Haldane looked at his daughter, and then across at me, and, while slightly ironical good-humor was stamped on his face, it was a mask.

There was more than one side to his character, and, when it pleased him to be so, there was n.o.body more inscrutable. "It is a rather extensive order, and men of that stamp are generally hard to crush," he said.

"Still, if those mistaken doctors should conspire to forbid me more profitable employment, I might, perhaps, make the attempt some day."

This was vague enough, but I felt that Haldane had intended the hint for me. There was no further reference to anything financial, for henceforward both my host and his daughter laid themselves out to help me to forget my troubles, and were so successful in this that I even wondered at myself. The troubles were certainly not far away, but the financier's anecdotes and his daughter's comments proved so entertaining that they diminished and melted into a somber background.

When Lucille left us Haldane sat chatting with me over his cigar, and at last he said abruptly: "I dare say you wondered at my half-hearted action to-day?"

"I did, sir," I answered; and the financier nodded good-humoredly.

"There is nothing to equal plain speaking, Ormesby. When a man knows just what he wants and asks for it he stands the best chance of obtaining it, though I don't always act in accordance with the maxim myself. Well, I made a few bids somewhat against my better judgment because I had promised to, and then ceased because it seemed best to me that, since you could not hold it, Lane should acquire the property."

"I don't quite see the reason, sir. On the other hand, a stiff advance in prices would have meant a good deal to me," I said.

Haldane answered oracularly: "That gentleman's funds are not inexhaustible, and he already holds what one might call foreclosure options on a good deal of property. I should not be sorry to see him take hold of further land so long as it did not lie west of Gaspard's Trail. It is possible that he has, as we say in the vernacular, bitten off more than he can chew--considering the present scarcity of money. I should take heart if I were you, and hold on to Crane Valley whatever it costs you."

"Can't you speak a little more directly?" I asked.

Haldane shook his head. "I am not in a position to do so yet; but, if surmises turn into certainties, I will some day. Meanwhile, are you open to train some of the Bonaventure colts, and look after my surplus stock on a profit-division basis? I have more than my staff can handle."

"I should be very glad to do so," I answered, seeing that while the offer was prompted by kindness it had also its commercial aspect. "But, if there is anything going on, say, some plan for the exploitation of this district in opposition to Lane, can I not take my part in it?"

"I have heard of no such scheme; and, if I had, you could help it most by driving new straight furrows and raising further cattle," said Haldane, with an enigmatical smile. "There are games which require a lifelong experience from the men who would succeed in them; and, because Rome was not built in a day, perhaps you were wiser to stick to your plowing, Ormesby. One gets used to the excitement of the other life, but the strain remains, and that is one reason why you see me at Bonaventure again."

My host's words encouraged me. It was true he had said very little, but that was always Haldane's way; and, seeing that he now desired to change the subject, I followed his lead. "I hope your health is not failing you again, sir?" I said.

"Save for one weakness, my general health is good enough," was the quiet answer. "Still, the weakness is there, and for the second time this year physicians have ordered an interval of quietness and leisure. One has to pay the penalty for even partial success, you know, and I am not so young or vigorous as I used to be."

"Then, if I may ask the question, why not abandon altogether an occupation which tries you, sir?"

Haldane smiled over his cigar, but a shadow crossed his face. "We are what the Almighty made us, Ormesby, and I suppose the restless gaming instinct was born in me. Even in my enforced leisure down here it is almost too strong for me, and I indulge in it on a minor scale by way of recreation. I can't sit down and quietly rust into useless inactivity.

Further, while handling a good deal of money, my private share is smaller than many folks suppose it, and I have my daughters' future to ensure. Both have been brought up to consider a certain amount of luxury as necessary."

I do not think the last words were intended as a hint, for had Haldane considered the latter necessary it is hardly likely I should have been welcomed so often at Bonaventure. In any case it would have been superfluous, for I had already faced the worst, and decided that Beatrice Haldane must remain what she had always been to me--an ideal to be worshiped in the abstract and at a distance. Strangest of all, once the knowledge was forced on me, I found it possible to accept the position with some degree of resignation. All this flashed through my mind as I looked into the wreaths of smoke, and then Haldane spoke:

"Have you come across that photographer fellow lately?"

"Not for some time. Do you wish to see him?" I answered, with a slightly puzzled air.

"I think I should like to"--and Haldane's voice changed from its reflective tone. "Do you know who he is, Ormesby?"

"I should hardly care to say without consulting him, sir," I answered; and Haldane laughed.

"You need not trouble, because I do. If you chance upon him tell him what I said. Getting late, isn't it? Good-night to you!"

He left me equally relieved and mystified, and that I should feel any relief at all formed part of the mystery. Whatever was the cause of it, I was neither utterly cast down nor desperate when I sought my couch, and I managed to sleep soundly.

That was the first of several visits to Bonaventure. The acreage of Crane Valley was ample, but the house a mere elongated sod hovel, of which Miss Steel monopolized the greater portion, although I reflected grimly that in existing circ.u.mstances it was quite good enough for me.

Our life there was dreary enough, and, at times, I grew tired of Sally's alternate blandishments and railleries; so, when the frost bound fast the sod and but little could be done for land and cattle, it was very pleasant to spend a few days amid the refinement and comfort which ruled at Bonaventure. During one of my journeys there I met Cotton, and rode some distance with him across the prairie. I could see there was something he wished to say, but his usually ample confidence seemed to fail him, and finally he bade me farewell with visible hesitation where our ways parted. I had, however, scarcely resumed my journey before he hailed me, and when I checked my horse he rode back in my direction with resolve and irresolution mingled in his face.

