help her up a ravine leading 
 down to the river, after which she leaned heavily on my 
 arm as we plodded through the forest until we reached a 
 small rancher's shanty, where, as the owner was absent, I 
 
THE RETURN 187 
 
 took the liberty of lighting his stove and preparing hot tea. 
 Then I left Grace to dry her garments. 
 
 We must have spent several hours at the ranch, for 
 Grace was badly shaken, and I felt that rest was needful 
 for both of us, while, when I returned to the cabin after 
 drying myself in the sun, she lay back in a hide-chair 
 sleeping peacefully. So while the shadows of the firs 
 lengthened across the clearing I sat very still, before with a 
 light touch I ventured to rouse her. She woke with a gasp 
 of horror, looked round with frightened eyes, then clung to 
 me, and I knelt beside the chair with my arms about her, 
 until at last with a little happy laugh she said : ' Ralph, I 
 have lost my character, and you know I am a coward at 
 heart ; but, and until to-day I would not have believed it, 
 it is so comforting to know I have a I have you to protect 
 me.' Then she laid her hand on my brow, adding gently, 
 * Poor forehead that was wounded in my service ! But it is 
 getting late, Ralph, and my father will be feverishly anxious 
 about me/ 
 
 Grace was right in this, because, long before we borrowed 
 the rancher's Cayuse pony and set out again, Colonel Car- 
 rington and the others reached the bank of the river, and 
 saw only a broad stretch ot muddy current racing beneath 
 the rigid branches of the firs. Then after they had 
 searched the few shingle bars the one we landed on was 
 by this time covered deeply the old man sat down on a 
 boulder apart from the rest, and neither dare speak to him, 
 though Lawrence heard him say softly to himself, 'My 
 daughter my daughter ! I would to God I might join her.' 
 
 They turned homewards in solemn silence, though per- 
 haps a last spark of hope burned in the Colonel's breast 
 that by some wholly unexpected chance we had reached it 
 before them, because Lawrence said he seemed to make a 
 stern effort to restrain himself when they saw only Miss 
 
1 88 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Carrington sitting dejectedly near the window. There- 
 upon Lawrence was glad to escape, and Ormond, who rode 
 out to gather the miners for a systematic search, left them 
 mercifully alone. 
 
 Afterwards the old man brokenly narrated what had 
 passed, and then there was a heavy silence in the room, out 
 of which the sunlight slowly faded, until, as Miss Carrington 
 told me, the ticking of a nickelled clock grew maddening. 
 She rose and flung the window open wide at last, and the 
 sighing of the pines drifted in mournfully with a faint cool- 
 ness that came down from the snow. Meantime, Colonel 
 Carrington paced with a deadly regularity up and down, 
 neither speaking nor glancing at her, until he started as a 
 faint beat of horse hoofs came out of the shadows. 
 
 4 Only Geoffrey returning ! ' he said bitterly. * But I 
 have been listening, listening every moment for the last 
 hour. It is utterly hopeless, I know, and we must bear the 
 last black sorrow that has fallen upon us ; but yet I cannot 
 quite believe her dead.' 
 
 The tramp of hoofs grew nearer, and the Colonel 
 leaned out through the open casement with the hand that 
 gripped its ledge quivering. * That is an Indian pony, not 
 Geoffrey's horse, and a man on foot is leading it,' he said. 
 * They are coming this way ; I will meet them.' 
 
 Miss Carrington, however, laid a restraining grasp upon 
 him, and very slowly the clock ticked off the seconds until, 
 when two figures came out through the thinning forest into 
 the clearing, the Colonel's face grew white as death. For a 
 moment he choked for breath, and his sister sobbed aloud 
 when he recovered himself, for she too had seen. * I thank 
 a merciful Providence it is Grace,' he said. 
 
 I lifted Grace from the pony's back, led her towards the 
 house, and saw the old man fold his arms about her. Then 
 I heard her happy cry, and while for a time they forgot all 
 
THE RETURN 189 
 
 about me, stood holding the pony's rein and thinking. My 
 first impulse was to go forward and claim her before them, 
 but that was too like taking advantage of her father's 
 relief. Also, I felt that some things are sacred, and the 
 presence of any stranger would be an intrusion then, while 
 it seemed hardly fitting to forthwith demand such a reward 
 for what any other would doubtless have done gladly. So, 
 trusting that Grace would understand, I turned away, deter- 
 mined to wait upon the Colonel next morning, and, though 
 I am not sure that the result would otherwise have been 
 different, afterwards regretted it. Now I know that any 
 excess of delicacy or consideration for others which may 
 cause unnecessary sorrow to those nearest us is only folly. 
 
 No one called me back, or apparently noticed me, and 
 though with much difficulty I reached the ranch, and was 
 hospitably entertained there, I never closed my eyes all 
 night, while I returned to the Colonel's dwelling as early 
 as possible next morning, and was at once received by him. 
 The events of the preceding day had left their impression 
 even on him, and for once his eyes were kindly, while it 
 was with perceptible emotion he grasped my hand. 
 
 4 1 am indebted to you for life, and you acted with dis- 
 cernment as well as gallantry,' he said. ' You have an old 
 man's fervent thanks, and if he can ever repay such a ser- 
 vice you may rely upon his gratitude.' 
 
 I do not know why, for they were evidently sincere 
 enough, but the words struck me unpleasantly. They 
 seemed to emphasize the difference between us, and there 
 was only one favour I would ever ask of him. 
 
 4 You can return it now with the greatest honour it is 
 in your power to grant any living man,' I answered bluntly. 
 4 1 ask the promise of Miss Carrington's hand.' 
 
 I feel sure now there was pity in his eyes for a moment, 
 though I scarcely noticed it then, and he answered gravely : 
 
1 9 o A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' I am sorry. You have asked the one thing impossible. 
 When Miss Carrington marries it will be in accordance 
 with my wishes, and an arrangement made with a dead 
 kinsman long ago.' 
 
 I think he would have continued, but that I broke in, 
 * But I love her, and she trusts me. Ever since I came to 
 this country I have been fighting my way upwards with 
 this one object in view. We are both of us young, sir, 
 
 and I shall not always be poor ' but here he stopped me 
 
 with a gesture, repeating drily, ' I am sorry for you.' 
 
 He paced the long room twice before he again turned 
 towards me, saying with a tone of authority, ' Sit down 
 there. I am not in the habit of explaining my motives, 
 but I will make an exception now. My daughter has been 
 brought up so far as circumstances permitted luxuriously, 
 and in her case they permitted it in a measure even on the 
 prairie I arranged it so. She has scarcely had a wish I 
 could not gratify, and at Carrington Manor her word was 
 law. I need hardly say she ordered wisely.' 
 
 I bent my head in token of comprehension and agreement 
 as the speaker paused, and then, with a different and incisive 
 inflection, he continued : i And what would her life be with 
 you ? A constant battle with hardship and penury on a little 
 prairie farm, where with her own hands she must bake and 
 wash and sew for you, or, even worse, a lonely waiting in 
 some poor lodging while you were away months together 
 railroad building. Is this the lot you would propose for 
 her ? Now, and there is no reason I should explain why, 
 after my death there will be little left her besides an ex- 
 pensive and occasionally unprofitable farm, and so I have 
 had otherwise to provide for her future ! ' 
 
 t There are, however, two things you take for granted,' 
 I interposed again ; * that I shall never have much to offer 
 her and in this I hope you may be wrong and Miss 
 Carrington's acquiescence in your plans.' 
 
THE RETURN 191 
 
 The old grim smile flickered in the Colonel's eyes as 
 he answered : ' Miss Carrington will respect her father's 
 wishes she has never failed to do so hitherto and I do not 
 know that there is much to be made out of such railroad 
 contracts as your present one.' 
 
 This was certainly true enough, and I winced under the 
 allusion before I made a last appeal. ' Then suppose, sir, that 
 after all fortune favoured me, and there was some reason 
 why what you look for failed to come about all human 
 expectation, human life itself, is uncertain would you 
 then withhold your consent ? ' 
 
 He looked at me keenly a space, saying nothing, and it 
 was always unpleasant to withstand the semi-ironical gaze 
 of Colonel Carrington, though I had noticed a slight move- 
 ment when quite at random I alluded to the uncertainty of 
 life. Then he answered slowly : 
 
 * I think in that case we could discuss all this again, 
 though it would be better far for you to consider my refusal 
 as definite. Now I have such confidence in my daughter's 
 obedience that on the one condition that you do not seek to 
 prejudice her against me I do not absolutely forbid you 
 seeing Miss Carrington on occasion but you must write 
 no letters, and you may take it as a compliment that I 
 should tell you I have only acted as seemed best in her 
 interest. Neither should it be needful to inform you that 
 she will never marry without my consent. And now, 
 reiterating my thanks, I fail to see how anything would be 
 gained by prolonging this interview.' 
 
 I knew from his face that this was so, and that further 
 words might be a fatal mistake, and went out hurriedly, 
 forgetting, I am afraid, to return his salutation, though 
 when I met his sister she glanced at me with sympathy as 
 she pointed towards another door, while when I entered 
 this Grace rose to meet me. The time we spent in the 
 canon had drawn us closer together than many months com- 
 
192 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 panionship might have done, and it was with no affectation 
 of bashful diffidence she beckoned me to a place beside her 
 on the casement logs, saying simply, < You have bad news, 
 sweetheart. Tell me everything.' 
 
 Her father had exacted no promise about secrecy. 
 Indeed, if the arrangement mentioned comprised a pro- 
 spective husband, as I thought it did, Grace was doubt- 
 less fully acquainted with it ; and I told her what had 
 passed. Then she drew herself apart, saying, 'And is 
 there nothing to be added ? Have you lost your usual 
 eloquence ? ' 
 
 ' Yes,' I continued, ' I was coming to it. It is this : 
 while I live I will never abandon the hope of winning you ; 
 and, with such a hope, whatever difficulty must be grappled 
 with first, I know that some day I shall do it.' 
 
 ' And,' said Grace, with a heightened colour, and her 
 liquid eyes shining, ' is there still nothing else ? ' And 
 while I glanced at her in a bewildered fashion she con- 
 tinued, ' Do you, like my father, take my consent for 
 granted ? Well, I will give it you. Ralph, while you are 
 living, and after, if you must go a little before me, I will 
 never look with favour upon any man. Meantime, sweet- 
 heart for, as he said, I will not resist my father's will, save 
 only in one matter you must work and I must wait, 
 trusting in what the future may bring. And so you must 
 leave me now ; and it may be long before I see you. Go, 
 and God bless you, taking my promise with you.' 
 
 She laid her little hand in mine, and I bent down until 
 the flushed face was level with my own ; while, when I 
 found myself in the open air again, I strode through the 
 scented shadows triumphantly. The Colonel's opposition 
 counted as nothing then. I was sanguine and young, and 
 I knew, because she had said it, that until I had worsted 
 fortune Grace Carrington would wait for me. 
 
'93 
 
 XVIII 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE LINE 
 
 DURING the weeks that followed I saw neither Grace nor 
 Colonel Carrington though the latter fact did not cause 
 me unnecessary grief, and we heard much about his doings. 
 From what the independent miners who strolled into our 
 camp at intervals told us, the Day Spring shaft had proved 
 a costly venture, and had so far failed to lay bare traces 
 of payable milling ore. Still, the redoubtable Colonel 
 continued with his usual tenacity, and was now driving 
 an adit into the range side to strike the quartz reef at 
 another level. 
 
 4 There's a blamed sight more gold going into them 
 diggings than they'll ever get out, and the man who is 
 running them will make a big hole in somebody's bank 
 account,' said one informant meditatively. * However, 
 there's no use wasting time trying to give him advice. 
 I strolled round one morning promiscuous, and sat down in 
 his office. "See here, Colonel, you're ploughing a bad 
 patch," I says, "and having a knowledge of good ones 
 I might tell you something if I prowled through your 
 workings." ' 
 
 ' What did he say ? ' asked Harry, smiling at me. And 
 the narrator expectorated disgustedly as he answered : 
 
 4 Just turned round and stared kind of combine 
 between a ramrod and an icicle. " Who the perdition are 
 you ? " he said or he looked it, anyway. So, seeing him 
 
 
 
194 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 above a friendly warning, I lit out, feeling sheep-faced ; and 
 I've bluffed some hard men in my time. Since then I've 
 been rooting round, and I'm concluding there is good ore 
 in that mountain, if he could strike it.' 
 
 ' Do you know the sheep-faced feeling, Ralph ? ' asked 
 Harry mischievously. And probably my frown betrayed 
 me, because I knew it well, though there was some con- 
 solation in the thought that this reckless wanderer of the 
 ranges knew it also. 
 
 In any case, I had small leisure to trouble about the 
 affairs of Colonel Carrington just then. My duty to 
 my partners and the men who worked for us was suffi- 
 ciently onerous, for we had almost daily to grapple with 
 some fresh natural difficulty. Twice a snow-slide awakened 
 majestic thunders among the hills at night and piled 
 the wreckage of the forests high upon the track. Massy 
 boulders charged down the slopes and smashed the half- 
 finished snow-shed framing into splinters ; but, rod by rod, 
 the line stretched on, and the surveyor's goodwill increased 
 towards us. So the short weeks passed, until at last the 
 metals led into the mining town, and its inhabitants made 
 preparations to provide a fitting reception for the first train, 
 the arrival of which would mark a turning-point in the 
 wooden city's history. I can remember each incident 
 of that day perfectly, because it also marked the change 
 from ebb to flood in the tide of our own affairs. We sat 
 up late the previous night calculating the amount to our 
 debit, which proved sufficiently discouraging, and endeavour- 
 ing to value on the credit side work we had done in 
 excess of contract ; but this, Harry said, was reckoning 
 without our host, as represented by the surveyor, who, 
 when we approached him on the subject, displayed a becom- 
 ing reticence. 
 
 It was a glorious afternoon when we stood waiting 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 195 
 
 beside the track, attired for once in comparatively decent 
 garments. Harry and I had spent several hours in ingenious 
 repairs, one result of which was that certain seams would 
 project above the surface in spite of our efforts to restrain 
 them. Beneath us the foaming river made wild music 
 in its hidden gorge, and the roar of a fall drifted up 
 with the scent of cedars across the climbing pines, 
 while above the hill-slopes led the gaze upwards into the 
 empyrean. But there is no need for description ; we were 
 in the mountains of British Columbia, and it was summer- 
 time. 
 
 Near at hand many banners fluttered over the timber 
 city, and discordant strains announced the last rehearsal of 
 the miners' band, while a throng of stalwart men laughed 
 and jested as they gazed expectantly up the line. They 
 had cause for satisfaction. All had waited long and 
 patiently, paying treble value for what they used or ate, 
 and struggling with indifferent implements to uncover the 
 secret treasure of the ranges. Now their enterprise would 
 not be handicapped by the lack of either plant or capital, 
 for the promise given had been redeemed, and with the 
 advent of the locomotive they looked for the commence- 
 ment of a great prosperity. 
 
 My face, however, was sombre, for Harry made some 
 jesting comparison between it and that of a mourner at a 
 funeral. We, too, had done our share in the building 
 of the road, but, so far as we could see, it had signally 
 failed to bring us prosperity. 
 
 * You can console yourself with the feeling that it's 
 good to be a public benefactor, even if you don't get 
 any money,' said Harry cheerfully. 'Did it ever strike 
 you, Ralph, that the folks who subscribe for statues make a 
 bad choice of their models ? Instead of the frock-coated 
 director they should set up the man with the shovel 
 
 02 
 
196 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Ralph Crosfield, rampant, clad in flour bags, and heaving 
 aloft the big axe, for instance, with the appropriate motto 
 round the pedestal under him, " Virtue is its own reward." 
 No, I'm in charge of the pulpit this afternoon, Lee.' 
 
 What the shoemaker intended to say did not appear, 
 for he smilingly abandoned the opportunity of improving the 
 occasion. He had put on flesh and vigour, and now, instead 
 of regarding him as a flippant worldling, which was formerly 
 his plainly expressed opinion, he even looked up in a curious 
 way towards my partner, and once informed me that there 
 was a gradely true soul in him under his nonsense. The 
 spell of the mountains and the company of broad-minded 
 cheerful toilers had between them done a good deal for Lee. 
 Then up on the hillside a strip of bunting fluttered from 
 the summit of a blighted pine, the cry 'She's coming,' 
 rolled from man to man, and there was a thunderous crash 
 as someone fired a heavy blasting charge. A plume of 
 white vapour rose up at the end of the valley, and twinkling 
 metal flashed athwart the pines, while a roar of voices broke 
 out and my own heart beat faster in the succeeding stillness. 
 Enthusiasm is contagious, and a feeling of elation grew 
 upon me. Nearer and nearer came the cars, and when 
 they lurched clattering up the last grade the snorting of 
 the huge locomotive and whirr of flying wheels made very 
 sweet music to those who heard them. 
 
 Then, as with the red, quartered ensign fluttering above 
 the head-lamp and each end platform crowded, the train 
 passed the last construction camp, a swarm of blue-shirted 
 toilers cast their hats into the air, and the scream of the 
 brakes was drowned in a mighty cheer, while I found 
 myself cheering vehemently among the rest. The blasts 
 ceased at the funnel, and as the slackening couplings clashed 
 while the cars rolled slowly through the eddying dust I 
 started in amaze, for there were two faces at the unglazed 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 197 
 
 windows of the decorated observation car which I knew 
 well, but had never expected to see there. Martin Crosfield 
 waved his hand towards me as the train stopped, my 
 cousin Alice stood beside him smiling a greeting, with 
 shame I remembered how long it was since I had sent news 
 to her. 
 
 4 Have you seen a ghost ? ' said Harry. < You are a 
 regular Don Juan. Who is that dainty damsel you are 
 honouring with such marked attention, to the neglect of 
 your lawful business. Don't you see the surveyor is 
 beckoning you ? ' 
 
 This was true, for, standing among a group of elderly 
 men whom I supposed were railway magnates or guests of 
 importance, the surveyor, to my astonishment, called me by 
 name. < I have been looking for you all along the track,' he 
 said. * Must present you to these gentlemen. We have 
 been discussing your work.' 
 
 Several of the party shook hands with me frankly, while 
 the names the surveyor mentioned were already well-known 
 in Winnipeg and Montreal, and have since become famous 
 throughout the Dominion. One with grey hair and an 
 indefinable stamp of authority touched my shoulder with a 
 friendly gesture as he said, 'I have had the pleasure of 
 meeting Mr. Crosfield before. We have some business 
 together, and expect you to join us in the opening cere- 
 mony. Meantime, you will excuse me Jardine, I'm 
 thankful it is your turn. There is evidently a deputation 
 coming.' 
 
 Preceded by tossing banners, and a band which made up 
 in vigour what it lacked in harmony, a procession approached 
 the train, and its leader commenced reading something 
 awkwardly from a written paper in time to an undercurrent 
 of semi-ironical encouragement. I saw some of the visitors' 
 eyes twinkle at his sentiments, but the most part listened 
 
198 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 with becoming gravity, while when a man with gold eye- 
 glasses had suitably replied there was a wild scuffle for even 
 a foothold on the train. One musician smote another, who 
 strove to oust him from a platform, with his cornet, which 
 promptly doubled in ; the big drum rolled down a declivity 
 with its owner hurling back wild language in frantic chase 
 of it ; then the locomotive snorted, and, with the bell 
 clanging, hauled the first train into the wooden town amid 
 the acclamations of the populace. After this I had an 
 opportunity of greeting my uncle, and we looked at each 
 other with mutual curiosity. Martin Crosfield seemed 
 thinner and older. His hair was freely sprinkled with white 
 now, but his eyes were as keen as ever, and I could read 
 approval in them. Then as Alice came towards us from 
 an adjoining car he laughed boisterously. 
 
 4 What do you think of your cousin, lass ? ' he said. 
 ' He left us an obstinate stripling, and this country has 
 hammered him into a man. Thou art a credit to the 
 land that bred thee, lad. Ralph, I wronged thee sorely, 
 like the blundering fool I am, and first of all I ask thy for- 
 giveness.' 
 
 Martin Crosfield could speak excellent modern English 
 when he liked, and usually did so, but, and in this he 
 resembled others of his kind, used the older form which is 
 still the tongue of Lancashire in times of excitement. I 
 made some haphazard answer, but it seemed appropriate, 
 for Alice smiled upon us as we shook hands heartily, while, 
 when I turned towards her a feeling of pity came upon 
 me she looked so wan and frail. Still her eyes were 
 bright with good will, and her voice seemed to tremble a 
 little as she said, * I am so glad to see you and your uncle 
 good friends again. He was very stupid, and I told him so.' 
 
 * You did, lass,' said Martin Crosfield, ' many a time, 
 and we had words upon it. We're a thick-headed people^ 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 199 
 
 Ralph, except for our womenkind, and if we're slow to 
 think evil we're slow to change. The Lord forgive me for 
 pig-headed folly.' 
 
 4 May I show you this wonderful township ? ' said one 
 of the railroad magnates approaching with a bow. * Mr. 
 Ralph Crosfield, I am desired to invite you to the celebra- 
 tion dinner. It's the chiefs especial wish you should be 
 present,' and he drew Alice away, leaving my uncle and 
 myself alone. 
 
 'We'll go and see the city, too,' said the former. 
 * Already the air of your mountains makes me young 
 again. Never heard how I cheated the doctors, eh ? they 
 badly wanted to bury me, but I'll tell you all about it 
 another time. Now I feel like a school lad out for a 
 holiday.' 
 
 He seemed in excellent spirits, and with me the bright 
 sunshine, uproarious rejoicings of the crowd, and the events 
 of the past half-hour combined to banish all depression, 
 while many an acquaintance smiled as he glanced at the 
 grizzled man in tourist tweeds who chatted gaily and gazed 
 about him with wondering eyes by my side. 
 
 4 You breed fine men over here,' he said, ' Never saw 
 a finer set anywhere. Bless me ! look at that one striding 
 towards us with the air of a general ; stamp of blood about 
 him ; where did he get it from ? And yet by the look of him 
 that fellow could do a hard day's work with any British 
 navvy.' 
 
 * He can,' I answered smiling, * and he was taught at a 
 British university. Now he hews logs for a living, and 
 sometimes works for me. Let me introduce you to my 
 uncle from Lancashire, Martin Crosfield Lance Chisholm.' 
 
 * Very glad to meet you, sir,' said the latter. c I 
 promised to look in on Morgan in the saloon ; will you 
 join us ? ' while when we elbowed our way through the 
 
200 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 noisy room towards the bar Chisholm proffered the usual 
 refreshment, and with a comprehensive wave of his hand 
 bade the tender, ' Set them up ! ' 
 
 Martin Crosfield stared bewilderedly at the row of 
 glasses deftly flung in front of him, and there was a roar of 
 laughter when, glancing at me appealingly, he said, * It's a 
 hospitable country ; but, bless us, Ralph ! are we expected to 
 drink all of this ? And I'm a churchwarden ! ' 
 
 A bearded giant in blue jean smote him on the shoulder. 
 
 * You've got the right grit in you, stranger,' he said. 
 
 * Start right in, and do the best you can,' while the old man 
 joined in the merriment when I explained that the invitation 
 included all in the vicinity who cared to accept of it. I left 
 him with Harry and Johnston presently because one of the 
 guests brought word that Alice desired to see me, and I 
 found her on the verandah of the best house the citizens 
 could place at the strangers' disposal. There were ladies 
 among them. I drew two chairs into a corner where a 
 flowering creeper screened half the trellis, and from where 
 we sat a wonderful vista rolled away before us. Alice 
 had changed but little, save that she seemed even more 
 delicate. I had changed much, and now as we chatted 
 with a resumption of ancient friendliness I wondered how 
 it was her innate goodness and wisdom had never impressed 
 me more in the old days. Few would have called her 
 handsome at first sight, but she was dowered with qualities 
 that were greater than beauty. 
 
 ' You will wonder what brought us here,' she said at 
 length, ' and your uncle forgot to tell you. Ever after 
 that unfortunate mistake he talked constantly about our 
 headstrong lad, but when he lay dangerously ill for weeks 
 together I was unable to write you. The doctors had 
 little hope most of the time, and one said he recovered 
 chiefly because he had made his mind up he would not die, 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 201 
 
 while when they forbade all thought of business and recom- 
 mended travel he made me buy the latest map of Canada, 
 and we are now staying at the new mountain chalet. My 
 own health has not improved latterly, and that helped to 
 decide him. We left the main line on the prairie and went 
 south in search of you, while when we could only discover 
 you had gone to British Columbia I am sorry to say my 
 father expressed his disappointment very forcibly but you 
 know his way. Then while we stayed at the chalet we 
 read about the opening of the new line, and he grew 
 excited at a mention of your name. " We'll go right 
 down and see that opening, lass," he said. " I've a letter to 
 one of the railroad leaders, and I'll make him invite us," 
 and so we came. When my father sets his heart on anything 
 he generally obtains it. Now we will talk about Canada.' 
 
 The flowering creeper partly hid us, but left openings 
 between, framing the prospect of glittering peak and forest- 
 filled valley with green tracery, while warm sunlight beat 
 through. So, in contrast to the past, I found it com- 
 forting to lounge away the time there with a fair com- 
 panion, while glancing down the glistening metals I told 
 how we had built the line. Alice was a good listener, 
 and the tale may have had its interest, while and this is not 
 wholly due to vanity no man talks better than when he 
 speaks of the work he is proud of to a sympathising woman. 
 It was no disloyalty to Grace, but when once or twice she 
 laid her thin hand on my arm I liked to have it there, and 
 see the smile creep into her eyes when I told of Lee's 
 doings. So the minutes fled, until at last a shadow fell 
 upon us, and I saw Grace pass close by behind her father. 
 For an instant her eyes met mine, then I felt that they rested 
 on my companion, whose head was turned towards me con- 
 fidentially and away from Grace, and I fumed inwardly, for 
 she spoke to the Colonel and passed on without a greeting. 
 
202 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 4 That is surely Miss Carrington,' said Alice looking 
 up later with a faintly perceptible trace of resentment. 
 * Why did she not speak to either of us ? ' 
 
 It was a troublesome question, because I could not well 
 explain what my exact relations were with Grace, nor how 
 her father's presence might perhaps restrain her, and I was 
 glad when Martin Crosfield suddenly joined us. It seemed 
 fated that circumstances should array themselves against 
 me. The rest of the afternoon was spent in hilarious 
 merriment, and, though as a rule the inhabitants of that 
 region are a peaceful folk, a few among them celebrated 
 the occasion by breaking windows with pistol shots and 
 similar vagaries. Still, even those who owned the glass 
 took it in good part, and as darkness fell considerably 
 more of the populace than it was ever intended to hold 
 squeezed themselves into the wooden building which served 
 as city hall, while the rest sat in the dust outside it, and 
 cheered for no particular reason at regular intervals. 
 
 The best banquet the district could furnish was served 
 in the hall, and I sat opposite the surveyor near the head 
 of one table, with my uncle and Alice close by, and Grace 
 and Colonel Carrington not far away, for the storekeepers 
 who were married brought their wives too. Cedar sprays 
 and branches of balsam draped the pillars, the red folds of 
 the beaver ensign hung above our heads, and as usual the 
 assembly was democratic in character. Men in broadcloth 
 and blue jean sat side by side, rail-layer, speculator, and 
 politician crowded on one another, with stalwart axe-men, 
 some of whom were better taught than either, and perhaps a 
 few city absconders, to keep them company. But there was 
 only good fellowship between them, while the enthusiasm 
 increased with each orator's efforts, until the surveyor made 
 in his own brusque fashion, which was marked by true 
 Western absence of bashfulness, the speech of the evening. 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 203 
 
 Some one who had once served the English press sent a 
 report to a Victoria journal, of which I have a copy, but no 
 print could reproduce the essence of the man's vigorous 
 personality which vibrated through it. 
 
 4 What built up the Western Dominion, called leagues 
 of wheat from the prairie, and opened the gate of the 
 mountains opened it wide to all, with a welcome to the 
 Pacific Slope paradise ? ' he said. * The conundrum's easy 
 just the railroad. Good markets and mills, say the city 
 men, but where do the markets come in if you can't get at 
 them ? What is it that's binding London over the breadth 
 of Canada with China and Japan only the level steel road 
 I have the honour to be working on. You said, " We've 
 gold and silver and timber, but we're wanting bread, 
 machines, and men." We said, "We'll send the loco- 
 motive ; it will bring you them," and this railroad keeps 
 its promise ; keeps it every time. So we cut down the 
 forest, and we blew up the mighty rocks, drove a smooth 
 pathway through the heart of the ranges and now its 
 your part to fill the freight cars to the bursting. 
 
 ' We'll bring you good men in legions ; we'll take out 
 your high-grade ore, but you'll remember this railroad's 
 building wasn't all luxury. Some of those who laid the 
 ties sleep soundly beside them, some lost their money, 
 and now when you have thanked the leaders in Ottawa, 
 Montreal, and Victoria, there are others to whom your 
 thanks are due the men who stayed right there with their 
 contracts in spite of fire and snow, staking dollar after dollar 
 on a terribly risky game. There were considerable of 
 them, but most of you know this one I'm sharing my 
 
 laurels with him ' and as a thunder of applause which 
 
 followed the halt he made died away he turned towards 
 me, saying, ' Stand right up, Contractor Crosfield they're 
 shouting for you.' 
 
204 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 There was further clamour, but I scarcely heard it, and 
 longed that the floor of the hall would open beneath me. 
 Still, there was clearly no escape, and I stood up under the 
 lamp-light, noticing, as one often notices trifles at such times, 
 how like a navvy's my right hand was as it trembled a little 
 on the white table-cloth. A sea of faces were turned 
 towards me expectantly, and I pitied their owners' dis- 
 appointment, but I only saw four persons plainly my uncle, 
 and Alice, who flashed an encouraging glance at me, Colonel 
 Carrington looking up with a semi-ironical smile, and 
 Grace. I could not tell what her expression meant. 
 
 I would sooner have faced a forest fire than that 
 assembly, but at least my remarks were brief, and I felt on 
 firmer ground when instead of it memories of the rock- 
 barred track and lonely camps rose up before me, and there 
 was a shout at the lame conclusion, c We gave our bond 
 and we tried to keep it, as the rest did too. We were poor 
 men all of us, and we are poor men still ; but everyone 
 owes something to the land that gives him bread. So we 
 tried to pay back a little, and perhaps we failed ; but at 
 least the road is made, and we look forward hoping that a 
 full tide of prosperity will flow into this country along the 
 rails we laid.' 
 
 The applause swelled and deepened when Harry 
 Lorraine stood up, silver-tongued, graceful, smiling, and 
 called forth roars of laughter by his happy wit ; while 
 when he had finished Martin Crosfield, who was red in 
 the face, stretched his arm across the table towards me, 
 and held up a goblet, saying : * For the honour of the old 
 country ! Well done, both of you ! ' 
 
 ' The fun is nearly over. We can talk business,' said 
 the grey-haired man from Winnipeg, on my right side. ' I 
 may say we are satisfied with the way you have served us, 
 and, though a bargain is a bargain, don't wish to take an 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 205 
 
 unfair advantage of anyone ; so the surveyor will meet you 
 over the extras. He is waiting with the schedule, and by 
 his advice we're open to let you this contract for hewn 
 lumber supplies. Here's a rough memo ; the quantity 
 is large, and that is our idea of a reasonable figure.' 
 
 I glanced at the paper with open pleasure, but the other 
 checked me as I began to speak. * Glad you will take it ! 
 It's a commercial transaction, and not a matter for thanks,' 
 he said. * This road has the reputation of getting good 
 value for its money, and means to keep it. Settle details 
 with the surveyor.' 
 
 I spent some time with the latter, who smiled drily as 
 he said, * Not quite cleaned out yet ? Well, it's seldom 
 wise to be too previous, and you can't well come to grief 
 over the new deal. Wanted again, confound them ! Sail 
 in and prosper, Crosfield.' 
 
 He left a payment order which somewhat surprised me, 
 and when I stood under the stars wondering if all that had 
 happened was not too good to be true, Harry came up in 
 search of me. I grabbed him by the shoulder and shook 
 the paper before him, saying : * Our friend has acted more 
 than fairly. We can pay all debts off, and I have just 
 concluded a big new, profitable deal ! ' 
 
 ' That will keep,' said Harry, laughing ; * another 
 matter won't. They're going to haul out the visitors' picnic 
 straight away, and they show good judgment. A sleeper 
 on the main line will form a much more peaceful resting- 
 place than this elated hamlet to-night. Your uncle wants 
 to see you, and Miss Carrington is waiting beside the cars.' 
 I found Alice and Martin Crosfield beside the track, the 
 latter fuming impatiently, while the locomotive bell sum- 
 moned the passengers ; but as I joined them Grace walked 
 into the group before she recognised us. Alice was the 
 first to speak, and I saw the two faces plainly under the 
 
206 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 lighted car windows, as she said : * I am glad to meet you 
 again, Miss Carrington, and am sorry I missed you this 
 afternoon. I was too busy giving my cousin good advice 
 it's a privilege I have enjoyed from childhood to recognise 
 you at first.' 
 
 Grace's expression changed, and I thanked Alice in my 
 heart for what I believe few women would have done. 
 Then there was a shriek of the whistle, and a bustle about 
 the train ; while as Grace moved towards the car she said 
 softly in passing : c It was a fitting consummation. Better 
 times are coming, Ralph, and I am proud of you.' 
 
 < Am I never to speak to thee, lad ? ' said Martin. 
 
 * There's nothing would please me better than to wait and 
 see the fun out ; but Alice, she won't hear of it. Come 
 and see us, and stay a month if you can. Anyway, come 
 to-morrow or the day after. I have lots to tell thee. Oh, 
 hang them ! they're starting. Alice, wouldn't that lady 
 take charge of thee while I stay back ? ' 
 
 < Get into the car, father,' said the girl, with a laugh. 
 
 * You mustn't forget you're the people's warden. Good- 
 bye, Ralph, until we see you.' 
 
 4 All a-board ! ' called a loud voice, the couplings 
 tightened, and I waved my hat as, followed by a last cheer, 
 the train rolled away. 
 
 ' Is it true that all has been settled satisfactorily ? ' asked 
 Harry, presently, and when I answered, added : c Then 
 we're going back to finish the evening. Johnston's to 
 honour the company with stump speeches and all kinds of 
 banjo eccentricities. You are getting too sober and serious, 
 Ralph ; come along.' 
 
 I refused laughingly, and spent an hour at least walking 
 up and down through the cool dimness that hung over the 
 track to dissipate the excitement of a day of varied emotions. 
 Then I went back to our shanty and slept soundly, until 
 
THE OPENING OF THE LINE 207 
 
 about daybreak I was partly wakened by the feasters re- 
 turning with discordant songs, and promptly went to sleep 
 again. I never heard exactly what happened in the wooden 
 town that night, but there was wreckage in its streets next 
 morning, and when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw 
 was our partner Johnston slumbering peacefully with his 
 head among the fragments of his shattered banjo. 
 
208 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XIX 
 
 A GENEROUS OFFER 
 
 IT was late in the afternoon next day when Harry and I 
 sat figuring in our shanty, while Johnston lay on a heap of 
 cedar twigs sucking at his pipe and encouraging us languidly. 
 < 1 never could stand figures, and that's perhaps why I'm 
 poor,' he said. ' Go on, you are doing famously, and, 
 though Ralph can't add up correctly to save his life, I'll take 
 your word for it.' 
 
 He formed a characteristic picture of the free lance as he 
 lay there, bronzed and blonde-bearded, with his massy limbs 
 disposed in an attitude of easy grace, waiting the result with 
 a careless unconcern until Harry flung a long boot at him as 
 a signal for silence. 
 
 * As the surveyor told you, we can't well lose money on 
 this last venture, even if we wanted to,' said Harry at 
 length. ' You'll observe I'm almost getting superstitious. 
 Now, on cashing the order, we can repay your loan, keep- 
 ing back sufficient to meet emergencies, while with the rest 
 one of us could return to Fairmead and plough every avail- 
 able acre for next spring's sowing. Many things suggest 
 that you are the one to go. Johnston and I with the others 
 could get the timber out during the winter we have 
 worked in the snow before and I would join you in spring. 
 That, however, again raises a point which must be settled 
 once for all. Are we to hold on to our first ambition, or 
 turn contractors ? ' 
 
A GENEROUS OFFER 209 
 
 Again there was a silence through which the roar of the 
 river reached us brokenly, and for some minutes I breathed 
 the smell of hot dust and resinous twigs that entered the 
 open doorway. Then I said, * I hold on to the first,' and 
 once more Harry answered, * And I stand by you.' 
 
 Simultaneously we glanced at Johnston, who looked up 
 with the same gay indifference he had manifested when we 
 floundered half-fed, knee-deep in slush of snow. * I'll save 
 you unpleasant explanations,' he said. * I'm a stormy petrel, 
 and the monotonous life of a farmer would pall upon me, so 
 I'll see you through the railroad contract, and then well, 
 I'll thank you for a space of pleasant comradeship, and go 
 on my way again. The mountain province is sufficiently 
 good for me, and some day I'll either find a gold mine in 
 it, or, more likely, a grave. If not, you can count upon a 
 visit whenever I am hard up and hungry.' 
 
 The words were typical of the man, though their under- 
 current of melancholy troubled me ; but, for we knew he 
 spoke the truth in regard to the farming, the matter was 
 settled so. I would much have preferred that Harry should 
 return to Fairmead, but it was clear that the task most suited 
 me, and perhaps Johnston guessed my reluctance, for he said 
 playfully, * Is not banishment worse than snow slides or the 
 high peak's frost, and what are all the flowers of the prairie 
 to the blood-red rose of the valley that was grafted from 
 Lancastrian stock ? ' 
 
 Thereupon Harry deftly dropped an almost empty flour 
 bag upon his head, and the consultation broke up amid a 
 cloud of white dust. * This,' said Johnston, * is the begin- 
 ning of riches. But two days ago, he would have carefully 
 swept up the fragments to make flapjacks of.' 
 
 Thus it came about that next morning I boarded 
 the main line express, and travelled first class with a special 
 pass, while as luck would have it the conductor, who evinced 
 
 p 
 
210 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 an unusual civility when he glanced at the autograph thereon, 
 was the same man I had worsted the memorable night when 
 I arrived a penniless stranger upon the prairie. c If you 
 want anything in these cars you'll let me know,' he said. 
 
 4 1 will,' I answered, thrusting back the wide-brimmed 
 hat as I looked at him. ' The last time we travelled toge- 
 ther you were not so accommodating. We had a little 
 dispute at Elktail one night in the snow.' 
 
 ' General Jackson ! ' said the conductor. ' But you 
 didn't travel with that name on your ticket then. Say, it 
 was all a mistake and in the way of business. You won't 
 bear malice ? ' 
 
 He vanished without awaiting an answer, and I leaned 
 back on the cushions chuckling softly, after which, fishing 
 out my pipe, I sank into a soothing reverie. There was no 
 doubt that this kind of travelling had its advantages, and it 
 appeared equally certain I had earned a few days' luxurious 
 holiday, while as the blue wreaths curled up the towering 
 pines outside the windows changed into the gaunt chimneys 
 of smoky Lancashire. Then they dwindled to wind- 
 dwarfed birches, and I was lashing the frantic broncos as 
 they raced the hail for the shelter of a bluff, until once more 
 it seemed to be autumn and a breadth of yellow wheat stood 
 high above the prairie, while the rhythmic beat of wheels 
 changed to the rattle of the elevators lifting in the golden 
 grain. Here, however, roused by a scream of the whistle 
 as the long train swept through a little station, I found the 
 pipe lay among feathery ashes on my knee, and an hour had 
 passed, while I knew that under the touch of sleep my 
 thoughts had turned mechanically into the old channel. 
 
 It was towards noon when I left the cars at a station 
 looking down upon a broad reach of sunlit river which 
 wound past maples, willows, and a few clearings through a 
 deep valley. Martin Crosfield and Alice met me on the 
 
A GENEROUS OFFER 211 
 
 platform, and his greeting was hearty : * We have watched 
 every train since we last saw you,' he said. ' Alice, though 
 she won't own it, has been anxious, too. Never spent such 
 an interesting time as I did up yonder, and we're going to 
 make it pleasant for you here. Of course, you'll stay with 
 us a week or two ? ' 
 
 The old man's face fell as I answered that time was 
 pressing, and I must return the following day, while for some 
 reason Alice turned hers aside, but she laughed pleasantly 
 as she said, ' Your uncle has been talking of nothing else the 
 last two days, and I am glad I did not leave him with those 
 wild men, some of whom seemed very nice, however, in the 
 rejoicing city. Meantime, I think lunch is waiting us.' 
 
 We reached the pretty chalet hotel, which was hardly 
 completed then, though it is a famous resort now, and it 
 was a new experience, after faring hardly upon doughy 
 flapjacks and reisty pork of our own cooking, to sit at a 
 well-ordered table covered with spotless linen. Still better 
 did it seem to see Alice smiling upon me across the flowers 
 in the glasses and sparkling silver, and Martin Crosfield's 
 cheery face as, while he pressed the good things upon me, 
 we chatted of old times and England. It is only through 
 adversity and hardship one learns to fully appreciate such 
 an interlude. 
 
 My uncle had, however, not recovered his strength yet, 
 and when later his eyes grew heavy Alice whispered that 
 he usually slept in the heat of afternoon, and I was glad to 
 follow her into a garden newly hewn out of the forest. 
 We sat there in scented shadow with the song of rippling 
 water in our ears under the branches of giant redwoods, 
 and I remember taking Alice into my confidence about the 
 mysterious loan. She listened with interest, and once more 
 I noticed how ill she looked as she said thoughtfully, < You 
 
 p 2 
 
212 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 have more good friends than you know of, Ralph ; and it 
 was of service to you, was it not ? ' 
 
 * Yes,' I answered with emphasis. c Of the greatest 
 service ! Perhaps it saved us from ruin, but at first I 
 almost decided not to touch it.' 
 
 Alice laughed, a clear laugh that mingled musically 
 with the call of a wood pigeon in the green dimness above, 
 before she said, * You need hardly tell me that all great 
 men have their weaknesses ; but seriously, Ralph, don't you 
 think if the good friend desired to keep it a secret it is 
 hardly fair to try to find him out ? No, from what you 
 tell me, I hardly think you will unravel the mystery while 
 the donor lender, I mean lives. Besides, even if you 
 never do, you can repay it by assisting some hard-pressed 
 comrade in distress. Yes, I should fancy the person who 
 lent it would prefer that way. However, I want to tell you 
 about your sister Aline. She has grown into a handsome 
 young woman, too handsome almost to fight her own way 
 unprotected in the world, but she is like yourself in some 
 respects, and will neither live with us nor let your uncle 
 help her. She is teaching now do you know what 
 women are paid for teaching in some private schools ? And 
 I don't think she is happy. The last time I saw her I 
 almost cried after it, though she would only tell me she was 
 choking for sunlight and air. Even her dress was worn and 
 shabby. Ralph, you know how old friends we are, and I 
 have been wondering you really must be sensible if I 
 could help her through yourself.' 
 
 Something stung me to the quick, and I clenched one 
 hand savagely, for in the grim uphill battle I had nearly 
 forgotten Aline. It was so long since I had seen her, while 
 when each day's hard work was done we were almost too 
 tired to think. Still, my brow was crimson with shame when 
 I remembered that my sister went, it might be, scantily fed, 
 
A GENEROUS OFFER 213 
 
 while what plans I made were all for my own future and 
 Grace. 
 
 * That is my part,' I answered hotly. ' She should have 
 written frankly to her brother.' But Alice stopped me, 
 saying, * You do not understand women, Ralph, and she 
 knew you were struggling too. Neither do I see how you 
 can help her now, and it would be a favour to me. It is 
 beyond the power of any vigorous man with a task for 
 every moment to realise what it means to sit still weak and 
 helpless and know that even wealth cannot bring respite 
 from constant pain. Active pleasure, work, and health 
 have been denied by fate to me, and my life cannot be 
 a long one. It may be very short, though your uncle will 
 not allow himself to believe it, and I long to do a little good 
 while I can. Ralph, won't you help me ? ' 
 
 With a shock, I realised she only spoke plain truth. 
 Indeed, her thin eager face contracted then, and ever after- 
 wards I was glad that moved by some impulse I stooped 
 and reverently kissed the fragile hand. * You were always 
 somebody's good angel, cousin,' I said. * But I am her 
 brother, and this time I can help. I am going back to the 
 farm at Fairmead, and, if she is longing for open air, do you 
 think she would come out and keep house for me ? ' 
 
 Alice blushed as she drew the white fingers away, but 
 she showed her practical bent by a cross-examination, and 
 eventually agreed that though there were objections the 
 plan might be feasible. Then she said, ' You will write 
 her next mail, and I will write too no, it would be better 
 if I waited a little. Why ? You must trust my dis- 
 cretion even your great mind cannot grasp everything. 
 Now I want you to tell me all about Miss Carrington.' 
 
 Alice had a way with her that unlocked the secrets of 
 many hearts, and the shadows had lengthened across the 
 lawn before the narrative was finished, while I can still 
 
214 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 picture her lying back in the lounge with hands clasped 
 before her, a line of pain on her brow, and humming birds 
 flashing athwart the blossoms of the arrowhead that 
 drooped above her. Then, glancing straight before her 
 towards the ethereal snows, she said with a sigh : ' I can see 
 trouble in store for both of you, but I envy her. She has 
 health and strength, and a purpose to help her to endure. 
 Ralph, there is always an end to our trials if one can wait 
 for it, and you have both something to wait for. Hold 
 fast, and I think you will win her and you know who will 
 wish you the utmost happiness.' 
 
 Presently we went down together to the boulders of the 
 river, and watched the steelhead salmon pass on in shadowy 
 battalions as they forced their way inland against the 
 green-stained current, while Alice, whose store of general 
 knowledge was surprising, said meditatively : 
 
 * Theirs is a weary journey inland from the sea, over 
 shoal, against white rapid, and over spouting fall, towards 
 the hidden valleys among the glaciers, and most of 
 them die, don't they, when they get there ? There's 
 a symbol of life for you, but I sometimes think that, 
 whether it's men or salmon, the fighters have the best 
 of it.' 
 
 We talked of birds and fishes, and many other things, 
 while once a big blue grouse perched on a fir bough and 
 looked down fearlessly within reach of her, though when 
 the wrinkles of pain had vanished Alice seemed happy to sit 
 still in the warm sunshine speaking of nothing at all. Still, 
 even in the silence, the bond of friendship between us was 
 drawn tighter than it had ever been, and I knew I felt 
 better and stronger for my cousin's company. 
 
 It was some time after dinner, and the woods were 
 darkening, when Martin Crosfield and I sat together on the 
 carved verandah. There was wine on the table before us, 
 
A GENEROUS OFFER 215 
 
 and the old man raised his glass somewhat hurriedly, though 
 his face betokened unmistakable surprise when again I 
 mentioned the loan. Then he lit a very choice cigar, and 
 when I had done the same leaned forward looking at me 
 through the smoke, as changing by degrees into the speech 
 of the spinning country, he said : 
 
 ' You'll listen and heed well, Ralph. You went out to 
 Canada against my will, lad, and I bided my time. " He'll 
 be either badly beaten or win his footing there, and either 
 will do him good," I said. If you had been beaten I would 
 have seen to it my only brother's son should never go 
 wanting. Nay, wait 'til I have finished, but it would not 
 have been the same. I had never a soft side for the beaten 
 weakling, and I'm glad I bided. Now, when you've proved 
 yourself what Tom's son should be, this is what I offer 
 thee. There's the mill ; I'm old and done, and while 
 there's one of the old stock forward I would not turn it 
 over to be moiled and muddled by a limited company. 
 Saving, starving, scheming, I built it bit by bit, and to-day 
 there's no cotton spun in Lancashire to beat the Orb brand. 
 There'll be plenty of good men under thee, and I'm waiting 
 to make thee acting partner. Ay, it's old and done I'm 
 growing, and, Ralph Crosfield, I'm telling thee what none 
 but her ever guessed before I would have sold my soul for 
 a kind word from thy mother.' 
 
 For a time, almost bewildered by the splendid offer, I 
 stared blankly into the eddying smoke, while my thoughts 
 refused to concentrate themselves, and I first wondered why 
 he had made it me. Now I know it was partly due to 
 the staunch pride of race and family which once held the 
 yeomen of the dales together in foray and feud, and partly 
 to a fondness I had never wholly realised for myself. Then 
 it became apparent that I could not accept it. Grace would 
 pine in smoke-blackened Lancashire, as she had told me, 
 
216 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and I knew the life of mill and office would grow in- 
 tolerable, while the man who acted as Martin Crosfield's 
 partner would have small respite from it. There was Harry 
 also, who had linked his future with my great project. But 
 the offer was tempting after the constant financial pressure, 
 and for another minute the words failed me. 
 
 ' 1 am waiting thy answer, lad,' said Martin Crosfield. 
 
 Then I stood up before him as I said : * You are 
 generous, uncle more than generous, and it grieves me 
 that the answer can only be no. Give me a few moments 
 to explain why this must be so. I could never settle down 
 to the shut-in life, and half-hearted work would only be 
 robbery. You would demand his best from your partner, 
 wouldn't you ? ' 
 
 4 1 would ; brain and body,' said the old man, grimly 
 watching me with hawk-like eyes, for there was a steely 
 underside to his character, and I leaned one elbow on the 
 back of a chair as I continued : ' I could not give it you. 
 Besides, I have set my heart on winning my own fortune 
 out of the prairie I am in honour bound to my partner 
 Lorraine in this, and I can never leave Canada until the 
 lady I hope to marry some day goes with me. You saw 
 her at the opening ceremony Miss Carrington.' 
 
 Martin Crosfield smote the table, which, when excited, 
 was a favourite trick of his. ' Thy wife ! ' he said stupidly. 
 c Art pledged to marry Miss Carrington of all women, lad ? 
 And does she care for thee ? ' 
 
 ' I trust so,' I answered slowly, dreading the next 
 question, which came promptly : ' And what does the iron- 
 fisted Colonel say to thee for a son-in-law ? ' 
 
 It took me five minutes at least to explain, and I felt 
 - my anomalous position keenly during the process, while^ 
 when the story was finished, Martin Crosfield laughed a 
 harsh dry laugh. 
 
A GENEROUS OFFER 217 
 
 ' Ralph, thou'rt rash and headstrong and a condemned 
 fool besides,' he said. * Thee would never have made a 
 partner in the Orb mill. Thou'rt Tom's bairn all through, 
 but I like thy spirit. Stand up there, straight and steady, 
 so, while I look at thee. Never a son of my own, lad ; 
 thou'rt the last of the Lingdale folk, and I had set my heart 
 on thee. Ay, I'm the successful spinner, and I paid for my 
 success. It's hard to keep one's hands clean and be first in 
 the business, but there's no one better knows the sign, and 
 travel, and maybe Miss Carrington, has put that sign on 
 thee. Once I hoped it's past and done with, I'm foolish 
 as well as old ; but as that can never be, I'm only wishing 
 the best of luck to thee.' 
 
 He gulped down a glass of the red wine and wiped his 
 forehead, while his voice had a hard note in it as he con- 
 tinued : * Her father's a man of iron, but there's iron, too, in 
 thee. I had my part in the people's struggle when Lan- 
 cashire led the way, and then after a trick at the election I 
 hated him and all his kind. I've a better reason since for 
 hating him. We can beat them in brain and muscle, our 
 courage is as good as theirs, and yet, if you weld the two 
 kinds together, there's not their equal in the world. He's 
 proud of his robber forbears, but there was one of thine 
 drew a good bow with the archers at Crecy. Ralph, thy 
 news has stirred me into vapouring, and the man who built 
 the Orb mill is prating like a child. Ay, I'm grieved to 
 the heart and I'm glad. Fill up thy glass to the brim, 
 lad here's God bless her and thee.' 
 
 There followed a clink of glasses, and some of the wine 
 was spilt. I could see the red drops widen on the snowy 
 tablecloth, and then Martin Crosfield gripped my hand in a 
 manner which showed no traces of senile decay, saying 
 somewhat huskily as he turned away, * I want time to think 
 it over, but I'll tell thee this. Hold fast with both hands 
 
2i 8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 to thy purpose, take thy thrashings and wait, and if ever 
 thou'rt hard pressed, with thy back right on the wall, thou'lt 
 remember Martin Crosfield or damn thy mulishness.' 
 
 They gave me the same advice all round, and perhaps it 
 was as well, for of all the hard things which fall to the lot 
 of the man who strives with his eyes turned forward the 
 hardest is to wait. Still, it was something to have won 
 Martin Crosfield's approval, for I had hitherto found him an 
 unsympathetic and critical man, who bore in his person 
 traces of the battle he had fought. There were also those 
 who called him lucky ; but these had lain softly and fared 
 well while he starved and wrought, winning his way by 
 inches until he built up out of nothing the splendid trade 
 of the Orb mill. 
 
 We were none of us talkative that evening, but fervent 
 good wishes followed me when I went out with the east- 
 bound train next day, and until the dusky pines hid her, 
 closing round the track, I saw cousin Alice's slight figure 
 with her face turned after the departing train. 
 
219 
 
 XX 
 
 THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 
 
 WE were busy during the two days that followed my return, 
 for there was much to be arranged ; but at last all was 
 settled satisfactorily. The surveyor had obtained me free 
 transport for two teams that would not be needed back 
 to the prairie, and Harry had promised to take charge of 
 operations in my place. He was young for the position, or 
 would have been considered so in England, but across the 
 Atlantic much of the hard work is done by very young 
 men, and I could trust his discretion, so only one thing 
 remained to prevent my immediate return to Fairmead. I 
 must see Grace before I went, and after considering the 
 subject at length I determined in the first case to ride 
 boldly up to the Colonel's ranch and demand an interview. 
 Even if this were refused me I should not be worse off than 
 before, and I had found that often in times of uncertainty 
 fortune follows the boldest move. 
 
 I rode out under the starlight from our camp, for if 
 all went well I hoped to turn my back on the mountain 
 province by sunset, and if Harry guessed how I proposed to 
 spend the interval he made no direct reference, though he 
 said with unusual emphasis at parting, * I wish you good 
 luck, Ralph in everything.' 
 
 ' I'll second that,' said Johnston, wringing my hand as I 
 bent down from the saddle, for they had walked beside me 
 down the trail ; then I shook the bridle and they vanished 
 
220 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 into the gloom behind. It may have been mere coinci- 
 dence, or a conceit of Johnston's playful fancy, for when I 
 dipped into the valley his voice came ringing after me, * Oh, 
 who will o'er the downs so free ! Oh, who will with me 
 ride ? ' 
 
 The next line or two was lost in a clatter of hoofs on 
 shingle, and then once more the words rose clearly above the 
 dewy pines, ' To win a blooming bride ! ' More of the 
 ballad followed, for Johnston trolled it lustily as he strode 
 back to the shanty, and the refrain haunted me as I swept 
 on through the cool dimness under the conifers, for the lilt 
 of it went fittingly with the clang of iron on quartz out- 
 crop and jingle of steel. It also chimed with my own 
 thoughts the while, and the last lines broke from my lips 
 triumphantly when we raced out of the dusky woods into the 
 growing light under a giant rampart of mountains, behind 
 whose peaks a red flush broadened in the east. The mists 
 rolled back like a curtain, the shadows fled, and the snow, 
 throwing off its deathly pallor, put on splendours of incan- 
 descence to greet the returning day. Nowhere does dawn 
 come more grandly than in that ice-ribbed wilderness of 
 crag and forest ; but as I watched it then I accepted the 
 wondrous spectacle merely as an augury of brighter days for 
 Grace and myself, and for a last time the ballad echoed 
 across the silent bush as I drove the good horse splashing 
 through a ford. 
 
 It was afternoon when, much more sedately, for the 
 beast was tired and I had misgivings now, we splashed 
 through another river into sight of Colonel Carrington's 
 dwelling, whose shingled roof was faintly visible among the 
 pines ahead ; while once more it seemed that fortune or 
 destiny had been kind to me. A white dress moved slowly 
 among the rough-barked trunks, and because a thick carpet 
 of withered needles deadened the sound of hoofs I came 
 
THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 221 
 
 almost upon Grace before she saw me. She was gazing 
 upon the ground ; the long lashes hid her eyes, but I fancied 
 a suspicious moisture glistened under them, and there was 
 trouble stamped upon her face. Then as I swung myself 
 from the saddle she ran towards me with a startled cry and 
 stopped irresolutely. But I had my arms about her even as 
 she turned half-away, and said eagerly : * Something has 
 happened, sweetheart. You must tell me what it is.' 
 
 She sighed, and, trembling a little, clung more tightly 
 to my arm when, after tethering the horse, we walked 
 slowly side by side through the great fir branches' shadow. 
 c 1 was longing for you so,' she said. ' As you say, some- 
 thing has happened, and there is no one I can tell my 
 troubles to. What I feared has happened, for this morning 
 Geoffrey Ormond asked me to marry him.' 
 
 4 Confusion to him ! ' I broke out, driving one heel deep 
 into the fir needles ; and when Grace checked me, laying 
 both hands on her shoulders, I held her fast as I asked, 
 * And what did you say ? ' 
 
 She smiled faintly as she answered, ' This is not the age 
 of savagery, Ralph ; your fingers are bruising me. What 
 answer could I give him after my promise to you ? I said, No.' 
 
 4 Then the folly is done with, and there will be an end 
 to his presumption,' I answered hotly. But Grace sighed 
 again as she said : 
 
 ' No, this is not the ending. You are fierce and 
 stubborn and headstrong and I like to have you so ; 
 Geoffrey is cool and quiet and slow, and, I must say it, 
 a chivalrous gentleman. I could not tell him all ; but he 
 took my answer gracefully, saying he would respect it in 
 the meantime, but would never give up hope. Ralph, 
 I almost wonder whether you would have acted as be- 
 comingly.' 
 
 Perhaps it was said to gain time ; and, if so, I took the 
 
222 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 bait and answered with bitterness : * He has been trained and 
 polished and accustomed to the smooth side of life. Is it 
 strange he has learned a little courtesy ? Again I say, 
 confound him ! I am of the people, stained with the soil, 
 and roughened by a labourer's toil ; but, Grace, you know 
 I would gladly give my life to serve you.' 
 
 * You are as God and your work has made you,' was 
 the quiet answer ; and, drawing closer to me, she added, 
 ' And I would not have you otherwise. Don't lapse into 
 heroics, Ralph. What you did that day in the canon will 
 speak better than words for you. Instead you must listen 
 while I tell you the whole story. As it was with you and 
 your cousin, Geoffrey and I we are distantly related 
 too were always good friends. He was older, and, as you 
 say, polished, and in many ways I looked up to him, while 
 my father was trustee for him under a will, and when he 
 joined the Army continued, I understand, to manage his 
 property. Still and I know now I must have been 
 blind I never looked upon Geoffrey as as a possible 
 husband until twelve months ago. Since then my eyes 
 have been opened, and I understood many things most 
 of all that my father wished it, for he has told me so, and 
 that Geoffrey is heavily interested in his ventures financially. 
 I know he has sunk large sums of money in the mine, and 
 they have found no ore, while I heard a chance whisper of 
 a mortgage on Carrington. Yet Geoffrey has never even 
 hinted to me that he was more than a small shareholder. 
 My father has grown aged and worn latterly, though only 
 those who know him well could tell he was carrying a 
 heavy load of anxiety. He has always been kind to me, 
 and it hurt, horribly, to refuse to meet his wishes when he 
 almost pleaded with me.' 
 
 The scent of summer seemed to have faded out of the 
 air, the golden rays that beat in between the great trunks 
 
THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 223 
 
 lost their brightness, and only one way of escape from the 
 situation presented itself to me as again the refrain of the 
 ballad jingled through my memory. It was also a way 
 that suited me. If Grace and I could not be married 
 with the Colonel's consent, we could without it ; and I 
 thanked Providence that she need suffer no actual hardships 
 at Fairmead now, while with her advice and encouragement 
 the future looked brilliant. We could reach the flag 
 station in two hours if we started at once. And then, 
 with a chill, I remembered my promise to the Colonel, 
 and that I stood, as it were, on a parole of honour. Yet 
 a rash promise seemed a small thing to wreck two lives 
 upon ; and, saying nothing, I set my teeth tightly as I 
 remembered my father once saying long ago, ' I am 
 thankful that, if we have our failings, none of us has ever 
 broken a solemn promise.' Martin Crosfield too and 
 some called him keen, in distinction to scrupulous I 
 remembered, accepted a draft he had been clearly tricked 
 into agreeing to, and duly met it on maturity, though, 
 when the affair was almost forgotten, he made the man 
 who drew it suffer. And so the inward struggle went on, 
 until there were beads of perspiration on my forehead and 
 Grace said, * Ralph, you look deathly. Are you ill ? ' 
 
 I did not answer, and was afterwards thankful that 
 perhaps fate intervened to save me, for I almost felt that 
 Grace would have yielded to pressure then. There were 
 footsteps in the forest, and, as instinctively we drew back 
 behind a fir, Colonel Carrington walked savagely down an 
 open glade. He passed close to us, and, believing himself 
 alone in that solitude, had thrown off the mask. His face 
 was drawn and haggard, his hands were clenched, and for 
 once I read fear of something in his eyes ; while Grace 
 trembled again as she watched him, and neither spoke 
 until he vanished among the firs. 
 
224 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 'Ralph,' she said quietly, 'I have twice already seen 
 him so when he did not know it. Perhaps it was meant 
 that this should happen, for now I know that even were 
 there no other obstacle I could not leave him. Sweetheart, 
 could you expect the full duty to her husband from the 
 woman who had signally failed in her duty to others ? ' 
 And with a groan I answered : 
 
 * No. But is there no hope in the present ? nothing 
 that I at least can do ? ' 
 
 She drew my face down towards her as she answered, 
 * Only work and wait ; ' and her voice sank to a low 
 whisper. ' Heaven forgive me if I wrong him in telling 
 you. But there are no secrets between us, and you saw 
 his face. I have a horrible fear that inadvertently he has 
 lost much of Geoffrey's money in rash ventures, as well as 
 his own. Geoffrey would never trouble about finance, and 
 insisted on leaving his property in his hands, while, though 
 my father is fond of speculation and control, I am afraid he 
 is a poor man of business.' 
 
