when she reached the farm, and after Helen
left she sat on the veranda, feeling disturbed. Bob had told her he was
going to the railroad to bring out some goods, but he could have got
back two or three hours earlier. Then Wilkinson no doubt knew where he
had gone. A small settlement, with two new hotels, had sprung up round
the station, and as the place was easily reached by the construction
gangs there was now and then some drunkenness and gambling. For all
that, Sadie did not mean to anticipate trouble, and set about some
household work that her drive had delayed. It got dark before she
finished, but Bob did not come, and she went outside again.

The night was clear and refreshingly cold after the scorching day. The
wind had dropped, everything was very quiet, and she could see for
some distance across the plain. The hollows were picked out by belts of
darker shadow, and the scattered bluffs made dim gray blurs, but nothing
moved on the waste, and she did not hear the beat of hoofs she listened
for.

For a time she sat still, lost in gloomy thought. Bob's relapse had been
a bitter disappointment, because she had begun to hope that the danger
of his resuming his former habits was past. He had stuck to his work,
which seemed to absorb his interest, and had looked content. There was
ground for believing that with a little judicious encouragement he
might make a good farmer, and Sadie did not grudge the patient effort
necessary to keep him in the proper path. Now he had left it again and
might wander far before she could lead him back.

For all that, she did not mean to give up. She had fought hard for Bob
and was resolved to win, while there was a ray of comfort. The woman
she had at first thought a danger was her best friend, and she felt for
Helen Festing a grateful admiration that sometimes moved her deeply.
Helen had many advantages that she could not have combated had they been
used against her: grace, polish, and a knowledge of the world in which
Bob had lived. But Helen was on her side. Sadie's admiration was perhaps
warranted, but she undervalued her own patience and courage.

At length she got drowsy and forgot her troubles. She did not think she
really went to sleep, but after a time she got up with a start. A beat
of hoofs and rattle of wheels had roused her, and she saw a rig coming
towards the house. For a minute or two she stood shivering and trying
to brace herself. If Bob was driving, things might be b