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To accept John Gaviller's contemptuous offer would not only be to confess a humiliating failure, it would mean pocketing a loss that would cripple the young firm for the time being. Peter would say: "Lose it if you must, but lose it fighting." This thought was like an inspiration to Ambrose. His jaw stiffened, and a measure of serenity returned to his eyes. He passed the note to Simon.
He had slipped so softly down the hall I had not heard anything. "I instantly thought of danger to those up-stairs, and crept up as quickly as I could without making any sound. I found the door of Mr. Gaviller's room closed. I knew Miss Colina had left it open. I opened it softly, and saw Doane on the bed with his hands at Mr. Gaviller's throat." A shuddering breath escaped from Colina.
When she heard the door-bell ring Gaviller's house boasted the only door-bell north of Caribou Lake her heart astonished her with its thumping. She ran up to her own room. Ambrose according to instructions previously given was to be shown into the drawing-room. Another wonder of Gaviller's house was the full-length mirror imported for Colina. She ran to it now. It treated her kindly.
She obtained his permission to go among the Indians by herself in the hope that they might tell her something they were afraid to tell the police. Accompanied by Cora she went from teepee to teepee. The Kakisas showed themselves awed by her condescension, but still they were uncommunicative. She was Gaviller's daughter.
Ambrose nodded to him reassuringly, meaning to convey that nothing he had heard would influence his actions. Giddings closed the door, and Ambrose returned down-stairs with a heart that sunk lower at each step. What he had at first regarded calmly enough as Gaviller's tragedy he now clearly saw was likely to prove tragic for himself. It was useless to try to put Colina off.
The young men of the tribe had never heard the war-cry until that moment. Ambrose followed at their heels. At the top of the bank, to his unbounded relief, they turned toward the store. He still had a little time. All he could do was to offer himself to the defenders. "I'm going to the side door of Gaviller's house," he said to Tole. "Get guns for us, somehow, and come to me there."
"Who's coming?" he demanded with natural surprise. Colina, busying herself attentively with the centerpiece of painter's brush, wondered if her father had met Ambrose Doane. She gave him a brief, offhand account of her adventure without mentioning their guest's name. "But who is it?" he asked. She answered a little breathlessly; "Ambrose Doane of Moultrie." Gaviller's face changed slightly.
"What do we wait for, un miracle? Do we wait for Gaviller's heart to soften? We wait a long tam for that I fink, me! While we wait I think Gaviller get busy. He say he come and cut our grain. Will we wait and let him?" The old man interrupted here: "If Gaviller put his men on our land we fight," he said. "Aha!" cried Jean Bateese. "He will not wait then.
You won't believe it, but it's a fact just the same, if you won't pay their price I must, in order to save you. If you will agree to pay them one-seventy-five, I'll go back to Moultrie to-morrow, and never trouble you again. Landing below Gaviller's house Ambrose sent Tole up the bank with this. In a surprisingly short time he saw the half-breed returning. "Did you see her?" he demanded.
It was a low, spreading affair, of several dates of construction. Once Gaviller's residence, it was now used to house the white employees of the company and chance travelers. Greer's room was in the end of the building nearest the store. The policeman slept at the other side, separated by several partitions. The room they were making for had a door opening directly on the yard. It was not locked.
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