 She shivered all through, and said nothing for a space, 
 while I tried to soothe her ; then added slowly, * I must 
 stand beside him in this trouble ; and if the worst comes 
 I do not ask you to leave me it would be wrong and 
 foolish, and I know you too well. But, though I have 
 read how many women have done such things, I will never 
 marry Geoffrey. It would be a crime to myself and him, 
 and he is far too good for such treatment. Sweetheart, 
 I must leave you, and it may be so very long before we 
 meet again ; but I hope brighter days will dawn for us yet. 
 You will help me to do what I ought, dearest ? ' 
 
 Ten minutes later I rode through the woods at a break- 
 neck gallop, reviling fate and all things incoherently, until, 
 as the horse reeled down an incline amid a mad clatter of 
 sliding shale, Ormond, of all men, must come striding up 
 
THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 225 
 
 the trail with an air of tranquil calm about him. There is 
 a certain spice of barbarism, I suppose, in most of us, and 
 in my frame of mind the mere sight of his untroubled 
 face filled me with bitterness. It seemed that, in spite of 
 her refusal, he felt sure of Grace ; and something suggested 
 that a trail hewn at Government expense was free to the 
 wealthy well-born and the toiler alike, and I would not 
 swerve a foot to give him passage. So only a quick spring 
 saved him from being ridden down, while I laughed harshly 
 over my shoulder when his voice followed me : * Why don't 
 you look ahead, confound you ? ' 
 
 It was possibly well I had some trouble with the teams 
 in the stock car on the railroad journey, and that work in 
 plenty waited at Fairmead, for the steady tramp behind the 
 plough stilts served to steady me. After three weeks' 
 endurance, the man I had hired to help mutinied, and stated 
 plainly that he had no intention of either wearing himself to 
 skin and bone or unmercifully overworking dumb cattle, but 
 I found satisfaction in toiling on alone, often until after the 
 lingering darkness fell, for each fathom of rich black clod 
 added to the long furrow seemed to lessen the distance that 
 divided me from Grace. Then little by little a measure of 
 cheerfulness returned, for sun, wind, and night dew had 
 blended their healing with the smell of newly-turned earth, 
 a smell I loved on the prairie, for it told that the plough had 
 opened another channel into treasure locked fast for count- 
 less ages. So hope was springing up again when I waited 
 one morning with my waggon beside the railroad track to 
 welcome my sister Aline. 
 
 I could scarcely believe my eyes when she stepped down 
 from the car platform, for the somewhat gawky maiden, as 
 I used to term her in our not altogether infrequent playful 
 differences of opinion, when similar compliments were 
 common, had grown into a handsome woman, fair-skinned, 
 
226 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 but ruddy of colour, as all of us were, and I was embarrassed 
 when to the envy of the loungers she embraced me effusively. 
 The drive home across the prairie was a wonder to her, and 
 it touched me to notice how she rejoiced in its breadth and 
 freedom, for the returning lustre in her eyes and somewhat 
 too hollow face told their own tale of adversity. ' It is all 
 so splendid,' she said vaguely. * A poor lunch, you say ; it is 
 ever and ever so much better than my usual daily fare,' and 
 her voice had a vibration which suggested tearfulness. * This 
 is almost too good to be true. I have always loved the open 
 space and sun, and for two weary years I lived in a dismal 
 room of a dismal house in a particularly dismal street, where 
 there was nothing but mud and smoke, half-paid work, and 
 sickening drudgery. Ralph, I would ten times over sooner 
 wash milk-pans or drive cattle in a sunlit land like this.' 
 
 I laughed approvingly as she ceased for want of breath, 
 realising that Aline had much in common with myself, while 
 the rest of the journey passed very cheerfully, and her 
 face was eager with curiosity when I handed her down at 
 the house. She looked round our living room with dis- 
 dainful eyes, and turned upon me, saying : 'It is comfort- 
 able enough, but, Ralph, did you ever brush it ? I have 
 never seen any place half so dirty.' 
 
 I had not noticed the fact before. Indeed, under 
 pressure of work we had usually dispensed with small 
 comforts, superfluous cleanliness I fear among them, and 
 Fairmead was certainly very dirty, though it probably differed 
 but little from most bachelors' quarters in that region. The 
 stove-baked clods of the previous ploughing still littered the 
 floor ; the dust that was thick everywhere doubtless came in 
 with our last threshing ; and the dishes I had used during the 
 last few weeks reposed unwashed among it. But Aline 
 was clearly a woman of action, for she said severely : ' You 
 shockingly untidy man ! Carry my trunk into my room, 
 
THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 227 
 
 quick. I am going to put an old dress on, and make you 
 help me to clean it first thing. Tired after lounging on 
 soft cushions when I tramped miles of muddy streets 
 carrying heavy books every day. You won't get out of it 
 that way. Go away, and bring me some water bring lots 
 of it/ 
 
 When I came back from the well, with a filled cask in 
 the waggon, she had already rolled some calico wrapping 
 about her, and both doors and windows were open wide, 
 while I hardly recognised the dwelling when we had finished 
 what Aline said was only the first stage of the proceedings. 
 Then I lighted the stove, and returning after stabling the 
 horses, found her waiting at the head of a neatly set out table 
 covered with a clean white cloth, which she had doubtless 
 brought with her, for such things were not included in the 
 Fairmead inventory. The house seemed brighter for her 
 presence, though I sighed as I pictured Grace in her place, 
 and then reflected that many things must be added before 
 Fairmead was fit for Grace. I had begun to learn a useful 
 lesson in practical details. Aline noticed the sigh, and 
 plied me with questions, until when, for the nights were 
 getting chilly, we sat beside the twinkling stove, I told her 
 as much as I thought it was desirable that she should know. 
 Aline was two years my junior, and I had no great confi- 
 dence as yet in her wisdom. 
 
 She listened with close attention, and then said medita- 
 tively : ' I hope some day you will be happy. No, never 
 mind explaining that you must be marriage is a great 
 lottery. But why, you foolish boy, must you fall in love 
 with the daughter of that perfectly awful man *! There was 
 someone so much nicer at home, you know, and I feel sure 
 she was very fond of you. Alice is a darling, even if she 
 has not much judgment in such matters. Oh, dear me 
 what am I saying now ! ' 
 
 Q2 
 
228 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 4 Good Lord ! ' I said, startled by an idea which had 
 never for a moment occurred to me hitherto. ' I beg your 
 pardon, but you are only a young girl, Aline. Of course 
 you must be mistaken, because it couldn't be so. I am 
 as poor as a gopher almost, and she is a heiress. Don't you 
 realise that it's utterly unbecoming for anyone of your 
 years to talk of these matters so lightly ? ' 
 
 Aline laughed mischievously. 'Are you so old and 
 wise already, Ralph ? ' she asked. ' Brotherly superiority 
 won't go very far with a girl who has earned her own living. 
 As you say, I should not have told you this, but you must 
 have been blinder than a mole even your uncle saw it, and 
 I am quite right.' Then she looked me over critically 
 before she continued, as though puzzled : ' I really cannot 
 see why she should be so, and I begin to fancy a little plain 
 speaking will be good for my elder brother.' 
 
 I just checked the exclamation in time, and stared at 
 her while I struggled with a feeling of shame and dismay. 
 It was not that I had chosen Grace, but it was borne in 
 upon me forcibly that besides wounding the feelings of the 
 two persons to whom I owed a heavy debt of gratitude, I 
 must more than once, in mock heroic fashion, have made 
 a stupendous fool of myself. Such knowledge was not 
 pleasant, though perhaps the draught was beneficial, and if 
 plain speaking of that kind were wholesome there was more 
 in store, for hardship had not destroyed Aline's inquisitorial 
 curiosity, nor her fondness for comments, which, if winged 
 with mischief, had truth in them. Thus, to avoid danger- 
 ous subjects, I confined my conversation to my partners and 
 railroad building, and she vouchsafed to say at length : ' That 
 is really interesting. Ralph, you haven't sense enough to 
 understand women ; but axes, horses, and engines, you 
 thoroughly know. I'm quite anxious to see this Harry, 
 and wonder if I could tame him. Young men are always 
 
THE RETURN TO THE PRAIRIE 229 
 
 so proud of themselves, and one finds amusement in bringing 
 them to a due sense of their shortcomings, though I am 
 sorry to say they are not always grateful.' 
 
 Then I laughed as I fancied the keen swordplay of 
 badinage that would follow before she overcame either 
 Johnston or Harry, if they ever met, and almost wondered at 
 her. This slip of a girl for, after all, she was still little 
 more had faced what must have been with her tastes a suffi- 
 ciently trying lot, but it had not abated one jot of her some- 
 what caustic natural gaiety, and there was clearly truth in 
 my partner's saying : c One need not take everything too 
 seriously.' 
 
 When with some misgivings I showed Aline her room 
 she pointed out several radical defects that needed immediate 
 remedy, and I left her wondering if I must add the vocation 
 of a carpenter to my already onerous task, and lay wide 
 awake thinking of what she had told me most of the night. 
 When I rose early next morning, however, my sister was 
 down before me, and prepared an unusually good breakfast 
 while I saw to the working beasts, though she unhesitatingly 
 condemned the whole of the Fairmead domestic utensils and 
 crockery. 
 
 * I am breaking you in gently,' she said with a patronis- 
 ing air. * You have used those cracked plates since you 
 came here ? Then they have lasted quite long enough, and 
 you cannot fry either pork or bacon in a frying-pan minus 
 half the bottom. Before you can bring a wife here you 
 will need further improvement ; yes, ever and ever so 
 much, and I hope she will be grateful to me for civilising 
 you.' 
 
230 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXI 
 
 THE STOLEN CATTLE 
 
 I HAD broken a further strip of virgin prairie, besides 
 ploughing, with hired assistance, part of the already culti- 
 vated land, before the Indian summer passed. All day pale 
 golden sunlight flooded the whitened grass, which sometimes 
 glittered with frostwork in early morning, while, as the 
 nights grew longer, the wildfowl came down from the 
 north. Aline took a strange interest in, watching them 
 sail slowly in endless succession across the blue, and would 
 often sit hidden beside me at twilight among the tall reeds 
 of the creek until with a lucky shot from the Marlin I 
 picked up a brant goose, or, it might be, a mallard which 
 had rested on its southward journey, somewhat badly 
 shattered by the rifle ball. Then, when frost bound fast 
 the sod and ploughing was done, she would ride with me 
 towards a distant bluff, where I hewed stouter logs than 
 grew near us for winter fuel. Already she had grown 
 fuller in shape and brighter in colour with the pure prairie 
 air. 
 
 Meantime Jasper paid us frequent visits, and seemed 
 to enjoy being badly defeated in a verbal encounter with 
 Aline, after which he would confine his talk to cattle- 
 raising, which of late had commenced to command increased 
 attention thereabouts. 
 
 * This is too much a one-crop country. Stake all on 
 your wheat yield, and when you lose it you're busted,' he 
 
THE STOLEN CATTLE 231 
 
 said, soon after my return. ' Now what's the matter with 
 running more cattle ? They'll feed themselves in the 
 summer ; and isn't there hay enough in the sloos if you 
 want to keep them ? while one can generally get a good 
 fall profit in Winnipeg. I've been picking up cheap lots 
 all year, and if you have any dollars to spare I'll let you in 
 reasonably.' 
 
 'You speak like an oracle, Mr. Jasper,' said Aline. 
 4 My brother is also what you might call a single-crop man. 
 One thing at one time is enough for him. Ralph, why 
 don't you try a deal in cattle ? ' 
 
 The same thing had been running through my own 
 mind, and the result was that I wrote Harry, who, being 
 of speculative disposition, arranged for an interim payment, 
 and sent me a remittance, which was duly invested in a 
 joint transaction with Jasper, who had rather over-purchased. 
 4 I'm a little pressed for payments just now,' he said. 
 ' Want to hold my wheat, and can't afford eight per cent, 
 interest. The beasts are fattening all the time, and there'll 
 be a high-class demand in Winnipeg presently for shipment 
 to Europe.' 
 
 He was right ; and I began to have a respect for Aline's 
 judgment when the papers reported that prices were rising 
 fast, and stock-salesmen firms sent circulars to this effect 
 into the district. But, when I conferred with him, Jasper 
 said, < Hold on. The figures are climbing, and they'll 
 reach high-water mark just before the ice closes direct 
 shipment.' 
 
 At last the frost commenced in earnest, and I prepared 
 to settle down for the winter. There were improvements 
 to be made to the granary, implements, harness, and stables, 
 in anticipation of the coming year's campaign, besides 
 alterations in the house ; for I felt that many things might 
 happen before next autumn, and I desired that Fairmead 
 
232 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 should be more nearly ready if wanted to receive its new 
 mistress. 
 
 Again, however, fate intervened, for, instead of a round 
 of monotonous work, many stirring events were crowded 
 into that winter. The first happened, as usual, unexpec- 
 tedly, and came nearly ruining our cattle-trade venture. 
 But to understand it satisfactorily it is necessary to com- 
 mence the narrative at the beginning. 
 
 It was a chilly night after a warm day when I sat 
 beside the stove mending harness, while Aline criticised the 
 workmanship and waxed the twine for me. The last mail 
 had brought good news from Harry, and I felt in unusual 
 spirits as I passed the awl through the leather, until there 
 was a creak of waggon wheels outside, followed by a 
 pounding on the door. 
 
 * It's too bad/ said Aline. c We are both tired after our 
 ride, and I was looking forward to a chance of giving you 
 good advice, and a cosy evening. Now someone is coming 
 to upset it all.' 
 
 She was not mistaken, for when I opened the door 
 a neighbour said, * Fve brought you Mrs. Fletcher. Met 
 her walking to Fairmead across the prairie. No ; I guess 
 I'm in a hurry, and won't get down.' 
 
 It was with no great feeling of pleasure I led the visitor 
 into the house ; and it is curious that as I helped her down 
 from the waggon something should recall Harry's warning : 
 4 That fellow Fletcher will bring more trouble upon you 
 some day.' 
 
 He had done enough in that direction already, and 
 though I did not wish Aline to hear the story, I was glad 
 she was there, for preceding events had taught me caution. 
 So, making the best of it, I placed a chair for Minnie 
 Fletcher beside the stove, explained who she was, and then, 
 while Aline sat still looking at her with an apparent entire 
 
THE STOLEN CATTLE 233 
 
 absence of curiosity which in no way deceived me, waited 
 impatiently. Minnie had not improved since I last saw 
 her. Her face was thin and anxious, her dress and even 
 in the remoter corners of the prairie this was unusual 
 was torn and shabby, and she twisted her fingers nervously 
 before she commenced to speak. 
 
 4 1 had expected to find you alone, Ralph,' she said ; 
 and, though I pitied her, I felt glad she had been dis- 
 appointed in this respect. ' However, I must tell you ; 
 and it may be a warning to your sister. Tom has fallen 
 into bad ways again. He is my husband, Miss Crosfield, 
 and I am afraid not a very good one.' 
 
 I could not turn Aline out on the prairie, and could 
 only answer, ' I am very sorry. Please go on,' though it 
 would have relieved me to make my own comments on 
 the general conduct of Thomas Fletcher. 
 
 1 It was not all his fault,' she added. * The boys would 
 give him whisky to tell them stories when he went to 
 Brandon for the creamery, and at last he went there con- 
 tinually. He fell in with some men from Winnipeg who 
 lent him money, and I think they gambled in town-lots, for 
 Tom took the little I had saved, and used to come home 
 rambling about a fortune. Then he would stay away for 
 days together, until they dismissed him from the creamery, 
 and all summer he had never a dollar to give me. But I 
 worked at the butter packing "and managed to feed him 
 when he did come home, until Miss Crosfield, I am sorry 
 you must hear this he used to beat me when I had no 
 more money to give him.' 
 
 Aline looked at her with a pity that was mingled with 
 scorn : * I have heard of such things, and I have seen them 
 too,' she said. * But why did you ever let him ? I think 
 I should kill the man who struck me.' 
 
 Minnie sighed wearily as she answered : 'You don't 
 
234 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 understand, and I hope you never will. Ralph, I have tried 
 to bear it, but the life is killing me, and I have grown 
 horribly afraid of him. Moran, a friend of the creamery 
 manager, offered me a place at another station down the line, 
 but I have no money to get there and cannot go like this. 
 Tom is coming back to-night, and I dare not tell him, so I 
 wondered if you could help me.' 
 
 * Of course he will,' said Aline, * and if your husband 
 comes here making enquiries I hope I shall have an oppor- 
 tunity of answering him.' 
 
 I had the strongest disinclination to be mixed up in such 
 an affair, but I could see no escape from it. There were 
 even marks of bruises upon the poor woman's face, and 
 when, promising assistance, I went out to see to the horses 
 and think it over, Minnie Fletcher burst into hysterical 
 sobbing as Aline placed an arm protectingly around her. 
 She had retired before I returned, for I fancied Aline could 
 dispense with my presence and found something to detain 
 me, while when I told her so the latter said : ' Ralph, you 
 are a genius. I have arranged to lend her enough to buy 
 a few things with, and to-morrow I'm going to drive her in 
 to the store and station. No, you need not come ; I know 
 the way. Oh, don't begin to ask questions ; just try to 
 think a little instead,' 
 
 I allowed her to have her own way. Indeed, Aline 
 generally insisted upon this, while with many protestations of 
 gratitude Minnie Fletcher departed next morning, and I hoped 
 the affair was ended. In this I was disappointed, for, return- 
 ing with Jasper next day from an outlying farm, I found 
 Aline waiting me in a state of suppressed excitement. She 
 was paler than usual, and moved nervously, while the 
 Marlin rifle lay on the table with the hammer drawn back, 
 and when Jasper voluntereed to lead the horses in she sat 
 down limply, saying : c I have spent a terrible afternoon. In 
 
THE STOLEN CATTLE 235 
 
 fact, though I feel ashamed of myself, I have not got over it 
 yet.' 
 
 I eased the spring of the rifle and enquired whether 
 some wandering Blackfoot had frightened her, but Aline 
 answered, ' No. The Indians are in their own way 
 gentlemen. It was an Englishman. Mr. Thomas Fletcher 
 called to enquire for his wife, and and he didn't call 
 sober.' 
 
 Aline choked back something between a laugh and a 
 sob before she continued : * He came in a waggon with 
 another little dark man with a cunning face, and walked 
 into the room before I could stop him. " I want my runaway 
 wife, and mean to find her. Who the deuce are you 
 another of them ? " ' he said. 
 
 I found it hard work to keep back the words that 
 seemed most suitable, and perhaps was not altogether 
 successful, while Aline's forehead turned crimson and she 
 clenched her hand viciously as she added, * I told him I was 
 your sister, and he laughed as he said he didn't believe me. 
 Then he swore horribly, and said oh, I can't tell you what 
 he said, but he intended to ruin you, and would either 
 shoot his wife or thrash her to death, while the man in 
 the waggon sat still smiling wickedly, and I grew horribly 
 frightened.' 
 
 The rattle of harness outside increased, and turning I 
 saw Jasper striding away from the waggon, which stood near 
 the open doorway, while Aline drew in her breath as she 
 added : * Then Fletcher said he would make me tell where 
 his wife was, and I determined he should kill me first. He 
 came towards me like a wild beast, for there were little red 
 veins in his eyes, and I moved backwards round the table, 
 feeling perfectly awful, because he reeked of spirits. Then 
 I saw the rifle and edged away until I could reach it, and 
 he stopped and said more fearful things, until the man 
 
236 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 jumped out of the waggon and dragged him away. I think 
 Fletcher was afraid of the other man. So I just sat down 
 and cried, and wondered whether I dared have shot him, 
 until I found there wasn't a cartridge at all in the rifle.' 
 
 After this Aline wept copiously again, and, while feeling 
 both savage and helpless, I patted her shoulder, calling her a 
 brave girl, Jasper looked in : 'I won't stop and worry Miss 
 Crosfield now,' he said shortly. 'I'm borrowing a saddle, 
 and will see you to-morrow. Good evening.' 
 
 He kept his promise, for next morning, when Aline was 
 herself again, he rode up to the door and came in chuckling. 
 ' I guess I have a confession to make,' he said. ' Couldn't 
 help hearing what your sister said, though I kept banging 
 the harness to let you know I was there, so I figured as to 
 their probable trail and lit out after them. Came up with 
 the pair towards nightfall by the big sloo, and invited Mr. 
 Fletcher to an interview. Fletcher didn't seem to see it. 
 He said he wouldn't get down, but mentioned several things 
 they're not worth repeating about his wife and you, 
 with a word of your sister that settled me. 
 
 ' " I'm a friend of Miss Crosfield's. Are you coming 
 down now," says I. " I'm not," said Thomas Fletcher, so I 
 just yanked him right out on to the prairie, and started in 
 with the new whip to skin him. Asked the other man if 
 he'd any objections, but if he had he didn't raise them. 
 Then I hove all that was left of Fletcher right into the sloo, 
 and rode home feeling considerably better.' 
 
 He laughed a big hearty laugh, and then started as 
 Aline came out of an inner room. * I want to thank you, 
 Mr. Jasper,' she said. ' There are people one cannot argue 
 with, and I think that thrashing will do him good. I hope 
 -you did it thoroughly.' 
 
 Jasper swang down his broad hat, fidgeted, and said 
 awkwardly, * I didn't figure on telling on you, but if ever 
 
THE STOLEN CATTLE 237 
 
 that man comes round here again, or there's anyone else 
 scares you, you won't forget to let me know.' 
 
 Aline glanced straight into the eyes of the speaker, who 
 actually blushed with pleasure as she said : c I will certainly 
 promise, and would never desire a better champion, but 
 there is at present no necessity to send you out spreading 
 devastation upon the prairie.' 
 
 Jasper looked idiotically pleased at this, and for a time 
 we heard no more of Thomas Fletcher, who had neverthe- 
 less not forgotten the incident. As the former had antici- 
 pated, the demand for shipping cattle still increased, and 
 when it was announced that several large steamers were 
 waiting the last load before the St. Lawrence was frozen 
 fast, Jasper rode west to try to pick up a few more head, and 
 informed me that he would either telegraph or visit Winni- 
 peg to arrange for the sale before returning. News travels 
 in its own way upon the prairie, and we afterwards decided 
 that Fletcher, who had returned to his deserted home, must 
 have heard of this. Jasper had been gone several days when 
 a man in city attire rode up to Fairmead with two assistants 
 driving a band of stock. He showed me a cattle salesman's 
 card, and stated he had agreed with Jasper to dispose of our 
 beasts on commission, and as the latter was waiting in 
 Winnipeg asked me to ride over to his homestead to obtain 
 delivery. This I did, and afterwards accompanied him to 
 the railroad, where I saw the cattle put safely on board a 
 stock train, and returned early next morning, feeling I had 
 done a good stroke of business. 
 
 The same afternoon, while Aline prepared a meal, I sat 
 writing a letter to Harry, telling him with much satisfaction 
 how well our investment had resulted. Aline listened with 
 a smile to my running comments, and then said drily : c I 
 think you have forgotten your usual caution for once, 
 Ralph. You should have gone with them, and seen the 
 
238 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 sale. I didn't like that man, and once or twice caught him 
 looking at you in a way that struck me as suspicious. I 
 suppose you are sure the firm he represented is good.' 
 
 * It's as good as a bank,' I answered, and then grew 
 almost vexed with her, for Aline had an irritating way of 
 damping one's enthusiasm. ' Now try to say something 
 pleasant, and I'll buy 1 you a pair of the best fur mittens 
 when we get the money.' 
 
 * Then I hope you will get it,' said Aline, ' for I should 
 like the gloves. Here is another cattle man going south.' 
 She placed more plates upon the table, while, throwing down 
 the pen, I looked out of the window. Here and there the 
 dry grasses were buried in snow, and a glance at the 
 aneroid suggested that we might have to accommodate the 
 visitor all night, for the appearance of the weather was not 
 promising. He came on at a good pace, wrapped in a short 
 fur coat, and I noticed did not ride altogether like the 
 prairie born. When he dismounted I led his horse into the 
 stable before I ushered him into the room. The meal was 
 almost ready, and we expected him to join us as a matter 
 of course. He was a shrewd-looking young man with a 
 pleasant face, and bowed gracefully to Aline as he said : 
 
 ' I thank you for your kindness, madame, and must 
 introduce myself James Heysham, of Ross & Grant, high- 
 class cattle salesmen. Best market prices, immediate settle- 
 ments guaranteed, reasonable commission, and all the rest 
 of it. Glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Crosfield ; 
 here's our card. I rode over from the railroad on the way to 
 Jasper's, to see if I could make a deal with you. Now's 
 the time to realise on your stock, and Ross & Grant the best 
 firm to entrust them to. Don't want to accept your hospitality 
 under false pretences, and there are still a few prejudiced 
 Englishmen who look down upon the drummer. Once 
 waited on a man called Carrington and he wasn't even civil.' 
 
THE STOLEN CATTLE 239 
 
 * Sit down,' I said, laughing. * This is my sister, and 
 at least we can offer you a meal, but you are too late to 
 sell our stock. I have just returned from shipping Jasper's 
 as well as my own under charge of a new partner of 
 Gardner's.' 
 
 Heysham looked puzzled. ' It's a reliable firm almost 
 as good as our own,' he said. * You must not smile, Miss 
 Crosfield ; when one earns a living by that talk it's hard 
 to get out of it. But they're conservative, and never send 
 drummers round. Besides, there's only Gardner and his 
 brother they haven't a partner. Now I wonder whether ' 
 and the last words were unintelligible. 
 
 An uneasy feeling commenced to grow upon me, and 
 while our guest looked thoughtful Aline said : ' You suspect 
 something, Mr. Heysham, and you ought to tell us what it 
 is. I want to know exactly what you meant when you 
 added " Confidence men." 
 
 Then I started, and Heysham bowed as he answered : 
 4 You are evidently new to the wicked ways of this country, 
 Miss Crosfield. I meant that some unprincipled person has 
 I fear unfortunately taken your brother in. I have sus- 
 picions. Was he a little dark man, or perhaps it was 
 another, rather stout and red-faced ? Still I'm puzzled as 
 to how they acquired the local knowledge and learned 
 enough about your business to fool you.' 
 
 4 No,' I answered with a gleam of hope, ' he was neither ; ' 
 but Aline broke in : < The man you mention drove here in 
 a waggon some weeks earlier, and I know how he got the 
 local knowledge the other, with the red face, was Thomas 
 Fletcher. He lived on the prairie, Mr. Heysham, and there 
 must have been three in the plot.' 
 
 I rose from the table, flinging back my chair, but 
 Heysham nodded gravely. c Exactly, there are three of 
 them. Your sister has made it all clear,' he said. * I know 
 
240 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 the party they've been engineering various shady deals in 
 estate and produce, and now, when Winnipeg is getting un- 
 comfortably warm, this is evidently a last coup before they 
 light out across the boundary. The dark man was a clerk in 
 the stock trade turned out for embezzlement once, you 
 see. Still, they can't sell until to-morrow, and we might 
 get the night train. No chance of trade hereabout, you 
 say ; then for the credit of our market, if you'll lend me a 
 fresh horse, I'm going right back to Winnipeg with you. 
 Sit down, and finish your dinner j you'll want it before 
 you're through.' 
 
 I looked at Aline, who was equal to the occasion, for 
 she said, * You must certainly go. Even if there is a 
 blizzard, I shall be safe enough.' 
 
 So presently she buttoned the skin coat about me, slipped 
 a flask of spirit into the pocket ; and just before we started 
 kissed me, saying, 'Take care of yourself, and do your 
 utmost. There are all poor Jasper's cattle besides our own. 
 Mr. Heysham, I thank you, and whenever you pass this 
 way remember there's a hearty welcome at Fairmead for you.' 
 
 4 1 am repaid already, madame,' said Heysham as we rode 
 away. 
 
241 
 
 XXII 
 
 A RACE WITH TIME 
 
 A DREARY ride lay before us, for already the afternoon drew 
 towards its close, and the light drifts were eddying under a 
 bitter wind. The pale sun was still in the heavens, but a 
 gray dimness crept up from the grass-land's verge towards 
 it, against which the patches of snow gleamed lividly. But 
 I thought little about the cold, for with careless stupidity I 
 had allowed a swindler to rob my partner, and a succession 
 of blizzards would not have stopped me then. Heysham, 
 though uninterested, seemed equally determined and rode 
 well, so the long miles of grass rolled behind us. Now a 
 copse of birches flitted past, now a clump of willows, or the 
 tall reeds of a sloo went down with a great crackling before 
 us, then there were more swelling levels, for our course was 
 straight as the crow flies from horizon to horizon, and we 
 turned aside for no obstacle. 
 
 It was dusk when with lowered heads we charged 
 through the scattered birches of a ravine bluff, and far down 
 in the hollow beneath I caught the dull gleam of snow- 
 sprinkled ice. 
 
 * It's a mean-looking gully,' gasped Heysham. * I guess 
 that creek's not frozen hard, and it's pretty deep. Say, 
 hadn't we better lead our horses ? ' and I flung an answer 
 over my shoulder : l That will just make the difference 
 between catching and missing the train. I'm going down 
 in the saddle.' 
 
242 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' Then of course I'm going too,' said Heysham breath- 
 lessly. * Your neck is worth as much as mine is anyway,' 
 and for the next few moments I saw nothing at all but the 
 shadowy lines of birch stems that went reeling past. A 
 branch struck Heysham's horse, and swerving, it jammed 
 his leg against a tree ; then there was a crash as my own 
 beast, blundering, charged through a thicket where the brittle 
 stems snapped like pistol-shots, but the salesman was close 
 behind me, and with a shout of * No bridge for miles. I'll 
 show you the way over,' I drove my horse at the creek. 
 
 The quaggy banks were frozen hard now. They were 
 also rough and ploughed up by the feet of cattle, which had 
 come there to drink before the frost, and the leap looked 
 horribly dangerous, for I dare not trust the ice ; but the 
 beast got safely off and came down with a great crackling 
 amid thinly frozen mud and reeds. There was a splash and 
 a flounder behind me, and then as we staggered forth Hey- 
 sham came up abreast, with the water dripping from his 
 horse, N and I found breath to say, ' Well done ! I never 
 thought a city man could bring a horse down there.' 
 
 4 Thanks ! ' said Heysham, with more than a suspicion of 
 dryness. ' In this enlightened country one must earn one's 
 bread as one can, but I wasn't brought up to the drummer's 
 calling. Used to ride with but thaf'has nothing to do 
 with you, and I'm hoping you'll strike the railroad on the 
 shortest possible line. It wouldn't be nice to spend to- 
 night upon the prairie.' 
 
 There could be no doubt on this point, for when we 
 reached the levels darkness had closed down and the air was 
 thick with uplifted snow, which smarted our eyes and made 
 breathing difficult, while, for the first time, I commenced to 
 have misgivings. Heysham had understated the case, for 
 unless we struck the railroad we might very well freeze to 
 death upon the prairie. I explained this to him, and gave 
 
A RACE WITH TIME 243 
 
 him directions how he could find a farm by following the 
 creek ; but he laughed as he said, ' It's an exciting run, and 
 even life in Winnipeg grows monotonous. Lead on, I'm 
 anxious to be in at the finish.' 
 
 The snow came down in earnest before we had made 
 two more leagues, and, steering partly by the wind and 
 partly by instinct of direction, I held on half-choked and 
 blinded, more and more slowly, until, when at last the case 
 looked hopeless, Heysham shouted, for a telegraph post 
 loomed up. ' You have fetched the railroad, anyway,' he 
 said. ' The only question is how far off the station are 
 we?' 
 
 We drew rein for a few moments beside the graded 
 track, and shook the snow from our wrappings as we debated 
 the simple question whose issues were momentous. The 
 horses were worn out, we were nearly frozen, while the 
 white flakes whirled more and more thickly about us, and 
 at last I said : ' We can only go on and see, and the track at 
 least will guide us. I don't think the station can be many 
 miles away.' 
 
 The rest of the journey left but a blurred memory of an 
 almost sightless struggle through a filmy haze, in which we 
 occasionally lost each other and touch with the guiding 
 poles, until at last, caked thick with wind-packed snow, we 
 caught sight of a pale glimmer, and fell, as it were solidly, 
 out of the saddle in the shelter of the depot. Here, how- 
 ever, a crushing disappointment awaited us. 
 
 4 Stopping train passed two hours ago,' said the station 
 agent. * Won't be another until the Montreal express 
 comes through. Heard the stock cars passed Brandon by 
 daylight they'll be in Winnipeg now.' 
 
 ' You have one move left,' said Heysham. * Hire a 
 special ! Comes high, of course, but it's cheaper than losing 
 your cattle. They can't sell before to-morrow ; and you 
 
 R 2 
 
244 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 won't be hard on a plundered man, agent ? That locomo- 
 tive ought to take us through.' 
 
 * Can't cut schedule prices,' was the answer, after I had 
 explained. * I haven't a single car, but I was saving Number 
 Forty to haul wheat in, and if she doesn't strike a snow-block, 
 and old Robertson's in the humour, she'll land you in Win- 
 nipeg before daylight to-morrow. It's cutting things fine, 
 however.' 
 
 We put our horses in the hotel stable, managed as a 
 special favour to obtain some food in a basket, and then 
 climbed into the locomotive cab, where the Ontario 
 mechanic stood rubbing his hands with waste while a grimy 
 subordinate flung fuel into the roaring furnace. * She's the 
 best machine for a hard run on this road,' he said, as he 
 clutched the lever with professional pride. * All you have 
 to do is to sit tight, and I'll bring you in on time.' 
 
 Then, panting heavily, Number Forty rolled out from the 
 station on to the lonely waste, and when, as we jolted over 
 the switches, the lights died out behind, Robertson became 
 intent as he shoved the lever home. For a moment the 
 big drivers whirred on the snow-greased line, then the 
 wheel-treads bit the metals, and the plates commenced to 
 tremble beneath our feet. Staring out through a quivering 
 glass I could see a white haze rising and falling ahead as the 
 wild gusts came down, driving an icy coldness through the 
 vibrating cab, while, when these passed, there was only the 
 glare of the huge head-lamp flickering like a comet down 
 the straight-ruled track. 
 
 Robertson nodded to his fireman, for Heysham had told 
 him the story, and presently the vibration grew yet sharper. 
 The gaunt telegraph-posts no longer swept past in endless 
 files, but reeled towards us under the fan-shaped blaze 
 huddled all together in a fantastic dance, while willow bluffs 
 leapt up out of the whiteness and vanished again as by 
 
A RACE WITH TIME 245 
 
 magic into the dim prairie. The snow from above had 
 ceased temporarily. Then a screaming blast struck the 
 engine, wrapping it about in a dense white cloud that glit- 
 tered before the lamp, the glasses rattled, and an impalpable 
 powder, that seemed to burn the skin, drove in through 
 every opening, while Robertson, glancing at his pressure- 
 gauge, said : * She's doing her best, and she'll need to. 
 I guess we'll find drifts in the hollows, and the snow will 
 come down again presently. It's only coming up now.' 
 
 I ought to have known better, but, although a British 
 custom is more honoured in the breach than the observance 
 in Western Canada, I had met men who could pocket their 
 pride, and, after fumbling in my wallet, I held out a slip of 
 paper, saying, * She's doing splendidly. I wish you would 
 buy Mrs. Robertson something with this.' 
 
 * No, sir,' was the prompt answer. ' You can keep your 
 bill. If that fraud gets in ahead of you you'll probably 
 want it. I get good pay, and I earn it, and you're not big 
 enough to give presents to me.' 
 
 A new arrival might have been astonished. I only felt 
 I had deserved the rebuke, and was thankful Aline had 
 slipped the flask and some of Martin Crosfield's cigars into 
 my pocket, while Robertson smiled broadly as in defiance 
 of his orders he emptied the silver cup. It was a gift from 
 cousin Alice. 
 
 4 1 apologise. Should have remembered it,' I said. 
 
 Then we were racing through stiller air again, with the 
 driving cloud behind ; for each of the curious rushes of 
 wind that precedes a prairie storm keeps to a definite path 
 of its own. Several times, with a roar of wheels flung back 
 to us, we swept through a sleeping town, where thin frame 
 houses went rocking past until the tall elevators shut them 
 in, and again there was only a dim stretch of prairie that 
 rolled up faster and faster under the front trailer wheels. 
 
246 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 At last, when the lights of Brandon glimmered ahead, 
 Heysham fell over the fireman as the locomotive jumped to 
 the checking of the brake, and a coloured flicker blinked 
 beside the track. The glare of another head-lamp beat upon 
 us as we rolled through the station, while amid the clash of 
 shocking wheat-cars that rolled past I caught the warn- 
 ing, ' Look out for the snow-block east of Willow Lake. 
 Freight train on the single track ; wires not working well.' 
 
 ' I guess we'll take our chances,' said Robertson ; and 
 Number Forty panted louder, hurling red sparks aloft as he 
 rushed her at an up-grade. Still, his brows contracted 
 when, some time later, he beckoned me, and I saw a wide 
 lake draw near with silky drifts racing across its black ice. 
 They also flowed across the track ahead, while beyond it 
 the loom of what might be a flag station was faintly visible 
 against a driving bank of cloud. 
 
 * Snow's coming off the ice,' he said. ' Hold fast. She 
 may jump a little when I ram her through.' 
 
 The pace grew even faster. We were racing down an 
 incline, and now, ice, station, and prairie alike were blotted 
 out by a blinding whiteness ; while presently I was flung 
 backwards off my feet, and would have fallen but that 
 I clutched a guard-rail. The whole cab rattled, the great 
 locomotive lurched, and a white smother hurtled under the 
 lamp glare, until once more the motion grew even, and we 
 could feel the well-braced frame of iron and steel leap 
 forward beneath us. Engineer Robertson swayed easily to 
 the oscillation as, with one side of his intent face towards 
 me, he clutched the throttle lever, until he called hoarsely 
 as his fingers moved along it. Then, even while the steam 
 roared in blown-down wreaths from the lifting valve, the 
 lever was straight at wide-open again, and I caught my 
 breath as I made out another yellow halo with something 
 that moved behind it in the snow ahead, 
 
A RACE WITH TIME 247 
 
 c It's the freight pulling out of the siding. I can't hold 
 Number Forty up before she's over the switches. I guess 
 we've got to race for it,' he said. 
 
 The fireman did something, and, with a shower of half- 
 burned cinders from her funnel and a mad blast of the 
 whistle, Number Forty pounded on, while I saw Heysham's 
 face was paler than before, and then only the disc of yellow 
 radiance growing nearer and brighter. A faint flash 
 appeared below it, a deeper whistle reached us brokenly, 
 and I remember two hoarse voices. 
 
 ' They're opening the switches. That's come on,' one 
 of them said. * Trying to check the freighter. There'll 
 be an almighty smash if they don't.' 
 
 The other was apparently Heysham's : * And two 
 rascally confidence men will be skipping for the border 
 with the proceeds of what should have been Ross & Grant's 
 cattle.' 
 
 I said nothing. It did not seem that talking would do 
 any good, and the engineer might not have welcomed my 
 advice. The great light was very close. I could see the 
 cars behind it and hear the grind of brakes, while a man 
 was bent double over a lever where the blaze of our head- 
 lamp ran along the ground. The engine rocked beneath 
 us ; there was a heavy lurch as the fore-wheels struck the 
 points ; then Robertson laughed exultantly and wiped his 
 greasy face. In front lay only the open prairie and flying 
 snow, while the black shape of the freight train grew 
 indistinct behind. 
 
 * It was a pretty close call. Snow blurred the lights, 
 and I guess the gale has broken a wire,' he said. ' Them 
 folks never expected us, but they were smart with the 
 switches. I'll say that for them.' 
 
 ' Good man ! ' said Hey sham. ' She's a grand machine. 
 Next to riding home first in a steeplechase I'd like to have 
 
248 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 the running of a lightning express. Used to do the former 
 once, but now Fate she says to me, " You stop right there 
 in Winnipeg, and sell other men's cattle for the best price 
 you can." Crosfield, I think Number Forty has saved that 
 stock for you.* 
 
 Then, shivering as the blasts struck the cab, we 
 crouched, alternately frozen and roasted, in the most 
 sheltered corner we could find, while, feeling the pulse 
 of the great quivering machine with a grimy hand, 
 Robertson hurled his engine along past Carberry and the 
 slumbering Portage, until at last, just before the dawn, 
 sheeted white from head-lamp to tank-rail and dripping 
 below, she came pounding into Winnipeg station. 
 
 * We'll let that slide. I don't like a fuss,' said Robert- 
 son, when I thanked him. ' Glad to do our best for you, 
 Forty and me ; and I guess the Company haven't another 
 machine short of the inter-ocean racers that would have 
 brought you in the time.' 
 
 Then we interviewed the freight-traffic manager, who 
 said : c That stock consignment came in hours ago. We 
 haven't unloaded them yet. Anyway, you'll have to hurry 
 and see the police, for we're bound to deliver against 
 shipping bill. Don't know how you would square things 
 after that ; and it's not my business. Still, I'll have those 
 cars side-tracked where they can't be got at readily.' 
 
 Next we sought the police, and, after driving half across 
 the city, obtained audience with a magistrate, the result 
 of which was that a detective accompanied us to the station, 
 and then round the hotels, inquiring for the conspirators 
 under several different names. None of them, however, 
 appeared on any hotel register, until we called at a certain 
 well-known hostelry, where our companion was recognised 
 by the clerk. 
 
 * Yes, I guess we've got the men you want,' he said, 
 
A RACE WITH TIME 249 
 
 with unusual civility for a Western hotel clerk. 'Just 
 stood some big stock-buyers a high-class breakfast, and 
 you'll find them upstairs. Say, if you want assistance send 
 right down for me.' 
 
 c We'll probably fix them without you,' was the smiling 
 answer. ' Only two doors to the place, haven't you ? I'll 
 leave this man here with you, sending two more to the 
 other one. Walk straight in, Mr. Crosfield, and see the 
 end of the play.' 
 
 We entered the bustling coffee-room, where, at the 
 detective's suggestion, I ordered refreshment, and he placed 
 us at a table behind two pillars. Heysham ate and chatted 
 in high spirits ; but, though hungry enough, I could 
 scarcely eat at all, and sat still in irresolute impatience 
 for what seemed an interminable time. I could not get 
 Minnie's worn face out of my memory ; and, though 
 her husband's incarceration would probably be a boon to 
 her, I knew she would not think so. Besides, this delibe- 
 rate trapping of a man I had met on terms of friendship, 
 even after what had happened, was repugnant ; and the 
 cattle were safe. There was, however, nothing to do but 
 wait ; for, alert and watchful, the representative of the law 
 who, nevertheless, made an excellent breakfast kept his 
 eyes fixed on the door, until I would have risen, but that he 
 restrained me, as, followed by several others, Fletcher and a 
 little dark man, beside the one who had cajoled the stock 
 from me, came in. 
 
 ' Stock-buyers ! ' whispered the detective, thrusting me 
 further back. * Go slow. In the interests of justice, I 
 want to see just what they're going to do.' 
 
 The new comers seated themselves not far from the 
 other side of the pillar, and I waited feverishly, catching 
 snatches of somewhat vivid general chatter, until one of the 
 party said more loudly, ' Now let us come down to business. 
 
250 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I've seen the beasts had to crawl over the cars to do it and 
 they're mostly trash, though there are some would suit me, 
 marked hoop C. & J. Say, come down two dollars a head 
 all round, and I'll give you a demand draft on the bank 
 below for the lot.' 
 
 What followed I did not hear, but by-and-by a voice 
 broke through the confused murmuring : * It's a deal ! ' 
 An individual scribbling in his pocket-book moved towards 
 a writing table. Then the detective moved forward, 
 beckoning me. 
 
 4 Sorry to spoil trade, but I've saved your cheque, 
 gentlemen,' he said. ' That stock's stolen. Thomas 
 Gorst and other names, Will Stephens, and Thomas 
 Fletcher, would you like to glance at this warrant ? No ! 
 well, it's no use looking ugly, there are men at either door 
 waiting for you. This is a new trick, Stephens, and you 
 haven't played it neatly.' 
 
 * Euchred ! ' gasped the little man, while the other 
 scowled at me. < Confusion to you ! In another hour I'd 
 have been rustling for the Great Republic. Still, I guess 
 the game's up. Don't be a mule, Fletcher ; I'm going 
 quietly.' 
 
 He held out his hands with a resigned air, but when, 
 amid exclamations of wonder, another officer appeared 
 mysteriously from somewhere to slip the handcuffs on, 
 Fletcher hurled a decanter full into his face and sprang 
 wildly for the door. He passed within a yard of where I 
 stood. I could have stopped him readily with an out- 
 stretched foot or hand, but I did neither, and there was an 
 uproar as he plunged down the stairway with an officer 
 close behind him. The detective saw his other prisoners 
 handcuffed before he followed, and though he said nothing 
 he gazed at me reproachfully, while when we stood at the 
 head of the stairs he chuckled as he pointed below. 
 
A RACE WITH TIME 251 
 
 * Your friend hasn't got very far,' he said drily. 
 
 It was true enough, for in the hall a stalwart constable 
 sat upon the chest of a fallen man who apparently strove to 
 bite him, and I saw that the latter was Thomas Fletcher. 
 I had clearly been guilty of a dereliction of the honest 
 citizen's duty, but for all that I did not like the manner 
 in which he said, ' Your friend.' 
 
 We returned to the station, and later in the day I en- 
 tertained Robertson and Heysham to the best luncheon I 
 could procure, when for once we drank success to Number 
 Forty in choice vintages, while when we shook hands I 
 said, ' I can't sufficiently thank you, Heysham. Now, 
 advise me about those cattle ; and is there anything I can 
 do for you ? ' 
 
 * Enjoyed the fun,' was the answer, ' and you gave me 
 a free passage to Winnipeg. I didn't do it for that reason, 
 but if you like to leave the disposal of those beasts to Ross 
 & Grant, highest class salesmen, promptest settlements, 
 &c., I shall be very pleased to trade with you. Sorry to 
 intrude business, but after all I'm a drummer, and one must 
 earn one's bread and butter see ? ' 
 
 I had much pleasure in agreeing, and Ross & Grant 
 sold those beasts to my complete satisfaction and Jasper's 
 as well, while that was but the beginning of a profitable 
 connection with them, and an acquaintance with Heysham, 
 who was from the first a friend of Aline and is now sole 
 partner in the firm. Still, though I returned to Fairmead 
 with the proceeds, satisfied, it transpired that Thomas 
 Fletcher was not yet past doing me a further injury. 
 
252 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXIII 
 
 ON THE GOLD TRAIL 
 
 NOTHING further of moment happened for a time. Fletcher, 
 protesting his innocence, lay waiting trial with his accom- 
 plices, and I had been warned I should be called upon 
 to give evidence, which I was unwilling to do, and, after 
 consulting a solicitor, endeavoured in the meantime to 
 forget the disagreeable affair. Then one morning, when 
 the snow lay thick on the shingles, and the creek in the 
 ravine was frozen almost to the bottom, the fur-wrapped 
 postman brought me a letter from Harry. 
 
 * I have only good news,' it ran. * We have piled up 
 beams and stringers ahead of contract, and sold a number of 
 logs a snow-slide brought us at a good profit, ready for 
 floating down to a new sawmill in the valley. That, how- 
 ever, is by the way. As you know, Johnston has quartz 
 reefs on the brain, and now fancies he is really on the track 
 of one. There have been rumours of rich gold west of the 
 Fraser, and one of our prospecting friends came in almost 
 snow-blind with promising specimens. Nothing will stop 
 Johnston, and I'm bitten myself, so the fact is we're going 
 up to find that gold. Of course, it's the wrong time ; but 
 there'll be a rush in spite of that. In short, we want you, 
 and I managed to secure this railroad pass.' 
 
 I showed Aline the letter, and she said, ' Why don't 
 you go ? I can stay with the Kenyons ; they have often 
 asked me. It would be splendid, wouldn't it, if you found 
 a gold mine ? ' 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 253 
 
 I nodded rather gravely. Gold mines worth developing 
 are singularly hard to find, and when found generally need 
 a large capital to work them, while the company financier 
 gets the pickings. The steady following up of one con- 
 sistent plan more commended itself to me, and prospecting 
 in mid-winter would try the strength of a giant. Still, if 
 my partners were bent upon it they would naturally expect 
 me to humour them in the matter, and there was a hope of 
 seeing Grace, so I answered : ' I wish they had never heard 
 of it ; but, if Mrs. Kenyon will take care of you for a few 
 weeks, I must go.' 
 
 Aline was evidently prepared to bear my absence philo- 
 sophically, and, perhaps because one of Mrs. Kenyon's sons 
 was a handsome stripling, she spent all day sewing, while I 
 gathered up my belongings and rode over to interview that 
 lady, who had lately come out from Ontario, and professed 
 herself delighted to receive my sister. Thus it happened 
 that one morning before daybreak I stood beside a burdened 
 pack-horse with a load of forty pounds strapped about my 
 shoulders, outside a log shanty, ready to strike out into the 
 snow-bound northern wilderness. Johnston, who was in high 
 spirits, held the bridle of another horse, and Harry whistled 
 gaily as with the assistance of a prospector he strapped a 
 heavy collection of sundries upon its back, while the owner 
 of the shanty watched us with a fine assumption of pity. 
 
 ' Lots of gold up yonder ! Well, I guess there is,' he 
 said. ' But maybe you'll get mighty tired before you find 
 it, and this isn't quite the season to go sloshing round 
 glaciers and snow-fields in. Don't I wish I was coming ? 
 Can't say I do. Go slow and steady is my motto, and you'll 
 turn more gold out of the earth with the plough than you 
 ever will with the drill, and considerably easier, too. There's 
 another outfit yonder ahead of you, and a third one coming 
 along. Look in this way if you come back hungry.' 
 
254 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Johnston smote the pack-horse, and there was a clash ot 
 rifles, axes, tin pans and kettles as we moved off into the 
 forest, which was free of undergrowth here, while I observed : 
 4 That was a sensible man. Harry, I can't help feeling that 
 this gold hunting is not our business, and no good will 
 come of it.' 
 
 ' Then you needn't say so,' Harry answered shortly. 
 4 If I was troubled with old women's presentiments I would 
 keep them to myself. The man we have with us knows 
 the country well, and from what the other half revealed we 
 ought to find something. I'm wondering who got up the 
 other expedition, unless it's Ormond. The Day Spring is 
 doing even worse lately, and the Colonel has gone down 
 to Vancouver to raise fresh funds or sell it to a company, 
 which would be rough on the Company. Your uncle and 
 cousin are wintering there.' 
 
 This gave me food for thought, and I trudged on, 
 dreamily noticing how the tramp of feet and clatter of 
 metal broke through the ghostly silence, while half-seen 
 figures of man and beast appeared and vanished among the 
 trunks, and the still woods seemed listening to our march. 
 I knew that in the old days the feet of a multitude had 
 worn trails through these ranges as they pressed on towards 
 the treasure of Cassiar and Caribou, and that the bones of 
 many were strewn broadcast across the region we were 
 venturing into. Perhaps it was because of the old Lanca- 
 shire folk-lore I once had greedily listened to, but I could 
 not altogether disbelieve in presentiments, and my dislike to 
 the journey deepened until Johnston's voice rose clearly 
 through the frosty air : ' There's shining gold in heaps, I'm 
 told, by the banks of Sacramento.' 
 
 The rest was the usual forecastle gibberish, but, and it 
 may have been that our partner being born with the 
 wanderer's spirits could give meaning to the immemorial 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 255 
 
 calling that speaks to the hearts of the English through the 
 rude chanties of the sea, something stirred me when the 
 refrain rose up exultantly, * Blow, boys, blow, for Californio, 
 for there's shining gold and wealth untold on the sunny 
 Sacramento.' 
 
 * Where did he learn the trick of it ? ' said Harry. 
 * There's certainly nothing in the words, and yet that song 
 takes hold. I dare say many a poor deserter devil has 
 marched to his death to it. The seamen came up with the 
 vanguard when they found gold in Caribou. Wake up, 
 and ring it out, Ralph. A tribute to the fallen. " Hey ho, 
 Sacramento ! " 
 
 I have heard that chanty since. On certain occasions 
 Harry brings out its final chords with a triumphant crash 
 that has yet a tremble in it on the Fairmead piano, and 
 each time it conjures up a vision of spectral pines towering 
 through the shadow that veils the earth below, while above 
 the mists the snow lies draped in stainless purity waiting for 
 the dawn. Then I know that Harry, who is only a tiller 
 of the soil, had learned in the book of nature to grasp the 
 message of that scene, and interpret it through the close of a 
 seaman's ballad. 
 
 The full story of our journey would take long to tell, 
 and a recital of how we struggled through choked forests, 
 floundered amid the drifts in the passes, or crawled along 
 the icy rock-slope's side, might prove monotonous. We 
 left the ashes of our camp-fires in many a burnt brulee and 
 among the boulders of lonely lakes, but though, after one 
 pack-horse fell over a precipice, provisions ran out rapidly, 
 we failed to find the gorge the prospector talked about ; or 
 rather, because the whole land was fissured by them, we 
 found many gorges, but each in succession proved to be 
 the wrong one. Then we held consultations, and the 
 prospector suggested we should return and try again in 
 
256 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 spring, in which Harry agreed with him. Johnston, how- 
 ever, would not hear of this, and said with a strange 
 assurance : 
 
 ' I suppose it's the gambler's spirit, but I've gone pro- 
 specting somewhat too often before, and if one only keeps 
 on long enough the luck is bound to turn. This time I 
 seem to know it's going to. Still, I'll fall in with the 
 majority. Ralph, as head of the firm you have the casting 
 vote.' 
 
 Then, and I always regretted it, I said : < We should 
 never have come at all. No sensible person goes prospect- 
 ing in mid-winter ; but, being here, we had better spend 
 three days more. That means further reduced rations, but 
 if we find nothing by the third noon we'll turn back 
 forthwith.' 
 
 The others agreed, and on the second night we lay 
 in camp in a burnt forest. We were all of us tired and 
 hungry, and for Johnston was silent a melancholy settled 
 down upon the camp, while I lay nearly frozen under two 
 blankets, watching a half-moon sail slowly above the fretted 
 ridge of firs, until at last he spoke : 
 
 ' To-morrow is the fatal day. Ralph has the look of 
 an unsatisfied wolf ; you are hungry, Harry ; we are all of 
 us hungry, and such is mortal man that at this moment my 
 soul longs more than all things for even the most cindery 
 flapjack that ever came out of a camp cook's frying-pan. 
 Still, I'm not going home " returned empty " this time, and 
 fragments of a forgotten verse keep jingling through my 
 head. It's an encouraging stanza, to the effect that, though 
 often one gets weary, the long, long road has a turning, and 
 there's an end at last. It would be particularly nice if 
 it ended up in a quartz reef that paid for the stamping, 
 especially when one might square up some of one's youthful 
 misdeeds with the proceeds. Ever heard me moralising, 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 257 
 
 Ralph ? The question is whether one can ever square the 
 reckoning of such foolishness.' 
 
 ' I haven't thought about it,' I answered, remembering 
 how when Johnston harangued the railroaders' camp banjo 
 in hand he would mix up the wildest nonsense with senti- 
 ment. ' But it's an axiom, isn't it, that one must pay for 
 his fun, and if you will go looking for gold mines in winter 
 you can't expect to be comfortable.' 
 
 ' He hasn't thought about it,' said Johnston. < Ralph, 
 all things considered, you are a lucky individual. What can 
 man want better than to win his way to fortune, and the 
 love of a virtuous maid, tramping behind his oxen under 
 clear sunshine down the half-mile furrow, looking only for 
 the harvest, and sowing hope with the grain. There's a 
 restfulness about it that appeals to me. Some men are born 
 with a chronic desire for rest.' 
 
 4 1 don't think you were among them,' I answered 
 irritably ; ' and there's precious little rest in summer upon 
 the prairie ; ' but Johnston continued : ' I too loved a 
 virtuous maiden, and, stranger still, I fancy she loved me, 
 but unfortunately there was one of the other kind too, and 
 the result thereof was as usual disaster. I've been trying 
 to remedy that disaster did you ever wonder where my 
 dividends went to ? Well, there is a reason why I'm 
 anxious to find a mine. If we do, I'll tell you the sequel. 
 Otherwise and things do happen unexpectedly there's a 
 leather case in my pocket, and in case of accident I hope 
 my partners will act upon what they find in it. Perhaps 
 someone would bless them in England if they did.' 
 
 He ceased, and some time later a vibratory monotone 
 commenced far up under the stars, gathering strength and 
 volume until it rolled in long pulsations down the steep 
 ranges' side. < It's more common in spring,' said the pro- 
 spector, 'but some ice bridge has busted under pressure, 
 
 s 
 
258 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and the snow is coming down. There'll be most astonish- 
 ing chaos in the next valley.' 
 
 I cannot say how long the great harmony lasted, for we 
 listened spellbound, unheeding the passage of time, while the 
 cedars trembled about us as the tremendous diapason leapt 
 from peak to peak and the valleys flung back the echoes 
 in majestic antiphones. There was the roar of sliding 
 gravel, the crash of rent-down forest, and the rumble of ice 
 and snow, each mingling its own note, softened by distance, 
 in the supernatural orchestra, until the last echoes died away 
 and there was a breathless hush. 
 
 ' We have heard great things,' said Johnston ; * what did 
 the surveyor say ? Not an ounce of the ruin is wasted ; 
 the lower Fraser wheat-lands are built that way. There's 
 a theme for a master to write a Benedicite. Grinding ice 
 chanting to the thunders of the snow, and the very cedars 
 listening in the valleys. Well, I'll make him a free present 
 of the fancy ; we're merely gold miners, or we hope to be. 
 Good-night, and remember the early start to-morrow.' 
 
 He was up long before the late dawn, and it was still 
 
 early when we waded scarcely knee-deep among the 
 
 boulders of a curiously shrunken stream. Smooth-ground 
 
 rocks cumbered its bed, and the muddy water that gurgled 
 
 among them was stained red instead of the usual glacial 
 
 green, while, as I wondered where the rest had gone, the 
 
 prospector said, * These blamed rivers are low in winter, but 
 
 I never saw one quite so ashamed of itself as this. It's the 
 
 snow slide we heard last night damming the valley, and 
 
 there'll be a rush worth seeing when it does break through.' 
 
 I had occasion afterwards to learn that he was right, 
 
 but meantime we followed the banks of the river the* creek 
 
 ran into up stream, still looking for the gorge. Several 
 
 times the prospector fancied he identified a transverse 
 
 opening, and then confessed he was not even sure of the 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 259 
 
 river, because, as he said, there were so everlasting many of 
 them. Johnston grew more and more uneasy, until, when I 
 called a halt as the sun bore south, he looked at me appeal- 
 ingly, and I agreed to continue until there was just time 
 enough left to reach our previous camp by nightfall. So we 
 held on, and finally he turned to me, saying, ' I've played 
 the last game and lost it. Well, you kept your part of the 
 bargain ; I'll keep mine. It's take up the home-trail, boys, 
 we're going back to camp.' 
 
 He said it lightly, but I could tell he felt the disappoint- 
 ment bitterly, while even I, who had expected nothing, 
 wheeled the pack-horse round with an angry growl. It was 
 towards dusk when we neared the creek we had crossed in 
 the morning, but it was no longer shrunken. Evidently 
 the dam of debris had given way, for it roared in full flood 
 now, and it was with anxiety we quickened our pace. The 
 hillsides loomed blackly out of chilly mist that wrapped the 
 serried ranks of climbing pines in their smoky folds. It 
 was not yet dark in the valley, but the light was dying fast, 
 and a bitter breeze swept down a darkening gorge, bringing 
 with it the moan of an unseen forest until presently this 
 was lost in the voice of the frothing torrent before us. 
 There was neither fuel nor shelter on that side, and we 
 determined to attempt the crossing, for, as Harry said, 
 4 Hunger alone is bad, but hunger and cold together are 
 worth an effort to avoid.' 
 
 The prospector waded in foremost, sounding with a long 
 fir pole. The stream swirled in white wreaths about his 
 waist, and Johnston turned to speak to me, standing a few 
 yards nearer with the ripples at his knee ; then I grasped 
 the pack-horse's bridle and forced it into the water. The 
 beast carried a heavy load, including most of our blankets, 
 and almost the entire balance of our provisions. A rusty 
 rifle was slung behind my shoulders, besides tools and 
 
 S 2 
 
260 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 utensils, and Johnston was similarly caparisoned, so I felt 
 my way cautiously as the ice-cold waters frothed higher 
 about me. Near by the creek poured into the main river, 
 which swept with a great black swirling into the gloom of 
 the forest. 
 
 All went well until we gained the centre of the stream, 
 and then a loose stone turned under the horse's hoof, or it 
 sank into a deeper hollow, for there was a plunge and a 
 flounder, and, jerked sideways by the bridle, I went down 
 headforemost into the stream. This was a common enough 
 accident, but the bridle slipped from my ringers, and when 
 some seconds later I stood erect, gasping, with the torrent 
 racing past me, the horse was swimming down stream a 
 dozen yards away, while Johnston struggled in that direction 
 to intercept it. 
 
 4 Let it go ! ' I roared. ' Water's deepening ; you'll be 
 sucked out into the main river,' and caught the answer, 
 4 All our provisions there ! ' after which there was a confused 
 shouting, which ended in the warning, ' For the Lord's sake, 
 Johnston, look out for yourself ! ' 
 
 I could see that our best chance of rendering assistance 
 was to cross and try to overtake them from the further 
 bank, and a few seconds later I was clattering over the 
 shingle with the prospector close behind me. But we were 
 already too late, for when, waist-deep, I floundered down a 
 shingle spit, the half-submerged beast, handicapped by its 
 burden, swept past out of reach, and I caught a momentary 
 glimpse of a wet white face and a man's uplifted arm before 
 a tumbling ridge splashed up and hid them. Then the pro- 
 spector said, * Couldn't never overtake them, but it's running 
 slacker in the river.' 
 
 We smashed through a willow thicket which covered a 
 little promontory, and then, staring wide-eyed under the 
 branches, I saw an indistinct object lurch unevenly into the 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 261 
 
 froth of a rapid, and so pass next instant out of sight. 
 Whether it was man or horse no one could say. 
 
 * He's gone,' said the grizzled prospector. c Many 
 another has gone the same way. Find them ! Of course, 
 we'll search, but I guess it's hopeless. Don't think your 
 partner was great on swimming, and he was loaded heavy. 
 Come on, daylight's going.' 
 
 For a moment I felt limp and abject, then in savage 
 fury broke through barberry branches and thorny brakes, 
 fell into the river, and blundered down a shoaler portion of 
 its channel, until I brought up breathless on the verge of a 
 deep boiling pool, while even as I stared across it the last of 
 the day went out. 
 
 * It sounds hard,' said the prospector, * but you can't do 
 nothing. No man could make his way through this bush 
 in the dark, and it wouldn't be any good. Your partner 
 never got so far. We can only say we're sorry, and strike 
 back for camp.' 
 
 He was right, though I think I cursed him for cowardice 
 then, and struggled on through a horrible chaos of tangled 
 forest, but each time when, peering out between the dark 
 fir branches, I cried aloud, the blackness returned no answer 
 save the boom of angry water. So, bruised, wet, and 
 bleeding, I struggled back towards the fatal creek, and found 
 my lips would not frame words to answer when Harry said, 
 ' It was horrible, Ralph. I'd give all our hopes and pros- 
 pects to have the poor fellow safe again. But there's no 
 help for it, and somehow I fancy it was a release. You 
 will remember how he looked when he said that this was 
 his last march ? ' 
 
 We lighted a fire, dried our garments and the blankets 
 that were left us, then Harry flung aside the battered camp 
 spider, and drew out a flask, saying, * Ten pounds of flour, 
 five of reisty pork and that's what he gave his life for. 
 
