settlement, I wouldn't have seen you, and that's about the only comfort
I have left."

A touch of color crept into Sadie's face, but her thoughtful look did
not change.

"Well," she said, "I'd surely have liked you to make good, and don't
know that we mightn't have got the mortgage held over; but it wouldn't
have been much use. You'd have started again and then got tired and not
have stayed with it." She spread out her hands impatiently. "That's the
kind of man you are!"

"I'm afraid it's true," Charnock admitted. "But I hope you like me all
the same."

Sadie was silent for a few moments, but her color was higher and
Charnock mused. He supposed she meant she could have persuaded her
father to come to his help, and it looked as if she well knew his
failings. Still he felt rather amused than resentful.

"We'll let that go," she resumed. "I want you to quit joking and listen.
We're going to have a boom at the settlement as soon as the railroad's
opened, and I and the old man can hardly manage the store and hotel.
We've got to have help; somebody the boys like and we can trust. Well,
if you took hold the right way----"

She stopped, but Charnock understood. Keller was often ill and was
getting old. He could not carry on his rapidly extending business much
longer, and Charnock might presently take his place. But this was not
all, and he hesitated.

"Do you think I'm fit for the job?" he asked.

"You could do it if you tried."

Charnock smiled. "It's comforting to feel somebody trusts me, and I see
advantages in the plan. You keep the books, I think. It's very nice in
the little back office when the lamps are lit and the store is shut. We
could make up the bills together."

Sadie blushed, and he thought he had not seen her look so attractive.
She was remarkably pretty, although there was now something about her
that puzzled him. It was something elusive that acted like a barrier,
keeping him away. Yet he knew the girl was fond of him; if he wanted
her, he had but to ask, and it was not on this account he hesitated. He
thought of a creeper-covered house in England; a house that had an air
of quiet dignity. He remembered the old silver, the flowers in the shady
rooms, and the pictures. The girl who moved about the rooms harmonized
with her surroundings; her voice was low and clear, she had a touch of
stateliness. Well, he was ruined, and she was far away, but Sadie was
close by, waiting for him. For a moment he set