JESSY CONFERS A FAVOR
The next morning it was blowing fresh from the southeast, which was right
ahead, and Vane's face was hard when he and Carroll got the boat on deck
and set about tying down two reefs in the mainsail.
"Bad luck seems to follow us," he grumbled.
Carroll smiled.
"There's no doubt of that; but I suppose the fact won't have much
effect on you."
"No," returned Vane decidedly, "We had our troubles in other ventures,
and somehow we got over them--I don't see why we shouldn't do the same
again. Now that we've seen the country, we ought to get some useful
information out of Hartley--we'll know what to ask him."
"I shouldn't count too much on his help," Carroll answered with a
thoughtful air.
They got sail upon the sloop and drove her out into a confused head sea,
through which she labored with flooded decks, making very little to
windward. When night came, a deluge killed the breeze, and the next day
she lay rolling wildly in a heavy calm while light mist narrowed in the
horizon and a persistent drizzle poured down upon the smoothly heaving
sea. Then they had light variable winds, and their provisions were once
more running out when they drew abreast of a little coaling port. Carroll
suggested running in and going on to Victoria by train, but they had
hardly decided to do so when the fickle breeze died away and the
tide-stream bore them past to the south. They had no longer a stitch of
dry clothing and they were again upon reduced rations.
Still bad fortune dogged them, for that night a fresh head wind sprang up
and held steadily while they thrashed her south, swept by stinging spray.
Their tempers grew shorter under the strain, and their bodies ached from
the chill of their sodden garments and from sitting hour by hour at the
helm. At last the breeze fell, and shortly afterward a trail of smoke and
a half-seen strip of hull emerged from the creeping haze astern of them.
"A lumber tug," observed Vane. "She seems to have a raft in tow, and it
will probably be for Drayton's people. If you'll edge in toward her I'll
send him word that we're on the way."
There was very little wind just then and presently the tug was close
alongside, pitching her bows out of the slow swell, while a great mass of
timber wonderfully chained together surged along astern, the dim,
slate-green sea washing over it. A shapeless oil-skinned figure stood
outside her pilot-house, balancing itself against the heave of the
bridge, which slanted and straightened.
"Winstanley?" Vane shouted.
The figure waved an arm, as if in assent, and Vane raised his
voice again.
"Report us to Mr. Drayton. We'll come along as fast as we can."
The man turned and pointed to the misty horizon astern.
"You'll get it from the north before to-morrow!"' he called.
Then the straining tug and the long wet line of working raft drew ahead
while the sloop crawled on, close-hauled toward the south. Late that
night, however, the mist melted away, and a keen rushing breeze that came
out of the north crisped the water. The vessel sprang forward when the
ripples reached her; the flapping canvas went to sleep; and while each
slack rope tightened a musical tinkle broke out at the bows. It grew
steadily louder, and when the sun swung up red above the eastern hills,
she had piled the white froth to her channels and was driving forward
merrily with little sparkling seas tumbling, foam-tipped, after her. The
wind fell light as the sun rose higher, but the swinging sloop ran on all
day, with blurred hills and forests sliding past; and the western sky was
still blazing with a wondrous green when she stole into Vancouver harbor.
Carroll gazed at the city with open appreciation. It rose, girded with
many wires and giant telegraph poles, roof above roof, up a low rise, on
the crest of which towering pines still lifted their ragged spires
against the evening sky. Lower down, big white lights were beginning to
blink, and the forests up the inlet beyond the smoke of the mills had
already faded to a belt of shadow.
"Quebec," he remarked, "looks fine from the river, clustering round
and perched upon its heights; and Montreal at the foot of its
mountain strikes your eye from most points of view; but I can't
remember ever entering either with the pleasure I've experienced in
reaching this city."
"You probably arrived at the others traveling in a Pullman or in a
luxurious side-wheel steamboat. It wouldn't be any great change from them
to a smart hotel."
"That may explain the thing," Carroll agreed with an air of humorous
reflection. "I guess the way you regard a city depends largely on the
condition you're in when you reach it and on what you expect to get out
of it. In the present case, Vancouver stands for rest and comfort and
enough to eat."
Vane laughed.
"I'm as glad to be back as you are; but you'd better make the most of any
leisure that you can get. As soon as I've arranged things here we'll go
north again."
The light faded as they crept across the inlet before a faint breeze, but
when they got the anchor over and the boat into the water, Carroll made
out two dim figures standing on the wharf.
"It's Drayton, I think," he said, waving a hand to them. "Kitty's
with him."
They pulled ashore, and Drayton and Kitty greeted them.
"I've been looking out for you since noon," Drayton told them. "What
about the spruce?"