262 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 No, I don't think I could eat anything to-night. Here, 
 empty half of this, Ralph, you're shaking all over,' and 
 Harry lifted his hat as he touched the metal cup with his 
 lips : ' Good rest to you, comrade,' he said. 
 
 I choked over the mouthful of spirit, which I needed badly 
 enough, and then sat shivering wide awake beside the fire 
 through the long bitter night, while when at daybreak I 
 called the others, they both rose with a suspicious readiness. 
 For hours we wandered along the river bank, but found 
 nothing whatever beyond conclusive evidence that even the 
 best swimmer could hardly have come out of that icy flood 
 alive. Then dejectedly we strapped up our traps, and 
 turned our backs upon the dismal camp. We halted and 
 looked back a moment on the crest of the divide, and here 
 the guide said, * The beast was badly played out, the man 
 was loaded. Thirty pounds and a rifle and he couldn't 
 hardly swim. He's gone out on the lonely trail, but 
 whether there's gold at the end of it no living man can 
 say. Maybe you'll find out some day when you follow 
 him.' 
 
 Then in mournful silence we turned away, and that 
 night ate our last mouthful in another valley, and forgot the 
 gnawing hunger in broken sleep, through which a wet face 
 persistently haunted me. When we rose there was not 
 even a handful of caked flour in the damp bag, and during a 
 discussion the miner, in reply to Harry's statement, said it 
 did not follow there were no deer or bear in the country 
 because we had not seen them. Men tramping noisily 
 behind shod horses do not generally chance upon the shy 
 deer, he pointed out ; while if two previous hunts had proved 
 unsuccessful, we might do better on the third. It was at 
 least four days' march to the nearest dwelling, and I agreed 
 with his observation that no starving men could march for 
 four days through such a country. So, to enhance our 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 263 
 
 chances, the company divided, agreeing to meet again, if 
 they killed nothing, at the same spot by sunset. 
 
 It was with a heavy heart and my belt drawn tighter I 
 left the others, carrying a loaded rifle, which seemed to 
 increase considerably in weight. Now, even well north in 
 British Columbia, especially if near the Pacific, there are 
 favoured valleys sunk deep among the ranges and open to 
 the west which escape the harder frost, and as this was one 
 of them I determined to search the half-frozen muskegs for 
 bear. The savage grizzly lives high under the ragged 
 peaks, the even fiercer cinnamon haunts the thinly-covered 
 slopes below, but I had no desire to encounter either of 
 them, while the flesh of the little vegetable-feeding black 
 bear is by no means unpalatable, especially to starving 
 men. 
 
 So I prowled from swamp to swamp, seeing nothing but 
 the sickly trunks which grew up out of thinly frozen slime, 
 while no sound made by either bird or beast broke the 
 impressive silence of the primeval solitude. At last, when 
 the day was nearly spent, I crawled towards a larger mus- 
 keg, which spread out from a running creek, and knelt in 
 congealed mire behind a blighted spruce, listening intently, 
 for a sound 1 recognised set my heart beating. All round, 
 dwindling in gradations as the soil grew wetter, the firs 
 gave place to willows, and there was mud and ice cake 
 under them, while, peering hard into the deepening shadows, 
 I saw what I had expected a patch of shaggy fur. This 
 was one of the small black bears, and the creature was grub- 
 bing like a hog among the decaying weed for the roots of 
 the wild cabbage, which flourishes in such places. Some of 
 these bears hibernate in winter, I believe, but by no means 
 all, for the bush settlers usually hunt them then for their 
 fur. No summer peltry is worth much. 
 
 I was only a fair shot with the rifle, and the strip of 
 
264 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 back, half seen between the branches, would prove a diffi- 
 cult mark in an uncertain light, while it was probable that 
 three lives might answer for the bear's escape. So I waited 
 aching in every joint, while my hands grew stiffer on the 
 rifle stock, but still the beast refrained from making a 
 target of itself, until, knowing that it would soon be too 
 dark to shoot, I had to force the crisis. A strange sound 
 might lead the quarry to show himself an instant before 
 taking flight, and so I moistened my blue lips and whistled 
 shrilly. A plump rotund body rose from the weeds, sixty 
 yards away, I guessed, and I pitched up the rifle, dropping 
 my left elbow well over my knee and steadying the cold 
 barrel against the tree. 
 
 Sixty yards and a two-foot target, what need for such 
 precautions ? one hears the marksmen say, and when stalk- 
 ing sand-hill cranes in warm sunlight now I can agree with 
 them. But I was nearly famished, stiff with cramp and cold, 
 and shooting for bare existence then, and with a half- 
 articulate prayer I increased the pressure on the trigger as 
 the fore-bead trembled it would tremble across the fur. 
 The bear was clearly suspicious. He would be off next 
 moment, the trigger was yielding, and with a sudden stif- 
 fening of every muscle I added the final pressure as the 
 notch in the rear-sight and the centre of the body came 
 for a moment in line. I heard no explosion one rarely does 
 when watching the result intently ; but there was a red flash 
 from the tilting muzzle, and the heel-plate jarred my 
 shoulder. Then I growled with satisfaction as almost 
 simultaneously I heard a sound there was no mistaking, the 
 crunch of a forty-four bullet smashing through flesh and 
 bone. The bear was down, struggling among the weed, 
 and plunging straight through the muskeg I fell upon it, 
 and after burning another cartridge with the muzzle against 
 the flesh, drove the long knife in to the hilt. 
 
ON THE GOLD TRAIL 265 
 
 Next I rose stiffly upright, ensanguined, with wild gasps 
 of thankfulness, and sent a hoarse cry ringing across the 
 woods, after which I sat down upon the fur and stabbed the 
 lifeless brute twice again, for I was filled with a childish fear 
 that even now it might escape me. This was needless, and 
 even barbarous, but to one in my position it was natural. 
 
266 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXIV 
 
 THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 
 
 A SHOUT came down from the range side, and when the 
 others joined me even Harry surveyed the bear with wolfish 
 eyes, while it did not take long to perform what the French- 
 Canadians call the eventrer^ and, smeared red all over, we 
 bore the dismembered carcase into camp. We feasted like 
 wild beasts we were frankly animal then and it was not 
 until hunger was satisfied that we remembered the empty 
 place. Then we drew closer together, and, though it was 
 mere fancy, the gloom of the forest seemed to thicken round 
 the circle of fading firelight, as Harry said : * He was the 
 life of the party at either work or feast. Ralph, we shall 
 miss him sorely ; a sound sleep to him.' 
 
 No one spoke again, and, drawing the two remaining 
 blankets across the three, we sank into our couches of 
 spruce twigs and slept soundly. It was after midnight, by 
 the altitude of the moon, when the prospector roused me, 
 and I sat up with chattering teeth, for there was a bitter 
 wind. * Don't you hear it ? there again,' he said. 
 
 I was not quite awake, and, when a tramp of footsteps 
 came faintly out of the obscurity, at first felt only elation. 
 Johnston had escaped and followed our trail, I thought. 
 This was short-lived, and was replaced by superstitious 
 dread, for there could be no human being within leagues of 
 us, and yet the ghostly footsteps drew steadily nearer and 
 nearer. Even the miner, who had spent half his life in the 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 267 
 
 ranges seemed uneasy, for he stretched out his hand for the 
 rifle, and Harry started upright as a challenge rang through 
 the stillness. ' Stop there, and call out what you want, 
 whoever you are.' 
 
 There was no answer from the silence, only the foot- 
 steps still approaching, and Harry looked at me curiously 
 when the miner called again, * Keep back tell us who you 
 are before we fire on you ! ' 
 
 Then a hoarse voice reached us : 'If you have nothing 
 to eat handy it won't matter much if you do. We are 
 three starving men, and past doing anybody an injury.' 
 
 ' Come forward,' I shouted. ' We have food here,' and 
 three figures staggered into the glow of the fire. The 
 foremost seemed familiar, and I could not repress a start 
 when the red blaze leapt up, for Geoffrey Ormond stood 
 before us leaning heavily on a rifle. His face was thin and 
 furrowed, his fur coat badly rent, and his very attitude 
 spoke of utter weariness. 
 
 4 Crosfield, by all that's wonderful ! ' he said. * You 
 were not exactly friendly the last time we met. In fact, I 
 almost fancied you wished to ride over me. I hope we're 
 not intruding, but we're most confoundedly hungry.' 
 
 The last words were unnecessary, for the way the men 
 behind him glanced at the meat showed it plainly enough, 
 and I held out my hand towards him, saying, C I must 
 apologise for a fit of temper, but it happened near the settle- 
 ments, and old quarrels don't hold up here. We have 
 food to give you, and hope you will consider yourselves 
 welcome.' 
 
 They certainly did so, for more bear steaks were laid 
 upon the embers, and while one of the newcomers, stripping 
 a cartridge, rubbed powder grains into the flesh, another 
 produced a few of the fern roots which in times of scarcity 
 the Siwash Indians eat. When at last they had finished, 
 
268 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 pushing back his fur cap, one of the party said, * You ought 
 to remember me, Crosfield.' 
 
 4 Of course I do, Calvert. Didn't you hire my horses 
 once ? ' I said. ' You must take my meaning the right 
 way when I say I'm pleased to see you here. But what 
 brought you and the others into this desolation ? ' 
 
 Calvert's eyes twinkled as he answered : * The same 
 thing that brought you stories of unlimited treasure. 
 When I heard them I left my few machines they were 
 not working well, and humbly craved the autocratic presi- 
 dent of the Day Spring mine's permission to join this expedi- 
 tion. The Day Spring was not prospering in such a degree 
 that we could afford to ignore the rumours eh, Geoffrey ? ' 
 
 ' You may put it so,' said Ormond quietly. ' But 
 Colonel Carrington is your acknowledged chief, and you 
 owe him due respect ; ' and the narrator continued : * We 
 came up, six sanguine men and one despondent mule, 
 which showed its wisdom by breaking its tether and desert- 
 ing. I gather that these expeditions are generally rough on 
 cattle. Then we lost our way, and, provisions growing 
 scanty, divided the party, three returning and three holding 
 on, Geoffrey and I, unfortunately, among the latter. We 
 got lost worse than ever on the return journey, and were 
 steering south, we hoped, at the last gasp, so to speak, when 
 we found you. That's about all, but, if it's a fair question, 
 did you find any sign of gold ? ' 
 
 c Not a sign,' I answered, and then there was silence as 
 Ormond said : * Yours was a triple combination. Where's 
 your cheerful partner ; I liked him. Ah, excuse an un- 
 fortunate question a difference of opinion most probably ? ' 
 
 ' No,' I answered. ' We never had a difference of 
 opinion since poor Johnston joined us. He lies somewhere 
 in a nameless river we lost him crossing a treacherous 
 ford two days ago.' 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 269 
 
 Ormond looked startled for a moment, then he bent his 
 head and answered with a kindly glance towards me, * He 
 was a good comrade, and you have my deep sympathy. May 
 I say that sometimes I fancied your friend could tell a pain- 
 ful story, and in endeavouring to forget it made the most of 
 the present.' 
 
 4 You are probably right,' said Harry. * He hinted as 
 much, but no one will learn that story now. He took his 
 secret with him, and the river guards it.' 
 
 * It's an old tale,' said Ormond gravely. ' The way 
 into this country was opened by the nameless unfortunate. 
 After all, where could a man rest better than among the 
 ranges he had found a pathway through. Are not these 
 dark pines grander than any monument? Poor Johnston ! 
 Crosfield, I wonder, if we knew all, whether we should pity 
 him ? ' 
 
 His face grew sombre as he spoke, but it was Ormond 
 who presently dissipated the gloom by a humorous narrative 
 of the doings of the vanished mule, after which we went to 
 sleep again. A pale blink of sunshine shone down when 
 we started south next day, for we had agreed to march in 
 company, but the weary leagues lengthened indefinitely, and 
 there was still no sign of the eagerly expected trail leading 
 to Macdonald's Crossing, until, when we almost despaired of 
 finding it, one of the party assured us we should reach it 
 before the second nightfall. During the morning Ormond 
 and I lagged behind the others as we wound with much 
 precaution along the sides of an almost precipitous descent. 
 He limped from some small injury to his foot, made worse 
 by exposure, and as it happened a passing mention of Colonel 
 Carrington stirred up the old bitterness. 
 
 Why should this man enjoy so much while I had so 
 little, I thought. I was handicapped by poverty, and his 
 wealth lay like an impassable barrier between Grace and 
 
270 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 me. Then, though I tried hard, I could not drive out the 
 reflection that all would have been different if he had not 
 found our camp. Our partner had gone down in the black 
 pool ; we could not save him, but chance had made it easy 
 to succour the one man who could bring me sorrow in his 
 necessity. Then, as I struggled to shake off the feeling of 
 sullen resentment, Ormond perhaps noticed my preoccupa- 
 tion, for he said : < Under other circumstances how we 
 should enjoy this prospect, Crosfield ! ' 
 
 We halted a few minutes, and I agreed with him as I 
 glanced about me. A great slope of snow ran upwards 
 above us, and as far as eye could see there was a white 
 confusion of glittering ranges. The footprints of our 
 comrades wound in zig-zags among deep drifts and outcrops 
 of ice-touched rock across the foreground, and perhaps 
 twenty feet below the ledge on which we stood a smooth 
 slide of frozen snow dropped steeply towards the edge of a 
 precipice, through a gully in which we could see the tops 
 of the climbing pines far beneath. A few small clumps of 
 bushes and spruce rose out of this snow. 
 
 ' It's an awkward place for a lame man, but if we wait 
 much longer we will lose the others,' said Ormond, point- 
 ing to the distant figures struggling across the dazzling 
 incline. 
 
 He moved a few steps, then there was a stumble and a 
 sudden cry. I saw him for a moment slipping down the 
 slanted surface of the rock, while when I reached the edge 
 he hung apparently with one foot on a slippery stone, and 
 his left hand clawing wildly at the snow, which yielded under 
 it. I think his other fingers were in a crevice. The fall 
 might not be dangerous in itself, but it seemed impossible 
 that anybody launched upon that declivity could escape a 
 glissade over the precipice. This struck me in an instant, 
 and grasping a shrub which grew in a crevice (and may 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 271 
 
 have been a juniper or a sapling spruce) I held out my right 
 hand towards him. 
 
 ' Get hold, lift yourself with your foot, and I'll drag you 
 up,' I said. 
 
 He made a desperate effort, for I could see the veins 
 swell up on his forehead, but it was the injured foot which 
 had found hold, and when his chest was level with the edge, 
 still clawing at the treacherous covering, he commenced to 
 slip back again. ' Can't do it. Let go, before I pull you 
 over too,' he gasped. 
 
 One reads that in cases of imminent peril men's 
 memories have been quickened and past events rise up 
 before them, but nothing of this kind happened to me, for 
 so far as recollection serves I was only conscious that I could 
 not recover my own balance now, and that there were great 
 beads of sweat on the forehead of the man struggling for 
 his life below who stared up with starting eyes, while my right 
 arm seemed slowly being drawn out of its socket. So I fought 
 for breath, and held on, while I fancy Ormond choked out 
 again : ' You fool, let go ! ' and then, with a slow rending, 
 the roots of the shrub gave way, and we plunged down- 
 wards together. 
 
 Ormond was undermost, and he must have struck an 
 uncovered rock heavily, for I heard a thudding shock, and 
 next moment, driving my heels into the snow, I swept down 
 the incline at a speed which threatened to drive the little 
 sense left in me completely away. Nevertheless, I noticed 
 that Ormond rushed downwards head foremost several 
 yards away, and there was a loud crash when he charged 
 through a juniper thicket, and then struck violently against a 
 spruce, which brought him up almost on the verge of the 
 gully. By good luck I slid into a clump of stout saplings, 
 and presently rose to my knees, blinking about me in a 
 dazed fashion, One thing, however, was evident any rash 
 
272 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 move would launch me over the sheer fall, and I carefully 
 refrained from making it. Ormond lay still against the 
 slender trunk, and several minutes passed before he raised 
 his head. There was a red stain on the snow beside him, 
 and his voice was uneven. 
 
 ' You are not a judicious man, Crosfield,' he said. * I'm 
 infinitely obliged to you, but no one would have blamed 
 you for letting go.' 
 
 ' We'll let that pass,' I answered shortly. c I'm glad I 
 did not. We are in an awkward place, and the first thing is 
 to settle how to get out of it.' 
 
 There was a wry smile on Ormond's face when he 
 spoke again : * It's certainly a perilous position, and a some- 
 what unusual one. You and I of all men to be hung up 
 here together on the brink of eternity. Still I, at least, am 
 doubtful if I'll ever get out of it again ; there's something 
 badly broken inside me.' 
 
 The hot blood surged to my forehead, for I understood 
 what he meant, but that was a side issue, and, answering 
 nothing, I scanned the slope for some way of ascent. There 
 was none, and nothing without wings could have gained the 
 valley, which Ormond realised also, for he said : c All we can 
 do, Crosfield, is to wait until our friends assist us. In the mean- 
 time you can fire your rifle to suggest that they might hurry ! ' 
 
 He spoke very thickly, and I scraped the snow from 
 the slung weapon's muzzle, for this will sometimes burst a 
 gun. Then a red flash answered the ringing report from 
 the opposite slope, and presently a cry reached us from the 
 foremost of the clambering figures. c Hold on ! We're 
 coming to get you out,' it said. 
 
 Now most luckily we had brought several stout hide 
 ropes with us, which was a rather unusual procedure. 
 The British Columbian mountaineer will carry a flour bag 
 over moraine and glacier trusting only to the creeper spikes 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 273 
 
 on his heels, and in objecting to the extra weight our guide 
 said derisively : ' We've quite enough to pack already, and 
 I guess you don't want to dress us up with a green veil, a 
 crooked club with a spike in the end of it, and fathoms of 
 spun hemp, like them tourist fellows bring out to sit in the 
 woods with.' 
 
 Nevertheless, I insisted, and now we were thankful for 
 the coupled lariats. They could not lower them directly 
 towards me because of a tree, and when the end lay resting 
 on the snow several yards away I braced myself to attempt 
 the risky traverse. The slope was pitched as steeply as the 
 average roof, there was ice beneath the frost-dried powder 
 that slid along it, and, leaving the rifle behind, I drove the 
 long blade of my knife deep down for a hand-hold before 
 the first move. 
 
 ' Lie flat and wriggle,' called a man above. ' Jam the 
 steel into the hard cake beneath/ and with the cold sweat 
 oozing from my hair I proceeded to obey him. How long 
 I took to cover the distance we could not afterwards agree, 
 but once I lay prone for minutes together, with both arms 
 buried in the treacherous snow, which was slipping under 
 me, and the end of the lariat a foot or two away. Then 
 with a snake-like wriggle I grasped it, and there was a cry 
 of relief from the watchers. I got a bight round Ormond's 
 shoulders, and after some difficulty fastened it. One can- 
 not use ordinary knots on hide. Ready hands gathered in 
 the slack, and my rival was drawn up swiftly, while they 
 guided him diagonally round instead of under the jutting 
 shelf we had fallen from. 
 
 Then the end came down again, and with it fast about 
 my shoulders I went back for the rifle, after which they 
 hauled me up, filling my neck and both sleeves with snow 
 in the process, while, though Harry laughed, his voice 
 trembled when, as I gained the platform, he said : 
 
 T 
 
274 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' Well done, partner ! You fought gamely, and if 
 you had eaten another bear we should never have landed 
 you.' 
 
 Harry, I think, had been at one time a trout fisher. 
 Ormond, however, after making an effort to rise, lay limply 
 in the snow. ' I'm very sorry to trouble you, but I can't 
 get up,' he said. * Something gone wrong internally and 
 my leg's broken. I'm much afraid you will have to carry 
 me.' 
 
 It was an arduous undertaking, and even before starting 
 it was necessary to lash his limbs together with a rifle 
 between them by way of splint. After this we spent two 
 hours traversing the next mile or so, and my shoulders 
 ached when with intense satisfaction we found firm earth 
 beneath our feet once more. Ormond was distinctly 
 heavy, and that region is sufficiently difficult to traverse 
 even by a wholly unburdened man, while, hampered by his 
 weight, the two days' march to the crossing might be 
 lengthened indefinitely. Still, we could not leave him 
 there, and, framing two spruce poles with branches between 
 them into a litter, we struggled forward under our burden. 
 We were five partly fed and worn-out men in all, and we 
 carried the litter alternately by twos and fours, finding the 
 task a trying one either way. Probably we could never 
 have accomplished it except under pressure of necessity. 
 
 The bronze had faded already in the sufferer's face, his 
 cheeks had fallen in, but though -the jolting must have 
 caused him severe pain at times he rarely complained. 
 Instead, he would smile at us encouragingly, or make some 
 pitiful attempt at a jest, and I think it was chiefly to please 
 us he choked down a few spoonfuls of the very untempting 
 stew we forced upon him. Once, too, when I tried to 
 feed him his eyes twinkled, though his lips were blanched, as 
 he said : 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 275 
 
 ' We are playing out our parts in a most unconventional 
 fashion. Ralph Crosfield, are you sure it is not poison you 
 are giving me ? ' 
 
 Perhaps he would have said more if I had followed his 
 lead, but I did not do so, and these two veiled references 
 were all that passed between us on the subject that most 
 concerned us until almost the end. It was late one night, 
 but there was a beaten trail beneath us and we knew we 
 were running a race for Ormond's life, when at last a 
 glimmer of light appeared among the trunks and the sound 
 of hurrying water increased in volume. We quickened our 
 dragging pace, and when Harry pounded violently on the 
 door of a log building an old man with bent shoulders and 
 long white hair stood before us. 
 
 * Ye'll come in, and very welcome,' he said. ' I heard 
 ye coming down the trail. Four men with a load between 
 them where are the lave o' ye ? The best that's in 
 Hector's shanty is waiting ye.' 
 
 There was an air of dignity about him which struck 
 me, and I had heard prospectors and surveyors talk about 
 mad Hector of the crossing, while when we carried our 
 burden in he knelt and laid back Ormond's under jacket of 
 deerskin before he saw to the broken leg with a dexterity 
 that evinced a knowledge of elementary surgery. 
 
 4 Is this going to be the end of me ? ' asked Ormond 
 languidly, and the old man, turning his head, glanced 
 towards me in warning as he said, * That's as the Lord 
 wills. Yere friends will need to be careful. The leg's no 
 set that ill, but I'm suspecting trouble inside o' ye. With 
 good guidance ye should get over it. Lay him gently 
 yonder while I slip on a better lashing.' 
 
 He crammed the stove with fuel until the hot pipe 
 trembled to the draught, and soon set a bounteous meal 
 before us fresh venison and smoked salmon with new bread 
 
 T 2 
 
276 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and dried berries while he also prepared a broth for Ormond 
 who drank a little greedily, and then lapsed into slumber. 
 I was for pushing on after a brief rest, but Hector said, 
 4 Neither man nor horse has been drowned while I kept 
 this crossing, and by the help o' Providence no man will. 
 Can ye no hear the river roaring to the boulders, and would 
 ye have her wash ye out mangled out o' human image into 
 the bottomless pool ? May be ye'll no like the passage in 
 the light o' dawn, but ye cannot cross till then.' 
 
 He spoke with a tone of certainty, and knowing that 
 only those who live by them can predict the eccentric rise 
 and fall of these torrents I was glad to defer to his judg- 
 ment. It was only for Ormond's sake we desired to press 
 on at all, and Harry observed truthfully, * It wouldn't do 
 the poor fellow any good to drown him.' 
 
 It was late, but we still loitered about the stove, and 
 when once the old man stood in the open doorway glancing 
 towards the foaming rush of the river I could see beyond 
 him, as though to gauge its force by the roar which now 
 filled the room, one of the party said, c Old Hector's a 
 curious critter, with a kink inside his brain, but there's 
 many a free miner owes a big debt to him. He knows 
 each trick of the river ; the Siwash say it talks to him, 
 and when he says clear passage I guess you can cross. I've 
 heard the Roads and Trails Authorities allow him a few 
 dollars subsidy, but he doesn't stay here for that. He was 
 mixed up in some ugly doings in the gold days, and reckons 
 he's squaring it by keeping the crossing. There's a good 
 many lives to his credit, if that counts for anything, and 
 I'm figuring it does.' 
 
 He ceased as our host returned and said, f She's falling 
 half-a-foot an hour, an' for the sake of the sick man I'll 
 see ye over with the break of dawn. Got hurt on the gold 
 trail ye need not tell me. There's no a sand bar or gully 
 
THE BRINK OF ETERNITY 277 
 
 from Fraser till Oominica Hector did not travel thirty years 
 ago. They came up in their thousands then, an' only the 
 wolf an' eagle ken where the maist o' them lie.' 
 
 c That's true,' said the grizzled prospector. ' I was in 
 the last of it when Caribou was played out and we struck 
 for the Peace country and Cassiar,' and Hector stared past 
 him through the smoke wreaths with vacant eyes that 
 seemed to look far back into bygone years. 
 
 4 There was red gold to be had for the seeking then,' 
 he said. ' We won it lightly, an' we spent it ill. Ay 
 wine, an' cards, an' riot, when they brought the painted 
 women in, until the innocent blood was spilt, and Hector 
 came down from Quesnelle with the widow's black curse 
 upon him but it was his partner shot Cassell in the 
 back. The widow's curse ; and that's maybe why Mary 
 Macdonal' lies long years her lone among the hills o' 
 Argyle.' 
 
 * Tell us how you cleaned out the Hydraulic Company, 
 Hector,' said the prospector, and added aside to me, ' I'm 
 switching him off on to another track. He's not cheerful 
 on this one, and it's hardly fair play to listen while he gives 
 himself away.' 
 
 Then we heard true stories of the old mad days, tales 
 of grim burlesque and sordid tragedy, which have never 
 been written, and would not be credited if they were, 
 though their faint echoes may still be heard between the 
 Willow River and Ashcroft on the Thompson, while when 
 long afterwards Harry and I discussed that experience he 
 said, ' Say little about Hector ; one must know these 
 mountains well to understand him. I never saw anyone 
 quite like him. He spoke like a Hebrew prophet, and we 
 obeyed him as though he were an emperor.' 
 
 I slept in a splendid dry blanket under a bearskin which 
 Hector spread over me, and a dim light was in the eastern 
 
278 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 sky when the old man roused me, saying, * If ye are stout 
 at the paddle we'll try the river noo.' 
 
 The others were growling drowsily as they rose to 
 their feet, and I saw that Ormond's gaze was fixed upon 
 me meaningly. Then as I bent over him he said, ' You'll 
 take me over won't you, Crosfield, now ? I feel each hour 
 is precious, and I'm longing above all things to see Miss 
 Carrington before I go. It is for her own sake partly.' 
 
 I had forgotten our rivalry, and my voice was thick as 
 I promised, while Ormond sighed before he answered 
 faintly, * It might have been different, Crosfield. It's a 
 pity we didn't know each other better three years ago.' 
 
279 
 
 XXV 
 
 ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 
 
 * LAUNCH her down handy. Bring the sick man along ! ' 
 called someone outside ; and when we carried Ormond 
 out I saw the others running a big Siwash canoe down over 
 the shingle, and the dark pines rising spires of solid 
 blackness against the coming day. It was bitterly cold, and 
 white mist hung about them, while huge masses of rock 
 rose through the smoke of the river, whose clamour filled 
 all the hollow. None of us quite liked the task before us, 
 for man's vigour is never at its highest in the chilly dawn ; 
 but I remembered Ormond's eagerness to continue the 
 journey. So we laid him gently on our blankets in the 
 waist, and thrust out the long and beautifully modelled craft, 
 which was of the type the coastwise Siwash hunt the fur 
 seals in. I knelt grasping the forward paddle until Hector, 
 who held the steering blade, said : ' If ye'll follow my 
 bidding I'll land ye safe across. Together. Lift her 
 all!' 
 
 The light shell surged forward to the sturdy stroke, for 
 several of those behind me were masters of the paddle, and 
 as I plied my blade I felt with a thrill it was good to fight 
 the might of the river in such a company. Snowy wreaths 
 boiled high about the shearing prow, I could hear the 
 others catch their breath with a hiss, and once more after a 
 heavy thud the cedar floor seemed to raise itself beneath me 
 and leap to the impulse, while, with a hardening of every 
 
280 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 muscle, I swept the leaf-shaped blade outwards ready for the 
 dip. There was spray in my eyes, and bearing down on us 
 through it a boulder, with dim trunks opening and closing 
 beyond ; then I saw only the bird's head on the prow, for 
 someone cried behind that my stroke was slow, and by the 
 rush of foam and shock of thudding blow I knew the others' 
 blades were whirling like flails. 
 
 The rock loomed nearer, the river piled against its 
 battered feet, and I hazarded a glance over my shoulder, 
 which showed me a row of set faces turned towards the 
 bow, with stout arms and the flats of redwood blades swung 
 out before them, until with a swing of shoulders the heads 
 went down, and a white wave burst apart before the stem. 
 Looking forward next instant the rock lay right athwart our 
 way ; but the others had blind confidence in our pilot, and 
 Hector said : * Back ye on the up-stream ; drive her yere 
 hardest, down ! ' 
 
 Then the current strove to wrest my dipped blade 
 away, as with the paddles on one side held fast by sinewy 
 wrists the craft turned as on a pivot, and lurching on the 
 backwash whirled past the stone, after which the cry was : 
 * Drive her all ! ' and we shot away on the eddy with our 
 faces turned slantwise up-stream. This was well, for close 
 below the whole weight of the current hurled itself in fury 
 upon a ragged barrier, and I understood that Hector had 
 calculated our impetus to a quarter fathom. There was a 
 fight to reach the landing, and with any other than the 
 crew behind me the river might have won ; but four of the 
 lean hard men had fought many such battles, and though 
 the trunks raced up stream we closed with the shore until 
 the shock of the bows on shingle flung me backwards. 
 
 Our next proceeding was to portage a smaller craft 
 several hundred yards in the direction the water came from, 
 for Hector to make the return passage in, and then, as we 
 
ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 281 
 
 thanked him for the food and small comforts for Ormond 
 he forced upon us, the old man said : ' Ye're very welcome, 
 an' I'm not wanting yere dollars. Will I take payment for 
 a bit dried venison, when the Almighty freely gives me all 
 the good fish in the river an' the deer in the woods ? Go, 
 an' haste ye ; yon man is needing the aid of science.' 
 
 Then he turned away, and watched us from the shingle 
 as we took up Ormond's litter, and the last we ever saw of 
 him was a tall lonely figure which vanished into the gray 
 smoke of the river as I plodded up the climbing trail. Still, 
 even now, that lonely figure rises up before me. 
 
 ' Old Hector tells strange things when the fit takes him. 
 Used to speak our language it's curious, he talks like some 
 of them emigrants from the old country now,' a man beside 
 me said. c But you can stake your last dollar he isn't mad. 
 No, sir, it's quaint he is. I've had my voyageur training in 
 the frozen country under the H. B. C., but when it's dead 
 knowledge of a rapid he'll beat me easy. Some day the 
 river will get him, and then we'll miss him bad.' 
 
 In due time we reached a shingle-roofed settlement, 
 where a man who had some local reputation for skill in 
 healing horses examined our companion. 
 
 * He's pretty well played out,' he said. ' Ship him 
 straight down to Vancouver in a sleeper car, and don't you 
 let any of them bush-doctors get their claws on to him. I 
 know when a job's too big for me, and this is one. You'll 
 fetch up in time for the Pacific mail if you start now in a 
 waggon.' 
 
 4 What did that fellow say ? ' asked Ormond, and when 
 I judiciously modified the horse-doctor's verdict he smiled 
 as he answered : ' That's a wise man, and I can guess what 
 he told you. Crosfield, I know I'm sinking fast, and if you 
 leave me here I'll die before you can send a doctor up, and 
 haunt you. Probably I'll also die in Vancouver, but every 
 
282 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 man is justified in making a fight for his life and there's 
 another reason why I should get there first.' 
 
 We hired a light waggon, for a passable trail led to the 
 railroad, and perhaps because time was scanty, or the jolting 
 of the waggon was more trying than the swing of the litter, 
 our patient grew worse, and I was thankful at last to see 
 him bestowed in a berth of the sleeper on the Pacific 
 express. I had grown almost as impatient as Ormond, and 
 recollect nothing of the journey except that when the lights 
 of Port Moody glittered across the forest-shrouded inlet he 
 said : * I've a stupid prejudice against a hospital, and you'll 
 take me to Wilson's instead. He lives alone, and I did 
 him several services you can tell him it will not be for 
 long.' 
 
 So when we reached the station Harry volunteered to 
 find the best doctor in the timber city for hewn stone had 
 only begun to replace sawn lumber then and arrange for 
 transit to Wilson's house ; because he said it was my par- 
 ticular duty to tell Colonel Carrington and Grace. An 
 hour passed before I traced them, and then, as it happened, 
 I found they were present at a function given to celebrate 
 the starting of some new public enterprise, and it was with 
 hesitation that, followed by Calvert, I entered the vestibule 
 of the brilliantly lighted hall. We gave a message to a 
 bland Chinese attendant, and waited until returning he 
 beckoned us through a crimson curtain, which swung to 
 behind, and I found myself standing bewildered under a 
 blaze of light in a ball-room. 
 
 There was a crash of music, a swishing of coloured 
 dresses, and then, as the orchestra ceased, we stood before 
 the astonished assembly just as we had left the bush, in 
 tattered fur wrappings and torn deerskin, with the stains of 
 leagues of travel on our leggings, while I recollect that a 
 creeper-spike upon my heel made holes in the polished 
 
ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 283 
 
 marqueterie. All eyes were turned upon us, and Calvert 
 growled, ' This is considerably more than I bargained for. 
 I feel guiltily like the man who brought the news to 
 Edinburgh after Flodden. What did you play this con- 
 founded trick upon us for, John ? 
 
 'John savvy Missy Callington,' said the unblushing 
 Mongolian ; and Calvert added savagely, ' Then hide us 
 somewhere, and tell her, before I twist your heathen neck 
 for you.' 
 
 I noticed Martin Crosfield moving towards me ; but 
 before he reached us Grace came up, a dazzling vision 
 of beauty. 
 
 ' I am thankful to see you back safe, Ralph, and hear 
 you have news for me,' she said. * Lawrence Calvert, the 
 same applies to you.' 
 
 It was bravely done, for few women would have cared 
 to link themselves publicly with such a gaunt and tattered 
 scarecrow as I undoubtedly was then. But Grace was born 
 with high courage and a manner which made all she did 
 appear right ; while, when Calvert said that he would send 
 for Colonel Carrington, she calmly placed her hand within 
 my arm, and added, ' We will find quietness yonder in the 
 empty supper-room. You have made me anxious.' 
 
 Then, doubtless to the wonder of many citizens' 
 daughters and wives, we passed together, a sufficiently 
 striking couple, across the hall ; and when at length we 
 escaped the curious eyes, Grace held me back at arm's 
 length, saying, ' You look thin and haggard, Ralph. Some- 
 thing has happened. Now begin, and tell me all about it 
 clearly.' 
 
 I did not know how to commence, and proceeded awk- 
 wardly to temporise, though I meant what I said sincerely : 'It 
 was the fault of that stupid Chinaman, Grace, and I am sorry. 
 It was so courageous of you to come to me before them all.' 
 
284 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 She looked at me with a curious mingling of pride and 
 humour, answering, * Am I, then, so little as to fear a few 
 inquisitive women ? And do you fancy that I loved you for 
 your prepossessing exterior ? Now, sir, before you offend 
 me further, at once begin.' 
 
 I placed a lounge for her, and leaned over it as I said, 
 ' It is about Geoffrey. We went up prospecting, and found 
 his party in difficulties. Geoffrey is ' 
 
 * Not dead ! ' she said with a shudder, clutching the 
 arms of the chair. And I laid my hand soothingly on one 
 of hers when I answered : 
 
 ' No, but he is hurt, and longing to see you. He is in 
 Vancouver now. Listen, I will tell you why.' 
 
 * Poor Geoffrey ! ' she said when I had finished, while a 
 tear glistened on her long lashes. * Geoffrey, my old play- 
 mate ! I can hardly believe it. Ralph, there are very few 
 like him. He is in all things a true-hearted gentleman. 
 He stood between us j but how many others would have 
 played their part so chivalrously when he had the power 
 through my father to force me to his will. And may I be 
 forgiven for it more than once I had hard thoughts of 
 him. And now he is dying ! Take me at once to see 
 him.' 
 
 Shortly afterwards a voice reached us through an open 
 door. It was Calvert's, saying, * I want you to understand, 
 sir, that if we had not struck Crosfield's camp we should 
 have starved to death. I saw the accident from a distance, 
 and again it's my firm opinion he ran the utmost risk to 
 extricate Ormond. If the latter was my own brother 
 I should consider myself indebted for life to him.' 
 
 *I am glad to hear it,' answered an unseen person, 
 whom it was easy to recognise as the footsteps drew nearer. 
 4 Still, one must take precautions ; and, as I observed, under 
 the circumstances some people might have been suspicious. 
 
ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 285 
 
 I may say that, indirectly, Crosfield knew he would profit 
 by my partner's death.' 
 
 I started, and would have risen, burning with wrath, 
 but Grace's clasp held me fast ; while next moment her 
 father and Calvert entered the room. The former glanced 
 towards us in cold surprise ; and then, in a hard, ringing 
 tone, Grace said : 
 
 ' There is still, I hope, a little charity left in the world. 
 The reference is hardly becoming. There are others beside 
 Mr. Crosfield who would benefit, directly, by Geoffrey 
 Ormond's death.' 
 
 I would have spoken, but she prevented me ; and her 
 father stood for a moment speechless with astonishment. 
 Grace was a dutiful daughter, and, though he must have 
 tried her patience hardly now and then, I fancied this was 
 the first time she had ever openly defied him ; while I saw 
 that the shaft had gone home. Colonel Carrington was 
 not, however, to be shaken into any exhibition of feeling, 
 for he turned to me with his usual chilliness. 'I con- 
 gratulate you on your lucky escape,' he said. ' Calvert has 
 told me. If you are quite ready, Grace, and will get on 
 your wrappings, we will drive over and visit the sick man 
 immediately.' 
 
 So, seeing my presence was by no means desired, I 
 saluted the Colonel with stiffness, and hurried on foot in 
 the direction of Wilson's house. He was a bachelor, it 
 appeared, who dealt in mining gear, and during their 
 business intercourse had made friends with Ormond. Now 
 he was absent inland, but his housekeeper had placed the 
 pretty wooden dwelling at our patient's disposal. What 
 passed between the latter and Colonel Carrington I do not 
 know, but when Grace met me on the stairway she said, 
 * He told us how much you had done for him, and made 
 my father believe it even against his will.' 
 
286 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Presently the surgeon came down, and said, * I can do 
 little for him. There are internal injuries I needn't 
 describe them which practically leave no hope of recovery. 
 You can't get a trained woman nurse for love or money, 
 and it rests between yourselves and a Chinaman. I fancy 
 he would prefer you. I don't know how he stood the 
 journey.' 
 
 c We did our best, and he was very patient over it,' 
 I said. And the surgeon answered : 
 
 'I have no doubt you did, and it speaks well for your 
 comrade's fortitude. You need not blame yourselves, 
 however, for from the first he could not have got better.' 
 
 ' I'll take first watch,' said Harry, when, after giving us 
 full instructions, the surgeon departed. ' Miss Carrington 
 has already insisted on helping. I've sampled Wilson's 
 wardrobe, but his things would split up if you tried to get 
 into them. Go out and borrow or buy some anywhere. 
 You can't expect to meet Miss Carrington in that most 
 fantastic disarray. I've taken quarters at the Burrard House, 
 and it's not your turn until to-morrow. The Colonel has 
 graciously signified his approval of our arrangements.' 
 
 When my watch commenced next day Ormond seemed 
 pleased to me, and Grace, who was spreading southern 
 flowers in the room, withdrew. Then Calvert and Colonel 
 Carrington came in with a lawyer, and I raised Ormond so 
 that he could see them. Outside, and not far below the 
 window, bright sunlight beat down upon the sparkling inlet, 
 and across it the mountains rose in a giant wall. Ormond 
 glanced at them and sighed. Then he said with slow 
 distinctness : 
 
 4 Put it down in your own fashion. This is the gist 
 of it : I, Geoffrey Ormond, being now at least perfectly 
 sound in mind, bequeath my grey horse at Day Spring, all 
 my guns and rifles, with my silver harness and two pedigree 
 
ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 287 
 
 hunters at Carrington, to Ralph Crosfield, in token of friend- 
 ship and gratitude for a courageous attempt at my rescue 
 when by accident I fell from a rock. I especially desire 
 this inserted, Mr. Solicitor. You quite understand what I 
 am saying, Colonel Carrington ? ' 
 
 There was a significant smile in his eyes as they met 
 mine, and something rose in my throat threatening to choke 
 me when he added aside : c You will accept these things 
 as a memento of our last march, I hope ? With this 
 exception, I bequeath my property in stocks and lands of 
 all and every kind I do not enumerate, or appoint other 
 executor to Colonel Carrington of Carrington Manor, the 
 balance remaining after his death to revert to his daughter 
 Grace. Set it all out in due form, and give me the paper 
 to sign.' 
 
 Remembering what Grace once told me I fancied an 
 expression of unutterable relief smoothed out the wrinkles 
 of anxiety on the legatee's brow, but may have been mis- 
 taken in this, while there was a curious look in Ormond's 
 face, and I understood the depth of his loyalty to Grace. 
 It struck me with a shock that Ormond, in spite of his 
 apparent carelessness, realised how far matters had drifted, 
 and hoped to spare her the painful discovery. Then he lay 
 back struggling for breath, when, after the will was signed, 
 at a signal from the doctor the others withdrew. Perhaps 
 an hour passed while I kept watch alone before he spoke 
 again, saying very faintly : 
 
 ' It's strange, Crosfield, that circumstances should con- 
 stitute you my protector. It's not the usual ending of a 
 very old story. A rich man and a poor man loved the same 
 woman, and this is where the strangeness happens, perhaps 
 because of all women she was most worthy to be loved she 
 looked kindly upon the poorer man. The other had all 
 that fortune could give him save what he most desired, and 
 
288 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 being older he waited patiently, trusting her heart would 
 turn towards him, and when at last he learned the truth 
 had not courage to give her up, but waited still, hoping, he 
 hardly knew for what, against hope. Then circumstances 
 held them closer together in a bond that even for her sake 
 he dare not break, until at last the knot was cut. Crosfield, 
 we fought it out fairly, you and I. Now you have won, 
 and I am dying. I only ask you to be good to her.' 
 
 I turned my head aside, for I could say nothing appro- 
 priate, and he added : < I would like you to keep those rifles, 
 and when some day Grace receives the reversion she will 
 find it but little. We made some heavy losses in joint 
 ventures, her father and I you will tell her to remember 
 that. I think now all is settled. God bless her ! ' 
 
 He slept or lay quite still for some time, and once more, 
 knowing what I knew, I wondered at the greatness of his 
 nature, for it was evident that, realising his love was hopeless, 
 he had stood by her father only to serve her, and then he 
 said feebly : ' Lift me a little, Crosfield, so that I can see 
 the moonrise on the snow. Before another nightfall I shall 
 have followed your partner on the unknown trail.' 
 
 I raised him on the pillows, and then sat by the window, 
 from which because the lamp that tired his eyes had 
 been turned very low I could see the shimmer of stars on 
 the dark breast of the inlet, which was wrapped in shadow, 
 and a broad band of silver radiance grow wider across the 
 heights of snow, until Grace came in softly with more 
 blossoms from sunny Mexico. 
 
 Ormond saw her, and he had probably forgotten me, 
 for there was a great longing in his voice as he said huskily : 
 4 Will you kiss me, Grace, for the first and last time since 
 we were innocent children ? ' 
 
 She bent over him a compassionate figure, etherealised 
 by the pale light that touched her through the eastern 
 
ORMOND'S LAST JOURNEY 289 
 
 window, and I went out and waited on the stairway until, 
 after the surgeon went in, she passed me, sobbing, and stilled 
 an expression of sympathy with a lifted hand. That was 
 also the last I saw of Geoffrey Ormond in this life, for when 
 next I looked upon him he lay very white and still with the 
 seal of death upon him, and I knew that a very clean and 
 chivalrous soul had gone to its resting-place. I touched 
 his cold forehead reverently, and then turned away, mourn- 
 ing him, heaven knows, sincerely, and feeling thankful that 
 when tempted sorely I had kept my promise that day in 
 the bush as I remembered his words, * We have fought it 
 out fairly.' 
 
290 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXVI 
 
 THE TRIAL 
 
 GEOFFREY ORMOND was duly laid to rest in Canadian 
 soil, and it was long before the disastrous expedition was 
 mentioned among us. After all, its painful record was not 
 an unusual one, for even to-day, when waggon roads have 
 been driven into the mountain-walled forests where only the 
 bear and wood deer roamed before, all who go out on the 
 gold trail do not come home. I was anxious to return to 
 Fairmead, and as soon as decency permitted waited on 
 Colonel Carrington, and though I longed to challenge what 
 he had said to Calvert, contented myself with formally 
 renewing my previous request. 
 
 He listened with cold patience, but I did not like his 
 very quietness, and, though I believe he sincerely regretted 
 it, fancied he looked more hopeful since Ormond's death. 
 
 * I am afraid you are again asking too much, and your 
 request is rather characterised by assurance than common 
 sense,' he said. * I need not recapitulate my former reasons, 
 but, in addition to them, I wonder if you have read this. 
 As you do not allude to it, you probably have not.' 
 
 He produced a cutting from a Winnipeg paper, and 
 because Western journalism is conducted in a refreshingly 
 frank style of its own, I read with growing resentment the 
 following paragraph, which, the cutting being still in my 
 possession, is quoted verbatim. It commenced with the 
 heading, * The prosecutor skipped by the light of the 
 
THE TRIAL 291 
 
 moon,' and continued : ' In connection with the recent arrest 
 of three cattle thieves we have on good authority a romantic 
 story. The case is meantime hanging fire and won't go off 
 because of the mysterious absence of the prosecutor, one 
 Crosfield of Fairmead, who has vanished from off the prairie, 
 and will probably not appear again. Circumstances point 
 to his being one of the frolicsome Lotharios who occasionally 
 find the old country sultry, and he apparently developed a 
 tenderness for the wife of one of the prisoners. As a result, 
 there were complications, and she left her home. The 
 husband went to seek her on the wide prairie, and some bad 
 man, after trying to shoot him, threw him into a sloo. We 
 don't know if this was the prosecutor, but should think so. 
 Then the husband swore vengeance, and it is supposed 
 posted the cattle thieves so that they could clean out the 
 wicked betrayer's stock. Now the lawyers are waiting 
 their witness, sorrowing, and can't find him, while the boys 
 are saying that if he doesn't reappear the accused will 
 get off.' 
 
 * That is hardly a desirable certificate of character for 
 my daughter's suitor,' said Colonel Carrington. 
 
 c Do you believe this infamous libel ? ' I asked fiercely. 
 And his thin lips curled as he answered : 
 
 * Frankly, I do not that is to say, not the whole of it. 
 But there are others who will ; and I can hardly con- 
 gratulate you on your generally accepted reputation. That 
 alone would be a sufficient barrier to an alliance with my 
 family.' 
 
 ' But you almost made a conditional promise,' I said, 
 mastering my wrath. And the Colonel answered lightly : 
 
 * I merely said we would discuss the affair again ; and 
 we have done so. Several things have transpired in the 
 meantime, unfortunately for you.' 
 
 * Then there is nothing but open defiance,' I said. * I 
 
 U 2 
 
292 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 made you a certain promise in return, and I kept it. But 
 I warn you now that I will marry Miss Carrington in spite 
 of you. As to that cutting, the prosecutor will be found, 
 and if there is law in Canada a full apology will be printed 
 in the journal. I have nothing more to say.' 
 
 ' You have said sufficient, and I think you are foolish. 
 Any legal action will only make a hole in your scanty 
 exchequer. I wish you good morning,' said Colonel 
 Carrington ; and he held the door wide open, while, boiling 
 over with fury, I took myself away. 
 
 I have often since then pondered over that interview, 
 and could only guess at the reason for the Colonel's evident 
 change of front. I do not think it was due to the para- 
 graph ; but if he had some fresh scheme in contemplation 
 we never learned it, and Colonel Carrington is past all 
 explanations now. 
 
 When I had partly recovered I showed Harry the paper, 
 and he frowned as he said : * I always anticipated something 
 like this ; but of course the present is not the time to tell 
 you so. It rose out of the cattle deal ; and you will take 
 whatever steps you think best at our joint expense. In any 
 case, we have only the one purse between us. The sooner 
 you go back the better.' 
 
 It was good advice, and I proceeded to act upon it by 
 telegraphing up the line for a messenger to ride to Harry's 
 camp and send down any letters that might be waiting, 
 after which I sought an interview with Grace. She seemed 
 filled with a wholly unusual bitterness against her father, 
 but made me promise with some reluctance to wait a few 
 months longer before deciding on anything definite. 
 
 Harry returned forthwith to his post, but I waited 
 until the mail brought me several letters, reforwarded from 
 Fairmead. One was a request to call upon the police 
 authorities, upon a date already passed, in connection with 
 
THE TRIAL 293 
 
 the cattle thieves' trial, and there were two from the 
 Winnipeg solicitor, in the last of which he said : ' I cannot 
 understand your reticence, and must state that your 
 mysterious absence tends to confirm unpleasant rumours 
 about your character. It may also involve you in legal 
 difficulties, and I trust you will at once communicate 
 with me.' 
 
 I ran to the telegraph office, and, after sending a 
 message, ' Expect me by first express,' found Martin 
 Crosfield, to whom I had given an account of my inter- 
 view with the Colonel, waiting in my quarters. He, too, 
 possessed a copy of the wretched paper, and, flinging it 
 down before me, said, ' Hast seen this, lad ? A lie, you 
 needn't tell me it's a black lie. But there's folks that 
 will believe it, for the same story once deceived me. You'll 
 go straight back and sue them. I'm coming too. We'll 
 make them retract it or break them, if there's justice in the 
 land. Alice has gone south to California with a big rail- 
 road man's lady, and I'm longing for something to do. 
 There's another matter. Ralph, I've seen the Colonel.' 
 
 ' Seen Colonel Carrington ? ' I said with dismay. And 
 Martin Crosfield answered drily : 
 
 'Ay, I've seen him, and had a plain talk with him. 
 Nay, I'm not going to tell thee now what I said ; but it 
 bit, and he didn't like it. Ralph, lad,' and he nodded 
 towards me with a chuckle ' his daughter's worth the 
 winning. My own girl says so ; and thou shalt have her.' 
 Martin Crosfield was hard to turn aside from any object 
 he had set his mind upon but so, as everybody knew, was 
 Colonel Carrington and I fear I abused him inwardly for 
 a meddling fool, and reflected on the necessity for de- 
 liverance from the blunders of well-meaning friends. The 
 harm was done, however ; and it was useless to attempt to 
 draw particulars as to his intentions from my uncle, so I 
 
294 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 tried to forget the matter. All he would say was, c Wait 
 and thee will see,' or, again, with a wise shake of his head, 
 in the broad mill parlance, ' Thou never knows.' 
 
 We boarded the next train for Winnipeg together, and, 
 after calling on the solicitor and police authorities, who 
 eventually accepted my explanations, the former accom- 
 panied us to the newspaper offices, when the chief of the 
 staff seemed surprised when he introduced me. 
 
 4 This is Mr. Ralph Crosfield, whom you referred to 
 in a recently published paragraph,' he said. * The other 
 gentleman is his uncle, a British capitalist ; and after he 
 has given you his version of the affair I have something to 
 say. Will you state the main facts briefly, Mr. Crosfield ? ' 
 
 I did so, and the newspaper man who, I think, was an 
 American by birth made notes. 
 
 Then, before the solicitor could intervene, Martin 
 Crosfield, drawing down his bushy eyebrows, said, in the 
 unaccented English he used when in a deliberately 
 dangerous mood, ' You have given out a false impression 
 of an honest man's character. Now you're going to 
 publish a true one, with a full apology, or we intend 
 to make you suffer. There is law in Canada, I suppose ; 
 and if it costs me sufficient to buy three papers up, we'll 
 carry the case on until we get our damages or smash you. 
 Understand, I'm for liberty of the press, and in my young 
 days I helped to fight for it ; but this is license ; and 
 I think you know my friend yonder.' 
 
 4 1 guess I do,' said the other. ' One of the smartest 
 lawyers in the West. Oh, yes, I know him ! See here, 
 we're not great on libel actions in this country. It's 
 mighty hard to get damages for that ; and we like our 
 news tasty. No, all things considered, you would make 
 nothing of it if you did sue me. Why,' and he smiled on 
 the old man, who looked as if he were eager to assault 
 
THE TRIAL 295 
 
 him ' lots of the boys would take that kind of paragraph 
 as a compliment. It would tickle their vanity. We admit 
 the raciness we are proud of it ; but we stand for fair play 
 too. Would you mind telling me what you expect to do ? ' 
 
 ' It doesn't appeal to my client,' said the solicitor. * He 
 has, as you would put it, British prejudices. I don't intend 
 to display all our programme, but it includes a visit to your 
 rivals and the men who finance you. Still, though you 
 sometimes lay on the paint too thick, I have hitherto found 
 you well-informed and square ; and we would sooner that 
 you did the right thing of your own accord.' 
 
 The man, I thought, looked honest, and with a shrewd 
 smile he said, ' Now you're talking the right talk. This 
 paper casts its aegis over the innocent. It's the friend of the 
 oppressed, besides all the other good things set down in 
 the New Year's article. But I wouldn't like those other 
 fellows to get hold of that story before we've done with 
 it. The citizens are interested, and we haven't your 
 superstitious fear of commenting on cases sub judice. No, 
 sir, we're afraid of nothing, and don't let British capitalists 
 walk upon us with nails in their boots. Now I'm going to 
 make reparation and tell that tale in style, showing up all 
 your client's fine qualities. Want to revise the item ? 
 You couldn't do it for ten thousand dollars. We're 'way 
 beyond dictation, and pride ourselves on knowing how our 
 readers like their news.' 
 
 At a hint from the solicitor I contented myself with a 
 more definite promise to do me justice ; and when, as we 
 left the office, Martin Crosfield said grimly, ' Keep a hand 
 on your imagination, or you'll see me here again,' the man 
 of the pen answered with cheerfulness, * Always glad to 
 meet an interesting Britisher. Come in peace, and we'll 
 regale you on our special cigars ; otherwise, my assistant 
 will stand by with the politicians' club.' 
 
296 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 * And that's the creature who libelled us ! ' said Martin 
 Crosfield when we reached the street. * I've a good mind 
 to go back and show him if I'm an interesting Britisher 
 confound him ! ' whereupon the lawyer laughed heartily. 
 
 4 They're not all like him,' he said. * This particular 
 journal depends upon its raciness, and he has to maintain 
 the character. After all, he is an honest man, and he'll do 
 you justice, though the item may contain specimens of 
 what passes for local humour.' 
 
 This was apparently the case, for when we read it 
 together Martin Crosfield grew very red in the face, and at 
 first I was divided between vexation and amusement. It 
 ran as follows : ' We have unwittingly cast suspicion upon 
 an innocent man, and for once an unprincipled informant 
 has fooled us. The cattle-thief prosecutor has appeared, 
 and will shortly present himself blushing before the public 
 gaze. We have seen him, and can testify that instead of a 
 Don Juan he is a Joseph, for there is an air of ingenuous 
 innocence about him which makes it certain that he would 
 crawl into a badger hole if he met a pretty woman upon 
 the prairie. If further proof were wanted, he goes about 
 in charge of a highly respectable British Croesus, one of the 
 full-crusted elderly models of virtue they raise in Lanca- 
 shire. The class is not obsolete. We have seen one.' 
 
 Then, with whimsical directness, the following lines 
 set forth the true state of the case, and I felt on the con- 
 clusion that the writer had not unskilfully reversed his 
 previous unfavourable version. Martin Crosfield, however, 
 signally failed to appreciate it, for the words obsolete and 
 full-crusted stuck in his throat, and I had some difficulty in 
 restraining him from returning forthwith to the newspaper 
 offices. The journal eventually languished, and succumbed 
 after some friction with the authorities when the editor left 
 it to seek a wider field for his talents in the great republic, 
 
THE TRIAL 297 
 
 but before this happened he paid us several friendly visits 
 at Fairmead. 
 
 The trial, which excited public interest at the time, 
 took place shortly afterwards. It transpired there were 
 other charges of fraud against the pair of thieves, whose 
 case was hopeless from the beginning, but the prosecution 
 experienced some difficulty in obtaining evidence to de- 
 finitely connect Fletcher with them, though several facts 
 suggested that he had for some time acted as a tool in their 
 hands. The court was crammed, and looking down on 
 the sea of faces I could recognise a number of my neigh- 
 bours from the Fairmead district and Carrington, and was 
 not overjoyed to see them. An attempt to steal a large 
 draft of cattle was an important event upon the prairie. 
 Neither would I have testified at all, could this have been 
 avoided, which, however, was not the case, and I waited 
 with much anxiety the cross-examination for the defence, 
 because my solicitor had warned me that as more latitude 
 was generally allowed than in England an attempt would 
 be made to arouse popular sympathy on behalf of Fletcher 
 and shake my evidence by casting doubts upon my 
 character. 
 
 4 Have you any animus against the prisoner Fletcher ? ' 
 was the first question, and I answered, * No. Indeed, I 
 was always anxious to befriend him until he robbed and 
 slandered me.' 
 
 * Or his wife ? ' added the inquisitor. ' I think you 
 knew her in England. Is it not true that you took her 
 from the service of a railroad hotel and found a house for 
 her upon the prairie ? ' 
 
 There was a murmur in the court, and objection was 
 taken to this question by the prosecution, but I was directed 
 to answer it, and said as coolly as I could, * I did know 
 her in England. She was clerk in my uncle's mill, where 
 
298 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Thomas Fletcher assisted the cashier. He was not married 
 then. I took her from the service of the railroad hotel.' 
 
 ' It is a damaging admission,' said my persecutor, and 
 would have continued before I could finish the answer, but 
 that there was a commotion below, which I hastened to 
 profit by, adding, ' But I brought her husband to meet her, 
 and found him a situation in a creamery.' 
 
 ' It is true every word of it ! ' a shrill voice rose up, 
 and the murmuring grew louder in the body of the court, 
 while it pleased me to see that the riders of Carrington 
 vied with our humbler neighbours in this sign of approval. 
 Then some one called * Silence ! ' sternly, and the examina- 
 tion commenced again. 
 
 'I must protest against the witness's friends coming 
 here to create a disturbance,' said the barrister. c They are 
 all owners of cattle, and accordingly filled with prejudice. 
 This is a court of justice, and not a cow-boy's tribunal 
 under the laws of Lynch,' and the judge interposed : ' That 
 is my province, and if the disturbance is repeated I shall 
 know how to deal with it.' 
 
 The barrister bowed as he rearranged his papers, and I 
 felt murderously inclined towards him when, leaning on the 
 rail in an impressive attitude, he continued : ' I must next 
 ask the witness whether Mrs. Fletcher did or did not 
 visit him alone at his house, and remain for some time 
 there ? Also, when her husband most naturally came to 
 enquire for her, whether he was not threatened with 
 violence, and driven away at the muzzle of a loaded rifle ? 
 I want a direct answer. Yes or no.' 
 
 The prosecution challenged the necessity for such a 
 question, but after some verbal fencing between the lawyers 
 and the judge it was allowed, and I said, < In the first case 
 I was not alone. In the second I was absent, and did not 
 threaten him.' 
 
THE TRIAL 299 
 
 4 He was to your knowledge threatened ? ' 
 
 <Yes.' 
 
 'Do you know that shortly after leaving your house 
 he was murderously assaulted as a result of his visit ? ' 
 
 * I believe that someone flung him into a muddy sloo, 
 and was not sorry to hear it.' 
 
 ' That is sufficient/ said the examiner, with a significant 
 smile towards the jury. * He was threatened with a loaded 
 rifle for enquiring as to his wife's whereabouts ; then 
 murderously assaulted. Next you work up this charge 
 against him. You can sit down.' 
 
 I understood that the judge made some comments here, 
 but I was too savage to hear clearly, and scarcely caught 
 what followed next, until Jasper was placed on the witness 
 stand, and stated he had given no authority to anyone 
 except myself to sell the cattle, which he swore to, with 
 other details which were not particularly interesting. 
 There was no doubt that Fletcher was at least obstinately 
 defended, for the lawyer once more strove skilfully to twist 
 out answers confirming the theory that his client had no 
 direct connection with the affair, and sought to show on 
 my part a deliberate intention to ruin him. He may even 
 have believed the romantic story, which was particularly 
 calculated to appeal to a Western jury. 
 
 Jasper's replies did not, however, help him much, for 
 when, returning to the subject, he asked, ' Did you not 
 on several occasions drive the witness Crosfield over to 
 Fletcher's dwelling with presents for his wife ? ' he answered 
 boldly, * I did, and I guess Mrs. Fletcher would have gone 
 hungry if we hadn't. Fletcher's a low-grade wastrel, and 
 any way he ate most of them presents. Yes, sir ; they 
 were fowls and potatoes, and Crosfield never went over but 
 Fletcher was there.' 
 
 There was a great laugh from the riders of Carrington, 
 
300 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 and the defendant's lawyer frowned. Then he asked, 
 * Are you a friend of the witness Crosfield ? ' and Jasper 
 answered simply, * I hope so. If ever I meet you on the 
 prairie I'll endeavour to convince you.' 
 
 ' Were you a friend of Thomas Fletcher's ? ' and the 
 answer was emphatic, ' No. I guess the sight of the insect 
 makes me sick.' 
 
 Again the lawyer smiled towards the jury, and the 
 judge, censuring the witness, directed him to refrain from 
 unnecessary details. The next question came, ' Was it 
 because you were a friend of Crosfield's, or had such a bitter 
 dislike to Fletcher, that one night you attempted to murder 
 him ? Let me remind you that Fletcher, as has been 
 admitted, came to bring back his wife from Fairmead, 
 and was threatened with a rifle there. Then you rode 
 after him, and overtook him on the prairie where it was 
 lonely.' 
 
 ' It was for neither,' Jasper answered, straightening his 
 burly form as he glared at his adversary. ' A young girl 
 bluffed off Fletcher and the other ruffian there, the prisoner 
 Gorst. She was alone, but she scared the pair of them 
 with an empty rifle. Suppose you left your sister alone, 
 and came back to find a half-drunk hoboe trying to 
 murder her ? ' 
 
 The lawyer, I fancied, had now heard rather more than 
 he knew before, and it struck me that the prisoner's cunning 
 had over-reached itself in not posting him better, for he 
 glanced at his papers before continuing : * Did you make a 
 violent attack upon him ? ' 
 
 < I did,' said Jasper, cheerfully. ' Oh, yes, and I'm 
 coming to it in my own way. I rode right after him, took 
 Fletcher out of the waggon, asked the other man if he felt 
 inclined to assist him, and, when he didn't, laid into Fletcher 
 with the whip and just hove him into the sloo. Why did 
 
THE TRIAL 301 
 
 I do it ? it's a poor conundrum. For the credit of the 
 prairie. We've no room for woman-beaters, cattle thieves, 
 slanderers, and dishonest lawyers down to our district. 
 Bring along more questions you hear me ; I've lots more 
 to say.' 
 
