The Majority Decides
To the surprise of Katherine, Mrs. Burton was very anxious that Mr.
Selincourt's offer should be accepted, and she urged that point
very strongly.
"If you were a boy, Katherine, I would not say one word to
influence you either way. Even now it is for your sake, not mine,
that I should like to take the chance of getting away from this
place. For myself, I would rather be here than at any other place
in the wide world; but I do know that you are hopelessly buried
alive, and the work you have to do is unsuitable for any girl."
Katherine put up her hand with a pleading gesture, and there was
distress in her eyes as she said hurriedly: "That is not fair to
the boys, Nellie. I asked that you should all speak for
yourselves, not for each other; that can be done afterwards: the
main thing is to know how we each feel about the matter personally.
Now, Miles, let us know what you think?"
Miles fidgeted, looked supremely uncomfortable, and finally burst
out: "I think it is just horrid to go settling things like this
about Father, as if he were dead, while he is still alive!"
"Just what I feel myself," broke in Katherine, giving Miles an
affectionate squeeze. "Still, dear, the necessity has arisen to
discuss the business, and we must just face it as other
disagreeables have to be met and overcome. So, putting Father
entirely out of the question for the moment, tell us what you think
you would like best."
"That can be done in a very few words," he said gruffly. "I dare
say it sounds beastly selfish, but I'd rather stay here than go
anywhere else on the face of the earth. The land is our own; why
should we not keep it? We have got a good paying business
together; why should we give it up? If we could pull through last
winter and make a profit, we certainly ought to do better still
this year, for we are all wiser, older, and stronger. It is
fearfully hard on Katherine to be obliged to do the journeys, I
know, but that can stop when I am a bit older, and more of a dab at
valuing pelts."
"Now, Phil, it is your turn," said Katherine quickly; she had seen
that Mrs. Burton was about to speak, and was anxious that Phil
should have first chance.
But the boy was half-asleep, and had to be well shaken up by Miles
before they could bring him to a full understanding of what was
required of him. Then he asked drowsily: "If we went to live
anywhere else should I have to go to school in summer as well as in
winter?"
"Of course you would," retorted Mrs. Burton promptly; adding, with
a touch of quite unusual severity: "and it would be a very good
thing for you, because in that case you would have no time to play
such monkey tricks as that which you indulged in to-day."
"Then I'd rather stop here. School in winter is quite tiring
enough, but school all the year round would about wear me out.
Store work is just play compared with the fag of simple equations
and that sort of thing."
Katherine and Miles laughed merrily, while even Mrs. Burton had to
smile. Phil's attitude towards book-learning had always been one
of utter distaste, although in other things he was a good,
hard-working boy, never disposed to shirk nor to waste his time,
even if the matter in hand was not entirely to his mind.
"Now you have all said what you think and feel about it," said
Katherine, "I can have my say on the matter, and I might begin by
putting the most conclusive argument first, which is that I am
quite certain we have no legal or moral right to lay a finger on
Father's business affairs at present; I mean, in the way of
upsetting them. If things were different, and the business was not
prospering, we might have some excuse for meddling and changing; as
it is, we have none."
"Then what did you make all this bother about?" demanded Phil, who
had been roused from his sleepiness by having a wet dishcloth
tucked firmly round his neck by Miles.
"Because it is a privilege we all share equally to do our very best
for our father, and no one of us ought to decide anything momentous
concerning him without taking counsel with the others," Katherine
answered, leaning forward and catching the dishcloth, which Phil
had aimed at Miles.
"It is all very well for Mr. Selincourt to offer us a fancy price
for our land, but if there is a fortune in every acre why shouldn't
we have it? I shouldn't in the least mind being a millionaire,"
said Miles.
"Of course you would not; neither should I: but the secret of the
whole matter turns, according to Mr. Selincourt, on first of all
having a fortune to put into the ground before we can get out the
one that is there waiting for us," laughed Katherine.
"Very well, we'll stick at the store until we have made our pile,
then we can do as we like about throwing it away in order to get
another. Meanwhile we will keep the land, while Mr. Selincourt
amuses himself by digging holes and flinging away money on the
other side of the river," said Miles, getting up from his chair and
yawning widely.
