"That fellow, Dalton, would probably let you off."
"It"s uncertain, and I don"t mean to ask. You don"t seem to know that Dalton is Helen"s brother."
Charnock laughed. "Then I"ve no doubt he knows who I am; his manner ought to have given me a hint. The situation has a touch of ironical humor, and perhaps the strangest thing is that we should now be better friends than we have been yet. But what still prevents your going back?"
"Helen"s money. I can"t beg from her, after refusing the only thing she has asked."
"You"re a bit of a fool," Charnock remarked with a grin. "I"ve begged from Sadie often and imagine she liked me for it; anyhow she expected it. But if you have made up your mind, I expect I can"t persuade you."
Festing"s gesture indicated an unshaken resolve, and Charnock said: "Then I"m going to stop and see you through."
"That"s ridiculous!" said Festing, who was strongly moved now. "You must think of Sadie. You can"t stop; I won"t allow it!"
Charnock"s eyes twinkled. "I expect Sadie will bear the separation. For one thing, we lost our crop and she"ll save money while I"m away. She"s not parsimonious, but she hates to waste dollars, and must have found me expensive now and then. Then I mean to earn something, and can imagine her surprise when I show her my wages check."
On the surface, his mood was humorous, but Festing got a hint of something fine beneath. "But," he said, "you mustn"t stay, and I"d sooner you didn"t joke."
"Then I"ll be serious; but after this there"s no more to be said. Don"t imagine it"s altogether for your sake I"m going to stay. You know what I owe Sadie, and I want to show that her labor has not all been lost.
in fact, I"ve got my opportunity and mean to seize it. Then if you feel some reparation is due to your wife, you can finish the work you made her drop. Help me to cut out liquor and stay with my job, and if you have trouble with your contract, I"ll help all I can. Is it a bargain?"
"It"s a bargain," said Festing quietly. "Now I think we"ll talk about something else."
He sat still for some time after Charnock left. His bitterness against his wife had gone, and it was plain that he had been a fool. For all that, he could not go home yet; the money was still an obstacle. Pride forbade his letting Helen support him. Moreover, he felt that to act against his convictions now would cost him her respect. There was perhaps no ground for supposing she felt much respect for him, but he meant to keep all she had.
Then he got up and straightened the blankets in his bunk. The sooner he finished his contract, the sooner he could return, and there was much to be done next morning. The job had not begun well.
He got up at sunrise and spent several days repairing the damage the accident had caused, after which, for a time, things went smoothly.
Then, one morning, he stood on a rocky ledge of the island, waiting while two of his men dragged an iron pulley backwards and forwards along a trolley wire.
The morning was clear and cold, and the snow had crept nearer the belt of dwindling pines that looked like matches tufted with moss. They grew in size as they rolled down the tremendous slopes, until they towered above the track in tall, dark spires. The mist had gone; rocks and trees and glistening summits were sharply cut, but the valley was rather marked by savage grandeur than beauty. There was something about its aspect that struck a warning note. It had a look of belonging to a half-finished world, into which man might only venture at his peril.
The river had fallen and its turbid green had faded, for the frost had touched the glaciers that fed it on the heights, but the stream ran fast, swirling round the island and breaking into eddies. In one place, a white streak marked a rebound of the current from an obstacle below, and it was across this spot the men dragged the pulley. A chain and hook hung from the latter, and they were fishing for the skip that was lost when the log broke the rope.
Festing had spent the most part of the previous day trying different plans for grappling the skip, but the fast currents and smooth side of the big steel bucket had baffled him. His efforts had cost time and money, and he began to realize that he must give it up or try dangerous means. The chain stopped and tightened as the hook struck something below the surface, but next moment it moved on again, and when this had happened a number of times Festing raised his hand.
"You can quit, boys," he said, and turned to a man close by. "She must have fallen with the shackles where the hook can"t get hold, but I think she"s only about three feet under water."
The other studied the broken surface. The water was not transparent, but here and there a darker patch indicated a rock below. The eddies made a revolving slack along the bank, but near the skip joined the main current in its downstream rush.
"I"ve a notion there"s a gully between her and us," he remarked.
"Anyhow, we"ll try to wade, if you like."
Festing threw off his jacket and plunged in. When he had gone a few feet he was up to his waist and it cost him an effort to keep his feet. After two or three more steps, the bottom fell away and, floundering savagely, he sank to his shoulders. Then his companion pulled him back.
