ies he doubted if
he possessed, he meant to keep the other half. He was hemmed in by
difficulties and might make mistakes, but somehow he was going to make
good.

For a time he sat in a corner, recalling what Alice had said in England
and how she had looked. He pictured her standing in the dark-paneled
library at the Garth, with eyes that sparkled as she spoke in his
defense, sitting with a smile in the half-light by the big hearth in
the hall, and waiting for him in the orchard. She moved through all
the scenes with the same calm grace; even in her anger--and he had seen
her angry--there was a proud reserve. But Alice stood above all other
women; there was nobody like her.

Then he got up with a resolute movement. Dreams and memories would not
help, and he must get to work. To begin with, he would try to find out
something about Telford, and went to the office, where the clerk was
unoccupied. As a rule, nobody knows more about everybody else's
business than the clerk of a Western hotel.

"Is there much doing in real estate just now?" he asked.

"There will be soon. The mines are paying well and the bosses are
planning new developments. Then there's a big scheme for opening up
the ranching land in the bench country. That means a bigger city. Are
you looking for building lots?"

"My line's dressed lumber, but when you get a building boom you want
material. I suppose Mr. Telford does a good trade?"

"Talks as if he was going to, but he hasn't begun yet," the clerk
replied with a smile that hinted that he had expected the inquiry.

"Then he hasn't been here long?"

"Only came into town a week since," said the clerk, rather dryly.
"When things look like humming these fellows generally do come along.
But you want to go slow when you deal with a real-estate man, unless
you know all about him."

"Yes," said Foster thoughtfully, "as a rule, that's true. Thank you,
anyhow."

He went back to his seat and lighted his pipe again. He had learned
that Telford was a stranger and had apparently thought it advisable to
account for his visiting the town. Foster saw that he ought to have
guessed the fellow was not a resident when he asked for his mail,
because had he been in business in the city he would have had his
private box at the post office. Moreover he imagined that the clerk
knew he really wanted to find out something about Telford, and thought
him clumsy, but this did not matter. He had been told he