ied even the
support of the only man who, out of sheer good-heartedness, would have
accompanied him. The life of a man is more surely influenced by the
peculiarities of his own disposition than anything else. When a man
takes to himself a wife, it is naturally a time for the well-wishes of
his friends. This man set out alone. Not one God-speed went with him.
And yet he was not disturbed by the lack of sympathy. He looked at
life from an uncommon standpoint, measuring its scope for the
attainment of happiness by his own capacity for doing, not by any
association with his kind. He was one of those men who need no
friendship from his fellows, preferring rather to be without it. Thus
he considered he was freer to follow his own methods of life. Position
was his goal--position in the walk of life he had chosen. Could he not
attain this solely by his own exertions, then he would do without it.

The crisp, morning air smote his cheeks with the sting of a whip-lash
as he drove down the bush-lined trail which led from the Rodney House
to the railway depot. It was necessary for him to cross the track at
this point before he would find himself upon the prairie road to the
Leonville school-house, at which place the ceremony was to be
performed. The "gush" of the horses' nostrils sounded refreshingly in
his ears as the animals fairly danced over the smooth, icy trail. The
sleigh-bells jangled with a confused clashing of sounds in response to
the gait of the eager beasts. But Grey thought little of these things.
He thought little of anything just now but his intended despoiling of
the owner of Lonely Ranch. All other matters were quite subsidiary to
his one chief object.

Once out in the open, the horses settled down into their long-distance
stride. Here the trail was not so good as in the precincts of the
village. The snow was deeper and softer. Now and then the horses'
hoofs would break through the frozen crust and sink well above the
fetlocks into the under-snow.

Now the thick bush, which surrounded the village, gave place to a
sparser covering of scattered bluffs, and the grey-white aspect of the
country became apparent. The trail was well marked as far as the eye
could reach--two great furrows ploughed by the passage of horses and
the runners of the farmers' heavy "double-bobs." Besides this, the
colour was different. There was a strong suggestion of earthiness
about the trail which was not to be observed upon the rolling
s