Bindloss Harold
The Mistress of Bonaventure

There remained, however, one burning question – did Lucille Haldane, in any degree, reciprocate what I felt? – and this lacked an answer. Knowing her generous nature, it was clear that what she had done for me had not been done wittingly for a lover; but, on the other hand, I could recall many trifles which may have had their significance. Thus alternate hopes and fears surged through my brain until, when I had decided that, being yet a poor man, I must wait the advent of the railroad, at least, before putting my fate to the test, my thoughts commenced to wander, and I must have guided the horse mechanically, for his sudden stopping roused me with a jerk to recognize the corral at Crane Valley. There is a limit beyond which no emotion may galvanize into continued activity the exhausted body, and we not infrequently reach it on the prairie. I do not know whether I was asleep or awake when I led the beast into the stable, but the sun was high when Sally Steel roused me from a couch of trampled hay unpleasantly near his feet.

"You have had a tolerable sleep, and don't seem particular where you camp," she said. "Come right along, and do your best with the second breakfast I've got waiting."

I glanced with consternation at my watch. "Why didn't one of the others waken me? Do you know it's ten o'clock, Sally?" I asked.

"Just because I wouldn't let them! You've got to last through harvest, anyway, and I guess Miss Haldane wouldn't have much use for a dead man," said Sally, and was retiring with mischievous laughter, when I recalled her.

"You have been too good a friend to me to make such jokes again," I said.

"I'm not the only one. All the folks are talking," said the girl.

Thereupon I answered grimly: "If I hear any of them amusing themselves in that fashion I shall do my best to choke them."

CHAPTER XXVIII
THE ENEMY CAPITULATES

Some time had elapsed since the overturning of the wagon, and I had seen nothing of Lucille Haldane, when, one evening, I visited Bonaventure at her father's request. All had gone well in the interval. The last bushel of grain had been threshed and sold, and the balance of my debt to Lane, with every surcharge his ingenuity could invent, wiped out. Haldane, who remained some time in Winnipeg with Boone, had also concluded operations successfully, for, as he had foreseen, once the turning point was passed he had no lack of allies eager to assist in plundering the vanquished, and, before these had satisfied their rapacity he had been able to unobtrusively cover most of our sales without advancing prices. Boone explained that the new assailants considered the purchases a last effort on the part of the company's supporters. Also – because there is little mercy for the beaten – impoverished storekeeper and plundered farmer commenced to air their grievances, and it became evident that the company, or those whom it financed, had occasionally exceeded the limits of the law.

It was accordingly to a meeting of what Haldane called the Vehmgericht that I was summoned, and on arriving at Bonaventure I found Gordon and several of our neighbors already there. The day had been sunny, but our autumn nights are sharp, with a sting of frost in the air, which made the crackling fire in the open hearth acceptable. A shaded silver lamp flung a soft light about the room, which in no way suggested that it was to be used for a tribunal. There were decanters, cigar boxes, and British Columbian fruit on the table, while Haldane lounged in a velvet chair, with feet, neatly encased in patent leather, stretched out towards the fire. All this seemed inappropriate to the occasion, even though I had grown used to Haldane's way.

A glance at the others, however, showed that they were in deadly earnest. The men were lean and hard and grim, and their weather-darkened faces bore the stamp of the conflict. Some of them had long overworked brain and body, half-fed, that Lane and those who backed him might reap an iniquitous profit. Others had seen wife and daughter toiling in the dust of the harrows or riding weary leagues behind the herds, and had not forgotten. I noticed they accepted Haldane's offers of wine and tobacco dubiously, and I surmised it was only personal respect for him that prevented disapproving comments on this manner of procedure.

Boone doubtless guessed their thoughts, for he said whimsically: "I see no reason why you shouldn't have a good time, boys. There are easier ways of killing a coyote than beating his head in with the butt of a gun, and I can assure you that we mean solid business. For one, I find these cigars better than the tin flag plug."

"Tin flag!" and a man with wrinkles round his eyes laughed harshly. "Dried willow bark had to do for us. This kind of thing takes time to get used to after living for 'most two years on damaged flour and molasses. Maybe you're used to luxuries, and don't know what it is to see the wife fall sick when one couldn't raise a decent morsel to feed her."

