."

"Perhaps you had better not," said Charnock dryly. "I imagine you
wouldn't be easy to live with it you felt you had come home because you
had failed. You might make good resolutions, but the thing would spoil
your temper all the same. The pinch comes when you try to carry good
resolutions out."

Festing got up and threw fresh wood on the fire. "If you have finished
philosophizing, we'll talk about something else."

"I'm not going to talk about logs and wages," Charnock replied.

"Very well. You haven't told me much about Wilkinson. He seems a clever
rascal. Do you think we have ground for being afraid of him?"

"I don't imagine he'd run much risk or make a sacrifice for the sake
of getting his revenge; that kind of thing isn't often done by normal
people. All the same, he doesn't like us, and if he found he could do us
an injury without much trouble, I dare say he'd seize the chance. On the
whole, it might be prudent to watch him. Now we'll let the matter go."

Festing nodded, and they lounged in silence by the snapping fire.

Next morning they got to work upon the track, and on the following
afternoon, when the thaw had gone far enough into the ground, Charnock
went for the gravel gang. The men came willingly, although Wilkinson
and the foreman did not appear, and with the connivance of one Charnock
obtained several of the company's blast-lamps. They worked well, and
when they went away Festing was satisfied with what they had done. He
imagined that Kerr and Norton had put themselves to some inconvenience
in order to let him have the gang, and for the next two or three days he
redoubled his efforts. The strain was getting unbearable, but the thaw
would not last, and he must finish all the work the frost would delay
while he could get the men. When he dismissed his helpers, they parted
on friendly terms; but his look was grave that evening when he made up
his accounts.

The wages had been a heavy drain, and he could not meet his
storekeeper's bills unless he got his cheque. The defective underpinning
had, however, been replaced or strengthened, and he expected that Kerr
would test it soon. If the work did not pass the test, he would be
ruined, and would, moreover, have involved Charnock in a serious loss.

It was about the middle of the morning when he stood with Kerr and his
partner beside the mended tract. Bright sunshine touched the hillside,
leaving the gorge in shadow, and the air was clear and cold. T