asionally thankful I'm not a rich man, nor much of a
beauty."

CHAPTER X

THE UNDELIVERED MESSAGE

The afternoon was slipping by when, some time after the capture of the
steer, Alice Deringham sat waiting for Alton under a big fir. He had
promised to take her out upon the lake, and the little breeze that
stirred the cedars to drowsy music would, she knew, ripple the shining
surface and render the capture of a big trout the less problematical.
The trout of British Columbia are also at least equal to those of
England in their faculties of discrimination and observation, and
during the listless autumn days Miss Deringham's angling had not been
especially successful. Still, though she not infrequently returned
with an empty basket, the girl apparently retained an enthusiasm for it
she had not always displayed at home.

The lake she declared was beautiful, and this was beyond contravention,
while even when no splash disturbed its mirror-like shining she found
it pleasant to slide across its black depths in a light canoe. She
knew, and so did Alton, that under those conditions the silver and
vermilion lure would have been quite as useful in the bottom of the
craft, but the man usually seemed too content to lazily dip the paddle
while the girl would lead him on to talk with judicious questions.
Alton could on occasion talk well, displaying a vigour and freshness of
thought which at the commencement had slightly astonished his
companion, who found a curious pleasure in sounding this and that depth
of his nature.

As a rule, he responded readily, and she was conscious of the same
sense of power that a master of the organ might feel as his fingers
touched the stops and keys. Alton had lived simply in close touch with
nature, and though he had read much, his thoughts had something of the
pristine purity and vigour of the land he dwelt in, and were in a
fashion musical; but now and then the girl venturing overfar chanced
upon a chord that rang harsh and discordant, and shrinking a little
recognized, she fancied, the undertone of primitive barbarity.

On the afternoon in question she was, however, slightly angry with him.
He had fixed no special time, but she had waited some while, and Alice
Deringham preferred that other people should wait for her. She had
also taken some pains with her toilet and though her attire was neat in
place of ornate, its simplicity was the result of lavish expenditure
and artistic selec