Boone's face grew as stern as that of the speaker, and the shadow I knew crept into his eyes. "I think I do. My wife died for want of comforts that Lane might twice collect his debt, and I am not likely to forget it to-night," he said.

A silence followed, and through it I heard one or two of the others draw a deep breath, while their faces hardened as they, too, remembered grievous injuries. For my own part I was grimly expectant, for I had suffered long enough, and had sufficient sense to know that it was not often that struggling men had such an opportunity for dictating terms to a powerful adversary. We were all, I think, democratic in the word's most liberal sense, cherishing no grievance against the rich, and quick to recognize advantages offered us by capitalists' legitimate enterprise; but, now that the balance had swung to our side, we were equally determined to place further mischief beyond the power of the man who, for the sake of a few dollars, would have crushed us out of existence. It appeared a duty to the community; but I had not studied human nature sufficiently to discover exactly how far that motive influenced me.

"If none of you have any further suggestions to make, I want to ask if you are willing to leave this affair to me," said Haldane presently. "Lane in his own way is a smart man, and would be quick to seize an advantage which anybody, speaking without consideration, might give him. I offer my services merely because, during an extensive business experience, I have had to deal with such men before."

"There is nobody in the Dominion better able to handle this case for us," said Boone; and the others nodded assent.

"We'll sit quieter than graven images unless he turns vicious, if you'll draw his sting," said one. "That's no use, anyway," a comrade interjected. "The insect would grow another one. What we want is his blame back broken."

"I will, metaphorically speaking, try to oblige you both," said Haldane, with a smile. "He is a little weak in the spine already, or he would have declined to meet us at all."

Nobody made any further comment, but the eyes of most of us were turned expectantly upon the clock, until at last Gordon stood up when a rattle of wheels drew nearer. "This is going to be a great night, boys," he said. "The pernicious insect's come."

Lane entered, and nodded to us all comprehensively when he saw that Haldane did not hold out his hand. The man's assurance was apparently boundless, for he was at first sight as débonnaire and almost as genial as ever – almost, but not quite, for when he moved nearer the lamp I noticed a shiftiness in his eyes and an occasional contraction at the corners of his mouth.

"This is a little business meeting, and we appreciate your attendance; but the former is no reason why you should not be comfortable," said Haldane. "Sit down and help yourself to anything you take a fancy to. I need not introduce any of these gentlemen."

Lane was not readily taken aback, for, while we afterwards had cause to believe he had never discovered the movements of Boone, he looked at him significantly, but without surprise. "I know – all – of them. With thanks, I will," he said. "As to the visit, I am always ready to oblige my clients; but as you know time means money, it remains to be seen on whose bill I shall charge it."

I took the last sentence as a preliminary defiance, and fancied Haldane did so, too; but he only laughed as he said: "I should not wonder if you were not paid that bill."

Lane nodded, as though he understood that the swords were crossed; and when he poured out a glass of wine the rest of us prepared to watch the duel, with the comforting assurance that our champion was armed with the better weapons, as well as with the justice of his quarrel. It was characteristic of the enemy that he smiled indulgently when, as he raised his glass to his lips, Steel and another man thrust their own aside. The inference could not have been plainer.

"Suppose we come straight to business," said Haldane presently. "It may save time if I recapitulate what is known of your position. If I am wrong in details you can, of course, correct me."

"You can sail ahead," and Lane, stretching out his feet, leaned back in his chair in an attitude of contemplative attention.

"To commence with, you hold a number of mortgages on land in this vicinity, from which, after recouping yourself for the loan, you are still drawing what I venture to call extortionate interest. These and your shares in the Territories Investment – which cannot be sold – I believe represent your assets. Also, after taking first-class legal opinion, we find that, owing, shall I say, to indiscretions on your part, it may be possible to prevent your foreclosing on several of those mortgages, while one subordinate, I believe, refuses to be turned out of Gaspard's Trail. On the other hand, you have certain tolerably extensive liabilities I need not enumerate, and you want money badly. Law suits are expensive, and you have a promising crop of them on hand. It was with a view of obtaining it you suggested the issue of new Territories stock, and, seeing that hang fire, unobtrusively endeavored to sell your shares. I don't think the public would look at either just now. In short, you have taken too big a mouthful; you can't hold on without money, and you can't obtain that because, for some reason, respectable banks fight shy of you. It will simplify matters if you admit all this."

