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Supposing your idea's right though it isn't it only shows the man as a disgusting coward." There was no gainsaying this; and Bella was crushed and humiliated. She had already seen Gladwyne's weakness, and after the choice she had been compelled to make between him and her brother, she had tried to drive all thought of him out of her mind.
He could barely see it, but Lisle called out sharply: "What has brought you on our trail, Batley?" The man came toward them with a breathless laugh and sat down. "It isn't your trail but Gladwyne's I'm interested in, and I can't say that I've succeeded in following that. I merely pushed on, until I struck this cañon and as I couldn't get across, I followed it up."
He went on to Millicent's and Miss Hume's collection. "We can't take more than half of this," he informed them. Then he addressed the company in general. "The three ladies must occupy Miss Gladwyne's tent, and the men Carew's; Nasmyth's must be abandoned. Each man's outfit must be cut down to one change of clothes and his blanket." The announcement was received with open murmurs.
With an effort, he began his story at the portage over the divide, and, possessed by vivid memories, he made her see the desolate region they had laboriously traversed. Because her imagination was powerful, she could picture the brother she had loved toiling with desperate purpose and failing strength through muskeg and morass. Then, when she quietly insisted, he described Gladwyne's last camp.
For the next month or two he would be almost constantly in Millicent's company; her companions were his friends, and he thought that he would not be troubled by Gladwyne's presence. Desiring to assure himself on the latter point, he turned to Bella. "Nobody has mentioned Clarence. I was wondering if he would join us?" "No," she answered, smiling at him meaningly; "he wasn't invited."
It was about nine o'clock in the evening, and Gladwyne's somewhat noisy guests were scattered about his house and the terrace in front of it. Several of them had gathered in the hall, and Bella Crestwick, Lisle's companion on the moors, stood, cigarette in hand, with one foot on the old-fashioned hearth-irons, frankly discussing him.
Besides, you're improving; in a year or two you'll make quite a reliable prospector's packer." "That's something," replied Crestwick, grinning. "Not long ago I thought I'd make a sportsman; one of Gladwyne's kind. The ambition doesn't so much appeal to me now. But I want to be rather more than a looker-on. Can't you let me put something into one of these claims?" "Not a cent!
Are you afraid to investigate, to look for proofs of Clarence Gladwyne's story?" Nasmyth looked him steadily in the eyes. "For the sake of one or two others, I think I am. Your belief in the guide, Vernon, has had its effect on me." "Then," said Lisle, "I have no fear of putting my belief to the test; I came up here for that purpose, and I mean to call upon you as my witness.
He turned away and Lisle took up his station behind the wall of turf pointed to. He had once upon a time been forcibly rebuked for his clumsiness at some unaccustomed task in the Canadian bush and had not resented it, but the faint movement of Gladwyne's shoulders had brought a warmth to his face. The girl noticed this.
"It's late; I'm going for my candle." He strode out of the room, and Batley smiled as he followed him. A day or two later Lisle stood on Gladwyne's lawn. Gladwyne entertained freely, and though his neighbors did not approve of all of his friends, the man had the gift of pleasing, and his mother unconsciously exerted a charm on every one.
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