The Girl From Kellers | Page 6

and Charnock had already been some time in
Canada.
"Anyhow," the latter resumed, "you take much for granted if you count
upon a moderately good crop; I haven't got one yet. We're told this is a
great country for the small farmer, and perhaps it is, so long as he
escapes a dry June, summer hail, rust, and autumn frost. As a matter of
fact, I've suffered from the lot!"
"So have others, but they're making good."
"At a price! They sweat, when it's light long enough, sixteen hours a
day, deny themselves everything a man can go without, and when the
grain is sold the storekeeper or implement dealer takes all they get.
When the fellow's sure of their honesty he carried them on, for the sake
of the interest, until, if they're unusually lucky, a bonanza crop helps
them to wipe off the debt. But do you imagine any slave in the old days
ever worked so hard?"
Festing knitted his brows. He felt that Charnock must be answered, and
he was not a philosopher.
"Canada's a pretty hard country, and the man without much capital who

undertakes to break new soil must have nerve. But he has a chance of
making good, and a few years of self-denial do a man no harm. In fact,
I expect he's better for it afterwards. A fool can take life easily and do
himself well while his dollars last."
Charnock smiled sourly. "I've heard something of this kind before!
You're a Spartan; but suppose we admit that a man might stand the
strain, what about a woman?"
"That complicates the thing. I suppose you mean an Englishwoman?"
"I do. An Englishwoman of the kind you used to know at home, for
example. Could she live on rancid pork, molasses, and damaged flour?
You know the stuff the storekeepers supply their debtors. Would you
expect a delicately brought-up girl to cook for you, and mend and wash
your clothes, besides making hers? To struggle with chores that never
end, and be content, for months, with your society?"
Festing pondered. Life on a small prairie farm was certainly hard for a
woman; for a man it was bracing, although it needed pluck and
resolution. Festing had both qualities, perhaps in an unusual degree,
and his point of view was essentially practical. He had grappled with so
many difficulties that he regarded them as problems to be solved and
not troubles to complain about. He believed that what was necessary or
desirable must be done, no matter how hard it was. One considered
only the best way of removing an obstacle, not the effort of mind and
body it cost. Still, he could not explain this to Charnock; he was not a
moralizer or clever at argument.
Then half-consciously he fixed his eyes on the portrait which he had
often studied when the talk flagged. The girl was young, but there was
something in the poise of her head that have her an air of distinction.
Festing did not know if distinction was quite what he meant, but could
not think of a better term. She looked at one with steady eyes; her gaze
was frank and fearless, as if she had confidence in herself. Yet it was
not an aggressive confidence, but rather a calm that sprang from
pride--the right kind of pride. In a way, he knew nothing about her, but
he was sure she would disdain anything that was shabby and mean. He

was not a judge of beauty, but thought the arch of her brows and the
lines of nose and mouth were good. She was pretty, but in admitting
this one did not go far enough. The pleasure he got from studying her
picture was his only romantic weakness, and he could indulge it safely
because if he ever saw her it would be when she had married his friend.
The curious thing was that she had promised to marry Charnock. Bob
was a good sort, but he was not on this girl's level, and if she raised him
to it, would probably feel uncomfortable there. He was slack and took
the easiest way, while a hint of coarseness had recently got more
marked. Festing was not fastidious, but he lived with clear-eyed, wiry
men who could do all that one could expect from flesh and blood. They
quarreled about their wages and sometimes struck a domineering boss,
but they did their work, in spite of scorching heat and biting frost.
Raging floods, snowslides, and rocks that rolled down the mountain
side and smashed the track never daunted them. Their character had
something of the clean hardness of finely tempered steel. But Charnock
was different.
"So you think of quitting?" Festing said at length.
"I'm forced to quit; I'm in