"I'm not going to admit anything," Lane said sturdily, after drinking another glass of wine.

Haldane smiled as he answered: "In that case we will take for granted what I have said. Now, we have the money, time, and determination to fight you over every mortgage, and to rake up, as a claim for damages, every indiscretion."

One of the listeners chuckled in a manner expressive of surprise and satisfaction when Haldane ceased, and through the brief stillness which followed I could feel, if I could not see, that the others were in a state of strung-up expectancy.

"Better come to the point," Lane said. "The question is, what do you want from me?"

"It's pretty simple," was Haldane's answer. "We want you out of this country. It's unfortunate that we can't help considering you an obstacle in the way of its prosperity; but, not being highway robbers, we are open to make you a fair offer for your property. Here is a schedule I have drawn up, and you will see by examination that we purpose to buy the mortgages at their face value, paying you any interest due at current bank rates. We also purpose to buy back, on the same conditions, the lands on which you have already foreclosed."

Lane was difficult to astonish, but now he actually gasped; and several of those present, who were still within his clutches, sprang to their feet. "A glacier wouldn't be cooler than you!" Lane said. "You must know they're worth, or will be, about three times as much."

"Exactly," said Haldane; and Gordon and another chuckled silently. "That is just why we want to see you safely out of this country. The man who drives that kind of bargain gives nobody else a show. Please sit down, gentlemen; I'll answer your questions later."

I think Lane, in spite of his refusal to admit anything, must have felt himself driven into a corner. Indeed, for almost the first time during my acquaintance with him he showed signs of temper, for his lips straightened and there was a gleam of malice in his eyes.

"Your hand looks a good one, but it's not good enough," he said. "I'm going to tell you to do your worst. Say, don't you count too much on Mr. Haldane, the rest of you. If this is fun to him, it's bread and cheese to me, and I don't let up on my living easily. Stand out from under before he gets tired and the roof falls on you. You all know me."

The listeners had good reason to do so; but they had not only lost their fear of him – the fear which makes a coward of a brave man when he becomes a debtor – but had found his yoke so galling that they would have risked the worst by defying him in spite of it. He must have read as much in the contemptuous laugh and lowering faces.

"I think we could beat you with it; but we hold still better cards," said Haldane quietly. "For instance, you have squeezed Niven a little too hard, and he is prepared to risk his liberty to testify on one or two points against you. I refer to incidents connected with Gaspard's Trail."

Lane brought his hand down on the table, and, for some unexplainable reason, I actually believed him as he said: "Gaspard's Trail was burnt by accident."

"We won't question the statement," said Haldane. "It was, at least, an accident that you were quick to profit by. This ace, however, takes the trick. Just run through this account book, and – remembering that we can produce Miss Redmond, and three men, who will swear to what her father said when Ormesby's cattle, which did not get there by accident, were burned in the fence – consider what might be done with it."

Lane seemed to shake himself together after he had read the first few entries; while, watching him closely, I once more saw the tell-tale contraction at the corners of his mouth. This was the only sign he made, however, save that presently he moved forward a little in his chair, which was close before the fire, and held up the torn-out page as though he wished the lamplight to fall on it more directly. The action, which was made very naturally, suggested nothing to myself or even to Haldane; but when the reader moved again, Boone rose suddenly and laid a restraining hand on his arm.

"You have had time enough to grasp the significance of what is written there, and I'll take the papers back," he said. "Of course, knowing whom we dealt with, we have a duly attested copy."

I do not know whether Lane had actually intended to destroy part at least of the dead man's testimony or not, but he was capable of anything, and the fire was hot. In any case, he calmly handed book and paper back to Boone with the careless comment: "You thought of that? Must be considerably smarter than you used to be."

"Yes," said Boone dryly, "I have learned a good deal since I first met you. We will now, with Mr. Haldane's concurrence, give you five, or, if necessary, ten, minutes in which to consider your decision."

