XII BEFORE THE WIND

XXIII STRANGE'S LEGACY

XXIV AGATHA RESUMES HER JOURNEY

XXV THE BROKEN RANGE

XXVI THE LODE

XXVII THIRLWELL'S DULLNESS

XXVIII STORMONT TRIES A BRIBE

XXIX GEORGE REPROACHES HIMSELF

XXX A CHANGE OF LUCK

XXXI THIRLWELL'S REWARD

CHAPTER I

THIRLWELL MAKES HIS CHOICE

Dinner was nearly over at the big red hotel that stands high above the
city of Quebec, and Thirlwell, sitting at one of the tables,
abstractedly glanced about. The spacious room was filled with skilfully
tempered light that glimmered on colored glasses and sparkled on silver;
pillars and cornices were decorated with artistic taste. A murmur of
careless talk rose from the groups of fashionably dressed women and
prosperous men, and he heard a girl's soft laugh.

All this struck a note of refined luxury that was strange to Thirlwell,
who had spent some years in the wilds, where the small, frost-bitten
pines roll across the rocks and muskegs of North Ontario. One lived hard
up there, enduring arctic cold, and the heat of the short summer, when
bloodthirsty mosquitoes swarm; and ran daunting risks on the lonely
prospecting trail. Now it looked as if chance had offered him an easier
lot; he could apparently choose between the privations of the wilderness
and civilized comfort, but while he grappled with a certain longing he
knew this was not so. He had adopted the pioneers' Spartan code; one
must stand by one's bargain, and do the thing one had undertaken.

For a few moments he was silent, lost in rather gloomy thought, with a
frown on his brown face, and Mrs. Allott, his English relative, studied
him across the table. On the whole, Jim Thirlwell had improved in
Canada, and she thought he would be welcomed if he returned to England.
She had been his mother's friend, and during the week or two they had
now spent together, had decided that if he proved amenable she would
help him to make a career. Indeed, it was largely on Thirlwell's account
she had accompanied her husband on his American tour.

Jim had certain advantages. He was not clever, but his remarks were
sometimes smarter than he knew. Then he had a quiet voice and manner
that impressed one, even when one differed from him, as one often did.
He was not handsome, and his face was rather thin, but his features were
well-defined, and she liked his firm mouth and steady look. His figure
was good and marked by a touch of athletic grace. Then sh