There was eagerness in his voice, and Vane's face clouded.
"We couldn't find a trace of it."
Drayton's disappointment was obvious, though he tried to hide it.
"Well," he said resignedly, "I've no doubt you did all you could."
"Of course!" Kitty broke in. "We're quite sure of that!"
Vane thanked her with a glance. He felt sorry for her and Drayton.
They were strongly attached to each other, and he had reasons for
believing that even with the advanced salary the man expected to get
they would find it needful to study strict economy. It was easy to
understand that a small share in a prosperous enterprise would have
made things easier for them.
"I'm going to make another attempt. I expect some of our difficulties
will vanish after I've had a talk with Hartley."
"That's impossible," Kitty explained softly. "Hartley died a week ago."
Vane started. The prospector had given him very little definite
information, and it was disconcerting to recognize that he must now rely
entirely upon his own devices.
"I'm sorry", he said "How's Celia?"
"She's very ill." There was concern in Kitty's voice. "Hartley got worse
soon after you left, and she sat up all night with him, after her work
for the last few weeks. Now she's broken down, and she seems to worry for
fear they will not take her back again at the hotel."
"I must go to see her," declared Vane. "But won't you and Drayton come
with us and have dinner?"
Drayton explained that this was out of the question; Kitty's employer,
who had driven in that afternoon, was waiting with his team. They left
the wharf together, and a few minutes later Vane shook hands with the
girl and her companion.
"Don't lose heart," he said encouragingly. "We're far from beaten yet."
Some time afterward Vane, rejoicing in the unusual luxury of clean, dry
clothes, walked across to call on Nairn. The house struck him as
larger, more commodious and better lighted than it had been when he
left it, although he supposed that was only the result of his having
lived on board the sloop and in the bush. He was shown into a room
where Jessy Horsfield was sitting, and she rose with a slight start
when he came in; but her manner was reposeful and quietly friendly when
she held out her hand.
"So you have come back! Have you succeeded in your search?"
Vane was gratified. It was pleasant to feel that she was interested in
his undertaking.
"No," he confessed. "For the time being, I'm afraid I have failed."
There was reproach in Jessy's voice when she answered.
"Then you have disappointed me!"
It was delicate flattery, as she had conveyed the impression that she had
expected him to succeed, which implied that she held a high opinion of
his abilities. Still, she did not mean him to think that he had forfeited
the latter.
"After all, you must have had a good deal against you," she added
consolingly. "Won't you sit down and tell me about it? Mr. Nairn, I
understand, is writing some letters, and he sent for Mrs. Nairn just
before you came in. I don't suppose she will be back for a few minutes."
She indicated a chair beside the open hearth and Vane sat down opposite
her, where a low screen cut them off from the rest of the room. A shaded
lamp above their heads cast down a soft radiance which lighted a sparkle
in the girl's hair, and a red, wood fire glowed cheerfully in front of
them. Vane, still stiff and aching from exposure to the cold and rain,
reveled in the unusual sense of comfort. In addition to this, his
companion's pose was singularly graceful, and the ease of it and the
friendly smile with which she regarded him somehow implied that they were
on excellent terms.
"It's very nice to be here again," he said languidly.
Jessy looked up at him. He had, as she recognized, spoken as he felt, on
impulse, and this was more gratifying than an obvious desire to pay her a
compliment would have been.
"I suppose you didn't get many comforts in the bush," she suggested.
"No. Comforts of any kind are remarkably scarce up yonder. As a matter
of fact, I can't imagine a country where the contrasts between the
luxuries of civilization and--the other thing--are sharper. You can step
off a first-class car into the wilderness, where no amount of money can
buy you better fare than pork, potatoes and dried apples; and if you
want to travel you must shoulder your pack and walk. But that wasn't
exactly what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I don't know that it's worth explaining. We have rather luxurious
quarters at the hotel, but this room is somehow different. It's
restful--I think it's homely--in fact, as I said, it's nice to be here."
Jessy made no comment. She understood that he had been attempting to
analyze his feelings, and had failed clearly to recognize that her
presence contributed to the satisfaction of which he was conscious. She
had no doubt that if he were a man of average susceptibility, which
seemed to be the case, the company of a well-dressed and attractive woman
would have some effect on him after his sojourn in the wilds; but whether
she had produced any deeper effect than that or not she could not
determine. Though she was curious upon the point, it did not appear
judicious to prompt him unduly.
"But won't you tell me your adventures?" she begged.
It required a few leading questions to start him but at length he told
the story in a manner that compelled her interest.
"You see," he concluded, "it was the lack of definite knowledge as much
as the natural obstacles that brought us back--and I've been troubled
about the thing since we landed."