Without being in the least sorry for him, I fancied I could understand Lane's feelings, and his state of mind could not have been enviable. It is true that Haldane's offer allowed him a fair return for all sums invested, perhaps almost as much as he would have obtained by legitimate enterprise; but that must have been as nothing to the man who had schemed for a fortune, while one could have fancied that he found it inexpressibly galling to discover that those whom he had considered his helpless dupes now held him at their mercy. Yet he showed small sign of discomfiture, and his voice was steady as he said: "It's robbery; but I'm open to admit you have fixed the thing tolerably neatly. Suppose it was Dixon who gave you the pointers? This man here must have some grit, for he knows that even now I could make it hot for him. Do you know who he is?"

"I consider the terms are liberal, and we arranged the affair ourselves," said Haldane. "You could hardly expect Mr. Dixon to involve himself in what I'm afraid is virtually the compounding of a felony. It is also possible that some people would call our proceedings by unpleasant names, but you left us no choice of weapons. We might have squeezed you further, but I believe it's wise to leave a back way open for a beaten enemy. I am perfectly acquainted with Mr. Boone's history, and understand that now that his work is finished – for most of the scheme was his – he will surrender himself to the police. He does not, however, apprehend any trouble with them, because by the time he surrenders, the prosecutor will have removed himself across the frontier. Now, hadn't you better consider your decision?"

Lane sat still for at least five minutes, and I could see that some of the rest were not quite convinced that the battle was over. They had experienced such a taste of his quality that they probably expected some bold counter-move rather than submission. Nevertheless, the man was beaten, for at last he said: "It's your game. I must have the money down, and your solemn promise you'll make no use of what you know until I'm across the frontier."

"If you will meet me at Gordon's at noon to-morrow we'll settle the bill together," said Haldane quietly; and rose as if to signify that the interview was over.

Lane no longer looked jaunty, for, although he evinced no great dismay, there was a subtle change in him as he also rose and brushed the dust off his hat. "Everybody gets tripped up now and then, and must make the best of it," he said. "Quaint, isn't it, that it should be a man of Ormesby's kind who most helped to bring me up? Well, it seems I can't stay any longer with you, boys; but no one knows what may happen, and I'll try to square the deal with you if ever I come back again."

Nobody answered him, and with a shrug of his shoulders he passed out of the room; and though I fancied that was the last I should see of him, I was mistaken.

Then Boone said reflectively: "I wonder whether we have been too easy with him, sir. I can't help feeling, by the way he yielded, that the rascal has something up his sleeve."

Before our host could answer he was plied with congratulations and questions about the money for the redemption of the mortgages, and, raising his hand for silence, stood up, smiling at the men before him.

"I'll find part of it in the meantime, and there is the profit on the campaign fund you raised," he said. "You needn't be bashful, gentlemen. I'm a business man, and will have no objection to charging you three or four per cent. more interest than the banks. It will, considering the prospects, be money sunk on good security. Now that we have got our stumbling block out of the way, I see possibilities for this district, and am presently going to ask you to form a committee to consider whether we can't put up a small flour mill or coöperative dairy."

He proceeded to sketch out a project with a vigor of conception and a grasp of practical details that astonished the listeners, who presently departed with sincere, if not very neatly expressed, gratitude, and with hope and exultation in their weather-darkened faces. I tried to express my own sentiments and, I believe, failed, but Haldane smiled quaintly.

"Don't make any mistake, Ormesby. I'm not setting up as a public benefactor," he said. "One can't do absolutely nothing, and I don't quite see why I shouldn't earn a few honest dollars where I can. I dare say the others will profit, and I should prefer them as friends rather than enemies; but this scheme is going to pay me – in fact, as you say here – it has just got to."

CHAPTER XXIX
THE EXIT OF LANE

Early one evening, after Lane's capitulation, I sat in the hall at Bonaventure waiting its owner's return. Lucille Haldane occupied the window-seat opposite me, embroidering with an assiduity which, while slightly irritating, did not altogether displease me. Since the wagon accident she had, in an indefinite manner, been less cordial, and I, on my part, was conscious of an unwonted restraint in her presence. It is unnecessary to say that she made a pretty picture with the square of still sunlit prairie behind her, though her face was tantalizingly hidden in shadow, and I could only admire the graceful pose of her figure and the lissom play of the little white fingers across the embroidery. The girl must have been sensible of my furtive regards, for at last she laid down the sewing and looked up sharply.

