ith a
resigned smile.
"It often saves one's relations trouble. Anyhow, the blamed lode has
thrown its shadow on all our lives, and I don't mean to stand off,
saying nothing, and see you spoil yours."
"You escaped the shadow, because you never believed in the lode."
"I certainly didn't and don't believe in it now! For all that, I saw
father's restlessness and mother's fears."
"Ah!" said Agatha, "I didn't think--"
"I allow I haven't your imagination, but I can see a thing that's
obvious. Father thought he hid his feelings, but mother knew and
grieved. She was afraid he would give us up and go back to the North."
"No!" said Agatha with firmness; "she was not afraid he would give us
up! Father never failed in his duty."
"Then she was certainly afraid he'd die in the bush; as he did. She knew
what the prospectors were up against, and though she smiled when he
talked about the ore, I knew she had an anxious heart. I don't claim
that the anxiety broke her down, but it made a heavy load and helped."
"Yet when she was very ill she did not ask him to promise he wouldn't
go."
"She did not mind then," said George in a quiet voice. "She was dying
and we had grown up. But there was nothing selfish about her
acquiescence. I think she was glad to set him free, because she loved
him and knew what he had borne. He was a dreamer and not a business
man. She had run the store and taken care of him, and knew he would be
lonely after she had gone. Besides, I sometimes feel she thought he
would follow and rejoin her soon. It did not matter by what road he
came."
Agatha was silent for some moments because she was surprised and moved.
George had a keener imagination and saw farther than she thought. It
looked as if he had known her mother best.
"You loved her well and so you understood," she said. "But the troubles
she bore are done with, and now I stand alone. I have no
responsibilities; my life is mine!"
George's face got red. "Well, perhaps I don't count for much, but we
didn't cut loose when I married. I have a sister as well as a wife."
"I'm sorry, George," said Agatha, putting her hand on his arm. "I didn't
mean to hurt."
"Very well! I'm not a sentimental fellow; let's be practical. You can't
locate the ore, because it isn't there; but you may spoil your health
and get soured by disappointment. Then, if you stop long, you'll lose
your post and ruin your career. The blamed silver may become a fixed
illusion.
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