"Hear, hear!" echoed Phil, clapping his hands.
"Nellie, dear, it is the majority that decides, and you have lost,"
Katherine said, as she hustled the boys off to bed, and prepared to
retire herself.
"For my own part, as I said before, I'm not sorry to lose, and I do
feel as you do, that we have no right to dispose of Father's
property," Mrs. Burton said. Then she went on, her voice shaken by
real feeling: "But, Katherine, the life you have to lead just about
breaks my heart. You are the brightest and cleverest of us all,
and should have the best chance, instead of which you just have no
chance at all. Take to-day, for instance; we have all been out
enjoying ourselves, whilst you have been grubbing at home at work."
"It had to be either Miles or me," Katherine reminded her gently;
"and think how he enjoyed it. There are so many pleasures which
come my way that would not interest him at all, and that makes me
so thankful for a chance of giving him a treat like that of to-day."
"I don't mind going out with Miles, because his manners are decent,
and he is so quiet," said Mrs. Burton, "but I did not know where
to put my head for very shame when Phil threw that pail of water on
to Nick Jones."
"It was very foolish and silly, of course, and I expect Phil will
have to pay pretty dearly for his mischief. If only Nick will pay
him back in a manly fashion, without being cruel, I shan't care.
Boys learn wisdom quicker through having to bear the consequences
of their own actions, and it does not do for them to be too much
shielded. Did you have a pleasant time?"
"Yes; it was lovely. The captain and the officers were so polite
and nice, and the tea was very prettily done. Mary was there, of
course, and Mr. Ferrars. I heard a good bit of talk about them
too," Mrs. Burton said, with a happy little wag of her head. Her
own hope and joy in life having become so much a thing of the past,
made her much more interested in the concerns of others.
"What sort of talk?" asked Katherine. Of course she knew very well
what the answer would be, and that it would make her heart ache
worse than ever; but the situation had got to be faced, so the
sooner she became hardened to the pain the better for her peace of
mind.
"Oh, the usual things! Mrs. M'Kree said she thought they would
make a lovely pair: for though Mary isn't pretty, she is very
distinguished; and Mr. Ferrars has a way of carrying himself which
makes me think he must come from a very good family indeed. I
noticed that Mary's manner was very different to him to-day, and
from the way he treated her it looked almost as if they had come to
an understanding." Mrs. Burton's air was one of beaming
satisfaction now, for she liked Jervis Ferrars quite well enough to
be glad there was a chance of his marrying a rich wife, and so
being lifted out of the fierce struggle with narrow means.
Katherine's heart felt sick and cold within her. She remembered
what Mary had said about the boon asked by Jervis, which had been
denied, and the denial regretted ever since. Probably that rescue
from the tidehole had given Jervis the courage and the right to ask
his boon again, and this time Mary would know her own heart too
well to refuse happiness, even though it came to her at the hands
of a poor man.
She was glad to turn out early next morning and go with Phil to do
the "back-ache" portage, because it took her away from any
likelihood of an encounter with Mary, who would probably be
brimming over with happiness.
"It is quite natural that she should feel like that, and I am very
glad for her," Katherine announced to herself in a defiant tone, as
she loaded packages of groceries and bundles of dry goods on to the
dogs in the morning, for them to carry over the portage to the
boathouse above the falls.
It never once occurred to her that she could have made a mistake,
or that she had jumped to wrong conclusions in the matter. She was
so used to making up her mind on all sorts of subjects without any
waste of time, that naturally she decided she was right in this
thing also. The dogs trotted up the portage path with a hearty
goodwill, for they had the sense to know that the journey was not a
long one and that their work would soon be over. There were only
three of them this morning, for Hero was at the house over the
river.
Katherine and Phil followed the dogs. They also carried burdens,
and, as the portage path was steep, they were glad not to waste
their breath in talking while they toiled up the hill. The last
dog, which walked just in front of Katherine, carried two wooden
boxes, filled with marmalade for Mrs. M'Kree, and it was funny to
see how careful the creature was to keep right in the middle of the
path, so that its burden did not bump against the rocks which
projected on either side of the narrow trail.