"You are in a great hurry. There was something I wanted to ask," he commenced. "Do you think this frost will hold, Ormesby?"

"You have a barometer in the station, haven't you?" I answered, regarding him ironically. "Cotton, you have something on your mind to-day, and it is not the frost. Out with it, man. I'm in no way dangerous."

"I have," he answered, with a slight darkening of the bronze in his face. "It is not a great thing, but your paternal advice and cheap witticisms pall on me now and then. Curious way to ask a favor, isn't it? But that is just what I'm going to do."

"We'll omit the compliments. Come to the point," I said; and the trooper made the plunge he had so much hesitated over.

"I want you to ride out on Wednesday night and meet Freighter Walker coming in from the rail. As you know, he generally travels all night by the Bitter Lakes trail. Ask him for a packet with my name on the label, then tear that label off and give Mail-carrier Steve the packet addressed to Miss Haldane. Those confounded people at the rail post office chatter so about every trifle, and Steve is too thick in the head to notice anything. My rounds make it quite impossible for me to go myself, and that fool of a freighter would certainly lose or smash the thing before he pa.s.sed our way on his return journey. It is not asking too much, is it?"

"No," I said readily, seeing the eagerness in the trooper's eyes, though that statement implied a long, cold night's ride. "Miss Haldane is, however, in Ottawa."

"I don't care where she is," said Cotton. "Confound--of course, I mean it's very good of you; but there's no use in a.s.suming stupidity. It is Miss Lucille Haldane I mean, you know."

"I might certainly have guessed it," I said dryly. "It is no business of mine, Cotton, but in return for your compliments I can't help asking, do you think Haldane would appreciate it?"

Cotton straightened himself in his saddle, and I was sorry for him. He looked very young with that light in his eyes and the hot blood showing through his tan; also, I fancied, very chivalrous.

"Don't be under any misapprehension, Ormesby," he said quietly. "That packet merely contains an article I heard Miss Haldane lamenting that she could not obtain. It is of no value, only useful; but Thursday is her birthday, and I think she would be pleased to have it. Being Trooper Cotton, I should never have presumed to send a costly present, and you do not for a moment suppose Miss Lucille would appreciate the trifle for anything beyond its intrinsic utility. This is the second time you have forced me to point out the absurdity of your conclusions."

I was angry with him both for his infatuation and obtuseness, for it struck me that in the circ.u.mstances the simple gift was made in a dangerously graceful fashion, and calculated to appeal to a young woman's sympathies. "I can't offer you advice?" I said.

"No," was the answer. "One might surmise that you needed all your abilities in that direction for yourself. Still, to prevent your drawing any unwarranted inference, I may repeat that it would be quite unnecessary."

"I understand," I said somberly, feeling that there were two of us in the same position. "Very glad to oblige you. The times are out of joint for all of us just now, Cotton. Good-night--and, on consideration, I think the frost will hold."

We rode in different directions, and because I had made that unfortunate promise it was late on Wednesday night when I prepared to leave Bonaventure quietly. Haldane had journeyed to the railroad and could not return before midnight at earliest. Lucille informed me that she would be busy with some household affairs, and, as I could be back by morning, it seemed possible that neither would miss me. Having promised the trooper secrecy, I did not wish to answer questions or name excuses.

As ill-luck would have it, the last person I desired to meet chanced upon me, as, well wrapped in furs, I was slipping towards the door, and I must have looked confused when Lucille Haldane said: "Where are you going, Mr. Ormesby?"

"A little ride," I answered. "I have--I have some business to do, and after two idle days begin to long for exercise."

The girl looked hard at me, and I saw she recognized that the excuse was very lame. "There is n.o.body living within reach of a short ride. Will you return to-night?" she asked.

It was most unfortunate, for I did not wish to antic.i.p.ate the trooper's gift. "I hardly think so," I answered. "Now, I will make a bargain with you. If you will keep my departure a secret, you will discover what my errand is very shortly."

"Very well," said Lucille Haldane; though she still seemed curious. "A safe journey to you, but I don't envy you the exercise."

I afterwards had cause to abuse Trooper Cotton and his errand, but I swung myself into the saddle, and, when I reached the Bitter Lakes trail, I patrolled it for two long hours under the nipping frost. No lumbering ox-team, however, crawled up out of the white prairie, though as yet the moon was in the sky; and I decided that the freighter had, as he sometimes did, taken another trail. It then, fortunately, occurred to me that I had promised to inspect some horses with a small rancher living four or five leagues away, and so determined to do so in the morning. A deserted sod-house stood at no great distance, which the scattered settlers kept supplied with fuel. It served as a convenient half-way shelter for those who must break their long journey to the railroad settlement, and I set out for it at a canter. As I did so the moon dipped, and darkness settled on the prairie.

CHAPTER XIV

THE BURNING OF GASPARD'S TRAIL

The hole in the roof of the sod-house had been insufficiently stopped, the green birch billets stored in a corner burned sulkily in the rusty stove, so that the earth-floored room was bitterly cold. Still, after tying my horse at one end of it, and partly burying myself in a heap of prairie hay, I managed to sink into a light slumber. I awakened feeling numbed all through, with the pain at the joints which results from sleeping insufficiently protected in a low temperature, and looked about me shivering. There was not a spark in the stove, the horse was stamping impatiently, and, when a sputtering match had shown me that it was after two in the morning, I rose stiffly. Anything appeared better than slowly freezing there, and I strode out into the night, leading the horse by the bridle.