ed in an efflorescence
of ambitious architecture. Such beauty as they then possessed was not
refined or subdued, but it was somehow characteristic of the country and
harmonized with the builders' optimism. There was no permanence on the
prairie; everything was in a fluid state of change and marked by a bold,
but sometime misguided, striving for something better. Then she turned
to her husband. His face was thin and she noted lines that came from
mental strain and physical suffering, but his eyes were calm. She liked
his look of quiet resolution.

"You are getting stronger fast," she said. "The days are lengthening,
spring is near, and you will soon be able to work again. Well, I will
not try to stop you. When the prairie is plowed and covered with wheat I
want you to feel that you have done your part. The change that is coming
will bring the things women like; comfort, amusements, society. But what
about you and the others, the pioneers, when there is no more ground to
be broken and the way is cleared?"

Festing smiled. "As a rule, the pioneer sells his homestead and goes on
into the wilds to blaze another trail, but I imagine I shall be glad to
rest. If not, we're an adaptable people and there are different ways of
helping things along. One can learn to use other tools than the ax and
plow."

"Ah," said Helen, "You are getting broader. You see clearly, Stephen,
and your views are often long, but I sometimes thought you focused them
too narrowly on the object in front. Perhaps I shall have done something
if I have taught you to look all round. But here's Sadie and the train."

A light sprang out from the distant bluff and grew into a dazzling
fan-shaped beam. Then the roar of wheels slackened, and Sadie joined the
others as a bell began to toll, and with smoke streaming back along the
cars the train rolled into the station. Somebody leaned out from the
rails of a vestibule, and Sadie began to run beside the track.

"Come along!" she cried. "It's Bob!"

Festing and Helen followed, and when they reached the vestibule Charnock
pushed a door open and took them inside. The car was brightly lighted,
but not furnished on the usual plan. A table stood in the middle, the
curtained berths were at one end, and there were cases holding books and
surveying instruments. It was obviously meant for the use of railroad
managers and engineers, and three or four gentlemen stood near the
table, as if they had just got up. Festing saw