"Good dog! You shall have a smear of marmalade on your biscuit for
supper to-night, if I don't forget it," Katherine said, when the
boathouse was reached without any danger to the consignment of
marmalade.
"Pity to waste good stuff like that on a creature which can't
appreciate it. Now, I am very gone on marmalade," remarked Phil,
as he put the two boxes into the boat.
"You shall have some for supper too; but you must not begrudge the
poor dog just a little taste," Katherine said, as with a brief word
of command she sent two of the dogs hurrying back to the store for
some bundles of meal and flannel that had been left behind for a
second journey.
While the dogs were gone, she and Phil stowed into the boat all the
goods which had been brought over, then they sat down to wait for
the remainder of the load, and Phil's tongue began to be busy on
the events of yesterday.
"I'm downright glad we've got to do the backache portage to-day,
because, as we can't be in two places at once, I shan't be found at
the store if anyone comes to see me special," he said, winking up
at a bluebird which sat on a bough above his head. The bird gave a
little chirp, whisked its tail, and then stayed motionless, as if
much interested in the talk.
"Who would be likely to make a special visit to you to-day?" asked
Katherine, momentarily forgetting Phil's prank of yesterday.
"Nick Jones, of course. I guess if I had been minding store
to-day, and had seen him coming in at the door, my heart would have
about gone down into my boots," admitted Phil, with great candour.
"But he may come to-morrow, you know," suggested Katherine.
"No, he won't, for a lot of them start the next morning in the
_Mary_ for a week's fishing off the Twins; and Mr. Ferrars is going
too, I know, because I heard him say so," replied Phil.
"The Twins are those two islands east of Akimiski, are they not?"
asked Katherine.
"I suppose so; they are out in the Bay somewhere, I know, and they
are very dangerous, because there are such strong currents all
round them and no end of hidden rocks," Phil said in a cheerful
tone, as if he were rather pleased than otherwise that his enemy
had to face so much danger in the near future.
"That must be the place where a boat was wrecked two years ago and
all the people were drowned. I wonder they are taking the _Mary_,"
said Katherine, for that was the biggest and best of the new boats,
built by Astor M'Kree in the previous winter.
"They are taking her because she is such a good boat; no use having
a leaky old tub for such work. Here come the dogs!" and Phil
jumped up in such a hurry that the bluebird flew away in alarm.
The dogs were unloaded, the things they had brought being packed
into the boat; then Katherine and Phil took their up-river way, and
the dogs went back to the store to spend the morning as they
thought fit.
Phil's news, had puzzled Katherine a great deal. It seemed so
strange to her that Jervis Ferrars should go off to the rough,
dangerous work of fishing off the shores of the inhospitable Twins
if he were really engaged to Mary. His absence from Seal Cove
would mean that someone would have to do his work there, as the
boats coming in had to have their cargoes totalled and entered,
while the drying, sorting, and packing needed constant supervision.
Perhaps some little ghost of a hope crept into her heart that
morning; at any rate, the pull up river seemed easier, and it was
not such hard work as usual doing the second portage, even though
she had to carry the wooden boxes, with the jars of marmalade for
Mrs. M'Kree, swung across her own shoulders, a heavy, uncomfortable
burden to be carried through the hot sunshine.
Backwards and forwards they went along the portage path, but they
did not have to carry the boat, fortunately, as a birchbark
belonging to Astor M'Kree was always available for their use on the
long portage--a great convenience this, as Katherine and Phil would
hardly have managed the burden of the boat between them. Mrs.
M'Kree as usual received Katherine literally with open arms, and
pressed her to remain on her way back for tea. This invitation
Katherine would have promptly refused, but for an appealing look
from Phil, whose courage regarding a meeting with his enemy was
fast evaporating.
"You are very kind. We ought to be back about four o'clock, then
perhaps we can stay for an hour," Katherine said, accepting on
Phil's behalf, although her own desires were solely and entirely
for getting home as fast as she could.
"A regular brick you are, Katherine!" exclaimed Phil, as they
settled themselves in the birchbark for the journey up to the long
portage. "I just wish to be as late home as possible this evening,
and then most likely I shall be tired enough to want to go to bed
directly I get there."
