The Mistress of Bonaventure

by Harold Bindloss

  CHAPTER X

  A TEMPTATION

  Leyland had a weakness for what he termed hardening himself byoccasional feats of endurance, from which it resulted that I spentseveral days in his company wandering, with a wholly unnecessary load ofcamp gear upon my back, through a desolation of uncomfortably woodedhills. Now it is not easy for a business man of domesticated habits toemulate a pack mule and enjoy the proceeding, and when Mrs. Leyland,after burdening her husband with everything she could think of, desiredto add a small tin bath, there was little difficulty in predicting thatour journey would not be extensive. Having a load of fifty poundsalready, I ignored the suggestion that I might carry the bath, andhurried Leyland off before his spouse could further hamper us. One thickblanket, a kettle, and a few pounds of provisions would have amplysufficed, so a large-sized tent seemed to be distinctly superfluous, tosay nothing of the bag filled with hair-brushes, towels, and scentedsoap.

  Leyland commenced the march with enthusiasm, and certainly presented apicturesque appearance as he plodded along in leather jacket and fringedleggings, with the folded tent upon his shoulders and a collection oftin utensils jingling about him. I was somewhat similarly caparisoned,and, because it would have hurt his feelings, I overcame the temptationto fling half my load into a creek we crossed, though this would havegreatly pleased me. A fourth of the weight would have sufficed for atwo-hundred-mile journey in the West.

  "There is nothing like judicious exercise for bracing one's wholesystem," panted my companion, when we had covered the first league intwo hours or so. "How a wide prospect like this rests the vision. Say,can't we sit down and enjoy it a little?"

  I nodded agreement, and we spent most of that day in sitting down andsmoking, while, as it happened, a sudden breeze blew the tent over uponus at midnight, and anybody who has crawled clear of the thrashingcanvas in such circumstances can guess what followed. Leyland, asgenerally happens, wriggled headforemost into what might be termed thepocket of the net, and it cost me some trouble to extricate him. Nextmorning he awoke with a toothache and general shortness of temper, as aresult of trying to sleep in the rain, and appeared much less certainabout the benefits to be derived from such excursions.

  "If you will let me pick out the few things we really want and throw therest away, I'll engage that you will enjoy the remainder of the march,"I said.

  "I wish I could, but it can't be done," and Leyland, staring ruefully athis load, shook his head. "'Twoinette's so--so blamed systematic, and ifone of those brushes was missing she'd have to start in from thebeginning with a whole new toilet outfit. Of course, you don'tunderstand these things yet, but you will some day. A wife with culturedtastes requires to be considered accordingly."

  I was resting on one elbow gazing up between the pine branches at theblue of the sky, with the clean-scented needles crackling under me, andmade no answer. Nevertheless, it struck me that I might find too muchculture irksome, especially if it implied that I must carry half myhousehold sundries upon my back whenever I started on an expedition.Hitherto I had not considered this side of the question when indulgingin certain roseate visions, but as Leyland spoke there opened upunpleasant possibilities of having to stand by, a mere director, clearof the heat and dust of effort, and pay others to do the work I foundpleasure in. Then as I reflected that there was small need to troubleabout such eventualities, a face, that was not Beatrice Haldane's, roseup before my fancy. It was forceful as well as pretty, quick to expresssympathy and enthusiasm; and I decided that the man who won LucilleHaldane would have a helpmate who would encourage instead of restrainhis energies, and, if need be, take her place beside him in thestruggle. Then I dismissed the subject as having nothing to do with me.

  Leyland seemed loath to resume his rambles, and on the followingmorning, after he had, I fancy, lain awake abusing the mosquitoes allnight, his patience broke down. "I'm getting too old to enjoy thisdescription of picnic as I used to," he said. "The fact is, if I mulethis confounded bric-a-brac around much longer I shall drop in mytracks."

  "Shall we turn back?" I asked him.

  The tired man shook his head. "We'll strike for water, and if we can'tfind a canoe anywhere you can build a raft. I wouldn't crawl through anymore of those muskegs for a thousand dollars."

  I had no objections, and Leyland's comments became venomous during themarch, for the lake was distant, and the pine woods thick. He fell intothickets, and shed his burden broadcast across the face of each steeperdescent, so that it cost us many minutes to collect it again, and oncewe spent an hour in the mire of a muskeg on hands and knees in search ofa vine-pattern mustard spoon. Leyland, who became profane during theproceedings, said his wife might consider that its loss would destroythe harmony of a whole dinner service. At last, however--my comrade,panting heavily, and progressing with a crab-like gait, because he hadwrenched one knee and blistered a heel--the broad lake showed up beneaththe blazing maple leaves ahead. They were donning their full glories ofgold and crimson before the coming of the frost.

  "Thank heaven!" said Leyland with fervent sincerity. "I'll sit hereforever unless you can find something that will float me home."

