"You have been successful; I'm very glad," she said.
"Yes," responded Andrew, holding her hand; "things have gone well with us, but except for the mineral recorder you are the first person I've told the good news to. That strikes me as particularly appropriate."
"Why?"
"I don't suppose I'd ever have found the lode5 if you hadn't encouraged me. I felt daunted6 once or twice. Then I ventured to think that you'd be interested."
[Pg 293]"I am interested," Geraldine assured him, gently withdrawing her hand. "You needn't doubt that. But won't you come up to the house?"
Andrew laughed with a trace of awkwardness as he realized that he had been standing7 at the top of the uncomfortably narrow steps by which one reached the pier.
"It might be better, if you and Mr. Frobisher are not engaged."
"He's writing letters, though I think he'll have finished soon. Wherever he is, he's generally busy; but I can answer for his being glad to see you."
"That's good to hear. I'm heavily in your father's debt; but I'd like to think he's not the only one in the family to feel the pleasure."
Geraldine smiled at him mockingly.
"How delightfully8 formal, Mr. Allinson! Besides, you seem to need a good deal of assuring."
"A fair shot," Andrew laughed. "I'm afraid, when I'm really in earnest, I'm apt to be stilted9; but perhaps it isn't an altogether unusual fault. The correct light touch seems hard to acquire."
"Not stilted; that's too harsh. Now and then you're rather too serious."
Looking at her steadily10, he saw amusement in her eyes, but he had not wit enough to read all it covered and he felt slightly chilled. The girl knew his love for her and had thought of him often and anxiously in his absence; but now that he had come back safe and successful she was seized by a strange timidity. She shrank from the drastic change in their relations which his attitude threatened; he must be kept at a distance until she had become more used to the situation.
"It's very possible. Wouldn't it be pleasanter here?"[Pg 294] he hinted, as they approached a seat which stood in the shadow of the firs. "We might disturb your father by going in."
"Yes," Geraldine assented11, somewhat dubiously12, though the house, which faced the west, was uncomfortably hot.
They sat down and she glanced at him unobtrusively. She was now very cool and free from embarrassment13, while the man seemed to be suffering from constraint14. Moreover, he looked disappointed, and she felt sorry for him.
"So you found the lode and recorded your claims?" she said. "That must have been a great relief; but what will you do next?"
Andrew grew impatient. He would have preferred to discuss something more personal than his mining affairs.
"Oh," he exclaimed, "you must have heard enough about the lode to make you tired of it! However, I expect I shall have to go back to England before long."
Geraldine wondered whether the curt15 announcement was meant to alarm her, and decided16 that it was not. The man was too modest to make sure of her affection for him. Nevertheless it caused her some concern.
"Will it be a visit, or do you think of staying there?" she asked.
"I can't tell," said Andrew moodily17. "If I can get things straightened up, I may come back to the new mine; but I shall not know until I arrive."
"Do you wish to come back?"
"Yes," he answered emphatically, "very much indeed."
"Then you will no doubt find an excuse for doing so. It shouldn't be difficult to a fertile mind."
[Pg 295]"Unfortunately, mine often seems to suffer from sterility19. It has been subjected to stimulating20 influences here, and I'll miss them on the other side."
"Carnally's useful, as far as he goes, but I'm not sure that he'd be much help in England; and he's not the only person I've, so to speak, come to lean on."
Geraldine regarded him with faint amusement.
"Then perhaps it's better that all outside support should be withdrawn22 and you learned to stand on your own feet. Don't you think you could do so, if you made an effort?"
"It's possible; I've no doubt I'll have to try. But when it's been generously given, one gets into a habit of looking for help and applause."
"Haven't I?" said Andrew. "I got nothing else at home, and it's damping to have somebody always ready to point out how much better you might have managed things. If I do any good when I get back it will be because of the encouragement I've had here."
"That's a very poor reason. You ought to do what you intend because you feel it's right."
"No doubt," said Andrew with a stern smile. "Still, you see, it needs a good deal of nerve."
Geraldine mused25 for a few moments. He had played up to her, as she thought of it, but in his half-humorous manner there had been a touch of gravity, and she knew what her commendation had been worth to him. She was glad that he valued it, but she could not have him guess this, and she shrank from showing too much earnestness.
[Pg 296]"Well," she said, "the mail must be sent across to the Landing soon; I'd better tell my father."
She got up, and a few minutes afterward26 Frobisher appeared and took Andrew to his smoking-room. When they had talked for a while, Andrew took out a few specimens27.
"So far as we were able," he said, "we picked out the best of the lode, but I believe much of the ore is of excellent quality. I brought you these specimens to look at, and the assayer's report on those we sent him after the first trip."
Frobisher examined them with care.
"A good business proposition; this stuff should pay for smelting28. I suppose you realize that your knowledge of the locality is valuable?"
"That's what I am coming to. If the thing's in your line, any information I can give you is at your service."
"Ah!" said Frobisher. "Let us understand each other. Do you want to sell?"
"Not to you. We have staked three claims, which is all we can legally hold, and our records were only filed an hour and a half ago. By using my map of our route and a sketch29 of the vein30, you or anybody you may send could reach the spot and have some days for prospecting32 before anybody else could find it."
