"Was it destiny?" she answered slowly.
"Yes," he replied with sudden gravity and a strange look at her bright
eyes, "I think it was destiny."
Her heart beat more rapidly, and from Clark her glance moved to Belding
who sat a little awkwardly. There was not more than fifteen years
between them but Clark's face had that peculiarly ageless appearance
which characterizes some men and lends them additional interest.
"And now you'll stay?" added Elsie.
"Don't you think there's enough to keep me?"
Belding roused himself with a chuckle but Clark went on thoughtfully.
"Do you see much change in St. Marys in the last few years?"
"Before you came," she said slowly, "it was just--just Arcadia."
"Are you sorry to say good-by to Arcadia?"
She shook her head, smiling. "Not a bit; I am glad it's over, but I
remember father often talking about the old days long before any of us
were here. First there were just the Indians, and then the Jesuit
priests. They used to paddle up the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and
then down the French River to the Georgian Bay, and so up Lake Huron
round the rapids and on into Lake Superior. After them came the
traders and then the Hudson Bay Company, but," she concluded a little
apologetically, "you know all about that."
"Yes, I know, and now what do the people of St. Marys think about the
works? Eh, Belding, what do you say?"
"They don't think very much, sir--they've got into the way of taking
them for granted."
Clark laughed. "I think I know that too. But you don't take me for
granted?" Here he glanced provocatively at Elsie.
The girl recovered herself with difficulty. She was only twenty-one,
but beside this wizard it struck her that Belding looked immature.
Clark had seized on her imagination. He was the dreamer and the
prophet and as well a great builder under whose hands marvelous things
took shape. Now she was filled with a sudden and delightful confusion,
and Belding, watching her, remembered the night they had floated
opposite the blockhouse while Clark's music drifted across the
unruffled water. He felt good for his own job, but very helpless
against the mesmeric fascination that the older man might exert if he
would. And behind all this moved his intense loyalty and great
admiration for his chief.
"Then St. Marys has produced all you hoped for, Mr. Clark?" said Elsie.
"I not only hoped but believed and worked." The answer was vibrant and
steady. "Hope doesn't do very much nowadays without belief and work."
He glanced at the piano. "Won't you play something?"