Barrington gravely gathered up the cards. "We will," he said, "have some music. I do not play poker."
Then, for the first time, Witham lost his head in his anger. "Nor do I, sir."
Barrington only looked at him, but the farmer felt as though somebody had struck him in the face, and as soon as he conveniently could, bade Miss Barrington good night.
"But we expected you would stay here a day or two. Your place is not ready," she said.
Witham smiled at her. "I think I am wise. I must feel my way."
Miss Barrington was won, and, making no further protest, signed to Dane. "You will take Mr. Courthorne home with you," she said. "I would have kept him here, but he is evidently anxious to talk over affairs with some one more of his age than my brother is."
Dane appeared quite willing, and an hour later, Witham sat, cigar in hand, in a room of his outlying farm. It was furnished simply, but there were signs of taste, and the farmer who occupied it had already formed a good opinion of the man whose knowledge of his own profession astonished him.
"So you are actually going to sell wheat in face of the Colonel"s views?" he said.
"Of course," said Witham simply. "I don"t like unpleasantness, but I can allow no man to dictate my affairs to me."
Dane grinned. "Well," he said, "the Colonel can be nasty, and he has no great reason for being fond of you already."
"No?" said Witham. "Now, of course, my accession will make a difference at Silverdale, but I would consider it a friendly act if you will let me know the views of the colony."
Dane looked thoughtful. "The trouble is that your taking up the land leaves less for Maud Barrington than there would have been.
Barrington, who is fond of the girl, was trustee for the property, and after your--estrangement--from your father everybody expected she would get it all."
"So I have deprived Miss Barrington of part of her income?"
"Of course," said Dane. "Didn"t you know?"
Witham found it difficult to answer. "I never quite realized it before. Are there more accounts against me?"
"That," said Dane slowly, "is rather a facer. We are all more or less friends of the dominant family, you see."
Witham laid down his cigar and stood up, "Now," he said, "I generally talk straight, and you have held out a hand to me. Can you believe in the apparent improbability of such a man as I am in the opinion of the folks at Silverdale getting tired of a wasted life and trying to walk straight again? I want your answer, yes or no, before I head across the prairie for my own place."
"Sit down," said Dane with a little smile. "Do you think I would have brought you here if I hadn"t believed it? And, if I have my way, the first man who flings a stone will be sorry for it. Still, I don"t think any of them will--or could afford it. If we had all been saints, some of us would never have come out from the old country."
He stopped and poured out two gla.s.ses of wine. "It"s a long while since I"ve talked so much," he said. "Here"s to our better acquaintance, Courthorne."
After that they talked wheat-growing and horses, and when his guest retired Dane still sat smoking thoughtfully beside the stove. "We want a man with nerve and brains," he said. "I fancy the one who has been sent us will make a difference at Silverdale."
It was about the same time when Colonel Barrington stood talking with his niece and sister in Silverdale Grange. "And the man threw that trick away when it was absolutely clear who had the ace--and wished me to believe that he forgot!" he said.
His face was flushed with indignation, but Miss Barrington smiled at her niece. "What is your opinion, Maud?"
The girl moved one white shoulder with a gesture of disdain. "Can you ask--after that! Besides, he twice wilfully perverted facts while he talked to me, though it was not in the least necessary."
Miss Barrington looked thoughtful. "And yet, because I was watching him, I do not think he plays cards well."
"But he was a professional gambler," said the girl.
The elder lady shook her head. "So we--heard," she said. "My dear, give him a little time. I have seen many men and women--and can"t help a fancy that there is good in him."
"Can the leopard change his spots?" asked Colonel Barrington, with a grim smile.
The little white-haired lady glanced at him as she said quietly, "When the wicked man----"
CHAPTER IX
AN ARMISTICE
The dismal afternoon was drawing in when Witham, driving home from the railroad, came into sight of a lonely farm. It lifted itself out of the prairie, a blur of huddled buildings on the crest of a long rise, but at first sight Witham scarcely noticed it. He was gazing abstractedly down the sinuous smear of trail which unrolled itself like an endless riband across the great white desolation, and his brain was busy. Four months had pa.s.sed since he came to Silverdale, and they had left their mark on him.