"Then you're offering me this out of friendship?"
"Not altogether. I don't forget that you saved us from starving; but apart from that, I'd rather have somebody I know as owner of an adjacent claim. You'll excuse my saying that I can't tolerate Mappin there. I understand it isn't difficult to get up disputes over boundaries and water-rights, and he'd find some means of attacking us."
[Pg 297]"You're wise, and I appreciate your generosity33. There's every reason to believe you have put me on to a good thing. But I'm getting too old to make the journey, and there's no time to be lost. The trouble is to fix on the right men to send, because they'll have to be reliable. I know two or three boys in Colorado who would see the thing through, but it would take a week to bring them here and only a British subject can file a record."
He broke off and sat silent a few moments. "I have it!" he exclaimed. "There's a fellow at the Landing who, I think, would deal honestly; but he must get off with some packers to-morrow. If you'll excuse me, I'll go across."
Andrew went to a writing-table and hastily filled up a sheet of paper; then took a map from his pocket and wrote some directions on the back of it.
"Here's an order on Watson at the mine for any provisions and tools he can supply. It will save your men some transport and that means a quicker journey. Now listen carefully for a minute."
"Thanks," said Frobisher, when he had finished, and left him on the word.
Andrew laughed as he sat down to finish his cigar. The American's promptness was characteristic, and he was glad to feel that he had been of some service to him.
When he went out he found Geraldine on the lawn.
"What have you told my father?" she asked. "He ran past me without speaking and nearly fell into the water as he jumped on board the launch. I can't remember having seen him go so fast."
"Perhaps it's not surprising. I told Mr. Frobisher about the lode and where the best locations were."
[Pg 298]"The information ought to be valuable. The ore is rich, isn't it?"
"I think so, but of course it isn't mine to give away. All I did was to give your father some information which should help him to find it before anybody else. He means to send up a prospecting party at once."
Geraldine pondered this. The man was too modest to make much of the affair, but her father's eager haste had its significance. His judgment34 on business matters was unusually good, and she had no doubt that the minerals were worth locating. It was, however, more important that Andrew had been able to place him under an obligation, because, in a sense, his power to confer a favor proved his value. She had believed in him from the first, but it was pleasant to feel that others must recognize his merits.
"Well," she said, smiling, "you have made some progress in his esteem35. He's inclined to judge people by what they have done, and you have found a rich mine."
"Wouldn't it be fairer to judge them by what they would like to do? It's often better than the other."
"Oh, no! Liking's easy; one often gets no farther. Accomplishment36 is hard, but it counts."
Strolling to the beach, they found a seat on the pier. There was not a breath of wind and the languid ripples37 splashed softly on the shingle38. Near the land the dark shadow of the pines floated on the glassy water, but farther out it gleamed with silvery light. To the west the black rocks and ragged39 trees cut sharp against a glow of vivid green. Andrew was silent for a while. Geraldine had quietly checked him whenever he bordered on the sentimental40, and it was disconcerting,[Pg 299] though he felt that it would be wiser to make no effort to come to closer quarters until she tacitly gave him encouragement.
"What a beautiful country this is!" he said at length, feeling that the topic was safe.
"Yes," answered Geraldine, "it is beautiful and rugged41, very different from your well-cared-for England, and I suppose it gets wilder as you travel north."
"It's the wildness that gets hold of one. I don't know when I was so happy as I was when hauling the canoe over portages, tracking her up rapids, and blowing rocks to bits. There must be a primitive42 strain in us that shows itself in the waste."
"It may be useful now and then, but indulging it doesn't make for progress. Even our Indians have found that out, and those who still cling to their primitive customs live miserably43 in skin tepees by catching44 fish. I dare say any of them could take a canoe up a rapid better than you."
"There's no doubt of that," Andrew responded. "But I don't see your drift."
"One gets impatient now and then with the cult18 of the physical, which they're so proud of here. It's good in a way, but it doesn't lead to much. For example, you can't continue finding valuable claims, and there must be something for you to do besides drilling holes for dynamite45."
"Shooting pheasants is easier," Andrew smiled; "I can't say it's more useful."
"And is there nothing else?"
Andrew grew suddenly thoughtful.
"I'll confess to a hazy46 idea that if I succeeded in straightening up the Allinson affairs, I'd retire from the business while my laurels47 were fresh, and turn miner.[Pg 300] The claims will need attention, and it would be more in my line than the management of the firm."
"You mean you would like it better?"
"I'm beginning to understand." Andrew looked at her gravely. "If anybody else had hinted as much, I'd have felt it was exacting48 and I was being driven too hard. With you it's different. Once or twice already you have given me the impetus49 I needed, and you're right now. But if I'm not required by Allinson's why shouldn't I attend to the claims?"
Looking up he saw the launch, which had rounded a neighboring islet, heading for the pier, and shortly afterward Frobisher joined them.
"I've got everything fixed," he said jubilantly. "Three men will start at sunrise. But you look as if you had been discussing something important. What's it all about?"