  He limped on until we were clear of the trees, and then flung himselfdown among the boulders with a gasp of relief, for fortune had treatedhim kindly. There was a fresh breeze blowing, and the broad stretch ofwater was streaked by lines of frothy white; but we had come out upon asheltered bay, and a big catboat lay moored beneath a ledge. A group offigures rose from about a crackling fire, there was a shout ofrecognition, and the young man I had been introduced to as Ted Carylcame forward to greet us.

  "Just in time! The kettle's boiling; but have you been practicing for astrong-man circus, Leyland?" he said. My companion, still retaining hisrecumbent position, answered dryly: "I have been taking exercise anddiverting myself."

  "So one might have fancied from your exhilarated appearance," commentedCaryl. "We can give you a passage home by water if you have had enoughof it."

  "I'll go no other way if I have to swim," said Leyland grimly.

  Then the younger man turned to me: "Do you happen to know anything aboutseamanship?"

  "I spent all my spare time as a youngster helping to sail small craft onthe English coast, and was considered a fair helmsman for my age," Isaid; and Caryl patted my shoulder approvingly.

  "It's a mercy, because I know just next to nothing. Put up as a yachtclub member, and bought this craft--she's a daisy--for five hundreddollars to give the girls a sail. Brought them down, with a light fairwind, smart enough, but though it's gone round, the thing don't steerthe way she ought to in a breeze. So I've been getting mighty anxious asto how I'm to take them home again, and feel too scared to say so."

  I looked at the craft, which was a half-decked boat, evidently fittedwith a center-board, of the broad-beamed shallow type common on theAmerican coast. She carried no bowsprit, her lofty mast was steppedalmost in her bows, and the combination of heavy spars, short body, andwide, flat stern, presaged difficulties for an unskilled helmsman whenrunning before any strength of breeze. "I think you have some reason foryour misgivings," I said. "If the wind freshens much I should almostrecommend you to camp here all night."

  We had by this time approached the fire, and I noticed, with a slightinward hesitation, that Haldane's daughter and an elderly lady were busypreparing tea. Perhaps it was this which prevented Beatrice fromnoticing me, but Lucille came forward and greeted us. "You have arrivedat an opportune moment. Supper is just about ready, and if it is not sogood as the one you gave us at Gaspard's Trail, we will try to do ourbest for you," she said.

  "Have you not forgotten that evening yet?" I asked. A transitoryexpression I did not quite comprehend became visible in the girl's facewhen she answered my smile. It was pleasant to think she recalled theevening of which I had not forgotten the smallest incident.

  "It was something so new to me, and you were all so kind," she said.

  There was dismay when Caryl announced my opinion, th
ough the restdecided to postpone a decision in the hope that the weather mightimprove, and it seemed useless to inform them that the reverse appearedmore probable. A pine forest rolled down to the water's edge, and whenthe meal had been dispatched I lounged with my back against a tree, whenLeyland came up. "You look uncommonly lazy--more played out than I. Wewant you to enjoy your stay with us, and I hope I have not tired you,"he said.

  I laughed a little, because Leyland was hardly likely to tire any manfresh from the arduous life of the prairie. "It's an oasis in thedesert, and you have made me so comfortable that I shall almost shrinkfrom going back," I said, truthfully enough; for, before I left, thestrain at Gaspard's Trail had grown acute.

  "Then what do you want to go back for, anyway?" asked Leyland, whoduring the afternoon had made several pertinent inquiries concerning myaffairs. "There are chances for a live man in the cities--in fact I knowof one or two. No doubt for a time it's experience, but it strikes methat this cattle roasting and losing of grain crops must mean a big lossof opportunities as well as grow monotonous."

  Leyland, I fancied, had not previously noticed that Miss Haldane wasseated on a fallen log close beside us, and in the circumstances I wasby no means pleased when he turned to her. "Don't you think everybodyshould make the most of all that's in them?" he asked.

  Somewhat to my surprise the girl looked straight at me as she answered:"Considering the question in the abstract, I agree with you. It seems tome the duty of every man with talents to take the place he was meant foramong his peers instead of frittering them away."

  There was an unusual earnestness in what she said, which both surprisedme and reminded me of the days in England; for Beatrice Haldane'sconversation had latterly been marked by a somewhat cynical languidness.Nevertheless, the inference nettled me.

  "Talent is a somewhat vague term; but suppose any unprofessional personpossessed it, what career among the thick of his fellows would yourecommend--the acquisition of money on the markets, or politics? Bothare closed to the poor man," I said.

  It may have been fancy, but a faint angry sparkle seemed to creep intoMiss Haldane's eyes as she answered: "Are there no others? It seems tome the place for such a person is where civilization moves fastest inthe cities. Whether we progress towards good or evil you cannot moveback the times, and it is force of intellect, or successful scheming ifyou will, which commands the best the world can offer now. As an outsideobserver, it seems to me that, considering the tendency towardscentralization and combinations of capital, the individual who, refusingto accept the altered conditions, insists on remaining an independentunit, must soon go under or take a helot's place. Don't you think so,Mr. Leyland?"

  "That's what I mean, but you have put it more clearly," said Leylandapprovingly. "I was hoping Ormesby might see it that way."