At first there had been the constant fear of detection, and when that had lessened and he was accepted as Lance Courthorne, the latter"s unfortunate record had met him at every turn. It accounted for the suspicions of Colonel Barrington, the reserve of his niece, and the aloofness of some of his neighbours, while there had been times when Witham found Silverdale almost unendurable. He was, however, an obstinate man, and there was on the opposite side the gracious kindliness of the little grey-haired lady, who had from the beginning been his champion, and the friendship of Dane and one or two of the older men. Witham had also proved his right to be listened to, and treated, outwardly at least, with due civility, while something in his resolute quietness rendered an impertinence impossible. He knew by this time that he could hold his own at Silverdale, and based his conduct on the fact, but that was only one aspect of the question, and he speculated as to the consummation.
It was, however, evident that in the meanwhile he must continue to pose as Courthorne, and he felt, rightly or wrongly, that the possession of his estate, was, after all, a small reparation for the injury the outlaw had done him, but the affair was complicated by the fact that, in taking Courthorne"s inheritance, he had deprived Maud Barrington of part of hers. The girl"s coldness stung him, but her unquestionable beauty and strength of character had not been without their effect, and the man winced as he remembered that she had no pity for anything false or mean. He had decided only upon two things, first that he would vindicate himself in her eyes, and, since n.o.body else could apparently do it, pull the property that should have been hers out of the ruin it had been drifting into under her uncle"s guardianship. When this had been done, and the killing of Trooper Shannon forgotten, it would be time for him to slip back into the obscurity he came from.
Then the fact that the homestead was growing nearer forced itself upon his perceptions, and he glanced doubtfully across the prairie as he approached the forking of the trail. A grey dimness was creeping across the wilderness and the smoky sky seemed to hang lower above the dully gleaming snow, while the moaning wind flung little clouds of icy dust about him. It was evident that the snow was not far away, and it was still two leagues to Silverdale, but Witham, who had been to Winnipeg, had business with the farmer, and had faced a prairie storm before. Accordingly he swung the team into the forking trail and shook the reins. There was, he knew, little time to lose, and in another five minutes he stood, still wearing his white-sprinkled furs, in a room of the birch-log building.
"Here are your accounts, Macdonald, and while we"ve pulled up our losses, I can"t help thinking we have just got out in time," he said.
"The market is but little stiffer yet, but there is less selling, and before a few months are over we"re going to see a sharp recovery."
The farmer glanced at the doc.u.ments, and smiled with contentment as he took the cheque. "I"m glad I listened to you," he said. "It"s unfortunate for him and his niece that Barrington wouldn"t--at least, not until he had lost the opportunity."
"I don"t understand," said Witham.
"No," said the farmer, "you"ve been away. Well, you know it takes a long while to get an idea into the Colonel"s head, but once it"s in it"s even harder to get it out again. Now Barrington looked down on wheat jobbing, but money"s tight at Silverdale, and when he saw what you were making, he commenced to think. Accordingly he"s going to sell, and, as he seems convinced that wheat will not go up again, let half the acreage lie fallow this season. The worst of it is, the others will follow him up, and he controls Maud Barrington"s property as well as his own."
Witham"s face was grave. "I heard in Winnipeg that most of the smaller men who had lost courage were doing the same thing. That means a very small crop of western hard, and millers paying our own prices.
Somebody must stop the Colonel."
"Well," said Macdonald dryly, "I wouldn"t like to be the man, and, after all, it"s only your opinion. As you have seen, the small men here and in Minnesota are afraid to plough."
Witham laughed softly. "The man who makes the dollars is the one who sees farther than the crowd. Anyway, I found the views of one or two men who make big deals were much the same as mine, and I"ll speak to Miss Barrington."
"Then if you will wait a little, you will have an opportunity. She is here, you see."
Witham looked disconcerted. "She should not have been. Why didn"t you send her home? There"ll be snow before she reaches Silverdale."
Macdonald laughed. "I hadn"t noticed the weather, and, though my wife wished her to stay, there is no use in attempting to persuade Miss Barrington to do anything when she does not want to. In some respects she is very like the Colonel."
The farmer led the way into another room, and Witham flushed a little when the girl returned his greeting in a fashion which he fancied the presence of Mrs. Macdonald alone rendered distantly cordial. Still, a glance through the windows showed him that delay was inadvisable.
"I think you had better stay here all night, Miss Barrington," he said. "There is snow coming."
"I am sorry our views do not coincide," said the girl. "I have several things to attend to at the Grange."