Harding went home with a feeling of half-exultant satisfaction. Lance, for whom he had a rather curious liking, had been unmistakably glad to see him and, what was more important, Mrs. Mowbray was now his friend.
For all that, he knew that tact was needed: the Colonel, while no doubt grateful, did not approve of him, and he must carefully avoid doing anything that might imply a readiness to take advantage of the slight favor he had been granted. Harding was not an adventurer, and the situation was galling to his pride, but he was shrewd and was willing to make some sacrifice if it gave him an opportunity for seeing Beatrice.
When Harding returned a week later he met the girl for a few moments, and had to be content with this. Lance brightened up noticeably when he talked to him, and as he was leaving pressed him to come again; but the unqualified doctor, whom he met in the hall, did not seem satisfied with the patient"s progress.
Harding waited for a while before he went back. He found Mrs. Mowbray alone on his arrival, and thought she looked anxious when he asked how Lance was getting on.
"He doesn"t seem to improve as quickly as he ought, and Mr. Carson"s puzzled," she said. "He tells me the injury is not serious enough to account for my boy"s low condition, but he keeps restless and feverish, and doesn"t sleep." Then, after a moment, she added confidentially: "One could imagine that he has something on his mind."
"Have you any suspicion what it is?"
"No--" She hesitated. "That is, nothing definite; and as he has given me no hint, it"s possible that I"m mistaken in thinking that he is disturbed. But you may go in; you seem to cheer him."
Harding pondered this. He had been used to people who expressed their thoughts with frank directness, but he saw that Mrs. Mowbray was of a different stamp. She was most fastidious, yet she had taken him into her confidence as far as her reserve permitted. After all, there were things which a boy would confess to a man outside his family sooner than to his mother.
"Well," he said as meaningly as he thought advisable, "I"ll do what I can."
On entering the sick room he thought her anxiety was justified. Lance did not look well, although he smiled at his visitor.
"I"m glad you came," he said. "It"s a change to see somebody fresh. The boys mean well but they worry me."
"You"d get tired of me if I came oftener," Harding answered with a laugh.
They talked for a few minutes about a sheep dog that had been given to Lance; and then, during a slight pause, the boy closed his eyes with a sigh. Harding looked at him keenly.
"I"m told you"re not sleeping well," he said; "and you don"t look as fit as you ought. I guess lying on your back gets monotonous."
"Yes," Lance answered listlessly. "Then I"m worried about losing my horse."
"One feels that kind of thing, of course; but it wasn"t an animal I"d get attached to. Hard in the mouth, I guess, a bad buck-jumper, and a wicked eye. On the whole, you"re better off without him."
"Perhaps you"re right, and I meant to sell him. I"d had offers, and the Warrior blood brings a long price."
"Ah! That means you wanted the money?"
Lance was silent for a few moments, and then he answered half resentfully:
"I did."
It was obvious to Harding that delicacy was required here. Mrs. Mowbray was right in her suspicions, but if he made a mistake Lance would take alarm. Harding feared, however, that tact was not much in his line.
"I am an outsider here," he said with blunt directness; "but perhaps that"s a reason why you can talk to me candidly. It"s sometimes embarra.s.sing to tell one"s intimate friends about one"s troubles. Why did you want the money?"
Lance flushed and hesitated, but he gathered confidence from Harding"s grave expression.
"To tell the truth, I"d got myself into an awkward mess."
"One does now and then. I"ve been fixed that way myself. Perhaps I can help."
"No; you can"t," Lance said firmly. "All the same, it"s a relief to take somebody into my confidence. Well, I owed a good deal of money; I"d been playing cards."
"Do you pay debts of that kind at once?"
"Of course. It"s a matter of principle; though the boys wouldn"t have pressed me."
"I"d have let them wait," said Harding. "But I don"t play cards. I suppose you borrowed the money from somebody else, and he wants it back.
Now the proper person for you to go to is your father."
Lance colored and hesitated again.
"I can"t!" he blurted out with evident effort. "It"s not because I"m afraid. He"d certainly be furious--I"m not thinking of that. There"s a reason why it would hit him particularly hard. Besides, you know, we"re far from rich."
Having learned something about Gerald Mowbray, Harding understood the lad"s reticence. Indeed, he respected his loyalty to his brother.
"Very well. If you"ll tell me what you owe, and where you got the money, I may suggest something."
He had expected Lance to refuse; but, worn by pain and anxious as he was, the boy was willing to seize upon any hope of escape. He explained his affairs very fully, and Harding made a note of the amount and of a name that was not unfamiliar to him.
When Lance finished his story and dropped back among his pillows with a flushed face, there was a short silence in the room.
Harding was not, as a rule, rashly generous; but he liked the boy, and Lance was Beatrice"s brother--that in itself was a strong claim on him.
Then, Mrs. Mowbray had been gracious to him; though he was a stranger and in a sense an intruder, she had taken him into her confidence, and he felt a deep respect for her. There was in his mind, however, no thought of profiting by the situation; indeed, he was frankly reluctant to part with money which could be better employed than in paying gambling debts.
"So you went to Davies, of Winnipeg--a mortgage broker?" he remarked.
"Who told you about him? These fellows don"t lend to people they know nothing about."
"A man introduced me," Lance said awkwardly; and Harding again suspected Gerald.
"When you signed his note for the sum you wanted, how much did you really get?"
Lance smiled ruefully as he told him.
"You seem to know their tricks," he added.
"Some of them," Harding replied dryly. "Now, if you"ll give me your word that you won"t stake a dollar on a horse or card again, I"ll take up this debt; but I don"t want your promise unless you mean to keep it."
Lance"s eyes were eager, though his face was red.
"I"ve had my lesson. It was the first time I"d really played high, and I was a bit excited; the room was hot and full of smoke, and they"d brought in a good deal of whisky." Then he pulled himself up. "But I can"t let you do this; and I don"t see----"
"Why I"m willing to help?" Harding finished for him. "Well, one"s motives aren"t always very plain, even to oneself. Still--you can take it that I"ve a pretty strong grievance against all mortgage brokers.
They"ve ruined one or two friends of mine, and they"re going to make trouble in this country. I"ll give you a few instances."
He meant to frighten the lad, but there was no need to overstate the truth, and his face grew stern as he related how struggling farmers had been squeezed dry, and broken in spirit and fortune by the money-lender"s remorseless grasp. Lance was duly impressed, and realized how narrow an escape he had had.
"Are you willing to leave the thing entirely to me?" Harding concluded.
"You must understand that you"re only changing your creditor."
"I can trust you," Lance said with feeling. "I can"t tell you what a relief it is to get out of that fellow"s hands! But I ought to warn you that he"s tricky; you may have some trouble."