"Is there nothing among all those papers worth your attention, or have you taken an interest in embroidery?" she asked, pointing to the littered journals on the table. "Do you know that it is a little disconcerting to be watched when at work?"

I was uneasily conscious that my forehead grew hot, but hoped the hue that wind and sun had set upon it would hide the fact. "Don't you think the trespass was almost justifiable?" I said. "You are responsible for spoiling us; and unaccustomed prosperity must be commencing to make me lazy. I was thinking."

"That is really interesting," said the girl. "Has sudden prosperity also rendered you incapable of expressing your thoughts in speech?"

In this case, circumstances had certainly done so. I had been thinking how pretty and desirable the speaker looked; but the trouble was that, although silence cost me an effort, I could not tell her so. I hoped to say as much, and more besides, some day; but this moment was not opportune. Lucille Haldane was mistress of Bonaventure, and I as yet a struggling man, who, thanks to her good nature and her father's business skill, had barely escaped sinking into poverty. It would be time to speak when my position was a little more secure. Meanwhile, in spite of the sternly repressed longing and uncertainty which daily grew more painful, it was very pleasant to bask in the sunshine of her presence, and I dare not risk ending the privilege prematurely.

"I was thinking what a change has come over this part of the prairie," I said, framing but one portion of my thoughts into words. "Not long ago one saw nothing but anxious faces and gloomy looks, while now, I fancy, there is only one downcast man in all this vicinity, and he the one from whom your father and Boone have just parted. The change, considering that a single person is chiefly responsible, is almost magical; but, remembering a past rebuke, that hardly sounds very pretty, does it?"

Lucille Haldane laughed mischievously. "To one of the superior sex; but are you not forgetting that this season the heavens fought for you? It certainly might have been more neatly expressed. Do you know that the education you mentioned is not yet quite finished?"

"I know there is much you could teach me if you would," I said, with a humility which was not assumed, choking down bolder words which had almost forced themselves into utterance; and perhaps the effort left its trace on me, for Lucille turned her head towards the prairie.

"Here is Sergeant Mackay. I wonder what he wants," she said.

Mackay, dusty and damp with perspiration, was ushered in a few minutes later, and for the first time I felt all the bitterness of jealousy as I saw the friendly manner in which the girl greeted Cotton, who followed him. There was nothing of the coquette in Lucille Haldane, and the knowledge of this added to the sting; but I did not think that even she was always so unnecessarily gracious. Mackay, however, appeared intent and grim, and by no means in a humor for casual conversation.

"I'm wanting your father and fresh horses at once, Miss Haldane," he said. "Ye had a visit from Lane yesterday?"

"We certainly had. What do you want with him?" asked Lucille. And Mackay smiled dryly when I added a similar question.

"Just his body, and your assistance as a loyal subject, Henry Ormesby. Ye were once good enough to say ye could not expect too much from the police; but it's long since your natural protectors had eyes on the thief who was robbing ye. Niven, when he wasn't quite sober, told a little story, and there's another bit question of a debt agreement forgery. Ye will let us have the horses, Miss Haldane?"

Lucille bade them follow her, and I heard her giving orders to one of the hired men. Then she returned alone in haste to me. "You saw where my father put the book Miss Redmond gave him?" she said.

"Yes," I answered, wondering. "He locked it inside that bureau and put the keys into his pocket."

The girl wrenched at the handle, and I noticed by the creaking of the bureau how strong, in spite of her slenderness, she was. The lock would not yield, and she turned imperiously to me. "Don't waste a moment, but smash that drawer in!"

"It is a beautiful piece of maple, and why do you wish to destroy it?" I said, and, for she had a high spirit, fancied Lucille Haldane came near stamping one little foot impatiently.

"Can you not do the first thing I ask you without asking questions?" she said.

There was nothing more to be said, and stooping for the poker, I whirled it around my head. One end of the bar doubled on itself, but the front of the drawer crushed in, and when I had wrenched out the fragments, Lucille drew forth the book.

