"That," admitted Hawtrey, "was in my mind."
"Then," remarked his companion, "it"s a pity."
Hawtrey leaned upon the table with hesitation in his face and att.i.tude.
He had neither the courage nor the steadfastness to make a gambler, and every fluctuation of the market swayed him to and fro. He had a good deal of wheat to deliver by and by, and he could still secure a very desirable margin if he bought in against his sales now. Unfortunately, however, he had once or twice lost heavily in an unexpected rally, and he greatly desired to recoup himself. Then, he had decided, nothing could tempt him to take part in another deal.
"If I hold on and the market stiffens further I"ll be awkwardly fixed,"
he declared. "Wyllard made a will, and in a few months I"ll have to hand everything over to his executors. There would naturally be unpleasantness over a serious shortage."
Edmonds smiled. He had handled his man cleverly, and had now a reasonably secure hold upon him and the Range, but he was far from satisfied. If Hawtrey made a further loss he would in all probability become irretrievably involved.
"Then," he pointed out, "there"s every reason why you should try to get straight."
Hawtrey admitted it. "Of course," he said. "You feel sure I could do it by holding on?"
Edmonds seldom answered such a question. It was apt to lead to unpleasantness afterwards.
"Well," he said, "Beeman, and Oliphant, and Barstow are operating for a fall. One would fancy that you were safe in doing what they do. When men of their weight sell forward figures go down."
This was correct, as far as it went, but Edmonds was quite aware that the gentlemen referred to usually played a very deep and obscure game.
He had also reasons for believing that they were doing it now. It was, however, evident that Hawtrey"s hesitation was vanishing.
"It"s a big hazard, but I feel greatly tempted to hang on," he said.
Edmonds, who disregarded his remark, sat smoking quietly. Since he was tolerably certain as to what the result would be, he felt that it was now desirable to let Hawtrey decide for himself, in which case it would be impossible to reproach him afterwards. Wheat, it seemed very probable, would fall still further when the harvest began, but he had reasons for believing that the market would rally first. In that case Hawtrey, who had sold forward largely, would fall altogether into his hands, and he looked forward with very pleasurable antic.i.p.ation to enforcing his claim upon the Range. In the meanwhile he was un.o.btrusively watching Hawtrey"s face, and it had become evident that in another moment or two his victim would adopt the course suggested, when there was a rattle of wheels outside. Edmonds, who saw a broncho team and a a wagon appear from behind the barn, realized that he must decide the matter without delay.
"As I want to reach Lander"s before it"s dark I"ll have to get on," he said carelessly. "If you"ll give me a letter to the broker, I"ll send it to him."
Next moment a clear voice rose somewhere outside.
"I guess you needn"t worry," it said, "I"ll go right in."
Then Sally walked into the room.
Edmonds was disconcerted, but bowed, and then sat down again, quietly determined to wait, for he discovered that there was hostility in the swift glance she flashed at him.
"That"s quite a smart team you were driving, Miss Creighton," he remarked.
Sally, who disregarded this, turned to Hawtrey.
"What"s he doing here?" she asked.
"He came over on a little matter of business," answered Hawtrey.
"You have been selling wheat again?"
Hawtrey looked embarra.s.sed, for her manner was not conciliatory. "Well,"
he admitted, "I have sold some."
"Wheat you haven"t got?"
Hawtrey did not answer, and Sally sat down. Her manner suggested that she meant thoroughly to investigate the matter, and Edmonds, who would have greatly preferred to get rid of her, decided that as it appeared impossible he would appeal to her cupidity. The Creightons were grasping folk, and he had heard of her engagement to Hawtrey.
"If you will permit me I"ll try to explain," he said. "We"ll say that you have reason for believing that wheat will go down and you tell a broker to sell it forward at a price a little below the actual one. If other people do the same it drops faster, and before you have to deliver you can buy it in at less than you sold it at. A great deal of money can be picked up that way."
"It looks easy," Sally agreed, with something in her manner which led him to fancy he might win her over. "Of course, prices have been falling. Gregory has been selling down?"
"He has. In fact, there"s already a big margin to his credit," declared Edmonds unsuspectingly.
"That is, if he bought in now he"d have cleared--several thousand dollars?"
Edmonds told her exactly how much, and then started in sudden consternation with rage in his heart, for she turned to Hawtrey imperiously.
"Then you"ll write your broker to buy in right away," she said.
There was an awkward silence, during which the two men looked at each other until Edmonds spoke.
"Are you wise in suggesting this, Miss Creighton?" he asked.
Sally laughed harshly. "Oh, yes," she replied, "it"s a sure thing. And I don"t suggest. I tell him to get it done."
She turned again to Hawtrey, who sat very still looking at her with a flush in his face. "Take your pen and give him that letter to the broker now."
There was this in her favor that Hawtrey was to some extent relieved by her persistence. He had not the courage to make a successful speculator, and he had already felt uneasy about the hazard that he would incur by waiting. Besides, although prices had slightly advanced, he could still secure a reasonable margin if he covered his sales. In any case, he did as she bade him, and in another minute or two he handed Edmonds an envelope.
The broker took it from him without protest, for he was one who could face defeat.
"Well," he said, with a gesture of resignation, "I"ll send the thing on.
If Miss Creighton will excuse me, I"ll tell your man to get out my wagon."
He went out, and Sally turned to Hawtrey with the color in her cheeks and a flash in her eyes.
"It"s Harry Wyllard"s money!" she commented, as she met his glance with flashing eyes.
CHAPTER XXVII
IN THE WILDERNESS
A bitter wind was blowing when Wyllard stood outside the little tent the morning after he had made a landing on the ice. He was to leeward of the straining canvas which partly sheltered him, but the raw cold struck through him to the bone, and he was stiff and sore from his exertions during the previous day. His joints ached unpleasantly, and his clothing had not quite dried upon him. He was conscious of a strong desire to crawl back into the tent and go to sleep again, but that was one it would clearly not be wise to indulge in, since they were, he believed, still some distance off the beach, and the ice might begin to break up at any moment. It stretched away before him, seamed by fissures and serrated ridges here and there, for a few hundred yards, and then was lost in the snow. As he gazed at it he shrank from the prospect of the journey through the frozen desolation.
With a shiver he crawled back into the tent where his two companions were crouching beside the cooking-lamp. The feeble light of its sputtering blue flame touched their faces, which were graver than usual, but Charly looked up as he came in.
"Wind"s dropping," announced Wyllard curtly. "We"ll start as soon as you have made breakfast. We must try to reach the beach to-night."