 The judge cut short his eloquence, but he had said enough, 
 and there was wild approval from the prairie contingent, in 
 which some of the citizens joined, and through it Jasper 
 towered before the assembly, a stalwart figure, shaking a great 
 fist and ejaculating something in the direction of his annoyer. 
 The tumult was quelled with difficulty, and an official told 
 me that never before had he seen so much excitement 
 shown. It was due, he added, to the presence of those mad 
 young riders of Carrington. I sat down breathing easier, 
 for I felt that as yet my honour was clear, while whether 
 Fletcher escaped or not was of minor importance. From 
 the beginning the main efforts of the other side had been 
 directed towards saving him, while as the case proceeded I 
 listened with decreasing interest, until at last the prosecutor 
 said : * My opponent has done his utmost, even overstepping 
 limits, to prove that the witness Crosfield has ended a long 
 course of injury by supporting a false charge against the 
 prisoner Fletcher at least. This is after all a side issue, but 
 I think the jury will agree he has furnished most reliable 
 testimony, and that the prisoner mentioned took an 
 unprincipled advantage of his perfectly well-intentioned 
 kindness.' 
 
 There was considerably more which did not affect me, 
 and another speech, though I woke to eager interest again 
 when the judge, in making his final comments, said : 'As 
 regards the witness Crosfield, I entirely agree with the view 
 taken by the prosecution. He has evidently suffered by 
 well-meant efforts to aid the prisoner, and, though that is 
 not connected with the case except in so far as it covers the 
 
302 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 reliability of his testimony, he has been shown to be an 
 individual of unblemished character. We can accordingly 
 accept his evidence.' 
 
 Again there was applause, which the judge checked 
 severely, and proceeded : * You will notice that, while the 
 prisoner Fletcher's record does not seem to be a creditable 
 one, the evidence fails in some degree to connect him with 
 the other two prisoners as an active participator in the 
 robbery. I refer to ' and so on. 
 
 The jury retired for a considerable time, and when the 
 foreman reappeared he announced that they found two of the 
 prisoners guilty, and Thomas Fletcher not guilty, the latter 
 in a very doubtful tone. He also appeared desirous of 
 adding some explanation, which was not permitted ; while, 
 as the court broke up, I noticed the detective watching 
 Fletcher much as a cat watches a momentarily liberated 
 mouse. Then I was surrounded by the men from the 
 prairie, who insisted on escorting us to our hotel, and when 
 I asked for Jasper somebody said he had seen him loitering 
 beside one of the court-house doors. We found him partly 
 hidden by a waggon, watching it intently. 
 
 * Are you getting up another speech, or trying to freeze 
 there ? ' one of the Carrington party asked, and Jasper 
 answered : * No. I guess I'm laying for that lawyer. 
 Couldn't get at him inside there for a barrier. Am I a low- 
 grade perjurer and my friend what he was working round 
 to show ? If you'll stand by for just two minutes I'll 
 convince the insect the blamed, vermilion, mosquito ! ' 
 
 ' You're too late,' said the man from Carrington. * He 
 went out the other way some time ago. Mr. Crosfield, 
 one or two of us were at first appearances were strongly 
 against you, you know inclined to doubt you, and we feel 
 considerably ashamed of ourselves. We want you and your 
 worthy uncle to join us at dinner. Got together the best 
 company we could to meet you.' 
 
THE TRIAL 303 
 
 It was honestly said, and we accepted with willingness, 
 while I think my worthy uncle enjoyed himself even more 
 than I did. He was a jealous insular Briton, and the sight 
 of those sturdy handsome young Englishmen who well 
 maintained the credit of the old land in the new delighted 
 him. The appreciation seemed to be mutual, and he com- 
 plained of a headache next morning ; but that dinner had 
 conferred on the Radical cotton-spinner the freedom of 
 aristocratic Carrington, and an indefinite but valuable 
 intimation that the colony had set its special endorsement 
 upon his nephew. 
 
304 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXVII 
 
 THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 
 
 MARTIN CROSFIELD returned to Vancouver promptly, for 
 he found the prairie cold trying, and by-and-by I received a 
 letter from Harry still reporting profitable work, in which 
 he said : * Your uncle seems to have developed a craze for 
 real estate. Buying land on a rising town boom is a some- 
 what risky amusement, especially if, as they express it here, 
 the bottom drops out of the boom ; but I suppose he can 
 afford it, and he' has been trailing round lately with two 
 surveyors behind him. Laid hands on the timber lots about 
 the Day Spring, which is sending up very low-grade ore. 
 Perhaps you know, though he won't tell anyone, what he 
 is doing it for.' 
 
 I showed the letter to Aline, and she looked remarkably 
 wise ; then, putting her head on one side, she nodded 
 twice, and said : * I've a great respect for Uncle Martin's 
 sagacity. He's planning something for the benefit of 
 Colonel Carrington, and I've a faint inkling of what it may 
 be. But don't worry me with questions. He won't show 
 a single person what he means to do until he is ready.' 
 
 I had no ideas on the subject at all, though I did not 
 tell Aline so. For her age she was rather too vain of her 
 superior perception, and it struck me as becoming that a 
 younger sister should look up to her brother. I was proud 
 of Aline, but she had her failings. It was not long after- 
 wards, when returning from Jasper's at night, I found the 
 
THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 305 
 
 remains of a meal on the table, and my sister waiting with 
 news for me. 
 
 * I'm glad you didn't come home earlier, Ralph,' she 
 said. * I am quite ashamed of my inconsistency. It's 
 nice to think one's self inflexible, isn't it ? And then it's 
 humiliating to resolve on a certain course and do the 
 opposite.' 
 
 She paused, either to excite my curiosity or to afford an 
 opportunity for considering the sentiment. 
 
 * Never mind all that. Come to the point, Aline,' I 
 said. But she stirred the stove, and dusted some plates that 
 did not require it, before she continued : * I had made up 
 my mind to hate Mrs. Fletcher for ever, and, do you know, 
 I let her kiss me scarcely half an hour ago.' 
 
 4 Minnie here again. Oh, confound her ! ' I said, 
 banging back my chair. And Aline answered, sweetly : 
 'It's wicked to lose your temper, Ralph, and very un- 
 becoming in an elder brother. It isn't poor Minnie's fault 
 her husband is what you call a bad egg, is it ? Yes, she 
 came here in a sleigh with two tired horses, and one was 
 lame. She was going to meet her husband somewhere. He 
 has become a teetotaler, and promises to turn out quite a 
 virtuous character. She hinted at something that happened 
 which I didn't know about at the trial it was too bad of 
 you to burn those papers and said he was going to Dakota, 
 across the border. She was almost frozen, had only fall 
 clothes on, and she was very hungry. It wouldn't have 
 been right to let her face an all-night drive in Arctic 
 weather like that, and she put the horses into the stable, 
 while I lent her all my wrappings, gave her food to take, 
 and made her rest and eat. She said she felt she must call 
 and tell me how very sorry she was. Then she cried on 
 my head, and I let her kiss me. We should always be 
 forgiving, Ralph, shouldn't we ? ' 
 
 x 
 
306 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' Tom Fletcher reformed ! ' I said astonished. * Oh, 
 how foolish you women are ! I've only met one who was 
 always sensible,' and then an idea struck me, and I added : 
 * Are you quite sure Fletcher wasn't in the sleigh ? ' 
 
 * Miss Carrington, of course ! ' said Aline. No, 
 Fletcher wasn't there at least, I'd had neuralgia, so I only 
 looked out of the window. Minnie put in the horses.' 
 
 Then I flung open a cupboard door, and what I saw 
 confirmed a growing suspicion. For legal reasons whisky 
 is scarce upon portions of the prairie, but a timely dose of 
 alcohol has saved many a man's life in the Canadian frost, 
 and we always kept some spirit in case of emergency. 
 ' Then Minnie is not a teetotaler,' I said. * A bottle of 
 whisky has gone.' 
 
 Leaving Aline to consider this, I ran to the stable, and 
 found that one of the splendid horses poor Ormond had 
 bequeathed me was also gone. In its place stood a sorry 
 beast, evidently dead lame, and it did not need the scrap of 
 paper pinned to the manger to explain the visit. 
 
 ' I am running a heavy risk, and you won't betray me,' 
 the pencil scrawl read. ' Tetley of Coulee Rouge will send 
 back the horse and robes. It is a last favour ; we won't 
 trouble you any more. Minnie Fletcher.' 
 
 I was troubled, however. We should need every avail- 
 able beast in spring, and Tetley was rather more than 
 suspected of being concerned in smuggling whisky and 
 certain contraband commerce, including the slipping of 
 Chinamen over the United States border. It seemed like 
 tempting Providence to leave a horse of that kind in his 
 hands, and yet Coulee Rouge was twenty long miles away. 
 I was also considerably puzzled as to why Minnie should 
 have interfered to save her husband, for it was evident some 
 fresh charge had been brought against him, and he was 
 seeking safety in the republic. Extradition existed, but 
 
THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 307 
 
 except in murder cases it was not often a fugitive was 
 brought back who had once crossed the boundary. It 
 seemed impossible she had not read the reports in the papers, 
 and the charge Fletcher brought against her was a hard one to 
 forgive. Still, papers were not plentiful on the prairie, and 
 the people she lived with might out of kindness have con- 
 cealed part of the news from her. However that might 
 be, I determined to save the horse, and explained this to 
 Aline, with a brotherly warning not to allow emotion to 
 get the better of her judgment in future. She listened 
 with a docility which promised future reprisals, and then, 
 agreeing that it would be well to secure the horse, promised 
 she should not mind being left alone. Indeed, unless some- 
 thing very unexpected happened, she would be as safe alone 
 at Fairmead as in any town. 
 
 So I saddled the next best horse, donned my warmest 
 skin coat, and started for a cold ride across the prairie. 
 The snow was thin and fairly hard it seldom lies deep 
 about Fairmead ; but in view of the return journey I did not 
 urge the horse, and our sleigh had lost a runner. So when 
 perhaps half the distance had been traversed a beat of hoofs 
 grew louder behind me, and four horsemen, riding hard, 
 came up. By the jingle of accoutrements I knew they 
 were the wardens of the prairie, and half expected what was 
 to follow. 
 
 * Hold up ! ' the sharp summons came, while I recog- 
 nised my old acquaintance, Sergeant Angus, as the speaker. 
 ' Crosfield o' Fairmead good night to ye. Have ye seen 
 a two-horse sleigh ? We've news of it passing Green 
 Hollow, south bound, four hours ago ! ' 
 
 1 Who are you wanting?' I asked; and the sergeant 
 answered : ' Thomas Fletcher. One of his late partners 
 gave him away, and there's a warrant for him. They wired 
 us on to watch the stations, and a message came from 
 
 x 2 
 
308 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Elktail he'd been seen heading south in a sleigh. He's no 
 friend o' yours ; have ye met that sleigh, and where are ye 
 riding at this unholy hour ? ' 
 
 4 No,' I said, ' I haven't ; but a woman drove up to 
 Fairmead, where my sister was alone, and borrowed my 
 best horse. There are some business friends of yours on 
 the trail to Dakota, and I'm going south in case they took 
 a fancy to it.' 
 
 * Ye' re wise,' said Sergeant Angus. ' A woman, are ye 
 sure ? ' and when I answered, * My sister was, and she 
 ought to know,' he said : * I'm not quite understanding this, 
 but meantime Thomas Fletcher is skipping for the boun- 
 dary. Ride ye, boys, ride.' 
 
 I was thankful for the diversion, for I could not see my 
 way clearly, and as we pressed on there was small oppor- 
 tunity for awkward questions. I wanted the horse and 
 meant to get it, but that would have contented me, and I 
 had no desire to assist in the capture of Fletcher. Another 
 hour passed, and then far away on the edge of the white 
 circle, which was lighted by the rays of a sinking moon, I 
 saw a moving speck, and one of the troopers shouted. 
 Thereupon the spurs went in, and when my beast shot 
 forward I knew the police horses were tired, and I could 
 readily leave them behind. Still, I was not an officer of 
 the law, and reflecting that my presence or absence would 
 in no way affect the fugitives' chance of escape, while after 
 recent events it was well to be careful, I held him in. 
 
 We were gaining, however, for the distant object de- 
 veloped into a sleigh, but the moon was sinking fast, and 
 the dark line on the horizon, with a fretted edge, betokened 
 the birches fringing Coulee Rouge, where the party before 
 us might well escape. 
 
 * Ride ye, boys ! ' cried the sergeant ; but the beasts 
 were weary and the blundering gallop was a poor one, 
 
THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 309 
 
 while I kept a firm hand on the good horse's rein, holding 
 him behind the others and out of sight, lest Sergeant Angus 
 should demand an exchange in the Queen's name. This 
 was not easy, for Ormond had hunted coyotes on him with 
 a very scratch pack of hounds, while one of the troopers 
 kept dropping back towards me, and the beast seemed under 
 the impression I was wilfully throwing away my chance in 
 the race. Meanwhile, the sleigh grew more and more visible, 
 though I did not doubt that its occupants were doing their 
 utmost to gain the shelter of the birches in the dark coulee, 
 and that my other horse was suffering at their hands accord- 
 ingly. Then there was a growl from the sergeant as the 
 sleigh was lost on the edge of the fringe of trees, and 
 presently we rode panting and more slowly beneath them, 
 with the steam from the horses rising in white clouds about 
 us, to the brink of the coulee. It was, of course, particu- 
 larly steep, and as the moonlight only filtered through the 
 matted branches dark shadow for the most part veiled the 
 treacherous descent, which the troopers accomplished with 
 many a stumble. They were excellent horsemen, but 
 there is a limit to equine endurance, and their beasts had 
 nearly reached it. Presently, as we neared the very rude 
 log bridge which spanned the inevitable creek, the last 
 silvery patch of radiance faded, and thick darkness filled the 
 ravine. 
 
 ' Halt ! ' said the sergeant. * Confusion ! It's pit dark,' 
 and drawing rein we sat still a few moments, listening 
 intently, but only heard the branches moaning under the 
 bitter breeze. 
 
 4 There are two trails,' said Sergeant Angus. ' Yon one 
 up the other side leads south away for Dakota ; this 
 follows the coulee to Jake Tetley's. Tom, ye're proud o' 
 your tracking, ride on to Tetley's, an', for Jake's good at 
 lyin', look well for the scrape o' runners if he swears he has 
 
310 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 not seen them. Finding nothing, if ye strike south-east 
 over the rises, ye'll head us off on the Dakota trail. I'm 
 thinking they're hurrying that way for the border, and 
 we'll wait for ye by the Blackfoot ridge.' 
 
 He rubbed a fizzing sulphur match into sickly flame ; 
 but, as the banks were steep, and that bridge formed a 
 favourite crossing, the snow showed the recent passage of 
 many runners, and there was nothing to be learned from 
 them. The wood was thicker than usual, and from what 
 we could see there was no way a sleigh could traverse it 
 quickly except by the two trails. So the trooper departed 
 for Tetley's dwelling, which lay some distance up the coulee, 
 while we breasted the opposite slope and proceeded more 
 slowly through the darkness across the plain. Half an hour 
 later we waited a space on the crest of one of the gradual 
 rises which are common thereabouts, until presently a hail 
 answered the sergeant's cry, and the trooper rejoined us. 
 
 * They've not been near Tetley's,' he said. * Must 
 have pushed on straight ahead of us. I made him bring a 
 lantern, and prospected down the trail, but nothing on four 
 legs has come up it for a week at least.' 
 
 ' Where do you think they have gone to ? ' I asked, and 
 the sergeant answered wearily : c The deil knows, but it 
 will be south. Weel, we have our orders, an' their cattle are 
 failing, while even if we miss them we'll strike their trail by 
 daylight.' 
 
 ' I hope you will,' I answered. * I'm anxious about my 
 horse, but I can't come any further to-night. He's a big 
 chestnut, branded small O inside the Carrington C. You'll 
 be careful with him, won't you ? ' 
 
 * On with ye, boys,' said the sergeant. * A fair passage home, 
 Mr. Crosfield ; I'm envying ye a warm seat by the stove 
 to-night,' and the mounted figures disappeared into the gloom, 
 while more leisurely I headed back towards the coulee. Orders 
 
THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 311 
 
 were orders with the North- West Police, and though they 
 had ridden under Arctic cold most of the day they must 
 also spend the night in the saddle if the horses could keep 
 their footing much longer, which, however, seemed doubtful. 
 The search might last several days, and I could not leave 
 Aline so long, while a Brandon man of business had ar- 
 ranged to call upon me next afternoon, and I knew if the 
 troopers came upon it the horse would be in good hands. 
 Still, the police at least were strong men, and I rather pitied 
 Minnie Fletcher slowly freezing in the bitter darkness 
 under Aline's furs. I was glad she had lent them to her 
 now. Minnie had evidently not expected the troopers, 
 being warned by telegraph, would take up the trail so 
 soon. 
 
 Then for the first time I recollected that Tetley had 
 been cutting building logs on a more level strip half-way up 
 the side of the ravine, and had cleared a jumper trail 
 towards it. The sergeant certainly did not know this, and 
 it struck me that while his party searched the two forking 
 trails Fletcher's sleigh might well have lain hidden in the 
 blind one, and I turned the horse's head towards Tetley 's 
 dwelling. When I neared it my suspicions were confirmed, 
 for a rough voice hailed me from under the trees : c What 
 are you wanting, stranger ? Stop there ! ' 
 
 * I want Jim Tetley,' I answered, and the unseen person 
 said : * He's way down to Dakota, and you can't see him.' 
 To this I replied at a venture : * I'm too cold for un- 
 necessary fooling. Jim Tetley is inside there. Go right in, 
 and tell him that Crosfield of Fairmead is waiting for his 
 horse. He'll understand that message.' 
 
 ' Now you're talking,' said the man showing himself. 
 ' Stay where you are until I come back.' And when he 
 returned, he said : < You can have it on the promise you'll 
 tell no one what you see. It's not healthy to break one's 
 
312 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 bargain, either, with Jim Tetley, while living in a wooden 
 house with a strawpile granary.' 
 
 'I'm a friend of Mrs. Fletcher, and in a hurry,' I 
 answered boldly, and when he ushered me into the dwelling 
 I saw what I had expected. Minnie lay back limp and 
 colourless in a big chair by the stove. Fletcher knelt close 
 beside her chafing her wrists, and the table was littered with 
 wrappings, while Tetley frowned at me from one end of the 
 room. 
 
 ' Fletcher,' I said. ' You and your advocate worked up 
 a lying charge against me. Shall I ask your wife before 
 you if it's true ? Do you know that in half an hour I could 
 bring the police upon you ? ' 
 
 ' I guess you won't,' said Tetley, laying his hand signifi- 
 cantly on the rifle behind him ; while Fletcher answered 
 sullenly, ' You needn't. I know now it isn't true. But I 
 was mad, and believed it at first, and afterwards it was either 
 that or five years. There were other counts against me ; and 
 what could a poor man do ? ' 
 
 Minnie looked at him with disgust, and shivered as she 
 snatched one of her hands from his grasp. ' It was very good 
 of your sister, Ralph,' she said, 'and I knew you would 
 forgive me for borrowing the horse ; he is there in the 
 stable, and Tetley will find Tom another. It was an awful 
 journey, even before we reached Fairmead, where I hid him 
 under the sleigh ; and they brought me in here almost frozen 
 stiff.' 
 
 ' I thought she was gone, poor thing ! ' said Mrs. Tetley, 
 who was cooking something on the stove ; and her husband 
 broke in : ' She looked like it. Cuss them police ! But we 
 euchred them. A young trooper rides up to the door and 
 drives me round prospecting with a lantern. Of course, he 
 found nothing, and when he rode off I began to tumble. 
 Found your friends in the log-trail and brought them in, 
 
THE ROAD TO DAKOTA 313 
 
 knowing them blame troopers wouldn't come back again. 
 Sergeant Angus is a smart man, but he doesn't know 
 everything, and I'll see Fletcher and his missis safe in the 
 hands of a friend who will slip them over the border.' 
 
 * I'm not going,' said Minnie. * Ralph and you all 
 can listen my husband came to me desperate and hopeless 
 in fear of the law. Oh, it's no secret, all the prairie knows 
 that he used me scandalously but he was my husband and 
 I could not give him up. So I took the few dollars I had 
 and hired the sleigh, and when the horse fell dead lame we 
 came to Fairmead. I knew, though we had wronged you, 
 I could trust you. Now he's in safe hands ; I'm going no 
 further with him. There are some things one cannot for- 
 get. I shall tell the story to the people who employed me ; 
 they are kind-hearted folk, but it doesn't matter if they give 
 me up. I'm sick of this life, and nothing matters now.' 
 
 She broke out half-sobbing, half-laughing wildly, and 
 though Fletcher growled something sullenly, hanging his 
 head with the air of a whipped hound, I fancied he seemed 
 relieved at this decision, and was slightly surprised to see he 
 had even the decency to appear ashamed of himself. Then, 
 knowing that the people she worked for would do their best 
 for Minnie, I determined to write them, and asked Tetley 
 to bring out the horse. 
 
 4 Can't I give you a shakedown in the stable until 
 morning ? ' he said. c The missis will look after Mrs. 
 Fletcher, and see she gets back safe,' and he added so that 
 the others could not hear him, ' Fletcher's meaner than 
 poison, and I'd let the troopers have him and welcome, only 
 for the sake of the woman, and because he knows enough 
 about some friends of mine to make things lively if he 
 talked.' 
 
 Tetley was of course a rascal, but there was a certain 
 warped honesty in his dealings with brother rogues at 
 
3 i4 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 least so rumour said and I knew if he had given his 
 promise he could be trusted, while a few of his perfectly 
 honest neighbours were sorry when not long afterwards 
 Sergeant Angus proved too sharp for him. So he grinned 
 broadly when I answered, ' No, thanks. My horse would 
 be worth a great deal in Dakota, and I'll clear out while 
 I'm sure of him.' 
 
 4 Good-bye, Ralph,' said Minnie, when I donned the 
 fur cap and mittens. * I don't suppose I shall ever see you 
 again no, of course you won't be sorry ; but you and 
 Jasper were the only two who ever showed me kindness in 
 this hard, hard country. I wish, oh, how I wish I had never 
 seen it ! Tell my father to forget me, the sooner the better. 
 I have chosen my own way, and must follow it. It's 
 leading me to prison now.' 
 
 She appeared about to relapse into hysterics, and knowing 
 I could not help her at the moment, and might only make 
 matters worse, I stopped Fletcher with a threatening 
 gesture as he prepared to address me, and hurried out with 
 Tetley, who showed me the horse. 
 
 ' You'll strike Cranton's heading, due east by the chain 
 sloos, in a league,' he said. ' He deals with us sometimes, 
 and you needn't fear him talking. Don't trouble about 
 Mrs. Fletcher. She's all right.' 
 
 I rode out leading one of the horses, and in due time 
 reached Cranton's, though I nearly beat the door in before 
 I roused him, and left him next morning with his curiosity 
 unsatisfied, while that was the last I ever saw of Thomas 
 Fletcher. Neither did Sergeant Angus find his trail, for 
 Tetley knew every foot of the prairie, and enjoyed the 
 reputation of being unequalled in his own somewhat mys- 
 terious business, which I understood demanded a high 
 proficiency in evading the watchfulness of the police. 
 
3'5 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 
 
 WHEN I returned to Fairmead I wrote two letters. One 
 was to Minnie's employer, who kept a flourishing imple- 
 ment store further down the line, to which he had lately 
 added a somewhat primitive hotel, in whose management 
 I understood Minnie assisted. He was an enterprising, good- 
 natured Manitoban, and everybody spoke well of his wife, 
 so, having had dealings with him, I requested an interview. 
 
 In the other I told Harry all that had passed, asking 
 him to transmit as much as he thought proper to Lee, and 
 then awaited developments. The first result was a note 
 from storekeeper Moran saying that as he was looking 
 up orders for implements he would call upon me, which 
 he did presently, and proceeded to discuss the matter with 
 frankness. 
 
 * My wife has taken a fancy to Mrs. Fletcher,' he said. 
 *We just call her Minnie because there's no particular 
 reason to handicap her with her husband's name. She's a 
 mighty smart honest woman, and we knew that story about 
 you was a lie from the beginning did our best to keep it 
 from her, but I think she knew. We were startled some 
 when she lit out with the sleigh, but she came back half- 
 dead, and we asked no questions until she told us. She's 
 been sick and fretful since, but I guess there's nothing you 
 can do. When we can't keep a sick woman who has done 
 good work for us awhile we'll give up the business. She'll 
 be pert again directly.' 
 
3 i6 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 * You are a very kind man,' said Aline, glancing at him 
 critically ; and Moran answered, * Thank you, Miss. You 
 just make your mind easy about Mrs. Fletcher j and now, 
 Crosfield, we'll talk business. You'll want a new binder if 
 you're putting in much of a crop, and I've got the latest 
 machines coming in from Toronto.' 
 
 Aline burst into a hearty laugh, in which I joined 
 her, for the speech was characteristic of the native prairie 
 inhabitants' character. Frugal, but open-handed, hard to 
 beat at a bargain, they are equally swift to seize upon all 
 chances that lead to business and do the stranger an 
 unostentatious kindness, though they have no false delicacy 
 in forthwith establishing commercial relations with the man 
 they benefit. 
 
 ' Don't see any joke ! ' said Moran. * You want a 
 binder. I've seen the old one, and I've got lots to sell. 
 Of course we'll look after Mrs. Fletcher, but that's no 
 reason I should miss a deal.' 
 
 The result was I ordered an expensive binder which I 
 had hoped to have done without, and when Moran departed 
 with the order in his pocket Aline said : * Now I think he 
 was very sensible, and you know you said the old machine 
 would hardly have lasted.' 
 
 Harry answered promptly, and said he expected I should 
 see Lee very soon. He had been restless ever since he 
 heard of Fletcher's backsliding, and had, among other 
 things, embarked upon two unpopular crusades. He even 
 seemed disappointed, Harry added, because there was so 
 little drunkenness and loose living for him to grapple with. 
 4 That is so like a man,' said Aline when she read the 
 letter. * Where is your boasted consistency ? He ought 
 to be thankful. But you have missed the postscript about 
 Uncle Martin. This is what Harry says : " I met him in 
 long boots one day when I went up to see Calvert, trailing 
 
THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 317 
 
 a survey chain not far from the Day Spring mine, and when 
 I asked him what he was doing it for, and whether snow- 
 slush was good for lumbago, he smiled and answered in the 
 silver tongue of your native county something I failed to 
 comprehend. For a respectable cotton-spinner, as I told 
 him, he has developed curious ways." 
 
 ' You will see by-and-by, and so will that arrogant 
 Colonel,' said Aline. ' He has offended him bitterly, and 1 
 wouldn't like to be an enemy of Uncle Martin.' 
 
 There was an interlude of quietness, and then, when at 
 last the winter showed signs of relaxing its iron grip, and 
 the snow grew soft at noon, events commenced to follow 
 fast upon each other. Jasper drove up from the railroad one 
 afternoon bringing Lee with him, and then departed with, 
 I thought, undue precipitancy, leaving myself and the old 
 man alone, for I had increased the accommodation at Fair- 
 mead, and Aline discreetly withdrew. He had of course 
 read the papers, though not until some time after the trial, 
 and was good enough to say he never doubted my innocence. 
 Still, I had to repeat all the unpleasant details, until at last 
 Aline returned to prepare supper. 
 
 Then he sighed as he said : c It's a bad business, but I 
 feared from the start this would be the end of it. And now 
 I'm going to tell thee something. I've served thee and thy 
 partner as well as I could, and I've saved some money doing 
 it. It's a gradely life up yonder, in spite of the snow and 
 colday, I would ask no better than to end my days there, 
 but it's over easy and peaceful in a world that's brimming 
 with misery, and I've been feeling like Jonah when he fled 
 with his message.' 
 
 Aline smiled at me over her shoulder, and I stared at 
 him in amaze, saying, ' I never found it either particularly 
 easy or peaceful. I don't quite understand you.' 
 
 4 No,' said Lee, changing in a moment to his old 
 
3i 8 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 pedantic style I had almost forgotten. ' Thou hast not 
 the message ; it's thy work to till the soil, and I had thought 
 to bide until my time came in this good land helping thee. 
 But a voice kept on saying, " Go back to them hopeless 
 poor and drunkards you left in Lancashire." I would not 
 listen. The devil whispered I was worn out and done, but 
 when I talked with Harry, he, not having understanding, 
 said : " You're looking younger every day. If I heard those 
 kind of things I should say it was liver." 
 
 Aline no longer smiled, but sat watching him and 
 listening gravely, and I began to catch a glimmer of his 
 meaning. 
 
 4 The folks at chapel had not forgotten me,' continued 
 Lee, * and they were in trouble. There was another man 
 took up the work I left, but he went off with t' brass 
 they'd gathered for a new gallery, and they wrote they'd 
 see I got back the old shop if I come home again. And 
 because I was weak and fearful o' the grinding struggle 
 over there, I did not go. They wrote another letter, but 
 still I bided, until I read this paper.' 
 
 He spread out a soiled English journal, and, running a 
 crooked finger across it, read out the headings, with extracts, 
 at some of which, remembering Aline's presence, I frowned. 
 It was only a plain record of what happens in the crowded 
 cities of the older land a murder, two suicides, and the 
 inevitable destitution and drunkenness, but he looked up 
 with kindling eyes, saying, ' I could not shut my ears. The 
 call was, come an' help us, an' I'm going. Going back 
 out of the sunshine into the slums o' Lancashire.' 
 
 This, I reflected, was the man who had once attempted 
 my life ignorant, intolerant, and filled with prejudice, but 
 at least faithful to the light within him ; and I knew that 
 even if he failed signally, the aim he set before himself 
 was a great one. No suitable answer, however, suggested 
 
THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 319 
 
 itself, and I was thankful when Aline said, ' It is a very fine 
 thing to do. But what about your daughter ? ' 
 
 4 Her place was by her husband,' said Lee ; * but her 
 husband left her. Minnie is going back with me. Your 
 brother will take me to see her to-morrow.' 
 
 I did so, at the risk of overtaxing the horses by a trying 
 journey through softening snow ; but I sent a telegram to 
 Minnie, and when we left the cars she was there to meet 
 us, looking weak and ill, with shadows in the hollows 
 round her eyes. 
 
 ' It was very good of you to come, father,' she said. 
 * I was an undutiful daughter, and I suffered for it. Now 
 I have broken the law, and the police troopers could take 
 me to prison. But I am tired of it all, father, and if you 
 will have me I am going home with you.' 
 
 ' Thou'rt my own lass,' said Lee ; and I found some- 
 thing required my presence elsewhere, for Minnie was 
 shaken by emotion as she clung to him. And yet this 
 tearful woman had outwitted the tireless wardens of the 
 prairie, and, in spite of the law's vigilance and deadly 
 cold, smuggled her faithless husband safe across the 
 border. 
 
 We stayed at Moran's Hotel that night, and Mrs. 
 Moran acted with unusual good- nature under the circum- 
 stances, for she not only suffered Minnie to leave her at the 
 commencement of the busy season, but bestowed many 
 small presents upon her, while it was with difficulty I 
 avoided giving her husband an order for sufficient imple- 
 ments to till the whole of the Fairmead district. 
 
 4 Now you're here you had better make sure of a 
 bargain while you have a chance,' he said. * Say, as 
 a matter of friendship I'll put them in at five per cent, 
 under your best offer from Winnipeg.' 
 
 Though I wished them both good fortune, satisfaction 
 
320 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 was largely mingled with my regret when next day I stood 
 in the little station looking after the train which bore Lee 
 and his daughter back to his self-imposed task in smoky 
 Stoney Clough. Neither of them ever crossed my path 
 again ; but still Harry and I discuss the old man's doings, 
 and Aline says that there was a trace of the hero hidden 
 under his most unheroic exterior. 
 
 Not long after this Calvert called upon us, and spent 
 two days at Fairmead before he went east again, while he 
 explained his visit as follows : ' The Day Spring will have 
 to get on as best it can without my services. The fact is, 
 I can't stand its owner any longer. I was never very fond 
 of him no one is, but I liked poor Ormond, and stayed 
 for his sake. So, informing the Colonel he could hence- 
 forward run the mine himself, I pulled out, hoping to get a 
 railroad appointment in Winnipeg. By the way, there is 
 trouble brewing between him and your uncle.' 
 
 Aline nodded towards me meaningly, and Calvert con- 
 tinued : 
 
 4 Our tunnel leads out beside one boundary of the Day 
 Spring claim. I must explain that of late we found signs 
 that, in spite of a fault, the best of the reef stretched under 
 adjoining soil, and it was only owing to disagreements with 
 his men, and my refusal, the Colonel neglected to jump the 
 record of a poor fellow who couldn't put in the legal 
 improvements. He had intended to do so ; while I believe 
 the miner, who fell sick, told your uncle. This will make 
 clear a good deal ; you should remember it. Well, to work 
 our adit we had to make an ore and dirt dump on adjacent 
 land ; and we'd hardly started it than two men began 
 felling timber right across our skid-way, until, speaking as 
 if he commanded the universe, the Colonel ordered them 
 off. They didn't go, however ; and I really thought he 
 would have a fit when one of them said with a grin, 
 
THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 321 
 
 " Light out of this, and be quick. Don't you know you're 
 trespassing ? " 
 
 'Colonel Carrington turned his back on them, and bade 
 us run out the trolley along the wooden way ; and I did so, 
 against my judgment, for one of the men looked ugly, and 
 my master wasn't exactly a favourite. The other fellow 
 was busy with the axe, and when he gave me a warning to 
 get out I proceeded to act upon it which was fortunate, 
 for a big hemlock came down upon the trolley, and all that 
 was left of it wasn't worth picking up. Colonel Carrington 
 doesn't usually give himself away, but he swore vividly, and 
 I went with him next day into the timber city. It's getting 
 a big place already. He stalked into the land agent's office 
 with a patronising air, and then said with his usual frigidity, 
 " Who owns the timber lots about the Day Spring ? I'm 
 going to buy them." " You can't do it," said the agent. 
 " My client won't sell, and wants to give you warning he 
 doesn't like trespassing." " That means he wants a big 
 price," said the Colonel, looking at the map. " What's his 
 figure ? " And the agent grinned as he answered, " For the 
 piece you require for the ore-dump, ten thousand dollars." 
 " He is mad," said the Colonel, " perfectly stark mad. Tell 
 him I shall dump my refuse on it, if I have to finance 
 somebody to locate a mineral claim. What is the name 
 of this lunatic ? " " Martin Crosfield," said the agent. 
 u The Crown in that case gives you the minerals ; but 
 before you put a pick into the ground you must meet all 
 demands for compensation and they'll be mighty heavy 
 ones. My client is also prepared to collect them by the 
 best legal assistance that dollars can buy, and I guess you've 
 given him a useful hint." 
 
 ' My respected chief just walked out ; but I think he 
 was troubled at the name,' said Calvert. ' And after that 
 there was some fresh difficulty every week, while his 
 
 Y 
 
322 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 temper, which was never a good one, got perfectly awful, 
 until I came away. He'll go off in a fit of apoplexy or 
 paralytic seizure when his passion breaks loose some 
 day.' 
 
 Calvert furnished other particulars before he resumed 
 his eastward journey, leaving me with much to ponder. 
 An actively worked mine is a public benefit, and its owners 
 have usually free access and privilege upon the adjacent 
 soil ; but I knew that in such matters as cutting timber, 
 water, and ore and refuse heaps a hostile neighbour could 
 harass them considerably. ' Uncle Martin is going to 
 enjoy himself,' said Aline, when I told her so. 
 
 It was some weeks later when Harry and his assistants 
 came home, bringing with him a heavy bank draft and 
 a wallet stuffed with dollar bills. He looked more hand- 
 some and winning than ever when he greeted Aline, and 
 though it needed some experience of her ways to come 
 to this conclusion I could tell she regarded him with 
 approval. He had finished the railroad work, and, when he 
 had furnished full details about it, showed that he had 
 thoughtfully considered other matters, for he said : * Ralph, 
 I guessed you would be busy altering Fairmead on oppor- 
 tunity, and now your sister has turned it into a palace 
 I should always be afraid of spoiling something ; so I have 
 arranged by mail to camp with Hudson, of the next pre- 
 emption. His place is scarcely a mile away. Miss Crosfield, 
 you don't realise the joys of living as a bachelor, or you 
 would freely forgive me.' 
 
 1 1 think I do,' said Aline. ' Half-cooked food on plates 
 that have not been washed for weeks and weeks, and a 
 house like a pig-stye. Have I not seen my brother 
 revelling in them ? Mr. Harry Lorraine, from what 
 Ralph has told me, there is no one I would more gladly 
 welcome to Fairmead than its part-owner, and I am 
 
THE RECALL OF ADAM LEE 323 
 
 surprised he should prefer the pig-stye. Still, in reference 
 to the latter, is there not a warning about blindly casting ? ' 
 
 4 There is,' said Harry. * I crave mercy. In token of 
 submission I will help you to wash those dishes now.' And, 
 being perfectly satisfied to be for once relieved of the duty, 
 I lounged in the ox-hide chair watching them through the 
 blue tobacco smoke, and noting what a well-matched 
 couple they were. An hour had sufficed to make them 
 good friends ; and I was quite aware that Harry had 
 entered into the arrangement merely for our own sake, 
 Hudson, as everybody knew, being neither an over-cleanly 
 nor companionable person. 
 
 When the last plate had been duly polished and placed 
 in the rack Aline had insisted on me making, Harry spread 
 out a bundle of papers, saying : * Now we will settle down 
 to discuss the spring campaign, if your sister will excuse 
 us.' And I answered : 
 
 * Aline is already longing to show me how to run 
 a farm. Go on, and beware how you lay any weak points 
 open to her criticism.' 
 
 4 In the first place, there is the inevitable decision to 
 make between two courses,' said Harry ; < the little- 
 venture-little-win method or the running of heavy risks 
 for a heavy prize. Personally I favour the latter, which 
 we have adopted before, and I also think you have already 
 decided on.' 
 
 'I have,' I said. And Harry continued : * Then we 
 will take it as settled that we put every possible acre under 
 crop this spring, hiring assistance largely, which, based on 
 your own figures, should leave us this balance. It's a pity 
 to work poor Ormond's splendid beasts at the plough, but 
 of course you wouldn't like to sell them, and they must 
 earn their keep. The next question is the disposal of the 
 balance.' 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 4 1 would not sell them for any price,' I said. * My 
 idea is to invest all the balance except enough to purchase 
 seed and feed us during winter if the crop fails in cattle, 
 buying a new mower, and hiring again to cut hay. It's 
 locked-up money, but the profit should provide a handsome 
 interest, and there's talk of a new creamery at Carrington, 
 which promises a good market for milk. This brings us 
 back to the old familiar position. We shall be prosperous 
 men if all goes well, with just enough to pay our debts if it 
 doesn't.' 
 
 ' I look for the former,' said Harry. * But with your 
 permission we'll deduct this much for a building fund half 
 to be employed at the discretion of either. You will want to 
 further extend this dwelling, and I may buy Hudson's place 
 under mortgage. It would be well-sunk money, for at the 
 worst we could get it back if we sold the property. You 
 agree ? Then the whole affair is settled, and it only re- 
 mains for Miss Crosfield to wish us prosperity.' 
 
 This was done with the most generous intentions, I 
 knew, and I was grateful when Aline closed the compact 
 by saying : 'You are a very considerate partner, Mr. 
 Lorraine, and if I were a wheat-grower I should be proud 
 to trust you. May all and every success attend your efforts, 
 and each night until the harvest I shall pray for fair 
 weather. So put up those papers, and tell me about 
 British Columbia.' 
 
 It was very late when Harry walked back to Hudson's, 
 and I believe had a vigorous altercation with him on that 
 very subject, while I did not sleep all night, thinking over 
 the tremendous difference success or failure would make to 
 myself and Grace. I felt this season would decide whether 
 she was to remain mistress of Carrington Manor or of a 
 more prosperous Fairmead. 
 
3^5 
 
 XXIX 
 
 CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 
 
 IT was a perfect day when we commenced the ploughing, 
 and we hailed it as a favourable augury that cloudless sun- 
 shine flooded the steaming prairie. Glittering snow still 
 filled the hollows here and there, but already the flowers 
 lifted their buds above the whitened sod, and the air vibrated 
 to the beat of tired wings as the wild fowl returned like 
 heralds of summer on their northward journey. We had 
 three hired men to help us, in addition to the teams driven 
 by myself and Harry ; but, and this was his own fancy, it 
 was Aline who commenced the work. 
 
 4 You will remember our hopes and fears the day we 
 first put in the share. Many things have happened since,' 
 he said, < but once more the harvest means a great deal to 
 both of us. Miss Crosfield and we are now more 
 fortunate, Ralph, than we were then you will imagine 
 yourself an ancient priestess, and bless the soil for us. That 
 always struck me as an appropriate custom.' 
 
 The wind had freshened the roses in Aline's cheeks, and 
 her eyes sparkled as she patted the brawny oxen. Then 
 she grasped the plough-stilts, and, calling to the beasts, 
 Harry strode beside her, with his brown hand laid close 
 beside her white one. Theirs was the better furrow, for, 
 tramping behind my own team not far away, I could hardly 
 keep my eyes off the pair. Both had grown very dear to 
 me, and they were worth the watching the handsome 
 
326 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 strong man, and the eager bright-faced girl, whose merry 
 laugh mingled with the soft sound of clods parting beneath 
 the share. They stopped at the end of the furrow, and I 
 wondered when Aline said with strange gentleness : c God 
 bless the good soil, and give the seed increase, that we may 
 use the same for Thy glory, the relief of those that are 
 needy, and our own comfort.' 
 
 * Amen ! ' said Harry, bending his uncovered head, as, a 
 sinewy, graceful figure in dusty canvas, with the white sod 
 behind him, he helped her across a raw strip of steaming 
 clod, while neither of us spoke again until we had com- 
 pleted another furrow. It was a glorious spring, and not 
 for long years had there been such a seed time, the 
 men who helped us said, while my hopes rose with 
 every fresh acre we drilled with the good grain. I was 
 sowing the best that was within me as well as the best 
 hard wheat, and it seemed that the rest of my life de- 
 pended upon the result of it. There is no need to tell 
 how we laboured among the black clods of the breaking, 
 or the dust that followed the harrows, under the cool of 
 morning or mid-day sun, for we were young and strong ? 
 fighting for our own hand, with a great reward before at 
 least one of us. Still, at times I remembered Lee, who was 
 in his own way fighting a harder battle against drunkenness 
 and misery, the reward of which was only hardship and 
 poverty. Once I said so to Aline, and she answered me : 
 * It was his vocation ; he could not help it. Yours, and I 
 do not think you could help it either you would have 
 made a remarkably poor preacher, Ralph is to break new 
 wheat-lands out of the wilderness ; for, you will remember 
 well, I'm not a preacher either, but not wholly for Grace 
 or yourself.' 
 
 Women, I have since learned, not infrequently see, 
 perhaps by instinct, deeper into primal causes than men, and 
 
CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 327 
 
 there was more in her words than perhaps she realised, for 
 though the immediate impulse may be trifling or unworthy, 
 it is destiny that has set the task before us, and in spite of 
 the doer's shortcomings it is for the good of many that all 
 thorough work stands. Many a reckless English scapegrace 
 has driven the big breaker through new Canadian land 
 because he dare not await the result of his folly at home, 
 but nevertheless, if he ploughed well, has helped to fill the 
 hungry in the land he left behind. It was during the 
 sowing that Aline showed me a paragraph in a Victoria 
 paper which said, among its mining news : * We hear that 
 the Day Spring will probably close down pending negotia- 
 tions for sale. For some time there has been friction with 
 the owner of the neighbouring property, who has also 
 located a mineral claim, and, it is said, has exacted large 
 sums for compensation. We understand there are indica- 
 tions of fair payable ore, but further capital is needed to get 
 at it. We do not desire to emulate some newspapers in 
 sensational stories, but there is a tale of a hard fight between 
 two Englishmen, one of whom championed the cause of an 
 oppressed colonist, for this mine.' 
 
 ' It seems cruel,' said Aline. ' I am afraid Uncle 
 Martin is very revengeful, and I wish he had not done so 
 much. However, from what I hear, Colonel Carrington 
 almost deserves it, and he has evidently treated Uncle 
 Martin badly. I suppose you have not heard what caused 
 the quarrel ? ' 
 
 * No,' I answered, * and in all probability no one ever 
 will. It is, however, an old one, and they only renewed it 
 in Canada. Uncle Martin says little about his injuries, but 
 he doesn't forget them.' 
 
 This was but the beginning, for we had news of 
 further developments shortly, when Calvert paid us a second 
 visit. * I'm going home to England for a holiday,' he said. 
 
328 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 ' Secured a very indifferent post in Winnipeg, and was 
 delighted to hear of another mining opening in British 
 Columbia. Now, you'll be surprised, too. It was to enter 
 your uncle's service. I met him about the Day Spring some- 
 times, and he apparently took rather a fancy to me, while 
 on my part I didn't dislike him.' 
 
 4 Martin Crosfield turned mine-owner ! This is 
 news,' I said, and Calvert laughed as he continued : * Yes, 
 and of the Day Spring, too ; I'm to manage it in his 
 interest. Now you see the method in his madness. It 
 appears the Colonel had pretty well come to the end of his 
 tether he is by no means so well off as he used to be 
 and in his customary lordly way told a financial agent to 
 get whatever he could from anyone over a fixed limit. It 
 was, as a matter of necessity, a low limit. I warned Mr. 
 Crosfield that though there was a prospect of fair milling 
 ore we had found very little so far, but he's a remarkably 
 keen old fellow, and had been talking to the miners, 
 especially the unfortunate one who had been holding out 
 against the Colonel's attempts to squeeze him off his claim. 
 Mr. Crosfield agreed with him to let it lapse and re-record 
 it. So I went with him and his agent to sign the agree- 
 ment, and felt half-ashamed when Colonel Carrington came 
 in. Of course, I had no need to. He always treated me 
 with a contemptuous indifference that was galling, and a 
 man must earn his bread. Still, I had taken his pay, 
 and it hurt me to see him beaten down upon his knees. 
 
 * He came near starting when he saw your uncle, but 
 made no sign of recognition, as, turning to his broker, he 
 said, " Will you tell me what this man's business is ? " 
 
 * " Mr. Crosfield takes over the Day Spring," said the 
 agent, and I fancy the ruler of Carrington swore softly 
 between his teeth, after which he said : " You told me it was 
 
CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 329 
 
 Smithson you were negotiating with. Is there any means 
 whatever by which I can annul the bargain ? " 
 
 < " Smithson bid beneath your limit, and then bought it 
 acting as broker for Mr. Crosfield," was the answer. " I 
 have applied for a record of conveyance, and the sale was 
 made by your orders. It cannot be cancelled now without 
 the consent of the purchaser, and a new record." 
 
 ' The two men looked at one another, your uncle 
 drawing down his thick eyebrows, which is a trick he has, 
 and the Colonel gnawed his lip. If it had happened in the 
 early gold days there would have been pistol shots. Then 
 my new employer said, " I will not sell," and Colonel 
 Carrington flecked off a speck of dust with his gloves. 
 
 ' " You have bought it for less than a fourth of what I 
 spent on the property," he said very coolly, " but if the 
 mine yields as it has done hitherto I cannot congratulate 
 you," and he stalked out of the room. He was hard hit, 
 but he went down the stairway as unconcernedly as if he 
 had not come to the end of a fortune, while the new owner 
 said nothing as he looked after him. That's about all, 
 except that the Colonel goes back to Carrington, and my 
 worthy employer to Mexico. He told me he had word 
 your cousin was not well there. I wonder, Ralph, how 
 this matter will affect you. Your relations with Miss 
 Carrington are of course not altogether a secret.' 
 
 I did not enlighten him. In fact, I hardly cared to ask 
 myself the question, for I could not see how the fact that 
 he had lost a considerable portion of his property could 
 increase the Colonel's good will towards me. Nevertheless, 
 if the difference in worldly possessions constituted one of 
 the main obstacles, as he had said it did, there had been a 
 partial levelling, and if we were favoured with a bounteous 
 harvest there might be a further adjustment. I would not 
 have chosen the former method ; indeed, I regretted it, but 
 
330 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 it was not my fault that he had quarrelled with Martin 
 Crosfield, who had beaten him in a mining deal. The 
 latter could be hard and vindictive, but there was after all 
 a depth of headstrong good nature in him which was 
 signally wanting in the cold-blooded Colonel. I disliked 
 him bitterly, but now I almost pitied him. 
 
 * Do you think there is any ore worth milling in the 
 Day Spring at all, Calvert ? ' I said presently, and the latter 
 answered, ' Frankly, I do. It will cost further money to 
 bring it up, but now I have a free hand and unstinted 
 material I am even sanguine. We start in earnest in 
 two months or so, and then we will see what we shall 
 see.' 
 
 Calvert left us next day, and it was a long time before 
 I saw any more of him, while the next news was that 
 Grace and Miss Carrington had returned to Fairmead. I 
 rode over to see them, and found a smaller number of 
 teams ploughing than there should have been, while even 
 Miss Carrington, who received me without any token of 
 displeasure, seemed unusually grave, and several things con- 
 firmed the impression that there was a shadow upon the 
 Manor. I could ask no questions, and it was Grace who 
 explained matters as I stood under the verandah holding the 
 bridle of Ormond's hunter. 
 
 4 It's a strange world, Ralph,' she said, with a tone of 
 sadness. ' Rupert, as you will notice, knows me well, and 
 I never thought that one time you would ride him. Poor 
 Geoffrey ! I cannot forget him. And now your uncle 
 owns the mine my father hoped so much from. The star 
 of Fairmead is in the ascendent and that of Carrington 
 grows dim.' 
 
 * All that belongs to Fairmead lies at your feet,' I said. 
 ' I only value its prosperity for your sake,' and she sighed 
 as she answered, * I know, but it is hard to see troubles 
 
CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 331 
 
 gathering round one's own people, though I am glad the 
 mine has gone. It was that and other such ventures which 
 have clouded the brightness there used to be in Carrington. 
 Still, Ralph,' and here she looked at me fixedly, ' I am a 
 daughter of the house, and if I knew that you had played 
 any part in the events which have brought disaster upon it 
 I would never again speak to you.' 
 
 I could well believe her, for she had inherited a portion 
 of her father's spirit, and I knew the ring in her voice, but 
 I placed one arm round her shoulder as I answered : ' You 
 could hardly expect me to like him, but I have never done 
 him or any man a wilful injury, and until the sale was 
 completed I knew nothing about it. But now, sweetheart, 
 how much longer must we wait and wait ? Before the 
 wheat is yellow Fairmead will be ready for its mistress, 
 and with a good harvest we need not fear the future.' 
 
 ' You must trust me still, Ralph,' she said wearily. ' I 
 am troubled, and often long for the wisdom to decide 
 rightly what I ought to do, but when I feel I can do so 
 I will come. Twice my father and I had words at 
 Vancouver, and sometimes I blame myself bitterly for 
 what I said. Wait still until the harvest ; perhaps the 
 difficulties may vanish by then. Meantime, because I am 
 Grace Carrington, and he would not receive you if he were 
 here, you must come no more to the Manor while my 
 father is away. Besides, each hour is precious in spring, 
 and now you must spend it well for me.' 
 
 I had perforce to agree. Grace was always far above 
 the petty duplicity which even some excellent women 
 delight in, and she added gently : ' Some day you will be 
 glad, Ralph, that we acted in all things openly, but a fort- 
 night to-morrow I intend riding to Lone Hollow, from 
 which I return at noon. Then, as a reward of virtue, you 
 may meet me.' 
 
332 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 It was with buoyant spirits I rode homewards under 
 the starlight across the wide, dim plain, for the cool air 
 stirred my blood, and the great stillness seemed filled with 
 possibilities. The uncertainty had vanished, the time was 
 drawing in, and something whispered that before another 
 winter draped white the prairie Grace would redeem her 
 promise. Counted days as a rule pass slowly, but that 
 fortnight fled, for there was little opportunity to think of 
 anything but the work in hand in the hurry of the spring 
 campaign, while one night Raymond Lyle, of Lone Hollow, 
 and another of the Carrington colonists spent an hour with 
 us. Since Aline honoured Fairmead with her presence we 
 had frequent visits from the younger among them. Aline 
 was generally piquant, and these visitors, who, even if a 
 few were rather feather-brained, were for the most part 
 honest young Englishmen, seemed to find much pleasure in 
 her company. Lyle, however, was a somewhat silent and 
 thoughtful man, for whom I had a great liking, and he had 
 come to discuss business. 
 
 4 Listen to me, Crosfield, while I talk at length for 
 once,' he said. * A few of the older among us have been 
 considering things lately, and it doesn't please us to recog- 
 nise that while nearly every outsider can make money, or 
 at least earn a living on the prairie, farming costs most 
 of us an uncertain sum yearly. We are by no means all 
 millionaires, and our idea is not to make this colony a 
 pleasure ground for the remittance-man. We have the 
 brains, the muscle, and some command of money ; we were 
 born of landowning stock ; and we don't like to be beaten 
 easily by the raw mechanic, labourer, or even the dismissed 
 clerk. Still, while these farm at a profit we farm at a 
 loss.' 
 
 * I belong to the latter class,' I said ; c and here are a 
 few reasons. We are ploughing and grain-hauling while you 
 
CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 333 
 
 shoot prairie chicken or follow the coyote hounds. We 
 work late and early, eat supper in dusty garments, and then 
 go on again ; while you take your hand at nap after a 
 formal dinner, and excuse me you look on farming as an 
 amusement, while the land demands the best that any man 
 can give it brain and body. Besides, you are lacking in 
 what one might call commercial enterprise.' 
 
 4 1 agree with you,' said Lyle, ' especially the latter. 
 Anyway, we have had almost sufficient of farming as a 
 luxury, and mean to make it pay. Colonel Carrington's 
 ideal of an exclusive semi-feudal Utopia is very pretty, but 
 I fear it will have to go. Now I'm coming to the point. 
 You and Jasper have shown us the way to make something 
 out of buying young Western stock ; but we're going one 
 better. Breeding beef is only one item. What about the 
 dairy ? We couldn't well drink up all the milk, even 
 if we liked it ; and we have definitely decided on a 
 Carrington creamery, with a Winnipeg agency for our 
 cheese and butter.' 
 
 'Bravo ! ' said Harry. ' Ralph, that should pay hand- 
 somely. Only one rival in all this district ! I see big 
 chances in it.' 
 
 Then Raymond chuckled as he continued : ' Specifica- 
 tions have been got out for a wooden building, a location 
 chosen, and, in short, we want you two to cut the timber 
 and undertake the erection. We want a man we know, 
 Crosfield, whom we can discuss things with in a friendly 
 way. It can't be ready this summer, and you can take 
 your own time doing it. The rest say they would prefer 
 you to an outsider ; and your railroad building is a sufficient 
 guarantee.' 
 
 I lighted my pipe very deliberately, to gain time to 
 think. Neither Harry nor I was a mechanic ; but in the 
 Western Dominion the man without money must turn his 
 
334 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 hand to many trades, and we had learned a good deal, 
 railroad building. Neither need it interfere too much with 
 the farming, for we could hire assistants, even if we brought 
 them from Ontario ; and here was another opening to 
 increase our revenue. 
 
 4 Subject to approved terms, we'll take it eh, Harry ? 
 on the one condition that Colonel Carrington does not 
 specifically object to me,' I said. * Where is the site ? ' 
 
 4 Green Mountain/ answered Raymond Lyle. * As to 
 terms, look over the papers and send in an estimate. 
 Payment, two-thirds cash, interim and on completion, and 
 the balance in shares at your option. Several leading busi- 
 ness men in Brandon and Winnipeg have applied for stock.' 
 
 * Green Mountain ! ' broke in Harry. * That's the 
 Colonel's private property and pet preserve. Coyote, even 
 timber wolves, antelope and other deer haunt it, don't 
 they ? He will never give you permission to plant a 
 creamery there. Besides, I hardly fancy any part of the 
 scheme will commend itself to him.' 
 
 Lyle looked thoughtful. ' I anticipate trouble with 
 him,' he said. * Indeed, the trouble has commenced 
 already. But, with all due respect to Colonel Carrington, 
 we intend to have the creamery. He came home yester- 
 day, and rides over to see Willmot about it to-morrow.' 
 
 When he had gone Harry laughed with evident enjoy- 
 ment of something before he said, i The fat will be in the 
 fire with a vengeance now. And I never gave them credit 
 for having so much sense. It's one thing to speculate and 
 run gold mines that don't pay in British Columbia, but 
 quite another to turn one's pet and most exclusive territory 
 into " a condemned, dividend-earning, low-caste, industrial 
 settlement, by Gad, sir ! " Cut down the Green Mountain 
 bluff, smoke out beast and bird, plant a workman's colony 
 down in Carrington ! and you will notice they mean to 
 

 CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 335 
 
 make it pay. The sun would stand still sooner than the 
 Colonel consent.' 
 
 I was inclined to agree with Harry, but I also felt that 
 if it were impossible to lessen Colonel Carrington's opposition 
 to myself there was no use making further sacrifices hope- 
 lessly. Even his own people had shown signs of revolt, 
 and Grace's long patience appeared exhausted. There are 
 limits beyond which respectful obedience degenerates into 
 weakness, and the ruler of Carrington had reached them. 
 
 I met Grace at the time appointed, and her look of 
 concern increased when I mentioned the creamery. * I am 
 afraid it will lead to strife, and am sorry you are connected 
 with it,' she said. * My father, though I do not altogether 
 agree with him, has a very strong objection to the project, 
 while even his best friends appear determined upon it. It 
 may even mean the breaking up of the Carrington colony. 
 Since the last check at Vancouver he has been subject to 
 fits of suppressed excitement, and my aunt dare scarcely 
 approach him. Ralph, from every side disaster seems 
 closing in upon us, and I almost fear to think what the end 
 will be. It is my one comfort to know you are near me 
 and faithful.' 
 
 Her eyes were hazy as she looked past me across the 
 prairie. Starry flowers spangled the sod, the grass was 
 flushed with emerald, while the tender green of a willow 
 copse formed a background for her lissom figure as she 
 leaned forward to stroke the neck of the big grey horse,, 
 which pawed at the elastic turf. There was bright sun- 
 shine above us, dimming even the sweep of azure, and a 
 glorious rush of breeze. All spoke of life and courage, and 
 I strove to cheer her, until a horseman swept into sight 
 across a rise, and my teeth closed together when I recog- 
 nised the ruler of Carrington. He rode at a gallop, and his 
 course would lead him well clear of where we stood, while 
 
336 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 by drawing back a few yards the willows would have hidden 
 us. But I was in no mood to avoid him, even had Grace 
 been so inclined, which was not the case ; and so we waited 
 until, turning, he came on at a breakneck pace. The 
 black horse was grey with dust and lather when he reined 
 him in, spattering the spume flakes upon me ; and, after a 
 stiff salutation, I looked at him steadily. 
 
 ' You are an obstinate and very ill-advised young man, 
 Crosfield of Fairmead,' he said, making an evident effort to 
 restrain his fury at which I took courage, for it was his 
 cold malevolence I disliked most. ' Grace, you shall hear 
 now and once for all what I tell him. Crosfield, you shall 
 never marry Miss Carrington with my consent.' 
 
 It may not have been judicious, but I was seldom 
 successful in choosing words, and expected nothing but his 
 strongest opposition, so I answered stoutly, <I trust you 
 will even yet grant it, sir. If not and Miss Carrington is 
 of age we must endeavour to do without it.' 
 
 He turned from me, striking the impatient horse, and, 
 when the beast stood fast, fixed his eyes upon his daughter. 
 
 t Have you lost your reason as well as all sense of 
 duty, Grace ? ' he said. ' What is this beggarly farmer, 
 the nephew of my bitterest enemy, that you should give up 
 so much for him ? Have you counted the cost hardship, 
 degrading drudgery, and your father's displeasure ? And 
 would you choose these instead of your natural position as 
 mistress of Carrington ? ' 
 
 4 While I have strength to work for her she shall suffer 
 none of them,' I said. But neither, apparently, heeded me, 
 and, rapidly growing fiercer, the old man added : 
 
 ' There will be no half-measures -you must make the 
 choice. As that man's wife you will never enter the doors 
 of the Manor. Remember who you are, girl, and shake off 
 this foolishness,' 
 
CONCERNING THE DAY SPRING MINE 337 
 
 His mood changed in an instant. Colonel Carrington 
 was clearly not himself that day, for there was an almost 
 pleading tone in the concluding words, and he waited her 
 answer in a state of tense anxiety, while I could see that 
 Grace was trembling. 
 
 * It is too late, father. The choice is already made,' she 
 said. ' There are worse things than poverty, and if it comes 
 we can bear it together. We hope you will still yield your 
 consent, even if we wait long for it, and had you asked any- 
 thing but this I would have done it. Now I have given my 
 promise and do not wish to break it.' 
 
 Her voice was strained and uneven, and with a thrill of 
 pride, leaning sideways from the saddle, I caught her horse's 
 bridle as by right of ownership, while, in spite of his enmity, 
 I was sorry for Colonel Carrington. It must have been a 
 trying moment, for he loved his daughter, but wounded 
 pride gained the mastery, and his face grew livid. I made 
 some protestation that we both regretted his displeasure, and 
 that Grace should want nothing which I could give her, but 
 again he utterly ignored me, and, wrenching on the curb, 
 backed the horse a few paces. Then, and I shall never 
 forget the bitterness of his tone, he said : * First those fools 
 in British Columbia, then the men I settled in Carrington, 
 and now my child to turn against me in my adversity. You 
 have made your choice, girl, and you will rue it. I will 
 humble you all before I die.' 
 
 He caught at his breath, his face twitched, and his left 
 hand sank to his side, but he wheeled the black horse with 
 his right and left us without another word, while Grace sat 
 looking after him with a white face and tears in her eyes, 
 until she said : * Ralph, I cannot tell you what this has cost 
 me. No, you must not say anything just now. Give me 
 time to think ; I can hardly bear it.' 
 
 We did not resume our journey immediately, and when 
 
 z 
 
338 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 we passed the next rise Colonel Carrington was far off upon 
 the prairie, while in reply to my questions Grace said : * We 
 will wait until harvest. There will, I fear, be changes by 
 then/ 
 
 Half an hour later we rode into sight of Carrington, and 
 both instinctively drew rein ; then Grace signified approval 
 as without speaking we rode on again. Still her faint smile 
 showed she recognised my own feeling that we were riding 
 boldly into the camp of the enemy. Miss Carrington met 
 us at the entrance, and when I dismounted said to me 
 aside : * My brother came in a little while since in an angry 
 mood. I fancy he must have met you, and will not ask in- 
 judicious questions ; but, to please me, you will go. He 
 has been broken in health lately, and any further excitement 
 is to be avoided just now.' 
 