Jessy's manner invited his confidence.
"I wonder," she said softly, "if you would care to tell me why?"
Vane knit his brows.
"Hartley's dead, and I understand that his daughter has broken down after
nursing him. It's doubtful whether her situation can be kept open, and it
may be some time before she's strong enough to look for another." He
hesitated. "In a way, I feel responsible for her."
"You really aren't responsible in the least," Jessy declared. "Still, I
can understand the idea's troubling you."
"She's left without a cent and unable to work--and I don't know what to
do. In an affair of this kind I'm handicapped by being a man."
"Would you like me to help you?"
"I can hardly ask it, but it would be a relief to me," Vane answered with
obvious eagerness.
"Then if you'll tell me her address, I'll go to see her, and we'll
consider what can be done."
Vane leaned forward impulsively.
"You have taken a weight off my mind. It's difficult to thank you
properly."
"Oh, I don't suppose it will give me any trouble. Of course, it must be
embarrassing to you to feel that you have a helpless young woman on
your hands."
Then a thought flashed into her mind, as she remembered what she had seen
at the station some months ago.
"I wonder whether the situation is an altogether unusual one to you?"
she queried. "Have you never let your pity run away with your
judgment before?"
"You wouldn't expect me to proclaim my charities," Vane parried
with a laugh.
"I think you are trying to put me off. You haven't given me an answer."
"Well, perhaps I was able to make things easier for somebody else not
very long ago," Vane confessed reluctantly but without embarrassment. "I
now see that I might have done harm without meaning to do so. It's
sometimes extraordinarily difficult to help people--and that makes me
especially grateful for your offer."
For the next few moments Jessy sat silent. It was clear that she had
misjudged him, for although she was not one who demanded too much from
human nature, the fact that Kitty Blake had arrived in Vancouver in his
company had undoubtedly rankled in her mind. Now she acquitted him of any
blame, and it was a relief to do so. She changed the subject abruptly.
"I suppose you will make another attempt to find the timber?"
"Yes. In a week or two."
He had hardly spoken when Mrs. Nairn came in and welcomed him with her
usual friendliness.
"I'm glad to see ye, though ye're looking thin," she said. "What's the
way ye did not come straight to us, instead of going to the hotel. Ye
would have got as good a supper as they would give ye there."
"I haven't a doubt of it," Vane declared. "On the other hand, I hardly
think that even one of your suppers would quite have put right the defect
in my appearance you mentioned. You see, the cause of it has been at work
for some time."
Mrs. Nairn regarded him with half-amused compassion.
"If ye'll come over every evening, we'll soon cure that. I would have
been down sooner if Alic had not kept me. He's writing letters, and there
was a matter or two he wanted to ask my opinion on."
"I think that was very wise of him," Vane commented.
His hostess smiled.
"For one thing, we had a letter from Evelyn Chisholm this afternoon.
She'll be out to spend some time with us in about a month."
"Evelyn's coming here?" Vane exclaimed, with a sudden stirring of
his heart.
"Why should she no? I told ye some time ago that we partly expected her.
Ye were no astonished then."
She appeared to expect an explanation of the change in his attitude, and
as he volunteered none she drew him a few paces aside.
"If I'm no betraying a confidence, Evelyn writes--I'm no sure of the
exact words--that she'll be glad to get away a while. Now, I've been
wondering why she should be anxious to leave home?"
She looked at him fixedly, and, to his annoyance, he felt his face grow
hot. Mrs. Nairn had quick perceptions, and now and then she was
painfully direct.
"It struck me that Evelyn was not very comfortable there," he replied.
"She seemed out of harmony with her people--she didn't belong. The same
thing," he went on lamely, "applies to Mopsy."
Mrs. Nairn glanced at him with a twinkle in her eyes.
"It's no unlikely. The reason may serve--for the want of a better." Then
she changed her tone. "Ye'll away up to Alic; he told me to send ye."
Vane went out of the room, but he left Jessy in a thoughtful mood. She
had seen his start at the mention of Evelyn, and it struck her as
significant, for she had heard that he had spent some time with the
Chisholms. On the other hand, there was the obvious fact that he had been
astonished to hear that Evelyn was coming out, which implied that their
acquaintance had not progressed far enough to warrant the girl's
informing him. Besides, Evelyn would not arrive for a month; and Jessy
reflected that she would probably see a good deal of Vane in the
meanwhile. She now felt glad that she had promised to look after Celia
Hartley, for that, no doubt, would necessitate her consulting with him
every now and then. She endeavored to dismiss the matter from her mind,
however, and exerted herself to interest Mrs. Nairn in a description of a
function she had lately attended.