culty, be cut, but he hardly imagined the stooks would pay
for thrashing. Moreover, he had bought and fed a number of expensive
Percheron horses, which ought to have been used for harvesting and
hauling the grain to the railroad, and had engaged men at lower wages
than usual, on the understanding that he kept them through the winter.
Now there was nothing for both to do, although their maintenance would
cost as much as before.

He read Kerr's letter again. If he had not been married, it would have
given him a chance of overcoming his difficulties. A man and a team
of horses could do all that was required on the farm in winter, and he
could have taken the others to British Columbia. Kerr would arrange
for free transport, and, if he was lucky, he might earn enough on the
railroad to cover part of his loss. But this was impossible. He could
not leave Helen.

Then there was the other matter. He had not yet told her what Wilkinson
had said, but she must be told, and Bob's visits must stop. The trouble
was that he had already vexed her by refusing her help, and this would
not make his delicate task easier. Besides, he was not in the mood to
use much tact. His nerves were raw; the shock he had got had left him
savage and physically tired. For all that, the thing could not be put
off.

He said nothing until breakfast was over, and then, asking Helen to come
with him, went on to the veranda. The sun was hot, the sky clear, and
thin steam drifted across the drenched plain. Had the storm come without
the hail a few weeks sooner, it would have saved his crop; but now the
vivifying moisture seemed to mock him. It had come too late; the wheat
had gone. Struggling with a feeling of depression, he turned to his
wife.

"There's something we must talk about; and I hope you'll be patient with
me if you get a jar."

He leaned against the balustrade, nervously fingering his pipe, and
Helen sat down opposite. She felt curious and disturbed.

"Well?" she said.

"To begin with, I'll tell you what happened at the settlement yesterday.
You must remember that the statements are Wilkinson's."

Helen's color rose, and when he stopped her face was flushed and her
eyes were very bright.

"Ah," she said in a strained voice. "But what did you do?"

Festing smiled rather grimly. "I dragged the brute about the floor and
threw him into the street. I don't know that it was a logical denial of
the slander, but it was what the others expected an