 I took my leave accordingly, for so far as she could do 
 so without offending her brother Miss Carrington sym- 
 pathised with us, while as I rode back to Fairmead I could 
 not forget the Colonel's curious manner when he concluded 
 the interview. I also recollected how Calvert had said : 
 * That man will end with a stroke, or in a fit, when he lets 
 his passion master him some day.' 
 
339 
 
 XXX 
 
 THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 
 
 A WEEK or two passed, and then when riding to Lone 
 Hollow on business connected with the creamery scheme I 
 chanced upon Jasper. I had seen very little of him since 
 Harry returned, and taxed him with it, saying : ' Have we 
 frightened you away from Fairmead lately ? ' 
 
 * No,' he answered, with some confusion. ' I guess there's 
 no place in the Dominion where I would sooner come to.' 
 
 6 Well, then, why don't you come ? ' I asked ; and the big 
 man hesitated still, inspecting his boots, until, facing round 
 towards me, he said : c I've been figuring it mightn't be good 
 for me. I'm a plain man with a liking for straight talk, 
 Ralph so are you and it might make things easier if I 
 were to tell you. It's Miss Aline that scared me.' 
 
 I burst .out laughing, but Jasper did not join ; then I 
 waited somewhat astonished until he continued : < She's the 
 flower of this prairie, and she's got a mighty 'cute head of her 
 own. I never could stand them foolish women. So I came, 
 and I would have come every day, until Harry chipped in, and 
 that set me thinking. I said, " You stop there and consider, 
 Jasper, before it's too late, and you're done for." ! 
 
 I frowned at this, but Jasper added : ' You don't get hold 
 exactly what I meant was this. I'm a big rough farmer, 
 knowing the ways of wheat and the prairie, and knowing 
 nothing else. She's wise, and good, and pretty, way up as 
 high as the blue heaven above me. Even if she'd take me 
 
 z 2 
 
340 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 which, being wise, she wouldn't the deal wouldn't be fair to 
 her. No ; it couldn't anyway be fair to her. Then I saw 
 Harry with his clever talk and pretty ways, and I said, 
 "That's the kind of man that must mate with her. Go 
 home to your ploughing, Jasper, before it comes harder, and 
 you make a most interesting fool of yourself." So I went 
 home, and I'm going to stop there, Ralph Crosfield, until 
 the right man comes along. Then^ well, I'll wish Miss 
 Aline the happiness I could never have given her.' 
 
 ' You are a very good fellow, Jasper,' I said, and pitied my 
 old friend as he departed ruefully. He had acted generously, 
 and though I hardly fancy Aline would have accepted him, 
 in any case, I knew that she might have chosen worse. 
 There are qualities which count for more than the graces of 
 polish and education, especially in new lands, but Harry 
 possessed these equally, and, as Jasper had said, Aline and 
 he had much more in common. Then it also occurred to 
 me that there was some excuse for Colonel Carrington. 
 The cases were almost parallel, and to use my friend's 
 simile Grace Carrington was also as high as the blue heavens 
 above her accepted lover. Still, if I had not the Ontario 
 man's power of self-abnegation, and had forgotten what was 
 due to her, she had said with her own lips that she could be 
 happy with me, and I blessed her for it. 
 
 What transpired at Lone Hollow also provided food for 
 thought. Besides Lyle, several of the leaders in the creamery 
 scheme waited me there, and the former said : 'We have 
 accepted your estimates. You can break ground before hay- 
 time, and continue after harvest, while we want you to go 
 with us to the Manor to-morrow. Colonel Carrington 
 has summoned all interested to discuss the matter.' 
 
 ' I would much sooner you excused me,' I said. ' In 
 fact, I think my presence might prejudice the Colonel,' 
 whereupon several of the others laughed, and one said 
 
THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 341 
 
 drily : * He is apparently prejudiced already, but, and I say 
 it with respect, we are growing tired of the Colonel's 
 opposition to whatever he does not suggest himself ; and 
 we mean to build the creamery. You must therefore bear 
 your share in the unpleasantness with the rest of us.' 
 
 I almost regretted I had furnished an estimate, but it 
 was too late now, and I could not in fairness to the others 
 shirk my part ; so, promising to attend, I returned in a 
 thoughtful mood to Fairmead. Aline bantered me about 
 my absent-mindedness that evening, and desired to learn 
 the cause of it, which, as Harry was there and it partly 
 concerned Jasper's explanation, I did not tell her. I had 
 never pictured Harry as a suitor, strange to say, but now I 
 could only see advantages in the union for both of them, 
 and, such is human nature, advantages for me. Grace and 
 Aline were in various ways too much alike to agree in all 
 things at Fairmead. 
 
 The next day was never forgotten at Carrington, and 
 distorted rumours of what happened travelled far across the 
 prairie. One Mennonite settler I heard compare it to the 
 downfall of King Herod, and yet among his own people 
 there were none who referred to the event without reluc- 
 tance and regret. It was a glorious day, when the prairie 
 was fresh and green after a gentle rain, that promised an 
 early sprouting of the seed, but when I neared the Manor 
 the faces of those I met were anxious and sombre. They 
 looked like men who, after long consideration, had resolved 
 to undertake an unpleasant duty. In fact, to judge from 
 appearances, some of the younger wished themselves well 
 out of it. Saddled horses, buggies, and waggons sur- 
 rounded the house, and more mounted figures were 
 approaching across the prairie, while those already arrived 
 appeared rather inclined to wait for them than to enter the 
 building, until its owner stood in the doorway, saying : * I 
 
342 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 am honoured by your visit, gentlemen. Will you not 
 come in ? ' 
 
 I went in with the others, and was not pleased that 
 Lyle placed me beside himself in a prominent position, 
 while, after desultory conversation, in which no one seemed 
 quite at ease, it was almost a relief to hear the last arrivals 
 dismount, and then settle ourselves around the long table, 
 upon which Lyle had distributed maps of the settlement 
 and plans. He, with a few others of the executive com- 
 mittee, sat close beside me ; the rest stretched back towards 
 the open doorway, and as we waited in a state of expecta- 
 tion the details of the scene impressed themselves upon me. 
 There were heads and skins, and Eastern weapons, as well 
 as savage ones, on the dark wainscot, trophies their owner 
 had brought home from a number of England's smaller 
 wars. The prairie was flooded with sunlight outside, and 
 an invigorating breeze that swept in through the open 
 windows brought with it the smell of grasses and stirred 
 the draperies, while all eyes were turned upon Colonel 
 Carrington. 
 
 He took his place at the head of the table in a great 
 carved oaken chair which Grace once said had figured in 
 English history, an escutcheon that some of the settlers 
 derided on the sombre panelling behind, and the sunlight 
 beating in through a narrow window full upon him. He 
 sat erect, a lean but still finely proportioned figure, with 
 expressionless face and drooping white moustache, close to 
 the now empty but huge ancient pattern hearth, which in 
 winter assisted the more useful stove, while both his air and 
 the surroundings rather suggested some scene of feudal ages 
 than an incident on the newly-opened and democratic 
 prairie. 
 
 4 You asked me to meet you, and I have summoned 
 every man in Carrington to hear what you have to say,' he 
 
THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 343 
 
 said. * Raymond Lyle, you headed the last deputation ; we 
 are waiting for you.' 
 
 Lyle was not an orator, but, being filled with his subject, 
 men listened to him that day, as, after full explanations of the 
 arrangements for the creamery, standing, broad-shouldered, 
 dark-skinned, and thoughtful, before them, he turned his 
 honest eyes upon the host and said : * We desire above all 
 things to win your approval, sir ; but we clearly recognise 
 the absolute necessity for more attention to the commercial 
 side of the question, if there is to be a lasting future for the 
 Carrington colony. We are proud of the colony, and we 
 are all of us sportsmen, I think, but we see that it is not 
 our mission to make it a mere playground and bar an 
 entrance to all but the wealthy. On the contrary, we 
 desire not only to welcome but make it easy for any well- 
 educated Englishman to earn a living here. In fact, we 
 want an open-door policy and a means of providing for the 
 future of our children, one essential of which is industrial 
 progress. Our first step is the creamery by-and-by we 
 hope to go further.' 
 
 For the first time a faint cynical smile flickered across 
 Colonel Carrington's face, and he answered : c In your case, 
 at least, I fail to see the duty towards posterity, and expect 
 that upon examination your other reasons would appear 
 equally invalid. You have lived among us as a bachelor, 
 Lyle. Will someone else proceed to demonstrate the advan- 
 tages we may expect from the proposed creamery ? I wish 
 to see how far this foolish fancy has laid hold upon you.' 
 
 Lyle flushed, and some of the younger men laughed, 
 while it is possible that in any other case their leader's 
 sarcastic disapproval would have induced them to abandon 
 the scheme ; but the men of Carrington had made their 
 minds up, and, doubtless to his surprise, several in succession 
 showed in deferent but determined fashion why they 
 
344 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 considered it necessary to offer inducements to further 
 settlers for the good of the community. 
 
 ' We are going down to the root of the matter,' the 
 last of them said. 'We wish to earn money, not to spend 
 it, and every desirable man who takes up land increases the 
 value of our possessions, and, what is more important, our 
 means of progress. We want more bridges, graded roads 
 through the coulees, a stockyard on the railroad, and some 
 day a branch line, and we mean to get them. If under 
 present conditions this is impossible, those conditions must 
 be changed.' 
 
 There was a hum of approval, but, watching the Colonel 
 I knew the man had said too much, while, when in reply 
 to a harsh question as to who was to undertake the building 
 my name was mentioned, he said : ' Crosfield of Fairmead ! 
 I might have known it.' 
 
 Then there was silence as he gazed down the long rows 
 of faces before answering : ' I have listened with painful 
 surprise. You desire to learn my views, and you shall hear 
 them ; but first I wish to read the agreement made by 
 every one of you when he settled in Carrington.' 
 
 He did so, and some of the men looked uncomfortable, 
 for the land settlement scheme practically made him supreme 
 authority over all matters the law of Canada did not affect. 
 Then he said : ' I founded this colony, delivered some of 
 you from trouble, and brought you here. I have spent my 
 time and money freely for the good of the Carrington 
 district, and I alone have made it what it is, a place where 
 an English gentleman can live economically if he will work 
 a little, enjoying abundant sport and the society of his 
 equals. That was my one object. I have accomplished it, 
 but further I will not go. The Green Mountain is the 
 finest cover for game upon the prairie, and while I live no 
 man shall cut timber, make roads, or put up buildings 
 
THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 345 
 
 there. Neither will I in any way countenance the opening 
 up of Carrington my Carrington to industrial exploita- 
 tion or the influx of all and sundry. While this agreement 
 holds I will have neither railroad nor any kind of factory 
 within our limits, but intend to maintain the traditions 
 of the settlement. Therefore, seeing in it the thin end of 
 the wedge, I advise the total abandonment of the creamery 
 scheme.' 
 
 He ceased, and for a time there was only the soft rustle 
 of drapery lifted by the wind, until Lyle said : * We are 
 sorry you differ from us, sir ; but before we go any further 
 will you ask for a vote to see how many are in favour of 
 the creamery ? It is a representative gathering.' 
 
 ' So be it,' said the Colonel. * You all cannot be bitten 
 with this mania. Those in favour of the project, hold 
 their right hands up.' 
 
 No one moved at first, and I could see that many of the 
 Carrington riders were troubled in mind, A struggle went 
 on within them between the traditions of a landowning 
 caste, which die hard, and the progressive notions they had 
 gathered in a new country. Then their leader's thin 
 fingers closed viciously on the arms of the chair as slowly 
 every right hand went up. 
 
 'Seeing the desire is unanimous, I hope you will re- 
 consider your decision, and sell us a portion of the Green 
 Mountain, sir,' said Lyle. And there was a deep murmur 
 when the Colonel answered : 
 
 ' I will not sell a yard of it. Again I remind you 
 of the settlement agreement, and trust that, seeing you 
 cannot obtain one necessary item, my consent, you will 
 finally dismiss the project.' 
 
 At that moment there was something almost pathetic 
 about the old man's position. Grim and overbearing as 
 ever, he was so utterly alone, All his followers had turned 
 
346 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 against him, while their decision about the creamery, a 
 small matter in itself, marked the turning point towards 
 a policy which would leave him without authority, and the 
 sight of those uplifted hands must have been inexpressibly 
 galling. Still, he had said that he would humble them all, 
 and, so far as one could judge, was still confident of doing 
 it. Once, so his sister afterwards told me, he tamed a 
 native levy of irregular cavalry and commanded them for 
 two years, in spite of the fact that a number of the dusky 
 troopers had sworn to murder him on opportunity. 
 
 Meantime the listeners' faces were a study. Indigna- 
 tion, suppressed sympathy, regret, and a determination to 
 maintain their rights, were stamped upon them. They 
 were all Englishmen, born with a due respect for consti- 
 tuted authority and hereditary loyalty to a leader of their 
 own class, but they had also the Englishman's respect for 
 the individual's liberty, and listened with evident approval 
 when Lyle said : 
 
 * Again we regret it, and to me as a kinsman of your 
 own, sir, this is a very distressing duty, which nevertheless 
 must be undertaken. We have an alternative site for the 
 creamery, though by no means such a good one ; and in 
 regard to the agreement, we have kept it faithfully, even 
 when on certain occasions you overstrained its meaning. 
 Now we can no longer allow it to bar all progress, and have 
 resolved, if in accordance with one clause it can be done 
 honourably, to entirely remodel it by a unanimous meeting. 
 Otherwise, we will sell our holdings, which can be done 
 by the consent of the majority, and move out in a body on 
 to Government land.' 
 
 Lyle had faced the crisis. There was nothing left but 
 defiance, and he had flung down the gauntlet, while when 
 he ceased Colonel Carrington, who had listened with the 
 furrows deepening on his contracted forehead in a fit of 
 
THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 347 
 
 speechless fury, for the first and last time in public allowed 
 his passion to master him. 
 
 * Would you, too, all turn against me, you dividend- 
 hunting traitors ? ' he said. * You whom I brought here, 
 and spent the best of my life for, squandering my daughter's 
 portion on the colony, until she in turn rebelled against me. 
 Then listen to me. You shall do none of these things I 
 say it. By heaven ! you shall not. There shall never be 
 a factory in my settlement. In spite of you shall not 
 do it.' 
 
 His jaw dropped as he spoke the last words ; again his 
 left hand fell to his side, and I caught the hoarse words, 
 4 My God ! ' as he sank limply into his chair, and lay with 
 his head on the carving staring at his rebellious followers 
 with glassy eyes. I think I was first to move, and Lyle 
 was next, while there was bustle and hurry when, slipping 
 an arm beneath his neck, I lifted his head and shouted, 
 * Bring water, someone ; ask Miss Carrington for brandy 
 don't tell her what it's for. Hurry, he is either in a fit or 
 choking.' 
 
 They brought the spirit, and Lyle mopped his forehead 
 with a wetted handkerchief, which was probably of doubtful 
 benefit, while with the assistance of somebody I opened his 
 clenched teeth and managed to pour a little brandy between 
 them. He looked at us in a puzzled manner, saying in short 
 gasps, c Crosfield of Fairmead, and Raymond Lyle. You, 
 too they shall not .' 
 
 I believe this was the last time he ever recognised us, 
 and when I laid him back again Lyle said softly : * Did you 
 notice that he moved as though his left side were wooden. 
 Foster, and Broomfield, come here and help us. Armadale, 
 will you go in, and for heaven's sake try to tell it properly 
 to Miss Carrington.' 
 
 We left consternation behind us when, after the return 
 
348 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 of the unwilling Armadale, we carried the Colonel into his 
 great bedroom, where he lay breathing stertorously, while 
 Foster remained to assist his sister. Then the murmurs 
 broke out as I returned, and each man looked at his 
 neighbour in dismay, until there was once more stillness, 
 when, dressed in some clinging white fabric, Grace stood 
 with a stern cold face in the doorway. 
 
 ' You have spoken sufficient for one day, gentlemen,' 
 she said ; and some of those who heard her afterwards 
 observed how like her voice was to her father's. c Enough 
 to kill my father between you. May I ask you, now you 
 can do no more, to leave this house in quietness ? ' 
 
 It was unforeseen : they had acted in all honesty, and I 
 do not think they were to blame, but the riders of Car- 
 rington, stalwart, courageous men, slunk out like beaten 
 dogs under the gaze of the girl, until she beckoned me and 
 said : c If you ever hope to win my forgiveness you will ride 
 hard to the railroad, and not return without a doctor from 
 Winnipeg. I wish to hear neither excuses nor explanations. 
 Every moment is precious go.' 
 
 I went, much as did the others, and found Lyle looking 
 very shamefaced, fumbling with his saddle cinch outside. 
 * It is an unfortunate business, but we never expected such 
 an ending heaven forbid ! ' he said. c Well, if the wires 
 can do it we'll bring out the best doctor they've got in 
 Winnipeg. With all respect to them, I wouldn't like to 
 be Foster, left behind to face those two women. I'm well 
 over the romantic stage, but by George that girl looked 
 something between an avenging angel and a tragedy queen. 
 Curious to say, it became her. Go home, and abuse me 
 for making an unprecedented mess of it, if you like, the 
 rest of you.' 
 
 It was a hard ride to the railroad, for we did not spare 
 the beasts, and when the instrument clicked out a message 
 
THE REVOLT OF CARRINGTON 349 
 
 that the doctor was ready, but could not start before the 
 next day's train, Lyle wired back, ' Come now in a special. 
 We guarantee expense,' and said to me, * We'll subscribe it 
 between us, and I hope he'll come in time. I think we 
 were justified in all we said, but he was our chief, and for 
 a long time a good one, and well, now I'd give up ten 
 creameries if it hadn't happened. Of course, one ought to 
 feel like Brutus, but I only feel horribly mean.' 
 
 In due time we brought a skilful surgeon to Carrington 
 Manor, and then waited very anxiously until he descended 
 in search of us. * It is by no means a common case,' he 
 said. * Mental aberration and partial paralysis ! Miss Car- 
 rington refers me to you for the possible cause of it. I 
 gather that Colonel Carrington was a headstrong man who 
 could brook no opposition to his will, and was subjected to 
 great excitement at a meeting you held.' 
 
 * Yes,' said Lyle. ' Without going into unnecessary 
 details, he strenuously resisted a project we had decided 
 upon, and apparently the defeat of his wishes came as an 
 unexpected shock. He was speaking vehemently, and 
 collapsed in the midst of it.' 
 
 'What one might have anticipated,' said the doctor. 
 1 1 think I can promise no fatal result, but Colonel Car- 
 rington will never be the same man again. He may not 
 even recover the use of his mental faculties, though it is 
 rather premature to speak definitely yet, and I would not 
 unduly alarm the two ladies.' Then, perhaps reading the 
 look of genuine distress in Lyle's face, he added : ' I don't 
 think you need attribute too much to the incident men- 
 tioned. It was but the last straw, so to speak, for I fancy 
 the patient had for a long time been under a severe mental 
 strain, and from what his sister tells me an old sickness in 
 the tropics had predisposed him to attack, while some other 
 cause would probably have equally precipitated the crisis.' 
 
. 
 350 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 I sent word asking whether Grace would see me, and 
 receiving an answer that she would see no one, rode back 
 to Fairmead moodily pondering the events of the day. As 
 Lyle had said, we were sorry, and would have given much 
 to undo what had been done ; but it was too late, and I 
 felt that Colonel Carrington, who could never have accepted 
 a public defeat, had, unyielding to the last, made a cha- 
 racteristic ending. 
 
XXXI 
 
 THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 
 
 A MONTH slipped by, and though I rode over often to the 
 Manor it was seldom I had speech with Grace, and never 
 saw her father. The attack had left him with intellect 
 clouded and limbs nearly powerless on one side, while he 
 would hardly permit either his sister or daughter, who were 
 the only persons he apparently recognised, to leave his 
 sight. It was also with some trepidation I awaited the first 
 interview with Grace, but this vanished when she came in 
 showing signs of an anxious vigil, but only pleasure at my 
 presence. 
 
 * I am sorry I spoke so to you, Ralph, that awful day,' 
 she said. ' I have thought over all that happened for hours 
 together, and though it was hard to overcome a feeling of 
 resentment against the others, and even you at first, I tried 
 to judge them fairly ; and, if it is not disloyal to say so, I 
 think they were right. Some day, when there will be 
 many things to settle, I hope to tell them so ; but I cannot 
 do it yet.' 
 
 She would say nothing in the meantime as to her own 
 plans, beyond that before she could consider herself there 
 was much to be arranged that concerned her father and the 
 Manor, and with this I had to be content. Lyle also 
 showed his regret in a practical fashion by visiting the 
 Manor constantly and supervising the farming, though I 
 knew his own holding suffered in consequence, and by his 
 
352 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 advice young Foster had been appointed bailiff at a salary. 
 Meanwhile, Harry and I were busy almost night and day, 
 for when the sowing was finished I brought out carpenters 
 and set them to work extending Fairmead, while with our 
 own hands we hewed wind-felled timber where we could 
 find it in the bluffs ready for them and the creamery. It 
 was often necessary to ride long leagues for birches stout 
 enough, and we frequently slept on the bare earth or in the 
 waggon beside our work. 
 
 To please a friend in Winnipeg I had accepted the 
 services of a destitute British mechanic, who, when he ar- 
 rived at Fairmead, with his fare advanced at our expense, 
 demanded the highest wages paid in Canada, and then ex- 
 pressed grave doubts as to whether he could conscientiously 
 undertake the more laborious parts of the framing, because 
 he was a cabinet joiner, and this, so he said, was carpenter's 
 work. We had met others of the kind before, who had 
 made their employers' lives a burden in the old country, but 
 they were the exception, after all. 
 
 * You can please yourself,' said Harry. ' I'm a land- 
 owner and ploughman ; but if I hadn't my hands full 
 already I'd tackle anything, from making bricks to framing 
 bridges, for the wages you're getting. However, to please 
 you, we'll call the operation joinery.' 
 
 We had further trouble with this individual, who con- 
 tinually lamented he had ever come to a country wherein 
 there was no beer, and derided his Ontario comrade for 
 doing too much. The longer a job lasted the better for 
 those employed on it and the rest of the profession, he said ; 
 to which, as we heard later, the Ontario man replied : ' If 
 the job lasts too long in this country they pretty well fire 
 you out of it.' 
 
 At last, returning one morning wet with dew from a 
 damp bed in a bluff, where we had slept after toiling late 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 353 
 
 the night before, we decided to dispense with his ser- 
 vices. 
 
 * Good heavens, man ! if you get on at that rate it will 
 take you two years to finish,' I said, when I found him 
 tranquilly notching the ends of some beams with mallet and 
 chisel. * How long do you spend over one ? And didn't I 
 tell you to use the axe ? ' 
 
 ' Half a day to make a good job ! There's no man in 
 Canada can teach me what tools to use,' he said ; and, 
 being stiff all over, I turned to Harry, saying : ' There's a 
 fair edge on that axe. You might show him.' 
 
 Harry, who was in a hurry, dragged off his jacket, 
 badly tearing it ; and for a space the heavy blade made 
 flashes in the sunlight, while the white chips leapt up in 
 showers, until, flinging down the axe, he pulled out his 
 watch. * Ten minutes exactly you can dress it another 
 five,' he said. * Now, are you willing to do it in that way ? 
 No ? I never expected you would. Well, we won't 
 detain you. Give him his fare to Winnipeg and some 
 breakfast, Ralph it will pay you.' 
 
 I found Ormond's horses useful ; for between timber 
 cutting, marking down growing hay, rides to purchase 
 cattle, and visits to the Manor, we often covered fifty miles 
 a day, with hard work besides ; while when we brought out 
 Ontario bushmen Fairmead and the creamery lumber piles 
 increased rapidly in size, and our bank balance diminished 
 as rapidly. Once, too, when I came home so weary that I 
 could scarcely get out of the saddle, I found a black-edged 
 letter waiting me, and dropped heavily into a chair after 
 opening it. 
 
 * I hope there's no bad news,' said Aline ; c it had an 
 American stamp. Whoever can it be ? ' And I answered : 
 * Cousin Alice ! You might read it the sun and grass 
 dust have almost blinded me.' 
 
 A A 
 
354 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Martin Crosfield had written the letter from a little 
 town in Southern California, and she read : ' I am in sore 
 distress, Ralph. Your poor cousin died here yesterday of 
 an old sickness she had long greatly suffered from. She was 
 my only child all that was left me ; and I'm going back 
 to England a very lonely man. I'll ask you in a post or 
 two to meet me.' 
 
 * I am very sorry, and yet it may have been a release,' 
 said Aline. ' Hers was a very hard lot to bear, but she 
 was always cheerful. Poor Uncle Martin ! Of course 
 you will go to meet him.' 
 
 I did so later when, as a special favour, a mounted man 
 brought me a telegram from Elktail, and Martin Crosfield 
 gripped my fingers hard when I boarded the east-bound 
 train at that station. ' I knew thee would come, Ralph, 
 and I was longing for a face I knew,' he said. ' Ay, to the 
 last my poor girl remembered thee. I'm going home to 
 England stayed here too long ; and Canada seems empty 
 without her. Only time to catch the liner, or I'd have 
 come to Fairmead, and I've much to tell thee on the road 
 to Winnipeg.' 
 
 He looked sadly shaken, but glad to meet any kinsman 
 in his trouble, and, asking few questions, I listened quietly 
 while, ensconced in a corner of a first-class car, he relieved his 
 soul with talk. He told me much which surprised me, but 
 which is not connected with this story, until I started when 
 he said : * Now I may tell thee it was Aline sent that 
 money. She did it main cleverly, her own savings, poor 
 girl ; I'm glad I never stinted her in the matter of money. 
 " You can tell him when I'm gone, father ; it pleased me 
 well to know I had helped to make him happy," she said. 
 Then again, almost at the end, she whispered : "Tell Ralph 
 I wish him a long life, and the best this world can give him 
 and Miss Carrington." ' 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 355 
 
 Martin Crosfield coughed vigorously before he con- 
 tinued : * I never heard a word about that loan until I 
 guessed from thy tale at the chalet that my girl, never sus- 
 pecting it, had countered my plans. Well, well, it was all 
 as it had to be ; but if she had never helped thee maybe 
 another Crosfield would be waiting instead of a stranger to 
 carry on the Orb Mill when I've done with it.' 
 
 We were nearing the Red River, and the roofs of 
 Winnipeg lifted themselves higher above the prairie, when 
 he said, for Martin Crosfield, almost timidly, * Remembering 
 our talk at the chalet, canst change thy mind, lad, or is it 
 too late ? ' 
 
 ' It is,' I answered with reluctance, for I longed to 
 do something to comfort him. * As I told you, even if I 
 were ready there are others to consider now ; ' and he 
 sighed before he answered sadly : * Ay, thou'lt take thy 
 own road ; it's born in thee. Then follow it steadfastly, 
 arid God bless thee. Some day I'll come back to Fairmead, 
 but I must have time to get over this blow.' 
 
 Ten minutes later we parted, and it was some hours 
 after the Atlantic express pulled out of Winnipeg before I 
 recovered my serenity. I could not forget the kindness of 
 my dead cousin, who, in spite of sickness and physical 
 suffering, had so cleverly aided me in my time of need. The 
 next event of moment happened when Foster brought me 
 a message from Grace requesting my presence at the Manor 
 on the following day. Most of the menkind of Carrington 
 were also expected, Foster said. I reached the Manor at 
 the appointed time, and made the latter portion of the 
 journey in company with several of the colonists, while it 
 was with mingled curiosity and reluctance we gathered in 
 the great hall. 
 
 Except that the air was warmer, and there were flowers 
 and feathery grasses in the tall vases, it looked much the same 
 
 A A 2 
 
 
356 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 as it did on our last eventful visit, though there was now no 
 grim figure in the carved oak chair. No one knew why we 
 had been summoned except myself and Lyle, and I did not 
 know wholly. So there was a buzz of curious whispers, until 
 Lyle flung back the doors, and Grace, followed by Miss 
 Carrington, appeared in the opening. They were dressed 
 alike in some neutral-tinted fabric, and with one accord 
 the riders of Carrington rose to their feet, and stood fast 
 and motionless until with a queenly gesture Grace seated 
 herself in the oaken chair. Grace was younger than I was 
 by two full years, but there was no trace of diffidence about 
 her as she looked down on the men who, as it were, did 
 homage before her, out of steady eyes. Then deep silence 
 followed as she said with a perfect distinctness : 
 
 4 It was fitting after what has happened that I should 
 send for you. My father founded this colony, and still 
 nominally holds the greater portion of the land in it. As 
 you know, he has been stricken and has lost his reason ; 
 and accordingly the management of the estate devolves 
 upon Miss Carrington and myself principally, under his 
 last will, on myself. It is a heavy responsibility for two 
 women, to do the best, not only for Carrington Manor, 
 but for the Carrington colony, until it shall please the 
 Almighty to restore its founder or grant him release. 
 While the Manor lands remain intact and the agreement 
 binding, all that affects our welfare affects that of the whole 
 settlement.' 
 
 Grace paused, and a man rose upright at the further 
 end of the hall. * We came here with a feeling of contri- 
 tion, yet not wholly ashamed,' he said. ' On behalf of all I 
 offer the new mistress of Carrington our deepest sympathy 
 and an assurance of good will,' and again there was a 
 deep murmur of chivalrous respect from the sun and wind- 
 bronzed men. 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 357 
 
 Grace's gaze was not so steady and her voice lower 
 as she answered, c I thank you. It is a barren heritage, 
 weighted down by debt, but with the help of my kinsman 
 Lyle we shall do our utmost to improve it. Still, it was 
 not that I wanted to tell you. How we last parted you 
 know,' and some of those I noticed showed a darker 
 colour in their cheeks, as though it were an unpleasant 
 memory. ' Since then I have tried to consider rightly all 
 that led up to it, and I ask you to forgive me.' 
 
 ' It was our own blind precipitancy. I am afraid you 
 spoke the truth,' a voice said ; but raising her hand for 
 silence Grace went on : c As I said, this estate entails a 
 heavy responsibility, and I have been considering what I 
 should do concerning the creamery. My father acted as 
 seemed right according to his judgment, and I do not 
 know all his reasons, but now that the decision devolves 
 upon me I am impelled to act according to my own. No 
 two people see the same thing under the same aspect, and 
 this is no disrespect to him I dare not do otherwise. I 
 think the creamery will enhance the settlement's prosperity, 
 and though I cannot grant the Green Mountain site, in 
 which you must bear with me, you can take the next best, 
 the Willow Grove, with its timber and water, at an 
 appraised value, to be represented by stock in the creamery. 
 This is all I have to tell you, and until I resign this position 
 to Miss Carrington I trust to enjoy your friendship and 
 good will. You will I hope decide when to start the work 
 before you go.' 
 
 * There is still a ruler of Carrington ; we haven't a 
 Salic law. We are all your servants, madam,' a big man 
 said, and when some one cried, * To the Princess of 
 Carrington,' the rafters rang to the thunderous cheer, 
 while once more I wondered that Grace should ever have 
 listened to me. Whether it was born in her, an hereditary 
 
358 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 dowry, or was the result of her father's influence and 
 company, I do not know, but Grace, who could at other 
 times be only womanly, spoke to the riders of Carrington 
 with the air of a sovereign. And yet it appeared perfectly 
 seemly that she should do so, for whether mirthful, com- 
 manding, or pitiful, Grace was in all things natural. 
 Neither is this prejudice in her favour on my part, for it is 
 well known on the Assiniboian prairie. Still, even after 
 work had commenced upon the creamery and the finances 
 of the Manor were adjusted temporarily, Grace would give 
 me no definite promise as to when she would leave it for 
 Fair mead. As yet her first duty was towards the helpless 
 old man and the charge he had left her, she said. 
 
 By one of the striking coincidences which it is hard to 
 believe are accidents, it happened that as we mounted out- 
 side the Manor a buggy came round one corner of the 
 house, and with a feeling akin to consternation we turned 
 to regard its occupant. A hired man held the reins, but 
 beside him, wrapped in a fur coat although the day was 
 warm, sat Colonel Carrington, a shivering, huddled object 
 propped against the backboard. It was the first time we 
 had seen him, and the sight troubled us, for the few weeks 
 had made great changes in the ruler of Carrington. 
 
 * I'm afraid Fm breaking orders,' the driver explained. 
 * Miss Grace said wait until you all had gone, but he would 
 come, and I hadn't the heart to refuse him. He's not 
 understanding much these days, but we take him out for 
 an hour or two, when he's able for it, in the sun.' 
 
 Colonel Carrington regarded us as if we were strangers, 
 as with a pitiful courtesy some raised their hats to him, 
 then attempted with one hand to strike a match and 
 dropped it, while after Lyle ignited another and held it to 
 his cigar he nodded cordially. ' I thank you, sir,' he said, 
 with an entire absence of recognition. * I am not quite 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 359 
 
 so strong as I used to be. Could you tell me how far it is 
 to Lone Hollow ? I seem to have forgotten the way, and 
 the snow is soft and heavy.' 
 
 It was a relief to all of us when the buggy drove off, 
 and the assembly broke up with a sudden chill upon its 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 I was walking home past Hudson's dwelling one even- 
 ing later when I noticed a curious cloud of dust hanging 
 over the house, and strange sounds proceeding from it. 
 They suggested that somebody was vigorously brushing it, 
 which was certainly unusual. Now Hudson, though he 
 held a quarter-section of Government land, had really no 
 legal claim to it, because he had neither broken sufficient 
 virgin sod nor put the necessary acreage under cultivation. 
 He freely admitted that he was prejudiced against bar a 
 work, and, when in need of a few dollars to purchase actual 
 necessities he could not borrow, would drive away with his 
 waggon and peddle German oleographs and patent medicines 
 to the less educated settlers, returning after several weeks' 
 absence to settle down to a period of loafing again. 
 
 Aline and her friend Lilian Kenyon, as well as the 
 latter's brother, were with me, and when that damsel said, 
 'Whatever can they be doing inside there, and what a 
 noise they are making,' Aline answered laughingly, * It 
 shows my good counsel has not all fallen on stony soil. 
 Harry that is Mr. Lorraine is apparently seriously engaged 
 in spring cleaning. I have been giving him lessons lately 
 on the virtues of cleanliness.' 
 
 Understanding the process, I grinned at this, and 
 fancied, though I could not be certain, that Aline's fair 
 companion envied her the opportunity of giving Harry 
 lessons upon anything, while when the next cloud of dust 
 rolled out of the window an irate voice came with it : ' I'm 
 the biggest slouch on the prairie, eh j I'll pretty well show 
 
360 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 you nobody takes liberties with me. I'm almighty sick of 
 this fooling already ; there goes your confounded bucket, 
 and the rest of the blamed caboodle after it.' 
 
 Lilian Kenyon started when a bucket fell clattering at 
 her feet, a brush came hurtling towards us, and amid wild 
 language a grimy figure appeared at the window, dropping 
 chairs and other furniture wholesale out of it, while her 
 brother, who strove to conceal his merriment, observed, 
 ' Say, hadn't you two better come on with me ? It's 
 getting late already, and Hudson is not so particular when 
 he's angry as he ought to be.' 
 
 ' I agree with you,' said Aline in a tone of severity. 
 ' He is a very disgraceful man, and by no means a fit 
 companion for Harry. Ralph, I am sorry there are occasions 
 when both of you indulge in unwarranted expressions. 
 Don't you think such conduct unbecoming in an elder 
 brother, or any respectable landowner, Lily ? ' 
 
 I laughed, and Miss Kenyon looked indignant when I 
 answered : c Then go along ; you don't understand our 
 trials, or you wouldn't condemn us. It can only be natural 
 depravity which leads Harry to persist in living with such a 
 companion when half the girls on the prairie are willing to 
 provide him with a better one.' 
 
 They had hardly left me when, dishevelled and dusty, 
 Hudson strode forth in wrathful disgust and said : ' It's 
 almighty hard when a man can't live peacefully in his own 
 home without your confounded partner brushing all over it. 
 I guess it's your sister's doing I knew there would be 
 trouble when she came in, stepping like a gopher on wet 
 ploughing, with her skirts held up. Any way, I'm blamed 
 well sick of Canada, and them Government land fellows are 
 coming right down on me, so I'm going to sell the place 
 for an old song, or burn it, and light out for Dakota.' 
 
 I frowned, for this was the first time I had heard of 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 361 
 
 Aline's visit, and it struck me that although I suffered from 
 her craze for neatness at Fairmead she was overstepping 
 the bounds in attempting to reform Hudson's homestead 
 too ; but Harry evidently overheard him, for he came out in 
 turn. 
 
 * Try to talk sensibly for once, Hudson,' he said. c See 
 here, I don't want to take advantage of your beastly 
 temper, but if you are really bent on selling the place, and 
 not vapouring as usual, Fm open to make you an offer.' 
 
 * IVe been willing to sell it for two years,' Hudson 
 answered with a grin. * Haven't done half my legal break- 
 ing, and don't mean to, so it's not mine to sell, and would 
 have to remain registered to me until the improvements 
 were completed. Then, you see, I could come back, and 
 jump you.' 
 
 * I don't think you could,' said Harry. ' You might 
 hurt yourself trying it. How much do you call a fair thing 
 for the holding as it stands, bearing in mind our risk in 
 buying what is only the goodwill with the owner absent ? ' 
 
 They haggled over the terms for a while, and then 
 Harry said : ' We can do it at a stretch, Ralph, by paying 
 him so much after the crop's sold for the next two years. 
 Of course, it's a big handful, but there's lots of sloo hay 
 which would feed winter stock, and I want the house badly. 
 Indeed, if I don't get it I'm going to build one. Don't you 
 think we could take the risk ? ' 
 
 I thought hard for a few minutes. We were speculating 
 boldly, and had undertaken rather more than we could 
 manage already, but the offer was tempting, and, noting 
 Harry's eagerness, I said : * Yes ; we will chance it, on his 
 own terms of yearly payments, although heaven only knows 
 how we're going to finance it if the crop dies off. Hudson, 
 I'll give you a small cheque to-morrow if you are satisfied, 
 but it's fair to tell you that if you stayed and completed the 
 
362 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 improvements you would get more for it when you held 
 the patent.' 
 
 That's all right,' said Hudson. I'll guess I'll take the 
 cheque. You can take the building and the hundred 
 and sixty blanked acres, scarcely ten of them broken. It's 
 easier peddling pictures than farming any day, and no 
 one else would buy it under the circumstances. It's not 
 even mine without the patent, and if I die in the mean- 
 time you'll get nothing.' 
 
 * We'll get the crop and the cattle feed ; you don't 
 suppose we've bought it to look at, while if you died the 
 pay would stop,' said Harry drily, and turned towards me 
 when Hudson, moving away contented, sat down to enjoy a 
 peaceful smoke. 
 
 * That settles it, Ralph,' he said. * The deal ought to 
 show a good result, and I wanted the house. Now I 
 have got it, it's time for me to ask you a question which 
 would have had to be answered presently in any case. I was 
 waiting to see how things would go out of fairness to her, 
 but as we have bound ourselves hard and fast to Fairmead 
 for several years at least, I'm going to ask you a great thing. 
 Will you give me Aline ? ' 
 
 * Will she have you ? ' I said smiling. And Harry 
 answered rather dismally : * That's just what I don't know. 
 Sometimes I hope so, and sometimes I've a cold fear she 
 won't. But now I've told you, I'll ask her this very 
 evening. You'll wish me God speed, won't you ? ' 
 
 I looked at him with sympathy, for I knew the feeling, 
 and had some experience of Aline's moods. Then I laid my 
 hand on his shoulder as I said : ' We have been as brothers 
 for a long time, Harry, and it would be only good news if 
 you strengthen the tie. If Aline has the wisdom I give her 
 credit for, she won't say no, and there's no one in the 
 Dominion I would sooner trust her to.' 
 
 < Then I'll make the plunge/ said Harry. < Ralph, I'm 
 
THE NEW RULER OF CARRINGTON 363 
 
 very grateful for your good will. Hudson, where did you 
 fling that confounded bucket to ? Get up and straighten 
 yourself, and go after Miss Kenyon. Take her anywhere 
 away from Miss Crosfield, and, if you feel like it, make love 
 to her. You're not bad looking when you wash yourself, 
 and I think she has a fancy for you.' 
 
 4 Not much ! ' said Hudson grinning as he refilled his 
 pipe. * I've had one experience in that line, and I don't 
 want another. No, sir, henceforward I leave women alone.' 
 
 Harry went back to the house to shed his working attire, 
 and I strode on towards Fairmead, leaving Hudson sitting 
 among his furniture and kitchen utensils on the darkening 
 prairie, smoking tranquilly, while the stars shone out when 
 Harry and Aline came in together. Harry looked exultant, 
 Aline unusually subdued, and the first thing she did was, 
 to my astonishment, to kiss me. 
 
 'Aline has promised to marry me before the winter,' 
 said Harry. And wishing them every happiness I went out 
 and left them. I was occupied two hours over some badly 
 needed repairs to the granary, but when I returned my 
 sister found it necessary to spend at least another half-hour 
 despatching Harry, after which she sat silently over some 
 knitting, with and this puzzled me traces of tears in her 
 eyes. 
 
 * Whatever are you grieving for, Aline ? Harry is a 
 very good fellow, and I can see only good fortune in store 
 for you,' I said. And with a flash of her old mischief she 
 answered : * You should never ask awkward questions, 
 Ralph, and, as I have told you, there are lots of things 
 beyond your comprehension. Harry is a very dear fellow, 
 but you and he, living in a wild fashion, have spoiled each 
 other, and I fear he will need a good deal of careful taming.' 
 
 * Then he will probably get it,' I answered. * But 
 seriously, Aline, I am very glad. Now put up that knitting : 
 you haven't done a stitch of it, and it is very late.' 
 
364 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 XXXII 
 
 A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 
 
 HENCEFORWARD Harry's wooing, like my own, was con- 
 ducted in an intermittent and fragmentary manner. But 
 little time was left us for dalliance or soft speeches, and we 
 paid our homage in practical fashion, with axe and saw and 
 bridle, for there was truth in what Harry said : * The best 
 compliment a man can pay a woman is to work for her 
 comfort. Still, I don't know that more leisure for other 
 things wouldn't be pleasant, too. There is more in life 
 after all than an endless round of sowing and reaping.' 
 
 Jasper was among the first to congratulate him, which 
 he did so heartily that I concluded he had stopped at home 
 in time, and it was with a repetition of his former kindness 
 he added : * You'll need to rustle this season, for you've 
 plainly bitten off more than you can chew. Still, you've 
 friends on the prairie who'll see you through, and if it's 
 horses or men or dollars you're stuck for, I guess you 
 know where to find them.' 
 
 We borrowed oxen, we borrowed mowers, hired help 
 everywhere, and somehow paid for it, while by dint of end- 
 less planning we managed to avoid an overdraft at the bank. 
 Still, I lamed Ormond's hunter, and dawn was often in the 
 sky when I rode home from the Manor to begin the day's 
 found again without resting. But our efforts prospered, and 
 the weather favoured us, while Jasper and other neighbours, 
 including some from Carrington, helped us on opportunity, 
 
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 365 
 
 until one summer day I rode over to the Manor to press for 
 a decision. I hesitated when I got there, for I was heavy 
 from want of sleep and troubled about many small matters, 
 while, when Grace greeted me, she looked so fresh and 
 tranquil that it seemed unfair to bring the stains of turmoil 
 and fierce hurry into her presence. 
 
 ' You are tired, poor Ralph,' she said, laying a cool hand 
 on my forehead when I drew her down beside me. * The 
 sun has darkened you to the colour of a Blackfoot. You 
 are thin, and there are too many wrinkles on your brow 
 put them away immediately. I wonder if anyone would 
 recognise in you the fresh-faced and somewhat callow 
 stripling I talked with about the Dominion that day on 
 Starcross Moor. It is not so very long ago, and yet life has 
 greatly changed and taught us much since then. You must 
 not be vain about it, but I really think I prefer you now.' 
 
 She strove to avoid my answer, which was an active one, 
 and then settled to grave attention when I said : * You were 
 always the same, Grace, unequalled among women. I was 
 very raw and foolish, but you have helped me, and experi- 
 ence in these new lands teaches even fools. Now, how- 
 ever, I am chiefly lonely and Fairmead is waiting for 
 you.' 
 
 4 1 wish to know my duty,' said Grace. * I still think 
 and think until my brain grows tired, and yet I cannot see 
 it clearly. As I told the others, the Manor is an undesirable 
 inheritance ; but I am its mistress, and it brings heavy 
 charges with it, a load of debt among them, which it would 
 seem cruel to leave my aunt to grapple with. If we sold it 
 there would be nothing left for her, and even that might 
 not be possible while my father lives. Ralph, dear, he was 
 once very kind to me, and it is hard that I can do so little 
 to help him.' 
 
 She sighed, and looking at me wearily made no answer 
 
 
366 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 to my further pleading, until, as it happened, Miss Carrington, 
 preceded by a very awkward Scandinavian maid, entered the 
 room with a tray on which was placed the Russian tea and 
 dainties for which the house was famous. c You looked in 
 need of refreshment, Ralph, when you came in,' she said. 
 ' There have been changes at the Manor, but we have not 
 forsaken all our ancient customs.' 
 
 She was, as Aline said, * a dear old lady,' sweet of face, 
 yet stately, though now she looked careworn too, and 
 rising I bowed respectfully, as, acting under one of those 
 sudden impulses which are sometimes better than judgment, 
 I said : ' I hope you will believe that no one regrets the 
 changes more than I do, and it is only trusting in your 
 kindness I venture to look for a welcome here. There can- 
 not be many who would so kindly receive one who even 
 against his will has been indirectly connected with your 
 troubles. Besides, I have been abusing your generosity 
 further by trying to persuade Grace to desert you, and, 
 strangest of all, I ask you to help me.' 
 
 Grace blushed, and her aunt sat silent for a while. 
 Then she answered quietly : c I am glad you told me, for I 
 have been thinking what she ought to do. I wondered now 
 and then that my niece did not ask me, and I am going to 
 tell my thoughts to both of you. There is a will extant 
 leaving her this property, with a portion to me, but it will 
 be a long struggle to free the land from its creditors, and my 
 poor brother may live as he is for years. He has been 
 mercifully spared all further anxiety, and I hope he will. I 
 am old, and my day has long gone by. Grace is young, 
 with the world before her ; and it is neither right nor 
 necessary that she should put away all hope of happiness in- 
 definitely. There is only one time when the joy of life is 
 more real than its sorrows. With kinsman Lyle's counsel, 
 and Foster to work the land, I can hold the Manor and 
 
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 367 
 
 care for my brother, and for both to remain here would be a 
 useless sacrifice. So if you love her, as I believe you do, it 
 is right that you should enjoy together what is sent you. 
 Grace should go to you.' 
 
 I had passed my younger days among a homely people, 
 and had been taught little except what I learned in the 
 silence of the mountains and on the wide prairie, and yet I 
 think it was without awkwardness I bent over Miss 
 Carrington's hand. Speech would hardly have expressed 
 the gratitude and respect I felt, while I recognise now that 
 the motive of the action was in her and not in me. Then 
 I turned to her niece and waited with longing in my eyes 
 until Grace, who had changed to her softest mood and was 
 now only a blushing girl, said simply : * You have made it 
 easy, Aunt. Ralph, I will come.' 
 
 4 You have done right,' said Miss Carrington. ' Ralph, 
 you have waited patiently, and I can trust you to be kind to 
 her.' Then she smiled upon us as she added : * If not, I 
 take my brother's place, and you shall answer for it. There 
 is still a Carrington at the Manor holding authority. And 
 so, to turn to the practical, if either of you can consider 
 such prosaic things as tea, it is growing cold already, and it 
 is a pity to waste the Carrington tea.' 
 
 The tea was not wasted. We are only creatures of 
 flesh and blood, thankful, the wiser among us, for the 
 transitory glimmer of romance that brightens our work-a- 
 day lot, and gives some much-needed strength to grapple 
 with it, and I had ridden far after a night spent in the open 
 and a hard morning's work. So I accepted what was 
 offered, and found it delicious to rest in that pretty room, 
 where the last of the sunlight sparkled on the silver and lit 
 up the sweet face of the lady who beamed upon us. Again 
 it seemed almost too good to be true, and hard to believe, 
 that victory had crowned the struggle, while even as I 
 
368 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 balanced the dainty China cup it reminded me of the 
 battered kettle we filled the blackened cans from in a British 
 Columbian camp. There, instead of embroidered curtains, 
 there were festoons of cedar sprays, biting cold and acrid 
 wood smoke in place of warmth and artistic luxury, while I 
 knew that I had been favoured greatly for though many 
 strive the victory is to the few. Still, as it were from out 
 of the shadows of the sombre firs, I seemed to hear our 
 partner who lay among the boulders say : * The long, long 
 road has a turning, and there is rest at last.' 
 
 Before I left the Manor late that night all was settled, 
 for when I pressed for an early conclusion Grace, yield- 
 ing, said : * I am not afraid of poverty, Ralph ; and if it 
 comes we will lighten it by each bearing half. So we 
 will take the risk of the harvest together, for if I share 
 in your prosperity I must also take my share in the 
 hardship.' 
 
 I did not get home to Fairmead until the next day, for 
 I nodded in the saddle until I could not see the way, and 
 several times nearly fell out of it, while when the tired 
 horse stopped in a bluff I found a couch in withered fern 
 and slept there soundly, to waken long after sunrise, wet with 
 dew. That, however, was a trifling matter on the Western 
 prairie, because the man who loves small comforts has no 
 business there, and after the events of the previous day dis- 
 comfort was nothing to me. Dreams seldom trouble the 
 toiler in that land ; and when I stood up refreshed under 
 the early sunlight, and memory returned, the world seemed 
 filled with light and beauty to reflect my own gladness. 
 Ormond's horse was cropping the grasses not far away, and 
 when I caught him the very birch leaves rustled joyfully 
 under their tender shimmering green as we rode through 
 the bluff, while once out on the prairie a flight of sandhill 
 cranes came up from the south, calling to one another, 
 
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 369 
 
 dazzling blurs of whiteness against the blue, and even their 
 hoarse cry seemed to ring with triumph. 
 
 Aline ran out to meet me when I dismounted, but my 
 mood must have been infectious, and she smiled as she said : 
 * I sent Harry to scour the prairie in search of you, for I 
 feared you must have been dead tired and the horse had 
 fallen in a ravine. But you must have slept among the 
 fairies, Ralph, and risen transfigured. You look too radiant 
 for my serious brother.' 
 
 It was after hay- time, and the wheat was tall and green, 
 when Grace and I were married in the little wooden church 
 of Carrington, and every man in the settlement rode there 
 in her train. Few princesses of royal blood ever had a finer 
 escort than hers, and she came in state, as was due to her 
 for Grace was a prairie princess and the heiress of Carring- 
 ton. Perhaps the memory of what had happened made her 
 subjects doubly anxious to show their loyalty ; while, re- 
 membering who I was, and how I landed in that country a 
 poor emigrant, once more I found it hard to understand why 
 of all men such a gift had been bestowed on me. 
 
 The riders of Carrington also filled one room at the 
 Manor with glittering tokens of their goodwill from 
 Toronto and Montreal, besides such useful things as tools 
 and harness, while among the presents lay a plain letter with 
 a black border which Grace and I read together. It was 
 from Martin Crosfield, and he said : * I wish you both 
 many blessings, and knowing your foolish way of thinking, 
 I could not send the present I wanted to ; but you'll take 
 this, with an old man's very good wishes. It's a certificate 
 of paid-up stock in the new Day Spring Mining Company ? 
 of which Calvert is manager. Sell or hold as pleases you. 
 You'll find a market for already Calvert's sending up 
 good ore. I also send you something else your cousin 
 valued it.' 
 
 B B 
 
370 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 Another paper fluttered out of the envelope, and my 
 amusement died away as I recognised the letter I had given 
 the bankers in Winnipeg when I drew upon the loan. 
 
 ' Of all the gifts I value this from poor Alice most,' I 
 said a little huskily. * We should have gone under without 
 it, and perhaps it alone helped me to win you. Grace, to 
 both of us, this is the strangest of wedding presents ; but 
 what shall we do with these shares in the Day Spring mine ? 
 They represent the principal portion of the paid-up capital.' 
 
 c You will keep them,' Grace said. ' I think I under- 
 stand why he sent them. I had a very bitter feeling against 
 your uncle, but I have conquered it. The past is never 
 done with, and it may be that what my father toiled for and 
 lost will come to his daughter in its own way. Ralph, 
 there's a story of hope and struggle and sorrow written 
 between every line on either paper.' 
 
 We rode, in accordance with prairie custom, straight 
 home from the church, for Grace was no longer princess of 
 Carrington, but the wife of a struggling farmer, and she said 
 that until the harvest was gathered there must be no honey- 
 moon. Fairmead, as all the inhabitants of the prairie know, 
 was only a small holding hampered by lack of capital when 
 she married its owner, and forthwith commenced to live in 
 strict accordance with her adopted station. We hoped to im- 
 prove that station, but this depended on the crops and weather, 
 and the heavens continued to favour us that year. Seldom 
 had there been such grass for cattle or such a yield of wheat. 
 No acre returned less than its twenty bushels, and many 
 nearer forty ; while Grace, who drove the first binder into 
 the tall yellow stems and worked on through the rush and 
 dust of harvest and threshing, rejoiced as she said she had 
 never done when all was safely gathered in. 
 
 Then Harry and Aline were married and settled in 
 Hudson's dwelling ; and one evening towards the close 
 
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 371 
 
 of the Indian summer, when our work was done at last we 
 drove slowly down the long incline away from Fairmead. 
 A maple flamed red in the bluff, the birch leaves were 
 golden ; but the prairie was lone and empty, save for a 
 breadth of tall stubble, and there was neither a sack in the 
 granary nor a beast in a stall. Harry had taken the 
 working cattle, while the stock were travelling eastwards 
 across the ocean, and the wheat lay piled in the elevators 
 or had been ground already into finest flour. But the 
 result of our labours was bearing interest, and would do so 
 until spring, in the shape of a balance at the Bank of 
 Montreal. Each venture had succeeded, and evidence was 
 not wanting that at last we were being carried smoothly 
 forward on the flood-tide of prosperity ; and so with 
 thankful- hearts we prepared to enjoy a well-earned holiday 
 in the older cities of Eastern Canada. 
 
 The garish light died out as we passed the last of the 
 stubble, which grew dusky behind us, the stars that shone 
 forth one by one glimmered frostily, and silence closed 
 down upon the prairie, while the jingle of harness and 
 groaning of wheels recalled the day I had first driven across 
 it. Grace, too, seemed lost in reverie, for presently she 
 said : * Another year's work ended, and the bounteous 
 harvest in. Ralph, why is it that happiness brings with it 
 a tinge of melancholy, and that out of our present bright- 
 ness we look back to the shadows of other days ? I have 
 been thinking of curious things and people we knew all 
 day our first dance at Lone Hollow, of Geoffrey Ormond 
 and your cousin. They all played their part in giving us 
 what we now enjoy.' 
 
 I cracked the whip, stirring the horses into a quicker 
 pace, and, slipping one arm round her, said : ' It is not those 
 who work or suffer most who are always rewarded as they 
 would hope to be ; and, as Johnston once said, the fallen 
 
372 A SOWER OF WHEAT 
 
 have done great things. But we will look forward. You 
 made true forecasts that night at Lone Hollow, and no 
 fairer witch ever came out of Lancashire. So look again 
 deep into the future, and tell me what you see.' 
 
 Grace laughed, and nestled closer to me under the furs, 
 for the nights were chilly, before she answered : ' There are 
 compensations, and one cannot have everything, so I lost 
 the gift of prophecy when a better one came to me and, 
 Ralph, it came that very night at the Hollow, I think. 
 But, instead, I will tell you what I hope to see. First, 
 you faithful to your task, as faithful to me, laying together 
 acre on acre and adding crop to crop until the possessions 
 of Fairmead are greater than Carrington. But even before 
 this comes and come, I think, it will we will try to 
 remember that we are but stewards, and that possession 
 brings its duties. My father was a keen sportsman, and 
 I, too, love a horse and gun, but we thought too much 
 of pleasure at Carrington. We will fling our doors wide 
 open to the English poor there are no poor like the 
 English poor in the Dominion and share the harvests that 
 are granted us with the needy. I have been thinking often 
 of your helper, Lee, and as a beginning he could send you 
 two families out in spring : we have room for them. And 
 so, Ralph, if you will humour me in this I shall never be 
 sorry to preside over Fairmead instead of Carrington.' 
 
 ' I will,' I answered simply ; but she seemed content 
 with the answer, and asked for no further assurance as we 
 drove on through the night. No one could laugh more 
 joyously than Grace, or cast about her flashes of brighter 
 humour ; but we had just laid down completed an arduous 
 task whose reward was greater almost than we dared to hope 
 for, and our gladness was too great to find expression in 
 merriment. 
 
 On reaching the Elktail station I was handed a telegram 
 
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST 373 
 
 from Calvert which had lain there some time waiting an 
 opportunity of delivery. It was brief, but reassuring, and 
 read : ' Great news. Bottomed on rich ore at last. Day 
 Spring stock cent, per cent, premium. Don't sell. Looking 
 for surprising dividends.' 
 
 'This is the beginning,' said Grace. *Some day all the 
 rest will come.' And then, with a blast of the whistle and 
 the lighted cars clashing as they lurched up out of the 
 prairie, the Atlantic express rolled in and bore us east to 
 enjoy our belated honeymoon. 
 
 Grace's prediction was also fulfilled, for although we 
 had reverses we prospered from that day, and there are now 
 few farms to compare, either in area or fertility, with 
 Fairmead anywhere on the wide grass-lands between Win- 
 nipeg and Regina, while the flour made from our wheat is 
 spread across the breadth of Europe. And better than lands 
 and stock is the content and peace that came to me through 
 Grace's companionship. 
 
 THE END 
 
 PRINTED BV 
 
 SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 LONDON 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE 
 
 OF BOOKS IN FICTION AND 
 
 GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 CHAT TO W INDUS 
 
 in ST. MARTIN'S LANE 
 
 CHARING CROSS 
 
 LONDON, W.C. 
 
 [SEPT,, 1902.] 
 
 r 
 
 Adams (W. Davenport), Works by. 
 
 A Dictionary of the Drama : being a comprehensive Guide to the Hays, Playwrights, Players, 
 a:id Playhouses of the United Kingdom and America, from the Earliest Times to the Present 
 Day. Crown 8vo, half-bound, -iss. 6d. [Preparing. 
 
 Quips and Quiddities. Selected by \v. DAVENPORT ADAMS. Post 8vo. cloth limp. 2*. tui. 
 
 Agony Column (The) of 'The Times,' from 1800 to 1870. Edited, 
 
 with an Introduction, by ALICE CLAY. Post 8vo, cloth limp, 2J. 6d. _^ 
 
 Aiden (W. L.). Drewitt's Dream. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 65. 
 Alexander (Airs.), Novels by. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2$. each. 
 
 Maid. Wife, or Widow? | Blind Fate. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. each; post 8vo, picture boards, zj.each. 
 Valerie's Fate. | A Life Interest. | Mona's Choics. | By Woman's Wit. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth y. 6</. oach. 
 
 The Cost of her Pvldo. I Barbara, Lady's Maid and Peeress. I A Fight with Fato. 
 
 A Golden Autumn. | Mrs. Crichton's Creditor. 1 The Step-mother. 
 
 A Missing Hero. 
 
 Allen (F. M.). Green as Grass. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 Allen (Grant), Works by. Crown Svo, cloth, 65. each. 
 
 The Evolutionist at Large. | Moorland Idylls. 
 
 Post-Prandial Philosophy. Crown 8vo, art linen. y. 6d. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. M. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, 2J. each. 
 
 Babylon. 12 Illustrations. 
 
 Strange Stories. 
 
 The Beckoning Hand. 
 
 For Maimie's Sake. 
 
 Philistia. 
 
 In all Shades, 
 
 The Devil's Dla. 
 This Mortal Coil. 
 The Tents of Sham, 
 The Great Taboo. 
 Dumaresq'a Daughter. 
 Under Sealed Orders. 
 
 The Duchess of Powysland. 
 Blood Royal. 
 
 Ivan Graet's Masterpiece, 
 The Scallywag. 24 Musts, 
 At Market Value. 
 
 Dr. Palllser's Patient. Fcap. Svo, cloth boards, u. 6rf. 
 
 The Tants of Sham. POPULAR EDITION, medium Svo, 6d. \Shortly. 
 
 Anderson (Mary). Othello's Occupation. Crown gvo, cloth. 35.6^. 
 Antrobus (C. L.), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 
 Quality Corner t A Study of Remorse. | Wlldersmoor. | The Wine of Flnvarra. 
 
 Appleton (0. Webb). Rash Conclusions. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 Arnold (Edwin Lester), Stories by. 
 
 The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician. Crown Svo, cloth extra, with 12 
 
 Illustrations by H. M. PAGET, 3.?. 6rf. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, vs. 
 The Constable of St. Nicholas. With Frontispiece by S. L. WOOD. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6J. ; 
 
 picture cloth, flat back, zs. 
 
 Artemus Ward's Works. With Portrait and Facsimile. Crown Svo, 
 
 cloth extra, y. 6ti. Also a POPULAR EDITION post Svo, picture boards, zs. 
 
 Ashton (John), Works by. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 75. 6d. each. 
 
 Humour. Wit, and Satire of the Seventeenth Century. With 82 Illustrations. 
 English Caricature and Satire on Napoleon the First. With 115 Illustrations. 
 
 Social Life In the Reign of Queen Anne. With 85 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, jr. 6A 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 
 Rocial Life under the Regency. With 90 Illustrations, 
 Florizel'S Folly ; The Story of GEORGE IV. With Photogravure Frontispiece and 12 Illustration*. 
 
 Bacteria, Yeast Fungi, and Allied Species, A Syuopsis of. By 
 
 W. B. GROVE. B.A. With 87 Illustrations. Crown Svo. cloth extra. 3 j. 6d. 
 
 Baildon (H. B.). Robert Louis Stevenson: A Life Study in 
 
 Criticism. With s Portraits. Crown 6vo, buckram, 6t. 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, m St. Martini Lane, London, W.C. 
 
 Bardsley (Rev. C. Wareing, M.A.), Works by. 
 
 Q English Surnames : Their Sources and Significations. Crown Svo, cloth, js. 6d. 
 
 Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature. Crown Svo, cloth, y. (>d. 
 
 Barr (Robert), Stories by. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 In a Steamer Chair. With Frontispiece and Vignette by DEM AIN HAMMOND. 
 From Whose Bourne, &c, With 47 Illustrations by HAL HURST and others. 
 Revenge I With 12 Illustrations by LANCELOT SPEED and others. 
 A Woman Intervenes. With 8 Illustrations by HAL HURST. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 
 The Unchanging East : Notes on a Visit to the Farther Edge of the Mediterranean. 
 A Prince of Good Fellows. With 15 Illustrations by EDMUND J. SULLIVAN. __ 
 
 Barrett (Frank), Novels by. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, 2*. each; cloth, zs. 6rf.each. 
 