"The gully"s there all right," the man remarked when they clambered out.
"Say, that water"s surely cold."
"It will be colder soon when the ice comes down, and if the skip"s to be got out, we must get her now. I think I could reach her by swimming."
The other looked doubtful, but Festing took off his heavy boots, and picking up the end of the rope they had used to move the pulley, walked to the edge of the island. He was now a short distance above the skip, and hoped the eddies would help him to reach the ledge it rested on before he was swept past; but he must avoid being drawn into the main stream, since there was not much chance of landing on the foam-swept rocks lower down. Making sure he had enough slack rope, he plunged in.
An eddy swung him out-sh.o.r.e, towards the dangerous rush; the cold cramped his muscles and cut his breath, but he was already below the spot he had left, and there was no time to lose. The white streak that marked the skip seemed to forge up-stream to meet him, and he swam savagely until he was in the broken water and something struck his foot.
Then he arched his back and dived, groping with his hands. He grasped the slippery side of the skip and felt the shackle loop. With some trouble he got the rope through, and then tried to put his feet on the bottom. They were swept away and he came up gasping, knowing he had made a mistake that might cost him dear.
He held the end of the rope, but had been carried several yards down-stream, and the lost ground must be regained. The rope was rather a hindrance than a help, since the men on the bank could only haul him back to the skip and drag him under water, while he must pull the slack through the loop as he struggled to land. If he got out of the eddies he would be swept past the island, but he did not mean to let the rope go yet.
A revolving eddy swung him in-sh.o.r.e, but the reflux caught and drove him a few yards lower down. The men were shouting, but he could not tell what they said. The roar of water bewildered him, and he fixed his eyes upon the rocks that slid past until a wave washed across his face. For a moment or two he saw nothing, and then was vaguely conscious that a trolley was running down the wire above. An indistinct object hung from the trolley and next moment fell away from it. A dark body splashed into the water, vanished, and came up close by. Then he was seized by the shoulder and driven towards the bank.
The men had stopped shouting and ran into the water at the island"s lower end. Festing drifted towards them, but it looked as if he would be carried past. The drag of the rope kept him back, and his strength was going, but he braced himself for an effort and felt a helping push. Then somebody seized his hand, he was pulled forward, and felt bottom as he dropped his feet. In another few moments he staggered up the bank and gave the nearest man the end of the rope.
"Stick to that," he gasped, and turned to see who had helped him.
"Bob!" he exclaimed.
Charnock dashed the water from his hair and face. "Thought you mightn"t make it and jumped on a trolley they were loosing off. But we had better change our clothes."
"Come to my shack," said Festing. "Signal them to send a trolley, boys."
CHAPTER XXI
CHARNOCK TRIES HIS STRENGTH
The skip that crossed the river was loaded, and Charnock and Festing were forced to wait until it came back. They climbed to a platform on the bridge-pier and stood for some minutes, shivering in the wind. The skip would only carry one, and when it arrived Charnock made Festing get in.
"You were in the water longest," he said. "Get aboard as quick as you can!"
Festing was swung across the river, but waited until Charnock arrived, when they ran up the hill to the former"s shack. The fire was out and Festing"s face was blue, while Charnock"s teeth chattered as he threw off his clothes. Festing gave him another suit.
"I"m afraid they"re not very dry, but they"re the best I"ve got," he said. "You did a plucky thing, Bob."
"Not at all, and you would, no doubt, have landed if I hadn"t come. You see, the skip was starting and I didn"t stop to think. But it"s horribly cold. Where"s your towel?"
He put on the half-dry clothes and went to the door. "I"m not often in such a hurry to get back to work, but if I don"t move I"ll freeze. See you later!"
"Stop a moment," Festing called. "Do you find the bunk-house comfortable?"
"It"s not luxurious, but doesn"t leak very much unless it rains unusually hard."
"Then why not come up here at night? I haven"t another bunk or I"d have suggested it before, but a carload of ship-lap has arrived and I dare say Kerr will let me have a few boards."
"Thanks; I"d like that," said Charnock, who hurried away.
Soon afterwards Festing resumed his work. Kerr allowed him to take the boards, and when he had finished his supper Charnock came in. Sitting down by the fire, he filled his pipe.
"There"s more room here and you can dry your clothes," he remarked, stretching out his legs to the blaze.
"We"re going to talk about what happened this morning," Festing replied.