  Understanding my host's manner I guessed that if I hinted atacquiescence this would lead up to a definite offer, and it appearedthat both, in their own way, were bent on persuading me. The temptationwas alluring, when disaster appeared imminent, and I afterwards wonderedhow it was I did not yield. Wounded pride or sheer obstinacy may,however, have restrained me, for one of the most bitter things is to ownone's self beaten; but even then I felt that my place was on theprairie. On the one hand there was only the prospect of grinding careand often brutal labor, which wore the body to exhaustion and bluntedthe mental faculties; on the other, at least some rest and leisure,contact with culture and refinement, and perhaps even yet a vaguepossibility of drawing nearer to the woman beside me. At that moment,however, Lucille Haldane halted in front of us, and the triflingincident helped to turn the scale. Young as she was, her views weremine, and for some unfathomable reason I shook off what seemed a weaktendency to yield when I met her gaze.

  "It will be a bad day for the Dominion when what is happening across thefrontier becomes general here," I said. "It is the number of independentunits which makes for the real prosperity of this country, and thesuggestion that there is only scope for intellect and force of will inthe cities can hardly pass unchallenged. The smallest wheat grower hasto use the same foresight in his degree as a railroad financier, and itprobably requires more stamina to hold out against bad seasons and theoppression of scheming land-grabbers than is requisite, say, inengineering a grain corner against adverse markets. Then, if one getsback to principles, does it not appear that the poorest breaker ofvirgin land who calls wheat up out of the idle sod is of more use to thecommunity than the gambler in his produce who creates nothing?"

  "There is no use arguing with any man who thinks that way," said Leylandsolemnly, and Beatrice Haldane laughed; but whether at his comment or atmy opinion did not appear.

  "Here is an ally for you. You are looking very wise, Lucille," she saidlanguidly.

  "I did not hear all you said, but I think Mr. Ormesby is partly right,"was the frank answer. "I just stopped on my way to the boat to get somewrappings. It soon grows chilly."

  The girl refused our offers of assistance. Somebody called Leyland away,and I was left alone, possibly against both our wishes, in BeatriceHaldane's company. Still, it was an opportunity that might not occuragain, and I determined to turn it to good account.

  "Although you expressed strong disapproval not long ago, one could havefancied you were not speaking from a wholly impersonal standpoint andmeant to give me good advice," I said.

  The spirit which had carried Haldane triumphantly through commercialpanic was not lacking in either of his daughters, and the elder onequietly took up the challenge. "Perhaps the other could not be thrustaside, and I have wondered whether you are wise in staking all yourfuture on the chances of success on the prairie. There are greaterpossibilities in the busy world that lies before you now, but presentlyhabit and the force of associations will bind you to the soil, and youmust remain a raiser of cattle and sower of grain. Is it not possiblefor the monotony and drudgery to drag one down to a steadily sinkinglevel?"

  The words stung me. I had done my best in my vocation, and it seemed hadfailed therein. Neither was it impossible that the last sentencepossessed a definite meaning, and suppressed longing and resentmentagainst the pressure of circumstances held me silent after I had managedto check the rash answer that rose to my lips. Then a shout brokethrough the pause which followed, and Beatrice Haldane sprang to herfeet. "Lucille has set the boat adrift! Go and help her if you can!" shesaid.

  A glance showed me the catboat sliding out towards open water before theangry white ripples that crisped the little bay, for here the wind,deflected by a hollow, blew freshly off-shore. A slight white-cladfigure stood on the fore deck, and I shouted: "Jump down and fling theanchor over!"

  "There is no anchor!" the answer reached me faintly; and I set offacross a strip of shingle and boulders at a floundering run.

  The rest of the company were gathered in dismay upon a rocky ledge whenI came up, and Caryl tore off his jacket. Leyland turned to me, withconsternation in his face, as he said: "Ted must have tied some foolknot and she's blowing right out across the lake. None of us can swim."

  "It's my fault, and I'm going to try, anyway. The water cannot be deepinside here," gasped the valiant Caryl.

  I saw that, for inland waters, a tolerable sea was running where thetrue wind blew straight down the lake, sufficient to endanger thecatboat if she drifted without control athwart it. There was evidentlyno time to lose, and I turned angrily upon Caryl. "If you jump in hereyou will certainly drown, and that will help nobody," I said.

  Then, seeing some feet of water below the ledge, I launched myself outheadforemost. The ripples ran white behind me when I rose, and there wasno great difficulty in swimming down-wind, even when cumbered byclothing; but the boat's side and mast exposed considerable surface tothe blast, and she had blown some distance to leeward before I overtookher. It also cost me time and labor to crawl on board--an operationdifficult in deep water--but it was accomplished, and, turning to thegirl, I said cheerfully: "You need not be frightened. We shall beat backin a few minut
es if you will help me."

  Lucille Haldane showed the courage she had showed one snowy night atBonaventure, for there was confidence in her face as she answered: "Iwill do whatever you tell me, and I'm not in the least afraid."