 The Sin of Olga Zassoulich. John Ford; and His Helpmate. 
 
 Between Life and Death. A Recoiling Vengeance. 
 
 Folly Morrison. | Little Lady Llntqn. Lieut. Barnabas. | Found Guilty. 
 A Prodigal's Progress. I Honest Davie. | For Love and Honour. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. each ; post 8vo, picture boards, 2s. each ; cloth limp, is. 6d. each. 
 Fettered for Life. | The Woman of the Iron Bracelets. | The Harding Scandal 
 A Missing Witness. With 8 Illustrations by W. II. MARGETSON. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. f>d. each. 
 Under a Strange Mask. With 19 Illusts. by E. F. BREWTNALL. | Was She Justi fled? 
 
 Barrett (Joan). Monte Carlo Stories. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 15. 6d~. 
 Besant (Sir Walter) and James Rice, Novels by 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, aj. each ; clot 
 
 Ready-Money Mortiboy. 
 The Golden Butterfly. 
 My Little Girl. 
 With Harp and Crown. 
 
 This Son of Yulcan. 
 The Monks of Thelema. 
 
 y i 
 ?ne 
 
 Celia's Arbour. 
 
 The Chaplain of the Fleet. 
 
 th limp, is. 6d. each. 
 The Seamy Side. 
 The Case of Kir. Lucraft. 
 'Twas in Trafalgar's Bay. 
 The Ten Years' Tenant. 
 
 There are also LIBRARY EDITIONS of all excepting the first two. Large crown Svo, cloth, 6s. each. 
 
 Besant (Sir Walter), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3.1. 6d. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, 2j. each : cloth limp, zs. G<i. each. 
 All Sorts and Conditions of Men. With is Illustrations by FRED. BARNARD. Also the 
 
 LARGE TYPE, FINE PAPER EDITION, pott Svo, cloth, gilt top, cs. net ; leather, gilt edges, s-r. net. 
 The Captains' Room, &c. With Frontispiece by E. J. WHEELER. 
 All In a Garden Fair. With 6 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS. 
 Dorothy Forster. With Frontispiece by CHARLES GREEN. 
 Uncle Jack, and other Stories. | Children of Gibeon. 
 
 The World Went Very Well Then. With 12 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER. 
 Herr Paulus: His Rise, his Greatness, and his Fail. | The Bell of St. Paul's, 
 For Faith and Freedom. With Illustrations by A. FORESTIER and F. WADDY. 
 To Gall Her Mine, &c. With 9 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER. 
 The Holy Rose, &c. With Frontispiece by F. BARNARD. 
 
 Armorel of Lyonesse t A Romance of To-day. With 12 Illustrations by F. BARNARD. 
 St. Katherlne's by the Tower. With 12 Illustrations by C. GREEN. Also in picture cloth, fiat 
 
 back, as. 
 
 Verbena Camellia Stephar.otls. &c. With a Frontispiece by GORDON BROWNE. 
 The Ivory Gate. I The Rebel Queen. 
 
 Beyond the Dreams of Avarice. With 12 Illustrations by W. H. HYDE. 
 
 In Deacon's Orders, Arc. With Frontispiece by A. FORHSTIER. I The Revolt of Man, 
 The Master Craftsman. I The City of Refuge. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3*-. dd. each. 
 A Fountain Sealed. | The Changeling. j Tha Fourth Generation, 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 The Orange Girl. With 8 Illustrations by F. PEGRAM. 
 The Lady of Lynn. With 12 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN-HAMMOND. 
 No Other Way. With 12 Illustrations by CHARLES D. WARD. 
 
 POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo, 6rf. each. 
 
 All Sorts and Conditions of Men, I The Chaplain of the Fleet. 
 
 The Golden Butterfly. The Orange Girl. 
 
 Ready-Money Mortiboy. | Children of Gibeon. [Shcrt!y. 
 
 The Charm, and other Drawing-room Plays. By Sir WALTER BBS ANT and WALTER H. POLLOCK. 
 
 With 50 Illustrations by CHRIS HAMMOND and JULH GOODMAN. Crown Svo, cloth, 3* . 6d, 
 Fifty Years Ago. With 144 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies. With Portrait. Crown Svo, cloth. 6*. 
 Kir Richard Whittington. With Frontispiece. Crown Svo, art linen, y. 6* 
 Gaspard de Goligny. With a Portrait. Crown 8ro, art linen, y. 6d. 
 The Art of Fiction. Fcap. Svo, cloth, red top, is. net. 
 
 A a We Are, and As We May Be. Crown 8vo, buckram, put top, 6*. [Shcrtlv. 
 
 E SSay sand Historic ttes. Crown Svo. buckram, gilt top, ,6s. [Shortly. 
 
 London. With ^Illustrations. ^ 8YO> d0th> 7 *' " "* 
 
 Westminster. With an Etched Frontispiece by F. S. WALKER, R.E., and 130 Illustrations by 
 
 South London. With an Etched Frontispiece by F. S. WALKER, R.E., and 118 Illustrations. 
 East London. Wuh an Etched Frontispiece by F. S. WALKER, and 55 Illustrations by PHIL 
 
 MAY, L. RAVEN HILL, and JOSEPH PENNELL. 
 
 Jerusalem : The City of Herod and Saladin. By WALTER BESANT and E. H. PALMER. Fcuitb 
 Edition, With a new Chapter, a Map, and n Illustrations. 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publisher*, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 3 
 Baring Gould (Sabine, Author of 'John Herring,' &c.), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3^. dd. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, as. each. 
 Red Spider. | Eve. 
 
 Beaconsfield, Lord. By T. P. O'CONNOR, M.P. Cr. 8vo, cloth, 55. 
 Bechstein (Ludwig). As Pretty as Seven, and other German 
 
 Stories. With Additional Tales by the Brothers GRIMM, and 98 Illustrations by RlCHTER. Square 
 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. 6d. ; gilt edges. 7*. 6rf. 
 
 Bel lew (Frank). The Art of Amusing: A Collection of Graceful 
 
 Arts, Games, Tricks, Puzzles, and Charades. With 300 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 4.1. 6rf. 
 
 Bennett (Arnold), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 65. each. 
 
 The Grand Babylon Hotel t A Fantasia on Modern Themes. | Anna ot the FITS Towns. 
 
 Bennett (W. C., LL. P.). Songs for Sailors. Post 8vo, cl. limp, 25. 
 Bewick (Thomas) and his Pupils. By AUSTIN DOBSON. With 95 
 
 Illustrations. Square 8vo, cloth extra, y. (xi. 
 
 Bierce (Ambrose). In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and 
 
 Civilians. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. (>d. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, aj. 
 
 Bill Nye's Comic History of the United States. With 146 Illus- 
 
 trations by F. OPPF.R. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 Bindloss (Harold), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 65. each. 
 
 A Sower ol Wheat. I The Concassion-Huntara, 
 
 Ainslie's Jq-Ju ! A Romance of the Hinterland. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Bodkin (M. McD., K.C.), Books by. 
 
 Dora Myrl, the Lady Detective. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6rf. ; picture cloth, flat back, w, 
 Shillelagh and Shamrock. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Bourget (Paul). A Living Lie. Translated by JOHN DE VILLIERS. 
 
 With special Preface for the English Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3J. 6rf. 
 
 Bourne (H. R. Fox), Books by. 
 
 English Merchants : Memoirs in Illustration of the Progress ol British Commerce. With 32 Illus- 
 trations. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3J. f>d. 
 
 English Newspapers : Chapters in the History ofjournalism. Two Vols., demy 8vo, cloth, 251. 
 The Other Side of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Boyd. A Versailles Christmas-tide. By MARY STUART BOYD. With 
 
 53 Illustrations by A. S. BOYD. Fcap. 4to. cloth gilt and gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Boyle (Frederick), Works by. Post 8vo, illustrated bds., 2$. each. 
 
 Chronicles of Mo-Man's Land. I Camp Notes. I Savage Life. 
 
 Brand (John). Observations on Popular Antiquities; chiefly 
 
 illustrating: the Origin of our Vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions. With the Additions of Sir 
 HF.NRY ELLIS. Crown 8vo, cloth. y. M. 
 
 Brayshaw (J. Dodsworth). Slum Silhouettes: Stories of London 
 
 Life. Crown STO, cloth, y. 6J. 
 
 Brewer's (Rev. Dr.) Dictionaries. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. each. 
 
 The Reader's Handbook of Famous Names In Fiction, Allusions, References, 
 
 Proverbs, Plots, Stories, and Poems. A New Edition, Revised. 
 A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic. 
 
 Brewster (Sir David), Works by. Post 8vo, cloth, 45. 6d. each. 
 
 More Worlds than One : The Creed of the Philosopher and Hope of the Christian. With Plates. 
 The Martyrs of Science: GALILEO, TYCHO BRAKE, and KEPLER. With Portraits. 
 Letters on Natural Magic. With numerous Illustrations. 
 
 Bright (Florence). A Girl Capitalist. Cr. 8vo, cloth, gilt top. 65. 
 Brillat-Savarin. Gastronomy as a Fine Art. Translated by 
 
 R. E. ANDERSON, M.A. Post SYO. half-bound. 2J. 
 
 Bryden (H. A.). An Exiled Scot: A Romance. With a Frontis- 
 
 piece, by J. S. CROMPTON. R.I. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6W.* 
 
 Brydges (Harold). Uncle Sam at Home. With 91 Illustrations. 
 
 Pott 8ro, Illustrated boards, w. ; cloth limp, w . 64 
 
4 CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lan, London, W.C. 
 Buchanan (Robert), Poems and Novels by. 
 
 Tha Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan, a vols., crown Svo, buckram, with 
 Portrait Frontispiece to each volume, rzj. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 6j. each. 
 
 The Devil's Case : a Bank Holiday Interlude. With 6 Illustrations. 
 Tha Earthquake; or," Six Days and a Sabbath. 
 
 The Wandering Jew : a Christmas Carol. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. each. 
 The Outcast t a Rhyme for the Time. 
 The Ballad of Kary the Mother ; a Christmas Carol. 
 St. Abo and his Seven Wives. Crown 8vo, cloth, gj. td. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, $s. 6d. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, as. each. 
 
 The Shadow of the Sword 
 A Child Of Nature. With Frontispiece. 
 God and the Man. With n Illustrations by 
 Lady Kilpatrlck. JFRED. BARNARD. 
 The Martyrdom of Madeline. With 
 
 Love Me for Ever. With Frontispiece. 
 
 Annan Water. 
 The Hew Abelard. 
 
 Foxglove Rlaooif. 
 Rachel Dene. 
 
 att : A Story of a Caravan. With Frontispiece. 
 The Master of the Mine. With Frontiers. 
 The Heir of Linne. | Woman and tho Mart. 
 
 Frontispiece by A. W. COOPER. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, $s. 6rf. each. 
 
 Red and White Heather. I Andromeda; An Idyll of the Great River. 
 
 The Shadow of the Sword. POPULAR EDITION, medium Svo, 6d. [Shortly. 
 
 The Charlatan. By ROBERT BUCHANAN and HENRY MURRAY. Crown 8vo, cloth, with a 
 Frontispiece by T. H. ROBINSON, 3*. 6d. ; post Svo, picture boards, as. 
 
 Burton (Robert). The ^Anatomy of Melancholy. With Transla- 
 
 tions of the Quotations. Demy Svo, cloth extra, }!. 6d. 
 
 Melancholy Anatomised! An Abridgment of BURTON'S ANATOMY. Post Svo, balf-cl., gj. 6rf. 
 
 Caine (Hall), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 35. 6d. each. ; post 
 
 8vo, illustrated boards, 2*. each ; cloth limp, zs. 6<i. each. 
 
 The Shadow of a Crime. I A Son of Kagar. I The Deemster. 
 
 Also LIBRARY EDITIONS of The Deemster and The Shadow of a Crime, set in new type, 
 crown Svo, and bound uniform with The Christian, 6s. each; and CHEAP POPULAR EDITIONS of 
 The Deemster, The Shadow of a Crime, and A Son of Hagar, medium Svo, portrait-cover. 
 6<t. each. Also the FINK-PAPER EDITION of The Deemster, pott Svo, cloth, gilt top, as. net; 
 leather, gilt edges, y . net. 
 
 Cameron (Commander V. Lovett). The Cruise of the * Black 
 
 Prince' Privateer. Post Svo, picture boards, as. 
 
 Canada (Greater) : The Past, Present, and Future of the Canadian 
 
 North- West. By E. B. OSBORN, B.A. With a Map. Crown Svo. cloth. 3*. 6d. 
 
 Captain Coignet, Soldier of the Empire: An Autobiography. 
 
 Edited by LOREDAN LARCHEY. Translated by Mrs. CAREY. With 100 Illustrations. Crown Svo. 
 cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 Carlyle (Thomas). On the Choice of Books. Post 8vo, cl., is. 6d. 
 
 Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and R. W. Emerson. 1834-1872. Edited by 
 C. E. NORTON. With Portraits. Two Vols., crown Svo, cloth, 24^. 
 
 Carruth (Hayden). The Adventures of Jones. .With 17 Illustra* 
 
 tions. Fcap. Svo, cloth, vs. 
 
 Chambers (Robert W.), Stories of Paris Life by. 
 
 The King in Yellow. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d.\ fcap. Svo, cloth limp, as. 6rf, 
 
 In the Quarter. Fcap. Svo, cloth, 2j. 6d. 
 
 Chapman's (George), Works. Vol. I., Plays Complete, including the 
 
 Doubtful Ones. Vol. II., Poems and Minor Translations, with Essay by A. C. SwiNBURNE.-Vol. 
 III., Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. Three Vols., crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 Chappie (J. Mitchell). The Minor Chord: The Story of a Prima 
 
 Donna. Crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6tl. 
 
 Chaucer for Children: A Golden Key. By Mrs. H. R. HAWEIS. With 
 
 Woodcuts. Crown Ato, cloth extra, 35. 6rf. 
 
 With the Story of his Times and his Work. By Mrs. H. R. HAWEIS 
 
 8 Coloured Plates and 30 Woodcuts. Crown ito, cloth extra, 35. < 
 Chaucer for Schools. With the Story of his Times and his 
 
 A New" Edition, Revised. With a Frontispiece. Demy Svo, cloth, as.Gd. 
 
 Chess, The Laws and Practice of. With an Analysis of the Open- 
 ings. By HOWARD STAUNTON. Edited by R. B. WORMALD. Crown Svo, cloth, ST. 
 
 The Minor Tactics of Chess : A Treatise on the Deployment of the Forces in obedience to Stra- 
 tegic Principle. By F. K. YOUNG and E. C. HOWELL. Long fcap. Svo, cloth, as. 6rf. 
 
 The Hastings Chess Tournament. Containing the Authorised Account of the 230 Games 
 played Aug'.-Sept, 1895. With Annotations by PiLLSBURY, L.ASKER, TARRASCH, STEINITZ, 
 SCHIFFERS, TEICHMANN, BARDELEBEN, BLACKB'URNE, GUNSBERG, TINSLEY. MASON, and 
 ALBIN ; Biographical Sketches of the Chess Masters, and 22 Portraits. Edited by H. F. CHESHIRE. 
 Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo, cloth, 5*. 
 
CHATTO & W1NDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. s 
 Clare (Austin), Stories by. 
 
 For the Love of a Lass. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. ; cloth, zs. 6.V. 
 
 By the Rise of the River ; Tales and Sketches in South Tynedale. Crown 8vo cloth, 3* . 6d. 
 
 Clive (Mrs. Archer), Novels by. 
 
 Post Svo, cloth, 3* . 6d. each ; picture boards, ss. each. 
 Paul Ferroll. _ I Why Paul Ferroll Killed his Wifa. 
 
 Clodd (Edward, F.R.A.S.). Myths and Dreams. Cr. Svo, y. 6d. 
 Coates (Anne). Rie's Diary. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3$. 6d. _ 
 Cobban (J. Maclaren), Novels by. 
 
 Tho Cure ot Souls. Post Svo, Illustrated boards, is, 
 
 Tha Red Sultan. Crown Svo, cloth extra. 3^. 6rf. ; pest Svo, illustrated boards, st. 
 
 The Burden of Isabel. Crown gvo, cloth extra, 3.5-. M. _ _______ 
 
 Coleridge (M. E.). The Seven Sleepers of Epnesus. Fcap. 8vo, 
 
 leatherette, IT. ; cloth, is. 6<i. __ 
 
 Co 12 ins (C. Allston). The Bar Sinister. Post Svo, boards, zs. 
 Collins (John Churton, Af.A.), Books by. Cr. 8vo, ci. ( 35. 6d. each. 
 
 Illustrations of Tennyson. 
 
 Jonathan Swift. A Biographical and Critical Study. 
 
 CoDins (Mortimer and Frances), NovelsHby^ 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3^. 6J. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, vs. each. 
 From Midnight to Midnight. I Blacksmith and Scholar. 
 
 You Play ma False. _ I The Villaga Comedy. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 
 ^Transmigration. Swoet Anna Paga. I Frances. 
 
 A Fight with Fortune. __ | _ Sweet and Twenty. ( _ 
 
 Collhis (WHkle), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, many Illustrated, 3*. 6J. each ; post Svo, picture boards, 2J. each; 
 cloth limp, zs. f>d. each, 
 
 *Antonina. 
 
 *Basil. 
 
 *Hlde and Seek. 
 
 *Tho Woman in White. 
 
 *The Moonstone. 
 
 *Wan and Y/ife. 
 
 *Tho Dead Secret. 
 
 After Dark. 
 
 The Queen of Hearts. 
 
 No Name. 
 
 My miscellanies. 
 ArmadaJe. 
 Poor Miss Finch, 
 Miss or Mrs.? 
 The New Magdalen. 
 The Frozen Deep. 
 The La-w and tha Lady. 
 The Two Destinies. 
 Tha Haunted Hotel. 
 The Fallen Leases. 
 
 Jossbel's Daughter. 
 The Black Robe. 
 Heart and Scionca. 
 I Bay No.' 
 A Rojua's Lifa. 
 The Evil Genius. 
 Little Hovels. 
 The Legacy of Cain. 
 Blind Love. 
 
 *** Marked * have been reset in new type, In uniform style. 
 
 POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8 vo, 6rf. each. 
 
 The Moonstone. I Antonlna. I The Dead Secret. 
 
 The Woman In White. | The Kew Magdalen. | Man and Wife. ! Armadale. {Shortly 
 
 The Woman in White. LARGE TYPE, FINE PAPER EDITION. Pott 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 2J . 
 net ; leather, gilt edges. 3*. net, 
 
 __ _____ 
 
 (Qeorge) Humorous Works: 'Broad Grins, 1 'My Night- 
 
 gown and Slippers,' &c. With Life and Frontispiece. Crown Svo, cloth extra, s. 6d. 
 
 Colquhoun (M7~J.")T Every Inch a Soldien Crown Svo, cloth, 
 
 3J. 6d. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. 
 
 Colt-breaking, Hints on . By W. M. HUTCHISON. Cr. Svo. cl., 3$. 6d. 
 Compton (Herbert). The Inimitable Mrs. Massingham: a 
 
 Romance of Botany Bay. Crown Svo, cloth, y. Cxi. 
 
 Convalescent Cookery. By CATHERINE RYAN. Cr. Svo, is. ; cl., 15. 6d~ 
 Cooper (Edward H.). Geoffory Hamilton. Cr. 8vo, cloth, 35. 6^. 
 Cornish (J, F.). Sour Grapes : A Novel. Cr. 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 65. 
 Cornwall. Popular Romances of the West of England ; or, The 
 
 ,.-. Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall. Collected by ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. W 
 * two Steel Plates by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. Crown Svo, cloth. ?j. (>d. 
 
 CoteMVT^ecii). f wo~QirTs"on a Barge. With 44 Illustrations" by 
 
 F. H. TOWNSEND. Crown Svo, cloth extra. 3^. 6d. ; post Svo, cloth, zs. 63. _ 
 
 Craddock (C.~ Egbert)7~Stories~ by. 
 
 The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountain*. Crown 8vo, cloth, j/, 6rf, post 8ro 
 
 illustrated boards, ss. 
 His Vanished Star, Crown 8ro, cloth, 3*. &/. 
 
6 CHATTO & WIND US, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 
 
 Cram i (Ralph Adams}. Black Spirits and White. Fcap. Svo, 
 
 cloth, if. td. 
 
 Crellin (H. N.) f Books by. 
 
 Romances of the Old Seraglio. With 28 Illustrations by S. L. WOOD. Crown Svo, cloth, 31. 6d 
 Tales of the Caliph. Crown Svo, cloth, at. 
 The Nazarenes: A Drama. Crown Svo, u. 
 
 Crim (Matt.). Adventures of a Fair Rebel. Crown Svo, cloth 
 
 extra, with a Frontispiece by DAN. BEARD, 3J. 6d. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, xs. 
 
 Crockett (S. R.) and others. Tales of Our Coast. By S. R". 
 
 CROCKETT, GILBERT PARKER, HAROLD FREDERIC, 'Q.,' and W. CLARK RUSSELL. With a 
 Illustrations by FRANK BRANGWYN. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. i ' 
 
 Croker (Mrs. B. M.), 
 
 each ; post Svo, illustrated bo 
 Pretty Miss Neville, 
 Proper Pride. 
 A Bird of Passage. 
 Diana Harrington, 
 Two Masters. 
 
 Novels by. Crow 
 
 ards, ss. each ; cloth limp, ss. 6d. 
 Interference. 
 A Family Llkenass, 
 A Third Person. 
 Mr, Jerrls. 
 
 m Svo, cloth extra, 35. 6d. 
 
 each. 
 Village Tales * Jungla 
 Tragedies. 
 The Real Lady Hilda. 
 Married or Single 7 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, $s. 6d. each. 
 
 Some One Else. I Miss Balmaine's Past. I Beyond the Palo. 
 In the Kingdom of Kerry. | Jason, &c. Infatuation. 
 
 Terence. With 6 Illustrations by SIDNEY FACET. 
 
 To Let,' &0. Post Svo, picture boards, ss. ; cloth limp, ss. 6d. 
 
 The Cat's-paw. With 12 Illustrations by FRED. PEGRAM. Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Diana Harrington. POPULAR EDITION, medium 8vo, 6rf. [Shortly. 
 
 Cruikshank's Comic Almanack. Complete in Two SERIES: The 
 
 FIRST, from 1835 to 1843 ; the SECOND, from 1844 to 1853. A Gathering of the Best Humour of 
 THACKERAY, HOOD, AIAYHEW, ALBERT SMITH, A'BECKETT, ROBERT BROUGH, &c. with 
 numerous Steel Engravings and Woodcuts by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK, HlNE, LANDELLS, &c. 
 Two Vols., crown Svo, cloth gilt, 7*. 6d. each. 
 
 The Life of George Cruikshank. By BLANCHARD JERROLD. With 84 Illustrations and a 
 Bibliography. Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 Camming (C. F. Gordon), Works by. Large cr. Svo, cloth, 6s. each. 
 
 In the Hebrides. With an Autotype Frontispiece and 23 Illustrations. 
 
 In the Himalayas and on the Indian Plains. With 42 Illustrations. 
 
 Two Happy Years in Ceylon. With 38 Illustrations. 
 
 Via Cornwall to Egypt. With a Photogravure Frontispiece. 
 
 Cussans (John E.). A Handbook of Heraldry; with Instructions 
 
 for Tracing Pedigrees and Deciphering Ancient MSS., &c. Fourth Edition, revised, with 408 Woodcut* 
 and 2 Coloured Plates. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. ________ 
 
 Daudet (Alphonse). The Evangelist; or, Port Salvation. Crown 
 
 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. 6cL ; post Svo, illustrated boards, aj. ___ 
 
 Davenant (Francis, M. A.). Hints for Parents on the Choicest 
 
 a Profession for their Sons when Starting in Llfo. Crown Svo, cloth, if. 6d. ___ 
 
 Davidson (Hugh Coleman). Mr. Sadler's Daughters. With a 
 
 Frontispiece by STANLEY WOOD. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Davies (Dr. N. E. Yorke-), Works by. Cr. Svo, is. ea.; cl., is. 6d. ea. 
 
 One Thousand Medical Maxims and Surgical Hints. 
 Nursery Hints : A Mother's Guide in Health and Disease. 
 Foods for the Fat : The Dietetic Cure of Corpulency and of Gout. 
 Aid* to Long Life. Crown Svo, zs. ; cloth limp, ss.fxt. 
 
 Davies' (Sir John) Complete Poetical Works. Collected and Edited, 
 
 with Introduction and Notes, by Rev. A. B. GROSART, D.D. Two Vols., crown Svo, cloth, gy. 6d. each. 
 
 by G. S. TREBUTIEN! 
 
 Edition by JESSIE P. FROTH- 
 
 be Querin (Maurice), The Journal of. Edited by G. S. TREBUTIEN. 
 
 With a Memoir by SAINTE-BEUVE. Translated from the aoth French Edit 
 
 INGHAM. Fcap. Svo. half-bound, as. 6d. 
 
 De Maistre (Xavier). A Journey Round my Room. Translated 
 
 by HENRY ATTWELL. Post Svo, cloth limp, is. M. 
 
 Derby (TneTTThe Blue Ribbon of the Turf. With Brief Accounts 
 
 of THH OAKS. By LOUIS HENRY CURZON. Crown Svo. cloth limp. 2*. 6d. 
 
 Dewar (T. R.). A Ramble Round the Globe. With 220 Illustra- 
 tions. Crown Svo, cloth extra, is. 64. 
 
 De Windt 'Harry), Books by. 
 
 Through the Gold-Flelds of Alaska to Bering Straits. With Map and 33 full page Illus- 
 trations. Cheaper Issue. Demy Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 True Tales of Travel and Adventure. Crown Svo. cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Dickens (Charles), About England with. By ALFRED RIMMER. 
 
 With 57 Illustrations by C. A. VANDBRHOOF and the AUTHOR. Square 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6rf. 
 
CHAtTO & \ViNDUS, Publishers, it I St. Martini Lane, London. XV. C. 1 
 Dictionaries. * 
 
 The Reader's Handbook of Famous Names In Fiction, Allusions, References, 
 Proverbs, Plots, Stories, and Poem*. By Rev. E. C. BREWER, LL.D. A New Edi- 
 tion, Revised. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 A Dictionary of Miracles : Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic. By the Rev. E, C. BREWER, 
 LL.D. Crown Svo. cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Familiar Short Sayings of Great Hen. With Historical and Explanatory Notes by SAMUEL 
 A. BENT, A.M. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, ys. 6d. 
 
 The Slang Dictionary : Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal. Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Words, Facts, and Phrases: A Dictionary of Curious, Quaint, and Out-of-the- Way Matters. By 
 ELIEZER HOWARDS. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Dilke (Rt. Hon. Sir Charles, Bart., M.P.). The British Empire. 
 
 Crown 8vo, buckram, y. 6d. 
 
 Dobson (Austin), Works by. 
 
 Thomas Bewick and his Pupils. With 93 Illustrations. Square 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 Four Frenchwomen. With Four Portraits. Crown Svo, buckram, gilt top, 6s. 
 Eighteenth Century Vignettes. IN THREE SERIES. Crown Svo. buckram, 6s. each. 
 A Paladin of Philanthropy, and other Papers. With a Illusts. Cr. 8vo, buckram, 6s. 
 Side-walk Studies. With 4 Illustrations. Crown Svo, buckram, gilt top, 6j. 
 
 Dobson (W. T.). Poetical Ingenuities and Eccentricities. Post 
 
 8vo. cloth limp, gj. 6<i. ________________________ _____ 
 
 Donovan (Dick), Detective Stories by. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, as. each ; cloth limp, is. 6d. each. 
 
 The Man-Hunter. (Wanted! Suspicion Aroused. | Riddles Read, 
 
 Caught at Last. I Tracked to Doom. I A Detective's Triumphs. 
 Tracked and Taken. I Link by Link. In the Grip of the Law. 
 
 Who Poisoned Hetty Duncan 7 \ From Information Received, 
 
 Cro-.vn Svo. cloth extra, y. 6d, each : post Svo, illustrated boards, . each ; cloth, . 6d. each. 
 The Man from Manchester. With 33 Illustrations. 
 The mystery of Jamaica Terrace. I The Chronicler of Michael Danevltch, 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 The Records of Vincent Trill, of the Detective Service. Also picture doth, flat back, 2*. 
 The Adventures of Tyler Tatlock, Private Detective. 
 
 Deacon Brodle ; or, Behind the Mask. I Tales of Terror. 
 
 Dark Deeds. Crown Svo, picture cloth, flat back, as. 
 
 Dowling (Richard). Old Corcoran's Money. Crown Svo, cl., 3$. 6d. 
 Doyle (A. Conan). The Firm of Qirdlestone. Cr. 8vo, cl., 3*. ft*. 
 Dramatists, The Old. Cr. 8vo, cl. ex., with Portraits, 35. 6d. per Vol. 
 
 Ben Jonson'a Works. With Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Biographical Memoir by 
 
 WILLIAM GIFFORD. Edited by Colonel CUNNINGHAM. Three Vols. 
 
 Chapman's Works. Three Vols. Vol. I. contains the Plays complete ; Vol. II., Poems and Minor 
 Translations, with an Essay by A. C. SWINBURNE ; Vol. III., Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey. 
 Marlowe's Works. Edited, with Notes.by Colonel CUNNINGHAM. One Vol. 
 Massinger's Plays. From GIFFORD'S Text. Edited by Colonel CUNNINGHAM. One Vol. 
 
 Dublin Castle and Dublin Society, Recollections of. By A 
 
 NATIVE. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top 6s. 
 
 Duncan (Sara Jeannette : Mrs. EVERARD COTES), Books by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, js. 6d. each. 
 
 A Social Departure. With in Illustrations by F. H. TOWNSEND. 
 An American Girl In London. With 80 Illustrations by F. H. TOWNSEND. 
 The Simple Adventures of a Memsahlb. JVith 37 Illustrations by F. H. TOWNSEND. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, ST. 6d. each. 
 A Daughter of To-Day. | Yemen's Aunt. With 47 Illustrations by HAL HURST. 
 
 Dutt (Romesh C.). England and India: A Record of Progress 
 
 during One Hundred Years. Crown Svo, cloth, as. 
 
 Early English Poets. Edited, with Introductions and Annotations, 
 
 by Rev. A. B. GROSART, D.D. Crown Svo. cloth boards, y. 64. per Volume. 
 Fletcher's (Giles) Complete Poems. One Vol. 
 Davies' (Sir John) Complete Poetical Works. Two Vols. 
 Herrick's (Robert) Complete Collected Poems. Three Vols. 
 Sidney's (Sir Philip) Complete Poetical Works. Three Vols. __ 
 
 Edgcumbe (Sir E. R. Pearce). Zephyrus: A Holiday in Brazil 
 
 and on the River Plate. With 41 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, St. 
 
 Edwardes (Mrs. Annie), Novels by. 
 
 A Point of Honour. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, as. \ A Plaster Saint. Cr. Svo, cl., y. 6d. 
 Archie Lovell. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. ; Illustrated boards, at. 
 
 Edwards (Eliezer). Words, Facts, and Phrases: A Dictionary 
 
 of Curious, Quaint, and Out-of-tfae-Way Matters. Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo. cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Egerton (Rev. J. C., M. A.). Sussex Folk and Sussex Ways. 
 
 With Introduction by Rev. Dr. H. WACH, and Four Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 5*. 
 
 Eggleston (Edward). Roxy: A Novel. Post Svo, illust. boards, 21. 
 
8 CHATTO & W1NDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C, 
 Englishman (An) in Paris. Notes and Recollections during the 
 
 Reign of Louis Philippe and the Empire. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. ~* 
 
 Englishman's House, The : A Practical Guide for Selecting or Build- 
 
 ing a House. By C. J. RICHARDSON. Coloured Frontispiece and 534 Illusts. Cr. 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Eyes, Our ; How to Preserve Them. By JOHN BROWNING. Cr. 8vo, is. 
 Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. By SAMUEL ARTHUR BENT" 
 
 A.M. Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, ^s. 6,t. 
 
 Faraday (Michael), Works by. Post Svo, cloth extra, 45. 6<f. each. 
 
 The Chemical History of a Candla: Lectures delivered before a Juvenile Audience. Edited 
 
 by WILLIAM CROOKES, F.C.S. With numerous Illustrations. 
 
 On the Various Forces of Nature, and their Relations to each other. Edited by 
 WILLIAM CROOKES, F.C.S. With Illustrations. 
 
 Farrer~(J. Anson). War; Three Essays. Crown Svo, cloth, 15. 6d. 
 Fenn (Q. Manville), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6rf. each : post 8vo. Illustrated boards, vs. each 
 The New mistress. I Witness to the Daed. | The Tiger Lily. | The White Virgin. 
 
 Crown Svo, doth 3.1. 6d. each. 
 
 A Woman Worth Winning. 
 Cursed by a Fortune. 
 The Case of Ailsa Gray. 
 Commodore Junk. 
 Black Blood. 
 
 Double Cunning. 
 A Fluttered Dovecote. 
 King of the Castle. 
 The Master of the Cere- 
 monies. 
 
 The Story of Antony Grace 
 The Man with a Shadow. 
 Ono Maid's Mischief. 
 This Man's Wife. 
 In Jeopardy. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, yilt top, i'S. each. 
 The Bag of Diamonds, and Threa Bits of Paste. 
 Running Amok: a Story of Adventure. 
 
 The Cankerurorm : being Episodes of a Woman's Life. | Black Shadows. 
 
 A Crimson Crime. Crown Bvo, cloth, gilt to'p, bj. ; picture cloth, flat back, ss. 
 
 Fiction, A Catalogue of, with Descriptive Notices and Reviews of 
 
 over NINE HUNDRED NOVELS, will be sent free by Hfessrs. CHATTO & WINDUS upon app!: 
 
 Fin-Bee. The Cupboard Papers : Observations on the Art of Living 
 
 and Dining. Post 8vo, cloth Hrap. gj. dd. 
 
 Firework-Making, The Complete Art of ; or, The PyrotechnisT's 
 
 Treasury. By THOMAS KENTISH. With 267 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, y. (,d. 
 
 First Book, My. By WALTER BESANT, TAMES PAYN, W. CLARK RUS- 
 SELL, GRANT ALLEN. HALL CAINE, GEORGE R. SIMS. RUDYARD KIPLING, A. CON-AN DOYLE 
 M. E. BRADDON, F. W. ROBINSON, H. RIDER HAGGARD, R. M. BALLANTYNE, I. ZANGWILI 
 MORLEY ROBERTS, n. CHRISTIE MURRAY. MARY CORELLI, J. K. JEROME, Jou;; STKAWGB 
 WINTER, BRET HARTE. Q..' ROBERT BUCHANAN, and R.. L. STEVENSON. With a Prefatory Story 
 byjEROMR K. JEROME, and 185 Illustrations. A New Edition. Small demy 8vo, art linen. y.6d. 
 
 Fitzgerald (Percy), Works by. 
 
 Little Essays: Passages from the Letters of CHARLES LAMB. Post Svo, cloth, zs. 6d. 
 Fatal Zero. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6/. ; post Svo. iBustrated boards, zs. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 Bella Donna. I The Lady of Brantome. The Second Mrs. Tlllotscn. 
 
 Polly. Never Forgotten. I Seventy-five Brooke Street, 
 
 Sir Henry Irving? Twenty Years at the Lyceum. With Portrait. Crown Svo. cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 Flammarion (Camille), Works by. 
 
 Popular Astronomy: A General Description of the Heavens. Translated by J. ELLARD GORE, 
 
 F.R.A.S. With Three Plates and 288 Illustrations. Medium 8vo. cloth, IDS. 6d. 
 Urania: A Romance. With 87 Illustrations. Crown Bvo, cloth extra, $j. 
 
 Fletcher's (Giles, B.D.) Complete Poems: Christ's VictorieTn 
 
 Heaven, Christ's Viclorie on Earth, Christ's Triumph over Death, and Minor Poems. With Notes by 
 Rev. A. B. GROSART. P.P. Crown Svo, cloth boards. 3J. 6d. ^ 
 
 Forbes (Archibald). The Life of Napoleon III. With PhotcT- 
 
 gravure Frontispiece and Thirty-six full-page Illustrations. Cheaper Issue. Demy 8vo, cloth, 6*. 
 
 Forbes (Hon. Mrs. Walter R. P.). Dumb. Crown 8vo, cl., 35. 6d. 
 F7^iidH^n^TE7)rNoveis by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. each ; post Svo, Illustrated boards, sj. each. 
 One by One. I A Real Queen. | A Dog and his Shadow. | Ropes of Band. Illust. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 
 Queen Copisetua. | Olympla. I Romances of the Law. | Xing o* Knave T 
 Jack Doyle's Daughter. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Frederic (Harold), Novels by. Post Svo, cloth extra, 35, &*. each; 
 
 Ulvistrated boards, as. each. 
 
 ife I ghi L&w$on Clri, 
 
CHATTQ & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Alartin's Lane, London, W.C. 9 
 French Literature, A History of. By HENRY VAN LAUN. Three 
 
 Vols., demy 8vo. cloth boards, 2ZJ. 6d. 
 
 Fry's (Herbert) Royal Guide to the London Charities, 1902-3- 
 
 Edited by JOHN LANE. Published Annually. Crown 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. {Preparing. 
 
 Gardening Books. Post 8vo, is. each ; cloth limp. 15. 6d. each. 
 
 A Year's Work in Garden and Greenhouse. By GEORGE GLENNY. 
 
 Household Horticulture. By TOM and JANE JERROLD. Illustrated. 
 
 The Garden that Paid the Rent. By TOM JERROLD. 
 
 Gardner (Mrs. Alan}. Rifle and Spear with the Rajpoots : Being 
 
 the Narrative of a Winter's Travel and Sport in Northern India. With numerous Illustrations by the 
 Author and F. H. TQWXSBND. Dcniy 4to, half-bound, gu. 
 
 Gaulot (Paul). The Red Shirts: A Tale of 'The Terror. 1 Trans- 
 
 lated by JOHN DE ViLLlERS. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY WOOD. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. ; 
 picture cloth, flat back, aj. 
 
 Gentleman's Magazine, The. is. Monthly. Contains Stories, 
 
 Articles upon Literature, Science, Biography, and Art, and ' Table Talk' by SYLVANUS URBAN. 
 *$* Round Voltttms/or recent years kept in stock, Bs. 6d. each. Casts for binding, 2S. each. 
 
 Gentleman's Annual, The. Published Annually in November, is. 
 German Popular Stories. Collected by the Brothers GRIMM and 
 
 Translated by EDGAR. TAYLOR. With Introduction by JOHN RUSKIN, and 22 Steel Plates after 
 GSORGE CRUIKSHANIC. Square 8vo. loth, 6s. 6fi. ; gilt edges, 7*. 6d. 
 
 Gibbon (Chas.), Novels by. Cr. 8vo, cl., y. 6d. ea.; postSvo, bds., as. ea. 
 
 Robin Gray. With Frontispiece. I Loving a Dream, j The Braes of Yarrow. 
 
 Tha Goldon Shaft. With Frontispiece. | Of High Degree. 
 
 Tha Flower of the Forest. 
 Tha Dead Heart. 
 For Lack of Gold. 
 V/hat Willtha World Say? 
 For the King. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, vs. each. 
 A Hard Knot. 
 Queen of the Meadow. 
 In Pastures Green. 
 In JLove and War. 
 A Heart's Problem. 
 
 3y Maad and Stream. 
 
 Fancy Free. 
 
 In Honour Bound, 
 
 Heart's Delight. 
 
 Blood-Money. 
 
 Oibney (Somerville). Sentenced I Crown 8vo, cloth, 15. 6d. 
 
 Gilbert's (VV. S.) Original Plays. In 3 Series, post 8vo, 2*. 6d. each. 
 
 The FIRST SERIES contains : The Wicked World Pygmalion and Galatea Charity The Princess 
 
 The Palace of Truth Trial by Jury lolanthe. 
 The SECOND SERIES : Broken Hearts Engaged Sweethearts Gretchen Dan'l Druce Tom Cobb 
 
 II. M.S. ' Pinafore 'The Sorcerer The Pirates of Penzar.ce. 
 
 The THIUD SERIES: Comedy and Tragedy Fogjjerty's Fairy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern 
 Patience Princess Ida The Mikado Ruddigore The Yeomen of the Guard The Gondoliers 
 
 The Mountebanks Utopia. 
 
 Eight Original Comic Operas written by W. S. GILBERT. Two Series, demy 8vo, cloth, zs. 6d. 
 each. Tne FIRST SERIES contains: The Sorcerer H.M.S. Pinafore 'The Pirates of Penzance 
 lolanthe Fatience Princess Ua The Mikado Trial by Jury. 
 The SECOND SERIES contains: The Gondoliers The Grand Duke The Yeomen of the Guard 
 
 His Excellency Utopra, Limited Ruddigore The Mountebanks Haste to the Wedding. 
 The Gilbert and Sullivan Birthday Book: Quotations for Every Day ir. the Year, selected 
 from Plays by W. S. GILBERT set to Music by Sir A. SULLIVAN. Compiled by ALEX. WATSON. 
 Royal io-.no, Japanese leather, aj. 6 . 
 
 Gilbert (William). James Duke, Costermonger. Post 8vo, 
 
 illustrated boards, zs. 
 
 Gissing (Algernon), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 65. each. 
 
 A Secret of the North Sea. | The Wealth of Mallerstang. 
 Knitters In the Sun. {Shortly. 
 
 Glanville (Ernest), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3^. 6d. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. each. 
 
 The Lost Heiress : A Tale of Love, Battle, and Adventure. With Two Illustrations by H. NlSBHT. 
 The Fosslcker : A Romance of Mashonaland. With Two Illustrations by HUME NlSBET. 
 . A Fair Colonist. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY WOOD. 
 
 The Golden Rock. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY WOOD. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. d. 
 Kloof Yarns. Crown 8vo cloth, u. 6rf. 
 
 Tales from the Veld. With Twelve Illustrations by M. NlSBET. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 Max Thornton. With 8 Illustrations by J. S. CROMPTON, R.I. Large crown 8vo, cloth, gilt 
 edges, fj. ; cloch, gilt top, 6j. 
 
 Glenny (George). A Year's Work in Garden and Greenhouse: 
 
 Practical AclTicc as to the Management cf the Flower. Fruit, and Frame Garden. PostSvo. u. ; cloth, if . 6rf. 
 
 Godwin (William). Lives of the Necromancers. Post 8vo, cl., zs. 
 Golden Treasury of Thought, The: A Dictionary of Quotations 
 
 from the Best Authors. By THEODORE TAYLOR. Crown 8vo. cloth, y. W. 
 
io HATTO & WINDUS, Publishers. 111 St. Martini Lane. London. W.C. 
 Goodman (E. J.). The Fate of Herbert Wayne. Cr. 8vo, 35. ft*. 
 Grace (Alfred A.). Tales of a Dying Race. Cr. 8vo, cloth, 3 s. 6d. 
 Greeks and Romans, The Life of the, described from Antique 
 
 Monuments. By ERNST GUHL and W. KONER. Edited by Dr. F. HUEFFER. With 545 Illustra- 
 tions. Large crown 8vo, cloth extra, -js, 6d. " 
 
 Greenwood (James: "The Amateur Casual") The Prisoner 
 
 In the Dock; My FOUJP Years' Dally Experiences in tha London Police Courts. 
 
 Crown >YO, cloth, y. M. 
 
 Grey (Sir George). The Romance of a Proconsul: Being the 
 
 Personal Life and Memoirs of Sir GBORGH GREY, K.C.B. By JAMES MILNE. With Portrait SECOND 
 EDITION. Crown 8vo, buckram. 6s. ' 
 
 Griffith (Cecil). Corinthia Marazion : A Novel. Crown 8vo, cloth 
 
 extra, y. 6J. 
 
 Gunter (A. Clavering, Author of 'Mr. Barnes of New York'). 
 
 A Florida Enchantment. Crown 8ro, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Guttenberr (Violet). Neither Jew nor Greek: A Story of Jewish 
 
 Social Life. Crowa 8vo. cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Hair, The : Its Treatment in Health, Weakness, and Disease. Trans- 
 
 lated from tha German of Dr. J. PlNCUS. Crown 8vo, is. ; cloth, is. 6d, 
 
 Hake (Dr. Thomas Gordon), Poems bj\ Cr. 8vo, cl. ex., 65. each. 
 
 New Symbols, | Legends of the Morrow. | The Serpent Play. 
 
 Maiden Ecstasy. Small 410, cloth extra, &r. 
 
 Halifax (C.). Dr. Rumsey's Patient. By Mrs. L. T. MEADE and 
 
 CLIFFORD HALIFAX. M.D. Crown 8vo. cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Hall (Mrs. S. C.). Sketches of Irish Character. With numerous 
 
 Illustrations on Steel and Wood by MACLISE, GILBERT, HAR.VEY, and GEORGB CRUIKSHANK. 
 Small demy 8vo, cloth extra, js. 6d. 
 
 Hall (Owen), Novels by. 
 
 The Track of a Storm. Crown Sro, cloth, 3*. 6d. ; picture cloth, flat back. as. 
 Jetsam* Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6A 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 Eureka. | Hernando. 
 
 Halliday (Andrew). Every -day Papers. Post 8vo, bds., 25. [shorn?. 
 Hamilton (Cosmo), Stories by. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 35. 6d. eachT 
 
 The Glamour of tha Impossible. I Through a Keyhole. 
 
 ** The two stories may also be had bound together in one volume, crown STO, cloth, y. 6J. 
 
 Handwriting, The Philosophy of. With over 100 Facsimiles and 
 
 Explanatory Text. By DON FELIX DE SALAMANCA. Post 8vo, half-cloth, zs. 6d. 
 
 Hanky-Panky: Easy and Difficult Tricks, White Magic, Sleight of 
 
 Hand, &c. Edited by W. H. CREMER. With aoo Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra. 4*. dd. 
 
 Hardy (Rev. E. J., Author of How to be Happy though Married '). 
 
 Love, Courtship, and Marriage. Crown Bvo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Hardy (Iza Duftus , Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 The Leaser Evil. I Man, Woman, and Fata. 
 
 Hardy (Thomas). Under the Greenwood Tree. Post 8vo, cloth 
 
 extra; 3*. 6rf. ; illustrated boards. . ; cloth limp, z " ----- ' - --- 
 
 cloth, gilt top, as. net ; leather, gilt edges, y. net. 
 
 extra, 3*. 6rf. ; illustrated boards, as. ; doth limp, as. 6d. Also the FINE PAPER EDITION, pott STO, 
 " gilt 
 
 Haweis (Mrs. H. R.), Books by. 
 
 The Art of Beauty. With Coloured Frontispiece and 91 Illustrations. Square 8vo, cloth bds., 6s. 
 The Art of Decoration. With Coloured Frontispiece and 74 Illustrations. Sq. 8vo, cloth bds., 6s, 
 The Art of Dress. With 32 Illustrations. Post 8vo, is. ; cloth, rs. kd. 
 Chaucer for Schools. With the Story of his Times and his Work. A New Edition, revised. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Demy 8vo, cloth, as. f>d. 
 Chaucer for Children. With 38 Illustrations (8 Coloured). Crown 4to, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 Hawels (Rev. H. R., M. A.). American Humorists: WASHINGTON 
 
 IRVING, OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. ARTEMUS WARD, MARK 
 
 TWAIN, and BRET HARTS. Crown SYO, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Hawthorne (Julian), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. 6d. each ; post 8vo, Illustrated boards, as. each. 
 Garth. I Ellice Quentin. Beatrix Randolph. With Four Illusts. 
 
 ?ebastlan Strome. David Polndexter'a Disappearance, 
 
 ortune'a Fool, | Dust. Four Illusts. \ The Spectre of the Camera. 
 
 Post Ivo, Illustrated boards, zj. each. 
 BlBi Gadotfna. I fcovg -or A 
 
CHATTO & W1NDUS, Publisher, m St. Martin's Lane. London. W.C. n 
 Harte's (Bret) Collected Works. Revised by the Author. LIBRARY 
 
 EDITION, in Ten Volumes, crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. each. 
 
 Vol. I. COMPLETE POETICAL AND DRAMATIC WORKS. With Steel-plate Portrait. 
 II. THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP BOHEMIAN PAPERS AMERICAN LEGEND, 
 ,. III. TALES OF THE ARGONAUTS EASTERN SKETCHES. 
 M iv. GABRIEL CONROY. | Vol. V. STORIES CONDENSED NOVELS, &c. 
 ,, . vi. TALES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 
 
 ., vn. TALES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE II. With Portrait by JOHN PETTIE. R.A. 
 Vin. TALES OF THE PINE AND THE CYPRESS. 
 IX. BUCKEYE AND CHAPPARKL. 
 M X. TALES OF TRAIL AXD TOWN, &c. 
 
 Bret Harte's Choice Works, in Prose and Verse. With Portrait of the Author and 40 Illus- 
 trations. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d 
 
 Bret Harte's Poetical Works. Printed on hand-made paper. Crown Svo, buckram, 4*. 6tt. 
 Some Later Verses. Crown Svo, linen gilt, $j. 
 In a Hollow of the Hills. Crown Svo, picture cloth, flat back. as. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. each ; post Svo, picture boards, as. each. 
 Gabriel Conroy. 
 
 A Waif of the Plains* With 60 Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 A Ward of the Golden Gate, with 59 illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6rf. each. 
 
 A Sappho Of Green Springs. &c. With Two lustrations by HUME NlSBET. 
 Colonel Starbottle's Client, and Some Other People. With a Frontispiece. 
 Busy : A Novel. With Frontispiece and Vignette by J. A. CHRISTIE. 
 Baliy Dows, &c. With 47 Illustrations by W. D. ALMOND and others. 
 A Protegee of Jack Hamltn's. &c. With 26 Illustrations by W. SMALL and others. 
 The Ball-Ringer of Angel's, &c. With 39 Illustrations by DUDLEY HARDY and others 
 Clarence : A Story of the American War. With Eight Illustrations by A. JULE GOODMAN. 
 Barker's Luck, &c. With 39 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER, PAUL HARDY, &c. 
 Devil's Ford, &c. With a Frontispiece by W. H. OVEREND. 
 
 The Crusade Of the " Bxoelslor." With a Frontispiece by J. BERNARD PARTRIDGE. 
 Three Partners ; or. The Big Strike on Heavy Tree Hill. With 8 Illustrations by J. GULICH. 
 Tales of Trail and Town. With Frontispiece by G. P. JACOMB-HOOD. 
 Condensed Novels: New Burlesques. (An entirely new series.) 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. each; picture cloth, flat backs, as. each. 
 A Sappho of Green Springs. I Colonel Starbottle's Client* 
 
 A Protegee of Jack Hamlln's. With numerous Illustrations. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 
 An Heiress of Red Dog. I The Luck of Roaring Camp. I Callfornlan Stories. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, as. each ; cloth, as. 6d. each. 
 Flip. | fflaruja. I A Phyllis of the Sierras. 
 
 Heckethorn (C. W.), Books by. 
 
 London Souvenirs. | London Memories : Social, Historical, and Topographical, 
 
 Helps (Sir Arthur), Books by. Post 8vo, cloth limp, zs. 6d. each. 
 
 Animals and their Masters. I Social Pressure. 
 
 Ivan de Biron A NoveL Crown Svo. cloth extra, 3*. 6d. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, aj. 
 
 Henderson (Isaac). Agatha Page: A Novel Cr. Svo. cl., y. 6d. 
 tienty (G. A.), Novels by. 
 
 Rujub. the Juggler. With Eight Illustrations by STANLEY L, WOOD. Small demy 8vo, cloth, gilt 
 
 edges, 51. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, as. 
 Colonel Thorndyke's Secret. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY L, WOOD. Small demy Svo, 
 
 cloth, gilt edges, jr. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. each. 
 The Queen's Cup. j Dorothy's Double. 
 
 Herman (Henry). A Leading Lady. Post Svo , cloth, 25. 6d. 
 Herrick's (Robert) Hesperides, Noble Numbers, and Complete 
 
 Collected Poems. With Memorial-Introduction and Notes by the Rev. A. B. GROSART, D.D., 
 Steel Portrait, &c. Three Vols., crown Svo. cloth boards, 3.5-. 6d. each. 
 
 Hertzka (Dr. Theodor). preeland: A Social Anticipation. Trans- 
 lated by ARTHUR RANSOM. Crown Svo, cloth extra. 6s. 
 
 Hesse- Wartegg~(Chevalier Ernst von). Tunis: The Land and 
 
 the People. With aa Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 Hill (Headon). Zambra the Detective. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d.>, 
 
 post SYQ, picture boards, 11. 
 
 Hill (John), Works by. 
 
 Treason-Felony. Post Svo, boards, as. \ The Common Ancestor. Cr.8ro, cloth. y.M. 
 
 HJnkson (H. A.). Novels by. Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 
 Fan Fitzgerald. I Silk and Steel. 
 
 Holiday, Where to go for a. By E. P. SHOLL, Sir H. MAXWELL, 
 
 Ban., M. P., JOHN WATSON. TANK BARLOW, MARY LOVETT CAMERON, JUSTIN H. MCCARTHY, 
 PAUL LANGE, J. W. GRAHAM, j. H. S>ALTER. PHCEBE ALLEN, S. J. BECKETT, L. RIVHAS VIKX, 
 ad C. F, GORDON GUMMING, Crown Svo, cloth, it. 64. 
 
12 CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, m St. Martin's Lane. London. W.C. 
 Hoey (Mrs. Cashel). The Lover's Creed. Post 8vo,. boards, 2s. 
 Holmes (Oliver Wendell), Works by. 
 
 The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. Illustrated by J. GORDON THOMSON. Post 8vo, cloth 
 
 limp, as. (xt. Another Edition, post Svo, cloth, 2j. 
 The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table and The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, 
 
 In One Vol. Post Svo, half-bound, as. 
 
 Hood's (Thomas) Choice Works in Prose and Verse. With Life of 
 
 the Author, Portrait, and 200 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, gj. 6d. 
 
 Hood's Whims angl Oddities. With 85 Illustrations. Post Svo, hall-bound, gf. 
 
 Hook's (Theodore) Choice Humorous Works; Including his Ludi- 
 crous Adventures, Bons Mots, Puns, and Hoaxes. With a Life. A New Edition, with a Frontispiece. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Hooper (Mrs. Geo.). The House of Raby. Post 8vo, boards, zs. 
 Hopkins (Tighe), Novels by. 
 
 For Freedom. Crown Svo, cloth, 6.c. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, y. (xi. each. 
 
 Twlxt Love and Duty. With a Frontispiece. | The Incomplete Adventurer. 
 
 The Nugenta of Carrioonna. | N ell HafTenden. With 8 illustrations by c. GREGORY. 
 
 Horne (R. Hengist). Orion : An Epic Poem. With Photograph 
 
 Portrait by SUMMERS. Tenth Edition. Crown Svo. cloth extra, ?j. 
 
 Hornung (E. W.)- The Shadow of the Rope. Crown 8vo, cloth, 
 
 gilt top. 6s. 
 
 Hugo (Victor). The Outlaw of Iceland (Han d > Is!aiid"e)7~TraM- 
 
 lated by Sir GILBERT CAMPBELL. Crown Svo. cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Hume (Fergus), Novels by. 
 
 The Lady from Nowhere. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6<t. ; picture cloth, flat back, us. 
 
 The Millionaire Mystery. Crown STO, cloth, y. 6<i. 
 
 Hungerford (Mrs., Author of Molly Bawn '), Novels by. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, as. each ; cloth limp. aj. 6rf. each. 
 
 In Durance Yile. | An Unsatisfactory Lover. 
 
 Crown 8vc, cloth extra, 3*. 6rf. each ; pott 8vo, Illustrated boards, ys. each ; cloth limp, 2 r. & each. 
 
 A Maiden All Forlorn. I Pater's Wife. 
 Marvel. LadyJPatty. 
 
 A Modern Circe. I Lady Yerner'a Flight. 
 
 April's Lady, 1 The Red-House Mystery. 
 
 The Professor's Experiment, 
 The Three Graces. 
 Nora Crcina. 
 
 A Mental Struggle. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3.$-. 6d. each. 
 An Anxious Moment. I The Coming of Chloo. | A Point of Conscience. I Lovlcc. 
 
 Hunt's (Leigh) Essays : A Tale for a Chimney Corner, &c. Edited 
 
 by EDMUND OLLIER. Post Svo, half-bound, zs. 
 
 Hunt (Mrs. Alfred), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3*. 6ct. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, 21. each. 
 The Leaden Casket. I Self-Condemned. | That Other Person. 
 Mrs. Juliet. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 Hutchison (W. M.). Hints on Colt-breaking. With 25 lllustfa- 
 
 tions. Crown Svo, cloth extra, ?,s . (xi. 
 
 Hydrophobia : An Account of M. PASTEUR'S System ; The Technique of 
 
 his Method, and Statistics. By RENAUD SUZOU, M.B. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Impressions (The) of Aureole. Pest 8vo, cloth, 25. 6d. 
 Indoor Paupers. By ONE OF THEM. Crown Svo, is. ; cloth, is. 6d. 
 Inrnan (Herbert) and Hartley Aspden. The Tear of Kaiee. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6.r. 
 
 itTMemoriam : Verses for every Day in the Year. Selected and 
 
 arranged by LUCY RIDLEY. Small square Svo. cloth, gj. 6d. net ; leather, 3.?. 6d. net. _ 
 
 Innkeeper's HandbookTThe) and~Llce"nsedT Victualler's Manual. 
 
 By J. TRRVOR-DAVIES. A New Edition. Crown Svo, cloth^2. 
 
 Jfisii Wit and Humour, Songs of. Collected and Edited by A. 
 
 PERCEVAL GRAVES. Post 8vo, cloth limp, gj. M. 
 
 Irving (Sir Henry) : A Record of over Twenty Years at the Lyceum. 
 
 By PERCY FITZGERALD. With Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 James (C. T. C.). A Romance oFthe Queen's Hounds. Post 
 
 8vo, cloth limp, is. 6d. 
 
 Jameson (William). My Dead Self. "Post 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS. Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London. W.C. 13 
 Japp (Alex. H.,.LL.D.). Dramatic Pictures, &c. Cr. 8vo, cloth. 55" 
 Jefferies (Richard), Books by. Crown 8vo, buckram, 6s, each ; post 
 
 Svo, cloth Ihnp, as. 6d. each. 
 
 Mature near London. I Tha Open Air. 
 
 The Life Of the Fields. Crown Svo, buckram, 6s. ; pott Svo, cloth, gilt top, 2*. net ; leather, gill 
 edges, sj. net. 
 
 The Eulogy of Richard Jefferles. By Sir WALTER BESANT. With a Photograph Portrait. 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Jennings (Henry J.) f Works by. 
 
 Curiosities of Criticism. Post Svo, cloth limp, is. 6d. 
 
 Lord Tennyson : A Biographical Sketch. With Portrait. Post Svo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 Jerome (Jerome K.), Books by. 
 
 Stageland. With 64 Illustrations by J. BERNARD PARTRIDGE. Fcap. 4to, picture cover, . 
 John Ingerfleld, &c. With 9 Illusts. by A. S. BOYD and JOHN GULICH. Fcap. Svo, pic. cov. is.6d. 
 
 J errold (Douglas). The Barber's Chair; and The Hedgehog 
 
 Letters. Post Svo, printed on laid paper and half-bound, zs. 
 
 Jerrold (Tom), Works by. Post Svo, is. ea. ; cloth limp, 15. 6d. each. 
 
 The Garden that Paid the Rent. 
 
 Household Horticulture : A Gossip about Flowers. Illustrated. _ 
 
 Jesse (Edward). Scenes and Occupations of a Country Life. 
 
 Post Svo, cloth limp, as. 
 
 Jones (William, F.S.A.), Works by. Cr. 8vo, cl. extra, 35. 6d. eadh. 
 
 Finger-Ring Lore : Historical, Legendary, and Anecdotal. With Hundreds of Illustrations. 
 Crowns and Coronations ; A History of Regalia. With 91 Illustrations. 
 
 Jonson's (Ben) Works. With Notes Critical and Explanatory, and 
 
 a Biographic*! Memoir by WILLIAM GlFFORD. Edited by Colonel CUNNINGHAM. Three Vols. 
 crown Sro, cloth extra, y. 6d. each. 
 
 Josephus, The Complete Works of. Translated by WHISTON. Con- 
 
 tainmg 'The Antiquities of the Jews' and 'The Wars of the Jews.' With 53 Illustrations and Maps. 
 Two Vols., demy 8vo. half-cloth, las. 6d. 
 
 Kempt (Robert). Pencil and Palette: Chapters on Art and Artists. 
 
 Post Svo. cloth limp, us. 6d. 
 
 Kershaw (Mark). Colonial Facts and Fictions: Humorous 
 
 Sketches. Post Svo, illustrated boards, as. ; cloth, as. 6d. 
 
 King (R. Ashe), Novels by. Post Svo, illustrated boards, 25. each. 
 
 The Wearing of the Green.' I Passion's Slave. I Bell Barry. 
 A Drawn Game. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, is. 
 
 Kipling Primer (A). Including Biographical and Critical Chapters^ 
 
 an Index to Mr. Kipling's principal Writings, and Bibliographies. By F. L. KNOWLES, Editor ol 
 ' The Golden Treasury of American Lyrics.' With Two Portraits. Crown Svo, cloth, y. (>d. 
 
 Knight (William, M.R.C.S., and Edward, L.R.C.P.). The 
 
 Patient's Yade Meoum ; How to Get Most Benefit from Medical Advice. Cr. Svo, cloth, u.6rf. 
 
 Knights (The) of the Lion : A Romance of the Thirteenth Century. 
 
 Edjted. with an Introduction, by the MARQUESS OP LORNE. K.T. Crown Svo, cloth extra. 6j. 
 
 Lambert(Qeorge). The President of Boravia. Crown 8vo,c\.,y.6d. 
 Lamb's (Charles) Complete Works in Prose and Verse, including 
 
 4 Poetry for Children and ' Prince Dorus.' Edited. -with Notes and Introduction, by R. H. SHEP- 
 HERD. With Two Portraits and Facsimile of the ' Essay on Roast Pig.' Crown Svo, cloth, $s. 6d. 
 
 The Essays of Ella. Post Svo, printed on laid paper and half-bound, as. 
 
 Little Essays : Sketches and Characters by CHAKLES LAMB, selected from his Letters by PERCY 
 FITZGERALD. Post Svo, cloth limp, as. 6d. 
 
 The Dramatic Essays of Charles Lamb. With Introduction and Notes by BRANDER MAT- 
 THEWS, and Steel-plate Portrait. Fcap. Svo, half-bound, as. 6d. 
 
