dom more
than a foot out," he said.

There was a groaning of fibres as Deringham drew aside, but the two
figures on the springy planks still smote and swung, until
simultaneously they flung the axes down and, sprang. Then the great
fir quivered a little, toppled, lurched, and fell, and the hillside
resounded to the thud it made. It also smote the trembling soil just
where the man with the saw had indicated. Then Alton signed to his
assistant, and strode away with the axe on his shoulder towards another
tree. The saw-sharpener laughed a little as he sat down again.

"Now you have had your say it would be better if you waited until after
supper," he said. "You see, one thing at one time is quite enough for
Harry, and he really isn't in the least uncivil when you understand
him. Still, it's no use trying to make him listen when he doesn't want
to."

"That," said Deringham dryly, "was always one of the characteristics of
his family. You are presumably an Englishman?"

The other man laughed a little. "Yes," he said, "I'm Charles Seaforth,
better known to the boys here as the Honourable Charley, though I have
no especial right to the title, and am fortunate in holding a small
share in the Somasco ranch, which I owe to my partner's generosity."

"Do I understand that he gave it you?" said Deringham.

Seaforth nodded. "You would be near the mark if you came to that
conclusion."

"And is Mr. Alton in the habit of making similar presents?" said
Deringham.

Seaforth glanced towards the sinewy figure with the glinting axe, and
smiled again. "That," he said quietly, "is one of the most generous
men in the Dominion of Canada, but I should not care to be the man who
attempted to take advantage of him."

Deringham said nothing further, though he was sensible of a slight
uneasiness, and presently went back to the house to rejoin his
daughter, while the dusk was creeping across the valley when the men
from the sawmill and clearing came home, and Deringham led his daughter
out when he heard Alton's voice in the verandah. The latter and his
partner were together, and the girl at first felt a slight sense of
relief as her glance fell upon Seaforth, who stood with his wide hat in
his hand. He was, for that country, somewhat fastidious in dress, his
eyes were mildly humorous, and his face was pleasant, while he had not
as yet wholly lost the stamp of the graceful idler he had brought with
him from England.

"This," s