nd,
if she were resolute, might lead to success. Then she remembered with a
strange satisfaction that for a time she need not walk alone: Thirlwell
would be her guide when she plunged into the trackless wilds and she
knew that one could trust him.

CHAPTER XX

THE PLUNGE

Supper was over at the Farnam homestead and Agatha enjoyed the cool of
the evening on the veranda with her hosts and George. The school had
closed for the holidays, and George had arrived as the meal from which
they had just got up was served. Although he had not stated his object
yet, Agatha knew why he had come and shrank from the vigorous protest
she expected him to make. In the meantime, she had something else to
think about and listened for the noise of wheels.

Farnam's hired man had driven across to the settlement in the afternoon
and she wondered, rather anxiously, whether he would bring her a
telegram. She had written to Thirlwell, telling him when she would be
ready to begin her search for the ore, and now waited his reply. Her
letter might take some time to reach him, and she must allow for his
messenger's journey to the railroad from the mine; but she knew she
would feel restless until the answer came.

The evening was calm, the air was fresher than in the city, and she
found the quiet soothing. A field of timothy grass near the house
rippled languidly, the dark heads rising stiffly upright when the faint
breeze dropped. Sometimes there was a movement among the tall blades and
feathery plumes of the Indian corn, and then the rustle stopped and
everything was still. Beyond the zig-zag fence, the fruit trees ran
back in rows that converged and melted into a blurred mass at the edge
of the bush. The narrow landscape had no prominent feature. It was
smooth and calm, and Agatha found it rested her eyes and brain. She
wanted to be tranquil, but must shortly rouse herself when Mrs. Farnam
and George began their joint attack. George had an ominously determined
look, and she knew Mabel would give him her support.

"Why didn't you come and stop with us? Florence expected you," he said
by and by.

Agatha saw he was feeling for an opening, and since it was hard to put
him off, answered with a smile: "You are a persistent fellow, and I'm
not fond of argument. I wanted to be quiet."

"You mean you were afraid I'd get after you about your crank notion of
finding the old man's lode? As you haven't talked about it for some
time, I'd begun