 Landor (Walter Savage). Citation and Examination of William 
 
 Shakspeare, Xic. before Sir Thomas Lucy, touching Deer-stealing, ipth September, 1583. To which 
 is added, A Conference of Master Edmund Spenser with the Earl of Essex, touching the 
 State of Ireland, 7595. Fcap. Svo, half-Roxburghe, as. 6d. 
 
 Lane (Edward William). The Thousand and One Nights, com- 
 
 monly called In England The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Translated from the Arabic, 
 with Notes. Illustrated with many hundred Engravings from Designs by HARVEY. Edited by EDWARD 
 STANLEY POOLH. With Preface by STANLEY LANB-POOLE. Three Vols.. demy Svo. cloth. 7 s. tot, ea. 
 
 Larwood (Jacob), Works by. 
 
 Anecdotes of the Clergy. Post 8vo, laid paper, half-bound, aj. 
 
 Post Svo, cloth limp, as. 6d. each. 
 Forensic Anecdotes. I Theatrical Anecdotes. 
 
14 CHATTO & WINDU5, Published, in At. Martin's Lane. London, W.C. 
 Lehmann (R. C.), Works by. Post 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. each. 
 
 Harry Fludyer at Cambridge. 
 
 Conversational Hints for Young Shooters: A Guide to Polite Talk. 
 
 Leigh (Henry S.). Carols of Cockayne. Printed on hand-made 
 
 paper, bound in buckram, 5*. 
 
 Leland (C. Godfrey), A Manual of Mending and Repairing. 
 
 With Diagrams. Crown 8vo, cloth, jr. 
 
 Lepelletier (Edmond). Madame Sans- Gene. Translated from 
 
 the French by JOHN DE VILLIERS. Post 8vo. cloth, 3*. 6rf. ; picture boards, 2*. 
 
 Leys (John K.), Novels by. 
 
 The Lindsays. Post 8vo. picture bds.. ?t. \ A Sore Temptation. Cr, 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6t. 
 
 Lilburn (Adam). A Tragedy in Marble. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 Lindsay (Harry, Author of ' Methodist Idylls'), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3J. 6rf. each. 
 Rhoda Roberts. | The Jacobite: A Romance of the Conspiracy of ' The Forty. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 Judah Pyecroft, Puritan. j The Story of Leah. 
 
 Linton (E. Lynn), Works by. 
 
 An Octave of Friends. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3j. 6rf. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, . each. 
 
 Patricia Kemball. I lone. 
 The Atonement of Leam Dundas. 
 The World Well Lost. With 12 Illusts. 
 The One Too Many, 
 
 Under which Lord ? With 12 Illustrations. 
 'My Love J' j Sowing the Wind. 
 Paston Carew, Millionaire and Miser. 
 Dulcia Everton. | With a Silken Thread, 
 
 The Rebel of the Fami 1 y . 
 
 Post 8vo, cloth limp, is. 6d. each. 
 
 Witch Stories. | Ourselves: Essays on Women. 
 Freeshootlng ; Extracts from the Works of Mrs. LYNN LINTON. 
 
 Lowe (Charles, M.A.). Our Greatest Living Soldiers. With 
 
 8 Portraits. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Lucy (Henry W.). Gideon Fleyce: A Novel. Crown 8vo, cloth 
 
 extra, js. 6d. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, gj. 
 
 Macalpine (A very), Novels by. 
 
 Teresa Itasca. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, is. 
 
 Broken Wings. With Six Illustrations by W. J. HENNESSY. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6t. 
 
 MacColl (Hugh), Novels by, 
 
 Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet. Pos 
 
 ?ost 8vo, Illustrated boards, ax. 
 
 Ednor Whitlock. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. ^ 
 
 Macdonell (Agnes). Quaker Cousins. Post 8vo, boards, 25. 
 
 MacQregor (Robert). Pastimes and Players: Notes on Popular 
 
 Games. Post 8vo, doth limp, ax. 6rf. 
 
 Mackay (Charles, LL.D.). Interludes and Undertones; or, 
 
 Music at Twilight. Crown 8vo, cloth extra 6j. 
 
 Mackenna (Stephen J.) and J. Augustus O'Shea. Brave Men 
 
 In Action : Thrilling Stories of the British Flag. With 8 Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 Small demy 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, 5*. 
 
 McCarthy (Justin), Works by. 
 
 A History of Our Own Times, from the Ace 
 
 ccession of Queen Victoria to the General Election of 
 
 IBRARY EDITION. Four Vols., demy 8vo, cloth extra, 12.1. each.- Also a POPULAR 
 EDITION, in Four Vols., crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. each. And the JUBILEE EDITION, with an 
 Appendix of Events to the end of 1886, in Two Vols., large crown 8vo, cloth extra, ^s. 6rf. each. 
 A History of Our Own Times, from 1880 to the Diamond Jubilee. Demy 8vo, cloth extra, 
 
 I2J. ; or crown 8ro, cloth, 6s. 
 A Short History of Our Own Times. One Vol., crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6f.-Also a CHEAP 
 
 POPULAR EDITION, post 8vo, cloth limp, 2j. 6rf. 
 A History of the Four Georges and of William the Fourth. By JUSTIN MCCARTHY 
 
 and JUSTIN HUNTLY MCCARTHY. Four Vols., demy 8vo, cloth extra, isj. each. 
 The Reign of Queen Anne. 2 vols., demy 8vo, cloth, izj each. 
 Reminiscences. With a Portrait. Two Vols., demy 8vo, cloth, 341. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. 6(t. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. each ; cloth Hmp, ss. 6d. eachr 
 
 Donna Quixote. With 12 Illustrations. 
 The Comet of a Season. 
 Maid of Athens. With 12 Illustrations. 
 Camiola : A Girl with a Fortune. 
 Red Diamonds. | The Riddle Ring. 
 
 The Waterdale Neighbours. 
 
 My Enemy's Daughter. 
 
 A Fair Saxon. I Llnley Rochford. 
 
 Dear Lady Disdain. | The Dictator. 
 
 Miss Misanthrope. With 12 Illustrations. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. d. each. 
 
 The Three Disgraces, and ather Stories. [ Mononia: A Lore Story of ' Forty-eight.' 
 
 The Right Honourable.' By /UST!N MCCARTHY^ MM. CAMPBHLL FIABD. Crows Ire, 
 cloth extra, M. 
 
CHATTO & W INDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. ig 
 McCarthy (Justin Huntly), Works by. 
 
 The French Revolution. (Constituent Assembly, 1789-91). Four Vols., demy 8vo, cloth, 12S. each. 
 
 An Outline of the History of Ireland. Crown 8vo, is. ; cloth, u. (xt. 
 
 Ireland Since the Union : Sketches of Irish History, 1798-1886. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6j. 
 
 Haflz in London : Poems. Small 8vo, gold cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Our Sensation Novel. Crown 8vo, picture cover, u. ; cloth limp, is. 6d. 
 
 Doom : An Atlantic Episode. Crown 8vo, picture cover, is. 
 
 Dolly : A Sketch. Crown 8vo, picture cover, if. ; cloth limp, is. 6rf. 
 
 Lily Lass : A Romance. Crown 8vo, picture cover, is. ; cloth limp, is. 6d. 
 
 A London Legend. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3.*. (xt. 
 
 The Royal Christopher. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3J. 6d. 
 
 Mac Donald (George, LL.D.), Books by. 
 
 Works of Fancy and Imagination. Ten Vols., i6mo, cloth, gilt edges, In cloth case, ais. ; or 
 
 the Volumes may be had separately, in Grolier cloth, at w. 6rf. each. 
 Vol. I. WITHIN AND WITHOUT. THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 II. THE DISCIPLE. THE GOSPEL WOMEN. BOOK OF SONNETS. ORGAN SONGS. 
 III. VIOLIN SONGS. SONGS OF THE DAYS AND NIGHTS. A BOOK OF DREAMS. ROADSIDB 
 
 POEMS. POEMS FOR CHILDREN. 
 ., IV. PARABLES. BALLADS. SCOTCH SONGS. 
 
 V. & VI. PHANTASTES : A Faerie Romance. | Vol. VII. THE PORTENT. 
 
 VIII. THE LIGHT PRINCESS. THE GIANT'S HEART. SHADOWS. 
 
 IX. CROSS PURPOSES. THE GOLDEN KEY. THH CARASOYN. LITTLE DAYLIGHT. 
 
 X. THE CRUEL PAINTER. THE wow o' RIVVEN. THE CASTLE. THE BROKEN SWORDS. 
 
 THE GRAY WOLF. UNCLE CORNELIUS. 
 Poetical Works of George MacDonaldr~Collected and Arranged by the Author. Two Vols. 
 
 crown 8vo, buckram, I2j. 
 
 A Threefold Cord. Edited by GBORGR MACDONALD. Post 8vo, cloth, $s, 
 
 Phantasies : A Faerie Romance. With 25 illustrations by J. BELL. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 Heather and Snow : A Novel. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3^. 6d. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, as. 
 Lilith ; A Romance. SECOND EDITION. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Machray (Robert). A Blow over the Heart. Crown 8vo, cloth", 
 
 gilt top. 6s. 
 
 Macfise Portrait Gallery (The) of Illustrious Literary Chap- 
 ters : 85 Portraits by DANIEL MACLISE ; with Memoirs Biographical, Critical, Bibliographic;.!, 
 r,;id Anecdotal illustrative of the Literature of the former half of the Present Century, by WILLIAM 
 BATHS. B.A. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, v- 6d. 
 
 Macquoid (Airs.), Works by. Square Svo, cloth extra, 6s. each. 
 
 In the Ardennes. With 50 Illustrations by THOMAS R. MACQUOID. 
 
 Pictures and Legends from Normandy and Brittany. 34 Illusts. by T. R. MACQUOID. 
 
 Through Normandy. With 92 Illustrations by T. R. MACQUOID, and a Map. 
 
 About Yorkshire. With 67 Illustrations by T. R. MACQUOID. _^___ 
 
 Magician's Own Book, The : Performances with Eggs, Hats, &c. 
 
 Edited by W. H. CREMER. With 200 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra. 4J. fxt. 
 
 Magic Lantern, The, and its Management : Including full Practical 
 
 Directions. By T. C. HEPWORTH. With 10 Illustrations. Crown Svo, is. ; cloth, is. &/. 
 
 Alagna Charta: An Exact Facsimile of the Original in the British 
 
 Museum, 3 feet by 2 feet, with Arms and Seals emblazoned in Gold and Colours, $J. 
 
 Mallory (Sir Thomas). Mort d'Arthur: The Stories of King 
 
 Arthur and of the Knights of the Round Table. (A Selection.) Edited by B. MONTGOMERiE RAN- 
 KING. Post Svo. cloth limp, gj. 
 
 Mai lock (W. H.), Works by. 
 
 The New Republic. Post Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d.; picture boards, ar. 
 
 The New Paul and Virginia ! Positivism on an Island. Post Svo, cloth, as. 6d. 
 
 Poems. Small 4to. parchment. &r. | Is Life Worth Living? Crown Svo, cloth extra. 6j. 
 
 Margueritte (Paul and Victor), The Disaster. Translated by 
 
 FREDERIC LEES. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Marlowe's Works. Including his Translations. Edited, with Notes 
 
 and Introductions, by Colonel CUNNINGHAM. Crown Svo. cloth extra, y. 6rf. 
 
 Mason (Finch). Annals of the Horse- Shoe Club. Withslllus- 
 
 tratlons by the AUTHOR. Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 61. ^ 
 
 Massinger's Plays. From the Text of WILLIAM GIFFORD. Edited 
 
 by Col. CUNNINGHAM. Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6rf. 
 
 Matthews (Brander). A Secret of the Sea, &c. Post Svo, illus- 
 
 tratad boards, 2* . ; cloth limp, gj. 6d. 
 
 Max O'ReTirBooks by. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. td. each. 
 
 Her Royal Highness Woman. | Between Ouraelveg. 
 
 Merrick (Leonard), Novels by. 
 
 The Man who was Good. Post 8vo. pictu 
 
 re boards, ts. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, w. 6rf. each. 
 Vnla lta* of Feale. I CynthUl A Dsofhtcr of the PhTO$tln. 
 
1 6 CHATTO & VV1NDUS, Publishers, in 5t. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 
 Meade (L. T.), Novels by. 
 
 A Soldier Of Fortune. Crown 8vo. cloth, y. Srf. ; pqst 8vo. illustrated boards, ss. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 The Voice of the Charmer. With 8 Illustrations. l An Adventuress. 
 
 In an Iron Grip. I On the Brink of a Chasm. The Blue Diamond. 
 
 The Siren. The Way of a Woman. A Stumble by the Way, 
 
 Dr. Rumsey's Patient. I A Son of Ishmael. 
 
 Thla Troublesome World. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Merivale (Herman). Bar, Stage, and Platform : Autobiographic 
 
 Memories. With a Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth, jjilt top, 6.T. 
 
 Mexican Mustang (On a)7 througTTTexas to the Rio Grande. By 
 
 A. E. SWEET and J. ARMOY KN'OX. With 265 Illustrations. Crov.n 8vo. cloth extra, ^s. 6d. 
 
 Miller (Mrs. F. Fen wick). Physiology for the Young; or, The 
 
 House of Life. With numerous Illustrations. Post 8vo, cloth limp, sj. 6rf. 
 
 Milton (J. L.), Works by. Post 8vo, 15. each; cloth, is. 6d. each. 
 
 The Hygiene of the Shin. With Directions for Diet, Soaps, Baths, Wines. &c. 
 
 The Bath In Diseases of the Skin. 
 
 The Laws of Life, and their Relation to Diseases of the Skin. 
 
 Minto (Wm.). Was She Good or Bad? Crown 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 Mitchell (Edmund), Novels by. 
 
 Th Lone Star Rash. With 8 Illustrations by NORMAN H. HARDY. Crown 8vo, clo*. 3 j. 6rf. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 Only a Nigger. | The Belforts of Culbe. 
 
 Crown 8vo. picture cloth, flat backs, zs. each. 
 Plotters of Paris. The Temple of Death. | Towards the Eternal Snows. 
 
 Mitford (Bertram), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 The Gun-Runner : A Romance, of Zululand. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 Renshaw Farming's Quest. With a Frontispiece by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 The Triumph of Hilary Blachland. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, $s. 6d. each ; picture cloth, flat backs, ss. each. 
 The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley. 
 The King's Assegai. With Six full-page Illustrations by STANLEY L. WOOD. 
 
 Molesworth (Mrs.). Hathercourt Rectory. Crown 8vo, cloth, 
 
 3^. 6d. ; post 8vo, Illustrated boards, 2J. 
 
 Moncrieff (W. D. Scott-). The Abdication : An Historical Drama. 
 
 With Seven Etchings by JOHN PETTIE, W. Q. ORCHARDSON, J. MACWHIRTER, COLIN HUNTER, 
 R. MACBETH and TOM GRAHAM. Imperial 4to, buckram. 2i.r. 
 
 Montagu (Irving). Things I Have Seen in War. With 
 
 page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6t. 
 
 Moore (Thomas), Works by. 
 
 The Epicurean ; and Alclphron. Pos 
 
 :>st 8vo, half-bound, ss. 
 d Passages from the Ml 
 by R. H. SHEPHERD. With "Portrait. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, js. 6d. 
 
 Prose and Verse; including Suppressed Passages from the MEMOIRS OF LORD BYRON. Edited 
 With "Portrait. " 
 
 Morrow (W. C.). Bohemian Paris of To- Day. With 106 Illustra- 
 
 tions by EPOUARD CUCUEL. Small demy 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. ^__ 
 
 Muddock (J. E.), Stories by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 Basile the Jester. With Frontispiece by STANLEY WOOD. 
 
 Young Lochinvar. I Tho Golden Idol. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2S. each. 
 
 The Dead Man's Secret. | From the Bosom of the Deep. 
 
 Stories Weird and Wonderful. Post 8vo. illustrated boards, 2s. ; cloth, vs. dd. 
 Maid Marian and Robin Hood. With 12 Illustrations by S. L. WOOD. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 
 3* . 6d. ; picture cloth, flat back, as. 
 
 Murray (D. Christie), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6rf. each ; post 8vo, Illustrated boards, vs. each. 
 
 A Life's Atonement. 
 
 Joseph's Coat. 12 Illusts. 
 
 Coals of Fire. 3 Illusts. 
 
 Val Strange. 
 
 Hearts. 
 
 The Way of the World. 
 
 A Model Father. 
 Old Blazer's Hero. 
 Cynlo Fortune. Frontlsp. 
 By the Gate of the Sea. 
 A Bit of Human Nature. 
 First Person Singular. 
 
 Bob Martin's Little Girl. 
 Time's Revenges. 
 A Wasted Crime. 
 In Direst Peril. 
 Mount Despair. 
 A Capful o' Mails. 
 
 The Making of a Novelist : An Experiment in Autobiography. With a Collotype Portrait. Cr. 
 - 8vo, buckram, y. 6d. 
 
 My Contemporaries in Fiction. Crown 8yo, buckram, 3J. 6d. 
 His Own Ghost. Crown 3vo, cloth. 3^. 6d. ; picture cloth, flat back, 2J. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gj. 6d. each. 
 
 This Little World. | A Race for Millions. I The Church of Humanity. 
 
 Tales in Prose and Verse. With Frontispiece by ARTHUR HOPKINS. 
 Despair's Last Journey. Crown SVQ, cloth,~gi!t top. 6j. "^ 
 Joseph's Coat, POPULAR EDITION, medium 8vo, 6A {SJurtly 
 
CHATTO & WiNDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 17 
 Murray (D. Christie) and Henry Herman, Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. (>d. each ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. each. 
 C One Traveller Returns. The Bishops' Bible. 
 
 Paul Jones's Alias. &c. With Illustrations by A. FOREST IER and G. NICOLET. 
 
 Murray (Henry), Novels by. 
 
 A Game of Bluff. 
 
 Post 8vo, cloth, zs. 6dT. each. 
 
 I A Song of Sixpence. 
 
 Newbolt (H.). Taken from the Enemy. Post 8vo, leatherette. 15. 
 Nisbet (Hume), Books by. 
 
 ' Bail Up.' Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3^. 6rf. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, ir. 
 
 Dr. Bernard St. Yincont. Post 8vo. illustrated boards, zj. 
 
 Lessons In Art. With 21 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, zs. dd. 
 
 Norris (VV. E.), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, $s. 6d. each ; post 8vo, 
 
 cicture boards aj each. 
 
 Saint Ann's. | Billy Bellew. With a Frontispiece by F. H. TOWNSENU. 
 Miss Wentworth's Idea. Crown 8vo, cloth, $t. 61. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 I A Last Love. 
 
 Ohnet (Georges), Novels by 
 
 Doctor Rameau. 
 
 A Weird Gift. Crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6rf. ; post Svo, picture boards, is. 
 Love's Depths. Translated by F. ROTHWELL. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 hant (Mrs.), Novels by. Post Svo, illustrated boards, 25. each. 
 
 ha Primrose Path. | Whiteladles. | The Greatest Heiress in England. 
 The Sorceress. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. (xi. 
 
 6*Shaughnessy (Arthur), Poems by: 
 
 Fcap. Svo, cloth extra, js. 6d. each. 
 
 Music and Moonlight. j Songs of a Worker. 
 Lays of France. Crown 8vo. cloth extra. IQJ. 6d. 
 
 Oulda, Novels by. Cr. 8vo, cl., 35. 6d. ea.; post Svo, illust. bds., zs. ea. 
 
 Held in Bondage. - ' 
 
 Trieotrin. 
 
 Strathmore. I Chandos. 
 
 Cecil Castlsmaine's Gage 
 
 Under Two Flags. 
 
 Puck. | Idalia. 
 
 Folle-Farlne. 
 
 A Dog of Flanders. 
 Pascarel. | Signa. 
 Two Wooden Shoes. 
 In a Winter City. 
 Ariadne. | Friendship. 
 A Village Commune. 
 Moths. J Pipistrello. 
 
 In JjTaremma. j Wanda. 
 Bimbl. I Syrlin. 
 Frescoes. I Othmar. 
 Princess Napraxine, 
 Guilderoy. | Ruttino. 
 Two Offenders. 
 Santa Barbara. 
 
 POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo, & eac"h. 
 
 Under Two Flags. | Moths. | Held In Bondage. I Puck. I Strathmore. [Short;?. 
 The Waters of Edera. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. ; picture cloth, flat back, ?s. 
 Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos, selected from the Works of OUIDA by F. bYUNEY MORRIS. Po->t 
 Svo. cloth extra, sj. CHEAP EDITION, illustrated boards, zs. 
 
 Palmer (W. T.). Lake-Country Rambles. With a Frontispiece. 
 
 Crown 8vo, linen, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Panel urang Hari ; or, Memoirs of a Hindoo. With Preface by Sir 
 
 BARTLH FRERB. Post 8vo. illustrated boards. &r. 
 
 Paris Salon, The Illustrated Catalogue of the, for 1902. (Twenty- 
 
 fourth Year.) With over 300 Illustrations. Demy Svo, 3J. 
 
 Payn (James), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3* . 6<*. each ; post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 
 Lost Sir IflaBslngberd. 
 
 A County Family. 
 
 Less Black than We're Painted. 
 
 By Proxy. | For Cash Only. 
 
 High Spirits. 
 
 A Confidential Agent. With is Illusts. 
 
 A Grape from a Thorn. With 12 lliusts. 
 
 The Family Scapegrace. 
 
 Holiday Tasks. 
 
 The Talk of the Town. With 12 Illusts, 
 
 Tha Mystery of Mirbridge. 
 
 The Word and the Will. 
 
 The Burnt Million. 
 Sunny Stories. 
 
 A Trying Patient. 
 
 Humorous Stories. I From Exile. 
 
 The Foster Brothers. 
 
 Married Beneath Him. 
 
 Bentinck's Tutor. | Walter's Word. 
 
 A Perfect Treasure. 
 
 Like Father, Like Son. 
 
 A Woman's Vengeance. 
 
 Carlyon's Year. I Cecil's Tryst. 
 
 Murphy's Master. I At Her Mercy. 
 
 The Clyffards of Clyffe. 
 
 Some Private Views. 
 
 Post 870 illustrated boards, as. each. 
 
 Found Dead. I Gwendoline's Harvest. 
 
 Mirk Abbey. I A Marine Residence. 
 
 The Canon's Ward. 
 
 Not Wooed, But Won. 
 
 Two Hundred Pounds Reward. 
 
 The Best of Husbands. 
 
 Halves. I What He Cost Her. 
 
 Fallen Fortunes. Kit : A Memory. 
 
 Under One Roof. | Glow-worm Tales. 
 
 A Princa of the Blood. 
 
 A Modern Dick Whittington ; or, A Patron of Letters. With a Portrait of the Author. Crown 
 
 Svo, cloth, 3T. t>d. ; picture cloth, flat back, ss. 
 
 In Peril and Privation. With 17 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6rf. 
 Notes from the * News.* Crown Svo. cloth, u. 6.V. 
 
 Payne (Will). Jerry the Dreamer. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d, 
 
i8 CHATTO & WINDUS. Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London. W.C. 
 Pascal's Provincial Letters. A New Translation, with Historical 
 
 Introduction and Notes by T. M'CRIE, P.P. Post 8vo. half-cloth, gj. 
 
 Paul (Margaret A.). Gentle and Simple. Crown 8vo, cloth, with 
 
 Frontispiece by HELEN PATERSON, y. 6d.\ post Svo, illustrated boards, a. 
 
 Pennell-Elmhirst (Captain E. : " Brooksby "). The Best of the 
 
 Fun. With Coloured and Plain Illustrations by JOHN STURGESS. Royal Bvo, cloth. (Shortly. 
 
 Pennell (H. Cholmondeley), Works by. Post 8vo, cloth, 2$. 6d. ea. 
 
 Puck on Pegasus. With Illustrations. 
 
 Pegasus Re-Saddled. With Ten full-page Illustrations by G. DU MAURIER. 
 
 The Muses of Mqyfalr ; Vers de Societe. Selected by H. C. PENNELL. 
 
 Phelps (E. Stuart), Works by. Post 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. each. 
 
 An Old Maid's Paradise. I Burglars In Paradise. 
 
 Beyond the Gates. Post 8vo, picture cover, it. ; cloth, if. 6*. 
 Jack the Fisherman. Illustrated by C. W. REED. Crown 8vo, cloth, . 6d. 
 
 Phil May's Sketch-Book. Containing 54 Humorous Cartoons. Crown 
 
 folio, cloth, as . 6J. 
 
 Phipson (Dr.T. L.), Books by. Crown 8vo, canvas, gilt top, 55. each. 
 
 Famous Violinists and Fina Violins. | The Confessions of a Yiol-nist. 
 Voice and Violin ; Sketches, Anecdotes, and Reminiscences. 
 
 Planche (J. R.), Works by. 
 
 The Pursuivant of Arms. With Six Plates and 209 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, -jf. 6rf. 
 Songs and Poems, 1819-1879. AVith Introduction by Mrs. MACKARNHSS. Crown Svo, cloth. &r. 
 
 Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men. With Notes ancTaTLife" of 
 
 Plutarch by JOHN and WM. LANGHORNE. and Portraits. Two Vois., demy 8vo, half-cloth IQJ. 6rf. 
 
 Poe's (Edgar Allan) Choice Works: Poems, Stories, Essays". 
 
 With an Introduction by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6rf. 
 
 Pollock (W. H.). The Charm, and other Drawing-room Plays. By 
 
 Sir WALTER BF.SANT and WALTER H. POLLOCK. With 50 Illustrations. Crown Svo. cloth gilt, 6j.__ 
 
 Pond (Major J. B.). Eccentricities of Genius: Memories of 
 
 Famous Men and Women of the Platform and the Stage. With 91 Portraits. Demy Svo, cloth, I2J. 
 
 Pope's Poetical Works. Post Svo, cloth limp, zs. 
 
 Porter (John). Kingsclere. Edited by BYRON WEBBER. With 19 
 
 full-page and many smaller Illustrations. Cheaper Edition. Demy Svo. cloth, ^s. 6d. 
 
 Praed (Mrs. Campbell), Novels by. Post 8vo, illust. bds., 25. each. 
 
 The Romance of a Station. ! The Soul of Countess Adrian. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, jr. 6rf. each : post Svo, boards, 2j. each. 
 iwmaker. I Christina Chan" " 
 
 Mrs. Tregaskiss. With 8 Illustrations by ROBERT SAUBER. 
 
 Outlaw and Lawmaker. I Christina Chard. With Frontispiece by W PAGET. 
 
 "ansby Re 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. each. 
 Nulma. | Madame Izan. | 'As a Watch In the Night.' 
 
 Price (E. C.). Valentina. Crown Svo. cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 Princess Olga. Radna : A Novel. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Pryce (Richard). Miss Maxwell's Affections. Crown 8vo, cloth, 
 
 with Frontispiece by HAL LUDLOW, y. 6rf.; post Svo, illustrated boards, as. 
 
 Proctor (Richard A.), Works by. 
 
 Flowers of the Sky. With 55 Illustrations. Small crown Svo, cloth extra, 3*. 6rf. 
 
 Easy Star Lessons. With Star Maps for every Night in the Year. Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Familiar Science Studies. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Saturn and Its System. With 13 Steel Plates. Demy Svo, cloth extra, los. 6d. 
 
 Mysteries of Time and Space. With numerous Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 The Universe of Suns. &c. With numerous Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 Wages and Wants of Science Workers. Crown Svo. u. 64. 
 
 Rambosson (J.). Popular Astronomy. Translated by C. B. PITMAN. 
 
 With 10 Coloured Plates and 63 Woodcut Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6rf. 
 
 Randolph (Col. G.). Aunt Abigail Dykes. Crown 8vo, cloth, 75. 6d. 
 Read (General Meredith). Historic Studies in Vaud, Berne, 
 
 and Savoy. With 31 full-page Illustrations. Two Vols., demy Svo, cloth, a&r. 
 
 Riddell (Mrs. J. H.) t Novels by. 
 
 A Rich Man's Daughter. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6.V. 
 
 Weird Stories. Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3*. 6rf. ; post Svo, Illustrated boards, M. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, aj. each. 
 
 The Uninhabited House. Fairy Water. 
 
 The Prince of Wales's Garden Party. \ Her Mother's Darling. 
 The Mystery In Palace Gardens, The Nun's Corsa. I Idla T&Tag, 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin'* Une. London. W.C. i 
 Reade's (Charles) Novels. 
 
 The New Collected LIBRARY EDITION, complete In Seventeen Volumes, set in new long primer 
 type, printed on laid paper, and elegantly bound in cloth, price 3^. (>d. each. 
 
 x. Peg Wofflngton; and Christie John 
 
 stone. 
 
 *. Hard Cash. 
 8. The Cloister and the Hearth. With a 
 
 Preface by Sir WALTER BESANT. 
 
 4. ' It is Never Too Late to Mend.' 
 
 5. The Course of True Love Never Did 
 
 Run Smooth; and Singleheart and 
 Doubleface. 
 
 6. The Autobiography of a Thief; Jack 
 
 of all Trades; A Hero and a Mar- 
 tyr ; and The Wandering Heir. 
 
 7. Love Me Little, Love me Long. 
 
 8. The Double Marriage. 
 
 9. Griffith Gaunt. 
 10. Foul Play. 
 
 xi. Put Yourself In His Place. 
 is. A Terrible Temptation. 
 
 13. A Simpleton. 
 
 14. A Woman-Hater. 
 
 15. The Jilt, and other Stories; and Good 
 
 Stories of Man and other Animals. 
 
 16. A Perilous Secret. 
 
 17. Roadiana ; and Bible Characters. 
 
 In Twenty-one Volumes, post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. each. 
 
 Peg Wofflngton. I Christie Johnstone. Hard Cash. I Griffith Gaunt. 
 
 It la Never Too Late to Mend.' Foul Play. I Put Yourself in His Place. 
 
 The Course of True Love Never Did Run A Terrible Temptation. 
 
 Smooth. 
 
 The Autobiography 
 all Trades ; and Jai 
 
 of a Thief; Jack of 
 
 James Lambert. 
 Love Me Little, Love Me Long. 
 The Double Marriage. 
 The Cloister and the Hearth. 
 
 A Terrible Temptation. 
 
 A Simpleton. | The Wandering Heir. 
 
 A Woman-Hater. 
 
 Slnglaheart and Doubleface. 
 
 Good Storissof Man and other Animals. 
 
 The Jilt, and other Stories. 
 
 A Perilous Secret. I Readlana, 
 
 LARGE TYPE, FINE PAPER EDITIONS. Pott 8vo, cl., gilt top, as. net ea. ; leather, gilt edges, 35. net ea. 
 
 The Cloister and the Hearth. I 'It is Never Too Late to Mend.' 
 
 POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo, (>d. each. 
 
 It Is Never Too Late to Mend.' | The Cloister and the Hearth. | Foul Play. 
 i*<jg Woftington; and Christie Johnstone. I Hard Cash. | Griffith Gaunt. \Shortly. 
 Christie Johnstone. With Frontispiece. Choicely printed in Elzevir style. Fcap. 8vo, half-Roxb.2j.6rf. 
 Peg Wofflngton. Choicely printed in Elzevir style. Fcap. 8vo, half-Roxburghe, zj. 6rf. 
 The Cloister and the Hearth. NEW XLLUSTRATED EDITION, with 16 Photogravure and 84 
 half-tone Illustrations by MATT B.|HE\VERDINE. Small 4to, cloth gilt and gilt top, ics. (xt. net. 
 Also in Four Vols., post 8vo, with an Introduction by Sir WALTER BESANT, and a Fiontispiece to 
 each Vol., buckram, gilt top, -6s. the set. 
 
 Bible Characters. Fcap. 8vo, leatherette, is. 
 
 Selections from the Works of Charles Reade. With an Introduction by Mrs. ALEX. 
 IRELAND. Post 8vo, cloth limp, ss. M. 
 
 Richardson (Frank), Novels by. 
 
 The King's Counsel. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 61. 
 
 The Man who Lost his Past. With 50 Illusts. by TOM BROWNH, R.I. Cr. 8vo. cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Ri m mer (Alfred), Works by. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 Rambles Round Eton and Harrow. With 52 illustrations by the Author. 
 
 About England with Dickens. With 58 Illustrations by C. A. VANDERHOOP and A. RlMMHR^ 
 
 Rives (Amelie), Stories by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 Barbara Dering. | Merlel I A Love Story. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. By DANIEL DEFOE. With 37 Illustrations by 
 
 GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. Post 8vo, half-cloth, . 
 
 Robinson (F7~W.) t Novels by. 
 
 Women are Strange. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, . 
 
 The Hands of Justice. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. 6rf. ; post 8vo Illustrated boards, -a. 
 
 The Woman jnjihe Dark. Crown 8vo. cloth, y. M. ; post 8vo, Illustrated boards, 2j. 
 
 Robinson (PhilJT^Works by. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 65, each. 
 
 Tha Poets' Birds. | The Poets' Beasts. | The Poets' Reptiles. Fishes, and Insects. 
 
 Roll of Battle" Abbey, TlieTX~List of the Principal "Warriors who 
 
 came from Normandy with William the Conqueror. 1066. Printed in Gold and Colours, ST. ' 
 
 Rosengarten (A.). A Handbook of Architectural Styles. Trans- 
 
 lated by W. COLLBTT-SANDARS. With 630 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, ^s. 6d. 
 
 Ross (Albert). A Sugar Princess. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 
 Rowley (Hon. Hugh), Works by. Post 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 Punlana: or, Thoughts Wise and Other-wise : a Collection of the Best Riddles, Conundrums, Jokes, 
 
 Sells, &c., with numerous Illustrations by the Author. 
 More Punlana ; A Second Collection of Riddles, Jokes, &c. With numerous Illustrations. 
 
 Runciman (James), Stories by. 
 
 Schools and Scholars. Post 8vo, cloth, as. 6d. 
 
 Skippers and Shellbacks. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6rf. -- -^-~~. 
 
 Russell (Dora), Novels by. 
 
 A Country Sweetheart. Post 8vo, picture boards, zr. ; picture cloth, flat back, z/. 
 
 The Drift of Fate. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d.; picture cloth, flat back, gf. 
 
 Russell (Herbert). True Blue; or, 'The Lass that Loved a Sailor.' 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth. 3*. 64. 
 
ao CHATTO & W1NDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane. London, W.C. 
 Russell (Rev. John) and his Out-of-door Life. By E. W. L. 
 
 DAVIES. A New Edition, with Illustrations coloured by hand. Royal Svo, cloth, i6s. net. 
 
 Russell (W. Clark), Novels, &c., by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 3^. 6rf. each ; post Svo, Illustrated boards, as. each ; cloth limp, . fid. each. 
 Round the Galley-Fire. , An Qcaan Tragedy. 
 
 T_ Al nws-^^si- wy_.i___ TM- MI-* . A - Jr I ' 
 
 In the Middla Watch. 
 
 On the Fo'k'sle Head. 
 
 A Voyage to the Cape. 
 
 A Book for the Hammock. 
 
 The Mystery of the 'Ocean Star. 
 
 The Romance of Jenny Hariov/e. 
 
 My Shipmate Louise. 
 
 Alone on a Wide Wide Saa. 
 
 The Good Ship Bfohook.' 
 
 The Phantom Death. 
 
 Is He tha Man? I The Convict Ship. 
 
 Heart of Oa&, I The Last Entry. 
 
 Tho Tale of the Ten. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3^. 6d. each, 
 
 A Tale of Two Tunnels. I The Death Ship. 
 
 The Ship : Her Story. With 50 Illustrations by H. C. SEPPINGS WRIGHT. Small 4to, cloth, 6s. 
 The Pretty Polly ' : A Voyage of Incident. With 12 Illustrations by G. E. ROBERTSON. 
 Large crown Svo, cloth, gilt edges, 5J. 
 
 Saint Aubyn (Alan), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, v. 6d. each ; post Svo, Illustrated boards, as. each. 
 A Follow of Trinity. With a Note by OLIVER WE.NDELL HOLMES and a Frontispiece. 
 The Junior Dean. I The Master of St. Benedict's. I To His Own Master. 
 Orchard Damerel. I In the Face of the World. | The Tremlett Diamonds. 
 
 Fcap. Svo, cloth boards, is. 6rf. each. 
 The Old Maid's Sweetheart. | Modest Little Sara. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3* . &/. each. 
 
 The Wooing of Kay. I A Tragic Honeymoon. I A Proctor's Wooing. 
 Fortune's Gate. | Gallantry Bower. Bonnie Maggie Lauder, 
 
 Blary Unwin. With 8 Illustrations by PERCY TARRANT. Mrs. Dunbar'a Secrat. 
 
 Saint John (Bayle). A Levantine Family. ~A~New Edition. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 SaTa (George A.). Gaslight and Daylight. Post Svo, boards, 25. 
 Scotland Yard, Past and Present : Experiences of Thirty-seven Years. 
 
 By Ex-Chief-Inspector CAVANAGH. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, zs, ; cloth, 9S. 6d. 
 
 Secret Out, The : One Thousand Tricks with Cards ; with Entertain- 
 
 ing Experiments In Drawing-room or 'White' Magic. By W. H. CREMHR. With 300 Illustrations. Crown 
 Svo, cloth extra, 4J. 6d. 
 
 Seguin (L. G.), Works by. 
 
 The Country of the Passion Play (Oberammergau) and the Highlands of Bavaria. With 
 
 Map and 37 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 Walks In Algiers. With Two Maps and 16 Illustrations. Crown 8yp, cloth extra. 6s. 
 
 Senior (Wm.). By Stream and Sea. Post Svo, cloth, 25. 6d. 
 Sergeant (Adeline), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. each. 
 
 Under False Pretences. | Dr. Endlcott's Experiment. 
 
 Shakespeare for Children: Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. 
 
 With Illustrations, coloured and plain, by J. MOYR SMITH. Crown 4to, cloth gilt, 3J. 6c'. 
 
 Shakespeare the Boy. With Sketches of the Home and School Lii'e, 
 
 the Games and Sports, the Manners, Customs, and Folk-lore of the Time. By WILLIAM J. Roi.FE, 
 Litt.D. A New Edition, with & Illustrations, and an INDEX OF PLAYS AND PASSAGES RE- 
 F ERRED TO. Crown Svo. cloth pilt, y. t>d. 
 
 Sharp (William). Children of To-morrow. Crown 8vo, cloth. 6s. 
 Shelley's (Percy Bysshe) Complete Works in Verse and Pi-ose. 
 
 Edited, Prefaced, and Annotated by R. IlERNE SHEPHERD. Five Vols., crown Svo, cloth, jr. d. each. 
 Poetical Works, in Three Vols. : 
 
 Vol. I. Introduction by the Editor ; Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson ; Shelley's Corre- 
 spondence with Stockdale ; The Wandering Jew ; Queen Mab, with the Notes ; Aiastor, 
 and other Poems ; Rosalind and Helen ; Prometheus Unbound ; Adonais, &c. 
 II. Laon and Cythna: The Cenci; Julian and Maddalo; Swellfoot the Tyrant; The Witch of 
 
 Atlas ; Epipsychidion ; Hellas. 
 
 III. Posthumous Poems; The Masque of Anarchy; and other Pieces. 
 Prose Works, in Two Vols. : 
 
 Vol. I. The Two Romances of Zastrozzl and St. Irvyne ; the Dublin and Marlow Pamphlets ; A Refu- 
 tation of Deism ; Letters to Leigh Hunt, and some Minor Writings and Fragments. 
 II. The Essays ; Letters from Abroad ; Translations and Fragments, edited by Mrs. SHELLEY. 
 With a Biography of Shelley, and an Index of the Prose Works. 
 
 Sherard (R. H.). Rogues; A Novel. Crown 8vo. cloth, 15. 6d. 
 Sheridan's (Richard Brinsley) Complete Works, with Life and 
 
 Anecdotes. Including his Dramatic Writings, his Works in Prose and Poetry, Translations, Speeches, 
 and Jokes. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 The Rivals, The School for Scandal, and other Plays. Post Svo. half-bound, 2*. 
 
 Sheridan's Comedies : The Rivals and The School for Scandal. Edited, with an Intro- 
 duction and Notes to each Play, and a Biographical Sketch, by GRANDER MATTHEWS. Witt 
 Illustrations. Demy Svo, half-parchment, 121. f>d. 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, VV.C. 21 
 Shier (M. P.). The Purple Cloud. Crown 8vo,"cloth. 35. 6d. ~ 
 Sidney's (Sir Philip) Complete Poetical Works, including all 
 
 those in Arcadia.' With Portrait. Memorial-Introduction, Notes, &c., by the Rev. A. B. GROSART, 
 P.P. Three Vols., crown 8vo, cloth boards, y. 6d. each. 
 
 Signboards : Their History, including Anecdotes of Famous Taverns and 
 
 Remarkable Characters. By JACOB LARWOOD and JOHN CAMDEX HOTTEN. With Coloured Frontis- 
 piece and 94 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. cloth extra, y. 6d. __ 
 
 Siins (George R.), Works by. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2J. each ; cloth limp, aj. 6rf. each. 
 
 Memoirs of a Landlady, 
 Scenes from the Show. 
 The Ten Commandments: Stories. 
 
 The Ring o' Bells. I My Two Wives 
 Tinltletop's Crime. [ Tales of To-day. 
 Zeph i A Circus Story, &c. 
 
 Dramas of Life. With 60 Illustrations. 
 
 Crown 8vo, picture cover, ij. each ; cloth, is. 6d. each. 
 The Dagonet Reciter and Reader: Being Readings and Recitations In Prose and Versa 
 
 selected from his own Works by GEORGE R. SlllS. 
 
 The Case of George Candlemas. | Dagonet Ditties. (From The Referee.) 
 
 How the Poor Live; and Horrible London. With a Frontispiece by F. BARNARD. 
 
 Crown 8vo, leatherette, is. | Dagonet Dramas of the Day. Crown 8vo, is. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. each ; post Svo, picture boards, 2S. each ; cloth limp, 2s. 6d. each. 
 Mary Jane's Memoirs. I Mary Jane Married, | Rogues and Vagabonds. 
 
 Dagonet Abroad. 
 
 '^ Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 Once upon a Christmas Time. With 8 illustrations by CHARLES GREEN, R.I. 
 In London's Heart : A Story of To-day. Also in piciure cloth, flat back, 2.1-. | A Blind Marriage. 
 Without the Limelight : Theatrical Life as it is. I The Small-part Lady, &o. 
 Biographs of Babylon ; Life Pictures of London's Moving Scenes. 
 
 Sister Dora: A Biography^ By MARGARET LONSDALE. With Four 
 
 Illustrations. Demy Svo, picture cover, 4rf. ; cloth, dd. 
 
 Sketchiey (Arthur). A Match in the Dark. Post Svo, boards. 2*. 
 Slang Dictionary (The) : Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth extra, 6s. Cd. 
 
 Smart (Hawley), Novels by. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth 31. &r. each ; post Svo, picture boards, ss. each. 
 Beatrice and Benedick. Long Odds. 
 
 Without Love or Licence. | The Master ol RathHolly. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, . &i. each. 
 
 The Outsider I A Racing Rubber. 
 
 _JThe Plunger. Post 8vo, picture boards, zj. 
 
 SniitiTpnvioyr), Works by. 
 
 The Prince of Arolls. With 130 Illustrations. Post Svo, cloth extra, y. 6d. 
 
 The Wooing of the Water Witch. With numerous Illustrations. Post Svo. cloth. 6t. 
 
 Snazelleparilla. Decanted by G. S. EDWARDS. With Portrait of 
 
 G H. SNAZELLE. and 65 Illustrations by C. LYALL. Crown Svo, cloth, y.6d. 
 
 Society in London. Crown Svo, 15. ; cloth, 15. 6d. 
 
 Somerset (Lord Henry). Songs of Adieu. Small 4to Jap, vel.,6*. 
 Spacing (T. A., LL.B.). Elizabethan Demonology: An Essay 
 
 on the Belief in the Existence of Devils. Crown Svo, cloth extra, ej. 
 
 Speight (T. W.), Novels by 
 
 Post Svo. ilh 
 
 The Mysteries of Heron Dyke. 
 By Devious Ways, &c. 
 Hoodwinked ; & Sandycroft Mystery. 
 The Golden Hoop. | Back to Life. 
 
 ustrated boards, zs. each. 
 
 The Loudwator Tragedy. 
 Burgo'B Romance. 
 Quittance in Fuli. 
 A Husband from the Saa. 
 
 Post Svo, cloth limp, is. 6d. each. 
 
 A Barren Title. I Wife or No Wife? 
 
 Crown Svo. cloth extra, 3^. t>d. each. 
 
 A Secret of the Sea. | The Grey JDfionk. I The Master of Trenanco. 
 A Minion of the Moon: A Romance of the King's Highway. 
 
 The Secret of Wyvern Towers. I The Doom of Siva. I The Web of Fate. 
 The Strange Experiences of Mr. Verschoyle. I As It was Written. 
 Her Ladychip (being the GENTLEMAN'S ANNUAL for 1903). Demy 8vo. u. [AVz-. 
 
 Spenser for Children. By M. H. TOWRY. With Coloured Illustrations 
 
 by WALTER J. MORGAN. Crown 4to. cloth extra. 3*. 64. 
 
 Sprigge (5. Squire). An industrious Chevalier. Crown Svo, 
 
 cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Spettigue (H. H.). The Heritage of Eve. Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 StafforTTJoiin), Novels by. 
 
 Doris and I. Crown Svo, cloth, 3* . w. I Carlton Prlorg, Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
aa CHATTO & WlNDUS. Publishers, in St. Martin' a Lane. London. W. C. 
 Starry Heavens (The) : A POETICAL BIRTHDAY BOOK Royal i6rao, 
 
 __ cloth extra. ss. 6rf. _ __ _ _ * 
 
 Stag-Hunting: with the 'Devon and Somerset.' An Account of 
 
 the Chase of the Wild Red Deer on Exmoor, 1887-1901. By PHILIP EVERED. With 70 Illustrations 
 by H. M. LOMAS. Crown 410, cloth gilt, i6.r.jnet. _ _____ _ 
 
 Stedman (E. C.). Victorian Poets. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 95. 
 Stephens (Riccardo, M.B.) The Cruciform Mark: The Strange 
 
 Story of RICHARD TRBCENNA, Bachelor of Medicine (Univ. Edinh.) Crown 8vo. cloth. 3 j. 6d. 
 
 Stephens (Robert Neilson). Philip Winwood : A Sketch of the 
 
 Domestic History of an American Captain in the War of Independence. Crown 8vo. cloth, 3*. 6ci. _ 
 
 Sterndale (R. Armitage). The Afghan Knife: A Novel. Post 
 
 8vo, cloth, 31. 6d. ; illustrated boards, ss. 
 
 Stevenson (R. Louis), Works by. 
 
 Crown Svo, buckram, gilt top, 6s. each. 
 
 Travels with a Donkey, with a Frontispiece by WALTER CRANE. 
 An Inland Voyage. With a Frontispiece by WALTER CRANH. 
 Familiar Studies of Men and Books. 
 
 The Silverado Squatters. With Frontispiece by J, D. STRONG. 
 
 The Merry Men. | Underwoods: Poems. | Memories and Portraits, 
 
 Yirglnibus Puerlsque, and other Papers. | Ballads. | Prince Otto. 
 
 Across the Plains, with other Memories and Essays. 
 Weir of Hermiston. _ I In the South Seas. 
 
 A Lowden Sabbath Morn. With 27 Illustrations by A. S. BOYD. Fcap. 8yo cloth 6s. 
 Songs of Travel. Crown 8vo, buckram, $s. 
 Hew Arabian Nights. Crown 8vo, buckram, gilt top, 6j. ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, g*. 
 
 POPULAR EDITION, medium 8vo, 6d. 
 The Suicide Club; and The Rajah's Diamond. (From NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.) With 
 
 Eight Illustrations by W. J. HENNESSY. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 The Stevenson Reader : Selections from the Writings of ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. Edited 
 
 by LLOYD OSBOURNE. Post 8vo, cloth, as. 6d. ; buckram, gilt top, 3*. 6d. 
 The Pocket R.L.S. : Favourite Passages from the Works of STEVENSON. Small i6mo, cloth, 
 
 at. net ; leather, 3*. net. __ 
 
 ARGE TYPE, FINE PAPER EDITIONS. Pott 8vo, cl., gilt top, ss. net each ; leather, gilt edges v net each. 
 Familiar Studies of Men and Books. I Hew Arabian Mights. 
 Robert Louis Stevenson: A Life Study in Criticism. By H. BELLYSE BAILDON. With 
 _ 2 Portraits. SECOND EDITION, REVISED. Crown 8vo, buckram, gilt top, 6s. _ 
 
 Stockton (Frank R.). The Young Master of Hyson Hall. With 
 
 numerous Illustrations by VIRGINIA H. DAVISSON and C. H. STEPHENS. Crown 3vo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 Storey (Q. A., A.R.A.). Sketches from Memory. With 93 
 
 Illustrations by the Author. Demy 8vo, cloth, gilt top, iaj. 6rf. 
 
 Stories from Foreign Novelists. With Notices by HELEN and 
 
 ALICE ZiMMBRN. Crown 8vo. cloth extra y._6_rf. __ 
 
 Strange Manuscript (A) Found in a Copper Cylinder. Crown 
 
 SYO, cloth extra, with 19 Illustrations by GILBERT GAUL, 3*. 6d, ; post 8vo, illustrated boards, ss. 
 
 Strange Secrets. Told by PERCY FITZGERALD, CONAN DOYLE, FLOR- 
 
 ENCE MARRYAT. &c. Post 8vo. Illustrated boards, gj. _ 
 
 Strutt (Joseph). The Sports and Pastimes of the People of 
 
 England ; including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Shows, &c., from 
 the Earliest Period. Edited by WILLIAM HONE. With 140 Illustrations. Cr. 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. t,d. 
 
 Sundowner, Stories by. 
 
 Told by the Taffrall. Cr. 8vo, cl., 31. 6d. | The Tale of the Serpent. Cr. 8vo, cl , flat back, gf. 
 
 Surtees (Robert). Handley Cross; or, Mr. Jorrocks's^lluntT 
 
 With 79 Illustrations by JOHN LEECH. A New Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, -u. _ 
 
 Swinburne's (Algernon Charles) Works. 
 
 Selections from the Poetical Works of 
 
 C. Swinburne. Fcap. 8vo 6j. 
 
 'A-?. 
 
 Atalanta In Calydon. Crown Svo. &r. 
 Chastelard : A Tragedy. Crown 8vo, -js. 
 Poems and Ballads. FIRST SERIES. Crown 
 
 8vo, or fcap. 8vo, 9^. 
 
 Poems and Ballads. SECOND SHR. Cr.8vo,oj. 
 oems & Ballads. THIRD SERIES. Cr.Svo,?*. 
 " before Sunrise. Crown 8vo, tos. 6d. 
 r ell : A Tragedy. Crown 8vo, iss. 6d. 
 
 agedy. C 
 Nations. 
 
 Bongs of Two Nations. Crown 8ro, 6s. 
 
 George Chapman. (See Vol. II. of G. CHAP- 
 
 MANS Works.) Crown 8vo, $s. 6d. 
 Essays and Studies. Crown 8vo, iss. 
 Breohtheus : A Tragedy. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 A Note on Charlotte Bronte. Cr. 8vo. 6s. 
 A Study of Shakespeare. Crown 8vo, 8s. 
 Bong* of the Springtides. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Studies in Song. Crown 8vo, js. 
 
 Mary Stuart : A Tragedy. Crown 8vo, 8*. 
 
 Tristram of Lyonesse. Crown 3vo, gs. 
 
 A Century of Roundels. Small 4to, 8s. 
 
 A Midsummer Holiday. Crown 8vo, ^s. 
 
 Marino Faliero : A Tragedy. Crown 8vo, 6t, 
 
 A Study of Victor Hugo. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Miscellanies. Crown Svo, tss. 
 
 Locrine : A Tragedy. Crown Svo, &r. 
 
 A Study of Ben Jonson. Crown Svo, ^t. 
 
 The Sisters : A Tragedy. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 fstrophel, &c. Crown Svo, -js. 
 tudies in Prose and Poetry. Cr. Svo, 91. 
 The Tale of Balen. Crown Svo, 7*. 
 Rosamund, Queen of the Lombards: A 
 
 Tragedy. Crown Svo, 6*. 
 A New Volume of Poemi. Cr. ftro. [Sfttrttjt. 
 
CHATTO & W1NDUS. Publishers, 111 St. Mar tin' a Lane. London. W.C. 33 
 Swift's (Dean) Choice Works, in Prose and Verse. With Memoir, 
 
 f Portrait, and Facsimiles of the Maps in ' Gulliver's Travels." Crown 8vo, cloth, jr. 6d. 
 * Gulliver's Travels, and A Tale of a Tub. Post Svo, half-bound, ss. 
 
 Jonathan Swift; A Study. By ). CHURTON COLLINS. Crown 8vo. cloth extra. 8s. 
 
 Syntax's (Dr.) Three Tours : In Search of the Picturesque, in Search 
 
 of Consolation, and in Search of a Wife. With ROWLANDSON'S Coloured Illustrations, and Life of the 
 Author by J. C. HOTTBN. Crown Svo. cloth extra, js. M. 
 
 Taine's History of English Literature. Translated by HENRY VAN 
 
 LAUN. Four Vols., small demy Svo, doth boards, 30*. POPULAR EDITION, Two Vols., large crown 
 8vo, cloth extra, iy. 
 
 Taylor (Bayard). Diversions of the Echo Club: Burlesques of 
 
 Modern Writers. Post Svo, cloth limp, ss. 
 
 Taylor (Tom). Historical Dramas: 'JEANNE DARC,' 'TWIXT AXE 
 
 AND CROWN,' -THE FOOL'S REVENGE," ARKWRIGHT'S WIFE,' *ANNE BOLEYNE,' 'PLOT AND 
 PASSION.' Crown Svo, u. each. 
 
 temple (Sir Richard, G.C.S.I.). A Bird's-eye View of Pictur- 
 
 esque India. With 32 Illustrations by the Author. Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Thackerayana : Notes and Anecdotes. With Coloured Frontispiece and 
 
 Hundreds ot Sketches by WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. Crown Svo, cloth extra, ,y. 6d. 
 
 Thames, A New Pictorial History of the. By A. S. KRAUSSE. 
 
 JWith 340 Illustrations. Post 8vo, cloth, u. 6d. 
 
 Tiiornas (Annie), Novels by. 
 
 The Siren's Web z A Romance of Lond 
 Comrades True. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top. 6s. 
 
 The Siren's Web : A Romance of London Society. Crown Svo, cloth, 3;. M. 
 
 Thomas (Bertha), Novels by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. each, 
 
 The Violin-Player. I In a Cathedral City. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, (>s. each. 
 The House on the Scar; a Tale of South Devon. | The Son of the House. 
 
 Thomson's Seasons, and The Castle of Indolence. With Intro- 
 
 duction by ALLAN CUNNINGHAM, and 48 Illustrations. Post 8vo, half-bound, as. 
 
 Thoreau : His Life and Aims. By H. A. PAGE. With a Portrait 
 
 and View. Post 8vo buckram, 3*. 6d. 
 
 Thornbury (Walter), Books by. 
 
 The Life and Correspondence of J. M. W. Turner. With Eight Illustrations In Colours and 
 
 Two Woodcuts. New and Revised Edition. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6a. 
 Tales for the Marines. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, aj. 
 
 Timbs (John), Works by. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 Clubs and Club Life in London: Anecdotes of its Famous Coffee-houses, Hostelries, and 
 
 Taverns. With 41 Illustrations. 
 
 English Eccentrics and Eccentricities: Stories of Delusions. Impostures, Sporting Scenes, 
 Eccentric Artists, Theatrical Folk, &c. With 48 Illustrations. 
 
 Twain's~TMark) Books. 
 
 The Author's Edition de Luxe of the Works of Hark Twain, in 22 Volumes (limited 
 to 600 Numbered Copies for sale in Great Britain and its Dependencies), price 13 i$s. net the 
 Set ; or, i2s. 6d. net per Volume, Is now complete, and a detailed Prospectus may be had. The 
 First Volume of the Set Is SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. (Sold only in Sets.) 
 
 UNIFORM LIBRARY EDITION OF MARK TWAIN'S WORKS. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth extra, y. dd. each. 
 
 Mark Twain's Library of Humour, with 197 Illustrations by E. W. KEMBLE. 
 
 Roughing It ; and The Innocents at Home. With 200 Illustrations by F. A. FRASER. 
 
 The American Claimant. WithSi Illustrations by HAL HURST and others. 
 
 *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. With m Illustrations. 
 
 Tom Sawyer Abroad. With 26 Illustrations by DAN BEARD. 
 
 Tom Sawyer, Detective, &c. With Photogravure Portrait of the Author. 
 
 Pudd'nhead Wilson. With Portrait and Six IlUustrations by LOUIS LOEB. 
 
 *A Tramp Abroad. With 314 Illustrations. 
 
 *The Innocents Abroad ; or, The New Pilgrim's Progress. With 234 Illustrations. (The Two Shil- 
 ling Edition is entitled Mark Twain's Pleasure Trip.) 
 
 *The Gilded Age. By MARK TWAIN and C. D. WARNER. With 212 Illustrations. 
 
 *The Prince and the Pauper. With 190 Illustrations. 
 
 'Life on the Mississippi. With 300 Illustrations. 
 
 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. With 174 Illustrations by E. W. KRMBLR. 
 
 A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. With 220 Illustrations by DAN BEARD. 
 
 *The Stolen White Elephant. | 'The 1,OOO,OOO Bank-Note. 
 
 A Double-barrelled Detective Story. With 7 Illustrations by Lucius HITCHCOCK. 
 
 The Choice Works of Mark Twain. Revised and Corrected throughout by the Author. With 
 Life, Portrait, and numerous Illustrations. 
 
 %* The books marked * may be had also In post Svo. picture boards, at 2s . each. 
 Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. each, 
 
 Personal Recollections of Joan of Aro. With Twelve Illustrations by F. V. Du MONO. 
 
 More Tramps Abroad. 
 
 The Man that Corrupted Hftdleyburg, and other Stories and Sketches. With a Frontispiece. 
 
 Mark Twain's Sketches, Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 21, 
 
24_CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 
 Trollope (Anthony), Novels by. 
 
 rm, wr C wn r'< 0> C ' h extra> y - 6d - Cac ^ ; , P| t ,8vo > Illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 The Way We Live Now. Hr. Scarborough's Familv 
 
 Frau Frohmann. \ Marion Fay. \ The Iand?ealuara. * 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, as' each. 
 - Kept *n the Dark. | The American Senator. | The Golden Lion of Granpar*. 
 
 Trollope (Frances E.), Novels by. 
 
 r tw. OKI Cr Wn 8v ^ cl = h Cxtr f' 3i<* each ! Post Svo, Illustrated boards. 2 S . each. 
 Elhe Ships upon the Sea. | Mabel's Progress. I Anna Furnesa. 
 
 Trollope (T. A.). Diamond Cut Diamond. Post Svo. illust. bds., zs. 
 Tytler (C. C. Fraser-). Mistress Judith: A Novel. Crown~8vo, 
 
 cloth extra, 3*. 6d. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. 
 
 Tytler (Sarah), Novels by. 
 
 Crown Svo. cloth extra, y. 6d. each ; post Svo. Illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 Burled Diamonds. | The Blackball Ghosts. | what She Camo Through. 
 
 Post Svo, illustrated boards, zs. each. 
 The Bride's Past. J The Huguenot Family. I Noblesse Oblige. I Disappeared. 
 
 Saint Mungo's City. | Lady Bell. _J^Beauty and the Eaast. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, v. 6d. each. 
 
 The Ittacdonald Lass. With Frontispiece. I fvirs. Carmichael's Goddesses. 
 The Witch- Wife. | Hachel Langton. | Sapphira. I A Hcnoymoon's Eclipse. 
 
 A Young Dragon. 
 
 Citoyenne Jacqueline. Crown 8vo, picture cloth, flat back, zs. 
 Three Men of Mark. Crown 8vo. cloth, gilt top, 6j. 
 
 Upward (Allen), Novels by. A Crown of Straw. Cr. Svo, cl. 65. 
 
 The Queen Against Owen. Crown 8vo. cloth, y. (>d. ; post Svo, picture boards, zs. 
 The Prince ot Balklstan. Post 8vo. picture boards, zs. 
 
 Vandam (Albert D.). A Court Tragedy. With 6 Illustrations by 
 
 J. BARNARD DAVIS. Crown STO, cloth. y.td. 
 
 Vashfl and Esther. By -Belle' of The World. Cr. Svo, cloth, 35. 6d7 
 Vizetelly (Ernest A.), Books by. Crown 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. eachT 
 
 The Scorpion: A Romance of Spain. With a Frontispiece. I The Lover'8 Progress. 
 With Zola in England: A Story of Exile. With 4 Portraits. ' 
 
 A Path of Thorns. Crown Svo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. 
 
 Bluebeard: An Account of Comorre the Cursed and Gilles de Rate; with a Summary of various 
 Tales and Traditions. With 9 Illustrations. Demy 8vo, cloth, 9*. net. 
 
 Wagner (Leopold). How to Get on the Stage, and how to 
 
 Succeed there. Crown Svo, cloth, zs. 6d. 
 
 Walford's County Families of the United" Kingdom (1903^ 
 
 Containing Notices of tha Descent, Birth, Marriage, Education, &c., of more than 12,000 Distinguished 
 Heads of Families, their Heirs Apparent or Presumptive, the Offices they hold or have held, their Town 
 and Country Addresses, Clubs, &c. Royal 8vo, clotn gilt. y>s. [Prefgrin?. 
 
 Waller (S. E.).~ Sebastian! 1 ! Secret. With 9 Illusts. Cr. Svo, cl7T6$. 
 Walton and Cotton's Complete Angler. With Memoirs and Notes 
 
 by Sir HARRIS NtCOLAS, and 61 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth antique, 7*. 6d. 
 
 Walt Whitman, Poems by. Edited, with Introduction, by WILLIAM 
 
 M. ROSSETTI. With Portrait. Crown Svo, hand-made paper and buckram. 6s. 
 
 Warden (Florence), Novels by. 
 
 Joan, the Curate. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. Id. ; picture cloth, flat back, zs. 
 
 A Fight to a Finish. Crown Svo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 
 The Heart of a Girl. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt top, 6s. [Shortly. 
 
 Warman (Cy). The Express Messenger. Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 Warner (Chas. Dudley). A Roundabout Journey. Cr.Svo, cl.,6s. 
 Warrant to Execute Charles I. A Facsimile, with the 59 Signatures 
 
 and Seals. Printed on paper 22 in. by 14 In. zs. 
 Warrant to Execute Mary Queen of Scots. A Facsimile, including Queen Elizabeth's Signa- 
 
 ture and the Great Seal, zs. 
 
 ___________ ___ _ 
 
 AVassermann (Lillias). The Daffodils. Crown Svo, cloth, i^. 6d. 
 Weather, How to Foretell the, with the Pocket Spectroscope. 
 
