The Lure of the North | Page 8

was necessary to defend her father, and she had done so. Indeed, he admitted that one must respect the man who had, with uncomplaining patience, for years carried on his disliked task for his wife and children's sake. Longing for the woods and the silent trail, Strange must have found it irksome to count dollar bills and weigh groceries in the store; but he had done his duty, and borne hardship and failure when at last freedom came. Still the girl must not know what he had become.
Agatha asked him a number of questions and then got up. "Thank you," she said. "I will take the photograph and would like you to keep the specimen of ore."
"I will keep it; but I wonder why you wish to give it me?"
She smiled. "I believe in the lode and would like you to believe in it, too. You are a mining engineer and can find out if there is much silver in the stone."
Then she crossed the lawn to the hotel veranda and left Thirlwell thoughtful.

CHAPTER III
AGATHA MAKES A PROMISE
Next morning Thirlwell wrote to his employers, stating that he meant to take another week's holiday, and smiled as he reflected that the letter would arrive too late for them to refuse. The hotel was comfortable, he had met one or two interesting people, and was told the fishing was good; besides, he thought he would not be badly needed at the mine just then. For all that, he was not quite persuaded that these were sufficient reasons for neglecting his work, and when he went through the hall with the letter in his hand he put it into his pocket instead of the box. He would think over the matter again before the mail went out. Then as he crossed the veranda Agatha came up from the beach and gave him a smile.
"You are out early," Thirlwell remarked.
"I like the morning freshness and have been on the lake."
"It looks as if you had hurt yourself," said Thirlwell, noting a small wet handkerchief twisted round her hand.
Agatha laughed. "Not seriously; I blistered my fingers trying to paddle. I have been practising since I came, but it is difficult to keep the canoe straight when you are alone."
"That's so," Thirlwell agreed. "The back-feathering stroke is hard to learn."
"For all that, I mean to learn it before I go."
"Perhaps I could teach it you. How long have you got?"
"A fortnight," she said, moving on, and when she left him Thirlwell went to the mail-box and dropped in his letter.
Afterwards he felt annoyed that he had done so, and wondered whether he had weakly given way to a romantic impulse, but next morning he went down to the beach and found the girl launching a canoe. Making her sit near the middle, he knelt in the stern and drove the canoe across the shining water with vigorous strokes. Agatha wore a white jersey and had left her hat, and he noted the color the cool wind brought to her face and how the light sparkled on her hair.
By and by they skirted a rocky island where resinous smells drifted across the water and the reflections of tall pines wavered round the canoe, until he ran the craft on a shingle point and they changed places. Agatha took the single-bladed paddle and although her hands were sore made some progress while he instructed her. After a time she stopped and let the canoe drift in the hot sunshine.
"I think you'd soon make a good voyageur," Thirlwell remarked. "For one thing, you're determined; I saw you wince once or twice and imagine the paddle-haft hurt."
"I must learn to use the pole yet, and mean to try it in the river by and by. You must pole, I think, when you go up a fast stream?"
"That is so, when you can't use the tracking line. But I don't see why you are anxious to learn."
"I have an object," Agatha answered with a smile.
"Then why don't you practise canoeing at Toronto?"
"The trouble is that I haven't time. You see, I teach all day."
"But you have holidays and the evenings."
"My evenings are occupied by study."
"I don't know if it's wise to over-work yourself for the advantage of your pupils," Thirlwell remarked. "At one time, I was very keen about my profession, but soon found it a mistake to tire my brain for my employer's benefit. But what do you study?"
"Science; chemistry and geology, but not in order to teach the girls."
"Well, I suppose knowledge is worth getting for its own sake. Anyhow, I thought so, but you learn when you undertake rude mining that the main thing is to be able to make a practical use of what you know. In fact, that's often better than knowing much."
"Perhaps so," Agatha agreed.