"Give us your opinion, Father. Mr. Allinson seems to think he can make a few drastic reforms in his firm, and then leave such matters alone. My idea is that he will find it harder than he expected."
Frobisher laughed with quiet amusement.
"Mr. Allinson has still a good deal to learn and I'm afraid he's much mistaken in this matter." He turned to Andrew. "Once you take an active interest in a big business you'll find you can't let go. Instead of your directing the concern, it will come to own and drive you unmercifully hard. For the last ten years I've been trying to take life easier and escape from the pressure of affairs, but I'm still a long way from doing so. In fact, in spite of my good resolutions, it's only an hour since I launched out on another new venture."
"Isn't it largely a matter of temperament50?" Andrew asked.
[Pg 301]"No doubt; but not quite in the way you think—that is, it's not always a question of making money. If a man has what we'll call the constructive51 genius, he can't stand and look on when he sees anything that needs to be done. He feels that he must take his coat off and get to work."
Andrew had an uncomfortable feeling that Geraldine and her father were right. One thing led to another, and he might be drawn23 irresistibly52 into a long series of business complications, which was by no means what he had at first contemplated53. Nevertheless, if his services were of any value, Allinson's had the first claim on them. He dismissed the matter when Frobisher suggested that they go in to supper. Frobisher was witty54, Geraldine charmingly cordial, and it was with regret that Andrew took his leave. Geraldine walked to the pier with him and he noticed a gentleness in her face that set his heart to beating. He thought the soft dusk emphasized her beauty by etherealizing it. When they reached the steps she turned to him with a smile.
"I feel as if I'd presumed too far," she said. "After all, I'm only a girl and younger than you are, which doesn't seem to justify55 my imposing56 my half-formed views on you."
"I don't think that matters," returned Andrew. "I believe those views are right."
"Then, though you had better test them thoroughly57, you don't feel offended?"
"I am grateful; but there's one point that disturbs me. I shouldn't like to think you were reconciled to the idea of getting rid of me."
Geraldine smiled at him.
"That would be a wrong conclusion. If it's any comfort, we shall miss you; but it isn't such a very long[Pg 302] journey from England to the Lake of Shadows. You will find it needful to come over and see how the mines are working now and then."
"Whether the mines need me or not, I shall come."
She gave him her hand.
"We'll consider it a promise; but you're not going yet, and you needn't neglect us before you start."
When she turned away Andrew got into his canoe and paddled back to the Landing. He had, he felt, been firmly held off at arm's length, but for all that he had noticed faint hints of tenderness in the girl's manner which were highly encouraging, and she undoubtedly58 took a strong interest in him. He must proceed cautiously and avoid alarming her by being precipitate59. That, after all, was the course he preferred, for he was strangely diffident in love.
A day or two later he saw Turner in the bar at the hotel, where several others were lounging; but the man gave him a careless greeting. Andrew went into the lobby and Turner presently sauntered in.
"Can you come down to the beach behind the sawmill dump in a few minutes?" he asked.
Andrew nodded, and when Turner went out he put some bills into his wallet and made for the beach. It was a quiet place, hidden between a rocky head and a bank of sawdust, and Turner was waiting for him.
"I suppose you have come for the money I promised you?" Andrew said.
"That's not the only thing, though I'd be glad to have it."
Andrew counted out several bills.
"I didn't want to be seen talking to you at the hotel," Turner explained. "It mightn't have been safe for me if Mappin got to hear of it. But there's some[Pg 303]thing you ought to know. The boys he sent after you heard about the strike you made when they came down here for grub, and are on the trail again."
"I don't see how that matters. When Mappin's rascals60 reach the lode they'll find we have staked off the best, and it looks as if every man about the settlement who can get away is going up to prospect31."
"Those fellows," persisted Turner, "are old hands at the game. I don't know their plans, but there's one thing you can depend on—they mean to make trouble. They might shift some of your stakes and then claim that your record wasn't correct, which would give Mappin a chance of getting after you. It takes a smart surveyor to lay out boundaries and frontage in such a way that they can't be questioned. I want to warn you to be on the lookout61."
Andrew considered. He knew there was sometimes litigation over mineral claims, and he had to deal with a clever and unscrupulous man.
"I wonder why you told me this?"
"You treated me like a white man," Turner answered with a trace of awkwardness, and then broke into a grin. "Besides, I was getting tired of the business, anyhow; there wasn't a dollar in it for me. Now I guess I'll light out before somebody comes along."
Andrew thanked him, and then went off in search of Carnally, feeling glad that he had treated Turner leniently62. The man was a rogue63, but he had the virtue64 of gratitude65.
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1
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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lode
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| n.矿脉 | |
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daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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8
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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stilted
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| adj.虚饰的；夸张的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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sterility
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| n.不生育，不结果，贫瘠，消毒，无菌 | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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smelting
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| n.熔炼v.熔炼，提炼（矿石）( smelt的现在分词 ) | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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shingle
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| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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51
constructive
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| adj.建设的，建设性的 | |
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52
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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54
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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55
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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57
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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59
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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60
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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61
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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62
leniently
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| 温和地，仁慈地 | |
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63
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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64
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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65
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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