 By F. W. CORY. With Ten Illustrations. Crown Svo. is. ; cloth, u. 6rf. _ _ 
 
 Webber; JSyron). Sport and Spangles. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2*. 
 Werner (A.). Chapenga's White Man. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. 
 Westbury (Atha). The Shadow of Hilton Fernbrook: A Ro- 
 
 mance of Maoruand, Crown Svo, cloth, ST. 6d, 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, m St. Martin's Lane, London, w -^_^3 
 Westall (William), Novels by. 
 
 Trust Money. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. M. ; post Svo, illustrated boards, ss. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. each. 
 
 As a Man Sows. 1 As Lack would have it. | The Sacred Crescents. 
 i Her Ladyship's Secret. 1 The Old Bank. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3^. 6rf. each. 
 
 A Woman Tempted Him, 
 For Honour and Life. 
 Her Two Millions. 
 Two Pinches of Snuff. 
 With the Kad Eagle. 
 A Red Bridal. 
 
 Nigel Forteseua 
 Ben donga. | Birch Dene. 
 The Old Factory (also at 6af.) 
 Sons of Belial. 
 Strange Crimes. 
 
 The Phantom City. 
 Ralph Norbreck's Trust. 
 A Quear Race. 
 Rod Ryvlngton. 
 Roy 01 Roy's Court. 
 
 Wheelwright (E. Gray). A Slow Awakening. Crown 8vo, 65. 
 Whishaw (Fred.), Novels by. 
 
 A Forbidden Name : A Story of the Court of Catherine the Great Crown 8vo, cloth, 3*. 6d. 
 Jfiazeppa. Crown 8vo, cloth, giit top, 6r. 
 
 White (Gilbert). Natural History of Selborne. Post 8vo, 2s. 
 Wilde (Lady). The Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and 
 
 Supersti'.ions of Ireland ; with Sketches of the Irish Past. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6cf. 
 
 Williams (W. Mattieu, F.R.A.S.), Works by. 
 
 Science in Short Chapters. Crown Svo, cloth extra, ^s. M. 
 
 A Blmple Treatise on Heat. With Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, . 6d. 
 
 The Chemistry of Cookery. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 A Vindication of Phrenology. With Portrait and 43 Illusts. Demy 8vo, cloth extra, tzs. dd. 
 
 Williamson (Mrs. F. H.). A Child Widow. Post 8vo. bds., zs. 
 Wills (C. J.), Novels by, 
 
 An Basy-gomg Fellow. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. 6.<. [ His Daad Past. Crown Svo. cloth, 6s. 
 
 Wilson (Dr. Andrew, F.R.S.E.), Works by. 
 
 Chapters on Evolution. \Vith 259 Illustrations. Crown Svo, clcth extra, -js. 6d. 
 Leisure-Time Studies. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 60-. 
 
 Studies in Life and Sense. With 36 Illustrations. Cro-.vn 8vo, cloth, y. 6./. 
 ommon Accidents: How to Treat Them. With Illustrations. Crown Svo, u. ; cloth, is.6d. 
 Olimpses of Nature. With 35 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3*. 6a. 
 
 Winter (John Strange), Stories by. Post Svo, illustrated boards, 
 
 2J. each ; cloth limp, zs. 6d. each. 
 
 Cavalry Life. I Regimental Legends. 
 
 Cavalry Life and Regimental Legends^ LIBRARY EDITION. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6J. 
 A Soldier's Children. With 34 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, jr. 6d. 
 
 Wissmann (Hermann von). My Second Journey through 
 
 Equatorial Africa. With 92 Illustrations. Demy Svo, cloth, its. 
 
 Wood (H. F.), Detective Stories by. Post Svo, boards, zs. each. 
 
 The Passenger from Scotland Yard. I The Englishman of the Rue Cain. 
 
 Woolley (Celia Parker). Rachel Armstrong; or, Love and The. 
 
 ology. Post 8 vo. cloth, ss. 6d. 
 
 Wright (Thomas, F.S.A.), Works by. 
 
 Caricature History of the Georges ; or, Annals of the House of Hanover. Compiled from 
 Squibs, Broadsides, Window Pictures, Lampoons, and Pictorial Caricatures of the Time. With 
 over 300 Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. 
 
 History of Caricature and of the Grotesque in Art, Literature, Sculpture, and 
 Painting. Illustrated by F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A. Crown Svo, cloth, js. 64. 
 
 Wynman (Margaret). My Flirtations. With 13 Illustrations by 
 
 J. BERNARD PARTRIDGE. Post 8vo, cloth limp, 2^. 
 
 Zola's (Emile) Novels. UNIFORM EDITION. Translated or Edited, with 
 
 Introductions, by ERNEST A. VlZETELLY. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6rf. each. 
 
 His Masterpiece. 
 The Joy of Life. 
 Germinal: Master and Man. 
 The Honour of the Army. 
 Abbe Mouret's Transgression. 
 The Fortune of the Rcugor.s, 
 The Conquest of Piassana. 
 The Dram-Shcp, 
 
 The Fat and the Thin. | Money, 
 
 Kis Excellency. 
 
 The Dream. 
 
 The Downfall. 
 
 Doctor Pascal. 
 
 Lourdea. I Frnltfulnoai. 
 
 Rome. Work. 
 
 Paris. 1 T*uth, [Skertly. 
 
 POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo, 6ii. each. 
 
 The Dram- Shop. (Shortly. \ The Downfall. 
 
 With Zola in England. By ERNEST A. VIZETELLY. With Four Portraits. Crown 8 vo, clotty. 6rf. 
 
 *Z2* (L. Zangwill).-A Nineteenth Century Miracle. 
 
26 ChATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lade, Loftdbh, W.C, 
 SOME BOOKS CLASSIFIED IN SERIEsT" 
 
 The St. Martin's Library. Pott 8vo, cloth, SB. net each; leather, 35. net each. 
 
 The Woman in White. By WILKIH COLLNS. 
 
 All Sorts and Conditions of Men. By Sir WALTER BEEANT. 
 
 The Cloister and th Hearth. By CHAS. READE. | ' It ia NeverToo Late to Mead.' By CH. READH. 
 
 Familiar Studies of Men and Books. By ROBERT Louis STEVENSON. 
 
 The Deemster. . 
 
 ife of the Fields. By RICHARD JEFFERIES. 
 
 . 
 
 New Arabian Nights. By ROBERT Louis STEVENSON. I The Deemster. By HALL CAINE. 
 Under the Greenwood Tree. By THOMAS HARDY. | The Life o 
 
 The Mayfair Library. Post 8vo, cloth limp, M. 6d. per Volume. 
 
 Qulp and Quiddities. By W. D. ADAMS. 
 
 The Agony Column of ' The Times.' 
 
 A Journey Round My Boom. By X. DE MAISTRB. 
 
 Poetical ingenuities. By W. T. DOBSON. 
 
 The Cupboard Papers. By FIN-BEC. 
 
 Eongs of Irish Wit and Humour. 
 
 Animals and their Masters. By Sir A HELPS. 
 
 Social Pressure. By Sir A. HELPS. 
 
 Autocrat of Breakfast-Table. ByO. W. HOLMES. 
 
 Curiosities of Criticism. By H. }. JENNINGS. 
 
 Pencil and Palette. By R. KEMPT. 
 
 Little Essays: from LAMB'S LETTERS. 
 Forensic Anecdotes. By JACOB LARWOOD. 
 Theatrical Anecdotes. By JACOU LARWOOD. 
 Ourselves. By E. LYNN LINTON'. 
 Witch Stories. By K. LYNN LINTON. 
 Pastimes and Players. By R. MACGRHCOR. 
 New Paul and Virginia. By W. H. MALLOCJC. 
 Puck on Pegasus. By H. C. I'ENNHLI.. 
 Pecasus Re-saddled. By H. C. PKNNELL. 
 By Stream and Sea. By WILLIAM SENIOR. 
 
 The Golden Library. Post 8vo, cloth limp, 2*. per volume. 
 
 Songs for Sailors. By W. C. BENNETT. | Scenes of Country Life. By EDWARD IESSE. 
 
 Livei of the Necromancers. By W. GODWIN. I La Mort d' Arthur : Selections from MA LLORY. 
 
 The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. By I The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope. 
 
 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. | Diversions of the Echo Club. BAYA RD TAYLOR. 
 
 ' Handy Novels. Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards, is. 6d. each. 
 Dr. Palllser's Patient. By GRANT ALLEN i Seven Sleepers of Epheaus. M. E. COLERIDGE. 
 
 Monte Carlo Stories. By JOAN BARRETT. The Old Maid s Sweetheart. By A. ST. AUBYN. 
 
 Black Spirits and White. By R. A. CRAM. | Modest Little Sara. By ALAN ST. AUhVN. 
 
 My Library. Printed on laid paper, post 8vo, half-Roxburghe, zs. 6<i. each. 
 The Journal of Maurice de Querin. I Christie Joanstone. By CHARLKS READE. 
 The Dramatic Essays of Charles Lamb. Peg Wofflngton. By CHARLES READE. 
 Citation of William Shakapeare. W. S. LANDOR. ' 
 
 The Pocket Library. Post 8vo, printed on laid paper and hf.-bd., 2s. each. 
 Gastronomy. By BRILLAT-SAVARIN. The Essays of Eli*. By CHARLES LAMB. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe. Illustrated by G. CRUIKSHANK 
 Autocrat and Professor. By O. W. HOLMES. 
 Provincial Letters of Blaiae Pascal. 
 Whims and Oddities. By THOMAS HOOD. 
 Leigh Hunt's Essays. Edited by E. OLLIER. 
 The Barber's Chair, By DOUGLAS JERROLP. 
 
 Anecdotes of ths Clergy. By JACOIS LARWOOD. 
 The Epicurean, &c. By THOMAS MOORE. 
 Plays by RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. 
 Gulliver's Travels, &c. By Dean SWIFT. 
 Thomson's Seasons. Illustrated. 
 White s Natural History of Selborne. 
 
 POPULAR SIXPENNY NOVELS. 
 
 Strathmore. By OUIDA. [Shortly. 
 
 The Dram-Shop. By EMILH ZOLA. [Shortly. 
 The Tents of Shem. GRANT ALLEN. [Shortly. 
 Griffith Gaunt. By CHARLES RHADB. [Shortly. 
 Armadale. By WlLKIH COLLINS. [Shorty. 
 
 Diana Harrington. By B. M. CHOKER. [Shortly. 
 Joseph's Coat. By D. C. MURRAY. [Shortly. 
 Shadow of the Sword. R. BucHANAN.[5A0r//y. 
 Children of Gibeon. WALTER BESANT. [Shortly. 
 The Orange Girl. By WALTER BESANT. 
 All Sorts and Conditions of Men. WALT. BESANT. 
 The Chaplain of the Fleet, BESANT & RICH. 
 Ready-Money Mortiboy. BESANT & RICH. 
 The Golden Butterfly. BHSANT and RICK. 
 The Deemster. By HALL CAINE. 
 The Shadow of a Crime. By HALL CAINH. 
 A Son of Hagar. By HALL CAINH. 
 Antonina. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 TSi Moonstone. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 The Woman ia White. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 The Dead Secret. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 Man and Wife. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 The New Magdalen. By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 Held In Bondage. By OUIDA. 
 
 Moths. By OUIDA. | Puck. By OUIDA. 
 
 Under Two Flags. By OUIDA. 
 
 Peg Woffington ; and Christie Johnstone. By 
 
 CHARLES READE. 
 The Cloister and the Hearth. By CHARLES 
 
 READE. 
 
 It is Never Too Late to Mend. CHARLES READS. 
 Hard Cash. By CHARLES READE. 
 Foul Play. By CHARLES READE. 
 New Arabian Nights. By R. L. STEVENSON. 
 The Old Factory. By WILLIAM WESTALL. 
 The Downfall. By E. ZOLA. 
 
 THE PICCADILLY NOVELS. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITIONS OF NovELs.many Illustrated, crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3$. dd. each. 
 
 By Mrs. ALEXANDER. 
 
 Valerie's Fate. Barbara. 
 
 A Life Interest. A Fight with Fat. 
 
 Mona's Choice. A Golden Autumn. 
 
 By Woman's Wit. Mrs CrichtonsCr editor. 
 
 The Cost of Her Pride. The Step-mother. 
 
 A Missing Hero. 
 By M. ANDERSON.-Othello's Occupation. 
 
 By Q. WEBB APPLETON. 
 Ka.h Conclusion,.... . ^OLD. 
 
 Artcmu Ward Complete, 
 
 By F. M. ALLEN. Green M Grass. 
 
 By GRANT ALLEN. 
 
 Philistia. | Babylon. The Great Taboo. 
 
 Strange Stories. Durnaresq's Daughter. 
 
 For Maiinie's Sake, Duchess of Powysiand. 
 
 In all Shades. Blood Royal. 
 
 The Beckoning Hand. I- Greets Masterpiece, 
 
 The Devil's Die. The Scallywag 
 
 This Mortal Coil. At Market Value. 
 
 The Tents of Shem. Under Sealed Grue**. 
 
 By ROBERT BARR. 
 
 In a Steamer Chair. i A Woman IntervenM 
 From Whose Bourne. j Eevenga I 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, ill St. Martin's Lane, London. W.C. 37 
 
 THE PICCADILLY (3/6) NOVELS continued. 
 
 By MATT CRIM. # 
 
 By FRANK BARRETT. 
 
 The Adventures of a Fair Rebel. 
 
 Woman of IronBraceloti. 1 Under a Strange Mask, 
 
 By S. R. CROCKETT and others. 
 
 Fettered for Life. A Missing Witness. 
 
 Tales of Our Coast. 
 
 The Harding Scandal. | Was She Justified t 
 
 By B. M. CROKER. 
 
 By ' BELLE.' Vashtl and Esther. 
 
 Diana Barrington. 
 
 The Real Lady Hilda. 
 
 By Sir W. BESANT and J. RICE. 
 
 Proper Pride. 
 A Family Likeneu. 
 
 Married or Single ? 
 Two Masters. 
 
 Reaciy-MoneyMortiboy. 
 Mv Little Girl. 
 
 By Celia's Arbour. 
 Cnaplain of the Fleet. 
 
 Pretty Miss Neville. 
 A Bird of Passage. 
 
 In theKingdom of Kerry 
 Interference. 
 
 With Harp and Crown. 
 
 The Seamy Side. 
 
 Mr. Jervis. 
 
 A Third Person, 
 
 This Son of Vulcan. 
 
 The Case of Mr. Lucraft. 
 
 Village Tales. 
 
 Beyond the Pale. 
 
 The Golden Butterfly. 
 The Monks of Thelsma. 
 
 In Trafalgar s Bay. 
 The Ten Years' Tenant. 
 
 Some One Else. | Jason. 
 Infatuation. 
 
 Miss Balmaine's Fast. 
 Terence. 
 
 By Sir WALTER BESANT. 
 
 By ALPHONSE DAUDET. 
 
 All Sorts A Conditions. 
 
 Armorel of Lyonesse. 
 
 The Evangelist ; or, Port Salvation. 
 
 The Captains' Room. 
 All in a Garden Fair. 
 Dorothy Forster. 
 Uncle Jack. | Holy Rose 
 World Went Well Then. 
 Children of Gibson. 
 
 S.Katherine'i by Tower 
 Verbena Camellia, &c. 
 The Ivory Gate. 
 The Rebel Queen. 
 Dreams of Avarice. 
 In Deacon's Orders. 
 
 H. C. DAVIDSON. Mr. Sadler's Daughter!. 
 By HARRY DE WINDT. 
 
 True Tales of Travel and Adventure. 
 By DICK DONOVAN. 
 
 Man from Manchester. Tales of Terror. 
 
 Herr Paulns. 
 
 The Master Craftsman. 
 
 Records of Vincent Trill 
 
 Chronicles of Michael 
 
 For Faith and Freedom. 
 To Call Her Mine. 
 
 The City of Refuse. 
 A Fountain Sealed. 
 
 The Mystery of 
 Jamaica Terrace. 
 
 Danevitch. [Detective. 
 Tyler Tatlock, Private 
 
 The Revolt of Man. 
 The Bell of St. Paul's. 
 
 The Changeling. 
 The Fourth Generation 
 
 Deacon Brodie. 
 By RICHARD DOWLING. 
 
 The Chai 
 
 By AMBROSE BIERCE In Midst of Life. 
 
 By HAROLD BINDLOSS. Ainslie's JuJn. 
 
 By M. McD. BODKIN. 
 
 Dora Myrl. | Shillelagh and Shamrock. 
 
 By PAUL BOURGET.-A Living Lie. 
 By J. D. BRA YSHAW. Slum Silhouette!. 
 By H. A. BRYDEN._An Exiled Scot. 
 By ROBERT BUCHANAN. 
 Shadow of the Sword. The New Abelard. 
 A Child of Nature. Matt. | Rachol Dene 
 
 God and the Man. Master of the Mine 
 
 Martyrdom of Madeline The Heir of Linne. 
 Love Me for Ever. Woman and the Man. 
 
 Annan Water. Red and White Heather. 
 
 Foxglove Manor. Lady Kilpatrick. 
 
 The Charlatan. Andromeda. 
 
 R. W. CHAMBERS.-The King in Yellow 
 By J. M. CH APPLE. -The Minor Chord. ' 
 
 By HALL CAINE. 
 
 Shadow of a Crime. | Deemster I Son of Hacar 
 By AUSTIN CLARE.-By Rise ot Rivtr 
 
 By Mrs. ARCHER CLIVE 
 
 Paul Ferroll. I Why Paul Ferroll Killed his Wife. 
 
 By ANNE COATES.-Ries Diary. 
 
 By MACLAREN COBBAN. 
 
 The Red Sultan. | The Burden of Isabel 
 
 By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 Armadale. JAfterDark. 
 No Name. | Antonina 
 Basil. | Hide and Seek. 
 The Dead Secret. 
 Queen of Heart!. 
 My Miscellanies. 
 The Woman in White. 
 The Law and the Lady. 
 The Haunted Hotel. 
 The Moonstone. 
 Man and Wife. 
 Poor Miss Finch. 
 Miss or Mrs. ? 
 
 The New Magdalen, 
 
 The Frozen Deep. 
 
 TheTwoDestiniei. 
 
 ' I Say No. 1 
 
 Little Novels. 
 
 The Fallen Leaves. 
 
 Jezebel's Daughter. 
 
 The Black Robe. 
 
 Heart and Science. 
 
 The Evil Genius. 
 
 The Legacy of Cain. 
 
 A Rogue's Life. 
 
 Blind Love. 
 
 By MORT. & FRANCES COLLINS. 
 Blacksmith & Scholar. I You Play me False. 
 The Village Comedy. | Midnight to Midnight. 
 M. J. COLQUHOUN.-Every Inch Soldier. 
 
 By HERBERT COMPTON. 
 The Inimitable Mrs. Massingham. 
 
 By E.H.COOPER.-Geoffory Hamilton. 
 By V. C. COTES Two Girls on a Barge. 
 
 By C. E. CRADDOCK. 
 HU VatteVstlJ 6 Great 8moky M " 4 * 1 "' 
 
 1 3 By H?' N. CRELLIN. 
 
 Ecmancei of the Old Seraglio. 
 
 Old Corcoran s Money. 
 
 By A. CONAN DOYLE. 
 The Finn of Girdlestone. 
 
 By S. JEANNETTE DUNCAN. 
 A Daughter of To-day. I Yemen's Aunt. 
 By ANNIE EDWARDES. 
 Archie Lovell. f A Plaster Saint. 
 
 By Q. S. EDWARDS. Bnazelleparilla. 
 By Q. MANVILLE FENN 
 
 Cursed by a Fortune. 
 The Case of AiLsa Gray. 
 Commodore Junk. 
 The New Mistress. 
 Witness to the Deed. 
 The Tiger Lily. 
 The White Virgin. 
 
 A Fluttered Dovecote. 
 King of the Castle. 
 Master of Ceremonies. 
 The Man with a Shadow 
 One Maid's Mischief. 
 Story of Antony Grace. 
 This Man's Wife. 
 In Jeopardy. [nlng. 
 A Woman Worth Win- 
 
 Black Blood. 
 Doable Cunning. 
 
 By PERCY FITZGERALD. -Fatal Zero 
 By Hon. Mrs. WALTER FORBES. 
 
 Dumb. 
 
 By R. E. FRANCILLON. 
 
 One by One. I Ropes of Sand. 
 
 A Dog and his Shadow. Jack Doyle's Daughter. 
 
 A Real Queen. 
 
 By HAROLD FREDERIC. 
 Beth's Brother's Wife. | The Lawton Girl. 
 
 By GILBERT GAUL. 
 
 AStraugeManuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder. 
 
 By PAUL GAULOT.-The Red Shirts. 
 
 By CHARLES GIBBON. 
 Robin Gray. I The Golden Shaft. 
 
 Loving a Dream. The Braes of Yarrow. 
 
 Of High Degree 
 
 By E. QLANVILLE. 
 The Lost Heiress. I The Golden Rock 
 
 Fair Colonist | Fosslcker I Tales from the Veld. 
 
 By E. J. GOODMAN. 
 The Fate of Herbert Wayce. 
 
 By Rev. S. BARING GOULD. 
 Red Spider. | Eve. 
 
 By ALFRED A. GRACE. 
 Tales of a Dying Race. 
 CECIL GRIFFITH.-Corlnthia Marazloa. 
 
 By A. CLAVERING GUNTER. 
 A Florida Enchantment. 
 
 By BRET HARTE. 
 
 A Waif of the Plains. 
 A Ward of the Golden 
 Gate. [Springs. 
 
 A Sappho of Green 
 Col. Starbottle's Client. 
 Busy. | Sally Dows. 
 Belf-Ringer of Angel's. 
 Tales of Trail and Tow 
 
 Hew Condensed Novel*. 
 
 Protegee of Jack 
 Hamlini. 
 Clarence. 
 Barker's Luck. 
 Devll'i Ford, [celsior. 
 The Crusade of the ' Ex- 
 Three Partner!. 
 Gabriel Conroy. 
 
a8 CHATTO & VV1NDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 
 
 THE PICCADILLY (3/6) NOVELS continued, 
 
 By OWEN HALL. 
 The Track of a Storm. | Jetsam. 
 
 By COSMO HAMILTON. 
 Glamour of Impossible. I Through a Keyhole. 
 
 By THOMAS HARDY. 
 Under the Greenwood Tree. 
 
 By JULIAN HAWTHORNE. 
 Garth. | Dust. Beatrix Randolph. 
 
 Ellice Quentin. 
 Sebastian Strome. 
 Fortune's Fool. 
 
 Dl* 
 
 David Poindaxter'; 
 
 appearance. 
 Spectre of Camera. 
 
 By Sir A. HELPS. Ivan dcBlron. 
 Bv I. HENDERSON. Agatha Page. 
 
 By O. A. HENTY. 
 Dorothy's Double. | The Queen's Cup. 
 
 HEADON HILL.-Zambra, the Detective. 
 By JOHN HILL. -The Common Ancestor. 
 
 By TIGHE HOPKINS. 
 Twixt Love and Duty. | Nugents of Carricorma. 
 The Incomplete Adventurer. | Nell Haffendea. 
 VICTOR HUGO. The Outlaw of Iceland. 
 
 By FERGUS HUME. 
 
 Lady from Nowhere. I The Millionaire Mystery 
 
 By Mrs. HUNGERFORD. 
 
 A Point of Conscience. 
 
 A Maiden all Forlorn. 
 The Coming of Chloe. 
 Nora Crelna. 
 An Anxious Moment. 
 
 Marvel. 
 
 A Modern Circe. 
 
 Lady Patty. 
 
 A Mental Btrngcle. 
 
 Lady Verner's Flight. 
 
 The Red-House Mystery April's Lady, 
 
 The Three Graces. Peter's Wife. 
 
 Professor's Experiment. Lovice. 
 
 By Mrs. ALFRED HUNT. 
 The Leaden Casket. I Self- Condemned. 
 That Other Person. ] Mrs. Juliet. 
 .By R. ASHE KING. -A Drawn Game. 
 ^ By GEORGE LAMBERT. 
 The President of Boravia. 
 
 By EDMOND LEPELLETIER. 
 Madame Sana-Gene. 
 By ADAM LI LBURN. A Tragedy in Marble 
 
 By HARRY LINDSAY. 
 Rhoda Roberts. | The Jacobite. 
 
 By HENRY W. LUC Y. -Gideon Fleyce. 
 
 By E. LYNN LINTON. 
 
 Patricia Kemball. 
 Under which Lord? 
 ' My Love I ' | lone. 
 Paston Carew. 
 Sowing the Wind. 
 With a Silken Thread. 
 The World Well Lost. 
 
 By JUSTIN MCCARTHY. 
 
 The Atonement of Learn 
 
 Dundas. 
 
 Tho One Too Many. 
 Dulcie Everton. 
 Rebel of the Family. 
 An Octave of Friends. 
 
 A Fair Saxon. 
 Lluley Rochford. 
 Dear Lady Disdain, 
 Camiola. 
 
 Waterdale Neighbours. 
 My Enemy's Daughter. 
 Miss Misanthrope. 
 
 Donna Quixote. 
 
 Maid of Athens. 
 
 The Comet of a Season. 
 
 The Dictator. 
 
 Red Diamonds. 
 
 The Riddle Ring. 
 
 The Three Disgraces. 
 
 Mozionia. 
 
 By JUSTIN H. MCCARTHY. 
 
 A London Legend. | The Royal Christopher 
 
 By GEORGE MACDONALD. 
 Heather and Snow. 1 Phantasies. 
 W. H. MALLOCK.-The New Republic. 
 P. & V. MARGUERITTE.-The Disaster. 
 By L. T. MEADE. 
 
 Fo] 
 
 A Soldier of Fortune. 
 In an Iron Grip. 
 Dr. Rumsey's Patient. 
 The Voic e of the Charmer 
 
 On Brink of a Chaan. 
 The Siren. 
 The Way of a Woman. 
 A Son of Lihmael. 
 The Blue Diamond. 
 
 An Adventuress. 
 
 A Stumble by the' Way. 
 By LEONARD MERRICK. 
 This Stage of Fools. ; Cynthia. 
 
 By EDMUND MITCHELL 
 The Lone Star Rush. 
 
 By BERTRAM MITFORD. 
 
 The Gun-Runner. The King s Assegai. 
 
 LuckcfGerardRidgeley. Reush. Fannin^'sQueat, 
 The Triumph of Hilary Blachland. 
 By Mrs. MOLESWORTH. 
 Hathercourt Rectory. 
 
 By J. E. MUDDOCK. 
 Maid Marian and Robin Hood. | Golden Idol. 
 Baslle tha J&ster. | Young Lochiavar. 
 
 By D. CHRISTIE MURRAY. 
 A Life's Atonement. I BobMartin's Little Girl 
 Time's Revenues. 
 A Wasted Crime. 
 In Direst Peril. 
 Mount Despair. 
 A Capful o' Kails. 
 Tales In Prose & Versa 
 A Race for Trillions. 
 
 Joseph's Coat. 
 
 Coals of Fire. 
 
 Old Blazer's Hero. 
 
 Val Strange. | Hearts. 
 
 A Model Father. 
 
 By the Gate of the Sea. 
 
 A Bit of Human Nature. 
 
 First Person Singular. 
 
 Cynic Fortune. 
 
 The Way f the World. 
 
 This Little World. 
 His Own Ghost. 
 Church of Humanity. 
 
 By MURRAY and HERMAN. 
 
 The Bishops' Bible. I Paul Jones's Alias. 
 One Traveller Returns. | 
 
 By HUME NISBET.-' Bail Up I' 
 
 By W. E. NORRIS. 
 Saint Ann's. I Billy Bellow. 
 
 Miss Wentworth's Idea. 
 
 By G. OHNET. 
 A Weird Gift. ' | Love's Depths. 
 
 By Mrs. OLIPHANT.-The Sorceres*. 
 By OUIDA 
 
 Held in Bondage. 
 Strathmore. ! Chandos. 
 Under Two Fla^s. 
 Idalia. [Gage. 
 
 Cecil Castlemaine'i 
 Tricotrin. | Puck. 
 Folie Farine. 
 A Dog of Flanders. 
 Pascarel. | Signa. 
 Princess Napraxine. 
 Two Wooden Shoes. 
 
 In a Winter City. 
 Friendship. 
 Moths. i RafTmo. 
 Pipistrello. | Ari.ifiue. 
 A Village Commune. 
 Blmbi. | Wanda. 
 Frescoes. | Othmar. 
 In Maremma. 
 Syrlin. | Guilderoy. 
 Santa Barbara. 
 Two Offenders. 
 
 Th9 Waters of Edera. 
 By MARGARET A. PAUL. 
 
 Gentle and Simple. 
 
 By JAMES PAYN. 
 
 Lost Sir Massingbcrd. . Tha Talk of the Town, 
 The Family Scapegrace Holiday Tasks. 
 
 For Cash Only. 
 
 The Burnt Million. 
 
 The Word and the W11L 
 
 Sanny Stories. 
 
 A County Family. 
 Less Black than We're 
 
 Painted. 
 
 A Confidential Agent. 
 A Crape from a Thorn. 
 In Peril and Privation. 
 Mystery of Mirbrldge. 
 
 A Trying Patient. 
 A Modern Dick WhiV 
 tington. 
 
 Hieh Spirits. [By Proxy. 
 By WILL PAYNE.-JerrytheDreamar, 
 
 By Mrs. CAMPBELL PRAED. 
 Outlaw and Lawmaker. I Mrs. Tregaskiss. 
 Christina Chard. I Nulma. | Madame Iz&a. 
 
 ' As a Watch in the Night.' 
 By E. C. PRICE.-Valentina. 
 
 By RICHARD PRYCE. 
 Miss Maxwell's Affections. 
 
 By CHARLES READE. 
 Peg Wofington ; and i Griffith Gaunt. 
 
 Lova Little, Love Long, 
 The Double Marriage. 
 Foul Play. 
 
 Put Y'rsslfinHisPlac* 
 A Terrible Temptation. 
 
 Christie Johnstons. 
 
 Hard Cash. 
 
 Cloister & the Hearth. 
 
 Never Too Late to Mend 
 
 The Course of True 
 Love ; and Single- 
 heart & Doubleface. 
 
 A Simpleton. 
 
 A Woman Hater. 
 
 The Jilt, &otherStories: 
 
 & Good Stories of Man. 
 
 Trades ; A Hero and A Perilous Secret. 
 
 a Martyr; and The Readiana; and BlblS 
 
 Wandering Keir. Characters. 
 
 By FRANK RICHARDSON. 
 The Man who Lost His Past. 
 
 By Mrs. J. H. RIDDELL. 
 Weird Stories. | A Rich Man's Daughter. 
 
CHATTO & WiNDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 29 
 
 THE PICCADILLY (3/6) NOVELS continued, 
 
 By AMELIE RIVES. 
 Barbara Derlng. I Meriel. 
 
 By F. W. ROBINSON. 
 The Hands of Justice. I Woman in the Dark. 
 By ALBERT ROSS. -A Sugar Princess. 
 J. RUNCIMAN. Skippers and Shellbacks. 
 
 By W. CLARK RUSSELL. 
 Bound the Galley-Fire. My Shipmate Louise. 
 In the Middle Watch. Alone onWideWide Se 
 
 On the Fo'k'sle Head 
 A Voyage to tha Cape. 
 Book for tha Karumock. 
 Mysteryof 'Ocean Star' 
 Jenny Harlowe. 
 
 An Oce&n Tragedy 
 A Tale of Two Tu 
 
 nnels 
 
 Sea. 
 
 The Phantom Death. 
 Is He the Kan ? 
 Good Ship 'Mohock. 1 
 The Convict Ship. 
 Heart of Oak. 
 The Tale of the Ten. 
 The Last Entry. 
 The Death Ship. 
 Bv DORA RUSSELLDriftof Fate. 
 By HERBERT RUSSELL. True Blue. 
 BAYLE ST. JOHN. -A Levantine Family. 
 
 By ADELINE SERGEANT. 
 Dr. Endicott's Experiment. 
 Tinder False Pretences. 
 By M. P. SH I EL. -The Purple Cloud. 
 By GEORGE R. SIMS. 
 
 Dagonet Abroad 
 
 Once Upon a Christinas 
 
 Time. 
 Without the Limelight. 
 
 In London's Heart. 
 Mary Jane's Memoirs. 
 Mary Jane Married. 
 
 The Small-part Lady. 
 
 Rogues and Vagabonds. A Blind Marriage. 
 
 Biographs of Babylon. 
 By HAVVLEY SMART. 
 Without Love or Licence. ) The Outsider. 
 The Master of Rathkelly. Beatrice & Bsnedick. 
 Long Odds. I A Racing Kubber. 
 
 ByJ. MOYR SMITH. 
 
 The Prince of Argolis. 
 By T. W. SPEIGHT. 
 
 A Minion of the Moon. 
 
 A Secret of the Sea. 
 The Grey Monk. 
 The Master of Trenance 
 The Web of Fate. 
 The Strange Experiences of Mr. Verschoyle 
 By ALAN ST. AUBYN. 
 
 Secret Wyvern Towers. 
 The Doom of Siva. 
 As it was Written. 
 
 The Tremlett Diamonds. 
 The Wooing of May. 
 A Tragic Honeymoon. 
 A Proctor's Wooing. 
 Fortune's Gate. 
 Bonnie Maggie Lauder. 
 Mary Unwin. 
 
 A Fellow of Trinity. 
 The Junior Dean. 
 Master of St.Bonedict's. 
 To his Own Master. 
 Gallantry Bower. 
 In Face of the World. 
 Orchard Damerel. 
 
 Mrs. Dunbar's Secret. 
 
 By JOHN STAFFORD. Doris and I. 
 
 By R. STEPHENS. The Cruciform Mark. 
 
 By R. NEILSON STEPHENS. 
 Philip Winwood. 
 
 R. A. STERN DALE. The Afghan Knife. 
 R. L. STEVENSON. The Suicide Club. 
 
 By FRANK STOCKTON. 
 The Young Master of Hyson HalL 
 By SUNDOWNER. Told by the Taffrail. 
 By ANNIE THOMAS.-The Sirens Web. 
 
 By BERTHA THOMAS. 
 The Violin-Player. | In a Cathedral City. 
 
 By FRANCES E. TROLLOPE 
 
 Like Ships upon Sea. I Mabel's Progress. 
 Anne Furness. 
 
 By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. 
 The Way we Live Now. I Scarborough s Family. 
 Frau Frohmann. The Land-Leaguers. 
 
 Marion Fay. 
 
 By IVAN TURGENIEFF, &c. 
 Stories from Foreign Novelists. 
 
 By MARK TWAIN. 
 Choice Works. | Pudd'nhead Wilson. 
 
 Library of Rumour. 
 The Innocents Abroad. 
 Roughing It; and The 
 
 Innocents at Koine. 
 A Tramp Abroad. 
 TheAmerieaa Claimant. 
 AdventuresTomSawyer 
 Tom Sawyer Abroad. 
 Tom Sawyer. Detective 
 
 The Gilded Age. 
 Prince and the Pauper. 
 Life on the Mississi ' 
 
 sjssippi. 
 Adventures of 
 ckleberry Finn. 
 
 A Yankee at tha Court 
 
 of King Arthur. 
 Stolen White Elephant. 
 1.000,000 Bank-note. 
 A Double-barrelled Detective Story. 
 C. C. F.-TYTLER. Mistress Judith. 
 
 By SARAH TYTLER. 
 WhatShe CameThrough , Mrs. Carmichael's God- 
 Buried Diamonds. j deases. 
 
 The Blackball Ghosts. Rachel Langton. 
 Tha Macdonald Lass. A Honeymoon's Eclipse. 
 Witch- Wife. | Sapphira ' A Young Dragon. 
 
 By ALLEN UPWARD. 
 The Queen against Owen. 
 
 By ALBERT D. VANDAM. 
 A Court Tragedy. 
 
 By E. A. V1ZETELLY. 
 The Scorpion. | The Lover's Progresa. 
 
 By FLORENCE WARDEN. 
 Joan, the Curate. | A Fight to a Finish. 
 
 By CY WARMAN.-Express Messenger, 
 
 By A. WERNER. 
 Chapenga's White Man. 
 
 By WILLIAM WESTALL. 
 
 For Honour and Life. 
 A Woman Tempted Him 
 
 Her Two Millions. 
 Two Finches of SnnC. 
 Nigel Fortescue. 
 Birch Dene. 
 The Phantom City. 
 A Queer Race. 
 Ben Clough. 
 
 The Old Factory. 
 Red Ryvington. 
 
 Halph Norbreck's Trust 
 Trust-money. 
 Sons of Belial. 
 Roy of Roy's Court. 
 With the Red Eagle. 
 A Red Bridal. 
 Stransre Crimes (True 
 Stories). 
 
 By ATHA WESTBURY. 
 
 The Shadow of Hilton Fernbrook. 
 
 By FRED WHISHAW. 
 A Forbidden Name. 
 By C. J. WILLS. An Easy-going Fellow. 
 
 By JOHN STRANGE WINTER. 
 Cavalry Life ; and Regimental Legends. 
 A Soldier's Children. 
 
 By E. ZOLA. 
 
 The Joy of Ufa. I His Masterpiece. 
 
 The Fortune of the Rongons. 
 Abbe Mouret's Transgression. 
 The Conquest of Plassans. | Germinal. 
 The .Honour of the Army. 
 
 The Downfall. 
 The Dream. I Money. 
 Dr. Pascal. | ^nrdes. 
 The Fat and tLj Thin 
 
 His Excellency. 
 The Dram-Shop. 
 Rome. | Paris. | Work. 
 Fruitfulnesa. | Truth. 
 
 By 'ZZ. ' A Nineteenth Century Miracle. 
 
 CHEAP EDITIONS OF POPULAR NOVELS. 
 
 Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 25. each. 
 
 By ARTEMUS WARD. 
 
 Artetans Ward Complete. 
 
 By Mrs. ALEXANDER. 
 Maid, Wife, or Widow 7 I A Life Interest. 
 Blind Fate. Mona's Choice. 
 
 Valerie s Fate. 1 By Woman's Wit. 
 
 By E. LESTER ARNOLD. 
 Phra the Phoenician. 
 
 By GRANT ALLEN. 
 
 Philistia. | Babylon. 
 Strange Stories. 
 For Maimie's Sake. 
 In all Shades. 
 The Beckoning Hand. 
 The Devil's Die. 
 The Tents of Sham 
 The Great Taboo. 
 
 Dumaresq s Daughter. 
 Duchess of Powysland. 
 Blood Royal. [piece. 
 Ivan Greet's Master- 
 The Scallywag. 
 This Mortal Coil. 
 At Market Value. 
 Under Sealed Orders. 
 
36 CHATTO & W1NDUS, Publishers, in St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 
 
 TWO-SHILLING NOVELS continued. 
 * BY FRANK BARRETT. 
 
 Fettfc, fl for Life. 
 Little Lady Lin ton. 
 Between Life & Death. 
 Bin of Olga Zassoulich. 
 Folly Morrison. 
 Lieut. Barnabas. 
 Honest Davie. 
 A Prodigal's Progress. 
 By Sir W. BESANT and J. RICE. 
 
 Found Guilty. 
 A Recoiling vengeance. 
 For Love and Honour. 
 John Ford, &c. 
 Woman of IrotiBrace'ts 
 The Harding Scandal. 
 A Missing Witness. 
 
 Ready- Money Mortiboy 
 My Little Girl. 
 With Harp and Crown. 
 This Son of Vulcan. 
 The Golden Butterfly. 
 The Monks of Thelema. 
 
 By Celia's Arbour. 
 Chaplain of the Fleet. 
 The Seamy Side. 
 The Case of Mr. Lucraf t. 
 In Trafalgar's Bay. 
 The Ten Years' Tenant. 
 
 By Sir WALTER BESANT. 
 
 All Sorts and Condi- The Bell of St. Paul's. 
 
 tions of Men. 
 The Captains' Room. 
 All In a Garden Fair. 
 Dorothy Forster. 
 
 Uncle Jack. 
 
 The World Went Very 
 
 The Holy Rose. 
 Armorel of Lyonesse. 
 S.Katherine's by Tower 
 Verbena Camellia Ste- 
 phanotis. 
 
 The Ivory Gate. 
 
 Well Then. The Rebel Queen. 
 
 Children of Gibeon. Beyond the Dreams of 
 
 Herr Paulus. Avarice. 
 
 For Faith and Freedom. The Revolt of Man. 
 To Call Her Mine. In Deacon's Orders. 
 
 The Master Craftsman. The C ity of Refuge. 
 
 Bv AMBROSE BIERCE. 
 In the Midst of Life. 
 
 By FREDERICK BOYLE. 
 Camp Notes. I Chronicles of No-man's 
 
 Savage Life. I Land. 
 
 BY BRET HARTE. 
 
 Californlan Stories. 
 Gabriel Conroy. 
 Luck of Roaring Camp. 
 An Heiress of Red Dog. 
 
 Flip. | Maruja. 
 
 A Phyllis of the Sierras. 
 A Waif of the Plains. 
 Ward of Golden Gate. 
 
 By ROBERT BUCHANAN 
 
 The Martyrdom of Ma- 
 deline. 
 
 The New Abelard. 
 The Heir of Linne. 
 Woman and the Man. 
 Rachel Dene. | Matt. 
 Lady Kilpatrick. 
 
 Shadow of the Sword. 
 A Child of Nature. 
 God and the Man. 
 Love Me for Ever. 
 Foxglove Manor. 
 The Mastsr of the Mine. 
 Annan Water. 
 
 By BUCHANAN and MURRAY, 
 The Charlatan. 
 
 By HALL CAINE. 
 The Shadow of a Crime. I The Deemster. 
 A Son of Hagar. | 
 
 By Commander CAMERON. 
 The Cruise of the 'Black Prince.' 
 
 By HAYDEN CARRUTH. 
 The Adventures of Jones. 
 
 By AUSTIN CLARE 
 For tbe Love of a Lass. 
 
 By Mrs. ARCHER CLIVE. 
 Paul Ferroll. 
 Why Paul Ferroll Killed his Wife. 
 
 By MACLAREN COBBAN. 
 The Cure of Bouli. | The Red Sultan. 
 By WILKIE COLLINS. 
 
 Armadale. | AfterDark. 
 
 No Name. 
 
 Antonina. 
 
 Basil 
 
 Hide and Seek. 
 
 The Dead Secret. 
 
 Queen of Hearts. 
 
 Miss or Mrs.? 
 
 The New Magdalen. 
 
 The Frozen Deep. 
 
 The Law and the Lady 
 
 The Two Ltestinies. 
 
 The Haunted Hotel. 
 
 A Rogue'* Life, 
 
 My Miscellanies. 
 The Woman in White. 
 The Moonstone. 
 Man and Wife. 
 Poor Miss Finch. 
 The Fallen Leaves. 
 Jezebel's Daughter 
 The Black Robe. 
 Heart and Science. 
 ' I Say No ! ' 
 The Evil Genius. 
 Little Novels. 
 Legacy of Cain. 
 Blind Love. 
 
 By C. ALLSTON COLLINS. 
 
 The Bar Sinister. 
 
 By MORT. & FRANCES COLLETS. 
 
 Sweet and Twenty. 
 The Village Cornrdy. 
 You Play me False. 
 Blacksmith and Scholar 
 Frances. 
 
 Sweet Anne Page. 
 Transmigration. 
 From Midnight to Mid 
 
 night. 
 
 A Fight with Fortune. 
 B 
 
 By M. J. COLQUHOUN. 
 
 Every Inch a Soldier. 
 
 By C. EGBERT CRADDOCK. 
 
 The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains. 
 
 By MATT CRiM. 
 The Adventures of a Fair Rebel 
 By H. N. CRELLIN.-Talesof the Caliph. 
 By B. M. CROKER. 
 
 Pretty Miss Neville. 
 
 Diana Barrington. 
 
 To Let. 1 
 
 A Bird of Passage. 
 
 Proper Pride. 
 
 A Family Likeness. 
 
 A Third Person. 
 
 Village Tales and Jungle 
 
 Tragedies. 
 Two Masters. 
 Mr. Jervis. 
 The Real Lady Hilda* 
 Married or Single 7 
 Interference. 
 
 By ALPHONSF. DAUDET. 
 
 The Evangelist; or, Port Salvation. 
 
 By DICK DONOVAN. 
 
 In the Grip of ths Law. 
 From Information Re 
 
 ceived. 
 
 Tracked to Doom. 
 Link by Link 
 Suspicion Aroused. 
 Riddles Read. 
 
 The Man-Hunter. 
 Tracked and Taken. 
 Caught at Last 1 
 Wanted I 
 Who Poisoned Hetty 
 
 Duncan ? 
 
 Man from Manchester. 
 A Detective's Triumphs 
 The Mystery of Jamaica Terrace. 
 The Chronicles of Michael Dane vit ch. 
 
 By Mrs. ANNIE EDWARDES. 
 A Point of Honour. | Archie Lovell. 
 
 By EDWARD EGGLESTON. 
 Eozy. 
 
 By G. MANVILLE FENN. 
 The New Mistress. I The Tiger Lily. 
 
 Witness to the Deed. | The White Virgin. 
 By PERCY FITZGERALD 
 
 Bella Donna. 
 Never Forgotten. 
 Polly. 
 Fatal Zero. 
 
 Second Mrs. Tiliotson. 
 Seventy - five Brooke 
 
 Street. 
 The Lady of Brantom* 
 
 By P. FITZGERALD and others. 
 
 Strange Secrets. 
 
 By R. E. FRANC1LLON. 
 
 King or Knave? 
 Romances of the Lau 
 Ropes of Sand. 
 
 Olympia. 
 One by One. 
 
 A Dog and his Shadow 
 
 A Real Queen. 
 Queen Cophetua. 
 
 By HAROLD FREDERIC. 
 Beth's Brother's Wife. | The Lawton Girl. 
 Prefaced by Sir BARTLE FRERE. 
 Pandurang Hari. 
 
 By 
 
 ge Ma 
 
 A Strange Manuscript. 
 
 By CHARLES GIBBON. 
 
 Robin Gray. 
 
 Fancy Free. 
 
 For Lack of Gold. 
 
 What will World Say 7 
 
 In Love and War. 
 
 For the King. 
 
 In Pastures Green. 
 
 Queen of the Meadow. 
 
 A Heart's Problem. 
 
 The Dead Heart. 
 
 By WILLIAM GILBERT. 
 James Duke 
 
 By ERNEST GLANVILLE. 
 The Lost Heiress. I The Fossicker. 
 
 A Fair Colonist. 
 
 By Rev. S. BARING GOULD 
 Eid Spider, | Eve. 
 
 In Honour Bound. 
 Flower of the Forest. 
 The Braes of Yarrow. 
 The Golden Shaft. 
 Of High Degree. 
 By Mead and Stream. 
 Loving a Dream. 
 A Hard Knot. 
 Heart's Delight. 
 Blood-Money. 
 
CHATTO & WINDUS, Publishers, Hi St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 3 
 
 TWO-SHILLING NOVELS continued. 
 
 By ANDREW HALLIDAY. 
 Every-uay Papers. 
 
 By THOMAS HARDY. 
 Under the Greenwood Tree. 
 
 By JULIAN HAWTHORNE. 
 
 Beatrix Randolph. 
 
 Love or a Name. 
 
 David Poindexter a Dis- 
 appearance. 
 
 The Spectre of the 
 Camera. 
 
 Garth 
 
 Ellice Quentln. 
 
 Fortune's Fool. 
 
 Miss Cadogna. 
 
 Sebastian Strom*. 
 
 Dust. 
 
 By Sir ARTHUR HELPS. 
 Ivan de Biron. 
 
 By G. A. HENTY. 
 Rujub the Juggler. 
 
 By HEADON HILL. 
 Zambra the Detective. 
 
 By JOHN HILL. 
 Treason Felony. 
 
 By Airs. CASHEL HOEY. 
 The Lover's Creed. 
 
 By Mrs. GEORGE HOOPER. 
 The House of Raby. 
 
 By Airs. HUNGERFORD. 
 A Maidsn all Forlorn. Lady Verner's Flight. 
 In Durance Vile. Tae Red-House Mystery 
 
 Marvel. The Three Graces. 
 
 A Mental Struggle. Unsatisfactory Lover. 
 
 A Modern Circe. Lady Patty. 
 
 April's Lady. Nora Creina. 
 
 Peter's Wife. Professor's Experiment. 
 
 By Airs. ALFRED HUNT. 
 That Other Person. I The Leaden Casket. 
 Self-Condemned. | 
 
 By MARK KERSHAW. 
 Colonial Facts and Fictions. 
 
 By R. ASHE KING. 
 A Drawn Game. I Passion's Slav*. 
 
 The Wearing of the Bell Barry. 
 Green. 1 | 
 
 By EDMOND LEPELLETIER 
 Madame Sans-Gene. 
 
 By JOHN LEYS. 
 
 The Lindsays. 
 
 By E. LYNN LINTON. 
 
 Patricia Keniball. 
 
 The World Well Lost. 
 
 Under which Lord ? 
 
 Fusion Carew. 
 
 My Love I ' 
 
 lone. 
 
 With a Silken Thread. 
 
 By HENRY W. LUCY. 
 CHdeon Fleyce. 
 
 By JUSTIN MCCARTHY. 
 
 Dear Lady Disdain. Donna Quixote. 
 
 Waterdale Neighbours. " 
 
 My Enemy's Daughter 
 
 A Fair Saxon. 
 
 Linley Rochford. 
 
 Miss Misanthrope 
 
 Camiola 
 
 By HUGH MACCOLL. 
 Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet. 
 
 By GEORGE MACDONALD. 
 
 Heather and Snow. 
 
 By AGNES MACDONELL. 
 
 Quaker Cousins. 
 
 By W. H. MALLOCK. 
 
 The New Republic. 
 
 By BRANDER MATTHEWS. 
 
 A Secret of the Sea. 
 
 By L. T. A1EADK. 
 
 A Soldier of Fortune. 
 
 The Atonement of Learn 
 
 Duadas. 
 
 Rebel of the Family. 
 Sowing the Wind. 
 The One Too Many. 
 Dulcie Everton. 
 
 Maid of Athens. 
 The Comet of a Season. 
 The Dictator. 
 Red Diamonds. 
 The Riddle Ring. 
 
 A Model Father. 
 Joseph's Coat. 
 Coals of Fire. 
 Val Strange. | Hearts. 
 Old Blazer s Hero. 
 
 By LEONARD MERRICK. 
 
 The Man who was Good. 
 
 By Mrs. MOLESWORTH. 
 
 Hathercourt Rectory. 
 
 By J. E. MUDDOCK. 
 
 Stories Weird and Won- I From the Bosom of tae 
 derfoL Deep. 
 
 The Dead Man's Secret. | 
 
 By D. CHRISTIE MURRAY. 
 
 A Bit of Human Nature 
 First Person Singular. 
 Bob Martin's LittleGii L 
 Time's Revenges. 
 A Wasted Crime. 
 
 The Way of the World In Direst Peril. 
 
 Cynic Fortune. Mount Despair. 
 
 A Life's Atonement. A Capful o' Nails 
 
 By the Gate of the Sea. 
 
 By MURRAY and HERMAN. 
 
 One Traveller Returns. I The Bishops' Bible. 
 Paul Jones's Alias. | 
 
 By HUME NISBET. 
 
 ' Bail Up 1 ' | Dr.Bernard St. Vincent 
 
 By W. E. NORRIS. 
 
 Saint Ann's. | Billy Bellew. 
 
 By GEORGES OHNET. 
 
 Dr. Rameau. I A Weird Gift. 
 
 A Last Love. 
 
 By Mrs. OLIPHANT. 
 
 Whiteladics. I The Greatest Heiress In 
 
 The Primrose Path. | England. 
 
 Held In Bondage. 
 
 Strathmore. 
 
 Chandos. 
 
 Idalia. 
 
 Under Two Flags. 
 
 Cecil CastleKiiae sGage 
 
 Tricotrin. 
 
 Puck. 
 
 Folio Farine. 
 
 A Dog of Flanden. 
 
 Pascarel. 
 
 By OUIDA. 
 
 Signa. 
 Pnncef 
 
 Two Lit. Wooden Shoei. 
 Moths. 
 Bimbi. 
 Pipistrello. 
 A Village Commune. 
 Wanda. 
 Othmar 
 Frescoes. 
 In Ivf aremmsfc 
 Guilderoy. 
 Rnffino. 
 Syrlin. 
 
 Santa Barbara. 
 Two Offenders. 
 Ouida's Wisdom, Wit 
 and Pathos. 
 
 icesa Napraxine. 
 In a Winter City. 
 Ariadne. 
 Friendship. 
 
 By MARGARET AGNES PAUL. 
 Qentle and Simple. 
 
 By Airs. CAMPBELL PRAED. 
 
 The Romance of a. Station. 
 The Soul of Countess Adrian. 
 Outlaw and Lawmaker. | Mrs. Tregaskiia 
 Christina Chard. | 
 
 By JAMES PAYN. 
 
 Bentlnck's Tutor. 
 
 Murphy's Master. 
 
 A County Family. 
 
 At Her Mercy. 
 
 Cecil's Tryst. 
 
 The Clyffards of Clyffe. 
 
 The Foster Brothers. 
 
 Found Dead. 
 
 The Best cf Husband*. 
 
 Walter'! Word. 
 
 Halves. 
 
 Fallen Fortunes. 
 
 Humorous Stories. 
 
 200 Reward. 
 
 A Marine Residence. 
 
 Mirk Abbey 
 
 By Proxy. 
 
 Under One Roof. 
 
 High Spirits. 
 
 Carlyon's Tear. 
 
 From Exile. 
 
 For Cash Only. 
 
 Kit. 
 
 Xbe Canon's Ward. 
 
 The Talk of the Town. 
 Holiday Tasks. 
 A Perfect Treasure. 
 What He Cost Her. 
 A Confidential Agent. 
 Glow-worm Tales 
 The Burnt Million. 
 Sunny Stories. 
 Loat Sir Massmgberd. 
 A Woman's Vengeance. 
 The Family Scapegrace. 
 Gwendoline's Harvest. 
 Like Father, Like Son. 
 Married Beneath Him. 
 Not Wooed, but Won 
 Less Black than We re 
 
 Painted. 
 
 Some Private Views. 
 A Grape from a Thorn. 
 The Mystery of Mir- 
 
 bridge. 
 
 The Word and the Will. 
 A Prince of the 31oo<t. 
 A Trying Fatleat. 
 
33 CHATTO & VVINDUS, Publisher*, in St. Martin's Lane, London, VV.C. 
 
 TWO-SHILLING NOVELS continued. 
 
 By RICHARD PRYCE, 
 
 Miss Maxwell's AS actions. 
 
 By CHARLES READE. 
 
 It Is Never Too Lata to 
 
 Mend. 
 
 Christie Johnstons. 
 The Double Marriage. 
 Put Yourself in His 
 
 Place 
 Love Me Little, Love 
 
 Me Long. 
 The Cloister and the 
 
 Hearth. 
 
 Course of True Love. 
 The Jilt. 
 The Autobiography of 
 
 a Thief. 
 
 A Terrible Temptation. 
 
 Foul Play. 
 
 The Wandering Heir. 
 
 Hard Cash. 
 
 Singleheart and Double- 
 face. 
 
 Good Stories of Man and 
 other Animals. 
 
 Peg Wofington. 
 
 Griffith Gaunt. 
 
 A Perilous Secret. 
 
 A Simpleton. 
 
 Readiann.. 
 
 A Woman-Hater. 
 
 By Mrs. J. H. RIDDELL. 
 
 Weird Stories. i The Uninhabited House. 
 
 Fairv Water. The Mystery in Palace 
 
 Her Mother's Darling. Gardens. 
 The Prince of Wales's ' The Nun's Curse. 
 Garden Party. i Idle Talcs. 
 
 By F. W. ROBINSON. 
 Women are Strange. I Tiie Woman in the Dark 
 The Hands of Justice. | 
 
 By W. CLARK RUSSELL. 
 
 Round the Galley Fire. 
 On the Fo'k'ole Head. 
 In the Middle Watch. 
 A Voyage to the Cape. 
 A Book for tha Ham- 
 
 the 
 
 An Ocaaa Tragedy. 
 My S'uipmate Louisa. 
 Alone onWide Wide Zei 
 Good Shi? ' Mohock.' 
 The Phantom Death. 
 Is He the Man ? 
 Heart of Oak. 
 The Convict Ship. 
 Tlie Tale of the Ten. 
 The Last Entry. 
 
 By EK)RA RUSSELL. 
 
 A Country Sweetheart. 
 
 By GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. 
 
 Gashght and Daylight. 
 
 By GEORGE R. SIMS. 
 
 mock. 
 The Mystery of 
 
 Ocean Star.' 
 The Romance of Jenny 
 
 Harlowe. 
 
 Zeph. 
 
 Memoirs of a Landlady, i 
 Scenes from tha Show. 
 The 10 Commandments. 
 Dagonet Abroad. 
 Rogues and Vagabonds. 
 
 The Ring o Bells. 
 Mary Jane's Memoirs. 
 Mary Jane Married. 
 Tales of To day. 
 Dramas of Life. 
 Tinkletop's Crime. 
 My Two Wives. 
 
 By HAWLEY SMART. 
 
 Without Love or Licence. I The Plunger. 
 Beatrice and Benedick. I Long Odds. 
 The Master of Rathkelly. J 
 
 By T. W. SPEIGHT. 
 The Mysteries of Heron . Back to Life. 
 
 Dyke. The LoudwaterTragedy. 
 
 The Golden Hoop. Surge's Romance. 
 
 Hoodwinked. 
 
 By Devious Ways. 
 
 I Quittance in Full. 
 
 i A Kuaband from the Sea 
 
 Orchard Darner el. 
 
 In the Face of the World. 
 
 The Tremlott Di? mends. 
 
 By ARTHUR SKETCHLEY. 
 
 A Match in the Dark. 
 
 By R. A. STERNDALE. 
 
 The Afghan Enife. 
 
 By ALAN ST. AUBYN. 
 
 A Fellow of Trinity. 
 The Junior Dean. 
 Master of St.Beaedict'i 
 To His Own Master. 
 
 By R. LOUIS STEVENSON. 
 New Arabian Nights. 
 
 By ROBERT SURTEES. 
 
 Handley Cross. 
 
 By WALTER THORNBURY. 
 
 Tales for the Elarinas. 
 
 By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE. 
 
 Dia-r.ond Cut Diamond. 
 
 By F. ELEANOR TROLLGPE. 
 
 Like Ships 
 
 Sea. 
 
 upon tua I Anne Furness. 
 
 I Mabel's Progreas. 
 By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. 
 
 Frau Frohmanu. 
 Marion Fay. 
 Kept in the Dark. 
 The Way We Livo Now. 
 Tha Land-Leaguers. 
 
 By MARK TWAIN. 
 
 The American Senator. 
 Mr. Scarboroush's 
 
 Family. 
 GoldenLion of Graapere 
 
 A Pleasure Trip on the 
 
 Continent. 
 The Gilded Age. 
 Huckleberry Finn. 
 KarkTwain'8 Sketches. 
 Tom Sawyer. 
 A Tramp Abroad. 
 
 Stolen White EIe--.h-.nt. 
 Life on tlie Mississippi. 
 The Prince and the 
 
 Pauper. 
 A Yankee at the Court 
 
 of King Arthur. 
 1,000,000 Bank-Note. 
 
 By C. C. FRASER-TYTLER. 
 
 Mistress Judith. 
 
 By SARAH TYTLER. 
 
 Bride's Pass | Lady Ceil The Ku^uenot Family 
 Buried Diamonds. i 1'he Blackball Ghosts 
 
 St. Mango's City. | What SaeCamoThrough 
 
 Beauty and the Beast. 
 
 By ALLEN UPWARD. 
 
 The Queen against Owen. | Prince of Balkistan. 
 
 By WILLIAM WESTALL. 
 
 Trust-Money. 
 
 By Mrs. F. H. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 A Child Widow. 
 
 By J. S. WINTER. 
 
 Cavalry Life. | Regimental Legends. 
 
 By H. F. WOOD. 
 
 The Passenger from Scotland Yard. 
 The Englishman of the Hue Cain. 
 
 By MARGARET WYNMAN. 
 
 My Flirtations. 
 
 Noblesse Oblige. ' 
 disappeared. 
 
 NEW SERIES OF TWO-SHILLINQ NOVELS. 
 
 Picture cloth, flat backs. 
 
 The Constable of St. Nicholas. By EDWIN 
 
 L.KSTER ARNOLD. 
 St. Katherine's by the Tower. By Sir WALTER 
 
 BESANT. 
 Dora Myrl, the Lady Detective. By McD. 
 
 BODKIN. K.C. 
 
 Vincent Trill, Detective. By DICK DONOVAN. 
 Dark Deeds. By DICK DONOVAN. 
 A Crimson Crime. By G. MANVILLE FRNN. 
 The Red Shirts. By PAUL GAULOT. 
 The, Track of a Storm. By OWEN HALL. 
 i. Bv 
 
 In a Hollow of the Hills. By BRET HARTS. 
 Colonel Starbottle's Client. By BRET HARTE. 
 A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's. By BRET HARTE. 
 
 A Sappho of ttreen Springs. By BRET HARTE. 
 The Lady from Nowhere. By FERGUS HUME. 
 Blotters of Paris. By EDMUND MITCHELL. 
 
 The Temple of Death. By EDMUND MITCHFI.L. 
 Towards the Eternal Snows. By EDMUND 
 
 MITCHELL. 
 The Luck of Gerard Eidgeley. By BERTRAM 
 
 MITFORD. 
 
 The King's Assegai. By BERTRAM MITFORD. 
 
 Maid Marian and Robin Hood. ByJ.E.MunnocK 
 
 His Own Ghost. By D. CHRISTIE MUKRAV. 
 
 The Waters of Edera. By OUIDA. 
 
 A Modern Dick Whittington. By JAMES PAYN. 
 
 The Drift of Fate. By DORA RUSSELL. 
 
 A Country Sweetheart. By DORA RUSSELL. 
 
 In London's Heart. By G. R. Si MS. 
 
 The Tale of the Serpent. By SUNDOWNER. 
 
 Citoyonne Jacqueline. By SARAH TYTI.KR. 
 
 Joan, the Curate. By FLORENCE WAKDEN. 
 
 Sport and Spangles. By BYRON WKBSJHR, 
 
 UHWIN BROTHERS, LTD., Printers, a?, Pilgrim Street, London, K.C, 
 
HOME USE 
 
 CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 
 MAIN LIBRARY 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below 
 1-month loans may be renewed by Calling : 642-3405. 
 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing |>0fK$ 
 
 to Circulation Dej*. l 
 Renewals and recharges malf b|! made fcdays 
 
 ' 
 
 ALL BOOKS ARE SU^CTk TO^RECALL 7 DAYS 
 AFTER DATrCHECKED OUT. 
 
 LD21 A-40m-12,'74 
 (S2700L) 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
YB 59467