"It strikes me that it is not your strength which is likely to give
out, but your nerve," Katherine answered with a laugh; then went on
in a graver tone: "I don't scold you when you play monkey tricks,
as you did yesterday, but it is hard work not to despise you when I
see you trying to escape the consequences of what you have done by
sneaking off to bed, pretending you are tired, when in reality you
are only afraid."
Phil reddened, looked dreadfully ashamed of himself for about two
minutes, then said in a cheerful tone: "It is rather nice of me to
be willing to play round with those sticky M'Kree babies, as if I
were a kid myself."
"I suppose it is; yet down underneath I dare say you rather like
the playing round, as you call it," laughed Katherine, and then she
worked on in silence up the solitary reaches of the river, with the
glaring sunshine on her unsheltered back, and swarms of flies
tormenting her unprotected face and neck. These last became such
an intolerable nuisance after a time, that she was forced to swathe
herself in a hot and cumbering veil.
The "back-ache" portage was worthy of its name that day, and it was
considerably past noon before they arrived at the Indian village to
which they were bound. At first they could not find anyone at
home, the whole community being away in the forest peeling bark
from the birch trees for the making of canoes. But the same kind
of thing had happened before, so Katherine was not at a loss.
Picking up a tin pan, she commenced beating a military tattoo upon
it with a thick stick; while Phil, with a trumpet improvised from a
roll of birchbark, produced an ear-splitting din which must have
carried far through the quiet woods. It was not long before their
customers arrived on the scene, and then the business of barter
began. A very long business it proved to-day, for, the weather
being warm and comfortable, the red men and women seemed to
thoroughly enjoy sitting round at their ease and taking time to
consider whether they wished to be purchasers or not.
[Illustration: Bartering with the Indians]
But Katherine was patient and tactful too. After all, the training
of a teacher is not lost in the buying and selling of a backwoods
store. The same gifts of persuasion are needful in both cases, and
the same gentle firmness is useful in settling the bargain which
has come to completion. It was four o'clock before Katherine was
able to turn her back on the Indian village, but by then she had
sold every article which had been brought up river, and was laden
with a currency of valuable furs and some specimens of narwhal
ivory, very beautiful, but apparently of great age. The same kind
of thing had happened before, and she could never quite make out
where it had come from, for the narwhal was so rarely met with in
the Hudson Bay waters now, and was a creature so fierce, that it
was puzzling to know how people in birchbark canoes, armed only
with spears, could ever manage to secure it. A theory held by her
father in his days of health was, that in places along those
little-known shores the tusks of narwhals dead centuries before
might be found by the Indians buried in the sands, and it was finds
of this sort which they dug up and offered for sale.
Their stay at Mrs. M'Kree's house was very short after all, though
Katherine was thankful indeed for the cup of tea awaiting her
there, and much too grateful for the kindness to be fastidious
about its overdrawn condition. As a matter of fact, the tea had
been gently on the boil for more than two hours, but this was a
minor detail in the comfort of people who had an outdoor life and
worked hard from dawn to dark.
It was pleasant to slip down on the swift current of the river when
the cool of the evening came on. Katherine was almost sorry when
the home portage was reached, for it was like taking up the burden
of life again, and she was tired enough to feel that rest was a
luxury indeed. The dogs were soon over at the boathouse to help
with the parcels, and then Katherine and Phil, both heavily laden,
passed up the portage path, and night came down.
There were lights twinkling in and about the store when they
reached it, and Katherine laughed to see how Phil crept past the
door of the store, making for the entrance to the house instead.
But she did not call him back, being quite willing to shield his
retreat so far as she could possibly do so, for a ducking at that
time in the evening would not be pleasant; moreover, Mrs. Burton
would have his clothes to dry, which was another consideration of
importance just then.
Nick Jones was not in the store when she entered, and she noticed
at once that the crowd of evening loungers was less than usual.
They were busily talking, too, and although they all bade her a
civil good evening, went on with their talk where they had dropped
it.
"Mr. Ferrars came up to see you this evening," Miles whispered,
when she went to help him with some boxes which were beyond his
reach.
"To see me?" Katherine asked in surprise.
"Yes, he even went over the portage to see if you were coming, but
he could not wait, because the _Mary_ sailed with the evening tide,"
answered Miles.