"I know what my father promised, and there is Miss Redmond to consider. She has suffered too much already," she said, tearing out whole pages in hot hurry. "Sergeant Mackay is much less foolish than I once heard you call him, and I have no doubt suspects something of this. Can't you see that he could force us to give the papers up? I am going to burn them."

"That at least you shall not do," I said, taking them from her with as much gentleness as possible, but by superior force, and then positively quailed before the anger and astonishment in the girl's face.

"You are still so afraid of Lane that you would risk bringing fresh sorrow on that poor girl in order to protect yourself?" she said, with biting scorn.

"No," I answered stolidly, without pausing for reflection. "I only wish to declare it was I who destroyed this evidence, if there is any trouble over the affair."

I tore the book to pieces and rammed the fragments deep among the burning logs as I spoke, and when this was accomplished I did not look up until Lucille Haldane called me by name. Gentle as she could be, I had a wholesome respect for her wrath.

"I deserved it," she said, with a bewitching deepening of the crimson in her cheeks and a shining in her eyes. "You will forgive me. I had not time to think."

Thereupon I longed for eloquence, or Boone's ready wit; but no neat speech came to my relief, and while I racked my clouded brains the girl must have guessed what was taking place, for merriment crept into her eyes. Then, just as an inspiration dawned on me, as usual, too late, a hurried tread drew nearer along the passage.

"It is Sergeant Mackay, and he must not come in here," said my companion with a nervous laugh, as she glanced at the shattered bureau. "Is it quite impossible for you to hurry?" Then before I realized what was happening, she had placed one hand on my shoulder and positively hustled me out of the door. Hardly knowing what I did, I clutched at the little fingers, and missed them, and the next moment I plunged violently into the astonished sergeant.

"Mr. Ormesby is ready, and so are the horses. I hope your chase will be successful," a voice, which sounded a little uneven (though there was a trace of laughter in it) said, and the door swung to.

Mackay looked at me curiously; and when we had mounted, said: "I'm asking no questions, but yon was surely a bit summary dismissal!"

"It's just as well you are not, because I am afraid I should not answer them," I said, and Mackay frowned upon his subordinate when Cotton laughed.

We had ridden a league before he vouchsafed any explanation. "I could not call in my other men in time, and as we may have to divide forces, demanded your assistance in virtue of the powers entrusted me," he said formally. "We'll call first at Gordon's on the odd chance our man is there, and pick up Adams, though Lane's away hot-foot for the rail by now, I'm thinking. He had no' a bad nerve to cut it so fine."

"Did the confounded rascal know there was a warrant out?" I gasped, almost pulling my horse up in my indignation, as I remembered Boone's hint.

"We did not advertise the fact, but yon man knows everything, and I'm no' saying it's quite impossible," Mackay answered dryly. "But what ails ye that ye're drawing bridle, Harry Ormesby?"

I drove the spurs in the next second and shot clear a length ahead, and, though the Bonaventure horses were good, the others had hard work to catch me during the next mile or two. If Lane suspected the issue of the warrant, he had victimized us to the end, for he had tricked us into furnishing him with not only the means of escape, but sufficient ready money to start him upon a fresh career in another land. We met Boone and Haldane returning from Gordon's ranch, and while the former advised the sergeant that Lane must be well on his way to the station by this time, I drew Haldane aside and hurriedly related what had happened at Bonaventure.

"Lane is a capable rascal, and will certainly catch the westbound train. There is little to be gained either by wiring the bank," he said. "He insisted on taking a large share in paper currency, and as the draft was one I had by me, he would no doubt arrange for his friends to cash it before I could warn the drawer. Do you know the bureau you smashed in cost me sixty dollars, Ormesby?"

I was endeavoring to express my contrition when Haldane laughed. "I am not sure that you are the only person responsible for the destruction of my furniture."

Mackay had started before our conversation was finished, and it cost Boone and me a long gallop to come up with him, while it was only by dint of hard riding that we eventually reached the station some hours after the departure of the train. Mackay first of all wired to the stations down the line, and then explained: "That's just a useless duty. Yon man is keen enough to know he might find the troopers waiting for him. He'll leave the cars at the flag station where there's nobody to detain him, and, buying a horse at the first ranch, strike south for the border. It would be desirable that we grip him before he reaches it."