that kind is no light responsibility, and I look
for assistance from the men who have almost as large a stake as I have
in the prosperity of Silverdale."

"Have you ever seen me do anything you could consider prejudicial to
it?" asked Winston.

"I have not," said Colonel Barrington.

"And it was by her own wish Miss Barrington, who, I fancy, is seldom
mistaken, asked me to the Grange?"

"It is a good plea," said Barrington. "I cannot question anything my
sister does."

"Then we will let it pass, though I am afraid you will consider what I
am going to ask a further presumption. You have forward wheat to
deliver, and find it difficult to obtain it?"

Barrington's smile was somewhat grim. "In both cases you have surmised
correctly."

Winston nodded. "Still, it is not mere inquisitiveness, sir. I fancy
I am the only man at Silverdale who can understand your difficulties,
and, what is more to the point, suggest a means of obviating them. You
still expect to buy at lower prices before the time to make delivery
comes?"

Again the care crept into Barrington's face, and he sat silent for
almost a minute. Then he said, very slowly, "I feel that I should
resent the question, but I will answer. It is what I hope to do."

"Well," said Winston, "I am afraid you will find prices higher still.
There is very little wheat in Minnesota this year, and what there was
in Dakota was cut down by hail. Millers in St. Paul and Minneapolis
are anxious already, and there is talk of a big corner in Chicago.
Nobody is offering grain, while you know what land lies fallow in
Manitoba, and the activity of their brokers shows the fears of Winnipeg
millers with contracts on hand. This is not my opinion alone. I can
convince you from the papers and market reports I see before you."

Barrington could not controvert the unpleasant truth he was still
endeavoring to shut his eyes to. "The demand from the East may
slacken," he said.

Winston shook his head. "Russia can give them nothing. There was a
failure in the Indian monsoon, and South American crops were small.
Now, I am going to take a further liberty. How much are you short?"

Barrington was never sure why he told him, but he was hard pressed
then, and there was a quiet forcefulness about the younger man that had
its effect on him.

"That," he said, holding out a document, "is the one contract I have
not covered."

Winston glanced at it. "The quantity is small. Still