s the saddest moment she had known in the conflict
with the wilderness.

"Thy shoes shall be iron and brass," ran the blessing of Asher through her
mind. "It must be true today as in the desert long ago. And Asher lives by
the memory of his mother's blessing." The drooping shoulders lifted. The
dark eyes brightened.

"I won't give up. I'm glad the money's gone," she declared to herself. "We
did depend on it so long as we knew we had it."

"What luck, Mrs. Aydelot?" It was John Jacobs who spoke as he sat down
beside her.

"All bad luck, but we are not discouraged," she replied bravely, and
Jacobs read the whole story in the words.

A silence fell. Virginia sat looking at the vacant street, while the young
man studied her face. Then Juno was brought to the door and Virginia rose
to mount her.

"Mrs. Aydelot," John Jacob's sharp eyes seemed to pierce to her very soul
as he said slowly, "I believe you are not discouraged. You believe in this
country, you, and your neighbors. I believe in it, and I believe in you.
Stewart and I had to dissolve partnership when Carey's Crossing dissolved.
He took a claim. It was all he could do. I went back to Cincinnati, but
only for a time. I'm ready to start again. I will organize a company of
town builders, not brewery builders. You must not look for favors in a
whisky-ridden place like this. There'll be no saloon to rule our town."

Virginia listened interestedly but not understandingly.

"What of this?" Jacobs continued. "I have some means. I'm waiting for
more. I'll invest them in Grass River. Go back and tell your
homesteaders that I'll make a small five-year loan to every man in the
settlement according to his extreme needs. I'll take each man's note with
five per cent interest and the privilege of renewing for two years if
crops fail at the end of the term. I am selfish, I'll admit," he declared,
as Virginia looked at him incredulously, "and I want dollar for
dollar--always--sometimes more. My people are popularly known as
Shylocks. But you note that my rate of usury is small, the time long,
and that I want these settlers to stay. I am not trying to get rid of
them in order to speculate on their land in coming days of
prosperity--the days when you will be landlords over broad acres and I a
merchant prince. I say again, I believe in the West and in you farmer
people who must turn the West from a wilderness to a land of plenty. I'm
willing to risk something on your venture."