y the fact remained that he had made her a somewhat dispassionate
offer of marriage, and had left her to decide, which she had done.

As it happened, Wyllard could not just then, at least, have made the
matter very much clearer. Shrewdly practical, as he was, in some
respects, there were times when he acted blindly, merely doing without
reasoning what he sub-consciously felt was right. This had more than
once involved him in disaster, but it is, perhaps, fortunate that there
are others like him, for, after all, in the long run the failures of
such men now and then prove better than the dictates of calculating
wisdom.

In any case, Agatha found a momentary relief from her thoughts as she
watched Hawtrey get down from his waggon and approach the house. The
change in him was plainer than it had ever been, which may have been
because she had now a standard of comparison. He was tall and
well-favoured, and he moved with a jaunty and yet not ungraceful swing;
but it almost seemed to her that this was merely the result of an empty
self-sufficiency. There was, she felt, no force behind it which when
the strain came would prove that jaunty bearing warranted. He was
smiling, and for some reason his smile appeared a trifle inane, while
there was certainly a hint of sensuousness in his face. It suggested
that the man might sink into self-indulgent coarseness. She, however,
remembered that she was still pledged to him, and determinedly brushed
these thoughts aside, until she heard his footsteps inside the house,
when she became possessed of a burning curiosity as to what Wyllard had
to say to him, which, however, remained unsatisfied.

In the meanwhile, Hawtrey entered a room where Wyllard sat awaiting him
with a paper in his hand.

"I asked you to drive over here because it would save time," he said.
"I have to go in to the railroad at once. Here's a draft of the scheme
I suggested. You had better tell me if there's anything you're not
quite satisfied with."

He threw the paper on the table, and Hawtrey, who took it up, perused
it.

"I'm to farm and generally manage the Range on your behalf," he said.
"My percentage to be deducted after harvest. I'm empowered to sell out
grain or horses as appears advisable, and to have the use of teams and
implements for my own place when occasion requires it."

He looked up. "I've no fault to find with the thing, Harry. It's
generous."

"Then you had better sign it, and we'